As the DICE National Cup draws near, this will be the last chance for Melbourne teams to qualify for the finals on August 1st & 2nd. The first round of qualifiers saw 
GUTS taking out first position in convincing fashion, with BetterIn2005 benefiting from a trickle invite dropped by 2nd place finishers nameless.
v300
kram
c0ke
oxey
sokjin
nameci
v300 are practically a shoe in for the national finals based on their lineup alone. Back in 2006/2007, c0ke, kram & sokjin (I will dub them, the "tripod") represented the best team in Australia and went on a streak of well over 50 consecutive match wins on LAN, which also included 2 National victories, during their time at the top. Likewise their 4th player oxey (plo) has always placed within the high echelons of the Sydney CS scene. Nameci on the other hand has always floated in and out of these superteams, squeezing a match or two between his poker career.
Prediction: 1st
Fragzone
nezza
unleashk
teddyt
ang
chiz
If Fragzone weren't the current ZYM ladder titleholders, there would be no pressure for them coming into this qualifier - they would only have to improve on their last performance under the sublime name where they were knocked out 1-16 by BetterIn2005. But in reality, there is an expectation for them to do well and even qualify.. if they can play with the same confidence they do online. To their credit, Fragzone have already caused a few upsets, which shouldn't come as a surprise with all of them being young, sharp and hungry to make a name for themselves. They're probably still finding their feet with this lineup. A bad result at this qualifier could make or break this team.
Prediction: 2nd
VHM
evolution
nrd
mafu
tidus
redrum_hk
After VHM's embarassing first match loss against last seed FM at the first qualifier, and subsequently losing the "2nd best Asian team in Melbourne" title, they've to vowed to make a second nationals appearance. VHM were last seen LAN pracing rememdi, a collection of Counter-Strike: Source superstars who have discovered a new found love for 1.6. Redrum_HK has also been accepted back into the VHM family, replacing Franny v-spec after he was diagnosed with MCA (Master Chef Addiction).
Audio of Tidus vowing to make the nationals
Prediction: 3rd*
khemistry
jing
tnyvo
escuro
namone
hellraiser
Statistically Khemistry players have always placed well in Melbourne LAN competitions, but their most recent 0-16 loss to VHM on the ZYM ladder might have them second guessing themselves. Khemistry will also be acquiring the services of escuro from BetterIn2005. This means should he fail to qualify, he'll be unable to rejoin his old team.
Prediction: 3rd
*3rd best asian team in Melbourne
You say it like its the same team? But its only 2 of us and you could of mention the last time we played a dice team it was 16-1 to us. Ta
And regarding the ZYM ladder, the 2 teams you just said you beat also happen to be the 3rd/4th seeds and 2 of the favourites at this qualifier, so yes there would be pressure.. to repeat those online results - is what i think the writeup was implying (i could be wrong though that was just my take on it).
And a seed is not and has never been an indication of what the final results will be, its purely the starting positions for the teams based off previous results.
seeds are generally done to aid in competition structure, so that the top participants don't clash in the early rounds; not to arbitrarily award props for previously doing well.
while in most sports, previous results are a good indicator and a fair basis for seeding, you can't really say that it has "never been an indication" of how well a team will do.
But ur right yeh me saying it has 'never' been an indication is definitely wrong, because obviously some times it will be, but its never a gauranteed thing or anything like that is what i meant. my bad! :D
and umm nrd are you talking to me?
I also said bad result, not "anything under 2nd". as to why I made the comment about "make of break", it's to do with the vast amount of teams you've been in the past
for example, the top three
fragzone - 2 wins, 2 forfeit wins
.sc - 2 wins, 1 loss, 1 forfeit win
vehement - 2 wins, 3 forfeit wins, 1 loss, 1 forfeit loss
have as many forfeit wins between them as they do actual wins.