Before DJC has a chance to write about anything, I wanted to take this opportunity to make some remarks about the upcoming Season 13 LAN coming up in late April. This LAN marks a number of firsts, including the longest break between the end of the Postseason and the Invite playoffs (about 2 months). It is also the first LAN where a team that went undefeated in the regular season, HRG/bp, is not predicted by most to be the favorites to win in the Postseason. While Check Six (S8) and Classic Mixup (S12) were undoubtedly two of the best teams to ever play the game, HRG has quietly won every match this season through their conservative playcalling and consistency.

This will likely be one of the most competitive LANs that we have seen in a long time, and I can't wait to see these matches. Below is a review of each team, followed by individual class rankings, and lastly my LAN predictions. While I have never directly played against any of these teams myself, I've watched most of the Invite matches and have formed my opinions through talking with the players themselves. I hope to remain friends with all of the players, but I also gave my most honest review. I trust that the readers will see the value in this and that the players won't get too upset at me. Enjoy!

LAN Team Analysis

#1 High Rollers Gaming

Record -- 16-0

RF-RA -- 63-13

The team formerly known as bp is now sponsored by High Rollers Gaming and currently wears the HRG tag proudly in scrims. While their sponsor hasn't paid for all of the team's expenses, they have offered a bit of money to help them pay their way to Dallas.

HRG was undoubtedly the best team in the regular season. With a perfect 16-0 record, they systematically destroyed every team that they came across and were the favorites in every match that they played. Their closest match was against the old Fully Torqued roster in Week 3 on cpgullywashfinal1, where FT came closer than any team to beating HRG (losing 3-5). It was in this match that bp showed its true colors -- they slowed down the match and changed the pace of the game to fit their playstyle. FT didn't know how to react to it, and as the timer ticked down, they made some bad decisions that cost them the match.

It is this style of play where HRG does their best. Their calling style is very conservative and is designed around winning midfights. Once they win mid, they make it extremely difficult for the other team to take it back. When not playing mids, the team prefers to only push on solid advantages that will yield guaranteed results. If they aren't sure that they will win, their fallback strategy is to even things out and reset the situation. This doesn't mean that they aren't aggressive though -- they simply prefer to take calculated risks and don't like gambling. The worst thing to happen to the enemy team would be to go down in rounds to HRG -- a tall order no doubt.

The backbone of this team is Grant "Jesus" "b4nny" Vincent, the legendary Demoman who can single-handedly control the flow of a match and win fights through a combination of perfect prediction, positioning, and comms. B4nny always finds a way to be close enough to do massive damage while being far enough away that he can't be killed. He's demonstrated that he can play any class at an Invite level, and he uses that knowledge to continue to improve himself as a player.

The other key to this team is Shade, who was the best Medic in the regular season. Shade has won the ESEA LAN three times alongside B4nny in Seasons 7, 9, and 11. The two of them have created a strong bond and great chemistry over the years, and it must be comforting for the both of them. Shade's strengths are his ubers, positioning, and escapes. He is an extremely well rounded player, and I expect nothing less than the best from him at LAN.

Lansky, the Pocket, is the youngest member of the team. His Invite debut was actually in Season 7 for Apoplexy Industries, but most people remember him as a Roamer on Classic Mixup in Season 11 where his team placed 2nd to B4nny's team, Quantic Gaming. However, after joining forces with B4nny, Lansky has made a seamless transition to Pocket and has done well since then. Despite his twiggy physique, Lansky has proven himself to be one of the strongest Pockets in North America. He's also the only pocket going to LAN that doesn't play "short leash"; this means that while he still receives a majority of the heals, he doesn't always need to stay at 300 and feels free to jump away from his Medic when it's appropriate. It's tough to shine when you're backed up by Shade and B4nny, but Lansky holds his own well. Having had many conversations with him, I can tell you that he is an integral part of he team's various strategies and playcalling. Because he is new to the well-oiled machine that B4nny and Shade have created, Lansky spends a lot of time hashing things out with B4nny. Despite Lansky's great play during the regular season, however, he is still a bit of a question mark for HRG. From what I've heard, he didn't do too well at the Season 11 LAN, and he really shut down under the LAN atmosphere, resulting in "zero comms and extreme nervousness". Lansky is a young guy, and if that happens again, HRG will be in a ton of trouble. It's one thing for your Roamer to do it, but a completely different thing for it to happen to your Pocket Soldier. Still, I don't think that that will happen this season. Lansky has grown from that experience, and he will be prepared for this upcoming LAN.

It wouldn't be a proper write-up if I didn't mention everyone's favorite BrownBear™ Cyzer. Cyzer has been playing with B4nny for five straight seasons, and over that time they've built up a lot of chemistry. Cyzer originally played the passive Scout role when Clockwork was on the team, but since the departure, Cyzer has had to switch to the aggressive Scout role to accommodate Shrugger. I personally don't think that the role suits him that well -- he has some great moments, but nobody ever looks at the roster and says to himself, "oh wow I bet Cyzer is going to destroy this game". When you think of Scouts who will win you a match, you think of Ruwin, Yz50, or Cyzer's ex-scout partner Clockwork. While Cyzer had been at the top of the game for a very long time, I can't help but think that that little bit of pizzazz is missing from the team. Best case scenario? Cyzer holds his own and doesn't fail his team. Worse case scenario? Cyzer can't match up to the Scout prowess of the other teams and cleanup becomes an issue for HRG. If Cyzer can find a way to shine in these matches, HRG stands a great chance to win LAN. That being said, I think he stands a great chance of being overrun.

