WHAT A SEASON OF GRUMBBL BLOOD BOWL!!

First of all, I want to say Thank You to all the coaches who played this season of GRUMBBL, we’ve seen some amazing games of Blood Bowl these past few months, with some great individual performances and some big surprises. I’m sure all the admins and staff members will join me in saying that it’s been a ton of fun and one of our most competitive seasons yet, especially for those all-important Champion and Promotion spots, whilst the dance to avoid relegation has been a real nail biter! This league wouldn’t exist without you guys, so again, thank you all for being great sports and coming every week to participate in our little corner of Blood Bowl!

So what’s this all about then? Well, I’ve wanted to do something like this for a while and do like an “End of Season” review, to have a look through the teams and see how they’ve done. I’ll look at their League position compared to my predictions, comparisons to the previous season (if they took part of course) and general performance.

We’re looking at JUST the League for this one, we’ll look at the cup in another blog.

Of course, this is all MY opinion, please don’t throw a rock at me if I get something wrong! Despite doing pretty well the past 2 seasons, I’m no expert (and haven’t won anything since the first season…. which only had 6 teams… including Goblins & Ogres!)

The teams will order of their respective League positions, starting with Division Two. …so with that out of the way, LET THE NONSENSE BEGIN!!

Amazons are one of those teams that either clicks, or doesn’t, and it took a while for this Amazon team to get off the mark. It didn’t help they had a seasoned team in the Comets as their first game, with a 6-0 defeat they’d surely want to forget, followed by a hard counter in the form of Dwarves.

However, to their credit they stuck with it, grabbing a draw and win towards the end of the season in what I’m sure they’d hope to be a good bounce back! It should just take a little bit of development to get them really going and hopefully we see them stick around for Season 3 to give the rest of the League a good Amazonian seeing to!

Unfortunately JD had to drop from the remaining games this season, so there’s not too much to say. However last season the Expired Cheetos were one of the more entertaining teams to watch, and with a 1-1-1 record at the beginning of the season, the Dwarves could have definitely made a run for a promotion spot, or at least made a difference to who went up considering how tight the gap was between 3rd and 7th! Hopefully we see JD for the full season next time!

This team also had turn in form, but in a positive way! Season One was pretty miserable for the solo Vampire team, but managed to go from 1pt to 7 pts, then 2 touchdowns, to 8. That may not seem like much, but Vampires are a notoriously difficult team to manage and there’s been a noticeable improvement to how Divvot has played them this season.

They did however manage the highest amount of drawn games in Divison Two with 4, so I’d like to see this team turn 1pt into 3 next season a few more times.

It will be interesting to see what happens next season with the teams that are dropping down, I imagine the Vamps will be looking at those teams to nab some more points off!

The Orcs at the beginning of the season looked set for a promotion spot, getting a very good 9 out 12 points in their first 4 games, conceding just the 1 in the process in a very good defensive display. However, it seems the defence was broken for the remainder of the season, conceding 2 or more touchdowns a game in all but their final fixture.

If it’s one thing Orcs can do however, it’s regroup, reorganise and fight again. The games they won were against pretty tough opponents, two of which had a Seasons worth of TV to use as an advantage and they managed to overcome those challenges. They even recorded a respectable 2-1 loss against the offensive powerhouse of the Comets, a feat in of itself. So I, as usual, have high hopes for Axl and I would expect him to go for a promotion spot again in GRUMBBL Season 3.

Along with the Vampires, Alx’s Nurgle team are actually one of the only teams who continued from last season I haven’t gone up against! They also had a much better season compared to last, managing a decent 5-1-4 in form and only just missing out on a promotion spot thanks to a VERY tight 3rd t0 6th place. Pretty much everything improved, scoring more and hurting more and turning 3 of their previous 4 draws into wins.

If I had one criticism, it is, again, a need to tighten up their defence. Nurgle are champions of pitch control and are notoriously hard to score against, even for the most agile of teams. It’s good to see a positive goal difference, but I’d like to see a lower number in the TDA column next season. If they manage that, then the will get promoted in comfort…. well as comfy as a Nurgle follower can be!

Somehow Patrick managed to make (some) people like Lizardmen!

They are another team that improved immensely after last season, going from a GD of -17, to +2. That’s a big turn in both attacking and defensive prowess and in doing so put up a really good fight for the promotion spots, only 3 points short.

5-1-4 is again a good set of numbers to see, and if he continues to improve then we should see the Likeable Lizards in Division One at the end of next season. The team just needs to make sure they don’t drop points against teams they should really be winning/drawing against, but we should see them in the promotions spots next season.

Rising from the ashes of the broken Wood Elves, come the Brettonians! And oh boy did we get a show out of this lot!

Just a mere 2pts away from promotion, this newly built team put on a really good display for the first half of the season. They took 3 points off their main rivals in the Priests and Daughters and were set for promotion back into Division One, of which they only dropped out thanks to an ever so close 3GD difference.

However, at the top, every point matters and a couple of draws against teams they maybe should have gotten more from, means that they will have to do it all over again next season.

