Tournament SCL IV RU Discussion and Replays

Tsuki

FOUR-BY-FOUR, I TINT MY WINDOWS UP
OP stolen, duh

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Welcome to the Smogon Champions League 4 Discussion Thread -- RU edition! This thread will be used to discuss RU in SCL IV related topics, whether it’s about the players, general metagame trends, matches, predictions and so on. Teams, Replays, and Usage Stats will be posted as the tournament progresses!

Commencement
Schedule
Power rankings

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RU Players Cores (starters in bold, manager support in italic)
Orange Islanders -- robjr
Uncharted Terrors -- xavgb, Ampha
Circuit Breakers -- elodin, eifo, Lily
Power Plant Dynamos -- BIHI
Showdown Shoguns -- Fogbound Lake
Indigo Platoon -- abriel, LpZ, entrocefalo, starmaster
Arena Spartans -- TheFranklin, ishtar, Floss, Dugza
Technical Machines -- Lime, Denial, Bouff, frankjosh, mncmt, Expulso
Mt. Silver Foxes -- Kushalos, Danny
Studio Gible -- Feliburn, nat
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Krookodile         |   41 |  43.62% |  53.66% |
| 2    | Thundurus          |   32 |  34.04% |  46.88% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |   26 |  27.66% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Cyclizar           |   25 |  26.60% |  52.00% |
| 5    | Zapdos-Galar       |   24 |  25.53% |  54.17% |
| 6    | Volcanion          |   21 |  22.34% |  57.14% |
| 7    | Slowbro            |   18 |  19.15% |  44.44% |
| 8    | Slither Wing       |   17 |  18.09% |  64.71% |
| 8    | Armarouge          |   17 |  18.09% |  64.71% |
| 10   | Noivern            |   15 |  15.96% |  73.33% |
| 10   | Hippowdon          |   15 |  15.96% |  40.00% |
| 12   | Bisharp            |   14 |  14.89% |  57.14% |
| 12   | Goodra-Hisui       |   14 |  14.89% |  35.71% |
| 14   | Registeel          |   12 |  12.77% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Empoleon           |   11 |  11.70% |  54.55% |
| 15   | Weezing-Galar      |   11 |  11.70% |  45.45% |
| 15   | Okidogi            |   11 |  11.70% |  27.27% |
| 15   | Talonflame         |   11 |  11.70% |  27.27% |
| 19   | Zoroark-Hisui      |   10 |  10.64% |  50.00% |
| 19   | Mimikyu            |   10 |  10.64% |  50.00% |
| 19   | Mew                |   10 |  10.64% |  40.00% |
| 19   | Salamence          |   10 |  10.64% |  40.00% |
| 23   | Fezandipiti        |    9 |   9.57% |  55.56% |
| 24   | Reuniclus          |    8 |   8.51% |  62.50% |
| 24   | Gligar             |    8 |   8.51% |  62.50% |
| 24   | Terrakion          |    8 |   8.51% |  37.50% |
| 27   | Feraligatr         |    7 |   7.45% |  71.43% |
| 27   | Gardevoir          |    7 |   7.45% |  57.14% |
| 29   | Gyarados           |    5 |   5.32% |  80.00% |
| 29   | Maushold           |    5 |   5.32% |  60.00% |
| 29   | Umbreon            |    5 |   5.32% |  40.00% |
| 29   | Quagsire           |    5 |   5.32% |  40.00% |
| 29   | Lilligant-Hisui    |    5 |   5.32% |  40.00% |
| 29   | Ribombee           |    5 |   5.32% |  20.00% |
| 35   | Flygon             |    4 |   4.26% |  75.00% |
| 35   | Klefki             |    4 |   4.26% |  50.00% |
| 35   | Yanmega            |    4 |   4.26% |  50.00% |
| 35   | Suicune            |    4 |   4.26% |   0.00% |
| 39   | Barraskewda        |    3 |   3.19% | 100.00% |
| 39   | Basculegion-F      |    3 |   3.19% | 100.00% |
| 39   | Amoonguss          |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Chesnaught         |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Magnezone          |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Chansey            |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Cresselia          |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Maushold-Four      |    3 |   3.19% |  66.67% |
| 39   | Palossand          |    3 |   3.19% |  33.33% |
| 39   | Vaporeon           |    3 |   3.19% |  33.33% |
| 39   | Wo-Chien           |    3 |   3.19% |  33.33% |
| 39   | Kilowattrel        |    3 |   3.19% |  33.33% |
| 39   | Revavroom          |    3 |   3.19% |  33.33% |
| 39   | Gengar             |    3 |   3.19% |   0.00% |
| 39   | Entei              |    3 |   3.19% |   0.00% |
| 54   | Slowbro-Galar      |    2 |   2.13% | 100.00% |
| 54   | Ninetales-Alola    |    2 |   2.13% | 100.00% |
| 54   | Lycanroc           |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Gastrodon          |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Cloyster           |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Torkoal            |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Venusaur           |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Forretress         |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Swampert           |    2 |   2.13% |  50.00% |
| 54   | Conkeldurr         |    2 |   2.13% |   0.00% |
| 54   | Espeon             |    2 |   2.13% |   0.00% |
| 54   | Muk-Alola          |    2 |   2.13% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Sylveon            |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Florges            |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Sneasel            |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Pawmot             |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Cetitan            |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Rotom-Heat         |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Golurk             |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Raikou             |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Lucario            |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Bellibolt          |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Azelf              |    1 |   1.06% | 100.00% |
| 66   | Inteleon           |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Overqwil           |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Cacturne           |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Tauros-Paldea-Aqua |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Ditto              |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Deoxys-Defense     |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Infernape          |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Ninetales          |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Scovillain         |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Typhlosion-Hisui   |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Lycanroc-Dusk      |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Mienshao           |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Basculegion        |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Toxtricity         |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Kleavor            |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Milotic            |    1 |   1.06% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    6 |  60.00% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Cyclizar           |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 3    | Slither Wing       |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Krookodile         |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Hippowdon          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Volcanion          |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Umbreon            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Okidogi            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Talonflame         |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Goodra-Hisui       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Bisharp            |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Sylveon            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Slowbro            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Gardevoir          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Amoonguss          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Armarouge          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Zapdos-Galar       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Florges            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Noivern            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Palossand          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Vaporeon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Fezandipiti        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Conkeldurr         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Krookodile         |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Okidogi            |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 4    | Jirachi            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 4    | Cyclizar           |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Volcanion          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Weezing-Galar      |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Empoleon           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Zapdos-Galar       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Palossand          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Slowbro            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Goodra-Hisui       |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Talonflame         |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Barraskewda        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Zoroark-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Gligar             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Sneasel            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Noivern            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Chesnaught         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Bisharp            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Chansey            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Slither Wing       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Feraligatr         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Vaporeon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Inteleon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Overqwil           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Conkeldurr         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Mimikyu            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Cacturne           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Magnezone          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    6 |  60.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Krookodile         |    5 |  50.00% |  80.00% |
| 3    | Cyclizar           |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Slowbro            |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Armarouge          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 7    | Okidogi            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Empoleon           |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Wo-Chien           |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Talonflame         |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Chesnaught         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Bisharp            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Slither Wing       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Zoroark-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Noivern            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Fezandipiti        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Yanmega            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Feraligatr         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Lycanroc           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Maushold           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Tauros-Paldea-Aqua |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Gengar             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Ditto              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Kilowattrel        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Gastrodon          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Zapdos-Galar       |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Mimikyu            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Cloyster           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 12   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    6 |  60.00% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Krookodile         |    5 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 3    | Goodra-Hisui       |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 4    | Volcanion          |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 4    | Gligar             |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Cyclizar           |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Bisharp            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Gardevoir          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Zapdos-Galar       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Slither Wing       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Noivern            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Mimikyu            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Slowbro            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Registeel          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Terrakion          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Okidogi            |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Basculegion-F      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Magnezone          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Barraskewda        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Jirachi            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Cresselia          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Slowbro-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Deoxys-Defense     |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Infernape          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Ninetales          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Scovillain         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Espeon             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    6 |  60.