SSL October Pre-Game Analysis by swatllama

Since Acuerta is going to be playing in every mode this Sunday, and the volunteer who ninja’d me (Frosty) is also, I get to write this!

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF OPINION!

FFA

Semifinal #1 – swatllama vs raffael

Well, raffael has stronger weapon skills. I think I can outplay him in every other department.

I remember he did beat Frosty back in August though…

Conclusion: 2-0 for swatllama

Semifinal #2 – Frosty vs Acuerta

This one will be exciting! I don’t think these two play much together except to bitch about “nope it’s server” or “nope it’s you lagging fag”, and I’ve never seen them face off in ffa. Acuerta IS a frightening opponent. While he and Frosty are pretty much equal in efficiency, he has an intimidation factor to me that Frosty doesn’t have. Maybe since I’m more of a puC than Frosty, he won’t be affected. I really don’t even want to call this one, but I’ll have to guess that my team member will be able to “lag” ahead.

Recent Duel History: Frosty, Acuerta

Conclusion: 2-1 for Frosty

Hypothetical Final: Frosty vs swatllama

I don’t think we’re any different from last month.

Conclusion: 2-0 for swatllama

Hypothetical Final #2: swatllama vs Acuerta

This one would be closer! While I think Frosty might beat Acuerta in FFA, Acuerta would definitely perform better against me because of that intimidation factor, and cause he just would! FFA doesn’t go as smoothly as efficiency and insta for that idea that “I beat you, he lost to you, I beat him too,” as Acuerta’s “recent” duels vs Lokio show.

With the map pick, once again, going in my favor, I think I’ll be able to win on my choices. On all 10 maps in the pool, I’d cut it close, but again, I think I can win on the majority of them. That said, I did get kinda destroyed by him when we last played ffa two months ago. At this point, he’s an unknown, and kinda intimidating to me.

Conclusion: 2-1 for swatllama

EFFICIENCY

Semifinal #1 – raffael vs Frosty

We see these two tanks matching up once again, and I think that it will once again be insanely close. But really, has anything changed since September? Frosty doesn’t seem like he’s played as much sauer lately as raffael has been able to. If anything, the difference in score will be higher. That said, I believe in Frosty’s riflewhoring.

Conclusion: 2-1 for raffael

Semifinal #2 – Acuerta vs neon

Neon… it’s tempting for me to want him to once again face raffael in the efficiency finals for a third time, but I don’t think it’ll come to that. Don’t get me wrong – neon’s a crazy high scoring and high skilled player, but so is Acuerta, and I think more so.

Conclusion: 2-1 for Acuerta

Hypothetical Final: Acuerta vs raffael

I hate to say it for an efficiency game, but this will definitely be the highlight of the tournament! I don’t think we’ve ever seen these two efficiency legends face off in a tournament while they’ve both been the tanks they are, so to finally see it in a tournament match would be incredible. They’re now clanmates, which adds to the drama a bit.

Raffael has been able to dominate the entire SSL efficiency scene – will he be able to do it when facing Acuerta?

Considering that he still did it against Frosty, who beat Acuerta, I think so. But who knows, maybe Acuerta can pull something off?

Conclusion: 2-1 for raffael.

INSTAGIB

Semifinal #1 – Honzik1 vs lagout

I’ve been told that lagout won’t even be here next sunday. Let’s just talk about how much better Honzik is instead.

Semifinal #2 – Frosty vs Acuerta

We saw these two last month, albeit in a noob mans mode. Frosty “won” instagib last month, so I could see him going to the finals once more – although, Acuerta did beat Fear in the qualifiers match.

Conclusion: 2-1 for Frosty

Hypothetical Final: Honzik1 vs Frosty

This is what we were supposed to see last time, before Honzik1 took a 25 minute phone call and forgot to tell us. Honzik’s a tank. He’s a fucking metl3 and instagib god. Maybe Achille could beat him. Maybe.

Conclusion: 2-1 for Honzik1, and I’m just having faith in Frosty’s ninja skills to get that map.

DISCLAIMER: Predicting team games is really tough, since we don’t always know exactly who will play for each team. However, I think the lineups for each mode will be as such:

w00p: Acuerta, raffael, brownie – maybe lexar instead?

