Tag: Season 14

Season 14 Playoffs Are Here!

13 gruelling weeks of boosts, goals, demos, flips, screams, sweat, tears and much more have led to one thing… PLAYOFFS!

Seasons 14 Playoffs promise to be the most exciting yet. With 10 Championships up for grabs across 5 leagues and 2 game modes, come the 20th November there will be a lot of jubilant celebrations from those lucky enough to claim Championship glory.

31 of the 32 franchises had at least one team qualify for the playoffs with only the Jets missing out altogether. No doubt the Jets will be back next season determined to prove they are “top guns”.

With 31 franchises all vying for triumph the competition will be fierce with many feeling deserving of the title of Champions. But only a few can prevail.

To see who succeeds the live action starts on the 29th October from 6pm ET on the MLE Network and continues every weekend up to and including the grand Finals weekend on the 19th & 20th November.

Playoff Live Schedule:
29-30th October | Play Ins
5-6th November | Conference Semi-Finals
12-13th November | Conference Finals
19-20th November | Grand Finals

In Focus: Academy League Foxes

In the early post-season of Minor League Esports Season 13, the Foxes had found themselves in the play-ins for that season’s playoffs. Their season ended, however, just as quickly as the post-season started, as the Academy League Foxes were first out in standard and second out in doubles. This was a crushing loss having worked so hard that season, having made it as far as they did. This, however, is just the beginning of this tale of rags to riches. 

The Foxes have a very specific mindset that’s been the fundamental of their mental game for several seasons. When asked about their losses at the end of Season 13, they all shared the opinion that it wasn’t that big of a deal, and that they simply lost to a better team. This roster, however, was far from over. 

Most players, after a season ends will collectively go their separate ways, stop playing together, or start working on getting ready for the next season as soon as the current one ends. The Foxes however found themselves in the VCs of their discord regularly. Playing as they had the whole season well into the off-season. At least three or four nights a week the Academy League Foxes would come together and run in-house games, or scrims versus other leagues. Or Emilia scrims when she was still the main source of competition within the league. 

Between seasons 13 and 14, there was an abnormally long offseason, spanning the better side of six months. And when you couple that with the close-knit group of friends who play together, the result is an astonishing amount of chemistry between players. For months, players SupaHotBoii, Kai, Kaliber, AmericasF1nest, and Whyuacow played together with the remaining members of the other teams. Kai and Kaliber spent those months challenging their teammates to get better, having been the flagship players during Season 13. When the new season approached, the elephant in the room was every player’s biggest question for their FM: Who’s being retained? And who is not? 

During a town hall meeting of the players, it was immediately apparent that all players wished to be retained, having grown together through season 13 and the extended off-season. And thus the decision was quickly made. The environment that they had created was easy to play in, easy to play with and was always a good choice to hop in the VC.  The Foxes didn’t need to draft players, they “Had all the ingredients of a championship team” as SupaHotBoii mentioned shortly before season 14’s draft lottery. After draft transactions, the AL Foxes were left with just one 3rd round, 17th pick. That means that eighty-one players were drafted before the Foxes could pick up anyone, and they only got to pick one player. 

So who, you may ask, did the AL Foxes look to pick up, to make their already S tier lineup better? The players had collectively agreed (as if they could disagree on anything at this point) that they didn’t want to go for someone highly skilled. They didn’t want someone who was going to win them games or score lots of goals. No, the Foxes, wanted something much different than that of other teams. They went out, into scrims, tryouts, and hangouts looking for someone who everyone liked. Someone who could match the energy that the current roster was already putting out. And, once again, the Foxes agreed that there was one player that they loved playing with: RaspyDingo. 

Raspy was the 81st pick of the Season 14 academy league draft. In his career in MLE, he’s played over a thousand matches, averaging 3.21 MVPR for those of us old-schoolers that still know what that means since the change to the Sprocket Rating. Raspy also averages 1.14 goals on 2.88 shots per game, meaning the Foxes were still getting a solid and capable player: but as they recall some of the experiences in the Foxes VCs with Raspy they jokingly got all that and more. 