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Krookodile         |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 3    | Fezandipiti        |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Slither Wing       |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 6    | Feraligatr         |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Noivern            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Gardevoir          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Empoleon           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Cyclizar           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Armarouge          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Volcanion          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Pawmot             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Bisharp            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Kilowattrel        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Zapdos-Galar       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Gligar             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Lycanroc-Dusk      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Torkoal            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Lilligant-Hisui    |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Venusaur           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Forretress         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Typhlosion-Hisui   |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Chansey            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Chesnaught         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Muk-Alola          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Quagsire           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Slowbro            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Talonflame         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Yanmega            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Weezing-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Amoonguss          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Krookodile         |    7 |  70.00% |  57.14% |
| 2    | Thundurus          |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Jirachi            |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Cyclizar           |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 5    | Slowbro            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 5    | Zapdos-Galar       |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 5    | Weezing-Galar      |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Slither Wing       |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Noivern            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Registeel          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Armarouge          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Ribombee           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Zoroark-Hisui      |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 8    | Terrakion          |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Ninetales-Alola    |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Cetitan            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Maushold           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Gyarados           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Slowbro-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Rotom-Heat         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Basculegion-F      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Goodra-Hisui       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Vaporeon           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Gengar             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Mienshao           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Entei              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Bisharp            |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Quagsire           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Zapdos-Galar       |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Salamence          |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Talonflame         |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Slither Wing       |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Goodra-Hisui       |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Registeel          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Noivern            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Volcanion          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Zoroark-Hisui      |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Cyclizar           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Swampert           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Fezandipiti        |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Barraskewda        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Cresselia          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Gastrodon          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Wo-Chien           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Golurk             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Weezing-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Amoonguss          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Mimikyu            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Chansey            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Maushold           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Lilligant-Hisui    |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Lycanroc           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Armarouge          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Basculegion        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Entei              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Espeon             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Ribombee           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Terrakion          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Muk-Alola          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Jirachi            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Umbreon            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Gardevoir          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Krookodile         |    7 |  70.00% |  57.14% |
| 2    | Zapdos-Galar       |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Armarouge          |    3 |  30.00% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Slowbro            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Noivern            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Volcanion          |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 7    | Cyclizar           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Gligar             |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Terrakion          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Registeel          |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Gyarados           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Lucario            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Mimikyu            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Raikou             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Talonflame         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Zoroark-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Goodra-Hisui       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Magnezone          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Fezandipiti        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Basculegion-F      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Ninetales-Alola    |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Gardevoir          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Weezing-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Umbreon            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Kilowattrel        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Feraligatr         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Yanmega            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Revavroom          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Maushold           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Toxtricity         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Entei              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Cresselia          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Bisharp            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 11   | Gengar             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mew                |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 2    | Volcanion          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Armarouge          |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Maushold-Four      |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Lilligant-Hisui    |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Zapdos-Galar       |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Mimikyu            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Jirachi            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Krookodile         |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Bisharp            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Gyarados           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Feraligatr         |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Revavroom          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Torkoal            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Forretress         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Venusaur           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Slither Wing       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Bellibolt          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Cyclizar           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Cloyster           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Azelf              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Yanmega            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Maushold           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Terrakion          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14   | Umbreon            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Goodra-Hisui       |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Weezing-Galar      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Kleavor            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Slowbro            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Hippowdon          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Milotic            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Fezandipiti        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Zoroark-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Ribombee           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Zapdos-Galar       |    4 | 100.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Jirachi            |    4 | 100.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Krookodile         |    3 |  75.00% |  33.33% |
| 4    | Volcanion          |    2 |  50.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Zoroark-Hisui      |    2 |  50.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Weezing-Galar      |    2 |  50.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Armarouge          |    1 |  25.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Gyarados           |    1 |  25.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Gligar             |    1 |  25.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Mimikyu            |    1 |  25.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Noivern            |    1 |  25.00% |   0.00% |
| 7    | Slowbro            |    1 |  25.00% |   0.00% |
| 7    | Ribombee           |    1 |  25.00% |   0.00% |
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mimikyu            |    2 | 100.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Zapdos-Galar       |    2 | 100.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Hippowdon          |    1 |  50.00% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Klefki             |    1 |  50.00% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Cyclizar           |    1 |  50.00% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Slowbro            |    1 |  50.00% | 100.00% |
| 3    | Cresselia          |    1 |  50.00% |   0.00% |
| 3    | Volcanion          |    1 |  50.00% |   0.00% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |    1 |  50.00% |   0.00% |
| 3    | Gligar             |    1 |  50.00% |   0.00% |
 
