THL Voyage to the sunken city preseason Predictions

Our team of crack THL analysts is here to provide their preseason rankings for every THL series.  Each analyst was encouraged to determine ranks in the way they most felt comfortable so you might notice some stylistic differences between the analysis.

LEGACY

Red Conference:
S21 THL Legacy Series Team
Defias
The Coolest
Another Priest Meta
4 Justins, 1 SUStin
Hearthstone Academy
Not Justin
I'm a Legacy 3 Seed :)

Gold Conference:
Blue Naga Cult
Colossal Misplays
F2L: White
Pod People
Hoot me Dood!
Fish Eternum
HOT ZILFS
Da STUBBS

Silver Conference:
Kachow Klowns
Saronite Pain Gang
Xplosive Sheep
Dumbledore's Army
Illidan's Death Knights
Sunks of Drunken City
DadLegend
Standard THL Degenerates

- Geranium Battle

HERO

1. BARNeS
2. F2L: Black
3. Teenage Mighty Ninja Squirtles
4. Awake Past Midnight
5. Unknown
6. Always Ping Mage
7. At Least I don't have Chicken
8. NPH
9. F2L: Obsidian
10. Valishj I was a baller
11. Extra-Terrestrials
12. Dadlegend

- JRJuggerLaw

PRO

Tier 1 - Title Favorites

Bing Bong Big Top

They have everything you need to be a successful THL Pro series team.  Led by newly minted Hall of Famer (and pretty darn good player) Nejiboston, he is flanked by a GM with a wealth of THL experience in CaelesLuna and three other players who have nothing but positive win rates (AlwaysJustinTime, EzXarT and Nails).  EzXarT is a potential rookie of the season, only notching 1 game in Pro last season after dipping his toes into Legacy and Hero.  

Faction

This placement might raise a few eyebrows and they have the makings of a paper tiger but I think this is the season it all comes together.  Foghi, Mighty and Kraken return while adding TonberryBleu and gcttirth into the mix.  Foghi and Tonberry have historically been winning THL Pro players and Mighty has of course reached the summit of competitive HS as a GM.  There’s too much tournament skill on this team to overlook.

Tier 2 - Contenders/Playoff Caliber Teams

F2L

Reigning crossover player and zero time player of the week winner Rebobson has put together a scary lineup.  With Gle and BZRK returning to THL to pair up with stalwarts MartyB and Itachi, F2L is a surefire playoff team.  Itachi has been known to go on streaks and if he can get hot at the right time (or for the whole season) I can see them capturing another championship.

For The Boys

What do most of these top teams have in common?  Three out of the four of them have players that qualified as 1 seeds for the on-going March Madness tourney due to their play last season.  Justin, Rebob and now SuperChicken here with For The Boys.  It’s hard to overlook consistent THL success across all series when ranking teams here in Pro series and Chicken had one of the most consistently great seasons of any player in the league.  Dabs and GermanShep were both quite solid as well.  I think this team’s success hinges on whether or not Dardar can bounce back and Jheick Weiss can stay .500 or better

BrushyTuna

Quick aside, because people will look at a team that made the finals last season being ranked “5th” and immediately start firing off the angry DMs;  These last three teams are essentially 3A, 3B, 3C.  I have to present them to you in some order.  We will now return to our regularly scheduled predictions.

This team returns all 5 players from a very successful season headlined by previous HypeHorizen champion and GM McBanterFace.  But I present to you: The Curse of RHat.  A long time ago our beloved commish made the pro championship and lost.  The team remained but they were never the same.  Ron, Based, Lotus it’s been a good run but you’re on borrowed time now.  Also Hat is playing 3 series so that’s a lot of not prepping time he’s gonna need.

Popeyes Spicy Chicken Sandwich

These guys have been around for a while now and are coming off what is probably their least successful season and that’s one they still went .500 in.  They return 4 of their 5 players in captain HonestZaib, GM LambySeries, angry Philly sports guy Mayanadon and mrbaluga who I don’t know much about or else I would be more descriptive.  What hurts is the loss of AlwaysJustinTime which will leave some big shoes to fill for Automated_Button (aka AButt.  Haven’t gotten to write that in a while).  With the rise in power level of some of the teams around them they are not as daunting a force as they might once have been but to overlook them would be foolish.

