SCL IV UU Discussion Thread

[avarice]

Welcome to the Smogon Champions League 4 Discussion Thread -- UU edition! This thread will be used to discuss UU in SCL IV related topics, whether it’s about the players, general metagame trends, matches, predictions, etc.

Commencement Thread
Schedule
Replays

Pricelist

UU Prices

Amukamara - 9500
avarice - 4000
bbeeaa - 37000
Bouff - 4000
Colin - 7500
etern - 10000
Eternal Spirit - 4500
frankjosh - 5000
JustFranco - 10000
Lily - 27000
Lyssa - 19000
Mossy Sandwich
Nat - 3000
pdt - 25000
Punny - 20000
Skarpherim - 13000
spell - 3000
Taka - 3000
Vert - 32000
vivalospride - 9500
xavgb - 25000

UU Player Cores
Managers in italics
Starters in bold

Studio Gible - Amukamara, etern, Eternal Spirit, Nat
Orange Islanders - Colin, pdt
Indigo Platoon - Skarpherim, Taka
Uncharted Terrors - Lyssa, xavgb
Technical Machines - avarice, Bouff, frankjosh, JustFranco, mncmt
Mt. Silver Foxes - Gondra, Punny
Power Plant Dynamos - bbeeaa, spell
Showdown Shoguns - Vert
Circuit Breakers - Lily
Arena Spartans - Mossy Sandwich, vivalospride

~

Here's to a fun SCL!

​

 

[ASKOV]

quick rankings, might elaborate on them more properly later

1 - Orange Islanders - Colin, pdt
2 - Mt. Silver Foxes - Gondra, Punny

Probably a consensus for most people, alternating Punny and pdts placements depending on who you ask.

Both are players that have their own team style and can mess with almost anything efficiently while making them work by having enough meta knowledge to not bring totally dogshit stuff and being really hard to prep for, ranking pdt first just because i think colin is a better support than gondra in case they need to bounce ideas

3 - Uncharted Terrors - Lyssa, xavgb
4 - Power Plant Dynamos - bbeeaa, spell
5- Showdown Shoguns - Vert

Kinda hard to really say who would be 3, 4 and 5, and arguably even 6 and 7 could merge there, but i think those 3 are a bit above regarding meta knowledge and/or ingame skill.

Ranking Lyssa in 3 because umbry and xavgb support are very strong while lyssa herself being pretty knowledgeable of the meta

Bea being ranked in 4 because he does have support in spell which has been a strong builder as of late.

In terms of higher ceilling and depending on how the meta shifts to with October tier shifts and how much of a fresh meta we get i could see Vert 3 Bea 4 Lyssa 5

6 - Indigo Platoon - Skarpherim, Taka
7- Technical Machines - avarice, Bouff, frankjosh, JustFranco, mncmt

Both are strong players but for this level of competition they might fall a bit behind. Skarph is still a player that even without being that much in touch with the meta he still always pulls strong results when playing the tier so he definitely has the potential to beat the players above in my ranking, and while not having as huge of a support as some of the players above he still can count on taka, xrn and star who at least have played the tier.

In terms of raw number and amount of support the Machines is the best one, but i fear Franco might just stick to his style that did work in the past but has become a bit more exploitable as of late, still should not be lacking at all in supporting advices with mncmt just winning open and getting into slam finals undefeated in uu, avarice managing uupl and bouff and frankjosh, while not as active in sv uu, still being pretty in touch with UU as a whole

8 - Circuit Breakers - Lily
9 - Arena Spartans - Mossy Sandwich, vivalospride
10 - Studio Gible - Amukamara, etern, Eternal Spirit, Nat

I think they are easily top of UU pool in UU subforum tours, but in this level of competition there are always strong players that need to be ranked down.

A motivated Lily could easily be mid~low higher part of the pool, and while she hasn't been that out of touch with the tier, her lack of time + not as invested in building in this tier could be a factor in making she struggle a bit.

Spartans have a cool core and both have interesting building ideas, but i do think that when paired with the higher part of the pool they could fall a bit short regarding ingame execution and/or get a bit lost in the sauce, still definitely one of the cores i wanna see thrive and prove me wrong.

The gibles have a weird mix of players/support, they should be no slouch to UU but aside from amukamara and etern idt they have played sv uu/had good results recently. Amukamara is possibly the top BW UU player but i don't know how well his skills would transfer to sv uu at this level of competition, he did 3-0 in wcop pools i think which is always a good sign but if i'm not mistaken the competition level was considerably lower + had better support in said tour.

 

[spell]

really looking forward to seeing how viv/vert/rei perform in particular. glhf. also please ban hoopa it’s laughable that this has yet to happen… will maybe do predictions here go dynamos

 

[lax]

similar to what I did for Ubers, I figured I'd do one for UU too bc this shit is also dry as hell. this is quite possibly the strongest UU pool this tier has ever seen, and there's only one singular post here? that's crazy no?

TOP 4 CLEAR CUT ABOVE THE REST

bea: like shake said, bea is a clear cut above the rest in terms of sheet farming, which means that he's one of the best bo1 players on this website. his record is ridiculous, and despite his trolly antics of "lolz idc", I feel like you don't even need to know him to know that he's extremely passionate. his passion may not lie in "pokemon" specifically, but it absolutely involves wanting to embarrass every other player and especially mainers while talking a lot of shit. something I respect a lot. in terms of farming this tournament, he is absolutely the best SCL/Snake player and with his tryhard little gremlin by his side, he should be well equipped. I'd say whether or not his teams are refined and strong is rly important, especially in SV lower tiers

pdt: I put pdt as second bc I think he's probably the second best sheet farmed in this pool. shit like casually farming SPL SV OU bringing the same dogwater offenses every week is very impressive and usually comes down to him out aggroing his opponents. he put up a strong performance last year and also won a tiebreak which only elevates his aura and capabilities. his matchups in particular vs vert and bea is what I'm most excited for because if there's a mainer to hold the tour players down it's only him

Punny: punny is very good and very consistent. there isn't a lot I could say about him that wouldn't be regurgitated by every other mainer on the website, but he is yet another very consistent snake/scl player. he makes his own teams and is very creative (I've stolen his lefties tect iron thornz team and personally endorse it). the top 3 between the above 3 is very hard to pick and I'm sure people have varying opinions on who goes in what order. I will say I feel like motivation is a factor here? not sure if punny fucks with raptor or the team, but he's generally always had friends by his side and I feel like that's important here.

Vert: while I'm not ranking Vert bc he's my teammate, he is very clearly in the top 4 with the rest of the three. SV is burned into the right side of his brain which is the part of your brain that's more intuitive, creative, and primal. won't say much bc he's my teammate, but you guys won't need to worry about "support" in this slot. that's my guy

REMAINING

Amukumara: I think amu (that's his name now) is honestly the best of the remaining 6 players. he had a strong wcop showing and historically strong UUPL showings (albeit in BW UU). watching his play in particular, I definitely feel like he knows what he's doing and how to play. I know he had the support of the gremlin for wcop, which prob will make a difference, but if his teams are up to par, my hot take is that he'll do really well

Skarpherim: I'm a major skarph believer. once upon a time, US west needed him two years ago and he disappeared without saying anything. then, he returned and started grinding a million tournaments and surprising a lot of people. he was probably the best player on my RUPL team (lol we flopped), but the creativity he showed in building his own teams and his crazy plays were enough to convince me that this guy is pretty sheist. this dude used focus punch volcanion to lure and OHKO a cyclizar, aka RU thanos. he has the important support of the stairmaster and my only fault with him is that he will definitely have nerve issues, at least based on his OLT showing being pretty shaky (got haxed tho). I expect him to struggle a bit to acclimate but end stronger (lose week 1 please)

JustFranco: justfranco also known as LT111Z jf aka tried to stall every cycle and didn't make it is a lot better than I just described him. personally, seeing someone ram their heads into the wall and fail to qualify with stall in every cycle definitely lessens my trust in a player, but that's obv my own opinion. he's had very solid showings for other tournaments including many side PLs, so he's definitely pretty good. just don't stall I guess