Shrugger is jokingly known by many as a cheater because his aim is so incredibly good. He came onto the scene relatively recently and immediately rose to the top as a result of his natural talent (of course, I use the term natural loosely because he does spend a lot of time practicing his DM). Still, people can't help but bring up memories of Shrugger's first ESEA LAN, where he had a mediocre performance that left PYYYOUR wondering if he was healing an Open team. Casters will typically say something like, "Shrugger is one of the best Scouts ONLINE..." It is that exact statement that makes everyone wonder whether or not he can transfer his skills to LAN. Rumors are that he forgot to bring the proper computer accessories to the last LAN (such as his mouse) and that is why he performed so poorly. We also need to remember that it wasn't the first time that a player has gone to LAN and had a poor performance only to come back the second time better than ever (i.e. Blaze). Shrugger has had some time to think and practice since then, including a showing at the recent ETS LAN, a for-fun LAN in Montreal, Quebec. I honestly think that Shrugger will do very well come April -- his timings are near perfect, and I expect him to capitalize when it's needed. However, if he has another poor showing, it's curtains for HRG.

Last, but not least, is Taggerung. Streamer extraordinaire, Tagg has proved to be one of the strongest Roamers in the division. His style can be described as a standard support style, helping to break the flank and jump in with the team when needed. He knows when to suicide, but also prefers to stay alive and keep the numbers up for HRG. If you all can remember, Tagg actually played Roamer for Chess Club last season, and while they had a mediocre showing at LAN, Tagg still managed to get enough frags for his Postseason highlight reel. With Blaze out of the picture, Taggerung was the strongest roamer in the division during the regular season. He will again be the strongest Roamer when facing off against Classic Mixup and The Chess Club, and he needs to take advantage of that if he wants his team to win those matches.

Summary: HRG is technically the team to beat in the Postseason with their undefeated record. They have never lost a map in regulated play, but I expect that to change come LAN. When matched up to the other LAN teams, their strongest assets are their Demo, Medic, and Roamer. Their biggest liabilities are their Scouts. It's all on Cyzer to show that he can put up big numbers and for Shrugger to prove that he's just as good on LAN as he is online. In addition, Lansky cannot afford to choke at this LAN, but if online scrims are any indication of things to come, Lansky will out-damage B4nny and exceed expectations. If things get dicey, B4nny can activate what I think of as his "next" level play, where he literally does everything for everyone. But going Super Saiyan might not be enough. While their conservative playstyle worked well for them in the regular season, they purposely didn't take advantage of some key opportunities, opting to wait for the opposing team to make a mistake. That playstyle isn't going to cut it in the Postseason. I want to see a team go all out in order to win LAN, and I am not sure that HRG is going into LAN with the mindset that they are going to win. After "breaking up" with Tyrone, B4nny put together this team of young players with the idea that they will stay together for many seasons. While they may win LAN in Season 14, I don't think that it will happen this season. I predict HRG to finish in 3rd Place.

#2 Classic Mixup

Record -- 13-3

RF-RA -- 60-18

Classic Mixup is the favorite to win the Season 13 LAN. This probably isn't the first time that you've heard it, but if it is, it's a shocker. Or is it? Classic Mixup has been around since Season 9, and while players have come and gone, the bulk of the roster has mostly remained the same. Ever since that first season, the Classic Mixup roster lead by Platinum had traded wins with the eMazing Gaming/Dashner/Quantic Gaming/Leviathan Gaming roster led by Tyrone. If the cycle continues, HRG will win this season. However, it looked like the cycle would finally be broken last season, when Platinum, Ruwin, Enigma, TLR, Harbleu, and PYYYOUR came together to form the super team that won i46 last summer. This ultimately led to B4nny's unhappiness with Tyrone and the resulting split created bp. The majority of the super team is still there, with one small adjustment -- Yz50 has stepped in to replace PYYYOUR, who left to make LASER BEAMS/Fully Torqued.

This begs the question -- if Classic Mixup is still a super team, why did bp go undefeated in the regular season? The answer seems to be that Classic Mixup didn't care about the regular season. Ruwin had to take care of some real life stuff, and TLR was playing DOTA 2 of all things. In addition, there was some mid-season roster shuffling, which led to Harbleu on Medic and Moose on Roamer in a few matches. Sadly, the members of Classic Mixup hardly played TF2 at all throughout the course of the season. Yet even without practice, Classic Mixup was still leagues ahead of any of the other Invite teams save HRG, and they were able to qualify for LAN easily.

OK so Classic Mixup switched their roster around a lot -- what is their final lineup now? It turns out that Harbleu is a better Medic for TLR than Ruwin is. TLR needs a lot of heals and plays "short leash", and he previously Pocketed Harbleu back in Season 8 on the legendary team Check Six. While Harbleu is a fine Roamer, Ruwin makes for an even scarier and stronger Scout. With nowhere left to go, poor Enigma is moved to Roamer. Still, even though Enigma is off-classing, his team functions extremely well.

Classic Mixup's style is about calculated risk and aggression. Their playstyle is pressure-based; they keep putting pressure on you until you buckle and make a mistake. Once you make that mistake, they will snowball it until it becomes something much bigger. In a class-by-class comparison, they match or beat the DM ability of every other team at LAN (and the world), and this gives them the confidence that they need to take on any fight. They aren't afraid to commit to an engagement, and when they do commit, they are all-in. Plays that shouldn't work sometimes do just because Mixup moves so swiftly that it catches teams off-guard.

