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Ambush - Saiyan
Draft rating 9/10
Saiyan was given the unfortunate role of being first one to pick. It may look like an advantage, you are getting best player from draft, but then next one is in theory is 18th best player. Saiyan of course, being 10/10/10, was not hurt by that, as after 3 rounds his team looked by far one of the best and his picks made sense for entire draft. Key players for both wb and jav were also secured, so very thin base line is only thing he is getting point reduction for. If he wants to field his best basers, this would mean 2 untested players included as spiders.
Wb rating 8/10
Saiyan is probably looking at fielding team saiyan/turban/hulk/strong/rojo. Alot depends on how fast the key players like strong/turban get into wb shape, but this is looking pretty decent on paper. Azuline can also play part being rotated with hulk/strong, while he has also plenty of options to test lineups with lower rated, but decent wbs like rylo, whispus, and bluff. Besides saiyan though, this team does not have any other key players able to decide games and turban second highest rated has been sort of on-off in wb in recent times. There are also several unknown quality 6-6.5* svs players, who could perhaps learn wb at decent level, but then again, low vp players are hardly needed as ambush does not have that many highly rated wbs on roster.
Jav rating 9/10
2 10* javs in turban/saiyan is a considerable force and capable of deciding games as we have witnessed in previous leagues. Hulk will also play important role, as will either azuline or strong. That freq would mean though that 6.5* rated player is also needed, looking at roster, options are rucci, unlimited, abo and pawner. So definitely a weakness in otherwise very good looking team. Benching hulk for another 8* would able to to fit in some 7*, but list is not that encouraging with joeses, cig smoke, bluff and whispus listed. Still saiyan + turban is very scary combo and can carry teams in dt format.
Base rating 8/10
Looks like saiyan will field hulk/joeses as sharks, being one of the strongest duos in league. Azuline will be terrier perhaps, as i dont see turban being wasted there, with saiyan turban and rucci handling top spiders, making up very strong core. This leaves 13,5 points, 6 and 6.5* players as last duo, which can definitely become a problem. I wouldnt worry if those spiders would be EG players, but coming from svs, tw basing is really different thing. Maybe pawner will be played as one spider? Another alternative option would be to bench rucci and get pretty decent strong/unlimited in. Time will tell how this base team will gel.
Would I want to be on this team?
Well I wouldnt get any playtime here, but team looks nice with decent shot at title, so sure.
How far they will go?
Playoff quality for sure
Pure luck - Tiny
Draft rating 7/10
Picking up vys as second pick made sense probably, Tiny, being lowest rated player really need 10* power to back him up. But rest of strategy seemed very duelling focused and not at all balanced. I believe dak was picked up way too early, i think last league he was picked even after me, so that seemed like a waste, also there is really no manouverability in base, maximum lineup they can make is 69, if anyone from key players is not missing, this means they are automatically already playing undervalued, which is always a risk. Picking up rampage in second round was also i think too early with stayon/hulk/skatarius/cripple etc still available. So i wouldnt rate this draft strategy too high.
Wb rating 9/10
Well maybe because of vys, but tiny seemed to really focus on duellers early on and this definitely has given him very experienced and dangerous lineup. Vys/dak/tiny/tripin/siaxis are all great wbs with loads of experience, but they definitely need a low star to step up. Willby/mark/captor/public assasin all fitting the vp range. Another option is to bench some of the higher ranked players and balance with 8* banks/scuzzy. There are definitely some decent 7.5* available as well.
Jav rating 9/10
I can see vys/rampage/tiny all starting and making the backbone of the lineup. This means they have 15.5* to fill last 2 spots. So any combination of 8 (banks, siaxis)/7.5(dak, tripin, rekashi) or 8.5(scuzzy/7(frozen throne). So plenty of options and no real threat of low star throwing the game. Perhaps only issue i can see here is that vys by playstyle is rather passive while rampage/tiny push on hard, so balancing deaths and having great teamwork is something they need to work on.
Base rating 7/10
Well after finally picking up choosing some basers for line up, so they can at least make a 69* line, but yea if any higher rated player is missing, this team is in trouble. Another questionmark is tiny being terrier. Mark/willby is definitely a good duo to terr behind, but tiny is somewhat crazy at times with some moves and those moves can be really demoralizing to team. FT/banks/vys/groan all great spiders and they can easily fit PA/rampage as under, so spiders look solid. One option is to use FT as terrier, but that would again weaken their spiderlineup.
So i cannot really give higher rating for this reason.
Would I want to be on this team?
Sure, so many ranchers, would feel like home.
How far they will go?
I think solid picks for wb/jav will give them enough wins to make it for playoffs and they can be considered title contenders for both wb and jav
Power - Zidane
Draft rating - 9/10
Zidane has been most successful DT captain in recent times and this all starts with his strong strategy in draft and similar pattern was seen here as well. Zid always prefers multishippers, who can be useful in all leagues and majority of his early picks go under that category. Majority of picks were also more or less timed well. Beam probably could have been picked though a few rounds later, considering how late he has gone in recent leagues. Zid also likes to pick his favored low stars pretty early. It was azzaz last league, but Dad this time. Maybe this could have also been done a few rounds later. So not a perfect score, but overall very nice draft as always from Zid.
Wb rating - 8/10
Wb has been sort one league where zid is heavily relying on his team to succeed. This time the line is lead by okyo/beam/bacon. Adding one of the many 8*/genx to that lineup and you got yourselves a favorite. Power really has a nice lineup of 8* wbs: dare, spectacular, zidane, stayon, violence, jessup. So theoretically they can also drop one of 9* and genx and play with 42.5. Some questions as always though on in what mood beam is and if bacon can get up to shape fast as he has been away from game for a while. If okyo though is as active as in previous leagues, this could be a truly dangerous team.
