| Columns - gaz |
| NQR7: the story so far, part 2 041021 | ||||
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Here's part 2 of my "season so far" review, featuring a look at divisions 1 & 2. Div 2A As predicted, Elaintarha have shown a strong start to the season, taking 2 wins out of 2. The Zoo will take some stopping this season, powered by the mighty T-Moe and backed up by Lohjan Dag himself. Their CMT3 skills are finely-honed and their expertise on E1M2 & CMT4 will make them very tough to take down. Boefje have impressed me with their start to the season: beating Empires of Azeroth was not easy, and I certainly didn?t expect them to beat Finnish clan MNY. MNY will be disappointed but have the quality on TB3 to mount a challenge for the playoff spots. I would expect Boefje to join Zoo in the top 4 judging on the early season form. JAMS started with a win and a loss, as have Best Frags and Oblivion. The UK clan will fancy their chances of sneaking into the playoffs as they have pretty solid play on the custom maps, as well as DM3. This division will be pretty tight and all of the clans have what it takes to make the top 4 if they practice hard and play well when it coutns, but from what I?ve seen so far, I?d tip Elaintarha, Boefje, MNY and Oblivion. I will probably be proved wrong of course? Div 2B Division 2B looks a bit more clear-cut. Suddendeath have started very impressively, winning 4 games and dropping only 1 map. Veterans have also made a good start to NQR7, winning both of their opening games with some style. Vets will be hoping that their superstar Ztorm can keep up his good form. I think that this division will be decided by the game between SD and Vets in week 7. The remaining 2 playoff spots will be very keenly-contested. Death Dealers have shown a promising start, as have the Toolo Locals, although both have also slipped up. Paranoids lost their first game, but this was against SD, and you would have to be very foolish to completely rule them out, even if they are out of practice. Para have one of the strongest DM2 games in the division so they will be confident of winning enough matches to get into the top 4. Keep an eye out for UPS, the Russian clan; they have impressed me with their start, beating TL but losing to D2. With players such as XN and Kzech (Killis), they have the power to make the top 4. My dark horses of this conference though, currently lie in 9th place. Clan Suspected have lost both of their opening games, but it is important to note that these games were against Suddendeath and Veterans. Suspected impressed me greatly with their performances in these games and I?m sure that once they get their first win, they will get a big boost in confidence. Near the bottom, it looks like being a tough season for mumS and Ancient Gods. Finite have yet to play any matches. Div 1A Lege Artis have showed a typically strong start, winning 3 matches out of 3. The way they are playing at the moment makes it nearly impossible to predict any other clan to win NQR7. LA breezed past CMF (no mean feat) and ground out a solid win over HGC. In addition, they schooled Paranoia on DM2 and DM3. CMF have had an iffy start to the season; in addition to losing to LA, they have dropped maps against Russian clan Death Team and fellow Fins AntiQuad. If CMF can get their top lineup together, they should have little trouble getting into the playoffs, especially now that they have added some solidity to their roster with the addition of Angua. His effective and unselfish teamplay should compliment the CS-quad skills of fifi, and the inhuman mad skills of fix. Fragomatic have yet to play, but they did get 3 points from a WO win against Death Team. I think fOm have what it takes to make the top 4, but the scrap for the 4th spot is hotting up already. HGC are the current favourites, having shown some nice play in their match vs LA. I don?t think anyone will beat them on DM2 this season, so that should guarantee that even if they lose a couple of games, they will at least pick up 1 point from those matches. Hyphen showed good form to beat Tribe of Tjernobyl 2-1 but will have to step their game up if they want to finish in the playoff zone. It looks like being a long season for Paranoia after their heavy defeat vs LA. Death Team and Antiquad look like being the clans that will fight Para for the wooden spoon. Div 1B The two favourites for this division, FS and SR, have both started strongly. Most would have predicted that FS would beat Game Over, but the manner in which Reppie?s boys won that game was indeed highly impressive. I am looking forward eagerly to the FS-SR match. The Slackers themselves have eased to comfortable victories over SSC and Kala, and will face their first major test of the season on Sunday when they meet Griffin Tapy Gosu. GTG themselves started well by beating Kala 2-1, and will gain confidence from the fact that they have played very close prac matches vs SR in recent weeks. FS, SR, and GTG will fancy themselves for the playoffs, but just like in 1A, the 4th spot is very much up for grabs. Game Over will look to bounce back from their defeat to FS in their upcoming games and they certainly have the pedigree to do so, particularly on CMT4 and E1M2. KOFF have surprised me with their start, with Gamer bringing the smackdown to Freedom and SSC. Whether they can repeat these performances against their playoff rivals is another question altogether. Freedom themselves will look to overcome the disappointment of losing unexpectedly to KOFF, and with players such as Valla and Firehoppir, they can certainly do that. Personally, I think that if all clans play to form, Game Over will be the ones to slide in to 4th spot, but it really could go any way. At the bottom, it looks like being a tough season for Insanity (formerly Dutch Hope), who have lost their first 2 games pretty heavily. I would think that come the end of the season, SSC, Kala and the Axemen will be keeping them company near the foot of the table. 11 comments |
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| Griffin Tapy Gosu? is that some pun in swedish? :)
interesting overview, gaz. |
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| it's from the sad troops website! | ||||
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| nice one gaz :> | ||||
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| Nice read, even though I wouldnt call Hyphens win over ToT B-team showing good form. | ||||
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| yeah purity where were you and your mad tot A team skills? man you rock. | ||||
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| giBBs ;)
Slabby and Oddjob didn't play? |
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| thought u said tot a purity? 8) | ||||
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| Griffin Tapy Gosu is finnish for Griffins Tappra Gossar, I believe. | ||||
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| purity we wanted to give hyphen a chance to reach the playoffs, of course they wouldnt have had a chance if i had played, oddjob sucks it doesnt matter if he plays =) | ||||
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| jag tror Gosu ?r n?tt i stil med Elit p? koreanska. | ||||
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