It’s been a hot minute since the last newsletter. Here’s a breakdown of where we’re at in 2021!

Announcements and Such

Overdue Congratulations

Congratulations to our 2020 league champions, the Detroit Wolverines! After securing the #2 seed, they met the defending champions–the Tricksters–and beat them in a very close match by fewer than 2 points.

Yours truly, the Kali Warriors, took home the Lord of Toilets title for the second season in a row. Somebody please take it from me

The Title Belt

I’ve gone through and updated the title belt history to be current. The current title belt holder is Not Lucky, and they’re defending their title from 8-time belt holder Kali Warriors.

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Stats and Other Goodies

Division Leaderboard

Rank	Division Name	Points For	Wins	Average PPG
1	The Resistance	2107.94	8	175.66
2	Division By Zero	2083.76	7	173.65
3	High Flyers	1888.08	5	157.34
4	Cerberus	1785.52	4	148.79

At this point in the season, The Resistance once again proves to be a powerhouse division, trailed closely by Division by Zero.

Points Leaders

Points For

Rank	Team Name	Points For	Points Behind Lead	Points Behind Next Rank
1	Tricksters	755.42	0.00	0.00
2	Bling Bling	736.36	19.06	19.06
3	speed-demons	712.10	43.32	24.26
4	Winged Hussars	699.12	56.30	12.98
5	Kali Warriors	694.18	61.24	4.94
6	Not Lucky	684.72	70.70	9.46
7	Detroit Wolverines	662.68	92.74	22.04
8	Necessary Roughness	640.42	115.00	22.26
9	Pegasus	638.08	117.34	2.34
10	The Death Eaters	593.28	162.14	44.80
11	Golden Eagles	550.88	204.54	42.40
12	Red Warriors	498.06	257.36	52.82

The ever-dominant Tricksters show no signs of stepping on the brakes. Even this early into the season, it seems very unlikely that they don’t make it into the playoffs. The defending champs haven’t been doing quite as well, but that may be because of some poor lineup choices more than a lack of power on the roster.

Manager Grade

Rank	Team Name	Points For	Max PF	Manager Grade	Curved
1	Kali Warriors	694.18	844.66	82.18%	100.00%
2	speed-demons	712.10	868.10	82.03%	99.85%
3	Winged Hussars	699.12	874.42	79.95%	97.77%
4	Not Lucky	684.72	858.54	79.75%	97.57%
5	Pegasus	638.08	812.88	78.50%	96.31%
6	Bling Bling	736.36	938.28	78.48%	96.30%
7	Necessary Roughness	640.42	838.78	76.35%	94.17%
8	Tricksters	755.42	989.86	76.32%	94.13%
9	The Death Eaters	593.28	794.04	74.72%	92.53%
10	Golden Eagles	550.88	755.90	72.88%	90.69%
11	Red Warriors	498.06	695.36	71.63%	89.44%
12	Detroit Wolverines	662.68	930.54	71.21%	89.03%

Here we see one of the reasons behind the Wolverines’ struggles so far this season. Up to this point they’ve only been able to realize 70% of their potential and have been the worst at setting their starting lineup in the first four games. They have the third-most potential points, but they’ve so far been unable to put those points in the starting lineup.

Power Rankings

	TEAM NAME	CHANGE	RECORD	OVERALL	PPG	R.O.S. ROSTER	CONS
#1	Tricksters	0	3-1	38-6	#1, 189ppg	#1	#3
#2	speed-demons	2	4-0	33-11	#3, 178ppg	#7	#2
#3	Winged Hussars	0	3-1	29-15	#4, 175ppg	#5	#1
#4	Kali Warriors	2	3-1	29-15	#5, 174ppg	#2	#6
#5	Bling Bling	-3	2-2	30-14	#2, 184ppg	#4	#9
#6	Not Lucky	-1	3-1	26-18	#6, 171ppg	#9	#8
#7	Detroit Wolverines	0	2-2	21-23	#7, 166ppg	#6	#5
#8	Pegasus	0	2-2	18-26	#9, 160ppg	#3	#4
#9	Necessary Roughness	0	1-3	16-28	#8, 160ppg	#10	#7
#10	The Death Eaters	0	1-3	14-30	#10, 148ppg	#11	#11
#11	Golden Eagles	1	0-4	6-38	#11, 138ppg	#12	#10
#12	Red Warriors	-1	0-4	4-40	#12, 125ppg	#8	#12

Power Rankings Over Time

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Notes:

• Despite not having the best official record, the Tricksters’ overall win ratio, consistency, and average PPG make them the clear #1 through every week this season.
• #2 - #7 spots see the most shakeups week-to-week, with the bottom 5 mostly remaining stagnant. Depending on the outcomes of the games this week, though, we may see Pegasus break into the top 7 as the Wolverines continue their descent.
• The Winged Hussars are probably the team that has made the most significant positive turnaround from the past season. They may not boom as much as other 3-1 teams have, but they score around their PPG most consistently.

