#4 Wat¿ [7-2] vs. #5 Duality [7-2] by Peter "mmptr" Harlan
Wat¿ :	Gryp (L), Kron, secLusion, DayOldDonut, Do-X
Duality:	tok3n (L), belldandy, Bozz, sado, Bloodlust, basic, SingleShot, MisterWiggles

After an exciting first round that featured several upsets, the second round match-ups didn't go quite as expected. One of those was Wat? and Duality. With Duality in a touch match against Eminence many people thought that they wouldn't even see the second round. However with a narrow 3-2 victory they were able to advance to the second round. Nearly everyone expected Wat? to defeat the European powerhouse zeroPoint, and Wat? did their job; pulling through with a 4-2 victory. There is not much doubt anymore that Duality is an up and coming team, but against the Wat? powerhouse they will be a big underdog in this match.

Wat¿

Wat? is among the few teams that have been together since the start of Halo. With a 3rd place finish at CPL and reaching the semi-finals of the playoffs last season, they have been a very successful team despite having several roster shake-ups. Despite making the playoffs and winning their division (arguably the hardest in CAL), Wat?'s 6-2 record was most likely a disappointment for them. With the additions of DayoldDonut and secLusion, they could finally outshoot teams. In addition to Wat?'s already great teamwork, it looked like Wat? was quite possibly better then Check Six and Strive; teams previously considered better then Wat?. But with their back-to-back losses to GameWyze and Undefined Status leaves Wat? with something to prove, and there is no better map for them to do that on then Danger Canyon. Their teamwork and communication is unrivaled in Halo and Danger Canyon brings this out. Not only do they control the map, they also control the vehicles quite effectively, which could make this match a nightmare for Duality. With secLusion's strong fuel rod and pistol in the pit he will make it very difficult for Duality to regain pit if they lose it. Even if Duality regains the pit they will most likely have to worry about DoD or another Wat? member flanking in with rockets. Wat? is very good at pushing on this map and you can expect several Wat? members pouring in from the inside and the outside of this map on flag runs. Duality will need to set up an effective base defensive and cannot rely on the rocket hog too much as that will always be the first target for Wat? members. If Wat? just comes into this match and play their game they should be able to keep map control most of the time and get in a couple caps while they are at it.

Interview with Lee "Gryp" Trinrud

Duality

Duality really has come out of nowhere this season. After a mediocre 5-3 record last season as clan DC they have continued to work hard and it is starting to pay off. However, there still are some questions about Duality as a team. They started off the season 6-0, with a big win over TAU 2-1 in week four. However, they narrowly beat a rather weak 8ball team on this week's map, Danger Canyon. Also in week seven they were shut out 3-0 on Blood Gulch by Nubz Gone Wild. Then in the next week they took Strive to the wire, barely losing 3-2 on arguably Strive's best map, Sidewinder. These inconsistent results indicate that Duality has good strats and teamwork on some maps but on others they seem clueless as what they should do. Luckily for Duality, Danger Canyon is a fairly straightforward map when it comes to strategy; they just need to communicate effectively and work together on pushes and we could have a good match on our hands. The problem is they aren't going to have it mastered to the degree that Wat? has. Duality will need to get a little lucky and hope to outspawn Wat? in at least one of the halves in order to gain control of the bat and they will need to retain that map control for as long as possible. If Wat? is able to get a lockdown it is unlikely that Duality will be able to break it. One thing that could favor Duality is Wat?'s playing style. Wat? is generally very conservative when it comes to their capping and they won't go for a cap unless they are fairly confident they can score. If Duality can keep the map at a stalemate and prevent Wat? from gaining complete control it is unlikely Wat? will try to go for a cap very often. Another thing that Duality will benefit from is that they have some of the best base defense in Halo. If Wat? gets control and is unable to cap they could get flustered and try to overextend in order to cap and Duality will need to capitalize on this.

Interview with "bloodlust"

Keys to the Match

The keys of the match for Duality are to not allow Wat? to gain complete control of the map. To accomplish this they could try to keep a guy at either team's rocket ledge, picking off people as they try to get rockets. Also, they can push into pit as their team distracts and rocket secLusion or whoever else is in there. They will also need to control the vehicles and not do "vehicle trains" on cap runs unless it is their last offense since Wat? will hold them if they do. When Duality has map control they will definitely need to capitalize on it and cap. For Wat?, I think they just need to come in and play their game. They definitely cannot come into this match and underestimate Duality as Duality has really prepared for this match. I think Wat? will need to keep a sniper up to keep Duality off of rockets, and if they can accomplish that I think secLusion's strong pit play will allow Wat? to maintain map control for quite some time.

Prediction

I think Duality will need a little bit of luck in order to take this match. Wat? is the stronger team and they don't make many mistakes. Duality's inexperience will probably lead to a couple of mistakes that could really cost them. Look for spawns to be a really big factor in this match. If Duality gets the better spawns and maintain map control they could make this a very close and interesting match. If Wat? gets the better spawns expect a long and frustrating match for Duality. Unless Duality plays the match of their life, I don't think they will be able to pull this one out. Look for big numbers from secLusion as Wat? will continue their dominance on Danger Canyon and win this one comfortably.

Wat? > Duality 2-0