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So I did this a year ago and due to popular demand (one guy pming me asking if I was doing it again) I'm bringing it back. Last year, I flat out said the Tigers and Wolfpack were the two worst teams by far and then they both made finals. I haven't even considered buying a lottery ticket since. But with those two teams' rise to the top, it's time to broaden my mind and really try evaluating each team.
And let's start with these three boring teams who decided to retain all the talent they could in order to repeat last year's success; well, at least for the first two. I'm not sure what the Cryonicles are hoping to repeat but they decided to keep their core and go in for a few pieces they were missing, or at least that seemed like what the plan would have been before the Cryos ended with an astonishing 19 players to end the auction. I think communication problems could definitely arise here with so many users of different cultures, languages, and Pocket all coming together. The Tigers seem content to continue picking up random Brazilians even though Danilo has left the team (Definitely some potential with guys like Halloween however) and the Wolfpack kind of confused us all when they welcomed prem with open arms.
You know it's gonna be a great draft when you start the day like the Ruiners did. After a painstakingly long setup of retainers and bidders, the bidding got under way on Bloo. The Ruiners managed to pick him up for a pretty high 35k but Frogs manager Lonelyness complained that he wanted to bid more after missing the bid deadline by incorrectly typing the difficult combination of symbols "!35.5". In a not-so-shocking decision, Oglemi made a decision that "shouldn't have been made" but was justifiable and reset the entire auction. That's right, Lonelyness is basically the equivalent of a raging hurricane in the NFL delaying the event for a long period of time. The Ruiners were obviously distraught upon the reset, as it cost them an extra 5k to spend on Bloo (for an unheard of 40k), money that surely would have been well spent by picking up another pair of 3kers at the end of the auction. Reports later came in that McMeghan ended the draft hosting try-outs as he searched for something to save his team. Alas the Ruiners come off looking like this year's car wreck, which probably means they'll win the whole thing.
A favorite of many bystanders going forward, the team made some strong moves with the addition of Choice Specs late as well as an obvious mentality of "well we already have WhiteQueen, it's not like LUST can make it worse". The Sharks actually received make fair and square this time around, so it'll be interesting to see what strategy the managers use to screw over the Sharks this time. All in all, a solid-looking team moving forward.
A common theme of managers this season was pissing people off and the BIGs did this in spades, upbidding anyone who was anyone coming by. Somehow this strategy left them with Genesectless, CatcherAndTheRai, Dr Ciel, Big Tiff, AB2, and Dotteh competing for two of the remaining starting slots. It'll be interesting to see how long am can stand his new teammates before he requests a trade to the Scooters, but I don't see this team going anywhere. AND YES MY GRAPES ARE INCREDIBLY SOUR
The story of the Classiest is basically Field of Dreams if the main character was actually schizophrenic. While they try to tell us they've built this and all these great players are coming, we kind of know this is going to be a disaster. I don't see many worlds where Mr.E and kokoloko just survive together peacefully either. Yet another team who sat on too many credits until the end, so one can only assume they're saving up for Stone himself to lace up and enter the tournament.
We were under the impression that there were 3 DPP OU Slots. Luckily masters of 4th gen are masters of any, so I have confidence we will be successful. Yeah, that's right, I'm supporting my team. Oh my god please show up VIL.
Somehow I think this team got worse from where it was at last year, but BKC has the momentum of a recent Tour win behind him, so anything could happen. Majin, kael, bad ass, and Masterclass are strong players but with 3 of them being activity risks, a lot is banking on them staying together a coherent unit. The best moment of the tournament likely belongs to the bidding war on Mizuhime after yondie and LN did a simple channel info and found Mizuhime was (presumably) keeping the logs of the Scooters' players. BKC did whatever he could to save his love (or his logs), but it clearly came with a cost.
Okay, the frogs do look surprisingly strong if they can keep everyone focused and actually playing hard. Yes, I'm surprised I'm even saying this considering everything that's happened. But with that said, how do the frogs have a successful draft that still ends up being a baffling experience of hilarity. Whether it was the early bid on zfs who was 2-8 in last season's farm league, the obtaining of players who threatened to quit if they were bought, the mean-spirited bullying of BKC, or even the constant upbidding of Bloo, Mizuhime, and other "team-locked" players, the frogs made us laugh as always with their ridiculous antics.
With yet another exciting draft behind us, I can only say: I wish every day was SPL Auction Day
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