Season 5 Weekly Update 1 - League B
Hello everyone and welcome to gameweek 1 of Season 5 of the Game of Stones! And before we get too far into this short gameweek 1 update, I wanted to make a huge shoutout to our World Cup fantasy winner: Chris! It was a dramatic battle between surely two teams more evenly matched than our World Cup finalists as Chris narrowly won by just 6 points over Luke!
Anyway, back to Fantasy Premier League, where waivers this week are due on Thursday at 10:30am PT / 1:30pm ET! This week could literally go any way, but I think an interesting matchup to highlight is the one between Mack and ChrisB! Elsewhere, Gavin goes up against Cole in what will be both of their first League B matches, Scott takes on Andrew in what should be an interesting one (if not just to see how Andrew's team does), and Amber's quadruple Arsenal defense faces off against ZachA.
- ZachA vs Amber
- Scott vs Andrew
- Morgs vs Angus
- Mack vs ChrisB
- Gavin vs Cole
- Kim vs Delaney
And here's the draft board for anyone interested!
Draft Board
The League of Champions
And… welcome to the League of Champions! Unfortunately, we couldn't secure the rights to use the other tournament's name, so this will have to do. Plus, it kinda fits the vibe of using an unofficial website to do this whole thing. Anyway, I haven't decided on the full scope of the tournament as far as the knockout stage goes, but I do know that we will start with:
The League of Champions Group Stage
A 36-team table. 6 matches. 12 teams eliminated. 0 matches against managers in your league.
I mean, that about sums it up. And if you want something more verbose: over the next 6 gameweeks, each of you will play against 3 managers from each other league. After those 6 weeks, the bottom 12 teams will be eliminated, 9th-24th will go into a single gameweek playoff, while 1st-8th will secure their place in the Round of 16.
And this week has some great matchups, headlined by a Season 4 League B rivalry match between John and Mack! Elsewhere, Darryan takes on League B's Haaland owner Kim, Jesse and Morgan roll back the years and go up against one another after a bit of a hiatus, and we'll see a couple of League B debutant vs League C debutant matchups in Cole vs Charlotte and Angus vs Maddie! Full matchups are as follows:
- John vs Mack
- Kevin vs Amber
- Zach vs ChrisB
- Darryan vs Kim
- Alex vs Delaney
- Luke vs Morgs
- Matthew vs Brylan
- Dylan vs Anthony
- Coop vs Aarushi
- MatthewR vs Emma
- Chris vs Katie
- Jesse vs Morgan
- Scott vs Travis
- Andrew vs JohnM
- Gavin vs Jackson
- Cole vs Charlotte
- ZachA vs Tori
- Angus vs Maddie
And if you are new to this whole thing, yes, this does mean you will be playing two matches this week: one in the league and one in the cup!
Power Rankings
Welcome to our first and most vibe-based power rankings! Although, last season's vibe-based pre-gameweek 1 power ranking correctly predicted the League A winner, so… cross your fingers you're first on this list? I did try to split this somewhat to have even league representation, but that surely won't remain as the season progresses.
On the bubble (in no order): Chris, ChrisB, Tori, Charlotte
10 - Anthony - League C - FWD: Isak, Solanke, Awoniyi; MID: Cherki, Anderson, Gakpo, Rayan, Caicedo; DEF: Van de Ven, Munoz, Khusanov, Mosquera, Vuskovic; GKP: Kinsky, Leno
A solid team to start the list, if not for Solanke's habit of being perpetually injured and Cherki spending last year in the "should be starting but isn't" group. If you couldn't tell based on my own draft, I do like the Isak pick this year (fingers are crossed a Spurs defender doesn't snap a leg again), plus I'm always a fan of Daniel Munoz. Question marks around Anderson/Caicedo and their ability to secure defensive contributions on new teams and/or with new managers, but if they do, that's a lot of 4s in this midfield.
9 - Alex - League A - FWD: Thiago, Calvert-Lewin, Wright; MID: Garner, Gravenberch, Zubimendi, Ampadu, McGinn; DEF: Guehi, Truffert, Ballard, Andersen, Van den Berg; GKP: Roefs, Mamardashvili
Will Thiago reprise his role of golden boot challenger? Well… not sure about that. But I am sure that the goat DCL will take his place. Regardless, Alex's FWD line is bolstered by… 4 defensive midfielders and John McGinn. Which could be good? As long as Zubimendi plays solid minutes and Aston Villa doesn't fall apart and sell Ollie Watkins on the final day of the transfer window. Solid backline though.
8 - Matthew - League A - FWD: Isak, Igor Jesus, Nmecha; MID: Foden, Sarr, Kudus, Xhaka, Manzambi; DEF: Gvardiol, N.Williams, Kerkez, Thiaw, Shaw; GKP: Sanchez, Scherpen
I think I'm obligated to put myself on this list because I'm obviously biased toward my own draft prep and opinions, but as mentioned I think Isak is solid + Glasner at Nottingham Forest gives me high hopes for Igor Jesus and Williams. Sarr/Xhaka have been as solid as one could expect in the goals and defensive contribution business last season, and my studies have revealed that Newcastle has literally only one player who knows how to score goals: Malick Thiaw.
