Bloo
Banned deucer.
Inspired by the likes of the OLT challenger supreme, teleGOD, Honus and I have taken to creating a game analysis of the SPL matches for the community's entertainment and learning. Each week, we will be highlighting 2-3 select ORAS OU matches that exemplify the tier at a high level in regards to team structure and in-battle decision making. During these vicious bouts, we'll be giving our thoughts on the plays that each player made before doing a wrap-up at the end of each game. Hopefully, you all can learn something and we can accrue a virtuous bounty of epic forum likes at the end of this. We'll also be giving our thoughts on the general state of SPL at the end, going over which teams are looking the most bloodthirsty while the others pick daisies in the field.
Team Analysis
In this battle, both players have brought stall oriented teams, with Mencemeat utilizing Mega Sableye and the cutting-edge innovation that is the Fire-Water-Grass core; Odin stays in his comfort zone with a stall team including Gliscor and his favorite Pokémon, Chansey, also known as 'hija de blis'. Unfortunately "n.i.g.g.a" the Kyurem-B did not make an appearance. Sableye is looking more iced out than 2007 Gucci Mane with the current match-up, as a Calm Mind variant can straight up demolish 5/6 of Odin's team; Chansey may attempt to PP stall, but between burns and hazards, this may prove to be a challenge. Odin's Mew is likely his Defog user, so trapping it with Tyranitar, which is almost certainly rocking a Choice Scarf due to the fact that it's gr8astard's team structure, would mean winning the hazard war if Mencemeat's Ferrothorn has Spikes, which would allow him to wear down and punish the majority of Odin's team with Spikes and Stealth Rock. Odin has it tough in this matchup, but he might be able to win the same way 90% of Smogon does: by spamming Scald until everything is burned, which isn't too unrealistic of a possibility given how most of Mencemeat's team is worn down by the move if Lady Luck comes into play. Nonetheless, Odin has a reputation for winning despite bad matchups, so let's see how things play out.
Game Analysis
As each trainer launches their Poké Ball revealing their lead choices, we see Mencemeat— otherwise known as YouTube sensation MrJamvad—start off with his Sableye, and Odin with his trusty Gliscor. Upon a quick glance at Odin's team, it's easy to see how troubling Sableye is to his squad, which Mencemeat picked up on rather easily given his decision to have it pull up in a brand new Bugatti right from the get-go. Anticipating this, Odin leads off with Gliscor, likely intending to activate Poison Heal in order to deter Sableye from freely firing off Will-O-Wisps against his team. Turn 1 sees Odin doing just that as Mencemeat has his Sableye mega evolve and launch off a Dark Pulse. Here, Odin appears to be in a pickle. From the perspective of a spectator, he doesn't seem to have any way of preventing Mega Sableye from simply boosting to +6 with Calm Mind and threatening a potential 6-0, which Mencemeat very well realizes as Odin uses Earthquake with Gliscor for a measly 24%. Feeling like the game is already a "snack wrap," Mencemeat goes ahead and begins his journey towards +6. However, turn 3 reveals a throwback from the early days of Black & White: Fling Gliscor throwing its Toxic Orb to Mencemeat's Mega Sableye, badly poisoning and putting it on a timer for the remainder of the match. The tables have turned in Odin's favor as Mencemeat's main win condition finds itself crippled while the crowd goes *-* over this surprise and realizes that Odin "can this" after all.
With Mega Sableye essentially down for the count, Mencemeat needs to come up with a new way to win. His chances appear to hinge on how well he can wear down Odin's team with residual damage from entry hazards and burns from Slowbro and Heatran's respective moves, all the while preventing Mew from removing his efforts with a speculated Defog. Turn 7 features Mencemeat's Ferrothorn switching into a Scald from Odin's Slowbro in order to set the hazards stack plan in motion. However, this plan hits a roadblock as Jamvad's Ferrothorn meets a rare Flamethrower to the face as it uses Spikes and a "u got slowbro'ed" is seen from teleGOD in the smogtours.psim.us lobby. Weakened and unable to stay in with Ferrothorn in fear of dying, things begin to look bleak for Wolfpack's ORAS OU player. As the battle progresses, Mencemeat manages to lay down Stealth Rock with his Heatran for added hazard pressure on turn 13, followed by a Slowbro / Tyranitar exchange on turn 16 where the former burns the latter with Scald while taking a hefty chunk from Crunch, leaving both Pokémon grasping for air. Turns 17-22 involve Odin switching in his Venusaur and evolving the generation 1 starter into its mega form while Mencemeat pivots between Ferrothorn, Gliscor and Heatran to scout potential moves like Earthquake, a smart choice given the unusual sets revealed in the match thus far by Odin.
