Smogon Snake Draft 2 Power Rankings

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Welcome to the official Power Rankings for the second edition of the Smogon Snake Draft. The goal of this article is to build up hype for the tournament in the days leading up to the opening phase of battles and give a representation of where each team's players fit in the context of the metagames they shall be playing. To obtain a general overview, we asked a handful of knowledgeable players from each tier to rank its expected players; we then averaged the rankings and ended up with a mostly unbiased list. We also decided to try something a bit different and removed both the highest and the lowest score each player received in order to remove some biases that may have occurred. We wanted an even number of rankers for each tier, so each person submitting their ranking represented their team and provided input on all teams except their own. This means that every team got an equal amount of representation in the rankings. For the scoring itself, number 1 gets ten points for their team, number 2 gets nine, and so on; the exception is OU, where numbers 1 through 4 get ten points, 5 through 8 get nine, and so on. Similar to the SPL 9 Power Rankings, we have included a spreadsheet with how everyone voted, which means we have the data on median and mode rankings as well, illuminating the potential outliers. Thanks to Earthworm for setting up the original sheet during SPL.

As always, it is vital to note that these rankings are far from perfect and there is plenty of room to disagree with any of them. However, Power Rankings are intended to be enjoyable for readers and give a somewhat accurate gauge of everyone's expectations going into the tournament. They mostly take raw individual skill into account more so than many factors that can have lots of influence in a team tournament setting; this includes synergy, the rotation of players, trades, hot or cold streaks, and potential private calls that may or may not happen during battles.

Thanks to the people that helped rank: ABR, Ajna, AuraRayquaza, Ayevon, BKC , bro fist, col49, Corazan.., Corporal Levi, Croven, Cynara, Cynde, dcae, dodmen, Dundies, elodin, EmbCPT, Eo Ut Mortus, esche, Eternal Spirit, Eternally , Exiline, Ezrael, Finchinator, Fireburn, FlamingVictini, FLCL, Genesis7, ggggd, Hogg, Hootie, HunterStorm, jake, Jytcampbell, Kaori, Kory2600, Kushalos, KyogreF4N, Level 56, lighthouses, Lycans, MajorBowman, McMeghan, miltankmilk, Mounts, MrAldo, Mysterious M, Nat, Nido-Rus, obii, Pak, Pearl, Plas, reyscarface, Robert Alfons, Sabella, Sacri', Sharow-san, Shiba, shiloh, SMB, snagaa, soulgazer, SoulWind, star, talkingtree, TDK, Teddeh, The Trap God, tko, Tony, Tricking, Void, z0mOG.

And a special thank you to the people who helped in extra ways, whether it be GP, art, HTML, or writing: A Cake Wearing A Hat, BKC, col49, FellFromtheSky, Fireflame479, Hogg, lotiasite, Lumari, MajorBowman, martha, obii, Pearl, piikachuu, Quite Quiet, talkingtree, TonyFlygon.

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1. bro fist - 1.000
2. Cdumas - 3.438
3. Ojama - 3.875
4. SoulWind - 4.875
5. BKC - 5.625
6. Ciele - 7.500
7. FlamingVictini - 7.688
8. Posho - 8.250
9. craing ;_; - 8.750
10. Eo Ut Mortus - 9.188
11. Empo - 10.188
12. Tamahome - 11.375
13. Eternal Spirit - 11.938
14. Hiye - 12.125
15. Tricking - 13.188
16. Finchinator - 14.375
17. Kory2600 - 16.375
18. Jaina - 17.438
19. Malekith - 17.500
20. Kickasser - 19.375
21. aim - 19.500
22. Lavos - 20.438
23. Bro Kappa - 21.313
24. Gondra - 21.375
25. Sacri' - 23.688
26. suapah - 23.875
27. xray - 24.188
28. Lopunny Kicks - 26.000
29. shiloh - 26.000
30. CaronSmith - 26.000
31. Eternam - 26.438
32. welli0u - 26.563
33. UltraBallz - 27.500
34. FMG - 30.625
35. Jirachee - 30.688
36. 1 True Lycan - 31.375
37. Hayburner - 31.438
38. ayevon - 31.500
39. blarghlfarghl - 33.125
40. Paycard - 33.438

The Nagas have the first-ranked SM OU core, and it is led by SoulWind, who is having one of the biggest and best years of anyone in tournaments currently. Throughout 2018 thus far, the raging Spaniard has reached the finals of both OST and Smogon Tour while also being a part of the SPL champion Wi-Fi Wolfpack. While Soulwind has not always been slotted in SM OU, he has been dominant when given the opportunity to play, especially in individual tournaments. This controversial managerial snub hopes to lead the group also consisting of spooky teambuilding prodigy craing ;_; and Kingpin cronies Kory2600 and Sacri'. craing ;_; is fresh off a tourban dating back to WCoP 2017, but he has continuously pumped out innovative builds, testing the extremes of every metagame he touches. It will be very interesting to see what he comes up with this Snake, especially seeing as these will be his first official games in over a year, but there are some worries about his in-game execution and actual desire to play SM OU itself on the big stage. Moving on to the French duo that round out the Naga's SM OU lineup, Kory2600 and Sacri' are two very respectable starters that find themselves settling near the middle of the overall individual rankings. Kory2600 has far more experience in the metagame, playing SM OU in every official team tournament since WCoP 2017 and going slightly positive in the 2018 editions of both SPL and WCoP. While his approach is often fairly standardized, Kory has at least shown that he can branch away from his previously beloved Amoonguss and builds that lack a Steel-type. Sacri', on the other hand, is a UU staple of the past turned OU frequent. Although the sample size is relatively small, Sacri' did go 3-0 in WCoP against a weaker group of opponents and proved that he knew how to play this metagame at a high level. His ranking is not quite as high as his teammates', as there still are some question marks surrounding how good he actually is, but there is certainly potential to do well. On top of these four starters, the Nagas also have the enigmatic duo of robopoke and Updated Kanto to sample different types of cheese lend a hand wherever needed. Will this group live up to the top-ranked SM OU hype or will they struggle to reach their expectations?

A second highly ranked SM OU core that happens to have two Kingpin cronies belongs to the Cobras. Cdumas actually outranks his fellow Frenchman, Ojama, for the second consecutive year, earning himself the second spot overall due to consistent dominant performances in big SM tournaments. While he does not necessarily stand out too much for his teambuilding prowess, nobody besides bro fist has been as consistently successful in SM OU in recent tournaments, thus showing that his gameplay, even while under pressure, is top notch. Prior to SPL, many people were curious as to if Cdumas could really do well on his own, seeing as he had ABR at his side during last Snake. He proceeded to put up a 6-4 record for the Ruiners while also helping some of his teammates put up respectable results, too. To top it all off, he went 4-0 in WCoP despite drawing the group of death round 1 and Sabella in the quarterfinals. All things considered, Cdumas is a legitimate SM anchor who will do his best to lead this group to victory, especially with the lack of CBB in the field. Veteran Brazilian player Tamahome is another Cobras OU player, who is coming off of a 7-2 Snake last year. While he does not main SM OU, Tamahome is perhaps one of the best players ever, and he is capable of doing well in any tier. With this said, he is in major need of team support, and you have to wonder where that will come from. Perhaps Cdumas will step up and contribute on this front, but if not, there is a chance Tamahome will struggle due to resorting to suboptimal teams. If he can come into games with a neutral or advantageous position and he has kept up with the metagame, then expect big things from highly ranked Tamahome. Otherwise, there is indeed reason to be hesitant. Kickasser is another French SM OU player who has been around for a year or two now, but he has found less success than Cdumas. While he has been a product of recent hype, Kickasser previously struggled to break through and had issues staying active for his teams, so we will have to see what he truly can do here now that he has a stable opportunity. Finally, CaronSmith is finally getting her? tournament debut after having a big showing in OLT and Bushtush's nightmares last year. While she is one of the lesser known players in the field, it is safe to say that Caron understands the metagame at a high enough level and can compete; the main question lies in how she handles pressure and opponents scouting her normal teams. A third Frenchman that has been highly touted in a few circles known as Corazan.. and Canadian rookie WCoP starter Jytcampbell are also on the roster to provide support, which may very well be needed to assure they bring effective teams. All things considered, there are sky-high expectations for this group, but they are going to have to work well together when it comes to preparation if they do not want to be facing consistent uphill battles come gametime.

