H2H2 / MEAN GREEN

MEAN GREEN

ROSTER:
Fatha’ Grinch (captain) - Maui Xtreme Resort (L) Sicily (W) Miami 2040 (L)
Natelox - Corozal (W) Sicily (W)
Butterfinger - Mississippi Delta (W) Kauri Cliffs (L)
Themeparkmaster - Corozal (W) Maui Xtreme Resort (L) Kauri Cliffs (L)
Drew (aka Gen X) - Mishashta Heights (L) Adventura Espana (L) Rushville (L)
Sanctuary - Adventura Espana (L)
DragonInferno - Mississippi Delta (W)
Metal - Mishashta Heights (L)
xVTD

Just like the Soutenours, this was a very strong roster which didn't perform as well as expected. Fatha' Grinch was unstoppable in the first H2H season but he didn't actually win by a majority vote with any of his parks this season. Maui Xtreme and Miami 2040 both lost in controversial rounds and Sicily won by default. Natelox is credited with the Mean Green's only win in a voting round together with Themeparkmaster whose name kept popping up all over the place. Butterfinger won with his RCT2 park by default and lost with his LL park and the support crew couldn't score a single win. vTd was notably absent throughout the season. In fact he was the only NE parkmaker on a H2H2 roster who didn't contribute. I'm sure everyone would have liked to see a park from him. So with four parkmakers on the team, three of them scored wins, and one of them was a no show. Perhaps the Mean Green were just a little too top heavy. Their parkmakers ended up in tough matchups and when they had opportunities to win, the lower half of the roster couldn't get it done.

PARKS:
W-Corozal - Natelox, Themeparkmaster [LL] - 92%
L-Mishashta Heights - Metal, Drew [RCT2] - 12%
L-Maui Xtreme Resort - Fatha' Grinch, Themeparkmaster [LL] - 44%
L-Adventura Espana - Sanctuary, Drew [RCT2] - 43%
W-Mississippi Delta - Butterfinger, DragonInferno [RCT2] - NO VOTE
L-Rushville - Drew [LL] - 24%
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W-Sicily - Fatha’ Grinch, Natelox [LL] - NO VOTE
L-Miami 2040 - Fatha’ Grinch [LL] - 48%
L-Kauri Cliffs - Butterfinger, Themeparkmaster [LL] - 37%

AVG: 43%

The Mean Green had some of the best parks in the competition and also some of the worst. The only glaring absence here is the lack of a strong RCT2 park. Mississippi Delta was good, but not of the same quality as the RCT2 parks produced by the Pufferfish or the Icons. Their only win by majority came in the first week and it was nearly unanimous. After that they either won by default, forfeited, just missed a win, or submitted a park that wasn't very competitive. Just looking at the parks, Fatha's were all excellent. Maui Xtreme was one of the best parks in the whole season but somehow didn't win. Sicily had two great rides and a well chosen theme and likely would have won if the Sea Serpents hadn't chosen to forfeit anyway. Miami 2040 was another strong park that just wasn't good enough to win it's round. Buttefinger's two contributions were strong but nothing groundbreaking. It's hard to remember Corozal because of how early it was released, but it did have a nice woodie and an invert, and typically solid Natelox theming. Mishashta Heights was one of those early RCT2 parks where the makers hadn't figured out the best way to use RCT2's scenery yet. It isn't as bad as some of the other early RCT2 parks, but still pretty forgetable. Adventura Espana was much better but still nothing too memorable. The Spanish theme was already becoming overused by that point. The less said about Rushville the better. Worst park of the year.

REVIEW:

Spirits were high in the Mean Green camp as the second season of H2H began. Fatha' Grinch and friends were already laying claim to the trophy. Grinch, Natelox, vTd, and Butteringer had six spotlights between them, more than any other team, with more still on the way. Week 1 went very much as expected with the Mean Green demolishing the Soutenours 45-4 in the biggest landslide victory of the season. The modest Pufferfish turned the tables on them in week 2 with an equally impressive 46-6 victory. Week 2 wasn't much concern though because they had only used two supporting players and Grinch was up next, ready to lay the smack down on the Icons.

