OMPL, the Other Metagames Premier League, is the largest team tour available for Other Metagames. After a heated auction, we had 8 teams battle it out in 6 different tiers: Anything Goes, Almost Any Ability, Balanced Hackmons, Mix and Mega, STABmons, and ZeroUsed. Across 7 thrilling weeks, the teams played each other for the top 4 placings to make the playoffs, where the final 2 teams fought for the prestigious title of OMPL champion. The OMPL showcases the highest quality of Other Metagames gameplay and shows the bright future of OMs for years to come.
Pre-Season Analysis
The Auction
In a heated auction, eight teams bid for players to play the six metagames, as well as at least two substitutes. We asked each manager about their strategy during the draft.
As in previous OMPL years, BH talent seemed to be a hot commodity, with MAMP topping the price list at 21k and fellow BH mains Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request), sugarhigh, and GL Volkner not far behind at 19.5k, 17.5k, and 17k, respectively. Strong Mix and Mega players were also highly valued, as the prices of 20k for Andyboy, 19.5k for xavgb, and 16.5k for Chazm indicate.
Power Rankings
After the auction, the players created a power rankings spreadsheet where they ranked each team's most likely starter against the starters for other teams. Top players were ranked 1, while the lowest ranked was 8, and then the ratings were averaged to get the final power ranking. The spreadsheet is viewable here. All of the teams were fielding strong talent this year, making the difference between each rank rather deceptive.
1. Honchkrows (38 points)
Players to watch: RawMelon (ranked first in ZU), PurpleGatorade and rozes (ranked second in AG and AAA)
Key takeaways: None of the players were in the bottom half of the rankings for their metagame, making this a very strong overall team. Jrdn has a wealth of experience in many of the metagames, especially AAA; he will be able to provide ample advice and plenty of teams. sugarhigh has not been seen playing BH since last year's OMPL, but his reputation for consistency since Gen 5 kept him in the top half.
2. Magearnas (34 points)
Players to watch: Sylveon. (ranked first in AAA), xavgb (ranked second in MnM), Cam (ranked second in STABmons), and LPY (ranked second in ZU)
Key takeaways: Though the Magearnas skimped on their BH core, spending only 10.5k in total, both managers have experience playing it, so they can offer teambuilding and testing support. Funbot28 is also able to provide teams for the other metagames. Unfortunately, they can't assist during the games themselves, which is where nerves cause even strong players to choke. Megazard and PDT, both returning from several months of hiatus, are question marks in AG and BH; people wonder whether they are in touch with current metagame trends.
3. Tyrantrums (27 points)
Players to watch: Zenithial (ranked first in AG), 5gen (ranked third in ZU) and Dr. Phd. BJ (ranked fourth in STABmons)
Key takeaways: This team is also very flexible and multifaceted, as Xayah can sub in for 5gen in ZU, Chessking is no slouch at BH, and Official Fissure can play STABmons. itsKimbo will be relying on brother Jrdn's support in AAA (an unfortunate situation when he plays against the Honchkrows), and TectonicDestroyer is flying solo for MnM, and both of them are untested on the PL stage.
4. Blisseys (26 points)
Players to watch: MAMP (ranked first in BH) and Andyboy (ranked first in M&M)
Key takeaways: MAMP and Andyboy anchor this team; both of them have strong reputations in their respective metagames and will be pressured heavily to get wins every week. Unfortunately for the Blisseys, prospects quickly fall off after that. With a distinct lack of subs, their lower-ranked players have to overperform and don't have much room to fail, and the top-ranked players have to live up to their price tags consistently.
5. Klinks (26 points)
Players to watch: GL Volkner (ranked second in BH), Chazm (ranked third in MnM) and Arushi (ranked fourth in AG)
Key takeaways: This team has plenty of substitutes, which is good insurance in case some of the lower-ranked players such as Shiba and a fruitshop owner underperform. Managers Pigeons and Chloe are experienced in most of the metagames, so they can provide invaluable support in testing to everyone. Shiba in STABmons is a big question mark for this team, and though motherlove has interesting ideas and plenty of OMs experience, he has not started in AAA before.
6. MegaRays (23 points)
Players to watch: Betathunder (rated first in STABmons) and HunterStorm (rated third in AG)
Key takeaways: Betathunder has been on a tear in STABmons for a while now and has a high reputation to live up to, while HunterStorm is no stranger to pressure, playing AG in OMPL finals several years ago. Their BH slot is rather suspect; Donno may be an old hand at the game, but he's definitely out of touch with the current meta and will be relying on Akashi's support, and a lot of practice games, to win. lax wowed spectators by beating blunder in a pivotal SPL tiebreak game, but he is in less familiar territory playing AAA.
7. Sobbles (22 points)
(Note that the power rankings were created before the trade between Zesty43 and Thimo)
Players to watch: Sabella (rated third in AAA) and DurzaOffTopic (rated fourth in ZU)
Key takeaways: Quantum Tesseract is a strong player in several metagames including AG, MnM, and BH, so he may be called on to sub in those or provide teams from his capacious builder. Tzop made it all the way to the finals of the BH Spring Seasonal, no small feat, but is untested in team tours. Thimo, who is not rated on the spreadsheet, is a familiar AG team tour presence and gives the team much better hopes in that metagame than Zesty43; the Sobbles' rank would probably be a bit higher if he were on there.
8. Jolteons (20 points)
Players to watch: Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) (rated third in BH)
Key takeaways: Established players such as maroon, Racool, and EviGaro being rated near the bottom of their metagame's power rankings is evidence of how strong the field has become. Gurpreet Patel's win in the BH Spring Seasonal and his reputation for building offbeat teams and piloting them to wins give him a deservedly high position, but he is also known for easily throwing away salvageable games after misfortune befalls him. If the team can work together, they have a chance of breaking out and showing that their lower spots were undeserved.
