SPL XVI Pre-Tournament Series: 15 Years of SPL: The 15 Most Iconic Moments in SPL History

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Introduction

The Smogon Premier League has been running strong since 2010. As of the time this article was written, 15 SPLs have been played. Throughout these years, there have been many hilarious and impactful moments. In a sea of great moments, though, some stand above the crowd. Some of these moments were highly controversial, while others were extremely funny. Other moments, meanwhile, altered the course of SPL history in a way that other moments did not. This is a list of the 15 most iconic moments in the history of the tournament thus far.

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15. SPL XII: The Once-Terminated Manager

The Circus Maximus Tigers have consistently been one of the most mediocre franchises throughout their history. Under tennisace, the team's primary manager between SPLs I and XI, the Tigers only legitimately made the playoffs twice. Heading into SPL XII, the Tigers had not made the playoffs since SPL IV. The TDs had decided that enough was enough and finally chose to shake up the franchise by giving CALLOUS the team. CALLOUS was a polarizing figure in the community. He was a man known for perfecting the art of winning unofficial tournaments, having created a Draft Guide where he discussed his strategies for consistently succeeding in auctions. He demanded the best out of his players, and this mentality led some members of the community to find him to be rather overbearing. However, if any team needed a highly motivated manager, it was the Tigers. Some individuals were naturally upset about the TD team's decision to select CALLOUS, including the individuals who were rejected in favor of him. atomicllamas, for example, claimed that CALLOUS and his assistant manager, JabbaTheGriffin, had little-to-no experience outside of ADV OU and thus were unqualified to manage in SPL, in addition to citing concerns about CALLOUS's domineering tendencies. Tigers staple MajorBowman, who signed up alongside tennisace, also felt that he and tennis should have been picked instead, regardless of tennisace's poor managing track record. This type of controversy is not that rare, but the event that happened next would cause chaos to unfold.

Before CALLOUS could even start making a draft plan, the TDs had a sudden change of heart. Eo revoked Callous's manager status due to some controversial decisions he had made in the past and gave the team to atomicllamas and Averardo. This type of decision was completely unprecedented; never before in the history of Smogon had a managing pair been entirely removed days after being selected. Some people did support the TDs' decision, but the majority of people who began posting in the Smogon Premier League XII Commencement thread felt that CALLOUS had been unjustly slighted. Countless individuals rose to CALLOUS's defense, claiming that the TDs were overstating the malicious nature of CALLOUS's actions. For instance, the TDs viewed CALLOUS'S decision to phone one of his players to get that player to play a game as a massive invasion of privacy; however, many Smogon tournament players claimed that this type of event was certainly not that rare and believed that the TDs were making a big deal out of something that should not even have been punishable. One day later, the TDs relented and gave the team back to CALLOUS. The firestorm started by the Smogon tournament player base seemed to have actually paid off. Unfortunately, despite creating teams that finished first in the Power Rankings in both SPLs XII and XIII, CALLOUS's teams were unable to get above 8th place in either of these tournaments, continuing the longstanding tradition of the Tigers struggling in SPL.

14. SPL VIII: The Poll That Changed SPL History

The SPL VIII Classiest were a complete train wreck of the team. Through 8 weeks, the team had not won a single week, amassing a 0-7-1 record. They had nothing to play for in week 9, but the squad would wind up playing a pivotal role in SPL VIII. Their week 9 matchup would be a face-off with the Sharks, a team that would likely make the playoffs with a win that week. Facing the worst team in the tournament, the Sharks were in prime position to succeed. However, the series wound up being far closer than most people imagined. The Classiest managed to bring the series to 5-6; if the Sharks lost the last game, they would wind up tying the week, and the Tigers would advance to the playoffs instead. The last game would be an SM OU clash between PDC of the Sharks, who was in the midst of a phenomenal 6-2 campaign, and Adam of the Classiest, who had only played three games that season and was certainly not performing well.

