The Capital City Sharpshooters have found remarkable stability recently, avoiding the draft this year and finding a steal in 2015's draft. While the results weren't there for pool this season, the cricket effort made up for it. Most of this stemmed from MVP challenger Chris improving on already ridiculous 2014 numbers to keep the team going. Their undeniable captain, Chris has extremely high job security for his cricket ability. Behind him, a wide pyramid has formed after last year's breakout pool effort from Dani made her feel very welcome to the team. Dani held her own better than former Sharpshooter Chicky Phil, and the former Specter Dani continued with great pool late in the season. While not as good as they were in 2014, Missy and Sprinkles form the rest of the veteran core, both having played their entire careers with the Sharpshooters. Sprinkles needed a solid pool effort to make up for her cricket failures, and she quietly got what she needed. Missy, on the other hand, played at a slightly higher level in cricket that essentially guaranteed her return even if she didn't earn protection. The expectations for the Sharpshooters this season are to put it all together in both sports, a steep improvement demanded after generally accepting average efforts. The team must watch out for Chris' potential to regress from an abnormal high.
The team formerly known as Infinity City dropped the "city" to appeal to a wider region in the southwest, and with an updated and intimidating logo, the Torpedoes are ready to finally unlock their potential. This is one team that has none of its original players left, but the so-called Torpedoes 2.0 showed enough to all be retained this season. It begins with the longest tenured player on the team, the third-year Torpedo Smudge, the captain. She stumbled a bit across both sports after showing preseason promise, but recovered enough in pool to earn the right to stay. Behind her is the wide-pyramid structure. Shelley, a former Meteor and Specter, arrived in Infinity with low expectations and shocked the fans with strong performances that solidified her spot on the roster. Another player with low expectations, former Arrow and Defender Whiskers, also wowed with remarkable pool playing deep into the season that attracted the attention of management and earned her an extension. Finally, the third corner of the pyramid is Gabe, a former Lumberjack that ended up being swapped at the 2015 draft for formed Torpedoes captain Diddley in a happenstance exchange with the Lumberjacks. Gabe was not remarkable in either sport, but reliable in both, and his level-headed approach helps to balance the more hot-headed Smudge and Whiskers while provided a friend for Shelley. The Torpedoes have always flirted with success, but have found none. Now, without the weight of the city on them, they may be poised to grow and succeed in 2016.
Another year, another solid season without a trophy for the Lighton Prestige. The team has seen remarkable roster stability, only having two players brought in since the original draft. The team's stability stems from the box-shaped leadership structure set forth by Acorn, the captain, and Spirit, the star. Spirit, who plays a cerebral game, also possesses leadership qualities, and together with Acorn, they provide the basis of the team's attack in both cricket and pool. They play a similar game and produce similar results, helping the team stay steady and consistent, which is usually consistently good until trouble arises in the playoffs. At the bottom of the box is another fourth-year Prestige, Twinkie I. Until this year's pool season, Twinkie I faced constant threats of being cut, but managed to stay with the team throughout the years anyway. The one change this season is the departure of Pounce, now with the Waves, and the entrance of Lydia, a former Meteor who has strong pool skills and inconsistent cricket performances. The Prestige constantly face high expectations, something that Pounce is better accustomed to than Lydia, but Pounce's two years netted nothing productive and the change of personnel may help inject some fresh life into the team. The playoffs are a minimum requirement for the Prestige, and anything less will lead to change.
The Oceanside Waves always seem to be better than they are, and that's probably a product of the stability in their box-shaped leadership. The top of the box has always been the same two players: the productive captain Snuggle, who is above-average in both sports, and the purely lucky Bells, who's deserved a cut before but hasn't seen it happen yet. After another down year, the Waves parted ways with Americus and Roxy, who went to the Pirates and the Cascades, respectively. Taking their places, the Waves brought in Pounce with their third round pick. The former Prestige player failed to live up to expectations there, but he should fit in nicely with the more relaxed Waves. In the fourth round, the Waves took a flyer on the former Rockers' split-bid player Alyssa. Despite limited time last season, Alyssa is as good as a rookie for the Waves, and she holds that status too. They don't know what to expect out of her in a full season, but they're hoping for a pleasant surprise. As mentioned, the Waves have always had a top-heavy leadership and very little in the way of results. They chronically underperform in cricket, and their new additions don't appear to address that. Pool is a little better, but not playoff worthy, and only Pounce really helps slightly in that regard. It could be another long season for the Waves.
