Mysterious Challenger League - Top 8 Predictions

As MCL's regular season draws to a close, Joshsampson offers up his predictions for our first ever playoff field.

For those of you who may have only heard of MCL, or Mysterious Challenger League, in passing on discord let me give you some background. MCL is Team Hearth League's single player conquest format league. Players opt in to play on a week by week basis. If they win, they get 3 points, if they lose they get 1. If they opt to skip the week, they get 0. If you miss a couple weeks at the beginning and want to join late, that is cool too. We welcome all and enjoy the new faces!


Having just wrapped up 8 of the 12 weeks of regular play, we are nearing PLAYOFFS! This is the first ever MCL playoffs, and while we had a season 1, we were left without a winner, without a champ. Though Cinder and Bloodhunter both went undefeated in Season 1, there was not much on the line. We used season 1 as a way to test some infrastructure and get feedback on what the people, you, really wanted. With lots of good information coming from season 1 we are now nearing the time to crown our first champion. To crown “the best player”. The one who’s PR, team, and alliances don’t matter. The one who will be king of them all. The one who fought it out till the very end and prevailed.


Since we are nearing the playoffs I want to go over my predictions for the top 8 players who will make it to the Single Elimination Post-Season!

1. Slimsch: Old Faithful, the Manlet, the Hall of Famer, the King Himself. Sitting at a 6-2 record after 8 weeks, a couple more wins and he will easily lock up the first seed going into playoffs.
   
   
2. ​Catman1950: The New Challenger Approaches. Being one of two new faces to TeamHearthLeague on this list, Catman1950 came out swinging. Having put up an impressive 6-2 record and beating Slimsch in week 8 it is hard to question if the new guy has what it takes to make it. Undoubtedly Catman1950 has made a name for himself as someone to be reckoned with and won’t go down without a fight. This is why I am going to put him as our 2 seed going into top 8.
   
   
3. Joshsampson: The 12-Year Old, The Guy with the Mad Scooter Skills, One of the Original 30, and the dude you yell at to fix things. Having had a few unfortunate weeks due to the worst luck ever and was completely out of his control, Josh has still put up a respectable 5-3 record after 8 weeks. With that said, he is a GOD AND WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN! No questions, just facts.
   
   
4. Cinder: The Creator, The Designer, The Small piece of partly burned wood that no longer has a flame. The first of our returning champions will not let you extinguish his fire. Coming in very very hot with a 5-2 record. Cinder is not holding back and is going to show you what a Season 1 champ looks like.
   
   
5. Mattyebs: The Comeback King. While having a rough time in Ragnaros, our other conquest format, Mattyebs shows that he knows how this format works and can battle with the best of them. Starting off with an impressive 5-1 record and now sitting at a 6-2 he is looking to clean up his last couple of opponents to make sure his territory in the top 8 is his.
   
   
6. Bloodhunter: The Hunter, The Seeker, The Man who is always calling to have you donate to The Red Cross. The second of our returning champions of season 1. Having also taken a couple weeks of off in the middle of the 12-week span due to life and Boomsday release, Bloodhunter has not let his record slip. Being 5-1 going into the 9th week Bloodhunter isn’t going to hold back and will come in hot these last couple of weeks to secure his spot
   
   
7. Theo: The New Guy, the Challenger, the Try Hard. Sitting with a 5-2 record after missing 1 week of regular season play, Theo has put himself on the board. Fighting with the best of them, while still finding time to discuss decks in #tryhardhearthstonetalk, he has given his share of losses to those on this list and has shown he is not to be ignored.
   
   
8. JerryDamage: The Man, The Myth, the not quite legendary JerryDamage finds himself sneaking in to the last top 8 slot. As a man who loves the up and coming leagues, Jerry has really found himself in MCL, having only played half the weeks so far, he is currently undefeated at 5-0. Even with the deficit of missing 4 weeks, he is currently sitting right on the edge of the top 8 standings and I expect him to stay right here.

With all of this said, we have 4 weeks left to shake out the top 8 and I know I can’t wait to see who comes out on top! That’s my hot take on the state of MCL.


Josh Sampson