Tournament ZUPL VII - Week 3

AC7

AC7

As a friend you are ... replaceable, farewell!
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributor
final-png.756856

Art by DoomBre1oom

Hosted by Eledyr , July , and AC7

Follow all tournament rules, as shown here.
Please schedule on Smogon, through VMs if able, makes it easier for me in the case an activity call needs to be made.
Managers may made substitutions once the week has begun, please tag the hosts( Eledyr and I) as well as the opposing manager, and the opposing player that is affected by the substitution. Players that are subbed out may not be subbed back in that week.
Replays are mandatory for your win to count.

<<Commencement>>
<<Admin>>

<<Spreadsheet>>

Week 3:

:morpeko: Morpeek-A-Boos (2) vs (0) Shiiny Shiinotics :shiinotic:
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama!
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP

:raticate: Ragebait Raticates (0) vs (1) The VANGUARDS :shedinja:
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite
BW ZU: Xrn vs Monai
DPP ZU: Drud vs Baddy
ADV ZU: czim vs bydy

:oricorio: Fiery Flamencos (1) vs (1) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang :smeargle:
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended
SV ZU: Danny vs feen
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys
SS ZU: kay vs PandaDoux
SM ZU: Greybaum vs 5gen
ORAS ZU: lighthouses vs neomon
BW ZU: SBPC vs SEA
DPP ZU: missangelic vs BeatsBlack
ADV ZU: Baoba vs Parpar

:spiritomb: Mossui Town Spiritombs (1) vs (3) Cramlington Cramorants :cramorant:
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa
BW ZU: Cow vs 5Dots
DPP ZU: Ara vs HSOWA
ADV ZU: mielke vs plznostep

The deadline for this round is Sunday, August 17th at 23:59 GMT -4.
Morpeek-A-Boos (0) vs (0) Shiiny Shiinotics
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama!
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP

Ragebait Raticates (0) vs (0) The VANGUARDS
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite
BW ZU: Xrn vs Monai
DPP ZU: Drud vs Baddy
ADV ZU: czim vs bydy

Fiery Flamencos (0) vs (0) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended
SV ZU: Danny vs feen
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys
SS ZU: kay vs PandaDoux
SM ZU: Greybaum vs 5gen
ORAS ZU: lighthouses vs neomon
BW ZU: SBPC vs SEA
DPP ZU: missangelic vs BeatsBlack
ADV ZU: Baoba vs Parpar

Mossui Town Spiritombs (0) vs (0) Cramlington Cramorants
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa
BW ZU: Cow vs 5Dots
DPP ZU: Ara vs HSOWA
ADV ZU: mielke vs plznostep
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Morpeek-A-Boos (6) vs (4) Shiiny Shiinotics
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9 - yo cho cooked Danny really hard last week
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333 - peko technology
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER - chungler is quite good, even if Trichotomy is more than solid
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126 - that guy beat BaitWiz
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10 - time to bounce back
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ - kekw
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist - sounds right
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice - idk tbf
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama! - they are sheist
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP - fog usually does super well in adv

Fiery Flamencos (4) vs (6) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss - from what ive read in tour discussions, zause plays crystal balling more than pokémon
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended - OLK is on a good streak
SV ZU: Danny vs feen - Danny is gonna be busy losing twice to the Totos
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys - never bolding sufys
SS ZU: kay vs PandaDoux - pd pd pd
SM ZU: Greybaum vs 5gen - great hl, guts feeling for 5gen
ORAS ZU: lighthouses vs neomon - more solid player imo
BW ZU: SBPC vs SEA - never doubting SEA
DPP ZU: missangelic vs BeatsBlack - BeatsPL
ADV ZU: Baoba vs Parpar - Baoba might be ADV ZU goat

Mossui Town Spiritombs (4) vs (6) Cramlington Cramorants
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ - Two solid players, but tombs SV has seemed better
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN - not a fan of Mada in Lower tiers
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend - lice, thats your moment
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs - Django lost to the biggest noob in the tour lmao
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice - battle of weird teams
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta - has Oathkeeper ever won a ZU teamtour game?
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa - I hope you draft me in SCL
BW ZU: Cow vs 5Dots - cant always have the rng
DPP ZU: Ara vs HSOWA - better ig
ADV ZU: mielke vs plznostep - likewise
 
Last edited:
Look mom I'm doing the funny gambling

Morpeek-A-Boos (0) vs (0) Shiiny Shiinotics
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9 - yo cho too good
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126 - fish has unlimited fish teams
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist - I got carried by his sample for P2 suspect so...
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama!
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP

Ragebait Raticates (0) vs (0) The VANGUARDS
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE - the diego streak starts now
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe - he went to France for 6 months he's gotta be goated
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka - I don't want drud to send him to the shadow realm
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite
BW ZU: Xrn vs Monai
DPP ZU: Drud vs Baddy - highlight match idk
ADV ZU: czim vs bydy

Fiery Flamencos (0) vs (0) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss - zause beat me in ssnl so obviously he's the best SV player ever
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended
SV ZU: Danny vs feen
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys
SS ZU: kay vs PandaDoux - the french man will win for sure
SM ZU: Greybaum vs 5gen
ORAS ZU: lighthouses vs neomon - neomonster
BW ZU: SBPC vs SEA
DPP ZU: missangelic vs BeatsBlack
ADV ZU: Baoba vs Parpar

Mossui Town Spiritombs (0) vs (0) Cramlington Cramorants
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs - he's free and comming for everyone
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa
BW ZU: Cow vs 5Dots - maybe I should'nt admit to this but Cow 6-0d me so yeah
DPP ZU: Ara vs HSOWA
ADV ZU: mielke vs plznostep
 
Ragebait Raticates (0) vs (0) The VANGUARDS
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke - stop asking me for teams
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE - diegoyuhhi winstreak incoming
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe - dd joat
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka - no more losing

Fiery Flamencos (0) vs (0) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss - you cant win the lottery forever
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended
SV ZU: Danny vs feen - goat
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys - sufys will bounce back

Mossui Town Spiritombs (0) vs (0) Cramlington Cramorants
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ - feliburns has been playing very well so far
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN - sheist game vs chungler last week
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend - pretty close skill wise but Ive liked drip teams more
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs - django didn't play the best last week
 
Morpeek-A-Boos (4) vs (6) Shiiny Shiinotics
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9 -- yo cho is better, 2-0, played well last week, and although he won't stop yapping about "fire" resists in zu cord should win over mr. monday act call
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333 -- Chaos's gameplay has seemed better so far, Esteb4n got bailed by LBN clicking Knock for no reason in w1 and wasnt super impressive last week either.
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER -- 5th on PRs, did have a mild toss last week but has been very good overall in ZU
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126 -- gonna go for the upset, Meta outplayed a bad mu and won last week, whereas fish threw a 100% win last week
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10 -- obb lost the last two weeks using bad teams, whereas franklin uses good teams and wins
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ -- MZ won his hardest match of the tour convincingly last week, he's going 7-0, whereas btboy is 0-2, sorry unc
ORAS ZU: Estragos vs Charles A. Theist -- Charles hasn't been great so far, whereas anonymous has won both games
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice -- magialice is 1-0 with a strong win over 5dots, foolycl is 1-1 with a weak haxy win over a sub with no prep
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama! -- evakiyama has been really poor in the first two weeks, plague has been solid
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP -- he's 1-0, missed last week whereas fog required insane hax to win w1 then lost last week

Ragebait Raticates (4) vs (6) The VANGUARDS
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke -- rats sv lol + better meta knowledge + strong win last week and got haxed in his loss, though PTK did defeat feen last week
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE -- this guy has been really impressive so far, diego could win but given his teamtour history im not so sure
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe -- why is he still starting, we all know hes gonna lose
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka -- taka has not been good so far
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice -- vanguards have all my broken teams from last zupl, otherwise id probably predict seraphz
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner -- tack has been unlucky, but afo has a better record and more history playing this tier than tack
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite -- ruffles has been very good so far, whereas vanguards prepped tene a team 6-0d by cm duosion and got punished
BW ZU: Xrn vs Monai -- MONAI
DPP ZU: Drud vs Baddy -- Drud lost to beatsblack last week but im sure he'll make an incredible come back to go 11-1 this tour
ADV ZU: czim vs bydy -- while ive liked teaming with bydy and the effort he puts into prep, he is 0-2 whereas czim is 2-0 and czim had a really good win last week

