Breaking It Down: Week Five
by Garren the Barbarian
December 5, 2013
With a prolonged Week Five over, and Week Six well on its way, let's waste no time. The top teams are beating one another down, and there even seems to be some forward momentum with two of our worst teams in the league, as they struggle to earn themselves the sixth playoff spot.
So let's go ahead and just break it down.
Power Rankings
#1 Badside Brawlers [last week, ranked #4] (4-1 in matches) (14-6 in duels)
This is where many of us assumed BAD would begin their season. Instead, they lost their first match to Team Fist, and looked vulnerable in Week Two despite their win over Mercenarii. But they've been getting stronger every week, and with three undefeated fighters and a huge win over the best team of the first half of the season, Champions of Mythos, BAD has once again made themselves the team to beat in the league.
While there were several great duels, from Lilly Hyde's surprising over-time win against Rakeesh Sah Tarna, who'd only given up five points all season, to Candy Hart's drumming of COM veteran Joku Shoyia. However, it was Jake Thrash's 5-1 pummeling of IFL Season Two's Kiowa Belt Holder, Kelten Tarkenstone, that makes him my choice for Team MVP of the Week!
The Brawlers find themselves in a good position as they move into the final two weeks of the regular season. They still have to go up against a very tough Team Asian, and a somewhat struggling Top Flight. If BAD wins at least one of these matches, they are very likely to enter the post-season with a bye in the first round.
#2 Asian Invasion [last week, ranked #2] (4-1 in matches) (14-6 in duels)
Despite a strong win over Top Flight, I've held AZN in the number two spot this week. However, with them going up against BAD this week, they have a chance to win and prove themselves the best team of the regular season. This is going to be the match to watch this week, so keep your eyes open for some exciting fights between these two very dangerous teams.
While TOP fielded two fighters in their undercards that have been struggling lately, Dean Reighland and Huma EvilBane in their overcards were both undefeated going into this week. In the Main Event, Clarice Queen took the lead over Huma in round two and never looked back. Her 5-3 win in the Iron Fist bout makes her the Team MVP of the Week!
Asian Invasion is in one of the best positions of any remaining top teams. They end their season against the win-less Rock Hards after they go up against the Brawlers in Week Six. Even if they lose to BAD this week, a strong win next week might still be enough to earn them one of the two byes going into the first round of the play-offs. If they win this week, they can pretty much guarantee it!
#3 Team Fist [last week, ranked #5] (4-1 in matches) (11-9 in duels)
Could this be the season where Team Fist Nation finally gets vindication for its years of loyalty to a team that's been a perennial let-down? It's possible, if unlikely. Team Fist joined the club of teams that have swept Team Dirty this season, alongside the Badside Brawlers and Champions of Mythos. With only one loss on the season, and finally a positive win-over-loss record in single bouts, TMF moves into what could prove to be its most challenging two weeks of the season.
While all four of Team Fist's fighters won this week, it was Outback Queen Koyliak VanDuran-Simon's impressive 5-1 win over DRT's captain, Claire Farron, that makes her the Team MVP of the Week for me. This fight looked almost effortless for Koy, and she looked like a knock-out the entire time. Claire's no push-over in the categories of fisticuffs or fashion, so I'm not ashamed to admit that I watched the video of this fight four times in a row. Hubba!
Team Fist has a chance to enter the play-offs with a bye in the first week. But first, they have to get through Top Flight and Champions of Mythos. Both of these teams have looked vulnerable in the past few weeks, but Team Fist has looked vulnerable for most of the season. I don't see TMF coming through the final two weeks unscathed, but as of right now, they have a leg up on the two-loss teams.
#4 Champions of Mythos [last week, ranked #1] (3-2 in matches) (12-8 in duels)
What a difference two weeks can make. COM was the most dominating team of the first half of the season. And then what happened? They lost their Main Event match to Top Flight, letting TOP win over them in a 21-21 tie-breaker. And then they were steam-rolled by rivals, the Badside Brawlers, in a match that looked eerily reminiscent of the IFL Season Two Championships.
While BAD almost swept COM this week, it was Elaine Aqua's ability to find a way to come back from a 2-4 deficit, to beat Kalamere by a score of 5-4 that saved the Champs against a sweep and earn Elaine the Team MVP of the Week!
It seems very unlikely that COM will miss out on the play-offs, but as with TOP, it's still possible. If COM wants to be a threat again in the league, though, they need to start winning their Iron Fist bouts. They are 2-4 in the Main Event matches so far this season (29 points for, 44 points against), and that just won't cut it in the play-offs. If COM can find their early season magic going into their final two weeks against Mercenarii and Team Fist, they do still have a chance to land one of the play-off byes. But after two losses in a row, it's a small chance, indeed.
