Click read more to check out an extensive preview of the upcoming Season 5 of the ESEA-Invite league by CommFT's eXtine and djfivenine. 8 big teams, competing for 4 spots in the LAN playoffs, this is gonna be huge!
Blight aka 20ID
eXtine: 20ID has been a TF2 beast for the last two seasons. After a three-way tie for 2nd place in the ESEA-Invite Season 3 standings, 20ID ran away with it in the playoffs, beating EG on cp_badlands by a 5-0 score twice, and thumping regular season leaders Complexity 5-2. In Season 4 20ID only had 3 losses, once to EG on cp_well, once to Loaded on cp_freight, and a late season forfeit. Saber07 left the team late-mid-season and Scruff stepped into the scout position. 20ID's first playoff match ended up being played against a 5-man Loaded squad, then 20ID were beat by EG 5-1 followed by Loaded taking their revenge on a well fought 5-4 badlands match. 20ID was one of the top dogs of this league, what is Blight going to be?
dj's take: When Seagull is in your lineup, you will be contending for a championship. Throw in one hell of a medic in Ruwin and demo in dummy. They have also made an interesting move in adding numlocked, one of the best demomen in Europe. How much impact will he play for blight? The biggest question for the team lies in their scout combo. I see oPlaid as their only starting scout right now, but I am not sure who they can recruit to get on the same level as the EG or Loaded scouts. Evil Geniuses aka EG
eXtine: EG's credentials are exceptional, boasting a 12-4 record and making it to the championship round in Season 3, and an even better 15-1 record in Season 4. Their playoffs ended in disappointment, but the team will surely only be strengthened by the knowledge that they had done so well in the season up until that point. EG played fantastic in their first two matches, but with Syckness unable to play in the championship round and Paladin as a last minute replacement, Loaded were able to beat them on perhaps the two biggest scout maps, badlands and Gravel pit. EG has fantastic players and always puts forward a very polished and co-ordinated team. If they had their regular starting scout, or even just more time to practice with Paladin in the position, EG knows they would have played a better game. All that will just make them more hungry for Season 5.
dj's take: EG is constantly improving. They made some great pick ups during the beginning of Season 4. And I feel like their teamwork and chemistry will only improve with time. Casey, Reptile and Destro are considered the best in their respective class, and when you have 3 players who are considered the best in their class, your team should be considered the favorite. Aside from one match vs 20id and the finals, EG could have had an undefeated season. I am looking forward to seeing some great things from them this season.
Just Point And Click Bro aka PAC
eXtine: Point and Click have been around in the ESEA-I for a couple seasons, with their season 4 match record being 4-12. That record isn't a true testament to their capabilities though, as throughout the same season they were perhaps more focused on winning division 1 of TWL. ESEA-I is a stacked division and PAC were having a bit of trouble hanging with the big boys last season. Nonetheless, they put on a proud display and have shown that they have the caliber to be in the league. Every sports league has to have teams with a losing record, but PAC deserves to be in ESEA-I and will be looking to improve upon their form from Season 4.
dj's take: If you only look at their 4-12 record in ESEA I last season, you wouldn't think too much of these guys. However, you have to realize that they took down some great teams to get the TWL-Invite title last season, and this was their first full season together as a team. They are growing as a team. Their win against the ESEA I champions, Loaded, showed the community of their potential. Slardel has become one of the most respected scouts in TF2. Sequel should be considered one of the best pocket sollies in the game. And Chupa is probably the most underrated Demoman in the game. I don't expect PnC to win this division, but I expect some great things from them, maybe a few more upsets against the "big 4".
Loaded
eXtine: Loaded is often criticized for "not practicing" during the regular season, but their raw skill is often on display. Despite a rough start to Season 4's playoffs, playing a match a man down, Loaded pulled it together and put on quite the show in taking down 20ID and EG. They also beat Strickland Propane on their way to the crown, meaning Loaded scored victories over every other team that was in the playoffs! With Season 5 featuring even more talent than last season, Loaded will still be expected to make the playoffs. If they stutter as the season opens, they'll just start practicing!
dj's take: Loaded will not lose the big game. That we know for sure. With Enigma and Carnage, the best Scout combo in the world, it is hard to ever count out Loaded. And now with the addition of Pyyouur back on the roster, animeman can move back to backup and hopefully this lineup is a little more solid throughout the season. It's funny because I talked to carnage at the end of Season 3 when Loaded was disqualified from ESEA, asking him for an interview, all he said was "Enigma is coming back, we're gonna get our sh*t together, and we're going to win it next season, that's all I gotta say." I wonder if he will guarantee me another championship for this season. Mob Gaming aka C3H8 - Strickland Propane
eXtine: Strickland Propane's performance last season was a surprise to many fans, but some fans already knew how talented this team was. Winners of ESEA-O's Season 3 and taking second place in this years CEVO-M playoffs, Strickland has got some skills to pay the bills. The transition into ESEA-I was a little rough with Strickland struggling to get a win against the big boys throughout the regular season. There was some well fought matches, including a 5-4 and a 5-3 loss to EG, but Strickland won the matches that count at the end of the season. With two games to play, Strickland needed to beat Point and Click and Vicious Gaming to make it to the playoffs, and they did exactly that. Although they lost to EG in the opening round, many thought they stood a chance to beat Loaded on cp_yukon. The result went against them, but only by the thinnest of margins.
