After Week One, Teams Return from Battle with Feelings of Triumph and Defeat
Now that week one is over, we have some small bits of information to make a few educated assumptions about the rest of the season. All 24 Harmony Tier teams have played their first matches of the season, while Transcendence and Discord Tier face some struggles of teams not being in the community anymore. The two Discord Tier teams who dropped from the community were BDL and Calamitas, both had to leave the tournament, while the Thursday feature have Q for Quarantine playing against Seoul Cyberpunks. Lastly in the Transcendence Tier, 23 teams had a game while Arctic Foxes took the bye. Now we can get into the fun part, the recap, where we talk about what matches were a must watch that week in each tier and the matches to look forward to next week.
Harmony Tier -
Aurum Pool A :
The games that happened last week were :
Ranch Ranch Revolution (3) - (1) Gannicus
Gannicus is an all new team to Tranquility with no vets.
Ranch Ranch Revolution has a lot of Tranquility returners from last season’s Venom Cheese.
Ranch Ranch Revolution had a good preseason showing, where they lost in semi-finals to the eventual winners. They carry momentum and pre-existing synergy into the regular season.
Ranch Ranch now looks to continue their strong performances against the Koala Kings, who also are coming off a win, while Gannicus look to bounce back against the winless Jersey Boys.
Valkyrie (1) - (3) Koala Kings -- MUST WATCH GAME
Koala Kings, with members from surprise fan favorite Joey Esports, look to make a splash in Harmony Tier this season. A finalist in preseason, Koala Kings used their mastery of the current meta to take a spot at the top of Harmony Tier.
Valkyrie, a branch of Pantheon, also looked good, especially when you consider they played a team that seems to be near the top of the Harmony Tier.
I can see both these teams being contenders in the playoff race at the end of the season.
Doodles (3) - (0) Jersey Boys
These are the two teams in Harmony Tier last season that just came out of nowhere. Both of these had a good end to season five and are determined to be near the top for season six. Doodles finished as the better team in both season five and during the season six preseason tournament, lasting till Semi-Finals.
Jersey Boys look to earn their first win against newcomers Gannicus. While Doodles play a team with a lot of individual talent in Valkyrie, a team hungry enough and talented enough to earn their first win off a powerhouse team in Doodles.
Aurum Pool B :
Aurum Pool B should be called the pool of the fan favorites. They have teams like Fighting Potatoes, Get Off My Lan, Game Of Throws, Vanguard Esports, Modify, and Fire Fight.
Vanguard Esports (4) - (0) Game Of Throws
I don’t know much about either of these teams, but Game of Throws’ logo is fantastic and has made thema fan favorite. This seems to be a statement win from Vanguard Esports: They only gave up two points on the escort map and were firmly in control of the whole match.
Be on the lookout for Vanguard Esports as they look to take control of the pool from back to back finalists Modify.
Modify (3) - (1) Get Off My Lan
There isn’t much to say about these two returning teams. Get Off My Lan, the kings of playing for fun, took a map off of the back to back finalists, who had a golden stage one last season. It shows that Modify is not the same juggernaut it has been the last two seasons. Though Modify won, that's what matters at the end of the day. However, with stand out players like Instante on MT, this team is still scary. Look for them to take control of the pool by the end of the stage.
Modify goes on to play another 1-0 team in Fire Fight, while Get Off My Lan looks to bounce back against the dominant Vanguard Esports.
Fire Fight (3) - (1) Fighting Potatoes
While the first game was about two new teams, these last two have been between Tranquility vets, even if the teams are new.
Fighting Potatoes, are mainstay org of Tranquility, looked to get off to a hot start with some new pick ups. Since they are still mashing together, they took the loss to Fire Fight, which is a team with promise and a dedicated coaching staff. Standout players potato (FS) and Chooster (OT) look to propel Fire Fight towards a Stage Two Pool A spot.
Fire Fight looks to establish a win streak with their upcoming game against Modify, while the Fighting Potatoes look to get their first win off of Game of Throws.
