Power Plant Dynamos:
SV OU: PkelSweeTforU, Niko, ACR1
SV Ubers: Kate
SV UU: JustFranco
SV RU: Kristyl
SV NU: McMeghan
SV PU: Jytcampbell
SV LC: jake
SV DOU: EternalSnowman
Subs: Grandmas Cookin, FlamPoke Greedy_eb, haxolo, fakenagol
First we have the reigning champs and only two-time SCL winner - the Power Plant Dynamos. Excal might be unviable in SPL, but he clearly knows his way around the mainer theme park, so you need to trust his judgment a little bit here. Overall I think this team is fairly good. Kate and McMeghan are very strong retains to start off, and while I think Pkel for 10k is a bit much, it's fine given some of the other prices in this tournament. Niko was also 10k, unofficially making him their fourth retain. This was a fine price and a fine pickup. He's a swingy player, but he seems to do better when he's in familiar environments. The Dynamos picked up another staple in Jyt. I've always thought Jyt was a fairly average player, but he really steps up when he teams with his Lab buddies. This is a very strong pickup for 8.5k, especially with Cabal support in PU.
ACR1 for 8k isn't horrible - he had a really bad SPL, but he is among friends here, so I think this is a fair gamble to take. It's cool to see jake back playing, but he and Kristyl are both major question mark slots to me. I like jake personally, but if memory serves me right, he was never particularly insane back when he actively played. This pool is weak, and I trust Luthier's judgment here but man idk. Regarding Kristyl, I don't even really rate her that highly in DPP let alone an SV tier LOL. Like she's a fine player - she has made Classic playoffs. She is probably like marginally worse than Groudon. I can't help but feel Excal was a little too biased with this pick is all. Still, you have to take some risks in these tournaments, and these are three players who have reasonable ceilings who were gambled on for 3k each, so it's fine.
The elephant in the room is a whopping 33.5k spent on JustFranco. I think this guy is great. I believe he was one of the best available buys in the auction given his coverage in a tiebreak and his capability as a player... but 33.5k is a LOT man. I think he should've accepted retain instead of pulling a KD, but even putting that aside, I don't think I would be comfortable spending more than 20-25k here. Sure, it's SCL, the market is different, and this auction was especially weird, but when you're breaking 30k for a player, you're sorta expecting them to carry you through the thick of it all. I also understand that the UU pool is very strong, but Franco isn't even the 100% definitive #1 best in the pool lmao. Would I rank him there? Probably, but it's super close with Punny... Franco's great - I'm super high on him, but he's not That Guy yet. Can he become That Guy this tournament? It's definitely possible, and the Dynamos have a history of winning with big slots not necessarily pulling their weight.... I don't think we're gonna see a giganegative season from Franco here, so it should be fine.
This is a strong team led by proven managers. They don't have my favorite draft, but when you factor in the managers and the franchise, they are definitely the team to beat. Every team is gonna have some gamble slots that they will need to pop off for a shot at winning, and I think Excal and Luthier have proven they are good at picking those people in SCL, and there are clearly no egregious mistakes here.
Technical Machines:
SV OU: leng loi, clean, Hiko
SV Ubers: Icemaster
SV UU: Sacri'
SV RU: Dj Breloominati
SV NU: Dr. Phd. BJ
SV PU: LpZ
SV LC: tazz
SV DOU: ratpacker
Subs: sire clod, sir jelloton, ishtar, frankjosh
After a successful first campaign, Expulso and the TMs are back to redeem themselves after a brutal 6-0 loss in the finals last year. Going into the season, the TMs had some amazing retains on paper - Piyu for 10k, JustFranco for 16k, BOUFF ..... but then they tapped one of those people sign up to manage, another left them for the team that beat them, and one didn't sign up. Still, the retains were solid, but nothing to write home about compared to the potential here. leng for 10k is great given she costed a similar amount in SPL, and using the other two retains to cover Ubers and LC when the pools can be sorta volatile is totally reasonable.
