Smogon Snake Draft II - Stage 2, Week 1

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Welcome to the second edition of the Smogon Snake Draft. This year's tournament has 3 stages: a group stage, a round robin with the remaining teams, and a final. The tiers will be 4 OU / 1 Ubers / 1 UU / 1 RU / 1 NU / 1 DOU / 1 LC.

The group stage will consist of the 10 teams getting separated into two groups of 5. In each of those groups, every team will play every other team in two phases that last two weeks apiece. However, teams will not just be facing 2 other teams at the same time; depending on the slot, they may face different teams. UU A may face UU B and UU C, for example, whereas NU A faces NU D and NU E during the same phase. In this stage, the total amount of wins matters, and the 3 teams with the most wins per group will advance.

The 6 remaining teams will face off in "weeks" as we know them from SPL for the second stage. Here, rather than total wins, winning weeks against other teams to accumulate points will matter. Winning a week is worth 2 points, drawing it is worth 1 point, and losing it will yield no points. At the end of this stage, the top seeded team will go straight to finals, while the top 2 and top 3 will face off to earn a spot in finals.

While this format may seem odd, it does provide a couple of advantages. First, the tournament will last 10 weeks, potentially slightly longer if tiebreaks are involved. This will mean there is ample time to cool down before SPL. Secondly, 4 teams will be eliminated relatively early on, and the TD team hopes this will cause the second phase to be more competitive as there will be less teams with little incentive to keep trying. We hope you enjoy the second edition of the Smogon Snake Draft.

Standard Tournament Rules and Procedures:
On... Sportsmanship

Note the sportsmanship infraction may be used liberally, and any unsportsmanlike conduct on the forums, in #wcop / #pokemon / any of the semiofficial tier channels, or in opposing wcop team channels (I won't infract for you being a dick in your own wcop team channel unless the situation is so extreme I feel I absolutely have to make an exception (consider basically any masterclass interaction ever)), will be grounds for an infraction. We encourage you to play semi-aggressively, but don't be a masterclass.

~ Aldaron

On... Scheduling Matches

I'm sure plenty of you have come across coin flipping / who to activity drama while scheduling matches. I'm here to reduce the arbitrary element associated with some of these decisions. It is entirely your decision to adhere to these STRONG RECOMMENDATIONS, but note that if you choose not to, I'll most likely ignore any pleading from your end and default you to a coin flip, regardless of what you claim is your Discord or forum activity. By signing up for this tournament, you are agreeing to this condition, that adhering to what I outline will protect you from coinflips / activity and that not adhering to it will subject you to coinflips / activity regardless of your proposed justification.
YOU MUST ACTIVATE YOUR VM WALL IF YOU WISH TO PLAY IN THIS TOURNAMENT. THIS IS HOW ALL OFFICIAL SCHEDULING WILL BE HANDLED.

Once that round's thread is posted, you have up to 48 hours to contact your opponent ON HIS VM WALL and mention your timezone and exactly what dates, what time ranges you are available, and where you will battle. Note that the default accepted sim and server is the official server on Showdown. You must provide at least 3 different time ranges at least 48 hours from the timestamp of your message, with at least 2 that are 24-hours apart from each other. The minimum and maximum length for 1 time range is 30 minutes, and the minimum difference between the 3 required time ranges is 3 hours. If you give 3 time ranges that stick with this policy, you can give any additional time ranges at any time you please.

NOTE THAT THIS SCENARIO INVOLVES RESPONSE DYNAMICS; THERE IS SOMEONE WHO WILL CONTACT FIRST AND SOMEONE WHO RESPOND...THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE NOT FOR BOTH OF YOU TO ASSUME TO YOU CAN BE FIRST CONTACTS...WHOEVER CONTACTS FIRST IS THE FIRST, AND THE OTHER DEFAULTS TO THE RESPONDER. THIS SHOULD BE OBVIOUS BUT SOME OF YOU ARE DUMB.

Once your opponent has contacted you, you now have up until 72 hours after the round's thread has been posted (NOT after your opponent's message) to respond with times that are good for you. What this means is that if both of you spend the maximum time contacting and responding, you should have back and forth collaboration at a maximum of 72 hours after the round has been posted, with both parties given an additional 24 hours to prepare for the battle should it be scheduled as soon as required. If none of the opponent's proposed time ranges are good for you, you must respond with alternative time ranges.

