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Tournament SCL VI PU Discussion Thread
- Thread starter DripLegend
- Start date
cmon cowards show ya work don't just drop bolds anyways we 2/4 last week yall know the drill
SV PU: xavgb vs LpZ - breakers 3 way tier swap seemed to only work out for hellray but yall don't care about ou. I dont foresee an mz comeback arc from anyone other then mz and lpz has looked good so ill go with the bw pu mafia boss
SV PU: Trichotomy vs MichaelderBeste2 - ya ok I gotta stop bolding against michael dude is just too good both are going in with the best records in the pool (tied with the chef) and this will be a fire mu but tricho played his hand early showing that he can play something other then glowbro balance slop meanwhile outside of cheating ground resists michael has been loading a little bit of everything I do see a world if tricho brings some ho nonsense that just gets the mu and sweeps michael's whole team but that feeling aint enough to act on so going with michael.
SV PU: Kushalos vs Metallica126 - honestly probably my highlight mu of the week kush has been crushing it outside of weeks he loaded coal while Metallica has done fine as well outside of his lactose intolerance (s/o dirk ducklett) while it may seem like this shouldnt be as hype cause Metallica's team is already out of playoff contention anyone who knows him knows hes playing this for pride and the love of the game. Anyways I think kush has the edge here as ive seen what gum's offensive builds do to metallica builds honestly though metallica is fine at shaking things up tho so we'll see what happens.
SV PU: Micciu vs Vulpix03 - 2 curses broken in 1 week wowie pix looked strong last week, clearly falling short of the classic trophy has only made him more hungry he also is back on his pu stall grindset but with plenty of new toys since he last stalled in puwc. micciu also had a decent win last week with a standard balance slop team clearly learning from his last weeks mistake of loading coalossal anyways the dugza curse is still real and I thought pix's team was pretty cool so going with him
SV PU: xavgb vs LpZ - breakers 3 way tier swap seemed to only work out for hellray but yall don't care about ou. I dont foresee an mz comeback arc from anyone other then mz and lpz has looked good so ill go with the bw pu mafia boss
SV PU: Trichotomy vs MichaelderBeste2 - ya ok I gotta stop bolding against michael dude is just too good both are going in with the best records in the pool (tied with the chef) and this will be a fire mu but tricho played his hand early showing that he can play something other then glowbro balance slop meanwhile outside of cheating ground resists michael has been loading a little bit of everything I do see a world if tricho brings some ho nonsense that just gets the mu and sweeps michael's whole team but that feeling aint enough to act on so going with michael.
SV PU: Kushalos vs Metallica126 - honestly probably my highlight mu of the week kush has been crushing it outside of weeks he loaded coal while Metallica has done fine as well outside of his lactose intolerance (s/o dirk ducklett) while it may seem like this shouldnt be as hype cause Metallica's team is already out of playoff contention anyone who knows him knows hes playing this for pride and the love of the game. Anyways I think kush has the edge here as ive seen what gum's offensive builds do to metallica builds honestly though metallica is fine at shaking things up tho so we'll see what happens.
SV PU: Micciu vs Vulpix03 - 2 curses broken in 1 week wowie pix looked strong last week, clearly falling short of the classic trophy has only made him more hungry he also is back on his pu stall grindset but with plenty of new toys since he last stalled in puwc. micciu also had a decent win last week with a standard balance slop team clearly learning from his last weeks mistake of loading coalossal anyways the dugza curse is still real and I thought pix's team was pretty cool so going with him
Week 7 Round-Up for Text-Based Lifeforms
“I hope you have a burn heal!”
News Headlines:
Stall continues to dominate. Half the community thinks it is a fish and the other half are not about to try and disavow them of that notion. Avalugg/Chansey/Glowbro ain’t the same as slapping an Eviolite on Crocalor is all I’m saying. In terms of usage, Glowbro was huge this week, appearing in 7 out of 10 teams, with there being a relatively even spread across the rest of the mons.
Game of the Week: Kushalos v Metallica126
Team of the Week: Vulpix03
“I hope you have a burn heal!”
News Headlines:
- Squid beats Honse in epic ZU shitmon showdown
- “Oh well, I got fished” – 5th player to lose to Avalugg/Chansey/Glowbro in 3 weeks (probably)
- The Fire type is now a social construct in teambuilding
- All hail King Glowbro
Stall continues to dominate. Half the community thinks it is a fish and the other half are not about to try and disavow them of that notion. Avalugg/Chansey/Glowbro ain’t the same as slapping an Eviolite on Crocalor is all I’m saying. In terms of usage, Glowbro was huge this week, appearing in 7 out of 10 teams, with there being a relatively even spread across the rest of the mons.
Game of the Week: Kushalos v Metallica126
Team of the Week: Vulpix03
The Teams
Kushalos: Glastrier (Curse Restalk)/Mesprit (SR)/Cramorant/Jolteon (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (Def Pivot)/Salazzle
Metallica: Shaymin (LO)/Malamar (Restalk) /Rhydon (SR)/Bombirdier (Scarf)/Glowbro (Def Toxic)/Frosmoth (Defog)
It was a battle of two of PU's best teambuilding chefs and it did not disappoint.
Kushalos' team looks like a fairly simple-looking balance team until you see the HONSE himself, Glastrier. I am a big fan of Curse Restalk Glastrier and feel it is a bit underexplored. The main trick (and no doubt the reason it is so underutilised) is that you need to build the whole team around Glastrier. It is also a bit of a Tera hog, but it has huge stats and doubles as a status absorber.
Mesprit provided Rocks and a Fighting check, Cramorant brought much-needed hazard removal and covers all Glastrier's weaknesses. Grimm takes tricks, knocks, and big special attacks. Lazzle deals with Florg and resists all the Ice weaknesses, and specs Jolt provided some much-needed breaking power against bulky waters that resist Icicle Crash.
Metallica also brought an unconventional balance with Restalk Malamar the star of the show. Compared to Kush, I think Metallica's team had slightly stronger support in the breaking department with LO Shaymin, Scarf Bird, and some heavy-hitting defensive mons like Rhydon and Frosmoth. Toxic Glowbro rounds out the team giving a better MU into balance.
Pretty big fan of both teams this week. I thought Malamar was a great response by Metallica to his struggles vs cheesy HO in the builder. It's a great answer to a lot of fishy builds and there was a strong core around it to support.
The MU looked slightly in Metallica's favour on preview. With Frosmoth + Rhydon just blanking Jolt, it was really looking like an all-in on Glastrier from the start. Meanwhile, Malamar + Shaymin looked scary into Kush's team, with Malamar in particular having multiple easy entry points. And Cramorant is just about the worst mon to have into a Malamar team.
The Game
It's always exciting when the game shapes up to be a face-off of the signature shitmons on preview.
Kush had the early advantage, setting Rocks with Mesprit while keeping enough pressure on to prevent a safe Rhydon entry.
The Honse gets its first entry on Turn 3 vs Metallica's Glowbro. It takes basically nothing from She Side Arm but cops an unlucky Flamethrower burn on the next turn that forces an early Rest.
Malamar gets a safe entry and starts clicking Superpowers. Cramorant comes in (I'm a little unclear as to why as it matches up terribly into Malamar, but Kush didn't have a lot of good options outside pressure). Cramorant can't really Defog unless it was to give Malamar an evasion boost. Kush ultimately elects to take a pretty bad trade of less than half of Malamar's health for Cramorant.
It does allow Jolt to come in and force Malamar out. However, this gives Rhydon a free entry and Kush just lost their Defogger, so SR is staying up for the game. Super bad news for a Glastrier wincon.
Kush trades Mesprit for most of Glowbro's health and a Healing Wish to wake up Glastrier. The Honse starts setting Curses and Metallica sacs Rhydon to get a safe Malamar entry.
After a couple of Superpower raises, Kush is force to Tera Water Glastrier to stop a Malamar snowball. Unfortunate Tera type as Shaymin is waiting in the wings and it basically guarantees that Glastrier can only ever take out one mon before being forced out. On the plus side, Metallica has no safe switch-ins for the Honse, so something has to die for them to get Shaymin in.
Barring some major hax, the match is kinda over from here. Metallica hits all their Seed Flares and gets SpDef drops every time. Unfortunate for Kush but I think it just made it a quicker death, especially after Shaymin Tera Grounded. Kush did well to keep it close but the quirky Malamar Shaymin breaking core, especially with the help of Scarf Brave Bird from Bomb, was just too much to handle in the end. Props to Metallica for bouncing back after a rough couple of weeks.
Kushalos: Glastrier (Curse Restalk)/Mesprit (SR)/Cramorant/Jolteon (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (Def Pivot)/Salazzle
Metallica: Shaymin (LO)/Malamar (Restalk) /Rhydon (SR)/Bombirdier (Scarf)/Glowbro (Def Toxic)/Frosmoth (Defog)
It was a battle of two of PU's best teambuilding chefs and it did not disappoint.
Kushalos' team looks like a fairly simple-looking balance team until you see the HONSE himself, Glastrier. I am a big fan of Curse Restalk Glastrier and feel it is a bit underexplored. The main trick (and no doubt the reason it is so underutilised) is that you need to build the whole team around Glastrier. It is also a bit of a Tera hog, but it has huge stats and doubles as a status absorber.
Mesprit provided Rocks and a Fighting check, Cramorant brought much-needed hazard removal and covers all Glastrier's weaknesses. Grimm takes tricks, knocks, and big special attacks. Lazzle deals with Florg and resists all the Ice weaknesses, and specs Jolt provided some much-needed breaking power against bulky waters that resist Icicle Crash.
Metallica also brought an unconventional balance with Restalk Malamar the star of the show. Compared to Kush, I think Metallica's team had slightly stronger support in the breaking department with LO Shaymin, Scarf Bird, and some heavy-hitting defensive mons like Rhydon and Frosmoth. Toxic Glowbro rounds out the team giving a better MU into balance.
Pretty big fan of both teams this week. I thought Malamar was a great response by Metallica to his struggles vs cheesy HO in the builder. It's a great answer to a lot of fishy builds and there was a strong core around it to support.
The MU looked slightly in Metallica's favour on preview. With Frosmoth + Rhydon just blanking Jolt, it was really looking like an all-in on Glastrier from the start. Meanwhile, Malamar + Shaymin looked scary into Kush's team, with Malamar in particular having multiple easy entry points. And Cramorant is just about the worst mon to have into a Malamar team.
The Game
It's always exciting when the game shapes up to be a face-off of the signature shitmons on preview.
Kush had the early advantage, setting Rocks with Mesprit while keeping enough pressure on to prevent a safe Rhydon entry.
The Honse gets its first entry on Turn 3 vs Metallica's Glowbro. It takes basically nothing from She Side Arm but cops an unlucky Flamethrower burn on the next turn that forces an early Rest.
Malamar gets a safe entry and starts clicking Superpowers. Cramorant comes in (I'm a little unclear as to why as it matches up terribly into Malamar, but Kush didn't have a lot of good options outside pressure). Cramorant can't really Defog unless it was to give Malamar an evasion boost. Kush ultimately elects to take a pretty bad trade of less than half of Malamar's health for Cramorant.
It does allow Jolt to come in and force Malamar out. However, this gives Rhydon a free entry and Kush just lost their Defogger, so SR is staying up for the game. Super bad news for a Glastrier wincon.
Kush trades Mesprit for most of Glowbro's health and a Healing Wish to wake up Glastrier. The Honse starts setting Curses and Metallica sacs Rhydon to get a safe Malamar entry.
After a couple of Superpower raises, Kush is force to Tera Water Glastrier to stop a Malamar snowball. Unfortunate Tera type as Shaymin is waiting in the wings and it basically guarantees that Glastrier can only ever take out one mon before being forced out. On the plus side, Metallica has no safe switch-ins for the Honse, so something has to die for them to get Shaymin in.
Barring some major hax, the match is kinda over from here. Metallica hits all their Seed Flares and gets SpDef drops every time. Unfortunate for Kush but I think it just made it a quicker death, especially after Shaymin Tera Grounded. Kush did well to keep it close but the quirky Malamar Shaymin breaking core, especially with the help of Scarf Brave Bird from Bomb, was just too much to handle in the end. Props to Metallica for bouncing back after a rough couple of weeks.
The Teams
Trichotomy: Bombirdier (Scarf)/Golurk (?)/Milotic/Rotom-C (WispSplit)/Salazzle (Specs)/Alolaslash (SR)
MichaelderBeste2: Hecidueye (Defog)/Orthworm (Hazard Stack)/Glowbro (CM)/Ambipom/Kilowattrel/Ninetales-A (Specs)
Both players brought balance structures with some offbeat mons filling the standard roles.
After throwing scouters off the scent with a couple of weeks of Hyphlosion, Trichotomy returned to the formulaic balance structure that worked so well for them early in the tour: 3 mon defensive core + 2 breakers + speed control. Alolaslash, Milo, and a slightly unusual defensive Cuttom as their defensive core. A fun breaking core of Specs Overheat Lazzle and some weird Golurk set that, based on my calcs, was neither Band or AV or has some cooked EVs. Scarf Bombirdier rounds out the team as the speed control. Not much to note here other than that Scarf Bombirdier has been rising in popularity the last 2 weeks.
MDB + DDJoe continued to defy traditional archetypes with a kind of balance-ish bulky offense-ish team this week. Hazard stack Orthworm + Defog Hecid + no Ghost puts a lot of faith in Michael's clicking to keep the pressure on. CM Glowbro provides some defensive glue and a wincon vs fat teams. Boots Ambi + Boots Kilo + Specs Alolatales means no Scarf speed control and no massive breaking power.
What looks like a fairly standard team on paper is actually pretty high risk and relies heavily on Michael's skill as a clicker. Like, what does the team do against a Scarf Hoopa with Ambipom as the only Ghost resist? What does it do vs literally any Fire type? I expect MDB would say get güt and make the right predict.
Trichotomy's team looked really good on preview. Specs Lazzle + Golurk into a team with no Scarfer, no fire resists and only Ambipom as a Ghost resist is a dream MU. Outside of a Tera, Lazzle gets a kill every time it clicks a move and only gets outsped by Kilowattrel. But DDJoe thinks it was advantage Michael at preview so IDK.
The Game
Immediate goal for Michael was don't get 6-0ed by Specs Lazzle (although he couldn’t know it was Specs yet). Trich maybe a bit greedy leading with Lazzle as Ambipom was a likely lead. Pom gets a neat Fake Out crit on Milo then switches, indicating no U-Turn. Milo flips on the Glowbro and Lazzle gets a safe entry ready to fry its first enchilada.
Turn 3 is easily the most important in the battle. MDB, perhaps realising that he forgot about the Fire type when prepping, immediately Tera Waters. Trichotomy doesn't check for Tera, sees an easy victory and clicks Overheat. I have asked a number of top players what they would have done and they all answer that they would have Overheated. A rough break for Trich. Lazzle dies to Surf, Trichotomy's most threatening mon is dead, and Gen 9 once again proves that the type chart is a social construct.
The players reset, start setting their hazards and there's plenty of positioning until Turn 29 when Trichotomy finds a safe entry for Golurk on a +1 SpAtt Tera Water Glowbro at 57%. Golurk remains a massive threat MDB's team with nothing really able to take a Poltergeist except Ambipom which dies to anything else. Michael just raw switches to Ambi as Trichotomy clicks Poltergeist. Just get güt.
Same situation happens on Turn 38. Golurk gets in, threatens to KO Glowbro, and Michael guesses right again, clicking DynamicPunch into Orthworm. The damage calc is so weird, definitely not Band or AV but Trich played Golurk like it was choiced. Orthworm dies but gets up a Spike.
Trichotomy then takes a (probably necessary) risk on Triple Axel missing to take out Ambi. The gamble doesn't pay off. Ambi takes out Golurk then Alolaslash with Low Kick for good measure.
If the game didn't end on Turn 3, it is certainly over now. Even with Tera Steel, Rotom-C without NP is not beating Michael's team. Well-played MDB, good clicker good.
Trichotomy: Bombirdier (Scarf)/Golurk (?)/Milotic/Rotom-C (WispSplit)/Salazzle (Specs)/Alolaslash (SR)
MichaelderBeste2: Hecidueye (Defog)/Orthworm (Hazard Stack)/Glowbro (CM)/Ambipom/Kilowattrel/Ninetales-A (Specs)
Both players brought balance structures with some offbeat mons filling the standard roles.
After throwing scouters off the scent with a couple of weeks of Hyphlosion, Trichotomy returned to the formulaic balance structure that worked so well for them early in the tour: 3 mon defensive core + 2 breakers + speed control. Alolaslash, Milo, and a slightly unusual defensive Cuttom as their defensive core. A fun breaking core of Specs Overheat Lazzle and some weird Golurk set that, based on my calcs, was neither Band or AV or has some cooked EVs. Scarf Bombirdier rounds out the team as the speed control. Not much to note here other than that Scarf Bombirdier has been rising in popularity the last 2 weeks.
MDB + DDJoe continued to defy traditional archetypes with a kind of balance-ish bulky offense-ish team this week. Hazard stack Orthworm + Defog Hecid + no Ghost puts a lot of faith in Michael's clicking to keep the pressure on. CM Glowbro provides some defensive glue and a wincon vs fat teams. Boots Ambi + Boots Kilo + Specs Alolatales means no Scarf speed control and no massive breaking power.
What looks like a fairly standard team on paper is actually pretty high risk and relies heavily on Michael's skill as a clicker. Like, what does the team do against a Scarf Hoopa with Ambipom as the only Ghost resist? What does it do vs literally any Fire type? I expect MDB would say get güt and make the right predict.
Trichotomy's team looked really good on preview. Specs Lazzle + Golurk into a team with no Scarfer, no fire resists and only Ambipom as a Ghost resist is a dream MU. Outside of a Tera, Lazzle gets a kill every time it clicks a move and only gets outsped by Kilowattrel. But DDJoe thinks it was advantage Michael at preview so IDK.
The Game
Immediate goal for Michael was don't get 6-0ed by Specs Lazzle (although he couldn’t know it was Specs yet). Trich maybe a bit greedy leading with Lazzle as Ambipom was a likely lead. Pom gets a neat Fake Out crit on Milo then switches, indicating no U-Turn. Milo flips on the Glowbro and Lazzle gets a safe entry ready to fry its first enchilada.
