That’s So Rando

	The top three picks of IM this preseason came from three teams that are all close in terms of teamwork and individual talent. That’s So Rando, Xensity, and The Mad Men are all great teams, and their particular strengths and weaknesses will become more evident as the season progresses, so consider these power rankings as tentative due to  the nature of TSR and Mad Men as being relatively new in terms of coming together as a team. Xensity has also undergone a few roster change-ups recently, and each time that my team, TSR, has scrimmed Xensity, they have had a different roster.

	Coming in at number one, is the team That’s So Rando. Picking up the Mobility roster from last season, an IM team with middling results, their new roster is quite strong, if a bit inexperienced in some aspects. The heavies are the same as before with Rando on pocket and Technosex on roamer. Rando has great fragging power and Technosex has a good understanding for his role as a roaming soldier. Their demoman, Kapoww, is a force to be reckoned with, and on top of dealing great mid-fight damage, he is also impressively self-sufficient when it comes to hitting clutch pipes and getting out of sticky situations. Their two star pickups are the backup scouts from HRG: Loronix, a phenomenal deathmatcher with an in-depth understanding of the game, and the unfortunately named ShitOnMyChest, who is one of the greatest scout talents that I have ever seen. They also picked up m0nster on medic who had been on hiatus after leaving 90lg in the preseason.

Players to watch: ShitOnMyChest and Loronix

	These scouts are the backbone of the team, and while the rest of this line up is not made up of panty-waisted thumb-twiddling do-nothings(except m0nster), these two are where the major plays are generally going to come from. If you want hot 2v6 action where the two has a chance to win, then these guys are the ones to watch.

The Mad Men

	Number two, but only barely are the newly formed but already infamous Mad Men! You probably recognize the names from the invite poll, as they lost by a mere 17 votes to Leviathan Gaming. They suffer from the same faults that TSR does in that they are so very new, and as of right now, so very unproven in terms of being a team. individually, however, these guys have powerhouses in every single position. Nosferatu is, in my opinion, the medic with the best heal mechanics currently in IM. He has an almost uncanny ability to correctly read even the tiniest factors that determine the flow of a fight and better manage his heals to lead his team to victory. His uber management is similarly notable in its methodical ability to end an uber engage with his team with better heals and positional advantage. If new medics are reading this and want a medic to watch and analyze, then this is the medic to pay attention to. Their roaming soldier was up in the air, but I believe that Panic was a better choice over Visitor, in both terms of personality(which will be a factor for this group) and in gameplay. Panic is a talented roamer with a great grasp on the game at high levels of play. I thought for a while there that he would be roaming for Quantic, but evidently I was mistaken. Namlay and rr on scout is going to be a deadly combination. Both of these scouts have a keen sense of how to pick apart not only enemy scout combos, but also how to pick apart the defenses of a team in the throes of a full-on blob push. They have the deathmatch to easily back up any decisions they make, and the vision to make sure that their decisions are always good ones. Bl4nk is an absolute m0nster on pocket soldier, and will do well working with Nosferatu as a combo. Unf, their demoman, has some unbelievable deathmatch, and given the chance could easily carry his teams in terms of damage and frags. Having played against him with some regularity recently when he was on LG, I would say that his positioning and decision making are what might hold him back, but with a strong team behind him, he should have no trouble at all.

Players to watch: Unf and Nosferatu

	All of my criticisms of unf’s play can easily be remedied either by himself, or compensated for by his team. As such, assuming that this team does not die mid-season(as some have predicted), then all of unf’s positional problems should disappear into the mechanics of his team. Regardless, Nosferatu will be the medic to watch in IM this season, as his organization and gamesense is what will lead this team to domination or mediocrity.