However, in the spirit of entertainment, I, -Tsunami-, as the Classiest's manager, opted to create a poll to decide who should play in this all-important game. After all, the result did not really affect me. The other members of the tournament community voted for GOAO, an LC player, resulting in me subbing him in over Adam for this paramount battle. GOAO would utilize a team centered on Scolipede's ability to Baton Pass Speed + Substitutes to its teammates. GOAO was certainly the luckier party in his bout against PDC, as he scored a critical hit against the latter's Gengar on turn 5 to knock it out and put himself in a good position. PDC battled back to make the game close, but a Meteor Mash miss sealed his fate, and GOAO would kick the Sharks out of playoff contention. Thanks to GOAO's efforts, the Tigers got into the playoffs, where they proceeded to knock out both the Raiders and Scooters to take home the trophy. Unfortunately, one of their players, Mazar, was caught cheating with a bot, resulting in the entire tournament being cancelled. GOAO's Week 9 upset certainly did change history, eventually leading to the only SPL ever with no official winner.

13. SPL VI: Two Psychotic Players

Heading into SPL VI, Nas and Psychotic were considered to be two of the best UU players on the site. Nas was purchased for 15.5k in SPL by the BIGs while the Cryonicles picked up Psychotic for 12.5k. Hopes were very high for the two players, as they were ranked first and second, respectively, on the SPL VI Power Rankings. However, things would not be that simple. Nas had notified the BIGs that he wished to play for the Classiest and was not interested in participating in SPL while on the BIGs. This eventually led to a giant four-way trade being proposed between the Classiest, BIGs, Raiders, and Wolfpack so that Nas could go to his preferred team and everyone could wind up happy. The trade ultimately fell apart because Bad Ass, one of the key pieces of the trade, did not want to play for the Raiders.

This would wind up being a big problem for Nas, as there was now seemingly no way he could get on the Classiest. As Week 1 approached, Nas was faced with a decision: he could either tough out the season or risk being tournament banned for refusing to play. He chose the latter, and hours before Week 1 was posted, Nas was officially tournament banned by Zebraiken and permanently banned from SPL. The story would not end there, though. This ruling had pushed Nas over the edge; he decided that now was the time to make his grand exit from Smogon. To make things even crazier, his good friend Psychotic decided to join him. In a final act of vengeance, the two used their moderation powers to merge the entire UU forum into one thread before quitting the site forever. The UU forum was eventually restored, but the damage to the BIGs and Cryonicles was already done. Just like that, the two best UU players in the tournament had vanished. The BIGs would manage to persevere despite the loss of Nas and reach the semifinals before falling to the Classiest, but the Cryonicles would wind up missing out on the playoffs. Unfortunately, this would certainly not be the last time a player refused to play for the team he or she was drafted to...

12. SPL XI: The Elephant in the SPL Room

Ojama is one of the best players ever. However, he is certainly known for being a bit abrasive and hard to work with. In SPL XI, controversy arose after he was bought by the Ever Grande BIGs for 23k. 23k is certainly a lot of money, but for someone of Ojama's caliber, this price was actually viewed as a steal. As it turns out, though, the reason that Ojama's price was depressed was because he had told multiple managers, including the BIGs, that he did not want to play for them. However, the BIGs were not going to let Ojama go for 22.5k to another team; after all, SPL is a tournament where players in the draft should not be able to dictate what team they wind up on. Ojama, being a stubborn and headstrong individual, refused to relent on his demands, and this eventually resulted in the BIGs's hand being forced. They would trade Ojama to the Tyrants for a package of ima, GaryTheGengar, eden, and Descending, whose combined auction values equaled 19k. This was seen as an unfavorable trade for the BIGs at the time, one which they were essentially forced into making due to Ojama's hatred of the team.

The drama would not stop there, though. dice, a prominent BW OU player, would make a Tournament Policy thread entitled "The Elephant in the SPL Room," demanding that the trade not be allowed to go through. Many users agreed with dice's sentiment, and called for Ojama to be tournament banned for being a team cancer. Ojama attempted to defend himself, but his cries would be in vain, as the trade would wind up being reversed when Ojama was eventually banned from the tournament. However, the Tyrants would wind up trading these same four players, along with 2.5k, for kumiko, another member of the BIGs. Ultimately, the Tyrants would wind up clinching the #1 seed heading into the playoffs before falling in the semifinals. The BIGs, meanwhile, would flounder, finishing 3-6 and ending in 8th place. There was one positive development to come out of the BIGs's season, though, which is that so many players had been a part of the roster during the season that it genuinely became a fun challenge to try to list them all.

