-
Snag some vintage SPL team logo merch over at our Teespring store before January 12th!
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
the 3rd, final, and real dpl 8 meme thread (NO MODS / A*CTIC / TOURBROS / CRUNCHMAN ALLOWED)
- Thread starter Idyll
- Start date
- Status
we got double bingo1!!!
- 3k starter slot(?) (z strats might)
- nomming someone who didn't sign up (emforbes/Nails later as a joke)
- token egirl pick (umbry?)
- "who?" ("who is zeal?" "no one interesting" "oh ok")
- 11+ player team (tenzai's team)
- hard .20 & someone goes for 27k+ (dawoblefet)
- team w/ no DUU (z strats team)
- singles mainer with not much prior doubles experience (robjr)
now that the excitement of draft is over
DPL 8's Thickest Snubs:
FloristtheBudew:
Recent Results:
Currently 4-1 in Round 8 of the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
Top 4 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
1-2 for APAC in 2022 DWCOP
3-2 for APAC in 2021 DWCOP
These are far better results than what has been achieved by many of those who did get drafted, including myself. Florist at least deserves a look in an SS slot, as for 4-5k they could easily be a valuable 2-1 or 3-2 player. They've also been around a long time, so they should be able to help out in prep for SM and XY, as well as for their main tier of SS DOU. I think florist is the most notable snub from DPL 8, but there are definitely some other good players who were not drafted.
AtmosphereVGC:
Recent results:
Currently 4-0 in Round 8 of the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
2-1 for Zui Zoruas in Finals of 2022 VGC Winter League
2-3 for Storms in DPL 7
Probably a lesser known name to managers who are less aware of the VGC scene, but Atmosphere is a very strong SS player with a history of strong SM play as well. Atmosphere would be a solid SS starter for many teams.
KennyJ:
Recent results:
Top 16 of Doubles Classic II
3-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
Currently 4-1 in Round 8 of the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
3-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
0-3 in Doubles World Cup II for US West
Despite a rough showing for US West in World Cup, Kenny's numbers speak for themselves. They are a well rounded player with a lot of experience who absolutely deserves a shot on a DPL roster. It's too bad that Kenny gets snubbed from this tour every year.
FrostPixel:
Recent results:
4-2 in the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
2-2 in the 2022 DUU Swiss Tournament
FrostPixel is rather new to the DOU scene, but they are a solid player who plays both DOU and DUU.
Honorable mentions:
FloristtheBudew:
Recent Results:
Currently 4-1 in Round 8 of the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
Top 4 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
1-2 for APAC in 2022 DWCOP
3-2 for APAC in 2021 DWCOP
These are far better results than what has been achieved by many of those who did get drafted, including myself. Florist at least deserves a look in an SS slot, as for 4-5k they could easily be a valuable 2-1 or 3-2 player. They've also been around a long time, so they should be able to help out in prep for SM and XY, as well as for their main tier of SS DOU. I think florist is the most notable snub from DPL 8, but there are definitely some other good players who were not drafted.
AtmosphereVGC:
Recent results:
Currently 4-0 in Round 8 of the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
2-1 for Zui Zoruas in Finals of 2022 VGC Winter League
2-3 for Storms in DPL 7
Probably a lesser known name to managers who are less aware of the VGC scene, but Atmosphere is a very strong SS player with a history of strong SM play as well. Atmosphere would be a solid SS starter for many teams.
KennyJ:
Recent results:
Top 16 of Doubles Classic II
3-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
Currently 4-1 in Round 8 of the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
3-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
0-3 in Doubles World Cup II for US West
Despite a rough showing for US West in World Cup, Kenny's numbers speak for themselves. They are a well rounded player with a lot of experience who absolutely deserves a shot on a DPL roster. It's too bad that Kenny gets snubbed from this tour every year.
FrostPixel:
Recent results:
4-2 in the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
2-2 in the 2022 DUU Swiss Tournament
FrostPixel is rather new to the DOU scene, but they are a solid player who plays both DOU and DUU.
Honorable mentions:
txitxas:
Recent results:
4-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
3-1 in the 2022 DUU Swiss Tournament
yuki:
Recent results:
2-1 for Mistralton Aerial Aces in 2022 VGC Winter League
Itchy:
Recent results:
3-2 in the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
Ron:
Recent results:
2-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
2-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
Yuichi:
Recent results:
3-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
3-2 for the Hoenn Heroes in DPL 7
Recent results:
4-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
3-1 in the 2022 DUU Swiss Tournament
yuki:
Recent results:
2-1 for Mistralton Aerial Aces in 2022 VGC Winter League
Itchy:
Recent results:
3-2 in the 2022 DOU Winter Seasonal
Ron:
Recent results:
2-2 in the 2022 VGC Winter Seasonal
2-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
Yuichi:
Recent results:
3-2 in the 2021 DOU Fall Seasonal
3-2 for the Hoenn Heroes in DPL 7
Sadly, I don't have a good meme to share. But I'm told my try hard poasts are practically memes anyway so here goes...
The DPL snubs seem totally unnecessary. Thanks n10siT for the partial list with stats to back it up. Missing are a number of others who have obvious skills and/or show promise, with some who have tried hard to be active in the community only to get passed over (not gonna name names).
What's especially galling is that you guys had a larger tourney set up, but even though you got more sign ups this year (maybe partly because of the promise of an expanded format), you scaled it back at the last minute (not trying to blame any individual, because I believe it's a tour bro collective fail). "[N]ot quite enough to comfortably support an eight slot tournament" is the punchline I would turn into a meme if I were younger and had more creative skills.
Some of you were actively trying to encourage more people to sign up for DPL, but you guys end up intentionally excluding many good players. If it were up to me, you could have kept the original format and even added a BDSP section. Saying tour bros aren't interested in BDSP seems like a cop out, as you only need 6 decent players in the format and there's a recently added, active ladder to draw from. Even if you had 11 players per team with 9 starters each, that would likely only be about a 50% pick rate (as you'd have more sign ups with a bigger tour) with only about 40% being starters. But that's not exclusive enough for you guys. I guess it would be too much work to have managers reach out to a few slightly lesser known candidates to check out their skills.
I'm sure you guys will have a fun tour, but you're missing easy chances to expand interest in the doubles community and turning many off with the excessive (and totally unnecessary in this case) exclusivity.
The DPL snubs seem totally unnecessary. Thanks n10siT for the partial list with stats to back it up. Missing are a number of others who have obvious skills and/or show promise, with some who have tried hard to be active in the community only to get passed over (not gonna name names).
What's especially galling is that you guys had a larger tourney set up, but even though you got more sign ups this year (maybe partly because of the promise of an expanded format), you scaled it back at the last minute (not trying to blame any individual, because I believe it's a tour bro collective fail). "[N]ot quite enough to comfortably support an eight slot tournament" is the punchline I would turn into a meme if I were younger and had more creative skills.
Some of you were actively trying to encourage more people to sign up for DPL, but you guys end up intentionally excluding many good players. If it were up to me, you could have kept the original format and even added a BDSP section. Saying tour bros aren't interested in BDSP seems like a cop out, as you only need 6 decent players in the format and there's a recently added, active ladder to draw from. Even if you had 11 players per team with 9 starters each, that would likely only be about a 50% pick rate (as you'd have more sign ups with a bigger tour) with only about 40% being starters. But that's not exclusive enough for you guys. I guess it would be too much work to have managers reach out to a few slightly lesser known candidates to check out their skills.
