UU Snake Draft III Power Rankings

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Welcome to the Power Rankings for the third installment of the UnderUsed Snake Draft! This will be the first ever edition of the Power Rankings and will hopefully serve to hype up this tournament; we usually do these in a simple forum thread, but for this edition we wanted to go all-out. 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: Alkione, Amukamara, Aqua Jet, Ara ara, avarice Ayaka, Bouff, Chaitanya, cy, dingbat, Dunoks, eden, Elfuseon, emma, Estarossa, etern, Expulso, Fakee, freezai, Garay oak, hariyana grande, Heysup, Highways, holly, HSA, juoean, justdrew, KM, Lily, Luirromen, Lunala, Lyss, Monky25, Moutemoute, MrAldo, Pak, Parpar, passion, phoopes, Roseybear, Sage, Scalescale, Seldanna, Shellnuts, Specs, stunner047, TDK, Totomon, umbry, vani, vivalospride, xujing691691.

And a double thank you to the following people for helping with writing, HTMLing, grammar checking, quality checking and more: avarice, Estarossa, Jade, justdrew, KM, Lily, Lumari, vivalospride, and Volk.

1. umbry
2. Adaam
3. Highways
4. Meru
5. Sage
6. Lyss
7. Amukamara
8. KSt3ve
9. KM
10. TJ
11. Expulso
12. Moutemoute
13. xujing691691
14. Raptor
15. dunoks
16. Corazan
17. passion
18. Chaos2333
19. chlo
20. Amane Misa
21. Fc
22. Beraldinho
23. Regnite
24. pannuracotta

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The Dragonairs seemed to have their priorities on SS when they went into the draft; they took their three SS starters in rounds 1, 2, and 4 of the draft, only making a brief detour to snatch GSC king HSA. This strategy may prove to be a huge boon to the Dragonairs, as it comfortably landed them with the SS core to beat in this tournament. Sage is a long-time UU player who has recently been putting up stellar performances all across Smogon; it's very likely she'll have another solid showing here, with wingwoman Lyss following up right behind her in the rankings. Lyss's hot takes may be headache inducing, but they do tend to get results, and she's projected to do quite well here. Funnily enough, right behind Lyss in the rankings we have Amukamara—or Liam—, the Dragonairs' third SS starter. Liam is usually known to play BW UU in these tournaments, but he's certainly no slouch in SS, and with plenty of builders on his team, he's likely to have great squads every week. These three are excellent SS UU players overall, and there's no reason to doubt they'll put up a great record over the course of the tournament.

Highways and gum opted to self-draft Highways in order to ensure they'd have a strong SS starter, and that was certainly no mistake. 3-13 memes aside, Highways has been a hugely consistent performer in recent UU team tournaments and is very likely to put up an excellent record in SS UU; his recent records speak for themselves, so as long as he can motivate himself, he should perform excellently. Following the self-buy, Highways immediately snatched Meru, much to the dismay of KM and mncmt; Meru has an absurd winrate in UU team tournaments and has been an SS UU mainstay for quite some time now, being a very capable pilot of all kinds of stolen teams. He's very likely to do well in his pool. The core is rounded out by passion; his low ranking is somewhat understandable given he hasn't played Pokémon at all since UUPL, but he did go 4-0 in that tournament and seemed to have an excellent grasp on SS UU. Should he be able to repeat that magic, he'll perform significantly better than his ranking suggests and be an excellent value pick. These three SS players are very likely to put up an extremely good performance that could very well bring the Sandacondas to playoffs, so be sure to watch their games if you're interested in what the best SS UU has to offer can do.

TDK and Pearl made the decision to draft umbry with their first pick, missing out on a managerial self-purchase; this may seem insane given TDK and Pearl are two of the best UU players of all time, but if anyone can compete for that title, it's umbry. Her SS UU dominance is nearly unmatched at the moment, making her way to UU Masters finals, only being defeated by Adaam—the second best rated UU player—and followed that up with a UU Open win, all while managing a 6-1 UUPL record. She's ranked as the best for a reason and is very likely to put up a phenomenal season for her team. Next we have KSt3ve, the first of TDK's French battalion; he has been a consistent UU player for some time now that had an excellent 5-2 performance in the most recent UUPL and is known for his ability to pump out countless SS teams for his teammates to enjoy. This core is finished off by tournament mainstay Raptor, a solid overall player that can surely put up a decent record if he receives some good teams, which he's sure to get from umbry and KSt3ve. The decision to invest heavily in SS was a smart one for the TDKs; they can certainly hold their own in oldgens thanks to TDK and Pearl's excellent support, but SS is a bit of a blind spot for them, so their draft strategy is likely to work out in their favor and secure them a third victory of the UU Snake Draft.

Adaam was voted as the second best SS UU player by the playerbase, with a large chunk even considering him to be the best; this should come as no surprise to any who know him, as he's been a very consistent UU player for years on end at this point. His feats are likely unmatched by any other SS player on this list; while others may have the edge in recent times, nobody can hold a candle to Adaam's overall achievements in this tier. He's joined by fellow council member Moutemoute, who went surprisingly late in the draft despite his solid ranking; he is likely to be a good value pick for the Volcanions as long as he doesn't run into any Galarian Slowbro. Then we have Regnite, one of the less expected picks of the draft, particularly considering he went as early as round 5. Regnite is mostly unknown as far as SS UU goes; there's no way of telling how his season will go, but expectations are tempered, since there's just no real data to go off. The Volcanions have a strong SS lineup that's likely to pull out a number of wins for the team; there isn't too much to complain about here, since it's clear Regnite will at least have solid teams to pilot and, hey, justdrew and Sirwings must've seen something in him to pick him so early, right? Expect some solid results from the Volcanions' SS this season.

The Sinistea Ministry, captained by best friends and recent UUPL Champions KM and mncmt, made the interesting decision of drafting their three SS UU starters within their first four picks in a parallel to the Dragonairs. KM chose to self-draft, which was by no means a poor decision. Despite being well known for using wacky Pokémon and even wackier sets, KM is a skilled player and active community member. He has a 4-2 record in UUSD II and a 4-3 record in UUFPL II to boast, proving his consistency despite hindering himself in the builder. He has also earned the title of top 32 UU players through the generations, making his way to the 3rd round of the 2022 UU Invitational before being knocked out of the loser's bracket. At his side are Expulso and Beraldinho, two skilled players. While lacking SS experience compared to the rest of the pool, Expulso managed a 5-1 record in UUPL starting week 3 and on. His explosive performance has made him quite a force going into this tournament. While he hasn't touched much of the tier, recently he found success in the LC Open (the biggest Pokémon tournament in Smogon's history) making his way to the semifinals in round 10. Beraldinho sits very far down in the PRs. He is certainly not a bad player, seeming to find success in all tiers he plays. His experience is mostly in DPP where he has success in several tournaments. He likely has the fewest games played in SS UU and remains unproven. Although he is a dark horse, he is a player than can pick up any tier and find success and remains an important element of a strong team. This team's SS core is certainly viable; they're middle of the pack overall, but they may still be able to make some magic happen and take home a lot of wins.

