Well some people requested to have a review, here you got it. I want to point out that the following views are of course my personal opinion - and should not be regarded as anything else. No team should feel offended because of what i write on them, after all they are all great teams and i love all people that still play qw. And every team is welcome to prove my predictions wrong :-)
Flaming Fist versus Tribe of Tjernobyl
The match is already sheduled for sunday 10:00 CET and it will easily be the one that is going to have the most spectators of all matches during this round. Why that you aks? Thats easy to explain. FF is simply the most famous (and prolly best) team in qw ever. Everyone wants to see the "holy trinity of qw teamplay" aka Akke, Pietro and Dag play. Just look at the number of downloads their demos get on challenge-tv, they surpass everyone elses. ToT on the other hand are a very popular team as well. Not so much because of their skills (they are a good team indeed) but because of themselves being such nice, polite and funny guys. ToT made a lot of friends this season on #smackdown including me. But what else can we expect other than fighting for a free qizmo slot from this game? In my opinion it is going to be a great game and i predict it to end 2-1 in favour to FF. They have that certain edge, the absolute will to win, that has put them above all other teams during their one and a half year lasting winning streak. For me they are the clear favourites for winning the whole tournament the second time in a row, too. But i expect it to be much harder for them this time. ToT will not be easy to beat. Especially because they are able to play from lan which helps a lot on a map like e1m2. And FS already showed that it is possible for a well prepared team to beat FF on that map. And this is exactly what i expect from ToT, beating them in a close match on e1m2 and give them something to think about on the other two maps.
Overdoze versus The Viper Squad
This game is probably going to end much like the CMF-OMG game. 2-0 for TVS without problems. Overdoze are around for a very long time now (they are the former clan Cute) and they are one of the teams that don't get as much recognition as they deserve. You don't see them talk or being talked about in #smackdown often, their demos don't receive many downloads but suddenly they are in the quarterfinals of SD2. OD have some very talented players showing off their skills not only in this league but also in other places like duelmania. But i think that TVS are by far too strong for them. The Viper Squad has some of the greatest qw talent in their lineup and are probably the clan that trains more than anyone else. And after getting knocked out by E in last seasons semis in a rather unlucky dm6 game (they forgot to camp mega, doh!) they are out for some revenge this time. Their proclaimed goal is to win SD2. OD will not pose much of a problem in my opinion, the problems are going to start in the semifinals where TVS are going to face Flaming Fist. This is going to be an epic battle for sure because i think both teams are almost equal. It could als very well be the final already. Still like mentioned above i think that FF has certain abilities which will make them win. I am conviced though that the games between FF and TVS will be the best of the whole tournament though. Btw after all this talking about OD having not much of a chance and how strong i think TVS are, i highly recommend to visit Overdoze's homepage which is currently one of the best looking in the qw scene.
Clan MalFunction versus Oh My God
We already know the outcome of that game, do we? Just look at the reports on the left and you will see that CMF won 2-0. I expected OMG to perform a bit bitter but it seems that i was either wrong and/or they were out of luck with some technical stuff being fucked up.
So CMF are in semifinals now - again. I guess not many people expected that since they do not train as regularly as in former times anymore. They also lost a long time member, Vertigo. But still they managed to get into the final for for the second time in a row so there has to be something about that team. I guess it is mainly years of experience in high quality competition. But semifinals is as far as it gets for them. Both possible enemies, Euthanasia and Noskill will be a bit too strong for them. I think it is undisputed that E is the better team but CMF were recently beaten by NS as well in the finnish clan league.
Noskill versus Euthanasia
Probably this is going to be the most interesting out of all the quarter final games. Noskill have improved a lot during the last months and showed that they are up to something by beating Firing Squad in their first playoff game and thereby taking their position as my "dark horse" for this tourney. Most of all NS is a hungry team and that is why i think they might be able to beat Euthanasia. Teamplay is what you will need to beat Euthanasia. Don't get me wrong E would beat 999 out of 1000 qw teams anytime, anywhere but whenever i watch them play i have the impression that their game is more about individual skill than teamplay. Add to that the fact that they had constant lineup changes during the last few months (and some of their players not being able to train on a regular basis, like Goljat who is in the army), rumours about internal disagreements , you will realize that this weakens a team. Like i mentioned what impresses me most about E are their individual skills. With players like Paradoks you better consider to camp the shaft on each map that has it and e1m2 _has_ to be renamed to "Castle of Vana" some day. Goljat is a player that can go madfragging any time turning a map while Darklord has a similar style as Vana. I see advantages for them for this round, mainly because they got more experience with such important games, but if they play too careless they might as well loose to Noskills. Whoever wins will make it straight to the finals (sorry CMF) and will most likely meet FF there. So it looks like we will have FF-E for the third time in a row in the most important european league. And again Euthanasia will only come out as second after an exciting best of five maps series. Besides FF's clockworking teamplay it will be a psycological issue. If you have lost two times in a row you won't feel very confident while your opponent can start the match very relaxed. If E loose again, that "looser image" will stick on them forever even though they are probably the second best team in the world. But in this world only winning counts. FF on the other hand have nothing much too loose other than a very long winning streak. If they loose, which i heavily doubt, i am conviced they will retire from qw and claim "well, we had our days of glory, it was a good time and its time for new teams to take over". On the other hand they might do just the same after winning. I am sure FF want to win, this is what really sets them apart and i seriously see no one stopping them on their road to vitory, not even Euthanasia.
