UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=10995
The first map in the first semi final matchup was SlimeTime. This map was picked by The Dentists and it was certainly a calculated pick after Monk gave JYB a root canal on Tears earlier in the season. Map picks were due by 11:59pm EST on Wednesday but the second that matchups were decided on Sunday.. the Cows were expecting to get slimed.
Tears is a point that many players are still learning however Monk seems to have mastered it early. In sDOM.. a game can be won and lost on a single point and the Cows were cognizant to this fact. JYB is hands down one of the best players in the league but he went into the map at a slight disadvantage since he still has not developed an identity on how he wanted to play the point. The plan for the Cows was to send heavy help over to Tears from Gallery and to pester Monk while still maintaining a strong presence on Gallery. PACO did a lot of the roaming for the Cows while RAVONIX also made a strong presence between the two points.
The outcome?
The Dentists still won Tears but it was by a very small margin. PACO assistance really disrupted Monk and the game was not blown open at point that many anticipated The Dentists to dominate. RAVONIX killed JYB 10 times while PACO killed Monk 14 times. JYB was outfragged by Monk who almost hit a Dominating spree without an amp but he still managed to keep up and was only outfragged by 7 in the head to head matchup.
With a strong presence at Tears, the Cows needed to maintain a strong presence at the two other points. Gallery which controls amp and is typically a two man point was a battle between Cromaniac/PACO and RAVONIX/cafe. On paper, the Cow duo looks stronger but cafe has been shooting the guns at a blistering pace and has excelled at his new found role in the starting lineup. The battle for amps went in favor of The Dentists, despite being outfragged at Gallery.
RAVONIX put up a few lemons but as someone who was on the wrong end of them.. a few of his amp runs dictated pace and really helped quell any of the surges that the Cows were trying to make. Gallery was a losing effort for The Dentists but they still managed to keep it respectable. In sDOM.. losing by a decent margin and not letting it get out of control is enough to be marked down as a win. Denying amps and keeping it within 20 dom points was a much needed boost for a team that didn't cash in on as many points as they would have liked to at Tears.
The Cows unexpectedly won the matchup up top and it was all up to Risus/snkypoo to determine the winner of map one. Snky has been under fire all season and the fans have been questioning his skills ever since the LaG|RickJames beat down on Olden Low.
if you had one shot, or one opportunity
to seize everything you ever wanted. one moment
would you capture it or just let it slip?
With weak knees and sweaty palms, snkypoo was able to tear off the roof and put on a clinic. Snky being a strong low player was not a surprise but a +35 victory was not expected as Risus was doused by mom's regurgitated spaghetti. Risus managed to outfrag snky 73-68 but he moved through the map at a snail's pace and focused too much on killing and not on tagging the point. The Cows did everything they could up top but with Snky milking gallons of points from Risus.. it was enough to win map one for The Dentists.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=10996
The second map in this playoff matchup was Tempest and it was picked by the Cows. With map pick eligibility not resetting in the finals, the Cows had to map out what they wanted to play and what they wanted to save for a future matchup. Campgrounds was always seen as the number one map however the Cows opted to save it for the finals and roll the dice in the semis. During the regular season, PACO/JYB put on a clinic vs THB and on the flipside, team Monk looked a touch lackluster on Tempest.
One of the matchups that the Cows hoped to capitalize on was the Armor point. Cromaniac had struggled vs Supreme earlier in the season but the Cows anticipated a RAVONIX matchup. FRAGONIX is no slouch but Cro had been getting the best of him coming into the point so the mindset was win Armor, win High Perch and hope Risus doesn't lose Low by a million (which he is known to do
). Surprisingly, cafe stepped up to the plate and duked it out with Cromaniac. 
Armor was won by the Cows at a +34 margin. Despite cafe taking armor 19 times and shooting 40acc, Cro visited him with the grim reaper 82 times. The win at armor was big but it meant trouble for the low point since RAVONIX is a much less favorable matchup for a player like Risus.
As expected, the low point went in favor of The Dentists. RAVONIX was simply too strong and Risus never really had a chance. Belt control, frags and accuracy all went in RAVONIX favor and it became a matter of damage control for Risus. The Dentists won the low point by +20 which was a solid haul of points but surprisingly not enough to offset the disparity of points between cafe and Cro at armor. Despite losing, Risus did his job by keeping it close enough. It was up to High Perch to not lose by more than 14 points and they would be on the board with their first W..
