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Tournament PUPL VII Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Specs
- Start date
mock? mock:
- HJAD 25000
- Finchinator 23000
- robjr 23000
- kttverde 22500
- Heysup 21000
- Star 21000
- EviGaro 20500
- Chloe 20000
- termi 19000
- tlenit 18500
- Taskr 18500
- keppy 18000
- mz 18000
- Feliburn 17500
- LordST 17000
- asa 16000
- bagoftrixx 15000
- zS 15000
- lighthouses 15000
- DnB 14500
- PinkDragonTamer 14000
- GeneralAnnoyance 14000
- DrReuniclus 13000
- Lockjaw 13000
- Akir 13000
- JabbaTheGriffin 12000
- snaga 11500
- avarice 11000
- bb skarm 10500
- Raiza 10500
- TJ 10500
- Squash 10000
- yandaud 10000
- Bouff 10000
- xiri 9500
- ShuckleDeath 9500
- Lilburr 9500
- Blue YM 9500
- Jisoo 8000
- TDK 8000
- Sensei Axew 7000
- Twix 7000
- Z Strats 6500
- Alkione 6500
- Tone 6000
- Aurella 6000
- roxiee 6000
- atomicllamas 6000
- Lambovino 6000
- PTF 6000
- tko 5500
- BulbaBrain 5000
- Kink 5000
- Greybaum 5000
- umbry 5000
- Serene Grace 5000
- Skysolo 5000
- Decem 4500
- Expulso 4000
- SBPC 4000
- Landon 4000
- Nalorium 4000
- LpZ 4000
- Osh 4000
- SergioRules 4000
- Punny 3500
- col49 3500
- Beksel 3000
- devin 3000
- gorex 3000
- Pak 3000
- Mac3 3000
- PU Rules 3000
- Ryan207 3000
- Maki 3000
- jonfilch 3000
- Brandon 3000
- Raichy 3000
- ojr 3000
- ToastedBunzzz02 3000
- TSR 3000
- Estarossa 3000
- Oathkeepre 3000
- hs 3000
- jcbc 3000
- Wingless 3000
- INSANECARZYGUY 3000
- Perish Song 3000
- starry blanket 3000
mooc 2
- Finchinator 30000
- ktutverde 28500
- Star 28000
- Lilburr 21500
- xiri 20500
- Chloe 20500
- TJ 20500
- Punny 20500
- HJAD 20000
- termi 20000
- tlenit 19500
- EviGaro 17000
- gum 16500
- yandaud 16000
- umbry 15000
- Sensei Axew 15000
- GeneralAnnoyance 14500
- Teddeh 14500
- Heysup 14500
- Sjneider 14000
- robjr 13500
- LordST 12000
- Taskr 11500
- DnB 11000
- Feliburn 10500
- asa 10500
- Aliss 10500
- Jisoo 10000
- SBPC 10000
- TDK 10000
- PinkDragonTamer 9500
- atomicllamas 9000
- mz 9000
- Lockjaw 8500
- keppy 8500
- Osh 8500
- TSR 8000
- gorex 8000
- Kink 8000
- col49 8000
- ProDigeZz 7500
- Bouff 7000
- Akir 7000
- tko 7000
- hs 6500
- Expulso 6500
- snaga 6000
- SergioRules 6000
- avarice 6000
- Roseybear 6000
- Raiza 6000
- Maki 5500
- Squash 5000
- PTF 5000
- Mr.Bossaru 5000
- Jaajgko 5000
- mncmt 4500
- bagoftrixx 4500
- Pak 4500
- Chaitanya 4000
- Feaniix 4000
- Tone 4000
- Landon 4000
- Twix 3500
- Tack 3500
- Lambovino 3500
- Decem 3500
- Z Strats 3500
- daniYSB 3000
- Hys 3000
- Toy Time King 3000
- ausma 3000
- Aurella 3000
- ez 3000
- jcbc 3000
- Raahel 3000
- bb skarm 3000
- Wingless 3000
- pattek 3000
- starry blanket 3000
- London13 3000
- zS 3000
- Serene Grace 3000
- lighthouses 3000
- Splash 3000
- FU SHUN HA 3000
- Greybaum 3000
- Raichy 3000
- Estarossa 3000
- ShuckleDeath 3000
- LpZ 3000
- wilddrud 3000
- QWILY 3000
| ktutverde | 29500 |
| Star | 25500 |
| Finchinator | 21000 |
| TJ | 21000 |
| HJAD | 21000 |
| xiri | 20000 |
| Punny | 19500 |
| EviGaro | 19000 |
| Lilburr | 18000 |
| Heysup | 17000 |
| robjr | 17000 |
| bobbydagen | 16500 |
| Taskr | 16500 |
| termi | 16500 |
| tlenit | 16000 |
| Chloe | 16000 |
| TDK | 15000 |
| LordST | 15000 |
| GeneralAnnoyance | 14000 |
| Sensei Axew | 13500 |
| mz | 13500 |
| Aliss | 13000 |
| zS | 12000 |
| umbry | 12000 |
| DnB | 12000 |
| Teddeh | 11500 |
| Feliburn | 11000 |
| Raiza | 11000 |
| PinkDragonTamer | 10500 |
| snaga | 10000 |
| asa | 10000 |
| eternally | 10000 |
| keppy | 9500 |
| TSR | 9000 |
| Akir | 9000 |
| gum | 8500 |
| Osh | 8500 |
| bagoftrixx | 8000 |
| lighthouses | 8000 |
| wilddrud | 8000 |
| tko | 7500 |
