Season 19 powered by Tt eSPORTS: End of Season Report Card
November 26, 2014
It’s finals time already? It seems only yesterday that rash promises to produce weekly articles were made, self-imposed word count limits were abandoned and players hoping to hide a bad game in the backwater of a rarely viewed log suddenly found themselves called out on the league homepage.
The final act of the regular season saw 
SUAVE cleaning up their remaining fixtures against two playoff hopefuls who needed to topple the class of the field to fulfil their playoff dream. Would SUAVE’s players be able to claim their top rankings, apparently lost to lesser lights through inactivity?
Planet Express were first up with the bigger task at hand, but ended up comfortably beaten with 
kaptain emerging with credit. 
Salty Frogs were next and showed considerable resistance on Granary. Despite SUAVE not playing with scout secret weapon 
Sideshow, they eventually secured the victory and gifted Salty Frogs their big chance by courting controversy and offclassing on Viaduct.
No controversy ensued as Salty Frogs choked hard and went down in straight rounds, their lack of effective sniping options eventually costing them on a map where the metagame has changed to revolve around a perma-sniper in Immunity style.
Which leaves us with a big list of players and numbers. Let’s sort them by their numbers, pretend it’s got something to do with how good they are then show them in a list. To be entirely fair players have got to have played a decent number of maps on a class to get a rating, so no medic of the season for 
WARHURYEAH.
Pocket Soldiers
Planet Express relied on 
sheepy dog's hand early in the season but their rock solid pocket soldier was their consistent powerhouse though the whole season.
One of the unsung heroes of Salty Frogs’s season, baud’s switch to pocket gave their team a focus as well as a reliable fragger. He’s been banned before though, so you know, hax.
A lowly third for the Kaiser of SUAVE. A couple of games on scout robbed him of a chance to take top spot, but the ultimate TF2 competitor would rather do the dirty work and win than look good.
They played the same number of maps and ended the season almost hand in hand in rating so I’m giving them the same spot. Tek played a lot of scout and like IPZIE would have been a contender for top spot with consistent soldier play.
The Finnish deathmatch monster started strongly, but had a downturn in form when Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers changed his role to be more aggressive. A couple of maps playing roamer didn’t help either.
A mid-season switch of soldier role screwed either Bonkers’s or 
phromelo’s ratings, so it’s a bit of a coin flip who gets the bad end of the deal. Sorry Bonkers.
I just don’t get what went on there.
Demomen
Could it ever have been anybody else? Low activity in mid-season saw a few of his competitors temporarily in the spotlight but by the end he could even afford a game on medic.
His overall stat line isn’t particularly impressive but in a season bereft of top demos the French Prem debutant had a smattering of dominant games and put out massive damage.
In a rare bright point for coolclan Smirre ranked well amongst all demos, mostly thanks to featuring in their maps against Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers.
He held the top spot for a number of weeks but an end of season collapse by 
4-25 saw gdk’s ratings drained away.
After a couple of weeks of inspired Exon. during which every jump resulted in a pile of dead opponents, his performances eventually returned to the mean.
The Planet Express demo struggled to make an impact for most of the season.
This one’s a shocker, the legendary Swedish Demo bottom ranked. He’s played a noticeably more supporting role this season and the on-class experiment games saw him put under massive pressure somewhat explaining this position.
Scouts
Has there ever been a stronger Prem debut? His DM is undeniably awesome going toe to toe with the best, and bad maps were few and far between. And he caps points!
Leading the scout ranks for almost the entire season Zebbosai’s ultra-aggressive style eventually leaves him in 2nd spot, he might have made number 1 but for an ill-advised fixture back on pocket soldier.
The German survival expert also had a crack at top spot but sacrificed it for a couple of perma-sniper outings.
A late bloomer, amppis’s drop off in form was to Herr_P’s benefit as he has proved he’s capable of protecting his Medic while racking up the kills.
Robbed of many frags by being in the team with a ridiculous number of top players it’s a minor miracle Kiler4fun scored this high.
When Admirable went through his black book looking for scouts, then his phone directory, then his list of obituaries for the recently deceased and dug up wltrs, few would have expected him to show up to the season in top form, but he did.
TF2’s softly spoken career troll started the season hot but came under more pressure as the season progressed and while kaptain flourished he faded away.
