The Archtown Arrows are coming off a full year of disappointment. Attempting to shake the poor year, they've redesigned their logo, shunning the old bow-and-arrow look with a more forest-green arrows-in-bullseye appearance. The team wearing the new crest is the same as it has been for the last two years. The captain of the team is Ruby, a tenacious veteran that is a big threat every year in pool. Behind her are three very willing soldiers in Sally, Sleepy B., and Dusky. Sally is the most explosive of these three, a career Arrow like Ruby, and a cricket genius. Sleepy B. plays an all-around more reserved style, but she still works well with the organization. Dusky, a former Specter acquired in 2014 in the draft, brings the occasional explosive burst to cricket but has very little pool upside. Cricket is where the Arrows make their money. With that said, if they play like they did last season offensively, the market will correct on the defensive end and they'll be back to being a top danger in the playoffs. However, if their defense is just that bad, the band may be broken up next summer. The Arrows use a wide-pyramid structure for their leadership, with Ruby at the top and the other three holding their own below.
The Atlantic Arrows, one of three expansion teams in 2014, have yet to find any success at all in their two years in the league. They've routinely been near the basement every year with a rotating cast of characters. This year, the carousel spun them back around in the draft, retaining Delila after cutting her for poor performance, and bringing back first-season failure Dominic after his year-long adventure in Web City. To make up for the loss of potential biggest bust in pool, Steven, the Pirates acquired Americus, a former Wave and Tradewind with a very weak pedigree at both stops. Delila will return to her captain role, a spot that suits her well. Between the steady Amber, Dominic, and Americus, there's not another leader on the team lending them to the wide-pyramid leadership structure. Delila is a low-ceiling player who talks more than she plays, and acts as an agitator, although she has low 300s upside in cricket. Americus will be solid but unspectacular most of the time. Amber will also tend to be a little above average in cricket at the cost of being frequently mediocre in pool. Dominic has never lasted with a team more than a year at a time, but this is his second stint with the Pirates. They know they're not to expect much from him. With the Pirates using a retread philosophy, it's expected they will struggle again this season.
What's not to love about the Central Warriors? This team stood as distinctly second-tier in cricket all last season until going into hyperdrive in the Hutton Cup Semifinals. The result was a two-round binge that saw them knock off the hotshot Pacific Volcanoes and Cinderella-esque Maplewood Lumberjacks to grab a trophy. Then, they kept the good times going in pool, finishing second in both the regular season and Clan Cup, missing out on trophies galore thanks to the Queens Flames and Tysini Hummingbirds. The success meant that all four Warriors players returned for another season. Twilight and Gizmo, a pair of Club Reality players, are the leadership duo for the team, while Empyre's Noelle, a career Warrior, and Dustin, acquired in last year's draft, round out the team with finesse and muscle respectively in the box-pattern leadership structure. Especially remarkable is the official captain, Twilight, who challenged for MVP in both sports. Gizmo, less spectacular, tends to act as more of the leader, and he supplies solid effort with occasionally brilliance. Noelle is the finesse for the team, and also the reigning Champion's Cup winner after earning a bid in that postseason tournament by winning the 7-ball title. Dustin provides the muscle, and the former Eagle still has a chip on his shoulder to make Everton regret letting him go. The highly motivated Warriors are expected to challenge for more titles this season, as long as they can keep up their pace from last season and avoid regression.
Another team that went with redesigned logos, the Diamond Gems are as unpredictable as any team. In 2014, they were the darlings of cricket before a first round upset in the playoffs, and they were downtrodden for pool. In 2015, the cricket ability dropped away (while they also participated in the first-ever tie in league history), but many players earned another year on their pool performance. Diamond is switching structure this season, with Smokey the captain, Citrus the breakout star, Cassandra acting as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate in cricket, and the rookie Pedey looking to fill the void left by Olivia's retirement. The leadership structure is linear, a very tough structure to succeed in. Smokey is still better in cricket than pool, producing solid offense in cricket but stumbling in pool. Smokey is now on Brute Force in the club realm, where he'll mentor Pedey. Of all the rookies, Pedey has the highest expectations. He was drafted to replace a 320-average cricketer in Olivia, and also to play at least .500 pool as Olivia did. Having a friend on the team should help, as it did for Cassandra the last two years. Now without Olivia, Cassandra will have to find her own rhythm as she attempts to regain her 2014 MVP form in cricket without compromising the surprising pool effort from this year. Another player who wants to succeed at both sports is Citrus. Coming off a career year for pool and another above-average pool season, Citrus is hoping to avoid being pool's latest one-hit wonder. Not helping that image is the Youth Movement curse that sees players oscillate a lot faster than other clubs. The Gems have shown the ability to succeed in both sports, but never at the same time, which is their goal for the upcoming season.
