RU Premier League XIII Power Rankings

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It's that time of year again: welcome back to the thirteenth edition of the RarelyUsed Premier League! Thirteen years after the Snowden Files leaked, we are back again releasing more classified documents… the Power Rankings! After the Noble Guardians heroically secured their first franchise title in last year's tournament, they took a note out of the Supreme Crunchwrap Junior's book and are not back this year to defend the chip. So now, the only question is, who will rise up to take their place on the mountaintop? As a disclaimer, all PRs come with some level of natural bias and are by no means objective in their ranking or writing.

We asked the starters for each team to rank their respective pools, so shoutouts to all who participated! : Ming549, seed, Hoops, Daharan, SneakyPlanner, hjkhj, Django, Heatranator, Slikkles, Ac1d, Ampha, Tsuki, Kimer, Thiago Nunes, lighthouses, fvkumean, Runo, C0nfiden1 0yster, The Strap, Evigaro, Lyra, sol, OranBerryBlissey10, Meru, TheFranklin, rylon, Tenebricite, Bouff, xXcrossbowXx, Metallica126, lza, Master Chief, Ruffles, fakenagol, sky, GoldCat, Piyu, Fragments, seraphz, Mister McLovin, SBPC, TyCarter, ninjadog, FastCarVroom!!!, Clem, Baddy, SpoiledBerries, Amity, Mielke, indulge in dreams, JabbaTheGriffin, Msousa, DonBoneJones, Leni, FlamPoke, Expulso, and Drud.

Special thanks go out to everyone who volunteered to write for various PRs; without everyone chipping in, these would not have happened: Amity, Astro, Bouff, Expulso, Heatranator, lighthouses, Lyra, Ming549, Seed, sneakyplanner, sol, and THE_CHUNGLER. Also a big thank you to Lumari and sunny for their involvement in the QCing, GPing, and HTML processes.

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1. hjkhj
2. THE_CHUNGLER
3. Dahran
4. feen
5. seed
6. Hoops
7. eifo
8. xcx
9. Hacker
10. etern
11. Ampha
12. Ming549
13. Cielau
14. Txunt!
15. Sabella
16. Lana
17. DripLegend
18. hi.naming is hard
19. Slikkles
20. Soul king0
21. Ac1d
22. MachJacob
23. Heatranator
24. Cow
25. Quinn
26. Tsuki
27. Jojen
28. 8truc
29. JoelXLeaf
30. kimer
31. Kjay500%
32. DKM

There is some irony in the fact that EviGaro and diogo are both known SV haters, and yet their team ends up with the highest-rated SV core in the whole tournament. After putting up a 7-1 record across SV and ADV in what can only be called a dominant season in the most recent RU team tour, RUCL, THE_CHUNGLER rightfully comes into RUPL as the second highest-rated SV player behind only SCL winner hjkhj himself. A consistent performer, positive chat presence, and supportive teammate, CHUNGLER checks all the boxes you could ask of a franchise player and will be one of the players to watch for this season. Second in the lineup and third in the PRs is the obligatory EviGaro Frenchman, Daharan. 2025 was the year of the French for many reasons, with Daharan contributing to that with his circuit finals appearance in his first time ever making RU circuit playoffs. This combined with his strong 5-2 RUCL showing puts him in great confidence with the rankers and has earned him high praise as the third highest SV in the pool. Joining his countryman Daharan in the Booster's SV lineup is Slikkles. After taking a step out of the RU limelight for a while, Slikkles is back again for RUPL. After making his debut last year for the Deranged Hustlers, Slikkles is looking to improve upon his 1-2 record and establish himself as one of the big-time players of SV RU. Rounding out the roster is a relatively unknown name in kimer. Most recently having played SS RU for the Borussia Donphans in RUCL, kimer now finds himself tasked with learning SV, and the question marks surrounding his ability to do so account for his bottom-three ranking in the PRs. The Speed Boosters have also filled out their bench with some notable members of the RU community in Akolette and Flareblitzkreig. Although neither of them have made huge waves in RU as of yet, they are both fairly active Discord chatters and will surely bring energy to the SV prep and Discord in general. All in all, the Speed Boosters have assembled a Murderer's Row of heavy SV hitters. It is hard to imagine this lineup doing poorly and is most certainly the foundation of the Speed Booster's game plan.

After a great run in SCL, hjk has returned to show why he's the clear number one of the back. Hjk is a player who basically is a roulette wheel. Will he bring Hyper Offense or Stall? If you guess incorrectly, you might just lose very quickly. And even if you do guess correctly, his teambuilding and play is usually good enough to make it a difficult fight still. Add on a sprinkle of BO he pulls out once in a while, and hjk is a player to be feared. He's also got a good amount of support, with both Txunt and Canard likely to help him in whatever playstyle he so chooses. MJ and Tsuki are also likely to lend a hand when they aren't focusing on their own slots. Txunt has been an up-and-coming player in RU recently, getting into circuit playoffs and amassing the reputation as a solid player to keep an eye on. He's also a former tutee of Feliburn, so Txunt is not to be taken lightly. His calling card is loading wacky teams, with the fabled Virizion that he swears is going to work (it won't), but at the same time, he is able to pilot more standard teams effectively. With hjk as support, he is also going to have solid people to check over his teams. His wackiness may be his downfall, however, as he can tend to overcook; though with his captains + hjk to keep him in line, this may be txunt's breakout tournament. The Englishman, MJ, is back for RUPL. Known for his love of Chesnaught, MJ is a competent pilot and builder who primarily loads BO and Balance, but he can still tech into Hyper Offense or Stall if needed. He also has support from his captains and teammates to further seal the deal. While MJ may not be at the top of the pr's, he's still a person to watch out for. The diva queen, Tsuki, has returned to the game once more in RUPL. Tsuki's primary calling card is offensive playstyles, which she can pilot decently effectively. Throw in some more BO or Balanced playstyles, and Tsuki can get the ball rolling. With support from the captains and teammates, this could easily become a standout year for Tsuki. The main issue will be, of course, metagame knowledge, as while Tsuki has kept up with the metagame happenings, the amount of time she has spent playing the meta is unknown. Still, though, given Tsuki has played in RUPL before, she can still do well on the big stage.

