Tournament OMPL XI - Week 5

[KaenSoul]

Art by Blazenix
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Playoffs | Finals
Information Thread | Roster | Replays | Schedule | Standings
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Useful Information

There are 8 teams this year. Each team will have have 8 players and at least 4 subs. The players are bought using the 100k credits that managers receive during the auction. Managers and co-managers will be allowed to purchase themselves as players for their team at a fixed price of 13.5k. The managers must inform the hosts (Isaiah, UT, and KaenSoul) of all self purchases before the beginning of the auction. Teams can win their matchup every week by winning 5 of the 8 matches that their players have to play.

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The tier lineup this year is as follows:​

1. SV Almost Any Ability
2. SV Balanced Hackmons
3. SV Godly Gift
4. SV Mix and Mega
5. SV NFE
6. SV STABmons
7. SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5)
8. SV Anything Goes

It is recommended to play all games on SmogTours in the most current version of the format corresponding to those listed above. Games can be played on the Pokemon Showdown main server, but run higher risk of interference from server restarts/crashes. The result between players may be decided in a best-of-one or best-of-three at the discretion of both players involved. If there is no agreement, the result will decided in a Bo1 by default.​

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Winning a round rewards a team with 2 points, drawing 1 point, and losing zero points. In addition, the manner in which the round has been won will also be recorded i.e. the difference between a team's wins and losses in a specific week's round (referred to as "Win Differential").​

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Playoffs:​

Each team will play one another for seven weeks. Based on the final standings, the top 4 teams will enter a Playoffs Round to determine the teams appearing in the finals.​

Tiebreaker

In the event of two teams being tied for a spot in the finals based on points and win differential, or a tie in the final round itself, we will have a tiebreaker round(s).​

Tiebreaker Rules: One metagame will be picked by each manager, and each manager will also pick one metagame to strike. Additionally, each manager will submit a backup meta to strike in case their choice is the same as the opposing team's pick. The third format will be determined at random by the hosts from the remaining unpicked, unstruck metagames. In the event that the picks and strikes from each manager are the same, the hosts will determine both the second and third format at random based on the remaining options. All three metagames must be unique, so no format can be picked twice.​

Substitutes

Substitutes are to be used in the case of extenuating circumstances, whether on the first day of the week, or the last. At the same time, players should be relatively well-aware of who all are available to play in the opponent's camp. If last minute substitutes are being frequently used or abused and the hosts find explanations unsatisfactory, the hosts still reserve the right to veto them. In order to further prevent this being the case teams are only granted a maximum of two substitutes per week. Any substitutions after the second will be vetoed.​

Trades

The hosts have decided to not include trades this year due to reasons outlined in this thread - all roster decisions will be final, so draft carefully!​

Scheduling

Scheduling should be done on Smogon Profile walls, plain and simple:​

• If there is communication on only one user's behalf, the win will go to them. Feel free to call activity in this thread beforehand
• If there is a very healthy back and forth regarding potential times and one user is a no-show, a manager may take the opportunity to sub out the no-show competitor; if this is not done, the user that showed up responsibly will be awarded the win.

TL;DR: Post on your opponent's Smogon wall, schedule your matches, and be reliable. If you can't play for any reason, let your manager know so they can sub you out ASAP.​

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Use these posts as a place to initiate discussion about bo1 or bo3 as well (or bo5 vs bo7 for 2v2)!​

Sportsmanship

Exhibitions of unsportsmanlike conduct with regards to the Other Metagame Premier League will be met with an infraction at the discretion of the OMPL host/OM mods. This is unlikely to include interactions within a team's private chat unless there is reason found to make an exception. This rule is meant to protect other users from being publicly flamed/bashed/provoked by another competitor for the duration of and following the tournament.​

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All players must complete their matches by the given deadline. Any incomplete matches by that time will be subject to an activity decision (MAKE SURE YOU POST ON YOUR OPPONENT'S WALL); otherwise, it will be a deadgame. All matches should ideally be done on your most notable alt (the one you registered for OMPL with) to avoid confusion and all match replays must be saved and posted in this thread.​

Substitutions & Lineups

Managers, if you wish to make any substitutions, you must post here tagging both the player you're subbing out, the player you're subbing in, the manager and assistant manager of the opposing team, the substitute's opponent, and all of the hosts (Isaiah, UT, KaenSoul). This is to assure that everyone is in-the-loop and that the OP is updated accordingly to reflect the new match-up.​

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Managers, when you send in lineups, please send it in with the tier and Smogon username of each player fully written out for ease of transcription, following these guidelines exactly.​

Matchups

Photon Geezers (Tea Guzzler and ponchlake) - [3][5] - W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Clarex vs tyo
SV Almost Any Ability: MZ vs hariyana grande
SV Anything Goes: Bread Sandwich vs Taka
SV Balanced Hackmons: augustakira vs cityscapes
SV Godly Gift: ponchlake vs Sylvi
SV Mix and Mega: db vs xavgb
SV NFE: Tuthur vs Stareal
SV STABmons: LBDC vs pannu

Wiggly Family (Dragonillis and Palapapop) - [6][2] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Despacito87 vs Fragments
SV Almost Any Ability: Osake vs tier
SV Anything Goes: polt vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons: Onyx Onix 7 vs pdt
SV Godly Gift: Meta vs Dr. Phd. BJ
SV Mix and Mega: Clas vs Icemaster
SV NFE: ojr vs clean
SV STABmons: RoFnA vs Fc

Dubwool Entendres (Redflix and Quantum Tesseract) - [3][5] - Fluttermania (KarpeSan and adem)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): DripLegend vs bored_glitch
SV Almost Any Ability: The Number Man vs Atha
SV Anything Goes: Frito vs Fogbound Lake
SV Balanced Hackmons: XxLazzerpenguinxX vs Frozoid
SV Godly Gift: Lily vs Jrdn
SV Mix and Mega: Quantum Tesseract vs kDCA
SV NFE: King Leo V vs fade
SV STABmons: Kaif vs Clementine


The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [4][4] - Gods as Ghold (Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂ and Eledyr)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): yuki vs Chris32156
SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh vs Ivar57
SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs TaxFraud
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs Chessking345
SV Godly Gift: blinkboy vs Fraise
SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended vs damflame 3
SV NFE: Instruct vs PandaDoux
SV STABmons: Fissure vs abriel

Deadline:
10:00 PM (GMT -4) on June 25th, 2023
​

For the Bot

SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Clarex vs tyo
SV Almost Any Ability: MZ vs hariyana grande
SV Anything Goes: Bread Sandwich vs Taka
SV Balanced Hackmons: augustakira vs cityscapes
SV Godly Gift: ponchlake vs Sylvi
SV Mix and Mega: db vs xavgb
SV NFE: Tuthur vs Stareal
SV STABmons: LBDC vs pannu

SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Despacito87 vs Fragments
SV Almost Any Ability: Osake vs tier
SV Anything Goes: polt vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons: Onyx Onix 7 vs pdt
SV Godly Gift: Meta vs Dr. Phd. BJ
SV Mix and Mega: clas vs Icemaster
SV NFE: ojr vs clean
SV STABmons: RoFnA vs Fc

SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): DripLegend vs bored_glitch
SV Almost Any Ability: The Number Man vs Atha
SV Anything Goes: Frito vs Fogbound Lake
SV Balanced Hackmons: XxLazzerpenguinxX vs Frozoid
SV Godly Gift: Lily vs Jrdn
SV Mix and Mega: Quantum Tesseract vs kDCA
SV NFE: King Leo V vs fade
SV STABmons: Kaif vs Clementine

SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): yuki vs Chris32156
SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh vs Ivar57
SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs TaxFraud
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs Chessking345
SV Godly Gift: blinkboy vs fraise
SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended vs damflame 3
SV NFE: Instruct vs Pandadoux
SV STABmons: Fissure vs abriel

 

[Dragonillis]

Hugo out, Despacito87 in

New match-up : Despacito87 vs Fragments
Tagging managers : Fc and Guard
Tagging hosts : KaenSoul UT and Isaiah

 

[Chessking345]

BH Predicts:
2/3 last week, Sevag let me down.

augustakira (60) vs (40) cityscapes
I'm a big fan of Akira builds and innovations while I think some of city's sets are a little too crazy. Akira also has had way more time to prep for this match and idt city knows Akira's builds very well, though last time Akira prepped he loaded Eleki into ChansTingTina.

Onyx Onix 7 (80) vs (20) pdt
Onyx unleashed! Onyx builds are incredibly hard to prep for and really good in this matchup and they are also experienced in dealing with the type of stuff pdt has been bringing. Most interesting match of the week.

XxLazzerpenguinxX (80) vs (20) Leru
It appears that Nihilslave is preparing Leru's teams again and I believe Sevag knows Nihil builds quite well. Sevag's match last week also was much closer than Leru's. Going to hope that Sevag doesn't let me down again and don't play at the park.

 

[Ren]

Photon Geezers (Tea Guzzler and ponchlake) - [2][6] - W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Clarex vs tyo - I'm biased against people named Clarence and Clarex is close enough
SV Almost Any Ability: MZ vs hariyana grande - MZ seems to have found his rhythm, hariyana is one of the top AAA players in the pool rn but I want MZ to keep winning bc I think he's easily capable of rocking this pool
SV Anything Goes: Bread Sandwich vs Taka - go taka
SV Balanced Hackmons: augustakira vs cityscapes - augustakira is def good but hasn't been mind-blowing and I know city has unfairly high pop off potential in this matchup, but this could go either way
SV Godly Gift: ponchlake vs Sylvi - realistically I should be bolding ponch but it's pride month
SV Mix and Mega: db vs xavgb - surely
SV NFE: Tuthur vs Stareal - tyrant blood
SV STABmons: LBDC vs pannu - I feel like this is a lose lose bc if I bold pannu they lose but if I don't then they win so I'd prefer to reward LBDC for breaking the trend

Wiggly Family (Dragonillis and Palapapop) - [1][7] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Despacito87 vs Fragments - fragments
SV Almost Any Ability: Osake vs tier - man I thought osake was doing super well, but I think tier is a rly good player too and I sorta wanna see the tier AAA main arc so I'll bold them
SV Anything Goes: polt vs Guard - guardsweeper
SV Balanced Hackmons: Onyx Onix 7 vs pdt - pdt is back on his game
SV Godly Gift: Meta vs Dr. Phd. BJ - I want Meta to win but BJ will prob win anyway
SV Mix and Mega: Clas vs Icemaster - clas seems to have found his beat so I wanna encourage em
SV NFE: ojr vs clean - clean is the goat
SV STABmons: RoFnA vs Fc - the fc

Dubwool Entendres (Redflix and Quantum Tesseract) - [4][4] - Fluttermania (KarpeSan and adem)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): DripLegend vs bored_glitch - I feel like I've predicted against both of these people for the entire tour so I'm gonna go w bored glitch just cause driplegend isn't a good name
SV Almost Any Ability: The Number Man vs Atha - tnm has been on fire
SV Anything Goes: Frito vs Fogbound Lake - frogbound lake
SV Balanced Hackmons: XxLazzerpenguinxX vs Leru - I swear these two people played already ?? but we bold leru here bc of the pact
SV Godly Gift: Lily vs Jrdn - Lily is amazing, I want jordan to win though but there's only one persona fan here
SV Mix and Mega: Quantum Tesseract vs kDCA - qt is the best mnm player on this site rn
SV NFE: King Leo V vs fade - idk if Leo is back bc his playing mental seems really bad rn
SV STABmons: Kaif vs Clementine - this feels like kaif should win


The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [6][2] - Gods as Ghold (Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂ and Eledyr)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): yuki vs Chris32156 - yuki has been lit
SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh vs Ivar57 - it's close but shiloh wins if he remembers volknerd
SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs TaxFraud - unfortunately, Lasen won last week (am joke) so I'm hoping taxfraud restores order to the OMPL world
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs Chessking345 - qova
SV Godly Gift: blinkboy vs Fraise - oh god idk, I guess fraise wins on gut though I think blink is better
SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended vs damflame 3 - career is gud
SV NFE: Shaneghoul vs PandaDoux - the NFE god of this tour
SV STABmons: Fissure vs abriel - eh idk, I hope Fissure wins tho. He won last week so

 

[Lasen]

SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs TaxFraud - unfortunately, Lasen won last week (am joke) so I'm hoping taxfraud restores order to the OMPL world

 

[Tea Guzzler]

OMPL BH REVIEW: WEEK 4
Chessking345 vs TTTech - vs
Standard teams from both sides at preview. TTTech's Level 99 Dialga-O may give him an advantage at some point down the line.

The terms for this game are basically set on turn 8, as Chessking goes with Tera Fairy Flutter Mane and runs into Regenerator Chansey, meaning that in most cases, not a lot will be happening until someone reveals a wincon Arceus. TTTech then reveals Desolate Land Arceus-Fire on turn 25, with its Mortal Spin revealing that Chessking is Covert Cloak Imposter. Tera Poison Chansey on turn 31 severely limits how much progress Flutter Mane can make, unless it carries a pretty weird set (which in this case it is), but a potential wincon emerges for TTTech, as Arceus-Fire being Synthesis + Stealth Rock being up means that Arceus-Fire can potentially out-damage Imposter over a few switch-ins. This precarious dance continues for another 95 turns thanks to Covert Cloak Imposter stopping Groudon. Chansey finally gets tricked Choice Specs on turn 127, and then 32 turns later reveals Nasty Plot + Astral Barrage, which manages to outpace Mortal Spin damage and grab 2 KOes. From this point, TTTech doesn't have a way to win.

