[Boromir88]

GROUP C

4th. Rohan (OFF: 30, DEF: 27, GK: 28)

Coming in with one of the cheapest payrolls Rohan is one of the weakest teams in the tournament. It's a cast of secondary and minor characters they're out of position. They might get a win against rivals Isengard, but Rohan's nowhere near good enough to beat the 2013 champions of Tol-in-Gaurhoth, and the 4th place finishers Hithlum. Hama started the 2010 friendlies as a GK on fire, stopping everything coming his way, then he came crashing back to reality when the real matches began saving only 12 of 19 for The Wold. The offense is marginally better than Isengard's because of a deeper MF, and as poor as Helm is as a lone FW, Quickbeam is even rated worse. There's not much more to add, they don't have the payroll to compete and it's reflected in their roster. We will give them props over Shire-Bree United, but that's it.

3rd. Isengard (OFF: 31, DEF: 22, GK: 14)

Saruman gets credit for poaching Théoden from Rohan, which will stabilize their goal situation. Théoden's been wildly inconsistent, which makes him hard to rank. 2 years he's been rated the 2nd best goalie with save percentages over 85%...and 2 years he's been near the bottom (25th) saving under 66.7%. It's a case of feast or famine for the King of Rohan, be that as it may, he's still performed better than Hama even in his worst years. Saruman made another wise signing with Radagast, besides the ferocious defense-wolves Radagast is the best defender in the group. He's even been better than Balrog #5 from Hithlum, even though the difference isn't by much. Radagast's best defensive rating 24 (the Balrog's 29), his worst 71 (the Balrog's 79). Isengard's defense is diverse with a wizard, a hobbit, a tree, and a horse. So it appears Saruman is trying to build a defense that can stop a diverse offense, but the stats all point to Radagast being their only quality defender. Their offense is one of the worst, why Saruman continues to believe a living tree will provide enough scoring power I have no idea. For as wise as he has been shoring up the defense, Saruman remains their only offensive weapon and that won't be enough in this group.

2nd. Tol-in-Gaurhoth (OFF: 6, DEF: 7, GK: 8)

Tol-in-Gaurhoth is more balanced than Hithlum, in the fact they are strong at every position and the wolves are just superior athletes. I just feel the losses of NilpWolf, Drauglin, and Thuringwethil, combined with a reunion of Turin and Beleg, are too much for the defending champions to overcome. They're no doubt a playoff team and with the right spirit, can find themselves back in the semis, but they've lost too much of their edge and bite with key departures and filled them with lesser talent. Of course we must not forget the restrictions placed on wolves from the Isle...they are limited to only 4 wolf-players and all teams are required to have a "Tolkien canon representative" on the roster. That limits the wolves ability of filling departures with more wolves and wights from their unlimited talent base. Well, they can either mope and sulk about their unfair treatment by the Arda Competitions Committee, or they can show some pride that they'll still beat anyone in their path, regardless of unfair roster restrictions.

1st. Hithlum (OFF: 1, DEF: 19, GK: 9)

Feanor is the #1 FW in all of Arda, Turin is #2. The reason we've ranked Hithlum as the best offensive team however is because of Beleg. Beleg is better than Angrod and Aegnor, and the fact is Turin and Beleg is the best tandem in all of Arda. Stats don't lie, those two have their best years when they are playing together. Add Fingolfin as an attacking mid-fielder and Hithlum is clearly the #1 offense. The question is going to be the defense. They will concede goals and likely at least 1 every match. Balrog #5 isn't a poor defender, but amongst the other Balrog defenders he's the lowest ranked. Galdor and Gundor are strong and usually just good enough to slow down the opponent's offenses enough to get positive results, but they also make pretty crucial blunders in defense to give away games. Huor had one atrocious year where he ended being rated the 30th GK (2011 Anfauglith with a horrid 57.1 save%), but all other years he was stout, getting rankings of 6th, 11th, and 6th). Perhaps Huor didn't have the right motivation playing for Anfauglith? Whatever the case in 2011, we don't predict Huor having such a terrible time playing for his homeland's team again. History says, playing for Hithlum, Huor will save 73% to 77%. They'll be a tough team to beat, especially in the playoffs in penalty kick scenarios.