OST XX Coverage
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Art by Zracknel.
Introduction
The longest-running tournament on Smogon, the Official Smogon Tournament regularly brings in over 1,000 participants aiming for the yellow trophy. From lower-tier community leaders to multi-gen masterminds to the long-retired folk here only for socialization, OST brings folks from nearly every walk of Smogon to give their try. A best-of-three format where one round loss eliminates a participant, OST rewards resiliency and those who are on the top of their game at every moment.
The Early Rounds (Rounds 1-6)
Somewhat unique to this year’s OST was the signup count falling within the participation (un)sweet spot where, rather than a large number of byes to be filled out by late joins, a small number of participants were assigned to be substitutes at the start of the tournament. With a two week Round 1 deadline, the hosts aggressively substituted out inactive accounts joining from Pokémon Showdown! or social media newsposts, replacing them with, eventually, every single substitute that requested to join.
As is the nature of large tournaments, not every single favorite can win, and many ended up falling early. Stellar Flares, last year’s finalist, fell to a coinflip after forgetting to post replays after trying to hide his teams for the remainder of the round. Other notable losses from activity came out of JustFranco and Carkoala, with unplayed games that didn’t go their way.
Elsewhere throughout the first handful of rounds, a number of notable matches ended the chances of MichaelderBeste2 (vs Xyldaz), CTC (vs devin), and Giannis Antetokommo-o (vs oldspicemike). These weren’t the only notable falls, with others like Skypenguin, JJ09LIE, and Scarfire falling in the early rounds as well.
By round 4, only a fraction of the original signups were remaining, with each participant only needing to win a handful of games to reach this point, but having outlasted the massive majority of all participants. At this point in the tournament, every participant is heavily invested, and there are no major flukes in who’s made it this far.
Surely, nobody would be caught up in an activity win scandal so late in the tournament. Unfortunately for Punny, messaging their opponent ToastedBunzzz02 twenty-one minutes after scheduled time on PS! was, depending on who you believe, unseen or ignored, leading to a lot of back-and-forth discussion on Discord and the forums as to what should be done. Punny lost the activity decision, only to watch their opponent promptly lose to awyp in the next round.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Roller K continued to pick up notable victories, eliminating last year’s champion Vert after having already eliminated teal6 and mind gaming earlier in the tournament. Given that Roller K’s major resume padder prior to this tournament was a Smogon Discord draft tournament, their performance was admirable with major upsets, even if their first game against Vert had Lady Luck certainly pick a side. However, Roller K's run ground to a halt in the next round, dispatched by kDCA in a run that certainly helped put Roller K on the map.
Round of 16, 8, and 4
At this point in the tournament, things were serious. Any player that reached this round could conceivably make their way to the trophy, having each eliminated six other players and facing down only four more before cementing their place in Smogon history.
With the stakes so high, it was unsurprising to see a large range of talent across the field, from OU legends to other tiers and generations being represented. Amaranth and INSULT are probably more well known from older generations, Floss and DugZa were Monotype tier leaders, and folks like zS and Thiago Nunes were known from multiple lower-tier team and individual tours. With OU-focused players helping to fill out the roster, such as YouTube darling blunder and ladder king Storm Zone, the tournament was set for a strong finish.
Unfortunately, the nature of a single elimination tournament meant that only eight people could advance to the next round, with blunder falling to Twixtry, Rubyblood eliminating INSULT in an old gens bloodbath, and Tace bowing out as Antonazz defeated them. In the Round of 8, a lower-tier showdown saw zS fall at the hands of Thiago Nunes, DugZa and Storm Zone eliminated Maxouille and Twixtry, respectively, and Antonazz punched in the final quarterfinals ticket by moving past Rubyblood.
The final four remained. Thiago Nunes, having beaten names like Dj Breloominati♬, MAVERICK SHOOTERS, and yovan33321, faced off against Storm Zone, who was there after eliminating zioziotrip, damien the genius, and Floss, among others. On the other side of the bracket, DugZa and Antonazz were set to play each other. The former had won against Srn, kDCA, and Amaranth in part on their way to this game, while the latter had eliminated Garay oak, Bouff, and Tace as part of their process to reach the semifinals.