I do expect them to have a good cup run, we don’t see many Bretonnians and from their results, we know they can cause an upset. Aurora remains our most decorated coach with 4 trophies to her name, with My Amazons Academia sporting the highest Win% of every team we’ve had and being the only team to never lose an official game. The talent and ability is there and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in Division One after next season, or even another trophy to add to the cabinet!

It’s always good to see a new coach do well in GRUMBBL, especially when you play Amazons in a Division with 2 dwarves teams in it! 6-1-3 is a very good record indeed, especially when you manage to win against 2nd place and draw against 1st.

To fall just short of the promotion spot by a TD tie break was unfortunate, but a solid 4th in a pretty rough league on their first GRUMBBL Season is impressive and taking an average on 1.9pts per game is a good launching point into Season 3.

The Daughters should absolutely be thinking of promotion next season and have a very good chance of getting the Division Two trophy as well. Their main Rivals are probably going to be in the Swords, Masters & Bruisers and will probably need to see off stiff competition in the SQ2: Casualties and the Vermin Tiders as they look to work their way back into Division One.

I’ve been really impressed with the new coaches coming through this season and Kleons’s Priests of Fire have really proven themselves with a solid campaign. In true Chaos Dwarf fashion, they’ve ground their way to victory, needing, finishing with just 2 more touchdowns above 4th to seal promotion.

What’s particularly impressive is they’ve been able to outscore some of the more offensively capable teams this season, averaging a very good 1.6 touchdowns per game, putting them with the likes of the Sons of Lustria and Strong N Skimpy. They actually managed to finish with more Touchdowns than the Jolly Boys who won the league, something they can hold over them as they go into the cup stage.

I can see them performing well next season and the Chaos Dwarf mirror matchup will certainly be one to watch!

It’s hard to talk about the Comet’s without discussion their utter lethality and efficiency when it comes to scoring. In 23 games they have score 56 touchdowns, with an average of 2.4 a game. To put that into real-life terms, that’s the same amount of goals per game that Liverpool currently has in the Premier League! That then bumps up to 2.8 per game in Season Two with a total of 28 scored at the time of writing, that’s 7 more than their closest competitor (21) and 13 more than 3rd place (15). 

Now you could argue that with the fresh teams in Division Two they’ve had an easier ride, but 2 of their 3 losses came from fresh teams and they were beaten to 1st place by another new team as well, so it’s not exactly been a simple campaign for them. 

Next season they should be thinking about finishing in the top half and should avoid relegation assuming their offensive form remains as it currently is and are also one of the favourites for the cup too having placed 2nd last season. 

Division 2 is the league for New Coaches it seems! This is the second time that a new coach has joined us and taken the Division Two crown on their first run. Although they didn’t quite manage to match Ancient’s unbeaten run last season, 23 out of 30 points is an impressive score and more than enough to see them clinch the title above the Comets. 

What’s more impressive is this was a fresh team too, outmuscling all but one of last seasons teams. 

Jolly should be feeling confident for what’s the come, Orcs are a great team in the right hands and he’s proven as such so far. A bigger challenge awaits in Division One but I see this team causing problems even for the already established coaches!

Arguably shouldn’t have been in Division One (But we’re not going to talk about that here…MARV!!) and as such were on the back foot from the get-go. That being said, despite perhaps on paper being the weaker team and going against a race that loves to run around Chaos like they’re not there, the Berserkers put in a good display in their first game with a good win against the Whiskey Kings.

Unfortunately a run of 7 losses followed shortly after, putting them in an unfortunate last place and dooming them to relegation. However, one should never underestimate the resilience of a Chaos team and I would imagine their experience in the brutal first Division will set them up for a good run the Season 3.

I think I need to stop saying the words “Adam will win this season”, because I’m apparently a curse to his teams! This was a team that turn a dramatic turn in form, from fighting for 2nd place last season, to then finding themselves in the drop zone. They only managed to score half of their total touchdowns from last season, whilst also conceding double what they did as well.

But, there’s been some good development of this team during their last few games, bouncing back with a good win, then a draw against the Trumps who are nasty team to defend against. I forsee a good cup run in this teams future and I wouldn’t be surprised if they bounce back into the top tier next season!

Blaze put in a pretty good effort during Season One, getting a respectable 6th place in his first season with us and even getting the drop on the until then seemingly unstoppable Comets. Another team that came up due to a few team changes in Division One, they put in another good display, only just managing to be relegated due to GD.

They’re still one of those teams that will punish you if you underestimate them and alongside SQ2 Reckoning, I see them bouncing back and should be aiming for promotion next season.

It seems their survival means that Division One is going to have a lot of Elves in Season Three! For a little while though it looked like most alcoholic of Dark Elf teams, coached by statisically one of the best coaches we have, were about to drop down into Division Two after a surprising 5 losses in a row.

A swift turn of form with 7 points out of their last 4 games and conceding only 4 touchdows in that same window, meant that again the Kings remain in Division One.

I think it might be another battle to avoid the drop again next season, with both of their victories going against teams who have been relegated, they’re going to need to have a look at their previous games and see where they change those losses, into vital points!

