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Tournaments 2026 SS OU SPL Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Slowpoke Fan
- Start date
I've been really pleased with the quality games so far this season and I wanted to make a post about some of my favorite games from Week 1 up until the midseason since no one else has really done any game review so far.
Overall, this pool has felt super balanced, but I guess one can't be too surprised with the average price of week 5 SS starters being only 7.85k, which is narrowly second behind the ADV pool of starters at 7.75k (which is helped by the loss of Skarpherim). Another interesting factoid about the week 5 SS starters is that the price of Mattz_, SS's most expensive player, is the cheapest most expensive player out of all pools closely at 16.5k, closely followed by Garay oak in ADV at 18k.
I don't blame the managers lack of willingness to spend however, maybe unlike some classic gens, SS isn't necessarily the hardest tier to pick up and learn, especially for a fairy gens player. Which, in my mind, makes it much easier to hypothetically sub out your budget SS pick rather than a budget classic gen player who's slot already lacks depth as is. I think this idea combined with the notion that there aren't any major tiebreak candidates starting week 5 in SS explains the relatively low average price of starters.
Going chronologically, the first game I wanted to take a look at was Fc vs Corazan. It starts normally with both sides, trading rocks, knocks, and Corazan trying to gain momentum with Future Sight which he is able to do on turn 10 across from a Moonblast-ing Clef in sand. Tran comes in on the port successfully traps the Clef, but I would actually argue the trade was really close to equal.
Because neither side switched out, Clef was able to leave Bro at around 33% after regen and rocks, making its job to counter Melm and Shifu infinitely harder. And this is what happens in the ensuing turns: Fc's team puts on the pressure, forcing Corazan to switch repeatedly and take chip on over half of his team and lose his Clef in the process. With Pult looking much stronger now as the only thing stopping it is a Spdef drop on Hippo, and that's exactly what it finds.
But with no Clef to pivot through, Fc is able to keep bringing in his physical threats on Hippo, unthreatened by a Slowbro forced to click recover every time it enters (which is the only thing it does from turn 25-46). The bleeding continues as Pult trivializes Corazan's slow and weakened team to secure the endgame. But my interest in this game comes from Clef's important sacrifice, although it was trapped and killed in the first 15 turns it opened up the game massively for Fc's physical attackers to never let up pressure.
In the second week Fc faced off against MDB in my favorite game of the week. I've mostly thought that MDB has brought some really cool teams every week this season but I think he got a bit lost in the sauce in this one. Toxic Zap just has a field day with his team, especially one that gets a bit of help through RNG... but even without RNG MDB needs to play very thoughtfully to ever break through Zap.
The first 50(!) or so turns are literally just Fc trolling with said Zapdos where it looks like it's just going to single-handedly win the game—however, Fc makes a crucial error that allows MDB to claw his way back into this one. As MDB gets his band Kart on the field facing Zap using Teleport, Fc opts to sac his Fini, not realizing that knocked Zap can safely scout any set and Volt into something that forces Kart out (maybe there was some sort of mind game going on where Fc was predicting knock into fini but I'm unsure). Things get bad quick for Fc, as he takes the safe route and volts on +1 Band LB, bringing out his own Kart to try and regain momentum.
Both players are forced to sac until MDB makes the hard play and goes Tran on Kart LB which forces Blace to revenge and subsequently be fodder for a very threatening Scarf Fini. Fc thinks hard for around 3 minutes, as either mon he goes to is risking losing the game by MDB going Tran on resisted moves. Fc chooses his own Tran(avoiding the(imo) riskier prediction tree of going Kart) opting to chip it enough to be dead to Kart Sacred Sword, but by choosing not to trap Fini, MDB makes another ballsy play and brings in his own Tran on the attempted stall-out. Now, MDB's Tran can pick up the kill and Fini can tank the forced Sacred from Kart.
This was such an awesome reversal by MDB, being able to capitalize on your opponents errors when you have little chance of winning shows why he is one of the all time best. Furthermore, this was truly one of the best endgames I've ever seen, that last interaction had such little room for mental error on both players' ends, and I'm just genuinely fortunate to be able to witness a game like this.
MDB returns for my favorite week three game vs Gtcha, bringing what I think is my favorite team of the tour so far. I have been enjoying whatever the Sharks' SS team-building laboratory have been creating these first weeks as they are some of the freshest builds of the tour.
MDB's team this week is no exception, not afraid to deviate from standard sets, offensive Nature Power Tran ends up being a great pick into Gtcha's HDB spam spike stack. It also helps when Band Rilla just steals kills with or without Future Sight support in front of the most useless Buzzwole ever loaded...
Not much really else to say about this game, great team choice into Gtcha by MDB and the Sharks, and kudos for making teams that are more what I'll call "off the beaten path" in terms of deviating from standard set choices, it's been very fun as a spectator to watch.
Lastly, Mattz_ vs Gtcha is another one of my faorite games of the season. It highlights the dominating style so far this SPL being Lando-Tran-Clef/Kart/Pult offensive structures where you can realistically use any combination of the last three mons in conjunction with each other. I find these types of teams are often most fun to watch, especially when they face off against each other, which is what we have here. Mattz_'s Double Specs team looks extremely potent if Tran is removed and Gtcha's Pult future-port offense is equally threatening.
The game starts with Gtcha sacfrifing his Kart's health and scarf to put the opposing Lando in Pult range. After both players reposition, Goltres is threatening to set-up and punch a big hole through Mattz_'s team, and Gtcha makes the tough decision to go for it, as risking his Tran on a potential Specs FBlast would put him in an even worse position than a +3 +2 Goltres staring him down. However, after Tran revenges the Goltres, the combination of Pult and CM Clef is now too much for Gtcha to overcome, even with Kart future-port set-ups.
This game felt very in control by Mattz_, starting from that Goltres sequence, he doesn't get cute and gets guaranteed damage before dying and killing with Tran and even getting the opportunity to set rocks. Being down a sac in these offense vs. offense games can usually be quite dire but Mattz_ consistently finds ways for Pult to get in and do a million damage with the ghost resist no longer around.
To do some shameless Monday-morning-quarterbacking, I think the correct play for Gtcha was to always go Bro(who looked like max spdef) on Lele to scout, then reposition through Tran or Chomp to try and force progress with rocks or just putting damage onto Lando, Tran, or Pult. Mattz_'s team becomes infinitely easier for Goltres to push through once rocks are up and Tran is chipped.
This game's notable to me just because of how enigmatic it felt of the tier feels as a whole so far this SPL, offense in this tier is so fun to watch, but all if not most of the SS games this SPL have felt really great quality no matter the teams.
I think I'll call it there... but I had a fun time writing this! And please correct me if I missed something glaringly obvious or just got something wrong! I'm looking forward to the upcoming SS games, and maybe if this is received well I'll make a second half version of this post after poffs.
Overall, this pool has felt super balanced, but I guess one can't be too surprised with the average price of week 5 SS starters being only 7.85k, which is narrowly second behind the ADV pool of starters at 7.75k (which is helped by the loss of Skarpherim). Another interesting factoid about the week 5 SS starters is that the price of Mattz_, SS's most expensive player, is the cheapest most expensive player out of all pools closely at 16.5k, closely followed by Garay oak in ADV at 18k.
