Tournament OMPL XI - Playoffs

[Isaiah]

Art by Blazenix
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Playoffs | Finals
Information Thread | Roster | Replays | Schedule | Standings
​

Useful Information

There are 8 teams this year. Each team will have have 8 players and at least 4 subs. The players are bought using the 100k credits that managers receive during the auction. Managers and co-managers will be allowed to purchase themselves as players for their team at a fixed price of 13.5k. The managers must inform the hosts (Isaiah, UT, and KaenSoul) of all self purchases before the beginning of the auction. Teams can win their matchup every week by winning 5 of the 8 matches that their players have to play.

​

The tier lineup this year is as follows:​

1. SV Almost Any Ability
2. SV Balanced Hackmons
3. SV Godly Gift
4. SV Mix and Mega
5. SV NFE
6. SV STABmons
7. SV 2v2 Doubles (Best of 5)
8. SV Anything Goes

It is recommended to play all games on SmogTours in the most current version of the format corresponding to those listed above. Games can be played on the Pokemon Showdown main server, but run higher risk of interference from server restarts/crashes. The result between players may be decided in a best-of-one or best-of-three at the discretion of both players involved. If there is no agreement, the result will decided in a Bo1 by default.​

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Winning a round rewards a team with 2 points, drawing 1 point, and losing zero points. In addition, the manner in which the round has been won will also be recorded i.e. the difference between a team's wins and losses in a specific week's round (referred to as "Win Differential").​

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Playoffs:​

Each team will play one another for seven weeks. Based on the final standings, the top 4 teams will enter a Playoffs Round to determine the teams appearing in the finals.​

Tiebreaker

In the event of two teams being tied for a spot in the finals based on points and win differential, or a tie in the final round itself, we will have a tiebreaker round(s).​

Tiebreaker Rules: One metagame will be picked by each manager, and each manager will also pick one metagame to strike. Additionally, each manager will submit a backup meta to strike in case their choice is the same as the opposing team's pick. The third format will be determined at random by the hosts from the remaining unpicked, unstruck metagames. In the event that the picks and strikes from each manager are the same, the hosts will determine both the second and third format at random based on the remaining options. All three metagames must be unique, so no format can be picked twice.​

Substitutes

Substitutes are to be used in the case of extenuating circumstances, whether on the first day of the week, or the last. At the same time, players should be relatively well-aware of who all are available to play in the opponent's camp. If last minute substitutes are being frequently used or abused and the hosts find explanations unsatisfactory, the hosts still reserve the right to veto them. In order to further prevent this being the case teams are only granted a maximum of two substitutes per week. Any substitutions after the second will be vetoed.​

Trades

The hosts have decided to not include trades this year due to reasons outlined in this thread - all roster decisions will be final, so draft carefully!​

Scheduling

Scheduling should be done on Smogon Profile walls, plain and simple:​

• If there is communication on only one user's behalf, the win will go to them. Feel free to call activity in this thread beforehand
• If there is a very healthy back and forth regarding potential times and one user is a no-show, a manager may take the opportunity to sub out the no-show competitor; if this is not done, the user that showed up responsibly will be awarded the win.

TL;DR: Post on your opponent's Smogon wall, schedule your matches, and be reliable. If you can't play for any reason, let your manager know so they can sub you out ASAP.​

​

Use these posts as a place to initiate discussion about bo1 or bo3 as well (or bo5 vs bo7 for 2v2)!​

Sportsmanship

Exhibitions of unsportsmanlike conduct with regards to the Other Metagame Premier League will be met with an infraction at the discretion of the OMPL host/OM mods. This is unlikely to include interactions within a team's private chat unless there is reason found to make an exception. This rule is meant to protect other users from being publicly flamed/bashed/provoked by another competitor for the duration of and following the tournament.​

​

All players must complete their matches by the given deadline. Any incomplete matches by that time will be subject to an activity decision (MAKE SURE YOU POST ON YOUR OPPONENT'S WALL); otherwise, it will be a deadgame. All matches should ideally be done on your most notable alt (the one you registered for OMPL with) to avoid confusion and all match replays must be saved and posted in this thread.​

Substitutions & Lineups

Managers, if you wish to make any substitutions, you must post here tagging both the player you're subbing out, the player you're subbing in, the manager and assistant manager of the opposing team, the substitute's opponent, and all of the hosts (Isaiah, UT, KaenSoul). This is to assure that everyone is in-the-loop and that the OP is updated accordingly to reflect the new match-up.​

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Managers, when you send in lineups, please send it in with the tier and Smogon username of each player fully written out for ease of transcription, following these guidelines exactly.​

Matchups

W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum) - [2][5] - Wiggly Family (Dragonillis and Palapapop)
SV 2v2 Doubles - tyo vs Hugo
SV Almost Any Ability - hariyana grande vs Osake
SV Anything Goes - Taka vs polt
SV Balanced Hackmons - cityscapes vs Onyx Onix 7
SV Godly Gift - Sylvi vs Meta
SV Mix and Mega - xavgb vs Clas
SV NFE - Stareal vs ojr
SV STABmons - pannu vs RoFnA

The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [4][4] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)
SV 2v2 Doubles - yuki vs Fragments
SV Almost Any Ability - shiloh vs pichus
SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons - quojova vs pdt
SV Godly Gift - tlenit vs Dr. Phd. BJ
SV Mix and Mega - Career Ended vs Icemaster
SV NFE - Shaneghoul vs clean
SV STABmons - Fissure vs Fc


TIEBREAKER
The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [1][2] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)
SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons - quojova vs Icemaster
SV STABmons - Fissure vs Fc

Tiebreak Deadline:
10:00 PM (GMT -4) on July 23rd, 2023
​

Semis For the Bot

SV 2v2 Doubles: tyo vs Hugo
SV Almost Any Ability: hariyana grande vs Osake
SV Anything Goes: Taka vs polt
SV Balanced Hackmons: cityscapes vs Onyx Onix 7
SV Godly Gift: Sylvi vs Meta
SV Mix and Mega: xavgb vs Clas
SV NFE: Stareal vs ojr
SV STABmons: pannu vs RoFnA

SV 2v2 Doubles: yuki vs Fragments
SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh vs pichus
SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs pdt
SV Godly Gift: tlenit vs Dr. Phd. BJ
SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended vs Icemaster
SV NFE: shaneghoul vs clean
SV STABmons: Fissure vs Fc

Tiebreak For the Bot

SV Anything Goes: Lasen vs Guard
SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova vs Icemaster
SV STABmons: Fissure vs Fc

 

[seroo]

!