I'm sure you guys will have a fun tour, but you're missing easy chances to expand interest in the doubles community and turning many off with the excessive (and totally unnecessary in this case) exclusivity.
Greetings, citizens of DOU! It is once again your People's Champ with their personal Power Rankings of DPL 8, with short descriptions and going over what I project to be their line-up. A short disclaimer: I'm, of course, not including Squirtles, the undisputed, objectively #1 team of DPL 8.
If you don't like what I say about you here, then prove me wrong during the season. If I miss anything, then that's too bad
#1. Hau'oli Haxers
SS: Paraplegic
SS: Zeal
DUU: Mishimono
SM: Yoda2798
XY: JRL
BW: Checkmater
Bench: GasaiYunoSan, luisin
Another year, another overall balanced draft by 2798, Yoda. Again, Yoda manages to get out of the draft with a starting lineup that doesn't really have any holes whatsoever, with everyone indicated above being around the upper- to mid-tier of their respective pools. Paraplegic projects to be one of the best SS players in the pool, and they're backed by Zeal who I rate highly from what I've seen from them. The synergy between them looks to be interesting considering the timezone difference, hopefully they can make it work! Mishimono is playing for Yoda once again, this time in DUU; considering they just won the recent Swiss tour, they seem to be one of the most in-form players in this format as well. JRL is a known commodity in XY at this point, and I'm excited to see what they can do in what looks like a really spicy XY pool. Yoda and Check look to be the lower points of this lineup, but that's not a knock to their skill at all; it's moreso just about how they haven't really been seen to play these tiers as of late, but they definitely have been recognized as very skilled DOU players within their respective peaks. If they can hold their own, this projects to be a really good year for the Haxers.
#2. Slateport City Sp_ndas
SS: Toxigen
SS: robjr
DUU: Z Strats
SM: umbry
XY: Amaranth
BW: frania
Bench: emma, I want Atago to sit on me, raisedintyo
Known Jerk figure Z Strats managed to snag for himself quite a fascinating team here. Similar to the Haxers, this team is overall generally quite balanced, but compared to them, what seem to be their weaker slots are bigger question marks. Interstingly, in this line-up, it seems that no one has a history of really playing DUU, and the analyst in me feels that Z Strats will put himself there to offset this seeming weakness. They probably can do it fine, great players can get away with anything and as long as they put the right effort in building (+ with emma support), they should justify their pricetag. This team is notably starred by umbry, who's put in what arguably is her best tier, and she should the rock which this team leans on during the season. The dynamic in their XY and BW is interesting; Amaranth has been a great DPL player for the past few years as someone that could be reliably slotted in a buncha oldgens, and in particular they performed phenomenally last year as they got a 2-1 XY record against JRL and qsns (with support from yours truly). At the same time, the team doesn't really have someone who can obviously be put into BW; while Amaranth could be, it seems that instead it will be frania who will be put here, and while they're not a name that one associates with the format, like Z Strats they are a good enough player that their skill likely transcends tiers. Toxigen's solid, not much else to say. The last starter, robjr, is likely the tour's biggest wildcard; they're a big name in singles play who I project to be the starter on this team, and it's a known fact that when it comes to these types of players, Z Strats has a bit of a Midas touch. If their 2nd SS slot ends up panning out, this team looks like it will make a big splash in this tournament.
#3. Santalune Storms
SS: Enzonana.
SS: Shadowmonstr7
DUU: n10siT
SM: Croven
XY: qsns
BW: Human
Bench: Yellow Paint, papiloco
Oh no! The Storms are not in last! Looks like their season is doomed.
Jokes aside, this draft by the Storms looks to be quite respectable. fespy managed to get himself the Exodia combo of Croven-qsns, both of which project to do well in their respective formats. Human is an old head that projects to be able to hold the BW slot just fine. Their SS and DUU, though, only really rank in the middle of the tour, IMO. Shadowmonstr7 and Enzonana. are both good players, but they're not really "big names" and only really rank somewhere in the middle of the SS pool. n10siT, our friendly DUUTL, looks like will be thrown to the wolves as the DUU pool I project this year looks to be really REALLY dangerous, and n10siT himself hasn't really made any standout performances as an individual player that I can note. This draft, overall, looks pretty tame, and it seems to be up to their SS and DUU to punch above their weightclass if the team wants to do some damage in the tour.
#4. Browbeat Lands
SS: Qwello Lee
SS: YoBuddy
DUU: Lord Death Man
SM: Nido-Rus
XY: stax
BW: Sunrose
Bench: talkintree, Crunchman, chlo, voltix, kaori
From the look of things, it seems that Tenzai landed himself in what seems to be a bit of a curious situation as he managed to draft an army which he apparently didn't anticipate nor want. Looking at the team's starters, it honestly seems a bit dangerous at a glance, though upon further inspection, they do have some key weakness: the players are either washed or have a really bad track record into team tours. Qwello Lee is historically bad into DPLs, and YoBuddy hasn't really performed in team tours much as a whole. Nido-Rus looks like a bit washed and busy, and it's a question of whether or not he can actually start at all; in weeks that he can't, this starting lineup really does take a turn for the worst. This team's saving grace is stax and LDM, the former a DOU goat and the latter a DUU goat. If they can show they still got it, then there's hope at the end of the tunnel. The team's last player, Sunrose at BW, isn't particularly noteworthy; while he hasn't realy done much in BW (looking at what they sent me), he's not really a black hole either, so if he can hold his own here then that's pretty much everything a net postive for the Lands's roster construction.
#5. Milwaukee Ducks
SS: MADARAAAA
SS: RelicanthPrimal
DUU: SMB
SM: Akaru Kokuyo
XY: SingleThunder
BW: DaWoblefet
Bench: Meminger21, Ann nomina, KyleCole
This is the first time the SMBoat's managing and, well, let's just say that this is a really interesting debut from one of our GOATs. To me, this team seems to be a case study of a top-heavy draft going a bit off the rails; while they started with a discounted playing SMB and DaWoblefet, who's been winning every Doubles team tour as of late, the way they got complimented seemed a bit iffy, in particular their bench ending up with a lot of non-playing money with whatever starter configuration they go with. This isn't a knock to their players at all, it's just that from a construction standpoint, the money on the bench could have definitely been used to make more plays on the starters. Even if I spin this around a bit, with SMB in SM and KyleCole in DUU or something, the team is still definitely not as strong as it could have been, theoritically. Anyway, that's in the past; the team itself as it stands now is still quite good. SMB and DaWoblefet are basically at the top of their respective slots, no doubt about it, it's just as simple as that. MADARAAAA is a really interesting SS slot, he's really good though and I expect him to do well. RelicanthPrimal is a fine pick as well, though he projects to be on the lower-half of this SS pool; I'd love to be proven wrong though! This team's SM / DUU and XY seems to be a question mark, though; whatever configuration they go with, it seems that they will end up with two slots that project to be on the low end of their pools. As constructed, this team seems really committed to the expectation of SMB and DaWob winning every game, and thus it's up to the other players to show that they got what it takes.
---
Well, that's that for the People's Champ's Power Rankings for DPL 8. Again, if you have any grievances, please show your response in your DPL 8 W-L record. Here's to a fun, competitive experience!
