Hot or Not -- Finals

[ogron]

Hot or Not


Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Semi-Finals
Finals



You can find former articles from 2011-2016 here

Thanks to Porkjet, Mythril, and Mattey for recording all the games, and to all the mods for hosting!



TWDT-D


Power vs. Terrorist
50-45
Round 1


Could Power win a title without their #1 draft pick in Best, #1 FA pick in Apok, and #1 low-star warbird in Beam against a 9-1 juggernaut? That was the question coming into this TWDT-D Finals, against a Terrorist squad that so completely and utterly dominated the regular season in warbird, and decimating Curse in the Semi-Finals 2-0, coming into the match with a massive 11-1 record, losing only to a 19-Kill performance from Ease in Week 4.

Force proved their TWLD title was no fluke, as their Big 3™ of Iron, Okyo, and Cres once again shined in the Finals, as Power's Iron Survivor (17-8) put in a Herculean effort to lead Cres (11-10), Ra (10-9), Eric Clapton (6-9) and Zidane (6-9) as this game hung on the razor's edge, with Terrorist nursing an early lead until late, but Turban's early exit and Ra staying alive on 9 for what seemed like an eternity, proved the narrow difference.

Eric, Zid, and Ra weaved and bobbed for extended minutes on 9, maintaining a precarious numbers advantage as they whittled away at a significant Terrorist lead, eventually overwhelming them.

Okyo (16-10), meanwhile, was on an absolute tear, powering a vicious offense that tore up the league, coming into the Finals with an astounding 9-1 regular season record, but fell just short ahead Dreamwin (12-10), Jones (7-10), Turban (6-10), and Major Crisis (4-10).

HOT: Iron Survivor (17-8)
HOT: Okyo (16-10)
NOT: Turban (6-10). Turban spent about as much time in this game as Warren G. Harding did in office, and his poor score and early exit cost them the game.

---

Terrorist vs. Power
50-46
Round 2



The Empire Strikes Back!

The top-seeded behemoth fired back round two, as key low-star piece Major Crisis (14-9) led Dreamwin (12-8), Jones (7-9), Okyo (9-10), and turban (8-10) to the victory.

This was another close match, as TWDT-D proved the best of the finals by far (in stark contrast to last year, where it was the worst.)

Cres (15-10) put in a monumental effort, while Iron Survivor (11-10) was solid as usual, but despite okay performances from Ra (9-10) and Eric Clapton (7-10), Ziddy Kong (4-10)'s minus-6 in a 4-kill spread proved fatal as Terrorist roared back into the series, tying it up 1-1.

HOT: Major Crisis (14-9)
HOT: Cres (15-10)
NOT: Zidane (4-10). Zid could singlehandedly take down an entire platoon of Navy Seals... through friendly fire. During the round I saw Sherlock Holmes enter the area -- that's how suspect his aim was. He rattles off 4:10s like a miner's alarm clock. SUB ME IN YOU FOOL!

---

Power vs. Terrorist
50-44
Round 3



Pressure> lol this is over

That was the sentiment of most in spec mid-game, as Power took a dominant 15 kill advantage while one or two Terrorist players were on 8 or 9.

But they underestimated the... Will of the Warrior™. Dreamwin (18-10), hellbent on stamping his legacy as the winningest captain in TWDT history, having reached his 9th final as (C), went fucking Super Saiyan and carried Terrorist from a double-digit deficit to a 43-42 lead. Fat Lady indeed. This was one of the most epic comebacks of all-time, and as Zidane and Cres were knocked out, this looked a foregone conclusion as Terror had the numbers advantage.

Sweet S15 TWLD Champion Eric Clapton, after spending the majority of the season as a lobbing mediocrity and filler for Best, Apok, and Beam (all of whom failed to show for Power in the Playoffs), went absolutely ham in the clutch when it mattered most, rattling off an amazing 3 straight knockout kills, singlehandedly shifting the tides of battle back into Power's favor.

Iron Survivor (11-9) and Ra (11-9) remained as they have all playoffs, consistently impactful and showing an innate ability to stay alive on 9, as Eric Clapton (10-6) clutched the fuck out of the endgame handing Power the win, while Zidane (12-10) redeemed himself after a pair of bad rounds, and Cres (6-10), completely out of gas, understandably fizzled out after superb Round 1 and Round 2 games.

