It's that time of the year again! That's Right! TWL Prediction Time!

[Stabwound]

I'll do some quick TWLB ones; only a few for now though. I'll do some more tomorrow.

Anti-Scrub: Looking stronger lately, mostly because of the new aqusitions. I'm not sure that all of them will stay, though, and they really can't afford to play anything but their absolute best lineup in TWLB. I don't think they will make playoffs, but if they do, they will be eliminated in the first round.

Mambo: Looks to be a favorite of the TWLB predictors around here. They will do fairly well, but like A-S, they won't get anywhere except with their full #1 lineup. I expect them to make it fairly far into playoffs, but probably won't win.

Pallies: Always have been a great basing team, and have a few new additions that will sure help them. I truly think that their downfall will be playing both a jav and warbird in some tougher games and refusing to change them to spiders because of pride. First round playoff knockout.

Spastic: What can I say... I wasn't on the squad last year, but I think that even with the few leavers, Spastic is stronger than last year. Our only problem will be if any more people jump ship with the rest of the ?squadleave'rs, and lack of a full-time terr. I think we can win. No one takes predictions about one's own squad seriously anyway.

Rejected Basers: I know they expect to do well in TWLB, and I think that they're gonna win a few games, but I expect them to get caught offguard by some of the really strong opposing lineups. With their high squad attendence numbers, there will be fights over who gets to play and I can see people leaving and fighting after being forcefully benched. Probably won't even make playoffs.

Melee: Although a few of my old squaddies/friends are on this squad, I have to say that don't think they will do well at all in TWLB. Nothing really to say here; they will come out with a 4-6 record, and won't make playoffs.

Disoblige: Lots of new members, but a pretty damn small roster at this point. They will have problems showing a full 8 lineup of good basers, and will resort to throwing in a few duelers/inexperienced basers in during some critical games. I think they will be a first round playoff knockout also.

Whiterabbits: Fairly good team with a full 8 of their best players. P_L is an amazing terr of course, and will really be an asset. I think that their main problem is a total lack of standout sharks. If they keep thier roster in check and have the right people show up, I think they can take themselves deep into the playoffs.

[Randedl]

i'm not terring unless it's against a shitty squad i can eat breakfast against and still win.

we'll have another terr if we need one, no worries

and shit yo, anon, redlights, tys, weaver. you guys in trouble. the warbird squad is gonna stomp the pub squads.

[lunch3]

eh

[Jerome Scuggs]

Ya we been beggin this hoe for awhile now $$ We made a deal that if i could tk 20 ppl in pub w/o getting banned he'd join. After about 10 he noticed teh base terr had a high bty. Said if i tk the terr he'd join. So happens i tked him $$$ EZ BLING TK4LIFE Man those days on cripz did come in handy $$

holy freaking SHIT best recruiting method ever. serious.

[wadi]

my comp that they were saved on died (literally caught on fire - i think i had a sock on a high watt lamp near by that musta caught on fire, and fell on the comp, which basically melted) so i'm in the process of redoing them as best I can. Most of the way through - expect them by this weekend at latest.

Nick, If you want to do a joint prediction thing (at least for TWLB) pm me. If you can hold out till sunday that is.

[Zerzera]

Mambo

In my opinion the most stabile squad around at this moment. Only a year ago they had some trouble not to go under, but since then they slowly picked up some really good players and build on a strong core.
Even their decent players became above average.
They are obviously not only aiming for basing, and that might put some pressure on the squad. But if all goes well it will only be motivating for Mambo.
Their teamwork makes them stronger than any other squad around, and that is why I think they make a good chance of winning the cup.
They have the teamwork to support a javelin, especially because they have a javelin with the strenght to fight spiders.
Best players: Nuudeli, Biernoot, M_M God
Final position TWL: 1/2

Spastic

I haven't played Spastic for some time, so I don't know how much damage the tiny exodus did to their line-up. Especially to ther terrier, but I think their strenght has always been in the spiders and sharks. Ofcourse a good terrier can make the difference in flagroomfights and attack. But in the cram, you don't need the best terrier to win.
If their spiders keep up, and nockm puts some effort in javving, they should be able to pull it off with a 5-1 lineup.
Once again, I don't know how much influence the squadleavers had on the quality of Spastic, so I judge on what I seen before that.
Best players: Stayon, Greven, No one can kill me
Final position TWL: 1/3