With another tweak to the team colors (from neon green to teal to light blue and orange), the Eastside Sharks hope a new image will help keep them in the spotlight. The Sharks have seen a lot of change over the years, always participating the draft. This has led to having players acquired in four separate years on the team. The leader is Graham, an Empyre-backed maestro that carries the Sharks at their lowest times and supplies solid efforts in both sports with little variance from year to year. Chelsea, a third-year Shark, came about when an old player was kicked out of the league and an emergency replacement was needed. She has likewise been solid since her arrival, but to a lesser extent than Graham. Fellow human Taylor Swift burst onto the Sharks roster as one of two rookies last year, and challenged Southridge Defender Debby Ryan for the Rookie of the Year honors, losing narrowly in both sports. Finally, since last year's other rookie left the league, Niki comes to the Sharks. Coming in on a compensatory pick raises expectations, but Niki rises to challenges, and she is expected to be an upgrade for the Sharks. The leadership structure here is wide-pyramid, with Graham at the top and the other three at the bottom. The Sharks challenged for the top of the cricket board, but couldn't keep pace with eventual regular season champions, the Whitewater Shores. They look to extend that success and find their groove in pool for this season.
While they appeared to have lost when they let Dustin go last season, the Everton Eagles appeared to be winners themselves by the season's end. No, they didn't find a title of any variety, and there were growing pains for the team, but they made the pool playoffs and they challenged for the cricket playoffs near the end of the season, so it's an improvement. Dustin was shown the door last summer because of the team's lack of offense in cricket. The Eagles brought on Blizzard to replace him, but she didn't match his production. Making matters worse was a slump from Cleo, who had challenged for Rookie of the Year in her first season but suffered in her sophomore campaign. Still, Goldy and Puff III carried the slack, and the result was an impressive pool effort, which is their preferred sport anyway. Goldy is a no-doubt captain for the Eagles, excelling in pool and playing above average in cricket. Puff III also plays to above-average levels across the board, but not as high as Goldy, cementing her more as a reliable veteran. Cleo is an unknown two years in, but the Eagles hope to see her pick a sport and excel at it while treading water in the other sport. The odd thing the Eagles did was bring back an underwhelming Blizzard. She did improve from her previous season with the Freedom Cascades, but not dramatically so. Still, the Eagles see potential, and Blizzard is a good leader in personality, making this a egalitarian leadership structure that incorporates all players well.
Another team from the 2014 expansion, the Freedom Cascades have also struggled dramatically, especially in cricket. The Cascades have shown flashes in pool, but with one of the worst road records in cricket two years running, it's no wonder players have cycled through the team. Both captain Jasmine and Stinky stick with the team for their third seasons in Freedom, but they'll have new complementary pieces in Roxy, a well-traveled former Swift, Flame, and Wave, and the bulky rookie Nikolai. Jasmine is the only small player on the team for her species, which would be human. She also plays consistently better than her teammates, but this has led to her being no more than average so far. Stinky tends to stick closer to Jasmine's numbers, but he is also unspectacular. His rookie season in 2014 showed some potential alongside fellow rookie Cowzart (now departed from the team), but it didn't translate this season. Roxy has yet to stick anywhere on some admittedly weak teams, but after a down year even by her standards in Oceanside, there's not a lot that says she'll find any more success with the Cascades. The biggest change for the Cascades is Nikolai, who is a high-ceiling player they grabbed in the fourth round. He brings new life to the team that has struggled on the road in cricket, and with him anchoring the back end, he could produce big points and help the team find another gear. The leadership structure here is more of a box-pattern, with Jasmine and Stinky the integrated veterans and Roxy and Nikolai the very big newcomers that could impact this team either way significantly. One big factor is that Jasmine is driven to be the best on the team, and if Nikolai can challenge her, the team will improve.
One of the most conservative teams in the league, the Harrison Specters had to shake things up after failing at both sports last season. A quick third-round collapse in pool coupled with a dangerously weak cricket campaign meant two team veterans were shown the door. Leandra, the highly-motivated league star went to the Hummingbirds, while the vendetta-fueled Stealth ran out of fuel for his fire here and went to the Blades. Staying with the team, the captain Slinks looks to bounce back from a season that could have sent her away as well but she stayed thanks to a slightly stronger pedigree. Joining her is the Specters' breakout star, Twinkie II, who finally found success after struggles with the Tradewinds and Waves. This lends the Specters to a narrow-pyramid structure for leadership. At the base of this are the newcomers. The first is rookie Sydney Sierota, who is part of the second crop of celebrities to join the league. The Echosmith lead singer was linked to Royal at the draft, but ended up going to the Specters in the third round. She is expected to match Stealth's near-average output in cricket, but may lag behind his pace in pool. Joining Sydney is Brownie, a journey-cat that flamed out with the Pirates last season and has also worn out her welcome with the Swifts and the Torpedoes. The Specters will need Brownie to do what her sister, Dusky, couldn't with the team, which is find success. Leandra, even in a down year, will be hard to replace, and it may be another long year for the Specters pending how Slinks bounces back as a heavily-criticized captain, how much regression affects Twinkie II, and what Sydney brings to the league. Brownie is the most known quantity, but she's looking to shake the perception that she's not good enough. The team would be happy with success in one sport.
