×
![]()
saCTF Draft Cup 2026 | Group-Stage Predictions
saCTF Draft Cup 2026 | Group-Stage Predictions
Groupstage Predictions
saCTF Draft Cup 2026 Group Stage Predictions
Disclaimer : These group stage predictions are opinion based and for entertainment only, try to not be offended if your team is lower than you want.
Due to the very large number of teams this year, I'm not doing a straight up 1st to last power ranking. Instead we will be predicting the 3 teams that will advance from each group and each teams placement within their group by end of group stage. I will also rank groups as a whole from group of death to weakest overall.
(Top 3 Teams from each group advance to Playoffs)
Group A Prediction:
1st Place:
Crispy, Reflex, He|tah, Kazuma, xexbaron
Yes, I'm predicting my team to finish 1st place in Group A. There are lots of strong teams in this group, but there are none that have as strong of a Top 4 players as this team does which imo maybe has the best top 4 in the entire cup. Crispy despite getting very unlucky with the wheel spins on draft day had a very successful draft here.
Getting arguably the best sa player in reflex already put himself in a good position. He followed that up with securing a very strong defensive combo in Kazuma and He|tah. This team is very well balanced with many position combinations possible on all maps.
Power up control should be on point here along side excellent attack pressure and solid defence this team is going to be very difficult to deal with, especially on NA servers. The only bit of unknown or x-factor would be xexbaron but I'm confident he will practice and improve and be a useful part of this teams success.
2nd Place:
Squilly, Killing, Rummy, Blackout, CK
My predicted 2nd place finishers of Group A is going to be the other NA team in the group. Squilly had a pretty nice draft here, this is a very nice looking team. Killing is a beast at sa, and is going to provide very stable defence as the teams primary defender. While also having the sniper OG rummy to anchor the teams attack, this is a scary team to deal with.
This team is also going to benefit heavily on NA servers vs eu opponents I do worry slightly on how well they can perform on EU servers though as some of their members have large swings between the 2 servers.
I think they're going to have nice team work and chemistry, blackouts frag power and powerup control should pair well with rummy who is also great on powerups and applying lots of attack pressure. CK likely to be trying to focus grabs here all in all this is a very nice mix of players and with an all NA lineup they're bound to have success here. This team will contend for 1st place in the group, and imo at very least will finish top 2 in Group A.
3rd Place:
Unreal, Faktor, Grimreaper, Demon, Spitter
The team taking the final playoff spot out of group A is going to be x4. 3rd place was a very difficult one to decide for me, and tbh it could very well be any of unreal, jeromes, or bolty's teams and I believe the 3 of them are going to be in a battle for that 3rd and final playoff spot here down to the wire in Group A.
I ended up deciding on this team because I just like the overall balance of it. Assuming they do Unreal and Demon/Spitter def that's very solid, and I think pairing that with an attack of faktor, Grim, Spitter/Demon map depending it's going to be a high pressure heavy grabbing team that will be hard to deal with.
Grim doesn't get much credit, but he's a strong sa player and is going to be a key one on powerup control for this team. Faktor has been performing very well in sniper as well, and is a high pressure high grabbing threat in both sa and IG. I think the pair of him and Grim is going to have excellent chemistry and cause issues for a lot of defence's in the cup.
Unreal just has a knack of always making strong draft teams that at the very least will make playoffs. And I think his team will find a way to take the final playoff spot here in Group A.
4th Place (Eliminated)
JeRoMe, Finaljze-, lavak3, ftwphil, ricklemer
I have Jerome's team finishing 4th in Group A and just barely missing playoffs. This was a very difficult one, I wouldn't be surprised if this team ended up making it in but I also see some big holes in this roster and also wouldn't be shocked if they finished last place in the group.
Now, this entire analysis is under the assumption that Jerome is going to be defending in the cup as he has indicated, and has been playing mostly def in pugs.
If that is indeed the case, this team is going to have a very large attacking issue. I think Jerome has made the mistake which IMO is a mistake he often makes in way over valuing frags. Here is the problem for me. If Finalz is attacking and Jerome is defending, where is the attack pressure coming from?
