As we close out the group games I am back for another juciy stats update (you know you love them). But before we head into the stats a moment of personal indulgence if you don't mind. After 6 seasons (yes I joined league back in season 4) I have made it through to my first finals campaign. Somehow I have moved up two divisions without actually making finals before but obviously the organisers could see the awesomeness in my game and knew Div 3 was where I would shine.....that's my story and I am sticking to it. Now before I get smashed and bounced out in straight matches by Lesitte a moment to gloat, I am now officially better than HoboTango at the game who failed to progress beyond his group. Now Hobo before you come in flaming and demanding a match to prove it, I will politely decline and point to the scoreboard.
Ok enough tweaking the Dragon's tail, onto the stats. A total of 159 games were played in the group stage and 318 divisions chosen, we had a few matches that were closed out as forced draws but still a decent amount of games being played. ** Axis division**s were the go to choice being chosen **184 times (57.9%) **with Allies taken 134 times (42.1%). 88 of the 159 games were a Axis v Allies matchups, a very healthy 55.4%. Axis mirrors were chosen 44 times (30.2%) and Allies mirrors 23 times (14.5%). Of the 88 Axis v Allies matchups, Axis won 54 of them (61.4%) and Allies won 34 (38.6%), a clear advantage to Axis.
Average game length was 29Min 52secs which is pretty standard since the time limit has been brought in. Speaking of time limits there were 10 matches that went all the way to the 50min mark (6.3% of matches). At the other end we only had 4 games that finished in under 10mins.
In terms of incomes,** Maverick of course still rules, chosen 210 times (66.0%)**. Balanced came second with 58 Selections (18.2%), Vanguard next with 44 (13.8%) then the also rans, Flatline with 3, Juggernaut with 2 and V for Victory with 1. Interestingly there was only 29 games with a Maverick v Balance matchup and it was pretty much split 50:50 with Maverick winning 15 times and Balance winning 14 times. On the flipside there was 23 Vanguard v Maverick matchups but this time, Vanguard clearly came out on top winning 16 of the 23 matchups.
Onto the divisions, lets start Axis. The most popular divisions were** 5 Cavalerie Motorizată, played 17 times** for a 13-4 win record. Not far behind was **4. Fallschirmjäger (10-5) **and **17. SS-Panzergrenadier (8-7) **both played 15 times. And 78. Sturm played 14 times (6-8), Gruppe Harteneck played 13 times (6-7) and Panzerdivision Tatra played 12 times (8-4). Best performing Axis div though goes to a little division that has only been played 6 times by has a 5-1 record, 14. Infanterie seems often overlooked and maybe should be played more. The other good performers flying a little below the radar is 1 Blindată played only 5 times but has a 4-1 record and 4 Munte also played 4 times for a 4-1 record. Fallschirm-Panzer "Hermann Göring" also has a good record with 4 games and 4 wins.
Worst performers for Axis are 4a Divisione Alpini, played 4 times for a 0-4 record (because Protoss wasnt participating :( ). 11. SS-Freiwilligen also has struggled with 7 games for only the 1 win (1-6). Only 6 of the Axis divisions have yet to see a game, these are** 1. Fallschirmjäger, 5. SS-Panzer "Wiking", Panssaridivisioona, Panzergrenadier "Grossdeutschland", Panzer Lehr and Panzerverband Strachwitz.**
With the Allies the most popular was 26-ya Gvard. Strelkovy which was taken 13 times but only 1 person managed a win with them and they were left with a awful 1-12 record. Congrats to Atkpwr Gaming who was the only player to achieve a win with them. Other popular division selections were 1e Division Française Libre taken 12 times (10-2 record), 7-y Mechanizi. Korpus taken 10 times (3-6) and Rezerv 43-y Armii taken 10 times (3-7 record). Best performing divs however are hard to find with no div having a particularly strong record in the Allies. I call out to Podv. Gruppa Fedyunkin though, 3 games for a 3-0 record. Plenty of poor performers though, we have already highlighted the 26-ya Gvards and 7-y Mechanizi, Rezerv 43-y Armii also don't have great records. Not far behind are 1 Piechoty with 6 games and only 1 win and 2nd New-Zealand 3 games with 0 wins. Overall then the free French the Allies have struggled. On a positive note, like Axis, only 6 of the 40 Allies division have yet to see a game, 3-ya Gvard. Mechanizi., 6th South African, 15th Infantry, 184-ya Strelkovy, 358-ya Strelkovy and Morskaya Gruppa Bakhtina.
A total of 112 ban records have been entered of the possible 159 which is a good percentage to draw conclusions from. The most banned divs were, 97-ya Gvard. Strelkovy (Banned 94.6% of the time), for the record they did get picked in 4 games for a 2-2 win record. ** Then 2nd Infantry Division "Indianhead" who were banned 86.6%** of the time (Played 7 times for 3-4 record),** 17. SS-Panzergrenadier banned 81.3%** (played 15 times for a 8-7). In fact if you add the bans and game splayed for 17th SS they were knocked out or played in 91% of the time. Other banned divs were 4. Fallschirmjäger (75.9%), 78. Sturm (63.4%), 44-ya Gvard. Strelkovy (59.8%), 1e Division Française Libre (49.1%), Task Force 45 (48.2%), 26-ya Gvard. Strelkovy (33.9%) and Rezerv 43-y Armii (30.4).
Clearly 97-ya Gvard. Strelkovy, 2nd Infantry Division "Indianhead" and 17. SS-Panzergrenadier are the most feared Divs, all banned or played in over 90% of games.
In terms of player position the stats say the current way we do picks bans is the most balanced it has ever been. Of the 112 ban forms I have received Player 2 has won 58 games and Player 1 has won 54 games. Way too close to call.
To close out the stats for the group phase lets talk maps. The biggest shock this season was the popularity of the Slutsk Maps, Slutsk and Slutsk East both sit equal top of the ladder with 15 games each. The ever popular Orsha East also shares the lead with them on 15 games. Orsha North and Shchedrin right up there also on 14 games. In fact these top 5 maps make up 49.5% of all games played in League. At the other end of the ladder is Lenina and Ostrowno both with 1 game each. Every map though was used during the group phase. One of the most surprising changes this season was Kostritsa went from the 3rd most popular map in Season 8 to only being played 8 times this season so far.
Ok so the concludes the group phase, best of luck to those that have made it through to finals and to those that haven't there is always next season. I will be back at the conclusion of finals for a final league wrap, for now it is off to practice more with the mighty 1. Skijäger. May your piats never bounce nor you Königstiger show its side armour.