*S41-45 breakdown

[ztarwarz]

These last 5 seasons have made a couple things very clear that weren't clear when I first did this list. First off, what has happened over the last 5 years anyways?

AWARDS

3 MVP (Preston Beatz, S42 + S43; Kumquat Archipelago, S44)
 3 DPOY (Joseph Reed, S41 + S42; Heiiajs D. Owidhus, S45)
 1 OPOY (Danny Nedelko, S42); 2 DPOY (Akaki Akarye, S43 + S44)
 1 MVP (Willier Miller, S41); 1 OPOY (Johnny Blaze Jr, S43)
 2 OPOY (Frank Dux, S44 + S45)
 1 MVP (Cruella de Ville, S45)
1 OPOY (Jarvis Harbinger-Marjin, S41)



This does change some placements around. First, it unties the first spot and gives a kind of commanding lead for now to the Outlaws. It also gets the Silverbacks and especially the Butchers far off the bottom in awards that they were in previously. Finally, it gives us a new bottom spot: the Fire Salamanders, who still have only 2 awards in their 21 years of existence.

 26
 23
 18
 8 (over 24 seasons)
 12 (+1)
 10
 9
 8
5 (over 30 seasons) (+5)
 4 (over 30 seasons)
 3 (over 24 seasons)
3 (over 21 seasons) (+2)
 5
 2 (over 21 seasons)

Records

55-25 (4 Playoff Berths, 4-3 record, 1-1 in Ultimus)

52-28 (5 Playoff Berths, 3-4 record, 1-0 in Ultimus)

 51-28-1 (4 Playoff Berths, 3-3 record, 1-0 in Ultimus)

51-29 (4 Playoff Berths, 5-3 record, 1-1 in Ultimus)

51-29 (3 Playoff Berths, 2-3 record, 0-1 in Ultimus)

43-36-1 (2 Playoff Berths, 3-1 record, 1-0 in Ultimus)

43-37 (3 Playoff Berths, 3-3 record, 0-1 in Ultimus)

 39-41 (1 Playoff Berth, 2-1 record, 0-1 in Ultimus)

 37-43 (1 Playoff Berth, 0-1 record)

 36-44 (1 Playoff Berth, 0-1 record)

35-45 (2 Playoff Berths, 0-2 record)

28-52

27-53

 11-69

The most notable things this stretch of 5 seasons gave us is some of the largest amount of parity across teams in league history, as well as the end of some legendary droughts and streaks. The Copperheads hadn't won the Ultimus since S20, hadn't won a playoff game since S28, and broke both of those streaks in S45. The Outlaws hadn't missed the playoffs since S27 before having that streak broken in S44, the second longest streak ever (though the winning record streak remains intact) and of course, the Crash hadn't won the Ultimus since the seasons were in the single digits and hadn't made it since S16 before winning it all in S41. We also saw the Yeti break the record for longest playoff drought before breaking said drought in S43, and the Fire Salamanders continue their streak of consecutive Ultimus appearances without actually winning it all.

The new All Time Records stand as follows.

 229-149-3 (60.6%)

 397-270-2 (59.5%)

 377-291-1 (56.4%)

 376-291-2 (56.4%)

 168-167-1 (50.1%)

 188-192-1 (49.5%)

 165-169-2 (49.4%)

 327-341-1 (49.0%)

 222-234-3 (48.7%)

313-340-2 (47.9%)

 218-240-1 (47.6%)

 296-370-3 (44.4%)

 288-378-3 (43.2%)

 261-393-1 (39.9%)

This sees the Hahalua and the Silverbacks jump up 4 spots, and the Butchers fall 6 spots. It also sees the Wraiths and Otters swap for who is just barely above the other by less than one game. As for raw percentage, the Sailfish are one or two more mediocre seasons from falling below 60% win rate, while the Second Line have fallen below 40%.

Next up, new playoff berth percentage.

 18/24 (75%)

 30/45 (66.7%)

 28/45 (62.2%)

 25/45 (55.6%)

 15/30 (50%)

 22/45 (48.9%)

 14/30 (46.7%)

 11/24 (45.8%)

 9/21 (42.9%)

 18/45 (40%)

16/44 (36.4%)

 16/44 (36.4%)

 7/21 (33.3%)

 11/45 (24.4%)

The biggest jumps are the Hahalua, going from 12th to 8th, and the Second Line, going from 8th to T-11th. I could bring up a number of events that are more likely than the Sabercats making a playoff berth, but I think the raw number of Sub 1/4th of the time making the postseason is damning enough.

So, what are the big changes 5 seasons in? Well, the Silverbacks managed to shore up some of their worst areas, such as their playoff berths and their award total, and the Hahalua did the same, though mainly in terms of win rate and playoff berths. Meanwhile, the Butchers managed to really bolster one of their weak points in major awards, but at the cost of letting everything else slip; their playoff berth percent and win rate fell below 50%, and they still have by far the worst Ultimus attendance rate of any team, having only shown up once. Speaking of teams with bad Ultimus stats, the Fire Salamanders are the biggest droppers in my book, falling all the way to the bottom of my "not absolutely awful, not amazing" team section from the last ranking. That drop of 3 is the largest drop numerically, though it's more a function of other teams improving and the Salamanders very much not.

The top 4 doesn't really have any change in it, other than the Outlaws creeping up on the last couple places the Otters have any numerical advantage, including now having the exact same Ultimus statline of 9 wins from 11 appearances. At this point, the argument for the Otters as the best franchise is valuing 2 more playoff berths and a couple more Hall of Famers compared to a pretty massive 3% win rate and 8 more major awards. Both still are above the Wraiths and Sailfish, though the Sailfish are starting to have a weirdly long drought of Ultimus titles considering the age and quality of their franchise.

Finally, the bottom 4 sees a couple big shakeups. This most recent batch of play from the Second Line might have me put them in 2nd to last. Either way, both the Sabercats and the Second Line are dropping compared to at least one of their competition; the Crash have managed to catapult themselves out of the darkest depths with the skyrocketing win percent, and the Ultimus berths plus the win over the past 5 seasons.

This isn't a full breakdown, I'm going to finish tallying up the playoff records, Ultimus records, and Hall of Famers in 5 seasons time, but this is the update.

[negs]

very cool!

[Pvtpenne]

Carissa van Campen, SJS legend

[ztarwarz]

whoops, wrong 3 named LB. I think I got confused because I had just come off the retirements page when I started writing that.

[abh89]

Great article! Always fun looking back at league history. This statement cut me a little deep though:

"the Sailfish are starting to have a weirdly long drought of Ultimus titles considering the age and quality of their franchise"

I wonder what changed since their last Ultimus win? :concernedfroge:

[Pat]

Wait. Cape Town had the most wins in the league over this 5 season span?
That can't be true. There's no way @negs is a capable GM.

[Purpl3Spartan]

the golden years of the league

[lemonoppy]

Under my tenure AZ will fall down the ranks, I promise