With all due respect Finalz can be very effective on attack with his slower paced fragging and spawn killing focused style. However, in order for Finalz attack style to be optimized he IMO needs to be paired with a full w key grab max pressure attacker where Finalz fragging and cover would come into great effect.
Unfortunately for this team though, he was not paired with a high pressure attacker. He was paired with a player in lav3k who don't get me wrong is an absolute beast and has insane aim and fragging power but I feel is going to be too much of the same on attack here for this team. For me lav3k and Finalz play much too similar of a fragging style on attack, and although they will often or maybe always end up with more frags on attack than their opponent I feel like actual flags getting out and captured is going to be an issue here.
There is also a lot of unknown here with this roster, ricklemer friend of Jeromes is apparently new to the game which in of itself is going to be a difficult hurdle for this team, where are they positioning him? Assuming he's on attack I can't see him providing any actual pressure on the opponents flag that this team desperately needs. ftwphil, what is his position here - is he defending with Jerome?
Simply put, there are some great individual players on this roster. But I don't think their skill sets are going to find good synergy with each other and I just see too many holes and unknown to confidently say this team can make playoffs. If their positions are completely different than what it appears to me things could be different who knows, I will be interested to see how this team does.
5th Place (Eliminated)
Bolty, xtreme, JD, Cassie, E|ite
Finishing 5th in a very strong Group A is going to be Bolty's team. Again I will say that the 3 teams I have 3rd-5th in this group are IMO all inter-changeable and similar in skill. I could see any of the bottom 3 finishing 3rd-5th this team is no different.
I like the balance of this team, there is no super weak player on the roster which has proven to be a good approach to drafts in general. It's a bit of a weird mix going with only 2 NA players and the rest EU.
I like the pick of xtreme, he's a strong sa player and should do a nice job on def with I'm assuming will be JD who despite not being very active is very good as well. Cassie and Elite both have decent sa experience and can perform above their salaries.
This team has nice balance, and has a lot of players who can rotate between attack and defence map depending which is a nice thing to have. Overall it's a tough one to predict, I'm putting them 5th but wouldn't be at all shocked if they end up 3rd in a playoff spot. It's a bit of a weird mix of players, we will have to see if they find any chemistry together.
Group B Prediction:
1st Place:
Humpty, Skarn, Banko, Lineage, ep_13
I have to say, Group B is probly the most even looking group in the cup. I couldn't really decide who to put finishing 1st in this group and ended going with this one. Mostly because it has 4 NA players, and NA servers in this group is going to be a big advantage for them.
Skarn and Lineage is going to make for a nice def combination here, especially with the assistance that Humpty is going to provide from attack.
Assuming Banko, Humpty, and ep_13 are on attack - this should be a good mix. I must admit I have no idea who ep_13 is but after having a quick look at some of his stats he appears to be quite underrated and can no question out perform his salary. Humpty and banko will do a nice job with powerups and banko will do most of the heavy lifting on attack and should be bringing plenty of flags out.
Overall, this is def that hardest group for me to figure out but I'm going with this one to finish 1st here.
2nd Place:
Anaconda, Lass, ShX, Miso, Scream
Honestly, this group is impossible to predict at one point I almost put this team to finish 5th then ended up at 2nd. This entire group to me is a coin flip so I'm just going to blindly put Anaconda to finish 2nd because he's such a beast.
I'm unsure if Anaconda is planning to play def or attack this cup. If he plays defence with Scream that's going to be a very nice strong combo.
Lass is a bit inconsistent but when he's at his best does a very nice job on attack. ShX is similar to Lass in that regard, and Miso does actually a great job at timing powerups.
It's a bit of a weird mix this team is, but some how I see them finding some chemistry and doing well in Group B.
3rd Place:
Slipz, dB, Obstacl3, PoireauX, sheeva
At first glance in my head this team was 1st or 2nd in the group, they have a very strong top 4 and having sheeva as the 5th is a great pick.
This is a very nice balanced team IMO, I wouldn't be shocked if they ended up winning the group. Assuming Slipz and Obstacl3 def that's going to be a very strong def for this team and one of the better ones in the group.
dB is excellent at sa and will anchor the attack, he provides good powerup control, excellent fragging and flag pressure. Sheeva as their lowest player is a great pick, as a NW player he will be helpful on powerups as well and has enough ctf knowledge to be an effective bottom player here.
