Tournament OM Classic Polling Thread

[in the hills]

This thread is meant to gauge the opinions and interest of the OM Classic tour coming in the near future. This poll is open to discussion on the tiers included, as well as any questions about what the tournament format will potentially include.

What is OM Classic?
OM Classic is a singles tour that consists of 5 various other metagames from previous gens ranging from USUM to BW2. Players will be able to earn points from these 5 single elimination Best of 3 tours, where at the end the top 8 will face off in a playoffs bracket. The playoffs will consist of a Best of 5 showdown where the higher seed picks the tier first while the loser of each battle picks the following tiers.

There are a large variety of metagames that are available to be chosen in the five slots, so it was decided that the best course of action would be to include the community's input on this matter. We plan to take your considerations into this heavily when deciding the final slots, but the OM leadership has the final say.

Potential formats: These are a list of some potential formats, but feel free to suggest any other popular metagames that fit our guidelines.

Gen 5 Almost Any Ability
Gen 5 Balanced Hackmons
Gen 5 Camomons
Gen 5 NFE
Gen 5 STABmons
Gen 5 Pure Hackmons
Gen 5 Tier Shift
Gen 6 Almost Any Ability
Gen 6 Balanced Hackmons
Gen 6 Camomons
Gen 6 Inverse
Gen 6 Mix and Mega
Gen 6 Pure Hackmons
Gen 6 NFE
Gen 6 STABmons
Gen 6 Tier Shift
Gen 7 Almost Any Ability
Gen 7 Balanced Hackmons
Gen 7 Camomons
Gen 7 Inverse
Gen 7 Mix and Mega
Gen 7 NFE
Gen 7 Pure Hackmons
Gen 7 STABmons
Gen 7 Tier Shift

Blacklisted formats:

• Formats that were previously OMs, but already have Classic tours of their own sections have been excluded from consideration for this tournament. This includes:

1v1
Anything Goes
Monotype
PU
ZU

• Anything that has never been classified as an OM.

In addition, we want to refrain from having any tier repeated as to make the tour as fair as possible, so there won't be an option for two generations of Balanced Hackmons.

FAQ:
Q: When would the OM Classic potentially start?
A: The current timeline looks to aim for the end of June, as the new SS DLC drops and OMPL is finishing.

Q: Does the OM Classic count towards the 2020 Other Metas Tour Circuit?
A: No, the OM Classic doesn't count for circuit points of any kind.

Q: What about DPP Other Metagames or earlier?
A: The Other Metagames forum wasn't created until BW, so while older metagames exist, they never had a popular playerbase. We don't recommend suggesting DPP or earlier OMs, but in the unlikely event there's a high demand it will be considered.

What are the community's opinions on the potential tiers to be included in the tour? Share your thoughts below.

 

[in the hills]

I’ll open up with my own personal opinions on what the 5 metagames included would look like.

1st USUM Balanced Hackmons: This is a given, highly successful tier that still is a challenge format on main server and it’s one of the main reasons this tier came to fruition. Not much more to say lol

2nd USUM Mix and Mega: I think this is another given- Mix and Mega was the second most popular OM in USUM and has a developed meta that would bring a really competitive aspect to this tour.

3rd ORAS Almost Any Ability: I don’t have a huge opinion on ORAS vs USUM for AAA, but I’ve only heard good things about ORAS AAA and Gale Wings fun xd also the clown monster from USUM AAA gives me a headache from Mind Blowing me too much. I would like to hear from more veteran AAA players though since I haven’t gotten to talk to many before this post was written.

4th B2W2 Pure Hackmons: I think Pure Hackmons 100% deserves a spot in this tour for its popularity, especially in older gens. Some might disagree, but I think it would be a great meta to include, especially as a generation 5 meta.

5th USUM NFE / USUM STABmons / ORAS Inverse: The fifth slot is definitely something I’m indecisive about for the fact that there’s quite a few great options. Personally USUM STABmons was my favorite OM last gen, though its popularity is in question. USUM NFE is probably the most competitive tier of these options and has a huge community to back it up, so I could definitely see it being the last slot. Alternatively, ORAS Inverse was a really great OM during ORAS, when it was an in-game format as well.

