In lieu of the typical Power Rankings format not aligning with the spirit of the tournament's format, we've released some writeups for each team! Thanks to
vivalospride Accel AJ Petros for the assistance with writing this.
Azelf on the Shelf
The UUFPL franchise Azelf on the Shelf led once again by their UUFPL manager duo of justdrew and Taka are attempting to break out of triple A and into the majors. They begin their plan with a manager self buy in the name of Taka. Taka is a SS UU competent fellow and can slide into a few different fairy gens, however 20k is a hefty price and in a perfect world you’d want a star player/major foundational piece for that price. It is yet to be seen if Taka can truly live up to the price tag.
Speaking of star power, robjr is this teams biggest buy at a relatively low price for rob’s standards, 22.5k. Rob has been a UU classic grinder before, which implies that not only is he competent in a majority of UU oldgens, but he also has teams to supply if necessary. In a tournament like this, that can matter quite a bit, and on top of that he is historically lethal in SM UU, with strong showings in multiple other generations of UU as well. Now with roughly a third of their funds gone, they have to continue building a sturdy foundation with what they have left.
Wanted in 49 States, Parpar, and TSR is their answer to this call, rounding out a relatively flexible old gens core (although it should be said the majority of this flexibility stems from TSR alone). But still, having Wanted in 49 States to man the RBY bo3 dungeon and Parpar for ADV purposes, allows TSR to spread his wings and fill in the gaps necessary outside of those tiers. TSR himself is made for this format, with a lot of experience in a majority of UU generations under his belt. However, he hasn’t played Smogon pokemon in a while, and who knows how motivated he is to grind.
The rest of this draft is made up of decent options that can realistically flex into at least two tiers within some level of reason. Feliburn and Dj Breloominati for fairy gens, Baddy for BW through ADV, Colin for SV and SM, Mister Mclovin for SV and BW, and betathunder will play whatever he’s asked with the most experience being in ORAS UU. Leoperi can play a few old head gens, but specializes in GSC. The main issue with all of this is that while all of these individuals are competent to some degree without question, there aren’t many slots to be particularly afraid of. In UUFPL this team could be dominant, but in a tournament with deeper pools we shall see if it holds together. The team rounds out with a great value pick in SV specialist Kate for 3k. Drew will undoubtedly do his best to squeeze every drop of production out of this lineup and if anyone could do it, it could he him. A playoff berth is not out of the question.
Vanilluxe Iced Lattes
The Vanilluxe Iced Lattes, led by baristas Estarossa and the man with one of UU’s most prolific name changes, are no strangers to heated competition. With several UUFPL playoff appearances—and a playoff berth in the most recent UUPL—these two managers certainly bring a latte experience to the field. The Lattes could be a truly powerful force, provided they remain grounded and prove that they're not a bunch of has-beans. The Lattes’ first move before the auction was to self purchase Estarossa, who provides valuable support across GSC, DPP, SM, and other tiers, and has also shown solid results as a player, including a 6-3 record in DPP during the latest UUPL.
The Lattes began their draft by spending 70k on three players, leaving them penny-pinching for the rest of the draft. Only time will tell whether this top-heavy strategy pays off. They dropped 35% of their wallet on Attribute, who has made a name as one of UU’s most consistent and dominant players in recent years. Outside of UU, he's led Team West in pursuit of a blue WCOP trophy. With a diverse skillset, Attribute is undoubtedly one of this tournament’s most dangerous threats. The Lattes’ other two major acquisitions were Lycans and Passion. Returning from a lengthy hiatus, Lycans is a well-known figure in UU, with a history of consistency in past tours and a strong showing in this year’s Slam. Can he pick up where he left off? Passion is one of the most reliable SV players available. Still, he’ll need to exceed expectations to make up for the weaker parts of the Lattes’ draft.
The Lattes’ road to near-bankruptcy continued with the picks of Xiri and choolio. Despite being old enough to remember when the asteroid hit the dinosaurs, choolio hasn’t seen much usage in recent team tours. A renowned and skilled player, yes—but perhaps more consistent as a name under the “deadgame” header. Xiri, on the other hand, has remained active and featured in nearly every recent UU tour. Though not the most consistent, he’s delivered strong records in the past—and will need to again. To round out their draft, the Lattes selected seven players for 23.5k credits. These seven—not the top six—will determine whether this team thrives or falls short of playoffs. Slip, ThatOneApple, haxlolo, and cheru are all active members of the UU community, each looking to make a name for themselves in an official UU tour. And lucky for them—their number’s been called. Last but not least are hex, ineros, and theycallmephil. While lesser-known, all three are valued team members. Phil will look to bounce back from an unfortunate UUFPL season. Hex hopes to solidify their presence in the community. And ineros… well, to be honest, I’m not sure who this is. Hopefully they’ll use this slight dig as motivation for a breakout performance!