Lyssa: I'm a fan of Lyssa, but I'm very surprised she went for 19k in the draft. it doesn't feel like she has the experience or clout from farming side tours/slam to warrant such a price, but shit happens. she also has the unconditional support of umbry, who I consider to be one of the best lower tier builders ever (which I guess is UU, RU, DOU so not everything). umbry has a very strong mind for the game and picking good matchups, so the big test comes down to lyssa using their teamwork properly and then executing in game. would be a pleasant surprise to see this slot exceed expectations

Lily: lily really has not performed well in any SCL I believe but always comes back to farm WCOP. not sure if there's a mental barrier/difference or an attitude/effort thing or smth, but she is really not an inspiring star player of 28k price. as I said tho, at her peak in WCOP she was gooning noobs and making sheist teams. she also did well in slam, but also got 3-0d by mncmt in the fastest series of all time (I got 3-0d in slam too so she beat my record) so it's hard to confidently say that she can do well. I'd expect a repeat of last year or similar

vivalospride: unfortunately, there always has to be some1 at the bottom. I'm actually a big fan of viv and was planning on grabbing him myself but got outbid extremely. he's always been kinda known as "rozes sub adjacent", but I think he had solid games in WCOP and used a really cool tech into my teammate. you gotta break through just being a support main at some point, so this is the tour he'll look to do that in

FINAL PRS:
bea > pdt > Punny > Amukumara > Skarpherim > JustFranco > Lyssa > Lily > vivalospride ||||||| dark horse TRIPLE VERTICAL X THE GOAT

ranking this group was hard bc every player here has some strong qualities and traits going for them that either make them an underdog or dark horse. this is easily the strongest UU pool I've ever seen in the team tours I've experienced on smogon. will be looking forward to it

 

[vivalospride]

donating my words to a dead thread, thank you lax/askov for content so far

rough prs, not numerical, just roughly grouping ppl together while i shit at work

the order in which i put people’s names doesn’t specifically matter

Punny
pdt
Vert

imo these are the top 3, Punny is god and if he’s having even a modicum of fun with the tier he will destroy 100% of the time going AT LEAST +2 positive without question. When he is actively present in the tier the tier naturally progresses a shit ton by just him building and playing games and talking to ppl. I.e. speedy dirge last SCL, cheese during wc, etc.

pdt has that dawg in him and i can’t imagine him doing poorly. I definitely rank him below punny that is all i’ve got in regards to specific rankings. Main reason for this is because I think his success is much more mental than Punny’s and he can more realistically drop games/have a lower floor. While this isn’t something I expect whatsoever, an even tour from him wouldn’t completely blow my mind like it would with Punny. He will have unique takes and bring his offensive style each game and do well I would guess.

Vert is not a UU player but he is one of the best SV minds plausible. His success will pretty much completely depend on how much he ends up liking and actively trying with the tier itself. If he does his shit, he will end up going positive with fresh as fuck stuff every week, i’d bet money honestly. Any comments of “uu support” is stupid, uu support options in totality are limited and regardless he will easily figure this tier out much faster than the majority of other ppl would. Similar to Punny i expect him to push the tier forward by simply being here and doing his thing.

bea
lily
reina
liam

Idk why I even bothered doing this whole “group” thing bc rly the entire rest of the pool could go here but im gonna roughly cut it off with these four. I think bea has highest ceiling of the group and potentially the highest floor as well. I have never teamed with him but I wonder how much input spelly c will have, whether it be hard building every week or just pointing vaguely in the right direction. This will probably matter to some degree but hard to say which route is better. I lack info abt bea in general aside from having an understanding that they’re good at pokemon so expectations have been set high from me.
Lily is the tier leader for a reason and I have seen a fair bit of Lily disrespect in terms of rankings. Truly i don’t fully not understand it because she hasn’t played SV UU as much as she played SS UU during cg, but I think she is a bit of a natural when it comes to pokemon, and if she is in a good head space she can easily do very good, I also think her floor could be lower than others but ceiling just as high if not higher than others. We will see what happens rly. I still believe she should be higher on a lot of people’s lists.
Reina is a big dark horse in my book because she has barely played this tier in a tournament setting really at all. She is very vocal about the tier and has a lot of incredible individuals backing her, meta knowledge is not something that can be doubted. My main concern is whether or not she will live up to the pressure of this price tag in a genuinely incredible pool. I could see her doing very well, but a negative tour wouldn’t blow my mind. Which kinda is how I’ve decided these groups in general: “what would surprise me the most in terms of someone putting up a poor performance”, because fr this pool is great and all of these slots can do well. I will be tuning into every one of her games for sure to see how her story unfolds.
Liam is another dark horse because I swear this guy lives in old gen UUs. I have no idea what any of his meta takes are honestly. I know he did well in wc pools and ik his skill level relatively well for sure, and he is good and should demand respect from any opponent. I just have no idea what he will use, no real clue as to how to evaluate him confidently in this meta, because I haven’t watched him play it very much, personally. I’m mostly basing him being in this group out of personal bias and respect for him as a player and user. I’m excited to see what he brings to the table.

Franco
Skarph

I could actually set these guys’ ceilings higher than a few people above them pretty confidently. I just think they have some obstacles potentially.

These two could easily be upper echelon of the group directly above them, I just have a few questions. Franco’s style has been very linear and fat leaning for a long time in this tier and I think it might get abused in this tournament. His play is not in question though, he is fire and can easily do well as he has all year.
Skarph’s experience w the tier is more limited than the majority of the pool, while not having the name weight as others in similar situations like bea/Vert. With that said he has popped off for two uupls in a row and I can see him easily doing well similar to literally everyone else in the pool. I just would be less surprised if his floor ended up being lower than his competition’s in this tournament. US West bias regardless tho, I am hella rooting for him in this tournament.

lax post struck home w me as I truly have been the support guy for a long ass time. I’ve been around for quite a while and this is the first time I can say with confidence that I deserve to be here. I belong in this pool, win or lose though I am just excited to do my thing and compete with all of you guys. Blessings

 

[Hydronics]

I don't keep up with anything sv uu related. A part of me even wonders why I'm making this post as I'm typing this. However, after reading the scl power rankings and a few other posts, I felt motivated to post something which is very rare for me.

I'm genuinely confused why amuker aka liam was ranked 10th. I feel like he's done very well in sv uu this year and has played roughly the same amount of games in this tier as a lot of the other starters in this tour. Liam's my friend and he's the one who dragged me into the uu scene when I was a no name random with 0 games in this tier 2 years ago. Even though Liam is my guy, this post will have no bias and I'm going to be as objective as possible.

Liam at 10th is so weird to me. He's played a decent amount of sv uu this year and he did really well. I know he went 2-0 in wcop qualifiers for canada and even went 3-0 in the main stage. His pool was pretty difficult too. I don't think any of the 3 people he beat were bad either. Liam also had to win his pool 3-0 cause canada was on the verge of relegation and if he lost any of those games, they would have had to play another year of qualifiers. All of his sv uu games were important and he didn't get any free wins.

With regards to the other players in the pool, I think Liam has a really good chance at beating some of the bigger names. Most of the people in the pool are very established uu names. You most likely will see them in every big tour that has current gen uu. Liam has played a lot of them already so he's very familiar with most of these people. I think people are putting far too much weight in sv being a detriment for him. Generally in pokemon, I think if you give a good player a good team, they'll figure it out. I don't think sv uu is a super complex tier in the slightest so as long as Liam has good teams, I think he'll do fine. He's beaten a lot of the people in this pool in multiple old gen uu tiers so I do have a lot of faith in him as long as he gets good teams every week.

Now I did go check the week 1 matchups. While I'm not going to comment on any other games, I think Liam pulled the absolute most interesting/exciting matchup he could for week 1. For his first game of the season, he has to go up against bbeeaa. That is going to be an insane matchup and definitely one I wanted to see the most. This could be a top 3 game of the uu season. Even though this is a very exciting matchup, it's probably one of the worst draws liam could have gotten week 1. I know punny and pdt were ranked number 1 & 2 respectively in the pr rankings but If I had to guess, I would assume liam would have taken either one of them week 1 over bbeeaa. Liam has played punny so much in bw uu and pdt in sm. He's very acquainted with both of them. Instead he gets bbeeaa who is someone who he'd probably like to face off against much later in the tournament. I don't think bbeeaa has played very much sv uu but I don't think that will matter. Like I said, if you give a good player a good team, they will generally figure it out and do well. This is without a doubt the most exciting sv uu game of the week for me. If I had to make a prediction, I would lean slightly towards liam to win. Nonetheless, this is a crazy game to be given week 1. I would say this is a top 3 sv uu game of the season, even though most people disagree.

