Group A
Results
Slovakia 0 - 6 France
Norway 6 - 0 Lithuania
Overview
Group A is turning out to be a tale of two halves: the obviously dominant France at this point brushing past Slovakia with a lot of ease. To my knowledge, Slovakia actually played the match with 8 people, already giving them a disadvantage over a likely candidate to win the Nations Cup. The French should be looking to get through to the playoffs with fair ease, and that could be possible for "Le Revolution". Next up for France is Norway, who managed to beat Lithuania with a 6-0 victory. Qnx topfragged throughout the entire match on Badwater, with 41 under his belt, giving the Norwegians a supreme deal with DM. On top of this, Niak had a solid game, with over 16k damage and 35 frags on Badwater. On Steel it was the same affair with Norway; their 6v6 classes did a lot of work throughout, with E-thug getting 27 frags, 5 of which were Medic picks. JoakimMos managed to pull off 5 Medic picks for the Norwegians too, as well as providing a few key picks. And did I see faNNY outsniping Pr3d a little bit on Steel? Or am I going mental? As for Lithuania, I don't think they'll be too disheartened with the loss. Playing Slovakia this week on Upward should give them a comfortable win where they can look to try and upset France on the last week of the Group Stages. Evokje and Warden both had decent games against Norway, so hopefully they will continue their DM machine through into the opposing Slovakia side who are still looking to pick up points, in a rather tough group. Supposedly, they were extremely nice people against France, with great sportsmanship and were very friendly, according to Flippy and Mista. . I didn't watch the game sadly, so I don't know what happened! Best of luck to all the teams this week.
Group B
Results
USA 6 - 0 Portugal
Croatia 3 - 3 Austria
Overview
I like Group B. You have that one team everyone expects to get through with ease, in this case, USA, but then you have games that could turn the tide at the last week. For example, the matchup between Croatia and Austria was tied up 3-3. It was a fairly tense affair, with both maps going to BO3 - Austria winning 2-1 on Badwater, and Croatia winning 2-1 on Steel. The Croatians performed well in scrims, and in one particular, Candle managed to go 31:18 and nearly 7k damage. For a Pyro, that's damn impressive on a map like Steel. However, I feel like these 2 teams might regret drawing - whilst they have retained points right at the beginning, it's possible just an extra point or two could decide who could finish above one another. The other match that was played, USA and Portugal, ended with the most likely winners of Group B winning 6-0. I think the Portuguese wouldn't be too surprised with this loss, due to the fact the level of talent over on USA's roster compared to Portugal. To me I think the Portuguese didn't utilise their roster enough - Kalhó nor Coinz were playing against the USA, and that could have let them slip in the communication and general presence department. The next week of games should be crucial into seeing who could contest for a playoff spot from the USA. Austria play Portugal on Upward this week, and this should show whether the nPortuguese can saver a few points before their last match against Croatia. Conversely, USA should be preparing to play well against the Croatians this week, so they can relax a little against Austria in the final week. I'm looking forward to seeing this group fall into place, as it could be very close-knit near the top, as well as the bottom.
Group C
Results
Russia 6 - 0 Romania
Poland 6 - 0 Hungary
Poland certainly stepped up their game from last Nations Cup, wiping past Hungary with a 6-0 victory. On Badwater, every single class except for the Medic had a positive K/D. The Poles have some astounding DM with them. Against Hungary, SIX players from Poland were higher than the top fragger of Hungary. Phroblem, in typical fashion, was on fire against the Hungarians on Badwater, getting 11 Sniper frags, and 36 in total. Alpine.47 topfragged for Poland with 37, and put out 3k more damage than Hungary's Demoman, PingWIN7. For Hungary, I think they could be able to beat the other losers from this week, Romania. I think the Polish will be able to get far in the group stage, but to beat the powerhouse that is Russia? Maybe not this year. Speaking of Russia, a comfortable victory against Romania put them top of the group. Unlimited, the Demoman for Russia, put out 17k damage and picked up 36 frags. In my opinion, the DM over on Russia is pretty intense, with players like unHuman and Irfx. Pala4 against Romania on Steel died only 5 times, and had 32 assists. In comparison, Romania's Medic, Nuklear0, had 12 deaths on Steel, and 8 less assists. This week, it's the time of Poland to see if they can beat the Ruskies on Upward. The match between Romania and Hungary is probably pivotal to see who will finish bottom of Group C. To me, both the teams are not at the same level as Poland or Russia, and can't really improve quickly enough to contest against their dominance in the group at the moment. I have a feeling the Poles will upset the Russians a little bit, but only time will tell. Expect a class matchup this week to decide who qualifies for playoffs from Group C, although it could be extremely one-sided, or pretty damn close.
