RealJester
RoAPL Champion
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Tournaments RBY Rising Stars - Signups & Information
- Thread starter Amaranth
- Start date
- Status
ToasterBoi420
Banned deucer.
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Obligatory disclaimer: Results were sorted based on results from (SPL, RBYPL, RBYWC, RoAPL, 2020-2023 Circuits, all four Invitationals), but as I had no objective way of weighing everything as one, I had to make a healthy amount of judgement calls. If you don't like it or you disagree with my conclusions, uh, tough luck. If you were just outside the top 24, also tough luck. Next year I'll have open qualifiers I promise.
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'Too Good' tier: Kaz, Gefährlicher Random
Come on guys. Of course this tournament was not for you. Automatic SPL buys, and not even cheap ones.
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Note: Green on fire was excluded from the tournament due to excessively poor behavior within the community.
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Congratulations to everyone who made it, commiserations to everyone who missed out - I have at least 3 or 4 people I'm really sad to be cutting out.
Lower Swiss will be up momentarily. As a reminder, Seeds 9-16 will play through Lower Swiss.
Obligatory disclaimer: Results were sorted based on results from (SPL, RBYPL, RBYWC, RoAPL, 2020-2023 Circuits, all four Invitationals), but as I had no objective way of weighing everything as one, I had to make a healthy amount of judgement calls. If you don't like it or you disagree with my conclusions, uh, tough luck. If you were just outside the top 24, also tough luck. Next year I'll have open qualifiers I promise.
---
'Too Good' tier: Kaz, Gefährlicher Random
Come on guys. Of course this tournament was not for you. Automatic SPL buys, and not even cheap ones.
---
1. SaDiSTiCNarwhal
Narwhal was rank #7 in my personal pre-SPL XIV rankings, and opinions of him were universally high ahead of the tournament within the RBY community. Somehow, he went completely undrafted.
He is here to prove once more, after another nice top 8 Invitational finish this year, that he is a cut above the other SPL contenders. Hopefully he delivers, and hopefully the managers are watching this time around.
2. Sceptross
Sceptross tends not to play much on Smogon, however his two top 4 RBY Invitational finishes (2021 and 2023) are sure to draw the eye. With a lifetime 3-8 SPL record and ghosts of Omastar still looming, Sceptross looks as ready as ever for a redemption tour. 2024 could be the year where Sceptross finally translates a history of RBY Invitational successes to Smogon.
3. Kenix
Known for his GSC prowess, Kenix seems fully intended on maining RBY for the foreseeable future, and is doing so in style, putting up a crushing 8-0 in RoAPL as well as a nice and casual top 4 finish in this year's Global Championship. Though his history in the tier may not be as deep as the others here, he is certainly no newbie, having made Circuit top 16s in 2020 and 2021 as well. Now that RBY is his primary focus, Kenix has to be a serious consideration for any SPL manager, given his affinity for winning.
4. emma
The only player in this list with a positive SPL record (2-0), emma has already been picked up for her notorious prep support abilities before, and has earned herself a couple of wins off the bench while at it. However, 2023 emma has shown newfound willingness to prove herself on the field, with consistently good placements in Circuit tournaments, eclipsing her results from past years. emma the prepper is a known quantity - now she is here to prove her strength as a player.
5. Ice Yazu
One of the freshest and most promising products of the RBY Randbats to OU pipeline, the Frenchman is sitting very pretty in this year's Circuit standings, thanks to a second place in Winter Seasonal followed by a top four in Global Championship. Though he has shown some temper and consistency issues, his ceiling is undeniably up there, and if he can be tamed, he definitely can bring a lot of quality and wins to an SPL team.
6. Ctown6
Without question one of the best RBY Ubers players around, Ctown has transitioned to OU and achieved some very decent results, between a 4th place finish in the 2022 Circuit season, a top 12 finish in the 2023 Invitational, and multiple solid teamtour showings. If his Mewtwo mastery continues to translate to OU play, he could soon rise to be considered one of the biggest names in RBY.
7. chub
Like Yazu, another product of the Randbats pipeline. chub has shown an incredible propension to pick up new tiers extremely quickly, establishing himself as one of the top NU threats in RBYPL 2022, and then casually rolling up to an RBY Cup final this year, alongside other solid circuit results. One of the newest faces to seriously break out in RBY, this tournament could be a chance for him to seriously cement himself above the rest.
