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Tournament RUPL XII - Commencement Thread

Hello everyone,
Now that the hustlers are out I wanted to make an s/o post. Idk how long it will be but I have some things to say.
This was my second "important tournament ever and 1st if you don't count RBTT. Before the draft I wasn't even sure I would be taken by anyone. I was very happy to be taken. I'm also glad to have been able to do quite a few game. The record is bad (1-3) but I know where I should improve. Managing stress is still in the working as it costed me a game and then it's just me being not good compared to the monsters that I faced. Rupl was a great way for me to gain experience in ru against some of the best players and I'm glad to have been a part of it for this. Met a lot of people who are very nice. This was one of my favourite tours ever and if I'm drafted again next year will def give my all in hopes of winning it ! Thank you to all of you guys for making this tournament so special.
Piyu : this guy is insane. He was invested in our team and is just him. There's a reason he went 10-0 in scl. I enjoyed seeing him prep and talk to him !
Lime my goat. You're super nice and creative in building and loved testing your cooking with you. As always super chill. Hope you win scl this year brother
Ming549 he cooks super well. He's nice. Ming is him. I loved teaming up with you and I hope we can do the same thing again in other tours !
Xrn this guy is just way too good. He's him and I enjoyed testing and building for you. Gl in osdt and hope to see more of you in ru !
LpZ with the brazilian crew, I learned fun. They were super chill and funny. LpZ is a part of this magic and grats for SPL !
Danny fun guy and chill. He's super chill and good at the game. What is there not to love
Gondra the hustlers may remember that I thought that Gondra and Umbry were the same person week 1. Besides looking like an absolute fool you were very nice and chill ! Sorry for not helping you win rupl :/
Guille this is the second ru tour where we team up. It's always a pleasure and I loved testing with you. Hope you win the ru circuit this year you deserve it man
TJ his record doesn't reflect how good he is. He's active, fun and very unlucky. I hope to see you in even more tours king
RoFnA I knew of him before rupl since he Plays rands but this guy is very good. Hope to see more of you in ru as well !
Wesleyy this guy has the best scouts ever, is active and nice. He's that guy
eifo super invested in prep. He's a nice person and very helpfull. Gl for scl too !
siras the person who puts everyone in a good mood. Very nice and fun and part of the brazilian vibes. Loved having you here.

Managers Beraldo and Thiago Nunes
I want to thank you guys fro drafting me and trusting me. You were super supportive whenever it was for the prep or just mentally. You guys did an amazing job and I can't thank you enough for your work. Both of you made me love Sqwak and I will cheer for you guys in future tours.

Until then see you in future ru tours. o/
Never forget PAPAGEIO
 
Well, not used to but gotta make this cuz this could be a goodbye for him playing Smogon tours (i swear im retiring soon too bro), i met Beraldo in 2017 when we were playing br forum clan tours (he was bad af) and prolly is the biggest evolution that i've ever watched in mons. Just wanna thanks bro for managing and buying our friends one more time, carrying so hard with his great builds mainly in SS/SV, u did this since the first time hustlers won till now, u also did in RUWCs, and even when we couldnt perform, u always kept cool and doing ur best. Thanks for all (not only in Smogon but in all aspects of life), u the goat from RU and def built diff

Also s/o Slikkles this guy is def ru promise with great ideas and heat gameplay

Thanks all hustlers It was a Very Fun season, wish the best for u all
 
Hustler Durant
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London Hustler
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Nacho Hustler
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Beraldo may you be blessed in whatever yo choose to pursue next
 
Well, our season ended much sooner than we hoped for but there are some good takeaways nonetheless. Thanks to the RUPL hosting team and forum mods for giving me a chance here and sorry to our team for not getting us to the main event. Anyway here are shoutouts on players who deserve to be given more opportunities moving forward.

Seed
Prior to seed reaching out to me, I had already kinda thought about managing with him given how much we've yapped since I joined Smogon. This dude is absolutely phenomenal as a manager and team presence, I'd run through a wall for this guy, first one in last one out type of dude. You were such an active member of every channel and I think you'll be a dominant figure in the tier moving forward. Pick up the pace in RUGL and show them what I already know; you're a rockstar.

Player Breakdown by Tiers;
mncmt - Bo3, expected price 28k / actual price 16k
To put it simply, mence was our #1 player overall and we were ready to go very high in a potential bidding war for him. When the timer was ticking down after our 16k bid we assumed teams were just letting it play out slowly...until they weren't? Seed and I both literally gasped in our call when we realized we just saved 12k on our top target, opening up our draft tremendously... until the ban. He had a good set vs robjr before getting lucked by Franklin (classic) and then was poised to pick up before it was announced he was gone gone. Such is life.
Lily - SV1, expected price 24k / actual price 20k
Lily was our definitive #1 SV player on the board and we valued her tremendously for potential tiebreak implications. Knowing that myself and seed could build teams and test for her, or at least help in checking pastes, we were pretty committed to her being a Cooker. Despite a tough start to the season individually and as a team Lily was always a valuable contributor and teammate and took the brunt of playing Bo3 for us, so thanks for that.

