Official Smogon Tournament XIV - Round 8

[ABR]

​

Rules (Read me!)

OST Specific Rules

• This is a standard USM OU tournament.
• The tournament will be single elimination.
• Players will play a best of three series of games each round
• Matches are to be played on Pokemon Showdown!. If you can't agree on which server to play on, the Smogtours server is the default option.
• Liking this post increases the accuracy of your Hydro Pumps.

Standard Rules and Clauses

• Sleep Clause: A player cannot put two or more different opposing Pokémon to sleep using attacks that induce sleep to opposing Pokémon.
• Species Clause: A player cannot have two of the same Pokémon on their team. For example, a player cannot have two Koffing on his or her team.
• Evasion Clause: A player cannot use the moves Double Team or Minimize in their Pokémon's movesets.
• OHKO Clause: Players cannot use Horn Drill, Guillotine, Sheer Cold, or Fissure in any of their Pokémon's movesets.
• Team Preview: Players must turn on the Team Preview feature where players can view the opposing team's Pokémon and choose their lead Pokémon.
• Timer Clause: If a player exhausts the timer, he/she loses.
• Endless Battle Clause: Any moveset on any Pokémon that is capable of intentionally causing an endless battle is banned from competitive play. Check this thread for more information.
• Baton Pass Clause: The move Baton Pass is banned outright.
• Uber Clause: Players may not use any items, moves, abilities, or Pokemon that appear on Smogon's OU Ban List. If the tiers change or new items, abilities, moves, or Pokemon become available in the middle of a round, the changes will take effect in the following round. There will be an announcement in the relevant round if this occurs.

Charmflash vs Eternam
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

Scheduled Times

All times are in gmt-4

Charmflash vs Eternam - done
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol - done
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - done
Mounts vs Frania - done
HQuaze vs mael - done
WhiteQueen vs Empo - done
Chano vs SoulWind - done
Malekith vs Lycans - done

THE DEADLINE FOR THIS ROUND IS SUNDAY, APRIL 22 11:59 PM EST.


ALL WINNERS MUST POST REPLAYS. I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY ANY USER WHO DOES NOT COMPLY. PLEASE PLAY ON SMOGTOURS.PSIM.US AND POST SCHEDULED TIMES IN THIS THREAD.

 

[Posho]

M Dragon, Mounts, WhiteQueen, and whoever wins in kith vs lycans

 

[Sk3no]

HQuaze to win it all!

 

[z0mOG]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) - after the asswhooping he gave to cdumas last round, how does anyone not pick this vet
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - jimmy will beat the alt (who hasn't posted a single replay yet )
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo -unfortunate this MU is happening so early. i called it already that wq was winning the tour though
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans - havent seen any of kith's games and only saw the gondra series from lycans. close MU imo and probably the 2nd best of this round (after wq empo)

WQ and UB to make finals

 

[INSULT]

rigged af

 

[Mounts]

sunday before the smogon tour for frania and i

 

[We Three Kings]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

 

[cb aaron judge]

Za Meowdo vs Eternam
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

 

[Charmflash]

Looking foward to my games against mael

 

[Finchinator]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) - imagine predicting against the GOAT, no way.
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol - Close here, but UB has been showing some really interesting teams and pretty consistently solid play whereas sorry has never really gotten the whole long-term mindset down pat, so favoring the former in a pretty underrated series overall, definitely looking forward to these matches!
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - No clue who Last Hurrah is and JTurt is fire across every generation tbh
Mounts vs Frania - Mounts is just the more established player of the two in singles tiers. Frania has really high outplaying potential, but I think it would be a pretty major upset to see him take out Mounts, who plays consistently well.
HQuaze vs mael - Both are on team Austria for POWC, so maybe it'll be closer as they know each other, but have to favor Mael just because he seems to be the better player and has done well in random SM tours this year thus far
WhiteQueen vs Empo - WhiteQueen out here with jank looking 1450 ladder specials ft. sister Chansey and finding ways to win that are beyond my comprehension whereas Empo has established himself as a consistent mainstay in the current gen OU circle of high tournament players, def favoring the more conventional and practiced of the two, but if any non-Spanish veteran in this field can take on Empo, it'd likely be WQ and his shenanigans
Chano vs SoulWind - idk Chano, but SoulWind's very good, so gonna side with him
Malekith vs Lycans - Probably the best set of the bunch. Malekith tends to be one of the more crafty veterans who is not afraid to jump into the ring for new generation tournaments whereas Lycans has been one of the better newer generation players over the past year or two, even if his main concentration seems to be in UU instead of OU. I feel like both are close in terms of gameplay; Malekith has more experience than just about anyone left, M Dragon aside, and also is never afraid to take the risks needed to position himself well. However, Lycans likely has a better grasp on the metagame itself, with more experience playing it and likely more tested-out teams (perhaps not even his own builds, but he knows plenty of people). All things considered, I think that Lycans takes it in 3 given his greater level of experience in SM itself, but Malekith is still no stranger from this type of situation and he can easily take it, too.

