IFL 2015 TIER LIST
by Harris D'Artainian
October 22, 2015
Season Five of the Iron Fists League guarantees a new champion will be crowned due to the off season exit of the 2014 winners Top Flight. With only three of last year's teams returning, 2015 is looking to be the year of the rookie in every respect. Out of the 53 fighters slated to compete, 26 of them are participating in their first IFL season, and 21 of those will start off with the rank of Trainee. But how do all these new teams compare with the more seasoned squads? And most importantly, where do they fall in relation to each other? To answer these questions all eight teams have been broken down and assigned a power point rating* based on cumulative rank & league experience, then slotted into one of three tiers; Top, Middle, or Bottom.
*Individual Power Points Determined By: Rank (KBW +6, PO +5, HV +4, MI +3, FY +2, TR +1), IFL Experience (Each previous season participated in +1), IFL Championships Won (Each championship +2). These points are then combined to determine Team PP.
-TOP TIER-
Team Fist (54 Power Points)
-Captain: Matthew Simon (PO)
-Assistant Captain: Kheldar Drasinia (HV)
Darik Warchild (KBW)
Fang Hoi Mei (HV)
Lena Choi (HV)
Koyliak VanDuran-Simon (MI)
Gren Blockman (FY)
Overview: Some might be surprised to see Team Fist at the top of the pecking order after they failed to even make the playoffs in 2014. Honestly, last season should be considered a statistical anomaly. In every category (Bouts won, bouts lost, points for, points against) Team Fist equaled or finished ahead of the regular season teams in 3rd - 5th place& except in match wins. This season, with the league drowning in rookies, what this team brings to the table more overwhelmingly than anyone else is experience. This is their fifth year in the league, with Matt at the helm. Both Darik and Gren were part of championship teams, the Badside Brawlers in 2007 & 2013, respectively. Team Fist's lineup combines for an astounding 22 seasons of total IFL experience and is the only team with no first season fighters. In fact, the least experienced brawlers for Team Fist have at minimum two seasons under their belts. Apple may not have returned this year but Matt bolstered his roster by adding two skilled strays from Asian Invasion (Lena & Hoi Mei) instead. With everything laid bare it's difficult to argue that this is Team Fist's most promising year to go all the way.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Gren Blockman & Koyliak VanDuran-Simon. Team Fist lost 14 total bouts last year. Gren and Koy held a 1-7 record between them. That means they were responsible for half of Team Fist's bout losses in 2014. For duelists of their caliber that's an unacceptable statistic, and they're both going to need to improve this season to make certain Team Fist doesn't miss the playoffs again.
Keys To Success: Keeping it simple. Team Fist is saturated with talent. But the media didn't coin the moniker of "Captain Futility" for Matt without reason. In four seasons of IFL his team has missed the playoffs twice, exited the post-season in the second round, and has one finals appearance in 2013. If Matt simply sits who's losing and slots who's winning they should succeed with minimal effort. There's absolutely no reason this team shouldn't be expected to not only make the playoffs, but finish the regular season in either 1st or 2nd to assure an opening round post-season bye.
Dirty: Pink (38 PP)
-Captain: Claire Farron (HV)
-Assistant Captain: Hope Naharis (PO)
Vincent Smith (PO)
Shadow (PO)
Zack Alcar (HV)
Gunther Queen (TR)
Overview: Rebranded with a color attached, this is essentially the same Team Dirty from the previous two seasons, with one exception: they're not underdogs anymore. In 2013 they finished 7th and missed the post-season entirely. In 2014 they finished 1st, only to be escorted out of the playoffs in the second round by The Rock Hards. Now they're a veteran team after just two years, with only Team Fist having participated in the league longer. During the off season Claire trimmed the fat, dropping almost all of her underperformers (Khoom, Rick, Sandy) as well as picking up Powerhouse IFL Champion Vincent "Clutch in the Crutch" Smith and rookie Gunther Queen. Having smartly secured the lion's share of Powerhouse fighters this season, Pink is clearly poised to be a dominant force in the league in 2015.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Pick one. Half of this team finished in the top 8 last season. It's probable that much like last year they'll be neck and neck competing for individual accolades again, and even more probable that one of them will take home the MVP award.
Keys To Success: Calm captaining. Considering the amount of rank and skill this roster has to throw around in any given week the only thing that can sink this ship is the pressure of expectation. If the boat hits some choppy waves it'll be up to Claire to keep her fighters from panicking and tumbling overboard. A spotty or below average performance from one or two brawlers won't be the end of the world and Pink should still be able to reliably cruise into the playoffs and have a much easier time of it this year.
