WUCC 2018 Fantasy Competition

YAKA (France) have been on the rise recently, coming third at last year’s EUCF after losing only to eventual champions Atletico, and have quickly become an established powerhouse of European women’s Ultimate. They picked up a few big names this year, including the American household name Robyn Wiseman and have their sights set on being the best European team at WUCC.

However, the success hasn’t been as resounding as hoped for this season, with a few losses in the semis and finals of big warm-up tournaments, including a finals loss to the hands of Brilliance themselves at Vienna Spring Break (final score 15-8). The Russian team Brilliance was an unknown quantity at the start of the season, but have proved that they are a team to watch as the core of their team is made up of the Russian national women’s team which beat the USA to win the Beach World Championships.

My prediction: YAKA is more prepared for Brilliance this time and takes it in a close match. (YAKA -1.5)
- M'pappi

Huck have enjoyed tremendous success at WUCC in recent years, finishing in the top 8 for the last 3 cycles, yet incredibly they have never managed to finish as the top Japanese side, something that they will definitely be looking to change this time around. However, it will rely on them capturing their 2017 form that saw them beat the usually dominant UNO to the All-Japan Champinship and consequently the top Japanese seed. UNO may have taken revenge in the 2018 edition last weekend but Huck will be confident of beating a strong team in an otherwise weak pool, to help keep their quarters streak alive.

Traffic finished 5th in Lecco 2014, the highest non-US team and 3 places ahead of their opponents, Huck. They looked set to regain theior top 8 seed, cruising to the final of the 2017 Canadian Ultimate Championship almost unchallenged but a lot can change very quickly in sport and a tough 15-13 loss against 6ixers relegated them to 12th seed and an extremely tough opening matchup. Alongside UNO they will be the most likely team to break into the top 8 by quarters.

I am actually going to predict this game goes against the seeding, and I expect Traffic to come out on top in a high scoring game.
- BaslowBlade

Last year Revolution shocked the frisbeeing world with a win at the 2017 US open. Their run was not flawless however, dropping two games along the way 12-15 to Denver Molly Brown and crucially 14-15 to MUD.

Hailing from Japan MUD are hoping to repeat their victory over the dominant Colombian side. MUD ended up in 8th place at the US open after tough losses in the brackets to Scandal and Heist.

In more recent times Revolution have gone on to hold their title in the Pan American ultimate championships (Euros equivalent for south/central America) and MUD have managed to master the ancient ninja arts and become untraceable.

I'm expecting another exciting match up between these two teams but I don't predict the past to tell the full story on this occasion
- Geogiant

Atletico are one of the biggest names in European ultimate. Having won both Finnish Nationals in 2017, and more impressively 2017 European Championships, they come into this year feeling confident. They also had an impressive performance at Windmill 2018 coming 2nd with only a close 10-9 loss to Mainzelmadchen in the final.
Player to watch: Katariina Rantanen, an ex-bear and WU23 player who is a stand out cutter for the Atletico side.

On the other side we have MUD who are one of the top women’s club teams from Japan. At Japanese Nationals 2017 they finished 3rd, and lost on universe in their semifinal to the eventual winner UNO. Notably, MUD made an appearance at US Open 2017 where they mixed with the top dogs of US ultimate. During the tournament they beat Revolution, the famous Colombian team, and only lost in sudden death to Molly Brown.

Player to watch: #77 Ris Shimada would definitely be one of my top fantasy picks (if you were picking a fantasy team for this tournament). Look out for her scoring points and assisting goals throughout the tournament.

My prediction: This is one tough pool with Revolution seeded 1st, Atletico 2nd and MUD 3rd. I predict this particular game will come down to the wire
- LayoutTurnover

The two bottom seeds of Group A are made up of Seagulls - the silver medalists of German nationals 2017 and Malafama - the reigning Mexican champion in the womens division. Seagulls aren't traditionally one of the better known German teams, who are often strong internationally, however they have gained some pickups for these WUCC including the current EYPOTY Levke Walczak.

Malafama are somewhat of a unknown identity in part due to the fact their Facebook is in Spanish. I can say that the women's team representing Mexico at the last World Championships in Lecco finished dead last - make of that what you will. A Mexican team is yet to lose to a German side on any team sport played on grass in the calendar year of 2018 and Malafama will definitely be keen to keep that streak alive. All we know for certain is both teams need to win this game to give themselves a chance in bracket play.
- Januzaj

This years Chevron team has been described by long standing members as completely different. For the first time ever the whole team has bought into gym and sprints and all the other gains they could think of outside of training (which they’ve also done more of this year than ever). People following the UK tour scene would initially think that this game would be a walkover for Chevron, but let’s not count their chickens too soon.

Pelt the second Irish team to qualify for WUCC sport Sweeney a handler that has been described as, “a chap that’s needs to be shut down” and ‘Ugly Nile’ a “shit hot D player”. Adding to them the additions of Jonah Wisch, Tad Wissel (of Sin the Fields) and Dylan Best (just some guy) can only hope to add to the strength of these emerald plastic throwers.

