UU Premier League XI Power Rankings

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Come one, come all, and take some time to enjoy reading the power rankings for the eleventh installment of the UnderUsed Premier League! This will be the first ever edition of the power rankings in article form, following on from their success as a trial run in UUSD. We asked knowledgeable players of each tier to rate the starting players for it, averaged the rankings, and ended up with an attempt at an unbiased list. There will always be inherent biases, of course; Pokémon is a game with a lot of variables that aren't always in your control, so even the best will have bad seasons, but this is the best we could do! From there, we gathered all of the rankings and assigned points accordingly. It is, of course, impossible to have perfect rankings, and I don't want to insult or slight anyone here; if you, the reader, find yourself ranked low on any of these lists, then please know it isn't supposed to be offensive. Someone's gotta be there! If the rankings can at least be a fun read for the community, then I'd say they're a success.

A special thanks to the following rankers for contributing in the creation of this article: 16bit, Amukamara, Aqua Jet, ArcticBreeze, Askov, avarice, Beraldinho, BigFatMantis, Bouff, d0nut, dingbat, DugZa, dunoks, Elfuseon, Estarossa, Expulso, Expulso, Fakee, Finchinator, Garay oak, Gondra, hariyana grande, Highways, HSA, Inder, Indigo Plateau, kaori, Killintime, KSt3ve, Lily, LpZ, Lyssa, Micciu, Moutemoute, Ninja, Pak, Parpar, passion, Punny, Real FV13, robjr, Scottie, Seldanna, sensei axew, Shiba, Sirwings, Slip, Specs, Starbitstorm, Sulo, TDK, Thiago Nunes, Totomon, TSR, umbry, vivalospride, Wanka, and Xiri.

And a double triple mega ultra thank you to the following people for helping with writing, HTMLing, grammar checking, quality checking and more: Lily, Bouff, Expulso, avarice, hariyana grande, Estarossa, TSR, and Lumari!

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1. bbeeaa
2. mncmt
3. Star
4. Lily
5. TJ
6. Poek
7. Nat
8. Indigo Plateau
9. avarice
10. Meru
11. Lyssa
12. talah
13. KSt3ve
14. ProDigeZz
15. Lunala
16. Feliburn
17. Danny
18. passion
19. vivalospride
20. Fc
21. Xrn
22. dunoks
23. Scottie
24. Skarph

As a result of the obvious elephant in the room, this ranking may not be accurate for week 1; with that said, bea will be back later in the season, so let's continue as if nothing happened. Anyway, this is a star-studded core—it's very rare that a team has both the #1 and #2 ranked current gen player in a given tier, and if they do, then usually they'll have to make a sacrifice and get a low ranked player in their last slot. That was not the case here. With all of the Sisters' SV options being comfortably within the top 10, it's not hard at all to see why they're ranked so high. bbeeaa and mncmt are two talented SV players who are currently performing very well in SPL SV OU, achieving a 4-1 and 5-0 record, respectively, showing they're comfortable in the generation. avarice is more of a UU-specific commodity that's been steadily increasing his stock for years now, earning himself a respectable rank as a strong SV starter in this pool. These guys together were far and away ranked ahead of the competition; unless something goes horribly wrong, it would not be a surprise at all to see them dominate the pool.

The Monsters have finally decided to take a different route and are no longer slotting the same three players to play the current gen slot for the 27th year in a row. This appears to have been a favorable decision according to our rankers, who do not see any of the Monsters' starting slots in the bottom half of the pool. Poek is an accomplished player who has had some great UU prowess over the years, most notably putting up solid results in SS UU, and should put up a solid result in SV UU as long as he's got some good teams. Meru has been a UU team tournament mainstay for a few years now too, usually putting up very strong records, and he is quite in tune with the SV metagame as well. talah, on the other hand, has minimal known UU experience; this is fine, though, as they are a very strong player and they're also known for their solid building skills—if they can adapt that to SV UU, it could help them run circles around their opponents. This is a great trio, especially if they work together to concoct some madness—they should put up a fantastic record between them.

The Idols' SV core likely has the highest average number of SV UU games played per starter out of everyone in this pool; this is particularly impressive when you realise that Nat and Xrn have likely not touched a single game of the tier in their lives. Resident addict and tier leader Lily spearheads this core that is hoping to make a splash, having put up solid results in SV UU ever since the tier's inception on the ladder and in the few tournaments that have happened so far. Nat hasn't got much to go off in terms of SV UU specifically, but she's currently putting up a very respectable SV OU campaign in SPL with a great 4-1 record and has put up great performances in UUPLs past on the Idols as well. Xrn, despite his low ranking, is also doing quite well in the new generation; though he's yet to play in a UUPL, he is sitting on a comfortable 3-2 SPL OU record, proving that he definitely knows how to play. Supports Mossy Sandwich and Queen of Bean can help a lot with the fact that Nat and Xrn will likely need to be brought up to speed with the metagame, and from there it should be off to the races with the Idols in Scarlet and Violet.

Managers Shiba and Thisbemyalt seemingly sought to create the Monster magic that led to their dominant run off the back off KSt3ve's teambuilding, first stealing Monsters staple Star and then KSt3ve himself. Somewhere along the line, that plan fell apart, and they ended up with Feliburn in the last slot. Not sure what happened there, but it has led them to a cool 4th place ranking in SV UU, so it's not a problem by any means. Star headlines this trio as a highly accomplishes player whose accolades stretch out to either end of the galaxy; there are far too many for me to list here, but rest assured he is an excellent player and will perform well as long as he's given good squads. KSt3ve is somewhat inconsistent but has proven he's starter caliber on multiple occasions, and he's coming off a recent SCL win in SS UU, although his record wasn't necessarily the best there. His middle-of-the-pack ranking is certainly a fair one, but you'd be foolish to count him out, especially if he gets creative. Feliburn rounds out the squad as a solid overall player who has taken part in UUPL many times before and will likely put up an okay record, though his performance isn't projected to be standout. The Smashers have a good squad overall here and, if things go right, they'll be able to uh... smash... the competition.

