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RoAPL RoAPL V: Talk Thread
- Thread starter KJ
- Start date
- Status
RoAPL 5 DPP Power Rankings
Power Rankers:
Astamatitos (SPL ADV Starter, proficient in DPP)
Pkel SweeTforU (DPP GC 2019 Top 16)
Seven Thunders (PP season winner)
Shadow_Sneak (DPP Sample Team QCer)
undisputed (SPL IV Starter)
Duo List
Hearthome City Heatrans: M Dragon (#2) & hellpowna (#3)
Long time veteran, SPL champion, and Smogon Tournament winner M Dragon is teamed with hellpowna, who boasts strong results in the DPP cup and DPP Global Championship 2018, and dominates the DPP Italian scene. With further support from SPL X DPPer hclat, these two combine to form one of the scariest DPP duos in the tournament.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Tamahome (#1) & Vay (#10)
Tamahome, who has the best overall SPL record of all time and is regarded by many as one of the best DPP players of all time, is teamed with Vay, ranked shockingly low in light of his DPP Winter Seasonal win as well as a win in one of the DPP Latias suspect tours. With additional support from Excal and sig (SPL X 3-1), and DPP Global Championship 2018 quarterfinalist Sakito, this team may be the one to beat in DPP.
Mt. Moon Men: GaryTheGengar (#4) & TonyFlygon (#8)
Although controversial within the DPP scene, and despite a very shaky week 1 game vs Mannat, blazed trash-talker GaryTheGengar put on a good performance during SPL X, boasting a positive record. TonyFlygon is regarded as a competent DPPer as well, justified by his midway-ranking. They have support from their managers Gilbert arenas and PDC, as well as from Void, so expect strong performances overall.
Mauville Magnetons: Windsong (#5) & fatty (#12)
Windsong has shown some nice performances in the DPP Cup, beating esteemed players like Ojama. He certainly deserves his #5 ranking, as his first-class skills in lower tiers translate very well into DPP, just having beaten M Dragon during the first week. He is supported by long-time player fatty, who doesn’t play as much anymore but is still regarded as a solid DPP player.
Aspertia Arcanines: Rodriblutar (#7) & Sharow (#14)
Rodriblutar had a deep DPP cup run last year, and has a lot of experience in Old Gens. Sharow, a DPP newcomer, put on a nice performance during the DPP Winter Seasonal, finishing second place. Most of the Aspertia Arcanines are competent DPP players, like Melle2402, SoulWind, Maya Chansey, Alexander, and CZ. So this duo has extremely high potential.
PO Town Power: Stone_Cold (#6) & Emeral (#16)
Legendary US East manager and long-time DPP superveteran Stone_Cold is paired with a (seemingly) newcomer and Abomasnow enthusiast Emeral, who has shown very high potential. With a large support system in their team with the likes of BKC, mael, and Fakes, this duo is quite threatening.
Konikoni City: snøfall (#9) & Fener (#15)
Snøfall put on a dominating 5-1 WCoPP performance and has had some success in DPP during the RoA Live Tours. Fener is a mysterious pick, as he is known for barely being on and having no results within the tier. With support from crayon pop and Finchinator, these two will at least be able to pilot very-well-made builds and potentially put on decent performances.
Pyrite Town Pichus: H.M.N.I.P (#11) & Mannat (#13)
Pietro (H.M.N.I.P), alongside hellpowna, has dominated the Italian DPP scene. Pietro also got to round 5 of the DPP cup, so he certainly is capable of nice feats within this tournament. Teaming up with Pietro is Mannat who has not much DPP experience, but has a knack for analysis and building. Despite these experiences, this duo might have a hard time in the strong DPP pool of RoAPL.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: Tamahome
2nd: M Dragon
3rd: hellpowna
4th: GaryTheGengar
5th: Windsong
6th: Stone_Cold
7th: Rodriblutar
8th: TonyFlygon
9th: snøfall
10th: Vay
11th: H.M.N.I.P
12th: fatty
13th: Mannat
14th: Sharow
15th: Fener
16th: Emeral
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Excal with contributions from Lutra
Power Rankers:
Astamatitos (SPL ADV Starter, proficient in DPP)
Pkel SweeTforU (DPP GC 2019 Top 16)
Seven Thunders (PP season winner)
Shadow_Sneak (DPP Sample Team QCer)
undisputed (SPL IV Starter)
Duo List
Hearthome City Heatrans: M Dragon (#2) & hellpowna (#3)
Long time veteran, SPL champion, and Smogon Tournament winner M Dragon is teamed with hellpowna, who boasts strong results in the DPP cup and DPP Global Championship 2018, and dominates the DPP Italian scene. With further support from SPL X DPPer hclat, these two combine to form one of the scariest DPP duos in the tournament.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Tamahome (#1) & Vay (#10)
Tamahome, who has the best overall SPL record of all time and is regarded by many as one of the best DPP players of all time, is teamed with Vay, ranked shockingly low in light of his DPP Winter Seasonal win as well as a win in one of the DPP Latias suspect tours. With additional support from Excal and sig (SPL X 3-1), and DPP Global Championship 2018 quarterfinalist Sakito, this team may be the one to beat in DPP.
Mt. Moon Men: GaryTheGengar (#4) & TonyFlygon (#8)
Although controversial within the DPP scene, and despite a very shaky week 1 game vs Mannat, blazed trash-talker GaryTheGengar put on a good performance during SPL X, boasting a positive record. TonyFlygon is regarded as a competent DPPer as well, justified by his midway-ranking. They have support from their managers Gilbert arenas and PDC, as well as from Void, so expect strong performances overall.
Mauville Magnetons: Windsong (#5) & fatty (#12)
Windsong has shown some nice performances in the DPP Cup, beating esteemed players like Ojama. He certainly deserves his #5 ranking, as his first-class skills in lower tiers translate very well into DPP, just having beaten M Dragon during the first week. He is supported by long-time player fatty, who doesn’t play as much anymore but is still regarded as a solid DPP player.
Aspertia Arcanines: Rodriblutar (#7) & Sharow (#14)
Rodriblutar had a deep DPP cup run last year, and has a lot of experience in Old Gens. Sharow, a DPP newcomer, put on a nice performance during the DPP Winter Seasonal, finishing second place. Most of the Aspertia Arcanines are competent DPP players, like Melle2402, SoulWind, Maya Chansey, Alexander, and CZ. So this duo has extremely high potential.
PO Town Power: Stone_Cold (#6) & Emeral (#16)
Legendary US East manager and long-time DPP superveteran Stone_Cold is paired with a (seemingly) newcomer and Abomasnow enthusiast Emeral, who has shown very high potential. With a large support system in their team with the likes of BKC, mael, and Fakes, this duo is quite threatening.
Konikoni City: snøfall (#9) & Fener (#15)
Snøfall put on a dominating 5-1 WCoPP performance and has had some success in DPP during the RoA Live Tours. Fener is a mysterious pick, as he is known for barely being on and having no results within the tier. With support from crayon pop and Finchinator, these two will at least be able to pilot very-well-made builds and potentially put on decent performances.