7 - Gavin - League B - FWD: Isak, Mateta, Madjo; MID: Odegaard, Ndiaye, Cherki, Tzolis, Sangare; DEF: Tarkowski, N.Williams, Araujo, Saliba, Fofana; GKP: Kinsky, Meslier
The 3rd Isak team on this list is Gavin's, who has also cursed himself to a season of watching Mateta. Good luck with that o7. On the other hand, I do think that Odegaard has looked great over the summer + during preseason and seems relatively unchallenged at the 10, Ndiaye averaged what ~10 defcon per game last season, Tzolis appears to be the starting LW at Arsenal, and I've heard rumor that Sangare will rival Elliott Anderson in defcon consistency and also he's the best midfielder in the world or something. Put that ahead of Tarkowski, my guy Neco Williams, and a 4-month injured Saliba and you've got quite the solid team.
6 - Aarushi - League C - FWD: Watkins, Wissa, Nketiah; MID: Doku, Odegaard, Ndiaye, Gross, Sangare; DEF: James, Shaw, Maguire, Muharemovic, Cash; GKP: Raya, Mamardashvili
From Odegaard and Ndiaye and Sangare to Odegaard and Ndiaye and Sangare, Aarushi's team slightly takes it over Gavin's considering she doesn't have to deal with a broken Saliba until January and a Fofana mid-suspension. Instead, she has the goat Harry Maguire alongside the potential defcon beast at Leeds Muharemovic, plus don't forget about soon to be broken until January Reece James. But he isn't dead yet! Anyway, as long as Watkins stays at Aston Villa and Wissa appears to be the starting striker at Newcastle, she's got a solid squad across the board. Oh yeah and the best goalkeeper in the league.
5 - Katie - League C - FWD: Mateta, Evanilson, Isidor; MID: Bruno Fernandes, Gibbs-White, Kudus, Scott, Ngumoha; DEF: Tarkowski, Matheus Nunes, Branthwaite, Andersen, Wieffer; GKP: Alisson, Tzolakis
Onto the top 5 where we see the first of our auto-drafted teams and man do I have to pat myself and Chris on the back for these. Fernandes + MGW in the midfield ahead of (somehow) both Everton center backs, plus why not splurge for 2 of the most frustrating starting FWDs in the league in Mateta and Evanilson?? Despite that, Kudus has high potential (if he isn't also broken the entirety of this season), Scott and Wieffer were basically guaranteed 4s when they played, and Alisson won't get injured this season, right guys? ..right?
4 - Kim - League B - FWD: Haaland, Gonzalo Garcia, McBurnie; MID: Bruno G, Foden, Garner, Xhaka, Tonali; DEF: Munoz, Milenkovic, Diomande, Thiaw, Bassey; GKP: Kelleher, Tzolakis
And it only gets better as League C's Haaland team is joined by (possibly) Fulham's new starting striker, nepotism transfer Gonzalo Garcia! Behind that duo are ever reliable Garner and Xhaka, plus the Newcastle duo of Bruno G and Tonali. Wait, my producer just told me they don't play together anymore? Strange… surely that means Newcastle captain Bruno G stayed, right? Wait, he's at Arsenal…? Anyway, we don't really know what they'll look like this year, but if Bruno G can get a solid amount of league starts, surely his numbers will be similar to last year. Anyway, solid team, great work Chris and Mack and I.
3 - Morgan - League C - FWD: Thiago, Strand Larsen, Kostoulas; MID: Bruno G, Wilson, Garner, Stach, Ampadu; DEF: Gabriel, Timber, Milenkovic, Canvot, Diomande; GKP: Henderson, Verbruggen
And to round out the triumvirate of auto-drafters is Morgan's team, who despite not having Haaland and also having Bruno G, Garner, Milenkovic, and Diomande (geez did we really just auto draft the same players every time), does have basically the one defender you could ever want and the only sure-fire Arsenal DEF: Gabriel. Oh and also Timber is pretty good when it comes to Arsenal defenders, who she also has. That's not to mention the Leeds- wait- trio? in midfield… oops? Didn't mean to do that, but they're all very solid players (and picks) and surely if Leeds scores a goal it's either one of them or DCL.
2 - Zach - League A - FWD: Haaland, Sesko, Awoniyi; MID: Rice, Enzo, Stach, Schade, Gomes; DEF: Lacroix, Ruben Dias, Hill, Van de Ven, Kayode; GKP: Lammens, Kinsky
Our reigning Game of Stones champion himself takes the #2 spot, bolstered by the fact that he somehow ended up with the #1 pick. Is he sneaking random.org some money? Who knows, but he followed up the obvious pick there with a pretty solid draft. Rice (if he plays), Enzo, Stach, Schade, and new Aston Villa signing Joao Gomes (if he comes back from injury soon) is a pretty solid midfield 5, plus he picked up defcon beasts Lacroix and James Hill. Plus fast guy from spurs who runs fast. Will Zach be our first repeat winner? Only time will tell. And by time, I mean about 10 months of it.
1 - Andrew - League B - FWD: Joao Pedro, Evanilson, Wright; MID: Rogers, Dango, Tavernier, Aaronson, Caicedo; DEF: Lacroix, Truffert, Kerkez, Canvot, Vuskovic; GKP: Verbruggen, Martinez
And finally, Andrew did such an incredible job preparing for the draft this year that I had no choice but to put his team first. It's almost as if he had a group of League A managers in his ear telling him who to pick every round this draft was that good. Anyway, honestly the only question mark I have is the Aaronson pick and it isn't even that bad, considering he got Caicedo afterward, in the 13th round. Not much else to say here honestly, props to Andrew and his many brain cells for putting this one together.