Division 1 Preview

2013-09-19 14:04 by Hooraytio

Here is a short run down of the teams in division 1!

Division 1 Preview

EQL 17 division 1 consists of five pure div0/1 teams this season and is therefore a lot smaller than during the previous season. Suddendeath, the Viper Squad and Crazy88 return accompanied by newly formed The Norse and the Firing Squad / Clan Malfunction mash up Firing Malfunction. Each team will play every opponent twice before four of the five teams head directly into the semi finals. It will sting a lot to be that 5th team that is left behind.


Suddendeath

After a successful run in EQL 16 Suddendeath are back with the four man crew with just a small adjustment of Mawe in and Rst out. Bps, Carapace and Ganon remain and have already proven to be quite good in a few practice rounds so far this fall. These players have put in a lot of time together counting last season and in my opinion Mawe is better than Rst so Suddendeath should be in the absolute top of this small division. They have no real weakness at a glance but during last season their win % on DM3 was a lot worse compared to DM2/E1M2. Seeing as Mawe is a strong player in DM3 they should be able to polish those stats this season. I have little doubt that Suddendeath will reach the finals this season as well.


the Viper Squad

The Viper Squad only lost 1 game last season, namely the final. Apart from that game they steamrolled through division 1 not losing a single map. However, this season they are lacking Xantom and Ihminen who played a big part of the clans success in EQL 16. Milton, Diki, Blaze and Maga (although he didn’t play a single map last season) are back flanked by new recruits in Moje, Squeeze and Darkki. While these guys can’t replace tVS losses they will give it their best shot and are in no way bad players. When they lost the final last season Xantom had bad PL and I don’t think tVS will repeat that mistake again. They will be sure to play under the best possible circumstances like they always did in the past. I for one am awaiting the inevitable ping discussion between Diki and Rikoll of The Norse. The Viper Squad will have no problem qualifying for the semi finals. Whatever happens after that depends on which lineup they bring into said semi final. With their best team they are still a contender for one of the spots in the final. Their main weakness will naturally be that they are missing two of their core players from previous seasons.


Crazy 88

Crazy 88 has been trying to upend SD and tVS ever since they first joined EQL. They have two third places in EQL but have never been able to qualify for the final. Compared to last season they have lost Votary and Od but recently acquired Mm from Chosen. Mm was alongside Ake_Vader the best player in Chosen last season and is more than ready to face the tough opposition that division 1 brings. The absence of Votary and Od will be noticeable as they were two of the more active players last season. Creature and Moltas will have to step up their activity a notch. Kingpin and Skillah also remain and will continue to be the heart and soul of c88. Their best map last season was E1M2 with 100% wins, admittedly they didn’t face neither SD nor tVS on this map. The loss of Votary and Od will be felt the most on DM2 while Mm brings enough skill to keep the E1M2 ability at the top for c88. This clan will not miss the semi finals but unless they can repeat the magic from the bronze game in EQL15, where they beat SD 3-0, I think they will have to settle for another bronze game this season.


The Norse

So where did Votary and Od go when the Crazy 88 adventure was over for them this time? Well, they went to the new clan The Norse together with Rikoll, En_Karl and Trygve. This will be an interesting team to watch since they did well the last time they played together. That was during EQL15 when all of them except En_Karl played for Chosen and managed to reach the quarter final in the gold playoffs where they lost 2-3 to Crazy 88. With the addition of En_Karl, famous for his days in Slackers winning QHLAN 4on4 amongst other things, they will be a feared opponent in this tight division. Trygve and En_Karl might be a little rusty seeing as they haven’t played anything last season, En_Karl was actually last active during the Salvation draft, but Rikoll, Votary and Od should be able to bring at least En_Karl up to their level. These guys will also reach the semifinals and provided that they bring their best possible game and attitude they might well make it into the final at the cost of tVS.


Firing Malfunction

This is more or less the return of parts of two legendary clans. This clan features Razor and Reppie alongside Fix and Hlt being backed up by stable replacements in Keyser and Mazer. I am very interested in seeing what these guys are capable of and perhaps the double meetings will work in their favour as they will have time to get back in the saddle. However, I fear the rust is too heavy on these guys compared to the other four teams and that we will see FM end up in the fifth spot. I am sure they wont give up easily but this competitive division doesn’t leave any room for mistakes and they happen easily when you are out of shape.


Estimated outcome:

1 Suddendeath (best team in qw at the moment)
2 the Viper Squad (they still have Milton)
3 The Norse (Rikoll & blues brothers, what could go wrong?)
4 Crazy 88 (slumbering activity)
5 Firing Malfunction (old merits don’t cut it)

/Hooraytio

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