Ladle 55 Predictions

[ElmosWorld]

Opening Round:
Team.uNk(2) vs. Swift(0) - Swift just seems to keep losing members
Revolver(2) vs. uNa(0) - A nice easy match for Revolver's first ladle
CTA(2) vs. RoadRunnerz(0) - Not much to say here.
CTB(0) vs. _~Rogue Tronners~_(2) - In a battle of teams that don't know how to sign up on time, R should be able to take advantage of the US server
Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (2) vs. Open Team(0) - Open Team seems to be a little better than normal but still not at the level of TX.
Cool Trainers(2) vs. \\MeetYourMaker (0) - This would be a lot closer if mYm wouldn't have disbanded.
Xenocide(0) vs. Speedhax(2) - Even if Xenocide shows up they're not going to win.
Team Elite(0) vs. Pure Luck(2) - Team Elite is getting better, but they are not going to beat pL.

Quarter Finals
Team.uNk(1) vs. Revolver(2) - This will be a close match and uNk has a chance to win if they play like they did last ladle, but in the end I think Revolver will win this.
CTA(2) vs. Rogue Tronners(1) - A very even matchup, if it were in a US sever I would have picked R to win it.
Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (0) vs. Cool Trainers(2) - TX lost to uNk last ladle, and Cool Trainers is at least as good as uNk so Cool Trainers will win
Speedhax(2) vs. Pure Luck(0) - All of these Quarter Final matchups will be close, and I think these will be two close matchups but I see Speedhax edging pL.

Semi Finals
Revolver(1) vs. CTA(2) - If this wasn't Revolver's first ladle, I would pick them to win, but inexperience of not playing with each other gives CT the edge.
Cool Trainers(2) vs. Speedhax(0) - If we split the teams like I proposed this would be a closer match.

Finals
CTA(2) vs. Cool Trainers(1) - This is going to be a long match, but I think CTA will prevail in the end.

gms and gz CT

[Pr3]

Keep going Deso

[Slickster]

Opening Round:
Team.uNk(2) vs. Swift(0)
Since uNk set their focus to 1 ladle team, I believe they have gotten stronger, as they have built up more and more chemistry

Revolver(2) vs. uNa(0)
uNa has been improving recently, especially with the addition of Thump and the stealing of Concord's strategies! But Revolver has too much skill to let uNa score over 50 in either of these games.

CTa(2) vs. RoadRunnerz(0)
CT is too skilled for zero's activity o.o

CTB(0) vs. _~Rogue Tronners~_(2)
Depends on who shows up for R here...R's inactivity has hurt them, but this is a weaker CTb team than i'm used to seeing. R will not let a game slide (get it, cuz they're american so they won't slide ) get it tho?
And shoebat will be cracking jokes to Roze in German which will make Rs laugh and when Rs laugh they win and the jokes will confuse the other CTbs and distract Roze.

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (2) vs. Open Team(0)
Interesting Open Team this month. No one will show up for Tx besides their new nabs, but they will be enough...

Cool Trainers(2) vs. \\MeetYourMaker (1)
Lot of raw skill in Mym, but also a lot of raw skill with the trainers. The trainers' organization and knowledge will push them through, but not after mym takes a surprise match off of them.

Xenocide(0) vs. Speedhax(2)
Pretty strong Speedhax team here with the Cool Trainers taking up the SP team...

Team Elite(0) vs. Pure Luck(2)

Quarter Finals
Team.uNk(1) vs. Revolver(2)
uNk has the team aspect which I usually think is the deciding factor when it comes down to it, but Concord is smart enough to keep the team together, and I mean, realistically Revolver has arguably the most skill on the board. If olive and Xyron show Revolver will win in 2.

CTa(2) vs. Rogue Tronners(0)
Been a solid 2012 for CTa so far, they will keep it up.

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (0) vs. Cool Trainers(2)
This isn't a very strong Tx team...

Speedhax(1) vs. Pure Luck(2)
Vov changes his name 59 times throughout the match which confuses the Speedhaxers, pL edges by.

Semi Finals
Revolver(2) vs. CTA(1)
Most skill in a match this ladle...maybe this year? Revolver will edge CTa only if Olive shows up.

Cool Trainers(1) vs. Pure Luck(2)
Vov's trickery helps pL pull this one out, somehow. Tough match, but fast rounds and pL wins in 3.