Jav rating - 9/10
Jav lineup looks very promising with zidane, stayon and okyo taking the heavy load. With 15 remaining points there are some options. Either 8 (bacon, beam, spectacular) and 7 stars (Rabbit!, dare, retroaction, phantom) as last 2. Another option is to use 2 7.5 players from the roster of genx, violence, telemanus and jessup. I would think zid prefers first option as there is definitely some undervalue and i can see some 7* capable of playing on higher level, but versatility is always good. So power has truly awesome top lineup backed up with some underrated low stars, recipy for success.
Base rating - 10/10
Power has been a powerhouse always in base and I expect this team to dominate again this year. Genx seems to be taking terrier role after impressing in this role in last league and looks like beam will get more chances in shark partnering zidane. Spiders are once again very good with okyo/bacon/stayon core and dare/dad looking to take care of under. They have also an option to use violence as shark if beam fails for some reason, then azzaz steps in instead of dare. They also have possibility of using rabbit/snoopie instead of dare/dad to see which works better. So well combined team with plenty of multishippers taking care of those games if someone fails to show up.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, was kinda hurt zid dropped me, being on power last couple of leagues
Its always a nice mixture of genx/beam drama, but also some great games and loads of wins.
How far they will go?
Definitely in playoffs, but i dont see them doing triple finals this season. Base team looks great though.
Legendary - Bombed
Draft rating - 9/10
Probably the most excited captain out of them all coming back from his first ever title, Bombed had pretty good draft. One can always question lockdown as first round pick, then again, majority of the first round picks were anyways captains already, so looking at available people, it was decent choice.I also have to give props to bombed strategy in draft. He clearly had an idea and he executed it well. At least for first 10 or so rounds he picked players, whos ratings were dropped, which is actually pretty clever in essence, because this is probably also indication they may be undervalued for this draft. So pretty much all of his top 10 picks (apart from autopilot who didnt play and skatarius) were higher rated last league in something or in case of some players in multiple ships. He also picked up temujin/animeboy without sacrificing his strategy in late rounds. 2 legendary 1% showup players, but they could come in handy if they actually show for important games.
Wb rating - 9/10
Legendary is looking strong in wb. Lead by bombed/lockdown and backed up with huge number of 8+ rated players (autopilot, skatarius, raazi, zapata, temujin, animeboy, hosack, booker etc), he has many options to make up the freq. Many of them are also experienced wb-backround players who know how to play in 5v5 format. There is also wildcard animeboy at 9* perhaps available at some games. One is sure though, with bombed/ld making up 19.5, whoever make up top 4 players, they needs a low vp to step up as 5th. So expect players like, jabra, oder, sunny d, x-demo, captain lonestar, dequadin, oldshiat trying to impress to stay in line.
Jav rating - 9/10
God knows to how many games temujin will show, but he is good backup option as they can thrive easily also without him with bombed/lockdown/skatarius/autopilot all capable of playing well in ship. Still this lineup definitely needs a low star at max 7.5 vp. Zapata/raazi/booker are most likely getting a shot there, both experienced enough to survive and support. So very solid line that can become great with temujin showing up and making legendary have 2 10* players in game. This would also give jabra (8) chances to play replacing some higher rated player.
Base rating 8/10
Bombed decided really to go all in for spiders and probably at some point panicked realizing that he has really no top sharks/terriers left to pick. So legendary base lineup at this stage looks like a very weird experiment, which may be stroke of genius, but may also fail miserably.
Legendary spider lineup is truly legendary. Bombed/skatarius/autopilot/lockdown/raazi. Fck, this has lag and massive amount of skill. But here comes but. This would mean x-demo takes terrier and shark duo is made up from zapata/oder, both sharks having their ratings reduced from last year. So yea, usually it’s either lower star terr or 1 shark, but legendary has all 3 players at 8* or lower. Interesting games ahead.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, always fun to play with other old EGrs.
How far they will go?
Definitely in playoffs and serious contenders in both wb/Jav
Cape - Dice
Draft rating - 9/10
Cape finally managed to show up to draft without being intoxicated and equipped with playerlist and this also shows in quality. Picks were all made more or less correct rounds and only thing cape really missed was getting some influential wb to lead that lineup. Otherwise there is a nice mixture of underrated low stars, experienced veterans and multishippers.
Wb rating - 8/10
Either on purpose or accidentally, dice is only team without any 9.5 or higher rated wb. This of course gives them chance of making a really solid lineup without using those annoying choking low stars, but also puts them in danger of missing that key player that would win neck-to-neck games, which especially comes handy in playoffs, where stakes are higher.
Dice can field lineup like cape/rough/creature/banzi/riverside, where none of the players are below 8.5 and that has definitely value. There is also flew available, but his inclusion would mean already getting some lower rated player also in lineup, but refer/omega red at 7.5 could be worth trying.
Jav rating - 10/10
I really like jav lineup that dice can field. Rough leads the pack with cape, 9* yeh and creature can do really well. Cape has really well composed team for jav, where there is decent choice for almost every vp available. This gives great flexibility if people are missing and opportunity of finding that working combination.
I feel like refer at 6.5, could be underrated, same can be said about 7.5 delos and flew. Omega has ever now and then also put up great games with his annoying lag. Zizzo at 8 seems also like a great pick to be tested.
