When M4Auction was announced, I was pretty excited as I had lots of fun in the last team tournament, which was the M4A Premier League. As a manager, I got to know my players on a more familiar level, and I had an amazing time contributing to the lore that the community, as a whole, had started to create. So, by the time M4Auction begun, I hoped I would experience this again. Also, since I only signed up as a player, I thought there would be less stress for me, and it would be interesting anyway to experience this sort of tournament from the lens of a player rather than a manager.
Now, in hindsight, I’m not sure if there’s much of a big difference between these two perspectives as I ended up helping my teammates more than I expected anyway, but I’d say I noticed a much greater awareness of a format’s metagame. When I was manager, my attention was split among my players, making sure they were well prepared. So, I could not deeply immerse myself in a metagame. But as a player, I had more time and energy to focus on myself since my manager was taking care of all of his players. So, there was much less of a burden on me.
I have to say the more weeks passed and the more sets were discovered, the more difficult it was trying to account for all huge threats in the teambuilder. Some of the most impactful discoveries made were a result from Paul’s experiments and rich metagame knowledge in and outside of M4A, and in indulging his creative mind, he really managed to turn the metagame upside down, in my opinion. For instance, he introduced the Substitute + Calm Mind set on Mega Slowking, which took advantage of the high offensive teambuilding preference. After all, with a much higher speed tier and power level, traditionally safe team styles like Balance were no longer as effective as they used to be, thereby leading Bulky Offense to one of the best play styles in our current metagame. This came with a notable weakness in that Bulky Offense relied less on defensive options and usually could not withstand high offensive pressure for a long time. This meant that, once defensive Pokémon like Toxapex were severely weakened or out of the picture, Mega Slowking could try to safely set-up behind a Substitute and launch some powerful Scald, burning attackers and making them less effective in the process. As Mega Slowking outspeeds most offensive attackers and can recover before getting hurt most of the time, you had to find some ways to deal with it and preserve some of your key Pokémon.
Another set that proved to be quite effective and ingenious by Paul was the Substitute + Toxic set on Mega Empoleon. Due to its high bulk, good resistance profile, and useful ability, this Pokémon could well force out Pokémon. By running Substitute, the user could make sure that, whatever Pokémon the opponent would send out, it would have to destroy the Substitute first before it could attempt to hurt Mega Empoleon. And this is where Mega Empoleon can simply click Toxic or fish for burn to wear down the target and switch out. What’s more, Mega Empoleon also takes advantage of some trends, such as Slowbro which is used to check Cinderace. Usually, Slowbro would switch into Mega Empoleon’s Scalds and then bring in safely a Pokémon through Teleport. Now, behind a Substitute, Mega Empoleon could simply Toxic both Slowbro and, possibly, the new target being brought in. You can imagine how much of a pain this set is to deal with if you aren’t running specific Pokémon or aren’t running specific strategies to discourage the user from abusing this set.
As a player, I have a lot of respect for Paul’s discoveries which challenge our knowledge about the metagame. After all, Mega Slowking and Mega Empoleon have already existed long before M4Auction, and it is only during the second team tournament when people were made aware of these sets. If there was an award for the most creative, diverse, and impactful teambuilding, I’d give it to Paul without a doubt. Chapeau, if you are reading this, Paul! :]
Some other impactful changes to the metagame were the rise of Kyurem and its diverse sets from OU (like Never-Melting-Ice, Choice Scarf or Dragon Dance) applied to our metagame. When, before, you could get away with soft checks, you now had to run sturdier options, like Scizor or Corviknight, the latter being required to run a high amount of Special Defense. Then, after my manager Sticky Fingaa (re)introduced us to the threat of Prankster Will-o-Wisp on Mega Clefable in combination with a set-up move like Nasty Plot, people were forced to take into account Pokémon that could somewhat get around Prankster Will-O-Wisp while still being able to threaten it, especially if they relied on very offensive inclined teams. This proved to be a challenge as Dark Pokémon, while immune to the effects of Prankster, were threatened by Mega Clefable’s Fairy type. Thus, there were less options to deal with this Pokémon.
As you may have now realized, there’s a lot of pressure on the teambuilder. As a result, the metagame has turned into a place where most games are decided by matchup. While you could try to build a team that can check some of the most common threats defensively and solidly, it might easily fall apart by other threats you didn’t or couldn’t take into account since there are simply too many threats and too many combinations possible to pick apart teams that are not quick or effective enough to make progress.