I don't blame the managers lack of willingness to spend however, maybe unlike some classic gens, SS isn't necessarily the hardest tier to pick up and learn, especially for a fairy gens player. Which, in my mind, makes it much easier to hypothetically sub out your budget SS pick rather than a budget classic gen player who's slot already lacks depth as is. I think this idea combined with the notion that there aren't any major tiebreak candidates starting week 5 in SS explains the relatively low average price of starters.
SS | SM | ORAS | BW | DPP | ADV | GSC | RBY |
7.85 | 8.25 | 12.00 | 13.8 | 8.85 | 7.75 | 15.15 | 8.30 |
Going chronologically, the first game I wanted to take a look at was Fc vs Corazan. It starts normally with both sides, trading rocks, knocks, and Corazan trying to gain momentum with Future Sight which he is able to do on turn 10 across from a Moonblast-ing Clef in sand. Tran comes in on the port successfully traps the Clef, but I would actually argue the trade was really close to equal.
Because neither side switched out, Clef was able to leave Bro at around 33% after regen and rocks, making its job to counter Melm and Shifu infinitely harder. And this is what happens in the ensuing turns: Fc's team puts on the pressure, forcing Corazan to switch repeatedly and take chip on over half of his team and lose his Clef in the process. With Pult looking much stronger now as the only thing stopping it is a Spdef drop on Hippo, and that's exactly what it finds.
But with no Clef to pivot through, Fc is able to keep bringing in his physical threats on Hippo, unthreatened by a Slowbro forced to click recover every time it enters (which is the only thing it does from turn 25-46). The bleeding continues as Pult trivializes Corazan's slow and weakened team to secure the endgame. But my interest in this game comes from Clef's important sacrifice, although it was trapped and killed in the first 15 turns it opened up the game massively for Fc's physical attackers to never let up pressure.
In the second week Fc faced off against MDB in my favorite game of the week. I've mostly thought that MDB has brought some really cool teams every week this season but I think he got a bit lost in the sauce in this one. Toxic Zap just has a field day with his team, especially one that gets a bit of help through RNG... but even without RNG MDB needs to play very thoughtfully to ever break through Zap.
The first 50(!) or so turns are literally just Fc trolling with said Zapdos where it looks like it's just going to single-handedly win the game—however, Fc makes a crucial error that allows MDB to claw his way back into this one. As MDB gets his band Kart on the field facing Zap using Teleport, Fc opts to sac his Fini, not realizing that knocked Zap can safely scout any set and Volt into something that forces Kart out (maybe there was some sort of mind game going on where Fc was predicting knock into fini but I'm unsure). Things get bad quick for Fc, as he takes the safe route and volts on +1 Band LB, bringing out his own Kart to try and regain momentum.
Both players are forced to sac until MDB makes the hard play and goes Tran on Kart LB which forces Blace to revenge and subsequently be fodder for a very threatening Scarf Fini. Fc thinks hard for around 3 minutes, as either mon he goes to is risking losing the game by MDB going Tran on resisted moves. Fc chooses his own Tran(avoiding the(imo) riskier prediction tree of going Kart) opting to chip it enough to be dead to Kart Sacred Sword, but by choosing not to trap Fini, MDB makes another ballsy play and brings in his own Tran on the attempted stall-out. Now, MDB's Tran can pick up the kill and Fini can tank the forced Sacred from Kart.
This was such an awesome reversal by MDB, being able to capitalize on your opponents errors when you have little chance of winning shows why he is one of the all time best. Furthermore, this was truly one of the best endgames I've ever seen, that last interaction had such little room for mental error on both players' ends, and I'm just genuinely fortunate to be able to witness a game like this.
MDB returns for my favorite week three game vs Gtcha, bringing what I think is my favorite team of the tour so far. I have been enjoying whatever the Sharks' SS team-building laboratory have been creating these first weeks as they are some of the freshest builds of the tour.
MDB's team this week is no exception, not afraid to deviate from standard sets, offensive Nature Power Tran ends up being a great pick into Gtcha's HDB spam spike stack. It also helps when Band Rilla just steals kills with or without Future Sight support in front of the most useless Buzzwole ever loaded...
Not much really else to say about this game, great team choice into Gtcha by MDB and the Sharks, and kudos for making teams that are more what I'll call "off the beaten path" in terms of deviating from standard set choices, it's been very fun as a spectator to watch.
Lastly, Mattz_ vs Gtcha is another one of my faorite games of the season. It highlights the dominating style so far this SPL being Lando-Tran-Clef/Kart/Pult offensive structures where you can realistically use any combination of the last three mons in conjunction with each other. I find these types of teams are often most fun to watch, especially when they face off against each other, which is what we have here. Mattz_'s Double Specs team looks extremely potent if Tran is removed and Gtcha's Pult future-port offense is equally threatening.
The game starts with Gtcha sacfrifing his Kart's health and scarf to put the opposing Lando in Pult range. After both players reposition, Goltres is threatening to set-up and punch a big hole through Mattz_'s team, and Gtcha makes the tough decision to go for it, as risking his Tran on a potential Specs FBlast would put him in an even worse position than a +3 +2 Goltres staring him down. However, after Tran revenges the Goltres, the combination of Pult and CM Clef is now too much for Gtcha to overcome, even with Kart future-port set-ups.
This game felt very in control by Mattz_, starting from that Goltres sequence, he doesn't get cute and gets guaranteed damage before dying and killing with Tran and even getting the opportunity to set rocks. Being down a sac in these offense vs. offense games can usually be quite dire but Mattz_ consistently finds ways for Pult to get in and do a million damage with the ghost resist no longer around.
To do some shameless Monday-morning-quarterbacking, I think the correct play for Gtcha was to always go Bro(who looked like max spdef) on Lele to scout, then reposition through Tran or Chomp to try and force progress with rocks or just putting damage onto Lando, Tran, or Pult. Mattz_'s team becomes infinitely easier for Goltres to push through once rocks are up and Tran is chipped.
This game's notable to me just because of how enigmatic it felt of the tier feels as a whole so far this SPL, offense in this tier is so fun to watch, but all if not most of the SS games this SPL have felt really great quality no matter the teams.
I think I'll call it there... but I had a fun time writing this! And please correct me if I missed something glaringly obvious or just got something wrong! I'm looking forward to the upcoming SS games, and maybe if this is received well I'll make a second half version of this post after poffs.
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Corazan
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc HIGHLIGHT
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc HIGHLIGHT
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
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SS OU: Mattz_ vs Corazon
I’m going with Corazan. He’s been bringing more creative prep and is good at capitalizing on common SS OU trends. When games go off-script, he tends to adapt better. If Mattz keeps it linear and clean it can be close, but overall I give a slight edge to Corazan.
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaeldeBeste2
He’s very fundamentally solid and rarely beats himself. In SS, where positioning and hazard control are huge, that consistency matters a lot. Lycan has higher volatility, but Michael usually makes fewer midgame mistakes.