Base rating - 8/10
Base lineup has some issues. Zizzo did great in terr last season and rated at 9 is an asset. They got good sharks in omega red/riverside, but not always on top of their game, especially river. Cape himself with his versatility can also take any ship if needed. There are some questions about the spiders though. Sword of course is known quality at 10, but rest of spiders (unless cape spiders himself) are all valued 8.5 or under. Refer/cow lives will be probably tested as under, rough, creature and banzi are most likely to fight together with sword. I can see them struggling against strong base teams.
Would I want to be on this team?
Being low star and having rough on team, i dont think so. Also i think i would get 0 gametime here as there are better players at my similar rating in all ships available.
How far they will go?
Playoff contenders, how they gel in base really decides if they get enough points there and wb strategy without any key players is risky.
Terrorist - Dreamwin
Draft rating - 8/10
Dw is really legendary captain and he started off the draft well. Picking commodo for support in jav and base and iron survivor to lead the wb line. Getting cripple so late was also masterstroke, but after that i feel like his draft fell off a bit. Mvp is understandable pick due to lack of quality sharks in 9 team league. In any case I think picking Clark in round 4 was a bit too soon, guy called burnt (never seen him i think or is that some alias?) who plays on average 10 games per year was picked in 7th round, another guy scoop has no recorded games for god knows how long. Maybe those guys are personal friends for dw and its masterstroke? Not sure, but anyways i believe they could have been also acquired later. Math was also a bit off for dw, especially in making up jav/base lineup, but more of that later.
Last part of draft went well though. He got spookedone relatively late, tj in 10th round is also nice pick and christian10 is imho one of the best potential low stars, so he can be really valuable for terrorist.
Wb rating - 9/10
Dw has picked really strong wb line. Iron survivor is one of the few 10*, clark and cripple surely know how to play this ship as well, maybe this burnt guy will also show and mop floor, he is 9* after all. Commodo, ra and berzerk all decent 8*, there is also paky available to test variety of ships and christian can surely live up to his 7 rating and more. So strong wbs to lead the line, plenty of options from bench, this team could be contender in wb.
Jav rating 7/10
While dw himself and commodo are obvious starters, rest of team just looks weak with iron survivor only player above 8.5. There is also cripple at 8, but problem is that while terrorist many 6.5 and 7.5 players in lineup to fill that last spot, there are only 2 7* ones in clark and henry saari. Neither of them has really shown amazing jav skills of late. So either some 6.5 really plays as 7.5 (looking at christian/tj), they are going to struggle against top teams.
Also if any of the 4 starters is missing, this team is bound to suck balls. So cannot rate this higher
Base rating 9/10
Terrorist looks strong in base and fun fact, if u put together all VPs, they have the highest number of total vps in base out of all squads. Of course it does not matter much if u cannot field your best players, but terrorist, with exception of under spiders, really has a very solid setup. Spooked can lead in terr with commodo/mvp taking shark roles. Spider lineup is impressive with dreamwin/cripple/tj leading the way. Tj role can be also given to either Ra or Henri Saari depending on need. This leads to 14 points for remaining under spiders with options of using either 7.5 (likes of clark, scoop, berzerk) and 6.5 (only ixador) combo or 2 7* spiders (christian, paky dude, wazzaa). So neither option really looks that convincing. DW has some testing to do. If they can fix that under situation, they will be favorites.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, think its fun team to play on, they got potential.
How far they will go?
No matter jav issues, they are contenders in wb and depending on how unders will do can also go far in base.
Cloud - Mythril
Draft rating 6/10
If we look at mythrils draft overall it started fine. Renzi and hellkite are both great and versatile players. Picking kado at 4th round seems weird though. Looking at data, he has played total of 7 draft league matches in last 3 years and hasnt had a single registered game in mmr and has not been seen more than 10 days ago. Inactive players usually start going from 8th round onwards. 100 in 5th rounds seems also way too soon, he went in 14th round just last draft league. Even if player seems underrated, i just cannot see big rush towards 100 from other captains so early, also looking at myths picks, he really does not need low star players. On top of that, i do not see really that all ship players needed in draft were actually picked, so more on that later. In any case, surprisingly poor draft imho from myth.
Wb rating 8/10
Cannot really bet against myth in wb. Feels like he is really tired of low stars ruining games, so he decided to just get rasaq (9*) and fill rest of lineup with 8 star players. There are plenty of them on roster though, so those 3 slots can be rotated between renzi, kado, 100, singer, beast and 2pacz. This means though that myth and rasaq have to show to every single game, otherwise it will be a disaster. So if all the players show, cloud can definitely put up a fight and without any low stars will be very solid unit. Myth will definitely commit to showing, but will rasaq also show for every game? Time will tell. Also, looking at those 8*, there are many, but i have serious questions about kado/singer/2pacz showrate, which also leaves myth vulnerable here, as rest of his players are all 7.5 or lower.
Jav rating 7/10
It is similar story in jav, except for they dont have anyone above 9* in lineup, which on paper makes this even more dangerous playing field. Mythril definitely has to play himself as 9 and then he has 2 options. Either field 4 8.5* (list is long to pick from: hellkite, hellzno!, bugyswartz, singer, aprix, but only 3 are really active). Or then kado also shows as 9, which means fielding 2 8.5* and 8* (rasaq, renzi, beast). Mythril probably had 23 fall season in mind when his cloud team won with the same setup, but that time he had actually stayon supporting him as 9.5, this time he has to do it all himself as i just dont see kado showing up for entire season. Which is why i think this strategy will fail.
