elf

Link does not work buddy.

Haha - thanks!

Hi guys, It's a slow Monday morning here so I thought I'd spend some time analysing the opposition this season. Hopefully this inspires others to do the same, always interesting to hear peoples views on potential line-ups. Disclaimer: I haven't been active for a few seasons so I may have called it wrong in many cases, apologies if I hurt your feelings! Assassins Top 5: Sika, Nadai, Mop, Develop, Saiyan Comments: I've never played with Buny but I've heard good things. He and Saiyan are interchangeable in the 5th spot. Except for Nadai I haven't seen them praccing much yet. The tilt factor is pretty strong here with Sika and Nadai both prone to choking, but when they playing well they will roll over any team in the league. I'm not sure if I prefer the old Assassins who were a bit more stable and preferred to grind down the enemy (aiti, tak, mop, +1). They could certainly use 1/2 more active recruits but I think the current roster is solid. Backarrow Top 5: BugKiller, Tunahead, Superwolf, Surrey, Fedu Comments: Great to see so many old B.I.A. players back in action. However, they've got a long way to go before they are at their peak again but guys like Hook and Jinxi have the potential to transform this roster into a great team if they can put the hours in. Superwolf is one of the newer players here but he's got great aim and movement - a real tough opponent. I hope to see them add a few more players to bulk out the roster more. However, they are praccing alot and often have 8 or 9 guys online. Candyman is good in the right line-up, I don't think this one suits him though. They certainly have the potential to push for a 5op 4 spot, whether that happens is totally dependent on how much they practice and whether the BIA players return to form. Beastfu Top 5: Gold Teeth, Wobit, zAiR, ibex, Marshall_Law Comments: I don't know much about these guys - aliasers or new players perhaps? Hopefully the latter. Gold Teeth I think I played with on Rebels and he was reasonably solid. Wobit was on Secret but hasn't been active in league for years. The other three I'm not too sure about. Can't really comment on their potential but with them the best of luck. Cosmic Rift Top 5: Savage, GhostBuster17, Greg, McLaren, Pog Comments: A real mix of players here. Some guys with heaps of league experience and some are fairly unproven. Some names on this roster are worrying and should only be allowed off the bench in unimportant games - otherwise they are liable to choke horribly. As it stands I think CR is a mid-league team who can definitely pose problems for some of the higher tier squads if GB17/Sav are on form, they can push for a top 5 spot but I think when things get serious they lack the depth to compete and need a few more solid recruits who can step in and make a difference if someone doesn't show or needs to be subbed. Critical Mass Top 5: Three, designator, Ozn, boolean, Antihuman Comments: Lots of aliasers here and I'm not sure who's who. The players I have listed are solid and can hang with anyone in the league. However they lack depth and could use someone who is able to turn it up in big games. If they solely rely on Three to make the plays (which I doubt, but its a possibility) then they could have problems but there is enough experience here to ensure that they can challenge for a top spot. Despite only 8 rostered members, its a quality over quantity team and all of the guys can turn up and play well. Dropships Top 5: Skimm, Plutorus, Joe. Jr, A suicidal dentist, Hallowed. Comments: These guys are really improving and have become a cohesive unit who can present a challenge to most squads in the league. They aren't a free win anymore and I look forward to seeing them cause a few upsets. They've picked up some solid pilots and whilst some are still a little green, there is a good mix of experience there with Plutorus and suicidal dentist. Joe Jr. is a good focal point for the team and skimm is a strong defensive/support player. Outlaws: Top 5: Krilyu, Caerbannog, Eric Clapton, KingNewbie, Enforcer Comments: Really stacked roster with guys who prac alot and have tonnes of high end league experience. Plenty of potential subs who could almost create an entirely new squad and compete for the title themselves (Legacy, Crescendo, Captor, Barbarian, Hibachi). I think it will be between Outlaws/Assassins/Critical Mass/Sterling battling it out for the top 4 with Outlaws taking the title. They put in the hours and have the deep roster needed. Slopships Top 5: Shiny, Stigma, Nude for Satan, Bargeld, based god Comments: Seem like the Dropships b-team? Great to see more squads in the league and I hope these guys enjoy the season. I can't see them posing many challenges to anyone except beastfu, SFE & WTF? The roster is deep and squads like Slopships are vital to the longevity of this zone - welcome guys! Stafire Elite Top 5: Shikaa, ufotable, Mauler, MFA, Medicus Shikaa is a great pick-up and if Mauler is active then the duo can do some serious damage. Medicus is solid in a spider (I think?) which is always an annoying ship to play against. Ufotable seems like a solid new player who will be an important element to this team. This is one of the stronger SFE line-ups in my memory and they shouldn't be underestimated. Definitely one of the strongest mid tier teams if they prac. Sterling Top 5: Rage, Seismic, Maimer, Plare, pseudo Comments: Strong roster. Would have been nice to see a few more old names come back too (Hat, Onslaught, Cloud) but I like the combination of experience and skill. Plus, they aren't afraid to pickup less experienced guys such as Nine and Twista who are solid players that can come off the bench and hang with the top squads. Rage is one of the best offensive players in the game and Seismic is a great support player who makes intelligent flanks and set-ups for this team. I haven't seen much of Maimer recently but he's always a good opponent. Pseudo is excellent when playing well, terrible when not. If you catch him on a bad day he will choke, if you catch him on a good day he will dominate. The problem is that there is no consistency. I think we see Sterling come into their own in the playoffs and look forward to some good games between them and Ass/CM/Outlaws/TD. Symphony Top 5: US, Peeking Duck?, High Gain, Denied, Cicada Comments: Peeking is doing a great job of bringing Symph back and bringing new players into our zone/league. I commend him for starting something new and doing a great job in building his squad. Their first season back wont be easy but they have a good mix of experience and dedication with lots of the new guys praccing hard and improving (Edgar, Gambit, KillerCam, lute). In a couple of seasons these guys will be tough opponents. Right now I see Symph competing with SFE/WTF and beating Beastfu/Slopships. However, they can certainly climb higher if they continue to practice and work hard. The Dark Top 5: Da_Monkk, Blink, 9-Volt, Benji, chrono Comments: Really nice roster here with a mixture of DS/TD guys, all of whom are skilled and experienced. Like Outlaws, the bench is deep with enough players to make up another full squad that can compete at the top (Diablo, YELLOW HAMMER, Mercury, swamp thing). The key player here for me is Benji, if he gets practising he and returns to form he can be a beast to play against. They are a very offensive side and Blink is great at providing a solid support/flanker who cuts off the enemy and sets up kills for Monkk/chrono. Definitely a contender for top spot. WTF? Top 5: Savman, a-soul, Stories, weed, scub Comments:Great to see this squad back in action. I haven't seen them practising much but that could be a time zone related thing. Savman has alot of league experience and they need him to be active. I think WTF will compete with Symph/Beastfu/Slopships in the AML category of the league and will find it hard in their first season back. However, I hope they stick around and look forward to playing vs. them this season.