Manager Interviews
Before the draft, we made a pretty big spreadsheet of every player that had signed up. From there, we highlighted people who we thought had potential, as well as people we had faith in to play. This allowed us to organize the tryouts as well as mark out max prices for the players we really wanted and write estimates on players based on their mock draft prices. In the actual auction, our plan ended up going really well. We managed to get stresh and geerat (who were on the top of our most wanted player lists) for prices lower than we estimated, 19.5k and 16k, respectively, to help fill our MnM and AAA slots. We also managed to get a steal on Megazard, buying him for a mere 9.5k. From there, we needed to fill out the remaining tiers, and we eventually decided on buying on LPY for ZU and Cam for STAB. Unfortunately, however, we missed out getting an A-rate BH player (at the time of the draft) and decided to buy PinkDragonTamer, as we saw a lot of potential in him to do well. Then we rounded off our draft by buying some backups in SuperSkylake, Test Rex, and cromagnet, as well as gmansour20 for moral support.
Our main aim coming into the draft was to have a really nice team dynamic. Last year we had this and it ended up in a good team, so we were trying to replicate this again. HunterStorm, Jeran, Morogrim, Sabella, DonnotheFirst, and Betathunder were all members of the Mega Rays from last year, and they were a priority on our list. Sadly, Morogrim was a little sick of mons and decided to not sign up, somewhat shaking our plans. For the draft, things turned out going quite smoothly. We luckily managed to buy HunterStorm for a cheap 12k while also getting Betathunder at a decent price at 11k. Unfortunately, the Sobbles also wanted Jeran, so we ended up paying a little more for him, but all in all we got our MRay core for a decent price. We decided to buy Finchinator and TonyFlygon for ZU at the time of the auction, and we were quite happy at this stage of the draft. Perhaps the only thing that went wrong was that we upbidded a little too aggressively on lax and ended up missing out on Sabella. With the main core done, we decided to help fill our weaker slots. We bought nyan kat to help in our slightly lacking BH slot, with donno to against assist in our team dynamic while also supporting our BH and AG. We bought Cynara to help HunterStorm in AG and rounded it off with Charmflash to help support all the slots.
We decided to make a list of options on what we felt were the best players in each metagame, mainly through tournament records and how much we've seen them involved in their respective metagame. However, unlike some other managers, we actually used ladder as a basis for the list, because it gives info on how much a player has played a particular metagame and gives me a range of how determined they may be in it. We quickly made up the list.
In the actual auction, things went pretty well. We wanted to start up the game with other teams losing their money, because in theory it should make it easier for us to draft players we want during early draft, as that's when everyone throws out their credits to the best players, and then realize they have to save their credits. We managed to get Skarph, one of the key people on our list, for a much cheaper price than we anticipated, which allowed us to pay a bit more on Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request). We got w0rd and Racool at a decent price, both a little pricy but nothing too unexpected. Snow then recommended 2 ZU players for us to buy, EviGaro and Yami, who we promptly went and bought. Despite our great draft so far, us holding back on spending turned out to limit our options in MnM. After some discussion, we decided on buying maroon, as he had a consistent performance last year, as well as SectoniaServant, who we felt was a decent MnM player. Last of all, we had no support in AAA, but due to the shallow pool, we couldn't find anyone to support Racool until Chaitanya PMed us, reminding us of that option. Chaitanya had recently bought me and Racool for the Monotype Premier League, and we felt he would be a good fit overall in our team. The result seemed fantastic with our budget, and overall we were happy with our draft.
Pigeons and I had the plan to draft good, solid players we knew would perform well. Our main pick was GL Volkner, who we knew we were getting before the auction started. Otherwise we just picked whoever we thought would be good pretty much. There were of course players we wanted like motherlove and Plas that we knew we wanted but it was mostly ad-lib, picking who we thought would fit our team best, who we could afford, and who could do well. Chazm and a fruitshop owner were both very successful viable picks that I'm super happy we got. pichus and GRNBLN both performed well. Shiba, Hassin627 both got us necessary wins to help us make finals.
We kind of struggled getting a STABmons player early, so we had to stretch ourselves for options late in the draft, but we fortunately got some really good picks all-around. Plas was a really amazing cheap buy and fortunately did well in STABmons. Even though we initially planned to get a STABmons main, they were really stretched thin due to the lack of options and high cost. Plas + KuraiTenshi26, despite not having the most amazing record, were really helpful in getting us to finals, and I couldn't have asked more of them.
By the end of the draft, I was quite content with the team we'd drafted. There were no noticeable weaknesses, we had viable subs for each format, and I got to draft people I liked. The Klinks did really well this year, so I'm obviously very happy with the draft.
My plan going in to the auction was to spend more on the OMs (BH/MnM/AAA/STAB) and use whatever is remaining for AG and ZU, because AG and ZU have a large pool of players, so it wouldn't be difficult to get decent people in the end. In terms of specific picks, MAMP and In The Hills were two people I was locked on getting. MAMP for being the best BH player at the moment, and ITH for STABmons, because the STABmons pool was weak, plus he could provide support to our Mix and Mega slot. For MnM and AAA, I had a few names listed down, but who we got would depend on how the draft went.
For the most part, the auction went according to plan. We secured MAMP and ITH, Andy was one of our MnM choices, and we ended up with good picks in AG (even if the results may say otherwise) and ZU. Ham wasn't part of the plans. Off course, spending all our money on starting slots meant that I had to make sure we'd be drafting people that would be available every week, which is why I was hesitant on Sylveon. and on aesf as well because of last year. rozes and Sabella too are not usual OM players but rather seasonal people that only join these team tours. With that in mind, and what seemed like a good price at the time, we went for Ham.
In the end, I was happy with how the draft turned out (as can be seen from my power rankings post, lol) but unfortunately, people uncharacteristically dropping games, or some hax, prevented us from finishing any higher. Props to the other teams though for upping the level of competitiveness. I look forward to a better run next year. Also, shoutout willdbeast for being a great co-manager.