Turn 3 is easily the most important in the battle. MDB, perhaps realising that he forgot about the Fire type when prepping, immediately Tera Waters. Trichotomy doesn't check for Tera, sees an easy victory and clicks Overheat. I have asked a number of top players what they would have done and they all answer that they would have Overheated. A rough break for Trich. Lazzle dies to Surf, Trichotomy's most threatening mon is dead, and Gen 9 once again proves that the type chart is a social construct.
The players reset, start setting their hazards and there's plenty of positioning until Turn 29 when Trichotomy finds a safe entry for Golurk on a +1 SpAtt Tera Water Glowbro at 57%. Golurk remains a massive threat MDB's team with nothing really able to take a Poltergeist except Ambipom which dies to anything else. Michael just raw switches to Ambi as Trichotomy clicks Poltergeist. Just get güt.
Same situation happens on Turn 38. Golurk gets in, threatens to KO Glowbro, and Michael guesses right again, clicking DynamicPunch into Orthworm. The damage calc is so weird, definitely not Band or AV but Trich played Golurk like it was choiced. Orthworm dies but gets up a Spike.
Trichotomy then takes a (probably necessary) risk on Triple Axel missing to take out Ambi. The gamble doesn't pay off. Ambi takes out Golurk then Alolaslash with Low Kick for good measure.
If the game didn't end on Turn 3, it is certainly over now. Even with Tera Steel, Rotom-C without NP is not beating Michael's team. Well-played MDB, good clicker good.
The Teams
Micciu: Tatsugiri (NP)/Wo-Chien (Eject)/Florges (Scarf)/Rhydon (SR)/Ambipom (CB?)/Glowbro
Vulpix03: Glowbro (Def)/Hecidueye (Defog)/Bombirdier (Scarf)/Chansey/Salazzle/ Sandaconda (CB)
Micciu brough a fairly standard BO team. Not really anything out of the ordinary to note.
Pix brought another kooky semi-stall this week. There is so much hidden offense in this team I almost thought it was fake stall. As far as I could tell the Hecid, Glowbro, and Chansey were all standard defensive sets. But Scarf Bird + Lazzle is a more aggressive way to play fat. And then there is the CB Sand, a cool innovation presumably designed to lure things like Glowbro that will just run from Golurk.
Tatsu + CB Ambipom looked much scarier into a defensive team w/o Avalugg but I think Pix still had the edge on preview.
The Game
Turn 3 Florges gets an early Trick on Glowbro. Not ideal for Pix but Glowbro deals with being choiced better than Chansey.
Turn 5 CB Sandaconda mogs Glowbro. The lure hits its mark.
Turn 9 a few turns of exceptional positioning gets Tastu in on Hecidueye. It just Dracos for now, chipping Chansey a bit.
Turn 13 Tatsu gets another entry, this time on Choiced Glowbro, and this time NPs. Gets Body Press critted for 62% but Miccou calls Pix's switch to Chansey by NPing again. Tatsu looks like it is about to make a mess. It lives an SToss on 2% and takes out Chansey.
Turn 20 after losing Wo-Chien to a couple of U-Turns, Micciu gets Tatsu back in to chunk Glowbro for 72% with Draco. Glowbro lives but obly just and takes out Tatsu.
Turn 21 Pix gets some game-winning hax as Ambipom misses Axel on the incoming Hecidueye. Hecid Tera Steels next turn, meaning it walls Florges and Ambi. Rhydon is more of a threat but its Rocks Rhydon and Pix has enough mons that can outspeed and chip Don not to be too worried.
Sure enough Pix cleans up and wins. A bit unfortunate. Both still had outs without the hax but it was a pretty big shift.
Micciu: Tatsugiri (NP)/Wo-Chien (Eject)/Florges (Scarf)/Rhydon (SR)/Ambipom (CB?)/Glowbro
Vulpix03: Glowbro (Def)/Hecidueye (Defog)/Bombirdier (Scarf)/Chansey/Salazzle/ Sandaconda (CB)
Micciu brough a fairly standard BO team. Not really anything out of the ordinary to note.
Pix brought another kooky semi-stall this week. There is so much hidden offense in this team I almost thought it was fake stall. As far as I could tell the Hecid, Glowbro, and Chansey were all standard defensive sets. But Scarf Bird + Lazzle is a more aggressive way to play fat. And then there is the CB Sand, a cool innovation presumably designed to lure things like Glowbro that will just run from Golurk.
Tatsu + CB Ambipom looked much scarier into a defensive team w/o Avalugg but I think Pix still had the edge on preview.
The Game
Turn 3 Florges gets an early Trick on Glowbro. Not ideal for Pix but Glowbro deals with being choiced better than Chansey.
Turn 5 CB Sandaconda mogs Glowbro. The lure hits its mark.
Turn 9 a few turns of exceptional positioning gets Tastu in on Hecidueye. It just Dracos for now, chipping Chansey a bit.
Turn 13 Tatsu gets another entry, this time on Choiced Glowbro, and this time NPs. Gets Body Press critted for 62% but Miccou calls Pix's switch to Chansey by NPing again. Tatsu looks like it is about to make a mess. It lives an SToss on 2% and takes out Chansey.
Turn 20 after losing Wo-Chien to a couple of U-Turns, Micciu gets Tatsu back in to chunk Glowbro for 72% with Draco. Glowbro lives but obly just and takes out Tatsu.
Turn 21 Pix gets some game-winning hax as Ambipom misses Axel on the incoming Hecidueye. Hecid Tera Steels next turn, meaning it walls Florges and Ambi. Rhydon is more of a threat but its Rocks Rhydon and Pix has enough mons that can outspeed and chip Don not to be too worried.
Sure enough Pix cleans up and wins. A bit unfortunate. Both still had outs without the hax but it was a pretty big shift.
The Teams
Cielau: Piloswine (SR)/Ambipom/ Tatsugiri/Bombirdier (Off Boots)/Glowbro (Def Tox)/Virizion (SD)
Drud: Glowbro (Def Whirlpool)/HAvalugg (Def)/Chansey (SR)/Sableye/Orthworm (Spikes)/Florges
Cielau brought offense with defensive Press Toxic Glowbro as the glue. Piloswine an interesting pick that sets rocks while threatening Hecidueye, although it can't stay in. I've used it a bit in the past and found it rough in the Heattom meta, but maybe there is space for it now. Virizion is the other off-beat pick, although it is a much more common sight in tours as it traditionally has dismantled common balance cores.
For Drud, big stall rears it's ugly head again. Another Chansey, Glowbro, Avalugg core (although it's HAvalugg this time and I do not see the logic behind it over regular Avalugg).
The rest of the team is to clean up the messes the primary core can't handle. Prankster Encore Sableye helps with set up sweepers, Orthworm provides Spikes and a solid answer to DD Rhydon while Florges is a great mixed wall that can also act as a wincon.
MU looked nasty for Cielau, with Virizion and maybe Tatsu being the only mons who could feasibly break through stall. Even then, both mons looked to be well-handled. Big advantage Drud on preview.
The Game
Typical shortened stall game report.
Cielau had a great early game with Glowbro Toxicing Sableye amd chipping Chansey to 50%. A crit Knock by Bombirdier on Drud's Glowbro + some great pressure by Cielau meant that it was more than 50 turns before Drud could click Slack Off and get their Glowbro off death's door.
Sableye Encored the Virizion on first entry but the Toxic pressure meant Drud went Glowbro on the second entry. Virizion was ready to start breaking at +2 but, despite killing 2 Sableye and Florges and forcing Orthworm to Tera Ghost, it fainted with Drud still odds on to win.
There was some great pressure by Cielau. They kept hazards up and all the defensive core consistently low. Unfortunately, there was not enough breaking power left in the team to take out the Glowbro/Chansey/Ava core. Well-played Cielau but Drud won this one in the builder.
Cielau: Piloswine (SR)/Ambipom/ Tatsugiri/Bombirdier (Off Boots)/Glowbro (Def Tox)/Virizion (SD)
Drud: Glowbro (Def Whirlpool)/HAvalugg (Def)/Chansey (SR)/Sableye/Orthworm (Spikes)/Florges
Cielau brought offense with defensive Press Toxic Glowbro as the glue. Piloswine an interesting pick that sets rocks while threatening Hecidueye, although it can't stay in. I've used it a bit in the past and found it rough in the Heattom meta, but maybe there is space for it now. Virizion is the other off-beat pick, although it is a much more common sight in tours as it traditionally has dismantled common balance cores.
For Drud, big stall rears it's ugly head again. Another Chansey, Glowbro, Avalugg core (although it's HAvalugg this time and I do not see the logic behind it over regular Avalugg).
The rest of the team is to clean up the messes the primary core can't handle. Prankster Encore Sableye helps with set up sweepers, Orthworm provides Spikes and a solid answer to DD Rhydon while Florges is a great mixed wall that can also act as a wincon.
MU looked nasty for Cielau, with Virizion and maybe Tatsu being the only mons who could feasibly break through stall. Even then, both mons looked to be well-handled. Big advantage Drud on preview.
The Game
Typical shortened stall game report.
Cielau had a great early game with Glowbro Toxicing Sableye amd chipping Chansey to 50%. A crit Knock by Bombirdier on Drud's Glowbro + some great pressure by Cielau meant that it was more than 50 turns before Drud could click Slack Off and get their Glowbro off death's door.
Sableye Encored the Virizion on first entry but the Toxic pressure meant Drud went Glowbro on the second entry. Virizion was ready to start breaking at +2 but, despite killing 2 Sableye and Florges and forcing Orthworm to Tera Ghost, it fainted with Drud still odds on to win.
There was some great pressure by Cielau. They kept hazards up and all the defensive core consistently low. Unfortunately, there was not enough breaking power left in the team to take out the Glowbro/Chansey/Ava core. Well-played Cielau but Drud won this one in the builder.
The Teams
Xavgb: Glowbro (ToxTect)/Zoroark (Specs)/Mudsdale/ Frosmoth (Defog)/Pawmot (Scarf)/Rotom-C (WispSplit)
LpZ: Arcanine (CB)/Cramorant/ Zoroark (Mixed)/Mesprit (Colbur Pivot)/Hecidueye (AV/3 att)/Rhydon (SR)
A bit of old school SV PU in the teams this week.
Xavgb's team looked like it could have been from a year ago with Defog Frosmoth and Scarf Paw. Pawmot has had a quiet tour. It's breaking power ain't what it once was in a meta heavy with Glowbro, defensive Hecidueye, and Avalugg but it remains a big threat to offense. Frosmoth is not the greatest Defogger in the current meta but remains an almost blanket special wall. ToxTect Flamethrower Glowbro is an interesting choice that is under explored. Giving up coverage for all-in on Toxic damage seems to go against the Glowbro agenda, but it looked solid. Even the WispSplit Rotom-C seems like a 1-for-1 sub in for a Rotom-H. Maybe that's why there no fire resist?
On LpZ's side there's some kooky sets. Mixed Zoro is an interesting response to the rise of the Chansey, Ava, Glowbro cores and provides some priority vs Offense. Defog Cram freed up Hecidueye to go 3 att Knock, a rare sight indeed. Mesprit looked like a kinda catch all utility but with Rocks on Rhydon it was unclear the exact set, perhaps Healing Wish? Then there was the old school pick of CB Arcanine with Wild Charge. I hope you have a burn heal.
MUs looked pretty even except for LpZ's CB Arcanine into a team with no fire resists. Edge to to LpZ on preview.
The Game
With no fire resist, Xavgb will be looking to Tera Water Glowbro or Mudsdale at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately Arcanine gets an entry on Frosmoth from a Mesprit /Zoro U-Turn and does 70% to Mudsdale and 50% to Glowbro. Not a great start with Mud unlikely to set rocks.
Xavgb starts firing off ToxTects with Glowbro and the Protect proves useful to scout for Zoro.
LpZ takes out the rest of Mudsdale with a Mixed Hecidueye (or Zoroark) Grass Knot, and now that Arcanine is looking terrifying.
There's a fair bit of back and forth incluidng LpZ setting Rocks with Rhydon until Turn 24 when LpZ takes a burn on Hecid to get Arcanine in on Rotom. It clicks Flare Blitz and Frosmoth dies.
Turn 27 LpZ gets a lucky crit Stone Edge on an incoming Rotom to KO it. Rotom was looking more annoying than threatening but its a key part of Xavgb's defensive core gone.
LpZ sacs Hecid for another Arcanine entry on Pawmot, but doubles into Zoro on the Glowbro switch-in. It Dark Pulses into opposing Zoro then reveals mixed Sucker to finish it off.
LpZ gets the call right on the scarf Mot revenge, going to Cram on CC. There is then a long sequence between Cram and Glowbro where both burn Tera.
Xavgb: Glowbro (ToxTect)/Zoroark (Specs)/Mudsdale/ Frosmoth (Defog)/Pawmot (Scarf)/Rotom-C (WispSplit)
LpZ: Arcanine (CB)/Cramorant/ Zoroark (Mixed)/Mesprit (Colbur Pivot)/Hecidueye (AV/3 att)/Rhydon (SR)
A bit of old school SV PU in the teams this week.
Xavgb's team looked like it could have been from a year ago with Defog Frosmoth and Scarf Paw. Pawmot has had a quiet tour. It's breaking power ain't what it once was in a meta heavy with Glowbro, defensive Hecidueye, and Avalugg but it remains a big threat to offense. Frosmoth is not the greatest Defogger in the current meta but remains an almost blanket special wall. ToxTect Flamethrower Glowbro is an interesting choice that is under explored. Giving up coverage for all-in on Toxic damage seems to go against the Glowbro agenda, but it looked solid. Even the WispSplit Rotom-C seems like a 1-for-1 sub in for a Rotom-H. Maybe that's why there no fire resist?
On LpZ's side there's some kooky sets. Mixed Zoro is an interesting response to the rise of the Chansey, Ava, Glowbro cores and provides some priority vs Offense. Defog Cram freed up Hecidueye to go 3 att Knock, a rare sight indeed. Mesprit looked like a kinda catch all utility but with Rocks on Rhydon it was unclear the exact set, perhaps Healing Wish? Then there was the old school pick of CB Arcanine with Wild Charge. I hope you have a burn heal.
MUs looked pretty even except for LpZ's CB Arcanine into a team with no fire resists. Edge to to LpZ on preview.
The Game
With no fire resist, Xavgb will be looking to Tera Water Glowbro or Mudsdale at the earliest opportunity. Unfortunately Arcanine gets an entry on Frosmoth from a Mesprit /Zoro U-Turn and does 70% to Mudsdale and 50% to Glowbro. Not a great start with Mud unlikely to set rocks.
Xavgb starts firing off ToxTects with Glowbro and the Protect proves useful to scout for Zoro.
LpZ takes out the rest of Mudsdale with a Mixed Hecidueye (or Zoroark) Grass Knot, and now that Arcanine is looking terrifying.
There's a fair bit of back and forth incluidng LpZ setting Rocks with Rhydon until Turn 24 when LpZ takes a burn on Hecid to get Arcanine in on Rotom. It clicks Flare Blitz and Frosmoth dies.
Turn 27 LpZ gets a lucky crit Stone Edge on an incoming Rotom to KO it. Rotom was looking more annoying than threatening but its a key part of Xavgb's defensive core gone.
LpZ sacs Hecid for another Arcanine entry on Pawmot, but doubles into Zoro on the Glowbro switch-in. It Dark Pulses into opposing Zoro then reveals mixed Sucker to finish it off.
LpZ gets the call right on the scarf Mot revenge, going to Cram on CC. There is then a long sequence between Cram and Glowbro where both burn Tera.
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SV PU: Micciu vs MZ
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2
SV PU: Micciu vs MZ
we've never been so back
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud
highlight game, hesitated long time and deciding drud, but pix also good so it will be close
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ
I'm a big Annihilape.
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos
highlight game, give kush cuz he have more creative build, skill all good so it very close but kush always can give surprise, trich also good but his team style too similar, but trich overall still only 7 games so he have enough time change style.
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2
Now I can't hesitated bold mdb2, but cielau last week's performance did so good.
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2
SV PU: Micciu vs MZ
we've never been so back
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud
highlight game, hesitated long time and deciding drud, but pix also good so it will be close
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ
I'm a big Annihilape.
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos
highlight game, give kush cuz he have more creative build, skill all good so it very close but kush always can give surprise, trich also good but his team style too similar, but trich overall still only 7 games so he have enough time change style.
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2
Now I can't hesitated bold mdb2, but cielau last week's performance did so good.
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3/4 my only blunder was not believing in metallica
SV PU: Micciu vs MZ - THEY SAID IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN THEY SAID HE WASN'T GETTING UNBENCHED THE 2 TIME PU TIER LEADER IS BACK IN ACTION THE COMEBACK WILL HAPPEN. I have full faith mz will atleast win this game after micciu got caught leaving his bro in on a bandaconda which mz basically invented (asa isn't here to take credit for it HAHAHA) also the dugza curse is still active
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ - now you might think this is recenty bias cause I fumbled bolding against meta last week and it is but I'm ngl I think meta is gonna have much more motivation to end positive vs lpz who already is confirmed to be positive regardless should be a cool battle and I think I would give it to lpz if he decides to start doing bw pu esque win posts here
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos - both lost last week although tricho lost to the top dog while kushalos got upset much to my dismay after bolding him now I think kush's wins have been largely because of the teams hes using last week's ancient relic made me think he was just gonna lose on preview and I felt a similar feeling for the coal slop he loaded vs mdb tricho has loaded a solid build everyweek but everyone knows gamblers falicy is gonna kick in eventually so I'm going with the chef
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2 - mdb need I say more?