With Easter delaying the finals due to one game needing an extension, Storm Zone was the first to solidify their position in the finals, eliminating Thiago Nunes in two games on Saturday. Early morning on Wednesday, April 1st, for Americans, they woke up to the discovery that Antonazz had finished setting the stage for finals in a three-game set against DugZa.
Finals Recap:
Game 1:
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The series started off with a bang, as both players loaded strong explosive offenses against each other. Familiar faces like Kingambit, Volcarona, Gouging Fire, and Iron Valiant were seen, but the up-and-coming Sinistcha also made its appearance. Storm Zone's choice of lead Primarina matched up positively and could easily trade against the whole opposition bar Ogerpon-W, which was decently dealt with by the Sinistcha. On the other hand, Antonazz's Dragapult made for a safe lead due to its stellar Speed tier alongside U-turn to pivot out safely regardless of its matchup. Antonazz then managed to pivot around the dangerous Primarina to safely bring in Ogerpon-W on turn 2. The reveal of Draining Kiss over Moonblast from the deep-sea siren meant Ogerpon-W could set up a Swords Dance against it without the risk of getting 2HKOed, even after Storm Zone caught it on the switch with the Fairy-type move. The commital nature of Booster Energy made turn 7 as good a time to Terastallize Iron Moth as any, especially because gaining the Fiery Dance boost on turn 6 puts it in prime position to wreak havoc. Since Antonazz's Kingambit and its Sucker Punch would have to win messy mind games against a highly likely Substitute from Iron Moth, the Choice Scarf Iron Valiant came in instead, eventually revealing a surprise Destiny Bond and thus giving him a second chance at the game. Storm Zone's Primarina made use of the free entry once again, consistently using Draining Kiss to prevent the threatening Ogerpon-W from switching in freely. Antonazz thus decided to trade his Kingambit's life for Primarina; it was unable to sweep late-game because the combination of a healthy Great Tusk and Gouging Fire was difficult for it to break through, especially since his Kingambit was the slow variant without Low Kick, which made the mirror Kingambit matchup also problematic. Antonazz's crucial double switch to bring Kingambit in on turn 15 was a great midground, considering it's always going to be sacrificed regardless; Gouging Fire that wants to switch into and set up on Volcarona will be pressured adequately by it, but if Great Tusk stayed in to attack, then Antonazz's Great Tusk gets to have a free switch. This meant that it could preserve its health for Kingambit and Gouging Fire, as it ended up stopping a +2 Gouging Fire's rampage on turn 19 at the cost of a huge chunk of its health. Instead of KOing Antonazz's Great Tusk on turn 20, Storm Zone realized that sacrificing his Great Tusk to bring Kingambit in safely to threaten the subsequent Volcarona while still keeping the opposing Great Tusk low was the best course of action. Based on the damage done by Primarina's Draining Kiss and Great Tusk's Headlong Rush previously, Storm Zone realized that Antonazz's Volcarona was the bulky variant with Morning Sun, a set that can potentially use Great Tusk as setup fodder—especially with Terastallization still available—as it fishes for Flame Body burns. With Antonazz's injured Great Tusk unable to withstand Kingambit's Sucker Punch with five Supreme Overload boosts, all that was left was for the Volcarona to come out. The late-game Kingambit that was strategically kept healthy by Storm Zone was capable of tanking any one of bulky Volcarona's attacks and guaranteeing the damage back with Kowtow Cleave, preventing any Morning Sun attempts to outplay its Sucker Punch. Kingambit ended up becoming the last Pokémon standing, giving Storm Zone the upper hand in this series.
