I'm a fan of predictions and to see how they turn out. So i'm doing some on my own here.

Division A:

1. Masters
2. Lynx
3. Turtles
4. French Community
5. Outlaws
6. One
7. Blitz

Masters: With the addition of Timinator and Panagiotis they got a boost to an already very good roster. They field 3 of the best players on Warlight nowadays with mod, MotD and Timi and field an overall very strong lineup around them. I don't see any holes and if they manage to stay boot free they should be the slight favourites on the CL win.

Lynx: If there is one clan that can challenge Masters it's gonna be Lynx. On the 1vs1 they have andy who will play half of these tournaments and who will earn them a lot of points. On the other 1vs1 i see them slightly below the Masters players. Team games were last years strength of Lynx. They need to keep up there performances on the team games if they want to beat the Masters overall. It's gonna be interesting to see if they will be able to defend the title.

Turtles: Their 1vs1 lineup looks strong. Buns belongs in the highest category and Biches is a great player as well. I didn't saw much from Turkish yet. He seems to me to be a great player who gets booted from time to time so u might need to keep an eye on that. The Turtles will probably lose some ground on the team games and that's the reason why i don't have them up their competing with Masters and Lynx for the title. The depth doesn't look as good as these other 2 clans through i think it should be enough to challenge with all the other clans. Their 1vs1 lineup makes them the frontrunner for the 3rd place.

French Community: It's really hard to judge the French since i don't know every player. Their 1vs1 lineup looks good without any holes. Marechal was flawless in the tournaments i saw him playing, but it will be interesting to see if he can compete on a 1vs1 with the best as well. Phaeril isn't playing a 1vs1 which is also quite interesting but i unterstand the intention on putting him on the team games. The lineup there looks also good. Since the French have proven themselfes multiple times in A i see them in the middle of the pack on place 4.

Outlaws: It's pretty hard to judge ourselfes since it will be an exciting new challenge for all of us. Some have experience in CL others don't but i like our lineup and our chances in staying in A so the 5th place seems right to me. The strength of last years team were the team games and i do feel that we will have good chances there as well this season. Obviously it will be harder in A than in B but i think we can give every team at least a fight for the points. I do see some upset possibilities in that area even against the best. The 1vs1 lineup looks stronger and it needs to be stronger since the competition will be harder. I feel like we could aim for a 50 % winrate in the 1vs1, which i guess would be good. I think we all feel pretty excited for our first season in A, so let the fight begin.

One: I can't give u a reason on why i put One on a relegation spot. There are two relegation spots so that's it. Their lineup looks fine to me. The strength should be the team games. I do like it. They need to avoid boots this time and then they should be able to compete with everybody as well. Especially on EU. The 1vs1 lineup is hard to judge. PJ is a good player and should be able to get some points together. I don't know Grizzlis and wick so that's why i'm probably have some question marks on the 1vs1 lineup.

Blitz: They also have a good lineup, but although the addition of Chris is good, i don't think he will be able to compensate the loss of Giantfrog for Blitz. I think it will be just pretty hard for them to stay in A with all of this competition.


All together i think Division A will be very interesting and intense in the race for the win and the fight to avoid the relegation spots. Masters and Lynx are probably ahead of the other clans. I would put the Turtles slightly over French/Outlaws/One and these 3 slightly ahead of Blitz.

Division B:

1. GG
2. WG
3. M'Hunters
4. VS
5. SNinja
6. VIW
7. BIA

GG: It's a shame they dropped out of Divison A. If i take a look at their lineup i think there is almost no way they won't finish 1st in the division. That's definitely a Division A caliber lineup and i think they are clearly ahead of the other clans. Through it's interesting that Bender isn't playing this season. I think GG should dominate the 1vs1 and team games.

WG: I actually like this lineup. There are still some serious question marks, like the whole depth of the clan with just 8 players on the whole roster. So it will be very important to avoid any dropout and boot ofc. Compared to last seasons roster this one looks better with the addition of smileyleg and almosttricky. I think it's well rounded with no glaring weaknesses so i think they can finish 2nd, if they avoid boots and dropouts as i said earlier.

