#1 The Holy Seehawks vs #3 Insane Cap Posse

Season Stats Offense Defense THS OGASP Caps Hold THS DGASP Returns Prevent ccga4 10.00 77 93:14 gh0st 10.00 558 102:47 mnp 9.86 55 69:46 teddybear 9.38 405 76:00 ICP OGASP Caps Hold ICP DGASP Returns Prevent 2P1S 9.52 38 4462 Brainiac 9.86 558 4808 Chancho 8.90 31 4181 Krieger 9.11 342 5173

Playoff Stats Offense Defense THS OGASP Caps Hold THS DGASP Returns Prevent mnp 10.00 8 7:55 gh0st 7.94 43 5:58 ccga4 8.82 3 7:39 teddybear 5.00 22 4:07 ICP OGASP Caps Hold ICP DGASP Returns Prevent Chancho 7.65 3 6:34 Brainiac 8.82 55 4:11 2P1S 6.18 1 10:18 Krieger 7.35 43 3:20

Previous Matchups Week 1 Week 7 Boombox IRON Pilot Constriction G1H1 2-0 ICP G2H1 2-1 THS G1H1 3-3 G2H1 3-0 THS G1H2 6-1 ICP G2H2 2-1 ICP G1H2 4-3 THS G2H2 4-0 THS FINAL 8-1 ICP OT 1-0 ICP FINAL 7-6 THS FINAL 7-0 THS FINAL 4-3 ICP

This matchup should be one for the ages. These teams traded sweeps during the regular season, both coming up with a close game and a blowout game. There’s a bit of an asterisk over week 1 though, as that is the only week that mnp did not play A-Team this season. Would his presence have changed the outcome? We’ll never know!

Pilot will be the map for the semi-finals and these teams met there in week 7. THS pulled out a close win over ICP which bodes well for playoff excitement. Both teams had their starting four for those matchups and I don’t expect that to change at all. Both teams also were able to sweep away their opposition in the quarter-finals last week, so you know they’re feeling good and in top playing form.

We should see THS’s top NLTP offense of ccga4 and mnp versus one of the top defenses in Brainiac and Krieger of ICP. mnp dominated last week dropping 8 caps on Salt City, most in the quarter-finals, in only three games. He put up a ridiculous 0.27 CPM and a 22.22 score percentage, carrying his team to easy victory. cc had a bit of a down week statistically, as he played more of a support role from what I saw. He had a bunch of meaningful hold, keeping regrab trains going and staying alive when needed. Brainiac and Krieger were dominant as well, surrendering only 2 caps last week. Brainiac led the way averaging 18 returns per game. As we’ve seen all season long, Krieger’s contain-first defense has complimented Brainiac’s aggression incredibly, making this pair a force to reckon with. That style is tough to beat, but expect THS’s offense to be well prepared for it. mnp and cc know how to deal with these two and are two of the best at reading defenders and picking moves to beat them this season.

On the other side of the ball, we’ll see 2P1S and Chancho Jomp of ICP face off against THS’s gh0st and teddybear. 2P and Chancho, in my opinion, weren’t as big of an offensive force as expected this season. I really thought they would both be near the top, but 2P was the highest at 7th and 6th for caps and hold, respectively. They came away with 6 caps last week which is only 2 per game. While it was enough to beat Warden on back of their defense, that average will need a significant boost against THS. gh0st and teddy on the other side are having a fantastic season together and will look to continue that this week. They’ve found a significant amount of comfort working together which is why they’re one of the most dynamic defenses this season. You’re going to see 2P and Chancho beat them with some sweet jukes, but they’ll make up for it with dank plays and powerups.

At the end of the week, I have THS 3-1 in a 4 game series and headed to the Nuperball to face the Eastern champs, who I think will be Balledega Nights.

Western Conference Playoff Recap

Quarter-Finals

A-Team

#1 The Holy Seehawks vs #4 Salt City

Quick Recap Prediction 3-0 THS Sweep Outcome 3-0 THS Sweep G1 4-1 THS G2 7-1 THS G3 3-2 THS

This one everyone saw coming. THS’s dominant run continued through the quarter-finals, sweeping away Salt City by a 10 cap differential. Game 3 was the only close one, and having watched it live it looked like THS relaxed a bit and gave NACL an opening to beat them. THS ended up figuring it out though and getting control of pups back and scoring a last second cap to win.

mnp more like mvp in this one. Go check out his stats here, especially looking at NISH. cc looked to be in a support role, though I know better. He was out there trying to keep pace with mnp’s cap rate but couldn’t quite manage only getting 3. He had a lot of good hold though that kept his team in great situations, allowing mnp to go off. gh0st and teddy continued to play great defense on Wormy, giving up 4 caps in 3 games, while scoring 3 D caps themselves.

On the other side, NACL surprisingly started Paolo Adajar after I predicted the start for DobisPR. It sounds like Dobis wasn’t available, so Tauchovie played in his place and just couldn’t seem to get out of his own way. He spiked himself with the flag quite often and just couldn’t seem to get it going. He was replaced in game 3 which was the only close game. The missing Dobis really seemed to hurt NACL, as his experience and chemistry with Carp was sorely missed. Haybunny and OSL are a very good defensive combo, but they didn’t have their best stuff this week against THS. The struggling offense didn’t help their case though.

#2 Warden and the Inmates vs #3 Insane Cap Posse

Quick Recap Prediction 3-2 WAI Outcome 3-0 ICP Sweep G1 2-1 ICP in OT G2 2-0 ICP G3 2-1 ICP

I couldn’t have been more wrong with my predictions here, though to be fair I was expecting a slightly different lineup from Warden and the Inmates. I do like the way Bliss played, but I’m confused why Creo wasn’t in there. He was apart of the WAI team that swept Insane Cap Posse in week 8. Creo may not have been available, though he did play in the B-Team game on Wednesday.

Moving on, you have to be impressed by both team’s defenses. Warden and Bliss only gave up 2 caps per game on Wormy, which should be enough to win most of the time. They were up against one of the best pairs in NLTP though, as Brainiac and Krieger only gave up 2 caps over the 3 games.

With both team’s defenses playing well, it came down to which offense could get it done. 2P and Chancho were the ones, the experience winning out over Renegade and Skwid. Chancho was really the man, coming in with 3 of the 6 caps to 2P’s 1 cap. 2P was incredible with his holding skills though, coming in with over 10 minutes of it, keeping regrab chains alive and stopping cap opportunities of WAI.

At the end of this thing, ICP wins themselves a date in the semi’s with THS for a Pacific division showdown to determine the Western Conference Nuperball contestant!