PU Premier League XII Power Rankings

« Previous Article

Next Article »

Welcome everyone to yet another annual PUPL! For PUPL XII, we are continuing the long-standing tradition of providing the community with Power Rankings. Power Rankings are meant to be a fun read and to bring some excitement and silly banter to a tournament. Rankings are not the be-all and end-all, and many rankings are inevitably going to be incorrect, so don't take anything personally—unless you use it as fuel for motivation, in which case, by all means. That being said, we've asked players and managers who are knowledgeable and are playing in this very tournament to rank their peers in hopes of providing a ranking that is as objective as possible.

After last year's dramatic conclusion to PUPL, the dust has mostly settled, and the previous winning franchise was unable to make an appearance for this iteration. Since no back-to-back win is possible, which teams will make it to playoffs? Will the Haunters or Pranksters finally stop being mid and get a ring? Will a new franchise that has risen from the ashes blow everyone out of the water and claim the tournament?

Much like last year, there wouldn't be a Power Ranking without all the hands I had on deck to help make this come to life. I want to thank the writers: asa, Bouff, DD Joe, eeriespell, hex, Ming549, MZ, and Vulpix03 for getting things done efficiently and keeping up with my demands throughout the week we spent working on this. Thank you to Ampha and Kalalokki for helping make graphics for this article, as they do every year; it never goes unappreciated. Another immense thank you to the GP Team for always reading through such behemoths of text and making sure everything is ready to go. Last but certainly not least, thank you to a fairy for approving this article, and especially to earthfromthefuture, Lumari, and Rahul for being super easy to work with and GPing this article extremely fast.

Hopefully this Power Ranking lives up to previous ones and is entertaining. Without further ado, here are the PUPL XII Power Rankings!

---

1. Michaelderbeste2
2. MZ
3. asa
4. xsus
5. DripLegend
6. Xiri
7. Platum
8. Seraphz
9. Ruffles
10. Leni
11. Kafkafka
12. hex
13. Chaos23333
14. big tony 2014
15. Colin
16. Micciu
17. Django
18. LOOR
19. Axzel
20. evakiyama!
21. Scarf Kricketune
22. Diamonds_realm
23. brick
24. VyoletRayn

Everyone knows DripLegend can do it, except maybe Drip himself. A well-regarded starter and the leadoff member of the top-ranked SV core, Drip has had plenty of mid to decent results but is still searching for the big positive performance that might lead a team to victory. He went 3-4 in his last two team tours, went 2-2 in PU invitational, and coasted through to last year's circuit playoffs but failed to take home the ribbon. This has led to plenty of public self-doubt from the Legend himself, as despite racking up a slew of excellent individual wins against the strongest players in the tier, he still hasn't quite cemented the top-tier result he's been searching for all generation. It remains to be seen what the Pranksters are going to do to turn his usual good performances into a great one. Ruffles is a recent SV PU success story, coasting to a top 10 ranking off the back of an excellent PU Open performance, where he's still in the top 4 at time of writing. Admittedly a large portion of those wins have been off of pushing innovations in sun, Terrain, and other forms of cheese that might be more easily prepped for in a team tour setting, but he's shown a true dedication to not just learning the tier but innovating it in all sorts of ways that will likely serve him well this PUPL. Perhaps the more experienced members of his team will help guide him to victory, or perhaps they'll just need to sit back and let him cook up another Komala sun team. Last but certainly not least is hex, self-buying themselves to round out a powerhouse of an SV core. A frequent supporter but rarely a starter, all hex has to their name is a 2-2 in PUWC, but that statistic does little to explain the true reason hex is to be feared. Last year she managed the Pranksters to a strong finish that saw them missing out on playoffs only after losing a tiebreaker to the Kingpins, and earlier this year she teamed up with her erstwhile foe THE_CHUNGLER to manage Blue Lock-On to victory in PUCL. Playing is not the same as managing, but if she's able to put in even a fraction of the dedication she's known for in managing into prepping her teams and play, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. Overall the Pranksters are bringing the heat with a lineup that seems likely to go at least even across the board. The only question is whether each player will only put up decent records or if any of them will break into having a truly excellent season.

I'm sure other writers have covered this at length, but we simply cannot ignore the elephant in the room: xsus is an excellent player but comes with an extremely offputting name change. Anyway, they're exactly who you'd want to lead off an SV PU starting core: someone with experience, creativity, strong records, and a history of working well with other members of the team, including manager DD Joe. Although he skipped the most recent team tour in PUCL, he went 7-2 in last year's PUPL to prove he's capable of putting up a standout record and recently went 2-2 in the PU Invitational to prove that he's still got at least some of that sauce. As long as he doesn't overcook, we'll be looking for a return to form for the #4 ranked starter. Platum is in an odd position right now. Highly regarded and a historically powerful player, it wasn't that long ago that he was making top 4 of circuit playoffs or going 6-1 in PUWC. But also he went 0-3 in PUCL before entirely skipping PU Invitational due to being busy with schoolwork, meaning we haven't seen a strong performance from him all year. Now it's true that the metagame hasn't changed all that much since he was last putting up big numbers, and he's got plenty of support to help him get back in the game, but it's possible that a lack of momentum could slow down one of last year's biggest rising stars. While he's got a much smaller pedigree in PU team tours, Axzel rounds out the Syndicate lineup as a bit more of a budget pick with only positive records to point to for how he might perform this year. A 5-4 in PUCL while subbing into multiple different metagames as needed and a 4-0 in PUWC are pretty good indicators that he might take off when given the combined support of his fellow starters and managers, and he's certainly no stranger to success if you start looking at sheets outside of PU. The pool is strong enough to keep him low ranked for now, but one or two more positive performances and we might have another mainstay on our hands. On the whole the Syndicate's most troubling sign being a name change is certainly intimidating, but there is enough inconsistency between their lineup to potentially croak their doom if they aren't careful.