Pyrite Town Pichus: H.M.N.I.P (#11) & Mannat (#13)
Pietro (H.M.N.I.P), alongside hellpowna, has dominated the Italian DPP scene. Pietro also got to round 5 of the DPP cup, so he certainly is capable of nice feats within this tournament. Teaming up with Pietro is Mannat who has not much DPP experience, but has a knack for analysis and building. Despite these experiences, this duo might have a hard time in the strong DPP pool of RoAPL.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: Tamahome
2nd: M Dragon
3rd: hellpowna
4th: GaryTheGengar
5th: Windsong
6th: Stone_Cold
7th: Rodriblutar
8th: TonyFlygon
9th: snøfall
10th: Vay
11th: H.M.N.I.P
12th: fatty
13th: Mannat
14th: Sharow
15th: Fener
16th: Emeral
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Excal with contributions from Lutra
Last edited by a moderator:
RoAPL 5 Player Interview (DPP): BKC
Sakito: Hey guys! today I have with me BKC, old gens specialist and well known player on smogon. You've been around for a long time now and played in a lot of tournaments, according to you, is dpp the tier that fits you the best?
BKC: Depends. In terms of what most fits my preferred playstyle, meaning more drawn-out games, then sometimes it fits me quite well, as DPP has its share of those, but so does every other generation. In terms of the metagame whose intricacies I know best, then yes, definitely.
Sakito: Could you tell us how did you get into DPP?
BKC: I had played the games from the first three generations endlessly as a kid from ages 6-9 and then tapered off a bit once I started playing baseball. When I was 11, my new friend asked if I liked Pokemon. I gave the safe answer of "I used to" because middle school is a social minefield and saying you still liked Pokemon within earshot of the wrong person would be death. He mentioned Diamond and Pearl, so after school that day I went home, looked it up online and suddenly got the spark again.
My subsequent YouTube searches led me to stumble across the legendary Marriland vs. Untouchable battle. As with many others, this was my entry into the competitive world. As a kid, I'd grow bored beating the Elite 4 a million times, as I'm sure we all did, and this was the opportunity to finally face others. Of course, I was under COPPA age and didn't want to be arrested, so I had to wait it out. I learned everything I could about EVs, IVs and general strategy in the year and a half before I turned 13. When I did, I registered my YouTube account under the incredible username BlazeKicinChicken and began to post my wifi battles. I signed up for Smogon a year later because I heard they had the best battlers, but at first I only used the wifi section. However, the Rate My Team forum caught my eye, and eventually so did Tournaments.
Sakito: That's very cool! you unfortunately couldn't participate in SPL X, how did you find DPP with latias during this SPL? any thoughts on the future of DPP?
BKC: I thought the teams and strategies were pretty much in the same place they were beforehand. Latias hardly makes you go out of your way to account for it if your team is good, which was part of the impetus behind the test. It's a nice tool that provides numerous options for dealing with the threats in the metagame. I believe it's nothing but a positive addition.
DPP is currently in what I would describe a state of nihilism, where much of the playerbase think the tier is terrible, filled to the brim with variance and guesswork. I think this is incredibly wrong and have argued why many times, such as in the Latias thread, but it's what they believe, and thus this leads to a lot of paralysis spam in some sort of cynical attempt to bullshit their way through games instead of trying to understand the tier better. These teams tend to be so hellbent on abusing this oh-so-broken aspect of paralysis that they end up being quite flawed against major threats, which of course is another source of variance, this time almost entirely self-inflicted. This also tends to be the case with not just paralysis, but counterteams that people attemot to pull off. I think best of one is terrible and contributes to this a lot, but it's also definitely due to the wide misunderstanding of the tier, a view which is further peddled by the misguided echo chambers that blame the tier for their losses.
I'm not sure about the future, because the current playerbase gets younger all the time, and thus it's likely that this mindset is going to be perpetuated in addition to other absurd complaints like NidoClef stall teams being too powerful and the lack of team preview making offense too difficult to deal with. I also believe that many of the currently popular tactics used to counter the metagame are not as effective as people think, and find them to be far too matchup-dependent and reliant on the non-existence of things I would not rely on not existing, which fittingly goes with the player mentality I mentioned earlier.
I suppose if I had to make a prediction, a few currently relatively lesser-seen offensive threats will rise and make a more significant impact. However, the core of the metagame will remain the same. I think that's a good thing. Solid builds that last are my mark of a good team. I'm in the minority on this, though. Many players' playstyles these days revolve around countering their opponents', and it doesn't take a genius to see how that can get messy.
Sakito: Fascinating, can you see any new sets / trends coming? if yes do you have examples in mind?
BKC: Infernape and Lucario are in the process of brutally reminding everyone how strong and varied they are. Magnezone has come into its own. Hard stall is powerful if built conscientiously. Dugtrio has never been more reliable.
Underrated are Specs and specially defensive Heatran, both offensive and defensive Empoleon, Dragon Dance Gyarados, mixed non-Stealth Rock Tyranitar, Choice Band and Choice Scarf Scizor, all kinds of Gengar, offensive SubSplit Rotom-A, TrickBall Metagross, a well-timed Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Mamoswine. Not exactly sure I'd call them underrated but I believe the fall in Breloom usage is mostly unjustified and that Choice Scarf Flygon is massively threatening.
Sakito: Any new DPP players we should look out for or any old players that you feel are reaching the top level?
BKC: DeepBlueC, Jimmy Turtwig, Lavos, mael.
Sakito: Thoughts on RoAPL as the last edition winner? in your opinion which teams have the strongest DPPers this edition?
BKC: RoAPL is a good tournament. I'm looking forward to seeing Marshall.Law play.
Sakito: You achieved a lot on smogon already in terms of tournaments performance, as a past smogon tours winner and multiple world cup champion. Do you have the ambition to win other tournaments like the classic?
BKC: I'm still pretty ambitious, yeah. Most people would call my remaining goals absurd, and reasonably so. Other than defending WCoP, Classic and SPL are the big ones, of course. I'd like to win a Classic Cup along the way. I'd also like to pass McMeghan in the all-time tournaments win list, win one of the last two Tours with BW, pass Bloo in all-time live Smogon Tours won, move closer to the top of the all-time team tour win list, and Snake would be nice too.
Sakito: Huge projects. Could you see your retirement coming? Would that be in a long time?
BKC: My vehement, vocal disagreements with much of the goings-ons of Smogon have led me to gain a fairly accurate reputation as being permanently angry. It doesn't look like the culture is changing anytime soon and I'd love to not have to deal with it. At the same time, I really love the game and have unfinished business, so until that happens, I'm around. When I'm done playing I intend to publish a comprehensive history of my time in competitive Pokemon.
Sakito: Sounds interesting, I'm definitely looking forward to see that. Thank you for taking part in this interview and answering questions, anything you would like to add?