Chessking had a relatively safe position for most of the game, but was in a spot of bother on turn 136 with a boosted Arceus-Fire in on his weakened Imposter. The V-create miss didn't matter unless it crit, as assuming it was Lonely Flame Plate, it does max 47.8%. Both teams were relatively standard aside from the Wandering Spirit Zamazenta-C (to annoy RegenVest users). Chessking's Arceus was never revealed, but it'd need to be one that could Imposter-Proof Flutter Mane (due to Chansey not being Eviolite) - Chessking later confirmed it was Arceus-Steel, probably Ice Scales.

cityscapes vs quojova - vs
city having a normal-looking team at preview is relatively unseen. Both teams also bring Corviknight without a Groudon in sight.

quojova gains a major advantage as early as turn 2, as even though his Imposter is paralyzed, he gets a Knock Off on Kyogre and a paralysis on Zamazenta-C. Flutter Mane successfully cracks its Flame Orb, and then a few turns later, Zamazenta-C reveals SubPass (but not before quojova's Arceus-Ground breaks the Sub with Judgment), and Corviknight reveals Light Screen (ability still unconfirmed). Rayquaza eventually gets in on turn 28 behind Light Screen, with Boomburst bouncing off of the Corviknight (Sky Plate Ray + RegenVest Corv), before revealing Swords Dance, although it gets phazed by Dragon Tail Corviknight when it attempts to get a second boost. Sky Plate is Knocked on turn 38, severely limiting Ray's damage output, and a second SubPasser in city's Giratina is revealed. city's Desolate Land Arceus-Fire gets in and to +4, and quojova sacks Corviknight to get Flutter Mane in, which takes the Kyogre. It then also takes the Ray courtesy of Tera Steel shielding it from Extreme Speed, and at this point the game's done.

city's team revolved around getting breakers in behind Substitutes, as Arceus-Fire takes guaranteed KOes and Rayquaza can severely dent stuff as well (although Corviknight's Dragon Tail is a roll to break the Substitute), but the Giratina didn't pass a single Substitute and the paralysis on Zamazenta-C meant Arceus-Ground could always keep it from passing. Screens Corviknight would largely make up for city's lack of a Fur Coat user in matchups where there were any physical attackers. quojova's team was sound, not really a lot to say about it.

Tea Guzzler vs Leru - vs
Knowing that Nihilslave built this team helped in a way, since i'm seeing about what I expected (Possible Normalize, Possible Gambit).

Things start off quick with Dialga-O Final Gambiting into Toxapex to KO both. Dragapult reveals Simple Swords Dance on the next turn as I Mortal Spin fearing Normalize, and then Dondozo comes in, devouring the Poltergeist but exposing i'm Rocky Helmet. After seeing Fur Coat Arceus-Fairy I'm pretty confident I don't need Koraidon to win, so i'm hard-switching it into Giratina to eat the suspected Final Gambit, but I stop doing this on turn 17 as I realize that Giratina's set (Spin/Salt Cure/Gambit/Roost) gets completely sat on by Imposter even through Salt Cure. Zacian then switches in and Population Bombs straight into Helmet Dondozo, KOing itself. From here I decide to play extremely safe and stall out Giratina (hard-switching to my Arceus-Electric whenever he goes Arceus-Fairy), with Dragapult getting in one more +4 attack thanks to the poison, but Dondozo eats it and heals off almost all the damage. Arceus-Fairy goes Tera Poison to block the Mortal Spin, but since i'm Ice Scales Arceus-Electric, I always win the 1v1 even with the former having a Calm Mind advantage. After Arceus-Fairy goes down, Leru can't win.

This team had a pretty good matchup, as all three physical attackers on Leru's side are shut down hard by Helmet Dondozo (also being harmed by the apparent lack of Knock Off), and Arceus-Electric always beats Arceus-Fairy thanks to Ice Scales and Thunder Cage. The Giratina was actually Soundproof, meaning Rayquaza needed prior chip + Tera Flying to actually break through it. Toxapex switching into Dialga-O was supposed to be scouting RegenVest / getting the slow Flip Turn, but the Gambit would've only been damaging if it were Normalize Pult (which I still have Rayquaza ESpeed for).

pdt vs XxLazzerpenguinxX - vs
Some off-beat picks on pdt's side, including Meloetta-P and the second Iron Moth of the tournament.

Fur Coat Chansey with Final Gambit is revealed turn 1, and then Iron Moth comes in, dealing huge damage to Ting-Lu and Imposter before losing the Speed-tie (expending Tera in the process); from the looks of it, Iron Moth was Earth Plate. Zacian reveals Rusted Sword, Knocking Groudon's Cloak, and pdt's Arceus-Fairy is traded for a good chunk of Arceus-Steel's HP. Meloetta-P gets in on Groudon but just gets Toxiced, and then Giratina gets pivoted in on the now-healthy Arceus-Steel, revealing Fillet Away + Strength Sap. It gets paralyzed, which means pdt goes to Chansey to Heal Bell, and then Gambits on the Ting-Lu. Eternatus does a decent chunk to Zacian-C before mis-predicting with Dragon Energy, bringing in Groudon, which in turn gives a window for Magic Bounce Giratina to Strength Sap Groudon and reverse its Toxic. Iron Bundle then switches in and forces a Zacian Speed-tie with Imposter, which it gets away with thanks to Sevag switching, taking Eternatus and healing to full. Meloetta-P gets back in and spams Tidy Up, doing largely nothing thanks to Strength Sap FC Groudon, but giving a window to Giratina which KOes Iron Bundle and Gambits on Arceus-Steel. Groudon gets stalled by Strength Sap from this position, losing to Toxic damage.

pdt's team was definitely something, pulling out some interesting techs like Fillet Away Giratina and the Self-Improof-via-Helmet Meloetta-P. The early Gambit onto Ting-Lu was definitely important to clearing the way for Giratina late-game, as without it, Arceus-Steel would always be up to solo Zacian-C and Meloetta-P (which almost definitely doesn't have a Fighting move). On Sevag's side, the Nasty Plot Arceus-Steel and non-Specs Beads Eternatus are unusual brings, especially given the former likely being Iron Plate.

 

[longhiep341]

GG Week 4 Review: Death from Above

gum vs tlenit

vs
tlenit suddenly playing was an interesting development. Where's blinkboy anyway? He was playing pretty well with 2 wins pre-Home, I guess he's busy or something. Now onto the match, gum brought a pretty... pre-Home build just with Arceus instead of Koraidon and Gastrodon to handle Kyogre. tlenit opted for some kind of bulky offense as well. Helectrode looked like it would have a fun time tearing gum's team, though tlenit would need to make sure he knew which mon was Scarf first. Washtom is complete trash against Gastrodon so tlenit would need to utilize double switch well to not let Spikes go up quickly. Guessing which Arceus forme both brought is tough though. Based on preview, I'd say gum's is Normal while tlenit's is Dragon or Normal.
The game started slow, with both scouting each other. We see Boots Corviknight which is ehh... weird to say the least. Meowscarada revealed it was Overgrow and not Scarf so Helectrode seems better even if it took a Flower Trick. It then took an extra Surf from Gastro but was still enough to pressure. gum revealed Arceus-Fairy which makes sense for a Dark resist (though I'd think Normal or Dark is better to handle opposing Gholdengo, Gastrodon isn't exactly a solid answer to it). Tusk revealed Eject Pack Headlong Rush. Helectrode finally got its first victim in Meowscarada. Gholdengo forced it out and gum sacrificed Gholdengo's HP to get damage. tlenit made a risky play himself by switching in Helectrode against Gastro again since it might have Clear Smog or just decide to click Ground move. tlenit continued to predict correctly and got Volt Switch on Skeledirge. The game slowed down and on turn 40 tlenit finally paid for the risky plays when Helectrode dropped to Surf. Skeledirge got a free switch-in against Arceus though which sadly can't touch it in any meaningful way. Corviknight and Skeledirge had to be the guinea pigs to finally take out tlenit's Skeledirge. However tlenit revealed Arceus Normal and it just cleaned from there. Overall, W Virizzions' GG slot has been disappointing so far. With choices like Bright Powder Ditto among others, it really feels like they are really not innovating effectively, with teams having exploitable holes. Their team structures need a change for sure, cause while their first two weeks were against stronger opponents, losing to first game Mossy and tlenit really isn't a good look. I don't know who's at the helm of their GG slot but they need quick improvements if they want a spot in playoffs.

