l-Furyan-l
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I understand and respect that you feel that way. You have the right to that opinion. But it is just that, an opinion. Not a fact. To give you an example of the difference, part of your earlier argument was this: Even though this was presented as a fact on your part, I just could not disagree with this more. In my opinion, nothing in NHL 25 has been "worse" for the competitive gameplay experience than the overuse of Stick 'Em Up. It has completely defined the current meta where five guys defend by poke-spamming at the blueline (with an unrealistic amount of success). You absolutely can pokecheck without Stick Em, just like you can hit without Trucu. Difference is; one is used by literally everyone (at least 90% or more) in this game, whereas the other is used by about 50% of the players - at most. You tell me which one is more gameplay-defining? You dislike Truculence and think it ruins the game. I dislike Stick 'Em Up and think it ruins the game. None of us are wrong, none of us are right. We just have different preferences and ideas on what makes for "better" gameplay. Which, by the way, isn't always the same as more entertaining gameplay. My point is, our opinions on this matter aren't facts. Let's get a discussion going instead of just "telling people" what is right or wrong. -
Yeah, for me: either keep it as it is (only Big Tipper banned) or go with all abilities/traits banned, as SG currently seems to be doing. At least based on what has been confirmed in the World Cup, WECL and SCL, thus far. Arbitrarily banning 3-4 specific traits in order to create a specific play style preferred by specific players? That ain't it.
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Hello again. Just checking back in here with the same humble request I had back in September of last year: Now updated with regard to the upcoming National Cups (SCL, FCL, GCL etc.) and ECL '25 Spring. Is there a direction in which LA/SG is leaning this time? We already know the SG World Cup will have no perks/traits, thanks for an early heads-up there!
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Minor mistake in listing the Quarterfinal matchups, fixing.
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Returning top-four veterans flying new colours, newcomers making it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time, at least one completely new team guaranteed to be in the finals... welcome to the ECL ’25 Winter edition of the Elite Semifinals. First off, let’s congratulate GOONS, EXEN, The Black Jacks and Mythix on successful campaigns, even though they fell short in the Quarterfinals. Making the Elite playoffs is never not a herculean achievement and these teams and their players should feel a sense of pride in their performance this season. Now, let’s get into the first matchup – one between old rivals. (1) Parasite vs (4) Voittamaton We’ll hold off on proclaiming anything definitive, but for all intents and purposes this matchup is likely to contain the majority of players in the starting lineup for Team Finland at the upcoming SportsGamer World Cup. With the rule in place of “two starters per team, maximum” we’ll obviously see some diversity of roster, but with the skill, experience and winning pedigree featured among these players, it would come as no surprise if four out of the six starters came from Parasite and Voittamaton. Getting into the matchup itself, it's hard to overlook the fact that Parasite are the clear favourites – having completed a historically great regular season (27-1-0), including 6-2 and 2-0 wins over Voittamaton, followed by a 4-0-sweep against first-round opponent GOONS. There are no weaknesses on the Parasite roster. From the unparalleled goal-scoring of @Vattuyy (Elite-record 65 goals in the regular season, 6 goals in 4 playoff games), to the playmaking abilities of @NikkeDangles (league-leading 58 assists in the regular season) to the overall two-way abilities of captain and team heartbeat @Beniittto, the forward line is second to none. Combine that with the defensive lineup of @Teemuyy (Elite-record 64 points in the regular season) and @tomboo-_- (Elite-record 46 assists in the regular season) and goaltending duo @FINSeRe and @uhNikke – both playoff-hardened Elite champions – and it's not a secret why most are picking this team to win. On the other side, we find a whole lot of experience. And to quote Captain Rex from Star Wars: Clone Wars (2008): “In my book, experience outranks everything.” To offer a retort; does it, though? Because while no one can argue with the experience of the multiple Elite titles won by @Eki, @Patzlaf, @FlyerKungen and @Hansulinho, it has indeed been a while since they found themselves at the top of the ECL mountain. Even so, the team – then known as ‘Straikers’ – did push eventual ECL ’24: Spring Champions Tunnel Vision to seven games in the semifinals last spring, with a roster that contained 4/6 players from the current lineup: Eki, FlyerKungen, @temppanen and Hansulinho. But it is in the two “new” additions to the team we find the Voittamaton X-Factors for this matchup. The two-way play and playoff pedigree of Patzlaf, the captain’s captain of the ECL scene and long-time running mate to Eki, was sorely missed for Straikers last season. Here is a player who just seems wired to raise his game the bigger the stakes are. And if Voittamaton are to pull off the upset in this series, the team needs “Game 7 of the Finals”-level play from Patzlaf, right from the first puck drop. @J-_-Jamaltheman actually played in ECL Lite in the spring but made his grand return to