 

[Hayburner]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

 

[Quite Quiet]

I'm happy to see that other people are doing predictions now except just me, if only it had started earlier :(

Had 10/16 last round, I'm proud of that one (though could be 11/16 since MDrag/Eternam didn't play yet). Puts me at 2256

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

 

[Windsong]

soulwind or mael takes the whole thing

and I'm a bayesian, so predicting the opposite of all the rest of finch's predicts sry guys

 

[patlop2307]

Last Hurrah to win OST, js

 

[Astoria]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)

HQuaze vs mael
They can only stop you pairing you 2 together :sad:

 

[Fran]

Bloo vs Jimmy Turtwig

 

[architdate]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam): Really want Eternam to beat M Dragon, cuz if he does, he can beat Za. But as much as hate to admit it, M Dragon has the superior skill in my opinion. BUT GO TALAH!!)
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol: Another tough game, but UB is on a roll! But both are good friends of mine, so would be a fun game :]
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig: Not sure who Last Hurrah is, so going with the safe prediction here
Mounts vs Frania: A better overall player in my opinion. Frania is pretty fire too tho (saw some impressive games), however I do feel Mounts has the edge
HQuaze vs mael: Just a hunch on this one, but I would definitely place my chips on HQuaze this game
WhiteQueen vs Empo: Empo imo is a better player for this current meta. Atleast as compared to WhiteQueen I feel. But again an amazing game I can't wait to watch :]
Chano vs SoulWind: Same as above
Malekith vs Lycans: Absolutely no idea how this is gonna turn out ;o

Hoping for Den Squad or one of my friends to come out on top :]] but best of luck to all!

 

[WhiteQueen]

The WhiteQueen vs. Empo this Saturday @ 10:00 AM EST.

 

[McMeghan]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) - obvious favorite, but both za meowdo/eternam showed good things recently so clearly not a breeze of a path for clean david
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol - sorry is probably more experienced in OU and likelier to take it, but im rooting for the ballz and have a good feeling about him
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - jimmy is the favorite on paper but i just noticed the other guy has a '18 join date, no replays to show and deleted his previous vm scheduling messages, which pretty much means something fishy is going on. probably a threat undercover, could go very far.
Mounts vs Frania - good player, and good friend lets go mounts! impressive run from frania though, making it this far as a doubles main has to mean something
HQuaze vs mael - Patrheat. admittedly, i havent watched or followed HQuaze at all, but i know mael is generally proficient at this game (although sometimes he'll play like dicks), good recent performances and seems to be a on roll so giving this one to him
WhiteQueen vs Empo - two favorites in my opinion, duking it out earlier than they should sadly. looking forward watching this series, thanks for posting the schedule! giving this one to WQ because i like his playstyle/experience vs other good players
Chano vs SoulWind - good run from chano, who i've had the pleasure to team with in a spanish tournament, but soulwind is just one of the best around atm, is motivated and hard working, and on a roll
Malekith vs Lycans - another amazing matchup, malekith has a very high ceiling as a player and can beat anyone in any gen on a good day... on the other hand, lycans is probably less proven but ive watched this guy play and he has gigantic balls, always able to feel the game well and has an aggressive playstyle on point, which puts him in solid positions pretty often. i can't really tell who's gonna win to be honest, i think it will depend on how malekith reacts/adapts to lycans' approach of the game, but even people who knew his tendencies fell down in the previous rounds. i will bold malekith just because he's the kind of player i'd like to see take it all (past success/impression left on me)

 

[MANNAT]

In-Depth Predicts (About my friends)

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) - Eternam has been playing fantastic this whole tour bar a game or two here and there that he got nerves and didn't do well, but he's gotten better at dealing with his nerves as the tour's gone on and as long as he keeps his head on straight, he'll be able to cleanly beat Mariano. Obviously, this won't be a cakewalk but any means, but Talah is just the more solid player overall here. It's hard to predict against M Dragon after the thrashing he gave to Cdumas last round, but honestly Eternam is one of 2-3 players in this round that's capable of beating him in a clean series imo, and it's just an unfortunate matchup. Eternam is the best SM player for Greek's wcop team and he's only improved since his last big tour, so I expect him to do well here. Regarding his matchup against Za Meowdo, he's a much easier opponent in my eyes due to him primarily relying on sniping matchup wins or haxing without any significantly impressive playing from what I've from him, whereas Eternam is a very strong player when he's in the right mindset.
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol - This is a super tough matchup for me to predict because these players are insanely close in playing ability and two of my close personal friends, but I'm gonna have to go to sorry here. I think a lot of what's been said about sorry isn't really accurate anymore because people haven't seen him play much. I'm specifically referring to sentiments brought up in Finchinator's post when talking about these inaccuracies. Obviously, the man hasn't played on a big stage since Snake, so any criticisms about him are from several months ago. Sorry has improved significantly since snake and really gotten a good grasp on long term planning, which he really struggled with before. More importantly, sorry has been able to handle the issues with nerves that plagued him throughout SSD, so I don't think he's going to have the same choking concerns that he had during that tour and is going to bring this one home. Obviously, UB is a fantastic player in his own right, but I'm going to give sorry the slight edge in teambuilding/prep even though these two are basically neck and neck in playing ability.