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
He usually comes in with a clear game plan from preview and plays tightly around his wincon. He’s patient and doesn’t force unnecessary predicts, which is really valuable in longer SS games.
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc
The edge here is stability. Fc tends to control tempo well and understands when to take middlegrounds instead of overpredicting. If he avoids falling behind early, he should manage resources better over the course of the game.
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
I think he’s more likely to apply early pressure and create favorable positions for his endgame. If his prep and execution line up especially with pivot usage and breaker positioning he can dictate the pace of the match.
I’m going with Corazan. He’s been bringing more creative prep and is good at capitalizing on common SS OU trends. When games go off-script, he tends to adapt better. If Mattz keeps it linear and clean it can be close, but overall I give a slight edge to Corazan.
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs MichaeldeBeste2
He’s very fundamentally solid and rarely beats himself. In SS, where positioning and hazard control are huge, that consistency matters a lot. Lycan has higher volatility, but Michael usually makes fewer midgame mistakes.
SS OU: Ikaishi vs Gtcha
He usually comes in with a clear game plan from preview and plays tightly around his wincon. He’s patient and doesn’t force unnecessary predicts, which is really valuable in longer SS games.
SS OU: entrocefalo vs Fc
The edge here is stability. Fc tends to control tempo well and understands when to take middlegrounds instead of overpredicting. If he avoids falling behind early, he should manage resources better over the course of the game.
SS OU: damien the genius vs ChrisPBacon
I think he’s more likely to apply early pressure and create favorable positions for his endgame. If his prep and execution line up especially with pivot usage and breaker positioning he can dictate the pace of the match.
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Fc vs damien the genius
SS OU: ILoveGarchom vs Setsu
SS OU: Gtcha vs entrocefalo
SS OU: Corazan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mattz_
SS OU: Me qualifying for sslt vs Lose and rage
SS OU: Fc vs damien the genius
SS OU: ILoveGarchom vs Setsu
SS OU: Gtcha vs entrocefalo
SS OU: Corazan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mattz_
SS OU: Me qualifying for sslt vs Lose and rage
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Mattz_
SS OU: Ikaishi vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Corazan
SS OU: damien the genius vs Gtcha
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Fc
SS OU: Ikaishi vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Corazan
SS OU: damien the genius vs Gtcha
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Fc
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Gtcha vs Metallica126
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
SS OU: Fc vs 1 True Lycan
SS OU: Corazan vs damien the genius
SS OU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Zaza
SS OU: Mattz_ vs Ikaishi
Last edited:
SS OU: damien the genius vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Mattz_
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Corazan
SS OU: Fc vs Gtcha
SS OU: Zaza vs Mattz_
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Corazan
SS OU: Fc vs Gtcha
SS OU: damien the genius vs MichaelderBeste2
SS OU: Zaza vs Mattz_
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Corazan
SS OU: Fc vs Gtcha
SS OU: Zaza vs Mattz_
SS OU: 1 True Lycan vs Ikaishi
SS OU: ChrisPBacon vs Corazan
SS OU: Fc vs Gtcha
My first SPL run is over. It sucks we didn’t make playoffs, but I’m still proud of how I performed overall, even if I couldn’t clutch when it mattered most.
Huge thanks to my managers for trusting me when nobody else did, and to my teammates for always supporting me throughout the entire run. I really hope we get to team up again in the future. Losing like this always hits hard, especially when you feel like you had more to prove, but I’m taking the L with my head high and hoping to get another shot next season.
When I got drafted, I set a goal for myself to improve my building as much as possible, and I promised in the SS server that I’d share my teams at the end of the run. I also wanna push back on the idea that SS OU is a “boring” or repetitive tier — there’s a lot of room for creativity if you’re willing to step outside of standard structures. If I could do it, you can too.
Anyway, here’s my SPL run:
W1 vs Finchinator [TIG] (W)
https://pokepast.es/a959291c3ba378db
Going into week 1 I was really nervous and built a lot of different teams without being able to fully commit to one. I ended up going with this Rillaboom HO, which is pretty straightforward in concept — it aims to bait in flying-types early so that Garchomp or Scarf Kartana can clean later on.
The game itself wasn’t my best. I had some pretty questionable plays, like switching on Turn 3 even though I already had a Sub up with Garchomp, or later on Turn 21 where I didn’t go for another Sub when I probably should have. Despite that, I managed to recover and bring it back. Overall I think the prep was solid, and starting with a win helped a lot with confidence going forward.
W2 vs damien the genius [CLA] (W)
https://pokepast.es/9fe80a8a90f8f2dd
This week I felt pretty stuck while building, and it wasn’t until shortly before the game that I decided to go with Hydreigon. Once I committed to it, the team came together pretty naturally, and my teammates liked it so I locked it in. The idea is simple: FSight + Specs Hydreigon to break, with Buzzwole supporting in a similar style to Ox's team last SPL.
In-game I was really nervous and made mistakes early on, like not clicking Dark Pulse on Turn 3 and not anticipating the Eject Button from Ferrothorn on Turn 6. That put me in a worse position than necessary, and I had to play from behind for a bit. I managed to regain control later despite the pressure from Urshifu’s U-turn, and ended up winning on timer. Not the cleanest win, and definitely a bit unfortunate for Damien.
W3 vs ChrisPBacon [RUI] (W)
https://pokepast.es/c763b15dfb3fbf55
After starting 2-0, I wanted to try something I don’t usually play, so I went with my own version of a pretty common 6. The general idea is familiar — stack hazards and apply pressure with Weavile/Clef to keep making progress — but I adjusted it in a way that felt more comfortable to me.
I think this was one of my most consistent games. I didn’t have any clear chokes, and it ended up being a back-and-forth where both sides had chances. There was definitely some luck involved, but I handled the key moments well enough to come out on top. Overall a really fun game, and probably one of my favorite teams from the tournament.
W4 vs Fc [RAI] (L)
https://pokepast.es/d568c9c0affaf98b
My first loss, and it’s one I regret because I really liked this team. I was expecting something more on the fat/stall side, and since I hadn’t used Tapu Lele much, I decided to build around it. The structure was actually very similar to something I made years ago, and I felt really confident going into the match.
Unfortunately, I ran into something completely different from what I expected, and I couldn’t adapt properly in-game. I also had to play outside home, which affected my focus in some key turns where I could’ve pressured more aggressively, especially with Urshifu in a game that was very trade-heavy. Still, no excuses — full credit to Fc for the prep and execution.
W5 vs Gtcha [WOL] (W)
https://pokepast.es/c2ca531c7914b188
After my first loss, my confidence wasn’t at its best, especially since I was facing someone who inspired me when I first started playing. I decided to go with a Clef / Skarm / Gastro structure, noticing that fat wasn’t being used as much lately. I initially tried building with Zeraora, but it felt too inconsistent in testing, so I switched to Rillaboom.
The team has really nice synergy — Skarm and Gastro spread Toxic to put threats like Zapdos, Garchomp, and Dragapult on a timer, which makes it much easier for Rillaboom to clean later. I also ran double Knock to pass Sticky Barb to things like Tornadus-T and Buzzwole, which adds a lot of long-term pressure.
