Off-Season Pros and Teams Discussion

Heinz goes to Str8, Elamite to Instinct and also picks up Cloud.

I'm loving these moves...your thoughts?

I think Str8 will be better now, and Instinct is a real balanced team instead of 3 supports for Neighbor.

 

Someone wanna delete one of my above posts go right ahead...every time I try I get a 404...

MOVING ON!

Heinz is now on Str8, Elamite and Cloud are now on Instinct with Roybox, and Clutch and Naded are starting a new team.

 

I read that and it honestly came across as that in good measure. But to be quite honest, more than anything I noticed the little discrepancies between what SK and Heinz said on the matter, particularly the things about what each of them said Pistola thought and said when it was going on. He seems pretty caught in the middle of this from what was said in that article, and whilst part of me wants to his his view on what was actually said etc, more than anything I just feel bad for the guy.

But then, check out this hottie. An interview with T2, one captain who's been extremely quiet around team changes etc in contrast to others and despite the rife rumours of a Str8 roster change. The above link is to page 2 of the interview, since by far the most interesting part is at the very end. In short: Elamite out, Heinz in. Excuse me if I'm not doing serendipity justice in this assumption, but that whole SK/Heinz awkward patch seems to be coming in to focus now. Sorry, but this was not 5 minutes in the making, and maybe SK's hunch wasn't so far off. Whether Heinz would indeed have left tD for Str8 of his own accord if SK hadn't made the decision for him is something I guess we'll never know.

Also, I love T2's verdict on rash team changes, then the addition of this news at the bottom. Not that I think this is necessarily rash, nor a bad pickup in the slightest. It just seemed really funny when I read it back, beautifully timed by all accounts.

 

Wowww, so Str8 picked up Heinz and dropped Elamite... I really wanna know what lucky team will pick him up.

 

Not sure if you all know this, but the new Believe the Hype squad for the 2010 season is Maniac, Demon D, Chig, and Tizoxic. This team is going to simply slay,slay, and slay some more. Dropping Cloud and CLutch was HUGE and very risky, but Chig and Tizoxic are both rising stars, so it will be interesting to see how this young roster works together.

 

My question is who takes over leading Instinct? Cloud is an experienced team captain with a national championship under his belt, but Elamite is an even more experienced player with a championship. Then you have Roybox as the anchor players getting jerked around with all these team changes.

Will Lunchbox finally step up as leader of Instinct?

Will Cloud use his role as ex-captain of BtH to become captain of his newest team?

Will an angry Elamite out for revenge on his former team take over and use his drive to take down Snipedown as a way to get Instinct that 1st place finish they've needed for the last 2 seasons?

OH THE HUMANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!11!1!one!!!!11!!!!

 

Quite honestly I want to see Elamite and RoyBox temper Cloud a good deal. During that BtH interview he was as bad as the rest of them, and right now the last thing Instinct needs is a big ego on the team. In this sense I'd probably rather not see Cloud taking the lead, imo all 3 others have more to offer in instituting a really unique and successful gameplay style from this new Instinct.

I could well see Elamite taking the lead on this one tbh, it was what Ghost was arguably looked to for when he joined Instinct, and he's certainly a great potential leader for that team. I'd also guess at him being better suited to what I said above than Cloud by a long way, I can see Elamite taking RoyBox and really pushing them to potential, even in the past rough months for Instinct no one can really deny the potential of that pair to really bring a team to life. I must say that I wouldn't have necessarily tipped Cloud as the best pickup for Instinct, but I wouldn't by any means say the he's a bad choice. More than anything, since he's the one of the four I'm least sure in my mind about, I'm just interested to see how he works out with Elamite and RoyBox.

 

I think I am missing out on something here. Why exactly is Elamite pissed at Snipedown?

 

From what has been circulating around the MLG community it appears that Snipedown's ego and temper caused him to lash out at Elamite and essentially blame him for a poor showing at 2 of the events this season. It is also being said that Snipedown was the main pusher for kicking him off the team.

