My end of the deal is done. London must now send me his final copy, so I can stitch the information together and send it out to the masses at some point tomorrow. I'll start by posting this up as a .pdf download, and if people like it then I'll do future works through a proper piece of editing software w/ letterhead, etc.

There will be some mistakes in my writing - but don't be afraid to call me out on them so I can fix them.

I'll be getting a couple hours of sleep now. I want to edit this on a clear head. Good night.

Update on the writing piece:

We're currently looking at between 6500-8500 words in the final draft of our piece, and it will range in the 11-14 page territory pending edits. Expect this to be up in the next 6-12 hours, as I'm cranking this bit out through the thick of the night. There are some interesting pieces and perspectives that I'll be taking in my writing - not mentioning anything coming from London_calling. He'll write common sense, unlike my gibberish.

I've cleared a few more spots on my friends list.

The problem with what you're claiming in scrims is that DHero may have been trying out different tactics and also may have taken the scrim softly. What an IM team will show in a bullshit scrim and what they'll show in a match are two completely different things. This applies to most Open teams, too - I remember weeks where my old team would get pounded in scrims 1-5 and 0-5 - but then we'd tighten shit up and win the match that Thursday.

This is why scrim results can be very unreliable at times.

Not quite there yet, bsc. S14 will run from May to about early September - and it won't be S15 until around Thanksgiving time this calendar year.

If your current team which is playing in "top gear" can hang with IM teams that are playing in "first gear", then what you probably are is a borderline case. If I were you, I'd consider whether hijacking an IM roster is really worthwhile - especially considering that spending one Open season together and contending for a title will give you the improved team cohesion needed to make a legitimate showing come S15 in IM. All of this is assuming that you're as good as you say you are.

Good luck.

Bumping. I've had a nice amount of trials so far this week, and I still have 1-2 more for this coming Sunday. After Sunday I won't really have any other trials - so hit me up if you're interested.

Yes. London_Calling and myself (radium) will be doing a collaborative piece about each of the playoff open teams and what their chances will be going forward. Expect this new writeup to be completed by late Friday/early Saturday.

The captain that manages to contain and refine this stupidly talented prospect will have a nasty roamer on his hands in about a season's time.

He's a little raw (and needs to settle down a bit) - but there aren't that many Open-level guys out there that can shoot rocket as well as he can.

Bumping. I'll be up for trials on Thursday this week (I already have some booked for tonight). I will also be up for trialing come next week. I'm hoping to make a decision on what I'll be doing by the end of next week - but I'm in no particular hurry.

They might as well have the Pocket Soldier and Roaming Soldier be two different classes on the class selection screen. We've specialized the two roles down to the point where we no longer think of players as a Soldier anymore - but rather we ask "are you a Pocket or a Roamer?"

I've seen a staggering number of teams where the Demo is asked to pocket the medic if the Pocket drops - simply because having the Roamer do it would be a massive error.

MemphisVon is a shotgun roamer? (I don't watch a lot of your team - and when I do it's often YOUR POV)

Regardless of whether or not they're good like him, it's absolutely rare to find a roamer that plays the "old way". Most of the open roamers I see have good jumps, good aggression, and decent rocket aim - but absolutely no shotgun game or pocketing ability.

Today's roamers don't play the shotty anymore - gunboats are literally the new standard outfit - and for that reason gunboats should probably be permitted in DM. It isn't my server though.

Losing Block is a huge blow. I had to contend with losing X last season (he was our demo - and was the star player on that team), and it took me a long while to find an adequate replacement. It ultimately hurt our ending record as we didn't establish an identity as a more balanced team until midseason in S13.

As for the the future of this team, it will hinge on who they pick up to replace Block. If they can find a mid/high open demo, then I'd peg them for 11-12 wins next year. If they don't, then I think it's a mid-table finish.

The attitudes on this team are all quite good - so that's not an issue. The only speedbump that I see with the current five you have is that they're all going to have to step it up - they cannot hide in Block's shadow anymore and must become leading reasons as to why this team will win in S14. It's a huge task, but it's been done before and I think that this current group of people can pull it off.

Here's a +1 from me. I can only recommend this team as Tery has the "leadership" gene that will be needed to advance the team further.

Who is on this team so far?

Bumping. I'll look for trials starting the middle of this week.