After taking one week off we're back to doing Match of the Week coverage on CEVO! This week's map is koth_viaduct, a popular map as of late, still in the honeymoon phase where everyone thinks its the greatest map since Badlands. Much like Gravelpit, Viaduct allows for lots of varied play styles, team compositions and strategies that you don't normally see in your standard push map. There should be some exciting matches in store -- assuming CEVO-P matches are played in a timely manner and the M and A teams have been practicing their koth. No interview this week, instead I've a special opinion piece regarding an overturned match in CEVO last week. But lets move on to the first depressing matter of business...

CEVO-P MotW: Maybe Someone Will Play vs. Another Team

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Community asks for both a Professional and Main division to compliment the Amateur division, gets exactly what they wanted, then completely fails to support the league in question. With only five teams left in the professional division, having only one or two of them drop is a huge blow for the league. Hopefully it won't come to that, but recent inactivity has led some to believe it might.

Not much else to say about CEVO-P right now. Hopefully the league will pick up and the teams will get their matches played. After all, there is still a huge incentive for these teams to play: the money. Seriously, just check out the prizes for CEVO-P: First place gets six cases worth a total of $1139.99, plus the biggest share in a $3,500 cash prize pot. Compare that to ESEA's first place prize of $2,000 (total prize pot is for top 4 places and valued at $4,250), and it looks like the CEVO-P prizes for each individual are equal to or possibly better than ESEA's, depending on how CEVO splits the prize pot and whether or not you factor in the $190 cases thrown in (second and third place receive non-cash prizes as well, on top of their share of the prize pot). So the question is, why are so many teams dropping CEVO?

EDIT: I have just received confirmation that all five teams are still participating in CEVO-P. CEVO is being flexible and allowing them to play their matches at their convenience. Which is a good news for everyone!

ESEA Open is alive and kickin. Loved playing and watching viaduct matches. They are always exciting and really targets teamwork more than individual play...mainly because the map is so small, you never get those 1 v 1 matchups you see in 5 pt cp maps.

Now let's move on to gravelpit, one of my favorite maps to play as an utility player....not so much as medic. But honestly, I feel like the map is dictated by the sollies. Roof control on B, tower control on C...just can't be done well by any class but the soldier. A map that is fun to watch when it is two evenly matched teams. But it is the WORST map for an uneven matchup. Instead of a quick roll, you get to watch a team failpush B 10 times in a span of 15 minutes. Yaaaawn.

Anyways, here are my rankings. I narrowed it down to 10 because I'm lazy. Will add "honorable mentions" later in the season. The rankings will still be unstable until we hit granary. After 8 games and the comfort of 5 pt CP maps arrive, I expect the rankings to stay relatively the same. Enjoy.

ETA: A lot of people are wondering why I have so many 0-2 and 1-1 teams in the rankings while there are other 2-0 teams out there deserving of the rankings. Maybe they do, but 2 matches on viaduct is not going to make me drastically change any rankings. Teams that I have confidence in will have to lose more than once for me to give up on them and throw them out of the rankings.