Coming it at number five are the Friend Safari Pokémon Trainers, who seek to follow on from their sister franchise L.A.P.R.A.S.'s UUSD win. In order to so, they began by nabbing 5th-ranked TJ at a very reasonable price of 12k, and he's definitely the highlight of this core. Despite not having much SV UU experience, TJ is an accomplished player in a variety of tiers and has played plenty of other UU tiers before; provided he gets good teams from his managers or teammates, he's likely to have a great season. There's a fair dropoff in the rankings from there, though; Danny finds himself at #17, largely due to being a somewhat unproven quantity. Danny did recently, however, make a very deep run in the SV UU Kickoff tournament and has had some solid activity in the tier, so he could very possibly subvert expectations. Then there's Fc, a L.A.P.R.A.S. returnee who receives a pretty abysmal placement despite having a good history in UU; the SV pool is tough, though, so it does make some sense. This trio is, in the eyes of the rankers, carried quite significantly by TJ, but Danny and Fc are definitely dark horse picks in their own right; this trio could definitely perform quite a bit better than you'd think, so be sure to keep an eye on them.

With little variance in their ranks, the Tycoons trio tumbles their way into sixth place in the SV rankings. Headlining this core is Lyssa, who is known for two strong things; her strong play, and her strong opinions. Those opinions, depending on the state of the metagame, can let her ascend to godlike status or sabotage her entirely. With that said, an 11th place ranking is quite surprising; she will likely outperform this assuming she ends up liking the metagame, though it is fair to say that she has had a streak of not liking many metagames recently. Lunala finds himself not too far behind his Italian sister, sliding into the #15 slot; he usually does decently in tournaments like this, although he'll rarely knock your socks off, so this is likely a fair ranking. Then there's passion at #18, which is quite low for someone who's historically put up excellent results in these tournaments; whether or not he'll play for the full season, though, is anyone's guess, and perhaps that's what led rankers to give him such a tepid result. The "VTubers" have a decent core here, one that could definitely outperform expectations if they don't implode in their own team chat; they're all friends, so hopefully that's unlikely, but it's certainly a possibility.

Finding themselves with an average score that almost matches their namesake, the Area Zero Pilots will have a fair bit of work cut out for them in this tournament if they want to succeed. While this core is headlined by tier leading sensation Indigo Plateau, who received a very solid 8th place ranking, rankers seemingly do not have much faith in dunoks or Scottie to succeed. Despite this, both of them have quite a history in UU. dunoks has been steadily accruing decent-to-great placements in individual and team tournaments for a while now; while none have been stellar save for a UULT finals run, it's certainly clear that he knows what he's doing, especially when he's on top of a metagame. Scottie, while less of a "mainer" than his two teammates, has performed quite well in UU individual tournaments before, particularly the UU Open. There is quite a lack of synergy among these players, though; something you may notice about many of the groups above them is that they're often made of friend groups, at least partially, but these three have seemingly no connection to each other. This could lead to great things if they mesh well, or to their untimely demise if they don't. Stay tuned to find out what happens! I wouldn't keep my hopes too high, but these guys definitely have the necessary talent to pull through.

Someone's always gotta be ranked last, and that someone in this case is the Cinnabar Arcade Stars, who seemingly opted to use their tokens on beefy oldgens while leaving the current generation somewhat out to dry. ProDigeZz, recent UU ribbon winner, only finds his way to a modest 14th place ranking. This isn't bad by any means but also isn't great for the star of a core; it's perhaps a bit unfair given his recent major accomplishment, but it is fair to say that he has not visibly played much SV UU since his win, if at all. vivalospride returns from the grave to fill in the next slot, and his season could go either way; he is always very capable of getting on top of metagame trends and this tier will likely be no different, so he will need to see if he can keep up in play. Rounding out this core is Skarph, a highly accomplished player mostly known for his AG accolades; presumably quite an unfamiliar face to most of those ranking, Skarph finds his way into the last place ranking of the tournament; sorry buddy, it's gotta happen to somebody. It's not really hard to see why this core is projected to struggle; they're all fine players, certainly, but none of them really know much of anything about SV UU by the looks of things. They may be able to get things together if they learn it, of course, but until then it's probably best to temper your expectations.

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Leader of the infamous Jerk and ever-prolific player and manager TDK finds himself starting in the SS slot for his perennial Mikan Island Monsters franchise. Following an absurdly dominant SCL run, where a number of his teammates were the very same as the ones he's got in this edition of UUPL, it's really not difficult to see why he's ranked so high. The SS pool has no shortage of solid players, but few build the tier themselves and are more likely to be "fed" slots, whereas TDK is capable of creating his own teams and executing them with maximum efficiency. Only took three years for him to start doing it, too! While he hasn't won a tournament game in a month and a half as of the writing of this paragraph—lmao Carson you suck—it's very likely he'll figure things out again in this tournament, and will almost assuredly have a strong record.

Luthier is a man of many talents, and SS UU is definitely one of them. He's no stranger to the tier, having had the opportunity to play it in the most recent UU Open, where he performed excellently. There isn't a ton of data on him in the tier outside of this, but we do know that Luthier is a highly accomplished player in a variety of other tiers, and on a team with friends who can feed him teams that are to his liking, it's very possible that he could sweep the pool. His relative inexperience isn't a big deal, either, given a lot of other players in this pool are even less experienced with the tier than he is. Expect a great result from Luthier!

