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+---- Thread: The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity (/showthread.php?tid=9749)
The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity - Hoodz_91 - 2026-06-02
The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity
Having spoken to the majority of OMs and Ams within the server the same debate becomes real...
Some people swear by TPE. Others swear by activity. Then there's the third group who spend three weeks arguing in scouting channels before eventually drafting somebody they met five minutes earlier because they posted a funny meme that made them belly laugh and that was enough for them to think yep they are the one for us!
With the latest SSL draft class now in the process of being selected by orgs, I wanted to dive deeper into the numbers and see what they actually tell us. Not just who has the highest TPE. Not just who has the most Discord messages. But who sits in that sweet spot where talent and activity collide.
I have spent a good few days building the holy grail of spreadsheets in practice for potentially my own draft board for future use when I am hopefully in a position to be inside a war room using my data facts as my reasons for who I feel would be right for the org I am in, which in turn has led me to writing this article! (Anyone who would like me to send them the spreadsheet reach out by DM now the draft is underway)
After digging through the data, one thing became clear almost immediately this class has some absolute grinders.
The Top End Is Ridiculously Strong
At the very top of the board sits Barry McGlynn.
He's not number one because of one single category. He's number one because he's good at everything.
417 TPE puts him near the very top of the class while his activity numbers completely blow everyone else away. Over 1,500 Discord messages means nobody can question his involvement. When you combine elite development with elite activity, you end up with the highest draft score in the class.
That's what makes prospects like Barry so valuable, you aren't projecting future engagement, you already have proof.
Right behind him are names like Dennis van Huntelrooy, Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited, Kairo Vox, Reece Munro and Joe Mormor.
What's interesting is that all of these players sit in a very similar TPE range. We're talking about differences so small they probably won't matter much long term.
The real separator starts becoming activity.
When everybody has done their tasks, everybody has trained properly and everybody has built strong players, organisations start looking for reasons to split hairs.
Activity becomes one of those reasons.
The Kairo Vox Situation
As somebody who naturally paid attention to this section of the board first, Kairo Vox has quietly put together one of the strongest profiles in the entire class.
416 TPE is already elite but what really jumps off the page is the activity level.
655 messages places him among the most active prospects available and helps push him to fourth overall on the board.
The funny thing is that if you asked ten OMs what matters most, you'd probably get ten different answers, some would say fourth overall is fair.
Others would argue that activity like that should push him even higher. That's what makes draft discussions so interesting. Everybody sees the same spreadsheet but comes away with different conclusions.
The Activity Monsters
The biggest eye-opener wasn't actually the players at the top. It was the gap between active and inactive prospects. Some players are posting hundreds and hundreds of messages others are barely visible.
Take somebody like Jimothy Erickson 405 TPE is strong enough on its own, but more than 700 messages gives teams confidence that the player is genuinely invested. Compare that to players who have almost no Discord footprint and suddenly you start understanding why organisations care so much about activity.
Nobody wants to spend a high draft pick on somebody who disappears three weeks later. The best ability in a sim league has always been availability.
The STAR SCREAM Question
One of the most interesting names on the board is STAR SCREAM.
Fourth in TPE, tenth overall normally those numbers don't line up. The reason is obvious when you look at the activity data. Compared to other elite TPE earners, the message count is significantly lower. This creates one of the most fascinating draft discussions in the class. Do you trust the elite TPE production? Or do you worry about the lower activity profile? Different organisations will answer that question differently and that's exactly why mock drafts are usually wrong.
Hidden Risk Throughout The Class
Something else that stood out was the number of prospects carrying medium or higher risk flags not because they're bad players but because information becomes harder to verify. Unmatched Discord accounts, missing activity records and limited engagement create uncertainty. Take Owen Goal as an example, strong TPE.
Good player but with no reliable activity match available due to never joining the discord server, teams are forced to make decisions with incomplete information.
Scouts hate uncertainty, Org Managers hate uncertainty Draft boards absolutely hate uncertainty.
The less information available, the harder it becomes to justify a high selection.
Why Organisations Get This Wrong Every Year
Every draft class has a few prospects who slide way further than they should. Every draft class has a few prospects who get massively overdrafted. Usually it comes down to overreacting. Some teams become obsessed with TPE. Some teams become obsessed with activity. The smartest organisations look for balance.
A prospect sitting at 415+ TPE with strong activity numbers is probably safer than somebody at 420 TPE who never speaks. Likewise, somebody posting 2,000 messages isn't automatically a better pick if they're miles behind in development. Drafting isn't about finding the best number. It's about finding the best combination of numbers.
What The Data Really Tells Us
The spreadsheet uses a formula of 60% TPE and 40% activity.
