Also you still need to play your 2 trny games to be eligible in the playoffs.
Good luck to everyone!
Finals
#8 PxYxRxO vs #7 dark_tranquillity_666_l_l - Well well well... it's that time again. The first finals matchup is set and we have two unlikely combatants who have managed to jump several hurdles to make it to this point. No more worrying about who might be the next opponent because this is it. To begin with DJ is a pretty big surprise making it here because he has been a known commodity in the past. He's been in this competition almost every season the past 2 years and while always making the playoffs he often fell victim to early round losses. Just based on those past results, that were consistently average, makes this a surprise. Kevin on the other hand is new to the competition altogether and is looking to mimic Matt from last season and win it all on his first try. Although it is a surprise, Kevin definitely had the easier path here as it seemed like every time he was about to face a top seed, an upset happened. Both of these players are on the verge of taking their games to the next level by minimizing mistakes and coming through in clutch situations. They're playing at a high level and win or lose the season will have been very solid. Pretty hard to pick against DJ just based on the players he's been able to knock off so far but we are in the finals here and pressure can sometimes make things a little closer than usual. Kevin has a never say die attitude which was on display in the last set that ended up going to an sscam record 26 games. With all that being said DJ should win this but we know that Kevin won't get blown out. Best of luck to both.
10-8 DJ
Semi-Finals
#8 PxYxRxO vs #4 n0_0b - Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the semi-finals. We have one player who doesn't know the meaning of the word semi along with one who has probably forgotten the definition after such a long time between appearances. First off it's important to acknowledge the upset of the competition so far with DJ manhandling Trey in the previous round with an impressive beatdown. DJ has been a player who has consistently had good seasons with absolutely no playoff success. This run could be a sign of some legit improvement, or maybe just a fluky run (they happen). The last time Musti made a semi-finals appearance here was in last year's third season which happened almost a year ago. Musti is definitely showing signs of improvement with some solid wins so far including a nail biter against Naveen in the previous round. For previous matches I found last season's group stage where DJ beat Musti 5-4 in what must have been a close set. At this point it's always harder to pick the better player and a lot of the time it comes down to momentum. DJ is coming off the bigger win and is looking more impressive. He's going to have to make sure the pressure of the late rounds doesn't affect him too much to carry that through another strong opponent. Wouldn't be surprising to see either player advance here but I like the signs DJ is showing of becoming a really good player.
9-7 DJ Result - 9-7 DJ
#7 dark_tranquillity_666_l_l vs #11 joredon - The surprises in this bracket just keep on coming after the remaining top seed lost yet again as Joredon crushed Derek 7-2. Kevin on the other hand is just coming off a performance where he ended a cinderella when he beat Ebs quite comfortably 7-3. Both of these players are peaking at the right time and are now only one more good set away from having a chance to play in the finals. Kevin ran out to a pretty big lead in his set and at the first sign of and Ebs comeback he was able to tighten things up and close it out with strong performances in his final 2 games. Joredon was picked against in his previous round yet again against what appeared to be a dominant opponent. He managed to turn the tables pretty fast shooting out to a big lead and never looking back. Always hard to pick with these first-timers especially ones that have shown such wide ranges in their quality of play. Both guys have had great highlights so far and to figure out who will win there was some coin flipping involved (race to 7 wb2 coinflipping of course) apparently they say Joredon will win to keep his great run alive.
9-7 Joredon Result - 14-12 Kevin
Quarter-Finals
#1 UN_NATURAL VS #8 PxYxRxO - no pred
Result - 7-3 DJ
#4 n0_0b vs #12 n00bsquad_wolverine - Well so far Naveen hasn't really upset anyone with too much quality but it's looking like he'll truly be facing an underdog role here in this set. Musti is coming off a quality victory in the previous round against Alix that could have been a potential upset but he handled it well. This is actually a re-match from the groups in the past two seasons where Musti won both. One positive in Naveen's game is that he's willing to play safeties rather than risking giving away wins on tougher shots which could help him out a bit here. Those safeties can also be seen as a weakness with some tables requiring a little initiative to finish. There are going to be quite a few ugly games here and probably the ones that decide the set will not be the prettiest. Musti is going to be the guy with the knowhow to open up the tables and not make as many mistakes. I have Musti equaling his best performance and reaching the semis again.
