The key storylines for an unusual edition of the capstone regular season tournament. Who will prevail with so many stars away at Worlds?
August 29, 2024 by Graham Gordon and Josh Katz in Preview with 0 comments
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Tournament Profile
- Date: August 31 – September 2
- Location: Rock Hill, South Carolina
- Weather: High of 90 both Saturday and Sunday, cooling to mid-80s on Monday. Light 5 mph wind all weekend, with chance of thunderstorms Sunday
- Top 25 teams: 7 women’s div. / 8 mixed div. / 8 men’s div.
- Schedules & Results
- Event Page
Streaming Schedule
All Ultiworld Standard and All-Access subscribers will have access to watch the live broadcasts from this year’s Pro Championships, where we will have three games in each broadcasting round.
The broadcast schedule can be found below:
All times are ET.
Saturday, August 31
9:00 AM: Hybrid vs. XIST [X] | AMP vs. ‘Shine [X] | Molly Brown vs. Parcha [W]
11:15 AM: shame. vs. Slow [X] | Ring of Fire vs. Johnny Bravo [M] | Scandal vs. BENT [X]
1:30 PM: AMP vs. XIST [X] | Rhino Slam! vs. DiG [M] | Phoenix vs. BENT [W]
3:45 PM: Machine vs. Rhino Slam! [M] | DiG vs. Chain Lightning [M] | Molly Brown vs. Riot [W]
Sunday, September 1
9:00 AM: Quarterfinal TBD [W] | Quarterfinal TBD [M] | Quarterfinal TBD [X]
11:15 AM: Quarterfinal TBD [W] | Quarterfinal TBD [M] | Quarterfinal TBD [X]
1:30 PM: Semifinal TBD [W] | Semifinal TBD [M] | Semifinal TBD [X]
3:45 PM: Semifinal TBD [W] | Semifinal TBD [M] | Semifinal TBD [X]
Monday, September 2
9:00 AM: Final TBD [X]
11:00 AM: Final TBD [W]
1:00 PM: Final TBD [M]
Men’s Division
Can Anyone Hang With Truck?
Aside from a universe point loss to #5 New York PoNY, #1 Washington DC Truck Stop were the class of the field at the US Open, winning all their other games by a considerable margin. Like many other teams, they will be missing many of their stars this weekend due to Worlds, so we will get to see their depth playing in bigger roles. They’ve still got Andrew Roy, Tyler Monroe, Cole Jurek, Jacques Nissen, and Gus Norrbom on their O-Line, though, so they will still be high-releasing and scoobering their way to plenty of scores. For most of the season, #2 Chicago Machine have been seen as their most likely challenger. They aren’t missing nearly as many bodies and still have Joe White1, who might be the best offensive player in the division. Not having Nate Goff, Daan De Marrée, or Malik Auger-Semmar is significant. Can they get over the hump without them and put Truck on notice for Nationals?
New Additions in the Middle
#3 Portland Rhino Slam! and #4 Denver Johnny Bravo have both looked good so far this club season, but have also had some less good results. Rhino will be missing the talents of Henry Ing among others, but this weekend should be a good test of how Matt Rehder, as well as the Oregon Ego crew of Adam McNichols, Aaron Kaplan, and Mica Glass (in his second season with the team) continue to integrate themselves. For Bravo, Pro Champs also marks the team debut of Grant Lindsley. He took a season off from club in 2023 but has been a hugely important player with the UFA’s Salt Lake Shred the past 2 seasons, so he clearly hasn’t lost a step. As one of the game’s most consistent players for 15 years, it’ll be interesting to see how he meshes with the high-flying styles of Alex Atkins and Noah Coolman, not to mention Quinn Finer and Jon Nethercutt once they return to the lineup in the postseason.
