Hello, and welcome to the Power Rankings for the first edition of the Smogon Snake Draft tournament! Before we get into the rankings themselves, I would like to provide a brief description as to what the Smogon Snake Draft tournament actually is. This tournament is a new addition to the tournament circuit, starting with an entirely fresh slate that lets ten managerial pairs pick from a large pool in the form of a snake draft (meaning pair 1 -> 10 in round 1, pair 10 -> 1 in round 2, and so on throughout all 14 rounds of the draft). The tournament's format is 4x SM OU, 1x SM Ubers, 1x SM UU, 1x SM RU, 1x SM NU, 1x SM LC, and 1x SM Doubles. Moreover, the Smogon Snake Draft is going to be one of the best representations of high level play in the current generation besides SM RU. The Smogon Snake Draft has been creating a lot of excitement throughout the entire tournament community, and we are all looking forward to the first phase's start!
The goal of this article is to build up hype for the tournament in the days leading up to the opening phase of battles and give a representation of where the players of each team fit in the context of the metagames they shall be playing. To obtain a general overview of this, we asked a handful of knowledgeable players of each respective tier to rate the expected players for it, averaged the rankings, and ended up with an attempt at a mostly unbiased list. Number 1 gets ten points, number 2 gets nine, and so on.
As always, it is vital to note that these rankings are far from perfect, and there is plenty of room to disagree with any of them. However, Power Rankings are intended to be enjoyable for readers and give a somewhat accurate gauge of where everyone is at going into the tournament. They take mostly raw individual skill into account more so than many things that can arguably have a large amount of influence in a team tournament, such as synergy, the rotation of players, trades, hot / cold streaks, and potential private calls that may or may not happen during battles.
Special thanks to the following people for contributing in the creation of this article: -Tsunami-, ABR, atomicllamas, blunder, BOUFF, Bummer, Christo, Ciele, Coconut, Corporal Levi, dodmen, Eyan, FellFromtheSky, Finchinator, Fireflame479, FlamingVictini, GatoDelFuego, GunnerRohan, Hack, Haund, Hogg, ict, Kaori, Kingler12345, KratosMana, Level 56, Luigi, Lumari, MajorBowman, Mazar, meepsvictory, miltankmilk, Mr.378, Obii, Omfuga, P Squared, PDC, Poek, Quite Quiet, Raseri, rozes, snagaa, Star, Steve Angello, TDK, Tikitik, Tokyo Tom, Tony, and Zebraiken. Without further ado, I would like to get into the core of this article—the rankings and descriptions themselves.
Ambrette Astrotias
SM OU: Trosko
SM OU: Sweepage
SM OU: imsosorrylol
SM OU: Nedor
SM Ubers: Thimo
SM LC: OP
SM DOU: Memoric
SM UU: McMeghan
SM RU: mael
SM NU: Jayde
Substitutes: R!cardo, Sam, pokeisfun, suapah
Fortunately for the Astrotias' sake, there was no egirl on the field that enticed BKC enough to make him reach for her in the draft. However, outside of this, many argue that the feel you get from the Ambrette Astrotias roster is similar to that of the BKC-managed SPL 5 Scooters roster. Two faces from that roster happen to find themselves here too in Jayde and Sweepage, while friendly faces to this group such as McMeghan, Nedor, and Sam also find themselves on board. While these are all very capable players, none of them have stood out in SM tiers at all, and the rest of their team are far from spectacular as well. Their lower tier core consists of McMeghan, Mael, and Jayde, who aren't known as players or even followers of UU, RU, and NU respectively until very recently, and the only true support they have in-house is the most one-dimensional ladder fiend in the history of competitive Pokémon, pokeisfun. While normally these three would be regarded as top or at least above average players, this status is definitely in question when it comes to this tournament. The Astrotias SM OU core is a shaky bunch with a large drop-off after their #1 player, Trosko, in the rankings. With this said, if Sweepage is in touch with the metagame, leaves his team tournament struggles behind, and does not throw hissy-fits and quit every other week, then he will turn out to be a great value pick, but those are a lot of ifs. imsosorrylol is another controversial pick, seeing as they took him in the 7th round when hardly anyone else saw him as good enough to get picked, and many even see him as childish or even mad like BKC himself—that seems par for the course for his own draft I suppose. Thankfully, there are reinforcements if this does not pan out and support if it does, as the Astrotias picked up R!cardo and suapah, who are both fairly new to the scene but have shown promise. Rounding out the experienced portion of the starting roster is Canadian soccer god Nedor, rusty Doubles OU pickup Memoric, and SPL champion and LCTL OP; all of these players have had respectable SPL performances in the past who are looking to either continue their success or get back to what they had going previously. Their final player overall is Thimo, who is playing Ubers. Many see Thimo has a player who has lots of potential to overachieve in the Ubers field, even going as far as predicting he finishes with one of the top records. However, the rankings are not quite this kind to him, and he will certainly have to prove these people right before we give him the benefit of the doubt, so this season will be very telling about Thimo's level of play. All in all, the Ambrette Astrotias have a seemingly mediocre roster with a handful of risks in terms of the older players and imsosorrylol that, if they pan out, could turn some questionable pickups into genius additions from the metalhead and cheesehead. Will the old guard adapt and perform at or close to their ceiling or will the Astrotias end up on the outside looking in?
Berry Forest Bushmasters
SM OU: ABR
SM OU: Cdumas
SM OU: Ban Manaphy
SM OU: Omfuga
SM Ubers: The Trap God
SM LC: Sken
SM DOU: marilli
SM UU: bugzinator
SM RU: Natalie.
SM NU: Yui.
Substitutes: qsns, Kory2600, Lednah, snagaa
The Berry Forest Bushmasters lucked out and got the first overall pick in the draft, letting them pick ABR. ABR has arguably been the individual who has had the largest impact on the shaping of the ORAS OU and SM OU metagames. After ABR, the Bushmasters managed to steal Omfuga at the end of the second round when many believed that he should have went in the first or early second. These two formed the foundation of what is a fairly solid, but not well-balanced, draft. Initially, I assume the idea was to put Omfuga in a tier such as Ubers or NU, but given how their draft worked out, Omfuga ended up in OU, and the next two picks for the Bushmasters all happened to be for SM OU in the form of WCoP's two hype children, Ban Manaphy and Cdumas. With these four all in SM OU, it gives the Bushmasters the best SM OU core in the tournament by a significant margin according to the rankings. However, this has consequences on the rest of their roster, as they had to either settle for players or draft unproven sleepers in numerous tiers. Handsome managers TonyFlygon and Gingy did manage to pick up highly ranked and hyped Ubers player The Trap God, but from there, the rest of their lineup is quite mediocre. Sken is probably the best of the remaining starters, and while he is easily one of the cutest users on Smogon and is seen as a top LC builder, his gameplay still leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the top notch LC players. Natalie. and Yui. are two unknowns in the tournaments community. Natalie. is coming off of a strong RUPL showing, but she got very fortunate throughout the tournament, and she still made a handful of questionable plays throughout. Yui. is an old relic of Pokémon Online who is known for being a solid ladder player with many gimmicks that you simply do not see in tournaments; his transition to this level of play will be very interesting, to say the least. Veteran UU player Bugzinator, who is a question mark in SM himself, rounds out their lower tier core. If he is able to learn the tier before the start of the tournament, then he will be in the mix among the best in the field, but that is a big if. Finishing their starting lineup is marilli, their Doubles OU player. Nobody thinks he is standout good, but marilli should be able to compete with the lower end of the field if he plays his cards right, so we shall see how this goes. On the bench, the Bushmasters have French WCoP player Kory2600, fellow cute user and NU and Doubles OU supporter qsns, Spanish OU player Lednah, and consistently mediocre and unproven PO player snagaa. Overall, the Bushmasters go from...100 to 0 really quick with the second half of their lineup. With just OU and Ubers factored in, they were number one by a large margin, but with everything taken into consideration, they fall down to the middle of the pack. Will Tony's risky picks and sleepers actually work out, or will they end up living up to their expectations, leaving all of the work in the hands of ABR and his OU core, much like in SPL 7?
Goldenrod Gliders
SM OU: Tricking
SM OU: Mob Barley
SM OU: welli0u
SM OU: psychicmewtwo
SM Ubers: Arii Stella
SM LC: ggggd
SM DOU: MajorBowman
SM UU: Pearl
SM RU: SilentVerse
SM NU: Blast
Substitutes: z0mOG, elodin, HSA, boudouche
The Goldenrod Gliders, managed by Ciele and Funkasaurus, have managed to field a team with more competent League of Legends players than Pokémon players. Ciele is known for having unique perspectives when it comes to gauging how valuable players are, and this draft most definitely reasserted that notion. On top of some very questionable judgement calls during the early rounds of the draft, it is worth noting that their SM OU core does them no justice whatsoever, seeing as their team is now the only team with no players in the top half of the rankings. It is true that all four of these players managed to start in SPL at one point or another, but none of them have had much in terms of prolonged success in that tournament, leaving much to be desired. To make matters even worse, the Gliders have numerous players who have hardly touched anything in SM at all in recent months, including BW RU player SilentVerse, scheduling mastermind HSA, and XY Ubers GOAT boudouche. With this said, there are some more modern faces on this roster, including consensus top Doubles OU player MajorBowman, Little Cup's true Brazilian hype child ggggd, 1-8 kek wonder z0mOG, the mediocre, but sufficient, Blast, and the sunshine of the Ubers community, Arii Stella. While this team will be able to actually field a lineup, it is quite easy to see why just about everyone on the outside is highly skeptical of this team's overall outlook. For the Goldenrod Gliders to turn into true competitors, it is likely that first round pick Pearl will have to carry much more than his own weight, which is very much possible seeing as he has received high praise as a teammate throughout the past and works well with most users out there. Will the efforts of Pearl be enough to let this group overachieve and shock the tournaments community, or will the Gliders come crashing down right back into manager Funkasaurus!?
