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The Season 16 TWDT-B Finals will take place this Sunday between Power and Legio XI. You can checkout my TWDT-D preview here and my TWDT-J preview here.
I give Power about an 80% chance to win warbird. Steadman gives them a 70% chance to win jav. I'd put the odds of them winning base around 50%. There's a decent chance that the TWDT-B Finals will be where Legio XI makes its final stand against the might of Power in their last attempt to stop them from Triple Crowning.
If Power is going to Triple Crown, they're going to have to go through old friends an new enemies. Of course, if there's one truism in TWDT, it's this:
Base is where Triple Crowns go to die.
Zidane knows this all too well, as Power would have triple crowned the 2017 season had Baratheon not stopped them. In what both teams knew was the real finals, Power and Baratheon squared off in the Semi-Finals two seasons ago, with Baratheon narrowly edging them out. They'd go on to stomp Terrorist in the TWDT-B finals, while Power won TWDT-D and TWDT-J for the double crown.
Ogron and Zidane will face off again, where the former Power teammates will vie for basing supremacy. The former has reached 10 of the last 12 TWLB/TWDT-B Finals. The latter 9 out of the last 12. No one else comes close to that. There will be no love lost after Baratheon denied their last Triple Crown attempt, and the nasty fallout from last season. They'll both be looking to further cement their basing legacy.
For Legio XI, JAMAL will be hungry to add another notch to his belt, as one of the winningest Dice spiders in TWLB history. He'll be paired with M_M God, who last won TWLB 20 and TWDT-B 2016, and will look to increase those numbers with his aggressive style.
Mythril, Legio XI's leader, will be looking to make his mark on TWDT History and claim his first title as Captain. Besides his amazing TWL career, he won back-to-back TWDT-D titles in 2010 and 2011, and will be looking to add TWDT-J and TWDT-B titles to his already impressive trophy case. He's reached multiple TWLB and TWDT-B Finals, and will be eager to take home the big prize.
For Power, Ease will be looking to win his first TWDT-B title since he won on WOOT! in 2009, under the illustrious captainship of Creature, while being terred by Brookus and sharked by Eelam. Time flies. Ease has dominated TWLB in spider the past 7 years, and will be looking for more success. He'll be flanked by Ro, who reached the TWLB 21 Finals, while being sharked by mcvicar, who won TWLB 18 on Pandora and TWDT-B 2016 on Terrorist.
Speaking of Terrorist, this will be the first time in 5 seasons that Dreamwin's team doesn't reach the TWDT-B Final, ending a spectacular run. They've reached the final 5 times in 7 attempts, winning 3.
The streak of Power or Terrorist reaching the TWDT-B Final is still alive, however. One of the two has been in the final for six consecutive seasons, as two winningest captains in history continue to dominate the TWDT landscape.
Let's get on to the lineups.
Power
Heaven will be their starting terrier at the 8-Star spot. He's a solid terr, even if 90% of his game involves sitting on the mid-bar the whole game and firing the same burst that sends 2 bursts under the entire game:
If he isn't tested early, he'll gain confidence and let his team win the game for him. If M_M God rattles him, watch out. That happened Week 4 in a 15-5 Legio XI win over Power, where Power outkilled us by 20, but Heaven died 10 times in 20 minutes and put the game out of reach.
Zidane is the best shark in the game, and will have to play like it to win his first TWDT-B title as a captain. Heaven is in good hands as Power invested 2 of its 4 high-star slots on sharks, and should help keep him insulated from shrap and other dangers.
Mcvicar is a versatile baser who can play at the TWLB level in both spider and shark. He's won a TWLB and TWDT-B title as a spider, but never as a shark. He'll look to expand on his resumé with a victory on Sunday, and officially proclaim himself one of the best multi-ship basers to ever play the game.
Ease is the biggest spider name on Power by far, and will have to carry hard for Power to win the title. He's a beast and should prove a challenge to take on, although he has been known to tilt in spider from time to time. M_M God's lag definitely has some trigger potential.
Ro started the TWLB S21 Finals in spider, and will be making his second basing finals appearance this season, looking to claim his first title. He's a campy killing machine who should pair well with Ease and will be in the running for most kills in several rounds.