11. SPL VII: Are People Sleeping?

As discussed previously, the Circus Maximus Tigers have had a long and troubled history in SPL. Perhaps no moment encapsulates the tennisace era of the Tigers than the #11 moment on this list. In 2015, gr8astard was considered to be one of the best players on the site; even more importantly in the context of SPL, he was viewed as arguably the greatest teambuilder on the site as well. In other words, he was the perfect player for a franchise to spend a great deal of money on, one who could not only acquire wins in his own slot, but also provide invaluable support to his teammates. gr8astard had never played in SPL before, having chosen to manage in the previous 3 editions of the tournament. With some of his friends managing as well, it was almost certain that gr8astard would cross the illustrious 30k threshold. With the second bid of the SPL VII auction, the Ruiners decided to nominate him, and chaos ensued...

Wait, what? Was this the biggest steal in SPL history? How had the Tigers gotten gr8astard for only 10.5k!? From the outside looking in, the team appeared to be in prime position to finally make the playoffs for the first time since SPL IV, especially after they acquired one of the best players in the site's history, Earthworm, for 19k a couple picks later. These two events prompted atomicllamas, the Tiger's other manager, to ask a very simple question:

Unfortunately, no, people were in fact not sleeping. Earthworm would wind up being a very good pick for the franchise, but the gr8astard acquisition would wind up being a disaster. You see, gr8 had told all of his friends that he was planning to quit Smogon immediately after the SPL auction and simply wished to troll a team as his last act on the website. News spread quickly, and seemingly every team wound up getting the memo that he was not going to participate in the tournament...with the exception of the Tigers, and presumably, the Falcons, who had upbid him to 10k. Now, I'm not sure why the Falcons would possibly stop bidding at 10k on a generational player, but for whatever reason, they did. And unfortunately for the Tigers, this led to them being the ones who were humiliated. gr8astard would quit as promised; the Tigers would wind up getting Asuya to replace him and some sellback credit to use at Midseason, but the damage was already done. The Tigers would end up missing the playoffs for the third season in a row, finishing in 7th place, no thanks to the gr8astard's devious act of sabotage.

10. SPL V: The Auction Reset

Oglemi was the main host of SPL V and would wind up playing a pretty important role in the tournament. As usual, the beginning of the SPL V was filled with anticipation and excitement. The Wolfpack chose to nominate Bloo, the best player on the site, with the first pick and get the tour started off with a bang. It quickly became clear that Bloo would become the most expensive player to date, easily topping 30k as teams continued bidding. In the end, though, McMeghan and the Ruiners managed to snag Bloo for a whopping 35k...or so we thought. It was at this point that LonelyNess, the Frogs's manager, began speaking out about the situation, adamantly claiming that he had been screwed over by the auction bot in some way:

Despite having successfully bid Bloo all the way up to 35k, on his next bid, LonelyNess had apparently randomly decided to add the word "bid" after the exclamation point for seemingly no reason. However, the story is even more peculiar than this, because that phrase does not show up at all in the auction log, meaning that LonelyNess was either just mistaken or was intentionally lying. In usual Smogon fashion, a bunch of the other managers and individuals who were bidding started laughing about the situation, joking that Oglemi should reset the auction:

If the story ended here, there would be nothing remarkable about this event at all. However, what happened next made everyone's jaws drop:

In an almost inconceivable turn of events, Oglemi, apparently spurred on by the chants of the peanut gallery, actually decided to reset the auction! Despite the Ruiners's protests, Oglemi would not undo his decision, and the team would have to acquire Bloo for a second time. This time around, LonelyNess pushed the Ruiners even further, eventually resulting in them getting Bloo for 40k. The Ruiners had just been completely robbed of 5k for absolutely no reason by the host of the tournament. The Ruiners would end up in 5th place, 2 points out of a playoff spot. Who knows? Perhaps an extra 5k could have altered the team's fortunes.

