The Season 42 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the the Norfolk Seawolves and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?
Pew pew! Arizona wins the Ultimus in my rookie season, which was an incredible feeling. I don’t think it surprised anyone but it felt good for me, especially coming off of an Ultimini win in Tijuana in season 41. This season started off a lot better for Arizona than season 41 did though, when they started 3-5. They had a 7-game win streak to end the regular season which helped secure the 1st seed in the ASFC and home field in the Ultimus. I don’t think many people predicted that Honolulu would beat New York in the 1st round but the Honolulu/Arizona championship game will be a familiar sight for seasons to come.
I do believe the NSFC playoffs were a bit of a surprise! The NSFC was a tight race for a majority of the season and came down to the last couple weeks for who would even make the playoffs. Defending champions, Cape Town Crash, finished 2nd in the standings behind a red hot Baltimore team. Berlin had a better 2nd half than 1st half and was able to squeeze in at the 3rd spot. Berlin had a down year in season 41 so seeing them flip it around to make the playoffs was nice, but I don’t think anyone really thought they would do much damage. They have an amazing defense but the offense, despite high TPE, just doesn’t quite click on all cylinders. Yet they were able to take down the reigning champions in the first round in typical Berlin fashion with a 16-13 win on the road. That was definitely a disappointing loss for Cape Town as they were likely bummed that they didn’t get the bye. But negs is stinky and is trying to steal all my money so glad to see them go down.
Berlin’s defense kept on dominating into the championship round as they held high-scoring Baltimore to only 10 points. Baltimore was easily the most disappointed team in the playoffs as they secured the first round bye as they had the 2nd best point differential in the league and yet could only manage 10 points on offense. But that goes to show how bad ass of a defense Berlin had. So now underdog Berlin has managed their way to make the Ultimus, going up against the perennial contender and season 42 favorite in Arizona. The top offense in Arizona met up against one of the best defenses in the league. The problem for Berlin is that Arizona also boasted the top defense, so points were going to be a premium heading into this game.
Points did become a premium, for Berlin, as they only managed 10. Their offense was built upon their defense stifling the other team, but Arizona did not have any issues after putting up 38 points in the championship. Berlin only scored more than 38 points twice the entire season and those came against Colorado and Chicago, not exactly world beaters.
Arizona winning the Ultimus probably didn’t surprise many, but I think the utter domination in the leagues biggest game probably did. Arizona basically went wire to wire so losing in the Ultimus would have been the biggest surprise this season. Even as someone on Arizona, I figured the game would be much closer based on Berlin’s defense and it would take a couple sim breaks here and there but the team experience for Arizona’s players probably helped with not needing those lucky breaks. With Arizona not really losing any players to age/retirement, they will look to continue another season of domination, so the league better be prepared. I’ll end this OT with a big old PEW PEW, baby!
Pew pew! Arizona wins the Ultimus in my rookie season, which was an incredible feeling. I don’t think it surprised anyone but it felt good for me, especially coming off of an Ultimini win in Tijuana in season 41. This season started off a lot better for Arizona than season 41 did though, when they started 3-5. They had a 7-game win streak to end the regular season which helped secure the 1st seed in the ASFC and home field in the Ultimus. I don’t think many people predicted that Honolulu would beat New York in the 1st round but the Honolulu/Arizona championship game will be a familiar sight for seasons to come.
I do believe the NSFC playoffs were a bit of a surprise! The NSFC was a tight race for a majority of the season and came down to the last couple weeks for who would even make the playoffs. Defending champions, Cape Town Crash, finished 2nd in the standings behind a red hot Baltimore team. Berlin had a better 2nd half than 1st half and was able to squeeze in at the 3rd spot. Berlin had a down year in season 41 so seeing them flip it around to make the playoffs was nice, but I don’t think anyone really thought they would do much damage. They have an amazing defense but the offense, despite high TPE, just doesn’t quite click on all cylinders. Yet they were able to take down the reigning champions in the first round in typical Berlin fashion with a 16-13 win on the road. That was definitely a disappointing loss for Cape Town as they were likely bummed that they didn’t get the bye. But negs is stinky and is trying to steal all my money so glad to see them go down.
Berlin’s defense kept on dominating into the championship round as they held high-scoring Baltimore to only 10 points. Baltimore was easily the most disappointed team in the playoffs as they secured the first round bye as they had the 2nd best point differential in the league and yet could only manage 10 points on offense. But that goes to show how bad ass of a defense Berlin had. So now underdog Berlin has managed their way to make the Ultimus, going up against the perennial contender and season 42 favorite in Arizona. The top offense in Arizona met up against one of the best defenses in the league. The problem for Berlin is that Arizona also boasted the top defense, so points were going to be a premium heading into this game.
Points did become a premium, for Berlin, as they only managed 10. Their offense was built upon their defense stifling the other team, but Arizona did not have any issues after putting up 38 points in the championship. Berlin only scored more than 38 points twice the entire season and those came against Colorado and Chicago, not exactly world beaters.
Arizona winning the Ultimus probably didn’t surprise many, but I think the utter domination in the leagues biggest game probably did. Arizona basically went wire to wire so losing in the Ultimus would have been the biggest surprise this season. Even as someone on Arizona, I figured the game would be much closer based on Berlin’s defense and it would take a couple sim breaks here and there but the team experience for Arizona’s players probably helped with not needing those lucky breaks. With Arizona not really losing any players to age/retirement, they will look to continue another season of domination, so the league better be prepared. I’ll end this OT with a big old PEW PEW, baby!
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