by popular demand...
i've seen some of how week 1 is shaping out to be (dpp is now no longer available after W1) and it seems that teams are favoring stacks in modern gens to weaken those that specialised in old gen players. if you stack your players in modern gens the older gen specialists will be choked out by their tier dying and be forced to play gens where they aren't strong - this is a strategical choice. i can see folks looking at tier deaths without context and saying its because the meta is bad, but its more down to available playerbases. if there are only a few known modern era DPP players, why slot anyone else there when they will get farmed? and if those good DPP players are good elsewhere, why play them in DPP when they are unlikely to bring in much money? they may even risk losing way more. a shame we won't see much of the newly changed meta in this tour but it is a high stakes tour. side note: the 2020 circuit will have ample opportunities to get actual play in dpp running up to the vote, dw about mw.
Hoenn Hitmen
Mysterious M (SS / USM / ORAS)
Garay oak (SS / USM / ORAS)
absdaddy (SS / BW / ADV)
Aishia (ORAS / BW / ADV)
Chill Shadow (USM / BW / ADV)
Serga (SS / USM / ORAS)
The Dovahneer (USM / BW / DPP)
crucify (SS / USM / ORAS)
RCred403 (USM / ORAS / BW)
potential strats: basically zero DPP here in exchange for crazy amounts of overlap across all the other tiers (not so much ADV). expect more stacking. i think this is gonna be a general trend.
in terms of the team this is a scary one. M and Garay together in modern gens is something horrible to face down and the team somehow managed to get other renowned players all the way down, with the two users at the end looking like scouted potential. Abs has been one of the most active SS players and has higher expectations than most. Aishia was a high price buy in UPL 7 (cough) and went 3-1 if we just look at ORAS records, but there are a lot of potential names here in ORAS compared to UPL so it wont be easy. CS plays very well and team support is clearly there, i think him starting at 9k is something to pay close attention to. Serga's been active in recent tours if memory serves me right, this will help him with the confidence i felt he had issue with during UPL but again, ORAS is stacked. He at least has the benefit of starting vs the middle bounty players. I'll be watching to see how dovah fares in this team, hes a circuit regular looking to make a name. Can't comment on the last two unfortunately, but if they ended up among this crowd i expect good things. Overall, strongest team? id say so.
Slaying Sirfetch'ds
Skysolo (SS / USM / ADV)
Kebabe (SS / ORAS / BW)
byronthewellwell (SS / USM / DPP)
Manaphy (SS / BW / DPP)
Alkione (USM / ORAS / BW)
0kay (BW / DPP / ADV)
Goat Heart (SS / USM / BW)
Catalystic (SS / USM / DPP)
ice-master-523 (SS / USM / ORAS)
potential strats: high SS representation here. this is the first time i've seen a player not in the most recent 3 gens at all. i think this team will have SS stacking with some keeping the other tiers warm.
this is a pretty scary team that opted for a specialist like Kebabe early, but from what i'm hearing hes been involved on the SS ladder like Hack, so i think specialist isn't accurate. His BW is something other teams shouldn't even risk facing and something tells me Kebabe might have to go to modern gens to find bounty eventually. byron is excellent at all three of his gens and is one of the few true flex picks, i expect good things. Manaphy is looking to be a real threat in SS, those around "back in the day" would remember him as a BW player which he could jump to if he felt it. I don't remember much from Alkione and 0kay recently, but from what i remember in the past they will have to put a lot of effort in to succeed here. I'm interested to see how Goat Heart does among unfamiliar faces, this could be a good chance for him to prove himself. not too familiar with Cata and ice-master-523 (the numbers, mason...) other than their AG presences. if my experience with other AG players in Ubers tells me anything id be ready for some unholy teams and farming fools that underestimate them. overall theres enough here to call it durians v2 and that means be real wary of them.
The Syndicate
Exiline (SS / USM / ADV)
PurpleGatorade (SS / USM / ORAS)
Evuelf (BW / DPP / ADV)
Melle2402 (BW / DPP / ADV)
SiTuM (SS / USM / ADV)
Ballfire (SS / USM / ADV)
Eternal Spirit (USM / ORAS / ADV)
Watchog (SS / USM / ADV)
Jase The World (SS / USM / ORAS)
potential strats: are there really 7 potential adv players here? does exiline just want to beat them all in tests to satisfy himself? I'm seeing minimal ORAS compared to other teams which is interesting. team is centered around SS and USM with some BW mixed in. i don't see much chance of deviating from this idea.
i get weird vibes from this team. something about Exiline's ego and occasionally belligerent attitude is making me doubt his capability to bring the team together as a leader in the face of adversity, and i dont think he drafted any standout discord presences (aka folks that would care about the team atmosphere) either to ease things. i feel theres gonna be some lone wolf stuff going on here and that worries me - the team will either take off and exiline will gas his team into 2021 or they will lose and exiline will be the first dude to get angry. who's building the teams here btw? it seems exiline drafted overly focused on those he thinks will be good players, but ignored everything else that goes into a team.
if we look at the players, the first three are legit threats to anyone in their three tiers. Melle is one of the few purely old gen focused players in the draft, which is fitting for him. I just hope that all his strong tiers dont get pulled out from under him - one is already gone. SiTuM has a strong USM but im curious to see how he does in SS - his personal vr had some unique takes that might play into his favor. I'm completely clueless about Ballfire but being drafted earlier than the others here means Exiline saw something in him. Eternal Spirit shouldn't ever be slept on in matches IF hes given team support, so we'll see how that goes. SPL will likely have him very busy so i don't see him being too active within the team. Watchog's SS kickoff runner up placement landed em a spot near the end... a dark horse? Jase, even if he doesn't get it going in games is gonna have to carry this team's motivation levels and server with his endless stream of whack pictures memes and gifs hes even posting rn in the ubers server. overall, something something kekkery ban necrozma corrupted mods.
with that done, here's my "power rankings". no flame, just prove me wrong.
#1 - Hoenn Hitmen
#2 - Slaying Sirfetch'ds
#3 - Behemoth Blades
#4 - Altruistic Assassins
#5 - The Syndicate
#6 - Cutthroat Corviknights