Overall
Viridian Victreebel (2, 5, 12) SaDiSTiCNarwhal, Vileman, ziloXX
Fuchsia Pholktales (3, 7, 10) shiloh, emma, Prof_J
Ding Dang Dewgongs (1, 11, 13) chuva de perereca, Quarante8, Melbelle
Frozen Articunos (4, 9, 14) Koalacance, Frrf, BlazingDark
Nugget Bridge Bandits (6, 8, 15) Torchic, eden, RealJester
1. chuva de perereca
does not need an explanation. massacred SPL, Cup, ladder, anything he touches. best RBYOU on the planet rn by a distance
2. SaDiSTiCNarwhal
narwhal has surprised me this year, he'd always hovered at that "decent but not top level" area but he's been grinding and getting some impressive runs this time around. he looks mature and just all around better. i expect he'll be ready for a good invitational run and spl.
3. shiloh
seems like his activity issues have cleared up a little and he has at least some interest in grinding rby given that he asked me for friendlies the other day lol. and he cooked me. good player
4. Koalacance
was thrown into an spl before he was fully ready i think, the raw talent is there but he has to clean up some stuff to reach the top. would not be surprised if on any given month this guy just grinds his ass off and catapults himself to top tier, but for now he's a touch below
5. Vileman
did you know my first team tournament on smogon was a RoAPL where me and vileman started in the two rby slots of our team? now you know. anyways vileman looked angry and hungry after his unfortunate invitational playins elimination, could really be a top player but afaik he never took the game too seriously and so he finds himself here. this is a man who could drown in trophies if he was first willing to drown in sweat but alas he has other priorities in life (good for him)
6. Torchic
torchic... when i watch torchic i see a player who does nearly everything right and then inexplicably misses ideas or lines of play that he really shouldn't miss. sometimes the rest of his gameplay is good enough to carry, other times not. but he's really good when he, uh, doesn't do that. idk. have a hard time rating him but this feels right
7. emma
emma is high key underrated as a player i think. her prep is clean as fuck and her piloting has been improving with time. still lacks some familiarity/understanding i would say, but if she finds a matchup she's comfortable with and she has a plan for, which is often the case, she's a legit threat
8. eden
eden knows how to play mons
9. Frrf
late 2021 i had high hopes for frrf, looked poised to make spl in a year or two, but her development stalled a lot and i would even say she regressed unfortunately. looks to be a very moody player who just hasn't been enjoying her time with the game too much, and i'm kind of the same so i speak from experience lol. i think she might be at the start of another upswing but i'll have to see consistent results and play from her again before i rank her highly
10. Prof_J
i've talked to prof_j sporadically here and there ever since playing them in a random ass Indigo Plateau tour (dw if you don't know what that is) and being quite impressed; turns out they have a life and can't grind mons much and some of that has been holding them back, but they told me that had sort of cleared up and they can focus a bit more, so hopefully this will be Prof_J's first proper showing in a proper tournament. I know there is quality in this player and I hope with emma support it can fully come out.
11. Quarante8
i am a HUGE 48 enthusiast i love this guy. but. seemed out of form in invitational playins and his signup post even said he had questionable availability/effort. so idk. i keep rooting for 48 but i dont foresee huge results here.
12. ziloXX
zilo once showed near-spl level performances in RBY, with a few deep runs in individuals and generally high quality play, but it turned out to be a bit of a flash in the pan as they've been very inconsistent in the tier since. they've got quality to turn it around and showed it before, but it's just not come out in a while so idk. can't rank high.
13. Melbelle
i'll be honest i've seen mel post about 300x as much as i've seen her play. but she seemed alright when i did see her play and she has serpi+chuva support to hopefully give her the confidence required to perform. kind of excited to see her ngl, she clearly cares a lot so i think there's potential for a good player here
14. BlazingDark
good player, not an rbyer
15. RealJester
good player, not an rbyer
