Hello again, folks. Time for my third installment of providing bulletin board material for everybody. As always, I'm not predicting actual games, more just reporting impressions of teams. All divisions organized by ladder rank.
Alpha Division
#21 New York Hawks
Roster size - 41 (all human)
New players - 1 (probably 3 soon, though)
Superstars - 0
The Firetails renamed themselves in their quest for Alpha supremacy. They had a good season last time around, ignoring that heartbreaking, playoff costing loss to Niger at the end. Despite that, though, this is a good squad, and should be one of the tops in the league all over again.
#57 Niger Mambas
Roster size - 43 (32 human)
New players - 12 human, 11 CPU
Superstars - 0
Niger had some trouble with the off season, it seems, losing a lot of their roster and not really adding much. They were a solid team last time around, but I think they're going to fall off.
#72 Colorado 14ers
Roster size - 36 (all human)
New players - 0
Superstars - 3
Colorado was a bit of an enigma last season - good in the league, but clearly under performing in their ladder games. They lost a good chunk of the roster over the offseason, and didn't reload at all - if one more player didn't resign, they'd have CPUs. As it stands, depth is going to be an issue for a while. If they don't scour free agency fast, it could be trouble.
#110 Arkansas Razorbacks
Roster size - 43 (34 human)
New players - all
Superstars - 0
A brand new team for the season, and some very good agents on that not-yet-complete squad. They're going to have some chemistry issues going through the first handful of games, but late in the season, they easily could be playing the spoiler role, and could be contending for the wildcard spot.
Alpha Prediction - I think this is NY's division to lose this time. The rest of the teams have some significant roster issues right now, and I don't know if any can find the players they need to be serious contenders at this point. Arkansas and Colorado have the tools to make a wildcard run if they do, though.
Beta Division
#24 Richmond Redskins
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 10
Superstars - 0
The reigning league champs tweaked their roster a bit (mostly with more players by Patrick, their owner, so probably upgrades), and they're going to be contending again for it.
#26 Hollywood Knights
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 16
Superstars - 1
Our first import from a folded league, and they're a damn good squad. They were in the top 10 a few times last season and have some very good coordinators. Some juggling of the roster, but not enough to really be scary, chemistry wise. Another team that's going to be scary.
#42 Seattle See Hawks
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 6
Superstars - 0
Last year's runner up is back for another shot at the cup, with the majority of the roster returning. Their season starts the same way the last one ended - facing Richmond. And you know they're hungry for revenge.
#50 Los Cabos Sharks
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 13 at 0 chem, 25 players < 20 chem
Superstars - 0
The Sharks have undergone a bit of a metamorphosis this off season as they've networked themselves up. They brought in another set of good looking players, but the chemistry hit could cost them some crucial early season games in the division.
Beta Prediction - I got nothing. This is, by far, the tightest division in Venus. I could see any of these 4 teams winning it, and I honestly think the second best team might miss the playoffs due to them beating each other up too much. I'm going to go with the chalk and say Richmond wins it, Hollywood takes the wildcard. But Seattle is right in there, and so are the Sharks.
Gamma
#22 Band of the Red Hand
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 2
Superstars - 3
Hi my team! We're good at dotball still, right? We're returning the league's offensive and defensive MVPs, and added a S* at OT and kept the rest of the roster basically together.
#73 Silicon Valley Millionaires
Roster size - 42 (all human)
New players - 33
Superstars - 0
Silicon had a decent league record last season, but didn't have any wins in league or ladder against teams that I remember being in the top tier of rookie (losses to DD 2.0, Shangri-la Dragons, and our own Hollywood say they flirted with the top of the tier...but lost). Throw in a nearly completely changed roster, and I have literally no clue about how they'll do.
#99 Cincinnati Jungle Cats
Roster size - 41 (13 human)
New players - 7 human, many CPU
Superstars - 0
Cinci put together a real team towards the end of last season...but they didn't retain the players and didn't go out recruiting. I think the cats are going to struggle again.
#110 Buffalo Beasts of Bourbon
CPU owned team at the moment. No threat to real teams.
Gamma Prediction - I think the Band takes things home again, in a division that's still pretty bad.