Going into the draft we wanted to avoid spending too much on any single player. We really wanted to buy Dr. PhD BJ, as he had been active recently and was a player who we felt could be trusted in multiple metagames, both to play and to help build. TectonicDestroyer was recommended to us as a likely underrated Mix and Mega pick who we could get cheap, and both of those picks worked out really well. In the actual draft, one thing we didn't anticipate was picking up Zenithial for under 12k. Honestly we don't know how that happened. We had been hoping to pick up GL Volkner in BH after he had done well for us last year, but unfortunately he was highly in demand and we missed out on him. As we neared the end of the draft I sort of realized that due to our hoarding of money we had a lot left over and hadn't bought a starter for a couple key metagames (I think we tried for Sabella in AAA and didn't want to spend the money?). We decided to get itsKimbo, as we felt he was the best AAA player remaining in the pool, and nobody could really outbid us on him who would want to. We also managed to pick up Official Fissure late and relatively cheap (I'm not sure how), so we were very pleased with our draft overall. We felt, and still feel, that our team was very solid. We had a killer AG slot, probably the best STABmons and ZU slots, and a black horse Mix and Mega slot that consistently brought us wins.
We had spent some time on the name, but once we had settled on it, the draft was the next step. I had to spend some time on this but eventually made a plan. I believe this is a really good idea for anyone managing without retains. I tiered every player I was interested in a mix order of both proven skill and personal preference for builders/creatives. After the tiering, the idea was to get the last nommed player of the highest tier, if not possible then 2nd tier, as they would be the cheapest of all the first options; so, if for MnM I had stresh/Chazm/Andy in the same rank, I'd have bid on Chazm, who did turn out to be the cheapest of the 3.
After talking to Anaconja I was happy with the spreadsheet and ready for the draft. I got nearly everything I wanted, which was actually pretty surprising. Only things that didn't go according to the plan was QT, who wasn't even mentioned in the spreadsheet, as I had simply thought he'd go for much more than he did, so grabbing him at 50% off was one of the biggest steals. I'd also hoped to get Catalystic for MnM, as I ranked him tier 1 as well, but sadly, he went too early for too much for us.
We wanted to draft players similar to the Honchkrows from last year, due to the obvious success they had in OMPL VI. These included players such as MAMP in BH, Andyboy in MnM, and Catalystic in AG. Knowing that Sylveon. was going to go for higher this year, we decided to focus on a different AAA player in rozes or aesf. For the rest of the slots, we simply prepared to draft tours players.
In the final draft, we decided to buy Catalystic first, and we got him, albeit slightly more pricy then we expected. Unfortunately, The Immortal was gunning for MAMP and Andyboy as well, so I ended up having to draft 2 new players in their slots. We got sugarhigh for BH, while we shifted Catalystic to Mix and Mega. With no more AG slot, we needed a new player there, and that came in the form of PurpleGatorade. For AAA, we managed to get both aesf and rozes, creating a very solid duo, and aesf turned out to be able to play STABmons, so we quickly slotted him there. For ZU, we bought established player RawMelon, as well as TJ as support. Overall, we felt really happy about our draft and felt we had great chances going into OMPL.
Week 1
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Bedroom Blisseys (0-0-0)
Five-Star Jolteons (0-0-0)
Head Honchkrows (0-0-0)
Klink Shamers (0-0-0)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (0-0-0)
Money Magearnas (0-0-0)
Socialist Sobbles (0-0-0)
Temper Tyrantrums (0-0-0)
The first week of OMPL started out with exciting matchups all around. A win here meant a quick rise in points and momentum for future weeks.
The first series featured the Mega Rays and the Klinks, two teams with standout players but on the lower end of the power rankings. Four games in, the two teams were tied 2-2; however, the Mega Rays would take successive wins in Anything Goes and Almost Any Ability to clutch the week.
In Sobbles versus Magearnas, the second-ranked Magearnas looked to dominate the second-to-last ranked Sobbles. And they did dominate the week. The Magearnas earned three straight victories before Quantum Tesseract could stop their run. Despite this, the Magearnas quickly bounced back and sealed the week with a 5-1 victory.
The next series featured top-ranked Honchkrows against the third-ranked Tyrantrums. Although there was slight luck involved, the Tyrantrums seized five consecutive victories before the Honchkrow's rozes would end that streak.
The final series included the fourth-ranked Blisseys and the last place-ranked Jolteons. The Blisseys started the week with three straight wins, but then they lost in Anything Goes. Up 3-1, the Blisseys would seal the week with a Dj Breloominati win in ZU.
The highlight match for week 1 comes from Sobbles versus Magearnas, where it was a showdown between two ZU mains, LPY and czim. While LPY applied pressure throughout the game with his breakers and aggressive play, czim managed to make the right calls and force LPY into 50/50 end-game scenarios. Although czim played his Mawile flawlessly, it was LPY who made the decisive call against Sucker Punch Shiftry in an exciting finish.
Remember to scroll back up to read about the other weeks!
Week 2
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Money Magearnas (1-0-0)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-0-0)
Bedroom Blisseys (1-0-0)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (1-0-0)
Five-Star Jolteons (0-1-0)
Klink Shamers (0-1-0)
Head Honchkrows (0-1-0)
Socialist Sobbles (0-1-0)
After a disappointing series last week, the Socialist Sobbles looked to bounce back this week in a thrilling Week 2, and they were granted the opportunity to do this against the Mega Rays, who had come off a win in Week 1. However, the Sobbles got off to a bad start that completely destroyed their chances of winning the match, with Betathunder earning a win for the Mega Rays in Stabmons by beating Terracotta zygod, Akashi winning against Tzop in Balanced Hackmons, and HunterStorm beating Thimo in Anything Goes. Nevertheless, the Sobbles fought back strongly, with Sabella, Quantum Tesseract, and DurzaOffTopic winning in AAA, MnM, and ZU to draw the week and keep their chances for playoffs alive.
The Honchkrows and Klink Shamers were two highly anticipated teams heading into the season, but both had started with bad losses and sought to climb back up the rankings. Although the Klinks won the first game with Chazm winning in MnM, the Krows fought back strongly, with both TJ and sugarhigh winning in ZU and BH. Klinks, now down 1-2, won the next game with pichus winning AG, but their hopes of even tying were dashed with the Krows dominating the rest of the series, with aesf winning STABmons game and rozes winning in AAA, letting Krows win the week 4-2.
