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| Amateur League round one squad report - season XIV (25.1.2006) |
Chokage
Last season: Didn't play AML
Comments: Chokage is a squad compiled mostly of Finnish SubSpace pilots. Some of them have a vast amount of 4v4 league experience and some are rather new even to SVS in general. Self is a clear standout in the squad - me and him were squadmates back in DragonWings for quite a while and he was an excellent shark pilot back then. I've been on the same squads with Deathonline, x-sub and pipe in the past and they are all decent, much like the squad's captain, Final. I'd expect Mizerie to decide on four or six squads reaching the playoffs in the end of regular season and with some luck Chokage might very well be a playoff squad on their first season. Their talent lineup is rather thin, however, so the activity of key players will play a big factor.
Ideal starting lineup: Final, Self, pipe, Deathonline
Prediction for the season: Close to the playoff line.
Fly-NDeath
Last season: Had a tough season and lacked activity. Finished 2-7 with two noshow wins.
Comments: Boy, it's been a while since Fly-NDeath entered league and DBeckham was the squad's top pilot. The squad had a very hard last season, but now things look a little better. USS Enterprise has done some recruiting and the squad looks a lot healthier than they did a season back. I see that they still have THE BEST DEFENDER IN SUBSPACE HISTORY - HOLLY MOLLY~!, not to mention recruiting Speed from StarFire Academy. Missing also seems pretty decent and Gunstar was superb at times back when we were on DragonWings. Crayzee's also pretty good. As long as the squad can keep their top pilots active and can rely on adequate substituting, they could very well challenge for the last playoff spot(s) if they can win the close matches against other middle-tier squads.
Ideal starting lineup: Missing, Holly Molly, Gunstar, Crayzee
Prediction for the season: Close to the playoff line.
Fly-NDie
Last season: Not in AML.
Comments: Fly-NDeath's second squad Fly-NDie is entering league for this season. They don't look too strong on paper despite adding Medicus and Sagum, two veteran pilots to their roster as, especially Sagum's, activity hasn't been the greatest in the past. If these two guys are active throughout the season, it'd be a big help for a squad that lacks experience. I expect Fly-NDie to rack a couple of victories during this season, but a playoff spot would be a suprise if only four squads make the playoffs.
Ideal starting lineup: Medicus, Sagum, no-Name, Deuce Deuce
Prediction for the season: A couple of victories.
Harmony
Last season: Not in AML.
Comments: Harmony, better known as a Chaos squad, enters Premier league with a roster of 15 players. However, they struggled showing pilots for preseason and hopefully they can improve on that during the season. I fear that they might noshow out early on, but hopefully that won't be case. I have to admit that not many names on their roster ring any bells, so I suppose not many of them have very much 4v4 experience. I've seen Death Virus and Partsi play, so I guess they're worth something. Hopefully Harmony can stick around throughout the season.
Ideal starting lineup: Death Virus, Partsi, Marvin The Martian, SneakAttack
Prediction for the season: Lots of losses and hopefully no noshow out.
Liquid Inc.
Last season: Decent season. Eliminated by Secret in postseason.
Comments: Another season begins for AML veterans, Liquid Inc. Last season they came really close to going deep in the playoffs, but ended up losing 5-7 to Secret. With AML clearly weaker this season, Liquid Inc. has a chance of even challenging for the season's AML championship. I still consider the squad being kind of the offspring of RAF, a squad that came very close to winning AML, but lost in the finals to WTF? on season two, moved to Pro and some time later disbanded. Ok, back to present day. If Liquid Inc would have their top players in prime condition, they'd be a clear favourite to win AML. If Faid and Black Psycho were still as active and good as they used to be, they could powerhouse through the AML ranks with ease. However, as things stand, the squad counts a lot on fresher talent helped by such veterans like Pension and Proxy. Liquid Inc. has a good bunch of pilots and I'd rank them as the third best squad in the league after only seeing the rosters. A playoff spot should be well within reach as long as they don't end up messing up badly.
Ideal starting lineup: Pension, Craola, Proxy, Smooth
Prediction for the season: I expect them to reach the playoffs.
ReDS-AML
Last season: Second round in the playoffs. Lost to the champions, AMLlamasery.
Comments: ReDS-AML were quite close to reaching the AML finals last season and they're now back for another season. The league's now quite a bit weaker than last season, so ReDS can now be considered one of the biggest favourites for this season's AML championship. The squad lost their top player, 5ass, to the rankings panel, but they still field a very strong roster. BloodClot has a very wide array of talent from which to pick from and I'd say only StarFire Academy can challenge them in a match involving lots of substituting. Most of their players have already gathered some 4v4 experience and beating ReDS will be the first thing to do for any squad planning on contending for the title. It's a long season and anything can happen. Right now, however, I'd call ReDS the number one contender for the championship.
Ideal starting lineup: vik, Hendrix, Blasteroids, MC Simon
Prediction for the season: A very strong run for the title.
SkyRakers
Last season: Were looking pretty good heading in to seeding rounds. Eliminated by Liquid Inc.
Comments: SkyRakers have split in to two squads for this season. One playing IML and one playing AML. Yoki and Static Burn were very important for the squad last season and now they're gone, so they'll have to work hard to close the gaps. Fortunately for SkyRakers, AML's not quite as strong this season, so I think they might even have a legit shot at a playoff spot with a lot of luck. Don't get me wrong, the squad does have some talented pilots like RazB and kawika who they can count on. I don't see them challenging for the championship, but they should do pretty well against other middle-tier squads in the league.
Ideal starting lineup: RazB, kawika, Crudgiver, valky
Prediction for the season: A playoff spot if they get extremely lucky.
StarFire Academy
Last season: Eliminated from the playoffs by ReDS-AML
Comments: StarFire Academy has slightly weakened for this season with losses of vt, Speed, FoxTrot and kev. Bloody Jesus is probably the most noteworthy pickup, as he has a very long 4v4 league history ranging from Euro league to Pro. He even captained a relatively succesful squad =UniteD= somewhere along the way. After losing pretty much their whole starting lineup, StarFire Academy will have to rely on a whole lot on pilots like H.A.M and Divide. The activity level and daily form of their top pilots will play a huge role in the season's success. Most of the pilots are either relatively new or very new to league and will need some time to get used to leagueplay. I, personally, would love to see them comfortably in the playoffs, but there's a problem brewing in the 18 pilot roster - playing time will probably be spread around quite a bit given the squad's profile, so you should prepare yourself for some unexpected losses.
Ideal starting lineup: H.A.M, Divide, D.D., Bloody Jesus
Prediction for the season: Hopefully a playoff spot.
Warlords AML
Last season: A 2-3 loss to Alcoholism in the semi finals.
Comments: Warlords have broken to two squads for this season with the top pilots heading to IML. Their AML squad is of mostly players who didn't play very much last season. They only played a single preseason match against the top contenders, ReDS-AML, and took a 4-12 loss in slightly under 37 minutes. Maybe not the best of starts for a season, but they should improve as their pilots gain some more playing time compared to last season. Warlords have been a part of AML for the last ~10 seasons and have been a playoff squad in the past. This season they'll need top quality performances from all their pilots against other middle-tier squads to maybe challenge for a playoff spot. I, however, expect them to be on the 8025 frequency when semi-finals are being played.
Ideal starting lineup: Sacred Remedy, Fuzzy, North Star, freakmonger
Prediction for the season: Somewhat under the playoff line.
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