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Announcement RMT of the Year 2025

Rubberducking

why tf u reading ur code out loud to me
is an official Team Rateris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributor
RMT Leader
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unbelievably incredible art by RavioliQueen
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Welcome one and all to RMT of the Year 2025.
This year has been an incredible year for the RMT section, and it's time to recognize the very BEST in RMT with awards for multiple categories. In this thread we will nominate and ultimately select the very best our section had to offer, and winners will be awarded a very very very handsome line of text to flaunt in your signature for the rest of time!!

Nearer to the end of a generation, metagames tend to stagnate and some might feel like true creativity is harder to come by. However the RMT section has produced numerous bangers this year and I'm excited to once again recognize the passion and craft that comes through in teambuilding and sharing.
With that being said let's jump right into the categories!!

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Best Presentation:
RMTs in this category bring the style and pizzazz. Nominees for this category show us that not only is it cool to have a good team, but it's even cooler if you can weave in a theme, include original artwork, or otherwise make the team feel like more than just a squad of pokemon to battle with. These authors make their threads a joy to read and put a real piece of themself into the art. All tiers are eligible to be considered for this award.

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Best Written: This category seeks to award the best written RMT of the year. When explaining their team, these authors leave no stone unturned. Through their writing we come to know the incredible nuances of their counters and game plans, their lead matchups and how they handle their worst weaknesses, and ultimately we come to know more about the metagame itself just by how the team is played. Nominees for this award may include humour, personal anecdotes, calculations, tips and tricks, or backstory on the building process. All tiers are eligible to be considered for this award.

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Most Creative Build: The RMT forum is a place where people gather not to just post their latest Ting-Lu Zamazenta bulky offence squad, but to really pull out all the stops with their latest "unusual" build. This category seeks to recognize those teams that went above and beyond in their creativity, utilizing pokémon no one thought viable or unpopular strategies and making them work. The creativity of this section is what really makes me want to try a new team out on the ladder, and the nominees for this category are the best of the best in that aspect. All tiers are eligible to be considered for this award.

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Most Impressive Performance: No great RMT thread is complete without a showcase of how far a team has gone. Whether through a top ladder position, an undefeated streak of games, or an important tournament appearance, teams that win are the teams that really impress us. This category seeks to recognize the teams that matched their strength with their builder's' skill, and churned out impressive results to match. Nominees will be judged with respect to the difficulty of their ladder with some consideration for how standard the team is. All tiers are eligible to be considered for this award.

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Best RMT: No award show is complete without the top prize, and here it is. Best RMT combines all aspects of what makes a thread great. From presentation and visuals, great writing and in-depth analysis, impressive team performance and a creative build, these nominees showcase the very best of the section and the community when it comes to building teams.
This award will be awarded separately to each of OU, UU, RU, Ubers, Anything Goes, National Dex, VGC, DOU, Old Generations, Monotype, and Other Metagames

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Now this is where YOU come in. Please post in this thread your nominations for these awards, as many as you like. The nominations will be open for THREE WEEKS, ending on Tuesday December 23rd.

Here is a sample format:
Award Nomination: Best RMT (OU)
Thread title: Fat Bear Week Champion - Ursaluna Balance by TheDuckChris
Thread link: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/fat-bear-week-champion-ursaluna-balance.3741688/
Reasoning (optional): I really like this one because it has a fat bear and man is he ever fat.

Blank template:
Award Nomination:
Thread title:
Thread link:
Reasoning (optional):


Why are NU, PU, LC not eligible for best RMT? - There were simply not enough teams posted for these awards.

Is my team eligible for these awards? - The only eligibility criteria is that a post follows all RMT rules and is posted in the year 2025. Banned users are ineligible.

I'm not sure if my nomination is good enough? - Not really a question but also who cares! The more nominations the better and if you liked a team then that is a good enough reason to nominate it.

Can I nominate a team for multiple awards? - Yes!

Can I self-nominate my own team? - For now we are going to say No, feel free to get a friend to nominate yours and maybe return the favour!

Who decides the winners? - The winners will be voted by a panel of our team raters and moderators.
 
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Award Nomination: Best RMT (Natdex)
Thread Title: [1996 ELO #1] [ROARING MOON REQS 29-1] NOUVELLE VAGUE
Thread Link: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/1996-elo-1-roaring-moon-reqs-29-1-nouvelle-vague.3765049/
Reasoning: Fire HO from a slightly less fire individual, this team dominated ladder completely for a hot minute, couldn't go 5 games on ladder without seeing it practically. Some really cool and different sets that weren't really seen on HO before like the Dnite and Explosion Mdia, while also in my opinion having cool presentation in the RMT. boppydop for president.
 
Award Nomination: BEST RMT (OU)
Thread title: Im Sippin Tea In Yo Hood (Peak #1, 2075, 89% GXE)
Thread link: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/im-sippin-tea-in-yo-hood-peak-1-2075-89-gxe.3758060/
Reasoning (optional):
This RMT is the best because it was very well written and wonderfully explained. It had a lot of tour usage and was a very consistent team. There were no random sprites like :kingambit: in the text, which made it easier to read. It can compete for best written RMT and most impressive performance as well.
 
