Random Battles Team Tournament VII Power Rankings

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Welcome to the Power Rankings for the seventh edition of the Random Battles Team Tournament—the first to receive a Power Rankings article! Players from all ends of the website have joined the tournament for a shot at glory, or maybe just a shot at the cool custom avatars, but let's go with glory. This article aims to provide information about these players for anyone who may not be acquainted and loosely predict the outcome of the tournament to the best of the ranking team's abilities.

Obviously, we will most likely fail miserably, and the final result will almost inevitably have many big misses. We are not doing statistical science here, and the players were ranked before Week 1 started, so we're largely just taking stabs based on reputation. Go along with it, learn about some people you might not be familiar with, enjoy the writing, get incensed if you agree with us, get even more incensed if you disagree, and let's have fun!

The RBTT, a somewhat historically insular tournament originally only drawing the attention of the Random Battles community itself, has over the last few years grown up to truly sensational dimensions; it gathered more signups than Smogon Premier League in both 2023 and 2024, and it is attracting more and more interesting profiles, from established high-profile tournament legends to exciting unknowns who seldom venture outside the top of the ladder and everything inbetween.

The headliner this year was, unsurprisingly, MichaelderBeste2. The German, crowned VGC Vice World Champion last year, is known to be a dominant force in the Random Battles community as well, and he was first pick in the draft to no surprise. However, he was not the only VGC Vice World Champion to be picked up, as 2018's silver medalist, emforbes, is also taking his first steps into Random Battles tournaments, and World Top 32 Nails has also decided to join with him.

On the train of extremely high profile newcomers, Smogon Tournaments legend Star also signed up for his first RBTT—though you'd be mistaken in thinking he's new to the format, as his 91 GXE on the Gen 9 Random Battles ladder tells all you need to know.

Speaking of GXE, the user GXE, another terrific tournament player, is also making a return to RBTT after a year out to dominate SCL and the World Cup of Randbats.

Also, we have Xrn and mind gaming and all the RandBats staples you know and love if you're familiar with the scene, xGang and TheFranklin and Typhlosion48 and on and on and on. We also have a handful of ladder heroes with 90ish GXE in any tier of their choosing.

To put it briefly, the seventh edition of RBTT is crazy stacked. The level has never been higher, and this is as good of a time as any to get involved with Random Battles. If that sounds like a good time to you, read on and enjoy the tournament!

Special thanks to the people who made this article a reality:

Writers: Amaranth, Celever, Javi, Roginald, Tarrembeau

GP, HTML, and Graphics: Lumari, ken, Kalalokki, and Ticken

Format Reps Who Balloted: Petros, Dark Pulse, Javi, Sylveon used calm mind, Irpachuza and Tarrembeau (they worked together), Roginald, Amaranth, Celever

(Note about the ranking system: each team received one vote, delivered through representatives in the writing team where possible; some teams elected to discuss as a group, while others were ranked solely by the managers in the interest of time.)

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When talking about MichaelderBeste2, their list of Pokémon talents is so vast that it'd be tempting to try and list what they're not top tier in instead. With the silver in this year's VGC Masters Division and eight showings in SPL, WCoP, and SCL ranging from a highs like 8-3 and 5-1 to still decent lows of 5-5 or 4-6, MichaelderBeste2 is an immediately recognizable name to most Smogonites involved in the tournaments scene. The German's start was in Random Battles, however, where he has generally been seen as a dominating force. Besides usually being #1 on the current gen Random Battles ladder, MichaelderBeste2 has gone 5-2 and 6-4 in RBTTs and 5-3 and 4-1 in WCoRs, past showing his prowess is still rewarded here; his worst showing in any tournament was RBTT5, where he went 1-6 playing a mixture of Gen 8 and Battle Factory, however, showing even der beste can underperform in the randomized environment of RBTT. The rankings team clearly still has faith in his abilities, and while he is capable of doing well on many slots in the tournament Gen 9 is a great place for him, especially since RBTT7 is the first to have BO5.

While few names in the tournament have as much Smogon-wide recognition as MichaelderBeste2, pokeblade101 may even beat him out in terms of recognizability in specifically Random Battles. One of very few players to have participated in every RBTT since the first, if Michael isn't #1 on the current gen Random Battles ladder, pokeblade101 is usually there instead. Throughout his six-RBTT-long career, pokeblade101 has gone negative once in RBTT2 with a 3-5 while going positive the other five times. The smaller RBTT1 is his best record on paper with a 4-1; while every other appearance has a W-L differential of "just" 1 or 2, this consistency is remarkable considering pokeblade101 is almost always put on the most competitive playing slot for his team. His WCoR records are uncharacteristically polarized, with a 5-0 in WCoR 2022 but just a 3-4 in 2023's, his second-ever negative record in a team tournament, and he surprisingly didn't qualify for playoffs in this year's Rands Slam Circuit. The rankings team still has faith in him to perform to his usual standard and go positive, but with him coming off a year of results that don't quite meet his high bar, it will be interesting to see how he does.

Though Michielleus has been around for a long time, it's safe to say that his ranking at the top of Gen 9's pool here is representative of his excellent last year and a half in the Random Battles tournaments scene. His RBTT debut was all the way back in RBTT2 with an outstanding 5-1 score in Gen 5. Sadly, this was followed up with two years off from the tournament, but he finally returned in RBTT5 and respectably went 4-4 playing mainly Battle Factory. Since then, Michielleus has found his place at the top of the playerbase in the desirable position of being a current gen main with excellent all-round capability; a 6-3 playing Gen 8 in WCoR 2022 made eyes look at him before backing it up with a 5-1 in RBTT6 and a 6-2 in WCoR 2023 playing Gen 9. The culmination of it all was Michielleus's win of the 2023 Rands Slam tournament circuit. It will be exciting if Michielleus can maintain this momentum during RBTT7 and put in the dominating performance people now expect of him.

GXE is another current gen specialist and therefore commonly find himself in the most competitive slot each tournament. A regular name in RBTT, his historical records in the tournament have been middling at best, going 1-3, 4-3, and 3-4 between RBTTs III-V, though all of these were playing Gen 8. With a year out from the RBTT scene, GXE's return to the tournament is met with clearly high regard by the rankings team, most likely inspired by his 5-1 record in 2023's WCoR playing Gen 9 and by his enviable if inconsistent track record in non-randomized team tournaments ranging from highs like 7-2 in 2023's SCL to lows like 2-6 in 2023's SPL. Furthermore, contrary to his Showdown! name 70to90GXE, GXE has an over 90% GXE in Gen 9 Random Battles. The high ceiling on GXE's tournament performances are certainly why GXE falls towards the top of the rankings.

LoSconosciuto is another name that comes to mind when thinking about some of the strongest allrounders in Random Battles, though this skill is expressed mainly through the Rands Slam tournament circuit, where he has always made playoffs since it started three years ago. Managing alongside za for the second year in a row, LoSconosciuto is riding high from a 7-2 record in RBTT VI and a 3-2 in WCoR 2023, where he mainly placed himself in Gen 9, though in RBTT VI he took some time out to return to his old main RBTT format of Gen 8 Doubles where he has previous 5-4 and 4-2 records in earlier RBTT seasons. Another player skilled enough to usually be thrown into the current gen format, the Italian also went 5-1 in WCoR 2022 for his country playing Gen 8, which was the current gen format at the time, losing only to MichaelderBeste2 during the tournament. All in all, the main narrative for LoSconosciuto this season isn't whether he can do well, but instead whether he can match or even surpass the 7-2 he set last year, as impressive a record as it is.

In sixth we have one of the more interesting Gen 9 starter slots. A common name in RBTT, BoRida has never been drafted later than Round 2 in the tournament's snake draft format, the latest being a 12th place draft during his first tournament, RBTT III. Despite a 4-4 record that year this increased to 10th draft in RBTT IV, and then despite a negative 4-5 record that year his draft increased again to a 1st round 7th pick in RBTT V, where he went 4-2. This year, like last year, he was picked 4th, which is off the back of a marvelous 5-2 run. While he has consistently been an overvalued player during draft, going solely by his records during RBTT, BoRida maintained his reputation as one of the greats of Gen 8 Random Battles, which he also played in 2023's WCoR with a 4-1 record. This makes his switch to Gen 9 this year a particularly intriguing one, as the only tournament play he's had in the format is a third round elimination in this year's Gen 9 Open. All this is to say that is certainly BoRida the least tested player to be this high on the ranking, and while clearly there is much faith in him to have a successful switch into Gen 9 this RBTT, his managers can at least be assured that if not, they can always put him on Gen 8 instead.

The sounds of their names are where the similarities between BoRida and his fellow sixth-placer Buhrito end. Buhrito is, for all intents and purposes, a new kid on the Rands scene, with only a year of tournament legacy behind him. Drafted 102nd in RBTT VI, at a time where most teams were drafting players they intended to start as substitutes, the largely unknown Buhrito instead played Gen 6 right from the start of the tournament. Out of the gate he made a name for himself, beating a Random Battles GOAT Petros in week 1, before taking powerful format specialist Xceloh to 3 games and then sweeping Lady Writer and Tomahawk 2-0 in his next two series. This made him one of the highest-value players in RBTT's history for a brief time, but he later lost three series, two of them to the same person, before taking another win for his team in the finals and ending 4-4. While he was a Gen 6 specialist back then, Buhrito's 4-1 record in 2023's WCoR playing Gen 9 stands him in good stead for RBTT VII, where he will be playing the format. 6th seed is a high placement, but he is considered an impressive rising star.