The Lake of Rage Leviathans are a versatile bunch, including veteran Brazilians, unproven lower tier players, weebs, some old generation players, and a tryhard. While they certainly did not have the best draft among all of the teams, many believe that this was a surprisingly acceptable outcome for the failing US Central duo of Zebraiken and d0nut. The main issue with the roster is the lack of standout players, with the lone exception to this being FLCL, who is clearly the strongest NUer in the tournament and also was their first round draft pick. Their SM OU core took up most of their remaining early round picks outside of the Ubers player with the most extensive vernacular, dice, who is looking to have a solid Ubers campaign after various tours away from this tier. Getting back to the OU core, this group doesn't actually have any true SM mains, which is what leaves a lot of people wondering how their teams will turn out and if their gameplay will not be up to par due to lack of experience and knowledge. Finchinator is the SM OUer on this team with the most experience, playing six SPL games and putting up mediocre results, but his last SM OU SPL game included some questionable plays, so the form he is in come the start of Snake is very much in question. Tamahome, who won the SPL tiebreak game in SM OU, but otherwise has not done much in the tier, Eo Ut Mortus, who had a bad SPL but good WCoP in the tier while using variants of unconventional stall, and Malekith, who had respectable OST and WCoP runs, are the three veterans who round out this SM OU core. The players accompanying FLCL in lower tiers are Lord Esche, the hype child of RUPL, and HT, a long-time UUer who many believe is going to have a tough time keeping up with top players. In LC and Doubles OU, the Leviathans have two more generally unproven players. Somehow, a PU main managed to end up on the same team as PU hater Finchinator, but Dundies, thankfully for his own sake, is playing LC, not PU. Dundies is expected to be in the middle of the pack after proving his competency in the tier over the past few months. Jhon is their Doubles player, and he is relatively unknown, but he went undefeated in DPL. This feat, however, does not necessarily mean he is going to do well here, as the competition was much worse, and he did not have to branch out as a player, so we will see how he does in this field. Thankfully for Jhon, SPL Doubles OU substitute Croven will be able to support him, so he is not going into this tournament alone. Versatile veteran Brazilian HANTSUKI, everyone's favorite Canadian kek Genesis7, and RUTL Atomicllamas round out the Leviathan's roster. Overall, the Leviathans are a decent team with a lot of unproven players that will ultimately make or break them!
Lanakila Nagas
SM OU: FlamingVictini
SM OU: SoulWind
SM OU: Alexander.
SM OU: reiku
SM Ubers: Mazar
SM LC: tko
SM DOU: miltankmilk
SM UU: Sacri'
SM RU: Meru
SM NU: Kushalos
Substitutes: Zamrock, Void, Steve Angello, blarajan
Veteran tournament player and UnderUsed tiering leader Hikari and ??? player and practically unknown user Leru find themselves somehow managing the Lanakila Nagas together. Overall, it is fair to say that the Nagas had a respectable draft, but they likely reached on a few players and could probably have ended up with a bit more SM experience throughout their roster had they avoided doing so. With this said, the Nagas are packed with solid players, even if not too many stand out besides their first round pick, FlamingVictini. In addition to FlamingVictini himself, their SM OU core also consists of Soulwind, Alexander., and Reiku. These three have all had positive campaigns in the past, but none of them have had sustained success in SM OU itself, which leaves us wondering if they will live up to the traditionally high standard their names bring to tournament fields. With the help of FlamingVictini, perhaps these three will adapt and excel in this environment, so there definitely is a lot of potential in SM OU for the Nagas. On top of this group, you have the pride of the SPL winning Tigers also on the roster in Mazar, Steve Angello, and miltankmilk. Mazar finally gets to take another shot at proving the legitimacy of his dominant SPL Ubers run, and miltankmilk will get a chance to be a consistent starter in the Doubles OU tier, which was not possible behind MajorBowman in SPL. Steve Angello is not just your ordinary bench player too, as he has managed to do slightly above average in numerous SPLs, so do not count him out of the equation. Rounding out their starting lineup is UU extraordinaire and Frenchman Sacri', master of unsets that somehow work out, Kushalos, the "lucky and bad" guy who keeps going positive in SPL lower tiers, Meru, and the only person LCPL hype has actually helped get picked in a big tour, tko. Overall, these guys are solid picks, especially Sacri', but tko is still unproven, Kushalos will have to do his best work adapting to the SM NU tier to compete with top players, and Meru will have to actually...learn SM RU. Finally, Zamrock, Void, and blarajan round out the roster on the bench. With everything taken into consideration, the Nagas are able to compete with every team in the field, but it will be an uphill climb against top teams that have more experienced SM players throughout their lineup or simply more skilled rosters. Some things that could sway things in their favor would be the presence of FlamingVictini and Zamrock uniting their SM core with teams and general help, as both have been part of the WCoP winning US East team and previous SPL rosters. Will the OU core live up to the hype and expectations surrounding their big names, and will some of the risks in lower tiers pan out, or will the Nagas end up flirting with mediocrity due to lack of roster wide SM competency?
Pacifidlog Pitvipers
SM OU: Axel
SM OU: Blackoblivion
SM OU: -Snow
SM OU: Eternal Spirit
SM Ubers: Lacus Clyne
SM LC: Star
SM DOU: Level 51
SM UU: teal6
SM RU: Ajna
SM NU: meepsvictory
Substitutes: BHARATH_THEBEST, London Beats, Shrug, Femen
The Pacifidlog Pitvipers always were destined to be a team of friends that all get along well to make it so that there was no need for strong leadership, which a wild user like ict and a soft-spoken user like Poek simply cannot provide. However, many people were unsure as to if this meant they had to compromise their strength as a playing roster in order to do this or if they could still field a competent team. Given their draft, I would say that it is somewhere between these two extremes but definitely closer to the latter. Right off the bat, the Pitvipers nabbed a player ranked in the top 5 of SM OU, Axel, and the top ranked LC player, Star. In addition to them both being skilled battlers, they also both teamed up during SPL, putting an emphasis on the element of synergy mentioned before. The rest of their lineup, admittedly, looks as if they just got who they wanted in specific tiers without looking to potentially get the best fit left on the board or considering all of their options. meepsvictory is a strong player, but taking him in the third round is a bit early seeing as he has yet to prove himself in a big tour environment in any lower tier, and -Snow could easily have dropped a few rounds past the fifth had they held off, so perhaps they could have had a different set of priorities going into the draft. With this said, the Pitvipers still have a competent lineup with all of the aforementioned players included. On top of them, you also have Blackoblivion, coming off of a strong WCoP, and Eternal Spirit, coming off of some shaky performances all around, rounding out their OU core. In addition to this group, veteran teal6 is looking to reclaim his dominant UU status from SPL 7 despite being too busy drinking to be a UU main since then, while Ajna, a man who asks the questions everyone has, hopes to make his first big tour appearance a positive one. Some more friends to throw into the equation that got picked up by the Pitvipers are Lacus Clyne, an impressive newer Ubers tournament player, and BHARATH_THEBEST, trendy OU builder ever since WCoP that will likely be helping make teams for their OU players. The last remaining starter on the Pitvipers is Level 51, an unconventional pick who lacks big tournament experience, will bring interesting teams, and will likely render mediocre results. Rounding out their bench is a duo of Spaniards likely only picked because of Poek's presence as a manager, London Beats and Femen, and an LC backup that can fill in for Star if he elects to move to another tier or simply support in, Shrug. Will this team of friends all get along and overachieve due to how close of a group they are, or will they struggle to gain traction due to some of the potential compromises made during the draft?
Victory Road Rattlers
SM OU: John
SM OU: reyscarface
SM OU: Level 56
SM OU: Bro Kappa
SM Ubers: Fireburn
SM LC: GOAO
SM DOU: Stax
SM UU: Manipulative
SM RU: Chill Shadow
SM NU: Rodriblutar
Substitutes: Bushtush, Kiyo, Liones, Arifeen
The Victory Road Rattlers managed to land the trendy top OU pick and #2 ranked John in the first round, giving Hogg and Christo a strong start to their draft. However, things took a highly questionable turn right after that. They followed up with two more OU pickups, but those two happen to be Level 56 and Reyscarface. Level 56 going in round 2 for SM OU, a metagame which he has minimal tournament experience in, makes little-to-no sense, especially when he does not even build his own Ubers teams, so he cannot even provide extensive support in his main tier that he did not sign up for. Reyscarface in round 3 is a great value pick, but many have to wonder if he is actually capable of preparing himself, let alone branching out. Highlighting the remainder of the Rattlers draft is SM RU standout ChillShadow, all-around strong player Rodriblutar, and surprising UU pickup, Firebot fiend Manipulative. While ChillShadow and Rodriblutar are both poised to do well in RU and NU respectively, Manipulative has not proven himself in SM UU at all and will need to exceed expectations as a player while taking full advantage of support from managers Hogg and Christo as well as bench player Bushtush if he wishes to keep even his starting spot, let alone compete with top players. While Stax was a solid pickup in Doubles OU with an SPL under his belt, GOAO is a player with sporadic experience in high-level tournaments that has done little to prove himself in SM; in fact, some did not anticipate GOAO even singing up until he did last second. The remaining two starters are both relatively subpar in the context of the fields they play in, with Bro Kappa as their fourth OU player and Fireburn as their Ubers player. Rounding out the Rattlers roster are OLT qualifiers that failed to ever stand out, Bushtush and Liones, NUTL Kiyo, who has had an underwhelming stint in SM NU so far, and RU hopeful that fell a few rounds further than expected Arifeen. All things considered, John, who is known mostly for being fairly reserved, is going to have to carry a bit more than his own weight to make sure that Level 56, Reyscarface, and Bro Kappa are sufficiently prepared, and shaky lower tier players such as Manipulative and Kiyo are going to have to overachieve for the Victory Road Rattlers to be a top team. However, if either of these happens, this roster becomes much more well rounded and dangerous, so keep an eye out for these keys to success for an otherwise mediocre team.
