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TWDT-D Draft Review
Since no one else has made one for my favorite ship, decided I'd take a crack at it.
Terrorist
Rating: A+
Lineup: Ease (10) Beam (9) Dreamwin (8.5) Maito_Chi (7.5) Willby (6)
subs: Mean Gene (7) Raijin (7) Rage Ritual (7) Major Crisis (7.5) Olde (8) Aggi (6.5)
Terrorist looks very strong this season in warbird. With Ease, Beam and Dreamwin all able to field themselves comfortably along side some of the best 7 stars and 6 star player (Willby), they are posed to do damage. The only real concern I see is with Beam and if he's going to be able to shake his string of poor performances as of late. Unfortunately a lot of pressure is going to be on his shoulders to perform well this season as he is pivotal to their lineup to win games. Time will tell if he arises to the occasion or not.
Otherwise Dreamwin did a great job drafting for this division in having so many lower star players that are good players that he can swap in and out with leaving the big 3 to take care of the rest. Expect these guys to do damage this season and can almost guarantee you they will be in the playoffs.
Halo
Rating: A-
Lineup: Turban (9.5) Morph (8.5) Jurassic (8) Kira_yamato~ (8) Lag Killer (7)
subs: Assembly (8) Kassius (7.5) Cripple (7.5) Kings (6) Blt_12 (6.5)
Big daddy Crips hyped up on viagra, ritalin and jack daniels made one hell of a lineup for his warbird division this season. Morph is going to be the biggest piece to that lineup seeing as he's underrated (again--despite all my objections) alongside Turban and Jurassic all of which are able to do massive damage.
There is one big flaw with these warbirds I see and that's the ability to comeback from a bad starts to rally to win. You can expect this lineup from Halo to be very aggressive on the onset of games, rushing you at full bore with the people they have which is going to grant them some spectacular wins. I also see them having some spectacular losses as well since their players mostly rely controlling momentum from the start, not so much regaining it if losing leads early game to mid game.
Another thing that I see potential worry for is the lack of 7 star players to fill the notches when subs are needed or for no shows. This team is too heavy with 8's and above and not heavy enough with low stars 7.5 and below. This leaves the front runners with little room for error and puts a lot of pressure on the low stars who do play perform which is not ideal. Even still, I expect Halo to do quite well this season despite the occasional L's they are going to rack up.
Pure Luck
Rating: B+
Lineup: Dak (9) Banzi (8) Whispus (8) Tiny (8) a2m (8)
subs: Lofty (7.5) a2m (8) zidane (8) renzi (7.5) gushing (7.5) tj hazuki (6)
Tiny's warbird lineup seems more like an afterthought rather than one drafted out of necessity. And while it's relatively abundant with great mid tier players, Dak is the only high star player followed up by Banzi in this mix mash of 'what the fuck'ness'.
And no offense to Dak or Banzi but they're the type of players that excel mostly when they're surrounded by other high caliber players removing some of that pressure, allowing them to sit in the pocket hammer out out precision shots which they both do well.
I don't see their teammates allowing them to do much of that this season though hindering PL's warbird chances that much more. Dak's just not the type of 9* player who's going to go out, create plays and create pressure on opposing teams allowing his teammates to follow suit giving them a chance to rack up a few easy shots like you'd see with Bacon or Flew.
And while Pure Luck might be able to put the winning pieces together and smash in some underdog wins from on the backfoot, this team is most definitely going to struggle during it's early weeks with an identity crisis until they are able to get on top of who they can rely on to score while under pressure which I expect them to under a lot of (pressure) nearly every single game. You won't see much forward movement from this bunch.
I must say, do NOT count Tiny out in terms of his ability to fill gaps in his line-ups. I expect to see some great trades and great picks in the FA that can definitely make this team become more rounded and a real contender should they go to the post season.
Scumbags
Rating: B for BACON! NOM NOM NOM NOM...
Lineup: Bacon (9) Geio (8.5) Temujin (8) Kovalchuck (8) Autopilot (7.5)
subs: Violence (7.5) Zeebu (7.5) JZ (7.5) Frozen Throne (7)
Violence wasted no time whatsoever grabbing the most explosive, underrated player of last seasons draft as his first pick ; Bacon. This will be interesting to watch to see how Bacon is able to hold onto his own for a change while under a LOT of pressure which he will be under every single game being he's the only real high tier bird on the field.
Seasons before he's been surrounded by talented players like Saiyan, Morph and the like to help out this burden. This season Bacon is going to have to be the sole player to create pressure, create key plays and to spread out the opposing teams birds for his teammates to make pivotal kills.
Yes, he does have some help with Geio and Temujin to pick up some of the slack but that's about it. This team is very much like Pure Lucks but worse with their secondary due to the over abundance 7 star players--where Tiny's team has more 8's.
