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Art by Bummer.
Introduction
Smogon's Tournaments section is home to an array of impressive players, all competing for glory and trophies in the most prominent tournaments the site has to offer. Whether it's alone or as a team, they play at the highest levels of their respective tiers and generations. As Gen 8 draws to a close, let's take a look at the last major tournaments of the generation.
Official Ladder Tournament IX
One of the most intense tournaments Smogon has to offer due to its qualification process, the Official Ladder Tournament sees players fight to climb the OU ladder over four eight-day rounds for a spot in the top eight and their ticket to playoffs. This year's pool included OU mainstays and rising players alike, culminating in a final battle between two tournament veterans.
Corazan has been around the tournaments scene for a while, including being on Snake III's winning team and participating in many iterations of Smogon Tour and Grand Slam. In WCoP 2022, he would once again make waves after a disappointing SPL XII, bringing France a 5-1 record and earning his second trophy. His last OLT showing was in OLT VII, where he left the playoffs in the Swiss stage with a 0-3 record. His OLT IX run, on the other hand, was nothing short of impressive, with him not losing a single game through the entirety of playoffs as he faced off against strong opponents like Empo and WCoP teammate ayk.
Playing in tournaments since 2011, SoulWind is widely recognized as one of the greatest players on Smogon. Coming in with three trophies across four tournaments and the highest number of wins in official team tournaments to date, it's undeniable that his results are impressive, but the OLT trophy eluded him since the beginning. From an early exit in OLT I to finishing as runner-up in OLT VIII, this marked his sixth attempt to win the tournament, this time battling through tough players like Star and Chaitanya to make it to finals once again.
Game One 
Team Preview Analysis
Both teams are heavily defense oriented, but if SoulWind's team could be called a stall or semi-stall with Melmetal, Corazan's team is a bit less passive, with what's very likely a hazard stacking core featuring Skarmory and Hippowdon but also two threatening sweepers in Excadrill and Weavile. Still, Corazan's matchup doesn't seem easy from Preview, as Weavile likely has several answers in Soulwind's team with Toxapex, Clefable, Melmetal, and Corviknight, with the latter also being one of the best Excadrill answers in the game. On top of that, looking at how defensive SoulWind's team is, Zapdos and Corviknight are likely to both carry Defog which would make Corazan's hazard stacking core completely ineffective.
Game Analysis
The first turns are mainly Knock Off trades, with Corazan letting both his Clefable and his Toxapex lose their items, which is fine, since they don't need them in this matchup. On turn 7, Corazan reveals that he is running a rather offensive Clefable with a Calm Mind + Thunder set. This set can be deadly against unprepared defensive cores, as Thunder beats common Clefable answers like Corviknight and Toxapex (both of which are in Soulwind's team). However, with SoulWind having a Blissey and a Clefable, most likely running Unaware, a Calm Mind Clefable sweep seems unlikely if Corazan doesn't manage to break at least one of these two answers beforehand. SoulWind knows that he will have to PP stall Corazan's Clefable and uses Blissey to let it expend Calm Mind PP, before switching out on Melmetal on an obvious Soft-Boiled to force it out.
Though Soulwind's Melmetal is able to force Clefable out, it can't really threaten Corazan's team, as Skarmory is a perfect answer; it takes minimal damage from Thunder Punch on top of being able it Roost off first due to its higher Speed, as well as forcing Rocky Helmet damage on a Melmetal that doesn't seem to run Earthquake. On turn 22, Corazan reveals that his team is indeed a hazard stack with both Spikes on Skarmory and Stealth Rock on Hippowdon. This makes Corazan's matchup even harder, since SoulWind is running a double Pressure Defog Stall with both Corviknight and Zapdos, meaning Corazan won't even be able to keep any hazards up. While Corazan's Skarmory having Toxic means it can prevent Zapdos from coming to freely Defog, Zapdos getting poisoned on turn 29 doesn't make any big difference, as SoulWind likely runs a Heal Bell or Aromatherapy Clefable.
