Tournament OMPL XII - Week Two

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AAA Review

So lazy in procrastinating this that there are multiple w2 aaa games and I considered just reserving this to be combined with w2 reviews but I'm not sure if I'll be able to continue this w2 given it's 8 games and I'm busier (and still lazy) and plus different metas so hey, better late than never I guess lol. Interesting to see the games this time around, with a large portion of teams played this week being fairly aggressive offense/BO vindicating the perceived trend back in AAA Open and stuff like Pecha still going strong though still with just 1 week it's hard to tell general trends just yet. With the Wake ban in place for W2 it'll be interesting to see how this changes next week... but for now onto the games this week.

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hariyana grande vs Stareal
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Hariyana vs Stareal is interesting, both being pilots with a lack of knowledge of the current AAA meta. Despite this, both teams brought look relatively standard balance, with nothing particularly unorthodox in preview though a Ting-Lu structure is rarer but not that uncommon. Both teams seem pretty lackluster on their progress makers given Dragonite is kind of stuffed by Psysurge but could change with sets. Going into the actual game, it really is just a long bunch of shuffling to get chip with Stareal revealing MGLO RMoon and implying Scarf Azelf so yeah this is going to take a while. Manaphy does notably get their AV Knocked though hariyana has other fat Steels to compensate + DNite for Moth. Ting-Lu serves as a driver for progress for Stareal, able to spam Ruination and generally keep a good layer of Spikes to wear down hariyana. Moth takes a Trick Scarf from Gholdengo which irritates it with no Boots and not able to spam MSun on stuff like Mana. The war continues but Mana does eventually force some progress onto Stareal, with Stareal accepting Scald burns onto Corv and Empo. Eventually however with Empo played so recklessly and Moth tricked + Rocks up Moth gets a pick with Stareal not wanting U-turn chip on RMoon with it already being so low I suppose. Ting-Lu does come in again and pressures Corv and stacks up 2 layers of spikes but without Empol and Ting-Lu chipped Gholdengo can start claiming as well, forced to sack Corv. Moth comes in to force it out and Stareal accepts the Moth sacrifice though Dragonite could've come in fairly safely. Finally with so much chip accumulated and Corv refusing to Roost, RMoon can make progress on Stareal's side, claiming Tusk after sacking Moth to ensure Spikes stay up. Manaphy tries to Scald down the Ting-Lu but unfortunately doesn't get burn luck and gets claimed by RMoon. Ting-Lu stays up healthy enough to live and kill Gholdengo and Azelf comes in to clean.

Certainly... a game alright. Compared to a lot of the other games a far slower game and I do question the amount of progress makers on both sides of the team that led to this situation (Specs Ghold would've been epic tbh). The game actually came down fairly close to the end, with some unlucky Scald RNG and some potential plays could've been made in hindsight like maybe staying in Dragonite on Ting-Lu at the very end but nothing egregious and I'm too lazy and tired to nitpick plays.


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atha vs Betticus IV
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Both players bring some fairly interesting stuff into preview Atha brings a very offensive potential HO team and a Corv that could be hiding screens with the lack of a clear defensive structure. Betticus brings a more balanced team though still fairly offensive depending on sets and a very interesting and rare Fezan. From preview it's a bit unclear though especially with sets unknown though if screens Atha seems in a healthier position to break through given the fairly fragile defensive core here with a lack of a clear check for stuff like offensive Gholdengo. Atha does indeed reveals Screens and both have to play a very dangerous game to win, Iron Hands comes in to setup with Sub and SD but Ghold reveals a fairly uncommon Lightning Rod which no doubt is fairly infuriating. Atha takes a bit of a risk doubling into Pao but it works out and Corv comes in response, revealing an again uncommon Delta Stream but Atha doubles to Gholdengo, revealing BoR and then revealing Sub as the Corv pivots out putting Betticus in a precarious position. RMoon is forced in and while it does force it out takes a MiR meaning it cant come in another time around. Corv manages to get up Reflect again as RMoon comes in, with Manaphy taking advantage to freely set-up Tail Glow and force Betticus to Toxic and sack Fezan and RMoon. Corv comes in and sets up again and Betticus is forced to continue to sack, with Dragonite eventually coming in to sweep as Corv sets up dual screens for it, revealing Fire Punch to obliterate the Corv, though I do question where the Dragonite check on Betticus's side really was.

