Sorry for my inactivity! I’ve been very busy with my exams and training for the next italian swimming championships, so I’ll try to make this up by doing game reviews for all the games I missed. I’ll try to be less descriptive of the game itself and to give more context and some of my impressions on the teams.
I will do week 5 together with week 6 later.
Week 3
[TYR] SoulWind vs sugarhigh [RUI]
SoulWind’s team:
sugarhigh’s team:
SoulWind chose to bring a sand team with Hippowdon as its setter, with Terrakion and Latios for some immediate firepower, while sugarhigh opted for a balanced team with key defensive pieces and Nasty Plot Celebi and Gliscor as its main ways to do damage. Both players have Magnezone on their team, probably to get rid of Pokémon like Ferrothorn, Skarmory, or even a chipped Excadrill if they are equipped with a Choice Scarf. On turn 1 SoulWind decides to set Stealth Rock with his Hippowdon against Nasty Plot Celebi, a risky play that repayed later (as he could find chances for Hippowdon to heal for free later). After Magnezone with HP Ice dies to sugarhigh’s Gliscor, SoulWind’s Terrakion enters the field for free, then claiming the opposing Scarf Magnezone too. SoulWind’s team reveals to have two Choice Scarf users, Rotom-W that tricked his item with Choice Band Tyranitar, and Excadrill, that later was able to kill defensive Starmie. Once Gliscor died on turn 27, sugarhigh forfeited. SoulWind played smartly, identifying his win-path early on and how much chipping Gliscor was vital for Excadrill to sweep. I appreciated his teams, usually Hippowdon is found on more bulky/stally structures, but here his ability to set the Sand, Stealth Rock, and heal himself were crucial. sugarhigh’s team is more prepared to face bulky teams with Magnezone, NP Celebi and Choice Band Tyranitar as a breaker (with Blissey instead to take care of strong special attackers). I see the vision and how it could play out but the matchup wasn’t the best.
[SHA] harshest vs Monai [WOL]
harshest’s team:
Monai’s team:
In this game we have Monai playing as Marshest against the Sith Lord, harshest. harshest brought an hail more defensive team, in the hopes of defeating his opponent in a longer drawn out game. Monai brought an offensive rain team, with Landorus as its Stealth Rock setter and Starmie as its spinner. The matchup wasn’t the best for harshest, and Monai was able to close things off early and win. I liked seeing Custap Berry Landorus-T on his side, it was a cool tech. The Focus Blast read on turn 18 gave Monai the lead and after that he kept building on it.
[BIG] Mako vs Star [RAI]
Star’s team: 
Mako’s team: 
Star used a Sand team with Alakazam and Spikes support in Ferrothorn, with Gliscor and Rotom-W to help having a good core. Mako brought a Sand team too, with Gravity Landorus and a Fire-Water-Grass core with Heatran, Slowbro, and Celebi. The game got decided on the last turns, where Starmaster got very unlucky and missed 2 Focus Blasts with his Life Orb Alakazam, failing to kill Mako’s Heatran. I liked Star’s team that uses a known 6 replacing Landorus-T with Gliscor. As for Mako, she used Slowbro, one of the less used Pokémon, both in week 1 and week 3. Here it complements nicely the defensive core of her team, helping against physical threats that could menace greatly the team, like Conkeldurr or Mamoswine for example.
[SCO] Brine vs GaryTheGengar [CRY]
Brine’s team:
GaryTheGengar’s team:
One of the shortest games of this SPL so far, puts Brine against GaryTheGengar. Brine uses the same 6 as the first sample team, with two Psychic attackers paired with Tyranitar and a solid defensive backbone, while GaryTheGengar opted for a less offensive approach, with Slowbro and Heatran paired with Ferrothorn and the other threats. Turn 1 Brine revealed HP Fire Rotom-W, that hit Gary’s Ferrothorn, which was holding an Occa Berry to mitigate his Fire weakness and to be able to act even against Fire coverage, as in this case. After Brine was able to trap and kill Gary’s Latios, his Custap Berry Tyranitar was able to kill the opposing Excadrill as Gary didn’t scout the item with Slowbro. After that the game ended in a few turns. We were also able to see Heatran’s HP Grass, a move that helps against Rotom and other water types, that are otherwise problematic for this Pokemon. Brine was able to win using only three of his Pokemons, closing the game with his Alakazam.
