#1 - The Westbrook Effect
Undefeated, and they've played now played what should be their two toughest opponents (barring possibly Every Villain Is Lemons and KICKFLIP), seemingly effortlessly beating the 2nd of them in Hurricane Watch. A remarkably solid roster with no weak spots, all of their players being among the very best on their respective classes.
#2 - malicious activity (if they are still alive)
To be clear, I believe they purposely threw against TWE last Sunday, putting Dilent on demoman and in general feeding like retards. They are only the best team in open when they play with dingo and geknaiir, apparently. Still, a close 4-5 loss to the top team means that they should be able to beat the rest of their Eastern conference competition. On the other hand, they forfeited their last game so who knows.
#3 - No Johns
Easily dispatched Milters and Bote to take sole place as the leaders of Central conference. By the end of Viaduct week, they will have played (and I expect beat) nearly every high open team in their conference.
#4 - Not Around Bears
More roster changes for them (they have yet to actually play a match this season with edward). Orbit was definitely a good demo, but Moy is looking at least as good so far, doing a lot of work in his debut match for the team. Their win over kawaii sexu desu desu could have been cleaner, but they didn't struggle against WuT dUdE. Overall a perfectly fine badlands week for NAB.
#5 - Milters
They were unable to dethrone No Johns, but playing with a backup and still taking 2 rounds is solid. Callum, fubuki and Sybran in particular had an excellent game. This week they also beat Shutup Mom im Bowflexing, who have been looking better and better as the season goes on, making it a respectable win.
#6 - Egg Salad Dressing
Despite getting slightly out-dmed by Bote for most of their match, their superior cohesion gave them a slow but sure 5-2 victory. After being somewhat demoralized by their loss to Milters on snakewater, they seem to be quickly on the uptick.
#7 - Bote 6v6
As I was worried about, their DM-heavy gameplay did not transfer well to a map like Badlands, giving them 2 losses this past week. Rightjustify has also apparently been having internet problems, which does not bode well for them given how key he is to their success. Between their powerful scout pair and the fact that Viaduct is played in highlander, I'm cautiously optimistic for them next week.
#8 - Hurricane Watch
To nobody's great surprise except perhaps RainofLight, they struggled against top team The Westbrook Effect (on badlands, probably their worst map, but I would anticipate similar results on any map). Another likely loss against malicious activity next week means they will need to do well against Every Villain Is Lemons, probably their closest matchup in the East, next match or risk plummeting in the rankings.
#9 - Cant Predict Stupid
Not much going on for them this week, more big DPM performances from Smarty and a fairly straightforward 5-1 win over mid-high team slightly nervous doggos. Two important games coming up on viaduct, which should be a good map for their roster and playstyle.
#10 - Shutup Mom im Bowflexing
Had a close win over kawaii sexu desu desu and a close lose to Milters on badlands, which barring a couple errors looked like a good map for them. Despite how much we all love to make fun of Dreamboat, he's the only player I saw with flawless pyro play holding blands last this week, so props for that. Unfortunately, their twin rocket jumper paintrain strat didn't quite pan out.
#11 - Every Villain Is Lemons
Anybody who has scrimmed them can attest to the fact that they are better than this rank, but until it's reflected in their matches (i.e. not just 5-4 wins over mid-high teams) I'm reluctant to move them higher, so they are intentionally slightly underrated. Their upcoming match against Hurricane Watch should clear up any questions about their ability, one way or another.
#12 - Bob-omb Squad
Haven't lost a game since changing their lineup, though they did drop 3 rounds to Bearly Alive. Fusionn has adapted to playing medic very impressively, and mirrorman's maincalling has made a noticeable difference in everybody's performance. Very promising team.
#13 - WuT dUdE
Badlands week went about how I expected for WuT dUdE. A lot, perhaps too much, of their performance seems to hinge lately on how much bwelp goes off in their games - though their combo is playing as solid as ever.
#14 - KICKFLIP
This marked-dead low IM team has finished taking over Girls Gone Mild's roster. If they find a strong pocket, the raw dm of these players should easily give them enough wins to grab a playoff seed. The only question at this point is how they will fare against high open teams - though at a 4-4 record in the less competitive East they won't play any for at least a couple weeks. I'm hesistant to rank them too high until they have a confirmed pocket soldier.
#15 - kawaii sexu desu desu
I can't help but feel that this is the most misplaced team in my power rankings. They are clearly very skilled, taking 2 to 4 rounds in all of their losses to high open teams. The two glaring issues are their dependence on Br0nze (who leads the league in scattergun frags and dominations by a significant margin), and their inability to finish out these close games with a win. Of course, only losing 5-4 to Not Around Bears is very impressive and is the main reason I know they are underranked, but every close loss puts them further away from a playoff seed.
#16 - Ie Sparkle Gang black
Megaboy is excellent on pocket so far and I expect to see them win most of their remaining games this season, but they've already lost to 3/4 of the top East teams. Kev was vac banned on his main and is a questionable addition to their roster, at least vlad had the sense to quit ESEA when he got banned. Even if he isn't cheating, the question will always exist in opponent's minds.
Outside top 16:
Bearly Alive, Bring Back The Funk, Kuwumbu Jungle 2, Slightly Nervous Doggos, TacoHut eSports, Minty Fresh
Some upcoming matches to watch:
Milters VS Bote 6v6
WuT dUdE VS Cant Predict Stupid
Not Arounds Bears VS No Johns
Egg Salad Dressing VS Shutup Mom im Bowflexing
Milters VS Not Around Bears
Cant Predict Stupid VS kawaii sexu desu desu
Every Villain Is Lemons VS Hurricane Watch
Bote 6v6 VS Bob-omb Squad
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