The game started terribly — I fell into a 3-6 position that felt almost impossible to come back from. Somehow I managed to stabilize, especially after realizing that my opponent didn’t have good ways to break Gastrodon and couldn’t get through the Skarm-Gastro core. From there, I focused on pivoting carefully and managing resources. At one point, I noticed I was running low on Roost PPs, so I knew I had to make a decisive play soon — I read the Weavile switch at the right time, regained momentum, and turned the game around. Definitely one of the most satisfying wins I’ve had.
W6 vs Corazan [CRY] (L)
https://pokepast.es/0e28c9f00ca01cc3
I made the same mistake again here by overprepping for fat/stall. The team was built around using U-turn Zapdos to bait in ground-types and bring in Urshifu or Weavile to keep constant pressure, and the rest of the team with more offensive spreads to catch opp off guard.
I don’t want to go too deep into this one because it was honestly one of my worst performances ever. I had technical issues and couldn’t log into Smogtours from my laptop, so I had to play almost the entire match on my phone. That completely threw me off, and I made several bad, unjustifiable plays. I got run over in under 20 turns. Nothing to say here — full credit to Corazan and their prep.
W7 vs MichaelderBeste2 [SHA] (W)
https://pokepast.es/ceacf995c50e311a
This week started off rough due to scheduling issues — I usually try to be flexible, but I ended up having to play at times that didn’t really work for me.
The team idea wasn’t fully mine this time. I wanted to use Slowking-G with Urshifu, built a rough version, and then remembered I already had a team with those same 6 in the builder. I reused it and adjusted the sets and spreads. At some point we realized the team had a really bad matchup against most offensive Grounds, so LNumbers suggested a spread that would let me live an Earthquake from those threats and immediately threaten back with Ice Beam.
In-game, I think I played really well, especially considering how bad W6 went. There was a key moment on Turn 6 where I stayed in with Urshifu and take the Tornadus-T kill, which was a pretty decisive turn and ended up giving me a huge advantage early. Clean performance overall.
W8 vs Mattz_ [BIG] (L)
https://pokepast.es/1b263cf058620fa6
This week I didn’t have much time to prepare. I initially tried building something with Mandibuzz + Blaziken, but after scouting I felt it was better to go more offensive, so I went back to Rillaboom HO. I replaced Mandibuzz with Moltres-G, built the base, and then realized the same 6 were already used in the Garcomp Fan's sample, so I refined it with some adjustments based on the scout.
In the game, the matchup wasn’t what I expected at all, but it was still playable as long as I could prevent Toxic Spikes from going up. I actually managed that pretty well early on and was building momentum, but a missed Draco Meteor completely flipped the game. From there it snowballed into me losing the position I had worked to build. I still almost brought it back, but needed a favorable roll on Moltres and flinch on Blissey that didn’t happen. Anyways, I really had fun playing into a strong player like Mattz_, he made fire plays on this game and I wanna face him one day again.
W9 vs 1 True Lycan [SCO] (L)
https://pokepast.es/9fcd3e33f2c3acad
Last week, must-win situation, and I really struggled to decide what to bring. I ended up going with Sand + Melmetal, and overall I think the team structure was very solid. The problem was one specific decision: Tyranitar.
I had been wanting to try max Attack Tyranitar for a while, and I kind of forced it here even though I knew the team would benefit more from a SpD + TWave set. That version would’ve helped a lot against Corviknight and Skarmory, which were already problematic. I basically let that decision go through even knowing the risks, and it came back to bite me.
The matchup itself was really bad — I had no consistent way to break Skarmory, and my main path to winning relied on playing Tyranitar perfectly. Instead, it got paralyzed early by Discharge, which made things even worse, and then got fully paralyzed again on a crucial turn where I tried to set rocks to pressure Skarm’s switches. From that point on, it was just too much to recover from. I kept trying, but it wasn’t enough.
This loss ended up being one of the ones that sealed our elimination, which makes it even harder to take.
Here is the team dump:
https://pokepast.es/4e6044a3a03af13a
Overall, it was a really fun and meaningful season for me. I learned a lot, both in terms of building and in-game decision making, but also about how I handle pressure, preparation, and setbacks across multiple weeks. SPL is a very different environment compared to anything else, and going through that for the first time taught me a lot about myself as a player.
I also got to meet and interact with a lot of really great players throughout the tour, which is something I value just as much as the results. Being able to test, share ideas, and just talk about the game with people at this level is something I don’t take for granted.
From a personal standpoint, I think this run showed me that I can compete at this level. Starting around 10th in PRs and managing to hold my own throughout the season is something I’m genuinely satisfied with, even if the ending wasn’t what I wanted. At the same time, I’m fully aware there’s still a lot I can improve on, especially when it comes to consistency in high-pressure moments.
I'd like to give a especial shoutout to one person in particular (aside from my teammates and managers - they were a big part of this clearly):
Bloshh de todo corazón, gracias por todo el apoyo que me has dado desde siempre, y en esta situación en particular. Leer mis mensajes a tus 3am diciéndote que hice el mejor team de la historia, pidiéndote opiniones o yendo a sacar mi frustración a tu DM cada vez que perdía son una de las tantas cosas que hiciste y que de verdad aprecio. No desaproveches el talento que tienes, se que si sigues vas a llegar lejos y espero algún día te den la oportunidad que me dieron a mi este año, y también estaré para apoyarte igual o más de como lo hiciste conmigo. Gracias, twin.
If there’s one thing I want people to take away from this post, it’s that building creatively is always worth it. A lot of the ideas I brought weren’t perfect, and some clearly had flaws, but being willing to experiment and trust your own approach is what helps you grow the most. It’s easy to default to standard builds, but pushing beyond that is what makes the tier — and the player — more interesting.
I’m definitely motivated to keep improving and come back stronger next time, both as a builder and as a player. Hopefully I get another opportunity in a future SPL to prove that.
If you’ve got any questions about the teams, spreads, specific choices, or just wanna talk about building in general, feel free to DM me on Discord (ikaishi). I will try to reply asap.
Thanks a lot for reading, I really appreciate it.
And yeah — SCREAM IF YOU LOVE TYRANTS.
Huge thanks to my managers for trusting me when nobody else did, and to my teammates for always supporting me throughout the entire run. I really hope we get to team up again in the future. Losing like this always hits hard, especially when you feel like you had more to prove, but I’m taking the L with my head high and hoping to get another shot next season.
When I got drafted, I set a goal for myself to improve my building as much as possible, and I promised in the SS server that I’d share my teams at the end of the run. I also wanna push back on the idea that SS OU is a “boring” or repetitive tier — there’s a lot of room for creativity if you’re willing to step outside of standard structures. If I could do it, you can too.
Anyway, here’s my SPL run:
W1 vs Finchinator [TIG] (W)
https://pokepast.es/a959291c3ba378db
Going into week 1 I was really nervous and built a lot of different teams without being able to fully commit to one. I ended up going with this Rillaboom HO, which is pretty straightforward in concept — it aims to bait in flying-types early so that Garchomp or Scarf Kartana can clean later on.
