Week 5 Division 1 Predictions

Welcome to the fifth week of ENSL Division 1 Predictions, and the last week of regular play in the top division. As usual, in addition to my own, anderval and Pizza will also provide their predictions for the matches. This week's predictions were initially delayed because the delayed result from the Knife Gaming vs. Ownage match, but then delayed again as the league itself shifted an entire week for Week 5. Next week's grand finals predictions will be released sometime next week, so keep checking this space. This week's maps are ns_caged and ns_orbital.

Important message to the teams:

Please note that if you haven't got a referee for your match, you have to give the IP and password of the server to Mike or PoMMe before the match to get an HLTV.

Week 4 recap

Although not as accurate as last week, we still managed to get 4 out of 6 predictions right this week, which is more than satisfactory. Hopefully we'll enjoy continued luck this week, although anything can happen.

BoonSquad tied netpoint 2-2, in a result I doubt either are satisfied with. Levitacus lost 1-3 again, this time to lessthanthree, throwing them completely out of the race for the grand final. Ownage lost 0-4 to Knife, resulting in Knife taking the first spot in Division 1 for the first time this season, although tied with lessthanthree.



Levitacus (9 / 7) vs. netpoint.EoD (6 / 10)


avl's prediction

Impact players (Levitacus): Invasion (Fade), LeoN (Marine)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): Guito (Fade/Marine)

levitacus lost to lessthanthree 1-3 last week meaning they need a 4-0 win here and some very erratic play by either knife or lessthanthree to qualify for the grand finale. netpoint on the other hand are sitting in 4th place after last week's tie ahead of BoonSquad and ownage on rounds won only, so a tie or win here would secure their division 1 place for season 2.

In my own personal opinion i would say that netpoint.EoD has the more skilled members, especially on alien rounds, but their play so far has been fairly inconsistant and their relative inactivity will hurt them on a map such as orbital. levitacus on the other hand has a solid roster of skilled and improving players and should be able to win at least two rounds against the spanish, providing of course that these teams can agree on a server.

The end result i think will depend entirely on how netpoint perform and how much they practice orbital, as levitacus are bound to keep up their solid performances, a 2-2 tie is most likely with levitacus being my favourites to take home a win if anyone.

(2) Levitacus = netpoint.EoD (2)


Fana's prediction

Impact players (Levitacus): Scale (Lerk), Talis (Marine)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): kArtmAn (Marine)

Levitacus took a harsh 1-3 loss against lessthanthree last week, which completely sandbagged any chance they still had at reaching the division 1 grand final. netpoint.EoD tied BoonSquad 2-2, which puts them in a precarious position only one point ahead of BoonSquad and two points ahead of Ownage on the standings.

Levitacus have been faltering a bit the last two weeks, as their inexperience has shown against more experienced teams such as lessthanthree and Knife. Their players are still skilled though, and I've no doubt they're eager to get a redeeming win this week. netpoint on the other hand have yet to win a match this season, with two draws and two losses. None of their losses have been 0-4 though, and they've yet to be completely dominated by any team.

With this week's maps being caged and orbital, two maps few European teams have practiced lately or at all, the team who gets the most practice in will have a solid advantage for this match. With netpoint's usual semi-activeness and Levitacus regularly playing, this advantage will most likely go to Levitacus. This in addition to their solid roster should give them a win here, although netpoint might be able to get a tie if they play their absolute best.

(3) Levitacus < netpoint.EoD (1)


Pizza's prediction

Impact players (Levitacus): Scale (Lerk), Talis (Marine)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): kArtmAn (Marine)

Levitacus has won against both of the clans that netpoint just tied and both clans have lost to knifegaming and lessthanthree. Odds are for Levitacus but netpoint has gotten rid of some of their inactiveness while Levitacus has been playing less than they used to. Also interesting to see how these teams do in ns_orbital and how much they are willing to practise it. A few matches ago I would have said that this goes for Levitacus, but things have changed and I have to call this a tie.

(2) Levitacus = netpoint.EoD (2)


Knife Gaming (12 / 4) vs. BoonSquad (5 / 11)


This match will unfortunately most likely not be played, as BoonSquad have folded for the season. Hopefully they'll be back next season, with a reformed roster.


anderval's prediction

Impact players (Knife Gaming): Fana (Fade/Marine)
Impact players (BoonSquad): wltrs (Fade/Marine), zaiko (Fade/Skulk)

Coming into the final week of the first ensl season we have a fairly interesting matchup on very interesting maps. Knife all but secured their place in the grand finale last week beating ownage 4-0 in a fairly one sided event while BoonSquad kept themselves up with the rest of the lower div 1 bracket by tying netpoint.EoD in a solid result for them.

