sorry for this being so late that's on me
DPL is always an incredibly special tour, but this year things felt different. There was a real positive energy about the team and I truly believed we could beat anyone, with our only loss in the end being to the Ducks. Everything came together nicely, even if I personally didn't do as well as I would have liked, and we had a thrilling finals that ended up being more of a nail biter than I had hoped after we went 3-0 up initially.
For me it was a big relief to finally win DPL as a manager, this is my sixth year managing (so half of all DPLs at this point), and I was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to happen. The first two years, as the Hau'oli Haxers, things didn't go so well, failing to make playoffs both times. However, fortunes changed once I paired up with
Fangame10 to form the Snowpoint City Cold Crew, with the team having made semi-finals the last three years in a row (funnily enough losing to the Cratermakers in the
last two, and
in the first year we lost to Storms who we beat in semis this time), before winning this year.
Over the years I've increasingly realised just how important good vibes and a friendly atmosphere are to team success and Fangame did a massive job in cultivating that kind of environment. Even though you weren't part of the team this year, you should take pride in this win, because this was the culmination of the groundwork that you laid and I can't thank you enough for it. We obviously can't take full credit, but I think it's impressive that FOUR of our players last year (Chris32156, LogIce, Schister, and srvoltmike) moved up to being managers this year (even if it hurt our retain options...), and that it does kind of show how we've been able to draft and foster a good group in the team. It sounds a bit corny to chalk things up to "the power of friendship", but I genuinely think that was a critical part of our success, when you get along with people it's much easier to be active and stay motivated, and rebounding back after a loss becomes a lot easier.
Actuarily's thoughts: I really thought I'd never get a chance to manage a DPL, because the odds of me having ~3 hours free on a weekend where I can be in front of the computer seemed unlikely. So a huge thank you to Yoda for not even blinking when I said I'd only be able to manage if I could be expected to miss the draft. (It turns out I was able to attend the first half of it.... and promptly threw off our entire draft plan. Thankfully we were able to get just about everyone we were trying for despite that.)
I agree that good vibes is one of the most important aspect of a successful team, and I think making it a priority to give everyone an opportunity to play really helped create that environment. When everyone feels a valued & respected part of the team, I think it motivates people to really push for that success. So I was really happy that we were able to have everyone play some and have the success we did.
As far as the plan, Yoda and I knew we could reliably support all the oldgens and SV DOU, but we had basically no experience with Natdex and Champions VGC, so we tried to make sure we filled up the roster with players familiar with these tiers that could support them. I think it worked out as we performed well at these tiers.
Having gotten a chance to manage, I'm surprised at the sentiment that people feel there's not enough players to play every tier. I felt like every tier we had 3-4 people I would have been comfortable starting, and the hard part was choosing which person wouldn't get to play that week. So I do apologize to those that only played a couple times, I would have been happy if we could just start everyone.
Yoda2798 Huge thanks for asking me to manage and being accomodating with the draft. I'm super glad we self-bought you. I don't know how you just play XY so well, I use these teams and don't win half as much as you.
Actuarily thanks for managing alongside me, even if it meant you didn't get to play this year. You're always so level-headed and great for getting a second opinion on things, and did a great job helping me and the rest of the team with prep across the tiers.
AKhant you were an incredible presence to have in the Discord, being super active even when you weren't playing, just like in Derby where I was quite impressed and glad we could then get you for DPL. Sorry that in the games you did play the matchups kind of prevented you from fully showcasing how strong you are as a player as well.
aseqq thanks for being a huge help in a number of tiers, between playing test games and being willing to be slotted anywhere.
JRL you're one of the scariest players in DOU and you proved it yet again this year, one of the most difficult people to go up against in almost any format. It's difficult for someone who was 16k to feel like a bargain but somehow you did it.
Lifetouches I've already said this to you but I'm still shocked you were only 3k even if this is your first DPL, you already feel like a familiar face in the DOUcord and had a strong showing in OSDT earlier this year. I know from Actuarily you also proved to be an excellent support in Derby, so was surprised more people weren't trying to get you in mocks or the draft.
Mastrota89 sorry you were yet another victim of our stacked team and didn't get more games, but I hope it's at least a silver lining that the guy you were benched for went on to reach top 4 in worlds. Still, you did well when you did play and your input to prepping VGC was a valuable form of support to the team.
ratpacker you're such a workhorse even if you're "retired", you somehow have endless energy for building and supporting other tiers while doing super well in your own slot. Even if you weren't managing like last year it was good to have you again this time as a critical part of the team, especially to be part of our win in tiebreaks. With all that you did, you totally justified Actuarily blowing our draft plan to get you when we didn't know you signed up late.
SEROO you weren't someone I was too familiar with before the tour, it was more Actuarily who knew and wanted to get you, but you really impressed and ended up having our best SV record in the end, good job.
Terekusai this is the second year you've been the reliable stalwart of the team, consistently getting us important wins, even if I stole your glory in tiebreaks. You were a bargain last year and even retaining this year, and there's still a few retains left in you if you keep playing the way you are and are happy to keep playing for the Cold Crew.
thacrow VGC was a blind spot for me and Actuarily going into this tour that I was quite worried about, but somehow we ended up getting the person going to top 4 worlds for only 3k. You're an amazing player and I hope that achievement gets you the recognition you deserve. Such as me recognising that I already knew you before DPL, which I didn't because I'm stupid (sorry).
Voltix thanks for taking care of NatDex for most of the tour, which was one of the tiers we were worried about due to the lack of our experience. It felt like every week we considered slotting you in a number of tiers, and it's rare to find someone who can play so many reliably.
xmarsh you're such a great presence to have in a team, super active and friendly and helpful. Your record isn't what you would have wanted, but winning Seasonal is proof that you're better than it reflects. Speaking of which you somehow managed to simultaneously win that while playing in DPL and managing in DFL (also to a win even!) which is super impressive.
Thanks as well to
Aldrich and later
Code and
IcyPenguin2 for joining as helpers, we already had a solid and fairly large squad so wanted to keep things tight knit, but you were all welcome additions and helped us get over the line this year.
Thanks to
goldmason and
zoe for the thankless job of running the tour so smoothly, and for everything you've both done for the tier.
Lastly, thanks to you the reader for reading this, and to everyone part of this tour and community for making DOU such a special place!