In their best season yet, the Maplewood Lumberjacks hovered in the second tier in both sports. This prompted them to return the same roster that resulted from the 2015 draft overhaul after a bad 2014. The long-time captain, Fluffina, returns to lead the team. Known for her explosiveness in cricket and a remarkable steadiness and pedigree in pool, she has one of the most secure jobs in the league with the Lumberjacks. Fellow Delila Enterprises club member Diddley supports her as a solid and respectable veteran presence in the lineup with high upside in both sports. The former Torpedoes captain played through an emotional season, but Maplewood embraced him and he should be more comfortable this year. Another career-Lumberjack, Bryant supplies sneaky offense in cricket but very little of anything in pool, acting as the weak link there. Bryant is a solid player. Surprisingly, Cubby stuck with the Lumberjacks after faltering with Reyes Del Sur and the Tysini Hummingbirds the previous two years. Cubby solidified his roster slot with a high rank in pool come season's end, complementing Bryant by also being weak in cricket where Bryant finds success. The leadership structure is a box-pattern with Diddley around to support Fluffina at the top corners, while Bryant plays his role and Cubby also falls into a role situation. If 2015 was no fluke, expect big things out of the Hutton Cup runners-up and #5 ranked pool team in 2016.
The Pronger Tridents flipped their colors and changed their font, but that's the only change this team has ever made, continuing to be the only team to never cut a player. This, coupled with the lack of a true leader on the team, leads to a egalitarian leadership structure. With no new players, the team begins with Strawberry, their cricket leader last season who struggled with pool. The Youth Movement product has the most fire on the team, bringing the energy thanks to her lower age. Complementing her directly was Precious, the team's top pool player who worked mostly on the road last season. Precious saved her bacon with a pool effort from a determined player, after threatening her future with the team in cricket. Hoot couldn't say the same thing, playing an absolutely miserable first round that saw him leave the pool tournament quickly. He played above average in cricket though, earning another chance. Likewise, Paps was not great at cricket, but he survived enough in pool to warrant retention with the team, keeping the team together despite their biggest test in the three-year UPCL history. The previous logo, a blue trident on gray, was color reversed this season for logic purposes. Coming with this is a brand new blue jersey for the players. Occasionally, Pronger is expected to bring out the old gray uniforms, likely in Eastern Hills-region rivalry games with Atlantic and Diamond, and possible Freedom, as well as critical games given the reasonable success the old scheme brought about. Their third jersey may lead to other teams adopting the style. As for the game, the Tridents need to get on the same page amongst themselves to improve this coming season, but they know average performances will keep the team together for another year. For these players, this is the only team they've ever known.
The Web City Spiders also found a lot of success in 2015. They backed up a strong effort in cricket with a similarly strong effort in pool. Their superstar, Rainmane, finished second in the Champions' Cup. They played well in the Clan Cup as well, making the semifinals. This is a team that knows what they are doing, with only Dominic truly holding them back last season. After he returned to Atlantic, the future is bright for the Spiders. Shiny comes into Dominic's roster slot, with a higher upside given her history with a title to her name once in pool. She has yet to put it together in cricket, but this is a safer environment for that. Just ask her new teammate, Sugar, who came over to the Spiders from the Sharks last year. Sugar got out of a toxic situation in Eastside and thrived around average play in both sports with the Spiders, enough to stay with the team another season. At the top of the box leadership structure, Rainmane provides the fireworks with her flashy and virtuoso play. She is one of the most determined and aggressive players in the league, and she channels it well. Alongside her is the more reserved captain Shadow, a strong player in his own right who favors pool but also supplies good work in cricket from the leadoff slot. The Spiders are building off their best season yet, and they appear set to continue growing now, with no performance being too far out of line from career norms for any of the players. The addition of an established veteran in Shiny speaks to this.
That's all for the East Division, covering the Eastern Hills and Northeast regions. Later tonight, the Center and West Division teams will get their spotlight moments.
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