SV PU: Micciu vs MZ - THEY SAID IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN THEY SAID HE WASN'T GETTING UNBENCHED THE 2 TIME PU TIER LEADER IS BACK IN ACTION THE COMEBACK WILL HAPPEN. I have full faith mz will atleast win this game after micciu got caught leaving his bro in on a bandaconda which mz basically invented (asa isn't here to take credit for it HAHAHA) also the dugza curse is still active
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ - now you might think this is recenty bias cause I fumbled bolding against meta last week and it is but I'm ngl I think meta is gonna have much more motivation to end positive vs lpz who already is confirmed to be positive regardless should be a cool battle and I think I would give it to lpz if he decides to start doing bw pu esque win posts here
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos - both lost last week although tricho lost to the top dog while kushalos got upset much to my dismay after bolding him now I think kush's wins have been largely because of the teams hes using last week's ancient relic made me think he was just gonna lose on preview and I felt a similar feeling for the coal slop he loaded vs mdb tricho has loaded a solid build everyweek but everyone knows gamblers falicy is gonna kick in eventually so I'm going with the chef
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2 - mdb need I say more?
SV PU: Micciu vs MZ - Esteemed PU leader needed a break, but I bet he'll be back for blood. Curious to see how this one goes.
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud - Haven't loved Drud's builds throughout the season, while Pix seems to have finally gotten up to speed after a rough start. Betting on Pix but they might need a different kind of build.
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ - Metallica playing without pressure, just for the love of the game is unbeatable.
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos - Rough last week for both. I think Kushalos has a better shot at regaining momentum.
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2 - Going for the upset here. Cielau made a horrible matchup look pretty close and arguably could've won had they used Rapid Spin when they had the chance. Meanwhile, MDB has been making huge concessions in the builder and compensating with good clicking but there's only so much you can do against a bad matchup.
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud - Haven't loved Drud's builds throughout the season, while Pix seems to have finally gotten up to speed after a rough start. Betting on Pix but they might need a different kind of build.
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ - Metallica playing without pressure, just for the love of the game is unbeatable.
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos - Rough last week for both. I think Kushalos has a better shot at regaining momentum.
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2 - Going for the upset here. Cielau made a horrible matchup look pretty close and arguably could've won had they used Rapid Spin when they had the chance. Meanwhile, MDB has been making huge concessions in the builder and compensating with good clicking but there's only so much you can do against a bad matchup.
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SV PU: Micciu vs MZ - Esteemed PU leader needed a break, but I bet he'll be back for blood. Curious to see how this one goes.
SV PU: Vulpix03 vs Drud - Haven't loved Drud's builds throughout the season, while Pix seems to have finally gotten up to speed after a rough start. Betting on Pix but they might need a different kind of build.
SV PU: Metallica126 vs LpZ - Metallica playing without pressure, just for the love of the game is unbeatable.
SV PU: Trichotomy vs Kushalos - Rough last week for both. I think Kushalos has a better shot at regaining momentum.
SV PU: Cielau vs MichaelderBeste2 - Going for the upset here. Cielau made a horrible matchup look pretty close and arguably could've won had they used Rapid Spin when they had the chance. Meanwhile, MDB has been making huge concessions in the builder and compensating with good clicking but there's only so much you can do against a bad matchup.
SV PU: Axzel vs LpZ
SV PU: MZ vs Platum
SV PU: Kushalos vs Cielau
SV PU: Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Vulpix03
SV PU: Axzel vs LpZ
I'm so sad not see trich vs lpz...
SV PU: Kushalos vs Cielau
cielau did a big upset so this time i bold him
SV PU: Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10
last week drud used honest team win, i'm happy drud back honest style, honest style is best style.
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Vulpix03
i feel mdb2 all 2 lose cuz load some not very good team, if he load good team he will did well.
after this week i'll did team dump
SV PU: MZ vs Platum
SV PU: Kushalos vs Cielau
SV PU: Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Vulpix03
SV PU: Axzel vs LpZ
I'm so sad not see trich vs lpz...
SV PU: Kushalos vs Cielau
cielau did a big upset so this time i bold him
SV PU: Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10
last week drud used honest team win, i'm happy drud back honest style, honest style is best style.
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Vulpix03
i feel mdb2 all 2 lose cuz load some not very good team, if he load good team he will did well.
after this week i'll did team dump
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Week 8 Round-Up for Text-Based Lifeforms
News Headlines:
Pretty much nothing interesting to say about usage stats. Top billers were Hecidueye, Mudsdale, Rhydon, Florges, Glowbro. As they say in the French AI hivemind, "le yawn."
Battle of the Week: Trichotomy v Kushalos
Team of the Week: Metallica126
News Headlines:
- Playerbase catches a bad case of BO/Balance brainrot
- Maybe DDJoe is right to glaze paraspam
- Metallica finds his team on an archaeological dig
- King MZ returns to defend us from the snatchers.
Pretty much nothing interesting to say about usage stats. Top billers were Hecidueye, Mudsdale, Rhydon, Florges, Glowbro. As they say in the French AI hivemind, "le yawn."
Battle of the Week: Trichotomy v Kushalos
Team of the Week: Metallica126
The Teams
Trichotomy: Hecidueye (Defog?)/Porygon2/Mudsdale/Tauros Blaze(BU?/Scarf?)/Florges (Specs)/Bruxish (Scarf)
Kushalos: Hecidueye (Eject CC)/Qwilfish-H (Spikes)/Mudsdale/ Arcanine (Curse?)/Kilowattrel/ Bruxish (SD)
After last week's spread of interesting teams, we are back to PU BO/balance slop. With 4 mons the same on both teams, the structures are obviously very similar, although both have some distinct variations.
Trichotomy's team looked to be a slighlty mpre defensive variant, relying more on paralysis and strong breakers to win. Mudsdale, Lefties Hecidueye, and P2 formed the defensive core with Specs Florges as the first breaker. Hard to know for sure, but the way Trich played it made it look like Bruxish was choiced and Firebull was BU (but it could have been double scarf).
Kushalos used Toxic and Spikes on HQwil rather than Twave on P2 to make defensive progress. Outside of Mudsdale with a much more aggressive slant on the rest of the team. Eject Pack CC + Knock Hecidueye gave the team a fair bit more firepower. It was unclear if Kush skipped Defog but if so, super greedy on a hazard stack balance. Curse Arcanine + Kilo + Aqua Jet on (probably) SD Bruxish functioned as pseudo speed control and offensive progress makers.
Despite the very similar mons, Kush brought a much riskier, greedier structure. This didn't really help or harm them because of the similarity. The only real advantage was that Spikes looked pretty good vs Trichotomy's with HQwol having a good MU into Hecidueye. Still pretty even on preview.
The Game
No dramatic gameplans for this one. Set up with defense, break holes with breakers then clean.
P2 HQwil is a pretty unusual lead MU but maybe both players were expecting a flipping fish instead. At any rate, an early advantage to Kush as they get to Toxic or Spike Turn 1. Kush elects to Toxic and puts Trichotomy's Mudsdale on a permanent timer. A free turn 1 Spike is a big thing to give up but being able to chip Mud is nice.
Trich then doubles to Tauros rather than setting rocks, maybe expecting Hecid? Instead Kush goes to Mudsdale then also makes a weird double to Arcanine (maybe also trying to catch Hecid?) The end result of the opening exchanges was Trichotomy set Rocks in exchange for Toxic and about 61% chip on Mudsdale.
Trich manages to trick a specs onto Arcanine meaning they don't need to worry about a late game curse sweep.
Kush finally manages to lay a spike on turn 11 then loses HQwil shortly after as Trich loses Mud. Importantly, HQwil manages to Toxic P2 before it faints.
Turn 18 Kush takes out Firebull with Aqua Jet on Brux, then Trich revenges with Crunch from their own Bruxish. Kush takes a huge chunk out of Florges with Eject Pack CC and keeps momentum allowing Arcanineto clean up Florges and Bruxish to clean up Arcanine.
Kush burns Tera Dark on Hecidueye the huts a massive Crit CC into Trich's defensive Hecidueye. If Trichotomy's Hecid was 252 HP/ 252 Def this was close to a max roll crit. This was pretty meaningful as two non-crit CCs only had a 2% chance of 2HKOing after Spikes and lefties.
Trich brings in the Toxiced P2 and Tera Poison Ice Beams to take out the incoming Kilowattrel. P2 Twaves Hecid then gets a pretty big full para on the next turn that means Hecid can't act and dies next turn. By Kush's reaction, it looked like Hecid had Roosted on the full para turn and would have been able to stall out the P2. If Bruxish didn't have Wave Crash (and they rarely run it with Jet) then Kush would have had it.
Depending on Trichotomy's Hecid set, I actually think the luck fell in Kush's favour despite the full para because of the crit. Well done both to play well enough to be there at the end, but the dice fell Trichotomy's way this time.
Trichotomy: Hecidueye (Defog?)/Porygon2/Mudsdale/Tauros Blaze(BU?/Scarf?)/Florges (Specs)/Bruxish (Scarf)
Kushalos: Hecidueye (Eject CC)/Qwilfish-H (Spikes)/Mudsdale/ Arcanine (Curse?)/Kilowattrel/ Bruxish (SD)
After last week's spread of interesting teams, we are back to PU BO/balance slop. With 4 mons the same on both teams, the structures are obviously very similar, although both have some distinct variations.
Trichotomy's team looked to be a slighlty mpre defensive variant, relying more on paralysis and strong breakers to win. Mudsdale, Lefties Hecidueye, and P2 formed the defensive core with Specs Florges as the first breaker. Hard to know for sure, but the way Trich played it made it look like Bruxish was choiced and Firebull was BU (but it could have been double scarf).
Kushalos used Toxic and Spikes on HQwil rather than Twave on P2 to make defensive progress. Outside of Mudsdale with a much more aggressive slant on the rest of the team. Eject Pack CC + Knock Hecidueye gave the team a fair bit more firepower. It was unclear if Kush skipped Defog but if so, super greedy on a hazard stack balance. Curse Arcanine + Kilo + Aqua Jet on (probably) SD Bruxish functioned as pseudo speed control and offensive progress makers.
Despite the very similar mons, Kush brought a much riskier, greedier structure. This didn't really help or harm them because of the similarity. The only real advantage was that Spikes looked pretty good vs Trichotomy's with HQwol having a good MU into Hecidueye. Still pretty even on preview.
The Game
No dramatic gameplans for this one. Set up with defense, break holes with breakers then clean.
P2 HQwil is a pretty unusual lead MU but maybe both players were expecting a flipping fish instead. At any rate, an early advantage to Kush as they get to Toxic or Spike Turn 1. Kush elects to Toxic and puts Trichotomy's Mudsdale on a permanent timer. A free turn 1 Spike is a big thing to give up but being able to chip Mud is nice.
Trich then doubles to Tauros rather than setting rocks, maybe expecting Hecid? Instead Kush goes to Mudsdale then also makes a weird double to Arcanine (maybe also trying to catch Hecid?) The end result of the opening exchanges was Trichotomy set Rocks in exchange for Toxic and about 61% chip on Mudsdale.
Trich manages to trick a specs onto Arcanine meaning they don't need to worry about a late game curse sweep.
Kush finally manages to lay a spike on turn 11 then loses HQwil shortly after as Trich loses Mud. Importantly, HQwil manages to Toxic P2 before it faints.
Turn 18 Kush takes out Firebull with Aqua Jet on Brux, then Trich revenges with Crunch from their own Bruxish. Kush takes a huge chunk out of Florges with Eject Pack CC and keeps momentum allowing Arcanineto clean up Florges and Bruxish to clean up Arcanine.
Kush burns Tera Dark on Hecidueye the huts a massive Crit CC into Trich's defensive Hecidueye. If Trichotomy's Hecid was 252 HP/ 252 Def this was close to a max roll crit. This was pretty meaningful as two non-crit CCs only had a 2% chance of 2HKOing after Spikes and lefties.
Trich brings in the Toxiced P2 and Tera Poison Ice Beams to take out the incoming Kilowattrel. P2 Twaves Hecid then gets a pretty big full para on the next turn that means Hecid can't act and dies next turn. By Kush's reaction, it looked like Hecid had Roosted on the full para turn and would have been able to stall out the P2. If Bruxish didn't have Wave Crash (and they rarely run it with Jet) then Kush would have had it.
Depending on Trichotomy's Hecid set, I actually think the luck fell in Kush's favour despite the full para because of the crit. Well done both to play well enough to be there at the end, but the dice fell Trichotomy's way this time.
The Teams
Cielau: Hyphlosion (Specs)/Rhydon (SR Roar)/Glowbro (Twave Eject)/Tastugiri/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Grimmsnarl
MDB: Delphox (Specs)/Cramorant/Skuntank/Passimian (Scarf)/Orthworm (SR Coil)/Rhydon (DD)
Both players brought BO this week with very little in the way of unusual mons.
Cielau's team revolved around early paralysis and momentum with Eject Twave Glowbro, Rotom-C, and (probably) utility Grimmsnarl. The Glowbro set was pretty interesting with Twave, Slack, EQ and Eject Button. Glowbro will be whatever you want.
As with most Hyph teams, the team is designed around getting Hyph in safely as many times as possible, hopefully on a paralysed mon. Non-boots rapid spin Tatsu as the only hazard control was a bold call on a Hyph team but I liked the Roar Rhydon, I think it's underutilised.
MDB's team was in the quirky BO vein that we've seen from him throughout the tour. The 6 was certainly a collection of unusual mons we don't often see together (except Rhydon Cram). Coil SR Orthworm was a hazard setter and wincon all rolled into one. We also saw another offbeat special breaker in Specs Delphox after the Specs Alolatales last week. The team was rounded out by Scarf Passimian as speed control and trade king Skuntank for all those pesky Psychics, Ghosts, and Darks.
On preview it looked a bit better for Cielau. MDB's Specs Delphox in particular looked to have a pretty bad MU with Rhydon Tastu Grimm to resist + Glowbro to scout. Meanwhile MDB's Eruption switch-ins were not amazing, with only Rhydon potentially avoiding a 2HKO from Tera Fire Hyph.
The Game
MZ has mentioned in a few of the videos that Michael's teams work best when he is ahead from the start. If he has one chink in his armour it is forcing him to play from behind. Cielau's opening felt almost purpose-built to force the opp into an early deficit.
Cielau led Rotom-C in Passimian. This looks like an advantage MDB as Passimian will get the slower U-Turn, Cielau Volts to Glowbro and activates Eject Pack. Passimian is now stuck locked into U-turn against Hyph.
Hyph takes a bit of chip from a 4x resisted U-Turn but not enough to significantly reduce Eruption power. It Tera Fires and Cramorant is gone Turn 3. Cielau has the early advantage and any hazards set will stick.
Michael makes a nice double to get Orthworm in on Rhydon and both set rocks. Orthworm begins coiling but Glowbro reveals TWave which will make a Restless Orthworm sweep difficult. Cielau has enough special firepower to stop Orthworm from getting too out of control, but they need to sac Grimmsnarl in the process.
MDB sacs Passimian to Hyph and Delphox gets paralysed by Glowbro. At this stage only Skuntank Sucker Punch can outspeed Hyph so something is dying every time Hyph comes in.
MDB might have had an out with Tera DD Rhydon but Roar Rhydon from Cielau covers the initial risk. Michael still made all the right clicks to the end. Skuntank even looked like it might 3 v 1 Cielau's remaining Rotom, Hyph, and Glowbro but Glowbro had EQ so not a chance.
Both played well but I think Cielau had this one in the prep. Hard to see Michael having many outs besides Fire Blast misses from Hyph. A good one for the snatchers.
Cielau: Hyphlosion (Specs)/Rhydon (SR Roar)/Glowbro (Twave Eject)/Tastugiri/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Grimmsnarl
MDB: Delphox (Specs)/Cramorant/Skuntank/Passimian (Scarf)/Orthworm (SR Coil)/Rhydon (DD)
Both players brought BO this week with very little in the way of unusual mons.
Cielau's team revolved around early paralysis and momentum with Eject Twave Glowbro, Rotom-C, and (probably) utility Grimmsnarl. The Glowbro set was pretty interesting with Twave, Slack, EQ and Eject Button. Glowbro will be whatever you want.
As with most Hyph teams, the team is designed around getting Hyph in safely as many times as possible, hopefully on a paralysed mon. Non-boots rapid spin Tatsu as the only hazard control was a bold call on a Hyph team but I liked the Roar Rhydon, I think it's underutilised.
MDB's team was in the quirky BO vein that we've seen from him throughout the tour. The 6 was certainly a collection of unusual mons we don't often see together (except Rhydon Cram). Coil SR Orthworm was a hazard setter and wincon all rolled into one. We also saw another offbeat special breaker in Specs Delphox after the Specs Alolatales last week. The team was rounded out by Scarf Passimian as speed control and trade king Skuntank for all those pesky Psychics, Ghosts, and Darks.
On preview it looked a bit better for Cielau. MDB's Specs Delphox in particular looked to have a pretty bad MU with Rhydon Tastu Grimm to resist + Glowbro to scout. Meanwhile MDB's Eruption switch-ins were not amazing, with only Rhydon potentially avoiding a 2HKO from Tera Fire Hyph.
The Game
MZ has mentioned in a few of the videos that Michael's teams work best when he is ahead from the start. If he has one chink in his armour it is forcing him to play from behind. Cielau's opening felt almost purpose-built to force the opp into an early deficit.
Cielau led Rotom-C in Passimian. This looks like an advantage MDB as Passimian will get the slower U-Turn, Cielau Volts to Glowbro and activates Eject Pack. Passimian is now stuck locked into U-turn against Hyph.
Hyph takes a bit of chip from a 4x resisted U-Turn but not enough to significantly reduce Eruption power. It Tera Fires and Cramorant is gone Turn 3. Cielau has the early advantage and any hazards set will stick.
Michael makes a nice double to get Orthworm in on Rhydon and both set rocks. Orthworm begins coiling but Glowbro reveals TWave which will make a Restless Orthworm sweep difficult. Cielau has enough special firepower to stop Orthworm from getting too out of control, but they need to sac Grimmsnarl in the process.
MDB sacs Passimian to Hyph and Delphox gets paralysed by Glowbro. At this stage only Skuntank Sucker Punch can outspeed Hyph so something is dying every time Hyph comes in.
MDB might have had an out with Tera DD Rhydon but Roar Rhydon from Cielau covers the initial risk. Michael still made all the right clicks to the end. Skuntank even looked like it might 3 v 1 Cielau's remaining Rotom, Hyph, and Glowbro but Glowbro had EQ so not a chance.
Both played well but I think Cielau had this one in the prep. Hard to see Michael having many outs besides Fire Blast misses from Hyph. A good one for the snatchers.
