Roll Models vs. Holdin’ Gate Warriors

Roll Models

Projected Lineup

Offense: Pnaoxt, MKo, Apop, Skinny Chode
Defense: Ignitius, El Sacko, Asa Akira

This year’s Roll Models are a team that has no lack of individual skill. Pnaoxt is probably the best flag carrier on the team, but MKo, Apop and El Sacko are close behind. These guys can play either position well, which makes the team flexible enough to cover for each other in a variety of situations. I wouldn’t be surprised if MKo got the start alongside Pnaoxt, given the extent of his league experience at both the Majors and Minors level. Ignitius is a proven defender who has shown a particular strength at playing prevent. He’s capable of handling the base by himself, which should free up El Sacko to block aggressively or pursue power-ups.

The main concern here, as it will be with a lot of teams early on, is chemistry and figuring out who plays well together. Much of what happens in Minors depends on who is playing Majors. On this team there are a lot of people who could log Majors minutes in Week 1. As such, we’ll probably see a lot of rotation as captains try to figure out what works.

Roll Models will need to work on their decision-making when the flag is out-of-base and the defenders are playing to less of their strengths. When will Skinny Chode will get a chance to prove that his domination of NLTP in Season 5 was not a fluke? We know he has the skill, but he will have to adjust to the pace of the top league, where teams punish your mistakes. Will Sundown trust him early in the season?

Holdin’ Gate Warriors

Projected Lineup

Offense: Iron_Ball, NotPrey, Megatron
Defense: APthatsME, lolugrumpy, Mr Bucket

The suspension of dodsfall looms large over HGW for the first few weeks of the season. With dods out, bigbird will have to take Majors minutes, which significantly weakens the Minors lineup. The good news for HGW is that they have pieces that can fill in during the suspension.

This is a team where few people stand out as clear offensive starters. I think we can count on NotPrey making his Minors debut in Week 1, following a strong Season 5 in NLTP. He’s a conservative grabber but when he gets the flag he tends to hold it longer than most. As with any player who has limited experience in league play, expect some growing pains as he adjusts to the hotter tempo. It makes sense to pair him on offense with Iron_Ball, who is both smart and experienced.

The defense will need to deal with the loss of bigbird, who likely would have been the best player on the team. To cope they may start two players with limited experience in lolugrumpy and APthatsME. AP is a Sphere force who won the award for top pickup of the season in NLTP Season 5. He has the potential to be a top player when he adjusts to the pace of Major League TagPro, and even especially on Sphere. Lolugrumpy’s spot in the lineup is less certain, as he has competition that has similar stats and league experience. It’s going to come down to which pairs show Curry the best chemistry in scrimmages.

Prediction

It seems to me that HGW will need to steal a win on Rush because the strengths of the Roll Models defense will allow them to excel on Iron. However, I am concerned about the HGW’s defense and their ability to track down a flag carrier like Pnaoxt. I’m not sure they’ll be able to steal that win.

Outcome: Roll Models win both games

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Angry Balls Redux vs. Texas Hold ‘Em

Angry Balls Redux

Projected Lineup

Offense: alvin, Wayne, Sun Chips, Ball-E
Defense: Eggo (?), Fowlball, simon, Ballzilla

Who is going to play Majors O for Angry Balls? They have Alvin, Wayne and bluemonday, who are all capable of doing the job. My best guess is that bluemonday will take the Majors minutes, leaving some combination of Alvin, Wayne, Sun Chips and Ball-E to carry the offensive load in Minors. Regardless of who plays, ABR’s offense should be pretty solid. All these guys are good flag carriers. If they have a weakness I’d guess that it’s going to be their grabbing ability.

The Angry Balls defense may end up being challenged this season. Eggo, their best theoretical defensive player, is technically an offender. Fowlball, Simon and Ballzilla are accomplished in terms of experience but will need to work on keeping the flag in-base and communicating base status so they don’t punish a potentially flaccid offense.

