A-Team

Eastern Conference

After a downsize in the league to sixteen teams, NLTP saw a series of exciting storylines, eventful matchups, and high-energy players. With only 4 teams making playoffs, teams felt the pressure from the initial week to make strong showings and to maintain season long momentum. The four teams that met it high high expectations at the beginning of the season, comprising 4 of the top 5 eastern spots in the preseason community rankings, and displaying strong showings each week since.

Seed Team 1 Gate Registration (16-2-2) 2 Balladega Nights (16-3-1) 3 Thundercaps (12-6-2) 4 Blockwork Orange (12-7-1)

With standings set, the two matches that take place on Tuesday will be the second meeting between each pairing, with each initial one fairly close.

MATCHUP 1: Blockwork Orange versus Gate Registration

The first matchup between the two occurred in week 5, with neither team at full strength. Blockwork was missing STEEZ and Papa John, while Gate Registration was absent of Opponent. The two teams split, with Gate Registration earning its first loss of the season in week 5.

Blockwork Orange

Position Name O Dance O STEEZ D NotEvenMex D Papa John

At the beginning of the season, the pairing of Dance and STEEZ appeared to be an odd one - Dance has been a consistent presence in the minors offensive depth list, but has never truly stood out on the map. STEEZ was a pub powerhouse, but had a scattering of small excursions in the lower levels of the league before finding himself the first round pick of Blockwork. Neither truly had shown any past indication that they could be a forceful offensive combination.

Dance and STEEZ have a combined 100 caps between the two (56 and 44 respectively) - their hold is nearly as impressive hovering just under a combined 10,000 seconds as the two sit 2nd and 3rd in the rankings. While their results have been impressive, their performances have had quite a bit of variety. Week to week, or half to half, the two may see widely different results depending on how well their clicking at any given time.

Entering this week, it will be essential that two are feeling both comfortable with one another, as well as confident in the overall team, play smart, and that they work closely with their aggressive defense in order to set up, and take advantage of opportunities - they have the explosive style that a quick start could imply a long chain of positive plays for the team.

Blockwork’s defense consists of a pair of S5 B-teamers who each showcased a fair level of potential in their initial season. Having played together on a USC team for quite some time, the hope was to take advantage of the chemistry into a longer season of competitive. Much like their offensive counterparts, the two have seen mixed successes throughout the season.

Mex has had a statistically impressive season 6, positioning himself as a heavily return-oriented defender, leading the East in returns by over 100 and sitting just 5 under the lead. The key to Blockwork’s success is for Papa John to have horrendous stats. A low number of returns or tags by Papa John often insinuates that he is playing conservatively and smartly, providing a solid contain and position to maintain enemy flag carriers in a position where Mex can earn the returns, padding his stats by quite a bit. Poor defensive performances from the team have occurred in the weeks in which Papa John has been the aggressor of the two.

In saying this, it should not be noted that Papa John himself can step in where needed with the aggressive style of play to help his defense find the resets or succeed in the crucial moments - but postseason success will depend on the two defining their roles on the map.

Results on Wormy

In Week 9, Blockwork delivered a strong performance against Balls on Parade and eeking out a victory over the Whitecaps in Week 10. Blockwork went one half 0-3, before earning a 4-0 win in the next. The map appears to play to some of their strengths in the sense that a holdy offense will find extra comfort and security, while the defense will normally find itself out of base searching for the returns.

Gate Registration

Position Name O Destar O beast mode D Fuzzywuzzy D Opponent

Earlier this week, I was asked by a member of Gate Registration to continue my pattern of praising the GR defense while diminishing their offense, as it fuels the fire. Little did they know, they didn’t even need to ask!

Beast Mode and Destar entered this season having the advantage of working together for several seasons prior - together on the map in NLTP S4 on Capital Punishment, and as a player and captain in NLTP S5. The chemistry between the two made itself most well known in the first few weeks of the season, where their understanding of how to play with each other resulted in ease of picking apart uncoordinated defenses.

While the two do have relatively high numbers in caps and hold, their per minute stats range on the lower end of spectrum - while the two both however just underneath the largest number of grabs in the league. Over their past 20 matchups, even their victories have seen closer margins than some of the other teams in the league, with beast mode and Destar rarely having explosive weeks.

