We had no doubt that the playoffs would be an intense competition from the outset but we didn’t realize just how intense it would be.
Teams are working so hard that every point counts. As almost every team found out yesterday just because you are in the lead – even if the lead looks comfortable – that is not enough to guarantee that you will make it through to the quarter finals.
Yesterday we saw that at some points a team was up against its opponent and then at other times it was down.
Different activity patterns and times of players on teams can have a huge impact on that team’s overall performance.
This is proof, if proof was still needed, that every team player has a vital role to play and that every individual player can make a real difference.
So now at 7.47am Eastern on the final day of the first round, things look like this:
First placed SurfAholics Alpha is comfortably in the lead over 16th placed Beginners and Winners. However the totals for the Alphas are relatively low compared with many other teams. I suspect they are pacing themselves at this point. This opens up the possibility of the bottom seeded team pulling out all the stops and trying to sprint to the finish. If this happens it would be very spectacular indeed.
Fahrenheit (8) are behind by 5 billion points to WealthBuilders (9) while Phoenix (5) are about 30 billion points behind Lucky 13 Too (12). So, as of now, the two lower placed teams are in the lead. The competition between these four teams is intense, absolutely intense.
However none of the above are the headline story of the first round…if you have been following the first round live blog then you will know that this honor goes to Renegades (4) and Living Wealthy (13) who have earned 140 billion XP between them in this first round alone.
Renegades are winning by about 20 billion points right now but Living Wealthy has a very good chance of winning this battle – remember that if they do then Living Wealthy will qualify for Justin’s $500 bonus for wiping out a top four team in the first round.
In To Win (6) is leading Easy Team (11) but these two teams have been up and down during the first day so anything could happen here.
Lucky 13 (3) are playing Success Seekers (14) and seem to be adopting the same technique as the Alphas. Lucky 13 is in the lead, not by a huge amount as I suspect this team plans to do enough to win while conserving energy for the later rounds of the contest.
What a story it would be if both the Alphas and Lucky 13 misjudged things and were both knocked out in the first round by much lower ranked teams.
Uber Surfers (7) are leading Dream Team (10) – both teams have made significant advances during the first day of this contest so anything could happen here.
Finally CSN (2) clearly does not believe in the minimalist approach to this opening league. Their favored strategy seems to be to start hard and fast in a bid to totally demoralize their opposition. CSN is currently leading Ultimate Surf Warriors (15) by about 29 billion points.
Not a bad start at all I would say. Let’s see what the rest of today brings.