the Elite scene this winter – and successfully so. While the defender's point totals (34 points during the regular season) are impressive, he also seems to have brought a wave of unpredictability and fun to the team – often being celebrated in the team party for his creative plays at key times. At least judging from the behind-the-scenes content Eki has been posting at the SportsGamer forums. We won’t offer any series predictions in this preview, but let’s just say Voittamaton needs a lot of things to go right if they are to knock off this generational Parasite roster. Next up, we have the battle between two comparatively “new” teams... (2) Tohtorit vs (3) Mustaa Kultaa Had someone predicted a Tohtorit – Mustaa Kultaa semifinal matchup going into the ECL season – with one of these teams being guaranteed to become first-time finalists – we’re not sure they would’ve gotten much backing from the rest of the community. That’s not to say these two teams aren’t filled with great players in their own right, it’s just that the odds were quite long for this particular matchup going into the season. Tohtorit were coming off a disappointing playoff appearance in ECL ’24: Spring, having been swept in the first round after finishing 4th overall in the regular season. Even so, the team opted to stay together – a rare occurrence in the ECL competitive scene – and fielded the exact same roster going into ECL ’25: Winter. The gambit, or lack of a gambit, ended up a huge success with Tohtorit improving their regular season result and finishing second in the league behind Parasite. More importantly, they improved upon their playoff performance by decisively ousting EXEN by a 4-1-series score in the first round of the playoffs. The team has had plenty of heroes during their run this season, including leading point- and goal-scorer (in both the regular season and the playoffs) @profiilipakki and the always calm @Kkarkass who has led the team in terms of puck possession both the in regular season and in the playoffs. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight goaltender @Stammer70. Not only did this netminder lead the regular season in terms of save percentage (86,0) while making the most saves (350) out of any goalie in the league, he’s taken his game to a whole new level in the playoffs. Through the five games he’s played so far, Stammer is rocking a save percentage of 96,49 (!), with a goals against average of 0,40 and three shutouts. If there was such a thing as an ECL “Vezina Trophy”, Stammer would’ve already had that locked up. Not to mention he’d be a worthy Hart Trophy candidate, even with the historic Parasite run. Now, “all Stammer needs to do” is lead his team to the Elite Finals and he’ll have a good shot at the Conn Smythe Trophy as well. Standing in the way of that are Elite newcomers Mustaa Kultaa. One of the youngest and most promising teams in Elite, “MK” has truly had a Cinderella run thus far this season. Going from a promotion in the spring (by way of a 4-0 sweep against GOONS), to a shocking 3rd-place finish in their first Elite regular season, to eliminating The Black Jacks in the first round... nothing seems to faze this team. The only two players who are currently starters for the team that filled the same role in Pro last spring, are playmaking forward @Allupekkaz and goaltender @LatveX. But the players coming in, @xAaro89x, @Launonexx, @Miseee96and @NuariJamal, seem to have immediately gelled with the team and created an environment where the group collectively fears no one and nothing. Keep an extra eye out for left wing xAaro89x, who finished second in the regular season when it comes to goals (40), and is currently tied with teammate launonexx for the playoff lead (7) in that same category. Goaltender LatveX also seems to have found an extra gear for the playoffs, going from an 81,51 save percentage in the regular season to an 87,84 percentage in the playoffs. As for who’s going to come out on top in this battle between two distinctly separate team-building philosophies – keeping a roster together and honing chemistry vs. recruiting the “right” new players – we’ll just have to tune in to SportsGamer Twitch to find out. Semifinals Broadcast Schedule Want to watch it all unfold for yourself? Then make sure to tune into our live coverage of EVERY GAME of the Elite Division playoffs on Twitch, YouTube and X. Sunday, January 19th, 2025 Matchup 1: Voittamaton (#4) vs Parasite (#1) | Games 1-2 | ⚠️ 19:00 CET Matchup 2: Mustaa Kultaa (#3) vs Tohtorit (#2) | Games 1-2 | ⚠️ ~20:35 CET Monday, January 20th, 2025 Matchup: Voittamattomat (#4) vs Parasite (#1) | Games 3-7 | ⚠️ 19:30 CET Wednesday, January 22nd, 2025 Matchup: Mustaa Kultaa (#3) vs Tohtorit (#2) | Games 3-7 | ⚠️ 19:30 CET Action kicks off today, Sunday, January 19th with the matchups between both semifinal matchups. Be sure to tune in at 19:00 CET! So who do you think will punch their ticket into the semifinals? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments? -
EU Clubs looking for players - PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X|S
l-Furyan-l replied to Robsom's topic in EASHL Teams
