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Tournaments 2026 SS OU SPL Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Slowpoke Fan
- Start date
I've been really pleased with the quality games so far this season and I wanted to make a post about some of my favorite games from Week 1 up until the midseason since no one else has really done any game review so far.
Overall, this pool has felt super balanced, but I guess one can't be too surprised with the average price of week 5 SS starters being only 7.85k, which is narrowly second behind the ADV pool of starters at 7.75k (which is helped by the loss of Skarpherim). Another interesting factoid about the week 5 SS starters is that the price of Mattz_, SS's most expensive player, is the cheapest most expensive player out of all pools closely at 16.5k, closely followed by Garay oak in ADV at 18k.
I don't blame the managers lack of willingness to spend however, maybe unlike some classic gens, SS isn't necessarily the hardest tier to pick up and learn, especially for a fairy gens player. Which, in my mind, makes it much easier to hypothetically sub out your budget SS pick rather than a budget classic gen player who's slot already lacks depth as is. I think this idea combined with the notion that there aren't any major tiebreak candidates starting week 5 in SS explains the relatively low average price of starters.
Going chronologically, the first game I wanted to take a look at was Fc vs Corazan. It starts normally with both sides, trading rocks, knocks, and Corazan trying to gain momentum with Future Sight which he is able to do on turn 10 across from a Moonblast-ing Clef in sand. Tran comes in on the port successfully traps the Clef, but I would actually argue the trade was really close to equal.
Because neither side switched out, Clef was able to leave Bro at around 33% after regen and rocks, making its job to counter Melm and Shifu infinitely harder. And this is what happens in the ensuing turns: Fc's team puts on the pressure, forcing Corazan to switch repeatedly and take chip on over half of his team and lose his Clef in the process. With Pult looking much stronger now as the only thing stopping it is a Spdef drop on Hippo, and that's exactly what it finds.
But with no Clef to pivot through, Fc is able to keep bringing in his physical threats on Hippo, unthreatened by a Slowbro forced to click recover every time it enters (which is the only thing it does from turn 25-46). The bleeding continues as Pult trivializes Corazan's slow and weakened team to secure the endgame. But my interest in this game comes from Clef's important sacrifice, although it was trapped and killed in the first 15 turns it opened up the game massively for Fc's physical attackers to never let up pressure.
In the second week Fc faced off against MDB in my favorite game of the week. I've mostly thought that MDB has brought some really cool teams every week this season but I think he got a bit lost in the sauce in this one. Toxic Zap just has a field day with his team, especially one that gets a bit of help through RNG... but even without RNG MDB needs to play very thoughtfully to ever break through Zap.
The first 50(!) or so turns are literally just Fc trolling with said Zapdos where it looks like it's just going to single-handedly win the game—however, Fc makes a crucial error that allows MDB to claw his way back into this one. As MDB gets his band Kart on the field facing Zap using Teleport, Fc opts to sac his Fini, not realizing that knocked Zap can safely scout any set and Volt into something that forces Kart out (maybe there was some sort of mind game going on where Fc was predicting knock into fini but I'm unsure). Things get bad quick for Fc, as he takes the safe route and volts on +1 Band LB, bringing out his own Kart to try and regain momentum.
Both players are forced to sac until MDB makes the hard play and goes Tran on Kart LB which forces Blace to revenge and subsequently be fodder for a very threatening Scarf Fini. Fc thinks hard for around 3 minutes, as either mon he goes to is risking losing the game by MDB going Tran on resisted moves. Fc chooses his own Tran(avoiding the(imo) riskier prediction tree of going Kart) opting to chip it enough to be dead to Kart Sacred Sword, but by choosing not to trap Fini, MDB makes another ballsy play and brings in his own Tran on the attempted stall-out. Now, MDB's Tran can pick up the kill and Fini can tank the forced Sacred from Kart.
This was such an awesome reversal by MDB, being able to capitalize on your opponents errors when you have little chance of winning shows why he is one of the all time best. Furthermore, this was truly one of the best endgames I've ever seen, that last interaction had such little room for mental error on both players' ends, and I'm just genuinely fortunate to be able to witness a game like this.
