THL Power Rankings Playoffs Week 1

Nine long weeks but we made it, the end of the regular season for Team Hearth League's third official season ­Corruption. With twenty teams all competing against each other this was the biggest and longest season of THL we've had to date. It was a season filled with great moments and plays, with exciting playoff races which increased in intensity as we approached the final week of the regular season, and sometimes came down to just a matter of points. Though before we get to the playoffs which are sure to be great, here are the final power rankings for season three.

1. Soupreme (7-­2) ­ DeerJason had a plan for this season and it was to build his team around three incredible players and to let that strength carry the team. He recognized this would likely leave them vulnerable at the bottom of their roster but surprisingly it didn't, as their fifth seed SneakyHero went 6­3 and Vedney contributed with wins as well in the fourth seed. It seems the strategy worked as they finished tied for the best record, won the toughest division, claimed the first seed in the toughest conference, and finished atop the power rankings. Their only losses came when they played teams that could match up with their big three but there aren't many teams capable of that. Having earned a bye they will await the winner of the Super Heroes and Netherstorm in the quarterfinals.

2. N.W.A (7­-2) ­ Before the season started many were impressed with the team Arthur Rhodes had put together and there were high expectations for this brand new team to THL. A huge week one loss to Pure Strategy raised some doubts, but that was the last time there would be questions regarding this team as they won the Red­Green conference in convincing fashion and finished the season as the points leader for the entire league. Their next opponent will be either Xnergy or Danger Zone, and while their path to the championship looks favorable nothing is guaranteed. 

3. Team Rank Five (6-­2-­1) ­ Over the last couple of seasons Team Rank Five has consistently been one of the top teams and that was no different this season. Needing substitutes early in the season led to a tie and meant we didn't see a full strength TR5 team until later on, but once things settled down they showed they were one of the best in THL. Easily winning the Orange division means they have a bye and in the second round will play the Damaged Ones or the Hairy Generals. Navigating through this side of the bracket will be extremely tough but with wins over Netherstorm, the Hairy Generals, and Soupreme they have shown they have the ability to play against the best.

4. The Hairy Generals (7­-2) ­ The defending champions came into season three with a slightly different roster but the results were largely the same as they once again dominated. Playing in the best division has its drawbacks, and unfortunately for the Hairy Generals it means instead of a first round bye they will instead be playing the Damaged Ones the first week of the playoffs. The Generals also received some bad news before the playoffs, their one seed Andyrogers will be unable to finish the season and Drewman has came on as a replacement. This change will push Markshire to the one seed with Drewman occupying the two seed. Losing a key player at this point is devastating but there are still four good players who got them this far and Drewman is a good player in his own right.

5. Team Avatar (6-­3) ­ The consensus lowest ranked team prior to the start of the season, Leumer and his team went about proving everyone wrong and won their first four games. After that they alternated wins and losses but collected enough points to win the Green division and receive a first round bye. It's possible they could get a rematch with N.W.A. in a few weeks but first things first, a series with either Yogg Champs or Archon Storm. 

6. Netherstorm (5-­4) ­ With a 1­3 start to the season things didn't look great initially for Netherstorm, but they rallied back to finish 4­1 over their final five games with their lone loss being a one point defeat to the Hairy Generals. Somewhat overlooked due to being in the same division with the Hairy Generals and Soupreme, this is a team that is playing well right now and has the potential to beat anyone. First up for this Wild Card team wil be the Super Heroes. 

7. Archon Storm (4-­3­-2) ­ It doesn't appear Archon Storm always puts 100% effort into Hearthstone, though when you have a talented roster I don't guess you need to, at least not to make the playoffs. Speaking of playoffs, their first game will be against Yogg Champs who they played in week one to a tie, but that was a long time ago and a disqualification from Archon Storm played a big role in the outcome. 

8. Xnergy (4­-4­-1) ­ After winning only two games in season two DexterHS (DiAmonD6610) added three new players for season three while himself and Catota stayed on as the only returning members. The changes seemed to have worked as they finished with a much better record and gained a spot in the playoffs. Their playoff opponent, Danger Zone, will be familiar as they just played them two weeks ago. The result of that contest was a 15 point loss for Xnergy so DexterHS's team will be hoping things go a little differently this time around.

9. The Super Heroes (4-­4­-1) ­ The Super Heroes have been a difficult team to rank all season as they have a talented roster but are not always focused, as evidenced by the number of disqualifications they have had. With wins over both the Hairy Generals and Team Rank Five they are a threat to anyone they play and that makes them a scary playoff team. Their first game won't be easy though as they play Netherstorm, a team who beat them in the regular season. 