These are just my personal opinions and are in no way set in stone. Feel free to share your own opinions or comment on my own! :)

 

[Jrdn]

Going to just run down some metas that I really enjoyed in my time playing OMs

ORAS AAA: Nostalgic meta for me. First introduction into OMs and had a lot of fun learning the meta. This is the meta I'd want to see first and foremost.

USUM AAA: I like AAA ok?

ORAS TS: Better stat distributions, was much more fun to play from what I can remember

USUM Camomons: Don't really think this should be a part of it, but I loved the meta.

USUM: Stabmons: I think by the end of gen 7 this was the most enjoyed meta by many

 

[berry]

As the person who went through all of the old ompls for record purposes, I feel like I should get my opinions out. I’ll expand on these later today sometime

1. ORAS AAA
possibly one of the most legendary OM tiers of all time, this meta singlehandedly represents the golden era of OMs

2. USUM BH
this meta still has a ton of room for improvement and innovation, especially with all of the incredible play and strategies we saw during OMPL 7. Ban electrify tho

3. ORAS PH
a near-perfectly balanced format with a TON of room for innovation and discovery. I’m kinda biased because I’m an oldshark RO, but this is easily the best of the old gen PHs. Unfortunately, as with every PH there’s degenerate and luck based strats, but that’s to be expected (and real teams usually prevail)

4. BW STAB
another classic format that truly shows the beginnings of OMs as a whole. Although this was way less developed than ORAS AAA, it still represents a golden era in OMs and its creation was super pivotal to the entire forum

5. USUM MNM
imo probably the best gen 7 format, it’s a lot less interesting than BH to watch but it’s extremely balanced and fun to play, as well as super high skill

 

[Akashi]

this is just an ideal list
1. gen 5 tier shift
2. gen 6 tier shift
3. gen 7 tier shift
4. gen 6 stabmons
5. gen 6 inverse

it should just be like bh,aaa,stab,fillers

 

[Champion Leon]

What about Godly Gift Gen 6, and/or Gen 7?

That game is legit customizable on the fly, based on team preview letting you rearrange order, and has an excellent amount of innovation and strategy.

 

[drampa's grandpa]

I agree USUM BH is pretty much guaranteed to make the list. I don't foresee much argument here honestly, unless there's a major outcry for whatever reason.

Past that I was thinking two other USUM tiers for a total of three and two older ones, prioritizing ORAS as that community is generally still at least somewhat present while the BW2 crowd is pretty sparce nowadays.

What I would personally LIKE to see (not my opinion on what is best for the tour necessarily, but what I'd be interested in playing and seeing) is USUM STABmons. This metagame definitely was more alive at the end of the generation than it was for the majority of the time it was around, and it still had room to grow.

I'd like to see some gen 5 or 6 Pure Hackmons just so I can see what it's like (not to play just to watch)

I'd also LOVE LOVELOVE Multibility but uh idt that would be allowed ;-;
Also please not Akashi's list I'm not sure I can survive that much shifting

As for what should be included... honestly I'll worry about that later. For now I'm going to think about what I want, and I think that's what I'd prefer to see here too. I don't want to include a tier everyone thinks 'should' be in but doesn't really want to play out of a sense of duty.

 

[aesf]

Here to defend ORAS AAA > SM AAA if that happens. Both are fantastic metagames and worthy of being put in but if I had to choose one... (put both in imoimo)

Hide

- Competent leadership and in hindsight, quite a balanced and perhaps even more developed metagame than gen 7 or 8 AAA. This is important not for the sake of comparing w recent gens, but moreso in considering OMs made by smaller communities in past gens. Unlike gen 6 BH, where you'll still find moody, contrary, magpull, protean, illusion, and no sleep clause floating around, AAA has no such bullshit.

- SM AAA is just a lot more recent. I think one huge barrier to overcome in AAA is understanding how to play the meta optimally and over the years the community has definitely gotten a lot better at it. It'd be a lot more interesting to see how player knowledge now applies to gen 6 AAA as opposed to a probably very similar gen 7 AAA metagame that has been played for the last few years.

