https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9dlc1nfe-738143?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9dlc1almostanyability-738170?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9dlc1godlygift-738207?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9dlc1stabmons-738269
won vs
Ivar57 ggs man
This run was quite special to me and if you all don't mind I'll talk for a bit.
I picked up OM's around 2 years ago now, at first it was just running some OMOTM when it was Sketchmons or Inverse for fun. When the OMOTM ladder became a bit dry (as most OM ladders can be) I started grinding the BH ladder because I thought the tier was interesting as a concept, picking any moves or abilities but also because it was one of the most active ladders. When a BH ladder tour got posted, I signed up even though I hadn't ever really signed up for tournaments and taken it seriously. I ended up playing
a loser in the first round and winning that match really ignited a passion for playing mons again. OMPL started soon after and I didn't even sign up until the very last minute, because I had seen that some BH players recommend me as a player worth buying and I'd never been on a team before so I figured why not. I ended up going 0-5 in that OMPL LOL and I still feel bad because looking back our team was definitely stacked and we ended up with a bottom 2 record primarily because of me. For my first team tournament I really felt like I could've done better and I think the enjoyable experience combined with my poor performance made for a good motivator going forward.
Since I had access to all my teammates teams during OMPL I figured I could try my hand at the summer ssnls that year and I did pretty well in a couple different tiers. I specifically remember playing and besting Ivar in all three of Stab, AAA and MnM ssnls, coming top 4 in the latter two IIRC. Since I had gotten enough points to qualify I had made it my goal to play and win in the circuit playoffs. Skipping past a forgettable OMWC and time in the fall that I used to take my school seriously, circuit playoffs rolled around and I played QT in the first round. The series went to 5 games and I lost, really regretting my BH team choice in g1 of the series after the fact. I ended up supporting Ivar as he went on to win the circuit, while I was happy for him I can't lie it stung a little to see him win, since I'd beaten him in 3 ssnls. I knew I'd be back for the next year.
I was extremely motivated going into this year's OMPL. My team was once again stacked so I was really excited to see us do well, and ended up with a decent record of 4-1, playing MnM but building AAA every week and helping where I could elsewhere. In playoffs I lost my game due to poor play AND our AAA slot lost because I'd made a bad choice in the builder. The series went to tiebreakers where Fc ended up beating Fissure to knock us out and clear the Solgaleo's way to winning the ring. Wow that stung. I didn't even end up making a s/o post after the tournament I was bitter and upset with my performance. The now retired
quojova said he thought I was our team's MVP, even after my mistakes cost our team the finals appearance. Coming from the guy who not only had our teams best record but had also bested me after beating a loser in that first BH ladder tour and knocked me from 0-4 to 0-5 in the previous OMPL, I was able to take a bit of pride in my growth.
After OMPL I went into the summer ssnls knowing I'd have to qualify to win the circuit, which had become my goal after seeing Ivar win last year. AAA was first signups posted and I ended up winning the whole thing, so I didn't end up playing in the other ones as I devoted my time to some other PLs (ROAPL & 1v1PL), school and IRL stuff. Then OMWC rolled around and there was this whole fiasco where Canada didn't have enough players and so they'd link with USNE to make a team Niagara (something that did happen for 1v1wc this fall, funnily enough) and then that was rescinded and Canada linked with UK instead. I ended up playing AAA and hadn't had much experience with the meta since the DLC1 drops and wasn't a huge fan of ghold, mana and tusk being back in the meta. Regardless, my team did good to qualify for playoffs even though my 1-2 pools performance wasn't much to write home about. UKanada ended up losing in finals, but I didn't play in either playoff series.
Going into this tournament I felt like a bit of a write off coming off an AAA ssnl win, but a quiet OMWC and feeling unfamiliar in what could be my strongest meta. The timing of the tournament was also a bit unfortunate for me IRL. I used to suffer from severe sleep apnea so I've been going through the process to get mandibular advancement surgery to cure it, so as to not have to sleep with a sleep machine and oxygen mask for the rest of my life. The date of my surgery happened to fall on the Thursday of round one. I made sure to schedule with my round 1 opponent for before Wednesday so I'd have as much recovery time as possible. THEN Greybaum decided to drop out so all of a sudden I was playing Fc and worst case scenario happens and we can't play before my surgery. So that's the story of why I asked for an extension in 3/4 of the rounds of this tour. Anyway the surgery was a complete success so although it was painful laying in the hospital for a couple days, I set my mind to the task ahead. I definitely considered dropping out before the game against Fc, it crossed my mind many times even, but I toughed it out and thought I'd regret it if I gave up then.