FlamPoke - SV2, self-buy 10k
The big yapper, likely would have gone for ~10k if not managing so self-buying was an obvious decision and thankfully seed allowed me to do that. I had an okay tour, still beating myself up for my losses and play in some games but this was hopefully the step in the right direction for my tournament endeavors...

feen - SV3, expected price 14k / actual price 13.5k
For our SV3 slot we wanted somebody who could build and prep their own stuff or pilot something we think looks good, which feen is capable of doing. I disliked his commentary during the RUPL livestream and wasn't a big fan of his demeanor in our channels, often being critical to the point of mean in game discussion and in reviewing teams, but he had a solid season as a player so there's that. Congrats on the best regular season record, your play was definitely at one of the highest levels across the tour so it was earned.

Cielau - SV4/Sub, expected price 12k / actual price 4k
This was a pretty epic steal for us early as we valued Cielau as a solid SV3/4 candidate - getting him and Lily for cheap meant our entire SV starting lineup was far less than expected and we could splurge a bit on other SV players to help shore up our weekly lineup. Unfortunately it didn't pan out due to some tough games, but he didn't complain and was willing to do whatever for the team as a sub or flex (notably playing bo3 when mence was banned with almost no notice).

Kate - SV4/Sub, expected price 10k / actual price 5.5k
Similar to Cielau, we had Kate ranked really high as an SV3/4 type of player and thought we were just upbidding somebody until we landed her for quite cheap. For someone who showed up at scheduled time and played using whatever I built you did phenomenal and you're obviously one of the best gamers on the site, so hope to interact with you more in the future.

entrocefalo - Sub, expected price 5k / actual price 4.5k
Entrocefalo is a pretty known commodity and we did not expect our last pick to be them, though getting a legit starting-caliber play at the very end of the draft after how epic it started out was really nice. They had some good games and bad games, though their approach to the game vs Ajna left a really bad taste in my mouth so...

Evie - Support, expected price 4k / actual price 3k
A mostly vibes based pick, Evie worked very hard in the tryouts leading up to the draft and was a great person to have hanging out in our server so we gave them a chance to come aboard and help round out our SV. Evie was a rockstar when given a chance to start and did well enough to earn starting roles in the future methinks, at minimum a consistent backup type of player.
sol - SS, expected price 24k / actual price 24k
Despite being the most expensive player in the draft, we got sol for exactly what we budgeted and were so happy to secure our SS slot early with somebody who could help mence pick teams weekly as well. We valued people who are active and helpful, and there aren't many players who can do all that sol does at the level he does, so this was a no-brainer. Some tough watches this season overall but that happens to everyone inevitably - as we said in the Cookers cord, we don't regret getting you in the slightest and appreciate your support overall. Let's run it back in RUGL friend.
BloodAce - SM, expected price 8.5k / actual price 4k
SM was an interesting tier for us in the draft; the disparity between the top names and our second tier of players was not that big and we felt more than comfortable picking up BloodAce early to start, with some support options in mind to keep his teams fresh. His games were a bit rough but his attitude as a starter was fine, sorry we couldn't get you some better matchups early to prove yourself here.

btboy - Support, expected price 6k / actual price 5k
Speaking of support options, we really liked btboy for his overall chat presence and ability to provide some qc on the SM slot. I was under the impression he would be a Technician to help out the Franklin/Denial core but we got him for pretty cheap all things considered. I'm ecstatic he got to play and notch a win late, this guy is one of the best people on the site and I will root for him in all future endeavors.

Edit: lost the extra bit about Clem oops
Clem was the replacement to mence, as they were good in BW and SM, two slots that were weaker thus far. Your demeanor was solid and your prep in SM was good too - some bad matchups got the better of you but you deserved to be drafted and were an obvious pickup from the pool so not at all upset with getting you.
neomon - ORAS/Support, expected price 6k / actual price 9.5k
Our first player "over" budget was neomon; we actually really wanted him for playing and support so the 6k price tag was more representative of what we thought he'd go for than what we wanted to spend on him - we figured the Toxic Chains would also want him and ended up paying a slight premium to ensure we got our guy. His week one loss into bench was not a reflection of his play but our desire to get shiloh into the tier he was most comfortable. Neo is a solid guy and great support option and I enjoy teaming with him.

shiloh - BW/ORAS, expected price 3.5k / actual price 11k
We didn't really have an issue spending this much on shiloh, we just didn't know what people had him valued at, like, at all. His play was okay, he had SPL and plenty of other stuff to focus on so we tried to get him teams that worked but maybe could've done some stuff different to get more wins out of this slot on our end.