Managers of the Silicobra Kai, UUFPL Champions, Cam and bb skarm have stormed their way into the big leagues. Cam's history speaks for itself thanks to his years of experience in competitive Pokémon, while bb skarm has also had great success in various UU tournaments over the years, particularly recently. Will these managers be able to support their SS starters well enough? The Wurmples drafted a strong team but seemed to leave SS on the backburner, taking a different strategy than they did in UUFPL. They drafted TJ, a formidable tournament player known mostly for his success in OU and PU. TJ, despite having a lackluster UUPL, proved his strength by making his way to the finals of UU Open. Corazan is one of France's elite tournament players, who picked up UU after a strong UU Open performance back when SM was the current generation. He is well known for his interesting teams in the SM tier, but he has the least SS UU experience of anyone in the pool, seemingly having none to speak of. Can he pick up the tier and perform well among a pool of highly accomplished players? Lastly is Chaos23333, one of China's brightest and fiercest SS UU players. Chaos drew the spotlight of the UU community by making his way to the winners semifinals of UU Masters before being knocked out by umbry and Adaam, SS UU's most skilled players. He sits surprisingly low on the rankings despite his formidable recent performances in the tier. Those reading should be advised: he is more competent than his rankings suggests. The Wurmples do have the capability to do well; they have three good players, but they all received middle-of-the-road rankings; it's true that there isn't too much starpower in these SS slots. We'll have to see how they do.

The Primarinas being ranked 7th in the SS PRs is truly a testament to the competitiveness of this year's pool. Pride month has ended, but Lily and Jade's skills as a managing duo and thirst for victory certainly haven't been quenched. xujing691691 remains one of China's strongest players but ultimately is still unproven in the grand scheme. Despite mustering a 3-2 SS record in UUPL and making his way to the 2nd round of UULT, he still has a lot to prove in a very tough pool. dunoks, a famed baguette-wielding warrior of France, finds himself ranked in the bottom half of the SS pool. Despite being in the finals of UULT, facing off against none other than his manager Lily, he had a mediocre 3-4 record in UUPL. With his consistency in question, and everything to prove, can he succeed against UU's finest current gen players? Last, but not least, delightful community member chlo, boasting an unviable time zone and a Blastoise obsession, finds her way onto the main stage in one UU's most important tournaments. chlo has proved her strength by knocking famed and revered UU player justdrew out of UU Open and storming her way into the 6th round before losing. chlo has the ability to win, and yet there is a long list of more proven and more successful players in front of her. Is she up to the challenge? Can this team of underdogs prove their worth against an endless pool of talent? They're projected to struggle, but don't be too surprised if they find their way to a better record than you'd expect.

In a shocking turn of events, a team managed by pokemonisfun—eccentric UU celebrity, streamer, winner of multiple circuit tournaments, ladder hero and more—has drafted the worst rated SS UU lineup. Can his knowledge and experience be used to uplift his squad of underdogs? Comfortably on the back of L.A.P.R.A.S. sit three players who have a lot to prove. Amane Misa, while being inactive as of late, is certainly one of UU's stronger players across the generations. Her consistency in tours as well as her unique and brilliant building style are qualities to be feared. However, her SS UU experience in the new meta is very limited, and she is expected to struggle against a pool that's been considerably more active than her. The next two players are UUFPL heroes, both earning strong records and proving their skills in SS UU. Fc, without much notice, performed exceedingly well earning a 6-2 record. He has shown his abilities in other tiers as well, being the current Ubers Tier Leader. Now, stepping out of the unproven pools of UUFPL, and into one of UU's most competitive tournaments, is he up to the challenge? It's certainly going to be an uphill battle in a tournament that is more competitive. pannuracotta is a UUFPL veteran who has finally made their way up the ladder into UUSD. Their confidence and eccentric personality are sure to bring unique perspectives to his teamchat, but will they be able to perform well in a much stronger pool? The voters don't seem to think so. Unfortunately, as mentioned, L.A.P.R.A.S. takes home a last-place ranking—is there hope for this team? pif has crafted underdog stories before, though this may be too much of a hurdle to overcome.

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pdt is well known for his more unique highly offensive builds and hyper aggressive playstyle in SM UU, being both incredibly unpredictable to play against and frustrating to watch for his teammates at times because of how insanely risky his plays are. Nonetheless, this works wonderfully in pdt's favor, and he is coming off a strong 4-3 performance last UUSD in SM UU and an incredible 7-2 performance in Bo3 in UUPL. With his excellent overall results and a newfound recent consistency, his unique, dangerous playstyle and skill in SM UU are bound to translate to a strong performance in this tournament.

Ayaka, formerly and more commonly known as Gondra, is no stranger to SM UU, having a long history of being a top player within the tier. He is currently coming off an incredibly dominant 6-1 performance in UUPL that inspires massive confidence in him putting up another incredible performance this tour and proving that his 2-4 performance last UUSD was just a blip. Ayaka also has the incredible support of multiple fantastic SM UU players in pokemonisfun, Amane Misa, and Pak to support him in this endeavour. There's no reason to believe he won't be able to put forward strong squads every week, and combine that with his overall excellent play, and you've got a recipe for success in L.A.P.R.A.S.'s SM UU slot.

