It's been a while since there's been an Invite article around these parts, but here I am, ready recap three weeks of Invite in one article. We've got a lot of ground to cover, so let's jump right into the action!
Week 1: Granary
Week 1 saw two big results: Wood Pig defeating Team SoloUber (formerly Street Hoops) 5-4, and Froyotech beating Ascent in a close 2-0. Although Wood Pig (now with harbleu on roamer) is a very strong team, many expected TSU to pull through with a close victory. The stats indicate… Oh. The stats are still broken. Thanks, ESEA.
Moving on, although Froyotech had a close but convincing win over Ascent, Ascent’s new roster remains impressive. Phorofor is clearly a very competent medic, while yomps (Decimate/enigma’s replacement) has been doing a lot of work without many heals. By the time playoffs roll around, they’ll surely be capable of taking rounds off of Froyotech once again.
Among the IM moveups, Meat Market and Getwhale Fanclub have pleasantly surprised. Meat Market crushed R5, 5-0, and lost to Wood Pig in a close 3-4 match. With bl4nk’s maincalling guidance and a powerful scout combo in CheesyMacgyver and Sezco, Meat Market could easily upset one of the more established teams in the weeks to come. We’ll hear more about Getawhale Fanclub in a moment.
Week 2: Sunshine
Always an unpredictable map, Sunshine didn’t fail to surprise. Although Meat Market’s performances have been impressive, Getawhale Fanclub has managed to one-up their IM moveup companions, annihilating Wood Pig in a 26-minute 5-0. Getawhale FC will get the chance to prove their mettle against two other top Invite teams this week; they play Ascent and the Strawberry Mangoes (formerly the Yomies). If they can win even one of those matches, Getawhale FC will have a serious shot at playoffs.
Speaking of the Strawberry Mangoes, they’ve had a rough start to the season. They’ve played Froyotech, Ascent, and Team SoloUber, and TSU they didn’t even get to really play, because of the case of the magically disappearing Indust. However, as we'll hear shortly, the Mangoes managed to recover significantly on Snakewater.
Finally, Mad Luxurious has, after another 0-5 loss, this time to R5, settled firmly into the bottom of Invite. Standout play from DanceNumber and Phelon hasn’t been enough to give MLX a chance against their more established competitors.
Week 3: Snakewater
Snakewater was a relatively calm week, relative to Sunshine. The most anticipated matchup was between Strawberry Mangoes and Getawhale Fanclub. The Strawberry Mangoes are a strong team, with a strong mix of Invite veterans and newer talent, but they had a tough early schedule: they were 0-3 going into the match. On the other hand, Getawhale FC had a 3-0 record and were coming off of their big upset over Wood Pig. Saloon.tf had the odds at 73-27 in favor of Getawhale FC.
But on match night, the Mangoes came out in force, playing in a cohesive unit, with Corsa and Freestate out-fragging the opposing scout combo at every turn. They took a 5-0 win. Although the game was closer than the score would imply, the Mangoes looked dominant. Muma’s play was particularly impressive: he went 27/12 and top damaged in the server. Even more impressive: he’s currently second in Frags per Minute in Invite for the season (his teammate Corsa is first); he’s the only demoman in the top 20!
The very next night, Getawhale Fanclub played Ascent. It was a grueling match, with Getawhale FC taking an early 2-0 lead, before the match stabilized into a back-and-forth slugfest where Ascent slowly took an upper hand. In the end, Ascent took a 3-2 lead, after which, with just minutes remaining, Getawhale FC took a lightning fast round to tie the match. Heartbreakingly, Ascent did the same, and the final score was 4-3. Although Getawhale FC will need to step up their game to make playoffs, they’ve clearly shown that they can give any team a run for their money. For all you Fantasy TF2 nerds: yomps put in big work in the match, going 47/25 with the least heals of anyone on Ascent!
Looking forward
So what has Snakewater left the Invite standings looking like? Well, it seems very likely that Ascent and Froyotech will get playoffs spots as usual; they’ve conclusively shown that they’re still on top of their NA rivals, with only each other to truly fear.
As for the other two playoff spots, there’s no doubt about it: we have a real horserace on our hands! Team SoloUber, Wood Pig, Strawberry Mangoes, and Getawhale Fanclub all have the potential and proven results to make playoffs. But who will? That’s impossible to say at this point.
However, it's Process week, and that means Team SoloUber vs. Getawhale Fanclub and Wood Pig vs. Ascent are both coming up. The first will be a critical battle for playoff chances, while the latter may be the best chance Wood Pig will have to upset a top team and re-establish themselves (after that 0-5 loss to Getawhale FC) in a strong position for playoffs. The Strawberry Mangoes are the only team who don't have to play another playoffs-competitive team, so they'll look to finally establish themselves with a positive record. Meanwhile, teams like Meat Market and Kawaii Five-0 (formerly R5/GAYBOY) will have opportunities to break past the low-Invite grind, and crush some playoffs dreams in the cp_process. Haha, I'm so funny. Cheers, everyone, see you in a couple weeks!