Head-2-Head-X / H2HX Round 4 Predictions

In a slightly more perfect parallel universe, we'd all be breathing a big sigh of relief after submitting our Round 4 parks and stalking the announcements channel to see if Posix has started schrieben yet. Instead we find ourselves with a nice week-long deadline extension. With an extra week of polish on top of a round that normally yields mind-shattering parks, who will step up to make a strong impression? Will we be able to guess who leads out of the thinning list of players, or will we see returning faces strike back?

 

Hurricanes vs. Jazzcats: These two teams find themselves in similar situations player-wise. Terrifying looming threats in Splitvision and Leon respectively, reliable head-down players like Jappy and CC9 on the Canes and Bubbsy and Saxman on the Jazzcats, CTR creators who can wiggle into any park like Kenos and Spacek, and players with low shares who can cook up a comeback like Levis/BSG and AJ.

 

Leon's still mad, and with the Hurricanes in a very narrow second there's blood in the water. I can see him hitting hard with Bubbsy, AJ, and Saxman. My mind initially said a whimiscal Jappy/CC9/Levis/BSG or Bluetiful park, but Kumba may be feeling the cold war pressure and send out Splitvision to completely redefine the game. I feel like Kumba may be divvying up the DKMP players across R3-R5 with Congoy's appearance on MDM, but this would negate BSG on any remaining RR park. Jazzcats win this prediction and even up the score if Splitvision doesn't go, in which we have to make the best park ever R5. If Kumba banks on Splitvision against the Cats, he could seal his ticket to the playoffs.

 

Dambusters vs. Lonely Hearts Club: There are two big players on the Busters who haven't gone yet and can both lead a landmark park; Andrew and Cocoa. Considering the LHC is in first place, Liam may bank on Andrew here who I can see being backed by some MorganFan layouts and possibly trav to accent his elaborate architecture. Coups could round things out if there's open space, but he may also end up on R5 due to a late replacement pick and time commitments.

 

Rob, Iretont, and AmusementParker are all left on the Club. While the three can all whip up something competitive together, something tells me J "Anyone wish they were building in H2H forever? Missed this competition" K may be itching for another round robin appearance with them before planning for the playoffs. J K/Iretont is a tried and true combination that ironically went up against Rob in H2H Classic. I have a hunch both teams go 2-2 here as the Dambusters blow minds with a Belle Isle-level masterpiece.

 

Evergreen Gardeners vs. Soda Jerks: The Gardeners find themselves in a dark spot as their star duo Hydroportal and barnNID just took an unfortunate loss. Down 1-2 and with players who seem best suited as supporters left, will the Gardeners find a second wind in Fisch who leads a H2H highlight or rely on him as a supporter? Players like Lew, Lurker, MK98, and BelgianGuy all went early with low shares so either of them could resurface. With Coasterbill and Zarathustra left alongside Sulakke, my gut feeling is they'll be paired together on a realistic American park led by BelgianGuy with potential Louis support while the three-time H2H champs Fisch and Sulakke find themselves together on round 5. Nothing's saying RWE couldn't also be relying on Babar's superhuman speed to lead another round robin park as well.

 

Anyway we jerk our soda so hard we make playoffs. GGs Dubbya, see you in finals!

soda jerks throw for content and all teams go 2-2 

My lead builder predictions:

 

Canes vs. Cats: Split vs. Leon

Busters vs. Hearts: Andrew vs. FK

Gardeners vs. Jerks: Fisch vs. FredD

 

If we all go 2-2 I die

J K and RobDeDeDe build a park based in the US with a cool storyline made by Iretont. It scores 86% but it'll lose out to a vibey Andrew park made weird by Cocoa.

 

Fisch builds a nature-heavy park set in the asia with a big main street filled with Babar sculptures. They beat an action park by Gustav and Ethan.

 

The round ends with a heated 'which is conceptually more strong' discussion. Leon and Tols build an alternate history park with several new rides by SpaceK. They just barely beat a fantasy park with a strong narrative featuing floating crystals and elves buit by Xtreme and Splitvision. The discussion doesn't have a winner.

i think round 4 will be the strongest of the competition, until semis.

Jazzcats > Hurricanes - Leon finally comes out of retirement, complemented nicely by bubbsy. They face stiff competition in the form of Splitvision but pull off the win

 

Dambusters > Lonely Hearts - Cocoa rides Andrew to a comfortable victory with something pretty that simps will fanboy over. Lonely Hearts present something innovative and fun but the quality gap is too much to overcome

 

Soda Jerks > Gardeners - our park is a sensory experience, the first to include a smell-o-vision plugin. Gardeners go architecture heavy in true Euro fashion, it's not boring but it's not fun

Jazzcats > Hurricanes:  Love our guys, but when's Leon finally gonna come out to play?

 

Dambusters > LHC:  Cocoa blesses his team with a much needed win. Andrew adds a building. I expect a lot of scenery pieces as CTR's. A shapeshifting map perhaps.

 

Soda Jerks > Gardeners:  Ziscor + Ethan = Winning Combo. Sorry Gardeners. Expect Babar and Sulakke to go here. Fisch places a few bushes while consulting. 

Hurricanes > Jazzcats: otter's lack of confidence made me consider switching this pick, but something tells me there's a reason Leon hasn't gone until now, and that may spell trouble for his seemingly-inevitable R4. Is it real-life commitments? I don't know… but something feels off to me, and I feel it's nearly time for Splitvision, who makes something innovative and enticing that nabs a close victory. Prove me wrong, Leon!

 

Soda Jerks > Gardners: Agreed with otter here. Ethan + Ziscor feels like a scary combo, and I could see Gamma coming in to assist and maybe some Goblin magic as well. The Gardeners roster feels kind of flushed out TBH, and I'm unsure if Fisch is ready to produce a masterwork at this time. Again, prove me wrong!

 

LHC > Dambusters: A lot of people seem to think that our team is going to succumb to some notion of an Andrew + Cocoa masterwork with insurmountable quality. Let me put it simply: those people are wrong. I can't say how, but LHC nabs a close victory against an awesome opponent.

LHC vs Dambusters - I expect this to be a very tough matchup between some top tier parks. I see Andrew / Cocoa combo vs. JK / Rob, and a very difficult battle. Hard to say but currently I’m slightly giving Dambusters the edge.

Evergreen vs Soda Jerks - it’s time for Ethan to shine, and I see him beating Babar’s 2nd time around again as I don’t expect Fisch to actually build this H2H.

Jazzcats vs Hurricanes - Should be another epic battle and I hope we get to see some Splitvision / Terry insanity. Still betting on the Cats to take it home!