Overall, the Lattes have assembled a strong—but bottom-heavy—team. And it’s in that bottom where their fate will be decided. Will the Lattes go on a hot streak, or will they be put on ice? Order up—these Lattes might just take this tour to go.
Gilderoy Lokix
The Gilderoy Lokix, gloriously led by Jeza.p and Dunoks, are merely two months distanced from a supremely dominant UUFPL run that resulted in their victory. Can they continue to cast the same magic and replicate their success throughout this UUCL?
The decision to self-purchase Dunoks for 20k may stupefy some, however he looks to clear any doubts as team's SS UU savant. Going 4-1 in the most recent UUFPL, as well as deep runs from multiple individual tournaments when SS UU was the current generation, prove him to be well-capable in the tier. Two familiar faces from the UUFPL-champion roster in Kitoothe and violet river find themselves to be essentially retained for great value at 3k and 7.5k respectively. Kitoothe displayed a commanding 9-1 performance in SV UU while violet river flexed a 7-1 record of her own in BW UU, both of whom topped their respective pools. Combine the pricetags and suddenly you have three talents at an average of 10k per head, which arguably be viewed as a bargain considering their recent achievements. One might even say that the golden trio is capable of being a Cerberus-level threat...
To further complement the existing chemistry, the Lokix committed a whopping 34.5k to the current gold medalist atop the UU Hall of Fame in Amukamara. While mostly known for his BW UU exploits, Liam has proven time and time again that his prowess extends to the majority of other UU old gens. This is evidenced by his UU Classic VI win alongside many positive records across various UU team tournaments. Without a doubt, the Lokix will heavily lean upon Amukamara to continue his winning trends and further prove that he is a jack of all trades whilst being a master of them all. Despite Liam's hefty pricetag, the Lokix were still able to nab multiple A-listers in 691, Maris Bonibell, and crying to round out an already impressive core. 691 is a longtime SV UU enthusiast and looks to strengthen an already sturdy Far Eastern connection with his fellow SV UU running mate, Kitoothe. Maris has been steadily cementing herself as a top RBY UU option over the years and looks to further that narrative over the coming weeks. Although crying has mostly innovated and dabbled in SS UU, they are skilled enough to be fielded in many other tiers and the team will surely rely on them as such.
The Lokix's low-end buys can be promising as well, with Metallica126, BP, jackuzzler, The Strap, FoulplayG, Moutemoute, and A Welcome Guest all providing unique worth in their respective specialty generations. Metallica is familiar enough with SM UU through the recent SMPL to put up a valiant effort. Jackuzzler, winner of the first ever DPP UU open, provides immense help in the generation of variance. Even former-council member Moutemoute is here to round out The French Connection and provide support in the fairy gens. Every player here will look to contribute towards fortifying the team's defence against the dark arts, no doubt.
So far, the Gilderoy Lokix have made a fantastic first impression and are smoothly riding their existent momentum from UUFPL. Only time will tell if Jeza and Dunoks are viewing their past triumphs through rose-tinted lens or if their approach remains to be consistent on the bigger stage.
Cinnabar MissingNoNames
The Cinnabar MissingNoNames (hereinafter “the Names”), championed by long-time community members Accel and Killintime and boasting an overwhelming lack of creativity, have their eyes set on nothing less than victory. They won’t settle for anything short of being named “Winner.”
The Names kicked things off by self-drafting Accel for 20k —roughly 6k less than his likely market value. A steal, some might say. The Names continued strong, picking up Adaam at a reasonable price and then splurging 25k on girl-dad Heysup, putting his newfound strength—and sleep deprivation—to good use. Adaam is undeniably one of the greatest UU players of all time. With a teal Grand Slam trophy among his many accolades, he remains a top-tier threat in both SM and SS UU. Heysup, a legend in both DPP and ADV, is one of the winningest players in UU team tour history. Alongside Accel, these three may form the strongest trio in the entire tournament.
