Smogon Premier League 8 - Week 5 Overview
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Introduction
If you've missed last week's edition, make sure to catch it here.
The Smogon Premier League (SPL) is Smogon's most prestigious team tournament, assembling a plethora of squads filled with distinguished Pokémon battlers competing in a multitude of Smogon tiers, ranging from the minuscule threats in Little Cup to the behemoths dwelling in Ubers. In the eighth installment of one of the most highly anticipated tournaments in Smogon's yearly cycle, the ten squads will contend for the elusive Smogon Premier League trophy. This series seeks to address the weekly incidents in said tournament and provide a general overview of what exactly is going on in SPL, as well as featuring highlight matches in the aforementioned tiers. We've asked a few knowledgeable players coming from a multitude of different tiers to chime in and contribute to the weekly editions in order to obtain an unbiased and proficient outlook on the tournament. In this specific instalment, we will be covering everything related to the fifth week of SPL. For all SPL aficionados as well as casual Smogon readers, the coverage of the 8th Edition of the Smogon Premier League is a weekly must-read.
Midseason Recap
Prior to the fifth week's commencement, there was a brief week period for which SPL was put on hold. This "midseason week" saw players and managers getting ready for the upcoming second half of the season, as well as giving teams a period in which new acquisitions could be made. It was also a somewhat commemorative week, celebrating the most successful players so far with the All-Star nominations and the hard-working managers with a week of fun contests between themselves. Before we proceed into the fifth week of matches, we must therefore look at this period's most noteworthy news:
All-Star Lineups
- - SM OU: reyscarfacts (RAID) & Zamrock (CRYO)
- - SM OU: KratosMana (RAID) & FlamingVictini (WOLF)
- - SM OU: TDK (RAID) & Steve Angello (TGRS)
- - SM Ubers: Level 56 (BIGS) & Hack (RAID)
- - SM LC: Corporal Levi (SHRK) & ZoroDark (BIGS)
- - SM DOU: I Am a Rookie (SHRK) & Biosci (SCTR)
- - ORAS OU: Axel10 (SCTR) & Rodriblutar (RUIN)
- - BW OU: SoulWind (CRYO) & Jayde (RAID)
- - DPP OU: ToF (SHRK) & Philip7086 (SCTR)
- - ADV OU: Fakes (CRYO) & dekzeh (BIGS)
- - GSC OU: Mr.378 (SCTR) & BKC (RAID)
- - RBY OU: Lusch (CONG) & Peasounay (CRYO)
Midseason Free-Agent Signings
- BIGS: DaAwesomeDude1 - 4.5k
- Classiest: Fireburn - 3k
- Classiest: z0mOG - 3k
- Classiest: GOAO - 3k
- Classiest: JohnYiu - 4.5k
- Classiest: Advantage - 3.5k
- Falcons: Mizuhime - 4.5k
- Falcons: Aurious - 3k
- Falcons: ben gay - 20.5k
- Falcons: finally - 3k
- Raiders: Croven - 3k
- Ruiners: august - 4.5k
- Ruiners: Nido-Rus - 3k
- Ruiners: Hogg - 4k
- Sharks: TheFourthChaser - 3k
- Sharks: minakamiyuki - 3k
- Sharks: Analytic - 3k
- Sharks: Updated Kanto - 3k
- Sharks: Lednah - 3k
- Sharks: Bomber. - 3k
- Sharks: blarajan - 3k
- Sharks: xtra$hine - 3k
- Tigers: Century Express - 3k
- Wolfpack: Freestylerking - 3k
- Wolfpack: The Trap God - 6.5k
- Wolfpack: Fiend - 3k
Noteworthy signings
ben gay: The former ladder hero turned OU council member made quite a name for himself in the sixth generation. Notable for being overly creative (almost to a fault) and with a solid track record in tournaments including several XY/ORAS tour wins, ben gay was definitely one of the most sought-for names in this year's midseason period. After a back and forth bidding bout between several squads, the Firebot Falcons managed to land the OverUsed starlet for a hefty 20.5k. Despite not being foreign to struggling under pressure, ben gay possesses a plethora of solid and innovative teams (he chooses not to play and would rather supply his teammates with teams) and is a quality player overall, making his acquisition a major boost towards the Falcons' playoff push.
The Trap God and Fireburn: The midseason period saw two new Ubers player acquisitions in the signings of The Trap God for the Wolfpack and Fireburn for the Cryonicles (picked up and traded by the Classiest). These are especially noteworthy since Ubers has been under a lot of scrutiny since the start of the season, with only six out of ten of the Week 1 starters still in their starting spots for Ubers. The Trap God replaces a sold-back and disgruntled PROBLEMS, while Fireburn replaces the rotating Cryonicles core of Poek and psychicmewtwo. Both players are well-known performers within the Ubers community and have come into the competition following different paths. The Trap God has seen some success as of late, with solid results in the recent Ubers Open and seasonals and really blossoming during ORAS, while Fireburn does not possess many tangible tournament results as of late but has played Ubers in SPL before and is generally regarded as a solid and knowledgeable player (currently one of the Ubers Tier Leaders).