gj rofl

http://philly.barstoolsports.com/files/2011/08/camron-u-mad.jpg

i'm not on any league roster so add me to draft pool plz

Well, the website exists. So the question is any plans to bring it back to share its information with the world. The answer is, yes, kind of. Hosting is an issue, and is being either actively or passively looked into by Hallu / Polix, we're just leeching off chaos zone anyways. AFAIK the website, database and bots are hosted on the same server to keep the bot lag down. This is the way we'd prefer to keep it, setting this up externally usually takes money. Even more money if support is wanted for weekends, which is handy seeing as how our league always happens on Sundays. People donating is initially a great idea, but it all falls apart when the people who invest money start demanding things. As for any bot changes, I haven't asked UL for any. A botban feature would be handy, a sign up feature or an automated league thing... well, maybe, yes, could be used. Requires setting up some extra DBs and I'd imagine quite a few lines or code. Then make it clear that anyone donating will get nothing in return other than a website that works. The website didn't require donations before, and we were hosted in Chaos before. Why does it require donations now? If donations are required then you should try to canvas the community with a simple topic or zone msg checking for interest/contributions. I would happily donate for any costs relating to reinstating a stats.svszone.com/masterrater website. I know you hate hearing this, but UL/Someone in PB coded a league signup bot.. why not get in touch with them? If you can't be bothered or don't have the time, why not appoint a current staffer with the duty of doing this? I saw you promoted Surrey, get him to do it.

Any plans to fix/make a website which stores rosters and stats and such? Any plans to implement a bot which allowes people to !signup draft or !signup league 30 etc? Is hotsing an issue? Is time an issue? What are the obstacles preventig these things from happening? Maybe if you share the problems with the community we will be able to find a solution or help you in some way.

nice camel

ok i see. - yes, but u can have "assistants" who have power to accept delegated to them. on a roster of 14 lets say 3 captains, 5 assitants. over 1/2 the roster can accept/deny challenges.. can even run this automated league, in which games can be played at anytime, alongside the main league in which games are only played on sundays.

ps Semi, bring Bad back.

RE DRAFT Will this run alongside regular league? I don't get it. Surely it just spreads a thin player base even more thinly. Perhaps it would be better to ditch draft and focus on setting up an automated league instead? Also, I asked Ra, who askd Masterlord if Rebels are returning and Master said that if we want to play he'll bring us back. So I'm pretty sure thats a YES for Rebels but I'll confirm with Master/Ra.