Miami was the last hurrah for the MLP regular season. The teams facing off over the weekend gave it their last big push to get themselves into the playoffs. For some, however, the dream ended here.

Who’s In, Who’s Out - Premier

IN

The NJ 5s were once again the dominant team of the weekend, going undefeated with one Dreambreaker. They earned 14 points, rocketing them past the Flash and Shock and securing a bye in Round 1 of the playoffs. AL was flawless, as usual, going 10-0. Watch the only matchup that gave them a challenge, against DC, where they went to a Dreambreaker.

Shock & Flash points were already finalized before Miami, and Anna Bright was spotted scoping out the competition. For these two teams, it was just a matter of whether or not they would be surpassed and secure a bye. The Shock held onto a bye and #2 seed, and Flash took #3 so they will play on their home turf in Dallas next weekend. The 3-seed does allow them to choose whether they will play Ranchers (5) or Hustlers (6).

DC Pickleball Team slid up from the 5th to 4th seed after going 3-3 and earning 9 points. James struggled throughout the weekend, going 3-5 before withdrawing on Sunday due to back trouble; Ryan Fu was substituted and notably beat Will & Zane of the 5s. Watch their takedown of LA in a Dreambreaker.

Texas Ranchers also didn’t play this event, but undoubtedly watched anxiously as DC, NY, and even AZ were close enough to push them out. They did fall to 5th, being passed by DC, and will face either Dallas or DC in Round 1 of the playoffs.

NY Hustlers did not have a stellar performance, but already at #6, their only goal was to hold steady. Going 2-3, they earned 6 points, which was enough to stay above water. NY was swept by the AZ Drive on the last day, when CJ Klinger was replaced by Anderson Scarpa for undisclosed reasons. The Hustlers’ defeat of DC is worth a rewatch.

OUT

LA Mad Drops were not ready to be counted out just yet, and came out swinging, with sub AJ Koller on their roster for the weekend. They took down Carolina and AZ Drive on their first day, going 3-1 in both. After falling to the 5s on their second day of events, they pushed both DC and the Squeeze to Dreambreakers, but lost in both. They ultimately came in second place in points for the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to get them into the playoffs. Time to regroup for 2025.

AZ Drive gave us such hope before the event began; if they’d won all their games in regulation (yes, unlikely— but possible given their roster) they could have surpassed the Ranchers and secured a miraculous comeback. Alas, they went 1-4 and ended their season in 8th place. Worth rewatching is their sweep of NY Hustlers on the final day.

The Orlando Squeeze were completely out of juice - the energy they’ve had in past seasons seems to be all but lost. Struggling with Tyson’s plaguing injuries, having a new teammate in Meghan Dizon, and Fed losing his cool in their final match, they couldn’t keep it together enough to make a run. We knew the odds were low, but we thought they’d get at least a couple regulation wins. Check out their win over DC in a Dreambreaker.

Carolina only had 3 matches to play in this event, went 1-2 and absolutely hated life in the process. Fans have come to call Ben and Collin “the Diva Bros” after watching them pout and complain throughout their matches. If you like schadenfreude, catch their demoralizing loss to the Mad Drops.

Who’s In, Who’s Out - Challenger

Remembering that the top 4 finishers in the Challenger playoffs get promoted to Premier league, the stakes were very high, and point differential between teams was extremely tight.

IN

The Frisco Pandas - who would’ve thought we’d be topping our list with them? They finished first in the event, going 3-1 and earning 10 points. Most impressively, however, they went from second-to-last to 6th, securing their place in the playoffs. Yeah, we didn’t think it could be done, but they did not mess around. Their only loss came in a Dreambreaker to the Atl Bouncers. Check out their win over the Aces, including a 30-28 women’s matchup.

Chicago Slice secured the top spot and first-round bye after their 2-2 weekend earned them 8 points. (They surpassed the Hard Eights, who also nabbed a bye by holding onto the 2nd seed.) APP darling Megan Fudge was the #2 player in the Miami event, winning 7 of her 8 games. Watch the Slice sweep the Smash.

Atlanta Bouncers were on fire, winning 10 event points (4-1, with 3 wins in DB) and moving up from 6th place to 4th place. If they can keep this momentum up, they’re looking at promotion for sure. Jaume Martinez Vich, dare we say, carried the team, going 8-2 in his games and placing 4th in player standings. We all knew he should’ve been premier, and he continues to prove it. Worth the re-watch: their DB matchup against the Frisco Pandas.

Miami PB Club had a lukewarm performance, but held onto the #3 spot to make the playoffs nonetheless. They went 2-3 with none of their games won in regulation. Perhaps the most disappointing part about their weekend is they were the home team. They should’ve had a raucous crowd show up for them, but the stands remained mostly empty. [Tangentially, this is one thing we think MLP teams and ownership groups should be responsible for: get your local fans in the stands. Give out free tickets, bus in college students if you must. There’s no excuse for having the home team be fanless.] Anyway, their DB win over the Bouncers was pretty fun.

OUT

Brooklyn Aces and Florida Smash both went 1-3 in Miami, which was sure enough to keep them out of the playoffs and promotion dreams. The Aces had a better chance going into this event, but couldn’t maximize points or secure enough wins to pull it off. Just don’t even re-watch these, they were too sad.

Bay Area Breakers didn’t play in this event, and were in 5th place with 32 points after going 0-3 in Las Vegas. They were left in the dust by the Pandas, who usurped their position in playoff contention.

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