Plorg
Joined: May 08, 2005
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 Posted:
Jun 29, 2006 - 02:20 |
 
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The schedule is up!
When reviewing the Ulthuan Invitational II, there was a wide variety of interesting matchups
between a wide variety of rosters. Differences between teams were obvious.
As for XFL Khemri, Plorg has coached four Khemri teams with increasing success.
One learns a few things about the subtleties of a specific roster having done this.
Now with XFL Dark Elves, this is Plorg's first elf team of any kind ever.
So as a disclaimer, Plorg admits that he is hardly an expert on the workings of a Dark Elf team.
An adept padawan perhaps, but hardly an expert.
Here we have a staggering 32 Dark Elf teams against each other.
Five rounds of formation dodging, precision bashing, and agile ball handling.
We will see much of the Tackle/Dodge game here.
Running the teams through the spreadsheet, we have an average 248/224 TR/TS at this time.
Teams with a higher TR than this will be giving away more handicaps than average,
and teams with a higher TS will be winning more games on average.
Interestingly, the first and last 4-team brackets have high TR/TS correlation.
4 of the highest 6 TS teams are in the same 4-bracket:
Team Fredrick III Zatoc 330/275
Agile cats for a change OverDose 286/274
Blue magic Jesterius 319/271
Underdark Nightmares Arcon 307/249
This means that 3 of the highest TR teams will be eliminated after the first two rounds.
The other two of the top 6 are the infamous Blood Falcons and the recent UI2 champs Sanguine Savants.
Blood Falcons recently lost Valdrek Bloodgaze to a rock-related injury,
so they might just be giving out *only four* handicaps in some games! :O
3 of the lowest 6 TS teams are in the same 4-bracket (with Blood Red Dragons 275/218):
Trollwood Drain Stonetroll 181/190
Gspasslaberln the_grand_wazoo 202/187
Witch King Soulflayers onionking 175/182
The Blood Red Dragons got caught with an MNG when the seedings went up, so their 218 TS is artificially low.
They will be giving out plenty of handicaps for the first two rounds, which could knock them out early.
As for Plorg's Elves, they have slightly above average TR/TS here.
They also face the grim possibility of meeting Blood Falcons in Round 2 and Sanguine Savants in Round 3
(after efficiently crushing Cripples Unite of course) (hi shadow  ).
Since there are so many teams to examine and games have already started, specific "Picks" will begin after Round 1. Stay tuned... |
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Plorg
Joined: May 08, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 02, 2006 - 14:18 |
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Round 1 Update:
The first round is halfway over with 8 teams pulling ahead.
For those watching the other recent major tournaments,
and due to the tendency for Dark Elves to make a strong consistent showing,
we will see many of the usual suspects here.
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Blood Red Dragons beat Witch King Soulflayers.
While the 6-0 score may look like Borgen was just showing off,
four scoring players got new skills after the game.
Getting their MNG back, they now have a solid 284/262 TR/TS.
One can tell a bit about a team by the other races they tend to play.
BRD tends to play against Dark Elves and Skaven the most,
and with a good record against both rosters they are well prepared
for the bashier side of the fast agile teams.
4 +ST, 3 +AG, and plenty of Blodge make this a team to watch.
Average 2.4 TD/game, 2.8 cas/game.
Trollwood Drain achieved a concession win over Gspasslaberln.
They are now at 184/191 TR/TS and go up against Blood Red Dragons in round 2.
This is one of the rare noble elf teams to play almost all the other races equally and is to commended for that.
However, without an especially strong record against any roster, they are unlikely to beat BRD.
They have more Dirty Players than BRD, but with an average 1.5 cas/game
it doesn't seem like they use them very well.
Plorg's Pick: Blood Red Dragons by 2
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Black Death Bucc's bashed their way to win over Evil Elven Elements.
BDB tends to play other fast teams like Dark Elves, Elves, Skaven, and Necros.
Average 2.2 TD, 2.9 cas/game.
Due to the bloodiness of their first round game, they are down to 274/195 TR/TS with 2 MNGs.
They face the winner of Mining Company vs Naggaroth DarkDevils.
Looking into the round 2 future, Plorg sees Mining Company coming through and brushing this damaged team aside.
Plorg's Pick: Mining Company by 2
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Sanguine Savants plowed over Cult of Spades, showing that even Nuffle has trouble making up for differences of over 100 TR.
Their 285/266 TR/TS is stocked with plenty of Guard, 3 +ST, and some shiny new Ulthuan armor pieces.
Note that they have relatively little Dodge for an elf team, so mass Tackle is less effective against them.
However it also means that most of their players can be knocked down by anybody with a push/down result.
The horde of Guards allows this team to bash it up with Chaos teams,
but they still have a steady diet of Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and Humans.
Average 2.1 TD, 2.4 cas/game.
They face the winner of Ghost Riders vs SchwarzeSchatten.
While Ghost Riders has some nice stat increases, it is also a very young team that is very outclassed.
SchwarzeSchatten should give some trouble in round 2, but nothing that the Savants can't handle.
Plorg's Pick: Sanguine Savants by 1.
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Blood Falcons cruised to a 3-1 win over Drizzt Do'Urden's Loyals.
With 1 MNG, they are down to *only* 385/282 TR/TS. 8 rerolls and 33 FF make this more formidable.
They have plenty of +AG, but really not much in +ST/Guard so it is certainly possible to outbash them.
One just has to catch them first.
Since they make an almost exclusive diet of other elves, they are well suited to this tournament.
Average 3.4 TD, 2.4 cas/game.
Plorg's Elves bashed to an OT win over Cripples Unite.
Some cockiness by Plorg in the second half led to a 1-1 tie and overtime,
where the bashing attrition caught up with the Cripples.
