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Playoffs Smogon Classic XI Playoffs - Semifinals [Times in OP]
- Thread starter Hiro'
- Start date
1. PDC vs 9. Fakes - When your two uncles encounter each other at a family reunion and one is the most boring, generic middle aged fella while the other went on one too many benders in his 20s. PDC — the golden standard of ten years ago spamming balances from five years ago in tiers fifteen plus years old — draws Fakes, who seems to be experiencing his second peak as a player thanks to the highs of inhaling German tractor gas fumes. Fakes is definitely favored in BW while I think the oldest generations tilt towards PDC. ADV and DPP will be huge in deciding this; I think Fakes has proven slightly more there, but this can go either way and the winner is the favorite moving forward. Great players, great set, and great deal of meme fodder. Win for the spectators.
15. Exiline vs 7. Fear - Fear’s GSC prowess is perhaps the most respected of anyone’s single tier competence of everyone left in the field. Having that edge, I find it hard to bold Exiline. He should in theory be favored in BW, but many metagame mainstays are skeptical of his results due to some of the teams and contents of the games. I get this, but personally still think Exiline is favored in BW as he plays well enough and could take the bookends with RBY being plenty winnable. The issue is 2-4 likely goes to Fear and the margins there feel larger than those of BW/RBY, so I favor Fear to be the second member of a strong final four. Competitive set either way, very curious to see BW team pick from Exiline as it’ll be telling about his confidence levels for the entire set probably.
3. elodin vs 6. Kristyl - This series is weird as they neutralize each other. Elodin is perhaps best in BW in the pair, but Kristyl is sneakily superb at the generation. She builds well, understands the metagame, and can easily compete against SPL level players. Elodin also has the self sabotage angle where he loads dogshit, playing it off like BW is a meme or he does not truly know better. If we see a Jolly Forretress, simply call it before we have to watch the world’s worst movie once more. On the flip side, Kristyl is great at DPP, but Elodin has proven he’s just as capable there. I do think I would take Kristyl in ADV, but Elodin has put in the work to have decent range in this format and I view him as a tad better overall. I actually think Elodin’s recent interest in DPP makes him a major threat to win the whole thing, but either of these two I would have up there with Fakes/PDC as a very likely tournament winner. Great, close, hopefully 5 game set.
13. Amaranth vs 12. Kingler - Kingler, formerly known as Kingler12345, is just not that good at 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. In big 2025, it was quite frankly a miracle that he made it to this point. I will give him his flowers for two strong, middle generation wins against a formidable opponent in GtG. I do think RBY was a little silly and he definitely lost the plot in his two losses, but that’s more than I figured he would get. This does feel like the end of the road though. Amaranth demonstrates close to mastery in RBY, especially relative to a less experienced field, alongside a quiet slew of solid BW results. I think Amaranth put in the work to polish his 2, too, given some recent displays. 3-4 will be a tossup that may favor Kingler as he was able to beat GtG there, but it isn’t nearly as big of an edge as RBY is for Amaranth.
15. Exiline vs 7. Fear - Fear’s GSC prowess is perhaps the most respected of anyone’s single tier competence of everyone left in the field. Having that edge, I find it hard to bold Exiline. He should in theory be favored in BW, but many metagame mainstays are skeptical of his results due to some of the teams and contents of the games. I get this, but personally still think Exiline is favored in BW as he plays well enough and could take the bookends with RBY being plenty winnable. The issue is 2-4 likely goes to Fear and the margins there feel larger than those of BW/RBY, so I favor Fear to be the second member of a strong final four. Competitive set either way, very curious to see BW team pick from Exiline as it’ll be telling about his confidence levels for the entire set probably.
3. elodin vs 6. Kristyl - This series is weird as they neutralize each other. Elodin is perhaps best in BW in the pair, but Kristyl is sneakily superb at the generation. She builds well, understands the metagame, and can easily compete against SPL level players. Elodin also has the self sabotage angle where he loads dogshit, playing it off like BW is a meme or he does not truly know better. If we see a Jolly Forretress, simply call it before we have to watch the world’s worst movie once more. On the flip side, Kristyl is great at DPP, but Elodin has proven he’s just as capable there. I do think I would take Kristyl in ADV, but Elodin has put in the work to have decent range in this format and I view him as a tad better overall. I actually think Elodin’s recent interest in DPP makes him a major threat to win the whole thing, but either of these two I would have up there with Fakes/PDC as a very likely tournament winner. Great, close, hopefully 5 game set.
13. Amaranth vs 12. Kingler - Kingler, formerly known as Kingler12345, is just not that good at 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. In big 2025, it was quite frankly a miracle that he made it to this point. I will give him his flowers for two strong, middle generation wins against a formidable opponent in GtG. I do think RBY was a little silly and he definitely lost the plot in his two losses, but that’s more than I figured he would get. This does feel like the end of the road though. Amaranth demonstrates close to mastery in RBY, especially relative to a less experienced field, alongside a quiet slew of solid BW results. I think Amaranth put in the work to polish his 2, too, given some recent displays. 3-4 will be a tossup that may favor Kingler as he was able to beat GtG there, but it isn’t nearly as big of an edge as RBY is for Amaranth.
the boring uncle won, ggs to fakes. been friends for 10 yrs and first time we actually played for anything this classic. see you at the reunion.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen5ou-878647?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-878661?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-878713?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-878719
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen2ou-878740?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen5ou-878647?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-878661?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-878713?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-878719
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen2ou-878740?p2
ggs amaranth. think fear pdc or elodin take this for sure, pdc in particular looks threatening
shoutouts to serpi for the insane depth of rby help, kevin for the adv team/gsc team i planned on bringing, finch abr choolio etc for some teams/advice and laurel groudon for dpp help. not my best work gl to everyone left
edit forgot cow july thanks guys get cow for spl
shoutouts to serpi for the insane depth of rby help, kevin for the adv team/gsc team i planned on bringing, finch abr choolio etc for some teams/advice and laurel groudon for dpp help. not my best work gl to everyone left
edit forgot cow july thanks guys get cow for spl
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PDC (DPP, ADV, GSC) vs Amaranth (BW, RBY) - the clutchest man on Earth is going to win another tough, close set. Amaranth has been impressive this tour but PDC's mental game is second to none, the guy just has true grit in tournaments. This classic is his to win
Fear (GSC, ADV) vs elodin (BW, DPP, RBY) - elodin is a dangerous customer and has a very well balanced mons skillset with great fundamentals. Fear is of course dominant in GSC but whether he can threaten elodin in BW or DPP remains to be seen.
Fear (GSC, ADV) vs elodin (BW, DPP, RBY) - elodin is a dangerous customer and has a very well balanced mons skillset with great fundamentals. Fear is of course dominant in GSC but whether he can threaten elodin in BW or DPP remains to be seen.
I gotta disagree with your prediction on Fear. While he’s mostly known for being one of the GSC goats, I can’t imagine his RBY and ADV being far worse given good team selection. DPP/BW is an edge for elodin but given the lack of information on fear in the millennial-and-younger gens I really think he’s the most scary player left in this pool (PDC is a damn close second).
I expect a barnburner of a series similar to PDC-Fakes. Fear beat two excellent overall players in ima and Exiline, while elodin beat two great old gen mains in OmBrArch and Kristyl (the latter of whom is an established classic powerhouse now).
This sounds like an amazing finals.
O/U Total turns:
PDC vs Amaranth: 380
Fear vs elodin: 230
PDC vs Amaranth: 380
Fear vs elodin: 230