Django and etern's Prizefighters SV starts off with a splash. xcx as the top slot is about the best value you could get out of a retain after his excellent RUPL last year. Clocking in at only #8 in our current PRs, he was key to leading the Noble Guardians to the 2025 RUPL championship with a 6-3 record at only 6k, meaning his retain was as cheap as possible for the Prizefighters this year at a measly 10k. xcx is also a strong builder in RU historically, but how much they'll be able to support their teammates remains to be seen and depends on their motivation. It's really hard to mess up an SV core with 10k xcx at the start, but that's not all. etern as a self-bought manager is a discount compared to his likely auction price. You could really list any of etern's low-tier accomplishments in whatever order you want, so I'll go with the 2025 PU circuit champ, the top record in 2025 SCL UU, and I guess he's a tier leader of something, which is probably not important. This should lead to a fairly smooth SV RU transition, and he'll have help from xcx and RU circuit qualifier Ampha for an assist with team building. Depending on how the prizefighters want to play their SV slots, xcx as the top slot would protect etern from having to play the absolute best of the pool right away, making him even more dangerous vs lower quality competition. Ampha, as mentioned previously, qualified for the RU circuit, losing in a close series to circuit semifinalist THE_CHUNGLER. Ampha typically finds the most success in current gen tournaments in his home tier of RU. A modest 2-2 RUCL and 1-3 LTWC in RU means he does have something to prove, but this is a great pool to break out versus weaker competition across the board. DKM is typically an SV NU player who has recently branched out to other tiers in different tournaments. He has a small track record but could find success depending on his motivation and how well his teammates help him learn the tier. Looking at DKM's LTWC record would be a bit unfair. He went 0-1 in SVRU, and his one loss? Against TheFranklin. Tuthur and bricknermon certainly have an argument for starting in one of the SV slots. Tuthur has typically solid results in NU team tournaments (aside from SCL), while bricknermon has notched a few impressive team tour wins in NU and PU vs. strong players like esteb4n and zS. On the bench, it's unclear how much either of them will be motivated to support their team, but they're certainly plug-and-play pilots that can always come into a game and perform at a solid baseline level.

The Deranged Hustlers find themselves in the middle of the pack for their SV lineup. Leading the charge for this year's Papagaios is up-and-coming SV superstar seed. After his breakout 5-3 showing in the most recent RU team tour, RUCL, seed is ready to take to the big stage, and the Hustlers are willing to invest in seed stocks early, considering the 15k price tag accompanying the first-time RUPL player. With seed as the main engine for their SV core, the Hustlers then decided to invest in capable pilots instead of solely self-sufficient players, with DripLegend, Cielau, and Quinn rounding out their roster. Reigning RUPL champion DripLegend finds himself with a new franchise this year as well as a new role as a starter for his team. After a great 4-2 showing off the bench for the Noble Guardians last year, Drip followed up with a somewhat lackluster 2-3 during this year's RUCL. He will be looking to wipe that from recent memory with a hopefully strong RUPL showing. Next up is the obligatory Frenchman on every team, Cielau. Often a jack-of-all-trades super-sub type of player, Cielau this time finds himself cracking the starting lineup. With most recently winning RUCL as part of the Magic Guardians, Cielau will be looking to carry that momentum and have himself a truly standout RUPL season. Finally rounding out the lineup is Quinn. A tournament main, Quinn has been looking to dip his toes into RU, having participated in his first RU team tour very recently with RUCL. After putting up a decent 3-3 record, the Deranged Hustlers have put their faith in him to hold down the tail end of their SV lineup. Handling benchwarming egg-sitting duties for the Papagaios are members of the pt mafia, fvkumean and Dugtrio is Broken, who will certainly be spamming the SV channels with all sorts of chatter. Will the Hustler's SV lineup be as deranged as their name? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK to RUPL to see for sure.

Hoops has been a hot commodity recently and is expected to do well this RUPL. His unique builds can make sure that his opponents are kept on their toes, and he is probably the main person who continues to use Forretress with some success. They can also pilot pretty well under pressure, so it's going to be a treat to see their teams and in-game play. With support from LBN, Fp, and Eifo, they are probably going to acclimate pretty well to the tour scene and will be a standout in this tour. Coming off SPL, Cow looks to cement themself in RU as well, being able to effectively pilot squads that are passed to them by any of LBN, Hoops, Flampoke, or Eifo. If this is done, then Cow could certainly dominate the pool. The primary issue is lack of experience in the tier, as that may lead to ‘safer' squads, which could lead to them being metagame knowledge gapped by opponents, but with help from teammates and proper piloting, this could be a good season for Cow. Eifo is a face that many have seen throughout the years, being able to pilot pretty effectively while also mixing up their team style. This style includes a Morpeko and Lurantis on the same squad, which is certainly interesting… (this was in 2025, btw). Still, though, despite the weird squads, if you underestimate Eifo, it will be a swift loss for any opponents. Eifo hasn't been keeping up with metagame trends for no reason, and they are incredibly effective at playing. As long as Eifo doesn't time out, they should be a prime contender in this pool. The ladder demon who is probably the primary person keeping Forretress RU has stepped into the ring, trying to prove himself on the big stage. His signature weather strategies are bound to show up at least a few times, which will be annoying to deal with regardless of what the opponent brings, as rain, sun, and snow have differing answers. And with guidance from the team captains plus teammates, there could also be other things to throw a curveball at people that try to hard counter weather. Kjay's main weakness is his lack of official tour experience, and as we all know, the ladder does not directly translate to tour success, though he still is not somebody to be underestimated.

For a team ranked so highly overall in the PRs it's weird to see the Technicians so low in SV specifically. Leading off for their team is SCL RU starter Hacker. Although having played SV RU in such tournaments as the Lower Tiers World Cup, SCL, and most recently RUCL, Hacker has had a bit of a struggle acclimating to the tier, reflected by his 2-3 SCL record and 3-4 RUCL record. However, this is his opportunity to set the record straight, and the voters have confidence that he will be able to hit his stride, ranking him number 9 overall. Accompanying Hacker is another SCL player, albeit for Ubers, in Lana. Don't get it twisted though; while Lana is mostly known for her Ubers endeavors, she was also a part of last year's winning team, the Noble Guardians, and more recently came off a 3-3 stint in RUCL. A middle-of-the-pack player, reflected by a middle-of-the-pack 16th-place ranking, means Lana could be the key to breaking open the Technicians' success in SV if she has a good tour. Rounding out the Technicians' starting SV lineup are RUPL newcomers Ac1d and Heatranator. After a tremendous 7-2 SV campaign in last year's RUGL Ac1d, followed up with another strong tour going 5-4 and winning the entire tournament in RUCL. After a glowing review from SCL winner hjkhj regarding his adept prep work and activity as a support, Heatranator now finds himself in the starting lineup for the Technicians. Both newcomers for the Technicians have high potential, but the lack of results in RUPL or other big-name tours leaves the voters somewhat skeptical of their reliability, relegating them to 21st and 23rd place, respectively. In case anything goes awry with the starting lineup, the Technicians have the services of Envy and Elec-ant1234 at their disposal. Envy, being an SCL starter-caliber player in LC, will certainly be able to plug and play with whatever he is dealt, whereas Elec has been a long-time participant in the RU discord and is sure to be up to date with current metagame trends. Whether or not the inconsistencies in the Technicians SV core will spell their downfall is something that they should be wary of should they look to redeem their season from last year and go all the way this year.