Base rating 6/10
It gets even worse in base. To start off, feels like myth only discovered very late in draft that he had no terriers really listed on roster. So in rounds 10/11 he picked aprix and apt. Aprix is probably one of those who signed up for league and forgot about it. He hasnt really been seen in weeks. Same can be said about apt, whos last competitive game took place in December. So time will tell if either will show up. It gets even worse with sharks, because i really do not see anyone besides myth himself as a shark. Sure hellkite can do it well, but is he really 10* shark? Would be waste of VPs there imho. So yea, spider selection if hellkite actually plays that is pretty good with renzi also there, 8.5 rasaq/kado and dutch baser. Plenty of very good 7* ones as well who can definitely play like bugyswartz, beast or 100. In any case, cloud needs to do some trading or i am missing something.
Would I want to be on this team?
Well not really as low-stars are really not needed here and i cannot shark or terr.
How far they will go?
One of the teams i would put as highest risk for dropping from playoffs at this stage.
Prime - Racka
Draft rating 7/10
Cannot really rate rackas draft too much higher compared to cloud and i think both teams are also little bit similar with setup. It all started off really well by picking sarger, absurd, drose, dwop etc, all very nice picks for those rounds. In reality the picks, apart from a few, look decent. Problem with racka is that for some reason, unlike mythrill, idea of having a terrier on squad never occurred, which of course can be solving by terring himself. Time will tell, racka is also not rated 7.5, but 8, but comparisons with tiny are bound to happen. Another issue is with sharks. Dwopple is one of the best, but there is only ph to accompany him and ive been relatively active in tw for last 4-5 years, but ive never seen the dude. 9.5 rating of course shows he is top quality, but will he be there?. As for rest, team is well balanced, good and underrated picks with variety of VPs.
Wb rating 9/10
Racka the 10* leads the way, but similar to cloud, there is only 1 other player rated 9 in bike, who has not really been active. Luckily though, plenty of 8.5 stars around with sarger, absurd and drose all capable of doing things.
Overall I can see 3 lineup versions. With bike, 2 8.5* alongside racka/bike can be accompanied by 7*. Plenty of choices there with bick, ph, kim, johnie, honcho and coupe.
Without bike it can either go with 3 8.5 and 7.5 (thats me) or 2 8.5* and 2 8* (also great options in jz, dwopple, paradise and reckon). So in the end i feel like wb lineup has lots of versatility to support bad shows and also quality to finish games in Racka.
Jav rating 9/10
Jav lineup looks pretty solid and majority of players are also active. Racka and drose can really carry team and support is very good. Most logical lineup would see them accompanied by 8.5 (paradise or kim) and 2 8* (from selection of sarger, absurd, dwopple, jz, johnie). If both 8.5 show, 1 8* can be dropped for 7.5 (bike, lee, bick, reckon, coupe as options).
Base rating 6/10
Here we got into Cloud territory again. Will racka really be 8* terrier or will someone from lower rated players take on terring? Will ph show entire season? This would btw make prime having the highest rated shark duo this season. Spiders look very solid though with absurd and sarger and drose probably taking care of over. Ph showing though, would cause another issue as there will be only 13.5 points left for last 2 spots. It can be either 6 (cz530) accompanied with 7.5 star (jz, lee, bike, reckon as options) or 6.5 (coupe) accompanied with 7* (bick, kim, johnie, honcho). I see more potential in first version if cz can pick up things fast.
Would I want to be on this team?
Hell yea, will be fun season and looks like it pretty drama free season for a change with 5 out of my 10 favorite players on this squad.
How far they will go?
They will be carried with duelling entire season and need to get wins ther, base though has so many questionmarks. Hopefully it will not ruin their season.
Thunder - Ease
Draft rating - 9/10
Picking as last, his first round options were of course limited, but then again, picking last u get 2 players out of top 10 picks, so that is also worth something. Ease went with rainbow seeker and jamal and later added best and ekko as key players. Menelvagor probably could have gone also a bit later. Extra points for ease in picking all remaining terriers in draft in later rounds, either to just screw everyone up or having some good trading options for the future.
Wb rating 9/10
With ease, rainbow and best, you already have 3 awesome wbs, but playing them all would mean 6.5 (jackie, shaun, harder) /7.5 players taking other 2 spots and this just feels too dangerous. Also best in recent years hasnt really played as 9.5* wb, so i more see Ease lining up with rainbow, jamal and either 2 7.5* wbs (ekko, solace, draft, wbm, wirah) or if mikkiz shows (8*), putting him in with 7* (menel, rozay). First option seems more likely, but i think we probably will also see the lineup with best in being tested.
Jav rating 9/10
Jav lineups can be really setup in so many different ways. Most probably ease wants to play with other 10* best, otherwise he wouldnt have picked him so early. Jamal probably also gets a spot, which leaves us last 2 spots being divided either with another 8.5 (mikkiz)/6 (shaw, harder) 8 (rainbow, ekko)/6.5 (jackie, y0gi) or 7.5 (menel, shaun, wbm) /7 (solace, rozay, wirah). Probably will see some variations tested. There is also wildcard draft (9) as option, but his activity is questionable.
Base rating 9/10
Also base looks very strong. Mikkiz probably will show rarely and considering his 10* rating, that would also weaken spiders, but missing mikkiz isnt really an issue for ease, as he drafted at least 4 ppl capable of terring if he is missing, so ekko, draft, jackie etc can sub in.
Jamal/menel look to shark and solace/rainbow bring the spiderskills. There is also wbm (9*) option if he ever shows to a game. There are also jackie/rozay (7.5) who can fill in any ship and do not cost much. So team filled with versatile players that will probably suffer least from any bad showup in this league.
Would I want to be on this team?
Oh boy, who wouldnt enjoy the intellectual brilliance that oozes from Jamal.
How far they will go?
Very far, i would say this team has biggest potential of making it to triple finals.
So here we go, first draft league with more than 8 captains since 2022 winter, absolutely insane cap lineup and so many questions still up there.
