solas

Legion Dynamo Legion Reign

Vasteras Eliminated From Playoffs After a 2-1 loss to the Riga Reign, the Vasteras Iron Eagles have officially lost the European Conference semi-finals in 6 games. It proved to be a short run in the team’s first ever playoff appearance in five seasons, however the fact that the series went six games rather than four inspired hope among Iron Eagles fans. “I’ve still got hope,” said one fan after Game 6. “It’s relieving to finally see this team make the playoffs, and to see us get so close to getting out of the first round was upsetting, but still reassuring knowing that the team can get even further next year.” The loss was just as devastating for the players. “It’s tough to be eliminated in our first series,” said Vasteras captain Willem Janssen. “We’ve worked hard enough throughout the entire season and we had a desire and a will to fight for the cup. We’ll be back next year and ready to make a run for the championship. We can only go up from here.”

Shit, how did I not realize that earlier? I'll chalk it up to the fact that I've just started watching the show (and haven't read the books yet), but still...

Well, that ends this season. Congrats to the Reign, we'll be rooting for you. It was a good experience to finally get in the playoffs. I was hoping we'd at least win the series so people would just shut up about the curse, but we lost to a deserving team considering how well Mike built this Riga team. We'll be back next year.

Apocalypse Now

127 Hours

Deep Impact

Phenomenon

Effort: 1/1 Look: 3/3 - Really good job on this one, you've really improved since you started doing these as PTs. I love the text/effect style you used. Quality: 2/2 - Good, consistent sound and video quality. I couldn't find the video/lyric matches you mentioned but that adds a lot to the video. Total: 6/6

Effort: 2/2 Look: 3/3 - This is really nice. Only complaint is the text, it kinda gets lost in the rest of this sig. Only a minor problem though - overall, a great sig. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 6/6

Effort: 2/2 Look: 2.5/3 - I like some bits of this, but I have a couple complaints. First, the stock work in general just isn't very good. You can't have a grunge background and use stocks like the bubbles at the bottom of the sig that Bushito mentioned. Second, the drop shadow on the text is way too dark and really detracts from that area of the sig. All in all, the rest isn't bad though. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.5/6 FINAL GRADE: 5.5/6 --> 6/6

Effort: 3/3 Look: 2.5/3 - This has a good start. Unlike Bushito, I do like the lighting on the head, but I have other issues with this. The text is too small, not very well organized, and possibly the wrong font. Also, the red splatter on the render's shoulder doesn't look very good IMO. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.5/6 FINAL GRADE: 5/6

Effort: 2/2 - Everything's here. Look: 2.75/3 - Bushito got it. The text on this is just not very good. Cursive fonts with increased spacing between characters just doesn't look good, and the stock kind of disrupts it. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.75/6 FINAL GRADE: 6/6

Effort: 1/1 - Definitely enough effort here. Look: 3/3 - Looks nice enough, consistent quality, nice transitions. A good video for someone who definitely deserves it. Quality: 2/2 - Good, consistent video quality. Nothing to complain about here. Total: 6/6

Effort: 1.5/2 - I mean, there's definitely effort here for someone who doesn't do graphics much...but just not enough. This is basically just text and a blurred picture. Look: 1.5/3 - I hate to be harsh, but this just isn't very good. The sig is way too empty with the blurring and large picture, and the text just feels like it was put there arbitrarily. You left way too much empty space and the text is much too large. To fix the text, I'd suggest keeping it simple and staying with one font for everything (or at least choosing a simpler font for the subtext), and making it smaler and closer to the render. Also, I advise that you either make the render larger, make the sig smaller, or both (I'd do both) to limit the empty space. Finally, you should really add some stocks here, otherwise it's going to look way too bland. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 4/6

Effort: 3/3 - I can see it. Look: 2.25/3 - This has potential, but I feel like you wasted the potential here. I really like the render effects and the text could be really good if it was a bit lower, but otherwise there's just not enough. Personally I'm not a fan of the blue stock to the right of the sig, and overall it's just WAY too dark. It looks like you had some good lighting started, but the entirety of the sig is way too dark and lacks contrast. When you're doing lighting, make sure you have the layer with the white brushing at or near the top of the layers. Also, this could use a bit more stock work so it isn't as plain. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.25/6 FINAL GRADE: 5/6