Shinto Ruins Serpents
SM OU: Leftiez
SM OU: Kickasser
SM OU: TheThorn
SM OU: Sabella
SM Ubers: M Dragon
SM LC: Heysup
SM DOU: Demantoid
SM UU: Lycans
SM RU: soulgazer
SM NU: Lax
Substitutes: lighthouses, Znain, DestinyUnknown, Garay oak
The team managed by M Dragon, obii, and dodmen clearly has a lineup full of strong players with just a few question marks or uncertainties. However, these two have never managed before, and their shaky spots are mainly due to inexperience in specific SM metagames, so it is safe to say that the destiny of this team is unknown. Ok, horrible puns aside, let's get into their roster! The Serpents started off strong with Ubers player M Dragon, who likely played a large role in shaping this team and will be able to hold his own against the best in the SM Ubers tier regardless of his experience being lesser than theirs. Their SM OU core is comprised of Leftiez, who can occasionally come out and absolutely dominate but sometimes use things like Scarf Adamant Zygarde-10%, The Thorn, who has had an overall strong year and hopes to keep this going, Kickasser, who qualified for Smogon Tournament and shows a lot of potential but lacks the experience to truly be trusted, and Sabella, who has just qualified for OLT and won his first round battles convincingly, but many regard him as a pretty average player. Their lower tiers have two stronger, more proven players in Soulgazer, who usually is a mainstay in NU but finds himself more fond of RU this generation, and Lycans, who can play OU through RU but is very competent in UU and can keep up with the best in that tier. However, their NU player, Lax, is relatively inexperienced with just 2 WCoP games under his belt and has not really done anything to prove his competence in NU given that he had a mediocre NUPL. With this said, they do have Garay Oak on the bench to help him out or potentially replace him, so we will have to wait and see how this pans out. Going back to the remainder of their lineup, a rusty and sporadically active Heysup mans LC with much lower expectations than he has had at any point in the past, and a hyped up Demantoid takes up the Doubles OU slot for the Serpents, expected to render average results. lighthouses and Znain are two SM OU substitutes that are generally respectable players; lighthouses has even dabbled in RU in the past, but not many are sure how good he is there during SM. Finally, a relic of the past that has come back to activity in an annoying fashion, DestinyUnknown, was M Dragon's last pick and fills out the Serpent's roster. Overall, this lineup is pretty respectable, as most tiers are covered by strong players, but there are some questions in terms of how new players like Lax and Demantoid will handle things and then there's the element of rust for Heysup, so we will have to see if these three perform. If they do, then this can easily be a top team. If they fail to, then it might be a struggle for this group.
Sootopolis Sidewinders
SM OU: blunder
SM OU: Ojama
SM OU: Posho
SM OU: ez
SM Ubers: Evuelf
SM LC: Kingler12345
SM DOU: Kaori
SM UU: Pak
SM RU: col49
SM NU: Hootie
Substitutes: giara, Analytic, CTC, Coconut
The Sootopolis Sidewinders are probably one of the most well-rounded and respectable rosters of the bunch. Under the leadership of TDK and Mazinger, this roster has a handful of top players and a group of middle-of-the-pak players. Starting with lower tiers, the aforementioned Pak finds himself getting his first big shot this tournament, and expectations are actually fairly high; thankfully, he has the support of manager TDK, who has played a fair amount of UU this generation, so hopefully, he will be able to compete with the best. As for RU and NU, these tiers are filled by polar opposites. col49 is playing the former and is a veteran who has sporadic activity, generally impacting his ability to get games done, and he has not had prolonged tournament success for a couple years. On the contrary, Hootie, slotted in SM NU, is a newer tournament player who is incredibly hyped up after a strong showing in NUPL, outside of losing to them, and is expected to do big things this tournament despite being so inexperienced. Much like col49, Evuelf is also a bit of a thing in the past when it comes to winning in tournaments, but now that he is free on Smogon, perhaps he can pick it up where he left off back in SPL 7 in BW and SPL 6 in Ubers. Kaori, Doubles OU, and Kingler12345, LC, are both rated as slightly above average in their respective tiers and are looking to solidify their standing in the tournaments community after getting some experience under their belts. Finally, the SM OU core is what truly sets the Sidewinders apart if the rest of their team wasn't enough. blunder is their first SM OUer, and he is easily one of the best players in the tier, coming off of a dominant WCoP and a strong start to OLT playoffs. Ojama, the notorious kingpin who seems to finally be taking up a generation past BW at a decent level, and Posho, the reigning Smogon Tour champion, follow blunder. A far less known and respected battler that is generally unproven rounds out the core; while it is ez to underestimate their fourth SM player, keep in mind that he will have the support of the other three and all four of these players will have TDK in the back for team help, so ez certainly has potential to bring home a few wins. Rounding out their roster is Classic champion giara, Asian OU player Analytic, the basedlord himself, CTC, and respected Little Cup player and supporter Coconut. To put it bluntly, this team has a really good roster; the Sidewinders are solid from top to bottom, more or less, and their SM OU is just the icing on the cake for an overall extremely threatening group. Expect big things from the Sidewinders if they live up to their potential, but they are still going to have to get some wins out of some unproven players, like every other team, if they wish to consistently win.
Much like the Scooters during SPL, the Taipans adopted a draft plan that involved prioritizing non-OU tier players and drafting a conventionally weaker SM OU core. This strategy worked out somewhat well in SPL, seeing as John and CrashinBoomBang managed to help their SM OU core put up decent results. Now, KratosMana is switching places with John as the manager alongside CrashinBoomBang. This OU core does rank near the bottom, but it still has a decent collection of players that will certainly be salvageable with the support they have. Gondra and p2 are the first two OUers, both coming off of strong WCoPs, and p2 even did alright in SPL when he did not try to use Z-Heat Wave Tornadus-T to break stall in the finals. Newly added njnp from the trade is also one of their SM OU players, who will surely be the center of attention, to say the least. Iloveleague, a Canadian WCoP player coming off a good OST run, rounds out their SM core, hoping to finally do well in a big tournament. Their early picks included clear SM RU GOAT and Tier Leader -Tsunami-, two-time Smogon Tour champion and carbomb Tesung, SPL Doubles OU standout Biosci, highly ranked LC player ZoroDark, and hyped up middle-of-the-pack Ubers player Pohjis. They also have NU player Eternally as a later round pickup starting, but he is far less reliable than any of the above names, likely needing the support of teammate BOUFF and all of the experience he can possibly get in order to compete with top players in the pool. Speaking of BOUFF, he can provide support in every single lower tier, complementing the support provided by substitutes PokéTCG gamer1288, who is an OU player and a man of many ideas, Matame, and MiyoKa. Overall, the Taipans have a very strong non-SM OU core and have potential to be dangerous in SM OU too if their players work together well and overachieve with the support of their OU-competent managers. However, if their SM OU core does not pan out as expected, then things can easily go south quickly, so a lot will be in the hands of a group of shaky players if this team wishes to live up to the hype.
ABR
John
blunder
Axel
FlamingVictini
Posho
Cdumas
TheThorn
Trosko
Ban Manaphy
Leftiez
reyscarface
Omfuga
Blackoblivion
Ojama
Finchinator
njnp
Tamahome
SoulWind
Kickasser
Alexander.
p2
Malekith
Eo Ut Mortus
Tricking
Sweepage
Level 56
-Snow
Gondra
Mob Barley
reiku
Bro Kappa
welli0u
Iloveleague
Eternal Spirit
Nedor
psychicmewtwo
ez
Sabella
imsosorrylol
ABR (1), Cdumas (7), Ban Manaphy (10), Omfuga (13) - Bushmasters -
As most could expect from a quick glance, the Bushmasters have the strongest OU core on paper in the tournament, after spending their first four picks on OU. Leading off with the first overall pick in the draft, ABR has been dominating the current gen tour scene ever since his debut back in SPL7. Despite a significant drop in record between last year and this year, he has still performed very well, winning both OST and WCoP. Expectations are high for ABR in this tournament, as anything less than a phenonomal performance would be a disappoint for the first overall pick. But if anyone can achieve success, abreezy will surely find means of success, and if all else fails will simply find himself cheering "yes!" as he skillfully circumvents a loss. cdumas, despite being relatively unknown this time last year, has made a name for himself in recent time due to his very solid WCoP performance. While one exceptional performance won't convince the masses, Cdumas truly impressed many people with his run, defeating established players such as Poek and ben gay.
Ban Manaphy finds himself in a very similar spot to his teammate cdumas, relatively, if not completely, unknown a year back, but now finding himself ranked within the top ten of OU players based off of his exceptional WCoP performance. Ban Manaphy didn't defeat the big names that Cdumas did, but he won all of his games in convincing fashion, gathering a lot of hype from both his teammates and spectators. Whether these two players will live up to expectation is yet to be seen, but the two have certainly displayed they have the skillset to succeed. Rounding out the Bushmasters core is none other than Omfuga. While Omfuga has displayed his skills across generations and tiers, he finally finds himself competing in the Dugtrio-infested (for now!) metagame that is SM OU. Omfuga, while lacking in big results in official tournaments, has performed well in both WCoP and Smogon Tour with ABR's assistance, and he is most certainly expected to keep up this theme in this tournament. All and all the Bushmasters OU core is incredibly threatening, but the expectations on all players are much higher than on others at similar rankings, as if the OU players don't live up to expectation, Bushmasters manager Tony may find himself utilizing more often.
blunder (3), Ojama (15), Posho (6), ez (38) - Sidewinders - The Sidewinders SM OU core has some of the most intimidating players on it, including two Smogon Tour champions and one of the top players in these rankings. From a glance, many would say that this core has three superb battlers, but no builder at all. However, TDK is the manager of the Sidewinders, so he will be able to provide his own input and teams if necessary. With this said, that does not necessarily mean this core will run away with donated games every week like the Raiders did throughout SPL; Ojama still has plenty to prove in SM OU after managing to qualify for OLT, and ez was a virtual unknown to many prior to OST and WCOP, where he did not necessarily stand out a ton regardless. In addition to this, while it is true that blunder and Posho are regarded as two top-tier players in this field, blunder had a shaky SPL and Posho never stood out in SM until Smogon Tour playoffs, where he took it up a notch and defeated some top players. With everything taken into consideration, it should be no surprise that this group is considered among the best, but they're going to have to prove themselves if they wish to live up to this rank, and it isn't going to be ez.