Now none of this is official as far as I know, but at this point I don't think either pro has taken the time to deny it, and T2 refused to comment on the issue.

Ghost and Karma are now teaming again on Heaven and Earth. I look forward to their play this season.

 

As a Carbon Fan I am interested to see if the new carbon can go anywhere. I'm sad to see Shockwav3 retire. Also, I was surprised to see them drop Naded (imo that was a mistake) since whenever he was fired up and playing good the whole team did good. I'm just excited to see what will happen this next season because of all the changes. Should be interesting!!!

 

As a heads up I've edited the title and OP of this thread as well as stickying it, you can check said OP for further details.

IMHO, anyone who isn't sad to see The Wav3 retire, Carbon fan or not, has a heart of stone . But I agree that new Carbon is looking beast. I too question the drop of Naded a little, but I get the feeling that Walsh particularly is shooting for first and nothing less with this team (hopefully that doesn't denote his own impending retirement, but I could well see him leaving along with H3 at the end of the '10 season if his job seems done, so to speak) and if he thinks that SS will bring this then I'm certainly interested to see how it turns out. I also find it funny how things come around, generally in Walshy's favour...

I'm also gonna call Heaven and Earth as my '10 sleeper team right now. Ghost and Karma back on the same squad speaks for itself, you can hardly argue with Ghost's Orlando placing and his previous stint on Instinct was rough but even then brought a Top 3 finish. Karma hasn't had it so easy since leaving Carbon but I think it's safe to say that he was lacking what he needed and had had with Carbon, most notably on vG The New Order where him and Naded of all people were trying to play the veteran role. I think he'll rediscover what he's lost with Ghost back beside him, and hopefully what he's gained from staying with KillerDrew despite less than notable placings considering his past will pay off. Drew is another strong point, long touted by Puckett as like a younger StrongSide, obviously Karma sees something in him too. Anarchy could be, in short, the 4th that HaE need to turn from a great team on paper to a great team in practice. I'm calling them to upset a team or two at the opener, Ghost has proven that he likes to make a splash after changing teams and now he has plenty of time to work up to that and, if I'm right, the perfect ingredients to work with.

 

Pegasi, you took the words right out of my mouth and threw them on the screen...you probably should have cleaned them first though.

HaE is looking insane. Some recent fileshare raiding lead me to find a video of the current team playing in the playlist and absolutely dominating a mixed team of other pro players. I know this doesn't mean much, but when Anarchy, who was a bit of a joke in the pro world, starts doing the slaying for a team with KillerDrew and Karma on it...well thats just damn impressive.

I think the biggest variable for them will be Karma. He has had a bit of a rough time adjusting this last season, and I just hope he can come back as the Karma of H2 Carbon. Reteaming with Ghost should help that. I look for the 3 vets to use Drew's raw potential to its fullest and easily break top 8 this season. Though my money's on a top 4-6 finish out of them the first pro event.

Now to go ahead and make myself look like a fickle little teenage girl. Though my faith was shaken in Instinct after the last few events of '09 I do still consider them my second favorite team. With Elamite and Cloud teaming with the Roybox Twins I am confident in them holding top 3 all season, and possible pulling out a win.

Triggers Down...please be the team that actually uses Neighbor properly. Neighbor...please just learn to get along with this immensely talented team and become the beast we all remember you as.

Pistola...stay cute.

 

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Oooh, I hadn't heard of such a vid. Do you remember where you found it or have a link? I'd love to take a look and possibly cap it to throw up in here.

You turned it right around dude, agreed 100% on every detail.