BKC: If you're struggling with a tier, odds are that the tier itself is not to blame. Take it from a guy who's struggled with every gen of OU at one point or another. Thanks for having me.
Sakito: It's been a pleasure!
Sakito: Hey guys! today I have with me BKC, old gens specialist and well known player on smogon. You've been around for a long time now and played in a lot of tournaments, according to you, is dpp the tier that fits you the best?
BKC: Depends. In terms of what most fits my preferred playstyle, meaning more drawn-out games, then sometimes it fits me quite well, as DPP has its share of those, but so does every other generation. In terms of the metagame whose intricacies I know best, then yes, definitely.
Sakito: Could you tell us how did you get into DPP?
BKC: I had played the games from the first three generations endlessly as a kid from ages 6-9 and then tapered off a bit once I started playing baseball. When I was 11, my new friend asked if I liked Pokemon. I gave the safe answer of "I used to" because middle school is a social minefield and saying you still liked Pokemon within earshot of the wrong person would be death. He mentioned Diamond and Pearl, so after school that day I went home, looked it up online and suddenly got the spark again.
My subsequent YouTube searches led me to stumble across the legendary Marriland vs. Untouchable battle. As with many others, this was my entry into the competitive world. As a kid, I'd grow bored beating the Elite 4 a million times, as I'm sure we all did, and this was the opportunity to finally face others. Of course, I was under COPPA age and didn't want to be arrested, so I had to wait it out. I learned everything I could about EVs, IVs and general strategy in the year and a half before I turned 13. When I did, I registered my YouTube account under the incredible username BlazeKicinChicken and began to post my wifi battles. I signed up for Smogon a year later because I heard they had the best battlers, but at first I only used the wifi section. However, the Rate My Team forum caught my eye, and eventually so did Tournaments.
Sakito: That's very cool! you unfortunately couldn't participate in SPL X, how did you find DPP with latias during this SPL? any thoughts on the future of DPP?
BKC: I thought the teams and strategies were pretty much in the same place they were beforehand. Latias hardly makes you go out of your way to account for it if your team is good, which was part of the impetus behind the test. It's a nice tool that provides numerous options for dealing with the threats in the metagame. I believe it's nothing but a positive addition.
DPP is currently in what I would describe a state of nihilism, where much of the playerbase think the tier is terrible, filled to the brim with variance and guesswork. I think this is incredibly wrong and have argued why many times, such as in the Latias thread, but it's what they believe, and thus this leads to a lot of paralysis spam in some sort of cynical attempt to bullshit their way through games instead of trying to understand the tier better. These teams tend to be so hellbent on abusing this oh-so-broken aspect of paralysis that they end up being quite flawed against major threats, which of course is another source of variance, this time almost entirely self-inflicted. This also tends to be the case with not just paralysis, but counterteams that people attemot to pull off. I think best of one is terrible and contributes to this a lot, but it's also definitely due to the wide misunderstanding of the tier, a view which is further peddled by the misguided echo chambers that blame the tier for their losses.
I'm not sure about the future, because the current playerbase gets younger all the time, and thus it's likely that this mindset is going to be perpetuated in addition to other absurd complaints like NidoClef stall teams being too powerful and the lack of team preview making offense too difficult to deal with. I also believe that many of the currently popular tactics used to counter the metagame are not as effective as people think, and find them to be far too matchup-dependent and reliant on the non-existence of things I would not rely on not existing, which fittingly goes with the player mentality I mentioned earlier.
I suppose if I had to make a prediction, a few currently relatively lesser-seen offensive threats will rise and make a more significant impact. However, the core of the metagame will remain the same. I think that's a good thing. Solid builds that last are my mark of a good team. I'm in the minority on this, though. Many players' playstyles these days revolve around countering their opponents', and it doesn't take a genius to see how that can get messy.
Sakito: Fascinating, can you see any new sets / trends coming? if yes do you have examples in mind?
BKC: Infernape and Lucario are in the process of brutally reminding everyone how strong and varied they are. Magnezone has come into its own. Hard stall is powerful if built conscientiously. Dugtrio has never been more reliable.
Underrated are Specs and specially defensive Heatran, both offensive and defensive Empoleon, Dragon Dance Gyarados, mixed non-Stealth Rock Tyranitar, Choice Band and Choice Scarf Scizor, all kinds of Gengar, offensive SubSplit Rotom-A, TrickBall Metagross, a well-timed Dragon Dance Dragonite, and Mamoswine. Not exactly sure I'd call them underrated but I believe the fall in Breloom usage is mostly unjustified and that Choice Scarf Flygon is massively threatening.
Sakito: Any new DPP players we should look out for or any old players that you feel are reaching the top level?
BKC: DeepBlueC, Jimmy Turtwig, Lavos, mael.
Sakito: Thoughts on RoAPL as the last edition winner? in your opinion which teams have the strongest DPPers this edition?
BKC: RoAPL is a good tournament. I'm looking forward to seeing Marshall.Law play.
Sakito: You achieved a lot on smogon already in terms of tournaments performance, as a past smogon tours winner and multiple world cup champion. Do you have the ambition to win other tournaments like the classic?
BKC: I'm still pretty ambitious, yeah. Most people would call my remaining goals absurd, and reasonably so. Other than defending WCoP, Classic and SPL are the big ones, of course. I'd like to win a Classic Cup along the way. I'd also like to pass McMeghan in the all-time tournaments win list, win one of the last two Tours with BW, pass Bloo in all-time live Smogon Tours won, move closer to the top of the all-time team tour win list, and Snake would be nice too.
Sakito: Huge projects. Could you see your retirement coming? Would that be in a long time?
BKC: My vehement, vocal disagreements with much of the goings-ons of Smogon have led me to gain a fairly accurate reputation as being permanently angry. It doesn't look like the culture is changing anytime soon and I'd love to not have to deal with it. At the same time, I really love the game and have unfinished business, so until that happens, I'm around. When I'm done playing I intend to publish a comprehensive history of my time in competitive Pokemon.
Sakito: Sounds interesting, I'm definitely looking forward to see that. Thank you for taking part in this interview and answering questions, anything you would like to add?
BKC: If you're struggling with a tier, odds are that the tier itself is not to blame. Take it from a guy who's struggled with every gen of OU at one point or another. Thanks for having me.
Sakito: It's been a pleasure!
Last edited by a moderator:
I've set up a new team. It crosses thread borders. Those with the power to edit threads, please apply.
The goal is to hyperlink threads of the same type, e.g. RoAPL. In RoAPL's case, there's three levels of navigation: one that links between the OP and the decisions/standings; one that links between weeks, signups, replays (and spreadsheet) of the same RoAPL; and a more powerful one that links RoAPL 5 Week 1 to RoAPL 4 Week 1, 5 Week 2 to 4 Week 2... and vice versa.