Draft rating 9/10
Saiyan was given the unfortunate role of being first one to pick. It may look like an advantage, you are getting best player from draft, but then next one is in theory is 18th best player. Saiyan of course, being 10/10/10, was not hurt by that, as after 3 rounds his team looked by far one of the best and his picks made sense for entire draft. Key players for both wb and jav were also secured, so very thin base line is only thing he is getting point reduction for. If he wants to field his best basers, this would mean 2 untested players included as spiders.
Wb rating 8/10
Saiyan is probably looking at fielding team saiyan/turban/hulk/strong/rojo. Alot depends on how fast the key players like strong/turban get into wb shape, but this is looking pretty decent on paper. Azuline can also play part being rotated with hulk/strong, while he has also plenty of options to test lineups with lower rated, but decent wbs like rylo, whispus, and bluff. Besides saiyan though, this team does not have any other key players able to decide games and turban second highest rated has been sort of on-off in wb in recent times. There are also several unknown quality 6-6.5* svs players, who could perhaps learn wb at decent level, but then again, low vp players are hardly needed as ambush does not have that many highly rated wbs on roster.
Jav rating 9/10
2 10* javs in turban/saiyan is a considerable force and capable of deciding games as we have witnessed in previous leagues. Hulk will also play important role, as will either azuline or strong. That freq would mean though that 6.5* rated player is also needed, looking at roster, options are rucci, unlimited, abo and pawner. So definitely a weakness in otherwise very good looking team. Benching hulk for another 8* would able to to fit in some 7*, but list is not that encouraging with joeses, cig smoke, bluff and whispus listed. Still saiyan + turban is very scary combo and can carry teams in dt format.
Base rating 8/10
Looks like saiyan will field hulk/joeses as sharks, being one of the strongest duos in league. Azuline will be terrier perhaps, as i dont see turban being wasted there, with saiyan turban and rucci handling top spiders, making up very strong core. This leaves 13,5 points, 6 and 6.5* players as last duo, which can definitely become a problem. I wouldnt worry if those spiders would be EG players, but coming from svs, tw basing is really different thing. Maybe pawner will be played as one spider? Another alternative option would be to bench rucci and get pretty decent strong/unlimited in. Time will tell how this base team will gel.
Would I want to be on this team?
Well I wouldnt get any playtime here, but team looks nice with decent shot at title, so sure.
How far they will go?
Playoff quality for sure
Pure luck - Tiny
Draft rating 7/10
Picking up vys as second pick made sense probably, Tiny, being lowest rated player really need 10* power to back him up. But rest of strategy seemed very duelling focused and not at all balanced. I believe dak was picked up way too early, i think last league he was picked even after me, so that seemed like a waste, also there is really no manouverability in base, maximum lineup they can make is 69, if anyone from key players is not missing, this means they are automatically already playing undervalued, which is always a risk. Picking up rampage in second round was also i think too early with stayon/hulk/skatarius/cripple etc still available. So i wouldnt rate this draft strategy too high.
Wb rating 9/10
Well maybe because of vys, but tiny seemed to really focus on duellers early on and this definitely has given him very experienced and dangerous lineup. Vys/dak/tiny/tripin/siaxis are all great wbs with loads of experience, but they definitely need a low star to step up. Willby/mark/captor/public assasin all fitting the vp range. Another option is to bench some of the higher ranked players and balance with 8* banks/scuzzy. There are definitely some decent 7.5* available as well.
Jav rating 9/10
I can see vys/rampage/tiny all starting and making the backbone of the lineup. This means they have 15.5* to fill last 2 spots. So any combination of 8 (banks, siaxis)/7.5(dak, tripin, rekashi) or 8.5(scuzzy/7(frozen throne). So plenty of options and no real threat of low star throwing the game. Perhaps only issue i can see here is that vys by playstyle is rather passive while rampage/tiny push on hard, so balancing deaths and having great teamwork is something they need to work on.
Base rating 7/10
Well after finally picking up choosing some basers for line up, so they can at least make a 69* line, but yea if any higher rated player is missing, this team is in trouble. Another questionmark is tiny being terrier. Mark/willby is definitely a good duo to terr behind, but tiny is somewhat crazy at times with some moves and those moves can be really demoralizing to team. FT/banks/vys/groan all great spiders and they can easily fit PA/rampage as under, so spiders look solid. One option is to use FT as terrier, but that would again weaken their spiderlineup.
So i cannot really give higher rating for this reason.
Would I want to be on this team?
Sure, so many ranchers, would feel like home.
How far they will go?
I think solid picks for wb/jav will give them enough wins to make it for playoffs and they can be considered title contenders for both wb and jav
Power - Zidane
Draft rating - 9/10
Zidane has been most successful DT captain in recent times and this all starts with his strong strategy in draft and similar pattern was seen here as well. Zid always prefers multishippers, who can be useful in all leagues and majority of his early picks go under that category. Majority of picks were also more or less timed well. Beam probably could have been picked though a few rounds later, considering how late he has gone in recent leagues. Zid also likes to pick his favored low stars pretty early. It was azzaz last league, but Dad this time. Maybe this could have also been done a few rounds later. So not a perfect score, but overall very nice draft as always from Zid.
Wb rating - 8/10
Wb has been sort one league where zid is heavily relying on his team to succeed. This time the line is lead by okyo/beam/bacon. Adding one of the many 8*/genx to that lineup and you got yourselves a favorite. Power really has a nice lineup of 8* wbs: dare, spectacular, zidane, stayon, violence, jessup. So theoretically they can also drop one of 9* and genx and play with 42.5. Some questions as always though on in what mood beam is and if bacon can get up to shape fast as he has been away from game for a while. If okyo though is as active as in previous leagues, this could be a truly dangerous team.
