(Continued from above)
#13 Free_MrU (10-6), <FS: 16>, [-2], Peak: #11
At last, the fight to free Mr. U is over as the team makes playoffs by the thinnest of margins. They got a little screwed last season with an unlucky schedule, but this time, it all (just barely) worked out because I was incapable of winning a single round against Late To Mid.
#14 OK Boomers, formerly OK Kids (10-6), <FS: 15>, [-1], Peak: #5
The OK Kids/Boomers have played in 10 ESEA seasons, yet only reached playoffs once before. It was a close call, but in this last ESEA season, they managed to sneak in. Even with 6 losses, all of those were reasonably close games except for their two Product matches where they got whacked.
#15 SkyZ Gaming (11-5), <FS: 9>, [Prev: HR], Peak: #10
This bubble contender ended up with an almost perfectly symmetrical record of 5 wins, 5 losses, and then 5 more wins. And then another win that throws off the whole symmetry. They looked like they were in trouble mid-season with that 5 game loss streak, but a dominant win over Frantic Gaming put them back on the right track.
#16 Nav eSports (8-8), <FS: 25>, [Prev: HR], Peak: #14
In the end, NAV eSports proved to be the lesser rapper-based eSports team this season with a loss to and lower final standing than Soulja Boy eSports. Pretty consistently, they were able to put up a strong showing against a number of good teams with 3 of their losses being 3-5 to playoff teams. A single win could've put them into playoff contention, but each time, they came up a little short. Their record ended up the same as last season's at 8-8, but I think this Nav eSports + Retards of the Carribean lineup was still an improvement over their season 30 iteration.
#17 Rudys 6v6 and BBQ (10-6), <FS: 13>
The BBQ team was off my radar for most of the season, but they slowly crept up the standings and in their final game, pulled off a clean sweep of the OK Boomers on Product. TaylorGang AKA FunniBunni put up an massive 33:5 K:D with over 440 DPM. I don't know if they're just the better team or if it's just the typical Product upset magic, but either way, they did enough to make playoffs in the nick of time.
#18 HWASAS THIGHS (9-7), <FS: 19>, [-4], Peak: #6
Based on what I've seen, I might put these old vets a couple of places higher, but they haven't played a game since June 10th so I have no idea how they stack up at this point. I guess it doesn't matter either way since they didn't make playoffs.
#19 Holy Ghost Baptism (9-7), <FS: 20>, [Prev: HR], Peak: #14
In their first serious game of the season, they hit big with a 5-2 win over the notoriously up-and-down Good Damage 3. Unfortunately, none of their matches after that lived up to that win. Similar to Nav eSports, they had a few competitive games that could've turned the tides, but in the end, they were stuck just outside the bubble. A final 0-5 loss to ANGRY DOG NOISES put the ghosts to rest.
#20 Team Frantic (8-8), <FS: 24>, Peak: #16
The Frantic crew returned for a casual for-fun season. Similar to the OK Boomers, they seemed make most of their losses competitive, but underperformed against theoretically weaker teams on Product. Nonetheless, they won their final two games to make a solid 8-8 record. Not as good as their previous days, but not bad for a no-scrim fun season.
#21 arena_legacy (10-6), <FS: 17>
Like Rudy's BBQ team, arena_legacy was under the radar until they ended up with 10 wins. Their only real quality win was over The CUM near the end of the season so I'm not sure if they had a good night or if they just made considerable improvements over the course of the season. Either way, the cards almost fell just right for them as they were only a single round away from making playoffs.
#22 The CUM (9-7), <FS: 23>, [-7], Peak: #15
As mentioned in a previous edition, The CUM had a horrible start with several forfeit losses and a 5v6 loss. Things went a bit better after they upset Soulja Boy eSports, but they soon forfeited another by mistake. Despite some disappointments, they still managed to finish out with a positive record at least.
#23 nkccs- (9-7), <FS: 21>
The "Not Kinda Cool Comp Squad" (wtf does this name mean?) returned for it's fourth season and second ESEA season. Rain of Light left briefly, but returned mid-season and helped guide them to a slightly improved record of 9-7 (8-8 previously).
#24 Big Guys With Small Dogs (8-8), <FS: 29>
This line-up had quite a bit of potential, but didn't really live up to it for one reason or another. Many of their players had experience playing with each other in mid-high open teams, plus Benroads and Phoxx were solid additions. As for results, their only non-FFWs were to a casual low open team and a close match with a decent mid-open team.
#25 ambos scruff (7-9), <FS: 32>
I remembered the old Season 8 days of Avoided terrorizing open, so I was excited to see Fearless back in action, even though he only played in one game. As a whole, Ambos Scruff was actually a bit better than their negative record suggests in my opinion, and they definitely improved a good amount since the start of the season. It was unlucky that their season concluding match had to be played essentially 5v6 due to technical difficulties.
#26 Riverside TF (6-10), <FS: 38>
The obligatory highlander team of the season showed off their king of the hill skills with an 4-0 upset over Free Mr. U early in the season. Aside from that, they never got another chance on Product and didn't manage to pick up any other wins of a similar caliber. Still, they were at least a solid mid-open team.
#27 Big Door eSports (8-8), <FS: 27>
These guys were kind of my baseline for mid-open this season. Not amazing, but not bad either. They competed well against mid-open competition, rolled over lower tier competition, and lost to high open teams. About everything went as expected for a perfectly balanced 8-8 final record.
#28 epic style (8-8), <FS: 26>
To summarize, a very back-and-forth season. Never really had a major streak for better or for worse. I don't remember anything else about this team aside from it having pug group legend Bezels for a few games.
#29 Purple Plus 2 (7-9), <FS: 31>
The Underducklings came back with a new roster, and for the most part, did about the same as they did last season. They suffered a massive loss streak starting at week 4, but managed to turn it around and beat their scrim rivals Rex and the Rapture for a razor thin 4-3 streak breaking win.
#30 Muddy University (9-7), <FS: 22>
The mud men took a lot of brutal losses early on against a fairly stout schedule. They rallied back and nearly crept into late playoff contention, but their loss to Epic Style brought their redemption arc to an end.
#31 Rex and the Rapture (8-8), <FS: 28>
A former newbie mix team, Rex's raptors for the most part stayed together and came back to finish with a better record than last season - an even 8-8 as opposed to the previous 6-10. They also had a little help from fellow newbie mix graduates and former opponents Bird and Flamewarist who filled out their roster when they were needed.
#32 Ratz Team (7-9), <FS: 30>
They managed to collect a few decent wins, but unfortunately, were only the second best rat pack in open.
#33 Envision Crew (7-9), <FS: 36>
The long-running Sidular squad has been up and down many times throughout its 9 season journey through open. Last season a was a definite down, and this one, although not great, was at least a better note to end on.
(Continued below due to character limit...)