Remember to play 2 trny games before sets to avoid being disqualified.
Finals
#8 sicc.stoned vs #23 hustle - Yet another season of sscam is about to conclude but we do still have some fireworks left to set off. We're left with a pretty decent matchup with Derek up against Chad. Derek's road to the finals has been a cakewalk with no close sets to speak of and even though it's obvious that Hope probably wasn't on her game, holding her to only one win is pretty impressive. Chad had a fairly easy time with his section as well, handling some good players and most recently blowing out Nigel 9-3 in the semi-finals. Derek is on his second attempt in div B and proved himself to be a contender at this level last season. Chad had been muddling around in div A in previous seasons with mixed success. Chad is definitely capable of winning div A but Derek is going to be his toughest challenge so far. Not sure that either of these players has been in this situation so we might see some mistakes as the title opportunity is so close. It'll be important to stick with it and not get into an early hole because we've seen that both of these guys can bury opponents. Although Chad always likes to make us believe that he doesn't care I think we should see a little caring and a strong effort here. Either player could win this set but Derek's wins are slightly more impressive and he's odds on favourite to take down the title.
9-7 Derek
Semi-Finals
#8 sicc.stoned vs #5 eat_pinaples - The beat goes on, and although we're more than halfway along the path it definitely only gets harder from here on out. So far Derek has pretty much met expectations in this playoff bracket, taking out inexperienced players who really didn't have enough quality in their game to pose much of a threat. Hope spent the two previous seasons in div A which didn't exactly go all that great but she had her moments there and perhaps that experience helped out in preparation for this season. Div B is definitely a place where Hope is going to expect to win against anyone she plays. She's got a dynamic game when it's on and she does make you pay for your mistakes. Derek seemed to step his game up to another level to dispatch of Brad in the last round, but he's definitely not perfect and Hope can take advantage. Definitely new territory for both of these players and the fact that their skill levels aren't that far separated means that the mental side will be tested...whoever breaks first will be at a disadvantage. Look for a close set and for Hope to come out on top.
9-7 Hope Result - 9-1 Derek
#23 hustle vs #3 en_dk - Pretty interesting matchup here with some interesting questions to be asked. Has Chad ever before had enough patience to battle through some good players and string together 3 wins in a row to get here? Has there ever before been any attribute about Nigel's game other than his patience that stood out to get him here? A rare re-match so late in the competition, the first time these two played is surely forgotten, but Nigel did come out victorious that time, as is obvious from the seeding. My initial read on this set is mismatch from the beginning as Chad is definitely the better shooter out of the two players. On the other hand his demeanor can be his demise and it's not out of the question that Nigel could cause some early stress. While Nigel hasn't necessarily had the toughest road to get here, he was the underdog in both the last two sets, and managed to overcome the odds to come out victorious. Both players are in unknown positions as far as this cam comp success so while congrats are in order the key here is to stay focused on the task at hand. It's hard to say whether a race to 9 favours Chad or Nigel but one thing you know for sure is that Nigel will be doing his best until the end and will be looking to play the role of the tortoise here. This, however, is not the storybook ending.
9-6 Chad Result - 9-3 Chad
Quarter-Finals
#17 sampler_43 vs #8 sicc.stoned - After a short wait the playoffs keep rolling along and oops we lost our top seed once again. Brad ended up being the guy to knock out the top seed this time around as that position continues to be cursed. It wasn't by a small margin either as he more than doubled Naveen with a 7-3 win. Brad arguably has had the tougher road to get here so far and the early tests really haven't fazed him as both results really haven't been close. Derek, his opponent, hasn't been tested either and has a combined 5 losses through his first two sets. I think its safe to say that both of these guys deserve to be here. It's pretty hard to determine who is the better player based on those results but I'll go out on a limb and say that the this match won't be a blowout no matter who wins. Derek is probably the more known player here as this is his second consecutive season in this position but Brad has great shotmaking skills to go along with some pretty good english which he's surely used to get here. This set is really tough to pick but after Derek being upset at this stage last season I'm going to say he's got the extra motivation to make sure he brings his best game here and advances one stage farther.