The first opponent now has X hours to prepare for the battle (if the second opponent agreed to some time) or 24 hours to contact a TD if, for whatever reason, this second set of time ranges does not suit the first opponent. Note this should be an absolute last measure and that more often than not, the TDs will likely force one (or both) sides to sub out.

Once a time is agreed upon, please make a message on your opponent's vm wall between 10 minutes and 1 second before the agreed upon time and say you are ready to battle and then get to agreed upon location (regardless of whether or not your opponent sends you a response vm). Please protect yourself by making this message, as it makes decisions much easier. You will be required to be wait for your opponent for the duration of the time range.

If neither of you contact each other before 48 hours after the thread has been posted, you're both opening yourself up to a potential coin flip. If I look at the situation, I might just determine I'm going to sub both of you out, coin flip you, or whatever based on however I'm feeling at that moment. Don't leave yourself and your team vulnerable to this.

Just because at anytime one of the responders does not respond within the given range does not give you automatic activity win credentials. If they don't contact at all on your vm wall up until 48 hours before the end of the round (note, I'm not going to take Discord or sim messages as evidence due to how easily they can be doctored...so if you want to protect yourself, stick to the vm messages), then you obviously have activity win justification. Note to team captains, if one of your players does not contact all his opponents before 48 hours before the end of the round, I will FORCE a sub, no questions asked. You WILL contact your opponent in a timely manner. However, if they do contact you at all after the suggested response time and before 48 hours before the end of the round, you are required to respond before 24 hours before the end of the round with 2 1-hour time ranges at least 1 hour apart before the end of the round. The opponent, since he did not stick to the proposed response schedule, WILL BE REQUIRED TO PLAY AT ONE OF YOUR NEWLY SUGGESTED TIMES, so you have the advantage here. This obviously puts a bit of an emphasis on the last 48 hours of each round (as is standard operating procedure for most of our official team tournaments anyway), so I will try my best to keep the last 48 hours of the round as close to the majority of the weekend for as much of the world as I can.

If you follow all of these guidelines, you will a.) most likely get your match done with minimal issue or b.) protect yourself and your team from an undue coin flip or activity decision. Yes, I hate activity decisions in official tournaments. Yes, I will do my best to prevent activity decisions in the playoffs (the qualifying round is fair game however and I will have no problem issuing an activity call here), but don't push your luck.

Here is an example of how following this would work:

Round 1 thread is posted June 7, 2015 at 10:00PM. Its deadline is June 14, 2015 at 11:59PM. User A and User B are matched up. User A contacts User B on his vm wall on June 9, at 9:00 PM (47 hours after the thread was posted, so ok), and gives 4 time ranges: June 10, from 7:00-7:30 PM (22 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is only ok so long as at minimum 3 of the other proposed time ranges adhere to the requirements), June 11, from 9:00-9:30 PM (48 hours after the timestamp of his message, which is ok), June 12, from 6:00-6:30 PM (69 hours after timestamp of his message, so ok, but only 21 hours after the earliest time range that is 48 hours after the timestamp), and June 12, from 9:00-9:30 PM (72 hours after the timestamp, so ok, and 24 hours after a legal time range and 3 hours after another legal time range). The June 11 and both June 12 time ranges satisfy the requirements, so User A can propose his first June 10 time range as well. User B responds on June 10, at 8:00 PM (23 hours after User A contacted him, so ok), and picks June 11, at 9:00 PM to battle, which is ok because it is 24 hours after his own response.

You'll note I made most of my response ranges multiples of 24 hours, but also included 24 hours. This means I expect you to be able to check Smogon at least once a day. If that is not feasible, you put yourself at risk.

~ Aldaron

On "Self-KO Clause" and Ties:
Self-KO Clause is an antiquated concept that is not used in Smogon tournaments. The one exception to the rule is if the tournament is live (weekly Smogon Tour, Suspect Tours, etc.). For all standard tournaments here this rule does not exist. It Does Not Exist.