I want the notifications and im stupid so im not sure if theres an easier way, don't mind me

 

[BoingK]

Predicts cause wynaut (btw im bad so these could be anywhere from half accurate to completely wrong)

WV 5 - 3 WF
SV 2v2 Doubles - tyo vs Hugo Dude has been insane, hasn't dropped a game
SV Almost Any Ability - hariyana grande vs Osake I'm not french, why am i bolding the frenchie
SV Anything Goes - Taka vs polt I don't know either of these players very well, I'll just go for the result as it was when these two players last met
SV Balanced Hackmons - cityscapes vs Onyx Onix 7 I prefer Onyx's builds
SV Godly Gift - Sylvi vs Meta I think going into this the Virizzion's GG slot has a bit more momentum
SV Mix and Mega - xavgb vs Clas You could literally bold either player, they're both insane MnM players, both having had an insane season so far. I think stresh will get it on the runback tho
SV NFE - Stareal vs ojr OJR has more momentum going into this, and I think he'll get it on the runback
SV STABmons - pannu vs RoFnA Did you know that panna cotta is an Italian dessert

TT 4-4 SSSSS (tiebreak? idk)
SV 2v2 Doubles - yuki vs Fragments Fragments has only dropped one game so far this season
SV Almost Any Ability - shiloh vs pichus Pichus has won his only AAA game but I don't really have faith in the Solg's AAA slot
SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Guard Cooler name smh
SV Balanced Hackmons - quojova vs pdt Quojova gets this on the runback if he doesn't load a bad MU
SV Godly Gift - tlenit vs Dr. Phd. BJ Dr. Phd. BJ has had an insane season so far, think he's gonna continue it here
SV Mix and Mega - Career Ended vs Icemaster Although I think Icemaster will make this close, Career Ended has not dropped a game so far and I expect he won't drop one here
SV NFE - shaneghoul vs clean I think Shane wins again on the runback
SV STABmons - Fissure vs Fc Going on gut, tough one to call

 

[Osake]

!

I want the notifications and im stupid so im not sure if theres an easier way, don't mind me

you can click on watch/unwatch to get the notifications or remove them from a thread without posting

 

[Tea Guzzler]

OMPL BH REVIEW: WEEK 7
Tea Guzzler vs pdt - vs

pdt opts for the rare choice of Arceus-Steel here; given that there's not really any potential special wall other than Zacian or itself, it's likely a self-proof set. Otherwise, generally standard, although my team looks pretty slow.

Early turns reveal Fur Coat Magearna and Ice Scales Self-proof Arceus-Steel, which I can fortunately wall with Unaware Ting-Lu; I brought this out of fear of Fillet Away shenanigans, but it still ended up working out. Zacian isn't of much use in this matchup, so I switch it into Giratina expecting Gambit, but get Tricked instead. Dondozo grabs a slow Flip Turn and lets me scout Zacian's set, which Mold Breaker Eternatus can farm for Torch Song boosts, claiming Arceus-Steel on a predicted recover. Arceus-Ghost manages to get No Retreat up, and I could absolutely just win from turn 17, but I decided to play safe and scout for Prankster Destiny Bond. Eternatus gets back in and starts harassing pdt's team with Torch Song and Moldy Strength Sap, claiming Giratina, and then also getting Zacian despite me trying to sack it to get Arceus-Ghost in. Tera on Arceus is pre-emptive but I wanted Magearna damaged, and its Whirlwind lets me grab a key Toxic Spike for later. Unaware Ting-Lu is brought in and manages to wall out the Koraidon (which was apparently Triage), KOing both Koraidon and Magearna. Groudon's Mold Breaker means Ting-Lu can't wall it, but the Toxic Spike means Imposter can feasibly stall it out barring multiple consecutive crits, which don't happen.

Unaware Ting-Lu ended up coming in clutch for this game, walling and beating both Koraidon and Arceus-Steel. The Tera Ghost on my end was pre-emptive, as using it didn't really accomplish anything, and Tera Poison Ting-Lu was likely much better as a safety net against Koraidon crits. Imposter also matched well into all of pdt's sets besides Arceus-Steel.

tzaur vs XxLazzerpenguinxX - vs

tzaur has an unusual pick in Dragapult, whose Normalize sets have taken a substantial hit from Gen 8. Sevag decides to re-use his Week 5 team, but with Dialga-O instead of Hisuian Goodra.

Dragapult instantly reveals that it's Normalize, which can be a great asset as Sevag's team seemingly can only hit it with Judgment Arceus-Ghost (which is weak to Dragapult's own Judgment) or Revelation Dance Dialga-O. Landorus-T switches in, likely indicating Good as Gold, and proceeds to sit behind a Substitute for a few turns. tzaur reveals Substitute Pixilate Arceus-Fairy, but unfortunately switches Dragapult into a Knock Off, removing its Spooky Plate and meaning Arceus-Ghost shuts it down. It exchanges some chip for 2 layers of Spikes, but is sacked to get Taunt on Arceus-Ghost. Arceus-Fairy then reveals Tera Steel Taunt, which begins a long cycle of Arceus-Fairy trying to claim KOes and conserving its Boomburst PP as to not run out against Zacian; Koraidon gets in a few times, but doesn't have a substantial long-term impact. This goes on for quite a while, with Sevag sacking Calyrex-I and Landorus-T in order to run Arceus out of Boomburst PP, which does happen; Dialga-O also gets caught. Eventually it gets down to one Boomburst, but barely misses out on KOing Zacian due to a Spirit Break drop, and with Koraidon poisoned by Toxapex's Baneful Bunker, tzaur doesn't really have a good way to win left.

The Dragapult Knock was huge here as it prevented it from setting up Spikes essentially for free, as Arceus-Ghost would want to remain at high HP to successfully withstand Koraidon. The combination of slow pivot Dialga-O + Haze Zacian also helped safely PP stall Arceus-Fairy, which was helped by it only having 12 Boomburst PP left by the time the cycle started.

Onyx Onix 7 vs Frozoid - vs

Both teams look relatively standard-ish at preview, although Onyx's Arceus-Poison may be making a return at preview.

It doesn't take long for that to be dispelled however,as against Frozoid's Zacian-C, it reveals a standard Fur Coat Calm Mind set, with the resisted hit on Zacian-C likely indicating Icicle Plate. Koraidon manages to get in and reveals Substitute while Dialga-O Prankster Destiny Bonds, managing to dent Zamazenta-C and Dialga-O with Triple Arrows. Frozoid reveals Flame Orb non-Guts Arceus, and Onyx reveals Clear Smog Ting-Lu to control setup; Arceus manages to Fillet Away, revealing Scrappy, but it doesn't get anywhere against Onyx's Magic Bounce Giratina. Ting-Lu then switches in, getting an Imprison, and uses Tera Steel Simple Fillet Away to both boost and beat Clear Smog, claiming 2 KOes off the rip. Blissey Parting Shots it, but Corviknight still goes down, and Ting-Lu FIllet Aways again on the next Parting Shot, taking Giratina too. From here, there's no way to stop Ting-Lu.

In an unusual twist, Onyx was actually the one with the "standard" team here. The seeming lack of Counter, Haze, or Destiny Bond on Blissey are relatively odd choices for a Prankster set, and led to Ting-Lu snowballing out of control. Blissey wasn't revealed at the time it set up, but if it was, Imprison wouldn't have been necessary and it could've set up in Arceus-Poison's face too.

cityscapes vs Chessking345 - vs

Chessking loads Ghost spam, while city has a Regieleki into a team with no good Electric resists/immunities. Chessking's team also looks like it only has two defensive options (spare Imposter), meaning his success highly depends on keeping momentum.

Lead Regieleki reveals Ice Scales Corviknight, which pivots into Good as Gold Zamazenta-C to block Parting Shot. A double switch into Regieleki forces a large chunk on Imposter, which ends up donating snow from Chily Reception to fuel Prankster Groudon's Aurora Veil. Groudon Teleports out, bringing Regieleki back in, which takes a KO with Tera Electric Rising Voltage. It trades damage with Imposter, which gives free entry to Simple Landorus-T, which dispatches Corviknight with +2 Volt Tackle. Chessking switches in Imposter and forfeits, presumably because the Landorus-T is fully self-Imposter-proofed and is guaranteed to win from this point.

