Premier League Spotlight: MPL VIII

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Introduction

For this iteration of MPL, Monotype's forum moderators decided to test out a six-slot format with the goal of increasing the tournament's quality by making it more exclusive. Due to this structure change, teams were restricted from retaining players from last year's tournament. After the auction concluded, this year's teams seem to be matched rather evenly, allowing every team to have a shot at making playoffs. Let's dive into the final SS-focused edition of MPL!

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Metagame Insights

SS

Being the most played format, it comes as no surprise that the SS metagame underwent some change during the season. However, with there being no major metagame changes since Monotype Winter Premier, which was hosted last December, other than Acupressure Drapion on Poison-type teams, the top types coming into the tournament were pretty well-established. Flying was universally considered the best, with Steel, Fairy, Poison, and Psychic considered close behind, depending on who was asked. However, a few of the adaptations did not end up holding up throughout the tournament.

One of the most surprising developments was the downfall of Psychic. Psychic was only used nine times, with an abysmal 22% winrate, and this poor performance from one of the supposedly top types was certainly unexpected. However, this downfall for Psychic had been brewing for quite a while. The type struggles against common staples of the tier like Galarian Moltres, Aegislash, and even Zeraora. Cosmic Power Mew, a set that once rejuvenated the type and tilted the Electric matchup in its favor, was well prepped for with the use of Toxic on Tapu Koko and Regieleki, and the set was also fodder for Galarian Moltres, a common sweeper that greatly threatens the type. Poison had a similarly bad performance with fourteen uses and a 28% winrate. While the type's great Flying matchup and near-unparalleled defensive prowess kept it relevant, its poor matchup into Dragon, Ground, and, perhaps unexpectedly, Fairy (thanks to Calm Mind Clefable and Tapu Lele), also left it far behind in the metagame.

On the other hand, Electric had a fantastic showing, with a 75% winrate out of twenty games, a success it hasn't had in SS since the beginning of 2021. The type's overall structure hasn't changed too much, but its potential to win pretty much any matchup with its powerhouses like Choice Specs Zapdos, Zeraora, and Tapu Koko along with its solid defensive core in Rotom-W and Magnezone made it very popular. Other options to round out the type like Regieleki, Raikou, and Thundurus-T were also explored in addition to the usual Alolan Raichu, giving the type more depth and unpredictability. While not quite as good as Electric, Fire also had a breakout tour, previously being considered niche at best and a matchup fish at worst. Fire's slow departure from its typical Torkoal sun structures has freed it up to run more useful options, like Alolan Marowak and Moltres, in addition to its usual threats that include Cinderace, Volcarona, Volcanion, and Heatran. Some Fire teams have even elected to use one or two Air Balloon users in lieu of a typical Ground immunity, giving the type even more options. Steel had a predictably good tournament, with its amazing defensive prowess and versatility almost always providing outplay potential.

Flying, Steel, Dragon, Water, and Ground ended up being the five most used types, with the latter three's appearance being perhaps the most unexpected. Heading into the tour, Dragon and Water were viewed as either good or terrible, depending on the person. Dragon's access to one of the strongest Pokémon in the metagame, Kyurem, along with other strong offensive options and decent defensive backbone with Dragalge as well as new innovations like Duraludon and defensive Dragonite made it a well-rounded type with few bad matchups. Water's vast archetype versatility ranging from rain to balance to stall allowed it to overcome its poor matchup against threats like Kyurem and Thundurus-T that previously held it back. The rise of Water stall is particularly notable, as the archetype was almost never used before the tournament but had been explored in earlier generations.

SM

Despite the SM player pool arguably being one of the most competitive pools in MPL history and the tier in general being widely considered as the peak of Monotype as a whole, similar to the previous two MPLs, innovation and creativity were at an all-time low, with almost every player opting to reuse well-known teams time and time again. This could partly be attributed to how stable SM Monotype is as a whole in comparison to other generations, resulting in most players falling back on time-tested and reliable teams.

