Now that the playoff seeds have been finalized, I figured to make a little write-up with predictions about the Open bracket. In my opinion, this Open Post-Season is one of the most evenly balanced between the top of the division. Even the “middle of the pack” teams have been strong and many have shown they can hang with the top teams. I see several matches in this first round that have the potential to go 3 maps and be major upset wins.
The second round of playoffs should have some insane match-ups and I will try and update this post after the first round is complete.
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#1 Ed Head
Vs.
#16 open winners
Ed Head have easily become the front runners to win Open this season. Since Gullwash week, they have utterly destroyed other High Open teams they have faced giving up only 1 round in the process. I have been told they have been playing their “mains” in recent matches so that only makes them scarier to face as they could likely contend with most IM teams.
Open winners qualified for playoffs by losing their final match 4-3. ESEA rule changes apparently qualified them based off Rounds Won and even that was by the smallest of margins.
I can’t see anything but a complete roll for Ed Head, even if they off-class.
5-0 – Badlands – Ed Head
5-0 – Granary – Ed Head
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#2 Weiner Bros
Vs.
#15 Koala Washing Machines
Weiner Bros started the season as mostly everyone’s pick to win the division. They have the experience and talent to beat any team in Open and for the first half of the season they were dominant. Recently they seem to be slipping a little bit as the matches get more difficult but I expect them to refocus for the playoff push and the first match should not be much of a problem.
Koala Washing Machines made playoffs with 10 wins. 50% of those were FFW’s and there is not really a single match worth talking about this season.
I believe Koala Washing Machines stand a good chance of winning against Weiner Bros if they get another FFW
5-0 – Badlands – Weiner Bros
5-0 – Granary – Weiner Bros
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#3 Puck Fat
Vs.
#14 WaddleSquad
Puck Fat is a really good team, I had several scrims against them and they have been quite solid. That said there is some concern looking at the match performances. Puck Fat has mostly avoided playing the top teams in the division except for 2 losses against Ed Head and Weiner Bros early in the season. These early losses forced ESEA scheduling to give Puck Fat an easier schedule as the season progressed. This match against WaddleSquad could be more interesting than the seeding numbers indicate.
WaddleSquad likely had the toughest schedule for the beginning 8 matches of the season and finished 4-4. The middle/late matches of the season allowed them to stomp the other mid-open competition and made a good playoff push at the end.
I know WaddleSquad have been scrimming hard these past weeks and could make quite a good BO3 against Puck Fat but they really need to close the DM difference. Fast
5-1 – Badlands – Puck Fat
5-3 – Granary – Puck Fat
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#4 Mutual Consent
Vs.
#13 Spider2 Y Banana
Mutual Consent has had an incredibly strong season. They are the only team who has defeated all the top 5 teams they have faced including 2 major wins on Viaduct in the final week where ScrewB was simply insane in both matches. Of more interest to me are both losses this season. A 5-4 loss to Blue Elephant is plausible enough but a 5-0 loss to 2 in Flank 4 in Stank is way more puzzling. No offense to 2F4S but there has to be some story attached to this loss that explains how Mutual Consent got rolled on a map like Badlands?
Spider2 Y Banana has been destroying mid-open teams since starting the season with a 2-4 record. Coming into the final week they needed at least 1 win to secure a playoff spot against teams that I frankly thought they were going to lose to. They proved me wrong twice with 2 solid victories and knocked yack me off out of the playoffs in the process. There is no doubt this team has gotten much stronger as the season has progressed because of a few key pickups from other dead teams but recent team drama is likely going to stop all progression for the time being.
Unfortunately for S2YB, I don’t think this first round matchup is going to end well.
5-1 – Badlands – Mutual Consent
5-0 – Granary – Mutual Consent