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TWLB Season 16 Recap
Standings:
1. Penetrate (6-1)
2. Dice (6-1)
3. Heist (4-3)
4. LEGO (4-3)
5. Thunder (4-3)
6. Real (3-4)
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7. Spastic (1-7)
8. Fierce (0-8)
Today ended one of the most competitive TWLBs in history, and, in what should have been a great match between Thunder and Heist for 3rd place ended up with Thunder disgracefully throwing the game and losing 0-15, feeling they'd fare better against Penetrate (instead of Dice) in the Semis (assuming they make it there). The season as a whole was hotly contested, in spite of the tepid final week which also saw Spastic forfeit to Dice.
FIERCE:
Kudos to Fierce, who showed respectable lines and played strong almost every week -- their record belies the extremely strong competition they faced, including a 15:00-14:55 loss to Pene that saw great performances from Pressure, Max B, Meddi and Spiderhate. Pressure had the unenviable task of terring all season for them which he did admirably, with Meddi and MAX B sharking for him, and Crem, temporary, Eelam, Endangered showing consistently for them.
SPASTIC:
Another disappointing season for the once-mighty Spastic, that saw them devolve even further from their 2-7 record last year. Their lone victory came against Fierce, with Henry Saari, Public Assassin, and TheWadeRooster carrying a negging Money. Despite being helmed consistently by Pure_luck in terr, the revolving door sharking, lack of depth, and inconsistent showings all contributed to their poor showing.
REAL:
Some late acquisitions of seasoned basing veterans gave pundits hope that Real could make a deep playoff run with its group of grizzled TWLers. Unfortunately, Real had the toughest starting schedule of any squad, facing off against Dice, Penetrate and Heist, causing some to unfairly write them off after the underwhelming 0-3 opening. The unflappable vets bounced back, earning wins against Spastic, Fierce, and LEGO, the latter proving they could compete with the mid-tier squads, with avaruus alus, Spikey, Kawrae, Confluence and Weaver fronting an aggressive spidering formation, with ex-Sagers Hellkite/Menelvagor sharking and Burnt mirroring Mikkiz's terring tactics -- playing safe and staying alive. Problems finding the right line may be at an end, with Burnt finishing the season in terr, Kawrae in spider and finally starting the solid and underused Producer in ship 3.
THUNDER:
The highly-lauded, multi-league squadron had a strong season, losing only to Dice and Penetrate (and throwing the aforementioned game vs. Heist.) Beefing up their basing credentials with the addition of Mattey and Shayde was a boon, however the months-long search for a sharking partner for Mattey proved fruitless, providing an eclectic array of 2nd sharks in the form of Hulk, Riverside and Zidane. Zizu and flared took up terring duties, while Ease led Phrenitis, M_M god, Shayde and Turban in the spidering department.
LEGO:
LEGO had a great season, despite finishing on a sour note losing to Real in its last game (albeit without Baffling and nokkonen.) Sporting the best terr in the league right now in Mikkiz, the ex-Sager reached the LB finals last year terring behind Zizu, and was heavily responsible for his team winning TWDTB, and once again has proven invaluable for the mid-tier squadron that is LEGO. With strong sharking from nokkonen and Pardon, and a host of gritty spiders in the form of Frank the Tank!, Qwas, dreamwin, Murder and Baffling, not to mention some effective wb'ing from Zizzo, LEGO is definitely a team that is more than the sum of their parts given that they only have one star spider (Spezza). They routed Heist, handed #1 Penetrate their only loss of the season, and put up at least 11 minutes in all 3 of their losses.
HEIST:
There were a lot of lofty expectations for Heist going into the season, and a soft starting schedule of Spastic, Dice, Fierce and Real let the squad come out of the gates blazing to a 3-1 start (and only losing to Dice by 15 seconds.) Things cooled off considerably with losses to LEGO and Penetrate, and Thunder throwing their final game unfortunately denied them a real chance at beating a serious contender during the regular season. Tim and Blahhy. shared terring duties, annihilating easier opponents and struggling vs. good ones, with strong, aggressive spidering led by Renzi, kess, sspk, pavement and Diakka. Heist's most prized assets, however, lie in ship 8, with the best sharking trifecta in the league: Cig Smoke, Dwopple and Vatican Assassin giving their opponents headaches all season.