There is a meme within the Random Battles staff Discord that livid washed programs his good luck into the formats. That is because livid washed actually burst into prominence within the Random Battles community on the development side of things; he submitted some patches fixing certain errors in the coding of various formats, which soon resulted in him being absorbed into the core Random Battles development team and then quickly becoming a leader of it. Less known is that livid washed had been dominating ladders far and wide for a while before this, participating in the much-beloved challenge of getting to 1500 on as many ladders as possible and being very successful with it. While an allrounder at heart, livid washed is arguably the greatest Gen 2 Random Battles player there is, and in RBTT VI he was drafted mainly just to play that format during the mystery box rotation. He lost his Gen 2 battle that year but followed it up with an 8-1 record in Gen 2 during 2023's WCoR, where the Australian represented Team Benelux thanks to studying in the region. Somehow, that 8-1 record isn't even his best showing during 2023, as livid washed came second in the Rands Slam tournament circuit, flexing his ability to play anything well; his good showing in the Gen 9 Open and in Gen 9 battles during playoffs may partly explain why he is starting here in RBTT, alongside his great stats on the format's ladder.

Separation managed a truly impressive achievement during 2022's WCoR; the manager of the Team China, Separation took a team of mostly quite unknown players and led them to victory during the first ever World Cup of Randoms. He didn't just win by organizing the team but also led the charge with his own outstanding 7-1 record playing Gen 8, his best showing in any tournament, though close to his 7-2 in 2022's SPL. While his other team tournaments usually have him going neutral with a 50% winrate or slightly negative such as in last year's RBTT, where he went 3-4 playing Gen 9, Separation again had a great showing in 2023's WCoR with a 5-3 record, also playing Gen 9. Aside from one SPL, Separation has only really excelled in World Cups, but those runs demonstrate the skill that he has for the game; the ranking in 9th feels quite appropriate, as it feels equally possible for him to have a strong positive run in line with his World Cup showings, or a slightly disappointing 50% or under winrate as he tends to do in RBTT or similar.

A slightly odd feature in the Gen 9 rankings is snorlax142857, oftentimes nicknamed snorlaxnumbers. Considered a top contender in doubles, snorlaxnumbers was submitted as a Gen 9 player for rankings, his secondary format; the fact he still ranked 10th goes to show the general acclaim he is held in by the rankings team. His historical records in RBTT, where he has mainly played Doubles but also Gens 7 and 8 sparingly, don't paint a great picture, with 2 blowout seasons of 2-4 and 1-5, one neutral 4-4, but also one great 5-2 in last year's RBTT. snorlaxnumbers finds himself as somewhat of a nomad heading into this year's RBTT, as it's the first with Gen 9 Doubles instead of Gen 8 Doubles, but he is a flexible player who can slot into many formats, which is best demonstrated by his entering the 2023 Rands Slam tournament circuit as second seed, only behind MichaelderBeste2, in no small part thanks to winning the Gen 7 Open. In WCoR, snorlaxnumbers always plays Gen 8 singles with a 3-2 record followed by a perfect 5-0 in 2023. Gen 9 is one of the most competitive slots, but snorlaxnumbers's allrounder capability and strong fundamentals make him a competitive pick here.

Right beneath snorlaxnumbers is the other Gen 9 player for Team Zekrom, JJ09LIE. A fairly late pickup in the draft for the team, many considered JJ09LIE to be one of the higher-value grabs, despite his ranking in the second half of the Gen 9 pool here. The ranking is reasonable, following his 3-6 record in last year's RBTT playing Gen 9, which was also his first, and his disappointing 1-4 record in last year's World Cup of Randoms, although that was achieved in Gen 8. However, he is also a well-respected player and can have wonderful runs like his 6-1 in 2022's WCoR, playing Gen 8 as well. He also made it into the Rands Slam playoffs as 17th seed out of 32, with his deepest run in an Open being tied between the Gen 9 singles open and the Game Boy Open, a three-format tournament consisting of Gens 1, 2 and 3. JJ09LIE is still quite a new player, and his ranking at 11th is more so a reflection of the potential people feel he has to perform great, as opposed to his past tournament records; those are a small sample size, anyway.

On paper, Yes or no my dude's (yonmd's) 12th place ranking is a pretty hot take from the rankings team, and is more so a quirk of how varied the rankings of most of the players above this slot were, while Yes or no my dude's were more consistent as a middle-of-the-road pick. Exactly like 11th placer JJ09LIE, Yes or no my dude actually received 3 votes for 7th rank. In fact, yonmd only received 1 vote for 12th or below (which was for 13th). The reason it's a hot take is we're predicting yonmd to go negative during RBTT 7, something he's never done before. His worst showing in a tournament was 2022's WCoR, where he went 3-3 on Gen 7, while in last year's he went 3-2 on Gen 9. Meanwhile, while he wasn't drafted at all in RBTT V, in RBTT IV he went 4-3, and in RBTT VI he had an outstanding 5-0 performance despite being the 121st pick in the draft, barely making it into the tournament at all. This likely makes him the highest-value player in RBTT history, despite being on the 8th-place team. Part of yonmd's trouble in RBTT is that despite having the skill to make Rands Slam 2023 playoffs, he has never truly specialized in a format; aside from four times playing Gen 6, enough to consider it a main format for a tournament, yonmd has been a true nomad in RBTT, playing everything from Gen 7 BSSF thrice, Gen 9 Singles and Gen 8 Monotype twice, and even a week of Gen 8 Hackmons Cup. His historical records may, then, not be a great litmus test for RBTT 7 if he stays on Gen 9 for the whole tournament, but they also might be—he clearly has great fundamentals and an adaptable, versatile playstyle, and Gen 9 rewards both of these virtues greatly.

In 13th place we have our very first newcomer to RBTT for the Gen 9 rankings. ZDen's claim to fame is as a World Cup of Pokémon player, having represented Latin America since 2018, albeit not in 2022. He started out strong in that tournament, going 2-1 and 4-1 in 2018 and 2019, but since then never went positive, with two 1-2 records and finally a sad 0-2 record in 2023. He also participated in 2020's Snake Draft Tournament but went 2-4. These don't paint the greatest picture for ZDen's prospects in RBTT, and at first they may even give off the impression he's a little washed, but that's until we see his one previous Random Battles tournament. In 2023's World Cup of Randoms, ZDen went 7-0, again representing Latin America. While this is likely the reason why he was drafted for RBTT in the first place, ZDen was playing Bo3 instead of Bo5 and had one of the weaker pools in the tournament at that, though it still had big names like Fant'sy Beast and Memoric, albeit with Memoric being away from his home in Doubles. But with no other historical record to judge ZDen by, the 7-0 may be a sign that he can stand up to the bigger players he's simply never had the fortune of crossing paths with yet, and it is always exciting to see players make their RBTT debuts. Will ZDen have a perfect run, or will the 13th rank turn up to be an accurate placement?

The first from Team Hoopa in the Gen 9 rankings, clean is entering RBTT 7 on a far cleaner slate than anyone else in the Gen 9 pool. Aside from being eliminated in round 1 in 2023's Hackmons Cup Open and round 2 in its Gen 9 Singles Open, clean has not played a Random Battles tournament before. He also doesn't have a great record in other tournaments similar to RBTT 7's size, with his only showing in officials being an 0-2 in 2023's SCL and a pretty decent 3-5 in 2023's SPL. clean is, however, known as a versatile teambuilder with good fundamentals, who plays in all sorts of team tournaments around the forums, anything from OMPL to DCL, both of which he is a reigning champion of. Despite the lack of Random Battles tournaments experience, clean boasts an above 90% GXE in Gen 9 Random Battle after almost 1,000 battles played. The 14th placement almost feels obligatory, considering clean's lack of many of the metrics used to rank every other player, but there's every chance clean has a solid run during this year's RBTT.

sunsets's placement at 15th, and therefore second last out of the entire Gen 9 pool, is genuinely a testament to the hype and strength of the pool rather than an indictment of sunsets themself. Their RBTT career is an interesting one—in RBTT V they played Gen 8, which was certainly the toughest pool at the time, and had a great 5-3 showing. Somewhat surprisingly, this record wasn't enough to land them a spot playing Gen 8 in RBTT VI, where they instead found themself as a late pickup and placed on Gen 9 Hackmons Cup, where they had a good 5-4 performance. Their most recent Random Battles tournament was 2023's World Cup or Randoms, where they went back to their roots and played Gen 8 but only managed a 2-3 record this time around. After venturing into officials for 2023's World Cup of Pokémon, where they represented Canada to go 1-2, sunsets has come back to RBTT only to be started on yet another new format for them. They've always gone positive in RBTT, so perhaps the 15th place ranking is indicative of power creep in RBTT, thanks to the rapidly improving playerbase of Random Battles that makes tournaments like this exciting. Or perhaps the ranking is indicative of sunsets being underestimated yet again, despite being picked earlier in the draft than ever before.

