SHL Power Rankings - Week 3

SHL Division Overview

The Black Division has opened up looking like the strongest division in SHL this season, with an overall record of 9-3. Whoever ends up winning this division will definitely be battle-tested come playoff time, and we may see most of this division in the playoffs as they are currently holding down three of the spots.

Easily the stronger division in its conference, the Blue Division has had some decent success in the first three weeks of the season, amassing a combined 8-4 record and holding both wild card spots.

The Green Division has started off the season as the weakest division so far scoring the least amount of points as a whole while also having the two lowest scoring teams in Team Next Level and Destiny's Illegitimate Child. Both of these teams will need to pick up the pace if they want to make playoffs.That being said, Tinyfin Fan Club has had a strong showing through the first few weeks coming in at #3 on our power rankings and Kawasaki Ninjas Rule are still in the race for playoffs after a strong week 1 coming in at #12 on the power rankings.

Purple Division at this point is congested at the top with the point differential between the first and last place teams separated by a mere 5 points. That doesn't mean all of the teams have performed well to this point, only that no one team has stood out from the rest. At this point in the season it’s easy to say that there could be a lot of movement at the top of this division.

SHL Team Power Rankings

Team Next Level (16) - Nobody had as bad a start to the season as Team Next Level, who only scored 2 points in their Week 1 matchup against Temporal Legends. Only Kr0ozin was able to win a game in his match against LochnessH which he lost 2-3. Week 2 looked a lot better for them but it was still another loss on the season to DadLegend 11-16. Week 3 was another loss for Team Next Level but this match was a close one in which they only lost 13-10 to Big Deck Bandits. The 2 and 3 seed have each put up 8 points on the season for Next Level which is a solid showing in the first three weeks but the problem is the 1, 4, and 5 seeds have only combined for 7 points. If Team Next Level wants to make a run at playoffs this season they will need to start earning some points in these seeds and they will look to do just that this week where they face off against Xnergy.

Destiny's Illegitimate Child (15) - DiC has had a rough start in their first season of SHL, losing their first 3 weeks. They lost Week 1 to DadLegend 20-6. In week 2 they faced off against The Big Deck Bandits and lost a close match 12-11. Last week they faced off against Xnergy where they lost 18-10. Most of the problems have stemmed from the 1,2,and 4 seeds only putting up a combined 10 points this season so far which is also the amount their 3 seed has put up. DiC is going to have to finish strong if they want a chance at the playoffs but there is still plenty of time left to turn a season around and their matchup this week against Temporal Legends is a great place to start.

Defias Henchmen (14) - After nearly knocking off Xplosive Sheep in Week 1, the Henchmen were taken behind the woodshed by the Flint Tropics. Although coming off a win over the Sexy Hombres in Texas could be the momentum the Henchmen need to get back in this, only 5 points behind in the division there is still plenty of time for them to show us what they are made of. The consistent play that we’ve seen, for better or worse, from all 5 players will be key to the Henchmen being able to make up some ground on the other teams.

Team WeaselShark (13) - A creative name hasn't exactly yielded results for the WeaselSharks. The WeaselSharks are very much still in the hunt as they are only 4 points behind Daddy Up in the Purple Division. A team with a lot of potential, their real test comes this week when they face the Sexy Hombres. the fact that their preseason 3 seed, Inkd, is moving to the 1 seed this week will make things a bit more difficult for the WeaselSharks. It will be interesting to see if the rookie can step up to the plate and continue his undefeated streak or if he will crumble under the pressure.

Kawasaki Ninjas Rule (12) - The reigning champs started the season off with a bang, scoring 18 points Week 1 in a win over Xnergy while holding Xnergy to only 6 points. Week 2 is when the wheels started to fall off when they lost to Temporal Legends 16-9. Week 3 it got even worse when they lost 16-6 to DadLegend. Kawasaki Ninjas Rule have been swept in 5 of the 10 matches in weeks 2 and 3, if they can prevent these sweeps in the coming weeks I think they will be a strong contender for playoffs down the stretch. They will look to prove themselves this week in their match against the Big Deck Bandits.

Team Black Lotus (11) - Like the rest of the Purple Division, Black Lotus opened up the season with a loss. Although the rest of the team has started to come around in the last 2 weeks, strong play by their 1 seed Bonja (3-0), has been the reason TBL hasn't fallen too far behind the pack. If TBL can continue to progress as a team they could be a team to watch going forward, as they are only 3 points back in the Purple Division.

