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Post by comfort_eagle on Dec 31, 2017 4:27:41 GMT
In a writing mood? Reply to this thread and post your fluff and banter here!
Lets kick things off with this playoff poll: Top 8 goes through to the knockout rounds. Who's gonna make it past the group stages? Poll above.
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Post by tector on Jan 2, 2018 11:41:17 GMT
Interesting that there are only 12 votes for group 2 and 15 for group 1. Somebody out there really believes in group 2 dominating in the playoffs)
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 4:14:20 GMT
Team: The Naillers Coach: nails Team Anaysis: At the 2k team value mark, even a normally developed dwarf side is something to behold – safe, rugged, and tough as Nails. But THIS particular side has some features that make opponents have to work extra hard; a pair of str4 dwarves, a movement 7 shadowing blodger, an agility 4 pro blitzer, a diving tackle long beard, and perhaps the best death roller I’ve ever seen – plus movement, block AND grab. This last piece paired with the free bribe stadium enhancement Nails has purchased means serious trouble for sides unfortunate enough to have to play him at home. There is perhaps less guard than what you’d expect from a tv2000+ dorf side which stronger teams might try to exploit, but the str4 and dauntless scattered around the team help to mitigate this. The only obvious weak point I can see at the time of writing is with the runners – the primary runner is down to 2 agility, and their secondary runner has yet to pick up the ‘block’ skill. This second runner’s only other skill up was a double (dodge), which leaves him a little vulnerable in the short term. That said, the piece is only 2 spp away from levelling again, so opponents could probably expect another blodger to contend with very soon. Predictions: No reason why this team shouldn’t progress into the playoffs, and place quite highly – UNLESS at some point, the claws of their nurgle/chaos rivals hit their marks, and cripple a few key pillars of the team.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 4:40:59 GMT
Team: Trucido Coach: Coach TS Team Analysis: A smattering of rookies pepper this otherwise well built team. There is of course the obligatory clawpomb piece that no chaos side is ever without, but he’s accompanied by a cast of effective utility pieces which help to cover whatever an opposing team might throw at them. I’m particularly taken by the fully developed sacking piece (wrestle, tackle, strip ball, with bonus kick skill), and the minotaur who decided to bank on pro rather than block on an early double skill up. This, combined with frenzy and juggernaut seems to suggest the piece fills more of a surfing roll, so be watching the sidelines when you see him starting to charge! Predictions: Trucido will need to fight hard and have more than a little luck on his side to get through the group stages. I can see the other teams picking on his poor rookies all season, and while they’ll eventually pick up spp, in the short-term, I fear TS will find himself constantly outmanned. The clawpomber and that pro mino have their work cut out for them until the chaos warrior core fills out.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 4:57:29 GMT
Team: The Equinox Arcana Coach: rtsd Team Analysis: This veteran coach returns with his two time gold title winners, with his sights set on a hattrick, but in my humble opinion, the competition has seriously upped their game since the Equinox Arcana’s last season. The team is solid – deep bench, regen everywhere, and a full arsenal of skills to boot. Most impressive are the ghouls – you name it, one of them can probably do it, and working in tandem with the other positionals, they’ll just about shut down any offence. Factor in the block mummy (his partner’s no slouch either mind you), the fouler, and the piling-on MB wight, and you quickly realise this team can hit as hard as the best of them when push comes to shove. Curiously, RTSD runs with only 2 rerolls, and no surehands to be found anywhere on his team – so ball handling might just be the riskiest part of his game. Can his perfect positioning, and careful play make up for it? This admin thinks so. Prediction: RTSD has proven before he’s got what it takes to win gold, and bloody well might just do so again. edit: I might have fudged the stats here a little... turns out rtsd hasn't won a gold trophy, but is still a smashing good coach by any measure. He HAS won two silvers and a copper with this team, and is now in it to complete his trophy collection!! ahem.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 5:10:59 GMT