It's a bold prediction but I will say that liam will do very well in this pool. I don't think being ranked last will get to him at all. I know in one of the old uupl power rankings many years ago, his team was ranked dead last and they ended up winning the tournament. It's probably going to motivate him to work harder and prove people wrong. I'm willing to say that liam is going to do well despite what most people think.

 

[umbry]

I'm a bit late to the party as official prs are already out so I'll leave mine in a spoiler below, feel free to also check out the official article here.

hello!

#1. Mt. Silver Foxes - Punny - top 2 can be in any order really, I would have punny first just because I rate his building higher than anyone else and his in-game is also as good as it can get, very excited to see how he reinvents the meta in his own way...or ruins it...like with iron crown... should be another great season for punny.
#2. Orange Islanders - pdt, Colin - we have seen pdt consistently farm every uu tournament for years at this point, in my opinion what puts him apart from the rest of the pool is his ability to know exactly when to push for an advantage, as well as his creativity with offensive picks, I expect him to stay at the top once more.
-
#3. Showdown Shoguns - Vert - pretty much breathes sv in his system, should be able to make a lot of noise if he can figure out building on his own, it'll be interesting to see how it all translates to uu.
#4. Technical Machines - JustFranco, avarice, mncmt - the meta at this point in time rewards creative off meta picks and team styles, franco has always been about that and has a very high ceiling with his preferred bulky team compositions so he very well may thrive, it might depend on how quickly the rest of the pool adapts to it.
#5. Power Plant Dynamos - bbeeaa, spell - by no means inferior to the others above in playing abilities, it just seems bea doesn't really build so he might have a slower start as he has to get accustomed to the tier as well as to spell's teams, if things do click for them early enough then there's a good chance they end with a top record.
-
#6. Indigo Platoon - Skarpherim, LpZ - I rate his playing abilities the best in this "lower" end of the pool. I know he is self sufficient and a good builder as that as well but there doesn't seem to be any dedicated support for him on this team, but he might not need if he gets a good grasp of the tier early enough.
#7. Arena Spartans - vivalospride, Mossy Sandwich - 2 good builders, I really like this core. Probably the duo who has the "most" to prove on the big stage, but they seem very motivated to do so, viv in particular so I think they'll be able to find some success. They should get a headstart on most games with matchups if they make the most out of their building skills, so it'll be up to viv to convert, and he has shown he can do it in wcop.
#8. Circuit Breakers - Lily, Sabella - I consider both of these player about equal in UU right now, breakers opted for lily as the starter and sabella as support which makes sense considering lily is a good overall player but currently lacks the building factor right now, which sabella can very much compensate for. Lily being at 8th only speaks about how good this player pool is, and If she can bring out her best in this tournament she can surely outshine this ranking.
#9. Studio Gible - Amukamara, etern - I am a bit worried about this core being prone to burnout in a long season, as the only builder on the gibles (afaik) in sv uu is etern, who is also starting in nu and has to care about their own games, seeing as liam is not a very proficient builder in current gen, this is why I would put them at the bottom. Obviously if we were ranking uu trophies liam would be first by a very large margin, this, on top of a 3-0 wcop performance, shows he has what it takes to outperform people's expectations if he can show up with good teams every week.

Week 1 Matchups:
Skarpherim vs Vert
pdt vs Lily
bbeeaa vs Amukamara
Lyssa vs Mossy Sandwich
Punny vs JustFranco

prediction format

[PLA] Skarpherim vs Vert [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Lily [BRE]
[DYN] bbeeaa vs Amukamara [GIB]
[TER] Lyssa vs Mossy Sandwich [SPA]
[FOX] Punny vs JustFranco [TMS]

good luck to everyone playing ^^ hopefully a fun season lies ahead!

Usage Stats Weeks 1-4

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Excadrill           |   16 |  40.00% |  68.75% |
| 2    | Hydrapple           |   12 |  30.00% |  58.33% |
| 3    | Okidogi             |   11 |  27.50% |  63.64% |
| 4    | Tornadus-Therian    |   11 |  27.50% |  72.73% |
| 5    | Hoopa-Unbound       |   10 |  25.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Zapdos              |   10 |  25.00% |  30.00% |
| 7    | Cobalion            |   10 |  25.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Rotom-Wash          |   10 |  25.00% |  70.00% |
| 9    | Scizor              |    8 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 10   | Gardevoir           |    7 |  17.50% |  28.57% |
| 11   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    6 |  15.00% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Tinkaton            |    6 |  15.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Lokix               |    6 |  15.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Greninja            |    6 |  15.00% |  66.67% |
| 15   | Tyranitar           |    6 |  15.00% |  66.67% |
| 16   | Revavroom           |    5 |  12.50% |  20.00% |
| 17   | Latios              |    5 |  12.50% |  60.00% |
| 18   | Mandibuzz           |    5 |  12.50% |  40.00% |
| 19   | Hydreigon           |    5 |  12.50% |  40.00% |
| 20   | Skeledirge          |    5 |  12.50% |  40.00% |
| 21   | Ogerpon             |    4 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 22   | Rhyperior           |    4 |  10.00% |  75.00% |
| 23   | Gastrodon-East      |    4 |  10.00% |  75.00% |
| 24   | Gligar              |    4 |  10.00% |  50.00% |
| 25   | Pecharunt           |    4 |  10.00% |  75.00% |
| 26   | Slowking            |    4 |  10.00% |  75.00% |
| 27   | Manaphy             |    3 |   7.50% |  66.67% |
| 28   | Sinistcha           |    3 |   7.50% |  66.67% |
| 29   | Gastrodon           |    3 |   7.50% |   0.00% |
| 30   | Thundurus-Therian   |    3 |   7.50% |   0.00% |
| 31   | Enamorus-Therian    |    3 |   7.50% |  66.67% |
| 32   | Comfey              |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 33   | Iron Jugulis        |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 34   | Sandy Shocks        |    2 |   5.00% |  50.00% |
| 35   | Krookodile          |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 36   | Quaquaval           |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 37   | Keldeo-Resolute     |    2 |   5.00% |  50.00% |
| 38   | Zarude              |    2 |   5.00% | 100.00% |
| 39   | Zarude-Dada         |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 40   | Ribombee            |    2 |   5.00% | 100.00% |
| 41   | Lycanroc-Dusk       |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 42   | Toxapex             |    2 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 43   | Jirachi             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 44   | Forretress          |    1 |   2.50% | 100.00% |
| 45   | Empoleon            |    1 |   2.50% | 100.00% |
| 46   | Araquanid           |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 47   | Azumarill           |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 48   | Donphan             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 49   | Mimikyu             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 50   | Gengar              |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 51   | Fezandipiti         |    1 |   2.50% | 100.00% |
| 52   | Suicune             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 53   | Chesnaught          |    1 |   2.50% | 100.00% |
| 54   | Hippowdon           |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 55   | Iron Thorns         |    1 |   2.50% | 100.00% |
| 56   | Polteageist         |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 57   | Serperior           |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 58   | Metagross           |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 59   | Chansey             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Quagsire            |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |
| 61   | Slowbro             |    1 |   2.50% |   0.00% |

