Ascent.EU vs wer das liest ist doof : 6-0 (5-0, 6-1)

What I expected : This was a true test of skill for Smirre + 5 Germans : how they would fare against one of the 2 top teams would show if, provided they reach playoffs, they could create a surprise when facing one of the favorites. I would have given a big edge to Ascent.EU, but there was room for more unexpected results, especially on Granary.
What I got : Ascent.EU showed that they still above every other team in prem, except Se7en of course. It’s not like WDLID did not try, and they had to play with a merc as well, but they were outclassed in both team coordination and DM. An interesting thing to not is that they are a very rigid team in term of offclassing, and apart from standard defensive offclasses, they barely used any. It would have been maybe a good idea to go for more unorthodox plays, to try and stop Ascent in their tracks, but I don’t know how comfortable they are with offclassing as whole, so who knows.
Standout players : In those kind of games, it’s always quite tough to pick one player to talk about. That said, chris had a big presence on the flank, and was overall hard to stop.

Nunya vs the swamp : 5-1 (2-1 GC, 3-1)

What I expected : Before week 4, I would have named Nunya as the team most likely to win, but the loss of their 2 soldiers means that the swamp had a decent chance to win a map at the very least. Overall, I still expected Nunya to perform better than the swamp, but that was with the mercs being able to fit in the team. If they did not, the swamp could use their better team coordination to win the game.
What I got : It was a tense game, and many mistakes on both sides slowed the game. Granary in particular was extremely back-and-forth, and it took a golden cap to have a winner on that map; Nunya’s mercs, Raf and adysky were sometimes a bit all over the place, but it was quite a messy fixture anyway, Nunya emerging victorious thanks to some better focus fire, and some good flanks on Snakewater.
Standout players : adysky played a very unorthodox style of pocket, with some flamboyant offclassing and aggressive jumps, but he was definitely the play-maker for Nunya. On the side of the swamp, iatgink played a more classic play-maker role as well, and he’s showing to be one of the strongest elements on his team.

Ora Elektro vs The Bus Crew : 3-3 (1-2, 3-1)

What I expected : This was shaping up to be a very interesting confrontation. On one hand, Ora definitely had some better results than The Bus Crew, but on the other, TBC keened up recently, as surprising scrims results show them winning and drawing against the Germans and Nunya.
What I got : Granary was a slight clusterfuck, and I only really remember jimb0t tearing apart the fabric of reality, but the fact that The Bus Crew won really shows the work they’ve put in, as they were able to go toe-to-toe with Ora Elektro, a team that plays a quite controlled TF2.
Standout players : (the granary logs are a complete mess btw). Alba can snipe pretty hard.

Se7en vs Rakuzan : 6-0 (3-2, 5-2)

What I expected : Se7en to not try super hard. Rakuzan are surely a solid team, and they might manage to take some rounds, but if they came too close, I felt Se7en would actually try, and win.

What I got : A somewhat correct prediction, I think. Rakuzan showed up ready to play and determined to not get rolled, despite having to play with 2 mercs. They managed to climb 2 rounds from being lead 3-0 on Snakewater and overall had a strong showing, but they still needed the DM, and focus fire that separate the top of Prem from the rest.

Standout players : Rakuzan had to hire two Italians mercs, and, honoring the tradition of being good mercenaries, both of the Condottieri played very well. Ixy showed that yes, playing 5 Pugchamp games a day can replace scrims while fluo went and just established the record of airshots in one map for this season, with 16 of them (I did not actually fact-check this record but still, he hit 16 airshots). Meanwhile Thalash was determined to make the most of his minor warning for wrong nickname, and thus mr. enchilada claimed 73 frags in total.