PLAYOFFS BAYBEE!!! DISCLAIMER: Only the players and teams that made playoffs are being featured in this power ranking report. As a reminder, we use internal data calculated into a formula called PAR to create these rankings. PAR calculates data such as win/loss, game win rates, and strength of schedule. If you would like to read more about how this is calculated, read the blog that Marty wrote explaining how it all works! Each week we will be updating you on how these players and teams shift throughout their respective series, as well as highlighting individuals and their journeys.​

Oh boy, it’s playoff prediction time! Before going there, however, I want to congratulate everyone who made it onto the players list. We had only 2 perfect seasons from Supersenter and Overloaded. In fact, they both had the exact same game record of 21-4 as well. Who will win MVP? Tune in to the awards show in a month to find out! (or do the math yourself). Besides those two players, the rest of the list is filled with 6-1 or 5-1 seasons; these are incredible performances as well, so a well deserved congrats to everyone there. As for our teams, we have another set of strong seasons from everyone involved here. While this list shows only the playoff contenders, these 8 teams are in the actual top 9 of PAR. Now, it’s time for my spicy and totally unbiased playoff predictions!

Quarterfinals:
I’m NOT a Legacy 3 Seed :) > ET C’Thun
F2L: White > Defias
BILL BILL BILL > Nirilì Narilà
Story of Scorpius > The Justining

These actually aren’t that spicy at all. Two of these matchups have already happened, with the NOT 3 seeds and Story taking solid victories over their opponents, so I’ll take good odds that it repeats. BILL BILL BILL has literally won every match all season and includes many components from last year’s championship team, so I don’t think I can write them off. The F2L: White and Defias match was the hardest for me to decide, and I believe that it is going to be insanely close. But Defias is the only team that beat my team and I need to rig this bracket to give valid reasons for my team to win every week, so…

Semifinals:
I’m NOT a Legacy 3 Seed :) > F2L: White
BILL BILL BILL > Story of Scorpius

Look at that, the NOT 3 Seeds are facing a new team, surely they win! BILL BILL BILL keeps winning probably, no commentary here, just trust me bro.

Finals:
I’m NOT a Legacy 3 Seed :) > BILL BILL BILL

Again, no real commentary from me, but like I said earlier, these predictions are very unbiased and any unbiased bystander would say that my team is the bestest team so sorry. Anyway, I do believe that every team in the playoffs is strong and has the potential to go all the way. I’m looking forward to seeing how all these matchups actually play out, and cheers to all the playoff participants!
-EPICat

​The playoffs have arrived with the top 6 teams in Hero qualifying. Aristocratic Mountain got a clean win vs their APM counterparts week 7 giving them the top spot in our rankings along with a bye the first week of playoffs. Unseen OP also Managed to secure a bye thanks to wins by Chair42, and PROBIwan giving them the edge over Defiance. SI:7, ET Y’Shaarj, and Last Minute Team each had a bye last week, expect them to come in rested and swinging. Only 2 points separate the teams playing at the start of this week. With #6 SI:7 vs #3 Defy Us, and #4 ET Y’Shaarj vs #5 Last Minute Team. NotBamity is in the #1 spot in our player rankings with their week 7 win giving Defy Us just enough points to match the 60 point threshold. Supersenter and freshmastafunk are right behind NotBamity in the MVP race with only 4 players with 5 wins going into this week ;) The championship race is on and it's truly anyone's to take with no clear favorites, good luck to all the teams involved!
-JudoChop

​DOUBLE WEEK BAYBEE!!! As a reminder, we use internal data calculated into a formula called PAR to create these rankings. PAR calculates data such as win/loss, game win rates, and strength of schedule. If you would like to read more about how this is calculated, read the blog that Marty wrote explaining how it all works! Each week we will be updating you on how these players and teams shift throughout their respective series, as well as highlighting individuals and their journeys.

Final regular season week is here! I’ll be at the race to make playoffs; it’s especially close because of the two wild card spots left open. First off, in the gold conference! BILL BILL BILL holds a comfortable lead over their whole conference and have a spot clinched. F2L: White is also very likely to make the playoffs, but go head to head against Gold’s third place team, 7 Mile Spanking Machine. If 7 Mile can win every match and hold F2L to 6 points or less, they can snipe the spot. It’s very unlikely, however, as even a single match win clinches the 2nd seed for F2L. 

In the silver conference, these margins become much tighter. The Justining remains in first, but only 5 points over TFCAOTN. To compete with them, The Story of Scorpius and Big W Esports are also both close behind. Justins and TFCAOTN face off, and Scorpious and Big W also do, so there is real potential for some seed swaps to occur in this final week. A big win from Scorpius and a close match between the current top seeds could vault them into the conference’s top seed, one of many outcomes that could happen. 

Next, of course, is the Red Conference. I’m NOT a Legacy 3 Seed :) and Nirilì Narilà currently hold the top two spots and the 2nd and 3rd place on this PAR podium, and also face each other this week. ET C’Thun and Defias are tied at 93 points for Red’s third place spot. While the gaps here are a little larger, there still is potential for either ET C’Thun or Defias to sneak into one of Red’s playoff spots. 