Usage Stats Weeks 5-9

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Tornadus-Therian    |   22 |  45.83% |  54.55% |
| 2    | Excadrill           |   21 |  43.75% |  47.62% |
| 3    | Okidogi             |   21 |  43.75% |  52.38% |
| 4    | Scizor              |   14 |  29.17% |  64.29% |
| 5    | Heatran             |   13 |  27.08% |  30.77% |
| 6    | Weavile             |   13 |  27.08% |  46.15% |
| 7    | Thundurus-Therian   |   11 |  22.92% |  54.55% |
| 8    | Tinkaton            |   11 |  22.92% |  72.73% |
| 9    | Hydrapple           |   10 |  20.83% |  50.00% |
| 10   | Latios              |    9 |  18.75% |  55.56% |
| 11   | Slowking            |    9 |  18.75% |  33.33% |
| 12   | Ogerpon             |    7 |  14.58% |  42.86% |
| 13   | Tyranitar           |    7 |  14.58% |  57.14% |
| 14   | Manaphy             |    7 |  14.58% |  42.86% |
| 15   | Hoopa-Unbound       |    6 |  12.50% |  50.00% |
| 16   | Quaquaval           |    5 |  10.42% |  60.00% |
| 17   | Cobalion            |    5 |  10.42% |  20.00% |
| 18   | Rotom-Wash          |    5 |  10.42% |  60.00% |
| 19   | Greninja            |    5 |  10.42% |  40.00% |
| 20   | Keldeo-Resolute     |    4 |   8.33% |  25.00% |
| 21   | Slither Wing        |    4 |   8.33% |  50.00% |
| 22   | Lokix               |    4 |   8.33% |  25.00% |
| 23   | Enamorus-Therian    |    4 |   8.33% |  25.00% |
| 24   | Hydreigon           |    3 |   6.25% |  66.67% |
| 25   | Polteageist         |    3 |   6.25% | 100.00% |
| 26   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    3 |   6.25% |  33.33% |
| 27   | Sandy Shocks        |    3 |   6.25% |  33.33% |
| 28   | Skeledirge          |    3 |   6.25% |  66.67% |
| 29   | Zarude              |    3 |   6.25% |  66.67% |
| 30   | Slowbro             |    3 |   6.25% |  66.67% |
| 31   | Pecharunt           |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 32   | Keldeo              |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 33   | Salamence           |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 34   | Revavroom           |    2 |   4.17% |   0.00% |
| 35   | Gastrodon           |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 36   | Toxapex             |    2 |   4.17% | 100.00% |
| 37   | Sinistcha           |    2 |   4.17% |   0.00% |
| 38   | Necrozma            |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 39   | Conkeldurr          |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 40   | Cresselia           |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 41   | Mew                 |    2 |   4.17% | 100.00% |
| 42   | Skarmory            |    2 |   4.17% |  50.00% |
| 43   | Zarude-Dada         |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 44   | Gyarados            |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 45   | Azumarill           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 46   | Iron Jugulis        |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 47   | Avalugg             |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 48   | Blissey             |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 49   | Mandibuzz           |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 50   | Zapdos-Galar        |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 51   | Deoxys-Defense      |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 52   | Volcanion           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 53   | Gligar              |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 54   | Araquanid           |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 55   | Donphan             |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 56   | Iron Leaves         |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 57   | Hawlucha            |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 58   | Thwackey            |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 59   | Metagross           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 60   | Krookodile          |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 61   | Arcanine-Hisui      |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 62   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |
| 63   | Polteageist-Antique |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 64   | Serperior           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 65   | Crawdaunt           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 66   | Thundurus           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 67   | Rhyperior           |    1 |   2.08% |   0.00% |
| 68   | Swampert            |    1 |   2.08% | 100.00% |

 

[Punny]

[PLA] Skarpherim vs Vert [SHO]
Admittedly I haven't watched much from these two, especialy skarph. I've watched some of vert's wcop and stour games but not too closely, however I liked his play quite a bit in there. I wanna favor him here because I really like Vert's teambuilding approach in SV, and while this is UU and not OU, I believe he is definitely the type of guy that can translate his strenghts onto other tiers. Really interested in seeing his bring here.

[ISL] pdt vs Lily [BRE]

Interesting match there. I think pdt is superior in terms of playing abilities here. He always farms whatever tour he plays, while I think Lily has way more ups and downs, so its hard to say whether it'll be a good or bad season for her. I also believe pdt is slightly stronger in the building department as in he can rly make the type of teams that he wields well and wins with, so I think he'll take this one.

[DYN] bbeeaa vs Amukamara [GIB]

Hate bolding bea because the dude is too high on himself (l2p), but I think he's the stronger player here. He's been way too consistent across the years to not bold him, especially in bo1 formats. I don't think his advantage is high tho, actually I can really see amukamara take this one as hes also good at the game and more familiar with the tier.

[TER] Lyssa vs Mossy Sandwich [SPA]

Might be biased here as im friends with reina, but I think she has improven a ton in recent years and I really enjoy seeing her play. She also knows how to build and while her teams are mostly standard in terms of mons she uses, she usually comes up with some good tech for the meta shes playing, like inventing coba last uupl, expecting great things from her. I believe Mossy to have a good grasp on the meta as well, he also has viv support from behind this week, so I think they'll bring a good team. Predicting rei to take this because I think she's the better player here.

 

[spell]

[PLA] Skarpherim vs Vert [SHO]
Yes, Vert is inarguably the best SV OU player currently and while the generation has been his plaything since it released back in 2022, I’ll be breaking away from the conventional bold here to pick the underdog in this matchup - Skarpherim. Skarph, I feel, is the kind of player who is incredibly tough to go up against purely because he’s not only a solid player, but a creative one too. Now this is normally not something that I tend to hold in too high regard for the reason that the more fundamentally solid player can prevail in spite of that but Skarph is at his most potent when in a fresh tier with nothing to profile him for. I have no doubt that this would be a close one, and honestly I am just expecting Vert to pull out the dub but I think I am justified in rooting for the underdog here given the unique circumstances. If this were to happen later on in the season or in the playoffs I would surely just bold Vert.

[ISL] pdt vs Lily [BRE]
This one is a bit closer than it looks on face value since I do think Lily is pretty solid at clicking but not bolding pdt would be blasphemy at this point LOL… the guy has done pretty much everything you could want sans winning Open and this tour truly is his stomping ground. I think also, like what Punny said earlier (hi xoxo), pdt just shows a model of consistency that Lily just can’t really compare to currently. I think he’s a step above in the builder too, I quite like his ideas and his eye for strategies that maximize his style of play — i am always a fan of players who can do this and he’s like, the most prominent one to me. Either way pretty close if Lily does win this one she’s set up for a pretty great run because if she can take down pdt confidently then the sky is really the limit.

[TER] Lyssa vs Mossy Sandwich [SPA]
Look at that, Ms. “I only play SV UU on the ladder and in my head only” herself has finally decided to get off her ass and prove to everyone that she really does run this shit. Immense bias aside, I really do think this is hers to lose. Reina has pretty much been at the forefront of most of the innovations the tier has seen over the last year+ and with the goat (umbry) by her side I think it’s just her game to lose. Mossy is solid and viv has good ideas for sure but Reina just has the experience gap and I am envious of the supercomputer that she hides in her head.

[FOX] Punny vs JustFranco [TMS]
Honestly I can’t think of anything to say for Punny that I haven’t said in the past but I think this matchup is a bit interesting for him. Could see Franco prevailing since, like, every matchup is kind of close but Punny is the better pokemon player and I like his head for the tier considerably more atm.

belt to ass bbeeaa

 

[umbry]

Week 1 replays:
[PLA] Skarpherim vs Dj Breloominati♬ [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Lily [BRE]
[DYN] bbeeaa vs Amukamara [GIB]
[TER] Lyssa vs Mossy Sandwich [SPA]
[FOX] Punny vs JustFranco [TMS]

Week 1 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Excadrill           |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Cobalion            |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Gardevoir           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Hydrapple           |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Okidogi             |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 6    | Zapdos              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 7    | Hydreigon           |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 8    | Scizor              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 9    | Greninja            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 10   | Ogerpon             |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Rhyperior           |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Hoopa-Unbound       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Slowking            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Rotom-Wash          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Mandibuzz           |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Metagross           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Pecharunt           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Gastrodon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Sinistcha           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 21   | Tinkaton            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Toxapex             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Lokix               |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Gligar              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Tornadus-Therian    |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 26   | Tyranitar           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 27   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 28   | Enamorus-Therian    |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 29   | Chansey             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 30   | Latios              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 31   | Quagsire            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Skeledirge          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 33   | Slowbro             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Week 2 Matchups:
JustFranco vs pdt
vivalospride vs Skarpherim
Amukamara vs Lyssa
Lily vs bbeeaa
Vert vs Punny

Week 1 has concluded! We saw a lot of cool matchups and rising trends last week so I'll quickly go over them now.

