THL Power Rankings: S8/5, Week 5!

​Every week, we will be bringing you a new, updated version of the Power Rankings, encompassing both Ragnaros and Sylvanas Leagues. Every Wednesday evening, watch this space for Ericokey and FollowDurden's Ragnaros League rankings, and MojoPowell and YellowDart's Sylvanas League rankings! If you don't fancy the read, then the rankings will also be discussed every Thursday evening on Tavern Talk, 9PM at twitch.tv/teamhearthleague. Really, you have no excuse to not know what everyone thinks of your team! Overall standings are decided by a mixture of both author's individual rankings, as well as a healthy helping of good old fashioned data, provided by Starlax. What's more, we asked you, the THL community, to weigh in with your own rankings: CR denotes the average Community Ranking, while PR denotes Previous Ranking. Read on!

Ragnaros League: Week 5

1 Thermic Whims (CR 2; PR 1)
The Whims win again this week to the surprise of... nobody. Yeah, these guys are about as much of a lock for playoffs as you can be at this point in the season. 
Player to Watch: Thermic Whims
Will Rebound: Their Opponents
-Ericokey

2 Spicey Boys (CR 4; PR 5)
Los Chicos Calientes [sic]​ pull out a win vs. the Pod People in what was almost a 20-point sweep, as both of their losses came in 2-3 sets. Wolfmack goes down in the 1-seed, and after taking Season 7 off he has yet to capture his near-MVP form here in Season 8.   
Player to Watch: MulletDGAF
Will Rebound: Cakes
-FollowDurden

3 Hearthstone Academy (CR 1; PR 2)
HSA won this week against Xnergy to continue to lead the Blue Division. They will need to keep putting up decent amounts of points each week though because there are quite a few teams right behind them.
Player to Watch: Memyselfandi
Will Rebound: B0rk
-Ericokey

4 Always Topdeck Lethal (CR 7; PR 5)
ATL did what championship-caliber teams are supposed to do, and vs an Hombres team that’s on the ropes they pull out a 17-6 win. DZB, Spartan and Sully are just killing it right now, and the rest of the Gold/Red Conference is on notice. Since that Week 3 loss to PCC, the ATL crew has locked down 37 out of a possible 40 points.
Player to Watch: DZB
Will Rebound: Blakehall
-FollowDurden

5 Team Swagoi (CR 3; PR 3)
For the record, I did state last week that PCC was surging and could give Swagoi trouble, and Swagoi indeed goes down 12-16. Brasky takes his first loss of the season, and Earl was swept in the 1-seed. And just like that, the once conference leader finds themselves on the cusp of dropping out of play-off seeding altogether.
Player to Watch: Anamor
Will Rebound: Earl
-FollowDurden

6 Team Next Level (CR 9; PR 8)
Team Next Level won this week against the defending champions. They are right in the middle of the very large pack of teams in the playoff race in the Red/Blue Conference. Maybe this upcoming week will push them closer to the front?
Player to Watch: Jammies
Will Rebound: Darkseid
-Ericokey

7 Prep Coin Concede (CR 14; PR 12)
This record is on repeat… PCC wins again. They unseat the previous conference leader - Swagoi - and now have a legit chance to take the lead for themselves as 3 of their last 4 opponents all have seats on the struggle bus. While anything can of course happen in the land of HS, if PCC can keep the momentum going they could be the team no one wants to face in the postseason.
Player to Watch: Jetlaw
Will Rebound: Cinder
-FollowDurden

8 Dirty Mike and the Boys (CR 5; PR 4)
Dirty Mike and the Boys got destroyed this week by Defias Brotherhood. They will need to rebound hard and fast if they want to try and make playoffs in this very close race in the Red/Blue conference.
Player to Watch: ArcaneTHL
Will Rebound:  TonyMontana
-Ericokey

9 Bloodbath & Beyond (CR 15; PR 11)
BB&B does get the win, but they still seem to be a team that has lost their way. We’re all going to find out here in Week 6, as BB&B draws the new conference leader in the Spicey Boys. These two teams have basically swapped places in the standings over the last few weeks, and if BB&B drops another egg like they did in Week 4, their season could be pretty much over…    
Player to Watch: HockeyBoyz3
Will Rebound: JoeHs
-FollowDurden

