 |  Starting next week, that is. DE 1 is like the first day at Wimbledon. Sure, you get to see all the best tennis players in the world, but how exciting is it to see Pete Sampras beat a player ranked about 380th in the world in straight sets? About as exciting as the newest feature to Spotlight Matches: The Mismatch of the Week This feature may seem like an insult to the team on the recieving end, but in reality, they have nothing to lose. If a team in the 60-64 range loses to a top seed, noone thinks less of them. But if they win.. well, it's yet to happen, but you'd have to imagine that they'd receive a fair dose of..ahem.."m2sbr", as they say. With that in mind, this week's mismatch is Cirque vs. ARMY. Cirque is a team that many are picking to win it all. They can go toe to toe with any of the heavyweights in the tournament and have a great chance of coming out on top. ARMY, on the other hand, lost to DoH and KoC by a combined score of 111-36, and only managed to tag 3 flags in a Cracks FR game against BoB. If ever there was a sure thing in MWC, Cirque winning this match is it. But, that's why they play the games..good luck ARMY! Now, on to the good stuff. Spotlight Matches Crouching Ghol, Hidden Wight (#20) takes on Idiot (#46) in an opening round matchup. cghw was expected by some to seed a little higher, but overall they have to be happy with their performance so far. If they can play a little over thier heads, they might just make it to the last few rounds of this tournament. Prediction: cghw 106, Idiot 26. The Fallen Bishops (#26) have continued the solid play they showed in MWC 2000, earning them a first round date with Tank Clan (#39). With thier tournament experience, will to win, and generally good play, expect tfb to carry the day and move on to the 2nd round. Prediction: tfb posts a convinicing win, 95-37. The lowest seeded team with realistic chance of taking the cup might very well be WolfPack (#14). It's hard to count out a team that has posted many good results in the last few years. They are a dark horse, but have the potential to knock off anyone they face. If they get in a roll at the right time, they are dangerous. They'll get an easy first round match against MCC (#52). Expect WP to show that they will be prepared for anyone. Prediction: WP makes thier statement, winning 108-24. The Jenova Project (#57) has been disappointing, limping into the DE on only a forfeit victory. They get a tough first round match with TN (#9), who should quickly move ff to the lower bracket. Prediction: TN 98, ff 34. They didn't give e.i. any sort of a match -- so sue me. Oh! (#31) still cruised into the DE, playing better then most people expected (even if that was only average). They draw kuk (#34), a team that has been somewhat disappointing so far. Kuk should have enough to take this match, but don't rule out an upset by Oh!, who should take a game or two. Prediction: kuk squeaks by, 76-68. MoL (#47) didn't live up to some of the expectations laid upon them. Actually, they did live up to some predictions;many people expected them to struggle, while those who defended them are now left wondering what happened. They get a tough first round matchup with LoA (#19). Expect MoL to come prepared, but LoA should manage to win comfortably. Prediction: LoA by a healthy margin, 82-46. Spotlight Match of the Week This week, I'd like to reward two teams that probably have absolutely no chance at winning this tournament. These teams probably won't even come close, and I doubt they expect to. However, they've both played above thier expectations, and should be rewarded somehow for that. For that reason, df and JB get the honor of being this week's spotlight match. .force (#22) made a nice little run in the Balor bracket. After losing early to Cirque and Team Orleans, they came back to end up taking 2nd place in the bracket. They play a good brand of Myth, and help legitimize the idea of this being a Myth World Cup. As for Jack of Betrayber (#44)..well, I'm not quite sure what to make of them. They didn't have a great run in the QR, but given the fact that they're complete unknowns and that few gave them a chance at even winning a game in the DE, they should be proud of thier effort. Even if they lose to .force, chances are that they'll get a team they can handle in DE2, and at least come out better then many of the teams in this tournament. Given the results so far, I'd be tempted to take .force in a romp. But something tells me not to be so sure. Jack of Betrayber did beat a couple fairly respectable teams, and they've got something to prove. Look for this to be one of the closer matches of the first round. Prediction: JB takes this one in an upset special, 70-66. Good luck to all the teams who made it to the DE, even those who seem to have no chance to win -- you never know what can happen. |
