AFC 9 Division 1 Grand Finals

Writeup by vetia and moosepi, edited by Caldoran
 
The AsiaFortress Cup 9 Grand Finals are right around the corner, and as the competition draws to a close, let's review the events that have transpired. It's been a fantastic season, with excellent TF2 from all competitors, and I'm sure the Grand Finals will be no exception.
 
After the Chinese team Cute Beast came out of nowhere to crush all the competition and win the Mercenaries' Cup 6 Grand Finals, the Korean scene decided they wanted revenge, and formed two strong contenders for Division 1 Champions, Emi Dizziness under Larky and Mihaly's Flow under Creep. Unfortunately, a resident South East Asian superteam disbanded due to the immense difficulty of finding a decent pocket — but this freed up Teejay and Patty to be picked up by Creep. These three teams, along with rising stars and AFC 8 Division 2 Champions Turbo 9000, proved through two months of strenuous midfights, surprising backcaps and heart-racing airshots in the group stages that they deserve to stand at the top of the league, and entered the playoffs.
 
Most notably, Mihaly's Flow stood proud at the top of the standings, not losing a single map, let alone a match, even against their fiercest rivals, Cute Beast — who themselves lost no matches except to Flow, although notably, they were forced to a tie by Turbo 9000 in the fifth round of the tournament, a result nobody expected from the weaker team.
 
In the Semi-Finals, Turbo 9000 surprised everyone again, taking the first map, Badlands, off Mihaly's Flow, and with it the honour of being the only team to take a map off them. Tragically, though, their victory was short-lived; Flow managed to pull their act together for the next two maps, and knocked T9K out of the tournament, advancing themselves to the Grand Finals.
 
In the match between Cute Beast and Emi Dizziness, a huge shock came for viewers as Fury, pocket for Cute Beast and backbone of the team's Über-fights, was unable to come online due to technical difficulties, and Cute Beast was forced to bring in Flow's pocket Shocky as a sub. Despite this, however, the match was incredibly close, with every single map coming to a golden cap, a feat unprecedented in Asian TF2 history. Eventually, after fifteen minutes into the final golden cap round, Emi Dizziness managed to scrape a win over Cute Beast, and secure their place in the Grand Finals.
 
And now that the battle has come to a head between these two Korean superteams, the question on everyone's lips is:

Who's going to win?

Mihaly's Flow, of course, looks like the favourites to win. Teejay and Pttypwr have been a fantastic Scout combo all season long, and looking at their history it's easy to see why — both have been on the same team since AFC7. They're insane individually, too, with Pttypwr's experience allowing him to wreak havoc on the flank with the aid of Genos' brilliant bombs, while Teejay's DM allows him to take a buff, go in, and destroy everyone in his sight. Creep may not have nearly as much experience on Demoman as he does Soldier, but he's been in the game for just about forever, and so his main-calling lends an element of expert coordination to the team. Janus, their Highlander-Spy-champion-turned-Medic, is relatively new to the 6's scene, but he showed us he can dodge with the best when he took second place in Mercenaries' Cup 6 with Unagi Park.
 
New Pocket Soldier Soap is replacing Shocky for the match, and while he may not be the best-known player on the South East Asian side of AsiaFortress, he's been hailed as one of the best players with many Korean tournaments under his belt. With a background in roaming, his experience could allow him to sniff out and anticipate Wekeed, the enemy Roamer's plays.

Overall, Mihaly's Flow have a very solid lineup behind their team, and if they play their cards right Soap may just be the tipping point for them to take home the title of AsiaFortress Division 1 Champions.

 
 
On the other hand, if anyone can exploit the weaknesses of Flow, it would be Dizziness. Flower is one of Dizziness' most outstanding players, as not only does he have amazing Scout DM, his sniping ranks him easily amongst the top of AsiaFortress, as he demonstrated in the Semi-Finals against Cute Beast. Larky, his Scout partner, is no slouch either. While he's not nearly as flashy as Flower, Larky's solid Scout play has shown that he's a reliable fallback whenever one of Flower's high-risk plays don't pan out. Babel brings a wealth of experience on pocket along with his brilliant DM, allowing his team to take a ton of ground while Wekeed distracts the enemy team with his roaming. Life, the Medic, is quite possibly the most experienced active player in Asiafortress, having played in nearly every season since the beginning, and his grasp of Medic mechanics makes him a seriously valuable asset. 
 
That said, while Flower's offclassing ability may potentially be the X-factor that gives Dizziness the edge they need over their rivals, his flashy plays might end up hurting his team more than they help. His inconsistent nature combined with his high-risk playstyle means that when he chokes, his entire team feels it, and against a consistent team like Flow, any small mistake is grounds for exploitation. Forcedge might be another weak link in the chain, as his impact on teamfights can be lacking at times. Of course, he's by no reasonable measure bad, and so if he keeps it together and Flower hits his shots, Dizziness could very well end up taking the title.
 
In conclusion?

Both teams are crazy strong, and while each have their weaknesses, there's no doubt that they'll put out some of the best TF2 gameplay Asia has ever seen. Mihaly's Flow have established themselves with a strong foothold at the peak of Division 1, but can Dizziness' dynamic play disrupt their streak?

Tell us what you think by voting with your wallet (backpack?) at Saloon.TF, and then find out if you were right by tuning into Sakiisa's Twitch on 5th September (Saturday), 8 PM GMT+8!