The Blisseys and the Money Magearnas were both hot teams, winning Week 1 and heading into an exciting match. The week started off with a hot win by In the Hills, beating Cam in a thriller. However, the Magearnas bounced back, with Sylveon. claiming the win in AAA. The Magearnas then took the lead with PinkDragonTamer wiping out MAMP; however, yet again the series became tied after DJ Breloominati struck right back in ZU. In a neck-and-neck series, the Magearnas finally broke away after a highlight match in Andyboy vs stresh, where stresh's webs eventually overcame Andy's balance. With the series resting on the last game, Megazard brought it home for the Magearnas in a 4-2 win.
The Tyrantrums and the Jolteons fought an extremely tight series that eventually ended in a draw. The series started with a shocker for maroon as he brought home the first game. However, Zenithial brought it back to a tie by beating Skarpherim in a huge AG series. The Tyrantrums won a consecutive one with Dr Phd BJ winning in STABmons, but yet again the Jolteons struck back with Racool beating itsKimbo in AAA. After an extremely tight encounter, HeadsILoseTailsYouWin beat Jasprose in BH. However, 5gen managed to win for the Tyrantrums, drawing the series 3-3.
Zenithial vs Skarpherim was possibly the most anticipated match in the entire OMPL, and this match certainly lived up to expectations. This series was perhaps one of the greatest displays of AG in the entire tour, and both players should be commended for their efforts.
In Game 1, both players brought a bulky offense. Though in the early stages of the game it seemed very rapid, lots of technical thought went into the moves, which highly positional switching involved. However, Zenithial on Turn 10 managed to KO a key defensive Pokémon on Skarph's team, Arceus-Water, by letting his Extreme Killer Arceus get trapped and revenge kiled by Mega Gengar, a solid trade. From here, two key plans were pretty clear, with all the Pokémon on both sides being revealed. Skarph's main plan would be to whittle down Zenithial's offensive threats, while Zenithial seeked to break through his team using the Extreme Killer Arceus and Mega Rayquaza. The game opened up when Zenithial predicted the Necrozma-DM switch-in and KOed it with Earthquake. However, in turn, Mega Rayquaza had to be sacrificed for Marshadow. The game remained roughly even until Skarph scored a huge crit against Yveltal, putting Zenithial at a huge disadvantage. This left Skarph with few defensive resources against Mega Gengar and Marshadow, and although he tried to make some play with Ultra Necrozma, Mega Gengar and Marshadow swept, and he was soundly defeated.
In Game 2, both players brought huge threats to the other's team. While Skarph had Marshadow and the potential Calm Mind Arceus-Ground, Zenithial had Kyogre and Psyshock Xerneas. Very early in the game, Zenithial misplayed due to not seeing a Defense drop from Liquidation, putting him at an early disadvantage. From there, however, he played strongly. Zenithial outplayed Skarph and scored an extremely crucial burn on the Arceus-Poison using his Arceus-Rock, and from there he played optimally, slowly trading off his Yveltal for Skarph's extremely threatening Dragon Dance Zygarde so he could bring in his Xerneas safely. Xerneas claimed two extemely important KOs in Arceus-Water and Arceus-Poison (with the burn coming into play) before it was finally revenge killed by Skarph's Marshadow. From there, it seemed as if Skarpherim was fighting back well, trading his Arceus-Ground for the Kyogre for his Marshadow to have a chance to sweep, but Zenithial shocked Skarph by revealing that he had a Choice Scarf Mega Rayquaza, and sealed the game and bringing the series to 1-1.
Game 3 was probably the closest game in the entire series. Skarph had brought a strong balance team that relied on Zygarde and Mega Gengar to break, while Zenithial brought a Mega Mewtwo Y balance team with strong offensive threats in Refresh Arceus-Dark and Ultra Necrozma. Skarph played very aggressively to try and prevent Stealth Rock for his Ho-Oh, but Zenithial eventually traded his Primal Groudon for Stealth Rock. Taking advantage of the momentum Skarph had to lose to get rid of Stealth Rock, Zenithial used Ultra Necrozma to blow holes into Skarph's team. Although Skarph fought back strongly, Zenithal's Arceus-Dark would be crucial in his victory for this series, as a few costly paralysis would render Skarph's Arceus-Fairy helpless against Arceus-Dark.
Remember to scroll back up to read about the other weeks!
Week 3
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Money Magearnas (2-0-0)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-0-1)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (1-0-1)
Bedroom Blisseys (1-1-0)
Head Honchkrows (1-1-0)
Five-Star Jolteons (0-1-1)
Socialist Sobbles (0-1-1)
Klink Shamers (0-2-0)
In Week 3, teams were seeking out opportunities to set themselves apart from the rest of the competition, perhaps by gaining another win or gaining a very decisive victory. In Mega Rays versus Honchkrows, aesf took the first win, beating Betathunder, which was followed up by a victory from sugarhigh, winning against Akashi. However, the Mega Rays struck back with a victory from HunterStorm against PurpleGatorade, and Finchinator against the subbed in TJ, although it was for naught, as rozes and Catalystic won their own matches to bring a victory for the Honchkrows.
In Blisseys vs Sobbles, Thimo won the first game against In the Hills for the Sobbles, and Sabella won the next game against hamhamhamham, but Blisseys would win two games in a row, with MAMP winning over Tzop and Andyboy claiming a victory over Quantum Tesseract. In the end, however, Velvet Blood and DurzaOffTopic would win their games against the subbed in BaconEatinAssassin and DJ Breloominati, respectively.
The fight between Jolteons and Klinks started out with first blood from maroon versus Chazm, and GL Volkner beating Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request). w0rd won against KuraiTenshi26, and Skarph would take the next victory. Racool would close out the win for Jolteons by beating her old time friend motherlove. Shiba won against Yami, although it did not matter for the week, since Jolteons had won.
When it came down to the Tyrantrums against the Magearnas, Official Fissure would take the first win against Cam, with Marsopa Trump & Test Rex along with xavgb taking the next two wins for the Magearna against jasprose and TectonicDestroyer, respectively. Xayah and Zenithal would take the next wins against LPY and cromagnet, but Megazard would take the final victory against itsKimbo to bring the week to a tie against Tyrantrums.
