S30 Ultimus Week
11. Write about your team’s biggest rivalry and what makes it so fierce. Is the competition founded in statistics and the team’s recent performance, or is it a rivalry that developed over time during the team’s history that would exist regardless of statistics?
The biggest rivalry against our team (Sailfish) is Berlin Fire Salamanders. This rivalry is embedded in many aspects. The first one is definitely the game records between the two teams. While at this moment, Sailfish has been the #1 seed in the conference and cruised into the Ultimus. It was not this easy during the regular season. In the two games against Berlin Fire, we lost to them TWICE bitterly with L21-20 and L23-20. Particularly in the first game, we were leading by 13-7 by the end of the third quarter, but Berlin got two TDs in the last few minutes. The loss was frustrating. Certainly, we cannot deny that Berlin also had great players, and this is why they are so formidable. For example, Berlin Fire has night players with more than 1,000 TPEs, and most of them are at the peak of their career (S24-S26). Two of their WRs have more than 1,200 TPEs, and they created a lot of challenges to our defense. Berlin Fire also has good defenders. Their linebackers (Schell and McMullet) and the cornerbacks (Jones and Lenkins) all have more than 1,100 TPEs. The only relatively weak positions are their defensive line, which is not a surprise since most of the players in a Sim league would not choose the players in the offensive and defensive lines. In the two games of this season, both games were very close. In fact, I would argue that both teams seem to share relatively similar strategies. Both Sailfish and Fire emphasize the defense side a lot, and both relied on their passing strategies more than their running plays. It is no wonder why the two teams are rivalry now - since they are quite similar in many aspects. In addition, Sailfish and Berlin Fire faced each other in the conference final, and the Sailfish finally won the game. Fortunately (well as a fish), the game was not as tight as I expected before the game. Sailfish established a 30-12 lead by the end of the third quarter. It was largely due to a couple of impressive defensive plays (interceptions around the Fire's end zones), that we got nice and efficient TDs. But even with such a large lead, Berlin Fire was still capable of creating huge challenges by winning 12 points more in the fourth quarter alone, ending the game with 24-30. In the next season, both teams will still be at their peak because both attracted a lot of young talents into the rosters. I expect the two teams to continue this rivalry for a long time.
Words: 431
14. Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?
Sailfish had an amazing season in the end, although the process was not as smooth as shown by the final achievement. At the beginning of the season, we knew that our total and average TPEs were so high that our performance should be good. At the first half of the season, the results were kinda consistent with our expectations. We got a record of 5-2, ranking the first in the conference. We beat very hard opponents, like Yellowknife Wraiths and Yeti, although with only narrow margins (27-25 and 27-24). But on the other side, we also suffered from the Sim randomness, since we lost to Berlin Fire with L21-20. After the half of the season, we lost to Otters and Outlaws in two consecutive games with very large margins. It was a bit shocking to me, although all my teammates comforted me that they were just caused by the sim randomness. Without making much adjustment, we continued and completed the season by 11-5 record, which is pretty good, ranking as the #1 in our own conference and #2 (only behind Outlaws) in both ASFC and NSFC. It was a great journal, thanks to all the amazing teammates in the Sailfish. We delivered impressive stats on both the offense and defense ends, although the offense side seems a bit stronger than the defense. We won 454 points on the offense side, ranking the first in our conference; lost 381 points, ranking the fourth. The highlight is actually that we just won the conference final and got into the Ultimus. Now is just five hours away from the Ultimus. I cannot wait to see the final game!
Mario Messi also did a nice job this season. In terms of the features, Messi saved his TPEs for one season and spent all 150 points on the Receiving TE, which is one of the most expensive traits in the league. The trait seems quite powerful, improving Messi in a way that I can observe by looking at the screen (well, maybe it is totally mental...). But eventually, Messi delivered 6 TDs, ranking as the third among all the TEs. Messi also got 44 receivings with 422 yards. With the other TE (Angler from Sailfish), the two TEs helped the team with 11 TDs! Actually, this stat is quite impressive. It suggests that the Sailfish team does not only rely on our WRs to make progress; for the short distance progress, Messi and Angler are very reliable players to receive the pigskin. Messi will get 1,000 TPEs in the next week, and very soon (with about 200 more TPEs), Messi will be able to maximize ALL his TPEs. Certainly, it will be the last season when his TPEs have no discount. But still, I am looking forward to the day to come!
