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So I was reminded that I forgot to post one of these this week. Oops. I’ll cover the interesting stuff during the June 8th – June 15th matches this “week”… Previous week’s position in parentheses. I’m lazy and not including the results that came out as I finished this up.

1. Kreludor (6)

I was stupid enough to question KD’s strength after week 1. They’ve been incredible, starting off by sweeping Krawk Island and getting 3 more sweeps in the following 4 days. However, the last three days have, perhaps, been a bump in the road, or maybe signs of KD losing ground? We’ll see what happens as KD faces DC tomorrow and moves into round 2. I expect them to maintain their #1 position, but I’m fairly surprised that they didn’t beat RI and MD in YYB. The side game sweep from TM against this team is either a bad day for KD or a great day from TM. Either way, an interesting result for my last day of data.

2. Virtupets (3)

VP proved that they belong in tier 1, but their results are still a bit worrisome. Their records in SS and SOSD aren’t exactly impressive, but they’re doing quite well on YYB and MSN. The MD loss was a bad day, for sure, but a couple of sweeps seem to have them back on the right track. I think VP will stay in 2nd or 3rd for most of the 2nd round robin, and will be tough to beat in finals, with a lot of YYB strength. If they slow down in YYB at all, though, MSN alone won’t keep them in tier 1. MQ and KI are right behind them, and are certainly hungry to move up.

3. Maraqua (5)

MQ has had good results this week, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary. A narrow win against VP, the same WLDL against TY that KI and VP also received. They’ve dropped off a bit in the side games, apparently to pick up more strength in YYB, so we’ll see how that turns out. MQ has shown in the past that they can be very, very good at YYB, but they won’t make tier 1 without some side game power. I have a feeling Franc & Co. will figure it out this year and stay at or near 3rd place until the end.

4. Krawk Island (2)

KI started off the week with a painful sweep to KD, but they’ve rebounded nicely. Barring a tough day against the suddenly-great side-gamers at KL (and the KD sweep), the results for this team have been, generally, unsurprising in hindsight. Their biggest strength lies in YYB, but they’ve shown that their still capable of pulling off sweeps. Tomorrow’s match with VP will be a huge match, with the top two YYB teams facing each other. The team that wins that match could be considered the team to beat, as YYB beats the rest of the games in finals. (Good luck tomorrow, VP! I’ll be playing hard. :D)

5. Tyrannia (4)

Tyrannia, I believe, will not return to tier 1. They’re a very strong side game team, and I think it’s clear that they’re better at YYB than usual, but… after the MD win and KD draw, three losses and a draw against upper-tier teams doesn’t reflect well on TY’s YYB power in the long run. You have to beat the best to be the best, and TY can’t seem to do that in YYB – where it really counts. I could see this team sticking close to tier 1 and surprising everybody at the last minute and sneaking into tier 1 if one of the teams above them happens to fall, though. :P

6. Darigan Citadel (1)

An inability to beat the best teams at YYB, combined with a sudden mediocrity in all the side games has this team falling down the standings… and I don’t expect things to change. A lot of people expected from the beginning, and as their morale fluctuates, I don’t think they’ll have a shot at tier 1. Still, they do have a lot of good players would might eventually outweigh the freeloaders enough to get some more wins.

7. Terror Mountain (7)

TM has gone up and down in their results in the last week, but they seem to be shifting toward a side-game centered team again, after the loss to HW. We’ll see what they do in the coming days, but I don’t think even a great side game record will be enough to bring them up to tier 1… but I’m usually wrong in my predictions. x)

8. Meridell (8)

Meridell is great! No, Meridell is just alright! No… The one thing I can say for certain is that Meridell is inconsistent and, thus, unpredictable. YYB win vs VP? Great! Draw vs. SK? Eh… I honestly have no idea where they’ll end up. They’re great at SS and not *horrible* at any side game, so some more consistency would REALLY help them.

9. Haunted Woods (9)

Look out, tier 2 (… and 1?), HW hasn’t lost a match in a while now. Could we be seeing the beginning of a run like HW had in ACV? I personally don’t think so – look at the schedule – but the newfound confidence could really help HW in the long run. A little more YYB strength is needed to push them up.

10. Roo Island (12)

Well, I thought RI was making their comeback. They had a nice streak going and pulled a couple of draws against KD, but apparently that didn’t have a positive effect on their momentum, as they’ve had two bad losses since then. We’ll see what KI does to them. They can certainly pull a few upsets.

11. Shenkuu (13)

Unfortunately for SK, the results for them are consistently bad, other than a couple of good draws against MD and such. I still want to say they have the potential to move up, but it’s looking more and more like it’ll be at least another year before this team can get back to its standards.

12. Kiko Lake (16)

Kiko Lake is quickly becoming a side game powerhouse, seemingly giving up on YYB against all but MT. They had a tough stretch of teams and came out with very good results for a team normally stuck in tier 4. I expect their side game power to continue as long as teams still worry too much about YYB against these guys.

13. Mystery Island (11)

Mystery Island is basically no different from its former self – YYB heavy, now with a decent SOSD record – but worse all around. They have made no upsets in YYB so far this year, instead getting some decent SOSD wins, but that’s it.

14. Brightvale (10)

Much like MI, BV isn’t really doing anything out of the ordinary. They’re pretty good at SS, but other than that they’re not getting many wins lately.

15. Lost Desert (15)

Poor LD, also stuck near the bottom. :/
Noticing a trend? I don’t expect any of these teams to make it out of the bottom tiers.

16. Faerieland (14)

Good at SS, nothing else. They’ll be stuck here, too.

17. Altador (17)

Oh look, another FL that’s better at SS and worse at everything else! As you can see, I’m rushing through the last few because I’m a terribly biased person worried only about the top tiers. n__n
AL’s flawless YYB record is intriguing!

18. Moltara (18)

… Apparently they just did pretty well against BV, but that’s outside of this post. :P

Anyway, here’s my terribly written article. Good night all, have a nice last day of the first round robin!