The SV core for the Masters of Disguise is led almost assuredly by their manager, Ming549, and RU tier leader, feen. Ming549, RU's resident YouTube personality, has a few strong tournament performances to his name, notably a 5-0 Low Tier Word Cup performance under USNE's banner. He notched wins against TheFranklin and Master Chief in that tournament. Ming is known to build his own teams, and we can only assume his motivation must be high at the start of the tour, given he is a self-bought manager and once again an active RU Discord chatter. feen is the Master's most expensive RU starter and is typically a solid player in RU tournaments; he has no bad results but no standout performances either, usually finishing in the top half of SV RU team tournament records. His 4-3 RUCL in SV RU speaks to this well. A critical observer of Smogon tournaments may look to count a 0-2 SCL performance against him, but of course the competition in this tournament will be of much lower quality. That said, feen is clearly the top slot or SV1 starter, meaning he will need to face the strongest opponents in the SV pool, including SCL superstar hjkhj in week 1. Joelxleaf is a new player to the RU scene, typically found in the tournaments room on a midsummer Showdown night. His most notable accomplishment is as one of the few elite to complete all of RU's ladder achievements, earning him a beautiful custom avatar that we will no doubt see in his RUPL games. Joel's experience on the RU ladder will surely be a boon, helping familiarize him with any style of team that could come his way. Jojen is a tournament player that signs up for just about every low-tier premier league, a common pick for a starter or bench slot in many of them. He will likely need to be given a team each week, but as long as Ming, feen, and Joel can help supply him with one, he'll likely click the right button at least 80% of the time. More than can be said of some of the opponents he'll be facing, almost surely. Heni-san and colorednaem round out the substitute slots for this team's SV core. Both have been known to pop up on the RU ladder, but without other significant Smogon tournament results so far. naem has made a…name for himself as a provocative, but interesting, RU Discord chatter. His off-beat and creative stall teams have led him to picking up a few prestigious RU ladder achievements, such as the 20-0 win streak. Perhaps we'll see a few of his builds pop up in the hands of his more proven teammates. Heni-san has been in and out of low-tier tournaments, playing for team Germany in a handful of subforum World Cups, such as PUWC. He is also an RU ladder player, so he'll likely try to support his team with testing.

Closing out the SV PRs are the Leaf Guard Dancers. Coming into the draft as the only “army,” there were a lot of questions regarding who would actually crack the Dancer's lineup, and we finally have our answers. Leading the charge is tournament regular Sabella, coming in 15th in the rankings. Historically a strong player with multiple appearances in SCL, playing both RU and otherwise, Sabella is not a name to be trifled with, especially coming off his 4-3 performance for the winning RUCL team the Magic Guardians. Next is notable in-game yapper hi.naming is hard, otherwise known as gewwge, coming in at 18th. After first breaking onto the scene with an RULT finals appearance all the way back in 2024, naming has quietly become a mainstay of the RU tournament scene, finding appearances most recently in RUCL, LTWC, and last year's edition of RUPL. However, with a 4-4, 3-2, and 2-5 record in those last three appearances, there are questions about gew's reliability and whether or not he can become a player the Dancers can expect to consistently get wins. Metallica countryman Soul king0 is the third piece of the Dancers SV puzzle, where he comes in ranked 20th. After kind of hanging around the RU sphere for a while, Soul king0 finally saw some tournament success in RUCL, putting together a fantastic 5-2 effort. With the Metallica engine feeding him in this year's tournament, Soul king0 will be looking to build on that previous strong showing and establish himself as a consistent RU performer. Rounding out the Dancer's lineup is an RUCL teammate of Soul king0: 8truc, who comes in ranked 28th. 8truc is also a recent RU breakout with his claim to fame being a pristine 4-0 record in last year's LTWC, where he beat familiar faces like FlamPoke, PokemonCestDur, and Lilo to gain the best record in his pool. He followed this with a solid 4-2 showing in RUCL and is looking to use this tournament as his next step in becoming a household name in the RU team tournament rotations. As far as substitutes are concerned, the Dancers have MANY options at their disposal and will have the freedom to mix and match dozens of possible combinations if necessary. Will the SV Metallica army prove the rankers wrong, or will they be doomed for a season of mediocrity? Only time will tell.

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Sol, like the sun, appears to be the shiniest star in the SS pool. This shows the people's faith in the Swedish man's SS RU expertise. Sol absolutely adores this tier and is one of the most experienced SS RU players in the pool. Couple this with the fact he will also be looking forward to redeeming himself after an uninspiring performance last season, and you have a recipe for success. After picking up some steam in RUCL, he seems pretty excited this time around. Unlike the last season, Sol has strong support with RUTL TheFranklin and Rylon. Sol is quite creative in the builder and is not afraid to break the mold. With high spirits and good backing he seems poised to have a fantastic season, but I curse him until he agrees to stop bullying me at utterly random times hahaha…

In a close second place we have The Strap, keeping his second spot from last year's rankings. This comes after he had positive records in all team tournaments where he has played SS RU this past year. His good in-game ability and solid teams mean that he rarely finds himself in positions where a matchup is unwinnable, and this combines for a very high floor that bodes well for the Leaf Guard Dancers. Furthermore, he comes off of a 5-2 record in RUCL, meaning he seems to be coming into good form for this year's RUPL. An observer might assume that RUCL has a lower skill level than RUPL, but I would point to the fact that many of the starters in this year's SS RU pool also played RUCL. Lastly, this year, The Strap will have building support from his manager Metallica126, another SS RU mainstay and builder of quite a few unorthodox teams, which should keep the pool on its toes heading into their games.