The first kill of the game occurs on turn 27 as Jamvad Pursuits Odin's Slowbro with Tyranitar after wearing it down with a Toxic from Heatran. As it stands, the majority of Mencemeat's team is low on health at this stage of the game. His Heatran being at 22.5% with Stealth Rock on the field makes Odin's Venusaur a big threat, and with Odin's unrevealed Mew chilling in the back ready to clear the field of hazards when the time is right, things aren't looking so bright for his opponent. Both players go back and forth for a couple of turns trying to wear each other down until the battle flips on its head completely come turn 32, where Mencemeat's Gliscor struts it stuff and Swords .dances in front of the same Gliscor that wowed us all early on in the match. With that, the ball turns over to Mencemeat's court.
With Slowbro out of the picture, Odin has no other option but to try and PP stall his opponent's Gliscor with his own through the use of Substitute, Protect, and Fling, as expertly narrated by BKC from 17:51-19:56 of this video. Together, these moves only total to 48 PP, however, meaning Odin would be unable to stall Mencemeat's Gliscor in the end, seeing as Swords Dance combined with the eventual Facade reveal add up to 64 PP. This would allow Jamvad to alternate between the two at his leisure and ultimately kill Odin's Gliscor with enough PP left over to finish off the remaining members of his team and seal the victory in this match completely shaped by unconventional Gliscor sets.
Closing Thoughts
Mencemeat vs. CyberOdin is a nice showcase of a Gen 6 stall matchup, with Pokémon like Sableye and Swords Dance Gliscor showing that stall is a lot less passive in ORAS than it was in XY. Odin was able to set up Stealth Rock and weaken Heatran thanks to the flinged Toxic, leaving Sableye weakened and influencing the situation to the point that Mega Venusaur would be able to nearly gobble down Mencemeat's entire team like a leafy combo meal. That is, until Swords Dance Gliscor came to save the day like Young Thug saves these hoes. One thing we learned from this game is that Mega Sableye certainly isn't a surefire stall killer, with both Gliscor adapting themselves to beat it and Odin's Chansey in the back being able to potentially stall it out if Sableye avoids the Fling. Scarf Tyranitar in tandem with hazards (being dropped like Viper the Rapper albums from Spikes Ferrothorn, which has surged in popularity recently) also appears to be an interesting way to make ORAS stall more aggressive, since many Defoggers and spinners still lose to the vicious green dino. Perhaps we'll see how stall players evolve both how they prepare their teams and play in battle in order to beat potential new threats like Mega Sableye, as well as those found on more offensive teams, such as Bloo's waifu Mega Lopunny.
Team Analysis
If there's one matchup where you won't know what to expect with regards to teams, it's this one. Featuring McMeghan's love child ben gay and three time OST winner Stathakis, this SPL game pits together two players known for their unusual team choices and tendency to effectively make use of Pokémon you'd think are only seen on the lower side of Pokémon Showdown's OU ladder. Sporting Pokémon like Toxicroak, Volcarona and the under appreciated Mega Diancie, ben gay stays true to his reputation with a team centered around using unconventional win conditions, supported by bulky options like Empoleon and Landorus-T to cover many of OU's big threats. With a more offensive team featuring the classic Tyranitar + Excadrill combination that was all the rage during mid-XY but eventually died down in favor of more balance team archetypes, Stathakis brings to the table a more offensively oriented team, with Reuniclus and Suicune serving as bulky win conditions known to perform well against ben gay's balanced playstyle.
Both teams share a big similarity in that they each lack reliable answers to strong ground STABs, a common theme among teams used by Stathakis, with the one linked there ironically being one made by ben gay. With four ground weaknesses on ben gay's team, Excadrill is a huge problem if it finds an opportunity to come in, especially with sand making it faster than everything on ben's squad. While Stathakis may be able to take Earthquakes from Landorus-T with Suicune and Reuniclus, his lack of Earthquake switch-ins allows ben gay to U-turn swap into things like Mega Diancie and pressure Stathakis' team with powerful Moonblasts. If he lets his team get worn down, a late game Landorus-T sweep is a very likely possibility. Both players will have to be careful not to allow the other to apply too much pressure to their team with their Ground-types, or one of them may find themselves on the wrong side of a sweep. With that said, let's see how this match unfolds!