The only bit of x-factor for me on this team is Poireaux as he's been mostly inactive for some time and I haven't fully seen what his ability is. I recall him being a strong attacker in the past, and if he's able to play at a high level and be the primary grabber for this team they can do well.
The sky is the limit for this team, slipz is a good captain and I see this team having a nice synergy and doing well together.
4th Place (Eliminated)
rusty, Own34dor, Berserker, WildCAT, Draymith
This is a very nice lineup, unfortunately they find themselves in a very difficult group. I wouldn't be shocked at all if this team ended up making playoffs it's just so hard to figure this group at I had to put them just missing it.
Ownador is of course going to anchor the attack, and you can always rely on him to do lots of grabbing and get flags out mid. Berserker paired with him will make for a scary attack combination as Berserker is perfect at timing powerups, has great frag power and will help support ownador on attack.
My main worry for this team would be the defence, unless they plan on sticking Berserker back there to anchor it which will hynder their attack and powerup control. If I assume their defence to be Wildcat and Dray/Rusty I feel like that's going to be the weak point of the team.
Overall it's a balanced lineup with a scary attack, which means they certainly have a chance in this group. I'll be very interested to see how this team looks on their first match there is lots of potential here if everything clicks.
5th Place (Eliminated)
Wario, Alpha, scarz, zkyp, webfaster
A lot of people consider this team one of the strongest in the cup. And, it could very well be if lots of things go right.
The only reason I have them 5th is simply because this group is impossible to predict positions and I just see a lot of unknown here which is why I have them 5th.
Alpha despite being inactive is a monster, he will keep up with frags with anyone in the cup. The only thing he lacks imo is the experience on maps etc as he's simply not very active at all on PG. zkyp is another one who has great potential to play well above his salary if he chooses to grind and get active.
Scarz won last years cup, and is a beast at sa. I'm unsure what his role will be on this team if he's going to be defending or mid/attack but regardless of what he does he's going to be impactful.
Webfaster is quite good and IMO already out performs his salary, so this was a nice pick by wario.
Overall this team has the highest potential in the entire cup and could end up doing very well here. At this current moment it's just a bit too weird of a mix for me and unknowns with positions etc which is why I put them 5th.
Group C Prediction:
1st Place:
Murder, Hildee, wdn, wyrm, Arcus
Murder fresh off his captain ban had an excellent draft here. It's clear he was trying to get as many of the winning parts from last year as he could.
This team is top heavy, but their top 3 are all beasts and will pair well with each other. wdn is one of the best full pressure attackers in the cup, and this team can rely on him to do the majority of the grabbing. Which will once again pair well with the mid/fragging presence of Senator who despite being inactive always plays extremely well in cups.
Hildee is a great player, I'm unsure what his role will be. I feel like this team will either try a strategy of weak base def with Murder and Arcus, with Senator mid, wdn and hildee attack. Or they perhaps could put Hildee on base def with murder or Arcus for a more solid defence.
Either way, this team is scary and has lots of options. I think they pair well together and will finish 1st place in Group C.
2nd Place:
Loko, kHr, bat, fara, buster
2nd place in this group was a tough one I was stuck between this team and putze's but decided to go with this one in the end.
Loko had a good draft here, getting kHr who is one of the best sa players and likely the best overall fragger he was already in a good spot.
This team is nicely setup. I assume Loko is going to base def with fara. Allowing khr on mid/fragging/powerup control to help out on both attack on def. Buster as their lowest salary player is a nice pick as he provides this team with a lot of flag grabbing and he will often bring flags out to mid where the cover of khr can take over.
Bat is a nice piece here as well with his sa experience he should pair well with buster on attack getting flags out and also helping with the powerup control alongside kHr.
This will be a frustrating team to play against, especially if they take a lead. I have them 2nd place in Group C.
3rd Place:
Putze, dovlaa, nanstuko, Jskey, coolamp
I really like this team, at first glance I had them 2nd in the group but ended up giving the slight edge to loko's team putting putze at 3rd.
This is a well thought out lineup that will allow putze to attack where he has the most impact. Nanstuko and Jskey seem to always find a way to get a lower salary in every cup they play, and they've done it again here. Even after nanstuko's 60 acc in the div2 playoffs he's still at only a 690 salary lol.