9. SPL XIII: The Roommate

BKC is without a doubt one of the greatest players ever. Unfortunately, he also has had the propensity to sabotage his teams in auctions. In SPL V, for example, his Indie Scooters ended the draft with 2.5k, which was not enough to purchase a player at the midseason auction. This led to him trading one of his players, kael, whom he had acquired for 6k, to the Sharks for 0.5k. kael would wind up being a useful asset for the Sharks and would even defeat one of BKC's XY OU players, Jayde, in Week 4 of the tournament to secure a tie against BKC's team. 8 years removed from that event, BKC would find himself captaining the Wolfpack alongside Tony, one of the best managers ever. The auction was progressing well for the team until reyscarface nominated a player named Crihon. Crihon was the roommate of John W, a Tyrants retain and one of the premier SS OU players on the site at the time. Everyone expected that he would uneventfully go to the Tyrants for 3k; after all, there were certainly better and more valuable players that other teams could buy. However, BKC had other plans:

BKC had decided to take the gamble. He felt that rey would not stop bidding here and would indeed spend 4k for John W's roommate. The peanut gallery erupted in laughter:

In the end, though, BKC's hunch was right.

However, this was BKC. Wholeheartedly believing that reyscarface would commit even more funds to Crihon if necessary, BKC decided to push the envelope even further:

This sent the other bidders into an absolute frenzy:

Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, reyscarface would stop bidding here.

BKC had denied the Tyrants from getting Crihon, but at what cost? He had just wasted 4500 of his team's funds for someone who barely played Pokémon. The Wolfpack were left baffled by this turn of events, as they just throw money down the drain for seemingly no reason. For BKC's part, he had seemingly lost his sanity; in a later conversation with reyscarface, he began making up phrases that even the Smogon Tournaments faithful could not really understand:

The strangest part of this upbid was that BKC could have chosen to upbid Christo, one of the best SPL players ever and a man that the Tyrants routinely get for pennies on the dollar, to 3.5k or higher instead. Allegedly, the Wolfpack were planning on getting BKC's close friend Jirachee with the funds that he had squandered on Crihon. Jirachee would go 3-5 for the Sharks that season while the Wolfpack would end up in 7th place. Would the addition of Jirachee or another cheap player have changed the Wolfpack's fortunes? It's impossible to say for sure, but likely not. The Tyrants would not be too hurt by the loss of Crihon, as they would smash the competition in the regular season before losing a hard-fought semifinals series. Ultimately, this moment most likely did not have a massive impact on the tournament, but its absolutely hilarious and bizarre nature guarantees it a spot on this list.

8. SPL XIV: Divine Intervention

After a litany of non-battle-related moments, we return to another battle. The SPL XIV Raiders were a team that persevered through a lot of hardship. Their most expensive player, bbeeaa, who was worth 38.5k, got banned during the season, but the team still managed to make the playoffs. After dismantling the Ruiners in the Semifinals, the Raiders would face off against the Sharks in the finals. The two franchises had played in the finals the year prior as well, with the Raiders taking home the trophy. This time around, the Sharks were definitely favored against the Raiders's depleted roster, as managers kumiko and obii had created a powerhouse. However, the Raiders had exceeded expectations all season, and they were not about to stop now. They battled their way to a draw, and the series was sent into a tiebreak. The Sharks's SoulWind would take down Skypenguin in the latter's home tier of SM OU, and the series suddenly seemed challenging yet again for the Raiders. They would need their ace player, McMeghan, who was having a great season, to take down the Sharks's fade, a rising star on Smogon, in the latter's home tier of ORAS OU.

From Team Preview, fade appeared to have a clear advantage, as his Mega Metagross would be a big problem for McMeghan's team. Unbeknownst to McMeghan, fade also had a Life Orb Clefable with Ice Beam to OHKO the former's Gliscor. The game progressed normally, with the first key turning point coming on turn 48, when McMeghan Swords Danced with his Gliscor against the aforementioned Clefable. fade naturally clicked Ice Beam, which would have essentially won the game and the trophy on the spot if it landed. Unfortunately, Clefable was rendered unable to move due to paralysis. It had a second chance to knock out the Gliscor the next turn after Earthquake failed to knock it out, but McMeghan's luck once again saved his flying bat from certain death. A few turns later, McMeghan's Mega Latios froze fade's Ferrothorn with Ice Beam, putting himself in an even better position to win. A Meteor Mash miss on turn 51 allowed McMeghan's Clefable to paralyze fade's Mega Metagross with Thunder Wave, effectively ending the game and keeping the Raiders in the series. fade certainly could have made some better moves to win this game, such as Healing Wishing his Clefable, and his suboptimal plays were punished by the unlucky string of RNG he was forced to endure. McMeghan's win would wind up being pivotal, as Gtcha took down mind gaming and the Raiders repeated as SPL champions. This would not be the first time that the move Ice Beam played a crucial role in a high-stakes McMeghan game.

