Blaseball Prospectus Coffee Cup Round 2 Power Rankings
First, a look at how we got here:
Now that you know who to blame if these Power Rankings are completely inaccurate, and who to thank if they are completely flawless, let’s get right into it!
Next, a caveat: Though we now know what Wired and Tired do, we can’t be sure how they will affect each game, and it is entirely possible that changes could be made or new weather events could be added. Additionally, whether or not rotations will reset this round to the first pitcher for all teams has a huge bearing on certain matchups.
Methodology: The rankings are in reverse order, 8 to 1, based on the aggregate of ranking from Ace Analyst (AA) and Luckey Haskins (LH). In the case of a tied aggregate, we used the tournament seeding as a tiebreaker. Without further adieu, here are the ROUND 2 POWER RANKINGS.
Atletico Latte
Tournament Seed: #1
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.22
Rotation Stars — 4.5 • 3.0 • 4.5 • 3.0 • 2.5
Round 1 Power Ranking: 9 (Luckey, Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 8 (Ace, Luckey)
LH: They barely squeaked by the Cold Brew Crew in Round 1, and now they face the hottest team in the Cup. The Latte embody the energy of playing to the level of their opponent, but raising that level just enough to barely win. Now that I’ve ranked them at the bottom, watch them do that again.
AA: They were, and still are, one of the most middling teams in the Cup. But while mediocrity might (barely) get you a Round 1 win over one of the tourney’s bottom teams, I doubt it will be enough to face one of the hottest and most shocking teams in the field. Then again, this is blaseball; stranger things have happened.
Heavy FC
Tournament Seed: #6
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.14
Rotation Stars — 5.0 • 4.0 • 4.5 • 2.5 • 3.5
Round 1 Power Ranking: 13 (Luckey), 11 (Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 7 (Ace, Luckey)
LH: The shortened lineup seems like a blessing and a curse in the Coffee Cup. If you get a few players Wired, this [FOGHORN SOUND] lineup will turn them over quicker, which can spiral into bonus runs. Then again, it’s a kinda ‘meh’ lineup, comparatively. We only know how Heavy FC performs against a single pitcher + a single hitter. They have a chance vs. Xpresso, but they need to survive the early games to do so.
AA: Heavy [FOGHORN SOUND]ed their way past an intriguing BC Noir team with no trouble at all, but they have the misfortune of facing Inter Xpresso in Round 2. Heavy’s rotation matches up well with Xpresso, but their lineup, although consistent, lacks the punch that Inter provides. Well, [FOGHORN SOUND].
P.S. Socks Maybe
Club de Calf
Tournament Seed: #7
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.56
Rotation Stars — 4.0 • 2.0 • 3.5 • 3.5
Round 1 Power Ranking: 12 (Luckey, Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 6 (Luckey), 5 (Ace)
LH: Of all the predictions I made on Twitter today, Club de Calf felt like the one that could pull an upset. Their rotation setup isn’t ideal for Round 2 (assuming the rotation picks up where Round 1 left off), but it weirdly matches up with Macchiato City for the late games. The Club’s lineup is solid, and consistent, and if it can steal an early win against top-tier pitching, that energy could carry to a series win.
AA: It couldn’t have been caffeine, but something energized the Club after 2 straight losses in Round 1, giving them 3 straight wins of their own and an upset over the Electric Co. Mac City poses an interesting Round 2 foe; they’re much less consistent than Club de Calf, but possess more star power, especially in their rotation. Still, if RGB’s early success against City is any indication, the Club might be able to topple some of the Macchiato aces and punch a ticket to the Foamy Four.
Society Data Witches
Tournament Seed: #9
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.56
Rotation Stars — 2.0 • 3.5 • 2.5 • 3.5 • 1.5
Round 1 Power Ranking: 16 (Luckey, Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 4 (Luckey), 6 (Ace)
LH: Call it recency bias, call it overcorrection, call it buying into the “hot hand” mentality, but until we see a loss I’ll ignore my analysis. Besides, their Round 2 draw seems more favorable than last time, so why not another win? This doesn’t seem sustainable long-term, but a 12-game hot streak is all you need to win the Cup.
AA: Alright, no excuses. On paper, this team looked pretty bad, and then they went and pulled out a three game sweep of one of our top-5 teams. Whether or not they’re fudging their Shakespeareanism remains to be seen, but either way, the Witches are emerging as one of the Cup’s top underdogs. They have a favorable matchup against Atletico Latte, but a tough Round 3 no matter who wins opposite them. It’s up to the Society to calculate their own fate (er, Fate).