As you might have seen, I use
and 
to travel through an individual thread. These are usually at the end of a post. I have no symbol for travelling between the same thread series, but a list of hyperlinks under a banner/logo usually does the job. For the final level, ⏮ is used to indicate going back in time to a previous thread series and ⏭ to go the opposite way. I try to keep this more powerful navigation above the banner/logo.The time taken to do this saves time in the future searching back for past RoAPLs (or any series of threads). It is not wasted.
RoAPL 5 BW Power Rankings
Power Rankers:
BK (BW Seasonal Winner)
Caasi (BW Seasonal Runner-up)
cb aaron judge (STour points work)
dom (RoALT II BW Ladder 1st)
Teclis (RoAPL IV BW Starter)
Duo List
Aspertia Arcanines: SoulWind (#1) & Chill Shadow (#10)
SoulWind has dominated the RoA scene as of late, and seems to be getting better and better at BW each year in SPL. Chill Shadow, winning manager of last year's RoAPL, isn't known much for BW, but he's competed quite a bit in Smogon Tour.
Mauville Magnetons: Luck>Skill (#4) & Lopunny Kicks (#9)
The holder of the top BW record in RoAPL III partners fellow Italian Lopunny Kicks, who did well in ORAS last year for this very team. I heard he's good in SM too.
Hearthome City Heatrans: Raiza (#6) & Ace-11 (#11)
Another Italian, Raiza, who became his nation's 19th RBY wonder last RoAPL, reverts to BW, and teams up with fellow southern european and Greek MFing WCoPer, Ace-11, who concidentally happened to be ranked 11th.
Mt.Moon Men: McMeghan (#2) & Cynara (#16)
Tournament Top Dog McMeghan has been a BW starter for multiple SPLs. He is Mt. Moon Men's BWer along with an Ubers girl, who's BW OU ability seems the least vouched for.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: FLCL (#3) & Roseybear (#15)
Furi Kuri was just behind SoulWind this SPL at the top of the BW field. Accompanying them is tournaments RO Roseybear, who loves BW, but surprised everyone by getting to the final of the DPP OU GC last year.
Konikoni City: Eo Ut Mortus (#5) & UD (#13)
Eo Ut Mortus has long history of playing BW OU since the beginning, and has good records in it, in the early World Cups. UD went viral in ADV 2 or 3 years ago, so let's hope he's great at BW too.
Pyrite Town Pichus: Insult (#8) & ayevon (#12)
This year's SPL SM starter, Insult, teams up with a pyramid seller, called ayevon, who played SM in last year's WCoP. Will their SM skill translate well into BW?
Po Town Power: 69 problems (#7) & choolio (#14)
Asuya hasn't fared too well in SPL BW, but has been a great BWer for Italy in WCoP. Joining him is choolio, who has played GSC in SPL; so by induction, must be good in BW.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: SoulWind
2nd: McMeghan
3rd: FLCL
4th: Luck>Skill
5th: Eo Ut Mortus
6th: Raiza
7th: 69 problems
8th: Insult
9th: Lopunny Kicks
10th: Chill Shadow
11th: Ace-11
12th: ayevon
13th: UD
14th: choolio
15th: Roseybear
16th: Cynara
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra with a bit of help from Excal
Power Rankers:
BK (BW Seasonal Winner)
Caasi (BW Seasonal Runner-up)
cb aaron judge (STour points work)
dom (RoALT II BW Ladder 1st)
Teclis (RoAPL IV BW Starter)
Duo List
Aspertia Arcanines: SoulWind (#1) & Chill Shadow (#10)
SoulWind has dominated the RoA scene as of late, and seems to be getting better and better at BW each year in SPL. Chill Shadow, winning manager of last year's RoAPL, isn't known much for BW, but he's competed quite a bit in Smogon Tour.
Mauville Magnetons: Luck>Skill (#4) & Lopunny Kicks (#9)
The holder of the top BW record in RoAPL III partners fellow Italian Lopunny Kicks, who did well in ORAS last year for this very team. I heard he's good in SM too.
Hearthome City Heatrans: Raiza (#6) & Ace-11 (#11)
Another Italian, Raiza, who became his nation's 19th RBY wonder last RoAPL, reverts to BW, and teams up with fellow southern european and Greek MFing WCoPer, Ace-11, who concidentally happened to be ranked 11th.
Mt.Moon Men: McMeghan (#2) & Cynara (#16)
Tournament Top Dog McMeghan has been a BW starter for multiple SPLs. He is Mt. Moon Men's BWer along with an Ubers girl, who's BW OU ability seems the least vouched for.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: FLCL (#3) & Roseybear (#15)
Furi Kuri was just behind SoulWind this SPL at the top of the BW field. Accompanying them is tournaments RO Roseybear, who loves BW, but surprised everyone by getting to the final of the DPP OU GC last year.
Konikoni City: Eo Ut Mortus (#5) & UD (#13)
Eo Ut Mortus has long history of playing BW OU since the beginning, and has good records in it, in the early World Cups. UD went viral in ADV 2 or 3 years ago, so let's hope he's great at BW too.
Pyrite Town Pichus: Insult (#8) & ayevon (#12)
This year's SPL SM starter, Insult, teams up with a pyramid seller, called ayevon, who played SM in last year's WCoP. Will their SM skill translate well into BW?
Po Town Power: 69 problems (#7) & choolio (#14)
Asuya hasn't fared too well in SPL BW, but has been a great BWer for Italy in WCoP. Joining him is choolio, who has played GSC in SPL; so by induction, must be good in BW.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: SoulWind
2nd: McMeghan
3rd: FLCL
4th: Luck>Skill
5th: Eo Ut Mortus
6th: Raiza
7th: 69 problems
8th: Insult
9th: Lopunny Kicks
10th: Chill Shadow
11th: Ace-11
12th: ayevon
13th: UD
14th: choolio
15th: Roseybear
16th: Cynara
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra with a bit of help from Excal
Last edited:
RoAPL 5 Player Interview (BW): McMeghan
Sakito: Hey everyone! today I'm joined by the BWer ranked #2 in the power rankings McMeghan, well known player on smogon who's been around for some times now. To introduce this interview, could you tell us how did you get into BW? Were you already playing when the gen came out?
McMeghan: No it wasn't the case, but BW was the main gen when I got back into competitive Pokemon. It was during BW1, shortly after Blaziken got banned.
Sakito: You're known for being an ADV and BW player mainly. According to you, is BW the tier that fits you the best?
McMeghan: It depends on my mood, my tastes in tiers often change lol, but BW is probably the gen that stays with me the most, so yeah I'd say it probably fit me best. I often get bored of some aspects of most tiers, but BW is where I feel the most comfortable with everything.
Sakito: For some reasons you didn't enter SPL X, how did you find BW during this SPL? Could you share any thoughts regarding BW and its future?