MichaelderBeste2's transition from someone who near-exclusively played random battles to a terrifying tournament mainstay was as meteoric as it was impressive. With a litany of good results, especially in his home tier of SS OU, Michael is projected to quite well in the SS UU metagame, despite none of the nine Pokémon he uses being available in the tier. While it's unlikely he has played it much, this shouldn't matter a ton; he has the support of tier leader Lily and SS newcomer Queen of Bean that can supply him with solid teams. If his playing is up to par, Michael can easily go toe-to-toe with anyone in this pool; should the Idols be able to provide him with strong team choices that fit his playstyle, he should perform just fine.

DugZa is someone who is quite frequently slept on despite his high skill; possibly this is down to his soft-spoken nature, but nobody knows for sure. What we do know is that DugZa is a menace. He has experience in SS UU as recently as the UU Championships, where he made a pretty deep run, and he has played the tier in multiple team tournaments before. If he's able to to get his hands on good teams, DugZa is undoubtedly a dark horse in this pool. That said, 4 is a fair ranking for a simple reason; DugZa's results, while strong, don't quite match up with the three players above him. That's not to say he's not in their league, though; he can definitely play a game like the best of them and is a respectable slot for the Pilots

Sheepsheep has played a lot of SS UU in his time, being a long-standing council member; so long, in fact, that he remained on the council for the entire generation. He was the only person to do so! That said, rankers have tempered expectations for Moutemoute. Perhaps it's down to his lacking recent results; he performed strongly in this tier back in Smogon Snake Draft IV, but that was a long time ago, and there aren't a whole lot of great results for him since then. Still, he does know this tier inside out; if he can rekindle some of his previous fire, he could do quite well. It's quite difficult to predict how the Frenchman will perform, though; it could very well be a feast or a famine with Moute. Only time will tell!

Newcomer udongirl looks to have another strong showing in SS UU, following on a fair amount of decent performances. Most notable was her excellent 6-2 record in the most recent UU Snake Draft, showing that she has a strong grasp on the tier. Her creativity is one of her strongest assets; you never know what to expect when prepping against her, which could very well spell doom for some of the less seasoned players in this pool. Assuming her opponents don't load Chansey every week, her Choice Specs breakers may be too much for them to overcome. With that said, her general lack of results outside of that 6-2 finish leave the rankers with less to work with, so she ends up fairly low on the totem pole. Don't sleep on her, though; she's definitely got what it takes to destroy the pool. We just don't know how likely it is to happen.

Totomon is a well-known face within the UU community that's finally getting a chance on the big starter stage. Unfortunately, though, there is very little data for us to go off when it comes to Totomon; while he's definitely been around enough to know the tier, his tournament results are few and far between. This makes it difficult to say with any confidence that Totomon will do well; we also can't say with confidence that he'll do poorly, though. It's really just that we don't know. Metagame knowledge is a strong asset in a pool of players who have not touched the tier much, though; if Totomon gets creative, he could definitely nab a number of wins. We'll see how things play out.

Ninja has played a variety of tiers in various tournaments and recently had huge success in DOU, but in terms of SS UU data there is very little to go off here. We can pretty safely assume that Ninja knows his way around a Pokémon battle, but SS UU-specific knowledge is less of a sure bet. He does have the support of TSR and Monky25, two SS UU council members who will surely be able to provide him with solid squads, but beyond that he is something of an unknown. That could prove to be a blessing or a curse, but unfortunately it may be more likely to be the latter.

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In a stacked SM pool, pdt finds himself at the top once again. After being ranked #1 in UUSD's SM pool, losing Week 1 and then being subbed out, this may come as a surprise to some; rest assured, though, he is a fantastic SM UU player. pdt has been playing this tier for years with a ton of success, He's been at the forefront of metagame trends and has played and won games against all of the best SM UU players countless times at this stage. Despite how strong this pool is, rankers felt quite confidently that pdt is at the top of it. If he can keep his "pdt moments" at bay, it's very likely that pdt will find himself with a strong record this year. The competition is tough, though!

robjr has perhaps become synonymous with SM UU; despite having moved on to play OU somewhat in recent times, rob's SM UU prowess is matched by few. Having played the tier since it was the current generation 6 years ago (I know, right?), rob knows his way around this tier inside out and upside down. While his building patterns may be seen as linear, he has proven in recent SM UU tournaments that he's not afraid at all to branch out; and even if he was, who cares? If it ain't broke there's no need to fix it. The Smashers did invest a lot of money into robjr, so it's likely they are relying on his success to keep themselves afloat. There are few better people to rely on, though, so expect a solid performance from rob.

Gondra is another SM UU mainstay that most certainly knows his way around the tier, and this time he came at a relatively cheap (for his standards) price of only 16k. This was a bargain for the Tycoons, who almost certainly don't need to worry about their SM UU slot. Gondra always seems to perform decently at worst in this tier and frequently goes beyond that; having played the tier for years and understanding its sequences excellently, he's more than a fine match for any of the seasoned players in this pool. His teams can occasionally be a bit on the eccentric side, but they win, so that shouldn't be much of a problem. Gondra should perform quite well for the Tycoons!

One of the best players of all time unexpectedly finds himself in the SM UU slot for the Area Zero Pilots. Empo is perhaps the most dominant SM OU player of all time, among a multitude of other tiers, and is a terrifying opponent to be matched up against no matter where you're facing him. His SM UU history is a little more rocky, though; he's played the tier a few times in the distant past, and he did fine, but rarely had any stellar performances. That was long before his levelup though, so it's very possible he'll effortlessly crush the pool this time around. So long as the Pilots can find a way to get Empo good SM UU teams, he could tear up the pool, though his inexperience with the tier, at least recently, justifiably leaves him below the three above him in placement.

Recent UU Invitational winner Highways is taking a crack at SM UU in this edition of UUPL, gaining himself a modest middle-of-the-pack placement in this powerful SM pool. In this incredible run, Highways gained the majority of his wins in SM UU and ORAS UU; his SS record left quite a lot to be desired, but that goes to show how strong his oldgen prowess is. We can naturally expect him to be on top of the metagame and to put up a good performance; his lower relative ranking is less of a slight on him and more of a testament to how dominant the upper half of this pool is. Should Highways stick to his UU Invitational-era strength, he should put up a pretty solid record for the Sisters. Hopefully he's not washed!