If you don't like what I say about you here, then prove me wrong during the season. If I miss anything, then that's too bad
#1. Hau'oli Haxers
SS: Paraplegic
SS: Zeal
DUU: Mishimono
SM: Yoda2798
XY: JRL
BW: Checkmater
Bench: GasaiYunoSan, luisin
Another year, another overall balanced draft by 2798, Yoda. Again, Yoda manages to get out of the draft with a starting lineup that doesn't really have any holes whatsoever, with everyone indicated above being around the upper- to mid-tier of their respective pools. Paraplegic projects to be one of the best SS players in the pool, and they're backed by Zeal who I rate highly from what I've seen from them. The synergy between them looks to be interesting considering the timezone difference, hopefully they can make it work! Mishimono is playing for Yoda once again, this time in DUU; considering they just won the recent Swiss tour, they seem to be one of the most in-form players in this format as well. JRL is a known commodity in XY at this point, and I'm excited to see what they can do in what looks like a really spicy XY pool. Yoda and Check look to be the lower points of this lineup, but that's not a knock to their skill at all; it's moreso just about how they haven't really been seen to play these tiers as of late, but they definitely have been recognized as very skilled DOU players within their respective peaks. If they can hold their own, this projects to be a really good year for the Haxers.
#2. Slateport City Sp_ndas
SS: Toxigen
SS: robjr
DUU: Z Strats
SM: umbry
XY: Amaranth
BW: frania
Bench: emma, I want Atago to sit on me, raisedintyo
Known Jerk figure Z Strats managed to snag for himself quite a fascinating team here. Similar to the Haxers, this team is overall generally quite balanced, but compared to them, what seem to be their weaker slots are bigger question marks. Interstingly, in this line-up, it seems that no one has a history of really playing DUU, and the analyst in me feels that Z Strats will put himself there to offset this seeming weakness. They probably can do it fine, great players can get away with anything and as long as they put the right effort in building (+ with emma support), they should justify their pricetag. This team is notably starred by umbry, who's put in what arguably is her best tier, and she should the rock which this team leans on during the season. The dynamic in their XY and BW is interesting; Amaranth has been a great DPL player for the past few years as someone that could be reliably slotted in a buncha oldgens, and in particular they performed phenomenally last year as they got a 2-1 XY record against JRL and qsns (with support from yours truly). At the same time, the team doesn't really have someone who can obviously be put into BW; while Amaranth could be, it seems that instead it will be frania who will be put here, and while they're not a name that one associates with the format, like Z Strats they are a good enough player that their skill likely transcends tiers. Toxigen's solid, not much else to say. The last starter, robjr, is likely the tour's biggest wildcard; they're a big name in singles play who I project to be the starter on this team, and it's a known fact that when it comes to these types of players, Z Strats has a bit of a Midas touch. If their 2nd SS slot ends up panning out, this team looks like it will make a big splash in this tournament.
#3. Santalune Storms
SS: Enzonana.
SS: Shadowmonstr7
DUU: n10siT
SM: Croven
XY: qsns
BW: Human
Bench: Yellow Paint, papiloco
Oh no! The Storms are not in last! Looks like their season is doomed.
Jokes aside, this draft by the Storms looks to be quite respectable. fespy managed to get himself the Exodia combo of Croven-qsns, both of which project to do well in their respective formats. Human is an old head that projects to be able to hold the BW slot just fine. Their SS and DUU, though, only really rank in the middle of the tour, IMO. Shadowmonstr7 and Enzonana. are both good players, but they're not really "big names" and only really rank somewhere in the middle of the SS pool. n10siT, our friendly DUUTL, looks like will be thrown to the wolves as the DUU pool I project this year looks to be really REALLY dangerous, and n10siT himself hasn't really made any standout performances as an individual player that I can note. This draft, overall, looks pretty tame, and it seems to be up to their SS and DUU to punch above their weightclass if the team wants to do some damage in the tour.
#4. Browbeat Lands
SS: Qwello Lee
SS: YoBuddy
DUU: Lord Death Man
SM: Nido-Rus
XY: stax
BW: Sunrose
Bench: talkintree, Crunchman, chlo, voltix, kaori
From the look of things, it seems that Tenzai landed himself in what seems to be a bit of a curious situation as he managed to draft an army which he apparently didn't anticipate nor want. Looking at the team's starters, it honestly seems a bit dangerous at a glance, though upon further inspection, they do have some key weakness: the players are either washed or have a really bad track record into team tours. Qwello Lee is historically bad into DPLs, and YoBuddy hasn't really performed in team tours much as a whole. Nido-Rus looks like a bit washed and busy, and it's a question of whether or not he can actually start at all; in weeks that he can't, this starting lineup really does take a turn for the worst. This team's saving grace is stax and LDM, the former a DOU goat and the latter a DUU goat. If they can show they still got it, then there's hope at the end of the tunnel. The team's last player, Sunrose at BW, isn't particularly noteworthy; while he hasn't realy done much in BW (looking at what they sent me), he's not really a black hole either, so if he can hold his own here then that's pretty much everything a net postive for the Lands's roster construction.
#5. Milwaukee Ducks
SS: MADARAAAA
SS: RelicanthPrimal
DUU: SMB
SM: Akaru Kokuyo
XY: SingleThunder
BW: DaWoblefet
Bench: Meminger21, Ann nomina, KyleCole
This is the first time the SMBoat's managing and, well, let's just say that this is a really interesting debut from one of our GOATs. To me, this team seems to be a case study of a top-heavy draft going a bit off the rails; while they started with a discounted playing SMB and DaWoblefet, who's been winning every Doubles team tour as of late, the way they got complimented seemed a bit iffy, in particular their bench ending up with a lot of non-playing money with whatever starter configuration they go with. This isn't a knock to their players at all, it's just that from a construction standpoint, the money on the bench could have definitely been used to make more plays on the starters. Even if I spin this around a bit, with SMB in SM and KyleCole in DUU or something, the team is still definitely not as strong as it could have been, theoritically. Anyway, that's in the past; the team itself as it stands now is still quite good. SMB and DaWoblefet are basically at the top of their respective slots, no doubt about it, it's just as simple as that. MADARAAAA is a really interesting SS slot, he's really good though and I expect him to do well. RelicanthPrimal is a fine pick as well, though he projects to be on the lower-half of this SS pool; I'd love to be proven wrong though! This team's SM / DUU and XY seems to be a question mark, though; whatever configuration they go with, it seems that they will end up with two slots that project to be on the low end of their pools. As constructed, this team seems really committed to the expectation of SMB and DaWob winning every game, and thus it's up to the other players to show that they got what it takes.
---
Well, that's that for the People's Champ's Power Rankings for DPL 8. Again, if you have any grievances, please show your response in your DPL 8 W-L record. Here's to a fun, competitive experience!
all I'm going to say is I opened a format discussion thread in January and you had almost two whole months to state your opinions
instead you chose not to participate until after the draft had concluded
if you'd like to discuss this further you're welcome to DM me (and when you do, remind me to reply to Spurrific, because holy shit I keep putting that off), but what's done is done now
keep your shell on, bud
DPL 8 Power Rankings
A pre-season gauge of each team's strength, from each other team's managers!