10. Danger Zone (5-­4) ­ Much like Team Avatar, Danger Zone was thought of by many to be one of the weaker teams in THL before the season began. After three straight losses to open the season it appeared that assumption might be correct, that was until Danger Zone started playing better. Following that 0-­3 start was a five game winning streak which lasted until Archon Storm ended it in the final week of the regular season. As mentioned before, Danger Zone will open their playoffs with Xnergy, a team they recently beat very handily.

11. Noob Central (4­-5) ­ It was a close race for the second seed in Orange and what became the second Wild Card in the Orange/­Blue conference between Noob Central, the Damaged Ones, and the Super Heroes with Noob Central being the one to fall just a little short. A tough final week against Soupreme was enough to place the Noobs just barely outside of the playoffs, which has to be disappointing but not a bad season overall for Nade's team.

12. The Damaged Ones (4­-5) ­ Getting into the playoffs wasn't going be easy with the Hairy Generals as their final opponent but the Damaged Ones scored enough points to get in and even had a chance to win the series if not for a disqualification. The Damaged Ones have seen some changes to their roster this season with Gkick replacing captain JerryDamage and seems there will be another change as DirestBear replaces Rex. There isn't a lot known about either Gkick or DirestBear so it's hard to know what to expect from this team in the playoffs but we'll learn a little more when they rematch with the Hairy Generals next week.

13. The Dream Team (5­-4) ­ You would think finishing 5-­4 would be enough for a playoff spot but points are what matters and the Dream Team just didn't have enough, in part because some of their losses were really one­-sided. It's not fun to miss the playoffs but RadDreams and his team had a nice run at it and we will likely see them back next season chasing after a playoff spot once again.

14. Yogg Champs (3-­5-­1) ­ In contrast to the Dream Team having a good record but not enough points for playoffs, we have the Yogg Champs who don't have the best record but obtained enough points to secure the second Wild Card in the Red­Green division. This was accomplished by being consistent every week and usually never losing by more than a few points when they did lose. Something interesting to note with the top of the Champs roster is TheRealDrWho, Dunamis, and Adidas5482 are all really close in PR and will all play in a different seed week one of the playoffs than they did in the last week of the regular season. I think the Yogg Champs are very dangerous and if you're looking for a dark ­horse team in the postseason then look no further.

15. Team Golden Wisp (4-­4­-1) ­ As a brand new team with five rookies last season Team Golden Wisp struggled a bit and finished with a 2­-5 record. The second season for AlecGWPodcast and his squad went much smoother, even while playing in the toughest division in THL. There were mid-season changes with Sunshine and Fudd joining the team week three, which seemed to work out and it will be interesting to see what Team Golden Wisp does next.

16. The Gosu Casuals (3-­6) ­ With such an experienced team that had played so many seasons together and Slimsch leading it all it was tough not to place high expectations on the Gosu Casuals. Regrettably, those expectations were not met and the Casuals will sit out the playoffs for season three. There were positives however, with Slimsch turning in another good season and the finding of TheAnarchist who also had a nice season.

17. Entropy (3-­6) ­ No team started out their season worse than Entropy, only managing 17 points over the first three weeks. The story gets better though as the points per week increased and they finished the season 3­-2 over their last five games. Some of Entropy's issues stemmed from last minute changes to their roster right before the season started and trying to make the best of that situation. Without that issue it may have been a very different season for Jaxox's team.

18. Pure Strategy (3­-6) ­ Pure Strategy started off season three in dramatic fashion with a 12 point win over N.W.A. That ended up being their season highlight however as they struggled after that and were unable to make the playoffs. Pure Strategy has an experienced roster with good players but it seems they never could all get on the same page.

19. Aeon (1-­7-­1) ­ After being part of a championship team Detrucci set out as a captain and formed the new team Aeon for season three. All of the players he brought on were new to THL but some came with nice résumés and a lot of excitement began to build for this rookie team. As many have found out there's a learning curve to THL and sometimes things just don't go as planned. That was the case for Aeon who weren't able to live up to the hype others created but improved as the season went on. One reason for the improvement was the addition of HectorHowl late in the season who went 4-0 (3-­0 as a member of Aeon) as he took down some of Orange's best. Could HectorHowl be part of Aeon's future or was it just a temporary change, time will tell.

20. Boom Squad (1-­8) ­ Boom Squad won their first game and that would end up being their only win as they lost their next seven games. It probably didn't help that they had to replace a player during the season two different times. All in all, it was a tough season for the Squad but a silver lining can be found with Pizza who turned in a nice season for himself as a one seed.