CP_Steel. Loved by many, hated by more, and a strategy book longer than this season's complaints about team placement. A quick look back at Viaduct's games provides little surprise, with all but one game going mostly as expected. A look at bote vs mTs though shows a different result than predicted. Menace To Society picked up the victory in a nail-biter 4-3 win, a game that'll no doubt have some effects come playoffs. Otherwise though, the division looks forward to Steel, eager to prove their proficiency at knowing letters and figuring out how to read signs.

While a round dropped to Funkblasters was perhaps unexpected, an overall straightforward victory gives .knd their second win in a row. Corsa and Scizor's experiment appears to be over, with the two swapping classes. An upcoming game against dK will no doubt be the match of the week, as both teams lack nothing in the area of coordination and skill. This will also be dK's first encounter with another of the top four teams, further making this such an ideal game.

As mentioned in the intro, mTs picked up a victory against bote, making them one of the two teams able to go for an undefeated season. They replace bote and return back to their #2 spot, a place no doubt the team is very familiar with. While all the top teams can win against each other depending on the map, the regular season's matchups are what matters for the rankings, so the maps that each team play each other on are the important parts. Milo showed up for Viaduct, but whispers in my ear say that it's unknown if that'll continue, so we'll see who shows up on Monday.

A loss against mTs kills their chance at an undefeated season, but by no means is a killer for their season. Their loss against mTs will at worst give them a lower spot in the playoffs, and with all the teams poised to be able to take games off of each other, the seeding shouldn't matter an incredible amount.

A 4-0 victory against .$$ spells only good things for dK, cementing that this iteration of the roster is perhaps the strongest its ever been. They've faced the three teams directly below them, without giving up a single round. With those three out of the way, they can focus on the weeks they face the higher teams, without much worry about an upset surprising them. They'll face Kids Next Door first this week, in what will no doubt be a fantastic game.

After the most entertaining stream in a long time on the Maxrocksmysocks page, Ginyu Force seems to have cemented themselves as right below the top four. Their class selection remains a mystery, as a casual team will do what they do, and enjoy themselves. The roster listed is what they played against ·aMw·, but that will likely change significantly as the team progresses further through the season.

A loss against Ginyu Force and an upcoming game against .$$ should cement their place in the rankings, but until they play the $avages they remain unmoving. Their roster issues have hopefully subsided, leaving a solid team that should be able to ride out the rest of the season.

After their first real taste of high Platinum at the hands of Dunning-Kruger, the $avages look forward to their game against ·aMw· to fix up any uncertainties about their level in Platinum. For a Gold all-star team they're incredibly solid, and if the team sticks around, should be able to make improvements and begin to give the top teams a more fulfilling fight.

Funkblasters haven't had any changes, and without a roster change or a loss against .buffalo/eHarmony, they're unlikely to change at all this season. A smaller Platinum is harder on the lower level teams, as they lose the teams that were below them to Gold and have to deal with an overwhelming majority of teams in their division that barely see them as more than a blip on their radar. Facing three such teams in a row is no doubt difficult, so if they don't improve they may find themselves to be perpetually slipping into the bottom of Plat.

A win against eHarmony will all but ensure that .buffalo likely will never find themselves in the bottom space, and a game against Funkblasters will open up the potentiality to snag another win this season.

As is with every low Plat team, there's always going to be a few sitting at the bottom, and if eHarmony can't pull any wins, they're likely to sit at the bottom of it all. A loss against .buffalo further cements that, and outside of Funkblasters, they'll be desperate to grab any wins this season. Exlo's left them, and with no new player joining their roster and with the last whisper in my ear from a distinctively blue bird being, well, whispers, the spot remains a ?.

Matches

For Ginyu Hoops to have a chance at reaching playoffs, this will be a key match for them. While they should have no trouble beating any of the teams outside the top 4, the playoff spots will largely be determined by the way the top teams face off against each other. Coming into this game with two losses against mTs and dK already means that 20b will have to win against both bote and .knd to give themselves a fairly good chance at securing a playoff spot. A loss against either bote or .knd is feasible, but they'd have to hope that one of the top four teams has a similar result against the playoff hopeful teams, and then edge them out on rounds won/lost. However, with Ginyu not on their strongest form, and bote looking stronger than ever, it's going to be a tough obstacle for Ginyu to overcome if they do want to shoot for playoffs. It'll be an amusing game, but bote should have it in the bag. 2-0 in favor of Muma and the Seamen.

A battle of two solid mid-plat teams on Steel should provide for an exciting match, as this should be the only match that each team will want to be able to pick up that wasn't already an assumed victory. While the $avages no doubt have a powerful roster and should have the edge DM-wise, especially between with ·aMw· only just now settling down their roster. ·aMw· is a solid team overall though, and if there's any map where DM alone won't cut it, it's Steel. While perhaps not match of the week, the game should be fairly close, and will come down to the more coordinated team. 2-1 in favor of A Million Ways.

As a benefit of being a top level team, mTs gets to have some 'off-weeks' against teams that will have no realistic chance against them. This week is one of them, regrettably on a map that could've resulted in some fantastic games. Steel not being a default map in the playoffs is also upsetting, but mTs should result in some interesting games in the future regardless. 2-0 in favor of Menace To Society.

With the Corsa/Scizor change sticking, at least for this week, the .knd crew get to see what their change does while facing a team that can go toe-to-toe with them. Both teams have recently ramped up the amount of high-level content being produced for the viewing pleasure of people interested in improving their skill, which is fantastic. Steel is a map that lends itself to less of a DM fest and more thought and coordination, and while all high level teams have that, .knd and dK certainly don't keep it under wraps. This game could probably go either way, with many players on both teams being fantastic at knowing and taking advantages of the intricacies of Highlander and Steel. Overall though, .knd should be able to edge out a victory. 2-1 in favor of Kids Next Door.

After dispatching eHarmony, .buffalo look to pick up a second win against Funkblasters. Both teams will struggle to find victories elsewhere outside of this matchup and their individual games against eHarmony, so they'll no doubt be hoping to win this game. Arzt vs Slemnish will probably be a fantastic matchup of less-celebrated Snipers, and while Steel may not be the most Sniper dominant map, expect fantastic games out of the two of them. 2-1 in favor of Funkblasters.