1. crucify and Bopher
I was dubious whether to give ties in this or not, cause there are a lot of signups I deem almost number one, but I think the big reason crucify and Bopher are a step above other managers is the combo itself. Compared to other pairings that are one top tier manager with an unexperienced co manager, both william and bopher managed different teams in PL and played crucial roles in WC. They have both managed in the last PL, and crucify even has experience as a PL winner on the barraskewdas. Their teams' performances in last PL may be underwhelming, but I think both are due to the low quality of their co manager, and this is more than made up with by their insane support capabilities. crucify can build ORAS and BW (and DPP for MG) at the highest level reachable, and Bopher is one of the most sought for SS and SM builders, especially with his great innovation. They both learned from their mistakes last PL, and I believe they have the best chance at winning the entire tournament
2. DenisTheMenace and Close
Some of the most experienced 1v1 players in the manager pool and of all time, these two can shoot for the stars. They come off a stupendous wc win and both of them have always been on great teams, Close being one of the only two players to have not missed a teamtour playoff since 2019. Denis is one of the best SS players and builders and Close is proficient in basically every single generation, making him insane at team support in every tier. What holds this team back from the 1st place is their lack of experience as PL managers, and the fact that SEU was never a team that needed very hard captaining effort. They will have to prove they know what they're doing in the auction, but if that works out, everything else will easily snowball.
3. Mubs and HCTC
This is a duo that I just
have to put up here, due to their outstanding results and the fact that they are, just like crucify and Bopher, a duo of experienced managers. The two were 1st and 3rd seed team managers in PL5 and team captains in WC5. What holds them back is that neither of these two is an outstanding player, builder on their own, and the fact that neither of these two acts as a "main manager", but both would be more suited to co manage someone else. They have their ways around that issue during the auction, for sure, but it is still not an easy burden to overcome. Nevertheless they are still a very good pair that has great potential
4. Potatochan and tears
Potato and tears are the crux of the Trojan Porygons, last PL's winners. After their winning performance they decided to take matters into their own hands and manage a team for themselves. Extremely scary duo that is way more volatile in my eyes, can both do great things or flop incredibly. The main crux of this conundrum comes from the absolute lack of managing experience from the both of them. Auctions are never easy even if you are used to them, and things can go very wrong without a lucid mind. tears specifically is not a very leading figure, and might end up being left on the sidelines as mainly only a player instead of a co manager. Potatochan on the other hand is a top tier player and builder that definitely has potential in managing, he's a great leading figure and great supporter, and I believe has the head on his shoulders enough to have a good auction. What holds them back is their respective wc performance, them being on the 8th and 7th seed team respectively, the former as a manager. We'll see what the pair reserves us
5. DEG and Itchy
To say deg is one of the best 1v1 managers would not be an understatement. He has managed to pull team Asia from the ground and make it a respectable, playoffs-worthy team time and time again, and his PL performance isn't any less noteworthy, with the Catgirls reaching semis in PL as third seed. His only downside is, similar to Potatochan, the downfall of Team Pacific under his captaincy, from projected 1st/2nd seed to last seed. The biggest downside to this duo is the co manager, itchy, being experienceless both playing and building. Itchy has been on the last seed team Poliwraths in PL5 but also on the first seed team US South in WC5, all while being a non-crucial player on either team, though. Not a great player or builder either, going negative in pl and even in wc. This may also be due to how new she is to 1v1 as a whole, though, only joining the scene in 2021, so all is up to debate. This team is not very favored to win from the get-go, but it definitely has potential if Itchy proves to be an asset and deg doesn't fall short of his capabilities.
6. STABLE and RTM
write-up by crucify
STABLE aka RADU aka stableprince569 aka left his team chat after losing in pl finals tb is honestly a pretty good manager if you ignore the last part and him flaming people, telling them to l2p, and being in general a cocky larper. In pl5 on the thwackeys he did a lot of heavy lifting to get them to the position they were in, one game away from winning the whole thing, and he was basically a captain of the wc5 broken ass seu team that won the whole tour. He also wins some meme tours, winning two 2v2pls as a manager. He's one of the better 1v1 players at playing all the gens and builds a lot of teams, though his teams are unfortunately bad. His co is RTM aka poopy gorilla, someone who has not played in a team tour and only notable showing is having a deep run in a seasonal. His timezone is like +11 or +13 or something, so massive disadvantage there. Maybe he can do alright in ss but juries out on whether he can help radu as a manager and support his team.
7. Jamez and PA
Jamez is coming back to manage after the Trojan Porygons success in PL5, this time with PA. While it is true that he was the one who did the auction, most of the rest of the credits comes from the managers themselves being good players and from some of the drafts revealing themselves to be heavylifters for the team. Potatochan did most of the managing himself, even going as far as benching his own manager against their will, and players like tears ended up winning way more than they expected to. Other than PL, Jamez only has experience managing the Frozen Articunos in PL3, netting them 6th place. PA on the other hand is a player that has been in the 1v1 scene for a while, but never was very relevant, and does not have any managing experience. The duo can still potentially bring out a winning team, but with the managers being very inexperienced and only one of the two managers being a good player that is able to team support, odds are very against them.
8. Boat and Jabiru
To conclude our top 8 are Boat and Jabiru, two quite relevant 1v1 players. Boat has been a leading figure in all facets of 1v1 except playing for quite a while, but his managing experience is somewhat limited. He managed the Mighty Morphin' Morpekos in PL4 (with dubious merit on his part) to a finals tiebreaker, and has captained US West into reaching 8th seed and 7th seed. His metagame knowledge is limited to SM and his team support isn't the greatest. On the other hand the co-manager Jabiru is a better player and builder with no managing or captaining experience. One of the big flaws with this managing duo is how both of the managers specialize in the same gens, thus creating many more holes to cover during the auciton. This is a team that would struggle to make playoffs and very very difficulty would be able to win the tournament, although the chances are not 0.
9. Elo Bandit and Murman
In 9th place we have Elo Bandit and Murman, two players that have incredible synergy with each other. Bandit has been a leading figure in 1v1 ever since 2017, with his activity dropping heavily ever since SS release. His managing experience is limited to the PL1 Castaway Corsolas, which ended up being last place, and to the most recent World Cup, with his team reaching 7th place. His other appearances are on the Teatime Terrors as 5th seed, on the Frozen Articunos as 8th seed and WC3 and WC4 US West as 2nd and 8th seed respectively. Murman on the other hand is quite a new user, only being relevant since early 2021, with no managing experience and a very poor playing record. I don't like to beat around a bush so I'll just say it out right, this manager duo spells disaster, the upsides are not good enough to outbalanced the downsides and I haven't even said all I would have to say. I believe that given the right circumstances they could still pull together an acceptable team, but for a manager pair like this winning is out of the question.
10. Mishlef
I think he could do better than a few teams above him but managing without a co is out of the question, especially given his lack of experience. Find a good co and come back next year bop.
11. CallMeJJok3r + Yami
Don't know if this is a meme sign up or not so I'll add it. To be fair to them, both Joker and Yami are good players in their own right that cover multiple gens between each other, but as a manager duo they would not even reach the end of week 7. The auction would be a continuous struggle to find players that would even be willing to play for them, and the managers themselves are very likely to cancer if not kept in check by somebody else.
Overall extremely competitive manager pairings this year compared to the other years, good job guys.