This pertains quite well to my complaint post in the main BH thread, being that Chessking simply loaded the wrong special wall and had to accept a loss because of it; Tera Electric is relevant here as it means Arceus and -SpD Dragapult are always OHKOed, cutting out a potential window for counterplay. Dealing 33% to Imposter on a resisted hit without any de-investment also doesn't help out with that.

 

[Ren]

predicts for my #1 fan ojr ily homie <3

W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum) - [6.5][1.5] - Wiggly Family (Dragonillis and Palapapop)
SV 2v2 Doubles - tyo vs Hugo - I'll take the haha react if this is wrong, tyo has had an insane season so far
SV Almost Any Ability - hariyana grande vs Osake - I think Osake has better prep but hariyana has only gotten better as the tour went on, this is gonna be rough for Osake but not impossible by any means
SV Anything Goes - Taka vs polt - Taka really picked up the momentum in the last little bit and I wanna encourage that
SV Balanced Hackmons - cityscapes vs Onyx Onix 7 - both of these people are infamous for their unorthodox creations but I have to go with the master of em here
SV Godly Gift - Sylvi vs Meta - weird matchup with no strong advantage either way, last time I predicted for Sylvi they angry reacted me so I'm hoping that predicting Meta gets me different results
SV Mix and Mega - xavgb vs Clas - I would say Clas is the less likely person to win this, but they did manage to dent QT.. still gonna bold stresh but I'm expecting this to be close
SV NFE - Stareal vs ojr - highlight, genuinely don't know and flipping a coin feels wrong here
SV STABmons - pannu vs RoFnA - pannu has been pretty solid and I just learned they aren't winless

The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [1][7] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)
SV 2v2 Doubles - yuki vs Fragments - probably the two best 2v2ers in this tour barring my bff potatochan, I'm assuming this is a highlight. Predicting Fragments has worked before though
SV Almost Any Ability - shiloh vs pichus - I love pichus and she's def capable of pulling this off, but her advantage over the rest of the pool is her playing ability which isn't super strong vs someone who's also good like shiloh
SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Guard - I was told that Guard is the best AGer before the tour started so I'm still going w that
SV Balanced Hackmons - quojova vs pdt - probably the hardest mu to predict bc pdt has a higher ceiling than anyone in the pool but the floor is lower than other people's averages. Gonna root for pdt though don't let me down homie
SV Godly Gift - tlenit vs Dr. Phd. BJ - going for the person who made sure nobody in the gg pool went undefeated
SV Mix and Mega - Career Ended vs Icemaster - pretty sure this happened before and career won but I could be wrong, idt much had changed
SV NFE - Shaneghoul vs clean - the goat
SV STABmons - Fissure vs Fc - p sure Fissure beat fc last time but it's semis so fc is def fully online for this game and only crying can beat him at that level

congrats to every team for making it this far and wp to everyone that's eliminated, that week 7 was ridiculously tight

 

[ponchlake]

Time for some shitpost predicts. To avoid bias, I will be predicting dream team MU's across different PL's. By that I mean I'm going to predict how some of the teams managed by the Dave's will do vs actual OMPL teams.

The Terrible Tyrants (0) vs (0) Dave's Dachsbuns
SV 2v2 Doubles - yuki vs dex - Yuki's latte art will be too much for dex who is lactose intolerance (I don't know if this is true).
SV Almost Any Ability - shiloh vs SEA - This is a 50/50 MU because both of their names start with S. Though I'm leaning towards SEA because they've laughed at my jokes.
SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Z Strats - Z has the strats, and when you let him play in a tier where Anything Goes.. then the possibilities are endless. Also start Inders for AG in OMPL.
SV Balanced Hackmons - quojova vs Micciu - Micciu is the MBH player for PMPL, and that stands for Micciu Balanced Hackmons. You don't get your own format unless you're that good therefore Micciu is going to obliterate Quojova by loading the most insane MU and winning every speedtie. I've also perused the Tyrant's Discord, and I can safely say that Micciu clears them in the meme department. This is an absolute mismatch if we're talking who can pump out the spiciest memes.
SV Godly Gift - tlenit vs TPP - The Pencil Pusher is the better T named player here. TPP has far superior luck skills from what I've seen so far, so h2h I think TPP robs this man of his lunch money and the game with his chosen one luck. Also because I'd leak the Tyrant's prep to TPP for us to c-team Mazar style.
SV Mix and Mega - Career Ended vs Monai - Career will get the Jamal Murray treatment for his birthday week and go berserk.
SV NFE - shaneghoul vs Xrn - I am not familiar wiith the game of any of these players.
SV STABmons - Fissure vs Spellcaster - Spellcaster lost to monolax. I can't see them beating Fissure because of that.

 

[Taka]

SV Anything Goes - Lasen vs Guard

Game of the century.

 

[spell]

SV STABmons - Fissure vs Spellcaster - Spellcaster lost to monolax. I can't see them beating Fissure because of that.

i was 2-0 in playoffs TPP Z Strats SuperEpicAmpharos dex

 

[SEA]

you fought a fucking houndoom in gsc shut up

 

[Redflix]

Try #3 cuz smogon sucks

With the regular season over which saw a very close battle for the playoffs spot (apart from 1 team), we are here to pay respects to the fallen warriors.

Fluttermania
Fluttermania was managed by relatively new faces in the om community in adem and Karpe San (formerly Magikarp_Is_AG). While adem had some experience in managing team tours from natdex as well as omwc, this was the first ompl for both players and hence they werent considered the strongest pairs. Neither of the managers self-bought which was expected altho KarpeSan ability to help the AAA slot of the team was noteworthy. The Flutters started their draft with buying the strongest AAA option available in the pool in the form of atha for a whopping 18k. Was 18k a lot considering the budget this year? Yes. Was it worth it tho? Yes. They then went for another big name, fade and got them for 12.5k. Fade's last year performance in the nfe pool was otherworldly, and expectations were high this time around too. However, it was to be noted fade had very played almost no games of gen9 nfe and primarily being a tour player, motivation was always gonna be a concern. Still, 12.5 was very fair for them given the nfe pool. Next on the Flutters list was Fogbound Lake. AG's playerbase was alien to almost all managers so it was always gonna be hard to assess the right amount for most AG players. Nevertheless, Fogbound lake was considered a top starter so this was a good buy too. Flutters first major risk buy came in the form of Jrdn. Now if u were an om-mainer who just came back from a hiatus and saw jrdn going for 10.5k, u'd probably call all other managers incompetent as fuck but this was 2023 jrdn. Not only did he specify his potential lack of motivation in his sign up but also his major inactivity before ompl was always gonna take a toll in his overall assessment. This was one of those buys which was gonna go either really good or really bad for the team and the price really didnt matter. Personally, jrdn in a team with faces he has had very less interaction with sounded like chances of the latter happening but a high risk-high reward buy is always a welcome sight in auctions. After this tho, there were some dubious picks from flutters. Crying for 7.5k was a ????? when they only signed up for 2v2. Now im a big fan of crying and their playing ability but its 2v2 ffs and even if crying does have some experience in that tier, i still think buying an established player over a tour player + support is still better. If u werent buying stresh or ice in mnm , it was always gonna be a "???" pick in this pool so kdca + iapt as core while generally decent still was gonna ranked in the lower half of the player pool. Clementine for stab was a decent pick, they've dished out even records in most team tours so this was a slot that prob could be expected to go positive if given the right match-ups. Next, Flutters completed their bh slot with nihilslave + leru which i thought was the boldest decision. I get the idea of pairing the most crafty support with someone like leru who was very keen to play bh but had 0 experience but when u have players like akira and onyx who are starter level players going for peanuts prices, i wonder how much of this strat was a good thought.
Flutters then completed their line up by getting flex slots in baloor and frozoid and rounding it up with glitch as the 2v2 support / starter in case crying fails.