Closing out our Gen 9 rankings we have Ampha, our third total newcomer in the pool. Ampha's placement at the bottom of the rankings does make sense based on his records, which are a truly unfortunate 0-6 in 2022's WCoR playing Gen 8 followed by a better 2-3 playing Gen 9. There records are partially explained by the fact that Ampha faced stiff competition from the likes of MichaelderBeste2, LoSconosciuto, pokeblade101, and GXE in both World Cups, as is to be expected from a current gen main. These four form 4/5s of the top 5 of our Gen 9 power rankings, and Ampha lost to all four of them whenever he has played them, in Michael's case in both 2022 and 2023. As a result, Ampha is a clear underdog in this pool, but still an interesting one. While we have seen Ampha face the top dogs in Gen 9 in tournaments before, they are likely to be on Bo5, which Ampha may be able to avoid by playing Bo3, instead facing the players more in the middle of our power rankings. Ampha beat undrafted players Chloe and Hayburner in 2023's WCoR playing Gen 9, and so this 16th place ranking may well be an underestimation, with Ampha instead being a middle of the pack player who can bring decent value in one of the hardest formats there is. Or perhaps RBTT 7 will be Ampha's revenge arc, where he will fell the titans who have sunk his reputation to the lowest in the pool?

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Ranked almost unanimously first, we can find the former Random Battles room voice Typhlosion48. They took a break after a disappointing RBTT3 where they were the fourth drafted player but scored 3-6. They came back in WCoR1 as a captain, but their great score of 4-1 wasn't enough to save US South from relegation. The team lineup was changed drastically for WCoR2, where Typhlosion came back as a player with a strong 3-1 during qualifying stage and a commanding 6-0 during the main tournament. With a combined 13-2 record in the WCoRs, a Rands Slam 2 playoffs run, and impressive ladder results, Chi-Yu's first drafted player is terrifying and will look to burn down the field to ashes.

The first recruit of Team Hoopa but second on the ranking, we find Dire Straits songs enthusiast Lady Writer. Making his debut in RBTT5 with a powerful 5-2 in Gen 8 that propelled him to the top of his pool, he then missed up a Rands Slam 2 playoffs qualification by merely a spot. After steady results in the WCoRs representing US Northeast, with a positive 3-2 during the first edition that didn't save his team followed by a decent 2-2 in qualifiers and 3-3 in the main tournament, he came back in RBTT6 playing Gen6, with a score of 5-4. Lady Writer got his best result so far with an impressive run in the Rands Slam 3 playoffs, losing only in the semifinals to the eventual winner of the tournament. Slotted in his best format, LW will now look to lead his team to victory and improve even further on his great resume.

Seasoned tournament player MJ is back to RBTT after a break in the last edition. With a decent 20-20 record over four RBTTs and two WCoRs, playing mostly Gen7 and Gen8, MJ got a breakthrough result in Rands Slam 3, seeded as high as 7th with a run to DS Classic Open finals. He fell short there, though, losing in the round of 16 to Sylveon is so cute. His long experience and excellent comprehension of the game explain his steady results, and he will surely hope to improve his so far disappointing 12-13 RBTT record, getting it back to the positive in this skill-expressive format.

A twice Random Battles room Grand Prize winner, Fant'sy Beast started his journey on the main scene by qualifying to the Rands Slam 1 playoffs. They lost in the first round, but this good result led them to be drafted by Team Arcanine. They served as a substitute player but scored a decent 2-1 nonetheless. Following that with a 4-4 score for finalist team Benelux in WCoR1, they fell short by a couple points of making it to Rands Slam 2 playoffs. 2023 started terribly for them, as their RBTT6 run was a catastrophe: they ended up winless in a dramatic 0-6 record. Looking for redemption, Fant'sy scored 6-3 to help their team win WCoR2 and managed to crawl back to Rands Slam playoffs in the third edition. Not letting his terrible RBTT6 result taint their reputation as a capable and versatile player, Fant'sy will surely look to reverse the steam and maybe get his record back to positive.

With two RBTT wins in his pocket, a never-ending enthusiasm, and a tremendous 22-12 record across four editions of the tournament culminating in a 8-2 score last year, Glop is a force to be reckoned with. A versatile player who has played no fewer than eight different formats throughout his RBTT career, Glop is still mostly known for his domination over the very difficult pool of Gen3. He played that format representing Team US Midwest in WCoR1, scoring a respectable 3-3. His withdrawal from WCoR2 for personal reasons that left him with a 0-5 run certainly explains his relatively low ranking here. With a 6-2 record so far in Gen 8 in a team tour setting and impressive past ladder results, Glop is very familiar with the format and will look to show that he's back and able to Glop his opponents once again.

One of two newcomers who will have the difficult task to not get stomped in this field full of veterans, Lets In The Sun is a relatively new face to Random Battles as a whole. A recurring player for various Smogon tier World Cups, Lets In The Sun got into WCoR2 Team LATAM lineup as a Gen 8 player and ended up with a respectable 3-3 finish against a very difficult pool. This pool is even more fierce, and aside from some laddering in both Gen 8 and Gen 9 with solid results, not much else is known about Lets In The Sun's ability to play Random Battles. They will have to prove their worthiness and hopefully not end the tour on a disappointing note.

Ciro Napoli is a relatively new face to Smogon but a very active tournament player across a wide variety of tiers and generations, culminating with a run to semifinals of OST XIX and a spot on Italy's WCoP team in 2023. His Random Battles resume is short but notable, with two participation in WCoR as a Gen8 starter, where he ended up with a 4-1 result both times. Drafted as a substitute for Team Zarude in RBTT6, Ciro finished with a 1-1 score in obscure Mystery Box formats. Trusted again by his Italian friend LoSconosciuto, Ciro will now start in Gen8 again, with the hope of replicating his strong WCoR results in a much stronger field.

Last in the ranking is RoFnA, the second newcomer to RBTT and prospect of Team Ogerpon. Relatively new to Smogon as well, RoFnA thrived in the OMs competitive scene with deep runs in the 2023 Circuit and a win with Team Europe in the OMWC VI. With good ladder results to back him up, RoFnA got himself a spot in the newly created Team Europe+Africa for the WCoR2 as their Gen8 starter. Debuting painfully with a 1-3 score in the qualifying stage, RoFnA bounced back with a respectable 3-3 score in the same pool as Ciro Napoli, losing to him in their encounter. Now starting in RBTT7, can RoFnA prove the ranking wrong and climb their way to a positive score?

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Most high ladder players will likely be familiar with Referrals, as he holds high rankings and GXEs around the 90s in each generation of Random Battles on his main account. This will be his first RBTT; ladders record don't lie, but sometimes they don't quite tell the full story either. Will Referrals's talents transition smoothly to tournament play? Most seem to think yes, but it remains to be seen—some ladder greats take longer than hoped to fit in, and some never quite do at all.

Completely opposite to the player just above him, LordST has played in every single RBTT so far, with a 26-16 series record in total, including 6-3 last year, 6-0 three years ago, and 6-2 four years ago, and over 75% of his lifetime RBTT series all played in Gen 7. A true veteran and RBTT legend, he even found himself on winning teams on back-to-back years and will be trying to hit a threepeat now. LordST is synonymous with consistency and with Gen 7—it would be very surprising to see him put up anything but a positive record.

Much like Referrals, Piyush holds and maintains 90+ GXE records on most if not all modern gen ladders. This is likely why, in spite of an extremely disappointing 1-4 last year—after being 10th overall pick—he was still picked up quite early by Team Zekrom, at the end of Round 3. While the Indian has no shortage of tournament results in the rest of Smogon and his Random Battle-specific abilities are clearly proven by his ladder records, it has never quite come together into a truly great performance for him in RBTT, though he has had many softly positive tournaments in the past, including a 5-3 two years ago, and a 4-2 in World Cup of Randbats 2023. Will things finally line up for Piyush to display his full potential? Or is it going to be another tournament to forget?

Betathunder is the Charmeleon to LordST's Charizard. Another RBTT veteran, he doesn't have quite the same sheer number of series played, or quite as good of an overall record, or quite as many overall wins—but he's gotten damn close, with four playoff appearances in five tournaments, off the back of a 22-15 lifetime record. No doubt he is excited to finally set things straight, especially after a full year of frustrating results—he started the year great with 14 points in Rands Slam after the first three opens but failed to pick up any points in his main tier Gen 7 and subsequently picked up only one point from the next four Opens (HC, DS, Doubles, Singles), which left him three points short of the tiebreaking threshold. His luck was no better in World Cup, as his team US Northeast went out in a nailbiting quarterfinal tiebreaker against the eventual winners Benelux. There is so much misery here, so much "almost there", he is long overdue a good break—and this RBTT might just end up being it for him.

It's hard not to automatically think of him as a top player when he has a name that badass, but Legendary is perhaps a touch short of the top echelons, at least when it comes to RBTT. Always highly rated on paper but negative three years in a row—he has had a tough time getting things to line up for himself ever since a 6-1 run in RBTT III (granted his team still took home the trophy last year). He remains highly esteemed and was picked up as early as Round 5 in the draft, but whether he manages to finally turn his fortunes around in a very competitive Gen 7 pool is another question—certainly many people believe he's capable of it, but he was also clearly capable in the last three years… We'll see if this one is the one.