The Sandstorms have decided to build their SV core with a mix of the power of friendship and the “retired tier leader” buff. asa has followed through with the age-old tradition of tier leaders suddenly having a burst of interest and creativity as soon as they depart from their position, as seen by her dropping a gajillion teams in the sample thread leading up to the PU Love Tour as soon as she stepped down. She's been one of the faces of the tier for quite some time, and though she hasn't been in the playing field for the past few PU team tours, that hasn't stopped Team Howkings from bidding a massive 25.5k on her. Her mass building spree by no means leads to sloppy teams, so expect to see some innovative teams from her this season. Following her on this team are two rising PU stars in Chaos23333 and Kafkafka, who have teamed with manager Metallica in numerous tours in the past like WCoP, PUWC, and PUCL. That being said, they're not just here because of familiarity. Both have had strong SV showings in a few tours recently, with Kafkafka tearing up PUCL (and being the kryptonite of the person writing this paragraph…) and Chaos being a current PU Open semifinalist as of writing, ironically netting wins over both his teammate and his manager. This is already quite the solid SV lineup, and with Metallica hanging around to support these players where needed, there's a good chance they can wipe away the competition.

In 4th place we have the Malignant Chain Snatchers, who are led by Mr. PU himself, MZ. After taking ten years to learn how to play, MZ finally found his footing, and after a strong 5-2 showing in SCL IV he established himself as one of SV's premier PU players. Since that SCL, MZ has continued to shine in SV, putting up an impressive 23-14 record across PU forum team tours and going 6-4 in his sophomore SCL season. He has also had individual success, primarily with a top 4 and top 8 finish in the most recent circuit playoffs as well as his recent 2nd-place finish in the PU Invitational, where his only loss in the entire tournament was in finals to the only player ranked above him on this PR, Michaelderbeste2. These results, coupled with MZ's ability to build and be fully self sufficient, have earned him the #2 spot in SV. Speaking of building, one of MZ's running mates is LOOR, a player who made a name for himself as a builder in OU and has since dipped his toes into the PU pool. LOOR is ranked 18th on our power rankings, most likely due to the fact that outside of PUWC, he has struggled mightily. Although he put up an impressive 6-1 record in the most recent PUWC, his past PUPL and PUCL records are a combined 0-7. He also was also one of only three players to go 0-3 in PU Invitational. LOORd have mercy, that's bad! Ranked just above LOOR at #16 is the third member of the Snatchers SV core and one of their retains, Micciu. With a 12-11 SV PU record spanning back to 2025, Micciu has been consistently middle of the pack record-wise throughout their PU career. Is that worth the 10k retain price? Most people would say no, but the Snatchers clearly have belief in them, and with MZ support and an abundance of LOORd squads, perhaps this is the breakout season Micciu has been looking for. Overall, this core has the ability to put up the best SV record in the entire tournament if LOOR can channel his PUWC form and MZ and Micciu are able to continue on their paths of consistency.

Ranked fifth overall in SV are Haunter x Haunter, who started off their core by self-buying Big Tony 2014 for a measly 8k. Prior to this, I had never seen a self-buy or retain for less than 10k, but after doing my research I quickly discovered the reason: a dreadful 0-5 record in the previous edition of PUPL. Since that tournament, Tony managed a 4-1 PUWC, explaining why the voters had enough faith in him to rank him 14th overall. The Haunters decided to pair their manager with the anomaly that is Xiri. Throughout Xiri's career, he has been wildly inconsistent, with his success typically being tied to the quality of teams he uses. With a Circuit ring under his belt, as well as a Snake trophy that he contributed heavily to, you could argue #6 is too low. However, with those highs have also come some very low lows. Xiri is 33-39 all time on the PU sheet and had a three-year span of negative records prior to the most recent PUCL. He was also the only player in PU Invitational to go 0-4, a record you wouldn't expect from someone with his resume. At 16.5k the Haunters are taking a chance on Xiri, but if he continues his PUCL form, then he could be the best-value SV1 in the tournament. Rounding out the Haunter's core is a ladder hero. You may know him as Scarf Kricketune, but so far his Smogon career has been more aligned to his pre-evolution. For years he has terrorized the early stages of the ladder, biding his time for an opportunity like PUPL to present itself. Given his 21st placement on the PRs, it appears many have doubts regarding his ability to evolve his game and compete in a tournament setting. This core is as volatile as they come; however, there is hope. If Xiri can find good teams, Big Tony can tap into whatever juice he drank in PUWC, and Scarf Kricketune can use his meta knowledge and ladder experience to outprep his opponents, the Haunters could have a solid SV core on their hands. If none of the above come to fruition, then the Haunters may end up with one of the worst cores in the tournament.

It's about time that we addressed the elephant in the room… or in this case the Snorlax, as the Forever Snoozing Snorlaxes come in sixth in this year's PRs. Forgoing any self-buy or retain options from last year's m.A.A.d. City Magmortars, managers Kingler and Wesleyy opted for a clean slate, coming into this year's auction looking to build their SV from the ground up leading to… one of the SV PU cores of all time. Perhaps Dickens put it best in his novel “A Tale of Two Cities”, with its opening lines: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” perfectly describing the state of the Snorlaxes' subsequent SV pickups. Starting off strong, the laxes managed to pick up MichaelDerBeste2 to lead the way for their SV hopefuls. One of the most decorated players in competitive Pokémon history, Michael has a trophy case a mile wide sporting everything from three individual Smogon trophies, to a litany of VGC tops, to most recently winning the PU Invitational. Not to forget his history of strong SCL showings, where he sports an impressive 12-5 record in SV PU across the two most recent editions of that tournament with a 31-16 record overall. Michael is the quintessential SV PU player and the clear top dog in the pool as reflected by his first-place ranking. Unfortunately for the Snorlaxes, this is where the good news ends, because much like Mark Brendanawicz from Parks and Rec, the rest of the cast is… rather forgettable. Rounding out their starting SV slots, the Snorlaxes have decided to field NU mainers Bricknermon and Diamonds_Realm. Not totally devoid of PU results, both brick and Diamonds had short stints in the most recent PU team tournament PUCL, where they went a combined 3-4; however, their relative inexperience playing the tier and nonexistent presence within the community have left voters questioning what exactly they bring to the table, leading to their 23rd and 22nd placements. And when it rains, it pours, as the Snorlaxes' SV woes only become more apparent the deeper you look into their roster. Although they will have the support of Michael's fellow PU Invitational participant Vulpix03 assisting in the builder, that seems to be the extent of their available support. The Snorlaxes have certainly dreamed up one of the most ambitious cores in this year's tournament, and only time will tell if it turns into a pleasant experience or a nightmare.

