[[B5]Londo]

Im beginning to doubt there is really enough player quality out there which is not in asc for any single alliance to have a hope of defeating Ascendancy and going for the title themselves.
It looked to me like Denial was very demoralised and a real resurgence seems unlikely.
CT's concentration on 'planet ranks' seems to have been a bid for the good players possibly with a view to challenging asc but imo, it made them look stupid and attracted those who were looking to avoid asc incs so asking them to take on asc next round seems over-optimistic.
Audentes failure highlights the problems of cohesion any new alliance has if they try to aim high, Im not saying it cant be done, Im happy to be surprised!
I dont see any united front outlasting Ascendancy, however the most likely way for Ascendancy to be defeated is by one or two persistent alliances of reasonable quality fighting as a group, you will never get more than 3 to fight a long war though as it will provide a golden opportunity for others to get ahead by fence sitting, the waring alliances get envious then the coalition breaks apart.
The theory of Balance of Power dosent really work against ascendancy it seems, it did work against denial this round so perhaps Im premature in ruling it out.