Indigo Pool A :
Indigo Pool A kicked off opening week with a lot of strong showings from some of last season's top teams in Void and Flashbacks, while Miami Yikes, Holy Jalapenos, and Boop! look to get in the upper echelon of teams with some statement wins.,Additionally, we look to learn about Hanamura Hellcats. Somehow.
Tuesday Feature - Flashbacks (4) - (0) Holy Jalapenos
I would prefer not to talk about my team too much. Flashbacks has now had two features in a row, with winning Harmony Preseason finals and winning their week one game. They look to continue winning against a rebuilt Boop! next week.
Holy Jalapenos, who now have played two tough teams in a row, continue their gauntlet against Void next week.
While the scoreline shows a huge disparity, Holy Jalapenos has a lot of good pieces for the season, with Yeti and Specs heading up a good tank line. This team can bounce back and win out -- They just need to put their amazing pieces together.
Miami Yikes (4) - (0) Boop!
The Miami Yikes get revenge for preseason, where they lost 3-1. Now the series between the two is 1-1, and this looks to be the first rivalry of the season in Harmony Tier.
Boop! look to bounce back against Flashbacks this week while Miami Yikes look to start a hot streak as they go up against Hanamura Hellcats in the battle of pink.
Void (3) - (1) Hanamura Hellcats
Personally, I don’t know much about Hanamura Hellcats. They were down 0-2 to start and won Kings Row against Void, a team that is looking good in the tier so far. The Hellcats seem to have resilience as they were able to rally when down 0-2.
Void looks as strong as ever. When a team does well against them, it shows not only that the opposing team has a good chance of improving and becoming a good team, but also that Void might have a weakness. But it’s only week one. This could be a synergy issue that gets fixed as the season progresses.
Indigo Pool B :
This tier had the biggest upset this week. There are a lot of good teams in this pool with strong results from last season. Can this be carried over through the org, even with new players and coaches?
Phantasmal (4) - (0) Ultraviolet
Phantasmal came out of the gates strong with a perfect 4-0 start to the season. Not only was it a 4-0, but the maps themselves were dominant, winning every map 1-0 with the exception of a 2-1 win on control. Phantasmal looks poised to go all the way this year, led by the exceptional tank line of Blayne and Trollz.
Ultraviolet has a bounce back game coming up against the Jetpack Cats this week. This team has a lot of talent, and UV will need every bit of energy from the team to pull an upset against these aerial felines.
Maelstrom (3) - (2) Rebirth
This game, while a 3-2, went criminally under the radar in the tier this week. It was close, with map wins being traded back in forth, mere fights deciding each map. Rebirth nearly pulled off a reverse sweep, but it was cut off by Maelstrom and their superior control point play, winning 2-0 on maps one and five. Rebirth, who had folded last season, and Maelstrom, who have shades of their season three team in them, look to continue to climb the Harmony Tier ladder and earn some high impact wins.
Maelstrom takes on Strix next week, who is coming off a very similar win, while Rebirth look to “rebirth” themselves into the second half team that showed up against Maelstrom when they play the threatening Phantasmal.
Jetpack Cats (2) - (3) Strix -- MUST WATCH GAME
Wow. This game was absolutely nuts. With a strong win on Ilios and rolling into a gritty win on Volskaya, Strix looked like they had control of the game. After Halftime, the Cats came flying back, with wins on Kings Row (which might have been longer than the Volskaya map) and a 3-2 win on Route 66 sent this to map five, with Strix in danger of a reverse sweep.
Strix clawed the series back as they regrouped and won their second control map of the match, winning against a JPC team that the community rates high.
JPC look to keep the momentum and winning mentality from the second half of the game as they play a struggling Ultraviolet team. Strix goes into the Maelstrom game with strong resilience; the only problem is that Maelstrom has the exact same resilience.
Discord Tier -
Aurum Pool A :
The pool of forfeits and good teams. If the teams play, the games will be good and high quality. If they play.