McMeghan: The ban of sand rush excadrill led to the return to form of bulky archetypes, especially sands featuring Reuniclus. As a result, playstyle that heavily threaten those teams were used alongside them, such as Magnezone offense or rain offense featuring genies (especially Thundurus-therian being at an all time high at the moment, deservedly so). I don't know about the future though, there will probably be some adaptation as always. I think the tier is in a good spot, most games are decided by who plays his tools the best and since there are so many strong pkmns in the tier, it rewards proactive approaches. Rain stall featuring gothitelle have resurfaced but it's a flawed playstyle, however I'm sure that shadow tag will be banned if it ever sees a lot of usage.
Sakito: Do you think gothitelle / shadow tag is banworthy? Any changes you would like to see in BW maybe?
McMeghan: It's not at the moment, because it's not really effective vs everything. But if it gets abused right then yeah, the ability is just unhealthy. And no I wouldn't change anything.
Sakito: Do you feel there are underrated Pokémons / sets that should be used more in BW?
McMeghan: Too many answers lol, a ton of things are viable in BW. I think a mon that deserves more play is probably ditto, it's a very solid scarfer that people dont explore enough, it's just kinda ankward. Volcarona is probably due for a resurgence with all the sands being super weak to it and not running faster scarfers, rains don't even carry scarf keldeo that much either. Oh and xatu is also great.
Sakito: Thoughts on the current BW playerbase? Any new BW players we should look out for or any old players that you feel are reaching the top level?
McMeghan: Lavos because he has a great grasp on the game as a whole, outside of that nothing special really jumped to my eyes, the usuals are doing great like Soulwind. I had a great impression of Leo when I played him in Smogon Tour.
Sakito: What are the achievements you are the most proud of in BW?
McMeghan: I don't really know to be honest, I'm just glad of my consistency in the tier throughout the years, nothing else really comes to my mind. Maybe the games I played in the Smogon Tour 20 playoffs, I used pretty wack teams but I knew how to pilot them and got some great wins there.
Sakito: Are you still ambitious to win more? Do you have any specific goals on smogon right now?
McMeghan: I'm only ambitious with World Cup, I want France to go further than quarters. Other than that I just wanna play and have fun when I feel like it, but without a clear goal in mind.
Sakito: That's great. I have no more questions, anything you'd like to add?
McMeghan: To everyone: build your teams and stop hoarding shit from everywhere/everyone. Also you should be self-sufficient if you play this game, if you need other people to hold your hands even in preparation, work on yourself :messi:
Sakito: Thank you for taking part in this interview and answering questions.
Sakito: Hey everyone! today I'm joined by the BWer ranked #2 in the power rankings McMeghan, well known player on smogon who's been around for some times now. To introduce this interview, could you tell us how did you get into BW? Were you already playing when the gen came out?
McMeghan: No it wasn't the case, but BW was the main gen when I got back into competitive Pokemon. It was during BW1, shortly after Blaziken got banned.
Sakito: You're known for being an ADV and BW player mainly. According to you, is BW the tier that fits you the best?
McMeghan: It depends on my mood, my tastes in tiers often change lol, but BW is probably the gen that stays with me the most, so yeah I'd say it probably fit me best. I often get bored of some aspects of most tiers, but BW is where I feel the most comfortable with everything.
Sakito: For some reasons you didn't enter SPL X, how did you find BW during this SPL? Could you share any thoughts regarding BW and its future?
McMeghan: The ban of sand rush excadrill led to the return to form of bulky archetypes, especially sands featuring Reuniclus. As a result, playstyle that heavily threaten those teams were used alongside them, such as Magnezone offense or rain offense featuring genies (especially Thundurus-therian being at an all time high at the moment, deservedly so). I don't know about the future though, there will probably be some adaptation as always. I think the tier is in a good spot, most games are decided by who plays his tools the best and since there are so many strong pkmns in the tier, it rewards proactive approaches. Rain stall featuring gothitelle have resurfaced but it's a flawed playstyle, however I'm sure that shadow tag will be banned if it ever sees a lot of usage.
Sakito: Do you think gothitelle / shadow tag is banworthy? Any changes you would like to see in BW maybe?
McMeghan: It's not at the moment, because it's not really effective vs everything. But if it gets abused right then yeah, the ability is just unhealthy. And no I wouldn't change anything.
Sakito: Do you feel there are underrated Pokémons / sets that should be used more in BW?
McMeghan: Too many answers lol, a ton of things are viable in BW. I think a mon that deserves more play is probably ditto, it's a very solid scarfer that people dont explore enough, it's just kinda ankward. Volcarona is probably due for a resurgence with all the sands being super weak to it and not running faster scarfers, rains don't even carry scarf keldeo that much either. Oh and xatu is also great.
Sakito: Thoughts on the current BW playerbase? Any new BW players we should look out for or any old players that you feel are reaching the top level?
McMeghan: Lavos because he has a great grasp on the game as a whole, outside of that nothing special really jumped to my eyes, the usuals are doing great like Soulwind. I had a great impression of Leo when I played him in Smogon Tour.
Sakito: What are the achievements you are the most proud of in BW?
McMeghan: I don't really know to be honest, I'm just glad of my consistency in the tier throughout the years, nothing else really comes to my mind. Maybe the games I played in the Smogon Tour 20 playoffs, I used pretty wack teams but I knew how to pilot them and got some great wins there.
Sakito: Are you still ambitious to win more? Do you have any specific goals on smogon right now?
McMeghan: I'm only ambitious with World Cup, I want France to go further than quarters. Other than that I just wanna play and have fun when I feel like it, but without a clear goal in mind.
Sakito: That's great. I have no more questions, anything you'd like to add?
McMeghan: To everyone: build your teams and stop hoarding shit from everywhere/everyone. Also you should be self-sufficient if you play this game, if you need other people to hold your hands even in preparation, work on yourself :messi:
Sakito: Thank you for taking part in this interview and answering questions.
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RoAPL 5 ORAS Power Rankings
Power Rankers:
Ampha (5th place in RoALT ORAS)
Bloody alfa (Co-Captain of Team America)
cb aaron judge (STour points work)
double switches (ORAS GC finalist)
Staxi (R8 of ORAS Winter Seasonal)
Duo List
Pyrite Town Pichus: FMG (#4) & Analytic (#5)
The 4-0 SPL SM hero and Fake Mr. Golem, FMG, steps into ORAS. He partners with Analytic, who is hoping to better his 3-4 record from a couple of RoAPLs ago.
Po Town Power: mael (#3) & DKM (#7)
mael2240
is known for Hydro Pump Starmie in RBY and winning last year's OST. ORASing alongside for Porygons Power is DKM, otherwise known as dragonknightmaster [Oh yeah, I'm so cool for knowing that, and he is so cool for having initials].
Konikoni City: xray (#1) & jonfilch (#16)
xray has the most ORAS OU SPL wins out of anyone and did very well this latest SPL. Joining him on the opposite end of the ranking spectrum, we have the microwave, jonfilch, who cooks up teams.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Eternal Spirit (#2) & Altina (#15)
Returning from a 5-4 record in ORAS last RoAPL, the top tier SMer is aiming to make a stronger impact in ORAS. His ORAS company is Altina, the top achiever in PP's fledgling ORAS OU seasons.
