Will you look at the time? We hear you loud and clear. Welcome back to the #GetJipped Power Rankings! The dust is still floating all around the Gears of War world, as we still have rosters being put together, a game that is underdeveloped, and a tournament organizer that is still trying to make heads or tails on what is right and wrong. The community is buzzing for many reasons, but in a positive way that we haven’t seen in awhile. What I mean by this, is the fact that many players in our circuit are starting to reach out to one another and share their views to try and paint a full picture of the issues at hand. Which is why I need to again thank ThyAshes for having me on the AshCast and GuyBlaze for having me on The Hot Seat with Fatalstryke and Sky. Was a pleasure speaking to other Gears fanatics about many topics in our community as of now and possible solutions to those issues. Even though we as a community are starting to work more together than before, we got an uphill battle as a community to continue. For now though, let’s get back to what’s ahead in the challenger tournaments for the Winter Quarter.

Huge shout out to Oxygen Supremacy (now Treyway), GOATED (now OrbitGG), and Vision (now No Mercy Esports) for qualifying for the Pro League! We like to welcome the rosters and players from Gods, #FreeBurger, and Simplicity to the amateur division. Most of these teams listed that are now in our league have either split up and formed new teams or picked up a few new faces. Nevertheless, the action will be sweaty and crazy for all involved, so let’s give our loyal and new readers a disclaimer before we dive into the rankings.

Disclaimer:

Few notes before we begin. First off, this Power Rankings excludes all Pro Circuit teams (sorry No Mercy Esports for not including you, but you guys have bigger fish to fry for now in the Pro League). So before anyone starts to cry wolf on the rankings about the Pro Teams, just remember, they got their own standings through Gears Esports, statistics, and all of that extra information for being in the league. Secondly, the Power Rankings have multiple factors and not just challenger points. This will include roster, challenger points, rumors, matches teams had in the bracket, and more. So don’t just look at the #CaseClosed #GetJipped Challenger Points Sheet, as that’s not the full story. So let the conversation on Winter Quarter begin!

Power Rankings – Week 2 – NA Winter Quarter

1. Soaked (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: VitalTheOne, ProPeLLs 24, Kryo TYB, k3soto, TERMlNU5

Deja vu? Sort of, but not exactly. We’ve seen some of these cool cats before under the moniker that was formerly known as Glory. Although they came up short in the Pro League Qualifiers against GOATED (OrbitGG), you got to feel like they were just missing one piece to the puzzle. Which is why we have now seen from the qualifier to last week, that this roster went out and found them a play maker in Terminu5. From the super dysfunctional Parallax Gaming, Terminu5 is one of the old teammates from that roster that hasn’t regressed since San Diego. Taking over the fifth spot from an overwhelmed GetOffFrank (Franko), and adding an underrated talent in Kryo TYB (Kryolites), this new version of Glory is better than the last model. It’ll be tough for a lot of teams to knock them off the pedestal and will be exciting to see how this team grows in the coming weeks. Now with that being said, Soaked had an easier climb through the brackets this time around, although they had a tough opponent in the semi finals against IDK and a championship win over another new rival in InC (Incontrol). It’ll be fun to see who they draw in the early games this week, as many big names and players will start at the bottom of the bracket in seeding after missing last week.

Question of the Week: Can Soaked make it back to back weeks? If I remember correctly (I could be wrong here), they didn’t pull that feat off during the Fall Quarter with the exception of maybe once. I would like to see them string together multiple wins and show the rest of the pack who is boss.