Turning the Narrative
#6 San Francisco Revolver had a great start to their season at PEC West, only losing in the final to Portland. They didn’t look quite so hot at the US Open, though, going 2-4 and dropping out in quarters. They’ll be missing Michael Ing and their center handler Mac Hecht this weekend, so look for young players like Leo Gordon and Anton Orme to step up and take more disc-dominant responsibility for their offense. Coming in as the bottom seed, #13 Atlanta Chain Lightning have also had a tough recent turn to their season, dropping games to #11 Vancouver Furious George and #20 New Jersey Garden State Ultimate at Elite-Select Challenge. Their strength bid is probably safe no matter what, but another disastrous day of play like they had earlier this month probably won’t do their confidence any favors heading into the postseason.
Women’s Division
How Will the Favorites Look?
#2 Washington DC Scandal and #3 Denver Molly Brown enter this weekend as the prohibitive co-favorites, with both longtime powerhouse programs seemingly geared up for another deep run at Nationals. Both, however, will be playing shorthanded at Pro Champs due to WUC commitments. Scandal are missing Kami Groom, Raha Mozaffari, and Claire Trop, while Molly are down a universe line’s worth of superstars: Claire Chastain, Vale and Manu Cárdenas, Ronnie Eder, Kendra Miller, Alyssa Perez, and Lisa Pitcaithley. Will either side feel the effects of a weakened roster, potentially allowing for a lower seed to surge to a tournament win?
Other Notable Absences
Molly and Scandal are not the only teams missing some key players this weekend. #8 Seattle Riot (Anna Goddu, Catherine Chung, Steph Lim), #7 New York BENT (Yina Cartagena, Abby Hecko, Ximena Montaña), and #6 Raleigh Phoenix (Alex Barnett, Dawn Culton, Mary Rippe, Qxhna Titcomb) all have notable absences from their regular rosters for the last tournament of the regular season. While none of the three teams have anything major to play for this weekend, all three could use a statement win or two to cement their seasons. If nothing else, it’s never fun to head into the Series on a sour note.
The Bottom Three
Rounding out the field are #10 Pittsburgh Parcha, #14 Washington DC Grit, and Charlotte/Asheville Juice Box. Parcha are sitting pretty comfortably above the bid cutoff following a productive weekend at ESC two weeks ago and will look to build on that performance against some tougher competition. Juice Box, on the other hand, are newcomers to the TCT scene as a late invite to Pro Champs and aren’t expected to do much to upset the order this weekend. In the middle of those two are Grit, who are the first team below the bid cutoff right now and could really use an impact win or two to earn that third bid for the Mid-Atlantic, lest they head to Regionals needing to upset one of Scandal or Parcha to get back to Nationals.
Mixed Division
Bid Picture in Flux
The bottom half of the draw at Pro Champs features four teams still having to think about bid implications2. #8 New York XIST just need to avoid a complete and total meltdown to keep their bid, but all three of #14 Boston Slow, #16 Washington DC Rally, and #12 Nashville ‘Shine must put together a strong weekend to cement (Slow/’Shine) or earn (Rally) theirs.
Of the three, Rally probably feel the most pressure to get a bid, given how strong #6 Philadelphia AMP have looked this year and the lack of a second bid in the region, should they not earn one. The Northeast will likely have at least two bids for Slow to steal if they can’t earn their own, and while ‘Shine would certainly love the cushion of the second bid, should they hold on to it, they probably feel confident in their chances to win the Southeast outright, if only because there is no clear juggernaut at the top.
Top Tier Musical Chairs
As the regular season comes to a close, we’ve started to see a sort of hierarchy develop. #1 Seattle BFG (not in attendance) seem to be the current favorites in the division, with a group of five right below them. Three of that group (#2 Ann Arbor Hybrid, #4 Minneapolis Drag’n Thrust, and AMP) are in attendance this weekend and will aim to put out a warning sign towards the rest of the division, and maybe cement a top line seed at Nationals in the process.
Who are .shame?
What to make of #9 Fort Collins shame.? Last year’s champs did not play up to their usual standard at US Open, and currently find themselves in the mushy middle of the division – their bid is secure, but they’re just 1-2 against teams in our Top 25 and haven’t yet faced anyone in the division’s top six. That will change this weekend when they take on Drag’n to close out pool play, a game that should tell us a lot about where shame. currently sit in the divisional hierarchy.
White declined to try out for the US National Team ↩