Plorg's Elves have a focus on rolling doubles and taking Guard on everyone.
As with Sanguine Savants, this lets them play bashy Chaos teams, some Amazons, and a sprinkling of everyone else.
254/233 TR/TS. Average 2.2 TD, 3.1 cas/game.
It will take plenty of luck on everything to beat the Blood Falcons.
Iron Man... a nice Morley's on 3 stars... It Wasn't Me on the AG 6... ahh such dreams...
Plorg's Pick: abstain
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NFL Pro Bowlers badly hurt Tholgorond Swordspiders in a 3-1 win.
This team tends to play other fast teams with a specialization in Wood Elves.
239/219 TR/TS, 2.7 TD, only 1.35 cas/game.
Axiom beat the undermanned and overskilled KSC by 4-2.
While this team plays with elves a lot, it also mixes it up with Chaos and Orcs.
2 +ST and 3 Guard lets one do things like that.
They have a solid 296/258 TR/TS with an average 2.5 TD and remarkably low 1.4 cas/game.
The NFL vs Axiom match will probably be relatively "gentle" as tournament matches go.
Plorg's Pick: Axiom by 2
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Team Fredrick III beat the Underdark Nightmares in a 2-1 win.
This team is heavy on the Blodge. Low Tackle teams will have trouble against them.
They play against Dark Elves and Wood Elves mostly, with some Amazon, Elf, High Elf, Human, and Orc scattered about.
333/264 TR/TS, 2.4 TD, 1.6 cas/game.
TF3 plays the winner of Agile cats for a change vs Blue magic.
Both of those teams are strong contenders with close TR, so that should be a good match to spectate.
Agile cats have the highest TS of this 4-bracket, but having the lowest TR means that they will be taking handicaps for the next two games.
Plorg's Pick: Agile cats for a change by 1 |
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OverDose
Joined: Apr 07, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 02, 2006 - 14:58 |
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whoa I like the way you predict : ) |
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Meech
Joined: Sep 15, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 03, 2006 - 21:14 |
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Meech doesn't like the way Plorg uses the third person. No he doesn't not at all! |
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Putting the FU in fumbbl since 9/2005 |
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Borgen
Joined: Sep 06, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 04, 2006 - 06:23 |
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Plorg - well done on taking down the Blood Falcons, lets see you do it again to the Savants! |
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British or British-based? Join the White Isle League! |
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Plorg
Joined: May 08, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 04, 2006 - 10:59 |
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Round 1 Update #2:
Agile cats for a change did indeed come through over Blue magic 3-2.
They go against Team Fredrick III and will be receiving handicaps.
TF3 does have a strong Dodge-prevention game with several Tackle/Diving Tackle players.
The problem with relying on that plan is that Agile cats have 4 +ST increases and 2 Guards.
They might as well knock them down and walk over them instead of dodging.
No real damage to the team, so the Pick stays on Agile cats.
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Darkness Deluxe defeated Reign in Blood IX 4-2.
This Blodge-heavy squad faces the winner of Night Society and Drow Cowboys.
However, neither of those teams are strong in Tackle, and are expected to be outgunned in round 2.
Plorg's Pick: Darkness Deluxe by 2
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Striking Falcons clobbered Disciples Of Gore in a 4-0 shutout.
Striking Falcons strongly believes in the preservative powers of Blodge and Side Step.
They also enjoy playing Chaos and Rotters.
Wild West Wing Warriors slaughtered the BBA HagCrag BlackPink Panthers 5-2 with 2 RIPs, but taking an important MNG.
With a ST4 Frenzy Blocker out of the game, they are fairly evenly matched with Striking Falcons.
They still have 4 Mighty Blow players to bust some heads.
Plorg's Pick: Striking Falcons by 1
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In a gruesome death-filled 5-5 tie, Naggaroth DarkDevils beat Mining Company in the post-game coin toss.
Now they and their next opponent Black Death Bucc's are in the same situation.
Both teams won their Round 1 game but got the crap beaten out of them.
Even so, BDB is still in better shape and is now expected to go through.
Plorg's Pick: Black Death Bucc's by 2
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To start off the second round, Plorg's Elves beat the Blood Falcons 2-1 in a celebrated bloody OT win.
This brings their average cas/game to a decent 3.25, which they always strive to improve. |
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Plorg
Joined: May 08, 2005
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| Posted:
Jul 11, 2006 - 00:47 |
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Round 2 and 3 Update:
All the Round 2 games have been played as well as half of Round 3.
We are down to the last 5 games of the tourney.
Wild West Wing Warriors came out on top over Striking Falcons,
but were defeated as Blood Red Dragons became the first to progress to Round 4.
Blood Red Dragons is currently down to 12 players, which will hurt them later on.
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Night Society has had a strong start,
breaking through the Drow Cowboys, Darkness Deluxe, and next facing Black Death Bucc's.
Night Society has the edge in strength and Guard, but BDB has the edge in agility and Tackle.
With only one (niggled) Tackler, it will be tough for Night Society to stop BDB from outscoring them.
Plorg's Pick: Black Death Bucc's by 1
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On the other side of the brackets, Sanguine Savants won over Plorg's Elves 3-1.
This takes them into Round 4, but with one less armor piece.
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Axiom demonstrated their high scoring prowess, making 4 TDs in each of the first two rounds.
With 14 players and 130k in the bank, Axiom is perhaps the healthiest team remaining.
Agile cats have a lot of +ST, but Axiom has a couple of those and some Guards too.
Plorg's Pick: Axiom by 2
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Barring some serious injuries in the next round, Plorg believes the tournament winner will be
whoever wins the predicted Sanguine Savants/Axiom game. |
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