John (2), reyscarface (12), Level 56 (27), Bro Kappa (32) - Rattlers - OUTL John is finally playing a non-WCOP tournament, which is very hyped, and the expectations for him are insanely high. He is paired with reyscarface, who went from going 10-0 in SPL with the team support of users like TDK to going 0-3 in WCoP due to low effort, refusal to change up his playstyle, and lack of teambuilding support. Level 56 was a really questionable pick, as he was taken so early, yet he only signed up for SM OU, which he has absolutely no high-level tournament experience in. With this said, he is still a generally respectable player who will render decent results in just about every setting, but you have to wonder why they did not wait a few rounds on him when he clearly was not worth the reach at that point in time given his ranking. Finally, Italian wonder kid Bro Kappa rounds out the diverse SM OU core for the Rattlers, hoping to prove his strength in the SM OU metagame after a strong WCoP. Overall, this core of players is solid, but you have to wonder how reyscarface and Level 56 will perform in this environment, so how they do could very well spell the fate for not only their SM performance, but also the entire Victory Road Rattlers team.
Leftiez (11), Kickasser (20), TheThorn (8), Sabella (39) - Serpents - Leftiez might just be the most hot-and-cold main generation OU mainstay in the history of Smogon, and he is going to need to be much more hot than cold if he wishes to lead the Serpents' SM OU to a dominant campaign. With this said, even if you get hit-or-miss Leftiez who wins live tours one day and uses Scarf Adamant Zygarde-10% another day, you still have TheThorn, who is ranked insanely high, Kickasser, who is coming off of a controversial WCoP that he never ended up playing in, and Sabella, who just qualified for OLT and won round 1 of playoffs. TheThorn has become one of the better SM OU players on Smogon right in front of our eyes over the past year or so, and this run has been pretty impressive, so it is no surprise that we expect big things from him. Kickasser had a strong Smogon Tour, qualifying for playoffs, defeating past champion Ciele, and only losing to eventual winner Posho, but he had a horrendous WCOP in which he quit his team and made himself look like a shaky pick for team tours in the future. The Serpents may be taking a risk in picking him, as even as an SM player, he is far from dominant, but he is at least passable, and who knows what will happen with him in a team environment this time around. Sabella is far from being a great player himself, but he is competent in SM OU, as shown by his qualifying for and winning round 1 of OLT playoffs. He is going to have to make strides as a player if he wishes to compete with the top half of competition, and only time will tell if he is capable of doing this. With all of these guys taken into consideration, the Serpents SM OU core turned out quite solid with the potential to be very good if either of their two lower ranked players happens to bloom into another highly respected player.
FlamingVictini (5), SoulWind (19), Alexander. (21), reiku (31) - Nagas - Smack dab in the middle of the pack you find the Nagas SM OU core consisting of four very respectable players. While SoulWind, Alexander., and reiku are not known for their play in SM OU specifically, each of them are very capable of doing well in this field, and nobody should overlook these prospects. The reason why they are so realistic prospects after all is because of the fourth man in this SM OU core, FlamingVictini. He will likely help assemble the teams for the others while also putting in maximum effort to his own preparation. SoulWind individually lacks much exposure to SM OU at a high level, but he has managed to qualify for OLT after easily over a thousand battles so that is... uhhh... something! Prinz the Jedi warrior managed to make Smogon Tour playoffs last season and even pull off a win against blunder, but many believe that his SM builds are a bit too wild to be consistent, so we will have to see if he can find some form of balance between his Italian ideas and being able to cover everything he needs to. Finally, reiku has always done well when paired with M Dragon playing OU in the tournament scene, but he has not been exposed to SM OU a ton and he needs to prove himself in this tier for people to be as confident in him as they used to be, especially after he signed up for RU and NU. Overall, this core is absolute fire in terms of playing skill, but there is more than that factoring in to who wins and these guys will have to work together to make sure they are ready for what is coming for them.
Axel (4), Blackoblivion (14), -Snow (28), Eternal Spirit (35) - Pitvipers - Led by highly ranked Axel, the Pitvipers SM OU core is full of fresh faces that have just started to solidify their positions in the tournament community, which is not something many other teams can say. However, this leads to the question: are these new faces able to use their being up to date with the metagame to their full advantage and will they be able to compete with veterans who have less SM experience, but perhaps a higher battling ceiling? I'm inclined to say yes for at least Axel and Blackoblivion. These two are both in the middle of solid showings in this years tournament circuit, with Axel's wins mostly coming from SPL and Blackoblivion's wins only coming from WCOP. With this said, -Snow is no longer some meme player who runs gimmicks every game—well, he is, but he now manages to do so while winning a few games, so perhaps he will keep that going here and do alright. Finally, Eternal Spirit rounds out their SM OU core and many see him as one of the most wild and dangerous players in the tier. Eternal Spirit takes risks like no other and he is not going to go down easy, but often times these plays can backfire and that can really derail a game for someone like him. Moreover, the Pitvipers SM OU core is going to have to rely on its top players bringing home consistent wins while its bottom two hopefully can at least hold their own weight, if not more.
Finchinator (16), Tamahome (18), Malekith (23), Eo Ut Mortus (24) - Leviathan - The Leviathans OU core is interesting to say the least, consisting of a BW OU main followed by an average join date of 2009. Finchinator is by far the most involved with the SM OU metagame of his teammates, but he hasn't played official games in this tier since SPL, where he saw moderate success. The remaining players are all more known for playing older generations, with much less dedicated involvement in SM OU, yet still some varied success. Tamahome is known as someone able to adapt to any metagame he is thrown in, and despite stomping all over the DPP OU pool in SPL, he won a crucial finals tiebreak game in SM OU for the winning Tigers. Malekith shocked everybody with a recent OST semifinals appearance, but he didn't remain too in sync with the tier until WCoP, where he had an average SM performance. Lastly, Eo rounds out the group with a mixed bag of experience in this tier, as he went winless in SPL and undefeated in World Cup, but only with a combined total of 5 games. So, what we're left with here is a tryhard and a lot of questions. Can Finch finally find his stride? Will the older bunch adapt well enough and work together, or will the lack of tier experience and teamwork cause the passionate Fincinator to dive into a Lake of Rage...
njnp (17), p2 (22), Gondra (29), Iloveleague (34) - Taipans - To put it bluntly, this ranking really does not mean too much if you think about things in the scheme of things. These four are going to be getting significant team support from njnp himself for a small fee of $4.99 per team and both managers, KratosMana and CrashinBoomBang. Much like the Scooters SM OU core during SPL, this group is comprised of players that they see potential in that are willing to work with them. njnp will likely end up the most independent of the four when it comes to preparing on his own, as he has a strong, creative grasp on teambuilding, but many believe that his play is not on par with his ideas, so we shall have to wait and see how this ends up working. p2 is another man of many interesting ideas, but sometimes he could use some support to hone them in and use them in an effective fashion, so this team is a great fit for him. Gondra is another respectable pick who is quite underrated as a battler and could surely use the help with his team choices. Rounding out the core is one of the last men standing in OST and Canadian SM OU starter Iloveleague. Unfortunately, Iloveleague has either been quiet or mediocre in SM OU since the end of OST, so expectations for him have taken a big hit. While this group is not flashy and lacks the big names, it can definitely compete if the players and managers play their cards right.
Trosko (9), Sweepage (26), imsosorrylol (40), Nedor (36) - Astrotias - For a ninth-ranked SM OU core, this group actually is not too shabby. The thing is that this is kind of like saying for a farm league player, Zamrock was quite good back in SPL 6—what does that even mean? Not much, sadly. Getting on track to the four players actually starting in SM OU for the Astrotias, Trosko is easily their best SM OU player, and while he is ranked among the top 10, he is more known for his building than his gameplay. With this said, he and Sweepage should be capable of holding their own as players if all goes well, but there is so much uncertainty surrounding Sweepage, his ability to coexist with manager BKC, and his actual level of competency in SM OU that we will have to wait and see if things truly do go well. I could rip into imsosorrylol and his antics all day long, but I think it is best to focus on his gameplay, which is honestly not too bad, but it is still not on par with most of the high-level competition he will encounter. If imsosorrylol is able to branch out from his personal favorite flavor of cheese each week, then he will be able to bring home a few wins perhaps, but he has never been able to do this in the past and he even lost to a player who did not get picked in r1 of OLT playoffs, so his 40th rank is justified for the time being. Finally, Nedor quietly finds himself in their last SM OU slot and while he has not stood out this year, he is a fine addition to this lineup and adds a second strong builder to the core. Overall, this core could definitely be better, but at least three of the players have some positive performances in the past, so you cannot feel too sorry for the remainder of the Ambrette Astrotias.
Tricking (25), Mob Barley (30), welli0u (33), psychicmewtwo (37) - Gliders - The fact that a team ended up with these four all starting in SM OU is beyond my personal comprehension. The fact that they might also turn to z0mOG, who lost his last 8 SPL + WCOP appearances, over Mob Barley, who has actually had some slight form of past success, makes this core of SM OU players easily the worst in the tournament. Tricking is clearly the best player of the bunch and even then, he hardly builds his own teams at a high level in SM OU and he lacks great team support that other teams have, so nobody knows if he will even be able to field slightly above average SPL results. welli0u is a fine player, but he is prone to throwing away winnable games later on in high-pressure situations; maybe this team will be so far in the gutter that he will not have to deal with any pressure, however. Mob Barley is a wild man on a mission to take over the world, but that does not make him a standout player in SM OU. He has a flare for using interesting strategies that could give him the edge, but his gameplay still leaves a lot to be desired from time to time. Finally, psychicmewtwo is a step up from njnp attitudewise, but he is a clear downgrade as a player and this is not what a team like the Gliders needed at this point in time. Expect poor results from this SM OU core.