Narrowly avoiding eighth place are the Zoroarks. They started off by self-buying Seraphz for 16.5k, a bold move for someone who I have never seen go positive in a tour. However, after some research, I discovered that he has in fact gone positive thrice, putting up a 3-2 record in each of PUCL, PUBD and PUWC. At 17-16 overall, he has been middling throughout his team tournament career. His individual accolades have been middling as well; with a round 1 exit in the 2024 Circuit playoffs and a 2-2 record in PU Invitational, Seraphz has yet to prove himself as a true top-end talent. At his 16.5k price tag the Zoroarks are definitely hoping that he can surpass his 8th-place ranking and have his first pop-off season. In the auction, the Zoroarks' first move in SV was to take a flyer on 2025 Grand Slam finalist Colin. You may wonder, why is a reigning Slam finalist ranked 15th? Well, after Colin burst onto the level 100 scene last year, he graduated high school and went off to college, where he traded in his ability to win Pokémon games for what I can only hope was a solid GPA. A dreadful SCL led to retirement, which, as is usually the case, led to a return a few months later. Colin was then drafted in PUCL and went 3-0 in SV on the second place team—a result that showed hope for a return to form. Now, it is summer, and with school out Colin may have spare time on his hands to truly dive into PU. If this is the case, Colin may prove himself to be the steal of the tournament. The final member of this core is VyoletRayn, a benchwarmer on the French PUWC team who has put together a 5-8 record in the few games they have played over the past three years. Without any individual results, I struggled to find many talking points for the 24th-ranked player on our PRs. I did, however, discover the French Community League: a recent tournament where Vyolet put up a 2-5 record against what can only be described as lackluster opponents. At 7.5k, it won't be the end of the world if Vyolet flops, but it would be a big boost if the Zoroarks are able to get wins out of a slot that few believe in.

Some team has to be ranked last, and that honor goes to the KINGPINS for being led by someone barely squeaking his way into being ranked top 10 in the pool. Leni is a far more common sight starting in SM, DPP, or Bo3 PU, and while he's no slouch all around, he also doesn't have any major SV results to point to coming into this tournament. Last PUPL he started the first two weeks then vanished from the lineup until his team made playoffs, and last PUCL he put up an excellent 6-1 but almost entirely in DPP PU. With no major individual records to speak of either, Leni receives his ranking mostly for being someone that people generally believe can be successful, rather than being someone who's already confirmed himself as a team-leading player. Django returns to the KINGPINS after a middling 3-5 last year in DPP, his usual tier that was also where he started in PUCL and older PUPLs. Still, he's been trying to prove that old dogs can learn new tricks with multiple forays into SV PU recently, including a few decent wins in PU Open and squeaking into last year's circuit playoffs (albeit mostly off of a PU Classic run). If nothing else, he and Leni can swap PO war stories and talk about how the team tours in their day were better. You might be sensing a theme here, but evakiyama! is a less-proven player who typically plays old generations but has decided to try their hand in SV PU for this tournament and is ranked fairly low mostly due to a lack of previous experience in the current generation of PU. While their ADV records have been fairly excellent in the last few team tours and they did sub into SV PU at least once in the past year, little is known about how a full seven weeks of SV PU might go for the most punctuated member of the KINGPINS. Overall the draft strategy seems to be clear: grab people who've had success in other slots in the past and try to mesh them into a brand new SV fighting core, glued together with strong support from manager THE_CHUNGLER and Bo3er DugZa. But they'll need to act fast and prove themselves, or old age is going to catch up with this roster quickly.

---

If you haven't heard of Spitfire, what are you even doing? Spitfire has been making strides across Smogon, and rarely wavers in doing so. His experience in SS PU is extensive, and he's very passionate about the tier. Coming off a fresh PUPL win and finding himself just barely ranking behind xcx in previous power rankings, it's no surprise he's ranked above everyone else here. Last PUPL, he showed no signs of slowing down his rampage by putting up an extremely impressive record of 9-1. Which, for him, a record of this caliber sounds quite repeatable given his talent in the tier. Spitfire does have some redundant tendencies in the builder that can be taken advantage of, but with the tier gaining new Pokémon to experiment with, he can be a whole new opponent. Not to say that he is unbeatable, but this is a pool that he shouldn't have much difficulty in. The main factor for Spitfire's performance here is motivation. With other tournaments going on and his last PUPL win being accompanied with a lot of drama, it's hard to say if he'll retain his momentum. If he locks in for this tournament, it's looking like he'll spit fire (lol get it) on the rest of his opposition.

Making his name to reflect the essence to be that of a true ghoul, back from the dead is former PUTL Shane! There's no question about his capability as a player despite his long absence, which is evident through his ranking as his peers believe in him to keep continuing his routine of performing well. Shane was still particularly active and involved with the game and tier while SS was current gen, and so he will surely have no issue acclimating to the tier changes. Putting up consistent positive records was not a challenge for Shane, and he will be a scary opponent to run into this tournament. The only real questionable thing about Shane is his self-proclaimed activity mention in his signup that stated to not "expect much"; as long as he gives just a little more than what the Syndicate management is expecting out of him, he'll make coming back to the game look easy.

Meri Berry is very scary! This must've been what her fellow SS PU enjoyers thought while ranking her, as she finds herself in the top 3 podium of this PUPL's pool. Being a very active member of the NU and PU community has kept her very much in the loop of the game, and she is particularly known for her prowess in SS. She is someone who can teambuild and will do it well, so all she needs to prove is that she can click the buttons to back up the building. Having to get in the groove of building a tier with new unbans can certainly be a change of pace for her, however, since she's mostly been a spectator in the PU scene as of recent. As long as she puts some effort into getting into the groove of the new SS PU instead of only playing Final Fantasy, she'll be on her Meri way to a standout showing.