Xiri has a history of strong performances in SM UU; arguably one of his greatest was defeating Pearl in the final UU Championships of Generation 7 to bring home the UU Ribbon. He has traditionally had solid performances in SM UU, but in recent times did struggle in UUPL, only achieving a 1-4 record. He did manage a 4-4 record in the most recent UUSD, though, and a remarkable 7-2 record in UUPL IX. Regardless of anything, Xiri is an incredibly strong SM UU player, and he has the support of one of the absolute best SM UU players and builders in Adaam on his team to ensure high-quality teams. With good play from Xiri, there is great confidence that he can return to his old solid records.

vivalospride finally returns to SM UU after not playing since the first edition of UUSD in 2020. viv has a huge amount of enthusiasm for this tier that will be bound to help with teambuilding and preparation motivation, but his last performance in UUSD was a mere disappointing 2-6 result, and his lack of fondness for playstyles other than offense could find himself at a disadvantage versus adventurous builders. On that note, though, viv is an incredibly active teambuilder in SM UU; the Primarinas' SM channel is sure to be bustling with activity and PokéPastes galore once viv gets into a groove. While it remains to be seen what he'll manage this time around, viv's unparalleled interest in SM UU alongside the potential support of teammates in Lily and Santu may just be enough to let him make up for past performances and pull a positive record.

avarice is one of the most creative builders out there in SM UU, and despite concerns of his teambuilding sometimes toeing the line of viability, he is coming off a solid 4-4 performance in a UUPL pool that was arguably stronger than this one. Like pdt, he has a dangerously aggressive risk-taking playstyle at times that can be very punishing to play against and that, coupled with his strong prep skills, makes it likely that avarice will be able to repeat previous performances and pull a positive record in this tour if he is able to control his adventurous spirit while building. Worth noting, though, is that avarice is alone in building his SM UU teams unless someone on his team takes iniative and picks the tier up; there are no traditional SM UU players on the Ministry outside of avarice. We'll have to see if this is an issue or not, but for now, it's fairly likely avarice will do just fine.

The Jerk strikes again, putting snaga in a random tier and hoping it works out well for him. snaga is an overall solid player that has performed well in a number of UU tiers before, though this will be his first foray into SM UU, at least in recent times. Fortunately for snaga, he does have the support of managers TDK and Pearl, two of the best SM UU players of all time, and other players on his team such as Bushtush and Finchinator know their way around the tier too. snaga's lack of any recent SM UU results is what causes his downfall in the rankings, so his performance is mostly a question mark. If he plays well with the teams he's given, he's got a shot at doing good or even great; until that's proven, though, it's impossible to rate him any higher.

When SM UU was the current generation tier, etern played a fair bit of it and was pretty great it it too. Since it has become an old generation, though, etern has not touched it much. This, combined with a pretty long break from Pokémon that he only came back from pretty recently is what leads to a low ranking for the duck. While his skills are not in doubt, his ability to familiarize himself with the meta and catch up with a strong pool is less certain; he does have support from Sage, Indigo Plateau, Amukamara, and Lyss, who all know the ins and outs of SM UU, so with suitable help he could do an okay job, but this pool is certainly stacked. etern does, however, have the advantage of being the only player in this pool with a GMT offset reasonably close to Xiri's, meaning the Dragonairs will have no issues with scheduling, so that's a great plus!

crying's performance here is a question mark. While she is undoubtedly a very skilled player across a multitude of metagames, she has never been seen playing SM UU; this is a very volatile tier where it's important to understand the intricacies in order to be consistent, so crying will need quite a bit of support or a lot of practice in order to get herself up to speed. She does have Highways on her team, who knows SM UU quite well, but this is unlikely to be enough to help crying against a very tough pool. She does have unpredictability in her corner, though; if she can use that to her advantage, she might be able to make something happen.

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If you've ever watched a game of ORAS UU, you've probably seen a Pak team. If you've ever thought about ORAS UU, you've probably thought about Pak. Pak isn't just good at ORAS UU. Pak is ORAS UU. Let's not get it twisted; there are plenty of other very strong ORAS UU players and builders, but none are as dedicated to this tier as Pak is, and it shows in his records—his dominance in ORAS UU is entirely unmatched. Predicting him to have a poor tournament in any capacity would just be frankly absurd, and he received a near-unanimous number 1 rating as a result. Not only that, but he's great SM support too. L.A.P.R.A.S. were wise to invest in Pak as a first pick.

While he's recently taken to SM UU, Santu has always been a dominant ORAS UU player. In fact, Santu's dominance in UU team tournaments in general has been striking; he had the most wins of any player in 2020, with an absurd 15-4 record, and he hasn't had a negative tournament since then. Between his phenomenal overall skill and good knowledge of ORAS UU, and the support of teammate Bouff and manager Lily, there's no reason to believe that Santu will struggle in this tournament at all; he is very likely to produce another excellent record for the Primarinas for the second year in a row.

One of the more enigmatic characters Smogon has to offer, Bushtush has been on a pretty hot streak lately. Not only did he put up a strong 5-2 record in the most recent UUPL playing DPP and BW UU, but he's also coming off a very dominant OST win in which he only dropped a single game! Bush isn't a stranger to ORAS UU, either; he's got some history in the tier despite not having played it much recently. Bushtush also has support from manager Pearl and teammate Garay oak, two of the greatest minds for ORAS UU; even if Bushtush himself is not up to speed on the metagame, these two will be key in ensuring he's equipped with great teams that allow him to play to his full potential. Bushtush is certainly expected to do well in this slot for the TDKs!

Monotype mainstay and ORAS UU extraordinaire Chaitanya returns for another bout in UUSD. Chaitanya has put up a string of solid records in this tier for a while now; a 3-4 record in the most recent UUPL is middling, but he did achieve an excellent 6-1 record in the last iteration of UUSD preceding that and a 5-3 record in the prior UUPL. Chaitanya is comfortable in this tier with a unique style of building and play that guides him to a lot of wins; he may not have the same high level of dominance as Pak or Santu, but in what was viewed as a top-heavy pool, Chaitanya is a player capable of holding his own and producing another great record. Keep your eyes on this ORAS slot; should the Dragonairs be able to support Chaitanya well and let him do his thing, he'll almost certainly bring them a satisfactory result on his team's road to winning at all.

Spl4sh's ORAS UU skills have only been on display a few times; in the most recent UUPL, for instance, he put up a middling 2-3 record in the tier, though he did take down titan Pak and his team did go on to win the tournament. Being a very solid ORAS OU player, he's sure to make a decent transition to this tier, and should the Wurmples be able to support Spl4sh well, he should be able to put up a fine record. The reason he's not ranked much higher is mostly down to his lack of experience in an extremely top-heavy pool; Spl4sh definitely has plenty of upset potential, but he could just as easily find himself only putting up a decent record. We will see how things shake out for the Wurmples' ORAS slot.

YouTube sensation freezai looks to make a splash in ORAS UU in this tournament following a decent UUPL playing SS. He's certainly got some ORAS UU experience under his belt, but it's not very recent; the last time freezai played this tier in a tournament, Conkeldurr was still legal, to give you a frame of reference here. Nonetheless, he's still an excellent competitor that has been putting up phenomenal results in a number of tiers ranging from SS OU to BW PU in recent times, so who really knows what'll happen here? The Sandacondas do have two proficient ORAS UU players in Highways and dingbat to aid freezai in getting up to speed, so he should be able to put up a decent fight against anyone in the pool, but it's hard to have too much by way of expectations for him given the lack of recent tier experience.