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Fun competitive pool, I don't have it in me to make a post about the pool like every other year but I'm looking forward to abriel's performance. It's the third gen in a row we have someone who wins an RU open unexpectedly and then goes on to become a prominent figure in the community, so I'm really hoping the tradition continues.

I know a lot of mainers were looking forward to getting drafted, but I hope that doesn't translate into having resentment and not enjoying the scl gaming as they'd normally do, especially cause I've been there before and it can sting.

Good luck (except vs me) everyone
 
hello hello, come check out rutubes most recent video discussing the SCL RU pool featuring commentary from Feliburn, Kushalos, Master Chief, as well as myself! Let us know in the comments how you think this SCL pool will turn and out and dont forget to like, subscribe, and do all that good stuff if you haven't already to keep up with all SCL RU coverage.
 
lets ignore ming shall we
The official SCL power rankings are out and here are the rankings for the RU starters:

:aegislash: 1. TheFranklin :aegislash:
:gyarados: 2. xavgb :gyarados:
:ninetales: 3. Kushalos :ninetales:
:exeggutor-alola: 4. robjr :exeggutor-alola:
:gible: 5. Feliburn :gible:
:falinks: 6. abriel :falinks:
:zapdos-galar: 7. BIHI :zapdos-galar:
:kingambit: 8. Fogbound Lake :kingambit:
:melmetal: 9. elodin :melmetal:
:mew: 10. Lime :mew:

Do you disagree? Is RU hero Lime's abysmal ranking outrageous and unfair or completely justified? Who are you looking forward to their games the most? Let your voice be heard, and don't forget to check out the full power rankings here.
 
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Who are you cheering for? Post your predicts below and check out the full week 1 of SCL IV here.
abriel vs Fogbound Lake
robjr vs elodin
BIHI vs Feliburn
xavgb vs TheFranklin
Kushalos vs Lime
abriel vs Fogbound Lake
robjr vs elodin
BIHI vs Feliburn
xavgb vs TheFranklin
Kushalos
vs Lime
 
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abriel vs Fogbound Lake she beat stall with HO and fog is loading stall
robjr vs elodin no idea but when in doubt pick opposite of what tsuki picks
BIHI vs Feliburn Cool name, great 2 syllable sound. I also want to see a loss light a fire in Feli to tryhard tf outta this tour
xavgb vs TheFranklin This match will be the set up to TheProtagonist’s heroic victory in the playoffs rematch.
Kushalos vs Lime :fino:
 
abriel vs Fogbound Lake
i think abriel has the highest combo of individual skill cap + in-house support in the tournament as a whole vs someone who really doesn't have much ru support at all and to my knowledge has no real exposure to sv ru since rupl ended. historically I understand fogbound has like, incomparably more achievements than abriel as well but if we're talking about recent achievements, its been a struggle for fog to find his footing this year as far as officials goes and abriel is fresh off not only the ru open win but a pretty substantial push into slam playoffs, and is still learning/improving actively with the tier. I will say as an addition to the abriel support system though, which don't get it twisted is strong, but it'll be interesting to see how well that meshes with abriels vision/preferred playstyle. it could very well be the case where although the support is strong, the way they see/play the tier is different enough that it causes some discord. This is something that fog doesn't necessarily need to worry about since he and his assumed building partner mind gaming already are familiar with each other and have a pretty substantial history of strong performances together. Although experimental, I still think abriel should be favored overall in this matchup coming into week 1.

robjr vs elodin
I believe the US East difference will carry rob to the week 1 dub. On a serious note though, this is completely just an experience pick here, rob has significantly more experience with RU through his stint in rupl as well as being part of ruwc. Caveat to this is he went 0-4 in rupl and then was taken out of sv entirely which does NOT inspire a ton of confidence. However, he did also go 2-1 in ruwc pools recently and was active in cord prepping for his games so I'll take that as an indication hes getting back into form. Notably, though rob has way more experience with sv ru specifically, the support for elodin is SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than rob, who really has basically nothing on paper. In comparison, elodin being backed by both eifo and sabella who both recently came off of strong ru swiss showings, sabella specifically who made it all the way to finals and who also had a clean sweep in his ruwc pool, should be looking real confident teambuilding wise coming into week 1. Also notably, since rob and sabella are on the same ruwc team (go northeast), they will have all of these pastes that have been shared/tested on in the cord which I think is more of a benefit to sabellas team and a detriment to robjr considering the rest of the support picture. That being said, I will go for the tier experience card coming into week 1 so robjr it is.