| Raichy | 7500 |
| somalia | 7500 |
| Greybaum | 7500 |
| Expulso | 7000 |
| Lockjaw | 7000 |
| PTF | 7000 |
| atomicllamas | 7000 |
| roxiee | 7000 |
| Squash | 7000 |
| Sjneider | 7000 |
| ShuckleDeath | 6000 |
| Serene Grace | 6000 |
| bushtush | 5500 |
| mncmt | 5000 |
| Jisoo | 5000 |
| avarice | 5000 |
| Z Strats | 5000 |
| yandaud | 5000 |
| jcbc | 4500 |
| col49 | 4000 |
| zoowi | 4000 |
| Alkione | 4000 |
| Askov | 3500 |
| Tone | 3500 |
| jonfilch | 3500 |
| Roseybear | 3500 |
| SergioRules | 3500 |
| London13 | 3000 |
| manofmany | 3000 |
| malekith | 3000 |
| ez | 3000 |
| Maki | 3000 |
| vulxpix03 | 3000 |
| TeamCharm | 3000 |
| SBPC | 3000 |
| pattek | 3000 |
| Bouff | 3000 |
| Blue YM | 3000 |
| Oathkeepre | 3000 |
| Wingless | 3000 |
| Decem | 3000 |
| Skysolo | 3000 |
| Aurella | 3000 |
| StarBlim | 3000 |
| hs | 3000 |
| ToastedBunzzz02 | 3000 |
| Toy Time King | 3000 |
| Kink | 3000 |
| Estarossa | 3000 |
| ojr | 3000 |
Attachments
Last edited:
edit: the managers shown arent all there
| ktutverde | 29000 |
| Punny | 24500 |
| Star | 24000 |
| tlenit | 23500 |
| TDK | 23000 |
| keppy | 20000 |
| EviGaro | 20000 |
| Lilburr | 20000 |
| TJ | 20000 |
| xiri | 18500 |
| Taskr | 18000 |
| Finchinator | 18000 |
| robjr | 17500 |
| Heysup | 17000 |
| Chloe | 16500 |
| umbry | 15000 |
| Sensei Axew | 15000 |
| GeneralAnnoyance | 15000 |
| Teddeh | 13500 |
| termi | 12000 |
| PinkDragonTamer | 12000 |
| Osh | 11500 |
| Greybaum | 11500 |
| mz | 11000 |
| LordST | 11000 |
| bagoftrixx | 10500 |
| mncmt | 10000 |
| bobbydagen | 10000 |
| HJAD | 10000 |
| Bouff | 9500 |
| Raiza | 9500 |
| tko | 9500 |
| DnB | 9500 |
| Feliburn | 9000 |
| Expulso | 9000 |
| bb skarm | 8500 |
| gum | 8500 |
| somalia | 8000 |
| Kink | 8000 |
| Twix | 8000 |
| lighthouses | 7500 |
| HSOWA | 7500 |
| Squash | 7000 |
| Akir | 7000 |
| Decem | 7000 |
| bushtush | 7000 |
| starry blanket | 7000 |
| atomicllamas | 7000 |
| hs | 6500 |
| eternally | 6500 |
| Tone | 6000 |
| Serene Grace | 6000 |
| Skysolo | 6000 |
| avarice | 5500 |
| ShuckleDeath | 5500 |
| Feaniix | 5500 |
| snaga | 5000 |
| DrReuniclus | 5000 |
| Raichy | 4000 |
| Roseybear | 4000 |
| ez | 4000 |
| Jett | 4000 |
| asa | 4000 |
| Sjneider | 4000 |
| TheFranklin | 3500 |
| dahli | 3500 |
| Aliss | 3500 |
| PTF | 3500 |
| Oathkeepre | 3500 |
| yandaud | 3500 |
| wilddrud | 3500 |
| zS | 3500 |
| ToastedBunzzz02 | 3000 |
| malekith | 3000 |
| MrAldo | 3000 |
| SBPC | 3000 |
| ojr | 3000 |
| Brandon | 3000 |
| Mac3 | 3000 |
| Links | 3000 |
| SergioRules | 3000 |
| TSR | 3000 |
| Splash | 3000 |
| Lockjaw | 3000 |
| StarBlim | 3000 |
| PU Rules | 3000 |
| Wingless | 3000 |
| jcbc | 3000 |
| Lambovino | 3000 |
| Maki | 3000 |
| jonfilch | 3000 |
We all had fairly different rankings and felt that there were some very similar teams that were hard to put above each other, so this aggregate ranking is a real scuffed attempt to try to average out our thoughts. We all think it ends up pretty fine but it also kinda doesn't look like any of our individual rankings
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Hi all, I started writing out my own power rankings last night because I felt like it. I finished them just now, before listening to the UTT episode in the post above me to remain totally unbiased with my rankings. Overall I would say the teams are pretty close in terms of quality, so ranking them ultimately was pretty difficult in a lot of places. Therefore, even if you team is ranked low this does not have to mean much, since I do think every team here can make playoffs at least. This should be a pretty exciting iteration of PUPL.