The Teams
Metallica: Piloswine/Hecidueye (Scarf)/Jolteon (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (3 att)/Cramorant/ Glowbro (Eject)
LpZ: Wo-Chien (Eject)/Florges (Scarf?)/Haunter (Specs)/Pawmot (LO)/Alolaslash (SR)/Milotic
More balance-BO energy from the players this week.
Metallica brought a team that belongs in a museum, containing the ancient relic of scarf Hecidueye. Alongside Specs Jolt it felt like early DLC 2. Piloswine gets another look as a Rocker with STAB Ice coverage. An otherwise fairly standard team with Cram and Offensive Grimm. The Eject Glowbro trend this week has been a fun one as well.
LpZ nominally brought balance but it's 4 fairly bulky mons in Florges/Wo-Chien/ Alolaslash/Milotic and rest of the team is made of paper. Pawmot has had a quiet tour but remains one of the strongest breakers in the tier. It was presumably Volt Absorb here as LpZ otherwise had no electric immunity. The unranked Huanter gets another go. Like, I get it, great typing, great ability, great move pool. But those stats are still awful.
On preview, the most noticeable issue was that neither player had particularly good answers to the opposition Electric. Nothing on LpZ's team could take a Specs Alluring Voice and Pawmot being the only Electric immune meant Jolt would be Volt Switching almost for free. Metallica had slightly better checks to Pawmot with Glowbro and Scarf Hecid but a bit of chip and it would be a Pawmot party. Slight edge to Metallica at preview just because Specs Jolt + Scarf Hecid looked so good into LpZ's team.
The Game
It was all going to be about positioning the Electrics (and Haunter for LpZ)
Lots of positioning in the opening turns until Turn 5 when Metallica uses Eject Button Glowbro to get Jolteon in on Milo. They click TBolt and Milo loses 85%.
Turn 8 LpZ does a similar thing using Eject Pack Wo-Chien to get Pawmot in. Double Shock does 50% to Glowbro but would need Tera Electric for a guaranteed KO. Metallica risks it all by going to Jolt but it turns out well as LpZ just switches to Alolaslash. Another defensive mon takes a big chunk from Specs Jolt.
There is a bit of back and forth between Cram and Alolaslash but LpZ manages to sac Slash to keep Rocks up.
If it didn't already, Scarf Hecidueye is starting to look really good into LpZ's team as Florges gets more chipped. It ends up being Grimmsnarl who does the damage, however.
Grimmsnarl gets in on a Haunter Shadow Ball. Metallica clicks Play Rough catching the Wo-Chien. They take out the Milotic then the Pawmot with Sucker Punch. LpZ tries to double from Florges to Haunter but Metallica makes the insane "get out of my game" call of Crunch to KO Haunter.
A really strong showing from Metallica this week in both the builder and the clicking.
Metallica: Piloswine/Hecidueye (Scarf)/Jolteon (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (3 att)/Cramorant/ Glowbro (Eject)
LpZ: Wo-Chien (Eject)/Florges (Scarf?)/Haunter (Specs)/Pawmot (LO)/Alolaslash (SR)/Milotic
More balance-BO energy from the players this week.
Metallica brought a team that belongs in a museum, containing the ancient relic of scarf Hecidueye. Alongside Specs Jolt it felt like early DLC 2. Piloswine gets another look as a Rocker with STAB Ice coverage. An otherwise fairly standard team with Cram and Offensive Grimm. The Eject Glowbro trend this week has been a fun one as well.
LpZ nominally brought balance but it's 4 fairly bulky mons in Florges/Wo-Chien/ Alolaslash/Milotic and rest of the team is made of paper. Pawmot has had a quiet tour but remains one of the strongest breakers in the tier. It was presumably Volt Absorb here as LpZ otherwise had no electric immunity. The unranked Huanter gets another go. Like, I get it, great typing, great ability, great move pool. But those stats are still awful.
On preview, the most noticeable issue was that neither player had particularly good answers to the opposition Electric. Nothing on LpZ's team could take a Specs Alluring Voice and Pawmot being the only Electric immune meant Jolt would be Volt Switching almost for free. Metallica had slightly better checks to Pawmot with Glowbro and Scarf Hecid but a bit of chip and it would be a Pawmot party. Slight edge to Metallica at preview just because Specs Jolt + Scarf Hecid looked so good into LpZ's team.
The Game
It was all going to be about positioning the Electrics (and Haunter for LpZ)
Lots of positioning in the opening turns until Turn 5 when Metallica uses Eject Button Glowbro to get Jolteon in on Milo. They click TBolt and Milo loses 85%.
Turn 8 LpZ does a similar thing using Eject Pack Wo-Chien to get Pawmot in. Double Shock does 50% to Glowbro but would need Tera Electric for a guaranteed KO. Metallica risks it all by going to Jolt but it turns out well as LpZ just switches to Alolaslash. Another defensive mon takes a big chunk from Specs Jolt.
There is a bit of back and forth between Cram and Alolaslash but LpZ manages to sac Slash to keep Rocks up.
If it didn't already, Scarf Hecidueye is starting to look really good into LpZ's team as Florges gets more chipped. It ends up being Grimmsnarl who does the damage, however.
Grimmsnarl gets in on a Haunter Shadow Ball. Metallica clicks Play Rough catching the Wo-Chien. They take out the Milotic then the Pawmot with Sucker Punch. LpZ tries to double from Florges to Haunter but Metallica makes the insane "get out of my game" call of Crunch to KO Haunter.
A really strong showing from Metallica this week in both the builder and the clicking.
The Teams
Micciu: Ambipom/Hyphlosion (Specs?)/Rhydon (SR)/Cramorant/Frosmoth (QD)/Rotom-C (Scarf)
MZ: Ambipom/Hyphlosion (HDB) /Rhydon (SR)/Milotic/Glowbro (AV)/Pawmot (Scarf)
Very similar teams again with some variations in mons and sets but almost the same structure.
Micciu had the more conventional team apart from QD Frosmoth. Between Moth and Hyph the team was much more geared towards special offense, but Ambipom still provided breaking power on the physical side.
MZ went for more mixed offense with less set up power or nukes and more power spread evenly across multiple mons. Scarf Pawmot has been a certified snatcher catcher over the years so a good bring I think. The most glaring omission from MZ's team was no removal. This is partially offset by Boots Hyph but the team is otherwise super hazards weak.
Slight advantage to MZ on preview as Pawmot looked pretty good into Micciu's team. Ambipom's Triple Axel also looked scary with the only Ice resist being Frosmtoh on Micciu's side. The main risk for MZ was Frosmoth getting out of control.
The Game
It wasn't quite a 32-Turn mogging by MZ but it was close.
The match essentially turned on the Turn 13 para roll on Milotic. If MZ had been full para'd Frosmoth would have taken out at least 1 more mon, possibly just swept. There was no para so MZ was able tp Flip, break the Sub and threaten Moth out with Scarf Paw.
MZ basically read Micciu like a book after that, geting nearly every turn right with Hyph and Ambi. MZ did hit a number of Focus Blasts, 3x Triple Axels and and Axel crit on Micciu's Hyph that may have mattered.
So, luck went the way of MZ a bit, although all the "lucky" rolls were significantly in his favour probability-wise. I still think MZ played a fair bit better but Micciu did well to keep it close. The king is back.
Micciu: Ambipom/Hyphlosion (Specs?)/Rhydon (SR)/Cramorant/Frosmoth (QD)/Rotom-C (Scarf)
MZ: Ambipom/Hyphlosion (HDB) /Rhydon (SR)/Milotic/Glowbro (AV)/Pawmot (Scarf)
Very similar teams again with some variations in mons and sets but almost the same structure.
Micciu had the more conventional team apart from QD Frosmoth. Between Moth and Hyph the team was much more geared towards special offense, but Ambipom still provided breaking power on the physical side.
MZ went for more mixed offense with less set up power or nukes and more power spread evenly across multiple mons. Scarf Pawmot has been a certified snatcher catcher over the years so a good bring I think. The most glaring omission from MZ's team was no removal. This is partially offset by Boots Hyph but the team is otherwise super hazards weak.
Slight advantage to MZ on preview as Pawmot looked pretty good into Micciu's team. Ambipom's Triple Axel also looked scary with the only Ice resist being Frosmtoh on Micciu's side. The main risk for MZ was Frosmoth getting out of control.
The Game
It wasn't quite a 32-Turn mogging by MZ but it was close.
The match essentially turned on the Turn 13 para roll on Milotic. If MZ had been full para'd Frosmoth would have taken out at least 1 more mon, possibly just swept. There was no para so MZ was able tp Flip, break the Sub and threaten Moth out with Scarf Paw.
MZ basically read Micciu like a book after that, geting nearly every turn right with Hyph and Ambi. MZ did hit a number of Focus Blasts, 3x Triple Axels and and Axel crit on Micciu's Hyph that may have mattered.
So, luck went the way of MZ a bit, although all the "lucky" rolls were significantly in his favour probability-wise. I still think MZ played a fair bit better but Micciu did well to keep it close. The king is back.
The Teams
Vulpix: Zoroark (Phys Scarf)/Hariyama (AV)/Cramorant/ Hecidueye(SD/BU?)/Arcanine (Wisp)/Mudsdale
Drud: Mudsdale/Orthworm (IronPress)/Tentacruel/Malamar/ Kilowattrel/Heracross (FO)
It think these two win for the oddest teams this week. Its still somewhere between BO and balance but its kooky.
After a couple of weeks of stall-like teams, Vulpix brought a more offensive Physical Offense this week. PhysOff has traditionally struggled in PU because of how badly it gets mogged by Mudsdale and Rhydon (to a lesser extent). Pix had a pretty good Mud answer in Cramorant but no clear way to actually break it outside of beat down. AV Stone Edge, Headlong Rush Yama is a cool set although Yama has had a horror tournament. Wisp Arcanine also an interesting choice to cripple incoming Muds and Rhydons. Scarf Zoro provided speed control and Hecidueye rounds out the team with another sorta answer to the grounds.
Drud brought a more balanced team with a clear plan against Vulpix's stally picks with Malamar + Flame Orb Hera + Tenta being a very strong offensive core into stall. Drud also appears to be Orthworm's biggest fan, bringing it two weeks in a row. Kilowattrel added some speed control and Mudsdale some defensive backbone.
Drud didn't hit the anti stall fish they were looking for but I expect they were still pretty happy to have 3 mons that could boost their defense (Mudsdale/Orthworm/Malamar) into PhysOff. A bit of a weird MU but I think advantage Drud on preview, especially with the Mud.
The Game
A major part of the game was going to be how quickly Pix could wear down Drud's Mudsdale.
The match starts with, wait for it, a Kilo pivot into Mudsdale by Drud on Pix's Hariyama. Mud sets rocks and Pix immediately starts trying to chip Mudsdale with their own Mudsdale's EQ.
There was a pretty significant Wisp miss from Pix's Arcanine on Drud's Mudsdale on Turn 6 that reduced Pix's already slim chance of victory in a rough MU to basically 0.
Pix did a good job beating down Malamar with Cramorant but needed to burn Tera to fend off Kilowattrel. Tera Steel on Cram made Mud even more dangerous for Pix.
Pix did a good job getting Drud down to 2 mons in the end, but Mudsdale was still at 96% so hard to see Pix breaking through, even with Arcanine landing the burn
Look, I love Pix's teams but I don't think this was it. PhysOff without a rock solid way of beating the best answer to PhysOff looked like a miss, but maybe it was just a bad MU. Drud played well and got a bit lucky, but I think this one was won in the builder.
Vulpix: Zoroark (Phys Scarf)/Hariyama (AV)/Cramorant/ Hecidueye(SD/BU?)/Arcanine (Wisp)/Mudsdale
Drud: Mudsdale/Orthworm (IronPress)/Tentacruel/Malamar/ Kilowattrel/Heracross (FO)
It think these two win for the oddest teams this week. Its still somewhere between BO and balance but its kooky.
After a couple of weeks of stall-like teams, Vulpix brought a more offensive Physical Offense this week. PhysOff has traditionally struggled in PU because of how badly it gets mogged by Mudsdale and Rhydon (to a lesser extent). Pix had a pretty good Mud answer in Cramorant but no clear way to actually break it outside of beat down. AV Stone Edge, Headlong Rush Yama is a cool set although Yama has had a horror tournament. Wisp Arcanine also an interesting choice to cripple incoming Muds and Rhydons. Scarf Zoro provided speed control and Hecidueye rounds out the team with another sorta answer to the grounds.
Drud brought a more balanced team with a clear plan against Vulpix's stally picks with Malamar + Flame Orb Hera + Tenta being a very strong offensive core into stall. Drud also appears to be Orthworm's biggest fan, bringing it two weeks in a row. Kilowattrel added some speed control and Mudsdale some defensive backbone.
Drud didn't hit the anti stall fish they were looking for but I expect they were still pretty happy to have 3 mons that could boost their defense (Mudsdale/Orthworm/Malamar) into PhysOff. A bit of a weird MU but I think advantage Drud on preview, especially with the Mud.
The Game
A major part of the game was going to be how quickly Pix could wear down Drud's Mudsdale.
The match starts with, wait for it, a Kilo pivot into Mudsdale by Drud on Pix's Hariyama. Mud sets rocks and Pix immediately starts trying to chip Mudsdale with their own Mudsdale's EQ.
There was a pretty significant Wisp miss from Pix's Arcanine on Drud's Mudsdale on Turn 6 that reduced Pix's already slim chance of victory in a rough MU to basically 0.
Pix did a good job beating down Malamar with Cramorant but needed to burn Tera to fend off Kilowattrel. Tera Steel on Cram made Mud even more dangerous for Pix.
Pix did a good job getting Drud down to 2 mons in the end, but Mudsdale was still at 96% so hard to see Pix breaking through, even with Arcanine landing the burn
Look, I love Pix's teams but I don't think this was it. PhysOff without a rock solid way of beating the best answer to PhysOff looked like a miss, but maybe it was just a bad MU. Drud played well and got a bit lucky, but I think this one was won in the builder.
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SCL VI Team Dump
Since this year RU hurt me a lot, i start focus on PU and get some result, luckily this year my manager trust my skill more than the tilter's impression from everyone so i can play as a starter to show my talent.
Week 1 vs Trichotomy (L)
https://pokepast.es/77013da4c96a618d
Week 1 vs trichotomy, this is a opp don't have any information cuz idk mono, trich play zu too but i also don't know he is build or just click, idk i should use what, ruffles say he like my heattom sus time used brux team, i tried edit johto qwilfish but feel team bad into glowbro, i have big conflict with other mates about use what qwilfish, at end i used hisui qwil and paired glowbro, but in early turn heavy slam mud killed me a lot, after that game i edit gknot florges.
This week i don't played too bad but concern everything make my prep already lose.
Week 2 vs Xiri (W)
https://pokepast.es/1f599e5365bff28a
Week 2 vs xiri, we paired in forum tour in low tier and some old gens low tier individual a lot, i not think i'll lose easier, xiri like use weird team but w1 he use a soild team, i conclude his replays and feel his build even with or without perrersker, he like run weird set up(me too lol) and many volt turn so i want use button gbro punish volt turn, xiri also lack defense rhydon, in scout his most rhydon are double dance, and he not use milotic so i run typhlosion to catch a free mu, it also overspeed scarf brux which xiri like run it be speed control. virizion is a unique pick cuz many people think it sucks, but xiri also lack gbro/palo usage(his most gbro are otr and gbro can't really won sd tera rock) so i run it.
In games typhlosion not fished a free mu but zoro helped it lure tenta and gbro prediced rhydon sr make it weaken, after these died, typhlosion free switch into scarf pass speed control, xiri sacked wo-chien and tera rhydon killed his all team.
Week 3 vs Larry (W)
https://pokepast.es/9e0ec2faf94956ba
Week 3 vs Larry, we also pair both long time in many tours, ik he not build, pix help him build, this week i think hera into larry is good and pair grass pivot won mud, finally i picked whimsicott with shadow ball help deal glowbro, if glowbro is psydef, it will be 2hko, if glowbro is av, it will lose hera, scarf delphox help team solve scarf brux thanks foul play, double dance rhydon is broken, this team not good cuz very rely hera break.
In games i use offense tenta crit mowtom but even not crit, mowtom be weaken will lose by rhydon too, i choked about whimsicott ut into mud, click switchroo is better but when hera have chance switch in break, i almost win.
Week 4 vs Mako (W)
https://pokepast.es/f4db8e4bdfc29442
Week 4 vs Mako, ik Mako is a good SV OU player but almost not play PU, she played well but opps are strong, i want avoid rhydon too much and some reason i want use mespirt to punish defog hecid and cram so i build this, coal is bad but it fit this style and saved many defense resource, also help mespirt punish sandslash, hecid+kilo+skuntank is soild core with spikes and both can deal themselves's check, brux is speed control.
In games, MU is a bit negative for me, i need use coal set more spikes overwhelm hera, and glowbro wall me everyone, i predicted all right with hecid's some hax win it.
Week 5 vs Drud (L)
https://pokepast.es/48774bcf5b3451a0
Week 5 vs Drud, this week is my most want win's week, ik drud a lot, he not load wo-chien, almost not load milo, so i make sure many idea, like redbull, hail, band brux to punished it, finally i picked this redbull team, this is very standard, run grafaiai for help redbull and snorlax won grounds, sd slash help redbull remove cram and grounds too.
But Drud run one psychic terrain cheese
if i not remember wrong these 6 already used in 2024, i tested many games, sun or regular avalugg suicide lead all can win, but this psychic terrain not, my redbull must be overwhelmed, snorlax also auto lose by drif, how i can win, i can't win, i even did all turn right except tera, i can't stop unburden mon crash my team, i crash out, for this week i prep 35 version teams but drud used most cruel way to make my prep very ridiculous as adding feet to a snake.
Week 6 vs MichaelderBeste2 (L)
https://pokepast.es/62c32307b9b2b0c9
Week 6 vs MDB2, the hardest opp in this pool, MDB2 love p2 so i run yama hard counter p2, yama always slow and bad into offense so i run scarf lurk help yama lure some fast attacker, trick good into HO/Stall both, bonnet help solved sun MU.