Team: Gorland Miners Coach: gorbag1Team Analysis: They’re the lightest tv team of group 1, but I think the Gorland Miners are nevertheless capable of punching decently above their weight. This is by virtue of them being dorfs, which means they basically start with all the skills they need to impose their game plan in any drive – slow, steady, and hard as rocks. Being so relatively low on team value also means he’ll get enough inducements each game to buy whatever he wants to make up for what he lacks. The team has loaded up on dodge (1/3 of his players have rolled doubles to pick it up), has decent guard coverage, and is in short, a robust and dependable side. The most interesting piece on the roster seems to be the Miner’s star runner who’s one of the most well-rounded players you could imagine. Able to pick up the ball, catch, throw, block – he can pretty much do it all! Prediction: He’ll put up a good fight, and force the majority of games into draws, as dorfs are so easily capable of doing.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 5:30:17 GMT
Team: Rotten Blockers Coach: blockiTeam Analysis: Ah, the bad boys of group 1. Home to not 1, but 2 killers, and more +strength players than you can poke a stick at. Str6 tentacled beast of nurgle? Check. Str5 block warrior? Check. Str4 ball carrier? Check. Agility 4 rotter even? Check. Regeneration on all the pieces you'd like to remove? Check. High TV is where teams like the Blocki's nurgle really get rolling, and if they get their way, the body bags will pile up nice and high this gold season. The only weak spot in the roster is the single rookie nurgle warrior who may from time to time cause turnovers and such. Frighteningly little to fault on this squad. Predictions: One of my top four for the season, unless someone puts Ty-Ra (near legendary clawpomber) down for good…
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 5:47:26 GMT
Team: Country Clubbers Coach: havolTeam Analysis: Last season’s silver winners bravely continue their fancy prancing into gold! And who’s to stop them? Several elves live with stat-busts to this, that, or the other, but on the whole, the team is still in top fighting form. Half the team is blodged up, and it seems it’s the job of the other half to take the hits so that the real stars can bring home the bacon. The ag5 blitzer would be impressive, if he wasn’t living in the shadow of the ag6 blodge catcher who is just down-right broken. I mean, what do you do against a piece who can do WHATEVER HE WANTS in two tackle zones if he just rolls 2+ ? Opposing coaches, for your sanity’s sake, anticipate plenty of elf BS, and resist the urge to smash your keyboards when the leaping wrestle piece sacks your BC, and the aforementioned ‘Stuck Up Steve’ waltzes into your full cage, picks up the ball, dances out, and long-bombs it to his receiver buddy like it’s a walk in the park. Just… accept that its gonna happen. Bloody elves. But you gotta give respect where its due – it takes guts to be coaching a pure agility team in such a bash heavy environment. And with a few nurgle teams in the mix, the anti-pass, disturbing-presence stacking might become a factor… Prediction: These fellas will make it all the way to the finals. I’m calling it now.
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Post by tector on Jan 14, 2018 11:09:47 GMT
Rtsd is no two time gold champion
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 14, 2018 11:46:29 GMT
Rtsd is no two time gold champion =) might have to fire my fact checker! He's won at least a couple of shiny things in his illustrious IP career, no? Ah - forgive me, it was YOU who won two back to back gold seasons, boss!
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 15, 2018 3:16:16 GMT
Team: Grak’s Grinderz Coach: Insidious Team Analysis: There’s a fine line between bravery and insanity, and it’s a little hard to tell the two apart. This IS a no-limits tv league, which means there’s no upper cap on teams, but there is also technically no lower cap on teams either. Grak’s Grinderz are either looking to prove something, or they ticked the wrong box on their application forms, because this silver level team looks to mix it with the big boys. What they DO have is not bad – 1 guard, 1 tackle, 1 black orc who can block… its what they’re missing which might prove to be their undoing – namely, a few hundred tv worth of skills. But lets look on the positive – they can buy whatever they want with their inducement money, and that troll/gobbo combo seems purposely built to pull of some throw-team-mate shenanigans, which will at least make very exciting spectating. Prediction: I feel like Grak’s Grinderz are a little under-done. They managed to tie their first game, so I have to tip my hat to that, but their lack of skills and levels across the team will limit their effectiveness against some of the heavier teams in their group. Prove me wrong, Sid; I love your gobbos, but I don’t like your chances of getting past the group stages this season.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 15, 2018 3:38:41 GMT
