Some of the ratings / rankings from reyscarface's that caught my eyes. I translated them for y'all.
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The BIGs are probably the most versatile team this year. Pretty much their whole squad could be moved around to different tiers and they would still be very competent. Usually when this happens you end up with a team with many jack-of-all-trades instead of top-tier players, but that's not the case for the BIGs. They were planning on being able to slot Malekith in GSC, but sadly he has expressed hatred towards the tier, so DPP is the destination for him, moving boudouche to ORAS. This leaves a hole in GSC, and d0nut has big shoes to fill. As they sport a solid French core and very potent subs, it will be strange to see the BIGs struggling, as they can fix their weaknesses every single week. This ain't a McMeghan-only show, everyone.
Translation: The BIGs are an exact replica of Team France in the last WCoP. They're led by McMeghan, will probably get the number one seed in SPL too, and then lose again.
1. (2) cosine180 & (6) xray: 18 points - Scooters - The highly regarded German duo of xray and cosine180 leads the ORAS OU rankings. After both had very convincing OLT runs, the two are seen as top-tier metagamers. Unlike many other duos ranked below them, cosine and xray have been friends and building partners for quite some time. A sense of camaraderie between the two ORAS OU players in a team is always essential because they often will be building with each other quite a lot. Given how strong the two players are individually and the prevailing friendship between them, the Scooters have a monster in their hands.
Translation: This duo has established a well known Brokeback Mountain-esque relationship on Smogon. That alone is enough to scare the Jesus and Allah out of 75% of the users on here. They build together, sleep together, and play well together. In short, they're good and gay af.
2. (4) TDK & (5) CrashinBoomBang: 17 points - Raiders - TDK and CBB form the "wannabe BKC three-letter acronym" squad. TDK made a splash in the SPL scene last year, but he finished with a negative record. He gained hype after helping Team East win World Cup and making Smogon Tour playoffs this season. Known as a strong teambuilder, he will be able to pump out some neat squads for us to see. Loverboy CBB has been a tournament player for quite a while and has an established tenure. Known as an aggressive player and person, CBB will surely bring some high-powered squads to try to overwhelm his opponents. Hopefully he doesn't fight Tesung, though.
Translation: Both are a poor man's version of BKC. They'll play well and win against scrubs, but against an elite player like my teammate, Tesung, who I've recently developed sexual feelings for, they simply stand no chance.
7. (9) boudouche & (13) Reymedy: 10 points - Bigs - The BIGs come in with the French core of boudouche and Reymedy. They may not be known for their ORAS play, but both are more than capable of performing. Aside from World Cup, where they helped Team France lock the #1 seed in Round 1, both with 2-1 records, boudouche and Reymedy have had some results that leave room for improvement. boudouche had a nice run in OLT playoffs, where he defeated both High Impulse and Tele, but still was eliminated by ABR in the loser quarterfinals. Reymedy, on the other hand, is hoping to make up for a less than stellar performance last SPL, where he went 0-5 in ORAS. Both players will come in motivated and ready to prove they are threatening ORAS players, and they have the tools to do so. The BIGs also have some solid ORAS support in Improbable, Finchinator, and McMeghan, so there's no doubt the BIGs will bring some solid ORAS games this season.
Translation: McMeghan need to win at least all his games to make up for these two chokers' losses. They're solid players but can't handle the pressure of a prestigious tournament such as this. Their "solid" ORAS support really aren't that solid.
11. (17) blunder & (20) daftmau5: 3 points - Classiest - After getting styled on in OST and subsequently falling out of the spotlight, blunder is back. During his OST run, blunder received help from several players, including CTC, gr8astard, Bloo, and CBB. Without these people on his team to rely on, it will be interesting to see if blunder can achieve the same level of success. daftmau5 is relatively unknown as a player besides having some success during World Cup. These two aren't the most well-equipped to take on the behemoths of this list alone, so they'll need some spunk in their preparation together to trump the expectations. Really, though, it'll be unlikely that either of them goes in the black.
Translation: The absolute worst ORAS duo in this year's SPL. Both did impressively in last year's OST, then got completely and hilariously anally annihilated by the WhiteQueen. How good can they possibly be?
1. Hikari - Sharks - Current tier leader Hikari is the big kahuna of this bunch. With his years of SPL experience and repeated exposure to the UU metagame, there's no doubt that Hikari knows how to work in a tournament environment. Hikari's quite apt at using a unique combination of Pokémon and gimmicks on solid teams to overcome his opponents. With the peculiar UU pool this year, there isn't much doubt that Hikari will boast a great record.
Translation: I know absolutely nothing about ORAS UU or UU in general, but this person is the current UU leader, so he must be good. So I ranked him number one.
1. Cased - Sharks - Following some sweaty pre-season drama, Cased is fired up and ready to attack these bushy-eyebrowed folks. Being quite possibly the most creative teambuilder in the tier, he'll be able to surprise his opponent with some neat techs and Pokémon. At times Cased could be considered "too creative", which could possibly be a reason for his negative SPL record year. If Cased can innovate within reason, he'll definitely be worth the price tag of the most expensive lower-tier player.
Translation: A gimmick user and a gimmick player playing in a gimmick tier. He's the only name I recognize from the pool of NU players due to his big mouth, so gonna rate him highest.