For a team that did not take an SM OU player in round 1 of the draft and clearly wanted to draft Tricking in round 2 of the draft until he was taken beforehand, it is pretty impressive that they still managed to be ranked so highly in SM OU. The Mambas have a versatile cast of starters here, ranging from a Spanish veteran with a 2009 join date to a frequently tourbanned, flashy and modern Italian. All four of these users are vastly different in terms of background and personality, but they all do have one thing in common: crafty or innovative teambuilding styles. FlamingVictini is their top-ranked SM OUer despite having an apparent desire to not start due to being busy transitioning to college; FV is actually the closest to "normal" of all of the Mambas's OU players in terms of teams, but even he has his moments. Overall, you can pencil FV in for a consistent 6-3 type of record historically, and unless his supposed activity decrease will truly be crippling to his ability to prepare and play, then you should expect about that from the seventh ranked SM OUer. Jaina is a newer player who has stood out in recent months, most notably for a run to the semifinals in OST, and is finally getting a big chance to show his ability to compete with the best. Despite being highly touted by manager reyscarface, he still received a middle-of-the-pack ranking, as he still lacks team tournament experience. That does not mean he will do poorly, however, as his style appears to do quite well against metagame norms and continues to adapt accordingly depending on what others are using. Oftentimes, Jaina uses less orthodox strategies in order to give himself an upper hand and his open mind may very well be his best asset if he continues to build for himself throughout the tournament. Malekith, on the other hand, does not have much of a developed style, as his team choices tend to be scattered; I suppose you could label his overall nature as a player as potent and punishing, as he is not afraid to bring ungodly beasts such as Thundurus with Substitute, Toxic, and Protect, but there will be times that his ideas flop despite him having enough confidence to bring them to big games, so his teammates will have to keep a close eye on this. If he can come in to battle with the right team, Malekith is a very respectable veteran player who does not mind pressure and lives for the moment, so there are high expectations but also a lot of potential for variance in his performance. Bro Kappa is the final starter for the Mambas, and the best word to describe him is dangerous. Despite keeping quiet throughout this (multiple) tourban(s), the Italian stallion has still been cooking up some teams worthy of the :warning: emoji on Discord, and we should not be worried about his form. If Bro Kappa plays as well as last year, expect very respectable results depending on how wild his team choices are, but if they are too wild, then he may struggle. In addition, the Mambas also have Analytic in the back as a reliable starter who also has experience playing OU in team tournament settings. This group will be one of the most interesting to spectate for sure, but their overall results could be anywhere from spectacular to mediocre.

Seeing as the managerial duo of Teddeh and Arifeen has minimal OU experience, it is no surprise that they used their first three picks on SM OU players, grabbing Ciele, Tricking, and Eternal Spirit. While the Astrotias OU is ranked fourth, they have three accomplished players all ranked in the top fifteen, which should be quite telling as to how well they can do if things go according to plan. Ciele is someone who needs no introduction; he has three individual trophies across a number of generations and metagames, so it should not be a challenge for him to get into form in SM OU, especially considering his history in the tier, including winning the most recent edition of OLT. Despite being seen as quiet and almost robotic in some circles, Ciele will also do his best to assist his teammates when possible, making him a fine SM anchor for the Astrotias. Tricking was the second pick by the Astrotias, and while he can end up in just about any tier, it appears he will be starting the season in SM OU. While he is not necessarily seen as a top player in SM OU, Tricking has a respectable track record and is capable of competing with the best of the best. He likely will not be the best teambuilder and may require assistance, especially considering he will not be teaming with Will of Fire, but once he gets into the game he is a force to be reckon with. Eternal Spirit was picked third and he is no stranger to success either, being the most dominant SM OU team tournament player for a number of months dating back to mid-SPL this year. While he has cooled off a bit, there are still high expectations surrounding the flamboyant, fiery Brazilian, especially if his killer instincts work out. Rounding out the Astrotias's SM core is blarghlfarghl. blarghlfarghl is far from a standout, with his only team tournament experience being a pretty mediocre 2-4 WCoP campaign. While some believe that he shows signs of breaking out, he still has to polish a lot of his late-game execution and handling of nerves, which was shown perfectly in his game against aim in WCoP, where he positioned himself well but then threw opportunities away and let a winnable game go after a few things did not go his way. There is always fake mencemeat, Mncmt, in the back if they do need another player or simply someone to test around with, but he is a virtual unknown aside from an ok WCoP showing and the fact that he is Brazilian—maybe Eternal Spirit requested him? Regardless, this is not a huge addition, and a lot of the Astrotias' SM OU firepower comes from their big 3, so expect big things from them or a bust on this front.

Despite a lot of negative team tournament history being found within the Serpents SM OU dynamic, including obii/Ojama last SPL and Ojama/Posho last Snake being on failing teams together, they have a lot of potential to do quite well. Ojama and Posho alone are top players who have shown potential to dominate while suapah went 4-1 in the most recent WCoP, so perhaps it is time for some of these guys to turn the page on the past and start winning together. Of course, that will not come without difficulty, as both Ojama and Posho are not seen as SM mains, but it seems to be very possible for them to figure things out given that they have began playing the tier again recently and both are smart enough to manage. Ojama himself has already qualified for OLT and posted some in-depth analysis on his team, so that is likely a good sign for the Serpents and their first round pick. Beyond the big two leading the Serpents OU, suapah shows a lot of promise as someone who can break into household name territory with another decent tournament performance, and he seems to be active as a teammate and player, so perhaps now will be his time to shine now that he is given a second consecutive chance to play some big games after his successful WCoP campaign. Rounding out this SM OU core is a fairly unknown prospect in Paycard. While he has qualified for OLT before, including this edition just a couple weeks ago, we have never seen Paycard play a team tournament game before, and many wonder if he has what it takes to compete with the best. If he does, then perhaps he can make a big splash in his first days in the spotlight, If not, the Serpents still have flashy Frenchman RedEmption and crafty Spaniard Ramboss to grant assistance or substitute in, so all will not be lost. All things considered, the Serpents may be ranked near the middle of the pack, but their ceiling is as high as any other SM OU core in the tournament, and the difference between average and good may very well be found in how suapah follows up his WCoP performance or Paycard proves himself in a big tournament!

The Taipans have a pretty interesting group of SM OUers, led by the man who is tied for the most team tournament victories this year, with 13, in bro fist. bro fist is the top ranked OU player in the field, and this should be no surprise to everyone; he has been outright dominant in every tournament he has played in the past few years aside from last Snake, including some ridiculous records such as being 8-0 in tiebreak games, 19-3 over the past 3 WCoPs, and 10-1 in his last 11 games played in SPL+WCOP. While the Taipans' first round pick may not be seen as an ABR type builder, he is more than capable of coming up with his own teams, and clearly his in-game abilities are second to none, so expect big things from this slot and hopefully some influence to be spread to his three teammates. Lavos is the next SM OU player on the Taipans, and while he is far from a mainstay in new generations, the Charizard wielder is coming off of a Smogon Classic victory. Many believe he is a good enough player to be successful in any metagame, especially given how the playerbase tends to drop off the further down you go, so Lavos being ranked near the middle of the pack with potential to break out should be no surprise. xray is another starter for the Taipans; the German is used to being slotted in ORAS, but lately he has taken a liking to SM, and perhaps that will lead to success. However, he is going to have to prove to everyone that he not only likes the metagame but also can excel in it, as he is mostly unproven, leaving his ranking to general speculation and reflections of his respectable results in ORAS. Finally, Eternam gets his second shot in the spotlight during this Snake to round out toe Taipans lineup. While he had a pretty mediocre showing in WCoP, Eternam has shown a clear grasp on the metagame in the teambuilder, and if he can work out nerves and his long-term thinking process, then many believe the Greek will live up to the high expectations set for him. Additionally, veteran Moltres innovator august and hyped-up Spanish prospect Spectear are also on the bench to lend a hand, especially to newer SM players like Lavos and xray who may need it.

The Leviathans come in 7th overall; it's a testament to the competition, both in-tournament and in SM as a whole, that such an overall solid group of players is ranked so low, relatively speaking. This is best seen with Hiye, winner of Smogon Tour 24 and 5-1 in the recent WCoP, being ranked at #14. He's a strong bet to beat anyone and always uses solid teams. Finchinator is not as well known for SM as he is for BW, but he has proven himself a solid overall player in a variety of generations and tiers over the past few years, has experience playing SM in big tournaments—making appearances in SPL 8 and last Snake, and keeps up with the tier actively. Lopunny Kicks has the potential to play at a level much higher than his rank suggests, but he doesn't have too much of a playing resume to go off of, mostly just reputation based off his WCoP battle against Googly that sent shock waves through the community as he muscled through Googly's team by predicting perfectly with his Mega Mawile. If he can channel the way he played in that game, he'll have a solid record. Jirachee comes in last; this is more due to his having no SM experience to date rather than his ability as a player; while he hasn't had stellar records, he's had numerous great instances and big wins across BW, DPP, and even ADV across the past few years. If he can get up to date with the metagame, he should be able to put up a fine performance.

The Bushmasters picked BKC in the first round, giving them a potentially dominant SM1 to pair with their standout teambuilding manager ABR. However, the rest of their OU draft can be briefly described as pedestrian. To start with the positives, BKC himself is not exactly an SM main, but he is clearly familiar with the tier, winning it in a SPL tiebreak and recently laddering up a bit for OLT before giving up. So long as he actually believes the tier exists, BKC should do exceedingly well in this environment and perhaps be of great assistance to his teammates here, too. Gondra is their next SM OU starter, and his game can be best described as inconsistent; there are certainly flashes of brilliance from this Latin American player, but Gondra also has some games or even turns where you really wonder what is going on. Overall, this tends to lead to an average performance throughout an entire tournament, but there will be many ups and downs. Perhaps manager ABR can help straighten him out, especially on the teambuilding front, but support can only go so far and we will have to see if he can finally break through and dominate. shiloh is playing his first real team tournament games in over a year and was never seen as an OU player to begin with, but that does not mean he is not capable individually, as he has taken lots of initiative in recent months to learn the tier. Additionally, recent results show that he appears to be playing at a high level for an NU main, so perhaps some success will transfer over. With this said, shiloh is yet to prove much of anything in this domain and is coming off a run-in with the Smogon law™, justifying his fairly low ranking and leaving many uncertain about his ability to compete with more proven players throughout the field. Finally, Canadian WCoP hero Hayburner is the last SM OU player in the Bushmasters' starting lineup, and while he is still relatively unknown, Hayburner did manage to go 2-0 in WCoP in the playoffs, showing that he knows the metagame well and can handle high-pressure situations. If he can adapt well to this tournament's playerbase and his teams environment, then perhaps he can surprise everyone and put up more good results that go beyond a very small sample size. Simia, a French tier main and supporter, and Mob Barley, a wild ladder child turned sporadic tournament player, round out the Bushmaster's OU core, both of whom are capable of starting but would not be expected to stand out in the playing field if given an opportunity.