Scalescale is certainly an entertaining player to watch, bringing all kinds of non-standard things to these tournaments and managing to win with it thanks to it playing perfectly into his own unique style. Sadly, that doesn't always translate to success; Scalescale's recent ORAS UU record overall has been 6-8, which isn't too bad, but it makes it difficult to be too confident in this slot. He does have upset popoff potential as someone who has a tendency to bring off-the-wall teams that can either hit very hard or miss entirely; this ranking is less of a slight against him as a player overall, and moreso against his consistency. If nothing else, though, Scalescale is sure to provide ORAS UU fans with plenty of enjoyable games to watch.

In the last slot, we have Elfuseon, a UUFPL star who's getting a shot on the slightly bigger stage that is UUSD. Elfuseon put up a great 5-2 record in UUFPL II, so it's quite clear that he knows his way around this tier at a decent level; the issue here is experience. Every other player on this list has played at least some reasonable amount of ORAS UU in either UUPL or UUSD at some point, but Elfuseon has not; this will be his first time doing so, and it's hard to have faith in the rookie until they prove themselves. If he can recreate the magic from UUSD, though, this ranking could ultimately end up being laughable; we'll have to see what the future holds, but for now, he unfortunately finds himself at the bottom of the rankings.

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Punny randomly decided to try out BW UU in one tournament a few years ago, and from there, the rest is history. With a crazy 13-7 BW UU record since then, Punny stands tall as the perceived best BW UU player, slightly etching out long-time BW UU player Finchinator for this edition of the tournament. With a unique style of building and a very solid style of play, Punny is definitely an incredibly strong player across a multitude of tiers; BW UU is no different, as it's a tier where he can rock his trusty Ferroseed and Togekiss with ease. Punny's great consistency in what most consider to be an inconsistent tier is proof of a very strong player overall, and he has earned a well-deserved spot at #1 in the rankings.

When one thinks of BW as a competitive generation as a whole, they are likely to very quickly think of Finchinator. Finch is no doubt one of the most successful BW players of all time across countless tiers; from OU to NU, he has consistently put up strong records, and UU is no different. Finch has been playing BW UU in UU team tournaments for years and easily knows the tier better than anyone else on this list, giving him a lot of depth to his game and setting him apart in a builder's sense, which is backed up by his overall solid play. Punny's recent consistency may set him up one higher than Finch, but you'd be a fool to count out possibly the most storied BW UU player in history, and undoubtedly the most experienced in this pool.

UU Tier Leader and BW lower tier fanatic Lily finds her way into the #3 slot of this strong BW pool after solid performances in the tier throughout last UUSD and BWPL I. Despite seemingly being unable to win in the zoomer gens where she belongs, Lily's managed to put up generally good records in all kinds of BW tiers from OU to PU, and UU is no exception. Her ability to get creative in the builder goes a long way in a tier with the seemingly endless options that BW UU has to offer, and her good understanding of the "Spikes = good" methodology seems to carry her far enough. Her history and results are not quite up to par with the two players above her, but she's still perfectly capable of grabbing wins against anyone she fights in BW UU.

eden is coming off a very hot streak in the most recent UUFPL, where he dominated enough to become the single best player in the tournament. He nailed a 9-1 record, though 2 of those wins were in SS. Still, a 7-1 record in BW UU is almost unheard of and is an incredible achievement without a doubt. With that said, eden seemingly has minimal other experience in BW UU, and the UUFPL pool was quite a bit weaker than this UUSD is set to be. If eden can recreate his UUFPL success, he'll be a fantastic slot for the Volcanions that can be relied upon to put up a great record. We'll see how things shake up, though; the competition is very strong, after all.

Lunala was a fairly solid BW performer in the most recent UUPL, where he managed a pretty good 3-1 record. That is where his story starts and ends, though; Lunala has not played BW UU in any other UU team tournament, so there is very little data to go off here. That said, his hot streak in UUPL was enough to convince the rankers that he was good enough at the tier to take the #5 slot on these rankings. Being a solid player overall that can slot into a bunch of tiers is always helpful, and Lunala does have the support of teammate cy, who may be able to provide him with numerous the same hyper offense team every week with the sole difference of changed 6th slot. Expectations for Lunala are reasonable; he'll likely put up a solid record, but it's hard to see him doing anything too spectacular until proven otherwise.

dingbat has always been known as a creative player, making use of fairly underutilized Pokémon like Mamoswine, Rotom-C, and Luca- wait, what? He's in BW again? Seriously? Okay sure. Last UUPL, dingbat was dumped into BW UU for the first half of the tournament; he had supposedly never played the tier before and had signed up to play in his home tier of ORAS UU, so this certainly came as a surprise to many. Nonetheless, he played some solid games and managed a 3-2 record that could've been even higher had some misfortunes not come his way. dingbat is still not an experienced BW UU player by any means, which is cause for concern to many rankers; it is unlikely he'll do too poorly, as he is a solid player overall and has shown that he can hold his own in this tier. If he's given ample support, he should be able to perform at a fine level; this pool is strong, though, and dingbat's support pool consists of, well... seemingly nobody, so he may have to look outside of his teammates for help. We'll have to see how this goes, but for now, expectations aren't too high.

Fakee put up a reasonable 4-4 record in the most recent UUFPL, which was enough to catch the eye of managers Aqua Jet and pokemonisfun and earned him a starting position in this edition of UUSD. He's a fine player who has at least some experience in this tier, so it's possible he'll manage to gather some wins. The main issue is that Fakee doesn't have a whole lot of experience outside of UUFPL in BW UU, and the UUFPL pool was a lot weaker than this one. Fakee does have some tools that may help him succeed, though; manager pokemonisfun and teammate Pak can likely both provide some help in testing and building, which should help to give Fakee a fighting chance against the upper echelons of the pool.

Here we have the question mark slot. Hydronics is completely unknown in this tier and, to most of the UU community, completely unknown in general. It's hard to say anything of their skill level at all; they could very well dominate this pool as a secret unknown BW UU god, and they could also entirely flop. Until they get some games under their belt, it's impossible for us to say how it'll go for the Dragonairs' BW slot. Hydronics does have the invaluable support of choolio, though, so he'll at least be equipped with good teams, and if things go south we may end up seeing choolio playing in this slot too. Time will tell!