7-5 Derek Result - 7-3 Derek
#4 ss_x_prakash_x vs #5 eat_pinaples - It's always more interesting when the top seeds manage to avoid early round upsets mostly because that usually means we'll have more exciting matchups down the road. Both Hope and Prakash were able to take care of business in their second round matchups and have reached the stage where things get a little more tricky. Prakash is coming off what ended up being a pretty close set against Amy while Hope destroyed Brice once again. Not sure how much these two have played each other so should be interesting to see how they match up. Hope definitely has a lot more cam comp experience and has been around playoffs before but this is a somewhat noteworthy run even by her standards to have this chance to move into the final 4. Prak is still sort of a new guy in competitions and this will be the ultimate validation to his strong season to be able to come away with a win against a more established player. Hope has the ability to shoot the lights out which is something I haven't seen much from Prak and I see this as being hers to lose.
7-4 Hope Result - 7-3 Hope
#2 roasted_like_eva vs #23 hustle - Looking at the seeding in this matchup it might look like a pretty big mistmatch but don't be fooled by those numbers. This is where things are supposed to get more interesting and these are just the two guys to make that happen. Jon has been an up and coming player throughout the last year starting to make a little noise in 8brcam and other competitions before he decided to test the field here. His impressive season was only even moreso validated by his blowout of Ravi in the previous round winning 7-2. Things have been good up until now but don't expect him to be content with simply a quarter-finals appearance. Chad's seeding wasn't that great going into things here but he proved that he belongs in the final 8 with two big wins over lesser opponents in the opening rounds. This will be the first real test for either player so far in the playoffs and there isn't an overwhelming favourite. Chad is a really strong shooter but sometimes doesn't take the time to find the best shots while Jon is also a good shooter while being a little more under control. When Chad is on top of things his opponents don't shoot that much and he'll definitely have to be playing well to have a chance here. If Chad can keep this set close enough into the later games he could possibly steal the set if he gets hot at the right time. Should be an interesting set full of good shots... Jon is more likely to come out on top.
8-6 Jon Result - 7-4 Chad
#3 en_dk vs #11 sa_c_h_a - No it's not a misprint Nigel is still alive in the playoffs.... and in addition to that it's also not a misprint that Sacha actually won a playoff set against a challenging opponent. It's interesting to note that the last time these two met was in last season's group stage where Sacha doubled up Nigel 6-3 in a solid win. So much time has passed since then and here we have a completely difference scenario playing out in front of us. Nigel definitely can still be labelled as an overrated #3 seed in this bracket as his previous round win was definitely telling, but it wasn't the biggest upset considering who is left in the tournament. Right now Sacha appears as another obstacle on Nigel's run and based on the previous result you could definitely call him the underdog again. It's possible that Sacha has his head straight in terms of being able to overcome mistakes in sets but then again we aren't all that far removed from several meltdowns. Look for the opening games to be key in this set as some positives for Sacha could spell Nigel's doom.
7-4 Sacha Result - 8-6 Nigel
Rd 2 Matchups
#1 w_o_l_v_e_l2_i_n_e vs #17 sampler_43 - First off important to welcome Naveen to the grand stage. His progress in sscam has gone from missing the playoffs to making a surprising run last season and with hopes at an all time high his season earned him the #1 overall seed in div B. Honestly though the #1 seed hasn't always been a blessing in sscam and in div B especially we've seen some big upsets early on. Brad is definitely the kind of guy who could give Naveen some trouble. While I'm not even sure what the strengths of Naveen's game are Brad definitely has one great attribute in being a great shooter and has a pretty good understanding of english. Naveen will need to be on his guard as weak safeties won't work here and he'll need to make sure to take advantage of his opportunities because Brad is a serious threat. Going to have to try to stay ahead of the curve this time and pick Brad as the top seed killer this time around.