Group D
Results
Belgium 0 - 6 Finland
Canada 6 - 0 Greece
Overview
Group D seems to be a division once again. Finland and Canada showed their dominance as well as experience by both claiming 6-0 victories. Having a strong core of players from the Premiership team, Colony, Finland showed their worth against Belgium. Nappr, Yonus and Zoob all had solid games, and worked well with their team. Strangely, Luzzu from Belgium hardly died at all on Badwater - only 7 times. Potentially, Belgium have either set themselves up to finish somewhere in the middle. They are capable to beat Greece, and could possibly contest with Canada. However, I think it will be all down to the matchup between Finland and Canada that define who goes to playoffs. The Canadians looked very promising against Greece, with solid performances from Tri, Killing and Pulse. The Greeks are going to have to pull their socks up against a Belgian team that have potential to contest to one of the top teams in this Cup. Droso had a very solid game against Finland, and had an extremely commanding role as the Heavy Weapons Guy. And on a map like Upward, assassination classes can be key. Prophet should have a rampage on a map like Upward, and I'm expecting Greece to give it their all against a Belgian team that are pretty damn good at this game. On the other hand, Finland and Canada square off against each other on the same week. Finland should be able to take this convincingly, and Zappis had a very good game against the Belgians - going 20:11 with 10 assists is promising on a map like Badwater. The match between Finland and Canada will probably shed more light on who will make it to the playoffs, although pings will be interesting into what server they'll be playing on. To me this group seems very... interesting. Like it could go any which way. And that'll be interesting to see.
Group E
Results
Sweden 6 - 0 Scotland (default win to Sweden)
Kazakhstan 0 - 6 Latvia
Overview
This week, I was surprised to see the first FFW given to a match that had great potential. Sweden were looking to win this, but Scotland wanted some action and hunger for points. However, roster issues and little commitment from some of the Scottish players ended up with a forfeit loss. Fortunately, some of the Scottish roster has been moved around, and the players drafted in show a lot of commitment and passion towards this Nations Cup. Which is a great thing. In the other match with Kazakhstan and Latvia, it was extremely one-sided. On Steel, Atomic- for Latvia pulled off 50 frags, 7 deaths, 18k damage and... a 23 kill streak. Very nice game from him, indeed. With a great tag, l33tland, Latvia looks promising going into this week. Smadd picked up 45 frags and had a 5.0 KA/D by the end of Steel; looking promising indeed. In this week's matchups, Sweden play Kazakhstan, and Latvia play Scotland. In the latter, I think this will be a great matchup between 2 nations that some may call underdogs. The "unseen" talent on both teams can shine through in this match, with both teams looking to get some crucial points before the last week. However, Latvia arguably have the toughest schedule, playing Sweden on the last week, making it more difficult to pick up points consistently. In the other match, if Kazakhstan thought Latvia were hard, well... they ain't seen nothing yet. Sweden are looking to get their first proper points on the board, and should hopefully acquire them fairly easily. With TViq playing his oh-so controversial Sniper, the Swedes are in good comfort in this group stage so far. It's pretty much obvious Sweden will get through, but by what margin and how easily? Maybe not so. Latvia look in very good shape going into Week 2 of the group stage, and playing the weakest team in the group first give them a nice healthy point advantage at the beginning. But will they keep up that streak? I don't know. We'll have to find out!