Game 2:
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Another offense mirror was seen on game 2, with Storm Zone bringing the same squad of six, while Antonazz's team featured not-too-common picks in Latios, Volcanion, and Scizor. Regardless of his plan, there were major matchup improvements for Antonazz this time around; Volcanion helped against the threatening Primarina matchup, while the combination of Landorus-T + IronPress Zamazenta gave a more rigid backbone against physical attackers, especially the Gouging Fire + Kingambit core that Storm Zone had demanded respect with in the previous game. Antonazz perfectly led with Latios against Storm Zone's Great Tusk; the choice was due to the Eon dragon's capability to threaten the majority of the opposition, while sturdy switch-ins in Kingambit and Primarina could be reliably dealt with by its fellow Landorus-T and Volcanion, respectively. The early-game switches eventually allowed Storm Zone to pull the double switch into Sinistcha on turn 3, which covered either Aura Sphere from Latios or switch-ins to Zamazenta, or more likely Landorus-T looking to deal with Kingambit. Landorus-T's attempt to stop a Calm Mind with Taunt was met with a devastating burn from Matcha Gotcha, chipping it down for Gouging Fire and Kingambit late-game. A crucial burn on the incoming Latios put it in range of Sinistcha's Shadow Ball, and Storm Zone even managed to save the potential sacrifice for later in the game—which is very crucial in offense mirrors— using Primarina as a reliable switch-in for the incoming Weavile, only losing its Mental Herb in the process. Storm Zone pulled another double switch on turn 7 on the anticipated Volcanion response, but Antonazz succeeded in pivoting around the Great Tusk to bring Weavile in safely on an expected Ice Spinner to apply pressure back. However, Storm Zone made the good midground by using Rapid Spin instead; with Landorus-T revealing both U-turn and Taunt, it's highly unlikely that it had either Grass Knot or the uncommon Psychic. Even then, Great Tusk being kept fully healthy wasn't a necessary task in this matchup (a.k.a there was no Kingambit for it to deal with). Moreover, Landorus-T being low and on a timer meant that it was also no longer capable of checking Gouging Fire and Kingambit, making the requirement to KO it pretty low on Storm Zone's priority list. Lastly, the Speed boost was also crucial in letting Great Tusk outpace would-be revenge killers in Weavile and Zamazenta, with Weavile falling to Headlong Rush combined with Rocky Helmet damage on turn 10. With Zamazenta entering the field afterwards, the constant switches from both players ended up with Storm Zone sacrificing his Sinistcha against Volcanion to bring the Great Tusk in safely so it could immediately threaten Volcanion out. Looking to prevent Zamazenta from coming in safely again and using Great Tusk as setup fodder, Storm Zone realized the predicament and decided to trade his Great Tusk with the Landorus-T simultaneously on turn 16. Once Primarina traded its life by chipping down the threatening Volcanion, the only Pokémon remaining that could deal with Antonazz's Volcanion was Gouging Fire, which it used as an opportunity to set up on turn 20, but eventually Antonazz's Zamazenta revealed Tera Fire + Roar on turn 22 to prevent it from getting out of hand quickly. The Kingambit being dragged in put Storm Zone in an awful position, as it gave Zamazenta the free setup it needed. Luckily, he still had the healthy, Fighting-resistant Iron Moth that managed to trade with Zamazenta by the skin of its teeth. With its sacrifice against Scizor's Bullet Punch to prevent any Swords Dance, Kingambit got a free switch on turn 28 and revealed Tera Flying to flip the matchup against an expected Close Combat from Antonazz's Scizor. Similar to the previous match, the healthy Kingambit easily stomached a hit to become the last Pokémon standing, clinching Storm Zone his first ever OST trophy.
Changes to the Tier
Unlike other tournaments, or even the last OST, where major suspects, bans, and releases influenced the tournament’s trajectory by changing what was available during the middle of the tournament, this year’s OST encountered very few technical changes. With a fairly consistent tier throughout, the metagame changes later were the primary means of tier evolution.
The first major change occurred before even the first round went up. At the end of signups, mere hours before the first round went live, the OU Council announced a change to the clauses in play in OU, removing the Sleep Clause Mod entirely. Rather than limit one Pokémon to sleeping at any given point (it’s more complex than this), the OU Council instead took the simpler route, banning any moves that were used primarily to put an opposing Pokémon to sleep. With Hypnosis removed from Iron Valiant and Darkrai’s toolbox, there was hope for a tournament with a less rapidly shifting banlist.