Picking up where they left off last year, the quartet of Flying, Psychic, Water, and Steel, which are generally considered the best types in the metagame, retained the top 4 spots in usage; however, Steel in particular experienced a significant dropoff in usage in comparison to the other three types, with only five appearances throughout the whole tour. Despite its resurgence in last year's iteration, Fairy too saw limited usage this tour, only being used four times. That said, Electric had the biggest fall from grace, going from respectable usage and a 60% winrate from last year to only being used twice and losing both games this year. With the aforementioned quartet of types dominating the tier, it is hard to say what caused this massive drop in Electric's success, as it matches up well versus them. Similar to Electric, Normal and Ground hit rock bottom as well, with both being used only one time each and both games ending in losses. Ground in particular being seeing usage only one as an above-average type is shocking to say the least. Poison and Dragon did not have great tours either, with both only used three times each while showing similar trends and team structures to those of last year. Unlike last year, in addition to Fighting, other lower-end types like Ghost, Bug, Rock, and Ice saw no usage at all, which is one of more unsurprising statistics of the tour. Dark and Grass did not have the best showings either, with both remaining at the middle of the pack with four and three appearances, respectively, and the former having a winrate of 25% and the latter winning no games this tour.

All in all, it is evident that Flying, Psychic, and Water dominated the SM metagame this tour, with almost every other type seeing less than half of the usage of the aforementioned trio. From what is considered to be the most competitive and diverse metagame, this is perhaps the most unexpected trend of the entire tournament. However, this could also be chalked up to the smaller sample size, as the tour only had one SM slot this year as opposed to the customary two slots from previous years.

ORAS

The Monotype Leaders decided to change the Mega Evolution philosophy, requiring a Pokémon to retain the same type as the team both before and after Mega Evolution. As a result, Mega Charizard X made its first appearance in MPL on Fire teams, while Mega Gyarados was also rendered unusable on Flying teams. Heading into MPL, forces like Mega Gallade and Keldeo were thought to be too powerful for the tier. With these Pokémon on the minds of the community, they were closely followed through the tour to see their effects on ORAS Monotype. Deoxys-S was also recently banned due to its high Speed stat, great coverage, and access to Nasty Plot, allowing it to shut down whatever it needed to for Psychic teams. Due to its ban, Flying and Electric teams found a lot more success within the metagame. Even though there were many tiering changes in ORAS between this MPL and the previous one, the metagame stayed very stagnant. People believed Psychic teams would still be overcentralizing. Mega Gallade was the main concern, due to its overwhelming presence after a Swords Dance boost; there were practically no defensive answers and teams had to rely on offensive pressure or revenge killers to take on the looming threat. As a result, Psychic teams had quite the impact on the metagame, with a little over 25% usage. The other top types used were Water, Electric, and Flying, which combined were used in around 50% of all other games, because they were the types with the best Psychic countermeasures. Even with most non-Psychic teams meant to be counterteams, it won 44% of the games it was brought in. This led many to believe that the centralization Psychic teams brought about was real, even though it embarrassingly did not pull in that many wins. Comparatively, SM had roughly the same usage spread with few-to-no complaints about anything being overwhelming. The way Monotype works always allows the types with a good chunk of quality Pokémon to succeed in the metagame, as reflected through multiple generations. This is why many believe the community is overreacting to Mega Gallade; however, that will only be more apparent with future ORAS tournaments. Until then, there is no clear way to tell if it is because the Psychic type is too overwhelming for the metagame or if teams are just sticking to proven types and not as actively trying out new ideas in the older generations.

BW

Out of all the Monotype generations, BW was considered one of the best heading into the tournament. However, the tier was once again plagued by Psychic's dominance, a problem that has persisted throughout recent memory. With 20 uses and a 65% winrate, the type far eclipsed the use and success of any other type, with the next-used types, Fighting and Steel, being used 9 times with 44% winrate. Psychic's amazing flexibility and numerous threats, including Latios, Jirachi, Alakazam, Reuniclus, Slowbro, Starmie, and Victini, make it very difficult to beat consistently for any other type. Notably, more Victini-less builds were explored, and its usage dropped from near-100% to 70%. While Victini is still an amazing wallbreaker, Psychic is versatile enough to pick up the offensive momentum that Victini generates with other Pokémon without having to rely on a Pokémon worn down by entry hazards as quickly as Victini. Fighting and Steel both have decent chances to beat Psychic, so their presence in second place is unsurprising. Water and Ground were touched, but not successfully, and every other type was only used two times or less. Essentially, most prep for the tier came down to whether it was worth it to not bring Psychic, and the answer for the vast majority of players was no. Following the tour, Latios was banned from the tier, which could potentially be a crucial step in balancing the tier out.

