TWLB - LEGO

[mtine]

Lego would like to congratulate Royal on making TWLB Playoffs. It was a very nice season for us and we feel more than happy with what we've achieved. GG

PS. Shoutout to all muh bois on Lego! Grats guys, you rock!

[Pressure]

LEGO prob my favorite squad this season

Sad to see you not in playoffs after that hard work, you guys got my respect, hope you stick around for next season

hazuki for MVP

[Turban]

was a good run, sweet did fairly well too but was not showing their top lineups to like.. most games. rip.

[ogron]

Was rooting for LEGO all season. Under normal rules, they would have easily qualified for playoffs -- unfortunate they missed it by several minutes.

Saw them working hard, practicing a lot in go base, and some of my fav people (NL>Trigger, Hazuki, Producer) are on it, and they def deserved to make it. Jammu rookie of the year for sure!

[Dreamwin]

LEGO definitely gets the "most improved squad" title this year. I always feel for you guys since i've been there myself for one season and you guys are symphatetic. Too bad you didn't make the cut but there's always next season.

[ogron]

LEGO definitely gets the "most improved squad" title this year. I always feel for you guys since i've been there myself for one season and you guys are symphatetic. Too bad you didn't make the cut but there's always next season.

That legendary TWLB 16 where LEGO beat Penetrate in the regular season and made it to the Quarter-Finals : )

We had Mikkiz, Spezza, TJ Hazuki, Dreamwin, Murder, Pardon, Zizzo, Dreamwin, nokkonen, Frank the Tank! -- those were good times!

[Dreamwin]

We had Mikkiz, Spezza, TJ Hazuki, Dreamwin, Murder, Pardon, Zizzo, Dreamwin, nokkonen, Frank the Tank! -- those were good times!

Two dreamwins :O I'm suprised we didn't win it all with that amount of talent.

[Ephemeral]

It speaks to the squad stacking issue and deceasing population that a squad with a losing record (3-4) even makes it in the playoffs in a ‘premier’ league. There were three winning squads this season with the same players who are in playoffs every year. Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Yes, it warms the cockles of our hearts to see an underdog like Lego win a few games (even if the wins were against lame squads like Pal and Cobra who shouldn’t even have been in a ‘premier’ league) but it is not like they would ever truly be competitive against the ‘big three’. No slam against Lego, they are a good bunch of guys. And yes, they did indeed improve over the season even if they ended up with a losing season. But the point is that TWL is hardly the premier league it once was; it supports 2-3 great squads and the rest are far behind.

I cannot recall a true underdog squad ever winning TWL. And it’s been years since we have seen more than 2-3 competitive squads in TWLB. The whole thing has become fairly boring and predictable each season. Is there anything that can be done to change this or is this just the way it has to be when population is so low? The same 2-3 powerhouse squads with the rest of the squads lagging far behind; is this the TWL legacy?
Eph

[Turban]

one could argue that sweet winning TWLD in season 15 was a case of an underdog team performing well above their expectations, and several teams have gotten close (such as Boss and Sweet making it to TWLJ finals, and some teams barely losing in the semi-finals against a heavy favorite) in the recent years.

however, this has been the case ever since TWL became competitive. we have always had a select few squads that have been heavy favorites, and if anyone but them would have won the title it would have been called a small miracle by the players. we still have several new players breaking to the top-tier levels, on a yearly basis, and they often times end up carrying their not-so-prestigious squads. some of them are tempted to join a more stacked squad to have a higher chance of winning something, but not all of them.

you are trying to make a molehill out of a mountain. truth of the matter is that we had six competitive squads this year in TWLB, with Cobra and Paladen lagging behind but gaining some experience. they did not really belong to the competition, and i would like to make TWL far more exclusive in the future. however, that will also lead to stacking of squads at least for a short period of time, thus there is no real answer to this problem.

we can't force squads to split. it is up to them, even if it is not healthy. several players do this every single year, and if more participated in this act of good will, we would be in even better shape.

[Turban]

but perhaps i am talking out of my ass, quite tired after all. enemy lineup can't really be considered a "heavy favorite" when the season started and now they have proven themselves through activity. they have basically no members from the Dice / Pandora era, and are all self-established players. we have enough talent to support a healthy league with several good squads, but it still would require some teams to split one more time (Thunder has enough players to make two TWLB level lineups, for instance) for it to happen.

[Turban]

of course new talent also needs to be nourished, and for that we need a new TWD structure and squad system, tailored to actually bring new players to the game and teach them how to play at a competitive level.

LEGO is an example of this. several players that weren't "globally recognized" by the top players are on that squad, and their performance got better and better as the season progressed. who knows how far they could have gotten if this season had a couple of more weeks? probably not far enough to beat the current top three/four, but it would've been interesting nonetheless.

[Turban]

there was three squads with a "losing record" (3-4) in a close league, but if we had doubled the games in TWLB there would have been likely none in the contention for playoff position. it all comes down to the amount of squads playing in the league, and the amount of games in the regular season when looking at the top 4 seeds. it's actually a sign of an even league when you have three teams with an identical score and drawing in head-to-head matches, and at least two of these squads could have, on a good day, challenged or even won against a heavy favorite.

fuck. i need to sleep once i get home.

[Ephemeral]

Turb,
Huh? I’m not sure I follow your thinking at all (other than you being a bit defensive). This was not a criticism of how you ran TWL, you did a fine job with what you had. I think you came back around to the same conclusion that I started with; the population is too small to support a large group of squads.

On a theoretical level…If we simply took the entire list of TWL players, we could divide them up into far more ‘even’ teams. One that ended up with more than just 2-3 competitive teams. Obviously human nature is that players want to play with their friends if possible. But just as obviously some squads are stacked not for ‘friends’ but because they want the greatest chance to win. Again, pretty much just the way things work.

Of course no one is saying that TWL should somehow ‘force’ people to play in certain squads. But is there anything that can be done to encourage or reward the more even distribution of the most skilled players across all teams?
Eph

[Turban]

the point of medal points was to accomplish that, and the idea itself could be further improved and thought of.

i did not take you comments as criticism for this season, or as an attack.

i simply feel that the competition has always been close to the same, regardless of the year and season, and this season was not all that different from any other. that is my stance, and its a bit different from yours.

there are some bright spots; new players improving and stepping up their game. this happens every year. however, most of the time they are only replacing people who are retirinh or have a bad season. it would be very important to somehow get the number of talent up, as it has remained on close to the same level for years, but now it simply evens out with perhaps slight, barely noticeable decline.

anyway, don't mind me and my posts today. i could not sleep at all last night which is the cause of these ramblings. happens every now and then, and it makes me get my point across poorly.

*shrug*

[Hulk]

Well tbh, I don't really think any squads are that stacked this season in LB. If anything enemy/dudgeon have a little more talent than the rest but they are filled with vets that hardly play anymore. Dunno why people are crying when LB has been the most competitive league for the past 3-4 seasons.