8. Melbelle
Melbelle has had a glow up in 2023, polishing her performances to impressive results, including reaching Majors final and Cup semifinal. While her rise may have been less meteoric than chub's, and she was in fact beaten by him in said Cup semifinal, 2023 could really be the start of something greater for Melbelle. This tournament could be an opportunity to continue the hot streak.
Narwhal was rank #7 in my personal pre-SPL XIV rankings, and opinions of him were universally high ahead of the tournament within the RBY community. Somehow, he went completely undrafted.
He is here to prove once more, after another nice top 8 Invitational finish this year, that he is a cut above the other SPL contenders. Hopefully he delivers, and hopefully the managers are watching this time around.
2. Sceptross
Sceptross tends not to play much on Smogon, however his two top 4 RBY Invitational finishes (2021 and 2023) are sure to draw the eye. With a lifetime 3-8 SPL record and ghosts of Omastar still looming, Sceptross looks as ready as ever for a redemption tour. 2024 could be the year where Sceptross finally translates a history of RBY Invitational successes to Smogon.
3. Kenix
Known for his GSC prowess, Kenix seems fully intended on maining RBY for the foreseeable future, and is doing so in style, putting up a crushing 8-0 in RoAPL as well as a nice and casual top 4 finish in this year's Global Championship. Though his history in the tier may not be as deep as the others here, he is certainly no newbie, having made Circuit top 16s in 2020 and 2021 as well. Now that RBY is his primary focus, Kenix has to be a serious consideration for any SPL manager, given his affinity for winning.
4. emma
The only player in this list with a positive SPL record (2-0), emma has already been picked up for her notorious prep support abilities before, and has earned herself a couple of wins off the bench while at it. However, 2023 emma has shown newfound willingness to prove herself on the field, with consistently good placements in Circuit tournaments, eclipsing her results from past years. emma the prepper is a known quantity - now she is here to prove her strength as a player.
5. Ice Yazu
One of the freshest and most promising products of the RBY Randbats to OU pipeline, the Frenchman is sitting very pretty in this year's Circuit standings, thanks to a second place in Winter Seasonal followed by a top four in Global Championship. Though he has shown some temper and consistency issues, his ceiling is undeniably up there, and if he can be tamed, he definitely can bring a lot of quality and wins to an SPL team.
6. Ctown6
Without question one of the best RBY Ubers players around, Ctown has transitioned to OU and achieved some very decent results, between a 4th place finish in the 2022 Circuit season, a top 12 finish in the 2023 Invitational, and multiple solid teamtour showings. If his Mewtwo mastery continues to translate to OU play, he could soon rise to be considered one of the biggest names in RBY.
7. chub
Like Yazu, another product of the Randbats pipeline. chub has shown an incredible propension to pick up new tiers extremely quickly, establishing himself as one of the top NU threats in RBYPL 2022, and then casually rolling up to an RBY Cup final this year, alongside other solid circuit results. One of the newest faces to seriously break out in RBY, this tournament could be a chance for him to seriously cement himself above the rest.
8. Melbelle
Melbelle has had a glow up in 2023, polishing her performances to impressive results, including reaching Majors final and Cup semifinal. While her rise may have been less meteoric than chub's, and she was in fact beaten by him in said Cup semifinal, 2023 could really be the start of something greater for Melbelle. This tournament could be an opportunity to continue the hot streak.
9. Unowndragon
Unowndragon has for a while now shown great instincts and good results, across not just RBY OU but really any RBY tier he puts his mind to. He has never managed to convert this consistency into that single brilliant result, though, failing to make it past Invitational play-ins three years in a row, and never managing too deep of a run into any individual. If Unowndragon can shake off a few bad habits and level up his metagame understanding just a touch more in time for SPL, he may well be a competent sleeper pick.
10. nicole7735
nicole7735 has been one of the fastest learners I have ever witnessed in RBY, going from complete newbie to NU superstar to threatening OU player impressively quickly. However, her 2023 has been streaky, as her nice successful Invitational play-ins run that qualified her to top32 was immediately cut short by two main event losses, and the recent RoAPL results haven't been so kind to her either. While her potential is clear to see to everybody, it may not yet be her time... unless she proves here and now that it is.
