doing ORAS predicts with PRs i guess.
edit: go friends, especially talah and the hallows.
ORAS OU #1:
ima / Poek / baddummy / FlamingVictini
it's hard to deny the standouts of this pool are FV and Poek. i'm giving Poek a sliiiight edge over FV since he's been more active (and more recently successful) in ORAS, but FV is one of the top preview gen players in general and a consistent tournament mainstay... he could easily be #1 in this. i think there's a pretty huge skill gap between FV + Poek and ima + baddummy. Poek and FV are near the top of this pool (and just... really fucking good in general), ima is somewhere in the middle, and rick is near the lower end after a poor SPL. i'm really interested to see what ima brings, especially with ben gay and other west innovators potentially helping him. he's really been cementing himself as more than just an above average player lately, and i hope to see him keep improving. i think rick will struggle a lot here. i think he has a ton of potential, but he is really really really inoffensive with his builds and play. versus players significantly better than him like FV and Poek, this will hurt quite a bit, and versus someone who is more of a wildcard like ima, this could hurt even more. i think IF ima brings some really weird shit that dismantles standard, rick will have a bad time.
ORAS OU #2:
Nintendi / Persephone / Zycross / le LLiolae
kinda a low quality pool, honestly. nintendi's good and all, but ORAS is a bit different compared to when he was tearing it up. it's not like that'll be hard to learn, ofc. i don't think being out of the game for a little suddenly makes you bad, but being a bit rusty knocks nintendi from near the top of the player pool to like upper mid. thankfully for him, his opponents are all significantly less experienced than him. i'm a huge persephone fan. i think he's a great player and an even better builder, but he's not really proven on a big stage like this. i'm kinda glad he got a less stressful pool to start, as it'll give him more room to shine and potentially grow into a top ORAS player. xray support makes him even more of a threat. no comment on the other two guys, idk them but i wish them luck.
ORAS OU #3:
Lusa / false / Santu / Altina
who woulda thought FALSE's name would get bolded anytime soon LMAO. i think this pool is pretty even in skill except that altina person idk who they are. i used to think false was ass at pokemon, but lately i've been watching his ORAS, and it's really impressive. he has the patience to pilot these fat and honestly boring teams that most mid level players stay away from unless they're trying to cheese some matchup, and he's good enough at making sharp reads to pilot more offensive teams too, he has a good sense of the meta, moreso than the others in this pool which is what pushes him over to #1. santu REALLY killed it against ABR today, and he's clearly got more "relevant" experience than everyone else here, but i don't think he's that much better than false skill-wise, and i think his team choices are very very hit or miss. normally i wouldn't factor that in so much, but when things are this close, it becomes a bit more significant. lusa's also great. i think he's super underrated in general. he's just really consistent but not in the boring way. he brings a wide variety of teams, shakes up his play during games, and doesn't really make any fuck ups. i think for years now he's been someone on the periphery of the tournament scene, and i'm hoping he can break thru here. sadly, i think santu and false have more tournament experience and ORAS skill respectively than he does. ultimately though, i think this pool can go either way among those 3. i'm sorry altina i will watch your games when i'm not busy.
ORAS OU #4:
Savouras / Star / Eo Ut Mortus / Blunder
no comments on the greek guy, idk him. star eo and blunder are 3 of the better ORAS players (that are playing ORAS) in this tournament, with blunder being #1 and star being #4 imo. i don't think there's much to say on blunder. i think he's the best in this tier period (tied with ABR). he clearly likes it a lot, and given the lower skill of the ORAS player pool in these tournaments compared to SM, it gives someone of his caliber the ability to really really destroy. like he pulled off a fantastic record in SM in SPL, and i have a hunch he would've done similarly well in ORAS. star's really good. teal and ABR have been touting him as the best player to ever touch a mouse or trackpad or touch screen. it's kinda weird because his only results lately have been in random tournaments (cause he's been banned for... 5 years? 6? who even knows), but given how highly he's touted, it's hard to ignore. not to mention being on a team like northeast just elevates anyone and everyone, and i don't just mean that about the fantastic ORAS support here (ABR, BKC, bro fist what the FUCK). i've heard a lot about the east grind and mindset and its ability to make mediocre players like obii trophy winners, who woulda thought. eo's really good too. i think he's up there, and i'm really interested to see what pink shit he brings in this tour. i think eo, star, and blunder are all of a somewhaaatt similar skill level (with blunder being a bit higher), making this pool a really exciting one to say the least. honestly though, i won't be surprised if we see some really standard teams from star and blunder here. they both use a lot of ABR type stuff, and his teams are largely built to just be consistent with sufficient tools for good players to pilot them through most matchups. makes sense given the skill level of these guys, but it can be susceptible to brazy shit like what eo might bring, giving him a bit of a chance to pull an "upset" in this pool. i like eo's take on building in general, but i have no clue if he's building or not here. either way, i'm sure he'll use something wild that works for god knows what reason. no quag offense though please holy fuck that team is so BAD.