Raspy is the life of the party. According to his teammates, it is impossible to fumble your mental state when he’s around. He doesn’t even have to be playing, he just hops in and with more enthusiasm than anyone else, hypes up his teammates and keeps them focused on doing what they do best: having fun. 

It all seemed on the up and up until League Operations made changes to how the league was going to function. During the elo redistribution, Kai was lost to a rank-out and moved up to Champion League, and Kaliber followed shortly after. The team was thrown into a panic, trying to figure out what they were going to do for the upcoming season having retained effectively an entire roster, and then adding to it. Now they were down two players, and their best two at that. They were scrambling for options now, having used their draft pick to draft RaspyDingo. 

As a result, the Foxes picked up NullKey, Unbreki andWestlysn1pes, three players well known to the Foxes that fit the bill of what they were looking for in a player. NullKey had a very large decision to make when picking his team for season 14, saying, “I had to pick between the Aviators and the Foxes, and the Foxes have way better colors so-“. With these two being signed, they rounded out the roster going into Season 14 – and boy the season they are having now. 

As of week 5, the AL Foxes roster has a 4-1 series record, with an overall record of 17-8 in both standard and doubles. Leading the goal differential statistic by a large margin, having scored 27 more goals than they have conceded in standard and 24 more in doubles. At this point, it is highly unlikely that the team will miss playoffs, and they’ve got their eyes set on a Season 14 title. When asked about their ambitions, they said the following: 

“We are not at the top of the league until we’ve beaten every team *burp* The score is zero-zero and this is going to be tough.” – Whyuacow

“We are not saying we’re the best, but we’re going to bring our best every game. It is not going to be easy, but we’re number one for a reason.” – AmericasF1nest 

“You can’t get down when you have the support that we do. We can always build off each other.” -supaHotBoii

When asked about strategies, the team said: 

“We favor the offense, and we’re very offensively based, but losing doesn’t affect us, it makes us more fired up to do better the next game. Communication between games is a massive part of the team. Always asking what could be better, and what works.” – SupaHotBoii

“Raspy… sick ’em”! – Whyuacow

The Foxes are a very closely knit team, that has taken Academy League teams by storm, absolutely blowing them off their axles. They have proven that communication, friendship, and skulk mentality will get better results for a team than trying to cram statistically rated players on a field together. Maybe just maybe the Foxes cunning plans will lead to the ultimate prize!

Community Interview: Maple

Season 14 rolling right along and there is no better time to continue getting to know our great players and staff. Let’s take a light-hearted look at those that make up the great MLE community.

In this interview, it’s time to get to know Maple!

What role do you play in MLE?
I am the director of the Development Team, an advisor to League Operations, a member of the mod team and I help out with Production whenever Leachy let’s me.

Wow! You do a lot of stuff! What does the Development Team do in the grand scheme of MLE?
Thank you! I do love to help. Development is responsible for two core areas. The first is all of our code, so our bots that provide scrims and replay submission and so much more. The second is Data Sciences. That group tracks all stats, helps tune elo, and help league Operations with information needed to help keep competitive integrity. They also do lots more, like babysit Adi. 

What brought you to MLE and how long have you been here?
Ripperr brought me here. I used to run another community, MiddleAgeNoobs (MAN) and was looking for a place to play. I’ve been here for close to 2.5 years.

2.5 years is impressive!
Thanks. I love it here, and can’t wait for the next 2.5 years! 

What team do you play for currently?
I’m non playing this year, but I am the General Manager of the Sabres. Go SAB!!!!!

How long have you been a part of the Sabres?
This is my third season. I started out as a Foundation League Captain, then became GM last season and again this season!

What aspects of MLE do you love?
Almost everything. I love the non-toxic part the most, the people are amazing, Raspberries and Water took me on a BBQ date, the quality of play and the professionalism of our entire staff are exciting. 

What other ways do you think MLE sets itself apart from other leagues?
The fact that we play all 5 games, that we are draft based, and that our staff are the best in league and community management are big. But by far, the biggest thing that sets us apart is our community and our members. MLE’s community is second to none! We also have TyTy and he’s pretty awesome! We also have the active support and participation of Phoebe, a Ubisoft Nadeo Dev who believes in MLEs community and values, so that’s saying something!

