I have joined the long-time brazilian lc train once again, good luck everyone 
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Tournament SCL V - LC Discussion Thread
- Thread starter BlackKnight_Gawain
- Start date
top 10 anime regret moments
Me and Enigmaa the famously known brazilian players
THE OFFICIAL SCLV SVLC GAME ANALYSES ARE BACK FOR WEEK 2
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-873280
tazz:
lokifan:
The only 2 LC players retained by their respective teams battled it out here in this highly awaited matchup. Both Lokifan and tazz are also coming off great wins during week 1 so only one of them will leave this game still unbeaten.
Looking at the matchups on team preview, Tazz is running a very interesting Foongus structure with the uncommon Trapinch and the notorious Shellder, while Loki is running a more traditional ground spam based team with Alolan Snowshrew.
Turn 1 we see a very classic LC interaction of Air Balloon Tinkatink switching in on Fake Out from Mienfoo to steal its Eviolite. On turn 4 tazz once again pulls of a wonderful sleight of hand with the reveal of Scarf Vullaby to take out the A-Diglett and put himself in the lead, reminiscent of his game from the previous week. Turn 5 Loki reveals that his own Vullaby is Nasty Plot as tazz switches to his Tinkatink. Loki decides to go for the initiative and Tera-Grounds the Vull and Nasty Plots yet again to cover for any Thunder Wave shenanigans from the Tink as well, but tazz scouts this very well and goes to Foo on the tera. He knocks the Vull and then teras his Trapinch to KO the Vull on turn 8 to essentially trade Vull for Foo, and tera for tera. Something to note here is if tazz was a fast 16 speed Tink with Encore, Loki could have been in a terrible position on turn 6 by essentially burning tera for nothing due to Encore. Turn 9 tazz gets his Tink in on the Foo Knock Off, and then reveals the rarely/never seen Steel Beam to chip the Foo before eventually going down. Turn 11 tazz opts to go to his scarf Vull, potentially indicating that his Shellder does not have Icicle Spear, as that would have been a good turn to bring it in and setup and press his advantage even further. Between turn 12-16 we essentially see a trade of Sandshrew for Shellder. Turn 22 tazz gets his Vullaby in very nicely on a Synthesis turn, and then makes great progress once again by Knocking the Foongus and being unaffected by Spore due to Overcoat, essentially gaining a free advantage. However turn 25, tazz makes a slight error by allowing his own Foongus to get knocked, making himself more vulnerable to Mudbray potentially lategame. A better play would have been to go his Vullaby on the Knock Off, as he still would have outspeed the slowfoo regardless and obtained some good intiative with Brave Bird. Turn 30 tazz makes yet another inaccuracy by U-turning instead of just clicking Brave Bird to claim a kill/good chip on Mudbray. And unfortunately for him, Mienfoo gets the immediate 1 turn wake up, and eventually takes down the Trapinch on turn 33, before Vullaby revenge kills it on the next turn. However at this point, Lokifan is in a clearly won situation barring a Stone Edge Miss on the Vullaby which does not happen on turn 35, and he comes away with the win by taking down the Foongus as well on the next turn.Lokifan continues his winning run this SCL, while tazz will rue a missed opportunity to win this week due to various inaccuracies of play in the mid and endgame, after starting the game extremely well due to good preparation and execution.
tazz:
lokifan:
The only 2 LC players retained by their respective teams battled it out here in this highly awaited matchup. Both Lokifan and tazz are also coming off great wins during week 1 so only one of them will leave this game still unbeaten.
Looking at the matchups on team preview, Tazz is running a very interesting Foongus structure with the uncommon Trapinch and the notorious Shellder, while Loki is running a more traditional ground spam based team with Alolan Snowshrew.
Turn 1 we see a very classic LC interaction of Air Balloon Tinkatink switching in on Fake Out from Mienfoo to steal its Eviolite. On turn 4 tazz once again pulls of a wonderful sleight of hand with the reveal of Scarf Vullaby to take out the A-Diglett and put himself in the lead, reminiscent of his game from the previous week. Turn 5 Loki reveals that his own Vullaby is Nasty Plot as tazz switches to his Tinkatink. Loki decides to go for the initiative and Tera-Grounds the Vull and Nasty Plots yet again to cover for any Thunder Wave shenanigans from the Tink as well, but tazz scouts this very well and goes to Foo on the tera. He knocks the Vull and then teras his Trapinch to KO the Vull on turn 8 to essentially trade Vull for Foo, and tera for tera. Something to note here is if tazz was a fast 16 speed Tink with Encore, Loki could have been in a terrible position on turn 6 by essentially burning tera for nothing due to Encore. Turn 9 tazz gets his Tink in on the Foo Knock Off, and then reveals the rarely/never seen Steel Beam to chip the Foo before eventually going down. Turn 11 tazz opts to go to his scarf Vull, potentially indicating that his Shellder does not have Icicle Spear, as that would have been a good turn to bring it in and setup and press his advantage even further. Between turn 12-16 we essentially see a trade of Sandshrew for Shellder. Turn 22 tazz gets his Vullaby in very nicely on a Synthesis turn, and then makes great progress once again by Knocking the Foongus and being unaffected by Spore due to Overcoat, essentially gaining a free advantage. However turn 25, tazz makes a slight error by allowing his own Foongus to get knocked, making himself more vulnerable to Mudbray potentially lategame. A better play would have been to go his Vullaby on the Knock Off, as he still would have outspeed the slowfoo regardless and obtained some good intiative with Brave Bird. Turn 30 tazz makes yet another inaccuracy by U-turning instead of just clicking Brave Bird to claim a kill/good chip on Mudbray. And unfortunately for him, Mienfoo gets the immediate 1 turn wake up, and eventually takes down the Trapinch on turn 33, before Vullaby revenge kills it on the next turn. However at this point, Lokifan is in a clearly won situation barring a Stone Edge Miss on the Vullaby which does not happen on turn 35, and he comes away with the win by taking down the Foongus as well on the next turn.Lokifan continues his winning run this SCL, while tazz will rue a missed opportunity to win this week due to various inaccuracies of play in the mid and endgame, after starting the game extremely well due to good preparation and execution.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-871706
laroxyl:
envy:
An extremely anticipated matchup this week between the 2024 LC circuit winner Envy, and the Italian LC maestro Laroxyl. Envy looks to continue his winning ways this SCL, while Laro looks for his first win after a disappointing loss last week.
Looking at team preview, Laro has opted for a standard looking double Elec based Foongus structure, while Envy has opted for a Mareanie based structure with Elekid and A-Sandshrew. Laroxyl appears to have the slight edge matchup-wise with this double Elecs, but its far from a foregone conclusion.