Hacker has had a decently long career on Smogon but he seems to have finally hit a true stride last year, where he was one of the highest rated prospects in Little Cup going into SCL; in the context of RandBats, he was part of both a 2nd place Team Latias in RBTT, and a top 8 World Cup roster with US South. Though he has yet to put up a truly outstanding performance in Random Battles, he has proven general competency and talent as a player overall, and will no doubt do a respectable job holding his preferred Gen 7 slot here. While the more experienced Random Battle mains are fairly placed higher, Hacker is definitely a name to respect in spite of the smaller RBTT track record.

While various sources have described TeamCharm as "a pissant about act calls" and "definitely a dick", with some going as far as saying they were "gagged at the TeamCharm draft", that can sometimes actually be a blessing for your Power Rankings, as usually people will be ranked below where they deserve to be on a pure gaming level if their personality is a bit questionable. So, perhaps TeamCharm is actually quite a bit better than this ranking seems to show. He handled himself fine in WCoR, delivering a 3-3 record in Gen 7, and had a reasonably involved Slam run that ended just a few points short of top 32. This will be his first true RBTT and a chance to redeem his reputation at large with a statement performance—but will it come, or does he deserve this bottom ranking after all?

PS Admin and all-around nice guy Teclis finds himself at eighth place in the rankings. Now if you've just read what I said about TeamCharm, you might have a bad feeling about this. When not even being one of the nicest users on Smogon can save you from a close to unanimous bottom place ranking, you know things are going to be difficult on the road ahead, and even moreso when you have the added pressure of being a relatively early draft pick (9th round). Teclis has not been around much recently in Random Battles outside of a 1-4 in the last World Cup, which means that in spite of his generally decent overall ability, he finds himself dead bottom of a very tough Gen 7 pool, with a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to prove this ranking wrong.

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Leading the way, soTsoT has proven to be one of the most flexible players in RandBats history, securing an 18-14 record in four RBTTs over 11 different formats. To further show his flexibility, he's demonstrated a 6-4 record playing Gen 3 in WCoR and has qualified for both the first and the second iteration of Rands Slam playoffs, despite falling short in the first round in the second. Although he may have only played two Gen 6 series in RBTT before, Team Darkrai will be counting on his fundamentals to back him up and top a strong pool.

Not far behind coming off a hot 5-1 record in RBTT VI, Rage.Spam.Quit is an up-and-coming player looking to cement his name as one of the best Gen 6 RandBats players RBTT has seen. One could truly call him a specialist, with him also holding a strong 7-3 record across 2 WCoRs to back himself up. Rage.Spam.Quit has proven that he's able to withstand the pressure and come out on top.

After a quiet year and playing Gen 3 in WCoR, Random Battles's very own ex-moderator is looking to show he still has what it takes to dominate one of his favorite Random Battles generations. Despite only having played Gen 3 in previous iterations of RBTT, with over a thousand games on the ladder and years of Random Battles experience, Xceloh has arguably the most experience of all out of his competitors and will look to leverage that to obtain an unsurprising positive record.

Having already obtained his victory in the third Smogon Snake Draft and being the current NU circuit champion, Xiri has looked to expand his horizons and conquer new territory: Random Battles. Qualifying for the second Rands Slam playoffs, despite falling in the first round, and achieving a 7-3 record across two WCoRs with all his series being played in Gen 6, his strong playing ability coupled with his growing Random Battles experience paves the way for a hopeful strong RBTT debut. Will we see if Xiri's raw skill is able to shine through, or will we see experience overpower in a competitive pool?

Coming in at 5th we have our first full newcomer looking to make a name for himself. JustOut459 has been dominating the ladder, having made his way to number 2 at the time of writing, but without prior tournament experience he finds himself in the bottom half of the rankings. There's clear doubt whether he is able to keep his composure under pressure and translate his ladder skills across, but if he manages to do so, he will find himself higher up the rankings at the end of the season.

Quagmander is the first of the recruits from the dominant Team China who finished 1st and runner-up in both editions of WCoR, being drafted as early as round 7. Quagmander held a 4-4 record in both years and will look to improve on that and achieve a positive record in this year of RBTT. The quality of competition is known to be typically stronger in RBTT, and so time will tell if he is able to compete at this level and adapt to an environment outside of Team China. Quagmander will be looking to have a steady season and be a reliable slot for Team Giratina-O.

Similar to soTsoT, Casual dot exe has also shown himself to be one of the most flexible players in Random Battles. Casual found himself playing Gen 4 in both editions of WCoR, going 2-3 in the first and managing to improve on his record and achieve a 4-2 record in the second. Not only this, Casual also holds a 9-7 historical record in RBTT and is still able to go positive despite playing 11 different formats. Having also qualified for Rands Slam playoffs three times back to back, he has proven that he has the fundamentals and ability to win no matter the situation. Having played in every Random Battles tournament over the past few years, now that he is able to settle in and play Gen 6, Casual will look to finally find stability to practice and improve on what is an already solid record.

As another newcomer to the Random Battles tournament scene, Impeckable is looking to make his name and gain experience in this year's RBTT. While his resume is short, Impeckable has fantastic ladder rankings across every generation since Gen 4. Evidently there is a strong feeling that ladder will not translate to results; however, the numbers don't lie, and the numbers show that if Impeckable can play the way he usually does, then he won't have any trouble showing that experience isn't everything.

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TheFranklin being ranked as high as first should come as a surprise to no one. They own the highest win count in the history of RBTT, with a record of 28 wins to 13 losses, with most of them being played in this format. They were also Team Benelux MVP for the WCoR1 with an astounding score of 7-2. Their recent setback in the WCoR2 with five consecutive losses and their coming trip away from a computer from February onwards may put a bit of uncertainty for this coming season, but their in-game skills are as good as one can hope to ever get.

This edition of RBTT will be the first time we see Star playing Random Battles in a competitive setting. Renowned Smogon player with an impressive 59-43 score in official team tours and a win in SPLXII and countless great runs in individual tournaments, Star now gets the chance to conquer new horizons and show off his skills against a fierce competition. Random Battles can be volatile, and Gen 5 especially, so Star may twinkle as a footnote in RBTT history, but with a fresh eye in this newly revamped format and a long experience of competitive games, Star will be expected to burst into a supernova this year.

Haunterboy28 is the second newcomer to Random Battles team tours scene in this pool. Although he came short in the Rands Slam III Playoffs, his run was nothing to be laughed at. He won two consecutive Opens, the RandDubs Open and the DS Classic Open, which features Gen4, Gen5 and Gen6 Random Battles. HaunterBoy28's lack of experience in high-pressure team tour games might come back to bite him at some point, but his proficiency in BW is clear, and we can expect a positive record for his first ride even in this difficult pool. His versatility may also come as an asset to give the Hoopa lineup some flexibility to adapt for some specific Mystery Box formats, for instance.

Taking a break is sometimes all you need to thrive. After a disappointing 2-5 in RBTT2, Micaiah came back four years later with a commanding 5-0 in the WCoR1, followed by a no less impressive 6-2 run in RBTT6 and a positive 3-2 in the WCoR2. With precise plays and the steady mindset required to succeed in a format that can swing as fast as Gen5, Micaiah will look to expand their already convincing records even further.

In a three-way tie for fifth place we have a known name in the BW Smogon scene: Raceding. They stormed in the Gen 5 Random Battles scene with a crushing 6-1 score, helping their team, China, to reach the finals of WCoR for the second time in a row. This is their first RBTT; will their precise and powerful plays be enough to reiterate this feat? Was their relatively early drafting by their managers despite their low Gen 5 Rands games sample size a steal or a risk? That's something only time will tell.

Tied at 5th as well is the veteran Spitfire Arcanine, who's been around since RBTT3. After a disappointing RBTT5 with a 3-6 score and a defeat in the final round and a notable absence in RBTT6, where Gen 5 wasn't featured as a format, Spitfire came back to playing Rands in WCoR2, leading team India and scoring a respectable 4-2. Reputed for their in-game skill, they still got drafted as early as round 7 and will surely try to show this rather early investment was not a mistake whatsoever.

Boasting an impressive 11-2 records in Gen 2 Rands across two editions of the WCoR, MrSoup feels like a king without a land, as the format is not part of RBTT7 bundle, except for one Mystery Box week. Don't get fooled: with a deep run in the DS Classic Open and a victory in the Gen 9 Singles Open, MrSoup has shown a great deal of versatility throughout the past year. Now making his debut in RBTT, his lack of any team tour results in this format certainly explain this tied 5th rank, but we can expect him to replicate his success in this new pool. While a flex to the Gen2 spot whenever the format is rolled in the Mystery Box is to be expected, if his Gen5 results do end up being subpar, his versatility could allow him to bounce back in another format.

If the shortcomings of a team can reflect badly on a player, then it is certainly the case for Wait2seconds, whose national team of France failed twice to reach playoffs in the WCoR. His personal record, however, is astounding, with a combined score of 13-2 in team tours for Gen 5 Random Battles and a deep run in Rands Slam III that was ended by their current manager Amaranth during the playoffs stage. This possibly misleading last rank may probably not affect the ever-confident W2S, who will surely try to slay his hardest competition in Random Battles yet.