MDB2 use cheese too, he use froslass HO but i think it not cheese, it is a BO with band froslass as attacker lmao, i also did bad deal bonnet and qd ori.
Hariyama sucks.
Week 7 vs Kushalos (W)
https://pokepast.es/b05dfab6f18d916e
W7 vs Kush, my team already out but i still want get a good record finally.
Back to kush, he is the biggest underrated player in this pool, with gum/himself's creative build he already win many strong player, luckily i tested with gum every week and know her style on build.
I feel gum will cook some status mon like wisp k9 so i want use some good status absorber, first time i used coil sandaconda but it sucks, so i start consider other mon good in long turn, in ho, in status and see many replay, when i review my PU open replays i finally locked malamar, i fit 6 mons and edit it in sometimes, malamar as a dark type not resist ghost is problem, so i run bombird be 2nd dark make a dark spam and frosmoth use strong spdef help solve florges(especially i use rhydon+psydef gbro core, it weak florges).
In games, MU is good but not really good for me, malamar break kush's all mon until glastrier tera, my team lack ice resist's problem happening, luckily it is water glastrier, if it change a tera type i might auto lose.
Week 8 vs LpZ (W)
https://pokepast.es/1833733d4539458e
W8 vs LpZ, we also tested everyweek and regiboob helped me a lot, so we know each others, LpZ's style like me, we both like run BO, i want use some deal offense better's mon, was see Cielau last week in that time run piloswine so i want try it, it's bulk not very good but in trade it is good, as a ground type rocker and kilo checker, it better into hecid and have ice shard is advantage than rhydon, it also can check rhydon. Specs jolt is another mon i tested 8 weeks and finally loaded, scarf hecid is a ancient set, it was ambipom but team lack pressure into milo so i edit hecid to self-deception.
In games, LpZ run a team which regiboob and brick like used, i released it, with jolt's good mu+right predict, i win my last PU game cuz i promise platum he must play one games.
Week 9 Platum vs MZ (W)
I not build but i suggess platum run hazard stack cuz MZ many times not removal or run bad removal.
Other teams not used but not bad
https://pokepast.es/e4f25ec3fde63ea3 W6 vs MDB2 i prep a nacl hazard stack to win p2 and potential stall, nacl is a good mon.
https://pokepast.es/e4f25ec3fde63ea3 W2 vs Xiri i prep around haunter to steal ghost resist less mu, haunter also good.
https://pokepast.es/b299ea9af21733dd W1 vs Trich i prep a soild BO
https://pokepast.es/f7f9c75741e295a7 W1 vs Trich i prep a specs tatsu team but
Overall Dynamos get 6-3 in PU and it is very good result.
Platum During this season you're very very helpful player and handled my crazy number pings, you're really good, i hope next year SCL you being PU starter and you deserve it, i must say without you i can't did well.
Ruffles This is rough season :( i'm sorry not help NU very enough but i also thanks your all suggess, i trust you'll comeback.
Chaos23333 691 Suzukaaa vbhl I love you, during this season the Chinese army also discuss a lot idea with me, especially i want mentioned vbhl again, he is a good guy with good knowledge in PU.
Ainzcrad thanks help me in PU slot a lot too and give enough test with me.
LpZ Regiboob Trichotomy MZ eeriespell seraphz xcx OranBerryBlissey10 Lana Micciu Leni Lambovino DD Joe xsus Bloshh also thanks every other team/side friend test with me with random times in everytimes, yours test help me a lot!
Drud big tony 2014 i'm sorry when w5 yours use cheese to get big mad, also thanks help test.
During this SCL, in almost every week i build many version of teams, i count out and overall 8 weeks i start i build 200+ teams, it might be my hardest work during this season, i love this game tho sometimes it make me get big mad, for my mates's word i think i'll sent after SCL regular season.
Enjoy this game :)
Since this year RU hurt me a lot, i start focus on PU and get some result, luckily this year my manager trust my skill more than the tilter's impression from everyone so i can play as a starter to show my talent.
Week 1 vs Trichotomy (L)
https://pokepast.es/77013da4c96a618d
Week 1 vs trichotomy, this is a opp don't have any information cuz idk mono, trich play zu too but i also don't know he is build or just click, idk i should use what, ruffles say he like my heattom sus time used brux team, i tried edit johto qwilfish but feel team bad into glowbro, i have big conflict with other mates about use what qwilfish, at end i used hisui qwil and paired glowbro, but in early turn heavy slam mud killed me a lot, after that game i edit gknot florges.
This week i don't played too bad but concern everything make my prep already lose.
Week 2 vs Xiri (W)
https://pokepast.es/1f599e5365bff28a
Week 2 vs xiri, we paired in forum tour in low tier and some old gens low tier individual a lot, i not think i'll lose easier, xiri like use weird team but w1 he use a soild team, i conclude his replays and feel his build even with or without perrersker, he like run weird set up(me too lol) and many volt turn so i want use button gbro punish volt turn, xiri also lack defense rhydon, in scout his most rhydon are double dance, and he not use milotic so i run typhlosion to catch a free mu, it also overspeed scarf brux which xiri like run it be speed control. virizion is a unique pick cuz many people think it sucks, but xiri also lack gbro/palo usage(his most gbro are otr and gbro can't really won sd tera rock) so i run it.
In games typhlosion not fished a free mu but zoro helped it lure tenta and gbro prediced rhydon sr make it weaken, after these died, typhlosion free switch into scarf pass speed control, xiri sacked wo-chien and tera rhydon killed his all team.
Week 3 vs Larry (W)
https://pokepast.es/9e0ec2faf94956ba
Week 3 vs Larry, we also pair both long time in many tours, ik he not build, pix help him build, this week i think hera into larry is good and pair grass pivot won mud, finally i picked whimsicott with shadow ball help deal glowbro, if glowbro is psydef, it will be 2hko, if glowbro is av, it will lose hera, scarf delphox help team solve scarf brux thanks foul play, double dance rhydon is broken, this team not good cuz very rely hera break.
In games i use offense tenta crit mowtom but even not crit, mowtom be weaken will lose by rhydon too, i choked about whimsicott ut into mud, click switchroo is better but when hera have chance switch in break, i almost win.
Week 4 vs Mako (W)
https://pokepast.es/f4db8e4bdfc29442
Week 4 vs Mako, ik Mako is a good SV OU player but almost not play PU, she played well but opps are strong, i want avoid rhydon too much and some reason i want use mespirt to punish defog hecid and cram so i build this, coal is bad but it fit this style and saved many defense resource, also help mespirt punish sandslash, hecid+kilo+skuntank is soild core with spikes and both can deal themselves's check, brux is speed control.
In games, MU is a bit negative for me, i need use coal set more spikes overwhelm hera, and glowbro wall me everyone, i predicted all right with hecid's some hax win it.
Week 5 vs Drud (L)
https://pokepast.es/48774bcf5b3451a0
Week 5 vs Drud, this week is my most want win's week, ik drud a lot, he not load wo-chien, almost not load milo, so i make sure many idea, like redbull, hail, band brux to punished it, finally i picked this redbull team, this is very standard, run grafaiai for help redbull and snorlax won grounds, sd slash help redbull remove cram and grounds too.
But Drud run one psychic terrain cheese
if i not remember wrong these 6 already used in 2024, i tested many games, sun or regular avalugg suicide lead all can win, but this psychic terrain not, my redbull must be overwhelmed, snorlax also auto lose by drif, how i can win, i can't win, i even did all turn right except tera, i can't stop unburden mon crash my team, i crash out, for this week i prep 35 version teams but drud used most cruel way to make my prep very ridiculous as adding feet to a snake.
Week 6 vs MichaelderBeste2 (L)
https://pokepast.es/62c32307b9b2b0c9
Week 6 vs MDB2, the hardest opp in this pool, MDB2 love p2 so i run yama hard counter p2, yama always slow and bad into offense so i run scarf lurk help yama lure some fast attacker, trick good into HO/Stall both, bonnet help solved sun MU.
MDB2 use cheese too, he use froslass HO but i think it not cheese, it is a BO with band froslass as attacker lmao, i also did bad deal bonnet and qd ori.
Hariyama sucks.
Week 7 vs Kushalos (W)
https://pokepast.es/b05dfab6f18d916e
W7 vs Kush, my team already out but i still want get a good record finally.
Back to kush, he is the biggest underrated player in this pool, with gum/himself's creative build he already win many strong player, luckily i tested with gum every week and know her style on build.
I feel gum will cook some status mon like wisp k9 so i want use some good status absorber, first time i used coil sandaconda but it sucks, so i start consider other mon good in long turn, in ho, in status and see many replay, when i review my PU open replays i finally locked malamar, i fit 6 mons and edit it in sometimes, malamar as a dark type not resist ghost is problem, so i run bombird be 2nd dark make a dark spam and frosmoth use strong spdef help solve florges(especially i use rhydon+psydef gbro core, it weak florges).
In games, MU is good but not really good for me, malamar break kush's all mon until glastrier tera, my team lack ice resist's problem happening, luckily it is water glastrier, if it change a tera type i might auto lose.
Week 8 vs LpZ (W)
https://pokepast.es/1833733d4539458e
W8 vs LpZ, we also tested everyweek and regiboob helped me a lot, so we know each others, LpZ's style like me, we both like run BO, i want use some deal offense better's mon, was see Cielau last week in that time run piloswine so i want try it, it's bulk not very good but in trade it is good, as a ground type rocker and kilo checker, it better into hecid and have ice shard is advantage than rhydon, it also can check rhydon. Specs jolt is another mon i tested 8 weeks and finally loaded, scarf hecid is a ancient set, it was ambipom but team lack pressure into milo so i edit hecid to self-deception.
In games, LpZ run a team which regiboob and brick like used, i released it, with jolt's good mu+right predict, i win my last PU game cuz i promise platum he must play one games.
Week 9 Platum vs MZ (W)
I not build but i suggess platum run hazard stack cuz MZ many times not removal or run bad removal.
Other teams not used but not bad
https://pokepast.es/e4f25ec3fde63ea3 W6 vs MDB2 i prep a nacl hazard stack to win p2 and potential stall, nacl is a good mon.
https://pokepast.es/e4f25ec3fde63ea3 W2 vs Xiri i prep around haunter to steal ghost resist less mu, haunter also good.
https://pokepast.es/b299ea9af21733dd W1 vs Trich i prep a soild BO
https://pokepast.es/f7f9c75741e295a7 W1 vs Trich i prep a specs tatsu team but
Overall Dynamos get 6-3 in PU and it is very good result.
Platum During this season you're very very helpful player and handled my crazy number pings, you're really good, i hope next year SCL you being PU starter and you deserve it, i must say without you i can't did well.
Ruffles This is rough season :( i'm sorry not help NU very enough but i also thanks your all suggess, i trust you'll comeback.
Chaos23333 691 Suzukaaa vbhl I love you, during this season the Chinese army also discuss a lot idea with me, especially i want mentioned vbhl again, he is a good guy with good knowledge in PU.
Ainzcrad thanks help me in PU slot a lot too and give enough test with me.
LpZ Regiboob Trichotomy MZ eeriespell seraphz xcx OranBerryBlissey10 Lana Micciu Leni Lambovino DD Joe xsus Bloshh also thanks every other team/side friend test with me with random times in everytimes, yours test help me a lot!
Drud big tony 2014 i'm sorry when w5 yours use cheese to get big mad, also thanks help test.
During this SCL, in almost every week i build many version of teams, i count out and overall 8 weeks i start i build 200+ teams, it might be my hardest work during this season, i love this game tho sometimes it make me get big mad, for my mates's word i think i'll sent after SCL regular season.
Enjoy this game :)
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Week 9 Round-Up for Text-Based Lifeforms
News Headlines:
A bit of a mixed bag for the last week. Lots of BO-Balance with a couple of cool (if a little janky) HOs. Fun fact: every team ran a Ground type and all but one had a Dark type. Tatsugiri had a pretty big week with 4 brings and a couple in NU as well. Hazard stack dominated the W column as we have seen a return to standard play as the tour is winding up.
Well-played all and thanks for the cool games. See you for finals!
News Headlines:
- Alolaslash is dead and we have killed it.
- Fish are caught with lures
- Somebody start Platum next year.
- SO to Metallica for making the tour so fun
A bit of a mixed bag for the last week. Lots of BO-Balance with a couple of cool (if a little janky) HOs. Fun fact: every team ran a Ground type and all but one had a Dark type. Tatsugiri had a pretty big week with 4 brings and a couple in NU as well. Hazard stack dominated the W column as we have seen a return to standard play as the tour is winding up.
Well-played all and thanks for the cool games. See you for finals!
The Teams
MichaelderBeste2: Mudsdale/Qwilfish-H (Spikes)/Florges (CM)/ Rotom-C (Scarf)/Tatsugiri (HDB)/Arcanine (Curse?)
Vulpix03: Mudsdale/Glowbro (AV)/Florges (Specs)/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Tastugiri (Eject?)/Zoroark (Band?)
Both bringing similar balance structures this week with 4 of the same mons.
Michael brought more hazard stack balance with a Mudsdale/HQwil as setters and defensive core. There were a couple of bulky set up sweepers in Arcanine and CM Florges (and Tastugiri as the usual kinda set up kinda removal). Rotom-C completed the team with speed control.
Its a sort of snowball strategy that has very little immediate breaking power but has multiple mons that can take the game away. This is a bit of a deviation from Michael's usual teams as there are lots of ways to take the game back if he drops to an early deficit.
Vulpix03 brought a more traditional version of Michael's approach. No Spiker, choosing instead to bring a strong Fairy resist in AV Glowbro. The team has more immediate breaking power in Specs Florges and (I think?) Band Zoro. The trade-off is the team looks much weaker into Psyshock mons like Delphox and Hoopa.
Despite the similarity of teams, big advantage to Vulpix on preview. Specs Florges against a team with only Arcanine resists Fairy is a dream. AV bro also matched up really well into most of the power on Michael's team.
The Game
Seeing the big advantage, Pix leads Florges and Michael leads his best (sorta) answer, HQwil. Pix plays safe and gets put to preserve his best mon and Michael gets a Toxic on Mud. HQwil sets Spikes and Mud sets Rocks.
Pix doubles to Florges on a predicted switch and gets what looks like a pretty free Moonblast click on Mudsdale. Michael reveals his Mud is offensive Heavy Slam and takes out Florges with a great lure. It comes at a cost though, Mud is nearly dead and unlikely to set rocks or do much else. Michael just lets it go to Tastugiri.
Turn 8, Michael lets Tastugiri go in exchange for a Rapid Spin. Perhaps Michael was gambling on Pix's Rotom not being Scarfed, but Pix makes Michael pay for losing his only Electric immunity.
Pix is able to set Rocks with Mud on Arcanine but with chip and Toxic, Mud is at 2%. Pix makes a heads-up play to go to Tastugiri on the Flare Blitz the burns Tera Ghost to take out the Arcanine and extend their lead.
A bit of back and forth where HQwil sets another Spike. On Turn 17, Pix decides to go for chip on HQwil rather than spin with Tatsu. The exchange ends with 2 Spikes on Pix's side, but Michael's Qwil being unable to switch in again.
AV Glowbro looks really threatening now with only special attackers left on Michael's side. Michael does manage to burn the Glowbro and it is SSA rather than Sludge Bomb, so a slim chance CM Florges can get going, especially after it gets a Moonblast drop on Turn 26. Florges goes Tera Poison but Pix gets a crit Psyshock which basically ends the game.
Even without the crit, I don't think Michael was getting there with Pix having a banded Zoro in the back, but the game would have been much closer. The reality was that Michael was playing from behind from the start and Pix probably won this one in the builder.
MichaelderBeste2: Mudsdale/Qwilfish-H (Spikes)/Florges (CM)/ Rotom-C (Scarf)/Tatsugiri (HDB)/Arcanine (Curse?)
Vulpix03: Mudsdale/Glowbro (AV)/Florges (Specs)/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Tastugiri (Eject?)/Zoroark (Band?)
Both bringing similar balance structures this week with 4 of the same mons.
Michael brought more hazard stack balance with a Mudsdale/HQwil as setters and defensive core. There were a couple of bulky set up sweepers in Arcanine and CM Florges (and Tastugiri as the usual kinda set up kinda removal). Rotom-C completed the team with speed control.
Its a sort of snowball strategy that has very little immediate breaking power but has multiple mons that can take the game away. This is a bit of a deviation from Michael's usual teams as there are lots of ways to take the game back if he drops to an early deficit.
Vulpix03 brought a more traditional version of Michael's approach. No Spiker, choosing instead to bring a strong Fairy resist in AV Glowbro. The team has more immediate breaking power in Specs Florges and (I think?) Band Zoro. The trade-off is the team looks much weaker into Psyshock mons like Delphox and Hoopa.
Despite the similarity of teams, big advantage to Vulpix on preview. Specs Florges against a team with only Arcanine resists Fairy is a dream. AV bro also matched up really well into most of the power on Michael's team.
The Game
Seeing the big advantage, Pix leads Florges and Michael leads his best (sorta) answer, HQwil. Pix plays safe and gets put to preserve his best mon and Michael gets a Toxic on Mud. HQwil sets Spikes and Mud sets Rocks.
Pix doubles to Florges on a predicted switch and gets what looks like a pretty free Moonblast click on Mudsdale. Michael reveals his Mud is offensive Heavy Slam and takes out Florges with a great lure. It comes at a cost though, Mud is nearly dead and unlikely to set rocks or do much else. Michael just lets it go to Tastugiri.
Turn 8, Michael lets Tastugiri go in exchange for a Rapid Spin. Perhaps Michael was gambling on Pix's Rotom not being Scarfed, but Pix makes Michael pay for losing his only Electric immunity.
Pix is able to set Rocks with Mud on Arcanine but with chip and Toxic, Mud is at 2%. Pix makes a heads-up play to go to Tastugiri on the Flare Blitz the burns Tera Ghost to take out the Arcanine and extend their lead.
A bit of back and forth where HQwil sets another Spike. On Turn 17, Pix decides to go for chip on HQwil rather than spin with Tatsu. The exchange ends with 2 Spikes on Pix's side, but Michael's Qwil being unable to switch in again.
