Here they are. The rankings the many have been asking for. No surprise on each end, but in the middle? Read and see and… Let the Debate Begin!
32. Skar Bay Sharks: The Carp were destroyed last season. During the off-season they had a BIG restructure and drafted a few players, but I don’t believe this will make a difference. Until coach Muad figures out the workings of the DLE and how to protect at least a few of his players these Guppies are gonna struggle.
31. Great Ogham Griffins: That was difficult to type… The Griffins have a new coach, a new roster, and a new home. With coach ben_awesome being new to the K-Dub he will take his lumps this season. However, with the stash of early round picks he has in reserve for draft7, we believe next season (Season 7) could be the Rise of the ‘Fins. But this season, he should try to protect and farm.
30. Hargendorf Unicorns: The 1 horns aren’t a team I’d ever have thought I’d see toward the bottom of any of my rankings. The_Murker (5th) is one of the premier coaches in the league, but with drafting no players in draft6 and stockpiling for draft7, I expect that the tank is on. I just hope not to see a team purposely losing games in the DLE.
29. Altdorf Thunderbolts: Playing in the same division as the back to back defending champion AND all-time winningest franchise can be a tough life. Coach seventyone has endured this since the beginning. The ‘Bolts have more losses than any other franchise in the history of the DLE. They’ve added some quality players over the past 2 seasons, but until they can get them playing together as a team we will leave them toward the bottom of the rankings.
28. Muckenhof Manticores: The ‘Cores are a team that has struggled to find wins throughout their existence. But they have had the stability of the same coach since entering the league as a season 2 expansion team. With the current roster, I don’t see any real stars and therefore do not foresee any change in fortunes.
27. Averheim River Bandits: New logo, some new players, fairly new coach. Will this equate into a return to the old playoff form of this franchise? Will the new logo will bring some luck as they abandon Bucco Bruce? I don’t see enough improvement to warrant a higher ranking at this point.
26. Carroburg Crimson Cascade: 3C coasted through last season on auto-pilot after suffering far too many losses. Their off-season saw a restructure and lots of changes to the roster. But considering their division rivals I don’t think there is a lot of room for success this season.
25. Irrana Avalanche: CaptainRhino impressed us all in Season 4 with his run to and through the playoffs before losing in the Super Bowl to the Pats. Then last season they didn’t do so well only winning 4 games. So was Season 4 a fluke and purely luck or was Season 5 just a Super Bowl Hangover? While I like the Captain.. I mean he is a Philly fan afterall… I think a lifetime 21/21/20 record in the DLE shows mediocrity and with the growth of the Bruisers and the historically competitive Bucs and Wrecker, the Avalanche will find it tough going.
24. Emsk Red Cardinals: In a league where the quality of coaches is very high and the TW of teams are very high it’s tough to make the cut. Emsk is 24 in all-time Franchise win percent, Coach Calthor had them knocking on the door of the playoffs last season, with their first ever winning season but still failed to get in. Even though Hargendorf is tanking, I still don’t expect Emsk to improve on last season. As a matter of fact, I expect a bit of a letdown.
23. Templehof Thunder: The Thunder’s first season was horrendous. Then they drafted Andrew Luck in draft 3 and have since played .500 ball (actually a game above). I don’t see any additions to this team to take it to the next level. So I would expect them to stick around that.500 play, or maybe even worse since much of the league is improving.
22. Kemperbad Knights: Oh how the Mighty have fallen. For the first time since season 1, the DLE’s Season 2 Champion and All-time 3rd winningest Franchise missed the playoffs last season. The teams around them continue to improve, and the coaches seem to be closing that gap as well, as The_Demon and his Knights have slid back into the pack.
21. Norden Legion: After seeing the success coach JackH seems to be having with pre-season practice games I considered changing this ranking, However, I will stick with my gut here. Since coming to the DLE, coach JackH has not had much success and until he proves himself he will remain in the bottom half of the rankings.
20. Barboza Bruisers: Seems many others are rather high on the Bruisers this season. I personally feel the same way about them as I do the teams I’ve just talked about. 1700 is a BIG TW. 0.327 is not a BIG win percent. And that is the win percentage of the Bruisers since coach Kummo took over the franchise. 5 wins in season 4 is the peak of success of this franchise. Finishing above .500 would be a huge surprise to me.
19. Wolfsbach Scimitars: The KFC-S will be super competitive. The Butterknives just seem to be the roster that I like the least in the division. Although the historical pattern shows that even numbered seasons are successful ones for coach Kaiowas, I am still going to put them here.
18. Los Cabos Marauders: Another one of these coaches that is right around that .500 win percentage, coach chimp2010’s team is still a bit small to start to compete with the Big Boys. The Marauders seem to be heading in the right direction, but in Season 6 they are still climbing.
17. Talabheim Sluggers: Recently the Sluggers have been a mystery. Not a lot of success, but a couple wins against top teams (San Luis & Nuln) last season gives hope to this historically suffering franchise. I have hope that this will be the franchises most successful season ever.