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teresbahji is perhaps one of the most iconic figures of the Random Battles room. As one of the most acclaimed all-rounders throughout randomized formats, it's more of an event when teresbahji doesn't win the monthly room tour marathon than when he does. He is no slouch in tournament play either, with his worst historical RBTT record being a still good 3-4, and his best being an outstanding 7-1. This year's RBTT is the first time he's playing Gen 4 in a team tournament, and everyone's interested to see whether their faith in him to play anything well will pay off on this specialist-heavy format. Even if it doesn't, Team Rayquaza will certainly be able to move him to any other format and expect him to perform.

On the note of all-rounders, Amaranth is a recognizable figure on Smogon thanks to his recently ended role as Tournament Director. He is no stranger to the Random Battles scene either; in RBTT, he had a good 3-4 record, then an outstanding 6-1 run, and finally a respectable 4-4 in the year after that. Outside of RBTT, he went 3-2 in this year's World Cup of Randoms for Team Italy and even made Top 8 in this year's Rands Slam tournament circuit. Amaranth has historically played Gen 3 or Gen 2 when it comes up as a Mystery Box in RBTT and played Gen 1 during World Cup, so this is his first time playing Gen 4 in a team tournament. However, much like teresbahji, a lot of faith is being placed in his capabilities as an all-rounder to do well here despite good representation of format specialists.

One such format specialist as far as randomized formats go is SMB, who is a consistent figure in RBTT. Having exclusively played Gen 4 for the last 4 years in this tournament, aside from a single week off-format, SMB has never once had a negative or even 50% winrate. Supporting SMB's air of consistency are his performances in the wider Smogon tournament scene, where, between his 4 Snake and SPL appearances between 2018 and 2020, he always finished with a 50% winrate at worst; his last non-RBTT appearance was SPL in 2021, however, where he finished 3-6. While he's never truly dominated a season in RBTT, with his historical records ranging from 5-2 at best to 4-3 at worst, SMB should be a player who can be depended upon to go positive and, therefore, pull his weight for the Giratinas.

If SMB is the figure of consistency in this pool, PrinceOfAllTacos is the figure of risk. Not as much of a format specialist as SMB, with the capability to also play Gens 5, 6, and 7 to a great standard, PrinceOfAllTacos has had one year playing Gen 5 in RBTT with the rest being in Gen 4, including his best year. His worst showing in RBTT was his first year in RBTT3, where he achieved an undeniably bad 0-4 record. However, the next year he redeemed himself with a 4-3 showing and then achieved an outstanding 6-1 the year after that, before going back to a negative record by finishing with a 2-5 record last year. Though POAT hasn't played Gen 4 during World Cup of Randoms, his 2-6 and 2-3 records demonstrate his lack of consistency. At his best, PrinceOfAllTacos can dominate the pool, and we can be sure that Team Zekrom is hoping this is the PrinceOfAllTacos they drafted early on.

ksicide is one of several recruits from China's World Cup of Randoms team in this year's RBTT, which is no surprise considering that in the 2 years the tournament has existed, China won the first year and won silver in the second. In the first year, ksicide managed a respectable 3-3 record, while last year they bettered that with a great 5-3. The caliber of players in World Cup is usually a little lower than in RBTT, so it will be interesting to see how ksicide fares in an altogether harder tournament than they're used to. However, their skill is certain, and they have great ladder stats in the format, including more ladder games showing on their account than everyone else in the pool put together, making them an interesting player heading into an exciting RBTT debut.

Trade is another player in the Gen 4 pool to be in their fifth consecutive year of RBTT and is also another to have played a mix of Gens 4 and 5 in their RBTT performances. A well-respected figure, Trade smashed their first year of RBTT with a 7-2 record. Since then, they haven't quite managed to go positive, with a 1-5 in their second year followed by two 50% records with a 4-4 and a 2-2. They have also represented Oceania in both World Cups of Randoms but have been placed off-format each year in Gens 1 and 8, leading to unrepresentative 0-2 and 1-2 records, respectively. We can be assured that if all goes well, Trade is fully capable to returning to his RBTT3 glory days and going 7-2 again, but his placement towards the bottom of the rankings makes sense considering his more recent team tournament performances.

While Drud may be the epitome of a wildcard, Team Hoopa is traditionally rather good at finding competitive and hype wildcards to draft for RBTT. With no Random Battles tournament experience besides last year's World Cup of Randoms, where they went 2-1 on the winning Team Benelux while playing Gen 4, how exactly Drud will fare in this tournament is quite uncertain. His ladder stats rival the rest of the pool's despite a lower number of games in the format, and considering the format was recently revamped, and this is the first year of RBTT with any level balancing at all, being the newest player in the pool to Gen 4 Random Battles may be a deceptive advantage while the other old dogs struggle to learn the new tricks needed to excel in a pretty new format.

Don't let gorex's place as last in Gen 4's ranking fool you; they have every shot at a very successful run in RBTT7. This ranking is likely representative of certain metrics you could use to judge gorex, such as their 1-4 record in RBTT4, their only prior season of the tournament, or their exactly 50% winrate in this year's Rands Slam tournament circuit, which isn't great when you consider all its tournaments are single elimination. However, neither of those stats really have anything to do with Gen 4 Random Battles, and gorex has been a Gen 4 main in the last two World Cups of Randoms, representing Asia; like ksicide, the other World Cup recruit to this player pool, gorex has a neutral record, this time 5-5 in the first World Cup and a positive record in the second, having gone 3-2. It's exciting to see a player like gorex in their main format for the first time in RBTT, as depending on how this year goes, it may be unthinkable to rank them last in the power ranking next year.

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With a 25-10 lifetime RBTT record across four editions (three of which his team won), a history of ladder dominance, and a combined 14-3 record across two editions of the World Cup of RandBats (one of which his team won), all achieved in his trademark format Gen 3, it is unsurprising that xGang is unanimously ranked first. It is a simple fact that no one wins as consistently as xGang, certainly in this tier and arguably anywhere in the RandBats community. If aliens were to challenge us to a game in any Random Battles format of our choosing to decide the fate of the Earth, almost certainly xGang will be one of the top considerations. A single blemish in his lifetime stats—a 3-5 record in RBTT V, two years ago—is not nearly enough to threaten his GOAT status. xGang is synonymous with victory.

A rising prospect in Smogon Tournaments, fresh off a glorious 9-1 season playing Doubles OU in Smogon Champions League, Xrn has proven himself an elite Pokemon player. Though his history in Random Battles is not extensive, managers and rankers alike were convinced by his performance in the last World Cup, where he achieved a strong 4-1 record playing Gen 3 for US South. This RBTT could be the tournament that either establishes Xrn as a confirmed top player in the RandBats scene or a fall down to more reasonable expectations—but it seems most people believe in Xrn's ability to grow into the next Gen 3 titan.

One of only five players with over 20 Gen 3 series played in RBTT, Anna is one of the most established names in this generation, sporting a nice 14-9 all-time RBTT record. A rough 2023, where she went 3-4 in both RBTT and WCoR, was not enough to significantly erode the faith of the rankers, who still overall believe in Anna's ability to bounce back and put up good numbers in a fresh-looking Gen 3 pool with many new names compared to past years.

Thiago Nunes's player profile is not too dissimilar from Xrn. Though he lacks the shining 9-1 SCL performance that built Xrn up into a top prospect, Nunes also underwent a meteoric rise in Smogon Tournaments in 2023, demonstrated RandBats-specific familiarity with a 4-1 WCoR23 record, and already did well filling in for four different formats for Team Mewtwo in RBTT last year, going 3-1 in the process. Though none of these results were in Gen 3, Thiago Nunes is expected to translate his strong Pokemon fundamentals into good results in this slot—or perhaps somewhere else. He can do it all!

A long-time regular of RBTT, Ereshkigal had what some would consider a true breakout performance in last year's RBTT, going 7-3 in a very difficult pool. However, Ereshkigal has also shown some low lows, most notably two 1-4 showings in WCoR22 and 23, which has resulted in this final ranking. Nevertheless, the Frenchman has been a reliable RBTT slot for four years in a row now, and the new faces in the pool need to prove that they're better than him if they want to truly shine. Will Ereshkigal rise above the expectation of gatekeeper? Will he be swept away by the newcomers? Or will it be something in between? Only time will tell.

Jisoo's only RandBats tournament to date was a 4-3 showing in WCoR2023; however, in that tournament, Jisoo managed to do something that very few people manage to do: handing a loss to xGang (who would go on to finish that tournament 8-1). With a slew of non-RandBats results to add on, including good showings across SPL and Smogon Classic, Jisoo is a gamble with a fantastic ceiling that may turn out amazing for the Suicunes, or they may just end up as another name on the list of tournament players that never quite managed a smooth transition to Random Battles.