Some highlight matches mentioned at the beginning of the week involved Racool vs motherlove, nearly all of the AAA matches that week were also deemed good matches to catch. Quantum Tesseract vs Andyboy was another highlight, with two council members, either presently or formerly, duking it out in MnM. Finchinator and RawMelon was a highlight ZU match, with one of the best known players fighting against the best ZU player.
The number 1 highlight match, however, was Thimo versus In The Hills. Thimo, normally known for his strong AG showings, was an interesting - some would say baffling - pick for the metagame, but the match quickly proved to be even. Thimo's choice of sun with Trick Room proved to be an intense test for In The Hills's more generic bulky offense team. The reliance on slow Pokémon did not forestall the game itself being extremely fast-paced, as In the Hills managed to knock out Thimo's sun setter as early as Turn 3 to limit the amount of turns of sun he had. However, Thimo maximized his sun turns, using the niche move Growth in sun to create a deadly wallbreaker that immediately 2HKOed In The Hills's special blanket check in Chansey. In response, due to a lucky freeze, In The Hills manages to rack up some deadly counterplay with Araquanid, Thimo uses his Magearna to take it out, and with an intelligent use of Lunar Dance, manages to bring a fully healthy Alolan Marowak to clean up the game and seal the match.
Remember to scroll back up to read about the other weeks!
Week 4
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Money Magearnas (2-0-1)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-0-2)
Head Honchkrows (2-1-0)
Five-Star Jolteons (1-1-1)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (1-1-1)
Socialist Sobbles (1-1-1)
Bedroom Blisseys (1-2-0)
Klink Shamers (0-3-0)
Three weeks in, competition was still fierce, with no team, even the thrice defeated Klink Shamers, out of the range of playoffs. All games were played and all of them were hard fought, making this one of the more exciting weeks to watch.
The Jolteons and the Sobbles played an important series for both of them this week, hoping to gain two valuable points toward playoffs. Racool managed to beat Sabella in an AAA game, despite, in her own words, "dodging Ice Beam freeze like 10 times". Following up swiftly, Skarph managed to defeat Velvet Blood in Anything Goes, while HeadsILoseTailsYouWin managed to beat Quantum Tesseract in a Balanced Hackmons game with her Flying spam. The Jolteons continued their winning streak to the bitter end as SectoniaServant, W0rd, and EviGaro all won their games.
Ruling the roost against their opponents this week were the Head Honchkrows, who gained a win against the Bedroom Blisseys to tie for first place with the Magearnas. The Blisseys started off on a hopeful note, with Dj Breloominati♬ defeating TJ in ZU. aesf's win in STABmons against In The Hills was balanced out by Andyboy's subsequent win against Catalystic in Mix and Mega. Unfortunately for the Blisseys, the final three games of Almost Any Ability, Balanced Hackmons, and Anything Goes went to rozes, sugarhigh, and PurpleGatorade.
The Money Magearnas fought the Metro Boomin' Mega Rays to a 3-3 tie. The Magearnas started off strong, gaining two wins in Balanced Hackmons and STABmons thanks to PDT and Cam, who beat nyan kat and Betathunder, respectively. Akashi took down stresh in Mix and Mega with his Calm Mind Lunala, while HunterStorm cornered Megazard in his final Anything Goes game to equalize. TonyFlygon managed to defeat LPY in ZU, and after the Mega Rays hastily subbed in Charmflash for lax, Sylveon. managed to get the win the Magearnas needed to tie the week.
The Klink Shamers, hoping to get their first point of the season, battled the Temper Tyrantrums. GL Volkner started the week off for the Klinks, beating Jasprose in BH. After that, MnM player TectonicDestroyer and STABmons player Official Fissure garnered wins for the Temper Tyrantrums. Zenithial of the Tyrantrums continued his undefeated streak by taking down Arushi, ensuring that his team would at least tie this week. The Klinks equalized thanks to the efforts of motherlove, who beat ItsKimbo in AAA, and a fruitshop owner, who won against his tier leader Xayah in ZU.
Before the game, the players agreed to not bring Mega Rayquaza, which was a ridiculously powerful and centralizing offensive threat that had countless set variations to easily get around checks and counters. At Team Preview, it is plain to see that Quantum Tesseract lacks resistances to Flying, perhaps because of the agreement to not bring Mega Rayquaza. HeadsILoseTailsYouWin brought Yveltal, Mega Aerodactyl, and Mega Charizard Y, which makes the battle an extremely uphill one for Quantum Tesseract.
Early-game, HeadsILoseTailsYouWin heavily pressures Quantum Tesseract's team with her Mega Charizard Y, which is running Choice Specs Aerilate Boomburst. She manages to KO both Ho-Oh and Xerneas with it, as well as damage Quantum Tesseract's Imposter Chansey for 50% of its HP before it finally is KOed. Quantum Tesseract attempts to put pressure on her team with his Mega Blaziken, but it is to no avail, because she reveals Fur Coat Primal Kyogre. The Blaziken soon faints to Oblivion Wing from Yveltal, and with it goes Quantum Tesseract's last hope of winning. The game ends some time later as HeadsILoseTailsYouWin proceeds with the cleanup in a clinical manner.
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Week 5
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Money Magearnas (2-0-2)
Head Honchkrows (3-1-0)
Five-Star Jolteons (2-1-1)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-0-3)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (1-1-2)
Socialist Sobbles (1-2-1)
Bedroom Blisseys (1-3-0)
Klink Shamers (0-3-1)
The fierce competition continued this week, with no team out of the running for a playoffs spot. For the Bedroom Blisseys, a win against the Mega Rays would significantly increase their chances. MAMP started them on the right foot with a win against DonnotheFirst in Balanced Hackmons. The Mega Rays evened out the score when Betathunder trounced In the Hills in STABmons, adding insult to injury by KOing the final Pokémon with Sylveon's Pixilate Rapid Spin. The Blisseys hit back, as BaconEatinAssassin managed to take down HunterStorm in Anything Goes, but Akashi of the Mega Rays retaliated by beating Andyboy in Mix and Mega. Havens and Hamhamhamham helped the Blisseys to a well-fought 4-2 win for the week.