Nyaa (4) - (0) - Blind Dumb Losers
LOLOLOLOLOLOL, the team got ejected because they cannot read and cheated :)
Nyaa plays Reckless Shockwave next week, who took a forfeit win as well
Reckless Shockwave (4) - (0) Aphelion
Another forfeit. I do not know the details, but Aphelion has good players so I don't expect this to hinder them too much, but it could affect a tie breaking procedure. Reckless Shockwave have to play the preseason finalists, Nyaa, this week.
Blizzard Bears (3) - (1) Lotus
This game was not only counted and played, but competitive. These two teams went very even with every map coming within one score of each other. The Bears seemed motivated as they bounced back, like they said they would in the Beat Drop, improving on the mistakes they pointed out themselves.
Lotus, a new team to the community, looks strong as well. They managed to take a map off a strong Blizzard Bears team who were beaten in the preseason tournament by the eventual champions, Ragnarok. Lotus could become a huge contender come playoff time -- They have the perfect environment to grow in as their pool is crowded with talent. Numerous byes may give them some well-needed rest weeks to continue to hone their game.
Lotus could be a huge contender come playoff time, they have the perfect environment to grow in, as their pool is littered with talent as well as byes(for now) to sometimes take a week off and improve.
The Bears take on Aphelion next week, who had to forfeit last week, and Lotus takes on the BDL replacement, who is currently unnamed.
Aurum Pool B :
The more consistent side of Aurum still packs a punch this week with great talent and crazy games.
Outlast (0) - (4) Mob Mentality
The Marsupial Gaming org seems to be the current powerhouse of Tranquility with every team getting a week one win and looking to excel this season. Mob Mentality took the win in dominating fashion, winning every map by one Take this with a grain of salt as they likely chose defense first.
Mob Mentality goes to play Flying Lions next week and looks to extend their win streak as Outlast looks to “outlast” this loss and win their next game over the 1-0 Atlas Arcadia.
Atlas Arcadia (4) - (0) Scarlet Lions
All I know about these teams is Bubbrs is on Scarlet Lions and Marce1 is on Atlas Arcadia. Both players are good, and I hope they and their teams do well this season in the stacked Aurum side.
Atlas Arcadia looked dominant with a 4-0 victory and look to continue that trend next week against Outlast, who’s looking for their first win. Scarlet Lions plays the preseason winner Ragnarok, which will be a tough game if they want to advance to 1-1 on the season.
Flying Lions (2) - (3) Ragnarok -- MUST WATCH GAME
This game was very entertaining as Flying Lions challenged Ragnarok who came fresh off their statement preseason championship. Flying Lions took the maps Assault and Escort, while Ragnarok took Hybrid and Control. Flying Lion's organized play style favored them on Assault and Escort, but Ragnarok's adaptive style favored them on Control and Hybrid. I think this game could have gone either way depending on what maps were played, and that's what made it so close and fun to watch.
Ragnarok, while escaping by the skin of their teeth, look to extend their win streak (which started in preseason) against the Scarlet Lions who took a tough loss against Atlas Arcadia. The Flying Lions look to earn their first win of the season against a Mob Mentality team with lots of talent and knowledge.
Indigo Pool A :
The pool of returning teams and the upcoming feature match. This pool has season 5 powerhouses Joey Esports and Seal Team Spuds along with other strong teams like Q for Quarantine, Deja Vu, Inferno Foxes, and Seoul Cyberpunks.
Seoul Cyberpunks - Q for Quarantine
This game is featured tonight at 8:30pm EST on twitch.tv/owtranquility
Seal Team Spuds (3) - (1) Deja Vu
This was the advantage of the established. Deja Vu has had a lot of turbulence recently and still managed to put up a good fight against a seasoned Seal Team Spuds team. Both of these teams could end up as contenders at the end of the season with some improvements and stability. The Seal Team Spuds took every map but the dreaded 2CP, which hints towards team synergy issues as Assault is typically a more team-based map type. These problems, though, will be solved quickly by playing together more. The last map ended in 6-5 in Spud's favor, so it seemed close to a map five series.
The Spuds look to go 2-0 as they play the Seoul Cyberpunks next week, and Deja Vu looks to rewind time to go .500 as they look to take a win off of the challenging Joey Esports.