Macchiato City
Tournament Seed: #15
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.22
Rotation Stars — 6.0 • 5.0 • 5.0 • 4.0 • 2.0
Round 1 Power Ranking: 7 (Luckey), 6 (Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 5 (Luckey), 4 (Ace)
LH: As I referenced in the Club de Calf entry, Macchiato City is vulnerable. The top of their rotation is second-to-none, but their lineup is all over the place. They looked dead to rights before the Tractor Bean decimated Real Game Band. They need to silence the moos early in the series, otherwise the Macchiato City will be up all night in #PartyTime.
AA: Mac City had some mixed consequences of their Round 1 bout with Real Game Band. The good? The series made it to five games, meaning that City will be able to trot out their amazing 1-2-3 rotation punch to start this round (although maybe every team will if rotations reset for Round 2). The bad? The fact that it took that long, especially with most of RGB getting Percolated (RIV) early in the series. Mac City has some serious talent, but they have to start living up to it before they can be considered a serious contender.
Inter Xpresso
Tournament Seed: #14
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.72
Rotation Stars — 5.5 • 3.5 • 4.0 • 3.0 • 4.0
Round 1 Power Ranking: 8 (Luckey), 5 (Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 3 (Ace, Luckey)
LH: I ranked them barely in the top half last round because they had such a tough draw. But a team that can knock off Americano can beat anyone. In Round 2, they face a team that seems unfazed by elimination games. Xpresso has the better lineup and the more solid overall rotation. But they also no longer get to play underdog, and the Heavy FC rotation matches up alarmingly well to Xpresso in the later games. Much like Machhiato City, Inter Xpresso cannot let their opponent hang around long enough to snatch the victory from them.
AA: OK, this is the part where you get to yell and/or laugh at me for ranking Americano #1 last time.
…
Alright, now that that’s out of the way…I really like this team. They have a balanced rotation and a well-optimised lineup, packed with players that often go unrecognized on their regular ILB teams. And they’ve got an easier path to the finals than maybe any other team here: they’ll face the unproven Heavy FC in Round 2, and either the shaky Mac City or underdog Club de Calf if they move on. That’s not to say anything’s guaranteed — Heavy isn’t the worst team here, for sure — but if the past is any indication, Xpresso can take on just about anyone.
Milk Proxy Society
Tournament Seed: #13
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.50
Rotation Stars — 5.5 • 5.5 • 2.5 • 4.0 • 5.0
Round 1 Power Ranking: 4 (Luckey), 3 (Ace)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 2 (Ace, Luckey)
LH: If seeding was fair & had the benefit of hindsight, Milk Proxy is playing anyone else and looking at a shot at the finals. Instead they face the best remaining team… and still have a good chance at making the finals, honestly. As I said in my predictions, the matchups will be a see-saw this series. But if FWXBC gets off to a slow start, Milk Proxy Society can absolutely shut the door on them in games 3 & 4.
AA: They may not have milk, but MPS sure does have talent, and it showed in their sweep of offensive juggernaut Royal PoS. Unfortunately, this means that if rotations don’t reset, their pitching matchups against FWXBC won’t be as favorable as they may have been. Still, Milk Proxy is far from a longshot, with a consistent lineup and pitchers that can hold their own even in a mismatch. If they can push past FWXBC, expect the MPS to become tournament favorites.
FWXBC
Tournament Seed: #5
Avg. Hitting Stars — 3.83
Rotation Stars — 5.0 • 4.0 • 3.5 • 3.5 • 4.5
Round 1 Power Ranking: 2 (Ace), 1 (Luckey)
Round 2 Power Ranking: 1 (Ace, Luckey)
LH: I picked them #1 last time ‘round, so I’m going to own it this round. Much like Americano last round, FWXBC faces the toughest challenger. When I wrote my predictions, I thought FWXBC had a slight advantage in the first two games, and in the last game’s matchup. Their margin of error is wafer-thin, because stumbling out of the gate again will allow Milk Proxy to just devour FWXBC. Win those first two, and Flat White should be able to advance. No pressure. (All the pressure.)
AA: I pretty much covered this in my Milk Proxy Society description, but…this will be close. Against any other team (except maybe Xpresso), FWXBC would feel like a pretty safe pick. But instead, they’ll have to face another frontrunner early. On paper, FWXBC barely edges out MPS’s lineup, and barring rotation reset will get some favorable pitching matchups, but with weather coming into play and just your regular old chaos factor, this one is incredibly tough to predict. It’s odd to be this unconfident in my #1 picks twice in a row, but that’s blaseball, babey!
That’s All, folks.
We hope you enjoyed reading our power rankings and we hope you enjoy watching Round 2 of the Coffee Cup!