Jav rating - 9/10
Jav lineup looks very promising with zidane, stayon and okyo taking the heavy load. With 15 remaining points there are some options. Either 8 (bacon, beam, spectacular) and 7 stars (Rabbit!, dare, retroaction, phantom) as last 2. Another option is to use 2 7.5 players from the roster of genx, violence, telemanus and jessup. I would think zid prefers first option as there is definitely some undervalue and i can see some 7* capable of playing on higher level, but versatility is always good. So power has truly awesome top lineup backed up with some underrated low stars, recipy for success.
Base rating - 10/10
Power has been a powerhouse always in base and I expect this team to dominate again this year. Genx seems to be taking terrier role after impressing in this role in last league and looks like beam will get more chances in shark partnering zidane. Spiders are once again very good with okyo/bacon/stayon core and dare/dad looking to take care of under. They have also an option to use violence as shark if beam fails for some reason, then azzaz steps in instead of dare. They also have possibility of using rabbit/snoopie instead of dare/dad to see which works better. So well combined team with plenty of multishippers taking care of those games if someone fails to show up.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, was kinda hurt zid dropped me, being on power last couple of leagues
Its always a nice mixture of genx/beam drama, but also some great games and loads of wins.How far they will go?
Definitely in playoffs, but i dont see them doing triple finals this season. Base team looks great though.
Legendary - Bombed
Draft rating - 9/10
Probably the most excited captain out of them all coming back from his first ever title, Bombed had pretty good draft. One can always question lockdown as first round pick, then again, majority of the first round picks were anyways captains already, so looking at available people, it was decent choice.I also have to give props to bombed strategy in draft. He clearly had an idea and he executed it well. At least for first 10 or so rounds he picked players, whos ratings were dropped, which is actually pretty clever in essence, because this is probably also indication they may be undervalued for this draft. So pretty much all of his top 10 picks (apart from autopilot who didnt play and skatarius) were higher rated last league in something or in case of some players in multiple ships. He also picked up temujin/animeboy without sacrificing his strategy in late rounds. 2 legendary 1% showup players, but they could come in handy if they actually show for important games.
Wb rating - 9/10
Legendary is looking strong in wb. Lead by bombed/lockdown and backed up with huge number of 8+ rated players (autopilot, skatarius, raazi, zapata, temujin, animeboy, hosack, booker etc), he has many options to make up the freq. Many of them are also experienced wb-backround players who know how to play in 5v5 format. There is also wildcard animeboy at 9* perhaps available at some games. One is sure though, with bombed/ld making up 19.5, whoever make up top 4 players, they needs a low vp to step up as 5th. So expect players like, jabra, oder, sunny d, x-demo, captain lonestar, dequadin, oldshiat trying to impress to stay in line.
Jav rating - 9/10
God knows to how many games temujin will show, but he is good backup option as they can thrive easily also without him with bombed/lockdown/skatarius/autopilot all capable of playing well in ship. Still this lineup definitely needs a low star at max 7.5 vp. Zapata/raazi/booker are most likely getting a shot there, both experienced enough to survive and support. So very solid line that can become great with temujin showing up and making legendary have 2 10* players in game. This would also give jabra (8) chances to play replacing some higher rated player.
Base rating 8/10
Bombed decided really to go all in for spiders and probably at some point panicked realizing that he has really no top sharks/terriers left to pick. So legendary base lineup at this stage looks like a very weird experiment, which may be stroke of genius, but may also fail miserably.
Legendary spider lineup is truly legendary. Bombed/skatarius/autopilot/lockdown/raazi. Fck, this has lag and massive amount of skill. But here comes but. This would mean x-demo takes terrier and shark duo is made up from zapata/oder, both sharks having their ratings reduced from last year. So yea, usually it’s either lower star terr or 1 shark, but legendary has all 3 players at 8* or lower. Interesting games ahead.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, always fun to play with other old EGrs.
How far they will go?
Definitely in playoffs and serious contenders in both wb/Jav
Cape - Dice
Draft rating - 9/10
Cape finally managed to show up to draft without being intoxicated and equipped with playerlist and this also shows in quality. Picks were all made more or less correct rounds and only thing cape really missed was getting some influential wb to lead that lineup. Otherwise there is a nice mixture of underrated low stars, experienced veterans and multishippers.
Wb rating - 8/10
Either on purpose or accidentally, dice is only team without any 9.5 or higher rated wb. This of course gives them chance of making a really solid lineup without using those annoying choking low stars, but also puts them in danger of missing that key player that would win neck-to-neck games, which especially comes handy in playoffs, where stakes are higher.
Dice can field lineup like cape/rough/creature/banzi/riverside, where none of the players are below 8.5 and that has definitely value. There is also flew available, but his inclusion would mean already getting some lower rated player also in lineup, but refer/omega red at 7.5 could be worth trying.
Jav rating - 10/10
I really like jav lineup that dice can field. Rough leads the pack with cape, 9* yeh and creature can do really well. Cape has really well composed team for jav, where there is decent choice for almost every vp available. This gives great flexibility if people are missing and opportunity of finding that working combination.
I feel like refer at 6.5, could be underrated, same can be said about 7.5 delos and flew. Omega has ever now and then also put up great games with his annoying lag. Zizzo at 8 seems also like a great pick to be tested.
Base rating - 8/10
Base lineup has some issues. Zizzo did great in terr last season and rated at 9 is an asset. They got good sharks in omega red/riverside, but not always on top of their game, especially river. Cape himself with his versatility can also take any ship if needed. There are some questions about the spiders though. Sword of course is known quality at 10, but rest of spiders (unless cape spiders himself) are all valued 8.5 or under. Refer/cow lives will be probably tested as under, rough, creature and banzi are most likely to fight together with sword. I can see them struggling against strong base teams.
