OK time for another edition of........
RACOOL's AAA POWER RANKINGS !!!
Last time I was a bit meme-y with my PR, cos at the time I hadn't been online in over a year so I basically didnt have a clue (although my pr turned out to be actually pretty fucking accurate in the end ftr, so I guess the moral there is that aaa doesn't really change that much and rust is overrated :shrug:). However this time im actually gonna be a bit more serious, and who knows this might actually help some managers with their aaa drafting plans. Idk how accurate these are gonna be, if anything theyr gonna be less accurate than last time, because the new gen kinda throws everything up in the air tbh, but I think the points at least are gonna be fairly valid so whatever. And finally,
everyone mentioned on this list is someone I have acknowledged as a solid aaa player, and deffo someone worth drafting.
To preface, 2 things imma refer to the most are "playing ability" and "team building ability" which I believe to be the main 2 factors when it comes to these PRs.
To get things started, im gonna explain why the PR is gonna start at #3 - which is because the peculiar thing about this year's aaa pool is that the #1 and #2 aaa options are both managers and therefore ineligible to be drafted by anyone else. If you hadn't guessed, these 2 players are jrdn and stresh (in that order imo) particularly as this is gen 8 aaa. Like even in gen 7, jrdn would still prob be my #1, and stresh top 5 or 3, but like it would be a lot closer and more up for debate with like aesf, geerat, rozes and I in the mix too probs, but in the current gen these 2 have just had significantly more experience than the rest of the aaa pool, even if the pool names are still p much he same. That makes for a huge headstart they have on the building front, which is gonna be tough for the rest of us to catch up to. The even more peculiar part however, is that neither may end up playing aaa depending on who else they draft and what they find is their most optimal team lineup, because both are capable of dominating just as much (if not even more, cos some other metas are less competitive) in a diff tier (for jrdn there's camp and stab, for stresh there's MnM, BH, and potentially camo I guess). Regardless, there is still the chance that they end up playing aaa, and therefore the first 2 slots are gonna be left alone.
So with that out of the way, without further ado lets get into this PR:
#3) Rozes - Ok so in terms of playing ability rozes is deffo the best in this aaa pool, like hands down. And thats not only because hes a very good tours player in general (although that is deffo a huge factor) but its also because hes been playing aaa for so long, so like hes not missing out on the experience front. In terms of building, I dont think hes the best builder out there, but hes a scary builder cos he builds very different from everyone else, and whips out some tech which no-one sees coming, which in bo1 tours is kinda devastating. As Ive said many times, surprise factor wins battles. I think my only concern with rozes is how much he realistically cares. Cos like ive seen when rozes doesn't give a shit (see aaa open) and like hes still not even bad, but he certainly wouldnt be this high on he PR, because it would mean you would need to 100% draft a builder to pair with rozes. However it seems like rozes seems at the very least mildly interested, so I can see him doing very well indeed this tour. If this was gen 7 this top 6 would be ludicrously hard to rank, as it was actually so even between us 6, but I think with the gen reset this is more definitive. Not to mention the activity factor.
Summary - Pros: Teambuilding (A tier), Playing Ability (S tier) ; Cons: Potentially might lose interest? Probably low risk.
#4) Geerat - These next 3 on this list are gonna come with one common drawback: activity and interest. However I have decided that this factors less into the rankings on the PR, but more just on how much you should bid in the auction. Anyways, geerat being placed so high kinda goes without saying. Dude has the best ompl aaa record out of anyone on this list by a mile, and its across 2 ompl's which showcases some pretty mad consistency, despite the bo1 format which is v impressive. Furthermore, as he showcased last omwc, hes also capable of dominating in camo too, with several extremely impressive camo showings and a final record of 3-1 I believe? I dont think he's touched much of gen 8, but he should be able to catch up really quickly especially as the new dlc has kinda been a reset ish for everyone, and there arent any huge mechanic changes between the gens with dynamax gone.
Summary - Pros: Teambuilding (A+ tier), Playing Ability (A+ tier), Supreme Consistency, Flex pick capable of dominating in camo too ; Cons: Activity and interest therefore should avoid going all out on him as this is not the same case as previous ompl's, lack of gen 8 experience
#5) Aesf - As mentioned in the entry above, activity and interest is a definite question mark in the case of aesf too, as like me and geerat, hes more or less here purely cos of corona rather than by choice. Furthermore like geerat, aesf has pretty much no real gen 8 aaa experience. However I think his sheer skill and experience with aaa in general should enable him to catch up extremely quickly. Personally, I think aesf is an even scarier builder and player than geerat, however the reason why im ranking him lower is that geerat has proven consistency in aaa, while aesf hasn't as he's been mostly stab'ing recently in om team tours. In fact I can see it being a distinct possibility that aesf ends up stab'ing again this tour, but on the chance that he ended up aaa'ing I had to rank him ofc. He has the most impressive aaa showing in the past year too, with an incredibly entertaining win over geerat in their bo3 last ompl.