If both Pokemon faint simultaneously in DPP, ADV, GSC, or RBY, the game is ruled as a tie. Tied games do not count as played games in overall standings and will be expected to be replayed within the round's initial deadline. Similarly to this, tied games do not count towards the total number of games played in "best of X" series. In other words, if a tournament includes "Bo3" RBY, what is really being played is "first to two wins" RBY.

However, ties simply don't exist in later generations. The developers removed ties from BW and have not added them back since. There's a lot of inconsistency with the mechanics of their tiebreaking system but Smogon follows them to stay true to the cartridge. The main ones are listed below:

Note: The following list is for SM, XY, and BW, and not for DPP, ADV, GSC, or RBY

Self-KO Moves (Destiny Bond, Explosion, Final Gambit, etc.):
Attacking Pokemon Loses

Offensive Recoil (Life Orb; Double-Edge, Flare Blitz, etc.):
Attacking Pokemon Wins

Defensive Recoil (Rocky Helmet; Iron Barbs, Rough Skin):
Attacking Pokemon Wins (SM)
Attacking Pokemon Loses (XY and BW)

Passive Damage (Status, Weather, etc.):
Faster Pokemon Loses

Disconnections and Timer
For information on our disconnection and timer rules, refer to this thread.

Tiebreaks:
If teams are in a position to move on and are tied for wins in Stage 1, points and bd in Stage 2 or just tie in the final match in Stage 3, a tiebreak Best-of-3 series will be played to determine which team advances. The first match will be standard SM OU, with each of the teams in the tiebreak picking another tier to be played. This tier can be another SM OU, and multiple SM OU matches can be played. However, as every team should only have to aim to draft 1 player for every other tier, no other tier can be repeated.

For Stage 1, if a tiebreak occurs, the team that had more wins in the head-to-head matchups will pick second. If the teams were tied in head-to-head, strength of schedule is used to determine the higher seed instead.

For Stage 2, largely the same metrics are used as for stage 1. The first denominator to determine the higher seed will be Stage 2's head-to-head matchup. If this resulted in a tie, the number of total wins from Stage 1 will be used. Should this also be the same, strength of schedule in Stage 2 is used.

For Stage 3, the team with the higher ranking in Stage 2 will be the higher seed. If this was identical, the number of total wins in Stage 1 is used. If this also results in a tie, the Stage 2 head-to-head matchup will break the tie. In case this fails, strength of schedule will be the fallback.

If, during any stage, all parameters listed here are tied, we will publicly use the !pick command on the Smogtours server to determine the higher seed.

Substitutions:
During Stage 1, subsitutions are allowed during each phase, and a player getting subbed in has to play all the remaining opponents of the player he is replacing. A player that has been subbed out during a phase may not be subbed into any other slot. Multiple substitutions may occur in the same slot. Of course, Phase 2 may use a different lineup than Phase 1, and substitutes will be "reset", meaning everyone on the bench can be subbed in once again. For Stage 2 and 3, substitutions work like they do in SPL.

Substitutions will be not be allowed in tiebreak series unless the hosts mandate it. However, since we prioritise games being played, we will consider extension requests so long as they're reasonable. We will also be reluctant to give activity wins to those who are clearly fishing for them.


Simulator:
Pokémon Showdown is the main simulator for this tournament, and Smogtours is the main server. If both players agree and there is a valid reason that a match cannot be played on Smogtours, it may be played on the main server as well.

Matchups:


Shinto Ruin Serpents (6) vs Lanakila Nagas (4)

OU: Ojama vs SoulWind
OU: suapah vs Kory2600
OU: ramboss vs Sacri'
OU: RedEmption vs craing ;_;
DOU: Biosci vs Ezrael
UU: Pak vs HT
RU: Ajna vs MrAldo
NU: Tangelo vs Kushalos
LC: teal6 vs Heysup
Ubers: Leru vs GaryTheGengar


Celadon City Cobras (4) vs Lake of Rage Leviathans (6)

OU: Tamahome vs Jirachee
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye
DOU: SMB vs MajorBowman
UU: Lycans vs robjr
RU: esche vs KW
NU: HANTSUKI vs Eternally
LC: jake vs OP
Ubers: KyogreF4N vs Garay oak


Ambrette Astrotias (3) vs Berry Forest Bushmasters (7)

OU: Tricking vs BKC
OU: Ciele vs Simia
OU: blarghlfarghl vs Gondra
OU: Mncmt vs Hayburner
DOU: stax vs EmbCPT
UU: Hogg vs pasy_g
RU: Eternal Spirit vs col49
NU: Realistic Waters vs Nintendi
LC: Dundies vs Corporal Levi
Ubers: Fireburn vs The Trap God



Deadline will be September 23rd, 10:00 PM EST.
 
