Since nobody has taken the opportunity to kick off a promising IDL Winter 2009 season with a thread, here it is! Week 1 runs from Monday, January 05 through Sunday, January 11. The designated map is (yet again...) ZDCTF Map07, also known as &quot;The Excavation.&quot;<br /><br />Here are a few simple predictions, but don&#039;t take them personally, as it&#039;s all &quot;on paper&quot; anyway. These are based on whatever assessment I make of my fellow players through experience in private CTF and previous IDL seasons. For the sake of keeping things unbiased and objective, I won&#039;t include any predictions for my Doom Raiders team.<br /><br />[b][color=red][size=12pt]Spread Eagles vs. BrokeBack Cowboys[/size][/color][/b]<br />[i]Scheduled? TBA[/i]<br /><br />This year&#039;s Spread Eagles team has a nice 50/50 split of offensive players and defenders. On the offensive end, Mikehail is more on the sneaky and strategic side (perhaps due to his ping), while season 2 veteran Kyte mostly likes to keep constant pressure on the opposing defense. Their remaining teammates KillingBlair and Nautilus typically like to stay back and take care of incoming attackers, though I would give the edge in versatility to Naut. He can switch up his game and provide above-average middle to offensive support when the situation calls for it.<br /><br />Don&#039;t let the name fool you, as the BrokeBack Cowboys team doesn&#039;t look too shabby at all. I think it&#039;s safe to say that Sabertooth, Cookies, and Caboose will be seeing the most playing time since I just don&#039;t think Jwarrier has proven himself within the IDL ranks just yet. No, this is not because of old Skulltag history between he and I, but because I honestly haven&#039;t seen much from him in priv whatsoever. Maybe if he picks up ZDHook again he could have a chance...:o [size=5pt](ROFL sorry, couldn&#039;t resist)[/size] In all honesty though, I believe the main hurdle this team has to clear is plain old availability. It&#039;s hard to ever see all of them online for practice scrims or simple priv, and Cookies tends to be a ghost for some extended periods of time. I would love for them to prove me wrong, because they have a good chance at being one of the IDL&#039;s most explosive teams. Cookies has the raw fragging down to a science; Sabertooth is a proven veteran that can play offense or defense, and Caboose (in my humble opinion) is still a promising up-and-coming player, if he can cut down on the Supermanning.<br /><br />[b]Verdict:[/b] Showing up for matches goes a long way in this league, and I think BBC has a valid shot at taking this. However, Mikehail may just be too sneaky and have the right kind of support to squeeze a flag or two each round, which in most cases guarantees victory in this dreaded map. [b]SPE wins 2-0[/b]<br /><br />***<br /><br />[color=red][size=12pt][b]Berserker Packers vs. Flag Steelers[/b][/size][/color]<br />[i]Scheduled? TBA[/i]<br /><br />The Berserker Packers brand of CTF was a finalist in the first-ever IDL season, and what better way to continue the tradition than having HumanBones lead a squad of solid young players like Midian and Ladna along with the seasoned ItalianStallion. What I like most about this team is Bones&#039; versatility and the persistence of Midian and Ladna. Stallion can be a frag machine on certain days, and there&#039;s no reason to believe he can&#039;t come back to that aggressive style.<br /><br />This year&#039;s Flag Steelers look to be one of the league&#039;s most solid defensive teams. Ralphis and Gilgamesh can take care of defense in most maps, particularly those with few entrances and exits (which are a plague in modern Doom). Icey might end up being a benchwarmer here because Oath is just that much better and reliable as a runner (and his biggest advantage is that he doesn&#039;t get cocky only to get owned the next second--something Iceykiller fails to control).<br /><br />[b]Verdict:[/b] On Map07, it might be frustrating for BSK to get by FLS&#039; annoying &quot;chase&quot; defense. This fact alone is why I&#039;m giving the close edge to FLS, as they&#039;re prone to scoring one flag and defending for whatever time remains--annoying sure, but this is the main fault of a map like Map07. [b]FLS wins 2-1[/b]<br /><br />***<br /><br />[b][size=12pt][color=blue]Killing Browns vs. SuperChargers[/color][/size][/b]<br />[i]Scheduled? TBA[/i]<br /><br />In the last of my predictions, we have the Killing Browns&#039; frag-heavy squad (read: TAI, MB, and Mantis...Anger not so much) matching up against the all-NS Team SuperChargers. On a map like this, KGB has great strengths and the ability to control the entrance to SUC&#039;s base. I would be willing to bet that Mantis or Anger will do the running here, while TAI and MB watch the fort. One downside to KGB is that they aren&#039;t particularly known for being sneaky and pulling a flag out of the &quot;magic hat&quot; (for lack of a better term). Instead, KGB will execute a frontal assault over and over again.<br /><br />The SuperChargers do have a magician in Potentpotables. While his fragging may not be up there on the boards, his patience and deception certainly pay off. However, I&#039;m not sure that he will even get the opportunity to position himself for attack (TAI and MB can be that dangerous). Same goes for Nostar--he will surely attempt the old spam routine, but the trick is getting there in one piece...perhaps he will stay back and do some chase defense as usual. I&#039;m sure Jkist will take on the role of support/escort to Chewy, but he may have to pick up his usual 50-minute-d5m1-duel pace and accommodate his style to the intense 10-minute IDL rounds. Cheez-It (formerly Yuna, and sister to Kyte), is a good fragger and can clear the way quite nicely, but it&#039;s just a question of whether she&#039;ll show up come match time.<br /><br />[b]Verdict:[/b] This is the classic battle of rushers versus campers, and in duel we know that typically works to the more patient player. In the IDL, anything can happen and we&#039;ve seen great-[b]looking[/b] teams get decimated or have a bad season. While I don&#039;t think the SuperChargers will have a bad season, I think this week they are up against a solid group of rushers--not random noobs. Unless they plan to do have 2 or all 3 players doing it, SUC&#039;s chase/spam/camp defense will only create an endless match, and I don&#039;t think they&#039;ll wear down KGB. [b]KGB wins 2-1[/b]<br /><br />***<br /><br />That&#039;s it for my picks! I surely hope that the matches get scheduled ASAP and that people come back safe, sound, and ready for action from whatever Christmas/Winter break they have had. The only prediction I have for Doom Raiders vs. Electric Bills is that it should be a great match, and it&#039;s scheduled for this [b]Friday, January 09 at 11:30pm EST.[/b] Good luck to all and have fun 8).