One of the most highly anticipated tournaments of the year is finally here, The 2013 Beast of the East. This years event will consist of 32 TEN(10) Man teams from up and down the east coast. The top players will battle it out over a grueling 2 days of play to establish which region is king for the next 12 months!
Initially, we were going to break down all 32 teams but in the end, there are really only a handful that truly have a shot at winning. So, without further adieu, here is a look at Pongstars Top 8 projected teams to round out Sunday evening.
8. Zero Class Elite – This team from Connecticut will undoubtedly improve from last year and is expected to break the Top 8. The main issue for them is fielding a team consisting of Lenny and Sanchez as their leaders while the rest of the roster has limited experience playing against top tier talent on the East Coast. After a first round win, expect them to fall short of advancing further than that.
7. International Empire – If this was a douche bag competition, this group of misfits would win hands down. There are a few givens when it comes to the IE, first being they have no shot at making the final 4. The rest would involve Cody Ryan sucking off all the top players, Captain Canada “acting” drunk while Jones jams his pong bar 6 inches up his teammates ass.
6. NEPA Pong – The kings of the weekly pong!!! There isn’t a more confident and borderline cocky team that has absolutely no shot at winning anything at this event other than the best 6th place team ever. NEPA’s roster consists of a single solid player in Ross, two old farts that got lucky at the WSOBP 8 and seven weekly warriors that will choke once they come across anything that resembles quality pong. NEPA will be gunning for a Top 4 finish but will obviously come up short.
5. Boston Strong – Formerly, Weapons of Mass Destruction, this Mass team somehow won the 2011 BOtE. Unfortunately for them, lightning does not strike twice, this team does have some of the best players on the East Coast in Toland, Shep and Chewie but the bottom of the roster is just not deep enough. They may find a way into the top 4 but lack the fire power needed to advance any further than that.
4. VABP – Also known as “Reap and the Reapettes”, these surprise champions from last year will field yet another solid team. Expect them to be in the hunt and have a top seed after prelims which will give them a good draw. If the bracket Gods put Long Island and NJ on the same side come playoff time, VABP could find themselves in the finals for a second straight year. The one obstacle they may encounter is their loud and obnoxious style of play will create a huge target on their backs forcing everyone to bring their best to beat The Reapettes and their 2012 title.
3. MD United – If Maryland ever brought the states 10 best on one team they would be right there as a favorite with Long Island and The War Machine. In years past there was always some drama which split the dominating force up. This year is no different as MD United will be without two of their top four players. Jason Davenport is facing a lifetime ban handed down by the iron fist of Garrett for punching Joe G(probably deserving) as well as Foster not playing. Apparently Heidi had other obligations that took precedence over this fantastic event. They still have Austin and Jordan, two of the top players in the nation which will help anchor a deep run but without the help from Foster and Jason they won’t be able to knock off either of the top guns late in the tournament.
2. no uNitY – The Long Island squad is completely and ridiculously loaded. The team was hand picked by the most decorated champion in beer pong history, Captain Mike Pop. The 2 through 5 players ( Basile, Joe G, The good Posada, and Goliath )all are Top 25 on the East Coast and have won both locally and on the national level. The bottom 5 has the likes of Trevor Banks, Riebl and sleeper Garrett Malise who would be the best shooters on 90% of the other teams in the tournament. The talent is definitely there, the only problem is right in their team name, No uNitY. This team has too many individuals that only care about themselves and personal stats. As soon as a few misses come along look for the blame game to start. Inner turmoil will be the down fall which will prevent them from being the first state to win two Beast of the East titles. Make sure there are tissues around because no team cries more than Long Island.
1. New Jersey War Machine – Being the most talked about roster over the last 3 months, it was a positive for the game to see Garrett and Vit listen to the majority voice of the community and let Kessler play on this team. This roster may not be as deep as Long Island but the top six players are the best in the country as a unit as they proved this in the Best of Best Tournament this past January at the WSOBP side event. The team will be led by Kessler, the self proclaimed “Best in the Universe”, as he may be on hottest win streak in the nation winning the last three mid majors he’s played in over the past year. However, the winning doesn’t stop there on this loaded roster as there are several others with majors and mid majors under their belts. Vince and Kyle(WPT $25,000), Deep (WPT $10,000), Fraser ($10,000 ECBP) and Vit who has always been right in the mix at multiple large scale events. It’s clear that The War Machine is not afraid of the big lights but the thing that will put them over the edge is what Long Island lacks. Team Unity being that the entire 10 man roster are all good friends who play together frequently and with the support of Miami Mike himself along with a break out performance from Mark C, look for the War Machine to be the first 2-Time Beast of the East Champions.
GAME ON!!!!
– East Coast Insider