7-4 Musti Result - 12-10 Musti
#18 Sabre Girl vs #7 dark_tranquillity_666_l_l - Usually by this point in the competition we're left with nothing but familiar names. This time that couldn't be further from the truth as a couple first time competitors have managed to make it this far. These players were in the same group but never completed their set which leaves them with no previous playing experience against each other. Eba is the bigger surprise here after taking out two of the stronger players in Kerry and Eddie. She's showing not only that she can win some game but also that she can close out sets in crunch time. Kevin is also playing well after dispatching of a pesky opponent in the previous round. Kevin is known to be a harsh self-evaluator but he must be doing something right to get this far. Eba will have opportunities in most games because Kevin doesn't run much from start to finish. If I was predicting this from the group stage I'd say Kevin takes it hands down but after Eba's success it will definitely be a close one. Kevin should still pull this one out and move onto the semis.
7-5 Kevin Result - 7-3 Kevin
#3 run.legend vs #11 joredon - Well after a wild second round filled with some big upsets Derek actually is sitting as the top seed remaining and probably is definitely one of the favourites in this final 8. So far so good in these playoffs for Derek who passed a fairly easy test comfortably against Niks. While Joredon has had opponents in the first two rounds he's only played a total of 7 games with a 4/3 record so we really don't know a whole lot more than we did earlier in the playoffs about him. One thing I'll say about Joredon is that he does have supreme confidence and he does have a pretty good idea of what he's doing on the table. This should be a tougher test for Derek but so far he's shown no sign of weakness and he's probably the better player in this match.
7-4 Derek Result - 7-2 Joredon
Rd 2 Matchups
#1 UN_NATURAL vs #17 my_hillybilly_sbc - Almost forgot Trey was in this competition as he was able to finish all his sets, with no losses, within the first few days of the competition. Here we are almost 3 weeks later and finally Jay has emerged as his next challenge. Jay is coming off probably his most impressive set of the competition where he was able to knock out Harmony with a few games to spare. Trey should be liking his chances in this match but it's definitely a lot closer than it might appear. Jay is probably one of the top players in div B on shotmaking alone and if he gets hot he could run a few tables. Trey actually is probably the top player in div B which and he should be aware of Jay's skill set as they've seen each other a number of times within the league and inters. This should be a really close set and Trey will have to come out with a smart enough game plan to get through safely.
7-5 Trey Result - 7-2 Trey
#8 PxYxRxO vs #9 PSYCHOJASON - Ok well here we have a couple guys who have done very well in div B probably the last 3 seasons and both of them have had pretty tough luck when it comes to the playoffs. Last season in particular both players took upset losses in round one of the playoffs. This season they get byes through to round 2 at least unfortunately to play off against each other. Jason could have had a much higher seed if he finished his sets so he might be kicking himself to have to face the early test here. Both players had 4 wins with some impressive victories along the way so there's not much to choose between them. I feel bad for whoever ends up losing this set because they both probably deserve to be in the final 8. Going to have to take DJ's experience here because I can't think of anything else.
7-5 DJ Result - 7-2 DJ
#4 n0_0b vs #20 oh.alix - Well despite having another successful season and earning the 4th seed in these playoffs, Musti will face a pretty big challenge right away with Alix being his round opponent. Alix is coming off a blowout win against Rahul which didn't really come as too big of a surprise but it might also be a sign that she's elevating her level of play for when the games matter. Musti is always a competitor in the playoffs and it's hard to believe that he's being threatened so early on but Alix is a really good shooter and if she's finishing her runs Musti might not shoot that much. On the bright side for Musti, he is a pretty steady player and Alix hasn't shown that she's been able to beat any of the better players yet. Musti is more likely to make a return appearance in the quarter-finals but Alix might push him to extra games.