Pondering My Ape

Here we have a team a few seasons removed from championship form.  They let the ape out of the shed but it’s now back along with the return of MMW. Cmac wins a championship every season.  He doesn’t play wild so having him on your team basically sets you at a base 33% chance to be THAT champion for the season.  This is just science, please do not try to fact check this.  Chemistry-wise this team has to be one of the most rock solid with long time college teammates Heatshock, Valdus and Oofrick (joined once again by MMW).  They know how to win.


No Pros Here

A playoff team returning 80% of its lineup is always a scary thing.  Urmumked, qaz, PWE and xKumei are back with the addition of aquaman575.  Aqua struggled a bit in pro last season but has plenty of solid ladder experience to turn it around.  This lineup finished ahead of Popeyes last season and will look to prove that their success was no fluke.

Tier 3 - Sleeper/Competitive Teams

Mr. Smiteside

As we enter our third tier I see teams with upside or that might not be on the immediate championship radar.  This team was roundly expected to be one of the worst ranking pro teams last season but pushed the playoff race right into the final 2 weeks of the season.  Returning 80% of the lineup in Donde, Vino, Interval and Boozasaurus the addition of Rami should give a boost on both a statistical and tactical front.  This team has a ways to go to be a title contender but being a playoff team does not seem out of the question if they continue their current trajectory.


Rope & Cope

Here we have a new team filled with familiar THL names.  NJO leads the way and will look to build on a strong Pro performance last season.  The rest of the roster consists of a few Pro rookies in Copa, NowayH and DankestDad.  Dankest did play a few matches of Pro last season but not enough to remove rookie status this season.  Ariana hasn’t played for a few seasons and the talent level in Pro has only improved since.  Always hard to evaluate a new team in terms of chemistry but the ability is here.


Taggers

This team is a full return from last season and every player profiles very similarly.  RiceBowl, Lasagne, BattleTagger, Otters and Seth are all players who have historically been crushers in Wild but have only seen moderate success in Pro series.  That success translated to a playoff berth last season.  If this team can have 1 or 2 of their players take off and break past the .500 mark, they could be very dangerous.

APM

By their team name’s own admission, they are maybe a playoff team this go around.  As with many teams, they are returning 4 out of 5 players in Sabertooth, Mechnificant, Chewie and Reverb.  Genji is the newest addition and he has been quickly rising within THL.  APM was a final week collapse away from a playoff spot a season ago and it may be in their best interest to not change too much as they have done here.

Tier 4 - Deep Sleepers

Xyrella’s Disciples

Every team has something to love but we’re now entering the tier where I have more questions either through limited knowledge of the players or team chemistry.  To start, I love the hurt that Jespine has been putting on THL.  A true 1 seed for this team.  Maxie has been steady in Pro as well, so the team has a solid foundation.  Pace and Nops will look to make the jump over from Wild which has historically translated pretty well for strong Wild players.  JustConcede is a THL rookie looking to get off to a strong start.

Cheese Mongers United

This team profiles very similarly to XD.  Memnarch and Wild9 at the top are true dominant forces.  After that we have three Pro rookies in captain NotBamity, Pyrollama and RandomDude.  If Memnarch and Wild9 can shoulder the wins week to week it can take some pressure off the new guys learning the ropes.  Both of them have proven that they can beat anyone in THL on any given week but we’ll see if any of the rooks can make a splash.


Swagoi

Swagoi returns 3 of their 5 players from a season that fell short of the playoffs but unfortunately the two players they lost were their 1 and 2 seed including Gle who was undefeated.  It’s almost impossible to replace that kind of production singlehandedly so the remaining players will need to step up.  Molestar and Linthesis are the two new players, neither of whom are new to THL.  Both have not historically had great success in Pro but Molestar is a consistent ladder crusher who can get the job done.  Edelweiss, Rizen and JaredPullet all return and will look to improve upon last season’s showing to see if Swagoi can return to the playoffs.

Rotate Quests Please

FKA Poimlocked and Loaded.  This team struggled mightily last season but had an immense bright spot in the emergence of undefeated Ejimmy.  He returns as does Bulldoza and Poimok (from just captain, to captain/player).  Cillo is on the roster after a 1 season layoff and Dominick rounds out the roster in their rookie season.  There’s a foundation here to build on but we’ll see if Ejimmy’s dominance can continue.
Pink:

Bing Bong
F2L
Ape
NPH
Smiteside
Cope
Cheese
Swagoi

Black:
Faction
FTB
Brushy
Popeyes
Taggers
APM
XD
Rotate
- Donde

WILD

Tier 1: Title contenders

1. Sunken Shakers - The core of Seth (ForChrist), Ricebowl, epthopper, and Tigereye remains, with 6j (jjjjjj) joining the defending champs. This team continues to look scary good.