M Dragon - Serpents - M Dragon is one of the greatest Pokémon players of all time, so it should be no surprise seeing him atop the Ubers rankings, as he has been a top player in many other metagames throughout the past. While some may not view him as an Ubers player, it is clear that the Serpent's round 1 pick is competent in the Ubers metagame and capable of competing with the best in the field. Given that he is solid in the tier itself and his ceiling as a player is incredibly high, many expect M Dragon to stand out from the field and put up win after win this tournament. While high expectations are justified, this is M Dragon's first real, high-level SM tournament, so we are going to have to hold our breath and wait to see if the GOAT can dominate in yet another generation.
The Trap God - Bushmasters - Despite a mediocre SPL and a Double Kick Terrakion, The Trap God finds himself as #2 on the power rankings due to his incredible performance in UPL, which displayed his extremely strong fundamental skill and the ability to make risky plays if the situation calls for it. Having Omfuga on his side covers his main weaknesses: building and switching up his style. Everyone also knows that the moment you draft TTG, you're also drafting 72 of his goons, so he will have all the support he needs. With a constant rate of improvement, TTG is on the threshold of his Ubers skill and has a lot of expectations to meet.
Mazar - Nagas - It's hard to tell whether Mazar will be able to replicate his success in SPL, but when you can see the future, it's fairly easy to win. From predicting his opponent's teams every week to figuring out that a Primal Groudon lacks Stone Edge, it's as if Mazar doesn't need to put Foresight on any of his 'mons since he seems to know the move himself. Mazar hasn't touched Ubers in some time, but he's a good enough player to pick up the tier once again and dominate the tour, displaying his strong fundamental skill in WCoP and various smaller PLs. However, Mazar will need tons of help in preparing teams, since he's usually not able to execute his creative ideas. Fortunately for Mazar, his shooters are everywhere.
Dice - Leviathan - Dice has been inconsistent in Ubers tours this generation and hasn't really played the tier at a high level. However, ranking him low because of that would be a false equivalence that posits the notion that tier knowledge trumps strong fundamentals. Contextualizing players in the tiers that they are known in is usually an inefficient method to determine how they will perform in other metagames. One would need to understand that behind the teams used, behind every trigger pulled, the underlying decision making and ability to measure risk versus reward is fundamental to success. Dice has shown that with his robust playing ability and prolific team building, he deserves this rank.
Pohjis - Taipans - Pohjis, also known as luckjis, finally earned himself a starter spot in an official team tournament after serving as support throughout SPL and only playing once the Ruiners were knocked out of playoffs contention. Pohjis is a very intelligent player and has a ton of experience in Ubers, such as making it far in various seasonals and even winning this year's UPL, but he does have an issue with nerves. In high-pressure situations, Pohjis struggles to see the correct path to winning a game or tends to take the suboptimal route. With the help of his managers, Pohjis hopes to overcome his nerves and can easily be a top Ubers player in the tour.
Fireburn - Rattlers - The tier leader who's often seen as "the tier leader who's bad and doesn't play" hopes to prove this notion wrong. Fireburn actually had a solid SPL after being bought in midseason, defeating opponents like Hack, Astounded, and Level 56. He hopes to also take this tour by storm with his interesting teams and solid plays. Fireburn's main issues lie in his predictability, both in teams and in play. If he wants to find significant success, he needs to change up his style and be willing to think outside the box in terms of team building.
Evuelf - Sidewinders - Returning to Ubers after two years, Evuelf has a lot of catching up to do. Though he's been seen devoting time to learning the tier, Evuelf is definitely behind in terms of metagame knowledge and playing experience compared to his competitors. Moreover, poor tournament results as of recent isn't helping his case either, as there really is not much else to work with when it comes to Evuelf and SM Ubers. He will certainly need all the help he gets from his teammates, who do happen to know Ubers quite well, so all he truly has to do is improve his ability to execute in the tier and he should be able to compete at similar levels to those that he did in the past, when he was seen as one of the better players in Ubers fields that are arguably stronger than this one.
Thimo - Astrotias - Despite creating 14 out of 15 stall teams that exist in the tier, getting Baton Pass single-handedly banned, and winning many games with Barbaracle, Thimo finds himself in the 8th spot due to his relative lack of experience in official tours. There is certainly a lot of hype surrounding Thimo among the tournament crowd due to his creative approach to team building. He's often able to craft teams that play themselves, but this is also a double-edged sword, since it becomes predictable. Thimo is expected to do well if he's able to significantly improve his level of play and overcome any nerve issues. His confidence in himself is certainly not lacking though.
Lacus Clyne - Pitvipers - Ubers's favorite weeb returns for Snake after an SPL that left many people asking a question: why was she bought in the first place? Lacus showed in her games that despite not really making objectively wrong plays, she's not able to attain or maintain momentum and allows her opponents to just walk all over her. This passive style is a death sentence in a tier like Ubers, where even one free turn can end the game. However, all is not lost. Lacus has quite an interesting approach to preparation, often utilizing underrated 'mons and unique movesets, and has become more self sufficient. She even finds herself in a familiar team environment, which really should just help her thrive.
Arii Stella - Gliders - One of Ubers's very own, Arii Stella makes her debut in a major tournament scene. Although she has had inconsistent results across all Ubers tournaments, Arii wants to perform well in this one to bring legitimacy to Ubers mains. Arguably the least experienced out of the Ubers players, Arii has a lot on her plate—which will make it interesting to witness whether she can overcome her nervousness and teambuilding hurdles or not. Her teambuilding is fairly average and her level of play is nothing spectacular. Despite this, Arii can certainly outdo herself with support and the right mindset.
Star - Pitvipers - Considered one of Pakistan's finest, Starmaster is known foremost for his comments in a John game. To a lesser extent, he's also known in his proficiency in the tier, though; a top pick in LC for quite some time, Star is no newcomer to the scene. Though he had a few shaky games early on in SPL, he pulled off a convincing win in the finals of the tournament and dominated in the recent LCPL with a very good record. Star will certainly be the player to watch out for going into this tournament.
OP - Astrotias - Consistency is the name of OP's game. A veteran of numerous LC tournaments, OP repeatedly proves that he can be relied upon to play LC at the highest level; even his 0-4 start in SPL 8 was turned into a 4-5 by the end of the season. His vast knowledge of the LC metagame combined with the effort he puts into preparing his teams lets him utilize a variety of solid and sometimes innovative builds to excellent effect.
ZoroDark - Taipans - Since reaching finals in LC Open IV a couple of years ago, ZoroDark has firmly established himself as one of the strongest LCers around. Two years of experience playing LC in SPL and a position on the LC council means that he no longer requires another dedicated LCer to help him prepare his teams as he did during his SPL runs, though several of his teammates have at least some experience in LC to aid in testing. His tournament experience combined with his playing ability will surely place him as a top contender.
Kingler12345 - Sidewinders - The two-time Raider LC player and substitute is now getting his chance to shine in the rainbow spotlight of this tournament as a full-time starter. Despite introducing a brand of horrible jokes and memes to the tournament community, Kingler12345 has developed into one of the better LC players out there, consistently bringing teams that fit his fast-paced playstyle and competing with some of the best players in the field in tournaments such as LCPL. It is true that Kingler12345 is associated with the "lucky and bad" crowd and he has gotten bailed out of a number of serious tournament games by his luck, but this versatile Indian has recently proven his worth with a strong run in the LC Open and he hopes to continue this streak of success in the Snake Draft.
Dundies - Leviathan - Despite having only gotten into LC relatively recently, Dundies continues to be touted by many veteran LCers as the next big hit, and it's not hard to see why. Some doubt has been cast upon his potential in this tournament by his relative inexperience and lack of especially notable successes in LC tours, managing only decent records in LCPL and the Spring Seasonal, but the former PU main has proven himself to be a consistently solid player and one of the most capable teambuilders around. It looks like his hard work is finally beginning to pay off with his position in the top 4 of Summer Seasonal, notably knocking out ggggd and Kingler12345 in the process: perhaps Snake Draft will be his chance to truly achieve LC stardom.
Heysup - Serpents - There was once a time when Heysup could justly be considered the single best LC player around, but since then, the rest of the community has had plenty of time to catch up. While he played well in SPL 8, Heysup has since had far less time and motivation to commit to the game. His LC ability appears to have taken a turn for the worse as a result, getting knocked out early on in LC Open and Summer Seasonal while sticking to DPP LC in LCPL. Outside of these tours, he hasn't made much of an effort to keep up with the metagame at all. Of course, should Heysup choose to invest more time into LC and make a comeback, there is no doubt that he has what it takes to become one of the LC pool's biggest threats.
Sken - Bushmasters - Since being drafted by the BIGS in the midseason of SPL 7, Sken has been a mainstay in the LC tournament scene. While Sken is certainly considered a very good LCer, he unfortunately consistently earns rather average, though not horrible, records at the highest level of play. He did decently overall in SPL 8 and the two Seasonals, showing some creative teambuilding and good fundamentals, but he sometimes drops games that he shouldn't due to slightly imprecise play.
ggggd - Gliders - Though this will be his first trophy team tournament, ggggd has been razing LC tournaments to the ground long before he met COPPA requirements. Pablo's attachment to Webs has been frowned upon in the past, but he has made a noticeable effort to diversify his teams recently. Years of experience and an excellent tournament record are evidence of a fearsome competitor; on top of winning the LC Spring Seasonal, one of the largest and most competitive LC tournaments to date, he was able to make it relatively far into the Summer Seasonal, and he has strong overall records in both LCPL and POWC. That being said, this will still be ggggd's first major tour; while he has proven that he is an exceptionally capable LCer, it remains to be seen if the nerves will get to him.