[TIG] Finchinator vs Dark Eeveon [CLA]
Finchinator’s team:
Dark Eeveon’s team: 
Finchinator’s return in BW OU in SPL was against Dark Eeveon, after Cow was sent in SV OU jail. Eeveon brought a Sand team with Omastar, a Pokemon that is able to sweep and clean up in the endgames or to force sone early damage. Finchinator used a weatherless offensive team, with Garchomp as its Stealth Rock setter, with the goal to win playing at a high tempo. Choice Band Scizor was a great way for Eeveon to damage Finch’s Pokemons with its priority Technician-boosted Bullet Punch, but at the end the trainer of the Tigers was able to overwhelm his team by trading favorably using his threats like Conkeldurr and Dragonite. Kyurem-Black was the MVP of this game, claiming 3 kills. I liked seeing Kyurem-Black (could have been mixed or only special attacker with HP Fire I think) on an otherwise kind of common HO structure, with Sash Chomp - Balloon Mie - Scarf Rachi with Healing Wish to support the threats of the team. Eeveon’s sand team was interesting, but both Rotom-W and Omastar weren’t able to do much in this matchup.
Week 4
[RAI] Star vs SoulWind [TYR]
SoulWind’s team:
Star’s team: 
The two most expensive players of the pool met and battled in week 4. SoulWind brought a stallier team, with Alakazam and Reuniclus as its Psychic types, and Forretress for his valuable role compression. Star instead opted for a very offensive rain team, with Nasty Plot Thundurus, Substitute Keldeo and Choice Scarf Latias as its 3 main official threats. Substitute Alakazam wasn’t able to provide much progress to SoulWind, as Latias broke its sub and forced it out. Thundurus at +2 with the double hazard support provided from Ferrothorn was able to do big damage to Blissey, SW’s main special wall. After Gliscor’s sac, Alakazam came in to revenge kill Thundurus and was able to claim Ferrothorn with HP Fire under the rain. On turn 27 Star was able to trick Latias’s Choice Scarf onto Slowbro. This play allowed him to win later, as nothing could stop reliably 3 attacks + Sub Keldeo in the endgame. Star’s team is a team that I’d definitely use, it’s a good take on rain. SoulWind’s team felt somewhat rushed, as it feels weak to strong wallbreakers like Keldeo and it gets punished for its passivity.
[RUI] Prinz vs Finchinator [TIG]
Finchinator’s team:
Prinz’s team:
Prinz made his BW OU debut in week 4 of this SPL after starting out in ADV OU. Both players decided to use Sand teams with Tyranitar and Terrakion as their main wallbreaker, each one taking a different approach. Finch was able to gain a slight advantage right from the lead, as he was able to set both hazards. After Prinz hit two good Close Combats with Choice Band Terrakion, Finchinator was able to pivot in safely his Alakazam, that OHKOd Landorus-T with HP Ice on the switch-in. After losing its only speed control option (Landorus) and then Tyranitar, Prinz found himself very behind and ended up losing. I liked both players takes on a Sand teams with Terrakion, Prinz had Celebi that could help against Rain teams and was able to pivot with Baton Pass, even if it could feel passive in some matchups, while Finchinator had Scarf-less Landorus to check physical attackers and Ferrothorn to help against rain and Dragon type attacks.
[CLA] Dark Eeveon vs Brine [SCO]
Dark Eeveon’s team: 
Brine’s team: 
Eeveon brought a unique Rain team, with Substitute+Agility Empoleon as a sweeper, while Brine opted for an offensice team with suicide lead Skarmory and Jellicent to spinblock. The matchup for Brine was pretty bad, especially because Empoleon after an Agility is able to outspeed and heavily damage or OHKO all of his Pokemons if Scarfless. After Latios dropped a Draco Meteor to kill Politoed (as Tyranitar was killed before by Choice Band Dragonite, so Eeveon won the weather war with Rain), Empoleon was able to setup and kill Jellicent with Grass Knot and Scarf Latios too, after using another Agility and getting in Petaya Berry range. A difficult matchup for Brine, and a good one for Eeveon. Empoleon was able to sweep but is easily stopped by Ferrothorn for example, reason why Keldeo and Choice Band Dragonite are there to help him to clean up later in the game by removing his checks.
[WOL] Monai vs Mako [BIG]
Monai and Mako both entered this game still undefeated in this SPL, whose 0 will go away? Mako used a Rain team with Ferrothorn and Scizor as its two Steel types, while Monai opted for a weatherless team with two strong Psychic attackers and more defensive Pokemons, like Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Jellicent. After trading hazards, and with Jellicent presence to spinblock, Monai was able to chip the opposing Scizor and to win, as most of his Pokemon dont take damages from the Spikes, and with the opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon and Ferrothorn gone, Latios and Alakazam were free to attack.
[CRY] GaryTheGengar vs harshest [SHA]
harshest’s team:
GaryTheGengar’s team:
harshest brought a similar six to what his opponent sugarhigh used in week 1, while Gary used a Rain team, similar to what Mako used the same week (dual Steel types Scizor and Ferrothorn), but with Starmie as its spinner for more offensive pressure and Keldeo as the main win-condition over Landorus-T. After both players traded hazards, Reuniclus missed a Focus Blast on Thundurus-T, that two turns after was able to claim Landorus-T’s life with HP Ice. After that, with Ferrothorn chipped, Scarf Keldeo was able to sweep for Gary.