Team-by-Team Breakdown

Not going to do this every week, but let’s look at where each team is at, starting at the bottom of the power rankings.

#12 - Red Warriors

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
0-4	3	4-40	498.06	124.52	-39.35

With a PPG trailing the league average by nearly 40 points and sitting at last in Max PF, there is little hope for the Red Warriors to make another postseason appearance, despite going 9-4 just last year. It seems like this team might need to shift gears into full rebuild mode and start planning for the future, because 2021 is not looking like their year.

#11 - Golden Eagles

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
0-4	3	6-38	550.88	137.72	-26.14

The Golden Eagles aren’t in that much of a better position 4 weeks into the season. Before the draft they shipped off Adam Thielen in exchange for some draft capital (one pick of which they had previously traded away), which is probably a step in the right direction for another team looking at a rebuild.

#10 - The Death Eaters

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
1-3	2	14-30	593.28	148.32	-15.54

The Death Eaters–formerly the not-so-dominant Total Domination–look at least somewhat significantly better than the #11 and #12 in these power rankings. If history is anything to go by, they’ll make it into the playoffs at the last moment, knocking the Kali Warriors into the consolation bracket.

#9 - Necessary Roughness

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
1-3	3	16-28	640.42	160.11	-3.76

In the early-to-mid-season, Necessary Roughness tends to sit around here. They’re about average in terms of PPG for much of the season. Last season, NR broke out into a winning record, securing a playoff seed in the process. Can they do it again?

#8 - Pegasus

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
2-2	2	18-26	638.08	159.52	-4.34

Despite scoring fewer points-per-game than Necessary Roughness, Pegasus managed to get a couple more overall wins thanks to their #4-in-the-league consistency. There’s certainly potential on this roster to pop off and secure a playoff seed, but based on performance-to-date, that’s looking unlikely, especially with Winged Hussars standing between them and a divisional title.

#7 - Detroit Wolverines

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
2-2	3	21-23	662.68	165.67	1.81

Unlike the Tricksters before them, the Detroit Wolverines don’t exactly look as good as their championship title would lead you to believe. About as close to mediocrity as you can get, the Wolverines currently have a 50% win-rate and a near-50% overall win-rate.

Given their significant Max PF, there’s obvious potential to break out and steal the divisional seed or a wild card seed, but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out. My very scientific Monte Carlo playoff seed simulation gives them a 13.62% chance of a playoff berth, which is substantially higher than anyone below them in the power rankings, and anything can happen.

#6 - Not Lucky

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
3-1	1	26-18	684.72	171.18	7.32

Despite being 3-1 and leading their division, Not Lucky sits at #6 because their other stats tell a slightly different story. Their average PPG is worst among 3-1 teams, and division rival Bling Bling sits at 2-2 despite having the third-best overall win record. Given that, it’s likely that the official records and divisional standings will correct themselves in the coming weeks.

Or perhaps Not Lucky will capitalize on this great start and make their way into their first playoff appearance!

#5 - Bling Bling

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
2-2	2	30-14	736.36	184.09	20.23

Sitting at 2-2 given that overall win ratio and PPG feels pretty bad. That’s fantasy football, though, and the good news for them is that they’ve got an extra regular season game this year to mount a comeback.

#4 - Kali Warriors

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
3-1	1	29-15	694.18	173.55	9.68

The only stats putting me at #4 instead of #5 is my record and better consistency metric than BB. Things look pretty positive for my team this year, but will that translate into a postseason appearance? Or will it be taken from me in the final week? Probably the latter

#3 - Winged Hussars

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
3-1	1	29-15	699.12	174.78	10.92

Unlike last season, when the Winged Hussars crawled into the playoffs with a losing record (6-7), they look poised to put together a very strong season. Their PPG isn’t as flashy as the Tricksters or Bling Bling, but they sit at #1 in terms of consistency, putting up good numbers week-to-week.

#2 - speed-demons

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
4-0	1	33-11	712.10	178.03	14.16

Even possessing the only remaining undefeated record isn’t enough to topple the former champions from their place at the #1 spot. At this point in the season it’s looking likely that both the Tricksters and speed-demons will find their way into the playoffs, but there’s still plenty of season left.

#1 - Tricksters

Record	Division Rank	Overall Wins	Points For	PPG	PPG vs. League AVG
3-1	2	38-6	755.42	188.86	24.99

The only team with single-digit overall losses and sitting atop the PPG ladder, the Tricksters seem like a lock for the postseason, if not a third consecutive championship appearance.

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Luck Chart

And finally, everyone’s favorite chart validating their feelings of being screwed by the schedule.

(Top: most lucky – bottom: least lucky)