-MIDDLE TIER-
Royal Pain (34 PP)
-Captain: Jewell Ravenlock (MI)
-Assistant Captain: Rena Cronin (MI)
Dizzy Flores (HV)
Juliane Smith (MI)
April Brell (FY)
Lirssa Sarengrave (TR)
Thorn (TR)
Overview: The first of the middle tier teams is the last of the returning teams in 2015. Royal Pain surprised the league last year with a 3rd place regular season finish, even though only two of their fighters (Dizzy & Jenai) had a positive PDPB. This group is arguably better than it was in 2014, but misses being a top tier team with the loss of Jenai, who would've returned this year as a Heavyweight and been a boon to the overall unit. Jewell's recruitment is almost identical to last year, having again picked up three rookies (April, Thorn, Lirssa) and a reasonably experienced 7th (wo)man, Juliane, pulled from The Rock Hards. Still, Royal Pain has a solid core and definitely has the potential to repeat their 3rd place performance from 2014 with the fighters Jewell's gathered and the inexperience of all the new teams to the league. A return to the playoffs is entirely doable.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Dizzy Flores. She got the short end of the stick as far as media coverage for her performance last year. Let's recap. Dizzy opened 2014 with a 5-0 loss against Vanion Shadowcast in week two. Then she won her next four regular season matches and both of her playoff bouts. She also posted a team leading 2.20 PDPB and finished the regular season 13th on the leaderboard. That's resilience. It's also what the experience of winning two IFL championships looks like.
Keys To Success: Middleweight focus/production/advancement. Getting out there and gaining rank for a post-season run against some very dangerous top tier teams should be number one on Jewell's to do list. Her Middleweights should be in the thick of it most weeks, hopefully putting up better numbers than last year, allowing them to hit the playoffs running with possibly three or four Heavyweights total to give whoever they fight something serious to worry about.
Dirty: Black (21 PP)
-Captain: Terry King (FY)
-Assistant Captain: Grace Frigg (HV)
Bob (HV)
Dean Reighland (MI)
Niha Al'Tinvyen (TR)
Jojo Oni (TR)
Overview: The second team this year that carries Dirty's name is legitimately new to the league. While they may not have nearly as much clout as their counterpart, Black is arguably the best looking group out of all the freshman teams. Their three league rookies (King, Niha, Jojo) will have good backup from Bob & Grace, and Dean Reighland's championship experience will be invaluable in giving this squad a solid shot at the post-season.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Terry King. While a meaty portion of this year's rookies will start off as Trainees, King is one of only four freshmen entering the league at Flyweight, and thanks to her extensive time in the Outback she's head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. With two Heavyweights and a Middleweight she won't be expected to bear this team's load in her debut season, meaning more opportunities to coast under the radar and shine with performances that'll likely be overlooked by most in the box score until the year is over.
Keys To Success: Decisive victories over their rookie competition. In an eight team league the minimum record to gain a playoff berth is generally 3-4. With Black sitting at the middle of the pack, if they can manage to beat most of the teams below them on this list the playoffs are clearly in sight. However they need to make certain they throw the kitchen sink at the squads weaker than them and dominate in those wins, just in case they get steamrolled by the big dogs. Staying focused and not taking any teams for granted will be essential if they're looking to join Pink in the post-season.
Deathcake (21 PP)
-Captain: Salvador Delahada (MI)
-Assistant Captain: Skid (PO)
Melanie Rostol (MI)
Canaan Devillier (FY)
Sabine Gabrielle (FY)
Aoife Duggan (TR)
Rekah Illyriana Silverblades (TR)
Overview: Deathcake may be a fresh face in IFL, but not to team dueling, having first formed all the way back in 2009 for the Tour de RhyDin. This version is comprised of pieces of the now defunct Discombobulators (Sal & Skid) and Asian Invasion (Melanie), plus a quartet of league rookies with varying degrees of unarmed experience.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Skid. After his 4-1 record and 5.60 PDPB performance earned him the number two spot on the leaderboard and Rookie Of The Year in 2014, Skid will have to be the backbone for this team in the early goings unless or until there's another breakout star. The Powerhouse ranking he carries into his sophomore season should allow him to repeat a measure of his success from last year and help boost Deathcake over their middle tier competition in critical weeks.
Keys To Success: Rookie production and Skid support. Deathcake is the first team on this list where over half their members are new to IFL, which means a heavy reliance on Canaan, Sabine, Aoife, and Rekah to put up at least moderate numbers for them to get to the playoffs. That'll fall on Sal finding them good matchups against the other squads similarly packed with rookies to give them a fighting chance. However all eyes will likely be on Skid, and if he ends up carrying a number of high value bouts Deathcake will need to rely on Sal and Melanie to provide additional wins in support, or to step up to the plate themselves and relieve him if necessary.