Mossui Town Spiritombs (3) vs (7) Cramlington Cramorants
SV ZU: Feliburn vs TJ -- feli has been good and im not allowed to bold tj for personal reasons anyway
SV ZU: Mada vs LBN -- LBN had the most generational toss in modern zupl history but did just get a very good win vs THE_CHUNGLER himself
SV ZU: LustfulLice vs DripLegend -- Close, but Lice is slightly better imo
SV ZU: Django vs PlayaBeavs -- glad hes been freed, hes really good imo
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice -- Ninja hasnt played very well so far, whereas Slice played poorly vs Franklin but very well vs OBB last week
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta -- Oath is 0-2 with some bad matchups, and Terracotta is coming off a bad loss, but Terra is more consistent (stop loading quax + spin top on ladder though plz)
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa -- unless zpice autowins with another cringy oras sweeper dugza should win
BW ZU: Cow vs 5Dots -- cow should be motivated, as if he loses he'll probably be benched, whereas 5dots is very lucky but has loaded bad teams so far and got smoked last week
DPP ZU: Ara vs HSOWA -- this guy went for like 16k he better win
ADV ZU: mielke vs plznostep -- steppy is my goat and should be 2-0 if not robbed although they did get a bit lucky last week, whereas mielke is
 
pulled up the replay thread for these, i wish I randomly bolded cuz there are only so many weezing lax tomb float jolt whimsi mesp sandslash games one can watch, and it probably would have changed ~2 predicts

SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9: I think it's safe to bold THE yo cho against someone who brought quaxwell last week.
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333: I think i like the builds that Chaos brought more
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER: I think what happens this game depends on what THE_CHUNGLER brings this week. I think that Trichotomy wont be ready for the Dachsbun or Flapple or Camerupt or whatever THE_CHUNGLER loads.
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126: it's fish. we're bolding fish.

SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke: Both brough teams that are more or less meta both weeks, and I guess the Sableye FP brough excites me more. idk im sick of looking at lax + weezing/mesp + slash + lanturn balance builds
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE: talk about fun looking builds. I'm also trying to make amends for not bolding JJ last week.
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe: H0-3n. Jokes aside, I can't predict the 0-3 even though I trust the VANGUARD builder more, because this is the S1nn0hC0nfirm3d.
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka: They are both 0-2, and although I feel like this is a toss-up, I think I'll bold the one who lost to ditto tera blast w1 over the one who lost to specs jolt.

SV ZU: zause vs kyuss: both are gonna bring heat, and I'm excited to see what comes on both sides. I just get the vibe that this is the type of game where zause gets haxxed by an unmon and randomly has beef with the guy for a month afterwards? It's also hard to predict an SV 4-0 and I am more confident abt the other 3.
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended: Career Ended's games were both vs HO, and it checks out that the stall v HO MU was their one win. I feel like OLK's games were a little more exciting to (re)watch and had a little more finesse, and if I'm bolding based off the replays, I'll go with it.
SV ZU: Danny vs feen: Again, cooler in the builder IMO. I'm just bolding based on how much I like the builds, which increases proportionally as sandslash usage decreases.
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys: 1-1 vs 0-2. Didn't like sufrys' brings, and mav won with greedant vs S1nn0h. mav def had good luck that game, but I think the 1 win can carry this predict either way.
 
Morpeek-A-Boos (0) vs (0) Shiiny Shiinotics
SV ZU: yo cho vs Emre Mor 9 - the hero will triumph
SV ZU: Esteb4n vs Chaos23333 - idk they're both fine players
SV ZU: Trichotomy vs THE_CHUNGLER - chungler will send some crazy random pick and then get goobed by snow
SV ZU: fish anemometer vs Metallica126 - hl matchup, the pekos have pretty much picked up where europe left off so I'm giving fish the edge here, though metallica's more than good enough to take a win here if he finds a way through the pekos technology
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10 - not obb's tour so far and i dont see him changing that against franklin who's already on his typical hot streak
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ - im not bolding against MZ in SM, especially when btboy hasn't had a good start
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist - charles has been thoroughly underwhelming while estra's got two wins so far
BW ZU: Foolycl vs magialice
DPP ZU: Plague vs evakiyama! - i haven't been paying a ton of attention to dpp this year but plague's been solid legit every time ive seen them play
ADV ZU: Fogbound Lake vs BP