The Pacific Volcanoes did it again in 2015, erasing memories of a poor 2014 with a new-look roster headlined by captain Starlight. The team's leadership structure is still in narrow pyramid form, indicating a bit of discomfort for last year's acquisitions. At the top is MVP in cricket contender and former pool Rookie of the Year Starlight, a fiery and tenacious competitor who makes league average look really bad. Behind her, the level-headed Ms. Kitty acts as a complementary force with slightly weaker but still well above-average cricket play and decent pool skills. After shipping out Shaggy and Midnight last season, Jack and Leonette came in from the Defenders and the Spiders. Jack provides a lot of muscle and turned out to be a very reliable cricket player, although he wasn't much for pool. On the flip-side, the equally muscular but more cerebral Leonette had a Comeback Player of the Year-worthy pool performance overshadowed only by an early exit and Princess' ridiculous effort for the Tysini Hummingbirds. Via the protection system, the Volcanoes were one of two teams (the Warriors being the other) that could not cut any player if they wanted to, with all four finishing in the top-32 somewhere. After 2014's swoon, the Volcanoes appear poised to dominate for years to come, led by an extremely secure captain Starlight.
The Pearl Surfers face a year of transition in 2016, with the departure of V. Braun only half of the story for the team. The new leadership structure is y-shaped, a one-of-a-kind structure led by youth in Neopolitan and 2015 pickup Watermelon, who had a career year in cricket to earn a stay with the team. Meanwhile, Neopolitan continued her slightly above-average career while learning from Braun about being a captain in many ways. The two Youth Movement club members are backed by Wings, a career Surfer who didn't have his best season in 2015, but didn't fall off enough to warrant leaving the team, and thus he stays. The Surfers only got one pick in the 2015 draft, and they used it to grab Cowzart, who addresses nothing left in the void of Braun's retirement. Since their Governor's Cup win in 2012, the Surfers have done very little to inspire confidence, wasting the last years of Braun's career mired in mediocrity. Now, with a serious downgrade in the former Cascade Cowzart, it is expected for the Surfers' struggles to continue despite having three good pieces in tow. For the Surfers to turn things around, Neopolitan and Watermelon will have to lead by example in a positive fashion and get the best out of Cowzart, which may still not be enough.
The Southern Monarchs had no choice but to tank in 2015. Cricket got off to a slow start, and they continually got buried in all venues. Around the one-third mark of the season, former captain Shawn started to steer the team into the ground in an inconspicuous manner. He didn't need much help, as Shannon and Nicole struggled mightily. Now, in 2016, the Monarchs look to make the most of their southwestern shipwreck with Panda, the career Monarch, at the wheel. Panda was the only one to escape with a reasonable season in both sports, refusing to tank just for the sake of tanking. Also returning to a now wide pyramid leadership structure is Shannon, who used remarkable pool playing to retain her roster spot. Shannon is expected to return to form next season, because 2015 was unbelievably bad for her. Also returning to the team via the draft is Nicole, who was cut at the end of the season, but re-signed in the draft. Nicole had the worst season on the team, but she looks to show the potential she had in her first year with the Surfers. Replacing the outgoing captain, the Monarchs turned to a rookie, Kirstin. There are questions surrounding her ability to acclimate with the team, but based on the announced leadership structure, it sounds like Kirstin will be readily accepted by the lower players on the totem pole. This leaves Panda as a bit of an outsider, but he is the captain and leads by example. The Monarchs did perform well in 2014, and with half of that team still around, it's reasonable to assume last year was an anomaly for them and they'll return to form without Shawn around anymore.
One of the most successful teams in league history, despite just a Governor's Cup to their name, the Todavía Stills return in 2016 unchanged since a single cut after 2012 brought Leonardo aboard from the Victoria Spurs. The leadership structure here is a narrow pyramid, and the strongest of those in the league at that, the purest definition of a leadership structure. Leonardo provides the muscle at the bottom of the pyramid, a slugger by nature with a surprising skill for pool. To the opposite extreme, Sparkles provides the Stills with finesse in both sports at a high level. Sparkles had to earn her way back onto the team, but she proved enough in pool to be welcomed back for one team that does not like to change things up much. Sierra takes the middle of the pyramid, an immature superstar with a Players Cup in 2014 to her name. While she frequently challenges for the circus act that is president of Youth Movement club, Sierra lacks true leadership skills despite her immense raw talent and position as a league legend. For the leadership, you get slightly reduced stats out of Easter, the fourth-year Stills captain who is a star in her own right, just not the team's brightest star. These four players, despite different background, get along amicably and have done so for two years already, making the playoffs regularly as part of their efforts. The standard is set at a very high level for the Stills, but they have yet to disappoint their fans, and have no reason to do so this season.