The winless Klink Shamers, backs against the wall, faced off against the Money Magearnas, one of the consistent favorite teams, this week. The Klink Shamers' prospects started off bleak as their star BH player, GL Volkner, lost a fairly one-sided game against SuperSkylake. However, they were able to bounce back with four consecutive wins from a fruitshop owner, Plas, Chazm, and pichus, winning their first series in the process. The Magearnas concluded the week on a bittersweet note, as Sylveon. continued his impressive winning streak with two straight wins against motherlove in an AAA Bo3.
The Five-Star Jolteons, fresh off their 6-0 win against the Socialist Sobbles last week, were paired against the top-rated Head Honchkrows this time. The first game pitted Skarph against PurpleGatorade in Anything Goes, and PurpleGatorade took the win convincingly in two games. Skysolo14 extended the Honchkrows' lead by beating SectoniaServant in Mix and Mega thanks to the latter's poor timing on Mega Evolving his Shuckle and Magearna, which made attacks they would have otherwise survived KO them. Racool and EviGaro then evened out the score for the Jolteons with wins in AAA and ZU. In a much-anticipated Balanced Hackmons game, Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) took a convincing win against sugarhigh. The final matchup was in STABmons, and in a great Bo3, aesf managed to even up the score at the cost of w0rd.
The Temper Tyrantrums were hoping for a win this week, which would increase their playoff chances significantly, as they struggled against the Socialist Sobbles. The Sobbles rebounded strongly from their humiliation last week with wins from vivalospride, Quantum Tesseract, Zesty43, and Velvet Blood. Terracotta won against Official Fissure in STABmons, which gave the Tyrantrums their sole win this week, and DurzaOffTopic bested 5gen in ZU, allowing the Sobbles to finish with a satisfying 5-1 after their resounding defeat last week.
As one of the most expensive players at 19.5k credits, Gurpreet Patel (Sent you a Friend Request) (SL42 for short) had a high reputation to live up to, but his record was at a disappointing 0-2. On the other hand, sugarhigh was doing very well, attaining an impressive 3-1 record with stylish and unconventional teams. The players agreed to no Mega Rayquaza before the game.
At Team Preview, we see that SL42 is running a fairly offensive team with double Normal-types in Slaking and Regigigas, both of which are probably Imposter-proofed by Dusclops. Xerneas rounds out the offensive core, and it probably is running a more supportive set with hazards or status moves. sugarhigh is running a bulkier team, with Mega Kangaskhan available to try to break through SL42's walls, though it will have trouble against SL42's team because most of his Pokémon Speed tie with it and can hit back really hard.
SL42 plays aggressively throughout the game, revealing a surprising Thunder Xerneas set that lures sugarhigh's Ho-Oh and weakens it beyond repair after sugarhigh fails to remove Xerneas's two Quiver Dance boosts with Dialga. He then ruthlessly follows up his advantage by Pursuit trapping Ho-Oh with his Normalize Regigigas so that it can no longer check Xerneas and then surprising sugarhigh again with a physical Greninja that almost removes Dialga. After this, sugarhigh can only flail about helplessly when the Xerneas comes in again, and his team quickly crumbles after that.
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Week 6
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Head Honchkrows (3-1-1)
Five-Star Jolteons (2-1-2)
Money Magearnas (2-1-2)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-1-3)
Socialist Sobbles (2-2-1)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (1-2-2)
Bedroom Blisseys (2-3-0)
Klink Shamers (1-3-1)
Coming into the second last week of OMPL, all the teams had chances to make the playoffs, leading to everyone fighting fiercely in order to claim a win and edge closer to the goal of playoffs. The first matchup came to the Metro Boomin Mega Rays against the Five-Star Jolteons. The Jolteons were cruising quite comfortably, amassing a solid 6 points, while the Mega Rays needed a win to stay alive. In this must-win week, the Mega Rays had to go all-out against the higher-ranked team. It started off well for them, with maroon using a unique balance team to beat Jeran in Mix and Mega. This was followed with a loss in STABmons, as Betathunder lost to w0rd in the best-of-3 series. w0rd using extremely unique Pokémon such as Lilligant, Xatu, Crabominable, and even Gumshoos to confuse Betathunder and get a good win. However, from there, the Mega Rays put the foot on the pedal. Finchinator was able to beat EviGaro with a mixture of skill and luck, critting her team at a crucial moment with his Bouffalant before dodging a Toxic using his Pinsir. Racool unfortunately had to sub out, leading to the Mega Rays' lax beating the substitute Chaitanya fairly easily. The Mega Rays' win rested on HunterStorm, and he delivered in a stunning offense showcase against Skarph, allowing his team to win 4-2 and keep their chances of playoffs alive.
Despite the fact that the Tyrantrums were higher ranked than their opponents, the Blisseys, they had come off a harsh loss to the Sobbles last week; the Blisseys, on the other hand, had come off a crucial win against the Mega Rays, leading to a tense matchup. The Blisseys began with a nice win in AG, with BaconEatinAssassin beating lotiasite using cool offense teams, yet the Tyrantrums retaliated with a strong win in ZU, with 5gen beating DJ Breloominati after getting some fortunate luck. The Blisseys won again in AAA, with Hamhamhamham beating itsKimbo with a creative sun team that feigned Trick Room. However, yet again the Tyrantrums retaliated, with TectonicDestroyer beating Andyboy with Sticky Web. When Official Fissure won in STABmons against Havens using Mega Medicham offense, it seemed like the Tyrantrums might be able to pull though; however, the Blisseys won the final game, with MAMP beating Chessking and drawing the week 3-3.
The Magearnas had been struggling recently, and this week proved no different as they were matched up against the top team the Honchkrows. They needed a draw at least here to give them great chances to qualify, so it became a really tense series. The Magearnas started well, with PDT getting a convincing win over a loser to put the Mags in an early lead. However, the Krows struck right back with an upset win, with Skysolo beating xavgb using Sticky Web. The Krows only continued to deliver blows to the Mags, with aesf delivering another shocking upset and beating 11-0 veteran Sylveon. in a thrilling game. With TJ beating Megazard in ZU, the Mags needed two wins to keep their chances of a draw alive. They got the first win when Cam won in STABmons, but sadly the second just wasn't there, with PurpleGatorade winning and claiming the series for the Krows 4-2.