Finals
Revolver(2) vs. Pure Luck(1)
pL surprises many! However, vov has to leave in the semis so pL is left short-handed.

Congratulations Revolver on your first ladle win.

[Overrated]

Octa Finals

Team.uNk vs. Swift >

Swift appears to be losing more and more of their better members, and even though this a unk team without potter or slash, I think they can handle a team that's declined from their win against CTA last year.

Team.uNk (2) - Swift > (0)

Revolver vs. uNa

I seriously doubt this talented team of Revolver will lose to uNa in their first showing. I wonder if the loss of eckz to the team (he was signed up earlier) will make an effect on a further run. Not a far drop off from anyone though. uNa just lacks enough talent to hold up with them.

Revolver (2) - uNa (0)

CTA vs. RoadrunnerZ

Wondering if CTA will have a full team, but even then, rZ is not getting lucky with any of these matchups these past few ladles. I've seen a lot of them in pickup, and that's a good sign for a growing team, but they need to have better matchups if they expect to get by the first round.

CTA (2) - RoadrunnerZ (0)

CTB vs. _~Rogue Tronners~_

This is the first time in a long while that everyone will show up for an all-R team, and CTB just lacks the talent that their counterpart, CTA, has. Especially in a US server, I don't think R will struggle too much.

CTB (0) - _~Rogue Tronners~_ (2)

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats vs. Open Team

The players on Open Team seem to slightly be getting better, but again, they're an open team and don't have too much organization. Meanwhile, tx has been losing a lot of key players in recent ladles. Xyron and olive being big names. This team shouldn't be enough for them, however.

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (2) - Open Team (0)

Cool Trainers vs. \\MeetYourMaker

I have absolutely no idea why mym has suddenly changed their aliases to not receive the one seed. My best guess is for the fact they don't want to be related to the previous team that just won the ladle before disbanding. I also wonder where envy went from the team leader position, and whether she still plans on playing for them. And what about eckz? Is he playing for mym too, since his sudden departure from revolver? I honestly have no clue, so if anyone wants to fill me in there, I'd appreciate it.

Back to the matchup though, this is mym's last stand, but they're playing a powerful mixture of unk and sp. This won't be easy for mym, and I'm just not sure who will be there to play for them at this point. I doubt Cool Trainers combined to lose in the first round either.

Cool Trainers (2) - \\MeetYourMaker (0)

Xenocide vs. Speedhax

Well, Ritsuka said they were forfeiting it, and even then. I don't think they would stand a chance considering how unprepared and unsure of who is actually on this team.

Xenocide (0) - Speedhax (2)

Team Elite vs. Pure Luck

This match might really be dependent on how the server handles. Based on what I've heard, this server handles terrible for euros, and considering a majority of pLx is euro, and 3t is US, this might just be an upset in the making. I don't think it'll happen, but this is something to keep your eye on given how well I've seen some of their players play lately.

Team Elite (1) - Pure Luck (2)

Quarter Finals

Team.uNk vs. Revolver

I feel like Revolver has the advantage here, given the fact uNk won't have potter or slash, and an improving Elmo. Meanwhile, Revolver will finally have a match where they can get some kinks out against uNa. With a lessened uNk team, and a pretty good Revolver team, this outcome leans in favor of Revolver.

Team.uNk (0) - Revolver (2)

CTA vs. _~Rogue Tronners~_

My honest feeling tells me whoever wins this matchup will win the ladle, and it's one of those biased things that are going to show up right now. R has shown a lot of potential, even with most of their normal players out. The question this comes down to is R looking better because of the subs they've had or because of the players that have improved within their team? This match will define that to see if R has come together with this current group as a team.

On the flipside, CTA has shown that they can hang with the best of them, but also a surprising loss to tx last ladle. Apparently the server sucked, but it's still major for them to lose like that. They're still a talented attacking and defensive team. What I've heard though, is wap might (I place emphasis on that) not show up. That'll sting a little for them, but it won't really slow them down any.

And here's the bias, I can't help but think this is R's time to shine again. When everyone's there, this team plays very well together.

CTA (1) - _~Rogue Tronners~_ (2)

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats vs. Cool Trainers

This tx team is not the same as it used to be, and I don't think spunk will be caught offguard by this team that has it's glaring weaknesses now. A combined team of some of the best players on both squads definitely leans this in their favor. I want to see how tx is now after losing some of their better players.

Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats (0) vs. Cool Trainers (2)

Speedhax vs. Pure Luck

Back in an eu server, pLx will have a better advantage here than they did against 3t. Will the server change benefit them? Going from US to EU can be tricky at start, and knowing that they could possibly start off slow against them. That team is still solid though, and facing against a possibly questionable speedhax team. Will mkay actually be there? He recently was added back on it, and without him they won't stand a chance, lacking a solid attack to keep things going for them. I feel like between the two, pLx has the advantage in terms of talent and individual skill will be the deciding factor.

Speedhax (1) - Pure Luck (2)

Semi Finals

Revolver vs. _~Rogue Tronners~_

This is probably the most skilled team, Revolver, that's going to be participating in this ladle. I don't think they'll do a conservative approach much like Concord had done with Swift late last year. This is definitely a powerhouse team, and I think they'll prepared to go for a ladle win. I wonder if not winning the ladle will break this project apart, however. They seem to have high expectations, and I'm not sure if they'll be able to 100% put it together this ladle.

The major benefit here is the fact that this is in EU compared to US. If this was US, I feel R would stand a much better chance, however, both poke and myself prefer EU for that extra rubber, meanwhile Luffy is still one of the better defenses out there and is in fact EU. So the server does have advantages for Revolver, but the majority of R prefers EU servers anyway.

Here comes my once a year bias! I feel like Revolver hasn't been battle tested against enough solid teams, and although they've played together enough to work well together, I don't think this is the ladle for them to get it all together.

Revolver (1) - _~Rogue Tronners~_ (2)

Cool Trainers vs. Pure Luck

Welcome back to the US pLx. This doesn't benefit either team too much, considering both are majority EU, however spunk will have insa there for a slight advantage. An uNk attack and an SP defense. Will there be a sweepbox? I don't think it matters. This pLx team is good, but spunk has all ladle to get used to the server, playing in it for the entire ladle. Meanwhile pLx has had to switch back and forth between US and EU. Will they adapt to that quick enough? They certainly have the skill for it, and I'm still waiting for them to show us something that will set them over the top into the upper tier of teams. When they do that, I think they'll definitely start turning heads. Vov won't be enough for now.

Cool Trainers (2) - Pure Luck (0)

Finals

_~Rogue Tronners~_ vs. Cool Trainers

Well, here goes my last biased prediction. R will undergo another server switch, which will play a factor. Spunk will start off strong, given playing in the server and having all the time to prepare there. They'll play to their advantage, even though a majority of R is US, and... Really not much to say. R has been mostly out-talented all ladle, but they have a solid player at each position and they've recently worked well together. Except for some rust which would have been shaken off earlier in the tourney, this just feels like the most battle-tested team (this ladle) and will be able to pull it off.

_~Rogue Tronners~_ (2) - Cool Trainers (1)

I think this is the only time I ever picked R to make the finals. Yay for bias, but also yay for hopefully having the six main R players there \o/.

glhf all.

On a side note, about halfway through the predictions I found this slightly tedious and meant not to make some of these so long. Yay rambling. \o/

[Desolate]

I'm on it today/tomorrow Pr3, I had it planned :p

[Titanoboa]

Since there are so many predictions nowadays, I'll try to keep my comments short even if I wanted to say a lot more about every meet. (Edit: except for the finals, haha)

Opening Round
Team.uNk [0]-[2] Swift > ~ uNk has this one on paper. Luckily for Swift, this match isn't played on paper.
Revolver [2]-[0] uNa ~ "A nice easy match for Revolver's first ladle" - ElmosWorld
CTA [2]-[0] RoadRunnerz ~ CT's A-team roster has looked more or less the same for a very long time, and every month each and every one of them are getting a little better. MB has improved significally. Gazelle and Cronix, their newest additions, have become top players in a short time. Their loss of top defender emmy doesn't do that much harm with these replacements.
CTB [0]-[2] _~Rogue Tronners~_ ~ One year ago, it'd be probable that R had a slow start and even lost the first match, but they've gathered enough experience and discipline to play well from the start. They're the better team, 2-0 is a given.
Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats [2]-[0] Open Team ~ Insert generic Open Team comment here.
Cool Trainers [2]-[0] \\MeetYourMaker ~ They gon' win. (read it like if Ollie Williams said it plz)
Xenocide [0]-[2] Speedhax - Always nice to see new teams in the ladle. Speedhax wins tho.
Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

