Maybe this is just me being delusional, but I feel like this game has started to lack people wanting to dedicate enough time to leading a team? So for example Pirates lost their players due to Zen Shadow being on and off (due to RL, but just didn't have time to lead), seems like apples asked to merge into skulls, then let a TF founder in, maybe they also don't have people capable and with the time to lead. Maybe I'm just reading too much into things, but I feel like good leaders (in the dictionnary sense) that have enough time to dedicate are hard to come by?
Does it also seem to you like quite a few (not TF TGC) merges happen because leaders leave or don't have the time (think The Servant of Plunder and Pillage)?
And I don't think we will ever have a meaningful top 12 again in this world, but just to stay on topic, current status is
1. Skulls (team A)
2. TF (team B)
3. Epidemic (A)
4. Skull n bones (A)
5. Apples (B I guess, since Skulls hitting them no conquests other than internals)
6. Hive (B, have actually attacked epi sometimes, got support reports of G-Fight attacking too btw, some where saying he just talks and doesn't attack, take some cities from the ruins of WBP and one from SnB - still loosing a lot more cities though)
7. Literal Terror (B, must be TF's academy)
8. Chrome Angels (B maybe? have taken 12 cities from SnB, not really a major player though)
Then we quick enter the zone of "oh who are these guys again"