Tournament Smogon Premier League: NeverUsed Discussion

[Bouff]

never understood why every year people poop on the open winners in a tier they dont main n puttem in the bottom but whattya gonna do huh. i mean i have been playing more nu than anything else for like 2 months now :s enough ranting tho

teddeh vs rw is probably the closest. teddeh obviously has more experience in big tours like this but waters did well in nupl from what i hear and he has the case blessing so should be even

sg is crusty. evan has less tour experience but i think as a builder he's on par with sg, should be good to watch

even if case doesnt play frizy still has immense help with him in teambuilding and has a good amount of tour experience as shown in slam, blast is really good too but like the rest its pretty even

i think meta (why did you change your name -_-) has the edge here. sure kiyo / tennis can help each other out in building but meta also has finch, galbia, and metalgross (to an extent, he did use Cute User Ium's teams in open but he definitely has the experience and did fairly well in that tour as well). lookin forward to this one

whoever i play we're getting first blood no johns

 

[honchkrow]

never understood why every year people poop on the open winners in a tier they dont main n puttem in the bottom but whattya gonna do huh. i mean i have been playing more nu than anything else for like 2 months now :s enough ranting tho

Hey bouff, you're a friend so i dont mean to be rude when i say this, but the reason you were ranked so low is because most people know you got teams from Cased / Can-eh-dian among others during your open run. You cant deny how important building is when it comes to tournaments and since you had teams handed to you, people may doubt your skill level. Im not saying you havent been playing a ton of NU recently, you are a good player, im just sayin thats the reason you're being ranked so low :s

 

[shiloh]

So Week 1 is Up: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-premier-league-7-week-1.3560608/

I already posted what my expectations of the matchups are, so if more people could that would be great, these are the matchups:

Jarii vs Bouffalant
Teddeh vs Realistic Waters
soulgazer vs Can-Eh-Dian
Cased vs Blast
rozes vs Hack

Feel free to post simple predictions or just more in depth thoughts

 

[Kiyo]

I'm going for the underdogs this week imo

Jarii vs Bouffalant - expecting jarii to bring some really boring team that bouff cant break
Teddeh vs Realistic Waters - hoping to see waters branch out a bit from his typical playstyles and get the jump on teddeh, with a decent matchup i think he can take it
soulgazer vs Can-Eh-Dian - evan's probably gonna bring some shitty meme like grasswhistle sceptile and end up haxing sg after the gimmick fails
Cased vs Blast - cased ain't gonna misclick this time, but i'd expect blast to bring a solid squad that can deal with any bw2 set incarnates case decides to bring
rozes vs Hack - gotta root for my teammate, but i also think rozes is scum so thats why im picking against him D:

 

[Teddeh]

So one game has already been played: SG vs can-eh http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-112003
I just wanted to drop some thoughts on this game.

So both teams looked pretty interesting from team preview, physically orientated offense from can-eh's side with xatu, ferro and camel back up whilst sg had the opposite which was cm pass mushy with 5 special attackers and a rhydon which was carrying the rocks. It looked pretty even from team preview until sg revealed his sets. Turns 3 + 4 were extremely crucial for the game. Turn 3, can-eh switched in his xatu on a mantine (I'm not really sure why, my only conclusion in my head was toxic, but ferroseed was 10x safer) and it turned out to be specs mantine, where sg did 72% and burned the xatu. However turn 4, can-eh willingly attempted to sack the xatu to get damage off on the mantine, where soulgazer switched out into his musharna, giving can-eh an opportunity to roost and preserve his xatu. Whilst later on in the battle, can-eh made a solid prediction and bounced rocks back (a risky play by sg since xatu was free to sack for a free switch to kabu which put a tonne of pressure on sg's team) but nevertheless, it came back to bite him in the ass.
Next crucial part of the match was the fire blast miss on xatu. SG still had a tank rhydon at 50% that could get rocks up against can-eh at most points with no way of preventing them whilst can-eh needed the scyther to check both musharna and sceptile. Through this play, sg could have pressure can-eh's team a hell of a lot more with rocks or even just the threat of rocks (assuming kabu isn't spin, however it very well could be) but even so, it forces can-eh in a position where he has to spin if he wants to check sg's mush with it. Nevertheless, from that point onwards, one more 50/50 with rhydon and stealth rock took place where sg clicked stone edge on the camel, which then finished off the rhydon with earth power is what sealed the game. Since can-eh was carrying scarf sawk (it was extremely slow overwise) and it managed to kill sg's win con which was sceptile, leaving sg with 0 win-cons and it was just a matter of time before can-eh managed to win.

