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MWP VII Manager Power Rankings Brought to you by TheWyvernKing, Leafium Z, & Adjustments
Welcome to the seventh iteration of the Monotype Winter Premiere! With a manager ban less than 24 hours into signups, further drama bearing fruit, and all the apparent qualities of a generational tour, I present you with the MWP VII MANAGER POWER RANKINGS!
For so long we limited the scope of team player rankings to simply the players taking part. A fun tradition of banter to stir the pot a tiny bit as the season starts…
But with new managers, washed managers, returning washed managers (Wincon), and Chaitanya getting more points than Dural Madrid ever did, the necessity for a clearly communicated power ranking is needed more than ever. After all, shouldn’t the players know who they’re signing up to play with?
With so much on the line to give the players what is required of a manager VR, we decided to come together as 3 very biased and washed players to give our best input on what to expect from this tour. We are TheWyvernKing, Adjustments, and Leafium Z. Before any outbursts and angry questions on personal rankings, I, TheWyvernKing, remind you it is impossible to get an accurate ranking on the managers. As a result, point all your angry thoughts at Leafium Z, as he is “retired”.
Three different metrics were used to determine the Power of each manager pairings. We, the washed players, individually gave a score of 0-10 to each pairings for each defined metric. They are as follows:
Chances of Qualifying
Just as players draw reputation from their performances in team and individual tours, the managers in question have all formed some sort of rep prior to being chosen as a manager here. The first factor in our decision is the chance a team has of qualifying, and for every manager pairing we give a ranking based on their perceived ability to support and lead a team to victory. We considered experience as a manager, prior success in team tours, the ability to support a team through knowledge and experience of tiers, and their own ability to perform as a player and help guide others.
The “Fun” Factor
Like it or not, it is more than possible for a manager to just suck as far as vibes go. This can be a lack of memes, a lack of assistance, a temperamental persona, amongst other vibes sucking qualities. In smaller tours, you even see players go to opposing managers for assistance if time comes to it. The legacy of a team is more than just how well they did in season. Friendships may be forged, Stockholm syndrome shared, weird allegories, and hype moments. This is Pokemon, and as sweaty as some of us are, it is the joy we draw of the game that makes it all worth it.
Quality of Team Name
A season of MWP is temporary, however, a winning custom avatar is eternal. Moreover, just how creative and well thought out was that Team Name in Question? This final X factor for Manager PR gives a grade on the Team Name each Manager represents. While it is true with enough morale, good vibes, and comradery, players can banner together behind ANY team, a mascot with aura will always draw more pride in the players. If “Team Name” is deemed too arbitrary, then consider it a judgement of the manager’s creativity.
Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, let’s find out the results!
Adjustments Score: 29 (9 for qualifying, 10 for fun, 10 for team name)
Leafs Score: 27 (9 for qualifying, 9 for fun, 9 for team name)
Wyv's Score: 22 (7 for qualifying, 8 for fun, 7 for team name)
The Spirits franchise is returning with hex at the helm once again. They won MWP 4 with the power of friendship and will probably look to the same formula again. Hex got really mad at adjustments for playing like shit during MPL so maybe she will not bring him back to this iteration of the franchise, especially with the retirement of mushamu and the deletion of his discord account. Those that get drafted should expect a fun experience without any issue. Fun managers, good support, and worst comes to worst you can always just enter the team’s voice call to hear the warm sultry voice of your very own personal Boomp podcast. The only potential issue that could arise is what some call “the great dooming disease”, momentum takes people to great highs, and others to the lowest of nadirs. For managers hex and boomp that might just be the case as some have referred to them as known doomers. If there’s any solace to have though, it’s the powerful 20 points lead the Spirits hold over the second place in our Manager PR, showcasing the high expectations held of this duo.
2. Corviknights of the Round Table (Ethereal Sword + Wincon + Crossheart) - 59 Points
Adjustments Score: 19 (5 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 9 for team name) Leafs Score: 21 (5 for qualifying, 6 for fun,10 for team name)
Wyv's Score: 19 (4 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 10 for team name)
Coming in at the last second to fill the 8th team slot, the Corviknights of the Round Table have managed to find themselves in second place for Manager power rankings. This is surely a shock to most people, I definitely wet my pants when I saw the numbers, but don’t be too surprised! A closer look at the tally reveals that the score for this manager pairings is held up almost entirely by their team name being an absolute banger. Huge props for this ragtag group to come up with Corviknights of the Round Table at the last second. The managers themselves strangely seem to synergize pretty well together too. Crossheart provides useful experience for the National Dex slot as a former council member and is a proven manager. Wincon, despite being washed, is a player who’s been around long enough for a valuable perspective into old gens. Lastly, Ethereal Sword’s reputation is almost entirely built upon his creativity and successes in SV. That being said, this is just what the best of these managers would show on paper. The actual practicality of this pairing is…errr…questionable. Is the SV slot dependent on a guy devoted to switcheroo lagging tail Klefki and Fezandipiti? Would you really rather talk to Wincon than just give yourself AI psychosis? Does CrossHeart even play the game still? The Corviknights are a pairing that definitely show potential, but will need to showcase the best that each manager has to offer should they play on going home with their own custom avatar.