High Perch.. aye aye aye.. JYB/PACO vs Monk/snky. The battle for high is always a risky one since one amp run can blow open a game or even just the mistiming of boots can leave a duo in shambles.
High Perch was kept relatively close at the start of the game but as time went on.. the gap widened farther and farther.
This is particularly noticeable in the overall total. The game was extremely close and seesawing until High Perch lost control and things got ugly. What happened? Boot control and amp runs. None of the amp runs from The Dentists were really effective but they took the powerup off the table 6 times and limited the amount of damage that JYB could do to bring his Cows back into the game. The boots were also a major deciding factor as Monk was able to nom up 22 and jumpstart his team to a victory. Tempest was a miscalculation and a costly map pick for the Super Cows.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=10997
Down 2-0, the Manitoba Super Cows had their backs against the wall and needed to win out if they wanted a date in the finals. The next map was Typhoon and it was their final pick of the week. Typhoon is a fairly frag heavy map and it provided an opportunity to reunite Cro/PACO on a two man point and let JYB do work on Hideout. The expected matchup was Monk at Hideout but he surprised everyone by starting low. RAVONIX was also a dangerous player to play Ledge against since the memory of him putting his team on his back against ph34r was still fresh enough in everyone's mind.
The most unexpected matchup was the one down low. Monk faced off against Risus in a gamble that ultimately did not pay off. In the first 30 seconds of the game, Risus bellowed, "MONK IS LOW MONK IS LOW." There was a cacophony of screaming and panic as PACO had to yell and then soothe feelings. Low is often seen as a fraggy fast paced point where it is difficult to create a lot of separation. Typically you would not put your most impactful player here but peculiar positioning has paid dividends in the past like ramdrop specializing Flow on Nitro. During the season we also saw HuMPtY rack up some major point differentials down low but as the match was going down.. HuMPtY laughed and thought to himself that the only thing him and Monk had in common is that they are British. Just because he made it look easy didn't mean that Monk was up to the task.
Monk had a lead but it wasn't very meaningful. Eventually he had to call a full positional swap to relieve snky of the beating he was taking from JYB at Hideout. snky went into The Pit with Risus and secured a +11 lead for The Dentists down low.
The battle for Ledge was PACO/Cro vs RAVONIX/cafe. This was the exact same matchup as on SlimeTime Gallery however there was a very different outcome.
High Ledge was virtually a draw for most of the game. PACO/Cro did not impact the game as much as they did earlier however keeping their head above water was enough. Monk switched up top with RAVONIX and RAVONIX relieved snky of his duties at Hideout. The position switch did not allow The Dentists to claw any closer however it was enough to stop the bleeding. Different positions from the start of the game could have easily changed the outcome.
Hideout was where the game was won for the Cows. JYB put his team on his back (as expected) and went hard in the paint. JYB had a game high 320 hits while tormenting snky and then RAVONIX.
A +41 point victory was more than enough to clinch the win and keep the dream alive for the Cows. It was on to Gharden to decide if there would be a tiebreaker.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=10998
Map four was Gharden and while it was less expected than SlimeTime, it was still on the shortlist of maps that the Cows anticipated to play. Monk was in a position where if his team won, they had a date in the finals and if they lost, they went into the tiebreaker map without any momentum. It was a critical map for The Dentists to win.
Observatory is a frag heavy position and in the matchup this past Sunday.. Cromaniac faced off against cafe.. AGAIN. Cromaniac was once again the favorite to win the point but he had Monk pestering him and cafe was hitting his shots at an impressive clip. This point went in favor of The Dentists but with only a +7 margin, it was not a big win on a point where a team's sixth man was matched up against a team's highest rated player.
The battle down low was once again between Risus and RAVONIX and Risus could not catch a break throughout the series. Unlike cafe, Risus had a tough time keeping his head above water vs players like Monk, RAVONIX and snky and it cost his team dearly. The strategy from the get-go was to have JYB roam and help on low and high. On the flipside Monk was also roaming but dedicated time between all three points.
Risus started off by having a pretty tough time but as JYB came to assist, a lot of the pressure came off. It wasn't until the 17 minute mark that the wheels came off down low and that was because JYB was no longer around to assist Risus. Him and the rest of his Cows had their hands full with a Monk amp run up top.