The game itself wasn’t my best. I had some pretty questionable plays, like switching on Turn 3 even though I already had a Sub up with Garchomp, or later on Turn 21 where I didn’t go for another Sub when I probably should have. Despite that, I managed to recover and bring it back. Overall I think the prep was solid, and starting with a win helped a lot with confidence going forward.
W2 vs damien the genius [CLA] (W)
https://pokepast.es/9fe80a8a90f8f2dd
This week I felt pretty stuck while building, and it wasn’t until shortly before the game that I decided to go with Hydreigon. Once I committed to it, the team came together pretty naturally, and my teammates liked it so I locked it in. The idea is simple: FSight + Specs Hydreigon to break, with Buzzwole supporting in a similar style to Ox's team last SPL.
In-game I was really nervous and made mistakes early on, like not clicking Dark Pulse on Turn 3 and not anticipating the Eject Button from Ferrothorn on Turn 6. That put me in a worse position than necessary, and I had to play from behind for a bit. I managed to regain control later despite the pressure from Urshifu’s U-turn, and ended up winning on timer. Not the cleanest win, and definitely a bit unfortunate for Damien.
W3 vs ChrisPBacon [RUI] (W)
https://pokepast.es/c763b15dfb3fbf55
After starting 2-0, I wanted to try something I don’t usually play, so I went with my own version of a pretty common 6. The general idea is familiar — stack hazards and apply pressure with Weavile/Clef to keep making progress — but I adjusted it in a way that felt more comfortable to me.
I think this was one of my most consistent games. I didn’t have any clear chokes, and it ended up being a back-and-forth where both sides had chances. There was definitely some luck involved, but I handled the key moments well enough to come out on top. Overall a really fun game, and probably one of my favorite teams from the tournament.
W4 vs Fc [RAI] (L)
https://pokepast.es/d568c9c0affaf98b
My first loss, and it’s one I regret because I really liked this team. I was expecting something more on the fat/stall side, and since I hadn’t used Tapu Lele much, I decided to build around it. The structure was actually very similar to something I made years ago, and I felt really confident going into the match.
Unfortunately, I ran into something completely different from what I expected, and I couldn’t adapt properly in-game. I also had to play outside home, which affected my focus in some key turns where I could’ve pressured more aggressively, especially with Urshifu in a game that was very trade-heavy. Still, no excuses — full credit to Fc for the prep and execution.
W5 vs Gtcha [WOL] (W)
https://pokepast.es/c2ca531c7914b188
After my first loss, my confidence wasn’t at its best, especially since I was facing someone who inspired me when I first started playing. I decided to go with a Clef / Skarm / Gastro structure, noticing that fat wasn’t being used as much lately. I initially tried building with Zeraora, but it felt too inconsistent in testing, so I switched to Rillaboom.
The team has really nice synergy — Skarm and Gastro spread Toxic to put threats like Zapdos, Garchomp, and Dragapult on a timer, which makes it much easier for Rillaboom to clean later. I also ran double Knock to pass Sticky Barb to things like Tornadus-T and Buzzwole, which adds a lot of long-term pressure.
The game started terribly — I fell into a 3-6 position that felt almost impossible to come back from. Somehow I managed to stabilize, especially after realizing that my opponent didn’t have good ways to break Gastrodon and couldn’t get through the Skarm-Gastro core. From there, I focused on pivoting carefully and managing resources. At one point, I noticed I was running low on Roost PPs, so I knew I had to make a decisive play soon — I read the Weavile switch at the right time, regained momentum, and turned the game around. Definitely one of the most satisfying wins I’ve had.
W6 vs Corazan [CRY] (L)
https://pokepast.es/0e28c9f00ca01cc3
I made the same mistake again here by overprepping for fat/stall. The team was built around using U-turn Zapdos to bait in ground-types and bring in Urshifu or Weavile to keep constant pressure, and the rest of the team with more offensive spreads to catch opp off guard.
I don’t want to go too deep into this one because it was honestly one of my worst performances ever. I had technical issues and couldn’t log into Smogtours from my laptop, so I had to play almost the entire match on my phone. That completely threw me off, and I made several bad, unjustifiable plays. I got run over in under 20 turns. Nothing to say here — full credit to Corazan and their prep.
W7 vs MichaelderBeste2 [SHA] (W)
https://pokepast.es/ceacf995c50e311a
This week started off rough due to scheduling issues — I usually try to be flexible, but I ended up having to play at times that didn’t really work for me.
The team idea wasn’t fully mine this time. I wanted to use Slowking-G with Urshifu, built a rough version, and then remembered I already had a team with those same 6 in the builder. I reused it and adjusted the sets and spreads. At some point we realized the team had a really bad matchup against most offensive Grounds, so LNumbers suggested a spread that would let me live an Earthquake from those threats and immediately threaten back with Ice Beam.
In-game, I think I played really well, especially considering how bad W6 went. There was a key moment on Turn 6 where I stayed in with Urshifu and take the Tornadus-T kill, which was a pretty decisive turn and ended up giving me a huge advantage early. Clean performance overall.
W8 vs Mattz_ [BIG] (L)
https://pokepast.es/1b263cf058620fa6
This week I didn’t have much time to prepare. I initially tried building something with Mandibuzz + Blaziken, but after scouting I felt it was better to go more offensive, so I went back to Rillaboom HO. I replaced Mandibuzz with Moltres-G, built the base, and then realized the same 6 were already used in the Garcomp Fan's sample, so I refined it with some adjustments based on the scout.
In the game, the matchup wasn’t what I expected at all, but it was still playable as long as I could prevent Toxic Spikes from going up. I actually managed that pretty well early on and was building momentum, but a missed Draco Meteor completely flipped the game. From there it snowballed into me losing the position I had worked to build. I still almost brought it back, but needed a favorable roll on Moltres and flinch on Blissey that didn’t happen. Anyways, I really had fun playing into a strong player like Mattz_, he made fire plays on this game and I wanna face him one day again.
W9 vs 1 True Lycan [SCO] (L)
https://pokepast.es/9fcd3e33f2c3acad
Last week, must-win situation, and I really struggled to decide what to bring. I ended up going with Sand + Melmetal, and overall I think the team structure was very solid. The problem was one specific decision: Tyranitar.
I had been wanting to try max Attack Tyranitar for a while, and I kind of forced it here even though I knew the team would benefit more from a SpD + TWave set. That version would’ve helped a lot against Corviknight and Skarmory, which were already problematic. I basically let that decision go through even knowing the risks, and it came back to bite me.
The matchup itself was really bad — I had no consistent way to break Skarmory, and my main path to winning relied on playing Tyranitar perfectly. Instead, it got paralyzed early by Discharge, which made things even worse, and then got fully paralyzed again on a crucial turn where I tried to set rocks to pressure Skarm’s switches. From that point on, it was just too much to recover from. I kept trying, but it wasn’t enough.
This loss ended up being one of the ones that sealed our elimination, which makes it even harder to take.