Perhaps successfully, only one other ban needed to occur during the tournament. Archaludon was suspect tested and banned during Round 3, changing the 10-day forecast for the remainder of the tournament starting in Round 4. With the first round narrowly avoiding a two-week-long round stuck in an outdated metagame and only a collapsed bridge during Round 3, the metagame remained, on a technical level, fairly stable throughout.
Metagame Trends:
With the introduction of the Indigo Disk DLC one month prior to the start of the tournament, the metagame had settled to a point where common trends could be observed very vividly. Playstyles like offenses that uniquely took advantage of the thought-to-be-passive Alomomola, sun teams that made use of all the Paradox Beasts' offensive pressure, and stall teams that even featured highlight picks like Hydrapple and Wo-Chien were certainly noteworthy, but their metagame impact paled in comparison to the ones listed below:
Glowking + Ground cores:
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Galarian Slowking had established itself as one of the best specially defensive pivots thanks to its ability to blanket check a wide slew of the tier's common special attackers, including the likes of Volcarona, Walking Wake, and Kyurem, all while being proactive in its own way. On top of its ability to slowly pivot to generate momentum, Galarian Slowking's Future Sight, status spreading, and immediate offensive pressure courtesy of its coverage options meant it could fit on many archetypes, even offensive ones. The tier's physically defensive Ground-types in Great Tusk, Landorus-T, and Gliscor, which are top-tier Pokémon themselves, also happened to complement Galarian Slowking, making this core the most common defensive backbone for a lot of teams. Offensive teams loved pairing Galarian Slowking with Great Tusk or Landorus-T due to their role compression, checking common physical attackers like Kingambit and opposing Great Tusk that would trouble it; additionally, Great Tusk removing entry hazards allowed Galarian Slowking to freely forgo Heavy-Duty Boots for Assault Vest, while Landorus-T made use of Intimidate + U-turn to form a strong pivoting core with Galarian Slowking. On the other hand, it could team up with Gliscor on balance structures that appreciate its impressive longevity to leverage the valuable Spikes and Toxic for longer games. Bulky offense teams, which sit comfortably between the two archetypes, can pair Galarian Slowking with any one of the three to great effect. Due to how splashable these cores were in general, the remaining team members could be anything the builder desires; more offensively oriented teams would go with powerhouses such as Kyurem, Zamazenta, Kingambit, and Dragapult, while bulkier teams could lean more towards the likes of Corviknight, Gholdengo, Alomomola, and Ting-Lu.
Semifinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal
Hazard Stack
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Entry hazard stacking had always been one of the forefront archetypes ever since the beginning of the generation with the introduction of Gholdengo, a huge number of hazard setters, and a lack of removers, and it hadn't slowed down either. Leaning more towards balance and bulky offense builds in general, the hazard setters tended to double up as walls as well, with choices like Ting-Lu, Garganacl, Skarmory, Gliscor, and Clefable being some of the more common ones, especially because Skarmory, Gliscor, and Clefable are naturally resilient against opposing hazards in addition to their ability to take Knock Off for their Heavy-Duty Boots-wearing teammates. Regardless, on top of these defensive pieces, the archetype also made use of fast offensive threats that could afford to run Heavy-Duty Boots, with the likes of Dragapult, Weavile, Deoxys-S, and Drakrai being some of the effective clean-up crew once the opposition had been choked by the hazard pressure, especially because the latter three can effectively remove opposing Heavy-Duty Boots with Knock Off on top of threatening the tier's best Knock Off absorber in Gliscor with their Ice-type attacks. Other Heavy-Duty Boots-wearing offensive threats with Knock Off started popping up as well, with Hisuian Samurott and Ogerpon being some of the notable examples; the former made use of its signature Ceaseless Edge to set up hazards itself—even against Hatterene's Magic Bounce—while the latter's post-Tera Speed boost alongside Encore helped teams play against troublesome fast threats like Zamazenta. Another development was how Gholdengo used to be a necessity on these structures for its ability to block most attempts of hazard removal, but most hazard stacking structures had evolved to forgo it completely. This was in part due to Defog Corviknight having fallen out of favor, though Gholdengo itself is still a fine option.