Overall with this game, it was defined by a few questionable plays / chokes at the start of the match which left the rest of the game to be a bit of a mess, swaying in can-eh's favour from his play from bouncing rocks onto sg's side of the field, however it would have been a different game if turn's 3 and 4 were played differently by both players. Nevertheless, congrats to can-eh for bagging a win on his debut in SPL and I'm sure SG will bounce back in future weeks.

 

[Finchinator]

Can-Eh-Dian vs Soulgazer

 

[Evan.]

so p much all of the nu games have happened except for 10K GOD ROZES and he plays later today so i'll drop some comments

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-112302 teddeh v waters was an interesting game. the early eq crit really sucked for ted since it gave waters the momentum and prevented teddeh from getting up his rocks (which really pressured the 2 main offensive threats on waters' team). i feel like ted could have done a better job w/ trying to be a little more aggressive w/ trying to get steelix in on the other steelix or at least trying to draw out vileplume so that he could try and get rocks up. i feel like if he got rocks up, the late game would have played out rly differently and he would've had a real good shot at winning w/ mar (unless it was worry seed plume D:).

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-112567 jarii vs bouff. ill be honest i really didnt like jarii's team. nothing against the actual player but i feel like you have to be a bit more creative when it comes to a big tour like this and not just bring FWG NU ladder balance that gets stomped by usual balance breakers like Vanilluxe and special rott, especially when people have a lot of time to prepare and you're known as a player who p much exclusively runs balance. that being said bouff brought a pretty passive balance team as well so i dont have much room to complain. anyways luck was a factor in this game since the scald burn effectively sealed xatu's fate where it otherwise would have p much won (i dont really think the heat wave miss played a huge factor because as we saw, it didnt OHKO and xatu would have eventually been crit or left at around 5% at which point sceptile just revenges). i think that jarii probably tried setting up far too early w/ the xatu and it would have almost certainly won late game if he had kept it healthy (especially when you have a sliggoo in the back that mantine cant touch). anyways at that point bouff just played safe since nothing left on jariis team could break bouff's defensive core and bouff walked away w/ the win.

no comment on blast v cased

 

[shiloh]

Week 2 is Up \o/ http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-premier-league-7-week-2.3561373/

rozes vs Bouffalant
Blast vs soulgazer
Cased vs Hack
Teddeh vs Can-Eh-Dian
Realistic Waters vs Jarii

Post predictions, thoughts on previous games, or whatever you feel like posting n_n

predicts

Blast vs soulgazer - this is the closest match, and I could easily see Blast taking it, but I think SG is putting in a lot of work after his week 1 loss
Cased vs Hack - lets see which gym leader Hack has to beat this week
Teddeh vs Can-Eh-Dian - fuk evan, ungrateful bitch
Realistic Waters vs Jarii

 

[Finchinator]

overpay vs choke
needed hax to beat mono normal vs baldy who can't build
guy who used mono normal vs ubers player
week 1 let-down vs br1-0w
cased protege vs guy who was bottom of power ranks

for the oblivious ones

Rozes vs BOUFF
Blast vs Soulgazer
Cased vs Hack - upset alert n_n
Teddeh vs Can-Eh-Dian
Realistic Waters vs Jarii

 

[Raseri]

soulgazer vs hair



Rozes vs BOUFF
Blast vs Soulgazer
Cased vs Hack - upset alert n_n
Teddeh vs Can-Eh-Dian
Realistic Waters vs Jarii

 

[Rapture]

Here are my bold SPL predictions™

rozes vs Bouffalant - more experienced in the tier and is a cuter user
Blast vs soulgazer - Both will probs bring standard squads but that's fine with me!
Cased vs Hack - pls bring mono fire this week imo
Teddeh vs Can-Eh-Dian - best match this round and both are evenly matched tbh but Can will get match up or smth dw
Realistic Waters vs Jarii - buddy waters is fresh off his first win so im sure he feelin himself this round

 

[col49]

bouff to lose
can to win
finchinatorpo to keep tryna condense the "you're trying too hard kiddo" of a dozen paras into a single line for another week

e: maybe i missed it, but I didn't see a team i really liked that exploited the fact that almost every team threw a lix as their cover-all for a dozen things. get on that nu dudes, geez