Dreamwin (18-10) was a demi-god for his squad, but despite him and Okyo (11-10) being the 2nd and 3rd best warbirds this season (after Iron Survivor, who was an absolute monster week-in, week-out), their stellar performances fell just short of a title, with Major (7-10) unable to replicate his Round 2 heroics and Jones (5-10)'s poor play throughout on top of turban's (3-10) horrid TWDT-D Finals outings sealed their fate.

HOT: Dreamwin (18-10)
HOT: Eric Clapton (10-6)
NOT: Turban (3-10). Although Jones deserves an honorable mention for his 19-29 Finals record (where was Absent?), Turban was a true All-Star for Power on Sunday, with an insanely early 6-10 exit in Round 1 and an atrocious 3-10 in Round 3. Turb usually spends most of his time cheating me out of basing titles with quadruple brackets or his lag, so it's nice of him to give one back. Man shot up so many rocks in this TWDT-D Final you'd think he was a crack user.


TWDT-D Champion

Congrats to Power on claiming the TWDT-D crown in epic fashion! They did it in style, in three extremely close rounds, and topped it off with a Round 3 comeback from Terrorist's comeback, blowing people's minds in spec. This was a final for the ages, with 50-45, 50-44, 50-46 scores barely separating the teams, and Zidane's team managing to take down an all-time great team without Best, Apok or Cres and players like Ra and Eric Clapton stepping up and Cres finding his game again just in time, on top of Zidane finally coming through in the final round.

Dreamwin and Okyo were absolute monsters, and they were definitely deserving of the title, but Power had better performances across the board from all five players, and that proved the difference.

Add another star to Power's logo!

[ogron]

TWDT-J


Mortal vs. Terrorist
50-36
Round 1



After such an amazing warbird finale, the TWDT-J championship was up next, with Mortal taking on 3-league titan Terrorist. It proved business as usual for Pressure's team, as Mortal continued to roll. After downing Power in straight sets in the Semi-Finals, they continued their undefeated streak in the playoffs, quickly dispatching of Dreamwin's team, unphased by their league-leading 7-3 record.

Ready (14-8), Rough (10-9), Racka (8-6), Rab (8-9) and Stayon (9-4) continued at Thix's behest, as the RSTLNE line spun the Wheel of Fortune, landing on the Jackpot and solving the puzzle with aplomb.

Go tuck yourself in -- it's past crybabies bedtime!

Props to Pressure on keeping Mortal together and taking them to a championship and providing some much needed maturity and leadership to the team.

On the losing side, only Turban (12-10) provided the punch needed to win the game, no surprise given how he has been the #1 javelin at every stage of this season.

Major Crisis (9-10), Dreamwin (6-10), Okyo (6-10), Rows (0-4) and Viiru (1-6) all negged, as Terrorist lost this by 14.

HOT: Ready (14-8)
HOT: Turban (12-10)
NOT: Dreamwin (6-10). With Mortal firing on all cylinders, his team needed a big performance from him, but he seemed out of gas after that 18-10 in TWDT-D, providing about the same level of team morale boost as a magician in a leper colony.

---

Mortal vs. Terrorist
50-45
Round 2



This was a much closer affair, although it shouldn't have been, given that Mortal was up 5v2 with a 42-40 lead with only Turban and Viiru to clean up.

Rough (9-10), of course, had other plans, and managed to embarrass himself in a jav final one last time, dying out 5v2 while 3v1 on-screen and turning it into a 42-41 game with a huge choke and a terrible move, after doing the exact same thing up 2v1 last Sunday.






And again, for the second week in a row, Rab's (14-9) heroics covered up his atrocious play, with key knockout after knockout, singlehandedly winning them this game, in an unprecedented burst of competence, leading Ready (10-9), Stayon (9-8), and Racka (7-9) to the title.

Turban (14-10) made it interesting with some clutch plays down the stretch, but Terrorist fell just short as multiple players died within a 30 second stretch leaving them with too few numbers, as Dreamwin (9-10), Viiru (9-10), and Major Crisis (8-10) fell just short, and Kado (3-10) fell off a cliff, perhaps literally, as there is a 17% chance a cat sitting on his keyboard was responsible for whatever the hell he was attempting to do in that final.

