UL Season 2 Week 1 Recap & Week 2 Preview

Edited by Ramie, Peter, Rewand, and the UL media team

Hello everyone! I am Scarlet, a non-Samsung user and "I Wanna Win With You!" believer. The season has begun with fireworks, technical difficulties, and many, MANY, false starts. This will be the recap of what happened in week 1 as well as a preview of the week 2 matchups! In my unreleased week 1 preview and picks, I went 8-2-1, which isn't a bad start!

As a reminder, these are the author's own thoughts and opinions and do not reflect the views of the UL organization.

Current Standings

Standings after week 1

Fishy Miracle

The fishes in the pond were always my favorites for the season, and week 1 shows no surprises why I claim them as such.

They started with revenge against SEB in a dominant 26-9 win, followed by a close win against another strong team in DNF, beating them in 7 races in a 28-21 game. It's worth noting the interesting strategy FISH employed of stacking the front against DNF, definitely a game for other teams to study. Benni and Sky are the 1-2 punch of FISH, combining for 46 pts in the two games this weekend, with Benni scoring 16 and Sky scoring an astonishing 30. Sky will no doubt be in contention for MVP as he has already scored 9 podiums, 6 of them being first place finishes.

They will face Digi Dirt Devils and Team Ambition next week, both games I am expecting FISH to win.

Cinderella Gray

Well, how about that, this Cinderella story might have actual magic in it.

CGRY immediately confronted the defending champions VELO in their inaugural game, and they beat them in 6 with a final score of 27-15! Soon after that, they swept CLUE handily with a 25-3 score, and sweeping a team in the regular season is no easy feat. There was no standout hero in either game, as every starter contributed to the score, which showcases how solid their core can be in any game. I truly believe they are legit and maybe, just maybe, they can win it all.

Next week they play UMAP and DDD, and I expect the game against UMAP to be a close one.

Twoma

The bridesmaids of last year certainly showed how badly they want to get back to the dance.

They defeated CBG in a close 7 game series with a final score of 26-23 and routed their interclub rivals UMAP 25-17 in 6. Mega's 17 pt Meisho Doto was the main reason for the win against CBG, while their star captain, Spadez, routed UMAP with a 12 pt Mihono Bourbon. Their newest addition, Ishimorin, also contributed 9 pts across 2 games in his debut season, proving he was a smart addition to the team. This is a dangerous trio at the front, and they will continue on their path to redemption after falling short last time.

Their next opponents are Team Ambition, followed by a rematch of last year's finals, VELO vs. 2MA. Let's see if they can break the losing streak against VELO.

Cyborg

They still cannot defeat their demons in 2MA, as 2MA improves to 3-0 against CBG.

Despite the loss, they bounced back against Ambition with a 27-22 win in a close series. Their captain, Happydr, scored 17 pts across the games and led the front pack despite not even getting Angling and Scheming on the Mihono Bourbon against Ambition's own Seiun Sky. Xeri pulled off a mythical Dropleto Ult, winning a 4v5 after being disqualified for timing out due to technical difficulties. I do not fault them too much for the loss against 2MA; perhaps some teams have jinxes that can't be cast away, but I still pin them as favorites for the league title.

Their next games will be against UMAP and SEB. UMAP may well be fighting for their lives in that one, so it should be an entertaining match.

DraftNFamily

Adar, please stop making the wrong rooms, please and thank you.

Their inaugural game was prime time on Thursday Night Uma, and their 26-16 rout of DDD was a prime showcase of their strength. Unfortunately, they ran into a bulldozer known as Sky with Smart Falcon and were defeated 28-21 by FISH. Everyone who started in these games, except for Adar, scored, which shows the deep strength of their roster. Shoutout to Rain for being the most entertaining drafter to watch this weekend, scoring points with an SS rank Taiki Shuttle and running the wrong Fuji Kiseki for 25 minutes before finally realizing the error.

Their next games will be against CLUE and SEB, with the game vs. CLUE being a rematch from Play-Ins.

Velocity

Well, the reigning champions certainly got a rude awakening from their championship honeymoon.

The first game felt like sunshine and rainbows as they beat their old rivals UMAP 25-17 in 6 races. You get the high from the peak and you ride it as long as you can until you crash, and VELO hoped that crash wouldn't come anytime soon. Unfortunately, CGRY was coming in with a steel chair. In a stunning display, the newcomers destroyed the reigning champs 27-15, winning 5 of the 6 races. Moi will try to defend his MVP crown as he goes for the double, with 15 pts across the two games, but they certainly need to pick themselves up from this loss and sober up soon. Better now than later, right, old buddies?

Their next games will be against CLUE and another meeting with an old enemy, 2MA. I think they'll pick it up; the last time they lost, they went on a 5 game win streak to win it all, so they will definitely try to do that once more.

Ambition

You gotta give these newcomers props: they showed they can be elite, and their one loss was a close one to another contender anyway.

AMB's inaugural game was against the veterans SEB, which they won 26-16, taking 5 out of the 6 races in the series. They narrowly lost at the tiebreaker against CBG, a very strong squad, so there's really no shame in that. But I bet you they aren't satisfied being called "good enough" and will certainly try to snowball their way to a deep run. Every one of their starters AND bench players scored points, which is a great feat already, with Maki having a notable 11 pt MVP performance on Agnes Digital vs. SEB.