Tripin is their third over. He's transformed himself into a very nice spider, and helped Terrorist win a TWDT-B title last season. He and Steadman will be the 7-Star spiders playing over in the Finals against each other, and who plays better could have a large impact on who wins the title, especially if JAMAL/Ease and M_M God/Ro play themselves to a draw.
vys is a solid, laggy underspider with a good 7-Star value, and should be an able defender of the under passage.
Lockdown is their 6-Star spider. I don't remember playing him, but WBs usually make pretty decent spids. Jessup is another option at the 6-Star for Power, and has improved quite a bit the past 2 years.
Henry Saari is a very good spider with lots of experience in TWDT-B, but probably won't see play given he's an 8-Star, and that slot is taken by their terrier in Heaven.
Legio XI
Ogron will be starting the TWDT-B Finals in terr for the 5th time in 6 seasons, as he looks to claim his 4th TWDT-B title, and 3rd in terr, which would tie Mikkiz for most all-time in the ship. Look for him to target Heaven early and often, as well as bullet and pay a lot of attention to under.
Mythril capped and lead this team to the finals with stellar play across all three leagues, and his vast experience across multiple TWLB Finals on Pandora and Thunder will help him go toe-to-toe with Power's formidable shark line. Look for him to be aggressive and push the tempo.
Rodney won back-to-back TWDT-B championships in 2016 on Baratheon and Terrorist as a 7-Star, and he'll look to add a third title as an 8-Star. Mythril and him have played well this season, and he's won a basing final both with and against Zidane, so he has plenty of experience to draw on. This is a very tough shark matchup, but I believe these two will hold their own.
JAMAL is one of the greatest spiders in the history of Trench Wars. He's a monster MVP machine who has won 4 TWLB championships and 3 TWDT-B titles. Look for him to lead our team in kills and dominate.
M_M God is another legendary TWLB spider, who has played in final after final, impacting the game with huge pushes, great lag, and led the league in Teks multiple times. Nobody scares Heaven more than MM God. Nobody scares me more than MM God! That's why I make sure he's on my team every year -- I don't want that laggy piece of shit diving me 30x a game : )
Steadman rounds out our overspider line, as one of our key 7-Star spiders. He's fresh off winning the Basing Cup, and has been a stellar low-star spider. I value him and Tripin similarly, and they're both fanstastic for their cost.
TJ Hazuki is another excellent 7-Star player, and he'll be taking over for Rasaq, who can't show this sunday. Rasaq was an absolute god all season, and a broken 7-Star. That said, I've won two TWDT-B titles starting TJ Hazuki, so my concern level is zero. He'll be playing under instead of over, but I expect him to be solid regardless. He's a veteran spider who typically costs 8-Stars, so you couldn't ask for a better guy to step up.
Beam is arguably the best 6-Star out there, given he can both shark and spider. He'll be starting the round in spider, but could shift to shark if we want more firepower in spider and sub Omega Red in.
Omega Red is a great player who has started TWLB S19 Finals under, and is the defending TWDT-B Champion as a shark. He's 8-Star value, which puts him in the same awkward predicament as Henry. If we need more firepower, Omega is a beast under.
Prediction
This really is a toss-up for me, I think it's pretty close. Basing is pretty momentum-based, so it can swing pretty heavily based on just a few plays. If you'd asked my honest opinion about the 2017 (Winter) Finals, I would have given my team about a 90% chance of winning. I couldn't see us ever losing that Final. I think here it's very close to 50%. Spezza thinks it's heavily in favor of Power, but I don't agree. I feel like it's slightly in our favor. I've gone with Power in the last two, but I'm gonna go with Legio XI on this one. I think it's going to be a really competitive final, and could go either way, but my feeling is M_M God and JAMAL are going to do serious work, under will hold, and Mythril and Rodney will give me and our spids enough room to do work.
My biggest concern is their cram, which should be incredibly hard to break. If we win the same amount of FR battles, I think they'll hold cram longer and win the title. We'll need to hold under and win over and have less terr deaths to win TWDT-B. We lose our terr advantage every time they hold cram, and their strengths are accentuated with two max slots sharks. We can't give them too many opportunities to cram. I'll have to play extremely well and stay alive for that to happen, but I'm confident I can do it.
Our entire chat is on both teams, so I wish Power good luck in the Finals, and may the best team win!
