Anyway, with that out the way, here's my first ever predictions.
Octa Finals
UNK Team bye
ID 1-2 Team Unk
I think this could be a good first round match. ID are out to prove that rebranding themselves as a 'team' isn't just some cheap gimmick, and love him or, as is more often the case, loathe him, Swiss is a very good defender when he/she (no arguments please) is on form. However Team Unk are a good team with some fairly solid players there so I think they can probably edge out ID here. Two close matches then a walk over last match is my prediction.
<| Flame 2-0 Speeders
From insider knowledge I can tell you that the Flame team for Phoenix are shaping up into a strong team and are consistently awesome when they get into stride. The real test will be the first few rounds, if they do well I can see them winning both matches comfortably, if they falter then I fear they will be up against a tough battle the whole way. Speeders have what I would consider a patchy team, weak parts may well end up bringing them all down.
Ww 0-2 Revolver
Ww have a good set of players but fortress isn't really they're forte. Revolver are going to be looking to do well in this ladle after out muscled in the bowl last week and, depending on who shows up, should have the player base to do so.
CT 2-1 pr0n Stars
Probably the match to watch if you're not busy playing, two very good teams here and a game that could go either way. On the one hand, CT are probably still bouncing off the walls from last weeks bowl victory and have shown that they are certainly not a team to take lightly. On the other, pr0n stars have a great line up with players such as vogue and rudy. I see CT's teamwork and enthusiasm coming through here but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I was proven wrong.
<| Fire 2-1 Redemption
After fizzling out early on in the Bowl last week to the eventual winners, Rd will want to prove they still have what it takes, and they definitely have a line up to suggest that they can. Fire do have some new talent in to bolster their previous performances though and after missing out playing in the bowl are pretty determined to get some rank points on the board. The first match is going to be decisive here, the team who takes it will, in my (completely unbiased >.>) opinion, end up taking the game. Hopefully it will be a good match to watch.
WTCF 1-2 OOps
It will be interesting to see what team OOps actually fields from they're reasonably large selection, some of them such as Bead, Zion, Kalle and maybe modo are pretty evident but those last couple of places seem quite open. WTCF is completely unknown, an open team with at least some players using pseudonyms (Druu assured me that she isn't actually playing, however chrisd does often play in open teams so I'm a bit confused). TBH I don't know how to call this one, I don't know who's playing or even who's on which team. I'll go with OOps since they're the more established team but who knows, maybe chrisd's horrifically infuriating attacking style will cause them all to ragequit.
rZ 1-2 Rogue Tronners
In my opinion the other big match to watch this round will be this one. rZ had a disappointing last ladle after their previous win and rogue are hot off that thrilling bowl final. Both teams are really going to be gunning for it but I think rogue will pull this one off with their current good form.
Quarter Finals
Team Unk 2-1 Unk Team
It's not often that both teams from a clan meet up but it can often be quite interesting when they do. Unk's teams are actually pretty evenly matched out so this should be good to watch. I'm going to guess that the odds may be slightly in Team Unk's favour with their momentum from the previous match.
<| Flame 0-2 Revolver
On the back of a win Revolver will be back up to playing at their top form and I'm not sure even a pumped up Flame team will be able to derail them. I daresay they might manage to get in a sneaky match but I don't really think they can prevail overall. I do, however, live in hope.
<| Fire 1-2 CT
This will all depend on how CT are feeling after their first match. If Fire come through a very tough first round then they will have managed to iron out any kinks in their plan and will be tough to beat. But, if CT are on the form they were last weekend then I'm afraid it will probably be curtains, albeit a close match. But hey, we can always blame the server.
OOps 0-2 Rogue Tronners
Unfortunately this match will probably end up as a bit of a walk over, OOps don't really have the players to take on RT man for man and don't seem to have the same close knit team either. You never know, OOps might come out and surprise as all, but I don't see it happening.
Semi Finals
Team Unk 1-2 Revolver
Team Unk are going to have their work cut out here, Revolver will have well and truly shaken off any rust right now and will be playing hard. If I was being harsh, I'd say the only chance Unk have is that Bellum messes up as consistently as he did in the Bowl, although I believe that was probably just a bad day for him. Bottom line, Team Unk may well sneak in a close first match but overall this is going to be Revolver's match.
CT 1-2 Rogue Tronners
Now here's a rematch we all wanted to see happen, and if it's anything like the bowl it won't disappoint. Both coming off tough matches they will be well loosened up and hardened for battle. This is perhaps the toughest one to call so far but I reckon RT may have the will to pull this off more than CT does.
Finals
Revolver Rogue Tronners
A good old final with 2 of the big teams, although if the bowl and last 2 ladles have told us anything it's that an underdog will usually come and stun us all. But, if it does come down to this my money's on RT. After missing out by so little in the bowl, and having finally beat CT after another set of close, tough matches, I think their form is going to be second to none and can go on to win. Gz RT, you did it!