3. I Could Be Bellibolts (Attribute + Azick + Isza) - 55 Points
Adjustments Score: 18 (9 for qualifying, 7 for fun, 2 for team name)
Leafs Score: 18 (10 for qualifying, 2 for fun, 6 for team name)
Wyv's Score: 19 (8 for qualifying, 3 for fun, 8 for team name)
After achieving two finals in the last three tournaments (putting aside the catastrophic last place in MPL XI), Isza once again returns to his roots in Monotype alongside his longtime frenemy Attribute and… Azick, for some reason? Don’t ask me, I don’t know either. Moving on, no one is foolish enough to deny the expert understanding of the game that most of these players hold and the astronomical expectations about them, at the very least, getting to the playoffs. However, their total rating is tanked by a likely dry and somewhat inactive teamcord, which seems to be an alarming recurring theme coming from these managers. The current prediction for the teamcord experience is for Isza to say nothing, Azick to be completely ignored as he poorly explains a garchomp set, and for Attribute to rotate personas between helpful manager and guy who couldn’t care less as he’s playing duo games with his girlfriend. Lastly, I have no clue why Adjustments gave such a low ranking for their team name, I thought it was legit funny and a great pun especially given the, er… recent events on the Monotype scene.
Adjustments Score: 16 (7 for qualifying, 6 for fun, 3 for team name)
Leafs Score: 21 (6 for qualifying, 7 for fun, 8 for team name)
Wyv's Score: 18 (4 for qualifying, 7 for fun, 7 for team name)
It is safe to say at this point that twinkay has revived Seo’s fainting Monotype career by teaching him how to draft a decent to great team, which is evident from MFPL I and II, and MWP VI. Their run last year was not nearly as bad as anyone expected it to be. With adding Tenebricite as a 3rd, they do cover more bases than previously, but that still means they must find what worked in the final weeks of the season last year and bring it to this year’s team. This is, however, already more glaze than I’m ever willing to give a Twinkay team. Go back to MWP V and you will see a team record even worse than Dural Madrid’s with Twinkay’s management leading to a 0-6-1 performance. Go to MPL IX and you see another 8th place Twinkay team that did barely any better. Go to the MPL before then and naturally you see Twinkay's team with an awful performance in 7th. Twinkay is the nepo baby manager of Monotype, somehow given the reins of Mono Premiere teams till at least getting a decent performance after over 2 years and frankly speaking managing and supporting an MFPL team well is a pretty low bar to cross. As far as vibes go, pokemon dad Seo probably has the highest Q rating of any player on this list, truly here for just the good vibes, whereas Tenebricite somewhat legitimizes the pair with his superb talents. I don’t think anyone expects the Veils to win this tournament, but by locking in maybe they can surprise us all.
Adjustments Score: 15 (2 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 8 for team name) Leafs Score: 19 (6 for qualifying, 8 for fun, 5 for team name) Wyv's Score: 16 (4 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 7 for team name)
With a record in mono tours that has placed him at the top of the Monotype Team Tour Compiler for years , 1 True Lycan has returned to the monotype tournament scene in style. Less than one week back and Lycan’s return has already smited Chait with a manager ban, followed up by another player going excommunicado, and to top it all off he then kicks Zap out from managing his own team. That’s 2 former tierleaders down in less than a week for those keeping track. The team itself is a wild one all together. Who knows how on earth Jahkem got to manage, his forum posts have seared more damage into my optical nerve than staring directly into an eclipse ever could. On the bright side things seem a bit better when we imagine Jahkem is just a chill guy, and Cow does bring an amazing and energetic presence in team tours which adds to a fun environment. However, as skilled as Lycan was in the past, we don’t know how good he will be in the present, and Jahkem should not expect to be carried by him. Fact of the matter is that Jahkem and Cow don’t have any actual experience with managing a Mono Team Tour. Matter of fact, Jahkem has never even taken part in a major team tour from what I could see, with participation in the first MFPL and assisting with forum tours appearing to be the most relevant experience. Should these managers fail to gather appropriate builders and helpers for their team, I’d say players may be shit out of luck so far as team support goes.