BIHI vs Feliburn
I think a relaxed feliburn is a dangerous feliburn, and since stepping down as TL and having a bit of a retirement, feli is relaxed, and ready to get back into the thick of things with scl. With BIHI in general, I know that they've had experience playing an ru gen in this tournament before, but I think as many people who have played during the ss into sv transition can attest, the two gens are WORLDS apart in how they feel, so that experience doesn't really hold a lot of meaning to me right now. As far as support goes, both these teams don't really have much in-house support if any at all, feli probably is slightly favored bc of the nat connection as well as yovan having a bit of rult run earlier in the year. I think the feli difference in personal experience with sv ru as well as his general self-sufficiency in the slot is enough to warrant giving him the edge here though, at least for week 1.

xavgb vs TheFranklin
stresh is the swiss army knife of mons players. it really does seem like whatever tier you throw him into he has a pretty high floor as far as in-game play, and once you start adding a bit of familiarity with meta, which notably he does have with a very strong rupl run earlier this year, you start to have a serious problem on your hands. A great recent example of this is the run stresh had in slam playoffs where he really was showing up and showing out in every tier he played. Franklin although unquestionably strong and also having a similar strength slam run, has a bit of an exploitable side as far as his building/specific comfort picks go that I think stresh will be able to pick up and capitalize on. As far as the in-house support goes, with the exception of abriel, franklin has the strongest set of supporters on the team proper. Even better than abriel however, is that this support core with franklin has proven their synergy already with an rupl playoffs appearance and in general, I know that franklin and floss seem to work well together. stresh has ok support in the form of ampha, but ampha also isn't really known for his building and their overall chemistry is questionable to me coming into week 1. I'd need to see proof of concept before I'm fully ready to believe in this sv core. That being said I think stresh has the skills capable of pulling off the upset, and I'd love to see a bit of drama week 1 in this mu.

Kushalos vs Lime
I love lime but we saw this matchup play out before in semi-finals tiebreaks for rupl and I will put faith in the chef that he will be able to repeat those results. Beyond the obvious gap in experience, I think kush as a builder is just stronger than lime and has unparalleled confidence in his teams even if they seem to lean more towards the ambitious side, which to me is a huge deal coming into the first week. Kushalos has also been more active with meta recently, participating in ruwc with the rest of the euro superteam so that little bit of added familiarty with the meta as it stands also is pretty important in my eyes. Support wise, lime definitely has a stronger cast of people supporting him. Expulso having managed his rupl team to victory as well as being part of team us midwest's ruwc success is a great guy to have on your side in the manager slot as proven time and again. Mncmt, grand slam finalist, is in a similar vein of just great player to have on your side who has had a lot of recent exposure to the meta. Bouff, coming off a strong swiss playoff run is also in a great spot acting as support for the team, and finally frankjosh and denial I think are solid but have maybe not been in touch with the recent developments in sv so I'm a little more hesitant to fully invest in their support capabilities. Kush has danny on his side as far as support which is strong, dannys a great player, but there definitely coud be some more dedicated RU support to be had. That being said i think the individual skill difference for kush does slightly edge out the overall support lime is getting so I'll be going with him for this first week at least.
 
Week 1 recaps!

1726487330148.png
vs
1726487341044.png

Abriel brought a spikestack team with banded Slither Wing while we see a sub Sylveon on Fogbound's side which put in some work. Abriel had the lead and was up 4 mons to Fogbound's sole survivor, Slowbro, which clicked the funny tera poison button and earned Fogbound his first victory this tournament.

1726487858870.png
vs
1726487887286.png

We see a fairly standard wishpass with specs Hisuian Goodra from robjr and bulky offense from Elodin. Sub guard dog Okidogi proved to be troublesome from robjr but he managed to play around it and in the end a focus blast miss from Elodin's thundurus sealed the deal and robjr emerged victorious.

1726488303128.png
vs
1726488311040.png

BORING TEAMS. Not much else to say here, game was fairly standard with Feliburn in the lead after BIHI curiously kept his Hisuian Goodra versus Galarian Zapdos, and in the end Feliburn's Umbreon simply proved too difficult to break. media play feli

1726488425130.png
vs
1726488433289.png

Leave it to stresh to bring the HEAT. Scarf Florges and super fang psychic noise Noivern put in the work, the Noivern able to 1v1 the RestTalk Suicune until it pulled out Tera Dark, but getting neutralized very quickly after it got tricked a scarf from Florges. The Noivern set proved to be very annoying to play around and after Fezandipti went down, Tera Fairy Florges helped clean up. A very excellent and exciting game from both players.

1726488877324.png
vs
1726488884707.png

Last but absolutely not least, RU's dearest Lime vs the chef himself. The chef lives up to his name with light ball fling Krookodile, a set of all time. Lime's scale shot u-turn Flygon kept up momentum as nothing really wanted to switch into it, and after Kushalos's Thundurus went down Jirachi had the freest of body slams. A few unlucky turns for Kush near the endgame with Volc's fire blast miss and Salamence getting paralyzed but Lime had too big of a lead at that point and he starts off his season with a strong win.