What isn't reasonable is spending 31.5k on someone who has had basically no meaningful showings LMAO. From what I understand, leng is "busy" so she can't provide the same level of support that people are used to, but I still think when you retain someone who is ahead of the metagame, it makes sense to pick up cheaper people for your other two OU slots... spending 31.5k on someone who frankly should not cost anywhere near that just seems wild. I think he will put up a positive record - trying to live up to the "unbiased" title here... he's not a BAD player, he's just not a 30k guy. Or a 20k one. There are simply way better players for similar/cheaper prices. ho3n, zS, pdt for lower tier guys who give you more flexibility in a TB. For OU... this guy was more than ABR, Star, SoulWind, GXE. I think all of those people are better. Again, he's not bad. He is on par with the guys who went for like 20k (see the Platoon's SV OU core). The issue is WHY WAS HE 31.5 LMAO!!!
All that said, the auction was redeemed by a fantastic price on LpZ - like I said with Franco above, I think getting "mainers" who are clearly OU level players is super valuable in SCL. It gives you a ton of flexibility in tiebreaks and to juggle if things go south, and I think the teams that picked up these sorts of players are the clear cut best in the tournament. LpZ is a little more under the radar than guys like ho3n or zS or Franco, but he's honestly right next to them in a tour like this. 15.5k for him is an amazing price, and honestly helps to redeem the clean overpay. Dr. Phd BJ was also picked up for a great price in a bad pool, and Hiko for 14.5k is pretty good - I think this guy is also a great player, and I think pairing him with leng to take some slack off her is totally sensible... but if you're doing that why not get a pilot for OU 3?
Sacri in UU is fun to see as well, but he was certainly an overpay. I mean this pool is tough, and he's probably at the bottom of it as crazy as that is to say lol. Spitfire starting also doesn't inspire much confidence - I think he will go negative, but from what I understand he's somewhat of a helpful chat presence, so I suppose compromises were made.
From the outside looking in, it seems like the TMs wanted to draft a somewhat more "top heavy" team than last SCL, but I think the way the money was spent is very questionable. Nonetheless, this team is totally fine on paper with great management, good synergy, and a real good price on LpZ. They certainly have potential to take it far, but I can't help but feel they needed to draft another anchor for tiebreaks and playoffs in general.
Uncharted Terrors:
SV OU: oldspicemike, TDNT, heileone
SV Ubers: Scottie
SV UU: pdt
SV RU: Hacker
SV NU: Shengineer
SV PU: Drud
SV LC: Lokifan
SV DOU: zee
Subs: Metallica126, Dugtrio Is Broken, DD Joe, Let's Rumble Shall We, BlackKnight_Gawain
The Tyrants of SCL - the undisputed MVPs of exiting playoffs with nothing to show for it. Will they finally break their curse and win? I hope so for Gingy's sake LOL. Jokes aside, the Terrors know how to draft a team, and I think they did a solid job here. oldspicemike and Lokifan retains are really good, especially given some of the crazy OU prices. oldspicemike is consistent and fairly reliable, and he gives you a strong OU tiebreak option right out the gate.
I don't think I'm as high on pdt as others are, but relative to the pool and the draft principles I mentioned before, this isn't horrible. I think someone like Franco has a higher ceiling and more potential, but pdt is probably the "safer" pick at this price point. I still wouldn't condone spending this much on him, but honestly I get it. I think they also recouped value well with pickups like Scottie and TDNT for reasonable prices. I know TDNT had a mediocre SPL in his main tier, but he's a generally fantastic player and he's in OLT. I think if his motivation is there he will do great.
I question some of the mainer pickups here - I think flexibility is important, but getting some solid (at least from what I was told) mainer options in NU and PU for sub 10k prices is fine. More than this, what I really question is the ceiling of some of the starters vs the substitutes. I think Metallica126 is a phenomenal player, and he's had some strong showings in RU. High ceiling players like him are what win you tournaments - he should probably be starting. I'm a big fan of heileone, but he's had a handful of chances at sheet games and he can't seem to break the nerves - I think starting the hotter hand in DIB and keeping heileone in the reserves would be better strategically, but both are comparable players and great presences to have around, so I like the pickups here regardless.
