Mid-season Grades: Champions

For Infamous and X-Factor their season grade (and self-respect) hinge on regaining Champions spots for Cup. Aftershock is not quite in that position although failing to get out of the Challengers bracket would be a grim disappointment given the promise they began the season with. Shock needs to be in the mix for Cup and Infamous and X-Factor need to be in the hunt for the Cup. Everything will be riding on their results in Cali. (Hey PBA! Y'all might want to schedule a couple of those matches.)
Slightly off topic let's discuss promotion & relegation for a minute since it has such a significant impact on the pro game. I'm fine with the possibility of event by event promotion and relegation but if the goal is to have the 10 best teams in the Champions bracket then the top Challengers should have to play--and beat--the bottom ranked Champions. As it stands a full 40% of Champions play against each other to see who goes down each event which doesn't prove anything. This year only Dynasty, Impact and Ironmen haven't faced a relegation game but with two events remaining there's still plenty of opportunity to stumble. I use stumble advisedly because for one or two of the relegation match teams each event their inclusion is often a matter of the narrowest margins and point differentials.
Impact receives a strong passing grade with their win in Chicago and finals appearance at MAO (and two more victories in Euroland). For a team thought to be rebuilding that's an impressive string of results and ought to serve as a reminder that a team, at its best, is more than the sum of its parts. And Impact has become a team in the best sense of the term. At this stage the only thing that could adversely effect their season would be relegation and while it seems unlikely if Art Chaos plays to their potential it makes everything that much more uncertain.
Dynasty also receives a passing grade on the strength of their early season results but some questions remain. Last year the team was gang-busters through Chicago and then faltered at Riverside and at Cup. Still a remarkable season overall it certainly didn't end as it had begun and I can't help wondering if the recent Chicago result wasn't the beginning of a repeating pattern. (Keep in mind their "struggle" last season was two consecutive 5th place finishes but even so it must have been a disappointment and not up to the standard they began the season with.)
Ironmen also receive a passing grade based on their results at Chicago and the fact they've dodged the relegation matches despite beginning the season with the merger of the Ironmen and Royalty into one team. That and their consistent improvement event to event suggests a team on the rise. The question remains how far can they go this season but if they continue to improve it will be a successful season even if wins continue to elude them.
Damage gets an incomplete for continuing to hang around the upper echelon but routinely coming up short. The team is too talented not to regularly vie for wins--and did get a win at Riverside last year along with a pair of seconds--but has yet to match that level of success. If it's possible to say a perennial top five team isn't reaching its potential Damage is that team.
Heat also gets an incomplete though they've rebounded nicely from being relegated at Dallas by making the finals in Chicago (and like Impact having a strong season in Europe competing in the MS.) As expected--at least by VFTD--it's taken a little while for the new players to fit in but there isn't any reason not to expect the Heat to continue improving. If they do and AC remains in the Champions World Cup could be both highly unpredictable and hugely entertaining come October.
Vicious also gets a passing grade predicated on making a Champions final for the first time and avoiding relegation even though they've been in relegation matches at MAO and Chicago. In the past they lost those matches so while the team continues to struggle to some degree they are also now winning important matches. If the upward arc continues they will establish themselves as a bona fide Champions team.
Upton 187 also receives a borderline passing grade for avoiding the relegation churn at MAO and Chicago after climbing out of Challengers to start the season in Dallas. Like Vicious the team has avoided relegation even though life in the Champions bracket is a struggle and that is improvement. The brackets for the next event will give 187 an opportunity to shine as their bracket will be considerably easier than the other bracket (of impending doom.)
[Edit added: Um, no, it won't. Somehow I switched Vicious and 187. Upton is smack dab in the middle of the half bracket of impending doom. Best of luck, boys.]
So many stories. So many possibilities. Three Champs in Challengers with room for only two--at most--to return to the Champs bracket. And the almost impossibly brutal prelim bracket half in Cali will see some favorites fall and potentially risk relegation at the worst possible time. Save your pennies. This will be an event you won't want to miss.