This is not to say the whole tournament was an unpleasant experience as far as OU is concerned; quite the contrary, there were some sets that, while not necessarily standard or viable, proved to be very effective or just fun to watch. I won’t go too much into details since I know there are some people from the community who want to work on a post describing these sets in detail, but I can give some brief mentions, such as Choice Scarf Weavile unexpectedly taking out a faster Mega Kricketune in Regional Ditto or Colbur Berry Glowking, which could punish opponents thinking they could rely on a Dark Pokémon to threaten it.
Now, I want to talk about my experiences as a player on a team, the Diggersbys which is led by the amazing Sticky Fingaa. I already knew him from M4A PL as he was one of my most trusted players. So, when he managed to bring me into his team, I was content to have one very familiar face at the very least. After all, there were some people I either didn’t know or wasn’t as familiar with as someone like Paul or Indigo. You could say it was pretty much unfamiliar territory for me. This was further stressed by the fact that the atmosphere was different from what I was used to on my own team in M4A PL. However, as with many other “encounters” in real life, you just need to get used to new situations and be patient, and with time, I can confidently say each one of us became a lot closer and silly x). Bacon power, hello? (This is more of an inside joke)
As a team, we worked very hard to get as many points as possible to make it into the finals. This often meant analysing our opponent’s team styles and thought process and discussing them in detail. Besides, we also focused a lot on training to make sure our Pokémon teams would work well enough. There was also trust in each other. If someone didn’t participate very much in conversation, that was simply okay as real life would and should always be your priority; we backed up each other, easing the burden on a single person, and made sure to cheer up each other whenever we lost or had a bad day. It was a very pleasant environment in which to grow and be a part of. This couldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Sticky Fingaa who really made sure we were well taken care of. :]
The players in M4Auction were all amazing. It became very much clear in the beginning that the competitive level had raised a lot. Meaning, the gap between the top players and the more unfamiliar players was significantly reduced. There was also much less of a gap among the top players, in my opinion. This led to some very exciting games where new or less experienced players could prove themselves to be formidable opponents.
Personally, the more weeks went by, the more challenging the games became for me. For instance, facing Paul who’s like one of my best friends on Smogon has always been very emotional to me in a tournament setting; I simply cannot think clearly and am a lot more sluggish, and he delivered one hell of a game, showing he has grown immensely as a player.
GekoKeso is another person I had to respect simply because I had to be very careful with my assessment of his moves (especially since he’s a chess player), and he had proven himself to be a very challenging opponent with his different team styles.
Then, there’s pupugugu who’s always been a very consistent player; he’s always making smart moves, and that always makes me question whether or not I should dare to take a risk.
The last two weeks of the tournament were probably the most challenging ones for me. In week 6, I had to face GravityMonkey who’s a superb builder in Regional Roundup Dittos as indicated by his great understanding of the metagame and success there. He also plays very well and is right in his element. So, I had to invest a lot more time into teambuilding and testing than usual before I was ready to face him
In the finals, I was facing Iso whom I personally consider one of M4A’s best players. To give you an example of how crazily good this guy is, he has beaten a very experienced and high-level player named pohjis in ST Bo3, a format he wasn’t super familiar with at all, to my knowledge.
As I had to face an opponent of such magnitude, I needed to invest even more time into teambuilding and testing than before. (To give you an example, a Pokémon team that had or would likely indicate a win rate below 75% was simply unacceptable for me to use in finals). Moreover, I had to recall some of our previous games and keep track of how each one of us played and which plays I could afford to pull off and which ones I couldn’t; after all, Iso is a very perceptive person and a quick learner as he rarely makes a mistake twice, if at all. Furthermore, I had to assess his thought process when it came to the choice of teams and their order, which only paid off to some extent; while I expected the possibility of Stall in the first round to test the waters and a team around Mega Empoleon in round 2, I did not consider a canon Mega Pokémon like Mega Latias on Stall at all. There was also Paul’s influence on him to consider, making Iso even more of an unpredictable and challenging opponent. This is stressed by the fact Paul is very familiar with my thought process.
Of the three games Iso and I had played, I only came to enjoy a bit the last one in terms of playing skills despite the few hax moments from both sides. That is because I had a very challenging match-up; it was my Hail team against his Mega Magmortar whose ability Neutralising Gas could shut down my team’s main power. Ngl, this matchup situation looked pretty hopeless to me, and I was tempted to just forfeit (and cry in a corner) before the battle had even started. But I had to calm myself down for the sake of my team and think about what I needed to do. I had to plan and set up my win conditions well ahead while also trying to correctly assess his thought process for the current turn and the next four to five ones. On top of that, I also had to hope I could manage to bluff and avoid some of his potential baits and tricks towards the end. This was a very deadly and mentally exhausting game, one I probably won’t forget for a very long time.
