CommunityFortress

Just as CEVO-Main has been able to define some strong teams in the first five weeks of play, Amateur has four undefeated teams with a number of contenders nipping at their heels. The division started the season with seventy one teams but currently has forty nine active. This 30% reduction is similar to that of Main and seems to be a percentage consistent with most competitive TF2 seasons that are nearing playoffs. Let’s check out the top four teams and some others that might be able to break their winning streaks later this season (if they don’t do it themselves first).

1. Violent Revolution - (5-0)

Roilan "tragic" Ortiz
Mister "MR SLIN" Slin
Neil "Terminator" Fargtut
Stephen "flappy" Foster
Ilya "Green" Lachtchev
Wellington "Jesus" Cordeiro
John "pt" Smith

Led by tragic, Violent Revolution had been dominating all of their Central division opponents until week five in which they scraped by with 5-4 victory over eighth-ranked Klickin’ With Klicka on freight. Their previous four weeks had been flush with landslide victories over twentieth-ranked Firebot, thirty fifth-ranked dawgz, and sixth-ranked Fallback. Violent Revolution is new name on the scene but their coordination (and scout work) is good enough to garner them some much needed attention in the community.

Although I think that Violent Revolution has a lot of potential in the coming months and in playoffs, I feel that they aren’t ready to top the third-ranked Target Practice. I predict a 3-5 or 4-5 loss in favor of Target Practice. Then again, their roster changes and the addition of Jesus to the squad might be able to tip it in their favor. Watch out for Hoppy!

2. MedRed Inc. - (5-0)

Mark "cardboard" Nolan
j "digitdaily" t
Brian "improper" Watts
Phil "ThePancakeLord" Brackett
Jimmy "Outblaze" Vu
Inspector "Inspector Dim" Dim
Nathaniel "RomanHoliday" Bukofske
Matt "vhalin" L

MedRed has had a successful run in the Atlantic division thus far but their success may be inflated by the weaknesses of the east coast division. With far fewer teams than the Central division, the Atlantic division arguably sports many weaker teams since the majority of the top teams opted for the challenge of the Central division. Either way, MedRed defeated four teams in a row and received a FFW for week five to place them at the second place position in Amateur. They have notable victories over eleventh-ranked Northern Resistance (5-1 on granary) and fifth-ranked Semi Serious (2-0 on gravelpit); they barely topped sixteenth-ranked Jones BBQ on viaduct but managed to pull out the 4-3 victory.

MedRed’s next match is against Prestige Worldwide on obscure and I predict a 5-3 victory in favor of MedRed. Prestige Worldwide lost to Northern Resistance on badlands and gave up another game to Pre-Game Allstars, a team that lost to Semi Serious.

3. Target Practice - (5-0)

K "FvonD" S
Infy "Infusions" Fusy
K "FRedsh" F
Mark "HoppyPotty" H
corey "corey" corey
Phil "Huey Lewis" Bain
Kurt "TRUK" Russ
Gab "oBey" Cyr

I have always associated Target Practice with RENTAL but his absence on the roster seems to not have had any significant impact on his former team’s success. Led by FvonD, the starting lineup consists of FvonD, TRUK, corey, HoppyPotty, FRedsh, and Infusions. The team has cruised unscathed to a 5-0 record with only one FFW. They only gave up points to two opponents, twelfth-ranked Ill-Tempered Sea Bass on granary and thirty fifth-ranked dawgz on viaduct, and dominated ninth-ranked L'attaque à 6 with a score of 5-0 on freight.

As I mentioned earlier, this team has a powerful lineup with dynamic scouts and powerful soldier work. HoppyPotty is particularly notable in his ability to break up the enemy combo and I feel that he will play a large role in their next match. I think Target Practice will top Violent Revolution with a score of 5-3 or 5-4 on obscure.

4. Hitscan Death Machine - (5-0)

ryan "tenaciousg" sierra
bob "supermansucks" hadley
Craig "Ch3$t3R" Nordmann
Bobby "digital" Digital
Adam "Kunami" Kuhn
Kellen "Death4U" Reimers
michael "judo chop action super buddha" runnels
Mike "Hummer" Hitt
Michael "mumbologist" K
Jun "JuN" L
Andrew "Starfire^^" Tam
K "Tempest" C

Hitscan Death Machine, hereafter referred to as HDM, had two tough matches to open the season but have coasted through the final three weeks to maintain their undefeated record. Their first match was a close 5-4 victory over Apocalypse Gaming Jr. and their second match was tied 3-3 at half before HDM overwhelmed Mayham! to seal the deal at 5-3. HDM proceeded to defeat Team Fun Haters 2-0 on gravelpit and BöNK 4-1 on viaduct.

Despite having not played with any of the HDM roster, I notice thatthey have taken the fight to a number of quality lower level teams. I predict that they will defeat sixth-ranked Fallback 5-1 on obscure.


Honorable Mention

Klickin’ With Klicka - (4-1)

Auston "Bodknocks" Schrougham
Travis "Klicka" Klicka
Charlie "Buddah" Saunders
Steven "Xstrymegamer" Chen
dustin "hablah" smith
Peter "Super_" Rauch
Jeff "jestr" Parvin
c "char" rob

Although they are not undefeated, the team formerly known as Endurance managed to score four points on Violent Revolution in their freight match last week. I foresee KWK topping seventh-ranked Team Fun Haters this week on obscure and putting in a challenge to the top four teams in week seven on yukon.