Winners Stay, Losers Go Home!

[FML|Mage]

Well ladies and gentlemen, elves and orcs, noobs and pros; we’re finally here.  Round 4 always proves to be one of the most interesting rounds of a season and this one doesn’t look like it will disappoint.  The estimated cutoff point for the season will be around 55 or 56 points.  For those that don’t know or need a recap, those that are in places 1-3 at season end will directly qualify for the finals.  Those that finish 4-7 at season’s end will be placed into a semi-final match where the winner will move to the finals game.

Magadansky will auto-qualify for the finals (again) with a 3rd place finish or better, and stands a good chance of it even with a 4th place finish.

DFM and Seksi both will secure a finals spot with a win in Round 4, and have an outside shot of directly qualifying with a 3rd place or better finish.  They’re both guaranteed a semi-final spot by just showing up for their match as well.

Wan, Humanstar, and Ugrilainen should all qualify directly for the finals with a win and are in good position to make the semi-finals with a 3rd place or better finish.  Both scenarios are not nearly as clear as the previous 3 players mentioned though.

Whoguess, Persuade, Svedirko, Lightweight, Mog[Skynet], and FaiL.Life should all need a win to qualify for the semi-finals.  So, 12 of 16 (75%) of our players still have playoff implication in their games.  And, every game has at least two players who can qualify for the playoffs.  Needless to say, it should be a very interesting round!

F13
Magadansky
Humans7ar
Whoguess / GM
Svedirko

An interesting match here since everyone still has their season in play still.  While Magadansky only needs 10 points, he’s one of those that always tries to pull of the win.  Humanstar is fighting for his shot the final.  A win here clinches it for him, and he’s known to play well in tight situations.  Last season he voluntarily chose to play in the semi-final instead of the finals since he likes high-pressure situations.  Hopefully that will bring the best out of him in this game and not in the semi-finals!

Whoguess has a lucky win to his name this season, but he also had an unlucky loss last season so those balance out pretty well.  Regardless of what’s luck and what’s not, it’s safe to say that’s he’s absolutely in the race for a semi-final spot and has an outside shot at the finals with a win here.  Look for a strong early game from him and an attempt to take one of the other power players out of the game.  Svedirko got off to a hot start this season with a win, but it’s only been bad news for him since then.  An unlucky no-show situation and a 4th place finish have led to him needing another win to get into the semi-finals.  Still, he had a very solid showing in his last KoFFA match and I don’t think anyone would be shocked to see him pick up a win here.

F14
Ugrilainen
DarkFlameMaster
j33.
Seksi

Arguably the hardest and most exciting match of the round it features 2 of the top 3 players points wise, and 3 of the top 6.  The odds are good that only one of these players will make the finals while the other two are relegated to the semi-finals.  Ugrilainen caught fire and took down 2 FFA giants in Magadansky and Renaud.  With that win he vaulted himself up to 41 points, a win here would almost certainly secure himself a finals spot because of the bonus point he got in round 1, and because it would mean that DFM and Seksi lost.

The map should suit DFM very well.  A notorious Dark Ranger user, he should be able to snag level 3 silence before even fighting anyone.  Add in a panda to the mix and he’s as dangerous an elf player as anyone has seen in a while.  J33 is probably the big underdog going into this match, but Twilight is a map where it’s easy to go unnoticed for a while.  If that happens then he should be able to outgold the others and have that make up for the micro differential.  Seksi, our last player, is the odds on favorite going in according to the betting.  He’s already got two wins to his name, but does have a 4th place finish last round.  Will that motivate him to come out his best?  My guess would be yes, yes it will.

F15
Fail.Life
FiRel)rAgOn
Mog[Skynet]
Lightweight

The only match to not feature a winner so far, it’s not for lack of opportunities.  All of these players have played well so far this season, but had circumstances mess with their wins.  Life has played qualifiers for FML several times, but is in his first full season.  He’s played well, coming ever so close to grabbing a win in Round 1, and then again in Round 3.  Could this be his breakthrough and win?  Firedragon also was within grasp of a win in Round 2.  It came down to one bad battle that turned the game for DFM.  Still, he’s been around the block before and he needs a win if he wants to have any shot of making the semis.

Mog played a beautiful Round 2 game as well, and only lost due to disconnecting when he was in a sure fire winning position.  He’s managed 10 or 11 points every round though, and his extra point could clinch him a spot in the semi-finals if he wins this match.  The last player is one who is due for a win, and this might be his time.  Lightweight has two games with 11 points (from finishing first in score but losing), and has looked like a beast throughout most of the season.  He won his last King of FFA match and looks like he’s ready for this match. 

F16
WaN
Gears-
Persuade
Sk2flash

F16 features two key players and two players who have had some issues this season.  Wan, undoubtedly the best solo player currently in FML, has grown massively as a FFA player.  Practicing hard and listening to critique has allowed him to figure out what parts of his game he needed to change and it’s paid dividends.  In only his 3rd FML match he was able to grab a win over some great players such as Seksi, Humanstar and FaiL.Life.  With two 10 point finishes and a win it leaves him wide open to making the finals if he wins this match, and gives him a good chance of making the semi-finals with a third or second place finish.  Gears has not been responding recently, and may be out of this season.

Persuade, another name that we find very familiar at this time of the season, is in a rather different position from normal.  Usually he’s gearing up to try and make the finals with a win, but this time he needs a win to even qualify for the semi-finals.  Still, he pulled off the clutch win last round, and he’s certainly got good odds at winning this match.  Flash, the last of our players, has had some bad luck this season.  While he’s played specturaly in custom games he hasn’t been able to string it together in the season.  Combined with some bad luck on losing his power and he does not have a chance at the semi-finals.  Still, pride often makes people play their best and he certainly has the skills!

In other FFA related news, Redkeekee has released his third edition of Redkeekee’s Round Review.  It continues to be a hit, and features a special guest this week!  For more information on what RRR is, visit this thread on FFAMasters.net or check out his YouTube playlist on the officicial FML YouTube Channel

As always tune in to FFAMasters.net for more information and subscribe to our Twitch.TV channel for live shoutcasts and games!

P.S. King of FFA will be taking a week off and will resume the weekend of the 12th-14th.

[GKrown]

when you are the league wide joke, cant imagine why you'd not reply to them lol