10 Really Nice Guys (CR 5; PR 7)
Really Nice Guys lost this week, but they did put up 12 points; still impressive in a losing week. Those 12 points keep them right in the middle of the playoff race.
Player to Watch: AndyRodgers
Will Rebound: Krakshot
-Ericokey

11 Team Mox (CR 16; PR 13)
Mox pulls out a very close win in Week 5, taking down Mayhem 14-11. Cyclometh got the huge sweep in the 4-seed to lock the matchup down, and Bonja won his 1-seed matchup 3-1. They draw the absolutely red-hot ATL in Week 6 for a huge conference showdown.
Player to Watch: Cyclometh
Will Rebound: Mattatarms
-FollowDurden

12 Project Mayhem (CR 10; PR 6)
Mayhem again drops a close match, this time in an 11-14 loss to Mox. Durden again wets the bed, literally, and lets his team down. Markshire does little better. The two former all-stars appear to be in the twilight years of their careers. The hot rookies Itachi and Kris keep killing it. If only the co-captains could get their acts together this team could make a late surge.
Player to Watch: SmileyKris
Will Rebound: Starden
-FollowDurden

13 Thundergun Express (CR 8; PR 10)
ThunderGun Express won a very close series this week against Really Nice Guys. This places them in a tie with Dirty Mike and the Boys for the fourth wild-card spot: also who they play this week.
Player to Watch: Nate
Will Rebound: Misadventure
-Ericokey

14 Texas Stubbies (CR 12; PR 14)
The Texas Stubbies lose again this week, partly due to a DQ by their captain. This may be the end of the reigning champs' hopes of making the playoffs, but never say never: there is still plenty more Hearthstone to be played.
Player to Watch: Shunsui21
Will Rebound: Ozmanaut
-Ericokey

15 Team Xnergy (CR 11; PR 15)
Xnergy lost to Hearthstone Academy this week and they are sitting at the back of the pack in the race for a wildcard spot. These next few weeks will be make it or break it for their playoff hopes.
Player to Watch: Crovan
Will Rebound: Jrjuggernaut
-Ericokey

16 The Pod People (CR 13; PR 16)
It’s a tough week when your wins are barely wins and your losses come with few points, but that was the Week 5 for the Pods. Hat did get the massive win in the 1-seed vs Wolfmack, but that was sort of it for the excitement. What do the Pods get for their effort? Oh, just a PCC team on absolute fire.
Player to Watch: Hat
Will Rebound: Mojopowell
-FollowDurden

17 Defias Brotherhood (CR 17; PR 17)
The Brotherhood shall prevail! Well they did just that this week against Dirty Mike and the Boys. This huge win put them firmly in the playoff race but they will need to keep this momentum going into next week.
Player to Watch: Nickolias
Will Rebound: C0mp
-Ericokey

18 Maple Syrup inc (CR 18; PR 19)
Well, playoff hopes are pretty much gone at this point, so now they just have to choose on whether they want to crush other teams' dreams or just play some top tier memes. The correct answer is obviously to do both at the same time.      
Player to Watch: Jaxox
Will Rebound: Saku
-Ericokey

19 Bad Hombres (CR 20; PR 18)
Yeah, that ATL buzzsaw is rough for anyone right now, much less an Hombres team still taking DQs. Of their losses, one was 0-3 and the others were 1-3. Anarchist proves to be the lone shining spot again w/ a 3-1 win in the 4-seed.
Player to Watch: TheAnarchist
Will Rebound: Bytes
-FollowDurden

20 Noob Central (CR 19; PR 20)
The Noobs once again come so damn close to a win, but it just isn’t happening for them. And, again, it was vs a very strong conference foe. Luckily for them, they draw a struggling Mayhem team that is top 5 in talent but bottom 5 in maximizing. Hey, that 4-seed for Mayhem is free points, right?   
Player to Watch: Slimsch
Will Rebound: Boyd
-FollowDurden

