H2H9 / .Rate the Pre-Trade H2H9 Teams

Logan’s Run

Steve ©, Xtreme97, CedarPoint6, Bubbsy41, trav, Zarathustra, Six Frags, Maverix, AJ-, Jene, Mr.Brightside711, SSSammy, kenos

 

The Scream Queens

dr dirt ©, alex, robbie92, BelgianGuy, CoasterCreator9, Recurious, Jappy, Roomie, Camcorder22, Terry Inferno, CHE, Merzbow666, PhoenixWing101

 

Cereal Killers

Liampie ©, FK+Coastermind, StormRunnerFan, mamarillas, RCTFAN, Splitvision, RWE, ultro, CoasterGeoff, saxman1089, G Force, Coasterbill, Poke

 

Tile Inspectors

Tolsimir ©, WhosLeon, AvanineCommuter, Fisch, Sulakke, bigshootergill, spacek531, Kumba, Rene, wheres_walto, Mulder, zxbiohazardzx, RobDedede

 

Manual Laborers

inthemanual ©, nin, Cocoa, Pacificoaster, Ziscor, ottersalad, disneylandian192, MK98, Jaguar, Suormot, Jens J., Shen Kitchen, Coupon

 

Adventurer's Club 

In:Cities ©, hydroportal, hoobaroo, Louis!, ][ntamin22, RaunchyRussell, BarnNID, FredD, SWAGTITTIES, Iretont, Scoop, Version1, SuicideCarz

logan's run OP ezpz, i'm looking forward to the tile inspectors. it's wild how good every single team is

My team being labeled the most incohesive and unrealiable... What else is new. I'm feeling confident. According to my calculations, I should have the most productive team.

It really speaks to the calibre of entrants we had this season just how stacked all of these teams are, it's remarkable.

Gee Willikers....all 6 teams are gosh darn delicious

Yeah this is a really tough call to pick any particular team for these categories. The depth of the teams this year are off the charts. It feels like this is open season for the strong teams to prove themselves with their first 2-3 parks rather than to clearly stand out above the rest before round 1 even begins.

I'd love to see some write-ups. Milo where are you

Everyone loves a good underdog story.

This was a really hard pick. All the teams are super strong.

Alright finally got a chance to finish up my analysis.  

 

Analysis

In comparison to the H2H9 draft, H2H8’s draft looked predictable in comparison. Three years ago, captains had much more clear cut directions for their teams and mostly seemed to stay out of each others lane, except for of course, ][ntamin22’s infamous “Operation Steal Tolsimir” strategy.  It appears that many captains in H2H9’s draft were eager to replicate ][ntamin’s success, aggressively picking off sought-after picks of other captains in an attempt to throw them off.  Going into the draft, the direction of each captain was much more of an unknown than last time, with many captains vying for the same picks.  After countless laid-back mock drafts, which emphasized “cohesive” teams as a sign of success, the H2H9 draft was much more cutthroat.  Almost every team could have some weaknesses in the cohesive-ness department, through no fault of the captains. It seemed with every round, captains were re-evaluating their strategy after being caught off guard.  

 

Nonetheless, every single team is undoubtedly stacked with talent.  While some teams seem to tend more towards fantasy or realism, none is strictly one or the other.  Most teams have a mix of veterans and new faces, reliable and risky picks, former teammates and new combos.  For the most part no line can be drawn from any past team to a current one, and so what we will see from every team seems completely up in the air.  Another wild card factor this draft was an influx of DKMP members, who are fairly evenly distributed across every team.  With no clear cut DKMP/NCSO team, it will be interesting to see how these promising builders mesh with established NE builders.  

 

Logans Run:

Been trying to figure out how to describe Steve’s draft and my best adjective is “solid”. Steve made the imo good choice of picking the active and sought after Xtreme instead of gambling on him slipping to the end R2, with the knowledge that any of the less-active veterans present at the end of R2 would still be a valuable addition to the team.  He maybe got his best case R2 pick with former teammate, realism legend, and layout master CP6, whose advice and hacks will be essential even if he doesn’t build as much as last time.  The rest of his lineup includes builders who may not be super star parkmakers yet, but I expect will be highly active and quality builders such as Bubbsy, Zara, Maverix, Jene, and newer member AJ.  Sammy, a solid long-time member who has usually only built 10-15% shares in H2H, also appears poised to be an ideal floater.  I expect Steve’s team will have no issue finishing parks and making it to the playoffs, the question is just if they have enough firepower to win it all.  