Ragebait Raticates (0) vs (0) The VANGUARDS
SV ZU: PTKmoekyuun vs FlamPoke - i legit can't decide between them, ptk's the stronger player but fp actually brings interesting teams sometimes and eventually he'll find a banger
SV ZU: diegoyuhhi vs JJ09LIE - should be pretty close, diego's the theoretical favorite due to his reigning circuit champion status but jj09lie's a great player and diego's teamtour record is infamous by this point
SV ZU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs DD Joe - idt ho3n has won a single game since coming back to zu, I could easily see him making this predict wrong since he's historically been a solid player but i cant in good faith bold him at the moment
SV ZU: Shadow079 vs Taka - bias pick, I just wanna see shadow succeed
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice - avarice will either tilt seraphz with scheduling and win the mental war or just outclick on game day
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner - I feel like she'll find her footing this week, especially since afo usually brings some very wack stuff into this tier
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite - Ruffles is on a tear and Drud's support is actually pretty good for ORAS
BW ZU: Xrn vs Monai - highlight matchup, Xrn and Monai have both started the tournament well and are both excellent players. I'd maybe give the slightest of edges to Xrn, but it really could go either way.
DPP ZU: Drud vs Baddy - baddy's a great player but when it comes to dpp drud's head and shoulders above every single player left in this pool
ADV ZU: czim vs bydy - the old dog knows new tricks

Fiery Flamencos (0) vs (0) Smeagle Wizard Money Gang
SV ZU: zause vs kyuss - iykyk, no disrespect to the zausinator but kyuss is that guy and ngl it feels like half the time zause is playing roulette trying to find a random mu fish in these tours
SV ZU: One Last Kiss vs Career Ended - idk, olk's wins weren't that convincing to me and career ran into a dream mu for his only win
SV ZU: Danny vs feen - bias pick for my 2023 ZU Circuit GOAT
SV ZU: MAVERICK SHOOTERS vs sufys - i have faith in sufys finding his footing this week and i dont love that mav used two unmons week 1, even if they ended up winning
SS ZU: kay vs PandaDoux - I think kay will find his footing here after having to face the music about machoke w1 and then franklin w2
SM ZU: Greybaum vs 5gen - Greybaum's a consistent and strong player in SM and someone who I basically can always trust to perform well, so even though they're both coming into this week undefeated I favor Greybaum overall
ORAS ZU: lighthouses vs neomon
BW ZU: SBPC vs SEA - despite her loss last week to Xrn, I feel that SEA is pretty heavily favored here compared to SBPC who had a lackluster week 1 and has typically stuck to other generations in times past
DPP ZU: missangelic vs BeatsBlack - beatspl
ADV ZU: Baoba vs Parpar
 
I went 5/9 again in last week's predictions. Now I'm at 10/18 trying to stay afloat (technically I'm 12/20 b/c I predicted myself to win twice and did). Too many betrayals (looking at you obb, charles, and team with no psychic resist).

Morpeek-A-Boos vs Shiiny Shiinotics
SS ZU: TheFranklin vs OranBerryBlissey10 - HL SS matchup so far. From a fan perspective, I'd like to see OBB bounce back. Last week, toto said obb probably sabotages in the builder. While I wouldn't go that far, winning with Clefairy is not easy to do. As for OBB's game, his Rotom got 5 Shadow Ball SpD drops in 6 straight turns and only killed a weakened Persian-A. It looked like OBB was fated to win that game, but slice managed to pull it back. Turn 53 seemed like a key turn. OBB's Rotom took a Dazzling Gleam off a switch and was put in range of rocks, and ended up Tricking its Scarf away soon after, leaving obb with nothing faster than slice's Duggy-A or Rap. Clefairy ended up getting sacked anyway so maybe it would've been better to sack it sooner. Anyway, Franklin vs kay was a way more one-sided game, so I won't go into detail there. The Pekos brought a standard team that covers the meta well, and Franklin was in control all game (the early Icicle Crash miss helped, but idt was major). I think Franklin is better in-game and that the Pekos will account for OBB's style. It'd look awful for OBB to start 0-3 after his crazy run last year. This game is a perfect chance for OBB to start his turnaround.
SM ZU: btboy vs MZ - This is a pretty cool matchup and both players are one away from a streak. For btboy, another L results in a 3-game losing streak, which I wouldn't have imagined would happen even in this stacked pool. MZ is on top of his game, winning what some people thought was the HL SM matchup last week. Terra misplayed and MZ capitalized, leading to a decisive yet anti-climactic win for MZ (anti-climactic in that the game could've been a lot tighter). btboy lost to Greybaum last week. The game was fairly interesting. I feel like btboy played too safe at some points and had an approach that didn't land. I'm referring to the decision to run lure Muk into Greybaum, who seemed to account for that set by never risking Golem. btboy still could've won the game if he read that Golem was the Z user and sacked Kecleon at the end. To be fair, that's a super tough read to make. All things considered, I favor MZ because he's the better player and has brought solid teams so far. btboy could cook something up though, so this should be good.
ORAS ZU: Havocknight vs Charles A. Theist - Both these players know each other really well and go back a while. This is a battle between sparring partners. Charles hasn't been performing too well, whereas Havoc is 2-0 and seems much more experienced in a tour setting. I expected Dugza to get knowledge-checked last week, but he flipped that expectation and nailed Charles's Furf with a t1 Scarf Mienfoo HJK. The game was out reach after the first few turns. Havoc brought a cool setup spam offense and cruised to victory. He had like three different ways to win that game, which means Havoc's prep worked out nicely. Although Charles can always pull out something wild, he has seemed more restrained in his team picks. I find Havoc is better in-game and has a good feel for what works into his opponents.