DICE:
The defending champions, despite their impressive 6-1 record, have looked anything but invincible this season, despite the re-acquisition of JAMAL and Domi. The most successful basing squad in history eked out victories over LEGO, Thunder and Heist by scores of 15:00-13:30, 15:00-12:40 , 15:00-14:45 respectively, and got absolutely trounced by Penetrate, losing 15:00-4:46 without either of their starting sharks (a2m/Tabarnak!!) online. Their roster is as strong as ever, however, with perennial Dice stalwarts such as Cape in terr, and all-star spiders like Stayon, megaman89, cripple still kicking around. As if JAMAL/Domi wasn't enough of a coup, they also acquired two of the now-dissolved Sage's top spiders, Glavitik and NL>Trigger.
PENETRATE:
The two-time champs look primed to take their 3rd title in 6 years, buffing up their roster with former players and new blood like SquallFF8, convincingly routing Dice, and finishing atop the standings. They've been very active and energized, perhaps motivated by their semi-final exit last year where they got crushed by Sage and didn't set up a single cram thanks to an immaculate 50-0 Zizu performance. The all-star basers only dropped 1 game this season (starting Veloce in spider, before backpedaling and shipchanging, albeit too late) and rolled over everyone else, aided by the best shark duo in the league (Veloce and Fermata) and iron man Cintra starting every game in terr. Veterans Trasher, Tsumetai, Acidbomber, and Royst spearheaded their spiders, but arguably the best spider in the entire league this season was Solacer, who was an absolute beast. The fact that two of the best under-spiders in the game (Zhou and the underrated Bacon) only played one game apiece shows how much depth this squad has. Great season, guys!
Playoff Predictions
Quarter-Final
HEIST vs. Real
HEIST is the favorite here, but Real is capable of pulling an upset if firing on all-cylinders and the former falter. I think we all know that Heist's biggest weakness is its terring situation. Tim imploded in the LB Semi's on Pandora as Thunder trounced the (admittedly) inactive basing squad last year, was sub-par in TWDTB on Bonk! getting replaced early in the season, and hasn't proven himself vs. anyone good this season. He's a good terr, but hasn't been in-form in years, and Blahhy. is equally inconsistent vs. top-tier squads with overly aggressive play as well, costing their team's games (getting axed from Thunder for that very reason.) Neither seem willing to play safe and prefer to take risks and have fun, and with HEIST's depth in spider I'm baffled that they haven't started Diakka in terr, who's excellent under pressure and good at staying alive. They don't need him in spider, and despite being a complete asshole is underrated in ship 5. Heist has the strongest sharks in the game, and plenty of fire-power in spider, they should be finals contenders, and instead haven't beaten any playoff squad except Real -- which, conveniently, is who they're playing.
Real has a lot of veterans and seemed to have worked out the kinks in its lineup, but there's no reason this should be even close given HEIST's roster.
Quarter-Final
LEGO vs. Thunder
This should be the closer of the two games. Thunder took the Week 1 match vs. LEGO 15-12, although with Shayde getting married and Zizu nowhere to be found, they won't have as much depth this time around. Moreover, LEGO's two best players, Baffling and Mikkiz, missed that game, so there will definitely be a shifting of the tides when the two sides meet. Ease and Baffling are both beasts in spider, Mattey is the best shark in this game but LEGO's strong duos about even it out, and there doesn't seem to be much disparity in the rest of the spiders, either. Assuming Zizu doesn't show, LEGO will have the edge terr-wise in Mikkiz, but flared is a great terr as well so look for this to be an excellent match.
Semi-Finals
Dice and Penetrate will come into play in the semi's, and the bottom-line is that these two Juggernauts are on a level by themselves. If Thunder gets by LEGO, they'll be without Ease that week, and with only one top-tier shark and minus Shayde, I don't think they can win. Real can't beat either of these squads. The best chances at knocking off either of these squads in the semis is either HEIST or LEGO. Heist lost to dice by 15 seconds, and LEGO beat Penetrate. But, realistically, it's one of those Sampras-Agassi things. Agassi said when Sampras was playing his best it didn't matter how well he played, he was still going to lose. If Pene/Dice play their best, they'll win, but if there's an opening, a weakness, if 1 or 2 starters are missing, Heist and Lego definitely have the players to capitalize and win.
This is especially true of sharks showing up. We saw how powerful of an effect a TWL squad missing its starting sharks can have in the 15-4 loss Dice suffered to Pene, despite having its starting terr/spiders in.
Finals
Needing only one win to reach the finals, there's a strong possibility of this being a Dice/Penetrate final, and in the vein of the Dice/Sage final, look for a missing player or two (like Glavitik gone camping last year) to be the difference between these two ridiculously over-stacked squads. I'm really liking the way Pene is playing right now, and the fact that they're more active than Dice, not to mention they historically win every other year like clockwork. Personal preference, but I'll give them the edge.
