Where the Elite West Region Stands

Written by Tyler Greer

After Crysis Took Round 1 in convincing fashion, and Heat escaped Round 2 with a lineout in Game 7 to take the Championship, the West is anyone’s game. Crysis is the leader with 19 points, with both Heat and Rise at 16, and Reignbros a close fourth place team with 14 points. Anything can happen this third round for a team to take the series and the rings.

If Crysis is at full strength (with notable last season’s MVP and #1 ranked player in the US, Andrew Ketchum) they certainly can solidify the series victory. Just don’t sleep on Heat, as neither team has faced each other at full strength this season, nor in an elimination match. Rise has been steady, even with Tim Fullerton playing Round 2 with a broken hand. They’ve managed to stay in reach of the series with two semi-final showings each round. Reignbros put it together Round 2 and will look to show Round 3 it wasn’t a fluke. Lastly, Anarchy from the East playing this round will definitely shake up this series as it’s almost a lock to see them upset one of these four teams prior to the championship.

The Top 4 can certainly be shuffled as well as teams like Fortune (who finished runner up in Round 1), Havoc, and Headhunters all still are within a shot of cracking it.

Predictions: It’s a toss up for me with both Heat and Crysis really not having any evidence (assuming full healthy squads) to sway it one way or the other. That being said, with a 3 point lead, there is going to be some much needed luck for Heat, or Rise, for Crysis to not make it back to the finals. With Anarchy playing this round, how the seeding plays out in elimination will be crucial. That being said, Crysis ideally takes the series, Heat finishes second, Rise in third, Reignbros stays in fourth.

If you like super teams, no greater super team in dodgeball was formed this past offseason than Finesse in the West region. Two teams broke apart with a few others leaving their established teams, and created Finesse, who arguably boast the most talented women’s team ever assembled. Karina Amezcua and Ashley Cook headline this team (The current #1 and #3 best players in No-Sting ranking), with Brenda Kramer, Bryanna London coming over from Money Shot, Crystal Briones from Love Tap, and Paige Peterson and Alyssa Pandolfi from Ride or Die. Though it hasn’t been without its challenges from the likes of Pop That and Invasion, Finesse has still managed to take both Round’s 1 and 2 in pretty convincing fashion and look for the sweep in Round 3.

Invasion has still shown that they can compete with Finesse, taking off multiple games each round (even pushing them to a Game 7 in Round 1), and Rolena Thomassin, the #2 player in the country, will have to be every bit on her game, along with the rest of her talented squad, to take an elimination match from Finesse. Even then, unless it’s early in the bracket, point wise they might not have a shot as they are 6 points behind with 18 total points. Pop That is still around too and finished runner-up to Finesse in Round 2. For them, if they can get their full healthy squad at Round 3, they stand a fighting chance as well.

Witness, with their new addition of Kiki Caudana this past offseason, just has not been able to get things clicking as a unit, though they still comprise a load of individual talent. If they can figure out how to play well together at Round 3, we could see them be a real force at Nationals.

Teams that can challenge Witness to break into the Top 4 are Blindside, Fuego, and Ride or Die.

Predictions: Nothing too crazy with these teams, Finesse takes the Series, Invasion takes second, Pop That third, and Witness holds on to the fourth spot.

The west has had it made this season, having a total of 5 divisions in their one and a half day tournaments. It has certainly brought a new level to this region and the players have been pleased with it, in part to these two divisions (Women’s Foam and Open No-Sting) being added on. And in a turn of events, both divisions will be at Nationals!

In women’s foam, Finesse won Round 1 over Skrap and FTFB took Round 2 over Finesse. Both Skrap and FTFB are Pop That and Invasion mixed up together. All three teams boast USA National Foam Players and it is really anyone’s game here at Round 3. Although there is no “Series Champion”, Finesse stands a great chance to win the series with their point total and will be extremely exciting to see these teams, along with the East women’s foam teams, battle it out at Nationals.

In Open No-Sting, Crysis won Round 1 over Rise in the final, and Heat took Round 2 over Reignbros. Again, it could be any team that wins Round 3, but Heat has the point lead and are expected to finish in the Top 3 for Round 3.

Lastly, it can not be understated that the addition of these two divisions has been great for the West and has had a nice part in rejuvenating the region.

Another division, another complete toss up as to who wins the Series. The top seven teams in this region are split by only 5 points! Dope sits at the top with 16, Fury next with 14 points, Heat with 13, Reginbros at 12, and Shade, Echo and Rise at 11.

As we saw in Round 2, if one of those seven teams gets hot, they can run through every team, which is exactly what Heat did en route to the championship.

That being said, it will obviously come down to matchups and teams like Fury, Dope, and Rise have been the most consistent coed teams this season. But if I were a betting man, ANYTHING can happen.

Predictions: Fury takes the series, Dope finishes second, Rise finishes third, and Heat in fourth.

After playing in this region and talking to a few other peers in the region, these players seem to be almost locks to make the men’s All-Star team or should at the very least be in the conversation:

— Vince Marchbanks (Heat) and Justin Payan (Crysis). Both are former All-Stars and their teams would not have won each round without them.

— Andrew Ketchum (Crysis) and Tim Fullerton (Rise). Normally these two would be locks as well. But Ketchum missed Round 2 due to health issues and Tim Fullerton probably should have missed Round 2 as he played with a broken right hand and had to throw left handed. Still, assuming both play Round 3 and play to their abilities, they deserve their third consecutive All-Star appearance.

— Allyn Thomas (Reignbros) and Ruwan Chapman (Fortune) played extremely well to get their teams to the championship in rounds 2 and 1 respectively. Allan Stott (Rise) is a big reason why, despite Tim Fullerton having a broken hand in Round 2, Rise was still able to make it to the Semi-finals. Isidro Perez was a huge reason Heat was able to win Round 2 as he led the team in total kills in 8.5".

The potential West Women’s All-Star team doesn’t have a lot of changes from previous years, but a few possible changes could be Ashley Cook playing as a West All-Star (though Elite still could potentially switch her to the North). That said there are still some big frontrunners most notably with the following:

— Rolena Thomassin (Invasion), Karina Amezcua (Finesse), Rachel Rodia (Pop That), and Ashley Cook (Finesse) have all had a huge role on their teams and come through countless times for them.

— Kate Gong (Invasion), Brenda Kramer (Finesse), Lauren Hoffman (Pop That), and Kiki Caudana (Witness) garner consideration as well as each have had their own individual clutch moments that have helped their teams up to this point in the season.

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