ponchlake vs jrdn

vs
jrdn brought sun which looks much more solid than his past teams. A lot of defensive utility yet threatening at the same time with Washtom, Skeledirge and Great Tusk being a solid defensive core while the offensive ones also have useful bulk and resistances. ponchlake's team looks pretty soft on the defensive side however, with only Clodsire and Corviknight as main walls, Heatom is more vulnerable to Rock so it has much less longevity. With Hoopa and Helectrode having almost no defensive use, Arceus therefore should be a more defensive variant, possibly Dark or Fairy cause the team looks a bit vulnerable to Goltres. Clod should definitely be Water Absorb and forces Washtom into an uncomfortable game, but ponch had a bit worse matchup and would need to win fast by utilizing Helectrode, getting prediction against Walking Wake and breaking with Hoopa before Koraidon ran over the team.
Surprisingly, Arceus revealed to be Ground first turn as Koraidon U-turn out. This looked like Band if Arceus had any bulk which it probably did. Some switching around and Heatom revealed Nasty Plot and Leftovers which kinda makes the Koraidon matchup even more sketchy. Gotta say ponch got all the predictions correctly though but then Koraidon finally went in and got a huge chunk on Heatom, revealing it was indeed Band. jrdn tried to catch a Hoopa double but ponch went Clodsire instead so Great Tusk had to come in. Then Arceus came in and revealed the GRAVITY, which is interesting tech choice. jrdn has very high Rotom usage (2/3 in past weeks and I see him use it on ladder all the time). jrdn maneuvered but still had to sac Tusk and Koraidon sadly came just short of the KO. Walking Wake then forced the Heatom sac. At that point Helectrode and Hoopa just cleaned up after. Overall a much more respectable showing from jrdn, but this game was where his tendency got exploited hard so he needs to keep that in mind for later weeks. Well played to ponchlake, better prep with good reads being the icing on top.

drphdbj vs Lily

vs
This is the highlight game between the two best GG players in the pool. Lily's defensive core looked pretty sound, with Torn-T looking like it would have a great time grinding the long game. Both Miraidon and Harcanine could do solid progress given good prediction, though Helectrode would struggle against Clodsire. BJ's best tool here should be Gholdengo, as with a NP it can do quite a chunk and needs to chip Great Tusk. Arceus might also be a solid wincon if it turned out to be Calm Mind. Probably Arceus-Fairy, but could be Dark or other types as well. Sadly, Dondozo against Miraidon wasn't ideal.
BJ lead with Meowscarada which probably was Scarf. As Miraidon Draco Arceus turned out to be Fairy indeed. More switches with scouts from both sides and Meow avoided a huge Leaf Storm from Helectrode. Torn-T lost Boots and Tusk got Toxic. It then also revealed Taunt however which completely shut down Clodsire. Its last was Heat Wave which massively chunked Corviknight. BJ was in a dangerous spot as Torn could just outspeed and chip most of his mons. Lily switched out expecting Scarf Gholdengo but it was actually Specs. Glowking took a hit but with Regen no big deal. BJ once again got the read on Miraidon but Torn-T came back. Dondozo revealed Boots and chipped Helectrode a bit though got Static and Meow had to take Giga Drain. Lily sacked Helectrode to Make it Rain and forced Arceus to take a bit of chip. Torn continued to be a pain as it just chipped and dipped with Arceus not being able to break Glowking. Gholdengo finally got in again and took Great Tusk. BJ once again got the Miraidon read but Dondozo dropped to Harcanine. He also hoped Harcanine didn't have Espeed which it did so Clod had to revenge. The rest was just Torn beatdown as Arceus couldn't Recover. Overall BJ might have had more chance had he not essentially just sacked Meow and Gholdengo but he took the risk (Meow could have forced Torn low enough or Tricked it, Gholdengo could also catch a U-turn to face Glowking). Also a big case study for why min Speed Clod might be the play.

Meta vs Fraise

vs
I support Meta in his effort to get Toxapex freed. Mareanie was wild and it actually had a good mu vs Hoodra, Moltres and maybe also Hamurott. Fraise needed to fully take advantage of Miraidon to break with Hamurott getting Spikes and keeping the pressure. Tusk could also put in some work. His defensive core should fare well and in the best case Moltres would burn both Rilla and Tusk. On Meta's side, I would guess Arceus-Steel? Torn could probably break long term and if Mareanie had Toxic Spikes it would be huge as well since Tusk would be forced to get poisoned to clear it.
Miraidon vs Rilla lead revealed non-Scarf Rilla and it instantly got chip with U-turn in exchange for Moltres's Boots. Mareanie then got Knocked and beat Hamurott but got 2 Spikes set. Clodsire fainted to Specs Mirai as fast as it switched in. Arceus turned out to be Fairy and it just kept CM as Fraise couldn't do anything and only finally took it down thanks to para. With only Tusk and Hoodra left, Meta's Tusk KOed Hoodra before Rilla made sure it couldn't get too many Bulk Up and Torn got the KO with Grass Knot. Overall the mu for Arceus-Fairy was just too good, not much to say.

Bonus STAB review

abriel vs RoFnA: Zama 6-0, much setup, such sweep, so strong, wow
Fissure vs pannu: Both kept trading with HO then Zama-C beat Baxcalibur
FC vs Kaif: Zama 6-0, much setup, such sweep, so strong, wow (bonus opposing Zama alnost bringing it back but Triple Arrow crit said hello)
Clementine vs LBDC: Meloetta claimed Clod, Overqwil claimed 2 with Tera then fell to Zama, then Urshifu-R claimed Zama. Ting-Lu tera Water to take hit, Meloetta claimed 2 more then got revenged by Urshifu. Then as Corv tried to bring it back Zama struck again and scammed it with a crit.

 

[Hugo]

2v2 predicts:

Clarex vs tyo - So far no one has seen clarex play yet but don't under estimate him, I think he has what it takes to pull this off

Despacito87 vs Fragments - both players have a 100% winrate so far and seem evenly matched but the managers didn't draft any support for fragments unlike despacito so I think that is gonna make a big diffrence

DripLegend vs bored_glitch - Driplegend isn't doing to hot atm but I still trust him to pul out the W

yuki vs Chris32156 - id say its decently even but I think Chris in general is just the better player but I feel like this mu together with the one from Despacito vs Frags is the most even so far

 

[hayedenn]

finally, cotta gets to face their worst enemy

 

[drampa's grandpa]

Where are we at now?
A brief analysis of what different teams need to make it to playoffs.
Nobody has clinched a spot in playoffs yet. Technically nobody is eliminated yet.
10 points is currently the boundary for guaranteeing yourself into the playoffs, which five teams can reach (not all at once obviously). This will very likely go down.