- Fun mechanics like gale wings - fantastic speed control, not a hassle to check, and easy to fit on teams

- Extremely diverse meta, probably even moreso than gen 7 aaa

My picks are
1. ORAS AAA
2. USUM AAA
3. USUM STABmons
4. ORAS TS
and for fun
5. BW Camomons

 

[Euphonos]

Here's what I'm advocating so far:

1. USUM Camomons (because this is the OM I played -- heck, even at the time it's transitioning to Gen 8; thanks Juno and Estarossa!)
2. USUM Mix and Mega (another tier I got the slight hang of, but will play again thanks to Aggronite providing Steel typing instead of removing its secondary typing)
3. BW AAA (I've seen this metagame in Tours Plaza, it looks a lot of fun)
4. STABmons of any old gen (because I found out STABmons is fun in Gen 8, so why not get the hang of old-gen STABmons)
5. a wildcard (sorry, not a fan of Balanced Hackmons lol)

 

[Ren]

USUM BH is the generation of BH which I think should make the cut, if BH is to make it.

The metagame is, in my opinion, the most balanced out of BW, ORAS, and USUM, with the playerbase to back it up. While I'd argue Shedinja and Mega Gengar are problematic elements of the metagame, the other two generations suffer from much more problematic elements in my opinion (ORAS suffering from Shedinja, Mega Gengar, -ate, etc. while BW suffers from Soul Dew, Sleep mechanics, Shedinja and other things) and USUM also had the playerbase to back it up. Fantastic leader, fantastic balance for the most part and active playerbase. The only issue I can see is that the playerbase doesn't really overlap with other OMs, but I don't think that's an issue because some OMs also have really small playerbases while BH has a larger one.

Gonna leave my thoughts on some other metagames in the running.

AAA - I think this is a shoe-in, I've always loved AAA. If I had to pick the generation, I'd probably pick ORAS. I haven't played BW, so I can't comment on that, but from what I played of USUM and ORAS I enjoyed ORAS a lot more. Not too fussed on this one, though - both are fantastic choices.

MnM - I also think this is a shoe-in. Please though don't pick ORAS. Had one of the most flawed instances of leadership and it clearly shows in the banlist. USUM was fun, I used to main it as some people know and I thoroughly enjoyed the metagame, and it's incredibly balanced to boot. The council did a really good job here.

NFE - Please include this. The NFE playerbase is large and for the most part, are very nice presences who would definitely help other people with the tournament. I don't really care about the gen, but I think NFE definitely deserves a slot.

STABmons - I can't say this deserves a slot with confidence, but when I look at the other options I think it does. Has more of a playerbase than other OMs, better balance, and in my opinion is a lot of fun. Sure a lot of people agree with me on that one.

Inverse - Maybe? The metagame is kinda fun, but doesn't have much of a playerbase.

Tier Shift - It's a really friendly metagame to transition to from official tiers and has a reasonable playerbase, but the threatlist tends to be incredibly saturated because the premise of the meta is akin to making most Pokemon viable in OU.

Camomons - The playerbase has definitely grown, but I'm not sure if I'd like to see Camomons in this edition of OM classic. Compared to other metas who had larger playerbases at the time of their prominence (and players from those playerbases continue to play), Camomons had a fairly small playerbase and continues to have a smallish playerbase, despite having grown a bit.

 

[abriel]

I don't really have any experience pre-USUM, so please let me know if anything I say here is wrong.

1. USUM BH
It's the most popular old gen OM and has tons of room for creativity, innovation, and growth. This is a no-brainer imo.

2. USUM MnM
I think we need an MnM slot due to its popularity behind BH, and gen 7 seems like the better choice.

3. ORAS AAA
We definitely need an AAA slot since it's a relatively popular format with tons of experienced and skilled players. I don't really have experience in ORAS AAA, but I'll trust everyone else's praise of the format.

The last two slots are much more debatable in my opinion, so I'll just offer my thoughts on the other options:

- B2W2/ORAS Pure Hackmons: PH seems to actually have a somewhat active community for oldgens, making it a solid choice for this tour. Personally, I'd like to see all of gens 5-7 represented somewhere in the tour, and PH is a good option for a gen 5 format.

