Cell - What a wonderful manager; despite the impression he gives off, he's so much more than a really huge dick with a comparatively-small human-shaped appendage attached. He's a really huge, thoughtful, supportive dick with a very invested, motivated, and "tryhard" human-shaped appendage ;) As someone with a deep appreciation for numerical side of things, I was so relieved to have a manager that took lineups as full-on mathematical optimization problems each and every week, analyzing the other side and figuring out how best to turn our player flexibility into probabilistic edge. And you really took the time to do it all too! Hours on the draft, hours for lineups, hours on every other managerial decision too. It really showed how much you cared, and it felt great to have someone looking out for us in all those ways so we could just focus on our games. Also... *
blush* I never told you this during the tournament, but back in the beginning of our relationship deluks and I used to watch your Youtube channel for the occasional bedtime story... Maybe this is just my silly girly sensibilities, but it felt extra fulfilling to be appreciated in person by the mysterious voice that helped so much on my first forays into ORAS <3 Thank you for taking a chance on the girl of little tournament resumé. I was glad to serve *
curtsy*
Ridley - Anyone who can keep up with Cell's standards for thorough managerial decision-making is a god/goddess-send. *
giggle* In my head, you and him actually kind of had a good cop / bad cop thing going. He was always pushing us so hard to be our strongest and win and cracking the whip when we were n-naughty..., and you were always the one helping us to feel great about ourselves for everything we'd achieved. You were even sweet and encouraging to me as a supportive shoulder when I'd cry about personal problems <3 It was pretty obvious that you two were in league working as a cohesive unit the whole way through, but even still the individual qualities you brought to the table were so big in making this experience as great and feel-good as it was; I can't overlook them. Thank you.
Maskun - Blah blah blah something something 0-2. Nobody needs me to ramble repeat glorifications of your record; it was obvious from all angles how much of a serial ass kicker you are. But you were a lot more than that too. The part that nobody on the outside gets to see is just how much you held all our hands and gave advice through our preparation. Seriously, if you post a team or even just loosely-organized thoughts about where your prep might be headed, this guy
WILL take the time to comment. I don't know if you kill 0-2-style-much at every tier, but with the insightful and prompt feedback you always have ready for all of us I wouldn't be shocked. Being so forthcoming and helpful about it all went a long way to making us feel like a real *team* and not just 15 people with the same goal. It's hard to praise this guy enough
avarice - Maybe the only competitive player I've met with a greater penchant than me for "going deep" and designing unusual whack-a-doodle teams/sets to slot in at just the goofy combinations of role(s) you need. Sorry it didn't pan out for you in this particular event, but we all know innovation is inherently a hit-or-miss thing and I look forward to seeing your next hit. Also side note for managers drafting this guy in the future: I think he might be a witch... check
this one out. Prophetic sight like that and you'd best watch yourselves :P
Expulso - It takes a lot of discipline and emotional control to stay so active in team chat despite us not finding space in the lineup for you so frequently. Really an admirable trait. I'm sorry that life got the better of you and you didn't find the time you'd need to prep and show us of what you're really capable. But once you do, now I'll know to be watching :)
Fissure - I knew
nothing about Monothreat going into this tournament. But after watching and listening to you, now I feel like I understand the basics and... it's scary :'( Every turn seems to trade off way more of your team's resources than in most other tiers, and it all makes me glad someone like you has the nerves for it so I don't have to! Bonus points for in finals naming what looked to me like the hero of the team and one of the metagame's strongest Pokemon after my boyfriend... and then minus bonus points for killing him :P It's not fair to play with a girl's heart like that you silly!
Jolly Togekiss ^-^ - Thanks for your helpful feedback in my week delving into your specialty tier on the S/M teams I prepped and tested. And super sorry that my spat with nutritional-deficiency-induced amnesia caused me to not remember any of it the next day when I actually played :( While our interaction was kind of limited, it was nothing but positive, and even in your quietness I could get a sense of the amount of thought going into making your teams sound against your opponents' expected ranges.
Confide - In my head you were like a real life Gildarts, or something. All quiet all the time, mostly away, and then for the brief moment you show up you pulverize on our behalf. Sorry we never chatted, but being your teammate was exciting none-the-less :)
Jyph - It's a real shame you were often so down on yourself, because you did such a wonderful job of making the rest of us feel the opposite! You were around all the time to cheer us on as we played, even despite your disparate timezone, and so often you made me smile when I pulled through. Also someone needed the job of out-trolling the guy who named himself Troller; way to take up so studiously such an altruistic cause <3 Maybe it's just because I'm such a stall junkie, but watching your
ubers PP stall was the most emotionally-invested I got in a game I wasn't playing all tournament long *
gleeful pirouette*
Brisked - You're a rollercoaster to try and read, but I hope you find your answer about whether competitive Pokemon is where you belong or not and the revelation brings you much happiness. Clearly the game has a place for you, so if you have a place for the game too then I'll look forward to seeing you around. Not gonna lie... it was just a
*little* ominous of you to change your Discord avatar to Anakin Skywalker at the same time you started questioning whether you belonged... but when you came back to us you didn't slay all the poor little younglings, so no harm no foul and +1 for dramatic flair :P
Pak - Wow what a sexy player! Seriously, you have *
no idea* how good the sex is right after he wins a match. Er, wait... maybe I got that backwards? You have no idea how good he is at winning matches right after we have sex? Oh well; I guess we'll just have to play more tournaments together so you can remind your little girl *
exactly* how that works
;) You put up the best record on the team despite having a killer bracket, so now I get to watch gleeful as Callous/all the other gals fawn over my man <3 Thanks so much for nudging me into playing this with you. It was a wonderful ride <3