M'Hunters: The advantage of M'Hunters ahead of WG can be, that they have more players to play fewer tournaments. So if they can avoid a dropoff in skill, they could even have an advantage over WG, since the players can focus more on the tournaments. Their strength should be the team games, especially the 2vs2 were i would put M'Hunters ahead of WG. On the 1vs1 and 3vs3 i think it's the other way around and that will give WG the advantage in the battle for the 2nd promotion spot.

VS: I'm sure VS will give WG and M'Hunters a good fight for the promotion spot besides GG. My concerns about VS is the depth of the lineup. Inside, Glamorous, rocky and vicnus are all good to great players, but all of them are just playing 2 tournaments. In the end that will be the problem for VS in this season. They would have needed all or at least some of their top players in all 3 tournaments to compete in every tournament with the other 2 clans. Especially Inside and Glamorous could be missed on the 2vs2.

SNinja: It should be obvious, that SNinja hasn't a roster to compete for a promotion spot. Before apex dropped out and One promoted to A i didn't thought SNinja could stay in Division B. But things have changed and i do think they can totally compete with BIA and VIW. The loss of almosttricky will hurt them, but if rakleader manages to put up huge numbers again, than they should have an advantage over the other 2 clans. The lineup looks solid in all aspects, so the 5th place seems reasonable for them.

VIW: That's nowhere the lineup it was a season ago. VIW had some major losses, which they won't be able to compensate. It will be tough for them to stay in B. They still have some good players left like Moo, but i think that this isn't enough. SNinja has rakleader so that's the differencemaker for me.

BIA: Every thing is gonna be about not relegating into the qualifier stage. BIA has some decent to good players, but they didn't put them in 3 games, which will hurt them the same way VS will get hurt. If i didn't miscounted they should have 14 different players on the lineup. If u don't have the depth this can backfire and in my opinion it will for BIA this season. Due to that i would put them slightly below VIW and SNinja.


So in this division GG should be able to grab the 1st place. In my opinion WG and M'Hunters will compete for place 2. VS will be a little bit behind them. After that it's gonna be a huge hole to the relegation spots which will be decided between SNinja, VIW and BIA.


Group Q1:

1. Hydra
2. FCC
3. ACME
4. FBG
5. Poon Squad
6. Olympus

Hydra: The main competition will be FCC and ACME. The 1vs1 looks good enough to be able to beat their opponents from time to time, but the difference will be made in the team games and i do think that they will have expecially on that RoR team an advantage other all the other clans. It wouldn't surprise me if they win the tournament on RoR with 5:0, giving them 25 very important points.

FCC: Their strength are the 1vs1. All around they should have the best 1vs1 lineup. But i have some concerns on the 2vs2 and 3vs3. While i don't think they can compete with the other clans on the 2vs2, Nauz might be able to hold them in the race on RoR to at least beat ACME, giving them the important advantage over them to get the 2nd place in this group.

ACME: The strength is called ACL Tears. He is the best player in this group and he should be able to win them the 2vs2 and the 1vs1. But that's not gonna be enough for ACME to get to the next stage. There other players need to perform well and only then they will be able to get to one of the first 2 ranks.

FBG, Poon Squad, Olympus: I don't want to be discriminating by not writting anything related to each clan itself, but i really don't know enough players from the lineup to do so. My rankings are just based on the stats and these shows FBG in front of the other 2 clans, but all three shouldn't be able to compete about the first 2 ranks.


So this group will definitely split into 2 tiers. The first one with Hydra, FCC and ACME for the fight to stage 2 and the other tier with FBG, Poon Squad and Olympus for the fight about not being last.


Group Q2:

1. 7th Heaven
2. Corp
3. Lu Fredd
4. Preußen Garde
5. German Warlords
6. Dutch

7th Heaven: I don't know who is all an alt in this lineup but i know, that at least Belzebu and Rambo are playing on alts for 7th Heaven. Together with Cloud Strife it should give the clan enough firepower to get rank 1.