Here is the team dump:
https://pokepast.es/4e6044a3a03af13a
Overall, it was a really fun and meaningful season for me. I learned a lot, both in terms of building and in-game decision making, but also about how I handle pressure, preparation, and setbacks across multiple weeks. SPL is a very different environment compared to anything else, and going through that for the first time taught me a lot about myself as a player.
I also got to meet and interact with a lot of really great players throughout the tour, which is something I value just as much as the results. Being able to test, share ideas, and just talk about the game with people at this level is something I don’t take for granted.
From a personal standpoint, I think this run showed me that I can compete at this level. Starting around 10th in PRs and managing to hold my own throughout the season is something I’m genuinely satisfied with, even if the ending wasn’t what I wanted. At the same time, I’m fully aware there’s still a lot I can improve on, especially when it comes to consistency in high-pressure moments.
I'd like to give a especial shoutout to one person in particular (aside from my teammates and managers - they were a big part of this clearly):
Bloshh de todo corazón, gracias por todo el apoyo que me has dado desde siempre, y en esta situación en particular. Leer mis mensajes a tus 3am diciéndote que hice el mejor team de la historia, pidiéndote opiniones o yendo a sacar mi frustración a tu DM cada vez que perdía son una de las tantas cosas que hiciste y que de verdad aprecio. No desaproveches el talento que tienes, se que si sigues vas a llegar lejos y espero algún día te den la oportunidad que me dieron a mi este año, y también estaré para apoyarte igual o más de como lo hiciste conmigo. Gracias, twin.
If there’s one thing I want people to take away from this post, it’s that building creatively is always worth it. A lot of the ideas I brought weren’t perfect, and some clearly had flaws, but being willing to experiment and trust your own approach is what helps you grow the most. It’s easy to default to standard builds, but pushing beyond that is what makes the tier — and the player — more interesting.
I’m definitely motivated to keep improving and come back stronger next time, both as a builder and as a player. Hopefully I get another opportunity in a future SPL to prove that.
If you’ve got any questions about the teams, spreads, specific choices, or just wanna talk about building in general, feel free to DM me on Discord (ikaishi). I will try to reply asap.
Thanks a lot for reading, I really appreciate it.
And yeah — SCREAM IF YOU LOVE TYRANTS.
Last edited:
Wanted to do a season recap following this spl. Feels really good to win one, last time I was close was the infamous ruiners spl where malekith got hacked in semis when I think we had the best team that tour. This was my first full season in SS, though, and I was really looking forward to it. I'd been thrown in sv jail for 3 years straight despite being better in ss, and was benched for basically all of last year also. It had been a while since I'd played super top level ss but was coming in hot off scl and a really good ou run in sspl, so I was feeling confident as always.
Click sprites for pastes, week names for replays. Will remove evs from teams I didn't build but otherwise it'll be there. Shoutouts at the end.
Week 1 vs Corazan (W)
Going into this week I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for prep. I hadn't played SS OU in an official in years atp, and corazan was also coming off quite the large break. All I figured was at least for the first few weeks people would prep for stall a lot since I'm known to spam it, which did help a bit with forcing prep from people later on. At first I planned to use one of these:
I've always been a big volcanion fan, and thought that bringing it as something I'd be comfortable with to start the season would work well. I ended up not using it here (foreshadowing) since these didn't really click, but the concepts felt fine. From there I pivoted to just building random stuff, and landed on these:
From this I ended up choosing the linked team, which was the melmeta urshifu dragapult one. It felt the most consistently good out of them, and seemed to me like it would be a good safe pick for my first game. The bottom team here I ended up considering I think literally every week I played but never ended up using, but I made variants of it and kept testing it despite not using it. Matched into some fat balance with heatran + future sight, something I'd face multiple times. The team I chose ended up being fine, pult vs no ghost resist and some good calls with urshifu like staying in on torn despite not being scarf at all to u-turn chip the rilla helped a lot. Good start for me to come back to the tier.
Week 2 vs MichaelderBeste2 (L)
My second week was vs michael, and this one felt pretty bad to lose. To start the week I worked on the following options:
In hindsight stall absolutely won this game, there wasn't much prep for it aside from fs + band kart/heatran which never gets through the standard protect corv. I decided against stalling for now, though, and went with the blacephalon team. Wasn't really sure what michael would bring since I think he tends to reuse comfort builds, so I wanted something new for me and picked zap + blaceph which I really liked. We ended up having a 4/6 mirror match with heatran lando fini kart, just differing in last 2's. I think the early game I played really well to get into a good position, but got kinda complacent and let it slip. I ended up using like 4 minutes of timer to think up the endgame sequence to avoid a 50/50 by going kartana, which was going heatran, trying to get a lower roll on earth power so fini turns worked out for me, and then not killing it and dying instead so I could get a beast boost with sacred sword then ohko heatran. The roll on heatran was really bad but I did get it in the game despite not wanting to go for it in the first place, but got the plays wrong on fini as he went heatran so I lost. Really close one but I liked the team choice.
Week 3 vs Mattz_ (W)
Didn't build this one so no evs like I said, but this was the week I brought out stall first. Going into the prep we realized mattz is almost always quite bad into stall, with an exception being the hail he used the week prior. Given we assumed he wouldn't use that again following a loss, we thought it would be good to bring out the full stall. This one is a bit different than the one I spam the most since it goes gastro dnite > hippo quag, which improves the kartana matchup and heatran matchup in exchange for losing unaware and sand chip. We made a couple adjustments to the movesets as the week went like heal bell dnite so clef could knock instead of cleric, but were basically set on stalling all week. In game I loaded into a kinda bad matchup, I took dtail off dnite for bell late so I couldn't phaze the hydreigon, and it coulda won here if I wasn't sp.def clef and he tried going for game super early with flash cannon only for me to live. From that point I really just had to play a long game vs this weird kartana set, but that was fine given the winning position I gained early.
Week 4 vs Ikaishi (W)
Following using stall I felt like I really had to mix up the team choices, so I went to something way more offensive this week. I did still test a team from kustavan that was some rillaboom balance which I quite liked and had a good mu, but to quote gama that week:
This is kinda the point in the season where things started to go bad. I was having more and more midterms / projects so my time wasn't as much to prep, and I feel like I just didn't build as good teams conceptually while also not playing as confidently as I did before. I don't think my confidence in myself dipped, rather that I was just playing like a routine rather than playing for how I could see a won game through any circumstances.
Week 5 vs Entrocefalo (L)
Entro is a good friend of mine so I was looking forward to this game, but prepping was quite difficult. He didn't have too many public replays from big tournaments and had a lot of reuses, and I also just didn't have as many ideas this week. I wanted to vary my usage at least and try branching out to more styles for my own benefit as well. I ended up on these 2 teams as ideas:
I learned the bottom 1 is the same 6 that chris had used in a past spl, I just thought up the 6 with different sets originally tho but the comp is clearly well tested by knowing it's been used before, I just didn't like it as much. I felt like if I played my best that hydreigon was really strong, and I liked the para spam idea with this core of mons. In the game I let lando die really early, expecting him to not want to throw a buzzwole move into clefable due to it losing a lot of momentum and just getting ice punched. From there I had to play a game vs drill sand with no lando, and my slowbro was sp.def. I feel like I actually won if slowbro burns the excadrill, but he clicked sd then rapid spin and full para'd my bro then swept with excadrill, ironic for a para spam team to lose to para. Definitely could have played better and prepped a bit better, the mu was okay I guess but zera had a tough time into double contact punishing + sand + drill and hydreigon struggled into sand and torn, as well as just finding a setup chance through all this since ferro was twave. Relied a lot on the defensive core of slowbro and late game clefable, which may have done it in a world I beat the drill but that didn't end up happening.