----------
Twinleaf Mutant Ninja Squirtles
Memoric, Biosci, Actuarily, miltankmilk, MajorBowman, Grandmas Cookin, Xrn, dnagerbdager
The slightly disputed strongest team led by the completely undisputed most annoying manager! I was going to dock him a point out of spite, but then realized I, and many other people, have been saying the Squirtles name wrong this whole time, so I gave the point back.
Average ranking: 1.2
Individual rankings: 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1
1. Very good draft by Memoric as long as he is able to find the correct slot for their players and the veterans meet up the expectations. The support for almost all the tiers relies on him and actuarily, that's not necessarily bad tho but it's something to notice.
Looking at the players, SS OU seems to be for MajorBowman and Grandmas Cookin (who will be able to roast actuarily's work in duu for one more year) even though he seemed to prefer playing old gens on his signup post (one example of what i mentioned earlier about where to place the players). Xrn will be a quality sub if one of the starter slots underperform. Where to place miltankmilk will be key too, sm will look more familiar to him probably, xy has changed too much since he left. Actuarily (uu), memoric (xy) and biosci (bw) will be top players on their pools.
One of the, if not the, top teams to beat. Anything that's not making playoffs would be a catastrophe.
(SMB - Ducks)
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles: I think Memo has drafted a really solid team. Although his performance will depend on his most experimented player, if they are able to help and be active. He managed to get Actuarily, he most surely will give the team strength in SS, and provide support to the rest of the team
(Tenzai - Lands)
2. Twinleaf mutant ninja squirtles: Memorics draft similar to Yodas is very solid all around with mostly every slot looking potentially dangerous. The biggest question mark for memo's draft will be miltank and how washed he is. Worst case scenario miltank is super washed and memo has to put his 7.5k steal majorbowman in SM and put a sub in SS, which really isnt that big of a deal. I do think the subs are a little weaker playing wise but even still squirtles should be fine and prove to be a good threat this DPL like usual.
(Z Strats - Spindas)
1. Squirtles: 3.5 mil tank was a steal, known proven players in every tier
(Fespy - Storms)
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles: Squirtles are in my opinion the strongest team. Going for only 15k may not fill Memoric’s ego, but it does fill his wallet, giving a good deal of funds to spare for building a strong lineup. Speaking of deals, MajorBowman was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, steals in the draft, also contributing to the team's strength. Expect him to be playing Sun and Moon, two of the few objects in the solar system larger than his MajorBooty. On top of being the mastermind behind Squirtles’ excellent accounting, Actuarily should bring a good return on investment in SS or DUU. Grandmas Cookin finds himself on the perfect team, with Squirtle ready to water down all the inevitable salt from DOU’s saltiest user, and should do alright in SS. Another user Memoric will want to keep cool-headed is miltankmilk, last seen taking an early exit in DPL 6. The biggest unknown about the team, I expect Squirtles will manage to keep him onside all season, and pick up a couple wins in XY along the way. It’s nice to see that dnagerbdager’s year of growth has culminated in being drafted for DPL, fulfilling a support role in the team Discord and spamming emojis in the DOU Discord too. Earlier I seen them post the naked Squirtle emoji and thought “wow, it’s nice to see them come out of their shell.” Squirtles are set to have another strong year, and it would be a shock to see them not make playoffs.
(Yoda - Haxers)
Hau'oli Haxers
Yoda2798, JRL, Paraplegic, Mishimono, GasaiYunoSan, Zeal, luisin, Checkmater
In second place, the Haxers! It's clear that they earned this spot - just look at the effort Yoda put in to add all these jokes to the rankings! Oh, the tournament? They'll probably just win some speed ties.
Average Ranking: 2
Individual rankings: 1 / 3 / 3 / 1 / 3
1. see Memoric's post above
3. This draft lacks support on some tiers and versatilty, with the subs being [chat presence] luisgr and either zeal or gasai, who are mainly known for their ss ou ability, i'm afraid if one of their non ss ou starters struggles to get wins they won't be able to replace them properly. Lack of creativity when building might also be an issue this team will have.
Lineup looks alright; paraplegic will do well in ss and his partner in crime might struggle a bit more. Personally I'd put jrl in xy and mishimono in uu since i don't know if jrl would need support for uu, both should be top players on their pool anyway. Yoda will start in sm most likely but with one win less than previous years since emforbes is not on the pool. BW checkmater is a question mark to me because the metagame has developed a lot lately, but he's the kind of player that will make other players adapt to him instead of the opposite so who knows how that will turn out.
Lack of versatilty and support is what doesn't make me think this team will be a top contender, although, they have the names to make playoffs definitely.
(SMB)
3. Hau'oli Haxers: The Haxers managed to draft a team with a lot of synergy between his players. Yoda, Para and JRL are players that share a solid style, and always look up for the maximum win percentage in every turn. The addition of mishi will give to their builds some fresh air so they wont be playing the same 10 pokemon every time.
(Tenzai)
1. While a lot of managers seemed to limit themselves on players they wanted to draft Yoda went in and just seemed to buy anyone they could get a good price for, this worked out well. There's not really a single weak spot for the haxers most of their slots are mid players some even top players for their respective tier. In a draft where BW players were going for a premium I think a 4.5k Checkmater was really smart and that basically all of the players they got for a fair / good price. I thought something similar to yodas draft last year though and they didn't perform as well as I thought they would (though I think this draft is stronger anyway) so lets see if they can live up to their ranking this year.
(Z Strats)
2. Haxers: Yoda did the exact opposite of last year and was super proactive in a top-heavy draft. 4 super strong players and two 3ks. I’m very hight on Gasai- they remind me a lot of Actuarily one year ago.
(Fespy)
6. Last place is easily Haxers. I’ve no clue why this Yoda2798 guy thought 15k was worth it this year, without that guaranteed win against emforbes your value drops in half. JRL’s not even in the right tour, this is DPL not DLT. Paraplegic is such a stoner he touches enough grass for the entire DOU playerbase. Some people say “Mish” is an empty word used to fill space. I disagree, but looking at the thoughts in Mishimono’s head does support that theory. I don’t recognise Zeal, but they must be no one interesting. What really sums up this team is the fact there’s someone whose name is the Spanish version of “losing” on it.
(gee I wonder who this could be)
Santalune Storms
qsns, Croven, Human, Enzonana., Yellow Paint, Shadowmonstr7, papiloco, n10siT
Not only have the Storms not been rated last, but Fespy himself rated the team first! Does this spell doom? Hardly, but it does spell inconvenience, because I have to subtract one from all his rankings.
Average ranking: 2.6
Individual rankings: 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3
3. see Memoric's post
2. Nice draft by fespy, probably a bit reliant on the qsns-croven core and on human's activity to succeed but overall looks fine, with players that can grab wins on each tier and with good team synergy.
This might be the most difficult lineup to guess, the only thing that looks certain is xy qsns and maybe sm croven? I'm not a big fan of expending a lot of money in xy atm, anyway qsns should be the player to beat there. If croven returns being half as good as he was in sm he should have the potential to have a positive record. One of [XY cup winner] Human and [Dmax tour winner] Yellow paint will have to slot in bw, I think I'd rather see bw human and ss yp but human's activity issues might make yp play bw. Papiloco and shadowmonstr will fight for the other ss slot probably, both of them needing lots of teambuilding support. Lastly we have Enzonana? or n10sit? in duu, both of them are nice supports on the tier but how they will perform when the action starts?
