ELTP Season 6.5 - Pre-season predictions

Conference A

Sam-’s The Krusty Grabs

O Sam- (C) O Sherrattinho (50) D Wilson (17) D jjpoole (13) Sub OEOEOEOEOE (14)

It’s no surprise to see real-life friends Sam- and Sherrattinho on a team together, however for the first time since Season 3 Sherra will be playing offence. The ball-of-fame defensive star isn’t exactly known for his offensive talent, but with Sam- back at home playing on the internet that saw him win ELTP in Season 5, Sherra might just need to be there to help Sam- get out of base and keep the regrab train alive.

On the other side of the map we have a defensive duo with nearly 4000 minutes of LTP to their names - Wilson returns following a one season break and has been playing at a superb level in scrims, possibly making him the best valued player of the draft. Supporting him will likely either be jjpoole (Sam- and Sherra’s MLTP captain) or OEOEOEOEOE, a quickly improving player who excelled at both positions in Season 6 Silvers. Whilst OE might have more scope to improve as well as better mechanical skill on European servers than jj, Wilson’s aggressive playstyle may be better covered by jjpoole’s experience. Either way, The Krusty Grabs look to have a very well-rounded team.

Offence: 8.25/10

Defence: 8.5/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Predicted: 1st in Conference

Hyponome’s Hypo and the Gnomes 2: Hypo’s Gnome Children

O imperious (59) O 420assman (21) D Hyponome (C) D Hawka (0) Sub Welbz (6)

Hyponome returns to captain in ELTP for the 6th time and has drafted a team of close friends who will probably spend 90% of their practices playing CSGO, aka The Dong Squad. Speaking of returns - following two mediocre seasons on offence, Hyponome heads back to his more familiar side of the map - the ex all-star and ELTP winner has been dominating every PUG he’s played in lately, and will no doubt perform brilliantly again in his natural defensive position. However partnering him is Hawka - and though he was once a borderline majors/minors talent a few seasons ago, question marks hang over his ability - will he be washed up or will Hypo be able to put him through the drier?

On offence, HG2 have imperious and 420assman. Both returning to majors after one season out (even if 420’s break was just because no one wanted to draft him for majors), Hypo has potentially formed a capable offensive duo. That said, although imperious was a top offender in Season 5 it’s unclear if he’s yet back at the ability he needs to be to justify his 59 euroll price tag - especially as he’ll be missing the first week. Alongside him is 420 who, following a stellar season in silvers, will be hoping to solidify his spot in majors for Season 7. Assman was probably a little unlucky to not be drafted into Majors last season and compared to the prices of other offenders in the auction it looks like he went quite cheaply. If 420 can step up and imperious can get back to his old level, HG2 could have a very dangerous team.

Offence: 8/10

Defence: 8/10

Overall: 8/10

Predicted: 2nd in Conference

Nube’s Salt City

O Nube (C) O The Juker (21) D Green (62) D Kera (3) Sub weisbrot (10)

Though every one of their starting four players finished inside the bottom three of the league last season, Salt City have been predicted by many to be the strongest team in Season 6.5. Captaining the NaCl-Clan is Nube - after a disappointing Season 6 where he found himself on a collapsing team,many people might have forgotten just how good he is. Though his team didn’t make the playoffs last season, Nube still managed to get just 3 caps off the number one spot despite his team having the flag in base the 2nd least of any team. Partnering him is The Juker - hyped up heavily going into last season, Jimmy flopped a little and ended up second last in the league with a 2.91 GASP. Has the potential to be much better than he is, but for whatever reason he has as of yet failed to live up to his own potential.

At the helm of their defence is Green - arguably no longer at the peak that saw him reach the final in Season 5 and perhaps going for a little more than his worth in the auction, however he is still a talented, communicative defender who will probably form a solid defensive partnership with a mix of Kera and weisbrot. All in all their defence, though missing a star player, is probably one of the better defences in the league and will certainly do the job against the teams in their conference.

Though this team appears to be a solid all-round side, their major pitfall will likely be their O/D. Whilst both Nube and The Juker will probably rack up a lot of hold and bring in lots of caps, Nube’s famously light ball and Jimmy’s flaccid grabs are going to cost their team a lot of caps and perhaps as a result end up missing out on important results.

Offence: 7.75/10

Defence: 7.25/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Prediction: 3rd in Conference

Ruud’s Daruud and the Sandstorms

O Poukie (27) O thenewguy. (6) D Ruud (C) D Booya Ball (67) Sub jj’s pool (0)

One of the borderline majors/minors captains coming into the mini-season, Ruud has limited majors experience and a few fairly average seasons in minors to his name. Knowing this, Ruud went big on his defence partner - too big. Booya Ball is a solid player, but 67 on him might have been a slight overpay. This has the potential to be a successful defensive pairing so long as Ruud is able to adjust his play-style to cover for Booya’s aggressive swipes, however with Ruud himself having similar downfalls (notably his infamous backwards snipes) this defensive pairing could go either way.

With limited Eurolls to spend on his offence, Ruud struggled to pick up an offensive star. Both Poukie and thenewguy. are capable of playing Majors if led by a top-tier player, however their lack of top-level experience could render them ineffective against the strong defences throughout their conference. As things stand I would probably rank this as the worst offence in the league, and suspect that after a week or two of DRS struggling to get results Ruud will look to rotate in jj’s pool - the East Coast beast has racked up 59 caps in MLTP Season 9 so far and performed well last season in his first season of ELTP.

Offence: 4/10

Defence: 7.5/10

Overall: 6/10

Prediction: 4th in Conference