Playing foil to NiCO god's hand’s death machine, veteran droso was effective if a bit erratic having a few bad maps mixed in with the generally good.
He’s still got some way to go to get into team of the week on top ratings.
Awsomniac’s strategy revolves around their monster soldiers, and Flippy’s main strength is sniping leaving him slightly stranded in this list.
sid vicious was the most schizophrenic scout, he had some brutal weeks crushing everyone in sight and some where he was dominated.
This is where his numbers put him, but he only played about half the number of games of most scouts so realistically there a ? next to his position. A wild card for the playoffs.
Similarly to Flippy he’s most dangerous picking up the sniper rifle. It was 4-25’s bad luck he wasn’t available on Viaduct.
I think I may have heard Dennia say he expected to be bottom rated on a stream somewhere. Sorry Dennia, you know me too well.
Roaming Soldiers
The French maestro put in some incredible games outplaying his pocket soldiers on more than one occasion. He may be playing his best TF2 ever.
The competent German brings back visions of Gear playing solidly, giving nothing away and still producing big plays when required.
He spent most of the season as the only Soldier alive on 4-25. The master of exotic rollouts showed there is far more to his game these days.
The unheralded replacement for 
Samsa, and one of the most experienced players in ETF2L, had some excellent games for Planet Express in his relatively shortened season.
He was ousted from pocket and banished to the roamer wilderness early in the season, where he struggled to make a consistent impact.
I’m watching his stream right now and it’s like I’m stabbing him in the back. Sorry zappis, your beard is wonderful
I think he ended the season on pocket, after a promising start though coolclan struggled with the soldier spots.
Medics
Honestly he really is top medic, I’m not just saying it to avoid being lynched.
Another new kid on the Prem block who had a great season – he never drops.
4-25’s leader, and chief Shyyou apologist, was consistently good and had the good sense to hide a thrashing at the hands of SUAVE in his irrelevant scout stats.
In an up and down season Bulle started well, suffered in the middle with a case of the drops, and found form again at the end.
Pre-season it looked like he might drop a terminal number of ubers but he improved as the weeks went on to respectable performances.
Emerging from seasons past to lead Planet Express (he does the interviews anyway, maybe he sets up the straw polls), flushy didn’t seem to be particularly bad anywhere, but the margins amongst medics are narrow.
He had to ensure his team didn’t make the playoffs so he could cast for an afternoon and win caster of the season, again.
Off class special – Snipers
Tied for top ratings they’re the deadliest snipers in the season although for a tie breaker Flippy did it in less time.
No other snipers are near the top 2, but by sheer persistence Zebbosai reached a reasonable level. He’s not quite the game changer that Flippy or kensi. are though.
The highlander sniping specialist acquitted himself well but couldn’t approach the top spots.
Top scout, serviceable sniper. The lack of a real beast sniper is probably SUAVE’s only weakness, although he’s probably a bit stronger than this rating suggests as you can only headshot what your team hasn’t already killed
He had an epic 5 minutes at the start of the season on sniper and should never have sniped again.
Salty Frogs’s biggest problem in a few situations was the lack of a top sniper, droso carried the load for the team but it didn’t work out well very often.
This feels like bullying, I’ll stop now
Playoff Preview
The Awsomniac vs Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers matchup is intriguing because the teams have such different strengths. Awsomniac have extraordinary soldiers boasting a choice of powerful pockets in Captainhax or Tek, but on the flank T-Mac (who has a reputation for being erratic with moments of genius followed by comprehensive throws) has been playing out of his skin this season. In comparison amppis who started off comfortably in a relatively passive pocket role has struggled to adjust after being tasked with more aggressive play, and zappis although capable on Roamer doesn’t have the survivability of the top rated players. A disposable approach to the position is traditional, but playing a man down loses rounds.
In the scouts however things are different. Herr_P has thrived being more exposed to combat while amppis attacks and Zebbosai will continue to be aggressive even if he dials it back for the playoffs. In comparison Flippy is really only strong when he’s on sniper. Assuming he plays fl1p is likely to be able to partially contain Zebbosai’s aggression. During the season on the rare occasions Zebbosai was struggling they switched to sniper for long periods, but in a sniper vs sniper battle Flippy is likely to have a clear edge. It’s important to Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers’s chances to be able to keep their scouts in play.