Other Predicts
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - Last Hurrah is an account with a 2018 joindate, but replays from 2014, so I suspect that it's an alt of a well-known/good player trying to win this tournament. Obviously, this is just conjecture without evidence, but I've not seen Jimmy Turtwig play this tour and considering the dubious situation around his opponent, I'm going to take LAst Hurrah as my main "upset win" this round.
Mounts vs Frania - Frania had to hax to get here, and I haven't seen anything impressive in SM while Mounts has played great in the games I've watched him play, so I'm gonna have to take Mounts in this one.
HQuaze vs mael - This is probably the second hardest matchup for me to predict in this round because these two are both pretty decent players overall and people that I've played myself in tournaments a couple times. I've never lost against HQuaze and negative against mael in SM OU tours so that's your answer right there bop.
WhiteQueen vs Empo - People predicting WhiteQueen to take this is absurd nonsense, Empo is going to send this man to the shadow realm this round with little to no difficulty.
Chano vs SoulWind - Here's another matchup with Soulwind against the seemingly weakest opponent in this round, so I'm going to pick him to take his opponent down with little difficultly due to the largely prevalent skill gap here.
Malekith vs Lycans - I've seen both of these guys play, but I've worked more closely with Lycans and he has a solid grasp over the current metagame along with obvious playing ability in the current gen, so I'm gonna have to take him to win this one. This is definitely going to be an interesting matchup to watch because of some more unorthodox stuff being possible this series, so I'm gonna make sure to catch this one live.

 

[Diophantine]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)
PremierBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

 

[Charmflash]

Regarding his matchup against Za Meowdo, he's a much easier opponent in my eyes due to him primarily relying on sniping matchup wins or haxing without any significantly impressive playing from what I've from him, whereas Eternam is a very strong player when he's in the right mindset.

When do you play

 

[Aliss]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam)
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig
Mounts vs Frania
HQuaze vs mael
WhiteQueen vs Empo
Chano vs SoulWind
Malekith vs Lycans

easy trophy for The WhiteQueen from here on Kappa

 

[Sealette]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) -MAXIMUS TALAHIUS
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol- This is the highlight match on the lowkey, complete tossup for me and im lowkey rooting for both since they are both my friends, super hyped for this
Bloo vs Jimmy Turtwig -Bloo is the best to ever do it and this alt name is kinda heat so for sure rooting for her
Mounts vs Frania -i dont know much about frania and i have heard that he haxed a game and mounts is flames so cant predict againts mounts
HQuaze vs mael- this can be anyone's game but im feeling the hquaze win
WhiteQueen vs Empo -WhiteQueen knows of ways to win that mortal souls cant comprehend, empo is flames but when WQ enters the battlefield nobody can stop him
Chano vs SoulWind -tbh idk who chano is, my bad
Malekith vs Lycans -2 landlords who like unmons/unsets facing off, dream matchup that i cant rally make a choice on


UB to win it all if he beats sorry

 

[Blazenix]

Za Meowdo vs (M Dragon vs Eternam) - MDragon is on fire but i can not predict against MAXIMUM TALAHIUS, if he can beat mdragon then he can definitely beat Za id say and talah might as well be taking this whole thing if he tries his best.
UltraBallz vs imsosorrylol - Both are friends and both are goats if i predict against either id be killed in a crossfire between the two
Last Hurrah vs Jimmy Turtwig - Never seen the other dude.
Mounts vs Frania - Never seen frania play but mounts has been performing well consistently so rooting for him here.
HQuaze vs mael - I like Hquaze but mael has been performing well so i cant say for sure, looks like it could be either's game
WhiteQueen vs Empo - Empo is a threat to anyone in this world so i'd go for him
Chano vs SoulWind - No idea about chano, but considering hes got here probably means hes competent enough, looking like a W for soulwind tho.
Malekith vs Lycans - This one is super hard honestly, i haven't seen malekith play in a while and lycans is heat so im going for him, still malekith could easily take this series home, gonna be a good watch.

Rooting for my friends here but good luck to all of the players who've made it this far, hoping for some goodgames to see