I agree that the lack of 300k exceptions in the 90mm and 100mm leagues made creating those teams much more of an adventure. That added degree of difficulty really made the research much more enjoyable for me. I like my 100mm team but don't really like the 90mm team. Just happy that I have all 6 teams in ahead of the deadline.

I think the lack of exception made those leagues easier. With the exception I would have had to compare 6-8 very different teams to see which one to use. Without it I was forced to a pretty narrow range, and then the choice was fairly easy.

Shortage of cheap players made for some odd looking rosters. In order to fill 25 slots I had to make creative use of low part timers playing a couple positions by committee.

Agreed. Some will surely need to use bench guys quite a bit, and/or platoon.

My least likely to succeed? My XBH team. I don't dislike my roster, just not confidant.

My first time in this thing, so the hardest part was probably finding the time to get all these teams built once I committed to joining. It's the sort of mental process I love, but the fact that I've played few of these exact themes before can't give me too much confidence.

I finally got my last team in, and that 70M sure was a bear. If I had left more time, I would have tinkered with it even more than I did. My first time building a 70M roster, and it was very tricky deciding where to accept the most weakness. I have the least confidence in that one to be certain.

I settled pretty quickly on a 100M franchise and liked the way it came together, but that's probably a sign I should have kept searching for a better roster.

The 90M came about in odd way. I spent days looking at rosters of teams from every franchise that fell under .550 but had a lot of solid talent. I was sure the way to go was with 2 clones, one hitter and one pitcher. I had 3 or 4 rosters assembled and there was hardly a difference between them. I wasn't even thinking about 1 clone teams. And then I found a team that could work with just one cloned pitcher and had all the hitting I'd need. That surprised me because I figured the PA alone would be an issue, but I think it might work out OK.

I definitely enjoyed the variable cap idea. I settled pretty early on which letter grade to work with, and I hope I chose wisely there. I'm sure more experienced owners have a better sense of how much to value that 5M vs. the defensive hit. Could be some really fun games in that league though with some steel gloves.

My first soup roster, but it came together pretty quickly. I had to give a little thought to which two would be the best combination should I advance, and then I just went for it.

The XBH roster took the least time for me. I built a pitching staff I liked, set some parameters for hitters, and pretty much the first lineup I devised worked out. Again, the choice of which hit type probably was easier for experienced owners who understood the relative strengths of the choices. I think it's pretty clear that doing this before and succeeding or failing gives you tremendous insight into how to not just build a team, but build a better one than anyone else. I really have to say I am content just to have rosters I feel OK with. I have no illusions of going far, but I'd like to think R2 is at least a good shot.

Really surprising that the league the most people are most confident about is the variable cap. As someone who feels least confident about that league, I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

^ The least time consuming theme for me. One letter stood out, then it was mostly basic draft strategy, no complex set of variables like some of the other leagues required.
People tend to say they will do well in the easier themes when in reality there's more opportunity in a complex theme, advantage to whoever screws up the least.

Posted by ozomatli on 8/1/2017 11:39:00 AM (view original):
Really surprising that the league the most people are most confident about is the variable cap. As someone who feels least confident about that league, I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

You usually do well in the Big Balls league with variable cap...you will do fine...

I'm sure there must be a correct choice in the variable cap. I just have no idea what it is. Presumably 27% of respondents do.

I can't find the option to pick all of the above, or none of the above on the polls. Therefore I will abstain...

After a week of trying to pick a season from 3 consecutive seasons for the $90M, I abruptly changed course, went with something completely different. My apologies to Tridentric for the neverending sitemails...

555 points was needed last season to advance to round 2...who wants to take a stab at this year's cutoff? Higher? Lower?

That would be something like averaging 85 wins + 45 playoff points...

I will go with 560

I think it'll be higher (565?) but this is mostly a wild guess.

I was really lucky to sneak in last year.

Since the consensus seems to be that the themes were somewhat more difficult, I'd bet it'll be on the higher end as well.

Does anyone (schwarze?) know what the highest amount of points needed to advance has been in past tournaments?

In 2013, 25th place scored 574 points...

24th place point totals
2009 - 557
2010 - 557
2011 - 565
2012 - 558
2013 - 578
2014 - 561
2015 - 555
2016 - 559