2. F2L: Viridian - The same 5 players (corbett, GetMeowth, MartyB, Nejiboston, and therottedzombie) that won back-to-back championships and have 4 consecutive finals appearance looks to reclaim the throne in Season 6

Tier 2: Playoffs and Dark Horses

3. Xyrella’s Disciples - Hyperin has put together a very strong team with reigning MVP OTZaixia, MartianBuu, who has been extremely good when he has subbed in on teams in past seasons, super sub xtuliop from last season, and Triplelift. This team looks scary to play against, especially with the unpredictability of lineup some of these players bring.

4. Wokege - JordanMG and Hazer from Everyone’s A Winner along with otters and Memnarch from Hair Club and Pace from The PogMerchants together will be a force to be reckoned with in the Brown conference and my personal pick for top Brown conference team

Tier 3: Playoffs and Fringe Playoffs

5. F2L: Celadon - Mainstays of F2L teams, rebobson and Itachi join Swaguar and mediOger from Team At Any Cost Wild, and Bash Bros standout Ataraxial to give F2L another strong team.

6. Round earthers going to work - Lasagne has picked up one of the most successful Wild Series player in Battletagger from Everyone’s A Winner alongside Tom Carter who played with Battletagger, known high legend ladder player Cresselia, and MrLuke98, who subbed on EAW and playing in the EU Wild Series.

7. Bread Likely - “Most Wild players would be out of a job if the best Standard players came over lol. Bread Likely!” seems to be the theme of Nice Jewish Owl’s team, which is made up of indeed some of the best Standard players in AgentPWE, SuperChicken, Molestar, and AlwaysJustinTime. Perhaps underrating this team, it is always tough to judge how players will adapt and perform in a format they may not be fully familiar with. Playoffs Maybe?

8. Anduin’s Playboy Mansion - APM has been a staple of Wild these last seasons, making semifinals of last season’s playoffs. The only change is that mr37 has joined and Maxiebon has joined a different team. Our Australian friends once again will set out to prove my rankings wrong and achieve playoffs.

Tier 4: Outside Chance of Playoffs or Unknown Quantity

9. WTF - A staple team of Wild Series, Wild THL Fanatics (WTF) returns fielding Slaad, Schmoopiedaddy, Nops, Bloodrose, and LaboreSangre. This team looks strong and could make the jump this season to challenge for playoffs.

10. Bash Bros - Bash Bros is an established team with the core of Reverb and ANubinator. This season they are joined by Judochop, Gimmelamp, and Jewels who are all in their first full season of THL. I believe the experience of Reverb and ANubinator edges them slightly over the next few teams on the list for that reason.

11. Worgen Greasers - Justconcede’s first season in THL, and as a captain in Wild Series, is joined by Maxiebon from APM, consistent legend ladder player Whodack, Woodford, and DankestDad, who is a Wild Series rookie, but is a 1 seed in Legacy Series and a strong player in general. This team definitely has potential to make noise this season.

12. The Weasil Tunnelers - PWeasil has put together a team with THL mainstays and on and off Wild Series players SKItLLeZ and Nineeyebrows, along with MortalWombat, formerly known as AnAwfulArtist, from PogMerchants and RighteousJammies.

13. Worldshakers - Captain Copa has put together a team with Guumbi and SiNF3RN0 as experienced THL players and three rookies in Pers, Devalion, and Snapper (Risky Chance).

14. Copium Clan - It is always tough to judge a team when you don’t know many of the players on the team, so I might be getting it very wrong placing Copium Clan here. GL4R3, one of the defending champions from Rumbletusk Shakers, ThatGuyFloop, K1ZM3T, NerbelKay, and Tempoe will answer questions this season and will hopefully prove my ranking wrong.

​


Conference Ranking:

Green Conference:
1. F2L: Viridian
2. Sunken Shakers
3. Xyrella’s Disciples
4. APM
5. Bash Bros
6. The Worgen Greasers
7. Copium Clan

Brown Conference:
1. Wokege
2. F2L: Celadon
3. Round earthers going to work
4. Bread Likely
5. Worldshakers
6. The Weasil Tunnelers
7. WTF
-DoctorFeesh

PRO EU
1. League of Nations
2. F2L: Violet
3. Fruit Basket
4. Undivided
5. D0nkey Hot
6. Perthinax
7. UNDERDOGS
8. Team Enigma
9. Flowenz esports

​-Diamond