Finally, of course, are the wild cards. If the season were to end at this very moment, they would both go to teams in Red (ET C’Thun and Defias). In fact, both of these teams have more points then the 2nd place team in Silver. While they currently hold the lead, there still are teams in the silver race that can catch them. Defias and ET C’Thun face each other this week, so a lopsided win from either side could flip the other team out of the race. We’ll see how it ends up after the double week!

I don’t want to forget our players, either. Overloaded has moved into the 1st place spot with their 6-0 record, and Supersenter moves up into the 3rd with the same. Lulnenko, at 5-1, also sneaks their way into the top 3. As for our MVP race, it is currently led by the 2 6-0 players. Even more impressively, these two players have lost barely any games all season, with Supersenter leading at 18-2 and Overloaded close behind at 18-4. If they were both to lose, tee3cat is our only other undefeated player currently in the running. If all 3 of them were to lose then the MVP trophy is anyone’s for the taking! Of course, we’ll have to wait for the awards show to really know who gets the prize …

Good luck to everyone in playoffs, and thanks for reading!
-EPICat​

There are currently 3 teams sitting above 60 points going into this week and only one of them managed to get a win in week 6. SI:7 was knocked off the podium by It/She Sweaters, and ET ‘ YShaarj managed to pull one point above Last Minute Team in a critical win putting them #3 in our Rankings.The three 60+ point teams have byes this week so their points are final.

APM’s top performing teams Aristocratic Mountain and Ashalon’s Mountain have climbed to the #1 and #2 spots on the rankings. They face off this week each looking to clinch a top seed for playoffs along with Unseen OP. I’m not sure if mathematically we have our top 6 but I'm bad at maths. Geranium Battle is typically my goto for playoff birth questions… ask him.

We have some new faces in the player department, LuluMK1 knocked henry off the ranking taking a spot for themselves. WalkerMan, managed to knock EpiCat down a few notches at a critical point in this season where every point matters, and CmaccoompH just made the #10 spot by winning a close match vs Saltman
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Supersenter had the biggest jump this week into the #3 spot, NotBamity continues their love affair with the PAR formula taking the #1 spot. Notable mention to freshmastafunk in the 3 seed for being the only 5-1 player going in to week 7 in the #2 spot. Not one Hero player is undefeated so we’ll see who else can achieve a 5-1 record this week in attempts to carry their team to the playoffs.  WHO ELSE IS EXCITED?!
-JudoChop​

Going into the final week of THL we are slowly starting to see standings finalize but there is still one week left to see a potential shakeup or not. The biggest shakeup this week teamwise is No. 6 CardCrafters, who handed No. 2 Mid Zoom Crisis their second loss in a row to enter at 6th place and have outside chances to make the playoffs. No. 3 and Unidentified Pet Tracking and No. 4 F2L swap spots after F2L got upsetted by No. 9 ET Yogg-Saron. Similar to Card Crafters, ET Yogg-Saron have outside chances to make playoffs as the 5th place team of their conference where the no. 3 and no. 4 of Black conferences are playing each other. Individually, No. 6 Jagatari, who has been No. 1 for 3 weeks in a row has been toppled after a 1-3 loss to No. 4 Memnarch of Cheese Mongers United. The other big upset in the top 10 is No. 10 Dagda, formerly ranked No. 6, also lost 1-3 to nedkek of ET Yogg-Saron. No. 5 EPICat makes the biggest jump in rankings defeating former top 10 Sp1n3 in a nail-biter 3-2.
-trido2​

​WILD PLAYOFFS?! ALREADY?!?!?! As a reminder, we use internal data calculated into a formula called PAR to create these rankings. PAR calculates data such as win/loss, game win rates, and strength of schedule. If you would like to read more about how this is calculated, read the blog that Marty wrote explaining how it all works! Each week we will be updating you on how these players and teams shift throughout their respective series, as well as highlighting individuals and their journeys.

Only two more seasons of the regular season left! Our future playoff teams are shaping up even further, and the wild card spot is in tight contention. Our podium teams show only a bit of change with BILL BILL BILL and I’m NOT a Legacy 3 Seed :) holding the top two spots and are the top two point holders. ET C’Thun shot their way back into the podium with another win, and our list is rounded out by other playoff contenders. The biggest surprise here is The Justining moving down into 6th despite their perfect 5-0 record. 7 Mile Spanking Machine also makes their first appearance on their list after a dominant win over another strong team last week. 

As for our players, we finally have all of five of our 5-0 players in this top list. Wildrose, Lemur, and TwoStarMako (our podium) as well as Overloaded and supersenter find their way into this power rankings. AlwaysJustinTime and Memnarch also finally find their way with impressive records. Of our perfect records, both supersenter and Overloaded have incredible 15-2 game scores, putting them as favorites for the MVP spot. I’ll be back next week with a more in depth guide on what teams need to do to make it into the playoffs!
-EPICat​

​Coming into week 6 SI:7 is still on top of our list. They are leading in points coming off their second loss of the season to Defias. This is SI:7’s final week of the regular season with a bye week 7. We will have to see if they can hold strong this week to secure a top 6 spot for playoffs. Unseen OP Whom have jumped 4 spots earning them a pedestal placement in #3 with their win over DoLA who are now #8 in our rankings. ET Y’Shaarj had a close loss to F2L: Black. Knocking ET down 3 places in the rankings to #6 and F2L up to #9. Last minute Team, Ashalon’s Mountain, and Aristocratic Mountain's spots remain undisturbed with Last Minute Team being one of only 3 teams to acquire 50 or more points so far this season.  
 
