Welcome to the second annual pre-season AD Blood Bowl Power Rankings |
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| As always the power rankings try to represent the strength of a team, how will they will fare in the 2006 season, will they reach the post season, and most importantly will they be amongst the front runners for the 2006 title! |
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| This season the league has taken another big step forward, the number of franchises has increased by 50% and this has spawned a new divisional structure. The new teams can be found at the bottom of the rankings since I currently know too little about them to make a fair assessmen. What I do know is that the last two seasons have shown that new teams struggle. In 2005 only one of the four new teams appeared in the post season, where they did not win a match. Despite the efforts of the league offices to encourage the new stars entering the league to sign up with the new franchises, there is no substitute for experienced players. There is however an certain expectation around league headquarters that this season will be different, a number of the new franchises will be run by experienced coaches in fact the owner of the Delight franchise has somehow managed to tempt a former title winner and the Punchers have recruited a former quarter-finalist. Expect at least one (and maybe three or four) of these new teams to rank much higher in the mid season rankings. |
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This season Da Krush has seen some interesting additions, amongst other things I am looking forward to seeing the leagues first Giant Slayer in action and also how the numerous very strong teams towards the bottom of the rankings perform.
| As with the all my rankings I hope some of you agree. If you disagree please feel free to contract me on the AD Blood Bowl forum. I will try to explain my reasoning. |
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POWER RANKINGS |
Current ranking |
Team |
2005 Position |
| One of the most controversial placings in the 2005 rankings was the Tragedy in position 3. Some argued that despite the team's strong performance in the first year they did not have players of sufficient experience to push for the title. However, doubters were proved wrong by a series of strong performances that saw an unbeaten Tragedy top the regular season rankings and go on to beat title holders the Mutineers and former title holders the Mugaz in the post season to claim their first championship! The nature of the league is that they will find it more difficult to retain the title than they found winning it in first place - we will have to wait and see if the rumors of niggling injuries to key players have any substance, but what is certain is that Tragedy have managed to add yet another good all-round player to their roster who will help them keep the number of team errors down to a minimum, a key feature of last season's success. This season I expect Tragedy to win their conference and go on to become the first team to retain their title, however, any weaknesses which have developed during the close season may not show themselves until the tough cross conference games which title holders can expect or even the post season. |
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| The Mutineers started the 2005 season as favorites for the title and the number 1 team in the power rankings. It was therefore no surprise to find them in them in the playoff semi-finals following a decent season. But they were to go no further and since the semi final loss to the Tragedy it looks like the team is starting to fall apart as injuries and retirements during the close season will rob the Mutineers of some of their key players. The Krush selection of an Alien (who, as far as I know, has never player Blood Bowl before) means that the coach has missed a good opportunity to replace a player who has reached or is approaching the end of their career. However, we have seen this before from the Mutineers. Few would argue that the Mutineers team has been anywhere near the strongest in the league for a number of seasons but the coach just keeps churning out those victories. The coach's proven track record is the reason that they find themselves second in the rankings. Many teams look better on paper and many of those have recruited new coaches to try to get the best out of their underperforming squads, so who knows, maybe the Mutineers will find themselves in their lowest ever position in the next rankings. |
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| In the last two seasons the Mugaz have been beaten by the eventual winners, in 2005 that defeat look place in the final where the Mugaz produced a lackluster performance. It was maybe the nature of the defeat which lead to the franchise owners sacking their coach and recruiting “some guy” who turned up at their offices claiming to be a genius. Quite what the owners had been smoking at the time is unknown! The Mugaz still have a strong and experienced team which, thanks to the playing and management style of the out going coach, has not been ravaged by injuries in the same way as the Mutineers but the Mugaz can only claim third placing the power rankings as a result of the change in coaching staff. The new coach will be tested all the way through the season in the ADA West which remains the toughest conference in either cartel. If the Mugaz make it to the post season expect them to challenge for the title, but if a couple of ADA West teams get a march on them expect a much lower ranking at mid season and serious questions about the new coach's genius status. |
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| Much was expected at the start of the 2005 season. The All Stars had re-appointed their first ever coach, a man who had taken them to the 2004 semi-finals, and he had a very strong side at his disposal. However, the season did not go to plan and a couple of early losses saw the All-Stars with a tricky route to the playoffs. Following a string of impressive victories the All-Stars reached the post season where the apparent fatigue of the head coach proved too much and they were unceremoniously dumped out at the Wildcard round. The quality of the play shown by the All-Stars in their later group matches shows that they will be real title contenders this year. |
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| The fact the three of the four teams from the ADA West feature in the top five of the rankings (with the fourth not too far behind) shows what a difficult conference it will be. Like the Mugaz, the Wildmen have under gone a change in head coach which, coupled with their 2005 playoff quarter-final loss to the Mutineers sees them drop from top spot in the last set of power rankings. The Wildmen is still home to one of the best players the league has ever seen and the close-season may have seen the arrival of the missing piece of the jigsaw (in last seasons rankings I discussed the lack of a thrower in the Wildmen line-up) but the death of the team captain, Troll blocker Mr.Wildman, has robbed the team of some of the aura which previously surrounded them. The teams which make it out of the ADA West will all challenge for the title. The question is how quickly will the new coach settle into his new surroundings and will he be able to get the best out of Speedy McSpeedy. |