Soul-Stealing Seven Star Solgaleos

Despite their great performance and their numerical lead the Solgaleos haven't clinched a spot in the playoffs quite yet. It would be rather silly to bet against them doing it though, and they can do it as early as the end of this week without needing much to go their way.
The positives: The Solgaleos are obviously in a very very good spot right now. They don't even need any more wins to guarantee themselves into the playoffs. They do not need to do anything to make it to playoffs if the absolute worst-case scenarios don't happen to them. It's possible for them to clinch this week, and I would say I expect them to clinch by the end of next week but obviously the Tyrants are going to wreck their faces, no bias I swear. actually they probably will anyway as teams fail to be able to pass them.
The negatives: Not much honestly. They still have to play a couple other teams currently in the top four in the Tyrants and the Geezers, but the stars would have to align for them to lose out on their playoffs slot.

The Terrible Tyrants

I'm rather biased here obviously so I'll try to keep it objective.
The Tyrants are doing well, as evidenced by their current placement. However they've been playing the lower ranked teams so far. The Tyrants can clinch a spot in playoffs as early as the end of Week 5 if all went perfectly.
The Positives: While the Tyrants technically need four more points to clinch, two more points puts them in a very solid position, and three makes them nearly impossible to displace, largely because they'd be taking them from top teams they're in competition with. This week is notably very very important for the Tyrants, and a win would result in the Gholds being unable to pass except by differential (unlikely but not impossible), while the Geezers and the Virizzions, the only two other teams that are at all likely to take the number four slot, play each other and in that scenario at least one would fall behind.
The Negatives: The Tyrants have a rough last three weeks, playing the Solgaleos, the Dubwools, and the Gholds. They will need to bring their A game.

Dubwool Entendres

The first of two teams cursed with ties this OMPL. The Dubwools are a very good team who have already played most of the strongest teams and come out at #3. They certainly have the potential to rise further up the rankings if the other teams above them let them (COME TRY US SHEEP WEEK 7 WE'RE READY FOR YOU). The Dubwools can clinch a spot in playoffs... um... head math difficult... I believe Week 6. Maybe Week 5?

The Positives: The Dubwools play the bottom two ranked teams the next two weeks, and while I kinda can't see the Wigglies versus the Dubwools not being a tie when BOTH teams are cursed and this should be a boon for them. The hardest part of their remaining season should in theory be week 7 when they play the Tyrants. Essentially, the Dubwools have opportunities to gain points, and will likely not struggle to pass whatever the final required points are.
The Negatives: The Dubwools don't have much control over the point requirement. They have no especially important matches, unless the Wigglies pick up their game or the Tyrants drop theirs.

Now we get down to the trifecta of the Geezers, the Gholds, and the Virizzions. Yes I know I excluded the Wigglies, I'll say why later. I'm going to talk about them as a group a little because they have a lot in common. First, they're all competing for the same slot from about the same point in the rankings. They're all decent to good teams in my opinion. And they're all facing the other two in the last three weeks.

What this last part does is make it nearly impossible for all of them to qualify. And this means that any match with each other will significantly effect their chances of making playoffs, with any loss making it extremely difficult and any win knocking a competitor down an enormous amount.

The Wiggly Family is not part of this because it is not playing any of these teams.

Photon Geezers

The Geezers have important weeks ahead of them, as I mentioned, and at the end of that they get to fight the Solgaleos. The next two weeks will likely determine the fate of this team. They can clinch a spot in playoffs by the end of week 6 if all goes right, but it is unlikely.

The Positives: So long as they don't lose they will likely be in a pretty decent spot. Their endgame is entirely in their hands.
The Negatives: The Geezers are one loss away from losing out on their current playoffs spot (as in if playoffs started right now), which means they can't afford to slack. Also, out of their immediate competition they have the hardest final match (trying to stay objective =X obviously Tyrants are the best and Week 6 will show that).

Gods as Ghold

The Gods as Ghold are in pretty much the same place as the Photon Geezers. They have several important weeks ahead, but if they do well this week will be in a very good position. Unfortunately for them the Tyrants plan to win. The Gholds can clinch a spot in playoffs by the end of Week 6, if all goes right, but I would not expect that to happen.

The Positives: They have significant control over their endgame, facing off against their direct competition. Smacking them down will put the Gholds in prime positions for being in the playoffs.
The Negatives: Any loss does the opposite. Huh strange.

W Virizzions

The Virizions can technically clinch by the end of Week 6 if they do something ridiculous like go 15-1 (I think) the next two weeks and the right teams win.

The Positives: Similar to the Gholds and the Geezers, they have a lot of control over what happens these last couple weeks. They also still have yet to face the lowest ranked team in the league, which is quite likely to have been eliminated by the beginning of next week when they face them and not be trying particularly hard.
The Negatives: They're very much living on the edge. While certainly not eliminated yet, the Virizzions are behind in points and playing makeup, rather than trying to maintain an already solid position.

Wiggly Family

The second team cursed with ties. Really shows what one loss does compared with one win.

The Positives: The Wigglies have managed to keep up with almost every team they've faced so far, and they have themselves a decent number of points which allows them to be comparable with the middle of the pack, despite showing up near the bottom. There is little doubt Fluttermania will be out by Week 7, potentially giving a nearly free win to the Wigglies depending on how motivated the team remains.
The Negatives: The remaining schedule for the Wigglies is among the toughest. If they can't pick up more wins they aren't going to be able to pull out of their current rank, and it will be difficult to pull wins versus the Dubwools and the Solgaleos.

Fluttermania

The good thing for Fluttermania is that they're not eliminated yet. The bad thing is just about everything has to go perfectly for them to have a chance.

The Positive: Almost nothing. They're not out yet.
The Negative: Their ability to win is almost entirely out of their hands. They would not only have to win every remaining week by a wide margin but pray for the exact right circumstances where other teams don't pass 6 points. Good luck Flutters!

Now I take nap

 

[LordBox]

AAA OMPL Week 4 Review

Bit late but oh well. Another week passes by and the AAA meta continues to stay fairly chaotic, while sets have continued to appear out and make themselves more known and mainstream the general state of the meta is still shaky with no clear cut cores appearing. That being said, more balanced teams are appearing which signifies more stability as people figure out what to do defensively. Still, the meta and games continue to have a cool amount of variety and funky sets that I hope (or don't, make my teambuilding easier thanks) to continue to see. Moving onto the actual games.

hariyana grande vs shiloh

Analysis

From the preview hariyana brings a generic and very safe fat team, almost seemingly to be from pre-home if not for the Zapdos. Not too much to talk about within the team, with fairly predictable sets like Unaware Scream Tail, Regen Garchomp, MGLO Talonflame, Intim Corv and Primsea Zapdos all being pretty standard and safe. Shiloh loads a fairly unorthodox offensive team that is somewhat trademark of career ended who presumably the primary builder for this team so we'll need to see the sets in the game to really judge their performance and matchup.

