[the phantom]

The Phantom, MESPN Blogger

Hey football fans, I just wanted to update all my loyal readers on what's going on leading up to this year's Arda Cup.

As you all know, rosters have to be finalized by the end of this week, so most teams at this point are in the final phase of signing talent. Dark Lord types have historically been the most proactive movers and shakers in Middle-Earth, and so it's no surprise that Melkor's Utumno squad, Sauron's Barad-Dur team, Witch King's troops from Dol Guldur, team Gorgoroth, and team Thangorodrim have already completed their moves and are holding early practices even as I write this.

To be frank, Utumno is downright scary. Six balrogs, a giant spider, an evil catlike creature, a vampire, and Melkor himself of course, and rounding out the group is Tilion. Melkor was impressed with Tilion's abilities when they played together in Valinor last season, and convinced him to join him in Utumno.

Angband was not pleased in the least to have so many players go to Utumno that they considered to be "theirs", but owners there have to be pleased with the replacements they found. Durin's Bane's return was quite a pick-me-up, and then the return of Scatha and Glaurung really brought promise.

The primary question surrounding Barad-Dur is whether or not Sauron and his cronies (3 Nazgul, Mouth, and a Fellbeast) will mesh well with the lads from the Last Alliance. The problem as far as I can see would be with the good-guys rather than the bads. Sauron already proved last year that he cares more about winning and having a great team than he does about past grudges, but will Elendil and Gil-Galad, who were actually killed by Sauron in ages past, be willing to lay aside their feelings?

Dol Guldur is ready to run with a very frontloaded team (WK, Khamul, Radagast, Bolg, Beorn, Grimbeorn up front), while the back line features a couple of new spider additions. The Witch King has made no secret about his plan to attack nonstop, and has declared, "No man can stop me!"

Gorgoroth has no official captain at this point, preferring to do everything in unison. It's an interesting collection of orcs and men (both alive and dead), and it really surprises me that they've found this sort of team spirit so early in the process. I didn't think orcs were particularly friendly with anyone, but well- the magic of football I suppose.