Hearthome City Heatrans: yjh971203 (#9) & xImRaptor (#10)
ORAS Winter Seasonal 3rd place player and randomly generated user, yjh971203, teams up with ORAS Winter Seasonal 4th placed xImRaptor, who won the RoA Olympic 3 gold in ORAS OU.
Mauville Magnetons: false (NaN) & gz (#14)
The destroyer of COUNTIFs, false, appears to be ranked 6th. false made it to Round 9 in ORAS Winter Seasonal, while accompanying gz won all ORAS matches for Austria's WCoP 2018 squad.
Aspertia Arcanines: Garay oak (#8) & Kebab mlml (#13)
The SPL NUer, Garay oak, who is also an ORAS Ubers RoA Olympic silver medalist, completes the Arcanines ORAS lineup with Kebab mlml, who's won an ST ORAS live tournament.
Mt.Moon Men: frisoeva (#11) & Sam I Yam (#12)
frisoeva, who made it to Round 8 of ORAS Winter Seasonal, joins the ORAS fight with Sam I Yam, who made it to Round 5 of ORAS Global Championship.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: xray
2nd: Eternal Spirit
3rd: mael
4th: FMG
5th: Analytic
6th: false
7th: DKM
8th: Garay oak
9th: yjh971203
10th: xImRaptor
11th: frisoeva
12th: Sam I Yam
13th: Kebab mlml
14th: gz
15th: Altina
16th: jonfilch
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra with a bit of help from Excal
Power Rankers:
Ampha (5th place in RoALT ORAS)
Bloody alfa (Co-Captain of Team America)
cb aaron judge (STour points work)
double switches (ORAS GC finalist)
Staxi (R8 of ORAS Winter Seasonal)
Duo List
Pyrite Town Pichus: FMG (#4) & Analytic (#5)
The 4-0 SPL SM hero and Fake Mr. Golem, FMG, steps into ORAS. He partners with Analytic, who is hoping to better his 3-4 record from a couple of RoAPLs ago.
Po Town Power: mael (#3) & DKM (#7)
mael2240
is known for Hydro Pump Starmie in RBY and winning last year's OST. ORASing alongside for Konikoni City: xray (#1) & jonfilch (#16)
xray has the most ORAS OU SPL wins out of anyone and did very well this latest SPL. Joining him on the opposite end of the ranking spectrum, we have the microwave, jonfilch, who cooks up teams.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Eternal Spirit (#2) & Altina (#15)
Returning from a 5-4 record in ORAS last RoAPL, the top tier SMer is aiming to make a stronger impact in ORAS. His ORAS company is Altina, the top achiever in PP's fledgling ORAS OU seasons.
Hearthome City Heatrans: yjh971203 (#9) & xImRaptor (#10)
ORAS Winter Seasonal 3rd place player and randomly generated user, yjh971203, teams up with ORAS Winter Seasonal 4th placed xImRaptor, who won the RoA Olympic 3 gold in ORAS OU.
Mauville Magnetons: false (NaN) & gz (#14)
The destroyer of COUNTIFs, false, appears to be ranked 6th. false made it to Round 9 in ORAS Winter Seasonal, while accompanying gz won all ORAS matches for Austria's WCoP 2018 squad.
Aspertia Arcanines: Garay oak (#8) & Kebab mlml (#13)
The SPL NUer, Garay oak, who is also an ORAS Ubers RoA Olympic silver medalist, completes the Arcanines ORAS lineup with Kebab mlml, who's won an ST ORAS live tournament.
Mt.Moon Men: frisoeva (#11) & Sam I Yam (#12)
frisoeva, who made it to Round 8 of ORAS Winter Seasonal, joins the ORAS fight with Sam I Yam, who made it to Round 5 of ORAS Global Championship.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: xray
2nd: Eternal Spirit
3rd: mael
4th: FMG
5th: Analytic
6th: false
7th: DKM
8th: Garay oak
9th: yjh971203
10th: xImRaptor
11th: frisoeva
12th: Sam I Yam
13th: Kebab mlml
14th: gz
15th: Altina
16th: jonfilch
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra with a bit of help from Excal
Last edited:
RoAPL 5 Player Interview (ORAS): xray
firelit nights: Good evening gentlemen, here today we have the best SPL X ORAS record holder and Team Germany ORAS starter xray! When and how did you get into competitive Pokemon?
xray: (a copypaste of his POTW interview) Around 2013 or 2014 when I started to play Wifi on the German forums. Hassi and CBprincess really helped me at getting involved with the community back then and I had a fun time but decided to quit after a bit more than a year because I did not like the idea of Gen 6 and Mega Pokemon. Then a friend of mine called iZocker always hit me up for test games and tried to convince me to come back so I came back but wanted to try out something new. My next step was joining Smogon where I made it to the playoffs of Smogon Tour and became known after only playing Mons for slightly more than half a year again. And here I am now...
firelit nights: Could you give us a bit of an "inside look" at the mind of a tournament player? What are some memorable moments for you during your SPL run? How do you approach pre-game, during the game, and post-game?
xray: I think the most important thing about playing in a tournament is that you always keep it cool and focus on winning. Before my games I often do some kind of sports or other stuff to get my head free of all worries or thoughts. And when I play I usually kinda expect the worst to happen to me, but still focus on getting in a winning position somehow. There aren't many better feelings in competitive Mons than winning an important game in a team tour so after a win you usually feel very good. You gotta learn how to handle losses too and you can learn a lot from them. My favorite moment this SPL was probably the moment when it was all in our hands during Week 9 after winning 4 weeks in a row. Unfortunately, we messed up.
firelit nights: You defended your fellow Team Germany player menci during SPL and helped in the effort that managed to get him not tournament banned. Are there any perspectives you would like to offer on this?
xray: The tourban was super stupid and I think even kicking him off the team was wrong. I don't wanna talk about this any longer cause that theme is pretty much over, but over the years I experienced many people who were even starting for a team being far less active than him.
firelit nights: How has ROAPL been for you so far? Has it brought to your attention any interesting new prospects? (in players or strategies)
xray: Of course I am glad that my bro jonfilch is doing well although he has been really unlucky till now. Despite that I haven't been paying too much attention and I mainly brought Pokemon and strategies that I've been keen on using for a while already.
firelit nights: Which oldgen tier is your favorite? And the tie-up questions: When did you start playing it? Do you think it's changed quite a bit since you started? What's your opinion on the future of this tier?
xray: I won't count ORAS for that one as ORAS isn't too old yet. I really loved the end state of XY OU, I think it probably was one of the best tiers I have ever played. BW has also been a tier I liked a lot over the years but never got like really into it. Who knows maybe I am gonna play BW one season in one of the next SPLs...
firelit nights: Do you look up to anyone in the competitive Pokemon community?
xray: I always looked up a lot to Bloo, Masterclass, CBB and BKC. They have taught me a lot about the game and have offered me many quite different views onto the game. However I don't wanna be a copy of one of them or something like that. I wanna be / become a player that people look up to as well with my own style.
firelit nights: Who's your favorite Pokemon?
xray: Infernape, competitively my most used Pokemon is Tornadus-T. Again great defogger/ pivot, very moldable to your team, etc.
firelit nights: Do you have anything to add, or any shoutouts?
xray: Shoutout Magma Bigs, shoutout German dudes, shoutout to my ORAS ladder goons and shoutout to everyone else who deserves a shoutout.