MDB returns for my favorite week three game vs Gtcha, bringing what I think is my favorite team of the tour so far. I have been enjoying whatever the Sharks' SS team-building laboratory have been creating these first weeks as they are some of the freshest builds of the tour.
MDB's team this week is no exception, not afraid to deviate from standard sets, offensive Nature Power Tran ends up being a great pick into Gtcha's HDB spam spike stack. It also helps when Band Rilla just steals kills with or without Future Sight support in front of the most useless Buzzwole ever loaded...
Not much really else to say about this game, great team choice into Gtcha by MDB and the Sharks, and kudos for making teams that are more what I'll call "off the beaten path" in terms of deviating from standard set choices, it's been very fun as a spectator to watch.
Lastly, Mattz_ vs Gtcha is another one of my faorite games of the season. It highlights the dominating style so far this SPL being Lando-Tran-Clef/Kart/Pult offensive structures where you can realistically use any combination of the last three mons in conjunction with each other. I find these types of teams are often most fun to watch, especially when they face off against each other, which is what we have here. Mattz_'s Double Specs team looks extremely potent if Tran is removed and Gtcha's Pult future-port offense is equally threatening.
The game starts with Gtcha sacfrifing his Kart's health and scarf to put the opposing Lando in Pult range. After both players reposition, Goltres is threatening to set-up and punch a big hole through Mattz_'s team, and Gtcha makes the tough decision to go for it, as risking his Tran on a potential Specs FBlast would put him in an even worse position than a +3 +2 Goltres staring him down. However, after Tran revenges the Goltres, the combination of Pult and CM Clef is now too much for Gtcha to overcome, even with Kart future-port set-ups.
This game felt very in control by Mattz_, starting from that Goltres sequence, he doesn't get cute and gets guaranteed damage before dying and killing with Tran and even getting the opportunity to set rocks. Being down a sac in these offense vs. offense games can usually be quite dire but Mattz_ consistently finds ways for Pult to get in and do a million damage with the ghost resist no longer around.
To do some shameless Monday-morning-quarterbacking, I think the correct play for Gtcha was to always go Bro(who looked like max spdef) on Lele to scout, then reposition through Tran or Chomp to try and force progress with rocks or just putting damage onto Lando, Tran, or Pult. Mattz_'s team becomes infinitely easier for Goltres to push through once rocks are up and Tran is chipped.
This game notable to me just because of how enigmatic it felt of the tier feels as a whole so far this SPL, offense in this tier is so fun to watch, but all if not most of the SS games this SPL have felt really great quality no matter the teams.
I think I'll call it there... but I had a fun time writing this! And please correct me if I missed something glaringly obvious or just got something wrong! I'm looking forward to the upcoming SS games, and maybe if this is received well I'll make a second half version of this post after poffs.
Overall, this pool has felt super balanced, but I guess one can't be too surprised with the average price of week 5 SS starters being only 7.85k, which is narrowly second behind the ADV pool of starters at 7.75k (which is helped by the loss of Skarpherim). Another interesting factoid about the week 5 SS starters is that the price of Mattz_, SS's most expensive player, is the cheapest most expensive player out of all pools closely at 16.5k, closely followed by Garay oak in ADV at 18k.
I don't blame the managers lack of willingness to spend however, maybe unlike some classic gens, SS isn't necessarily the hardest tier to pick up and learn, especially for a fairy gens player. Which, in my mind, makes it much easier to hypothetically sub out your budget SS pick rather than a budget classic gen player who's slot already lacks depth as is. I think this idea combined with the notion that there aren't any major tiebreak candidates starting week 5 in SS explains the relatively low average price of starters.
SS | SM | ORAS | BW | DPP | ADV | GSC | RBY |
7.85 | 8.25 | 12.00 | 13.8 | 8.85 | 7.75 | 15.15 | 8.30 |
Going chronologically, the first game I wanted to take a look at was Fc vs Corazan. It starts normally with both sides, trading rocks, knocks, and Corazan trying to gain momentum with Future Sight which he is able to do on turn 10 across from a Moonblast-ing Clef in sand. Tran comes in on the port successfully traps the Clef, but I would actually argue the trade was really close to equal.