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Award Nomination: Most Creative Build
Thread title: Ubers: Clodsire + Mega Diancie Semi Stall [Top 1 of Ladder, 1873 Elo]
Thread link:
 
Award Nomination: Most Creative Build (OU)
Thread title: Necrozma Offense by t.t
Thread link: Reasoning (optional): Necrozma is cool and this team had a tr core way before tr was popular in ou
 
Award Nomination: Best Presentation
Thread title: "呪いの王 — SV Ubers Elo Record (Peak #1, 1978 Elo, 94.3% GXE)" by ZowwyCafé♪
Thread link: HERE
Reasoning (optional): It's thorough and deep yet still easily accessible and understandable. It covers everything you’d need. The sprites, the theme, the song, the lettering. Everything is spot-on, and extra points for the JJK theme :Lunala:
 
Award Nomination: Best Presentation, Best RMT (Other Metagames)
Thread title: [SV Godly Gift] You Needed Worthy Opponents
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
The Worm theme wins my vote already, but the post also features a very nicely presented teambuilding section, fun art for the pokemon, visual representation of replays, and overall just a great post.

Award Nomination: Best Written, Best RMT (Past Generations)
Thread title: [DPP Ubers] Serve and Volley - Classic Deo-S WobbRay Sun HO
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
shrang comes through with a meticulously written RMT featuring lines of play for multiple opposing archetypes, endless calcs, replays, meta information, etc.

Award Nomination: Most Creative Build
Thread title: Reassembly Plant (Gen 9 BH, Top 300 on the Ladder, Randomized Little Cup Pokemon Only)
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
what in the good lord

Award Nomination: Most Impressive Performance, Best RMT (AG)
Thread title: Love Like You (Peak #1, 2003 elo, 93.3 gxe)
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
93.3% gxe is categorically insane and to do it in AG with an OU-legal team that doesn't feature any "uncompetitive" elements is even crazier.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (OU)
Thread title: RE RESCUE (Nasgarg HO) by 1LDK
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Funniest garganacl set of all time and an RMT which was written with a lot of joy.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (OU)
Thread title: Serperior Rotom-W Skeledirge Hazard Spam Balance by Magcargo
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Creative build with 3 UU pokemon at the time, well written, solid peak, great detail on matchups

Award Nomination: Best RMT (UU)
Thread title: Epic Thwackey gaming because they banned my beloved Rillaboom by Epicly_Epic_Gamer_E
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Showcasing a before and after ban team, this gamer made their grassy terrain team work with a pre-evo to rank 2.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (UU)
Thread title: HOW BECOME GOL D. by StepC
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
#1 peak with solid replays and unique construction

Award Nomination: Best RMT (RU)
Thread title: Substitute Terrakion HO ft. Basculegion-F
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional): Great looking team and well explained. Love how it looks so much like a BW OU hyper offense.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (Ubers)
Thread title: Red Sun by yoshirrr
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
great peak and a really solid double sun team with some unconventional picks

Award Nomination: Best RMT (AG)
Thread title: Savior Epic by MirrorSaMa
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Really strong, standard team, with proven tournament success

Award Nomination: Best RMT (National Dex), Best Written
Thread title: Going bald within a week using Dozoless Stall by Runo
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
This rmt contains an extremely thorough description of the metagame, and uniquely showcases the team by describing the major deviations from standard sets and why they were used.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (National Dex)
Thread title: Double Steel Gliscor SpikeStack by sealoo
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
An astonishing 28 tournament replays and a great record in doing so, plus a great writeup.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (VGC)
Thread title: The Storms of Change by Lunaflare
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
nice writeup and a fun team with an underrated combo.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (DOU)
Thread title: Dimensional Drifters - A Recipe for Success by Zephyr Moonbeam
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Strong standard team with great ladder success

Award Nomination: Best RMT (DOU)
Thread title: TRANS RIGHTS (Specs Sylveon Tailroom) by Tyler Joseph
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
trans rights

Award Nomination: Best RMT (Past Generations)
Thread title: Hard Feelings (Bulky Offense), a Love Letter to SS Ubers
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
As an enjoyer of this tier, this team is both traditional and creative. Truly honouring to an older metagame.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (Past Generations)
Thread title: Sand Calamity - Mega Garchomp Sand Hyper Offense
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
very good team, strong writeup, modern look at ORAS

Award Nomination: Best RMT (Other Metagames)
Thread title: AAA - Av Spikes Tinglu + Cobalion Hazstack by DeepFriedMagikarp
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Impressive team featuring a very successful tournament run, well written and presented.

Award Nomination: Best RMT (Monotype)
Thread title: Not Dead Yet - Dragon Dance Kommo-o
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Mono dragon is every kid's dream and this team took that dream to the finish with a #1 peak.
 
Award Nomination: Best RMT (RU)
Thread title: Haze Alolan Muk Stall (Peaked #1 on RU ladder)
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
This stall team was the basic bread and butter for RU stall for a long time, and despite that fact, was still incredibly effective. Even to this day, with just the change of blissey over chansey, it would still be very viable to this day. It helped popularise techs such as foul play slowbro and whirlpool quag that are still used to this day. A very influential team that has stood the test of time that should be recognised as such.
 
Award Nomination: Best RMT (Monotype)
Thread Title: Special Herbs Volume 6 by Dead by Daylight
Thread link: here
Reasoning (optional):
Well explained writeup of a grass team which is a bad idea but played well.
 
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