Would I want to be on this team?
Being low star and having rough on team, i dont think so. Also i think i would get 0 gametime here as there are better players at my similar rating in all ships available.
How far they will go?
Playoff contenders, how they gel in base really decides if they get enough points there and wb strategy without any key players is risky.
Terrorist - Dreamwin
Draft rating - 8/10
Dw is really legendary captain and he started off the draft well. Picking commodo for support in jav and base and iron survivor to lead the wb line. Getting cripple so late was also masterstroke, but after that i feel like his draft fell off a bit. Mvp is understandable pick due to lack of quality sharks in 9 team league. In any case I think picking Clark in round 4 was a bit too soon, guy called burnt (never seen him i think or is that some alias?) who plays on average 10 games per year was picked in 7th round, another guy scoop has no recorded games for god knows how long. Maybe those guys are personal friends for dw and its masterstroke? Not sure, but anyways i believe they could have been also acquired later. Math was also a bit off for dw, especially in making up jav/base lineup, but more of that later.
Last part of draft went well though. He got spookedone relatively late, tj in 10th round is also nice pick and christian10 is imho one of the best potential low stars, so he can be really valuable for terrorist.
Wb rating - 9/10
Dw has picked really strong wb line. Iron survivor is one of the few 10*, clark and cripple surely know how to play this ship as well, maybe this burnt guy will also show and mop floor, he is 9* after all. Commodo, ra and berzerk all decent 8*, there is also paky available to test variety of ships and christian can surely live up to his 7 rating and more. So strong wbs to lead the line, plenty of options from bench, this team could be contender in wb.
Jav rating 7/10
While dw himself and commodo are obvious starters, rest of team just looks weak with iron survivor only player above 8.5. There is also cripple at 8, but problem is that while terrorist many 6.5 and 7.5 players in lineup to fill that last spot, there are only 2 7* ones in clark and henry saari. Neither of them has really shown amazing jav skills of late. So either some 6.5 really plays as 7.5 (looking at christian/tj), they are going to struggle against top teams.
Also if any of the 4 starters is missing, this team is bound to suck balls. So cannot rate this higher
Base rating 9/10
Terrorist looks strong in base and fun fact, if u put together all VPs, they have the highest number of total vps in base out of all squads. Of course it does not matter much if u cannot field your best players, but terrorist, with exception of under spiders, really has a very solid setup. Spooked can lead in terr with commodo/mvp taking shark roles. Spider lineup is impressive with dreamwin/cripple/tj leading the way. Tj role can be also given to either Ra or Henri Saari depending on need. This leads to 14 points for remaining under spiders with options of using either 7.5 (likes of clark, scoop, berzerk) and 6.5 (only ixador) combo or 2 7* spiders (christian, paky dude, wazzaa). So neither option really looks that convincing. DW has some testing to do. If they can fix that under situation, they will be favorites.
Would I want to be on this team?
Yea, think its fun team to play on, they got potential.
How far they will go?
No matter jav issues, they are contenders in wb and depending on how unders will do can also go far in base.
Cloud - Mythril
Draft rating 6/10
If we look at mythrils draft overall it started fine. Renzi and hellkite are both great and versatile players. Picking kado at 4th round seems weird though. Looking at data, he has played total of 7 draft league matches in last 3 years and hasnt had a single registered game in mmr and has not been seen more than 10 days ago. Inactive players usually start going from 8th round onwards. 100 in 5th rounds seems also way too soon, he went in 14th round just last draft league. Even if player seems underrated, i just cannot see big rush towards 100 from other captains so early, also looking at myths picks, he really does not need low star players. On top of that, i do not see really that all ship players needed in draft were actually picked, so more on that later. In any case, surprisingly poor draft imho from myth.
Wb rating 8/10
Cannot really bet against myth in wb. Feels like he is really tired of low stars ruining games, so he decided to just get rasaq (9*) and fill rest of lineup with 8 star players. There are plenty of them on roster though, so those 3 slots can be rotated between renzi, kado, 100, singer, beast and 2pacz. This means though that myth and rasaq have to show to every single game, otherwise it will be a disaster. So if all the players show, cloud can definitely put up a fight and without any low stars will be very solid unit. Myth will definitely commit to showing, but will rasaq also show for every game? Time will tell. Also, looking at those 8*, there are many, but i have serious questions about kado/singer/2pacz showrate, which also leaves myth vulnerable here, as rest of his players are all 7.5 or lower.
Jav rating 7/10
It is similar story in jav, except for they dont have anyone above 9* in lineup, which on paper makes this even more dangerous playing field. Mythril definitely has to play himself as 9 and then he has 2 options. Either field 4 8.5* (list is long to pick from: hellkite, hellzno!, bugyswartz, singer, aprix, but only 3 are really active). Or then kado also shows as 9, which means fielding 2 8.5* and 8* (rasaq, renzi, beast). Mythril probably had 23 fall season in mind when his cloud team won with the same setup, but that time he had actually stayon supporting him as 9.5, this time he has to do it all himself as i just dont see kado showing up for entire season. Which is why i think this strategy will fail.