4 turns in, we essentially see a trade of Envy's Mudbray for Laroxyl's Vullaby as well as Laroxyl permanently denying hazards on his side of the field via Defog, seemingly looking like a nice position for him. Envy brings out his Snowshrew turn 5, potentially indicating it is the rare Choice Scarf set, and we indeed get confirmation of that on turn 7 where it outspeeds Chinchou and chips it massively overall with 2 back to back 3 hit Triple Axels, after previously landing another 3 hit on Mienfoo on turn 5. Turn 8 Envy reveals tera Ice on the Shrew to try land the KO on Mienfoo, but Laroxyl reveals Fake Out to provide a temporary respite. Turn 9, potentially anticipating a Foo tera to counter Shrew, Envy goes to his Vullaby to scout for it, but Laroxyl merely goes to his Chou potentially to sacrifice it against the Snowshrew. After a couple of standard turns of Vullaby knocking Mudbray as it get rocks up, Envy takes a calculated risk of Roosting to heal up his Vull anticipating a Stone Edge instead of Close Combat from Mudbray, and gets rewarded and then U-turns out to preserve it for later on turn 13. After a U-turn to bring in Snowshrew on turn 14, Envy gains a big lead by KOing the Mudbray and clearing rocks at the same time by revealing Rapid Spin on the Scarf set on turn 15. Between turns 18-19 both Elekids trade damage on each other, with Envy knocking Laro's Elekid to make it less lethal as well. Turn 23, Envy nicely brings in his Vullaby on the Mienfoo U-Turn, and makes good progress yet again by Knocking it before going down to Sludge Bomb. After several turns of gameplay with Mareanie keeping the initiative, Envy's Snowshrew eventually cleans up the endgame, despite Laroxyl teraing his Foongus to Steel and hoping for an Axel miss. Thus the Brazilian comes away with yet another impressive win this week to keep his streak going this SCL.
laroxyl:
envy:
An extremely anticipated matchup this week between the 2024 LC circuit winner Envy, and the Italian LC maestro Laroxyl. Envy looks to continue his winning ways this SCL, while Laro looks for his first win after a disappointing loss last week.
Looking at team preview, Laro has opted for a standard looking double Elec based Foongus structure, while Envy has opted for a Mareanie based structure with Elekid and A-Sandshrew. Laroxyl appears to have the slight edge matchup-wise with this double Elecs, but its far from a foregone conclusion.
4 turns in, we essentially see a trade of Envy's Mudbray for Laroxyl's Vullaby as well as Laroxyl permanently denying hazards on his side of the field via Defog, seemingly looking like a nice position for him. Envy brings out his Snowshrew turn 5, potentially indicating it is the rare Choice Scarf set, and we indeed get confirmation of that on turn 7 where it outspeeds Chinchou and chips it massively overall with 2 back to back 3 hit Triple Axels, after previously landing another 3 hit on Mienfoo on turn 5. Turn 8 Envy reveals tera Ice on the Shrew to try land the KO on Mienfoo, but Laroxyl reveals Fake Out to provide a temporary respite. Turn 9, potentially anticipating a Foo tera to counter Shrew, Envy goes to his Vullaby to scout for it, but Laroxyl merely goes to his Chou potentially to sacrifice it against the Snowshrew. After a couple of standard turns of Vullaby knocking Mudbray as it get rocks up, Envy takes a calculated risk of Roosting to heal up his Vull anticipating a Stone Edge instead of Close Combat from Mudbray, and gets rewarded and then U-turns out to preserve it for later on turn 13. After a U-turn to bring in Snowshrew on turn 14, Envy gains a big lead by KOing the Mudbray and clearing rocks at the same time by revealing Rapid Spin on the Scarf set on turn 15. Between turns 18-19 both Elekids trade damage on each other, with Envy knocking Laro's Elekid to make it less lethal as well. Turn 23, Envy nicely brings in his Vullaby on the Mienfoo U-Turn, and makes good progress yet again by Knocking it before going down to Sludge Bomb. After several turns of gameplay with Mareanie keeping the initiative, Envy's Snowshrew eventually cleans up the endgame, despite Laroxyl teraing his Foongus to Steel and hoping for an Axel miss. Thus the Brazilian comes away with yet another impressive win this week to keep his streak going this SCL.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-872761
wail wailord:
starsama:
An intriguing matchup here between Brazilian LC superstar Starsama and longtime LC stalwart Wail Wailord. Wail is looking for his first win this SCL after a rather disappointing game last week, while Starsama aims to continue his winning ways.
On team preview, both players have brought Foongus-based structures, with Starsama opting for a Dark-spam approach, while Wail has gone for a Water-spam route with Alolan Sandshrew as potential hazard control.
Turn 1 presents an interesting lead situation: Stunky vs. Mienfoo. It's possible to infer from this that Starsama could potentially have a Nasty Plot Vullaby in the back and was unwilling to lead with Mienfoo and risk it getting knocked, especially due to Wail's Snowshrew/Chinchou. This may have compelled him to lead with Stunky instead.After a standard couple of turns, on Turn 3, Wail gets extremely unlucky by not KOing the Stunky with U-turn (only 1 roll out of 16 fails to kill), essentially missing the chance to trade Foo for Stunky. He brings in Wingull, then immediately switches back to Mienfoo on the potential Sucker Punch, trying to guarantee a safe entry and finish off the Stunky with Fake Out—but Starsama reads it perfectly and uses Gunk Shot to claim the kill.Wail goes back to Wingull on Turn 5 and makes another prediction: assuming Starsama wouldn't use Sucker Punch due to Substitute being common on Wingull, he goes for an immediate Surf. But Starsama once again calls him out and lands a huge Sucker Punch on the bird before going down, giving him a commanding lead just five turns in. On Turn 6, Vullaby comes out and lands a Tera Blast into the incoming Chinchou, potentially indicating a Nasty Plot set with Tera Ground—otherwise, Knock Off would have been the obvious choice on the usual physical set. After Chinchou Volts into Mienfoo to bring in the dangerous Wingull once more, Starsama commits to using his Steel Tera to survive a potential Hurricane on Turn 9—but it doesn't even end up mattering, as Wingull fails to land it and goes down.Turn 10, Starsama manages to get Vullaby in on a Giga Drain from Foongus. Instead of opting to Spore the Vullaby, Wail switches to Chinchou to deal with it as it Nasty Plots, potentially trying to save Spore for another one of Starsama's mons. Chinchou and Vullaby trade damage on Turn 12, with a Thunderbolt paralysis essentially rendering Vullaby useless except as a later sack. Starsama preserves it by going into Foo the next turn.After a few standard turns, Starsama once again brilliantly reads Wail’s play and manages to Spore his A-Sandshrew on Turn 18, predicting that Wail might be trying to generate offensive initiative to salvage a losing position. Following some classic Regenerator-core shuffling against Wail’s Foongus, Starsama gets lucky with a crit on Turn 23, and wins the speed tie to finish it off on the next turn.After a few more turns, Starsama manages to KO Wail’s Mudbray as well. Snowshrew gets a one-turn wake-up on Turn 29, giving Wail a glimmer of hope in this seemingly lost endgame. Starsama lands a Fake Out on Turn 30, and from the damage, possibly infers that it could be Scarfed. He plays it safe by sacking Vullaby the next turn to deny any potential shenanigans.Wail reveals Tera Ice on Turn 31, most likely confirming that Snowshrew is indeed Choice Scarfed. However, this gives Starsama a free opportunity to bring in his Shellder, and after a Shell Smash, it sweeps through the rest of Wail's team.
Thus, Starsama comes away with an impressive win, featuring sharp predictions aided by a bit of fortune, to keep his winning run going in this SCL. Wail Wailord, on the other hand, walks away with another loss and will look to bounce back and claim his first win in the tournament next week.
wail wailord:
starsama:
An intriguing matchup here between Brazilian LC superstar Starsama and longtime LC stalwart Wail Wailord. Wail is looking for his first win this SCL after a rather disappointing game last week, while Starsama aims to continue his winning ways.