Corp: Corp is able to field a pretty solid lineup, which should bring them into consideration in almost every tournament. With Tjoex they also have a player in their lineup who make a huge developement over the last few months, so i'm sure Corp will be able to go to stage 2.

Lu Fredd: I don't know much of the players in Lu Fredd, but it seems they have a pretty solid lineup as well. They definitely have a chance to beat Corp and get rank 2 behind 7th Heaven, so i hope both clans will have a close fight between each other until the end.

Preußen Garde: Well i'm a little bit biased when it comes down to Preußen Garde and later also to German Warlords. Olkani was my first 2vs2 partner and i know kroete is playing for them, through i'm not sure what's the name of her alt. Unfortunately Anna is not playing for them, because she does a really good job on the 1vs1 ladder lately, which could have boost the 1vs1 lineup and give them a real chance to the 2nd place. Nevertheless Preußen Garde isn't a clan to underestimate. They can surprise some here and maybe even get 3rd in this group.

German Warlords: Good old German Warlords. It was my first clan and i know a lot of players from the lineup. I'm a little bit disappointed that Suschel isn't playing a 1vs1, because he could give them a good chance for a good result on 1 of the 1vs1 tournaments. He is set to the 3vs3, which gives more points, so it might be a wise decision. With Bayern, who also played a lot of team games, they might surprise some of the other clans. Still it's their first season and it will be really tough for them to get to stage 2. But i'm very interested to see their results and especially it will be interesting to see them compete with Preußen Garde, since both clans know each other pretty well.

Dutch: I don't really know much about their players. I mean i'm biased to both of the german clans, so i have to give them the advantage, but i do think based on the stats, that this ranking could be accurate.


In group Q2 it will be a fight between 3 and maybe even 4 clans. 7th Heaven should be the favourite. Behind them Corp and Lu Fredd can have a close fight and Preußen Garde might be able to join these 2. The German Warlords and the Dutch will probably fight for not being last.


Group Q3:

1. TJC
2. 101st
3. Apprentice
4. Statisticians
5. DWF
6. Hawks

TJC: I think a lot of people underestimate this clan and this lineup. There are a lot of great players playing for them. Pulsey, Dr. Love, Rikku and Xenophon for example. I put this lineup without a doubt over every other in group Q3.

101st: They field a solid and pretty good weighted lineup, so they should be able to compete with the other clans in every tournaments, which might give them the advantage over the other 4 clans.

Apprentice: It's nearly the same thing like for 101st lineup. I do think it's a sold and well balanced lineup, which can compete on all aspects. It will be very interesting to see which clan of these 2 will get the better result, since both clans have an equal lineup in meaning of strategy and depth.

Statisticians: For me they might miss a little bit to much on the 1vs1 lineup. I'm not sure if they can compete with 101st and Apprentice here. On the team games it will comes down to Math Wolf and Jackie Treehorn and if both of them will be able to lead the team to good results. That could be totally possible and then they got a good shot at finishing 2nd in this group, but i'm going with the depth of the other 2 clans and so i think the Statisticians will end their first CL season on rank 4.

DWF: They could be the darkhorse in this group. fireice will get them a lot of points on the 1vs1 tournaments. The 2vs2 team might be questionable but the 3vs3 can be good if ALE is able to lead that team. He is at least an experience RoR player so i do see him making a huge impact for this team.

Hawks: They have a solid lineup and a good depth. But they are probably 1 level below 101st and Apprentice so that won't be an advantage for them if we're talking about rank 2. It might be an advantage over the other 2 clans. It's not unrealistic for them not finishing on the last place.


I think TJC wil definitely have the advantage in this group. They just have to much good players on their lineup and if they all play to their normal standard they should finished 1st. Behind them it's gonna be interesting between 101st, Apprentice and maybe even the Statsiticians. DWF and Hawks have a shot as well, but probably lack of enough talent to compete with them.