Despite continued success in SM UU, Xiri has fallen down quite a few spaces to the #6 ranking. This is a bit puzzling, as he was ranked as high as #3 in the most recent UU Snake Draft. His performance in that tournament was admittedly a little middling, but for someone with his tenured success, a three-rank drop is quite steep; yet another testament to the sheer strength of the players above him, though. For the most part, Xiri is quite consistent. His recent records have been a little less impressive than the 7-2 record he pulled off two UUPLs ago, but they haven't been terrible by any means; he knows the tier quite well, too, having been playing it for many years at this stage. As long as he receives some aid, he could overcome this ranking and be quite the dark horse pick. This ranking could definitely be a little bit unfair; hopefully it's more motivation to destroy those above him, though.

SM aficionado and social media sensation blunder mans the UU slot for the Mikan Island Monsters in what they're hoping will be a successful sleeper pick. That feels almost insane to say; blunder of all people a sleeper pick? Seriously? But yes, shockingly, blunder was quite cheap in auction and only ranks in at #7 here. There's a pretty clear reason for that, though, and it comes down to tier experience. blunder is obviously a phenomenal player, there is no doubt there. However, his SM UU experience—particularly after it stopped being the current generation—is presumably little to none. Not all hope is lost here, of course; his managers TDK and Pearl know SM UU inside out and upside down, and as the old saying goes, "mons is mons". blunder could definitely do just fine if he's loaded up with good teams. Rankers are just less confident because the players above him are much more proven in SM UU tournaments.

Unceremoniously finding himself in the last place spot, Askov will be trying to make something happen for the Iki Town Idols in SM UU. While he's not stranger to the tier by any means, Askov is certainly much less experienced than many of the SM UU players above him, Things don't get too much better with his team support either; teammates Lily and EternalSnowman know a fair bit about SM UU, but neither are experts, so Askov's supporting cast is a far cry from what it could be. Not all hope is lost, though. The element of surprise can work in Askov's favor here, and he's certainly a capable player, too; as long as he puts in the work, he could definitely put things together and string together a serviceable record for the Idols. It's very unlikely he topples the titans of the tier, though; while we'd love to be proven wrong, there is definitely a noticeable gap in experience that you can't really bet against. As well as that, Scizor is quite common in this tier, and Askov really likes Discharging those...

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To no one's surprise, Pak finds himself once again atop the ORAS pool for this year of UUPL. It's no exaggeration to say that a vast majority of ORAS metagame development has originated directly from what Pak decides to put in his teambuilder. A lengthy history of success in both the sixth and seventh generation has established him as one of the single strongest players a typical UUPL has to offer, and he will certainly be the player to beat. This year is a little different, however, as the ORAS pool is significantly stronger than several previous editions of the tour, and it likely won't be a walk in the park for anyone. Still, there's a reason when you think of ORAS you think of Pak, and it's safe to expect the usual stellar performance from him in yet another tournament, provided he doesn't conk out early.

Migrating to ORAS after ascending the ranks of SS UU playerbase, umbry finds herself near the top of yet another PR. While she has quite literally no history in the tier until now, it'd be quite ridiculous to say umbry doesn't have some of the strongest playing fundamentals of any name surrounding UU, which should be enough on its own to account for the experience gap. Having a nonexistent sample size is also to her benefit, as it will probably take several weeks for her opponents to start formulating a read on her tendencies. While ORAS can be a punishing experience for those unfamiliar, umbry has proven to be a pretty flexible player who can perform well in a variety of tiers even outside of Doubles and UU and will likely catch on quickly. Along with some assistance from long-time UU old gens purveyor Bouff, she should easily be able to step up to the challenge that the ORAS veterans pose.

"If I didn't make my opponent hate playing Pokémon, did I really win?" Another veteran of the sixth generation, Killintime, returns to strike fear into the ORAS-goers in this iteration of UUPL. Killintime sports a largely unorthodox method of building that constantly has even the most confident, top-of-the-line players tearing their hair out in frustration. From breakneck-pace Klefki offenses to the last bastions of Blissey and Cresselia usage in the tier, no one ever really has a good read on his team picks. With playing capability that reliably goes toe to toe with the best players around, Killintime will almost surely prove to be a menace and headache to anyone unlucky enough to go up against him. He finds himself ranked under Pak and umbry, though, as his typically solid performances look understated compared to the former two players' standard of overt dominance over their pools. His offbeat style also lends him to running into a few more poor matchups than some other players, as some brave Heracross (and Drapion) wielders of years past have sometimes found themselves on the right side of. With the worst days of arthropod agony likely behind him, Killintime is likely to put up a solid record for the Smashers if he can keep up his usual performances.

Returning to the Sisters after taking home last year's edition of the tour, dingbat finds himself in ORAS from the start this time around. Many would consider dingbat a recurring dark horse of the ORAS scene, as his tenure in the tier has been characterized by blend of high highs and lows with scattered questionable performances. Regardless, he's managed to slide comfortably into mostly positive records over the recent couple years, along with a deep run into the ORAS Cup of the most recent UU Classic, where he was taken out in semifinals by Amukamara, who would later go on to win the entire tournament. Dingbat's usual style may look a little dated to some of the tier's connoisseurs, with a few more Florges and Suicune than the rest of the modern ORAS landscape, and may be a cause for a bit of trouble, as the metagame has become much more offensively inclined since the days of it being the current UU. Be that as it may, dingbat has more than proven himself capable of standing his ground against anyone in the pool, and this year's ORAS pool may be the perfect conditions for him to work his magic.

