Power Rankings Week 5 (Perils in Paradise)

Introduction

As we continue our weekly tracking of the top players and teams in each series, we are starting to see the inklings of some patterns across the divisions. 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. 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. Feedback is welcome as we continue to iron out the kinks in the format and stylizing of this blog series.

legacy

Another week of Legacy gone by and we see a lot of shake-up in our top 10 teams and players, with the latter containing 50% new players. Two evenly matched matches, McMarin’s vs The Dog Ate Our Team Name and Lethally Blind vs Anotharrr Patches Meta, provided our biggest shake-ups of the week with the latter of both matches falling by five spots each in the top 10. The top 10 players saw an influx of new players as the standings start to even out. With it being this early in the season, one loss can drop you from the top 10 and we saw that this week. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues or if the top 10 starts to settle with a consistent group of players in the coming weeks.
​-Mako

Hero

Hero saw many new players coming into the spotlight this week with 4 brand new players on the top 10 list! Neverland also took a large leap straight into first place with their teammate Fsorace1 right on their tail.  Our top teams for the week mostly stayed the same with teams 1-4 all jumping up or down a spot. It seems these teams are all trying extra hard to remain up on the top! F2L Black was just able to slip themselves into the top 5 with a close 12-11 win against (yet) Another Premium Mountain who were our top team from last week. Everyone and every team seems to be in a close race for those top spots and I am sure we will see the top players and teams continue to shuffle as the season goes on.
-Amazingoo
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pro

Pro Series saw a leader swap this week as BrushyTuna continued their win streak and the previously undefeated F2L fell to the up and coming Cheese Mongers United.  The top three spots all share a 3-1 record.  And the last two spots in the Top Five are rounded out by the undefeated Staff of Five Dubs and The Terrible Tourists who traded 4th and 5th this week.  No new teams broke into the Top Five this week, but there was lots of movement with the teams at the top of the list.

In Top Players, there are six players still undefeated.  At 4-0, Fsorace1 (BrushyTuna), AgentPWE (F2L), Dagda (A Possible Miscalculation), and nVision (Opportunistic Pro Players).  At 3-0, Dragonrider (Hearthstone Queens) and RonMexico (BrushyTuna).  With three weeks left in the season, there's a good chance at least one of those will still stand undefeated - WHO WILL IT BE?
​-Whodack

wild

The wild team power rankings see little change.  After getting upset by the Worgen Greasers, my own team, WTF, sees itself fall to the fourth slot, while F2L: Viridian has done its customary “lose the first week and start winning again” strategy.  It climbs to third place exiting its bye week.

As for the players, there are still four undefeated players remaining: in first place is, as usual, Lorthos, with Sinferno, THL’s resident shaman specialist and brewer beyond compare (bompare?) sitting in second.  Kvlt, a man who needs little introduction to those who have the misfortune of being his opponent in top legend, is 5th, and Copa, a consistently strong-but-not-elite player has taken a BIG jump up, along with his teams, in all five series.  He is undefeated, his team is ranked second in the power rankings, and the Staff could well be on their way to picking up their first crown!

Lorthos is joined by TigerEye, OTZ, and Seth, probably better known as ForChrist, in the top ten.  The Shakers were upset in the quarterfinals last season and swore to end this ignominy: the team is undefeated and four of their five players are in our top ten!  Entering the bye week, this is the team to beat, Wild players.  Copa and Sinferno are joined by Gummbii, a man who took revenge for Even Shaman falling out of the meta by entering into the top 10.  However, he faces his hardest test yet in week five: can he cling on to his spot?  We shall see… (no this isn’t arrogance on my part I have absolutely no idea who his opponent could possibly be, why do you ask?)

My own 1 seed, NeonHeron of WTF, has been performing exceptionally well, only losing one match in four weeks despite bringing the exact same lineup each time.  That’s some skill!

With a five-game victory over last week’s top player, OTZ, our final new entrant into the power rankings, placing at sixth place, is none other than THL’s resident Superman (Superteen?), maxiebon1234!  He is well on his way to yet another excellent season, and it should come as no surprise for those who know him.  It feels like every season he reaches new heights.

Thanks everyone for tuning in, sorry for the e-sub last week (I was on vacation to Poland, thankfully MartyB is an absolute madlad and stepped in with only a couple hours to go, writing an AMAZING roundup, I owe him a lot of thanks), and I’ll be back with another one next week.  As always, happy hunting, lions!

Oh and a Master’s Tour win is nice too I guess…

-Devalion

duos

Duos is the perennial underdog when it comes to excitement levels compared to other series. We have three teams sitting comfortably above the rest while everyone else fights for a top spot. It’s a week-by-week battle to see if any of these three powerhouses tumble and fall. I think if it is going to happen, it could happen this week. The 4-0 Death Hunters take on the 0-4 Abusement Park. The kicker here being that our underdog team happens to also feature our current #1 Legacy player in the likes of LLCoolRay. We could see a massive upset in the making.
​-Mako
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