Still only sticking the top 5 here.
1) The Black Hand/Mano Nera- They've jumped from 2nd to 1st having added an entire second alliance to their ranks. I'm going to be honest here...I'm not really sure what the strategy is for this group. They're sitting at 86 players this early in the world, are spread across O44, and drifting into parts of 45 and 54. On the other hand, it looks like they recognize that their positioning is a problem and began founding core islands in west O44. They're currently sitting at 0-1 to JFL, 0-2 to Koany2012, and 0-1 to The Dark Storm. So its not off to a great start. But they do have O44 to expand into for now. Still, with Charlie gone, it seems like Koany will be able to get ahead of schedule with cutting through this group. SINK.
2) JFL- They've both made and disbanded a second branch this week. They've also both had their original founder drop, lose a city, and get banned this week. He's claimed he's quit for good, but lets be honest he'll be back in a new world. Now onto the interesting part, which is what does the rest of JFL do now? They still have 3 of the top 5 players on their team at the moment and are still the largest team in the world right now. That said, they're more or less headless fighting a good team in their home ocean with a lot of their bigger players in another ocean. The Greeks got memed on this week for expanding in 55 but that's starting to look like the right play here given what's happened. The ocean is wide open for the grab and they've been doing well at clearing out the locals for new cities. Right now, I'd say that they're probably not beating Koany in a straight up fight but could probably clear out O55 to continue on in the world. But really my prediction is that the Greeks will get tired of carrying the JFL players and split back off before the world is out. FLOAT then SINK.
3) Koany2012- They've made a massive jump this week from 5th to 3rd and having added about 11 players to their group. They've merged with This Is Fine, which I think was probably expected by most people looking at the map and where both teams were founding. They've also already knocked Charlie out of the world by taking a city and forcing other events that have led to access issues for Charlie. I'd say that they'll probably press their advantage in O54 and secure the ocean while starting to dig into Black Hand as well. Right here, right now, they've the team to beat. SWIM.
4) The Dark Storm- There's not really too much to say here, it looks like your standard pick up alliance. They haven't lost any cities yet. But that's likely because there's no major threats in O45 right now. Which is a benefit for them. They should be able to get established in O45 before anyone major comes knocking. So for now, we'll say SWIM.
5) SPARTAN 300- Has Shocka and Datwave, its a SWIM in my heart. Unfortunately, they seem to be pretty surrounded by the Greeks. Being 0-4 to JFL, 0-1 to The Dark Storm, 0-1 to Skid Row, and 1-1 with Open Source Government. So I feel like most others will say its SINK.
Pour One Out For The Fallen Homies:
- F Society
- Survivors
- Storytime