ECL Elite 16 in 16: Dynasty

ECL Elite 16 in 16 is a season preview series we're implementing ahead of ECL 7. The idea was conceived by @chavelski, but due to time constraining the man himself, the project is now being carried out by the rest of our Elite writing team. The series will be released in 16 parts, one article for each team. The teams have been ranked by all team captains, and articles are being released in order from predicted last place finish to predicted champion of ECL 7. The objective of this series is to give an idea to the community of who is representing which team, added by a small insight into the team with an interview of the team captain.

Today we're taking a look at a team that has the skill, has the grit and has the vision to take it all home, they just haven't had the luck so far. The team that's next in line has found the way to stay at the top and be continuously successful, but despite that they haven't managed to win anything yet. You could say they've built a Dynasty around core players like@jumalpeku, @Snapster, @Tehh and @Sandr0hh. Might have given it away already, but yeah.. we'll be checking out Dynasty. Personally, I've been in the scene for a far shorter time than many of you other guys around, but I've always found Dynasty to be an annoyingly good opponent. Be it unorthodox breakout plays by @DieCutterMC or seeing the game ten steps ahead of the opposition like the tactician Ahola - they've always been one of the toughest teams to beat. They're not only really skilled players, but also seem like a great group of guys. I managed to get a hold of captain jumalpeku for an interview, which you can read at the end of this article.

IN

MukiMaisteri <-- Northern Ascendancy
OriginalPumaz <-- SJK eSports
Leksa94 <-- SJK eSports

OUT

Lukkolinho --> Break from NHL
Puantso --> Symphony

Current Roster:

Forwards
jumalpeku (C) @jumalpeku
MukiMaisteri @hpkfani
Filariou @Filariou
Leksa94 @Leksa94
TehhAhola @Tehh

Defensemen
DieCutterMC @DieCutterMC
Snapu48 (A) @Snapster
JParola @Jorma Parola

Goaltenders
Sandr0hhh (A) @Sandr0hh
OriginalPumaz @Hiiruh

Dynasty has been a difficult opponent based on some occasional games played against you guys on the offseason. How did the guys spend the summer and what kind of reception has the new game had among the Dynasty boys?

Your mind must be playing tricks on you! I'd say we're possibly the worst offseason team in all of Elite. I don't think we've had a single night where we've won two or more games in a row.

Most of our guys pretty much took the summer off from NHLGaming. Other teams might have kept practicing hard all summer, our guys were out chasing tail and gassing beers.

The new game has taken some getting used to. Feels like we've had to adjust our game a bit after every update as things we used to do didn't work all of a sudden. I think it's quite well known that we like to spend time in the penalty box and ath least that hasn't changed for the better with the new game. However, I think we all agree that NHL19 is a better version than the previous iteration.

You guys acquired notorious goal-scorer MukiMaisteri early on, did you guys make any other moves during the summer?

Our youngster @Buantso made a deal with @indi969 at his confirmation camp last summer, so we decided to honor their contract and ended up letting Puantso go.

MukiMaisteri was acquired to fill the gap left by Puantso and I believe we hit the jackpot on this one. Luukkonen is probably the best goal scorer in the game, he's also a very competitive and vocal teammate. Exactly what we needed.

Other acquisitions we made were @Leksa94 and OriginalPumaz @Hiiruh. Leksa is an excellent all-rounder in the offensive end of the ice, he will certainly see some ECL time if he can hop off Fortnite every once in a while.

@Lukkoukko(Lukkolinho) decided to take a step back so we needed another goaltender. That's where OriginalPumaz stepped in and we're happy to have such an experienced and trustworthy guy behind our defenders. I think we still have the best goalie tandem in the league.

How do you guys feel about the ECL Elite license?

Of course we're happy about it. To start off, we were wondering if we're going to be active enough for it to pay off for us. However, I think this might have been the incentive needed for us to start taking it more seriously and get excited again. The license fee isn't bad and the return is decent, I'd surely like to have that in my wallet.

We're moving in the right direction and props to @Kenu & the rest of the staff for that.

Several sources have mentioned ECL Elite being tougher than ever this season. Which teams have been your toughest opponents and who do you think has potential for a surprise?

SIKA is probably the only team we haven't managed to win in the preseason so I'd call them our toughest opponent. It's no joke, the SIKA roster right now seems so much better than before. I think they could also provide one of the potential upsets this season.

Finally, are there any players in the league you would like to highlight for the upcoming season?

Not on our team, that's for sure. I'd say keep your eyes on @vSilenttio.

Thanks jumalpeku! Good luck for Dynasty with the upcoming season.

ECL Elite 16 in 16 so far:

1. _______________
2. _______________
3. _______________
4. _______________
5. Dynasty
6. Northern Ascendancy
7. Sjukstugan
8. Northern Stars
9. Unlucky Boys
10. Rusty Blades
11. Almost Famous
12. _____________ (To be released)
13. SIKA
14. Gotham Knights
15. Falun Coal Miners
16. Team Frosty