 

[Confide]

uh im not extremely active on nu forums or anything, but why the fuck is jarii being counted out after pretty much outplaying bouff week 1? He got extremely unlucky but he played pretty much perfectly lol.

realistic waters vs jarii

 

[Evan.]

uh im not extremely active on nu forums or anything, but why the fuck is jarii being counted out after pretty much outplaying bouff week 1? He got extremely unlucky but he played pretty much perfectly lol.

realistic waters vs jarii

who said anything about him being counted out, waters just played arbitrarily better, beat an objectively tougher opponent (sorry bouffer @_@), and brought a more solid build last week which makes him the favourite going into week 2 ?_?

 

[soulgazer]

how was that outplaying bouffalant when all he did was trying to win the game w/ Xatu on Turn 6 by setting up on a Scald Mantine? if anything he tried to rush it instead of getting a better situation for Xatu to Calm Mind up (Audino, for exemple). Because Jarii tried to be too aggressive with his Xatu, he lost his main wincon Turn 16. At this point, he really had trouble breaking through Bouffalant's team (esp. Audino) which just cost him the match. I really wouldn't say that he played perfectly :/

He didn't really *choke* though, and like CanEhDian said, IDT anybody counts him out yet

 

[Finchinator]

bouff v rozes

e: vivi has compound eyes not tinted lens oops

 

[shiloh]

So 4/5 of the games have been completed, and I feel like giving my thoughts on one of them, so here's waters vs jarii: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-nu-114818

Team Preview: From Team Preview, both players brought different forms of balance, with Waters' being more Defensively oriented with a Ferro / Rupt / Yama core and Jarii taking the more offensive route with Samurott / Ferro. Jarii looks like he might have the edge since he has a lot of stuff that is able to pressure waters, especially Samurott as Ferroseed isn't the most solid Water Resist imo. On Waters side, Hariyama looks to be threatening, as Jarii can't really switch into it, and it gets a pretty free switch in on about half of Jarii's team. Also both teams have a Rotom, and most likely both are the Hex set which is very good in the current metagame. Jarii really lacks a solid switch into it, his best bet being his own Rotom or revenge killing it with Swellow, as for Waters he has a Camerupt which is the best check to Rotom along with Mega Audino

The Game: Waters starts off playing very safe, leading with Xatu to prevent hazards from Ferro, Rhydon, or Mesprit, and Jarii starts with Swellow in order to chunk something with Boomburst or just pick up quick momentum with U-Turn. Waters quickly switches out, as Boomburst does a lot to Xatu, while Jarii U-Turns out of Waters Hariyama which came in to take the boomburst. Jarii then continues to play in this aggresive mindset, pulling a double out to Rhydon predicting the Camerupt. Waters is then given an opportunity to get up Spikes against the Rhydon, which doesn't get up rocks, which either means Jarii wants more pressure on Ferro or is Rocks Mesprit, as he had no reason not to get rocks up against Ferro imo. Spikes also gets alot of pressure against Jarii, as 3 of his mons are affected by it, and none have reliable recovery. Jarii then continues his aggresive plays, by doubling out from Ferroseed into Samurott predicting the switch to Xatu very well, and basically giving him a free SD, and an opportunity to get rid of Ferroseed. Waters then makes a great play predicting the Rotom switch in on his Rotom predicting the Volt Switch, and just Shadow Ball's to kill it off, and then Jarii trys to play offensively again, but this time it backfires when he U-Turns out and is forced to let his Rhydon take a huge chunk from Shadow Ball. Waters then reads the Swellow switch and quickly switches to Hariyama, allowing him to get rid of the Ferroseed that Jarii sacks. Waters then goes to Xatu on the Rott and reavels Giga Drain just to get hit with Rindo Rott, which manages to get rid of Xatu. Barb then comes in to revenge kill, either meaning its Scarf, Jolly Barb / Adamant Rott, or Adamant Barb / Bulky Rott. At this point in the match, Waters seems to have a pretty big advantage, as the major threat to his team in Samurott is dead, and he still has checks to all of Jarii's mons. The only thing that could still be potentially Scary is Mesprit getting crits with a potential Psyshock on a majority of Water's team, and even though he is able to Healing Wish Rhydon up it really doesn't do anything as Scarf Barbaracle cleans up.