One thing has to be mentioned first and foremost regarding kaori: 5-0 WCoR, playing Gen 3. There is almost nothing else in his RandBats resume, but this was enough to draw the eye of some managers. A veteran presence in Smogon, kaori brought a very specific energy that I can only describe as "hardened Pokemon veteran who has played more lifetime Pokemon games than 10 zoomers combined and now just wants to smash ‘em in good old RandBats". This is very dangerous. However, the Gen 3 pool this time around is definitely harder than the WCoR opposition—kaori is definitely no grinder in the way xGang is, and he is no rising star in the way Xrn and Nunes are. All the same, they are in for a world of hurt if they disrespect the veteran.

Once regarded as a top profile, worthy of being picked as early as pick #4 in RBTT5, trace's performances and reputation have steadily, slowly declined all the way to the bottom of this pool. Nevertheless, since the switch from their old main tier, Battle Factory, to their new home in Gen 3, trace has actually found quite a bit of success, landing a 5-2 record in WCoR 2022, another 5-2 in RBTT6, and then a 3-2 in WCoR 2023, including wins over many players ranked above—xGang once, Ereshkigal twice, Jisoo once, among others. Evidently, none of these results were dominant enough to restore the hype of years past, but all the same, trace has shown no signs of being done with all the Gen 3 winning they've been doing over the last 18 months, so they may well end up silencing the doubters.

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YBW has grown as a staple name in the RBY low tier community over the past couple of years. His win in the RBY Ubers Open II and several good results throughout the Low Tier Circuit and the RBY Grand Slam sealed a great 2023 for YBW, but his Random Battles prowess is truly what he is renowned for. Ranked as high as 3rd in the dedicated Gen 1 Random Battles side discord server's Hall of Fame, with no less than 4 Masters tour wins and a victory over the Indigo Championship, YBW has established himself as a true powerhouse in this community. His team tour results are milder, with a decent 8-8 total record in RBTT, 3-2 scores in both WCoR, and 4-4 as a Random Battles player in the last RBYPL. His extensive experience in the format and in high pressure games will certainly add to his great set of in-game skills to ensure another solid run in this high-level field.

Yazu's meteoric rise in the RBY low tiers scene got a lot of people talking out of surprise and admiration, a rise that culminated with a win in the RBY Grand Slam I. Since then, Yazu has established themselves as a fearsome UU and lower tier RBY player with countless great results over the past two years. Their domination over the Gen 1 Random Battle scene, however, goes back to an even earlier time. Now ranked first in the Gen 1 RandBats Discord server Hall of Fame, they won 5 different Masters tours with a total of 9 podiums, as well as 3 different Cups. They reached finals of the Smogon Gen 1 Random Battles Open as well. Representing France twice in a row in the WCoR, they have an impressive 11-3 total score in our team tournaments. With this edition being their first RBTT, we can only expect their resilience and great inventiveness to help them crush this field, as they usually do.

Royzin's resume is certainly not as rich as the two players tied for first, but he still has a steady presence in the Gen 1 Random Battles community, with numerous fierce battles against most of the players in this pool. His recent success in RBY tours, whether it's OU or low tiers, is a great indicator of his versatility and knowledge in the generation. Although he never got higher than a bronze medal in any Masters tour, he left a strong impression in the Random Battles community after storming the WCoR2 qualifiers with a commanding 4-0 in his relatively strong pool, including a win over YBW. His main stage results were, however, just a decent 3-3. Now making his debut in RBTT, royzin will have a lot of work to do to match this rank of third best Gen 1 player and will surely look to replicate their strong WCoR run.

Picked for the third time in a row by the manager pair of LoSconosciuto and za, the mysterious and quiet Mikon is back on the Gen 1 wheel for the returning team Rayquaza. Notable in the RBY community for her strong results in RBY STABmons, Mikon has been a powerful force for her RBTT teams, scoring 3-3 in RBTT5 and 5-3 in RBTT6, for an overall record of 11-5 in the format. Despite little to no presence in the Gen 1 Random Battles community outside of the ladder and RBTT, the quality of her plays is high and steady. Will she keep her positive records throughout a third season of this difficult league?

Another player first introduced to RBTT by team Rayquaza in RBTT5, Luchik started on the bench and scored a positive 2-1. From there, they kept building upon this good start with qualifications to Rands Slam 2 and 3 playoffs, including a win in the Hackmons Cup Open II, two commanding 5-1 records in both WCoRs, one in Gen 8 and one in Gen 1, and a solid 4-3 score in RBTT6. Not only did they show a great range of formats played and powerful results in a wide variety of events, they also specialize in Gen 1 Random Battles. They have a long-lasting presence in the Gen 1 Random Battles community and a win over one Masters tour as well as a silver medal. Their recent 3-4 score in RBYPL was mildly disappointing, but they can only hope to bounce back in this season of RBTT, whether they're slotted in Gen 1 or another of the numerous formats they play excellently.

Gen 1 veteran tylerfitz8 was actually the Gen 1 player drafted the earliest for this RBTT. A four-time medalist in the Gen 1 Random Battles community server's Masters tours, his success there was only met some years ago, as he hasn't been on the podium for any of the more recent solo tours, which might explain his relatively low ranking here. His team tour results, however, have been solid throughout the last 3 years, with 4-3 records in RBTT5 and 6 and 3-2 scores in both WCoRs. His recent run in RBYPL was not short of impressive either, with a strong 4-1 result in a difficult pool. Now, whether his consistency and extensive experience will grant him another positive score to add to his resume or whether he's actually past his peak is up for question, but we can expect great plays and a top-notch understanding of the format nonetheless.

The second newcomer in this RBY pool is also a WCoR US South player. After a convincing 4-1 run in WCoR1, chub was put on the bench to give some room to his teammate royzin during the next edition that saw a complete rework of his team roster. Suffering a loss in his only series in Gen 9, chub didn't seem to let that minor setback keep him from anything, as he managed to pull off a very deep run in the RBY Cup IX, getting a match from ABR, ultimately losing in the third three-way finals. Although OU is not Random Battles, his obvious strong fundamentals and interesting potential caught the eyes of his managers. He will now have to prove himself worthy in an undeniably strong pool of experienced players.

Probably more famous for his ZU and BDSP presence, Tuthur seemed to gain interest both in Random Battles and RBY lately. It may then almost seem natural to see him slotted in Gen 1 Random Battles, right? Tuthur had a pretty solid run in his first RBTT a year ago with a 4-3 score, including an emergency slotting in the Gen 1 spot during Week 7, which he won. The second WCoR was a notable setback, as he only pulled a painful 1-4 result in Gen 8 during the main stage. However, after a win in RBYPL with the Glacial Articunos, scoring 3-3 in both RandBats and OU, and a run to the finals of the Gen 1 Random Battle Open alongside Ice Yazu, Tuthur seemed to have regained some momentum, enough for his managers to entrust him with the Gen 1 spot on their lineup. He will now have the difficult task to prove that this decision wasn't a mistake against a field full of veterans and rising talents.

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Memoric has proven himself the top dog in RandDubs throughout SS, playing three full RBTT seasons and going positive every time, for a cumulative 17-9 record. With a long history of high-level performances in all things Doubles, from oldgens to lower tiers and everything in between, it is no surprise that he took well to Random Battles and even tops the ranks going into the new generation. With many newcomers to the pool this year, Memoric is expected to sort the wheat from the chaff and continue the streak of positive performances.

There are two types of RandDubs players; the Doubles mains who try going random, and the RandBats mainstays who try specializing in Doubles. odr is the premier example of the latter case in this tournament, receiving a ranking above many Doubles experts thanks in large part to a successful 6-2 RBTT campaign last year, adding on to a long history of notable RandBats performances. With teammates such as RandDubs Open winner HaunterBoy28, and dedicated Doubles player Aldrich on the bench, odr may well end up shuffling somewhere else; but as long as he holds down the spot, it will not be an easy time whatsoever for the various Doubles mains in the rest of the pool.

With a 33-15 SCL record in Doubles, a top 32 finish at the 2023 VGC World Championships, and countless other great results in and out of Doubles formats, Nails's Random Battles debut is met with various degrees of excitement by the ranking team. While his signup post explicitly promised not too much effort, Nails's natural talent and experience in Doubles formats is undeniable—if he can translate them to the randomized format, he will be a huge threat.

ionnss enters this tournament with pretty much one thing on his resume: 88 GXE on the RandDubs ladder. A middling performance playing Gen 2 for team UK in last year's WCoR weighs little in comparison. However, the ladder rating tells a clear story, and so did many of his tryout games: ionnss is simply great. Anybody unfamiliar should get ready to make his acquaintance, as he looks to make a much more decisive impact here than he did in World Cup. Of many mostly-ladder players making their RBTT debut, ionnss may arguably be the most promising; any fan of this format should be excited to watch his performances.

Known for almost singlehandedly running the entirety of the Smogon VGC section, Eeveon7's on-field results are not nearly as prolific as her hosting ability. All the same, Team Ogerpon decided to grab her as early as Round 4 in the draft, while a majority of the other teams elected to leave their Doubles picks until way later. It is clear that the Ogerpons back Eeveon7 to heavily outperform this ranking, but many clearly don't share their excitement. Will we see Eeveon7-1 or Eeveon7th? Only one way to find out.

umbry is known in the Smogon Tournaments community as a somewhat mercurial player with an extremely high ceiling when committed, especially—but not exclusively—in Doubles. With no past in Random Battles tournaments or ladder, umbry will be flying on talent alone, but that is one thing she does not lack whatsoever; as long as she's focused and not autopiloting, umbry is a very scary player to face in any environment. If she falls out of love with the tournament for one reason or another, there may be disaster scenarios ahead; but as long as the Rayquaza atmosphere is good, and especially if they pick up momentum, umbry is known to ride good vibes all the way to dominant records on occasion.