If SS RU was a person, it'd probably be this guy. Now if only I could get him to stop asking me to test in my least favorite SS lower tier... Coming in third in the pool is C0nfiden1 0yster, who, like Sol, too has a deep love for this tier. He had a great season in RUPL last year, going 5-3 against a strong field, and his ranking is further strengthened by a excellent 7-1 in RUCL, though it was against a relatively weaker pool. Oyster pairs his creativity in the builder with a solid in-game performance. Futhermore, he has good support with former RUTL and manager of the MrSpeed Boosters EviGaro (if she wants to) as well as Goldcat (LOL); however, Oyster himself is perfectly self sufficient. Many expect him to have very few issues going positive once again.

Meru keeps the same ranking that he had in RUPL XII, though this is likely a reflection of other players' rapid ascension up the rankings and possibly the strongest older generation pool in the tournament, not Meru's own performances, seeing as his 5-3 record last year was joint best in the pool. Being a very experienced player and not afraid to mix it up in the builder, the Pure Power Prizefighter's starter brings good upside. Another advantage one could argue for is that Meru is a relatively unknown entity for the rest of the pool, only playing SS RU in RUPL unlike the three players ranked above him, who play each other in more team tournaments throughout the year. However, this can also be spun as a negative, as he might not be as in tune with the tier, though the experience should work as a counterweight here.

After four stellar performances in SS NU tours due to support from Meri and yours truly, Stareal seems to be trying to put on similar results in other SS lower tiers. Though not the brightest star in the pool, as the sun has taken up that spot, Stareal finds himself ranked fifth, likely due to his lack of tier knowledge paired with barely any real support on the Masters of Disguise. Yet Stareal makes up for it by being a phenomenal pilot.

His 5-4 record this SCL and 5-3 record this SPL represent a significant step forward in his in-game abilities, even though none of those games involved Crobat, Raikou, or Togekiss. SS as a generation is known for rewarding skilled piloting, so he may be able to catch up fast, especially if he's willing to chat about the metagame rather than just grab a team and go.

In sixth place we find Thiago Nunes, though it is worth pointing out that the difference between fourth and sixth place is small, which is exemplified by Thiago Nunes being closer to fourth position on the rankings than seventh. Though it has been a while since he has started in SS RU, he went 4-2 in the SS RU games he played in the best-of-three pool last year, meaning there is a definite possibility he outperforms the ranking he has been placed in. The fact that he has been a starter in best-of-three should also speak to his overall quality as a player, even if there might be more unfamiliarity with the specific metagame of SS RU compared to some of the top ranked players such as Sol and The Strap. The rankers seem to acknowledge this, as they do not believe he has the same ceiling as the aforementioned players, who have been regular starters in SS RU the past few years.

OranBerryBlissey10 is an SS RU starter for his second consecutive RUPL, and much like Sol, The Strap, and Meru, he retains his ranking from last year. This comes after a mixed bag of results in SS RU this past year, where he went negative in the last RUPL but then more recently positive in RUCL, with wins against sol and Runo in the latter tournament. This shows there exists a high ceiling for this slot, though the consistency has not yet been shown to be equal to players like The Strap and C0nfiden1 0yster. On the other hand, players like Meru and Thiago Nunes are seen as more experienced and thus believed to have a higher floor, with both also being positive in the last RUPL. Furthermore, the Solid Rock Wreckers do not seem to have much in the way of support for SS RU, as even if there are some players on the team who enjoy the tier, they are not seen as prominent builders. Though, with the increased familiarity in the tier since last year, OBB should be able to field solid builds throughout the tournament.

Runo takes up the final spot in the SS RU rankings. This has less to do with his skills and more to do with the playerbase's lack of familiarity with the name compared to others. A newcomer to the RU scene, Runo is coming of a solid 3-3 in RUCL. He has decent support with his manager LBN as well as QWILY, though the former has a history of getting lost in the sauce (*cough* Confuse Ray Cresselia *cough cough*). There should be a lot of enthusiasm here, with Runo having much to prove... especially in conjunction with this ranking. Beware of talking about National Dex in front of him unless you wanna hear about the history of Latias in ND or something…

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The most experienced and tenured SM player on this list by a significant margin, RU's favorite Spartan comes in at first place. He's had seasons playing the tier dating all the way back to 2019's official Snake Draft, and he's been a solid player across the board since then with a 26-17 (counting RUCL) RU team tour record. He has a strong understanding of the tier's intricacies as a builder, usually rocking solid balance structures, but he's also open to using some of the wackier Pokemon like Slurpuff and Guzzlord. There isn't a whole lot in the way of support on this team beyond fellow SM oldhead robjr, but there isn't much reason to believe he'll need it to put up a great performance. With that in mind, it's likely he'll succeed in this pool off of his background and familiarity, let alone his proficiency as a player.

A rising star over the past year or so, lza has earned their stripes lately as one of the premier SM players on the scene. This can primarily be attributed to their stellar 6-2 RUCL, notching themselves as one of the strongest SM players in a pool that wasn't anything to scoff at. That should continue being the case going into this tournament, where their group is equally as strong. They seem to have good fundamentals as a builder, mostly in that they bring goodstuff balance teams with a strong breaker or two. In a tier where that's typically the best way to go for someone with natural talent, lza should be able to continue trending upward as a player.

Xiri has been a more quiet player over the years, but they're someone who leans more towards the boomer side, as they made a name for themselves towards the end of SM. Known for their creativity in the builder, they're not afraid to explore interesting Pokemon or sets in the tier, or really any of the many tiers they play. They have a bit more experience in ORAS in recent years as a reliable slot, but it shouldn't be too much of a detriment to their performance here.

Don't let the gamer tag-style name fool you, Crossbow has achieved considerable success in SM RU, quickly graduating from "noob with a funny name" to one of the best players in the tier. He has been very consistent throughout the years, with RUPL records of 4-4, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-2 (listed from 2025 back to 2022) and a 5-3 record last SM PL. He uses interesting but viable Pokemon like Jellicent and an offensive style that often foregoes traditional building blocks like Steel-types and Ground immunities, though these tendencies have been dialed back over the years. Look for Crossbow to continue his solid run of RUPL performances with another impressive campaign, hopefully one that gets him to the finals or a trophy for the first time.