Week 6 vs damien the genius (L)
Yeah I got farmed LOL. I loaded stall again (changed clef to babiri berry aroma for in case LO hydreigon was the breaker this time instead of leftovers, and put dtail back on dnite), but loaded into zone specs lele. This was just over on preview, he didn't even have to play vs tspikes because there was fini to come in on pex then lele could switch in for free. Nothing really to talk about I just thought his scout lost to stall and got blasted.
Week 7 vs ChrisPBacon (L)
This week I was quite confident that chris would stall me. Wasn't sure why I just had a feeling it would happen. I still lost to stall. HOWEVER, I think my prep conceptually was fine. To start I mainly looked at the following teams:
Again I only built 2 teams, but I don't know if either won. The second team had taunt heatran + cm lo lele + sd chomp which in theory was probably better here, I could play around corv long term with my own + pex and either go all in with my offense or slow the game to a crawl and start chipping things. Regardless, he brought a stall I wasn't expecting, with aegi + bu corv + torn. I think my main error was not putting toxic on zapdos, I shoulda dropped heat wave or hurricane. With that I coulda applied a ton more pressure to hippo which would have forced more entries for bro and thus drill as well on teleport. I had assumed assurance ttar + sd drill + fs + specs pult would get through stall, especially given ferro pressured corv enough to keep rocks up, but with aegi kings shield and hippo I couldn't really find positioning at all since I can't assurance the aegi when it's always clicking shield, then can live and tox if I get dropped. He also did just outplay my drill w some aegi turns, still had a chance with flinches w corv around the midpoint but once I didn't get them it was over basically. I think the prep for stall was okay but I needed a few more tools in hindsight to actually capitalize on what I expected to show up.
Week 8 vs 1 True Lycan (L)
At this point I'd lost 3 in a row after a hot start vs some really strong competition, so I was really fighting to get back into it. I would lose this one yet again, but it would be my last loss of the tour. His scout was really strange with stuff like diggersby and kommo-o so I didn't really know what to make of it, I just brought up some solid teams and things I wanted to use:
Hey look it's the LO spam HO again, but different. Still didn't use it tho. I also hadn't used koko so I wanted to, but thought the teams were missing something I thought I needed. I used the blacephalon team, which felt super comforatble in tests. I still actually really like it, I don't think the team was at fault for the game. Bringing double specs ghosts I think isn't super common, on builds like these you'd usually expect scarf blaceph + specs pult from my experience. I thought it would be able to catch him off guard, but with bulky dnite + tect melm it was hard to get stuff going without being really precise. I got my lando weakened heavily early due to getting some plays wrong and that was a big progress maker, and while I tried to claw it back from there my clef got para'd in a 1v1 vs pult then I got my corv sticky barb'd and lost to dnite from there, since my only out was burning scald through para on pex which didn'tt happen either since I got para'd. Fortune wasn't on my side but I think I just got played kinda so I lost.
I subbed out for week 9 once we clinched playoffs, mannat wanted a game since he'd been cooking in ss all season so I took a break and got a reset which I think was very helpful. We still prepped a crazy amount for this week tho, I think way more than any before it, so we had some cooks ready for if the game mattered.
Semifinals vs MichaelderBeste2 (W)
I was really happy to win this one, it was both a runback vs michael after kinda throwing away a good position in regular season, but also man does it suck to lose that many in a row like the streak I was on before this game. We really locked in for the prep this week, and these were the main cooks:
Our main mon to use was rotom, with the last team just being vibes and a re-suggestion of a week 8 team I didn't use. I went with the middle one in the end, since we just decided that rotom was the best mon to bring here. It ended up having a really good mu but didn't really do much work either way, it was just used as a pivot and the rest of the team handed the mu. The matchup was something close to what I was expecting, we really thought it'd be some urshifu bulky offense. I literally had a vision of the interaction in the game like the night before we played, I was just chilling and saw my ferrothorn getting cc'd by a rapid strike so I changed to chople at like 1am LOL. It ended up working exactly as I thought it would, in my head the day before I told myself I'd see an urshifu on preview and no matter what I was leading ferrothorn. He had a heatran and didn't even lead the urshifu but I didn't care how it worked out, I was clicking power whip on a cc and knew I would win once that happened.
Finals vs Corazan (W)
HOW DID I WIN THIS GAME I still genuinely have no idea what happened. This shit was like 45 mins long and halfway through I felt so bad about it and was genuinely so fucked, but #NEVERGIVEUP and my perseverance is the best out there. I trolled this so fucking bad tho we had so much prep done and the night before I literally just said fuck it and loaded this team which had a negative 1000 mu. This is where we started:
Garchomp ended up having an insane mu, no bulk zap + no beam mix def bro and we had fire fang for ferrothorn. This is the exact team we expected to face and garchomp + balloon heatran late game seemed really good into it. So why did I switch teams and go rogue a day before my game? I didn't see the Fc vision. In tests the (top) team performed okay, the bottom 1 is dogshit just look at the move calm mind on tapu fini and tell me what I do except click x. But despite the top 1 being fine fundamentally and the concept being something I liked, I just couldn't bring myself to use it. When I thought about the game in my head outside of tests or prep channels, this team just wasn't something I could win with to me. It's schizo prep and probably a really shit thing tot have to deal with when prepping with me as a teammate, but I don't think this game is what it is with me sticking it out.
So from here, I just went with what I felt. To start the week I really liked the idea of torn, I hadn't used it all season and taunt torn just seemed like something I could win with. I made these 2 teams on the day before I played:
I was actually leaning the top 1 in my head right until I played basically, but my team preferred the bottom 1 so I trusted them. Which was better is hard to say, I think having barb clef woulda made things a bit easier and lele can threaten zap more, but then I also don't have the slowbro + hippo pressure or melm 1 time pivot that kart provided. Either way, like I said in week 1 I ended up coming back to volcanion after all. I made these teams in literally like 5 mins total, I just put torn + melm and let my flow take me where I needed to be. I really do like these teams, they probably weren't right for the mu but I don't regret the change since I'm big on vibes and these felt right to me. The game was quite hax filled, with me dodging some hurricanes and getting favourable moonblast drops but then lando getting sball rolled and bro having 9 lives from dodging steam and cane made it difficult back for me. By the midgame I realized I was clicking and just took a bunch of timer to take a breather irl and realize that yeah I'm in a shit position, but it's mons if you play perfect you can get through basically anything. I didn't play perfect but I played just as well as I needed to. Still sold mannat prep tho bro had the soul read and I trolled.