- B2W2/USUM STAB: In the "modern era" of OMs STAB is pretty much the "4th OM" so it's a good choice for the tour. Again I'll take the more experienced users' word in that gen 5 STAB is a good meta, and it would be nice to see if no other gen 5 meta is included. Otherwise, gen 7 STAB is the better choice in my opinion, since it looked to have a lot of potential after the end of gen 7.

- B2W2/ORAS/USUM Camo: Would definitely be a fun meta, but I think it would hard to justify over STAB and PH (sorry E# man).

- ORAS/USUM Tier Shift: Don't really have much experience to comment on but I'm not a big fan of TS. It doesn't seem to have the playerbase that some other OMs have and looks to be really hard to build for.

- ORAS Inverse: This would definitely be an interesting format to bring back. While its placement would be hard to justify over the other options, if I remember correctly Inverse was somewhat big in gen 6 so I wouldn't be opposed to seeing it again.

- B2W2/ORAS/USUM NFE: I'm pretty sure that the NFE Classic already exists, so I'm personally against any NFE slot. edit: Since NFE has now been confirmed to be allowed, it would be fine to have it in. Gen 6/Gen 7 both could work, but I'd prefer to see PH/STAB/Camo make it in over NFE.

 

[pazza]

metas i like and stuff i'd like to see

1. usum bh - this meta is super fun and has a large playerbase wanting to play it, ppl wanted it in ompl but the main argument against that was it was a gen7 meta.
2. usum mnm - no brainer like the first one, ppl like it and it has a huge playerbase
3. nfe - i'd love to see nfe again back in an om tour, meta has all kinds of ppl playing it from zu players to tour players and even some om players picked it up like stress. gen7 or gen6 nfe would be lit. nfe already has a classic though so maybe it shouldn't be here.
4. gen6 aaa/gen 7 aaa - aaa is a fun meta to play and build for and others want it too
5. gen5 ph/gen7 stabmons/any gen for camo - idk they're all metas that are pretty fun but not a big playerbase as the others.

 

[Jayi]

I'm not really into a bunch of OM's, I dip into some more than others but I can't really stick to one except NFE which is why I'm super pumped about NFE's inclusion in this. I'm more so looking towards Gen 7 NFE's inclusion since I've played that quite a lot last gen and in my opinion, it's the best gen out of the 3 mentioned. I'd love for any of the NFE's to be included though. Any of the STABmons would be awesome to play too, quite fun and easy to get the hang of.

 

[drampa's grandpa]

If NFE Classic is a thing we won't pick NFE. This tour is for metas not covered in other classics. To quote the OP:

Blacklisted formats:

• Formats that were previously OMs, but already have Classic tours of their own sections have been excluded from consideration for this tournament.

Looks like we overlooked NFE Classic in the list below that.

Ignore me, NFE is OK

 

[Tack]

If NFE Classic is a thing we won't pick NFE. This tour is for metas not covered in other classics. To quote the OP:


Looks like we overlooked NFE Classic in the list below that.

Formats that were previously OMs, but already have Classic tours of their own sections have been excluded from consideration for this tournament.

in a literal sense of the rules outlined in op, nfe is eligible as they are currently an om w/o their own section, the nfe classic was primarily to bring some light to the existence of oldgens prior to SM for funsies, also if nfe is included SM or bust, the rest of the nfe gens eligible kinda suck

also if i made a lineup SM BH/ORAS PH/BW Stab/SM NFE/some AAA that the community likes

free dpp nfe it's my fav gen of it ;.;

 

[drampa's grandpa]

in a literal sense of the rules outlined in op, nfe is eligible as they are currently an om w/o their own section, the nfe classic was primarily to bring some light to the existence of oldgens prior to SM for funsies, also if nfe is included SM or bust, the rest of the nfe gens eligible kinda suck

I'm discussing this with the other ROs, and will bring updates when I get them.

The NFE open being as tiny as it was may allow the meta some leeway, although I don't believe the status of currently or formerly an OM is actually important (I could be wrong).