Longtime RU community presence Bouff, one of the few players who were in the original RU discord before Spirit deleted it, hopes to be carried to a positive record in one of RU's most boomer-friendly generations by their old age and expertise. Surprisingly, they haven't completed many full seasons in RU, with their 3-3 tour last year preceded by a few 1-3s and a 3-2; time will tell whether they stay in this slot for a full season, as teammate Gondra was likely expected to play SM. Having played SM RU for at least half a decade, however, Bouff will have more teams than anyone could possibly use in even a nine-game season. Their ability to pilot these teams against a new generation of SM RU players, and adequately prepare for opponents who have much less information in their scout, will determine how successful their season is. While ranked 5th, their average ranking was within 0.3 points of the two players above them, and minuscule details in prep and piloting might make all the difference in how their seasons stack up by the end.

Pokemon's newest YouTuber finds himself in SM RU on likely the only team that would slot him there rather than ORAS, where he has more experience. Tenebricite seems to have almost never played SM RU, with no prior RU team tour experience in the tier and no participation in the last few years of RU Classic for SM. However, he is a solid pilot who plays dozens of tiers across the site. In a site-wide article ranking players not yet drafted in SPL by their accomplishments over the past year ([URL]https://www.smogon.com/articles/splxvii-prospect-report[/URL]), he came in first, then got drafted for SPL. Most of these achievements came in ORAS OU and DPP OU, however, so expecting him to do well in a lower tier he hasn't touched requires a bit of speculation.

Most known for spearheading the currently unsuccessful movement to FREE RUWC, rylon is a long-time RU community member with sporadic activity who came back in the past year. His history includes impressive campaigns of 4-1 in 2022's RUPL playing SS RU and a 3-1 record in SM RU in 2021's RU Snake Draft (before it was called RUCL). His Latin American residence draws comparisons to Nicaraguan RU community leader Feliburn, though this means we're really running out of things to say. Will he actually use Feli teams just because they're both from the same geographical region? These are the kinds of questions that can arise when trying to figure out an underdog with very few recent tournaments to scout for. While he's had good results in the past, his lower activity and the fact that he likely wasn't pictured as an SM RU starter prior to the draft led rankers to put him near the bottom of this pool.

An active player in National Dex and Other Metagames, db also has a fairly involved RU background. He went 5-2 in last year's RUGL, essentially RUPL's minor league affiliate, though his performance in SS RU (3-0) was better than his SM RU (2-2). He participated adequately in the Talonflame suspect tour and SM RU Cup, losing in Round 4 of each. His appearance as a starter in RUPL may be a slight surprise, and rankers have relatively low expectations for him in his first appearance on the big stage. However, managers lighthouses and EviGaro are both very enthusiastic SM RU players who can support him with teams and test games, which can make a huge difference in a player's first appearance in a team tour.

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At the dawn of 2026, the Generation 6 RarelyUsed throne now belongs to the one we call Dug.

DugZa is now more than just a "new"comer in ORAS, he runs the thing. After establishing himself as an active builder and player in this once deserted metagame in 2024, he had a successful year of 2025, going back to back with a 4-1 record in RUPL and a 3-1 season of RUCL. Being a Technician means for him that he will also benefit from the support of his manager and ORAS RU Cup champion TheFranklin (this is the least we could say about him) and probably Sol as well. Long story short, DugZa is the best player of this pool in every aspect right now and has a stronger support than most, which should be the obvious recipe for success; but hey, who knows what can happen in PL?

The rising star of ORAS finally makes his RUPL debut after a good year and a half playing the tier in which he eventually found himself very passionate and invested, as his perfect RUGL II and 4-2 RUCL I performances state. While it's true that Ruffles doesn't actually have much RU tour results, the SPL starter shall not disappoint when it comes to what has become his main field. As he benefits from his tournament experience that allows him to be more confident in-game, he's also proving himself as a creative builder who's always down to try out new ideas (new Audino builds), as we can also see in his questionable defensive picks during his RUGL appearance. With the help of eifo, Ruffles is expected in this renewed pool to end up positive as he always did, if not with the highest record at all.

In 3rd for this edition of the power rankings is Piyu, a known quality player with a very good all-time record of 17-8 in the RU team tournaments spreadsheet; notably he also deserves a mention for one gigantic 10-0 season in 2024's SCL. At a high 18k price tag, Piyu is expected to do very well in this ORAS pool; realistically the top 3 of this are all very close to each other in playing ability and knowledge of the tier. Much like his top 3 peers it's possible we see a repeat of Piyu's performance in last years RUPL, where he put up a gigantic 6-1 record. Having demonstrated knowledge and interest through being an active builder, he is also fairly self sufficient, making up completely for the Hustlers' lack of really good ORAS support. Overall nobody would be surprised to see a good tournament from this player, with the games between the top 3 being something to actively look out for; those will determine if Piyu puts up a fantastic record or just a good one.

Ni vet alla vem han är, av någon anledning. The Swedish golden cat joins back after leading the Payloaders last year, which dramatically came crashing down. Maybe if he had played instead of FEARING, the story would be different… Jokes aside, GoldCat is obviously an all-time great older gen player, able to pick up pretty much whatever he wants with the guarantee of ending up positive each season. Yes, his activity is way less of a guarantee, but with the presence of both lighthouses (scary) AND EviGaro (spooky), we never know if he's going to pull it up in order to continue his brilliant tournament streak, after going 6-3 in BW last RUCL as well as making it to the Classic playoffs a few months prior. Japp, GoldCat is an unsolved mystery, but a mystery that always leads you where you need to go.

Coming in 5th in the PRs for the Solid Rock Wreckers is Fragments. Perhaps the newest face in the pool, Fragments finds himself thrown in the deep end starting in a tier historically known for chewing up and spitting out people unfamiliar with The Way. Normally finding a place in a support role, Fragments saw his first stint in ORAS RU in recent memory with his 2-4 showing in RUCL for The Feraliburns. With literally no other results I can find besides that, the choice to let him start in RUPL is certainly an odd one. He will have to rely on the support of managers SneakyPlanner and Lyra as well as the guidance of ORAS RU vet and former RUPL champion MrAldo in order to get up to speed and stay relevant in a scary pool.

In 6th we have arguably the first place in the activity fishing power rankings: sky (formerly avarice), who is widely regarded as a solid player in a multitude of tiers, being a mainstay pick for tournaments such as SCL and WCoP. In RU, sky has a middling but respectable 16-18 all-time record, but recent performances in last year's RUPL as well as SCL can raise some question marks. However, it has to be said that sky only went for 3k price and this year's ORAS pool is notably weaker than past iterations. To add to that, at the time of writing this, sky has already won his week 1 game in a pretty clean display, which definitely raises hopes for a good performance here. Realistically you should count something like a neutral record out of your 3k buy as a win, and sky is more than capable of putting up such numbers, with a very real potential to go far and beyond with a really good record; moreover, should he struggle, the Prizefighters have a good amount of flexibility to mix up their lineup. Just don't be late for your games against this one.