(SMB)
2. In my opinion, Fespy has a really good team. He followed the same path of the previous DPL, and drafted some of the most experienced players. This bet gave him the thophy in the last edition.
If he can make the team work as last year, his team will be among the favourites to win the tour.
(Tenzai)
3. Storms have a really strong oldgens which seems to be a thing fespy makes sure he has but it definitely came with a price. Qsns and croven will be a great core that i'm sure will find success but them at high prices along with a 15.5k human made it so fespy didn't have much money left. With the lack of money The storms SS and DUU are definitely on the weaker side of things and like last year storms will need to rely on their cheap SS slots putting in extra work to be a huge threat.
(Z Strats)
3. This year Fespy got Arcticblast's chat presence without the 3k entry fee, but paid a hefty price to retain qsns in return. Joining them is fellow Jeopardy-er Croven, making me think Fespy actually ran it as an audition process for Storms. Along with Human, these three heavyweights make up the oldgens core of the team, following the strategy used last year by Storms to success. Coming off an impressive 5-1 record last year, qsns is set to lead the XY pool, with innovative builds and solid plays. Croven will be passed teams and click his way to victory in SM, just like old times. Human is a solid enough oldgens player, although personally I wouldn’t rate quite as highly as the price he went for. Looking at other teams’ BW, I’d place Human behind DaWoblefet and Biosci for sure, also Frania who I expect there for Sp_ndas, so this slot isn’t quite as strong as it may first appear. Moving onto the remaining starters, Shadowmonstr7 and papiloco will be in SS, and in DUU I’d have Enzonana, but wouldn’t be surprised to see Yellow Paint or n10siT either. Shadow is another returning Storm, going 5-1 last year, but after a recent revelation that he’s been playing gachas rather than Pokemon I’d expect closer to 1-5 this time around, being a shadow of his former self. He’s somehow managed to pull wins from nowhere before so that could also happen again for all I know. Papi is a little less loco, and should do fine. Whoever plays DUU should be okay, but at the lower end of the pool. Given Storms’ success last year, and the similar team structure, I expect this team to do well, but I'd prefer if they don't so Fespy has more time for Warzone.
(Yoda)
Slateport City Sp_ndas
Z Strats, Frania, umbry, Toxigen, emma, I want atago to sit on me, robjr, Amaranth, raisedintyo
That shame mark from DPL 2 kind of stings a little. But hey, it's a big enough hole to fit the conflict of interest between my avatar and my old team. (I'm not changing my avatar! It's great!)
Average ranking: 3.4
Individual rankings: 2 / 4 / 4 / 3 / 4
2. see Memoric's post
4. Looks like an average draft; doesn't seem neither a top nor a bottom team. Hopefully [won't be too active] umbry will be active on this team, otherwise they might be on trouble.
They rely on 3 players to get the wins and i wouldn't say neither of them is the top player on their pool, also don't seem to have slots like duu well covered unless i'm missing something.
Might make playoffs if the rest of the players that aren't the 3 i mentioned earlier grab enough wins and neither of these 3 players underperform.
(SMB)
4. This team last year would have been an absolute beast. But right now they are a mistery. Both Fran and Umbry didnt had a good WC so that makes me think they might keep that path this DPL, although they can count with Z and Emma's crucial help. I think they should be the ones that makes this team works with their preparations and builds.
(Tenzai)
3. jeeeeeerrrrrrrrk. Also duu who?
(Fespy)
4. Sp_ndas have two important aces up their sleeve going into the tour: 1. preferential treatment from Arcticblast as he is a Spinda IRL, and 2. being frontrunners for the “DPL team with most Celesteela uses” award. The first thing to notice about Z Strats’ draft is he clearly went for a certain group… Italians. That’s fine, but the real problem is how well represented another demographic is in the team: weebs. With Z Strats openly admitting to the presence of a waifu bot, I expect teambuilding discussions to centre more on which anime girls will be used for nicknames than the actual team itself. First up is Frania-san, a strong, versatile player who I’d expect to see BuWu based on lineup. Next, uwumbry-sama is another great player, a towering presence in the SM pool. Z-Strats-kun and Toxigen-San supported by emma-chan forms a strong SS core, with the former poised to repeat SCL success. I expect Amaranth to be the voice of reason here, and take home a few wins in XY too. Much like the ‘i’ in Sp_ndas, their DUU appears to be missing, with whoever does play there being at a disadvantage against the other teams. I want atago to sit on me should be useful if a Pokemon gacha suddenly releases and is added to DPL, but otherwise I’m not so sure. Robjr is a singles trophy winner new to DOU, but I fear the team atmosphere here may just scare them off. This team I rate similar in strength to Storms and Ducks, and could totally do well, but going by track record I have slightly more confidence in the other two.
(Yoda)
Milwaukee Ducks
SMB, DaWoblefet, MADARAAAA, RelicanthPrimal, Akaru Kokuyo, SingleThunder, Meminger21, Ann nomina, KyleCole
You want my opinion? I think I should have delayed DPL an extra week so that the Ducks could use Quaxly as their mascot. What? That's not what this is about?
Average ranking: 4.2
Individual rankings: 5 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 2
5. see Memoric's post
5. I think most of the players in this team have good level but they lack experience in teamtours. SMB and Dawo should be the ones who carry this team, but I believe this will exhaust them maybe too much...
(Tenzai)
4. It feels pretty criminal to rank a team with dawoblefet and SMB 4th but here we are. While Dawob and SMB will be at the top of their tiers the rest of the draft felt weird and the rest of the slots I would rank in the bottom half. Then again though these slots will all have SMB support so it wouldn't be a surprise to see them overperform and if they can make playoffs the team gets a lot scarier because all they should have to do is force tiebreaks and win that but I think the big problem will be getting to playoffs.
(Z Strats)
5. SMB on crack? 16k kylecole and thunder is a huge fucking overpay. The Ducks have the two best players in the tournament and then nobody else
(Fespy)
2. Ducks are certain to dominate in three formats: BW, whatever SMB plays, and saying Mish. Sadly the last one doesn’t count for DPL, which is why Demantoid didn’t sign up this year. The way I see this team is you collect your two wins as you pass go with SMB and DaWoblefet, then pray for at least one of the others to do the same. This is similar to Heroes last year, who were rated low but did surprisingly well. For what other four will be fielded, I’d guess at MADARAAAA and RelicanthPrimal in SS, KyleCole in DUU, and SingleThunder in XY (leaving SMB in SM). Of these I’d say Relicanth and SingleThunder are on the weaker end of their pools, while MADARAAAA and KyleCole are the ones most likely to get a win. Akaru Kokuyo, Meminger21, and Ann nomina could all fit in somehow too, though. I find this team difficult to rank because of how different it is from the other teams (being quite extreme on the top-heavy side), my gut says lower down, but looking at Heroes last year my brain says this structure works. I'm going with a possibly controversial pick and rating the Ducks highly.
(Yoda)
Browbeat Lands
stax, Qwello Lee, Lord Death Man, talkingtree, Nido-Rus, Crunchman, YoBuddy, chlo, Voltix, Sunrose, kaori
The Lands have ended up in last place. Fortunately for them, people slept on Landorus-T early in gen 5, and Landorus-I wasn't a big hit until recently in gen 8. If they channel their mascot power, they'll be fine. Wait, the mascot is Lando-T, right?