On team preview, both players have brought Foongus-based structures, with Starsama opting for a Dark-spam approach, while Wail has gone for a Water-spam route with Alolan Sandshrew as potential hazard control.
Turn 1 presents an interesting lead situation: Stunky vs. Mienfoo. It's possible to infer from this that Starsama could potentially have a Nasty Plot Vullaby in the back and was unwilling to lead with Mienfoo and risk it getting knocked, especially due to Wail's Snowshrew/Chinchou. This may have compelled him to lead with Stunky instead.After a standard couple of turns, on Turn 3, Wail gets extremely unlucky by not KOing the Stunky with U-turn (only 1 roll out of 16 fails to kill), essentially missing the chance to trade Foo for Stunky. He brings in Wingull, then immediately switches back to Mienfoo on the potential Sucker Punch, trying to guarantee a safe entry and finish off the Stunky with Fake Out—but Starsama reads it perfectly and uses Gunk Shot to claim the kill.Wail goes back to Wingull on Turn 5 and makes another prediction: assuming Starsama wouldn't use Sucker Punch due to Substitute being common on Wingull, he goes for an immediate Surf. But Starsama once again calls him out and lands a huge Sucker Punch on the bird before going down, giving him a commanding lead just five turns in. On Turn 6, Vullaby comes out and lands a Tera Blast into the incoming Chinchou, potentially indicating a Nasty Plot set with Tera Ground—otherwise, Knock Off would have been the obvious choice on the usual physical set. After Chinchou Volts into Mienfoo to bring in the dangerous Wingull once more, Starsama commits to using his Steel Tera to survive a potential Hurricane on Turn 9—but it doesn't even end up mattering, as Wingull fails to land it and goes down.Turn 10, Starsama manages to get Vullaby in on a Giga Drain from Foongus. Instead of opting to Spore the Vullaby, Wail switches to Chinchou to deal with it as it Nasty Plots, potentially trying to save Spore for another one of Starsama's mons. Chinchou and Vullaby trade damage on Turn 12, with a Thunderbolt paralysis essentially rendering Vullaby useless except as a later sack. Starsama preserves it by going into Foo the next turn.After a few standard turns, Starsama once again brilliantly reads Wail’s play and manages to Spore his A-Sandshrew on Turn 18, predicting that Wail might be trying to generate offensive initiative to salvage a losing position. Following some classic Regenerator-core shuffling against Wail’s Foongus, Starsama gets lucky with a crit on Turn 23, and wins the speed tie to finish it off on the next turn.After a few more turns, Starsama manages to KO Wail’s Mudbray as well. Snowshrew gets a one-turn wake-up on Turn 29, giving Wail a glimmer of hope in this seemingly lost endgame. Starsama lands a Fake Out on Turn 30, and from the damage, possibly infers that it could be Scarfed. He plays it safe by sacking Vullaby the next turn to deny any potential shenanigans.Wail reveals Tera Ice on Turn 31, most likely confirming that Snowshrew is indeed Choice Scarfed. However, this gives Starsama a free opportunity to bring in his Shellder, and after a Shell Smash, it sweeps through the rest of Wail's team.
Thus, Starsama comes away with an impressive win, featuring sharp predictions aided by a bit of fortune, to keep his winning run going in this SCL. Wail Wailord, on the other hand, walks away with another loss and will look to bounce back and claim his first win in the tournament next week.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-873000
always edgy:
jake:
With jake coming off of a win against Eniigma last week and having a higher seed than Edgy, who wasn't able to clutch it vs Lokifan, the general public expected this match to go jake's way.
He is using a team consisting of a Diglett + Shellder offensive core, backed up by the defensive core of Foongus + Mudbray. This team aims to have defensive answers to most of what the opponent might throw at it, use Diglett early to rip a hole in the opposing defensive core, and have Shellder later sweep against the remainders. On the other side of the field, Edgy is rocking a much different team. His has a less common structure, opting to have no Vullaby and an uncommon combination of Pokémon. He's got a defensive core of Mareanie, Toedscool and Glimmet, backing up an offensive one of Stunky and Diglett-Alola. This team's purpose is to win the hazard game between Glimmet and Toedscool, and later find opportunities for Swords Dance Diglett to set up and win.
Looking at the matchup between the two players, Edgy will probably be able to secure his own rocks while keeping jake's off the field. He will thus only have to worry about being able to kill the Mudbray, since both his main offensive Pokémon, Stunky and Diglett, don't do much to it. Lastly, he will need to be incredibly wary of Shellder, as any opportunity it gets to Shell Smash, be it in front of Mienfoo, Diglett or Stunky, might mean he loses. From jake's point of view, he probably needs to capitalize on Edgy's Toedscool switching in every time against Mudbray to hit it with Close Combat, heavily weakening for his Diglett-Alola. He could try to use Shellder early to force some Steel teras, which will also help the Diglett sweep later in the game.
Both players start off the game with more uncommon leads, with Edgy using lead Mareanie, presumably to beat Mienfoo and get an early advantage, while jake leads off with his Mudbray, likely to take advantage of a possible lead Stunky while having solid Mienfoo counterplay. jake uses this very good lead matchup to get early Close Combat damage on Toedscool, which could be game changing already. Toedscool takes advantage of the Mienfoo switch to heal up a bit of health with Giga Drain, as jake knocks off the opposing Mareanie. As turns pass, jake doesn't get his foot off the pedal, U-Turning with Vullaby out of the Glimmet switching in, allowing him to get an early Diglett on the field, in a perfect position to get a KO on the Toedscool. Edgy comes back a bit after that, taking the opportunity to knock the Foongus off, and revealing Safety Goggles Stunky, which completely blanks it. With some smart play, jake is able to get Mudbray in a Gunk Shot, which will take the Stunky kill with another Earthquake, given the only Grass resist in Edgy's team is now gone. After a Mareanie/Vullaby exchange, Edgy gets his Glimmet in against jake's 1 HP poisoned Vullaby, but he gets a Spike up as Vullaby roosts, allowing him to switch it out and sacrifice the Foongus instead. Edgy, maybe surprisingly, opts to not even take the Foongus KO, but rather set 3 layers of Spikes, hoping it will be good enough a trade for Diglett to be able to win should he get a Swords Dance up. After a game of catch against the Foongus, Edgy sees himself with just two Pokémon, Diglett and Mienfoo, against jake's six. Diglett goes for Swords Dance, with three Spikes up, but Shellder's Ice Shard ensures jake the game. jake never backed off, playing at a pace Edgy was never able to keep up with, earning him the victory.
always edgy:
jake:
With jake coming off of a win against Eniigma last week and having a higher seed than Edgy, who wasn't able to clutch it vs Lokifan, the general public expected this match to go jake's way.
He is using a team consisting of a Diglett + Shellder offensive core, backed up by the defensive core of Foongus + Mudbray. This team aims to have defensive answers to most of what the opponent might throw at it, use Diglett early to rip a hole in the opposing defensive core, and have Shellder later sweep against the remainders. On the other side of the field, Edgy is rocking a much different team. His has a less common structure, opting to have no Vullaby and an uncommon combination of Pokémon. He's got a defensive core of Mareanie, Toedscool and Glimmet, backing up an offensive one of Stunky and Diglett-Alola. This team's purpose is to win the hazard game between Glimmet and Toedscool, and later find opportunities for Swords Dance Diglett to set up and win.
