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It’s hard to adjust the Power Rankings after only half of a tournament was played in Galveston, but here we go…
We’ve ranked all professional teams in the PSP. These paintball power rankings are based on a series of metrics: we use a computer ranking system, the fan poll, and our internal/insider discussions.
San Diego Dynasty
1. Even though Dynasty feasted on the teams in the bottom of the rankings in Galveston, and really didn’t face any of the other top teams, their play against the teams they did face was dominant; until they held back. They remain in the top of the rankings post Galveston, but I will say their position there doesn’t look nearly as strong or certain as what we thought it would be pre-season. (2011-Computer Points (1st)115 Fan Poll (4th) 11%) Galveston Scores – Win Vs CEP (7-0), Win Vs Thunder (5-3), Win Vs X-Factor (4-3), Win Vs AfterShock (7-3).
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Los Angeles Ironmen
2. The Ironmen looked fantastic in the prelims of Galveston. They were methodical and crisp in their movements; were shooting players off the break left and right and look poised to go deep into the finals rounds. However, the youth of the team has not been put to the test, which is why we are putting them at number two at the moment. (2011 Computer Points(5th) 84 Fan Poll (24th) 1%) Galveston Scores – Loss vs X- Factor (7-6), Win vs Aftershock (7-2), Win vs Thunder (7-2), Win vs C.E.P (7-2).
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Tampa Bay Damage
3. Once again Tampa Bay proved that they are one of the best paintball teams in the world on Saturday, beating Vicious in a thrilling 6-5 overtime match. They looked good in their match against Detroit Infamous, but for Damage to have kept their number one ranking they shouldn’t have gone into overtime with Vicious. (2011 Computer Points(7th) 79 Fan Poll (2nd) 13%) Galveston Scores – (6-2) over LA Infamous , (6-5) over Omaha Vicious.
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Houston Heat
4. If it wasn’t for the “new-ness” of the roster it would be hard not to rank Heat higher. Their points against Legion were just incredible to watch. It’s a shame a Heat vs. Damage face-off didn’t happen in Texas as we were all anticipating that… (Computer Points(NA)0 Fan Poll (25th) 1%) Galveston Scores – Win Vs Vicious (7-4), Win Vs. Legion 7-6.
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LA Infamous
5. We feel like one of the teams whose ranking really suffered from the “half tournament” deal was Infamous. Having only played two opponents, they didn’t get a chance to really come back and do work the way everyone expected. (2011 Computer Points (13th) 71 Fan Poll (11th) 2%) Galveston Scores – Loss Vs. Damage (2-6), Win Vs. Upton 187 (7-3).
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Moscow Red Legion (Former Russian Legion)
6. With the extensive and dramatic roster changes for the 2012 season, including the new name, Legion still managed to come out looking strong. A belief and faith in their program was evident in their strong play and solid points. To be honest, it’s hard not to believe in their program when you see the talent level of the players they turn out and still have waiting in the wings. (2011 Computer Points (3rd) 98 Fan Poll (1st) 16%) Galveston Scores – Win vs UpTon187 (6-5), Loss vs Heat (6-7).
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Seattle Thunder
7. First, congratulations to Seattle Thunder for completely blowing every expectation away in their first PSP professional event. Although Galveston is not over, the rookies from the Northwest have put themselves into position to potentially make it to the Sunday tournament depending on the points spread. Their 6-3 win against Aftershock, 6-4 win against X-Factor and even their 5-3 loss against Dynasty turned some heads. Finals is a totally new game though, so the jury is still out. (2011 Computer Points(13th) 71 Fan Poll (11th) 2%) Galveston Scores – Win vs Aftershock (6-3), Loss vs Dynasty (3-5), Loss vs Ironmen (7-2), Win vs X-Factor (6-4).
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San Antonio X-Factor
8. Perhaps it was an omen when standout Billy Bernacchia missed the first half (if not all) of Friday due to missing a flight. Not that his addition to the team would have made the difference, but from the start X-Factor seemed to be spinning wheels. In their first game they fought an insane match against the LA Ironmen, barely beating them (7-6). The next game they beat C.E.P (7-3), then lost close to Dynasty (3-4), but they got shocked by rookie team Seattle Thunder (4-6). Because of their wildly inconsistent play, we’ve bumped X-Factor down a few places. (2011 Computer Points(14th) 71 Fan Poll (31st) 0%) Galveston Scores – Win vs Ironmen (7-6), Win vs C.E.P (7-3), Loss vs Dynasty (3-4), Loss vs Thunder (4-6), .
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Omaha Vicious
9. I dont know if Vicious is not playing well or if they just had the worst luck possible in drawing Tampa Bay and Houston in their first two games; which also happened to be the only two that they played. On a good note for Omaha, they were competitive in both of the games they played. On another note: they still dropped both. (2011 Computer Points(22nd) 59 Fan Poll (26th) 1%) Galveston Scores – Loss vs Heat (4-7), Loss vs Damage (5-6).
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UpTon 187 Crew
10. UpTon was another team that was really not allowed to prove themselves due to the shortened schedule, but they played solid points against both of their opponents. (2011 Computer Points(NA) 0 Fan Poll (12th) 2%) Galveston Scores – Loss Vs Legion (5-6), Loss Vs. Infamous (3-7).
Chattanooga CEP
11. Chattanooga is grinding threw yet another year in the PSP, without much success. We hope they can find what it takes to win consistently at this level. Their only bright spot from Galveston would be there points against Aftershock… (2011 Computer Points(27th) 35 Fan Poll (34th) 0%) Galveston Scores – Loss Vs. Dynasty (0-7), Loss Vs X-factor (3-7), Win Vs. Aftershock (7-3), Loss Vs Ironmen (3-7).
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Chicago Aftershock
12. You have to admire Aftershocks spirit and drive, but you cant argue with results. They didn’t really have any. Aftershock was moving up field and claiming real estate like crazy, which was great to see. Then, they simply got shot out of their bunkers snap shooting, just playing sloppy. This resulted in there current ranking. (2011 Computer Points(12th) 72 Fan Poll (17th) 2%) Galveston Scores – Loss Vs thunder (3-6), Loss Vs. Ironmen (2-7), Loss Vs. CEP (3-7), Loss Vs. Dynasty (3-7).