Quarter Finals
Swift > [0]-[2] Revolver ~ Revolver's too good for Swift.
CTA [0]-[2] _~Rogue Tronners~_ ~ Very hard match to predict. If R comes prepared and their tactics work out, there's a chance they win 2 quick ones. If CTA pulls through and win a match, I think they'll win the next one as well.
Twi¦×¦ted ¦×¦ats [0]-[2] Cool Trainers ~ .×] won't make it easy for these pokemon fanatics to win, but Cool Trainers have their eyes set on the Elite Four and won't lose in the quarter.
Speedhax [2]-[0] Team Elite ~ It'd be cool to see another upset here, but I think Speedhax's individual experience will prevail in this one. Gonna have some long rounds and close scores though.

Semi Finals
Revolver [2]-[1] _~Rogue Tronners~_ - The end of all 3 matches are going to be super close and intense. That's where it's between the individual mistakes of Concord, Dreadlord, Free kill, Hoax, Liz, Olive, Xyron and Poke, Shoe, Luffy, Lacka, Red, Over. That's when all those hours spent in public sumo servers pay off, and that's why Revolver's players have the edge. Liz, Olive and Xyron are much less likely to flinch than Shoe, Red and Over.

Cool Trainers [2]-[0] Speedhax - Definitely not as intense as the other match up, I suspect. Cool Trainers are gonna be having fun in /team while Speedhax will be running out of PP, and then struggle to keep up.

Finals
Revolver [2]-[1] Cool Trainers
This will really be a hard challenge to tackle for Cool Trainers. Slash and the rest of the team will really have to work hard to take down Revolver's solid defense, especially with their sweepers creating a strong barrier around it. On the other end, insa will have to harden his defense to minimize the enemies' chances of getting in with a quick attack. Because once they do, it's hard to recover. Each team only has one substitute, so if potter's struck with amnesia and forgets to show up, there'll be no replacement for Aiphaton who might be filled with rage due to light cycles teleporting all over the place. They can always hope fofo's agility combined with nubilous' strength can be combined to double team their enemies. Cool Trainers have to play their own game and not try to mimic anyone else, because if they do that'll just result in confusion within the team, which will disable all their chances of winning. No, they have to counter the enemy's attacks the good old fashioned way. With a cut on their defense and a dig on their wall, they might be able to wrap this one up.
Oh and while Cool Trainers are busy with their pokemon moves, Revolver will be playing fortress, winning the ladle.

(Not sure if this wall of text truly reflects my thoughts about this match up accurately, but as the leader of Swift it felt natural for me to post the final prediction like this.)

[Cronix]

screw you over for being that fast

[Titanoboa]

Know what'd be much cooler? Ladle match reviews.

Btw here are the brackets filled out correctly.

[zat]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

lol!

[sinewav]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

lol!

Actually, Team Elite has been on fire lately -- like, really hot. It wouldn't surprise me if they advanced.

[Cronix]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

lol!

Dont lol about it... seriously... look at the server and titans decision is right

[vov]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

lol!

Dont lol about it... seriously... look at the server and titans decision is right

wait... are you serious?
you know... when the server lags we win either way cause we've got lagid on our team!

[Concord]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

lol!

Actually, Team Elite has been on fire lately -- like, really hot. It wouldn't surprise me if they advanced.

Ladle 54: 3t 0-2 PL
Ladle 52: 3t 0-2 PL
Ladle 51: 3t 0-2 PL

on fire?

[sinewav]

on fire?

As in, they've been practicing quite a bit this last month and are getting really tight. I think they are the only team that's made a serious effort to practice for this Ladle. I'm just saying I don't think the outcome is as cut and dry as some of you might imagine.

[Cronix]

Team Elite [2]-[1] Pure Luck ~ Another upset! If you'd call Swift beating uNk an upset, I'm not sure. Anyway, Pure Luck has become a good team. They're up for a surprise against Team Elite though.

Dont lol about it... seriously... look at the server and titans decision is right

wait... are you serious?
you know... when the server lags we win either way cause we've got lagid on our team!

oh snap

and PL is on a winning streak against 3t ... something up with the random script?