Labelled as the most “Unpredictable” of coaches and teams that we have had in GRUMBBL… in fact, I think it was me that came up with it! Currently, they’re one of the top scorers of the whole league (before the cup!) and at the halfway point were the team I most expected to go on and challenge the mighty Sons of Lustria for the top spot. They even put on an impressive attacking display against my own, usually well-drilled, elven defensive line.

Always one to watch out for, I would expect Chris to want a shot at the cup this season. However he tends to fall into the trap that I fell into with my Underworld team and that’s press too hard, having conceded at least 2 touchdowns a game after his 2-0 win against the Chaos. I think with a little more defensive discipline, the Trumps along with “Worlds Most Wanted Bear” Kanye, should be thinking about a serious campaign for season 3.

Despite quite a rough season in Season Two, the Soul Surfers, piloted by one of our most decorated coaches, still remains the 4th best team in GRUMBBL. In the beginning, there were strong arguments to be made that they could have challenged to top dogs in Division One for the top spot, and with a draw against the infamous Lizardmen, it seemed like a good starting point for a title challenge.

These guys oddly dropped more points against teams in and around their 5th place position than they did against the, at the time, dominant Lizards and Chaos Dwarves, giving the latter their only league defeat. In terms of numbers, they actually had a fairly similar time compared to last season, but with only 9 games, every point dropped really hurts and a few of those previous wins turned into losses or draws.

Even so, if there’s one coach you MUST not count out it’s Tails, who I expect to perform in the Cup as he always does and come back with a vengeance in Season Three.

Season One, Division Two Champions. I think we all expected quite a lot from, statistically the best team to come out of the first season. Up until the cup they were undefeated in a league that one would argue they were fairly unequipped to deal with. However, we all remember how well that AV7 held up and they posted an enviable 8 wins out of 9.

Division One is a different beast.

They tied with the Vampires for the most draws this Season, and we saw that AV7 finally doing what it does best… breaking. Their GD went from 14 down to 7, perhaps due to their Block advantage being chipped away thanks to everyone else getting more and more of it.

Still, they managed a good 4th place finish and still remain only 1 of 2 teams to go undefeated during the League stage. Ancient strikes me as a determined coach as well, he’ll be eyeing up that Champions spot as well come Season Three. Honestly, I think he could do it as well!

I think if you asked everyone, “Which team do you LEAST want to go against”, I guarantee that most will say Pork & Ginger Reloaded.

27 Casualties puts them well in reach of the Bloodiest award with even just a decent cup run in Season Two, averaging a devastating 2.6 injuries per game with 55 casualties caused in their whole history. They are a nightmare to score against having only conceded 13 touchdowns in their lifetime and in only 2 seasons, Sampittu has cemented himself as a brilliant defensive coach who controls the game like few others in GRUMBBL do.

However, to truly get himself to the top, he needs to see more games out to the end. 6 total draws in 2 seasons puts him at the top of that list and in Season Two he has found himself in the bottom half of teams when it comes to scoring.

The Chaos Dwarves, I think, need to look to the cup and next season for trophies other than simply the top puncher. They have the tools and the coach to do so and absolutely will be contending to be Champion again next season.

YES I KNOW THIS IS MY TEAM SO…. BIAS INCOMING!

I guess I’ll have to talk about my own personal expectations and how I think the season went for me with this one. In that case, it went very well. Initially, I wanted to finish around mid-table and steer clear of the drop zone, but there was a boost in confidence with that little 4 game win streak I went on.

Then the mistakes happened!

In both my game against Kislev and Norse, I conceded a last-minute Turn 16 touchdown, both from deep within my opponents half. Both were incredibly preventable touchdowns, but both times I went for glory and suffered from over-confidence and dropped 3 points in total. If we add those points to my final tally, I would have won the league on Goal Difference.

No complaints here though, it was a campaign that went far better than expected and the victory against the Lizards was the icing on a very good cake. I still need to work on closing out games (something a lot of us need to do!) and work on my defence which conceded 3 more touchdowns compared to the previous season.

As much as we all like to bash Jamie and his Lizardmen, unfortunately, one cannot deny the fact that they are the top team in GRUMBBL, and have been for 2 seasons now. They only dropped 5 points this season, compared to 7 previously and have an unmatchable 77% win record to go with their impressive TD and CAS rates too. They are very much the team to beat and will go into season 3 with eyes on a third consecutive title, which will make Jamie the most decorated coach we’ve had yet!

It will be a fight for that top spot I think, with the promotion of a brutal Orc team, the insane offensive prowess of the Comets and another Chaos Dwarf team in the Priests joining, I think Season 3 will be the hardest one for the Lizards yet.

 

And that’s that! Congratulations if you managed to get through the whole thing and thank you for taking the time to look through one mans “view” of the League!

If you want to read more of my ramblings you can go here & here! Plus if you’re new to the site, come hang out with us on our Discord.

Good luck to everyone for the cup, I have a feeling we may see an upset this time!

Happy New Year!

-Aaron