WARNING: The following will contain spoilers for season 9 of the Movie Trivia Schmoedown up to and including Friday Night Titans #17
It’s not been the best of starts to the year for Korruption. While they may have managed to bring Laura Kelly back to the faction, they lost Adam Collins to S.W.A.G. In terms of matches, Kelly is yet to play in the Star Wars Division this season and was left out of the two #1 Contender Matches that were scheduled following Thomas Harper retiring and leaving the Star Wars belt vacant. Marisol McKee lost her Singles title to the returning Samm Levine, while Mike Kalinowski also lost his Innergeekdom title to Kevin Smets. And just to add to everything, Mike and Chance Ellison were forced to break up following their Team Championship loss to Shazam.
It’s not the best spot to be in as we reach the middle of the year. But it’s nothing new for Shannon Barney and company, as the faction came back from poor starts to win the Faction Championship in both seasons 7 and 8. Not only that, but losing Collins has helped push Shannon and the faction in a new, nicer route that will see them winning the support of the crowd, especially as the Stars and the Den set themselves up as the villains of the league. Oh and there is the little matter of Marisol McKee winning the Free 4 All, leaving her with a title shot of her choice. Already, the signs are there for another KOrruption comeback, and it took it’s next big step at the end of the latest episode of Titans, as Shannon Barney revealed to the faction their new teams.
Now I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that Chance and Mike’s break-up would give us a team of Chance and Marisol, the 2 elite Singles competitors on the team. And it looked like they were all thinking the same judging by the shock on their faces as Shannon paired Marisol with Mike to form Team Impact. It certainly seemed odd to leave Chance out, but the reason for this was soon revealed… alongside his new teammate and the new member of KOrruption: Travis Fishburn. While it may still seem odd to some to not pair the 2 top Singles competitors together, I’ve thought about this over the weekend and I love these new teams.
KO is a fantastic player and one of the true greats of the league due to his ability to be so competitive over the main 3 divisions, but he is arguably the weakest of the 4 in the Singles Division. However he has shown that with a strong partner, he can be strong enough to not just compete for but win the Teams title against quality teams like the Founding Fathers and Shazam. Now paired with Marisol, an argument could be made that as she is a former SIngles Champion, he now has an even stronger partner than before. But what really stands out to me is that Marisol has shown that she can excel in a number of categories where an IG-specialist like Mike perhaps falls short, such as a number of classic actors and Movie Release Dates.
Meanwhile, your other team sees a top competitor whose 7-6 Singles record does not come close to matching his quality, and the FCL Champion, who will be looking to prove that his 5-0 FCL run can translate into the big league. But more than just great Singles players, they are also both very well-rounded individuals, with both comfortable in Innergeekdom categories that could be used as weapons in Round 2. Not only that, but with just 5 FCL matches and a Free4All V appearance—6 rounds played, 26 correct answers out of 30 asked, 87% PPE (only beaten by McKee’s 89%)—Fishburn comes in with very little gametape for opponents to study.
But while trivia knowledge is definitely something to look at, it’s also worth looking at the personalities of the team, as by pairing the competitors as they have, both teams have that outward personality and clear mouth of the team (Fishburn & Kalinowski) that will allow Ellison and McKee to pick their moments and otherwise focus on the trivia.
It certainly feels like rather than make 1 superteam and then a second team, KOrruption have gone for a balanced approach that could create 2 very even teams, which will put them in a very strong position at a time where there are very few established teams, as it means that hey have 2 teams that can both pile on the early wins.
Hopefully it won’t be long until we get to see these new teams in action.
The team closest to overthrowing the Exchange at time of writing, S.W.A.G. have some high quality talent in Singles and Teams, but not necessarily someone who would be considered in the elite bracket. Winston Marshall has done a great job of adapting his managerial style to fit each of his players this season and has become a student of the game who is not afraid to throw out a challenge – something that will put him in good stead with Bateman.
Shannon Barney is another rookie manager who has done a great job this season, while her rookies Adam Collins and Marisol McKee have impressed when given a chance. Being able to bring Bateman in as one of the top 3, and then picking up either McKee or Collins early in the draft to partner him would make a great pair of teams alongside KOrruption, similar to how the Exchange had Who’s The Boss and the Founding Fathers.
Coy Jandreau is another rookie manager who has impressed this season and with the potential that he and Bateman may be working on a show together soon, it may be that they find a good chemistry together. Under Coy’s leadership, the Mercs have done well and it is easy enough to imagine that many of this season’s roster would be available via the draft rather than requiring Coy to sign them in the opening round of Free Agency.
This is where things get interesting, as The Den have 4 high level competitors in TOM, Paul Preston, Ben Goddard and James White, but nobody that would necessarily be considered proven as an elite competitor. With White’s chances limited this year and Paul Preston having a down year, it is possible that Bateman could be picked up along with Ben Goddard and TOM, with at least one of the other 2 picked up in the draft, allowing Bateman to create a strong team with one of these competitors.