After this power-packed start, the Names rounded out their core by drafting Sabelette, Mossy Sandwich, Cam, Tack, and Feen—five players with solid experience in UU tournament play and strong reputations within the community. Sabelette, a vocal and proud member of the RBY community, is one of the most competent mainers in this tournament. With a small but competitive pool and high stakes, Sabelette will need to deliver under pressure. Mossy Sandwich, though not always the most consistent in team formats, has shown flashes of brilliance in individual tournaments. Can he bring that fire to UUCL? Cam, a long-standing member of the community, is a reliable performer in any tier he's thrown into—and that consistency will be crucial here. Tack has become a staple in BW UU for team tours, and her deep knowledge and steady performance will be vital in what looks to be a tough pool. Feen, though a bit less known, is coming off a strong UUPL run that earned him early recognition. Historically hit or miss in UU team events, he’ll need to be a hit this time around.
Now, onto everyone’s favorite part of any draft: the 3Ks. In most tours, these low-cost players ride the bench, keeping it warm for the first 0-3 starter (insert Indigo Plateau roast here). But in this tour, they’re critical to team success. With each week being unpredictable, these five players will be at the heart of the Names’ pursuit of greatness. First is Mik3ymon, who made his debut in UUFPL V and has earned a UUCL nomination through strong play. Can he rise to the challenge on a bigger stage? Next is IcyPenguin2, an active and improving member of the UU community. He’s earned this opportunity—let’s see what he makes of it. Mindnight has previous UU team tour experience but has somewhat faded from the spotlight. They’ll need to bring their A-game to re-establish their presence. And finally, we have ManOfMany and OneLastKiss. Both are familiar names, though their UU participation has been limited. Their activity and contributions will be crucial if the Names hope to contend.
This team isn’t made of no-names—it’s packed with names! Can Accel, First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, along with his loyal court jester Killintime, conquer this tournament? Or will their name be forgotten?
Soul Dew Syndicate
The Soul Dew Syndicate, managed by Seraphz and A Plague Doc—the two least experienced managers in the tournament—are here to prove their soulless haters wrong. Like nearly every other team this tour, the Syndicate kicked things off by self-drafting manager Seraphz. While he lacks deep UU experience, Seraphz posted a solid 4-3 record in BW during this year’s UUPL, showing he can hold his own when the stakes are high. His support will be key on a team where most players are expected to exclusively prep their own slots. The Syndicate made their presence felt early by spending big—and their purchases were anything but reckless. Their first pick was Lyssa, the newly appointed UU Tier Leader. A seasoned manager and longtime UU mainstay, Lyssa brings consistency and skill to the lineup. However, will a lack of activity limit their impact—especially if their in-game performance doesn’t meet expectations?
Next, the Syndicate picked up 2025 Shiba for 20k. Some might call it an overpay—but it might actually be a steal; after all, Shiba just locked down the #1 seed in this year’s Grand Slam. For their priciest buy, the Syndicate secured one of the greatest UU old-gen players of all time: Fatty. While not the most active presence, Fatty commands the top of both the DPP and ADV pools, making him an elite pickup at any price. Together, Fatty and Shiba form a powerful one-two punch in a stacked ADV field. With their remaining funds—before diving into a spree of 3k picks—the Syndicate snagged Real FV13 and TJ. Real FV is a proven performer with plenty of UU team tour experience and the versatility to cover multiple old gens, a huge asset in this format. TJ also brings a strong resume and history of success. Though he’s been a quieter presence in the tier lately, he has the potential to return to form and post impressive results.
Down to a near-empty bank, the Syndicate rounded out their roster with a near-record seven players signed for under 4k. Among them is Mintwiner, a rising SV UU player who’s steadily built their resume over the past few years. This tour offers the perfect chance for them to break through and secure a place in future draft conversations. The Syndicate also picked up UUFPL IV champion Driplegend, whose broad competitive experience—including several WCOP appearances—brings valuable depth and experience. BeatsBlack, likely a flexible old-gens filler, lacks direct UU experience but brings solid mechanical knowledge to the table. Crushy and Kimer, active members of the UU community, are relatively untested in team tours but should be hungry to make their mark. Finally, the Syndicate grabbed Teh—currently near the bottom of the RBY pool. It’ll be an uphill climb, but the opportunity is there if they’re ready for it.
Hey, Soul Syndicate—I don’t wanna miss a single thing you do this tour. Will their bold draft strategy pay off? I dew not know. But between established veterans and hungry newcomers, this Syndicate has the tools to levitate themselves into playoff contention!
Twinkatons
The Twinkatons! Managed by UU mainstay avarice, and manager main howkings. Avarice has been at the forefront of SV UU for as long as I've been around. Very innovative builder, extremely capable player, deep knower of several UU oldgens, absolutely worth the 20K selfbuy the Twinkatons spent on him. I expect to see him rotating across many gens for the duration of this tour, while supporting his players at the same time. Howkings is a much lesser know UU quantity, with very little UU related knowledge, as my sources tell me, and that's totally fine! Having good vibes in your team chat, after all, is also crucial for the success of a team, and I'm sure Howkings will be the bringer of those vibes and he'll be helping his players however he can.