After a bye in week 3, Grinch unleashed Maui Xtreme on the unsuspecting public. Fatha' Grinch and Themeparkmaster had packed this park with a custom vertical drop shuttle ride, a rapids ride, a hotel, and an innovative skating adventure coaster. It was creative, skilled, and as beautifully themed as we've come to expect from the Grinch. The Icons, aka "Team Iris", were coming off a big win in week 2 and anxious to take on their longtime rivals affectionately known as "Team Grinch". Pyro Penguin was one of the first NE parkmakers to adapt to the new architecture style in RCT2 and this worked to his advantage with El Dorado. People were ready to see something new and, though Grinch's skate coaster was certainly new, it wasn't as new as RCT2 architecture. As is common in H2H, the bigger novelty walked away with the win. The Icons danced away, as shocked as anybody by their win, improving to 2-1 as the Mean Green fell to 1-2.

The Mean Green locker room must have been a dismal place following the defeat in week 4. Almost everyone expected Maui Xtreme to win the round but an influx of RCT2 fans swung the vote the other way. Who knows what would have happened if week 4 had turned out differently. The Mean Green were forced to re-examine their strategy. After all, if Grinch himself wasn't unbeatable, than nobody was. There were team meetings long into the night as Fatha' and Natelox quickly scribbled out new orders and drilled the troops. When week 5 came around, Team Grinch wasn't prepared and they were forced to forfeit the round. While surprise division leaders the Sea Serpents were celebrating their perfect 3-0 start, the once mighty Mean Green had somehow slipped to 1-3 and nobody quite knew how.

The Mean Green really needed to answer big in week 6 with their match against the Soutenours. An embarassing forfeit had dropped their record lower than anyone expected it to go. The only sign of hope was that the Soutenours were also struggling with a 1-3 record. Now was the time to break out of their funk and establish their place in the H2H2 playoffs. Things were looking good as the last time these two teams faced off, the Mean Green walked away with a 45-4 victory. Surprisingly, instead of turning to vTd or Butterfinger, this important match was left to Sanctuary and Generation X and their RCT2 park Adventura Espana. It wasn't a bad park by any means, but it wasn't terrific either and this was an important match. The Soutenours continued to have organizational problems and newly annointed NE parkmaker OZONE ended up producing his team's park all by himself. In another tough loss for the Mean Green, OZONE's Og's Paradise won 29-22. Unfortunately for the Mean Green, theirs was the only RCT2 park that lost in the period of RCT2 dominance that lasted from week 5 to week 7.

After blowing their big match with the Soutenours, the Mean Green had another week off to think about their dismal 1-4 record. They were now last in their division with only three weeks of competition left. This is when the tide started to shift for the Mean Green. While they were home nursing their wounds and planning their early vacations, the Pufferfish defeated the Soutenours in week 7 and they dropped to 2-4. Suddenly the Mean Green had another window of opportunity. Then in week 8, they got some more help from Coaster Ed and the Icons who defeated a Soutenour park by both X-Sector and Harakiri. This ended the Soutenour season at 2-5. The 1-4 Mean Green had only to win their last two matches and they were in the playoffs. It was only a small window of opportunity though as their next match was against the Sea Serpents, the only undefeated team in H2H2. Again luck smiled on the downtrodden Mean Green as if to apologize for two close losses in weeks 4 and 6. The Sea Serpents failed to submit a park for week 8 and the Mean Green improved to 2-4 automatically. Mississippi Delta by Butterfinger and DragonInferno was overlooked by a lot of people because there was no vote that round, but it did feature an early taste of the architecture Butterfinger would make famous in Euroscape.

As the Mean Green celebrated what was only their second win of the season, the statisticians realized that they now had a better divisional record than the Soutenours and even if they lost their next match, they would still make the playoffs. When word reached the Mean Green that they had made the playoffs, they were ecstatic. Grinch hauled out bottles of "the good stuff" and distributed them to his teammates. Natelox brought over his "sweet ride" and they went tearing down the streets shouting "We're coming for you Iris!". That little joyride ended early when the entire team was picked up for speeding and jailed. They pleaded to the judge that they needed to be released so they could face the Blue Meanies in week 10, but he was not sympathetic. Just hours before the competition, they helped Drew reach a ventilation shaft and he slipped out to throw together a park for week 10 while the rest of the team wished him luck from their cell. "Don't worry guys, I got this covered, " Drew said as he slipped off.

Two days later when the rest of the team was released, they got a look at the piece of work Drew put together for week 10. "We should have sprung Metal" Grinch lamented. But no matter, the season was over. All that mattered now was the playoffs and the Mean Green were restored to full confidence for the first time since week 4. Fatha' Grinch and Natelox teamed up to create a park so good it would leave their competition shaking. The once mighty Sea Serpents, who were 4-0 the last time they faced the Mean Green, had lost their last 3 matches of the season. They failed to show up for the playoff match. You might even say the Sea Serpents were the MVP for the Mean Green because their forfeit in week 8 allowed the Mean Green into the playoffs automatically and their forfeit in the playoffs allowed them into the finals.

