Grapevine
(N) = Seed
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We've heard through the grapevine that philosophical affs were going to be on the rise this year, and that seems to be true! So, here's to a great and slop-filled season, and here's a recap so you don't miss a thing:
Highlights
Surprising absolutely nobody, Harker LL wins! In a classic fight between good (policy) and evil (K + phil teams), good comes out on top and Harker is well on their way to losing another TOC finals.
Upsets
Octos:
- Lawrenceville CM (14) beats Plano Senior SG (3) on a 3-0
- Strake Jesuit MM (10) beats Blake VP (7) on a 3-0
Quarters:
None!
Semis:
- Harker LL (4) beats Nueva DY (1) on a 3-0
Theism/Phil
As if Sebastian Cho migrated to PF, Grapevine was home to plenty of arguments that might scare Dallas Perkins into a heart attack. Most interesting, though, was Bellaire AC’s Islam AC, which secured them wins against teams like Plano West HL (6).
While Leo’s certainly come a long way from begging Zayd to explain the line struggle (Zayd doesn’t know either), he certainly hasn’t lost his love for less-than-policy style arguments. In fact, he won round one on a skep NC in front of–you guessed it– Mr. Hatfield. That’s not too surprising though, because the 2AR was…topicality???
In classic PF fashion, new shifts in the meta are met with little to no resistance, with some phil arguments like that of Plano West HL (6) being met with the Academy K (?). Don’t worry. I was just as confused as you are.
So, little has changed since our Harvard issue last February. PFers still have no clue how to answer phil arguments, and that seems unlikely to change any time soon.
Disclosure
Staying in line with the Plano West school identity, Plano West HL (6) decides not to disclose!
Although, with AFF offense as shaky as their's, it isn't too much of a surprise.
In a win for good against evil, the tournament champs, Harker LL (4) keep up with their incredible disclosure practices--shoutout Leon and Alice!
Start-of-Season TOC Predictions
Champion:
- Harker LL
Finals:
- Harker LL vs Strake MM
Semis:
- Nueva DY vs Harker LL
- Strake MM vs Plano HL
Overall, I predict a LOT of K and Phil arguments, although finals will probably be a policy round.
Season Outlook
Overall, this season will probably be filled with a lot of slop that isn’t really too strategic but very few teams have coherent answers for. I think teams that avoid confusion by understanding the fundamentals of what different framework arguments do for a given team’s win conditions will succeed most, especially against AFFs with tons of framework cards but questionable offense (I’m looking at you, Bellaire).
Good luck to all!
Plan Focused Staff