Finals Preview: compLexity TF2
Make no mistake, this is 
compLexity TF2's crown to take. The most dominating team to play this game since the previous roster that wore the tag, coL has proven again and again - be it the CEVO OCZ tournament, the ESEA-Open Season 2 and Invite Season 4 titles, the GXL LAN (3 of them, anyways), or the Alienware Bigfoot Killer Edge Challenge - that they are the most dominating force this side of the Atlantic, and quite possibly the world over, too. Their aggressive playstyle has changed the way the game is played in North America, taking what was once a Soldier-dominated game and evolving it to a more evenly spread form where Scout, Soldier and Demo can all take control when the occasion presents itself - and then, they put together the perfect roster to do just that.
THE TEAM:
The history of this roster touches on that age-old debate about who should get the accolades - a roster, or an organization. Similar to the Pandemic situation, there is an old-vs-new dynamic to coL that should be clarified, for historical purposes (plus, I love roster stories). Technically, "coL TF2" has none of those titles I mentioned above, and a whole bunch of other titles that this particular roster had nothing to do with (actually, they have have been on the losing end of some of them). It's a complicated question with a justified stance on either side, but I personally think that the roster that won a particular title is the one that should get the credit, until we reach the point that salaries are significant enough that organizations can claim to having a significant role in a team's performance.
Plus, it's easier to keep straight who dominated who.
At any rate, as I eluded to in the Blight TF2 piece, the forming of this roster has more stops and pickups and organization swaps than one would ever care to see listed, but the long and short of this team's heritage comes from two places: eMazing Gaming and Xensity. Both sides have some storied history to them - the Pandemic-vs-eMg battles are in the pantheon of greatest TF2 matches, while Xensity was forever on the cusp of being the next great team but could never quite find the right soldiers - but it wasn't until they came together that the magic truly, finally happened.
This team's trajectory upwards can be traced directly to the downfall of that Pand/coL team that so thoroughly dominated the game for a year-and-a-half - in fact, it was a brand new Loaded roster that first dethroned the Kings in that ESEA Season 2 Grand Finals mentioned above, a finish that shocked the TF2 world at the time but has since become a sort of passing-of-the-torch moment, if one conveniently ignores their unfortunate playoff troubles in Season 3. This team has everything going for them - an aggresive playstyle that wreaks havoc on the less skilled, a gametime readiness that seems to be unmatchable, and the only team of the four heading to Dallas with a proven LAN performance record in the last 6 months.
THE GAMEPLAN:
Brad "PYYYOUR" Ross - Medic
Manny "SoLIDSnaKE" Sy - Demo
Daniel "carnage" Sturdivant - Scout
C "enigma" Y - Scout
Kyle "relic" Mims - Soldier
Michael "Jaeger" Marcin - Soldier
Mithun "animeman" Balachandran - Backup
It's been stated before, but it really can't be underlined enough - enigma has to get to Dallas. Not to say this team isn't talented enough to overcome the missing piece, but the one-two punch of carnage & enigma is the reason this team is where it is. coL is one of the few teams that runs its offense through its scouts - they get a buff before anyone else, and when there's even the smallest of openings you better believe they'll execute. carnage in particular has the unique, terrifying ability to dive headfirst into the combo and come out with a pick on someone - and enigma's not that far behind him.
Think about it - if it were any other scout that was behind you on, say, cp_badlands, you'd send someone to pick him off and focus yourself on either pushing or holding the corner. With these two, that just can't happen - you have to make a concerted effort to hunt them down, while still holding off the rest of the team who, let's face it, are no slouches themselves. This is where that whole "compLexity is perfectly balanced" thing comes in - if carn or e are having an off day, SoLIDSnaKE will pipe you face, while relic & Jaeger will flank and spam the crap out of you. These guys are an unstoppable force, an impenetrable defense and a flanking and picking machine - how the hell do you beat that?
THE FINALS:
To be honest, I don't really expect anyone to - or, to put it a different way, it anyone does knock coL out, it'll be because of an unexpectedly brilliant performance by another player, and there's only so many who could pull that off. EG.Reptile is the obvious candidate, though I could also see Pand.justin giving coL a tough first-round matchup, when a bit of the rust may still be working its way out.
Ultimately though, with each round being a best-of-three, these guys are going to the Finals. I don't really see coL losing two maps TOTAL, let along two in one match - they're too strong for this field, and the only team with a legit shot at taking them out is none other than their old Grand Final rivals, Team EG.