Overall, flutters had some very heavy names that were thought to go positive guaranteed but also half of their line up was average or below average compared to others. Depending upon how GG and STAB went and given that mnm could dish out wins at important times, this was a team that could win against the top ranked teams. However, the downsides were still there and with no strong support for plenty of slots, for most flutters were in bottom half of rankings.

Things could not have went worse for this team LOL, A -22 w/l ratio should be enough to tell anyone how miserable their season was. Where shall i begin?
" Atha : Pretty much the only one I'm ranking here because it's the only one who I can't see fail, if he will always manager to safely bring 3 or 4 wins (and probably more " - Osake
Well that was a lie. Atha's 2-5 record is very much of a surprise to everyone, especially when u take into account KarpeSan was there to support them. For a player whose the foundation of a team to have a terrible season is very unfortunate. Putting aside the fact that the aaa pool this year was extremely strong, Atha's tendency to sometimes innovate too much also played a part in this unfortunate record. But atha's horrible record was topped by two of his teammates. Jrdn and Fogbound lake both incurred 6 losses. Now, i cant comment too much on ag but i will say that at some point when a player is 0-3 or 0-4, subbing them out might be a good option but since adem and karpe San had decided to not go for an ag sub, fogbound lake continued to accumulate losses. Jrdn on the other hand became the first player in ompl history to go winless in a full regular season. Was this due to bad luck? Not at all, except for a speed tie vs blinkboy in the early weeks, jrdn just brought bad teams with many holes that continued to load into bad match ups. This was a very similar situation like atha where the problem was "cooking too much". Thus, the flutters GG slot ended up with no wins. The 2v2 slot was dire as well, going for a 1-6 record with crying playing only 1 game in 2v2. While crying did end up with an even record, gathering up a win in nfe, a 7.5k player playing only 2 games is a very big yikes! Speaking of NFE, The first two weeks saw fade start off from their last season form, gathering up two wins against strong opponents but then back 2 back losses and mons burnout saw them end up with a 3-3 record. Mnm started okay as well, getting a 2-2 record at the end of week 4 with kDCA being positive but mu-fish teams vs QT and stresh pushed them down to negative record. However, not every slot was a disaster. Clementine impressed despite STAB meta being in a controversial state and leru + nihilslave combo also managed to take down formidable opponents like quojova.

Another thing to note for the flutters is that despite their bad season, they can confidently say they showed their line-ups true potential atleast 1 week when they took down the dubwools (who were undefeated at that time) which did give them some hope for a playoffs chance but a thrashing in the successful week by virizzions ended that hope very soon. Flutters tho must've hated dubwools very much cuz in the final week, they decided to give not 4 but 5 free wins to wigglies which included a mnm game whose endgame only lords can understand.

Was the draft this bad as it reflects on the sheet? Absolutely not. Aside from the crying hiccup and getting less support subs, this disaster season was just a result of the top heavy slots not firing and the average slots being inconsistent. Overall, a season to forget for fluttermania especially with the final week drama as well which affected plenty of teams but not entirely their fault.



I'll post geezers and Gholds eulogy tmrw after im done recording the predicts video.

Just wanna say thanks to everyone in dubwools as well

tags

Kaif King Leo V Frito Lily DripLegend Dj Breloominati♬ Potatochan XxLazzerpenguinxX willdbeast Terracotta The Number Man Plushietran Terracotta jasprose

U guys were a great bunch and its unfortunate that we couldn't reach playoffs with that lineup of ours but "playoffs charge" was great while it lasted. Thanks to Quantum Tesseract for agreeing to co-manage with me as well and forgive me for being ur only loss D;

 

[Career Ended]

hayedenn and I did predicts, I'll probably upload wk7 MnM reviews later.

 

[longhiep341]

GG Week 7 Review: Heaven and Hell

Sylvi vs Fraise

vs
Lily brought her classic combo of Koraidon + Hamurott + Amoonguss + Tusk again... Oh wait this is Sylvi. Pretty interesting decision regardless with Walking Wake and even Mimikyu in HP. Fraise's build was even wilder, with Toedscruel and Regidrago, though weird cause the team would get blasted by Enamorus, Fairyceus, Cloyster, Outrage Koraidon, Walking Wake, Ground-types with coverage for Toedscruel and maybe some more. Given that Sylvi did have a Fairy, Fraise needed to get predictions correctly many times or the game would get out of hands quickly.
Fraise tried to break immediately with Regidrago lead against Koraidon, which turned out to be Eject Pack, brought it to near KO and went to Amoonguss to take the Earth Power. Then Amoonguss was also Eject Pack and allowed SpA Proto Walking Wake to heavily damage Toedscruel. A good Tusk prediction on Etern forced it out and Tusk was also Eject Pack and Ting-Lu was on the other side of getting worn down this time. AV Hamurott came in handy to get all 3 layers of Spikes against Etern to guarantee a KO on Drago. Going Koraidon and keeping the pressure with Walking Wake grabbed another KO on Toedscruel and at that point it was just a cleanup with Tusk while Amoonguss denied Helectrode any progress. Overall W Virizzions took Lily's build to next level while Fraise's had too many holes and got dismantled rather quickly.

ponchlake vs drphdbj

vs
Seems like ponch really believed HO to be the strongest and brought it again, this time with Rayquaza god, Hatterene and Maushold but kept the same other 3. There didn't seem to be anything that could take a +1 Pop Bomb so if Maushold could set up it might win though it still needed Greninja, Eternatus and Great Tusk to not be Scarf. Meanwhile bj brought offense which is kinda naturally bad against HO. Preserving the Scarfer for general revenge kills, Heatran for Polteageist and especially positioning Tornadus-T with Taunt would be vital to get any chance. That said, there were so many sequences ponch could use to wipe once screens were up. Like if Gren revenges Maushold or Heatran KOs anything Bax comes in, Etern can invite Polteageist in unless Dragon Tail, Hatterene against Torn-T and Tusk, Ray against Heatran and Lilligant-H if no Ice Spinner. So overall ponch should just assess the situation and get a clean sweep.
bj chose Heatran against the obvious Grimm lead. ponch really overextended by trying to catch Rock, which wasn't necessary due to Tidy Up. It resulted in Hatterene fainting early though Bax got a free switch-in. Thankfully Bax got 4 hits and Tusk had Body Press so Greninja could safely U-turn after into Torn to avoid becoming setup fodder. ponch got the prediction wrong and didn't Tidy Up so Eternatus was able to come in and damage teapot and Grimm. However with both screens up bj was forced to sac Etern and revenged with Gren so Ray got free setup. When ponch was clear to win with Espeed or DD he clicked the only move that lost and thus ended his own undefeated chance. ponch threw a much better mu with misplays, though he got rewarded in week 6 so it was just fair.

Nihilslave vs Meta

vs
Meta recycled HO from week 5 while Nihilslave also brought HO, but with Ray, likely double dance Klefki and even Spe Skeledirge which was pretty interesting. Nihilslave seemed to have the upper hand with Goltres and Rayquaza being harder to deal with but since Nihilslave hadn't played GG at all it could still go either way.
The game sadly was extremely one-sided with Nihilslave throwing Goltres and Skeledirge for essentially free early. Taunt tech on Meta's Goltres paid off and stopped Klefki from boosting. After Ray traded itself for Meta's Goltres Klefki tried to set up again but Nihilslave greeded and Hoopa just swept. Not much to say.