GOAO - Rattlers - The mini ggggd is mostly known for his short stature and temper, but behind the facade of a troubled young man lies the boy who got Heysup through SPL. While he hasn't been quite as active for the past couple of months, GOAO has still taken the time to keep up with metagame trends and repeatedly toe the line for a ban from the LC Discord. If he remains motivated throughout the tournament, he may be able to take advantage of his decent teambuilding and fantastic playing ability to pull off some wins.
tko - Nagas - Although he helped a few SPL players here and there, tko was unspectacular in various tournaments and found himself largely ignored as a high level LC player. Then came LCPL 6, where he was bought for just 13k. This proved to be a worthy investment when he ended 7-0 in SM LC and 8-0 overall, taking out notable players such as Dundies, Fiend, Zebraiken, and Jox in the process. While his LC Open run was cut short, his teams continue to see success, contributing to his reputation as a talented builder. This tour will be where we find out whether his LCPL run was merely a fluke or indicative of one of LC's all time greats.
MajorBowman - Gliders - A DOU and VGC veteran, MajorBowman takes the number one spot on these rankings after strong showings in both SPL and the Doubles OU Circuit, making finals in DOU Tour and qualifying for DLT playoffs. He'll look to add a trophy to his collection after winning this most recent iteration of SPL. The only real question is his teambuilding—not known as the greatest builder, will he perform up to expectations without another DOU player on his team?
Biosci - Taipans - While not very active in the DOU community, Biosci is always picked up when team tournaments roll around, and for good reason. Biosci finished SPL 8 with a sparkling 8-3 record, the best of any DOU player, and contributed largely to the Indie Scooters' run to the finals. It seems like he is underestimated when SPL rolls around every year, but his place at #2 in the Snake Tour power rankings is absolutely deserved. While he no longer flies under the radar, we have no indication that Biosci will be slowing down anytime soon.
Kaori - Sidewinders - One of the most established and respected players in both the DOU and VGC communities comes off a very solid performance in SPL and Doubles Premier League. After taking a short break from DOU, Kaori looks poised to put up another good record, having shed his VGC name and deciding to embrace the weeb-ish DOU culture. At his best Kaori is a very difficult opponent to both prepare for and outplay as his good SPL record shows. What remains to be seen is whether his break from Doubles will have any lingering effects in the early phases of this tournament or whether he will return with his trademark team building skills intact and ready to dominate the competition once again.
Stax - Rattlers - Arguably the most consistent Doubles players of the past two generations, Stax unsurprisingly found himself another starting spot in a large team tournament. While his SPL debut was shaky, he found his stride again after the conclusion of SPL 8 by winning the first iteration of the Smogon DOU Tour. His ranking of #4 seems low considering his individual tournament success, but he is known to be somewhat susceptible to the pressure that accompanies large tournaments such as snake tour. As he gains experience in high-pressure situations and his confidence grows, look for Stax to pull out some great results.
Demantoid - Serpents - Demantoid is a player new to the team tournament scene but his results in the Doubles Circuit speak for themselves. Coming off multiple top finishes in seasonal, including winning the first SM Seasonal of the year, and a playoff appearance in DOU tour. Demantoid has a reputation for popularizing niche Pokémon such as Porygon-Z, being a very difficult opponent to defeat in a best-of-three and for his cringeworthy memes. While his success is unquestionable in the DOU Circuit it will be interesting to see how well this translates to the team tournament stage that has been difficult for many renowned DOU players to succeed on.
miltankmilk - Nagas - Making his debut as a starting doubles player in snake tour, miltankmilk was key to the Tigers' success in SPL 8 as a building and testing partner for both DOU and singles tiers. While he doesn’t have as strong a tournament resume as some of the other names on this list, he has the potential to produce some good results, and his proficiency in other tiers is not to be underestimated when it comes to contributing to his team. Strong teambuilding and tournament experience should lead miltankmilk to a respectable record.
Memoric - Astrotias - A mainstay in DOU for a few years now, Memoric is a dependable player that will rarely be upset by someone he should beat. This makes him a very solid pick for a tournament like Snake Tour, as you can consistently count on him to do his job. While the tier has progressed and newer players have begun to see more tournament success than Memoric, count on him to successfully punch above his weight at least a couple times during this tournament.
Level 51 - Pitvipers - Having been around since the tier's inception, Level 51 is one of the most experienced players in the tier as far as time goes, but this is his first foray into a larger team tour. Boasting a number of strong seasonal finishes over the past couple years and qualifying for VGC Worlds in 2016 by winning Singpore Nationals, it's hard to deny that the talent is there, but will he be able to piece everything together and put up a strong record without any DOU support on his team?
Jhon - Leviathan - Known as one of the best players in the Battle Spot community, Jhon is a fresh face in the DOU community. An undefeated showing in DPL (mostly in ORAS) and a second place finish at 2016 UK VGC Nationals are his largest claims to fame in Doubles metagames, so it will be exciting to watch how he develops in a trophy tour environment. His teammate Croven should provide ample support as well, though he hasn't played very much DOU as of late.
marilli - Bushmasters - While nobody in this field is a new face, marilli is someone who has burst onto the tournament scene in DOU fairly recently. Sporting some respectable finishes/records in the DOU Circuit tournaments and in Doubles Premier League, marilli has earned a spot in the Smogon Snake Draft. While marilli has seen success in many different Doubles tournaments, a tournament playing host to players of this caliber could prove difficult to marilli, who lacks a real top finish and has shown tendencies to bring more niche options in team tournaments. With the aid of qsns, marilli should still be able to pick up several wins throughout the tournament.
Pearl - Gliders - UU Superstar Pearl enters this tournament and tier with high expectations after being a Round 1 pick for a lower tier! Pearl finds himself at the top of the power rankings, and that is by no means undeserved. After doing constantly well in basically everything UU related like going quite far in UU Open, having an amazing UUPL record, and moderating the UU forums, Pearl finally wants to play the UU tier in this tournament after managing the previous tournaments he participated in that included lower tiers. It's safe to say that Pearl will give a very hard time to his groups. Let's just hope for 2 things: his surroundings won't decrease his dedication and motivation and that his League of Legends addiction won't get in his way of performing up to snuff.
Sacri' - Nagas - The Frenchman has been on a tear in SM UU tournaments, obtaining an impressive 8-1 record in UUPL, and he is currently in the semifinals of UU Open. There isn't a doubt that he is an active player with a solid knowledge of the tier, but this is his first appearance in one of Smogon's major team tournaments. Some questions may be whether he can meet expectations or will he fold to other quality players, some of whom also actively play SM UU. Regardless, Sacri' deserves the hype when considering his impressive playing in the tier the past few months.
McMeghan - Astrotias - The big titan McMeghan finds himself in a big spot in a little tier. After a very solid showing in UU Open, Roro wants to continue with this tier by playing it in this tournament, proving to others to be a more-than-capable lower tier player after mostly playing old gens and current OU gens. We all know how dangerous this Belgian monstrosity can be when he puts a lot of effort and passion into what he is doing. What is noticeable is that he mostly relied on others' teams such as builds from TDK, who is an enemy now. This, however, shouldn't be a problem, since he has UU ladder god pif on his side, most likely supporting him as best as he can.
Lycans - Serpents - The Venezuelan wonderkid deservingly takes the 4th spot on this list, since he is a very proven player in UU and in general, as he has been exploring a lot of other tiers lately where he puts up nothing other than positive results. However, he is placed this high because of the incredible support he has in having dodmen as the manager, who's probably the best UU player and builder at the moment, so that only can end with a lot of nice teams and wins that we can expect by watching the Bebe Rexha fanboy; let's hope he will continue his golden streak. What's worth mentioning is that Lycans has one of the worst Internet connections to ever exist, which is kind of dangerous considering how many people on Smogon would easily take the timer win, so watch out for that!
Tesung - Taipans - Tesung is probably one of the most skilled players that has ever blessed Smogon with his presence. The two-time Smogon Tour champion has had enough of bullying people around in OU tiers and has moved down to UU where he is looking out for some blood. Luckily for his opponents, Tesung hasn't been actively playing Pokémon recently, and he is definitely lacking support in UU, as he doesn't really have someone to build for or with him. Otherwise, he would be competing for one of the top spots for this tier, but for now, he is placed fairly at 5th.
Pak - Sidewinders - Pak has always been a threat under the radar; his name was thrown through the air but never really got caught until now where he finally gets to prove himself on a big stage. He is a very talented player who puts up results in basically every UU tournament he participates in. It doesn't matter whether it's ORAS or SM, since he's been actively playing UU for quite a long time now, so let's see how he will do and if he can handle the pressure.
teal6 - Pitvipers - The most handsome and nicest ex-Tournament Director Smogon ever had rightfully takes the 7th spot on this list. The Emma Stone fanatic has a lot of impressive results in the UU scene like making UU Open finals, going 8-1 in SPL 7, and creating the best hyper offense team in UU of all time going for him. Unfortunately, these are all in ORAS, so he doesn't really have much speaking for him in SM. Nonetheless, he is a player with great capabilities and a high skill ceiling, which combined with ict's coordination will lead to big success if he takes it seriously enough.
HT - Leviathan - The toenail has always been sort of decent performance-wise, though he doesn't really have any results either other than going 0-1 in SPL 7, which isn't really representative of what he's capable of. However, HT has always been fairly involved in the UU scene and definitely knows what he's doing, so it's safe to say that he will put up a fight against his groups' opponents
bugzinator - Bushmasters - bugzinator is the big wild card in the group of UU players, having a decent track record in prior SPLs and delivering teal6 his only loss of SPL 7, but he has shaky activity and has not played since UUPL. Also, not to mention that he has already left his team chat and lost all his Phase 1 matches. If bugzinator decides to put in solid effort, he could put up some wins.
Manipulative - Rattlers - After a solid showing during ORAS and a quiet few months in SM, our favorite awkward Firebot poster Manipulative found himself 10th in the rankings. Manager Christo is one of Manipulative's biggest supporters, which is likely why he got a chance to begin with. Manipulative is simply not seen as one of the top SM players and has never stood out in this setting, so being successful will be a challenge for him. However, he was seen as a respectable ORAS player, and perhaps he can regain this title if he uses the support on his team properly. Only time will tell if Manipulative will flop like his ranking predicts or if he will shine in the spotlight of the Snake Draft tournament!
