Hi y’all.
I said I’d have a post to send out, and I figured I’d make a commemorative post of sorts to wrap up the 2024 circuit. Apologies if this is a bit cheesy, heck, cringey even but I figured this is something I should be putting out there.
On July 16th, 2022, I joined the BDSP community. Up to this point, I have played the tier quite a bit, and I thought I was finally peaking in terms of my ability to play mons by peaking top 10 on a relatively sporadic activity ladder.
At the time, I tried enjoying it because I assumed that would be the only “accomplishment” I would ever achieve in mons. There were hundreds of thousands of players out there, and many were better than I was at the time. So, I was ecstatic when I finally got to this point.
Conveniently, about a couple of weeks after the time I joined the BDSP discord, a tournament popped up on the Smogon forums: the BDSP Ladder tournament. I figured that since I had some success on ladder. It couldn’t hurt to maybe join and see how I could do. My expectations for that tournament, were low. I started to learn more about the circuit, and I wanted to one day maybe see if I could make a run at circuit playoffs and maybe win it. I figured that given the point in time I joined, 2022 was unrealistic, but maybe one day I could see myself playing against some quality players.
The rest was all history.
Not going to lie, if you told me during January that I would play in 4 finals, and come away with 3 tournament wins. I would tell you you’re crazy. At this point, I don’t think I even made it past top 8 of any major OU tournaments, and players such as Igiveup and Codex were only getting better and separating themselves from the rest of the playerbase.
But yet, here we are, this year has been something I couldn’t have even imagined, and I feel like I should extend my thanks to the following morbers.
Alley Cat, my first true mentor to the game. You taught me a lot of stuff within my first year of playing actual competitive mons. It’s a shame we never had a true set against each other. (I’m still bringing Raikou against you tho)
AstilCodex A great mons mind. You have it all man. You might’ve annoyed the fuck out of me with a lot of mons, but you were one of the first people I looked towards for advice on teams.
Boopi_Bappi I may have never taken you up on your Manectric idea, but talking building with a mind with yours always showed me how much room for innovation there could still be (pls come back for 2025).
igiveuponaname Your story of rising to the top will never get old. We’ve probably played thousands of games together, and a majority of them were egregious. However, playing you always motivated me to innovate the wheel and find new ways to get an upper hand. The Alt War may never produce good sets, but the hype is always warranted.
Ruheim who may no longer be a part of the community anymore, but had the most batshit crazy sets combined with the teambuilding approach of a mad scientist.
Tbolt Always was willing to try out new and innovative stuff. Thanks to you, Staraptor always scares me on team preview because I have to think about the minuscule possibility of it being roost. As a result, I must scare you back with
TTK You may not have enjoyed OU as much, but your presence in discussion of the lower tiers is invaluable. I may not be a lower tiers player myself, but I appreciate your contribution to those metas.
TyCarter You were the player I wanted to take on someday. Your experience in not only BDSP, but other metas made you someone I wanted to face to test my own abilities as a player.
Scarf Kricketune You might not have played BDSP as much as the rest of the Morbers nhave/had, but you could always grasp the meta quickly and proved yourself as a quality player who could take on strong and experienced players in the metagame and still come out on top.
Xilefi I remembered when you couldn’t shut up about this metagame lmao. Your essays on why (insert mon here) is a shitmon are always a must read. A great mind, you’re someone who truly believes in what he thinks and isn’t afraid to deviate from the crowd when necessary. A great tier leader. (Sorry I let Gastrodon get another circuit finals win)
Couldn’t have possibly have done this without you guys. You’re all who made this possible.
And to anyone else who participated in BDSP Circuit/BDSPPL, whether one of these tournaments was your first or you’re an accomplished veteran, thank you. You all make these tournaments riveting as spectator, and add onto the stakes of winning as a player. You all are what make this experience special.
With all of that out of the way, here’s to a great 2025.
