Raise Your Weapon took the first seed in group one despite losing their first match. Any team that rain is on is a contender at the beginning of the season but this team looks like they are poised to do damage in the playoffs.
Leading Fragger: Sens 167.7 frags/game
Leading Grabber: Sens 16 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: Sens 3.8 covers/game
Leading Captures: Pulip 1.3 caps/game
Based off of these stats, we can see that Sens has been an absolute monster. With a salary of only $1 037, he is looking like the steal of the draft. Everyone knows Sens.. he made a name for himself on ClanBase and in Shootmania but with some lackluster pugs/matches in the past year, he flew under the radar. He averaged the second most frags in the season (just below Hatchet) with 167.7 and was tied for 3rd overall with Ramirez, pulling in a respectable 27 covers. Rain and Rapture will need to be solid but Sens will be the X-Factor going into this matchup against Hodor. Paleface has had some hit or miss type moments and he's also going to need to be firing on all cylinders to keep up with the competition this season.
The offense for Raise Your Weapon (Pulip/Sens/Paleface) has been in the middle of the pack however their defense has been superb. Only 4 caps were given up over 3 regular season matches. RYW has been a tough nut to crack however if anyone has the strength to do it.. it's this man:
Hodor took the second seed in group two and had an up and down season. They started and ended fairly strong but in week two, they suffered an embarrassing defeat to AdapT and were on the wrong side of this highlight:
Losing to AdapT who won the group with 21 points isn't embarrassing until you take into account that unrealshots was not playing and the men with a vocabulary of one word were still unable to muster a single cap, let alone a map win.
Leading Fragger: Sauron 126.5 frags/game
Leading Grabber: Sauron 19.2 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: Nate 3.7 covers/game
Leading Captures: Sauron 0.7 caps/game
Angus started his draft by selecting some All American beef and it turned out to be an excellent selection for his team. Nate has had a strong showing so far this league and is just a hair behind Angus in frags (123) and is leading his team in frags and covers. The other major player for this Hodor squad has been Angus himself as he has been doing what he does best.. putting pressure on the opposing team's defense. With 19.2 flag touches per game, his cap ratio of 0.7 seems low but going up against rain/rapture.. his team will need him to wear down that seemingly impenetrable wall.
Bug and Loque have been solid defensive partners however they are a less formidable duo than the RYW defenders. Sturm was out last week and his availability is in question for this quarter final matchup. MarKy did a solid job filling in as the Hodor 5th but even if he plays above expectations, it will still be an uphill battle.
Frag Advantage: Raise Your Weapon
Offense Advantage: Raise Your Weapon
Defense Advantage: Raise Your Weapon
AdapT was the first place team in the second group. Their most impressive feat thus far has been shutting down Hodor without their franchise player unrealshots. The AdapT reg squad went undefeated in the regular season and the dev squad should be breathing a sigh of relief that there are no dev playoffs since that was the only unimpressive part of this squad (oh and kengzta's questionable decision making on Acrony but thank you for that).
Leading Fragger: MP/5 120.5 frags/game
Leading Grabber: kengzta 21 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: MP/5 3.8 covers/game
Leading Captures: kengzta/Darkside/MP/5 0.667 caps/game
MP/5 has been huge so far for AdapT and has made my life as an administrator a lot easier this season by being a cooperative teammate . He lead his team in fragging, covers and was tied at the top for caps although that is probably his least impressive statline. This team has a lot of players shouldering the offensive workload and has exceeded my expectations with regards to how many caps they would be able to manufacture.
While the X-Factor has and will continue to be MP/5, the heart and soul of this team is their defense. The pairing of Unrealshots/Risus gave up only 3 caps in 3 weeks of matches. This combo has been even more lethal than rain/rapture and if the saying, "defense wins championships" holds true, this team just might walk away with the green shirts.
Luckily there is no drop weapon bind in InstaGib, otherwise AdapT might have to worry about 5 men, 4 rifles.. *looking at you Risus*
GET REKT or die tryin' had a respectable regular season and edged out PACOs in PARIS for the tiebreaker in group one. This team started strong with two decisive wins in the first two weeks however they were stopped in their tracks in week 3 as the weapon raisers channeled their inner-Tony Danza and showed GRDT who is the boss (hint: not XAN).
Leading Fragger: ramdrop 166.7 frags/game
Leading Grabber:snky 22.4 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: ScReaM 5 covers/game
Leading Captures: snky 1.28 caps/game
Ramdrop has been an absolute monster thus far this season. He easily set one of the most impressive statlines vs PACOs In Paris amassing a whopping 223 frags. He is going to need to be on fire for his team to succeed. Other frag monkeys include guys like NP who is sitting just behind ramdrop averaging 164.6 frags per game and even their primary grabber is bathing in blood as snky is keeping up with 152.2 frags per game.
This team is well built. Ramdrop can anchor the D and LP provides brilliant support. NP and ScReaM (who has an impressive 5 cover/map average) support snky and let him do what he does best..
I apologize.. that's a cheap shot. All jokes aside, snky has been fantabulous so far this and is leading the league in flag touches (flags taken + flags picked up) at 157 and is tied for second in caps with 9. This man has been putting in work and I'm considering donating $10 to KneeCole and telling her about how much of a study snkypoo is.
The top 5 is solid and GRDT also has the luxury of being able to bring Sponge in as a utility man. He has performed well whenever he has had his name called and he will give GRDT different looks depending on the map.
Frag Advantage: GET REKT or die tryin'
Offense Advantage: GET REKT or die tryin'
Defense Advantage: AdapT
The Powerplayas took the first seed in group 3 and had nearly a flawless season. They swept their matches and nearly won out their regular matches however the team with the most points overall lost to LaG|RickJames and his angels in a 3 mapper. Will powerplay bounce back? Will kylewins leave midmap to go grocery shopping?