The Sidewinders may have taken a few too many pages out of the book of Finchinator with their OU picks, finding themselves with three Midwest players. While they are ranked fairly low overall, the Sidewinders at least have a respectable anchor, some veterans, and some potential to round out their lineup. The main issue is that the two starters with that aforementioned "potential" have played a combined 0 SPL/Snake games. UltraBallz and ayevon both went 2-1 in WCoP and have been around tournament circles throughout 2018, but neither stands out or has experience in bigger settings. Perhaps their WCoP success can translate here, too, however, as they have old teammate Eo Ut Mortus on board as well. Speaking of mortimer, he has to pull his weight and then some if this group wants to do well. Eo had a fantastic SPL showing and also went 3-0 in WCoP 2017 in SM OU before cooling off this past WCoP when he could not outthink Baton Pass. He has the ability to craft unique structures that can take advantage of metagame trends and put himself in positions to win, and that is often what distinguishes him, especially given how he pilots those teams. If the aforementioned UltraBallz and ayevon can subscribe to this philosophy or work well with Eo, then perhaps all three can do well, but this will not be easy given the field. The lone remaining player in OU for the Sidewinders is aim. The YouTube sensation is no stranger to high-level OU tournaments, but he does not necessarily stand out in this field and in the modern day as much as he may have a year or two back. Still, aim is highly touted, and with the support of three active players of the tier, he should be able to hold his own, especially if he meshes well with the Midwest synergy dynamic the other three have going together. yjh, who did well in WCOP, but is now less active due to being in China, and XxKidOfDeathxX, who qualified for OLT and won the SM release tournament, also are on the Sidewinders roster and can grant teambuilding assistance or substitute in if either of the Midwest dream team fails to perform.

z0mOG's group of SM OUers glide into 10th, which makes some sense seeing as they did not invest many early picks into the tier. With TDK being the first overall pick of the draft and this team's round 1 pick and z0mOG managing, the Gliders at least have a good supportive foundation, so they will likely not be bringing bad teams. However, this assortment of players does not stand out comparatively whatsoever. Empo has been one of the brightest new players in recent memory, doing well in Smogon Tour, Smogon Championship, and a plethora of other tournaments, but even he lacks the sustained team tournament experience and success to be revered like other anchors, specifically those on teams ranked higher. All things considered, you can pencil Empo in for a solid, likely positive record and perhaps some team contributions, but not much above and beyond that. Once you get past him, the quality of play drops significantly, which is where the worries kick in. welli0u has been in a number of bigger tournament but often is remembered more for throwing away winnable games than anything else. Rumor has it that he has been excelling in recent months in both OU and RU, so perhaps he will turn it around and show what many believed he was always capable of, but we will have to see it to believe it. FMG is another player who shows a lot of potential, but he only has a messy group of WCoP games and a STour run that came up short due to some last-minute controversy under his belt, so who knows what will happen against more consistent competition in a tournament like this. Finally, consistent UK WCoP starter 1 True Lycan gets a crack at the big stage again; he is known mainly for putting up mediocre 1-2 records historically, but this past year he went 2-1, including a win against ABR. Perhaps he has finally turned it up a notch and can compete with top players, but many believe he will regress towards his mean and end up doing poorly, hence his low ranking. What will actually occur is largely dependent upon how these guys play as a group as teams will likely be good enough given their abundance of aforementioned support, including substitutes ima, who won in WCoP finals, and yoppie, who did well in OUPL, that can play OU, too.

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It's no surprise that TTG tops this list thanks to being the only player in this pool with positive tournament experience. He finds himself playing under familiar faces in ABR and Tony, which is the perfect environment to really flourish as a player. Despite taking a break from playing in the past couple months, it shouldn't be difficult for him to pick up the pace once again. While not as creative in the teambuilding department as some other names on the list, he certainly should not be painted as predictable either. TTG has wielded a plethora of effective Pokémon and structures, ranging from Mega Gyarados to full stall, throughout his history in Ubers tournaments. In addition to all of that, he's extremely practiced in stall vs. stall, hyper offense vs. hyper offense, and pretty much anything you can think of. All things considered, TTG is definitely the player to beat in this tournament.

KyogreF4N—the "rightful winner" of the last edition of Ubers Open—finds himself ranked 2nd. Despite lacking experience on the big stage, KF has been displaying his skill in the Ubers circuit with top 5 finishes in the seasonals and finishing the latest UPL with a 5-2 record. While KF may not make the Smogtours chat go "LOL" and "GOAT" every other turn, he rarely misplays, and this goes a long way when paired with consistently respectable team choices. He plays quite conservatively, and while this may be seen as a negative in some cases, he certainly has the potential to outplay and comeback from any early-game bad luck or bad matchup. However, KF's downfall is his predictable teambuilding tendencies, since he rarely branches out of his comfort zone. Don't be surprised when seeing some Ho-Oh balance or standard hyper offense in his games, though KF playing at his best in his comfort zone is still quite a scary opponent.

Hunterstorm's a highly touted Ubers prospect despite coming off of a string of mediocre performances. He went 1-3 in UPL and didn't have any notable seasonal finishes. However, Hunterstorm still finds himself ranked this high due to his accomplishments in SM Ubers and his innovative team building in USM. His experience in the AG metagame gives him a unique outlook on Ubers, making him the progressive teambuilding mind every playerbase needs in order to see the tier evolve throughout big tournaments. Hunterstorm integrates innovative strategies into his teams, most of which appear standard until the surprise value kicks in and ultimately gives him an advantage. Hunterstorm's spin on usually standard sets makes playing against him quite difficult, as his offensive teams can quickly turn the tide of a battle through several aggressive plays intended to punish normal responses. Hunter is not entirely lacking in support either, as TDK can pick up the tier easily and really develop his teambuilding. The only question is how well he can manage the end-game, since he's also infamous for losing to an Arceus-Fairy with essentially four counters. But hopefully Hunter can forgo bad memories and focus on raking in wins.

Cynara is a longtime contributor to the Ubers tier, but this is her first big tournament appearance. Her forte is how deep and complete her knowledge of the metagame is, but this can only go so far in a field full of top-notch players. It is true that she also puts in Finchinator-esque levels of work into preparation. Cynara has a sort of talent for spotting even the most illusory tendencies and using it to her advantage. Overall, there will be no trouble in the teambuilding department given that Cynara puts in the usual amount of effort. However, despite graduating from the Gunner Rohan School of Plays, it seems that she did not learn much and may struggle outmaneuvering the opposition on a consistent basis. Cynara has some trouble executing and making the right decisions in a game, leading to sloppiness and often getting chopped from tours. All is not lost, though, as she went 4-1 in UPL, showing that maybe she can hang with the best. That kind of record doesn't happen by mistake, but her follow-up performances in other Ubers tournaments have been mediocre, raising questions about her consistency. With this said, Cynara's team environment, filled with veterans of all kinds, is perfect for fostering nerves of steel and improving as a battler overall, so expect Cynara to put up a solid record befitting her rank if she can maintain her highest level of playing.

The 5th spot goes to Leru, the player on this list who is most known for playing a larger variety of tiers than just Ubers. This past World Cup he captained Germany and went 4-1 in SM, and he has been a fairly large figure in the Monotype community over the past year. However, last year he chose to sit out as a player during the premiere Snake Draft and instead managed the Nagas alongside current host Hikari. In Ubers itself he is known for going 5-5 across the past two UPLs and winning the 2017 Ubers Circuit Playoffs. In terms of support from teammates, he does have his manager obii, who can help him in building and testing. Overall, Leru is a very solid player in this pool, and as said by his record, expect an average to above-average record by the end of the season.

Zesty is, without a doubt, the most intriguing player in the pool. He has absolutely zero noteworthy results and wasn't even drafted for UPL, but he is constantly praised by the Ubers community and even managed to win the hearts of a few managers, which led to him being a Round 6 pick. He doesn't have much in terms of support, since the only other Ubers player is his manager, Level 56, but this shouldn't pose an issue. Zesty is one of the most creative minds the tier has to offer. He has a unique take on teambuilding, a very DPP-like style in which he focuses on heavily offensive strategies to force games down a very specific path and checks the meta in creative ways rather than just putting a check to X and Y threat. This method of building leads to teams only he can pilot, but Zesty is also a very solid player. He is excellent at planning out games from Team Preview and accounting for nearly every variable. His middle ranking can primarily be attributed to his lack of experience and credentials, but the community opinion is overwhelmingly positive. There are big expectations for Zesty, so it'll be interesting to see if he can meet or even surpass them.

Garay is the only other player besides TTG and Exiline with tournament experience. He played with the Serpents and finished 0-1 in Ubers (1-2 overall), but this does not speak to his skill level. Substituting in at the last minute to play speaks to his mental strength and confidence. There isn't much in terms of support, but this shouldn't pose an issue because Garay is very self sufficient and capable of building solid teams on his own. There are questions regarding his consistency, however. Garay is either hot or cold, with not much middle ground. At his best he can outplay anyone in the Ubers pool with aggressive reads coming off his heavy hitters and at his worst he is clicking Toxic with Primal Groudon against a Toxapex. The key to his success is if he doesn't get ahead of himself and can remain clearheaded during games.