Did Gingy and rozes finally draft a team that can go all the way? Honestly, I don't know. I feel like this is one of those classic midrange teams that might get cornered in a tiebreak. oldspicemike is a good option in OU, and pdt is good lower tier flex pick, but I think other lower tier guys are scarier than him in a tiebreak scenario. Honestly, they're kinda banking on Scottie or TDNT to pop off this tournament to have that third guy for a TB. If that happens, they have a good shot. This team is totally fine. Just fine. Maybe the 6th time will be the charm guys.
Orange Islanders:
SV OU: hellom*, Ewin, kDCA
SV Ubers: TrueNora
SV UU: zS
SV RU: Colin
SV NU: Django
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2
SV LC: Envy
SV DOU: Feyy
Subs: srvoltmike, sufys, Kushalos, Skyiew, Axzel
The original SCL winners are back to their original management after taking a break to host last year. With three super strong retain options, they went into the auction with a massive advantage. hellom for 16k is amazing relative to this pool, and both Grand Slam finalists for cheap prices offers tons of flexibility in the draft.
WITH THAT SAID, there are some issues - the Islanders did not list hellom as a starter in their submission for PRs. Normally, I'd chalk this up to some Larry trolling, but hellom might be the biggest certified dodger on this website, and it remains to be seen whether he will play more than 5 games or what. Given he's with Dave, let's assume he starts and gives a full effort - if so he will do great and his retain was fantastic. Another issue here is MDB - a great player, one of very few with 3+ individual trophies... but zero team tournament wins. Frankly, I don't even know if he's ever made it to the playoffs in one of these. I have nothing against him personally, but I've heard from several different sources that he can be a very frustrating teammate. Can Dave's fatherly demeanor and experience tame him? If anyone can, it's gotta be him.
With the 3 fantastic value retains, the Islanders had enough cash to splurge a bit on zS. He kinda fits into that category I described before, and he's definitely a hot commodity right now after an excellent WCoP. I think he's great. Not to sound like a broken record, but 28k is way too steep for my liking. Still, compared to the other overpays, I think this is probably the most justifiable one given just how much the Islanders saved with their 3 retains. When you average it out and take the rest of the draft into account, they did pretty well here. I think this guy will have a great tournament, and with him, hellom, MDB, Colin, and even Ewin, this team has tons of good options for tiebreakers.
I don't have too much to say on the specific slots beyond this - they drafted a bunch of mainers, none of whom particularly stand out to me, but none of whom are egregious either. They got good prices, and they have Kushalos on the bench. I know he's had a bad year or so, but having the option to gamble on one of the historic best lower tier players ever if one of the new guys doesn't pan out has gotta be worth something right?
I like this team a lot - I will never be fully on board with a team full of mainers, even in SCL, but this is the right balance between value and flexibility. Dave and Larry are also known to be excellent managers, and while Vulpix03 makes MANNAT look like Phil Jackson, having him as your third guy to workhorse while Larry and Dave call the shots is hella valuable. These guys are one of the favorites to win it all for sure.
Circuit Breakers:
SV OU: GXE, ABR, Kebab mlml
SV Ubers: entrocefalo
SV UU: crying
SV RU: Santu
SV NU: watashi
SV PU: MZ
SV LC: Wail Wailord
SV DOU: MADARAAAA
Subs: AJ, LBN, 691, OranBerryBlissey10
The Breakers are led by a super strange trio of managers that I really thought had no shot at even getting a team. Usually when these odd trios/duos are given teams, they very obviously punt the entire tournament in the draft. When they don't throw and they draft a good team, though, you end up with motivated groups that can take the tournament by storm. I think this trio did a phenomenal job with this draft.