Honestly? That feels pretty close to reality. TPE still drives player quality. Nobody is arguing against that but activity remains one of the strongest indicators that somebody is going to stick around, integrate into the community and continue developing after the draft. The players appearing near the top of this board aren't there by accident. They've earned it. Whether that's Barry McGlynn leading the pack, Dennis van Huntelrooy staying right on his heels, Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited putting up elite numbers, or Kairo Vox building one of the strongest all-round profiles in the class, the common theme remains the same.
They're active. They're developing. And they're giving organisations reasons to believe.
Final Thoughts
If this draft has taught me anything, it's that talent alone isn't enough to decide how good a pick you are or how well you have built your player to fit into an academy team. The days of quietly farming TPE and disappearing into the shadows are mostly gone. The most valuable prospects are the ones showing up every day. Talking, posting, engaging building relationships, helping create locker room culture because eventually every prospect reaches a similar TPE range.
When that happens, organisations start drafting people not spreadsheets and that's why activity might be the most underrated draft statistic in SSL today.
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Hoodz Teams of The Season Based off my activity and TPE draftboard Scoring System
I have decided to make an A and B team just to try and include as many players as possible because to be honest this class has been absolutely superb so without further ado here they are;
A TEAM (I pity the fool, sorry couldn't resist)
3-5-2
GK - Umaq Yupanqui @Rancidbudgie
RB - Christopher Bergmann @Bergmau
CD - Jimothy Erickson @GingerJLD
LB - Joshua Homme III Esquire Limited @o1playz
CDM - S Sei @xyan
CDM - Reece Munro @Riipsaw
CAM - Barry McGlynn @Definia
RAM - Joe Mormor @Haramcha
LAM - Nick Kasak @nckkss
ST - Kairo Vox @Hoodz_91
ST - Dennis van Huntelrooy @Jeanious
B TEAM
3-5-2
GK - Moew enBach @Moew
RB - Scorp E. Unshark @hhh81
CD - Saphira Brightscales @PidgeyDestined
LB - Maurjiro Rivers @Maur Rivers
CM - STAR SCREAM @Starscream
CDM - Ignignokt @AustinP0027
CAM - Mullet Man @Ogreishh
RAM - Jack Pow @Jack_Pow
LAM - Blaise N'Kufo @McTruffles
ST - Dante Von Wolfe @Bloodless
ST - Leonardo Stone @Frostbite
Honourable mentions to make the benches;
Owen Goal @anjro
Alex Peña @CRMO15
Baptiste Azzola @Liscore
Josh Harper @JCPro
Bruce McAllister @Spree
Martin Krpan @ChiefVito
Thank you for reading and good luck with your new orgs everyone, been amazing to be on this journey with you all!
RE: The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity - PidgeyDestined - 2026-06-02
Yes!!! Call out @anjro until he FINALLY joins the server!!!!
RE: The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity - xyan - 2026-06-04
Interested in seeing a flip of those %s. Unfortunately, TPE isn't everything.
Best case scenario, a player is in the top tier of their class for tpe earning. Worst case scenario is they don't earn at all. What causes that? Inactivity.
Add into the fold, the ease of mid earning in the SSL. You can get by having pretty good tpe, without doing much of anything.
Now, if you had the top tier players not having any discord activity (@anjro ), then you miss out on a critical part of what makes sim leagues fun and long-lasting: social community. Being positively active in discord, at least to a certain extent (not everyone can be Definia), makes both the main public social space, and each locker room, a better place to be.
Let's not forget forum activity though. This is where interest in the goings on outside of normal chatting hours takes place, this is where hype builds up from things like mock drafts and statistics analysis. This should be part of the evaluation. Not just how many posts either, but how in depth or how colorful they get too.
I myself, do a little of each area. I earn my tpe as much as I can (stupid predictions tpe), I have been active to different degrees in the discord, and I post both color articles and league depth pieces (like my choosing pokemon for each academy team, or my mock draft with my daughter). Each aspect is important, and anyone who does 1 of those aspects a LOT more than others should be praised too. even if someone wasn't earning every point of tpe, if they had amazing analysis articles on the regular that were super in depth, they should be highlighted too. Same goes for those who take league jobs and help things improve in how the SSL runs.
I'd like to see a new post where you add in each aspect and rebalance weightings. Maybe 30% tpe, 40% discord activity, 20% forum activity, 10% league job (bonus if manager).
RE: The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity - anjro - 2026-06-04
Three pings in one thread, what is this?
In all seriousness, there are multiple dimensions in what teams look for (from what I can tell) and each team values them differently. Finding the right balance for each team is the special sauce.
RE: The Great SSL Draft Debate: Talent vs Activity - Riipsaw - 2026-06-04
On the A team? Oh @Hoodz_91, you cheeky minx ;)