-Tsunami- - Taipans - Bop, thele it is, the prestigious RUTL, shakeitup, aka [VoD]Metabeast, aka steeleagle17, tops the rankings for RU. Compared to the rest of the field, -Tsunami-'s tournament experience and success is unmatched, and his play is considered by most to be a step above the rest of the field. On top of this, his metagame knowledge is as good as or superior to that of the rest of the field. Its been a while since his undefeated 10-0 season in SPL 4, but it looks like he is set up for another good season as long as he stays on top of his game.
Chill Shadow - Rattlers - Former PO prodigy and Smogon Tour qualifier Chill Shadow is finally getting his chance to leave the spotlight of the OU scene and play his true main tier in a big tournament, in RU. While there have been questions all over the community about how active Chill Shadow has been as of late and if he truly plays SM RU at a high level, he seems confident that his metagame knowledge and playing ability will be up to the test. If he wishes to prove his #2 ranking correct, then Chill will certainly need to show that he is indeed competent and at a high level of play. Without team and scouting advice being thrown at him from every single country in existence from the massive Wolfpack roster, Chill will have to work very hard to get out of the shadow they casted above him when it came to support throughout SPL when he made a strong run in ORAS OU. Moreover, Chill Shadow's abilities in every regard will be what determines if he can live up to the hype and the ranking this Snake Draft!
Lord Esche - Leviathan - The RUPL king himself has found his way into the Snake Draft field after a very impressive run in recent months. Lord Esche is not necessarily the most well-known player, and he has not been around forever, but he has shown a lot of promise to just about everyone who has followed RU seriously and consistently dating back to earlier on in SM. He managed to go 8-1 in RUPL and build for his entire team in SM RU, leading to just about everyone on that roster in SM going positive. Of course, RUPL is a vastly different environment from Snake Draft or any other high-level, official team tournament and his skills in terms of battling and teambuilding will be put to test, but there is a foundation for success in this metagame present. Unfortunately, Lord Esche is one of the most inexperienced in the field when it comes to settings like this and that will make living up to his top 3 ranking a challenge, so only time will tell if he can keep going at the same pace he has been recently.
col49 - Sidewinders - col49 returns from the dead to come in at number 4 in this season's power ranks. Well-known as one of RU's foremost metagamers and a voracious team builder, 49's ability to read into metagame trends and respond accordingly will be one of his greatest strengths in this tournament. If his playing ability matches his metagame knowledge, 49 should do quite well. However, historically his performance in team tournaments has been pretty mediocre. On top of this, his activity level in SM has not been quite as high as it was in previous generations, meaning there might be some initial rust in his play. If 49 can shake this off and match his playing ability to his team building skill, he should be one of the top RU performers in this Snake; if not he's in for another season with a below average record.
Soulgazer - Serpents - Former top NU player Soulgazer has fled from the land of bottom-dwellers in NU to the play tier that nobody else truly wanted to play from the outside in attempts to farm wins alongside -Tsunami-. Unfortunately for Soulgazer, he does not have the experience of his bopping Indian ex-Classiest teammate -Tsunami-, but he definitely has the playing ability to compete with anyone in this field. Soulgazer has put up some of the best NU records in multiple SPLs in the past and he seems to be much more passionate about RU this generation than NU, so it is likely that the success he had in NU will translate to RU. It could potentially be a rocky transition at first due to lack of familiarity with the depths of the tier and playerbase, but Soulgazer is a very high-ceiling pick, and seeing as he is ranked in the middle of the pack, he can easily overachieve thanks to this playerbase lacking his one true fear, CasedVictory. With this said, if Soulgazer happens to get lazy or be too preoccupied attending to his bald spot, then he can easily get overwhelmed by players who have much more experience in the tier and end up having an unsuccessful season, so his results ultimately are in the hands of his motivation and willingness to adapt.
Meru - Nagas - Now seen as a veteran, Meru is back for another big tournament in the lower tier scene. Previously, Meru has done well in lower tiers in SPL and he is now in the SM RU spotlight for this edition of Snake Draft. Despite being notorious for being lucky and bad or not as good as his record says, it is true that Meru has still won a lot of important games over the years and he is not someone to underrated. With this said, Meru's competency in the SM RU metagame is most definitely in question, seeing as he really has not been playing the tier in the public eye at all and we are unsure of how Meru can handle things without the experience that he's had in the past. Moreover, Meru's success will likely lie in the hands of his ability to learn the tier in a fairly small period of time and adapt to the playerbase.
Ajna - Pitvipers - Another one of the players on the list that are extremely active in RU but have only broken into the tournament scene more recently. Unlike Lord Esche, he hasn't stormed the RU scene, dazzling the playerbase with his teambuilding prowess; rather, he's had a series of quiet successes that have shown his ability to hold his own with the top RUers, including his deep (ongoing as of this writing) run into the RU Open 6. However, this is his first time on the big stage in an official team tournament. It remains to be seen whether Ajna's quiet success will continue in this tournament or if he will stumble due to his inexperience.
Natalie. - Bushmasters - Probably the most enigmatic name on this list, even to those that are familiar with the RU playerbase. Natalie. has done well in several unofficial RU tournaments, including the most recent RUPL, where she went 5-2... in ORAS RU. Natalie. has very little to show in terms of official tournament results, and even less to show in terms of SM RU, and it seems likely that her lack of experience will come into play here. While she is definitely an underdog in this competition, she shouldn't be underestimated and could pull off some surprising upsets if her opponents don't take her seriously.
SilentVerse - Gliders - The first of the two people drafted for RU in SPL 7 and not Snake Draft 1, SilentVerse finds himself near the bottom of the RU rankings. While this is a common trend, SilentVerse has done very well even in recent team tournaments, in spite of the fact he is regarded as "washed up" and "rusty". That being said, SilentVerse has never been as inactive going into a tournament as he is going into Snake. He is quite possibly the player with the highest skill cap on this list, but it seems unlikely for him to reach his full potential on a team when he's more concerned with mastering the latest LoL champion than keeping up with a new RU metagame. If SilentVerse's managers manage to get his LoL account deleted he is one of the most threatening players on the list, if not his number 9 ranking is probably fitting.
mael - Astrotias - Mostly known as a jack of all trades but master of none, Mael is back to make another run at team tournament success. After a respectable SPL showing in SM OU and DPP OU, Mael now finds himself back in what some might consider his old stomping grounds, RU. However, he is seen as a questionable pick in the eyes of many after some SPL antics and the fact that he lacks true experience in this setting. That has never stopped Mael from making things work in the past, but he does have his work cut out if he wishes to learn how to teambuild and play in this metagame. Therefore, instead of critiquing his teammates' teams and going through a vicious cycle of quitting-and-returning whenever something goes wrong with his team, perhaps Mael will dedicate his time to becoming a top SM RU player to make his fellow metal enthusiast friend BKC's pick justified.
FLCL - Leviathan - Coming in first in the inaugural Snake Draft power rankings for NU is FLCL. He takes his rightful place after probably playing NU for the longest and with the most success out of anyone in the field. He's been on a rampage in tournaments recently, with a 3-0 WCoP, 7-1 NUPL, and great placements in Grand Slam. That combined with his already great NU tournament record makes FLCL a clear choice for number one. Expectations are even higher, as another strong NU player, Finchinator, happens to be on the roster to provide any support necessary. With this said, FLCL does have a few things against him, mainly in terms of a middling team tour record from past SPLs and a long break from playing NU in big tours due to him managing the two previous SPLs. Everything considered, if FLCL fully applies himself and does not let all of the anime girls get to his head, then he should do very well in this tournament.
meepsvictory - Pitvipers - Coming back from a long hiatus from competitive Pokémon, old PO player and dog enthusiast meeps has had a very strong showing early on in generation seven. Despite having a weak SPL two years ago, finishing with one win, seven losses, and one infamous anti-shoutout from his manager, meeps has shown a new side of himself as a player in the SM NU tier. He has managed to create or popularize multiple team archetypes and various Pokémon in the metagame that have surfaced on many teams in tournaments and helped shape the tier as we currently know it. With this said, lots of metagame knowledge will not get meeps too far if he continues to play challenging situations passively, so he has to break out of this habit if he wishes to justify his number two ranking!
Hootie - Sidewinders - Newly appointed Tier Leader Hootie makes his team tournament debut in Snake, and there are high expectations for him already. After a stellar NUPL and decent NU Open run, Hootie is hoping to transfer that success over to Snake, though he will be facing a very different level of competition once the tournament starts. Not many players in the tournaments community have seen him play too much, as he has been relatively quiet, even among other tiers, despite leading OU C&C and playing a large amount of both OU and NU last generation. This makes him a pretty big question mark, as it's unknown if he will be able to play under the high pressure this tournament will have and if he will compete with the playerbase like he has in smaller tournaments. It is true, however, that Hootie has had the widespread success that only really Meeps has had so far in SM NU, so his high ranking is somewhat justified regardless of experience. The next few weeks will show if Hootie will sink or swim when thrown into the deep end!
Rodriblutar - Rattlers - Grand Slam V finalist and Spanish enigma Rodriblutar is making his lower tier debut in team tournaments after an average SPL in ORAS OU and WCoP in SM OU. After his great runs in both Grand Slam and NUPL, many people expect Rodriblutar to do well in Snake. However, he lacks the ability to teambuild and will be reliant on friends or his fellow teammate and Tier Leader Kiyo in order to get a team for every match. If he is able to overcome this hurdle, there isn't going to be a lot stopping him, as even in NUPL, he was able to put an end to both Hootie's and meeps's undefeated streaks, which is quite the impressive feat. As long as Rodriblutar is familiar with the metagame and well equipped for his matches, the Spanish wonder will be a strong player in this field.