The non-toxic part was huge for me as well. My wife basically told me, “If you don’t start having fun… I’m going to break the disk.” Finding MLE was huge for me in that regard. That aspect really sets MLE apart in my opinion. 
I couldn’t agree more Brava. I think that there are tons of communities out there, but MLE rises above for me.

What caused you to have a desire to help out?
I love to help, it’s just in my nature. There was a spot in Admissions open and I applied. I still think that whole admissions team is amazing. Love ya Deejay! 

What has been your favorite or most fulfilling time on staff?
This is a tough one. I’d say joining League Ops and helping bring 3s in, and also working with Shuckle, Adi, Riz and Zach on Emilio and now Sprocket has been extremely rewarding. The scrim system alone has helped mle rekindle its community first focus. 

Silly questions: Does pineapple belong on pizza?
Yes. If it makes you happy, why not? 

What do you consider rule 1 to be?
Sacred.

Have you ever broken it?
Only in the playoffs. Otherwise, you never break rule 1. 

What’s your opinion of demos?
The more the merrier. I’m a huge fan of Rocket Sledge and think demos are an important part of the game. 

Rocket Sledge is definitely a hero of mine! Demos add excitement to the gameplay in my opinion. Have you had a favorite demo play in an MLE series?
I was playing in a 2s series with Goosen, who is a Sabres Captain now, and an incredible friend that I’ve made through MLE. He was out middle waiting for a pass, so I passed and then got a double demo so that he had an open net to score on. That had to be my favorite play!

We’re only a week in but what is your prediction for the Academy League championship? Who’s in it and who takes it?
Sabres take it in 7, against… whomever they play!

I want to thank Maple for all of the amazing work that is done here at MLE and for taking the time to do this interview.

Keep a look out for more community interviews over the course of Season 14 right here on our website!

Community Interview: Stevo

Season 14 is now underway and there’s no better time to start getting to know some of the people involved. From players to MLE staff, over the course of the season we will be interviewing a whole host of them! Bringing you a light-hearted look at those that make up the great MLE community.

This time it’s the turn of Stevo, long-standing member of community who has helped greatly behind the scenes specifically with the website. So let’s find out a bit more about him…

When did you join MLE?
I forget. Maybe 2017 or 2018.

What brought you to MLE?
Reddit. From there I got to know admin and got involved on a higher level to help make such a great community continue. Love it.

What teams have you played for?
Puffins, Dodgers and Wolves

Favorite moment in MLE as a fan or player?
Watching the Puffins Academy team take championship I think in 2019?

What’s your favorite cereal?
I don’t eat cereal anymore but when I did I loved to eat lucky charms.

What’s your go to drink during a matchup?
Beer. But kid friendly would be a Diet Coke.

What kind of hobbies do you have?
I run D-COT.com as a side hustle hobby, I love playing the piano. I produced four albums, played in a big band and in a girl-fronted band which played at CBGB!

What is D-Cot all about?
D-COT is a social community where Disney fans can gather and share in the magic of Disney Theme Park music. Members can stream park music from our jukebox, create their own favorites playlist and listen anytime they wish. It’s the only on-demand music player!

You produced 4 albums! That’s really cool. Do you sing or is it piano?
I sing and play piano. These four albums were only instrumental. All recordings were in my home studio.

A girl fronted band? That sounds pretty awesome. What’s CBGB?
The girl-fronted band was in the mid 2000’s. CBGB’s was a venue in NYC. https://www.cbgb.com/welcome

What’s your favorite meal?
Pizza. 🙂 A meal though be eggplant parmigiana.

What kind pregame routines do you have?
Take a shot to calm the nerves. I do free play to warm up the fingers.

Do you have a favorite BAWLS flavor?
No. I have never had it sorry :s

What’s your favorite season? Fall winter etc..
Winter. I love playing during Christmas and the colder weather.

What kind of MLE merch do you have?
I have a couple shirts.

Do you have any random skills?
I know how to play the piano.

Do you have any pets?
None. If kids count, I have three lol.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m not involved in MLE as much as I used to be but I’m so happy to see that it’s thriving and going strong. I’m here if anything is needed.