Comparing a team with no retains to the previous 4 just seems unfair honestly, but I think they got some excellent prices that gave them the ability to easily compete. ABR might not be the guy at the forefront of the metagame that he once was, and he did struggle to qualify for OLT, but cmon man that's the GOAT!!! Getting the GOAT for less than 30k is crazy, and then pairing the GOAT with his favorite Italian for another good price is even crazier. Santu's a fantastic player. Getting a Grand Slam winner who is having a crazy year for 26k is fantastic. I was told it is questionable where his support will come from, but I have some confidence in the non-elodin managers of this team to do some heavy lifting in that department. Rounding out their expensive core is GXE, an excellent player who is also capable of flexing into multiple tiers in TBs and does great in OU. Comparing the prices of these 3 players to others in the tournament is just wild to me. The fact that this team got away with this while having zero retains is a huge boost to say the least.
I like the cheaper slots that they chose to gamble on. Kebab is around his countrymen and he looked great in WCoP - when I initially saw him for 4.5k I assumed he locked into some random lower tier, but having him as your OU 3 for that price is fantastic. crying for 3.5k is a fine gamble, especially in UU with 691 on the bench. She is an absolute wildcard player - she could totally flop or randomly go 8-0 and then disappear week 9... who knows. Their mainer picks seem solid relative to the pools, and like some of the above teams, they didn't spend dramatic money on any of these guys, so as long as a couple work out and the big buys do what they're supposed to, they should be fine.
I want to quickly highlight watashi - I'm high on this guy as a player even though his results lately don't inspire as much confidence as the past. I think being with ABR and elodin might give him somewhat of a boost, and I think the tryhard managers will help him out for sure. He's THE NU GOAT historically, so I'm interested to see if he pops off this tournament or what.
There might be some bias here - this team has a bunch of old players that might be in the wrong environment in SCL vs SPL. They are different tournaments, and different types of teams win them, but I think they have the right balance of "SPL" players + mainers + support for them. I also see the synergy here socially. With that said, these managers are unproven and when you draft SPL players you get SPL personalities, so there might be some conflict... Nonetheless, this is my favorite team.
Studio Gible:
SV OU: Star, Finchinator, TJ
SV Ubers: fade
SV UU: Mimilucha
SV RU: RichardMillePlain
SV NU: Tuthur
SV PU: Gilbert arenas
SV LC: Laroxyl
SV DOU: bagel
Subs: Arc, Taka, asa, DaAwesomeDude1, Shiba, One Last Kiss
Next we have the Finchinator team of the tournament - the Gible. Finchinator has this unusual trait that causes only bad managers to pick him up. This time, though, I think he got picked up by decent managers, so maybe it'll work out better for him. He also went for a reasonable price - 18k Finch relative to the pool is totally fine. Issue is, the reasonable Finchinator price was countered with a very high price for Star. Despite the Jerk propaganda, I do not think Star ever cemented himself enough to justify a 27.5k pricetag after not really playing team tournaments much (outside of some relatively poor WCoP showings). He was an absolute killer in the SPL that he won, getting a crucial TB win.... but that was years ago! I think he's good, but I don't think he's the correct guy to anchor your team around in 2025, and unlike an ABR or a SoulWind, he doesn't have the resume or impact to justify this kind of price. Still, way better than some of the other 25k+ picks!
TJ to round out the OU core is an interesting pick - he was on fire for awhile, but he's had some streaky performances. I won't speculate as to why, but getting him for 8k seems like a really good price given his ceiling. Similarly, getting fade and marcop for reasonable prices when your team is full of mainers is a sensible move on paper, granted assembling the US East core in 2025 might not be the move.
The rest of the team is rounded out by mainers, and again honestly they're just solid ones. RMP, Mimi, and Laro are all solid, and securing a strong doubles retain in this horrible pool is a huge buff. I question the NU slot, but I think the pool is weaker so it should work out. Also on second thought, while Mimi is solid, the pool is just kinda tough and it's kinda weird to have so much UU support among your bench and management and to pick a kinda Just Decent mainer as your guy into a crazy pool.
I also like the substitutes on this team. Shiba locked himself out of everything but given the management I'm sure he will add to their teamchat, and shoutout my man DAD1 I don't think I've seen him get picked up in an official all these years :').