I don't think I have to say this but obviously my own team is not included here, to hear how we stack up against the other teams I would like to defer you to the aforementioned UTT episode.
I don't think I have to say this but obviously my own team is not included here, to hear how we stack up against the other teams I would like to defer you to the aforementioned UTT episode.
#7: Vicious Rends
The Vicious Rends, whose team name I will not expand upon for the sake of not offending their manager who I'm sure did his best, have something to prove. With a grand total of 15 players, Trixx deployed what appears to be a quantity-over-quality strategy, ending up with a team with a lot of familiar faces but few standout names. On their current roster, standout names are EviGaro and LordST, who also happen to be the most expensive players on the team. Unfortunately, while EviGaro is perhaps the best BW PU player in the pool, LordST has very strong competition and despite being very solid in SM is not guaranteed a good record given the high quality of the pool. The SS of this team is generally solid and is potentially very flexible due to the huge bench of this team, with PU Open finalist Decem standing out in particular. Expulso gets points for being in Slam playoffs and for probably being pretty motivated, although his forays into PU tournaments thus far have been largely unimpressive to my knowledge. mncmt surprisingly does not start on the bench and has the potential to do very well if he stays off the bench throughout the season, while TheFranklin, mark my words, is the secret weapon of this team. The remaining slots are filled by TSR who had probably the unluckiest season of all time during last year's PUPL but who can perform decently if things go a bit more his way this time around, and Roseybear who I wouldn't count among the top half of the DPP pool in any case. Between Trixx, Sergio, and fan favorite keppy there is a lot of team support on the bench which could elevate this team, but it is not guaranteed that this will be enough to make an average-looking team into a playoffs-worthy team. Still, I absolutely wouldn't count them out, and I believe for a last ranked team this one looks much better than some of the weaker teams of last year's PUPL.
#6: M.A.A.D. City Magmortars
Some might say that this team should have been called the To Pimp a Butterfrees, but that's neither here nor there. The Magmortars notably were the only team not to get anyone for more than 15k during the auction and it shows in their lineup, as it looks pretty solid but doesn't have that one name that you know in advance is gonna have a fantastic record. The SS core here is pretty good, with PDT and Raiza both being potentially very dangerous players. PDT if I'm not mistaken carried US South hard during PUWC by building a lot of teams for his teammates and generally putting on a solid performance, which I'm sure he would be able to repeat in this tournament. Raiza meanwhile is a familiar face for PU players and seems interested in getting back into the tier for this tournament, I know he already started building so he's likely gonna be another solid and self-sufficient slot. Drud and zS are the mainers of the SS core and generally pretty solid, although perhaps not solid enough to win if they're paired against one of the bigger threats of this tournament. zS especially could go either way: while he had a solid record last PUPL, I really did not rate him too highly as a player at the time. I do think he's been improving over time though, so we'll see in this tournament if last PUPL was a fluke or if he really is someone to watch out for. In the oldgens I think there is a lot more trouble, however. Wingless is by no means a bad player, but the SM pool is especially strong to the point where he would still rank last in a power ranking of the SM players individually. The ORAS and BW slots could really go either way, with Bushtush basically being a completely unfamiliar element in this meta and most likely needing pretty good team support to get anywhere. Many, meanwhile, is pretty solid in ORAS but also not someone I would favor vs like half of the pool. Rounding off the team is Alice who has been getting into DPP PU a lot over the past year and could definitely be one of the players to watch out for, especially given that she's on a team with her friend Drud who can help out a lot with testing and building. Finally I do have to say this team has an interesting bench with a lot of people who if nothing else are at least likely to be motivated and willing to be active chat presences, so if nothing else this will be one of the most fun teams (perhaps depending on your definition of fun). Whether or not that is enough to beat the better teams of the tournament remains to be seen.