Instruct vs Lily

vs
From preview, Instruct already lost with Skeledirge walling Glastrier, Hydreigon and Hamurott giving Hoopa a tough time especially if Hamurott had Sucker Punch and unstoppable Spikes from Hamurott also weakening Torkoal to allow Hydreigon to take it better. Even Arceus and Tusk should beat Hoopa and Gholdengo could just spam Shadow Ball before TR went up.
The game went as badly for Instruct as expected. The surprise Glastrier lead to counter Hamurott just gave Skeledirge some free kills against Hatterene and Magearna with crit helping against Hatterene. The first Trick Room got danced around hard and even though Hamurott missed Ceaseless Edge and dropped to Grass Knot it just meant Arceus and Hydreigon no longer needed to fear Focus Blast. Torkoal tried catching Arceus stalling TR but Espeed means it couldn't really punish that. Glastrier barely lived Espeed and KOed Arceus but at that point there was really no hope left since Hoopa had to be sac To Hydreigon to get TR up, allowing Skeledirge to always win even if Lily tried to give Gholdengo the spotlight. This game is proof of how bad TR is right now without staples like NDW, Marowak and Araquanid.

 

[Dragonillis]

Hello the OM community, today I will show you something :
How to win vs W Virizzions ?

Step 1

Having the nicest user on smogon to cheering us, Gman

Step 2

Using Helping Hand to help and support my team

Step 3

Using fairy Terastallize to not losing this time.

Step 4

Losing 0-2 by a rfn (playing before sunday)

Step 5

Using my best boomburst specs pixilare in this tournament.

Step 6

Appreciate an another comeback from Wiggly Family

Step 7

Win this semi 5-3 versus the seed #1, W Virizzions.

In conclusion :

Prepare for trouble hayedenn, it will be a different week than week 3 !

See you next week for the next tuto.

Also, I will post the schedules tomorrow.

Let's go team !

 

[ojr]

gonna pretend im not talking out my ass and do some moderate effort predicts for the other semis

predicts

The Terrible Tyrants (drampa's grandpa and kenn) - [3][5] - Soul-Stealing Seven-Star Solgaleos (Fc and Guard)

SV 2v2 Doubles: yuki (4-3) (winstreak: 2) vs Fragments (4-1) (winstreak: 0). These players didnt face each other in regular season so this will be a new matchup. Fragments looked very in control this season with his only loss being to despacito of the combined 6-1 record of the wiggly duo. Yuki seemed to have ups and downs this season and ending regular season right above neutral. Still I am more impressed by Fragments overall so ill bold him.

SV Almost Any Ability: shiloh (4-2) (winstreak: 2) vs pichus (1-0) (winstreak: 1). These players also didnt face each other during regular season so we have another new matchup. Shiloh has put together a good season, maybe expected a bit more but 4-2 is very servicable nonetheless. On the other side we have an AAA slot that has been really struggling. Collectively pichus, tier and pociekmociek have accumulated a record of 2-5. This doesnt really bode well vs a seasoned veteran like shiloh...

SV Anything Goes: Lasen (2-1) (winstreak: 1) vs Guard (5-1) (winstreak: 1). Earlier in the season this was the one game guard didnt play and Lasen managed to win vs tier. But that seems to be the only seeming edge lasen has in this matchup. Guard has put on a stellar performance so far as you would expect with the sheer amount of AG knowledge within the team. While Lasen hasnt been bad in AG, he is not polt, the guard slayer. So I expect another AG win for the SSSSS this week.

SV Balanced Hackmons: quojova (4-2) (winstreak: 0) vs pdt (2-4) (winstreak: 0). While at first glance you might think im bolding quojova every day of the week, you would be completely wrong! quojova has become the real BH mainstay always showing up with solid stuff and winning consistently and is to me the name you think of immediately when you think of BH. But on the other hand we have the "old face?" in pdt who has not been winning a lot this season but importantly pdt won the first time these two met in regular season. I think this is not really a fluke win and definitely a sign of things to come. pdt is not afraid to rock up with "cheesy" teams i.e. the popular fillet away stuff rn which I think is definitely the type of tricks you will need to beat someone like quojova which will grant him the edge in this matchup here.

SV Godly Gift: tlenit (1-0) (winstreak: 1) vs Dr. Phd. BJ (5-2) (winstreak: 2). Another new matchup as tlenit only played 1 game this whole season at all. Im a bit surprised here but I really get it as the Tyrants GG slot has been a real struggle. BJ is one of the clear top 3 GG players in this pool and has looked very strong this season albeit getting a bit lucky? last week as ponch threw. Still BJ is the clear favorite here especially since we have just not seen enough from tlenit besides the one "rfn" win vs a player that was 0-4.

SV Mix and Mega: Career Ended (4-0) (winstreak: 4) vs Icemaster (3-3) (winstreak: 1). Career has been on a roll certainly and just really seems to know whats up in MnM rn. Besides that he also won the first matchup vs Icemaster during regular season which is already a good sign for him. It should be noted though that Career's great record does come without facing the top 2 players in the MnM pool; xavgb and Quantum Tesseract. Icemaster on the other hand came into this tour expected to be top end of the pool and maybe 3-3 is a letdown at that. His 3 losses have been vs the top 3 players in the pool so winning against the top end seems to be a tall task for him so far so I wont trust him here.

SV NFE: shaneghoul (2-1) (winstreak: 1) vs clean (4-3) (winstreak: 1). Finally we have gotten to my tier... In their first match this season we saw shane win pretty convincingly as I think that matchup was heavily in his favor and I didnt like cleans team as much. overall this season Ive liked clean more and the tyrants nfe slot a bit less. If we look post-home we saw clean struggle a bit, he started strong 3-0 and then 3 consecutive losses were a bit shocking. For the tyrants their only 3 wins this season have come from post-home meta which is a good sign. Overall though I rate clean as a better overall player and in the building department id say they are about equal. SSSSS is more likely to bring a more standard team but the Tyrants could go a bit more off-meta with potential to hit or miss. Im personally more sold on the more solid player + more standard builds so ill give a small edge there.

SV STABmons: Fissure (3-2) (winstreak: 3) vs Fc (4-2) (winstreak: 0). In their earlier match this season it wasnt really a contest as Lilligant-H kinda won on preview as soon as it set up. I still feel though that Fissure is really strong in STAB with the DLC after going 0-2 in the first 2 weeks pre-DLC and then came back strong as I think the footing in the tier was found really well post-dlc. Fc has also been good as he is just a great player but I just feel like Fissure will take this one with some good prep again like in their earlier match.

 

[Palapapop]

 

[Dr. Phd. BJ]

won gg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9godlygift-702601

 

[Dragonillis]

Schedule Semi vs W Virizzions (hayedenn and Greybaum) (GMT=0) :

SV 2v2 Doubles : tyo vs Hugo : Saturday 1 PM
SV Almost Any Ability : hariyana grande vs Osake : Sunday 5 PM
SV Anything Goes : Taka vs polt : Monday 1 AM
SV Balanced Hackmons : cityscapes vs Onyx Onix 7 : Saturday 10 PM
SV Godly Gift : Sylvi vs Meta : Friday 6 PM
SV Mix and Mega : xavgb vs Clas : Sunday 8 PM
SV NFE : Stareal vs ojr : Saturday 7 PM
SV STABmons : pannu vs RoFnA : Saturday 7 PM

Let's go Wiggly !