2. InC – InControl (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Acells, HNC Precision, Exist JC, God Dazed, QG Rocky (Purpatrate)

Just came up short in the championship finals on the first ever Challenger Tournament Series stream presented by UMG Gaming, but did they ever wow the rest of the Gears community with their play last week. A rather young roster has come together from many different prior teams to make what could possibly be dubbed as this quarters “Quantum Gaming”. The only difference I hope for in this scenario is that this team of goons sticks together better than the team mentioned prior. I was honestly tempted to put them first on the power rankings this week because of the fact that they played with a high level of chemistry, shot for one another, and made quick and precise rotations. They also had a harder run to the championship match, as they not only had an extra round to play, but they needed to beat GorillaOD, Public Enemys, and FreeBurger to make it to the end. At the end of the day, this is a sizzling team to look out for if they do a repeat this week in the tournament.

Question of the Week: Was last week a showing of what’s to come or did we just see a Cinderella run? I think the prior, but time will tell.

3. FreeBurger (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Hudsonz, Eternity, Emissive, Speedy, hndles

Although they didn’t make pro league and were sent down to the amateur ranks, don’t let this team of veterans, champions, and young players make you think less of them. Led by an all time veteran in Eternity, followed by another well known Gears player in Hudsonz, and who can forget they have champion player Speedy on their roster, FreeBurger just seemed they were missing a few pieces to make a better run at re qualifying for pro league as they come up short against Goated (now OrbitGG). So with Zenun and Crushmo being left behind (for now), the team picked up Emissive and hndles for this weel. Two young player that have tasted some success in Gears, but haven’t scaled high enough on the mountain for others to know. Yet mechanically gifted at the game, this might bring the spark for FreeBurger to get back on track and show the pack of teams why they were in the Pro League to begin with.

Question of the Week: Who do we expect to be the big playmaker this week from this team? Speedy usually pops off when the team needs it, but between Emissive and hndles, I think we could potentially see three of the five players make a swing difference in the matches today. Also, is this just a week of substitutions and we think Zenun will come back? Crushmo wasn’t in at all last week, as it was Noxious Hero that got the nod, so is this the final form of the new FreeBurger?

4. Rebel (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Krash, Sleepytime, Zerpting, ReziK, Jerppy, (Eskamani)

Lots of things and little space to type it all out here about this Rebel team. First off, don’t dismiss them whatsoever from the rankings just because they had the rather difficult task of trying to knock off InC from the tournament, which they failed in doing so. Yet they made a quick roster change that shook the landscape of both the amateur and pro league scene. With recruiting new members Zerpting and Jerppy, Rebel somehow made out with an even more stronger roster on paper than they had before with, Cellz and hndles, but they also should handle some of the competition today with that many high caliber players. Lastly, the move of Zerpting and Jerppy was a shock and will continue to be a story line throughout the whole Winter Quarter, as they left so late after San Diego, that it literally costed the rest of the Simplicity roster their Pro League spot. That is a yikes from me and from others I talked to, the rivalry has begun!

Question of the Week: Rebel lost quickly last week against the team that finished second. They got two new players on board that again are high caliber stars. So what happens if they have another early exit? Does the mentality take a hit, do players and the community start to think this team isn’t going anywhere, or is that panic button being hit too quick? Honestly, it is the last one in any regards to me, but mentality is Gears of War middle name and sometimes those sort of thoughts can wreck a team. This team has the players on it that are honestly that emotional at times, so mentality will be key for this team to succeed above all others. I expect Sleepytime to be the one to keep the boat afloat in that category.

5. Simplicity (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: ToySxldier, Yogurt, Toti, Ozby Romero, Cellz (Jackal Tenebris)

Ouch. This one hurts. Honestly, I’m a bit disappointed I have to even write this one out, as Simplicity shouldn’t even be in the amateur scene currently. The team is not planning to play Mexico, it also doesn’t know if it is sticking together with the other three members of the team, but it seems like right now that’s where they are from seeing reactions and posts on Twitter. So this week, the former Pro League team will step into the amateur scene to try and start their journey back to the status they deserve. They will do it with Noxious Hero and Cellz, but on a short week and I’m not even sure if they got practice in, this will be a tough first week and task for them to draw. They have capable players in the core three (ToySxldier, Yogurt, and Toti), but this week shouldn’t be do or die for them. Rather another learning experience no matter what the results are, as they try to pick up the pieces of what was a rather disappointing end to a rather well rounded team.