A longtime veteran of the tier and one of the more adventurous builders in ORAS, Miyami has been a reliable player in several earlier team tours and is always willing to try something offbeat or new, whether it be uncommon sets like Colbur Berry Sigilyph, lower-ranked Pokemon like Weezing, or.ones that require well-crafted team support like Fletchinder. Her teams are always interesting to watch. Her last team tournament was RUGL, in which she struggled with a 2-5 record; however, she managed the tournament winners in RUCL, so she is coming off a great success. While she's still an underdog in this pool, she's got experience and knows how to prepare for each opponent. Expect her to use that knowledge to gain the upper hand vs some of these newer ORAS players like DugZa and fakenagol.

God knows where that interest for ORAS RU came from, but we never hate to see fakenagol joining the troops. fakenagol is a long-time OU player who has played countless tournaments and especially has experience in the official ones, including OLT, Smogon Tour and of course SPL. However, he has had no RU appearance for years, which goes without saying that those appearances were not even in ORAS. Therefore, there's nothing we can say about him really, besides his team support in Metallica that should definitely be sufficient to do something. The key factor for Nagol is definitely going to be his tour experience, which is shared by so few people in the pool that he might get used to the competition quicker than most.

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Despite giving no explanation as to how a ninja and a dog have been put together, the Australian superstar does not need to explain why this season is his. Despite his most recent record being a tough 2-3 in last year's RUPL, the long-time BW RU player has had countless success in pretty much all BW RU tours he's been in, showing up an overall record of 22-10 in RUPL thus far. As pretty much everyone knows what the (stolen) 14k Hustlers' official BW slot is about, there's no real need to elaborate further, as all of his experience, strong in-game abilities, and large teambuilder will speak more words than he may do in a whole season.

Stall is scared of him, but he's not scared of anything. Guille is one of the most successful BW RU players of all time, as well as being a very creative builder who always finds his ways to victory in whatever metagame he puts a step in, making him one of the most consistent RU players we've known these last few years. Even though he does not share a team with his no.1 partner in crime Real FV13, he certainly benefits from a strong support in teaming up with RUGL II's highest BW record Sneakyplanner; Txunt, who just comes back from a Classic playoffs appearance; and FastCarVroom, also known for being a BW enjoyer himself. It goes without saying that, with Guille coming back from an excellent RUCL in which he ended up 5-2—ironically after being down 2-5 in the previous RUPL—it's quite safe to assume that he's going to have as much confidence as he needs to make it through this tough BW pool.

You had never heard of him a year ago, but you know what he's up to now. The one formerly known as BaddyGames saw an interest for BW RU growing in him in 2024, the year in which he started off with a 4-1 record in RUWC, followed up with a 4-2 season in RUBD. He then just obliterated the BW scene a few months later in RUPL and, since then, established himself as a menace to whoever comes across his way. The most expensive player of the BW pool arrives more confident than ever, which can only be helped by his support in people like Ampha, neomon and especially his manager etern. While we are not as aware about Baddy's teambuilding skills as we are about his in-game ones, time has proven countless times that the better player usually wins, which is a saying that definitely fits Baddy at the dawn of this season of 2026.

Once upon a time, he had to choose between that and Muhammad. Now it was just between BW and God knows what else. The 3k Chilean man returns to RUPL after a mixed but encouraging RUCL season, a tournament that he eventually won despite a 4-5 record. While we thought the Wreckers would go after him, the Blazes pulled off what we call a "shameful steal," as he was expected to go more expensive than that. Regardless, we can't tell if his team support will be sufficient yet, as Cow doesn't have much RU ball knowledge despite unarguably being one of the best BWers on this site currently, and eifo hasn't touched BW in quite a while, despite his recent extraordinary Classic performance. To be clear, McLovin is on an upward slope, but if he's not given the necessary support to handle this pool, it can go downward real quick.

The discreet one. Seraphz comes back from a tough 2025 season in which he ended up with a 1-5 record despite winning the final trophy. Nonetheless, the Brazilian glue can always flip the table, as he did in his 2024 BWPL participation, where he ended up with a perfect 7-0, using creative and confusing teams that paired well with both his in-game skills and his experience in the tier. Being a Technician, you would think he couldn't dream of a better team support: turns out… he probably doesn't have as much as he wishes? Besides the newest BW enjoyer in Elecant and former RUGL player in Toto, it doesn't seem like Seraphz has that many people surrounding him to back him up for this season. With that being said, SPHZ can surprise and find a breach in this pool, in which we could expect him to go neutral at the very least.

I wish I knew him as anything but Mike Penix, but there's not much we can do about it. As far as I know, TyCarter has played every RU tour he could play in for the last two years or so and has had mixed to unconvincing results in BW, as his 1-3 in RUGL could state. Even when he went positive, just like in his RUBD clutch mode, he only played two to three games, which is not really enough for one to base their opinion on. Although he looks more comfortable in other generations such as SM, him starting in BW for the (lowkey) terrifying Masters of Disguise is actually understandable if you take into account his appreciation for the tier, which doesn't do him justice record-wise but makes up for an interesting slot who's not afraid of pulling rabbits out of his hat, even if that implies loading questionable Exeggutor Trick Room hyper offense teams.

Mom, I'm scared, a Little Cup player joined us. Kaboom is an NU and LC player, former SCL winner, and BW starter for the Speed Boosters, who are going to be more than boosted by having EviGaro, GoldCat and Clem as their support, literally the best among them all. However, there is no data on RU Kaboom. What you're reading here is all I can say on them. I know I keep using the word question mark, but this is the only description I could think of. The brighter point is that Kaboom recently showed up with a great 4-3 BW record in NUCL; if it doesn't tell much about their RU ball knowledge, this lowkey tells more about where they're at in current BW, which explains them being slotted here.

The very discreet one. As you guessed from his team, Raceding is a Chinese player who has just a little RU experience, as he is far more into older gens of OU. Although there is close to no data at all about him, Black and White is his main field. This goes with team support in Metallica alone, who, trust me, is more than enough because of the billion of teams he might pass for a whole season.