Joey Esports (4) - (0) Calamitas(Inferno Foxes)
Joey Esports took a forfeit win as Calamitas ended up leaving the community Inferno Foxes will fill their spot but begin with an undeserved 0-1 record.
Inferno Foxes look to prove they are a top team against Q for Quarantine this week Joey Esports looks to prove last season and this forfeit were no flukes as they play the hungry Deja Vu roster, who are seeking out their first win.
Indigo Pool B :
This pool, in my opinion, has the most potential to grow or flop. The teams here are on the lower side mostly which could make the division more competitive, but the teams could struggle in higher pools during stage two.
X-Ray (3) - (1) Reminiscence
This is my own team, so I don’t want to say too much. X-ray had a strong team showing and had a lot of synergy for a team which formed very recently.
X-Ray looks to continue their bonding time and keep the wins coming, as this Korage rebrand with some additions takes on Aurora next week. Reminiscence looks to bounce back against Mechanize.
Mechanize vs Reminiscence is a funny match next week as they are the expansion teams of the Harmony Finalists for last season.
Frost (0) - (4) Aurora
Aurora now hold a win in preseason and a win to start off their regular season. The team is locked and ready to win games and it looks like a real threat, especially now that NPC is not playing for them. Frost needs to find their footing as most maps looked dominant in favor of Aurora.
Aurora plays X-Ray next week, which should show the class of the pool, while Frost plays Monarch.Both teams are on the lower side for SR, so they should have the opportunity to bounce back.
Mechanize (4) - (0) Monarch
Monarch and Mechanize played each other as Bard made his MT debut with Cactus on DPS. This cursed duo pulled off the win over the mMonarch in what seemed to be a close match. Monarch, who was the lowest SR team in Discord tier at the time, looks to steal maps and wins in stage one as they improve. Mechanize took advantage of this schedule and made those four maps count towards the differential they might need later.
Mechanize looks to advance to 2-0 as they play a struggling Reminiscence team, and Monarch looks for their first win against a similar Frost team.
Transcendence Tier -
Aurum Pool A :
Aurum Pool A has a clear fan favorite in Tempest, but there are others deserving attention. This group includes lots of up-and-coming teams, such as the new Potatoes Org expansion Decapi-tators and impressive newcomers Alpha. It's sure to be an exciting one.
Tempest (2) - (1) Midnight Lily -- MUST WATCH GAME
This game was closer than everyone assumed it would be. PandaGamez played really well on DPS and Midnight Lily, one of the lower SR teams in Transcendence Tier, really took it to fan favorites Tempest in week one as they, almost stole a win off Cryptic’s team
Tempest now looks to straighten the ship and steady out into a 2-0 as they play a scary 1-0 Alpha Team. Midnight Lily looks to prove their challenge to Tempest was not a fluke and improve to .500 as they play Blixkys.
Alpha (4) - (0) Poison Hazard
Nothing has been reported. I don’t know if it was a dominant 4-0, forfeit or something else.
Alpha did well in preseason as well, so they look to continue being the new team to surprise everyone as they take on Tempest next week to improve to 2-0.
Poison Hazard looks to bounce back against the 0-1 Decapi-Tators who are coming off a close 2-3 loss.
Decapi-Tators (2) - (3) Blixkys
This group, if you ignore the interesting game mentioned before this, had the closest games in week one. Blixkys, an unknown team from unknown places, took down the Decapi-tators, which, while new, is from a long standing org with good infrastructure.
Blixkys plays a sneaky good Midnight Lily team to improve to 2-0 while Decapi-tators look to bounce back against Poison Hazard, who took a rough week one loss to Alpha.
Aurum Pool B :
This is the true pool of returners and, from what I know about five teams in the pool, it should be a fun one to watch.
Arctic Foxes - Orbit
Currently it is in as a draw, but Orbit withdrew and I do not know the status of Arctic Foxes.
Orbit is supposed to play DIRT next week and Infrared is supposed to square off against Arctic Foxes. Both currently have one tie, but both could be replaced.