In the player department Vmprnighthwk took their first loss of the season to Copa, knocking them down to 2nd place. In 1st place we have a 3 seed tee3cat jumping up 3 spots from 4th, followed by NotBamity in 3rd place jumping 4 spots during a bye week (The PAR algorithm must really like the Bam!).
With 1,2, and 3 seeds being represented on the pedestal, we have one new player on the list this week in 6th place Shoebacca, who had an impactful win over Glacier week 5. Knocking Glacier down off the pedestal to 7th place along with his teammate henry who was swept by lulneko knocking henry down to 10th place on our Rankings.

Only 1 more week left after this! I hope we’re all excited for playoffs as it is truly any teams season to take at this point. In PAR we trust. 
- JudoChop

It's time for the FINAL THL Power Rankings for Wild! PLAYOFFS? PLAYOFFS! ET N'Zoth control the #1 seed after going undefeated during the regular season!! 😎 captured 2nd place after spending much of the season playing catch up in the standings. Staff of the Five Dubs and Super Cereal Clowns round out the last two seeds, putting an almost 30 point difference behind themselves and the remaining two teams, Worgen Greasers and WTF. Amazingly, three players ended the regular season with unbeaten, 5-0 records, Kelptomanic and Ruins/Unburnt/PaHyang of Et N'Zoth, and MartyB of 😎 (rigged). 

This week, ET N'zoth and Super Cereal Clowns face off as #1 and #4 seeds (we've already seen Creal Clowns draw blood, Impermanence finally putting a loss on Kleptomanic(!!!)), and 😎 our #2 seed hosts Staff of the Five Dubs (at time of writing, Rebobson of 😎 has seen off Devalion of Clowns). 

If I had to pick one match to watch this week, it would be the sneaky 5 seed rumble between Kamas (1-4) and Pers (2-3). Both players are better than their records this season, and in the playoffs, who cares about records anyway? Both players know each other well and have similar tastes in decks. The whole series may hinge on a QL dh or Warsong Warrior mirror!! WHO BLINKS FIRST!?!? The tension will be palpable. 

Personal feelings aside, I think ultimately we see an Et N'zoth vs 😎 final, but I am going out on a limb and predicting a 😎 Championship!!! Until next Wild Power Rankings, see you space cowboy…
-Schmoopydady

SI:7 had a huge week 4 giving Unseen OP their first loss, with freshmastafunk having a clean sweep over PROBIwan rising 4 spots in the rankings to #5. Defy Us got their 3rd loss allowing ET Y’Shaarj to take a podium spot with their nailbitting win vs Ashalon’s Mountain, much due to Vmprnighthwk flexing as the best 2 seed with the #1 spot on our list.  Aristocratic Mountain is in 2nd place in points with a bye this week, with Supersenter making an appearance in the #10 spot. Their record should read 2-2 losing to Team Name which is now in the #5 spot. Tee3cat had a dominant 3-1 win over …me securing the #4 spot on our list. F2L: Black had a huge win knocking It/She Sweaters off the list, making an appearance at #10 along with rebobson at #6. NotBamity got knocked down to #7 after losing their first match to Yachster. Defiance had a close loss to DoLA, giving DoLA a boost to the #4 spot. There is currently a 2 point difference between the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place teams in the Hero standings, With only 2 weeks to go after this week. Aside from SI:7 being favored many of these teams are looking strong for playoffs
-JudoChop​

It's time for the THL Power Rankings for Wild! ET N'Zoth Continued their dominance of the series so far, distancing themselves from the chasing pack by beating Cereal Clowns to rise to 81 points. Staff of the Five Dubs (65 points), and 😎 (65 points) both leapfrogged Cereal Clowns (53 points) to keep ET in touching distance. Greasers (41 points) and WTF (31 points) remain the cellar dwellers. Amazingly, ET N’Zoth on its own at time of writing, has 3 unbeaten players. Kleptomanic, (4-0) Ruins/Unburnt/PaHyang (5-0!) and Dory (3-0) who was replaced by a sub virtuzz (2-0) (we are gonna staple them together for fun). MartyB (rigged) remains the only non-N'zoth player still unblemished.

This week, ET N'zoth and Staff of the Five Dubs get to practice what looks like now to be a playoff dress rehearsal. 😎 looks to keep Greasers winless (and try to catch up to N'zoth), whilst WTF figure out wtf they will need to do to beat Cereal Clowns.

