The SHL is the best because of all the people here now and in the past all working to make it the best and despite some bumps in the road that are only natural to occur in any endeavor, doing a very fine job for the most part



The first to be eliminated would probably be the Barracuda, because with so many teams with predatory birds on their shields, it would be naive to think at least some of them wouldn’t poach that fish at first sight.

Besides that, there is a bunch of other predators and then a few beasts of prey in the ranks also. Obviously the Buffalo of Buffalo and ever the Raging Rhino of Manhattan would find it hard to overcome all of a Wolfpack, a lion Pride, a pack of Panthers, all the birds of prey and then even a Dragon and a Phoenix, and if they would still manage to survive all those, the Syndicate would probably come along at some point and make erection-inducing powder or exploit all of the above for other such business commodities in any case.

Another thing are the natural phenomena logos, like the Blizzard and the Aurora and the North Stars, but it’s hard to see what real power they have to rival the all-encompassing reach of the Syndicate either in this time of technological advancement.

What you can be pretty sure of in the world though is that as long as there are social beings in it, there will be those aspiring to be Monarchs, those to make up their Platoons and those few Renegades that will be there to fight the establishment, whatever it may be. There will also still be those would-be conjurers, Specters and fake-news-artists looking gain what they can by peddling their own truths and untruths to those stuck in confusion and ignorance between those conflicting sides. While the Argonauts probably have gathered the experience over their long journey to tell one from the other, it is uncertain what even they would be able and willing to to about any of these things.

The only thing that seems to be able to overcome all these, after a fashion, might be the Phoenix of the Atlanta Inferno, since even after being exploited and monetized to oblivion by the Syndicate, they should still be able to rise from their ashes time and time again. So even though they may lose their battles, they are invincible in their essence.
(365 words)



It’s not hard to point out the best team not to make the finals this season, as it was clearly the team most people, though unwillingly, expected to make it there and likely even win another championship. I mean of course the big bad Hamilton Steelhawks who, albeit after a bit of a slow start to the season, managed to once again climb their way back to the top of the standings to claim another Presidents’ Trophy to their name and were pretty clear favorites to beat their semi-finals opponents even just by habit. But the Texas Renegades had a chip on their shoulder from last season’s narrow game 7 loss and made the best of their chances this time around to come out on top against the fearsome Steelhawks and for once managed to overthrow the ruling establishment, so to speak, as is their want.
(146 words)


A. Coming into the series, the team considered the one with the stronger offensive firepower has to be the Buffalo Stampede. A bunch of their top scorers like Monkey D. Luffy, Matt Kholin and Aron Hernadivic dominate the league scoring leaderboard and high octane offense has been their hallmark for a long time. Meanwhile, Texas is obviously more of a scoring by committee team, relying on the offensive output to be shared more evenly by everyone up and down the lineup. Texas is also more renowned more for their defensive mindset with guys like multiple best defensive forward award winning Andreas Kvalheim leading the team with his example.

B. Texas has been building up to finally make their way back to the top of the league for a long time now. It has been a focused effort for the last decade, ever since they decided to tear it all down and go for a tough full rebuild. But it has proven the right decision and the team seems better set than ever to make their way back to the very top and keep themselves there for a long time. Meanwhile Buffalo has been a perennial contender for a long time now, but apart from their one title, seen their championship hopes crushed after getting so close for so many times in a row now, that they must be feeling the heat of needing to get over that hump. In conclusion, while Texas would of course be disappointed if they lost the finals this time, it would still be a step forward for them in their journey back to the top, not to mention the success of already having taken The Steelhawks’ scalp in the process. But for Buffalo it would be another crushing experience of a falling just short of expectations once again. The bigger chip has to be on Buffalo shoulders.



The Texas Renegades finally capped off their long rebuild with a Challenge Cup championship thanks to a true team effort and all parts of the team putting all the had to give into the collective effort. It is great to be able to note the amount of long time home-grown talent in all areas of the team. But it has to be said, perhaps the biggest candidate for series MVP is still the one guy who only joined the team through trade during last season, coming over from another rebuilding team in San Francisco and instantly forming a formidable tandem together with incumbent Renegades starter White Goodman - that man is the one and only Cillian Kavanagh @takethehorizon ! Keeping up with the mighty mother buffalo Elizabeth Doyle at the other end of the rink all through the series and even through several super-tight and even overtime games, not phased even by Doyle’s spectacular shutout effort in Game 3, only to come back to post a shutout of his own in the following game and then still doing just enough to bring the deciding Game 5 into overtime and keep it going long enough for Eddie Williams to score the cup-winning goal... That spells M-V-P to me!
(207 words)



Verification word: Burp!


Claiming 2 TPE for S59 milestones