ParadokS's road to the finals

ParadokS's secondary team started the season with a first week game vs. Carapace's secondary team. Coincidentally they will four weeks later meet again in the finals of Division 2. First map was DM2 and immediately Carapace's secondary team proved that they would not be an easy opponent for teams in this group by clinching this map home from what looked like a close game. Second map was DM3 where ParadokS's secondary proved to be the better team and taking the map home with a ~30 frags margin. Deciding map in this case would be E1M2 and a strong performance from Katsku seemed to seal the deal for ParadokS's secondary squad. Notably this game seems really tight and it will be interesting to see how these teams fare in the final. Will Carapace's team have improved enough during these four weeks to be able to get revenge for the loss in the first week of Salvation?

ParadokS's second game was vs. Rikoll's secondary team. ParadokS's team seemed to have problems getting players for this game and had to rely on rookie player Snow to fill in the boots as their 4th player, something he seemed to have handled quite well. First map of the game was DM2 and strong performances from especially LocKtar and Swi meant they could take this map home by a good ~100 frags margin. E1M2 on the other hand proved to be a whole different game and arguably the two most experienced players on ParadokS's secondary team seemed to have stepped up and made the difference on this map. A 2-0 victory over Rikoll's secondary team with a lineup missing players such as Stev and Panjabi surely would do much for their confidence, considering guys like marvel and lacuna have participated in Division 2 for a long time in EQL.

Their second game vs. Dimman's secondary team ended in a walkover as Dimman's team couldn't get four players for this game.

As ParadokS's secondary team won all games in their group they would end first and thus qualify themselves for the semifinals of Division 2.

ParadokS's secondary teams results in Group A

vs. Carapace 2-1
vs. Rikoll 2-0
vs. Dimman 2-0 (WO)

Semifinal vs Milton's secondary team.

This game would prove to be quite a thriller. First map DM2 was won by 1! frag. A particularly strong performance from paniagua of Milton's team almost lead them to a victory on this map. However a spectacular DM2 game was followed up with a defeat on DM3 where Andeh seemed to have been playing really well. Seemed to have taken a while for key player LocKtar to wake up from his slumber, but strong performances from LocKtar and Katsku made sure they could clinch this map home with a ~30 frags margin. Next map would be DM3, obviously picked by Team Milton as they had great success in the first DM3 game. Nothing but a mere TWO frags were enough to give ParadokS's secondary team the victory in this semifinal. A particularly strong performance by LocKtar seemed to have made all the difference and I know for fact that the players of Milton's secondary team feel robbed after losing two maps within a margin of three frags to knock them out of the playoffs.

Merits for ParadokS's secondary team thus far

• Individual skills of LocKtar combined with experienced teamplayers such as Katsku, Swi and Stev seems to work wonders for this team.
• Won all their games in the group stages.
• Only one player (LocKtar) within the Top10 fragrank of Division 2 whereas Carapace's team have three players within the Top 10 and one player close behind. Closest player after LocKtar is Katsku found on the 17th place. Questions might be asked if the mere difference in skill between the players of ParadokS's secondary team could become a problem as Carapace's team seem to consist of players who are fairly equal in skill.

Carapace's secondary team

Their first game ended with 1-2 loss vs. ParadokS's secondary team in the first week of group games. After the loss they managed to crawl back and defeat Dimman's secondary team in the second week. First map DM3 was a fairly one-sided story as Carapace's team seem to have been too strong on this map. Especially Culkey seem to have put in a strong performance here. Second map DM2 ended in what could be considered a shock loss for Carapace's team. Dimman's team have had problems to gather players throughout the tournament and I don't think they played a single map of practice during the 2 weeks of group stages. Carapace's team on the other hand were ranked by many to be one of the teams who would go all the way through to the finals earlier during the season, much because of their strong composition of individual players. Dimman's men managed to pull away with a ~40 frags victory on DM2 and the deciding map would be E1M2. Once again Carapace's men seem to have put in a second gear and much like DM3 this seem to have been an easy game for them. Winning by a good ~200 frags margin is almost close to being a "rape" on this map. Quite surprisingly, Dimman's team did consist of experienced players such as Essoid and Flintheart, so a performance like this is definitely something that had the others team worried about the potential of Carapace's team.

Last game of group stages was vs. Rikoll's secondary team. First map DM2 ended in a comfortable victory for Carapace's team. At this point, this team seemed to have been starting to show the true potential and an easy victory on DM2 was followed up by nothing short of a complete slaughter on DM3. Seems like Rikoll's team never stood a chance on any of the maps vs. Carapace's team, which is definitely a testament to how well-oiled this team is.

Carapace's secondary teams results from Group A

vs. ParadokS 1-2
vs. Dimman 2-1
vs. Rikoll 2-0

Unfortunately, their wildcard game vs. Striker's secondary team ended in a walkover for Carapace's team.

Semifinal vs. Zero's secondary team.

Zero's secondary team ended first in group B which meant they were direct qualified for the semifinals of Division 2.

Here they would face off vs. Carapace's team who had impressed in the group stages, especially in their last game vs. Rikoll's secondary team where they won easily.

First map was E1M2. Carapace's team were able to clinch this map with a ~40 frags margin and strong performances from core trio Medar, Goqsane and Culkey meant they could grab the first map of the semifinal. Second map DM2 proved to be quite a one-sided game, Conus was replaced by Kopytko who is a known player from Magnum 44 in Division 2 as well as a regular player in mix games. A solid ~100 frags victory over a strong team such as Zero's team will surely have sent out a warning to other teams. Third map would be DM3 and looking at the stats it seems like Carapace's team were in control for most part of this game. However Zero's men must have fought back hard as this looked to have been a really close game.

As Carapace's team managed to defeat Zero's team 3-0 in the semifinal it will be interesting to see just what ParadokS's secondary team can do to stop this machine from winning the final. Arguably, it looks like this team have improved tremendously during this season. Their teamplay seems to be one of the strongest in the division and the players all look fairly equal in terms of skill.

Merits for Carapace's secondary team thus far

• Three players within the Top10 of Division 2 as opposed to ParadokS's team who only have one player within the Top10.
• Completely obliterated a strong team such as Rikoll's secondary team in the last game of group play.
• Won comfortably in the semifinal vs. Zero's secondary team who won all games in Group B
• Medar's previous division 1 experience and leadership skills seem to have made sure this team has progressed the most by far out of the teams in Division 2