Unlike HRG, the super team that is Classic Mixup doesn't rely on any one player to do the work. Platinum is the only person in North America whose Demoman skills can match that of B4nny; Platinum and B4nny are undoubtedly the two best players in the world and match up evenly in my mind. The difference is, Platinum's team is stronger. While B4nny has to scramble to help his teammates do their jobs, Platinum can focus on performing his role, and that frees him up to make plays. Platinum can position himself perfectly from a distance, but he also isn't scared to sticky-jump in and get his hands dirty every once in a while to assist in the team fights.

As a Medic main, I've been watching a TON of Harbleu over the last couple weeks. Harbleu is my favorite player, so I may be a bit biased, but he is definitely a better Medic than Shade. Harbleu is not only the winningest player of all time with four LAN wins, but he (along with TLR) was on two different teams that went undefeated in Invite. His distancing, heal distribution, and movement are top-notch, but what makes his play so good are his ubers -- you can count on Mixup to have good ubers all the time. Watch for Harbleu to switch to Kritzkrieg when both Medics die, especially after a midfight has ended. He's not afraid to give his own life to make a push happen, but he isn't careless either. He has a cool head and performs well under pressure, and I think that Harbleu's aggressive Medic play will undoubtedly be a key to Classic Mixup's success.

TLR used to be the butt of many a horse-joke, but it has been almost two years since the Season 8 LAN and people seemed to have forgotten about that by now. What people haven't forgotten about are TLR's airshotting abilities. They've gotten a little rusty due to lack of practice, but Tyler is a naturally talented player who can pick those skills back up easily. What makes him most dangerous is not his DM but his ubers. Although I praised Harbleu for his ubers, TLR is really the star of the show. Watch a POV demo of TLR and you'll see that he always manages to do something with his ubers; an eight second solo uber can seem like a lifetime as he bounces around the screen forcing flashes, finding ways to do damage, and positioning his team to win the team fight. The break between the regular season and the Postseason has never been longer, and TLR has plenty of time to practice and get into shape.

I could talk for days about the Scouts for Classic Mixup, but I'll try to keep it short. These guys are legends. Every TF2 player knows something about them no matter what country you live in. Needless to say, Ruwin and Yz50 are two of the best Scouts to ever play the game, and I know for a fact that the Europeans would be terrified to see Ruwin at i49. DM? Incredible. Positioning and timings? Near perfect. Reflexes and decision making skills? Superhuman. How can you match up to these guys? The scouts that come closest are Clockwork and Boomer; Cyzer, if he is hot, can match up in a Scout v. Scout fight. The Scouts in Invite are superb, but Ruwin and Yz50 are next level -- with them, Classic Mixup has two out of the three best scouts in North America. TLR and Platinum will be opening up plays, but Ruwin and Yz50 will ultimately be the ones cleaning it all up and making it look easy.

The only weakness, if you can call it that, is Enigma on Roamer. Enigma has been playing Scout since the very first season of ESEA, Season 2, and don't forget that he was playing in CEVO-P too. Founder of TFTV, Enigma has seen more games of TF2 than anyone else I know. With all of that experience, how can this be a weakpoint? The lack of practice. This swap to Roamer is something that I see as a result of necessity and is by no means ideal. Still, Enigma will be able to hold his own as Roamer. I'm not expecting crazy plays, and I'd probably peg him as the weakest Roamer heading into LAN. His strengths will be his experience and decision making. His weakness will be his DM. But as long as he can shoot the ground, I'm sure he's at least as good as Visitor :p. All jokes aside, Roamer is clearly an offclass for Enigma, and I know that if you spectate him on LAN it will look like he's offclassing.

Summary: Classic Mixup aren't the same team that they were last season, but they're close. They've retained most of their roster, and with a bit of shuffling they look like they will have a strong team for LAN. They could use some practice and polishing, but they are still the favorites to win and have plenty of time to prepare. Classic Mixup have the most LAN wins, the most LAN veterans, and the most experience out of any other team. Even if any team could match up to Classic Mixup in a class-to-class comparison, Mixup would still win because they are the only LAN team to live from Season 12. It is also important to keep in mind that the i49 fundraiser has started and at this point it looks like North America will be sending one team to the largest TF2 tournament in the world in August. Classic Mixup won't want to miss out on a free trip to Europe, and I expect them to put their trypants on to make it happen. The Chess Club and HRG will probably put up some good rounds and may even take a map or two, but I expect Classic Mixup's super team prowess to shine through and prove to everyone why North Americans are the best TF2ers in the world. I predict Classic Mixup to finish in 1st Place.

#3 Chess Club

Record -- 9-7

RF-RA -- 42-43

I love The Chess Club! They're extremely entertaining to watch, and if you've ever seen Tri's stream, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. The team is a mash-up of different styles, but the blend is perfect and they've actually become one of the better teams in the division. Originally, most people thought that the three teams that would definitely qualify for LAN would be Classic Mixup/HRG/Fully Torqued with the fourth spot being "up for grabs". Chess Club turned that sentiment around and barely came out on top over Fully Torqued, earning themselves the 3rd seed with a 9-7 record. A lot of people will attribute this to their easy schedule; they only had to play bp and Classic Mixup twice each while Xensity, the fifth place team, had to play them three times each. Still, after replacing Weeble with Clockwork, the roster has become very well-rounded, and I expect them to have a surprisingly strong showing at LAN.

