02-10-2023, 08:16 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-12-2023, 01:25 PM by Caleb_H. Edited 1 time in total.)
Wherever there is stats, there is always competition. Having the best of the best each season usually means that the competition and comparisons are done, right? Unfortunately for those wishing to put a cap on the end of each season and taking a chance to move on from the past, the index provides a very detailed look at how seasons went down and what levels of success each time found throughout the season. The only things missing are the drama, TPE, and major turning points off the field that lead to the results we see on it. While those stories always create more opinion based media that are always fun to read, we will be focusing more on the stats which bring their own enjoyment.
The most enjoyment in the season usually coming from winning the Ultimus. A symbol that everything came together, games played out in your favor, and that at the end of the day there is now a trophy to represent your success forever. With the Ultimus always comes a fun look at the various accolades that a team was able to accomplish and what marks what teams of the past did and how teams should be built moving forward. However, how do we know what the best team in the new sim? What does it take to win the Ultimus? Are there some stats you shouldn’t lose sleep over on the path to success? Let’s break it down with some power rankings!
I broke down the various index focused stats in order to rank all of the Ultimus winning teams in the current sim which sets us back to S27. By using our main team stats on a per game basis, we can determine what sort of success each team had and where their performances maximized or were minimized to come out in the end as the top team. These stats also are regular season only just as a warning. If that invalidates the entire list in your eyes, (just imagine a shrug emoji here). In my grading, I used standard deviation within my grades. Essentially, utilizing those underrated box and whisker plots that get brought up in elementary or middle school but rarely get used. I have the raw data as well if you want to see the mess. For this article, I have included the raw grade with each team as well. For ties, I just included the grade at the end.
1. S39 Yellowknife Wraiths (87.5%)
Believe it or not, the best Ultimus winning team in the new sim are the S39 Wraiths. The Wraiths capped off a very dominant regular season with just about everything going right for them outside of three late season games that were not very pleasant for Yellowknife. Thankfully they were all road games to the Wraiths kept their home record intact. Beyond their record, the team played as well as you could hope for with a loaded roster. Everything from their offense to their special teams was just crazy with a league leading defense in almost every stat but their passing defense which was second in the entire league last season.
How do they rank up against other Ultimus winners? The Wraiths actually had the highest scoring offense out of any of the current sim champions by 0.5 points which belongs to another one of the top teams in the current sim. The Wraiths stand alone though with the best defense at preventing scores, total yards defense, and come in second for most other stats. The only area that the Wraiths could not keep up with the other Ultimus winners was in total yards per game where the Canadian squad remains average among the champions. With such a dominant performance, the S39 Wraiths are the top dog from all of the winners.
2. S38 Arizona Outlaws & S34 Chicago Butchers (66.67%)
In second place is a tie between two very recent teams that relied more on their defense than their offenses. Not to say that the two offenses were by any means bad, but one phase of these teams’ game was not all the way there when the regular season finished. The Outlaws were the most dominant rushing attack (of the Ultimus winners) but lacked a similarly powerful passing attack while the Butchers had a powerful passing attack, but lacked the rushing offense to continue. The Butchers at least were able to find the endzone on an average of 4.5 times a game as well which almost dethroned the S39 Wraiths as the highest scoring offense. As mentioned, their defenses were just above average when compared to the other Ultimus champs which helped with the mixed offensive success.
4. S33 Baltimore Hawks & S27 Sarasota Sailfish (62.5%)
From here on, the ties only continue as the Hawks managed to put together a rather above average team in their S33 squad which broke past the many years caused by the bad late S20 seasons (sorry for that). They weren’t bad in any area and plenty of their stats sit in the above average area. The S27 Sailfish managed to do something differently than the Hawks where their offense didn’t keep up with most of the group being compared, but their defense led the charge. Specifically, their rushing defense which held teams to under 57 yards per game! No other team held an opponent to under 60 yards per game in any category except the S27 Sailfish’s rushing defense. Anything that the passing defense for Sarasota could not do, their front seven made up for. Both of these squads fit into the just above average category with some stellar performances but not enough to break past our teams in second place.
6. S31 Honolulu Hahalua (54.17%)
One highlight team that just edges out the average group is the S31 Honolulu Hahalua. A team where offense was more of a suggestion, but the defense was a stronghold. It is like having the strongest armor in a MMO but your attack is still on level ten. The best statistical representation of this for Honolulu was that they had the best passing yards allowed defense, but were below average in every offensive category outside of their passing yards per game where they were around the middle of the group. Their defense only ever had small issues protecting against the run but they were only allowing slightly more than 100 yards per game. Is an interesting split that keeps them from being on the middle or lower edge of the Ultimus leaders.