"Nu"comer to the SS PU is xcx's protégé, Nuxl. Nuxl has tournament exposure through other tiers such as 1v1 and is no stranger to playing the game at all. When you add three more Pokémon to teambuilding, however, things change. Despite that, he was deservedly ranked 4th, which is quite the compliment despite his limited tenure playing SS PU. He's gotten exposure over the course of the past year playing in PUPL, PUCL, and SSCL. While he hasn't had an insane breakout record, he still puts up consistent numbers, and the Haunters will give him the best support in the tournament through his sensei (no axew), xcx. With that level of support and his skill steadily improving, Nuxl will be motivated to show that he can play with the top dogs (maybe he'd prefer bears..?) through the course of a full season and is looking to likely cement himself as one of the top SS PU players. Only time will tell if he can make that come to fruition when the spotlight is put on him.

Despite being extremely glazed after every official tournament he's drafted in, Taka finds himself at a cheap 8k for the Pranksters. Most of Taka's PU experience lies in SV, so it is a bit puzzling as to why the Pranksters have sent him into the tier that seemingly everyone despises. He's never had a particular struggle piloting teams, but SS PU can be one of the more technical PU old gens. Regardless, there isn't much room for knowledge checks to exist as long as one takes a very surface-level look at the tier. SS PU Open winner hex is likely going to have to provide support, but without their trusty partner xcx on the team to help quality check team choices, the fate of the Pranksters SS slot relies mostly on Taka's tryhard nature to carry over from other tournaments. Despite his low experience with the tier, he's been ranked middle of the pack, which is probably an apt ranking. If he takes charge to work on his own slot, then the Pranksters gamble can easily end up being a double rather than nothing.

Rising star MemphisDepay makes his entrance into a PU tournament for the first time. Surprisingly he's playing SS instead of SV, where he's having a stellar performance in the current iteration of BLT, going undefeated. It is mostly expected that his clicking skill will translate to SS PU. There may be some question marks, however, as most of his gameplay in the tier involves very skillful cheese in individual tournaments, and team quality is extremely important in the tier. Whoever is supporting him on the Sandstorms will have to put in overtime to make sure whatever he is bringing in-game will be up to par with the rest of the pool, which can be a large task given the good support other teams have. If that support isn't an issue, however, despite being ranked sixth in the pool, Memphis is not someone his opposition should look down on.

Ming, or mister "heat"ran himself, finds himself at the same exact rank he was in last year, which is why I repeated that same exact awful joke. Last year, he won SS PU cup and proved to be a competent pilot in the tier, and now he is just coming off a fresh RUPL win. While not PU-related, his ability to be a good teammate and someone who can win is not unproven. Where it becomes muddy is his consistency. Despite him having the capability to perform well, it is not often that he is able to show that he can do it consistently, which is likely why he is yet again rated near the bottom of the pool as his performance in PUPL last year was not the greatest. Looking to come back with a vengeance, he'll be aiming to see if he can prove the doubters wrong.

I'm incredibly unsure as to why the Kingpins submitted this person on their lineup just to not put them in for the first two weeks of the tournament. However, last but not...well anything...is Call me PK. A player with a very unknown PU history besides the fact that they helped the Vigilante Vigoroths in PUCL, a team that died before it really began. Probably the most unknown factor in this pool and possibly any starter in this tournament, the only info there really is to go off of Call me PK is the fact that they sign up for a lot of tournaments and don't mind what tier they play in any of them. Not to mention they are very likely to be motivated given their newbie status. That sort of motivation and versatility to play anything makes them a good candidate for a pilot that can win some games in a premier league, but the fear of the unknown seemed to be too great for the KINGPINS despite drafting him.

---

In last year's PUPL, robjr had the best record anyone has ever achieved in any PUPL ever, going 11-1 entirely in SM PU. Hell, that might just be the best record for any team tour ever as far as I know. It's incredibly rare to play 12 games, requiring you to play every single week, semis, finals, and three tiebreaks, and winning 11 of those is no easy feat. robjr is no stranger to strong team tour runs, but one can only conclude that the reason he doesn't come in with a unanimous #1 ranking is that some of the players in the pool did not check the stats beforehand or simply don't know how rankings work (at least one person definitely doesn't!). The only mitigating factors for another dominant performance is that the culprit of robjr's single loss last year in sugar ovens is still lurking in the pool and a few of the other names are people he did not face last year at all. But after a performance like last year's, the expectations for him are sky high. For now, he's the kingpin of the pool.

Gondra finds himself ranked highly after a solid 4-2 record last year shored up his impression as someone who shows up for PU team tours and goes generally positive. You're unlikely to see him playing for anything less than a custom avatar, but when he's here he tends to do just fine. In a lineup of players with less experience or more consistency issues, that trait should hopefully serve him well. Given that his last team tour outing ended with a victory in finals tiebreak over MichaelderBeste2 that helped his team achieve victory in PUCL, albeit while playing SV and not SM, it's not hard to imagine him riding that momentum to another strong performance.

sugar ovens always shows up for team tours. Sometimes he shows up and goes 6-2, like in the 2024 edition of PUPL. Sometimes it's 2-4, like PU's most recent team tour of PUCL. But, in the current pool, just showing up and usually doing alright is enough to keep you solidly above average in the rankings. He's self-sufficient, he just made Classic playoffs, he'll probably do at least fine. And if not, a low performance from sugar probably won't be the make-or-break factor for the Rising Sandstorm doing well enough to make playoffs, at least not if week 1 is anything to go by.

Hacker slots in as the fourth-ranked player and theoretical SM starter for Haunter x Haunter, but frankly I'm not sure how much I believe that. Last PUPL Hacker went 3-3 starting in five separate generations of PU, and in PUCL he went 2-5 with one SM game and the rest being in SS. Is there any reason to believe Hacker will stay in SM for at least the seven weeks of the regular season? Well, the lack of other names known for SM might keep him tied to one slot out of necessity, although there are several players who one could easily see taking over the slot for a week or three such as Ninja and Fragments, not to mention players in other slots who could swap with Hacker like xcx and Xiri. Or maybe he's starting to crave more predictability, as evidenced by reducing from starting in five tiers to two from last PUPL to PUCL, although this argument fails to consider that he's also playing in basically every other team tour under the sun at the same time and probably can't remember what generation he's starting in week to week when he's also prepping for LCPL, UPL, and god-knows-what-else-PL at the same time. Ultimately we won't know how many tiers Hacker plays until the tour is over, but this writer's bet is that there's going to be at least two weeks where someone else has to hold this slot down for the Haunters.

