What a weekend! As always, I’d like
to start by offering my most sincere thanks to the BuyPBL staff who work so
hard to provide us with the BEST competitive league around. Thanks to these
incredible people, we have well organized events, some awesome merchandise, and
full match videos to look forward to! Flag Raiders staff also deserves a pat on
the back for their hard work and lack of sleep this past weekend. Despite doing
everything in their power to keep the portable fields safe from the winds,
Saturday evening’s storm brought the CX4 field nearly crashing to the ground. The
amazing Flag Raiders staff gave up the necessity of sleep just to ensure that
what remained of the CX4 field would allow for a full day of play. Due to all
of this behind-the-scenes activity, we had yet another spectacular event to
finish off the season.
Photo Credit: BuyPBL
I’m not quite sure why
I bothered writing predictions this time around as it seems the only
predictable thing at this event was that burgers were served for lunch. This
event was full of surprises and upsets which prove that the CXBL Elite is now a
far more competitive division. In fact, unlike previous seasons, there is not a
single team (in ANY division) who went undefeated this year. If anything, this
has made for more exciting matches with some significant point spreads. I’d
like to take the opportunity to offer my congratulations to Tremblant Cowboys,
Hespeler Hooligans, and Niagara Aces who each won the season in their
respective divisions. For the first time in years, the top spots were not
sealed until the end of this event. It was a tough season and those at the top
of the podium had to fight their way there tooth and nail. Hats off to all of
you! Congratulations are also due to all teams who have earned themselves a
place at NAX this year. I have a feeling that we can look forward to some of
the most exciting paintball in Canadian history! There is no rest for the
wicked, my friends, so get out there and fine tune your skills.
Are you ready for a recap? Here we go!
CXBL Elite
Most
exciting game to watch – If I said “ALL OF THEM!”, you might call me a sell-out. So I am going
to go with Tremblant Cowboys Vs. Vancouver Thunder.
These two teams were shoe-ins for
NAX from day 1. All one had to do was take a glance at the rosters to
understand that competing against these guys would not be an easy task.
Tremblant is loaded with the colourful cast of Houston Heat and some of Ontario’s
most experienced and Vancouver Thunder is essentially “Vancouver Vendetta does
Canada”. Seeing the rosters at the
beginning of the season, I had already decided that we would see both of these
teams at NAX. In fact, at one point I declared that Vancouver would be THE team
to beat this season. Seeing both teams in action only solidified the idea that
they would be the obstacles that any other team hungry for rings would need to
overcome. So to say that I suspected that the match between these two
powerhouses would be exciting is the understatement of the century.
Tremblant's Chad George
Photo Credit: The Catshack Reports
I predicted that this would be a
close match with Vancouver coming out in the lead. While the game was indeed
tight, it was Tremblant who pulled through to notch another W on their belts. The
match opened with some long drawn out points with Vancouver taking the first
two flag hangs of the game. Then, as one might expect, Cowboys turned it around
and brought a flag in to score themselves a point. Tremblant was forced to
concede the following point and then promptly took the next three leaving the
score 4-3 Cowboys at half. Vancouver conceded the first point of the second
half and then tightened their game and pulled off another flag hang after a
long 5 minute point where both sides nearly ran out of paint. Cowboys forced
Thunder to towel the next point of the game leaving them down by 2 with 14
minutes remaining on the clock. Vancouver took the next three points of the
game which moved them into a 7-6 lead and less than 5 minutes to go until the
final buzzer. Tremblant wasn’t content to go into NAX sitting second and came
back winning the final two points of the match, beating their competition by 1
point, and heading into the championships at the top of the ranks.
Most
surprising game –
Drummondville Daytona Vs. Cambridge Raiders
How do I even begin to describe this
match? I don’t think a single person (with the exception of the Daytona
players) would have predicted the match to end this way. While Drummondville
certainly has their strengths, Raiders have been a top competitor for many
seasons of Xball. I don’t think any of the Cambridge players have ever suffered
a loss in the CXBL by such a large point spread. This was Raiders least
successful match of the season and definitely their most frustrating. Those on
the sidelines, including myself, were boggled by the situation on the field, as
were the players themselves. I didn’t expect Cambridge to win by a landslide,
but I certainly expected a close match with Raiders on the winning end. What occurred
was almost the exact opposite.
