Season 4 (2023) Thread - Top-Heavy

[Magus978]

After a disheartening Sunday which saw the Saints lose in the LCS in 6 games, they've been put in whale hell, also known as G301. Known hard-hitters such as the Edmonton SnowPlows, Methuen Silver Sox, Long Beach-Compton Anarcho Syndicalists, Flagstaff 49ers, Las Vegas Gamblers, Cleveland Fossils, and Charlotte Knights lurk in this league and the Saints will do well to find a way to be promoted.

Guess I'm not checking in much this week. Surely the rest of you have easier leagues because you weren't an idiot like me who started on release.

[X3NEIZE]

Don't drag yourself down like that... the true challenge is getting to that first PL..... records don't matter at all like they did in OOTP20, here it's about grinding and surviving, all those who started later will hit a train in 2-3 weeks.

[Warhawk]

Find myself in G.304 AC, the central looks like murder with Asbury (or should I say ASSBURY lololol sorry never mind) and Pioneer Valley but fortunately I'm in the west which looks pretty competitive.

[moalkha]

Doha is in Gold.303 which, as expected, is very competitive. Xenecus' Bronx Bombers are here, among many other very good teams, and it will be a tough fight to be promoted, much less making the playoffs.

Great Lakes has an easy league in Iron.160 while Perugia will face stiff competition from Collingwood Magpies and the Bolingbrook Bat Flips in Iron.152

[macacks]

The San Angelo Warbirds have found a runway B203 and look to be among the favourites if not the favourite.
These teams tend to look much different at the end of the season compared to game 1...so we won't derive any projections from records and/or current rosters. The Warbirds front office have been busy selling valuable assets in order to upgrade for the impending wall they will hit in a couple of weeks as Perfect League starts.

Additions for 2023 so far:
Rob Dibble 100
Johnny Bench 100 PEAK

The Erie 'Live" Ghosts are also haunting a bronze league and continue to perform well despite the LIVE handicap.
We have had a couple of Cy Young a MVP and several Silver Sluggers/Gold gloves.
We look to be a lock for promotion and even a playoff team still.

The Rockport Rumblefish swim into the previously mentioned GOLD .303 which looks like the calm waters that WHALES go to feed and breed before the migration.
Promotion will be tough this year which is probably makes sense as the 'Fish aren't quite there yet.

[BigRed75]

The Secret Harbour Pirates were promoted to Bronze, their third successive promotion. The Pirates crashed out of the playoffs in the division series, but start this season with an improved pitching staff thanks to Randy Johnson. The acquisition of 91 OVR Dave Winfield moves Bryce Harper to the bench - I really regret not picking up a 27th Phillies card before redeeming that mission now.

Bronze 233 looks a bit of a challenge - going by winning percentage, there are two teams in our division with lifetime percentages well north of .600 who will probably be duking it out. That doesn't bode well for our chances of making the playoffs, even as the second wild card, and I worry that our tough schedule will make it hard to even be in the Top 16 for promotion. We are easily one of the best 16 teams in the league so it would be a bitter pill to swallow if other teams were promoted over us simply because of the luck of the draw but them's the breaks. Marleigh's Super 70s team is also in Bronze 233, but on the other side of the bracket.

The Arequipa Alpacas also got promoted to Bronze, despite not making the playoffs. They were in a promotion spot on the first of September last season, even though they had just a 1.1% chance of making the playoffs. They got hot, and still didn't make the playoffs, but at least they finished with a winning record which makes the promotion somewhat more reasonable. The big news with the Alpacas is that they are starting to enjoy some tournament success, winning a Bo3 Bronze and finishing second in a Bo5 and Bo3 in the last couple of days. Even better, the packs that were earned from those successes brought the Alpacas their first two diamonds, 97 Live Aroldis Chapman and 92 OVR Joe Cronin. They won't help us in the tournaments, but they will definitely help in the league.

The San Antonio Mission remain in Rookie. Missions themselves (outside of the Live missions) remain crazy bananas. The powder remains dry, and bargains are out there, so long as we happen to look at the right time. When we see one, though, we do pounce. Someday the market will break and then it will be off to the races for the Missions.

The Bibra Lake Quendas are finally starting to get some more Future Legends cards. Last time I mentioned that Ian Anderson had gone from staff ace to stink-a-roo. Well, he must have gotten the red ass or something after I wrote that because the next day he won Pitcher of the Month. That was the turnaround he needed - he finished the season with a winning record and a respectable 3.74 ERA.