XplosiveSheep (10) - The Season 1 champions continue to struggle this season, their only victory being a 1-point win over the Defias Henchmen. Last week was an 8-18 pummelling by Daddy Up. This week they play the struggling Team Black Lotus and their productively nonexistent 5-seed. Last in their division, XplosiveSheep is 6 points out of the second wild card spot in their conference.

Big Deck Bandits (9) - The Big Deck Bandits opened the season with a loss vs Tinyfin Fan Club but have bounced back winning their last 2 matches. This team features newcomers FridGaming and MetalDan from the Hearthcoach podcast along with veteran player Inposition who currently looks to be one of the strongest #4 seeds in the league. They have a chance to make it three in a row this week as they take on KNR and look to climb back into contention in the Black Division.

Daddy Up (8) - After opening up the season with a lopsided loss to the Sexy Hombres, Daddy Up made strides as a team to come back in Week 2 only to fall short to our Kenny Loggins loving friends at Zona Peligrosa. However, in Week 3 their hard work paid off as they finally picked up a win against Xplosive Sheep. Daddy Up currently leads the division with 39 points, with the other three teams in the division hot on their heels.

Zona Peligrosa (7) - The team with an unknown, arcane name in Latin has also had some unknown performance this season, performing in a way that can only be described as average. After two moderately close wins, ZP took a moderately close loss against Team Black Lotus (decided when the series went 1-12 after three matches). They face another average team in the Henchmen this week and hold the second and final wild card in their conference.

Xnergy (6) - Xnergy opened up with a rough start against defending champs KNR, but have rebounded nicely since then as they’ve posted convincing 4-1 wins over newcomers DIC as well as Green Division leaders Tinyfin Fan Club. Their #1 and #2 seeds Botticus and Starlax are both currently undefeated to start the season. They look to have a solid chance to run their win streak up to 3 in a row as they line up with Team Next Level this week who have struggled out of the gate this season. If this team stays hot they could definitely be a threat in the Black Division.

Temporal Legends (5) - Temporal Legends was another team to start the season strong. They opened up 2-0, taking 8 of their first 10 Bo5’s, however the hot streak ended this week as they went 0-5 against Tinyfin Fan Club who’s currently sitting on top of Green Division. This team has a core of former Dog House members and this group of veteran players will be looking to chase down DadLegend in the Black Division as the season moves on, starting with their match this week against league newcomers Destiny’s Illegitimate Child.

Sexy Hombres in Texas (4) -This team has failed to play at a level implied by its acronym, securing the fourth most points in SHL this season. Despite losing 9-14 against the previously winless Defias Henchmen, they hope to pick up what should be an easy victory against the struggling WeaselSharks. The Hombres currently hold the first wild card spot in their conference.

Tinyfin Fan Club (3) - Tinyfin Fan Club have proved themselves to be the best team in the green division by far, coming into Week 4 by having a 16 point lead on the next highest scoring team. In Week 1 they started off strong with a 18-7 win against Big Deck Bandits. In week 2 they dropped the ball losing to Xnergy 16-8. They didn't let that tilt them though because in week 3 they put up a 20 point win against Temporal Legends while holding them to 5 points. They have put up good points in each seed and are even undefeated in the 3 seed so far. They look to be the favorite to win the green division so far and unless another team steps up they might do just that. This week they face off against DadLegend in what looks to be a very interesting match.

Flint Tropics (2) - The Flint Tropics sit atop their division and the points standings, with an unbeaten record and 62 points. This week they plugged some Weasel holes, beating WeaselSharks 17-10. Daddy Up is all that separates Flint Tropics from sweeping interdivisional play and taking a 4-0 record to the second half of the season. The Tropics solidly lead their division by 14 points.

DadLegend (1) - DadLegend is off to a hot start in their first SHL season, with 4 league newcomers joining first-time captain YellowDart. The 4 new guys (Egman, WowDotBen, Snowbum, and Rizen) have all opened up 3-0, with YellowDart taking the only losses. While their initial wins were against teams near the bottom of the standings early on, they defeated the defending champs KNR in Week 3 4-1. Competition takes another step up this week as they take on Tinyfin Fan Club - we’ll see if they can keep it up.

Thanks for reading!
- Arcturus, Ericokey, Inkd, and Yellowdart