Estarossa, while not as flaky as Hacker, started in three different generations in PUCL (SM, DPP, and GSC), but I'd say he's a bit more likely to stick around in this slot if for no other reason than he seems to really like SM PU. He likes it so much that he's more game than most to spend all week innovating some absolute nonsense to catch people off guard with and then spend the next few years insisting that no, actually, it's totally worth running Bastiodon for its defensive utility and your opponent definitely won't adapt by just slapping Focus Blast on Drampa why would you even suggest that? To be fair, some of his other preferences, like defensive Oricorios, have seeped into the meta more and more throughout the years. And while most of his records are pretty average, Estarossa's 7-2 in PUPL 2024 and 25-25 overall record show that there's definitely potential to outperform this middling ranking. But Estarossa's biggest opponent is often himself, and if he's not able to luck his way out of forgetting to prepare for Webs, then he might be walking away with another performance just average enough to get him bought for the next team tour without skewing his overall record towards positive again.

DD Joe really loves SM PU. And Toxicroak. Which isn't in SM PU, but why worry about that when you're fully committed to self-buying to place yourself in your favorite tier for your first-ever start in PUPL. Now, Dragon Dance Joseph's other team tour performances so far have been nothing to write home about (one 2-2 and one 2-1 both in 2025), but he's at least got the pedigree when it comes to being on a team doing some level of support as other players rack up big wins. But as far as ability to be successful in his own matches goes, Double Dipplin Jonathan has a lot to prove. The enthusiasm is there, the willingness to at least try to innovate new sets in a very old and relatively solved meta should hold for at least a few weeks and stay strong if his team keeps winning, but Defensive Drifblim Jonas arguably has the most to prove of any player in this pool. Manager self-buys come with high expectations, and Decidueye's Damp Jorts either needs to back them up or have drafted well enough to where it doesn't matter if he performs at or below his ranking.

mipc is certainly a person who has played PU before. You might remember them from such notable team tour performances as going 1-0 in PUWC one time and literally nothing else. They almost just made finals of PU Classic before being defeated in a five-game set by Cielau, and he got 17th in the most recent PU Seasonal, a record that definitely speaks to the fact that he joined the tournament. He's put in just enough over the past couple of years for at least one team to feel like he deserved a shot at starting, and that's pretty cool. But until he shows something better, expectations for this slot are at an all time ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

Terracotta went 3-0 in SM PU last PUPL and still got ranked underneath two players who've never started in this tier before. Perhaps it's because he has a propensity for using teams that are either weird or recycled, maybe it's because only having 10 PU sheet games overall isn't enough for people to remember he exists, or it could possibly be because this is someone with a 2017 join date who couldn't figure out how ranking people on a list from 1 to 7 worked. Seriously, if the article doesn't show you each individual person's rankings, then just know that he ranked nobody first and three separate people 6th. That's more damning than any record or game I could possibly talk about. If he doesn't win at least two games without haxing his opponent, I'll walk away from this tour convinced that he doesn't know how to count. The ball is in your court, Terracotta, you may be coming off a good record, but this PR submission alone means we're officially considering this performance as a redemption run.

---

At number 1 we have BluBirD, an SPL veteran primarily known for ORAS OU. He has recently taken a shine to ORAS PU. He first tried the tier in tournament in ORASPL and then tried his hand again in PUCL, where he landed a very impressive 6-2 record. As someone with both SPL-caliber plays and extremely solid fundamentals, it's very understandable why BluBirD has landed the top spot in the rankings. If he can repeat such a consistent performance in PUPL, the ORAS Pool will certainly have a demon to reckon with. BluBirD has also shown passion for innovating and building the tier, having posted a comprehensive breakdown of his building and loyal support in ORAS PU Resources.

Unsurprisingly, lighthouses, the ORAS Circuit Champion ranks very highly at number 2. He's coming off an unremarkable 2-3 in PUCL but has played ORAS PU and ORAS tiers in general to a high level for a long time. He's displayed a ton of flexibility across his tour games alongside accurate and exciting play. He has MZ in his corner to help him with solid, time-tested teams and has all the tools to have an exceptional season.

Another huge PU name, Pix lands in at the number 3 spot. Known as both a talented builder and excellent pilot, I have no doubt that Pix will feel comfortable and ready to perform well across the season. He might not have solid support around him, but as a veteran PU player with a wealth of experience in ORAS PU, he should have no problem being self sufficient and turning up in big games. Depending on effort, Vulpix03 could absolutely take the pool by storm.

At number 4, we have Greybaum representing the KINGPINS. As a long-term old gen connoisseur, Greybaum has the experience to do well in the tier, as well as excellent support in DugZa, who can certainly vet and provide gold-standard teams for success in the builder. While he may not be as consistent as some of the bigger names, Greybaum certainly has held his own in previous PU tours, and hopefully he can convert his ZU success into many victories this season.

Coming in at number 5, we have crow crumbs. They are a relatively new face to the PU tour scene but had a reasonably impressive run in this year's ORAS PU Cup, getting a top 4 spot and missing out on finals after a respectable loss to ex-tier leader asa. crow crumbs has shown competency in PU old gens and could surprise the pool as a lesser-known name. Whether they succeed may depend on the support he can find from his teammates, such as PU old gen veteran ManOfMany.

In 6th place, we have RU tier leader and tour player feen. With an unfortunate 0-3 record in PUCL, feen may struggle for form in a tournament with arguably stronger ORAS competition. However, in the last edition of PUPL, feen scored a respectable 4-2 in a relatively strong ORAS pool. Whether feen sinks or swims depends on the quality of teams being passed to him and whether he can find his consistency this time around. Either way, most of the pool don't seem convinced by feen's ability to click his way out of this one.

In 7th place, we have long-term player Blue YM. Having played PUPL in 2020 and 2023, Blue YM has certainly been around for a while; however, his frequent hiatuses and unremarkable team tour records have raised questions about his ability to succeed within the pool. Blue YM has great support in both sugar ovens and asa, and therefore should show up every week with competent and dangerous teams. Will Blue YM find his feet, or will he flop onto his face ?