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At the start of the pack we have Raichy, a mainstay in these UU tournaments as someone that can play the oldgens nicely. He put up a fair a 4-4 record in UUPL for DPP and is likely to be more formidable in a weaker pool without players like Pearl and Thiago Nunes. Raichy has been around and playing old generations of UU for a long time now; he's often played anywhere from GSC UU to BW UU in these team tournaments, and his recent forays into the depths of DPP haven't disappointed. Should he be able to find or build a number of good teams, he'll likely do very well in this tournament.

The Magician returns for another go around in a random old UU tier, this time taking up the mantle of the TDKs's DPP player. Arguably the most skilled player in the pool, it'll be interesting to see how he comes back to DPP—he hasn't played it in quite a while... does he remember Sand Veil was banned? He may not be as motivated as other players in the pool, but he does have the support of Pearl, a phenomenal DPP UU builder, and is likely to be provided with excellent teams all tour long. He'll most likely have a phenomenal record this tournament, assuming he actually plays his games, of course.

hariyana grande returns to DPP after a solid showing in SS in individuals. Hariyana grande had a dominant 7-2 record in UUFPL and is one of the most innovative players in the tier; he is perhaps the tier's most active builder at the moment, and his teams have been quite solid too. hariyana has been doing good in DPPPL as well, staying up to date with all the trends. He will also certainly be motivated to do well here, as this is his first UU subforum team tournament, and we all know that subforum team tournaments are the most important part of Smogon. Should hariyana be able to avoid nerves and play solid games, it's reasonable to expect a very good record from him.

MrAldo is a classic contender that will most likely do just fine. He mostly sticks with the usual, solid builds that get him through his games, and he has historically performed reasonably well in these team tournaments. Similarly to Raichy, he is used to fighting against a more solid pool of players; he even beat Raichy during the recent UUPL. This gives him an edge over other players in the pool, as his experience is not to be underesimated. MrAldo is also self sufficient, which is always a plus. The Sandacondas can expect an overall decent DPP season from MrAldo.

@everyone AMONG US??? Alkione was snubbed from UUPL after hosting the previous edition of this very UUSD, so he's sure to be ready to get some more wins on the sheet after not being able to do much during UUFPL either. While he's normally more a BW type of person, it's not like he hasn't played DPP before; he knows his way around this tier quite well, and if he can avoid using terrible teams, there's no reason to believe that he can't at least put up a solid showing. His skill cap may not be the same as others in the pool, but one thing to never underestimate is Alkione's absurd luck—trust me, he'll find a way to rob more than one game this season. He'll probably do okay overall.

If you frequent the UU room on PS (and aren't European with a decent sleep schedule) there are decent odds of you seeing Seldanna ask for a DPP UU match. What Seldanna lacks in tournament experience in the tier, she makes up for with motivation to practice and bring fresh teams. She also has a lot of experience in DPP Ubers, giving her a strong grip on the generation mechanically; if she can ground herself and build good teams, she may perform even better than her ranking suggests, though her minimal experience in this tier means we must quell our expectations overall and wait to see how she does.

RealJester is a solid player of various old generations of OU, but his UU experience is limited; he has played some DPP UU recently in DPPPL, and at the time of writing he has a decent 2-1 record there, so he does at least know his way around the tier a bit. Jester does have some upset potential as he is quite an unknown quantity; while he could easily perform significantly higher than this ranking suggests, he could just as easily flop. It's impossible for us to tell until it happens, really. He does have support from fatty and Cubic Skunk, both of whom know this tier very well; this could go a long way in ensuring RealJester loads solid teams, which may be enough to separate him from the rest of the pack.

Lastly we have Ara ara, also known as Ara double or Ara squared, depending on who you ask. She has recent UUFPL experience in this tier with a solid 5-4 record but has yet to play the tier at a higher level against a tougher pool. While she certainly has upset potential, it's difficult to put your faith in the rookie until they prove their worth; the Primarinas do have solid DPP support, though, with Lily, Bouff and col49 all being familiar with the tier. If Ara ara can repeat her UUFPL performance, the Primarinas will be very happy to have her on board; if she can get even one win, she'll be doing better than Lily's entire DPP slot in UUPL, so that's a plus too. Expectations are low overall, but she may be able to make things happen—she's not totally out of her depth.

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Bouff is an ADV UU player who needs no introduction. As one of the faces of this tier, Bouff is a strong player who has put up solid performances across various UU team tournaments in ADV UU. His seemingly endless knowledge of ADV UU combined with motivation to explore this new metagame with formerly UUBL Pokémon like Arcanine and Swellow in it will surely play in his favor, and he is expected to be able to put up a great record as the player to beat in this tournament. The Primarinas lack ADV support for Bouff, but if there's anyone in this pool who doesn't need it, it's him. Keep your eyes on this slot if you want to see some dominant ADV UU games.

Heysup has been playing ADV UU for a very, very long time; in fact, there's a good chance that Heysup started playing this tier before you, the reader, were COPPA legal. This has translated to an incredibly deep history of results in the tier over an incredible stretch of time, which leaves Heysup as one of the greatest ADV UU players to have ever graced Smogon. Not only this, but he is also very creative. Heysup's teams don't tend to conform to the perceived standard, but they're far from gimmicks; he manages to accrue a number of wins with his trusty partners. With some help from fellow boomer innovamania, Heysup is sure to pick up this new metagame admirably and show us all how good he really is.

fatty is another player who's been strong in the ADV UU scene for a long time and has always been a consistent performer. It's rare for fatty to ever have a bad tournament; you can typically expect him to put up an even record or greater, which makes him a very reliable pick for L.A.P.R.A.S. that should be able to hold down the fort in their old generation slots with his great DPP support too. Combine that with help from manager pokemonisfun, and you should see some great results out of this ADV slot!

Garay oak is perhaps one of the most dominant tournament players on Smogon at the moment, with a bevy of results across all sorts of tiers. This has led to him becoming a very strong jack-of-all-trades player, which might lead you to think he's just being slotted here randomly. Make no mistake, though, Garay oak has a history in ADV UU as both a builder and player and will no doubt be able to pull off wins against anyone and everyone in this pool with his superb playing capabilities. He's likely to be supported by superstar manager Pearl, who has a deep knowledge of most generations of UU; this pairing could very well be a dark horse for best ADV UU slot of the tournament, though it is true that Garay oak does have much less history in the tier than the three players above him, so he receives a more modest ranking as a result.