Pallies

Other than Disoblige, Pallies survived their offseason well. They still got their core together and they can take any team around if they are all there to rock. If on the other hand some of their people can't make it (due the cool lives they have in weekends and summer) they seem to be a whole different Pallies.
They can at least afford to have a javelin, but I think they should only use a warbird when Div is around. It might be tempting for them to use a warbird at all cost (maybe blood can pull it off easy), and when Mythrandir goes pshycho he can make up for the lesser killrate a warbird has. Then the warbird can take on the other terrier.
Best players: Mayo Inc, Mythrandir, Pearl Jam
Final position TWL: 2/4

Disoblige

Reduced to the max, and not into basing, Disoblige looks the same as they did last season. People were wondering where the Disos were hanging out, and some people thought they even retired.
Then just before the season started the basers returned and seemed unbeatable.
This TWD Disoblige didn't return as strong as they did last season though. They claim not to try, but they claimed that last season too, and then they wouldn't lose to the newer squads.
So I think Disoblige really lost the strength to go trough TWL season without a loss. And might not make it all the way to the final.
Like last season, the lack of activity might get them in trouble.
Best players: Cumulonimbus, Nailed, warportal, Pjotter
Final position TWL: 3/4

Rejected Basers

Still don't know what to think about Rejected Basers. I can't find out what drives the squad, or what their exact goals are. They surely have the players to make playoffs, and if they have some luck they have a chance to get the final over the squads mentioned above.
But that is only, if during leagues, they have their starters set, and everyone accepting those starters. If they figurered out already what their lineup is and had enough practice with those 8, they could be consistent enough to at least make playoffs, and maybe more.
Still I think they don't have a team well enough to make up the lack of an awesome terrier. That shouldn't be too much of a problem during the season, but it can throw you out at any moment during playoffs.
Best players: K2grey, Lunch3
Final Position TWL: 3/4

Incuria (oh)

Incuria I would rate the same as Rejected Basers. If they figure out a lineup and work with that, there should be no problem. Till now they seemed to lack a sharkpair that could win them games.
If they find a lineup to work with, they should be able to make the playoffs. Yet they seem to lack the motivation to get a lineup sorted for leagues.
Best players: bliz, Eggs R Evil
Final Position: 4/6

whiterabbits

Well, I think they picked up the basing a little too late to match Mambo, Spastic and Rejected Basers. I still wonder if they have enough people that still care to get somewhere in TWLB. On the other hand they have enough oldies that should be able to pick up basing faster than the newer squads.
Still there seems too little time to melt the rabbits into a cramming basingmachine with teamwork comparable to Mambo or Spastic. Maybe Pure_luck knows some of Spastics weaknesses they can beat them on.
Best players: Thundermare, Ezo, Labero
Final Position: 4/6

Anti-Scrub

From out of nowhere they seem to be back again. Anti-scrub was very pale last TWLB. Mainly because they were one of the squads that didn't accept the cram as a winning tactic, while it was the league of the cram.
With the pickups they made this season, and the activity and drive, they might be just in time to get into leagues. Nonetheless I think they will need some more growing during leagues. This might lose them points in the first half of the leagues. Wether they can make up the late start all depends on how much the players can grow.
With brookus they have my favorite timerace terrier. No matter what team he has, if he only gets a little support he can keep the flag like no other terrier. Where the normal point games his style -and lack of support- would be their weakness, the pointrace are their strenght.
Now I just see they lost Redlights again, that is a painfull loss.
Best players: brookus, holydude, adamant
Final position: 4/6

Grapevine

One of the little duelsquads that seemed to have interest in taking a shot at basing. And even worse, they don't haunt the basercommunity in this forum. Last year we had about 4 squads of duelers that claimed to snatch the cup from all the basers, wich gave us something to laugh and fear. Grapevine lays low and just plays some basematches. Ofcourse they got a roster without serious trashtalkers towards basing, and even some basers. They should have the better spiders of this leagues, and with Phrenitis a good terrier. Wether Phrenitis is going to hold his killing style when the games get rough will mainly depend on how well their sharks do. But with the roster Grapevine has now, their only weakness would be that they have less interest in winning TWLB.
If they have basing aspirations they should try to keep Redlights with them.
Best players: Phrenitis, Redlights, Anon, Weaver
Final position: 5/7