FALUN COAL MINERS (SCL & ECL ELITE/PRO) Hello boys, girls and bots - the Coal Miners of Falun are looking for reinforcements! After recently having our starting RD and G move on (thank you for your service Söder & Elie! 🍻), we are on the hunt for, you guessed it, a starting RD and G. We'll be participating in the SCL first and then ECL Elite or Pro, depending on how we fare in the Elite Relegation Series. ***** RD We are looking for a two-way defender who is comfortable with the puck and has a good eye for the game, but also knows how to cover for their D partner. This is important. Also important to be able to listen to instruction and execute plays and systems when called upon. Swedish-speaking preferably, but if you absolutely blow us away with your play you can speak Klingon for all we care. Pro-level experience is required, at a minimum. G We are looking for a sharp goaltender who excels at reading & anticipating the play and is quick laterally (cross-crease movement). Pro-level experience (or higher) is encouraged, but not a deal-breaker if your gameplay is at a higher level than your current division. Swedish-speaking preferably, but if you stop the puck and get along with the group, language isn't as big of a barrier as with the defender. ***** Contact me & @Buffy here (please include both of us in the message) through DM if you're interested.- 4620 replies
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I'd like to reiterate a couple of points I made earlier. This was way back in early September: We got that definitive, non-reversible decision when @Kenu & LA on October 15th announced the following: This was later adjusted, albeit slightly, when Kenu & LA on October 22nd announced that, based on community feedback Big Tipper (Gold and Silver) would be banned. The discussion continued at a brisk pace, and some good points were raised. Two ideas seemed to take off, both quite radical; the banning of all traits and the "one player type for each skater"-suggestion. The banning of all traits seemed to be the more popular one, and it is a suggestion I'd probably support myself (under the right conditions). However, I once again highlighted the importance of foresight and consistency: With just days to go until the first official tournament of NHL 25 (Qualifiers), I would like to emphasize foresight, consistency and structure one final time. LA laid out the proposed structure of the upcoming tournament back in early September. They confirmed the prerequisites and structure for the upcoming tournament in mid-October. They confirmed the tournament structure a second time about a week later (with one small adjustment, that had about a 99 percent approval rating). To completely rip up everything and start over from scratch at this point would be a disservice to SportsGamer, the League Administration and to the competitive structure of the ECL as we know it. Knowing that we can trust what is said in official statements and rulings from LA and SportsGamer, should (and must) be a core tenet of this league. If we don't have that core tenet, if every decision made and communicated is up for suggestion and is subject to change with the proper lobbying, then the rules, trust and structure built over the years are essentially worth nothing. Not to mention the fact that for a radical change like the one suggested - and let's be frank here, it IS a radical change when compared to every other tournament ever played on the website - there should be: - a proper period of time for the topic to be discussed, - a proper period of time for various different official suggestions (on competitive structure) to be drafted, - a proper period of time for these official suggestions to be voted on by the community, - a massive effort made to make sure that as many people in the community as possible get involved and get to have their voices heard (perhaps by way of an official news story, social media posts and emails sent out to all members) We're talking about a process here that could, and honestly probably should, take months. And a process that should be completely transparent all the way, allowing all members - regardless of how active they are on these forums or the website in general - to understand what is going on and to have their voice heard. My personal philosophy has always been that change and innovation works best when applied by the proper amount, with the proper support, over a proper period of time - so yeah, I might be biased. But on this topic, based on the points I've argued, I really believe that it is the only reasonable way to move forward.
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First of all, I think it's great that you - and by extension the gameplay producer in question - are able to supply us with this type of information. Even though one might argue they should've just released all of this information by themselves (like, years ago....), they haven't and probably never will. So, kudos to you for getting to a position where you can get a 1-on-1 with the gameplay producer on our behalf. Anyway, the traits I'd like to know about are not the obvious ones. The eye-test already tells me/us certain abilities work reasonably well. I'm probably in the minority, but I'd like to know more about the abilities that aren't as popular. Mostly to see if we've been overlooking them, for whatever reason. So, I'd like to know about: - Shutdown (does three things; accuracy for pokes against momentum or at speed in 1 on 1's, buffs shot blocking and buffs hitting strength in 1on1s' - but I'd like to know by how much?) - Quick Pick (what's the buff for interceptions and range of interceptions?) - No Contest (what's the buff for likelihood of winning puck battles?) - Unstoppable Force (what's the buff for strength with the puck and holding on to the puck when off balance?) - Thunder Clap (what's the buff for power and accuracy for point slap shots - does it include one-timers?) - ...and my personal favorite: Spin-O-Rama (what's the buff for speed and puck control in the spin, and whats the buff for shot and pass accuracy coming out of it, and for how long does that buff last?)