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cb aaron judge

ALL RISE
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnus
Shinto Ruin Serpents (7) vs Lanakila Nagas (3)

OU: Ojama vs SoulWind
OU: suapah vs Kory2600
OU: Posho vs Sacri'
OU: RedEmption vs craing ;_;
DOU: Biosci vs Ezrael
UU: Pak vs HT
RU: Ajna vs MrAldo
NU: Tangelo vs Kushalos
LC: teal6 vs Heysup
Ubers: Leru vs GaryTheGengar


Celadon Cobras (3) vs Lake of Rage Leviathans (7)

OU: Tamahome vs Jirachee
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye
DOU: SMB vs MajorBowman
UU: Lycans vs robjr
RU: esche vs KW
NU: HANTSUKI vs Eternally
LC: jake vs OP
Ubers: KyogreF4N vs Garay oak


Berry Forest Bushmasters (4) vs Ambrette Astrotias (6)

OU: BKC vs Tricking
OU: Simia vs Ciele
OU: Gondra vs blarghlfarghl
OU: Hayburner vs Mncmt
DOU: EmbCPT vs stax
UU: pasy_g vs Hogg
RU: col49 vs Eternal Spirit
NU: Nintendi vs Realistic Waters
LC: Corporal Levi vs Dundies
Ubers : The Trap God vs Fireburn
 
Predictions from a nobody
Shinto Ruin Serpents (5) vs Lanakila Nagas (5)
Picking Serpents but I expect this to be a wild series.

OU: Ojama vs SoulWind
OU: suapah vs Kory2600
OU: Posho vs Sacri'
OU: RedEmption vs craing ;_;
DOU: Biosci vs Ezrael
UU: Pak vs HT
RU: Ajna vs MrAldo
NU: Tangelo vs Kushalos
LC: teal6 vs Heysup
Ubers: Leru vs GaryTheGengar

Celadon Cobras (3) vs Lake of Rage Leviathans (7)

OU: Tamahome vs Jirachee
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye
DOU: SMB vs MajorBowman
UU: Lycans vs robjr
RU: esche vs KW
NU: HANTSUKI vs Eternally
LC: jake vs OP
Ubers: KyogreF4N vs Garay oak


Berry Forest Bushmasters (4) vs Ambrette Astrotias (6)

OU: BKC vs Tricking
OU: Simia vs Ciele
OU: Gondra vs blarghlfarghl
OU: Hayburner vs Mncmt
DOU: EmbCPT vs stax
UU: pasy_g vs Hogg
RU: col49 vs Eternal Spirit
NU: Nintendi vs Realistic Waters
LC: Corporal Levi vs Dundies
Ubers : The Trap God vs Fireburn
 

Sharow

水上
is a Tiering Contributor
BW: Tamahome vs Jirachee
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye
DOU: SMB vs MajorBowman
UU: Lycans vs robjr
RU: esche vs KW
NU: HANTSUKI vs Eternally
LC: jake vs OP
STAGG: KyogreF4N vs Garay oak



OU: BKC vs Tricking
OU: Simia vs Ciele
OU: Gondra vs blarghlfarghl
OU: Hayburner vs Mncmt
DOU: EmbCPT vs stax
UU: pasy_g vs Hogg
RU: col49 vs Eternal Spirit
NU: Nintendi vs Realistic Waters
LC: Corporal Levi vs Dundies
Ubers : The Trap God vs Fireburn
 

soulgazer

I FEEL INFINITE
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
OU: BKC vs Tricking
OU: Simia vs Ciele
OU: Gondra vs blarghlfarghl
OU: Hayburner vs Mncmt
DOU: EmbCPT vs stax
UU: pasy_g vs Hogg
RU: col49 vs Eternal Spirit
NU: Nintendi vs Realistic Waters
LC: Corporal Levi vs Dundies
Ubers : The Trap God vs Fireburn

bench vs rozes

Let's go abrs :afrostar:
 
