1v1PL III Recap

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Introduction

1v1PL is an annual team tournament for the 1v1 metagame. This year, we had eight teams duke it out with these eight slots: 1x USUM Bo7, 2x USUM Bo5, 2x ORAS Bo5, 1x BW Bo5, 1x DPP Bo5, and 1x 2v2 Doubles Bo5. We wanted to allow a big portion of the community to join in and have fun, as well as focus on a lot of old gens, which were underdeveloped previously. DPP 1v1 was given the spotlight for the first time since 1v1 Classic, and this allowed for more good and exciting battles, since all players were new. BW 1v1 was also exciting, as it is a fairly new metagame and most of the players had never touched it.

We then had to pick the managers. I wanted our managers to be a combination of 1v1-involved people and others with managing experience, in order to better acclimate the 1v1 community to team managing. Here are the teams that got picked:

The Auction

• Heatrans
• Jumpluffs
• Porygons
• Panchams
• Rhyperiors
• Articunos
• Escargots
• Mega Rays

The auction was set on Saturday, March 9th. The most common strategy in 1v1 drafts is to have not only a good starting lineup but also good team support, since most of the action in 1v1 happens in the teambuilder. The draft saw some managers drop a lot of credits on players that some people thought was unnecessary. The top 5 most expensive players were:

• Tony for 27k by the Ecstatic Escargots
• MaceMaster for 26k by the Pixilated Porygons
• Soulwind for 24.5k by the Juuling Jumpluffs
• Osra for 24k by the Playful Panchams
• Iron Crusher for 22k by the Playful Panchams

With the auctions set, the top 3 teams were the Hellfire Heatrans, Juuling Jumpluffs, and Playful Panchams based on predictions. The predictions were based off the managers and the compositions of the teams; all three of these teams had managers that knew a lot of 1v1 gens in and out, and the ones that were out of grasp for the managers were covered by the players. Three teams had managers that knew both USM and ORAS, which were crucial gens and covered five of the eight slots. The Jumpluffs also had more than that: their manager dom's 1v1 experience goes back to DPP, allowing him to help whoever he drafted for that slot. Other than managers, these teams had an excellent draft plan and filled in the missing parts. The Hellfire Heatrans got the combo of ima, TogliBabineBoeuf, and alive, who perfectly covered old gens due to their past experience in either Smogon tournaments in ima's case or 1v1 Classic for both Togline and alive. They also had a promising USM lineup with top players UBERLandon21 and XSTATIC COLD. To round it off, their 2v2 Doubles player, London13, pulled an amazing performance in a tier he hadn't touched prior the tournament. The Juuling Jumpluffs' overall strength was more remarkable. They had phenomenal builders dom and ggopw, the latter of whom won two Seasonal tournaments in a row. In addition, their BW and DPP players, SoulWind and CrashinBoomBang, both played and built actively in their respective tiers. Meanwhile, the Playful Panchams were a little bit weaker than the other two teams, but the fact that their players could freely switch between ORAS and USM added a factor of unpredictability. On top of that, they drafted USM and ORAS powerhouses such as Osra and Iron Crusher, and both of their managers played both metagames actively. They also got SolarflareRo, who did surprisingly well.

After these top 3 teams, the next two teams voted in predictions were the RPS Rhyperiors and Pixilated Porygons, followed by the bottom 3 teams: the Metroboomin Mega Rays, the Ecstatic Escargots, and the Frozen Articunos. These teams had a common lacking point: bar the Pixilated Porygons, they all had managers that either played little to no 1v1 or were stuck with one generation and couldn't help their team in past generations. The RPS Rhyperiors had managers that played little 1v1 but were chosen due to their knowledge in managing. They ended in fifth place due to their team consisting of a great USM package and 2v2 Doubles with some wins in other gens. They lacked great ORAS, BW, and DPP gems, and with them being an important aspect, they failed to qualify. The Pixilated Porygons were underestimated at first, but as weeks went by they proved themselves to be the best of the rest. They had an okay USM lineup with MaceMaster, UnleashOurPassion, and Eriey as well as a good BW player in Wanonymous1616. They had lot of players that were willing to learn and loved playing in the tournament, so they tried their best and qualified.