#5 Top Flight [last week, ranked #3] (3-2 in matches) (11-9 in duels)
Coming off of the most narrow win of the season, a 21-21 tie-breaker against Champions of Mythos, Top Flight needed to solidify its place amongst the best teams of the league by being the second team to take down Asian Invasion. Instead, TOP suffered its first big loss of the season, and was nearly swept by the team of exotic beauties.
Dean Reighland continued to be undefeated on the season. The week after he anchor'd the narrow win over COM's Aenlyn Hollow, he had to dig deep to beat another dangerous rookie, Hoi Mei, in over-time. If the match had gone the other way, TOP would have been swept. Dean's your Team MVP of the Week!
Top Flight's in a dangerous position. While it seems unlikely that they will miss the play-offs, despite a possible resurgence from Team Dirty and Team Mercenarii, it will now be very difficult for them to snag one of those week one byes for the play-offs. This week, they square off against Team Fist, in a must-win bout. Next week, however, they must go up against the Badside Brawlers, who have been on a rampage. I just can't see them getting past both of these one-loss teams with how inconsistent Harris' crew has been over the past three weeks.
#6 Mercenarii [last week, ranked #7] (1-4 in matches) (9-11 in duels)
Right now, this is IFL's dark-horse team. Will they still be next week? It's hard to say. MRC won its first match of the season, handily, over the win-less Rock Hards. With Cassius having won his second duel in a row, perhaps signaling the end of his epic'ly bad season start, MRC's top four line-up could actually pose a threat in the play-offs. If they can make it there.
While Cassius scored a dominant 5-2 victory in the Crutch bout, it was Vanion Shadowcast who found himself paired up against ROC's only star fighter in the Push match. Rachael Douglas had won her last two matches by a score of 5-1 over good opponents. Here, though, Vanion took the lead over Rachael and never relinquished it, making him MRC's Team MVP of the Week!
Mercenarii is in control of its own destiny right now. If they can upset a vulnerable Champions of Mythos, the fifth or sixth spot in the play-offs could be theirs. The other contender for that last play-off slot is Team Dirty, and these two teams will go head-to-head in Week Seven. If Cassius, Vanion and Jin can continue to string wins together, MRC might finally become a team to reckon with this season.
#7 Team Dirty [last week, ranked #6] (1-4 in matches) (3-17 in duels)
How can I possibly justify not ranking a team that has been swept three times, and has only won three duels all season, in dead last? Well, because Team Dirty won a match against Top Flight. Their bottom rivals, the Rock Hards, are the only team in IFL yet to win a match, and it looks as though they might not win one all season. That's not to say that DRT has been impressive, at all.
As I've stated with DRT's other sweep-losses, it can be tough to choose a Team MVP when none of them win. However, this week, Zack Alcar went up against Kheldar Drasinia in what looked like the most lopsided bout in the line-up. Zack lost 4-5, which is significantly better than many might have thought him to do against the undefeated pugilist. For what it's worth, Zack is DRT's Team MVP of the Week!
Team Dirty has a very good chance of making the play-offs right now. A match against the win-less Rock Hards this week could present them with their second win of the season. Then, they will face off against MRC in Week Seven for what will, no doubt, be a must-win match for either of those two play-off hopeful teams. Getting the right matchups in these final two weeks is now Captain Claire's most important responsibility.
#8 The Rock Hards [last week, ranked #8] (0-5 in matches) (6-14 in duels)
After ROC almost upset Team Fist in Week Four, they ran into a wall in Week Five against Mercenarii. Despite winning the Main Event, this team of young fighters failed to earn a second win, and lost to previously win-less MRC by a large margin. At this point, it seems impossible for the Rock Hards to make the play-offs.
Dust Cameron, who had previously lost bouts to Koyliak and Melanie Rostol, won his first duel of the season in a 5-2 shocker over previously undefeated Jin Sin in the Iron Fist match. The strength of the win, and it being ROC's only win on the week, makes Dust the obvious Team MVP of the Week!
There isn't much good news for the Rock Hards at this point in the season. They can potentially play spoiler to Team Dirty's play-off hopes, or Asian Invasion's hopes to earn a first-round play-off bye. However, at 0-5 on the season, both possibilities seem unlikely. We may see Captain Kruger try to help some of its better fighters earn some decent rank for next season, and look for them to train hard in the off-season.