I will do week 5 together with week 6 later.
Week 3
[TYR] SoulWind vs sugarhigh [RUI]
SoulWind’s team:
sugarhigh’s team:
SoulWind chose to bring a sand team with Hippowdon as its setter, with Terrakion and Latios for some immediate firepower, while sugarhigh opted for a balanced team with key defensive pieces and Nasty Plot Celebi and Gliscor as its main ways to do damage. Both players have Magnezone on their team, probably to get rid of Pokémon like Ferrothorn, Skarmory, or even a chipped Excadrill if they are equipped with a Choice Scarf. On turn 1 SoulWind decides to set Stealth Rock with his Hippowdon against Nasty Plot Celebi, a risky play that repayed later (as he could find chances for Hippowdon to heal for free later). After Magnezone with HP Ice dies to sugarhigh’s Gliscor, SoulWind’s Terrakion enters the field for free, then claiming the opposing Scarf Magnezone too. SoulWind’s team reveals to have two Choice Scarf users, Rotom-W that tricked his item with Choice Band Tyranitar, and Excadrill, that later was able to kill defensive Starmie. Once Gliscor died on turn 27, sugarhigh forfeited. SoulWind played smartly, identifying his win-path early on and how much chipping Gliscor was vital for Excadrill to sweep. I appreciated his teams, usually Hippowdon is found on more bulky/stally structures, but here his ability to set the Sand, Stealth Rock, and heal himself were crucial. sugarhigh’s team is more prepared to face bulky teams with Magnezone, NP Celebi and Choice Band Tyranitar as a breaker (with Blissey instead to take care of strong special attackers). I see the vision and how it could play out but the matchup wasn’t the best.
[SHA] harshest vs Monai [WOL]
harshest’s team:
Monai’s team:
In this game we have Monai playing as Marshest against the Sith Lord, harshest. harshest brought an hail more defensive team, in the hopes of defeating his opponent in a longer drawn out game. Monai brought an offensive rain team, with Landorus as its Stealth Rock setter and Starmie as its spinner. The matchup wasn’t the best for harshest, and Monai was able to close things off early and win. I liked seeing Custap Berry Landorus-T on his side, it was a cool tech. The Focus Blast read on turn 18 gave Monai the lead and after that he kept building on it.
[BIG] Mako vs Star [RAI]
Star’s team:
Mako’s team:
Star used a Sand team with Alakazam and Spikes support in Ferrothorn, with Gliscor and Rotom-W to help having a good core. Mako brought a Sand team too, with Gravity Landorus and a Fire-Water-Grass core with Heatran, Slowbro, and Celebi. The game got decided on the last turns, where Starmaster got very unlucky and missed 2 Focus Blasts with his Life Orb Alakazam, failing to kill Mako’s Heatran. I liked Star’s team that uses a known 6 replacing Landorus-T with Gliscor. As for Mako, she used Slowbro, one of the less used Pokémon, both in week 1 and week 3. Here it complements nicely the defensive core of her team, helping against physical threats that could menace greatly the team, like Conkeldurr or Mamoswine for example.
[SCO] Brine vs GaryTheGengar [CRY]
Brine’s team:
GaryTheGengar’s team:
One of the shortest games of this SPL so far, puts Brine against GaryTheGengar. Brine uses the same 6 as the first sample team, with two Psychic attackers paired with Tyranitar and a solid defensive backbone, while GaryTheGengar opted for a less offensive approach, with Slowbro and Heatran paired with Ferrothorn and the other threats. Turn 1 Brine revealed HP Fire Rotom-W, that hit Gary’s Ferrothorn, which was holding an Occa Berry to mitigate his Fire weakness and to be able to act even against Fire coverage, as in this case. After Brine was able to trap and kill Gary’s Latios, his Custap Berry Tyranitar was able to kill the opposing Excadrill as Gary didn’t scout the item with Slowbro. After that the game ended in a few turns. We were also able to see Heatran’s HP Grass, a move that helps against Rotom and other water types, that are otherwise problematic for this Pokemon. Brine was able to win using only three of his Pokemons, closing the game with his Alakazam.
[TIG] Finchinator vs Dark Eeveon [CLA]
Finchinator’s team:
Dark Eeveon’s team:
Finchinator’s return in BW OU in SPL was against Dark Eeveon, after Cow was sent in SV OU jail. Eeveon brought a Sand team with Omastar, a Pokemon that is able to sweep and clean up in the endgames or to force sone early damage. Finchinator used a weatherless offensive team, with Garchomp as its Stealth Rock setter, with the goal to win playing at a high tempo. Choice Band Scizor was a great way for Eeveon to damage Finch’s Pokemons with its priority Technician-boosted Bullet Punch, but at the end the trainer of the Tigers was able to overwhelm his team by trading favorably using his threats like Conkeldurr and Dragonite. Kyurem-Black was the MVP of this game, claiming 3 kills. I liked seeing Kyurem-Black (could have been mixed or only special attacker with HP Fire I think) on an otherwise kind of common HO structure, with Sash Chomp - Balloon Mie - Scarf Rachi with Healing Wish to support the threats of the team. Eeveon’s sand team was interesting, but both Rotom-W and Omastar weren’t able to do much in this matchup.