RB: Honzik1, degrave, Partizan

DK: Fohlen, hamon, Tamin0

vaQ: Frosty, Fear, tarantula

!s: Who the fuck knows

REGEN CAPTURE

Semifinal #1 – w00p vs RB

This is certainly a difficult matchup. Acuerta and Raffael are definitely both in the top three for weapon skills, and Brownie, should he play, is still pretty good despite his lack of activity.

That said, Honzik and Degrave are those old power players from the capture days of PSL. They have the capture modes built into their minds, and with their hyper-aggressive playstyles, should be able to get into bases and do quick, coordinated takes. Their weak point would definitely be Partizan, who’s rarely able to be on mumble with them. Then again, they still kicked my ass in the DKSC, and have done a pretty good job as a team in SSL games. I’m just going to have to side with RB because Honzik and degrave are old ffa and old capture players, which should give them an edge over Acuerta and raffael, and I’m not overly confident in each team’s thirds.

Oh yeah, and Honzik completely rekt shit in the allvall.

Conclusion: 2-1 for RB

Semifinal #2 – vaQ vs DK

Honestly, DK isn’t a bad regen capture team. They’re not great fraggers, but when I’ve played with them, I think all that German screaming is either about beer or tactics.

The vaQ players have weapon skills that are tiers above DK’s. If Frosty takes charge and acts the “in-game leader” role like he did for my team in the DKSC, it’s a no-brainer.
Conclusion: 2-0 for vaQ’

Hypothetical Final: RB vs vaQ

The weapon skills of RB and of vaQ are pretty similar. Frosty’s a stronger player than Honzik degrave, and Fear is stronger than degrave, but Partizan can be a fright to face in a head on fight. I’m not confident in Fear’s ability to effectively play a mode he doesn’t like. I’ll be interested in seeing what their third player can bring.

Conclusion: 2-0 for RB

CTF

Semifinal #1 – w00p vs RB

Once again, it’s a w00p vs RB matchup. Communication is extremely important in all team games, but it’s a little different in CTF than in regen.

In regen capture, while you’re loading up your weapons and armors at bases, there is sometimes time to type out a few quick messages to get some semblance of coordination.

It’s a lot tougher to do that in CTF, since you always need to be on the move, gaining map control, item control, and targeting the flag. You have the five seconds till respawn, but that’s no good if you need to coordinate an attack and your whole team is alive, but in different parts of the map.

Also, if w00p is coordinating using mumble or teamspeak, they’ll be able to remind eachother of the item timings. It’ll be a lot more difficult for Honzik and degrave to tell Partizan when the yellow is going to come up.

Conclusion: 2-0 for w00p

Semifinal #2 – vaQ vs !s]

With a clan the size of !s], it’s tough to predict who’ll show up and play. Frosty is quite a strong FFA player, and having played with him in the latest DKSC, I’ve found that he’s a really good in-game leader for flag modes.

Conclusion: 2-1 for vaQ

Hypothetical Final: w00p vs vaQ

This one is a no-brainer for me. w00p has always had good chemistry and has always been extremely strong in CTF. vaQ only has one extremely good FFA player, while w00p will have at least two pretty tanked ones.

Conclusion: 2-0 for w00p

eCTF

Semifinal #1 – vaQ vs RB

I just finished talking about how RB’s communication will bite them in the ass, but recall that even with that glaring issue, RB still kicks ass. I don’t think vaQ’ can have a stronger lineup than what SSL had in the DKSC, unless Star decides to play.

Conclusion: 2-0 for RB

Semifinal #2 – w00p vs !s

While any team with raffael and Acuerta is one to be feared, when we last saw the two together, they didn’t get so far, losing at the hands of !s]. Without lagout playing for w00p, I can’t think of any team they can get together that would be stronger than their NRA team for the last DKSC.

A lot of it does depend on who plays for !s].

Conclusion: 2-0 for !s]

Hypothetical Final: RB vs !s]

I don’t think anything has changed since last time they faced. Sozzy, that’s really all I have to say about it.

Conclusion: 2-0 for RB