Las Vegas: A Masterclass In Strategy

[TenIQ 33]

Season 97 saw the rise of the Las Vegas Aces, a team that managed to take an 8th ranked offense, and win the whole thing using an incredibly strong defense. They were not the only team to take on this unique style of play however. Many teams adopted very strong defenses, opting to weaken their offense to build up a stronger defense. I believe this begs the question, how does this strategy truly size up against the standard team build, and does this mark a new era for the VHL with player selections?

 Simon is, while an amazing god for the VHL, occasionally inconsistent with their seasons, and can give a team a good season for an outlier strategy, after any season where a team GM manages to win the cup with one of these strategies, we have to ask the question if this is a sustainable strategy for GMs to continue to pursue in season 98 and onward. Let's look at the season our current founders cup champions had. Throughout their regular season, they did not dominate the league, or even end confident they would make it to the cup. Their season was very average, they had good sims, but it was a shadow of what would be, in the playoffs. Why was this? How is it that a founders cup winning team has a seemingly subpar regular season? Well if you look deeper, you will see the stats point towards something different. The goalie, OCO, managed to end the season with a 1.57 GAA, top of the league, a strong example of the defense in front of this goalie. With such a low amount of points scored in an LVA game, this also means that the offense of the team had low points scoring results as well. This could be a result of the league having very high TPE Goaltenders but I believe it is more likely the result of a very severe sacrifice of offensive strength for defensive strength. In such a defensive league this season, I believe the sacrifice paid off, and could very well happen again should the league have more defensive seasons, such as this one. However I also believe that the exact opposite, having a weaker defense (With the addition of a strong goalie) with a stronger offense, could have thrived this season as well, and would have made for a very interesting battle in the founders cup should it have happened. However I do not believe that this strategy is sustainable in the future. The league's specific environment, with the teams surrounding it, was suited almost perfectly for Sadies strategy, and the league will hold an environment similar like this for at least another season. 

 Now, with all of this in mind, we have to look at how this season could affect the future of how the GMs of VHLM teams approach team building. Having been involved in the drafts previously, I feel team management is usually focused on building a well rounded team offensively and defensively, even with a slight focus on offense building. This new idea that focusing on one very heavily could lead to a strong team might drive a few GMs to try the gamble of following the extreme route Las Vegas followed. While I personally don’t believe in taking that risk, does this season allow for a new strategy to be created. I think it does. The league is ever changing, and with that GMs are forced to adapt a new strategy every season, following the idea of an extreme boost in Defense or Offense might not provide as consistent results, but it could provide foundation for GMs to follow a consistent strategy that will eventually, lead their team to be championship contenders, should the leagues build allow it. While it is a route I would personally take, I would encourage any GM who is looking to take the gamble, to take it. The sporting world is all about taking the risks, and innovating the strategies, making the gamble. The greatest success stories come from someone risking it all for the cup, that is exactly what Sadie and LVA managed to do. The result of strong defense has proven itself as a viable strategy for the league, and I look forward to seeing the development of it in the future. For those who choose to take the gamble, good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

 

[slothfacekilla 101]

Very excited to join Las Vegas, good stuff!