Week 4
[RAI] Star vs SoulWind [TYR]
SoulWind’s team:
Star’s team:
The two most expensive players of the pool met and battled in week 4. SoulWind brought a stallier team, with Alakazam and Reuniclus as its Psychic types, and Forretress for his valuable role compression. Star instead opted for a very offensive rain team, with Nasty Plot Thundurus, Substitute Keldeo and Choice Scarf Latias as its 3 main official threats. Substitute Alakazam wasn’t able to provide much progress to SoulWind, as Latias broke its sub and forced it out. Thundurus at +2 with the double hazard support provided from Ferrothorn was able to do big damage to Blissey, SW’s main special wall. After Gliscor’s sac, Alakazam came in to revenge kill Thundurus and was able to claim Ferrothorn with HP Fire under the rain. On turn 27 Star was able to trick Latias’s Choice Scarf onto Slowbro. This play allowed him to win later, as nothing could stop reliably 3 attacks + Sub Keldeo in the endgame. Star’s team is a team that I’d definitely use, it’s a good take on rain. SoulWind’s team felt somewhat rushed, as it feels weak to strong wallbreakers like Keldeo and it gets punished for its passivity.
[RUI] Prinz vs Finchinator [TIG]
Finchinator’s team:
Prinz’s team:
Prinz made his BW OU debut in week 4 of this SPL after starting out in ADV OU. Both players decided to use Sand teams with Tyranitar and Terrakion as their main wallbreaker, each one taking a different approach. Finch was able to gain a slight advantage right from the lead, as he was able to set both hazards. After Prinz hit two good Close Combats with Choice Band Terrakion, Finchinator was able to pivot in safely his Alakazam, that OHKOd Landorus-T with HP Ice on the switch-in. After losing its only speed control option (Landorus) and then Tyranitar, Prinz found himself very behind and ended up losing. I liked both players takes on a Sand teams with Terrakion, Prinz had Celebi that could help against Rain teams and was able to pivot with Baton Pass, even if it could feel passive in some matchups, while Finchinator had Scarf-less Landorus to check physical attackers and Ferrothorn to help against rain and Dragon type attacks.
[CLA] Dark Eeveon vs Brine [SCO]
Dark Eeveon’s team:
Brine’s team:
Eeveon brought a unique Rain team, with Substitute+Agility Empoleon as a sweeper, while Brine opted for an offensice team with suicide lead Skarmory and Jellicent to spinblock. The matchup for Brine was pretty bad, especially because Empoleon after an Agility is able to outspeed and heavily damage or OHKO all of his Pokemons if Scarfless. After Latios dropped a Draco Meteor to kill Politoed (as Tyranitar was killed before by Choice Band Dragonite, so Eeveon won the weather war with Rain), Empoleon was able to setup and kill Jellicent with Grass Knot and Scarf Latios too, after using another Agility and getting in Petaya Berry range. A difficult matchup for Brine, and a good one for Eeveon. Empoleon was able to sweep but is easily stopped by Ferrothorn for example, reason why Keldeo and Choice Band Dragonite are there to help him to clean up later in the game by removing his checks.
[WOL] Monai vs Mako [BIG]
Monai and Mako both entered this game still undefeated in this SPL, whose 0 will go away? Mako used a Rain team with Ferrothorn and Scizor as its two Steel types, while Monai opted for a weatherless team with two strong Psychic attackers and more defensive Pokemons, like Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Jellicent. After trading hazards, and with Jellicent presence to spinblock, Monai was able to chip the opposing Scizor and to win, as most of his Pokemon dont take damages from the Spikes, and with the opposing Choice Scarf Pokemon and Ferrothorn gone, Latios and Alakazam were free to attack.
[CRY] GaryTheGengar vs harshest [SHA]
harshest’s team:
GaryTheGengar’s team:
harshest brought a similar six to what his opponent sugarhigh used in week 1, while Gary used a Rain team, similar to what Mako used the same week (dual Steel types Scizor and Ferrothorn), but with Starmie as its spinner for more offensive pressure and Keldeo as the main win-condition over Landorus-T. After both players traded hazards, Reuniclus missed a Focus Blast on Thundurus-T, that two turns after was able to claim Landorus-T’s life with HP Ice. After that, with Ferrothorn chipped, Scarf Keldeo was able to sweep for Gary.