The Twinkatons decided to start their draft with purchasing another master of many oldgens, for 23.5K, LpZ. Everyone remembers LpZ's legendary DPP run from a couple UUPLs ago, the undefeated 10-0 run to also win the ring. And if you think "wow, that's impressive", that's not even his most impressive feat as a player of pocket monsters. This is the winner of Smogon's last Grand Slam trophy. Expect nothing less than greatness from him. After that, the manager duo decided to heavily focus on their fairygens core, spending more than 10K on each of etern, Indigo Plateau, Mimilucha and Sabella, all of them pretty well known and capable players. Especially looking forward to see if etern will keep up his great performance in SV, after a dominant 6-3 UUPL run, and if Mimilucha will prove to be as much of a threat being slotted in SS, after having a stellar WCoP run and winning the last UULT. Next on the list there's 5.5K Gondra, who I had to make sure wouldn't play before September 1st, so we'll see how that goes. If the team's already doing well by then, Gondra will be an amazing addition to their starters' lineup, and he might be the deciding factor who can push this team all the way to winning the tour. Until then, Jay will be the one who will be doing Gondra's work in ORAS. Jay is no Gondra for sure, but he was on my UUFPL team and I know he's good enough to compete in this tour, and a hard worker to boot. Now he even has access to
Gondra's Umbry's builder to choose more teams from. Corperate n is a name you're definitely aware of, if you've been in the UU scene lately. He builds his own teams, he actively ladders, and I expect his role here will be to support the main SV slots, and maybe even play some oldgens, as he's also a previous UU Classic qualifier.
Kingler is another interesting name I see on this list - less known for his profficiency in UU, and more for his OU Classic runs, he can for sure be a reliable pilot, who would just need some support to perform decently. Both TyCarter and Indulge In Dreams provide some extra flexibility in oldgens, and like avarice himself and Corperate n, they can be utilised in many different flex slots, and maybe grab some clutch wins. Mielke, as an Italian friend of mine would say, is one of the greatest ADV OU minds of our times, and there's pretty much nothing else that's needed to add there. He'll be ADVing when needed, or at least help support someone else ADVing. Magialice is considered to be a solid RBY options, according to the mainers of that tier, so there's nothing more for me to really add here, and you might see that guy Azick get slotted into SV, if another player struggles. Or, you might not see him at all. To conclude this monster of a writing piece, I think this team has the potential to make the playoffs of this tour, provided they lock in.
The Amazing Ambipoms
The Amazing Ambipoms, led by Petros and starbitstorm, unsurprisingly began the draft by dropping 48.5k on the classic umbry and Bouff core. On paper, this decision makes sense, though it remains to be seen how it pans out—especially with umbry expressing interest in playing ADV UU and Bouff also preferring to stay in ADV UU. The fact that neither is taking on a literal managerial role could also hinder their motivation and productivity during the tournament. That said, there’s no doubt they landed a proven duo. Umbry is arguably the best all-around UU player of the last two generations, while Bouff is a Swiss army knife—capable of offering input and testing in most lower-tier metas, particularly in UU, where they’ve spent much of their time. Despite concerns around flexibility, Bouff is undoubtedly one of the most knowledgeable ADV UU players of all time, though this marks their first competitive return to the meta in quite a while.
DugZa is their next most expensive buy—and for good reason. He played a flex role for his UUBD team, switching between metas multiple times and finishing with an overwhelmingly positive record, all with minimal support. While he's coming off an underwhelming UUPL, his overall track record more than makes up for it, and he should be a strong third star in the Ambipoms' core. The rest of the roster is solid as well. Melbelle stands out as one of the stronger RBY options in the tour, and Hacker is an underrated pilot across multiple gens—though with real UnderUsed experience only in SM. Hydronics is a UU Classic grinder with knowledge spanning multiple gens, potentially serving as a key support figure to hold the team together. Drud brings strong DPP lower-tier experience and can also slot into SV if needed. Tree69420 offers additional RBY coverage along with SV experience, potentially deterring teams from doubling up on RBY picks against them. The evakiyama buy at 5.5k could be one of the best value picks of the draft—they're expected to perform well in older UU formats. Rasche, picked up for just 3k, is a high-ceiling player, and the French duo of Kst3ve and Tuthur rounding out the SV core could have a real impact both in building and in piloting.
