BOL Gold Masters - Week 8 power rankings: End Game

Good whatever time of day it is everyone, and welcome to the Toxic Bread (formerly Toxic Duo) power rankings. This week we take a hard look at who succeeded and who has done the opposite as we draw closer to the end of the season.

1. Crosspoint Pegasus

Crosspoint continues to sit at the top of our rankings. A crushing 2-0 week last week saw the team. Crushing both Oasis and Friend Zoned with 44 and 46 kill games (dropping only 9 deaths in the latter), this team Steam rolled the opposition this week, after a stumble in week 6 where they lost to Literal Monkeys and Scarlet Foxes. I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and say they are above the babies, if only marginally. This week we will see for sure if crosspoint are the best team in BOL majors, as they face Chubby Babies in a bout for first place, which they will want to win considering they lost last time and another lose would see them lose out on tie breakers, and Imperial Gaming who are attempting to climb their way back up the standings. The one question on my mind is how the team will be impacted with the end of season roster change, and an unproven support stepping in.

All eyes will be on this team as we close out the season, and the bottom of the pack teams try to decide whether horses or toddlers are the scarier of the teams.

player to watch: Zind – With a large champion pool, and one of the few chad assassin players in a otherwise lackluster pool of control mage players, eyes will be on zind to see if he can continue to be the focal point of the team in the last two weeks of the season.

2. Chubby Babies

The Chubby Babies, the only team to look as dominant in their wins last week as Pegasus (dropping only 2 kills in the match vs imperial, both on support!) are definitely wanting to take their #1 spot back this week vs Pegasus. The roster finally seems to be establishing itself with sharkleberry, and will look to prove it with a win over the only other consistent team in the league, as well as bottom of the pack Epidemic this week. The babies find themselves in a decent position of having the W/L record over their direct competitor, and the chance to solidify it this week, the team has the chance to all but lock in first seed before week 9.

player to watch: Sharkleberry – as the team solidifies their synergy around him, my eyes will be on whether or not sharkleberry can continue his hot streak while playing playmaker for carries buhrockobama and CANMaple. Jungle/mid synergy will be of higher importance against CPP than against other teams.

3. Scarlet Foxes

Scarlet Foxes have come up big in recent weeks. Handing losses to NSG, The Epidemic, Crosspoint, and chubby babies in the last three weeks, the team is on the rise, and currently is tied for 3rd place with NSG in the standings. Boasting a mid-season rebuilt roster, with the sole goal being to take down Chubby Babies, the roster are punching above their original weight class and making a strong statement, which was enough to take a spot in our top 3 teams. This week will see the team take on Literal Monkeys, and ShadowZ, and if the team can look consistent enough to beat those obviously below them, then they will have a strong spot as we move closer and closer to playoffs. And they will definitely want to take the wins that are free so as to avoid the 5-6 spot that will have to fight to stay in the majors playoffs.

player to watch: JoshKiddy + Healthy Ego – Both players take the player to watch for this team, as both have been putting up solid numbers in the carry role. The team seems to rely on both of them being able to get strong leads, and struggle when one doesn’t and isn’t snowballed by the other.

4. Imperial Gaming

Imperial Gaming has been a team that has started to look more and more inconsistent as the season has gone on. From dropping games to Friend Zoned and Literal Monkeys to beating Scarlet Foxes and NSG. The team that started the season as the favorite, now is struggling to avoid being in the 5/6 spot. This week will see the roster play vs ShadowZ followed by Crosspoint Pegasus, and as the season winds to a close, every game is important. The question on my mind is how well Awoo will manage his tilt, as the roster seems to struggle when he isn’t ahead in lane. Azure is a good mid laner, but seems to be lacking when it comes to straight up carry potential.

The team is their own worst enemy, and how well they can manage their mental, and set up their carries for success will decide how the rest of the season goes for the team.

Player to watch: Awoo – What will his name be this week? Will he carry or will he int? Find out Wednesday on the next episode of Tilter Pog Z

5 NSG Gold

NSG Gold has solidified themselves in the middle of the pack after a rough start to the season. The team that looked solid in the pre season tournaments to earn point to make it into masters. The team has had strong showing against their direct competition, and will look to continue it this week in their matches vs Friend Zoned and Oasis. Out of the top 5 teams, NSG is the most likely to drop into the lower half of the bracket, however with a solid push they could potentially knock Imperial down into the wild card matches. Player to watch: Dukee11 - The team's primary engager, and the source of most of their leads. Eyes will be on him this week.