Sharow finds himself in his first big tournament playing with the support of manager Pohjis, a longtime top Ubers player, and Soulwind, a team tour titan who has recently taken interest in the tier. Hailing from the ladder, Sharow has so much experience playing tons of relevant matchups, giving him a sufficient amount of knowledge going into this tournament. Sharow's plays are intelligent and crisp, often gaining a ridiculous early-game advantage that his opponents can rarely come back from, making him a dangerous opponent for anyone ranked above him. However, one of the bigger concerns about him is his teambuilding, which can be all over the place. For example, Sharow used Pokémon many deem as unviable such as Alakazam but also piloted many of them to victory in the past. Overall, it speaks volumes of how well he can utilize his own teams despite how crazy they may seem. He is the pioneer of the famous "French Webs" featuring new tech like Focus Sash Endeavor Marshadow and the famous "French Goth Balance". With this said, it is true that despite him having success in other venues, it won't exactly be the same on the big stage, meaning that Sharow will have to step up or go home. Sharow is a hit-or-miss player and pick, but if his team can manage to reign him in and use more standard teams, perhaps his strong, aggressive gameplay will be enough to put up a good enough record, if he doesn't just stick with his usual insane teams and struggle.

Sent into hiding by blunder, Exiline desires to make a return into the scene by playing Ubers this time. He actually has a decent amount of playing time in official team tours with multiple appearances in SPL but ended on a negative note. Being touted as the next big Ubers thing by the Durians, Exiline actually had mediocre showings in most Ubers tournaments he's played in. It should be made clear, though, that his results aren't entirely due to a lack of skill. In some games he showed an incredibly high skill ceiling. But what really holds Exiline back is his poor mentality; he is extremely tilt prone and easily loses motivation after a bad start. Exiline has shown that he can hold his own in high-pressure situations in past UPL editions, though. His teambuilding also raises many questions, since if he tries to work alone he usually ends up with something creative but sacrifices reliability. At least he has fellow Durian Alpha Rabbit to help him in that department. All in all, Exiline will be interesting to watch this tour if he can bring consistent teams.

The final Ubers pick of the draft raised many eyebrows, since there were more experienced and accomplished options available. CKW has been around for a bit, but he never stood out to anyone up until now. His 5-1 exhibition run in Ubers is something to make serious note of, but he followed that superb performance up with a lackluster one, going 1-3 in UPL. Overall, there is a lot of doubt surrounding him, specifically with regards to his ability to perform against stronger opponents and under higher pressure. That being said, CKW is a very hard worker and clearly knows his way around the metagame, so perhaps the hunger to win combined with team spirit will lead to him picking up some surprise victories. If not, CKW may struggle.

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When he is not writing dissertations on Pokémon in the viability rankings or making 5,000-word April Fools Day posts, Corporal Levi is in the teambuilding lab creating the next big metagame innovation. With an astonishingly wide pool of Pokémon that he uses, preparing to play against Levi is a challenge in and of itself. This problem only becomes more of an issue when the battle begins, as Levi aims to gain control of the pace of the game early on and simply maintain it from there on out. With this said, Corporal Levi has been out of the official tournament scene for a while now, and this will be a slight adjustment for the top-ranked LC player no matter his level of competence and versatility in the metagame itself. With this said, there are high hopes for the novel writer, and if you are standing in his way of a win, watch out, because he might just make you play at deadline and then mercilessly beat you down.

When talking about OP, every player that knows him will mention his consistency. While it has been said countless times before, OP's veteran status is truly backed by his ability to jump into high-pressure situations and perform. OP has been dominating tournaments recently, taking the top spot in the Spring Seasonal, making top 8 in Swiss, and having an incredibly strong showing in LCPL. All signs are pointing towards another successful campaign from the newly appointed Super Moderator and LC leader. If OP breaks the mold of his cookie-cutter teams and does not become too predictable throughout the course of the tournament after doing so, then you can expect some big wins from him this year once again.

Kingler12345 has had his fair share of up and downs in his LC career, but Mr. 2-7 is back once again to prove his dominance in the metagame as the face of Indian Little Cup—as long as Star is banned, anyway. Kingler12345 shows off his level of play best in high-pressure situations, as seen in tours like SPL 7 and SPL 8 where he initially proved that he could hold his own with the best of the metagame. With a playstyle that rewards being one step ahead of the opponent throughout the game, Kingler12345, backed by his patented "lucky and bad" technique, will display why he is a top contender and ranked so highly if he continues to make use of strong team structures. However, he will have to work his momentum-centric magic consistently to achieve a top record and doing this has not always been automatic in the past, so we will have to see how things ultimately go for the Taipans' Little Cup starter.

Ever since hopping aboard the LC community from the exiled land of PU, Dundies has proven to be one of the best players of the metagame despite clicking his way through a number of games. Given this, Dundies felt right at home with the fast-paced metagame of LC, as he has had nothing but success since joining the LC community, which is likely a sign of what is to come during Snake this year as well. Since then, he has become the holder of LC Champion title while also achieving a strong record of 8-1 in the most recent LCPL. Dundies hopes to surge ahead of the competition with his aggressive plays and prove why he was the first pick of all of the LC players.

Widely considered to be one of the best LC players of all time, Heysup has had his share of the spotlight as one of the premier LC mains. With tremendous showings throughout the years, it is no secret that Heysup is pretty good at Pokémon. Despite this, rumors have surfaced that Heysup is considerably less active (aka washed up) and will not be able to contribute at the high level that is expected of him. On the other hand, Heysup has dispelled talks of this in the past, as he continues to triumph on the big stage, but many think that this may be the year he finally struggles. Only time will tell if this is the case or not, but how Heysup performs will be one of the most intriguing stories in Little Cup this Snake!

While jake is quite used to subbing in at times of need ever since his prime as a BW NU player passed years ago, he finally takes the driver's seat once more in this iteration of the Smogon Snake Draft in the LC slot. While jake is known for his success in both NU and RBY, he has made waves in LC over the past two years, displaying himself as very capable in both battling and teambuilding while being an active member of the community and tournaments. Despite the fact that he has not had the streamline of wins that some of the other players hold, this former head tournament director is looking forward to a season that may very well put him back on the map as a respectable starting option and not just another friendly face that tennisace buys every year in SPL if things go according to plan.

After falling off the face of the Earth after SPL5, dcae returns to the big stage once again as he attempts to prove why he earned his chance in the Smogon Snake Draft. With finals appearances in both the LC Spring Seasonal and LC Swiss tournaments, dcae has been surging in momentum lately. With this said, he still is far less proven than a number of the names above him, and many believe that he will struggle to compete with the top tier of LC players on the big stage despite his recent string of success. Will that aforementioned momentum be enough for him to bring home some victories, or will the hype fall short, just like it had in the past?

Sken has been a centerpiece for LC in the tournament community for quite a few years, as his first appearance was in SPL 7 and he has played consistently since then with a wide array of results. While he displays extremely high peaks and very creative teambuilding over several years, he has also suffered disappointing losses, which drives down his ranking lower than some might expect for this LC mainstay. If Sken manages to maintain the high level of play that you have seen in some of his victories, then you can expect him to have a very successful season. Otherwise, he may struggle to compete with some of the more trendy LC players ranked above, assuming they are ready for whatever he may cook up to face them.

While teal6 has been known to be successful across several tours over a long period of time, he makes his LC debut in a major team tour, which can be seen as cause for some concern. Known as an accomplished player in both RBY and UU, teal is still not exactly a stranger to LC, with deep runs in several major LC tours, including a storied history in LCPL. With desperately needed support from tournament banned friend starmaster in the teambuilding department, teal hopes to carry his success from a plethora of other settings to the land of LC, where his off-the-wall aggressive playstyle may also be rewarded moreso than ever before if his opponents do not catch on soon enough.

Most known for his prowess in the teambuilder, trash makes his official team tournament debut alongside the Goldenrod Gliders and their assistant manager, ggggd. While he is not known for his battling ability, hence his bottom-of-the-barrel ranking, trash has shown solid results in more recent team tournaments and has a clear understanding of the metagame as a whole, which is reassuring. trash rounds out the list at the bottom mainly because of his lack of experience on the big stage relative to pretty much everyone ranked above, but if he can overcome the initial pressure and find a groove, then he can work to do well and pull off some upsets with the aforementioned guidance of ggggd.

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After a #1 ranking in SPL's power rankings, MajorBowman has only continued to prove he has earned that place. With a very strong 7-2 record there, as well as solid results from both the most recent seasonal (3rd place) and the currently ongoing Smogon Doubles Tour (top 8 so far), MajorBowman is a consistently strong player with solid builds and strategy. The changing format for this year's edition of Snake Draft may work to his benefit, as last year's format led to a rather mediocre 5-5 final tally for him. MajorBowman also struggles a bit with finishing tours out, losing in or near finals of many big tours he's entered. Even so, he's sure to put up an impressive record and can win against any player in the field right now.

Bursting onto the scene in the most recent SPL, EmbCPT posted the second-best record of 6-3 despite some initial fears he would struggle in a first team tour with little support. Since then, he's only continued to prove his skill, reaching grand finals of the most recent Doubles seasonal and generally performing at or above expectation across the board. With support from Vallex, a relative newcomer with a solid DPL and seasonal performance under his belt, EmbCPT should be positioned well to turn in another solid tour. The only hesitation in betting on him would be his recent claims he was prioritizing VGC and the upcoming World Championships over DOU; we'll have to wait and see if and how that impacts his results.

stax has been a bit of a mixed bag in past team tours, with 3-5 and 4-5 finishes across SPL 8 and 9 but a solid 6-3 finish in last year's iteration of this tournament. Still, he has shown across multiple tours in the Doubles circuit and on the big stage that he can play with the best of the field. His sometimes unorthodox building style is likely to only get wilder with support from Nido-Rus; the latter is known in the community for challenging you with a “YO fight y/n” and somehow winning with a team that should be wholly unviable. If stax and Nido can stay riding just ahead of the trends instead of veering off course, this should be an exciting pair to watch.