Penthouse is a very difficult point to reclaim at times and PACO had the honors of duking it out with snkypoo. The gameplan from the start was that JYB would control armor/boots when in the neighborhood and this is a very unconventional way to play the point. PACO was a bit shaky but played the point and boosted snky off on many occasions. He also denied the lift and used savvy moves to make up for the fragging disparity. JYB also helped to relieve pressure and killed snky 20+ times. Everything was going wonderfully for the Cows as they maintained a +17 lead for portions of the game but everything fell apart in the final minutes of the game.
PACO: Monk is here 20-30 secs early.. JYB GET UP TOP!
*PACO DIES*
PACO: UNCONTROLLABLE YELLING
PACO: AMPS UP
PACO: THEY GOT AMP
PACO: GUYS HELP MONK IS UP TOP WITH AMP
Monk: heh heh heh British colonization up top
PACO: HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO SHOOT HIM?
*PACO FROTHING AT THE MOUTH*
*Monk hits unstoppable and dies*
The outcome?
+22 swing and a 10 point lead. After the amp was off the table, the Cows resumed their winning ways but ran out of time. The Dentists finished +4 and staved off any comebacks to win the series. As a participant in the game and the season, it was a gut wrenching loss but it was absolutely exhilarating. While I'm sad that I lost and am now out of the tournament, it was nice to feel alive playing competitive UT99 once again. GGs and congrats to Los Dentistos.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=10999
The first map played in the second semifinal showdown was once again SlimeTime. This was the most popular pick in week one due to teams factoring in opposing players not being familiar with the map but by the semifinals.. it came down to teams thinking that they are just flat out better. In this case, Ampbition felt that they had the upper hand.
The first matchup that we will look at is the Tears point. Throw Em sent HuMPtY into the ring with bug and it was like sending a retired Brian Scalabrine to guard uh.. well pretty much anyone. Surprisingly, HuMPtY kept up in the frags department but he had about 50 less hits than his counterpart and was -28 on the dom point.
Tears is a point that can get out of hand quickly so we will give HuMPtY a slow clap for losing but making sure that he did not get obliterated.
With Ampbition getting a comfy cushion at Tears, it was up to Pete and Sauron to take care of business at Gallery. Throw Em sent blackout and kud to fight for the point but once again, it felt like they were sending a matchup that was doomed to be outgunned.
The outcome on Gallery was similar to the outcome on Tears. Ampbition was +25 and completely dominated the amps. Pete took a whopping 7, whereas blackout only took 1.
Ampbition dominated all of the powerups, with the exception of armor which went slightly in favor of Throw Em (52% vs 48%). Based on the +53 differential up top and the overwhelming powerup control, one might have thought that this game would be a blowout but that was far from the case.
Rummy matched up down low with KNOCKOUTDAD and put on an absolute clinic. The low point was a major decider in game one but Rummy decided to one up snkypoo and dropped a +52 game on Tony's head. It was one of the most impressive beatdowns of the season but unfortunately people won't talk about it because Throw Em still managed to lose. Rummy went big, while HuMPtY and the rest of the team fell off a wall and had their brains scrambled. Ampbition won their map pick and had a strong start to the series.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=11000
Map 2 was Peak and it was the ace in the hole for Throw Em. Rummy has established himself as the best Peak low player and there are very few players in the league who would be able to keep the game close.
bug drew the short straw and had to face off against Rummy. The final score ended up being +36 in favor of Throw Em and with such a large buffer at one point, Ampbition had their backs against the wall from the get go. Although bug was creamed down low, he has vastly improved on his speed from past seasons and he would be a nightmare matchup for most other players.
The battle at mid was between HuMPtY and KNOCKOUTDAD. HuMPtY had been pushed to his limits earlier in the season by csn but he showed that he was starting to hit his stride this past Sunday. The Mid point was another victory of Throw Em as they added another +20 cushion to their lead. KNOCKOUTDAD got bopped and the UT gods were smiling at PACO as they conveyed the message: we have your back.
With sizable wins at two of the three points, all that Throw Em needed was for blackout and kud to keep it competitive up top and they would even up the series. The top point was a bit of a roller coaster as Pete and Angus were going through hot and cold stretches. At one point, Throw Em had a 14 point lead but it evaporated as the game wore on.
Ampbition had a strong final five minutes and while it was enough to win the top point, it wasn't nearly enough to win the map. Pete took 5 amps while blackout took 4. Neither player had any homerun amp runs however blackout had a slightly better performance when he was glowing purple.