The final match of the week was between the Klink Shamers and Socialist Sobbles. Both teams had had sensational highs last week, with the Klinks claiming their first win while the Sobbles beat the Tyrantrums. The Sobbles attempted to keep their good streak going, but sadly the Klink Shamers beat them in a landslide. The first win was secured by a fruitshop owner in ZU; then, GL Volkner won straight after in BH, starting the Klinks off 2-0, and it didn't stop there. Wins from Plas and Grnbln really put the Sobbles' backs against the wall, instantly securing the win in a landslide 4-0. However, the Klinks kept going, as motherlove claimed the win in AAA, while Chazm won in MnM, to win in a whitewash 6-0.
aesf vs Sylveon. was one of the most anticipated matches for AAA this entire tour. In game 1, both brought some standard balances. The game was mostly held in balance until a choke by Sylveon. decided the game.
Game 2 was perhaps the most exciting AAA game in the whole OMPL. Both players brought some interesting balances, with aesf utilizing interesting Pokémon such as Regenerator + Choice Scarf Garchomp and Tinted Lens Golisopod, while Sylveon. brought a more standard balance. Although aesf was quickly put at a disadvantage due to an early burn on his Garchomp, he managed to bring the game back by claiming KOs with his Desolate Land Heatran and Naganadel, allowing him to claim victory using his Doublade.
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Week 7
Current Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Head Honchkrows (4-1-1)
Five-Star Jolteons (2-2-2)
Money Magearnas (2-2-2)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (2-2-2)
Temper Tyrantrums (1-1-4)
Klink Shamers (2-3-1)
Bedroom Blisseys (2-3-1)
Socialist Sobbles (2-3-1)
Quite possibly the most important week for many teams, week 7 was the last opportunity for every team to gain a chance to get into playoffs. The Head Honchkrows had already secured a spot, so this week was a break week for them, which could be seen from the fact that every team had brought either Honchkrow or its pre-evolution. Every other team, though, had to compete for a spot in the playoffs. Perhaps the greatest surprise there was that every single team still had a chance to make it.
In Mega Rayquazas versus Tyrantrums, each team had a decent chance to enter playoffs, with both having the same odds at 51.602%. Although the Tyrantrums had a dominating victory Week 1, they had a very large streak of ties, from Week 2 to Week 5, followed by a 1-5 loss to the Sobbles. However, their early victory proved to be their saving grace, as they were able to replicate that and pull out a win. The Tyrantrums won 4-2, with victories in Mix and Mega and Anything Goes being the deciding factor.
For the Money Magearnas and the Five-Star Jolteons, this was an important week. Both teams had the best chance to get into playoffs and had to compete directly for the slot. With Jolteons having an impressive 67.278% chance to make it and the Magearnas having a slightly less impressive 56.897% chance, this would be a deciding week. The Five Stars Jolteons ultimately ended up winning 4-2, with victories from Skarph in Anything Goes and EviGaro in ZU being crucial to securing playoffs.
The Klink Shamers and the Bedroom Blisseys faced off to prove whether the bedroom or kinkshaming was the better motivation. With the Klinks having a 42.416% chance to get into playoffs, and the Blisseys having a 25.128% chance, this was a crucial week, as they could make it into playoffs if either side won. The Klink Shamers won 5-1; although In the Hills valiantly tried to halt their victory, the Klinks dominated everywhere else.
With the Honchkrows secured in playoffs, this wasn't a serious week for them. The Sobbles had a very minimal chance to get into playoffs, at 5.077%, and this entirely stemmed from the fact that they could not lose the week. Every victory for the Honchkrows had their team mascot, and their team mascots won 4-2, although Anything Goes and Mix and Mega proved to be strong areas for the Sobbles.
There were several interesting matches, such as Finchinator vs jasprose, but the number 1 highlight match was TectonicDestroyer vs Akashi. Akashi was a well-known good player, beating many good players in Mix and Mega, but Tectonic was making a name for themselves, gaining several unexpected wins. TectonicDestroyer and Akashi had both brought bulky offense teams, with their defensive cores being very alike and supporting strong offensive threats very well. Allowing Lucarionite Terrakion to get in safely would prove to be TectonicDestroyer's win condition, as Akashi would be forced to sack something to Terrakion every time. Although Akashi expertly pivoted his Manectite Magearna around, Pinsirite Zeraora with Taunt would prove to be the downfall of it, allowing Terrakion to clean up from there.
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Playoffs
Final Standings (Wins - Losses - Ties)
Head Honchkrows (5-1-1)
Five-Star Jolteons (3-2-2)
Temper Tyrantrums (2-1-4)
Klink Shamers (3-3-1)
Money Magearnas (2-3-2)
Metro Boomin Mega Rays (2-3-2)
Bedroom Blisseys (2-4-1)
Socialist Sobbles (2-4-1)
Playoffs were an exciting time. Four teams remained to compete for the title of OMPL winner. Unfortunately, some would say that playoffs were marred slightly by how much hax was influential on some games for the Jolteons. In the first series, Honchkrows, the team that had been 1st seed, and Klinks, the 4th seed, were facing off. Nobody could predict the unexpected result from this matchup, and it surely set the winner on the road to winning OMPL. On the other hand, Jolteons and Tyrantrums were fierce rivals. The last time they fought, they tied. Both sides were seeking to change that, to turn this matchup into a victory. Unfortunately, not all things turned out that way.
The Honchkrows had a better start. They had a better season compared to the Klinks, and the last time they fought, Honchkrows had won. However, the Klinks shocked people with their landslide 5-1 victory, taking out the Honchkrows and setting themselves high for a chance to win OMPL, with only a loss in AAA.
For the other matchup, things weren't as clear cut. The Tyrantrums and Jolteons tied 3-3, with strong showings from both sides. Unfortunately, however, tiebreakers would not be as fair to the Tyrantrums, with hax being the deciding factor in both BH and AG, which both victors admitted to.