7. SPL VIII: The Fateful Ice Beam

Next we go back in time to SPL VIII, where the Scooters and Tigers faced off for the SPL trophy. Mr.378, a fresh face to the SPL scene, was slated to face McMeghan in the former's main tier of GSC OU. Mr.378 had been a revelation up to that point, going 6-3 and being a key reason why his team had made it to the finals. His last game would be his toughest test yet, as he would have to beat one of the legends of the game if he wished to help his team take home the trophy. The game started off rather uneventfully, as the two engaged in a prolonged war of attrition. Mr.378's Suicune was a big threat for McMeghan's team, as it was consistently able to chip McMeghan's Pokemon thanks to the Spikes that were set earlier on in the game. McMeghan's main answer to it, Raikou, was weakened and poisoned and could not come in easily. On Turn 91, McMeghan's 39% Tyranitar Roared in Mr.378's Suicune, putting McMeghan in a very uncomfortable position. McMeghan decided to switch to his Raikou, which, after Spikes and poison damage, sat at 26%. The minimum amount of damage Surf can do to Raikou in GSC is 26%; in other words, if Mr.378 clicked Surf, he would take down Raikou and very likely win the game. Surf was an extremely logical play: it would KO the Tyranitar that was in play, KO Raikou if it came in, and deal decent damage to the other Pokemon on McMeghan's team.

However, Mr.378 had other plans. Instead of winning the game, he decided to click Ice Beam. This allowed the Raikou to shrug off the damage and heal up. This move was completely baffling; there was no real reason to use Ice Beam there. Perhaps he was convinced Snorlax was coming in and decided to try to get a freeze on Snorlax to take control of the game that way. His mistake would have dire consequences; after all, you cannot just let one of the best players ever have a second chance at life after he makes a rare blunder. McMeghan would wind up taking over the game and help push the Tigers into a tiebreak, which they would eventually win. While 5 other Scooters's players also suffered defeats in the series, this turn is the primary one that can be pointed to as the reason for the team's failures. Mr.378's tournament career would be derailed, as instead of being hailed as a hero and certainly becoming an SPL staple, he would be branded as the "Ice Beamer," and would not be purchased in the main SPL auction ever again. Turn 92 of this game is certainly one of the biggest "What If?" moments in Smogon tournament history, and that helps it earn a spot on this list.

6. SPL XV: The History-Altering Freeze

Since reyscarface took over the franchise, the Tyrants have been mainstays of the SPL playoffs. SPL XV would be the team's 6th playoff appearance in 7 years; the franchise had yet to get over the hump, though. Their opponents in the semifinals, the Alpha Ruiners, had eliminated the Tyrants from the playoffs on two different occasions and looked to be in prime position to do so once again in SPL XV after taking a commanding lead in the series. However, the Tyrants would battle back, eventually forcing a tiebreak. After the Ruiners's Fakes took down the Tyrants's SoulWind, things appeared grim for reyscarface and crew yet again. However, the team still had their ace, the best RBY player of all time in Heroic Troller, against a much less experienced player in Charmflash. In order to get to that game, though, rookie upstart myjava would have to take down one of the best players of the past few years in xavgb in SV OU. myjava had gone 6-1 up to that point while xavgb had uncharacteristically struggled, but this would certainly be a contentious affair nonetheless.

xavgb's offensive team exerted a great deal of pressure over myjava's more balanced build. He took control of the game from the outset, and after killing two of myjava's Pokemon with his Gouging Fire and severely damaging his Skeledirge as well, xavgb found himself in a great position. On Turn 23, he would send out his Kingambit against myjava's Zamazenta, hoping to end the game. He would get a free Swords Dance after Terastallizing into a Flying-type and KOed his opponent's Clefable. Skeledirge appeared to be myjava's last hope, but xavgb's Kingambit rendered the crocodile's Will-O-Wisp ineffective with its Lum Berry. At this point, myjava and the Tyrants only had one more trick up their sleeves: Ice Fang. The only way for the team to avoid elimination was for Zamazenta to luck through xavgb's Kingambit. On Turn 26, miraculously, the Tyrants's prayers were answered. The Gods smiled down on the Tyrants, and xavgb's Kingambit was knocked out after remaining frozen for two turns. Zamazenta would clean up xavgb's last two Pokemon, setting the stage for Troller, who would effortlessly dispatch Charmflash to push the Tyrants to the finals. This time around, they would not fall short, and the cursed franchise would finally lift the trophy. The entire season was flipped on its head by this one Ice Fang freeze, and the timing and impact of this moment earn it the #6 spot on this list.

