Prem
-- Knife (1-0-0) vs Lucky (0-0-1) - lump`
Impact Players
Knife: b1 (comm & alien comm), cheeZ (shotgunner), pantsu (fade)
Lucky: Peach (comm & gorge), Ernos (lerk), Cirtus (fade), Naxu (marine)

After last weeks display from both teams here it is clear that it wont be a walk over for anyone. Knife losing a marine round on veil and lucky drawing the power lineup of the wheatbearers.

Knife showed us all what they are capable of on metal last week with solid wins and a nice come back in their veil alien round after losing both nodes. The natural teamwork of all the players is still clear as well as the natural skill; so with b1 giving out the commands in game they will be able to beat any team on the right day. I think a lot of the ability of players is quite far behind their old individual standards but any one of them could dominate an alien team if they find some form.

lucky suprised me with some awsome teamwork at times, keeping alien rt's on veil is not an easy task to achieve, they only lost out when fighting The Wheat Bearers res. They have shown a lot of potential in the last week and we can only expect this team to improve from that performance. Citrus has improved his fading a lot and shown that he doesn't like to die easily which will present a trouble for knife with the mass pancaek of Ernos.

I expect a 2-2 as caged is a underplayed map so should bring a balance with b1 and peach comming. Veil can expect marine wins as ever knowing most marines will be able to play the map with their eyes shut; but knife could also go all out and 4-0 lucky if they solve their problems quickly.
Result: knife (2) - lucky (2)

-- The Wheat Bearers (0-0-1) vs insane (1-0-0) - lump`
Impact Players
The Wheat Bearers: morphz (marine/fade), Avex (marine/fade), wltrs (marine/fade)
insane: ray (lerk/marine), aZa (comm), iSH (fade)

The Wheat Bearers and insane will be a very interesting game to watch this week. Insane still have their awsome teamwork but it isn't as strong as last season while wbc have their top skilled individuals who can often fight off teams alone. On caged I think aZa will do a few suprise tactics as is his nature to be very creative.

The Wheat Bearers showed good moments of teamwork last week and a lot of unlucky fading. They gave a few examples of what they are capable of doing individually last week, Avex pulling off a nice 5 kill combo early game doing a rather bastard like crouch dodge to pistol whip on low health. They definately have the skill to be in the top 2 teams of Europe but they need to focus far more than they did last week to achieve this. Each of the players can use the players around them well to make them a hard opponant but they will be playing against a very long formed team who may spot weaknesses in wbc and exploit them.

Insane have definately boosted up their player ability with animz playing again and Shivan fading. isH looked out of place with the SC's on metal but with celerity it was a different story and you could see his old fading skills in action. All the marines had clear ability with sg's with aZa's med hacks wbc may have a few troubles.

I think wbc can outplay insane if they find enough form for the game but that happening is around 50:50, insane play at a relatively consistent level. I'll be interested to see how insane play caged and most likely 2 alien wins but I expect twb to win both rounds on veil if they play well.
Result: The Wheat Bearers (3) - insane (1)

-- Knife (1-0-0) vs lucky (0-0-1) - Ben
Impact Players:
Knife: b1 (comm, skulk), cheeZ (skulk, marine), mu (fade)
Lucky: Peach (comm), Ernos (lerk), Citrus (Fade)

We saw in week 1 that both teams have strong marine rounds headed up by strong comms. Even though b1 lost veil marine he brought home the bacon on metal. Peach contrasted by winning veil marine but losing metal despite some excellent commanding which almost brought his team home a shock victory over the match favourites: the wheatbearers. This match is going to be an exhibition of innovative commanding. Caged, a map not regularly played, is one that is approachable from many directions. This is a chance for b1 and Peach to really shine and show their stuff in the command chair.

The two commanders will find themselves with tough opponents and neither alien side is likely to just be rolled over. Both teams possess higher lifeform players capable of turning the tide of the match single handily and excellent team play. In my opinion knife's alien round is slightly stronger thanks to b1 who can always be counted on to fight the res war effectively. Luckys more res controlling strategys will be hard pushed by his persistance.

This is definately a match to watch, I'm going to say a 2-2, however caged is a real spanner in the works. Both teams will need to scrim hard to come to outdue their opponents, this map could really go anyway.
Result: Lucky (2) - knife (2)

-- Semper Fi (0-1-0) vs Levitacus (0-1-0) - Ben
Impact Players:
Semper Fi: Sub (lerk), Pho (Fade, marine), SlayerX (skulk), coris (Marine)
Levitacus: Inva (Fade, marine), Scale (Lerk), Tane (Marine, skulk)

This match provides quite a contrast to Knife vs lucky with both these teams tending to have stronger alien rounds thanks to specialists in the fade and lerk roles. Neither team won their week 1 match, however both did take rounds from their opponent and in both cases some of the rounds were closer than the score might suggest. They'll have to work hard to iron out the kinks that saw them drop the rounds in week 1.

In week 1 Semper Fi looked solid. They took their alien round on veil, a marine balanced map, vs b1 and knife, something few teams can claim to do. They also looked solid in their marine round even without their primary commander lump and top player: phoenix. If both these players return to the fold then their chances of beating Levitacus's alien round are greatly improved.

Levi looked weak in week 1 only winning metal marine and you have to wonder if the Frenchies unconvential and somewhat bizarre SC tactic contributed to that. They had moments of exceptional teamwork however their play lacked the polish and finesse of the team that beat storm last season. No doubt they'll be working hard though to find that return to form. I'm sure Inva is practising navigating his popup menu as we speak.

Again I imagine this will be a 2-2 draw with alien ties despite the marine biased nature of the maps. Both these teams have excellent alien rounds which need little practise to take rounds, 1 week however may not be enough time for both these teams to perfect their marine game to allow them to bring home the bacon and get their season back on the right track.
Result: Semper Fi (2) - Levitacus (2)

Division 1 -Skyice
insert (0-0-1) vs Flatline-ns (0-0-0)
Not much to write. Both teams have strong line ups and it should be a fun match to watch. Flatline have been playing well recently. Insert know the mistakes they made against Armless and should have improved on them.
Result: Flatline (3) - insert (1)

Division 2 -Skyice
damn! (0-0-0) vs el'pheer (0-0-1)
el'pheer seem to have picked up a few tallented and experianced players but don't seem to be using them to there full advantage. damn! Also have an impresive line up with alot of experiance. Both clans have a large history and we shall see which clan still has enough experiance under there belt to beat the other.
Result: damn! (3) - elpheer (1)

Division 3 -Skyice
incoming (1-0-0) vs evolution (0-0-1)
Incoming played very well against in memory of, beating them 3-1.
Incoming seem to be ever improving and expanding there knowledge of the game. I don't think it will be a problem for them to beat evolution 3-1.
Result: incoming (4) - evolution (0)

Division 4 -Skyice
contra-gamers (1-0-0) vs Zick (0-0-0)
cG played coal in there last match and won. (thoe only playing 1 round then coal rage quitted). cG contain a few old DNS players and a few higher than average skilled public players (hi jack Beauregard).
Both cG and Zick seem to be at the same skill level and experiance lvl. This match will be a good match to watch, both clans are new to the ensl and a few players from each clan are new to the community.
Result: Zick (2) - cG. (2)