A highlight match to watch was rozes versus motherlove, since both were good players in AAA. motherlove had brought very bulky offense, with strong choices in Milotic and Celebi, while rozes on the other hand had brought balance, with a very strong defensive and offensive core. Poison Heal Milotic and Tinted Lens Buzzwole proved to be excellent choices for motherlove to bring, as the former walled rozes's team and the latter dismantled it. However, rozes's Celesteela did not let motherlove win with ease, annoying his entire team. In the end, it is motherlove's Garchomp that paves the way to victory, taking out Celesteela and allowing the rest of the team to breathe more freely.
Grand Finals
It had been an epic road to the final for both teams this OMPL, with the Jolteons being relatively consistent and the Klink Shamers having an amazing comeback streak. The first game was contested between Chazm and Maroon in one of the most controversial games of the OMPL, but even with the disadvantage, Chazm managed to clutch the win in the a close encounter. Following that, Evigaro faced a fruitshop owner. The latter was the clear favorite going into the match, having performed exceedingly well in the last few weeks, while EviGaro had been doing subpar. However, EviGaro brought her A-Game to this OMPL final match, using the relatively unexplored Arbok, while a fruitshop owner brought a more standard Leafeon balance. Arbok turned out to be key in the matchup, being able to claim 2 devastating KOs and allowing EviGaro to clutch the match.
The next matchup that took place was between GL Volkner and Anna says hi. This was one of the most anticipated matches of the entire finals series, and it sure delivered. Anna brought a creative sun offense while GL Volkner brought a balance using Zekrom and Mega Gengar. The game started at a startling pace, but Anna was left unable to break Primordial Sea, and that ultimately cost her the match. The next match was between motherlove and Chaitanya. motherlove won relatively easily due to having a surefire answer in Jirachi to Chaitanya's wincon Mega Alakazam, as well as Magic Guard Talonflame to consistently claim KOs until he won. This match left the Klinks at 3-1, meaning the Jolteons had to win all their next matches. Skarpherim delivered the first blow to the Klinks, beating Pichus, albeit with some extremely useful Toxic misses throughout the games. The last game was between w0rd and Plas. w0rd quickly claimed a KO with Slowking, but Plas tried to retaliate with by hitting Tapu Bulu for a huge amount of damage by surprising w0rd with a Magma Storm from Rotom-W. However, at a crucial moment, w0rd was able to Pursuit trap Mega Latias, which gave his Mega Medicham an opening to break Plas's team. However, Plas wasn't one to give up and quickly utilized Rotom-W's Magma Storm to claim the KO on Slowking. But this simply wasn't enough, and a few turns later Mega Medicham quickly won the match to tie the series.
The first game of the finals series was one of the most controversial games in the entire OMPL, between Chazm of the Klinks and maroon of the Jolteons. maroon had decided to bring Sticky Web, one of the most controversial playstyles showcased in this OMPL, while Chazm had brought a bulky offense under the presumption maroon would bring an offense. This led to Chazm having a clear disadvantage from Team Preview and forced him to make the moves, with Xurkitree andthe potential Primal Kyogre having the potential to sweep his entire team.
Despite the disadvantage Chazm had, he gave it all he had and played the beginning stages of the game quite well. He played the leading stages in a great way, getting down the crucial Toxic Spikes from Toxapex before switching to Ho-Oh to remove maroon's crucial hazard lead in shuckle. Chazm then started to do the best strategy there was for taking on Webs teams, namely trading Pokémon, and he went down this plan by trading his Ho-Oh for huge damage on maroon's Zygarde and KOing it only a few turns later. maroon and Chazm then engaged into a furious game of double switching, both playing bit by bit. However, Chazm fell for maroon sacrificing his Kartana, allowing Primal Kyogre to come in and deal huge damage to Chazm's team. From there, it seemed as if all hope was lost, with Primal Kyogre using Water Spout and Original Pulse to effectively decimate Chazm's team, getting rid of Toxapex, Slowbro and Ditto. However, an extremely unlucky miss from the Primal Kyogre lead to a complete turnaround off the match. With nothing able to KO Arceus-Ground, Chazm was able to ruthlessly wall Pheromosa and stall it out with the Toxic Spikes from before and KO Xurkitree, winning the match.
Tiebreaker
For the tiebreaker, both teams had to choose a tier, with AG chosen as default due to it being the most popular OM. After some discussion, the Jolteons chose STABmons due to having a consistent player in w0rd in comparison to the Klinks' less well-known player, while the Klinks chose Mix and Mega, as Chazm had also been extremely consistent to this moment. The first game was again between Chazm and maroon. Though the game started relatively well, the game started to fall apart when maroon's Primal Groudon missed some crucial overheats, which led Chazm to take the match relatively smoothly. The next game was between GRNxBLN and Skarph. In Game 1, both players brought balance. GRNxBLN seemed to be clearly leading the match, using Primal Kyogre to claim 2 KOs. However, Skarph exposed a huge hole in the team in its inability to deal with Dragon Dance Mega Rayquaza and eventually swept with it. In game 2, Skarph again brought a balance team, while GRNxBLN decided to bring hyper offense. The change in teamstyle brought fruit, as Skarph was simply overwhelmed by the sheer power of GRNxBLN's Pokémon and was promptly defeated. In Game 3, GRNxBLN again brought a fierce offensive team in Sticky Web, while Skarph brought a bulky offense. Skarph played extremely well, first predicting the potential Taunt from Yveltal and then using Moonblast to take it out. GRNxBLN never really managed to recover from this and desperately attempting a risky Calm Mind against Mega Rayquaza predicting the switch, yet Skarph predicted this and KOed it, leaving him at a 6-4 advantage. GRNxBLN was left without a way out and could only trudge along as Skarph removed his Sticky Web and slowly began to trade Pokémon until he won the match and drew the series 1-1. The last match was between w0rd and motherlove in STABmons, after Plas had to sub out due to Hurricane Dorian. Both players brought balance teams and surprised each other by bringing some unique Grassium Z sets. w0rd eventually pulled through due to some unfortunate hax on motherlove. There could be a claim that this decided the tiebreak, but nevertheless the Jolteons fought hard to get the win, and all teams should be commended for the outstanding work they put into OMPL.