Chess Club's style differs from that of the other teams because of two things: strong scouts and Visitor. Visitor can open up a play, the combo can be the "rock" for the team, Alfa can do whatever he needs to do to put out damage, and Clockwork and Boomer come in to wreck everything. Kbk's playcalls tend to err on the side of caution, opting for the more conservative plays, while Clockwork and Boomer go wild and end up calling their teammates in on a lot of team fights. The team has a great balance between combo and flank, and I'd argue that the Chess Club has the strongest flank out of all the LAN teams. The quietest players on the team are easily Tri and Alfa, and it's hard to imagine a team where the fragging classes of your combo don't talk. However, Kbk's playcalls and Boomer's constant talking balance that out nicely, and the comms on the team seem to flow well.

Kbk is actually my former teammate from Season 8, and it's hard to imagine that he used to play Demoman. After switching to Medic, Kbk quickly moved through the ranks and has become one of the top Medics in Invite. His best showing was in Season 11 on Classic Mixup, where they placed 2nd. However, he got dropped for PYYYOUR, and ended up playing a season on GOIN HEAVY with the likes of Lansky, Sweater, oPlaiD, and Tony Swan. Now that he's on The Chess Club, he's really come into his own, and it's great to see him near the top again. Kbk is a strong leader and playcaller, and his Medic skills are top notch. His movement is strong, but he's also very aware of his surroundings which supports those calling skills and escapes.

Tri pairs very well with Kbk. He played the last season with Stultus, the legendary TFTV poster, but Stultus was a weaker Medic. Kbk's skills really round out Tri's weaknesses, such as his lack of comms. Tri has built up a reputation of being one of the top Pockets in North America, and there's a number of reasons why I think that is so. First of all, his DM is incredible -- he's been in the role for a long time, and his shotgun is a deadly finisher. His positioning is solid, and he doesn't take any unnecessary risks; he does a great job of keeping everything in front of himself. Lastly, he's always aware of his Medic's positioning and the health of his team. However, another contributing factor to his greatness is that Tri plays a "short leash" style and gets an overwhelming amount of heals from Kbk. I don't think Tri would do as well without those heals, but the style of his teammates is built around Tri getting a ton of heals.

Alfa has been moved around a lot this season. He began as the starting Medic for Don't Trip, the team that formed from the other half of Leviathan Gaming. After the team died halfway through the season, Alfa and Clockwork moved to join The Chess Club, and they both sat on the bench as backups. There are a lack of great Medics and Demomen at the highest levels of North American TF2, and while Alfa could play Medic well, he does much better on Demoman. His style could be described as that of a roaming Demoman, and he prefers to stay away from the combo so that he doesn't take heals away from Tri. He knows the game well and recognizes when he needs to support the combo but also moves to help cover the flank when Visitor is making plays or is dead. Although this style of roaming Demoman can help deliver more heals to the Pocket, it can also hurt Alfa's performance at times. He often gets caught out alone and dies at inopportune times. Still, Alfa doesn't need a lot of heals to operate, and his quiet nature is supported well by the comms of his teammates. The other thing stopping Alfa from performing well is that he is an ESEA LAN virgin. He's been to a few ETS LANs, but never ESEA. It will be interesting to see how this new environment affects his play. I wouldn't expect Alfa to carry the team to victory, but I know that given the opportunity, he can put out a ton of damage and can be a very effective player.

Alfa's teammate, Visitor, is also an ESEA LAN virgin. Visitor goes by many names: Big Jimmy, OOV_DOUCHEBAG, and Elf Killer's lost son, to name a few. He's even been seen tagged up with .aa. once or twice. The man is a legend. Having met him at the Intel LANfest in Sacramento, I can confidently say that Visitor is one of the funniest guys that you will ever meet. His popped collar and aviators will undoubtedly make him stand out from the crowd of nerds in Dallas, but it's his TF2 skills that will drive the ladies wild. In all seriousness though, I have no idea whether or not Visitor will perform well at LAN. He's the only Roamer in attendance that plays that iconic "Mackey style" of Roaming that is so unpredictable and surprisingly effective. Like a true wildcard, Visitor has moments of greatness, and other moments that make you wonder why his team doesn't cut him. He's also the only TF2 player at LAN to get banned from ESEA for cheating (LOL long story). Visitor's DM isn't the greatest, he doesn't have the flashiest rocket jumps, and he comms with that Chinese accent that makes Cbear look like a racist. Still, it gets the job done -- he distracts well, he supports well, and he makes plays. I predict Visitor to go huge and show everyone why he deserves to be at LAN.

I can't leave a discussion about The Chess Club without talking about the Scouts. The original starting Scouts were Weeble and Omar; Omar was a LAN veteran who was the stronger of the two, but Weeble had also been to LAN last season. However, Omar eventually lost interest in the game and stopped showing up to practice. The team made the executive decision to replace him with Boomer, who has played both Demoman and Pocket in Invite before. He claimed that he was dying to switch to Scout though, and when he made the switch from Demo something magical happened. Not only is Boomer's DM incredible, but his comms are the biggest boost for the team. The Chess Club soon found out how valuable it was to have those comms on the flank, and it has made them look like an entirely different team near the end of the regular season. The other big change was replacing Weeble. Weeble had faithfully played with the Chess Club throughout the regular season, but when the team qualified for LAN, they had a tough decision in front of them. Do they use Weeble, who is a good player and a member of the team who is weaker in skill, or do they use Clockwork, a LAN veteran who is known by many to be the best Scout in the game but is technically a backup? Ultimately, Weeble knew that it was in the team's best interests to use Clockwork, and he bowed out. With Weeble and Omar gone, the new Scout pair lift The Chess Club up to new heights. Clockwork and Boomer are two of the best scouts with excellent comms to boot. They can easily match the power of Ruwin and Yz50 while outplaying the other four Scouts at LAN. With Clockwork on the team, I'm expecting greatness. He's had some incredible LAN performances in the past, and if he can do it again then I know that The Chess Club will exceed expectations.