If I had to pick one match to watch this week, it would be Kleptomanic (4-0) vs Filtrophobe (3-1). Klepto is a Reno Slop Pile cooker who refines his slop into fine dishes (that are still slop). Filtrophe is a former Wild Rank 1 who could easily be unbeaten at this stage of the competition. Will klepto keep yellow-carding on curve? Will filtrophobe take klepto to the shadow realm (Australia)? Tune in next time on ~~Dragon Ball Z~~ the THL WILD POWER RANKINGS!
-SchmoopyDady

As Mako stated, we are SO back! It’s week 4 and we have 12 undefeated players, 4 undefeated teams, and one of them is in tenth in power rankings (???). I will dive into all of this and more in my short paragraph (I have now finished writing, it is not short and it is not 1 paragraph, sorry!). First off are the teams, with a couple stories I want to highlight. Of course, there is an impressive podium of teams with BILL BILL BILL in first, ET C’Thun in second, and The Justining in third. They all stand at perfect 3-0 records and sit on top of their conference! A special shout out to BILL BILL BILL, as I believe this is the strongest early season performance I can remember from a free agent team. They have the most points in the league and already hold a comfortable 16 point lead in their conference. The Justining, on the other hand, barely headed their conference with a 1 point lead. Who is close behind? The Food Chain Ate Our Team Name (TFCAOTN for the rest of this season because I do NOT want to type all that again), of course, with the final perfect 3-0 record! Why are they at the very bottom of this list, then? There’s a couple reasons, with the first being the low scores from their opponents so far. An average opponent score of 29.3 compared to the crew of Justins’ score of 36.3 leads to significant differences in PAR scores early on. Also, 2 of TFCAOTN’s wins come from a subbed player, meaning that they don’t contribute to the team’s total PAR score. I’m sure we will quickly see them move into a podium spot if they continue to win every week, though! The other significant story here is the plethora of teams in red in this list. 5 out of 6 teams from the red conference, to be more specific, are included here, and they take up slots 3 through 7 on the list. This is because of their success in cross-conference playoff matchups in week 3, in which red teams won 5 out of 6. This not only leads to more wins, but increases the strength of their past opponents as well, so every team in red ends up with a significant boost in PAR. We’ll see if the chunk of red teams can maintain their majority after week 5, when a second round of cross-conference matchups occurs. I’m also interested to watch and see if this cross-conference success can help them pull off the difficult feat of snagging both wild card spots as we approach the playoffs!

As for the players, the race for the coveted MVP spot is nowhere near close to being finished. We have the 9 undefeated players shown on the graphic, including our podium of the iconic Hastur, the legendary Nejiboston, and our underdog hotshot 5 seed of the season, Inkycyanfrog. In addition to these 9 listed, I of course also want to acknowledge fellow 3-0 players Supersen, TwoStarMako, and Nvision who only miss this chart due to sheer PAR misfortune. In addition, not to float my own boat or anything, but there are 5 more players sitting at 2-0 due to subbing out a week. AlwaysJustinTime, Rumham, Samael, EPICat, and Tee3Cat, are all in this position, and could be poised to nab MVP titles if the 12 3-0’s all manage to be felled. I’m excited to watch this race narrow down in the coming weeks. Cheers to everyone who made it to the end of my rant, and good luck getting yourself and your team onto this ranking!
-EPICat

While Defy Us didn't get the blow out wins some other teams had, They had a very close match with Ashalons Mountain, and Unseen OP that resulted in them being in 3rd place on the Power Rankings with a 1-2 record.
This week SI:7 has the task of playing an undefeated Unseen OP. We will see if they can hold their top position. SI:7 had a dominant first two weeks, only to lose to ET Y’Shaarj week 3. 
Both Ashalon’s and Aristocratic Mountain are holding strong for APM. Aristocratic Mountain suffering their first loss to It/She Sweaters week 3 but are still tied for first in points with Unseen OP
Henry continues to be undefeated giving them the top spot in our rankings, with impactful wins over the likes of RonMexico and Lemur. NotBamity has contributed significant victories for Defy Us, establishing themselves in the talented field of this season’s 1 seeds. Vmprnighthwk has proven to be the most impactful 2 seed in Hero so far, I would not be surprised to see ET Y’Shaarj in the playoffs this season. Honorable mention to PROBIwan for being the only 50 on this list having only lost to Shoebacca, Chair42 for being an absolute beast, and Myself. My first Power Ranking!
-JudoChop​

It's time for the THL Power Rankings for Wild! ET N'Zoth start with a strong lead over the chasing pack with 62 points. They are followed by a densely packed field, with Super Cereal Clowns (47 points), Staff of the Five Dubs (45 points), and 😎 (44 points) all in striking distance. Unfortunately, this leaves Worgen Greasers (34 points) and WTF (25 points) trying to stay relevant but fading. As far as individual performances go, we have three undefeated players at time of writing. MartyB (the comish, rigged), Dory (CN Deck and meta enthusiast) and kleptomaniac (Reno Slop Pile Expert) are all 3-0.

This week, ET N'zoth can continue to put distance between themselves and everyone else by playing Super Cereal Clowns. Dubs can add to Worgen's misery and leave them winless, 😎 is trying to tee up full points vs WTF.