First turn, an unrevealed Slither Wing leads into hariyana's Zapdos and immediately sacrifices itself to severely chunk Zapdos with presumably Tinted CB First Impression based off the damage. Most likely trying to open up threats like Volc/Cinderace which are hampered by Zapdos. Cinderace comes in and now threatens the Zapdos who is too low to check it, hariyana opts to switch-in Garchomp and conserve Zapdos with Cinderace revealing MGLO Double-Edge. Corv comes in which is a bit odd but comes in on U-turn taking little but instead opening up an unknwon Thundy-T to come in and potentially break. Blissey comes in on a Nasty Plot, revealing Vessel of Ruin, shiloh revealing Focus Blast and most likely SFLO Thundy-T, leaving Blissey easily in range for another Focus Blast. Scream Tail comes in on a missed Focus Blast which costs Shiloh as hariyana manages to barely hand on with CM, Protect and Unaware. Electrode-Hisui comes in and then immediately pivots out to Ursuluna which is odd and Scream Tail continues to setup as it walls Ursuluna from full. Volcarona comes in and reveals Turboblaze which ignores Unaware making it somewhat dangerous with Blissey low and potential recovery. Although hariyana has a healthy Talonflame and Chomp in the back. Hariyana however manages to WishPass safely into Zapdos as Volc sets up and Shiloh is scared out by a now healthy Zapdos. Thundy-T comes in to take the Hurricane, leaving it low enough for Garchomp to finish it off with a Dragon Tail. Ursuluna comes in again to setup and reveals Thunder Punch, chunking the Corv, with Scream Tail too low to initially switch-in. Scream Tail comes in again to wall with shiloh aggressively switching in Volc and then Electrode-H to threaten the Zapdos switch-in for Volc. Hariyana decides to keep Zapdos healthy, sacking Corviknight with the breakers on Shiloh's team all threatening Corv anyway. Garchomp comes in to answer the Elec-H, exchanging damage before Ursuluna aggressively comes in. Ursuluna then reveals a surprise Surge Surfer, outspeeding and OHKO'ing Garchomp. Scream Tail comes back in to wall Ursuluna and Volc comes in to exploit Scream Tail. Talonflame comes in on a Bug Buzz, forcing Shiloh to decide to sacrifice Electrode-Hisui. Ursuluna comes in with its boosted speed but hariyana just sacrifices Blissey and Scream Tail just comes in to wall it again. Hariyana manages to get his predict right and switch Zapdos on a Headlong Rush and finish off Ursuluna and now it's completely over as Talonflame can simply clean both Volc and Cinderace up after 1 BU on the forced Cinderace.

Overall, a fun game. It came down to a matter to whether Shiloh could potentially break through with Thundy-T and weaken enough for Volc or even potentially Ursuluna to clean but hariyana managed to play well and get predicts right enough to hang on and slowly break down shiloh's team. Surge Surfer Ursuluna was a cool tech although ultimately couldn't break through the safe Scream Tail but was still somewhat threatening as Scream Tail couldn't switch in with accumulated chip and could potentially sweep afterwards. Could've been more dangerous for a more offensive team but the safe team prep worked out (s/o Isaiah)

Ivar57 vs Osake

Analysis

Both being very strong players within the AAA pool (I mean, most are), the match was most likely the highlight of the week in terms of anticipation. From preview, both bring fairly balanced teams, although Osake brings a more offensive flavour and an oddity in Sandaconda which is most likely defensive with Fluffy or smth. Over on Ivar's side, everything is fairly standard, with an unknown Treads, and a strong offensive core in Electrode-H and Gapdos that could definitely dismantle Osake's defensive core with good play while Osake's Inteleon doesn't appear to have a good switch-in unless Treads is WA and assuming Osake's Inteleon is Specs. Ivar most likely need to plays aggressive with ElectrodeH to make sure Inteleon doesn't cause too much havoc, assuming Treads is not the uncommon WA.

Starting off, Electrode-H leads into Sandaconda, scaring it out with Chloroblast then Volt Switching on the Goodra-H, getting Dragon Tail'd into Garchomp who sets up rocks while scaring out GoodraH. Sandaconda comes back in and Ivar switches Electrode-H on the Glare, nullifying it. The same process then repeats itself, but now with the scary Gapdos being phased in, Osake is forced into Intimidate Corv before Ivar reveals Scrappy, putting Corv into 2HKO range, forcing Sandaconda to come in, revealing Fluffy. Ivar aggressively switches Electrode-H in again risking large EQ damage but gets the Glare predict again before Volt Switching on the predicted GoodraH switch-in into Gapdos. From here it's just a continuous cycle of this interaction, Ivar accepting because Sandaconda can eventually be broken through chip with no reliable recovery. Eventually Osake accepts a Corviknight sacrifice as it's too low to be too useful and Inteleon comes in to revenge the Gapdos, looking very scary. Iron Treads is sacrificed meaning Ivar really has no switch-in and Electrode-H comes in to revenge. Osake gets the Volt Switch prediction to get a bit of HP back with Protect for Gapdos while Ivar does not care and continues VSwitching knowing Osake really isn't going to risk it that much given it's his only Gapdos check. Eventually getting the Gapdos in again on the GoodraH, Osake goes to his own Gapdos to take a CC before doubling in Inteleon on the Corviknight switch-in as Ivar wishes to keep it to pressure Goodra-H. Inteleon picks up a kill against Cresselia and Electrode-H comes in again and repeats the cycle to get Gapdos in again and Osake sacks their own Gapdos which is a bit odd but most likely it didn't do much given its speed and Inteleon already breaks through all of Ivar's wall anyway while preserving Sandaconda's HP and Ivar's own CC PP. runs low. This time Ivar decides to sacrifice Gapdos and win with Garchomp/Electrode-H which is enough. Ivar gets the VSwitch onto Goodra-H into Garchomp, Osake sacrificing Gambit. Sandaconda comes in and Ivar switches into Corv which gets Glared, allowing to slow pivot into Electrode-H. Electrode-H manages to predict the Sandaconda staying in and kills it with Chloroblast. At this point, Osake has basically lost as Goodra-H comes in and Ivar can simply sacrifice the Corviknight to GoodraH and win as Garchomp reveals to be Scarf.

Fun game to watch as both sides had fairly nuclear options that meant either side was pressured significantly. Osake did have a more nuclear button in Inteleon that Ivar didn't have any defensive answer to, but did have some offensive answers that did like MGLO ElectrodeH and a surprise ScarfChomp that ended up not mattering until the very end. Ivar's threat was large but not as I click you die compared to Osake's Inteleon. However, Ivar managed to play very well and keep up the pressure to rarely give the opportunity for Inteleon to safely switch in and wear down's Osake team. Fluffy Sandaconda was definitely interesting, if it was a more solid Fluffy answer then Ivar could've been really stuck and done nothing but what can you do. Lots of predicts that potentially could've swayed the game, like perhaps if Sandaconda managed to get some EQs on the switch on stay-in as well but shrug. Kingambit could've MAYBE saved the endgame after Gapdos was gone as well if it got an SD but I'm not too sure about that since Intim Corv was still mostly healthy (and you would've needed to sack something else + get an SD off maybe on Electrode-H?). Still, well played on both sides with good plays and predicts from both, Osake still managing to aggressively manuever Inteleon later towards the game but just a bit too late as Ivar had done enough damage and just sacked down and manoeuvred to a winning position (with some predicts). (Also nice showing of how good MGLO ElectrodeH can be even with a very hard wall)

atha vs MZ

Analysis

MZ hasn't been doing well lately, with 3 continuous losses and somewhat wacky teams, so we'll see if MZ can pull it back against atha a very strong player. From preview, MZ brings a somewhat offensive balanced team. Gapdos and Volcanion are threatening breakers while Lando/Regieleki also present a decent threat, with Garchomp not stopping the VSwitches given Refridgerate is obvious. Atha brings a more passive balanced team, with less nuclear threats but still potent threats like a potential offensive RMoon and Zama-C which could be threatening (Zama-C depends on Lando set and setting up safely) or even Heatran/Garchomp.

