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1. CW TRIVIA, 3 TPE max - 1.5 TPE for participation, 0.5 TPE for each correct answer. This is completed through a Google form linked below. Make sure to spell your answers correctly or you will not get credit. Post your verification word in your CW post.

Shiraz

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2. Written, up to 4 TPE - Grab Bag: Pick up to 4 Challenge Cup related topics to write about! Each topic is worth 1 TPE. Each answer must be 50+ words.

a. Manhattan comes into this series with a much more balanced attack than their previous playoff run carried by a scorching hot Lev Lebedev. This time around they have nearly seven players chugging along at a PPG clip. Is this a different beast than last season's Rage? Why or why not?
b. Seattle returns to the finals with a roster that's very similar to last season's champions. So why would they lose this time around? This squad has proven they can do it, so what's changed? Do you think this team can do it again?
c. The play of Max Manning for Seattle and Thomas Lind for Manhattan has been a key factor in their respective teams' playoff runs. Do you think they're both able to continue performing at the spectacular pace they have thus far, or do you think someone is able to figure out how to shut them down? Is that the key to this series?
d. With all that being said it's round two of SEA vs. MAN. Who wins this time? Regardless of any other stat in this series-- who do you think wins it and why? Last season Manhattan was the upstart without any experience, but here they are again to face the same behemoth Seattle team. Make your pick.

a. I'm not sure I agree with the initial assumption. A more balanced offense would be helpful for Manhattan, but is this really the case here? The more balanced numbers of the Rage this season merely come from the fact that Lebedev has slowed down a bit in the postseason this year and not from the rest of the team actually scoring that much more.
b. Sadly the current version of our game is rather predictable and favors proven Winners, so Seattle should have the edge this season given that they've been able to keep a very successful roster together. Age is catching up with them, but I believe their chemistry and winning mentality will carry them through one more time.
c. The key to the series will not be individual players, it will be depth. If recent years have proven anything, it's that individual Superstars can carry you to a finals appearance or a Presidents Trophy, but they usually don't win you a cup. For that, a complete team effort and depths in all positions is simply much more important that having a single player who puts up huge individual numbers.
d. Well Seattle already won so there is that... But I think Manhattan was actually able to make the series much closer than I expected them to. Seattle was so much stronger and more consistent throughout the Season whereas Manhattan couldn't lean on Lebedev as much this postseason as they could last year, so the fact that the rest of their players were able to step up enough to make this a seven-game series should make them proud.

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7. Milestones, up to 3 TPE
Milestones are folded in with CW. So just link your Milestone claim as task 7 for up to 3 TPE towards your 16 total.
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Post your claim in the milestones thread for tpe earned per stat, and then link that post in your CW submission. This is done because the person who grades CW will be a different person than double-checks milestones.

+3

https://simulationhockey.com/showthread....pid3303006

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18. Written, 2 TPE - The Procrastinator Special! (100 words min.)
Congratulations, procrastinator! Through your terrible time management skills, you’ve unlocked a special task! [TEAM] has won it all! Were the playoffs as you expected this year, or were there some surprises? Did anything stand out to you about this season’s results? How do you feel about a repeat finals series?

I hope it's okay that I use this prompt to make a bit of a meta commentary. Because I think the SHLs calendar has changed over the years to a point where the playoff rounds tend to be very short these days, whereas most people don't do CW super early. This has led to a situation where the playoffs usually area already finished for most people when they get to writing their CW contribution. To take my post as an example, it's still a weak until the deadline and the series is already over. As a result of that, I think it might be worth to reconsider the set-up of the CW prompts because almost everyone ends up as a "procrastinator" these days. So I think it would be good to have more prompts that fall into the procrastinator category, are timeless or focus on the playoffs as a whole. Basically everything that moves us away from the "let's predict how the final series will go" kinds of prompts because for most people, the series will already have happened when they get to them. And to not be completely off-topical: Yes, I did expect Seattle to win as I think did almost everyone else and I was actually surprised that Manhattan managed to keep it so close.

Quote:22. Written / Graphic, 3 TPE, Rigged (150 words min.)
You've been given the opportunity to change the simulated hockey league into something completely different, however your teams / teammates will not change. Choose a new competition that is completely rigged for your team to win, based on the unique skills and personalities on your team. What season long competition are you 100% confident that you and your teammates could win? As a graphic option, show me this new competition, whatever it may be, being dominated by you and a few of your teammates. 

Well this should give us a lot of options because we are goddamn dragons, each and every one of us! This would actually tie in nicely with the other prompt about the animated film as well, but I don't want a cute show, I want to actually win something so the "new competition" prompt it is. So what do we go with? How about a competitive goat-eating competition? Can anyone beat a Dragon when it comes to frying this delicious snack or even eating it raw and still alive? Sure, there are some other predator-themed teams out there, Panthers, Bears, Lions, Wolves or even Humans with weapons, but none of them would be able to keep up with the fact that we can spit fire and grow to the size of a skyscraper. If that's a bit too brutal for you, then how about something simpler, like figure-flying? Conveniently the only other team who could've really beaten us in that regard isn't part of the league anymore after their rebrand: the Jets.

Quote:23. Written, 2 TPE, Acrostic Poem
An acrostic poem is when you create a poem using every letter of a given word. For example:

Big
Ugly
Raving
Lunatic
Of
Kindness

This is my acrostic poem for Burlok. Write me an acrostic poem using your player's name!

Excessive
Volume
And
Noise

Will
I
Never
Try
Emotional
Rest?