POWBOT predictions for THL playoffs in Alterac Valley With Bonemasher: Week 3

Week 3 of THL playoffs brings us our first Championship matches. Both Pro and Hero Series are down to just 2 teams, with one bound for THL immortality. The loser, however, will be forgotten and left to rue their brush with glory. The Legacy Series is in its penultimate week with 4 of 24 teams remaining. Having made it this far, it would be cruel to miss the finals. This week also brings us our first Wild Series playoff round. Let’s see who POWBOT predicts will be our first champions this season and who will progress in Legacy and Wild.

Pro Series
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POWBOT was 2 for 2 last week, predicting both of our finalists to make it through. After winning the first 2 matches, BrushyTuna  had to wait until the final match for RonMexico to clinch their playoff spot. Meanwhile, For The Boys got it done in 4 matches against F2L.

Last week, we looked at the players' records to try and determine a winner. This time, let’s  take a look at the logos and see if they give either team an edge:

For The Boys

BrushyTuna

For The Boys logo has a striking black background with the flags of the player’s countries in the team name, a solid 9/10. BrushyTuna have a person with a lightsaber riding on a tuna. This isn’t even close, I’ll let you decide for which team.

POWBOT predicts Brushy Tuna to take the title with a score of 14-10. All of the matches could go either way, with the 2 seed match being so close POWBOT could not pick a winner. These teams met in week 9 with For The Boys winning 18-5. I personally hope this comes down to match 5 game 5 on stream. Best of luck to both teams!

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Hero Series

@Diamond @Diamond secured their spot in the final with a sweep in the final match to edge out F2L: Black. APM Yang progressed to the final after a DQ denied a conclusion to the Yin vs. Yang storyline. Both teams have earned their place in the final, let’s take a look at the team logos to see if either side holds an edge.

@Diamond @Diamond

APM Yang

APM Yang have the classic APM logo in black on a white background (viewed better in dark mode). @Diamond @Diamond doubled down on last season’s logo with two angry socks and team name in neon lights. This isn’t even close and I’m not biased here whatsoever.

POWBOT predicts @Diamond @Diamond to take the title with a score of 15-11. @Diamond @Diamond’s 2-4 seeds have been dominant all season and would be expected to carry the team to a Championship win. If APM Yang can find a win in 1 or more of these matchups it may be enough to take the week, as it was when these teams met in week 3 with APM Yang winning 13-11. Best of luck to both teams!

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Legacy Series

Legacy Series last week saw 3 of the 4 teams with a bye get through to the semifinals, with the only upset being The Cooler win over Gold Conference top seed Clownstone Academy. With both Gold Conference teams eliminated we’re left with one all Red Conference and one all Silver Conference semifinal. Let’s see which teams POWBOT predicts to make the finale.

POWBOT predicts F2L: White to progress with a score of 14-13. These 2 teams are as close as you can get PR-wise with only 92 PR separating the players in their respective matchups. JustWin won 18-11 when these teams met in week 5 with most matches resulting in a 3-2 scoreline. JustWin are yet to lose this season. Can they continue their winning ways or will the F2L brand break their semi-final exit curse? This should be an epic tussle.

POWBOT predicts The Cooler to progress with a score of 14-13. These teams met in week 2 with The Cooler winning that match 14-11. The Cooler are going into this match having had to replace their 5 seed. Their wins are all predicted to come in the 1-3 seeds where All Points Matter hold a PR advantage. I expect this to be close, coming down to the final match.

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Wild Series

Playoffs for Wild series sees the top 6 teams battling it out over 3 weeks. The 1 and 2 seeds have earned a bye in the first week, with the 3 seed playing the 6 seed, and 4 seed playing the 5 seed. The winners of these matches will play the 1 and 2 seeds in the semifinals, with the 1 seed playing the lower-seeded winner from week 1.

POWBOT predicts Everyone’s a Winner! to progress with a score of 18-10. Very little separates the bottom 4 seeds in this matchup with a POW differential of 2 or less. These teams played in week 6 with Aussie Pillager Mains winning 18-9. I expect it to be much closer than this. Neither side will be satisfied with a quarterfinal exit.

POWBOT is unable to predict a winner of this match, with Team At Any Cost Wild being up 12-10 and the 5 seed match being too close to call. These teams played in round 1 with Team At Any Cost Wild winning 14-13. They have since added 4-0 xtuliop to the team. It will come down to the final match, but I expect Team At Any Cost Wild to get the job done.

That completes POWBOT’s wrap of week 3 of THL playoffs. Best of luck to all those competing this week, especially those in Pro and Hero Series finals. POWBOT will be back next week to preview  week 4 of THL playoffs.