7-5 Brad Result - 7-3 Brad
#8 sicc.stoned vs #24 rubiiiiiiii - Rematch alert! Derek and Moonie are facing off again for the second time this season with the first match ending in a close 5-4 win for Derek. Both these players are coming off comfortable wins from round 1 and it's time to see if Moon has learned anything from the last meeting to maybe change up the result. Derek has been really great in the competition going on 2 seasons now and his only losses have come to serious contenders for the title. Not sure that I'd call Moon a contender to win the whole thing but it's not the biggest stretch of the imagination to think that she could play a strong set and pull off the big upset here. Moon is fairly inconsistent but she is working on developing a more all around game which could give Derek a little trouble if he's not sharp. Having said all that Derek really is one of the stonger contenders left in the competition and he shouldn't lose out here although it should be close enough.
7-4 Derek Result - 7-2 Derek
#4 ss_x_prakash_x vs #20 baby_merta - It's amazing how things can turn around after just one season. Prakash joined the competition for the first time last season as a reserve and ended up just barely making the playoffs followed by a first round exit after a hard fought close set. This time around Prak only had one loss the entire season and is sitting nicely with the 4th seed for the playoffs this time around. His opponent Amy also happens to be making improvements of late. Also on his second time around in the competition Amy is also making his second playoff appearance and his first attempt at advancing beyond the second round. Either way the winner will have achieved a personal best. Amy is showing that he is a competitor and one to be taken seriously after winning against Praveen in the last round. Both of these guys have fairly solid games with not too much to choose from but Prakash definitely has the higher expectations here after his great season and I don't see him getting tripped up right away at least.
7-5 Prakash Result - 7-5 Prakash
#5 eat_pinaples vs #21 Dopey_69_ - Introducing Hope to the playoff field and hey these two have already met so I guess that particular introduction will not be required. I have no knowledge of how many games actually were played but Hope took care of business in the group stage in an 8-1 romp so it's safe to say there's a clear favourite in this match. Along with that particular result Hope had an overall dominant group stage performance. It's not like Brice is a guaranteed loss here in the rematch. The last time Hope was in this position she was upset by a relative unknown at the time. Brice is far from unknown but there aren't always the most positive things to say as he's been around for quite a while without any real significant breakout performance in a cam comp. Brice is getting valuble experience against good competition in inters leading sp lately and can sometimes show some skills. He'll need to lock in and take advantage of every single opportunity to compete here.
7-4 Hope Result - 7-2 Hope
#2 roasted_like_eva vs #15 winmyheart_143 - Welcoming Jon to the playoff field.. he's followed the path of many others who has made a splash in his first sscam season. There are varying results as to how the rest of the story plays out but lack of experience in the competition itself doesn't necessarily mean much. Jon had a really solid season where he was able to win some impressive sets and win his group with a 4-1 record. Ravi is his next challenge and Ravi after losing his first 2 sets of the season is on a 4 set winning streak that he's ridden into the playoffs. Showing some good stuff knocking off a pesky opponent in Will last round he'll need to raise his level of play once again to be able to compete with Jon. Ravi has definitely been surprising with his results and maybe has enough left in the tank to pull off another one but I think Jon's game is too strong.
7-4 Jon Result - 7-2 Jon
#7 lx_bittersweet_xl vs #23 hustle - Well Chad was able to overcome his first round obstacle dispatching of Sterlo with a comfortable lead and next up another possible upset as far as the seedings are concerned anyways. Jenni somehow managed to grab top spot in her group and this high seeding with it due to a random turn of events that saw her one actual win turn into 3 wins with a dq and archive win to boost her point total. It's worth mentioning that it wasn't too long ago that Jenni was earning legit high seeding but really it's been a few seasons since we've seen that level. Chad wasn't really given too much credit in his last prediction but he's really a div A level shooter without a great amount of patience for safeties. Having said that he definitely can safety if forced into it after watching some battles with Sterlo. The seedings really don't mean anything here as Chad could really end up winning div B and he'll probably win here without too much trouble.