Looking at the matchup between the two players, Edgy will probably be able to secure his own rocks while keeping jake's off the field. He will thus only have to worry about being able to kill the Mudbray, since both his main offensive Pokémon, Stunky and Diglett, don't do much to it. Lastly, he will need to be incredibly wary of Shellder, as any opportunity it gets to Shell Smash, be it in front of Mienfoo, Diglett or Stunky, might mean he loses. From jake's point of view, he probably needs to capitalize on Edgy's Toedscool switching in every time against Mudbray to hit it with Close Combat, heavily weakening for his Diglett-Alola. He could try to use Shellder early to force some Steel teras, which will also help the Diglett sweep later in the game.
Both players start off the game with more uncommon leads, with Edgy using lead Mareanie, presumably to beat Mienfoo and get an early advantage, while jake leads off with his Mudbray, likely to take advantage of a possible lead Stunky while having solid Mienfoo counterplay. jake uses this very good lead matchup to get early Close Combat damage on Toedscool, which could be game changing already. Toedscool takes advantage of the Mienfoo switch to heal up a bit of health with Giga Drain, as jake knocks off the opposing Mareanie. As turns pass, jake doesn't get his foot off the pedal, U-Turning with Vullaby out of the Glimmet switching in, allowing him to get an early Diglett on the field, in a perfect position to get a KO on the Toedscool. Edgy comes back a bit after that, taking the opportunity to knock the Foongus off, and revealing Safety Goggles Stunky, which completely blanks it. With some smart play, jake is able to get Mudbray in a Gunk Shot, which will take the Stunky kill with another Earthquake, given the only Grass resist in Edgy's team is now gone. After a Mareanie/Vullaby exchange, Edgy gets his Glimmet in against jake's 1 HP poisoned Vullaby, but he gets a Spike up as Vullaby roosts, allowing him to switch it out and sacrifice the Foongus instead. Edgy, maybe surprisingly, opts to not even take the Foongus KO, but rather set 3 layers of Spikes, hoping it will be good enough a trade for Diglett to be able to win should he get a Swords Dance up. After a game of catch against the Foongus, Edgy sees himself with just two Pokémon, Diglett and Mienfoo, against jake's six. Diglett goes for Swords Dance, with three Spikes up, but Shellder's Ice Shard ensures jake the game. jake never backed off, playing at a pace Edgy was never able to keep up with, earning him the victory.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-873085
eniigma:
kaboom:
For our last game, Eniigma is fighting off against Kaboom. The former comes from a win against jake, while the latter is 0-1 thanks to Envy. Prediction game participants have this as a 62.6% in favor of LC's best Bangladesh player (say fuck gawain if u got here).
Kaboom is using yet another unusual, Vullaby-less build. He is also rocking the "new ttm" core of Mareanie, Toedscool and Glimmet, but he accompanies it with Elekid and Diglett-Alola instead. Just like Edgy's team, this team will aim to win the hazard game, knock defensive pieces off and clean with Diglett. Speaking of unusual, Eniigma has the most Eniigma team so far in SCL. He's got no Mienfoo, which in LC is incredibly rare. Instead, he is rocking a Sandshrew/Wingull/Larvesta core, which at first glance aims at getting rocks off the field too for Larvesta and Wingull's potential breaking. He uses it in addition to the defensive core of Foongus, Mudbray and Gothita, which should be able to either defend from or trap every offensive threat.
Kaboom starts off with a disadvantage already at team preview. Eniigma's team is so "seemingly random" that he probably doesn't know what to expect, every mon could have any set there is. So, on top of his gameplan of setting Spikes up with Toedscool and trying to keep them up, he will have to deal with Eniigma's possible surprises, maybe feeling obligated to scout more than he should be. On the other hand, Eniigma has a very clear winpath of his own: trap Mareanie and spam Surf. He has a Larvesta to make it even easier, so I would argue he has the advantage in terms of matchup.
Both players actually start off with the same leads as jake and Edgy, with Eniigma's Mudbray in against Kaboom's Mareanie, but things quickly develop differently, as Eniigma is seemingly more afraid of Kaboom and uses Earthquake into the Toedscool switching in. Kaboom takes this opportunity to set Spikes up, but a Close Combate from Eniigm leaves the Toedscool barely hanging. He keeps this pressure up by going Larvesta on Giga Drain, denying recovery and starting off a series of plays that allow him to trap Mareanie. Kaboom tries to Terastalyze to get out of this situation, but he gets tricked a Choice Scarf. As he takes the Gothita kill with his half health Diglett, Wingull hits the field, revealing the problem caused by the Ghost Tera Mareanie clicked: there is no Water resist left on Kaboom's side, and every time Wingull hits the field, something dies. Will he be able to stop Wingull from entering the scene repeatedly, thus allowing him to win before Eniigma does? Its first victim is the Mareanie, which probably makes both Larvesta and Wingull even scarier. Kaboom tries to revenge using Elekid, but his more aggressive play of staying in against Mudbray gets punished by Earthquake. Kaboom probably felt pressured to do this, as he had no other special mon left that could damage Mudbray with Stamina boosts. From here, Kaboom is completely helpless against the Wingull, and he ends up losing the game. Eniigma had incredibly clear what he needed to do in order to win, and Kaboom made choices expecting results that didn't pan out.
eniigma:
kaboom:
For our last game, Eniigma is fighting off against Kaboom. The former comes from a win against jake, while the latter is 0-1 thanks to Envy. Prediction game participants have this as a 62.6% in favor of LC's best Bangladesh player (say fuck gawain if u got here).
Kaboom is using yet another unusual, Vullaby-less build. He is also rocking the "new ttm" core of Mareanie, Toedscool and Glimmet, but he accompanies it with Elekid and Diglett-Alola instead. Just like Edgy's team, this team will aim to win the hazard game, knock defensive pieces off and clean with Diglett. Speaking of unusual, Eniigma has the most Eniigma team so far in SCL. He's got no Mienfoo, which in LC is incredibly rare. Instead, he is rocking a Sandshrew/Wingull/Larvesta core, which at first glance aims at getting rocks off the field too for Larvesta and Wingull's potential breaking. He uses it in addition to the defensive core of Foongus, Mudbray and Gothita, which should be able to either defend from or trap every offensive threat.
Kaboom starts off with a disadvantage already at team preview. Eniigma's team is so "seemingly random" that he probably doesn't know what to expect, every mon could have any set there is. So, on top of his gameplan of setting Spikes up with Toedscool and trying to keep them up, he will have to deal with Eniigma's possible surprises, maybe feeling obligated to scout more than he should be. On the other hand, Eniigma has a very clear winpath of his own: trap Mareanie and spam Surf. He has a Larvesta to make it even easier, so I would argue he has the advantage in terms of matchup.