Their next games, however, are unfortunately the roughest of the bunch, as they face two undefeated teams, 2MA and FISH. Good luck rookies, you'll need it.

Cluegi

CLUE is one of the most interesting teams from Play-Ins, and I got the chance to know them better lately. After talking with their captain, Juno, it's clear these guys felt a bit disrespected by the community's sense that their spot was a little undeserved because of circumstances out of their control.

But these rookies have a fire in them to prove that they deserve to be here, as they won 26-23 against DDD with a team effort victory and Sam's heroics in race 7, where Oguri Cap stole a win from a dominant Seiun Sky. With a win like that, they were sure to carry the momentum, and a chip on their shoulder, into the next game. Unfortunately, CGRY came in with the steel chair again, putting up a 25-3 nuclear performance.

I know they'll get right back up, but that was a demoralizing loss, and their next games aren't going to be easy as they face DNF and VELO. But know this: you all deserve a place in the league.

Umaparty

This party did not get an easy start to the night.

UMAP extends their league-historic 5 game losing streak, carried over from last season, as they dropped both games in week 1. As they were one of my picks for the playoffs, this result was quite disappointing to me, but there is important context for this rough start. For one, facing reigning champions VELO and interclub rivals 2MA is a very rough opening week. Captain Koyu was out of commission against VELO, causing issues fielding a roster, and Vin, one of their core backliners, was unavailable against 2MA as well.

That said, a questionable strategy against VELO and a rough outing from their Front Runner against 2MA led to only 3 wins out of 12 races total and a 17-25 loss in both games. Matt Mario and Kalu lead the team with 10 pts each, clearly doing their part, but UMAP is going to require more from the others and needs to field its strongest roster to keep the losing streak from getting worse.

This coming week isn't going to be easier either, as they face CBG and CGRY, both strong teams coming off a successful week 1. It is only the start of the season, so there is still time to make adjustments and turn it around, but it has to happen soon and fast as the room for error continues to shrink.

Digi Dirt Devils

Despite their record, it has been an overall decent debut weekend for DDD.

Their oshi-driven draft strategy has been a pleasant surprise for UL, bringing back a feel-good sentiment about why uma fans play the game: to have fun with their favorites. Yuri had a spectacular weekend, scoring 18 pts with four 1st place finishes and a 2nd place podium. My only critique is their strategy of playing for dirt maps, when one of the dirt maps is going to get vetoed and it won't be easy to play for dirt when the tiebreaker isn't one as well. That aside, this is a talented squad with amazing skill on more niche umas in draft, and here's hoping they can bounce back next week.

Their next opponents are quite tough, however, and it will take extra effort to get past CGRY and FISH.

Super Evil Biterz

Unfortunately, the Biterz have been all bark and no bite in their first week.

Their game against FISH was, to put it bluntly, an abysmal performance. Their draft strategy didn't work out, and FISH perfectly countered the sprint picks, resulting in a 9-26 loss. They improved in their following game but still lost to AMB 16-26, a poor start to the season. Cyrin and Ridjer scored the most points across those two games, combining for 14 pts, but it wasn't enough on their own. Still, it is a long season and there is time to turn it around, but they need a statement win soon, and badly, to get back into the playoff conversation.

They face CBG and DNF this coming week, difficult teams to get a spark against, but find a way, my villain friends.

Scarlet's Picks: Week 2

These are my predictions for the games coming up next week!

Matchup	Scarlet's Pick
FISH vs. DDD	FISH in 5
FISH vs. AMB	FISH in 6
CGRY vs. UMAP	CGRY in 7
CGRY vs. DDD	CGRY in 5
2MA vs. AMB	2MA in 7
VELO vs. 2MA	VELO in 7
CBG vs. SEB	CBG in 5
CBG vs. UMAP	CBG in 7
VELO vs. CLUE	VELO in 7
DNF vs. CLUE	DNF in 6
DNF vs. SEB	DNF in 5

Stat Leaders

Points

Rank	Player	Points
1st	Sky	30
2nd	Yuri	18
3rd	Happydr, Mega444	17

Podiums

Rank	Player	Podiums
1st	Sky	9
2nd	Moi	8
3rd	Eracfles, Happydr	7

Looking Ahead

As we were wrapping up this week's matches, Cygames released new content for the game! We did not get to mention the recent popularity of the Eishin Flash Speed card in draft, but the Air Groove Wit card is the first Late Surger-oriented Wit card, which serves as a nice bump for the style after a week of MVPs and point leaders dominated by Pace Chasers and Front Runners.

The ever so traumatizing Christmas banner released at a time when it is winter in zero hemispheres, and both umas have received mixed opinions on their strength in draft. Is Christmas "No Stopping Me" Vodka a Tokyo merchant? Is XDaiwa going to crush every long, or is she just a "win more" uma? Stay tuned for next week's UmaLeague matches, because teams will have players putting their money where their mouth is with these umas very soon!