Who will take the crown in 2.2?

We are now 2/3 of the way through the season and have just finished the last of the KOF matches. While some teams have struggled, the 2.2 league by and large remains a fairly tight race to see who will get the coveted promotion slots. This is a quick rundown of the teams in the league and how strong they look as the last leg of the season opens up. Sons of Xel'Naga (17-5) (+32) --- PL record: (9-2) (+15) KOF record: (8-3) (+17) Power: 312 --- A fantastic run in the proleague format was followed up by an almost as impressive run in KOF, despite a pair of surprising upsets. Make no mistake - the sons of Xel'Naga are the deepest team in the league. Three players already have 2xp, another two already have 1xp, and every member of the team has an OVR of 46+. A return to the proleague format is sure to allow Vonarrh to really flex that depth and to rebuild the commanding lead they had over the rest of the league. Keep in mind that the +15 mark the Sons achieved in proleague format was done in best-of-five (bo5) format where less games were played - they are the odds on favorite to close out this league in the second round of proleague. The scariest part about this team might be how young they are - the average age of the three heaviest bruisers is only 17. This squad will be a force to be reckoned with for some time. Zulu (16-6) (+26) --- PL record: (6-5) (+2) KOF record: (10-1) (+24) Power: 302 --- It's been a tale of two formats for Zulu - a rather unimpressive run in proleague was followed up by a blistering run in KOF, including a 10-match winning streak. --> Watchfully jumped to the top of the MVP race with three all-kills, helping to lead Zulu on this wild run. The big question now is - can the team keep up this pace? Zulu has one of the shallower rosters in the league and has relied on that top-heavy construction to roll through KOF. It's going to be hard to avoid playing the weaker parts of the roster in proleague, especially if Shaka's team wants to make a run in the playoffs where matches are Bo7. Zulu is gambling that a lack of depth won't come back to haunt them in the second iteration of proleague. If their luck holds they may just dethrone the Sons of Xel'Naga for the first time since the second week; if not, it may be a struggle to stay in the hunt for promotion. Tectonic (14-8) (+9) --- PL: (6-5) (+3) KOF: (8-3) (+6) Power: 282 --- The KOF format has had its peaks and valleys for all teams, but perhaps none more so than the rockbois. Six (!) of their 11 matches in KOF were ended by allkills, including a magnificent reverse sweep from [TEC] Paean against Princess Parade (as a further aside, three of their last four proleague matches were sweeps as well). If only those allkills had all been in Tectonic's favor, they would have left KOF in contention for first place. As is, SageBow's team finds themself stuck in a bit of a crevasse - they have a clear lead on the rest of the pack, but there is a lot of work needed to claim the trophy. They've certainly found the attention of the Lady Luck, but they might need to gain her favor to make a run happen. Depth is not an issue for tectonic, but the lack of a true ace may pose an issue for the rockbois in the last leg of proleague. If they can dodge or mitigate the bruisers from the other teams, then there may just be a bit of an earthquake coming for the rankings. Strange War City (12-10) (+5) --- PL: (5-6) (-3) KOF: (7-4) (+8) Power: 320 --- Strange War City leads up a congested list of teams fighting to get the last couple of spots for promotion. They also stand as the highest ranking team currently managed by a caretaker. That has led to some curious managerial decisions - Sparkler has only seen six games this season, despite being their strongest player at 52 OVR; meanwhile, Finical has been played in 12 games, despite a somewhat meager 41 OVR. While the team has had a strong showing in KOF and is currently just above the line for promotion, those decisions and the general lack of XP among the strong members of the team may be an anchor that weighs them down towards the end of the season. KOF formats likely work better for bots since their simple logic for sending out players is harder to punish than in the proleague format. Look to see how lucky flflflflfl's caretaker gets when sending out players for proleague - their narrow lead on the rest of field could vanish overnight. The Great Lakes (11-11) (+4) --- PL: (6-5) (+3) KOF: (5-6) (+1) Power: 285 --- The KOF format has been rough for The Great Lakes and the main issue has been the 0-4 record in ace matches. Flip those four games the other way and suddenly they're sitting comfortable in second instead of scrapping desperately to get above the line for promotion. Cloudvoid has gathered together a strong team, but they're going to need to outperform themselves from either of their past two legs