Both players actually start off with the same leads as jake and Edgy, with Eniigma's Mudbray in against Kaboom's Mareanie, but things quickly develop differently, as Eniigma is seemingly more afraid of Kaboom and uses Earthquake into the Toedscool switching in. Kaboom takes this opportunity to set Spikes up, but a Close Combate from Eniigm leaves the Toedscool barely hanging. He keeps this pressure up by going Larvesta on Giga Drain, denying recovery and starting off a series of plays that allow him to trap Mareanie. Kaboom tries to Terastalyze to get out of this situation, but he gets tricked a Choice Scarf. As he takes the Gothita kill with his half health Diglett, Wingull hits the field, revealing the problem caused by the Ghost Tera Mareanie clicked: there is no Water resist left on Kaboom's side, and every time Wingull hits the field, something dies. Will he be able to stop Wingull from entering the scene repeatedly, thus allowing him to win before Eniigma does? Its first victim is the Mareanie, which probably makes both Larvesta and Wingull even scarier. Kaboom tries to revenge using Elekid, but his more aggressive play of staying in against Mudbray gets punished by Earthquake. Kaboom probably felt pressured to do this, as he had no other special mon left that could damage Mudbray with Stamina boosts. From here, Kaboom is completely helpless against the Wingull, and he ends up losing the game. Eniigma had incredibly clear what he needed to do in order to win, and Kaboom made choices expecting results that didn't pan out.
why is no one doing predicts anymore (week 3 game analyses)
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-874772
envy:
wail wailord:
Two extremely skilled players battling it out here in this matchup. Both have had contrasting SCL campaigns thus far though, with Envy being unbeaten so far while Wail Wailord is still looking for his first win. Therefore, both of them will have an extra spark of determination to come away from this encounter with a win.
Looking at team preview, Envy has brought a standard Foongus based build with Elekid and Shellder as primary offensive weapons, while Wail has opted to bring a Dark-spam type structure with the uncommon Koffing and also a Shellder as well.
The game starts off somewhat conventionally in a lead Vull vs Mudbray scenario. Turn 2 Wail reveals the somewhat uncommon Heavy Slam from Mudbray as Envy goes to his Mienfoo to scout a potential Stone Edge, thus revealing it is also a fast Foo from the damage as well. Envy makes a smart play predicting the incoming Koffing on his Foo by doubling back to his Vull to heal his Foo with Regenerator and also cause pressure to Wail with Knock Off, and the next turn both players trade a Knock for a burn. Turn 7 Envy decides to cover for a Nasty Plot Vullaby possibility and goes to his Elekid, and Wail makes a somewhat question double back to his Koffing, possibly trying to catch a Knock Off onto it and then heal with Pain Split the next turn. However given Wail's team structure, it was highly unlikely for Envy to give the Vull a potential free speed boost whilst it set up a potential Nasty Plot, thus making the Elekid switch a nice midground. However, Wail covers for this momentary loss of momentum nicely by going to Stunky on Turn 8 on the incoming Psychic from Elekid. Turn 9 Envy gets very unlucky when his Elekid goes down to a crit Knock Off after staying into Thunderbolt the Stunky for some needed chip. In hindsight, this would essentially prove to be the losing turn for Envy as we shall see from the rest of the game.After a few turns of standard play, we see the first nail in the Koffin(pun intended) when Mienfoo reveals Substitute on turn 13 to shield itself from Spore. Envy goes to his Vullaby the next turn to try catch a Knock Off on it and trigger Weak Armor to outspeed and have a chance to break the Sub, but Wail reveals Tera Steel and clicks Swords Dance, putting himself in an extremely commanding position in the game. After his Vullaby goes down on turn 15, Envy tries a last resort by going to his Shellder and revealing Tera Ghost, hoping to catch a HJK into it as he Shell Smashes, and try win the game with Shellder, but Wail makes the safe play to click Knock Off and Envy's chances to win essentially die at that point. Wail's Mienfoo then cleans up the endgame over the next several turns, and he comes away with his first win this SCL, albeit with some great fortune with regards to the crit on Elekid, as the Sub SD Mienfoo was simply too much to handle without nothing definite to outspeed it.
envy:
wail wailord:
Two extremely skilled players battling it out here in this matchup. Both have had contrasting SCL campaigns thus far though, with Envy being unbeaten so far while Wail Wailord is still looking for his first win. Therefore, both of them will have an extra spark of determination to come away from this encounter with a win.
Looking at team preview, Envy has brought a standard Foongus based build with Elekid and Shellder as primary offensive weapons, while Wail has opted to bring a Dark-spam type structure with the uncommon Koffing and also a Shellder as well.
The game starts off somewhat conventionally in a lead Vull vs Mudbray scenario. Turn 2 Wail reveals the somewhat uncommon Heavy Slam from Mudbray as Envy goes to his Mienfoo to scout a potential Stone Edge, thus revealing it is also a fast Foo from the damage as well. Envy makes a smart play predicting the incoming Koffing on his Foo by doubling back to his Vull to heal his Foo with Regenerator and also cause pressure to Wail with Knock Off, and the next turn both players trade a Knock for a burn. Turn 7 Envy decides to cover for a Nasty Plot Vullaby possibility and goes to his Elekid, and Wail makes a somewhat question double back to his Koffing, possibly trying to catch a Knock Off onto it and then heal with Pain Split the next turn. However given Wail's team structure, it was highly unlikely for Envy to give the Vull a potential free speed boost whilst it set up a potential Nasty Plot, thus making the Elekid switch a nice midground. However, Wail covers for this momentary loss of momentum nicely by going to Stunky on Turn 8 on the incoming Psychic from Elekid. Turn 9 Envy gets very unlucky when his Elekid goes down to a crit Knock Off after staying into Thunderbolt the Stunky for some needed chip. In hindsight, this would essentially prove to be the losing turn for Envy as we shall see from the rest of the game.After a few turns of standard play, we see the first nail in the Koffin(pun intended) when Mienfoo reveals Substitute on turn 13 to shield itself from Spore. Envy goes to his Vullaby the next turn to try catch a Knock Off on it and trigger Weak Armor to outspeed and have a chance to break the Sub, but Wail reveals Tera Steel and clicks Swords Dance, putting himself in an extremely commanding position in the game. After his Vullaby goes down on turn 15, Envy tries a last resort by going to his Shellder and revealing Tera Ghost, hoping to catch a HJK into it as he Shell Smashes, and try win the game with Shellder, but Wail makes the safe play to click Knock Off and Envy's chances to win essentially die at that point. Wail's Mienfoo then cleans up the endgame over the next several turns, and he comes away with his first win this SCL, albeit with some great fortune with regards to the crit on Elekid, as the Sub SD Mienfoo was simply too much to handle without nothing definite to outspeed it.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-874738
laroxyl:
eniigma:
A very intriguing matchup here between the unpredicatable LC maestro Eniigma and ever dangerous LC mainstay Laroxyl here. Both have had contrasting SCL campaigns thus far, with Eniigma still unbeaten while Laro is looking for his first win in the tour. Looking at team preview, Laro has opted to go for a TTM(Tink-Toed-Mare) structure with the somewhat uncommon H-Zorua as an offensive piece, while Eniigma has opted for a somewhat normal looking build for his standards with a Foongus based structure with Shellos as an interesting pick.