After R1 I was kind of excited to get the chance for revenge on QT. My prep for Fc might not have been perfect, but over Christmas my recovery began to go smoother and I became focused to win. I also started being able to sleep without a sleep machine! Definitely glad about having the surgery over and done with, I was able to get out and start exercising again. I spent the holidays with my gf of 2 years who has been taking care of me during my recovery and her and I can go on walks and play pokemon GO so things have been getting better. I was pretty satisfied with my preparation against QT especially in retrospect. I made horrible blunders in the first two games of the series and both teams had winnable matchups for sure, so I'm glad I was able to sneak the reverse 3-0.
Longhiep and I have had our fair share of history in some ssnl matchs, and my perception on him has never really been stagnant. He's a very interesting individual to say the least and his approach to teambuilding is no different. Although he had a positive record against me in our past, I felt good about just bringing solid teams and playing well. I figure its a good time to try to play to my opponent as well so I brought some of my own sauce in our series with some cool picks like torterra in stab and calyrex ice in mnm. I'm not pleased with how many blunders I made or how lucky I got in this series either but it is what it is.
That brings us to the finals. Ivar told me he'd see me in finals after I beat QT and I knew he was right. I was excited to get a chance again at him especially since he was the defending champ. The last time I had played him was in the first round of the Gen 8 throwback tour where I thought I could get the payback I couldn't give him when I lost in the circuit last year. Instead he beat me down in 3 not close games and he went on to win that tournament as well. Nevertheless, I felt good for my odds in every tier going into it. Looking back at it I built 5/6 teams I used this round and each of the teams I won with was one I had made by myself with a bunch of my own personal tech. Low kick on the lead ogerpon to punish the kingambit spam or the cool Grassy surge core in aaa to abuse the broken manaphy set or the GROTLE THAT ALWAYS COOKS UNDER SCREENS. Anyway I've talked about myself far too long now so just want you to know it wouldn't have been better against anyone else
Ivar57 smell you later
Winning this tournament wasn't easy and it wouldn't have been possible without all the help I got. First and foremost I gotta thank my main fish
Fissure for being the most reliable STAB sparring partner anyone could ask for. Your wacky ideas and even keel kept me sane and you were a huge help to my psyche, encouraging me in the series as well.
Les2BG wow I'm so glad I messaged you before my series with Fc, just letting you know I was gonna use your team. Offering to build all of my GG teams in the run and honestly the 2-2 record I had with them was a blemish because they were all rock solid. So grateful for your help.
TTTech my biggest fanboy once your own run was over. Thanks for being the voice of reason when I was overthinking, and for the constant encouragement. You were always around for a test run, hopefully I'm not in your way next year you're on a mission.
SpaceSpeakers another fellow tyrant, I'm sad our time zones are so incompatible but you were a big help along the way anyway. You're a kind person and a smart player, cheers
augustakira the BH final roster review from Akira
certified. Seriously you were instrumental in my snatching that g5 win vs Fc, this wouldn't have happened without you
Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂ The help you gave me for the finals was seriously useful, the amount of NFE games we went thru. Grotle team wouldn't have existed without the sparring you gave me the inspiration for real. The odd MnM and stab test didn't hurt either, thanks badge brother
LordBox Being on vacation for the later stages left you busy but you helped a bunch early on getting me situated to the DLC1 meta, thanks
pannu Thanks for being my biggest hater nerd. for real though you are an awesome person. often think back to that time us and
ponchlake were in call before I had won AAA ssnl and I said I was top 1 AAA while taking your ladder points and the memory of that moment gives me strength
Osake aaa goat thanks for the games, knocking me off in that AAA ssnl run way back when definitely was one of the harder series I can remember in this essay, glad to have someone like you around
Clas grateful for the encouragement mid series, you said you could've been the one to beat me and maybe you're right but for today I'm just happy to be the last one standing.
Instruct,
ponchlake,
Siamato for being the good guys
Tea Guzzler for drinking tea and not being 6 years old what a gentleman.
Quantum Tesseract wanna thank you for the games but also for being that obstacle for me since last year, i still think to that time when you said you didn't want to play me in the playoffs
delemon your wise words made the difference
K3ppr for cheerleading cya around king
hayedenn come back
XxLazzerpenguinxX for influencing qts bh pick
Jrdn,
cjw405,
oaklies,
BoingK,
tzaur,
Nihilslave,
longhiep341,
RoFnA,
elleapple sorry to mass tag all of you but wanted to thank you all for the test games along the way
Also RIP Mr bossaru
Finally, here is the import of every team I built or used during the tournament, teams I considered using, scrapped ideas and replicated pastes from the scouter that I fleshed out. Builders of the team should have their name in the titles for the most part.
https://pokepast.es/e66cf0dcd7a1bda8
Final thank you to anyone who took the time to read through all of this and extra special thanks to
Kris for the fuck you into ok.
See you all in OMPL