Question of the Week: Highly doubtful, but imagine this. A Rebel team that didn’t place high last week somehow finds themselves against a Simplicity team out for revenge… if this were to happen, will Simplicity rise to the occasion or will they fold? Another question that surrounds this overall thought, does Simplciity come in with a chip on their shoulder and rock house or do they feel droopy and drop the ball?

6. IDK (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: REPSOLID, Flash Movez, Exceedingz, Bloodated, Murhz, (Heavy Bodies)

What a solid performance bu this team last week! One that should be noted as we go further into the tournament scene for the Winter Quarter, but one must ask the question of how will this roster continue to grow together when it was already threatened on Twitter that a player was moving to the free agent status? Crazy to think that Bloodated tweeted that out, but we truly never picked up on the context of it. Also, this week the team did a loopy loop and pull tactic by switching their coach with a player. Maybe it is because the player from last week can’t run this one, but Murhz will have the task of filling in for Heavy Bodies this week, one that we will be watching closely. This team has the fire power, the skill, and the team work to do more damage, as they came up just shy against Soaked last week in the semi finals. Yet the stability of this team is why they dropped further than their 3-4 place finish.

Question of the Week: Murhz, can you fill in the shoes? Very simple and straight forward question for this team. The stability is one thing, but when you switch one player out for one week, it can make all the difference from the prior week. So will Murhz be able to keep up with what Heavy Bodies did last week and help this team get another great finish?

7. #THEGRIND (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Advanced iP, Movemxnts, TraMa Said No, Demoralz, SickestGOW

What happened? Honestly, another team that did some wonderful work in the prior tournament, but come on now. You don’t play that well and for some reason lose two players of the roster from last week! Apparently from what we’ve gathered, Verity v ended up leaving the team after a dispute of him not being able to practice because he had work or personal time during a specific night. Then we got Hypertonics iP who just pulled a Houdini this week, so we don’t know if he will be returning or not. The only thing we can take a look at this moment, is that Demoralz and SickestGOW will have to pick up what was left behind. Although capable and have their own skill sets to play the game well, we honestly feel uneasy with this change. Which brings us to this…

Question of the Week: With SickestGOW and Demoralz playing, does that shift the style and focus of the roster? Last week, this roster was smothering teams and players by continuing an onslaught of rotations and plays with one another, but now they have two players that don’t necessarily have that same style of play. So does this team go with the same approach as last week or do they change it up to fit the two new players? Even better yet, how much practice did they even get this week since the roster changers were so late in the week?

 8. OneForAll (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Scavzy, Yachtyy, FYC Flash, blastgod, Envyz4871

Here is a team made up of players that play a smash mouth style of Gears of War. Many folks on the roster have been playing the franchise in and out for the last few years (some longer than that), but the main thing about this roster is that every single player on it breathes in confidence and exhales it right into the face of the opponent. This is one roster that doesn’t look at any team like it is better or worse, but sees them in regards to how can they attack accordingly. With all of the praise being said there though, the issue is that this roster also has players on it that can become heated rather quickly, causing a collapse. They played Public Enemys last week and came up short, but I have a feeling this roster is ready to roast today.

Question of the Week: Can the roster keep their hot heads in check? All of the players on this roster play above and beyond when they have a cool temper, but if one of them opens the floodgates of being frustrated and vocal, will the rest of the team rise to the occasion or fall for the trap that many teams before them have?

9. The Jackson 5 (Checked In For Week 2)

Roster: Aversuh, GODPLAY5, Kyle, ClizzYClouts, Jarid

What we got here is a bunch of players that have consistently played with one another throughout multiple titles, trying to figure out which combination of them works. This week’s edition, we are missing a Demo Bounce, but have a Jarid. Truthfully, this is a team I want to see succeed and I believe has the power to do so, but this has also been referred to many as one of the “washed up” teams as of late because of the amount of prior professionals that are here. Don’t hesitate to think this team can’t snap at most teams on the tournament, as the amount of experience many of the players has accumulates to something more than most teams now and days have. Composure. With that word being brought up though, it does strike a chord….