If I had to pick one match to watch this week, it would be Pers (1-2, Super Cereal Clowns) vs UsernameABCD (1-1, ET N'zoth). Both players are talented combo nerds that won't be 100% happy with their current 4th seed births. Pers pushes high legend regularly and Username has been one of our undefeated THL players to watch late in previous seasons. Someone is going to start the comeback, and someone else is gonna be left sobbing 😭.
-Schmoopydady​

I founded APM in the lead-up to Season 19. My initial plan was to take over captaincy of Annoy-o-Team, the Wild team I was playing on, but then most of the team dropped, leaving only sleight and I left. In case we couldn’t use the Annoy-o Team name and server, I started to think of some team names. An early idea was Full Dust Value, which was the name of the Octathlon team I was on. The team banner each season would have nerfed cards from the previous expansion. But then, when prepping for a Wild series match, I came up with the idea of using APM as an acronym with a different theme each season.

Shortly after I found out my hero team was also folding, with only Wyfair and I looking to continue. I thought, why not have an APM hero team too? I’m not sure when the idea to captain a Legacy and Pro team came along but that’s where it ended up. I created a logo for the team and, once captains were announced, made a twitter post announcing APM’s arrival to THL.

The Wild team came together first, before the APM name had even been set. Maxiebon1234 and I both streamed Wild at the time, with sleight and I mods for Maxie. Quakelord would often be in chat and there was interest in putting together an all Aussie Wild team. YoDaddy was the 5th who had played with Quakelord the previous season.

For Hero and Legacy series, I put DMs out to players that weren’t on a team for that series, along with new players posting in free agency. It took a while but the teams came together eventually. For Pro, we decided to enter an all Aussie Wild team, with Oddlaw and Reverb joining Quakelord, Maxie and I. Pro was just a bit of fun, after all we had to tread lightly.
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Earning the Choker Tag

APM’s first season brought early success with all 4 APM teams destined to make finals. But then, in the final round of Pro series, the team lost all 5 matches to miss playoffs by 1 point. Redemption was swift with the Wild team topping their division and Legacy team earning a playoff bye. This is where the good news ended. The Wild team lost their quarter-final, the Hero team lost all 5 matches to miss playoffs as the Pro team had, and the Legacy team lost an unloseable match by not playing around Mutanus. That 1-3 loss in the final match put us out 13-14 despite winning 3 matches to 2. The choker tag had been set.

In APM’s second season the hero team split in 2 with Ksw captaining the new team. The season was going well until the Pro team once again lost all 5 matches in the final round to miss playoffs - as expected if you asked many. The legacy and hero teams fared better, with all teams making it through to semi-finals. The legacy team was unable to progress to the final. In hero the APM teams faced each other with Ksw’s team making it to the final, though unable to find success. The wild team also bowed out at the semi-finals. All up not a bad season and signs of progress.

APM’s third season rounded out the year with finals appearances for a team in each series. APM once again made the Hero series final, this time my team, losing a closely contested series. This season, and in particular that hero team, felt like a turning point for APM where teams prepped a little harder and pushed a little further than before. APM, having been close to success, now wanted that first title and to shake off the choker tag that lingered from our first season.

​APM’s seventh season in which GeraniumBattle won the Hero/Legacy double APM also featured in the Pro and Wild series finals. Having returned to their all Aussie roots, and having gone undefeated all season, the Pro team lost in the finals. The Wild team tied the final against F2L: Viridan though it was not enough, winning 2 matches to 3. This is the closest APM would get in both Pro and Wild series. It also spelled the end of the GeraniumBattle era, having captained his final match for APM.
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The Mountain legacy says a lot about APM’s journey as a whole: recognising those that have gone before, honouring past achievements and continuing onward. APM has grown from that young beginning, making their mark in closed list series under GeraniumBattle and continuing that legacy in closed list series under new tutelage, all the while welcoming new players and captains into the APM family.

Recognition of player/team performances is further supported within the APM server with channels. Players recognised in THL awards are highlighted,  APM stats recognising best performances in each series and match tally leaderboard are featured, and the APM Hall of Fame recognising championship teams and APM’s best credentialed players give spotlight to those who have done the most under the APM moniker.

APM has become much more than it was ever envisioned to be. I am honoured to have shared my APM and Hearthstone journey with so many people, both players and fellow captains. I’m not sure how long my journey will continue and when it will end, but I hope the APM journey can continue once I’m gone with a new era of custodians.

- Bonemasher

By MartyB

​Every June, there is a small community of THLers that come together to find the best of the best. The Hall of Fame committee wakes up from its slumber, looking for new players to induct into the Hall. For most, the committee is a mystery, with no members officially made public. No official process has ever been provided to the public either. That is, until now.

Who is the Hall of Fame committee? THL’s innermost inner circle may be the most secretive and influential group in the entire league. The private server has just 17 members, about a dozen of which participate in voting each year. The members range from the expected veterans (no names will be given here) to the oldest members of THL itself. Several of these older members have been out of THL for years, showing no activity in the official server and even moving on from Hearthstone itself. Their yearly input, however, is just as valuable. The unfamiliarity with nominees helps the committee maintain an unbiased approach to the induction process, guaranteeing that only the best THL has to offer is welcomed to the Hall.