The demomen couldn’t be more different either, ryb a model of dependability happy to support and uncomplaining even when his team’s strats hang him out to dry. Exon. is all about the moment of inspiration, amazing and infuriating in equal measure.
On Medic I think it’s easy to assume Bulle will lend a significant edge for Awsomniac but although my system thinks he’s had the better season Knutsson has definitely been competitive after some early setbacks.
In terms of overall style Awsomniac will be more reliant on moments of inspiration simply because a couple of their players call for themselves. Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers claim not to have any complex strats, and they will probably play in a more orthodox style but with Zebbosai as their wildcard who will thrive if the remaining Awsomniac players don’t play tight and stay organised.
Map choice could be vital, a sniper map like Viaduct would seem attractive to Awsomniac but Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers’s scouts are strong and Tek’s scout play this season has been mediocre. It’s still hard to imagine anything stopping Flippy, Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers will certainly have to pressurise him if it’s chosen.
The numbers indicate that Awsomniac have the win 2 times out of 3, but Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers are confident some recent tactical innovations will work in their favour.
The Grand Final
Statistically speaking there’s not a great deal for either team to look forward to in the matchup with champions elect SUAVE. Both soldiers are very strong, people are fooling themselves if they think IPZIE isn’t a monster of a pocket soldier, the scouts are both very solid (Kiler4fun in particular was robbed by the way the rating system has worked) and on demo WARHURYEAH has crushed all comers.
Sniper is an area that Awsomniac could consider themselves superior in as Flippy is well ahead of any other sniper in the playoffs. T-Mac has a small rating edge over Rising, but the massive gap between WARHURYEAH and Exon. and the sizable advantage enjoyed by the SUAVE scout pair means they’re strong favourites.
Similarly against Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers, SUAVE give away a very small rating advantage in one area, this time the scouts. Their superiority in the soldiers and demo is far greater though. Mirelin is also clearly ahead of either Medic he might face.
Both smziii and Zebbosai are good snipers without being incredible, so it seems Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers and Awsomniac will struggle to match SUAVE in overall quality. Awsomniac do have more potential to produce a very high level of play through T-Mac and Exon.’s genius moments and the possibility of a sniping spree, but the chances of them being able to produce it over extended periods are pretty slim. Maybe Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers or Awsomniac’s best chance is try to get into a demo Kritz battle to exploit WARHURYEAH’s kryptonite.
The stats indicate Ze Knutsson Rollerbladers’s chances against SUAVE are around 1 in 6 or 15% ish, while Awsomniac enjoy about a 1 in 4 chance. Not impossible by any means and maybe more in the balance than SUAVE would want to admit, but they remain strong favourites.
The final playoffs are scheduled to begin at 19:00 CET this Sunday (stream to start at 18:45), with the final starting at 21:15, all covered live by teamfortess.tv.
See you Sunday!
Posted by Gentleman Jon in 6v6, League
content rss
:(
désolé bro
ryb last place what the fuck is this
Dennia not top of the snipers? ? ? ???? ?????
ryb best demo eu right now, robbed by your rating system! We know the truth, fuck WARHURYEAH!
Good read, however I’m surprised how could I be on top of ryb in this ranking system :D
Would Mirelin-Warhuryeah-Kaptain-T-Mac-Nico-Zebbo lineup be the ultimate EU lineup which could beat the Americans at i55?
Think you need more than just good stats to beat Americans
Apologies to Ryb, it’s a weakness in the system. When his team lost to Coolclan on Badlands he was singled out for a beating while his team looked on, so he ended up losing rating points to the lowest ranked players in prem (which means he lost a lot). So it’s Admirable’s fault.
@Setlet in straight stats you’ve got 309 dpm vs 297 for Ryb, and 1.0 KD vs 1.09 for Ryb, so very little in it, with survivability in Ryb’s favour. In the points system you’re 3% ahead.
Despite the plaudits Ryb is receiving from all quarters, the stats reflect that the role in the team makes a huge difference to output and as Ipz has pointed out he has been sidelined. Bk say they’re going to play around him more in the playoffs so I wouldn’t expect it to continue.
I’m shocked that there is no public outcry about my ranking.
Bad scout since 2008