Midseason Trades and Sellbacks
Sellbacks:
- - The Wi-Fi Wolfpack have sold back PROBLEMS for extreme overall inactivity.
- - The Circus Maximus Tigers have sold back Seeme for extreme overall inactivity.
- - The Wi-Fi Wolfpack have sold back Aneel Blading for extreme overall inactivity.
Trades:
- - The Wi-Fi Wolfpack traded Tokyo Tom to the Circus Maximus Tigers for 3k auction credits.
- - The Congregation of the Classiest traded High Impulse to the Wi-Fi Wolfpack for 3k sellback credits.
- - The Team Raiders traded 2k auction credits to the Wi-Fi Wolfpack for High Impulse.
- - The Congregation of the Classiest traded 2k auction credits to the Team Raiders for High Impulse.
- - The Congregation of the Classiest traded Fireburn to the Cryonicles for mencemeat.
- - The Alpha Ruiners traded Vinc2612 to the Wi-Fi Wolfpack for 2k sellback credits.
Without further ado, let us move onto Week 5.
The Week in Review
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Following a close Week 4 loss to the Cryonicles (7-5), the Firebot Falcons came into Week 5 with high hopes, after signing a few significant players during midseason (most notably ben gay). They were matched up against the struggling Sharks, fresh off of another loss (8-4), this time at the hands of the seemingly infallible Raiders. Despite the lopsided result, the Sharks did show some promise, with dice and PDC picking up important wins and I Am a Rookie and Levi still putting up solid performances, regardless of the losses. For the surging Falcons, finally was able to pull off an interesting win in his debut, while zf also achieved an improbable, yet crucial result against Corporal Levi. Sweepage and Leftiez also remained victorious in SM OU, while Lacus Clyne pushes her streak further with an impressive showing over a disgruntled Lord Outrage, who can't seem to regain his form from previous Uber tournaments. Eventually, the Falcons revealed themselves to be the superior squad in what was a very one-sided series.
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After a remarkable week, which saw them tie against the Ruiners during Week 4, the Indie Scooters were the only team that did not make a move during midseason, signaling that managers bro fist and CrashinBoomBang seem to be satisfied with their team's performances so far. The third-placed Scooters were up against a solid BIGS team, also coming off of a tie, against the Wolfpack. Despite the overwhelming number of altercations that took place, this matchup was definitely an exciting one, with both teams ending up tied at six wins apiece following a tough series of games. Neither was able to break the deadlock in this series, despite some exhilarating games coming from both sides. For the BIGS, the Ciele and Finchinator switch seemed to pay dividends immediately, as both reached wins in BW and SM OU, respectively. Level 56 continues to further his impeccable SPL run, remaining flawless and overcoming Gunner Rohan with another round of stellar play. Similarly, the Scooters' Mr.378 also continues his run of All-Star form, with his fifth win in just as many games, this time against d0nut. Philip7086 and TheThorn pulled off positive results once more while Star and Ojama (despite Ojama's opponent in BLINGAS not being an ADV OU player whatsoever and being a last minute substitution due to dekzeh's internet issues) were able to bounce back from tough losses and add two more points towards the Scooters' win column. In its totality, the series was exceptionally enticing and competitive, giving us all a taste of what could be coming in the postseason for both of these teams, with the BIGS sitting in sixth while the Scooters maintain their third position.
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In the contest of the previously winless squads, the Wi-Fi Wolfpack was matched up against the Congregation of the Classiest. The Wolves looked to turn their fortunes around, after a solid week that ended up in a tie against the BIGS and a few midseason moves, most notably the signings of The Trap God and Freestylerking. As for the Classiest, their disastrously mediocre season could possibly be turned around, after picking up a total of five names and trading for OU star and YouTube sensation mencemeat. Despite the somewhat high hopes, the Classiest once again fell, only walking away with 4 wins. Eo and Heysup came out victorious in BW OU and SM LC while Faji defeated the debutant in The Trap God in his first match in SM Ubers. On a positive note, z0mOG was able to achieve his first win in SPL 8, after having being picked up midseason. On the other side, the Wolfpack finally won their first week, with aim also picking up his first individual result over a distressed 6A9 Ace Matador in DPP OU. FlamingVictini continues to solidify his All-Star caliber season with yet another victory, this time over Lcans. Overall, the majority of the Wolfpack did perform and they ended up taking the week with an aggregate score of 8-4, pushing the Classiest to 5 series losses in just as many weeks, aggravating Omfuga and Tsunami's issues even further. As for Pearl and rozes, they look to turn their season around and hopefully make a strong playoff push during the second half of the season.