For the bottom three teams, not only was the managers' help lacking but their draft choices were as well. The Ecstatic Escargots dropped a huge amount on TonyFlygon at the beginning of the draft, which handicapped them for the rest of the draft, as they couldn't capitalize on great names. They did draft some okay players like ayedan, Lancer Fr, Blazikin, and Whaleeeee, but they couldn't keep up with the competition and lost most of their important games, thus seeing loss after loss. They also had communication problems with their managers, which was detrimental and decided their fate. The Metroboomin Mega Rays' draft was more questionable; they didn't capitalize on 1v1 names and instead decided to pick up more friends than players, which didn’t turn out well. The Frozen Articunos' draft was also questionable, as they drafted a whopping 18 players instead of the minimum required number, 10. Plus, all of them were mostly average players. Both managers only played USM, which handicapped old generations help, and the only great players they drafted were Elo Bandit and Squirtell 1v1.

Post-Auction

Here is some information you need to know before jumping right into week 1 if you did not participate in 1v1PL:

• Schedule
• Players

Week 1 and 2

The first two weeks didn't see highly rated teams face off against each other. The Juuling Jumpluffs left victorious both weeks and clinched the first spot with a 2-0 score. The RPS Rhyperiors were second place with a win and a tie. Meanwhile, both the Pixilated Porygons and the Hellfire Heatrans had two ties; this was a bad start for the Hellfire Heatrans, as they were ranked higher in predictions. The Frozen Articunos secured a strong win against the highly rated Playful Panchams, giving them a good head start, which put both of them at 1 win and 1 loss. In the back of the pack, the Ecstatic Escargots and Metroboomin Mega Rays suffered 2 losses in a row.

Week 3 and 4

With a win over the RPS Rhyperiors and a narrow loss against the Playful Panchams, the Juuling Jumpluffs kept their first seed. However, the Hellfire Heatrans started to pick up momentum with 2 solid victories, allowing them to tie for first. While the Playful Panchams had a lot of ground to cover after their loss, they were able to secure a tie against the Pixilated Porygons in week 3 and a narrow win against the Juuling Jumpluffs in week 4, reaffirming themselves as one of the top contenders. The Pixilated Porygons also secured a win, allowing the tie for 3rd as well. The RPS Rhyperiors were only able to get one tie, while the Ecstatic Escargots secured two. The Frozen Articunos weren't able to keep their momentum and lost 2 in a row, while in last were the Metroboomin Mega Rays, who also only got 1 tie and had yet to win a week.

Week 5 and 6

Weeks 5 and 6 were big weeks for all of the teams. Week 5 saw each of the top four teams face off against the bottom four, and if any of the bottom four wanted a chance to make playoffs they needed to get a win this week. The RPS Rhyperiors were the only ones who managed to get a win, against the Pixilated Porygons, while the others all lost, effectively leaving only 5 teams in the race for the 4 playoff spots. Week 6 was extremely important for all 5 of these teams. Week 6 saw the two first seeds, the Hellfire Heatrans and the Juuling Jumpluffs, face off, with the Hellfire Heatrans winning 6-2 and securing their number 1 seed in the playoffs. The Playful Panchams and RPS Rhyperiors tied this week, while the Pixilated Porygons bounced back from their loss for a huge 7-1 victory over the Ecstatic Escargots.

Week 7

Week 7 started with 4 teams shooting for 3 playoffs spots all within one point of each other. The Playful Panchams were up against the undefeated Hellfire Heatrans. They needed a win or a tie to guarantee their spot, but they couldn't take the heat and lost. The Juuling Jumpluffs also only needed a win or a tie against the Pixilated Porygons, whose fate was also dependent on the other teams' performance. The two teams tied 4-4. Finally, the RPS Rhyperiors were up against the last placed Metroboomin Mega Rays. In a big upset, the Metroboomin Mega Rays secured their first win of the tournament as the RPS Rhyperiors, who were formerly 4th place, lost their shot at playoffs.

Playoffs

After an undefeated main season and 5 back-to-back wins, the Hellfire Heatrans easily secured the first seed. The Juuling Jumpluffs had a great start, and while they slowed down a bit in the later weeks, they were still the second seed. The Pixilated Porygons had gotten half of their points from ties, but thanks to big wins they had a large differential, allowing them to have the third seed. The Playful Panchams had ups and downs through out the tournament but also qualified for playoffs.