5. SPL IX: The ABR Trade

ABR is arguably the best player ever. He broke onto the scene with a magnificent display in SPL VII, where he went 10-1. Heading into SPL IX, ABR was considered to be a transcendent player, and he was coming off a scintillating 9-2 performance in the first-ever edition of the Smogon Snake Draft. ABR was also known as one of the best teambuilders on the site and, as such, was the perfect type of player to serve as the cornerstone of an SPL franchise. ABR's friend and Snake manager, Tony, had taken control of the Wolfpack for the first time and wished to trade for ABR's retention rights from the Ruiners. ABR would only be 19k if retained, which would be a phenomenal value for someone of his caliber. Retaining him would put the Wolfpack in prime position to succeed for years to come. Funnily enough, two years earlier in SPL VII, a very similar situation had arisen between the Raiders and the Tigers. Back then, kumiko was an up-and-coming star and had made their presence felt in World Cup 2015, being one of the pillars of US East and a key reason why they won the trophy. They wanted to play with their friends on the Raiders, and as such, the Raiders offered the Tigers 5k along with a respected NU player named Blast for their retention rights. kumiko's retain was only 10k, and this trade would help lay the foundation for a strong Raiders squad that would make the semifinals in SPL VIII and the finals in SPL IX.

Returning to SPL IX, an extremely similar compromise would be reached between the Wolfpack and the Ruiners in that tournament. The Wolfpack would trade 4k along with a respected RU player named Chill Shadow for ABR's retention rights...sound familiar? This time around, though, the outrage from the public was a lot more palpable. Many people were livid at this trade and could not believe that the Ruiners had given away such a magnificent player and teambuilder for pennies on the dollar. As it turns out, those people had a right to be upset. With the addition of ABR to the team, the Wolfpack became a powerhouse. The SPL IX Wolfpack is still arguably the greatest collection of talent in the history of SPL, and ABR was the engine that pushed the franchise to its second-ever SPL win. The road to the title was certainly a bumpy one, though, as will be discussed in the next section. The legacy of the trade does not end there, though, as it was the primary reason why retain trades were removed in the following edition of SPL.

4. SPL IX: The Fateful Ice Beam Part II

As mentioned previously, the ABR trade had helped Tony craft one of the best rosters of all time in SPL IX. In the semifinals, the team labored against the Ruiners but managed to defeat them in a tiebreak. This set up a showdown with the Raiders in the finals, a top-heavy, stars-and-scrubs type of roster. Despite the Wolfpack boasting a superior lineup, the Raiders would not go out quietly, forcing a tiebreak. SoulWind would take down roscoe in DPP, while BKC would defeat rising star Updated Kanto in ORAS. This set up a winner-take-all game between ABR and kumiko in SM OU. The two had already played earlier on in the series, with kumiko taking home the win. They would have to do so again, though, or the Raiders's efforts would all be for naught.

Turn 1 featured a scare for kumiko and the Raiders, as they U-turned with their Tornadus-T into their Gliscor against ABR's Heatran. ABR used Lava Plume, which would have almost certainly won ABR the game if it burned kumiko's Gliscor. However, fate would not let the game end here, and kumiko's Gliscor escaped certain demise. After healing up on Turn 2, Gliscor would Swords Dance against ABR's Clefable before nailing his Latios with a Facade on Turn 5; this attack dealt massive damage, as Latios was left with only 17% HP. kumiko successfully predicted that ABR would use Ice Beam and switched to their Magnezone to absorb the blow. Unfortunately, the Gods would not smile on them this time around. ABR would freeze the Magnezone and proceed to heal up his Mega Latios, killing kumiko's momentum and wrestling back control of the game. Magnezone would later be sacrificed to ABR's Heatran, while ABR's Mega Latios would play a key role in ensuring that kumiko's Gliscor did not take over the game. The Ice Beam freeze was the real turning point of the game; without it, kumiko almost certainly would have won. In a way, kumiko was punished for their greedy Gliscor switch on Turn 1 after all. ABR would wind up winning the game, and the Wolfpack would take home the trophy. Throughout his career, ABR has certainly been more lucky than not, but in order to become the best of all time, one does need some things to go their way. In this game, you could say that he gave himself the chances to get game-winning luck, and he was rewarded the second time around. Ultimately, the impact of this freeze gives it the #4 spot on this list.