Infrared (2) - (3) Ember -- MUST WATCH GAME
The tried and true rule this week has been when there is a map five in a match, the person who won the first control wins the last control, and it holds true here. Ember won both control maps and therefore won the match. Every map was very close, within one point every time.
A frustrated Infrared look to take revenge against a Arctic Foxes(?) team who has yet to debut, while Ember goes into a game against a title favorite in Corvidity.
Corvidity (3) - (1) DIRT
Corvidity flew above the DIRT, pretty simple. They were only grounded on Kings Row, a brawl centered map that plays to DIRT’s strengths. Corvidity took the top power ranking team’s lunch money. Both these teams should meet in the future, when it matters more, but Corvidity takes the cake in the battle of underrated teams from previous seasons.
Corvidity takes on the 1-0 Ember as they try to advance to 2-0, while DIRT looks to bounce back against the withdrawn Orbit (most likely replaced).
Indigo Pool A :
This pool is full of powerhouse teams. Any of them could win by the end of the season. If you're looking for high quality gameplay in Tranquility, this is the pool to watch.
Ghostly Peppers (4) - (0) Capraphobia
This was a brutal match. Capraphobia, in the middle of a rebuild with a stopgap MT, were burned by Ghostly Peppers, who did what they do best Continuing their spicy streak from preseason finals, they look to make themselves known as the favorites.
Ghostly Peppers have a spicy streak going and look to keep it rolling against a scary Battalion team, while Capraphobia looks to bounce back against a 0-1 Exitium.
Battalion (1) - (3) Whirlwind Wildcats
This is a battle that's already happened twice, both falling in favor of the Aerial Feline Transcendence Tier team. Battalion’s wacky play style looks to have been figured out by the Wildcats and are now 0-2 against them including preseason.
Battalion, who seems to be going through the gauntlet, now are off to face the Preseason champs right after the finalists. The Wildcats look to extend their record to 2-0 over Lijiang Legion on the back of DPS play by David and MS play by last season’s champion Lillithy.
Lijiang Legion (3) - (1) Exitium
After losing Control, the LL won the next three maps to took this match 3-1. Both teams looked evenly matched and, when it came down to the team synergy built up so far, the Legion seemed to have the edge. Both of these teams are underrated and I could see them pulling upsets over the three teams in this pool that are considered top six overall.
Lijiang Legion looks to make their record 2-0 as they play the preseason finalists Wildcats as Exitium looks to bounce back on a rebuilding Capraphobia.
Indigo Pool B :
The last pool to recap, and this one has some tranquility veterans in it with GDH, the continuation of the most dominant team in history, Kommit. Heatwave and Praxis were around last season, though Heatwave under Prodigious was also around in season three. This pool welcomes teams anew as well, such as Ace Advantage, Synergy, and One Last Freak.
God Hand (3) - (1) Praxis
GDH on off roles is not the force it once was, as they aren’t taking it seriously, but are still a threat. MiniGDH is the best DPS in the tier until proven otherwise, both these teams have GM leadership, but are off-roleing. That means both teams are always in the game.
GDH looks to prove even on off roles they are dominant as they play Synergy next week, while Praxis looks to rebound and dunk on Ace Advantage.
Ace Advantage (0) - (4) Heatwave
This was a statement win by Heatwave. A team littered with problems prior to the season, they have secretly been grinding. Ace Advantage had the advantage in SR lock average, but Heatwave overcame their synergy from scrimming all off season and last season together. This team could make some unpredictable waves.
Ace Advantage look to bounce back against Praxis, who also lost last week. Heatwave look to improve to 2-0 as they play One Last Freak, another 1-0 team.
One Last Freak (3) - (2) Synergy
This game was close, and nobody knows much about either of these teams. Mepel and WorstOWPlayr came over from OTC and won a championship over there.
One Last Freak is a team with championship qualities and looks to prove it against a 1-0 Heatwave team who look very good right now. Synergy looks to even out against a GDH team with “weaknesses.”
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