#5: Moo Moo Milkers
The Moo Moo Milkers sure have a team name to be jealous of. They also have a bunch of names on their team to be jealous of: Star is one of the most reliable performers in any given tour and will almost certainly go positive, whereas HJAD and Taskr are old guard PU mains with a good reputation. HJAD knows SM very well and gets to deploy his MVP playstyle in Kangaspikes in the tier, which is helpful for him given that he is as far as I can tell one of the busiest men in the universe and has not had a lot of time to build new things this year - this may also make him very ct-able, however. Taskr on the other hand I don't really know very well in ORAS, and last year he had a pretty poor PUPL, so it remains to be seen if he's able to shake off the crust and put on a solid performance this year. Turning back to SS, the most notable name other than Star is Osh, who is currently doing well in Slam playoffs and seems like a logical addition on the team seeing as how he is surrounded by several of his fellow British* people. Former PU Snake starter Vulpix03 seems to have forgone a starting position for himself this week to make room for Splash and jonfilch, the former of which I have at least noticed being active in the PU cord for a while, but I don't know exactly how good either of these players are. From going through their posting histories, however, I can surmise that they are active Monotype players. I will leave it to the reader's discretion what to make of this. I think for most of these players getting teams could be an issue depending on how much Vulpix03 is on top of the meta and/or how much free time HJAD has, since I feel like most of these would want to be passed teams in order to perform. As for the remaining oldgen slots, we have unholy levels of crust occupying the DPP slot, which could turn out very well or pretty bad, I really can't say. I'm pretty sure Alkione can at least provide teams which should help Jabba ease into the tier (assuming he's never played DPP PU before). It's good to see Tack in BW, I know she knows a lot about the meta, but she's also somewhat unproven as a player as far as I can tell and might struggle against what is honestly a pretty competent BW pool. Overall, I would say this team looks decent enough, but I think whether or not they have a shot at playoffs will really come down to if they can get enough activity and motivation going. Additionally, if one of their good-on-paper players has a bad season, things could take a turn for the worse pretty easily. Nevertheless, I wouldn't count them out by any means.
*I have been told that Osh is, in fact, Irish, but I do not know of many Irish people who would voluntarily team with British people in a World Cup tournament, so I will for the moment dismiss this as a baseless rumor.
#4: Snap Trappers
The Snap Trappers are probably the most decidedly "mainer" team of the bunch, which tends to have something of a stigma against it, but they for sure have a lot going for themselves, particularly in the oldgens. Heysup and Bobby Dagen are known as PUPL mainstays who easily rank among the top of their respective pools, although the former had a disappointing season last year and the latter is known to some as someone who is, to phrase things euphemistically, a bit challenging to schedule with. Bobby Dagen is however practically an unstoppable beast in ORAS so I have high expectations of him if he puts his best foot forward. MZ, having been tier leader throughout SM, is obviously intimately familiar with the tier and will in all likelihood put on a solid performance, while SBPC in BW is a lesser known name but someone I can definitely vouch for as well. The SS of the Snap Trappers is, I believe, the make-or-break of this team, looking decently solid but lacking some of the star power that other teams have. To be sure, Chloe/Squash/Greybaum are good builders and some of the better PU mains in this tournament, with the latter making it to semifinals in last PU Open, but it remains to be seen for me if they're capable of taking wins vs some of the established tour players that can be found throughout other teams' lineups. ez meanwhile is basically a question mark to me, I haven't really paid attention to him in tournaments and only really know him from FFA so we'll see. If someone underperforms there aren't a lot of fantastic replacements waiting on the bench, SOMALIA probably being the best one to slot into SS or BW if something goes wrong there. However, he is also a cancer risk, especially in a tier with Jellicent. Akir on any other team would have been fantastic team support, supplementing any tour player thrown into an oldgen with a library of solid teams, but feels pretty redundant on this team given that the team is almost entirely self-sufficient. I suppose MZ just really wanted to be reunited with his co-ex-TL. Overall, while this team is low on star power, I think they have a pretty decent shot at making playoffs, but I think a lot of it's gonna come down to the question if the PU mains in SS can eke out matchup advantages throughout the weeks by staying on top of the meta and doing a lot of testing.