What it does better than Pure luck? Well--Bacon over Dak.. Again no offense to Dak, he's just not aggressive enough compared to other 9's. Even still you can at least expect this team to push forward at the start of matches which could create some fun wins to watch. Just don't expect them to pull off many late game comebacks or any combacks at all really.
Another thing worth noting that like Pure Luck-- this team is going to inevitably struggle with an identity crisis until they sort out who they can rely on to put up points each week. I think aside from Bacon and maybe Geio/Temu, anybody's spot on the line can be up for grabs which would make me lose sleep at night if I were violence. No one is safe here until they find a formula that works and they better find it soon if they want to go into the post season. Fortunately Violence might be able to patch up his line-up during the FA or with some trades. For now, it looks rather bleak.
Hokage
Rating: A+
Lineup: Iron Survivor (10) Tripin (9) Commodo (8) Dazz (7) IxaDor(7)
subs: Maketso (8) Banks (7) Sarger (7) BugySwartz (6)
Iron Survivor, the legend, the GOAT--is taking a crack at captain this season and his knowledge for the game shows with his picks not just in warbird but other divisions. Worth mentioning having a long time friend and teammate in Tripin is going to payoff dividends as they both can do some serious damage together. He also drafted myself and I've been playing with the Potenza bunch off and on since 2016 and know exactly what to expect from those guys which is good should my number get called.
Commodo is a very strong 8 and Maketso is also a great value at 8. This all followed by a strong bunch of 7's which will help Iron cherry pick the best players to have fill out his lineup. I do see some growing pains but Iron Survivor is one of the most clutch players EVER in this game and is a massive threat especially in post season when all cylinders are firing.
I love the depth we have in the secondary and we shouldn't have issue moving people around when and if the time comes. Regardless, there's a lot of flexibility with this unit in terms of lineup creation which history shows is key to success. I will say for myself, this might be the first time in the last 3-4 seasons where I might actually get to play and am excited to give it a crack and couldn't be happier with the man who's running it as I've known Iron for many years now.
All in all, very well rounded and stable looking and strong looking team. Expect this team to only get stronger after FA comes around and potential trades get made to polish out this lineup further.
HYPE!
Rating: A
Lineup: Saiyan (10) Creature (9.5), Zizzo (8), Ra (8) Honcho (6)
subs: Rough (8.5) Dwopple (7.5) Nlie (6.5) Beast (6.5)
Dwopple was able to scoop up two of the most explosive, dynamic players I've had the fun to watch over the years--Creature & Saiyan. But where he falls short somewhat is his weak 8 star players Ra, Zizzo and Rough peppered with low stars that aren't very good for their rating or just will be hard to fit into the lineup.
This is going to put some pressure on Creature and Saiyan until they figure out who to slot behind them as aside from those two, every spot will be up for grabs during the early weeks. This team is by no means bad and if guys like Zizzo play like he did for me back when I was a captain or Rough like he did when I played under him a few seasons back with Haze, then sky's the limit for this bunch.
I'll point out I definitely see the having some identity crisis which I already hinted at in the first few weeks which is going to test Dwopple as a captain to find a lineup that works. They're likely going to lose some key matches until this gets settled. Make no mistake, this team has the pieces to succeed and Dwopple will be surrounded by lots of veteran's that have either captained winning teams before or know the game inside out which is good news for him. If he plays his cards right with trading or the FA, this team could become quite scary for those that oppose them.
LifeBan
Rating: A-
Lineup: Vice (10) Animeboy12 (9) Trasher (8.5) Big King (7.5) Bonghits (6)
subs: Wirah (7.5) Kess (7.5) Paradise (7.5) Afri (7.5) Shaggy2Dope (7.5)
Vys is no stranger to warbird and his team is looking rather tough this season with the front runners obviously being Vys, Animeboy and Trasher. Vys was able to snatch up some high quality 7.5 star players like Wirah, BigKing, and Afri which will be a huge boost to their warbird core come gameday should he need one of them.
One glaring issue is the lack of 8's to fill in for subs or no-shows. Another thing this team falls a little short on their 6 star players but they're actually not as bad as some of the others out there when compared--which should pay off big time as the 6 star slot is going to be key. Vys could find his hands full with the fact he has so many 7.5 players and too few 6's & 8's if trouble arises. Of course something else to watch for is Vys's lag issues which could be a guillotine for this team on any given match day as he's the focal piece, the cornerstone for victories and I don't see them winning if he's on the bench should that pesky lag takes him out.
I do expect Vys to continue building on his already strong roster in the FA though and maybe with some key trades he can help smooth things out to add more depth to their weak secondary. I definitely see this group going into the post season so long as everyone stays on point and is firing with all cylinders.