In last place, we have SPL player LB. LB is primarily known for his success in OU: he was drafted for SPL this year in a breakout season and also represents the UK in the WCOP. Clearly, however, these accolades have failed to convince the rest of the ORAS pool that his skills are transferable to ORAS PU. Many might be thinking, what went wrong in the draft? With ORAS being a more niche, knowledge-heavy old gen, it is questionable as to whether LB will have the motivation or ability to adapt to the tier. He also has notable support in Drud, who can perhaps provide him with solid builds week on week. As someone who can click accurately, maybe LB can shock the pool; however, it's not looking phenomenal on paper.

---

Tack makes their yearly return to the BW PU scene and finds themselves at the top of the PR, which should be a surprise to no one. There isn't much to say about them, which isn't a slight to their accomplishments. It is the opposite, in fact. Everyone knows about what Tack can do in this tier already, and they are still capable of leveling up. They have been one of the most consistent BW PU players for years now, and always manage to remind everyone each tournament that they're not going anywhere results-wise. Whether it be experimenting or larping with LpZ about "BW PU" in the PU Discord, they're bound to make their mark yet again this PUPL.

While being a fresher face to the PU scene, Accel already makes his way to the top of a power ranking and does it in quite a strong pool as well. Accel has been involved in a very large handful of tournaments over the years and just won UUPL, which should further supplement his confidence in winning this tour and matches up with his ranking quite nicely. Accel goes out of his way to be quite above and beyond while starting, building for himself and making sure he gets a plethora of tests and a bunch of feedback throughout the week. He's a manager's dream player in terms of mindset and work ethic. Despite being ranked so high, however, he needs to stay on high alert, as each opponent in the pool he's playing in has quite a high skill ceiling. Whether or not he will be able to keep up despite being a very motivated player will depend on if he can keep up that level of activity each week (which seems unlikely if he's still grinding Valorant 12 hours per day, seriously dude hit Radiant already). Accel shouldn't have a hard time finding the proper footing he needs to propel himself to a good standing this PUPL, though.

Seeing sky in third place comes at quite the surprise, as he is coming off one of the best PU team tour tournament records in PU history. Despite anyone being unlikely to replicate a performance like that, he is back for another season. After last year's defeat in a finals tiebreak, there is no question that he is coming back to swing with double the power he had last year. That being said, that record was mostly achievable due to his great support in manager Skrimps no doubt. Luckily for him and the KINGPINS, he's been retained for quite the bargain price and will likely succeed in the similar environment he's been once again thrust into. This BW pool is comparatively weaker to last year's PUPL even if not by much, which means sky has the perfect recipe for another great season. There's very little worry that a long-tenured PU player like him will fumble here, and he will be the player to look out for this season.

After taking an extensive break from Pokémon in general, Evi finds herself addicted to the game once again after she came to the realization everyone does when they take a break from this game: the high of getting a crit in BW is better than any drug. Evi has had a relatively extensive history in PU and playing BW lower tiers in general and has won a previous PUPL putting up a neutral record across an entire season in a strong pool. Evi's vice is that she tilts way too easily when playing Pokémon in general, and it doesn't help that BW can be a more luck-centric metagame. You'd think she'd be used to it at this point, but she sometimes can't resist the keyboard. That being said, she's performed fine enough in scarier pools, so it's hard to imagine she'd come crashing and burning in a weaker one.

To put it bluntly, Typhoon Carter is simply amazing. Or so his managers thought after he came into the Blue-Lock On's starting lineup after being a sub and farming the rest of the tournament. That, however, was in DPP PU, where the best Pokémon is Purugly. He opted to lock out of that tier for this tournament to play BW PU, an arguably worse tier. However, TyCarter is a Swiss army knife in terms of knowledge about random PU old gens and will not have any issue acclimating to the BW PU climate, as he has a good amount of PU team tour experience playing many tiers, BW included. Manager hex seemed to be impressed with his performance in PUCL, however, as TyCarter's price shot up by quite the amount this time around, and he has a lot of pressure on him to match the same level of quality he had in PUCL. As long as he isn't distracted by changing his pfp to a new anime girl every other day and posting basketball memes no one understands every hour, he's sure to be the ace in the hole in yet another tournament.

Cielau, moving from one unviable tier to main to the next, finds himself out of the Monotype mines and in the BW PU ones. Which has worse conditions is anyone's guess, but what everyone knows without a doubt is that Cielau has been performing very consistently in PU old gens for the past year. After back-to-back great PU Classic runs and a good PUCL, he'll be looking to bring down the heavens on his opponents. Cielau has a history of being slightly inconsistent in the team tournament scene, however, which may be why he was ranked so low. Perhaps people aren't aware of his game yet or don't believe in his ability to transfer his individual success into consistent team tournament success. Now that Cielau is playing with bigger dogs and Pokémon that actually don't share at least one type with each other across a whole team, he may find himself on the highway to hell. For now, he's still a dark horse for the rest of this pool.

"I'm not sure who we should get for BWPU... as a last resort let's go to the local senior home and check out the player quality there" is probably what the Haunter x Haunter managers were discussing amongst themselves when they landed on the idea of drafting Bughouse. Known for his proficiency in BW NU over the course of the years, he's decided to take BW PU for a spin. Bughouse has lots of experience on him and won't be much of a slouch, but lack of consistent BW PU appearances from him is likely what landed him so low in the pool. He's not ranked last, however, which is mostly thanks to his general BW experience. Managers big tony and Bernardo will just have to make sure he gets three meals a day and give him his medication on time so that he isn't too rusty for this upcoming season.

1v1 and random team tour signup extraordinaire neomon makes yet another appearance in the PU tournament scene. neomon has not been consistent or impressive for quite a long time now and had a shaky 2-7 record in the previous PUPL. Seemingly a last-ditch effort to secure any BW PU player as a draft is probably what got him on a team. As of now, however, people are not expecting much from him. His ranking shouldn't be much of a surprise, but his PUPL record last year was likely an off-season. He still does have a lot of experience playing the game in a multitude of different environments and tends to put in effort within each tournament he's drafted in, which means a lot for the current landscape of Smogon tournament activity. He still has what it takes to take games off of his opponents, and anyone who underestimates him too much will likely be in for a rude awakening.

---

Unanimously voted as the top player in this year's DPP pool, Heysup returns to his old stomping grounds once more. There are very few things to be said about Heysup that don't put one at risk of sounding like a broken record—he shows up, cooks hard, plays harder, and forces you to schedule for weekdays. None of our voters seem to expect that the godfather of DPP PU will slow down any, even after becoming a real father.