#3: Happy Huntails
Is a team that chose to trade Finchinator away after buying him for a respectable 16k totally hopeless? As it turns out, perhaps not. Although some may have questions with regard to some of the strategies deployed by the team's management on the eve of the auction, there is a decent amount of coherence to be found on this team and few weak spots. What one first of all notices is that the team has, to my knowledge, a perfect 50-50 ratio of French-to-nonFrench players, giving the team a decent amount of synergy - although there is always the worry that too much French in the team Discord could alienate the non-Francophones. What one will also notice is that the SS core of Ktut and TJ is immediately one of the most dangerous in the tournament as far as mains go, serving up 8-1 and 7-2 records during last PUPL respectively, a major contributor to their team's victory. After that, their SS seems to drop off a bit. yovannumbers is pretty much an unknown element to me, whereas the only time I have seen McSim play PU was when I faced him during PU Seasonal where he brought, and this is true, teams from the pre-Isle of Armor meta. He did strike me as a fine player though, so perhaps with up-to-date teams he may put on a decent performance. Turning to the oldgens, we find a very solid SM slot in yandaud, although perhaps not Finchinator levels of solid, and a pretty decent core of players in the other metas. lighthouses and GA had some very solid records during last year's PUPL, and I believe especially the latter should have no problems going positive again; Feaniix, meanwhile, is a new face to the PUPL scene, but is very motivated and appears to have an army of Germans standing behind him. Of the current lineup I would say 5/8 have a very good chance to go positive, so as long as the 3k heroes of the Huntails pull more weight than their price tag indicates, this team has a very solid shot at making playoffs. On the other hand, if a few players crash and burn, this team has awfully little wiggle room to compensate for it: Lambovino and PTF can make for competent subs/team support, but will most likely not be the team's saviors if something goes wrong.
#2: Fruity Frosmoths
The perhaps unfortunately named Fruity Frosmoths are coming into this tournament looking pretty decidedly like one of the stronger teams in the pack. Xiri, having previous managing experience in Snake, has once again teamed up with tlenit to build what looks like a pretty consistently good lineup. In SS, we find first of all tlenit, who has a good reputation within the PU community as one of the better players. I will be the first to admit that I'm personally confused by this man sometimes, as his teambuilding often feels more geared towards ladder players than tournament players, but whatever he's doing does seem to be working out for him since he typically wins a decent amount. robjr gives the team its token "tour player" and, having teamed with him in PUPL several times in the past, I can say he's poised to do well. At the same time I do believe he's been in somewhat of a rut mons-wise as of late, but even when he's not at maximum capacity robjr can make just about anyone sweat. Beyond these two we find TeamCharm, who is a relative newcomer but managed to break into Slam playoffs and will probably be interesting to follow, and the loose cannon known as Kink. Kink can most definitely put up a decent show, but his creative sense of teambuilding can be as much of an asset as it can be a detriment, and he will likely need to be kept in check somewhat in order to ensure he does not just get 6-0d by some top threat (i.e. last time I played him he had no Talonflame counterplay). Someone who can go 6-1 in the regular season as easily as he can go 1-6. Moving on to the oldgens we find that Xiri (evil) has stolen Lilburr from me and as a result secured one of the best BW slots. Beyond that, Xiri himself is more than competent in SM and will probably do well, although once again the SM pool is very dangerous and no one is certain of going positive here. MrAldo looks like the weakest element on the team as someone who just does not have a terribly high skill cap, but he can probably win a few games and be carried by the rest of the team otherwise. atomicllamas, finally, is as far as I know an unknown element in DPP PU but he has plenty of oldgen experience under his belt and can perform just about anywhere - the main question for me here is if he has the team support to back it up. Finally turning towards the bench we find Z Strats, who I don't know too well, and Teddeh, one of the former elder gods of PU who seems to be more interested in being a benchwarmer this time around. Although I rank this team highly, it has a pretty high wildcard element to itself and things could end up blowing up in Xiri's face depending on how things go. A number of these players have the potential to underperform, but on the other hand, they could just as easily be one of the scariest teams to face, especially if Teddeh changes his mind and fills in for Aldo in ORAS. Only time may tell.
#1: Deez Nuts Druddigons
Historically, it has been shown that having an infantile team name can in fact bode well for a team, as anyone who remembers my Boku no Pika team can attest to, and things are no different here. The Druddigons I think have the lowest amount of weaknesses in their lineup of the bunch and I think is the only team of the ones I've discussed that looks pretty certain to make playoffs based on lineup alone. Their SS core is filled with solid players with a lot of team tour experience. Punny is the obvious standout player as he is currently the favorite to win this year's iteration of Grand Slam and generally seems to have forgotten how to lose in lower tiers, like seriously he just doesn't seem to ever lose. Bouff and umbry are also not to be discounted and are generally very capable with good team support, while Serene Grace is not only pretty good but to my knowledge is also one of the luckiest players alive. The secret weapon of this SS core however is gum, who is a perpetual team building machine and can easily supply any of these players with solid teams. Having that kind of team support for 0 credits by virtue of them being the manager almost borders on unfair. Beyond SS things don't look much worse either. Pak is another good player who can put on a good show with proper team support, which gum once again should be able to bring. Sensei Axew has had success in ORAS before and generally seems to do well in these lower tier team tours as long as they're not the tier he mains, strangely enough. DnB is one of those people who for whatever reason has taken a liking to the whole BW generation and as such is certainly going to be active in the building department and hopefully successful in the playing department - and if he does not perform, known BW lover tko can always pick up the slack. DPP probably is the weakest element here, with HSOWA being relatively unproven as far as I can tell, although he didn't do half bad in PUWC. The bench on this team is pretty small and occupied by at least one player who loves sitting on benches a little too much for his own good, so once again there is little wiggle room for this team if someone falters. Unlike a lot of these other teams, however, there aren't really any slots that immediately look too concerning, and the talent of their roster is such that even if someone ends up underperforming they are still likely to win a lot of weeks. Definitely the team to watch out for this tournament.