Big thanks to Stevo for taking the time to answer our questions. Who will be next up in our community interviews? Well you will just have to wait and see!

Master League Draft Review: A Visual Analysis

Season 14 is now underway with the players and their respective teams playing their opening series. The pre-season draft already seems like a distant memory but not for some. Indeed one person in particular has been hard at work to give a different perspective on the draft, specifically one focused on players and their performances during scrims in the off-season.

That person is Nate of Master League Blizzard fame. Pouring over the off-season stats Nate has produced spider graphs for a number of 1st round picks in this season’s Master League Draft. These graphs (don’t worry arachnophobes there’s no actual spiders) provide a visual representation of each players performance over the off-season, indicating what their respective teams can expect in terms of playstyle.

Before we get to the graphs. Here’s the what, how and everything else behind Nate’s work…

  • What is this?
    These are player skill charts created with radar charts to visualize the differences between players. Each skill category has a point on the chart and, when read together, provides a visual “map” of a player’s abilities.
  • Data collection & synthesis method
    All stats were collected from the Master League scrim stats Metabase. Both 2s and 3s stats were collected & synthesized separately, then combined to create an overall rating for each skill category. Population max and min values for each stat were established to normalize the data– lower Master League players were included in the population to provide more realistic lower bounds.
  • Definition of criterion used
    Explicit and implicit stats were used for skill categories:
    • Supporting Stats
      GA/GM – Goals Against per game
      SvA/GM – Saves Against per game
      Sh/GM – Shots per game
      ShA/GM – Shots Against per game
      ShotA % – Shots Against percentage
    • Explicit
      G/GM – Goals per game
      A/GM – Assists per game
      Sv/GM – Saves per game
      Win % – Win percentage
      ΔMVPR – MVPR vs. OMVPR
      Exp – Experience (# of games played)
    • Implicit
      Offense – Overall offensive performance based on G/GM, A/GM, and SvA/GM
      Pressure – Defined as the relation between Sh/GM and ShA/GM
      Defense – Overall defensive performance based on Sv/GM, GA/GM, ShA/GM, ShotA %, and OMVPR
  • Limitations of data and representation
    Given that many intangible stats and player characteristics are not collected in MLE stats, this data representation is not a complete picture of what makes a player good or bad. Major gameplay components that are not factored into this project include but are not limited to: situational awareness, positioning, mechanics, consistency, etc. These charts are not intended to definitively prove one player is better than another, but they do intend to provide a visual representation of MLE scrim stats in a way that players can be compared along specific metrics.

So now you have an understanding let’s get to those sweet graphs themselves…

 

#1 Pick | Deadzie | Jets

The first name “out of the hat” was Deadzie. The Jets appear to have picked up a pretty solid offensive player in Deadzie. Their offensive play certainly led to a healthy win% and ΔMVPR. The Jets obviously were encouraged and went big with the 1st pick of the draft, with Deadzie having a salary of 17.5, which is towards the higher echelons of the Master League salary range.

 

 

#7 Pick | SpongebobGGoober | Eclipse

Who says defence can’t win matches? Well whoever they are show them the way to SpongebobGGoober because during scrims they excelled in defensive play achieving high ratings in defence and saves per game which contributed to a high win percentage and ΔMVPR. With Goober on board the Eclipse will look to shutdown and blackout the oppositions offence!

 

 

#13 Pick | Eggman | Knights

Eggman? More like Pac-Man given their player graph resembles a familiar, retro video game character with an obsession for pills, fruit and scared ghosts. Eggman’s “Pacman” certainly looks pretty strong with generally positive ratings in the majority of areas. Time will tell if a relative lack of scrims played may lead to Eggman having a slow start to the season but if his graph is anything to go be then it looks like the Knights have an egg-celant player on their hands.

 

 

#14 Pick | Le_Frijole | Ducks

Arguably one of the most satisfying names to pronounce (or at least attempt to) in MLE, Le_Frijole, which we can only assume judging by their player ratings graph translates to “scores a lot”. Yes Le_Frijole certainly knows how to find the net. Mix that in with a high pressure rating opposition can expect to see Le_Frijole imposing himself in and around the goal mouth.