Xensity

	I place Xensity in a tentative third because of their currently shifting roster. They have made significant changes as recently as Sunday, and with the official resignation of Hero, the potential of this team is significantly diminished. However, that is not to say that this team does not still stand to be a giant amongst the rest of the IM teams, in fact, to suggest the contrary would be ludicrous, nay, heresy. The infamous SolidSnake, a demoman that I remember from when I first started out as a scout in competitive, is still as devious and talented as ever. His understanding of the game is top-notch, and his ability to dictate the flow of a battle with his damage is impressive to behold. Their medic, CHE, is a great medic in terms of gamesense and positioning, but one that I would describe as boring. He does not take risks on the level that some other medics do, but that is more a commentary of his mindset than his talent. Keep in mind, however, that being flashy does not actually help you cap points, much to my dismay. The only scout currently solidly on the team is Arc, and while he certainly belongs in IM, I would say that in comparison to the other scouts in the top five, he falls a little short. Blinky is their newest pickup as of last night on the position of roaming soldier. He has a dm-centric style, and prefers to play to his strengths, breaking the current disposable roamer meta-game. In my opinion, Blinky has some of the best single-target deathmatch as a soldier in IM, but his gamesense will hold him back, especially in a role that gamesense has characteristically outshone deathmatch. They have a solid pocket in sting, who has great positioning especially during uber fights. He always has precise rockets that find weaknesses in the enemy team’s uber positioning. I look forward to seeing this team perform with a solid roster.

Players to watch: SolidSnake and Blinky

	It should be obvious why SolidSnake is the guy to watch on this team, as he has the talent and experience to stand up against any other demoman in IM(and most in invite). Blinky is more of a gut pick. I know that if he can just figure out how to utilize that deathmatch of his that he will be a fearful influence on the outcome of the battle, but if he doesn’t learn quickly, I fear that all of his training will go to waste without being translated into performance.

Laser Beams(aV)

	This is probably one of my more controversial choices, but I believe in this team’s past and current ability to dominate the competition with near-perfect teamwork. I am unsure about the specific nature of their roster, but from what I can piece together, Ben is on pocket, Dun is on scout, and Shrew is on medic. Shrew will most certainly be a big factor in their performance, as his calls and control were a large factor of aV’s former glory. Unfortunately, most of what I have to say about this team is either out-dated or apocryphal, and as such this prediction could be a flop, but the power of their name alone was enough to put them here, which should be a good indicator of their potential.

Players to watch: Shrew

	Another medic that new medics should latch onto as a gold standard, Shrew has a wonderful understanding of the game, and great mechanics that help him bring his understanding into being.

Mayhem

	Mayhem muscled out a lot of other picks for the 5th place spot that were all around the same general skill level. However, this team’s core players have been together season after season with few changes. Caidh is Mayhem’s pocket, and he is a beast in every sense of the word. I remember one league match when I played medic for this team in which Caidh literally ripped his shirt after a particularly intense final battle. I couldn’t rip my shirt if you gave me some scissors, much less as a reactionary response to TF2. His deathmatch is insane, and he is certainly the rock from which his team operates. Gremaud is an intelligent demoman that understands the game at a high level, and I am always impressed with his quality and sometimes innovative play as a demoman. If Caidh is the back, then Gremaud is the legs and arms, and together they do some heavy lifting, not that the rest of the team needs it. Boink is their roamer, and I had the pleasure of experiencing the bottom of his gunboats ringing for team rtd against him only last night. He certainly has the ability to make opening for his teams, and I look forward to watching him do his thing against better teams. Masked Jackal(Abramelin) has been a core member of the team for quite some time, and there is clearly defined symmetry between him and Caidh and Gremaud. He has great deathmatch, and the drive to do what it takes to win. Jake Rockwell was the deciding factor of giving this team the number five spot, as since his pickup, the team has done noticeably better, muscling out Vector Gaming, another notable team, since his acquisition. Pet is a solid medic with decent positioning and uber management, but I must confess a certain ignorance to the particulars of his play-style.

Players to watch: Caidh and Gremaud and Jake Rockwell

	All three of these players have the ability to dominate the battlefield at any given time. That is one of the things that makes this team so powerful, at any given moment, any one of these three could go huge and destroy another team. There is no aspect of their team that I would say is weak in contrast to these three, but I would certainly herald them as the core talent.

The Honorables(In no particular order):

aMazing Gaming

Team Retarded Deathmatchers

Carl Sagan Foundation

Vector Gaming

Team iT