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The ADV lower tier legend Heysup returns for his second round of ADV in RUPL in the Masters of Disguise. Heysup has been actively involved with ADV RU after last RUPL and has turned up great results in RU Classic, ADV Slam, and RUCL. He also has a good support slot in DonBoneJones, an ADV RU up-and-comer who can assist with building in the new meta with Hypno and Manectric. Possibly the only thing holding Heysup back is his tumultuous schedule, but other than that he ranks at the top of the ADV pool.

SpoiledBerries's astonishing record last RUPL of 8-2 has been the biggest buzz surrounding ADV in RUPL, and her high price is proof that she's one of the most hyped players in the ADV pool. Berries makes her grand return on the Technicians to secure the same record that brought her RU fame, with her other middling results in ADVPL, ADVLTL, and ADV Slam, on top of her lack of support on the Technicians compared to last year, mostly going overshadowed by her in-game skill and building ingenuity. Suffice to say, with the threatening results of last year, players have ranked her quite highly in the pool.

Mielke's fondness of ADV as a generation brings him back to brawl in RUPL once more, raring for another good streak of results akin to his most recent performance in RUCL. While he hasn't played ADV RU back in 2024 with Hypno, its recent drop providing a fresh face has revitalized mielke's building creativity and can make for a bunch of interesting games within his run. Supporting the endeavors of crazy ideas is old gen enthusiast THE_CHUNGLER, who's made a name for himself in ADV RU tours in the past year. Although it could've seemed like he would just be a come-and-go contestant in ADV RU after his difficult 3-4 season of RUPL XII, the SPL player now seems to enjoy the metagame even more and have found his bearings in the Raichu house, in which he keeps thinking of bringing Vigoroth for unexplainable reasons. Following a 4-3 regular season in the recent RUCL I, mielke is now well established in the tier and is looking forward to pursuing that streak.

Amity is not just into ADV RU, she IS ADV RU. The official founder of ADV RU is back at it again, stronger than before and probably more motivated than before with the recent arrival of Manectric, which probably gave her even more questionable building ideas than she usually has. As Amity has played pretty much every ADV RU tournament since the tier came out, we at least have some data when it comes to her results. Surprisingly, though, because of a post-RUPL hiatus, which implied her not showing up in RUCL, her most recent team result is a neutral 3-3 in last year's RUPL, where she competed for the first time in the PL with a then very stacked pool of players. It is barely necessary at this point to say that Amity combines a knowledge of the metagame that would make Wikipedia look like an unreliable source with in-game capacities that go as well with it, but she clearly gets a spot among the people who we'd expect to go at least neutral, at best 5-X, adding onto this that she has an important support in Msousa, whose original building ideas and constant interest for the tier should make up for an interesting cuisine.

There is a New Zealandian saying that says: "We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us." violet travels to RU not to escape OU, but for ADV not to escape her. This is probably not common knowledge, but as you guessed violet river is an ADV mainer overall. Is she as much of an RU enjoyer, though? Eh, we can't tell, as her only appearance in RU tours was the 2024 RUWC, in which she was slotted in SV. What we can tell, however, is she probably comes in more ready than people would expect thanks to her passion for ADV as a generation. Still, we may expect the early phase to be rocky because of a lack of experience in the metagame—add on to this that, just like with most people in this pool, her team support is pretty much… unknown, There is hope that she finds her bearings by midseason onwards.

On top of his steadily rising results in the BW scene, Vroom makes his ADV debut in RUPL on the Solid Rock Wreckers. If ADV RU was a highway, Vroom has been riding it all night long with numerous tour showings, having a 5-3 record in RUGL and making grand finals of RU Classic in ADV. What Vroom has in tenure with ADV, he lacks in the support department, though, and he isn't quite as threatening as the rest of the ADV pool on first glance. However, if he doesn't run out of gas before the end of the season, Vroom is a sleeper pick that has potential to go positive or even.

The OG himself. The one guy that beat Heysup in a competition of the earliest join date. There are people in the RarelyUsed community who were not born when Jabba joined Smogon; take it as you will. To the surprise of some people, JabbaTheGriffin decided to join his very first RUPL this year. The longtime oldgen OU player is probably the one with the largest tournament background behind him, having played several editions of SPL and winning RoAPLs back to back as well as spending thousands of hours in ADV OU, which eventually led him to the most recent Smogon Classic playoffs. When it comes to RU, however, there's not much data, but his only performance in ADV RU being a solid 4-2 in last year's ADV PL is enough to tell that Jabba is clearly not lost with the metagame and probably even keeps himself up to date. While we have learned over time that ADV OU players have quick success when they move to RU, Jabba's presence remains a question mark at the dawn of RUPL, especially since he has no real support to speak of among the Prizefighters.

Coming all the way from RUWC Team China—I mean from the 叶子防守舞者 (Leaf Guard Dancers, I think), Indulge in dreams makes up for their ADV slot with question marks floating around his head. Despite going out of a small but fine enough 2-0 record in the last RUCL, the multi-gens enjoyer does not seem to have much support in his team really, even though it's fair to assume that his manager and, more importantly, RU Classic winner Metallica definitely has solid stuff in his bag. That being said, he clearly is a solid player game-wise at least and will not fumble that easily, no matter how experienced in ADV the pool is.

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Number 1 in RU's Hall of Fame and coming off of incredible SCL and RUPL campaigns, TheFranklin is the near-unanimous favorite to not only succeed in but dominate the Bo3 pool. With 8-0 and 6-3 (5-2 Bo3) records in his last two RUPLs, Franklin has performed at a consistently elite level. He proved this even more with a 7-2 SCL campaign where he finished 1st in the RU pool. There's little to say about him at this point, as this consistent stretch of extremely impressive performances proves that a somewhat lucky 8-0 campaign was absolutely not a fluke. He has shown that he's comfortable with the pressure of being considered the favorite and is able to bring all sorts of team styles in all three tiers. Although he did win RUPL X, Franklin has also had a number of close losses in this tour—losing RUPL IX in finals tiebreak, RUPL XII in finals, and RUPL XI in semifinals. One of modern RU's greatest talents will hope that his consistent success is able to carry his team to a trophy this time around.

