We take a look at the upcoming Division 1 fixtures in Week 2 of ETF2L Season 7 and glean some insight from the other competitors

A week and a half has passed since ETF2L launched their Season 7 of the biggest Team Fortress 2 league on the planet. It’s all been pretty lackadaisical so far in Division 1 with only two of out of five Week 1 fixtures played so far, although Team Rockit’s untimely demise means we can only expect four games a week now. Although, it seems to be a tradition for the superstitious bunch in Division 1 to postpone their games for as long as possible, perhaps until the stars have aligned or maybe just until their mother washes their lucky Y-fronts.

ETF2L need to take a leaf from the ESL Gestapo’s book and get serious on match dates and scheduling if they want Team Fortress 2 to be taken seriously!

This week’s maps, Well and Turbine, will often elicit groans from vast swathes of the competitive community. Shunned by the masses for their slow pace, they are probably not the most exciting maps to spectate. Yet by putting players out of their Badlands comfort zone they serve as an excellent yardstick by which to measure a team’s ability to adapt and strategise, rather than simply go through the motions.

No map tests the mettle of your heavy classes like Turbine, which requires teams to demonstrate extreme co-ordination and nerves of steel as they inch ever closer to the enemy flag room. Well is unique from other 5CP maps in that it has a gated middle and setup period at the start of each round which allows for relatively diverse class selections, with Snipers and Heavies proving much more feasible. However, CP2 has been the bane of many a team with questionable design allowing for easy defence but proving frustrating difficult to push back.

I harassed the finest players around (and numlocked) to see what they are expecting from the Week 2 fixtures...

what women want's Seb "numlocked" Barton thinks...

"After looking at the maps it looks like Power will be the stronger side. They recently beat TCM twice on Well so they should make easy work of TLR on it. The other map being Turbine, I doubt Power will be able to keep much interest on that map and it could go either way."

Team Dignitas' Rauli "Darn" Savela thinks...

"TCM obviously is the stronger team here, thou the maps might assist Blight as they aren’t your usual Granlands. Spectators bear in mind that the maps don’t favour the soldiers so keep your focus on Demomen and Scouts for some action. I could go on forever, but I don’t want to!"

The Last Resort's Marco "mvp." Wichmann thinks...

"Team Empire playing draw against one of the season 7 favourites TCM on Well I see little advantage on their side. Although last season FakkelBrigade managed to win against illegal (now Power Gaming) and also the old Power Gaming (Interrobang). I predict Empire to take the win on Well. The second map, Turbine, is always hard to predict on a high level match. FB played it twice last season and lost both, where Empire on the other hand managed to take at least 1 win out of 2 Turbines. Nevertheless I trust in FB to take the second map and so make it an overall draw; 3 points each."

Power Gaming's Jani "hocz" Laakkonen thinks...

"Hmmm! idk has performed pretty good in Well and www is using their new "merc" demo Bash, www haven't played Well much so their tactics and teamwork for that map might lack a bit more than idk's. Turbine on the other hand is more about having a good Demoman and moving together with him in a group and using Ubercharge efficiently, so I think www has the upper hand in this map. I’d say idk to win well 4-2 and www to win turbine 8-2!"

Blight Gaming's Oskar "m0re" Rönnbacka thinks...

"The Frogs will win both maps. Dignitas has recently been shockingly bad; I won them almost 1v6 last week. Dignitas will have opportunity to win if Agron frags 15 per map."

Big thanks to my contributors who were surprisingly easy to guilt in to the job. Keep it locked on Cadred for the latest schedule, scores and STV information!

Update!

Rejoice! ETF2L have saved the day and brought in I Don't Know? Frog to replace the deceased Team Rockit.

ETF2L Season 7 Week 2 Fixtures