Turn 1 we see the classic Air Balloon Tinkatink switchin to Mienfoo to steal its Eviolite. Turn 2 Eniigma gets unlucky by missing HJK, potentially anticipating Tink to click Stealth Rock, but Laro potentially anticipates this and clicks Draining Kiss back to take down the Foo, giving him a commanding lead only a couple of turns in. Turn 3, Eniigma makes a questionable decision to bring Gothita in and essentially sacrifice most of its health to trick the Tinkatink and chip it a bit with Thunderbolt over the next few turns. Going Mudbray on turn 3 and continuing with some conventional lines like setting rocks/CCing an incoming Toedskool could have proven to be a better decision, but understandably his position wasn't great regardless after essentially losing a mon for free only 2 turns in. Turn 7, Laroxyl reveals Spikes from his Toedskool, adding even more pressure to Eniigma as he has no removal on his side. On turn 8, Laro makes a smart call to let his essentially useless Tinkatink to get slept, allowing the rest of his mons to function more freely. A few turns pass with Laroxyl further extending his advantage, including Knocking Eniigma's Foongus and also taking down his Mudbray on turn 19. Laro keeps the momentum going by also taking down the Stunky on turn 23, and later the Gothita on turn 28. Eniigma goes for his last resort on turn 29, revealing his Shellos to be the Crit-me not Amnesia+Curse Sweeper set. Laroxyl reveals Tera Water on his Toed to cover all possible Shellos interactions on that turn, and is fortunate to get a Spdef Drop with Earth Power as Eniigma clicks Amnesia with Shellos. Eniigma, potentially anticipating that Toed would have Knock Off as the last move, decides to start boosting with Curse as well on turn 30,given no immediate threat to get KOd, but Laro reveals Giga Drain from Toed as the last move to put it into KO range. Eniigma tries to salvage his position by revealing Tera Poison the next turn, but Laroxyl expertly predicts this and Earth Powers to take it down. He then cleans up the endgame with his Mareanie and comes away with his first win this SCL with some solid play and a bit of good fortune helping him.
laroxyl:
eniigma:
A very intriguing matchup here between the unpredicatable LC maestro Eniigma and ever dangerous LC mainstay Laroxyl here. Both have had contrasting SCL campaigns thus far, with Eniigma still unbeaten while Laro is looking for his first win in the tour. Looking at team preview, Laro has opted to go for a TTM(Tink-Toed-Mare) structure with the somewhat uncommon H-Zorua as an offensive piece, while Eniigma has opted for a somewhat normal looking build for his standards with a Foongus based structure with Shellos as an interesting pick.
Turn 1 we see the classic Air Balloon Tinkatink switchin to Mienfoo to steal its Eviolite. Turn 2 Eniigma gets unlucky by missing HJK, potentially anticipating Tink to click Stealth Rock, but Laro potentially anticipates this and clicks Draining Kiss back to take down the Foo, giving him a commanding lead only a couple of turns in. Turn 3, Eniigma makes a questionable decision to bring Gothita in and essentially sacrifice most of its health to trick the Tinkatink and chip it a bit with Thunderbolt over the next few turns. Going Mudbray on turn 3 and continuing with some conventional lines like setting rocks/CCing an incoming Toedskool could have proven to be a better decision, but understandably his position wasn't great regardless after essentially losing a mon for free only 2 turns in. Turn 7, Laroxyl reveals Spikes from his Toedskool, adding even more pressure to Eniigma as he has no removal on his side. On turn 8, Laro makes a smart call to let his essentially useless Tinkatink to get slept, allowing the rest of his mons to function more freely. A few turns pass with Laroxyl further extending his advantage, including Knocking Eniigma's Foongus and also taking down his Mudbray on turn 19. Laro keeps the momentum going by also taking down the Stunky on turn 23, and later the Gothita on turn 28. Eniigma goes for his last resort on turn 29, revealing his Shellos to be the Crit-me not Amnesia+Curse Sweeper set. Laroxyl reveals Tera Water on his Toed to cover all possible Shellos interactions on that turn, and is fortunate to get a Spdef Drop with Earth Power as Eniigma clicks Amnesia with Shellos. Eniigma, potentially anticipating that Toed would have Knock Off as the last move, decides to start boosting with Curse as well on turn 30,given no immediate threat to get KOd, but Laro reveals Giga Drain from Toed as the last move to put it into KO range. Eniigma tries to salvage his position by revealing Tera Poison the next turn, but Laroxyl expertly predicts this and Earth Powers to take it down. He then cleans up the endgame with his Mareanie and comes away with his first win this SCL with some solid play and a bit of good fortune helping him.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-874962
jake:
lokifan:
In an exciting match, we have LC heavyweight Lokifan going up against Smogon veteran Jake.
On preview, it is immediately apparent that both teams are far from standard. Lokifan’s team
relies on defensive pivots to get value out of Spikes and Trapinch dealing with particularly
difficult pokemon like Alolan Diglett and Tinkatinkto set up for a late game Gimmighoul Nasty
Plot sweep against a chipped team. Despite the emphasis on defensive pieces, Shellos,
Chespin, and especially Tentacool are prone to being chipped out and then unable to switch in.
Jake's team looks conventional in comparison, however it is far from a typical LC structure.
Gothita and Salandit work together well, as Gothita traps a lot of Salandits switchins, like
Mienfoo and Mareanie. Jake should be looking to apply pressure with Vullaby and catch Shellos
with Gothita to open up Vullaby, while Lokifan should be looking to get hazards up early and
slow the pace of the game down.
On Turn 1 we see the typical Mienfoo Handshake. This is a debatable play from Jake, as the
structure of Lokifan’s team pigeonholed him into leading Mienfoo. You can capitalize on this
more by either leading Vullaby and trying to get Gothita in swiftly on Shellos, or lead Foongus
and try to pressure Chespin off of the gate. Lokifan wins the Fake Out speed tie, but is unable to
fully capitalize as he High Jump Kick’s into a Foongus. This leads to Chespin coming in, and
subsequently getting a layer of spikes up as Salandit comes in impervious to anything Chespin
could do, barring the uncommon Zen Headbutt. When Tentacool comes in to take any hit
Salandit can throw out, it reveals to be Life Orb and the next turn Jake elects to Tera Psychic.
This play feels premature, as not only is the Tentacool is almost in range of a Psychic from
Gothita, only needing slightly more chip damage, but Tentacool has no means of recovering HP.
While nothing comes in cleanly, Tentacool won’t be able to make a ton of progress given the
pokemon’s passivity. Taking the kill with Salandit also means Trapinch will come in to trap it.
This is exactly what happens, as Lokifan capitalizes by going into Trapinch. Jake decides to
Knock Off instead of Fire Blast to circumvent the possibility of a miss to revenge kill with
Gothita’s Energy Ball. Lokifan chooses to Tera Steel his Trapinch to remove the Gothita, for Iron
Defense Vullaby to come in. This sequence from Jake feels odd, as playing this heavily into
Tera Steel is a lot of risk without much reward. Fire Blast makes more sense, doing 13 or 16
damage (barring crit or max roll) to the standard Trapinch spread. This lets you comfortably
bring in Mienfoo to click High Jump Kick unimposed or Mudbray to set Stealth Rock given the
Pokemon's relative unimportance in the matchup, while Rocks make Lokifan's defensive core
much easier to play around. In the event Fire Blast misses, you can go to Vullaby and take the
same line with Iron Defense. Vullaby uses Iron Defense as Shellos comes in. Lokifan tries to win
the 1v1 and dodge crits, while Jake attempts to brute force through the Shellos. Eventually both
Pokemon run out of recovery moves, and Shellos goes down, keeping Vullaby chipped all the
way down to 40%. Gimmighoul comes in to take out the Vullaby, but Jake preserves it by going
to Mudbray and taking minimal damage. Jake doubles to Mienfoo on incoming Chespin and
gets to High Jump Kick Lokifan’s incoming Mienfoo. Lokifan sacks his Trapinch to bring in
Gimmighoul safely, which then clicks Substitute on Mienfoo switching out, allowing it to get a
Nasty Plot boost and close out the game.
jake:
lokifan:
In an exciting match, we have LC heavyweight Lokifan going up against Smogon veteran Jake.