Alpha Division
#21 New York Hawks
Roster size - 41 (all human)
New players - 1 (probably 3 soon, though)
Superstars - 0
The Firetails renamed themselves in their quest for Alpha supremacy. They had a good season last time around, ignoring that heartbreaking, playoff costing loss to Niger at the end. Despite that, though, this is a good squad, and should be one of the tops in the league all over again.
#57 Niger Mambas
Roster size - 43 (32 human)
New players - 12 human, 11 CPU
Superstars - 0
Niger had some trouble with the off season, it seems, losing a lot of their roster and not really adding much. They were a solid team last time around, but I think they're going to fall off.
#72 Colorado 14ers
Roster size - 36 (all human)
New players - 0
Superstars - 3
Colorado was a bit of an enigma last season - good in the league, but clearly under performing in their ladder games. They lost a good chunk of the roster over the offseason, and didn't reload at all - if one more player didn't resign, they'd have CPUs. As it stands, depth is going to be an issue for a while. If they don't scour free agency fast, it could be trouble.
#110 Arkansas Razorbacks
Roster size - 43 (34 human)
New players - all
Superstars - 0
A brand new team for the season, and some very good agents on that not-yet-complete squad. They're going to have some chemistry issues going through the first handful of games, but late in the season, they easily could be playing the spoiler role, and could be contending for the wildcard spot.
Alpha Prediction - I think this is NY's division to lose this time. The rest of the teams have some significant roster issues right now, and I don't know if any can find the players they need to be serious contenders at this point. Arkansas and Colorado have the tools to make a wildcard run if they do, though.
Beta Division
#24 Richmond Redskins
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 10
Superstars - 0
The reigning league champs tweaked their roster a bit (mostly with more players by Patrick, their owner, so probably upgrades), and they're going to be contending again for it.
#26 Hollywood Knights
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 16
Superstars - 1
Our first import from a folded league, and they're a damn good squad. They were in the top 10 a few times last season and have some very good coordinators. Some juggling of the roster, but not enough to really be scary, chemistry wise. Another team that's going to be scary.
#42 Seattle See Hawks
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 6
Superstars - 0
Last year's runner up is back for another shot at the cup, with the majority of the roster returning. Their season starts the same way the last one ended - facing Richmond. And you know they're hungry for revenge.
#50 Los Cabos Sharks
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 13 at 0 chem, 25 players < 20 chem
Superstars - 0
The Sharks have undergone a bit of a metamorphosis this off season as they've networked themselves up. They brought in another set of good looking players, but the chemistry hit could cost them some crucial early season games in the division.
Beta Prediction - I got nothing. This is, by far, the tightest division in Venus. I could see any of these 4 teams winning it, and I honestly think the second best team might miss the playoffs due to them beating each other up too much. I'm going to go with the chalk and say Richmond wins it, Hollywood takes the wildcard. But Seattle is right in there, and so are the Sharks.
Gamma
#22 Band of the Red Hand
Roster size - 43 (all human)
New players - 2
Superstars - 3
Hi my team! We're good at dotball still, right? We're returning the league's offensive and defensive MVPs, and added a S* at OT and kept the rest of the roster basically together.
#73 Silicon Valley Millionaires
Roster size - 42 (all human)
New players - 33
Superstars - 0
Silicon had a decent league record last season, but didn't have any wins in league or ladder against teams that I remember being in the top tier of rookie (losses to DD 2.0, Shangri-la Dragons, and our own Hollywood say they flirted with the top of the tier...but lost). Throw in a nearly completely changed roster, and I have literally no clue about how they'll do.
#99 Cincinnati Jungle Cats
Roster size - 41 (13 human)
New players - 7 human, many CPU
Superstars - 0
Cinci put together a real team towards the end of last season...but they didn't retain the players and didn't go out recruiting. I think the cats are going to struggle again.
#110 Buffalo Beasts of Bourbon
CPU owned team at the moment. No threat to real teams.
Gamma Prediction - I think the Band takes things home again, in a division that's still pretty bad.
Edited by pottsman on Mar 30, 2014 17:11:40
Edited by pottsman on Mar 24, 2014 00:24:19
Edited by pottsman on Mar 23, 2014 21:50:27
