Welcome to the second week of ENSL Division 1 Predictions, and another exciting week in the top division. As usual, in addition to my own, avl, lump and Pizza will also provide their predictions for the matches. I've also brought in guest predictor morphz, to help cover BoonSquad vs. Lessthanthree. Next week's predictions will be released around 19:00 CET on Wednesday, as usual, so keep checking this space. This week's maps are ns_metal and ns_veil.

Important message to the teams:

Please note that if you haven't got a referee for your match, you have to give the IP and password of the server to Mike or Naxo before the match to get an HLTV.

Week 1 recap

Several surprising, to some at least, results last week, with several of our predictions failing to provide truth. Levitacus managed to take home a strong 3-1 win against BoonSquad, proving their strength and telling everyone that they fully intend to perform in this tournament. Lessthanthree also surprised a lot of people, taking two rounds from Knife, giving the tournament favourites a run for their money. The only match to go mostly as predicted was Ownage vs. netpoint, which turned into an expected 2-2 alien tie.

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Ownage (0-0-1) vs. Levitacus (1-0-0)


avl's prediction

Impact players (Ownage): tutu- (Marine)
Impact players (Levitacus): Talis (Marine), Scale (Lerk)

Levitacus have really been stepping up their play recently, and looked very strong in their 3-1 win over BoonSquad last week. I wouldn't be suprised if Levitacus placed in the top half of div1 this season which is a great achievement for their first serious competition. Ownage also played their first ENSL match last week against netpoint, and alien tied them.

Ownage does have a strong alien round, with a good lerk and some good fades, but as the maps this week are metal and veil -- personally my two favourite maps in NS and also some of the most balanced in this version -- I think it's very possible that Levitacus can defeat them. I predict a 3-1 win to Levitacus and that the match will be decided by how well Ownage plays during their alien rounds.

(1) Ownage < Levitacus (3)


Fana's prediction

Impact players (Ownage): tutu- (Marine), ashrak (Lerk)
Impact players (Levitacus): Talis (Marine)

Levitacus' strong marine play against BoonSquad last week definitely proved to me that they have something good going on. At the same time, Ownage's marine rounds against netpoint seemed horribly out of shape. Fortunately for them, their alien side looks a lot better, with good tactics, decent Fades and one of the best Lerks in Europe.

What could be a serious problem for Ownage this week, is that we're playing on ns_veil, which is one of the most marine biased maps in NS right now. At the same time, ns_metal is one of the most alien biased. Based on this and performance levels so far, I doubt Ownage will be able to win any marine rounds. Levitacus has a good shot at taking ns_veil marine, however, and I believe they will.

(1) Ownage < Levitacus (3)


lump's prediction

Impact players (Ownage): ashrak (Lerk), Mike (Commander), Shi (Fade)
Impact players (Levitacus): Invasion (Fade), LeoN (Marine), Scale (Lerk), Talis (shotgun)

Levitacus are still improving their skill levels and reaching new heights with certain indidivuals really showing their specialities ingame. Levitacus have surpassed most peoples expectations to be in the top devision to begin with, but i see them as a definite contender for the 2nd place, maybe more realisticly 3rd place but who knows how much they will improve further during the league. I think Levitacus will be confident in winning this match.

Ownage haven't really improved over the last few months, just sticking to a consistently high skill level but never reaching that of the top 3 clans. The same is said for now, they're still not quite reaching the top 3 clans. However the performance they put out depends very strongly on the line-up they produce. Clearly they where missing AsHraK's lerk against netpoint, which would have helped them greatly. If they put in the time to practice on the maps I can't see why they wouldn't take an alien round from Levitacus, with the fading strengths of Shivan and aZa.

Overall Levitacus have displayed a much greater level of play than Ownage recently and I think this will be Levitacus' game. Possibly a 2-2 if Ownage can get the practice in, but my gut says 3-1 to Levitacus.

(1) Ownage < Levitacus (3)

Pizza's prediction

Impact players (Ownage): Cid (Fade), tutu- (Marine)
Impact players (Levitacus): Scale (Lerk)

Levitacus won against BoonSquad last week and ownage tied netpoint, in a rather laggy match. A tie was expected for Ownage and the fact that Levitacus won against Boonsquad wasn't really a surprise for most people. BoonSquad had a squad full of big names but the pieces didn't quite seem to fit which resulted in bad teamplay.

What I have seen, is Ownage starting to play better than what their people used to play in the Nations Cup. It's definitely a good thing to have more good teams. Both teams have been playing actively and this sounds like a promising matchup that I have to call a tie.