And now for usage stats!
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    6 |  60.00% |  33.33% |
| 2    | Cyclizar           |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 3    | Slither Wing       |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Jirachi            |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Krookodile         |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Hippowdon          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Volcanion          |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Umbreon            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Okidogi            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Talonflame         |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Goodra-Hisui       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Bisharp            |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Sylveon            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Slowbro            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Gardevoir          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Amoonguss          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Armarouge          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Empoleon           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Zapdos-Galar       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Florges            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Noivern            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Palossand          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Vaporeon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Fezandipiti        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Conkeldurr         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Not much to say here. Thundurus sits at top with the highest usage. Krookodile, Hisuian Goodra, and Slither Wing continue to be good mons in this meta. FRAUD Galarian Weezing didn't get a single use. Overall, very standard usage, hopefully we get to see more fun stuff next week.
 
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Week 2
:mew: Lime vs robjr :exeggutor-alola:
:aegislash: TheFranklin vs abriel :falinks:
:gible: Feliburn vs xavgb :gyarados:
:melmetal: elodin vs BIHI :zapdos-galar:
:kingambit: Fogbound Lake vs Kushalos :ninetales:
Who are you cheering for? Post your predicts below and check out the full week 2 of SCL IV here.
Lime vs robjr
TheFranklin vs abriel
Feliburn vs xavgb
elodin vs BIHI
Fogbound Lake vs Kushalos
Lime vs robjr
TheFranklin vs abriel
Feliburn vs xavgb
elodin vs BIHI
Fogbound Lake vs Kushalos
 
FlamPoke Predicts:

Lime vs robjr - Lime managed to get vengeance for the RUPL Semifinals Tiebreak loss to the chef last week with a team that was pretty well structured, outside of the notable Thwackey omission. robjr is a talented player but I think Lime and the 42 bench players supporting him will load another solid team. 60/40

TheFranklin vs abriel - Franklin got done in by a pretty funky team last week, though I wasn't the biggest fan of his team to be honest, presumably triple CM? I think this week is going to be a bounce-back for our beloved TL and abriel will have to take another loss, although it's worth noting abriel played pretty well last week and will likely come prepared for last mon CM situations. 60/40

Feliburn vs xavgb - Continuing the left-side bolds is Feli, who landed a great matchup last week by loading the most boring, fat team possible against an offensive structure that struggled to keep pace after the brainfart that was giving up Hoodra. xagvb brought a really funny team and played well, but I think Feli will load a solid enough team to keep whatever funky techs in check. 55/45

elodin vs BIHI - elodin kinda flopped to be honest, during the game I was pretty skeptical of the early Tera committal and not having HWish Jirachi to make up for the commitment was tough. BIHI kinda forgor some stuff last week but loaded a pretty cool team, I think this week they clean it up in-game and secure their first win. 45/55

Fogbound Lake vs Kushalos - Kush brought a pretty boring six, but Fling Krookodile was kinda cool I guess. Fogbound dipped into last years SCL builder with that Sylveon set apparently, and should probably be a bit more proactive as Kush isn't likely to let last-mon Bro win like abriel did. 45/55

I hope to see some fireworks in the builder this week as a few people brought some cool techs, though the teams were generally standard. I think we'll see the first full HO brought for sure as a lot of these cores looked susceptible to cheese (looking at you Lime vs robjr).
 
Lime vs robjr
Lime had an incredible debut running back the rupl semis tiebreak vs kush but I will stand by the BEAST EAST mentality. Although both these guys loaded pretty standard stuff, lime definitely had the bolder choices relative to the two. Scale shot u-turn flygon and what I can only assume was nasty plot psychic thundy aren't exactly things you see every day and I think that's definitely something to credit to lime and his team for being willing to invest in. But I the in-game also definitely revolved around some key para/hax turns from both sides that couldve turned the game on its head in either direction. Comparatively, rob's game just felt like he was wearing down elodin through winning small interactions that translated into the win which is why I'm more comfortable picking him. He does need to be careful though, the type of fat that he brought last week is painfully standard at this point and if lime gets into the kitchen at all, it will not be hard to cteam that into the ground should rob decide to invest in that type of structure for a second week in a row. This is especially the case with the massive advantage lime has in terms of in-house support.

TheFranklin vs abriel
Both franklin and abriel are coming off a disappointing week 1 L so this will be a big week to try and turn that around and get off the ground. Especially for franklin as the 1 seed, there is a definitely a certain pressure to pull out a W considering how last szn went for him when he was also the one seed. I think overall franklins in-game is sturdier than abriel's who has been known to let a winning position slip from time to time, last week being one of those instances where a last mon slowbro stole the game. However as i mentioned last week... tier leader debuff. In all seriousness, franklin definitely got caught out by some of the innovative sets that stresh was bringing to the table and thats kinda always been the case with franklin, he plays very sturdy but that can also lead to being somewhat predictable. If abriel can pick up on that and exploit it in the builder as well as tighten the screws to not let a good position get away from her, I think we could see an upset in the making. Getting the jump in the builder might be a tall ask for abriel though as franklin has probably the strongest support in the pool. That being said I think abriel has like the second strongest support in the pool so we'll have to wait and see what these teams will be cooking for this week.