Now here is an interesting situation. Roxy Striar knows Ben well so will know how to work with him. She may not be quick to challenge at the moment – being more a cheerleader for her players – but it’s easy to imagine that she could change her style a little for the right person. Meanwhile, if you listen to Jeff Sneider, there is every chance that season 7 will see the end of The Odd Couple, which could then allow Bateman to join the Roxstars and partner with either Sneider or Marc Andreyko – either one would be a dangerous team!
Kaiser took a risk this year by trying to monopolise the Innergeekdom Division, but losses for Smets and Robert Parker, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic limiting the number of matches, has meant that this strategy backfired massively. Kaiser will know that he needs to bring in an elite Singles competitor, and Bateman would be the perfect fit. It’s hard to imagine Kaiser using 2 of his 3 picks on IG specialists, so I can see him keeping his Dungeon regulars Smets and Eric Zipper, then bringing in Bateman as the marquee signing. Zipper would be a good partner for Bateman – especially as the Individual IG slices become available in Teams from 2021 – while it’s possible that Kaiser could pick up another possible partner like Vinnie Mancuso or Liz Shannon Miller in the first round of the draft.
The last couple of managers have had question marks beside their names but Samm Levine could arguably be the perfect manager for Ben Bateman. Levine was one of the original strategists in the game and is never shy to throw a challenge, while he also has the trivia knowledge that could make the difference at a crucial moment. Add to this that if the partnership between Andrew Ghai and Ethan Erwin doesn’t work out, Bateman has the chance of a Team Action reunion or forming a superteam with Erwin.
The team that at time of writing are propping up the table, it’s not been a great year for the Droogs, who no longer have their top 2 draft picks and have also undergone a change of manager. There are some strong competitors here but Bateman could come in as the alpha dog that would be expected to make a run in Singles, while Jader Paramo, Witney Seibold or Alonso Duralde would all be strong partners for Bateman. With Brandon Hanna about to enter the Teams Division and the IG slices entering the division next season, it may even be time for the Boss to team up with his former intern. The big thing here is that they have the chance to create a super strong faction with their 3 picks in the first round of Free Agency, while they then have 2 picks in the 1ˢᵗ round of the draft following the Erwin trade – there are plenty of chances to create a strong team (or 2) and have a strong IG representation by round 2 of the draft!
As of now, The Exchange have only named “The Barbarian” for the IG tournament, while Dan Murrell has ruled himself out of the tournament as setting up his channel has left him without the time to study effectively. It can be assumed then (unless Elvis counts as the second entrant) that Emily Rose Jacobson will be the second representative, looking to get back to winning ways after a loss in Atlanta to Alex Damon.
The Den are in a really strong position when you consider that Kate Mulligan’s first 2 picks have only appeared in one loss in the Teams Division, which makes their trade activity even more surprising. Brandon Hanna’s reputation may have been hurt by consecutive losses to Chandru Dhandapani, but he was still the best IG player on the roster, so it was no shock to see him traded within hours of the announcement that Ben Goddard and Saul would be the Den’s representatives in the tournament.
As for Star Wars, there is no specialist currently on the roster, however it is one of Hlavac’s stronger categories, while Cabrera was one of the hosts of the revamped Collider Jedi Council before its cancellation. Either of these could do a job for S.W.A.G. but if Winston wants a specialist, dropping Ed Greer and Demi Adejuyigbe has created space for a Free Agent to be brought in (Mollie Damon being the obvious option).
With the Star Wars Title already in the division, Roxy has pulled off a smart trade by offloading JTE for a second Star Wars competitor Josh Quevedo and a future draft pick, meaning that she still has a chance to earn points in the division even while Alex Damon waits for a match. Best case scenario, Quevedo goes the distance and then Roxy will have a guaranteed 4 points coming her way for a Star Wars title victory when he then faces off with Alex, and the loser can stay in the faction to make a run back for the belt, similar to Kaiser’s plans for Kevin Smets and Robert Parker in IG.
As with S.W.A.G. I will assume that champion Kevin Smets will not be involved in the Innergeekdom tournament due to currently holding the belt. However, Kaiser is stacked in the Division and Robert Parker arguably goes in as one of the favourites following his debut against Andres Cabrera, especially considering his experience of doing matches from home courtesy of his time in the fan leagues. Expect the second spot to be filled by Eric Zipper, who is coming off an agonising loss to Stacy Howard in Singles but could pick up a couple of victories in the IG tournament if he gets a good spot in the bracket.
The Star Wars tournament is easily covered by Joseph Scrimshaw and I think that he is currently my favourite going into the tournament, having given Alex Damon the closest competition so far.
KOrruption may find themselves bottom of the standings, but expect that to change soon, because the big guns are coming out to play.
Ben Bateman joined the league in Season 4 as part of Team Action, but it was Andrew Ghai’s suspension at the end of the season that really kick-started his Singles career going into Season 5. While he showed flashes on his own, it looked like he was potentially on the road to a good but not great Singles career, until he smashed his way through the 2019 Ultimate Schmoedown, finishing off by winning the final against William Bibbiani at Spectacular IV and returning later int he evening to win the title from Paul Oyama via KO. Murrell will be his first attempt at defending his title.
Eyes on the Ball 