Base rating 6/10
It gets even worse in base. To start off, feels like myth only discovered very late in draft that he had no terriers really listed on roster. So in rounds 10/11 he picked aprix and apt. Aprix is probably one of those who signed up for league and forgot about it. He hasnt really been seen in weeks. Same can be said about apt, whos last competitive game took place in December. So time will tell if either will show up. It gets even worse with sharks, because i really do not see anyone besides myth himself as a shark. Sure hellkite can do it well, but is he really 10* shark? Would be waste of VPs there imho. So yea, spider selection if hellkite actually plays that is pretty good with renzi also there, 8.5 rasaq/kado and dutch baser. Plenty of very good 7* ones as well who can definitely play like bugyswartz, beast or 100. In any case, cloud needs to do some trading or i am missing something.
Would I want to be on this team?
Well not really as low-stars are really not needed here and i cannot shark or terr.
How far they will go?
One of the teams i would put as highest risk for dropping from playoffs at this stage.
Prime - Racka
Draft rating 7/10
Cannot really rate rackas draft too much higher compared to cloud and i think both teams are also little bit similar with setup. It all started off really well by picking sarger, absurd, drose, dwop etc, all very nice picks for those rounds. In reality the picks, apart from a few, look decent. Problem with racka is that for some reason, unlike mythrill, idea of having a terrier on squad never occurred, which of course can be solving by terring himself. Time will tell, racka is also not rated 7.5, but 8, but comparisons with tiny are bound to happen. Another issue is with sharks. Dwopple is one of the best, but there is only ph to accompany him and ive been relatively active in tw for last 4-5 years, but ive never seen the dude. 9.5 rating of course shows he is top quality, but will he be there?. As for rest, team is well balanced, good and underrated picks with variety of VPs.
Wb rating 9/10
Racka the 10* leads the way, but similar to cloud, there is only 1 other player rated 9 in bike, who has not really been active. Luckily though, plenty of 8.5 stars around with sarger, absurd and drose all capable of doing things.
Overall I can see 3 lineup versions. With bike, 2 8.5* alongside racka/bike can be accompanied by 7*. Plenty of choices there with bick, ph, kim, johnie, honcho and coupe.
Without bike it can either go with 3 8.5 and 7.5 (thats me) or 2 8.5* and 2 8* (also great options in jz, dwopple, paradise and reckon). So in the end i feel like wb lineup has lots of versatility to support bad shows and also quality to finish games in Racka.
Jav rating 9/10
Jav lineup looks pretty solid and majority of players are also active. Racka and drose can really carry team and support is very good. Most logical lineup would see them accompanied by 8.5 (paradise or kim) and 2 8* (from selection of sarger, absurd, dwopple, jz, johnie). If both 8.5 show, 1 8* can be dropped for 7.5 (bike, lee, bick, reckon, coupe as options).
Base rating 6/10
Here we got into Cloud territory again. Will racka really be 8* terrier or will someone from lower rated players take on terring? Will ph show entire season? This would btw make prime having the highest rated shark duo this season. Spiders look very solid though with absurd and sarger and drose probably taking care of over. Ph showing though, would cause another issue as there will be only 13.5 points left for last 2 spots. It can be either 6 (cz530) accompanied with 7.5 star (jz, lee, bike, reckon as options) or 6.5 (coupe) accompanied with 7* (bick, kim, johnie, honcho). I see more potential in first version if cz can pick up things fast.
Would I want to be on this team?
Hell yea, will be fun season and looks like it pretty drama free season for a change with 5 out of my 10 favorite players on this squad.
How far they will go?
They will be carried with duelling entire season and need to get wins ther, base though has so many questionmarks. Hopefully it will not ruin their season.
Thunder - Ease
Draft rating - 9/10
Picking as last, his first round options were of course limited, but then again, picking last u get 2 players out of top 10 picks, so that is also worth something. Ease went with rainbow seeker and jamal and later added best and ekko as key players. Menelvagor probably could have gone also a bit later. Extra points for ease in picking all remaining terriers in draft in later rounds, either to just screw everyone up or having some good trading options for the future.
Wb rating 9/10
With ease, rainbow and best, you already have 3 awesome wbs, but playing them all would mean 6.5 (jackie, shaun, harder) /7.5 players taking other 2 spots and this just feels too dangerous. Also best in recent years hasnt really played as 9.5* wb, so i more see Ease lining up with rainbow, jamal and either 2 7.5* wbs (ekko, solace, draft, wbm, wirah) or if mikkiz shows (8*), putting him in with 7* (menel, rozay). First option seems more likely, but i think we probably will also see the lineup with best in being tested.
Jav rating 9/10
Jav lineups can be really setup in so many different ways. Most probably ease wants to play with other 10* best, otherwise he wouldnt have picked him so early. Jamal probably also gets a spot, which leaves us last 2 spots being divided either with another 8.5 (mikkiz)/6 (shaw, harder) 8 (rainbow, ekko)/6.5 (jackie, y0gi) or 7.5 (menel, shaun, wbm) /7 (solace, rozay, wirah). Probably will see some variations tested. There is also wildcard draft (9) as option, but his activity is questionable.
Base rating 9/10
Also base looks very strong. Mikkiz probably will show rarely and considering his 10* rating, that would also weaken spiders, but missing mikkiz isnt really an issue for ease, as he drafted at least 4 ppl capable of terring if he is missing, so ekko, draft, jackie etc can sub in.
Jamal/menel look to shark and solace/rainbow bring the spiderskills. There is also wbm (9*) option if he ever shows to a game. There are also jackie/rozay (7.5) who can fill in any ship and do not cost much. So team filled with versatile players that will probably suffer least from any bad showup in this league.
Would I want to be on this team?
Oh boy, who wouldnt enjoy the intellectual brilliance that oozes from Jamal.
How far they will go?
Very far, i would say this team has biggest potential of making it to triple finals.
So here we go, first draft league with more than 8 captains since 2022 winter, absolutely insane cap lineup and so many questions still up there.
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