Feliburn vs xavgb
Stresh brought some super hot fire to the table last week with psynoise spam which payed out huge dividends. Meanwhile feli, while still in his frutl buff window, brought a lot of standard which also payed dividends but is susceptible to being caught out by off meta. Because of this I think I'm leaning more towards stresh in this matchup. It's also notable that feli is still coming out of his retirement arc, shaking off the rust as he gets back in the swing of things, which I think we could see by the relatively conservative pick of team from him last week, a far cry from some of the more experimental picks he's had a lot of fun with in the past. Also as far as building goes both these guys are still kinda on their own insofar as crafting their teams. Feli from my knowledge still doesn't really have a second in-house voice to get advice from and as I mentioned last week, amphas a great support to test vs but as maybe a bit shakier still when it comes to the builder. Either way this shakes out, it's gonna be a great matchup and I think we should all be expecting fireworks from this slot.

elodin vs BIHI
I was thoroughly unimpressed by both openers from these guys. I was skeptical about how well they'd be able to handle in a pretty strong pool coming into the tournament and after the first week, I remain underwhelmed. It's still early in the season though, plenty of time to get your legs back under you and for this week I'm gonna rock with BIHI. There were some pretty glaring errors in bihi's prep/play last week, notably throwing hoodra out for no reason and bringing a 6 that got pretty thoroughly manhandled by umbreon, but that's just the thing, these are pretty clear cut errors that can be fixed pretty easily. Like "scarf gapdos is faster than hoodra even when parad dont switch it in" or "have a poison type on the team" or smth and those mistakes are quite clearly patched, and beyond those, it didn't seem like there was a ton wrong with how BIHI handled themselves last week. Conversely, elodin's game I thought didn't really have that, oh no you messed up here moment. It felt like he just made some questionable calls that led to less than favorable positions that ended with a loss for him and that type of thing is a bit harder to correct for than the big obvious stuff. I will say elodin has the far and away stronger support this week, but whether that will be enough to translate to a win, we'll just have to wait and see.

Fogbound Lake vs Kushalos
Fogbound cashed out on his free slowbro win of the szn, but I would be stunned if that same type of thing is gonna work out the same way vs kush. Looking to bounce back from a disappointing L week 1, i feel like kush will definitely be trying to get in the win column and really pull out all the stops in the builder, smth that I think was kinda missing from him last week. Not to say that fling light ball krook isnt exactly the type of thing Kush rocks with, but all in all things looked a little safe from the chef last week not to mention the absolute THROW in builder with fire blast volcanion , so I think we can expect a little more spice. In this matchup specifically as well, that spice might be the best utilized. Fog used a team last week that had like a one mon edit from an ajna team that was brought last scl? If this is a trend that we see continue this week, with going to the well for some recycled squads, going up against a menace in the builder like Kush is gonna be extra tough.
 
Taking some motivation from the NU Discussion Thread (Django notably) and doing a Week One Team Rating:

Top-Shelf Teams:

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I like the development of Fairy-types not named Gardevoir this week, with Choice Scarf Trick/Synthesis Florges, SubCM Sylveon, and SpikeStack Klefki/Palossand making appearances. xavgb had a really cool team overall with two Psychic Noise users in Mew and Noivern to shut down the fat WishPass structures that are everywhere in the tier. Fogbound dipped into last years SCL builder with that SubCM Sylveon apparently, though it did work really well at pressuring abriel and forcing some uncomfortable situations that let Slowbro clutch the game late. abriel brought a team from the pre-Hoodra meta, though the idea of SpikeStack was nice and the trio of Klefki/Palossand/Slither Wing is deceptively good still to me. I think these three showed really strong metagame knowledge with their builds and will carry that momentum into this week - I'm super excited to see what they cook up.

Solid Teams:

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Not to be outdone by the rest of the pool, these three brought teams that were pretty well structured. Lime strayed from his more traditional style with a pretty cool six that saw Scale Shot/U-turn Flygon, which is a funny idea, along with Psychic Thundurus. BIHI was always going to have a tough time against the defensive quartet that Feli brought, especially after the blunder that was losing Hoodra in the mid-game after some really strong plays early, but the team overall was solid and representative of the meta. Feli must have figured some sort of offense was coming, with that defensive quartet, plus Choice Scarf Gapdos and HDB Armarouge, being a fantastic (albeit boring) six. I like this trio of teams a fair amount and will keep an eye on what these three do next week.

Good Teams:

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These two are kind of interesting teams to me, though neither really have that oomph to them that warrants a higher placing. Franklin brought what was presumably triple CM spam (Fez never revealed it) but his team lacked ways to pressure the opponent enough to get his mons in position to me - Tera Dark Suicune needs more support and I don't think it had it here. Kushalos, on the other hand, brought a funny Fling Krookodile with Light Ball that nabbed a para on Slither Wing that was nice, but otherwise I'm not sure this team really had great win conditions generally - the Conk was presumably BU since it revealed lefties + three attacks, which I guess benefits from the ParaSpam nature of the team, but otherwise it lacked mons to capitalize on the status. I think both of these players will go a bit more aggressive in the builder, stuff like CB Okidogi or LO Mienshao are on my radar from these two.

Samples?:

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I won't lie, neither of these teams really inspired me here. I am not convinced either of these two actually committed to learning the tier this week, likely leaning on whatever support they have in their team chat to build safe, meta-relevant teams. elodin did have a cool SubBU Tera Dark Okidogi, but I said it during the game that his committal to using Tera early without HWish support from Jirachi was pretty baffling considering rob had a Talonflame that ended up getting the defining burn - special Jirachi with Psychic Noise and Thunder was cool though, I guess. rob brought a team that legitimately looks like a sample to me, outside of I guess the Talonflame but even then that core five is so boring - rob won the game between these two, but neither of these teams were up to par with the rest of the pool and they'll both need to commit a lot more time and effort if they hope to keep up.
 
Week 2 recaps!

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We see a safe standard team from robjr and an interesting offense from Lime. Robjr's banded Krook looks to be a menace to this team but it's quickly forced out by Okidogi which pops the tera turn 5 and goes for game in front of the Hippowdon and forcing a tera from rob's Cyclizar. After thinking he was done with the horrid dog, Jirachi clicks healing wish to bring it back later and at that point Lime had too big of a lead and scored his second victory this season!