 

[LordBox]

OMPL AAA Reviews Week 7

LordBoc vs Ivar57

RAAAAAAAAAH

Not going to lie, once I found out we were in the playoffs pretty much guaranteed I decided to go out and cook in the kitchen with some dumb shit to load into Ivar because why not. Ivar57 on the other hand brings a very standard looking team with CorvChompScream Tail + 2 breakers in Chien-Pao and Volc + an unknown but most likely EE Iron Treads. From the surface my team is very annoyed but does have a Hoopa which could do a decent amount of damage with no real SpD wall on Ivar's team. Going to also add some of my thoughts at the time because why not.

Firstly Ivar57 leads Iron Treads with Regieleki on my side leading which is a bit annoying. Ivar most likely wants to get rocks up and try to prevent any screens shenanigans by threatening Knock on any potential screen setter. However, I reveal -Refrigerate Explosion and trade Iron Treads for Regieleki to stop rocks from going up. Eleki could've possibly been preserved but this game was going to be very sack heavy and I didn't have Tera-Blast on Eleki so Garchomp/Iron Treads stuffed it anyway. I lead Azelf into a Chien-Pao believing Ivar might still want to set rocks, I sacrifice Electrode-H which might be my first blunder. My line of reasoning was that it was annoying to get in Electrode-H, even if was Explosion (shocker), something like Garchomp coming in on it doesn't really help if Hoopa doubles in and forces it out so just sacking it here gives Hoopa prime position to go in. That being said given how hard Hoopa went in, if it was preserved I could've possibly won just with it (and Gambit in the back) but oh well. Hoopa now comes in and threatens Chien-Pao out. I click Focus Blast instead of clicking Nasty Plot which maybe would've been better given Ice Shard needs around 3 mons (including itself also works) sacked to guarantee the kill and I would win at that point (although sacking Chien-Pao last would've put me into a sketchy endgame with Azelf needing to get the big boom off on STail correctly). Focus Blast was mainly because I've had several test games where people would not figure out Surge Surfer (despite being supremely obvious) and Hoopa was my only real way of winning. Garchomp comes in and FBLast (and hence SBall) does 2HKO which is unfortunate for Ivar. Ivar decides to sacrifice Volcanion instead and Garchomp comes back in to threaten Hoopa. I switch into Azelf to take one EQ and click Explosion, severely chunking the Scream Tail, and also making me regret the Azelf wasn't Protean. Hoopa comes back in and I click Nasty Plot on the Protect. I knew Ivar would 100% click Protect to burn ETerrain turns and also make sure it was healthy enough to check Enam and I wanted to make sure Garchomp couldn't come in to threaten me out again given I was Modest. I pick up the sacrificed Garchomp and now it comes down to a tight endgame. It doesn't look very great for me given Corv (if BPress, which is more likely) + STail beats the combo of remaining mons and Hoopa gets trolled by Chien-Pao. I double into Gambit on a Crunch and then double back into Hoopa predicting Corviknight, which I get correct. This puts me in a great position as if Corv gets too low, Gambit can win the game with a +1 Kowtow only needing a bit of chip to properly OHKO (I was LO + Adapt). At this point I could've won if I clicked Focus Blast (and hit) given Chien-Pao came in and then Hoopa can clean and finish off either STail or force Corv low enough for bit Gambit to win. However I clicked SBall afraid of the possibility of missing and doing nothing given how much FBlast has traumatised me before. Chien-Pao gets chunked to below 50 and here I could've doubled into Gambit again but I was afraid of 1. Gambit being too low to even switch into STail 2. Sacred Sword (although this was far too risky for Pao to consider). Hoopa gets picked off and Enamorus comes in and Ivar is forced to sacrifice Chien-Pao given at the HP STail is at, Triage EPower threatens a 2HKO (although Ivar57 would've lost if this was SFLO). Scream Tail comes in and I'm forced to go into Kingambit. I need STail to stay low enough for Enam to potentially win, STail cannot protect and heal here because if so Kingambit click SD twice and wins. Corv comes in and threatens BPress and I.... lose to timer because I spent too long in calc... which is the first proper timer loss throughout this entire tour I think? so wooooo setting records.

Very sad given I definitely still had lines to win from there. I was going to go into Enam on the BPress which Ivar confirmed he clicked I still threatened EP 2HKO so it turned into a 50/50 on whether I clicked Mystical Fire to chunk Corv and (I can still double to Gambit and repeat the sequence and still win) or Corv U-turns on a EPower to get STail safely in. But well played to Ivar, glad I managed to bring the funny boom team and had a good game.

Osake vs Atha

Analysis

Frenchman vs Frenchman. While I did anticipate this a bit, atha seems to a bring an old pre-Home team which is somewhat understandable given their team is eliminated and there is no real reason to try. Seems quite offensive, trying to relying on winning faster with stacked Ceruledge/Chien-Pao/Kingambit with a cope defensive core. Osake brings a somewhat balanced team with interesting picks in Hydreigon/Enam which could easily smash through atha given opportunity depending on set and an unknown Quaquaval.

Entering the game, atha's Garchomp leads into Hydreigon and immediately gets outsped and OHKO'd by a Draco Meteor so not a great start although I suppose there wasn't really a great switch-in anyway (and atha might've been max speed and Hydreigon scarfed perhaps). Kingambit comes in to take advantage of the -2 Hydreigon and clicks Kowtow into a Quaq, revealing Intim, and LO on atha's Kingambit. This is rough for atha as Intim Quaq trolls both Pao and Chien-Pao without some real techs. Kingambit goes for the SD on Quaq anyway predicting a U-turn or no Fighting coverage but Deso Chomp comes in and Kingambit is forced out anyway. Washtom comes in and takes 70 from EQ, assumingly predicting Flamethrower. Chien-Pao comes in aggresively on an EQ to perhaps force progress, revealing SD on the Alolan-Muk which came in to presumably scout PsyFang tech and because it doesn't really do much with the lack of Special mons on Atha side anyway. Muk gets sacked and Enamorus comes in to threaten with presumably Triage. Iron Treads comes in on the Draining Kiss and Enamorus-Therian then reveals Iron Defense on the Knock Off. Kingambit soon comes in and Osake keeps CM'ing and chunks Gambit with +2 DKiss although Gambit still wins the interaction. Quaq comes back in and then out on a Treads switch-in with Chomp coming in as well. Garchomp guesses the immunity wrong as it reveals WBB and gets a +2 defense boost, chunking Garchomp and forcing it out. Corv comes in and reveal a funny BU + Agility set. Ceruledge does comes in but switches out guessing WBB I suppose. Corv stays in and Atha wisps and the game is lost as Corv sweeps.

Not too much to say. Atha's MU wasn't exactly great loading two darks into a Intim Quaq but it was a pre-Home team (I assume) so what can you expect. Otherwise Osake managed to fairly smoothly manuever it to a win with a very funny Corv sweep at the end although Atha probably could've wiggled out if Washtom went hard in earlier but even then it's hard for Atha to actually break and win.

The Number Man vs SpaceSpeakers

Analysis

From preview both bring fairly balanced and generic teams to the mix. TNM brings some odd picks in Donphan/Kilowattrel but aren't that odd. Space on the other hand brings a fairly generic pivot based offense with Ace and Slither Wing acting as threatening breakers with Inteleon bringing them in, although Slither needs a decent amount of play to break through STail and Ace depends on Kilo and Donphan set.