of this league. It's hard to see a path to promotion that doesn't involve at least seven wins, one more than their previous best. The players and the experience are there - The Great Lakes just need to avoid having another bad run of ace matches. Terran may be a weakpoint here - Palatial TGL has seen the most action as a terran, but is only at 42 OVR. Lipsynch TGL is at 49 OVR, but at only seven games played, it will be hard to get much experience the rest of the way, not to mention questions about their age. Jjig's Guys (11-11) (+2) --- PL: (6-5) (+5) KOF: (5-6) (-3) Power: 324 --- On paper, this is one of the strongest teams in the league. They have the depth, they have the skills, and they have the XP to take the league by storm. The only thing that Jjig's Guys are missing is the wins. It's hard to look at their performance in KOF and not feel slightly disappointed, especially after how strong of a finish they put up for the end of the previous proleague format. The upcoming return to proleague may be just the medicine that Jjig needs to get their team into high gear. It's going to be hard for anyone else to match the depth of their roster, especially when there's no chance of an ace catching fire and getting an allkill. This season may be looking slightly grim, but the future of Jjig's Guys is looking bright based on rumors from their academy. With some fresh protoss bonjwa blood coming in, expect to see great things from this team even as some of the aces start aging out. Pizza Planet (11-11) (-4) --- PL: (6-5) (+1) KOF: (5-6) (-5) Power: 288 --- Despite a delayed entry into the league in week 3, PizzaGuy has shown that their team can handle the best of what 2.2 can throw their way. However, following a truly shocking upset by Piz - SideDish over [JG] Revocable to seal the deal against Jjig's Guys in KOF, the team has entered a slide, going 3-6 over the next matches. That has contributed to an unfortunate game differential, as Pizza Planet finds itself at -4 and six games behind the next team. As with many teams, the return of proleague may herald good things for them, but they will need to crush this format. A solid 8 wins for Pizza Planet may be required to overcome the hole for the game differential they've found themselves in. PizzaGuy is fielding one of the younger teams in the league - five players are 17 or younger and no one is older than 18. This season may just be a warmup for their young guns before they really take flight. Diplodocs (10-12) (-10) --- PL: (4-7) (-9) KOF: (6-5) (-1) Power: 280 --- The bot caretaker of Crimson Reavers did no favors to Werutek prior to their takeover. They sat at 4-6 with a -7 game differential, including a four game skid immediately prior to the takeover. While it might be a stretch to say the Diplodocs have been tearing up the league, they've certainly managed to level out the plane from the nosedive the bot had it in. However, it may be hard to move the needle much farther forward this year - all of the players on the Diplodocs have missed out on a third of a season of training and experience, which is going to be brutal down the road. Add in the age of many of the players, and it looks like Werutek will have some serious questions to consider about their team and how to approach retooling for next season. Standing at 10 players, the Diplodocs are fielding the largest roster in the league. It may be difficult for opponents to gameplan against them in proleague, since they can always field the right race for the right map. Princess Parade (9-13) (-2) --- PL: (6-5) (+2) KOF: (3-8) (-4) Power: 281 --- Remember that assertion about bot managers doing better in KOF? Princess Parade exists as the counterexample for that, suffering a pretty rough run through KOF. A few sweeps and a near-sweep kept the game differential from getting too bad, but it's still left them very nearly out of the promotion picture. The state of the team looks better than what the record indicates, but this is a team desperately lacking a good ace. Additionally, the strongest terran in the parade is only at 42 OVR, leaving them a bit susceptible to matches on La Mancha or some of the other maps where terran has a clear edge. There is still a path to promotion here, but there will be no victory parade to it - they will need to claw and scratch their way back into contention. Perhaps it is somewhat morbid to speculate, but if Silences does not return, keep an eye out for Hotspot to hit the market - a 16 year old, 48 OVR zerg with clear room to grow micro and macro could be a good buy. The rest of the league is all caretakers and largely out of contention, so I'll just mention them briefly: - GxAnok Fmc - This is a pretty weak team, but they have 8 wins; expect an easy match, but not a free win. - PraetorianS - Same as above, but with a lot more protoss. - California - Watch for Magnesium - 17 year old, 51 OVR terran