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W1 Gondra vs Sjneider - the only thing screens did this game was let serperior 1v1 a bisharp
you force me to say obvious stuff, but if screens influence what your opponent do just by the fact that he sees them up and he makes different switches, they are already doing something
W2 Gondra vs Luigi - the only thing screens did was let gondra's serperior live a shadow ball instead of just glaring it before setting up a screen to guarantee a win
this is what light screen did. without reflect luigi could sack gengar vs victini and try to win with scizor for example. but again you are missing the fact that you're not only forced to face screens, but if you have bad MU against them you're forced to AVOID them from being setted up
W2 Dragon Claw vs Isza - manaphy could have been able to thrive with screens up in this game, but was going to collect at least two without it. screens were definitely useful this game but got unlucky in the long run
W2 Santu vs jonfilch - screens did not really make a difference here and light clay was totally irrelevant.
wait so they aren't broken if the team wins without them? lol
W2 Sjneider vs ElectricityCat - screens mirror lol. i think this game was quite sloppy but there's not really much pt in talking about it
W3 CBB vs Vulpix03 - Vulpix was insanely weak to Serperior in general. Screens were definitely clutch here but like... Serperior can very easily win this game on its own without running screens. Serp + Pursuit is a near autowin for example, and also Manaphy goes to town, on top of the fact there's HW.
same as before, they're not broken if they aren't the reason why the team wins? i would be even more worried.
W3 Sjneider vs Santu - screens were useful for beating lopunny in this matchup, but also volc + hw seems insurmountable for santu's squad regardless. light clay also changed nothing.
we talked a lot about this game after it finished and santu made some unoptimal play. he could def win without screens. also i wonder how can't you figure out that the light clay, even when it doesnt so anything, it still forces the opponent to play around 3 turns more of screens and so influences their plays? only someone who doesnt ever plan a game couldnt think of it
W4 Gondra vs Dragon Claw - screens were dismantled here
another game i commented, gondra could win easily with Bisharp setupping it on screens.
W4 London Beats vs Vulpix03 - Reflect from Jirachi was used and useful to help vs SD Talonflame
W4 CBB vs Dragon Claw - screens were not set
every time someone wins with screens without setting them up this is supporting my argument, not yours.
W5 CBB vs Luigi - screens were dismantled here
no offense to cbb but the screens team was a troll here lol
W5 xray vs Eternal Spirit - screens barely mattered here
10 points to gryffindor! i'm gryffindor.
W5 London Beats vs Frania - the screens got obscenely lucky this game in a matchup where a subglare serp could've wreaked havoc
lucky yes but not so much, without full para on volc medi was dead
W5 BK vs Gondra - screens made no difference
20 points to gryffindor!
W6 Sjneider vs Luigi - volt crit sucked, screens wouldve been relevant here otherwise
W6 xray vs CBB - volc swept without screens, but did it easier with them and did not need light clay
30 points to gryffindor!
W6 Santu vs Eternal Spirit - this was the most confusing game of spl. screens didnt matter here cuz of a crit.
yeah this was an easy win for santu thanks to screens
W7 London Beats vs Sjneider - both used screens. this game was won without screens if London DD'd t2.
W8 ElectricityCat vs Dragon Claw - screens were dismanteled
one of the few times we really saw a screens cteam during spl
W8 BK vs xray - screens were dismantled
second time we saw a screens cteam during spl. and still there was a relevant 5050 on the turn alakazam switchins.
W8 Sjneider vs CBB - game was ended when a garchomp w sdef investment was crit by a volc w/o reflect up
unfort game for cbb, but it wasnt over for neider without crit
W9 Corckscrew vs jonfilch - jonfilch choked a win vs screens by pumping the thund at the end instead of volting. Scarf volt cleaned this game
this is the actual team built by xray supposed to cteam screens. in this rock paper scissors metagame, he made a decent job building the paper. he can still easily gets cteammed by hp rock volcarona, not a meme considering heatran usage dropped hard and talon usage grew.
W9 Santu vs CBB - confuse on sr kinda sucked but santu wasnt favored in this mu regardless
santu could win with rocks and playing better around the latias, sacking only one mon. still difficult for him yeah, but many screens run megattar.
very few of these games had gamechanging impact from screens. the point is: the threats in this tier are incredible with or without screens. i really don't think screens are what pushes them over the edge. it's the same thing as people freaking out about webs last year; very good offensive pokemon receive minimal support and people lose their mind.
nah man, im the one using screens and i lose my mind seeing what my team can do and how poor chances are for people using old meta stuff (meaning anything except screens themselves and cteams for screens).
the thing is, these pokemon are good without them too. look at past examples of teams dominating in a metagame. xray's mmeta + thund team comes to mind. that team saw very high usage and won a lot, and had no form of screens or anything of the sort.
screens are obviously good and better at making these good offensive pokemon excel, but i think these pokemon like volcarona, manaphy, etc are insanely good with or without screens. there are also plenty of ways to prepare for screens that we've seen as SPL went on and people adapted to the metagame. brick break, phasing moves, scarf rotoms, more taunts, etc. these things are not ridiculously tough to fit and not absurdly specific, like when people ran shed shell or mail on their manaphy and togekiss to counteract goth stall years ago. brick break is obviously only used due to the existence of screens, but i don't think this is a sign of a really unhealthy presence to the metagame. these mons appreciate fighting coverage for a multitude of reasons, and it practically completely shuts down screens.
let's see what happens when people will use versions having a ghost, that happens pretty commonly now as well.
i entirely agree with this. i think the tier is way more enjoyable than it's been in a while. i don't understand how people can go from complaining about how boring oras is when gliscor / clefable / spikes ran the metagame and now games are much more offensive and exciting. we've had so many innovative sets and such this spl that actually do work and people are acting like the metagame is insanely restricted and awful.
as an aside can someone explain to me how the immediate reaction to wanting to ban light clay is to free mega sableye btw???