What does it take to make it to the Hall of Fame? For each category, the expectations are slightly different. Players are expected to break at least 55% match win rate (generally, players aren’t strongly considered unless their win rate is 60% or higher). Awards like championships and All-Star selections are also taken into consideration and heavily encouraged (to the point that they are all but required). For captains, the requirements are even harder: a 55% match win rate across all players captained for at least 5 seasons is the bare minimum. Once again, awards and achievements only help a nominee’s case. Finally, there’s the contributor category. Generally, THLers might associate this category with things like working in content or participating in an administrative role for several years. Some, however, are inducted via extraordinary circumstances. When an important figure in THL deserves recognition but doesn’t quite fit into any other category, they usually get that recognition here. Of course, there are always exceptions to the prerequisites above (several Hall-of-Famers have gotten into the Hall through unique circumstances despite falling short of the general expectations set), but the general consensus among the committee is that this is the bar THL's best are expected to meet. 

All of these categories also require consideration for integrity, sportsmanship, and character. Members of the Hall of Fame are meant to represent the best of the THL community. Players should not only be well-liked amongst THL, but also represent THL’s culture and values from a community perspective. This isn’t to say that the committee plays favorite with its nominees either—the diversity featured on the committee is meant to minimize any favoritism in voting—but nominees are expected to meet a certain standard as members of the community as well.

For the most part, votes are nearly unanimous. The committee has an internal rubric that is used to grade every nomination, and members are generally aligned with who meets those requirements. Occasionally, however, there are a few nominees that challenge the committee’s standard for the Hall. Nominees are required to win at least two-thirds of the vote to be inducted, making those on the cusp of the threshold a hot debate for the committee every year. Sometimes, the question is a matter of whether achievements alone outweigh an individual’s performance. In other instances, the controversy surrounding the induction comes from others who have or haven’t been inducted. Nominees are constantly being compared to others in their potential class as well as those in previous classes to uphold the same standard that the Hall of Fame began with back in 2017.

Debates and discourse regarding nominees also have a habit of bringing up questions surrounding what the Hall is supposed to represent as well. Members of the committee from years ago have different feelings regarding how the Hall should select its inductions compared to those who joined more recently. A recent topic of debate was in regard to the increasingly large class of 2023. 14 THLers were inducted into the Hall of Fame that year, ballooning the Hall’s size more than ever before. Several members of the committee felt that this went against the Hall’s original purpose of highlighting the best of the best, as removing scarcity would tarnish the weight of induction. Others argued that a perfect storm of circumstances justified such a large class: the COVID-19 pandemic, during which THL exploded in popularity, was just wrapping up; Wild series was finally seeing its inductions begin; and the class of 2023 was the first class in some time after the Hall of Fame committee moved to yearly inductions instead of seasonal ones. Those for a larger class eventually won over the rest of the committee, but debates surrounding these numbers, as well as when and how nominees are inducted, are ongoing to this day.

The internal politics of the Hall of Fame committee exist by design. Members exist to constantly challenge each other as much as the criterion challenges nominees. One of the bigger concerns within the community is inducting a THLer that later falls short of the standard the committee expects from Hall of Famers, thus tarnishing the prestige that being inducted into the Hall of Fame brings. It’s a difficult standard to uphold, and one even harder to properly assess. Yet, when June comes around, the committee always finds itself doing exactly that.

One of the most unique and amazing things that THL has done with its merchandise, in my opinion, is tie unique merch to a month-long fundraiser every year in June for The Trevor Project. Every year for Pride Month in June all sales made during the entire month are added to the stream funds and funds raised through donations and totaled to be sent to The Trevor Project. According to TwoStarMako, “the Pride merch was actually part of the first iteration of what would become THL Pride. When I first thought of doing something for Pride, it was to do THL merch for Pride month and donate the proceeds.Some years THL Pride is bigger than others, but, at the very least, we always have a new merch design to garner whatever proceeds we can for The Trevor Project.” For more about THL’s Pride Month, check out this article! 
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​​The current collections featured are F2L, APM, Justins, HSA, Dirty Mike and the Boys, and Dad Legend. “Originally, we were going to do waves of different teams with the ones on the shop being the first wave. The issue we had was that most of the teams sold less than expected, even though they were household THL names. HSA and F2L are the highest sellers and then there’s a pretty steep dropoff after those two.” THL is in the midst of a transition phase with its current makeup, so most players don’t have the same attachment to most of these teams that players of the past had. With more time, though, there may be other teams that become mainstays within THL and justify collections of their own. Make sure to check out each of their collections of merch, as each team has different products within the shop. What teams do you think should be added to have their own merch in the shop, are there any that come to mind that have either a track record worthy of merch or a story so good they shouldn’t be missed? 
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Not all additions are winners though. There was a period of time where Mako would make a shirt for each championship team in each series. “It was an idea of having some extra incentive for winning your season. I created a pretty standard design that would allow reuse from series to series with the logo on the front and the player names on the back.” These lasted for a few seasons before being trailed out due to a significant lack of sales. “Pretty much the only people who were buying these were the actual people on the teams that won, and in most cases, they were not even buying them. There were multiple winning teams that sold zero shirts, not even to their own players.” After a few seasons, the championship line was shelved in favor of other designs and products. “We realized the work it took to create them did not justify the gain if the team’s own players were not even buying their own shirts.”
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Check out the shop today and let us know what kinds of other merch or logos you’d like to see in the shop!