From this point, Corazan's attempts at pressuring SoulWind's team all get decisively stopped, whether it is setting up his Calm Mind Clefable or trying to stack his hazards. Moreover, Corazan's offensive tools, Weavile and Excadrill, seem completely ineffective in this game since Excadrill gets hard countered by SoulWind's Corviknight, while Weavile can't break through both Toxapex and Unaware Clefable. Seeing that his attempts are futile and all his options have an answer on SoulWind's side, he decides to forfeit what we can call an almost unwinnable matchup just before turn 100 despite still having his whole team.
Game Two 
Team Preview Analysis
This second game looks way more offensive with Corazan running threats like Kartana, Blacephalon, and what is likely an offensive Garchomp. SoulWind on the other hand is still using a very defensive team with less seen picks like Aegislash and Suicune. The former sees some usage here and there because of its great breaking power, which makes offensive sets hard to handle, but also because its specially defensive set helps beating Tapu Lele, one of the best defensive core breakers in the tier, while being extremely annoying for most teams with the combination of Toxic, Protect, and Substitute. However, this time Corazan seems to have more tools to break SoulWind's team with a threatening Garchomp, a potential Choice Specs Blacephalon that wouldn't have any good answer in SoulWind's team, and Heatran, one of the best OU stallbreakers.
Game Analysis
The game starts with two very logical leads, since Clefable is Corazan's Stealth Rock setter and SoulWind's Toxapex carries Toxic Spikes. Toxic Spikes could easily become a huge problem for Corazan's team, since it cripples his two main breakers in Garchomp and Blacephalon, but he likely has Defog on his Zapdos to remove them. Corazan could have an opening as he is able to let Heatran come in on SoulWind's Toxapex on turn 8; however, SoulWind reveals a few turns after that his Toxapex is using Shed Shell, preventing it from being trapped and leaving it with no fear of Heatran, being able to remove its Leftovers and escape safely. Thus, Corazan won't be able to rely on Heatran to force progress.
SoulWind's Suicune could quickly become a threat for Coraran's team if it reveals Calm Mind, forcing KOs as Kartana doesn't want to come in directly and risk a burn. Zapdos is still a decent option for Corazan, since it usually runs either Volt Switch or Discharge. Though, Corazan's Zapdos already being at low health after coming in on Suicune and taking sand and burn damage puts Corazan in a rough situation on turn 19 as Soulwind reveals that his Suicune runs Substitute. Corazan still manages to get the play right, letting Kartana come in on a Calm Mind. Unfortunately for him, SoulwWnd's Tornadus-T is a hard stop for Kartana, as it's one its most reliable answers.
On turn 21, Corazan makes a very risky play, deciding to stay in against Tornadus-T, likely expecting a U-turn and wanting to weaken it more. However, since SoulWind knows that Corazan's Tornadus-T answers in Zapdos and Heatran are already low, he decides to avoid any risk and Heat Waves Corazan's Kartana to death, putting him in a very rough situation. Without Kartana and with Zapdos at 30%, Suicune is now a huge threat, especially since Tornadus-T can force Heatran to come in and give SoulWind another free Suicune switch with U-turn.
Corazan's last answer is his full-heath Garchomp, but it gets burned on the first Scald making Corazan's bad situation even worse. His last hope is now Blacephalon, which he hadn't managed to bring in until now, and which gets outsped and revenge killed by Tornadus-T. He won't have any opportunity to use it anyway, because Garchomp being burned means that SoulWind's Aegislash doesn't even have to fear it now. The game seems over for Corazan when Aegislash is able to set up a Substitute as Garchomp switches out, as he doesn't even have any remaining option to break its Sub without losing another Pokémon to let Blacephalon revenge kill it. Aegislash being Flash Cannon and preventing Clefable from trying to stall it out seals the deal and concludes the game, with Corazan left without any option and forced to forfeit the second and last game of the set.
With two decisive victories, SoulWind became the winner of OLT IX and finally grasped the elusive hot pink trophy.
Smogon Classic VIII
Made up of five cups for each OU from RBY to BW, the Smogon Classic is an individual tournament for players of Smogon's oldest metagames. Participants compete in each cup to earn points towards a spot in the top sixteen and a shot at the white trophy.
