Finals Smogon Premier League VII - Finals [Won by the Stark Sharks]

[Iconic]

wow... i cant believe it...

there have been 7 SPL's

 

[Atticus]

wow... i cant believe it...

there have been 7 SPL's

I feel old just reading that. Also the Sharks have won 3 of the last 6 SPLs, makiri is the Phil Jackson of SPL

 

[Meru]

Smh even when it comes to writing shoutouts I'm a john but my teammates wanted me to write this sO

After making it to finals last year during my first SPL with Ruiners and losing to Classiest, it feels great to close out the season with a win this time with a close score of 7-5. I'm glad my team was able to take a gamble on me despite the fact I wasn't involved with the RU metagame prior to the start of SPL and didn't put as much time into teambuilding and testing as I did last year. However, I really liked the differences in team environment from last year, with the sharks feeling a lot more cohesive, especially when finals came around, which gave us the momentum to outclass the Classiest.

makiri

Starting with you because you're the manager but I'll be honest and say you didn't have any contributions that I know of (maybe doubles?). You were pretty much an inactive punching bag but at least you became a meme for all of us to bond over. You did however provide a very positive team environment and you drafted an amazing team.

M Drag

Prior to the season I actually thought you did not like me but it wasn't until this week that I realized I was mistaking you for Ojama and you're not a salty old gen loser like him. What makiri lacked in activity, you made up for, providing help to every single tier in some way shape or form. The bird stall team that you and I collaborated on during my week 4 game against Windsong gave me the confidence boost I needed to close out a strong record for the rest of the season, where you pretty much never had to worry about me after that. Looking forward to watching your performance in the upcoming WCoP.

reiku

I was actually really looking forward to being on your team prior to the season's start. I didn't tell you this but in the latter half of 2015 I would use your WCoP teams from replays in various tournaments since they looked incredibly solid and they did me well. While the beginning of your season was better than the end, the momentum that you gave us in the rankings early on was pretty much irreplacable. Plus you actually had irl shit going on so it's completely understandable. Looking forward to seeing you and M Drag take WCoP by storm.

Steve Angello

This dude was way too eager to test with everybody but at some point everybody needed it, which is nice as the sharks pretty much never felt like they didn't have any internal support, which can be a huge problem in team tournaments. You were by far the nicest dude on the team. Your OU games were fun to watch, where you brought a creative and effective team week in and week out. I think if you received a tutor session from me in the proper art of johning, your play would skyrocket into the next dimension.

Alastor Law

I pretty much had no idea who Wolf was prior to midseason, but it was a pleasant surprise to find out we had another solid OU sub just casually chilling in the back. Your games in week 7 and week 8 were a great help in closing out the season. Hoping to see you get more air time in the future.

Hikari

The dude responsible for getting me on the team. I'll be honest and say I was a little hesitant when you approached me prior to the auction as I had already told Pearl that I would like to be on the Wolfpack, but obviously this one was better. It's cool to know that someone was smart enough to play close attention to my run last season. You provided great teambuilding advice for exploiting the weaknesses of some of the more dominant RU players and your willingness to be the clincher for us during finals saved us all a lot of pressure. I'll be seeing you around for sure.

Cased

Smh you really did not want to build a standard team but you did a thing in finals so I can't be anything but grateful. I'm hoping that you find competitive Pokemon tournaments fun again at some point as it would be great to see you go on a dominant run again but I totally understand where you're coming from if you're over it.

blarajan

Slightly clueless as to where you got the idea that I'm some little cup expert lol although I guess I'm sorry I couldn't provide help on that front??? Your help reminds me a lot of the help Bouff gave me last season. We both pretty much whipped ourselves into form by finals and continually gave each other little tweaks on our squads. And then, after being busy all weekend and having to build for my finals game against New Breed, it was above and beyond for you to dedicate several hours of your time to just listen to me ramble about the meta so that we could crank out that awesome double fighting squad. Hope to revive the blaramerujan core in future team tournaments.

TFC

Glad you put aside some old PO drama for the sake of SPL. I'll be honest and say I was a part of the group that was skeptical of how you would perform given last year but I remembered a lot of Falcons saying that you were going through a lot irl, so I gave you the benefit of the doubt. You were definitely the best doubles player in this tournament and it was a shame that your finals game was robbed from you.

GOD MARTH

We go back years where you were the biggest IMP beast in BW. I'd honestly thought you might be a little washed up at the beginning of the season but you busted out creative and effective sets on underrated Pokemon and provided some beastly wins. Your role on the team reminds me of FLCL on last year's Classiest, winning as early as Tuesday/Wednesday to boost the team's confidence and rally us all into formation. That kind of contribution is something that can't be measured in a record. You're a beast.

Kevin Garrett

You had been hanging around in our channel the entire season, so buying you at midseason was merely a formality. It's crazy how I went from the guy spamming KG stall all over the ladder late DPP to being on a team with you. Your DPP win against PDC was also crazy with a fucking Blissey lead not to mention I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to find out what PDC's last was. Curious to see if you'll stick around

Smurf

I'll be honest and say your DPP teams look completely off to me but you came through with wins during a couple of crucial weeks. Sucks you're in a completely different timezone but you seemed like a cool dude

gene

Cool sub in the back. The rotation of our DPP players really gave us good versatility and made sure our players never burned out or got cteamed so the fact that we could get you in for the week whenever we needed was awesome

Golden Sun

Another dude with awkward time zones but you're such a solid pick in ADV it's insane. Pretty much never had to worry too much about that slot since you've been playing it for so long and know the meta inside and out

Conflict

I remember the first day I came into the sharks channel and I didn't even know what tier you played lol. I didn't watch all of your games because PO replays give me cancer but when you started playing more on smogtours I saw just how dominant you are in GSC. You were a great resource to bounce ideas off of in any tier and you were basically our third manager whipping us into shape. I definitely understand why you've been an auto retain on the team for as long as you have.

The_Chaser

I never would have guessed from last SPL that you could perform at such a high level in RBY but you managed to really overcome a buttload of hax with some great play and solid team choices. Congrats on keeping your trophy yet again

Frizy

Never got a chance to talk to you but hey your trophy is pretty sexy

CTC

Saved the based lord for last. I think it was great that we made the right call and kept you as our comic relief and team supporter on the bench as you didn't seem to really have the time to commit to being a starter. You've won SPL before so it's great to have someone that isn't playing that knows how to give a good pep talk and kick our asses the right way when we need it.

No idea if I'm playing next year. We'll see I guess.