Standings:
1. Penetrate (6-1)
2. Dice (6-1)
3. Heist (4-3)
4. LEGO (4-3)
5. Thunder (4-3)
6. Real (3-4)
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7. Spastic (1-7)
8. Fierce (0-8)
Today ended one of the most competitive TWLBs in history, and, in what should have been a great match between Thunder and Heist for 3rd place ended up with Thunder disgracefully throwing the game and losing 0-15, feeling they'd fare better against Penetrate (instead of Dice) in the Semis (assuming they make it there). The season as a whole was hotly contested, in spite of the tepid final week which also saw Spastic forfeit to Dice.
FIERCE:
Kudos to Fierce, who showed respectable lines and played strong almost every week -- their record belies the extremely strong competition they faced, including a 15:00-14:55 loss to Pene that saw great performances from Pressure, Max B, Meddi and Spiderhate. Pressure had the unenviable task of terring all season for them which he did admirably, with Meddi and MAX B sharking for him, and Crem, temporary, Eelam, Endangered showing consistently for them.
SPASTIC:
Another disappointing season for the once-mighty Spastic, that saw them devolve even further from their 2-7 record last year. Their lone victory came against Fierce, with Henry Saari, Public Assassin, and TheWadeRooster carrying a negging Money. Despite being helmed consistently by Pure_luck in terr, the revolving door sharking, lack of depth, and inconsistent showings all contributed to their poor showing.
REAL:
Some late acquisitions of seasoned basing veterans gave pundits hope that Real could make a deep playoff run with its group of grizzled TWLers. Unfortunately, Real had the toughest starting schedule of any squad, facing off against Dice, Penetrate and Heist, causing some to unfairly write them off after the underwhelming 0-3 opening. The unflappable vets bounced back, earning wins against Spastic, Fierce, and LEGO, the latter proving they could compete with the mid-tier squads, with avaruus alus, Spikey, Kawrae, Confluence and Weaver fronting an aggressive spidering formation, with ex-Sagers Hellkite/Menelvagor sharking and Burnt mirroring Mikkiz's terring tactics -- playing safe and staying alive. Problems finding the right line may be at an end, with Burnt finishing the season in terr, Kawrae in spider and finally starting the solid and underused Producer in ship 3.
THUNDER:
The highly-lauded, multi-league squadron had a strong season, losing only to Dice and Penetrate (and throwing the aforementioned game vs. Heist.) Beefing up their basing credentials with the addition of Mattey and Shayde was a boon, however the months-long search for a sharking partner for Mattey proved fruitless, providing an eclectic array of 2nd sharks in the form of Hulk, Riverside and Zidane. Zizu and flared took up terring duties, while Ease led Phrenitis, M_M god, Shayde and Turban in the spidering department.
LEGO:
LEGO had a great season, despite finishing on a sour note losing to Real in its last game (albeit without Baffling and nokkonen.) Sporting the best terr in the league right now in Mikkiz, the ex-Sager reached the LB finals last year terring behind Zizu, and was heavily responsible for his team winning TWDTB, and once again has proven invaluable for the mid-tier squadron that is LEGO. With strong sharking from nokkonen and Pardon, and a host of gritty spiders in the form of Frank the Tank!, Qwas, dreamwin, Murder and Baffling, not to mention some effective wb'ing from Zizzo, LEGO is definitely a team that is more than the sum of their parts given that they only have one star spider (Spezza). They routed Heist, handed #1 Penetrate their only loss of the season, and put up at least 11 minutes in all 3 of their losses.
HEIST:
There were a lot of lofty expectations for Heist going into the season, and a soft starting schedule of Spastic, Dice, Fierce and Real let the squad come out of the gates blazing to a 3-1 start (and only losing to Dice by 15 seconds.) Things cooled off considerably with losses to LEGO and Penetrate, and Thunder throwing their final game unfortunately denied them a real chance at beating a serious contender during the regular season. Tim and Blahhy. shared terring duties, annihilating easier opponents and struggling vs. good ones, with strong, aggressive spidering led by Renzi, kess, sspk, pavement and Diakka. Heist's most prized assets, however, lie in ship 8, with the best sharking trifecta in the league: Cig Smoke, Dwopple and Vatican Assassin giving their opponents headaches all season.