Jskey also at 680 is going to do a great job on def at this price. I'm assuming alongside either dovlaa or nanstuko perhaps map depending. Either way, their defence will be strong.
I don't know much (anything) about cool amp, but regardless putze attacking with nanstuko/dovlaa alongside coolamp is going to be getting flags out. This team might struggle a bit in overall powerup control vs other teams but I feel like they're still going to find success here and make it out of Group C into the playoffs.
4th Place (Eliminated)
Fonzie, Crazy'N, clayk1ng, Mys, Clinic
This is another well balanced lineup. This team has potential to surprise if everything goes well and fonzie can play at a good level.
CrazyN was a smart pick to anchor the defence here for this team, and he'll do a nice job at it. Along with fonzie or perhaps mys the def for this team should be pretty solid. Clayk1ng is a very annoying attacker to deal with as he times well, sneaks in and you always have to worry about the cherry picks from him. He's someone you can count on to consistently bring flags out which is one of most important factors to have in a team to succeed.
Clinic as the teams lowest salary player was a smart pick here, he's pugging a lot and continues to improve his play. I haven't seen mys play any sa yet tbf but I'm assuming he will bring a strong fragging presence for the team which will pair perfectly with clayk1ng who will do the majority of the grabbing.
If all goes well this team might just squeak into the playoffs, they have that chance. I currently have them just barely missing it.
5th Place (Eliminated)
Steel, Vyper, ReadySetKO, [A], sT Madera
Odd draft from Steel for me here. I'm not sure if he intentionally was going for the worst comms available on one team or not, but he accomplished it and might find himself bashing his head against a wall with the comms on this team.
Overall, despite me putting this team last in their group they like any other has the chance to surprise and do well. I just personally don't like this mix of players at all. Vyper at $770 in terms of aim and fragging was a nice pick by steel as vyper absolutely performs at a higher level in that regard. The issue with him is, his comms are brutal and he pings extremely high.
sTMadera seems like an alright pick at his price, pantera as a secondary defender is fine. I don't know, this team just looks weird to me. I'm unsure what their plan is here, is steel planning to primary def for this team? I don't see who else is doing it unless they're going to try a weak base def and stacking attack I'm really unsure.
Ultimately this mix of players just seems weird to me IMO I don't see any obvious positions or good chemistry here, and I think comms are going to be a big issue along with powerup control. For those reasons I have them 5th in Group C. Will be interested to see if they can surprise.
Group D Prediction:
1st Place:
Rocky, dizzeh, Naru, RedDynasty, smthy
Deciding 1st place in Group D was difficult, but I ended up going with Rocky's team here.
Firstly, Rocky at a $490 salary is grinding pugs more than any other player and is improving more and more each day. He already is good at timing, and a great support on attack. He will pair very well with Naru who's also great at powerup control, and just a super fast high grabbing pressure attacker.
Dizzeh for me is one of the best sa players in the cup, it makes sense his salary got increased just before the draft. He's an absolute beast on both defence and attack, I expect him to anchor defence for this team along side red or smthy.
tbh I only know reddynasty from idom and haven't seen him play any sa but I've been told he's quite good and if he's playing as the secondary defender with dizzeh I see him doing a great job.
smthy also an nw player if he attacks will give a really nice balanced attack with Naru and Rocky with all 3 of them being excellent at timing they should control most of the powerups vs any team.
1st to 3rd in my rankings for this group could go either way tbh, I ended up going with this one for 1st though I just really like their overall balance and think they can do well.
2nd Place:
keizer, majik, l8erade, siRK, nordog
On first review I had this team 1st place in this group. I ended up putting them 2nd simply because I have no idea how much nordog can provide at this stage.
I assume nordog will weakside def with kzr which should in theory work pretty well as kzr is a beast. I just worry if nordog is having one of his really off games which is bound to happen that the pressure might become too much for kzr and things might fall apart a bit.
Majik l8erade and sirk will make for a nice synergy on attack I think. Magik frags a lot which should pair nicely with the grabbing of l8erade and sirk.
I feel like if everything goes well and this they find a nice chemistry together this team can do very well and even finish 1st in Group D, they certainly have the ability we will just have to wait and see how they mesh together.