HOT: Rab (14-9)
HOT: Turban (14-10)
NOT: Kado (3-10). You'd be the perfect bouncer for the javing Hall of Fame, as you've done a great job keeping yourself out of it.


TWDT-J Champion

Congrats to Mortal on winning the TWDT-J title in decisive fashion, taking both the Semi-Finals and the Finals in straight sets.

Rab proved to be the unquestionable hero of the playoffs, carrying Mortal when it mattered most, while Ready led them in the regular season. Racka has been working on his jav game hard all year, and it paid dividends with some solid play, while Rough and Stayon weren't great (although Stayon was better this Sunday than he was the majority of the season), but both played well enough to let others shine.

Key to this was Pressure willing to take the captaincy and steady the ship and salvage Healt's mess, turning a 0-6 disaster Week 2 around and guiding them into the playoffs.

Turban was a beast, as he has been all season for Terrorist, but his team collapsed around him, and IMO could have provided way more resistance given how much talent they had, Dreamwin chief among them -- I think the TWDT-D final took a lot out of him. They had a great season in both wb and jav, and came up against two teams in Power and Mortal playing well, while they peaked a bit too early.

Add a star to Mortal's logo!

[ogron]

TWDT-B


Terrorist vs. Power
15:00-7:23
Round 1



After a string of classics (Baratheon over Terrorist 2016, Patouf over Power 2015, Sour Milk over Kusoge 2014) that hadn't been seen since the all-time epic of Dun vs Me over BONK!, which was won by a scintillating score of 20:00-19:53 in 2011, this TWDT-B Final proved a disappointment, as Terrorist claimed the title in straight sets with 15-7 and 15-9 wins.

This game was plagued by lag in both rounds, and while it initially bit Terrorist in the first few minutes of Round 1 hitting Dwopple and forcing them to shark mcvicar, it quickly shifted sides and ransacked Power for the remainder the series, as the centerpiece of their under the past two seasons Mr. Homo was unable to play both games, and M_M God missed nearly half of both games lagging out over and over.

This was compounded in Round 1 by the bot refusing to let Zidane sub in Ra, as Raples was already in the game and his name starts with 'Ra'. Raples had to switch to the name InterQ for Round 2 to get around the issue.

This was a bummer as Power had defeated both Terrorist in Week 2 and Mortal in the Semi-Finals when lag free and it could have been a much more competitive match, but altogether not a surprising result for Power as their team had suffered from server lag issues the majority of the season, with Davy and Mr. Homo unable to play during several weeks.

Anyway, Terrorist quickly bounced back after giving up 4 minutes early on figuring out their ship changes and line, with Turban (108-38), Dreamwin (82-53), Okyo (86-43), Viiru (75-42), and Kado easily winning the game, with Major Crisis (40-2) terring ahead of mcvicar (3.1 RPD) and Rodney (3.0 RPD).

Davy (70-54), Iron Survivor (70-60), M_M god (56-52), Raples, and Holy Ship spidered for Ogron (31-8) with Zidane (2.9 RPD) and Omega Red (2.8 RPD) in shark.

HOT: Turban (108-38)
HOT: mcvicar (3.1 RPD)
NOT: TWDTBot not letting Ra sub-in for M_M God

---

Terrorist vs. Power
15:00-9:00
Round 2



Turban (117-65, 3 Teks), Dreamwin (96-52), mcvicar (90-44), Okyo (87-51), and Viiru spidered in the Round 2 win ahead of Major Crisis (40-4) in terr and Dwopple (2.7 RPD) and Rodney (2.9 RPD) in shark, as they took the game 15-9.

Davy (96-65), Iron Survivor (82-65), M_M God (70-59), Ra (73-53), and InterQ (58-52) spidered ahead of Ogron (39-9) with Omega Red (2.9 RPD) and Zidane (2.9 RPD) in shark.

This game did show some signs of life when M_M God's lag abated mid-game, but with Terrorist at full strength and Power still without Mr. Homo, their comeback from down 7 minutes to even the score proved short-lived, as Mcvicar decimated under (according to Mattey), Terror took back control of the FR and held out with a 5 minute cram.

HOT: Turban (117-65), 3 Teks
HOT: Dreamwin (96-52)


TWDT-B Champion

Congrats to Terrorist on clinching the TWDT-B title! They fielded the second best record in the regular season at 7-3, won a hard-fought match against Curse in the Semi-Finals, and defeated Power with aplomb in the Finals.

