Welcome all participants to the iCTF Open Cup of 24'

Group A. 

-]iB[-  - Independent Butchers

Draft Ranking: A+

Steals: Twistz - Good Communication and receptive.

Value Picks: Mjolner - Smart Player, tons of cup experience.

The Usual Suspects: Bug, Saltos, Nanstuko, and Horror - these 3 can do whatever is needed on offense or defense the gentle German bug will pick up the slack where it is missed allowing the team to bend but very hard to break. Satlos/Horror are interchangeable on D with Saltos providing good mid-support for Nanstuko who will be grabbing and able to MK his way out if need be with the flag in hand.

<3 - heart

Draft Ranking: A+

Steals: panda/grassking - panda impressed a lot in iDOM and grassking has gotten better with each pug let's see how they both do in the cup!

Value Picks: KNOCKOUTDAD - Versatile but can be inconsistent - could be 500 or 820+ pending on the game.

The Usual Suspects: l8erade, brr, Pantera - coming off a fresh cup win last season apart of Mr. l8erade is taking things into his own hands by drafting a US-heavy team. brr will bring the wiggles on offense as he grabs the flag, l8erade will provide a ton of fragging power that has only gotten better season by season, and pantera doing his best to be the most ferocious Bengali tiger you have ever seen on defense have a solid core so far! 

gl.hf! - good luck have fun!

Draft Ranking: A

Steals: Wildcat 

Value Picks: Tonfish(Captain) - can D and being captain came out with a great draft due to his salary!

The Usual Suspects: Bennoob, SCREAM^, Toadeh, Trampeh -  Tonfish stepping up to be the captain and deciding to play defense put himself in a great spot when he drafted SCREAM as his counterpart they should be able to hold against most offenses in the cup on the other side iDOM Champ Bennoob will be running flags alongside trampeh & toadeh should be a fun team to watch all season. 

- AbbA- 

Draft Ranking: A

Steals: Lass is getting better with each pug as he understands positioning more and more! probably will be 900+ by season's end.

Value Picks: Crispy - Championship experience last cup, smart player knows how to win

The Usual Suspects: Athje, Heavy, Nordog - Heavy + Lass anchoring the defense will be one of the more formidable ones in the league the artist formerly known as ramirez has been lighting it up in pugs and locking down offenses left and right this will help to give Athje more freedom to cover his team as Nordog and Crispy grab consistently with lass/heavy locking it down once they make it back.

.gb - Ghost Busters 

Draft Ranking: B+

Steals: Jmoney - 500 for a very versatile player who can play above his salary on both offense and defense as long as he's rocking the confidence for the day.

Value Picks: s1r - aim + game sense that'll just keep getting better(100+ frags 36 acc last game)

The Usual Suspects: gzt, Nitro, b1o - Nitro + Jmoney on D is a great combination while gzt runs flags like a madman or helps cover both zacobz as he learns the maps and gets lost frequently(haha kidding.. or..) b1o can also provide good support in the middle or run with gzt covering.  I would have liked to see another offensive pick with a little more frag power but I think this team can function well.

.-. - Dark Circuit

Draft Ranking: B

Steals: Clayk1ng - fantastic communicator and flag runner.

Value Picks: Cassie` - an all-around decent player who can add in multiple ways to this team.

The Usual Suspects: CoMeT, SiL3Nt`, and GoDeYe - the PTs are back at it again with a brand new squad this team has a lot of offensive power + chemistry so i think they will cap quite a bit but i am worried about the defensive side of things but with the PT way in play...you already know. 

Group B.

{D} Decepticons

Draft Ranking: A+

Steals: Spitter comes up big in cup games + smart player (see last season in the playoffs)

Value Picks: E|ite - old school mentality, very smart flag runner much higher when consistent

The Usual Suspects: Spitter, Asking, Dickfish, and PoireauX - spitter put together the best Defense in the draft with dickfish & asking locking things down it'll be a very good duo to go up against for any offense that wants a challenge.  Poireaux + E|ite will be a fun duo to watch run flags with Spitter providing cover where he can. ill be ooking forward to seeing what this team can do.

~gC Garbage Collectors
Draft Ranking: A+

Steals: Dylanbroo - 20 pugs in and already getting over 70+ frags - coachable and communicates

Value Picks: Waterkater - champ mentality, high IQ, helps the team, however.

The Usual Suspects: Wyrm, Waterkater, Joschde - sheeva is back as captain looking for gold this season pairing himself with Joschde on defense while Senator + Waterkater and Macz will be running a very tough offense that most defenses will struggle against. lots of high-cap games in their future.

[GG] Gibbing Guardians
Draft Ranking: A

Steals: Arcus - plays on his laptop on a couch I'd like to see how he plays when not actively sandbagging ;p/ - can listen and plays his role effectively.

Value Picks: jskey - a good flag runner understands where to be and makes the most of it.

The Usual Suspects: Feisar, Spike PsykO - The wish.com version duo of Serenity/Dewsick we got Feisar and Spike(i kiddddd ) they will be heading up the offense running alongside a very smart player in jskey - my concern will be how the defense runs with arcus/psyko many 1mm shots will be needed to keep the flags in the base as this group has some tough offenses to go against.

Insta` Insta Predators
Draft Ranking: A

Steals: Acidslam - can play above his salary just depends on whether he's had a nap. (old age is rough...kidding.)

Value Picks: Rampinhas - all around player can offer both on offense and defense. PT power.

The Usual Suspects: Vegitooo, uZi, tOlOzZ - this is an interesting squad when you see it on paper...not THE MOST interesting as that belongs to Mudvayne - but uZi / Vegito and a sober tolozz can be very formidable on offense and get quite a few caps.  Acid/Ramp will more than likely play D for this squad and as long as no freakouts happen and lack of comms it should go okay...for the most part.
also, eki is a great 6th with a good attitude!

8===KFC Killing for Chicken

Draft Ranking: B+

Steals: vfiber- can play above his salary good attitude and smart.

Value Picks: aNty - good flag runner, very good cover

The Usual Suspects: PlayFul, KFCmanager, KC, and Dev - this team has a ton of good offensive weapons i am curious how they will function on defense and who is drawing the short straw not to mention Anty has schedule issues and Playful potentially will be afk during playoffs or is it a elaborate troll??? we shall see... KC is the wildcard as he left #pg before the cup even began. Dev will be a force and will have the cover but will this team have the defense?

iW - Insta Worriers

Draft Ranking: B (Personalities aside A- / B+)

Steals: Fara - Cool as a cucumber and able to contribute on offense or defense.

Value Picks: DM - SNEAKY good can play above rating, very smart HIGH IQ.

The Usual Suspects: Mudvayne, Rasta-Man, Ruthless, and bUENO - everyone watched this draft and as pick by pick came in it looked like the biggest MEME team with the most assorted unique personalities a cup has ever seen i do have a strong belief this team can be very good with Mudvayne + DM on Defense and bueno/rasta running and juking with ruthless providing very heavy sometimes mindless frag power. this team will do better than most predict if egos stay in check.