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Abriel subbed out for damien the genius and zzzzzzzz goodra wishpass zzzzz, although specs Goodra did go crazy into the opposing team provided you click the right buttons (which didn't happen). Franklin brought a spikestack team with interesting sets, taunt protective pads Gapdos, roar Volcanion, banded tera normal Cyclizar, and a sneasel which never got to come out. Vaporeon gave too many ins to Franklin's Volcanion and the Goodra didn't click as many times as it should've to win so Damien's team succumbs to the hazards and Franklin redeems himself from last week, win!

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This match have been commentated on live and will be uploaded to RUtube later, so check it out! Right off the bat, we see some very interesting mons on Feliburn's spikestack, Overqwil, while RU by usage for some reason, sees virtually no play, but Feliburn chose him as the spiker for the team. We also see a specs Inteleon with mudshot (confirmed by feli). Xav's team looks a little more standard and a bit on the bulky side. Xav's Chesnaught revealed a good amount of speed investment as it blew up Goodra with Close Combat, a very funny turn to watch live. After Goodra going down, Noivern nabbed a kill with Draco Meteor every time it came in and stresh gets his second win this season.

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vs
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Now this is a game, Elodin with a cool bulky offense and BIHI with a... I'm not sure, but it's cool to look at. You really have to watch this game yourself, BIHI's team couldn't really break past Elodin's strong defensive core and ended up getting 6-0'd. Looking rough for BIHI as he's adapting to the meta so we hope to see a win from him in the future. Elodin secures a victory to make up for last week's loss.

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There Is A Cacturne On My Screen, in addition to a Chansey and a Feraligatr but. Cacturne! Some interesting teams from both and devious tech from Fogbound with ice beam (serene grace?) Chansey freezing Kush's Okidogi instantly. The real MVP here was Feraligatr which managed to KO ALL 6 mons on the opposing team with its SD set instead of the more traditional and common DD set, Cacturne also failed to stop Feraligatr as it folded to a +2 Tera Dark Crunch. Fogbound wins to get a nice 2-0 record while Kushalos surpisingly with a 0-2, we really hope to see the chef bounce back.

And now for usage stats!
Code:
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Krookodile         |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 1    | Okidogi            |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 4    | Jirachi            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 4    | Cyclizar           |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Volcanion          |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Weezing-Galar      |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Empoleon           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Zapdos-Galar       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Palossand          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Slowbro            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Hippowdon          |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Goodra-Hisui       |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 6    | Talonflame         |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Barraskewda        |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Zoroark-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Gligar             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Klefki             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Sneasel            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Noivern            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Reuniclus          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Chesnaught         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Registeel          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Salamence          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Bisharp            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Chansey            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Slither Wing       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Feraligatr         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Vaporeon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Inteleon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Overqwil           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Conkeldurr         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Flygon             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Mew                |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Suicune            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Mimikyu            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Cacturne           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Magnezone          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
Thundurus, Krookodile, and Okidogi sitting at the top of usage. Okidogi with a dire 25% win rate though, Hisuian Goodra with only 2 uses and a 0% win rate, not surprising as more teams prepare and adapt to its presence in the builder after last week. Jirachi and Volcanion boast some high win rates, proving to be good mons, especially Volcanion as teams trend away from Cyclizar as their removal of choice. Hope to see bigger changes, and even more excited to see our SCL heroes manage in a hopefully-soon-to-be :ogerpon: meta.
 
Week 3
:falinks: abriel vs Feliburn :gible:
:zapdos-galar: BIHI vs Lime :mew:
:gyarados: xavgb vs elodin :melmetal:
:ninetales: Kushalos vs robjr :exeggutor-alola:
:kingambit: Fogbound Lake vs TheFranklin :aegislash:
Who are you cheering for? Post your predicts below and check out the full week 3 of SCL IV here.
abriel vs Feliburn
BIHI vs Lime
xavgb vs elodin
Kushalos vs robjr
Fogbound Lake vs TheFranklin
abriel vs Feliburn
BIHI vs Lime
xavgb
vs elodin
Kushalos vs robjr
Fogbound Lake vs TheFranklin
 
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Welcome back folks, today I'll be going over the Week Two teams, with a bit of insight into the progression we've seen from certain people:

Strong Builders:

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Overall, these three have brought teams that have played well and had great synergy, making them my clear-cut top of the pool thus far. Lime is doing really well, as us Hustlers expected, both in the builder and in-game: I expect to see heat from his slot every week. xavgb brought back-to-back solid teams that had enough set diversity and 'surprise factor', like offensive Chesnaught this week, to warrant a top spot in my rankings. Initially, I wasn't a fan of the bring from Fogbound this week, as Chansey generally feels like a momentum sink and Feraligatr felt... ambitious? but regardless, the team actually functioned like they wanted against a strong opponent and I like their willingness to bring cool stuff.

Ambitious but Solid:

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These two are known for building strong, anti-meta stuff, and this week felt a bit ambitious as neither could bring home the win despite some cool ideas. Feli brought Specs Inteleon with an EQ Hoodra that landed the matchup it wanted, with Empoleon getting basically eviscerated by Hoodra, but struggled to get past stresh after the Chesnaught stole a kill on Hoodra - overall, really cool team and idea, but was a bit short of being able to win. Similarly, Kushalos brought a really anti-meta pick in Cacturne, hoping to farm Slowbro nonsense while relying on the core of Magnezone and Okidogi to make progress. Magnezone clicked Protect btw, very interesting... overall, Kush is close to burning the kitchen down in a bad way, so hopefully they reign back a bit and bring safer structures.

