Draft results, team overviews and expectations

Introduction

The CPM TDM Draft will be taking place this Saturday February 17, 2018 starting at 15:00 UTC, the event will be streamed on playmorepromode. Featuring a total of eight teams will take part in a double elimination bracket that will feature a BO3 upper bracket, a BO1 lower bracket, with BO5 grand final. With the festivities kicking off an hour prior the cup starting, we're hoping to have a host of co-casters as well as finding time to talk with the captains, players and community.

As a reminder, the map list is as follows: avrdm1b, cpm4a, cpm18r, cpm21, cpm26, cpm27 & ospdm5a.

Draft Selection

The draft included a total of 40 players, out of with the top eight (most willing) players agreeing to captain. The captains were placed in alphabetical order and then were thrown in a randomizer to determine the player selection order. The captains then picked, in a snaking order, until all the players were selected. We're hoping this method has allowed for the formation of eight competitive teams where the likelihood of close and entertain games are high and blow-outs are rare (fingers crossed). This is the first TDM in some time so teams hopefully make best use of the time available of them in the upcoming in terms of discussing strategies and finding practice.


Teams Overview

This is a quick rundown of my thoughts and my general opinions on the teams and this is by no means an objective analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. I think all the teams have certain qualities which they should be looking to strengthen as well as certain weaknesses which they should attempt to mitigate. I don't have any explicit predictions as I realize the format does not afford much opportunity to prepare, however, there are some reasonable superficial inferences that we can make.

2/8 tdm

• Roster: HAL_9000 (c), dansen, Lasker, dcy, Nutter.

This team is a mixture of veterans and new players both active and inactive. With HAL_9000 at the helm this team's supporting players will have to their mission to make as much space as possible for the Bulgarian to lay down lots of damage. Both of dansen and dcy will both need to shake the rust off quickly as they both return from inactivity as the team will be depending on dansen especially for his experience, and both players in general to provide a secondary source of damage. Lasker and Nutter are both relatively new players but considerably more active then their counterparts, both players can have decent fight skills but their lack of TDM experience may frustrate them. The combination of inactivity and inexperience might make it difficult to find cohesion but they'll have to find a way as they don't necessarily have the same overall damage ability as some of the other teams. The team's success will depend on how successfully the support cast can play around HAL_9000.

Dead Reflexes

• Roster: DEZ (c), Reptile, Fjoggs, cribba, cuppajoeman.

The Dead Reflexes are a contender just because they have Reptile. Is there anything more to say? Okay, DEZ is really good at TDM, Fjoggs has shockingly good aim and movement, cribba and cuppajoeman are solid team mates. As long as they they're able to constantly give Reptile what he needs and avoid silly fights they should be able to deep. The supporting cast is more than component enough to accomplish this.

Kebab Fighters

• Roster: Leshaka (c), santile, nekon, napalot, freddiaN.

Kebab Fighters don't necessarily have a super carry as some other teams do, but their starting four players are all grizzled veterans who've played lots of Promode. They'll need to rely on this experience to snuff out their opponents but the compressed tournament format might not allow for that. Leshaka and santile will have to set the tone for their teammates and get control of games early I don't think this team can necessarily exploit strong control as well as other teams can. Both of napalot and nekon are a strong supporting cast with napalot possibly being a shocking source of damage for the team. freddiaN is an experienced player and should mainly be on coaching duties but if he brought into the game will have to play a very careful game. This team will be successful if they are able to maintain steady control of the items, playing a very disciplined prioritizing major items over chasing frags. If they're able to work together they could be deceptively good.

Laser Masters of Doom

• Roster: Lugia (c), rokky, Inhibitor, onion, Magikarp.

Another experienced, strong, stable duo in LuGia and rokky who just happen to have contrasting styles. With LuGia generally known as a defensive player, he'll be able to exert strong control over major resources and will (hopefully) scatter opponents with his quad LG. On the other hand rokky is a more assertive player and more cerebral, utilizing his strong combat skills and experience to constantly get the upper hand in fights. Inhibitor is another strong mechanical player who, like onion and Magikarp, does not have an equivalent of TDM experience. However, he can certainly hold his own and will be counted on a a secondary source of damage. If onion is able play less aggressively and in better coordination with his team, he could also be a reliable source of damage, however if he's not disciplined he will send the score feed in the wrong direction.

pohooi team

• Roster: Ryan_H (c), Gizma, Smofo, n1ch, cyclosarin.

Another team with lots of strong individual players but lack experience playing together as Gizma will be doing most of the heavy lifting with Ryan_H and Smofo providing quality back up. The trio will have their work cut out but are more than capable of going head-to-head with any of the players. This is another team that will need to ensure they have strong coordination in order to have a chance to win. If this team had some experience, they would be able to compete against any of the other teams thanks to their all around mechanical skills, however poor cohesion could be their undoing.

$LAV $QUAT $QUAD

• Roster: veliars (c), Lunokhod-2, cholli, N, phi.

The all Russian lineup has three really good players and (-50)N(et). This team's high end is high, as in if they can open up the map they can completely run away with the frags. They won't be playing the most disciplined game but their combined firepower will be able to constantly disorient the enemy team and limit their ability to enforce any strategies. This is another team that poised to far as they have the aim to bang with anyone. veliars will the brains while Lunokhod-2 will be the brawn, and they will need strong performances to carry their team. These players also have played with and against each other for a long time so I expect their teamwork, if not, at leas their communication, to be a step or two ahead of the other teams. phi is the youngster on the team, if he's able to constantly provide strong feed back from the coach position, he could be an invaluable asset in terms of securing victory.

Team RSPC

• Roster: ahxnxa (c), Kyto, jorp, dreAm, pan1c.

This team's strength is quite clear as the three Finns are arguably the strongest trio out of any team in terms of combat ability and overall mechanical skills. Blessed with one of the strongest captains and players in the draft, ahxnxa will be heart of the offence. An experienced and explosive player, opposing teams will have a difficult time trying to contain him and this ability to draw attention allow for Kyto and jorp to run over the back lines. Between dreAm and pan1c the team is rounded up the a strong supporting duo, both of which can competently fit in as the possible fourth player. However with three Finnish players, its possible that language might be barrier so supporting player will have be playing quite attentively to not expose themselves. If all else fails FinnLuck (tm) will save the day.

The Dirty Five

• Roster: Bjarke (c), s4vo, Kimi, teju, Krvcsl.

In terms of combat strength this might be the weakest team in the draft, however, this team might feature some of the most active players and most invested players in the scene. Bjarke will be the solo carry on this team, with s4vo, Kimi needing to fill in big shoes. I think this team will need to have some novel strategies as a part of its arsenal to take on the bigger teams but if they're able to gain enough practise they have that giant-killing ability.


Links: playmorepromode.com