8-6 Musti Result - 7-4 Musti
#5 binder.william vs #12 n00bsquad_wolverine - Finally Naveen was able to finish his rd 1 set and after 18 games his win gives him a chance to take on Will here. Will had a great return to sscam with only one loss in the group stage and winning that group. Will is probably the most underrated player in the competition and he should be looking to go a couple rounds deep here and maybe further. Naveen is playing in his first playoffs and just barely managed to squeak by Prak in the last round. Will is going to be finishing a lot more tables than Prak for sure and Naveen will need to step up his game a little more to compete here. Will is still not the most refined player which will leave openings but I still think he clears a few tables and will do a good job taking advantage of any mistakes by Naveen.
7-4 Will Result - 7-4 Naveen
#2 FastEddieTheEvilPsycho vs #18 Sabre Girl - Introducing yet another top player into the div B bracket, Eddie is once again the second overall seed for the second season in a row. Once again pulling off a fairly comfortable 5-0 season Eddie is trying to prove he deserves a promotion to the top ranks. One of the more surprising results from the first round was Eba managing to knock out a former finalist in Kerry in a 7-1 decision. Eba was barely in the playoffs but now she's kicked off her shoes and is looking to hang around a little longer after that drubbing. Last season Eddie had a surprising semi-final loss against the eventual champion and I can't really see him focusing to make it at least that far once again. I'm guessing Eba will fight but it's probably not enough.
7-4 Eddie Result - 9-7 Eba
#7 dark tranquillity_666_l_l vs #10 insaneKoRn - After a 7-1 beatdown of Amy, Drew will face Kevin in the next round. Kevin had a pretty good group stage, losing only one of the 4 sets he played to finish first in his group. It was a little bit of a surprise to see Drew beating Amy by so much there but he showed that it can make a difference to have more experience playing sets. The next match guarantees to be the complete opposite because Kevin plays more under control and has more of an idea what needs to happen to get victories. While its hard to pick against someone coming off such a big win Kevin presents a completely different kind of challenge. Drew will need to make some adjustments in how he plays and I'm not too convinced yet that he can pull it off.
7-4 Kevin Result - 7-4 Kevin
#3 run.legend vs #19 lndiangangsta - Derek is the 3rd and final guy to have managed a 5-0 record in div B and he'll be matching up against one of the lower remaining seeds in Niks. He's a player who I really wasn't aware of before the competition started but he picked up some good wins here and is also doing just about the same thing in 8brcam's div B. Niks is coming off a round 1 win against Pat in a set that took a couple extra games to conclude. This should be a really tough if not impossible hurdle for Niks as he's always just been about average with his group results and really hasn't taken out anyone this good before. I still really don't know much about Derek's game but the numbers don't lie and his run won't be ending here.
7-3 Derek
#6 Sacha98 vs #11 joredon - Welcoming the enigma Sacha to the bracket here, always an entertaining guy to watch in a set. Here we have our very first re-match from the group stages in these playoffs against Joredon. Last time these two played it was a 9-0 win for Joredon even though Sacha was able to recover enough to win the group. This is definitely not your typical performance from Sacha and it's unlikely that he actually played out all those games. Both players are pretty strong shooters who at times can struggle to finish off their runs. Sacha normally has a strict routine of 100 games per day which I've seen fall off a little bit lately so that could be a good or bad thing haha. Joredon got a little lucky getting the DQ win in the previous round to advance here and now he'll be trying to show the previous matchup wasn't a product of luck. Tough call here I think these players are very similar. If Sacha gets down early he might quit so it's hard to pick him because you know Joredon will play till the end.
7-4 Joredon Result - 7-3 Joredon
Rd 1 Matchups
#16 ll_x_lrish.g0ddess_x_ll vs #17 my_hillybilly_sbc - The first matchup in round put puts two pretty good players up against each other in what could very well be the most entertaining match of the first round. Harmony and Jay both got through the group stages with 3 wins apiece against some decent competition. Harmony, I'm pretty sure, is a flat out runner and is a pretty good shooter at that too. She seems to know what she's doing on an open table so Jay will have to limit mistakes. Jay has been around for a very long time playing inters and comps so he shouldn't be overwhelmed by anything here. Jay thinks the game through pretty well but his downfall often times ends up being an easy missed shot every once in a while. I think that if Jay can stay focused and not blow his runs then he'll be in a good position to win this one but could go either way.