Summary - Pros: Teambuilding (A+ tier), Playing Ability (S- tier), Flex pick capable of dominating in stab too ; Cons: Activity and interest therefore should avoid going all out on him, lack of gen 8 experience
#6) Racool - Ok so again activity and interest are a big issue for me. Thought I'd use this as an opportunity to make this clear for anyone looking to buy me: I will have finals most likely in about 8-9 weeks from now, which could easily keep me from playing for a few weeks at the very least. The only reason im even back is because of the lockdown, basically meaning that im stuck at home and have literally 0 outlet for anything other than revising, which is incredibly unhealthy, so I thought this might be a nice outlet. My original plan also was to manage and not play incidentally, although that didn't materialise, but yeah the point is I won't be tryharding like I did last ompl/omwc, so don't expect that. Furthermore from the few post-home games ive played, I haven't liked it nearly as much as pre-home and sm aaa. Anyways, as for why im placed here, I think aesf and geerat are marginally better potentially, but what puts them definitely ahead is theyr flex pick capability and the potential that brings. Im more stuck to being just an aaa pick, so the risk vs reward is worse in my case.
Summary - Pros: Teambuilding (A+ tier), Playing Ability (A+ tier), Decent Consistency. ; Cons: highly questionable activity and interest, might dip for a few weeks for exams therefore avoid splurging too much on me (prob not more than 10k utmost max imho), lack of gen 8 experience
#7) Thinkerino - The first debutant on this list certainly has attracted some attention recently and for good reason. He has been grinding this gen more than anyone else alongside jrdn and stresh, and has made huge strides the past few months. On the building front he's extremely capable, and in terms of general playing he's not bad by any means, and out of all the players in this pool he's the one im 100% rooting for the most. However, he still has a long way to go on the competitive playing ability front as all he's really been playing is ladder. The benefit of this is that when it comes to the team building and prepping side, thinkerino is ridiculously well versed with the meta. However, if you were a manager, I would not buy think as your only aaa option with no credible support, as I don't see him thriving in that scenario, at least not in this ompl. Thinkerino paired with someone like aesf, geerat, jrdn, or stresh would be pretty cool to see, as all 4 of them could offer think loads of support and experience on competitive mons front, while being able to shift into a diff meta so therefore not wasting any of them (ie geerat could camo/stab, aesf could stab/camo, jrdn could camo/stab, and stresh could bh/mnm/camo).
Summary - Pros: Teambuilding (A/A+ tier), Playing ability(A- tier), Activity (really strong) ; Cons: Might heave unnecessary pressure on himself if drafted alone (especially if drafted really expensive), lack of ompl experience
#8) Megazard - Ok so MZ is the first really situational pick on this PR so far. Hes an extremely capable all rounder player, with a fat resume of om tour success including most recently, an aaa open win. However he is situational, because hes only really a solid pick if you draft an aaa builder, or if you are jrdn/stresh/funbot (to an extent) and can build stuff for him. In the case of his open, it was a good win, however there weren't any super impressive teams or playing on display, and the dlc had literally just dropped so the tour was kinda whack. Regardless, he has undisputable tour success in the current gen 8 aaa meta which certainly gives him good value.
Summary - Pros: Playing Ability (A tier), potential flex pick into nfe in a pinch, tour experience ; Cons: Teambuilding (B tier)
#9) Dragonilis - AAA open finalist and generally solid aaa player who knows what theyr doing. Apparently I was wrong completely, but I think his placing is more or less correct, although could be swapped with LBDC as LBDC is more of an AAA main, while dragonilis would be more of a flex pick into aaa, as its apparently not his favoured meta at all.
Summary - Pros: Playing Ability (A- tier), Active, Nice recent tour experience ; Cons: Teambuilding (B+ tier), lack of ompl experience
#10) LBDC - Kinda similar case to dragonilis in my mind, and I know them a bit more. LBDC is very active and interested which is a massive plus, and a solid player who again knows what hes doing. Perfect support for any top player, but also can work as a starting aaa slot if you find yourself having to economise on your aaa slot. Predicting him to be a steal and a half. Played them in open (albeit this was pre-home) and it was a very tough series, especially the first game which I should have lost. My dark horse to do well this tour.
Summary - Pros: Playing Ability (A- tier), Teambuilding(A- tier), Very Active ; lack of ompl experience
#11) lax - Ok this might look hella whack, seeing lax ranked so low behind so many players who are far worse overall players than him. However I think this is fairly justified, as I dont think lax is gonna invest much interest into this tour, kinda similarly to last year. If paired with a solid builder he could end up being devastating, as his pure playing ability is up there with rozes and far ahead of everyone else, however unlike rozes he hasn't really stayed active or interested with aaa really at all, which is why there is such a huge disparity in the rankings. Watch the fuck out for lax tho if hes paired with a really strong builder tho.
Summary - Pros: Playing Ability (S- tier), lots of tournament experience ; Cons: Teambuilding (B tier), lack of experience (cuts against playing ability), potentially low interest level
#12) Vivalospride - Viv's generally solid, and a great team presence to boot. Any team would be lucky to have viv supporting their aaa slot. If this was sm aaa I'd have viv a lot higher, as he was quite impressive and slept on last gen imo, but idk how much that will translate over to this gen, or how much he will realistically care. Could deffo see him heat up though mid tour or something. Either way really valuable aaa support, which is kinda sparse in this pool ngl.