Semi-Finals

Semi-Finals saw a repeat of the matchups that just occurred in Week 7, but the results weren't the same. The Juuling Jumpluffs were able to take a strong 4-0 lead early in the week, which ended up with their 6-2 victory overall. The Juuling Jumpluffs had always had a strong old gens lineup, but with this week and the previous one they seemed to have perfected their Gen 7 lineup. The Hellfire Heatrans and Playful Panchams on the other hand were a constant back and forth leading into a 4-4 score and a tiebreaker thanks in part to an upset in BW where the previously undefeated ima lost to SolareflareRO. In the tiebreaker, Panchams were able to win SM Bo7, but Heatrans came back with a win in BW and 2v2.

Finals

The Hellfire Heatrans and Juuling Jumpluffs had been the two front runners nearly the entire tournament, so finding them in finals was predicted by most of the community. The finals match proved to be an incredibly close series where no team seemed to be able to get the lead over the other. By Saturday the score was tied up at 3-3, with some of the best players on each team still not playing yet. UberLandon21 was able to get a narrow 4-3 victory over ryyjyywyy in SM Bo7, leaving the deciding match between the two managers ggopw and BaleBlaze. In the end Baleblaze was able to win 3-1, giving the victory to the undefeated Hellfire Heatrans.

Manager Interviews

^ Back to the top

Highlight games:

(SM Bo7) XSTATIC COLD vs UnleashOurPassion (Week 1)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match
• Fifth Match
• Sixth Match
• Seventh Match

Both of these players are ranked at the top of the 1v1 player rankings. UnleashOurPassion is known for bringing, most of the time, the same team to the whole series, and that's what happened. He was able to take the upper hand and create a 3-1 lead on his opponent by end of game 4. But after that, it all went wrong for UnleashOurPassion, as XStatic Cold discovered the weakness of the team and kept utilizing the proper Pokémon to get a 4-3 win in the end.

(ORAS) dom vs Osra (Week 4)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match

These games had two ORAS 1v1 giants showing off some new sets that hadn't really been seen in the metagame. Game 1 featured a Life Orb Kyurem-B, although it still couldn't deal enough damage to Mega Altaria. In games 2 and 3, Osra used a Taunt + Rest Mega Mawile, specifically designed to beat the SubSeed Pokémon like Whimsicott. Finally in game 4, Osra's Custap Berry Porygon-Z was able to beat dom's Reuniclus.

(DPP) TogliBabineBoeuf vs neomon (Week 4)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match
• Fifth Match

neomon was one of the first players to touch DPP and introduced the 1v1 community to the generation. TogliBabineBoeuf picked up DPP in this tournament after doing good in 1v1 Classic. Both of them were rated good DPP players in the first weeks. Game 1 was an instant Premier League highlight game, as both sent out Rhyperior and spent 12 turns in a circle of 50/50 between Endure, Swords Dance and attacking, and in the end Togli won. Game 2 was also a mirror match between 2 Gengar, but it ended turn 1, as neomon's Gengar was faster and OHKOed the other Gengar. In game 4, Snorlax easily tanked Aerodactyl's move and PP stalled Stone Edge, resulting in a win to neomon. Game 4 was for Togli, as his Kingdra muscled through an Air Slash from Serene Grace Togekiss. After four games of back and forth, a Tyranitar with no Dark moves won against Hidden Power Fighting Cresselia to give the win to Togli.

(USUM Bo7) WailJesus vs Chickenpie2 (Week 6)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match
• Fifth Match
• Sixth Match
• Seventh Match

This game was easily one of the most anticipated of week 6, as WailJesus had gone 5-0 in 1v1PL before this point and Chickenpie2 is an all-time great 1v1 player. Both teams also weren't sure of qualifying, so the stakes were high. Chickenpie2 brought unorthodox Pokémon such as Golisopod, Serperior, and Hydreigon to surprise WailJesus, but that strategy didn't completely work out. WailJesus picked up the advantage by defeating Chickenpie2 in the first two games. However, game 3 saw a different winner, as Chickenpie2 brought stall Suicune. In game 4, Kommo-o surprisingly outsped Mega Charizard X, which put the series in a tie. The next two games saw Chickenpie2 winning a Primarina mirror matchup but losing with Hydreigon, which brings us to game 7. Game 7 was nothing special; Chickenpie2's Aggron defeated Mega Gardevoir, thus ending WailJesus's winning streak.