Let’s hope that the emotions of Pelt don’t get the better of them, as even a little bit of salt can make snails crumble. I think Chevron will take the win
- ShinyGlassesMan

Clapham (CU) have been utterly dominant in the European scene, winning every European Club Championship since 2012 and are made up of a core which have been playing together for CU and GB for years. While Clapham have packed their roster with experience, CUSB have elected for youth and athleticism masterminded by Davide Morri who coached the U24s in a successful campaign where Italy came close to winning it all.

This year, they’ve met three times with CUSB beating a depleted CU 13-7 at the Bologna Invite, and 15-10 on the Friday at Windmill, but Clapham got their revenge when it mattered, winning 15-13 in the Windmill final. Both teams were missing some players at each of these matchups so we can’t take a whole lot from those results but with Clapham strengthening their already stellar D line since Windmill and adding Alex Thorne on O, I expect them to trade the first half and Clapham to pull away in second as they always do in spite of the intense play of the Italians.
- GratuitousLefty

The fourth and thirds seeds respectively in one of the most hotly anticipated pools in the men’s division. With overall 5th seeds Colony from Australia expected to win the group reasonably comfortably, four evenly matched European teams will fight it out for the remining spots in the power pools, and this match up will be key to those standings. Freespeed are one of the spiciest teams on the circuit and 21st seeds for Worlds. Freespeed have had strong season thus far, coming fourth at Tom’s Tourney and 6th at Windmill Windup, both times being knocked out only by fellow WUCC teams. They have progressed throughput the season and are in strong form having recently won Swiss Nationals, beating arch rivals FAB in the final.

Freezzz Beezzz have been one of the main surprises in European ultimate this year. Having not qualified for Euros last year, they won their home event Tom’s Tourney, where in their final two games they beat two WUCC teams on universe point in the form of Chevron and fellow Pool D Team TCHAC (who in turn beat Freespeed on universe in the semis). After a mediocre Windmill Windup, they’ll be keen for more at worlds. Overall, I expect Freespeed to have a bit too much class for their Belgium opponents, especially with their recent Swiss Nationals Championship win showing they are peaking at the right time, and they’ll have too much fire power for Freezzz Beezzz. Both teams play a fun style of ultimate, so whateer, the score, this will be a great game to watch.
- thebigEZeeJay

Tchac are very strong, and should be aiming to push the top seed in their group (Colony, game is also being streamed), but have not had a good season thus far. They are however coming from a dominant performance at French nationals which they hope is the start of the return to form, right on time for WUCC.

TheBigEZ are a regular name on the European scene and have attended more WUCC warm-up tournaments than Tchac, albeit to mixed results. Even in bad form, Tchac should be beating them, but if the downward trend they've been on this year continues and theBigEZ peak at WUCC this could easily be a close, exciting game or even an upset.

If Tchac are out of form, this could be a relatively close game (I’d however still expect a Tchac minor victory). However Tchac are coming in hot off the heels of their third consecutive French national championship, and will be making sure to avoid the bitter taste of disappointment they experienced at Windmill. I expect them to come in hot, I expect them to give the top seed of their pool Sidney Colony a very good run for their money, and am therefore predicting them to take this game with relative ease (Tchac -5.5).

Players to watch: Mathieu Bosser has been one of the main talks of the European scene since taking it by storm in 2016, watch for him with his beard, gilligan hat, and massive playmaking ability. On the handling side, watch for Tchac’s Espita, a scoober-loving maniac with the disc which has quickly gained a reputation as one of the most creative throwers in Europe. The Bonneaud brothers are also returning from their AUDL adventures to boost Tchac’s strength.
- M'pappi

The biggest matchup of the first round sees the Kansai area based Heat Haze face Warao Ultimate Club, a team out of Tumero, Venezuela.

Heat Haze, rather ironically, seem to have been the team that has benefitted from Buzz Bullets year of absence, as they nabbeb the final WUCC spot over the likes of Osaka Spirits and Loquitos. Other than that I could not find a lot on the team from Kansai, but with a population of 22.8 million, and home to major metropolis’s such as Kyoto and Osaka, it‘s safe to assume they can probably find some good Ultimate players. Fun fact: Kansai nieghbours the Kanto region and was primarily used as the inspiration for the Johto region of Pokemon Gold & Silver.

Seemlessly switching to Venezuela, we come to Warao, nemesis of the famous Marao Bros. Ultimate Club (I promise that‘s the last nintendo reference), thankfully I couldn't find anything about them either but with a population of just 50,000, Tumero just might not have the quality player base to top their Japanese opponents. I predict a 15-9 victory to Heat Haze.
- BaslowBlade

The opening game of the championships and one of the most exciting match ups across all of the divisions. European Champions GRUT, made up of a young core of Dutch talent, face Wild Card, the 5th and final US team at WUCC. GRUT have won swathes of fans in recent years with their exciting brand of mixed ultimate and ability to win big games under pressure meaning they’ve answered all their previous critics.This however, will be their largest and most high-profile test to date in the opener for the championships with a large crowd against a host nation side. In addition to this, they’ve found form at the right time, winning Windmill Windup in recent weeks.

