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Tuesday, February 6th

It’s been a week since we’ve seen anybody in the Big 8. With the Great 8 hosting, the TV station on hiatus, and no episode of BotWars, it looks like there’s not much to predict. Here are the three games with any meaning.

3 TicTacShack @ 6 brooklyn knicks
This looks to be the night’s best game, which isn’t saying much. TicTacShack’s game shape is rebounding somewhat after their cup exit. But brooklyn hasn’t made much headway in that category. So on one side, we’ll end up with Eldon Cannon trying to feed a supporting cast that can’t quite make it happen. And on the other side will be the Shack overworking Ogden at Center. The Shack lead the all-time series 5-0. But if brooklyn can put together the right GDP and tactical package, they might be able to squeak out their first victory. But, to be on the safe side, I’m gonna call it for the visitors. Winner: TicTacShack

1 lélé @ 7 Sinking Ships
The Sinking Ships have been looking way better than their record indicates lately. But lélé just has too many weapons. Mosconi and his frontcourt bruisers will be too much for the upstarts on the red side. Winner: lélé

4 MeHiCans @ 5 The Boxers
MeHiCans are a week from going bot. But their game shape is not as horrible as you might think. The Boxers are recovering from their hangover after their upset victory in the cup last Thursday. Poor shot selection and a defensive mismatch made the last meeting between these two teams a lopsided MeHiCans victory. Look for The Boxers to take revenge at home. Winner: The Boxers

———
2 Thunderhorse @ 8 Dejags
Dejags will break a world record by hosting 1,070 simultaneously dancing robots.

6 Bluehawks @ 3 I Volt
Velcro arena will be the site of a Darkwing Duck fan convention featuring Elmo Sputterspark as Megavolt.

7 new york celts @ 2 Hot Boyz
The Hot Boyz will fry the bot boyz.

5 OpTic Nation @ 1 The Golden Bricks
The Golden Bricks will be hosting a Call of Duty tournament for any NPCs who are interested.

8 BuryYourDead @ 4 Matchstick Men
Matchstick Men have returned from the dead to host a metalcore festival in honor of the Patriots’ defeat in Superbowl LII.

Big 8 Cup Coverage - Week 4

Allied Precise Gunmen (D IV - CR 344) @ Thunderhorse
Well, somehow, Thunderhorse managed to draw a lower ranked opponent than last week. However, an 11-day hiatus is catching up with them. Despite being the home team, they will be stuck using their default lineup and tactics, which will field a team with only two starters with DMI over 100k. Their opponent has saved minutes for their best players and will have at least three starters over the 100k with three more players in the same neighborhood available. Furthermore, Thunderhorse looks to be at a massive enthusiasm disadvantage. Look for Thunderhorse to get manhandled, or sniped as the case may be. Winner: Allied Precise Gunmen

In other news... The Boxers, will be making their exit from the tournament this week. My former team, the Drunken Clams (31708), lost its first D.IV finals series to this week's cup opponent back in Season 21. The Los Angeles Killa Beez are an outside offense team who made it to the Sweet 16 in Season 30 and have spent the last four seasons in II.1. I wish them luck in the later stages of the cup!

Season 41 Week 5 Power Rankings

1. lélé - 9-1 Previous Ranking: 1
Another two victories this week for lélé, though a tight win at Sinking Ships, and one they might have lost on equal enthusiasm shows they are not unbeatable.

2. Thunderhorse - 9-1 Previous Ranking: 2
Thunderhorse won both of their games with ease and are essentially tied with lélé for first in the Big 8 with only 12 points separating their PD. With their next 3 games being against the top 3 Great 8 teams, management might wish they had managed their GS a little better.

3. The Golden Bricks - 9-1 Previous Ranking: 3
The Golden Bricks temporarily takes over first in the race for HCA, but they could fall out of first soon with looming matchups against lélé and Thunderhose in the coming weeks. Until then, expect nothing new on this team as they continue to stomp bots.

4. Hot Boyz - 8-2 Previous Ranking: 5
Hot Boyz continues to make improvements to their team, and while they were not tested this past week, a looming matchup against Thunderhorse will definitely test them this next week.

5. TicTacShack - 7-3 Previous Ranking: 4
Two straight weeks with bad looking road losses as poor GS and out of position training seems to finally be catching up with this team. Their win on Saturday though proves they are a better team then their losses indicate.

6. brooklyn knicks - 5-5 Previous Ranking: 6
brooklyn knicks has now played 3 of the live teams in the Big 8, and redeemed their earlier loss to MeHiCans with a victory over TicTacShack to end the week. Look for this team to climb the rankings with 4 of it's 5 remaining interleague games against bots while some of the teams ahead of them have mainly played bots.

