Three Up | Three Down: Week Two Recap - Your Home for Everything NHL Esports. Good morning y'all, Wzia here. Week Two is now completed and the +/- gap is now at 70, the active team count is down to 94 teams who have played 4 series, and things have started to get very interesting. Week Two has been painting a very clear picture of the Showcase landscape, and we're here to dissect the most notable storylines going into Week Three. ================================================================ But first, let's take a look back at our storylines to watch from Week One... ===== - Scary Hours continues to impress despite the lineup changes, as they have now gone 8-0 with only one game even being within 1 from their opponents. Their balanced offensive approach has seen @McLxvinn, @Jxson71, @Sitful, and @Nicky Moose 69 all be within 5 points of each other, and @cmyyl remaining largely untested at only 56 shots through 6 non-forfeit games. With all members also at a minimum of 74.0% passing, it's easy to see how that all leads to the sustained success from Scary Hours. - @Keenis VII is still on fire. Now up to 30 points, he leads the Area 51 Aliens by 8 points and in TwP by 8 minutes. He's the cog that runs the machine for these guys, and it's left them as one of two teams remaining to go 4-0 in their first 4 series in the Contender's Cup. Keenis also saw a boost from returning teammate @TakeNotes97, bringing the former Chappy's Champions player count up to three. ===== - @Reidxrs went from 69 shots+shot attempts and 4 goals to 64 shots+shot attempts and 5 goals so...... improvement! In reality though, Reidxrs and Sharks had a much better week, knocking off The Helmet Boys and Rated R, needing only two games each to finish them off. Is the shooting% still concerning? A little bit, but it looks like SJSharks Gaming might have a new target man emerging with @McNiips now at 14 goals and at 37.8% shooting. As long as the wins keep coming, I'm sure Reidxrs doesn't care too much either way. - @Mooner2019 is still on a torrid pace, now up to an .848sv% after his lone series this week against Dunk Dynasty. What's interesting to note is that for as good as Mooner has been, his backup has been just as impressive. @l3iggy13ig put up an .860sv% in two games against Toxic Legends in spite of losing both matchups. CR0SS CREASE CHEESE, for lack of a better way of describing it, has gotten hard carried by it's goaltending throughout the event, and it's gonna be extremely tough for them to go anywhere unless the boys up front step it up a notch. ===== - Goof Troops were at least able to get a series win against Syracuse AAA, but it's still been rough for them, Dutch Ovens, and North End HC. North End even ended up forfeiting a series, so it might be time to write them off for good. Dutch Ovens needs to move people around ASAP. While they aren't the best team in the Main Stage by any means, they have talent like @Gaber64 and @Mayers that can at least get them into contention. If @ScottyFlex's 4 points in 8 games hasn't said it already, Mayers' experience at RW shows he should probably have that forward spot instead. - Now at 6-2-2 in one goal games, BeAn ToWn BraWleRs just can't stop keeping games close. Unfortunately for them, series luck was not on their side as they dropped both sets to S O L D and Reign. The amount of talent and experience on Bean Town should put them near the top of Contender's, so it's hard to believe how they've had to keep so many games close already. They'll be looking to rebound back in a big way this week, and they'll need to get on the gas offensively (currently at 1.67gpg) to do that. ================================================================ For the first time on T|T, it's time for an interview! Up first is one of NHL's most seasoned veterans. 754 Esports games, 764 LGNHL games, Owner of Turning Point, EA GameChanger, Mr. @SweetLou9208. I asked SweetLou a couple questions before the beginning of week two, and here's what he had to say about the event and the Esports scene... ===== Q: Turning Point had an impressive week one, going 4-0 against Never Unlucky and Art of Execution. While the two teams are 3 divisions apart in terms of ranking, does that ever come to mind when preparing for each night's games? Or is it always irrelevant who you face? A: "In these events you have to take every opponent serious. This format is the best of all the ones we do, as it is a bo3 so usually the better team wins but if your team can lock in defensively, take care of the puck and with how good Goalies are teams have a chance. It is important to not take anyone lightly as those points are equally as important. The main difference is most teams will warm up 30mins early if they have another playoff or top team as opposed to a lower team where they might just get on at game time." ===== Q: Turning Point had a disappointing Sharks Cup, missing the playoffs entirely. Does Caps feel a lot like an opportunity at redemption? Or is the mentality more about putting it in the past? A: "We missed sharks last year too. Hard time of year for us as an older team. We always have multiple starters miss and then sharks has the worst regular season format of all the events as it is VERY schedule based and Tris/LG doesn't remove FF teams from the standings and give everyone 2 points and we have seen multiple teams get in on FFs and teams from the top 15 that week miss the event by losing, splitting or only getting points against other top teams." ===== Q: You've had a wealth of experience within Esports, what words of advice would you give to people looking to break into Esports? A: "1.) STAY TOGETHER. 2.) Play LG together. 3.) Play scrims together. 4.) Keep playing events, replace the worst player once you hit a wall or success. Can't do better than this, look at what needs replaced. Talk with the guy and the team first, see if they can make the adjustments. If/when they don't, time to replace them. Try not to end on bad terms. Usually new guys don't work out and you have to go back and your guy plays better or you gotta find another player or 2 but KEEP a CORE 3 of skaters intact if possible. 