Falling Behind:

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This group, to me, is kind of underperforming given the early hype they all had. Franklin loaded a Sneasel SpikeStack, which is a cool idea given how great Dark and Ice STAB is, but the team was generally kind of boring and felt really weak given the reliance on hazards to really make progress - pads Gapdos with Sneasel/Cyc Speed control seems bad, though offensive Cyc was cool I guess. Franklins opponent this week ended up being damien > abriel, not entirely sure what came up here but damien loaded a very standard boring team, probably wanted to just stick with standard as a sub, which is fair - expecting abriel to bring something good next week after some time off. BIHI's team felt so ambitious this week, landing a horrid matchup with limited ways to make progress against the combo of Registeel and Slowbro.

Standard is BORING:

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Okay, elodin's team this week wasn't particularly standard, as IronPress Registeel is secretly really good and the rest of his team was actually kinda gas, but after week one and facing BIHI here I still rate this slot pretty low. robjr is 2/2 on loading teams straight out of the samples submission thread (don't fact check me), though CB Krook was a cool mon to see, blowing up Gligar early before proceeding to get dominated by a cool Guard Dog Okidogi from Lime.

On my radar this week is more NUBL mons, as we've yet to see actually good mons like Gallade, Lilligant-Hisui, Lucario, and Lycanroc-Dusk show up so far. I think this week has some cool matchups and there are enough solid builders to dip into the NUBL pool (please guys)...
 
i went 1/5 last week kek
abriel vs Feliburn
feli asked for memes to play ssnl last week and then said that inspired him in discord so... yknow take that as you will. abriel needed a sub last week and feli suffered his first L of the szn so bit of bounceback game for both of them. I am casually optimistic at this point that feli will cook smth neat without burning himself so I'll give the edge to him. I'm also assuming the team damien loaded last week was the originally planned team abriel was going to use as well, and going off that metric I wasn't really a huge fan of the build. Theres nothing wrong with it perse, its standard generic nonsense, but we've seen standard generic nonsense get kinda stomped lately so idk if that same approach is viable for abriel this week.

BIHI vs Lime
Lime has been popping off in the tour so far being one of three undefeated RU starters so far. His builds have been fun and his play has been solid coming off a dominating win last week vs robjr on the back of a super cool tground guard dog bu dogi. BIHI on the other hand has been struggling a lot with getting into the swing of things with the tier, coming off being freshly 6-0d last week. Lime has the momentum, experience with tier, and a better overall showing so far so I feel no reason to bold against him until proven otherwise.

xavgb vs elodin
After a week 1 L elodin bounced back in spectacular fashion last week, convincingly 6-0ing BIHI but now were talking ab stresh, and stresh is a completely different animal elodin has to deal with. Stresh is one of the other undefeated players left standing and has done it off creative and practical brings, two things often hard to marry together especially on the scl stage. His play has been solid, his teams have looked good but with a twist, and he has momentum coming into the week, all of which make me convinced stresh can do it again and come out with his third win of the tour.

Kushalos vs robjr
Both of these guys are coming off pretty brutal stompings last week. Kush got put down by an SD feraligatr that killed literally every mon on his team and rob got brutalized by that tground guard dog dogi I mentioned earlier in this post. All that to say is, this is gonna be an important statement week for both these guys to get the ball rolling again. I'm bolding kush here purely because as far as the scout is concerned, rob has a pretty generic looking set of teams hes brought so far, and kush should have a relatively easier time prepping for it. However as we saw from last week, a standard 5+random cacturne is not enough to get the job done, so this match is really a tossup

Fogbound Lake vs TheFranklin
Franklin did a great job maneuvering around a specs hoodra last week that otherwise wouldve pieced up his team which was really impressive to me. Fogbound gave Feraligatr a 6 kill count in SCL. This is my highlight matchup af. Fog is coming in defending an unbeaten streak and I've doubted on him so far, but this is Franklin he's playing and I think Frank will come out guns blazing trying to start a lil win streak and finally get himself a positive record. Regardless of how this turns out tho, the real winner will be the fans
 
Haven't done predicts before, so this should be interesting.
abriel vs Feliburn Feli always brings heat, and I don't think he will dissapoint this time. I do think though, that he does have to try not to burn the kitchen, as a fellow "heat mon" expert myself, there is a fine line between cooking and burning. Abriel I think could pull something unique out, the spikestack team was def cool, but I honestly don't know enough about them to make accurate prediction for them, so I def am going with Feliburn.
BIHI vs Lime Lime has been doing amazingly this tour, and the techs they have been pulling out are phenominal. BIHI has definetely been pulling some heat teams, so I don't think this is going to be an easy battle.
xavgb vs elodin I actually watched live the match for week 2 where xavgb pulled up with cc chesnaught, so I'm bolding him. Elodin getting a 6-0 is def impressive, but there squads have been a bit 'normal'. ID+BP Registeel was def interesting, always a good mon that people forget to account for, so they could pull something unique out.
Kushalos vs robjr Honestly, I don't think kushalos has been doing too badly. Yes, sadly they got 6-0 last week, but the fling krook from week one and the cacturne pick from week two shows they are willing to innovate. On the opposite corner, robjr has been bringing very standard teams. The RU meta honestly encourages and rewards innovation, and that can be as simple as a few unique sets. I really hope that robjr can pull out something very unique, cause I will happily admit I was wrong about this predict.
Fogbound Lake vs TheFranklin TheFraklin is amazing, but man, Fogbound Lake has been killing it. That 6-0 with the SD Feraligatr was insane, and even chansey, a mon I think is terrible outside of stall, did something. TheFranklin is definetely bringing some heat with sneasel, which while I don't think sneasel is good, is definetely a bit of an off meta pick. Honestly, could see TheFranklin pulling an upset, but for now, my money's on Fogbound Lake.
 
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