After losing in the first round of playoffs in Classic VII, august put up another strong run in Classic VIII, appearing in at least the quarterfinals of every cup except ADV and BW. With a staggering five WCoP trophies, tied for the most any user has earned to date, an Official Smogon Tournament trophy from 2009, and a tournaments career that started before some people reading this were even born, it's fitting that Classic was the first official individual tournament finals appearance august had made in thirteen years.
Coming hot off of his victory in OLT IX, SoulWind entered Classic VIII's finals after a solid showing in the qualifying phase, where he reached quarterfinals in every cup except RBY and ADV. With four previous appearances in Classic playoffs, including victory in Classic VI, SoulWind made for a fearsome and favored contender as he vied for his second white trophy and second trophy of 2022.
Game One - RBY | Game Two - BW | Game Three - ADV | Game Four - DPP
In the opening RBY game, it quickly becomes apparent that lady luck is favoring august. Dodging a first turn Hypnosis from Gengar and quickly nailing a freeze on Snorlax with an Ice Beam from Chansey, august has decommissioned two of SoulWind's Pokémon while only taking a sleep on his Jynx lead in return. With SoulWind's Chansey lacking Reflect, it becomes quite difficult from there for him to handle august's Snorlax, being forced to trade a lot of HP on Tauros for it. In addition, some very unfortunate paralysis luck leaves SoulWind's Chansey on very low HP, making it difficult for him to withstand the special assault from august's Starmie and Alakazam. Eventually SoulWind's Alakazam is bested by august's Starmie, and from there the game is over; SoulWind forfeits, and august leads the series 1-0.
From there, SoulWind chooses BW, a tier many would consider his best. SoulWind is shown to be using an unorthodox Bronzong team, likely chosen for its ability to check Latios and Excadrill in a single slot, with the latter being particularly important, as SoulWind opts for Hippowdon over Tyranitar. august is running a simple Keldeo-based sand team as well; with SoulWind's only Water-resistant Pokémon being Latios, the pony does look like a big threat, as does Latios if Bronzong can be weakened. Instantly, both players trade all three layers of Spikes, with august also managing to get Stealth Rock up after taking a small amount of chip damage on Tyranitar; while this may not seem like much, it is noteworthy, as Tyranitar will need to check the Psychic-types SoulWind has loaded up on. Swords Dance Excadrill manages to get a flinch on Skarmory and KO Alakazam, and Taunt Keldeo manages to weaken Reuniclus too. It's looking a bit tough for SoulWind at this point, but with Excadrill going down, it might be possible through hazard stacking. Unfortunately, Keldeo is able to do too much work against SoulWind's team, and when Latios and Reuniclus take a Thunder Wave, it's all but over; while SoulWind can win if Tyranitar gets fully paralyzed many times, that doesn't happen, and august takes BW to lead 2-0.
Next up we have ADV, and the first three turns couldn't be more exciting—both players lead Skarmory, but august immediately switches to Magneton to trap the steel bird, while SoulWind revenge traps Magneton with Dugtrio. From there, though, we immediately get a Celebi stalemate. august attempts to get some Spikes up with his Skarmory after a few turns and gets some chip damage on Claydol, SoulWind's Rapid Spinner, with Celebi. august soon reveals Aerodactyl, which looks like it can be a big threat if SoulWind's Milotic takes some chip damage; it fails to get the KO on Blissey at 56%, though, going down in the process. While there is a valiant effort from august to outlast his opponent, even managing to KO Claydol and getting all three layers of Spikes up afterwards, it becomes clear that Celebi, Blissey, and Skarmory just aren't enough to break through SoulWind's team, and august ends up getting swept by Calm Mind Blissey after taking an inevitable Ice Beam crit on Celebi. With the series now at 2-1, a comeback is looking possible for SoulWind.