Once threatened with relocation to Terrace City, the Tysini Hummingbirds put those rumors to rest for good with a surprising City Cup victory over the Central Warriors to end the 2015 season. In the first year of their official rebuild, the Hummingbirds shocked the league with a breakout performance, taking the fourth seed in pool after missing the playoffs in cricket. The leader of the charge for the Hummingbirds is their new captain, Princess, who takes over the role from the retired Allison. Princess swept the Comeback Player of the Year and Players Cup awards in pool, and challenged Bear of the Whitewater Shores for Cricket MVP in 2015. Princess was vital to the City Cup championship as well, earning the trophy for the second time in her career after also hoisting it with the Spurs in 2012. Behind Princess this season, there is a diamond-pattern leadership structure. First round compensatory pick Leandra, replacing Allison on the roster, is the star here. Leandra had a down year at the wrong time for the Harrison Specters, and she'll look to revive her career alongside the current poster child for career revival. Another rebounding player in 2015 was Bright, who ended up with the Hummingbirds after the Torpedoes cut him loose. Bright, while not spectacular, provides muscle and average performance in cricket with more potential in pool. With a strong core intact, the Hummingbirds picked up Charli XCX to replace controversial cut Marsell in the fourth roster slot. The rookie brings a slight aggression along with clever play to the table, but little it known about how she'll do in the league. One thing different for the Hummingbirds is their shedding of the loveable loser label. They will be expected to maintain their performance in 2016, and they have the pieces to be great, so it's all about execution for this team.
The Victoria Spurs haven't done anything big since a 2012 City Cup championship. Now, they've also lost career Spur Tori to retirement. The leadership structure for the Spurs will be box-shaped in 2016, headed by captain B. Chapman and supplemented by career Spur Spice, the solid veteran. Chapman brings an inconsistent but generally positive game to both cricket and pool, and she has gone deep in pool before. Spice is a better cricket player, routinely playing above average for the Spurs there, but her pool is not on the same level. The Spurs will lack depth in 2016, as they replaced the serviceable Tori with the unproven former Cascade Kavan. While Kavan has failed on two separate teams, he is still fresh enough to change the narrative, but acting as a compensatory pick is not what he should be looking at. On the other end, the Spurs grabbed the other lower corner on the box in the fourth round, the rookie Yekaterina Vasilyeva. There are concerns around the team Yekaterina and Chapman will not get along, but so far these appear to be unfounded. Yekaterina has high potential, and could be the future of this team should Chapman leave the league soon. The Spurs have always struggled in cricket, so they are less concerned about that sport. Instead, the team focuses primarily on pool, where they frequently find a playoff berth and tend to fly under the radar in the second or third tier of teams.
The Viewpoint Sound Meteors are the best of the 2014 expansion teams so far, but beating the Cascades and the Pirates is something everyone's done regularly anyway, and it's not like the Meteors have impressed either. Last season's highlight came from Meteors captain Mr. Snowman, scoring at a ridiculous pace in the early weeks of the cricket season. His high-flying efforts allowed him to coast from about December onward and still be protected to return as captain this season. Alongside him in the narrow pyramid structure is Mams, the longtime Meteor who has shown flashes of ability mixed with a lot of inconsistency. Speaking of inconsistency, it opened up two roster spots when it sent Lydia and Stripes packing to the Prestige and Knights, respectively. The Meteors didn't exactly scout well though, picking up split-bid former Rocker Kelly in the third round. Kelly makes up the lower level of the pyramid, while retaining rookie status. Expectations are higher for her given a full slate of bids in pool. In the fourth round, the Meteors took a true rookie, Zach, to fill the back-end void left by Stripes. Zach is a different player, a much more cerebral player that should offset the impulsive and sporadic Kelly quite a bit. Still, the Meteors don't look any better than they did last season, just different, and expectations are accordingly low for the team to break out of a two-year funk.
That's all for the season previews. Check out the East and Center division previews, and prepares for Qualifiers, on schedule to begin tomorrow for the 2016 Tournament, featuring a lot of new structure.
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