Jayde - Astrotias - After a stellar SPL and a rollercoaster ride of a WCoP in BW OU, Jayde makes his SM tour debut in the NU tier after a long hiatus from playing NU, dating back to SPL 5 in BW. Hopefully, for the Astrotias sake, Jayde will not end up as Fuzznip food like he did during his aforementioned NU stint as a Scooter. With this said, Jayde has recently been on the NU grind, laddering in suspects for reqs and taking part in some metagame discussions on Discord, so he is not totally new to the metagame coming into the tournament. However, some who know the tier and playerbase well question if he can make a full transition in time for the tournament. If Jayde is able to, then he will surely be in the mix with the top players seeing how good a player he is. If he is not, then this could turn out to be a risk that was not worthwhile for his team, and Jayde could struggle mightily against competent NU players that fill out the remainder of the tier's player pool.
Blast - Gliders - One of the players that has the most experience playing NU in tournaments, Blast is coming back from his last showing in SPL7. Since then, he has remained fairly quiet and under the radar, which can be said for his performances in past SPLs as well. With average showings in past SPLs and not much since then, many are curious if Blast can finally solidify himself as one of the top NU players or just slowly fade away into obscurity, as he has been consistently average, even factoring in a strong first SPL.
Lax - Serpents - A recent discovery, Lax has made a fast name for himself with a great showing in Grand Slam, at one point topping the leaderboard with an almost guaranteed spot in playoffs. However, that is about the extent of his NU prowess, as he had a mediocre NUPL and not a whole lot of other NU accomplishments. This combined with his only team tour experience being 2 games this prior WCoP makes Lax a huge question mark as to whether or not he will be able to do well. He, however, does have quite a bit of support from a recent NU discovery in Garay Oak to help teambuild and longtime NU veteran Soulgazer for any support he may need. With this said, the support offered could also end up being his downfall, as he knows how quickly his managers would be able to replace him if his playing is not up to par.
Eternally - Taipans - The trainee of the recently departed rozes, Eternally is making his tournament debut with this Snake Draft. Unknown to a large portion of the tours community, Eternally has mainly stayed within the NeverUsed community with his forum posts and analyses. The biggest thing he has going against him is his large lack of tournament knowledge, only having played in the recent NUPL and no other large tournament success to speak of. He also has been playing NU for a decently short time compared to some of the other players on the list; however, his knowledge is almost unmatched when it comes to the tier. Let's see if he'll be able to play under pressure he's never had before, or if he'll go back to his forum posting with his head held low.
Kushalos - Nagas - Kushalos is someone that plays almost every lower tier and seemed to care more about the PU Classic than his WCoP team. He appears to be taking up NU for Snake Tournament on the Nagas. After being ranked 10th in SPL 2 years ago as an RUer and proceeding to go 0-3, Kushalos has not had a lot going for him. His distinct lack of playing NU as much as some of the other players on this list, as well as his lack of recent accomplishments, definitely put him on the back foot when it comes to NU this Snake. His less than standard builds, often relying on highly questionable sets, and inability to branch out may lead to his downfall this Snake. Many believe it will be a surprise if he manages to do well in this tournament, but perhaps he can disprove his low ranking by taking advantage of some inexperienced opponents throughout the playerbase.
Yui. - Bushmasters - An unknown to just about everyone in the tournaments community besides the relics of PO, Yui is here to make his first big splash in an official tournament. Known for...nothing...spamming gimmicks on the ladder with moderate levels of success, Yui is certainly competent in the SM NU metagame. With this said, his level of play leaves a lot to be questioned seeing as he has been on-and-off playing for many years yet has never cracked into the tournament scene, and he was never considered too dominant on the ladder either. While he does have support from teammates such as Omfuga and snagaa, many people question Tony's decision to gamble on Yui, and time will tell if this was a stroke of genius or a blunder.
TDK & Mazinger - Sidewinders - The managers of the Sootopolis Sidewinders are two esteemed users, both respected throughout the tournament community and holding noteworthy positions on Smogon. TDK is seen as one of the main reasons for the dominance of team US East in WCOP as well as one of the best players and builders in SM OU, while Mazinger has had many strong performances as a player and is seen as a great chat presence. It should be no surprise that this pair is seen as the best managerial duo given how much both of them offer to their team.
KratosMana & CrashinBoomBang - Taipans - The Terminus Taipans managers are two of the better SM OU players in the community and definitely two of the more influential users in the entire group. KratosMana is one of the most well-liked, friendly presences in the OU community, and he has dabbled in numerous other tiers, always having his own creative take on how to approach things. On the flip side, CrashinBoomBang is a bit more of a controversial presence, but his players in SPL all loved his presence and said he was very helpful, so he clearly is doing something right as a manager regardless of all of the outside noise. Expect these two to arm their SM OU core with the tools to win games and lead their team to victory as a whole.
Tony & Gingy - Bushmasters - The Berry Forest Bushmasters might have the worst team name, but they certainly have the one of the most handsome and friendly managerial duos. Tony is easily one of the best managerial figures in the field, always on top of everything he possibly can be while also being an actually approachable and friendly individual. On top of that, Gingy offers valuable OU experience and another friendly face. While neither of these two is necessarily a veteran in terms of managing, Tony has some experience under his belt after WCOP and neither should struggle when it comes to communicating with their roster, so there are high hopes for this managerial pair.
Jirachee & BKC - Astrotias - What do you get when you combine two sand balance BW players? A pretty average Snake Draft managerial pair, apparently. Unfortunately for the Ambrette Astrotias, all that these two are as managers in this field is pretty average despite both being great players who have impacted the development of older metagames. Neither Jirachee nor BKC is as up-to-date as other managers when it comes to some of the tiers in the tournament, and some can argue this was reflected in their draft pick of a certain apologetic SM OU player. With this said, Jirachee and BKC are both very good users to have on your team due to the helpful nature of both and how passionate BKC tends to be, so hopefully the upside they bring to the table is not clouded too much by lack of new-generation exposure and they can be positive presences to their entire team.
Zebraiken & d0nut - Leviathan - The US Central core have joined forces again to manage the Snake Draft, taking charge of the Lake of Rage Leviathans. Zebraiken and d0nut are not necessarily two of the biggest names in the tournament community and many people feel that they are one of the least appealing teams to be on because of this, but many feel that their draft exceeded expectations, and perhaps that led to their being ranked a bit higher than some would think. With this said, Zebraiken has had minimal success playing wise over the past few years and has faded away from relevance in general since resigning from being head TD, while d0nut has always been a soft-spoken GSC main that has dabbled in various other settings, but never developed staying power in any, leaving the pair's ability to help out their team in serious question and acting as a limiting factor for this managerial duo.
obii & dodmen - Serpents - The Shinto Ruin Serpents are managed by two tournament players that are in touch with what is going on right now and are both solid players, in obii and dodmen. With this said, neither of them has extensive managerial experience, and obii himself is still relatively new to the tournament community. Additionally, both obii and dodmen are friendly, helpful individuals, but both of them are a bit passive personality wise, so hopefully they can get and keep control over their whole team, else a certain Spaniard might as well be in charge. It is safe to say that these guys will provide plenty of testing and building support for their Ubers, OU, and UU players, setting a good tone for their entire roster to work together, but you have to wonder if they will be able to make the tougher decisions and truly lead the team, so that is why they are ranked towards the lower end of the middle as opposed to higher up. Will obii finally grow a pair and take control of things and will dodmen be a bit more active in the chat than most expect him to be, or will this team end up a mess?
ict & Poek - Pitvipers - Coming in seventh is the Pacifidlog Pitvipers managerial pair, ict and Poek. Both of these guys are very likable, friendly tournament players, but neither stands out as a leader or a manager, in the opinion of many. While both of them will get along with their players and Poek will help out in OU while ict helps out in other tiers, that does not mean that they will have a sufficient level of say over their team and that they will keep everything in control, especially when faced with challenging decisions about their line-up.
Hogg & Christo - Rattlers - A pair of UnderUsed players find themselves in charge of the Victory Road Rattlers, in Hogg and Christo. Despite both being respected in the UnderUsed community, neither of these two is a particularly seasoned as manager. Many thought that this pair was on the bubble when it came to actually getting picked to manage this tournament compared to other managerial duos that signed up, but they eventually did get the nod. Their draft certainly had its ups and downs and they will have to exceed expectations if they want to keep their whole team in line and lead their team to playoffs, but if they get things going and adapt to the managerial role well, then their roster has a lot of potential upsides.
Hikari & Leru - Nagas - One of the most successful team tournament players and an unknown pair up to form the managerial duo for the Lanakila Nagas. Hikari has been to the playoffs of pretty much every big tournament he has played and won every single playoff game he has played, but he has minimal managerial experience on Smogon and some wonder if he is the best type of character to handle the job, even thinking that he was not the most suited of the sign-ups to get the position. On top of this, Leru is really not one to boost their cumulative resume in this regard seeing as he is fairly new to Smogon and does not have any presence whatsoever in the tournament community. Hikari can be a great player and helper for the sake of his own team, but if he disagrees with someone or things do not go his way, he can also turn into one of the more abrasive classless cunts (oh dear) users in the community and he must go out of his way to avoid letting this interfere with the success of his team if the inexperience managerial pair led by him wishes to have a strong showing this tournament.
Ciele & Funkasaurus - Gliders - Close friends and members of the SPL 8 Bigs Ciele and Funkasaurus are rounding out the managerial pairs, ranked tenth and managing the Goldenrod Gliders. While both users have managerial experience, many question how solid their past performances as managers have actually been. Despite many players vouching for Funkasaurus as a manager, there have been some rough patches along the way, arguably including the draft for this tour itself. Ciele is also a fairly quiet, reserved individual who might not have too much to say in the team environment himself. This combined with the fact that Funkasaurus has not touched any SM metagames leaves us to wonder if they are truly fit to handle the position and if they truly will help their team prepare and test. With this said, both still do have experience and plenty of knowledge, so this must be of some use and will likely salvage the managerial pair ranked lowest.