The shake ups continue in the Hero series as we begin the penultimate week of the regular season! Defy Us reclaimed its top spot after a week lower on the podium, and Across-Playoff Mastery retook third in an exact reversal from the week prior as well. Fat Yoshi had a small dip after their surge last week and remains solidly on the podium. The It/She Sweaters continue its rise up the ranks placing it just outside of the podium. Your Best Nightmare also continues their climb up the ranks. ET Y’shaarj takes a small tumble after big gains last week. Are Protoss Meta? and A Persistent Mountain both took large tumbles as well.

On the player side, we have another week without movement on the podium and a big shake up all across the other 4-10 spots. Only 2 players remain undefeated and are featured prominently on the Podium at 1 & 2. 10 Players still remain at X-1. I’m just waiting for the shoe to drop and see the entire top 10 move in a week. I can feel the rumbling. SkrtReynolds with the biggest surprise this week jumping from outside of the rankings all the way to 5. LuluMk1 is notably the only player to make the top ten with 2 losses on the season. Her PAR is just that good!
-basedinc​

It's time for the Wild THL Power Rankings! Last week, team vies for the final spots in the playoffs. Staff of the 5 Dubs saw off WTF in the final week to seal their unbeaten season (4-0-1), but not before Sinferno lost to Arrowbounce. Dub's 1 seed was the only remaining undefeated player in the series (ends 4-1). APM ended Super Cereal Clown's hopes and dreams by beating them 15-10, and Et'Nzoth and Greasers fought tooth and nail in the final week to a score of 13-11. 

With the Super Cereal Clowns and WTF missing out on the big dance, all eyes turn to our semis final match ups: Staff of the 5 Dubs (4-0-1, 90 pts) vs Worgen Greaser (1-3-1, 69 (nice) pts).

If I could watch one match this week, it would be an entertaining 5th seed clash between Filtrophobe (2-3) and Egades (1-4). Filtrophobe is a habitual 11x gamer having an off season (but coming off a win last week) vs a talented player in egades who can do the impossible: Pilot his famously homebrewed LPG mage to a win in almost any match up. Good luck to all the teams still left alive! And pUt ThIs ApPlE oN yOuR hEaD!
-SchmoopyDady​

​When the Hall of Fame committee considers a nomination, they usually focus on a single series to sell them on the induction. THLers tend to shine in a specific series more than others, as each series is tailored to different skill sets and provides distinct challenges to its players. Occasionally, however, a player is so great that their play in multiple series makes them a lock in the eyes of the  Hall of Fame committee. These players tend to focus on only two series, or are seen dabbling in other series while mimicking their success from their preferred series in a low sample set of matches. One player, however, bucked the trend in the eyes of the committee. Nejiboston may be the only player to ever be considered for his play across every series hosted in THL today.

Neji and I sat down together to discuss some of his experiences in THL and how he looks back on it to this day. The purpose of this piece isn’t solely to focus on how Neji felt during his time in THL, but to highlight the versatility of a player that’s had so many experiences with so many players throughout the league. No other player has seen as much diversity, adversity, and success all at once within THL. His times in each series are stories that stand on their own. Each one deserves individual recognition for the accomplishments they represent.
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“It was at the start of Ashes of Outland, when Demon Hunter was released. It was also when the pandemic hit and everyone was on lockdown and stuck in their homes,” Neji recalls. “I played on AFG Legacy for 3 seasons (Ashes/Scholomance/Darkmoon).”

Amber Flight Gaming joined THL that year to middling results, but Neji made his name known. A 21-4 match record that year turned heads across the league. His PR quickly skyrocketed, placing him among the best to ever play. Neji, however, wasn’t going to settle for only Legacy. He expanded into multiple other series that year, writing a storyline worthy of the Hall of Fame in each individual series. From this point, each of the following sections is dedicated to a different series Nejiboston took part in.

Legacy

​If you ask anyone in THL where they know Nejiboston from, they’ll probably mention Legacy. His time with Amber Flight Gaming was where he first made some noise, but after that first year of play, Neji moved on to other teams. How that came to be is a story in itself.

Hero

Neji’s time in Hero showed that even the best in THL are human. His first season came after his time with Amber Flight Gaming in Legacy. Servants of Yogg-Saron had an average performance in Hero Season 14, but Neji was his usual self with a 6-2 record. Neji would start to slip the first time the following season on the legendary AskHS, finishing “only” 5-6.  Following that, he joined F2L: Black, his third team in three seasons. Neji was already struggling to find his footing in Hero after a successful first season, but the series was only starting to truly test his resolve.

​The F2L: Black era was a time of extreme struggle for Neji. A 5-8 record the first season was already a difficult pill to swallow. The following season was even worse: 1-9. His 16-29 record was the worst among 1 seeds and the 5th worst among everyone who played 5 or more Hero matches that season. To say this was unlike the Nejiboston everyone knew at this point was an understatement. Something had gone terribly wrong.

Most players would give up after a season like Neji’s, but Hall of Famers don’t quit that easily. Neji returned with a new team, this time captained by Nineeyebrows, and managed a triumphant return to form. His 9-2 record propelled the team all the way to a Hero Championship. After struggling with Hero for a year, Nejiboston was rewarded with the highest honor possible.