finds itself at the very top of the usage stats next to meta staples such as excadrill at an impressive 4 uses, mainly using a choice scarf set. Offensive fairy types have a great profile into the meta right now, as it's packed with dragon and dark types like hydrapple and hoopa, if that wasn't enough gardevoir also has access to great utility moves in trick and healing wish, both amazing tools to take on bulkier team matchups. Overall it was pretty cool to see players coming up with new ways to fit speed control on teams, considering garde barely saw any use just a couple months ago.

is also seemingly on the rise, choice scarf sets have been around for a little while, mainly used as a speed control option that outruns that hoopa/okidogi speed tier with a pretty interesting defensive profile into the very dark times uu is going through. We didn't get to see it fully shine in any of the games it was used in as it was on the field for very little time in all of them, but I'm sure there will be more opportunities down the line.

is, in fact, still pretty threatening. There were some doubts about this pokemon's fall off during the most recent uubd, though it seems to have rebounded pretty nicely last week, showing why balance teams always have to be careful around it as it can very easily snowball and pinch massive holes into its opponent's team.

stall struggled pretty hard last week in both the games it was used, it's not hard to see why, as stall as it is now it still considered very much a fish, the power level is too high to justify a full team of passive mons, uu simply doesn't have enough defensive tools right now. That being said, I did like franco's take on it a lot more, which was more like a semi-stall anyway, and it's something I could see getting actual success if brought again unlike full stall, hoopa has been terrorising uu for a long time now and having the option to revenge kill a fast threat helps relieve a lot of the pressure.

Hope to see more cool brings in week 2, good luck to everyone playing again c:!

Prediction Format

[TMS] JustFranco vs pdt [ISL]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[GIB] Amukamara vs Lyssa [TER]
[BRE] Lily vs bbeeaa [DYN]
[SHO] Vert vs Punny [FOX]

 

[Punny]

[TMS] JustFranco vs pdt [ISL]

I already said this last week but I'll say it again, I think pdt is just amazing at UU and its very hard to bold against him in general. He comfortably beat lily using stall last week, which is mostly what franco uses as well, albeit with less fat and more proactive structures. That said, I think pdt's style of building and playing perfectly adapts to fatter matchups, and franco hasn't shown a lot of flexibility in his team choice throughout his UU career. Very interested in seeing if he can switch it up this time though. Should be a nice one

[SPA] vivalospride vs Skarpherim [PLA]

Viv is my son and I really hope he wins this. I think he has improven a lot since I met him last SCL and he's finally ready for a full season as a starter. I value his building and prep capabilities really high, so I think he will be able to make a good team and pull a good MU for this one. Skarph also looked lost in his game yesterday. He got an easy kill on hydreigon turn one and was favoured to win and then idk what happened honestly.

[GIB] Amukamara vs Lyssa [TER]

Might look like im biased as one is 1-0 and the other is 0-1. Amukamara beat bea last week in what was certainly an interesting game. Wasn't particularly impressed by this win though, as bea looked hella lost throughout the whole game and like he had no clue what he was really doing. This won't happen this week as Lyssas metagame knowledge is way higher than beas. About her game, I think she played great, and got punished by an early pump miss on excadrill which would have put her in a winning position. Im sure she'll bounce back.

[BRE] Lily vs bbeeaa [DYN]

Probably closer than what ppl would think, as I think bea is still adapting to the tier. However, I felt like his team was mostly fine last week whereas lilys team looked real bad overall, and also made no sense into her opp. Bea also has a higher ceiling so I dont believe hes going to los twice in a row

 

[Petros]

Well, as someone who doesn't do much smogon stuff, i did not know this thread existed ngl. I will just link what i posted in the other thread and keep my future weekly predicts here from now on. Surprised by how much viv's post is echoing many of my thoughts, granted i keep many of them not posted, probably due to laziness.

 

[umbry]

Week 2 Replays:
[TMS] JustFranco vs pdt [ISL]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[GIB] Amukamara vs Lyssa [TER]
[BRE] Lily vs bbeeaa [DYN]
[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Punny [FOX]

Week 2 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Okidogi             |    6 |  60.00% |  66.67% |
| 2    | Excadrill           |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 3    | Hydrapple           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Cobalion            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 5    | Scizor              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Tornadus-Therian    |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 7    | Zapdos              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Rotom-Wash          |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 9    | Enamorus-Therian    |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 10   | Lokix               |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Greninja            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Hoopa-Unbound       |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Tinkaton            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Thundurus-Therian   |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Tyranitar           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Slowking            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17   | Iron Thorns         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Manaphy             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Ribombee            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 21   | Hippowdon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Toxapex             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Krookodile          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 24   | Lycanroc-Dusk       |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Polteageist         |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Revavroom           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Serperior           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 28   | Skeledirge          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 29   | Gastrodon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 30   | Latios              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 31   | Mandibuzz           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Gardevoir           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 33   | Rhyperior           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 34   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |

Week 3 Matchups:
Skarpherim vs Amukamara
bbeeaa vs JustFranco
Lyssa vs Lily
Punny vs pdt
TPP vs vivalospride

has been gaining popularity again, I have mentioned last week with gardevoir how fairy types are in a great spot at this point in the metagame, enamorus is another similar case and its return can mostly be associated with hydrapple's rise to the top of the usage list once again. Thanks to its defensive capabilities and notable offensive output, enamorus is able to shine as a reliable check for hydrapple without making your team overly passive, this is a great tool for offense teams who struggle to trade into it. pdt brought a double dance enamorus set in his game vs justfranco, which I thought was pretty cool, it's a shame it got crit to death it otherwise would've probably won that endgame.

hyper offense also saw usage last week in the form of screens in 2 of the games! I love the creativity of the players when it comes to coming up with new cheesy styles, grimmsnarl is what you usually see on these structures as the screen setter, which personally I am not the biggest fan of considering it can be easily taken advantage of. This time around we saw serperior and ribombee carrying on that duty instead, both of these pokemon have additional utility moves in glare and sticky web respectively as tools to manipulate the field of play, this introduces more variance for the opponent as it becomes much harder to interrupt the classic sequence of set screens -> switch into sweeper when there can be an in between move to disrupt your counterplay, overall a cool take from lily and punny.

is still a top threat as we all know and there's really no need to elaborate on that, moreso I'd like to point out how much the right poison touch proc can swing entire games, dj breloominati vs punny stands out as an example for me from last week, and how much it warps the meta, the amount of poison immunities and sturdy ground types we see on the average uu team has been rising, as well as defensive tera options like skeledirge with tera poi- wait, not this one yet no.

is currently on fraud watch...

good luck to everyone for week 3! very excited to see punny vs pdt, looks like the highlight of the season potentially

Prediction Format

[PLA] Skarpherim vs Amukamara [GIB]
[DYN] bbeeaa vs JustFranco [TMS]
[TER] Lyssa vs Lily [BRE]
[FOX] Punny vs pdt [ISL]
[SHO] TPP vs vivalospride [SPA]

 

[Lizzie]

Actually watched all the games last week and I'm bored so figured I may as well drop some dicts.

[PLA] Skarpherim vs Amukamara [GIB] - Pretty intriguing mu, I'm mostly unfamiliar with skarph outside of this tour whereas I've watched Liam farm oldgens in uu tours for a while now and his sv has been pretty consistent when he's played it, so I'm naturally inclined to bold him. I liked the concept of skarphs team a lot last week though and I'm definitely intrigued to see what he brings here.

[DYN] bbeeaa vs JustFranco [TMS] - bea had never played uu before this tour as far as I know and his in-game has def shown inexperience at times. That being said it mostly means he gets scarier to face every week and I rate spell highly as support. Franco has had good consistency for a while now and getting out of the first 2 weeks vs Punny and pdt at 1-1, albeit with good fortune, is a pretty good result for him. Predicting that this is the week bea starts hitting his stride but Franco def won't be a pushover.

[TER] Lyssa vs Lily [BRE] - reina has been pretty unlucky so far while lily's prep has yet to pay off with both her games being pretty unwinnable. Something has to change this week and I hope it's rei's fortune, but wouldn't be shocked to see lily win.

