Here’s something you don’t see every day: more forfeit wins than matches. EG, Frantic, u5, coL and JMC all have forfeit wins in Round 15. Somehow CEVO-P turned into the NFL schedule; every team only has to play once a week. Presumably this is because, like the NFL, players need extra time to recover from injuries. Sprained fingers, carpal tunnel, eye strain … it’s a man’s league.
(On a side note, I’m amazed at how many teams have died. It takes a special kind of asshole to kill a whole team. If the ass just comes in and pisses (shits?) everybody off, he’ll just get cut. It has to be more like a marriage. First comes the honeymoon period when everything is great. The player makes a special effort to fit in and get along. Eventually something happens and his true colors come out, but everybody still likes him. It was only one incident, right? Then, slowly but surely he must infect the whole team with anger. It’s not enough to just be a bitch —again, he’ll just get cut. If he does it properly, even if the original asshole leaves (is plugged), the other players are so emotionally and mentally damaged by the backstabbing that they can’t play with each other. Judging by how many teams have died, even Terrell Owens could learn a thing or two from some Counter-Strike:Source players.)
CEVO Predictions: Round 15 (de_contra)
Bye Teams: EG, Frantic, u5, coL, JMC
Match of the Week
rSports vs. Hyper – Down goes coL! Down goes coL! Down goes coL!
Okay, maybe it wasn’t as big a deal as George Foreman (pre-cookware edition) taking down Joe Frazier, but it was still unexpected. coL had just beaten them on the same map during the Intel Invitational and boasted a perfect record in CEVO. Apparently Hyper learned from their loss and made the necessary adjustments, which is encouraging to see. The biggest difference between the former 1.6 teams and the top Source teams isn’t the skill level, it’s the dedication and practice schedule. Consequently the biggest question was whether the Source teams could make the necessary adjustments, and Hyper made a good first step.
Their opponents, rSports, have been surprisingly good. I don’t think anybody expected them to be 9-2 at this point. Despite that, I’m a little cool on them still. They lost big to EFG and coL early in the season, and they still haven’t played 3D or Hyper. Their only big win against a good team was a 21-9 pasting of verGe. They had close wins against x6 and Devastation. If my favorite team was playing them in the playoffs, I’d be scared to death. They have enough talent to hang with anybody. I just don’t think they can get over the hump and win against the top teams yet.
Hyper > rSports 17-13
verGe vs. Team 3D – Oh, verGe. How naughty to tease Source fans like this. After a 6-0 start, fanboys everywhere hailed verGe as a team that could hang with all the big, bad 1.6 teams. The loss to coL was disappointing, but 6-1 was still excellent. The four losses in their next five matches – not so excellent. Their record sits at 7-5, and I think the bandwagon just careened into a tree. If you look closely you can see all the passengers running for safety.
The safe haven they’re heading for is 3D. After starting off 1-2 they’ve rolled off nine straight wins. They’re so hot even the “rector sux!” threads have stopped. Their chemistry has definitely improved. I don’t think verGe can beat them right now, especially after losing Paradox to the new Forbidden squad.
3D > verGe 18-12
juked vs. EFG – EFG moved quickly to fix their roster problems by picking up Dominator and pham. They've also had extra time to practice because of a Round 14 forfeit win. Their roster is just flat-out better than juked’s, and they should take the match fairly easily.
Speaking of which, juked sits at 0-12, the only winless team in CEVO -- including the dead teams. Has any CEVO-P team gone 0-fer during a whole season while playing all the matches? If not, I suggest we treat this as a record. The 1972 Dolphins celebrate their perfect season by drinking champagne when every NFL team has one loss (guaranteeing one more year in the history books). Since juked might achieve the opposite (a winless season), I suggest that every season when the last winless team is victorious they drink whatever the opposite of champagne is. I recommend Tang, but I’m open to suggestions.
EFG > juked 20-10
Devastation vs. x6 – x6 is alternating three game streaks. They started off with a three game winning streak followed by a three game losing streak. Rinse, repeat and here they sit at 6-6. This, as fate would have it, is Devastation’s record as well.
Looking at the two teams, I’m going to give the edge to Devastation here. x6 just doesn’t impress me right now. I gave them some dap earlier, and I think they’re a decent team, but they’re 2-5 against top-10 teams so far. Both of those wins came in the first week when they played 3D and Frantic. Unfortunately both teams were dealing with roster issues at the time. Devastation has been a little better against the top teams, and they have recent wins over EG and verGe. I’m going to give them the nod in a close match.
Devastation > x6 17-13
Last Time: 3-3 (ugh!)
Season Record: 31-11
Perfect Predictions: 5