 

The Scream Queens:

Take it with a grain of salt since this is my team, but I really do think this might be the most reliable and cohesive team and I am excited to see what we create.  The 1-3 combo of alex, robbie, and BG is up there with the best first three picks,, and throw dr dirt himself in there as well and that is an especially deadly top third of the draft.  The middle of the draft brings some reliable talent with CC9 and Jappy.  There also seems to be some good macro/micro balance between the landscapes and macro of builders like dr dirt, Terry, and Che, and more micro-oriented builders such as Robbie, Recurious, and myself.  Rounding out the draft are merzbow and phoenixwing, both of whom would excel in the floater role.  Our team seems like it will have no problem coming with excellent ideas and finishing parks, it may just be the luck of who we go up against that determines how far we get, but I have high hopes.  

 

Cereal Killers:

When he retired the Heaven’s brand, Liam made it clear he would be changing direction with his team, and his draft picks may have created more questions than they answered.  His first two picks were almost polar opposites on the fantasy/realism scale, with StormRunnerFan, despite being an anticipated builder, coming in fairly early.  The biggest curveball may have been the R4 pick of RCTFAN, who despite being an H2H4 legend has had little finished material in his recent return.  I have to assume Liam has heard more about RCTFAN’s availability (and maybe seen some of his more recent work) than the rest of us have. His R5-9 picks are all talented, experienced builders, but I see a lot of potential style clashes in this part of the draft.  And his last 3 picks are all parkmakers that fell lower due to their “riskiness”.  I am interested how either Coasterbill or Poke will respond to being placed in the floater role.  Nonetheless, Liam’s past success seems to indicate he must have a plan in mind and that he communicated with his picks beforehand.  I was apprehensive of his strategy to draft less active parkmakers in H2H8 such as CP6, Roomie, and Six Frags, and all of them played essential parts on his team.  With Liam’s captaining experience, I can expect him to bring any group of people together with some level of success.

 

Tile Inspectors:

Tolsimir has seemed to have built one of the more cohesive teams, bringing together a mix of his former Grand Tour partners, and Team Spacecrab/Heaven’s Gallery teammates.  While not a strictly fantasy team by any means, picks such as Kumba and BSG may lean heavily in that direction.  Having seen the value of spacek in H2H8, his astute 6th round pick will add another layer of immersiveness to his team’s concepts with CTRs and masterful hacking.  I do however, spot some reliability issues.  His top picks WhosLeon, AVC, and Fisch have all expressed issues with time that may prevent them from leading more than one park.  BSG claims he experienced some builder’s block in H2H8 and Sulakke has only really built one park per season.  Kumba and walto both could be forces, but have been mostly inactive for the past several years.  If his top picks are unable to take on multiple parks, Tolsimir himself, and some of his newer picks such as Mulder and RobDedede, may have to step up with larger shares in order to get things finished.  

 

Manual Laborers:

In his second season as captain, itm has drafted what is perhaps the deadliest 1-3 combo of this edition.  Despite his late signup, I did not expect a draft where Pac would slip to R3, let alone end up on the same team as nin AND Cocoa.  Besides the nin/Pac combo, the middle of the draft seems to revolve around Cocoa and ITM’s past teammates on Strangelove and the H2H7 edition of ManLab.  The last 5 picks are high risk/reward, with the ambitious and creative Jaguar who has yet to successfully complete an H2H season, and a trio of some of the most hyped DKMP builders.  Rounding out the draft is Coupon, meaning a new to CSO Shen Kitchen, or Coupon, who has struggled to stay active in past H2H seasons, will be filling the very important floater position.  For the most part, ITM has drafted a good mix of reliability and high potential, which at worst should land him in the middle of the pack, if not much better if his riskier picks come through.  