(2v2) Pigeons vs RuffletMuffler (Week 7)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match

Despite both players being relatively new to 2v2, their sets in this match were quite strong and innovative. Game 2 showcased Ally Switch Healer Chansey augmented with Mega Gyarados's natural bulk, and Intimidate allowed Pigeons to withstand a matchup that targeted Gyarados. In Game 3, RuffletMuffler's Shaymin-S and Tailwind Mega Charizard X were able to power through without large risks due to missing an ally switch prediction. In the final game, Pigeons was able to utilize Mega Mawile's Sucker Punch and Lapras's Hydro Pump to break through Intimidate, Snarl, Ally Switch, and Will-O-Wisp from Rufflet's team.

(BW) SolarflareRo vs ima (Semi-Finals)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match

ima and SolarflareRO had shown themselves to be top tier in BW 1v1. SolarFlare was able to put an end to ima's undefeated streak. In Game 3, SolarFlare's Taunt Bisharp was able to take down Whimsicott, which is one of the best Pokémon in BW 1v1. In Game 4, Electric Gem Thundurus was able to OHKO Chandelure.

(SM Bo7) ryyjyywyyvs UBERLandon21 (Finals)

• First Match
• Second Match
• Third Match
• Fourth Match
• Fifth Match
• Sixth Match
• Seventh Match

This nailbiter of a series featured several unique strategies. ryyjyywyy's Dragonium Z Zeroara and Noble Roar Kyurem were able to get early wins. However, UberLandon21 was able to come back with Kommo-o, Earthquake Mew, and Rock Tomb Garchomp. In Game 6, UberLandon21 missed a 75% chance to OHKO with Torrent Greninja's Hydro Vortex against Calm Mind Mega Sableye. However, ryyjyywyy's Choice Band Fire Punch Zeroara then missed the OHKO on Mega Lucario, allowing UberLandon21 to win the set overall.

Stats

Stats were collected and tabulated by Osra. Most of the stats are in line with the 1v1 metagame that's been established over the course of the generation. However, there are some notable outliers. Zeroara in USM 1v1 had more usage and winrate than the 1v1 king Charizard. In ORAS 1v1, Venusaur was 5th in usage and had an over 60% winrate. In BW the two highest usage Pokémon, Kyurem-B and Mew, both had a sub 50% winrate, while Meloetta, despite only being 11th in usage, had an over 70% winrate, and Porygon-Z won nine of the ten matches to which it was brought. DPP was probably the least developed metagame, with the top two Pokémon both only having 6.25% usage. In 2v2, Tapu Koko, despite being 4th in usage, had only 35% winrate. Notably, popular Fire- and Grass-type Pokémon, including Charizard, Victini, Venusaur, Tapu Bulu, and Kartana, all had high winrates.

Player-wise

The only player who got 8 wins was ima, who played BW for the Hellfire Heatrans; he had the best record in the tournament at 8-2. Prior to the tournament, ima wasn't a known 1v1 player, but after, I'm sure that he will be always known as one of the greatest BW players. Following ima we have another oustanding BW record of 7-1 by SolarflareRo. He was also ima's first loss in week 7. Both of these players went for pretty cheap, with ima going for 7.5k and Solar for only 4k. Next up, the best USM record went to ggopw with a 7-2 record; he is also known outside of the tournament, as he won 1v1 Seasonal twice in a row. WailJesus and TheShadowClaw from the RPS Rhyperios follow ggopw, as they both ended the season with a 5-2 record. In ORAS dom stole the show with a record of 6-3. Honorable mentions go to Wanonymous1616 with a 6-2 record in BW, Osra with a 6-2 record in a combination of ORAS and USM, and motogp with a 6-2 record in a combination of ORAS and 2v2 Doubles. Speaking of 2v2, the new 2v2 player Pigeons had the best record there with 6-2. Last but not least, great DPP builder CrashinBoomBang ended the season with a bang in DPP with a record of 5-1.

Closing thoughts

1v1PL III was the largest and longest 1v1 team tournament held so far. Generation 7 had been the biggest generation by far for 1v1, and 1v1 has grown immensely. Despite some initial criticism of the inclusion of so many old gen metagames and 2v2, most were shown to be fairly competitive. Whether or not future 1v1 tournaments will include DPP and 2v2 is unknown, but for now the Hellfire Heatrans join the Vivacious Virizons and the Thotting Tsareenas as PL champions. If you're interested in 1v1 tournaments, there's the 1v1 Ladder Tournament happening right now, plus you can check the 1v1 Tournament circuit for more information.

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