Summary: After shuffling their roster a bit, the Chess Club now looks stronger than ever. Clockwork and Boomer are both among the top four scouts in Invite this season, and if you combine that with the strong combo and unpredictability of Visitor, the Chess Club are now a threat to every team at LAN. These guys have really solidified their chemistry over the last few weeks, and it will continue to get stronger as LAN draws nearer. Their weaknesses are their two ESEA LAN virgins Alfa and Visitor, who have attended other TF2 LANs but have never been to Dallas. I still expect them to hold down the fort, however, as they do not need to perform above and beyond in order for their team to do well. If they do play well, it will ensure The Chess Club the victory in many of their matches. Lastly, Tri and Clockwork will only get better when playing on LAN and Kbk will make minimal mistakes under pressure. The Chess Club will have no problem dealing with Fully Torqued, and after warming up, they should move to take out HRG late in Day 1. I don't think that they can beat Classic Mixup, but they will put in a good effort on Day 2. I expect The Chess Club to finish in 2nd Place.

#4 Fully Torqued

Record -- 9-7

RF-RA -- 40-30

LASER BEAMS / Fully Torqued (FT) were predicted to be one of the three teams that would surely make LAN (along with HRG and Classic Mixup). They're a hyper-competitive team that is very much interested in winning, and their roster changes over the course of the season have reflected that. This has also been reflected in their other decisions, and I will discuss them in detail below.

Fully Torqued originally started out as LASER BEAMS with a roster including Seanbud on Medic, PYYYOUR on Demoman, Lange on Pocket, Zbryan on Roamer, and A Seagull and Justin on Scout. PYYYOUR had left Classic Mixup in order to pursue his offclassing dreams and opted to have fun with his friends on a team in Invite. Known as "Team Stream", LASER BEAMS had no less than four streamers in Lange, Seanbud, PYYYOUR, and Zbryan. They were the fan favorites, and many in the community were excited to watch their scrims and matches live on stream. That all went away, however, when it became apparent that not all of the team members had the same interests in mind. Lange prioritized streaming and camerawork for TFTV over his team, and while he had an interest in improving, he didn't want it as badly as his teammates did. A couple members of the team became unhappy with their performances early in the season, and eventually Lange left the team. As a result of this newly desired need to improve and perform well, LASER BEAMS adjusted their roster. They moved the all-star pocket A Seagull back to his rightful position, they placed Seanbud on Scout, and they picked up TF2 veteran TheFragile on Medic. In addition, they removed themselves from the community, choosing not to participate in the forums, streaming, or any of the ESEA TF2 casts. The way I saw it, they wanted to have what the other LAN-destined teams had: privacy and a drama-free, competitive environment for their team.

With this change in their roster came improvement. They began winning more matches, and ended the season with a 9-7 record. What they won't tell you about are the forfeited matches. I suspect that due to their hyper-competitiveness, they did not want to lose matches to other LAN teams. They (may have intentionally?) forfeited matches against bp and Classic Mixup in the middle of the season, citing PYYYOUR's computer problems as the reason that they could not field six players come match night. And, at the end of the season, they forfeited / (intentionally?) played poorly in the final matches of the season to take the fourth seed. When I talked to FT's players, a couple of them admitted to me that they felt that they played better against HRG than Classic Mixup. This story checks out, as Classic Mixup are indeed the favorites to win LAN.

Regardless of the things that FT has done, they've qualified for LAN and that is what counts. Their final roster looks decent, but most people have predicted them to take 4th Place at LAN. Having watched many of their scrims, I would agree. They have been avoiding scrims with the other LAN teams and have spent a lot of time scrimming Intermediate teams. Their regular season performances weren't that great either; Fully Torqued lost a match during the regular season to the 7th Place team in Invite, Vector Gaming, in Week 5 on cp_gravelpit, which many have said is one of the biggest upsets in TF2 history.

Fully Torqued's play revolves mostly around their Soldiers. Unlike the other LAN teams who rely on their scouts to get frags, FT have some of the best soldiers in the game in A Seagull and Zbryan, and those two tend to do more than their fair share of damage. During the regular season, PYYYOUR told me that he felt that the flank for his team was weak and that he consistently had to move to support it. Although Zbryan played the majority of the season on Roamer, he has recently switched places with A Seagull which has added some power and control to Fully Torqued's weak flank. The Fragile now closely follows Zbryan on Pocket, but I suspect that PYYYOUR will still bounce around in the same way that Alfa would for The Chess Club. This recent move also firmly places A Seagull as the strongest Roamer in Invite, and I know that he will do a tremendous amount of work for his team in the same way that Relic does for Xensity. However, because the scouts can't always win their 1v1s, they need to closely work off of the damage generated by the Soldiers in order to make things happen.