Up-and-coming Doubles player sundays is playing a lot of Pokemon lately. If you hang around in most Doubles spaces, you will likely have seen them in some tournament one way or the other. Their enthusiasm convinced the Giratinas to draft them, even above established options that were still available (and even some that went completely undrafted)—sometimes players who play this much get very good very quickly. For the time being, sundays lacks the results or any other tangible reasons to be ranked any higher than this, but they may well be on the verge of a breakout tournament some time soon.

The manager of Team Zekrom finds himself at the bottom of the Doubles rankings, given no notable results in the tier to speak of, and overall average performances even in his main formats, with their last strong tournament being probably a 6-2 in Gen 4 all the way back in RBTT IV. A jack of all trades, master of none type of player, he will no doubt rearrange his lineup to prevent this 8th place ranking from causing any serious issue, especially given that his first pick—snorlax142857—has a strong history of RandDubs. He submitted a lineup with himself in Doubles, though, in a move that I can only hope was baiting dunks from the ranking team; in which case, he has largely succeeded.

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While everyone agrees that Sylveon used calm mind is a force to be reckoned with in Random Battles, it might be a little surprising that they are ranked 1st in Battle Factory, as it is the first time that they are playing this tier. However, after an amazing year in the Smogon competitive scene, reaching semifinals in OST XlX and taking part in WCoP and SCL, their presence as the first-ranked Battle Factory player is more than justified!

Contrary to Sylveon used calm mind's history in RBTT, temp has always shined in Battle Factory in this tournament. With a more than impressive record of 70% of series won and ending every RBTT with a positive score, temp looks like an absolute menace for this pool. I would not be impressed if they end the tournament as the best Battle Factory player in RBTT VII.

RBTT VII is the first time that mind gaming joins the Random Battles competitive scene, and they are already ranked top 3 in Battle Factory! Why, you may ask. mind gaming holds an incredible 65% win record in official team tournaments, having taken part in all three of them and having won two SCLs. They are for sure a really skillful player, so do not underestimate them because of their lack of experience in Random Battles.

lax embodies the definition of what a perfect Battle Factory player should be. Lax holds an impressive 71% win record in past RBTT editions, always ending with a positive record in this very same tier. But this is only the beginning! In the Smogon competitive scene, lax has won one WCoP, one SPL, and this year's OLT. With such an impressive resume, lax has been ranked 4th in this pool; but, do you think he will be happy with it?

This is the second consecutive year that Fogbound Lake is participating in RBTT. Although last year their role was mostly as a sub and they didn't manage to get a positive record, that's probably because they were not playing their best tier. With an incredible 70% win record in official team tournaments and a winning run in the last SCL, Fogbound Lake is back to show everyone that they can dominate this pool.

Everyone in the Random Battles community knows Clementine at this point; they really are a jack of all trades! Their Random Battles resume is as good as it can be, having won Rands Slam II as well as RBTT IV. Maybe their resume in the Smogon competitive scene is not as flamboyant, but after winning the last SCL Clementine is here to show off that they can be as good as anyone else in this tier!

Say hello to another newcomer to the RBTT scene! After taking part in the 2023 WCoR, Baloor has decided to take their talents to this tournament. After taking part in all official team tournaments and winning 2022 SPL, Baloor seems more than ready to play at top level in this tier. They have been ranked 7th in this pool, but surely they will fight to be the very best!

Kaneki-san is also new to the RBTT scene; however, they are more than known in the Random Battles competitive scene. After making playoffs in Rands Slam III and Rands Slam II, they have earned themselves the right to be among the top Random Battles players. Even if their Smogon competitive resume is one of the most discreet ones, they are someone to keep an eye on every Random Battles tournament!

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BSSF specialist luisin finds himself power ranked first by a hair after a dominant 8-2 performance last year, which was instrumental in his team winning the entire tournament. One of very few people who actually play BSS (without the F), his innate set knowledge and extreme familiarity with the format is guaranteed to be a huge leg up—this will be especially true if he is retaining the practice support of longtime partner papiloco, who was somehow not drafted to any other team. There is no reason why luisin can't replicate the brilliant performance of last year—he was accordingly drafted rather early, and ranked very highly.

zioziotrip entered the scene with a gorgeous 8-0 in RBTT V, and the only thing that stopped him from replicating that last year was a forum ban incurred after week 3 for reasons unrelated to RBTT, halting his cumulative record at 10-1. Tough one. Now freed of his shackles at last, he's back to set the BSSF stage on fire once more—no player with more than one career RBTT set has a better winrate than zioziotrip, and team Ogerpon was eager to jump on the chance to draft him as early as round 2. With extremely high expectations on him in spite of the year off, it will be fascinating to see zio's return to the field, as he very well might be in the mood for more record-setting performances.

I refuse to repeat the username of this player in this paragraph.

This player is known in the BSS and Doubles communities for their consistently solid level of performance, as well as their atrocious username. While nothing about them really draws the eye as much as their inconceivably terrible username, and most of the stories I hear about them go more along the lines of "did you hear about that time he asked to be subbed out because of the big new Genshin patch?" rather than anything game-related, they do ultimately put up results, much to the dismay of anyone who has to reads their username in bold in the OP week after week. For being picked as late as round 16, they might arguably be one of the biggest steals of the auction, which is understandable, as nobody would want an username like this on their team list if they had the option not to.

yone has been on a modest but consistent rise over the past year or so, as both his behavior and his playing skills have been on a promising upward trend. Though they don't really have a ton of BSSF or even BSS-specific results in recent history, they are at least acquainted with the format, and expected to be an overall solid option throughout the tournament. yone is likely the kind of younger player profile who will experience a sudden, serious breakout as soon as they tweak their approach in just the right way and start seriously practicing the game; whether that will happen this tournament, soon, in a few years, or perhaps not at all, is not something that can be confidently established.

Dragonillis is looking to restore a brutally negative RBTT career, with an 8-18 overall record, by switching away from Gen 3 and towards BSSF more permanently. Likely a better player than their record shows—as proven by the fact this is the fifth consecutive RBTT where they get drafted—this might be the right field for them to begin seriously turning their fortunes around and hopefully land their first positive record in RBTT, especially now that they are free from the shackles of playing against xGang and friends every week. The rankers still seem to have a decent amount of faith in Dragonillis to turn it all around—it would be a great story if it happened.

3d has been making modest but noticeable amounts of noise as a tournament player on Smogon, and this will be his first foray into the Random Battles tournament scene. Generally, proficiency at conventional Smogon tiers translates well to BF moreso than BSSF, but it helps with both a decent amount, which is likely why 3d has been entrusted a starting slot here. His track record of picking up new tiers for new tournaments has been mixed, but there have definitely been some hits in between the misses, and it is fairly reasonable to take a gamble on a player of this type—all that remains now is seeing if it works out.

Following two unfortunate performances in RBTT IV and VI, Piapia had somewhat of a breakout in the latter half of 2023, where she qualified for playoffs Rands Slam and performed admirably in Gen 6 for US South. Now having expressed preference for BSSF in this tournament, this is going to be a crucial time for Piapia to prove if these two 2023 results were somewhat of a fluke, or if she's truly on the upswing and only going higher. She seems to not yet have the faith of the ranking committee, but a 9th round pick and a starting slot means team Suicune at least has faith in her abilities, and with not too much data to go off of and a general upwards trend, it is possible that she will shock people and upset this ranking.

An unknown face in the Random Battles community, DerpySuX is one of the most prolific contributors to Smogon's Battle Spot Singles section, the format from which BSSF is based. There's rarely good opportunity to show off your BSSF skills in tournament play, since it's merged with Battle Factory in its Open during the Rands Slam Circuit, and the only other tournament it appears in is RBTT. Resultantly, while DerpySuX is a fresh face in BSSF itself, they're expected to to be competitive enough here, especially coming off a great 4-1 record in last year's BSSPL, where they mainly played Gen 8 BSS; BSSF is still in Gen 8 too, so this should provide them a good amount of transferable format knowledge. The eighth ranking is likely to do with lower name recognition outside of BSS than other first-timer BSSF slots ranked above them like 3d, and really this year will be Derpy's chance to demonstrate whatever skill they may or may not have in the format, since they're largely a question mark right now.

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platinumCheesecake holds a special spot in RBTT's history, as he's tied for the highest number of series played with a total of 44 matches and a record of 26-18. And yes, all of them were Hackmons Cup, from Gen 7 to Gen 9. Writer of a comprehensive Hackmons Cup guide that's still relevant several years later, Platty is most certainly at home here, and his ranking as 1st is a testimony to his consistency in the least consistent format of all. Proud owner of two RBTT victories and of a curse that gives him terrible luck in all his first-week games, the lotad stacker will now seek for a third medal in a row.

