(GotFrag) - Ahh, the sweet smell of.. wrong preds? 4G blows it up in my face again with a big win over sR, proving once and for all that the margin of error in CEVO-P is slim-to-nil for the middle core of teams. God help me when one of these teams takes down Eximius or Pandemic, then I'll really have no idea who's gonna beat who on any given sunday. Oh, and speaking of Pandemic, thanks for the spanking.


(GotFrag) - Ahh, the sweet smell of dead teams and shifting rosters.. mmmm, squishy. Well, end of the second week and we're already down 3 teams, though one could argue they were either the weakest of the bunch or faced a somewhat unavoidable demise (you can't really get out of going to Iraq, kinda illegal). Also, as my flooded email inbox can attest, CEVO has gone ahead and (possibly) made the same mistake they made last week, pre-scheduling matches for the entire season and therefore locking in FF wins by the score, much like Season 1. I sincerely hope the schedule is subject to change, because I've never really understood the reasoning of a pre-set list in the first place - I mean, sure, it's nice to see when the big matchups will be, but hellooo, did you see what happened Season 1? Whatever, another story for another day (or another State.. hmmm).

In other, more community-related news, I sadly was lacking volunteers for this round's predictions, so took it upon myself to jump right back on that horse and flog its somewhat-dilapidated carcase. In other words, I lied when I said I'd never do 'em again, so here are some preds for you're loving (or maybe flaming) comsumption :)




Eximius Sports v Friendly Faces

This is the last match of a pretty tough opening 2 weeks for FF, who've had to face x6, Sway & now Exi in three straight. The next four matches should be a lot more competitive for 40jam's crew against teams that are more in their timezone - in fact, they're matches FF needs to win at least a couple of if they want to stay competitive this season. Exi shouldn't have too much trouble handling this match tonight, despite the distraction of a big x6 match in 3-1 next week.

Eximius >> [ 2 : 0 ] :D

actuaL v Veneration

Awww, I don't get a chance to laud Veneration for their great effort last week against sR? Oh well - Ven's got a winnable match against Friendly Faces in 3-1 and a big Check-Six matchup in 3-2, so maybe the chance for some extra cp_fastlane scrims will be worth the lack of a match tonight.

4Ever Gamers v Start the Reactor!

In an effort to get both a 4G & sR prediction somewhat-right, I'm going to avoid any big-time words like "blowout" or "asskicking" or "no chance in hell" in describing either team's chances in this one - however, I do think sR will take it in two straight rounds. Both teams have already gone through a tight junction match, albeit with different results, so the match will certainly be competitive. But I think sR's in a better position to make the minor tweaks needed, and change a 2-1 win from last week to a 2-0 win this week - that, and I don't really know if 4G's got a counter for Force & Pesus. sR could go on a bit of a run here in their next 3 matches, with their next big match not until 4-2 against Dev.

4G [ 0 : 2 ] sR

Apoplexy Industries v 50|Calibre

Well, AI gets to celebrate their win over 4G by relaxing this round, since 50|Cal's roster is currently scattered across half-a-dozen other teams. A shame, really - I liked that team.

Xensity v garret eats disgusting things

Damn, man, what's going on with Xensity? Did yaug's departure really hurt them that much? Or maybe scheduling issues are getting in the way? There's no doubt in my mind that a fully-prepared XEN squad could take on just about anyone in CEVO-P, but they've lost two close matches to teams they should have been able to beat, which ain't all that easy to bounce back from. I'd like to think they can get it together enough to take out the fun-loving GEDT squad, but then again, who really can overpower a Mitchell? Oh well, here's hoping I'm wrong..

xen- [ 1 : 2 ] garret :O*

Northern Resistance v Pandemic

I could make excuses for cp_junction really just not being our map, but somehow I think the only map that would help us in this particular matchup would involve a negative gravity and sv_cheats 1. Personally, I'm just hoping we can improve on last week and actually make it through to C. But hey, we're here to learn (and because some of the better teams don't want to be moved up.. let alone the ones who drop and reform in CEVO-A, hehe :P), and who better to learn from than the best? C'mon, Reptile, let's see you pull off an airshot when there's a ceiling :P

// NR [ 0 : 2 ] Pandemic

Adrenaline Gamer v Devastation

Now, despite my own personal ass-kicking my Dev last round, I really think they're overlooking this match, thinking they can win it without even showing up. BIG MISTAKE! aG's a crafty group, pretending to be dead in an attempt to woo their opponents into a state of unpreparedness (that is totally a word, btw) - then BAM! WHIFF! SMACK! A left hook from out of nowhere, and Dev falls flat on their face. Game over. Touchdown. Checkmate.

aG [ -10 : 2 ] dev^ (by golf rules)

Sway Gaming v Check-Six - MOTW

Check-Six's first real test this season has finally arrived in what is no doubt a highly anticipated matchup. After getting edged out in Week 1-1 by sR, Sway was able to bounce back with a solid win last round over a battered FF. I've always liked the way Sway moves together as a unit, be it uber-push or otherwise, which is vital for the close-quarters combat of cp_junction - but if there was ever a match for Sway's ability to push, it's the guys on this x6 roster. Memories of yaug practically picking his team up and moving them 2 CPs down himself in a single uber push come to mind, though much the same could be said for anyone else wearing the x6 tag. This one's gonna be decided more by mistakes or surprises than one team (or one player) overpowering the other (unless destro plays out of his mind), and could very easily go down to the wire, but I think in the end x6 will prove to be too strong a force to stop.

Sway [ 1 : 2 ] x6