So finally we come to the match everyone has been waiting for. A H2H finals rematch of the Mean Green and the Icons. It was predicted at the start of the year, and though the season turned out differently than anyone expected, here we were in the finals and sure enough it was Team Iris against Team Grinch. With the new and improved H2H system, the two teams would play a best of three series to determine the champion. The Mean Green camp was buzzing with activity. Who would build the parks? Like a true captain, Fatha' Grinch himself stepped up and took on round one. He crafted a glistening vision of Miami in the future complete with a high speed race car tearing through the streets. The Icons were on a roll though and won the round in another close match with the unusual and creative Atomkraftwerk by mantis and Mortician. Final score: 42-38

Down 0-1, the Mean Green were once again facing elimination. There would be no Sea Serpent forfeit to bail them out this time. It seems that the team was falling apart at the seams though as Themeparkmaster and Butterfinger clashed over the best way to finish their park. The Mean Green season ended with the last thing anyone expected: a LL park by Butterfinger. It featured a clever adventure mine train with several vertical drops, a near miss train intersection, and a rock slide. H2H2 MVP Coaster Ed put the last nail in the Mean Green's coffin with the experimental Blood Island and the season was over.

It was a long and bumpy ride to the finals for the Mean Green. They started out the favorites and ended up the underdogs. With nine completed parks and only one forfeit, the Mean Green were one of the better run teams. Add to that three parks by Fatha' Grinch and those 20 votes he received for Captain of the Year were well-deserved. Their best parks went up against very good parks and lost by a few votes. If you shuffle the matchups around a bit, it's almost guaranteed they would end up with at least one more win. It was a tough season for the Mean Green any way you look at it but now that it's over, we still have the parks and the parks are good even if they weren't quite good enough to get the wins. Here's the best statistic of the season: The Mean Green made it to the finals and completed the season having only won one matchup by a majority vote. And that win came in week 1!

Other Team Summaries
ICONS coming soon
PUFFERFISH
SEA SERPENTS
BLUE MEANIES
SOUTENOURS

lol, a great read. I think the biggest problem we had was Fatha' picking vTd. He's a great parkmaker, no doubt, but I don't think he ever posted in our forum. In a way, Fatha' wasted his pick on vTd, when we could have had another parkmaker who would have done something. It would have been great had we had vTd do anything, but he fell off the earth.

And for the record...I was 100%

Congrats nate It's a shame Sicily won by default, cos it would have put up a great fight in all of the H2H2 voting rounds.

I think it's funny the way Mean Green got into the finals like that...*glares at Sea Serpents*

The Mean Greens for next season look just as frightening as they did this season, so i'm looking forward to some great LL parks

Nice write-up, Ed. Now roll-on the most important one

Really??

Cuz im not the captain.

Yeah mantis, there are no Mean Green next season. Fatha's on the Sea Serpents. (ironic isn't it?)

Shit, really?

I guess I should pay more attention around here...

Aren't Drew and Gen X the same person?

I dunno, but I was LMAO on your "springing of Drew" segment. Great read, Ed. I can't way for our own team review.

Yeah Drew and GenX are the same person.

Great read Ed.

It's news to me. I can't keep track of a ll the name changes. I just work here. I'll make the necessary changes. But who was the tenth member of the Mean Green then? Thanks guys.

It's news to me. I can't keep track of a ll the name changes. I just work here. I'll make the necessary changes. But who was the tenth member of the Mean Green then? Thanks guys.

I'm pretty sure it was SAC...

This is Team Grinch. If you're not Fatha', Natelox, vTd, Butterfinger, Generation X, Sanctuary, ACEfanatic02, Themeparkmaster, A New Found Glory, or DragonInferno, then you're banned.

But I have doubts as to whether that's accurate...

I think SAC replaced vTd.

Well whoever it was, they didn't make a park anyway so I'll just leave it at 9 with vTd in there instead of SACF. (neither one made a park and I already referred to vTd in my review)

Mississippi Delta by Butterfinger and DragonInferno was overlooked by a lot of people because there was no vote that round, but it did feature an early taste of the architecture Butterfinger would make famous in Euroscape.

Yes, I too think its overlooked. i think Butterfinger did a great job on it, I just copied his architecture style and added some more foliage. Everybody was happy about the win, but then the park was just kinda forgotten to even exsist.

And that Invert was delishus.