Doubles seasonal winners have never been able to repeat their performance; that is, until SMB stepped onto the scene. It might seem strange to see a newcomer to big tours ranked so highly, but SableyeMyBae has won both of the two most recent Doubles seasonals, and both times from winner's bracket no less. A well-prepared SMB is a force of nature, so it will be interesting to see how he adapts to this faster-paced setting. It might seem a risk to put a team tour rookie on his own, but SMB is one of the few that can likely find a way to succeed regardless of that obstacle.

Demantoid aptly finds himself right in the middle of the pack, with narrowly positive records in both his previous appearances (6-4 in last year's Snake and 5-4 in SPL 9). This past experience should keep him performing fairly well, with his signature memes and nickname themes propelling him forward. Demantoid has a bit of an odd pick for support in Croven; although Croven's a proven and strong player in his own right, he's known in the Doubles community as someone unlikely to build or even co-build the majority of his teams. While Croven could certainly step in to play in Demantoid's place if that is needed, it will be interesting to see how that support boosts the mish master Demantoid's game from behind the scenes.

The moo man sits right around the middle of the pack in these rankings as well, with a solid 6-3 SSD1 and 5-4 SPL9 showing he's perfectly capable of playing his game when it counts. His most recent team tour performance, a 6-1 DPL, showed his capability in modifying a similar playstyle with Mega Gengar-focused builds driving his tour; it will be interesting to see if he continues his reliance on Mega Gengar or continues tweaking his teams and adapts to this tour's metagame.

With the most wins in Smogon Doubles of any SPL player in history, Biosci might seem out of place this low in the rankings. Sleeping on Biosci can be dangerous though, as his consistency across years of playing tournaments on the big stage speaks for itself. Even though his first run in Snake Draft ended with a poor 2-6 record, he bounced back and recorded a solid 5-3 record in SPL 9. He is also coming off a very impressive 8th* place finish at the recent VGC North American International Championships, so momentum currently favors him. Supporting him this season is talkingtree, who is known as one of the best builders in the tier and has recently come into his own with a Top 6 finish in the latest DOU Seasonal. As long as he successfully wakes up from his semiannual state of cryostasis, Biosci will be prepped and primed for yet another strong team tournament showing in Smogon Snake Draft 2.

The next VGC crossover talent, emiforbes has had a few pretty decent tournaments in SM DOU that propelled him here; most notably, a solid set of live tours for the most recent Smogon Doubles Tour provided him the second-most SM points and overall points and now has him positioned in the top 4 with only two opponents in his way for a big tournament win. AuraRayquaza is an interesting support option, a veteran who's recently shown some consistency with top 8 finishes in the three most recent Doubles seasonals and a similarly strong showing in SM live tours. However, neither player is really proven in large tournaments, and it could be a bit of a risk to rely on them pulling a win against a relatively strong field.

It might seem strange to draft someone with no notable SM DOU results and an 0-1 record in his only team tournament. Those who follow the other large Doubles format, however, know that Lunar was an absolute powerhouse in VGC for multiple years, and with support from his manager and good friend Kaori, he should be poised to have a better chance at success this time around. Still, Kaori will be helping the whole team and can't necessarily afford to focus on supporting Lunar, making this a potentially shaky "solo" selection for the Sidewinders.

A relative unknown in comparison to the rest of this field, Ezrael stands out as an odd pick—especially unsupported as he is. With plenty of experience in VGC, Ezrael won't be caught off guard in high-stakes matches like those he's about to face, but the power rankings voters agreed that he's likely the weakest link in this tournament. Still, the same could have been said for MajorBowman and EmbCPT before their big tournament entrances, and both greatly exceeded expectations, so it wouldn't be unheard of for Ezrael to propel himself to prominence.

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In the words of US West extraordinaire Kevin S., "TDK is the best UU player I have ever witnessed." References aside, TDK finds himself atop Smogon Snake Draft II's UU pool for a plethora of reasons: despite a very early leave in UU Open VII, he managed to achieve the best individual record in UUPL VI, with a whopping 8 wins to a sole loss, while also contributing massively to the success of his teammates by creating a large number of the teams used by the Mikan Island Monsters throughout the tournament. TDK has been one of the most consistent team tournament players since his breakthrough in 2016, and even though this is only his second real showing in UU (with the first being a victory over Christo in Smogon Premier League 9's semifinals tiebreaker), he's demonstrated that he is fully capable of stepping up to the occasion. Probably one of the brightest minds of our "generation" of Pokémon players, TDK's strengths make him one of the scariest challengers to go up against at the current moment, as he is able to craft teams that are both solid and innovative, while also piloting them to absolute perfection, knowing when to pull the right triggers at the right times. All in all, TDK is poised to add this tournament to his collection of stellar performances.

Also known as Roro, McMeghan is what one would call a living legend (that is, if applying such terminology to competitive Pokémon made sense). After many years of success across various generations of OU, this competitor has finally found himself a home in the generation of Sun and Moon, where, for the second year in a row, he has chosen to terrorize UU players with Pokémon you would barely imagine seeing in the tier, such as Gourgeist, Mega Glalie, and Lickilicky. Despite being unafraid of exploring the depths of Showdown's teambuilder, Roro's inconsistency as a team creator is very likely to be his biggest enemy throughout this tournament, as the Black City Mambas have very little UU depth, and McMeghan's method of preparing for his opponents suffers from two fatal flaws: high likelihood of procrastination and way more creativity than a single brain can contain by itself. However, this player's placement is far from undeserved, as the previously mentioned characteristics are the only thing likely to hold McMeghan back in Smogon Snake Draft II; highly experienced in tournaments and very thoughtful during his games, Roro can very easily outmaneuver any other player in the UU pool, even with suboptimal team choices, as shown by his performances in the first iteration of this tournament and UUPL VI.

Pak is the highest rated "purebred" UU player on this list (or, as the wise inhabitants of Smogon tournaments would say, "mainer"), which does not really come off as a shock based on recent accomplishments. Pak's journey as a player up until this point can be summed up in two words: "rocky" (author's note: whether or not this is a reference to this player's large chest size is open to the reader's interpretation) and "bizarre". Once touted as a top-notch newcomer back when XY was the most recent generation of Pokémon, Pak lived up to this hype and racked up a vast number of wins in ORAS UU. With the release of Gen 7, he chose to settle down for a while and kept playing within his comfort zone, achieving a stellar record of 6-1 in ORAS UU during UUPL V. Afterwards, he finally made the decision of venturing into the unknown grounds of SM UU, which eventually led to him being picked up by the Sootopolis Sidewinders in the first iteration of Smogon Snake Draft. During this tournament, Pak's repertoire was stained with an underwhelming record of 2-5. This, coupled with a big loss of motivation, led many people into thinking that this player would never be seen again on the big stage. So, what happened? After being annoyed by many of his friends into signing up for SPL 9, Pak ended up being a late auction pick for the Team Raiders, and the tournament community finally got to see a glimpse of the passionate player who was once expected to dominate his fellow competitors in UU. While some people tend to attribute Pak's success to his then-manager Pearl's teambuilding contributions, the truth is that Pak is perfectly capable of building his own squads, with his two biggest weaknesses being a huge tendency to be indecisive while choosing concepts and teams and a little monotony in his builds. In-game, this player knows what to do most of the time and is fully capable of making aggressive maneuvers, but it is also possible to notice a few moments of indecisiveness and a little difficulty while planning out some scenarios ahead of time. Still, a positive record is to be expected from Pak if he keeps up the hard work, as an impressive SPL showing like his isn't exclusively achieved through sheer luck.

If you're wondering just who exactly robjr is and where he got all those trophies, you're not alone: meet the new incarnation of the former PokéTCGgamer 1288, who serves as living proof that you don't need a good name to be a good player. robjr was hardly considered a common name in the UU tour scene until this past Smogon Premier League, when he was tasked with salvaging the Wi-fi Wolfpack's 0-3 UU record. He did this in a very convincing way, finishing the tour with a 4-1 record in UU, including wins over Pak, HT, and Manipulative. Outside of SPL, he has had decent success in SM UU, qualifying for playoffs of this year's UU Ladder Tour and making the semifinals of UU Majors. He is also no stranger to team tours and high-pressure games: in addition to his SPL experience, robjr was also part of the winning squad of this year's World Cup of Pokémon, Team US Northeast. His recent string of victories and his overall experience seem to speak for themselves. For all that, though, a mediocre performance in the recent UUPL VI has raised some eyebrows. Backing him up will be his former Wolfpack teammate Cynde, who has had an oddly symbiotic relationship with robjr: after beating rob in the semifinals of UU Majors II, Cynde's disappointing performance in the early stages of SPL 9 gave robjr his chance at success. If robjr stumbles this time around, those roles may be reversed, and Cynde may be called upon to pick up the pieces.

