Day one of wild card weekend has come and gone and day two is here to bring us even more thrilling matchups. Today features plenty of pairings that will have fans and viewers wondering who is the powerhouse and who is the underdog. Today is where the wild cards start to get wild and those six seed cinderellas emerge. To break down all the action here are the previews for the Master League matches today, July 24th.
Doubles
Elite (3) vs. Flames (6) 9:00 pm on mlesportsgg3
Proving that each series in the postseason is close despite seeding, The Elite and Flames enter into the playoffs with the exact same doubles record of 42-28. Looking at the stats of these two it’s hard to find an obvious favorite. Ironically, the Elite are coming into the postseason on a bit more of a hot streak than the Flames after the Flames suffered a 0-5 sweep to the conference-leading Sharks. But if I was the Flames I would be less worried about past matchups and more worried about Dstn who came in 2nd in assists with 52 this season. The duo of Dstn and BuffaloBeast looks pretty intimidating but the Flames depth means they have 5 great players to put up against this Elite squad. The entire Flames roster has an average MVPR of over 4.74 with every player having at least 25 games played.
Wolves (3) vs. Hurricanes (6) 8:00 pm on Mlesportsgg
The Hurricanes had a tough road in the Storm Division this season, finishing 2nd to the Eclipse in Standard and 2nd to the Lightning in Doubles. But the tough decision race has done a lot to bring out the MVPs of this Hurricanes team. Squanchy and PrivilegedPear have put together a great season in doubles but it is GoldenTornado17 that has elevated this team to a true contender for the title this season. GoldenTornado finished 3rd overall in goals with 96 and 3rd in Saves with 105, but it’s their 1st overall finish in assists that shows how much of a playmaker they could be in the postseason. On the other side, the Arctic Division champion Wolves will be preparing for the challenge by perfecting the chemistry of likely starters Haimgaime and Alex. The pairing has put up impressive numbers together and with Haimgame’s now 5 seasons of experience on the Wolves they will be the likely player to lead this team deep into the postseason.
Standard
Wizards (3) vs. Demolition (6) 10:00 pm on mlesportsgg
Division rivals meeting in the first round is always exciting to watch and this Mystic division matchup should be a must-watch. The Demo’s 3-2 series win over the Wizards in the last few weeks was one of the reasons they were able to secure a wild card spot. Now they face off for the 3rd time this season and it’s the higher-seeded Wizards that perhaps have something to prove. Doodle! has been impressive for the Wizards this season, scoring 51 goals in 45 games. The Demolition will be looking to their three-headed attack of Axion, Kirin, and Script who have played 10 series this season while all averaging over 3.0 MVPR.
Hawks (3) vs. Blizzard (6) 9:00 pm on mlesportsgg
The Hawks versus Blizzard match-up may just be another example of a series more up in the air than it seems. The Blizzard finished 3rd in a tough storm division race while still putting up an impressive 39-31 record. The Hawks were 33 and 32 on the season before being the benefactor of one of three standard mode NCPs in ML in the final week. This meant that they kept over the aviators to take the Sky division title and 3rd place seed. That isn’t to say that the Hawks are to be overlooked. But their rotating 3s lineup this season has made it unclear exactly who this team will turn to during the playoffs. The Blizzard could play a few combinations but one likely face will be that of Aztra who has put up 43 goals and 72 saves in 49 games this season.
Be sure to check out all the MLE action on our twitch channels and check back here for even more playoff news as the post-season moves along!