SBPC - BW/Support, expected price 5k / actual price 3k
We (I) placed a pretty heavy emphasis on SBPC for their overall chat presence and ability to support multiple slots, especially since they could flex into BW if needed. The trio of neo/shiloh/sbpc was very solid for these two tiers when you consider the occasional yapping by the rest of the team to make sure the teams were solid. His play felt rushed and I know he knows this too - I think you're an awesome guy and this just wasn't the time for you to break out yet, but you were a good person to have on the team reg
mielke - ADV, expected price 5k / actual price 4k
ADV is a tier that seed and I thought could be managed by a good pilot and builder core and mielke stood out as a great late-draft option that knew the mechanics of ADV at a high level. His approach to the game was so solid and his play always felt good; some unluck will reflect poorly on the sheet but mielke was a great player and teammate for us and will be a mainstay in the tier if he chooses to keep playing.

FastCarVroom!!! - Support, expected price 5k / actual price 3k
Similar to btboy we placed a pretty heavy emphasis on vroom for their overall chat presence and ability to support multiple slots, especially since they could flex into ADV if needed. I need the audience to understand that vroom might be (likely is) the greatest teammate I've had on this site. His demeanor was stellar, his prep and support was phenomenal, and his play is definitely at the level of a future starter in these tours. You were the best buy of the draft no doubt and I mean that wholeheartedly.

Til next time yall
 
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FlamPoke said:
Well, our season ended much sooner than we hoped for but there are some good takeaways nonetheless. Thanks to the RUPL hosting team and forum mods for giving me a chance here and sorry to our team for not getting us to the main event. Anyway here are shoutouts on players who deserve to be given more opportunities moving forward.

Seed
Prior to seed reaching out to me, I had already kinda thought about managing with him given how much we've yapped since I joined Smogon. This dude is absolutely phenomenal as a manager and team presence, I'd run through a wall for this guy, first one in last one out type of dude. You were such an active member of every channel and I think you'll be a dominant figure in the tier moving forward. Pick up the pace in RUGL and show them what I already know; you're a rockstar.

Player Breakdown by Tiers;
mncmt - Bo3, expected price 28k / actual price 16k
To put it simply, mence was our #1 player overall and we were ready to go very high in a potential bidding war for him. When the timer was ticking down after our 16k bid we assumed teams were just letting it play out slowly...until they weren't? Seed and I both literally gasped in our call when we realized we just saved 12k on our top target, opening up our draft tremendously... until the ban. He had a good set vs robjr before getting lucked by Franklin (classic) and then was poised to pick up before it was announced he was gone gone. Such is life.
Lily - SV1, expected price 24k / actual price 20k
Lily was our definitive #1 SV player on the board and we valued her tremendously for potential tiebreak implications. Knowing that myself and seed could build teams and test for her, or at least help in checking pastes, we were pretty committed to her being a Cooker. Despite a tough start to the season individually and as a team Lily was always a valuable contributor and teammate and took the brunt of playing Bo3 for us, so thanks for that.

FlamPoke - SV2, self-buy 10k
The big yapper, likely would have gone for ~10k if not managing so self-buying was an obvious decision and thankfully seed allowed me to do that. I had an okay tour, still beating myself up for my losses and play in some games but this was hopefully the step in the right direction for my tournament endeavors...

feen - SV3, expected price 14k / actual price 13.5k
For our SV3 slot we wanted somebody who could build and prep their own stuff or pilot something we think looks good, which feen is capable of doing. I disliked his commentary during the RUPL livestream and wasn't a big fan of his demeanor in our channels, often being critical to the point of mean in game discussion and in reviewing teams, but he had a solid season as a player so there's that. Congrats on the best regular season record, your play was definitely at one of the highest levels across the tour so it was earned.

Cielau - SV4/Sub, expected price 12k / actual price 4k
This was a pretty epic steal for us early as we valued Cielau as a solid SV3/4 candidate - getting him and Lily for cheap meant our entire SV starting lineup was far less than expected and we could splurge a bit on other SV players to help shore up our weekly lineup. Unfortunately it didn't pan out due to some tough games, but he didn't complain and was willing to do whatever for the team as a sub or flex (notably playing bo3 when mence was banned with almost no notice).

Kate - SV4/Sub, expected price 10k / actual price 5.5k
Similar to Cielau, we had Kate ranked really high as an SV3/4 type of player and thought we were just upbidding somebody until we landed her for quite cheap. For someone who showed up at scheduled time and played using whatever I built you did phenomenal and you're obviously one of the best gamers on the site, so hope to interact with you more in the future.

entrocefalo - Sub, expected price 5k / actual price 4.5k
Entrocefalo is a pretty known commodity and we did not expect our last pick to be them, though getting a legit starting-caliber play at the very end of the draft after how epic it started out was really nice. They had some good games and bad games, though their approach to the game vs Ajna left a really bad taste in my mouth so...