Although I’d like to, we cannot attribute the team’s successful season entirely to the defense. With a record of 16-2-2, the offense must be doing something right - both particularly have exhibited a nice control of powerups, removing any advantages from the opponents they matchup against. As I said in the first few weeks of the season, the two still do play relatively smart, and when they aren’t grabbing, can play a strong offensive defense, contributing to the small number of caps scored against the team.

As far as the good part of the team, Fuzzywuzzy and Opponent have continued to deliver dominant performances week in and week out as the two go for their second and third championships in a row, respectively.

Statistically, the two have shown the control they have in their base, with over 10,000 seconds of prevent as Opponent hovers near 16 seconds per minute of the action. Fuzzywuzzy has proven his case for the most well rounded ball award with 15 caps, 2000 seconds of hold, and a comfy spot at 3rd in the powerup rankings, a very impressive showing for a defender.

Their work together has provided opposing offenses few opportunities to capitalize on, and when out of base, they play smartly enough to limit any reliance upon their offense - the team has the lowest hold against in the league.

Results on Wormy

Week 9, the team saw a tie against Block the Capsbah, though rebounded to earn a more definitive win over the Soviet Ballers in Week 10. The Soviets team did not appear to be at its normal full strength, despite solid performances from those who played, so it will be interesting to see which week the results of the playoffs resemble.

The Matchup of the Two

On defense, Gate Registration has the advantage - Opponent and Fuzzy are probably the top pair in the league based on how well they complement one another’s styles. However, with the major strength of this team being their prevent, a map like Wormy might mitigate some of their advantages against Blockwork’s offense. The defensive advantage will come down to how well the four players can manage and crisscross the map, earning the quick returns, and keeping the enemy offenses on their toes.

On offense, I’d give the advantage to Blockwork - Dance and Steez are natural holders, and as such will be able to utilize Wormy’s chasey nature a bit more than GR. If Blockwork can cut into the stranglehold that Gate Registration has on powerups, the GR offense could be substantially limited if also forced to worry about their flag being out of base.

Regardless, I think this matchup will see a series of close games, with victories on either end - victories by Blockworks might be games in which scores are run up fairly high, wheres GR might see successes in the lower scoring games.

Despite the Best of 5 nature of the playoffs, I’m going to predict the teams will tie so that I can ensure I’m wrong and continue my regular season tradition.

MATCHUP 2: Balladega Nights versus Thundercaps

These two teams first met all the way back in Week 2 - quite a bit has since changed. At the beginning of the season, Thundercaps was defying public community expectations with a 0-3-1 record at the end of week 2 - the one overtime loss against Balladega. With new lineups at play, this match has potential to be close.

Balladega Nights

Position Name O Tantrew O solf O Randy Marsh D Jubjubs D dok D Devious

At the time of the draft, JBaay employed a strategy few other captains chose to do, for fear of activity - overly experienced players. The team picked up a long list of former mLTP offenders, many of which were taken in latter rounds of the draft. The depth of these offenders provided the opportunity to develop an efficient trio for A team offense, without fear of impacting the roster of the B Team.

Through the past ten weeks, each offender has had the opportunity to shine at their respective times, earning over 30 captures apiece. Solf impressed early on in the season, with Randy playing a more prominent role in the middle - Tantrew provided a steady stream of support seasonwide regardless of his o partner. His most performances have come in his two bets this season, (A Blockwork sweep over BOP and WC not reaching 7 games) -

From what I’ve heard, Randy Marsh recently moved across country, and his availability since then has been spotty, so it remains to be seen whether he’ll be present for the playoff run of the team. While Tantrew and solf will still remain a formidable offense, Randy does introduce different complexities and talent in his contribution to the team.

After the pickup of dok, Balladega’s defense became the second trio on the team, developing a consistent pair made up of Jubjubs, dok, or Devious. The three are quite similar, with near identical prevents and returns within range of one another through their shared minutes.

In previous writeups throughout the season, I’ve always shared doubts regarding the effectiveness of the BDN defense, however over the past ten weeks, and with the addition of dok, the trio have managed to iron out any kinks and weaknesses, leaving them arguably good.

