PVPLive’s HPL Week 10 Recap
by JR Cook - 9 years ago show comments
Finally, all the originally scheduled matches have been completed! After 10 exciting weeks of games, the playoff picture is finally set… or at least 7/8s of it. Join me as I recap what happened on week 10, and why we will actually get a week 11!
| Standing | Player | Win% | Wins | Losses | GB | Streak | L5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dog | 73.3 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4-1 | |
| 2 | Purple | 66.7 | 10 | 5 | 1.0 | 3-2 | |
| 2 | Zalae | 66.7 | 10 | 5 | 1.0 | 2 | 3-2 |
| 2 | SjoW | 66.7 | 10 | 5 | 1.0 | 2-3 | |
| 5 | Neirea | 60.0 | 9 | 6 | 2.0 | 2 | 3-2 |
| 6 | Muzzy | 53.3 | 8 | 7 | 3.0 | 3-2 | |
| 6 | JAB | 53.3 | 8 | 7 | 3.0 | 1-4 | |
| 8 | ErA | 46.7 | 7 | 8 | 4.0 | 1 | 3-2 |
| 8 | Kaldi | 46.7 | 7 | 8 | 4.0 | 3-2 | |
| 8 | Rdu | 46.7 | 7 | 8 | 4.0 | 2 | 3-2 |
| 8 | Kranich | 46.7 | 7 | 8 | 4.0 | 1 | 3-2 |
| 12 | Superjj | 40.0 | 6 | 9 | 5.0 | 1 | 1-4 |
| 12 | ek0p | 40.0 | 6 | 9 | 5.0 | 2-3 | |
| 12 | Powder | 40.0 | 6 | 9 | 5.0 | 1-4 | |
| 15 | Ostkaka | 33.3 | 5 | 10 | 6.0 | 1 | 2-3 |
| 16 | Greensheep | 20.0 | 3 | 12 | 8.0 | 2-3 |
Highlights
If RDU wasn’t the kid, he’d be the man:
Team Nihilum’s RDU joined HPL as a late replacement for TidesofTime, and because of it he inherited a 0-3 record. Of the 12 games that he actually played he won 7, that’s 58% winrate and it would be good for 6th place and a playoff spot. Sadly for RDU, it wasn’t that easy, he had those 3 extra losses on his record and this meant that he was always fighting this uphill battle. Despite this severe handicap, he managed to tough it out and finish week 10 strong with 2 key victories over ErA and Kranich.
That’s the same ErA and Kranich that were also fighting for playoff spots. In fact, by defeating them both on back-to-back days, he made sure that 8 wins was enough for playoffs, and thus clinching spots for JAB, Muzzy, Neirea, and Dog.
With his incredible performance, RDU finds himself with a 7-8 record as a part of a 4-way tie for 8th place that he practically made happen on his own. The Nihilum representative will now move into a tiebreaker set with Kranich, ErA, and Kaldi.
More importantly, during the regular season, RDU defeated all 3 of Kranich, ErA, and Kaldi. In my eyes, that gives him the strongest claim for the playoffs, to the point that I wouldn’t have complained at all if RDU was given the playoff spot in virtue of these head-to-head tie-breakers. Unfortunately for RDU, he still has work to do, as he will have to face off against these 3 competitors again, fighting off Kaldi and Era on Tuesday, and Kranich on Wednesday.
Can RDU make take his comeback story into the playoffs? Tune in to the tie-breaking round and find out!
ErA forces a tiebreaking round:
Remember when I said RDU practically forced the tiebreaking round on his own? Well, the Nihilum Ace might have laid the groundwork, but he still needed a bit of help. Specifically he needed Kaldi to lose at least one of his two matches. Kaldi beat Jab on Tuesday, and he looked poised to claim that 8th playoff spot for himself. Luckily for RDU and Kranich, ErA stopped Kaldi on the final HPL Regular Season game and forced a 4-way tie for that 8th playoff spot.
Ek0p and Powder say goodbye:
Powder and Ek0p had a fighting chance at the start of week 10, but they couldn’t hold their end of the bargain. Powder lost all hope on Wednesday, after losing a hard-fought match to the already clinched Dog. Ek0p had his last chance in a Thursday match against the already eliminated Ostkaka, but he couldn’t complete his late-season comeback.
We could’ve had a 6-man tie for that last playoff spot, that’s how competitive this season of HPL was.
The Summer of the Dog:
Dog just had a fantastic season here in HPL, he started the season strong, he kept going hard, and finished even stronger. On his last few matches he defeated both Purple, and Sjow and clinched the number 1 seed for the playoffs. Dog beat Zalae, Purple, Sjow, Neirea, and Muzzy, that’s almost the entire HPL Playoff field. Dog the last player HPL player to take a loss, and he also managed to finish every single week in the top 8, and I think most of them in the top 3.
For all these reasons, I think its safe to say that Dog has been the most dominant force in the HPL regular season.
But it’s not just HPL, Dog had been chaining strong performances this Summer. Dog’s accolades include success in the China vs North America Challenge, Top 4 on the HTC Invitational #2, an 11-8 record on the Archon Team League, and a 2nd place finish on Dreamhack Summer.
What’s Next
The Tie-breaking round is here! RDU, Kranich, Kaldi, and ErA, will compete in a 4-man round robin tournament to define who gets the 8th and final playoff spot. Should this mini-tournament ends in another tie; the player who had the best individual game record (game win%) during the tie-breaking round will earn the right to travel to the live finale IN Frisco, Texas!
How excited are you for these tie-breaking matches? Who do you think is the favorite to earn that 8th playoff spot? Let us know using the comment section below!
There you have it guys, the final week of HPL upon us! 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. Be sure to catch the matches live on their Twitch Channel, starting 6:30pm Eastern.