3. SPL XII: A Legacy-Defining Prediction

The SPL XII Wolfpack were certainly a worse roster than their SPL IX counterparts. That being said, they were still solid, and managed to reach the finals after dispatching the Classiest 6-4 in the semifinals. They would face off against the Tyrants, who were loaded with talent. The Wolfpack were on the verge of winning the trophy, but one of their key players, talah, committed a game-losing choke against the Tyrants's John W, eventually leading to the series winding up tied at 6-6. ABR would lose to John W, but talah would redeem themselves against 100percentpureheat, setting up a clash between Star and Eo in SS OU for the trophy. Eo was having a solid season, having gone 7-4 up to that point. However, Star was in the midst of a magnificent run, having gone 9-2 in ADV OU. He had not played SS up to that point in the tour, but he was certainly known to be a great player in that tier as well.

Unlike other games mentioned in the series, this one was decided almost instantly. On the very first turn of the game, Star took matters into his own hands and made one of the most crucial plays in the history of Smogon tournaments. The lead matchup was Eo's Tapu Fini against Star's Kyurem. Star knew that Fini was Choice Scarfed because its Misty Surge activated before Kyurem's Pressure. If Eo used Moonblast as Star stayed in, Eo would gain a massive advantage in the game, since Star needed Kyurem healthy in order to defeat Eo's team. Star, however, knew that Eo liked to play aggressively early on and knew that he was unlikely to click Moonblast that turn. He thus took a big gamble, choosing to use Freeze-Dry instead. The move worked to perfection, as Eo switched to his Garchomp, predicting Star to switch out. Garchomp was instantly knocked out, and Star had secured himself a 6-5 lead. Eo still had some threatening setup sweepers on his team such as Bisharp and Volcarona, but ultimately, the advantage Star had amassed due to his brilliant play was too much for Eo to overcome. Star was in control of the game from the outset and sealed the deal on Turn 21, when his Kyurem OHKO'd Eo's last Pokemon, Bisharp, with Earth Power. There has never been another game in SPL history where a game was essentially won on turn 1, and the importance of the event coupled with its rarity secures it the #3 spot on this list.

2. SPL V: The Manager Who Jumped Ship

This is without question the most absurd moment on this list and probably the craziest one in Smogon tournament history. Atticus was one of the managers of the Raiders in SPL V, and his team was in the process of getting dismantled in the tournament, as they limped to a 1-3 record to start the season. Naturally, no manager would want to be stuck on a struggling team. However, instead of helping rally his troops and encouraging them to dig deep and make a playoff push, Atticus decided to pick another option, one which no one else on the site knew existed. He decided to tell Oglemi, the host, that he wished to sign up as a player in the midseason auction. Per the rules of the time, any player could sign up for the midseason auction, regardless of if they had signed up originally. Of course, Atticus was not simply a player who had not signed up. He was in the tournament...as a manager for another team. For whatever reason, though, Oglemi, claiming that there were "no ulterior motives," granted Atticus's wish and let him join the player pool. In a way, Oglemi was right. There was certainly no hidden motive. Atticus's reason for wanting to play was obvious: his team was a disaster, and he wanted to join a better one. It's inconceivable that he was allowed to play, but the story does not end here.