:O did not knew tjc had so many good player's alts playing for them!

A:

1. Masters
2. Lynx
3. Outlaws
4. Turtles
5. ONE
6. Blitz
7. French

B:

1. GG
2. M'Hunters
3. VS
4. WG
5. SNinja
6. VIW
7. BIA

Q1:

1. HYDRA
2. FCC
3. FBG
4. Poon Squad
5. ACME
6. Olympus

Q2:

1. CORP
2. Dutch [NL]
3. German Warlords
4. PreuBen Garde
5. 7th Heaven
6. NL

Q3:

1. TJC
2. 101st
3. DWF
4. Apprentice
5. HAWKS
6. Statisticians

C:

1. HYDRA
2. TJC
3. CORP
4. Dutch
5. 101st
6. FCC

Can someone make a spreadsheet where we can input our predicitions like last season? Like to figure out game by game who wins what and see how many points each clan will have?

Like ChrisCMU's sheet from last season? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B-ywmwV_V5BEhx_Qx_jP9aGa2kmSPEKFwNGIpi9YUgM/edit?usp=sharing

I created simplified version. Here you can just write down points for each team and tournament. I added matchup model with most probable outcome.
Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mg00yyZDnW7pAuZ28ZOrTu2TUDyCoJQ7ddeWicfDk2Q/edit?usp=sharing

And here is what I got for Div A:

1. Masters 167
2. Lynx 158
3. Turtles 157
4. Outlaws 98
5. French 94
6. ONE 88
7. Blitz 78

My opinion for other divisions:

Div B:
1. GG
2. WG
3. M'Hunters
4. VS
5. BIA
6. VIW
7. SNinja

Q1:
1. Hydra
2. FCC
3. ACME
4. Poon Squad
5. FBG
6. Olympus

Q2:
1. CORP
2. 7th Heaven
3. Lu Fredd
4. Preußen Garde
5. German Warlords
6. Dutch

Q3:
1. Apprentice
2. DWF
3. TJC
4. 101st
5. Statisticians
6. Hawks

Group A Matchups Predictor: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iIYIB92WvOsWUafhYa43KYxJhXBqOk-RScSrKX82G9A/edit?usp=sharing


Just copy the sheet into your own sheets and then edit it

1. Icelandic Turtles: 179
2. Master: 175
3. Lynx: 145
4. French: 107
5. ONE! 91
6. Outlawz: 66
7. Blitz: 63


Perhaps I overvalued our 1v1's and 2v2's a little bit but of course I'll be biased towards my clan. I was pretty surprised that Lynx and Masters were down a bit but there were a few slots I was unsure of. I think Alexclusive will go winless in their 1v1 Volcano Island and I don't think Hades will do well in Elitist Africa. Masters will drop some points with Timinator and Farah on Final earth as neither of them have much experience on that map or together, I will also be interested in how Timinator does with Paniagotis on his team.

French is always hard to evaluate so I have them in the middle of the pack and they could swing in either direction.

ONE was a suprise for me. I didn't think they would score this many points but they did! I just hope that Alexander and Peixoto don't boot again and cost them the game.

Outlawz seems to lack in some of their team games or have a weak member on each team game. Idk maybe i'm wrong but I think theyyre a little overrated. (But heck i'm overrated too :P )

Go BLITZ GO! Without Giant Frog or KKND I don't think they can stay in Group A. Bannashake is back which is great(we've missed you) but he won't be enough to turn the tide nor will he be able to puppet his teammate to victory. Let alone rustyness from competitive play...


I'll do the others later but these are just predictions don't take them personal =)

Master Turtle -

I'm willing to bet you my 100 coins to your 100 coins that alexclusive will win at least 3 games on Volcano Islands.

Mate, put your money where your mouth is.

Edited 2/3/2017 09:23:38

You're just as biased as Turtle. Kindly take the pissing contest elsewhere.

Every time someone says something remotely negative about Lynx we don't need you to whip your proverbial dick out.

Thanks.

