THL Power Rankings Week 8

For the second time this season we had eight of the ten series decided by four points or less, showcasing just how competitive the league is and how many good teams there are.  With only a few weeks left in the regular season the intensity has increased with so many teams working on securing their playoff spot or fighting to gain one, and things will only get more exciting as the regular season comes to a close.

1. The Hairy Generals (=) - It was a hotly contested series but at the end of it the Hairy Generals emerged from their battle against Netherstorm with a one point victory.  Though they retain the number one spot in the power rankings, they were passed in the Blue division by Soupreme who is hoping to take advantage of a weaker schedule over the final three weeks to gain a lead over the Generals.  Speaking of schedules, up next for JediNinja's squad is a Team Rank Five team looking to get back on track in what should be a great set of games.

2. Soupreme (+1) - Racking up the points against Team Golden Wisp in week seven was Soupreme, who as mentioned moves into first place in the Blue division.  They were able to win all of their played matches but Rayc591 did have a no contest against Fudd.  Next week Soupreme will go against the struggling Boom Squad and hope that the Hairy Generals and Team Rank Five beat up on each other since the Generals are their main competition for the division, and TR5 will be competing against them for the overall one seed in the Orange-Blue conference. 

3. N.W.A. (+1) - Another team to escape with a one point victory this past week was N.W.A. going against Archon Storm in a series which had four of the five matches going to game five.  This win helped increase N.W.A.'s lead in the Red division and over the next two weeks they will look to hold off Archon Storm and push for the one seed in the Red-Green conference.

4. Team Rank Five (-2) - Another week and another close loss for the guys over at Team Rank Five, the most recent one coming against the Super Heroes. After getting through the first five weeks without a loss they now have two on the season. They still have a nice lead within their division but have moved to third in terms of their conference with the Hairy Generals as their week eight opponent. This presents TR5 with an opportunity to knock off the number one ranked team or gain a three game losing streak, something unheard of for this team.

5. Xnergy (+1) - Trying to forget what happened in week six, Xnergy bounced back against Pure Strategy and took all of the matches except for the one seed one where Catota fell to Alexstrasza. This is meaningful because it means going into next week BoomBoomHall will be the first seed and Catota slides down to second. I believe for the entire time Xnergy has been a team in THL that Catota has been the one, going all the way back to Season Kappa, so this is a bit of a change for them as a team but not a knock on Catota so much as highlighting the great season BoomBoomHall has had so far.

6. Archon Storm (+1) - It may seem a little odd to move up a rank after a loss but that's how things worked out around Archon Storm who is having a good season and a one point loss against a strong N.W.A team isn't the worst thing in the world. Unfortunately for them it means N.W.A. leads Red by ten points now, but with what seems the easier of the two remaining schedules they will have a chance to catch them. Oh, also of note is KillaJive ending Craeon's impressive streak he had been on.

7. Team Avatar (-2) - Winners of their first four, Team Avatar has now lost two of their last three series with their week seven result being a three point loss to Dream Team. This recent stretch has allowed Xnergy to reclaim the top spot in Green but the losses for Avatar have been close and new member Zabger is 2-0 so there is a lot to be positive about.
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8. Noob Central (=) - Fresh off giving Team Rank Five their first loss the Noobs followed that up with a win over another Orange team in the Damaged Ones. It was the lower half of the roster which came through for Noob Central week seven, which included Kuthroat who received his first win of the season. For week eight it seems ThorSmash will come on as a substitute for stiLLer3k a second time when the Noobs plays Team Golden Wisp.

9. Dream Team (+1) - The Dream Team needed a good week to help recover from two previous really poor weeks and they were able to come through with a win over Team Avatar. Like the N.W.A. and Archon Storm pairing, this was was another close series with four matches being decided by a game five. Speaking of N.W.A, that will be Dream Team's next opponent when the two Red teams play in week eight.

10. Netherstorm (-1) - Eager to put themselves into the Blue division conversation which centers so much around Soupreme and the Hairy Generals, Netherstorm gave a good effort against the Generals this past week but came up a point short. Picking up sweeps in that matchup were SirSpamsalot and Gemini, the latter of which continues to anchor Netherstorm. The last two games on the schedule for them are against the two lowest ranked teams so we'll have to see if they are able to take advantage of that.

11. Super Heroes (+1) - This past week all of the Super Heroes were able to play and the result was a win over the team leading their division, Team Rank Five. The Heroes have definitely had an up and down season with wins over both the Hairy Generals and TR5, but they've also had bad losses and recorded a few disqualifications. They are currently a wild card team and it's definitely possible they keep it through to the end of the season. With their potential this will be one of those wild card teams no one wants to play and could easily pull off an upset if they play like they have at times during the season.

12. Danger Zone (+3) - Somewhat written off before the season started it seemed these predictions might be true when Danger Zone started off the season with two twelve point losses. Since then they have had a close loss to Team Avatar followed by four consecutive wins and have put themselves in a great spot for a wild card. It will be an interesting series in week eight against Xnergy as Vendi and Pacetry both played for Xnergy just last season and Gideoneko played for them in season one.

13. The Gosu Casuals (-2) - Though they had more points with the matches played a forfeit was enough to give the Casuals a loss and Danger Zone the win in a series which held a lot of significance in regards to a wild card. Slimsch's team has kept many of their matchups close but it seems they just don't have enough to turn those close losses into wins. Playoffs are still within reach for Gosu but for now they are on the outside looking in.

14. Team Golden Wisp (-1) - Last week I said points may be hard to come by against Soupreme and it seems they were with Team Golden Wisp only able to score five points on the week. They now have Soupreme, the Hairy Generals, and Team Rank Five behind them but left is a scrappy Noob Central team and an unpredictable Super Heroes team.

15. Damaged Ones (+2) - In a really important series in the Orange division the Damaged Ones put up a good fight against Noob Central but came up just a little short. Hoping to give his team a better chance at making the playoffs and then advancing within them, captain JerryDamage has made the selfless move to replace himself with Gkick, a member of the SPL. If the move pays off it comes at a good time with the Super Heroes as their next opponent and the team holding the last wild card sport in the conference, and then there's the Hairy Generals to close the season out with.

16. Yogg Champs (-2) - It's a fourth straight loss for Yogg Champs but if the season ended now they would make the playoffs because they've been able to consistently score points and avoid blowouts. If they hope to stay in the playoff race though then a win over the Gosu Casuals next week would go a long way.

17. Entropy (+1) - The team to beat Yogg Champs last week? Entropy of course and they now have a second win after such a dismal start to their season. Playoffs are realistically out of reach but it's nice to see a team start playing better and wins are always more fun than losses.

18. Pure Strategy (-2) - Alexstrasza was the lone victor for Pure Strategy this past week playing against Xnergy. To finish out the season awaits a pair of Red division opponents in Archon Storm and Dream Team.

19. Aeon (+1) - They did it. Aeon is on the board with their first win of season three. This was in part due to captain Detrucci's refusal to give up on the season and signing HectorHowl last week to improve his team, the same HectorHowl who recorded a big win over Pizza this week and Kraxximus the week before, two of the best players in the Orange division. Also getting their first win was FollowDurden which came at a great time. Left for Aeon is Netherstorm and Team Rank Five but regardless of how the rest of the season goes it has to feel good to get that first win.

20. Boom Squad (-1) - After being called up from the SPL SwankyTiger swept veteran Detrucci for his first win in THL which almost gave his team the win but the end result was a one point loss to Aeon, though Boom Squad did play all of their matches this week so that's a positive. The Squad will play Soupreme and Netherstorm the final two weeks of the season.