dj's take: One of the most underrated teams in TF2. Sureshot is someone the TF2 community will get to know soon enough. And Grillz is one hell of a medic. Like PnC, this was their first season together, and you can only expect better things in their second season together.Vicious Gaming
Vicious Gaming's record at the end of last season was 8-8 with 2 forfeit wins over Lightning Bolt, and VG looks like a middle of the table team in TF2's top division. Like Strickland, they are veterans of ESEA-O with a 13-3 record from Season 3. They have skilled players at every position and put together a solid run last year. Also like Strickland and PAC, they had a tough time cracking the armor of the division's top dogs. Defeated by Strickland on the last match day for a spot in the playoffs, VG still must take heart in a solid performance in their first year in ESEA-I.
dj's take: This Vicious Gaming is a completely different VG than last season. First you still have Warpy and Superfly, arguably the two best players from the old team, then the addition of Hell, Rep and Punisher, who were all starters from Complexity, and finally wicked, soldier from the undefeated Tool Academy Grads ESEA-O team...I'm very close to changing the Big 4 into the Big 5. I just wonder how long it will take for this team to find their chemistry.
Immortal-7 aka i7
eXtine: Under their previous previous tag, Area-51 was the ESEA-O Season 3 playoff winners and regular season leaders with a 15-1 season. To be honest, I don't know a lot abou these guys... so I'll let dj run it down.
dj's take: After a 15-1 ESEA-Open Championship season in season 3, the TF2 community was looking forward to seeing how Area 51 was going to perform at the invite level. However, they decided to take a break for a season. Fortunately for us, CB, cbear, ducky and bloodsire decided to put together a team with warped from All Natural and stamjally from lightning bolt to create the MuscleMilk and Mooligans crew...sponsored by Immortal 7. We definitely will get the opportunity to find out how these guys will perform at the highest level of TF2. Another interesting thing to point out is that they have picked up DL as their backup. DL is one hell of a player that can back up at every position...and I can say from first hand experience that his dead ringer is THE most annoying thing in TF2.
Pandemic
eXtine: Pandemic is one of the biggest esports organizations and they were with competitive TF2 from the beginning, then their team jumped to Loaded and after forming a new one, the chemistry wasn't there to keep it going. They are back though, and sporting quite the powerful roster. With the support of the Pandemic organization behind them, this is the team to watch at the beginning of the season.
dj's take: I am very happy to see Pandemic back in the TF2. Big fan of TheFragile, Justin and fanom. That medic and scout combo can compete with any team in ESEA I. But I wonder how rusty Wonderwall is after taking a few months off TF2 as well as Kermit and TLR, who are both pretty new to the "pro" scene.
eXtine's Wrap-up
One quick look at ESEA-I Season 5 should be enough to convince any TF2 fan to pay attention to this league. Loaded, EG, Blight, Pandemic are four teams guaranteed to put on exciting matches with skill and style no matter what. While these four are the biggest teams on paper, the other four teams are definitely going to bring it. Every match is going to be an important one for MoB, PAC, VG, and i7 as Season 4 showed that the playoff spot can come down to the last game of the year. If one of those teams can dominate the others and string together a couple victories against the "big boys", they could snag that fourth spot.
I think it's important to remember going into this Season with 8 high-calibre teams, not everyone is gonna be a winner. That's pretty obvious stuff, but at the end of the season the fans shouldn't hate on any of these teams. Coming in 5th or 6th place is going to be a serious challenge, and in any sort of league, someone has to come in last. If they fold, it's a different matter, but being in the bottom of this league is going to be nothing to be ashamed about.
This season will surely provide great entertainment and hopefully the other leagues and divisions will provide more teams capable of playing in Season 6. 12 teams would give more variety to the standings, and once that level of stability is reached ESEA can start looking at the concepts of Promotion and Relegation.
eXtine's Predictions.
1. EG
2. Loaded
3. Blight
4. MoB
5. Pandemic
6. VG
7. PAC
8. i7
dj's Wrap-up
If you ask any silverback TF2 competitive player, they will say that CEVO P Season 2 was the best league/season ever in TF2. So many great teams back then...Apoplexy Ind, Check-Six, Complexity, eMazing, iDemise, Loaded, Dynamic, Evil Geniuses.
But I'm going to say right now, ESEA-I season 5 will top CEVO S2 and be the best and the most competitive season. No team will be undefeated or be without a win. I fully expect 4 or 5 teams to hang around .500 the whole season. If you are a fan of competitive TF2, you will need to pay attention to this league all season because every single match will be fun to watch!
dj's Predictions
1. Evil Geniuses
2. Loaded
3. Blight
4. Vicious Gaming
5. Pandemic
6. Immortal 7
7. MoB
8. Point n Click
2. Loaded
3. Blight
4. Vicious Gaming
5. Pandemic
6. Immortal 7
7. MoB
8. Point n Click
