I started writing about the current issues with ESEA and the tf2 community, a couple paragraphs in, I realized that some people are just a little sick of hearing about the ESEA stuff and just want to read some rankings. So let's forget about the conflict and just talk about tf2.
Coldfront was NOT ready for competitive play. The map was admittedly fun, and I hope to get another shot next season, but it brought a lot of issues to the matches this season. There were constant lag and drop outs during matches, frame rate issues and issues with Texas servers (according to Lopert). I honestly don't understand why freight was dropped so easily.
This week, we get to play a much more familiar map in granary. I feel like this is the first week that I can start accurately gauging teams' skill levels since this will be a map all teams should know and will be in the playoffs for sure. I can't say that about any of the 3 new maps this season.
1. Hostile Faction - LW: 1 (6-0)
Passed their first two tests with flying colors. I thought Cause of Death and/or Have Fun would at least give them a little trouble. ggyggygylgylgy is playing the best season of his TF2 career and OhNoes is leading the league in least deaths per minute. This team is going to be very tough to beat. As much as aaronlol has seemed to improve from the first few matches, I still feel like he's the path to defeat this team. HF has 4 playoff caliber teams next on the schedule waiting for a shot at the #1 spot on the rankings. That game on granary against Vicious Gaming will most likely be the best match of the regular season.
2. Vicious Gaming - LW: 2 (6-0)
Impressive 5-1 win against Harmonic on Coldfront. VG still rockin the best scout duo in open with slardel and daniel. But the rest of their team cannot be overlooked. Sheep is doing his best impersonation of droog with over a 2:1 kill/death. ehfk is also having a very solid season as medic statistically. I'm also supposed to mention Lange or he gets pissed. Two tests against coolstory and Hostile Faction on granary. If they go 2-0, there is no doubt they will be #1 in the rankings next week and be the favorite to win open.
3. Lightning Bolt - LW: 6 (4-2)
Having a really hard time deciding who should be 3-6th place. I feel like they are all very evenly matched right now. I guess I'll put Bolt here, mainly because they won't be losing on granary against two mid teams. They solidified their roster with the addition of paintrain. So now the lineup looks like: Paintrain/blaze scout, Smash/Sureshot solly, Sherr Demo, DaveMD medic. So the two new additions are not as impressive as jinkx and lopert, but there are plenty of gamechangers and playmakers on this team that they should never be overlooked. We won't get to find out exactly how good these guys are until they get to mainline and face the Purple Cobras.
4. Blight - coolstory - LW: 3 (5-1)
Any other season, it would be a cakewalk for an invite pug team in open. But when you have 3 new maps in the season and a team that is just not dedicated to scrimming 3-4 days a week, you will have a team that is going to lose to opponents that are not as talented. This is exactly what happened during the unrestricted match. It looked like it was coolstory's first or second trip to coldfront and looked completely lost at times. The only thing they relied on during the match was their superior DM skills, and that just wasn't going to work against a good team like unrestricted. Maybe this is a wakeup call and they'll actually start taking the league seriously, or maybe this is just the beginning of the end. Huge showdowns on granary against VG and AI, going 2-0 would be the only option if blackfoger wants to prove me wrong.
5. Purple Cobras/Have Fun - LW: 5 (4-2)
Rough two matches against Hostile Faction and Apoplexy Industries. I don't know which loss hurt more, losing quickly and easily against Hostile Faction, a team they will need to get past if they want to win open, or losing to Apoplexy Industries due to cringe's connection issues, a team they were confident they could beat. They will have a chance to bounce back against Cause of Death on granary this week. I know these guys will be sticking around the top for a long time. St Patrick's medicing will only get better with time, Cringe is probably the best soldier in open that we're not talking about, and Fabri is no doubt a top 10 scout in open (6th imo).
6. eXpertise - LW: 7 (5-1)
After two easy wins on coldfront, expertise is ready to make a push to be considered a title contender. They will first have to fend off two teams below them on the power rankings first. Harmonic and unrestricted will both be very tough matchups for them. They both will be evenly matched games and will be exciting to watch. Top to bottom expertise is a very solid roster with plenty of experienced players. The issue is, other than shakr, I just don't see any "gamechangers" on the roster. I see everyone doing their jobs very well, but just not the type of roster with players that can pull off an ace or something. That is not meant to be insulting at all, but I'm sure they'll take offense to it.
7. Cause of Death - LW: 8 (4-2)
How mad sting?
8. Harmonic - LW: 9 (4-2)
Flame will get mad no matter where I put these guys and what I say. So I'm just going to say: Seanbud, you're my hero. And move on...
9. Focus Gaming - LW: NR (5-1)
Focus was lucky enough to get that Horizon ninja ffl overturned AFTER their 1-2 record gave them some easier opponents for the next few weeks. So these guys should be able to get past granary without too many issues. Their first big tests will come on mainline. Good luck guys.
10. unrestricted - LW: NR (5-1)
Great work on unr's part by taking down a top team in coolstory. They all decided to change their names for some weird reason, so I honestly have no idea who is who and who is playing well. Thanks guys. Big matches on granary about expertise and immortal 7. A 1-1 result will keep them in the rankings, 2-0 result will propel them into the middle of the rankings.
Honorable Mention
Immortal 7 - (5-1)
Can easily find themselves on the rankings if they take out unrestricted tonight.