Moving into the game Atha leads off with Heatran with MZ leading with Regieleki. Regieleki takes the free VSwitch chip, pivoting into GoodraH with Heatran setting rocks. Heatran reveals Iron Defense and also Levitate as GoodraH clicks EQ. GoodraH is left significantly chunked by BPress but phasing Heatran out. GoodraH switches out to Corv on the ScreamTail with Atha also doubling Zapdos, threatening but GoodraH just walls it and manages to Regen its HP back up. Zapdos U-turns on it back into Heatran, with Lando coming and revealing the odd Well-Baked Body on the Lava Plume but nonetheless proving useful here as Heatran can't do much to it although Lando seemingly doesn't do much to it as well. Lando gets set up however is stuffed by the Scream Tail, revealing Encore while Corv comes in and removes rocks. Volcanion manages to come in with the slow Corv pivot on Heatran, threatening it with a powerful Steam Eruption however Atha reveals an odd Desolate Land Garchomp to wall it. Garchomp starts setting up hazards and chunks Corv with Flamethrower. Regieleki comes in and spins away hazards threatening Garchomp. Scream Tail comes in to wall Regieleki but Atha goes for a double into Garchomp and switches into a Refridgerate Tera Blast and dies. Bit of a confusing double, most likely trying to block VSwitch or predict the double into GoodraH but it simply opens up the Volc to be very scary. Heatran comes in to set rocks again but simply lets Volcanion in and Roaring Moon is chunked by Steam Eruption while also risking a burn. Meanwhile MZ uses this an opportunity to aggressively switch Gapdos in to break on a Crunch. Gapdos U-turns on the Scream Tail, also revealing Regen STail, into Corv allowing it to heal. TWave unfortunately misses but Atha still gets the Encore onto Corv to prevent Defog and waste Roost PP. Regieleki doubles into a Heatran double, forcing it out with VSwitch into WBB Lando, Volc not coming in because of SR with no MGuard I assume + BPress chip could be annoying given Roaring Moon can take one more Steam Eruption (or even might have roost). Atha goes for setting up IDef + BPress with Lando also setting up. However, Lando reveals Smack Down, which in an unfortunate coincidence cancels Levitate (but not Earth Eater), forcing it out. Zapdos comes in a predicted EQ from MZ and pivots out on GoodraH into Roaring Moon, doing decent chip to Corv and revealing Taunt for Defog/Roost attempts but instead catching U-turn chip, MZ aggressively pivoting into Gapdos. Gapdos then pivots into Volc which takes a Para in exchange for leaving Scream Tail severely low and forcing Atha to sack Zapdos. Roaring Moon comes in to threaten it out but Corv just comes in and pivots out to Volcanion. Volc unfortunately gets Para'd and MZ sacks it as the damage had already been done and rocks chip was taking its toll already. GZap comes in again and goes for the Brave Bird leaving STail low again before pivoting out to GoodraH and both doubling to Heatran vs Lando. Lando sets up rocks and a bit more shuffling occurs before Zama-C goes for a desperate sweep on GoodraH. Lando however gets it low enough and sacks Gapdos for Regieleki to finish but Volt Switch doesn't do enough and MZ is forced to sacrifice Corv unfortunately. Leading to a tense stare down between STail/GoodraH as neither wish to switch out and waste the last HP of their teammate. Eventually GoodraH breaks out of Encore and forces STail out with Heavy Slam, leading to more shuffling around until Lando is chipped down enough by BPress and Dazzling Gleam to die, however leaving STail at perilously low health with Atha losing to the Regieleki that cleans house.

Wait why is this so long wtf Close game with MZ managing to pull off the victory in the end, finally upending their losing streak with a nice win against a strong player. Lots of interesting things about this game, interesting sets with the baked Lando and DesoLand Chomper. The Garchomp sack wasn't fun and led to Volc being far more threatening given Roaring Moon has the nasty tendency to get chipped and risked Burns switching in, and the Volc managed to break and open up for the endgame. It is also a bit unfortunate that Atha used Levitate (thus losing to the Smack Down Lando and could've opened up ZamaC better) and also wasn't using Magma Storm which would've trapped the GoodraH at the start and open up Zapdos to be scary. Overall MZ managed to play well with his threats to accumulate chip and eventually break through with that close endgame and respectable showing from both (although might not have been as close if MZ wasn't forced to sack Corv due to clicking VSwitch not TBolt).

The Number Man vs tier

Analysis

TNM with the most impressive AAA resume this tour (and also arguably from the past) so far against tier who is still relatively unproven outside of an Ivar upset, so should be interesting. From preview tier brings an almost suspiciously generic team that almost seemed out of the pre-Home meta. ChompMothCorv + Kilowattrel... alongside additions with Volc as a potentially scary breaker (with no clear wall on TNMs team assuming mixed set) and Muk as a big fat special sponge assumingly (although this is interesting for what ability Chomp will be...?). TNM on the other hand brings a more unorthodox balanced team with Donphan and unknown Heatran. Will depend if Tier can bring in Volc to do big damage while TNM is mostly relying a somewhat scary Zama-C.

Starting off the game, TNM leads Kilowattrel into a Garchomp lead from tier, both doubling out into a Heatran vs Muk, implying EE Heatran. ZamaC comes in to absorb the Knock before aggressively pivoting to Donphan on Garchomp and immediately backing out Heatran. Heatran burns it, nullifying most of Garchomps threat while also revealing Power Gem trying to snipe Kilowattrel before switching into Donphan on Muk, getting a free spin off. A bunch of shuffling occurs and eventually Donphan is brought into Corviknight again, revealing it was tech'd to be slower and get a free Knock (which is confusing on tiers part risking their main breaker). Volcanion reveals Flare Blitz but is too weak to even 2HKO GoodraH now without LO. Nothing interesting happens for a while as a ton of shuffling goes on before Donphan breaks the stalemate, setting up rocks and then aggressively pivoting into Heatran to take advantage of Corv. Garchomp switching in as Kilowattrel is afraid of the potential Power Gem but then taking massive amounts of damage from Magma Storm, revealing Fluffy, getting trapped and killed with a final rocks and it actually appears Heatran just murders here if they're afraid Magma Storm Heatran can trap and break Muk even if not BPress (I haven't calced the interaction). More shuffling gets Volc in position again, spamming FBlitz into GoodraH and getting and unlucky crit, leaving GoodraH perilously low for Iron Moth while Volc also remains low, although Kilowattrel is still there if needed. After Scream Tail desperately clings on for dear life against the Volc, Muk comes in before Iron Moth comes in on an aggressive double and Scream Tail is forced to cling on for dear life again. Eventually Scream Tail dies to Para and Kilowattrel comes in to revenge, revealing non-boots and most likely Specs. Kilowattrel manages to Volt Switch on the Muk and get rocks off with Donphan but Kilowattrel aggressively comes in to pivot on the forced GoodraH and bring in Volcanion again. TNM sacks Heatran to Regen GoodraH's HP back up for Iron Moth and friends. Kilowattrel once again pivots on the Muk into Donphan, setting rocks and giving opportunity for ZamaC to setup and break the Corv although at least managing to Defog away rocks. Kilowattrel comes in on a predicted Fiery Dance and some more predicting and shuffling gets Volcanion to break again but its time is up and it just dies to TBolt by GoodraH with enough HP conserved for Moth. No EQ does make things a bit spicier but TNM manages to cling on with GoodraH while sacking down to get ZamaC in position to clean.