Through this game, it looked pretty even, as even with Jarii's agressive plays, Waters solid plays were able to pull out in the end. I feel the turning point of the match was Water's Rotom being able to pressure Jarii extremely well, and Jarii overpredicting ultimatley cost him in the end. This was a really good game, and hopefully both players are able to continue playing well in the future weeks.

 

[boltsandbombers]

Week 3 is Up \o/
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-premier-league-7-week-3.3562050/

Hack vs Blast
Teddeh vs Bouffalant
Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian
Soulgazer vs PttP
Cased vs rozes

Post predictions, thoughts on previous games, or whatever you feel like posting n_n

predicts

Hack vs Blast
Teddeh vs Bouffalant - bouff knows his nu pretty well but I gotta go with the more consistent player here
Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian - waters has definitely been on top of his game being undefeated these first two weeks, the momentum will carry him
Soulgazer vs PttP - I've never heard of PttP playing NU in recent times but I think that after sg's win vs blast this week he'll be able to keep it up
Cased vs rozes - given that he doesn't get too cocky from his 2-0 streak and stays level headed in the game, I think that rozes has a pretty good shot at winning this one; really close match from two solid players regardless

 

[Raseri]

ORAS NU: Hack vs Blast FREE KIYO ALREADY
ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Bouffalant
ORAS NU: Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian
ORAS NU: Soulgazer vs PttP
ORAS NU: Cased vs rozes

 

[Jarii]

Hack vs Blast - I agree with Raseri Kiyo has more experience and I think (despite Hack being a very good player) the lack of experience in NU by Hack makes it worse.
Teddeh vs Bouffalant - This one is something looking forward to, Bouff can ct teddeh to make it harder but with all the skill and experience Teddeh has he will take it.
Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian - I honestly think Waters is the Teddeh of last SPL and if he goes on he may even go undefeated.
Soulgazer vs PttP - it's time to do the Kiyo - Hack strategy by the Ruiners!
Cased vs rozes - Just hopes Rozes wins

 

[Teddeh]

ORAS NU: Hack vs Blast - Hack's gonna make magic happen
ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Bouffalant
ORAS NU: Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian
ORAS NU: Soulgazer vs PttP
ORAS NU: Cased vs rozes

 

[lolbro]

ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Bouffalant

How do you vote against yourself? lol

Hack vs Blast
Teddeh vs Bouffalant
Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian
Soulgazer vs PttP
Cased vs rozes

 

[Realistic Waters]

ORAS NU: Hack vs Blast - goo Blast *-*, he's gonna pick up from last week and get another win. Hack still has a fair shot though so we'll see how it goes :)

ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Bouffalant - Nothing is stopping this guy, he plays really well so he should have no trouble :D

ORAS NU: Soulgazer vs PttP - Not sure who the other guy is but SG is very good

ORAS NU: Cased vs rozes - the highlight match. cased tends to show off is creativity but it's always strong so he's gonna give Rozes a run for his money. But it's great to see that Rozes is off to a great start but this match could go either way. I hope to see some interesting teams.

 

[Rapture]

Hack vs Blast
Teddeh vs Bouffalant
Realistic Waters vs Can-Eh-Dian
Soulgazer vs PttP
Cased vs rozes
Almost forgot to post my bolded predicts. Can vs. Waters seems like the game most worth watching this week tho rozes vs. Cased seems p hype as well. The other matches seem kinda one sided but everyone likes an underdog so here's hoping to some sick games

 

[shiloh]

ok the OP is updated w/ everything from last week and before, and here are the Week 4 matchups!

ORAS NU: Disenchanted vs rozes
ORAS NU: Blast vs Can-Eh-Dian
ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Soulgazer
ORAS NU: Cased vs Realistic Waters
ORAS NU: Bouffalant vs Hack

once again, feel free to post predictions, thoughts on previous games, or really anything about SPL n_n

personal predicts

ORAS NU: Blast vs Can-Eh-Dian - Evan has been impressing me a lot more than Blast, really want to see him bring in the win this week
ORAS NU: Teddeh vs Soulgazer - SG has impressed me in the past two weeks, and if he continues to play like that I think he can easily take this
ORAS NU: Cased vs Realistic Waters - HL of the season imo
ORAS NU: Bouffalant vs Hack - I'm giving this one to Hack because he's going to keep on doing well after his win last week, but this is a very close match up with Bouff being able to take it very easily as he's also shown he can play NU really well