Shoutout crayon pop!
firelit nights: Good evening gentlemen, here today we have the best SPL X ORAS record holder and Team Germany ORAS starter xray! When and how did you get into competitive Pokemon?
xray: (a copypaste of his POTW interview) Around 2013 or 2014 when I started to play Wifi on the German forums. Hassi and CBprincess really helped me at getting involved with the community back then and I had a fun time but decided to quit after a bit more than a year because I did not like the idea of Gen 6 and Mega Pokemon. Then a friend of mine called iZocker always hit me up for test games and tried to convince me to come back so I came back but wanted to try out something new. My next step was joining Smogon where I made it to the playoffs of Smogon Tour and became known after only playing Mons for slightly more than half a year again. And here I am now...
firelit nights: Could you give us a bit of an "inside look" at the mind of a tournament player? What are some memorable moments for you during your SPL run? How do you approach pre-game, during the game, and post-game?
xray: I think the most important thing about playing in a tournament is that you always keep it cool and focus on winning. Before my games I often do some kind of sports or other stuff to get my head free of all worries or thoughts. And when I play I usually kinda expect the worst to happen to me, but still focus on getting in a winning position somehow. There aren't many better feelings in competitive Mons than winning an important game in a team tour so after a win you usually feel very good. You gotta learn how to handle losses too and you can learn a lot from them. My favorite moment this SPL was probably the moment when it was all in our hands during Week 9 after winning 4 weeks in a row. Unfortunately, we messed up.
firelit nights: You defended your fellow Team Germany player menci during SPL and helped in the effort that managed to get him not tournament banned. Are there any perspectives you would like to offer on this?
xray: The tourban was super stupid and I think even kicking him off the team was wrong. I don't wanna talk about this any longer cause that theme is pretty much over, but over the years I experienced many people who were even starting for a team being far less active than him.
firelit nights: How has ROAPL been for you so far? Has it brought to your attention any interesting new prospects? (in players or strategies)
xray: Of course I am glad that my bro jonfilch is doing well although he has been really unlucky till now. Despite that I haven't been paying too much attention and I mainly brought Pokemon and strategies that I've been keen on using for a while already.
firelit nights: Which oldgen tier is your favorite? And the tie-up questions: When did you start playing it? Do you think it's changed quite a bit since you started? What's your opinion on the future of this tier?
xray: I won't count ORAS for that one as ORAS isn't too old yet. I really loved the end state of XY OU, I think it probably was one of the best tiers I have ever played. BW has also been a tier I liked a lot over the years but never got like really into it. Who knows maybe I am gonna play BW one season in one of the next SPLs...
firelit nights: Do you look up to anyone in the competitive Pokemon community?
xray: I always looked up a lot to Bloo, Masterclass, CBB and BKC. They have taught me a lot about the game and have offered me many quite different views onto the game. However I don't wanna be a copy of one of them or something like that. I wanna be / become a player that people look up to as well with my own style.
firelit nights: Who's your favorite Pokemon?
xray: Infernape, competitively my most used Pokemon is Tornadus-T. Again great defogger/ pivot, very moldable to your team, etc.
firelit nights: Do you have anything to add, or any shoutouts?
xray: Shoutout Magma Bigs, shoutout German dudes, shoutout to my ORAS ladder goons and shoutout to everyone else who deserves a shoutout.
Shoutout crayon pop!
RoAPL 5 Manager Power Rankings
Power Rankers:
Astamatitos (ADV Cup IV Winner)
Drud (managed in 1v1PL and POCL)
k3nan (WL tournament winner)
Mindnight (RoA regular)
xJoelituh (Captained Spain in RoAO)
Duo List
Po Town Power: Sam (#2) & Jirachee (#4)
Sam is new to RoAPL but led Team Raiders to an undefeated season in SPL8 prior to the playoffs. Backing him up is the manager of Twinleaf Thunder in RoAPL 2, who ended up narrowly missing out on the finals.
Konikoni City: Finchinator (#1) & crayon pop (#9)
Finchinator has been involved in RoAPL since its 2nd edition, where he led the Dogs to 5th. The following year, he took them to runners-up. Assisting him is crayon pop, who lead Konikoni to 1st seed, and lost on a tiebreak to Dogs in the semis, before finishing last place last year.
Aspertia Arcanines: Mysterious M (#3) & roudolf13 (#7)
The Greek duo, Mysterious M and roudolf13 finished 5th last season, a spot below playoffs, and managed a rare 12-0 against Cherrygrove Exeggutors. They are also known for captaining Greece in multiple team tours.
Mt.Moon Men: PDC (#6) & Gilbert arenas (#8)
PDC was on winning teams the first two RoAPLs and also played in the last two. Assisting him is Gilbert arenas, better known as Marcop, who captained USA East to WCoPP 2 glory.
Mauville Magnetons: The Idiot Ninja (#5) & Charmflash (#13)
The Idiot Ninja managed the Magnetons to runner-up status last year. He's selected one of his last year alumni, Za Meowdo (Charmflash), who is one of two captains of Austria, to play the assistant role.
Hearthome City Heatrans: Mister Tim (#10) & ilesaural (#16)
RBYer Mister Tim has achieved success as a manager in PPL, ranking 3rd a couple of times. Joining him is ilesaural, who co-captained Spain in RoA Olympics 3 to 2nd place, and has also captained in Spanish forums and WCoPP. They are both new to managing in RoAPL.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Excal (#11) & sig (#15)
The DPP-loving RoA room driver and great contributor, Excal, partners with fellow DPPer sig, the only player I haven't heard of before. Both lack managing experience, but there's something about Excal that gives the rankers optimism.
Pyrite Town Pichus: jacob (#12) & Groudon (#14)
jacob, who put up impressive records in both RoAPL 2 and RoAPL 3, assisted leading Pyrite Town Pichus to 6th last season. He is teaming up with Groudon, a user completely new to managing in team tours.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: Finchinator
2nd: Sam
3rd: Mysterious M
4th: Jirachee
5th: The Idiot Ninja
6th: PDC
7th: roudolf13
8th: Gilbert arenas
9th: crayon pop
10th: Mister Tim
11th: Excal
12th: jacob
13th: Charmflash
14th: Groudon
15th: sig
16th: ilesaural
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra
Power Rankers:
Astamatitos (ADV Cup IV Winner)
Drud (managed in 1v1PL and POCL)
k3nan (WL tournament winner)
Mindnight (RoA regular)
xJoelituh (Captained Spain in RoAO)
Duo List
Po Town Power: Sam (#2) & Jirachee (#4)
Sam is new to RoAPL but led Team Raiders to an undefeated season in SPL8 prior to the playoffs. Backing him up is the manager of Twinleaf Thunder in RoAPL 2, who ended up narrowly missing out on the finals.
