Preview

Mid-Atlantic Fantasy Preview

by USQ Staff | July 18, 2014

The Mid-Atlantic has already seen three fantasy tournaments this summer. A fourth will be taking place this weekend in Kernersville, N.C. 

The Mid-Atlantic Fantasy Tournament is the oldest and traditionally largest of fantasy tournaments in the region. Taking place in North Carolina this weekend, the tournament features a clash of Mid-Atlantic and South region, with a few outer-region players sprinkled in the mix.

Similar to last year, Mid-Atlantic Fantasy will also serve as a charity event, benefitting local and national charities. It features two pools of five, with round-robin play in the morning and knockout stages in the evening.

The Mace WinDos           
GM: Nathan Love, Utility, Quidditch Club of the Carolinas
Nathan Love’s Mace WinDos is assembled from players with which the QCC captain is most familiar. Following suit with his fantasy strategy from last year, Love built a chaser-heavy team with the goal of keeping games outside of snitch range. With Brennen Lutz (University of Richmond [UR]), Greg Astolfi (Appalachian Quidditch [AQ]), Harrison Prince (University of North Carolina at Greensboro [UNCG]) and Ian Walker (Virginia Tech [VT]), Love favored speed over power. Anchored by a strong beater line of the quick and wily Michael Musatow (formerly NYDC Capitalists), the strong Tanner Morris (Quidditch Club of the Carolinas [QCC]) and rock-solid supporter Alex Drose (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill [UNC]), bludger control will be paramount as well. The selection of seekers Tim Suddeth (QCC) and Benjy Strauss (AQ) provides depth in the exhausting position. However, Suddeth has been relatively inactive since last year's Mid-Atlantic Fantasy. It'll be old-school versus new-school when pairing him against last year's seeker class, making him an unpredictable pick.

Despite a speedy team, if the weather turns ill, much of the advantage will be lost as the game will slow down in the rain. Love’s team will be very weather dependent. Also with a lack of keeper subs, Lutz may wear down as the day progresses. Should they get an unfavorable draw in the knockout stages, expect the WinDos to make an exit.

The Tye Fighters
GM: Anthony Rieger, Chaser, Christopher Newport University            
Anthony Rieger’s Tye Fighters are a much more colorful assortment than the others, no pun intended. As keeping rotations go, Rieger has a strong set in the behemoth Lee Reid (Virginia Commonwealth University) and Josh Hayes (UNCG). He also has two of the tallest players in the tournament: Wyatt Minton (Winthrop University [WU]) and Austin Nuckols (UR). Both are aggressive on-ball players and Nuckols emerged as a standout at last weekend’s I Want To Be a Princess Fantasy Tournament and last month’s Steel City Fantasy. A strong substitute corps as well will benefit the Tye Fighters and keep their legs fresh.

Expect the Tye Fighters to come out with a win or two in their pool and then exit in the quarterfinals. A deep sub pool will be unable to make up for the firepower of teams like the Blue Ballers, the Fire Ferrets and the Mace WinDos.

The Highlanders
GM: Stephen Nettles, Utility, Rollins College
Stephen Nettles drafted for power against teams that chose to favor finesse and speed. By drafting a trio of stocky, defensive hitters in Landon Smith (Tennessee Tech University [TTU]), Seth Brys (TTU) and Michael Bourgault (Florida’s Finest [FF]), Nettles got just that. TTU has a tendency to pair their power with an interception-based defense, if these players bring that to this tournament, look for some quick turnovers in their favor. When paired with rangy keepers Sean Patrick Leech (QCC) and Jacob Huddleston (AQ), this will be a defensive line that other teams will have difficulty powering through. What could be this team’s kryptonite is its lack of substitutes. Their best hopes for cutting down on energy-waste lie with beater Carlos Metz of Richmond, a solid, middle-of-the-road player in most drafts but a standout in this one.  

Teams will need to try not to become too cautious after getting tackled, or the Highlanders will walk all over them. The Highlanders have been plagued by pre-tournament drops and endurance will likely be their downfall of the day.

The Blue Ballers
GM: Brian Nackasha, Utility, Florida’s Finest            
On paper, the Blue Ballers are a strong team. Brian Nackasha (FF) snatched up two top players quickly in seasonal teammates lightning-fast finisher Sean Snipes (FF) and the powerfully versatile Brendon Frisella (FF). When paired with a deep substitute pool, Nackasha’s team will remain fresh and out of trouble for much of the day. With late-add Ancrum Ballenger (AQ) as a clutch seeker to supplement Frisella, the Blue Ballers have one of the strongest seeking games in the tournament. The greatest strength of this team lies in the chemistry of the Florida’s Finest players, so look to those players to be itching to make an impact.

With a deep substitute pool and sheer talent, the Blue Ballers should be playing late into the day on Saturday. However, Nackasha will have to ensure his players stay rested as he is supplying most of the snitches as well. If his team stays healthy, money is on Nackasha to make the finals.

The Fire Ferrets
GM: Daniel Brys, Keeper, Tennessee Technical University           
Another strong team will be the Fire Ferrets. Daniel Brys (TTU) stuck to his home team for this draft and with the success they have seen in the South, who would blame him?

Brys curiously began by drafting Virginia Tech keeper Andrew McGregor fifth overall, a solid pick due to his height, speed and ability to drive the ball or take a long shot, but perhaps a bit high with the talent that was on the board and his susceptibility to being wrapped up. When paired with speedy chasers Bryce Whittington (TTU) and Michael Ferowich (TTU), opposing beaters will have their work cut out for them. Brys has built a team for offense; his defense will be tested as his beating game seems to be the weakest in the tournament. Brys did not select a pure beater until the fifth round and took a gamble at the end of the draft on an unconfirmed Bobby Padan (FF). If Padan does not make it to the tournament, the Fire Ferrets’ beating corps is a wildcard.