AV Glowbro looks really threatening now with only special attackers left on Michael's side. Michael does manage to burn the Glowbro and it is SSA rather than Sludge Bomb, so a slim chance CM Florges can get going, especially after it gets a Moonblast drop on Turn 26. Florges goes Tera Poison but Pix gets a crit Psyshock which basically ends the game.
Even without the crit, I don't think Michael was getting there with Pix having a banded Zoro in the back, but the game would have been much closer. The reality was that Michael was playing from behind from the start and Pix probably won this one in the builder.
The Teams
Axzel: Hyphlosion (Specs)/Glowbro (Eject Twave)/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Grimmsnarl (SpDef)/Mudsdale/Cramorant
LpZ: Glastrier (Restalk Curse)/Shaymin (Scarf)/Glowbro (Helmet Tox)/Zoroark (SD?)/Mudsdale/Cramorant
Very similar structures with both running Mud + Cram + Glowbro as defensive cores. Both brought a Grass Scarfer and a Dark Pivot. The last slot on both teams made a massive difference to how they played.
Axzel had a more offensive strategy, with a pseudo Hyphturn build. Volt Switch Rotom-C, PShot Grimm, and Eject Button Glowbro created lots of opportunities to get Hyph in. Twave Glowbro + (probably) TWave Grimm + Cramorant also created plenty of opportunities for paralysis the give Specs Hyph the best opportunity to break.
With the exception of Zoroark, LpZ's team is generally a bit bulkier and more defensive. Scarf Shaymin sacrifices the pivoting of Rotom-C for breaking power, while Glastrier sacrifices speed and immediate power for a late game wincon.
Despite near-identical structures, both teams looked to be threatened by each other's breakers. Hyph looked pretty good into LpZ's slow team and the only Fire resist being Cram. Axzel looked to have good individual answers for LpZ's mons, but a lot of those answers are very susceptible to chip. I'll say relatively even at preview.
The Game
Basically, Axzel wants to go boom with Hyph and LpZ wants to get chip for a late-game H.O.N.S.E. stomping.
Axzel gets the upper hand on lead, getting some nice chip on Zoro in exchange for losing Grimm's HDB. With Mud the setter and Defog Cram the removal on both sides, Rocks didn't look particularly likely.
Turn 5 LpZ gets a massive Stone Edge crit on Axzel's Cramorant to KO it, so amy hazards set by LpZ will stick.
Turn 8 Glowbro's Eject Button is wasted on a Shaymin Earth Power. Scarf Shaymin is looking pretty threatening.
Turn 10 Axzel finally gets Hyph in on Glowbro and LpZ is forced to burn Tera Water to get off a Glowbro Surf. Eruption is no longer a threat but the late game Glastrier clean is less likely with Tera used.
Turn 11 Axzel gets a fortuitous SpDef drop on Glastrier and then a crit on Mud before finally being forced out.
Turn 18 LpZ manages to Rest the very low Glastrier on Glowbro but misses the Icicle Crash Sleep Talk pull to KO Hyph.
Turn 20 maybe a bit of a misplay by LpZ going Cramorant on Hyph, taking 61% from a Specs Fire Blast then saccing Mud anyway. Could have juat gone straight to Mud but LpZ's timer was running pretty low during this sequence.
Turn 24 after taking out Grimm with Glowbro's Helmet, LpZ needed to decide what to sac vs another Hyph entry and chooses Cram. Any rocks set by Axzel will stick.
Turn 27 LpZ pulls Rest for a second time with Glastrier's Sleep Talk allowing Axzel to set Rocks with Mud.
Turn 36 Axzel KOs Glowbro with Hyph and LpZ finally removes Hyph with Zoro. The end game is basically set up as a bunch of Sleep Talk rolls and 50-50s playing around Rotom's Trick. If Glastrier doesn't get Tricked, LpZ wins.
Axzel basically gets all the 50-50s right AND LpZ pulls Rest both times with Sleep Talk (that 4/4 times pulling Rest. Sadge.)
A bit unlucky for LpZ but it was a good demonstration why Restalk (and GSC god Snorlax) have declined over the years as power creep and tools like Trick have moved in. LpZ probably deserved the win but Axzel snatched it.
Axzel: Hyphlosion (Specs)/Glowbro (Eject Twave)/Rotom-C (Scarf)/Grimmsnarl (SpDef)/Mudsdale/Cramorant
LpZ: Glastrier (Restalk Curse)/Shaymin (Scarf)/Glowbro (Helmet Tox)/Zoroark (SD?)/Mudsdale/Cramorant
Very similar structures with both running Mud + Cram + Glowbro as defensive cores. Both brought a Grass Scarfer and a Dark Pivot. The last slot on both teams made a massive difference to how they played.
Axzel had a more offensive strategy, with a pseudo Hyphturn build. Volt Switch Rotom-C, PShot Grimm, and Eject Button Glowbro created lots of opportunities to get Hyph in. Twave Glowbro + (probably) TWave Grimm + Cramorant also created plenty of opportunities for paralysis the give Specs Hyph the best opportunity to break.
With the exception of Zoroark, LpZ's team is generally a bit bulkier and more defensive. Scarf Shaymin sacrifices the pivoting of Rotom-C for breaking power, while Glastrier sacrifices speed and immediate power for a late game wincon.
Despite near-identical structures, both teams looked to be threatened by each other's breakers. Hyph looked pretty good into LpZ's slow team and the only Fire resist being Cram. Axzel looked to have good individual answers for LpZ's mons, but a lot of those answers are very susceptible to chip. I'll say relatively even at preview.
The Game
Basically, Axzel wants to go boom with Hyph and LpZ wants to get chip for a late-game H.O.N.S.E. stomping.
Axzel gets the upper hand on lead, getting some nice chip on Zoro in exchange for losing Grimm's HDB. With Mud the setter and Defog Cram the removal on both sides, Rocks didn't look particularly likely.
Turn 5 LpZ gets a massive Stone Edge crit on Axzel's Cramorant to KO it, so amy hazards set by LpZ will stick.
Turn 8 Glowbro's Eject Button is wasted on a Shaymin Earth Power. Scarf Shaymin is looking pretty threatening.
Turn 10 Axzel finally gets Hyph in on Glowbro and LpZ is forced to burn Tera Water to get off a Glowbro Surf. Eruption is no longer a threat but the late game Glastrier clean is less likely with Tera used.
Turn 11 Axzel gets a fortuitous SpDef drop on Glastrier and then a crit on Mud before finally being forced out.
Turn 18 LpZ manages to Rest the very low Glastrier on Glowbro but misses the Icicle Crash Sleep Talk pull to KO Hyph.
Turn 20 maybe a bit of a misplay by LpZ going Cramorant on Hyph, taking 61% from a Specs Fire Blast then saccing Mud anyway. Could have juat gone straight to Mud but LpZ's timer was running pretty low during this sequence.
Turn 24 after taking out Grimm with Glowbro's Helmet, LpZ needed to decide what to sac vs another Hyph entry and chooses Cram. Any rocks set by Axzel will stick.
Turn 27 LpZ pulls Rest for a second time with Glastrier's Sleep Talk allowing Axzel to set Rocks with Mud.
Turn 36 Axzel KOs Glowbro with Hyph and LpZ finally removes Hyph with Zoro. The end game is basically set up as a bunch of Sleep Talk rolls and 50-50s playing around Rotom's Trick. If Glastrier doesn't get Tricked, LpZ wins.
Axzel basically gets all the 50-50s right AND LpZ pulls Rest both times with Sleep Talk (that 4/4 times pulling Rest. Sadge.)
A bit unlucky for LpZ but it was a good demonstration why Restalk (and GSC god Snorlax) have declined over the years as power creep and tools like Trick have moved in. LpZ probably deserved the win but Axzel snatched it.
The Teams
MZ: Mudsdale/Kilowattrel/Tatsugiri (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (3 Att?)/Frosmoth (Defog)/Arcanine (Wisp WCharge)
Platum: Mudsdale/Kilowattrel (Comp)/Tentacruel/Skuntank (Utility)/Orthworm (Spikes)/Hoopa (Scarf)
It's the King of PU vs the Ruler of the PU ladder. Both players brought balance but some interesting structures for both.
MZ brought a pretty unusual Mudsdale/ SpDef Defog Frosmoth/Defensive Arcanine core. The Arcanine was Wisp + Wild Charge so no ESpeed, so it functioned as kind of double lure for both Grounds (Wisp) and Waters (WCharge). I'm a big fan of lure Arcanine as it has some of the best tools to do it.
Lure Arcanine works pretty well alongside the breaking core of Specs Tastu (who wants bulky Waters gone) and Grimmsnarl + Kilo (who want bulky Grounds chipped). Lots of bulk and power on the team, a bit vulnerable to scarfers with Kilowattrel as the speed control and Grimm the only priority.
Platum might be the best player of hazard stack balance in PU and they have played to their strengths. Mud + Orthworm for hazards, Hoopa to spin block, Competitive Kilowattrel to punish Defog and Skuntank + Tentacruel to Knock Off Boots. The team was maybe a bit low on raw power but it's definitely one of those "you know my plan, can you stop it" teams.
It looked pretty even on preview. Platum had no real good switch-ins to Specs Tatsugiri. MZ had limited speed control so Scarf Hoopa was looking pretty scary, although Grimm is a good check to start with. Frosmoth as MZ's remover was a great mon to have as Kilowattrel cannot switch in to Ice Beam to punish the Defog. MZ perhaps did not quite get the Cram + Rhydon MU they wanted with the lure Arcanine set. It's close but maybe a slight edge to MZ at preview.
The Game
A very gentlemanly start to the game with both sides setting hazards before attacking. MZ sets Rocks and Plat gets SR and one layer of Spikes. I do wonder if a more aggressive Tatsu lead would have been the play from MZ given how good Tastu looked into Plat's team.
Platum gets some good chip on MZ's Mud with Kilo before MZ removes hazards with Frosmoth. Frosmoth is also blanking Scarf Hoopa and Plat is not looking like they will have the raw power to break through.
Plat does get a meaningful Knock on Frosmoth so it only gets one more switch-in if Plat resets Rocks.
Turn 11-13 was pretty major. Plat brings Hoopa in on MZ's Kilowattrel who misses Hurricane. Plat then gets a crit Shadow Ball, KOing Kilo who was (barely) out of KO range for a non-crit. MZ then sneaks a surprise KO on Hoopa with Specs Tatsu Draco.
The battle isn't lost or won in this sequence but Plat definitely gains the upper hand. Kilo was looking pretty annoying for Plat's team.
Turn 18 MZ cripples Skunk with Wisp, although Skunk was basically a Knock bot at this point anyway.
The battle kind fizzles to a close. Plat just had more resources and MZ couldn’t find enough opportunities to get Tastu in. Like yeah I think the Kilo crit made MZ's road a lot harder but it still would have been super chipped and would have needed to find a turn to Roost. I think there was a more aggressive line with Specs Tatsu that might have produce a different result but well-played Plat to take it.
MZ: Mudsdale/Kilowattrel/Tatsugiri (Specs)/Grimmsnarl (3 Att?)/Frosmoth (Defog)/Arcanine (Wisp WCharge)
Platum: Mudsdale/Kilowattrel (Comp)/Tentacruel/Skuntank (Utility)/Orthworm (Spikes)/Hoopa (Scarf)
It's the King of PU vs the Ruler of the PU ladder. Both players brought balance but some interesting structures for both.
MZ brought a pretty unusual Mudsdale/ SpDef Defog Frosmoth/Defensive Arcanine core. The Arcanine was Wisp + Wild Charge so no ESpeed, so it functioned as kind of double lure for both Grounds (Wisp) and Waters (WCharge). I'm a big fan of lure Arcanine as it has some of the best tools to do it.
Lure Arcanine works pretty well alongside the breaking core of Specs Tastu (who wants bulky Waters gone) and Grimmsnarl + Kilo (who want bulky Grounds chipped). Lots of bulk and power on the team, a bit vulnerable to scarfers with Kilowattrel as the speed control and Grimm the only priority.
Platum might be the best player of hazard stack balance in PU and they have played to their strengths. Mud + Orthworm for hazards, Hoopa to spin block, Competitive Kilowattrel to punish Defog and Skuntank + Tentacruel to Knock Off Boots. The team was maybe a bit low on raw power but it's definitely one of those "you know my plan, can you stop it" teams.
It looked pretty even on preview. Platum had no real good switch-ins to Specs Tatsugiri. MZ had limited speed control so Scarf Hoopa was looking pretty scary, although Grimm is a good check to start with. Frosmoth as MZ's remover was a great mon to have as Kilowattrel cannot switch in to Ice Beam to punish the Defog. MZ perhaps did not quite get the Cram + Rhydon MU they wanted with the lure Arcanine set. It's close but maybe a slight edge to MZ at preview.
The Game
A very gentlemanly start to the game with both sides setting hazards before attacking. MZ sets Rocks and Plat gets SR and one layer of Spikes. I do wonder if a more aggressive Tatsu lead would have been the play from MZ given how good Tastu looked into Plat's team.
Platum gets some good chip on MZ's Mud with Kilo before MZ removes hazards with Frosmoth. Frosmoth is also blanking Scarf Hoopa and Plat is not looking like they will have the raw power to break through.
Plat does get a meaningful Knock on Frosmoth so it only gets one more switch-in if Plat resets Rocks.
Turn 11-13 was pretty major. Plat brings Hoopa in on MZ's Kilowattrel who misses Hurricane. Plat then gets a crit Shadow Ball, KOing Kilo who was (barely) out of KO range for a non-crit. MZ then sneaks a surprise KO on Hoopa with Specs Tatsu Draco.
The battle isn't lost or won in this sequence but Plat definitely gains the upper hand. Kilo was looking pretty annoying for Plat's team.
Turn 18 MZ cripples Skunk with Wisp, although Skunk was basically a Knock bot at this point anyway.
The battle kind fizzles to a close. Plat just had more resources and MZ couldn’t find enough opportunities to get Tastu in. Like yeah I think the Kilo crit made MZ's road a lot harder but it still would have been super chipped and would have needed to find a turn to Roost. I think there was a more aggressive line with Specs Tatsu that might have produce a different result but well-played Plat to take it.
The Teams
Kushalos: Bombirdier (SR Sash)/Rhydon (DD)/Tatsugiri (Memento)/Salazzle (NP)/Bellossom (QD)/Ninetales-A (NP)
Cielau: Froslass (Spikes)/Arcanine (Curse?)/Heracross (FO) /Hoopa (Specs?)/Rhydon (SR?)/Kilowattrel
Kush brought some jank HO that had a slight whiff of cheese. Sash Bomb with Rock Tomb was an interesting choice for an HO lead. Memento Tatsu is cool tech for HO as well. In terms of sweepers, there was a jank NP Adrenaline Orb Water Pulse Alolatales, another Mud-Slap Tera Ground Salazzle and our first Bellossom for the tour. A classic Double Dance Rhydon round out a very old school suicide HO.
Cielau's team was kinda standard Hazard Stack BO except with TWave Froslass. Old faithful Flame Orb Hera + Specs Hoopa meant nothing bulky was surviving. Arcanine, Rhydon, and Kilo all looked standard. Notably, no removal but double spinblock and probably comp Kilo meant hazards were sticking.
Ooft, how do you even rate Kush's team on preview. Bellossom probably looked the most dangerous, especially if Alolatales found its lure target in Arcanine. Cielau's Kilowattrel looked nasty, outspeeding the whole of Kush's team. No clear advantage on preview.
The Game
This game was pretty cursed ngl.
Bomb and Lass set their hazards and Bomb gets paralysed. In comes Heracross and CCs the activate sash. It's a full para on Bomb and if it had Brave Bird, the match would have gone very differently. Hera survives at basically full health with a Trailblaze boost.
Kush has to burn Tera Flying on Rhydon to take out Hera but a 2 hit Rock Blast means Rhydon is chipped down to 25%.
Alolatales finds its mark, luring Arcanine and KOing it.
Hoopa misses 3 Psyshocks in a row after a Salazzle Mud Slap then dies.
Kilowattrel then hits 3/4 Hurricanes and Bellossom gets confused then hurts itself for Cielau to win the battle.
So much chaos it is really difficult to tell who really had the upper hand here. It absolutely could have gone either way but Cielau takes the W. Moons is moons, so they say.
Kushalos: Bombirdier (SR Sash)/Rhydon (DD)/Tatsugiri (Memento)/Salazzle (NP)/Bellossom (QD)/Ninetales-A (NP)
Cielau: Froslass (Spikes)/Arcanine (Curse?)/Heracross (FO) /Hoopa (Specs?)/Rhydon (SR?)/Kilowattrel
Kush brought some jank HO that had a slight whiff of cheese. Sash Bomb with Rock Tomb was an interesting choice for an HO lead. Memento Tatsu is cool tech for HO as well. In terms of sweepers, there was a jank NP Adrenaline Orb Water Pulse Alolatales, another Mud-Slap Tera Ground Salazzle and our first Bellossom for the tour. A classic Double Dance Rhydon round out a very old school suicide HO.
Cielau's team was kinda standard Hazard Stack BO except with TWave Froslass. Old faithful Flame Orb Hera + Specs Hoopa meant nothing bulky was surviving. Arcanine, Rhydon, and Kilo all looked standard. Notably, no removal but double spinblock and probably comp Kilo meant hazards were sticking.
Ooft, how do you even rate Kush's team on preview. Bellossom probably looked the most dangerous, especially if Alolatales found its lure target in Arcanine. Cielau's Kilowattrel looked nasty, outspeeding the whole of Kush's team. No clear advantage on preview.
The Game
This game was pretty cursed ngl.
Bomb and Lass set their hazards and Bomb gets paralysed. In comes Heracross and CCs the activate sash. It's a full para on Bomb and if it had Brave Bird, the match would have gone very differently. Hera survives at basically full health with a Trailblaze boost.
Kush has to burn Tera Flying on Rhydon to take out Hera but a 2 hit Rock Blast means Rhydon is chipped down to 25%.
Alolatales finds its mark, luring Arcanine and KOing it.
Hoopa misses 3 Psyshocks in a row after a Salazzle Mud Slap then dies.
Kilowattrel then hits 3/4 Hurricanes and Bellossom gets confused then hurts itself for Cielau to win the battle.