The Venezuelan wonder has been a mainstay in higher levels of UU play for a long time, and this tournament seems to be no exception. Whenever he is "in the zone", Lycans is one of the most ferocious players to go up against, as there is a high tendency for aggressive plays that can leave his opponents with absolutely no room to breathe. Aside from the small chance of misplaying during more complicated endgame scenarios, Lycans has managed to achieve a level of consistency that is surely rare among lower-tier players. So, why would he find himself right in the middle of the rankings? That would be because, unfortunately, Lycans is heavily lacking in the teambuilding department in comparison to his fellow competitors. He is not entirely clueless about the tier, of course, but Lycans himself has admitted to be out of touch with the current metagame, and his signup post explicitly stated that he'd need a decent amount of teambuilding support to thrive in whichever tier his managers choose to slot him in. Backing him up is esche, a player who hasn't really been too active in recent times. Similarly to McMeghan, he has a very high tendency to lose himself among PU Pokémon that barely fill any niche in UU, and despite being able to come up with some stellar ideas at times, one would still expect a little bit more from the Celadon City Cobras's UU depth overall. However, if these two players manage to work well together (and Nicolás Maduro does not interfere with Lycans's safety or Internet connection), the Cobras have very good odds of finding themselves near the top of this tier's standings.

If there were ever a poster child for the phenomenon of community results not translating to official tours, it might be HT. In addition to being the only member of the UU pool to challenge robjr's claim of "best name change among the UU community," the former Hairy Toenail is one of the most well-respected players in the UU scene. His trademark style of bulky offense, often peppered with underrated sweepers such as Barbaracle, has proved incredibly consistent over the years, and his methodical gameplay and grasp of the longer game quickly rocketed him above most of his UU peers. He began putting up powerful results during the XY UU era, and he currently holds the best overall UUPL record of any player (a formidable 26-7). These results were enough to see him drafted to the Wi-fi Wolfpack as a mids pickup during Smogon Premier League 7 and later chosen as a UU starter in the first iteration of the Smogon Snake Draft. Unfortunately, he failed to make a splash in either tournament, as opponents took advantage of his overly conservative playstyle, and he went into 2018 with a disappointing 0-4 record in official team tournaments. Fortunately for HT, 2018 represented a bit of an upswing for him: the Cryonicles took a chance on HT in Smogon Premier League 9, and HT finds himself buoyed by a respectable 5-4 record there. Combining this with yet another strong UUPL finish, HT has a lot of momentum coming into the second Smogon Snake Draft. He also has UU wunderkind Sacri' backing him up, leaving many to expect good things out of HT this year.

The freshest face in the field, Sage is a relatively unknown player outside of the UU community and finds herself placed in a very difficult field. However, she is not without accomplishments: she has been tearing through the 2018 UU circuit, stacking up several impressive performances. Most notable among these was her performance in this year's UU Ladder Tour, where she beat out tour regulars such as robjr and Bushtush to claim a first-place finish. More recently, she was an instrumental part of the Blackthorn City Battle Girls during UUPL VI; while she largely played GSC UU, she was responsible for building many of the SM UU teams that carried them to the finals of the tour. She has proven herself to be an innovative teambuilder, often incorporating under-utilized sets such as Choice Band Swampert and utility Choice Scarf Togekiss to great effect. For all this, though, this will be her first time on the big stage; Sage has never participated in an official tour, and even her UU circuit experience has been confined to the past year. Considering the high-caliber field this year, this lack of experience may very well be her downfall as she faces tour veterans with years and years of experience over her. With such little history to draw from, only time will tell how she reacts to the pressures of an official tournament. Luckily for Sage, she is not going at it alone: with the backing of Pearl and dodmen, who were instrumental in the dominating UU performances of Pak in Smogon Premier League 9 and Lycans in the first iteration of the Smogon Snake Draft, Sage has what is easily the strongest support of any UU player in the tour.

It took years, but it has finally happened: Shiba has been drafted to play in a team tour. Formerly known primarily for such stellar monetary decisions as paying for usernames on Pokémon Showdown!, Shiba has been a staple of the UU community for years, playing in the tier regularly since the early days of XY. However, despite his familiarity with the tier, he has for years been passed over in favor of newer and less experienced players in official team tournaments. Part of this may be due to reputation: for much of the last generation, he was known more for meme teams featuring Fletchinder or Swords Dance Celebi than he was for consistent, reliable results. However, since SM, he has abandoned many of his previous habits and has been quietly building a very respectable name for himself, including an impressive combined 11-3 record over the past two UUPLs. Outside of SM UU, he also started the year off strong, beating out Pearl in the finals to win this year's UU Classic, and finally made his break into an official team tournament as a member of World Cup of Pokémon finalists Team US West. However, he was mainly confined to a support role during that tour, and despite coming a hair away from claiming a WCOP trophy, Shiba is one of only two players in this year's UU pool to have never played an official team tournament game. Perhaps more than anyone else, Shiba has something to prove this year: a solid record could vindicate his years of salt at always being passed over, while disappointing results may be the final nail in the coffin for this UU regular's team tournament aspirations.

If there is anything history has taught UU players (or any judge of skill who has ever stumbled upon Manipulative, really), it is that it is physically impossible to predict how this player's performance is going to look like in any way imaginable, thus making him an entity that could seen as this UU pool's "Schrödinger's cat"; until his games are over for good, he could be both the best and the worst UU player around at the same time. A prime example of this is how he managed to take down three of UU's most solid players in Sacri', dodmen, and Lycans during Smogon Premier League 9 but then proceeded to lose to a Doubles player in his first game of SM UU ever a couple of weeks down the road. Backing Manipulative up are Hogg and Tricking. The former was Manipulative's manager during Smogon Snake Draft I and a seemingly important contributor to this competitor's success during that tournament, while the latter is a player who could serve as a band-aid to the Ambrette Astrotias's UU slot in case of a weaker showing by the favored starter. Back to Manipulative himself; the concept of "hit-or-miss" can be applied to basically everything about the way he carries himself in Pokémon: sometimes he uses teams that look even more impressive than those of the best teambuilders, but there is also a high likelihood that we end up seeing jumbled messes of offensive Pokémon with no Steel-type Pokémon in sight coming from Manipulative. As a player, the same principle applies: we might witness some moments of sheer brilliance during his games, but there also exists a sizable chance of misplays that not even uninformed bystanders would think of making. For the spectators' sake, we better hope that Manipulative brings his A game to this tournament, as it would spice things up a lot for the UU enthusiasts.

If the name "pasy_g" were to be mentioned anywhere on Smogon a couple of months ago, uneducated users would probably end up mistaking him for yet another new SoundCloud rapper. In fact, that is probably how UU players all around the website feel as they're reading this. However, make no mistake, for this is just the most recent example of managers choosing to trust overall solid players to fill in lower tier slots rather than tier specialists. This breed of players has produced many successful runs before, and despite the small list of accomplishments attached to his name, pasy_goat has proven that he is fully capable of going toe to toe with the titans of his home turf, ADV OU, having beaten both Ojama and Astamatitos during the most recent iteration of the World Cup of Pokémon. As far as his prowess in the SM UU metagame goes, there is absolutely nothing to be said at the moment, since pasy hasn't played the tier in any bigger scale tournament yet, which is the primary reason why he is being placed at the bottom of the rankings this time around. To make up for this lack of expertise, the Berry Forest Bushmasters have assembled a solid group of helpers to make sure that their player has high-quality teams at his disposal: both of the team's managers, Tony and ABR, have experience creating and fine-tuning UU teams. At the same time, Accelgor is an active veteran presence in the UU community who has been credited for some of the teams Bushtush used during his SPL 9 run, which further helps solidifying this slot. Should pasy_g fail to translate his Pokémon prowess to SM UU, both Gondra and shiloh are capable players with enough experience to take over and make use of the team's support. Overall, pasy_g's rank is a result of a lack of credentials in the tier when compared to the people above him, but it isn't an accurate representation of his skill ceiling, and he could very easily achieve a good place in the standings if he manages to adapt to all the threats lurking in the UU metagame.

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Historically, soulgazer has remained a pinnacle of consistency in the team tours environment, and if anything his past year has even further reinforced this notion; with his last iteration of SPL finally yielding him a trophy and a strong WCoP showing further cementing his ability to branch out, soulgazer has showcased his potency not just as a lower tier player, but a player period. While this second stage of his career has not highlighted building prowess, perhaps the most exemplary shortcoming that might arise from the Gliders RU scene (a tier that building phenomenon TDK has traditionally struggled with), his ability to stick to the basics and outplay have rarely led him astray in these past few years. With the ingenuity of various, broadly effectual builders in tow, soulgazer is surely the player to beat in this season.

Ajna has in these past couple years soundly cemented himself as the most essential RU player of the "new" generation of players, establishing consistency as a player and, unlike various others, seeming to avoid the pitfalls of major tour nerves through rigorous circuit play prior. While his latest SPL saw him in a bit of a slump, the shift in scenery offered by an arguably stronger managerial duo and the presence of likeminded individuals and friends would seem to provide every reason for Ajna to play to capacity in order to retain his trophy. Moreover, the interim period between SPL and Snake has birthed something of a renaissance in his building, opening up to the idea of more unconventional concepts and Pokémon, thereby shedding a lot of perceived issues of one-dimensionality. While this stigma as an entirely self-sufficient player has once again left him without any support to speak of from his teammates, Ajna's ceiling is almost certainly high enough to afford him that leeway.