Effort: 3/3 - Mhm. Look: 2.75/3 - I don't like this as much as sheriff, but this is still really good. I agree that the text could be better - usually strokes/drop shadows don't look as good. Also, while I like the stock work I feel like there could be just a tiny bit more to it (although that might be moreso a matter of personal taste). Also, this could use better lighting and the render looks a bit LQ. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.75/6 FINAL GRADE: 6/6

Effort: 2/2 - Yep Look: 2/3 - I have to agree with sheriff on this one. The render looks way too bright and washed out, which in turn makes the text stand out way too much. The stock work isn't bad here, and with some better render effects and maybe some better text this would be really nice. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5/6 FINAL GRADE: 5/6

Reign HC Dynamo Bears Meute

Reign 4-0

User Name: lightning25 Cup Winner: Boston EASTERN CONFERENCE (1) Boston vs (4) Detroit Winner: Boston # of Games: 5 (2) New York vs (3) Philadelphia Winner: New York # of Games: 7 (1) Pittsburgh vs (4) Columbus Winner: Pittsburgh # of Games: 6 (2) Tampa Bay vs (3) Montreal Winner: Tampa Bay # of Games: 5 WESTERN CONFERENCE (1) Anaheim vs (4) Dallas Winner: Anaheim # of Games: 4 (2) San Jose vs (3) Los Angeles Winner: Los Angeles # of Games: 7 (1) Colorado vs (4) Minnesota Winner: Colorado # of Games: 5 (2) St. Louis vs (3) Chicago Winner: St. Louis # of Games: 6

Vasteras Clinch Playoff Spot VASTERAS, SWEDEN – It’s been a while since the Vasteras Iron Eagles have made the playoffs. The last time the Iron Eagles made the playoffs was in Season 32 – 5 seasons ago. It’s the longest currently active playoff drought. However, this streak doesn’t begin to describe Vasteras’ playoff woes – they also haven’t won the cup or even appeared in the finals since Season 26. It’s a stat that has constantly been attached to the Iron Eagles, especially after they missed out on the postseason last year. The rebuild that began in Season 33 has been criticized by many as too slow-moving, and the deals made by GM Thomas Corcoran were met with heavy criticism. However, with Helsinki and Cologne rebuilding, things have turned around for Vasteras. The Iron Eagles have now shot up to second in the European Conference and fourth in the entire league, thanks to stellar performances from franchise goalie Eggly Bagelface as well as the top-line forward duo of Keiji Toriyama and Willem Janssen. If the teams in the European Conference continue on their current pace, Vasteras will meet Riga for the chance to play Davos in the conference finals.

Effort: 2/2 - Yep. Look: 2.5/3 - It's good and I can see you're fairly close to getting back to your previous level of sig making, but there's some faults here. First, the render is way too far to the left. That results in a lot of empty space on the right side, especially considering there isn't too much detail to the stock + background that you used. Second, I'm not a fan of the text. I like the idea with the blurring and flipping, but the main text is too low and too far from the render, plus I'm not normally a fan of using white text on a light background with a light render. It has the potential to work, but could use more to it. Finally, I think a bit more stock work on this, maybe one or two grunge textures plus maybe some splatter stocks/brushing. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 5.5/6

Effort: 2/2 - It's your first sig, pretty good amount of work for someone who's just learning. Look: 1.5/3 - I hate to be harsh since it's your first graphic, but I have to grade how I feel is appropriate. First off, the render (player) is slightly stretched vertically. Make sure to hold shift when you're adjusting the size of objects in PS. Also, this is just too loud, there's too many things going on all at once. When you're making your sig, you need to have one main focal point. 99.9% of the time, that's the player. Right now there's too many images added - the Outlaws logo and text in the top right, the VHL logo in the top left, and the Top Prospects logo in the bottom left. Usually you should keep it to a render, a background, some stocks, render effects, lighting, and some simple text. You've used too many logos everywhere. Also, when making a sig, make sure to make it so the render blends in to the rest of the sig better, usually by adding some stocks over the render (like the one you have in the background). Good start, and I hope to see more from you. Creativity: 1/1 Total: 4.5/6