Knife have been looking very strong lately and have managed to maintain an active tight 8 man roster for a long time now which is a big advantage considering how almost all other eu ns clans have had problems with activity. BoonSquad have also shown an improvement lately while playing with the active BM members though i dont think they're strong enough or well practised enough to challenge knife properly.

Considering the maps this week - caged and the controversial american custom map orbital - we could see some minor upsets, especially as orbital is considered to be fairly alien biased. Having said that though, knife do have experience of the map and shouldnt have too much of a problem on rounds other than orbital marine so i predict a win for them with BoonSquad taking at the most one round.

(3) Knife Gaming > BoonSquad (1)


Pizza's prediction

Impact players (Knife Gaming): ...
Impact players (BoonSquad): wltrs (Fade), zaiko (Skulk)

knifegaming surely has the upper hand as they have practised this week's second map, ns_orbital a lot and they have been playing together for a longer time than the recently reformed BoonSquad, or could we say BaconSquad as stated on BM-website. On the other hand, this is version 3.0 and BS has a selection of skilled skulks that might lead to alien winnage.

I still don't think that BS can take this, they simply haven't played enough as a group. I predict this to be a 4-0 or 3-1.

(4) Knife Gaming > BoonSquad (0)


Ownage (4 / 12) vs. lessthanthree (12 / 4)


Ownage are apparently having some roster problems too, and might not be able to play this match. This is no sure thing though, so I guess we'll see what happens.


Fana's prediction

Impact players (Ownage): tutu- (Marine)
Impact players (lessthanthree): Bugstah! (Commander/Lerk), Pizza (Marine)

Ownage had little luck against Knife last week, losing 4-0 and not even trying seriously the last round. lessthanthree fared significantly better, winning 3-1 against Levitacus and securing their place in the grand finale. Ownage is currently holding the bottom spot in Division 1, and will have to pull some seriously miraculous play this week to keep playing in Division 1 next season.

While lessthanthree have been fairly dominant this season, holding the exact same score as Knife and being a real contender for the first place in the league, Ownage have never really been able to muster more than token resistance against the top teams. Ownage's latest roster problems won't help them either, while lessthanthree's roster seems to be stable although somewhat bloated in size.

ns_orbital and ns_caged are both maps that are rarely played, especially orbital, and this might play a role here. This is an advantage that could go both ways, but I don't think it will make a difference in this match. Unless Ownage can get their act together, they're taking a 0-4 loss and a ticket out of Division 1.

(0) Ownage < lessthanthree (4)



Top predictors

The predictors charts have been on fire the last weeks, with major shifts happening. Guito (currently 13/37 right) has been thrown almost completely out of the race for the top spot, which is somewhat of a surprise as he dominated the first three weeks of Season 1. Nirgal (currently 19/41 right) has taken completely over now, and some kind of a miracle will have to happen this week to prevent him from topping the predictors charts at the end of the season. Five points down we have his two major opponents at the moment however, Naxu (currently 14/40 right) and Calgar (currently 14/43 right) who might still have a chance at taking the top position if they're extremely lucky this week.

Of our Division 1 predictors, anderval (currently 11/27 right) is still in the lead, but Fana (currently 11/38 right) has been gaining territory and anything could happen this last week. lump` and Pizza's scores are still a thing of horror, and not suitable for regular consumption.

Remember to utilize the built in user prediction system on this site. Vote for whichever team you think will win, and dominate the predictor charts if you have a knack for predicting winners! Click on the match you want to predict a score for, such as Levitacus (9 / 7) vs. netpoint.EoD (6 / 10) for example. Click on the clan names with percentage signs next to them, and go crazy!
Fana on 15 June 05 22:56

Comments

Noavatar

Blank roflwaffles

so where are they?

20 June 2005, 01:03

Noavatar

Blank CLS

gg

22 June 2005, 19:27

Noavatar

Blank Fana | Archaea

Apologies for the delays -- I ment to have them in this Wednesday (one week shift due to matches not being scheduled) but some real life commitments prevented me from finishing them until now.

23 June 2005, 04:08

213

Blank Hammond | coolclan

2/5 is quite good :(

23 June 2005, 14:46

18

Blank mu

thanks for doing these Fana, they're quite good!

23 June 2005, 16:56

18

Blank mu

and stuff

24 June 2005, 00:04

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