While something of a renegade, Nat is undoubtedly one of the strongest players of the pool. Seeming to have escaped most of the nerves that bogged down her previous Snake Draft performance, Nat returns with a commendable SPL performance, a circuit tour win, and even a brief stint in the esteemed RU council under her belt. Furthermore, the team she finds herself on offers an almost unprecedented amount of coincidental RU support in yjh971203, aim, and tko to bounce ideas off, which one might expect could only bolster confidence. Were there any outstanding flaws to be had, Nat is perhaps the most tilt-prone player in the pool thus far, meaning the first preventable loss to be had could potentially snowball into something that could in a worst case scenario result in an unbecoming substitution. However, with an acquaintance in Kaori around to talk her down from situations such as this, Nat does stand firmly along the stronger end of the bell curve.

If he shows up, which does happen occasionally but not during a plethora of other, smaller tournaments, then col49 is a great pickup for RU. He has a superb grasp on the metagame, including how to craft teams and integrate more unorthodox Pokémon or elements in teams in order to give himself an inherent advantage given into games. In addition, col49 has a clear understanding of the playerbase around him and what their tendencies are, thus also playing into this aforementioned preparation dynamic that certainly plays into his favor. He is far from shabby in games themselves, too, as he has shown flashes of dominance and top player potential in numerous past showings. If col49 will be active enough to get the job done, then it would not be too surprising to see him start with a string of victories much like last year, but if things get tough or he gets busy, then it would also not be shocking if he had to get substituted out or simply did not give it his best effort, compromising the ultimate results.

dodmen, while more broadly regarded for his contributions to UU, has remained a very consistent RU player during this leg of the tier, going as far as even preferring it. As a player here his strengths lie in both his aggressive, punishing playstyle and his building approach, which tends to overcome the constraints of stigma placed upon your average RU "main". This combination offers him inherent advantage versus a variety of players within the pool, which in conjunction with his high threshold as a player makes the prospect of playing him something of an ordeal for most anybody. As far as negatives are concerned, himself alongside his support in Sage and august have a certain lack of 'depth' in building, and to that end it is very possible we see a few half-baked ideas fail to get left on the cutting room floor. Moreover, in spite of his skill, dodmen has been consistently delivering middling results in a team tour setting, making a seemingly surefire pick seem somewhat less appealing.

lighthouses is a player characterized just as much by his highs as his lows. As a builder, he surely has one of the better minds when it comes to how teams should be built and what needs to be done to achieve certain goals consistently; however, many of these concepts lose the narrative by the time all is said and done, resulting in a product that overlooks huge, overall checklist points. As a player he has exhibited many great games, with his exemplary late-Snake Draft run in the year prior being a standout, but for as many of those games one can pull from a cache of games where he shot the moon overthinking an early-game play. Fortunately, with Arifeen, Eternal Spirit, and (as legend has it) slurmz in his stable, there should be enough peer review to help level out some misgivings the spectators might have for lighthouses, but ultimately it is that uncertainty that pushes him into a middle-of-the-pack ranking.

Scythe., as some might recall, was a huge rising star some years back, exhibiting a proficiency for competitive play and some very unique, albeit occasionally wonky, building practices. This alongside an impressive UU Open win had poised Scythe. for a lasting position in the tournament community, but instead he opted out entirely, quitting until very recently and emerging now for this tour. While rust is only an excuse for anybody with a pre-2015 join date to rationalize a loss, lack of metagame knowledge is very much a real issue, and this is perhaps the Achilles' heel of the Cianwood Cobras at large. Including the managing duo, Scythe. is being supported by about five players that, with the possible exception of Chill Shadow, at best dabble in the RU tier, which surely goes a long way but will almost always result in a certain lack of nuance that separates good from great. Of the lower ranked players here, Scythe. has arguably the highest ceiling here, but him and his team will definitely need to put in the work to make ends meet.

Aeroblacktyl is, as expected, something of an enigma here. Discounting all the rumors circling his name and alleged modus operandi, MoP is a player whose past several years have been almost entirely silent on the Smogon front, with the occasional and admittedly unremarkable tour showing once in a blue moon. Of the more recent endeavors was a modest showing in RUPL under FlamingVictini, a scenario reyscarface seems to have sought to replicate here. As a legendary player in his heyday, Aeroblacktyl alongside support from aforementioned collaborator FlamingVictini and promising newcomer Alpha Rabbit would surely be something to be feared; however, this second stage of his career has not been nearly as fruitful. Just as with Scythe., the potential for Aeroblacktyl to return in prime form is incredibly dangerous, but unless he has been playing a fantastic long con in anticipation of this very tour, the likelihood is somewhat lower.

RU workhorse and recent product of post-SPL hype MrAldo, having received high praise for his support during the Wolfpack's season, is unfortunately put in a compromising position with his first major tournament as a drafted player. While being a very capable builder and excellent teammate, his capacity as a player and the high likelihood of nerves have come under scrutiny, with many members of the community positing it to have been in his best interest to spent some time on the bench before being thrust onto the front lines. However, with only moderate RU interests in Sam and GaryTheGengar as alternatives, Aldo finds himself as something of a lesser of evils. While his tenacity and solid building could find him prying one or more wins out, he unfortunately is projected to struggle in a pool of players such as this.

While perhaps something of an overreaction to be placed last, the tenth spot does aptly characterize the underdog that is King Wynaut here. In a bid to escape the unfortunate tag of "2016 Arifeen", King Wynaut has been characterized by many as loud-mouthed and mediocre, attributing his success in circuit play and the like to anything but skill. Be that as it may, his performances of the past several months do ultimately outweigh the three players ranked above him, currently holding the most points of the 2018 circuit, and as the trend has gone he is backed by a surprising amount of support; Eternally, Robert Alfons, and KingKDot all play RU at a high enough level to provide solid feedback to stabilize his performance or offer a solid sub if all goes south. With almost nothing to lose but Finchinator's respect, King Wynaut has to take his spot in the limelight for all it's worth to prove he deserves a spot amongst the tour vros.

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It should be no surprise that FLCL comes in on top in the NU power rankings again, as this lower tier titan has more experience than everyone else in the field. The mostly quiet FLCL has been around since SPL4 and has always managed to remain one of the top players since then. While as of late he has not been as focused on NU, instead making Smogon Tour 24 finals and Smogon Championship finals, he did captain his team to a victory in the most recent edition of NUPL. He also has a familiar face Stan Soojung on his team, who can both build and even take over in case FLCL is needed in another tier. All is not perfect for FLCL though, as he does struggle to put up amazing records in team tournaments, his highest being a 7-4 in SPL4. But if he does show up and play to his best, he is the player to beat over the course of the tournament.

What Rodriblutar may lack in English skills, he surely makes up for in his playing, netting him a second place spot in these rankings. After winning SPL and NUPL, including the finals game three tiebreak in NUPL, Rodri has been on a tear in NU as of late. Known for some crazy plays and a great read on his opponents, and even equipped with a computer from the start of this tournament, there seems to be nothing that can stop him. Whether it be extending a stall game an extra 200 turns just because he was having fun, or abusing the broken "moons" that always seem to find their way on his teams, he's always an enjoyable player to watch. He does, however, lack in one key aspect, his teambuilding. His team is not as well suited as others in this aspect as well, with the only players with NU teambuilding experience on the team being dodmen and plas, both of whom are known for their playing or teambuilding in other tiers. However, if he does manage to get a solid team week after week, he is one of the scariest players in the pool.

Gliders NU player lax has generated a lot of respectable results over the past year, including a run to Smogon Classic semifinals and a pair of positive official team tournament results, with NU in SPL and BW in WCoP. While he has been a bit more quiet in NU in recent months aside from NUPL, lax has been consistently demonstrating his capabilities as a player in these higher level tournaments, which is quite impressive for someone who did not stand out on the radar as recently as last Snake. Now, lax is poised to go positive once more in this upcoming Snake and the rankings reflect his ability to do some damage. If he does not use anything too far off the wall, then expect Gliders NU player lax to go positive and even hold his own against top ranked player perhaps.

What may have been a surprise if this had been a year earlier, elodin takes the number four spot in these rankings. Having his first taste of NU last Snake, where he was picked up for Blast, and putting up a respectable 5-2 in that tour, he also finished up the season in NU during SPL, where he went 2-1; he is now an experienced NU player. He was also recently added to the NU council and has been taking a part in tier discussion and keeping up with the metagame, a problem many tournament players tend to have. He is even supported by a relatively unknown name outside of the NeverUsed sphere in Tangelo, who is one of the more creative builders in the tier at the moment. All in all, elodin is a very solid player, and with plenty of experience to rival even FLCL, this Brazilian cannot be counted out.

Lower tier aficionado Kushalos seems to have found his home in Sun and Moon, starting in all three tournaments the tier has been a part of over the past year. Prior to last Snake, Kushalos was more known for being one of the top lower tier builders; however, with his last few tournaments, he has cemented himself as one of the better players as well, having gone a combined 10-8 between Snake and SPL. While he does have less NU support compared to the other players in this pool, he is also one of the few players that can be completely self sufficient. He also does have manager Pohjis, who won NU Open using Kushalos's teams and played in SPL. However, this would be more likely as a person to bounce ideas off of and test with, as opposed to a builder. As long as the chef stays cooking this tour, this should be another good tournament for him.

NeverUsed Tier Leader Eternally is back for what may be seen as a redemption tournament, as after his promising Snake finish last year he had a shockingly bad SPL. He may be the most up to date with the current metagame compared to anyone else on this list, as he has been a part of shaping the metagame and tier since the start of Sun and Moon. That translates to him having the best grip on the meta, which can be seen in his recent 6-2 NUPL finish. He may also have some of the best NU support in the tournament behind him, with two heavily experienced NU players in Finchinator and Garay Oak, and even his manager Evan. He does tend to get a bit creative with his builds at times though and may try to bring unconventional strategies that do not work as well in practice as they do on paper, but if he does flesh out his builds and play to the level he did last Snake, he may show that his SPL was just a fluke and he is one of the titans of the NeverUsed tier.