P.S.: Thanks to Rab for salvaging my post!
I give Power about an 80% chance to win warbird. Steadman gives them a 70% chance to win jav. I'd put the odds of them winning base around 50%. There's a decent chance that the TWDT-B Finals will be where Legio XI makes its final stand against the might of Power in their last attempt to stop them from Triple Crowning.
If Power is going to Triple Crown, they're going to have to go through old friends an new enemies. Of course, if there's one truism in TWDT, it's this:
Base is where Triple Crowns go to die.
Zidane knows this all too well, as Power would have triple crowned the 2017 season had Baratheon not stopped them. In what both teams knew was the real finals, Power and Baratheon squared off in the Semi-Finals two seasons ago, with Baratheon narrowly edging them out. They'd go on to stomp Terrorist in the TWDT-B finals, while Power won TWDT-D and TWDT-J for the double crown.
Ogron and Zidane will face off again, where the former Power teammates will vie for basing supremacy. The former has reached 10 of the last 12 TWLB/TWDT-B Finals. The latter 9 out of the last 12. No one else comes close to that. There will be no love lost after Baratheon denied their last Triple Crown attempt, and the nasty fallout from last season. They'll both be looking to further cement their basing legacy.
For Legio XI, JAMAL will be hungry to add another notch to his belt, as one of the winningest Dice spiders in TWLB history. He'll be paired with M_M God, who last won TWLB 20 and TWDT-B 2016, and will look to increase those numbers with his aggressive style.
Mythril, Legio XI's leader, will be looking to make his mark on TWDT History and claim his first title as Captain. Besides his amazing TWL career, he won back-to-back TWDT-D titles in 2010 and 2011, and will be looking to add TWDT-J and TWDT-B titles to his already impressive trophy case. He's reached multiple TWLB and TWDT-B Finals, and will be eager to take home the big prize.
For Power, Ease will be looking to win his first TWDT-B title since he won on WOOT! in 2009, under the illustrious captainship of Creature, while being terred by Brookus and sharked by Eelam. Time flies. Ease has dominated TWLB in spider the past 7 years, and will be looking for more success. He'll be flanked by Ro, who reached the TWLB 21 Finals, while being sharked by mcvicar, who won TWLB 18 on Pandora and TWDT-B 2016 on Terrorist.
Speaking of Terrorist, this will be the first time in 5 seasons that Dreamwin's team doesn't reach the TWDT-B Final, ending a spectacular run. They've reached the final 5 times in 7 attempts, winning 3.
The streak of Power or Terrorist reaching the TWDT-B Final is still alive, however. One of the two has been in the final for six consecutive seasons, as two winningest captains in history continue to dominate the TWDT landscape.
Let's get on to the lineups.
Power
Heaven will be their starting terrier at the 8-Star spot. He's a solid terr, even if 90% of his game involves sitting on the mid-bar the whole game and firing the same burst that sends 2 bursts under the entire game:
If he isn't tested early, he'll gain confidence and let his team win the game for him. If M_M God rattles him, watch out. That happened Week 4 in a 15-5 Legio XI win over Power, where Power outkilled us by 20, but Heaven died 10 times in 20 minutes and put the game out of reach.
Zidane is the best shark in the game, and will have to play like it to win his first TWDT-B title as a captain. Heaven is in good hands as Power invested 2 of its 4 high-star slots on sharks, and should help keep him insulated from shrap and other dangers.
Mcvicar is a versatile baser who can play at the TWLB level in both spider and shark. He's won a TWLB and TWDT-B title as a spider, but never as a shark. He'll look to expand on his resumé with a victory on Sunday, and officially proclaim himself one of the best multi-ship basers to ever play the game.
Ease is the biggest spider name on Power by far, and will have to carry hard for Power to win the title. He's a beast and should prove a challenge to take on, although he has been known to tilt in spider from time to time. M_M God's lag definitely has some trigger potential.
Ro started the TWLB S21 Finals in spider, and will be making his second basing finals appearance this season, looking to claim his first title. He's a campy killing machine who should pair well with Ease and will be in the running for most kills in several rounds.
