The Dallas Flash are Back in a Big Way - Take MLP San Diego

Five weeks after finishing in last place in MLP Austin, the Dallas Flash claimed the MLP San Diego title this weekend, going undefeated against the competition.

35 days ago, things looked in dire straights for the Flash. Tyra Black was on the team, but did not play in MLP Austin, due to an illness or injury. Dallas won just one match in Austin and earned zero standings points from the event. 

Shortly thereafter, they traded Tyra for Danni-Elle Townsend and then also got Alix Truong to reunite with Danni. 

This week was a VERY different story. JW Johnson looks to be a man possessed. Augie Ge has raised his floor and is playing great. The Flash went 4-0 in pool play against the Bay Area Breakers, Utah Black Diamonds, Atlanta Bouncers, and the LA Mad Drops. 

In the finals, the Flash beat the Columbus Sliders, 3-1, to earn 25 standings points. JW Johnson and Brooke Buckner sustained an early loss in the week to Kiora Kunimoto and James Delgado, of the Bay Area Breakers. They responded with an 11-1 victory over Jade Kawamoto and Ben Johns and then an 11-4 victory over Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu.

The Flash become only the fourth team this year to win an event (New Jersey 5s, LA Mad Drops, and St. Louis Shock are the other three). With only two events left before the playoffs, the Flash may be peaking at the right time.

Other Storylines

The Sliders dominated pool play

The Columbus Sliders didn’t lose a game in pool play. They went 5-0 and won 20 straight games. That’s right, the Sliders didn’t lose a single game from Thursday through Saturday. In fact, their point differential was also the highest of any team in pool play, at +148. While the Sliders lost to the Flash in the final, they are also playing some really good ball.

The Atlanta Bouncers move up three spots

The Bouncers beat the LA Mad Drops 3-1 in a big upset win and they went on to earn second place in the pool. They handled the SoCal Hard 8s pretty easily on Super Sunday for the #3 finish, winning 3-0 and earning 15 standings points. The Bouncers were in 14th place in terms of points per event at 4.33, but now moved up to 11th at 7 points per event. They now have 28 points, which doesn’t guarantee a playoff berth, but gets them much closer to locking one down.

The Black Bears made a move toward playoff contention

The Black Bears made a flurry of moves in the past two weeks, bringing in Zoey Weil, Pablo Tellez, Dylan Frazier, and Jalina Ingram. They were without Frazier and Ingram all weekend. They started slow, losing to the Sliders and the Squeeze. However, on Saturday is where things went well. They beat the SoCal Hard 8s in a Dreambreaker in the morning and followed it up with a Dreambreaker win over the Phoenix Flames in the afternoon, despite being down 0-2 after gender doubles. With two events left, the Black Bears are now tied for 14th at 5 points per event, hoping to make a playoff push.

As a reminder, I am the General Manager of the Black Bears, so I do my best to remain neutral in my journalism while covering MLP.

Two teams clinched playoff berths and two teams were eliminated

The Florida Smash and Bay Area Breakers both finished their seasons on Saturday, with both earning 15 points on the year. This officially eliminates them from the playoffs.

On the flip side, the Columbus Sliders and LA Mad Drops both clinched playoff berths. The Sliders are done playing in the regular season and have 83 points. The Mad Drops have one more event (MLP Orlando) on their schedule and they have 71 points. 

The MLP Trade Deadline is today at noon

The LA Mad Drops made a three team trade with Miami and Utah, where the biggest piece of the puzzle, Connor Garnett, lands with the Mad Drops. It looks like he will play mixed doubles with Catherine Parenteau and will lead the team’s Dreambreaker lineup, while Max Freeman will still play men’s doubles with Ben Johns.

We will see if any other big trades happen before the deadline.

Next up is MLP Chicago this week at a brand new LifeTime facility in the northern suburbs. This is the second to last regular season event before the playoffs begin.