Guest writer Tipzy joins the desk with some food for thought regarding new rosters going into LAN 2 in Columbus, Ohio:

Empyrean: tox, redz, trauma, kevlar, roflcakes

I truly believe this team will be sneaky good and better than people realize once we get to LAN. We all saw the difference with Kevlar not having 70 ping the first go around. While trauma’s experience is limited, he’s one of those gamers that will always have great mechanics. Now put that under the leadership of Roflcakes who brings a lot of LAN experience, be ready to play Trainstation at 5:47 PM central.

Who to watch: trauma

Regicide: wrenches & friends

Everyone’s favorite mechanic God is back. He made the smart decision to avoid playing with panther and instead creating a new team. This guy can flat out play and on top of that, he will grind. Before the Dallas LAN, he played the second most pugs. Given the nerds in this community, that says a lot. We’ll just have to wait and see how this roster fills out.

Who to watch: Jben shotgunning a beer

GOONS: athn, 1200, JustSam, zexi/amx(pick a name dude cmon), cru!zer

The biggest disappointment from Dallas LAN was that this roster wasn’t able to attend. This band of idiots have been playing together since before the word GOON was tainted and perverted. While that experience came in another game, that type of synergy will only help in the late rounds. With the newly poached player cruizer who not only has a ton of experience but is an excellent leader, the sky is the limit.

Who to watch: 1200

NAME GATEKEEPERS: Magnum, ashen, ABK, c4rv3, ?

Out of all the newly formed rosters, this one is the biggest question marks of the community. A lot of potential. Carve has been grinding under the radar, ABK in the last few weeks has gotten significantly better. I’m surprised stiffy didn’t make a bust video to be honest. The two pillars of this roster in Ashen and Magnum have the experience and tools at their disposal to make some noise. Let’s see how they play together.

Who to watch: Magnum but Stiffy will be coaching from home in Discord

Roll the Dice: adeptzz, brutaL, phreak, timmer, warboy

Speaking of question marks, this roster has one in adeptzz. There are games where he is lights out and then there are games where you don’t even know he is there. The talent surrounding him though is very good. Timmer is one of the best individually skilled players we have but has to find a way to translate that impact in matches. Putting all of this together with adeptzz long time partner in crime in brutaL, there’s something here.

Who to watch: timmer

Strokers: LOOSE, hero, improv, ? ?

Now this is the only team that I know of that has an age requirement to be on the roster. Loose for a while limited himself to one pug a week but has since increased the work load once he got pulled into attending this next LAN. Hero has long been a favorite loud mouth. I heard for every kill hero gets with the Grease Gun he will drink a beer.

Who to watch: the bartender

Nemesis: zyk/yamato/french idiot, everestt, berry, reflex, broaconstrictor

Of all the newly formed teams, this one is by far the best. Zyk has proven that his leadership doesn’t at the sideline of the basketball court, he has lead this time to incredible highs. For their LAN team they are bringing in reflex who has some of the most experience in our community. He also says he “created eric” but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. They also bring in crowd favorite and play-in MVP broa. This is the best team broa has ever played on so we will get to see what he is able to do when he doesn’t have to carry an entire roster. They have already shown glimpses of what they’re capable of but they have yet to hit a consistent stride. Coming to LAN this team is a dangerous dark horse.

Who to watch: berry tomahawking