So much chaos it is really difficult to tell who really had the upper hand here. It absolutely could have gone either way but Cielau takes the W. Moons is moons, so they say.
The Teams
Drud: Arcanine (Curse?)/Salazzle (Tox)/Palossand/ Wo-Chien (Restalk)/Kilowattrel/Heracross (HDB Spikes)
OBB: Amoongus/Tauros Blaze (LO)/Cramorant/Rhydon (SR) /Florges (Scarf)/Zoroark (Specs)
Both players brought fairly standard BO-Balance, not a shitmon in sight.
Drud's team is sneaky Boots spam Hazard stack with Boots Spikes Tera Rock Stone Edge being the most innovative mon, acting as a breaker, spiker, and Cramorant lure all in one. The team had a bit of Fire spam going with Salazzle + Arcanine trying to take advantage of people's recent habit to not run fire resists. Kilo is speed control while Palo + Restalk Wo-Chien add the fat.
OBB brought a super standard team with the only slightly unusual mon being Amoongus. The only other slightly unconventional bring was LO Firebull for a bit of flexibility in breaking power. Classic CramDon core, Specs Zoro for breaking, and Scarf Florg for speed control.
Not a huge advantage but I think Drud had the edge on preview. The lack of Knock Off on OBB's team + the remover being Cramorant (which Drud had a lure for) meant OBB didn't have a great MU into boots spam hazard stack.
The Game
Not much happens until Turn 8 when both set rocks then OBB chunks Drud's Kilowattrel for 93% with a well-masked Specs Zoro.
Turn 11, OBB gets their one boots removal with trickscarf Florges, and hits a pretty meaningful target in Rocks weak Arcanine.
Turn 13 Drud's lure catches the fish (or the bird) KOing Cramorant with a Tera rock Stone Edge from Hera.
There's a bit of positioning with a couple of good Zoro doubles by OBB until Turn 20 when Drud sets a Spike with Hera then takes out Florges with a massive Stone Edge. With their remover gone, OBB is losing control of the game.
Turn 22 OBB takes out Drud's Arcanine with another good Zoro mask but then loses Zoro to a Kilo U-turn.
With no breakers left and a Restalk Wo-Chien + Toxic Salazzle to stop Amoongus + and late game Rhydon sweep, it's over.
Not a great MU for OBB and I'd say Drud won this in the builder with the Heracross lure. Good to see players finding ways to punish standard play. Of course, Drud did need to hit their Stone Edges but maybe TPC could fix the Rock type?
Drud: Arcanine (Curse?)/Salazzle (Tox)/Palossand/ Wo-Chien (Restalk)/Kilowattrel/Heracross (HDB Spikes)
OBB: Amoongus/Tauros Blaze (LO)/Cramorant/Rhydon (SR) /Florges (Scarf)/Zoroark (Specs)
Both players brought fairly standard BO-Balance, not a shitmon in sight.
Drud's team is sneaky Boots spam Hazard stack with Boots Spikes Tera Rock Stone Edge being the most innovative mon, acting as a breaker, spiker, and Cramorant lure all in one. The team had a bit of Fire spam going with Salazzle + Arcanine trying to take advantage of people's recent habit to not run fire resists. Kilo is speed control while Palo + Restalk Wo-Chien add the fat.
OBB brought a super standard team with the only slightly unusual mon being Amoongus. The only other slightly unconventional bring was LO Firebull for a bit of flexibility in breaking power. Classic CramDon core, Specs Zoro for breaking, and Scarf Florg for speed control.
Not a huge advantage but I think Drud had the edge on preview. The lack of Knock Off on OBB's team + the remover being Cramorant (which Drud had a lure for) meant OBB didn't have a great MU into boots spam hazard stack.
The Game
Not much happens until Turn 8 when both set rocks then OBB chunks Drud's Kilowattrel for 93% with a well-masked Specs Zoro.
Turn 11, OBB gets their one boots removal with trickscarf Florges, and hits a pretty meaningful target in Rocks weak Arcanine.
Turn 13 Drud's lure catches the fish (or the bird) KOing Cramorant with a Tera rock Stone Edge from Hera.
There's a bit of positioning with a couple of good Zoro doubles by OBB until Turn 20 when Drud sets a Spike with Hera then takes out Florges with a massive Stone Edge. With their remover gone, OBB is losing control of the game.
Turn 22 OBB takes out Drud's Arcanine with another good Zoro mask but then loses Zoro to a Kilo U-turn.
With no breakers left and a Restalk Wo-Chien + Toxic Salazzle to stop Amoongus + and late game Rhydon sweep, it's over.
Not a great MU for OBB and I'd say Drud won this in the builder with the Heracross lure. Good to see players finding ways to punish standard play. Of course, Drud did need to hit their Stone Edges but maybe TPC could fix the Rock type?
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SV PU: Trichotomy vs MZ
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mako
SV PU: Trichotomy vs MZ
Shoguns owning this pool
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mako
Upset here, Mako is good player too and she have possible comeback in my mind.
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mako
SV PU: Trichotomy vs MZ
Shoguns owning this pool
SV PU: MichaelderBeste2 vs Mako
Upset here, Mako is good player too and she have possible comeback in my mind.
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As promised, an SCL Heracross performance review. I've been preparing it for a while and I initially wanted to finish writing it at the end of SCL. However, with a survey incoming, I think it's important to try to have an objective view on what I believe to be a problematic mon that people overlook. This is my first attempt at a more in-depth tournament metagame analysis and especially match analysis, I hope it will be at least a little relevant and not all over the place. I might do a Glowbro analysis too, eventually, but it's much harder to evaluate the negative effects and especially on a mon that's played that much. I might try to pick the most relevant examples or something.. I abandoned the idea of analyzing sun because it's just simply non-existent in SCL.
So, I won't review Heracross's effects in games where it doesn't appear on any side, as I think it's too abstract to make any point in a vacuum, if we don't see how Heracross actually does against these teams. Despite that, let's start with an interesting observation : Heracross wasn't brought at any point in the first two weeks. Out of these 10 games (W1 and W2), 16/20 (80%) teams had a fighting type, with 5 of them being double fighting type, usually pivot Hecid + Fighting Breaker (Emboar, CB Mot..), a few type spam offensive cores as well. Where am I getting at? People prefered other fighting type offensive mons, seen as almost mandatory on most BOs, and while Hecid is the most played mon in SCL for the first five weeks, it's not really an opportunity cost for other fighting types when it's used defensively. You could argue pivot Hecid works better with other Fighting types to play around grounds which aren't really an issue for Hera, I wouldn't disagree, not my point however.
This trend is exemplified very well in Xiri vs Trichotomy (W3), where both sides have Hecid and another Fighting type. One is pivot Hecid, the other one is a type spam offensive core to lure Gbro. However W3 started seeing a lot of Heracross usage, with one pretty much every game. It became rarer afterwards. I don't want to overanalyze this aspect, context matters, scout matters as well, people play what they want.. I just think it's interesting because Week 3 showed some really good Hera performances.
Week 3 :
Mako vs LPZ (Win from the Heracross user)
Mako has a team with Colbur Golurk, as well as two physdef pivots (probably RH hecid too), Tera Fairy Curselax and Scarf Mowtom, so you could say the team is prepped more than enough for most Hera sets. Hera didn't do a lot this game, but it forced a few clutch plays, mainly the Spikes that applied some pressure together with the Competitive Milotic, revealed Zoro turn 15 and forced important chip on Snorlax, as well as forcing a Tera Fairy later to let it be picked up by Hwil. Not trying to argue that Heracross did insane work or anything, just that it provided some valuable progress and role compression, somewhat forcing the opponent to play carefully around its sets in a unique way.
Metallica126 vs Larry (Win from the Heracross user)
This was more of a strange game on both sides, with haxx early on and Metallica being read later. However i think this is exactly the type of matchup where Heracross is dumb : important speed tier to outspeed midspeed mons like Tatsu or Bombirdier, can trade very well with physdef fighting type answers thanks to its typing and will usually force easy KOs a bit too much. The threat it put on Gbro (needed to answer other mons) forced Larry to sack half of his team and be unable to answer Hera after a free trailblaze. That's also just a good build/call/matchup from Metallica, but yeah the point is, other fighting types wouldn't have won that. Would you argue Larry is not prepped enough for Heracross? Not sure.. Yes, the Passimian as speed control makes the team overall weaker to Heracross, doesn't hit it that well, but the fact is, it doesn't even matter that much in this context because it got a free Trailblaze. Unless you want to argue a scarfer below 85 base speed is unviable.. Mudsdale was easily lured with Bombirdier and doesn't even answer Hera that well to begin with. I want to quickly address Heavy Slam and 3a in general (Stone Edge/Heavy Slam+BP) Muds as a recent trend, which would have been a way to tech the team a bit more for Hera. I would say you need Roar a lot of the time, otherwise you can be food for setup threats. 3a is not easily justified but it can work in some cases, likely not here.
Kushalos vs Drud (Win from the Heracross user)
I feel like everyone knows what Dice Pin Missile Hera does by now and getting the Guts boost was clutch. However what I want to show with this interaction is Hera's set versatility forcing either a tera or a ko on an important mon. Yes, Heracross is supposed to break after getting an SD, i'm not disagreeing with that. The fact is, having to respect all the non flame orb options here was part of what made Drud commit tera for nothing. At this specific time you needed to be safe against SD non dice set with Knock Off, and at preview (and previous turns) you need to consider a potential Spikes set, a Band set, even Scarf Moxie.. Welp, the team likely lost to Grimm either way so whatever. Classic physdef gbro + rhydon with tera with RKs in the back is usually enough to deal with breaker Hera for most people, here you prove it's not enough to cover for SD sets. A breaker is supposed to break but not as easily and not when you have to take into account other sets. Hera was not what made Kushalos win but it contributed a lot because the Grimm MU would have been a bit more doable depending on positioning and stuff.
MZ vs MichaelderBeste2 (Mirror)
Hera offense on both sides, different approach. MDB has to "sack" something turn 1 because of Hera, leading something else like Araq could have been done but it would have been dicey (pun intended). I can't say Hera was too much on either side though. MZ's Hera was important in the outcome of the game yes, Tatsu would have been hard, but this situation specifically is just a good lead to me. Yes you can say nothing else would have forced a KO or difficult situation, I would agree. I don't think it's unreasonable though. It's not "too much" or exemplifying a broken behavior, at least to me. It can absolutely be tricky to deal with for HO if it manages to get a Trailblaze on the lead, but you should also have decent counterplay available, which was the case here.
About MDB's Hera, using Tera to try to 2hko qwilfish is like.. yeah your breaker is strong and threatening but you weren't even in the right position to 2hko it. I think MDB was trying to prevent an SD? Webs + Hera sounds disgusting until you remember we have kilo. Webs is inconsistent but yes if it got the right matchup.. Qwilfish is very cool to have against Hera but don't expect it to switch in more than one or two times. Here it's just enough. It's not like it's only there for Heracross too, but it is a niche pick and one of the only decent Hera checks. Not sure it's a restriction caused by Hera specifically, I won't argue either way.
Week 4 :
trichotomy vs zS (Lose from the Heracross user)
Scarf Hera does almost nothing here. It gets an important Knock Off yes (if you don't get haxxed later you claimed a kill with ambi thanks to that) but Hera itself had no potential to do anything into the worst mu ever and it doesn't do much more than something like Passimian or Pawmot. Not really worth saying anything.
Metallica vs mako (Lose from the Heracross user)
Hera gets 2 KOs but I wouldn't really call it too much either. It just gets the right turns against the passive hazard setter/remover, kills a death fodder, a mon that doesn't do much in the matchup and then gets sacked against the get out of jail for free card that's called bruxish. Pivot mesprit + coalossal is gbro + rhydon with more steps for offensive teams. Hera can never get out of control here if you don't let it come in for free. Maybe if it got kept for late game it could have been a problem but yeah not really.. Strong, not broken into this matchup.
Week 5 :
MichaelderBeste2 vs LpZ (Lose from the Heracross user)
>clicks CC once
>fucking dies
So since there's nothing to talk about, let's talk about a potential situation where Grimm is slightly chipped and Hera gets the KO. Either it's Scarf Moxie and it never sweeps, or it's Guts or Dice or Spikes and it just doesn't get more than one or two trades at best, like forcing a tera on Rhydon or important damage on Cramorant or Redbull. Guts would need to click Facade into the mons it outspeeds, or it just doesn't do stuff. Only way it can somewhat get out of hand is if the whole team is chipped (and especially it manages to get a trailblaze)... or if it commits tera normal ig! It can happen that's true, but yeah the team is a decently hard mu for hera. You could say reasonably prepped though, for sure. As for other sets, yes I think Spikes could have done a few things here and there, nothing broken.
Micciu vs Trichotomy (Lose from the Heracross user)
Heracross gets three opportunities to claim a kill, it kills the mon who does nothing in the matchup, the paralyzed mon outsped and killed by everything and puts a defensive mon midlife. And everytime it's picked up by an offensive mon from the opponent that can trade something back. Now ok, i will admit tera fairy lefties hecid is something i've never seen and that helps quite a bit against Hera. I can also say that Hera could have been exploited a bit better, but yeah this balance has good tools to play the offensive game against it. Was it threatening? Yes for sure. Broken? Harder to say.
Week 6 :
Heracross disappears again, in favor of Hariyama and Hecid. It was also the stall week, with two players bringing it. It would have been interesting to see how Hera does into these stalls. I think it doesn't do much into both, even if it's like sd tera normal it still gets picked up, it doesn't break all these physdef mons with fighting resists/immunes and especially not lugg after tera.
Week 7 :
Still no Heracross in sight and it should be noticed that teams bring less and less fighting types as Gbro becomes the most used mon. Obviously the stalls and HOs don't automatically have a fighting type, but the idea is that 4/10 teams (W6) and 5/10 teams (W7) didn't have a fighting type, with 42/50 teams (W1-5) having a fighting type before. Week 8 and 9 kept this downtrend, with no fighting types in 2/10 teams for W8 and 7/10 teams for W9.
Week 8 :
Drud vs Vulpix03 (Win from the Heracross user)
Hera just cleans the game as any other fighting type would have. It's worth saying that, in the context of the game, Drud got to keep his Muds not burned by the k9, allowing it to get the ko (not sure it killed if burned) on a mon which would have been important to keep Hera in check and changing the process of the game. Likewise, getting to kill Pix's Muds with the wrong roar call was somewhat decisive. If not.. ok that's a lot of ifs, but I still think Hera would have been dangerous lategame, just like any other strong fighting type would have been if i can be honest. The key difference is getting to trade better into muds compared to pawmot and redbull, but it wasn't that relevant in this game. Ok so, you can argue that Hera can pick up a lot against this build, forcing to keep some tools healthy enough or forcing timely teras, which is the kind of dynamic i find inconsistent and unhealthy. Whatever, I'm not really talking about the result of the game anymore, just trying to use it as an example to talk about more general and theoretical dynamics.
Week 9 :
Cielau vs Kushalos (Win from the Heracross user)
More of a fun bring from Kushalos (pretty sure the game didn't matter), Heracross is not supposed to get out of hand for HO but it still forces an important trade against Rhydon early because it got a trailblaze against the lead, with some undeniable luck. However, this situation is more common that you'd think, it can happen against other leads like Hlugg as well, either because you played wrong against a special pivot that brought Heracross in (think mowtom, magneton, eject pack tatsu, toedscruel, hecid...) or because you didn't get to prevent it from clicking CC previously because you missed or had to click SR for example. Which is why you need to have an intimidate mon or something like Alotales to back it up a bit, not always easy to justify. Unironically, despite the fact that it wouldn't have happened without the luck, this is a good example of the relatively negative impact Heracross has on HO, requiring a decent amount of ressources in the builder to be mathematically safe around it.
I'm not trying to say Hera won the game but it was the thing that forced commitment, aka an early tera on a team focused on other tera dependant mons, and important chip preventing Rhydon from boosting, which other fighting types couldn't have done (at all). Is it broken for this? Eh. No, kinda but not really. HO is not very good in the tier either way, the playstyle has other concerns, limitations. Scarf florges, hoopa and bruxish for example. I just wanted to showcase a bit of the unhealthy dynamics Hera can have if it gets a "free" turn.
Could Cielau win without this free trailblaze? Maybe but hard to tell. I feel like Rhydon would have been much harder to deal with. Not really relevant to what I want to demonstrate.
Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10 (Win from the Heracross user)
Okay so, unexpectedly, the last game covered is actually the one showcasing a clearly broken behavior.. and not from the flame orb set? So Hera supposedly loses against 5 out of 6 mons here (debatable for rhydon) and despite that, it gets the ko on the defogger, a spike up and another ko, and this hazard stack was important for the outcome of the game too. All of that for the cost of a tera, which was clutch so not a big deal. Could Obb have played around that? Yes and no. You know it's boots and you likely know it's spikes, yes. You absolutely can't know it's tera rock, and if you assume it's a possibility, you can't really position around it in a 6v6 context. You can go guss or redbull, sure. But then what? Ok you forced the tera but what does that do for you? How can you progress further? Redbull is blocked by palo and is on a timer, guss doesn't do much either unless it's like, stomping tantrum and synthesis? I doubt 3a is a real set.. I was even wondering if it was AV but then it doesn't really check Hera with hazards up. Yes bad matchups and such, good build from Drud as well, but not the point. I think this is a good example of Hera's set variety working well, which you cannot easily account for and play around reliably. Obb's team is arguably really well prepared for classic offensive heracross and yet, he cannot really win against this set here. I think this is a bad dynamic to have.
What's the takeaway from all this?
- Heracross has surprisingly effective set variety. One (at least me before writing this post) could think Flame Orb is the only clearly broken set and others are niche bait stuff at best, but actually they all work together, with a lot of checks overlapping but not really that much at the same time. Like, counterplay to spikes, flame orb, scarf and dice are pretty much the same, physically defensive mons, revenge killers and such.. but when you look at actual games, no, not really, because some sets have slightly different counterplay and different matchups. (see : Drud vs Obb)
- People usually are fine with spamming physdef mons and especially gbro + rhydon cores to deal with Hera by default. Is it enough? Ironically, we have not seen this interaction enough in the reviewed games. However, we've seen that a lot of the time, Gbro isn't a switchin, but it prevents cc spam and together with facade switchins, you can be fine enough.