6. Oasis

Sporting another new name, Oasis (Formerly OutKasts, Formerly Wulfpack) the team looks to try and keep up with Awoo in the number of name changes in a season. The team continues to sit in the lower half of the standing/rankings, and live up to their predictable nature. Oasis has been beating teams worse than/on the same level as them, and losing to all of the teams that are better than them, all while running team fighting comps. This week will see the roster look to take on The Epidemic, and NSG, in what will be two important matches considering both teams are rivals for the lower spots into playoffs. Odds appear to be going in their favor with the recent trends of NSG and TE, but only time will tell if they will make it into the playoffs, only to lose to Valor Bulls United.

Player to watch: TruX – the most consistent member of the team, and the person who looked best in their loss vs CPP. Giving him an early game carry, and crushing drakana appears to be the way to beat this roster.

7. Literal Monkeys

The monkeys lived up to their name this week, becoming the only team to lose to the #10 ShadowZ, as well as NSG Gold last week. Which is unfortunate for a roster that was on the rose, and making a strong case for playoffs following their roster rebuild. Week 6 saw them beat Crosspoint, and The Epidemic, so they were looking on the rise. Perhaps week 7 was just a hiccup for the roster, however that does not change the fact that they are in a rougher spot for making the push. If they drop games to Scarlet Foxes and Friend Zoned this week, then they will be hard pressed to make the push upward. The question on my mind is – Should they have tried to keep Duddy over Wunderworld?

player to watch: Wunderworld – he had a rough week last week, and opted to play Karthus a poke/all in comp in a league that is dominated by its engage junglers. My eyes will be on him to see if he is able to bounce back from the loss to ShadowZ or not.

8. Friend Zoned

Friend Zoned, Friend Zoned, Friend Zoned. How you consistently find ways to go 1-1 when you otherwise shouldn’t be able to is impressive I suppose. However, at this stage in the game it safe to say that this team will not be making their way into playoffs. The roster suffered a crushing defeat against CPP, surviving as long as they did in spite of their team comp rather than because of it. This loss managed to prove that, at least not all of the teams issues were due to “jungle diff” (I may or may not adopt the mindset that laner diff directly impacts jungle diff, and then junglers are useless after 15 minutes), however the immediate defeat of The Epidemic seems to prove that there was at least some growth from the roster change. But I digress, Friend Zoned will have to go 4-0 in the last two weeks, as well as have other teams play spoiler if they want to have a chance at playiffs, and while they did this last season, it doesn’t seem likely with the current trend of the team. The roster should focus on getting as good as the can, so that they can try to avoid relegation to the top Minors teams, and climb as high as they can in the time they have.

player to watch: Duddybrainzz – it will be up to duddy to prove himself as a starter in the rest of the season. Being pulled off his former teams bench, he will want to prove that LMK was wrong to leave him on the bench, as FZ takes them on this week.

9. The Epidemic

While the teams comms/atmosphere may have improved with the loss of jayyster, their coinflip nature definitely has not. From Taking down Scarlet Foxes to blind picking Sivir/Kassadin and inting vs Friend Zoned, the epidemic is a team that seems to have high highs, but ShadowZ level lows. Currently sitting at 6-8, the roster is in a good spot to try and make a push for playoffs, however they have a lot of work ahead of them if that is the goal. Playing vs Oasis and Chubby Babies this week, it will take a lot of effort to overcome the mountain before them, but it’s not a question of if they are capable, but if the coin will land in their favor.

player to watch: Drafter? – whoever runs the draft for this team. If they can keep the team on their win conditions or not will be a big decider on if they win, or if they run Shyvanna top

10. ShadowZ

ShadowZ put an end to the 0-18 dream with an uncharacteristic win this week vs Literal Monkeys. Though this is just a small bit of light in an otherwise dark season for the team, who are living up to their name by residing in the dark part of the standings and rankings. The team has had it rough this season, and will look to attempt to improve their game before relegation arrives, and they end up knocked back down to minors.

Player to watch: The other teams and if they will Int to them like LMK did.