Average ranking: 4.6
Individual rankings: 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 5
4. see Memoric's post
5. A bit of a weird draft by Tenzai because of many things; I only see like 4-5 people that actively play dou, high number of players and many of them will need support (at least he got arguably the best 2 support slots in talkingtree and nido, but one hasn't played in a while and the other one will likely have little activity).
When I try to guess the lineup, it doesn't look that solid, I imagine he'd want to slot one of qwello or yubuddy in sm, as long as crunchman is playing ss, and both of them have had way more succes in ss. The most expensive player on this team, stax, is likely playing the most uncertain metagame for this dpl in xy. Stax is Stax and will likely figure out the way to succeed but what if not? Ldm should do well in duu and he'll have nice support there. And for the last we have Sunrose in bw maybe? With barely support and not being one of the top dogs on that field.
I think it will be hard for this team to work because I barely see any synergy, if Tenzai manages to make these players work as a team (looks hard) they might make playoffs, otherwise I see them at the bottom.
(SMB)
5. Lastly I have the browbeat lands. The Lands certainly have the chance to get going and perform well but I think they're banking on a lot of things that need to happen and I don't think it all will. Nido who they got really cheap is really busy and said he cant start most weeks if this stays true then the Lands roster gets a lot worse. I think the roster has a lot of people that are in the bottom half of their tier and while qwello and stax are good stax is in a really competitive tier, qwello did bad last year in dpl and I don't think there's the support for him to change that and I think both are risks in how much they will care. Overall I think this team can do well but it might require too much for the team to actually succeed.
(Z Strats)
4. a bunch of unproven / washed / unactive players. Not actually a bad draft but pretty unproven
(Fespy)
5. This team reminds me of Haxers' draft last year, and not in a good way. Money spent on a large/strong bench is money not spent on starters, and this is reflected in the strength of the starting six. Qwello Lee and stax will be doing the heavy lifting for the team, with stax doing great last year (4-2 in SM) and looking to do so again this year. Qwello, on the other hand, had a disastrous DPL 7, going 0-3 on Thieves despite a hefty 27k pricetag. This year his price dropped a massive 12.5k (I checked if this was the biggest in DPL, it appears to be second, with Nido-Rus dropping 14k from 20k -> 6k between DPL 5 and 6), but with that extra money for support, it should be easier to refind his form. Lord Death Man will certainly be taking the team's DUU slot, being one of if not the most knowledgeable about the tier. LDM sat out last year, and DPL 6 had no DUU, but a stunning 5-1 record in DPL 5 is something he'll be looking to repeat. I'm not sure how exactly the lineup will look, but I imagine Crunchman, YoBuddy, and Voltix will be rounding at the starting six, all three fine players. Still, BW is certainly a weak link here, regardless of who plays (perhaps even Sunrose instead), they'll be the weakest in the field. The bench is the most interesting thing about this team, as it rather uniquely has dedicated supports in talkingtree and Nido-Rus, able to help with building across the board. This could be counteracted by the presence of Crunchman in the same chats, though. Overall, this team has potential to do well, but has more to prove over the other teams IMO. Getting Qwello Lee to rack up wins will be critical to the team succeeding.
(Yoda)
Don't agree with any of these positions? Good! They usually end up being pretty meaningless anyway. The top rated team has won once, and the bottom rated team has won more than once. Anything can happen in DPL!
A pre-season gauge of each team's strength, from each other team's managers!
----------
Twinleaf Mutant Ninja Squirtles Memoric, Biosci, Actuarily, miltankmilk, MajorBowman, Grandmas Cookin, Xrn, dnagerbdager
The slightly disputed strongest team led by the completely undisputed most annoying manager! I was going to dock him a point out of spite, but then realized I, and many other people, have been saying the Squirtles name wrong this whole time, so I gave the point back.
Average ranking: 1.2
Individual rankings: 1 / 1 / 2 / 1 / 1
1. Very good draft by Memoric as long as he is able to find the correct slot for their players and the veterans meet up the expectations. The support for almost all the tiers relies on him and actuarily, that's not necessarily bad tho but it's something to notice.
Looking at the players, SS OU seems to be for MajorBowman and Grandmas Cookin (who will be able to roast actuarily's work in duu for one more year) even though he seemed to prefer playing old gens on his signup post (one example of what i mentioned earlier about where to place the players). Xrn will be a quality sub if one of the starter slots underperform. Where to place miltankmilk will be key too, sm will look more familiar to him probably, xy has changed too much since he left. Actuarily (uu), memoric (xy) and biosci (bw) will be top players on their pools.
One of the, if not the, top teams to beat. Anything that's not making playoffs would be a catastrophe.
(SMB - Ducks)
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles: I think Memo has drafted a really solid team. Although his performance will depend on his most experimented player, if they are able to help and be active. He managed to get Actuarily, he most surely will give the team strength in SS, and provide support to the rest of the team
(Tenzai - Lands)
2. Twinleaf mutant ninja squirtles: Memorics draft similar to Yodas is very solid all around with mostly every slot looking potentially dangerous. The biggest question mark for memo's draft will be miltank and how washed he is. Worst case scenario miltank is super washed and memo has to put his 7.5k steal majorbowman in SM and put a sub in SS, which really isnt that big of a deal. I do think the subs are a little weaker playing wise but even still squirtles should be fine and prove to be a good threat this DPL like usual.
(Z Strats - Spindas)
1. Squirtles: 3.5 mil tank was a steal, known proven players in every tier
(Fespy - Storms)
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirtles: Squirtles are in my opinion the strongest team. Going for only 15k may not fill Memoric’s ego, but it does fill his wallet, giving a good deal of funds to spare for building a strong lineup. Speaking of deals, MajorBowman was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, steals in the draft, also contributing to the team's strength. Expect him to be playing Sun and Moon, two of the few objects in the solar system larger than his MajorBooty. On top of being the mastermind behind Squirtles’ excellent accounting, Actuarily should bring a good return on investment in SS or DUU. Grandmas Cookin finds himself on the perfect team, with Squirtle ready to water down all the inevitable salt from DOU’s saltiest user, and should do alright in SS. Another user Memoric will want to keep cool-headed is miltankmilk, last seen taking an early exit in DPL 6. The biggest unknown about the team, I expect Squirtles will manage to keep him onside all season, and pick up a couple wins in XY along the way. It’s nice to see that dnagerbdager’s year of growth has culminated in being drafted for DPL, fulfilling a support role in the team Discord and spamming emojis in the DOU Discord too. Earlier I seen them post the naked Squirtle emoji and thought “wow, it’s nice to see them come out of their shell.” Squirtles are set to have another strong year, and it would be a shock to see them not make playoffs.
(Yoda - Haxers)
Hau'oli Haxers Yoda2798, JRL, Paraplegic, Mishimono, GasaiYunoSan, Zeal, luisin, Checkmater
In second place, the Haxers! It's clear that they earned this spot - just look at the effort Yoda put in to add all these jokes to the rankings! Oh, the tournament? They'll probably just win some speed ties.
Average Ranking: 2
Individual rankings: 1 / 3 / 3 / 1 / 3
1. see Memoric's post above
3. This draft lacks support on some tiers and versatilty, with the subs being [chat presence] luisgr and either zeal or gasai, who are mainly known for their ss ou ability, i'm afraid if one of their non ss ou starters struggles to get wins they won't be able to replace them properly. Lack of creativity when building might also be an issue this team will have.