I think this team is perfectly fine on paper. The managers are a cool trio for SCL, Finchinator wasn't a million dollars, they picked up a mix of fiery non-mainers and solid mainers, and Starmaster wasn't THAT bad of an overpay really. The reality though - this is kinda just a midrange team with few people who really inspire confidence, so I question how they will do in playoffs/TB. A classic story for old Finchy. Someone get him some wings.
Showdown Shoguns:
SV OU: 3d, Mako, Baddy
SV Ubers: Frito
SV UU: Fogbound Lake
SV RU: hjkjh
SV NU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d
SV PU: mind gaming
SV LC: Eniigma
SV DOU: SEA
Subs: Plague, eragon, SoggyDoggySage, Hayburner, Ninja
The Shoguns are back after the Totally Would Have Been A Good Season If Not For Circumstance, this time ditching the agency for the double 3d core. They retained their two Germans, locking up two lower tiers right out the gate and offering some flexibility (not in OU though). I think these are strong retains - Fog was solid in SPL and mind is one of the better CG players on the site. The big issue is that the UU pool is crazy strong, so while my initial thought was "oh Fog is good and he's in a lower tier pool he will be fine," the reality is that lower tier pool is REALLY fucking good, and he's not as good as most people in it.
The Shoguns decided to spend all their money on the ho3. Hard to be unbiased with this guy - I think he's probably just straight up the best player in the tournament in terms of raw player skill. While I think 28.5k for him is a lot, it isn't as bad as some of these other prices discussed above. He has a proven clutch factor at this point, and he's been doing fantastic in NU as of late + the pool is a meme + he will wash Roro with ease. Honestly, my big concern is how much he's gonna care, but I could totally see him spending 9 weeks bullying 3d about SPL TB to fuel his passion and win LOL.
Speaking of 3d, man I like the guy and I don't think he's bad, but what a crazy overpay LMAO. In WHAT WORLD is 3d worth 22k???? He's cool, he's solid, he's a fun presence, but what are we doing here man. Sometimes we gotta take off the friendship goggles and just be realistic to avoid wasting 9 weeks of everyone's time. He will probably go positive. Lax probably sees him as a tiebreak player. Yeah man idk.
The rest of the OU core is rounded out by Mako, who I think was reasonably priced, and Baddy, who is a fine pickup for 3.5k. I know nothing about hjkjh or Eniigma so I won't really comment there, but I am very high on Frito in Ubers, as I saw firsthand how strong her grasp is of the format when she helped Midwest in WCoP 2024. Following that, she had a very dominant run in WCoP 2025, only losing in a finals TB game. I think she's a fantastic player with a ton of potential, and getting her for 9k is great.
This team has two very strong tiebreak options if they get there in ho3 and mind, and then players like Frito, Fog, Mako, 3d all might have potential. That's a decent position to be in given you have 9 weeks to find your third guy, but honestly? I don't think I see the synergy here. Sure, they have some of the core from the SCL IV Gible, but I can't help but feel like this teamchat is just gonna be 3d talking to himself. This is a solid team, but not a great one. I think they did the best job at drafting for playoffs/TB of the teams outside my top 3, so if they make it there a run is possible.
Mt. Silver Foxes:
SV OU: SoulWind, Stareal, Foolycl
SV Ubers: emoxu9
SV UU: Punny
SV RU: TheFranklin
SV NU: Elias PSY
SV PU: avarice
SV LC: Always Edgy
SV DOU: Ann
Subs: Isza, LOOR, Onraider, LouisIX
The Foxes are led by the Ruiners managerial core that somehow were incapable of winning 1 out of 5 weeks to have a playoff berth in SPL. This time the mainers are in familiar territory instead of old generations, so I rate them higher here for sure. They also start off with a very strong retain in Punny - he just sealed up Italy's WCoP victory after a rather rough tournament, proving he can turn it on when needed. It goes without saying that he's fantastic, and he's definitely one of the strongest retain options in the tournament.