Getting the speculation out of the way, TNM leads STail into Inteleon. STail reveals Protect to scout and Inteleon simply U-turns out with the Hoodra-H in the back. STail immediately starts to go for a CM setup which could be potentially threatening. Cinderace comes in and threatens potential Gunk but simply U-turns on the Donphan switch-in. Some more shuffling goes around until Donphan comes in on Slither Wing and Donphan trades a Knock for a Wisp on Donphan, crippling it, potentially opening it up for Ace depending on Kilo set and also revealing a most likely defensive Slither set. Donphan manages to get a Knock on Corv's helmet for more chip and is EV'd slower to threaten a Knock but Donphan chooses to maintain rocks. Eventually Heatran comes in a Corv which doubles out to Meloetta, getting a free Wisp on Melo. Donphan gets in on Slither Wing again and while Slither reveals CC, it does little, most likely revealing Fluffy from Donphan which makes it odd to why TNM was so confident switching it into Ace and rocks go up. Some more shuffling gets Heatran in vs Ace. Space unfortunately misses a HJK which means Ace loses the trade. Ace going down makes it seem very annoying for Space to break through given Goodra-H and STail + Donphan for the Slither but we'll see. Some more shuffling goes around and STail gets a free wishpass into Donphan on a Meloetta U-turn into Slither Wing which is annoying for Space again. Some more shuffling goes around but Landorus manages to come in on a Goodra-H to get rocks down but Goodra-H predicts and leaves Lando very low with Ice Beam. A whole lot more shuffling goes around with Goodra accumulating chip on Corv with TBolt until Heatran comes in and Space seemingly refuses to kill it by spamming U-turn predicts until Lando ultimately is claimed by Power Gem. Not much to say as more shuffling goes around until Slither Wing eventually comes in and Close Combats the Donphan to death as it can do much back. TNM opts to sack to safely bring Kilowattrel in and kill 2HKO Melo on the switch given hazards and accrued chip from dealing with Heatran before. Not much to say as the breakers can do nothing and eventually get chipped down by STail and finished by Kilowattrel.

Somewhat unfortunate matchup for SpaceSpeakers given all their breakers simply got walled and there wasn't much to do with hazards easily removed by Donphan + bad luck with the HJK miss as well that lost Ace which was probably their best shot at breaking through but oh well. Otherwise TNM managed to navigate pretty safely through this whole thing to a pretty secure win with their matchup favoured to them.

MZ vs pichus

Analysis

From preview both teams bring fairly standard balance to the table. CorvScreamChomp from pichus and CorvChompMelo on the other hand. MZ carries a more potent offensive core compared, although Slither Wing loading into Skeledirge and Scream Tail is fairly rough but Chien-Pao w/ hazards support could potentially break through. Pichus on the hand doesn't seem to have great direct ways to break unless RMoon is CB Banded but can afford to wear down MZ.

Starting off, MZ leads Garchomp into Scream Tail, Garchomp switches out to Iron Moth to scout and Scream Tail reveals Pixilate. Moth goes for a Fiery Dance but Garchomp just eats. Rocks go down on both sides as MZ's Garchomp comes in as well and pichu sends in a presumably EE Iron Treads to win the hazard war. MZ however reveals a Toxic Debris Chomp on the Knock as well as Flamethrower to pressure Iron Treads although lack of lefties is annoying for MZ's Chomp. Dirge comes in a Flamethrower and Iron Moth comes in on a predicted Wisp but pichus doubles into Iron Treads. Moth doubles out to Chomp, presumably because Moth wasn't speed invested and Chomp is forced very low in exchange for more chip onto Treads. Slither Wing takes the Knock Off, revealing and losing MGLO and Skeledirge comes in on the FBlitz. Some shuffling occurs with Chomp taking Toxic until Chien Pao finally gets in on a DTail however Corv is healthy enough to answer. A ton of shuffling occurs as Iron Moth and Slither Wing continousl spam pivot to try to accumulate chip and eventually break through Skeledirge. Eventually the stalemate is broken as Chomp takes a Fiery Dance and Corv comes in the EQ with STail coming in and taking a Toxic. Scream Tail tricks away its Scarf to a Meloetta which makes Skeledirge quite annoying but also seals itself from its own status moves which makes it somewhat worthless and gets sacrificed to the Iron Moth. Iron Treads takes this opportunity to finally come in and get hazards off, taking more chip from the Corv BBirds while chipping Corv significantly as well. More shuffling goes around until Roaring Moon comes in and claims a kill on Meloetta as Corv is too low from repeated chip to come in, with RMoon most likely CB Strong Jaw. Slither Wing comes back in to force it out and U-turns on the Skeledirge. Dirge manages to get a Slack Off on the Iron Moth U-turn and picks off a Garchomp who has been worn down into Torch Song range going for rocks up. Chien-Pao comes in on the sacrifice and forces Corv to recover with MZ's own Corv coming in to take advantage to get a Roost off. Iron Treads comes in to get rid of rocks again with no more setter on MZ's side, but in exchange for losing Treads. Dirge takes this opportunity to force Corv out and threaten Iron Moth who is forced to Morning Sun, letting the RMoon in. Corv comes in but with accumulated chip and rocks up dies to CB Crunch, the crit probably not mattering as Corv would've likely died in two anyway. From here it's hard for MZ to win as Chien-Pao can't break through healthy Corv and neither can the healthy Slither Wing, particularly with a Skeledirge in the back and every time RMoo comes in it threatens a kill, eventually cleaning up for a victory for pichus.

Somewhat struggle of a game, which MZ could've possibly won but it was rough for MZ. EE Treads was kind of a decisive on for pichus given its ability to clear hazards even if Chop has Flamethrower and the first interaction with Chomp getting so low with no Wish support meant Iron Treads was free to pressure Corv and chip it down for big RMoon to come in and eventually turn this mostly balanced stalemate to convert into a win for pichus while also making sure Corv could stay mostly healthy in the back to check Pao. Skeledirge was also an annoying answer that made sure Slither Wing wasn't going to make much progress. Without that first Chomp interaction getting so low maybe trading Slither Wing first then perhaps Chomp could've eventually win out the hazard war to get Chien-Pao win but it was hard, well played to both sides.

 

[hayedenn]

We are gathered here today to celebrate the life, and mourn the passing of the Dubwool Entendres.

Managed by long-time OMPL participants Quantum Tesseract and Redflix, pre-draft the expectations were already high for this managerial pair to succeed. With the support that both provided across many of the tiers, there seemed to be no reason why they couldn't make a run to the playoffs.

Before the draft started, the Dubwools decided to only self-buy manager Quantum Tesseract. I think everyone believed that self-buying both managers would have been a very valid choice, but I understand flix not wanting to play and instead letting QT take the reigns in MnM. The Dubwools chose to not make any single splash purchase like other teams did (i.e. Rizzes going 22k on Stresh) and instead bought a couple mid-range (price-wise) players in Lily for GG, TNM in AAA, and Sevag for BH. Lily of course went x-1 last year in Godly Gift (I think?) and expectations were high for her to have that same level of performance. The Number Man didn't have a ton of SV AAA experience but he was still a former OM Circuit Champion and, if he could find that same level, was expected to do very well again. Sevag was one of the more...confusing buys? Granted, I think if any team was to do well with him, it was the Dubwools, but he was still not super experienced in the BH meta and had said that he was not going to have the best activity/motivation. The rest of the Dubwools draft included picking up the Kaif/Potatochan core for 2v2/STAB, Frito/Staxi in AG, DripLegend for 2v2, King Leo V for NFE, and jasprose/Plushietran/will/Spitfire as support.