Lineup looks alright; paraplegic will do well in ss and his partner in crime might struggle a bit more. Personally I'd put jrl in xy and mishimono in uu since i don't know if jrl would need support for uu, both should be top players on their pool anyway. Yoda will start in sm most likely but with one win less than previous years since emforbes is not on the pool. BW checkmater is a question mark to me because the metagame has developed a lot lately, but he's the kind of player that will make other players adapt to him instead of the opposite so who knows how that will turn out.
Lack of versatilty and support is what doesn't make me think this team will be a top contender, although, they have the names to make playoffs definitely.
(SMB)
3. Hau'oli Haxers: The Haxers managed to draft a team with a lot of synergy between his players. Yoda, Para and JRL are players that share a solid style, and always look up for the maximum win percentage in every turn. The addition of mishi will give to their builds some fresh air so they wont be playing the same 10 pokemon every time.
(Tenzai)
1. While a lot of managers seemed to limit themselves on players they wanted to draft Yoda went in and just seemed to buy anyone they could get a good price for, this worked out well. There's not really a single weak spot for the haxers most of their slots are mid players some even top players for their respective tier. In a draft where BW players were going for a premium I think a 4.5k Checkmater was really smart and that basically all of the players they got for a fair / good price. I thought something similar to yodas draft last year though and they didn't perform as well as I thought they would (though I think this draft is stronger anyway) so lets see if they can live up to their ranking this year.
(Z Strats)
2. Haxers: Yoda did the exact opposite of last year and was super proactive in a top-heavy draft. 4 super strong players and two 3ks. I’m very hight on Gasai- they remind me a lot of Actuarily one year ago.
(Fespy)
6. Last place is easily Haxers. I’ve no clue why this Yoda2798 guy thought 15k was worth it this year, without that guaranteed win against emforbes your value drops in half. JRL’s not even in the right tour, this is DPL not DLT. Paraplegic is such a stoner he touches enough grass for the entire DOU playerbase. Some people say “Mish” is an empty word used to fill space. I disagree, but looking at the thoughts in Mishimono’s head does support that theory. I don’t recognise Zeal, but they must be no one interesting. What really sums up this team is the fact there’s someone whose name is the Spanish version of “losing” on it.
(gee I wonder who this could be)
Santalune Storms qsns, Croven, Human, Enzonana., Yellow Paint, Shadowmonstr7, papiloco, n10siT
Not only have the Storms not been rated last, but Fespy himself rated the team first! Does this spell doom? Hardly, but it does spell inconvenience, because I have to subtract one from all his rankings.
Average ranking: 2.6
Individual rankings: 3 / 2 / 2 / 3 / 3
3. see Memoric's post
2. Nice draft by fespy, probably a bit reliant on the qsns-croven core and on human's activity to succeed but overall looks fine, with players that can grab wins on each tier and with good team synergy.
This might be the most difficult lineup to guess, the only thing that looks certain is xy qsns and maybe sm croven? I'm not a big fan of expending a lot of money in xy atm, anyway qsns should be the player to beat there. If croven returns being half as good as he was in sm he should have the potential to have a positive record. One of [XY cup winner] Human and [Dmax tour winner] Yellow paint will have to slot in bw, I think I'd rather see bw human and ss yp but human's activity issues might make yp play bw. Papiloco and shadowmonstr will fight for the other ss slot probably, both of them needing lots of teambuilding support. Lastly we have Enzonana? or n10sit? in duu, both of them are nice supports on the tier but how they will perform when the action starts?
(SMB)
2. In my opinion, Fespy has a really good team. He followed the same path of the previous DPL, and drafted some of the most experienced players. This bet gave him the thophy in the last edition.
If he can make the team work as last year, his team will be among the favourites to win the tour.
(Tenzai)
3. Storms have a really strong oldgens which seems to be a thing fespy makes sure he has but it definitely came with a price. Qsns and croven will be a great core that i'm sure will find success but them at high prices along with a 15.5k human made it so fespy didn't have much money left. With the lack of money The storms SS and DUU are definitely on the weaker side of things and like last year storms will need to rely on their cheap SS slots putting in extra work to be a huge threat.
(Z Strats)
3. This year Fespy got Arcticblast's chat presence without the 3k entry fee, but paid a hefty price to retain qsns in return. Joining them is fellow Jeopardy-er Croven, making me think Fespy actually ran it as an audition process for Storms. Along with Human, these three heavyweights make up the oldgens core of the team, following the strategy used last year by Storms to success. Coming off an impressive 5-1 record last year, qsns is set to lead the XY pool, with innovative builds and solid plays. Croven will be passed teams and click his way to victory in SM, just like old times. Human is a solid enough oldgens player, although personally I wouldn’t rate quite as highly as the price he went for. Looking at other teams’ BW, I’d place Human behind DaWoblefet and Biosci for sure, also Frania who I expect there for Sp_ndas, so this slot isn’t quite as strong as it may first appear. Moving onto the remaining starters, Shadowmonstr7 and papiloco will be in SS, and in DUU I’d have Enzonana, but wouldn’t be surprised to see Yellow Paint or n10siT either. Shadow is another returning Storm, going 5-1 last year, but after a recent revelation that he’s been playing gachas rather than Pokemon I’d expect closer to 1-5 this time around, being a shadow of his former self. He’s somehow managed to pull wins from nowhere before so that could also happen again for all I know. Papi is a little less loco, and should do fine. Whoever plays DUU should be okay, but at the lower end of the pool. Given Storms’ success last year, and the similar team structure, I expect this team to do well, but I'd prefer if they don't so Fespy has more time for Warzone.
(Yoda)
Slateport City Sp_ndas Z Strats, Frania, umbry, Toxigen, emma, I want atago to sit on me, robjr, Amaranth, raisedintyo
That shame mark from DPL 2 kind of stings a little. But hey, it's a big enough hole to fit the conflict of interest between my avatar and my old team. (I'm not changing my avatar! It's great!)
Average ranking: 3.4
Individual rankings: 2 / 4 / 4 / 3 / 4
2. see Memoric's post
4. Looks like an average draft; doesn't seem neither a top nor a bottom team. Hopefully [won't be too active] umbry will be active on this team, otherwise they might be on trouble.
They rely on 3 players to get the wins and i wouldn't say neither of them is the top player on their pool, also don't seem to have slots like duu well covered unless i'm missing something.
Might make playoffs if the rest of the players that aren't the 3 i mentioned earlier grab enough wins and neither of these 3 players underperform.
(SMB)
4. This team last year would have been an absolute beast. But right now they are a mistery. Both Fran and Umbry didnt had a good WC so that makes me think they might keep that path this DPL, although they can count with Z and Emma's crucial help. I think they should be the ones that makes this team works with their preparations and builds.
(Tenzai)
3. jeeeeeerrrrrrrrk. Also duu who?
