Pro Series Power Rankings - Preseason

by Markshire, Ultimate, and Billsnyder
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Welcome to the first ever edition of Pro Series Power Rankings! We'll be posting these on a weekly basis to show how "powerful" we believe each team in THL's Season Kappa of Pro Series is. Right now we are just using the old list format, since tiers don't work as well with only 8 teams, but we appreciate any feedback on the format of the articles. There's lots of exciting rosters to discuss, since we know so little about how each team will perform, so let's get right into it!
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1. Calcium Deficiency: Bad to the Bone

It’s easy to see why these bad boys come in at #1 in our rankings. Led by former Legacy Series MVP and Vegas Qualifier Aviously, Bad to the Bone boasts ladder grinders Fosho and Derivus, as well as Saturos, who’s coming off an undefeated season in pro with the Fluffy Potion Drinkers. As long as Avi can keep this team of superstars engaged, Calcium should be looking at an easy path to the finals. They’ll look to get off to a hot start against Hero Power Rangers this week. - markshire

These guys are the real deal lead by the young god himself Aviously they have a strong core with Saturos and Fosho and adding rookie Derivus makes this roster super scary for any opponent they might have. With Ultimate prepping them and playing in the 5, Bad to the Bone is for sure going to be a championship contender. - Billsnyder



2. Tap Last

Captain Billsnyder is once again putting together an elite squad of players in this Tap Last team. This time it's made up of parts of Pro's MSI and Hero's Tap Last all united under a single banner. All 5 players have qualifier experience, and even if they didn’t, Mr. Agane himself (CmaccompH) has more than enough for all of them. The strong technical play and high knowledge of the specialist format from this team should make them a top contender. - markshire

The hero brand finds it’s way to Pro series with fielding a strong early roster that consists of some of maple syrup incs fallout with Tyfoon and Ace103 combined with Plantz and Cmacc this team will at the very least hold the record for specialist cups played. - Billsnyder



3. Dr. BOOMSHAKALAKA

Another team with a wealth of experience in the specialist format, Dr. Boomshakalaka comes in hot with Vegas Qualifier Lawfuldog, whose bodybuilding abilities can rival anyone in THL and deck building abilities can at least rival ZachO. But in case you thought one Vegas-goer was enough for this team, think again because they also have TheLastChamp in the 2 seed. From top to bottom, this team is stacked, and were very close with Tap Last in our rankings. With no clear weak link, Freeloader is sure to have his eyes set on a championship for this impressive group.

Dr Boom could have easily came in second on this list as Freeloader shows his team building prowess gathering the remains of MSI with TheLastChamp, Mayanadon, and Boozasaurus, couple that with the hottest player in all of THL in Lawfuldog and returning player Wolfmack and you have a roster that should make top 4 at the end of the season - Billsnyder



4. 2xNHOM

Esteemed board member and first-time captain iCon brings in a team where everyone except markshire has Pro Series experience. His deft maneuvering to secure rebobson from VONC, JetLaw from Due Process, and Itachi from Mayhem Ballerz has created a team full of veteran THL players who have all played on very successful teams in the past. When asked for a quote on his team’s chances this season, iCon said something vague about “the villain narrative” and then said he had to catch a flight. - markshire

I still don't know what this stands for, but what I do know is who’s on this roster 3 familiar names stand out as a dominating core for this team Rebobson, markshire and JetLaw give 2xNHOM experience and dedication to prepping that separates them from the rest of the field. If Itachi can play to his ceiling and iCon can stay up on himself this team can make a championship run. - Billsnyder



5. Vote of No Confidence

Last season’s champions come in to these rankings in the bottom half, but for good reason. They’ve lost almost all of their former team - Slimsch is the only remaining player, and Hockeyboyz3 has stayed to captain but isn’t playing. It’s unfortunate that Hockey wasn’t able to offer good enough team benefits to convince stars like rebobson to stay on, but he’s picked up quite a few nice replacements. You know RealTerror is a good player because he has his own Liqipedia page, and kd1215 and LotusKnight have both found a lot of success in high seeds in THL. - markshire

They still are the reigning champs of THL pro league but a flurry of roster changes has left them scrambling to find their footing, the good news? They still have two of the best players in THL history in Slimsch and Hockeyboyz3 (not playing, but is captain and coaching) but they have a tall task in front of them if they wish to repeat their title this season   They filled the void of a departed Stephiee, Rebobson and Luker with Realterror who I believe will compete for rookie of the year, kd1215 who is one of the stronger players in all of THL, Lotusknight who has proven himself to be more then capable in whatever format he plays and Twostarmako. - Billsnyder



6. Money Ballerz

Inposition took his team to the finals last season, but returns quite a different roster with this season’s Ballerz iteration. Players like Apexpredador and BlueSpartan have had solid results in normal THL play, but seem to be a step below the accomplishments we see from some of the other players in Pro Series. The most exciting player to watch on this team has to be Switters, who is returning to THL after a multi-season break. - markshire

The team formally known as Mayhem Ballerz was also a victim of massive roster overturn, they stake their place in the league as the best prepping team in the series with captain  inposition holding a firm place as the well known commodity of this team. Along with Bluespartan and jyak there will be some familiarity there. Returning veteran Switters along with Apexpredador round out a team that could be a Cinderella story by the end of the season. - Billsnyder
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7. Swagoi

Swagoi is back, with a very similar roster from last season. The noticeable changes are Deliver and Stephieee joining, and the absence of Earl and Leodaric. Leodaric is still on as a captain, having taken over for TomLocke, so we could expect to see him sub in a game or two. It would probably be much needed, as he was the only player to get above .500 for Swagoi last season. - markshire 

Swagoi was on the fringe of playoffs last season and are now in a situation to try and make another run. Earl and Leodaric exit the team although Leodaric will remain captain and not play with their week 1 lineup this roster does have a few bright spots, Rizen is always a solid performer in THL and I would believe he has no reason to tarnish his reputation now. Rookie Deliver has been grinding cups in an effort to prepare himself for the season and it could pay dividends. Stephiee and thehunta help round out this roster along with AudreyKills so experience should not be an issue. A few upsets and Swagoi will be right there. - Billsnyder





8. Hero Power Rangers

​Coming off a stellar season in Hero Series, Dusharmo enters the Pro Series fray captaining HPR. This roster is remarkably similar to the HPR we saw make semis in Hero, which leaves us wondering how some of their lower seeds will do against the competition in Pro. They’ll have their work cut out for them this week against our #1 ranked team in Bad to the Bone. - markshire

Unfortunately, someone has to be last and that civic duty falls on HPR. Dusharmo is a strong player along with Britbulldog but the other three members of this team are relative unknowns and I expect this roster to struggle early out of the gate string a couple wins together in the mid to late season. Their upside could be higher though as the new format throws a kink in everything. - Billsnyder


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Captains Poll

We decided to poll each and every Pro Series captain and combine their rankings together into one composite list. There were many captains who ranked their own squads first, and one that ranked their own last, but in the end, they balanced each other out. Here is the averaged Pro Series Season Kappa Preseason Captains Poll:

1. Tap Last
2. Calcium Deficiency: Bad to the Bone
3. Dr. BOOMSHAKALAKA
4. Vote of No Confidence
5. 2xNHOM
6. Money Ballerz and Swagoi (tied)
8. Hero Power Rangers

Thanks to everyone for reading the first edition of Pro Series Power Rankings! Going forwards we hope to get these posted in a more timely manner, this post's author Ultimate has finals around this time and will be more free going forwards. Good luck in Season Kappa of Pro Series everyone!