By : Guy Incognito (Pronouced “Gee Incognito”)
Power Rankings Going Into Week Two:
Obviously volatility is the name of the game in Week One. Expect further shakeups especially in the Games of the Week.
1) CB Ibiza - Will not drop them in the standings for a 2-1 week, Clown Gaming was likely their hardest challenge and they won.
2) TA Day Spa - Took care of business. As good as advertised.
3) Imperial Gaming - Slight upgrade, not the most convincing 2-1 victory but LTMK is a good team and they handled the challenge.
4) CB Rangers - Dismissing Agni Kai convincingly only demonstrates the capability of this team to be championship caliber.
5) Clown Gaming Aristocrats - Could only drop them so much, they pushed CB Ibiza and do not deserve to be below teams that had easier Week Ones and won.
6) Glacial Void - Dominant victory shows that this team showed up to play. Brighter had an amazing Week One.
7) RPG Cubs - Convincing 2-0 victory elevates them up here, potential playoff team to sneak in.
8) NWE Mercury - Great team effort and decisive victory gets them distinctly here for now.
9) Business Time - Could not rate them lower given that they were battling Aftermath for the 10th spot and beat them in three games.
10) Oasis Maelstrom - Edza was a force to be reckoned with and they pushed other teams hard. They deserve to be mentioned and recognized as a team.
Just Missed - Literal Monkeys Water, Literal Monkeys Fire - Underrated teams.
Quick Thoughts:
It is unfair to say this about Cloud Division but the games to watch are likely just two. Aftermath Esports could have easily secured a Week One victory but they are already needing to stop Literal Monkeys Fire from getting 2-0 and holding a tiebreaker over them. New World Esports Jupiter secured a strong Week One victory and Rivals needs to bounce back in a bad way. I believe in Rivals but I will admit they will be on the outside looking in if they start 0-2. Look for Benagin of Revolution Halcyon as they may have another strong series.
Mountain Division definitely was the Division with the most fascinating results in Week One and Week Two will set up the Power Rankings there a bit. Both NWE Mercury and RPG Cubs can firmly grab hold of a playoff spot going into Week Three with victories here. Likewise, !rawr and Clown Gaming Jesters will need to balance their records as neither will have faced CB Ibiza or Clown Gaming Aristocrats yet.
Ocean Division’s matchup of Literal Monkeys Water versus CB Rangers is a massive game as, if CB Rangers can secure that series, they will have dealt with many of the teams that could have tripped them up. Imperial Gaming versus Oasis Maelstrom looks like a potential trap game for Imperial and, if I had to guess, would be my sleeper pick for an upset. GSG Gamma came out gangbusters and, if they can secure a second straight victory, then I will be forced to reevaluate them.
Players who impressed in Week One (No roles, just players)
Benagin, Revolution Halcyon - Incredible CSing and carrying in a losing effort.
Sole, GSG Gamma - Absolutely a force to be reckoned with and dismantled a veteran toplaner.
I Rin I, Imperial Gaming - Easy to give it to ParadigmShift but Rin just always seems to dictate the lane subtly and guide Imperial to victories.
NWE Kaylor, NWE Mercury - Dismantled Phantoms and ruined a birthday. They put all the junglers in their division on notice.
Brighter, Glacial Void - Strong gameplay on multiple champions in Week One was crucial to Glacial’s success.
I realized I did one player for each role this week. Don’t expect it to stay the same.
Teams on the Hot Seat, Week Two:
1) Agni Kai Jasmine Dragons versus GSG Gamma - GSG Gamma absolutely surprised many onlookers in Week One and, again, I do not think a loss to CB Rangers is the end of the world. A 0-2 start in this Division with imperial Gaming still lurking, however? That’s dangerous.
2) !rawr versus New World Mercury - You can never count !rawr out, but I worry you can count on sweeping roster changes if they have losses to RPG Cubs and NWE Mercury after the first two weeks with CB Ibiza and Clown Gaming Aristocrats still to play.
3) Aftermath Esports versus Literal Monkeys Fire - Aftermath Esports pushed Business Time to the limit and played hard. They should be able to bounce back here but with TA Day Spa in the Division, starting out winless would be problematic.
4) Clown Gaming Jesters versus RPG Cubs - Simply a difficult division with two top teams in Clown Gaming Aristocrats and CB Ibiza. Jesters losing this week would likely force them to upset their organizational rivals in order to sneak into a playoff spot.
5) Rivals versus NWE Jupiter - Losing to TA Day Spa is acceptable as I predict them to top the group. A loss this week could make the path to a playoff spot more difficult - but their path should get easier.
Critical lane matchups, Week Two:
1) That1PotatoGirl versus Secroza - I think that whoever can create and translate a lead in this lane will have massive ramifications on the result of their series.
2) Brighter versus Kaiten - Brighter had an amazing week one but Kaiten is among the cream of the crop in this League. Expect plenty of fireworks and maybe an unorthodox midlane pick.
3) Verszia and Hide in Shrouds versus Rivered and Peacemaker9669 - When Literal Monkeys was successful in botlane, they were successful in game. I expect a heavy botlane focus by both teams in that series.
4) Sole versus Zuzu - Falling back to the toplane, Zuzu and Agni Kai cannot afford to stumble. Either by banning, accounting for, or creating a way to minimize what Sole can do is crucial to an Agni Kai win.
5) NWE Kaylor versus !rawr jungler (DokiFTW?) - Kaylor definitely was a massive presence in Week One. Who from !rawr will step up to challenge him and can they even do so?
Series Predictions, Week Two:
I do tend to go with the chalk but I did want to put myself out there on these calls. I am least certain about Ocean Division this week and most confident in Mountain Division’s predictions. My potential “Big Upset” would be Oasis Maelstrom over Imperial Gaming but I couldn’t be convinced enough to put it down here.
Cloud Division
Aftermath Esports 2 - 1 Literal Monkeys Fire
Key Player - The Fat Jester
Business Time 2 - 0 Revolution Halcyon
Key Player - Ssunj
TA Day Spa 2 - 0 Clinical
Key Player - Electriefiehouse
Rivals 2 - 1 New World Esports Jupiter
Key Player - iSightt
Mountain Division
CB Ibiza 2 - 0 Glacial Void
Key Player: Kobita
Clown Gaming Aristocrats 2 - 0 Phantoms
Key Player: Megatr0n
RPG Cubs 2 - 1 Clown Gaming Jesters
Key Player: RPG SoulWolf
NWE Mercury 2 - 1 !rawr
Key Player: Boogie
Ocean Division
CB Rangers 2 - 1 Literal Monkeys Water
Key Player: CB Cooper
Conduit Esports 2 - 1 SON Goku
Key Player: JJH
Imperial Gaming 2 - 1 Oasis Maelstrom
Key Player: Swaggy P
Agni Kai Jasmine Dragons 2 - 1 GSG Gamma
Key Player: Dxbs
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