From #29 to #1: Week 1's Biggest Surprise

Week 1 of MBL Season 1 is in the books, and nobody saw this coming.

Venom Scythe went into the season rated 29th out of 32 bots — solidly in the bottom third of the preseason rankings, the kind of projection that gets a bot overlooked entirely. One week and two matches later, Venom Scythe sits at #1 overall, ahead of every other fighter in the league.

That's a bigger jump than it might sound like on paper. The bot right behind them at #2 is Chaos Scythe — the actual preseason #1 overall pick, rated 81 OVR before a single match was played. Going from the presumptive best fighter in MBL to already getting passed after one week is exactly the kind of story a preseason ranking can't predict.

Elsewhere in Week 1: Black and Blue both went a perfect 2-0, and Blue's entire four-player roster is already sitting in the individual top 10 — not just one standout carrying the team.

We'll see if Venom Scythe's run holds up, or if the rankings start to even out in Week 2.