Team: World Zombie Council Coach: parriganTeam Analysis: Zombies. Soooo many zombies! And with some pretty handy skills right down the bench, the WZC are a handful to stop. Even if you manage to remove one, and it somehow stays hurt, there’s another 4 or 5 stand-ins who are just as stubbornly resistant and ready to lumber on in their inevitable advance to the endzone. Parrigan’s well documented enjoyment of the juggernaut skill is in evidence – side-line surf alerts have been issued and wrestle pieces beware – no one is safe from the aptly named Minister of Bodies (tackle, jugg, grab, pomber). The only chink in the armour might be the slight minus armour on one of the flesh golems – taking one of those road blocks off the pitch even for 1 drive might really free up space for an opponent to move – but committing assists to a str4 stand firm piece to try remove it might well be an exercise in vanity if the dice don’t cooperate. Even at 2k team value, it still seems the sky’s the limit in terms of future development – one of the wights is still a rookie, the wolves are not yet in totally OP territory, and the team is yet to pick up a kicker or even a sure hands piece… the WZC might be floating at 2500 before they start reaching their full potential, which is a scary thought. Prediction: Shamble on to the knockout rounds, Parrigan – I think your boys have what it takes to go the distance. Even claws won’t necessarily be able to stop your slow but disturbingly incessant advance.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 15, 2018 4:04:57 GMT
Team: Pull the Plug Coach: zymoticTeam Analysis: The gold runners up from last season bear the marks of having come through the crucible that was the playoffs – still missing a nurgle warrior from the roster, and needing to save up enough cash to afford a replacement. And as in all nurgle sides, the rotters are falling behind in development; its not an elegant job, but I suppose SOMEONE has to do line of scrimmage duty. Nevertheless, Zymotic’s nurgle have been there, and done that, and have the t-shirts to prove it. Their speedy beast of nurgle is annoyingly effective, the mutated agility boosted BC is a superstar, and they have all the muscle and claws any nurgle coach could hope for (and which their opponents have nervous breakdowns over). The team is a little light on bench, and low on cash, but that oversight should fix itself as the season progresses. Opponents – take advantage while you can! Prediction: Should be a good rebuilding season for Zymotic, and no reason why he couldn’t multitask - strolling into playoffs at the same time.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 15, 2018 8:56:38 GMT
Team: Khemri Cardinals Coach: tectorTeam Analysis: Every group needs a bully, and the Cardinals are the team you love to hate. Finally graduating from silver after causing more than their fair share of pain there, Tector’s bringing his dusty Khemri boots to stomp some high tv face. 2 pieces on the roster immediately jump out at you: str7 tomb guard, and a heavily skilled lvl6 thro-ra (blodge, mv7, leader, kick off return). The other threats are the two dirty players working in combination with the tomb guard core, and the sheer volume of mighty blow floating around; you get the feeling its just a matter of time before somebody’s gonna go down, and even if the punch doesn’t kill you, the inevitable boots might well finish the job. Tector’s current iteration of blitz-ras have yet to pick up piling-on, so coaches who face him sooner rather than later might at least have one less thing to worry about. All that’s left is to weigh out whether its worth trying to tangle with the str7, or to just let your rookies draw straws to see who’s turn it is to mark him and get solo 3d blocked. In my past clashes with the Cardinals, I’d always sought to remove the leader thro-ra so as to take the Khemri down to 2 rr, but I don’t think I ever managed to pull that off. Prediction: My bet is that Tector will once again fight his way to the top of the gold pile, albeit with big skellies this time, and not big lizards. It may not be total smooth sailing, however. The Cardinals may run into some trouble and trade badly against some of the regen sides if the ref happens to be paying enough attention to fouls. And while Tomb Guards are strong, their decay nega-trait can cause occasional team development setbacks if a stray claw happens to hit its mark.
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Post by comfort_eagle on Jan 15, 2018 9:10:19 GMT
Team: LAPHTER Coach: weresquid Team Analysis: It is no secret that I despise rats, but even I am starting to feel a little sorry for these poor bastards. At time of writing, they’re down to 1390tv and 9 semi-healthy players. They can still dash to the endzone for sure – blodging agility boosted gutter runners can do just about anything they want unless they get strung up by their tails and beaten into oblivion. The remaining rats are actually not too shabby on defence; str4 stormvermin adds some much needed punch to the side, and the wrestle/strip ball gutter-runner is half-way to being a decent sacker (shame every side except the zombies have a surehands piece on the roster). And rats are basically claw proof, right? Ok, I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel to look for positives now… lets face it, its gonna be a painful season for the rats, unless those runners can live up to their name, and run the field like the pesky vermin bad-asses that they are. I suppose everyone loves an underdog, even if its rats. Chin up, Squid. Prediction: A lot of dead rats.
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