Konikoni City: Finchinator (#1) & crayon pop (#9)
Finchinator has been involved in RoAPL since its 2nd edition, where he led the Dogs to 5th. The following year, he took them to runners-up. Assisting him is crayon pop, who lead Konikoni to 1st seed, and lost on a tiebreak to Dogs in the semis, before finishing last place last year.
Aspertia Arcanines: Mysterious M (#3) & roudolf13 (#7)
The Greek duo, Mysterious M and roudolf13 finished 5th last season, a spot below playoffs, and managed a rare 12-0 against Cherrygrove Exeggutors. They are also known for captaining Greece in multiple team tours.
Mt.Moon Men: PDC (#6) & Gilbert arenas (#8)
PDC was on winning teams the first two RoAPLs and also played in the last two. Assisting him is Gilbert arenas, better known as Marcop, who captained USA East to WCoPP 2 glory.
Mauville Magnetons: The Idiot Ninja (#5) & Charmflash (#13)
The Idiot Ninja managed the Magnetons to runner-up status last year. He's selected one of his last year alumni, Za Meowdo (Charmflash), who is one of two captains of Austria, to play the assistant role.
Hearthome City Heatrans: Mister Tim (#10) & ilesaural (#16)
RBYer Mister Tim has achieved success as a manager in PPL, ranking 3rd a couple of times. Joining him is ilesaural, who co-captained Spain in RoA Olympics 3 to 2nd place, and has also captained in Spanish forums and WCoPP. They are both new to managing in RoAPL.
Sunyshore City Shaymins: Excal (#11) & sig (#15)
The DPP-loving RoA room driver and great contributor, Excal, partners with fellow DPPer sig, the only player I haven't heard of before. Both lack managing experience, but there's something about Excal that gives the rankers optimism.
Pyrite Town Pichus: jacob (#12) & Groudon (#14)
jacob, who put up impressive records in both RoAPL 2 and RoAPL 3, assisted leading Pyrite Town Pichus to 6th last season. He is teaming up with Groudon, a user completely new to managing in team tours.
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking.
Individual List
1st: Finchinator
2nd: Sam
3rd: Mysterious M
4th: Jirachee
5th: The Idiot Ninja
6th: PDC
7th: roudolf13
8th: Gilbert arenas
9th: crayon pop
10th: Mister Tim
11th: Excal
12th: jacob
13th: Charmflash
14th: Groudon
15th: sig
16th: ilesaural
Sorted by highest/lowest mean ranking and ties were broken by highest rank given by a ranker.
Written by Lutra
May 19th 2019: Fix: Entry into the playoffs is decided by the top 4 according to Points (descending) > Individual Wins (descending) > Win Percentage (descending) Dead Matches (ascending). If a tie persists, head-to-head will be evaluated, and a 3-on-3 tiebreaker will be scheduled if the head-to-head was a tie. It never went beyond Individual Wins this RoAPL, so this year's OPs will be amended to prevent confusion for next RoAPL.
terrible ruling, a 38-38 team should be tied above a 39-45 one, I get encouraging activity but this is a stupid way to do it. win differential >>>> indiviudal wins
Individual wins has been the second way to sort teams since RoAPL 2. The third way was changed to align more with the matches being completed philosophy. Individual Wins minus Individual Losses (win differential) already plays a big role in determining points, since a team can win 6-5, 5-4 etc. The team that finished 5th was already dissatisfied with a 6-5 result occurring in week 7.
I cannot determine whether your example is realistic, but I don't think teams should be rewarded for not risking losses ideally. I don't know whether this new way of determining goes not far enough, or too far, since it is a lot of work to analyze scenarios and the likelihood of them occurring, and perhaps there is not a good way to combine the two philosophies even with a lot more information.
Here's a revolutionary idea to avoid people "not risking losses": make sure your players schedule throughout the week, that way their opponents can't fish a dead game because they'd get an act loss.
The point is that the failure of a team to schedule/play negatively impacts another team in another matchup. Aside from potential week 7 fixing, two teams could leave a result as 7-1 because neither side want to risk lessening their difference further.
This has never happened in SPL history and SPL has always used BD to settle these ties, and it's also a tournament where people are much more likely to do something unsportsmanlike to win because it's a lot more competitive. You're policing for situations that don't happen and sacrificing sanity in much more common situations (two teams have different BD, but one had one or two more dead games so they fall behind. 40-40 should not beat 39-38)
Well 40-40 will still advance because individual wins >
I agree dead games should not be rewarded, if you schedule, you should have no dead games.
...Yes? What's the point of this post? I said 40-40 should not beat 39-38, and currently it does.
It's literally a better record. Dead games can happen for any number of reasons, especially in a tournament like this, and penalizing any dead game regardless of circumstance is way too harsh imo.
And actually, 39-39 would also beat 39-38, under current ruleset. They just played one more game and lost it. You're rewarding a game lost over a game not played. Surely I can't be the only one who thinks this is silly? The 39-38 team could have that dead game happen for any unfortunate coincidence and be penalized for something that is hardly their fault, despite being the better team on the field. I'm strongly against blanket punishments for dead games, if you believe a team is actively deadgaming on purpose against the spirit of the tournament you have the power to stop that via act losses as a host, there's no need to do this kind of thing that ends up interfering with many legitimate scenarios that could happen
RoAPL is not SPL, it has lower levels of interest and shorter season generally (which could play a factor, I dunno, seems like more could be left unplayed relatively). Making rules is about what could happen anyway, not just what happens in the past. I don’t even recognise BD as the right terminology, since it sounds like RBY battles could be a factor. I guess something like IWD (Individual Win Difference) works in the context of the Team Ranking. Some people love winning. I can see some great players trying hard in tournaments that don’t have a postbit reward, especially if they know their effort will be rewarded more (easier to win), because it’s still an achievement that’s published. The players could also be trying to gain recognition.
As for the main point, we will disagree for the foreseeable future. For a single week, IWD is very important, positive determining the winner, 0 determining a tie and negative determining a loss. But, Individual Wins themselves are important too, since you need more than the opposing team to also win a week. It is simply two different ways of measuring success. Ciele’s player rankings have prioritised more wins and had WD or W% secondary, so it’s not like it’s something unusual.
It is currently incorrect that adjudged losses isn't accounted for before that. I will try to fix that. Otherwise, it's just a harsh way to break the tie, since I'm worried about a rare 3+way tie after week 7 being really problematic.
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