While splfoursh is by no means a UU mainstay, he has proven to be a flexible player who can slot himself into pretty much any tier, from an ORAS OU spot in SPL to winning the most recent PU World Cup with Brazil. The Pilots have without a doubt found a solid pilot for their ORAS slot, but how much this alone can cover remains to be seen. Even though Spl4sh is coming off of a UUPL win with the Sisters last year, his personal record was a bit subpar with a rough showing in ORAS, likely without much support until dingbat took over the slot later in the season. This year, however, he's teaming with Garay Oak, an all-around excellent player who's found success in ORAS UU in the past, though one couldn't say for sure if that will directly correlate to his own performance. Going into a pool filled with both top-end players and long-time ORAS veterans, Spl4sh may have his work cut out for him this season. As he almost certainly isn't building for himself, his peak may be determined by how well his team can support him. Still, it'd be insane to say he's incapable of simply adapting quickly once again and putting up some numbers for the Pilots.

While many newer UU names may find Wanka most memorable for a fateful turn two Draco Meteor, the truth is he too was one of the many boomers who had their formative experiences as a player in the mid-to-late stages of generation six. While the comparisons to Pak have all but written themselves over the years, he has long since established himself as a capable player in his own right on the UU and Monotype scenes, even having a short time as Monotype tier leader, a position most would know is not just handed out to anyone. His state of semi-retirement may have caused some of his peers to underestimate him going into this tour, though it's just as easy to say that said semi-retirement could have him out of practice. Wanka also puts a more offensive spin into ORAS than most, being more willing to pull some lesser-seen threats out to play, as well as never being afraid to make some tough plays in game to claw his way back in from deficits. On top of all that, Wanka seems to very much be a solo pilot for the Idols in their ORAS slot without all too much support. All of these factors make it pretty difficult to estimate how Wanka's season will go, but underestimating the experience he does have could prove to be a grave mistake from his opponents as the season progresses.

Over the last year or two, Elfuseon has made his name known as a bit of a generalist, usually finding himself as a capable and flexible slot in a variety of tiers across a myriad of tournaments. However, he now finds himself as the Friends' starting ORAS player in a pool filled to the brim with both returning veterans and extremely strong players. While he's by no means a poor player, it would be easy to look at his competition and note that he seems to be a little outclassed. He does have some previous success in the tier, putting up an impressive 6-1 in the most recent UU Snake Draft, so it goes without saying that he is perfectly capable of a solid performance. On the other side of this argument, however, is the fact that his team picks were mostly recycled builds from other players, many of which he will be contending with in this tournament, which will likely be a much less effective tactic this time around. Elfuseon has the hard numbers to prove that he has all the capability to succeed this year, but he certainly will have his work cut out for him, as the ORAS competition will undoubtedly be relentless.

A quite unusual sight in this tier, the one and only kamisama_no49 finds himself at the helm for the Monsters' ORAS. col until somewhat recently had an impressively long streak of being subbed out every Sunday, which in retrospect may have been a stroke of genius. Not only has it reduced his personal sample size for his opponents to see, but it also seems to have made his opponents underestimate his Pokémon prowess. While it would be easy to make the argument of "washed" for some, when he puts his mind to it, col's unique outlook on the game can go the distance when he puts his mind to it. col is quite the creative builder, as well as a bit of an EV scientist that may end up giving himself an edge up in his games, given he stays motivated. Being backed by his manager Pearl, one of the greatest players of the era throughout the sixth and seventh generations, he'll probably be able to pull out decent results at the very least. However, it is still difficult to rank him against the definitive results his opponents have put up in recent years, and thus it would be a tough ask to rank him highly among the ORAS mainstays like Pak and Killintime. While he may be ranked last due to the lack of hard numbers, if the interest levels stay high, col may be pretty capable of causing some major upsets.

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A name that strikes fear into the BW UU playerbase, Punny, a remarkably consistent player that has been dominating the tier since his debut in it a few years back. With excellent playing skills and well-crafted yet unconventional teams, it's not too difficult to see why Punny is the player to beat here; his BW UU all-time record is absurdly positive. The Ferroseed aficionado is likely to put up a dominant record in this BW pool, which seems to be pretty much split down the middle; the top half has had strong performances all around for years, and the bottom half is largely unproven. There's really no reason to doubt Punny will have any trouble here.

Speaking of names that strike fear, we have SoulWind at #2, a player who is very likely to be considered the best BW OU player of all time. This tier isn't BW OU, but SoulWind is no stranger to the calmer landscape of BW UU either, having played it in a number of team tournaments in the past. He always performs well as you'd expect, frequently putting his own spin on battle-tested teams to make them work for his tastes and come home with a dub. If others on the Monsters are able to provide him with a solid foundation of teams; and with choolio on the bench, that won't be an issue at all. SoulWind will surely be a hugely valuable slot for his team.

What can even be written here for Finchinator that hasn't already been said? He's been playing this tier for upwards of a decade and has essentially become synonymous with it. In terms of metagame knowledge, Finchinator is second to none, and his levels of experience lead to top-notch playing ability as well. With the support of manager Lily, cheese extraordinaire, Finch will likely be just fine; if he can avoid letting tilt get the better of him, he could even go so far as to sweep the pool. While he's ever-so-slightly less consistent than the two highly dominant players above him, do not let that fool you into thinking Finch is far below them, because he can definitely do wonders for the Idols here.

Rounding out the "upper four" of this BW pool is Amukamara (or simply Liam), a consistent BW UU player who has been at it for years at this stage. Liam is more of a UU mainstay than the players above him and is certainly a strong player in his own right, though perhaps a bit less seasoned than those above him. In terms of metagame knowledge, though, Liam has a maassive edge over the bottom half of the pool, and his experience in the tier should lead to a solid performance. This modest #4 ranking isn't too much to worry about, as all of the top 4 were quite close to each other; if Liam can manage to topple those above him, that could very well shoot his team into a dominant position and turn him into a shining Star. Time will tell!