3rd Place:
kekwhore, nani, vee, Lasuanii, Waterkater
Beauty team right here. Seeing waterkater at such a lower salary as $480 is hard to imagine despite his lack of experience, and was a smart pickup by marko here. I don't see any chance that he won't end up playing above that salary.
This team is nicely balanced, and has options on positions map depending which is a nice tool for them. I assume vee is going to be on defence and he's very strong in that position. If he defends with nani, or perhaps cro on some maps that will make for a very strong base def for this team.
Lasuanii does an excellent job at timing powerups, as do most members on this team. She continues to improve as an attacker as well and is a nice pick here on attack. My only slight worry for this team is they lack a true heavy pressure attacker unless they put nani on that role.
Cro has been beasting, and will provide nice fragging and cover for lasuanii and whoever their 3rd attacker ends up being.
I think this team will have good positive vibes on voice, and find a nice chemistry in game. I have them taking the final playoff spot in Group D.
4th Place (Eliminated)
Stong, Fen1x, tOxX, ghozt, DM
This is a nice balanced team here as well. I liked the good value pick getting DM at a nice price for the teams secondary def pair with Fen1x who is a very very strong sa player.
Stong tox and ghozt should make for a nice attack. I worry a bit about their over all powerup control vs some of the other attack combinations they face, but I think they will still be getting flags out consistently.
gzt is a bit of an x-factor on this team for me. He hasn't been as strong in general as he used to be. However he has shown to be a great sa player in the past so if he can get back to a high level there this team has it's chances to make it.
Overall this team absolutely has a chance to make it in, I have them just barely missing out in 4th though.
5th Place (Eliminated)
Nuke, ispyz, caspa, Saltos, Acidslam
At 5th place in Group D I have Nukes team. It appears as though Nuke was trying for an all UK lineup here but couldn't quite pull it off and ended up with a random PT mixed in there in Saltos ;p
Nuke has been playing very well, ispyz is a great pick, Acid is a good value pick for SA. However with all that being said, I'm just not feeling it for this team.
From what I've seen from Saltos he's much weaker in sa than he is in IG. Caspa is good but with him I'm not sure about his ability to consistently play at his salary, and moreso be the anchor defender for this team. I see them having issues here.
Assuming it's an attack combo of Nuke,ispyz,Acid this is actually pretty strong. They all 3 do a nice job on timing and should be good on powerups. Perhaps at times I worry they might over focus a powerup resulting in a lost flags though.
I don't know what it is, I feel like if things are going well this team can succeed. But as soon as anything starts to go wrong in a game I envision this team completely melting down and blowing up.
I feel like if they're able to get leads in games and keep things positive they could possibly do well. I just don't have good overall vibes about this team, and that's why I have them last in Group D.
Look forward to seeing how they do, if everything clicks perfectly they have the ability to compete with every team - I'm just not feeling it.
Group Strength Ratings:
GROUP OF DEATH = Group B
I selected Group B as the Group of Death not because they necessarily have the best teams in it which is the standard way of giving this rating. I gave it to group B simply because I found it to be the hardest group by far to do the 1st to 5th rankings on.
I expect to be totally wrong on my Group B predictions as for me all 5 teams in that group are strong, and have ability to beat another. There are no standout favourites or weakest in that group it's extremely well balanced and a total crap chute on who ends up advancing from it. And that is why I rank Group B as the Group of Death.
2nd Strongest = Group A
I went with my own Group, Group A as the 2nd strongest here as similar to Group B all 5 teams are solid here. I almost put Group A as strongest as it has 2 of the strongest teams in the entire cup in it.
3rd Strongest = Group C
Very strong balanced group is Group C at 3rd. I nearly put it 2nd as there are some top tier teams in it.
Weakest Group = Group D
Weakest Group for me is Group D. TBH every group is pretty balanced this cup but I see group D as the overall weakest.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR READING, HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT! I MIGHT DO A PLAYOFF PREDICTION EDITION WHEN THE TIME COMES.
GL HF TO ALL TEAMS IN THE CUP! <3.
Posted on March 16th, 2026
Comments (1)
Good read, thanks for taking the time!
Please Log in to post comments.