Roseybear has quickly become an ADV UU mainstay following some good performances in a number of UU team tournaments. While his most recent UUPL did not quite go to plan, only managing a mediocre 3-5 record, he did dominate the previous iteration of UUSD with a great 6-2 record that put him at the top of the ADV pool. Roseybear is also a highly motivated player; as a dedicated contributor to ADV UU and a champion of freeing ADV UUBL, he is very likely to be concocting all sorts of nasty squads featuring Arcanine and Ninjask, giving him a layer of unpredictability unmatched by most of this pool. This is furthered thanks to the help of SS superstar Highways, who is no slouch in ADV UU either. His accomplishments all being very recent leaves him without a huge history in the tier, which is what leaves him a bit lower than the others here, but Roseybear will still likely put up a solid enough performance.

He's big, he's fat, and this is debatably the best tier for his beloved mantis; it is likely BFM will load Scyther all 7 weeks of the tournament, which gives him the ever-important namesake buff. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for the rankers to have too much faith in him; while he's still likely to have an okay season and has some experience in this tier from ADVPL, it is likely that BFM will struggle in a very top-heavy pool. With his creative building, though, he could pull off some upsets; it could also result in flops, but you can never tell until it actually happens. I wouldn't keep your expectations too high for the Wurmples' ADV slot, but don't be too surprised if it does better than you'd think; cheese is a powerful tool, after all, and there's no bigger cheeser than the mantis.

HANTSUKI is an overall accomplished tournament player that finds himself in ADV UU, a tier that he has not played recently whatsoever. If anyone in this tournament is likely to bring a Hypno, it's him; while his team should be able to catch him up to speed with metagame shifts, ADV UU is a very different landscape to what it was in the past, especially with newcomers Haunter, Arcanine, Swellow, and Ninjask joining the fray. HANTSUKI's overall skill is solid, though; if he can get up-to-date teams together, he can definitely string together some wins for this slot, but an overall lack of any recent experience whatsoever makes it difficult to have faith in him as it stands.

In a perhaps undeserved ranking, Parpar takes the #8 slot for ADV UU. Coming off a stellar UUFPL where Armaldo was allowed, it's clear Parpar knows a fair bit about this tier; he also seems to be an active builder of it, which is a large plus in a metagame with newly released threats to account for. That said, Parpar has absolutely no experience on the big stage of UU, so it's understandable that he was largely ranked last. This may act as a motivator that allows Parpar to overperform, though; keep your eyes on this slot, as it's likely to defeat your expectations. For now, though, Parpar is projected to have an underwhelming tournament overall.

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Widely considered the absolute best GSC UU player currently, it is of no surprise to see HSA ranked first in this pool. HSA is returning after strong 4-2 performances in the last editions of both UUSD and UUPL, and by all accounts there is no reason not to expect a similar high level of performance this time. HSA displays an absolute mastery of building and playing in GSC UU, with remarkable efficiency loading any playstyle from Baton Pass offense to Shuckle stall that can make him a true nightmare to prepare for, and the support of his manager Sage, a long-time player of this tier, is bound to ensure he loads the most well-prepared solid teams.

robjr has a lot less tour results in GSC UU than a lot of his competition in this pool, but make no mistake, he is a force to be reckoned with. robjr claimed victory in the GSC UU cup finals in UU Classic 2021 against Estarossa and has displayed incredible skill amongst various UU generations in the past as a fantastic player, while his time spent working with HSA in this tier should not be underestimated. robjr also has the support of Raichy as a teammate, who should be able to help ensure quality teambuilding, helping inspire confidence that he will be able to repeat his previous success in this tier!

What he lax in experience in GSC UU, he absolutely makes up for with his incredible game sense and playing skills as a renowned tournament player. The reason lax sits below robjr despite this really comes down to a matter of experience in this tier; while lax did play in last UUSD and put up a 2-1 performance, even showcasing some cool innovations such as Curse + Baton Pass Mr. Mime, he is still a more unknown presence in this tier and only time will tell if he, alongside Garay oak's support, can keep up with some of the incredible builders in this pool. Nonetheless, his top-notch playing ability will undoubtedly give him a huge competitive edge versus the lower half of this GSC UU pool.

holly is a face known to almost everyone as one of the most public figures within the GSC lower tiers community, with an enormous enthusiasm for GSC UU that translates into an eagerness to push boundaries while teambuilding, creating popular builds such as her famous LanturnPilo offense. This eagerness can be holly's downfall at times, however, as she can go too overboard while teambuilding and end up crippling herself in the teambuilder during a match. holly had a solid 5-4 performance in the last edition of UUSD, although in more recent times she only put up a 3-4 performance in UUPL in large part due to facing significant game crippling problems against lead Granbull in more than one match across the tour. If holly can steady her nerves against lead Granbull more this tour, and if her teambuilding is on point especially with the support of Celebiii, a newcomer to GSC UU who has been making a name for himself in UUFPL among other things, then she should be expected to easily put up a solid performance in this pool.

Despite his GSC signup apparently being a joke, col49 finds himself playing GSC UU for the Primarinas. col49 is no stranger to generation 2 and is undeniably a solid player, but his experience within UU itself is fairly limited, especially due to the massive trends the tier has faced over the last few years. He does, however, have the support of Jade as his manager, who despite being more recent to GSC UU, was taught the tier by The Show himself and displays natural skill with teambuilding in the tier, and if col49 can avoid any activity problems he could very well put up as decent performance during this tour.

Despite being more of a GSC Ubers main, vani is no stranger to GSC UU, having played it in the last edition of UUSD, where he picked up a solid 4-3 performance, albeit losing against the top players in the pool. vani has a decent head on his shoulders when it comes to playing ability in GSC UU, but his team choices can sometimes leave something to be desired, and he had a particularly bad performance in the last UUPL, going 0-3 before being subbed out for the rest of the tour. The presence of Torchic on his team can hopefully help the teambuilding side of things this tour to a degree, with the latter coming off a decent 4-5 performance in a strong UUPL pool, and there is no reason to expect that vani could not still put up a decent record in this tour.

Inder was a newcomer to GSC UU in the last edition of UUPL, where despite being ranked last in the initial PRs, he managed to achieve a respectable 3-4 performance in a strong pool. How much of this was down to his manager robjr's support is unknown, but Inder has the support of another GSC UU player from UUPL in Mystras Leoxses, whose valuable teambuilding support should hopefully provide Inder with the potential to repeat this performance. Make no mistake, despite being ranked this low, Inder is still a capable player who can absolutely put up a solid fight against most of this pool.