The Vicious Rends, whose team name I will not expand upon for the sake of not offending their manager who I'm sure did his best, have something to prove. With a grand total of 15 players, Trixx deployed what appears to be a quantity-over-quality strategy, ending up with a team with a lot of familiar faces but few standout names. On their current roster, standout names are EviGaro and LordST, who also happen to be the most expensive players on the team. Unfortunately, while EviGaro is perhaps the best BW PU player in the pool, LordST has very strong competition and despite being very solid in SM is not guaranteed a good record given the high quality of the pool. The SS of this team is generally solid and is potentially very flexible due to the huge bench of this team, with PU Open finalist Decem standing out in particular. Expulso gets points for being in Slam playoffs and for probably being pretty motivated, although his forays into PU tournaments thus far have been largely unimpressive to my knowledge. mncmt surprisingly does not start on the bench and has the potential to do very well if he stays off the bench throughout the season, while TheFranklin, mark my words, is the secret weapon of this team. The remaining slots are filled by TSR who had probably the unluckiest season of all time during last year's PUPL but who can perform decently if things go a bit more his way this time around, and Roseybear who I wouldn't count among the top half of the DPP pool in any case. Between Trixx, Sergio, and fan favorite keppy there is a lot of team support on the bench which could elevate this team, but it is not guaranteed that this will be enough to make an average-looking team into a playoffs-worthy team. Still, I absolutely wouldn't count them out, and I believe for a last ranked team this one looks much better than some of the weaker teams of last year's PUPL.
#6: M.A.A.D. City Magmortars
Some might say that this team should have been called the To Pimp a Butterfrees, but that's neither here nor there. The Magmortars notably were the only team not to get anyone for more than 15k during the auction and it shows in their lineup, as it looks pretty solid but doesn't have that one name that you know in advance is gonna have a fantastic record. The SS core here is pretty good, with PDT and Raiza both being potentially very dangerous players. PDT if I'm not mistaken carried US South hard during PUWC by building a lot of teams for his teammates and generally putting on a solid performance, which I'm sure he would be able to repeat in this tournament. Raiza meanwhile is a familiar face for PU players and seems interested in getting back into the tier for this tournament, I know he already started building so he's likely gonna be another solid and self-sufficient slot. Drud and zS are the mainers of the SS core and generally pretty solid, although perhaps not solid enough to win if they're paired against one of the bigger threats of this tournament. zS especially could go either way: while he had a solid record last PUPL, I really did not rate him too highly as a player at the time. I do think he's been improving over time though, so we'll see in this tournament if last PUPL was a fluke or if he really is someone to watch out for. In the oldgens I think there is a lot more trouble, however. Wingless is by no means a bad player, but the SM pool is especially strong to the point where he would still rank last in a power ranking of the SM players individually. The ORAS and BW slots could really go either way, with Bushtush basically being a completely unfamiliar element in this meta and most likely needing pretty good team support to get anywhere. Many, meanwhile, is pretty solid in ORAS but also not someone I would favor vs like half of the pool. Rounding off the team is Alice who has been getting into DPP PU a lot over the past year and could definitely be one of the players to watch out for, especially given that she's on a team with her friend Drud who can help out a lot with testing and building. Finally I do have to say this team has an interesting bench with a lot of people who if nothing else are at least likely to be motivated and willing to be active chat presences, so if nothing else this will be one of the most fun teams (perhaps depending on your definition of fun). Whether or not that is enough to beat the better teams of the tournament remains to be seen.
