Ginyu Force > Blunderful 2-0
After a fairly devastating loss to BPM on plbarnblitz last week, Ginyu Force is ready with fresh determination to take on Blunderful this week on one of Ginyu’s favorite maps—cpsteel. I want to believe in my homies over on BFL, but Ginyu is just looking too coordinated on steel. Dill is finally back to actually showing up to scrims, and Duwatna is sure to give people a reminder of just how much ridiculous damage he puts out week after week. The one area where I think BFL has a distinct advantage is at spy with Noko. She had an amazing game last week on plbarnblitz so I expect her to do some serious damage if Ginyu Force loses focus. One perfectly timed medic pick can easily win a round on cpsteel so look out for that. In the end, though, Ginyu Force’s solidarity and raw deathmatching potential should secure them the win.
Baby Punching Marathon > Quality Control 2-0
Quality Control is probably the biggest success story to come out of the new platinum teams this season, but now is when the real test begins. They’ll be facing the fierce and aggressive BPM on a map that can be very difficult to control and move around on if you’re slow or don’t know what you’re doing. QC is going to have a REAL tough time containing BPM’s flank as well as their demo Kapoww, who even if he doesn’t know the map that well still puts out crazy damage. Steel, of course, is one of TMP’s favorite maps so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of nutty strategies he concocts. While I’m going to predict a 2-0 here, I expect the rounds to be really good a well fought by both teams.
Gangsta Gang > Menace to Society 2-1
Now that Ma3laa and the gang have started scrimming and taking this season seriously they’ve improved massively. Additions such as Jav on scout and Moonchild on sniper have also rounded out some of their weak points. With the notable exception of no Blaze on scout, Gangsta Gang really isn’t that far off from their season 5 champion form. This week they’ll be facing MTS who, while strong, are starting to fall off due to lack of practice. And especially on a map like cp_steel scrims are something every team, no matter how talented, needs to have in order to be effective. Harbleu is going to have a tough time calling and leading his team on this map, and I think that will open the door for GG to squeeze out well-deserved victory.
Ghetto Afterthought < Chain Reaction 1-2
I believe I said this before during Haunt week, but Chain Reaction has really impressed me with their comms and strategies. Skyrolla does a great job coordinating for his team, and it should really pay off for them this week. GA I’m sure will be hungry for a win here to pick their win-loss record up out of the negatives, and they’ve got some strategically-minded players like SneakyPolarBear who’ll be leading some creative expeditions of their own. Not entirely sure how much of an impact Sweater is going to make on a map like this, but he’s definitely going to be the biggest threat CR will have to contain to lock in the win. This match up will also be interestingly pitting the twins Deadbolt and Paragon against each other in a battle to determine which one mom loves more.
Kimberlite Council > Death Marked Soldiers 2-1
Kimberlite has really been progressing nicely as a team this season. They’ve had several clutch wins and even through the losses they’ve remained remarkably stable for a fresh team in platinum. I’m waiting to see what these guys will be capable of after this season, and cp_steel just so happens to be one of those maps that really forces a team to grow and evolve. They’ll be facing off against long-time platinum residents DMS who are no doubt well-versed on steel, so I expect a lot of good rounds to be had. We’ll have to see if KLITE can bring their teamwork to the next level or if DMS will use their experience to edge out the victory. My money is on KLITE though.
The Syndicate > Axl Wat 2-0
Oh how the mighty have fallen. I never thought I would even see these two teams playing this season, but here we are. Luckily for TS they’re finally getting it together after a rough couple of weeks. Vhalin is making his triumphant return from his honeymoon in gold, so I’m confident we’ll start seeing TS making a much needed comeback.