7-5 Jay Result - 7-4 Jay
#13 TheGreatOne41 vs #20 oh.alix - Always good to see Rahul back in the playoffs for the first time in a while. He's coming off an impressive season where he managed to pull out a big 7-2 in his last set to get here. Alix was added to the competition in a replacement group so wasn't able to complete her sets but did pretty well anyways on her first time in competition. Rahul is definitely showing us something we haven't seen before with the set wins he's had so he's not the usual pushover from seasons past. Having said that Alix is a pretty strong runner and shoots with a pretty high IQ that she probably acquired from playing inters and games with strong players. Rahul is definitely the people's champ but Alix I think will show that she's one of the stronger players in div B here.
7-4 Alix Result - 7-2 Alix
#12 n00bsquad_wolverine vs #21 ActiveKC - Here we have an interesting match between two of the surprises in the group stage. Both players don't have very strong records in SS league, and we have to say Naveen has a slightly better track record. Naveen is an irregular player, if he is on mood he can play at a very decent level (he won 7-2 in two group stage matches), but when he isn't, his perfomance can decrease a lot. He is improving day by day, and has shown he has the ability to use good english and good set up play. On the other hand Prakash is a player less talented than Naveen in terms of strategy and english usage but his decent shot accuracy can make things difficult for Naveen if Naveen makes many failed runs and leaves open tables. It's hard to predict.
7-4 Naveen (by dark_tranq) Results - 10-8 Naveen
#15 xl_bankqueen_lx vs #18 Sabre Girl - Here we have an all female matchup... oo la la and no it wasn't setup by Musti. After some confusion over some tapes Eba has rightfully taken her spot in the bracket. After being a late entrant to the competition Eba managed to get 3 wins in the final week of the competition coming out of a fairly tough group. Kerry, after being a finalist a couple seasons back, has come back down to earth with the last couple seasons having good but not great group stages. There's nothing overly distinguished about the way these players play and it's virtually a toss up to see who can move on to the next round. I haven't really seen Ebs in many competitions lately so I'll say Kerry is going to move on.
7-4 Kerry Result - 7-1 Eba
#10 insaneKoRn vs #23 baby_merta - Here we have a matchup of two virtual unknowns in this competition anyways. Both players used a certain amount of luck to be able to be in this position. Drew's high seeding is the result of a 9-0 dq win that he received in his last set while Amy was awarded a wildcard spot after he managed to beat out Shelle and Jenni in a 3-way tiebreaker in his group. Drew definitely gets around competitions a little more while Amy is in his first competition here in sscam. Amy used to be a bit of a pushover but lately seems to be improving all the time and has become a dangerous player in ss trnys. Drew is fortunate to not have to be drawn against a dominant player in the first round here but will have to take Amy seriously indeed.
7-4 Drew Result - 7-1 Drew
#14 ill vs #19 lndiangangsta - Unfortunately for Niks some tapes got cleared at the very last second which ended up changing his seeding by 12 whole places. This mean he winds up having to play a first round match against Pat here. Pat is coming off of a somewhat surprising season where he managed to finish 2nd place in his group with some good results. Niks is coming off a season where he only managed 2 wins and got in through his win %. Last season in playoffs Niks didn't even get to play his set so its hard to say how he handles the pressure yet. This should be a pretty close set and I'd have to say Niks experience gives him the edge over Pat but really this could play out either way... or not at all.
7-5 Niks Result - 8-6 Niks
#11 joredon vs #22 G_O_D99 - Ok so this is the last prediction I'm writing and I'm all out of ideas. Joredon is a new player to the league but he's already established himself as one of the better ones out there playing trnys. Rich, his opponent, has been in the competition a few times now and is making his first trip to the playoffs in a while mainly because of a win being given at the last second. At the same time Rich was off to his best start this season and won 2 sets legitimately and is possibly finding his game back. I think the huge difference here will not be in shots made but in strategy. The big downfall with Rich's game is his lack of awareness as to how hard shots need to be hit... he likes to live in the red. Didn't really witness any of Joredon's sets but some people had good things to say and from what I've seen he plays under control. This is probably the biggest mismatch in the first round and Joredon should advance with a little room for error.
7-3 Joredon Result - DQ win for Joredon
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