The star player of the team is A Seagull. He did not play in recent seasons, but his best showing was in Season 10 with The Experiment, where he was praised as the best Pocket in Invite in the Postseason. He continues to play well, but, similarly to Tri, he relied on a lot of heals to get his job done. Now with this swap to Roamer, he won't have the heals that he used to have, but I expect him to excel nonetheless. His shotgun is just as deadly as his rockets (if he chooses to use it), and his DM is scary good in general. I haven't seen him play much Roamer, but on Pocket I've seen him bomb in when he sees an opportunity that is worth acting upon. We will be seeing those same kinds of plays at LAN -- solid flank support with meaningful bombing plays. Fully Torqued's flank becomes much more powerful with A Seagull, and this is a positive move for FT. I'm glad to see A Seagull back playing TF2, and I hope he continues playing next season.

The Demoman for FT is Bradford "PYYYOUR" Ross, and he has quickly become one of the most controversial players in the TF2 community. A player who is loved by many because of his bold personality and willingness to teach is equally disliked by many for that same bold personality and lack of willingness to share. Still, there is one thing that we can all agree on: Brad is competitive and he wants to win. PYYYOUR played on the legendary Classic Mixup super team as a Medic in S12, but left for greener pastures. Unfortunately, his Demoman skills do not match that of his Medic. What he lacks in DM ability and rollout speed, he makes up for with gamesense and comms. It's his first season playing Demoman in Invite, and he's doing well despite the difficulties that his team has faced. If I'm going to be completely honest though, he's one of the weaker points of this team in my eyes. His damage numbers don't quite match that of the other Demomen headed to LAN, and I'm worried that he will underperform at LAN. If he sticks with it for another season he will get the hang of it, but for now I have to go with my gut and say that he is the weakest Demoman at LAN.

His Medic is the veteran and TF2 legend Nick "The Fragile :3" Leon. The Fragile has been playing TF2 since Season 2 of ESEA and made playoffs every season from Season 5 to Season 9. He hasn't been seen playing in Invite since Season 10, and the fact that Fully Torqued had to pick up The Fragile just goes to show how hard it is to find a good Medic for your LAN team. Still, Nick jumped right back in and didn't miss a beat, quickly showing everyone that he is still one of the top Medics in the game. His movement, positioning, and distancing are all top notch, but his ubers can leave a little to be desired. During the regular season you would often see The Fragile uber in A Seagull only to leave PYYYYOUR out of the uber. I haven't played with The Fragile, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is the weakest Medic of the four heading into LAN.

Zbryan, on the other hand, is one of the best Soldiers in the division. His strength is his consistency, and I can always count on him to hit his jumps and his shots. Zbryan made his Invite debut a bit prematurely back in Season 8. After playing in Intermediate and honing his skills, he then played Pocket for the Invite team Pinball Wizards last season. Zbryan played Roamer for the majority of this season, and he has demonstrated that he can play both Soldier roles effectively. They will be deadlier at LAN, especially Seagull, who plays on 70-80 ping from the west coast while Soldiers like Tagg and TLR play with much lower ping. When everyone flies to Dallas to play in April, A Seagull and Zbryan will only get stronger. This, combined with Zbryan's excellent ability to main call, makes him one of the deadliest soldiers at LAN. What's Zbryan's weakness? ESEA LAN virignity! The man that Cbear says has a Muppet voice has not been to an ESEA LAN (or any other TF2 LAN that I can think of). I don't think that this will slow him down, but if Zbryan doesn't perform, Fully Torqued will not stand a chance at LAN. If, however, he can perform like he always does, you can expect him to put up big numbers, control the pacing for his team, and be a huge asset for Fully Torqued.

Lastly, we have the two scouts for FT, Justin and Seanbud. Justin is probably the best sniper in the game right now, hitting clutch headshots that can save his team rounds. He has been playing since Season 5 and has made playoffs almost every season since then. His Scout is nothing to scoff at either, and he plays the aggressive role on his team very well. He is truly an experienced scout and excels given the opportunity. The only thing missing from his resume is a LAN win, and I think that he desperately wants it. Despite his best attempts, he won't be as clutch as Clockwork or Ruwin, and the matchup against HRG will prove to be too great a challenge. Although Justin can hold his own against the other Scouts, I'm not so hopeful about his Scout partner, Seanbud. It was the right thing for FT to move Sean from Medic to Scout, but things will not turn out well for him in Dallas. Seanbud will be the only Scout at LAN who has not been there before, and while he is more than a match for some of the other scouts in Invite, he pales in comparison to the other scouts that will be attending the LAN.

Summary: Despite a drama-filled season, Fully Torqued have come away with the LAN spot that they wanted, and from the fourth seed they will have an easier matchup against HRG. Unfortunately for them, in a class-to-class comparison they have many of the weakest players in the playoffs on their team, and despite their best attempts I don't think that this is the season for them. Their best chances of winning lie in A Seagull and Zbryan, but they can't carry hard enough for them to take LAN. I expect Fully Torqued to finish in 4th Place.

Player Rankings

Here are my player rankings for the Invite Playoffs. Every person has their own way of ranking players: by overall effect on the team, by individual skill, etc. I personally rank these players by individual skill, with minimal thought devoted to how big a role they play on their respective teams. I take into account things such as DM, positioning, comms, and overall skill. Remember, this is just my personal opinion!

Medic:

1. Harbleu
2. Shade
3. Kbk
4. The Fragile

This one was easy. Harbleu has the most LAN wins and is the most talented player on the list. Shade is the obvious second best. Kbk beats out The Fragile due to his consistency and level of play, but given another season The Fragile might be able to get his skills back up to where they once were.

Demo:

1. B4nny
2. Platinum
3. Alfa
4. PYYYOUR

B4nny and Platinum are two of the best (if not the two best) players in the game, so this is a virtual tie. I gave B4nny the first spot because it is his main class, and I feel that Platinum is still a Pocket main. Alfa follows behind due to his DM ability, and PYYYOUR is in last as his DM is the weakest. PYYYOUR's comms might make up a lot of ground, but it's not enough ground to give him the third spot.

