I wasn't planning on signing up for AGPL. In fact, a week before sign-ups were posted, I was actually having a panic attack about signing up. Maybe I was stressed from school and some big tests going on, but I wasn't confident I was going to get drafted. Even if I did somehow manage that, there wasn't anyway I was going to actually play, let alone win a game. During my panic attack, a really really good friend of mine reached out to me in PMs. I (somewhat incomprehensibly) told her about what was going on and she listened. We talked about some stuff and eventually departed. I didn't leave the conversation feeling 100% better, but she kinda made me feel a lot more confident.
Fast forward three weeks and she ended up drafting me onto an AGPL team with some of the best friends that I've made on Smogon. Seven weeks after that, I finished the season 5-0, including a Finals win versus one of the best AG players of all time. Maybe the individual players on this team made it easy for her, but Kate made sure every player scouted every week, had gameplans, and were ready to go. It could have just been the winning, but even just
being on this team was fun. Kate was on top of everything and provided a sense of confidence in her players that I've felt was missing in most of my previous team tournament experiences. The prep, team environment, mind-boggling 22-5 (as of this writing) Galar record (with four straight 4-0 Galar sweeps!), second-place regular season finish, and Finals qualification is testament to how well Kate did as manager.
I'll end this post here so as to not cheapen Kate's future shout-out post. This tournament was just unbelievably fun, and it's been a pleasure to work and team with all of you
Kate Satanic Beast chlo jerryl309 pdt lotiasite WSun1 Crunchman velvet Avery. I definitely had a few bad headspace times and a couple panic attacks, so thank you all for putting up with me lmao.
I
might try the upcoming USUM cup, but I need a break. I hope everybody has a great day!
What am I saying? This is a tie fucking ballgame
in the finals, Lycanrocs! We got more games left! We're still in this shit!
LET'S FUCKING GET IT, LYCANROCS!