Week 8

If you were sleeping on sheph in Challenger, it’s time to wake up. After a 0-1-2 stretch, sheph has won their last two matches and is second in the division, largely because the other top two players just fought each other. Those would be pox and dowsey, with the latter winning definitvely 7-2 in a casted match to hang on to first place in this crowded messpionage.

plastikqs dropped their second in a row to turnipboy who won 7-3 and, though benefitting from a forfeit last week, hasn’t lost since the tough-luck draw of sheph in week 1. c9high took their second consecutive forfeit. Challenger has, as expected, gone through a second phase as the top players have taken each other on, and are finally starting to settle into definable tiers. There’s still a huge pile-up just beyond the top, though, with only two points separating 13 players from 3rd to 15th.

No Iron matches were played this week.

No Copper matches were played this week.

In Bronze, arturiax defeated sgnurf 7-4, and nanthelas won their fourth straight (casted here), beating jyaty 7-3. jyaty is 0-1-2 since a 4-0 start, and this loss creates an opening for third-place catnip to steal a spot in the finals. There’s not much margin for error given the state of the tiebreakers (head-to-head is split, jyaty leads match wins by one, and takes the third tiebreaker based on last year’s standings). catnip’s most likely route to the Bronze championship is simply winning on points, and she’s got the red hot nanthelas in week 10. It could all come down to that.

I may have spoken too soon in Silver, as teetery avenged their week 2 loss to wodar, winning 7-2. That match was casted. Just one point separates the top three slots now, though wodar has a game in hand and yerand has two.

The big match to watch is the wodar-yerand week 9 matchup. teetery’s interest is probably in a yerand win, followed by a tie, as they would lose the first tiebreaker (head-to-head) to yerand, but split it with wodar. That split would force a second tiebreaker, which is match wins (currently knotted at five). wodar, however, wins the third tiebreaker with teetery, which is each player’s standing at the end of the previous season. wodar’s still in the driver’s seat and needs only a modest showing in his remaining matches to lock down a spot in the finals, but this win does keep teetery’s hopes technically alive.

In Gold, falconhit continued to dominate, defeating sharper 7-2 to improve to 5-0-3. The win guarantees falconhit a spot in the Gold final. All that’s left is to determine the opponent, but it’s almost certainly going to be pwndnoob, who jumped out to a 6-0 lead on scallions before winning 7-1. pwndnoob has a three-point lead on elvisnake and scallions, has a match in hand over the former (and two over the latter), and holds the first tiebreaker over both. Week 10 will give us a preview of the Gold final, though both players’ positions should be secure enough that they’ll have little reason to reveal their designs there.

No matches were played in Platinum and a number of forfeits should be processed this week to force the schedule forward.

In Diamond, bloom jumped out to a 5-0 lead on warningtrack and won 7-3, canadianbacon dropped the first three games to kcmmmmm but won 7 of the next 9 to take the match, and krazycaley defeated magician1099 7-3. krazycaley and canadianbacon are the best-positioned to make the finals, but after that there’s a three-player pileup at 8-8-7. Last season, a mere 7 points was enough to avoid the Hazard Match in every single division, but this year in Diamond someone’s likely to end up there with as many as 9 or 10.

For full standings and replays, visit the SCL Manager.