PR:
blunder >poek > fv >> star > eo > nintendi >> ima > false > santu > lusa > persephone >> baddummy >> the rest. i mean no offense when i avoid commenting on the other people, btw. i just am not familiar with many of them whatsoever, even though some like le LLiolae and Zycross have been touted a lot by good players and/or have had success recently. i wish you all the best of luck.
ima / Poek / baddummy / FlamingVictini
it's hard to deny the standouts of this pool are FV and Poek. i'm giving Poek a sliiiight edge over FV since he's been more active (and more recently successful) in ORAS, but FV is one of the top preview gen players in general and a consistent tournament mainstay... he could easily be #1 in this. i think there's a pretty huge skill gap between FV + Poek and ima + baddummy. Poek and FV are near the top of this pool (and just... really fucking good in general), ima is somewhere in the middle, and rick is near the lower end after a poor SPL. i'm really interested to see what ima brings, especially with ben gay and other west innovators potentially helping him. he's really been cementing himself as more than just an above average player lately, and i hope to see him keep improving. i think rick will struggle a lot here. i think he has a ton of potential, but he is really really really inoffensive with his builds and play. versus players significantly better than him like FV and Poek, this will hurt quite a bit, and versus someone who is more of a wildcard like ima, this could hurt even more. i think IF ima brings some really weird shit that dismantles standard, rick will have a bad time.
ORAS OU #2:
Nintendi / Persephone / Zycross / le LLiolae
kinda a low quality pool, honestly. nintendi's good and all, but ORAS is a bit different compared to when he was tearing it up. it's not like that'll be hard to learn, ofc. i don't think being out of the game for a little suddenly makes you bad, but being a bit rusty knocks nintendi from near the top of the player pool to like upper mid. thankfully for him, his opponents are all significantly less experienced than him. i'm a huge persephone fan. i think he's a great player and an even better builder, but he's not really proven on a big stage like this. i'm kinda glad he got a less stressful pool to start, as it'll give him more room to shine and potentially grow into a top ORAS player. xray support makes him even more of a threat. no comment on the other two guys, idk them but i wish them luck.
ORAS OU #3:
Lusa / false / Santu / Altina
who woulda thought FALSE's name would get bolded anytime soon LMAO. i think this pool is pretty even in skill except that altina person idk who they are. i used to think false was ass at pokemon, but lately i've been watching his ORAS, and it's really impressive. he has the patience to pilot these fat and honestly boring teams that most mid level players stay away from unless they're trying to cheese some matchup, and he's good enough at making sharp reads to pilot more offensive teams too, he has a good sense of the meta, moreso than the others in this pool which is what pushes him over to #1. santu REALLY killed it against ABR today, and he's clearly got more "relevant" experience than everyone else here, but i don't think he's that much better than false skill-wise, and i think his team choices are very very hit or miss. normally i wouldn't factor that in so much, but when things are this close, it becomes a bit more significant. lusa's also great. i think he's super underrated in general. he's just really consistent but not in the boring way. he brings a wide variety of teams, shakes up his play during games, and doesn't really make any fuck ups. i think for years now he's been someone on the periphery of the tournament scene, and i'm hoping he can break thru here. sadly, i think santu and false have more tournament experience and ORAS skill respectively than he does. ultimately though, i think this pool can go either way among those 3. i'm sorry altina i will watch your games when i'm not busy.
ORAS OU #4:
Savouras / Star / Eo Ut Mortus / Blunder
no comments on the greek guy, idk him. star eo and blunder are 3 of the better ORAS players (that are playing ORAS) in this tournament, with blunder being #1 and star being #4 imo. i don't think there's much to say on blunder. i think he's the best in this tier period (tied with ABR). he clearly likes it a lot, and given the lower skill of the ORAS player pool in these tournaments compared to SM, it gives someone of his caliber the ability to really really destroy. like he pulled off a fantastic record in SM in SPL, and i have a hunch he would've done similarly well in ORAS. star's really good. teal and ABR have been touting him as the best player to ever touch a mouse or trackpad or touch screen. it's kinda weird because his only results lately have been in random tournaments (cause he's been banned for... 5 years? 6? who even knows), but given how highly he's touted, it's hard to ignore. not to mention being on a team like northeast just elevates anyone and everyone, and i don't just mean that about the fantastic ORAS support here (ABR, BKC, bro fist what the FUCK). i've heard a lot about the east grind and mindset and its ability to make mediocre players like obii trophy winners, who woulda thought. eo's really good too. i think he's up there, and i'm really interested to see what pink shit he brings in this tour. i think eo, star, and blunder are all of a somewhaaatt similar skill level (with blunder being a bit higher), making this pool a really exciting one to say the least. honestly though, i won't be surprised if we see some really standard teams from star and blunder here. they both use a lot of ABR type stuff, and his teams are largely built to just be consistent with sufficient tools for good players to pilot them through most matchups. makes sense given the skill level of these guys, but it can be susceptible to brazy shit like what eo might bring, giving him a bit of a chance to pull an "upset" in this pool. i like eo's take on building in general, but i have no clue if he's building or not here. either way, i'm sure he'll use something wild that works for god knows what reason. no quag offense though please holy fuck that team is so BAD.
PR:
blunder >poek > fv >> star > eo > nintendi >> ima > false > santu > lusa > persephone >> baddummy >> the rest. i mean no offense when i avoid commenting on the other people, btw. i just am not familiar with many of them whatsoever, even though some like le LLiolae and Zycross have been touted a lot by good players and/or have had success recently. i wish you all the best of luck.