Overall somewhat clean game on TNMs side. Things definitely did get spicy after that FBlitz crit though and GoodraH was really hanging on there but TNM managed to play well, sack down and conserve HP, get predicts to break through and get Zama-C to clean up house. Tier did have a chance if they didn't get their LO Knocked Off to break earlier, but TNM could've still most likely outplayed with Zama-C + Kilowattrel as well. No EQ as well was a bit annoying on GoodraH to actually threaten Moth immediately but oh well while I assume Zama-C was max defense not attack otherwise the game could've been over a lot quicker. TNM continues their dominating reign while tier still remains largely unproven, although their plays and teams were still mostly fine just this AAA pool is stacked lol.

Ngl maybe I should make these shorter... they seem to be getting a bit too long on a nearly play-to-play basis. Also, OMFL AAA reviews soon™ (because KarpeSan told me it'd be cool or something)

+ AAA Predicts Week 5
totally didn't forget this and Osake reminded me....

Osake vs tier
tier hasn't been doing bad per se, however they haven't really been outstanding either. Their Ivar upset is the one thing they've got going for them and that was from as far I could tell mainly a prep and matchup thing. Osake is the safe bet here as they actually produce results and are known within the AAA community.

The Number Man vs Atha
Really the safe choice here is TNM just going off how they've gone in OMPL so far with a 4-0 record however I trust the crack Atha brings will pay off here and TNM's reign of tyranny over the AAA prediction slot will end.

shiloh vs Ivar57
Both are very good AAA players, although shiloh I still haven't seen as much of yet. Going with Ivar57 as they know and build in a modern context and build safe enough teams to handle career ended's heat, or maybe career ended will shake it up? Guess we'll see if the heat is enough to burn through Ivar's team and shiloh can pilot and outplay.

 

[Osake]

PREDICTS

Photon Geezers (Tea Guzzler and ponchlake) - [2][6] - W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): Clarex vs tyo - idk it's 2v2
SV Almost Any Ability: MZ vs hariyana grande - hm I know MZ won (and I bolded him) but I wasn't super convinced by both players, hariyana's teams were a bit annoying so far but I think it'll work fine vs MZ
SV Anything Goes: Bread Sandwich vs Taka - idk it's AG
SV Balanced Hackmons: augustakira vs cityscapes - akira speaks fluent french and bc of that they're now part of the worst country of the world therefore they will be unable to win a tour game by the end of this tournament (sorry that's the rule when you become honorary french)
SV Godly Gift: ponchlake vs Sylvi - ponchlake has been super good so far, Sylvi didn't impress me
SV Mix and Mega: db vs xavgb - same. stresh is just too good
SV NFE: Tuthur vs Stareal - Tuthur impressed me tbh
SV STABmons: LBDC vs pannu - pannu sucks but LBDC doesn't seem to fit well in this meta

Dubwool Entendres (Redflix and Quantum Tesseract) - [4][4] - Fluttermania (KarpeSan and adem)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): DripLegend vs bored_glitch - cooler name
SV Almost Any Ability: The Number Man vs Atha - Atha made everyone think he's washed, but he only kept his strength for this game and will humiliate TNM with a solid 4-0 (told u i could see the future)
SV Anything Goes: Frito vs Fogbound Lake - I know it wasn't a bad play but that Encore Tera Normal play was so funny that I can't bold u, srry not srry
SV Balanced Hackmons: XxLazzerpenguinxX vs Leru - Sevag choked last week, therefore he won't choke for the rest of the tour
SV Godly Gift: Lily vs Jrdn - Would've been a fire game but idk what's happening with Jrdn :c can't bold him there but I would be really happy if he wins
SV Mix and Mega: Quantum Tesseract vs kDCA - just better play
SV NFE: King Leo V vs fade - supporting Leo with my heart but I feel like fade has been better so far
SV STABmons: Kaif vs Clementine - pretty fire MU, but I think Clem is too crazy for Kaif

The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [3][5] - Gods as Ghold (Maybca☆〜ゝ。∂ and Eledyr)
SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5): yuki vs Chris32156 - Chris is in 1-3 and this is gonna change
SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh vs Ivar57 - really cool and tough match-up, bolding shiloh but that's really close
SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs TaxFraud - Lasen won one game and that's already too much
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs Chessking345 - ik Chessking is in 4-0 but idk I haven't been super impressed by his games (but that maybe cuz he's building is good and he doesn't need it), so I'm bolding quojova as he managed to defeat cityscapes
SV Godly Gift: blinkboy vs fraise - Fraise deserves better (ur experience of Camo player should've let u know that CM was a dangerous move tho..)
SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended vs damflame 3 - Career is really good tbh
SV NFE: Shaneghoul vs Pandadoux - Panda is better
SV STABmons: Fissure vs abriel - i haven't been impressed by both players but abriel seems to be more solid

+ LordBox you're reviews are really good keep that length :3

good luck everyone and go wigglies stop making ties newbie.

 

[adem]

Frozoid > leru Redflix KaenSoul

 

[ojr]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nfe-698381 won vs my bro clean gg

 

[LBDC]

won gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9stabmons-698546

 

[Dragonillis]

Schedule week 5 vs SSSSS (Fc and Guard) : (GMT=0) :

SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5) : Despacito87 vs Fragments : Sunday 7 PM
SV Almost Any Ability : Osake vs tier : Saturday 2 PM
SV Anything Goes : polt vs Guard : Sunday 7 PM
SV Balanced Hackmons : Onyx Onix 7 vs pdt : Sunday 7 PM
SV Godly Gift : Meta vs Dr. PhD. Bj : Thurday 11:15 PM
SV Mix and Mega : Clas vs Icemaster : Sunday 2 PM
SV NFE : ojr vs clean : Wednesday 3 PM
SV STABmons : RoFnA vs Fc : Sunday 6 PM

Let's go Wiggly !

 

[Career Ended]

won gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9mixandmega-698558

 

[Meta]

won gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9godlygift-698566

 

[Clementine]

won gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9stabmons-698663

que des bangers dans le disque dur

 

[Taka]

won gg

 

[Fraise]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9godlygift-1890611715-qhnkmcuag6cyf2iebgx929qo146y5oypw won gg

 

[Chris32156]

Won in 5 vs Yuki Ggs fun ass set, s/o covid brain for the g4 team idea
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1890656322
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1890658244
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1890660084
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1890661705
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1890664250

 

[Fissure]

won gg https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9stabmons-1890825135

 

[Osake]

won with a bit of luck, gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9almostanyability-698792

 

[glitched]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1891244835
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1891247992
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1891252203
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1891254801
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen92v2doubles-1891257636

ggs, mb for crit apparently mattered