On preview, it is immediately apparent that both teams are far from standard. Lokifan’s team
relies on defensive pivots to get value out of Spikes and Trapinch dealing with particularly
difficult pokemon like Alolan Diglett and Tinkatinkto set up for a late game Gimmighoul Nasty
Plot sweep against a chipped team. Despite the emphasis on defensive pieces, Shellos,
Chespin, and especially Tentacool are prone to being chipped out and then unable to switch in.
Jake's team looks conventional in comparison, however it is far from a typical LC structure.
Gothita and Salandit work together well, as Gothita traps a lot of Salandits switchins, like
Mienfoo and Mareanie. Jake should be looking to apply pressure with Vullaby and catch Shellos
with Gothita to open up Vullaby, while Lokifan should be looking to get hazards up early and
slow the pace of the game down.
On Turn 1 we see the typical Mienfoo Handshake. This is a debatable play from Jake, as the
structure of Lokifan’s team pigeonholed him into leading Mienfoo. You can capitalize on this
more by either leading Vullaby and trying to get Gothita in swiftly on Shellos, or lead Foongus
and try to pressure Chespin off of the gate. Lokifan wins the Fake Out speed tie, but is unable to
fully capitalize as he High Jump Kick’s into a Foongus. This leads to Chespin coming in, and
subsequently getting a layer of spikes up as Salandit comes in impervious to anything Chespin
could do, barring the uncommon Zen Headbutt. When Tentacool comes in to take any hit
Salandit can throw out, it reveals to be Life Orb and the next turn Jake elects to Tera Psychic.
This play feels premature, as not only is the Tentacool is almost in range of a Psychic from
Gothita, only needing slightly more chip damage, but Tentacool has no means of recovering HP.
While nothing comes in cleanly, Tentacool won’t be able to make a ton of progress given the
pokemon’s passivity. Taking the kill with Salandit also means Trapinch will come in to trap it.
This is exactly what happens, as Lokifan capitalizes by going into Trapinch. Jake decides to
Knock Off instead of Fire Blast to circumvent the possibility of a miss to revenge kill with
Gothita’s Energy Ball. Lokifan chooses to Tera Steel his Trapinch to remove the Gothita, for Iron
Defense Vullaby to come in. This sequence from Jake feels odd, as playing this heavily into
Tera Steel is a lot of risk without much reward. Fire Blast makes more sense, doing 13 or 16
damage (barring crit or max roll) to the standard Trapinch spread. This lets you comfortably
bring in Mienfoo to click High Jump Kick unimposed or Mudbray to set Stealth Rock given the
Pokemon's relative unimportance in the matchup, while Rocks make Lokifan's defensive core
much easier to play around. In the event Fire Blast misses, you can go to Vullaby and take the
same line with Iron Defense. Vullaby uses Iron Defense as Shellos comes in. Lokifan tries to win
the 1v1 and dodge crits, while Jake attempts to brute force through the Shellos. Eventually both
Pokemon run out of recovery moves, and Shellos goes down, keeping Vullaby chipped all the
way down to 40%. Gimmighoul comes in to take out the Vullaby, but Jake preserves it by going
to Mudbray and taking minimal damage. Jake doubles to Mienfoo on incoming Chespin and
gets to High Jump Kick Lokifan’s incoming Mienfoo. Lokifan sacks his Trapinch to bring in
Gimmighoul safely, which then clicks Substitute on Mienfoo switching out, allowing it to get a
Nasty Plot boost and close out the game.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-875010
tazz:
starsama:
This is a game for the ages. Seed #2 Starsama faces off against seed #3 tazz. Starsama is so far undefeated, so he wants to keep that record. His opponent is 1-1, but he's coming from a loss against the first seed Lokifan. Only based on this, this game looks to be incredibly close. What's more, looking at the matchup, this suspicion turns reality.
Tazz is using a Shellder based team, which aims to facilitate the clam's late game sweep. In order to do that, he's using a Gothita to trap Poison types and Mienfoo, possibly Chinchou and Mudbray as well, and the tried and true defensive core of Foongus and Mudbray. On the other end, Star is rocking a similar looking team, only changing Stunky for the Shellder. This, however, changes entirely how the team plays, as it now doesn't look for openings for Shellder to sweep, but rather it tries to always keep up offensive momentum so one of the Darks can break for the other.
Given the similarities of the teams, the matchup looks very much about even. They both should have built in checks for the different mons they have, so really this game will come down to who plays better. Starsama will try and look out for chances to trap the Mudbray with Gothita so his Stunky can have a field day, while tazz, in my opinion, aims to trap the Foongus, facilitating Mienfoo's breaking in the process, and allowing for Shellder later in the game if Mienfoo has done well enough.
The game starts with both players sending out their Mudbrays. Both were probably afraid of losing the Mienfoo lead interactions, and wanted to get Rocks up as early as possible to dent the Vullaby switching in. They get stuck in this mirror match, however, and both decide to stay in, get the rocks up and damage the opposing donkey. At first glance, this trade seems to favor Starsama, who only needed his Mudbray for one Pokémon, which can be dealt with by other methods, while tazz would have appreciated his Mudbray being alive, or else Stunky becomes too powerful. After this exchange, since tazz gave up his dedicated Vullaby answer, he maneuvers around it with Mienfoo and Vullaby, losing Mienfoo's Eviolite and Vullaby's life in the process. Starsama, at this point, has taken with his one Vullaby a Pokémon and an item from tazz, and his Stunky is looking as threatening as it gets. After the double down, tazz unluckily gets his Mienfoo against Star's Gothita, getting forced to Tera Steel to gain a bit of control back. However, he has exhausted too many resources and, while he damages the Stunky with Rock Blast, a mistake regarding not knowing Temper Flare mechanics (it still doubles up in damage if you get flinched by Fake Out) costs tazz the game, giving Starsama a much deserved victory.
tazz:
starsama:
This is a game for the ages. Seed #2 Starsama faces off against seed #3 tazz. Starsama is so far undefeated, so he wants to keep that record. His opponent is 1-1, but he's coming from a loss against the first seed Lokifan. Only based on this, this game looks to be incredibly close. What's more, looking at the matchup, this suspicion turns reality.
Tazz is using a Shellder based team, which aims to facilitate the clam's late game sweep. In order to do that, he's using a Gothita to trap Poison types and Mienfoo, possibly Chinchou and Mudbray as well, and the tried and true defensive core of Foongus and Mudbray. On the other end, Star is rocking a similar looking team, only changing Stunky for the Shellder. This, however, changes entirely how the team plays, as it now doesn't look for openings for Shellder to sweep, but rather it tries to always keep up offensive momentum so one of the Darks can break for the other.