Game Analysis
Stathakis leads off with everyone's favorite mushroom as everyone's favorite potato, Lavos Spawn, cheers him on in the Scooters' IRC channel; and why wouldn't he? A free Spore is a nice way to start off the game, as Diancie certainly won't try any Magic Bounce antics here. Landorus-T is a nice lead for ben gay as well, given how few (literally 0) ground immunities Stathakis has. Even if Stath were to lead Suicune, ben gay can just "go right out to the counter" as in Afro Smash's in the mindset vid, which he has 3 of between Raikou, Toxicroak and Empoleon (assuming Empoleon carries Roar). As the game begins, ben U-Turns to break Breloom's sash, removing any doubt that Landorus-T is Scarfed and Empoleon is the Stealth Rock setter, as he goes out to Raikou to take the Spore. Since Dry Skin absorbs Suicune's Scalds and every member of Stath's team can beat Raikou besides Breloom, this is the best Pokémon to sacrifice to Spore here. The two exchange some formalities for a bit, with Stath's turn 3 Overheat being fired off, and unfortunately missing, to try and chip the Landorus-T he desperately wants to remove so Excadrill can get in there like swimwear. Even if it hits something other than Landog, Stath can still maintain the momentum and Volt Switch out. He misses the Overheat and is able to Volt Switch on Diancie, a Pokémon whose sheer beauty is rivaled only by Goddess Briyella, to get some nice damage on a mid-level threat. The successive sequence of moves slows down the battle a bit, allowing Empoleon, Chople Berry in beak, to come set up Stealth Rock on Reuniclus, which recovered from a vicious sludging that hearks back to Pearl from finding Nemo. The battle starts to heat up afterwards, as Stath is able to get Breloom in once more on Empoleon's Scald. Unfortunately, Classiest manager ShakeItUp hasn't yet instilled in ben gay the power to have Scald burn on command, and Breloom manages to come in unscathed. As for ben's choice to stay in with Empoleon, there was little risk to do so since he could Roar out Suicune to prevent set up, and it would prevent Stath from trying any switches here. A more probable reason is that ben's Toxicroak was actually revealed to be 4 attacks Life Orb after the battle, meaning that Suicune could Rest off its Gunk Shots and stall it out via Life Orb damage.
The game begins to take an interesting turn, however, as ben decides on sending Landorus-T in to eat the Bullet Seed, only for Breloom to reveal that it's actually the Life Orb variant and not Focus Sash as leading with Breloom would usually imply. Stath's little ruse brings a painful feeling analogous to chatting it up with a female user on Smogon only for her to reveal that she's actually a dude later on—the "Princess Bri Effect" as I like to call it. Anyway, the Landorus-T takes a beating comparable to Masterclass's ban, and the main thing standing in the way of an Excadrill sweep is down to 25% after a Bullet Seed and a Mach Punch. Even better, Breloom dies to Life Orb damage and allows Stath to bring in Excadrill, since Landorus-T reveals that it was Choice-locked into U-Turn. Even more unfortunate:
★craing ;_;: no ground resist :x
Poor Raikou gets its soul eviscerated due to this dire situation, but Diancie gets pivoted in and forces out Excadrill, with Reuniclus being the Pokémon called upon to take the hit here. Suicune needs to take Earthquakes from ben's Landorus-T while Manectric can dish out damage to every remaining member of ben's team. That same Manectric comes in on Diancie afterwards and ben makes the safe play to sacrifice Empoleon. Volcarona can set up and win if Tyranitar is removed and Excadrill can't get the Sand Rush boost, while Landorus-T gets a kill every time it comes in, as Excadrill was shown not to hold a balloon. Toxicroak has the valuable priority to hit Excadrill with, and Stathakis no longer has any Fighting resists at this point. Landorus-T comes back in and Stath decides to part ways with Suicune, like his cousin "accidentally" deleted his entire save file on Crystal. Now we get into the real meat and potatoes of the battle. Delicious. Ben decides to damage Tyranitar with Landorus-T, getting it to the point that it dies to Stealth Rock; Toxicroak comes in to pick it off. Some criticize ben for not sacrificing Diancie to Tyranitar and then bringing in Toxicroak, allowing him to preserve Landorus-T, but that opens up a whole different treasure trove of 50/50s that my sensei won't allow me to discuss at length.