16. Flashfurt Universe: My biggest mistake last season was believing that coach Badpublicity could keep the ship steady and continue the success of the Universe. Instead, not only did the Universe not win the division, but they finished in 4th place. I assume that they will do better this season than last, if for no other reason than the Hargendorf tank. I believe this team still needs to improve the roster to truly compete.
15. Brionne Buccaneers: The fans in Hell’s Pit are nearly as emotional as their coach Meanandugl. And seeing their beloved defending SHC-S champion Bucs ranked toward the middle of the pack will probably upset them. However, they have lost so many stars. They have tried to replace them through the draft, but those players are inexperienced and have to prove that they can handle the spotlight, and fill the huge shoes left by those lost stars.
14. Remas Eagles: Coach Arcayn returns to his roots. The team that he founded when the league began. He returns to the division that was his original home. Some believe he ran for greener pastures to escape the shadow of Broekwater. But as I see it, the KFC-South is a tougher division than the KCF-West. So greener pastures it is not. I also don’t expect a much better finish for the Eagles than what the Griffins have had the past few seasons. 3rd or maybe 4th place in the division depending on Nuffle’s whims.
13. Middenheim Classics: Coach Bigf has done amazing things in Middenheim and with a playoff berth can no longer claim the “Cursed Franchise” bit that he has in the past. In a division with 2 teams ranked in the bottom 3, I expect that he and his Classics could likely be in the hunt again for a post-season bid.
12. Monte Castello Wreckers: After 1 bad season, and boy was it rather bad, I expect that MCW and coach Oly1987 will be right back in the thick of things this season. The AG experiment has begun, and all eyes will be on this squad. If Coach Hoodless is successful, we could see more coaches following suit.
11. Rotenbach Razorbacks: The Hawgs are a team that appears to be lacking. No +ST, only 2 +AG (neither on a thrower), 4 Guard, 4 MB (counting Ogre)… But the one thing they do have… coach SpecialOne (6th). This is the coach that can do the most with the least. So the fact that his team lacks so much doesn’t matter. He will compete no matter what. He may be deserving of even higher ranking, but it’s starting to get tight in this league.
10. Praag Grizzlies: Coach sonrises has assembled a pretty amazing team. The main problem is that he plays in a division with some of the best coaches in the league. So while he and his team may be top 10 in the league, I don’t think they finish any better than 3rd in their division, but that could still be good enough for a wildcard.
9. Marienburg Foxes: No team benefited more from the departure of all-time great coach Wreckage than coach MLS (10th) and his Foxes. The defending KFC-North champs look ready to begin a long reign at the top of the division that was previously owned by Flashfurt.
8. Erengrad Vikings: This team has a bunch of good players, although half of them look like they should probably be participating the wheelchair BloodBowl with all of the injuries they have. Yet coach Spelledaren (4th) continue to have winning records and I expect that trend to continue… THUMP!
7. Nuln Gunners: I always ask myself if the Gunners are actually good or if coach horekim (7th) just reaps the benefits of playing in the weakest division in the DLE. But then I see the draws with Broekwater and San Luis over the past few seasons, the deep playoff run in season 4, and the fact that his peers voted him 7th best in the league and I realize that the Gunners are the real deal. Expect them to be in the playoffs again this season.
6. Grenzburg Greenskins: The team that started the +ST trend before it was a trend. And the team keeps improving season after season. If that trend is to continue they will have to win the Super Bowl this season. I don’t know that I see that happening… but then I didn’t see the SHC Championship last season either.
5. Bilbali Rangers: The Butchers of the DLE. This team just seems to maim team after team, game after game. Coach CroixFer (2nd) tripped up in the playoffs last season against the eventual Conference Champions. The team lacks ballers, so when the Casualties don’t come, the team might struggle. But I have faith in Ramiro and that he will get the job done.
4. Wolfenberg Wolfskins: The Pelts and coach Laskas (3rd) have only lost 3 games in their 2 seasons in the DLE together. Only 1 during the regular season. I expect lots of the same. Lots a wins, a few ties, and very few to no losses. In a division where 3 teams could make the playoffs, I expect the Pelts to come out on top.
3. Kislev White Wolves: Coach Doofr (8th) moved the White Wolves to Kislev 2 seasons ago and totally changed the teams fortunes. Only losing a total of 3 regular season games in those 2 seasons is a complete turn around from what the team did while in Dunkelberg. I expect KWW to have a stranglehold on this division for a long time.
2. San Luis 49ers: Amid rumors of doping and steroid use in San Luis, it is now rumored that Warpstone and Vampirism may be included among the many supposed league infractions that are taking place in the Noners camp. It’s all headed up by coach neubau ( 9th) who returned last season after a short hiatus away. Expect these freaks to be in the hunt for the title this season.
1. Broekwater Patriots: I’m sure this surprises no one. As I always say, “To be the man, you have to beat the man.” Broekwater is one of the Strongest rosters with the top coach in the league, bghandras (1st). There are a few teams that can knock him off of this 2 season reign at the top, but in order to do so, they will need to play damn near flawlessly and/or get help from Nuffle.