Former Random Battles room staff Chiori Mikami is a jack-of-all-trades kind of player who so far has managed to qualify in two Rands Slam playoffs, win the RandDubs Launch Tour, be the MVP in CCC3 winning team Snom with an undefeated run, hold the Gen 1 starter spot twice for Team Italy in WCoR with uneven results, and still find time to score a 13-9 historical record across three RBTTs and six different formats. With the will and composure necessary to stall out the PP of a Wonder Guard Pokémon or play through hundreds of turns of Gen 2 Random battles, Chiori has earned a spot as the second place of this ranking and will surely show you soon enough the reason why.

Maybe you know him as Spyaro, maybe you know him as Cloudiness, or Murad, or Aqua, but regardless of his alias, if you're familiar with the Random Battles scene, you know him for sure. Winner of the Modern Trio Open, this RandBats main and ladder aficionados is as versatile as one can get in this side of the competition. After a dominating 6-2 in RBTT4 and a break from playing in RBTT5, Aqua came back with a slightly surprising but respectable 5-4 result in RBTT6, mostly in Gen 4. Recently back to playing in modern generations, he decided to give a try to a format he sure likes but never played in a team tour setting. Will Aqua show more of his precise resources management and fearsome plays in Hackmons Cup, or will he flex into another format if his team needs it? Is he back to his 2021 form? Only time will tell.

Part of RBTT since the very first day, Fragments has had plenty of opportunities to show his dedication to this community. Former manager, winner of RBTT4 as a playing captain leading his team to victory with a commanding 6-0 score, Fragments's overall score is yet a mildly disappointing 16-18, mostly tainted by his disastrous RBTT5 run where he was on the verge of finishing the tournament winless. Now back in the players pool, this two-time medalist and early-hour player will try his best to show that his relevance in a slowly evolving field has not disappeared just yet.

Another old-timer lies in 5th place in this ranking. Racking up lopsided results to a total of 17-21 score, P&S is also renowned for his versatility. Their first try at Hackmons Cup in RBTT5 with a strong 4-2 result probably left a mark on everyone's brain, but not as much as their 7-1 run in WCoR1 in Gen1, which was immediately followed by a hype round 1 pick in RBTT6 draft and a soul-crushing 1-6 run in the same format. Now back to Hackmons Cup shenanigans, the Brazilian MVP will try his best to erase those sad memories from his mind as well as everybody else's and thrive again as a dark horse in a pool in which he came positive in the past.

Players who play only one format in the strategy side of Pokémon are uncommon. Now, when said format is Hackmons Cup, you might very well say they're very few. Among this very rare breed, you may find Nudepantsman. Don't let his odd name fool you, when it comes to battling, he's very serious. Growing up from a last-round pick and a sad 2-5 score in RBTT4, NPM managed to bounce back and top the Hackmons Cup pool twice in a row with 6-3 and 5-2 scores. His notable absence from anything that isn't RBTT possibly explains his relatively low ranking, but if NPM is able to replicate his last two tournaments' results, then he'll be a serious contender in this field.

oaklies is the only newcomer to this pool and, actually, is a newcomer to Random Battle team tournaments as a whole. They made a strong entrance to the community by winning the Broken Cup Spotlight Open ahead of a fierce competition. Now hosting a Broken Cup 1v1 Open, this Tours Plaza regular and OM enthusiast will have the difficult task to prove their worth against the best of the mainers and a field packed with seasoned players. The underdog spot can be an asset, however, and with a bit of training and inventiveness, aaklies may be able to translate their Broken Cup madness to the less eccentric Hackmons Cup format.

Last but not least lies the lowest draft number of all the players in this pool: Altthiel. This DPP main and French community tours regular is returning to the format he played for Team Koraidon in RBTT6 after a positive season. Aside from his steady holding of the Gen 4 spot in two successive WCoR for the tricolor team, there isn't much to be found of Altthiel's participation in Random Battles tournaments. With creative play and the assurance to grab a drink or two with his captain and friend Clementine after games to celebrate victories or washed losses pain away, can the Ogerpon player keep his streak of positive records unbroken?

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The Chi-Yus have a good blend of talent and flexibility on bench, with Icemaster likely having a higher ceiling than a good number of starters and frostyicelad, Lrogue, and peap providing a lot of reliable Random Battles experience. Kate is a name that perhaps will raise some eyebrows—her 0-3 World Cup of Randbats record was certainly nothing too stunning—but can be all in all justified with overall talent in other formats that may be able to translate with a bit more experience, too. It's no surprise to see this bench all the way up, they are a consistent group who can patch up any hope decently as required.

The Darkrais' bench likewise features a good mix of established RandBats talent in Shadows4 and Emboar02, mixed in with high-potential tournament players such as Shaneghoul and Aislinn (4-2 and 3-3 in World Cup of RandBats for team Europe + Africa), as well as likely the best cheerleader on Smogon, Sylvi. This bench has a deceptively good amount of flexibility, as Aislinn has considerable experience across multiple formats, Shadows4 has a solid track record in Hackmons Cup, and likewise for Emboar02 in BSSF, with Shaneghoul likely being a proficient option in any of the modern generations.

The Suicunes' bench is extremely eclectic, featuring a man who made Rands Slam Top 32 without even knowing that he could check the sets through calc or tooltips, a VGC Vice World Champion, a proficient emergency sub, and then of course the two Masters—the guy from Halo and the guy from the UK. A true classic.

Silliness aside, there's a lot of potential here. Eeveeto's true powers may be revealed if he begins using all the tools that massively improve quality of life for Random Battles players; emforbes has quietly accrued a decent amount of experience laddering RandBats specifically, and his natural talent for the game of Pokemon was proven when he placed second at the 2019 VGC World Championships; Master Chief had a stunning World Cup showing this year, taking down BoRida and JJ09LIE on the way to a 5-1 record; and while most people would agree Jordy004 and MasterJ007 have slightly lower potential, they too have been very useful to their World Cup teams at a time of need. Though they look mismatched, they may end up providing a lot of support in many different situations.

The Ogerpons have a solid, high-potential, but slightly unproven group on their bench. Luckily or unluckily for these five, depending on how you see it, these power rankings are expecting the starting lineup here to have a few holes, which means these players will likely get their chances. You will find avarice in seemingly any tournament you look into, from oldgens to lower tiers, always putting up solid numbers; Exotic64 was no doubt a recommendation from Dark Pulse, who will likely have worked closely with him and spotted potential worth grabbing; Ivar57 is an Other Metagames Circuit Champion looking to transition into new territories, and the skill baseline is undeniable; Kaif has been playing the game for ages and will no doubt handle a transition to Random Battles just fine with his accrued game knowledge; and ProDigeZz is fresh off a prodigious 5-0 in World Cup for Team France.

The Zekroms' bench is solid, but nothing much more. The highest-potential names are probably Drxxtv, who has achieved terrific ladder records in various Random Battle tiers; Medeia, a jack-of-all-trades who made the cut in Rands Slam; and Beraldo, a player who catapulted himself from living meme to SCL III RarelyUsed MVP with a 7-1 record over the last year and should be able to transfer his talents over to RBTT just fine if he so desires. baconeatinassassin and ina fable are just fine, but it's hard to imagine either having a dominating breakout performance, and they might not even be enough to hold their own against the strong starting fields, all things considered.

The Hoopas' bench is ranked below average, as it doesn't look super high potential on paper, but it actually fits the needs of the starting lineup rather well, as they might be looking to move odr out of Doubles, and there goes Aldrich, or they might be looking to move HaunterBoy28 out of Gen 5, and there goes… any of 35Q71N, Fakee, or Tarrembeau, really. It's somewhat understandable to be unexcited about this set of players, as none of them immediately scream "next hot prospect", and some of them might not really be ready to play in a field as tough as this RBTT's, but they were still largely clever picks to patch up specific needs and should be able to work within the vision of the Hoopa managers to a satisfying degree.

The Rayquazas have clearly drafted their bench for synergy and vibes as, to the best of our understanding, hidin's main qualification is being za's friend, paolode99's main qualification is being LoSconosciuto's friend, and Forsh's main qualification is being Forsh. However, it pays to have talented friends, and the players still stand out in their own rights, since hidin has peaked number two on the Gen 9 ladder, paolode has achieved Top 32 in a Rands Slam playoff, and Forsh has won a Gen 7 Open, beating pokeblade101 on his way there; they are certainly capable of coming in handy in a pinch, and they certainly overall have more Random Battles experience than Expulso and Fc, who are known to be quite talented in other Smogon Tournaments (Fc especially) but will likely need a bit of work before they are RBTT ready in terms of familiarity with the metagame.

It is remarkable that a bench featuring Zap is still ranking 8th place, as Zap himself has a very solid 16-11 career RBTT record, including a 4-1 just last year. Unfortunately, that is just how little people believe in the other four players here; BeeOrSomething and Kanha Greninja just lack any results of note in Random Battles, and while jasprose and London13 are RBTT regulars, it seems pretty clear by their ranking that their time may well be past, as they both had negative records last year and are generally looking less and less involved. While not completely unsalvageable (Zap is here!), the Giratinas will likely be in a spot of bother if a few too many slots start leaking losses, because this group is likely not going to help either.

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