Top 5 Power Ranking - Legacy Series Week 6

Altenberg is taking on a double-shift and giving you some Power Rankings for your reading pleasure.

Are you ready for some HAWT TAEKS?  This Power Ranking is going to be a little different. I decided to look at every team in Legacy from a week-to-week perspective, tracking how that team’s overall ranking in the standings has gone up and down, as well as what kinds of opponents they’ve faced.   That lead me to identify a “Top 5” in each conference.  These are teams that may or may not be in the current Top 5 of the standings, but they are teams that have done well so far this season and are poised to either make the playoffs or are on the cusp of it. And as someone who is not actually playing in Legacy Series this season, that makes me an impartial, unbiased judge. Let’s get to it!

Gold Conference
1. wet boys
The wet boys currently sit #3 overall in total points and have a 3-2 record, but I put them in the #1 position because of who their wins and losses have come against. They beat both Lyondenn Warriors and DadLegend, two of my top 5 teams. While one of their other wins came against the literal lowest ranked team in Gold Conference: Da Stubbs, the fact they have wins against such good teams bodes well for them going forward.  Yes, they dropped a game against a middle-ranked team: Prep is for Rogues not Pilots, and a low ranked team in Pod People, but they kept it close in both games. Since they beat the #1 point earner Lyondenn Warriors, for now, they are holding onto to the top spot in the Power Rankings.

2. Lyondenn Warriors
This team has opened the season hot.  They have maintained their first place rank in total points every single week and have the best record in Gold Conference sitting at 4-1.  They have the most points in all of Legacy Series and putting them in the #1 position on the Power Rankings should be a no-brainer, but unfortunately, I have to rank them 2nd, because it doesn’t make sense to rank Lyondenn ahead of wet boys based on their recent head-to-head match.  While every player on their team has a winning record individually, the knock against this team is that 2 of their wins have come against teams that are ranked near the bottom of the conference: Mambo No. Smorc and The Pod People. They did beat the #2 team in the standings Dirty Mike and the Boys (very convincingly I might add), and beat a middle-ranked team in the Team Mox as well.  But they lost a very close match to the wet boys, which is why I have to rank them below wet boys and put them in the #2 spot.

3. Dirty Mike & The Boys
They are currently ranked #2 in the standings and for good reason. They held onto the #2 ranking for the first two weeks of the season, then slipped a little before jumping right back up.  They put a string of wins together beating a middle-of-the-road team Prep is for Rogues not Pilots and a low ranked team in Pod People. They had a convincing win against a good team in DadLegend, but got stomped by Lyondenn Warriors.  If it wasn’t for that beat-down Week 3, this team might be sitting in the #1 spot. It’s a little concerning that they also just dropped a very close match against new-comer OH SN4P (who are the replacement team for the previous #2 ranked team VoNC), which is why I put them in the #3 spot. Still, after all that they have a 3-2 record and are in 2nd place in total points. This is a strong team.

4. DadLegend
This team is in 7th place in the standings, which may be a surprise as to why I have them ranked so high.  But they have a 3-2 record and for the first four weeks of the season they maintained a 4th place ranking and a 3-1 record. They had previously beaten VoNC (was the 2nd place team before they all quit), a middle-ranked team in Team Mox and one of the lowest ranked teams in Mambo No. Smorc. Their two losses come against very good teams in Dirty Mike & The Boys and wet boys, power ranked #1 and #3 respectively. So, don’t underestimate this team despite their low ranking in the standings, because they have had a very tough opening schedule.

5. OH SN4P
This is a replacement team, taking over for VoNC after they all quit.  If we were adopting raw point totals, OH SN4P would be sitting in 2nd place in the standings based on how well VoNC did in the first four weeks. But, they are currently in 4th place in the standings due to the replacement team’s average point seeding heading into Week 5.  But all that replacement team did was walk in and beat the #2 team in total points, Dirty Mike and the Boys in Week 5.  That is a signature win right out of the gate, and thanks to their inherited point total, they are well within striking distance of the playoffs.

Honorable Mention – Prep is for Rogues not Pilots
This team current sits in 5th place in the standings and has a 3-2 record.  It was very tempting to include them in the Power Rankings, but they opened the season pretty rough going 0-2.  That said, they have put together three wins in a row since then, including one against the top ranked team wet boys, so look out.  If this team can keep the win streak alive, they will surely find their way onto the Top 5 Power Ranking.
 
Red Conference
1. McBombald’s
This team currently sits in first place in Red Conference with 86 points overall, and does not have a loss on their record sporting the best record in all of Legacy Series at 4-0-1. Not only that, several of those wins have come against highly ranked teams like Big Decks Small Mechs, Xnergy, and Card Advantage Tempest. Three of their players sport 4-1 individual records and this team is positioned as THE team to beat in Red Conference. It doesn’t get any easier choosing a top-ranked team.

2. Big Decks Small Mechs
Big Decks Small Mechs sits tied for 2nd in total points in the standings and have an excellent 4-1 record. The knock against this team is that they haven’t beaten anyone ranked higher than 5th in the overall standings.  In other words, that excellent record may be due to a relatively low strength of schedule to open the season.  They also lost to McBombald’s, which could be another indication that their record is inflated.  Still, they’re in excellent position pointwise and should be poised as a potential playoff team.

3. Card Advantage Tempest
This team has had a rough opening schedule having to face McBombald’s and Big Decks Small Mechs, but they put up respectable point totals against those two tough teams.  While two of their wins were against two of the bottom ranked teams in :birb: and Flat Earth Global (formerly Brainstorm), they also beat a top 4 team in Xnergy.  They are currently ranked 6th in the standings, but they are trending in the right direction and currently sit on a 3-2 record.

4. Xnergy
Like Card Advantage Tempest above, Xnergy has already faced some very good teams in McBombald’s and Card Advantage Tempest.  And also like C.A.T. they have beaten some low ranked teams in AskHS, BoomCo and :birb:.  They currently sit in 5th place in the standings with a 3-2 record. They have yet to notch that signature win against a top ranked team, but if they can maintain their point total they should be in position for a playoff spot.

5. Evil League of Evil
This team somehow sits tied for 2nd in the standings despite a 2-1-2 record.  Their point total is the only reason they are even on the Power Rankings to begin with.  They tied a bottom ranked team in :birb: and lost to another bottom ranked team in BoomCo.  They tied a middle-ranked team in Saronite Pain Gang and then put two wins together against two of the bottom 3 ranked teams in the standings (AskHS and Flat Earth Global).  While that isn’t a strong resumé, at least those wins against bottom teams were complete thrashing earning them over 20 points in each match.  Until they can get a “signature win” against a highly ranked team, they will sit down here in the Power Rankings.

Honorable Mention – BoomCo
BoomCo has had a very rough schedule to open the season getting matched up against four of my top 5 power ranked teams.  They went 1-3 against those teams beating Evil League of Evil, and played the other three very close (McBombald’s, Big Decks Small Mechs, and Xnergy). They also notched a convincing win against the literal lowest ranked team Brainstorm (now Flat Earth Global). The fact that they are still in 7th place in the standings and only 4 points out of a playoff spot after that horrendous opening schedule is pretty remarkable and deserving of an honorable mention.