#5: Moo Moo Milkers
The Moo Moo Milkers sure have a team name to be jealous of. They also have a bunch of names on their team to be jealous of: Star is one of the most reliable performers in any given tour and will almost certainly go positive, whereas HJAD and Taskr are old guard PU mains with a good reputation. HJAD knows SM very well and gets to deploy his MVP playstyle in Kangaspikes in the tier, which is helpful for him given that he is as far as I can tell one of the busiest men in the universe and has not had a lot of time to build new things this year - this may also make him very ct-able, however. Taskr on the other hand I don't really know very well in ORAS, and last year he had a pretty poor PUPL, so it remains to be seen if he's able to shake off the crust and put on a solid performance this year. Turning back to SS, the most notable name other than Star is Osh, who is currently doing well in Slam playoffs and seems like a logical addition on the team seeing as how he is surrounded by several of his fellow British* people. Former PU Snake starter Vulpix03 seems to have forgone a starting position for himself this week to make room for Splash and jonfilch, the former of which I have at least noticed being active in the PU cord for a while, but I don't know exactly how good either of these players are. From going through their posting histories, however, I can surmise that they are active Monotype players. I will leave it to the reader's discretion what to make of this. I think for most of these players getting teams could be an issue depending on how much Vulpix03 is on top of the meta and/or how much free time HJAD has, since I feel like most of these would want to be passed teams in order to perform. As for the remaining oldgen slots, we have unholy levels of crust occupying the DPP slot, which could turn out very well or pretty bad, I really can't say. I'm pretty sure Alkione can at least provide teams which should help Jabba ease into the tier (assuming he's never played DPP PU before). It's good to see Tack in BW, I know she knows a lot about the meta, but she's also somewhat unproven as a player as far as I can tell and might struggle against what is honestly a pretty competent BW pool. Overall, I would say this team looks decent enough, but I think whether or not they have a shot at playoffs will really come down to if they can get enough activity and motivation going. Additionally, if one of their good-on-paper players has a bad season, things could take a turn for the worse pretty easily. Nevertheless, I wouldn't count them out by any means.
*I have been told that Osh is, in fact, Irish, but I do not know of many Irish people who would voluntarily team with British people in a World Cup tournament, so I will for the moment dismiss this as a baseless rumor.
#4: Snap Trappers
The Snap Trappers are probably the most decidedly "mainer" team of the bunch, which tends to have something of a stigma against it, but they for sure have a lot going for themselves, particularly in the oldgens. Heysup and Bobby Dagen are known as PUPL mainstays who easily rank among the top of their respective pools, although the former had a disappointing season last year and the latter is known to some as someone who is, to phrase things euphemistically, a bit challenging to schedule with. Bobby Dagen is however practically an unstoppable beast in ORAS so I have high expectations of him if he puts his best foot forward. MZ, having been tier leader throughout SM, is obviously intimately familiar with the tier and will in all likelihood put on a solid performance, while SBPC in BW is a lesser known name but someone I can definitely vouch for as well. The SS of the Snap Trappers is, I believe, the make-or-break of this team, looking decently solid but lacking some of the star power that other teams have. To be sure, Chloe/Squash/Greybaum are good builders and some of the better PU mains in this tournament, with the latter making it to semifinals in last PU Open, but it remains to be seen for me if they're capable of taking wins vs some of the established tour players that can be found throughout other teams' lineups. ez meanwhile is basically a question mark to me, I haven't really paid attention to him in tournaments and only really know him from FFA so we'll see. If someone underperforms there aren't a lot of fantastic replacements waiting on the bench, SOMALIA probably being the best one to slot into SS or BW if something goes wrong there. However, he is also a cancer risk, especially in a tier with Jellicent. Akir on any other team would have been fantastic team support, supplementing any tour player thrown into an oldgen with a library of solid teams, but feels pretty redundant on this team given that the team is almost entirely self-sufficient. I suppose MZ just really wanted to be reunited with his co-ex-TL. Overall, while this team is low on star power, I think they have a pretty decent shot at making playoffs, but I think a lot of it's gonna come down to the question if the PU mains in SS can eke out matchup advantages throughout the weeks by staying on top of the meta and doing a lot of testing.
#3: Happy Huntails
Is a team that chose to trade Finchinator away after buying him for a respectable 16k totally hopeless? As it turns out, perhaps not. Although some may have questions with regard to some of the strategies deployed by the team's management on the eve of the auction, there is a decent amount of coherence to be found on this team and few weak spots. What one first of all notices is that the team has, to my knowledge, a perfect 50-50 ratio of French-to-nonFrench players, giving the team a decent amount of synergy - although there is always the worry that too much French in the team Discord could alienate the non-Francophones. What one will also notice is that the SS core of Ktut and TJ is immediately one of the most dangerous in the tournament as far as mains go, serving up 8-1 and 7-2 records during last PUPL respectively, a major contributor to their team's victory. After that, their SS seems to drop off a bit. yovannumbers is pretty much an unknown element to me, whereas the only time I have seen McSim play PU was when I faced him during PU Seasonal where he brought, and this is true, teams from the pre-Isle of Armor meta. He did strike me as a fine player though, so perhaps with up-to-date teams he may put on a decent performance. Turning to the oldgens, we find a very solid SM slot in yandaud, although perhaps not Finchinator levels of solid, and a pretty decent core of players in the other metas. lighthouses and GA had some very solid records during last year's PUPL, and I believe especially the latter should have no problems going positive again; Feaniix, meanwhile, is a new face to the PUPL scene, but is very motivated and appears to have an army of Germans standing behind him. Of the current lineup I would say 5/8 have a very good chance to go positive, so as long as the 3k heroes of the Huntails pull more weight than their price tag indicates, this team has a very solid shot at making playoffs. On the other hand, if a few players crash and burn, this team has awfully little wiggle room to compensate for it: Lambovino and PTF can make for competent subs/team support, but will most likely not be the team's saviors if something goes wrong.