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Highlight Matches

Pak vs. Zap [SM]

Psychic vs. Psychic

This was one of the more hyped matchups in SM this MPL; both Pak and Zap have historically been two of the most dominant players in the tier, putting up top records time and time again. The game being a neutral Psychic vs. Psychic mirror matchup only added to the experience. Both players had similar teams, with only two slots being different. This was also a rematch, as the two had played each other in MPL VII as well, with Zap winning that encounter. The game was equally favored for both for most of the game, but a well-timed Swords Dance from Zap's Mega Gallade on a suboptimal Metagross switch out from Pak's end allowed Zap to sweep through the rest of Pak's team, resulting in Zap winning their second consecutive encounter.

Attribute vs. Sabella [BW]

Steel vs. Steel

This was perhaps the most anticipated game in week 1 of MPL, between the first- and second-ranked players in the BW pool. The game was a Steel mirror with the same six(!) Pokémon, including many similarities in sets, so it was anyone's game. Similarly to the previous game, this too was a rematch after the two had played each other in MPL VII, when Sabella emerged victorious. While Sabella's Air Balloon Heatran tilted the matchup slightly in his favor, a timely switch to Choice Scarf Magnezone allowed Attribute to pop the Air Balloon and put himself in a much better position in the game. Ultimately, with some superior in-game executions, Attribute won the game, avenging himself for their previous encounter while winning the first game of the entire tournament.

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Final Standings

— Click to view the Record Spreadsheet! —

1. Goldenrod Gengars (5 - 0 - 2, 12 Points)
2. Bell Tower Braves (2 - 1 - 4, 8 Points)
3. Tohjo Falls Thunders (2 - 2 - 3, 7 Points)
4. Fontaine Finis (2 - 2 - 3, 7 Points)
5. Meteor Falls Miniors (2 - 3 - 2, 6 Points)
6. Mirage Island Milotics (2 - 3 - 2, 6 Points)
7. Neverland Nidoqueens (2 - 4 - 1, 5 Points)
8. Dreamyard Darkrais (2 - 4 - 1, 5 Points)

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Playoffs

This year's MPL was arguably the most competitive in terms of the race for playoffs, with two teams being guaranteed playoffs, all the other six teams being in contention for playoffs in week 7, and even the Meteor Falls Miniors, who were last up until then, ending up one game shy of making playoffs. Only two of the projected teams—Goldenrod Gengars and Tohjo Falls Thunders—made playoffs as expected, proving the power rankings' inaccuracy yet again. The Fontaine Finis and the returning champions, Bell Tower Braves, rounded out the four teams that qualified for playoffs. The semifinals matchups were Goldenrod Gengars vs. Fontaine Finis and Tohjo Falls Thunders vs. Bell Tower Braves. The Goldenrod Gengars and Tohjo Falls Thunders came out on top with landslide victories of 4-0 and 5-1, respectively, and found themselves facing each other in finals.

1. Goldenrod Gengars (1) vs. 2. Tohjo Falls Thunders (4)

• SS: Cielau vs. Trichotomy
• SS: WhiteQueen vs. crying
• SS Bo3: Star vs. jonfilch | #1 / #2 / #3
• SM: Vodoom vs. QWILY
• ORAS: Typhlosion48 vs. Rinda
• BW: Chaitanya vs. Fylkir Pudin

The two teams ranked at the top of the power rankings were facing off in finals. The Gengars had won 4-2 in their regular season encounter, so there was extra pressure on the Thunders. The series kicked off with the ORAS game; Rinda was quick to net the win with a favorable matchup. Similarly, WhiteQueen defeated crying in a favorable matchup of Fairy against Water and got the Gengars their only win in finals. QWILY and Trichotomy were able to get the Thunders their second and third wins, with their manager jonfilch sealing the deal, defeating Star in Bo3 and subsequently securing the entire tournament. Despite the Thunders struggling during the second half of the regular season, they were able to turn it around in week 7 and qualify for playoffs and from there onwards put on a dominant performance throughout playoffs, winning the tournament. This was also one of the rare occasions in which a team performed as well the power rankings predicted them to.

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Manager Interviews

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Closing Thoughts

Congratulations to the Tohjo Falls Thunders on their win this season and persevering after last year's was nearly in their grasp! This season featured many manager pairs who have won in the past, further demonstrating how competitive this season would become and influenced with a slightly different slot count to adjust to. Also check out the tournament's usage stats made by AtraX Madara and sasha!

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