Master 197
Lynx 146
Turtles 143
French 113
ONE! 92
Outlaws 72
Blitz 68

Thought I was predicting French and Blitz to relegate. Spreadsheet changed my mind.

@DrunkPlayer

Seems you got what I got but removed my Turtle Bias ;). This is what I was predicting before I used the score simulator. But in my opinion, no clan gets more than 185 points, we'll just have to see and then be surprised ;)





@Quiksilver

I'm putting no money on this. These are just for fun, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned any players by name....


Edit: I currently have less than 100 coins.

Edited 2/3/2017 15:21:30

I really liked Chris's spread sheet last year as well, MT that is quite the prediction xD

1. Masters
2. Lynx
3. Turtles
4. French Community
5. ONE
6. Outlaws
7. Blitz

I think the fight for first should be interesting to watch. Lynx's lineup looks a bit better than last season's winning lineup. The Masters are helped by the addition of Timinator, and there is no obvious weaknesses in their lineup. In my mind, Master's lineup looks stronger on paper, but they had a huge advantage on paper last season as well, and Lynx managed to grab first. I predict Masters in first place by around 10-15 points over Lynx, but would not be a bit surprised to see Lynx win for the second year in a row!

Turtles have a decent lineup again; I don't think their lineup has really improved though, and I'd be somewhat surprised to see them seriously contending for first. Team games are again a major weakness for them, and I think they will lose too much ground there to make up for it on 1v1. I expect the Turtles to gain a few more points than they did last season because of the fact that A is weaker this season, but see them losing by the same margin as last season.

The French Community also have a lineup similar to last season. Like with Turtles, I expect their score to go up a bit, but I'd be very surprised to see them competing for the title. I'd also be surprised to see them relegate, but I don't think that's completely out of the question this season.

I think the fight to avoid relegation will be interesting. We saw the Outlaws, Blitz, and ONE compete last season in B; it was fairly close but Outlaws outperformed the others in the end. I believe Outlaws have improved their lineup from last season in many areas; I still can't see them competing for a top 3 finish in the league, but a top 5 finish seems quite possible for them. ONE have added Beren and Ragnarok, and if they avoid boots, they could surprise a lot of people in A. I consider ONE to be the dark horse of Group A this clan league. Blitz haven't really weakened their lineup, but I don't think they have kept pace with ONE or Outlaws. They could potentially grab a top 5 finish, but I don't think it is likely.

I'd like to remind everyone to not set too much stock in predictions. 2 seasons ago, very few predicted the French to even finish in the top 4, and yet they tied for first. Last season, Lynx was predicted to finish 6th on average, and yet managed to grab first in a convincing performance. We have also seen clans go the other way, where two of the top favorites from last season (Apex and GG) are no longer in A. Will we see Outlaws, ONE, or Blitz compete for a title this season? Or will we see Masters or Lynx or Turtles relegate? Should be an interesting clan league!

I think 101st won't do well. I defeated {101st} Cupcake a few times in the past and I'm not even chosen on the line-up, and their teams aren't really that strong compared to others, especially {TJC} or Statisticians. But good luck anyway. :)

I think 101st won't do well. I defeated {101st} Cupcake a few times in the past and I'm not even chosen on the line-up, and their teams aren't really that strong compared to others, especially {TJC} or Statisticians. But good luck anyway. :)

For me Q3 is a complete blackbox. I do not know 80% of the players in the line-ups. In addition to that {TJC} is really hard to rank for me, as some mentioned, you have many alts in there. Very possible, that {TJC} will slaughter us all.
All in all, I think Qualifier Group 3 is very balanced. I do not see a single clan, that has no chance in Q3 and I have to admit: I do like that, we will face interesting match-ups.

We have some clans, where I see outstanding players (Statisticans=> MathWolf, Yeon; DWF=> fireice ...) and on the other hand some real nonames, which according to their stats should be beatable.

In the end we all tend to rank players higher, if we know them. Let's have some intensive games in Q3.