Prayer
Rating: A-
Lineup: Flew (9) Stayon (8) Zapata (8.5) Props (8) Yeh (7.5)
subs: Ardour (8) Mikkiz (7.5) Omega Red (7)
The asian with persuasion--the one & only Flewdiddy is back yet again captaining a team in draft tourney. Now I like what Flew did here with his picks, big improvement over his last draft but I think he fell short on the quality in his low stars he chose if it comes down to someone not showing or if a sub is needed.
This can easily be corrected with FA and trades but until that happens, he better hope that his key players show up, do well and don't need to be subbed because the lack of depth this team has is startlingly in terms of it's warbird front. The only 7 star I'd be comfortable playing would be Omega Red and his 6 stars really should be 5's if I am going to be honest.
However, this team with guys like Zapata, Props, Stayon and of course Flew is a combo bound to do damage for sure. If guys like Ardour get active and unrust, I may even play him over Stayon if I were Flew but that's yet to be seen.
Yeh is the most laggy player in the entire zone putting everyone else to shame with the amount of bullets he can eat and not to mention the sheer frustration he can cause other teams so I'd imagine Flew is going to play him every chance even if Yeh doesn't get a single kill and plays poorly. The amount of disruption to games he causes is enough to topple even the best of teams.
All in all, I feel like Flew did well here and expect them to win lots of games so long as his key players show, perform and heaven forbid don't need to be subbed out or that's when the cracks will show their ugly heads.
Unknown25
Rating:F+ (does that even exist? LOL it should..)
Lineup: Jamal (8.5) Paky Dude (8) Star Fox (8) BOMBED (8) Cape (8) *power - 40.5
subs: Spectacular (7.5) Hellzno (7)
Golden Aim REALLY dropped the ball on his warbird draft picks. In fact, I'd bet money he didn't even care about this division at all. This team is so bad in terms of lacking firepower in warbird folks that they won't even be able to meet the 41 star cap on gameday!! It's that bad.
They'll fall shy of it only able to produce a 40.5 on gameday with any combination they can produce. This team is riddled with low to mid tier players, none of which are going to go out and win games consistently and lacks depth altogether when it comes time for subs or no shows.
Sure, we'll see sparks from Jamal, or Paky Dude or Bombed on any given Sunday but the consistency isn't there. High caliber players crucial for wins are all but absent. I feel bad for guys like Paky Dude who deserve to be on a good warbird lineup.
It kind of bothers me that GA clearly disregarded the division instead seeking players for Javelin and Base. Don't expect much from these guys anytime soon. The only way GA is going to be able to right ship is with trading and some crucial FA picks but it's hard to say if he'll even try to do it given his track record thus far as he may just continue focusing on other divisions.
Sad but true!
On the positive, we might see new or underused players get a go at games. My only hope is players show up for game day and we don't see forfeits from this group in warbird matches since as history has shown--when people draft this bad in a division, people don't feel like getting beat down every Sunday as it's not fun & is a waste of time.
Blast
Rating: A+
Lineup: RaCka (10) Ro (9) Ogron (8.5) Ravage (7.5) Mouse (6)
subs: Midoent (7.5) POID (7.5) LF (7) Celly (6)
RaCka has brought Blast back again for another championship run. With a lineup of himself, Ro and Ogron, this is going to be a handful for other teams to beat. And as much as I want to sing praise about this squad heralded by another GOAT--I just can't.
There is some glaring issues in this squad's depth, namely that the only 7's RaCka grabbed aren't very good value 7's. Same goes for his 6 star players.
Now his 7.5's? RaCka has some depth to this with Ravage, Midoent and Poid. Any of those guys can step up and play more than their value. If Ogron finds himself off his game come gameday, he might actually find himself replaced that day by one of those guys but.. BUT.. that doesn't bode well with me because it hurts the team's overall in the star power when other teams can comfortably field 41 (well mostly).
This team needs to be more well rounded and like a broken record now--this can happen with FA and trades. I know RaCka and Ro are going to Rock N Roll but the remaining lineup is questionable as of now. Ogron can be a fantastic warbird but last season he seemed uninspired so there's some question marks going into this season with him. It help's he an 8.5 now which allows RaCka to insert a better low star when Ogron is in to bolster their ranks.
Make no mistake--this squad is destined to win games, no doubt about it. But I can definitely see some frustrating losses ahead until RaCka gets a handle on fixing up the secondary. As it stands, there's too much pressure for his lower stars to perform well. This can make or break players and can be troublesome come game time for teams.
You're welcome!
-Ixa
changelog:
-fixed typo's
-colored ratings to standout more (A - green, B - yellow, D/F- red)
-readjusted some lineups based off feedback
-adjusted some team's overall ratings
-decreased the fonts
Aggi, Remark, Retroaction are all 6.5's. You're the only 6 but even still, I'd play you over those 6.5's too! <3
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