SPL BW OU slot sensei axew finds himself in unfamiliar territory as he starts BW UU for the Sisters. There is certainly something to be said about his inexperience; despite a decent ranking, he certainly has not played much of this tier. Worse yet, not many players on his team have, making support potentially difficult to come by. With that said, sensei axew does have excellent playing ability, and is familiar with the mechanics of the generation. He'll just need to get himself up to speed with the meta if he wants to succeed. Additionally, he'll need to make sure he registers his alts—it's hard to say which of these two will be the bigger challenge. Nonetheless, sensei axew could definitely do okay as long as he gets his hands on some decent teams, so certainly don't count out the Sisters' BW slot just yet.

eden's been playing a decent amount of BW UU for a little while now, starting with a very solid record in the tier in UUFPL, where he dominated a much weaker pool. This was unfortunately followed up by a UUSD performance that wasn't quite as stellar, leading to eden receiving this ranking. While certainly a capable player, eden is definitely not particularly experienced with BW UU; he has historically been able to get teams off useful friend Accel, one of the more prolific BW UU builders, but this can certainly become predictable and abusable. Nonetheless, this pick definitely has potential to work out, and eden is on a team with a number of friends he'll likely be eager to win for; this motivation could be the ticket to a good BW record for the Smashers; should they support eden properly and load him up with effective and unpredictable teams, he could end up being something of a dark horse pick.

Managers pokemonisfun and Aqua Jet likely had immense confidence when they made the choice to immediately .10 on the first nomination of the auction, a pick that was sure to go for absurd money in a process they'd be glad to speed up. That first nomination ended up being Expulso, who received a grand total of zero upbids after pif's. That resulted in Expulso finding himself in unfamiliar BW UU territory, a tier he's not played a whole lot in the past. While he has some experience, it's largely in side tournaments like UUFPL, so this bigger stage will be quite a bit tougher to handle. That said, Expulso knows what he's doing and is a quick learner. He should be able to pick up a few wins, especially if he can use social connections to get help with building/finding teams. It's hard to have too much confidence against the top of the pool, though.

Fakee unfortunately finds himself in the 8th slot in this pool, despite having quite a bit of BW UU experience. His records aren't usually great, but he has certainly picked up a number of wins in the past, although a lot of them have been with fairly cheesy teams. Considering the return of a lot of stronger faces to this BW pool like Punny and SoulWind who were absent in UUSD, Fakee's last stomping ground, it isn't too surprising to see him drop a bit, although falling all the way in the rankings can definitely be a hit to confidence. That said, Fakee's previously mentioned cheesy teams are lethal and can certainly result in wins against even top players, and of course he has a solid grasp of the game even when playing with more standard options. It's no lie that the other players in the pool are justifiably projected to do a bit better than he is, but you'd be a fool to underestimate Fakee regardless—you don't get into this tournament without being deserving, after all.

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Unsurprisingly ranked first is fatty, who is basically guaranteed to at least go slightly positive in these old gens, given his track record in the most recent UU team tours. Usually being slotted into DPP or ADV, fatty has always been able to hold his own and perform well, so it shouldn't be a shock to anyone seeing him at the top. While fatty is of course self sufficient when it comes to building in this tier, he also has Heysup, another veteran of DPP UU, on the team to bounce ideas off of. With the strength of the pool in this iteration of UUPL being a bit weaker than past years, fatty is for sure the player to beat in DPP.

hariyana grande is a winner of many things. Chief among those are best username contests and DPP UU games. With a great enthusiasm and track record in the tier, hariyana grande is very likely to put forth a great record for the Sisters; he's self sufficient, can provide support in other slots, and knows DPP UU quite well while also being willing to innovate in the tier. While he's less seasoned than fatty, who has been playing this tier for over a decade, hariyana grande is certainly a very strong slot and was not all too far off claiming the coveted #1 spot either. He's among the top of this pool for good reason!

HSA is a player who you'd usually find playing in GSC UU, but he understandably wanted a break from the Piloswine freezes and other fun things about that tier. Landing in DPP, HSA is ranked a respectable third, as he is not only a strong and consistent player who has had success across multiple gens and tiers, but he has also dabbled in DPP in the past. With Pak and TSR likely assisting HSA with team choices on the side, it is safe to expect the trio of three-letter names to lead HSA to a solid record.

Repping the Idols and coming in at 4th is Beraldinho, a strong allrounder when it comes to the game but especially proficient in seemingly every DPP tier he slots into, especially DPP NU, in which he is known as the BKC of the tier by many. While he hasn't had much experience in DPP UU, Beraldinho did play an entire season of it in UUFPL last year, in which he performed fine. While this UUPL pool is of course stronger than that, he has likely gained more knowledge about the tier since then and leveled up as a player in general, so expecting about an even record this time around seems fair.

Alongside fatty in the returning cast of DPP UU mainstays is Thiago Nunes, sitting at fifth. Despite the surprisingly low ranking, Nunes has performed consistently well in this tier, often going by as one of the more underrated picks, with this UUPL being no exception considering his price of 6k. Nunes has also found success in stronger pools of DPP, like in last year's UUPL, in which he went 5-2. As long as he can be self sufficient in terms of teambuilding, it is very possible to see Nunes go from the dark horse of DPP UU he was once seen as to someone who sits at the top of the pool, greatly surpassing his expected ranking.

While Seldanna is much more known for her DPP Ubers skills, she has quickly gained some needed experience in DPP UU through the help of the most recent UUSD, in which she pulled a decent 3-4 record. With experience being the biggest issue in her first UU team tour, it's up to Seldanna to prove that she can surpass the ranking given to her this time around. Also, unlike her first UU tour, she'll now have Bouff helping out with team choices and general help. With Seldanna also being one of the more motivated slots in the pool, expect some unique builds and fresh takes on the tier that could lead to another potential DPP UU mainstay.