Question of the Week: So Demo Bounce isn’t in this tournament, but his replacement in Jarid does come with the same issue. When these two players are on fire, you can’t stop them. When these two players get toxic though, your chances of winning become a distant memory. So for Jaird, does he stay cool, calm, and collected, or does he break into the old habit of getting so frustrated and mad that he shuts down?

10. Just Talented (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Godii Godii, QG Pushyz, Vocabbz, TwiSsta, AhToMiC

A team full of high expectations making their debut, but what will happen? Pushyz has been out in the Gears world throughout the starting of the newer game and circuit as a force to be reckon with, yet he hasn’t been able to stick to a team. Godi Godi, welcome back good sir. Haven’t seen him play in awhile other than maybe wagers, but don’t count him out. TwiSsta and AhToMiC come in as a pair, so the chemistry is there. Vocabbz is out here to prove to the rest of the gang and community that he has a lot left in the tank. Reason why I point this all out is because all of these players are decent or better than decent, but….

Question of the Week: Chemistry is questionable. I believe this team will beat some of the lower skilled amateur teams, but when they get to the tougher part of the bracket, can this team play together and conquer their enemies? I think the answer is honestly yes they can, but with this being their first week, I expect them to get around Top 8 when all is set and done.

11. Bang Bang (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Swifficiently, Darko, Hudson Connors, Raw Mindset, Jahaad Morrison

Since San Diego has released, this team has been going through the right process. Making sure that they try out multiple players and seeing if they fit into the mold correctly. At this point in the game, Bang Bang has found some success with the current layout and are looking to improve on that notion. Led by smart players in Swifficiently and Darko, the two coordinate pushes well enough together and call out for the rest of their team to be a dynamic force.

Question of the Week: With all of the praise that was given in the post, we got to see how this team puts it in a tournament setting. They’ve shown promise in scrims and have improved within the past few weeks, but now with testing their wits in a game that matters, do they succeed or fail?

12. JAREB & HIS BEST PALS (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: rip jareb, Fadeaway, SoluM, VaL Provote, Hydra Re7ro

The return of Fadeaway and what a return indeed. It’ll be his first time playing in many weeks, but he is surrounded by a roster that he has played with many times before. This is a snake in the grass sort of team, as they literally just signed up a minute ago from me typing this. So if you want to watch a team that will in fact wreak havoc today during the tournament that no one is expecting, this is the team that will shred others.

Question of the Week: Fadeaway, one of the best players in the amateur scene before he took his break to focus on education, how will you perform today? Will it be as easy as riding a bike or a little bit more difficult this outing? Nevertheless, the Gears Community is happy to have you back!

13. PublicEnemys (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: KILLEM SZN, QG Reliant, Zizel, QG Zet, Dizect YKTV

The roster put together in this team will remind you of the Quantam Gaming team that was in the pro league qualifier with the exclusion of Pushyz. So stand up Dizect YKTV, it is your time to take over the spot of what many believe was the player on the squad that was bringing the issues to the team (outsider perspective). So why does this team drop so hard in the rankings this week? One, we don’t know how Dizect YKTYV will perform, but also, this team starts at the bottom of the bracket since they didn’t retain the rights to last weeks team (hence why the team is blocked out in Orange on the challenger point standings).

Question of the Week: Pushyz may have caused internal issues or problems which we will truthfully never know, but he was an all around good player. So does Dizect YKTV fill the void, or will his teammates play just a bit harder to cover up for him? This is an intriguing team to watch this week just to see how they fair.