 

 

#24 Pick | Manatee | Aviators

MLE veteran Manatee experience really shows in his player graph. While he may not have had displayed great success during scrims there can be no doubting his commitment to playing and developing his game if his graph is anything to go by. With a salary of 16.0 Aviators may have picked up an experienced flyer for value. Can he help the Aviators be Top Guns in the Master League?

 

 

 

#29 Pick | Calcifree | Puffins

Puffins are known to be relatively carefree and peaceful creatures but Calcifree maybe the Puffins that goes against type with what can only be described as an “aggressive” chart that shows high ratings in offense and pressure. It certainly hasn’t done their ΔMVPR and Win% any harm in scrims. Anyone facing the Puffins in the Master League season can expect some hostility on the field from the offset!

 

 

#32 Pick | Leachy | Sabres

The last pick of the round was Leachy. Chief Production Officer of Minor League Esports sure looks like a safe pair of hands with a high skill rating in saves per game. The rest of his skill ratings point to generally being an all-round player without demonstrating any outstanding qualities. Hopefully he can increase on his win% this season to help Sabres towards the playoffs.

 

 

 

Those were just a select few player graphs analysed. In total Nate looked at and produced 21 graphs! Here are the rest of the players examined as part of his project. Enjoy!

And that concludes this in-depth, visual analysis of the Master League 1st round draft picks. Hats off to Nate for putting this together it will be interesting to see how these players perform over the season and see if their off-season ratings and performances are replicate during the regular season itself.

Community Interview: Kyuubii

Season 14 is now underway and there’s no better time to start getting to know some of the people involved. From players to MLE staff, over the course of the season we will be interviewing a whole host of them! Bringing you a light-hearted look at those that make up the great MLE community.

Our first “quick-fire” community interview is with Kyuubii, who is currently playing for the Academy League for the Hawks. Let’s find out about Kyuubii…

Brava When did you join MLE? 
Kyuubii – About a year ago, two weeks before the playoffs of season 12. 

Brava – What teams have you played for?
Kyuubii –  I’ve played for the Podgers, Outlaws, Wolves, and now the Hawks.

Brava – Favorite moment in MLE as a fan or player? 
Kyuubii – My first scrim in MLE, I felt like I was in a RLCS 6MAN scrim.

Brava – What’s your favorite cereal? 
Kyuubii – Oh Cinnamon Toast Crunch, all the way.

Brava – What’s your go to drink during a matchup? 
Kyuubii – Pineapple Cocktail Gamer Supps or W A T E R.

Brava – What kind of hobbies do you have? 
Kyuubii – I’m stuck to my chair and play too much RL, PLES HALP!

Brava – What’s your favorite meal? 
Kyuubii – Grilled pork chops and some mash potatoes with gravy mmmmmm.
Brava – The pork chops and mash answer totally made me hungry

Brava – What kind of pregame routines do you have? 
Kyuubii – I get on an hour before each match warmup in free play, custom maps, then some ranked.

Brava – Do you have a favorite BAWLS flavor? 
Kyuubii – It’s a tie between orange or root beer.
Brava – Root beer Bawls is probably my favorite.

Brava – What brought you to MLE? 
Kyuubii – Ok so i joined as a joke at first, my friend was approached by someone trying to recruit him, he gave me a website and said ,”Hey Zay, join this league no balls.” I did and I’ve been here ever since.

Brava – What’s your favorite season? Fall, winter etc.. 
Kyuubii – I’m a black bear, I like winter and like to sleep.

Brava – What kind of MLE merch do you have?
Kyuubii – I just ordered an elysium Hawks hoodie.

Brava – Do you have any random skills?
Kyuubii – I can make bubbles noises with my mouth and I can do a good Carl Wheezer from what I am told.

Brava – Do you have any pets?
Kyuubii – Sadly, no but I would love a huskie and/or german shepard.

Brava – Do you have any links you’d like to share? You’re twitch or anything else?
Kyuubii – Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/kyuubii_lol and TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@itskyuubii?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 

Many thanks to Kyuubii for talking the time to answer our burning questions! Keep your eyes out for more fun community interviews everyone.

(*The words that are in italics are words that have been added for grammatical purposes.)