I believe we are due some eulogies, and I shall be the one to dish them out.
I think before we get into the semi-shitposting I'm going to preface this by saying that this was one of the most tense and exciting final weeks of regular season in any team tour I have been invested in (of which there are 4 lol). Grats to the 3 teams who made it through, but also to the 3 teams who are unfortunately knocked out: this was extremely fun, and certainly had me hooked to the very end.
Onwards to the eulogies...
The Slacking Slakings
Managed by zastra and velcroc, two fairly experienced members of the NDOT community and two solid players in their own right. Having self-bought themselves for NFE and STAB respectively, they then bought TTTech for 14000, the second most expensive BH player (excluding Clas who self-bought). TTTech is an extremely experienced and good BH player, and has recently been on a hot streak in mons so 14000 honestly sounded like a very good deal. Next they bought SpaceSpeakers for 8000 and Giga-Chanderlure for 7000 to fill their AAA slot (with Giga-Chandelure also able to play GG), both decent players, although the Slakings thus decided to forgo buying a more expensive player in what was a very stacked pool. They bought Lialiabeast as their LC slot (with muffinmelody as support) and rounded up the team with Scholar for 6000 in GG (since GG is a mainly fundamentals tier, this is more than ok) and Faded Charm for 4000. Overall a solid draft, perhaps one could argue not overflowing with star power but certainly a draft to be very proud of. (Also apparently ponchlake supported GG hi ponchlake)
The Slakings started the tournament with a 5-1 win over the Phiones, unfortunately it went downhill from there. The only other point they managed to get was in week 4 against the Cliques, leaving them with a record of 1-3-1, and -4 differential. So what went wrong? Unfortunately, the AAA slot fired blanks this time around, with the solitary AAA win coming from SpaceSpeakers: it was a tough pool this time around. The GG slot also fired on empty, with one win from Scholar in week 1. Slakings unfortunately couldn't get a grip on the GG metagame this time around, with a lot of secret brokos lying around waiting to be used. The LC slot went negative as well, but as I don't play LC I don't know what comments to make /shrug. TTTech notably only went 3-2: given the BH pool only really had 3 big hitters (with Chessking opting to support) it was always going to be a tossup as to which slot came out on top, and unfortunately TTTech dropped games against Clas and Anaconja, although by no means was his performance bad. In fact quite the opposite, TTTech had a very strong showing. Likewise for Velcroc and Zastra, who also went 3-2. Unfortunately, good performances in 3 slots were not enough to outweigh poor showings elsewhere, and this is why the Slakings found themselves at the foot of the table. Undeservingly so, one might say: the Slakings (alongside the Ginkals) really provided the lore and the spark that lit this tournament alive, and they continued to light this tournament up. Even though they find themselves out now, they can rest easy knowing they helped get this tour off the ground and gave it their all. Commiserations
Tokyo Gholdengos
Led by two very experienced players seroo and pannu, the Gholdengos perhaps looked like one of the stronger teams going into the tourney. Pannu self-bought, giving them one of the strongest STAB slots in the tour and one of the more consistent and versatile players. They started by securing Atha for a whopping 23000. It may seem like a lot, but Atha was probably the biggest name in the AAA pool this time round and for good reason. Next they bought Roldski for 19500, another heavy hitter in the LC slot. This was by far and away the biggest purchase in that pool. They settled on Xurkiyee in GG for 8500, meaning they had not a lot of money left and 2 slots to fill: NFE and BH. They bought RTM for 5000, Hisui Guy (who I know, HEY!!!!) for 3000, Axzel for 3000, and ghostlike for 3000 (which all things considered was a fucking steal and secured an AAA sub). This was a decent draft with a strong STAB slot, possibly the strongest AAA slot, a strong LC slot, a decent GG slot (because the tier is generally fundies), but no apparent NFE slot and no BH slot. Another issue was the fact their team had only 8 players leaving them with only 2 possible substitutions per week, which might have come back to haunt them.
The Gholdengos went 1-2-2, with a neutral differential. Notably, they gained no wins in BH as was to be expected with no BH main drafted. The STAB slot also went negative: pannu switched over to NFE in week 3 and stayed there, and Axzel couldn't pull out the stops there, notably losing in week 4 to an activity call. The GG slot also unfortunately went negative, although Xurkiyee did get two good wins. Roldski went positive at 3-2 which was the second best record in the LC pool, but this was probably only on par with expectation (idk i don't play LC LOL). NFE also went positive for the team, with 2 wins from pannu and a win from hisui guy, so good stuff for making that work. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the AAA slot went 5-0 so that will at least be something for the Gholdies to celebrate. Unfortunately they ran out of steam, with losses to the Cliques and the Phiones in weeks 3 and 4 denting their opportunity to qualify massively.
And finally, an extra eulogy I didn't think I'd have to write...
Pondering Phiones...
A group of players that I have enjoyed playing with this NDOTSL. I hope to play with you guys again, but that message is for another post. Led by hidinn, NDOT leader, and Orangex733, prominent OM and NDOT community member, interestingly neither decided to selfbuy. They started their draft with a 19500 purchase for STAB slot Amstan, a very good player in general. Next they bought perhaps the second biggest name in the AAA pool in Greybaum for 15500 (perhaps one could consider this a steal?). With two heavy hitters in two slots, they bought 3 LC players in anique, Greedy, and teamo, for 20000 combined. db was next purchased for 8000 in the NFE, leaving only GG and BH left to sort. They bought C.A.T for 3000 in the BH slot, who is a solid player who could definitely pull out wins, and bought BoingK (that's me!) for 4000 in the GG slot. They rounded up the draft with concept everything, cyril, and sundays. All things considered a fairly large draft with some heavy hitters in AAA and STAB, with a very active LC slot. A decent GG slot with orangex able to support me, and a decent NFE and BH slot.
The Phiones only really got going towards the tail end of the tournament: 2 wins on the penultimate and final weeks seemed enough to do it, until the devastating news broke that the finals would be 3 teams only, leaving us out on differential. 2 losses of the 5-1 margin was enough to guarantee this.
First of all, I fired on empty in the GG slot, and that's completely on me. Although concept and cyril managed to get good wins, this wasn't enough to salvage a positive score (sorry guys). The AAA slot also went negative. Although Greybaum went 2-1, he was unable to play 2 other games, and unfortunately we couldn't win those. Our NFE slot also went negative but db put up a good showing regardless. The LC slot was perhaps the most unfortunate: only one win was acquired in this slot. The BH slot also went negative: C.A.T unfortunately couldn't pull up any answers against the big three, but certainly would have gained wins against Nashrock and RTM if he were able to play those games: I was able to nab those games in lieu of him. One success for the Phiones was the STAB slot, with amstan impressively going 4-1.
The Phiones possibly looked the most out of it, but 2 late late wins reignited their hopes of a playoff spot: although they have a much worse differential, they seemed to get their wins in the right places which is why they sit on 5 points. Unfortunately, it was differential that came back to haunt them, as it was this on which the Heatrans qualified over them. However, the Phiones gave a really good performance towards the end, and if they have not contributed anything else then at least they gave us the funniest GG team preview screen in existence.
Commiserations to the Slakings, the Gholdengos, and the Phiones: NDOTSL 1 was unfortunately not your tour. But thank you for giving us one hell of an exciting tour, and I hope to see lots of you for when the series eventually returns next year. GGs all, and peace!