Leading Fragger: HUMPTY 122.5 frags/game
Leading Grabber: ApokaL1pS 15.6 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: kylewins 3.25 covers/game
Leading Captures: kylewins 0.75 caps/game
The frag monkey for this team in the regular season was none other than my favorite British Crumpet.. HuMPtY.. or as I like to call him.. Crumpty! HuMPtY lead the PP with 122.5 frags per game and his strong fragging presence allowed Apok to focus on grabbing flags and running flags. This team is well balanced and while they don't have any "superstar" players, they are built like the 2004 Pistons and could easily go all the way.
kud and kE (who many considered underrated) have played their part and have been doing all of the little things for pp to win. They don't show up in as many of the stat sheets but are content with walking away with the W. The third K for the pp will be the X-Factor and ultimately decide their fate.. will kylewins hit the big shats? Or will he take a first class VACation?
Lethal Formula is another team that had a very strong regular season showing. They were undefeated going into week 3 but with a loss in their dev match and a loss against the HAYMAKERS (3 mapper), this early season favorite is stumbling into their first match. The team is full of past GU season champions and anything less than a championship this season will surely be considered a disappointment.
Leading Fragger: zein 117.4 frags/game
Leading Grabber: SunnY 20.14 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: SunnY 2.7 covers/game
Leading Captures: SunnY 1.2 caps/game
The top fragger for LF has been zein which is a great sign for this team since he should probably be considered their fourth/fifth. The other statistical standout has been SunnY who has been dominating every offensive category. He's grabbing, capping and covering like a mad man. He is tied for second in the league with snky for the most caps and the ability to break down a defense will be particularly crucial in these playoff matchups.
We hope that his situational awareness against PP will be higher than his situational awareness against nanm:
The defensive pairing of Fisk/Kowa has been good but not great. They gave up 10 caps during the regular season which has LF sitting in the upper tier but a step below elite. Fisk has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he has what it takes to anchor a team and Kowa is playing at a higher level than I've seen him play in years. The key to success will be whether the defense/mid can suffocate opposing O for long enough for SunnY to go to work. Fail is constantly flying under the radar as well and he'll be a player to watch for as well since he has quietly had a strong season for himself trailing SunnY by just a bit in most of offensive categories.
Frag Advantage: team powerplay
Offense Advantage: Lethal Formula
Defense Advantage: Lethal Formula
The Haymakers edged out Lethal Formula with the winning tiebreaker to win group 4. They have potentially the most lethal offensive duo in the league if Steel is placed on offense but their defense has been nothing to sneeze at. They are in my opinion the weakest number 1 seed out of the four, however with the parity so far this season.. they still have a decent chance of going the distance.
Leading Fragger: Viperz 103.6 frags/game
Leading Grabber: Rummy 17.8 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: Rummy 3.75 covers/game
Leading Captures: Bas 0.75 caps/game
Viperz has been raising his dongerino to the tune of 103.6 frags per game and has been a major X-Factor for his team. His fragging and his dependable defense were key components to HAYMAKERS regular season success. This team will live and die with his performance in the postseason as conservative offenses will likely tighten up even more in elimination situations.
The main cog for the HAYMAKERS offense has been Rummy and it's no surprise. This guy has made a name for himself by grabbing and capping. He's typically not seen as a cover player but he'll do what needs to be done and he's currently averaging 3.75 covers per game. He does not have ice in his veins but there is a solid chance that he will have ice in his mouth. Steel has been versatile and played both offense and defense but for this team to have a real shot at winning it all, they will need him powering flags with Rummy.
pokerFACE and dev are great utility players and have played up to par with their salaries but the real surprise so far has been el capitan Bas. He has stepped into the starting role when needed and has performed extremely well and garnering hackusations from opponents. Depending on maps/who shows up.. he might need to insert himself into the starting lineup against Ricky's Angels.
LaG|RickJames made a great first pick this season in snap and his Archangels have done nothing but exceed expectations: viewtopic.php?f=48&t=397
Leading Fragger: snap 107.7 frags/game
Leading Grabber: cyraX 18.7 flag touches/game
Leading Covers: snap 2.3 covers/game
Leading Captures: cyraX 1.25 caps/game
The leading fragger for AA has been snap and he has also been their defensive stalwart. This team relies on him to anchor them and without him, they would be somewhere adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean. snap has played tremendously but his team still gave up 14 caps in the regular season which puts them somewhere in the middle of the pack.
While defense has been solid, offense has been extraordinary and the Archangels are leading the league with 26 flag captures. The key player behind this has been cyraX. He dropped off for a few months but came back with a new beard and a meanstreak on offense. He has been active touching flags and pulverizing opposing defenses with a staggering 1.25 caps per map which is good enough to lead the league. 1.25 caps might not sound like much until you remember that in 2014, an offensive player needs to kill the both the defense and the offense multiple times going in and out of the flagroom. I was personally skeptical on how well Cy would do this season but he has proven me and many others wrong with a strong offensive prowess.
gzt has been a great wingman for Cy and Xenocythe has been great as a utility man by falling back when needed and pushing up to secure caps. The real question mark for this team has been RickJames but he has transformed from a bottom of the barrel last pick in #iPug to a passable secondary defender in iCTF leagues. History has shown that he is prone to getting nervous before big matches but snap will need him to stay solid if the angels want to find their way back to heaven.
Frag Advantage: Split
Offense Advantage: Archangels
Defense Advantage: Archangels
