Division A
Group A
l1_stephen_1 - Stephen has definitely proven that he belongs in division A for good now with some strong results in other cam comps including 8brcam's last season where he knocked off heavy favourite Ant before losing to the eventual champ Jamie. Stephen plays a pretty strong game and its going to require a patient strategy to try to overcome his strong running ability. In this particular group he has a great chance at making the playoffs if he comes ready to play.
astro61200 - I think the last time I was doing predictions for Scott he was getting back from a little time off very similar to this situation. Last time I wasn't sure what to expect and he ended up being a div B finalist. So this time Scott gets to play against the best this tournament has to offer and I doubt he'll be overwhelmed much. I wouldn't say he's really contending to win this particular group but he's definitely got a good opportunity to extend his season to the playoffs.
dwaechte - I've actually never seen Dan play before and in most cases those folks would end up in div B. However in this case I was persuaded by Dan the Man himself. After doing a little research into his stats I see that he's tearing it up in SS with a great win % through over 200 games. Not sure how much set experience he has but I'm going to go ahead and assume not much and guess that these guys in the group should make life tough on him. We are dealing with the great unknown though and anything could happen.
fhm_champion - Ben is back playing in SSCam after a one season hiatus. I'm always very impressed with Ben's game because he seems to have an endless amount of shots to go along with his unlimited patience which is pretty much a recipe for disaster if you happen to be on the other side of the table. His results speak for themselves as he qualifies for playoffs in just about everything and has a couple respectable playoff runs in this competition as well as 8brcam. The only person who can match Ben's quality in this group is Mike so he'll be marching in the playoffs once again.
ll_ill_ll - Came as a bit of a surprise to see Mike's application in the pile this season. Mostly because he comes and goes fairly regularly and doesn't tend to stick around long enough to finish a competition. I'll make these predictions assuming that he'll play at least some of his sets. Mike is one of the best players in the league and can play with anyone. Mostly just runs tables like nobody's business but is smart enough to throw a safety in when it's necessary. If the runs aren't falling he can be susceptible to an upset from some of the players in this group but I'd imagine he'll be in the playoffs if the sets get played.
l0osteekyo0l - Rounding up group A Steven is making his first foray into the SSCam field. He's a pretty good player and could possibly cause an upset or two in this group. Once again not sure how much set experience he has and that can't really help his cause. I think he'll be able to keep most of the sets close but won't come out on the winning end more often than not. I have Steven finishing out of the playoffs but gaining some valuble experience.
Pecking Order - 1.Ben 2.Mike 3.Stephen 4.Scott 5.Steven 6.Dan
Group B
ItsAJ - AJ is back trying to pull off a second consecutive Div A playoff birth. Not to rain on any parades but it's worth noting that the previous one came in a fairly inactive season. AJ is definitely a good player and can hit some good shots sometimes but I'm not sure he'll be able to sustain the kind of play necessary to compete in this group. Could pull off 1 maybe 2 wins tops.
Cocky_Guy - The name says it all. Craig is a cocky guy and never has that been more true than present days. Craig has always had skills but he seems to be finally putting it all together and becoming a more consistent player. He's never been afraid to hit safeties to slow the game down and has all the shots necessary to finish even challenging runs. Not to say that he can't be tripped up or thrown off his game but that doesn't appear to be quite the constant issue that it used to be. Should face strong challenges from Derrick and possibly Dante but should qualify comfortably for the next round.
FreeJackpot - Another fine example of a player who really really really wanted to be in Div A. So here is Bryan getting what he asked for and not only does he have to play the sets but he'll be forced to read the prediction too. I don't see this going very well for Bryan and probably his best hope is to pretend that 3 wins in a set is a victory. I have him coming in last place in this group but there's an outside chance that could turn into a 5th place spot with some good play.
dr.putang - Dante is a first timer in SSCam so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Hadn't seen the guy around in a long time until just recently. Had the opportunity to play him in a couple tourney games and from what I noticed he plays a very controlled game. I get the impression that it should translate into a solid style for set play if it can stay consistent through 9 games. This is just an educated shot in the dark with no other competitions really to reference but I have Dante qualifying automatically or possibly in a wildcard spot.
killah_jason - Jason is a pretty good player who seems to be a little off form at the moment. He's a run first player most of the time which actually ended up working out really well for him from what I remember from way back but now the runs are looking a little rusty and that leaves opponents with easy tables at times to clean up. In any given set he could catch fire and take the win but I feel that consistency will be an issue and could keep him out of the playoffs.
poolist - Another player up for arguably the top player in the league position. Derrick's table runs are on steroids, not sure how else to put it. On an off day any player who adopts this style can be beaten but the problem here is that Derrick's off days are few and far between. I'm hoping that he'll be able to complete his sets for a change here so that we can see him perform in the playoff round. With those sets being played he should finish first in this group.