(Fespy)
4. Sp_ndas have two important aces up their sleeve going into the tour: 1. preferential treatment from Arcticblast as he is a Spinda IRL, and 2. being frontrunners for the “DPL team with most Celesteela uses” award. The first thing to notice about Z Strats’ draft is he clearly went for a certain group… Italians. That’s fine, but the real problem is how well represented another demographic is in the team: weebs. With Z Strats openly admitting to the presence of a waifu bot, I expect teambuilding discussions to centre more on which anime girls will be used for nicknames than the actual team itself. First up is Frania-san, a strong, versatile player who I’d expect to see BuWu based on lineup. Next, uwumbry-sama is another great player, a towering presence in the SM pool. Z-Strats-kun and Toxigen-San supported by emma-chan forms a strong SS core, with the former poised to repeat SCL success. I expect Amaranth to be the voice of reason here, and take home a few wins in XY too. Much like the ‘i’ in Sp_ndas, their DUU appears to be missing, with whoever does play there being at a disadvantage against the other teams. I want atago to sit on me should be useful if a Pokemon gacha suddenly releases and is added to DPL, but otherwise I’m not so sure. Robjr is a singles trophy winner new to DOU, but I fear the team atmosphere here may just scare them off. This team I rate similar in strength to Storms and Ducks, and could totally do well, but going by track record I have slightly more confidence in the other two.
(Yoda)
Milwaukee Ducks SMB, DaWoblefet, MADARAAAA, RelicanthPrimal, Akaru Kokuyo, SingleThunder, Meminger21, Ann nomina, KyleCole
You want my opinion? I think I should have delayed DPL an extra week so that the Ducks could use Quaxly as their mascot. What? That's not what this is about?
Average ranking: 4.2
Individual rankings: 5 / 5 / 4 / 5 / 2
5. see Memoric's post
5. I think most of the players in this team have good level but they lack experience in teamtours. SMB and Dawo should be the ones who carry this team, but I believe this will exhaust them maybe too much...
(Tenzai)
4. It feels pretty criminal to rank a team with dawoblefet and SMB 4th but here we are. While Dawob and SMB will be at the top of their tiers the rest of the draft felt weird and the rest of the slots I would rank in the bottom half. Then again though these slots will all have SMB support so it wouldn't be a surprise to see them overperform and if they can make playoffs the team gets a lot scarier because all they should have to do is force tiebreaks and win that but I think the big problem will be getting to playoffs.
(Z Strats)
5. SMB on crack? 16k kylecole and thunder is a huge fucking overpay. The Ducks have the two best players in the tournament and then nobody else
(Fespy)
2. Ducks are certain to dominate in three formats: BW, whatever SMB plays, and saying Mish. Sadly the last one doesn’t count for DPL, which is why Demantoid didn’t sign up this year. The way I see this team is you collect your two wins as you pass go with SMB and DaWoblefet, then pray for at least one of the others to do the same. This is similar to Heroes last year, who were rated low but did surprisingly well. For what other four will be fielded, I’d guess at MADARAAAA and RelicanthPrimal in SS, KyleCole in DUU, and SingleThunder in XY (leaving SMB in SM). Of these I’d say Relicanth and SingleThunder are on the weaker end of their pools, while MADARAAAA and KyleCole are the ones most likely to get a win. Akaru Kokuyo, Meminger21, and Ann nomina could all fit in somehow too, though. I find this team difficult to rank because of how different it is from the other teams (being quite extreme on the top-heavy side), my gut says lower down, but looking at Heroes last year my brain says this structure works. I'm going with a possibly controversial pick and rating the Ducks highly.
(Yoda)
Browbeat Lands stax, Qwello Lee, Lord Death Man, talkingtree, Nido-Rus, Crunchman, YoBuddy, chlo, Voltix, Sunrose, kaori
The Lands have ended up in last place. Fortunately for them, people slept on Landorus-T early in gen 5, and Landorus-I wasn't a big hit until recently in gen 8. If they channel their mascot power, they'll be fine. Wait, the mascot is Lando-T, right?
Average ranking: 4.6
Individual rankings: 4 / 5 / 5 / 4 / 5
4. see Memoric's post
5. A bit of a weird draft by Tenzai because of many things; I only see like 4-5 people that actively play dou, high number of players and many of them will need support (at least he got arguably the best 2 support slots in talkingtree and nido, but one hasn't played in a while and the other one will likely have little activity).
When I try to guess the lineup, it doesn't look that solid, I imagine he'd want to slot one of qwello or yubuddy in sm, as long as crunchman is playing ss, and both of them have had way more succes in ss. The most expensive player on this team, stax, is likely playing the most uncertain metagame for this dpl in xy. Stax is Stax and will likely figure out the way to succeed but what if not? Ldm should do well in duu and he'll have nice support there. And for the last we have Sunrose in bw maybe? With barely support and not being one of the top dogs on that field.
I think it will be hard for this team to work because I barely see any synergy, if Tenzai manages to make these players work as a team (looks hard) they might make playoffs, otherwise I see them at the bottom.
(SMB)
5. Lastly I have the browbeat lands. The Lands certainly have the chance to get going and perform well but I think they're banking on a lot of things that need to happen and I don't think it all will. Nido who they got really cheap is really busy and said he cant start most weeks if this stays true then the Lands roster gets a lot worse. I think the roster has a lot of people that are in the bottom half of their tier and while qwello and stax are good stax is in a really competitive tier, qwello did bad last year in dpl and I don't think there's the support for him to change that and I think both are risks in how much they will care. Overall I think this team can do well but it might require too much for the team to actually succeed.
(Z Strats)
4. a bunch of unproven / washed / unactive players. Not actually a bad draft but pretty unproven
(Fespy)
5. This team reminds me of Haxers' draft last year, and not in a good way. Money spent on a large/strong bench is money not spent on starters, and this is reflected in the strength of the starting six. Qwello Lee and stax will be doing the heavy lifting for the team, with stax doing great last year (4-2 in SM) and looking to do so again this year. Qwello, on the other hand, had a disastrous DPL 7, going 0-3 on Thieves despite a hefty 27k pricetag. This year his price dropped a massive 12.5k (I checked if this was the biggest in DPL, it appears to be second, with Nido-Rus dropping 14k from 20k -> 6k between DPL 5 and 6), but with that extra money for support, it should be easier to refind his form. Lord Death Man will certainly be taking the team's DUU slot, being one of if not the most knowledgeable about the tier. LDM sat out last year, and DPL 6 had no DUU, but a stunning 5-1 record in DPL 5 is something he'll be looking to repeat. I'm not sure how exactly the lineup will look, but I imagine Crunchman, YoBuddy, and Voltix will be rounding at the starting six, all three fine players. Still, BW is certainly a weak link here, regardless of who plays (perhaps even Sunrose instead), they'll be the weakest in the field. The bench is the most interesting thing about this team, as it rather uniquely has dedicated supports in talkingtree and Nido-Rus, able to help with building across the board. This could be counteracted by the presence of Crunchman in the same chats, though. Overall, this team has potential to do well, but has more to prove over the other teams IMO. Getting Qwello Lee to rack up wins will be critical to the team succeeding.
(Yoda)
Don't agree with any of these positions? Good! They usually end up being pretty meaningless anyway. The top rated team has won once, and the bottom rated team has won more than once. Anything can happen in DPL!
Last edited by a moderator:
If illuminati wasn't snubbing me for manager again this wouldn't be the case. But alas
My power rank is the SMB Ducks to dominate behind the powerful leadership of SMB. MADARAAAA will display he is the best SS player. And the rest of the team is very capable and will average out a winning record.
The rest of the teams are poorly constructed.
Free the quote db dump Demantoid
- Status