11. Torchic
Though the Chinese veteran has shown remarkable highs in RBY, including a clean 6-1 in RoAPL 2022, this has been a bit of a dry year for him, with relatively early exits from circuit tournaments as well as Invitational. He will no doubt add value to any SPL team that picks him up, between his positive attitude and his familiarity with multiple oldgens, but he will likely need to reverse his 2023 fortunes here if he wants to see the SPL field in first person by 2024.
12. Gastlies
Gastlies is well on track for two consecutive top 16 circuit finishes; while they have yet to have a proper breakout tournament, the consistency across two full years has been remarkable (only Narwhal and possibly Ctown6 of all other signups have managed this feat). Only time will tell if the breakout is imminent, or if it will be one more tournament of respectable but modest performances.
13. oakdeon
oakdeon managed a legendary loser's bracket run in this year's Winter Seasonal, losing in Round 1 to then go on a warpath all the way through to Round 15, where he was finally stopped by Ice Yazu and finished 3rd place. Along the way, he claimed wins over solid names such as Hipmonlee, Ctown6, chub, Genesis7, and many others. The French player demonstrated fantastic skill and endurance - while he failed to reproduce results on that level throughout the rest of the year, that run stands tall amongst the achievements of players ranked close to him, and I am eager to see if he can regain that seemingly untouchable form.
14. Mister Tim
Somewhere in there there's a player who got top 6 at Invitational 2021. For one reason or another, that player has never really showed up consistently on Smogon, or at subsequent Invitationals for that matter. However, Mister Tim is a name that still commands respect - from the relentless freeze spam of the old days, to his modern Taurosless ventures, he'll always have a nasty surprise to punish you if you get complacent, and on his day he can truly take on anyone.
15. Sabelette
Sabelette followed a trajectory very similar to nicole7735, exploding on the NU scene and transitioning that to decent OU results. However, as of now, she has fallen a bit short of nicole's peaks - where nicole made it through Invitational play-ins, Sabelette stopped in round 3. Where nicole managed a strong Summer Seasonal run this year, Sabelette managed... nothing to write home about. While they don't seem to be too far apart in skill, it is hard not to acknowledge the sheer results gap in 2023, justifying Sabelette's lower ranking. Nevertheless, she shares similar potential, and this may just be the right time for it to come out.
16. Quarante8
48 has been on the list of "very promising, nearly there" players for a couple years now. Unfortunately, he is still there. He returned to his BW roots this RoAPL - maybe the change of scenery will allow him to return to RBY energized and ready for the next step. 48 passes the eye test, but has never been able to string enough consistent performances together - will this tournament finally be his time?
Unowndragon has for a while now shown great instincts and good results, across not just RBY OU but really any RBY tier he puts his mind to. He has never managed to convert this consistency into that single brilliant result, though, failing to make it past Invitational play-ins three years in a row, and never managing too deep of a run into any individual. If Unowndragon can shake off a few bad habits and level up his metagame understanding just a touch more in time for SPL, he may well be a competent sleeper pick.
10. nicole7735
nicole7735 has been one of the fastest learners I have ever witnessed in RBY, going from complete newbie to NU superstar to threatening OU player impressively quickly. However, her 2023 has been streaky, as her nice successful Invitational play-ins run that qualified her to top32 was immediately cut short by two main event losses, and the recent RoAPL results haven't been so kind to her either. While her potential is clear to see to everybody, it may not yet be her time... unless she proves here and now that it is.
11. Torchic
Though the Chinese veteran has shown remarkable highs in RBY, including a clean 6-1 in RoAPL 2022, this has been a bit of a dry year for him, with relatively early exits from circuit tournaments as well as Invitational. He will no doubt add value to any SPL team that picks him up, between his positive attitude and his familiarity with multiple oldgens, but he will likely need to reverse his 2023 fortunes here if he wants to see the SPL field in first person by 2024.
12. Gastlies
Gastlies is well on track for two consecutive top 16 circuit finishes; while they have yet to have a proper breakout tournament, the consistency across two full years has been remarkable (only Narwhal and possibly Ctown6 of all other signups have managed this feat). Only time will tell if the breakout is imminent, or if it will be one more tournament of respectable but modest performances.