7. Matchstick Men - 6-4 Previous Ranking: 10
Matchstick Men beat on a bot in their return, but look like a team that might miss the playoffs this season as they seem to be trending down and other conference teams are trending up. It will depend on whether Simone's plans to be active going forward, or if the team goes back to their stagnant and predictable ways.

8. I Volt - 6-4 Previous Ranking: 7
I Volt has made it back into 3rd in the standings, but mostly on the back of wins against bots. I want to see how this team performs against live competition before I am ready to start moving them up in the rankings.

9. The Boxers - 5-5 Previous Ranking: 8
The Boxers continued to focus on the cup and watch their league standings slip as a result as they had to recovery from a cup CT this week. Like the brooklyn knicks, they have played all three of their games against live competition, and should jump up in the rankings in the second half of interconference play.

10. Sinking Ships - 2-8 Previous Ranking: 9
Two competitive losses prove that this team is definitely better than their record. Look for this team to start winning, and not just because they have alot of bots on their schedule in the next couple of weeks.

11. MeHiCans - 6-4 Previous Ranking: 11
MeHiCans is close to going bot, can they pull off the miraculous save like Matchstick Men did or will they join the rank of the bots? I don't expect them too, but I didn't expect Matchstick Men too either.

t11. Bluehawks, BuryYourDead, Dejags, new york celts, OpTicNation
Still bots, but with a new one to join them...

Big 8 Cup Coverage - Week 4

Allied Precise Gunmen (D IV - CR 344) @ Thunderhorse
Well, somehow, Thunderhorse managed to draw a lower ranked opponent than last week. However, an 11-day hiatus is catching up with them. Despite being the home team, they will be stuck using their default lineup and tactics, which will field a team with only two starters with DMI over 100k. Their opponent has saved minutes for their best players and will have at least three starters over the 100k with three more players in the same neighborhood available. Furthermore, Thunderhorse looks to be at a massive enthusiasm disadvantage. Look for Thunderhorse to get manhandled, or sniped as the case may be. Winner: Allied Precise Gunmen

In other news... The Boxers, will be making their exit from the tournament this week. My former team, the Drunken Clams (31708), lost its first D.IV finals series to this week's cup opponent back in Season 21. The Los Angeles Killa Beez are an outside offense team who made it to the Sweet 16 in Season 30 and have spent the last four seasons in II.1. I wish them luck in the later stages of the cup!

Good preview of these games! I agree with both of your predictions, and hats off to both you and Wartooth for making it all the way to the round of 256!

Saturday, February 10th

GAME OF THE NIGHT

3. I Volt @ 2. Thunderhorse
Thunderhorse is still easily the most talented team in the league, but poor coaching has them constantly underperforming. Thunderhorse still has one of the top offenses in the league and is one of the top rebounding teams. GS is a major thing in I Volt's favor, but I don't think it will be enough to overcome things in this case. Winner: Thunderhorse

Great 8 vs Big 8

5. The Boxers @ 1. lélé
lélé still boasts one of the top offenses in the game with the best FG% in the league, and a top three 3Pt FG%. The Boxers on the other hand have the worst TO margin of any non-bot team and that's not a good thing when going up against a FCP team. With this being a road game, I wouldn't expect any crazy CT antics from the Boxers and for lélé to win the game easily. Winner: lélé

7. Sinking Ships @ 3. TicTacShack (TV)
Sinking Ships is definitely improving as the season goes, but a road victory seems like a lot to ask. Ratings wise I would probably give Sinking Ships the slight edge from their balanced defense, but as TicTacShack is playing a PG at C, that always screws with the ratings. Since this is a TV game I can see Sinking Ships pulling out all of the stops and that being just enough to pull off the upset. Winner: Sinking Ships

5 Games, 5 bot losses

2. Hot Boyz @ 6. Bluehawks
8. Dejags @ 4. MeHiCans
6. brooklyn knicks @ 8. BuryYourDead
1. The Golden Bricks @ 7. new york celts
4. Matchstick Men @ 5. OpTic Nation

Got it done! Foul Trouble Plagued Thunderhorse and Volts pull away in the end. getting better!

Nice win! Showing the Great 8 can hang with the Big 8. Captain Mayday with a big win too!

Congrats, to my fellow Great 8ers! There seems to be a lot better parity between the conferences than salary would suggest. The Boxers nearly got it done, too. It was within 2 with 4:30 on the clock before we went downhill.