Pocket:

1. TLR
2. Tri
3. Lansky
4. Zbryan

This one was tough. While the 2nd-4th Pockets are extremely close in skill level, the first spot can easily go to TLR, who is LAN proven and is the only person on this list to win a LAN. Not only is he a big part of his team, but his DM is incredibly good and he knows how to use his heals well. Although he is a bit out of practice right now, TLR will be extremely good when LAN comes around, and I'll be expecting those strong ubers and nasty airshots. Tri has the second spot and although I'm not sure that he could perform as well if he played with players who needed more heals, The Chess Club's current setup suits them well and I know that he'll come through. Lansky has had an incredible season and I expect him to continue to perform as LAN draws near. I placed him lower on my list because I am worried that he might choke on LAN. The last spot goes to Zbryan, who through a last minute swap, is back on Pocket. An excellent player, Zbryan's calls will prove to be a big asset for his team.

Roamer:

1. A Seagull
2. Taggerung
3. Visitor
4. Enigma

A Seagull easily has my #1 spot because of his strong skills on Soldier. It doesn't matter if he is playing Pocket or Roamer -- A Seagull is so good, he will be able to adapt to the role easily. I expect big plays from him, and he will be one of the most dangerous soldiers on LAN. Taggerung has had such a solid season and has really come into his own as a Roamer. He follows just behind A Seagull. Visitor is a wild card at LAN, but I really think that he will have some spectacular moments that will propel The Chess Club into 2nd Place. Enigma, the offclasser, takes the final spot.

Scouts:

1. Clockwork
2. Ruwin
3. Yz50
4. Boomer
5. Shrugger
6. Cyzer
7. Justin
8. Seanbud

Those top four spots are super close, and I only ordered it that way due to the slightest of margins (that and I had to order them). Clockwork and Ruwin are nothing but the best. Clockwork has earned a reputation of being the best scout in North America, and Ruwin earned a reputation in Europe for having a monstrous presence in the matches at i46. Yz50 has played Scout for a very long time, and while he has proven himself to have that extremely impressive, natural talent, his Scout v. Scout is not as good as his Scout v. Soldier or Demo. The best players at Scout v. Scout are Clockwork and Ruwin; Cyzer can be up there sometimes, but it's hit or miss. Boomer has played surprisingly well after swapping to Scout from Demoman, and I expect him to increase his skill in the coming weeks. As you can see from this ordering, I predict that the Scouts will be the demise of HRG, but if they can prove me wrong then they can very likely earn HRG 2nd Place (I'm rooting for you Cyzer!). Fully Torqued's scouts take the final spots.

Predictions

Alright! The moment you've all been waiting for. If you've read the entirety of this and stuck it out, thanks. If you immediately skipped down to the bottom of the page, **** you (kidding!). Anyways, if you've read my team analyses, you may be in shock. But there was a couple of ways to do the predictions. Having done this for a long time, I'll start with some common methods.

The first is to go by number of ESEA LAN wins as a team:

1. Classic Mixup
2. High Rollers Gaming/Chess Club/Fully Torqued (Interchangeable, as teams are newly formed)

... or you could rank by total ESEA LAN wins from the individual players on the teams:

1. Classic Mixup (14)
2. High Rollers Gaming (7)
3. The Chess Club: (2)
4. Fully Torqued: (2)

Breakdown of ESEA LAN wins for individual players:

1. Harbleu (4), Platinum (3), TLR (3), Enigma (2), Ruwin (1), Yz50 (1)
2. B4nny (3), Shade (2), Cyzer (2)
3. Clockwork (2)
4. PYYYOUR (2)

Looking at the stats, it's incredible to see just how well Classic Mixup has done over the years. They have so many wins under their belt, and it has really put pressure on the other teams in the division to reform and try a different way to "bp" (beat Platinum). B4nny made his own team, Fully Torqued put together a team of players that had played together in the past (that is a bit reminiscent of The Experiment from Season 10), and the remaining players joined together to form the newest version of The Chess Club. Who will win?

This season we are looking at one of the most competitive LANs that we have seen in a long time. Each season we predict who will win, and most of the time we're so sure that that this one team will win that we're willing to bet all of our money on it whether it is Mihalys Flow, eMg/Dashner/Quantic/Leviathan Gaming, or Classic Mixup. This season, however, is different. Sure, Classic Mixup are still the favorites to win -- they're the super team from last season that can't be beat when they are at the top of their game. But this time, we have High Rollers Gaming (formerly bp), a team of players that have a strong interest in improving over time. A team designed to win LAN, expect the undefeated HRG to try their hardest to get 1st Place. We also have The Chess Club, a blended team of players that have created unbelievably good chemistry in such a short time. And we have Fully Torqued, who have mixed the old and the new to try for their shot at the title. Any team could take it this season, and with i49 on the line, you can bet that they'll try their best to get to Europe. That being said, let me reveal my final predictions for the ESEA Season 13 TF2 LAN:

1. Classic Mixup
2. The Chess Club
3. High Rollers Gaming
4. Fully Torqued

Shocker! I realize that I'm going against the grain here, but hear me out. Classic Mixup, the super team from last season, has mostly stayed intact. With an all-star lineup of players, they look unbeatable. Platinum won't disappoint on Demoman, Harbleu will dance around and never die, TLR will have had plenty of practice before April, and their scouts are LAN proven monsters that will win every fight. Their weakest link lies in Enigma, a player who has won the ESEA LAN twice as a Scout. Even if he were to flop, his teammates will be more than enough to carry him to victory, but an experienced player like him will only improve on LAN after playing with 80-90 west coast ping.