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After finishing the first half of the season in second place and with an intense series against the Scooters, the Ruiners strolled into Week 5 against a Tigers team on a roll, having won or tied their previous three weeks. Both squads seemed primed for playoff contention, leading to an engaging and fascinating display from both sides. For the Ruiners, blunder and Astounded once more continued to impress with wins in SM OU and Ubers. Furthermore, the older generations core in ADV, GSC, and RBY OU all ended up winning their matchups, pushing the Ruiners towards a potential victory. For the Tigers, p2 and Eternal Spirit pulled off decisive wins in SM OU while McMeghan and Nintendi were able to win in improbable matchups, against two solid players in Smurf and Rodriblutar. In the end, the Tigers' firepower was not enough to outlast the Ruiners, who now sit at second in the standings, despite being tied in points with the Scooters. As for Circus Maximus, they occupy the fifth position and look to get back on track during Week 6 so that the postseason hopes do not wane.
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In perhaps the most anticipated series of the week, the Raiders faced off against the Cryonicles. Following the Valentine debacle and with new pieces in place, the Cryonicles looked to maintain their solid form against the immaculate Raiders team, currently leading the league. For the Cryos, their trade for Uber player and tier leader Fireburn has immediately resulted in a win, as he was able to overcome fellow Ubers tier leader Hack in what was an intriguing match (coverage of this match can be found further down in the article). OverUsed players in Poek, njnp, and Zamrock also added victories to the win column, while psychicmewtwo was not able to defeat the still undefeated reyscarfacts. While mentioning undefeated All-Stars for the Raiders, BW OU star Jayde also managed to beat his opponent, this time SoulWind and his SubToxic Excadrill. BKC continues his run of splendid form in GSC with another victory, whilst Kingler12345 finally came off the bench for the Raiders to replace mad0ka and slew Ice Tea in SM LC. Despite the Raiders having taken another week and still being first placed in the standings, the Cryonicles definitely put up a valiant fight, almost taking away the week from them. If anything, they've shown us all that the Raiders are possibly beatable, which should be fun to keep an eye out for during a potential postseason series between these two.
Around The League
In this week's edition of Around The League, we will be interviewing The Trap God, the Wolfpack's midseason Uber signing, and Finchinator, long-time BIGs BW starlet. This segment will hopefully showcase what's going on in SPL from an insider's perspective as well as accentuate focal points and disclose what we should be keeping an eye out for during the remainder of the hectic season. Following the fifth week of the Smogon Premier League's cycle, we decided to approach TTG and Finchinator with a handful of questions pertaining to their team's performance in general as well as their own roles within the team.
Ever Grande's Biggest Star? - Finchinator Interview
Going into the week 5 after having played BW for the whole tournament, you were slotted into SM OU, a tier you are somewhat less familiar with. How was your preparation process for the match against Hector Hard Mode, and can you tell us a bit more about the team you ultimately decided to go with?
To be honest, I'm not as polished in SM OU as I am in BW OU and I'm sure everyone knows that. However, my level of competency in SM OU is still sufficient, and with enough effort, I feel like I can make anything work given my current level of dedication to my team and this tournament. I knew that I was playing SM OU come the start of the second half as of the middle of the midseason week, and I had already began to build a lot of SM OU teams in the weeks leading up to that because I knew my team was struggling in the three SM slots and I felt like I could play a fundamental role in us improving. Moreover, I felt quite comfortable changing tiers and matching up against a strong player like Hector Hard Mode.
I scouted all three of the Scooters main SM OU players at the start of the midseason week and I assembled numerous teams that I believed matched up well with many of the things they brought and one of them happened to be a Gengar team. Throughout the first four weeks of the season, Hector Hard Mode had used no Ghost switch-ins, and I felt that a refined version of my Z-Shadow Ball Gengar offense would be a wise pick. Going into the team, Knock Off Landorus-T in conjunction with Magnezone and Mega Pinsir gave me a good matchup against stall, while Gengar and Mega Pinsir tore up opposing balance and slower-paced bulky offense. The matchups that led to me having to outplay my opponent were generally against offensive teams, and I felt comfortable against every individual threat, so I felt that using a team like this played into my generally aggressive early-game playstyle and maximized my chances of winning against an opponent like Hector Hard Mode. Surely enough, my hypothesis was ultimately proven correct through our game!
The game itself was pretty eventful. Can you give us a short synopsis of what exactly happened during that match, with maybe some key turns as well as some insight into your decisions and plays?