UPDATE: coL|animeman has officially confirmed that coL|enigma won't be attending the LAN Finals, and that anime will be filling in. While this is a setback for coL, it is by no means catastrophic - animeman has become a jack-of-all-trades player, with experience filling in as Medic, Soldier, Demo and now Scout for his team in big-time situations.
compLexity TF2's crown to take. The most dominating team to play this game since the previous roster that wore the tag, coL has proven again and again - be it the CEVO OCZ tournament, the ESEA-Open Season 2 and Invite Season 4 titles, the GXL LAN (3 of them, anyways), or the Alienware Bigfoot Killer Edge Challenge - that they are the most dominating force this side of the Atlantic, and quite possibly the world over, too. Their aggressive playstyle has changed the way the game is played in North America, taking what was once a Soldier-dominated game and evolving it to a more evenly spread form where Scout, Soldier and Demo can all take control when the occasion presents itself - and then, they put together the perfect roster to do just that.THE TEAM:
The history of this roster touches on that age-old debate about who should get the accolades - a roster, or an organization. Similar to the Pandemic situation, there is an old-vs-new dynamic to coL that should be clarified, for historical purposes (plus, I love roster stories). Technically, "coL TF2" has none of those titles I mentioned above, and a whole bunch of other titles that this particular roster had nothing to do with (actually, they have have been on the losing end of some of them). It's a complicated question with a justified stance on either side, but I personally think that the roster that won a particular title is the one that should get the credit, until we reach the point that salaries are significant enough that organizations can claim to having a significant role in a team's performance.
Plus, it's easier to keep straight who dominated who.
At any rate, as I eluded to in the Blight TF2 piece, the forming of this roster has more stops and pickups and organization swaps than one would ever care to see listed, but the long and short of this team's heritage comes from two places: eMazing Gaming and Xensity. Both sides have some storied history to them - the Pandemic-vs-eMg battles are in the pantheon of greatest TF2 matches, while Xensity was forever on the cusp of being the next great team but could never quite find the right soldiers - but it wasn't until they came together that the magic truly, finally happened.
This team's trajectory upwards can be traced directly to the downfall of that Pand/coL team that so thoroughly dominated the game for a year-and-a-half - in fact, it was a brand new Loaded roster that first dethroned the Kings in that ESEA Season 2 Grand Finals mentioned above, a finish that shocked the TF2 world at the time but has since become a sort of passing-of-the-torch moment, if one conveniently ignores their unfortunate playoff troubles in Season 3. This team has everything going for them - an aggresive playstyle that wreaks havoc on the less skilled, a gametime readiness that seems to be unmatchable, and the only team of the four heading to Dallas with a proven LAN performance record in the last 6 months.
THE GAMEPLAN:
Brad "PYYYOUR" Ross - Medic
Manny "SoLIDSnaKE" Sy - Demo
Daniel "carnage" Sturdivant - Scout
C "enigma" Y - Scout
Kyle "relic" Mims - Soldier
Michael "Jaeger" Marcin - Soldier
Mithun "animeman" Balachandran - Backup
It's been stated before, but it really can't be underlined enough - enigma has to get to Dallas. Not to say this team isn't talented enough to overcome the missing piece, but the one-two punch of carnage & enigma is the reason this team is where it is. coL is one of the few teams that runs its offense through its scouts - they get a buff before anyone else, and when there's even the smallest of openings you better believe they'll execute. carnage in particular has the unique, terrifying ability to dive headfirst into the combo and come out with a pick on someone - and enigma's not that far behind him.
Think about it - if it were any other scout that was behind you on, say, cp_badlands, you'd send someone to pick him off and focus yourself on either pushing or holding the corner. With these two, that just can't happen - you have to make a concerted effort to hunt them down, while still holding off the rest of the team who, let's face it, are no slouches themselves. This is where that whole "compLexity is perfectly balanced" thing comes in - if carn or e are having an off day, SoLIDSnaKE will pipe you face, while relic & Jaeger will flank and spam the crap out of you. These guys are an unstoppable force, an impenetrable defense and a flanking and picking machine - how the hell do you beat that?
THE FINALS:
To be honest, I don't really expect anyone to - or, to put it a different way, it anyone does knock coL out, it'll be because of an unexpectedly brilliant performance by another player, and there's only so many who could pull that off. EG.Reptile is the obvious candidate, though I could also see Pand.justin giving coL a tough first-round matchup, when a bit of the rust may still be working its way out.
Ultimately though, with each round being a best-of-three, these guys are going to the Finals. I don't really see coL losing two maps TOTAL, let along two in one match - they're too strong for this field, and the only team with a legit shot at taking them out is none other than their old Grand Final rivals, Team EG.
UPDATE: coL|animeman has officially confirmed that coL|enigma won't be attending the LAN Finals, and that anime will be filling in. While this is a setback for coL, it is by no means catastrophic - animeman has become a jack-of-all-trades player, with experience filling in as Medic, Soldier, Demo and now Scout for his team in big-time situations.