 

Adventurer’s Club: 

In another highly contrasting first and second round pick pair, Josh picked the realistic student of Pac hydroportal, and fantasy breakout hoobaroo.  He seems to especially have fallen victim to having his picks stolen (or maybe he just wanted everyone), but also seems to have recovered fairly well, with a pretty cohesive realism-leaning lineup.  Hydro, Louis, RaunchyRussell, barnNID, FredD, Swagtitties, and Version1 all fall pretty clearly into the realism camp so we will likely see plenty of strictly realistic parks.  Meanwhile Josh, hoobaroo, ][ntamin, and Scoop have all built some fantasy before and I am interested to see some of them cross over into it again.  Rounding out Josh’s picks are Version1 and DKMP member hex, one of whom will be the floater.  Interested to see if version1 will recap the role he so maligned in H2H8, or if it will go to H2H newcomer hex.  Either way a lot of potential and some of the better reliability in this draft.  

Cam did a great job with the team writeups and I don't have a ton different to say.  However,  while we are waiting for the first matches:

 

Logan's Run:

F - Steve got first pick of the draft as well as the floater picks and made a good choice with Sammy.  Not only is he a good fit for the overall team but his desire to stay flexible with low percentage contributions of landscaping, supports and other utility work at a high quality level should make him a very valuable floater,  as long as he's active.

VC - CP6 will provide stability and maturity as well as industry experience for a more realism/semi-realism oriented team.  Although his lack of availability may reduce his overall contribution to H2H,  his wealth of experience makes him a solid vice captain pick.

Overview - To keep it brief I feel that Steve drafted a very Steve team,  if that makes sense.  I think he has drafted a solid group that mostly resides in his wheelhouse with a couple newer members who have the option to mix it up.  I undervalued Xtreme before the draft but all signs point to Steve's gutsy Round 1 pick as being a good one.  It appears Steve favored activity and enthusiasm plus a certain amount of stylistic cohesion over simply grabbing the biggest names available which is a good move for a first time captain,  even one with as much experience in previous seasons as Steve has.  Maybe slightly underpowered in overall roster depth,  I think Steve's team has a ton of potential for excellent naturalistic and realism based maps.

 

Scream Queens:

F - A bit of a risk here with the newer member,  H2H rookie and last round pick as floater.  PhoenixWing made a strong case to be drafted but is untested in this contest format.  Time will tell how this decision pans out.

VC - Another slightly eyebrow raising move,  Cam is the lowest (R8) drafted player to secure a vice captain slot and takes it over a number of teammates who have captain experience.  I don't think it's a bad pick per se,  as Cam is currently very active,  but I do wonder what set of circumstances leads to so many potential vice captains passing on the position.  Hopefully it just means they want to,  and do,  focus on the parkmaking aspect of H2H.

Overview - Although every team is stacked with talent,  dirt was able to walk away with some of the strongest early round draft picks.  Alex,  Robbie and BelgianGuy are all excellent picks with a wide range of styles and the dirt/BG pairing was one of the few I highlighted before the draft and was secured all the way in Round 3.  The rest of the team looks to be able to match the early picks in the variety of styles and dirt even secured some roster depth late with Lilith.  Roomie and Lilith provide the potential for an LL park,  which may or may not be needed but always is a good backup plan as the season progresses.  I do see some build speed and availability issues,  especially in the first half of the roster,  but if everyone can deliver we can expect a wide variety of styles all done at a high quality level.  My personal favorite team and the one I'll be watching closest in the East Division.

 

Cereal Killers:

F - Coasterbill is one of those great players that struggles a bit in the H2H format.  It just seems to be outside of his comfort zone and his lower availability caused him to slip all the way to Round 11.  If he stays active his ability to pull off Spotlight quality work on multiple maps should prove to be quite valuable.

VC - Liampie's overall draft is quite unorthodox and FK seems to be the best candidate for vice captain based on the team's roster.  FK is currently very active and ascending to another level of RCT work at the moment.

Overview - Liampie's drafting has been questioned more than once in the past and he has proven all of the doubters wrong each time.  We know his teams have looked like they lack cohesion but that hasn't stopped them making it all the way to the finals.  This team might be one of the most eclectic he has ever drafted though,  with major high risk high reward potential in players like StormRunnerFan in Round 2 and RCTFAN in Round 4.  Liampie appears to have continued to favor recent contest success stories and enthusiastic newer players to counterbalance the less active veterans.  If anyone can take a team like this to the post-season it is Liampie,  as his enthusiasm is infectious,  and if he pulls this one off I will be extremely impressed.