The game itself was quite amusing; both parties had their fair share of ups and downs throughout, and I was thankful to end up on the winning side of the match. Early in the game, I managed to get my Gengar in safely, which happened to be problematic to his team, and I fired off an early Z-Shadow Ball and caught his Landorus-T for an OHKO. He was likely predicting a Sludge Wave given that he had his Tapu Fini in, but I wanted to get as much damage off on Landorus-Therian or Magnezone as possible, and, therefore, I elected to go for Never-Ending Nightmare that early on. Thankfully, my Mega Pinsir now had a big opening to wreck havoc, as his main pivot into it was out of commission within the first few turns, and this contributed into my gameplan throughout the remainder of the game. As the game progressed, I managed to double switch Mega Pinsir in three times and, in doing so, I was able to KO his Magnezone and Tapu Fini. Thankfully, I dodged a handful of Hydro Pumps while only missing a Nature's Madness in return, so I was able to preserve my Magnezone as fodder. In the midst of the aforementioned prolonged sequence, I also traded my Choice Scarf Garchomp for a Earthquake damage on his Ash-Greninja in order to put him into range for Mega-Pinsir to kill with Quick Attack. Going into the final stages, I had a slight advantage, but he still had a Scolipede, Garchomp, and Ash-Greninja alive and capable of threatening me. He made a smart double-switch from his Garchomp into his Scolipede and got a maximum damage roll on my Tapu Fini, KOing it, but I ultimately should not have even risked foddering it off, as Landorus-T was a safer switch-in and keeping Tapu Fini and Mega Pinsir alive would have given me an almost 100% win as opposed to a game that was hardly in my favor. Thankfully, I managed to get my Landorus-T in on his Garchomp after I revenge killed Scolipede with my Mega Pinsir and he tried to return the favor with his own Scarf Garchomp, but the game surely came down to the wire due to his more aggressive late-game play and my careless decision making.
The BIGs have been one of the most impressive teams so far during this season. That is mostly due to inspired play as well as a solid draft plan. Were you involved in any of the draft-day pickups? How exactly would you describe your teammates and managers, while all of you make this push towards the playoffs?
I was a large part of forming our draft plan over the past two years alongside my managers, Funkasaurus and boudouche, and fellow retains, ZoroDark and d0nut. We all have different areas of expertise and varying opinions on players, so we discussed many players in many tiers and assigned valuations to those who we were interested in and ultimately where fairly confident going into the draft. Ultimately, I was very content with our draft, and I felt like a lot of those who were more skeptical of our draft tended to underrate individuals on our team or simply fail to take some things into account when evaluating our roster. With that said, we are far from a flawless bunch and, even as stand today, we have some more work to do if we wish to make a final push into the playoffs over the next four weeks!
On that note, I would describe my team as dedicated, at this point in the season. It's truly amazing to see players who are newer to the SPL scene like Level 56 dominate their tier, but it's also great to see veterans like dekzeh and Alexander do consistently well in their games, too. My managers have been insanely helpful throughout the season in terms of controlling the overall demeanor of the team, which other managers I feel struggle to do at times, and helping everyone prepare for their games. Finally, everyone throughout the whole roster has been entirely on board and willing to do what is best for the team and what gives us the best chances to win, which has made the tournament much more enjoyable and makes me incredibly thankful to be on a team like the Bigs!
Despite not being that old of a generation, some of our readers aren't exactly familiar with BW OU, which has been your focus thus far. Can you walk us through what we should keep an eye out for during BW games, as well as maybe showcase one of the teams you've used so far or talk about a few specific Pokémon you're comfortable with using in that metagame?
Surely! BW2 OU is a pretty unique metagame, as it is the only OU tier where weather plays a fundamental role in team creation and gameplay. Obviously, many people know me for using relatively generic sand builds, and many people associate the tier as a whole to these teams due to a majority of the tier's playerbase frequenting them, but this is for good reason and I do not think it detracts from the overall quality of the tier, either. With that said, there is still a lot of room for variety and versatility in BW2 OU, if you play your cards right, as shown by people like SoulWind throughout 2016.
I guess the main things to look out for are the pace of teams and how well they work together to ultimately win games in this unique metagame. This might sound vague, but let me elaborate so that it makes sense to everyone. While about two-thirds of the teams being used right now by top players are sand balance and bulky offense, there is actually a lot that goes into formulating an optimal build for a specific opponent of this regard and there are also many potential Pokémon, sets, etc. that can be used. Sometimes, teams have bulkier cores like Skarmory and Amoonguss while other times they have cores like Landorus-T and Ferrothorn, both of which are common cores, but not at all mandatory or precedented as sand staples, and they tend to dictate the overall pace of teams, as the remainder of teams tend to either be similar or at least dictated by this core, the ultimate goal of the team's builder, and perhaps the Tyranitar set depending on the chronology of set decisions of the builder. If you use the former of the two aforementioned cores, then odds are that you're going to be a bit more passive overall (a balance team like Jirachee and Jayde have used so far, if you will), and your team will want to have make sure that it can handle giving an opponent a free turn. Additionally, this means you want to focus more on taking advantage of hazards and status and having a strong defensive backbone. On the contrary, if you're using the latter, then you are going to want to make sure to pressure all of the common means of setting up things like Spikes (i.e., using Fire Blast Tyranitar and Hidden Power Fire Latios on teams that otherwise might not simply due to pressuring Spikers and Steel-types) and have a fast, momentum-paced overall team, like some of those I have used in recent years, that doesn't have one passive oddball. Generally, you want the team to flow and synergize well together in almost every sense and this very much holds true when it comes to the generic sand builds used in BW OU. Moreover, I hope that you guys have a bit of a better fundamental understanding of what goes into these builds, but now let's dissect why they're so popular among the top players!