5.) Find out your team's weaknesses and try to help them improve there. 6.) Look at what other teams are doing (how they skate, plays they look for/style on defense) aka THE META and learn it and add it to your team's game and mix your style in BUT must use the meta and defend the meta to be successful." ===== It was a very enlightening conversation to hear, and he brought up a lot of good points. Staying together and building upon a strong foundation will always be the best way to go about it, if possible. The grind of an LG season can also be used in your favor, as being able to pick up your Esports teammates on LG has the potential to provide a huge boost to the success of your team overall. Turning Point went 1-1 this week, losing to Interstellar in 3 and defeating Unknown Talent in 2. After a disappointing Pacific Cup, Turning Point and SweetLou are back on their feet and putting up impressive performances against some great competition. I wish SweetLou luck for the rest of the season, and hope it ends with some success. ================================================================ Now, onto Three Up | Three Down ===== Up: IslesGT has played 6 games so far. IslesGT is 6-0 and has 6 shutouts. IslesGT has 36 goals. They're absolutely destroying their matchups, with all players except @Regs84 at/above 20% shooting. In fact, @McFleuryyy is all the way at 57.1% shooting. @l RWB l faces a shot once every about 7 years, and the combined efforts of Finestry and 9thhh were not nearly enough to put IslesGT down. Who's gonna put these guys down, if anybody at all? Down: Earlier I said Area 51 Aliens was one of two teams to go 4-0 in Contender's so far, and the other team is Highlife. A new team, Highlife has only dropped one game (a 2-1 Double OT loss to Full Pressure) so far. Heavily forward oriented, @K40Sx ELiTEz has out TwP'd his linemates by almost 27 minutes. The offense runs through him, and the offense has been booming with all forwards at 23 points or more. The storyline will be what happens when they face stiff defensive competition, and if @TonyTBK's .880sv% will hold up if he has to start facing 15-20 shots a game instead of the 12 a game he's seen so far. Teams with weak LD's might have a hard time against Highlife in the meantime. ===== Up: The only non-Division 1 team to go 4-0, Tolerance's run has been extremely impressive. After dropping Level Up without much fuss, Tolerance proceeded to 2-0 One Nation, who now find themselves as the lowest seeded Division 1 squad. The consistency up the middle from @Beauvi 72 has been notable, as his 80.6% passing and 55.8% on the dot have an effective calming presence of consistency. At least for now, Tolerance has done great things with the opportunities that they have received, and I'll be watching to see if they can keep it up. The odds may not be in their favor to escape Week Three with a perfect series record, but you never know until we get to game time. Down: Efficacity has a defensive end problem, plain and simple. With 50 goals so far in the Showcase, you'd think they'd be top 4 or 5. Instead, Efficacity is hanging on by a thread, right above the playoff line at 16th. So what gives? The offensive production from @x_ICxLLyI has carried the load, as his 27 goals outpace everyone on his team combined and put him well above everyone for the entire Showcase. Once they leave the Offensive Zone, they look horribly out of place. With both goaltenders below the proverbial .800sv% Mendoza Line, Efficacity's strong two man game up front is going to go to waste unless the team's defensive performance improves fast. ===== Up: The Underdogs are running it up on everybody's head and don't look to stop any time soon. At 51 goals, they lead all Main Stage teams by 13 after felling Dahlia and Kangaroo Court in 2 games apiece. @ScaryJoeyy moved on from his 2 year run with Scary Hours, with him and his 57.1 FO% helping The Underdogs to keep pace with the high level perfomances of teams like IslesGT, Caps Gaming, and the aforementioned Scary Hours. At 38 points, @LoKO CRuStY is 1st in Main Stage points by 13 and 1st in goals by 5. With their team having 4 players at the top of the +/- leaderboard, The Underdogs are looking to put the 2nd place finishes behind them and finally finish at the top. Down: We can't go an entire article without highlighting a goal, can we? Accuracy's @Mxnty_35 has been stellar so far, helping Accuracy rebound from their disappointing week one with an .891sv% against 17.4 shots a game. Dropping I N T E R C H A N G E and Bittersweet, Monty's best performance actually came in a Double OT loss where he almost brought Accuracy a victory with 29 saves on 31 shots. Accuracy must've felt bad for Monty, as they responded with a 5-0 victory just one game later to finish off the series. Monty's .891sv% leads all non-IslesGT starting goalies, and is 11 points higher than second place in the Contender's Cup. ================================================================ And with that, we've reached the end of this week's Three Up | Three Down. I'd like to thank @SweetLou9208 once again for the interview and @xFUNKx-_- for the graphics. If you have anything you wanna mention or ask about, lemme know! I love talking to people about what's written here, with the comments and my DM's always open for input! Thank y'all for taking the time to read this, I truly appreciate it. Your Very Own Enforcer Enthusiast, Wzia ================================================================ Interested in more from Caps Gaming? Check out their socials for everything NHL Esports! Twitter/X Twitch Instagram Support the news team, like, comment & share your thoughts on their work
Tagging all mentioned this week because LG's mention system is weird sometimes @SweetLou9208 @McLxvinn @Jxson71 @Sitful @Nicky Moose 69 @cmyyl @Keenis VII @TakeNotes97 @Reidxrs @McNiips @Mooner2019 @l3iggy13ig @Gaber64 @Mayers @ScottyFlex @Regs84 @McFleuryyy @l RWB l @K40Sx ELiTEz @TonyTBK @Beauvi 72 @x_ICxLLyI @ScaryJoeyy @LoKO CRuStY @Mxnty_35 @xFUNKx-_-