Because neither side switched out, Clef was able to leave Bro at around 33% after regen and rocks, making its job to counter Melm and Shifu infinitely harder. And this is what happens in the ensuing turns: Fc's team puts on the pressure, forcing Corazan to switch repeatedly and take chip on over half of his team and lose his Clef in the process. With Pult looking much stronger now as the only thing stopping it is a Spdef drop on Hippo, and that's exactly what it finds.
But with no Clef to pivot through, Fc is able to keep bringing in his physical threats on Hippo, unthreatened by a Slowbro forced to click recover every time it enters (which is the only thing it does from turn 25-46). The bleeding continues as Pult trivializes Corazan's slow and weakened team to secure the endgame. But my interest in this game comes from Clef's important sacrifice, although it was trapped and killed in the first 15 turns it opened up the game massively for Fc's physical attackers to never let up pressure.
In the second week Fc faced off against MDB in my favorite game of the week. I've mostly thought that MDB has brought some really cool teams every week this season but I think he got a bit lost in the sauce in this one. Toxic Zap just has a field day with his team, especially one that gets a bit of help through RNG... but even without RNG MDB needs to play very thoughtfully to ever break through Zap.
The first 50(!) or so turns are literally just Fc trolling with said Zapdos where it looks like it's just going to single-handedly win the game—however, Fc makes a crucial error that allows MDB to claw his way back into this one. As MDB gets his band Kart on the field facing Zap using Teleport, Fc opts to sac his Fini, not realizing that knocked Zap can safely scout any set and Volt into something that forces Kart out (maybe there was some sort of mind game going on where Fc was predicting knock into fini but I'm unsure). Things get bad quick for Fc, as he takes the safe route and volts on +1 Band LB, bringing out his own Kart to try and regain momentum.
Both players are forced to sac until MDB makes the hard play and goes Tran on Kart LB which forces Blace to revenge and subsequently be fodder for a very threatening Scarf Fini. Fc thinks hard for around 3 minutes, as either mon he goes to is risking losing the game by MDB going Tran on resisted moves. Fc chooses his own Tran(avoiding the(imo) riskier prediction tree of going Kart) opting to chip it enough to be dead to Kart Sacred Sword, but by choosing not to trap Fini, MDB makes another ballsy play and brings in his own Tran on the attempted stall-out. Now, MDB's Tran can pick up the kill and Fini can tank the forced Sacred from Kart.
This was such an awesome reversal by MDB, being able to capitalize on your opponents errors when you have little chance of winning shows why he is one of the all time best. Furthermore, this was truly one of the best endgames I've ever seen, that last interaction had such little room for mental error on both players' ends, and I'm just genuinely fortunate to be able to witness a game like this.
MDB returns for my favorite week three game vs Gtcha, bringing what I think is my favorite team of the tour so far. I have been enjoying whatever the Sharks' SS team-building laboratory have been creating these first weeks as they are some of the freshest builds of the tour.
MDB's team this week is no exception, not afraid to deviate from standard sets, offensive Nature Power Tran ends up being a great pick into Gtcha's HDB spam spike stack. It also helps when Band Rilla just steals kills with or without Future Sight support in front of the most useless Buzzwole ever loaded...
Not much really else to say about this game, great team choice into Gtcha by MDB and the Sharks, and kudos for making teams that are more what I'll call "off the beaten path" in terms of deviating from standard set choices, it's been very fun as a spectator to watch.
Lastly, Mattz_ vs Gtcha is another one of my faorite games of the season. It highlights the dominating style so far this SPL being Lando-Tran-Clef/Kart/Pult offensive structures where you can realistically use any combination of the last three mons in conjunction with each other. I find these types of teams are often most fun to watch, especially when they face off against each other, which is what we have here. Mattz_'s Double Specs team looks extremely potent if Tran is removed and Gtcha's Pult future-port offense is equally threatening.