---

My guess for Div.A:

1. Masters
2. Lynx
3. Turtles
4. Outlaws
5. ONE
6. French Community
7. Blitz

Masters and Lynx have a very balanced line-up and I think both will compete for place 1-2. On the paper Masters is clear favourite. Turles has some really awesome 1v1 players, but I think compared to the clans mentioned before, their teams for teamgames loose some points.
Outlaws is new to Div. A, but as far as I can judge, they seem to be very motivated and I see lot of Outlaws playing very activly. They seem to have not that shiny names as some other clans, but I think they have a very wide and motivated roaster. I think teamgames may be a big chance for them.
ONE has outstanding teamplayers, but compared to the other clans in this Div. A I see them loosing points on 1v1. French Community is the roaster I do know very less about. This may be the reason, why I rank them that low. Blitz has a solid line-up, but I fear that they get outperformed on most of the templates by the other clans in Div. A.

I could be wrong, but I expect the fight for 2/3 is likely to be more intense than the fight for 1/2.

Q1 Predictions

1st-Poon Squad. Old Strat ME looks to be where this division will be won and lost. Luckily Poon Squad have Bayern to step up to the plate here. Bayern will have easy wins against most in this template, such as Omniscient from FCC, admittedly, there are some tough games against Milly and ACL Tears but I expect him to prevail.

2nd-FBG. Unfamiliar with this clan and its players but I expect them to do well.

3rd-Olympus. Very strong alt clan. Inside word is Hades is actually playing for them this year through his alt Hera.

4th-ACME. Really like this lineup. ACL Tears is a great player possibly the 2nd best in this division behind Bayern. ACL Tears efforts however will prove to be futile in a roster weighed down with simply stupid players such as Dr. Stupid.

5th-Hydra. Most are predicting this clan to do well. I like to think of myself as a hipster so I'll predict them to finish 5th. Benoit playing Deadmans Rome is really worrying, I hear he has little experience on this map therefore there is a solid chance Hydra go 0-6 in this crucial template.

6th-FCC. I expect this clan to suffer from what is commonly known as the Bayern Effect. Any clan who has triggered Bayern is doomed to choke all their CL9 games just like a certain person who has choked all their 1v1 ladder runs.

Q2 Predictions
I really have no idea who any of these clans are except for Corp and 7th Heaven. I know both these clans to be mediocre however so I predict all other clans to finish above them.

1st-German Warlords
2nd-Dutch NL
3rd-Preuben Garden
4th-Lu Fredd
5th-7th Heaven
6th-Corp


Q3 Predictions
1st-TJC. Can't see anyone being stronger than our alt clan, with retired greats such as Dunga, Latnox and Tyrion Lannister all playing for TJC this year. Our new talent Mpouroumpouroumpouroura will surely surprise a few this year, his exceptionally long name will surely give him an edge in Old Strat ME.


2nd-Hawks. Expect history to repeat itself here with Hawks once again finishing 2nd to TJC. I see Gazpacho is playing both Guiroma games that must mean he is great at the template, I predict he will sweep both.

3rd-DWF. Could've finished 1st if they had picked Apollo - everyone knows multilingual players have a natural advantage at warlight - instead they must pin all their promotion hopes on fireice.

4th-Apprentice. Have a strong feeling that Apprentice and Statisticians will tie for 4th this year. I recently caught wind of a plot that involved MotD making all the picks for the Deadmans Rome team, fortunately, just like MoD with Elitist Africa, Deadman is terrible at his own template and they will go 0-6 here.

4th-Statisticians. Could've claimed 4th outright if Jackie Treehorn like Math Wolf had been given a 2nd game. Unfortunately I hear there is some animosity between Jackie and Math Wolf. The glory seeker Math Wolf doesn't like sharing the spotlight and wants to drag his clan to promotion in a solo effort. These chemistry issues will destroy any chance of promotion they previously had.

6th-101st. In the words of the ever enlightened Boston, "Terrible clan. Terrible players. I can't see them winning a game." I agree with this sentiment. Hopefully this doesn't trigger Lynx.