14. GorillasOD (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Ezinagi, BU Vibah, Bouncey Moves, lI Fusion ll, Arise Optimus (Cuzami)

A few roster moves removed from San Diego and you got a team with a coach that has been cooking. The minds of Ezingani and Arise was already enough to help this team push forward, but with a coach in Cuzami looking over their shoulders, this team will improve even more throughout the following weeks. Then you got Vibahs and Bouncey that can sped on any part of the map and normally get a few kills when needed. Don’t be mistaken though, this whole team including Fusion can play well together with crossing and rotations as well.

Question of the Week: Can this team play their style and win multiple games? Being heavier on the sped side of Gears 5 hasn’t proven dividends at the end of the day, especially when moving over to playing the game on LAN. So will they prosper or fall from their style today?

15. #StayDeviant (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Abyss, BDG Vibiez, TD Poetic, Elemxntals, WP Jippery (Jippery McCloud)

As the team mentioned prior, a few roster changes and now you got a new look for a team that did decent at San Diego. #StayDeviant needs to make sure they consistently work together. When they do that, the team becomes one of the most dangerous ones in the tournament to go against. Yet, this team still young in age and growing up together, they got more work to do before the progress will truly show.

Question of the Week: Although they had a roster change, the same issue does remain. What consistency will come of this team today? Will they play together as a full team or will they become disjointed. If there was ever an issue with this roster, it is consistently playing their style. So we expect to watch this one play out today.

16. Grinders (Checked In for Week 2)

Roster: Br KeNz, eden montes, Distract, Trillys, Luck

They are back and ready to roll. The roster of Grinders has improved with the acquisition of Luck. Like the latter half of the power rankings however, it will come down to chemistry that’s been built for this team within the last week. So even though this team can put work and damage in against others, we have to wonder…

Question of the Week: Will they work together enough to take out the competition? This team being rather new to a roster change (this week), will have to test their mettle and make sure they play as a unit to go far in the tournament today.

Just Missed Out

Teams: TEAM ROCK, Atomic eSports, Technique2, We Are Farmers, Fire

Omissions and Extra Information

All of the teams that are above that “just missed out”, have either removed someone from their roster, lost a player, or haven’t checked into the tournament yet.

5 teams in the Top 16 from last week (TEAM ROCK, TECHNIQUE2, We are Farmers, Fire, and Public Enemy) didn’t return this week. Which will result in them losing position to other teams that are playing.

Out of the 34 teams that participated last week (35 teams this week as well), only 18 teams at the time of writing have come back this week. A few more on top of that such as Public Enemy and Team X (Lucid Gaming) have come back, but as different names, resulting them in zero points this week.

Funny flip side to this story, this week, 18 new teams are registered.

Two teams again this tournament are named New goons. I smell trouble with PGL differentiating this in the long run. Expect a slip up and error here.

Vision (now No Mercy Esports) played in last week’s tournament, but got forfeit because of a miscommunication with officials. Yet this is nullified now, since they were upgraded to the Pro League. So congratulations again!

Multiple teams that are playing today, have prior pro player(s) on their team (Simplicity, FreeBurger, Rebel, The Jackson 5, #THEGRIND, Soaked

What Was Their Team Name?

With open online tournaments, we get the excitement of going against or seeing some of the most random and strange team names on the opposing side of the battlefield. These are team names that made either players head scratch, laugh, or brought a grin from ear to ear. Observe the names of the holy!

Red Rockets
What Would Floyd Do?
PGL is Ass
Weird Individuals
HUGH JASTICKS

#CaseClosed

Tons of story lines that start today. Simplicity and Rebel in the same tournament (rivalry central)! Can Soaked make it back to back or will an unsuspecting team knock them down the totem pole? How will the standings look after today, with multiple Top 16 teams missing out? Much to look forward to in the coming hours. We start at 2:00 PM EST and don’t forget, the Gears Pro League is also today starting at 3:00 PM EST.

Posted: January 26th, 2020 (12:34 PM EST)