7-4 Chad Result - 7-3 Chad
#3 en_dk vs #14 xl_bankqueen_lx - Is this a misprint or is the seeding correct in this matchup. Had to pause to double check but it is correct... Nigel is the 3rd seed in the playoffs here. The reason this is such a big surprise is that Nigel has played many seasons of sscam and while he does tend to make the playoffs more often than not this would definitely have to be considered some kind of a breakthrough to have that kind of success in the group stage. Technically not sure if we can consider it a breakthrough until he carries that momentum into crunch time and the test should be a good one with Kerry being his next opponent. Her last round wasn't all that exciting as no games were played and she got the free win against Jenna. It's hard to tell what you're going to see from Kerry as her performances have varied from wins against strong players in the playoffs all the way to big losses against lesser players. Which Kerry are we going to see here is the question and will it even matter if Nigel is getting things done. I have a hard time believing after so many years of playing that Nigel has suddenly made some kind of massive improvement so Kerry is in a good position to pull off the "upset".
7-5 Kerry Result - 7-4 Nigel
#6 joredon vs #11 sa_c_h_a - I'm getting an overwhelming sense of deja vu here as these two are meeting up in the second round once again and for the 3rd time in 2 seasons. The only difference this time around is that Joe has the 6 seed and Sacha is sitting in the underdog role at #11. In the two previous meeting Joe has been the winner and Sacha has ended up running away scared/frustrated with his tail between his legs both times. Joe is coming off a really strong season where he was 4-0 without getting tested too much. He'll need to be on top of his game to match his semi-finals success from last season and the bracket has actually worked out nicely for him where there's a possible route. Sacha definitely didn't look good in his last two sets against Joe but is showing some good things after another solid group stage and a great first round win against the top wild card in JJ. Almost a bit of a surprise to see Sacha win in a tight set as he's shown in the past that he's more likely to quit than even try to win. Obviously Sacha will need to finish the set to have a chance here and I don't think his game is that far behind Joe's so we'll hope Sacha can keep his head and at least provide a little entertainment for the viewers.
7-5 Joe Result - 7-2 Sacha
Rd 1 Matchups
#16 FreeJackpot vs #17 sampler_43 - Two good players here and not easy to pick whos going to win this one. Brad went 3-1 in his group and Brian went 3-2 in his. Brad didnt play Dawn in groups , but i can assume he would have won that and gone 4-1. Do i think you can beat Bryan here and advance to round 2?????? YES i do . DO NOT take Bryan lightly though. Hes a lot better player than some give him credit for, and ive seen him play some nice shots. If you take your time here Bryan i think you can keep this set close but i am going to give the edge to Brad here. Will be a very close set and i see it going past 7.
9-7 Brad (Kerry) Result - 7-3 Brad
#8 sicc.stoned vs #25 sicc.sk1llz - This battle should be so sicc that it'll make you want to puke. Last season Derek went undefeated and with one of the top seeds was looking to be a favourite to make it to the semi-finals but unfortunately did not have his best performance and went out early. This time around he's had another great season with only one set loss and has a pretty good opportunity once again with his section of the bracket. His opponent, Thomas, is sort of reeling coming into the playoffs. He started out the competition at 3-0 but tapes were not provided in one of those wins and his other set was a blowout loss to Jenna so he's qualified now as the lowest seed in the bracket. Not too sure whats up with not being able to provide tapes as maybe the secret to his early success lies somewhere within. Either way Derek shouldn't be stopped this early in competition he should make second round easily.