Pecking Order - 1.Derrick 2.Craig 3.Dante 4.Jason 5.AJ 6.Bryan
Group C
TINO_NlCA - Tino, a very respected person, seems to always show good sportsmanship and is a good person. He is a pretty streaky player, who can make it tough on you at times, but at other times he can be handled well. I think this is a fairly tough group for him to win many sets in, but best of luck to you pal.
shitty_attitude - Old time yahoo pool player here. He hasn't been able to play as much as he was earlier this winter, but nonetheless, he is a very good runner, and knows english well. He has been in competitions since they came out and always makes the playoffs as well. Look for him to live it up with Jon and TJ to battle for the #1 spot.
dx.fanatic - Dragon Ball Z nerd right here. I think he spends more time watching that then he does playing ypool. He can sneak up on you at times, but he needs to spend more time on the training table, and improve his game. Look at how long Goku spent training to be the strongest, come on jack put in your work. I think Jack battles to win 1 or 2 sets, and has a hard time in this group.
xxl_stud_lxx - Another old time yahoo pool player. Known him for about seven years from TRP days =)). Anyways, TJ can do it all as well he doesn't have much of a weakness, and he is tough to beat in a set and look for him to be battling hard with Jon and Scott for the top seed in this division.
l3_lvl_x - David is a good shooter, Iv'e seen him make a lot of nice long shots and run many tables lately. He has improved since I first met him. Sometimes he looks like he has help when making long shots and tough banks, so cam competitions only help David out here lol. He can definitely have a chance at upsetting one of the top 3 players in this group, but it will be tough.
crazy_cananuck - One of the few players in yahoo pool, who has strengths at all levels of the game, snookering, english, running, strategy, and banking. He has been playing good in competitions lately, and as long as he gets in a few days of playing in a week he is one of the hardest to matchup against. He usually never misses playoffs, and should make them once again, only the order may be hard to determine with Scott and TJ.
Pecking Order - 1.Jon 2.Scott 3.TJ 4.Tino 5.David 6.Jack
Group D
l2ack.em_up - Another first time entrant into SSCam Chris could be in trouble in a tough group. He's had some pretty good stats in the league and you he's not exactly what you'd call fun to play against in one game situations. Will that necessarily translate well into sets? Always hard to tell but we'll find out soon enough. I have Chris finishing towards the bottom of this group because of the difficulty.
aka_hero - Here we have another heavyweight contender in the competition. I expect last year's runner up to advance through this group stage fairly comfortably and make a similar playoff run this season because it was no fluke. One of the stronger players around because of his creativity and solid shot making. Should be the winner of this group.
lx_mike_xl - Mike is a first timer in SSCam and I haven't seen his name around other comps so this could be a first. He definitely has a strong enough game that is displayed fairly consistently. I think he's good enough to take a set from any of these guys aside from Kevin so that leaves the doors open to a playoff possibility. Could go either way but he'll be in the mix on the cut line.
yo_homicide - Always fun to write about Cam. His obsession with div B has become quite fascinating and it could even be considered a fetish as far as I'm concerned. Bottom line is that he's div A quality especially in this season. Don't think that it'll be easy to take a playoff spot here but I definitely put him as one of the favourites to advance.
n0_0b - Musti has been trapped in div A for a second consecutive season. An unfortunate consequence for being in the playoffs last season. Musti proved that he can compete with and win sets against strong players. Last season he had good wins vs Irfan and Sergio so he's shown he can reach good form. This group is pretty tough and I imagine quite a bit more active than last time so I have to give long odds.
safdarbandali - Safdar has reached a playoff spot in his last two seasons. This season once again he's been assigned to a challenging group. Haven't really seen him play a ton lately but his form has always seemed fairly sharp. I think Safdar can challenge for second place in this group.
Pecking Order - 1.Kevin 2.Cam 3.Safdar 4.Mike 5.Musti 6.Chris
Group E
ll_eskimo_ownage_ll - Petey has shown strong results in his first two seasons in SSCam and is moving up a class for what will make for some interesting sets. I think Petey has a pretty strong game and could get hot and run off some games. I see a few opportunities for set wins in this group but it might be tough to get enough good results to advance to the playoffs.
jt.jester - JT got stuck in a pretty tough group last time around but probably would have been a playoff qualifier if things were a little easier. From what I've seen lately this run game seems to be at a fairly high quality. Will definitely have no trouble punishing bad mistakes. There's enough good players in the group to say that playoffs aren't a guarantee but I think he'll be there.
ant8br - What can I say about new about Ant? Well he's still possibly the best player playing pool today although in recent competitions he's seemed a little more human. Seems to be taking upset losses a little more frequently as his consistency isn't up to normal standards. At the same time a drop in consistency doesn't mean you're still in trouble if you're in this group. Last season's champ should win this group.
win-win-win - Next up we have everyone's favourite exchange student Matt. Ya maybe....bro. He's a wildcard in any competition he enters because of his shotmaking ability. Doesn't always come through all that great and he usually plays pretty strong sets. Both previous showings in the competition were pretty strong and there's no reason to think this one will go differently. Should advance past the group stage.
UN_NATURAL - Well first off lets say Trey is a pretty good guy. Hopefully that doesn't give away what's coming next. I haven't really seen very good results from Trey in a while in comps and just from games that I've seen haven't really been up to a high level. He's definitely no stranger to these opponents so maybe familiarity and overall experience will help out. One or two set wins would be best hope.
nhanxx - Not too sure about this Nhan fellow. Since his great showing from a few seasons back he hasn't won a set in div A. I think he's a pretty solid and sometimes spectacular player. I'm hoping he can put it together here because he should win at least a couple and might find his way into the playoffs again this season.
Pecking Order - 1. Ant 2.Matt 3.JT 4.Nhan 5.Petey 6.Trey
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