I just got a good bunch of old players that were cheap, actually counterpicked people's tactics (except Umbra Nex, but they used only a couple players, so it didn't matter), and I abuse TIE. When I used to play this, a TIE with high enthusiasm was way more worth it than normal, and it lets me have high enthusiasm for playoffs. I just got lucky and played a less experienced team for my first game, which allowed me to start off TIE, but also winning the game.
That's all I got. XD