DICE:
The defending champions, despite their impressive 6-1 record, have looked anything but invincible this season, despite the re-acquisition of JAMAL and Domi. The most successful basing squad in history eked out victories over LEGO, Thunder and Heist by scores of 15:00-13:30, 15:00-12:40 , 15:00-14:45 respectively, and got absolutely trounced by Penetrate, losing 15:00-4:46 without either of their starting sharks (a2m/Tabarnak!!) online. Their roster is as strong as ever, however, with perennial Dice stalwarts such as Cape in terr, and all-star spiders like Stayon, megaman89, cripple still kicking around. As if JAMAL/Domi wasn't enough of a coup, they also acquired two of the now-dissolved Sage's top spiders, Glavitik and NL>Trigger.
PENETRATE:
The two-time champs look primed to take their 3rd title in 6 years, buffing up their roster with former players and new blood like SquallFF8, convincingly routing Dice, and finishing atop the standings. They've been very active and energized, perhaps motivated by their semi-final exit last year where they got crushed by Sage and didn't set up a single cram thanks to an immaculate 50-0 Zizu performance. The all-star basers only dropped 1 game this season (starting Veloce in spider, before backpedaling and shipchanging, albeit too late) and rolled over everyone else, aided by the best shark duo in the league (Veloce and Fermata) and iron man Cintra starting every game in terr. Veterans Trasher, Tsumetai, Acidbomber, and Royst spearheaded their spiders, but arguably the best spider in the entire league this season was Solacer, who was an absolute beast. The fact that two of the best under-spiders in the game (Zhou and the underrated Bacon) only played one game apiece shows how much depth this squad has. Great season, guys!
Playoff Predictions
Quarter-Final
HEIST vs. Real
HEIST is the favorite here, but Real is capable of pulling an upset if firing on all-cylinders and the former falter. I think we all know that Heist's biggest weakness is its terring situation. Tim imploded in the LB Semi's on Pandora as Thunder trounced the (admittedly) inactive basing squad last year, was sub-par in TWDTB on Bonk! getting replaced early in the season, and hasn't proven himself vs. anyone good this season. He's a good terr, but hasn't been in-form in years, and Blahhy. is equally inconsistent vs. top-tier squads with overly aggressive play as well, costing their team's games (getting axed from Thunder for that very reason.) Neither seem willing to play safe and prefer to take risks and have fun, and with HEIST's depth in spider I'm baffled that they haven't started Diakka in terr, who's excellent under pressure and good at staying alive. They don't need him in spider, and despite being a complete asshole is underrated in ship 5. Heist has the strongest sharks in the game, and plenty of fire-power in spider, they should be finals contenders, and instead haven't beaten any playoff squad except Real -- which, conveniently, is who they're playing.
Real has a lot of veterans and seemed to have worked out the kinks in its lineup, but there's no reason this should be even close given HEIST's roster.
Quarter-Final
LEGO vs. Thunder
This should be the closer of the two games. Thunder took the Week 1 match vs. LEGO 15-12, although with Shayde getting married and Zizu nowhere to be found, they won't have as much depth this time around. Moreover, LEGO's two best players, Baffling and Mikkiz, missed that game, so there will definitely be a shifting of the tides when the two sides meet. Ease and Baffling are both beasts in spider, Mattey is the best shark in this game but LEGO's strong duos about even it out, and there doesn't seem to be much disparity in the rest of the spiders, either. Assuming Zizu doesn't show, LEGO will have the edge terr-wise in Mikkiz, but flared is a great terr as well so look for this to be an excellent match.
Semi-Finals
Dice and Penetrate will come into play in the semi's, and the bottom-line is that these two Juggernauts are on a level by themselves. If Thunder gets by LEGO, they'll be without Ease that week, and with only one top-tier shark and minus Shayde, I don't think they can win. Real can't beat either of these squads. The best chances at knocking off either of these squads in the semis is either HEIST or LEGO. Heist lost to dice by 15 seconds, and LEGO beat Penetrate. But, realistically, it's one of those Sampras-Agassi things. Agassi said when Sampras was playing his best it didn't matter how well he played, he was still going to lose. If Pene/Dice play their best, they'll win, but if there's an opening, a weakness, if 1 or 2 starters are missing, Heist and Lego definitely have the players to capitalize and win.
This is especially true of sharks showing up. We saw how powerful of an effect a TWL squad missing its starting sharks can have in the 15-4 loss Dice suffered to Pene, despite having its starting terr/spiders in.
Finals
Needing only one win to reach the finals, there's a strong possibility of this being a Dice/Penetrate final, and in the vein of the Dice/Sage final, look for a missing player or two (like Glavitik gone camping last year) to be the difference between these two ridiculously over-stacked squads. I'm really liking the way Pene is playing right now, and the fact that they're more active than Dice, not to mention they historically win every other year like clockwork. Personal preference, but I'll give them the edge.
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