[b]The Cult of Bestism[/b] vs [s]BrokeBack Cowboys[/s]<br />[size=1][b]Saber, X-Ray, Nosturi, Roscoe [/b] vs [s]Prime, Mantis, Gyross, Soul[/s][/size]<br /><br />These teams seem to be pretty similar actually. A very capable Euro player with two good all-around American players. I&#039;m liking X-Ray&#039;s defense much more than Prime&#039;s, however I&#039;m liking Gyross&#039;s offense more than Nosturi&#039;s, although not by much. Mantis hasn&#039;t been impressing all that much lately, I think that&#039;s going to ultimately be BBC&#039;s downfall this game; Saber out-performing Mantis in mid.<br /><br />[s]Contraband[/s] vs [b]Ricochet Rockets[/b]<br />[size=1][s]Bones, Dev, Higgs, Denny[/s] vs [b]Rust, Gilga, Mass, Reck[/b][/size]<br /><br />The trio of Rust/Gilga/Mass is scary for most anyone to play, and I&#039;m not sure if Dev has shaken off enough rust (no pun intended) to hold down the fort while Rust or Gilga attack. I&#039;m going to say that the only real hope for CTB to take home the win is if Denny shows up and him/Dev are both in good shape. Which probably won&#039;t happen.<br /><br />[s]Mass Destruction[/s] vs [b]Fnordy Niners[/b]<br />[size=1][s]Doomguy, Xenaero, Xyltol, Dew[/s] vs [b]Strangle, Whiteboy, Legion, WhiteMike[/b][/size]<br /><br />Go figure, the two weakest starting teams in the league facing off in Week 1. Like the rest of the league, I think DG made a very poor choice in selecting his brother when he did in the second round. He should have taken Killforce, BloodStrike, Reckless, Fastidious, etc in round 2 because Xyltol would definitely have still be available in round 3. But oh well. DG himself is a good all-around player, so is Xenaero. Honestly, if possible I think using Dew instead of Xyl will be MAD&#039;s best bet. DG/Xen on D/mid and Dew running of course. On the other side, Strangle too made a few errors in his draft. As I said in the other thread, he screwed up by taking first pick instead of a lower pick so he could pick two moderately strong players rather than just Whiteboy. Then for his round 2/3 picks he chooses Legion and White&#039;s brother over players such as BloodStrike and Fastiditous. Again, oh fucking well. Strangle himself is still a good player, and can probably form a decent defense on this map against Xyl or Dew. White will probably mid with Legion running. I&#039;m gonna bet that they play when Dew can&#039;t make it, forcing MAD to use Xyl and Strangle is able to shut him down on D.<br /><br />[s]Plasmadicks United[/s] vs [b]Super Chargers[/b]<br />[size=1][s]Rus, Turska, Ladna, Devi[/s] vs [b]Ralph, Oath, Tony, Donut[/b][/size]<br /><br />At first I was also surprised by Ralph&#039;s draft picks, but now that I think about it SUC will probably have amazing player chemistry. I predict Oath running, and Ralph/Tony interchangable on D/mid. On PDU; Rus dickwalling D, Turska Euro-running, and Ladna throwing bones in mid, could be a great combination. However I&#039;m getting REALLY good vibes from SUC, and Ralph has proved time and time again to be a very smart player and captain, I don&#039;t think he&#039;s going to disappoint.<br /><br />[s]Killing Browns[/s] vs [b]Philanthropic Blowhards[/b]<br />[size=1][s]Tai, Blair, Junior, Null[/s] vs [b]LB, Noob, Ammar, MadV[/b][/size]<br /><br />LB is probably the best runner on this map. Period. Combined with Noob and Ammar&#039;s amazing firepower, I don&#039;t see them having very much trouble taking KGB down.<br /><br />[b]Super Shotgun Spurs[/b] vs [s]We&#039;re All Doomed[/s]<br />[size=1][b]Hate, Stall, KF, BloodStrike[/b] vs [s]Star, Chain, Shak, Fast[/s][/size]<br /><br />And in contrast to the MAD/KNF game, we have the two [i]strongest[/i] starting teams (with the possible exception of CTB) in the league facing off in Week 1. I love both of these teams. Hate/Stall together on the same team is just an absolutely unfair defense combo. And KF went from zero to hero out of nowhere and has proven he can definitely run, and run good. I just love that lineup. However on the other side, WAD probably has the most total skill potential of any team in the league. If Chain and Shak can return to their former [DX] glory, then WAD will be near-unstoppable. However no one&#039;s really sure if that can happen. And they&#039;re definitely going to need to be if they want to take down Hate and Stall. I&#039;m going to bet that Chain and Shak aren&#039;t going to be at their peak performance levels (if they ever do reach them again) by the time this game happens, and because of that, I think SGS is going to take home the win this week.