After filling in last year when the Snatchers' original DPP plans fell through, Baddy went on to play in several silly, frivolous, and overall much less important and prestigious tournaments like SCL and SPL, even winning the former. Now, after leveling up, he's back to put his mettle to the test where it really matters: DPP PU. This combination of some familiarity with the tier alongside support from manager eeriespell and a high skill floor seems to have convinced his opponents he'll be a tough nut to crack.

Primarily known for his exploits in DPP OU, SFG played under the Sinnoh Lakers in last year's edition of PUPL, where he put up a frankly unimpressive 1-4 record. However, he seems more than ready to dust himself off and try again. The meta has changed quite a bit, and the pool this time around is missing plenty of heavy hitters, so it could very well be his time to shine.

After winning DPP PU Cup, jyusaan decided it was time to take the show to the road and sign up for this edition of PUPL. While he undoubtedly knows more about the meta than some other competitors, seeing as he played enough of it at a competent enough level to win an individual tournament, a lack of name recognition and possible suspicion that his run was a fluke keep him from ranking too much higher.

Lazuli marks the beginning of a trend in this pool: strong players who have never really had too much experience with DPP PU. Additionally, there are definitely some worries as to where the teams will come from. Cielau has had a strong PU Classic run, even defeating Drud in their DPP game during finals, and BlackKnight_Gawain may have some idea of what's going on, but if they're relying on Metallica to cook in this slot or recreating the latest trends, things may get very dire very quickly

You may know LessThanThreeMan from all of the graphics he's contributed to NU and PU projects over the past year or so (seriously, the guy's a beast). What you may not know about him is that he's an avid fan of oldgen low tiers, and DPP PU is one of his favorites. Unfortunately, he doesn't have quite the pedigree of those who ranked above him on his list, and while his knowledge of the tier is far from lacking, his only dedicated support on the team is fellow up-and-comer sychillz, whose builds are known for being… less than orthodox. The future is in their hands, should they choose to take charge of it.

We now reach the point of our PR voting where players looked at the names on the list and collectively went “...who?”. Yer Unc is no slouch though, putting up favorable showings in Draft and recently making the roster for Canada's WCoP team. He'll just have to hope that Drud cares enough to pass him teams.

Primarily known for their exploits in ADV ZU, Hachimaki has been moved up and over to face the best and brightest that DPP PU has to offer. At the time of writing, it has not gone well, and voters seem to agree that prospects are dim against the likes of Heysup. Thankfully, this is one of Pokémon's most volatile tiers, so there will be plenty of room to prove the doubters wrong!

---

After several years of excellent play and innovating the tier, Plague is the player to beat in ADV PU this season. The doctor has established themselves as part of the new wave of top cut talent, and with support from manager and fellow scholar of the tier THE_CHUNGLER, there's little doubt that they're poised to have another excellent year.

Coming in second, we have ADV PU's fearless leader, carrying the torch from fellow Team UK member plznostep. Despite a poor PUCL performance, they've been no slouch lately, with a strong record last PUPL and a recent ADVPL finals appearance. This tier is one that rewards intimate knowledge of its interactions, and it's unmistakable that Aurist has that in droves.

Fellow Mightyena enthusiast Parpar heads up the #3 slot this year after many of his contemporaries have vanished over the last two years. While his records have historically ranged from poor to average, he has a level of independence and tier knowledge that most players ranked below him do not. Perhaps this is the year he finally breaks out and gets more than one win for each Par in his name.

Quarante8 will be found nearly anywhere that there are Classic tiers to be played, and this year's edition of PUPL is no exception. They've played the tier before, but never to any exemplary breakout results, and the support on their team seems lacking to say the least. Thankfully, expectations in ADV are often defied, especially by those willing to be bold.

mielke loves ADV. Unfortunately, outside of OU, ADV doesn't seem to really love him back. His records in PU, alongside other ADV low tiers, have historically been… not good. Despite this, he still takes the shield and raises the spear every time the call of player signups comes around, and is always cooking up something new and exciting. Will this be the year he finally strikes gold and gets the team carrying performance he's been waiting for?

Unique to this pool this year, ASKOV is an entirely new face to ADV PU. He's no slouch as a player, having competed in several high-level tournaments over his career, but unlike most pools where a team just opts to buy a clicker, that doesn't really put him head and shoulders over the rest, with fellow Brazilian and top-ranked ADVer Plague even having recently won a green trophy from SCL. One can only hope that teammate SergioRules can get him up to speed quickly.

After playing a couple of games in PUCL, twinkay has apparently decided they like ADV PU enough to try it again. Unfortunately for them, their opponents this time around will all be people who made dedicated signups to play the tier and have been holding it down consistently for a while now. They're a strong player, but the lack of an ADV2 may just be their downfall.

The ADV pool would never be complete without its perennial dark horse, and that honor this year goes to mint yerb. After picking up two wins as a sub in ADVPL, the Snorlaxes seem to find them equipped to take the stage, and this low ranking is largely due to a lack of name recognition rather than a reflection of the player's skill. They'll need to quickly become self sufficient, but the cards are in their hands.

---

Tired of managing, DugZa finally allowed other people to fight for the right to pay an eye-watering 31k for him in the auction while he got to focus his energies into one slot instead of 10. And, to be fair, that price and this #1 ranking are far from meritless. He's the current PU Open champion for another couple of weeks, he just went 6-1 in PUCL, nobody's really doubting DugZa's ability as a player without at least a touch of irony in their comments. But he has a clear struggle generation out of the Bo3 with SM PU, and his week 1 performance left a lot to be desired, even if his team had already lost the week anyway. This is also an extremely competitive pool, and he barely edged out Drud for the #1 slot and isn't that far ahead of Metallica or xcx either. DugZa can do it, nobody's denying that, but he's facing an extremely competitive pool and several opponents who're just as difficult to schedule with as he is, if not moreso. As activity, dead games, and double substitutes seem unlikely to carry his record this year, tough competition awaits our esteemed leader.