Given the similarities of the teams, the matchup looks very much about even. They both should have built in checks for the different mons they have, so really this game will come down to who plays better. Starsama will try and look out for chances to trap the Mudbray with Gothita so his Stunky can have a field day, while tazz, in my opinion, aims to trap the Foongus, facilitating Mienfoo's breaking in the process, and allowing for Shellder later in the game if Mienfoo has done well enough.
The game starts with both players sending out their Mudbrays. Both were probably afraid of losing the Mienfoo lead interactions, and wanted to get Rocks up as early as possible to dent the Vullaby switching in. They get stuck in this mirror match, however, and both decide to stay in, get the rocks up and damage the opposing donkey. At first glance, this trade seems to favor Starsama, who only needed his Mudbray for one Pokémon, which can be dealt with by other methods, while tazz would have appreciated his Mudbray being alive, or else Stunky becomes too powerful. After this exchange, since tazz gave up his dedicated Vullaby answer, he maneuvers around it with Mienfoo and Vullaby, losing Mienfoo's Eviolite and Vullaby's life in the process. Starsama, at this point, has taken with his one Vullaby a Pokémon and an item from tazz, and his Stunky is looking as threatening as it gets. After the double down, tazz unluckily gets his Mienfoo against Star's Gothita, getting forced to Tera Steel to gain a bit of control back. However, he has exhausted too many resources and, while he damages the Stunky with Rock Blast, a mistake regarding not knowing Temper Flare mechanics (it still doubles up in damage if you get flinched by Fake Out) costs tazz the game, giving Starsama a much deserved victory.
replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9lc-875743
fille:
always edgy:
1-2 Always Edgy faces off new face (to this season) Fille, who subbed in last minute instead of Eternal Spirit, who also subbed in instead of Kaboom. Don't let this mess fool you tho, both are incredible players, very capable of winning games.
Fille is using a team based on a Gothita + Elekid core, which aims to trap Elekid checks off of a Volt Switch, to make it easier for Elekid and Mienfoo to break opposing teams apart. Edgy is using the very much spammed ttm core, Toedscool + Tinkatink + Mareanie, with a very suspicious Mudbray. His team uses an incredibly effective defensive core, ttm, to allow his not-really-surprising Tera Ground Choice Scarf Mudbray to clean games.
Looking at the matchup, Fille should be incredibly wary of the opposing Mudbray. He's only got one ground immunity, and no ground resist. Normally, his plan against Mudbray would be to wall it with Foongus before trapping it with Gothita. However, since this is a Choice Scarf Mudbray, who is likely to be faster than the Gothita, and also likely to use Tera Ground to break through Foongus, his matchup into it becomes way scarier. He will need to preserve his Vullaby at all costs, even against its best counter in the game in Tinkatink. On the other hand, his Elekid can give Edgy a huge surprise, given that it has Ice Punch, which he can capitalize off with his Mudbray to keep rocks on the field forever.
Both players start off with a Mienfoo lead mirror. However, Edgy quickly wins the mental game by going to Tinkatink on Knock Off, who steals Mienfoo's Eviolite. After that, a devastating High Jump Kick miss from Fille on the rocks puts him incredibly behind. Not satisfied, Edgy Knocks Mudbray off on the switch, further imposing his lead. He goes to Mienfoo on the Close Combat which was meant to target Toedscool. Fille takes a bit of momentum back, staying in to repeat his play when Edgy U-Turns into the Toedscool. Edgy plans this switch as a way to get his Vullaby into the field at +2 speed off of a Fake Out, granting him a kill on the Mienfoo. Fille, with his Mudbray knocked and low, sees himself obligated to check Vullaby with his own, and roosts off as Edgy goes to Tinkatink. In a weird exchange, Edgy doubles to Toedscool on Fille's Mudbray, giving the Norwegian player a lot of momentum back as he gets his Vullaby in safely to Defog. Later, Fille utilizes his Foongus to put Mareanie to sleep, and takes the opportunity to KO the Vullaby with his Mudbray. Fille is now back in the match after a disastrous early game. As Mudbray dies, Gothita tricks the Choice Scarf onto Tinkatink, who doesn't fall for it and goes for Knock Off. After some Vullaby exchange, with Fille using his Tera Ghost to try and beat the Tinkatink, unsuccessfully, he gets an Ice Punch kill on the Toedscool. However, with so many resources wasted, Edgy is able to clean the game with Scarf Mudbray, after some turns taken to rid Foongus of its Eviolite
fille:
always edgy:
1-2 Always Edgy faces off new face (to this season) Fille, who subbed in last minute instead of Eternal Spirit, who also subbed in instead of Kaboom. Don't let this mess fool you tho, both are incredible players, very capable of winning games.
Fille is using a team based on a Gothita + Elekid core, which aims to trap Elekid checks off of a Volt Switch, to make it easier for Elekid and Mienfoo to break opposing teams apart. Edgy is using the very much spammed ttm core, Toedscool + Tinkatink + Mareanie, with a very suspicious Mudbray. His team uses an incredibly effective defensive core, ttm, to allow his not-really-surprising Tera Ground Choice Scarf Mudbray to clean games.
Looking at the matchup, Fille should be incredibly wary of the opposing Mudbray. He's only got one ground immunity, and no ground resist. Normally, his plan against Mudbray would be to wall it with Foongus before trapping it with Gothita. However, since this is a Choice Scarf Mudbray, who is likely to be faster than the Gothita, and also likely to use Tera Ground to break through Foongus, his matchup into it becomes way scarier. He will need to preserve his Vullaby at all costs, even against its best counter in the game in Tinkatink. On the other hand, his Elekid can give Edgy a huge surprise, given that it has Ice Punch, which he can capitalize off with his Mudbray to keep rocks on the field forever.
Both players start off with a Mienfoo lead mirror. However, Edgy quickly wins the mental game by going to Tinkatink on Knock Off, who steals Mienfoo's Eviolite. After that, a devastating High Jump Kick miss from Fille on the rocks puts him incredibly behind. Not satisfied, Edgy Knocks Mudbray off on the switch, further imposing his lead. He goes to Mienfoo on the Close Combat which was meant to target Toedscool. Fille takes a bit of momentum back, staying in to repeat his play when Edgy U-Turns into the Toedscool. Edgy plans this switch as a way to get his Vullaby into the field at +2 speed off of a Fake Out, granting him a kill on the Mienfoo. Fille, with his Mudbray knocked and low, sees himself obligated to check Vullaby with his own, and roosts off as Edgy goes to Tinkatink. In a weird exchange, Edgy doubles to Toedscool on Fille's Mudbray, giving the Norwegian player a lot of momentum back as he gets his Vullaby in safely to Defog. Later, Fille utilizes his Foongus to put Mareanie to sleep, and takes the opportunity to KO the Vullaby with his Mudbray. Fille is now back in the match after a disastrous early game. As Mudbray dies, Gothita tricks the Choice Scarf onto Tinkatink, who doesn't fall for it and goes for Knock Off. After some Vullaby exchange, with Fille using his Tera Ghost to try and beat the Tinkatink, unsuccessfully, he gets an Ice Punch kill on the Toedscool. However, with so many resources wasted, Edgy is able to clean the game with Scarf Mudbray, after some turns taken to rid Foongus of its Eviolite
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