Commissioner's Top 10 Pre-Tournament Ranking (2021)

Time for my second annual pre-tournament top 10 ranking. We have lots of new participants in the tournament this year, so they should know which players they do not want in their leagues! This isn't necessarily a list of the best mystery set players, but these are the folks who have proven to be highly competitive in this tournament year after year. There's lots of veteran players not on the list, including former winners, but here are the top 10:

----------

10. daveaq31 - Close to making the list last year, daveaq31 makes it this year after finishing 6th through 4 rounds last year, giving him 4 straight mystery tournaments in the top 24, 3 of those in the top 15. He has made the playoffs in 54% of total leagues played in the 4 mystery sets. (Last year rank: N/A)

9. Radagast Brown - Also new to the list, Radagast Brown made it to the final 12 champions round last year, just as he did in 2018 when he was last in the mystery tournament. With 40 total championships in only 184 total teams played, he is tough in all formats including Daily and single season sets. He recently qualified for the final round in the Players' Championship tournament and is looking to do the same once again in this tournament. (Last year rank: N/A)

8. jomboy78 - A snub from last year's list, jomboy78 makes it this year after finishing 2nd through 4 rounds in last year's tournament for his 3rd top 5 finish in the previous 6 years. Consistency is the key for jomboy78, with a lifetime winning percentage no lower than .534 in any of the 4 mystery sets. (Last year rank: N/A)

7. Rjnewman - He missed the final 12 champions round on a tie breaker last year, after having reached the champions round 4 of the previous 5 years. However, he failed to make the playoffs in the champions round in each of those 4 opportunities. He has never won an individual league championship in the 60's mystery set despite an all-time winning percentage of .548 in that set. (Last year rank: 6)

6. sphilipp8 - Always at the top of the standings, sphilipp8 drops a few spots in the list after he just missed out on the top 12 last year after qualifying for the champions round in 5 of the previous 6 tournaments. He is particularly strong in the 90's mystery set where he has his highest winning percentage, highest percentage of playoff performances and highest percentage of league championships of all of his mystery sets teams. (Last year rank: 4)

5. Jimmy_C - Has reached the champions round in each of the past 4 years, and has finished in the top 15 in 6 of the past 7 years. Look out for Jimmy_C in the 80's, were he has made the playoffs in 62% of the leagues he has participated in. (Last year rank: 5)

4. pushpin76 - It seems wrong that the defending champion and 2015 winner doesn't crack the top 3, but this is an elite group! A rare two-time champion, pushpin76 has finished in the top 25 in 5 of the past 6 tournaments, making it to the champions round three times. He has made the playoffs in 59% of the mystery set leagues he has participated in, winning the championship 26% of the time. (Last year rank: 8)

3. hallerose - I had hallerose up at #1 last year, but after yet anotheryear of making the champions round he once again failed to make and win the finals in round 5. He is still a lock to make the top 12 because he simply makes the champions round EVERY year. His dominant run in this tournament includes finishing in the top 3 in every year from 2015 through 2018, and 5th in 2013 and 2020. With a .568 winning percentage in all 365 sets, hallerose ranks 4th all-time, 1st for players with as many sets played as he has. Look out for him in the 80's set where he has a .578 lifetime winning percentage - an average of 94 wins per season! Is this FINALLY hallerose's year to win it all? (Last year rank: 1)

2. franky35 - The 2019 Mystery Card Players Championship winner has made the top 20 in each of the past 7 tournaments, 5 times finishing in the top 5. franky35 has 103 championships and a career .553 winning percentage across all 365 sets. He's particularly strong in the 70's set, where he has won 35 individual league championships all time. (Last year rank: 2)

1. Moodywoody - I surprised many by putting Moodywoody at #3 last year after he had a rare offseason finishing out of the top 12 in the 2019 tournament, but he's back where he belongs at #1 this year. The Greatest of All-Time (G.O.A.T.) player in the mystery tournament, he has been the Mystery Card Players Championship winner 3 times including back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. He almost won again last year when he made it to the finals in the champions round, losing to pushpin76 in Game 7. He has won the individual league championship in 33% of the 70's mystery set leagues he has participated in. (Last year rank: 3)

Honourable mentions: The 2016 champion Lee300 was ranked #7 in the list last year but fell out of the top 10 after finishing 74th in the tournament last year....mburatti76 was #9 in the list last year but finished 34th in the 2020 tournament....waynick was ranked 10th in last year's list but finished 45th last year....Adam Katz was #1 after 4 rounds in the last mystery tournament he paticipated in (2019) and has a .565 winning percentage across all 365 sets....ths92110 is the 2013 champ and finished in the top 24 last year....BruceF has finished in the top 20 in 2 of the past 3 years, including 3rd in 2018....Apoptosis has made the playoffs in 63 of his 103 mystery card leagues.

----------

Disagree with the list? Feel like you were "snubbed"? Leave a comment to make your case!

Nice job JC.

Ok. The man to beat in league #10 is Rjnewman #7 in the list. Ok. I took notes of it.

8/13 he made the playoff with this set, pretty good. But he has never won.

We all have a chance in this league...

I made top 10. I'm jinxed now. May everybodies roles be plentiful and cards be studly. Let's get this started.

I made top 10. I'm jinxed now. May everybodies roles be plentiful and cards be studly. Let's get this started.

That's part of my motivation for the list - to jinx you top teams and put some added pressure on you to meet expectations! I hope it works on you jomboy78 in the 70's league I'm in with you!

My first 2 leagues have Moody in them. Do I get a 5 point handicap? Per league?

3 2020 finalists (I think) not on the list or honorable mentions...a challenge!

3 2020 finalists (I think) not on the list or honorable mentions...a challenge!

I thought of that afterwards - in hindsight all 2020 top 12 should have been at least honourable mentions. But hey, now they have "bulletin board material" to motivate the team!

3 2020 finalists (I think) not on the list or honorable mentions...a challenge!

My 70s league has Moody, daveaq, and Radagast. Three top 12 rankings and four 2020 finalists. Another challenge. Grumble, grumble.

Well for a "first timer" I find out that I might as well hang it up for my "60's" team as "shilipp8" is in my Division and currently in 1st place. sigh

Looking back at John's prognostications at the beginning of the Tournament.
He should be spending his time picking horses at the track and making the big bucks because he's got a really good crystal ball.

For his top 10 and honorable mentions... 9 managers are sitting in the top 24 to move on as of now.
Of course post season play can change some of the standings.
Moodywoody and Daveaq are in the post-season and will be trying to win their way into the top 24.
Jomboy was 100% correct about being jinxed (take it easy on him next year commish).
Rigged Splits (camped out in 2nd place) was worried about who he had to play against in his first 2 leagues, when they were the ones who should have been worried about him.