7. S30 Sarasota Sailfish & S28 Yellowknife Wraiths (50%)
Now we hit the middle of the pack with the S30 Sailfish and the S28 Wraiths. Both teams that are considered perennial playoff powerhouses that snuck into an Ultimus with very close games. They managed to get in and win so at the end of the day, that will be all people care about. These two teams had a mixture of both good and bad stats with the passing attack for the S30 Sailfish helping them from slipping out of this middle ground. Yellowknife on the other hand has to unfortunately stick with just having all around average stats or they might have jumped up to the next spot with the S31 Hahalua. However, I think I can say for both teams that these seasons were a very big heart attack when it came down to those playoff games. Strangely, the S30 Sailfish had little problem in their Ultimus game while the Wraiths squeaked out through the entire playoff run. If I had to give a personal edge in this category and create a spot just below Honolulu, Sarasota’s passing offense would land them there.
9. S37 Arizona Outlaws , S35 Honolulu Hahalua , & S32 New York Siverbacks (45.83%)
Next up are the below average trio. All of these teams won the Ultimus, but one side of their game was holding them back greatly. For the Silverbacks it was their defense, the Hahalua had their offense, and the Outlaws stood at the top of this pack with being just below average on both sides of the ball. Two very interesting tidbits with this trio is that the S37 Outlaws have the third highest scoring (per game) offense out of all champions while the New York Silverbacks relied heavily on the arm of Sam Howitzer who gave New York the only offense to average more than 400 yards per game out of every team to win an Ultimus in the current sim. They were just shy too of being at 320 passing yards per game with only a couple unlucky performances holding the group back. As for the Hahalua, their defensive performance mostly sat at just below average where they barely missed the mark on probably joining those in the middle despite their poor offensive output during this Ultimus run.
12. S36 Honolulu Hahalua & S29 New York Silverbacks (33.33%)
And finally, the bottom two Ultimus teams in the current sim. Nothing to be worried about since they do both have trophies to show off for their work these seasons, but don’t put them in the beauty pageant with other super models. Both teams had to rely on some high amounts of luck to get through their respective seasons and managed to play some really good defense to secure their victories. Thankfully for the Silverbacks they managed to pull the Berlin Fire Salamanders in their Ultimus who used up their luck in the NSFC championship while the Hahalua saved their late game heroics for a last minute touchdown. If there was a way to bring some kenpom luck attribute into the stats then the S36 Hahalua and the S29 Silverbacks would have maxed the stat out!
The most enjoyment in the season usually coming from winning the Ultimus. A symbol that everything came together, games played out in your favor, and that at the end of the day there is now a trophy to represent your success forever. With the Ultimus always comes a fun look at the various accolades that a team was able to accomplish and what marks what teams of the past did and how teams should be built moving forward. However, how do we know what the best team in the new sim? What does it take to win the Ultimus? Are there some stats you shouldn’t lose sleep over on the path to success? Let’s break it down with some power rankings!
I broke down the various index focused stats in order to rank all of the Ultimus winning teams in the current sim which sets us back to S27. By using our main team stats on a per game basis, we can determine what sort of success each team had and where their performances maximized or were minimized to come out in the end as the top team. These stats also are regular season only just as a warning. If that invalidates the entire list in your eyes, (just imagine a shrug emoji here). In my grading, I used standard deviation within my grades. Essentially, utilizing those underrated box and whisker plots that get brought up in elementary or middle school but rarely get used. I have the raw data as well if you want to see the mess. For this article, I have included the raw grade with each team as well. For ties, I just included the grade at the end.
1. S39 Yellowknife Wraiths (87.5%)
Believe it or not, the best Ultimus winning team in the new sim are the S39 Wraiths. The Wraiths capped off a very dominant regular season with just about everything going right for them outside of three late season games that were not very pleasant for Yellowknife. Thankfully they were all road games to the Wraiths kept their home record intact. Beyond their record, the team played as well as you could hope for with a loaded roster. Everything from their offense to their special teams was just crazy with a league leading defense in almost every stat but their passing defense which was second in the entire league last season.
How do they rank up against other Ultimus winners? The Wraiths actually had the highest scoring offense out of any of the current sim champions by 0.5 points which belongs to another one of the top teams in the current sim. The Wraiths stand alone though with the best defense at preventing scores, total yards defense, and come in second for most other stats. The only area that the Wraiths could not keep up with the other Ultimus winners was in total yards per game where the Canadian squad remains average among the champions. With such a dominant performance, the S39 Wraiths are the top dog from all of the winners.