[FOX] Punny vs pdt [ISL] - I could sit here and glaze these guys but I'm pretty sure everyone knows they're great and two of the most unique builders this tier has. Predicting this is something of a fools errand so I'm going purely off vibes and the vibe is pdt coming into this off the back of being haxed make him scarier.

[SHO] TPP vs vivalospride [SPA] - viv made some errors toward the end of his game last week that cost him but to focus on that would be doing him a disservice as I liked his prep and his play up to that point. My only memory of tpp in sv uu is his game vs azick in last years snake, which was something else but not really revealing of anything. Obviously a solid clicker but I have to trust the mainer diff.

 

[umbry]

Week 3 Replays:
[PLA] Skarpherim vs Amukamara [GIB]
[DYN] bbeeaa vs JustFranco [TMS]
[TER] Lyssa vs Lily [BRE]
[FOX] Punny vs pdt [ISL]
[SHO] TPP vs vivalospride [SPA]

Week 3 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Excadrill           |    6 |  60.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Rotom-Wash          |    5 |  50.00% |  80.00% |
| 3    | Tornadus-Therian    |    5 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 4    | Hydrapple           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 5    | Tyranitar           |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 6    | Pecharunt           |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 7    | Gligar              |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Greninja            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Hoopa-Unbound       |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Cobalion            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Lokix               |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Tinkaton            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Gengar              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Hydreigon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Keldeo-Resolute     |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 16   | Thundurus-Therian   |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Fezandipiti         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 19   | Scizor              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Gardevoir           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 21   | Mandibuzz           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Suicune             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Okidogi             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Slowking            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Skeledirge          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Comfey              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Iron Jugulis        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 28   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 29   | Revavroom           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 30   | Zarude              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 31   | Chesnaught          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Latios              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 33   | Zapdos              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Week 4 Matchups:
Sabella vs Skarpherim
Amukamara vs TPP
vivalospride vs Punny
JustFranco vs Lyssa
pdt vs bbeeaa

This week had a lot of exciting matchups so let's get into some of the highlights

sand had a relatively quiet showing so far with sand cores only being brought twice in the first 2 weeks, multiple players seemed to have had an awakening last week as it was brought 4 times winning all of those games besides a mirror matchup. All of those teams followed the same structure of ttar - drill - tornadus-t - bulky water pivot (mainly rotom-w) - offensive grass type (mainly hydrapple) - filler, which certainly has proved to be a winning formula so far, we'll just have to see if this means sand is solved or if there's room for more creativity.

was used a lot last week and if you were to check the overall usage stats you would notice rotom is tied for third most used being on 1/3 of teams, really makes me wonder what's up with the recent surge in popularity but I think I might have an explanation. Taking a closer look at the games it was brought in rotom does not truly shine in any of them but it does take care of a lot of the dirty work on several occations, which is the main point of its common spdef will-o-wisp set, it does not offer a true long-term counter to anything in particular but it does make up for a solid soft check for offensive waters like greninja or physical threats such as scizor and tyranitar, the wide range of defensive flexibility helps in covering many defensive holes in the short-term, allowing for a window of time for its teammates to shine, this could also explain the high winrate so far.

pdt's cool take on ghost spam offense seemed to have the upper hand in the early game against punny, that is until greninja hits the field on turn 15 with a free turn to attack, the game ends 6 moves later with a boosted greninja on the winning screen. On one hand, this does show how threatening greninja can be against offense, though it was thanks to greninja having the perfect set that punny was able to turn the game around. Extrasensory is not something that's commonly used, players usually prefer other coverage options or a defensive move in protect which punny's greninja was lacking, the latter does account for lokix but also serves as a way to scout incoming teras, had pdt sensed extrasensory coming it still probably comes down to pure guesswork, as using up your tera with keldeo on a protect could lead to the same disastrous outcome.

as an final note, I will add overall usage stats to my first post here and I will be updating them every week, good luck to all competitors for week 4 c:!

Prediction Format

[BRE] Sabella vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[GIB] Amukamara vs TPP [SHO]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Punny [FOX]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Lyssa [TER]
[ISL] pdt vs bbeeaa [DYN]

 

[spell]

have some downtime so i may as well post something to make sure it isn’t just aly’s very informative week-by-week metagame overviews. i do want to say first and foremost that the ideas we are seeing this tournament has been very interesting to watch function; particularly from the terrors, foxes and islanders. one of my main gripes with this meta going into scl was how restrictive it feels at times to build. there are a lot of less-than-healthy interactions that most games cycle through and it clouded a lot of my thoughts on what should and shouldn’t be brought to a game. i think this being played on both the biggest possible stage and it being in a bo1 format helps make people feel more comfortable in trying to go for executing their ideas over “metagame covering”. breaking the conventional rules to actualize a strategy, like punnys take on gastro spikes, is something that more people should strive toward as i think that kind of approach works best w/ the format and tier in mind. “goodstuff” is good stuff because the pokemon compositions are, surprisingly, pretty good but i feel like flexing your creative muscle (within reason) is just as necessary to succeed.

anywho, predictions time; i have not done these for the past two weeks… oops. will be kind of brief this time around because i sure as hell am running out of words to say (me from the future: i lied)


BRE] Sabella vs Skarpherim [PLA] - skarph brought something that really should have lost but i can’t hate cuz that shit won and he also just played better than his opponent. breakers uu has been underwhelming and im not especially high on sabella as a substitute, i think they should have just rolled with lily still bc i think shes the better option even if shes been big struggling. if skarph can cool himself and build a team of Pokemon this time around then he should be fine.
[GIB] Amukamara vs TPP [SHO] - i can’t really comment on tpp because last week he just had a really bad matchup i think, maybe the ho bring was too telegraphed. i think liams been pretty shaky and his game vs skarph was especially odd last week but i think that his experience should be able to put in work here as he’s still the more proven player whereas poor tpp has been thrown here as an emergency option.
[SPA] vivalospride vs Punny [FOX] - nooo my boys… punnys been spectacular as always, particularly his w2 game was very impressive considering the matchup + playing conditions. this ones interesting because when they played in wcop viv’s pulse was super strong and he kind of owned punny. i think this time around punny will show his student why he’s the master. definitely the one im looking forward to the most even if one of my friends will lose regardless.
[TMS] JustFranco vs Lyssa [TER] - rei finally got on the board last week with a stellar performance utilizing sand, a teamstyle i am a decent fan of in the current meta. she should be 3-0 with neutral luck as she got extremely robbed vs mossy (this one was especially heinous) and like semi robbed vs liam (more open to outplaying from him but her position if wisp hit was way better even with healing wish accounted for). i think you should maybe stop using sub-100 accuracy moves. franco similarly should also be 0-3 but got a timely crit vs pdt two weeks ago and has been looking pretty underwhelming, especially last week where even though bea threw some mons away at the start he was still pretty much in complete control all game. i think also rei > franco in metagaming and her play has been good-fine so i expect the bounce back to be pretty safe to assume here. i have immense bias, probably the size of everest for rei but i do think that yeah, should be a fine one for her to take since she is one of the most calculated thinkers i know.

 

[Punny]

[BRE] Sabella vs Skarpherim [PLA]

Skarphs team last week was pretty weird, and while I bring relatively weird stuff usually, or break the rules of teambuilding as some might say, I only support that if theres a specific reason for it, reason being a particularly good synergy within the members which didnt seem the case to me in skarphs case. That said, think his execution so far has been fine and he'll probably keep it up. Bolding him because I haven't seen much from sabella lately (i know hes playing uu but I just havent rly watched), but i think he can take this one if he cooks something good

[GIB] Amukamara vs TPP [SHO]

Shoguns teams have looked alright to me so far, altho last weeks was probably worse than the other two in my books. HO felt way too obvious to me and TPP didnt play as he needed to given his matchup, especially using ogerpon in an underwhelming way imo. I liked amukamaras team from last week honestly, the execution not so much. Felt like he had the upper hand mid-late game and I just don't know what happened after that. Still, think hes been playing fine overall so i think he'll take this


[TMS] JustFranco vs Lyssa [TER]