#2: Fruity Frosmoths
The perhaps unfortunately named Fruity Frosmoths are coming into this tournament looking pretty decidedly like one of the stronger teams in the pack. Xiri, having previous managing experience in Snake, has once again teamed up with tlenit to build what looks like a pretty consistently good lineup. In SS, we find first of all tlenit, who has a good reputation within the PU community as one of the better players. I will be the first to admit that I'm personally confused by this man sometimes, as his teambuilding often feels more geared towards ladder players than tournament players, but whatever he's doing does seem to be working out for him since he typically wins a decent amount. robjr gives the team its token "tour player" and, having teamed with him in PUPL several times in the past, I can say he's poised to do well. At the same time I do believe he's been in somewhat of a rut mons-wise as of late, but even when he's not at maximum capacity robjr can make just about anyone sweat. Beyond these two we find TeamCharm, who is a relative newcomer but managed to break into Slam playoffs and will probably be interesting to follow, and the loose cannon known as Kink. Kink can most definitely put up a decent show, but his creative sense of teambuilding can be as much of an asset as it can be a detriment, and he will likely need to be kept in check somewhat in order to ensure he does not just get 6-0d by some top threat (i.e. last time I played him he had no Talonflame counterplay). Someone who can go 6-1 in the regular season as easily as he can go 1-6. Moving on to the oldgens we find that Xiri (evil) has stolen Lilburr from me and as a result secured one of the best BW slots. Beyond that, Xiri himself is more than competent in SM and will probably do well, although once again the SM pool is very dangerous and no one is certain of going positive here. MrAldo looks like the weakest element on the team as someone who just does not have a terribly high skill cap, but he can probably win a few games and be carried by the rest of the team otherwise. atomicllamas, finally, is as far as I know an unknown element in DPP PU but he has plenty of oldgen experience under his belt and can perform just about anywhere - the main question for me here is if he has the team support to back it up. Finally turning towards the bench we find Z Strats, who I don't know too well, and Teddeh, one of the former elder gods of PU who seems to be more interested in being a benchwarmer this time around. Although I rank this team highly, it has a pretty high wildcard element to itself and things could end up blowing up in Xiri's face depending on how things go. A number of these players have the potential to underperform, but on the other hand, they could just as easily be one of the scariest teams to face, especially if Teddeh changes his mind and fills in for Aldo in ORAS. Only time may tell.
#1: Deez Nuts Druddigons
Historically, it has been shown that having an infantile team name can in fact bode well for a team, as anyone who remembers my Boku no Pika team can attest to, and things are no different here. The Druddigons I think have the lowest amount of weaknesses in their lineup of the bunch and I think is the only team of the ones I've discussed that looks pretty certain to make playoffs based on lineup alone. Their SS core is filled with solid players with a lot of team tour experience. Punny is the obvious standout player as he is currently the favorite to win this year's iteration of Grand Slam and generally seems to have forgotten how to lose in lower tiers, like seriously he just doesn't seem to ever lose. Bouff and umbry are also not to be discounted and are generally very capable with good team support, while Serene Grace is not only pretty good but to my knowledge is also one of the luckiest players alive. The secret weapon of this SS core however is gum, who is a perpetual team building machine and can easily supply any of these players with solid teams. Having that kind of team support for 0 credits by virtue of them being the manager almost borders on unfair. Beyond SS things don't look much worse either. Pak is another good player who can put on a good show with proper team support, which gum once again should be able to bring. Sensei Axew has had success in ORAS before and generally seems to do well in these lower tier team tours as long as they're not the tier he mains, strangely enough. DnB is one of those people who for whatever reason has taken a liking to the whole BW generation and as such is certainly going to be active in the building department and hopefully successful in the playing department - and if he does not perform, known BW lover tko can always pick up the slack. DPP probably is the weakest element here, with HSOWA being relatively unproven as far as I can tell, although he didn't do half bad in PUWC. The bench on this team is pretty small and occupied by at least one player who loves sitting on benches a little too much for his own good, so once again there is little wiggle room for this team if someone falters. Unlike a lot of these other teams, however, there aren't really any slots that immediately look too concerning, and the talent of their roster is such that even if someone ends up underperforming they are still likely to win a lot of weeks. Definitely the team to watch out for this tournament.