by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Week 9 of HPL has just finished, but how much has the landscape of the league changed from week 8? Join me as I recap the best moments of week 9, and we prepare for what’s still to come.

Highlights

Archon wins the race to Ten, clinches playoffs:

Team Archon went 4-0 this week, and this had lots of implications. First of all, both Purple and Zalae clinched the playoffs, and they will be driving to Frisco for the live finale next month. Each member of Team Archon hit the 10 win mark this week, an achievement that no other player has gotten thus far. Finally, Team Archon also ensured at least a tie for best team record on the regular seasons. If Purple wins his match on Tuesday against Dog, no other team will be able to match the 21-9 record. In fact, even if Purple loses his match, the only team capable of catching up to team Archon is Liquid, but should Sjow or Neirea lose any match next week, Archon automatically gets the best Team Record.

Also, Archon went 6-1 against RDU this week, almost single-handedly eliminating the Romanian from the competition.

Muzzy Stays Strong:

Muzzy is probably the biggest comeback story of this season. After an abysmal 2-5 start, Muzzy fought back to .500 with a 4-1 record on his next 5. This week Muzzy continued his winning ways with 2 more wins, and he’s put himself in a position to clinch the playoffs. Muzzy’s destiny is in his own hands as a win over Neirea on Thursday would guarantee him a playoff spot.

ErA Deathwings and keeps his hopes alive:

Era has consistently been one of the most entertaining players on HPL, and he delivered once again this week. For the entirety of the season, Thats Admirable has been asking for players to bring Deathwing into HPL, and ErA didn’t just Bring Deathwing in his Dragon Warrior, he used it to close out a game.

That said, with all his cool innovative decks, ErA hasn’t been the most consistent. Despite spending most of the season outside of the top 8, The ROOT player managed to keep himself with striking distance, and he has kept his qualifying chance alive. With a great performance on week 9, ErA has reached the top 8 for the just first time since the end of week 2. With Era winning a key match on Tuesday against Kranich, and Kaldi losing to Neirea on Wednesday. Era, Kaldi, and Kranich now are in a 3-way tie for that 8th playoff spot.

Era and Kaldi have yet to face off in HPL. Should Era win both of his matches next week, worst-case scenario he’d be in a tie with Kranich for that 8th spot. But if you are more interested in seeing Deathwing win a game, you can always check the video below.

Next Week Featured Matches

Breaking the ties:

There’s one question that’s probably on everyone’s mind at this point, what happens if two (or more) players end up with the same record? What are the tie-breakers that will determine who moves on to the live finale and who stays home? I reached out to HPL Officials about this and they have told me that ties will be resolved with “tiebreaker matches”. This means that should it come to this, Week 10 might not be the final week of the regular season after all.

#12 RDU vs #9 ErA:

As we talked about earlier, ErA controls his playoff destiny. His first task will be Nihilum’s RDU on Monday. RDU needs a miracle to make the playoffs, but he still has a fighting chance. For RDU to make the playoffs he needs to win both of his week 10 matches, and then hope that neither Kaldi, Era, or Kranich win both of their games. Then again, he’s facing Era on Monday, and also Kranich on Tuesday so he can take care of those two personally. Jab’s match with

DO NOT MISS TUESDAY’S SHOW:

Tuesday’s show is a must watch, all 3 matches will have huge playoff implications. #1 Purple vs #4 Dog, gives Purple the chance to clinch the number 1 seed for the playoffs. #5 JAB vs #8 Kaldi, Jab can clinch the playoffs with a victory here, while Kaldi needs to win both his matches to guarantee a ticket into the tiebreaker matches, and could even move straight to the playoffs if Kranich doesn’t match those 2 wins. Speaking about #8 Kranich, his match against #12 RDU is also key match for the playoff picture.

#5 JAB vs #8 Kranich:

We already know that Kranich needs his wins badly, but what about Jab? Jab can clinch against #8 Kaldi, but if he fails on Tuesday, he gets another chance on Wednesday against #8 Kranich. Since Jab is facing two of the players in the tie for #8, his matches are key this week. Should Jab lose both matches, he might find himself in the tiebreaker matches, having to rematch Kranich, Kaldi, or Era. Could you imagine Jab failing to make the live finale after being such a dominance force during the regular season? Anything can happen in HPL!

DO NOT MISS THURSDAY’S SHOW:

If you thought Tuesday’s show was insane, how about Thursday? HPL goes out with its last show of the regular season. #8 Kaldi vs #8 Era is potentially a do or die match for those two guys. The winner of #6 Neirea vs #6 Muzzy will go straight to the playoffs, but the loser might get caught up in the tiebreaker round. #11 Ekop needs a little bit of help from Kaldi, Kranich, and Era to make the playoffs, but his hopes are still alive and he needs to beat Ostkaka first.

Finally we have Sjow vs Dog, which pretty much sells itself.

There you have it guys, week 10 of HPL is shaping up to be INSANE! Don’t miss out on the action, because it is sure to blowback your minds.

For more information on HPL, head over to PVPLive’s Website, and check the matches live on their Twitch Channel from Monday through Thursday, starting 6:30pm Eastern.