Texas Hold ‘Em

Projected Lineup

Offense: ooo kill’em, Matoi Ryuko, Legion, Team
Defense: Ralph Wiggum, Chalksy, timeboy

Texas Hold ‘Em looks like the real deal on paper. Dalek has assembled a strong squad that he was able to round out with great value picks later in the draft. They have proven playmakers on both sides of the flag, and upcoming talent that could eventually provide the spark that makes this team Muper Bowl-worthy. People are wondering whether Matoi Ryuko has earned his draft position. I see a player who has quickly developed himself into a suitable Minors attacker. He’s been dominating pubs for a long time now, and you know he has the technical ability and smarts to be successful in league play. As with any rookie, he’ll have lapses in judgment where he plays outside of the team concept. That’s to be expected, and he’ll learn from the more veteran players on the team. Legion and Team are experienced players who will stabilize the offense as well. Kill’em will be a solid component of the offense as well.

The defense presents interesting problems for Dalek. If he plans on playing yank in Majors against Centra teams, that is going to hurt the Minors defense quite a bit. If yank plays most of the Minors minutes this will turn into one of the most balanced teams on the west coast. Ralph, Chalksy, Timeboy and Dodge were all added as great value picks in later rounds. These guys are solid pickups who will work to stabilize the team when they get minutes.

Prediction

You can probably tell I’m pretty high on Texas Hold ‘Em at the start of the season. I’m just a fan of their depth and balance, which admittedly skews more heavily to the defensive side of things. That defensive experience will allow them to excel on Iron, and should also lead to a solid, mistake-free contain system on Rush. Taking into account my concerns about the ABR makes it easier to call this match in favor of Texas Hold ‘Em.

Outcome: Texas Hold ‘Em wins both games

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Tears vs. BMX2: Electric Ballaloo

EAZY-eee’s

Projected Lineup

Offense: eee, Maurice, kimba, esoog
Defense: quibble, saundy, superdiglett

This matchup features two teams, both with a combination of veteran and unproven talent. EAZY-eee’s have a pair of experienced defenders in quibble and saundy. At 28 years old a piece they have aged enough to clear their quarter-life crises but not so much that they’ve started to lose their mental faculties or physical ability to operate computers. Look for solid fundamental play from both of them, and expect palpable rage from quibble if saundy boosts backwards or crosses her up while they’re containing. She’ll need to work on understanding that maybe saundy was just really feelin’ it.

Offensively, eee is the only assured presence, but even his availability to play Minors depends on if he has to fill in for the Majors squad. Look for his offensive partner slot to be some combination of Kimba, the ball formerly known as Maurice (with a new name too vulgar to mention in an article of this stodgy caliber), and esoog. These players have shown capability in practice and the minutes will come down to chemistry and results at the start of the season. This team is deep in offensive potential but everyone will have to prove themselves in game situations to gain respect around the league.

Tears

Projected Lineup

Offense: fucking owen, mahatma, JBaayBaay, NEUhusky
Defense: coys, Frozty

One thing we all know is that you never count a Tears team out based on what you see on paper. The projected Tears lineup runs the gamut from experienced to almost completely green. fucking owen is the newest player on the squad in terms of league experience. He must have shown troball a foundation of technical skill and strong communication in his tryout. Trust that whatever owen lacks in league experience he will be gain by playing in the Tears system alongside veteran teammates. For his offensive parter we can look to mahatma, JBaayBaay or NEUhusky. It’s hard to know what to expect unless you’ve been at Tears practices, but this offense is quite capable. They’re going to have to overcome inexperience, and the defense will need to help them with that. Lack of experience will show up in the form of grabs at inopportune times and poor O-D positioning. Bright spots ought to be good communication and a high level of individual skill. Prioritization of power-ups is a foundational skill of any Tears team. Troball is not a huge rotator, so consistent minutes on this offense will be hard-earned.

Frozty has been doing his thing for a long time. He strung together a series of solid performances at the end of last season to help the Sugarball Gang secure a muper bowl. He partnered on D with coys to win that muper bowl. Whatever you say about their aggressive play style, you can’t deny that these two have been through some battles together. Don’t forget that these guys will scrim against Fatal all season, which will prepare them for even the jukiest of players. These guys will need to be a steadying influence on their inexperienced offense. They have to keep the flag in-base to give the offense’s natural abilities a chance to shine.