In last we have cy, a surprising choice for a lot of people, as she has no notable experience in this tier to speak of, having only played one game of GSC UU in recent tours, which she lost. cy finds herself alongside winning UUPL Sisters teammates KM and mncmt again, and perhaps her fellow Sister avarice can help support them with some decent GSC UU teams, but whether this was a blunder in drafting from Sinistea Ministry with them simply forgetting to draft a GSC player waits to be seen, with some people surprised to see that avarice himself wasn't playing in this slot instead due to his success in GSCPL and greater experience in this tier.

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Returning from a successful run in the last edition of UUSD, Torchic takes his place as the RBYer to beat this time around. Torchic's last venture into this tier saw him come out with a strong 6-2 record, a feat that allowed him and his team to advance all the way to semifinals largely off of his amazing play. Torchic has a deep understanding of RBY UU and there's no reason to doubt he'll perform excellently here; despite this year having a stacked RBY pool and Torchic's team lacking any sort of RBY support, he flies high as the best of the bunch according to our rankers!

A rising star, Unowndragon is a menace in RBY UU. In the most recent UUFPL, he amassed an absurd 8-1 record; his sole loss was to AM, and he took down strong players such as stunner047 and Koalacance—twice! His consistency in this tier allowed him to carry his team all the way to finals, where, naturally, he won again, even in the most high-pressure situation. Top this off with support from well-rounded manager pokemonisfun and you've certainly got a recipe for success in this tier. Unowndragon may only have one team tournament record to go off, but don't let that fool you; his skills in this tier should not be doubted, and he will prove a challenge for anyone in this pool.

Shellnuts is a friendly face that can frequently be found chatting in the RBY and UU Discord servers about general life and, of course, RBY UU. When he's not doing that, though, he can be found shredding the competition; a string of decent results like his 4-1 and 2-2 UUFPL runs alongside a solid performance in the recent RBY UU Invitational means that there is no reason to doubt that Shellnuts is capable of talking the talk and walking the walk. In addition to this, he's got a great sparring partner in Sage; while she's unlikely to build the tier any time soon, Sage will no doubt be able to provide Shellnuts with test games to ensure he's fighting fit. Shellnuts is expected to have a solid performance for sure!

juoean is a new face to many; while she has been around for some time now, her exploits in RBY UU are quite recent, and she hasn't played RBY UU in any team tournaments before now. You'd be a fool to count her out because of this, though; juoean not only made her way into the RBY UU Invitational through playins, but she went on to win the whole thing! Her unique and offensive building style served her well and allowed her to take home the championship of the most elite individual RBY UU tournament to date. She's also got the support of fellow LGPE OU fanatic Lily, who has dabbled in this tier before and can certainly provide ample test games necessary for juoean to succeed.

While generally more known for escapades in other RBY tiers, stunner047 bursted onto the RBY UU scene in the most recent UUFPL, amassing a dominant 5-2 record during the regular season; with his sole losses being to extremely strong players in Unowndragon and Volk, this is nothing to sneeze at. stunner has also got backup; Ika Ika Musume is more known for RBY OU and NU, but they can almost certainly pick up RBY UU well enough to ensure that stunner isn't left out to dry and can also sub in if things go awry. There are less UU-specific results to go off here than others on this list, which is what keeps stunner from the upper echelon of the rankings. Make no mistake, though; he's perfectly competent and can put up a fight against anyone in this pool.

phoopes has been a little down on his luck lately. While he has recently finally broken what he claimed himself to be a 13-set losing streak in RBY UU, it's still a little bit difficult to see him sweeping a pool as strong as this RBY UU group. That said, phoopes has shown flashes in this tier before. He put up a decent 3-3 record in the first UUFPL, a 3-2 record in RBY PL II, and has managed to garner some wins here and there since then; it's obvious that he knows the tier quite well, and he can certainly put up a fight. While we know phoopes is competent, only time will tell if he can break out of his current funk. If he can, he may be able to put up a better record than this ranking would suggest, but for now we temper our expectations. It is also worth noting that phoopes does have SPL-caliber RBY OU player Aliss in his corner; while she hasn't been known to dabble much in RBY UU, her transferrable skillset will almost certainly help the phoat out.

AM is an interesting case in that he's the only person on this list that wouldn't be considered a traditional "RBY main". That's not a bad thing on its own, though; it makes for a unique perspective on a metagame, and that's one that can bring success at times. For AM, that has been the case to an extent. He put up 3-1 and 1-2 records in UUFPL I and II, respectively, and he does have a number of semi-experienced RBY UU players on his team in BigFatMantis, Cam, and robjr. There are definitely reasons to believe that AM can pull off something special in this slot. With that said, he's a lot less proven than anyone else on this list; those two results are essentially all he has to his name, and that just isn't a lot of experience relative to the other RBYers here. He may also not be willing to push the boundaries as much as others in the pool, which could lead to him being easy to counterteam. We'll have to see, though; these expectations could all be entirely unfounded after all.

emma being this low may come as a surprise to anyone who's familiar with her RBY OU exploits—she's pretty good at that tier and even won the most recent SPL as an undefeated RBY OU player! Granted she only played one set, but hey, that's a 100% winrate! The reason she's so low is just her lack of RBY UU experience; there's no data on her anywhere in this tier, which is both a blessing and a curse. It'll be hard for her opponents to know what to expect of her, but it also shows that she just hasn't played much RBY UU at all before, and it remains to be seen if she'll be able to make the transition. If she can, she may prove to be a great value pick for the Sandacondas; she does have holly and Celebiii on her team, both of whom have some RBY UU experience, so she's got testing partners and support. emma's season is certain to be an interesting one.

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The body weight of Thomas Dick Kicker is only second to the weight of his accomplishments and impact on the UU metagame over the years, and the same could be said maybe even moreso of his comanagaer Pearl. These two together symbolize the jerk that has dominated UU subforum team tours nearly since its conception, and while rivals such as the Battle Girls franchise have aged and become a relic of the past, these two continue to dominate. Thomas probably puts about 3 lines in per week at this point and is surely a shell of the former machine he came up as, but it's more than enough when he is a seasoned player and has a loyal cast and crew that continues to not be a viable draft pick for other teams bc they will probably put in a quarter of the effort if they are drafted by not the Jerk. You can expect this roster to be stacked, and, even if they aren't, the old men driving the bus will surely be able to keep it all together. To sum up these two in spot number one, you can combine any 2 names in the history of UU and it'll be difficult to debate them being a better duo than TDK and Pearl.