Balanced and bulky offensive sand teams are at the forefront of BW OU due to their consistency and reliability. Generally, you can be consistent, to some degree, with various types of rain teams and even weatherless teams, but sand teams are able to cover more due to how great Tyranitar is. In a metagame where Latios is insanely good, Tyranitar is a convenient and effective means of eliminating it from the equation as well as providing other things to the team depending on the set and setting up sand. From there on, teams tend to be much easier to build in a fashion that is satisfactory to the builder with the ultimate goal of being able to deal with what the tier has to throw at you. When using weatherless, being able to sufficiently handle the onslaught of rain threats and then the various strong Pokémon throughout the tier such as the aforementioned Latios without sacrificing too much momentum and offensive presence is very challenging. Using rain is perhaps a bit easier for a beginner, but even then it still is hard, as you sometimes must condense things defensively and rely on very specific things in order to get the job done. Therefore, sand teams tend to be the most reliable and consistent, as it's more possible to cover things while fitting the necessary offensive and support presences onto teams depending on what you need.
Finally, I will showcase not just one, but two teams I have used so far—one that fits into the above standard classification and one that is an offensive rain build.
Sand Team - This is the team I used against Dice during Week 1, where I got lucky and won. It uses a fairly standard Tyranitar in conjunction with a defensive backbone of Rotom-W and Skarmory. It uses Gravity Landorus-T and Scarf Garchomp in order to put teams in a pickle defensively and threaten bulkier teams in conjunction with Surf + Hidden Power Fire Life Orb Latios, which threatens almost everything with its special attacks. Overall, this is a threatening bulky offensive team that tends to do well against opponents who rely on standard means of defensive counterplay due to the unpredictable Gravity.
Rain Team - This is the team I used against Jayde in a close loss during week three. It uses a unique variant of Politoed, in order to lure Ferrothorn and damage other Water-types to open up for Starmie, and Thundurus-T, which I'd like to showcase. Overall, this team does not have the best defensive measures in terms of checking some of the more dynamic, hard-hitting threats in the tier, but it has the speed and general momentum to compensate for this, as it's a very offensive team. Additionally, this team itself is very powerful with lots of hard-hitting Water-types such as Starmie and Keldeo and a general balance breaker in Thundurus-T.
#Trapped - Interview with The Trap God
With your SPL debut just past you, what can you say is the most interesting part of this tournament so far? Can you elaborate a bit on the team dynamics within the Wolfpack, on your new relationship with your managers as well as teammates?
From the perspective of an Ubers player, I'd say that the most interesting aspect about this tour is that we actually get to play for a trophy, so the level of play is basically at the highest that we'll see for Ubers. Another interesting aspect is that it's so early in the SM metagame that we're seeing a lot of experimental builds, and in later tournaments it'll be interesting to look back at these matches and see how far the meta has progressed. As far as team dynamics go, we're a very motivated squad, and it's cool to be around other high-level analytical players even if we don't play the same tier. There is often a lot of strategy discussion going on, but at the same when we have a break from mons discussion its cool to hang out in the team Discord and get to know some of my teammates on a more personal level. My managers and teammates alike are very supportive and motivated, which is honestly what I expected after talking to rozes for a bit before the midseason draft.
You're pretty well known within the Ubers community, but still a question mark for most of our readers. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself as a player, as well as maybe detail your favorite generations and tiers?
I'm one of the newer players who have broken through in the Ubers community in this past year, and in my community I'm known for consistent placings in the Seasonal circuit and Ubers Open. These placings netted me a Top 5 ranking in the ORAS Ubers Power Rankings, which is an objective ranking system based on tournament results. Many people associate me with more offensive playstyles; however, I play with all the major archetypes in that are seen in Ubers. I've dabbled in some other tiers, but I haven't been around long enough to become proficient in them, and I primarily focus on Ubers. My favorite generation is ORAS because its what I've played the most, but I'm really liking SM a lot as well.
A lot of people have spoken about your team against Faji. Why did you take that approach specifically against him and can you describe in a few sentences your game against Faji and your assessment of your own performance?