Update - Poke fit in with Liampie's throwback love as a last round pick but after going AWOL he has been replaced by IonZer0 who worked well for Liampie last season.  An uncharacteristic roster change in what could be tough season,  but a good replacement pick.

 

Tile Inspectors:

F - This will be zxbiohazardzx's second season as a floater and had a good run on every Round Robin map in H2H8.  I think Tolsimir had 2 very strong choices for floater and opted for the experienced person which makes sense.  RobDedede has tons of potential to punch above his weight with larger contributions to fewer maps.

VC - Much like CP6,  Leon makes a lot of sense even though he may not have as much availability as last season.  Lots of RCT and H2H experience and should fit in well with the overall team roster. 

Overview - I had a feeling Tolsimir would draft a team I like a lot and I don't think he disappointed.  Although he drafted some less available big names early,  there is tons of fantasy and semi-realism potential for the entire roster.  Fisch in Round 3 seems risky but there is some real life synergy with his captain that should mitigate that.  Tolsimir grabbed utility player spacek531 a little earlier than expected,  but if any captain has specific plans for new object design,  Tolsimir is the most likely candidate.  Kumba and a returning wheres_walto are former Hurricanes and should have their own synergy despite being less active.  If everyone is able to contribute their fair share,  I see this team making it to the post season with a lot of bold ideas and maybe even some game breaking innovation.  My favorite team of the West Division.

 

Manual Laborers:

F - A bit of a mix of Coasterbill and Sammy,  Coupon has struggled in H2H but has a high potential for solid naturalistic contributions to maps.  He was the best potential last round pick and if he stays active should make important contributions to multiple maps.

VC - No real surprises here,  nin has been on an activity surge and is laser focused on the group project aspect of RCT and H2H.  I don't expect a ton of RCT from nin this season but what he does will be at a high level and his track record for recently finished projects is good.  His ruthless methods seem to be fully endorsed by ITM but could rub people the wrong way as the season goes along.

Overview - inthemanual returns to captain his second iteration of the Manual Laborers and I think he has put together a strong team.  Similar to dr dirt,  ITM drafted boldly early with the slightly riskier picks of nin, Cocoa and Pacificoaster in Rounds 1-3.  The rest of the roster is made up of some solid H2H veterans and newer members from DKMP.  The roster feels a little top heavy but with some decent flexibility throughout for everything ranging from high concept fantasy to photorealism and everything in between.  Jaguar feels like a bit of a wildcard but left to his own devices could produce something spectacular.  Three newcomers to NE in a row and hit or miss Coupon means ITM is counting on the lower half of his roster to outperform expectations to secure a post-season spot.  The Cereal Killers might be more boom or bust,  but not by much.

 

Adventurers Club:

F - Version1 was a floater last season and didn't report a positive experience despite making good contributions each round.  Hopefully this team is a better fit as I am a little surprised he chose to take the floater spot a second time but we will see how it plays out.

VC - After a tough last season,  Louis has opted to be vice captain for In:Cities.  I take this as a good sign for Louis to stick around for the duration of the season and produce some solid RCT as a Round 3 pick,  as his latest Design was excellent and his enthusiasm for RCT is renewed.  ][22 opts out of vice captain despite winning last season.

Overview - In:Cities didn't draft quite as much star power as some of his peers but I think he built a team similar to Steve;  one that fits with his style and seems to lean on less established players that work with realism and semi-realism.  During the draft he seemed most thrown by other captain's picks but that could just be a red herring,  as his team seems to have a decent amount of cohesion.  Hoobaroo is an exciting fantasy oriented player and is a bit of a surprise Round 2 snag.  SWAGTITTIES and Iretont are some of the more established DKMP style players and Josh got some mid to late round steals in FredD and Scoop.  There are a lot of H2H rookies mixed in with some veterans so we will see how that pans out.  I could see this being a laid back team that starts strong and fizzles,  or struggles early but pulls together upsets against more boom or bust teams.

Update - Some signs of trouble with 2 early roster changes.  SWAGTITTIES dropped out and is replaced by late sign-up Otsdarva.  I'm sorry to see Swag go but Otsdarva is another interesting up and comer.  However,  Version1 also dropped out as a floater  but it may be early enough to mitigate too much damage.  SensualEthiopianPolice has experience as a replacement and is a good viable candidate as a floater.