Big thanks to Laurel MAVERICK SHOOTERS and twash for taking the chance on me for a full season, after never being slotted in ss in any spl's it felt like I was just destined to be a cheap sv rotating player but I really appreciate putting me in a tier I actually like and think isn't unplayable like sv. You kept faith in me even after the rough stretch in the middle which I also appreciate. Thanks to Kustavan ChrisPBacon as people not on the team that helped out for the tests and input through some weeks, everyone on the raiders who gave me input and tests which was most of the fairy gens core which I appreciate a lot, but especially Fardin and super especially MANNAT. All your help was greatly appreciated, it made things a lot easier for me with all your help over the weeks. Mannat your calls were basically always exactly spot on, and our styles may not be the most similar but I only got here with your prep help. 5-5 is a record I think I can definitely improve on, after the middle of this tour I'm happy to have brought it out of being negative with 2 big playoffs wins, but I still have a lot more in me. Hoping to keep playing ss in this tour since I really enjoy it, I built 30+ teams throughout this season since I think there's so much room for creativity in ss despite what I've seen some people say, so I hope it keeps growing as a tier and I'm there to farm it going forward.
Click sprites for pastes, week names for replays. Will remove evs from teams I didn't build but otherwise it'll be there. Shoutouts at the end.
Week 1 vs Corazan (W)
Going into this week I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for prep. I hadn't played SS OU in an official in years atp, and corazan was also coming off quite the large break. All I figured was at least for the first few weeks people would prep for stall a lot since I'm known to spam it, which did help a bit with forcing prep from people later on. At first I planned to use one of these:
Week 2 vs MichaelderBeste2 (L)
My second week was vs michael, and this one felt pretty bad to lose. To start the week I worked on the following options:
Week 3 vs Mattz_ (W)
Didn't build this one so no evs like I said, but this was the week I brought out stall first. Going into the prep we realized mattz is almost always quite bad into stall, with an exception being the hail he used the week prior. Given we assumed he wouldn't use that again following a loss, we thought it would be good to bring out the full stall. This one is a bit different than the one I spam the most since it goes gastro dnite > hippo quag, which improves the kartana matchup and heatran matchup in exchange for losing unaware and sand chip. We made a couple adjustments to the movesets as the week went like heal bell dnite so clef could knock instead of cleric, but were basically set on stalling all week. In game I loaded into a kinda bad matchup, I took dtail off dnite for bell late so I couldn't phaze the hydreigon, and it coulda won here if I wasn't sp.def clef and he tried going for game super early with flash cannon only for me to live. From that point I really just had to play a long game vs this weird kartana set, but that was fine given the winning position I gained early.
Week 4 vs Ikaishi (W)
Following using stall I felt like I really had to mix up the team choices, so I went to something way more offensive this week. I did still test a team from kustavan that was some rillaboom balance which I quite liked and had a good mu, but to quote gama that week:
So I went with the offense team and it cooked. I had used this build many times before, with either this version or the original empo version with muscle band kart, scarf lele, off heatran etc. I made these changes for my last stour poffs game vs franco and this version won there too, I feel like being able to mix up the sets so much on this team truly makes it one of the best teams ever made in SS. It has absurd customizability and some of the best composition out there, and is definitely one of the best go-to's for me. Glaze I know but it's deserved. Either way I felt really confident when playing and he brought stallbreakers with nidoking + cb shifu + fs lele kinda as expected, and I just played how I thought a win would come.
This is kinda the point in the season where things started to go bad. I was having more and more midterms / projects so my time wasn't as much to prep, and I feel like I just didn't build as good teams conceptually while also not playing as confidently as I did before. I don't think my confidence in myself dipped, rather that I was just playing like a routine rather than playing for how I could see a won game through any circumstances.
Week 5 vs Entrocefalo (L)
Entro is a good friend of mine so I was looking forward to this game, but prepping was quite difficult. He didn't have too many public replays from big tournaments and had a lot of reuses, and I also just didn't have as many ideas this week. I wanted to vary my usage at least and try branching out to more styles for my own benefit as well. I ended up on these 2 teams as ideas:
Week 6 vs damien the genius (L)
Yeah I got farmed LOL. I loaded stall again (changed clef to babiri berry aroma for in case LO hydreigon was the breaker this time instead of leftovers, and put dtail back on dnite), but loaded into zone specs lele. This was just over on preview, he didn't even have to play vs tspikes because there was fini to come in on pex then lele could switch in for free. Nothing really to talk about I just thought his scout lost to stall and got blasted.
Week 7 vs ChrisPBacon (L)
This week I was quite confident that chris would stall me. Wasn't sure why I just had a feeling it would happen. I still lost to stall. HOWEVER, I think my prep conceptually was fine. To start I mainly looked at the following teams:
Week 8 vs 1 True Lycan (L)
At this point I'd lost 3 in a row after a hot start vs some really strong competition, so I was really fighting to get back into it. I would lose this one yet again, but it would be my last loss of the tour. His scout was really strange with stuff like diggersby and kommo-o so I didn't really know what to make of it, I just brought up some solid teams and things I wanted to use:
I subbed out for week 9 once we clinched playoffs, mannat wanted a game since he'd been cooking in ss all season so I took a break and got a reset which I think was very helpful. We still prepped a crazy amount for this week tho, I think way more than any before it, so we had some cooks ready for if the game mattered.
Semifinals vs MichaelderBeste2 (W)
I was really happy to win this one, it was both a runback vs michael after kinda throwing away a good position in regular season, but also man does it suck to lose that many in a row like the streak I was on before this game. We really locked in for the prep this week, and these were the main cooks:
Finals vs Corazan (W)
HOW DID I WIN THIS GAME I still genuinely have no idea what happened. This shit was like 45 mins long and halfway through I felt so bad about it and was genuinely so fucked, but #NEVERGIVEUP and my perseverance is the best out there. I trolled this so fucking bad tho we had so much prep done and the night before I literally just said fuck it and loaded this team which had a negative 1000 mu. This is where we started:
Big thanks to Laurel MAVERICK SHOOTERS and twash for taking the chance on me for a full season, after never being slotted in ss in any spl's it felt like I was just destined to be a cheap sv rotating player but I really appreciate putting me in a tier I actually like and think isn't unplayable like sv. You kept faith in me even after the rough stretch in the middle which I also appreciate. Thanks to Kustavan ChrisPBacon as people not on the team that helped out for the tests and input through some weeks, everyone on the raiders who gave me input and tests which was most of the fairy gens core which I appreciate a lot, but especially Fardin and super especially MANNAT. All your help was greatly appreciated, it made things a lot easier for me with all your help over the weeks. Mannat your calls were basically always exactly spot on, and our styles may not be the most similar but I only got here with your prep help. 5-5 is a record I think I can definitely improve on, after the middle of this tour I'm happy to have brought it out of being negative with 2 big playoffs wins, but I still have a lot more in me. Hoping to keep playing ss in this tour since I really enjoy it, I built 30+ teams throughout this season since I think there's so much room for creativity in ss despite what I've seen some people say, so I hope it keeps growing as a tier and I'm there to farm it going forward.