Daytona's Sonny Guenette
Photo Credit: Charity Matheson
Daytona took the first
four points of the match, conceding the next point to Raiders. Drummondville
took a minor penalty which allowed the Cambridge players to pull in a flag hang
with 3 minutes and 42 seconds remaining until the end of the half. Daytona then
managed to squeeze in another point with only 5 seconds on the clock allowing
them to finish the half leading by 3. At this point, many expected Raiders to
make a come back and they did come out to win a long 5 minute point but that
was also where their success ended. Daytona forced Cambridge to towel the next
5 points in the match and then proceeded to hang one more flag before the match
ended with Drummondville up by 9, and the crowd and Raiders players
dumbfounded.
Raider's Travis Kropf - Check out the Outside the Mesh and Murdertron hopper love! ooooh baby!
Photo Credit: Charity Matheson
Competitive paintball players know that at times throughout
your paintball career, there are things outside of your control that will affect
the tone of the match. In this case, Raiders suffered some problems with their
paint. Following the match, the batch was tested and proved unshootable, even
breaking when dropped from the knee. During the match, Thomas Taylor, who was
commentating, even mentioned the fact that Cambridge couldn’t seem to get the
paint to come out of their markers and if you were watching the match, you may
have noticed that many of their guns took on the appearance of flame-throwers.
I am not arguing that the paint is the only thing to blame in their loss.
However, it certainly changed the tone of the game and allowed the Daytona
players more room to execute bumps that may have been hindered otherwise. That
being said, Drummondville played an aggressive match, making quick bumps that
gave them an advantage. They earned their win but I wouldn’t mind seeing these
two teams meet again.
Most Impressive team at this event – Vancouver Thunder
Some
of you may disagree with me because Thunder did suffer a 1 point loss to
Drummondville Daytona this weekend. That was also their first match of the
event and while a 7:00 am match is early for the rest of us, I believe that is
something like 4:00 am western time. I don’t know about the rest of you but I
can’t do anything at 4:00 am that is more complicated than snoring or drooling
so managing to hold down a tight game at that time of day doesn’t fail to
impress. Sorry – I digressed.
Thunder's Nate Schroeder
Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski
Vancouver
is an impressive team in my eyes for a few reasons. For one thing, they came to
both events short-handed and yet managed to pull out significant wins in 6 of
their 8 matches this season. Secondly, this team has very little side-line
coaching but that’s okay because their communication on the field is so
well-established that they don’t seem to need the outside support. Thunder
operates like a well-oiled machine. They communicate better than any team I’ve
seen in the CXBL, they are excellent at filling key bunkers when they lose a
body, and they know how to put players in their bunkers just long enough to
make their essential bumps. If that isn’t enough to impress you, chat them up
the next time you see them and you will discover that they are incredibly nice
guys! If I were handing out an all-around team award (like the all-around
student awards handed out at high school convocations), Vancouver would be the
recipients.
Weakest
team – Scarborough
Hustle
I have been hard on Hustle this season but that is largely
because I can see their potential. While not as experienced as some of the
other teams, this team has a handful of players who have developed throughout
the season (like Brett Robinson, Tyler McRobert, and Kevin Schinina) and who
know what they need to do to stay alive and to get kills. Unfortunately for
those players, this team also has several bodies that make unwise bumps that
lead to their demise on the field. One absolute plus that Scarborough has is
incredible personality. No matter how badly they suffered a beating, the entire
team would come out to shake hands with smiles on their faces. They always seemed
to enjoy their time at events and were overall a group of really nice guys. I
really respected their sportsmanship and camaraderie off of the field and I can
tell that this allowed for them to have fun while playing even their toughest
matches on the field. Hustle, cheers to your fun-loving personalities but take
some time to prune your team to allow for new growth in the season ahead.
Hustle's Kevin Schinina
Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski
Scarborough and Toronto Rockstar competed on Sunday in a
match to avoid relegation to MXL. Rockstar came out with their strongest roster
yet and worked to prove that they deserved to keep their CXBL Franchise.