13. oakdeon
oakdeon managed a legendary loser's bracket run in this year's Winter Seasonal, losing in Round 1 to then go on a warpath all the way through to Round 15, where he was finally stopped by Ice Yazu and finished 3rd place. Along the way, he claimed wins over solid names such as Hipmonlee, Ctown6, chub, Genesis7, and many others. The French player demonstrated fantastic skill and endurance - while he failed to reproduce results on that level throughout the rest of the year, that run stands tall amongst the achievements of players ranked close to him, and I am eager to see if he can regain that seemingly untouchable form.
14. Mister Tim
Somewhere in there there's a player who got top 6 at Invitational 2021. For one reason or another, that player has never really showed up consistently on Smogon, or at subsequent Invitationals for that matter. However, Mister Tim is a name that still commands respect - from the relentless freeze spam of the old days, to his modern Taurosless ventures, he'll always have a nasty surprise to punish you if you get complacent, and on his day he can truly take on anyone.
15. Sabelette
Sabelette followed a trajectory very similar to nicole7735, exploding on the NU scene and transitioning that to decent OU results. However, as of now, she has fallen a bit short of nicole's peaks - where nicole made it through Invitational play-ins, Sabelette stopped in round 3. Where nicole managed a strong Summer Seasonal run this year, Sabelette managed... nothing to write home about. While they don't seem to be too far apart in skill, it is hard not to acknowledge the sheer results gap in 2023, justifying Sabelette's lower ranking. Nevertheless, she shares similar potential, and this may just be the right time for it to come out.
16. Quarante8
48 has been on the list of "very promising, nearly there" players for a couple years now. Unfortunately, he is still there. He returned to his BW roots this RoAPL - maybe the change of scenery will allow him to return to RBY energized and ready for the next step. 48 passes the eye test, but has never been able to string enough consistent performances together - will this tournament finally be his time?
17. kjdaas
A long-time fixture of RBY tournaments, kjdaas hasn't played much in 2023, but her level doesn't appear to have gone down much, judging by her few appearances. Unfortunately for kjdaas, it might need to go up quite a bit if she wants to make a serious claim to an SPL spot. Nevertheless she shouldn't be underestimated, especially in the lower swiss stage which will definitely be at a level she can take on.
18. Tarvold
Tarvold has broken out on the scene this year, earning himself a few good wins and a very likely Circuit top 16 finish. The catch: he's doing it largely by spamming Growl Chansey and replacing Tauros with Slowbro. Will the other Rising Stars successfully adapt and counter his style? Or will Tarvold himself switch things up, and how will he fare if so?
19. NotVeryCake
Cake finds themselves here off of a decent circuit performance, including a top 12 Global Championship, with wins over SaDiSTiCNarwhal (admittedly fortunate), Frrf, Gastlies, and others along the way. Though far from established at this moment in time, they are doing well on their first year of competition, and if the upward trajectory continues, they may well improve enough to leave a mark on this tournament.
20. Acetylaldehyde
Another fresh player who really only started competing on Smogon in 2023, he quickly earned himself a spot on US Northeast's bench in RBYWC, and later a spot in Invitational play-ins, where he took down robjr and ziloXX before falling to eventual 3rd place finisher Laroxyl. While his Circuit appearances weren't spectacular, his potential is evident to see, and if he manages to commit more time to RBY his rise may well continue.
21. Abyssal Ruins
A jack of all trades, master of none, Abyssal Ruins seldom plays RBY on Smogon, but when he has done that he's been quite good, sporting a 6-3 record in the tier across two RoAPLs in 2021 and 2022, a decent 2022 RBY Circuit run, and many solid performances across both offsite PLs and other tiers. If given a reason to focus on RBY for a bit, Abyssal Ruins may well be able to level up and change that "master of none" thing.
22. royzin
Another product of the Randbats-to-OU pipeline, royzin has picked up not just OU but also some lowtiers with good proficiency. They have good instincts and fundamental understanding of RBY dynamics, and with a bit more specialization into OU in particular, royzin may well follow in the footsteps of many other Randbats mains who have gone on to achieve great things. For the time being, their results have been alright, but their understanding of deep OU-specific interactions is not quite there yet.
