With only one regular-season event left before the 2026 MLP playoffs, the league finds itself in a rare spot. Two teams are tied at the very top of the standings, and many other teams are still fighting for the last playoff spots.
The New Jersey 5s and St. Louis Shock are currently tied at the top with 93 points each. The only thing separating them is average points per event, where New Jersey holds a tiny edge. That tie will likely need Orlando, the final regular-season event, to be broken for good.
But the biggest story out of MLP Chicago was Dallas. The Flash won back-to-back regular-season titles, finishing the event with a perfect 6-0 match record and a 2-0 record in Dreambreakers, the winner take all mini games that often decide close matches. Dallas won 81% of their doubles games in Chicago and averaged 60% of points won, putting them clearly ahead of the rest of the field that week.
A quieter, but maybe more important story, is the turnaround from the California Black Bears. Earlier in the season, they had only 7 points from their first two events. Since then, they’ve picked up 23 points over their last two events, finishing third in Chicago with a 13-8 doubles record and a 4-1 match record. That’s not a small improvement, it looks like a completely different team from where they started the season.
On an individual level, Nicolas Acevedo stood out the most in Chicago, going 8-1 in doubles with an 89% win rate. The event also had some big upsets. Estee Widdershoven and Anouar Braham beat Mariana Humberg and Jaume Martinez Vich by a big score of 11-1. Elsie Hendershot also had a strong week, teaming up first with Ting Chieh Wei, then with AJ Koller, to beat two higher-rated teams.
Even with all this, the bigger picture stays the same. Everything now comes down to Orlando, the last regular-season stop, where playoff spots and possibly the top overall seed will be decided. After that, the season moves into the playoffs, which will be held in Dallas and Newport Beach.
For teams like Brooklyn, Texas Ranchers, and Palm Beach, who are all close together in the standings, Orlando isn’t just another event. It’s their last real chance to prove they deserve a spot in the playoffs.
Written by Aditi Jain