Of course, that's not the shocker. What makes my predictions different than most is that I've placed The Chess Club on 2nd and High Rollers Gaming on 3rd. Why? While most people will look at HRG's regular season record of 16-0 and wonder how they could possibly fail at LAN, I'm looking at things differently. HRG tried their hardest to ensure that they won every match convincingly; almost every match was a roll, and their matches became boring to cast simply because everyone knew how the matches would end. B4nny had seemingly put together this amazing team of young, almost "up and coming" players that would be together for the long run and would only get better over time, and for the most part, this is true. But some people in the community have a more pessimistic view of HRG, seeing it as a team borne out of necessity because all of the A-List pickups wouldn't play with B4nny. I've seen both sides of the coin, and I agree with everyone. Online, B4nny and his team were unbeatable because they had figured out their roster early on and used the preseason to work on EVERYTHING. HRG practiced the hardest out of any team and are the team going to LAN that has seen the least changes to their roster (essentially used the same six players each match, with the exception of a few). However, come LAN, I expect things to change. Everyone else has figured out their final lineups by now, and they're beginning to solidify their teamwork and chemistry. The more time that passes, the better it is for the other LAN teams who need to catch up to HRG, and because the break between the regular season and the Postseason is essentially equal to the length of the regular season itself, these guys have all the time in the world to hash everything out and make significant improvements. Sure, HRG will be practicing too, but the other teams desperately need this time to catch up while HRG's practice time will result in diminishing returns. Equally important to note is that while none of HRG's players are ESEA LAN virgins, HRG have some big question marks that could either lift them to victory or crush them as a team. Those question marks are Lansky, Cyzer, and Shrugger. Lansky and Shrugger are both fantastic players online, but they've had some poor performances in the past and have a lot to prove. Cyzer has proven himself twice, but he runs hot and cold and I honestly have no idea what will happen come April. While it is likely that he will be able to hold his own, it is equally likely that he will flop. I rarely see star-quality, "carrying" performances from Cyzer, and without that extra "umph", HRG might not have the power to follow through on LAN. Remember, this is half of HRG we are talking about here! If half of the team are question marks, I cannot have them in 2nd Place, let alone winning the LAN. If these three do well, then HRG will have a fantastic showing at LAN. If they can't, however, they'll end up in 3rd Place.

I can't say it enough, but I love watching The Chess Club at work. They too are a team borne out of necessity, but it works out in a totally different way. With the recent roster shuffle and the acquisition of Clockwork, The Chess Club have never looked stronger, and the more they play, the better they get. It may be strange that I have so much faith in a team with two players that have never been to the ESEA LAN before, but I'm confident that they will do well. Visitor plays a style of Roamer that allows him to fail, and Alfa's quiet "roaming Demoman" can adapt to the enemy team's playstyle. If either of these guys come up big, it will be a huge win for The Chess Club. Another important factor in all of this is Clockwork. He's had some amazing LAN performances in the past and has the potential to completely overrun a match. Earlier in the season when he was on Don't Trip, Clockwork played in a match during Week 3 on Viaduct against Fully Torqued where they LOST 3-4, and he still had 69 frags in that match! (an incredible feat considering that the next highest frag count was Zbryan on Roamer with only 47). If Clockwork can put up those same numbers against HRG, I'm confident that he can tilt the scales in Chess Club's favor.

With both Classic Mixup and The Chess Club getting stronger and stronger after every scrim, it looks less likely to me that HRG will take the title. B4nny and Shade have won every odd-numbered LAN since Season 7, and if the pattern continues, this season will be theirs. However, Classic Mixup look to finally break the cycle and make it two in a row, proving that they are the best team in the world. With B4nny on the team, you can't count HRG out, but I don't think that they're in it to win it. Fully Torqued may take a map or two off of the other LAN teams, but they won't make it out of that 4th Place seed. HRG had an impressive showing this season, but the true test comes at LAN when everyone is trying their hardest to win. The matches between The Chess Club and HRG will likely be the closest of the weekend, but it is the grand finals that will decide who goes to i49 to face the Europeans (and possibly the Australians). My bet? The team that won i46 will do it again.

Official Bracketology

Upper Round 1 (best of 3):
#1 High Rollers Gaming > #4 Fully Torqued 2-0
#2 Classic Mixup > #3 The Chess Club 2-0

Lower Round 1 (best of 3):
#3 The Chess Club > #4 Fully Torqued 2-0

Upper Round 2 (best of 3):
#2 Classic Mixup > #1 High Rollers Gaming 2-0

Lower Round 2 (best of 3):
#3 The Chess Club > #1 High Rollers Gaming 2-1

Grand Finals (best of 7):
#2 Classic Mixup > #3 The Chess Club 4-1

Thank you for reading my Season 13 ESEA-Invite TF2 LAN Preview! Feel free to leave comments below and I will address them as best I can. I wrote this article as accurately as I could; to the best of my knowledge, everything in here is correct. I've written my predictions as though I have bet money on them (because most of the time I do LOL), and I'm excited for the LAN, which will be take place on April 19-21 (#420LAN). I will be around all weekend long, and I look forward to seeing you all in the streams!

For more information regarding playoff coverage, be sure to stay tuned to TeamFortress.TV!