With the Bushmasters sticking to their theme of picking the best players available to fill their lineup, they went with Nintendi in NU despite him lacking any experience in the metagame. Nintendi has been very successful in ORAS OU over the past year and he is poised to extend that success into a new environment with the assistance of teammate and supporter shiloh. shiloh will be playing OU for the Bushmasters, but you'd be foolish to think he would not have a large impact in the team choices made in NU on the Bushmasters. If Nintendi is capable of learning the metagame well enough in a short span of time, then he will do well given his strength as a player. If not, then expect it to be a rough road for the Brazilian ORAS standout.

The second part of the NU tier leader duo, Hootie finds himself at the bottom of the rankings for the first time in his tournament career. After an above average Snake Draft last year, Hootie went 2-5 in NUPL and 1-5 in SPL. Along with this decline in tournament results, Hootie has been fairly inactive in terms of playing Pokémon, after feeling burnt out after Snake and SPL. He also has no other NU support on the Mambas, so if he starts tilting or goes inactive again, there will be no safety net for him. However, he does have the playing ability, as can be seen by his 5-1 run in the last two phases of last Snake, and if he manages to maintain his activity he has the potential to end with the top record in this tournament.

Realistic Waters signing up for this tournament came as a surprise for many, as this is his first official tournament since playing all the way back in SPL7. Since then he has remained more or less quiet and taken numerous breaks, and he has not made a huge impact on the tournament scene. However, during his periods of activity he did consistently top the ladder and remained one of the more creative builders in the scene. Another reason for him being ranked so low is due to the number of creative "gimmicks" that he uses in tournaments. However, he is an amazing pilot of these teams, and if he manages to stay active and puts a lid on some of his more creative team ideas he is a true force to be reckoned with.

The third Brazilian on this list, and the lowest ranked one, is none other than HANTSUKI. Never been known to have a main tier, he has played just about every tier in existence at one point or another. With this being said, he has the lowest amount of NU experience on this list, and that's why he ended up in this spot. However, he did support the Ruiners NU slot, snagaa and lax, quite a bit through SPL and picked up the tier then. However, since then his only NU experience was going 1-3 in NUPL. He has his work cut out ahead of him in order to keep pace with the rest of the players on this list, and if he does not manage to keep up we may just see the Cobras' secret weapon in Stone_Cold.

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Disclaimer: Managers are an important part of the team, but we did not feel they warranted a large part in our rankings. Instead we ranked these ourselves before the tournament, and only used them as a tiebreak when teams were tied on points.

Tony is back to manage yet another official team tournament; however, this time there is a twist, as his long-time star player ABR is now here to manage alongside him. This makes for the biggest powerhouse managerial duo in the tournament without a doubt. Tony is someone who needs no introduction in the arena of managing at this point, leading Team Europe to WCoP finals, the Berry Forest Bushmasters to Snake finals, and finally the Wi-fi Wolfpack to a recent SPL championship. The latter two of these successful campaigns occurred with co-manager ABR on board as a player, too. While ABR is not the most experienced manager like Tony, he has at least managed US Northeast to a WCoP win and also has a background in leadership through working with all of his OU teammates over the past few years, especially seeing as he is known for being a stand-out teambuilder and overall supporter. These two are going to foster an active and success-oriented environment that will likely lead to a replication of past results if all goes to plan, thus making Tony and ABR the easy pick for the #1 managerial pair.

Pearl is one of the most experienced managers of the tournament. After managing in SPL 3 years running and captaining his WCoP side in 2016, he is now giving SSD a shot. Coming off a great SPL this year in which he was a tiebreaker away from winning the tournament, we can only assume Pearl's out for blood as he looks to win his first team tournament. Alongside him, we have the good-spirited and grammatically challenged Sabella, who will provide the OU knowledge to go with Pearl's great understanding of lower tiers. Sabella doesn't have any management experience to speak of, but with a veteran like Pearl completing the pair we don't consider that a concern. Both managers are very integrated in the Tournaments community and we expect them to do well.

obii is back for another go at managing the Serpents in SSD after putting together a very strong team last year. Despite his struggles as a manager in this year's SPL, obii showed he knows how to successfully draft in this format last year and will undoubtedly have learned a lot from his first disappointing management experience. With obii this year we have Mounts, who he also teamed up with in this year's SPL. Mounts is known as a more quiet but very friendly presence, as well as being a fantastic player. We're not sure what to expect from Mounts as a manager, but obii has been racking up a good amount of experience the past two years, so our concerns are minimal in that regard. Given obii's results in this tournament last year and the fact that he resisted Ojama's urges to pick all of the French players this time, we expect him to bounce back from his SPL woes, winning him the #3 spot on our rankings.

After playing in SSD last year, reyscarface is back to follow up his playoff run as a manager with the Tyrants in SPL in this year's SSD. rey is by far-and-away the most experienced manager in the tournament, having participated in official team tournaments for about a decade already. We also want to give rey a shoutout for being a consistent contributor to our power rankings articles throughout the years. Will of Fire joins reyscarface as a manager of the newly formed Black City Mambas after being purchased by reyscarface as a player in SPL this year. Will of Fire, like most people, isn't as loud or public of a presence as reyscarface, but has built himself a reputation of being a formidable team builder, which is always great to have on any team. With rey's experience, including recent playoff success in SPL, and Will of Fire's current gen team building knowledge we consider this pair to be in the upper half of the bracket for sure.

Team Canada's captains return for another team tournament after leading their nation to the semifinals of this year's WCoP. Genesis7 in particular is a very dedicated and active manager that knows the playerbase inside and out, while Evan. will most likely focus on the team's lower tier slots, especially NU. On top of that both managers have experience managing unofficial and offsite team tournaments, too. However, this is their first time managing in either SSD or SPL, which are very different team tournaments to prepare for compared to both unofficials and WCoP. Furthermore, neither manager is known as a great USM player or teambuilder, which raises some questions in terms of their ability to support their team post-draft. All-in-all, Genesis7 and Evan. put together a formidable Team Canada squad this year and we're excited to find out if they can solidify their managerial chops as managers of the Leviathans this year.

After playing for the Gliders last year, z0mOG and ggggd are coming in at #6 on our ranks, which actually makes them the highest ranked rookie pairing. However, despite not having managed in SSD or SPL before, z0mOG was one of the architects behind this year's US West run to the final in WCoP, also winning OUPL as a manager. ggggd is a newcomer to managing team tournaments, but has been building up experience in lower tiers, especially in LC which he played in last year's edition of this tournament. ggggd's lower-tier knowledge complements z0mOG's OU expertise perfectly; alongside being teammates in last year's SSD, this makes for a smart partnership. With that said, this duo is still completely unproven as managers, so any early hiccups or players not reaching expectations could lead to trouble.

Void is back to manage another team tournament after taking over from TonyFlygon as Team Europe's captain in this year's WCoP. Team Europe made playoffs for a second year in a row and among their best performers this year we find Pohjis, who will be joining Void as his co-manager in this year's SSD. Unlike WCoP, however, the pairing will be asked to draft a team out of a full list of signups, not just the ones that are eligible for Team Europe. Having said that, Pohjis drafted a winning team in this year's UPL and Void's been playing team tournaments consistently for the past two years. They do, however, still have less managerial experience than most of the other managers; in combination with Void's downright horrendous timezone, this landed them at #7.

Chill Shadow and snagaa are a managerial duo in the truest sense of the word. Unlike the other managers in this tournament, Chill Shadow and snagaa have actually managed several team tournaments together in the past already. They know how team tournaments work, but even more so, they know how they work together after doing so many tournaments together. On the other hand, the team tournaments they have under their belts were either unofficial or offsite, so we can't be sure if it's going to translate into official team tournament success quite yet. To be fair to them, both managers have been part of official team tournaments as players and will without doubt be very active and involved throughout the tournament. We're not ruling out a positive surprise here!

Level 56 made a name for himself in the tournament scene with years of Ubers expertise starting in XY, including a ridiculous Ubers Open record that saw him win one and make finals of the next. He also proved himself capable of playing multiple generations and tiers en route to winning a stunning 24 tournaments overall, which is 6th all-time, including last year's Grand Slam - thus, he knows what he's doing in every tier... or at least he did. He's been very quiet since, and while there's no doubt about him as a player, he hasn't been too active for some time now, and he never was the most talkative person even during the peak of his activity, thus making him an odd choice for a managerial position where he'll have to be a leader. His co-manager, Kaori, is more on the active side; he's a known Doubles player and VGCer and had some incredibly clutch wins this past SPL. How he'll do when in charge remains to be seen. Both these guys are very friendly and will likely foster an amicable atmosphere for all to enjoy, but one wonders how effectively they'll take the reigns.

No offense lads, but someone had to be last. To their credit, Teddeh and Arifeen have been building up a good amount of official team tournament experience. Both have participated in multiple iterations of SPL, WCoP and SSD as players and put up wins in multiple tiers. There's also some unofficial team tournament managerial experience there, so we don't expect these guys to be clueless. Having said that, both are considered to be "mainers" that don't stray away too far from their respective tiers of expertise. This is a notable concern given the fact that there are 4 OU slots in SSD. Neither player has ever managed a team in an official team tournament before either, which doesn't help this pairing. For what it's worth, we're confident Arifeen's managerial decisions will be better than his name changing ones!

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