They followed this up by getting SoulWind for a mere 21k. That's 1k less than 3d. That's 10.5k less than clean. Yeah. SoulWind. I don't care if "he does bad in SCL compared to SPL" and for his standards his last SPL was not as dominant as usual. It doesn't matter - this guy is like a top 3 player ever. This is an insane price for someone who plays everything and gives you an immediate tiebreaker and a fantastic OU1 option. What a massive steal. You'd think with such a great price here and the Punny retain this team would crush the auction, right?
Nope. For some reason after this, they made a couple more big buys and then kinda just stopped drafting. They got Franklin for 20.5k, which I think is a bit much, but not horrible given the money saved on SoulWind + moderate flexibility. Their next big chunk of change was spent on Elias PSY. Now, I was told this guy is like the ABR of NU, but I don't care. If you're spending this much on someone, they gotta be doing more for you than winning just one slot. It is somewhat forgivable given the steal on SW + the flexibility they have before this buy, but my issue is less with these specific picks and more with what they do to the rest of the draft. I understand that both the NU and RU pools are kinda weak, but idk man. Franklin is a fine buy. Elias I can't get behind since he isn't the breakaway top 1 or 2 in his pool (you have Roro and ho3n), and I don't think he is dramatically better than some of the other players who got picked up for significantly cheaper prices... and he's not really playing a tiebreak for you literally ever unless he goes 9-0 or something.
It was at this point where they kinda just got weird in the auction. From here out, they just picked up a bunch of average people who mostly don't inspire confidence. My guy Foolycl is a solid OU pickup for 3.5k, and avarice has a high ceiling as a player. I am biased, but for 3.5k and 5.5k these are fine pickups to start. Stareal is also pretty decent. Nobody here is BAD, it's just feels like other teams got more value in the auction than this one, which is crazy given that price on SW and the Punny retain. Like I said above, flexibility is important, and this team largely lacks it. They have coverage for TBs, but if one of their slots is struggling, they might be stuck in a really awkward corner. I also don't see the chat synergy here, though their managers are talkative and they have Bouff so they should be ok.
This team isn't horrible, but they aren't good. I think the managers have potential to do some heavy lifting - umbry and Xrn are both fantastic supporters, but if we have those strengths to leverage, why draft a bunch of silo'd mainers??? Like a lot of the teams in the bottom half of my rankings, I just don't see where the money went here, and again they got SoulWind for 21k like how is that the case!!!!
Arena Spartans:
SV OU: Attribute, Separation, DAHLI
SV Ubers: Fc
SV UU: etern
SV RU: eifo
SV NU: Danny
SV PU: Void
SV LC: Starsama
SV DOU: Akaru Kokuyo
Subs: Schister, vk, Pinecoishot, baconeatinassassin
The Spartans are another team that had access to a very strong retain from the start in Attribute for 16k. With that said, I think they drafted a similar archetype of team as the above, and as such I don't have much confidence in them.
Their OU core is good - Attribute is one of the best OU players around right now, so getting him for 16k is a steal. Relative to other prices, Separation's isn't that bad. A little more than I'd like, but at some point that was just the nature of this auction lol. I'm really high on him as a player. I think he's super innovative and plays really solid. DAHLI had an unfortunate SPL, but it happens, and nabbing them for just 4k to run it back is a great price.
The lower tiers is where I think this team falls off. They kinda just drafted a bunch of mainers who I don't think are very good for prices that are way too damn high. Fc is a solid Ubers option - he always does well, he can flex into other tiers, and he's a good teammate. That said, 22.5k is a little steep. I think the Danny and Starsama pickups for 20.5k and 16k respectively are way more egregious though. Nothing against these guys, but every SCL people hype up a couple relatively "new" (I know they aren't actually new) mainers like they are God's gift to Earth, the mainer managers flock to them and overpay, and then a non-mainer manager wins the tournament with a GSC player in RU or some shit. I am not trying to shit on mainers - other teams drafted pretty competent cores of mainers for very reasonable prices, but then you come to these bottom ones and they start spending weird prices like 15-20k on guys who have minimal showings. It just so happens to correlate with their draft order/placing last year.
etern for 14.5k is good - they are a solid player and they now play multiple tiers with tons of good results. eifo in RU is interesting, as I don't even recall the last time he played. Void STARTING in PU is a wild gamble too - I'm interested to see how it pays off LOL.