Chemical Burn (16 PP)
-Captain: Bile (TR)
-Assistant Captain: Xanth van Bokkelen (FY)
Anubis Karos (HV)
Trip Wire (TR)
Nox (TR)
Nyos Grief (TR)
Overview: Having only recently debuted during this year's Hydra tournament, Chemical Burn is looking to continue forward as a team by testing their mettle in IFL. Both Anubis & Xanth are former members of Great of Strength (2007) and Hydra (2014) and hold all of this team's IFL experience, which gives them a slim enough advantage to maintain a position at the bottom of the middle tier. The remaining four members are league freshmen.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Anubis Karos. After his first winning season with Hydra last year he'll be expected to shoulder the burden of this team's bigger bouts. Having fought six of seven weeks last season a similar schedule would be prudent, as Chemical Burn's success or failure will likely be measured by how his matches turn out.
Keys To Success: Rookie production and quick advancement. Similar to Deathcake, Chemical Burn is going to need their rookies to come through if they hope to sneak into the playoffs and put up a fight. The difference however is that all of Chemical Burn's rookies hold the Trainee rank, putting Bile at a distinct matchup disadvantage against most teams early in the season. It only takes one victory to make Flyweight though, and the faster his fighters make that leap the more competitive they'll be against their other middle tier opposition. They're definitely sitting on the bubble though, and it's going to take some spirited in ring performances to keep the playoffs from slipping out of their grasp.
-BOTTOM TIER-
Team Lazzericks (15 PP)
-Captain: Corlanthis Wystansayr (FY)
-Assistant Captain: Nigel Alder (TR)
Jenny Chae (PO)
Cooper Gallows (TR)
Ahni Valyntine (TR)
Duci Eszti Lovasz (TR)
Horam Jak'Char (TR)
Overview: Another new group of brawlers finds their way into IFL, lead by a returning face in Corlanthis. He managed to grab last year's Rookie Of The Year runner up from Asian Invasion, Jenny Chae, but that's the only other fighter with league experience. The remainder of his brawlers are entirely new, which is the primary reason they find themselves in the bottom tier.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Jenny Chae. Being the sole stand out fighter on the squad, it shouldn't surprise anyone that she'll be expected to be in the more important fights, especially considering her undefeated season in 2014. Best Chae will have her work cut out for her if she's looking to have a repeat year, since she'll probably be looking at much stiffer competition in her matches.
Keys To Success: Savvy captaining and rookie advancement. On paper there's very little difference between this team and Chemical Burn in terms of requirements to make the playoffs. With squads of relatively equal skill it boils down to shrewd captaining and matchup making. Cor spent some time as Assistant Captain on Shots of Decadence (2007), so everything he remembers learning will have to come into play here if he wants a slot in the playoffs. Lazzericks will want to get their Trainees to Flyweight as quickly as possible to give them an advantage over the other rookie squads. Captain Cor should put all his focus and energy into the weeks he's up against another freshman team and try to get his people the best matchups he can manage.
Royal Rabble (10 PP)
-Captain: Eva Luna (MI)
-Assistant Captain: Mason Harrigan (TR)
Bailey Raptis (TR)
Shae (TR)
Ketch Creely (TR)
Kate Turner (TR)
Levi Clark (TR)
Overview: Due to being almost completely new and more inexperienced than all the other teams, Royal Rabble finds themselves rounding out the two team bottom tier. This group consists of lesser known, if not totally unfamiliar fighters, with the exception of Eva who spent a season with Royal Pain last year and has been given the helm of what amounts to RPN's little sister.
Fighter(s) To Watch: Eva Luna. As Rabble's only noteworthy brawler at the beginning of this year, she broke even with a 2-2 record in 2014 and picked up some valuable experience between seasons in the Outback, which should hopefully prove significant as far as her own performance and helping her teammates this year.
Keys To Success: Talent nurturing. The playoffs may look like a long shot at first glance, but with so many other teams having to also depend on completely new fighters, Rabble could reasonably pick a few of them off. Someone is bound to stand out in this group, maybe more than one brawler, and whoever steps up to the plate putting up wins should automatically be afforded more fight time to give this team a chance at the post-season. At worst Eva can look at this as a building year. Dirty finished 7th in 2013, only to come back and take 1st the next year. The Rock Hards placed 8th that same year, then fought their way to a spot in the finals the season after. All it takes is one year to build a contender.
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