Again, agreed on every point. I don't think anyone could have seen this turn around for Instinct coming, going from the team that kept trying to fix the team killer to one with everything they arguably needed back then in what seems like a really pissed and motivated Elamite. Like I said before, I'd like to see Elamite and RoyBox temper Cloud in to the new environment, get him out of the BtH "we're just the best" attitude that seemed to be as much him as the other three post Orlando. But they all sound confident about this new team and despite it being the necessity of a rather unfortunate situation for Elamite in particular, it looks to have come together very well as a potentially dominant team considering. I'm eagerly waiting for that first game taken against Str8, much as I believe new Str8 are looking seriously imposing (through, who'd have guessed it, nabbing tD's newest superstar once again ), I know that this new Instinct squad aren't gonna get rolled over by them. Considering Elamite was often touted as the smarts behind Str8, I genuinely think they're gonna be more than a little worried coming up against the guy who knows 3 of them inside and out Halo-wise. Should be a good matchup, R1 at the opener plox .

One more time with feeeeeeling: agreed completely. I'm gonna be so sad if this is the start of a downturn for tD, and I also question what Neighbor would do if this new roster doesn't work. Let's face it, if new tD don't place well in the first half of the season he's gonna be dropped before we see Nationals.

This.

 

I think I might have the video still on my 360. I'll fish around for it when I get around to playing tonight. I don't remember which pro's fileshare I got it off of, but I'll see if I can find it that way too.

 

The OP has been updated with a bunch of changes that have taken place. The main ones form a three way switch between Carbon, HaE and BtH, a situation I'm honestly pretty disappointed with in it's result.

First off: Ghost leaving HaE for Carbon. As I said before, the HaE lineup with Ghost looked so promising, I saw in him exactly what HaE needed to really make waves with their massive talent. But then Ghost is out for a journey back to Carbon and HaE pick up Naded, not at all what they need IMO, and I think this lack of solid leader figure will see them sadly continue their stint in the mid levels of Pro Halo. Sadface to say the least.

As for Carbon, I don't even see Ghost as that solid a pickup considering who they dropped in SS. With Naded gone, Side was a strong move for Carbon potentially, an arguably equally talented slayer to Naded and finally back alongside Walshy. As I said, that lineup gave me strong hopes of finally seeing Side come out of his H2 shell and starting to play aggressively with his insane skill, in keeping with new Carbon style and under the guidance of Walshy. Still, it could well be that therein lies the very reason Side isn't on Carbon anymore, perhaps this new approach didn't materialise and Side didn't shrug off his old FB passive ways. Still, whatever happened with Side, I'm still left unsure as to new Carbon as it stands now. I'm happy to see Ghost back on Carbon in principle, a true Carbon vet to take over after Wav3 retiring, but still. I don't fully buy it yet, not till I see who picks up sniper and what they do with it. As for Side on BtH, meh. I can't see them flopping, but it just seems like the kinda lineup that forms because high level pros never sit around in free agency for too long and people just try stuff out. If they even make it to the opener with this roster I see them doing OK, but in the context of the individual talent on the team I don't think they'll be placing that well.

There was also a brief fracas recently about Hysteria potentially being dropped from tD. Apparently Neighbor said something to that effect on a livestream and it was even reflected in the OP of the MLG thread for a little while. But next time I checked Hysteria was back on tD in said OP, and I never actually saw post or video reference to either the supposed drop or the rumour being quashed, so if anyone has anything particularly linkable on the subject or knows what was said then I'd be pretty interested in finding out what actually went on.

 

I just got out of the hospital, but seeing all the recent team changes is gonna put me right back in...

 

Lol, I know what you mean. But seriously, hope you stay well dude .

I know they're not technically a pro team, but I've been taking a particular interest in PwR of late, as I know others have. News on that front: after leaving and then rejoining the team after Orlando's 17th place finish, Baxter is now off Power Gaming once again. Apparently, as of now his spot has been filled by MVP, nabbed from rival EU team MSIFnatic. Baxter is keeping things quiet in terms of his new team.

I'm not too hot on the EU players, rather embarassingly considering I'm in the UK, but MVP was touted as one of the two ideal pick ups when Baxter last left, hopefully his addition to the PwR lineup should help them make waves at Nashville and finally break top 16 at the Pro Circuit opener.