Results on Wormy

Despite a season of trash talk from Tantrew, Balladega found their second loss to the Whitecaps on Wormy, thus earning the name Balladega “Lost to Whitecaps Twice” Nights, as credited by P0P. They bounced back with a 7-1 victory over BOP, and will look to repeat the latter result in the playoffs.

Thundercaps

Position Name O A-A-ron O Berlin_Ball D honeybear D Gargantua D Atrazine

When SpaceTiger drafted his initial roster, the team’s starting four would have

some of the biggest chemistry and attitude problems in NLTP. Ten weeks later, recent rosters created by SpaceTiger have shared few similarities with the original four, due to a series of smart pickups and trades that have allowed his team to rebound from a poor early start to the season and to leap into 3rd place in the league.

Several weeks into the season, after an aggressive offensive duo proved to have its faults, the team acquired a pair of offenders who though differed in the playstyle from the original team, shared in their talent. A-A-ron has been a strong presence in NLTP for the past several seasons, with a brief stint in minors. Despite joining the team halfway through the season, he is having one of his most impressive performances in his time in competitive play, racking up enough caps to sit neatly at #10 in the league

Berlin_Ball forms the second half of this new and invigorated offense, making his first foray into American league after a long history in ELTP, and comes off of a strong performance across the Atlantic. He too is putting forward a CPM of .15, and while he’s had quite a bit less playing time than his partner, still has an impressive 20 caps. Together they’ve formed a partnership that achieves the explosive numbers they’ve been searching for. However, if needed, THE DOT would likely be able to aid the team with his slippery style following some other nice performances.

Their defense is a bit more questionable, and for me, still uncertain heading into playoffs. The pair of honeybear and Gargantua in name seemed to have some potential, but on the occasions I’ve watched them at varying points in the season, it continues to look as though they had moments in which they clashed. To me, the main area of intrigue was the speed, or lack thereof, in which they both reacted after a return or cap, as it appeared to take them a little while to settle in together, though not as individuals.

While I haven’t had the opportunity to watch an excessive amount over the latter half of the season, the numbers they’ve put up have been varying. Gargantua has missed a fair amount of playing time, though still remains a respectable amount of prevent and returns, with above average per minute statistics. Honeybear has found himself splitting time on offense in some weeks, where he’s been able to offer somewhat of a two way stability.

Recent weeks have shown an increase in playing time for mid-season pickup , Atrazine, who is coming off a week 10 performance in which he earned the 10 DGASP, with solid performances in other matches. Though I’m not familiar with his playstyle, he does seem to fill in some of the gaps present on defense, often outshining his partners with his numbers. He also does bring the benefit of having played last season with A-A-ron, thus perhaps offers a better understanding of how his offensive counterpart is working.

Results on Wormy

The Thundercaps notched a decisive Week 9 win over the Soviet Ballers, although mirrored Gate Registration in earning a tie against Block the Capsbah - each week however the offense has proved themselves capable of scoring a fair amount, leading for exciting potential in the postseason.

The Matchup of the Two

I don’t think there's a huge discrepancy between the two offenses on the team - both come with a huge amount of experience, and playstyles seem to complement one another nicely. I would expect both offenses to hold comfortably and exercise patience in waiting for the proper moments to take advantage of.

Balladega’s defense has the advantage in the traditional sense, but offensive comfort from the Thundercaps could split differences between the team. I think the defenses will work well enough to capitalize on any critical moments.

My personal hope regarding this matchup would be that Balladega loses, as I’d rather not spend my time next week thinking of random things to say about them for a future matchup.

Wormy is moreso a test of a team’s offense as opposed to defense. It’s natural for the flag to be out of base, and for flag carriers to rack up strings of longer hold time. Defenses will eventually get a return, and as such it's more important to see smart offensive play and the conversion of opportunities into caps

Despite any defensive advantage I might give to Balladega, I think a strong Thundercaps offense will be able to neutralize it, leaving the matchups fairly close. Balladega will ultimately find a victory, although TC will potentially eek a game and keep the others competitive