Group F
Results
England 5 - 1 Spain
Belarus 0 - 0 Bulgaria (not played as of yet)
Overview
Sadly, only one match has been played so far in Group F. And fortunately, it was a fairly interesting one. England, arguably one of the favourites to win the Nations Cup, played a Spain side that looked in some shape. For Spain, Spike picked up a Sniper Rifle and clicked on many heads through the duration of the matches. HarryHook also had some decent plays and a somewhat ok game too, and TausoN was a very useful Engineer. However, England looked pretty dominant throughout. Picking up 5 points was maybe not intended, due to a victory on Badwater by the Spanish, but they still won regardless. Tuning into some of the game, England seemed to be pretty confident; after watching CUBE's stream, he can still play Engineer very well, and the team seem to be working well, although under different calls constantly. A star for me against Spain was Shintaz, who performed very well on Badwater as well as Steel. Whilst the other Week 1 match hasn't been played yet, Bulgaria and Belarus are contesting to get a one-up on each other in the early stages. In particular, a Belarus side that have unseen talent according to their leader, Alex_jj. Boasting one of the most unknown Snipers, Tracker, that is supposedly GOD DAMN AMAZING, we'll have to see how they perform against a relatively unknown Bulgarian side, that seem to be very... cautious, if that's the right word. Having a fairly large roster with little to no names that stand out, Bulgaria could be a country to watch out for. In Week 2, the Bulgarians play Spain, and England play Belarus, in an arguable battle to see who can get through to playoffs. As England are the most likely candidates to get through, they would have to slip up hard against Belarus, and the opposite to happen for Spain. Group F looks to be a promising battle throughout the group stage, and will hopefully provide a lot of entertainment throughout its duration.
Group G
Results
Ukraine 6 - 0 Turkey
Estonia 0 - 6 Italy
Netherlands 0 - 0 ? (No match for .nl)
Overview
Group G is the first group to have 5 teams in, instead of 4, making the playoff battle even harder, or potentially easier, for some teams. Starting off with Italy, who managed to pull off a very convincing victory against a waning Estonian side. Carnifex managed to go 19:6 on one round of Badwater, and a total of 45 frags on both rounds. For a Sniper, uh, yeah. That's like, totally amazing. As for the entirety of the Italian team, I feel they can cause some upsets - their newly revamped roster gives them large boosts in gamesense as well as DM ability. The experience on top of this helps a lot too. Conversely, Estonia went in confident, and sadly, came out with no reward. Disappointing? Maybe. Expected? Possibly. In the other match of Group G played this week, Ukraine managed to waltz past a struggling Turkish team 6-0. The Ukrainians look like they can pose a threat in a group where the playoff position could potentially go to anyone at this moment in time. Crucially, Netherlands have a game in hand so far, and can come back to get the points are any dying second. Their first match is against Estonia, which has the potential to be a pretty close game, and could define what team has a good advantage going into the later weeks of the group stages. Conversely, the Turkish seem to be... struggling. Like they can't contest with the teams in Group G as much as they'd like to. After quite a bashing from Ukraine, I think the Turkish could be slightly disheartened from the Nations Cup, and might fall flat when they need to step up their game a little. Italy, the arguable favourites to go through at the moment, play the Turks this week on Upward, which should be a fairly easy victory for the Italians, who probably have the best tag, "Pizza!". Group G though, is still open to any team competing in it. Expect the action to get more intense as the group stages go along, folks.
Group G
Results
Denmark 6 - 0 Ireland
Denmark 6 - 0 Iceland
Germany 6 - 0 Israel
Overview
Finally, we have Group H, where 3 matches were played instead of two; Denmark decided to play their Week 5 match extremely early on against Iceland, where they managed a 6-0 victory. On top of this, the Danish also won pretty convincingly against a very disheartened and discouraged Ireland. (Although this happened against Oneflower, who I feel extremely sorry for.) In the other match, the former champions Germany wiped past an Israel side that looked to be pretty promising. However, a few roster cuts and changes to the Israeli team may make them a little stronger going into the coming weeks. Swapping out Delta for ThunderSin on Pyro may be extremely beneficial. For Germany, their roster is still as strong as ever; Brego picked up 49 frags on Steel and put out just under 17k damage in both rounds. The pivotal point wasn't actually in the match, but some... things were said in the cast of this game. But we won't go into that. The Germans look unstoppable again, and are probably going to progress to the playoffs with little sweat broken from their large, scary brows. Conversely, the likes of Ireland and Iceland may be slightly nervous. After, some would say, shocking displays by the Irish, people would probably count them out and toss them aside. Possibly with Iceland too. But I think they'll be able to scour some points here and there, just to boost their chances. I'm expecting Denmark and Germany to get through with ease, and then have a belter of a game against each other. IT looks like a very promising matchup between these two teams, and it will be, I guarantee you, a classic. As for Israel? Well we'll have to see. I think they may just be able to scrape a couple of points off of Denmark to redeem some status in Group H, and be able to beat the likes of the Irish and Icelandic. Other than that? Group H seems to be set in stone, ladies and gentlemen.
So that's the end of Week 1, what will Week 2 bring? Surprise, shock and serenity? Maybe not serenity. This is videogames we're talking about here.
~TJB
No comments:
Post a Comment