23. MrSoup
MrSoup has picked up RBY and, in an extremely short time period, polished his abilities all the way to a Grand Slam victory. His performances in OU tournaments weren't half bad, with a lot of wins in the early rounds of this year's Global Championship against respectable opponents, before having his run cut short by dreadful luck. While his OU results are not (yet) spectacular, his Grand Slam performances give plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
24. BeeOrSomething
BeeOrSomething stormed into relevance last minute just in time for this tournament, beating Genesis7 in three separate tournament bo3s in two weeks, and capping it off with a (lucky) 2-0 over Sceptross just this week. While Bee is extremely fresh to RBY OU, they have already shown the sharpness required to claim big wins, and may well continue unexpectedly taking names, especially if they manage to clean up their decision making on the 'boring' turns.
A long-time fixture of RBY tournaments, kjdaas hasn't played much in 2023, but her level doesn't appear to have gone down much, judging by her few appearances. Unfortunately for kjdaas, it might need to go up quite a bit if she wants to make a serious claim to an SPL spot. Nevertheless she shouldn't be underestimated, especially in the lower swiss stage which will definitely be at a level she can take on.
18. Tarvold
Tarvold has broken out on the scene this year, earning himself a few good wins and a very likely Circuit top 16 finish. The catch: he's doing it largely by spamming Growl Chansey and replacing Tauros with Slowbro. Will the other Rising Stars successfully adapt and counter his style? Or will Tarvold himself switch things up, and how will he fare if so?
19. NotVeryCake
Cake finds themselves here off of a decent circuit performance, including a top 12 Global Championship, with wins over SaDiSTiCNarwhal (admittedly fortunate), Frrf, Gastlies, and others along the way. Though far from established at this moment in time, they are doing well on their first year of competition, and if the upward trajectory continues, they may well improve enough to leave a mark on this tournament.
20. Acetylaldehyde
Another fresh player who really only started competing on Smogon in 2023, he quickly earned himself a spot on US Northeast's bench in RBYWC, and later a spot in Invitational play-ins, where he took down robjr and ziloXX before falling to eventual 3rd place finisher Laroxyl. While his Circuit appearances weren't spectacular, his potential is evident to see, and if he manages to commit more time to RBY his rise may well continue.
21. Abyssal Ruins
A jack of all trades, master of none, Abyssal Ruins seldom plays RBY on Smogon, but when he has done that he's been quite good, sporting a 6-3 record in the tier across two RoAPLs in 2021 and 2022, a decent 2022 RBY Circuit run, and many solid performances across both offsite PLs and other tiers. If given a reason to focus on RBY for a bit, Abyssal Ruins may well be able to level up and change that "master of none" thing.
22. royzin
Another product of the Randbats-to-OU pipeline, royzin has picked up not just OU but also some lowtiers with good proficiency. They have good instincts and fundamental understanding of RBY dynamics, and with a bit more specialization into OU in particular, royzin may well follow in the footsteps of many other Randbats mains who have gone on to achieve great things. For the time being, their results have been alright, but their understanding of deep OU-specific interactions is not quite there yet.
23. MrSoup
MrSoup has picked up RBY and, in an extremely short time period, polished his abilities all the way to a Grand Slam victory. His performances in OU tournaments weren't half bad, with a lot of wins in the early rounds of this year's Global Championship against respectable opponents, before having his run cut short by dreadful luck. While his OU results are not (yet) spectacular, his Grand Slam performances give plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
24. BeeOrSomething
BeeOrSomething stormed into relevance last minute just in time for this tournament, beating Genesis7 in three separate tournament bo3s in two weeks, and capping it off with a (lucky) 2-0 over Sceptross just this week. While Bee is extremely fresh to RBY OU, they have already shown the sharpness required to claim big wins, and may well continue unexpectedly taking names, especially if they manage to clean up their decision making on the 'boring' turns.
Note: Green on fire was excluded from the tournament due to excessively poor behavior within the community.
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Congratulations to everyone who made it, commiserations to everyone who missed out - I have at least 3 or 4 people I'm really sad to be cutting out.
Lower Swiss will be up momentarily. As a reminder, Seeds 9-16 will play through Lower Swiss.
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