A Smogon Frontier champion, Atticus was considered to be one of the best DPP players ever. His services would naturally be in high demand in the auction. The midseason auction worked as follows: teams would only be allowed to bid on players using credits they had left over from the original auction until 48 hours had passed from the start of the auction. After this, players could also be bid on using sellback credits, or credits acquired via selling players back for being inactive. For some unknown reason, the original auction started before the sign-ups for midseason were closed. Atticus did not sign up until after the window for bidding on players via auction credits had closed; this meant that he could be bid on using sellback credits. After selling back one of their players in gene, the Sharks had 3k sellback credits. Atticus's price had already exceeded this limit, so it appeared that there was no way for the Sharks to acquire him. However, they tried to sell back a player named Choice Specs for inactivity in order to gain the 3k required to pick up Atticus. There was a problem, though: the other teams had up to 24 hours with which to veto the sellback, and teams were not allowed to use credits they would have acquired via a sellback until either the 24-hour window had elapsed or if a veto was called for and was subsequently rejected by Oglemi. A player in the midseason auction becomes locked to the team that bid on him or her after 12 hours had passed without a successful upbid; the Sharks had attempted to sell back Choice Specs a little over an hour before the last bid on Atticus. There was no way they could get him...or could they? For whatever reason, tennisace, the Tigers's main manager, quickly initiated a veto vote on the Choice Specs sellback, which Oglemi promptly rejected. This gave the Sharks access to the funds needed to purchase Atticus, the Raiders's former manager. The story would end in movie-like fashion, with Atticus going 6-0 and hoisting the trophy while his original team would end the season in 10th place. You could honestly not make up a scenario more ridiculous if you tried. The sheer absurdity of this moment as well as its impact on the tournament's winners vaults it up to #2 on these rankings.

1. SPL VII: The Power of a Gym Leader

Surprisingly, at #1, we do not have a tiebreak game. This game did occur in the finals, however. Fresh off the heels of an SPL victory, the SPL VII Classiest stormed through the regular season, advancing to the finals after taking down the Ruiners in a hard-fought semifinals series, which ended after the Ruiners's idiotfrommars disconnected against the Classiest's Aeroblactyl. They would face off against the Sharks, who had returned to the finals after a one-year hiatus. The series was a hotly contested affair, with both teams trading blows back and forth. The series wound up tied at 5-5 with two games remaining. The first game to be played would be Cased vs. soulgazer in ORAS NU. Cased was a solid player but had not had many spectacular results; he was 4-5 heading into the game. soulgazer, meanwhile, had established himself as the best lower-tier player on the site after dominating in NU for multiple seasons; he had managed to put up a 7-2 record up to that point in SPL VII. The two were friends, though, and everyone knew the match would be closer than the records would suggest.

When the game started, everyone watching the game stared at their screens in disbelief. Cased had decided to use a mono-Ice team in the SPL finals. I, the manager of the Classiest at the time, still cannot believe it to this day. To really understand why this game is #1 on this list, I think you have to view this game from my perspective. This game occurred over 8 years ago, and I still have never watched the entire replay in full. It was that traumatizing to witness. soulgazer had even been told to use a Klinklang by his friend and fellow NU star watashi, but he chose not to listen; needless to say, Klinklang would have demolished Cased's team of 6 Ice types. The game was a back-and-forth affair, and both sides had chances to win. Cased did get a timely freeze on soulgazer's Garbodor with his Regice that helped save the game for him. Perhaps the dumbest part of the battle, though, was that soulgazer was rendered incapable of cancelling a move that may have won him the game due to a Twitch Emote Browser Extension that wound up covering the cancel button. Eventually, Cased would take home the win and put the Sharks up 6-5 in the series. However, in my mind, the score at the time felt a lot closer to 6-0 than 6-5. Both myself and my co-manager bruno, as well as almost everyone else on the team, felt completely defeated after this outcome. If soulgazer had just lost a normal game, it would have been fine. However, the thought of someone intentionally using a mono-ice team at 5-5 in the SPL finals and defeating one of the best players on the site in that specific tier is genuinely mind-boggling. Our last player, Zamrock, still had some fight left in him, though, even saying the following in his game after knocking out his opponent's Mega Beedrill with a Pursuit:

Unfortunately, the game would wind up not being all that close, as his opponent, Hikari, eventually took full control and won the battle and the tournament for the Sharks. Ultimately, though, it was written in the stars that Hikari would win after Cased's victory. If there was ever a game in SPL history that was worth more than the one win it counted for, it was this game. As much as I would hate to admit it, the ludicrous nature of Cased's team choice, the game's impact on the tournament, and, above all else, the sheer emotional damage inflicted by the win make this battle the most iconic moment in SPL history.

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