Evie - Support, expected price 4k / actual price 3k
A mostly vibes based pick, Evie worked very hard in the tryouts leading up to the draft and was a great person to have hanging out in our server so we gave them a chance to come aboard and help round out our SV. Evie was a rockstar when given a chance to start and did well enough to earn starting roles in the future methinks, at minimum a consistent backup type of player.
sol - SS, expected price 24k / actual price 24k
Despite being the most expensive player in the draft, we got sol for exactly what we budgeted and were so happy to secure our SS slot early with somebody who could help mence pick teams weekly as well. We valued people who are active and helpful, and there aren't many players who can do all that sol does at the level he does, so this was a no-brainer. Some tough watches this season overall but that happens to everyone inevitably - as we said in the Cookers cord, we don't regret getting you in the slightest and appreciate your support overall. Let's run it back in RUGL friend.
BloodAce - SM, expected price 8.5k / actual price 4k
SM was an interesting tier for us in the draft; the disparity between the top names and our second tier of players was not that big and we felt more than comfortable picking up BloodAce early to start, with some support options in mind to keep his teams fresh. His games were a bit rough but his attitude as a starter was fine, sorry we couldn't get you some better matchups early to prove yourself here.

btboy - Support, expected price 6k / actual price 5k
Speaking of support options, we really liked btboy for his overall chat presence and ability to provide some qc on the SM slot. I was under the impression he would be a Technician to help out the Franklin/Denial core but we got him for pretty cheap all things considered. I'm ecstatic he got to play and notch a win late, this guy is one of the best people on the site and I will root for him in all future endeavors.
neomon - ORAS/Support, expected price 6k / actual price 9.5k
Our first player "over" budget was neomon; we actually really wanted him for playing and support so the 6k price tag was more representative of what we thought he'd go for than what we wanted to spend on him - we figured the Toxic Chains would also want him and ended up paying a slight premium to ensure we got our guy. His week one loss into bench was not a reflection of his play but our desire to get shiloh into the tier he was most comfortable. Neo is a solid guy and great support option and I enjoy teaming with him.

shiloh - BW/ORAS, expected price 3.5k / actual price 11k
We didn't really have an issue spending this much on shiloh, we just didn't know what people had him valued at, like, at all. His play was okay, he had SPL and plenty of other stuff to focus on so we tried to get him teams that worked but maybe could've done some stuff different to get more wins out of this slot on our end.

SBPC - BW/Support, expected price 5k / actual price 3k
We (I) placed a pretty heavy emphasis on SBPC for their overall chat presence and ability to support multiple slots, especially since they could flex into BW if needed. The trio of neo/shiloh/sbpc was very solid for these two tiers when you consider the occasional yapping by the rest of the team to make sure the teams were solid. His play felt rushed and I know he knows this too - I think you're an awesome guy and this just wasn't the time for you to break out yet, but you were a good person to have on the team reg
mielke - ADV, expected price 5k / actual price 4k
ADV is a tier that seed and I thought could be managed by a good pilot and builder core and mielke stood out as a great late-draft option that knew the mechanics of ADV at a high level. His approach to the game was so solid and his play always felt good; some unluck will reflect poorly on the sheet but mielke was a great player and teammate for us and will be a mainstay in the tier if he chooses to keep playing.

FastCarVroom!!! - Support, expected price 5k / actual price 3k
Similar to btboy we placed a pretty heavy emphasis on vroom for their overall chat presence and ability to support multiple slots, especially since they could flex into ADV if needed. I need the audience to understand that vroom might be (likely is) the greatest teammate I've had on this site. His demeanor was stellar, his prep and support was phenomenal, and his play is definitely at the level of a future starter in these tours. You were the best buy of the draft no doubt and I mean that wholeheartedly.

Til next time yall
Click to expand...
homeboy sniped me while I was writing my shoutout post... yknow this is actually quite a symbolic way to cap off our season since by the time I'd sit down to look at scouts/teambuild on Monday nights, Flam would have already have built solid SV teams for all of our slots.

+1 to everything Flam said above. Thanks FP for copiloting with me and for truly being the engine that kept our team going. I look forward to watching you continue to solve the tier with Pawmot.

My dear Cookers -- I'm sorry we couldn't make poffs this time around, but thanks for everything these past 2 months. While our incredible vibes, magnificent branding and flawless prep didn't deliver us as many wins as we had hoped, I'm hoping at a minimum you all had a fun time with us. Looking forward to teaming with you all in future tours.

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