This week was actually one of my more uncomfortable weeks for preparation, since I wasn't too sure what kind of team Faji would bring, since this was also his first week of playing Ubers in SPL. I brought a somewhat experimental team that I felt would match up well versus an Omfuga-esque balance or bulky offense squad. I had help building the team around double Swords Dance users with Groundium Z Excadrill and Dual Dance Primal Groudon. Going into the game, it looked like Mega Gengar was going to do a lot of work at picking off threats, but I had to play carefully around an opposing dual dance Groudon, which is what it appeared to be at Team Preview. The game started out fine in my favor. I made a couple plays and ended up with Celesteela versus Xerneas, but I missed a crucial double Leech Seed, which would have allowed my Celesteela to recover and deal with a Choice-locked Xerneas later in the game. My plan was to then switch Waterceus in, which after getting Leech Seed recovery would be able to tank a +2 Precipice Blades and land a Toxic; however, the miss killed my momentum and tilted me. At that point, I made the mistake of clicking Protect to get some health back instead of switching or toxicing, since I wasn't anticipating Jolly Swords Dance after Fire Punch was revealed. The rest of the game I was behind and couldn't really claw my way back after those couple crucial misses. On top of that, he saved his Jolly Primal Groudon for the late-game, which was a good play because it ultimately ruined any chance for a +2 Excadrill sweep (+2 Tectonic Rage has about 45% chance to OHKO Mega Slowbro after Stealth Rock, for those who were saying Mega Bro won). I didn't have the start I anticipated going into SPL, but I should be coming back a lot stronger in the upcoming weeks.
The Wolfpack is in a pretty rough situation at the moment, as far as playoff perspectives go. Can you tell us what has been the overall mood inside the team and how everyone's been handling everything since you joined? Can you tell us which teammates you've been impressed with the most and what are your expectations going towards the postseason?
One of my favorite aspects about the team is that everyone has high morale, and the whole team has been excited post mids with the additions of myself, Freestylerking, Fiend, and Vinc. With these additions the lineup is looking as solid as ever, but we do have our work cut out if we want to make a potential playoff run. The energy is great in our team chat and I've been impressed with everyone; however, some standout players from this last week would be FV, Asta, and Fear from the games that I caught. If we keep this momentum rolling, I have full confidence that we can make playoffs and this week I'll be looking to bounce back and pick up a win for the team.
Battles of the Week
In this week's edition of Battles of the Week, we will be taking a closer look at the most intriguing games that have taken place during the fifth week of SPL. Let's delve straight into the action, shall we?
Highlight Match
SM Ubers - Hack vs Fireburn - written by Daenys
In this Week 5 SM Ubers match, the Uber Tier Leaders Hack and Fireburn battled it out, with Hack representing the Raiders and Fireburn the Cryonicles. Fireburn was a midseason pickup for the Classiest but was soon traded over to the Cryonicles, which came to be when psychicmewtwo and Poek decided to start in OU and left the Cryonicles without an Ubers player. Going into the match, Hack was clearly the overwhelming favorite, coming off of only one loss to an unbeaten Level 56, as of week 5, while Fireburn was playing his first SPL game of the season. Hack was coming off of not only a great SPL run, but also an Ubers Open victory in which he didn't lose a single game during the entirety of the tournament, going 2-0 against all his opponents, while Fireburn had no recent notable tour records to show for and his previous SPL run (SPL 6) was average at best. Therefore Hack had significant momentum going into the match.
Hack brought a team that, at first glance seemed to be the exact same team fellow DM member Astounded brought in his game against Edgar one day prior to this game. Nonetheless, Hack's team featured Yveltal over Dialga as the only difference. Since the conventional Sticky Web team is hyper offensive, from Team Preview safe assumptions would be Smeargle taking on Sticky Web and Stealth Rock duties, freeing up Primal Groudon for an offensive role to explain the absence of Dialga. However, Smeargle cannot typically set both hazards, as it needs to run Spore and Rapid Spin. After further inspection, it was most likely a Stealth Rock Groudon variant, potentially an offensive one. Choice Scarf Lunala was also a fair assumption at Team Preview, since it was used on a very similar team only a day ago. Moving on to Fireburn's team, it was clear that Fireburn expected a bulkier team and prepared well for it, as evident in his choice of an obvious offensive Yveltal, Mega Gengar, and Xerneas with Celesteela, Stealth Rock Primal Groudon, and a Defog Arceus providing the defensive backbone of the team and overall a very solid build with a favorable matchup against a wide range of builds. The matchup favored Fireburn massively, as he had a good chance to Defog away the Webs due to the solid defensive structure of the team. Hack's team was not really dependent on Webs, only benefitting Lucario, letting it outspeed Mega Gengar and a max Speed Arceus with a positive nature.
The game starts off with the two Yveltal trading a couple hits, Fireburn's revealing Rock Slide and losing its Life Orb to Knock Off in the process, followed by Hack's Arceus-Fairy losing half of its HP to a crit while pivoting to the Smeargle, which set up Sticky Web before fainting to Gengar's Perish Song. Hack has no choice but to repeatedly use Nuzzle, as Smeargle is still under Taunt, while Fireburn has to go to Primal Groudon, as nothing on his team appreciates status. This also theoretically rules out Fireburn's Arceus being Ground as it would have been more favorable for Fireburn to send out. Hack then decides to go into his own Groudon, forcing Fireburn to reveal the Arceus to be Arceus-Water and getting up Stealth Rock in the process. Webs and Rocks are removed in the subsequent turn, but Hack's Groudon is revealed to be a Swords Dance + Stealth Rock variant, which forces Celesteela in as Hack proceeds to Stealth Rock again.
