My take on the top 12:
DN: High point average, top attackers and defenders, and first in overall points. They aren't messing around, they know how to play and it looks like they are more than willing to prove it. I assume they'll be around for awhile.
Appollyon: Meh point average, low ABP, and high DBP. These guys are going to be farmed by everyone in their area and probably already are based on DBP. Their leaders, according to their profile, are below their point average which means they aren't active or are just bad. Going to have collapsed within a month.
Hateocracy: Ranked 2nd in ABP, have a high point average, decent DBP, but look at their members. Pyth, Atticus, Geomance, BigBaldGuy, AA, and various others. They are so full of noobs it's a miracle they have last this long (that was sarcasm please don't attack me). Joking aside these guys are also going to be around for awhile
Phoenix Rising: Low average points, low ABP, high member count. I suppose they could use numbers to overwhelm people, I'm sure that has worked for people in the past.......
Be QuieT: Weren't these the guys from another server? They have low average points, pretty good ABP, but quite a few members. They were going to show us that they could dominate this world but they seem kind average in all aspects. They might be lingering in the 8-12 ranks of the top 12 in the future.
Inferna Bellatorum: Decent average points, decent ABP, good DBP. They could break away and really take off once they start getting conquest. They are another alliance that is sort of average atm.
Maelstrom: Low average points, ok ABP, and they are spread out all over the place. They are going to fall hard and fast as they didn't bother to focus on just one ocean.
The Darkness Unleashed: They are a bad alliance, period.
Rum Runners: Alliance I'm in so I won't comment.
Spartan Legacy: Living up to the legacy of all of their horrible spartan alliance forefathers.
LORDS OF KAOS: Worse than the spartans and darkness if that's possible.
Cimmerians: Good average points, decent ABP, no DBP to speak of so they are going largely unnoticed in their area. They are small in numbers but that can work if everyone is active so we'll have to wait and see how they handle enemy alliances.
Edited to add in r12 alliance, sorry Cimmerians forgetting you it wasn't on purpose.