Prediction

These lineups seem really evenly matched. Both have steady defenses and possible surprises on offense. It will come down to who wins the most powerup battles and who makes the fewest mistakes.

Outcome: Split. EAZY-eee’s win Rush, Tears win Iron

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Origin Ducks vs. Little Merballs

Okay Hens

Projected Lineup

Offense: Ball God, MeaL, fxu, Blue Dream
Defense: Bal McCartny, Abe Lincoln, aardvark74

Ball God is the only certain offensive starter for the Hens. He put up strong numbers in just over 230 minutes for Semi Probots last season and it seems like he’s ready to anchor this Minors offense. His offensive partner is harder to pin down. For now, expect to see a rotating lineup of fxu, Blue Dream, and MeaL. There are lots of unknowns here. We know that Blue Dream is the latest SOCL darling, but how smooth will his transition to advanced league play be? He has shown well in scrims so far, but this ain’t SOCL and he’s going to be challenged. fxu has had an active off-season and improved a lot. You know he’s been at every practice, and in SOCL and scrims he’s shown himself to be a capable player. MeaL is a bit of an unknown to me as well, but sources say he might be able to steal some minutes in Week 1.

Look to see a defensive pairing of Abe Lincoln and Bal McCartney. Honest Abe will be a rookie this year. He’s far fiestier than his presidential counterpart ever was, displaying Mr. Thot-levels of aggression. If Bal McCartney can’t adapt to his aggressive style, teams will be able to take advantage of this defensive pair. It will be important for Abe to rein in some of that aggression in favor of a safer, team-oriented style of play. Not sure what’s going on with aardy here. He has the talent to back up or even usurp Donuts for the starting Majors role.

I’m expecting this team to play smart, but smart isn’t enough if you don’t execute. We will have to see if their relative inexperience exposes them in the first few games.

Little Merballs

Projected Lineup

Offense: oh_snap!, MANIAC!!!!, danisk, dat cap
Defense: Fuzz Ball, Snowball, Kitten Panda, dat cap

The Lil’ Merbs look pretty solid. KPow drafted a team that should have both depth and consistency. oh_snap! anchored the Tears Minors offense last year until his minutes dropped off. Don’t be fooled by that, though. He’s a natural born capper and has the talent to carry a Minors offense. Snap is arguably the most valuable ball on the team and I can see the success of the entire squad hinging on his performance. No pressure. It looks like his partner will be Jay, who is a strong player in his own right. Jay has been having lag issues, which may affect his ability to log significant minutes. In that case, MANIAC!!!!, danisk, or dat cap could also be the second starter. None of these players have proved themselves at the Minors level. If Jay can’t play it might be smart to pair MANIAC with oh_snap, because both players have the ability to hold the flag for long periods of time. In this scenario MANIAC would play a supporting role. Danisk played a lot of minutes in NLTP last season and posted a solid GASP-O. Dat cap signed up as a defender and that’s where most of his league experience has been. He’s a capable two-way player who can back up both O and D. True two-way players are a rarity. Bongo comes to mind and I like him so he gets a name drop.

The Merbs drafted Kitten Panda late but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him appear as a defensive starter at some point. He is a great “glue guy” and keeps the vibe calm during games. His fluid style means he would pair nicely with both Fuzz Ball and Snowball. Those two players have the most experience, but with limited time to practice together the chemistry might be lacking early on. We’ll wait to see if KPow goes with the more experienced duo of Fuzz/Snowball to set the early tone for teamwork and communication.

There’s a lot of balance and depth on this team, and you have to figure that they’ll be able to withstand a lot of different scenarios, from poor player availability all the way to traumatic hand injury. Communication might be an early weakness of the team. We’ll know that’s the case if they fail to work together on offense and can’t coordinate power-up fights and usage.

Prediction

The Hens seem to have more raw talent, but the Merbs have experience in their favor. Later in the season I might call this a sweep for the Hens, but I like the experience of the Merbs on Iron here in Week 1. I think they’ll be able to expose some of the inexperience of the Hens’ defense and get out of base a lot. I also think the Hens have to explosive ability to steal one on Rush.

Outcome: Split. Okay Hens take Rush, Little Merballs take Iron