:pouss: wielder and French player Micciu is surprisingly finding himself in DPP, as opposed to SV or SS, with the latter being a tier he has shown promise in multiple times. While this is Micciu's first team tour in the tier, he has shown that he can win games here, as he made it to the finals of the latest DPP UU cup. He has also shown some potential in other no Preview tiers like ADV. Micciu does have the support of MrAldo, and maybe he can even build for himself; who knows. This could easily be one of the dark horse slots in the pool, as while Micciu has shown very little of what he can do in this tier, the few glimpses of it were promising.

Ranked last is 16bit, a player who is seemingly quite passionate about DPP OU and has been given a chance to make a name for themselves in UUPL by the Jerk. Getting drafted for SPL, 16bit definitely has plenty of experience in DPP, it's just whether or not they can translate the skills over; if so, how quickly they can is also quite important. 16bit has dabbled in other DPP lower tiers such as PU, in which they did fine. With the help of Pearl behind the scenes, though, one can expect 16bit's team choices to be great, so there's that. Overall a bit of a question mark slot, but 16bit could prove to be a threat with some solid play backed behind the assumed good teams brought to their games.

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The recent birthday boy has been one of the most consistent performers within a multitude of tiers throughout the past few years, which earns him a firm first place in the rankings. In terms of a raw ceiling, his overall tour results are a cut above most others. While this is his first UUPL playing ADV UU itself, he's played it before within UUWC and Snake over the years and is no stranger to other UU oldgens, as seen with his experience in ORAS and GSC. Unlike most people you can file under as a "tour player" when it comes to these tours, Garay has a genuine affinity for the tiers he's placed in, which coupled with a playing skill as dangerous as his is an essential strength when it comes to one's building prowess in an older tier such as this one. If he does ever come to lack ideas, he has the shoulder of a certain large rotund mantodea to lean on, assuming the aforementioned insect doesn't cook a little too hard. Expectations are high for the oak, but if there's anyone on the list who can live up to them, it's him.

When it comes to Heysup, there are a few things to note; first of all, he's #1 in the sheet for UU team tours. Secondly, he has the most tenure out of almost everyone in the tournament, only beaten out by fatty, as he's played in UU team tours for nine years straight. Finally, if you ask him, and only him, he's the unluckiest player in the site's history. With all this in mind, his history within the tier makes him a formidable opponent who hasn't been plagued yet by the infamous crust rule. He isn't a player afraid to push the needle, bringing in sets that vary between unorthodox with big payoff to some goofy dog water that ends up falling flat on its face. This fluctuation in consistency is at least complemented by the fact that he has the capability to actually play it to his advantage, known for making normally...suspect Pokémon like Misdreavus seem like an A+ level threat, unlike a certain other floaty Ghost-type in DPP. His influence reaches a notable impact on the meta as well, having a hand in popularizing hyper offenses leading off with Glalie, further cementing his place as a top dog in the tier. Coming off an impressive 6-3 in the fresh meta last UU Snake, this all adds together to make him one of the scariest players to look out for in this tour.

Following up from Heysup is Shiba, who is known to some (most likely his co-manager) as Shibad. Another storied player in the tier, he's been around for its many developments over the years. While he's nowhere near as flashy as some of his competitors in gameplay nor team composition, his performances show that there's nothing really wrong with sticking to the tried-and-true strategies. He also has the help of resident French tryhard Micciu, whose insight and sanity checks will most likely prove to be a valuable asset to make sure nothing gets overlooked, alongside balancing out the probable flaming that Thisbemyalt will give him. While he'll have his work cut out for him this year, you can be sure he'll put up a good fight as much as you can be sure that the Big Sean-registered user is the only person listening to him in 2023.

A rising name in the scene over the past year, Parpar first made himself known through playing the tier in UUFPL—while some may think that in itself isn't too much to brag about, he did perform well in a pool with a few noteworthy players here and there. From then on, he transitioned into UU Snake, where he strung together a notable 5-2 record, tossing aside the last-place ranking he was given at that time and showing that he can compete with high-end players, despite having to deal with the pressure that most would face in one of their first team tours. That being said, he still lacks the sample size that those above him have, which places him lower on this list. Furthermore, while his record wasn't a fluke by any means, his Snake performance did have the assistance of some game-deciding fortune here and there, so his tour will be one to watch out for to determine whether he can reach an echelon of consistency.

A player more known for their DPP and GSC exploits, the former UU Classic champion makes his first foray into an in-between tier this season. He's not particularly a stranger to it either, as you can imagine—you'd evidently need at least a working knowledge of all the tiers to win Classic. There isn't a whole lot to be said about LpZ, as he's a mostly no-nonsense player. He's been engaged with the community as of late, so he'll most likely give it his all. There's nothing that really stands out about him compared to the rest of the pool, but that's fine, because those who are in the know understand that he's a force to be reckoned with.

If your main reference for UUPL is the player signups, you may be confused to see why Punny isn't here, having signed up only for ADV and tying for the most expensive price in the draft. Well, the tyrannical Tycoons have given the middle finger to that and would much rather have him in the familiar and rainy trenches of BW UU, much to Punny's surprise. That's definitely, positively what happened there... anyway, filling in for him is ArcticBreeze, who is no stranger to ADV. He's dabbled in many tiers in the generation, most notably playing ADV OU in SPL at the time of writing. He also has played NU in NUPL and is currently playing Ubers in ALTPL. That being said, while he certainly has his Gen 3 fundamentals down, this is his first foray into the tier in a UU subforum setting. He has played the tier before within RoA Olympics, but it'll be a different field here, which can prove to be a challenge. He does have the support of his manager in Bouff to assist him, and his playing ability will make it so that he'll have a solid shot to take against the rest of the players here.