Summary - Pros: Playing Ability (A tier), active and engaging team presence ; Cons: Teambuilding (B tier) <- I could be highly wrong on this btw, haven't really seen viv build this gen, but that could be on me not him and he coulda been cooking up some fire recently
#13) ItsKimbo - kimbo hasn't been very fortunate in the past om tours. Firstly he hasn't benefited from quite stacked aaa pools, but probably more infuriatingly for him, most of his losses haven't been the product of him getting outplayed really, but more that the matchup was unwinnable. I think the hidden issue tho was that too much was being asked of him, like he was drafted for too much and kinda expected to completely carry the aaa burden in last years pool, with his only support being tect, like that was a bit absurd. He's for sure valuable support, as hes active and brings out heat ideas which ive often found myself incorporating into my own teams.
Summary - Pros: Great team presence, Nice activity, innovative heat ideas ; Cons: Teambuilding (B tier), Playing Ability (B+ tier)
Other nice aaa subs/support or flex picks who can shift where needed:
QT - rust is overrated, even with a new gen. QT has proven over and over that hes a solid pick up who knows what hes doing in most metas. Didn't rank him as I don't think he's gonna be playing aaa, but if you've got an aaa builder paired with him that can very much work. And he can also sub in if activity issues arise.
Plas - Plas is just a sick player in general, and obvs one of my closer friends on the site. Literally perfect team presence, and playing ability wise hes up there. Again I didnt rank him here cos I dont think he'll be playing aaa here, probs will be more nfe'ing or stab'ing, but can deffo sub into aaa in a pinch. Can give valuable testing support too if you give him teams.
Pigeons - Solid player who knows what he's doing, can deffo see him being valuable aaa support, capable of giving you solid tests especially vs the stall mu.
Fardin - Shit completely forgot fardin here, honestly fardin could fit around 13/14 on the rankings, as I can see him leaning aaa with the meta options. I think fardin's getting relatively slept on atm, as hes a solid enough player still to be able to at the very least offer some nice support with testing and team building.
Finally I've got some general thoughts on the drafting process for AAA:
Try to draft a good builder who is willing to build for the whole tour - I think this was the most overlooked factor last year in the ompl draft. A lot of teams drafted a good aaa player, but not someone who is a top tier builder or really interested in building for the whole tour. For example, ham and sabella are neither by any means bad builders, but they aren't really capable of shouldering the entire team building and prepping weight for the entire tour, which is what was kinda thrust on them. Like playing ability they are both significantly higher than someone like me, and most of the rest of the pool too, so if paired with a solid builder they can be devastating picks. At the end of the day, there are limited top tier builders, and 2 are off limits already, so it might just not be possible to get one, in which case you might just opt to kind de-prioritise your aaa slot and focus on the other tiers which is fair, but if ur trying to extract the very most from your aaa slot, you need a builder.
If possible try and get 2 players on this list - This is I think key, because it makes such a fucking difference. Even if you're a top tier player in your own right, your ability to perform at a high level consistently is just infinitely increased if you have a fellow solid aaa player on your own team. Now its not the be all and end all, but it certainly helps, and makes the tour more enjoyable. I can speak for experience, its pretty draining when you're kinda stuck on your own, which is why last ompl was so much more of a slog for me than omwc when I had the mega boost of having stresh to help me prep like all the time. Again, it might just not be possible as there isn't like a serious surplus of solid aaa players, but like with the previous point, if you want the most out of your aaa slot, if definitely helps to draft some good support.
Try not to splurge on your aaa slot(s) - Ok so this one I think is very important, because I personally dont think
ANY of these players on this list should be like 15k+ tbh. Like the only aaa players who should ever be in that crazy expensive category are jrdn, stresh, geerat, and aesf, and that is because they give you more than just aaa, as they can dominate and build for several metas. However jrdn and stresh are off limits of course, and neither aesf nor geerat feel confident in their activity or ability to really try hard this tour (as mentioned above) and none of the remaining aaa'ers have that strong flex pick capability. Rozes might get pushed past that purely cos of how strong a pick he is, and teams might just have the free cash to go all out for someone like him, and tbh that could easily end up working, but yeah idk this is just what I think at least :shrug:
And lastly, this is for both the managers and the whole community:
Dont expect the top tier and most expensive players to definitely go very positive, and if they dont, try not to completely flip on them imo. This kinda applies to every meta, but yeah ompl is a bo1 tour, and aaa is a stacked pool with every player very capable of winning a bo1 vs literally anyone. Literally anything can happen, like the point of the rankings and buying certain players for more is that the higher ranked players have a higher likelihood of stringing together more wins even in the bo1 format, and have a lower likelihood of being upset (either because theyr a better builder, better player, or both) but at the same time you can be a top tier builder and top tier player, go negative in ompl and still be a top tier builder and top tier player at the end of the tour, and that shouldn't be ignored. ESPECIALLY this ompl, as this new curveball of a brand new gen and on top of that a new dlc, makes for a pretty tricky meta to be consistent in at this level.