2. S38 Arizona Outlaws & S34 Chicago Butchers (66.67%)
In second place is a tie between two very recent teams that relied more on their defense than their offenses. Not to say that the two offenses were by any means bad, but one phase of these teams’ game was not all the way there when the regular season finished. The Outlaws were the most dominant rushing attack (of the Ultimus winners) but lacked a similarly powerful passing attack while the Butchers had a powerful passing attack, but lacked the rushing offense to continue. The Butchers at least were able to find the endzone on an average of 4.5 times a game as well which almost dethroned the S39 Wraiths as the highest scoring offense. As mentioned, their defenses were just above average when compared to the other Ultimus champs which helped with the mixed offensive success.
4. S33 Baltimore Hawks & S27 Sarasota Sailfish (62.5%)
From here on, the ties only continue as the Hawks managed to put together a rather above average team in their S33 squad which broke past the many years caused by the bad late S20 seasons (sorry for that). They weren’t bad in any area and plenty of their stats sit in the above average area. The S27 Sailfish managed to do something differently than the Hawks where their offense didn’t keep up with most of the group being compared, but their defense led the charge. Specifically, their rushing defense which held teams to under 57 yards per game! No other team held an opponent to under 60 yards per game in any category except the S27 Sailfish’s rushing defense. Anything that the passing defense for Sarasota could not do, their front seven made up for. Both of these squads fit into the just above average category with some stellar performances but not enough to break past our teams in second place.
6. S31 Honolulu Hahalua (54.17%)
One highlight team that just edges out the average group is the S31 Honolulu Hahalua. A team where offense was more of a suggestion, but the defense was a stronghold. It is like having the strongest armor in a MMO but your attack is still on level ten. The best statistical representation of this for Honolulu was that they had the best passing yards allowed defense, but were below average in every offensive category outside of their passing yards per game where they were around the middle of the group. Their defense only ever had small issues protecting against the run but they were only allowing slightly more than 100 yards per game. Is an interesting split that keeps them from being on the middle or lower edge of the Ultimus leaders.
7. S30 Sarasota Sailfish & S28 Yellowknife Wraiths (50%)
Now we hit the middle of the pack with the S30 Sailfish and the S28 Wraiths. Both teams that are considered perennial playoff powerhouses that snuck into an Ultimus with very close games. They managed to get in and win so at the end of the day, that will be all people care about. These two teams had a mixture of both good and bad stats with the passing attack for the S30 Sailfish helping them from slipping out of this middle ground. Yellowknife on the other hand has to unfortunately stick with just having all around average stats or they might have jumped up to the next spot with the S31 Hahalua. However, I think I can say for both teams that these seasons were a very big heart attack when it came down to those playoff games. Strangely, the S30 Sailfish had little problem in their Ultimus game while the Wraiths squeaked out through the entire playoff run. If I had to give a personal edge in this category and create a spot just below Honolulu, Sarasota’s passing offense would land them there.
9. S37 Arizona Outlaws , S35 Honolulu Hahalua , & S32 New York Siverbacks (45.83%)
Next up are the below average trio. All of these teams won the Ultimus, but one side of their game was holding them back greatly. For the Silverbacks it was their defense, the Hahalua had their offense, and the Outlaws stood at the top of this pack with being just below average on both sides of the ball. Two very interesting tidbits with this trio is that the S37 Outlaws have the third highest scoring (per game) offense out of all champions while the New York Silverbacks relied heavily on the arm of Sam Howitzer who gave New York the only offense to average more than 400 yards per game out of every team to win an Ultimus in the current sim. They were just shy too of being at 320 passing yards per game with only a couple unlucky performances holding the group back. As for the Hahalua, their defensive performance mostly sat at just below average where they barely missed the mark on probably joining those in the middle despite their poor offensive output during this Ultimus run.
12. S36 Honolulu Hahalua & S29 New York Silverbacks (33.33%)
And finally, the bottom two Ultimus teams in the current sim. Nothing to be worried about since they do both have trophies to show off for their work these seasons, but don’t put them in the beauty pageant with other super models. Both teams had to rely on some high amounts of luck to get through their respective seasons and managed to play some really good defense to secure their victories. Thankfully for the Silverbacks they managed to pull the Berlin Fire Salamanders in their Ultimus who used up their luck in the NSFC championship while the Hahalua saved their late game heroics for a last minute touchdown. If there was a way to bring some kenpom luck attribute into the stats then the S36 Hahalua and the S29 Silverbacks would have maxed the stat out!