2019-07-06 21:04

Source: https://i.imgur.com/uCppSNF.png?1


Launch of the RZA Insider Magazine!

Welcome to the launch of a brand new experiment in the RZA Universe: The RZA Insider - News, Subjective Analysis & Random Statistics from and by the RZA Community.



The idea of this was born last season when I launched a regional version of this called the Thunder Outsiders Magazine. It was written by me with the help of a few other managers. People seemed to like so slowly the idea started to grow that I could do something like this for the wider community.

The reason is that we all have our regional forums. Some are active, some not so much. But apart from Discussions forum there is not really a cross-regional forum where cool or interesting things are highlighted.

The goal therefore of the RZA Insider is to report on all things interesting in the RZA world. Whether that is an epic match, an incredible play, a opiniated blog post or some statistical analysis of a part of the game. All is possible and welcome. The hope is that this will increase cross-regional discussions about our leagues as well as just highlight the cool stuff that might be happening in leagues other than your own.

I am the editor of the publication and everyone can PM me to send in ideas or send content they want to see featured in the Insider. Also, over the last few weeks I've secretly contacted many of the active forum users to see if they were willing to help with this initiative. Fortunately many were enthusiastic about the idea so hopefully that will mean that we have a steady flow of interesting content over the coming 16 weeks.

The magazine will not have a scheduled publishing date. It will come out when there is enough content. Also this is an experiment so we will review it after the end of season 35.

INTRODUCTION TO THE LEAGUES
To start of with I've asked someone from every league to write an introduction to their league and where possible a preview of the coming season. We will post this in the mag when they become available.

Season 35 Overview of Fire 1.0
written by our Fire reporter Sverngolld
Welcome to the dawn of Season 35. Managers are currently hard at work clearing up last minute details with their teams to usher in the first games of the season, right after the draft.

It’s immediately noted by this reporter that the perennial powerhouse, Haiku Hurricanes, went bot. A moment of silence for the passing of a legend.

Starting at the top, AC East is headed by the dominant Ajalvir Destroyers. They are forecast to easily return to the playoffs. However, The Bonecrushers are coming on strong, reaching Round 2 of the playoffs last season. Berlin Raccoons were in a slow build over Season 34, it remains to be seen if they blow up this season and push for the playoffs. Finally, this division welcomes Shengoku to the fold.

AC North holds The Hainaut Gamecocks in control, over one bot and two newcomers. Might be easy sailing to the playoffs for the Gamecocks, with real attention payed to gaining homefield advantage. Rabaul Jacanas and West Virginia Highlanders join the division after promoting.

AC South looks competitive, though The Lunatic Purple Cowboys are definitely on top. Dolphins Pisa, Schonspieler, and Berlin Devils are all building and it looks like some good games can be observed in this division.

AC West is owned by the legendary Tigercats. The San Antonio Storm is the next tier with the division welcoming the Green Bay Hackers (reborn) and The Seattle Grenadiers.

NC East hosts only one team from last Season. The Romford Wanderers return with two new teams, Watford Hornets and Penn State. The botted out Haikou Hurricanes reside here as well, looking to upset a few teams as their team ratings haven’t fallen to normal bot team levels yet.

NC North is the stomping grounds of The Lyon Eagles, followed by Neroverde and The Bonaval Acorns. New to the division out of promotion is The Fort Worth Horn Frogs.

NC South will be very competitive as well. The Maykop Misfits are the favorite, but Sacko Del Toros were on a tear in Season 35. The Andorran Castellars should be in the thick of things with the Toros. The division welcomes Misawa.

NC West should belong to The Fargo Knights, if ratings mean anything. Gladiatori Roma and The Arsago Seprio Boars will make this division one to watch. Tuscan Wildfire joins the division with a Rookie Head Coach.

Doing the same for Thunder is our dumpling:

Thunder 1 Review
written by our Thunder reporter dumpling

AC conference
With the top 5 ranked ELO teams of the league in the conference this makes for a heavyweight slugfest.
The Cheese are returning from Elite and will be expected to make at least the playoffs.
Cougers with an $8.6m weekly wage bill will be looking to win more than just the West division (which they have done for the past 7 seasons).
My tip though is the Thunder Bolts who have the best HC I have ever seen (CP 100, Exp 5, Con 5), you should also check out their QB and LB coaches too - wow !!!

NC Conference
The newly promoted teams from Thunder 2 will provide a guide as to how well new managers can face off against old timers.
Juggernaut had a tough season in Elite but will surely want to get back to winning ways
Sultans will be looking to go one further than the conference championship game (especially as Basterds are now in Elite)
My tip though is the Skunks who lost a close playoff game last season to Basterds by 3 and beat the Sultans home and away.

MUST READS FROM AROUND THE FORUMS
This is a space where I will post interesting threads / posts from around the forums. If you wrote or have seen anything that you want featured here just PM me

Meitheisman posted some incredible stats on wins of teams in Elite and breakdown of Elite Play Offs performance
Direct links for google sheets:
RZA Elite Wins Including S34
RZA Elite PO Breakdown

Solana_Steve updated the total Elite bowls per team and which league the team comes from .

In Sea Devils excellent writer Kanar wrote up a very entertaining post-season awards article up: Team Awards & Player Awards

That is it for the inaugural edition of the RZA Insider. We would love to hear what you think of the RZA Insider in this thread here (as this article cannot be commented on) as well as ideas or just talking about the content of the first issue!

Your intrepid reporter Cheesehead

Tags: Inside Deventer Devils