You know who's done well for the Quendas? Jeter Downs. And yes, I'm still laughing about somebody named after Derek Jeter as a hot prospect...in the Red Sox organization!

I will update the Lynn Live Oaks thread soon, I promise. They have just been going to town snapping up BINs of Iron players with the occasional value play in Gold. The shift to a point generating strategy in order to get all these cards is working out, with Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano in particular raking in the PP.

[Morug]

I dont understand why my Expos still in rookie league after a .623 season...lost the wild card but its because of a strong division.

[sam10gle]

Silver 259 looks to be a blood bath. A bunch of teams with a .600 or better lifetime win%, including a couple teams over .700 (2 in my division). My Wyverns didn't get a ton of improvement since my upgrade at SS last week in Bronze. Gotta hope my high defense is enough to keep me in some games.

[halfbutt]

Originally Posted by sam10gle

Silver 259 looks to be a blood bath. A bunch of teams with a .600 or better lifetime win%, including a couple teams over .700 (2 in my division). My Wyverns didn't get a ton of improvement since my upgrade at SS last week in Bronze. Gotta hope my high defense is enough to keep me in some games.

Don't feel bad. Silver 261 will be equally ugly for me. 1-5 to start the year, at this rate, we'll be lucky to win 60 games!

[sam10gle]

Originally Posted by halfbutt

Don't feel bad. Silver 261 will be equally ugly for me. 1-5 to start the year, at this rate, we'll be lucky to win 60 games!

Yep, it's getting time where all the good teams are going to start converging to the same leagues. Somehow, I'm 4-1 to start (with a series against one of those .700 teams).

[bailey]

Reading the above posts suggests waiting until Monday after release was a good move. My week in iron looks pleasant enough, although a couple of storm clouds reside in my conference's West Division: Perugia Warriors and Bolingbrook Bat Flips. Both teams have completed the live missions as well as added other, better cards. I won't get caught up in an arms race in iron--I'm saving all my points until the game is further along. After completing the live missions, I really don't have a good plan.

[X3NEIZE]

Originally Posted by bailey

Reading the above posts suggests waiting until Monday after release was a good move. My week in iron looks pleasant enough, although a couple of storm clouds reside in my conference's West Division: Perugia Warriors and Bolingbrook Bat Flips. Both teams have completed the live missions as well as added other, better cards. I won't get caught up in an arms race in iron--I'm saving all my points until the game is further along. After completing the live missions, I really don't have a good plan.

Are you f2p this year?

[skep]

Names are subject to change :

Red Bandits Br212
Johnny And The Dickshots Si257
Eddie Bravo's Think Tank Br236
The Default Logos St166
Grape Bandits St134
The Mariners Except They Win Ro147
Tony Ferguson's Ninja Spirit Ro176
Confused Cricketeers Ro117
The Roe Jogans Ro164

Grape Bandits will become Don Aase And The Twerkers I think.

[bailey]

Originally Posted by X3NEIZE

Are you f2p this year?

Not planning to spend on points until November
And, then only if I think it can make a difference in winning PT or not.

EDIT: Also, no spending if they expand perfect league to 3 leagues.

[Orion]

I'm in the same league as Snaggle..his team is pretty good too. He has Peak Jerry Reuss! I sure love me some 80's Dodgers. Too bad he's in the other conference, but who knows, maybe we will meet in the series.

[Orion]

Originally Posted by Orion

I'm in the same league as Snaggle..his team is pretty good too. He has Peak Jerry Reuss! I sure love me some 80's Dodgers. Too bad he's in the other conference, but who knows, maybe we will meet in the series.

Early standings

[X3NEIZE]

Originally Posted by bailey

Not planning to spend on points until November
And, then only if I think it can make a difference in winning PT or not.

EDIT: Also, no spending if they expand perfect league to 3 leagues.

Good for you man! more power to your team.

[Orion]

Originally Posted by X3NEIZE

Good for you man! more power to your team.

He ain't beating you without spending Your team is hella stacked. The fact of the matter is, FTP players are not going to be winning any PL titles this year. Book it.

[Perceptor]

Really excited for Gold and nervous too as there's plenty of awesome teams! Best of luck to everyone!

[bailey]

Originally Posted by Orion

He ain't beating you without spending Your team is hella stacked. The fact of the matter is, FTP players are not going to be winning any PL titles this year. Book it.

Challenge accepted. You're probably right, but I'm not entirely convinced. One perfect league means 20+ very strong teams get bounced every week and if you can win a weak diamond league, you get your shot. There's going to be a lot of turnover at the top.