This team is undeniably well-rounded, with strong star power. There are a few potential weak points—BW could be vulnerable, especially if Bouff isn’t keen on flexing outside of ADV. Ultimately, the team's success may hinge on how much umbry, Bouff, and DugZa are willing to flex into non-preferred tiers. If they’re open to sacrificing comfort for team strength, this could be one of the scarier teams to counterpick, given their depth of viable options. Another potential concern is the SV core and the support structure behind it. With umbry being one of the best SV builders—and both managers also heavily SV-inclined—there’s a risk of “too many cooks in the kitchen.” Add Kst3ve as another builder, and the question becomes whether there's enough clarity and execution behind all that input.
Time will tell how this team shakes out, but the potential is definitely there. With a UUPL ring already on umbry’s finger, the ceiling is high—the sky’s the limit for this team with her leading the charge. [/hide]
Mikan Island Monster Carrots
The Monster Carrots (no relation to the dearly departed Mikan Island Monsters) have an interesting dynamic compared to other teams; notably, they have what is most likely the highest value self buy of the tour in Pak for a measly 20k. Not only is this much cheaper than what he's worth historically, but most of the other managers who had self bought wouldn't touch that price in auction, either. By default, that gives the Monster Carrots a huge leg up heading into the draft. Things would not be so easy afterwards, however, as Xrn went for 30.5k, being the third most expensive player in the tournament. This buy was almost thwarted by drew's hyperactive fingers causing him to go for 36k, but thankfully the hosts tend to be gracious. As far Xrn's actual prowess at the game goes, he's well worth the pricetag, as he's played ADV, ORAS, and BW UU in tournaments consistently over the years. While a lot of those games are in ADV and he's been very vocal about not wanting to play that tier, being able to flex into multiple formats will prove invaluable.
lax and hellom will probably end up in a similar role as Xrn, as they can pilot whatever teams are given to them with success in just about any generation. The starting four players are just about as good as you can get for this tournament's format, and are arguably the best tiebreak core. Micciu is a yapper and a tryhard mostly geared towards SS, DPP, and ADV - he'd probably like to stay out of DPP for as long as humanly possible, but he's serviceable enough for the other two tiers. col49 is yet ANOTHER player on this team that knows multiple gens - he's mastered the art of plugging and playing with whatever's given to him in GSC and winning off of skill gapping whatever mainer he's playing that week, but he's also played pretty much all of the other gens at some point over the years. Regardless of what he's playing, he obviously meshes very well with viv as evidenced by their UUPL win last year together as managers, so they should be able to maintain that same kind of environment here.
Charmriah is the first person on this list who's actually known for only one tier, having made strides in ADV over the past year between UUBD and UUPL. He's brought up decent results, but has held himself back by overcooking when he doesn't need to, particularly with his Altarias this past UUPL. Thankfully, he has teammates who are good enough at ADV to keep him from messing around too much in the builder and shooting himself in the foot. There isn't much to say about Django here unfortunately, other than that he played DPP in UUFPL, as he's much more involved with NU and PU as of late. THE_CHUNGLER came onto the scene from RU last year, but is one of those players who has started to play a little bit of everything, including RBY UU and ADV UU. He's still green as a player, but he seems to be the team's dedicated RBY slot, so like...it probably doesn't matter.
Similarly to the previous two players, Ampha is another export from a different tier, though he's had some showings in SM here and there. He has pretty much the best help you could humanly ask for in terms of support, so he should do decently at least. Jojen went 6-2 in SV Dist. in UUFPL this year. I don't have anything to really say on this and I'm not even going to pretend like I know what the hell SV Dist. is, so sorry I guess. MrAldo went for pennies considering his stellar performance in BW during last year's UUBD...but he didn't get drafted in the following UUPL, so he'll have to put up a similar showing in order to prove to those with doubts that his last tour wasn't a fluke. Thankfully, he has col49 to support him, which is good because col is one of like five people on the site who don't suck at building BW. Finally, the roster is rounded off with Lialiabeast. They're going to GSC at a passable level, and that's probably it, which is fine because there's nothing inherently wrong with spending 3k on GSC and hoping for the best. This team is filled with players that can be categorized in two ways: seasoned veterans with a very high ceiling who can play whatever they're slotted into without too much hassle, or players who aren't really too into UU historically but have a bit of experience here and there. This translates into the Monster Carrots being a top heavy team that doesn't have much in the way of steals, but if their cheaper slots provide good value, then they'll be a very dangerous team.
Thank you once again to everyone who wrote on this and helped put it all together - good luck to all teams!!