Doubles Predicts:
Biosci vs Ezrael: both had pretty good phase 1’s, edge biosci because of the diversity of the teams he used
SMB vs MajorBowman - bowman has the experience and while he had more of a slow start, its not hard to see him bouncing back this week
embcpt vs stax- stax’s chansey usage is both startling and expected giving nido rus’s place on the roster. This will probably be the closest game of the 3. Tough to call but edge stax because of the better phase 1

Rooting for some old friends like Pak and Jake, and obviously the kingpin to have exciting games
 
i've been following this tournament closely as a spectator, so i wanna try my hand at predicts. not trying to step out of my lane or throw jabs at players here so plz don't take any of this personally. if anything comes off offensive fsr lmk and i'll just remove it.
Shinto Ruin Serpents vs Lanakila Nagas

OU: Ojama vs SoulWind: ojama's been playing extremely well this snake. sw otoh hasn't been as hot as usual, and he's had arguably weaker opponents than those ojama has faced. still, maybe facing a top tier player can motivate him. either way, this is gonna be close, and it's probably the highlight match of the whole thing.
OU: suapah vs Kory2600: suapah kinda played his (second to) last game poorly, and i think kory2600 is just a tier or so above suapah as a player.
OU: Posho vs Sacri': ppl sleep on sacri, and posho's been underperforming this tour. i think sacri has a lot of momentum coming into this, and his games have been some of my favorites this snake (and OLT, except that one vs sw)
OU: RedEmption vs craing ;_;: redemption is fire and ben gay is just getting off the bench for the first time this tour. i think this gives redemption a bit of momentum going in, possibly allowing him to pull off an upset.

Celadon Cobras vs Lake of Rage Leviathans

OU: Tamahome vs Jirachee: also sorta an upset pick i guess; really cool MU regardless. i have not been a fan of the teams tamahome has been bringing, whereas jirachee SHOULD have access to solid builds given the other OU slots on his team. this is kinda a random pick honestly but w/e.
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks: lop kicks hasn't been doing as well in snake and OLT as he was doing in WCoP, whereas caron's been killing it lately. i think caron is really underrated in general. he's a huge force to be reckoned with and an extremely consistent player.
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator: i think these two are about equally matched honestly. giving kickasser the edge cause the french have been doing great in general lol.
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye: probably the second most exciting match of the week. both are two of the best SM players around right now, but i think cdumas is a bit more consistent and has a slight edge on hiye as far as skill. he's also one of the few r1 / high ranked OU picks to live up to his pick number in this tour making me think he's really invested.

on another note i really like the cobras OU core in general. i think it's probably the best in the tournament.

Berry Forest Bushmasters vs Ambrette Astrotias

OU: BKC vs Tricking: i think this one will be close, but i'm leaning towards Tricking. BKC is one of the all time best players, but he doesn't seem like he's playing at 100% in these SM OU games compared to his games in other tiers in other tournaments. tricking is another top SM OU player (and just a super great player in general), and he's got some wild teambuilding support in Will of Fire (most likely). this is tied for second most exciting match with the cdu hiye one imo.
OU: Simia vs Ciele: Simia's builds in OLT have been kinda boring and i think Ciele is just significantly better as a player. will be a cool game to see regardless.
OU: Gondra vs blarghlfarghl: not much to say i just think Gondra is better than blargh.
OU: Hayburner vs Mncmt: ok tbh i think these two are about equally matched but hayburner is my friend so i'm rooting for him just because i'm able to witness firsthand how strong he is at full capacity. bias pick i guess, but the bias is largely due to me being more familiar with hayburner's play than Mncmt's.
rooting for the serpents overall !_!
 