A fairly odd team defensively and offensively coming from Betticus that Atha managed to exploit handily with their HO that managed to break through quite quickly, with Atha playing appropiately aggressively with Corv and doubles for the win. I don't think Betticus had much of a chance without Atha making a serious mistake outside of potentially trying to play aggressively and set-up Dragonite to sweep with Corv low enough to snipe and Hands/Mana nullified but it still seemed pretty unlikely. A clean game for Atha overall.
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Glaliegoesboom vs MZ
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From preview, MZ seems to lead with a good advantage with Kingambit offering a strong device to sweep if Glalie isn't careful especially able given it can completely nullify the Prank Pecha from Glalie's side and other very similar cores. Both Manaphies immediately trade AV, guaranteeing a short game and even more so when Deoxys-S comes in and MZ decides to sack Manaphy immediately, though with the Gholdengo in back I doubt it would've lasted long anyway, with Deo-S revealing Protean LO. STail is forced in and Pecha comes in to check though a bit questionable given it offers the chance for MZ to immediately exploit it with Kingambit. GTusk is forced in and MZ nails it with a strong Iron Head and reveals EButton, going into Manaphy to risk for a Scald given the lack of options and indicating physdef. MZ decides to play it safe and go into STail, with Gholdengo trying to come in to exploit STail but a good Wish into Kingambit puts large pressure onto Glalie as they need to preserve Tusk HP though leaving STail chipped. Manaphy comes in and tries to Scald fish but to little luck and plays hard into Pecha to trigger EButton into GTusk. Opposing GTusk reveals Eject Pack and makes for clear entry into Deoxys-S, RMoon coming in on the revealed NP and MZ forced out by the potential of Scarf. GTusk comes in on Knock, though a seeming mistake that sap momentums Glalie does manage to turn it around as GTusk comes in and reveals EE, recovering some HP to alleviate some pressure of Kingambit. MZ's Deoxys-S comes in aggressively as Tusk clicks SR and this time Deo-S leaves RMoon low with an IBeam on the switch. Glalie's Deoxys-S comes in with the pivot and does manage to claim STail. MZ's Deoxys-S comes in and Glalie is forced to sack, but makes a bit of a misplay sacking Gholdengo to 2 TBolts which was one of the few checks to Deoxys-S otherwise. It seems pretty over for Glalie but MZ makes an extremely fatal mistake clicking Psychic... into the RMoon which reveals that it's slower and kills it with U-turn. You can read the whole of matte's analysis if you so wish but really it was a horrible miscalc either ay as MZ had assumed MGuard Scarf... the one set that Psychic would've actually played out against. Now Kingambit is the only threatening mon and with most defensive pieces down Glalie can clean up with Tusk and Deoxys-S for a fairly safe win, scouting the Scarf Gholdengo and Knocking it to secure it.

Really, by good advantage, it was a pretty great advantage. Deoxys-S isn't a fun matchup for most physdef Mana teams, especially since the speed control tied, Scarf RMoon was considered but we had other outs or usually did in Prank Pecha being able to come in and force it out or trade. Problem was Kingambit completely made that prospect useless and was another rough mon that we coped against because it was rare in testing. MZ made a horrible misplay that ultimately cost him the game and could've arguably won if they were just safer either but it is how it is. Glalie played well to their poor matchup, bluffing RMoon well enough and playing aggressively enough around the Gambit to win fast which was their only real out.
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Clas vs Quantum Tesseract
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Both veterans bring very offensively paced teams as the norm, though QTs looks more standard with Mana/RMoon/Corv core while Clas brings some Ting-Lu stuff defensively. On preview, QTs progress makers so seem rather annoyed by Ting-Lu/Pecha combined, though Sandy could be threatening. On the other hand Clas brings a trio of strong conventional breakers which all can be threatening into QT given chip, particularly Deo-S if PsySurge mixed. The game initially undergoes some light shuffling with the first noticeable play being Manaphy getting Knocked by Wake as it threatens Corv out, which opens up Deo-S/Wake significantly in this matchup. Ceru comes in soon after with the Manaphy pivot and reveals Wisp, burning Ting-Lu which could maybe open up Ting-Lu to being broken through eventually. Clas makes a good aggressive double on Corv scout though reveals Scarf and Manaphy SpD, but still manages to chunk Manaphy significantly as QT goes for Scald over U-turn which is a bit odd. Some more shuffling goes on until Deoxys-S comes in and claims Ceruledge with Manaphy without AV and significantly chunked. Shocks finally does come in and reveals non-Scarf which is a bit sad given the lack of Ground immunities, but does set SR. Zama-H comes in and clicks CC into Dragonite and also reveals Boots SoR and despite this manages to snipe Dragonite with Stone Edge as it tries to roost anticipating Pecha coming in. Clas gladly sacks Zama-H to let Deoxy-S come in on a weakened Manaphy letting Deoxys-S claim RMoon with mixed and at this point it's just clean-up for Clas.