After dominating the entire regular season by astronomical margins in all three leagues, and then losing the first two Finals, they were definitely deserving of one -- especially after losing a heart-breaking TWDT-D Final to Power by the slimmest of margins.

Dreamwin had also been rather unlucky in the Finals last year, especially in TWDT-D where he had significant lag issues versus Paddington, similar to what Power suffered in TWDT-B this year, so it was definitely time fortune favored him for once.

Moreover, given that half of Power's basing line narrowly defeated Terrorist by just over 2 minutes in Round 3 last season (Zidane, M_M God, Mr. Homo, and Ogron), it must feel extra good to come out on top.

It was obviously a very disappointing result for Power, who don't feel like they got a fair shake, but lag is part of the game.

*Except for Turban, who clips through walls and shoots through reps yet never lags out.

Dreamwin becomes the winningest captain in TWDT History with this win, and Zidane becomes the second-winningest, as they both move past Hulk, who had occupied the top spot for several years.

Props to Terrorist on an amazing season and the most successful two season run in TWDT, where they reached an astounding 6 of 6 Finals!

Add another star to Terrorist's logo!

[ogron]

WB of the Week: Iron Survivor and Okyo
Force fam showed up en masse in the last match of the TWDT-D season, as Iron and Okyo traded blows in this 3 Round epic saga that proved far and away the best Final. Iron sizzled with 17-8, 11-10, 11-9 performances, while Okyo was nearly as brilliant, posting 16-10, 9-10, 11-10 outings. Nice!

Honorable Mention: Eric Clapton, whose Round 3 heroics with multiple knockouts at the end clinched the title.

Jav of the Week: Rab
Rab, for a second week in a row, proved the hero in the clutch, playing solid in Round 1 then going berserk in Round 2 with key knockouts at the end to win the game and a sumptuous 14-9 score to win TWDT-J.

Honorable Mention: Turban, who was the best jav this season, notching great 12-10, 14-10 performances in the Final.

Baser of the Week: Mcvicar and Turban
Mcvicar showed his value in TWDT-B in the Finals, sharking the first Round with stunning effectiveness, then absolutely destroying Round 2 as he effortlessly transitioned to underspider, with his versatility and talent proving essential in their title run. Turban, meanwhile, continued to be unstoppable in spider, bulldozing his way to 117-65 and 108-38 games in a series where no one on Power hit 100, and amassing 4 teks in the process.

Honorable Mention: Major Crisis, who was a key low-star piece in all three leagues for Terrorist, with multiple clutch games in warbird and javelin, and remaining stalwart in terr throughout the season, and a major part of their success.

Player of the Week: Dreamwin
Dreamwin has dominated the POTW award for three consecutive weeks, peaking at the right time and leading his 23-7 behemoth in all three leagues. He was an absolute force in TWDT-D, going 12-10, 12-8, and 18-10, almost singlehandedly bringing Terrorist back from the brink of defeat with insane determination. He stumbled in TWDT-J with a pair of mediocre performances (as the winner of last season's TWDT-J, I doubt he'll shed too many tears), but immediately bounced back in basing, where he was a monster in spider, going 82-53 and 96-52 with a pair of teks to claim his second TWDT-B title. Kudos!

[ogron]

POTW History

TWDT-D

Week 1: Iron Survivor
Week 2: Beam and Racketeer
Week 3: Okyo and Iron Survivor
Week 4: Last Standing and 24
Week 5: Weak and Mythril
Semi-Final: Cres and Major Crisis
Final: Iron Survivor and Okyo


TWDT-J

Week 1: Best and Zizzo
Week 2: 24 and Turban
Week 3: Zidane
Week 4: Geio and Shaun
Week 5: Turban and Zizzo
Semi-Final: Rab and Kado
Final: Rab

TWDT-B

Week 1: Cripple
Week 2: Davy and Zizzo
Week 3: JAMAL and Cripple
Week 4: Trasher and Mattey
Week 5: Pressure and Maketso
Semi-Final: Omega Red and Cripple
Final: Mcvicar and Turban


Player of the Week:

Week 1: Turban and Shadowmere
Week 2: Iron Survivor
Week 3: Zizzo
Week 4: Ease
Week 5: Dreamwin
Semi-Final: Dreamwin and Zidane
Final: Dreamwin

[ogron]

Top 100 Players (Regular Season)

Top 100 Players

[ogron]

Final Ladder

Here are the final standings for the TWDT 2016 Fall Season. Congrats to Terrorist, Mortal, Power, and Curse on making the playoffs.