Ragebait Raticates vs The VANGUARDS
SS ZU: seraphz vs avarice - avarice's play has been pretty impressive, especially vs Ninja in the end-game. avarice's team looks pretty solid, and I like it more than what seraphz brought last week. While the lack of speed control from avarice stuck out to me, the team clearly worked and teams can often get away with no speed control in SS. As for seraphz, he played a solid game and brought a cool idea in Future Sight Eggy + Sawk & Lycan. The Rats' teams so far have looked solid and creative. In terms of play, I rate avarice higher. Both players are 2-0 and have looked good so far, so this should be a good one.
SM ZU: Tack vs a fruitshop owner - These two are some of the toughest players to prep for. For me it feels like either player can bring anything, which causes me to feel more uncertain in my prep than against others. In our game last week, Tack cooked up a bulky team. I knew I had to account for Dusclops. When I saw Granbull and Silvally, I assumed they'd be Z-Heal Bell and some Defog Silv or SD Silv-Dragon. Without going too deep into how I played the game, it turns out that Tack brought CB Granbull (presumably) and Defog Silv-Electric. The bits of hax throughout the game had me thinking I was destined to lose, but Bronzor came through. Afo beat Oathkeeper in a one-sided game. In true afo fashion, he brought Taunt Toxic Viggy and won with it. The t1 Gknot seemed like a bit of a misplay. Maybe fruits wanted to handicap himself. Who knows. Seriously though, I think fruits matches up well into Tack stylistically. Both players are creative builders and good pilots. This is the HL SM matchup for me. I'm leaning towards afo because I trust he'll cook up something that works. This could really go either way though.
ORAS ZU: Ruffles vs Tenebricite - Ruffles has been pretty impressive so far. After teaming with him in ORAS Underground and seeing what he brought week one, I assumed he wouldn't bring the heat like he did last week. Seaking and Vibrava were the only two standard/common mons. CB Slaking, Ditto, Eelektrik, and Skill Swap Wormadam-Trash...Honestly I can't be mad we lost to that. Anyway, it's clear that Ruffles and the Rats have a strong grasp on ORAS. The VANGUARDS slipped last week and lost to Wailord. It didn't have to do much because Tenebricite used a team 6-0'd by Duosion and was 6-0'd by CM Duosion. I don't think Tene will bring a team with such a big hole this time around. However, I think Ruffles will come out of this 3-0.

Mossui Town Spiritombs vs Cramlington Cramorants
SS ZU: Ninja vs Pokeslice - It's a shame the game happened before I could post this. That's what I get for starting this post past 11 PM last night. For the record, I bolded all the matchups last night and only had Boos vs Shiis written out. Since the game already happened and Ninja won, I'll keep this one short. Pokeslice has played better than Ninja in the first two weeks. However, Ninja has been cooking. I tested vs him a bunch this week too so I had a gut feeling he'd win. I didn't think he'd actually bring Flareon though.
SM ZU: Oathkeeper vs Terracotta - Terracotta choked last week and he admitted as much post-game in the ZU cord. Oathkeeper choked in the builder by not having Wood Hammer on CB Torterra. Both games were winnable for each player, but some early game misplays cost them. Oath could've clicked EQ instead of Ice Punch on some turns to chip at Golem more, and could've predicted Swanna outright instead of going for the Crunch midground. Terra went for SR on Wrath instead of spamming Psywave, which let Wrath Focus Punch it and force it to Rest. From there, the game was open for Crustle and it won. I think Terra is the better player and builder. I feel both players will learn from last week and perform better here.
ORAS ZU: Zpice vs DugZa - Zpice brought a really cool team last week, mostly because it had a Wailord. However, Illumise + Scarf Mienfoo is cooler to me. In terms of actual analysis, Zpice pulled an autowin matchup and the game played itself pretty much. It was an improvement from week one and evened out Zpice's record. Dugza is simply the better player and his builds have looked more consistent. Dugza broke the game vs Charles open within the first few turns and never looked back. Zpice can always try to fish for a win here. This is a lopsided matchup on paper though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top