Expect the sheer firepower of this chaser squad to propel the team to a third or fourth place finish entering the knockout stages.

Stormborn
GM: Sam Thompson, Beater, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Stormborn is the female-heavy team of Sam Thompson (UNCG). Thompson started out strong by drafting Appalachian Quidditch rookie Trey Pressley and VCU beater Amanda Ortman. However, Ortman sustained a concussion at the recent Princess Fantasy Tournament and will be forced to take up residence in the seeker box at Mid-Atlantic Fantasy. Thompson will now have to rely heavily on the potential scoring ability of chasers Joey Galtelli (WU) and Tommy McPhail (VCU) in order to keep games within snitching range so that University of Richmond seeker Kevin Alloway (UR) can make the snatch.

One strength Thompson has over the others is that she drafted seven female players, so her ladies will not tire out as quickly as with other squads. With fresher legs, this may make an impact for an upset or two later in round robin play. However, expect an early exit from Stormborn in the knockout rounds as other teams have too much firepower for it to stop.

Night Furys
GM: Dylan Meyer, Beater, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
The Night Furys is a loaded squad that may make an impact in this pool. Led by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill beater Dylan Meyer and anchored by tactical Richmond beaters Katie Rothert and Esther Outlaw, this squad is a well-balanced approach to fantasy tournaments. With a mix of power and speed in the quaffle game and strategy and guile in the beating game, it should perform well. Expect their offense to be dropped in by aggressive beater and UNC rookie Kyle Bullins and for strongman Ivan Magana (AQ) and Ben Mertens (George Mason University), a rangy finisher on the wing, to put up some points. A nice addition of speedy Lucas Scott-Martin (Cullowhee Chimeras) bolstered Meyer’s offense, as Scott-Martin could be a player to make a name for himself at this tournament.

The Night Furys players should be able to hold their own against the Alpha teams in this tournament. They may even pull out some surprise wins against teams that appear stronger on paper.

Cobalt Uranium Gallium Argon (CoUGAr)
GM: Michael Malakoff, Utility, Florida’s Finest
Defending Mid-Atlantic Fantasy champion Michael Malakoff built a team that may prove weaker than last year’s Iron Nitrogen Xenon, however, it has one key bright spot. Kicking off her draft, Malakoff selected Ohio State University beater/seeker Matt Eveland. Eveland returned to quidditch this summer with a vengeance after sitting out the second half of last season with a broken collar bone. His knowledge of the game, speed and ability to make clutch catches of both the bludger and the snitch make him the cornerstone of this roster. The decisions made after the selection of Eveland are somewhat questionable. Selecting utility player Amy Sullivan (Rollins College) and chaser Alex Ewton (TTU) in the early stages of the tournament when she could have snagged them in later rounds was a questionable decision. Malakoff could have picked up a dominant ball carrier and sizeable point defender in their stead.

Malakoff’s squad surprised last year and this year she will be looking to repeat the magic. Yet with the squad selected, it will be a much taller task. This team will need to keep games in snitch range, a task made more challenging when your star beater may need to switch to seeker. I expect team CoUGAr to be knocked out in the wild-card round.

Pink Panthers
GM: Matt Corder, Seeker, College of Charleston
Hailing from Carolinas Quidditch Conference champions College of Charleston (CoC), Matt Corder threw his name into the general manager ring for the first time and came out with a solid squad of experienced players. He began by selecting first overall with CoC teammate Steven Schwark, a strong keeper and scorer who was high on everyone’s list, though costing a chance at some other players. He followed that up by a series of chemistry-focused picks in TTU players Lauren Bonte, Hilary Barker and Jacob May. With a sleeper pick of the speedy but relatively unknown chaser Racquel Jones (AQ), Corder will have a fast team that will be able to drop buckets on anyone.

Overall, with Schwark as their foundation, this team will be able to score when necessary. If they keep games within snitch range, expect the Pink Panthers to make a solid run.  

Whitewalkers
GM: Ted Stanton, Beater, University of Mary Washington
The northernmost of the general managers, Ted Stanton selected an interesting arrangement that will prove to be difficult to counter. Expect University of Maryland’s strongman keeper Matt Paesch to charge through most anything and, failing that, pass off the ball to the speedy University of Virginia chaser Kyle Stolcenberg. Beyond that set, Stanton managed to luck out picking up Steve Minnich of Capital Madness post-draft, making up for loss of third-round pick chaser/beater Katryna Fernandez (formerly NYDC Capitalists). Minnich is an exceptional point chaser and seeker bound to make beaters chase their bludgers with his quick ducking. Add to that George Mason University keeper Ryan Martin, who has played a great deal with Minnich, and you have the makings of a strong second line. Furthermore, Minnich’s experience as a tenacious seeker will likely shock any snitches who haven’t seen it before and lead to some quick grabs.

Stanton’s Whitewalkers have the firepower to blow most teams in this tournament out of the water in quaffle points and will have the edge in the seeking game for anything close. Provided there are no more drops among his star players, this team is the projected favorite.  

Reporting by Assistant Editor Nathan Love, Editorial Manager Amanda Dallas, Mid-Atlantic Correspondent Steve Minnich and guest writers Ricky Nelson and Tommy McPhail.