Words: 467
11. Write about your team’s biggest rivalry and what makes it so fierce. Is the competition founded in statistics and the team’s recent performance, or is it a rivalry that developed over time during the team’s history that would exist regardless of statistics?
The biggest rivalry against our team (Sailfish) is Berlin Fire Salamanders. This rivalry is embedded in many aspects. The first one is definitely the game records between the two teams. While at this moment, Sailfish has been the #1 seed in the conference and cruised into the Ultimus. It was not this easy during the regular season. In the two games against Berlin Fire, we lost to them TWICE bitterly with L21-20 and L23-20. Particularly in the first game, we were leading by 13-7 by the end of the third quarter, but Berlin got two TDs in the last few minutes. The loss was frustrating. Certainly, we cannot deny that Berlin also had great players, and this is why they are so formidable. For example, Berlin Fire has night players with more than 1,000 TPEs, and most of them are at the peak of their career (S24-S26). Two of their WRs have more than 1,200 TPEs, and they created a lot of challenges to our defense. Berlin Fire also has good defenders. Their linebackers (Schell and McMullet) and the cornerbacks (Jones and Lenkins) all have more than 1,100 TPEs. The only relatively weak positions are their defensive line, which is not a surprise since most of the players in a Sim league would not choose the players in the offensive and defensive lines. In the two games of this season, both games were very close. In fact, I would argue that both teams seem to share relatively similar strategies. Both Sailfish and Fire emphasize the defense side a lot, and both relied on their passing strategies more than their running plays. It is no wonder why the two teams are rivalry now - since they are quite similar in many aspects. In addition, Sailfish and Berlin Fire faced each other in the conference final, and the Sailfish finally won the game. Fortunately (well as a fish), the game was not as tight as I expected before the game. Sailfish established a 30-12 lead by the end of the third quarter. It was largely due to a couple of impressive defensive plays (interceptions around the Fire's end zones), that we got nice and efficient TDs. But even with such a large lead, Berlin Fire was still capable of creating huge challenges by winning 12 points more in the fourth quarter alone, ending the game with 24-30. In the next season, both teams will still be at their peak because both attracted a lot of young talents into the rosters. I expect the two teams to continue this rivalry for a long time.
Words: 431
14. Describe your player and/or team’s journey through this latest season. What were the highlights? What were the lower points? What might you have done differently? What are your expectations for next season?
Sailfish had an amazing season in the end, although the process was not as smooth as shown by the final achievement. At the beginning of the season, we knew that our total and average TPEs were so high that our performance should be good. At the first half of the season, the results were kinda consistent with our expectations. We got a record of 5-2, ranking the first in the conference. We beat very hard opponents, like Yellowknife Wraiths and Yeti, although with only narrow margins (27-25 and 27-24). But on the other side, we also suffered from the Sim randomness, since we lost to Berlin Fire with L21-20. After the half of the season, we lost to Otters and Outlaws in two consecutive games with very large margins. It was a bit shocking to me, although all my teammates comforted me that they were just caused by the sim randomness. Without making much adjustment, we continued and completed the season by 11-5 record, which is pretty good, ranking as the #1 in our own conference and #2 (only behind Outlaws) in both ASFC and NSFC. It was a great journal, thanks to all the amazing teammates in the Sailfish. We delivered impressive stats on both the offense and defense ends, although the offense side seems a bit stronger than the defense. We won 454 points on the offense side, ranking the first in our conference; lost 381 points, ranking the fourth. The highlight is actually that we just won the conference final and got into the Ultimus. Now is just five hours away from the Ultimus. I cannot wait to see the final game!
Mario Messi also did a nice job this season. In terms of the features, Messi saved his TPEs for one season and spent all 150 points on the Receiving TE, which is one of the most expensive traits in the league. The trait seems quite powerful, improving Messi in a way that I can observe by looking at the screen (well, maybe it is totally mental...). But eventually, Messi delivered 6 TDs, ranking as the third among all the TEs. Messi also got 44 receivings with 422 yards. With the other TE (Angler from Sailfish), the two TEs helped the team with 11 TDs! Actually, this stat is quite impressive. It suggests that the Sailfish team does not only rely on our WRs to make progress; for the short distance progress, Messi and Angler are very reliable players to receive the pigskin. Messi will get 1,000 TPEs in the next week, and very soon (with about 200 more TPEs), Messi will be able to maximize ALL his TPEs. Certainly, it will be the last season when his TPEs have no discount. But still, I am looking forward to the day to come!
Words: 467