Scarborough suffered a total of 5 minor penalties throughout their match which
Toronto used to their advantage. The match began with each team pulling in a flag
hang but as soon as Hustle took their first penalty, Rockstar picked up their
game and brought in 5 more points before the end of the first half leaving the
score 6-2 for Toronto. Hustle took another minor penalty less than a minute
into the second half and Rockstar used this to maintain the momentum they built
throughout the first part of the game, forcing Scarborough to towel the next
three points. The next slow 4 and a half minute point went to Hustle with the
young, aggressive Kevin Schinina hanging the flag with just over 10 minutes
remaining in the match. Both teams proceeded to take minor penalties toward the
end of the match with each winning and conceding a point. This left the match
at 11-5 for Toronto Rockstar and signaled the end of Hustle’s time in the CXBL,
at least for now.
Team to
watch out for at NAX – TIE between Drummondville Daytona and Medonte Ntwo
Factor
Truth be told, both of
these teams were under-rated this season. Many had Medonte written off simply
because they were the MXL winners from the 2011 season. Drummondville was
deemed unspectacular simply because they were more of an unknown. However, both
of these teams proved their worth throughout the season and fought until the
very end to earn themselves the chance to compete for rings at NAX. Medonte
managed to pull out wins over Tremblant Cowboys and Windsor Lockdown, two of
the top three teams heading into NAX and Drummondville solidified victories
over Vancouver Thunder, Cambridge Raiders, and Medonte. This just goes to show
that it really could be anybody’s championship this season.
Drummondville Daytona
Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski
I must take a minute
to touch on the Medonte Vs. Lockdown match because it was the determining match
to decide whether Kitchener Recon had a shot at a NAX position. It was very
clear to all spectators that Ntwo went onto the field with a plan and that plan
was to get a lead and then sit back and roll their guns for as long as possible.
Lockdown, coming off of a win over Kitchener Recon, had settled into a slower
pace of play also which meant that for the majority of the game, they weren’t
as aggressive or quick-moving as usual. This made for a bit of a boring match
but I suppose boring is okay when you are holding down a lead. I am impressed
with the Ntwo players’ self-control. When you are up bodies and ready to rock,
it must be incredibly difficult to sit back and restrain yourself from doing
run-throughs and closing quicker points but this was exactly what they needed
to do – play it safe. Windsor needed to win by 9 points for Recon to have a NAX
position but unfortunately for Kitchener, Medonte’s slow, methodical playing
won them this match by a surprising 5 points.
Medonte's Andrew Thorne
Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski
The few times throughout the match
that Lockdown played what I have deemed “Rage ball”, they successfully closed
points. You may recall Dan Szypka making some moves to the X and down the
centre of the field or Drew Guppy running down Medonte’s snake player. Either
way, in my opinion, this was another reminder that Windsor plays best when they
show their true colours. Very rarely will you hear me say that aggression is
worthwhile, but it seems to be the best driving force for the former Rage line-up.
So I say, get your RAGE on for NAX!
Lockdown's Dan Szypka
Photo Credit: Dale Brezinski
My
congratulations to all teams who have gained themselves the opportunity to play
for rings at NAX in September! Train hard because the competition this year is
the best we’ve had! I’d also like to give a shout out to Mirabel Impact who
while certainly in-need of improvement, established a foundation in the CXBL
managing 2 wins in their first season. Your hard work may not have earned you a
spot at NAX but it allowed you to grow as players and to solidify your position
as a CXBL team!
It was a great season and I want to thank all
of the CXBL Elite teams for their hard work and passion. Paintball won me over
as a fan because of the fast-paced nature of the game and its passionate
competitors. Thanks for playing your part and being superstars out on that
field! You all deserve a gold star or two for your dedication to the sport that
we all love. Keep drilling and scrimmaging and come out hard next season to
make it even more enjoyable than this one!
Signing off,
The Paintball Wife
P.S. If you like the blog, pass it on to your paintball playing pals
and spectator friends. I appreciate your support and I assure you that I will continue
to give the best I have to offer. If you have ideas for topics, questions, or
comments, feel free to post them here or send me an email at outsidethemesh@hotmail.com. Thanks
again!
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