this marks my first team tournament win on smogon(not counting farmers leagues or w/e) in a list of over twenty-five. I've been on a lot of teams that have a lot of decent slots, and some just can't win and you miss playoffs. I've been on teams where you have really sturdy players all around, but let it slip close to or in the finals and then we all blame hax and move on. This team was really special though, at least to me, in that I trusted all of you to win. I would see the week get posted and make mental predictions on who I thought would win and what could go either way, and unironically found myself predicting us to 10-0... thank you all for your truly fantastic performance. Not a single player went negative(bar a heroic sacrifice to shedinja) and everyone went above and beyond, either in the prep department, in grinding games, in pulling up and playing your hearts out.
I'd be lying if I said I was putting 100% into this, though. I found my attention carved into pieces by jimtour, draft money tour, various other tournaments - what I'm getting at is that this was completely impossible without the immense ass-hauling everyone's done.
First up -
mielke . We've known each other for over a year and a half now, from running into each other on the ladder...lol. I think a lot of the Ruiners's ADV success can be attributed to you and your out of game work, meticulous attention to detail on teams. You're a great player in your own right, and it makes me happy to see you shine on bigger and bigger stages. Thank you for building for our OU and winning this tournament with me, friend.
Pak despite having teamed before for some UU tournament, I don't think we'd ever really spoken before advpl? However, when apd told me you wanted to sign and be retained, I was all for it. You were great, and I felt confident seeing monster carrot enter the battlefield. Congrats on the ADV success over the past year, and I love watching you play and perform.
Lady Bug I knew after the DPP game in SPL where you brought the earth power/hpice celebi that solowon a game that you were in fact still sheist. As much as by your own admission you hadn't really played ADV before, I think you stuck to it really well - it helps that I ran into you on the ladder often lol. You probably put in the most effort out of our OU for all of the games, and it was reflected in your play. And god you're good ahahhaha I found myself watching your games in the kitchen with my girlfriend going "Fire blast here they're not going to be X set" and then you scout it and I would have immediately lost the game on the spot. You play a precise game, optimal pokemon. I hope you keep with ADV and pokemon in general, and am always happy to help if ever you want a second eye on advance :D
Charmriah as much as you play on this website, I have to say I was unfamiliar with your game. Apd just said that we had to buy you because you carried them in every tournament across every slot, and you punched up super impressively this tournament, winning loads of important games. You're really competent across a lot of tiers and at pokemon in general, and I love seeing you in the team. Let's team more in the future :D
Amity I really wanted you for UU/RU, because I knew those were gens that I couldn't support at all. I understand that your life is tumultuous, and thank you for everything you did for our team - your week one win set the ball rolling, and your team support made us undoubtedly stronger.
Kaboom worth every penny, at that point in the auction we were looking at players and going "yeah as far as making our team better, we really only want Kaboom". Thank you for clutching in our UU slot and your no-nonsense attitude. Congrats on winning in invite playins finals and I hope to see you play more tournaments :D
Fogbound Lake apd told me that we had to budget 15k for you and i was like. okay bet. I knew from our encounters on this website that you really got how pokemon works, and that if you were motivated to build and play RU, you would dominate. Thank you for carrying us and shrugging off your tilt even after extremely stupid tests and such
Stories you were the only player I wanted for nu, and also budgeted about 15k for you... even if you don't think glalie should be banned, you're still super competent, and i enjoyed being able to help where possible in this slot. You're a player that wins, and I will not be surprised when you dominate next scl. Let's win NUPL now :D
mind gaming i also don't think i'd ever talked to you before this tournament(and even sparsely during, lol) but having you support in the CCL with crazy teams made our game discussion chat pop off there every week. Since then when apd told me that we had to buy you I was fantastically on board. Beating the two strongest players in the tier in weeks 1 and 2 in such fashion made me convinced that apd wasn't lying and you were actually playing hella ADV PU. Congrats on and thank you for the fantastic record, and I hope that whatever made you sub out in finals gets resolved. Hope to see you in more officials this year :D
Shing by your own admission in shoutouts you were the best adv lc player in the tournament LOL and the games proved you to be right. I think you really are a step or five ahead of everyone else in this tier, finding consistency amid a world of flips and cointosses. We wanted you ever since we signed up to manage the tournament ahahah and it was enjoyable to read you talking about a tier you're so passionate and knowledgeable about, thank you for your wins both when you played and when you built.
Colin Since shing wasn't able to play all of the time, we asked him who he thought the best prospect was, and he was adamant it was you. I think you proved it well enough in our channel and in your games, you're competent as fuck and if you played these tiers more you'd be unstoppable. Thank you for all your hard work and best of luck in all of your tournament games :D
Oskari I'm glad you're more active on the site now, I think you have fantastic game sense and will continue to excel the more tournaments you play in. You got some clutch wins, and I'm sorry we couldn't start you in OU with our lineup. Excited to team with you for ROAPL and watch you win more.
DugZa similarly your win was at the perfect time - it was super hype to watch. Thank you for subbing in for us and you're obviously a player that wins. Excited to win world cup with you and whatever else.
Sabelette You're someone I'd consider a great friend on this website, and I'm confident you would have performed in better games. Shedinja game was extremely funny to watch tho. Thank you for all of your help when it came(especially in Ubers) and your team presence, happy to have won this tour with you :D
sayyonara We bought you because you're strong in OU, but didn't end up needing you. You weren't the most active, but you made our team stronger by being on it. Locked in.
With the absurd main season differential, especially in the first few weeks, I'm confident this is the strongest team I've ever been a part of. I would love to team with any of you again. LOCKED IN
and of course,
Plague -> you asked me to comanage this tournament with you like, 8 months in advance. I think you're a really competent manager and also very talented at pokemon at large, and i'd be happy to share a great many more tournaments with you. You did yell at me a little bit during the auction but thats okay i still think we got all the best players :D. locked in.
Locked-In Magnetons (6) vs (4) Spartoi Elites 