- Heracross is not played that much for a supposedly broken/contentious mon. It has some really strong showcases, even in its bad mus it can get a few important kos or progress making moves, but I was surprised to see people SPAM the fuck out of Hecid, not leaving much room for our beetle. It's still the second most played fighting type right now (i think) but not that much higher than Redbull and Pawmot. Everyone has merits and Hera is a bit more specialized in breaking, which isn't always needed I would say, compared to defensive utility or speed.
- Heracross is not winning that much either, but when it does, wow it can be dangerous. That's the defining word, due to the danger it represents, counterplay can feel a bit inconsistent.. sometimes. A lot of the time, you can be fine at preventing it from doing dumb stuff just by not giving it free turns. However, sometimes, you don't really have the choice (see : Metallica vs Larry). And this "sometimes" starts to become obnoxious when you play a lot of games against it, because at some point your timely teras and your necessary defensive positioning will be abused.
- Heracross is indeed easy to pickup for more offensive teams, which are at the center of current meta. A decent amount of Heracross games feel like trading kills because of that. (see : Micciu vs Trichotomy + Metallica vs Mako)
- Nobody wants to commit to both SD and flame orb in a BO meta but trust me, it's fucking broken into balance.
- Heracross is at least a bit unhealthy. It's hard to claim this as an objective metric, but I mean.. what exactly does it bring into the meta besides volatility? Its sets are not decipherable from preview 90% of the time so you have to be careful around all of them. And its speed tier is just a bit too strong, in tandem with its nice spedef and resists allowing it to trade against stuff that usually beats fighting types. (see : Drud vs Obb + Metallica vs Larry again)
- Are there potential adaptations? I mean, the meta is already unkind to it, but if you want to play some sloppier teams (aka fat/balance).. it's hard not to resort to weird stuff like Sableye or Weezing if you want to be safe into it. Sure, RH physdef mons like Hecid, Milo and Gbro help. You can also try to make your team overall less weak to it by just not having too many slower mons.. Having Shaymin instead of Venu, or Zoro instead of offensive Bomb/Grimm. However, you see, that's why I think it's unhealthy, if you want to play something like Tatsu, either you have something that can switch into Hera (doesn't exist) or you gamble with your core (let's say, you have a Hyph to prevent cc+facade => dies to koff)
- I still can agree that Heracross is hard to make work in practice and it hardly gets Trailblaze turns in game context. However, it's undeniable that it can be out of control in some cases. To the fault of the player or not, that's for you to decide.
tl;dr : Heracross is an inconsistent and hard to use mon in current meta, hence why it's not winning on its own, but when it gets the right conditions, i find it to be way too strong, and these games have proven that it's not just theorymoning. I hope people will not be blind to the few actual games where Heracross went crazy.
So, I won't review Heracross's effects in games where it doesn't appear on any side, as I think it's too abstract to make any point in a vacuum, if we don't see how Heracross actually does against these teams. Despite that, let's start with an interesting observation : Heracross wasn't brought at any point in the first two weeks. Out of these 10 games (W1 and W2), 16/20 (80%) teams had a fighting type, with 5 of them being double fighting type, usually pivot Hecid + Fighting Breaker (Emboar, CB Mot..), a few type spam offensive cores as well. Where am I getting at? People prefered other fighting type offensive mons, seen as almost mandatory on most BOs, and while Hecid is the most played mon in SCL for the first five weeks, it's not really an opportunity cost for other fighting types when it's used defensively. You could argue pivot Hecid works better with other Fighting types to play around grounds which aren't really an issue for Hera, I wouldn't disagree, not my point however.
This trend is exemplified very well in Xiri vs Trichotomy (W3), where both sides have Hecid and another Fighting type. One is pivot Hecid, the other one is a type spam offensive core to lure Gbro. However W3 started seeing a lot of Heracross usage, with one pretty much every game. It became rarer afterwards. I don't want to overanalyze this aspect, context matters, scout matters as well, people play what they want.. I just think it's interesting because Week 3 showed some really good Hera performances.
Week 3 :
Mako vs LPZ (Win from the Heracross user)
Mako has a team with Colbur Golurk, as well as two physdef pivots (probably RH hecid too), Tera Fairy Curselax and Scarf Mowtom, so you could say the team is prepped more than enough for most Hera sets. Hera didn't do a lot this game, but it forced a few clutch plays, mainly the Spikes that applied some pressure together with the Competitive Milotic, revealed Zoro turn 15 and forced important chip on Snorlax, as well as forcing a Tera Fairy later to let it be picked up by Hwil. Not trying to argue that Heracross did insane work or anything, just that it provided some valuable progress and role compression, somewhat forcing the opponent to play carefully around its sets in a unique way.
Metallica126 vs Larry (Win from the Heracross user)
This was more of a strange game on both sides, with haxx early on and Metallica being read later. However i think this is exactly the type of matchup where Heracross is dumb : important speed tier to outspeed midspeed mons like Tatsu or Bombirdier, can trade very well with physdef fighting type answers thanks to its typing and will usually force easy KOs a bit too much. The threat it put on Gbro (needed to answer other mons) forced Larry to sack half of his team and be unable to answer Hera after a free trailblaze. That's also just a good build/call/matchup from Metallica, but yeah the point is, other fighting types wouldn't have won that. Would you argue Larry is not prepped enough for Heracross? Not sure.. Yes, the Passimian as speed control makes the team overall weaker to Heracross, doesn't hit it that well, but the fact is, it doesn't even matter that much in this context because it got a free Trailblaze. Unless you want to argue a scarfer below 85 base speed is unviable.. Mudsdale was easily lured with Bombirdier and doesn't even answer Hera that well to begin with. I want to quickly address Heavy Slam and 3a in general (Stone Edge/Heavy Slam+BP) Muds as a recent trend, which would have been a way to tech the team a bit more for Hera. I would say you need Roar a lot of the time, otherwise you can be food for setup threats. 3a is not easily justified but it can work in some cases, likely not here.
Kushalos vs Drud (Win from the Heracross user)
I feel like everyone knows what Dice Pin Missile Hera does by now and getting the Guts boost was clutch. However what I want to show with this interaction is Hera's set versatility forcing either a tera or a ko on an important mon. Yes, Heracross is supposed to break after getting an SD, i'm not disagreeing with that. The fact is, having to respect all the non flame orb options here was part of what made Drud commit tera for nothing. At this specific time you needed to be safe against SD non dice set with Knock Off, and at preview (and previous turns) you need to consider a potential Spikes set, a Band set, even Scarf Moxie.. Welp, the team likely lost to Grimm either way so whatever. Classic physdef gbro + rhydon with tera with RKs in the back is usually enough to deal with breaker Hera for most people, here you prove it's not enough to cover for SD sets. A breaker is supposed to break but not as easily and not when you have to take into account other sets. Hera was not what made Kushalos win but it contributed a lot because the Grimm MU would have been a bit more doable depending on positioning and stuff.
MZ vs MichaelderBeste2 (Mirror)
Hera offense on both sides, different approach. MDB has to "sack" something turn 1 because of Hera, leading something else like Araq could have been done but it would have been dicey (pun intended). I can't say Hera was too much on either side though. MZ's Hera was important in the outcome of the game yes, Tatsu would have been hard, but this situation specifically is just a good lead to me. Yes you can say nothing else would have forced a KO or difficult situation, I would agree. I don't think it's unreasonable though. It's not "too much" or exemplifying a broken behavior, at least to me. It can absolutely be tricky to deal with for HO if it manages to get a Trailblaze on the lead, but you should also have decent counterplay available, which was the case here.
About MDB's Hera, using Tera to try to 2hko qwilfish is like.. yeah your breaker is strong and threatening but you weren't even in the right position to 2hko it. I think MDB was trying to prevent an SD? Webs + Hera sounds disgusting until you remember we have kilo. Webs is inconsistent but yes if it got the right matchup.. Qwilfish is very cool to have against Hera but don't expect it to switch in more than one or two times. Here it's just enough. It's not like it's only there for Heracross too, but it is a niche pick and one of the only decent Hera checks. Not sure it's a restriction caused by Hera specifically, I won't argue either way.
Week 4 :
trichotomy vs zS (Lose from the Heracross user)
Scarf Hera does almost nothing here. It gets an important Knock Off yes (if you don't get haxxed later you claimed a kill with ambi thanks to that) but Hera itself had no potential to do anything into the worst mu ever and it doesn't do much more than something like Passimian or Pawmot. Not really worth saying anything.
Metallica vs mako (Lose from the Heracross user)
Hera gets 2 KOs but I wouldn't really call it too much either. It just gets the right turns against the passive hazard setter/remover, kills a death fodder, a mon that doesn't do much in the matchup and then gets sacked against the get out of jail for free card that's called bruxish. Pivot mesprit + coalossal is gbro + rhydon with more steps for offensive teams. Hera can never get out of control here if you don't let it come in for free. Maybe if it got kept for late game it could have been a problem but yeah not really.. Strong, not broken into this matchup.
Week 5 :
MichaelderBeste2 vs LpZ (Lose from the Heracross user)
>clicks CC once
>fucking dies
So since there's nothing to talk about, let's talk about a potential situation where Grimm is slightly chipped and Hera gets the KO. Either it's Scarf Moxie and it never sweeps, or it's Guts or Dice or Spikes and it just doesn't get more than one or two trades at best, like forcing a tera on Rhydon or important damage on Cramorant or Redbull. Guts would need to click Facade into the mons it outspeeds, or it just doesn't do stuff. Only way it can somewhat get out of hand is if the whole team is chipped (and especially it manages to get a trailblaze)... or if it commits tera normal ig! It can happen that's true, but yeah the team is a decently hard mu for hera. You could say reasonably prepped though, for sure. As for other sets, yes I think Spikes could have done a few things here and there, nothing broken.
Micciu vs Trichotomy (Lose from the Heracross user)
Heracross gets three opportunities to claim a kill, it kills the mon who does nothing in the matchup, the paralyzed mon outsped and killed by everything and puts a defensive mon midlife. And everytime it's picked up by an offensive mon from the opponent that can trade something back. Now ok, i will admit tera fairy lefties hecid is something i've never seen and that helps quite a bit against Hera. I can also say that Hera could have been exploited a bit better, but yeah this balance has good tools to play the offensive game against it. Was it threatening? Yes for sure. Broken? Harder to say.
Week 6 :
Heracross disappears again, in favor of Hariyama and Hecid. It was also the stall week, with two players bringing it. It would have been interesting to see how Hera does into these stalls. I think it doesn't do much into both, even if it's like sd tera normal it still gets picked up, it doesn't break all these physdef mons with fighting resists/immunes and especially not lugg after tera.
Week 7 :
Still no Heracross in sight and it should be noticed that teams bring less and less fighting types as Gbro becomes the most used mon. Obviously the stalls and HOs don't automatically have a fighting type, but the idea is that 4/10 teams (W6) and 5/10 teams (W7) didn't have a fighting type, with 42/50 teams (W1-5) having a fighting type before. Week 8 and 9 kept this downtrend, with no fighting types in 2/10 teams for W8 and 7/10 teams for W9.
Week 8 :
Drud vs Vulpix03 (Win from the Heracross user)
Hera just cleans the game as any other fighting type would have. It's worth saying that, in the context of the game, Drud got to keep his Muds not burned by the k9, allowing it to get the ko (not sure it killed if burned) on a mon which would have been important to keep Hera in check and changing the process of the game. Likewise, getting to kill Pix's Muds with the wrong roar call was somewhat decisive. If not.. ok that's a lot of ifs, but I still think Hera would have been dangerous lategame, just like any other strong fighting type would have been if i can be honest. The key difference is getting to trade better into muds compared to pawmot and redbull, but it wasn't that relevant in this game. Ok so, you can argue that Hera can pick up a lot against this build, forcing to keep some tools healthy enough or forcing timely teras, which is the kind of dynamic i find inconsistent and unhealthy. Whatever, I'm not really talking about the result of the game anymore, just trying to use it as an example to talk about more general and theoretical dynamics.
Week 9 :
Cielau vs Kushalos (Win from the Heracross user)
More of a fun bring from Kushalos (pretty sure the game didn't matter), Heracross is not supposed to get out of hand for HO but it still forces an important trade against Rhydon early because it got a trailblaze against the lead, with some undeniable luck. However, this situation is more common that you'd think, it can happen against other leads like Hlugg as well, either because you played wrong against a special pivot that brought Heracross in (think mowtom, magneton, eject pack tatsu, toedscruel, hecid...) or because you didn't get to prevent it from clicking CC previously because you missed or had to click SR for example. Which is why you need to have an intimidate mon or something like Alotales to back it up a bit, not always easy to justify. Unironically, despite the fact that it wouldn't have happened without the luck, this is a good example of the relatively negative impact Heracross has on HO, requiring a decent amount of ressources in the builder to be mathematically safe around it.
I'm not trying to say Hera won the game but it was the thing that forced commitment, aka an early tera on a team focused on other tera dependant mons, and important chip preventing Rhydon from boosting, which other fighting types couldn't have done (at all). Is it broken for this? Eh. No, kinda but not really. HO is not very good in the tier either way, the playstyle has other concerns, limitations. Scarf florges, hoopa and bruxish for example. I just wanted to showcase a bit of the unhealthy dynamics Hera can have if it gets a "free" turn.
Could Cielau win without this free trailblaze? Maybe but hard to tell. I feel like Rhydon would have been much harder to deal with. Not really relevant to what I want to demonstrate.
Drud vs OranBerryBlissey10 (Win from the Heracross user)
Okay so, unexpectedly, the last game covered is actually the one showcasing a clearly broken behavior.. and not from the flame orb set? So Hera supposedly loses against 5 out of 6 mons here (debatable for rhydon) and despite that, it gets the ko on the defogger, a spike up and another ko, and this hazard stack was important for the outcome of the game too. All of that for the cost of a tera, which was clutch so not a big deal. Could Obb have played around that? Yes and no. You know it's boots and you likely know it's spikes, yes. You absolutely can't know it's tera rock, and if you assume it's a possibility, you can't really position around it in a 6v6 context. You can go guss or redbull, sure. But then what? Ok you forced the tera but what does that do for you? How can you progress further? Redbull is blocked by palo and is on a timer, guss doesn't do much either unless it's like, stomping tantrum and synthesis? I doubt 3a is a real set.. I was even wondering if it was AV but then it doesn't really check Hera with hazards up. Yes bad matchups and such, good build from Drud as well, but not the point. I think this is a good example of Hera's set variety working well, which you cannot easily account for and play around reliably. Obb's team is arguably really well prepared for classic offensive heracross and yet, he cannot really win against this set here. I think this is a bad dynamic to have.
What's the takeaway from all this?
- Heracross has surprisingly effective set variety. One (at least me before writing this post) could think Flame Orb is the only clearly broken set and others are niche bait stuff at best, but actually they all work together, with a lot of checks overlapping but not really that much at the same time. Like, counterplay to spikes, flame orb, scarf and dice are pretty much the same, physically defensive mons, revenge killers and such.. but when you look at actual games, no, not really, because some sets have slightly different counterplay and different matchups. (see : Drud vs Obb)
- People usually are fine with spamming physdef mons and especially gbro + rhydon cores to deal with Hera by default. Is it enough? Ironically, we have not seen this interaction enough in the reviewed games. However, we've seen that a lot of the time, Gbro isn't a switchin, but it prevents cc spam and together with facade switchins, you can be fine enough.
- Heracross is not played that much for a supposedly broken/contentious mon. It has some really strong showcases, even in its bad mus it can get a few important kos or progress making moves, but I was surprised to see people SPAM the fuck out of Hecid, not leaving much room for our beetle. It's still the second most played fighting type right now (i think) but not that much higher than Redbull and Pawmot. Everyone has merits and Hera is a bit more specialized in breaking, which isn't always needed I would say, compared to defensive utility or speed.
- Heracross is not winning that much either, but when it does, wow it can be dangerous. That's the defining word, due to the danger it represents, counterplay can feel a bit inconsistent.. sometimes. A lot of the time, you can be fine at preventing it from doing dumb stuff just by not giving it free turns. However, sometimes, you don't really have the choice (see : Metallica vs Larry). And this "sometimes" starts to become obnoxious when you play a lot of games against it, because at some point your timely teras and your necessary defensive positioning will be abused.
- Heracross is indeed easy to pickup for more offensive teams, which are at the center of current meta. A decent amount of Heracross games feel like trading kills because of that. (see : Micciu vs Trichotomy + Metallica vs Mako)
- Nobody wants to commit to both SD and flame orb in a BO meta but trust me, it's fucking broken into balance.
- Heracross is at least a bit unhealthy. It's hard to claim this as an objective metric, but I mean.. what exactly does it bring into the meta besides volatility? Its sets are not decipherable from preview 90% of the time so you have to be careful around all of them. And its speed tier is just a bit too strong, in tandem with its nice spedef and resists allowing it to trade against stuff that usually beats fighting types. (see : Drud vs Obb + Metallica vs Larry again)
- Are there potential adaptations? I mean, the meta is already unkind to it, but if you want to play some sloppier teams (aka fat/balance).. it's hard not to resort to weird stuff like Sableye or Weezing if you want to be safe into it. Sure, RH physdef mons like Hecid, Milo and Gbro help. You can also try to make your team overall less weak to it by just not having too many slower mons.. Having Shaymin instead of Venu, or Zoro instead of offensive Bomb/Grimm. However, you see, that's why I think it's unhealthy, if you want to play something like Tatsu, either you have something that can switch into Hera (doesn't exist) or you gamble with your core (let's say, you have a Hyph to prevent cc+facade => dies to koff)
- I still can agree that Heracross is hard to make work in practice and it hardly gets Trailblaze turns in game context. However, it's undeniable that it can be out of control in some cases. To the fault of the player or not, that's for you to decide.
tl;dr : Heracross is an inconsistent and hard to use mon in current meta, hence why it's not winning on its own, but when it gets the right conditions, i find it to be way too strong, and these games have proven that it's not just theorymoning. I hope people will not be blind to the few actual games where Heracross went crazy.
Trichotomy vs MZ 
MichaelderBeste2 vs Mako 