​A few more average seasons followed the championship as Neji jumped from one team to the next. One year after his first win in Hero, however, the stars would align once again. Neji teamed up with the aforementioned Diamond to create a superteam in Hero Season 21: Let Them Cook. After barely making playoffs with a 3-4 record, the club managed to win their way to a championship, making Diamond and Nejiboston reigning champions together once more.
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Two championships and a 49-49 record (despite a 1-9 season)  in arguably the most competitive era in Hero Series history as a 1 seed is a distinction others in THL would happily accept as their own if they could. Neji’s performance and leadership in Hero show that perseverance through the toughest seasons isn’t just a feat of character, but also a trait that only the best THLers could ever showcase. 

Pro

Neji’s time on AEON only lasted one season, as our Hall of Famer was destined for greater things in this series. The following season, he paired up with someone who became one of his closest friends in Nails. The Clown franchise, now established in Pro, made a deep run to the semifinals. The series championship was in sight, but Neji and co. couldn’t quite get there yet. As we’ve learned from other series, however, Neji was never one to quit too early.

​Season 6 was a retool of sorts for the Neji-led Clowns. Two players had left, making space for reigning Pro Series champions Germanshep and SuperChicken to join. Despite the additions, the team failed to impress. A 4-4-1 record was far below the expectations Neji had set on his roster. After being hyped up at the start of the seasons, the Clowns were leaving empty-handed and disappointed.

Season 7 would have to turn things around if Neji was going to make a name for himself in Pro. Little did anyone know, however, that it was going to be the start of a dynasty. Neji had adopted more pieces from Diamond’s teams, creating a For The Boys/Clowns amalgamation, For The Clowns. The team cruised to a Pro Championship, giving Neji his first award in the series.

​Diamond returned to his For The boys moniker the following season, winning a championship in the process. That wasn’t going to stop Neji from continuing his dominance in Pro, however. Neji turned to friends he had made from Masters Tour tournaments, including multiple Hearthstone Grandmasters like Lambyseries and Eggowaffle. Clowns secured back-to-back Pro Series championships in Seasons 9 and 10 with the help of Neji and his stacked rosters. In total, 5 Grandmasters (CaelesLuna, Pascoa, Bankyugi, Eggowaffle, and lambyseries) played alongside Neji during his dynasty run. No other team could claim that level of skill presented in Pro at the time.

After winning 3 championships in 4 seasons, Neji’s teams took a step back in Pro. Their records were always among the best, and Neji himself always had a strong performance, but the teams could never find a way to recreate the magic of the previous seasons. It wasn’t until Season 14 that Neji would have the opportunity to win it all once more.

​This time, Diamond and Neji would team up in Pro for one final run together. The Last Dance succeeded with one of the most dominant performances in Pro Series history. Neji held the 1 seed while AgentPWE and D0nkey followed below him with 9-1 records. 10 straight wins earned them another championship together. Neji now had 4 Pro championships to his name.
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Wild

Legacy wasn’t the only series Neji started out with. The Wild Series was underway with its inaugural Alpha season during Ashes of Outland. Teams played with rosters of 3 and Neji was mainly looking to get his foot in the door. “I joined Bitbeaker’s team (he was on AFG at the time),” Neji states. The final player to round out that roster was Volkai, a member that old timers will remember for their influence throughout THL. The team missed playoffs, but Neji’s 6-1 record caught the eyes of others playing in the series.

Itachi reached out in the offseason to recruit him to the infamous F2L: Viridian for season 1 of Wild. Neji was dominant once more, finishing 8-3 and winning a coveted championship that season. The team would go on to win 2 more championships with him, securing his place as one of the winningest players in Wild history.

Normally, a player of Neji’s caliber would be a leader on a team like F2L. However, Neji took a different role within the series unlike any other he had occupied in THL. Being primarily focused on standard tournaments, Neji didn’t have the time to practice and build lineups in Wild the way he did in other series. This meant relying both on fellow team members and learned intuition to win matches most weeks. The team had plenty of skill and knowledge to provide lineups, but a fundamental understanding of how to play those decks, as well as how to navigate certain matchups, couldn’t be passed on as easily. Neji’s ability to adapt to any strategy here was a boon to the team. He became the perfect complementary player to round out an already stacked roster. 

3 Wild Series championships later, Viridian's 5 seed had done everything one could set out to do in the format. Nejiboston had become ingrained in Wild history as one of the winningest THLers to ever play. The Hall of Fame committee always looks to highlight lower seeds to show that THL is for everyone, but Neji had taken it to another level. His performance breaks the mold for what a 5 seed is expected to achieve in THL and is one that few players will ever have the opportunity to repeat.

​Neji’s history is an anthology within THL. Dozens of players have had the pleasure of competing alongside him, and yet every single one has a completely different story to share regarding their experiences. No matter where Neji played, however, success always followed. From the highest PR player in Legacy history, to one of Wild and Pro’s winningest champions, to the hardships and challenges faced in Hero on the journey to winning it all, Neji has done everything that one could strive to do in THL. His return in Season 30 after a long hiatus is welcomed by all of the old guard, and one that hopefully brings even more stories for a new era to tell.