This portion of the draft for them felt a bit confusing. Potatochan, granted, was coming off a very successful OMPL X and was capable of being sloted as a clicker anywhere he desired (but he wasn't). Kaif was considered one of the best 2v2 picks pre-draft but was instead slotted into STABmons (which fwiw he listed as a desired metagame). Staxi is a solid AG pick along with Frito but (iirc) neither were considered super high value, and they combinde for almost 1/6th of their entire budget (for one starter and one sub, unless they were going to start both). Leo had a poor showing last OMPL, and his drafting at the end felt almost like the managers had forgotten to get an NFE player. Jas/Will don't really play any OMs anymore, although Will is good moral support and still stays moderately up to date with what's going on it seems. Jas...is a Discord main. Spitfire is an okay sub, Plushietran is solid support, and Terracotta...idk much about them but they seem like a solid player (and I forgot DL but he's okay too).

These thoughts post-draft I think reflected in the performance of the team. Lily/QT/TNM all showed out, but disappointing stretches of play from the Dubwools BH (What was sevag thinking in some of these games ???), Kaif (STAB is a shitshow fwiw so not really his fault), the AG slot (which was very expensive!!!), and the 2v2/NFE really dragged down their season. Much has been elaborated on regarding the frustration that flix and the team had that final week with the Wigglies/Flutter set, but I think much of the Dubwools failing to make playoffs is due to the inconsistent play throughout the season. Even if Leo's record is in part due to hax, this failure to not sub someone into NFE or 2v2 (or even BH, WTF were those chokes Sevag you're better than that) when you have competent subs who you should be able to trust to click I think was a managerial issue. Hindsight 20/20 of course, and I don't really blame flix or QT for anything. Perhaps it could be chocked up to really having 1 or 2 dedicated players per slot and lacking the ability to flex your players eslewhere. We saw the last week, if QT can't play MnM then you really don't have anyone else you trust to get the win. Perhaps a MnM sub could have been drafted and then you could have flexed QT into BH/STAB/NFE, slot Kaif into 2v2, etc. Potato could have slotted anywhere and been fine (he must have just not wanted to play sooner than that, but he has a big enough ego [endearing] to where I know he would have gotten tilted with someone choking). It's tough, and I think flix/QT thought that this wasn't really an issue and they would still make playoffs...but they didn't. Sad! I hope this pair returns next year because this result definitely doesn't reflect the quality of play, experience, and building both bring.

Redflix post the next two eulogies flop

 

[Sylvi]

gg, won vs. MetaRiolu7
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9godlygift-702973

 

[spell]

Good work Sylvi

 

[longhiep341]

GG Semifinal Review: Backbitten

drphdbj vs tlenit

vs
tlenit reused the team from week 4 which turned out to be a mistake of some sort. bj still preferred the bulky offense style and went with Eternatus. The matchup slightly favored bj on preview I'd say, with Eternatus handling Helectrode and Washtom well enough while Zapdos deals with both Tinkaton and Tusk. bj's Tusk, Gholdengo and Slither Wing keep Arceus in check though if Tusk doesn't have a Fighting-move it might become setup fodder instead. Meanwhile Eternatus and Gholdengo can eventually break through and tlenit's team is more prone to being chipped long term due to the threat of Washtom and Tusk getting Knocked and even possible Trick from Gholdengo. Greninja was probably Scarf cause bj used it a lot.
Zapdos proved to be a nuisance early when it could just shrug off repeated Volt Switch from Washtom and Helectrode, which forced the latter to Taunt it. A Knock Off crit from Tusk KOed Zapdos, but not before it almost got the KO with Hurricane and got the Static proc. bj's Tusk revenged but also revealed Body Press so Arceus seemed worse. Washtom came back and got Tinkaton in vs Etern, which sadly had Flamethrower and Tinkaton SD for nothing. tlenit opted to keep it and sac Skeledirge just to get a burn on Etern. Arceus tried to do something but Tusk just dealt massive damage with Press + Helmet. Even though bj let Arceus damage Etern later to the point of being KOed by Helectrode, bj already won at that point with Slither Wing in the back. Arceus also revealed it couldn't touch Balloon Gholdengo, after some switches Tinkaton dropped to Tusk after missing Play Rough and bj just cleaned up with Slither Wing. Overall tlenit made some desparate plays which was understandable considering the wrong team, but still I found it hard for bj to lose even without that given the info on both sides.

Meta vs Sylvi

vs
Two Calyrex-Ice in Semi was unexpected, especially when Sylvi's team also came with Maushold. It might wreak havoc if it had Beat Up and Tusk wasn't Helmet. Heatran and Tusk would try to provide support to wear down mons for Maushold. Both Tusk could open holes in the opposing team, though Meta's plan should revolve more around Hawlucha endgame, which would take more time and predictions compared to Sylvi's more comfortable gameplan.
Sylvi wanted to go ham on Maushold immediately even against Tusk. It didn't do anything cause Tusk switched out to Skeledirgr but that could have spelt doom immediately against Helmet. Meta continued to get the read with a double to Tusk against Heatran. It got Rock up and a big hit on Sylvi's Tusk though got Eject Pack knocked. The Rilla managed to Knock and chipped Glowking a bit but Sylvi regained momentum and burned Meta's Washtom. Meta then displayed some insane consecutive predictions, resulting in 2 CC against Washtom and a Headlong Rush on opposing Tusk. As Sylvi's Tusk went down Maushold got in and correctly got the Beat Up on Skeledirge this time, threatening to 2HKO it with ease. Rillaboom became the sacrificial lamb so Hawlucha had to go in early. It got to +2 but couldn't OHKO Glowking and Glowking revealed the surprise Trick Room. Technically Meta could have Taunt but everybody would expect a Future Sight there. The weakened Washtom went so Calyrex-Ice could fly. Meta's Washton held Caly-I well and only took 34% to stall out all turns as Sylvi tried to catch a WoW. Meta wanted to heal Skeledirge but surprisingly the supposed minspeed Caly-I was like max Speed and Taunt Skeledirge first (still slower than Washtom though). Meta went back to Washtom to force Caly out but ended up giving away tempo to Glowking so Maushold got another KO. This was a mistake, a WoW on Glowking would reduce Beat Up damage to where Skeledirge could take one without crit (based on past damage, it should take around 12 + 10 + 14 = 36%) Calc: 252 Atk Technician Maushold Icicle Spear (3 hits) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skeledirge: 126-150 (30.6 - 36.4%) -- approx. 45.6% chance to 3HKO (Dark type, 19 BP, 21+21+14=56 so I took 57/3=19). Caly-I could come in with Snow and Sylvi opted to let his own trade with it. Meta thought it was the only saving grace against Maushold so opted to sac Skeledirge. Hawlucha sadly couldn't take Caly-I to Tusk's Spin range so Maushold just cleaned up after. People doubted the Trick Room concept when there was no real slow mon on Sylvi's side but it worked and I myself tried applying Doubles concept of Semiroom to Singles before in Linked and gen 8 TSAAA so can't say it was bad.

 

[Hugo]

ggs to tyo
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen92v2doubles-703184
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen92v2doubles-703185
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen92v2doubles-703188
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen92v2doubles-703190
shoutouts to Despacito87 for convincing me to keep SD on sciz the day before

 

[RoFnA]

won against Pannu. ggwp
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9stabmons-703318

i actually enjoy the current Stabmons meta, Pannu doesn't :(