Rly interested in seeing this game. I hated francos team last week, felt like he was trying to do too much at once without rly accomplishing anything. Suicune is also a rly bad bring in a meta where rotom and apple are rising, especially into bea whos known to like volturn type of teams. That said, I also believe he had a good chance at winning in the endgame, but didnt rly recognize said chance as he felt a bit lost. On the other hand, I think lyss is doing a rly good job both in the builder, bringing solid teams w cool sets like her dd tar last week, and in the actual game, making rly minor misplays. Think she'll take this one

[ISL] pdt vs bbeeaa [DYN]

This might look controversial as pdt is coming off of 2 losses and bea is coming off of 2 wins, however, pdt got lucked in one of those losses (vs franco) and got caught off guard by esense gren vs me, which is rly uncommon, so I think hes just gonna do rly well from here.
Bea has been getting better at UU, altho more slowly than I expected him to, as he did improve a bit in his game last week, not looking completely lost. However I think he definitely still needs to improve as his early game was not good, his mu was great and he put himself in a position where he could have lost mid-late game. Still won in the end sure but I believe franco didnt manage his chances well either in said game, like I already said. Anyway I think pdt is just more knowledgeable and will play better than bea, so I expect him to win

 

[umbry]

Week 4 Replays:
[BRE] Sabella vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[GIB] Amukamara vs TPP [SHO]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Punny [FOX]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Lyssa [TER]
[ISL] pdt vs bbeeaa [DYN]

Week 4 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Hoopa-Unbound       |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 2    | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 3    | Revavroom           |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 4    | Zapdos              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 5    | Latios              |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 6    | Ogerpon             |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Sandy Shocks        |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Manaphy             |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Quaquaval           |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Sinistcha           |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Tornadus-Therian    |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Skeledirge          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Zarude-Dada         |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 14   | Excadrill           |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Mandibuzz           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Tinkaton            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17   | Comfey              |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Iron Jugulis        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Hydreigon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Jirachi             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 21   | Krookodile          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Okidogi             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Forretress          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Keldeo-Resolute     |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Rhyperior           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 26   | Empoleon            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 27   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 28   | Gligar              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 29   | Zarude              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 30   | Araquanid           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 31   | Azumarill           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 32   | Donphan             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 33   | Lokix               |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 34   | Cobalion            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 35   | Gardevoir           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 36   | Gastrodon           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 37   | Ribombee            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 38   | Lycanroc-Dusk       |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 39   | Mimikyu             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 40   | Thundurus-Therian   |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 41   | Scizor              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |

Week 5 Matchups:
Lyssa vs pdt
Punny vs bbeeaa
Skarpherim vs JustFranco
Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella
vivalospride vs Amukamara

has seen usage as an off meta pick with a great matchup into offense, mostly featuring a choice band set. These last few weeks have been way more offense oriented, with 4 players choosing to run hyper offensive teams last week, this is exactly the kind of matchup where ogerpon shines thanks to its unparalleled speed and signature nuke stab button, though another reason is that offense offers no space for ogerpon's greatest nemesis: zapdos, which would give it a lot less freedom due to possible static procs. Skarph's game is a great example of this, as he was able to both revenge kill a really fast threat in iron jugulis as well swiftly cleaning up the endgame with ivy cudgel.

following the recent shift in team structures balance staple bulky waters such as rotom and slowking saw no usage last week, the exception was gastrodon who was featured on only 2 teams. A lot of offensive waters were brought instead with all of keldeo, manaphy and quaquaval seeing usage, which aren't picks we see often. Manaphy in particular had a standout performance in justfranco's game with a cool tera fairy set, aided by ribombee being the perfect partner providing both webs and screens to make it work.

- + it's time to give a long awaited sendoff to zapdos as OU locks it away with tier shifts and in exchange provides us with 4 new exciting tools...and well I guess blissey is there too. It'll be interesting to see how the new metagame shakes out, personally looking forward to see how heatran fits into the equation.

Good luck to everyone for week 5!

Prediction Format

[TER] Lyssa vs pdt [ISL]
[FOX] Punny vs bbeeaa [DYN]
[PLA] Skarpherim vs JustFranco [TMS]
[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella [BRE]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Amukamara [GIB]

 

[Corperate n]

I have been watching, (tho i have yet to touch this new meta so apologies if I talk out of my booty) and threads are more fun with more predicts so here goes.

[TER] Lyssa vs pdt [ISL]
Maybe this is a dumb way of looking at it but somehow I feel like zapdos leaving makes the kinds of teams I'm used to pdt using a little better. In general, I think pdt has a tendancy to bring slightly more proactive mons, and ofc he clicks proactively with them too, which seems important in a meta with tran and weavile as big time progress makers (85% chance pdt brings a weavile this game). That being said, I'm sure Lyssa will bring a great team with appropriate techs and play well too, as she has been doing for the most part. Last week she got punished a lil for using some more passive stuff like the slug, and obv one preps differently for pdt than one does for franco, but idk I just feel like pdt has the edge. highlight i think.

[FOX] Punny vs bbeeaa [DYN]
Spell and Bea both have their work cut out for them this week, as Punny seems to combine great builds and play every week. I expect more of the same here, and ofc one can't count Bea out ever, but he better clean up his play if he wants to turn this season into the type of season we are used to seeing from him. highlight if bea plays better than he has been.

[PLA] Skarpherim vs JustFranco [TMS]
This is a harder one to predict, but skarph's play has just seemed more precise on average. I also expect the meta to take a slightly more offensive turn with shifts, and maybe that also gives skarph an edge, but an offensive meta hasn't stopped franco from having success in the past if he chooses to return to his fat wish stuff. Interested to see the teams in this game for sure.

[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella [BRE]
Sabella will be in the lab super hard this week I'm sure. I expect him to find a cool under the radar pick that spitfire won't be ready for. Both are good players, so perhaps this will be won in the builder.

[SPA] vivalospride vs Amukamara [GIB]
Really excited for this matchup not just because viv is my friend but also because I think these two players have a great eye for what's good, and will certainly bring it. I'm bolding Liam because he's just been so consistent. I love how he so often combines well timed aggression and a long term plan into all of his games, and it seems to be working out very well for him not just this SCL, but in wcop too. Not to mention, he's tough to get a read on in the builder, while viv will probs bring 6 azumarill, so liam just needs to cteam that. prove me wrong mr uutl.

Hype pool hasn't dissapointed, excited for every game as usual :D

 

[Punny]

[TER] Lyssa vs pdt [ISL]

Oh boy we immediately start with a fire one... I think this is way closer than what people might think. I think in another kind of situation i'd have bolded lyss, as I believe shes more flexible in the prep department whereas pdts a little more predictable imo. However lyss' has been pretty unlucky so far and also new meta this week so this could maybe affect her this game. Still, very close game and im very excited to watch


[PLA] Skarpherim vs JustFranco [TMS]

Hard one to predict. Feel like skarphs play as overall been better than franco thus far, but on the other end I think francos team have been more creative than his opp. Predicting him to win bc of this

[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella [BRE]

Just more experienced in the tier overall, so he'll probably come up w something good to use. Also, he got a bit unlucky vs skarph last week, he could have won the game w.o the miss on tink. Close game


[SPA] vivalospride vs Amukamara [GIB]

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE viv but amukamara is 3-1 so far, plus vivs play vs skarph and last week was a bit off imo. Both have been bringing cool teams, w viv being more creative on that side. Wouldn't be surprised if he takes this one tbh

 

[vivalospride]

shit dicts

TER] Lyssa vs pdt [ISL] - pdt is that guy, like Punny said I think it is close but I’ve kind of actively enjoyed pdt brings more which isn’t what I expected going into this tournament just because reina has such great inherent support and hype around her in this department. PDT teams aren’t necessarily always an accurate representation of the best the “standard meta” has to offer, they never specifically have been, and this isn’t a diss it is just that his teams have very much “pdt energy”, and this tour has been no different. So I have enjoyed his brings for him primarily and I think as per usual he will narrow down what for sure works best for him the more the tour goes on as he cycles through his signature SV mons. On the flip side I think Reina should actively portray the “best the standard meta has to offer”, or at least that’s what I assume, and I think some of the brings could have been better but for the most part have been strong. Primarily week 2 against Liam (regardless of what happened in the game), her team featured only one Pokemon with a speed tier above 80 (most were fairly lower than this, and there was no priority either) and that mon was Scarf Gardevoir, which I am inherently not a big believer in (the speed tier dilemma that is, not scarf garde lol). With that said I think reina will shape up this tour for sure, and pdt has “underperformed” aka not completely omega smashed, and will also shape up. I just trust pdt to do it this week a bit more. Definitely have more to type here than elsewhere because these two are pretty established “characters” in the UU scene/narrative, should be an exciting one, can for sure go either way.