With that being said, I want to focus on my teammates now. A huge thank you goes to my manager Sticky Fingaa who managed this position very well as he always tried to cheer us up and make sure we were well prepared. I enjoyed the many games we played, some of which were more ridiculous and amusing than others. What’s more, it was a pretty amusing revelation when the both of us realized M4Auction pretty much turned us into tryhards. I wonder if Mossy’s presence (who’s like the embodiment of it in past times) had any influence on us x)
Another thank you goes to Ed.Capetinha. You’ve been very astounding in UU, and you’ve shown me in OU what material you are made of. You can be pretty brutal on the teambuilder, and I hope you can keep that creative mind! Thanks to you, I got the chance to think more outside of the box and expand on my teambuilding skills. Furthermore, I appreciated your support for the whole team!
Next, I want to talk about you, neon! I know you feel like you couldn’t contribute much to the team. However, without your presence in the server, it wouldn’t have been the same; in a way, you could say you were the soul of the Diggersby. It was always fun to see your reactions towards new SSBR sets. What’s more, you were always someone we could rely on; you were always there when we needed you!
Kha243. Although you were pretty much a new addition to our team in week 4 or 5, it was a pretty interesting experience to get to know you; after all, you are a very competitive person, always trying to improve yourself and help other people. In the few weeks, you’ve shown what a great player you are, and I am sure that you will be highly sought after in the next team tournament!
Mossy, Mossy, Mossy. I make it short; you are an amazing and funny person. What I could learn from you is Bacon power is real and op.
Superior Serperior, you are an astounding player. While you might have doubted yourself in training, you were very consistent and cool-headed in the actual games. These are rare qualities, in my experiences, and I hope you know you can be proud of them. :]
Bita, you are a pretty fun person, and I love how you are always trying to see the positive in a situation. Working with you was a very pleasant experience, and you’ve been pretty good throughout this tournament. I’ll be looking forward to more games from you!
Banguela and Miojo. Woopersons hyped you up a lot, and you definitely lived up it. Banguela, you had very interesting and effective teams and generally played very well, so, I admired your work a lot! Miojo, you’ve been pretty astounding even though you weren’t familiar with M4A at all. You got pretty used to the metagame to the point where I have to say people likely wouldn’t realize you were new to it. Keep up the good work!
Delta, wherever you are, I hope you are doing fine at the moment. I mention you because, despite your short presence, you’ve been very helpful in training and kind.
Now that I’ve covered every active member of Diggersby, I would like to extend my gratitude towards some people outside of this group.
Paul, once again, we weren’t on the same team. If this happens again, I swear the M4A gods are just against us. Despite our different circumstances, we always managed to find some time to just talk to each other, letting the other know about our own experiences on a totally new team, among many other things. I don’t know about you but it was pretty relaxing and enjoyable, which was sorely needed in such an intense tournament setting! As an “outsider”, I got the chance to observe your team. The teams you provided with them were top-notch and, above all, interesting. Moreover, you’ve grown immensely as a player to the point where I can see you among the top players! I’m confident you will all impress us even more than you already do in the next tournaments!
GekoKeso, you’ve been a huge help to the team in the last week. Training and discussing with you was a very interesting experience. But what’s more important is you have a big heart and are quite patient and positive! I can only imagine how much of a positive force you are on your own team!
I have nothing more to do; it was a very interesting and fun tournament experience. Thank you to all the people who participated and organised the event. You are all amazing :]
Simpy Shrimp, War Incarnate, Blueray, Indigo, Bolivia and Paul
Bolivia, SimpyShrimp, Tgtz, Z-nogyroP, Okispokis
Vipotis, Okispokis, Blueray, War Incarnate
Mega Muk 
Mega Lickilicky, 
Mega Tsareena and 
Mega Grapploct!
Starmie;
Mega Sawsbuck - this one was notably a more lukewarm reception, but it was still above the established 60% threshold, and it's worth restating that this was planned as a temporary measure before a proper rework;
Mega Hydreigon's Speed tier, which was done separately because it was notably less pressing as a balance change than other reworks but was still clearly supported by an overwhelming majority of people; and
Mega Meowstic-F +10 Defense 
Kyurem!
Cinderace, 
Tapu Lele, 
Mega Empoleon, not necessarily in that order!