Wild Card, from Boston, achieved a 5th place finish at the US National Championships in 2017. This season however, has not gone to plan, with them dropping to 9th in some US rankings after failling to qualify for the bracket at the Boston Invite and losing star player Robin Meyers to San Francisco Mischief. GRUT will be hoping their stars are able to perform on the biggest stage, with widely considered Windmill MVP Floor Keulartz looking to star alongside Ben Oort, who has had a successful AUDL campaign with Toronto Rush, scoring 31 goals in 10 games. Wild Card will be hoping their mix of veterans and young talent will be enough to drag them over the line in a pivotal match to top the pool.

Overall, I believe that the stage won’t be too great for the young Europeans, and they will bring the level of intensity we’ve got used to seeing from them these last few years. Their youthful talent and blistering pace will be too much for their US opponents, and this may be one of the very rare times we see a team from the States lose in Cincinnati this July
- thebigEZeeJay

While we love seeing Riot play Fury and Clapham play CUSB again and again, it can get a bit boring. As ShinyGlassesMan will tell you; stagnation is a killer. WUCC gives us the opportunity to see teams we’ve not seen before and can produce the most memorable matches! BOOM! are the Korean national champions, though they're a largely expat team with only three Korean citizens on their roster. They beat the mostly-Korean Baekho team in the final on universe to clinch the spot. Players to watch: Brice Dixon (of Seattle Sockeye), and Haeri Kim. (Credit to /u/Adacore for the intel).

Kisumu’s rise to prominence started in 2013 when Michael McGuirk, who moved there from the USA to work for a non-profit joined their pickup games and soon became the coach after seeing their desire to learn. The next year, Kisumu won Kenyan Beach Nationals. McGuirk and his partner have since moved back to California but they will be playing for them again along with 11 American and Spanish players in Cincinnati. (Credit to cincinnati.com for the intel)
- GratuitousLefty

These two teams recently met at Windmill (which you can watch by clicking this cell) where Reading (UK) came out on top - though GRUT (The Netherlands) went on to win the tournament.

GRUT, though young (average age around 20), are the current European champions as many of GRUT's players represent the Dutch youth teams and they therefore pack a lot of talent and athleticism. You can look out for Ben Oort, one of their main playmakers, who has been playing for Toronto in both the AUDL and US Club Series this past year. Sadly he broke his thumb earlier in the season so played a reduced role at Windmill, hopefully he can return in full form for GRUT at WUCC.

Meanwhile Reading are the deepest club in the UK and feature a wealth of experience in handlers such as Mark Bignal as well as incredible strength particularly in their women who include Ania Godbold and Avril Hunter (both GB Mixed at WUGC 2016). Sadly this game is during the world cup final so home support via the livestream might be lacking for Reading as the UK fanbase will be watching it come home insted , I wrote this before the Croatia game, however much of the UK Ultimate scene will be at UK Ultimate's Open and Women's tour 3 instead so the point still stands, therefore I'm backing GRUT to win this time.
- JasonJ

Freakshow is one of the best mixed teams in Singapore and has the classic Singapore speedy style of play (along with sensational bids) that proved worthy to hang with the big dogs at U24. Crash qualified for WUCC as the Canadian runners-up after a two universe point bracket games at Nationals. A quick glance through their roster doesn't yield any familiar names but Canada are a strong foe that will likely edge the Singaporeans out on size.

Crash haven't been able to beat any American opponents in recent tournaments and have struggled to bring in some wins against local teams, while Freakshow were 8th at AOUGCC last August, a disappointing finish for a promising team. Interestingly on Twitter Crash thought 'Freakshow Singapore' were from the Philippines.. Till one of their players learnt to read and called them out publicly so hopefully most of their team can read or ain't nobody gonna catch those deep discs. With that being said Canada are probably gonna win this one *shrugs*
- Isobel

Stall7 are a team from Chennai, India who have been around for about 9 years now. They recently held a fundraiser to help get their players overseas to Cincinnati. However, I’ve been told by a friend (who is picking up with them at WUCC) that many of their top players have been unable to make it due to the sheer cost of it all. So the team is going to be filled with a number of pickups (mainly American I believe). This team seems like it could be hit or miss come WUCC time, but one thing is for sure, they are going to be a lot of fun to watch. Ultimate in India is known for its outstanding spirit and the way they always play to have fun.

Black Eagles have been a powerhouse in the UK mixed scene for quite a while now and that hasn’t really changed much. Even though they enter the tournament as the 3rd UK team in the seedings, results this year at various tournaments have been mixed (pun intended). Bleagles ended up jointly winning the overall Mixed Tour title this year (Mighty Hucks being the other team).

This should be an interesting game to watch due to all the uncertainty surrounding the Stall7 team but overall I think Black Eagles take a comfortable victory here.
- u/Not that GRUT, just Atletico