A slightly skewed matchup for Clas but Clas managed to get the plays right like Zama-H and pressuring Manaphy to break through while QT struggled to make much meaningful progress until it was too late affirming the very offensive pace of the meta and showing off Deoxys's strength. QT might've been able to do something if they played really aggressively with like Shocks but otherwise I would've say it was favoured for Clas most of the way through.
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Lana vs Sylvi
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Loading into the preview Lana seems to load some interesting balance/BO with Goodra-H and Landorus as rare picks but not too uncommon and Sylvi bringing something a bit more offensive from glance, with a very rare Zarude potentially posing trouble depending on the set. It is hard to tell on preview, there's a Pecha for Zam, Goodra-H for the potential special breakers on the team and Zarude is an X-Factor but doesn't seem impossible to check with RMoon/Lando. On the flipside the progress-makers are less defined on Lana's tema but Zappy/RMoon/Lando can all prove annoying depending on set and are set more defensively compared to Sylvi's weirder defensive core. Into the actual game and some shuffling starts off the game with Lando revealed as Fluffy RHelmet as Zama-H clicks Crunch into it and rocks do get set up onto Lana's side. Lana's Roaring Moon gets the Knock off onto Zama-H, revealing Eject Pack and the likely fact it lacks power to punch through the troublesome Pecha. They make the double into Zarude and it does get the Knock Off onto Pecha but Pecha manages to get a lucky Toxic and chunk it severely with Malignant while able to Recover off the damage of Zarude which poses issues for Sylvi. Iron Crown comes in and reveals Future Sight which could potentially pose trouble though requires some very careful positioning from Sylvi to make work given how low Zama is. Sylvi's GTusk also reveals Wandering Spirit but this isn't too relevant this match but interesting still. Future Sight goes up again Zarude gets sacked to finally get Zama-H in position but Lana just simply sacks Zapdos and Zama-H is stuck to its issue of Pecha. A lack of a Ground immunity/resist means the offensive Great Tusk Lana brings is very threatening, able to pick off the Prima and removing rocks. This again comes into play as Sylvi has to sack Tusk to the Lando and at this point the game is effectively done with a lack of a good way to make progress on Sylvi's side and a mon disadvantage meaning Lana just had to clean up with CB RMoon and Pecha.

Arguably the game was done pretty soon on as Zarude got chunked given the knowledge of the remaining sets and mons, with a lack of a real Ground resist/immunity that Lana managed to poke easily, playing aggressively enough showcasing Pecha's utility in order to not get pushed over too quickly by the potential threat of Zama-H + Future Sight and when it did finally come into play managed to sack down easily with a lack of other great progress makers on Sylvi's team. Sylvi's team was interesting but the defensive core was just too lacking and while suspicious defensive cores have worked on offense it just didn't seem well crafted to hold enough this time. Prima seemed to be offensive which was unfortunate to have matched up into a Goodra-H though never got in the first place, showing its weakness with its low speed though aggressively switching into Lando EQ did cost it quite a bit. Otherwise, fairly clean win for Lana.
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xavgb vs astralydia
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Like many other games the respected oldies face off with two rather offensive teams with nothing too out of the standard on both sides apart from the perhaps rarer Kingambit. In terms of matchup, without a clear RegenVest it does seem fairly worrying matchup into Wake or even stuff like offensive Prima/Shocks for astralydia while xavgb does seem a bit better off though needs to still play carefully around threats like Gambit/Ceru but can breathe fine. Diving into the game it starts off strong with STail immediately tricking Scarf into Prima, gimping its ability to recover but weakening revealed Regen Prima for STail boom. An unlucky MBlast crit + SpD drop forces some doubles with Gholdengo revealing Beads. Eventually Ceru gets in on a Prima but very unfortunately misses the Polterghast which would've killed. Xavgb takes the opportunity and astralydia is forced to sack STail. Ceru comes in again and severely chunks the Prima but Ceru is left extremely low and astralydia decides to sack. Down two it's looking rough and with xavgb revealing a Fluffy bulky GTusk into their offensive Headlong GTusk it doesn't look much better. xavgb plays safe sacking down some mons to make some slow progress, though gets Tusk a bit low for Kingambit. Still Kingambit finds it hard to setup and xavgb plays it clean for a win as Prima chips and Wake comes in for kills with Kingambit accepting its fate and dying to GTusk Spin + Helmet.