Tanked

Tanked would be the real underdog this season. Their roster basewise is filled with just-not-it basers in my opinion. They have a load of veterans that probably had their share in Leagues, especially TWLB. Tanked really seems to be there just for fun, and fun would mean winning.
At this point they look most like Cripples last season (without the exodus). But they could lose from anyone mentioned above. They really don't seem driven to make it to playoffs.
Best players: Ignorance, Machine of God
Final position: 6/7


Melee

To be honest I haven't seen Melee play really. They have some good basers on the roster, but it seems a real thin line to me. They are close to Tanked, but I think tank has more people willing to hop in a base-arena and have a good go. Bosshawk is a terrier that plays well when his team plays well. Probably that won't be the case in the mayority of matches.
With the players they have they should be able to beat the newer squads.
Best players: Adman, Ephemeral
Final position: 7/8


-Final-

This squad basingwise could be something but on the other hand totally nothing. As it looks now they probably won't enter TWL. If you have a roster of 21 people, that aren't all basers, you have nothing to do in TWLB.
Best players: Raspi, Domi, pempu
Final position: 7/X


Syndicate

The selfproclaimed basingmachine. Has some nice basers on their roster, and should be able to do better than Tanked and Melee. The question is if they are into basing enough to do that. I think there is a minimum of TWD matches played to get in TWL, if that is set to 10, Syndicate has to play another 5 TWD matches.
Best players: 2dragons, fireballz, jard
Final position: 7/8


Avalonian

If Avalonian is going to keep/use their TWDB position to TWLB I give them as much chance as British Squad last season. A stiff 0-10 most likely.
If I was squadleader of Avalonian (and take basing seriously) I would cut down that big roster and scout around for some talent and try to have both a nice time and be a little competative versus the underdogs. If you find some really good unknown players you can even have an upset versus a top-5 squad that underestimates the squad.
If Avalonian has a spot in TWLB they should be able to get people from the squads that didn't get a spot.
For the best of TWLB I would rather see them give away their spot though.
Best players: -
Final position: Last

PUMA

Hard to tell if there is something usefull on their 55 peoples roster. I think not. If they enter TWLB they will be an upset. I hope for those people under them they wont.
Best players: Summa, Tekwiz
Final position: one from last

[Zerzera]

I hope Shriek and Basingcrew will get in too. Shriek has a load of players that -might not want to, but- should be playing in TWLB. And basingcrew has some promising players. Too bad for TWLB they held their recruiting standards high, wich lead to low activity and that reduced their chances to enter. Last pre-season someone said that Camisade should lower their recruiting standard to get active enough for TWL. We never lowered our standards and still had enough activity. I hope for Basingcrew they can pull that off in two weeks. Or they lower their standards just a little bit.

[Nethila]

im surprised that a lot of people left vatican assassin out of the people who we need to watch.

[lunch3]

Vatican Assassin is definitely someone to watch out for. We have this running joke that everyone sharks well when they shark with Vatican. He is a great spider also but we need his sharking skillz.

[Zerzera]

It's better to be good and go unnoticed than to be sucky and noticed. I know a few overrated players, especially sharks.

[a2m+]

I hope Shriek and Basingcrew will get in too. Shriek has a load of players that -might not want to, but- should be playing in TWLB. And basingcrew has some promising players. Too bad for TWLB they held their recruiting standards high, wich lead to low activity and that reduced their chances to enter. Last pre-season someone said that Camisade should lower their recruiting standard to get active enough for TWL. We never lowered our standards and still had enough activity. I hope for Basingcrew they can pull that off in two weeks. Or they lower their standards just a little bit.

heh we still dont know if we wanna enter twlb cuz we'll make it easily if we tried but definately wont do any good and its not really fun when you lose

[Nimrook]

heh we still dont know if we wanna enter twlb cuz we'll make it easily if we tried but definately wont do any good and its not really fun when you lose

me for base jav! =p

[bloodzombie]

[U]

Pallies


Best players: Mayo Inc,

That's classic

[Zerzera]

I ran out of batteries for my camera! Anyways, his posts are a great value to the squad.

[Bob (SRB)]

As much as i hate Randedl, he is correct, dueling will always draw a bigger crowd unless you get 2 squads in the finals that no one gives a rats ass about like Dragonguard vs. -Solstice-.

this is totally off topic but, hey! solstice was cool. And there were no - around it. I was on solstice last twl, but i was away for all of it so im not sure what happened. But solstice had good players, lots of their players are on squads like -final-, shriek, and grapevine right now.