The game starts with Gtcha sacfrifing his Kart's health and scarf to put the opposing Lando in Pult range. After both players reposition, Goltres is threatening to set-up and punch a big hole through Mattz_'s team, and Gtcha makes the tough decision to go for it, as risking his Tran on a potential Specs FBlast would put him in an even worse position than a +3 +2 Goltres staring him down. However, after Tran revenges the Goltres, the combination of Pult and CM Clef is now too much for Gtcha to overcome, even with Kart future-port set-ups.
This game felt very in control by Mattz_, starting from that Goltres sequence, he doesn't get cute and gets guaranteed damage before dying and killing with Tran and even getting the opportunity to set rocks. Being down a sac in these offense vs. offense games can usually be quite dire but Mattz_ consistently finds ways for Pult to get in and do a million damage with the ghost resist no longer around.
To do some shameless Monday-morning-quarterbacking, I think the correct play for Gtcha was to always go Bro(who looked like max spdef) on Lele to scout, then reposition through Tran or Chomp to try and force progress with rocks or just putting damage onto Lando, Tran, or Pult. Mattz_'s team becomes infinitely easier for Goltres to push through once rocks are up and Tran is chipped.
This game notable to me just because of how enigmatic it felt of the tier feels as a whole so far this SPL, offense in this tier is so fun to watch, but all if not most of the SS games this SPL have felt really great quality no matter the teams.
I think I'll call it there... but I had a fun time writing this! And please correct me if I missed something glaringly obvious or just got something wrong! I'm looking forward to the upcoming SS games, and maybe if this is received well I'll make a second half version of this post after poffs.
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Corazan
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc HIGHLIGHT
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc HIGHLIGHT
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Corazon
I’m going with Corazan. He’s been bringing more creative prep and is good at capitalizing on common SS OU trends. When games go off-script, he tends to adapt better. If Mattz keeps it linear and clean it can be close, but overall I give a slight edge to Corazan.
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaeldeBeste2
He’s very fundamentally solid and rarely beats himself. In SS, where positioning and hazard control are huge, that consistency matters a lot. Lycan has higher volatility, but Michael usually makes fewer midgame mistakes.
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
He usually comes in with a clear game plan from preview and plays tightly around his wincon. He’s patient and doesn’t force unnecessary predicts, which is really valuable in longer SS games.
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc
The edge here is stability. Fc tends to control tempo well and understands when to take middlegrounds instead of overpredicting. If he avoids falling behind early, he should manage resources better over the course of the game.
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
I think he’s more likely to apply early pressure and create favorable positions for his endgame. If his prep and execution line up especially with pivot usage and breaker positioning he can dictate the pace of the match.
I’m going with Corazan. He’s been bringing more creative prep and is good at capitalizing on common SS OU trends. When games go off-script, he tends to adapt better. If Mattz keeps it linear and clean it can be close, but overall I give a slight edge to Corazan.
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaeldeBeste2
He’s very fundamentally solid and rarely beats himself. In SS, where positioning and hazard control are huge, that consistency matters a lot. Lycan has higher volatility, but Michael usually makes fewer midgame mistakes.
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
He usually comes in with a clear game plan from preview and plays tightly around his wincon. He’s patient and doesn’t force unnecessary predicts, which is really valuable in longer SS games.
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc
The edge here is stability. Fc tends to control tempo well and understands when to take middlegrounds instead of overpredicting. If he avoids falling behind early, he should manage resources better over the course of the game.
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
I think he’s more likely to apply early pressure and create favorable positions for his endgame. If his prep and execution line up especially with pivot usage and breaker positioning he can dictate the pace of the match.
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Fc vs damien the genius
SS OU: ILoveGarchom vs Setsu
SS OU: Gtcha vs entrocefalo
SS OU: Corazan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mattz_
SS OU: Me qualifying for sslt vs Lose and rage
SS OU: Fc vs damien the genius
SS OU: ILoveGarchom vs Setsu
SS OU: Gtcha vs entrocefalo
SS OU: Corazan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mattz_
SS OU: Me qualifying for sslt vs Lose and rage
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Mattz_
SS OU: Ikaishi vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Corazan
SS OU: damien the genius vs Gtcha
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Fc
SS OU: Ikaishi vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Corazan
SS OU: damien the genius vs Gtcha
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Fc
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
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