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=11001
Nitro was the second map pick and it was similar map pick to Peak in a sense. Rummy specializes on a point and Throw Em was counting on riding their franchise player. While Peak was a guaranteed win, Nitro was destined to be a lot closer but it still seemed like a bizarre pick from Ampbition.
Angus came into the season moaning about his salary but he has been a pugging machine and specializing on points. On Nitro, he played against kud at the Flow point. Flow is a unique sDOM point and it has the potential to get ugly depending on the matchup.
In this case, kud had his hands full and was schooled to the tune of a 34 point loss. HuMPtY came over and put the rabid dog down 27 times but Pete was also in the neighborhood and lit kud up 31 times. Nitro is one of the maps where it makes sense to have a player dedicated to roaming and not constantly doubling any point. This means that where they choose to allocate time depends a lot on how their teammates are faring against their opponents.
HuMPtY had the frag edge and won the head to head matchup. He also spent a fair amount of time affecting all three points whereas Pete was more focused on the Flow/Bertha points. Although HuMPtY was slightly more impressive overall, both players needed a double dose of Viampra.. Out of 9 amps taken, only 2 made it to UTStats (lasted more than 10 secs).
Impressively, neither team was able to net any positive points. HuMPtY and Pete combined for 43 seconds of limp and uninspired action.
KNOCKOUTDAD once again had his hands full at the Corner point. He was unfortunate enough to face off against blackout however he had a very strong showing at the start of the game. Tony lead for a bit and it seemed that whenever he lost control of Corner, his team would lose pace and game momentum. Tony ended up losing by 23 points but it could have easily been a different story if Pete was in the neighborhood half as much as HuMPtY.
The deciding point was fated to be Bertha. Rummy once again matched up vs bug and he went big for Throw Em. There were many shaky spurts throughout the close map where it looked like his team might lose control but his consistence pace at Bertha stopped the bleeding. Rummy outfragged bug, won the head to head and won the point to win the map once again for his team. Rummy put up three massive performances in the first three maps and it was good enough to win two of them..
UTStats: http://www.ownedwell.com/utstats/?p=match&mid=11003
Going into Tempest, Ampbition had their backs against the wall and it was time to either step up or step off. Tempest is a map with little room for error and Ampbition had a very shaky start by allowing HuMPtY to take the amp and gain +23 pojnts. The initial few minutes had it looking like a slam dunk for Throw Em but it turned into a real game by the halfway mark.
The first matchup that we will look at is on the Low point. Rummy went up against Angus and after his previous performances it looked like it would be a slam dunk win for Throw Em. This was far from the case.. Angus ended up tying the point and outfragging Rummy in their head to head battles.
Rummy went through spurts of getting a minor lead but Angus was constantly at his heels and wore him down. Despite the point being tied, the win goes to Ampbition since their third best player was able to cancel out Throw Em's franchise player.
The fight over Armor was between kud and KNOCKOUTDAD. These players have been around forever and have fought each other on many occasions. If the world was to explode before the next season/tournament.. it would be kud having the last laugh (the laughter would be bittersweet). Armor is a very frag heavy point and many people might have expected to KNOCKOUTDAD to win. Those people would have been thoroughly disappointed as kud outfragged Tony 88-64 and outmaneuvered his counterpart to control the armor powerup at a 2:1 ratio. Armor was a +20 swing in Throw Em's favor as kud picked up the slack for Rummy.
With a draw low and a win at Armor.. Throw Em needed to take care of business up top. They started strong with a +22 amp run however the next 17 minutes were completely inexplicable..
Powerups and amps were completely lopsided in favor of Throw Em.. If I had a bull sitting behind me, my BenQ would be getting the horns. On a map where pup control is so important, Throw Em should have been doing a real number on poor Pete and bug..
Amazingly.. Ampbition actually managed to come back and took the lead for portions of the game. The game was up in the air until the final two minutes where blackout took an amp and hit a Godlike as the clock was winding down. Throw Em dodged a bullet and Ampbition put forth a valiant but losing effort. Props to bug for quad tapping HuMPtY on multiple occasions when he was stacked with the amp. One of the best and most humble players in this community.
The Semis were a wild ride that produced several memorable moments. The Cows and Ampbition were cut while The Dentists and Throw Em received tickets to the final dance.