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I would pay cold, hard cash (more than I'd admit) for a similar breakdown of all the traits and abilities currently in the game.
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I don't agree fully with your post, but you argue your point well and I can definitely see the internal logic behind it, essentially: ban everything (or ban nothing) to make it fair. I do think if something quite radical like that, meaning "Ban all abilities" (or for that matter the "1 Player Type per Skater"-suggestion voiced earlier), were to be put in place, I would urge SportsGamer to lock in that decision WELL ahead of time - like say announcing now that this will be the prerequisites for the Spring ECL. Finally, I would like to add that I think you hit the bullseye with the segment I bolded in your post. It summed up this entire topic quite nicely, tbh.
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Agree to disagree 🤝
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I was mostly kidding, mirroring the words you used, haha 😊 I just disagree with you, is all. Big Tipper is the only attribute worth banning and it is not even close, IMO. If I were forced to add another attribute to that list, I'd be Stick 'Em Up. If you were to look at all the opposing players you face in an evening, the one trait (Silver or Gold) that would used by more than 90% of the players (defenders and forwards) it wouldn't be BT, QC, OT, TRUC or UF... It would be SEU. And that includes 3/5 players on my team, we use it too. The amount of errant poke- and stick checks that players get away with right now is hilarious. But still not worth banning, IMO.
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Well, this is of course anecdotal, but I have seen plenty of goalies stop both Golden CQ and OT... quite a few they had no business stopping, if you ask me. Perhaps we should ban certain goalie traits? Is it so hard to save without them? 😉
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Agree with essentially all of this, except the last sentence. UF and Truc (or any of the other abilities in 25, for that matter) aren't game-breaking enough to be banned, IMO, and shouldn't be lumped in with Big Tipper "just because". But that's almost exactly what you said, so 😄 However, I have come around fully on banning Big Tipper. It does change the entire dynamic of the game and it does rely almost solely on RNG. If LA were to compromise and change their "No Ban"-stance to "No Bans, except BT", I don't think anyone would shed any tears.
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"Do you really think top players aren't aware of the differences in builds?" At no point in my post did I insinuate this. The reason the top players use the builds that they use is because they are the best builds, atleast for the ways top teams like to play, But that's... exactly the point I was trying to make? So, we agree with one another? Look here, this is what I wrote, word for word: Yes, for a team of five top-tier Elite players, maybe the 4 PMD's + 1 PLY is the absolute best setup possible to maximize their skill, but that doesn't have to hold true for everyone else. One does not have to copy everything from the top teams, even if I understand the psychology behind it (Hint: The top teams are top teams mainly because of their individual and team skill, not their player builds). I was mainly talking about everyone else, not the 7-8 best teams in Europe, or the 50-60 players that play on these teams. My point was that the Meta these teams create, does not have to be the Meta everyone else uses, as very few teams can match the pace, style and skill of the absolute top teams. if you think you can outplay top teams with power forwards or any other non meta build, i wish you good luck. At no point in my post did I insinuate this. What I did insinuate was that the lower level teams, which from your perspective would be every team below Elite, might (and I am saying "MIGHT" here, not "WILL") have a better chance to keep up with the top teams if they decided to break free from the Meta that's been specifically created by the top teams to match the way they like to play (like you yourself said), and instead tried to build their own meta with player types, builds and a style that better suits their strengths. I also said I personally would enjoy watching an Elite broadcast if a team decided to break free from the typical Meta and play something like a PWF with Gold UF. But that was just my personal opinion (in this case as a viewer of the product). Regarding the world finals the builds NA players used weren't much different than eu builds, apart from using gold one tee and 1 inch shorter builds to get "better animations", the bigger difference was in tactical approach to the game, where Tunnel vision had a much slower play style where as Entourage played much faster and it had nothing to do with the builds. That's fair, I respect your perspective. You obviously competed at the same level as teams involved and would know what to look for. What I would argue, and this is more of a general argument, is that the fact that they did use Gold One-Tee and 1 inch shorter builds (something very, very few EU teams if any did at this point), played a major part in why they decided to use the faster play style. It's like arguing what came first, the chicken or the egg. I would argue that these two factors (the different traits/builds and the playing style) at the very least had an impact on each other. Saying "it had nothing to do with the builds", I would argue is incorrect.
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