[FOX] Punny vs bbeeaa [DYN] - Glazing Punny is one of my favorite pastimes. Regardless, bea has looked not up to his usual standard so far this tournament. The early game last week seemed a bit strange on his end. I think Punny is likely gonna be bolded every week regardless of opp and he is in great form, it makes sense. He is not immortal and can lose for sure, this isn’t 100-0 but I think it’s pretty much objective that Punny is completely favored and bea winning would be an “upset” at this point just looking at their side by sides this tour so far. Punny’s brings have been mostly pretty ahead of the curve as per usual like I said, bea’s brings have been alright but not specifically super exciting either whatsoever.

[PLA] Skarpherim vs JustFranco [TMS] - I think franco is stronger in UU specifically for sure, and I had him bolded but I still think he can very realistically be caught @ preview by someone with a decent understanding of his history in UU. I think Skarph is a pretty creative guy and builder and can cook up something relatively specific with franco in mind or at least the vague type of mu we can expect here in mind. I haven’t paid a ton of attention to either of their games but both seem to not be doing horribly so I am trusting my gut in the builder department here mainly. I can see either winning for sure.

[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella [BRE] - I am a big Sabella fan I think he’s a great guy. I think he’s underrated atp as a mons player in UU specifically, idk nothing else abt the other tiers w Sabella but in UU he has p much genuinely cared all gen long about actively building and playing the tier. DJ looked a bit off in week 2 but looked pretty good in week 1, idk I think DJ can win but my bias/brain in general is telling me booty is favored by a decent enough margin for me to be comfortable holding with confidence. Shoguns are missing Vert for sure but this can also be said about the entirety of Smogon. Hopefully Vert pops up soon on disc or rly anywhere

 

[umbry]

Week 5 Replays:
[TER] Lyssa vs pdt [ISL]
[FOX] Punny vs Jytcampbell [DYN]
[PLA] Skarpherim vs JustFranco [TMS]
[SHO] Dj Breloominati♬ vs Sabella [BRE]
[SPA] vivalospride vs Amukamara [GIB]

Week 5 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Tornadus-Therian   |    5 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 2    | Weavile            |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 3    | Heatran            |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 4    | Okidogi            |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Scizor             |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Hydrapple          |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Excadrill          |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 8    | Slowking           |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 9    | Ogerpon            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 10   | Tinkaton           |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 11   | Manaphy            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 12   | Enamorus-Therian   |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Latios             |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Cobalion           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 15   | Thundurus-Therian  |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 16   | Cresselia          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17   | Necrozma           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18   | Crawdaunt          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Hydreigon          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Slowbro            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 21   | Keldeo             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Thundurus          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Tyranitar          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 24   | Hoopa-Unbound      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Swampert           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 26   | Quaquaval          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Rhyperior          |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Week 5 Matchups:
Amukamara vs Punny
Sabella vs vivalospride
JustFranco vs Mimilucha
pdt vs Skarpherim
Kenix vs Lyssa

New meta means new highlights so let's get into it

has very quickly made its way to the top of everyone's threat lists, so much that it's getting immediately suspect tested and for good reason. Weavile now having access to a powerful stab ice move in triple axel makes it all the more dangerous compared to the last time it was around in our tier a year ago, the usage of steel types in particular changed a lot last week to reflect that, scizor is now at the top alongside new addition heatran which is also seeing usage with flame body to scare weavile out of using its signature 3-hit contact move. Weavile is the new dominant force and we're starting to see the meta change around it...perhaps not for long depending on how the suspect goes.

Zapdos' departure is the other big change we were expecting, which gave bulky offense a lot more freedom to run around with momentum grabbers such as ogerpon and scizor as we've seen, thundurus-therian is also not relegated to its role of zapdos abuser anymore and can make more of its offensive output. also gets a pretty significant buff because of it as it has one less check to worry about and can start running iron head with no drawbacks. It didn't get as much usage last week due to people focusing more on ice resistant steel types but it still got its moment to shine in the hands of sabella who ran away with 3 kos after abusing a choice lock from spitfire's keldeo and was able to clean up the endgame with ogerpon and hydreigon without much trouble.

Some new interesting movesets were brought last week, starting with lyssa's mystical fire which was able to completely turn the tides in last week's highlight match luring pdt's scizor in pretty early on in the game, opening a much clearer path for weavile's endgame. While justfranco used a calm mind surf to win the endgame against skarph, which is the new catch-all with heatran now being around, it's also able to threaten excadrill which luster purge and thunderbolt aren't able to do, though with this choice in mind it was key for justfranco to focus on removing the possible threat of thunder wave slowking before going for the win.

Prediction Format

[GIB] Amukamara vs Punny [FOX]
[BRE] Sabella vs vivalospride [SPA]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Mimilucha [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[DYN] Kenix vs Lyssa [TER]

 

[Corperate n]

[GIB] Amukamara vs Punny [FOX]
[BRE] Sabella vs vivalospride [SPA]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Mimilucha [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[DYN] Kenix vs Lyssa [TER]

no writing this week only bolding, excited to watch nonetheless :]

 

[Sabella]

[GIB] Amukamara vs Punny [FOX]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Mimilucha [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[DYN] Kenix vs Lyssa [TER]

 

[umbry]

Week 6 Replays:
[GIB] Amukamara vs Punny [FOX]
[BRE] Sabella vs vivalospride [SPA]
[TMS] JustFranco vs Mimilucha [SHO]
[ISL] pdt vs Skarpherim [PLA]
[DYN] Kenix vs Lyssa [TER]

Week 6 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon             | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Thundurus-Therian   |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 2    | Tornadus-Therian    |    5 |  50.00% |  80.00% |
| 3    | Okidogi             |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Excadrill           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 5    | Scizor              |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 6    | Heatran             |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 7    | Weavile             |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 8    | Manaphy             |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 9    | Tinkaton            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 10   | Greninja            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Hydrapple           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 12   | Skarmory            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 13   | Tyranitar           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 14   | Mew                 |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Polteageist         |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16   | Arcanine-Hisui      |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 17   | Cobalion            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Slowking            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 19   | Conkeldurr          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Hoopa-Unbound       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 21   | Keldeo-Resolute     |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 22   | Sinistcha           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 23   | Gastrodon-East      |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 24   | Lokix               |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Ogerpon-Cornerstone |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 26   | Polteageist-Antique |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 27   | Ogerpon             |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 28   | Serperior           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 29   | Latios              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 30   | Skeledirge          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 31   | Zarude              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 32   | Slither Wing        |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Week 7 Matchups:
Punny vs Lyssa
Skarpherim vs Kenix
Mimilucha vs pdt
Mossy Sandwich vs JustFranco
Amukamara vs Sabella

shoutouts to pdt for bringing the coolest set I've seen this tournament so far in trick room hoopa, which allegedly could've won on its on own had pdt remembered he can use tera dark. Still, the surprise factor was enough for pdt to get away with a huge lead in his game vs skarpherim due to underspeeding opposing tyranitar and landing a ohko with life orb boosted drain punch, closing out the endgame afterwards was no big deal despite running as many water resists as uupl idols.

as for the rest of the games, we saw 4 dishonest ho vs honest balance games, we have finally reached peak uu. Thundurus-t was the common factor for offense last week, which makes sense seeing how dominant tornadus is at the moment, some double dance sets have popped up as well to try and take full advantage of that tornadus matchup alongside screens support. Unfortunately for them they all failed with the exception of justfranco, though it is also fair to say there have been some... significant swings due to rng in a majority of those games. Perhaps loading dishonesty comes with a good amount of negative karma...

Prediction Format

[FOX] Punny vs Lyssa [TER]
[PLA] Skarpherim vs Kenix [DYN]
[SHO] Mimilucha vs pdt [ISL]
[SPA] Mossy Sandwich vs JustFranco [TMS]
[GIB] Amukamara vs Sabella [BRE]