 |  There are some great matchups that could go either way this week between some real contenders for the Cup. This is also the first week where a couple of the better teams in the tournament could be eliminated. There are plenty of quality matches in both the top and bottom brackets this week; let's take a look at some of them. Spotlight Matches Cirque de Soulblighter (#2) hasn't had any trouble so far in this tournament, losing just one game while rolling over thier first six opponents. This week they have thier first possible test against the current Cinderella of this tournament, Iron Chef (#15). IC is also undefeated, although they haven't dominated thier matches quite to the extent that Cirque has. Expect IC to put up a heck of a fight, produce some great films, and ultimately lose to Cirque in a close match. Prediction: Cirque 67, IC 57. Monkey Island (#16) was at the heart of a controversy this past week in thier match against the Cult. In the end, they squeaked by and moved on to take on 12inch (#1), who has yet to lose a game. Team Angry Face looks like they might just go all the way and take the Cup, and are unlikely to let mi stand in thier way. Prediction: 12inch wins comfortably, 92-59. Wolfpack (#14) has been relegated to the bottom bracket after thier surprising loss last week. They'll take on Real Men (#27), in what should be the best set of films to come from the bottom bracket. Expect WP to recover from last week's loss and move on. Prediction: WP 58, rm 20. And the team that moved WP out of the top bracket? That would be none other then the Legion of the Avatara (#19). This week, they draw an even tougher evil inc. (#3), who are a heavy favorite to win this match. Expect LoA to show up and play well, but for e.i. to win easily. Prediction: 96-53, e.i.. One of the pleasant surprises of the tournament thusfar has been .force (#22). They've come from nowhere to put together a respectable tournament run. This week, they get Ascension (#45), a capable team who has been playing somewhat below form this year. Prediction: .force keeps up thier solid play, winning 49-26. The Northern Paladins (#7) are either one of the greatest teams in Myth history, have the biggest egos in Myth history, or both; it all depends on who you ask. One thing is for sure, they are in contention for this year's title. This week they get the newly mutated "TenCrik" (#10). I'd expect Np to show thier A game here, and advance to the top bracket quarterfinals. It won't be easy though, and TenCrik should make it close. Prediction: Np 78, s8 67. Crouching Ghol, Hidden Wight (#20) has been involved in a few spotlight matches already. They were sent to the bottom bracket last week by GG, marking thier first loss of the tournament. They start thier bottom bracket run against HD (#37). Expect cghw to advance far in the bottom bracket, although they won't contend for the Cup. Prediction: cghw, 58-34. Spotlight Match of the Week This week's Spotlight Match features Glue the Moose (#6) taking on The Syndicate (#11). Both of these teams came into the tournament as dark horse contenders for the title. I believe that the winner of this match will be a real threat to go all the way. Glue the Moose has had some tough times in past Myth World Cups. In '99, they finished 4th after a controversial scoring decision cost them what they believed was a win over eventual champion Civil Order. In 2000, They were eliminated after consecutive losses to SF and BMF. However, neither Civil or BMF has fielded a team this year - could it be gtm's turn to shine? The Syndicate is described in thier threat assessment as a revamped Wight Foundation. If they play like TWF did in 2000, this could be a hell of a match. Glue the Moose and TWF fought to a draw in the qualifying rounds of MWC2K, in a match that featured explosive play and exploding wights. One fact that might look to be in Syn's favor is that TWF won two of the three games in that match. While the scoring system can produce some unusual results, winning more games doesn't hurt, and will put you on top more times then not. The Syndicate has played very well so far, with a loss to cghw as their only blemish. They've also proven in the past that they can play with gtm. In my notes for this article, I have them winning, 57-55. But looking over the teams again, I just can't see gtm losing this match now. They're on a great run, and other then a single game loss to the Fallen Bishops, none of thier matches have even been close. GtM has a real shot at winning thier first MWC after making deep runs in the past two years. This match will be one of the best of the tournament, and GtM will find a way to win it. Prediction: Glue the Moose 80, The Syndicate 67. That's all for this week. The matches keep getting better each round, and they should start to become more unpredictable as well. Best of luck to everyone still in it; we'll be down to 24 teams by next week. |