It is worth noting that Turn 11 was absolutely game changing. Hack predicted Fireburn's Celesteela wanting to come in and accordingly clicked Stealth Rock. However, seeing Arceus-Water come in, Hack assumes it to be bulky, as a Timid Arceus Water is 2HKOed by Groudon and fails to Defog, which would allow Hack to win with his Lucario; but assuming that the Arceus-Water is bulky, and hence slower than his Lucario, Hack proceeds to play accordingly. This was arguably a misplay on Fireburn's part that worked out in his favor. Had Hack clicked Swords Dance or simply Precipice Blades, Sticky Web would have stayed up, and Lucario would have possibly won, so a Timid Arceus-Water should not have been the optimal switch-in. Furthermore, Hack should have arguably clicked Swords Dance for pressuring Fireburn better the next immediate turn, as Fireburn would be forced to scout with Celesteela, allowing Mega Lucario to come in and potentially keeping Webs up.
Groudon is ultimately forced out by Celesteela, which rules out any small chance of it carrying a Fire move, and the incoming Yveltal gets hit by Leech Seed, despite allowing it to Roost freely. The subsequent turns see Fireburn switching between his Celesteela and Yveltal, which resulted in a significant loss of momentum. Hack ends up pulling a solid double into Lunala and Calm Minds, taking down Mega Gengar and Yveltal, which fails to KO Lunala due to the Calm Mind boost and Shadow Shield as Z-Moongeist Beam picks up the second kill for Hack, forcing Fireburn to revenge kill Lunala while taking a hefty 55% damage on his Primal Groudon. With Fireburn's Primal Groudon, Mega Gengar, and Yveltal now KOed, these turns dramatically seem to turn the game in Hack's favor until Fireburn sends in a supposed Choice Scarf Xerneas against Lucario which forces in Primal Groudon, taking off a third of its health. This is quite significant, as Primal Groudon needs to run at least 152 Special Defense EVs for this to happen, which reveals it either not running max Speed or not running max Attack, making it easier for Fireburn to handle with his Celesteela should it come down to PP stalling the last move, which is assumed to be either Stone Edge or Dragon Claw.
Hack then throws out a Knock Off, which unfortunately crits the incoming Arceus-Water. In turn, it Toxics Hack's Yveltal and gets Taunted right afterwards. However, Leech Seed already restored Arceus's health to well beyond the range of being potentially revenge killed in any one hit, and it soon after reveals a somewhat interesting move in Fire Blast. Once again, Hack's Yveltal crits with Knock Off and goes down, giving a free switch to Hack's Primal Groudon on a 61% Arceus-Water. Mega Lucario had no reason to risk being outsped, since the set that's slower than Mega Lucario is still out of Close Combat range and KOes Lucario in turn with Fire Blast.
Primal Groudon comes in safely as Arceus-Water is still under Taunt and cannot poison it while it sets up, which it proceeds to do. Fireburn opts to stay in and Fire Blast for a low roll at 19%. Turn 34 is worth paying attention to as well. A Taunted Arceus-Water should not have stayed in on a potential Precipice Blades, as that would allow Lucario to win; however, Hack could have easily predicted the Celesteela and doubled into Lucario, which Fireburn was hoping to catch. Nonetheless, Swords Dance should not have been the play here, as even if Celesteela decided to come in on the potential Precipice Blades and a double switch back into Arceus-Water on the Lucario switch occurs, Hack would have been able to use Arceus-Fairy as a pivot because of its reliable recovery.
Fireburn then switches in Celesteela as Hack opts to click Precipice Blades despite the very obvious Celesteela switch, as Taunt had not worn off on Arceus-Water and Fireburn needed it healthy to check Mega Lucario. At this point, the match is seemingly over for Fireburn, as Hack was in a strong position to win, with even fully physically defensive Celesteela being 2HKOed by Stone Edge from a +2 Attack Primal Groudon, which then KOes Arceus-Water and wins the game for Hack. However, Hack reveals Dragon Claw on Primal Groudon, which was probably chosen for Giratina-O, which Defogs pretty consistently against most Sticky Web teams. Unfortunately, it does nothing to Celesteela, which proceeds to Leech Seed the Groudon and stall it out.
Here, Hack opts to sack his Groudon, as his only way of winning now is to get Lucario in safely on Celesteela and hope it outspeeds Fireburn's Arceus-Water and wins him the game or severely weaken Fireburn's team to the point where his potential Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy wins the game. Hack's Primal Groudon goes down to Leech Seed, and Mega Lucario comes in and Swords Dances on the Leech Seed. Celesteela switches out, and Fireburn sacks his Xerneas to the Lucario. Arceus-Water comes in, is revealed to be faster than Hack's Mega Lucario, and knocks it out with Fire Blast. Hack's frustration is evident during that turn, as he realizes he has lost the game, and he forfeits when his Arceus-Fairy futilely tries to break Fireburn's Arceus and fails to do so, giving Fireburn a good start to his SPL run at 1-0 while Hack now drops to 3-2.