<~komugi> nah, don't get too complicated
The people want to know! That aside, on turn 22, the flaming hot 50/50s begin. Toxicroak can decide to Sucker Punch the Excadrill or Drain Punch predicting a Manectric switch-in or a scrumptious $5 foot-long Substitute. He decides to sacrifice Diancie first, however, so that Sucker Punch [252+ Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Excadrill: 162-192 (44.8 - 53.1%) -- 33.2% chance to 2HKO] + Life Orb can now ensure the KO after the recoil from Life Orb Earthquake. After Diancie dies, the same scenario happens again, but with Excadrill's life hanging in the balance. If someone predicts right here, then they potentially take the game. Sucker Punch + Life Orb recoil killing Excadrill means that Volcarona sets up on Manectric and wins. Toxicroak Drain Punching puts Manectric in Sucker Punch range and gives Toxicroak enough health to live a Thunderbolt thanks to Drain Punch recovery. Stathakis wins if he Earthquakes a Drain Punching Toxicroak, allowing Excadrill to kill Volcarona afterwards.
As we see in the replay, Stathakis goes to Manectric and ben gay chooses to Sucker Punch. This scenario does open one small window for ben gay, however. Thunderbolt is a damage roll to kill Toxicroak [252 SpA Mega Manectric Thunderbolt vs. 8 HP / 0 SpD Toxicroak: 216-255 (69.9 - 82.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO]. If Toxicroak does get gunned up and clapped quickly by Manectric's Thunderbolt, Volcarona comes in and another 50/50 gets forced. Does Stathakis switch right out of Volcarona to go to Excadrill, predicting a Quiver Dance [Excadrill outspeeds and kills at +1], or does he stay in and attack predicting ben to Fire Blast in anticipation of the potential switch to Excadrill? Unfortunately, we never get to find out, as ben really ends up on the bad side of the damage roll and Toxicroak lives to fight another day. This seals the game, as Excadrill can come right through and demolish a generous portion of the Volcarona buffet, ending what was overall a good game.
Closing Thoughts
Bring Ground resists, boys.
State of SPL
Week 1 was a pretty odd one overall. The #1 team in the TOTALLY UNBIASED power rankings went down in a close battle to the team ranked 10th out of 10 (though the disparity between each team in this league isn't too wide). Not only that, but there were three ties this week, with the Cryos-Ruiners game nearly being the 4th, with the Bigs' absolute shellacking of the Tigres being the only series that wasn't close. Both the Bigs and the Wolfpack appeared as strong teams, both talent-wise and through their ability to bond quickly and collaborate well. Just like the Bigs, the Wolfpack pulled off to a big lead early on; however, the Wolfpack were up against the defending champions, the Stark Sharks, a team whose
<@Ether> man
<@Ether> dice you can tell bloo will be salty
<@Ether> losing to a zard-y + thundurus team
<@Ether> w tenta as the only hazard control
<@Ether> bloo is captain ahab atm
<@Ether> level of salt
The Falcons/Raiders matchup seemed to be a clash of two teams of similar strength, if anything. The series did prove some draft criticisms to be potentially invalid, as Mizuhime, who had been maligned for her high price tag, managed to pour scalding Tim Horton's coffee and poutine all over TheFourthChaser, who was considered one of the best—if not THE best—doubles players in the tournament. Bomber92, considered a fairly weak GSC spot compared to the other competitors, edged out Bedschibaer. That's not to say old-gen stalwarts didn't come through, however; Leftiez, Golden Sun, and TV-Rocka all posted wins in this series.
Scooters/Classiest was a fairly close, but luck-filled series that drew some ire from Scooters manager CrashinBoomBang (in other words, water is wet). Yung Lavos emerged as a potential threat by giving MrE a solid challenge before hax tainted the battle, and RiCH HOMiE CASED drove his brand new Phantom all over FLCL, defending his #1 ranking as NU SLiME THUGGA RICH GANG VERSACE iNNOVATOR.
Overall, this week was pretty cloudy in determining which teams are threats, but even with more clear-cut victories, it's always too soon to assume how a 9-week-long season will play out based on Week 1 results alone. Or, perhaps managers have stopped channeling LonelyNess and the quality drafting this season will lead to one of the closest SPLs yet. It should be interesting.
Other Analyses
If you're fiending for more SPL match analyses after reading this, then you're in luck! There's been a plethora of YouTube videos from Smogon players that share additional perspectives on the games this week. If you want to learn even more about competitive Pokémon, be sure to ask at your local library!
BKC | boudouche | chimpact | MOET | MrJamvad | pokeaim | Tom Bus | Tsunami