Very unlucky that Ceruledge missed the Polterghast to finish as it proved a substanial annoyance by the end to constantly pivot around stuff like RMoon and ended up freezing the Zapdos though I doubt mattered too much. That said even if that had happened I could imagine xavgb piloting more aggressively rather than consolidating more safely with Wake still a real big threat. Again still a testament to the prevalence of offense in the tier and a clean win for xagvb taking advantage of the defensive weaknesses just fine.
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abriel vs shiloh
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Just getting into the preview, it's hard to tell too much. Abriel does seem to lack a great long-term Zapdos answer though the game might not last too long given both teams are pretty offensive still, though abriel a bit more balanced. The sets make a real difference though so it'd be better just to dive in. RMoon leads off and reveals Band which is not good for shiloh given the very temporary nature of their Dark resists but for now Cobalion does fine. Some shuffling goes on and in the midst Primarina is revealed as RegenVest. Eventually Zama-H gets in on Heatran and Skamory reveals Fluffy. This appears troublesome at first especially with Dragonite but shiloh predicts well and CCs the Skarm on the Spike, leaving it low and in range and abriel just decides to sack as Skarm isn't too useful otherwise. Dragonite comes in Zapdos can check pretty ok. At this point it becomes a game of who can win faster as RMoon gets past the Cobalion and practically claims on most outside of Pecha/Zama-H. Zama-H comes in and abriel decides to instead go into RHelmet Tusk to trade. Shiloh manages to keep momentum well with Pecha and sacking the Zapdos to regain it on Dragonite. abriel trades a large chunk of Prima's HP to regain it and Pecha takes a significant chunk from Psychic Noise but is unable to kill it without risking DBond. Heatran comes in and gets killed off eventually by Zapdos trading a wisp. Dragonite comes in to revenge but Ace is sacked and Zapdos comes in, forcing a Primarina sack. Swampert gets sacked and abriel loses at this point as RMoon cannot sack itself to DBond as Zapdos can wall Dragonite but Pecha can afford to wall Dragonite easily.

Not too much to say, I didn't really identify any key moments here because I'm lazy but abriel might have had a chance if they had played more aggressively with doubles into RMoon given the lack of switch-ins, though they did manage to get it going eventually shiloh managed to play aggressively enough to put enough pressure to win fast enough and neuter RMoon as soon as possible and Pecha managed to show off fairly neatly.
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Ivar57 vs RoFnA
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The last on the list but surely not the least, the preview looks very funky and different compared to previous usual offense/BO standoffs. Ivar loads up a very clear all-out Screens HO while RoFnA loads up the only and very rare stall. While this does sound bad for Ivar... you do know who wins. The matchup varies a lot depending on set but there isn't an entirely clear Dragonite check outside of perhaps PrankPex which is sketchy into EQ/ESpeed if played against well. Getting into the game, Volc leads, probably trying to pressure Ting-Lu. Volc is forced out into Tusk who reveals MBreaker and setup and Pex is forced in to Haze it but gets OHKO'd by Headlong leaving it in doubt RoFnA's defensive integrity already. Corv comes in to Brave Bird but is exploited by Manaphy revealing Stamina to setup Take Hearts. Clodsire takes the opportunity to set TSpikes and Blissey reveals CM + Unaware, nullifying the Manaphy. Ivar eventually hards into Eleki to force it out, exploding and leaving Ting-Lu hanging on as it switches in. Ivar keeps switching in Great Tusk and not killing the Ting which is a bit weird but it does mean a layer of annoying Spikes go up. Some weird shuffling occurs as it would seem to me that GTusk should win quickly and going into Mana is odd but it doesn't matter as Dragonite eventually comes in and can just sweep.

Yeah not much to say apart from it's not hard to see why stall isn't used much in the meta, though even then the stall build looked super janky on RoFnA's build but I guess that's just all stall lol.
 

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AAA: Lana vs hariyana grande - i dont see a single person in the aaa pool to give a motivated lunala a challenge
BH: aerobee vs Marsopa Trump & Test Rex - goated ph player vs an okay bh main with a terrible name? give me the bh main
GG: temp vs SammyCe123 - holy, temp has enuf experience to beat this person now
Inh: Dr. Phd. BJ vs BijouMode - disappointing last week, but lily is probably the only person who can give bj a challenge
MnM: Icemaster vs PociekMociek - this should be the eaisest win ever for ice, if he loses he should retire
PiC: DeepFriedMagikarp vs HiZo - hizo has a better na,e
STAB: Fc vs xdRudi.exe - holy 6-0
Bo3: xavgb vs Ivar57 - easiest win stresh has seen in his life
 
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