7-3 Derek Result - 7-3 Derek
#9 shelle4461 vs #24 rubiiiiiiii - After another hiatus from playoffs Shelle has returned with a vengeance securing her best record in the competition and grabbing a top 10 seed for the first time. That high seeding has earned her a favourable matchup against Moon in the first round. Moonie had a pretty strong group stage and winning a set against Jon was a great result for her. She too missed out on the playoffs last season and will like her chances here to stick around past this round. Not sure that Shelle has ever won a playoff set while Moonie has one win a couple seasons back so definitely a win here boosts either players profile by quite a bit. Definitely a tough matchup for whoever wins in the next round so this is an opportunity for some short lived glory. Shelle seems to have the hot hand at the moment but this one is almost too close to call.
8-6 Shelle Result 7-4 Moon
#13 praveen_cs04 vs #20 baby_merta - Praveen went 3-2 with some pretty close wins in his group. Amy went 2-3 in his with some close sets. Ive been watching Praveen play alot lately and i think hes a pretty good player. He dosnt seem to rush any shots, just takes his time and i really think he will be to strong for Amy. One thing ive noticed with Amy lately is the improvement in his playing. A few seasons back Amy was finding it hard to win a set, now he seems to have more confidence in his playing and it shows. I really hope you can take that confidence into these playoffs Amy but i do feel Praveen is just that little bit better here.
7-3 Praveen (Kerry) Result - 7-4 Amy
#12 PROP37 VS #21 Dopey_69_ - Dorie had a lot better season this time compared to last season. Last season dorie didnt make the playoffs as she went 1-4 , but this time she went 3-2 in her group. She had a very nice win over Niks at 9-1 and 2 close sets vs Jan and Rahul winning 5 games vs each. I find it very hard to talk bout Dorie's play. I dont think she plays the same style going into every match BUT do i think she can beat brice here in playoffs? hmm im not really sure. Dorie can make some great shots and yes i have seen her make some nice banks to :P If she can get an early lead vs brice and not let it slip in the first 2/3 games she can very well win this set, but i dont think brice is gonna let that happen. Brice himself went 2-2 in his groups, but one set wasnt played and that was vs timm. Brice if takes his time can play some good pool and be a good challenge and usually he does make playoffs except for last season here he went 0-3 in groups. I think hes out to prove something this time and i really dont see him losing this and i see him advancing to round 2. I wouldnt take dorie lighly here brice cause like i said earlier if you let her get 2/3 games up at the start i think it will be over for you.
7-5 Brice (Kerry) Result - 9-7 Brice
#15 winmyheart_143 vs #18 binder.william - Well, this one looks almost uncontestably set in stone. Ravi is a very consistent player and his scores show it. He knows the game and will perform under most circumstances. Will is an adequate player but still has a ways to go to reach Ravi's level, sorry bud.
7-2 Ravi (Bryan) Result - 12-10 Ravi
#10 Top__Dawg__ vs #23 hustler - Both of you have been in the game for quite some time and are known to the yPool community as well as other comps. For this, however, I would have to give Sterlo the edge. Sterlo has more patience, bottom line. This will be his biggest asset in this set for someone who is relatively comparable as far as skill. If Chad so happens to pace himself i will still give this one to Sterlo.
9-7 Sterlo (Bryan) Result - 7-4 Chad
#14 xl_bankqueen_lx vs #19 HoT_CaNdY_69 - Ahh, a good old fashioned ladies set we have here! Love both of you, you are both courteous charming ladies. Nevertheless, I have played Kerry in sets before and her biggest weapon is the snooker. This combined with her patience will be too much for Jenna to handle at this time, and should easily secure her a win.
7-3 Kerry (Bryan) Result - DQ win for Kerry
#11 sa_c_h_a vs #22 jj.pwnz - If I was to go into a detailed history here into both of these players not much would be revealed. Sacha is who he is. A mistake here and there can be expected but he always gets it done when he needs to and has been more consistent recently. Always see him in SS Cam. Might be wrong but it is seldon I see JJ in SS Cam, surprised he completed all 5 sets. He is a good player regardless and makes good use of his talents. Another good set we have here but I gotta give this one to Sacha. Power to ya bro.
7-5 Sacha (Bryan) Result - 7-5 Sacha
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