Different choices were made, resulting in the sequence of events that played out that turn. Overall, both players played pretty well in a relatively clean game. The Raiders won the series, however, moving their overall tally to a perfect 5-0 at the top of the standings while the Cryonicles are currently fourth with a 3-2 record. With both teams looking like strong contenders for the title as of now, a rematch (which will hopefully be equally close and exciting) cannot be ruled out for the postseason.
Looking back at the game, both teams were arguably well thought out, and the unconventional choices in sets make sense, as they were tailored specifically to the teams. Hack’s choice of Charti Berry on Yveltal, while seemingly passive and suboptimal on a Sticky Web team, covered a crucial weakness to physical Rock Polish Primal Groudon, which otherwise swept the team with relative ease. Similarly, Fireburn's choice of Rock Slide on Yveltal was a good lure, since Dark Pulse into Rock Slide on a Ho-Oh switch-in reliably KOes any variant of Ho-Oh, which Fireburn's team has trouble with because Arceus-Water is pressured quite easily if it is the only switch-in.
Featured Replays
DPP OU - Atticus vs roscoe - written by Finchinator
In this Week 5 DPP OU battle, Atticus of the Cryonicles and liberty32 of the Raiders faced off in the middle of a close series. Atticus used an interesting lead Scarf Roserade, and that got him off to a good start right off the bat, but liberty32 made a some wise pivot switches in order to gain momentum and get up Stealth Rock in the process. Ultimately, liberty32 took the better risks in the early-game and managed to damage various Pokémon on Atticus's team while also having Atticus reveal five Pokémon in the first twelve turns. On turn 15, liberty32 made a stellar prediction in staying in and attacking the opposing Roserade with his Shaymin, and he caught a Starmie attempting to double switch in to gain momentum, KOing it and giving him an early 6-5 lead.
After this and a sequence of pivot switches and traded blows, Starmie managed to rip through roughly half of Atticus's remaining team after pivoting into Infernape and surviving priority attacks from Infernape and Scizor while KOing both. After revealing last Pokémon Rotom-W, Atticus found himself in a tight spot, and despite revealing his Substitute + Will-O-Wisp set, liberty32's last Pokémon being revealed as Tyranitar stopped Atticus from making much progress and ultimately led to liberty32 cleaning up with Tyranitar and Dragonite, killing off Rotom-W and a weakened Swampert.
ADV OU - Fakes vs UD - written by Finchinator
In a battle of two long-time players, Fakes (who has been doing very well in recent months), of the Cryonicles matched up with the Raider's UD, a legend of the past. In the early stages of the game, UD decided to lead with Suicune while Fakes led Tyranitar; after revealing Roar from Suicune and both players showing a couple Pokémon, UD is able to get rid of a Skarmory from Fakes with his Magneton and only allows one layer of Spikes up because of this. Then, Magneton is traded for some strong chip damage on the opposing Tyranitar, which is Fakes' follow-up, using Earthquake into Magneton. Eventually, a sequence of plays involving Fakes's Choice Band Tyranitar and UD's Suicune + Blissey core was rendered ultimately unproductive for Fakes, and he was forced out into his Starmie on a Surf from Suicune, which brought it down to less than 20%.
As the game unfolded, Celebi used a pretty common move in Hidden Power Grass into Fakes' Swampert, and Fakes did not retreat, so he lost his Swampert for practically nothing and UD took a commanding lead. Fakes continued to play aggressively with his Choice Band Tyranitar and newly revealed Gengar and Jolteon while UD took the defensive route with his Blissey and Metagross; this ultimately led to UD being a bit annoyed by Jolteon, but still able to keep his team intact almost fully until Fakes used Explosion with Gengar into Blissey, leaving Fakes with only Jolteon remaining as the game was in its final stages. Fakes needed to get a critical hit with Hidden Power Ice on Celebi to have a chance to clean with his Jolteon now that Blissey was removed, but he was carrying Hidden Power Grass and Thunderbolt was not enough to do the trick, so Celebi defeated the opposing Jolteon, and UD won the match against Fakes behind his balanced team.
Conclusion
I hope you've all enjoyed this week's edition of Smogon Premier League Week Overview. It was undoubtedly a dynamic follow-up to the intriguing midseason week, and that should only rise to higher levels as we approach the later rounds of the competition. For any further information that may pertain to Smogon Premier League, make sure to check out the following resources:
- The Smogon Premier League Hub
- The Official Smogon Premier League Week 5 Thread
- The Official Smogon Premier League Replays Thread
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