Adjustments Score: 19 (4 for qualifying, 9 for fun, 6 for team name)
Leafs Score: 13 (3 for qualifying, 9 for fun, 1 for team name)
Wyv's Score: 15 (6 for qualifying, 9 for fun, 2 for team name)
It is admirable to say you feel for crashy lately, as he consistently puts up with the most random BS on his teams, yet still trudges through with positivity which is good enough to hold things together and keep his team in contention to the final week. He brings back LuckyPiper who is equivalent to Celtics Shaq on this manager trio. Does he provide anything meaningful besides 2020 knowledge of SM and maybe some threat tests? The only hope for playoffs behind crashy’s indomitable spirit lies in the Monotype rookie jackuzzler, who has been super motivated to prove himself as a mainstay in this community despite not having the greatest of performances in individuals. His motivation and strong prep skills can lead the Treec- Minuns into playoff contention. Players drafted to this team shouldn’t worry about team environment, as all 3 of these guys are super friendly, and super bonus points if you like to talk about sports or anime, as both of those bases are covered.
7. Mudae Mudbrays (Trichotomy + Mada + mind gaming) - 45 Points
Adjustments Score: 17 (10 for qualifying, 3 for fun, 4 for team name) Leafs Score: 18 (10 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 3 for team name) Wyv's Score: 10 (7 for qualifying, 2 for fun, 1 for team name)
It’s gameday. After spending 40k on 2 manager self buys, the Mudae Mudbrays had to settle for you…a 3K OU Player that has never touched monotype in their life. First Trich comes into your channel, “Use this!”, he says. Upon further inspection, you realize he simply handed you the Gen 9 Flying Sample. Then Mind Gaming comes into your channel, “Sorry I thought you were Fogbound,” he then leaves. Then Madara comes into your channel, “This is a poison that can beat any type, practice and win”. The poison in fact has a worse matchup spread than standard poison. What we see here is a glimpse into the future of a Mudbray’s prospect, thrown into the fires of a team with highly competitive managers. The Mudae Mudbrays are a team that composes well known players and managers, but despite high qualifying scores, is held back by a lack of expectation for team synergy and general good vibes. This score is partly an expectation of the managers in question, but also displays a forecast into the Mudbray’s draft predictions. These are managers who would pick anyone just for the chance at a cheap player with a decent record. Players who say nothing and even leave the cord? The ICBB player with an inexhaustibly bad forum presence? Former TLs who’ve since become eternally banned from managing? All up for grabs should the Mudbrays have the budget. Some would say this team would be guaranteed to qualify, but this is by no means a “power of friendship” team and, should you happen to land on it, be ready to lose some hair and hear some, er… “words of advice” after a poorly played game. I’ll also say, super underwhelming Team Name. There’s literally no way to make the mudbrays into a cool custom avatar + the pun with mudae is very weak.
“On god, if my first CA is a Mudbray I’m quitting Showdown” - TheWyvernKing
Adjustments Score: 15 (3 for qualifying, 4 for fun, 8 for team name) Leafs Score: 12 (2 for qualifying, 7 for fun, 3 for team name) Wyv's Score: 18 (4 for qualifying, 5 for fun, 9 for team name)
Just as MWP is a place where up and coming players aim to prove themselves, so too is it a place where managers who’ve proven themselves in smaller team tours aim to showcase themselves at the highest level. The question that the Subspace Porygons have us asking is not whether they’ll win the tournament, but rather, will they be a competitive team at all? UTA, to his credit, managed the Bolt Beak Blizzards in MFPLII which led the group stage and came second overall in the tournament. In addition to this, both Uta and kraken have proven themselves in multiple individual’s tournaments for SV, with UTA managing to qualify for Swiss playoffs at only week 6. Icarus on the other hand showcased himself in MPL XI with a 6-1 ORAS record. These feats, however, are all undermined by just about everything else we can see from their tournament runs. Uta went 1-2 in MPL XI, and 0-1 in last year's MWP, kraken went 0-4 in MPL XI for SV and 0-5 when he put his hand in BW for farmer’s league. Even zIcarus’s skill level is called into question when you realize he had a 1-6 SV performance in MFPL II. To put this all in perspective, the combined record of these guys in SV from MFPL II, MPL XI, and MWP VI is 2-13. HOLY SHIT. I do expect these guys will try and put in the work with a thought out plan for draft, a friendly cord environment, and the best support that they can offer. One does have to call into question, however, the quality of support of a manager trio that were 2/3s 3K buys at the last MPL, and all together cost less than even a single manager self-buy.