A user assumed to be one of the much-vaunted “TDK Picks” by some pre-draft, shiloh instead finds himself in an unfamiliar land as an Idol. While shiloh has the playing capabilities to stand a chance against his contemporaries, his experience in the tier isn't as apparent. He did play ADV UU three years ago and went 2-0, but that seems like eons ago when you consider this was at a time where Baton Pass was only unofficially banned in the tier. This is something that's quite important to note in this instance, because as it would turn out, the second of those wins was obtained because shiloh's opponent just so happened to bring Baton Pass to the game, and shiloh was promptly awarded the win. The lack of recent experience doesn't particularly help alongside the notion that he doesn't have much of a support system to work with him in catching up to speed, either. As mentioned before, though, he definitely is someone that at least knows how to play the game, so it's unlikely you'll see him floundering. There's just an evidently steep mountain shiloh has to climb here, and it'll be exciting to see if he can do so.

One of the most eccentric builders in recent memory, crying is similar to Garay in that they've made their mark through playing in a seemingly endless variety of tiers yet have the capacity to do so at a high level. They're not a complete stranger to ADV UU either, as they've played the tier in ADVPL. So, what puts them at the bottom of this list? To be honest with you, I don't know. I really don't know what the other rankers were thinking, but the best I can do is wager some guesses as to what could maybe fit the narrative of them in last place. Unlike shiloh, they at least have a bit of support in TDK, who recently took ADV UU Cup by storm with his numerous monotype teams, and Pearl, who did take an interest in building during UU Snake last year. The tier can be quite punishing to most who stray too far outside of the box, which is something that they'll have to consider for by either conforming to usual practices, or throwing that aside and simply outplaying their opponents. It's more likely that the latter happens, as crying isn't one to bring bog standard as shown in their other high-level games, and they're quite known for putting on a show. Regardless of whatever record they end up with, there's no question that they'll be a player to look out for.

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GSC UU is Estarossa's zen. He is one of the most enthusiastic GSC UU players out there, having seemingly endless patience for the tier in levels unseen in pretty much anybody else. Some think it's admirable, some think it's insane, but there's one thing everyone knows; Estarossa wins in GSC UU. He wins an awful lot, in fact. Earning a top ranking in this stacked pool is an impressive feat and sets the Idols up for success with their GSC pick quite well. There's no doubt that Estarossa should perform excellently; while the sheer strength of some players beneath him will definitely result in some tough games, Estarossa is very likely to put up a great record for the Idols. Making a tier often cited as boring look interesting is quite difficult, but not for this player. Make sure to enjoy the show.

Lax is definitely the strongest general tournament player in the GSC pool this year, although his much lower experience in GSC UU itself led him to miss out on the number 1 spot in a top-heavy pool of strong GSC UU players. lax isn't without any experience in the tier by any stretch, though, having attained a 2-1 record in the tier in UU Snake during 2021, and he has the support of choolio for teambuilding purposes this year. There is no reason to expect anything but a solid performance from lax in this tour, although it would not be surprising to see him drop a couple of games to lesser-known sets or combinations that may catch him off guard.

d0nut is a fantastic player in GSC tiers who has put up absolutely stellar performances in the past, scoring an amazing 6-3 record in the last UUPL they played in two years ago. The lack of recent experience in GSC UU is the main thing of concern, as they haven't been present in GSC UU in UUSD or UUPL since and may not be too up to speed with how much the meta has shifted since then. The lack of any real team support in this tier makes this feel like a potential issue, but assuming d0nut is on top of these changes, a similarly strong performance is quite likely.

Torchic has been an active participant in GSC UU in tours for a few years now. His building in general is quite fresh and definitely not cookie cutter, which can lead him to some nice matchup advantages without throwing in the builder like some of the other more adventurous players tend to do. This alongside support from avarice and LpZ to provide him with ideas and sanity check team builds to make sure they don't have glaring issues could lead Torchic to some pretty good matchup situations. Torchic's playing and execution is arguably only middle of the pack for this pool, though, which was reflected in his 4-5 performance last UUPL. Despite some stiff competition from experienced GSC players, he still finds himself with a respectable #4 ranking, and he could definitely perform better than this with solid work done in the teambuilder and tight focus on his in-battle play.

Leru has been a solid player in GSC UU in the past, but he does have questionable commitment to the tier, having been absent from the tier in tours for a while and having achieved mixed results in past showings, getting both a 4-3 UUPL performance and a 1-3 UUSD performance in 2021. It's definitely of note that Leru's team support is pretty strong in this slot, as HSA is widely considered the best player in this tier, while Celebiii is a budding contributor to the tier who will likely put a fair amount of work into prepping. As long as HSA makes sure to sanity check some of Celebiii's spicier ideas that are likely to backfire and Leru is committed to putting in the effort for the slot, he could definitely outdo this ranking.

kaori was a fantastic player in GSC UU in the past, with 6-3 and 5-2 performances in UUPL VIII and IX, respectively, which makes their ranking pretty surprising. It's worth noting that they have been notably absent since then, and in some of their more recent showings they have not necessarily looked as up to speed with meta changes as other players in the pools. Regardless of this, their talent for the tier is undeniable, and if they adjust well to newer changes and the AgilityPass ban, they could perform much better than this ranking suggests, especially with the potential for robjr to support them with more modern teams.

It turns out he isn't actually the real FlamingVictini, wow. Real FV13 is a pretty unknown face in this tier, although he did play in GSCPL a little. He also has very little team support on the Tycoons, which is another worrying factor. As a fresh newcomer to this tier in UU team tours, it will be interesting to see how he performs, but the lack of any real data on him makes it difficult to say much about him.

Seeing BigFatMantis in GSC instead of ADV is a bit surprising, really. Mantis doesn't necessarily have huge tour experience in GSC UU but certainly knows the tier decently still and has experience playing it in more casual scenarios. While his lack of tour experience makes it pretty hard to bet on him against a lot of this pool, he certainly has the knowledge to perform better than this ranking would suggest, as long as he can maintain his fundamentals and make use of the support that Inder can provide him in making sure his teams are as good as possible.

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