After a solid 2025 calendar year, the man of many tiers Metallica126 now finds himself squaring off against the big dogs in the Bo3 slot. Coming into this tournament Metallica has had a slew of pretty good results that include a 4-4 record playing SV for the Tenacious Technicians in last year's RUPL, a strong 3-1 SCL record after coming off the bench for the Terrors, and a superb 6-2 record in RUCL. With Metallica's stock riding high off of these accomplishments as well as his reputation as an avid builder across every generation of RU, it is no surprise to see the voters give him his flowers as he takes the second spot in the PRs after only Mr. RU himself, TheFranklin. However, there are still some question marks for Metallica, which mainly revolve around his ability to both adequately prepare his slot as well as the slots of his teammates. The Leaf Guard Dancers' drafting philosophy of picking up mainly unknown Chinese pilots will definitely be wearing on Metallica as the season drags on, as he will be the main source of prep and teams for almost all of his team's slots. Whether RU's iron man will be able to put up solid results over the course of a seven-week season is paramount to his team's success and will certainly be the key to a potential playoff berth for the Dancers.

There is something about this time of year that always gets to robjr. Two RUPLs ago, rob put up a less than inspiring 0-4 record before hitting the bench for the rest of the season, and last year he followed up that performance with an 0-3 start, hitting the bench for a few weeks, and ending the tour 1-4 while mainly playing the Bo3 slot. These RUPL woes are accompanied this year by a disappointing SCL, where he finished with his worst RU record ever of 2-4. With all this said, this is still robjr. His name carries a rare prestige earned over years of otherwise excellent play and it is for that reason, he finds himself claiming the third place ranking in this year's Bo3 pool despite his recent rut. Bolstering his efforts this year is also one of the strongest support cores for the Bo3 gens that rob could ask for. From xcx in SV, to Meru in SS, to PR #1 Master Chief in SM, rob will be more than ready to handle the challenges of prepping across three generations every week. Whether or not rob will be able to shake the springtime scaries this RUPL is a question only time can tell, but the Pure Power Prizefighters and the voters feel that this is finally the year rob breaks his RUPL curse.

An RU tournament and SPL mainstay, Gondra clocks in at #4 on the power rankings. The Hustlers clearly opted for a clicker who they know can perform in high-pressure games, considering Gondra has been doing so their whole Smogon career. He will no doubt need team support across every generation in the Bo3 slot, but Gondra isn't the type of SPL player that loads up the last three pastes in their team chat. They'll have some say in the prep, especially on the SM teams. Last RUPL he went 3-1 in SM with a win against strong newcomer Iza, and he is certainly at home in gen 7. Gondra has a lot of experience across all three generations, with an RU sheet minted in gold at 38-22 all time. This is about as safe of a pick as the Hustlers could've made, though the rankers believe the upside for Gondra doesn't reach as high as the pool's top 3.

After years as an underrated or undrafted prospect, Drud proved himself to the Smogon community with an exceptional 7-2 SCL playing SV PU. This performance skyrocketed his stock, leading a player with little RU background (mostly DPP and PU) to enter the Bo3 slot, playing three RU metagames. In fact, a search on the "RU Team Tours Overall" sheet shows zero results for this unknown "Drud" fellow, though his namesake Druddigon makes plenty of appearances in BW RU.

However, Drud is expected to tread water despite this knowledge gap. RU wunderkind hjkhj can provide teams for all three metagames and can step into the Bo3 slot if a juggle is necessary. Additionally, SM RU in particular is a pretty pilot-friendly tier; metagame knowledge can be overrated as long as the pilot is at least competent and not going in blind. Drud is known as a determined teammate who cares deeply and works to learn the tiers he plays, and such effort could easily overcome a knowledge and experience gap and allow his skills to shine. However, his placement in the Bo3 pool—traditionally reserved for the most seasoned RUers—is unusual and warrants some skepticism. It will be very interesting to see how this turns out, as almost any outcome is on the table.

After an extended hiatus, lighthouses, or more commonly known as Diogo, burst back onto the scene in 2025 and now finds himself as the starting Bo3 for his team: the MrSpeed Boosters. Although he has a wealth of playing experience in general under his belt, Diogo has often hung his hat on his ORAS and SM prowess, which leaves his familiarity with SV and SS in question considering he was “retired” for the majority of both generations. So, although his skills in SM are exceptional, Diogo finds himself in the bottom half of the rankings clocking in at the 6th seed. To find success, Diogo will likely be relying on his tremendous SV support core of THE_CHUNGLER and Daharan to get him up to speed as far as current gen goes as well as SS stalwart C0nfiden1 0yster to give him the secret technology to thrive in the Reuniclus Togekiss tier. Diogo will also have the invaluable support of his co-manager EviGaro, who heroically saved RU from literal collapse during the SS and SV eras and so will have plenty of knowledge with both tiers.

Notoriously self-sufficent Leni, formerly tlenit1, likely opens this article prepared to scoff at any writers who discuss his support and need of teambuilding assistance. I haven't watched his week 1 game yet but assume he loaded some nasty Audino stall in either SM or SS RU. The second PU-focused player to be mentioned here, Leni joins the Bo3 pool after an excellent SM RU campaign during RUCL, where he finished 7-1 with wins over Crossbow, Metallica, and Master Chief (whom he also lost to once).

Leni has played RUPLs all throughout current gen SS and may be prepared there. SV requires more speculation about his capabilities, but he and his close friend Xiri have built current gen teams together for circuit tours ever since circuit ribbons were invented. Historically, Leni has almost always finished around .500; his four RUPL seasons have ended 2-2, 4-4, 4-4, and 4-2. This matched the eye test that Leni is very unpredictable and difficult to prepare for, so games with him feel like a coinflip to most players. We will see whether this pattern continues despite the heightened competition of the Bo3 pool, where he has never played before.

SV RU—and, suddenly, SV Ubers—rising star FlamPoke gave himself a bold challenge by locking into the Bo3 pool this RUPL, aiming to prove himself against RU's biggest stars. This challenge includes playing two tiers, SM RU and SS RU, where he has very little history (but apparently an SSPL trophy). Will he succeed? Both rankers and managers are skeptical, as he was ranked at the bottom of this pool and went for the lowest price of any Bo3 player.

FlamPoke clearly has some talent, however; his two most recent team tours were a 5-2 RUPL and a 4-1 SCL, with a win over playoffs hero baconeatinassassin and successful support of their 5-3 RU slot. As said before, though, that talent is mostly in SV. FlamPoke's tier lock is also a risky gamble for the Biblotheca Blazes; if he struggles, as he is expected to, the team will be unable to play him in any other tier. Although the Bo3 pool is tough, playing with low expectations can be liberating, and FlamPoke has been a successful player throughout his brief stint in the RU community (no comment on his managerial efforts, though...).

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