(party) Go Team Red!

Tuesday, February 13th

Adios, MeHiCans! And everybody else: Welcome to Mardi Gras!!!

2 Thunderhorse @ 2 Hot Boyz
The Great 8 has been on a tear. Thunderhorse just had their worst GS update of the season. And Hot Boyz are dripping with DMI and HCA. Look for Hot Boyz to lock up the paint and send Thunderhorse packing. Winner: Hot Boyz

3 TicTacShack @ 6 The Boxers
TicTacShack hasn’t won a game against an active manager since week 1. This is The Boxers’ last chance to take a game off an active Big 8 manager. Will The Boxers score one for the red team? Both of these teams are prioritizing training, so it’ll depend on how much funny business we see. But I’m tentatively calling this one for the home team. Winner: The Boxers

———

Six bot games and I’m out of puns and other interesting tidbits to sprinkle in, so…

7 new york celts @ 4 Matchstick Men

5 OpTic Nation @ 5 brooklyn knicks

8 BuryYourDead @ 7 Sinking Ships

1 lélé @ 8 Dejags

4 MeHiCans @ 3 I Volt

6 Bluehawks @ 1 The Golden Bricks

Welcome to flooded.ice and the Ghostface Killas! Hope you enjoy your stay here in IV.42.

Last edited by Rhyminsimon (USA NT assistant) at 2/13/2018 10:13:58 PM

Season 41 Week 6 Power Rankings

1. lélé - 11-1 Previous Ranking: 1
lélé played another close game this week but managed to continue it's winning streak, reaching 10 games. Their last 3 games in inter-conference play come against the top three teams in the Big 8 including a road TV game aginst Hot Boyz. lélé will be in a fight to maintain it's top spot.

2. The Golden Bricks - 11-1 Previous Ranking: 3
The Golden Bricks also have a 10 game winning streak going, but they are back to playing live teams now. Their defense will be put to a test soon with games against some of the top offenses in the league in the next couple of weeks.

3. Hot Boyz - 10-2 Previous Ranking: 4
Hot Boyz continues to have a great season as they beat Thunderhorse this past week. Their players are definitely playing above their pay as their team is the 8th highest paid team, and yet they beat the top salaried team.

4. I Volt - 8-4 Previous Ranking: 8
Big leap for I Volt as they had a big road win against Thunderhorse this week. Not content with being 3rd in the standings, they are still improving their team and potentially get younger with another guard purchase. Look for this team to make noise in the second half of the season.

5. Thunderhorse - 9-3 Previous Ranking: 2
Thunderhorse's poor GS proved to be too much for them to overcome this week and they fall two games behind lélé. Being out of the cup will help this team in the league, but it might not be enough for them to catch lélé at this point.

6. brooklyn knicks - 7-5 Previous Ranking: 6
brooklyn knicks beat up the bots on their schedule this week and have a higher PD than both Matchstick Men and The Boxers now which could be very valuable down the stretch in the competition for a playoff spot.

7. The Boxers - 6-6 Previous Ranking: 9
The Boxers had 2 close games this week but with the split stayed in shouting distance of the playoffs as we near the half way mark, that's a good sign for a team that's focusing on training. If management decides it is worth it to forgo training and make a push for the playoffs they have a chance still.

8. Sinking Ships - 4-8 Previous Ranking: 10
Big road victory for Sinking Ships against TicTacShack this week and they managed to double their win total this week. They have alot of ground to catch up to try to make the playoffs, but even if they cannot do that, they look more than capable to be able to play the spoiler role the rest of this season.

9. TicTacShack - 7-5 Previous Ranking: 5
Perhaps it is an overreaction to move this team this low, but having lost games to both Sinking Ships and The Boxers this week, it felt weird to put them higher than those two teams. Looking closer at their records, the last victory against a non-bot came in week 1 against lélé. Right now this team is a shell of what it was then.

10. Matchstick Men - 8-4 Previous Ranking: 7
Despite this team coming back from the brink of going bot, I think I might have overreacted last week in how high I moved them. Age and inactivity make this team worse than it's salary suggests. Their upcoming TV game against Thunderhorse in a couple weeks will be a good indicator of where this team truly is.

11. Ghostface Killas - 7-5 Previous Ranking: 11
Ghostface Killas management immediately took over for the freshly desposed MeHiCans management and immediately played a TV game that they did not have a chance to be prepared for. Early moves shows this team is hitting the ground running, but there is alot of catch up they need to do to start to be competitive.

t12. Bluehawks, BuryYourDead, Dejags, new york celts, OpTicNation
Still bots...