Big thanks to Silence and Avengers for fighting hard on the last day and making it competitive, it looked like Avengers were going for the dream with a hot start, and Silence just narrowly missed a playoff spot by one game!

[ogron]

Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts


Well, that wraps up the thirteenth season of TWDT!

I thought this was a fun and competitive season, with good captains, strong rosters, excellent showrates and even the teams that didn't win titles, such as Curse and Silence, were very talented teams that won a lot of games and could have won a championship if one or two more things broke their way.

Avengers was also a solid team, and was not anywhere near as bad as their record indicated, but simply lost a ton of close games to very good teams.

I hope most people enjoyed themselves, although with limited spots it's impossible to please every player every season (I got benched in all three leagues on Power in 2012 -- I know how it feels) and often don't get to play in games I would like to play, particularly TWDT-D and TWDT-J, but some seasons things break right and you find yourself on the right team at the right time, so hopefully that happened this year for some of you, either in TWDT 2016 (Winter) or TWDT 2016 (Fall).

After a rapacious pace in the back half of the year, all three major leagues are now concluded (TWL, TWDT, and TWEL), so everyone will have a few months off before anything starts up again -- assuming it does.

I am burnt out doing TWDT and will no longer be running it, and Mythril is done with TWEL, so it will be up to someone else to take up the mantle should these leagues survive.

I honestly think TWL is finished, TWL 21 was atrocious, and that we need to switch to a hybrid league. Many people will not want to call it TWL because they're snooty, which is fine. A rose by any other name.

I recommend an alternating schedule of two leagues going forward: TWDT and a Hybrid league (with no star-cap restrictions to replace TWL.)

I would start the competitive season immediately after the Super Bowl in February with the Hybrid league in February-March-April, then run TWDT in May-June, and avoid summer leagues at all costs.

A hybrid league would essentially be a TWL replacement, where you start with a core of several players (i.e. all the hyper-competitive babies who would quit if TWL is a "draft") to ensure they get to play with people they want to play with, then draft the rest.

This ensures you have at least 6 competitive teams where the regular season is actually worth playing. I'd leave 2 squad spots open for non-veterans who know they wont start on the other squads but want league exposure and to play.

I'd also maybe make the teams in the Hybrid League separate by league. A lot of veterans would be more willing to play for one of the lesser teams in jav if they can play with the people they want in base, or whatever the case may be. Ease would have stayed on Juans if he could have Based and WB'd on Burn, and I'm sure a lot of other players feel that way. For instance, I'm a 6th or 7th man in WB on my teams, but I'd be happy to help out Paladen or LEGO or whoever if I could still base with my bros.

Just a thought.


Thanks for playing, and hope everyone has a happy winter holiday!

-Claus

[Crescent Seal]

ERIC CLAPTON

[project dragon]

WB of the Week: Porkjet
Oink!

Honorable Mention: Porkjet (Oink!), Porkjet (Oink!)

Jav of the Week: Porkjet
Oink!

Honorable Mention: Porkjet (Oink!), Porkjet (Oink!)

Baser of the Week: Porkjet
Oink!

Honorable Mention: Porkjet (Oink!), Porkjet (Oink!)

Player of the Week: Porkjet
Oink!

What is said cannot be unsaid.

[ogron]

lol Porky : )


Hot or Not is now complete -- enjoy!

[ogron]

Also, ?go TWDT has now been updated with the new winners

[zidane]

want to thank you for doing this, I know how tough it is (I used to put out quality HoNs back in the day). you've really added some hype in this league and made it more serious and we all appreciate it.

I'd like to thank my teammates on Power (aka Team Cancer) who showed up consistently...you know who you are. The Sweet/Force crew was special in WB and that was one of the most intense finals I've been apart of and winning it after most of our team quit was special imo.

I also want to mention that this was the most disgusting group of teammates I've ever had and it was real pathetic that i was one of the nicer people on the team. big fuck you to everyone who ditched/lied/backstabbed and also to the DT bots for being the worst bots in TW, how can I not process a sub in finals is a new low for this zone