Tripin is their third over. He's transformed himself into a very nice spider, and helped Terrorist win a TWDT-B title last season. He and Steadman will be the 7-Star spiders playing over in the Finals against each other, and who plays better could have a large impact on who wins the title, especially if JAMAL/Ease and M_M God/Ro play themselves to a draw.
vys is a solid, laggy underspider with a good 7-Star value, and should be an able defender of the under passage.
Lockdown is their 6-Star spider. I don't remember playing him, but WBs usually make pretty decent spids. Jessup is another option at the 6-Star for Power, and has improved quite a bit the past 2 years.
Henry Saari is a very good spider with lots of experience in TWDT-B, but probably won't see play given he's an 8-Star, and that slot is taken by their terrier in Heaven.
Legio XI
Ogron will be starting the TWDT-B Finals in terr for the 5th time in 6 seasons, as he looks to claim his 4th TWDT-B title, and 3rd in terr, which would tie Mikkiz for most all-time in the ship. Look for him to target Heaven early and often, as well as bullet and pay a lot of attention to under.
Mythril capped and lead this team to the finals with stellar play across all three leagues, and his vast experience across multiple TWLB Finals on Pandora and Thunder will help him go toe-to-toe with Power's formidable shark line. Look for him to be aggressive and push the tempo.
Rodney won back-to-back TWDT-B championships in 2016 on Baratheon and Terrorist as a 7-Star, and he'll look to add a third title as an 8-Star. Mythril and him have played well this season, and he's won a basing final both with and against Zidane, so he has plenty of experience to draw on. This is a very tough shark matchup, but I believe these two will hold their own.
JAMAL is one of the greatest spiders in the history of Trench Wars. He's a monster MVP machine who has won 4 TWLB championships and 3 TWDT-B titles. Look for him to lead our team in kills and dominate.
M_M God is another legendary TWLB spider, who has played in final after final, impacting the game with huge pushes, great lag, and led the league in Teks multiple times. Nobody scares Heaven more than MM God. Nobody scares me more than MM God! That's why I make sure he's on my team every year -- I don't want that laggy piece of shit diving me 30x a game : )
Steadman rounds out our overspider line, as one of our key 7-Star spiders. He's fresh off winning the Basing Cup, and has been a stellar low-star spider. I value him and Tripin similarly, and they're both fanstastic for their cost.
TJ Hazuki is another excellent 7-Star player, and he'll be taking over for Rasaq, who can't show this sunday. Rasaq was an absolute god all season, and a broken 7-Star. That said, I've won two TWDT-B titles starting TJ Hazuki, so my concern level is zero. He'll be playing under instead of over, but I expect him to be solid regardless. He's a veteran spider who typically costs 8-Stars, so you couldn't ask for a better guy to step up.
Beam is arguably the best 6-Star out there, given he can both shark and spider. He'll be starting the round in spider, but could shift to shark if we want more firepower in spider and sub Omega Red in.
Omega Red is a great player who has started TWLB S19 Finals under, and is the defending TWDT-B Champion as a shark. He's 8-Star value, which puts him in the same awkward predicament as Henry. If we need more firepower, Omega is a beast under.
Prediction
This really is a toss-up for me, I think it's pretty close. Basing is pretty momentum-based, so it can swing pretty heavily based on just a few plays. If you'd asked my honest opinion about the 2017 (Winter) Finals, I would have given my team about a 90% chance of winning. I couldn't see us ever losing that Final. I think here it's very close to 50%. Spezza thinks it's heavily in favor of Power, but I don't agree. I feel like it's slightly in our favor. I've gone with Power in the last two, but I'm gonna go with Legio XI on this one. I think it's going to be a really competitive final, and could go either way, but my feeling is M_M God and JAMAL are going to do serious work, under will hold, and Mythril and Rodney will give me and our spids enough room to do work.
My biggest concern is their cram, which should be incredibly hard to break. If we win the same amount of FR battles, I think they'll hold cram longer and win the title. We'll need to hold under and win over and have less terr deaths to win TWDT-B. We lose our terr advantage every time they hold cram, and their strengths are accentuated with two max slots sharks. We can't give them too many opportunities to cram. I'll have to play extremely well and stay alive for that to happen, but I'm confident I can do it.
Our entire chat is on both teams, so I wish Power good luck in the Finals, and may the best team win!
P.S.: Thanks to Rab for salvaging my post!
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