(2) Ownage = Levitacus (2)


knifegaming (0-0-1) vs. netpoint (0-0-1)


avl's prediction

Impact players (knifegaming): morphz (Fade/Marine)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): ppon (Marine)

Both teams got ties last week, Knife against Lessthanthree and netpoint against Ownage. As long as Knife field a strong starting lineup for this match, I don't think netpoint -- who are still rusty from inactivity -- will be able to challenge them considering Knife's individual skill and the maps of this week. Netpoint do have some good players however, and it will be interesting to see if their aggressive marine rounds can catch Knife off guard on a map like veil. Ultimately though I can't see knife losing this one and predict a 4-0 win for them.

(4) knifegaming > netpoint.EoD (0)


lump's prediction

Impact players (knifegaming): morphz (Fade/Marine), mu (Fade/Marine)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): kArtmAn (Fade), Tripas (Marine)

knifegaming and lessthanthree showed a great battle last week proving they are both going to be fighting for the top position in the league with their 2-2 draw. However Knife did lack a certain dominance that they've had in the past, the lack of practice and getting used to the comming style of Evilness may have added to this with an amount of blame for the alien loss on not having a Lerk at crucial points (due to lagging out). I think Knife will be looking to come back with a strong win, completely sure of themselves. With b1 possibly back in their line-up they will have their regular leader at hand to give them the boost and targets when needed.

Netpoint have made it clear they are improving back to old form with a draw against the number one French clan, but are still a class below the UGL NS Euro Champions. They still have the strong individual players and a good knowledge of the game from previous versions, and time will help them adapt to the latest version. The time will be too short for the spaniards to get back to their previous level to put up a strong enough fight against Knife though. I expect a 4-0 comfortable win for knifegaming.

(4) knifegaming > netpoint.EoD (0)


Pizza's prediction

Impact players (knifegaming): morphz (Fade)
Impact players (netpoint.EoD): Guito (Marine)

Both teams tied their opponents last week. Knife tied Lessthanthree with a marine tie on ns_lost and an alien tie on ns_tanith, while netpoint played a 2-2 alien tie versus Ownage. Netpoint made a lot of mistakes and Knife's gaming seemed to be more solid, but remembering Spanish teams from past Nations Cups and other tournaments often surprising people with their weird tactics, anything could happen. As for the impact players, I had never seen Guito play in any big tournaments before, and he did well in the match against Ownage when it came to fragging. From Knife's side, most rememberable player is morphz for his steady allaround performance over time. I believe that Knife will win this one 3-1 or even 4-0, but I wouldn't be too surprised if netpoint could take a round or two. It all depends on the day.

(3) knifegaming > netpoint.EoD (1)


BoonSquad (0-1-0) vs. lessthanthree (0-0-1)


Fana's prediction

Impact players (BoonSquad): G (Skulk), mst (Lerk)
Impact players (lessthanthree): Bugstah! (Commander/Lerk), Pizza (Marine)

BoonSquad showed some serious weaknesses last week, when they lost to Levitacus. Their marine side looked especially weak, but their alien teamwork seemed to be sorely lacking as well. Lessthanthree on the other hand, surprised a lot of people with their very strong play against Knife, resulting in a 2-2 tie.

While BoonSquad could potentially become a real threat when they get some more practice in, Lessthanthree are looking overpowering right now. Both their alien and marine rounds seem very strong, and I don't think BoonSquad will be able to take any rounds on veil, which should be a pretty straight forward map for Lessthanthree. Metal might turn out differently however, and BoonSquad should be able to take their alien side on this map if they can keep it cool.

BoonSquad (1) < lessthanthree (3)


morphz' prediction

Impact players (BoonSquad): G (Skulk), Mt (Fade)
Impact players (lessthanthree): Bugstah! (Lerk)

Lessthanthree have been a top euro clan for sometime, although they went inactive for a while, they seem to have come back with new players, better teamwork and BenjamiN, as MrBen quit NS!? They drew with Knife very promisingly last week and the draw definately surprised alot of people, as many predicted a 4-0 win to Knife. BoonSquad have skilled players, although they are very new clan compared to the rest in divison one, and this version does require alot of teamwork, be it on alien or marine.

Lessthanthree also have skilled members, along with great teamwork, and I think this will definitely give them the edge over BoonSquad, who have skilled members but lack vital teamwork being a newly formed clan. Although if BoonSquad can get some tight teamwork going, we could see a very interesting
match, especially on metal, that could tip this either way, as it's not a popular map and isn't played much. We will have to see what tactics the teams come out with.

So I'm going to have to say 4-0 to lessthanthree, although if BoonSquad could get teamwork locked down, they could definitely take at least a round off lessthanthree.

BoonSquad (0) < lessthanthree (4)

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Remember to utilize the built in user prediction system on this site. Vote for whichever team you think will win, and dominate the predictor charts if you have a knack for predicting winners! Click on the match you want to predict a score for, such as BoonSquad (0-1-0) vs. lessthanthree (0-0-1) for example. Click on the clan names with percentage signs next to them, and go crazy!