These two are splendid individual UUers that've had an impact on the tiering of it for a solid handful of years now. Both of them rising in this tier oughly around the same time, they are surely familiar enough with each other to be great managers together and I have no doubt about that, but of course I can't imagine the synergy is on the same level of the entry above. As far as I'm aware (idk shit so don't hold me accountable if I'm wrong), these two have not been managers together yet, but the sheer relevance of the two of them individually (one of them literally being the TL) is enough to put them at number 2 and ahead of the rest of the competition. I feel these two will craft a viable team together, probably heavily resembling a fruitier version of Barclays.

Honestly I expect this pick to be controversial bc I don't feel super confident in it myself. No disrespect to Jade, she has been a friend for longer than most on this site, but I feel Lily does carry this duo up in the rankings in my mind at least, which tbf is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things so ye. In UUPL, Jade formed a team that on paper I felt left a lot to be desired; obviously it all doesn't fall on her shoulders or anything, but she failed to strike at the right moments when it came to bidding and ended up with a whole lot of money and a lack of talent in the end. This is a Snake format instead of an auction, which may remedy that, but she also has a strong wingwoman who has experience in using her authority when it comes to this subforum. I think the two of them will complement each other well and there's enough knowledge of the UU playerbase and community between them to form something unique and good. I expect something similar to the good parts of their two UUPL teams merging. Not sure, idk shit, but either way these're two capable individuals who have a solid grasp of UU and can end up surprising me in either very good or very bad ways with their draft, hoping for the former.

Honestly before I thought about it much I thought I'd put this duo lower because of KM alone. I fuckin love KM a lot as a human and even as a player and I'm rooting for him wholeheartedly in everything he does ever, in both mons and life. I consider him a genuine friend and not just one from the scope of Smogon. Reason I say all that is because KM certainly does interesting things with his builds and his support I imagine can either be extremely helpful or extremely stupid. Like it's probably not even really a player / support connection that really matters here that'd make it more or less consistent... I think it's more like either he will say the right dumb thing that actually ends up being rly good and just the thing that whatever build they're talking about needed... OR he will just spam useless sets and mons that do absolutely nothing and even if the user thinks it's good they will get schwacked, 6-0ed, destroyed bc they brought AoA Coba Berry Mankey. mncmt isn't someone I've interacted with much in general, but judging by the presence he's had in the UU discord and community in general, he is more active than I would've thought he'd be in the past. I think he'll probably bring a pretty great environment to the team chat along with KM, and you could argue that these two could be ranked higher, idk wtf their draft will look like.

I do certainly have a bias towards pif; he was my original UU subforum team tour manager and I owe him a lot in both mons and life, he is my real life friend at this point. Idk anything about Aqua Jet, like nothing at all, whatsoever. That definitely does bring him down the rankings a bit in the sense of, if he had someone more solidified that would complement him and balance him out in terms of draft and team building he could be extremely high on this list for sure. pif values different things competitively than most other people on this site, he truly has a wholesome and mostly unselfish outlook on situations like these, and that is both his strongest asset as a manager and his biggest weak point. It makes him strong because he believes in his players and truly wants them to succeed, and his players will absolutely feel that being the case. It might impact the way they build or play and it will only be in a positive way because they themselves will feel more confident because of how much value pif puts in them. It hurts him because he can believe in the wrong people easily, it is more personal with him, and he truly is a people person. He is not trying to build the all star team, he is gonna primarily go after the people he knows and talks to, the way he values others isn't based on anything but his own personal experiences with them, and while that is a beautiful thing... it is not efficient in a team tournament/roster building setting. I think with the right structure pif can make a run with whatever team he drafts and it can turn out ANY number of ways. Drafting isn't rocket science most of the time and he can definitely surprise us with something incredible, decent, mid, bad, or anything. Also who knows maybe Aqua Jet is a fuckin beast or smth idk.

These two might feel like im throwing shade or something by putting them here and I don't blame them bc I don't rly feel like they deserve to be this low, but this is where I've ended up with them. Idk if gum will contribute much other than a pretty good atmosphere maybe, Highways is great and has become far stronger ever since SS became CG, and I haven't been very around this past year or so, maybe he is even stronger now and I am just a buffoon. I like both of these users, I just can't associate a group of users that I can imagine being the roster they end up having. No shot they get Brazil all to themselves, and regardless I feel Highways has been around long enough and is strong enough of a player to make something happen and they can definitely end up with an upper-half level roster. I just can't imagine them coming up with something better than like a tiebreak R1 playoff loss if that makes sense, but hopefully they'll prove me wrong.

I also do feel these two could definitely be higher, they are reigning UUFPL champs I think. bb skarm is a regular in the UU scene at this point and Cam is a fossil at this point, he knows the Smogon community like the back of his hand and I'm sure can combine his experience as a Smogon user with bb skarm's experience as a UU jerker and come up with something great. I have heard small ideas of what they might get and honestly it does not sound bad. Like I said they could definitely go higher, I would like to stress that like 5-7 is extremely close and probably very interchangeable. I think how good this team ends up almost completely depending on the star power they secure in the first two rounds. If they secure an at least solid duo that complement each other and cover a variety of tiers and will pump out a positive record between them for sure... then they can definitely end up putting together a supporting cast around it that'd be really really nice and genuine threats to taking the whole tour. Ultimately they fall this low on this list because most of the duos above them simply hold more name weight and have more expected of them. Which obviously isn't what managing is all about, but I think it does play a role and there is a correlation when it comes to why the best managers are the best managers, if that makes sense.

I am well acquainted with drew personally and as a player for sure. I don't know a ton about Sirwings but I have no bias against him. He did knock me out of UU Open iirc and I do remember feeling like he played confidently and well. I otherwise don't know anything about him though other than that pif is partial to him, which is a plus in my mind at least. I do believe they are planning on drafting themselves for this tour, which I think is going to limit what they can do at least a bit unless the draft itself or games in the season go way way way in their favor. They haven't given me any reason to believe they will help carry their team to victory with S-tier piloting or support, which is the bare minimum of what you'd pray for in R1 of a snake draft. Maybe they will and absolutely prove me wrong, but like I said I am going off of what I have seen/know, which obviously isn't much, I am just one guy. Drew does tend to have strange takes sometimes and hasn't had the best track record when it comes to team tours, both in terms of performance and also in terms of how he meshes with the rest of his team. There's a ton of question marks above this duo and they can definitely surprise us all, and I would love to see that for sure, I am rooting for them but as of right now there is definitely a gap between 7 and 8 and these two are comfortably last place for me.

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