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Empo

is a Tutor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis the Smogon Tour Season 30 Championis the Smogon Tour Season 33 Championwon the 17th Official Smogon Tournamentis a Two-Time Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Championis a Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Championis a Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
World Defender

:yoshirod: :wurr:
thanks for this unique experience gliders! im disappointed by how things went in the last few matches, we went from like 14-17 to 18-17 on saturday which is actually huge, then sadly some things didnt go in our way, but we didn't give up and thats something i really appreciated. i wanna thank pretty much everyone in the team for being active and always ready to support each other. gotta give a shoutout to zomog the lazy noob (otherwise i die) for always sharing ideas with us and building teams, especially the last medi one which you built and then deleted from your teambuilder saying it was bad before i actually made it better :) thx to pablo as well for drafting me and trusting me as 3rd round pick. big shoutout to yoppie :goat: for being the sub every team would want, always testing or share ideas when he could, literally a beast.
shouts emiforbes to be a very clutch doubles player as well, you're actually amazing, im glad we got to know each other. lax was also a key member of this team by being a great chat presence, reinforcing lower tiers a lot and going 4-0 which is prob the best the team could have asked for.
last thing to say, shout out to my friend mael for cheering for me despite being pretty inactive in playing but u always the best dude.
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
Playing Kickasser Saturday during my late morning/early afternoon, gl bro

Shinto Ruin Serpents vs Lanakila Nagas

OU: Ojama (60) vs (40) SoulWind - Ojama has just shown more competency in the tier itself whereas SW has just been alright in OLT/Snake so far imo after showing flares of greatness in individual tournaments earlier in 2018. Ojama can build for himself and knows how to capitalize on certain tendencies that SW has shown thus far. I think that there is not a huge gap when it comes to level of play, but I think that Ojama is even advantaged there slightly, too. Assuming he doesn't face the wrong type of cheese, I'll favor Ojama here.
OU: suapah (49) vs (51) Kory2600 - Close game here, but Kory has played a bit more consistently thus far. I think suapah has the higher ceiling of the two, but he is starting to become predictable and while Kory isn't exactly the face of versatility himself, this normally would be an advantage for suapah that is now relatively moot imo. I think Kory edges him out in a close game between two balance/BO teams ultimately.
OU: Posho (45) vs (55) Sacri' - Sacri' has looked significantly better thus far, but Posho can win any game if he plays his best and uses good teams. He's just yet to do that, so it is hard to favor him against someone who is doing quite well in this specific tournament like Sacri'.
OU: RedEmption (55) vs (45) craing ;_; - Some people may label this as an upset, but I find that to be pretty silly. craing;_; has been out of tourmaments for over a year now and he didn't even want to play during the first two phases, so who is to say he can just pick it up and start winning now when he could never do that in a consistent fashion in team tournaments to begin with? RedEmption has looked solid for the most part in Snake and OLT recently, so I favor him.
UU: Pak (55) vs (45) HT - Both dudes I think are great, but Pak has been more solid so far. Close game though and I expect to see some interesting team choices as the two are pretty familiar with each other and may want to change it up.
NU: Tangelo (40) vs (60) Kushalos - I feel as if Kushalos is just a more experienced and polished version of Tangy; both have wild tendencies that can be practical or punishing depending on the specific match-up and team and both have high ceiling/low floor in the game. Kushalos has at least learned enough about himself as a player to where his main worries will be contained to handling the late-game optimally and he has a knack for making aggressive midgrounds/predictions to give him the upper hand earlier on. Tangy's gameplay leaves a lot of us scratching our heads at times, but when he breaks through he can be one of the toughest opponents out there. The thing is that I do not feel comfortable picking him against Kushalos given the smaller sample size he has and Kushalos's track record given this variance in level of play he shows, even within individual games.