Sylvanas League: Week 5

1 Team Next Level (CR 3; PR 2)
Team Next Level continues to prove they may in fact be a level above the rest of the competition, all but securing their 1st place spot with 90 points overall. A 17-7 victory over Tan Pam’s Surf Slam shows the rest of the Sylvanas League that Team Next Level is looking straight towards that championship. Their only loss this week goes to the nicest player in the entirety of THL, Saku with a 1-3 loss against Ozmanaut. They will look to continue
Player to Watch: CARY
Will Rebound: Altenberg
-MojoPowell

2 Booty Sweat (CR 1; PR 1)
Booty Sweat falls this week to the mighty force that is the Thiccbois. Not all is bad however, with both Shunsui21 and Cody picking up sweep victories. Booty Sweat remains high in the rankings, but a loss like this certainly doesn’t feel good this late in the season. Their playoff spot feels pretty secure, so hopefully they’ll regain confidence and bounce back next week against Team Next Level, the current points’ leader in the league.
Player to Watch: Shunsui21
Will Rebound: Ericokey
-MojoPowell

3 Thiccbois (CR 1; PR 3)
The Thiccbois come up on top this week in a very close match with Booty Sweat. This is an impressive win against the number one team in last week’s power rankings. The four and five seeds of BobbyGibbs and Machina both got swept, making the match much closer than it otherwise would have been, with all of the other players taking 3-1 or 3-0 victories. A win like this is big for the Thiccbois, and we’ll see where they go from here.
Player to Watch: RedditGoat
Will Rebound: Machina
-MojoPowell

4 DadLegend (CR 5; PR 4)
DadLegend drops a close one this week to Fearless Hearth, falling to the #2 position in Blue Division (as well as in the conference). Egman continues to impress in the 1 seed, while Rizen keeps his win streak going pulling off a sweep this week. The DadLegend team needs a couple solid performances in their upcoming matches against Toliwag and the Boars to lock down a playoff spot and avoid a collapse like last season.
Player to Watch: Egman
Will Rebound: WowDotBen
-YellowDart

5 The Fearless Hearth (CR 12; PR 7)
Another week, another win for The Fearless Hearth who take the lead in Blue Division as well as the conference by taking out DadLegend this week. Apexpredador, Kuthroat, and Fancy19 delivered the wins. 4 of their 5 players are 3-2 on the year showing solid consistency across the team. Next week’s showdown with Red Division leaders Toliwag’s Disciples will be a big match, with both teams looking like solid contenders so far this season.
Player to Watch: Apexpredador
Will Rebound: Aviously
-YellowDart

6 Toliwag’s Disciples (CR 7; PR 6)
Bonja, Switters (with a sweep), and ThatJester take care of business in the 1-3 seeds to bring home a win over the Sheep despite another DQ this week. Switters is looking like an MVP candidate at 5-0 with a 79% games WR and the team is clearly the class of the Red Division.  Their last two matches of the season look to be the toughest as they’ll the play the top 2 teams from Blue Division in Fearless Hearth and DadLegend. Can they hang on to their lead in Red?
Player to Watch: Switters
Will Rebound: Jimphilos
-YellowDart

7 Big Deck Bandits (CR 9; PR 8)
The Bandits pull out a win over team HearthCoach this week, putting them 9 points behind the first place in the gold division, Booty Sweat. At the moment the Bandits look like a good shot at snagging the wild card spot for the Purple/Gold divisions. If they really want a shot at playoffs, Stephieee will need to bounce back next week against the one seed of the Thiccbois, Earl.
Player to Watch: DocMcButt
Will Rebound: Stephieee
-MojoPowell

8 Tam Pam’s Surf Slam (CR 4; PR 5)
Tan Pam took a massive beating from Team Next Level this week, losing 7-17. While yes, Team Next Level is looking like the strongest team in the league, this is not a good loss for Tan Pam, knocking them down to third place in the gold division. While they’re far from out of it, it will be tough to catch up to Booty Sweat at this point, and Tan Pam will need to really slam Team TRYHARD next week to have any shot at the playoffs.
Player to Watch: Ozmanaut
Will Rebound: Nate
-MojoPowell