This team doesn't move me. I don't think they will do well.
Indigo Platoon:
SV OU: JJ09LIE, Fusien, bhkg
SV Ubers: Exiline
SV UU: Eternal Spirit
SV RU: robjr
SV NU: esteb4n
SV PU: kyuss
SV LC: Kaboom
SV DOU: Nails
Subs: Mashing, Flabeauf, Sabella, MAVERICK SHOOTERS, Fille
We end the PRs with teh Platoon, now led by Kingler instead of Star LOL. This team's draft is better than I expected, but the bar was low honestly. They spent a pretty decent chunk of change on their OU core. I like all three of these players, but again, prices just seem a little too high. Fusien is solid, but I think the OST run is definitely inflating his price quite a bit. JJ went cheaper than his astronomic price last year, but not by that much overall - still a little too expensive relative to what I'd like to pay in an ideal world, but not terrible relative to the pool. bhkg for 20k seems nuts on paper, but I'm actually pretty high on this guy, and from what I understand he's a great builder and teammate. Investing a bit extra in someone like that is worthwhile when everything is relative.
Gama finds himself being appropriately priced after being really cheap in SPL, but for UU? I mean I love the guy and I hope he does well, but this pool is very stacked and I think his support is Sabella LOL oh man. robjr kinda consistently puts up average records, so getting someone likely to go positive for <10k is solid.
I am just gonna be totally real and say that I don't recognize the mainers on this team, but I think that's a bad thing. You're getting pretty green people in 3 slots. I mean all of these pools are a joke, so if you're gonna try out new people and not break the bank I think this is the place to do it. I can't shit on these picks too much. Exiline for 3k is probably fine, and getting Nails as your anchor for DOU in a wildly different pool than normal is reasonable. Notice I think this is the first time I commented on Doubles this entire writeup.
My comments on this draft don't seem that critical, so what's the issue? Where are the anchors? Where are the tiebreakers? Where is the cohesion? Where is the joy? Ok you have Gama and Nails for the last one LOL. This team is just a random fucking mix of people, and not in the fun interesting "oh wow so many characters will be a fun teamchat" type of way. There's no leadership, no cohesion, nobody here that I would comfortably send into a TB except Nails in DOU. It's weird to spend THIS much money on OU and I think all of your players would probably lose to every other team's OU TB pick. And these guys guys are all great players, but like JJ was the third string pick for TB in SPL, bhkg is hella green, and Fusien got benched in playoffs. I just don't see where the money went on this team.
FINAL RANKINGS:
Tier 1:
1.) Circuit Breakers
2.) Orange Islanders
3.) Powerplant Dynamos
To me, these three teams are a cut above the rest and relatively similar in quality. I think the Islanders and Dynamos missing playoffs would be a shock given the managers and the draft. While I rank the Breakers #1, that is due to the quality of the draft and the potential here - this trio of managers is very unproven, so I could see something going wrong and them flopping, but they already proved me wrong on the draft so it isn't likely. These three teams are just way better than the ones below, honestly - there's a pretty huge gap here in my eyes.
Tier 2:
4.) Uncharted Terrors
5.) Showdown Shoguns
6.) Technical Machines
7.) Studio Gible
8.) Mt. Silver Foxes
These five teams are pretty comparable to me. They're all solid, but they have clear holes. I think they will all struggle in a playoff/TB environment theoretically. Team tournaments are often decided by a random 3k popping off and becoming a GOAT though - if one of these teams has one or two people who do that, I think there's potential here. I originally had the Foxes in the bottom tier fwiw and I keep going back and forth on it, but they are slightly more in line with the teams in this tier than the teams in the bottom one.
Tier 3:
9.) Indigo Platoon
10.) Arena Spartans
I think these are the worst teams. They had poor drafts, their management doesn't inspire the most confidence, and they have multiple holes. It's Pokemon - they can easily prove me wrong, but I think these teams are just fundamentally flawed.
