Breaking It Down: MVP and ROTY Awards
by Garren the Barbarian
January 6, 2014
After a season full of face-smashing, leg-grabbing, and other spectacular violence, the ballots are in -- and I am happy to announce the results of the IFL Season Three Most Valuable Player and Rookie-of-the-Year Awards!
Note: Ballots were sent out to each team captain, as well as the owner of the Jade Dragon Chinese Buffet, the IFL Commissioner and myself. One voter abstained, and the remaining ten listed their top three choices for MVP and singular choice for ROTY. Enjoy the results!
Most Valuable Player Award (sponsored by the Jade Dragon Chinese Buffet)
Napoleon Bonarat (The Badside Brawlers, 3-0, 6.00 PDPB)
[1 Point: One 3rd Place Vote]
Napoleon had the second highest Strength of Schedule of any MVP nominee, and with a perfect record, was ranked 7th in our MVP Race.
Blondie Eastwood (Team Fist, 4-1, 4.20 PDPB)
[3 Points: One 1st Place Vote]
Blondie was an anchor for Team Fist this season, with a challenging Strength of Schedule and some impressive wins that earned him the 6th place finish in our MVP Race.
Lilly Hyde (The Badside Brawlers, 4-0, 5.25 PDPB)
[3 Points: One 2nd Place Vote, One 3rd Place Vote]
One of three BAD fighters to be nominated for MVP, along with Napoleon Bonarat and Jake Thrash, Lilly's 4-0 record earned her 6th place in our MVP race, tied with Blondie Eastwood!
Kheldar Drasinia (Team Fist, 4-0, 6.50 PDPB)
[6 Points: One 1st Place Vote, Three 3rd Place Votes]
The top fighter of Team Fist, Kheldar's perfect season and solid Strength of Schedule made him the solid 4th place finisher in our MVP race.
Vanion Shadowcast (Mercenarii, 5-1, 4.33 PDPB)
[9 Points: One 1st Place Vote, One 2nd Place Vote, Four 3rd Place Votes]
Largely responsible for Mercenarii's unlikely comeback and playoff birth, Vanion had the toughest Strength of Schedule of all nominees and the most wins, making him the strong 3rd Place finisher in the MVP race.
One voter, who listed Vanion as their third choice for MVP, shared their insight, "I have Vanion in 3rd place because he was the only duelist with 5 wins, and he was the most individually responsible on the list [of nominees] of getting his team into the playoffs without much support for most of the season."
Harris D'Artainian (Top Flight, 4-0, 9.00 PDPB)
[17 Points: Four 1st Place Votes, Two 2nd Place Votes, One 3rd Place Vote]
With a record-breaking season in earned PDPB (a record shared identically by Jake Thrash), and several key wins that vaulted new team Top Flight into the number two ranking at the end of the season, Harris stood well above the other nominees (save one) in voting, and is our MVP Runner-Up this season!
One voter, who chose Harris as their top choice for MVP, stated, "The deciding factor for me is that Harris kept putting himself out in the Iron Fist slot and taking his team on his shoulders, and in the final week when the two teams[BAD and TOP] met, Harris again put himself out front, risking a showdown with Jake, while Jake chose to sit."
Jake Thrash (The Badside Brawlers, 4-0, 9.00 PDPB)
[21 Points: Three 1st Place Votes, Six 2nd Place Votes]
With a solid Strength of Schedule, and a record-breaking season, Jake Thrash improved on his record-holding IFL career (compared to all fighters with at least ten regular season duels under their belts). Leading BAD to a number one ranking for the second regular season in a row, he is the winner of our very competitive race!
One voter, who listed Jake as their top MVP choice, claimed, "While Jake and Harris had nearly identical seasons, Jake fought tougher opponents. The real clencher for me, though, was his perfect shutout against Cassius. It was the most clutch fight of the season, and if Cassius had touched Jake even once, BAD would be ranked third and not be getting a round one playoff bye."
So, after a very competitive MVP race, Jake Thrash has won the award for being the Iron Fists League's Season Three Most Valuable Player! Congratulations to him, and to the others who performed outstandingly this season!
Rookie-of-the-Year Award (sponsored by the Jade Dragon Chinese Buffet)
Huma EvilBane (Top Flight, 4-1, 3.60 PDPB)
[1 Vote]
Earning himself one vote, Huma's impressive season marks him as the 3rd place finisher in our ROTY race. The voter who listed him stated, "The Week 7 perfect shutout puts him over the top. Going 10-2 on the scoreboard in the last two weeks against the league's #1 and #3 teams was a strong enough performance to warrant ROTY."
Blondie Eastwood (Team Fist, 4-1, 4.20 PDPB)
[4 Votes]
Earning nearly half of the votes, Blondie is the only candidate to receive votes for both MVP and ROTY, making him the 2nd place finisher. One voter stated, "The dude kicked [EXPLETIVE DELETED]."
Lena Choi (Asian Invasion, 4-1, 3.40 PDPB)
[5 Votes]
With half of the overall vote, Lena beat out Blondie by a single vote in a very tight race for ROTY. One voter shared their thoughts on ranking Lena above Blondie and the other nominees, "Despite being on the bottom of the list of candidates, I think Lena is the most deserving. Despite having great seasons the other candidates were all on teams that had even better stars to carry the load, so they often had lower [ranked] bouts, or could be sat at the end to protect their scores. Lena was thrown into a Push/Iron Fist match each week, and her only loss was to Jake. I feel she had the hardest schedule, and was the only rookie that really had to lead her team to victories, and thus she is my selection."
And so, after an incredibly close race, Lena Choi has won the award for being the
Iron Fists League's Rookie-of-the-Year! Congratulations to the many great rookie seasons out there, and I personally hope to see more of these fighters in the future!
Breaking It Down will continue in a new format during the playoffs of IFL Season Three. Keep reading future editions, as I review each playoff match and individual bouts until we crown the IFL Season Three Champions!
Copyright 2001-2017 Dueling Zone. All Rights Reserved.
This article brought to you by
| Red Orc Brewery | 
Where's YOUR Badsider? |
|
|