In game four we see august choose DPP, the tier he's known for. Immediately, august's lead Choice Specs Latias gets a nasty Draco Meteor off on Forretress after forcing out SoulWind's Zapdos, though it does manage to get a Spike up in the process. From there, august's Heatran sets up Stealth Rock and fishes for a burn on SoulWind's Latias, though it is unsuccessful in doing so. SoulWind reveals Wish Jirachi and Clefable, both of which have the potential to be annoying for august's team, though august does manage to almost KO Forretress with another Draco Meteor from Latias. Then, august reveals that his Jirachi is running Calm Mind, using SoulWind's Zapdos as setup fodder; this looks like an enormous threat with Clefable being tricked a Choice Specs, and it even reveals the bizarre Draco Meteor, KOing Latias and acquiring many LMAOs in the Smogtours lobby. Clefable manages to force the Jirachi out once before Latias gets a Healing Wish off on Heatran, allowing it to get Stealth Rock back up and almost KO Zapdos with Explosion. Calm Mind Jirachi is once again forced out, but it's looking like it will inevitably win at this point; after august's Dragon Dance Tyranitar chips Swampert and KOs Clefable, Jirachi is able to clean up the low Swampert, and despite SoulWind's own Jirachi revealing Calm Mind, august's has Hidden Power Ground and successfully manages to win the 1v1, letting august win the Bo5 and take the trophy home.
Smogon Champions Leage II
The second iteration of Smogon Champions League, a team tour meant to celebrate Smogon's lower tiers, has entered finals. After ten long weeks, two new teams now face off for their chance to win the green trophy after beating SCL I's finals teams in playoffs.
Indigo Platoon vs Power Plant Dynamos
The Indigo Platoon had a dominant regular season, boasting an incredible 7-1-1 record thanks to strong performances from players like Finchinator and TDK, who both went 7-2 in the regular season. Their fantastic run continued into semifinals, where they defeated the Orange Islanders in a 6-0 blowout victory to take their place in the tour's finals.
The Power Plant Dynamos entered Week Nine of the tournament in seventh place with a 2-3-3 record, an unlikely contender in the playoffs race. With a little help from other teams and a set of victories from Spurrific, SoulWind, and Kate to secure the week, the Dynamos fought their way into semifinals, where they would go on to defeat the Uncharted Terrors 7-2 to claim the spot in finals that they missed in SCL I.
The matchups have changed significantly from when the Platoon and Dynamos first faced off in the very first week of the tournament, with only the DOU slot and all three OU slots staying the same. Matchups to look forward to include Finchinator vs bbeeaa, a rematch from Week One that both players hyped up in the SmogTours Discord, Tony vs Kate in a battle of a veteran player and former Tier Leader against a rising star in the Ubers scene, and TDK vs SoulWind, two players widely considered to be among the strongest on Smogon. The last time these two teams faced off, it ended in a decisive 7-3 victory for the Platoon, who will be looking to repeat this success, while the Dynamos hope to leverage their newfound winning streak to battle their way to one last victory.
Smogon Tour 34
Smogon Tour represents the three most recent generations of OU through a series of live tours hosted twice a year. Smogon Tour 34 is the last Smogon Tour before Scarlet and Violet release, meaning it's also ORAS OU's last appearance in the tournament. After nine weeks of qualifying, playoffs have begun.
Smogon Tour 34's top sixteen consists of new and old faces alike. First seed Giannis Antetokommo-o is back after his last Smogon Tour playoffs appearance in Smogon Tour 32 ended with him as the runner-up, and Lusa returns to the playoffs stage for the first time since winning Smogon Tour 31. Finchinator competes in his ninth Smogon Tour playoffs, hoping to finally win the pink trophy that has eluded him for so long, while SoulWind returns for his tenth straight and seventeenth overall Smogon Tour playoffs appearance, looking to add yet another trophy to his badgeset this year. New to Smogon Tour playoffs are ayk, TJ, Luthier, and QWILY, all competing for their first ever individual trophy.
Highlight matches to look out for in the first round of playoffs include egalvanc vs Star, a matchup between two well-known OU players who previously shared a tournament stage in OLT IX, Lusa vs Skypenguin, a rematch from Smogon Tour 31, and Finchinator vs ayk, a meeting between a tournaments mainstay in Finch and a player seemingly having their breakout year between WCoP 2022, OLT IX, and now Smogon Tour 34 in ayk.
Final Thoughts
With the final tournaments of Gen 8 wrapping up, looking towards Gen 9 presents lots of opportunities to get involved in the tournaments scene with SPL XIV and OST XIX soon after the new gen releases!
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