Ambrette Astrotias vs Berry Forest Bushmasters

OU: Tricking (40) vs (60) BKC - BKC's no-nonsense approach will come out on top here assuming he doesn't fuck around vs something like CM Lele mid-game. I think that he will have a fairly hard time deciding upon a specific idea to bring unless ABR grants him some help there as Tricking is pretty unpredictable, but once he nails down something solid he should be good to go. Tricking may try and throw him off with something gimmicky or straight-up cheese and there is a decent shot that prevails, but I would not favor the tricky Italian.
OU: Ciele (51) vs (49) Simia - Ciele's teams have all given me massive headaches thus far, but he's still a strong player and there is no getting around that. If he doesn't bring nonsense, he will likely win. However, if he does and Simia comes ready, then there's a very legitimate chance the game can get away from the Astrotias r1 pick. I think we have to wait and see what happens there before making any bold predictions, so I mark this one as a close one, but favor Ciele slightly just given higher level of play.
OU: blarghlfarghl (40) vs (60) Gondra - Gondra has high highs and low lows, but I feel like he's just better overall than blarg and if he is on his game then he will be all over him. Not a ton to say here as I'm not as familiar with these two, but definitely favoring Gondra here.
OU: Mncmt (35) vs (65) Hayburner - Really don't know the other dude and Hayburner finally got his first Snake win to save himself a starting slot, so perhaps he will keep it up!
UU: Hogg (49) vs pasy_g (51) - Not a ton to say here, but very excited to see Hogg's debut in Snake. Dunno what to expect from either side, but this game really intrigues me as a spectator.
NU: Realistic Waters (51) vs (49) Nintendi - RW is the better "NUer" whereas Nintendi is the better "player". Normally I do not side with "mainers", but Nintendi's gameplay has been about as unpredictable as it gets and Realistic Waters is also a bit all over the place. The lone factor determining my prediction here ultimately was track record in this tournament itself, which leads me to favor RW slightly. His win vs Rodri doesn't mean a ton b/c it was essentially a wash due to the Sceptile MU, but he has shown some strong signs and he knows the intricacies of the tier better. If Nintendi takes a Rozes idea and team, he should be at least 50/50 in this match-up, however.
 
Hey just wanted to say a couple things;
z0mOG I really appreciate you believing in me even though we hadn't really spoken before this tour and giving me an opportunity. You were a great manager, always looking to help everyone in every tier and offering unique teams
lax thanks for putting in a good word for me with the managers and knowing I could do well. Also you're the goat for going 4-0, you've had a great year in general. Imo just focus on your own play and keeping up the positive records, no need to get too worked up over what other people do.
To the rest, despite the fact I wasn't too active on discord I still feel I got to know most of you so I'm glad for the experience. Unfortunate not to make it but I'm still proud of all of us for coming so close, if fortune had favoured us in a couple of those last few games we would be in.

Special mention to Finchinator for always calling me terrible and questioning why I was even picked up, despite having almost no grounds for your opinion apart from a couple games from 2 years ago. Honestly I didn't really take this to heart because I always thought of you as a very average player who just got hyped up because he liked to write long paragraphs. However you went 3-1 while making some okay plays so yeah you have risen slightly in my estimations, congratulations man!
 

Windsong

stumbling down elysian fields
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Special mention to elodin for always being a kingpin jr. and thinking Ojama gives his mons the best nicknames, despite having almost no grounds for your opinion apart from a couple games from 2 years ago. Honestly I didn't really take this to heart because I always thought of you as a very stand up guy who just got hyped up because he looks like Harry Styles. However you allegedly speak French pretty well so yeah you have risen slightly in my estimations, congratulations man!
 
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Special mention to 1 True Lycan for calling out Finchinator and questioning why he even talks, despite having almost no grounds for his opinion apart from the ability to write long paragraphs. Honestly I didn't really take this to heart because I don't know you and I have just seen you battle with level 100 Pokemon. However you shit on Finchinator super hard there so yeah you have risen slightly in my estimations, congratulations man!
 
Little late but no ones played yet so :mehowth:

OU: Ojama vs SoulWind
OU: suapah vs Kory2600
OU: Posho vs Sacri'
OU: RedEmption vs craing ;_;
DOU: Biosci vs Ezrael
UU: Pak vs HT
RU: Ajna vs MrAldo
NU: Tangelo vs Kushalos
LC: teal6 vs Heysup
Ubers: Leru vs GaryTheGengar

OU: Tamahome vs Jirachee
OU: CaronSmith vs Lopunny Kicks
OU: Kickasser vs Finchinator
OU: Cdumas vs Hiye
DOU: SMB vs MajorBowman
UU: Lycans vs robjr
RU: esche vs KW
NU: HANTSUKI vs Eternally
LC: jake vs OP
Ubers: KyogreF4N vs Garay oak

OU: Tricking vs BKC
OU: Ciele vs Simia
OU: blarghlfarghl vs Gondra
OU: Mncmt vs Hayburner
DOU: stax vs EmbCPT
UU: Hogg vs pasy_g
RU: Eternal Spirit vs col49
NU: Realistic Waters vs Nintendi
LC: Dundies vs Corporal Levi
Ubers: Fireburn vs The Trap God
 
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