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| It is clear that this year's target for the Stealers is to continue to emulate the Tragedy. As a second year team with play-off experience the Tragedy went on to be crowned champions and this is obviously what the Stealers are trying to plan for. Unfortunately for the Stealers there is a difference, the Tragedy didn't have to beat the Tragedy which is what the Stealers will probably have to do to claim the title. The Stealers should dominate their conference again this year and should fare better in their cross conference matches, and following that in the post season given their elevation from rookie status However, it is still hard to imagine the Stealers out Tragedying the Tragedy and easier to imagine them being bashed off the pitch by one of the other teams above them in these rankings. |
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| Will this be the year? Every year the noise of out Savage Land is that this will be their year, their championship, but the downtrodden inhabitants are still waiting. Again the Savages have built upon their already impressive line-up and the death of their Skink catcher has been compensated by yet another powerful player. In my opinion the Savages represent the strongest team in the league; the question is whether the coach can transfer that strength into results. At the beginning of the 2005 season it looked like the coach had found the magic formula, but following an unlucky loss to the Mugaz the team's confidence was destroyed. If the Savages get on a roll they could batter their way into the post season and possibly all the way, but given strength of the Savages regular season opponents the momentum could be lost at any point. |
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| The Missiles came out of nowhere to claim a place in the post season where they recorded the one of the biggest ever post season wins against the All-Stars before eventually falling to the fancied Mugaz. Following such a strong performance from a previously unknown coach and a couple of clever close season additions, it is likely that the Missiles will be heading into the post season again. The matches against the Tragedy and a cross conference match against the Wildmen should prove to be good indications of whether the Missiles are ready to take the next step to become real challengers. |
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| The Dolts and the Dalkstalkers are very closely matched and are ranked here at 9=. 2006 for these sides will be very similar to 2005 in the sense that they will be fighting it out for second place in the ADA East, some distance behind the Mutineers, some distance ahead of the Fabienettes. The Darkstalkers just pipped the Dolts to the playoffs in 2005 on goal difference but the tougher cross conference matches which come as a result of finishing one spot higher could hand the 2006 advantage to the Dolts. However, both teams have strengthened in the off season and continue to pursue quite different line ups and strategies and therefore either one could find themselves on top. Whichever team makes it to the post season will have a tough task to make an impact, but maybe they can spur each other on. |
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| Follwing a great deal of posturing and some would say "big talk" the Corp's arrival on the scene proved to be less than impressive. It looked like the league was in for a treat when the Corp's first match saw two deaths. However, with one of those deaths coming on the side of the Corp and more specifically that death being inflicted on the Corp's only ball carrier with any skill, the Corp splutted through the rest of the season. The close season has seen the addition of a truely skilled ball carrier who may be able to transform the Corp's fortunes. Conferences usually claim two playoff places, a claim which was forsaken last year by the ADA North where the Corp have a good chance of coming in second agin this year. Everybody associated with the franchise will be hoping that if that is the case they will have collected enough points to make it into the post season. |
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| Like the Savages before them and a number of teams after them the Panzerbourne have amassed a squad with incredible talent. With that knowledge the owners have now been through a number of coaches looking for the right man to take them to victory. There are two key questions to be answered by this franchise, is the new coach the right man to take the Panzerbourne forward, and has the repeated changing of coach limited the progress of the team so that despite its obvious talent it will find it difficult to match the Missiles and the Tragedy. |
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| Like the Corp, the Bomb squad will be looking to progress and claim a spot in the post season. Like many of the teams in the bottom half of the rankings the Squad's team looks very strong and is also very well balanced for a young team. Overcoming the Corp and the Gadfathers would put the Squad in post season contention, but a good result against the Stealers could really mix up the rankings. |
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| The Principals are another strong team featuring towards the bottom of the rankings. In addition to a powerful blocking unit, talented thrower and talented receivers the Principals have two of the most dangerous and exciting players in the league. The Plague Monk and the Giant Slayer are unusual players who will cause one or two surprises this season. If the Principals manage to surprise the opposition then they could challenge the Panzerbourne and even the Missiles, however, failures could see them slip even further. |
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| It is still not clear who will be coaching the Gadfathers in 2006. What is clear however, it that the owners will be looking for a better return than last seasons winless effort. I am willing to stick my neck out and say that regardless of who the coach is the Gadfathers will record more than 1 point in 2006. A couple of good early results could see the team catapulted into post season contention since they didn't finish too far behind either the Bomb Squad or the PAIN Corp in 2005, but, I will wait to see if that happens before I move them too far up the rankings. |
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| Despite improvement to, what is now, a very strong team the Fabienettes modest goal should be an improvement to last seasons points tally of 4. The Fabienettes have slipped from 15 in the final standings to 16 in the rankings due to the inevitable strengthening of the Gadfathers, who were a rookie team in 2005. |
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