9 Tinyfin Fan Club (CR 6; PR 10)
Tinyfin stops a 3 weeks slide by taking down the Boars this week, 15-11. Trymehomie drops a sweep in the 2 seed while Anamor and Gkick deliver wins as well. The win this week actually puts them right back into playoff position as they currently sit as the 4 seed in the conference. After running to the title last season, these guys could be incredibly dangerous if they’re able to squeak into the playoffs, and I’d bet on them to make it with 2 very manageable matches remaining.  
Player to Watch: trymehomie
Will Rebound: Jaspyr
-YellowDart

10 Xnergy (CR 8; PR 13)
The X gave it out again, this week to the Hero Power Rangers. Wolfmack continues to dominate while Starlax completed a Turkey (this is lingo for 3 sweeps in a row, very impressive!). Not to be outdone, SwankyTiger may have just pulled out the Big Game Hunter as an over 100 PR underdog, as he won 3-1 over Zerotio. The X pulled out a miracle at the end of last season and are in great position for a similar leap into the playoffs over the next two weeks. Definitely a team to watch out for.
Player to Watch: Wolfmack
Will Rebound: SwankyTiger
-YellowDart

11 Hero Power Rangers (CR 15; PR 12)
The Hero Power Rangers had it given to them this week, thanks to the X. Inkd pulled out a sweep this week in the 3 seed which is a huge part of why this week was close, while Boyd was also able to take care of business in the 5 seed. They’ll also continue their weekly game of musical chairs as Inkd and MattAtArms will flip-flop seeds. Getting Navillus back in the lineup soon may help as the HPR are right on the fringes of being in a playoff spot.
Player to Watch: Inkd
Will Rebound: MattAtArms
-YellowDart

12 Boars: 65,340,285 (CR 11; PR 11)
The Boars fell to Tinyfin this week, 11-15. Cinder picks up an elusive first win while Rebobson was victorious again this week. SmileyKris was able to get 2 points in a close loss in the 1 seed. The loss drops the Boars out of playoff position for the moment, but the margin is still very narrow. They’ll get a chance to get back in it in what feels like a must-win match vs DadLegend coming up.
Player to Watch: Rebobson
Will Rebound: SmileyKris
-YellowDart

13 Xplosive Sheep (CR 3; PR 9)
Another tough loss for the Sheep, falling 11-13 to division leaders Toliwag’s Disciples. FollowDurden picks up the only true win as they benefited from a DQ this week, while MojoPowell was at least able to secure a couple points in a loss. The loss drops them to last in the conference but they are not out of it. They’ll need some Xplosive points the next two weeks though to give themselves a chance for the playoffs.
Player to Watch: FollowDurden
Will Rebound: MojoPowell
-YellowDart

14 Team Black Lotus (CR 10; PR 14)
Team Black Lotus picks up a nice win this week against the infamous memers of Team TRYHARD. Sweeps from both Bunnyman1400 and RampageKC helped seal this victory for Black Lotus, which they sorely needed. At this point, it’s next to impossible for them to catch up to division leaders Team Next Level, with a 31 point difference between the two teams, but miracles do happen. Realistically, however, playoff dreams seem to be over for Team Black Lotus, although they do face Team HearthCoach next week, so maybe a wildcard spot is a possibility.
Player to Watch: Bunnyman1400
Will Rebound: Cyclometh
-MojoPowell

15 Team TRYHARD (CR 14; PR 15)
TRYHARD are gonna need to try a bit harder, or maybe just something different if they want to find a second win this season. With ⅗ members picking both Hunter and Shaman, it’s relatively clear that the meme team dream team has no intentions of making the playoffs and are just looking to have some fun matches, which is a perfectly legitimate way to play. Perhaps an uncertain new meta will allow them to meme their way into a win against Tan Pam’s Surf Slam net week.
Player to Watch: Sage
Will Rebound: HockeyBoyz3
-MojoPowell

16 Team HearthCoach (CR 16; PR 16)
Last but not least, Team Hearthcoach remains toward the bottom of the power rankings after receiving a beating from some of the Big Deck Bandits. It would appear that Hearthcoach suffered two DQ’s at the hands of MetalDan and Stylomax, so they should try not to take this loss to heart. At this point, HearthCoach should look to what improvements or changes they want to make next season.
Player to Watch: FRIDGaming
Will Rebound: MetalDan
-MojoPowell