Hyper Offense
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With the insane number of offensive threats present in the tier further escalated by their ability to fully take advantage of Terastallization, it only made sense that hyper offense teams saw huge amounts of usage and success as well. Whether they are utilizing Grassy Terrain spearheaded by Rillaboom, dual screens to ease setup, or everything else in between, these playstyles still share one thing in common, and that is stacking as many of these threats as possible to overwhelm the opposition as quickly as possible. This became even more apparent as new and dangerous faces such as Gouging Fire and Raging Bolt were introduced by the Indigo Disk DLC, while old faces like Kingambit, Volcarona, Ogerpon-W, and Roaring Moon were still going strong. This chokehold in the metagame was so devastating that Kyurem, Gouging Fire, and Ogerpon-W were cited as very controversial Pokémon throughout the community, with the former two even getting suspect tested but managing to avoid the ban hammer in the end. Most standard hyper offense teams still utilized familiar faces like lead Glimmora, Hisuian Samurott, and Booster Energy Iron Treads as their entry hazard setters like they always did, but another candidate that had risen to prominence in doing so was Landorus-T, which possessed a valuable defensive utility and role compression to improve the team's mirror matchup against opposing offense by blanket checking prominent physical attackers like Kingambit, Gouging Fire, Roaring Moon, and Zamazenta that could otherwise get out of hand quickly. Strong offensive cores also established themselves as mainstay faces, such as Darkspam cores consisting of Pokémon like Kingambit, Darkrai, and Roaring Moon to overwhelm Dark-resistant foes like Clefable, Zamazenta, and Great Tusk, as well as the surge of bulkier threats like Primarina and Zamazenta that provided valuable defensive properties while still being potent setup sweepers themselves.
Semifinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal
Rain
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Seeing only sparse usage throughout the generation and deemed to be the weaker weather archetype compared to sun, rain took the metagame by (heavy) storm after the release of Indigo Disk, as the DLC brought forth the archetype's most dangerous Pokémon, the unwavering Archaludon. Equipped with Assault Vest on top of its ability Stamina to become near-unbreakable both physically and specially, Archaludon could snowball easily with its signature Electro Shot, dismantling defensive cores while still being difficult for offensive teams to take down. The most common composition during this era was undoubtedly the combination of Pelipper + Barraskewda + Archaludon + Raging Bolt + Kingambit + Iron Treads, with the newcomer Raging Bolt also making another appearance; aside from further pressuring bulky Water-types like Primarina and Ogerpon-W for the team, it could also make use of Weather Ball in the rain to pressure its Ground-type checks like Iron Treads. Another thing to note was how rain teams often made use of multiple Steel-types to be more rigid against the mighty Kyurem—which is one of rain's most problematic matchups—particularly with Kingambit often opting to run Air Balloon. Iron Treads even rose up all the way from UU to fit on rain as the archetype's best answer to opposing Raging Bolt and—most importantly—Archaludon, often running a special set with Earth Power to deal with the latter's more exploitable special bulk, which spoke volumes to the bridge's dominance. After Archaludon's eventual ban, the archetype naturally took a huge hit, evident from its usage dropping off a cliff after round 3 of the tournament. Regardless, its noteworthy rise in the first place still deserved highlighting, since it was the first time throughout the generation that rain cemented itself as one of the most dominant archetypes in the metagame.
Semifinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal
Conclusion
The Official Smogon Tournament is always an amazing tournament for metagame trends to shine and for the best players on the site to show off their skills. This OST was the first since The Indigo Disk released, ushering in the start of what SV will look like for the remainder of its time as a current generation. While SV will eventually become a past generation, this OST is the first chapter in what SV will be remembered for in the future.
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