Part two of long-time managers slotting in with the rest of the plebeians, Drud has managed to hold on to his place on top of the PU Team Tours sheet for yet another year, and his reign of terror shows no signs of ending yet. While the competition is fierce, even his middest performances usually involve him taking down some big names, and a 7-2 record in SCL V on its own is stronger than just about anyone else in the tournament. That being said, Drud is not in his comfort zone this tournament. His usual teammates are scattered, his team mascot is far less fiery, and his 0-4 in PU Invitational left a lot to be desired. Does he still have the drive when he's not continuing to build the legacy of the Magmortars? If not, we can at least hope that any losses he takes are au naturale.

After insisting in their signup that they were going to focus on ADV PU this tournament, yes really I promise I'm not making that up, xcx returns to a slot one would actually expect them to play and therefore receives the honor of a third place ranking. They're no slouch in any of the Bo3 generations and are particularly known for SS, arguably the most different and hardest to stay up to date in of the three given the various suspect tests it's been undergoing for the past few team tournaments. Still, while xcx is undeniably a strong starter choice in a pool that has more than a few surprise picks due to people flocking to single-meta slots, the price point of 31k (tied for most expensive of the entire draft) is an extremely high bar to set. It means that matching their best ever performance of 6-1 in PUCL for a team that didn't even go on to make playoffs would just be meeting the very high expectations set for them at the onset. All of that in a slot they didn't even plan to start in, and for a franchise desperately looking to reinvent itself with xcx as their star starter! The Haunters at least have great support from players like Big Tony 2014 and Scarf Kricketune, and if xcx can pull off a great performance, then they'll continue to cement themselves as one of the best PU tournament players of all time. But the burden of expectations has driven greater players than xcx to madness, and this is not a tournament where they can afford to burn out and quit.

Speaking of burning out and quitting… ok to be fair Metallica has been very public with their crises of confidence but continues to battle back from the brink time and time again. From swearing he'd quit the tier in shame to putting up four consecutive wins in PU Invitational to make semifinals, Metallica has the chops to push through any disappointments. At least sometimes. After venting enough. But consistency just is not Metallica's forte, nor is staying in the same slot as evidenced by his 4-3 across four different generations in PUCL. Not to mention, Metallica has a lot more experience and investment in SV and SM PU, and coincidentally SS seems to be where the Sandstorm's support for him is the weakest. Metallica's crashouts are proof positive that he cares about his performance more than most players, and his dedication has rewarded him with a team tour trophy in both 2024 and 2025. If the rule of three holds, he should be taking home the gold at some point in the next six months. He just needs to hold it together for a few more months.

Brazil's strongest soldier is back for another team tournament, and this time he finds himself with plenty of support, a relatively modest price tag of 21.5k despite being the most expensive buy for his team, and relatively little in the way of onerous expectations after skipping the last PUPL and going 3-2 in PUCL. To be fair, two PUPLs ago he stood out with a 6-1 record that helped his team win the entire thing, and his outings rarely result in negative performances, but minus that outlier he usually tends to end up in the middle of the pack when the dust settles. Thiago is a workman. He's been doing his routine in PU for a long time, slotting in as someone to hold down his meta of choice and hopefully rack up enough wins at the right times to keep his team pushing forwards at a relatively reasonable price. Rarely the standout, far from the least proven player in the pool, generally entertaining to watch, Thiago Nunes is Mr. Consistency in a pool of much more publicly unstable players. Perhaps this is the opportunity he needs to shine once again.

OranBerryBlissey10's best ever PU team tour record is a 3-0 in PUWC 2024, or maybe his 5-3 in the same year of PUPL. I say this in an attempt to drive home just how baffling it is that the Dry Skin Syndicate managers would fork over an outrageous 30k in auction credits for him, even if that's somehow only the 5th highest price of the tournament. That's only 0.5k behind PU Invitational winner and SCL phenom MichaelderBeste2. It's 3.5k more than the next most expensive player, who happens to be Spitfire, a four-time PU team tour champion who went 9-1 last PUPL. And, just to compare someone with a similar peak data point, Ruffles has exactly one 5-2 performance from last PUPL, has no worse records to his name unlike OBB, and at time of writing is currently in top 8 of PU open. And how much did he go for? 7k credits, over four times as cheap. It's not that OBB doesn't have a few decent team tour performances or some solid individuals like barely sneaking into PU Invitational top 8 on resistance, but there is no historical precedent to suggest that he'll be able to match this absolutely outrageous price tag. And having already started the tournament by losing 0-2 to someone who's never started in PUPL before, it is not looking good for Belgium's strongest soldier.

Making her PUPL debut after a single 2-2 performance in PUWC 2025, Lana seems positioned as this year's “give them teams and click good” player for the pool. On her own it's hard to have many positive expectations given lack of prior data and the overall strength of the pool, but the Snatchers are clearly hoping that a cadre of supporters from manager Eeriespell to veteran MZ to SS lover Meri will be enough to keep Lana competitive with the heavy hitters in the higher ranks. Week 1 certainly proved that the possibility is there, with a dominant win over OranBerryBlissey10. But, as the matchups get harder, Lana will have to rise to the highest levels of PU in very little time if she wants to stay competitive in this tournament.

Normally a player like Lana would be the biggest question mark Bo3 PU has to offer, but instead that honor goes to late-draft 3k pickup Slikkles, who finds himself carrying the hopes of the Snorlaxes despite his only ever PU tournament, as best as I can tell, being this year's PU Open, where he lost in round 5. To be fair, he did beat etern and Django in said PU Open run, and Quinn is a very respectable loss, and maybe I've missed a more obscure tournament run that would bolster his credentials. But, to be balanced, even with some non-circuit or sheet PU tour that I've missed this is still about as thin of a resume as you can possibly have to start in the Bo3 slot of PUPL without being a previously unknown Chinese player that Metallica swears is the next coming of Ktütverde. What could managers Kingler and Wesleyy be thinking? Perhaps that someone they deem as a fairly underrated clicker could go on a sleeper run provided proper team support and aided by underestimation. But while Spitfire is about as good as you can get for SS support, their SV and SM help is a lot more questionable, and week 1 brought us no closer to answering that question. On the bright side, it might be cliche, but there really is nowhere to go but up.

---

Overall Team Rankings

« Previous Article

Next Article »

All guides and strategy information are © 2004 Smogon.com and its contributors. Pokémon is © 1995 Nintendo. Privacy Policy