Power Fighters of the Week
#1 Jake Thrash
He's big, he's mean, he's a half-orc. And he delivered Powerhouse fighter, Kelten Tarkenstone, his second 5-1 loss of the season in the Main Event match against the Champions of Mythos. Once again, Jake made domination look easy, and once again, he's your Power Fighter of the Week!
#2 Koyliak VanDuran-Simon
Koyliak's 5-1 win over DRT's Captain Claire Farron was a punctuation mark for Team Fist's sweep this week. The sweep puts Team Fist on the map as a top team this season, and marks a big turn-around for Koyliak's personal season. The importance of this fighter, and this week's sweep, cannot be underestimated. Team Fist nation has legitimate hope.
#3 Lilly Hyde
Sometimes, the most impressive victories spring from adversity, and not domination. Lilly Hyde was down 4-2 against Rakeesh Sah Tarna, who'd not given up more than two points yet in any fight this season. After several close calls, Lilly dug down deep, kept the liontaur at bay, and managed an exhausting 6-5 comeback victory to remain undefeated on the season.
MVP Watch (sponsored by the Jade Dragon Chinese Buffet)
After five weeks, we still have an unprecedented number of undefeated fighters in the league. Some of this may be due to disparity in performances between the top fighters and the worst fighters, but it's also a shorter season than IFL Season Two and fighters for teams with a lot of depth don't have to duel as often. We may very well finish this season with four or five undefeated duelists. So who stands out?
Jake Thrash (3-0, 9.33 PDPB, 1 Iron Fist win, 1 Push win, 1 Crutch win)
Jake has given up an unprecedented two points in three fights this season, including a 5-1 win over Kelten Tarkenstone in Week Five. Simply put, Jake's performance is the most dominant of any fighter this season, without comparison. He's likely to fight one or two more times this season, so keep an eye out for him. He may be putting together the most impressive single-season performance that the league has ever seen.
Lena Choi (4-0, 6.25 PDPB, 2 Iron Fist wins, 2 Push wins)
Lena sat out in Week Five, but remains undefeated on the season, with four overcard victories. Her last bout was a jaw-dropping 5-2 win over previous leaderboard top-dog, Vanion Shadowcast. She'll face Jake Thrash in Week Six's Main Event, and we'll get to see if she has it in her to unseat another leaderboard top-dog. If she does, she may very well secure herself the MVP Award this season.
Lilly Hyde (4-0, 5.25 PDPB, 1 Iron Fist win, 2 Push wins, 1 Anchor win)
While Lilly's not dominated many of her bouts this season, she's continued to be maybe the toughest brawler to face in the later rounds of a fight, and has carved out an undefeated season so far after a gutsy comeback victory over Rakeesh Sah Tarna. Jake and Rakeesh lead the league in the majority of career categories, which emphasizes the importance of her win in Week Five. Lilly's performance this season shows just how dangerous BAD is when she fights alongside Jake. Together, they are 7-0, and the reason why the Badside Brawlers currently occupy my number one power ranking.
Rookie-of-the-Year Watch (sponsored by the Jade Dragon Chinese Buffet)
Lena Choi (4-0, 6.25 PDPB, 2 Iron Fist wins, 2 Push wins)
Every article looks the same in two regards. Lena's a top competitor for MVP, and Lena's the top competitor for Rookie-of-the-Year.
Dean Reighland (3-0, 4.67 PDPB, 2 Push wins, 1 Crutch win)
Dean has been a stalwart this season for Top Flight, which was certainly a surprise to most of us. Nobody knew this guy before the season began, but after saving an extremely narrow win for Top Flight over the Champions of Mythos in Week Four, he was the only member of TOP to win against Asian Invasion in Week Five. He's giving a Powerhouse performance this season, and if he keeps it up, could very well be your Rookie-of-the-Year.
Shadow (2-0, 6.0 PDPB, 1 Crutch win, 1 Anchor win)
With a number of strong one-loss rookies still in the mix, Shadow's one of the few remaining undefeated rookies this season after Week Five. While he hasn't dueled as often as Lena or Dean, he has cleaned up the undercards, giving up only three points in two duels. If COM makes good use of him later in the season, Shadow could also be a ROTY contender by the end of Week Seven.
And that's it for Week Five's edition of Breaking It Down! There have been a lot of shake-ups in the past two weeks! As we move forward, everything is on the line for these teams, so prepare yourself to be shocked as the competition ramps up in the final two weeks of the regular season. In the meantime, go watch some duels and support IFL!
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