 

[TeddiursaYoshi216]

I think that we could do:

USUM Inverse: The OU meta was quite stale in my opinion, with stuff like lando and toxapex on every team. Inverse would give more overlooked pokemon some action

ORAS AAA: The only way to not lose a pokemon to megacham whenever it comes out, there was little to no checks/counters

USUM BH: Creativity at its finest

BW2 Scalemons: idk it could be interesting

 

[willdbeast]

USUM PiC

 

[drampa's grandpa]

I'm discussing this with the other ROs, and will bring updates when I get them.

The NFE open being as tiny as it was may allow the meta some leeway, although I don't believe the status of currently or formerly an OM is actually important (I could be wrong).

NFE is confirmed good to go! Let us know if you want it in.

 

[The Number Man]

Please make this happen, sounds like a lot of fun. Seconding Drampa's suggestion on Multibility (if it's eligible at all). It's a metagame that I personally never got the chance to play since I joined showdown/smogon too late for that, but it seems really fun so getting a chance to play it would be really nice.

I'd also LOVE LOVELOVE Multibility but uh idt that would be allowed ;-;

As for other noms - I started playing here during USUM so I have no exp with older gen OMs, but I'd love to see something like ORAS AAA/Camo/STAB. Also nomming USUM STABmons cuz I wanna use shore up Mega TTar again :pray:.

 

[IBM]

Where is bw 2v2?

 

[D2TheW]

I would suggest that sm 2v2 should at least be considered for a position. It's no secret that 2v2 has a shaky place in the om community but oms is it's home for now so I'm gonna make a case for it.

Sm 2v2 was pretty popular when it was current gen and has retained a lot of it's popularity in the generational shift with the ongoing sm 2v2 tour bringing in good numbers as well as several players signing up for 2v2pl to play sm.

Sm tours are also a part of the official tour schedule in the 2v2 room (go check that out btw plug plug). The fact that the meta is still being actively played regularly in both roomtours and forum tours means that metagame development has continued rather than stalling like many oms do once they become old gens. There's even a dedicated 2v2 thread in roa (all of usum, oras and bw are continuously being developed) and the meta itself is in a pretty good place rn with no broken mons or uncompetitive strategies dominating the meta.

As I said at the start 2v2 is kind of in a weird spot but sm 2v2 is clearly pretty popular and I think it's at least worth considering.

 

[Highlord]

It seems a lot of people are retroactively talking shit about old gens while constructing their stances around second hand accounts and pure speculation. The ban lists and mechanics might look awkward from a modern gen perspective, but these metagames are still competitive and offer unique, enjoyable play.

These are the ones I want to see:

ORAS Mix and Mega – With its inclusion of powerhouses like Blazikenite, Pidgeotite, Mega Gengar, and Deo-S, ORAS Mix and Mega features a hyper offense centric meta where momentum is constantly being exchanged, which is a nice contrast from USM and SS. This also happens to be the gen where Mix and Mega grew in its glory.

BW Balanced Hackmons – This metagame really has it all: sleep phasing, weather wars, hazard stacking + spin blocking, priority earthquake, sturdy shedninja, imposter proofing, and more. I think it’s easily of the most involved metagames, and with the sleep clause implementation from BH snake, it’s become a lot more balanced too.

 

[Simbo]

If you're gonna put an NFE gen in this (you should imo, nfe is p fire), SM NFE is definitely the pick. It's the most developed NFE Oldgen resource and playerwise, is probably the easiest NFE oldgen to get into from a new player perspective on that list, and will definitely pull a solid number of signups.
It's also p unique as far as NFE Oldgens go, with the biggest amount of Pokemon variety, Z-moves giving you a reason not to slap 5 eviolites and a Choice User on a team, and solid playstyle variety. It'll be a fun slot.

 

[dhelmise]

I'm unsure how I feel about metagames that were never formally recognized via a ladder, challenge format, or general popularity being brought up for tiers for the OM Classic. For example, as fun as I find Scalemons across all generations, I don't think it would get basically any attention. Similarly, I don't know how I feel about metagames that didn't even exist in older generations, such as BW Partners in Crime.

I agree that these are all fun metagames, but I'm concerned about the activity they'll garner (or lack thereof).