Meet the Winter 2018 Captains!

[Zakken]

It's about that time for another captain introduction!! An observation to be made here is that I wrote 90% of this before the draft.

Alt+Stab
Minnesota, USA
Captain of Giant Pea Shooters for 7 seasons
Summer 2015 Runner-Up
Fall 2016 Semi-Finalist
41 games played
Alt_Stab has long established himself as a WDL staple among captains. In spite of having a rough 2016 with only one playoff showing out of three seasons, Stab has shown remarkable management as a captain and individual improvement as a player the year afterwards, having finished both the Winter 2017 and Fall 2017 regular seasons with positive 3-2-0 records, coupled with an upset victory against champions Techno Vikings last season. Being the versatile captain with strong intuitions that he is, an unpredictably strong draft might be all it takes for the veteran to push the Pea Shooters a few steps ahead and nab a championship belt.

Dsparil
United Arab Emirates
First-time Captain
Winter 2017 Runner-Up
Highest dRAT in the league (8.42)
First Eurasian captain in WDL history
Before WDL, Dsparil competed solely in Zandronum for quite a few years, so it came off as no surprise to those familiar with his name when he came out with guns blazing in WDL, proving himself an important asset in the late DemonSphere's The Dream Team run to the seventh Championship Classic. His presence in the Fall 2017 season left some to be desired, mainly due to The Phantom Troupe's inconsistent commitment to practise and showing up to matches, but the team's 6th place in the standings betrays his playoffs performance, as he made sure to give the eventual champions Techno Vikings a run for their money. Currently hailed as one of the strongest Europe-centred players, and with a knack for superb fragging power, his captaining experiences learned from IFL, GFA and GDA will be put to the test.

HumanBones
California, USA
Captain of Sexual Panthers for 6 seasons
Winter 2016 and Fall 2016 Champion
Semi-Finalist in every other season except for Fall 2017
44 games played and the highest frag count in the league (6752)
HumanBones's storied legacy as a captain since the IDL days remains one of the greatest in Doom CTF history, which is why it was a shock to many that the Fall 2017's Sexual Panthers had fallen apart the way it did. Bones is clearly not one to be swayed by negative momentum, however, since his seemingly endless struggle to become a Doom league champion in the IDL was finally rewarded by his dominance in the 2016 seasons, followed by a strong underdog performance in Winter 2017. With a new wave of WDL maps in the horizon, the stage might be set for a new Bones with new tricks up his sleeve to get revenge on those who defeated him the season prior.

Ralphis
Florida, USA
Captain of Super Chargers for 8 seasons
Fall 2016 and Fall 2017 Semi-Finalist
Hasn't dropped below 3rd in 6 out of 8 regular seasons
Most games played in the league (48) and most flag touches (2138)
SUC is back, baby. Ralphis never ceases to impress with his drafts every season, building a seemingly flawless chemistry with his teammates in almost every known iteration of the Super Chargers. After a 2016 of mixed results, Ralphis came back stronger in 2017, terrorising almost every other team in the regular seasons. Unfortunately, the playoffs, in all of their knockout best-of-5 gravitas, remain his greatest demon to this day, as he has only won two playoff matches in his WDL career. Make no mistake though: with some team adjustments for more consistent performances in the daring playoff gauntlets, a much-coveted championship for the Chargers might be just around the corner.

razor
Alberta, Canada
First-time Captain
Fall 2017 Quarter-Finalist
2nd highest oRAT in the league (6.69)
3rd highest flag capture rate (1.64 points per game)
Arguably the rookie captain storyline of the season, Razor had a lukewarm introduction to the WDL, with a 1-3-1 record in his first season for Tai's The Phantom Troupe. The kid has shown promising performances, however, having scored plenty of flags against even the stronger teams of that season, notably being just a couple of flags short of beating powerhouse Best Ever on week 2. His strong commitment to the game has allowed him to quickly improve himself over time, and this will be his golden opportunity to level up and show everyone what he's made of. Although his skill is undeniable, his draft capabilities remain a mystery, but with his ever-so-perceptive observations on the game and its players, he ought to cook up a fearsome team to shake up the regular season, and most likely the playoffs as well.

RoSKing
Michigan, USA
Captain of Best Ever for 2 seasons
Summer 2016 and Fall 2017 Runner-Up
1st place in both regular seasons as a captain
4th highest RAT in the league (22.21)
The big cheese of [R] himself, RoSKing makes his third showing among the captains' ranks. Aptly named the "Best Ever", his team compositions have been nothing short of extraordinary, becoming every team's most feared opponents in both seasons they came around and achieving the top seed both times. His non-captain roles as a primary pick for DemonSphere's The Dream Team in Summer 2015 and Jwarrier's Regulators in Winter 2017 were also essential for those teams to thrive, which just goes to show how much impact he's had on the league thus far. A master of aggression, he'll be looking to push his game even further, so that he may break what seems to be a 2nd place curse for him, and fully live up to his team's name.

Tai
Connecticut, USA
Captain of The Phantom Troupe
Summer 2014 Champion
Winter 2015 Runner-Up
Fall 2017 Quarter-Finalist
To say Tai's history as a captain during the IDL era is long would be an understatement, as he captained in all of its 15 seasons. When he made his occasional WDL showings, however, it was a big surprise that he chose to remain a free agent for his first couple of attendances, although he would make his full return to the league two years and a half later, and took in the helm of a captain once more. Tai's new beginnings were rocky, to say the least: after what seemed like a strong draft on paper, he finished the regular season with a disappointing 1-3-1 record, barely seizing a spot in the playoffs after edging out a win against Hurt Me Plenty. TPT in the playoffs, on the other hand, was a whole different beast, barely losing against the #3 seed Techno Vikings. Having firmly re-established his footing in the league for a new season, Tai will be sure to silence some nubs on his second coming.

Zakken
Paraná, Brazil
Captain of Stardust Crusaders for 3 seasons
Fall 2017 Champion
Winter 2015 Runner-Up
2nd highest dRAT in the league (8.24)
As fate would have it, in this season I'll be fully realising my return to form! After 3 seasons of varying successes as a captain, and spending a full year taking my time off from the league afterwards, I made my return in 2017. Starting off as a member of Alt+Stab's Giant Pea Shooters, we finished our regular season at 3-2-0, only losing to the #1 and #2 teams. After losing against the Sexual Panthers in what was arguably the most exciting game of that season's playoffs, I would return months later in the Fall season as a member of Caution's Techno Vikings, in which I played a part in taking the captain to his back-to-back championship victory, and my first time as a WDL champion. Now a captain once again myself, I'll be using every trick in the book to replicate Caution's successes.