1. US Northeast - This team got some of the greatest players from US East and I expect them to do similarly well. There are a few small questionmarks like PDC in ADV as well as teal6 in RBY, however, both of them are good players and they won't perform horrible regardless. Besides that its business as usual. Current gen OU lead by giants ABR and John with two top 15 SM players in Hiye and Sabella in the other slots. In ORAS we find prodigy Updated Kanto with ABR support and BW is occupied by Finch who I rate as a top 5 BW player (he also does). August is a fantastic DPP and BKC in GSC is a computer. I really enjoy how this team is building up new players such as Kanto and now they've also taken robjr and Lemaitre under their wing.
2. France - I dont believe in curses. Their line-up is looking fantastic and I really hope they can pull themselfes together and dethrone US Northeast for a change. Their oldgens are often (argueably) the best in slot like Ojama, Peasounay, and McMeghan & the ones who arent are stilll so good that other teams are jealous of them. SM is also looking bright for France with Cdumas, Kory, Sacri, and Lefties. Free Reymedy btw
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3. US South - I had some trouble deciding between Spain and US South as the third placed team, but ultimately I think TDK is too fantastic a builder that will be able to carry SM/ORAS while their great oldgens in Peachy, d0nut, UD, sulcata, and Tobes bring in plenty of wins themselfes. FlamingVictini is a creative builder and rock solid player himself, Zamrock & FMG are good enough to pilot TDK's teams to success even against stronger opponents.
4. Spain - This may seem a bit low for this dominant team but the low ranking is mainly because of the strength of their competitors. The top 4 teams are very close in terms of power level and Spain might very well win this year. Their SM players Trosko, Axel, Malekith & Lednah are all top and so are their older generations led by M Dragon and Soulwind.
5. Europe - This is the last team I believe is able to fight for the trophy. The strongest thing about Europe is that they dont have a single weak spot. The description for most of their players is 'very solid', however, some even stand out such as Lasse and Void. I personally also expect great things from Pohjis, Blackoblivion and Jimmy.
6. Italy - Italy is good enough to be able to comfortably secure a spot for playoffs. I believe that Empo, Tricking and Lopunny Kicks will perform nicely for Italy's current gens and give them a good overall SM lineup despite snou's
poor performance bad luck :) marcoasd is a beast in rby & their gsc-oras slots are also above avarege so unless other people also start using snou's teams there is nothing stopping Italy from getting their playoffs spot.
7. Asia - A surprisingly underrated team. I was listening to Finch talk about how their SM could actually go positive and I agree. In fact I believe that no team ranked below has a better SM than Asia. WhiteQueen has a brilliant mind and fantastic ideas that go well more often than not. I also see Analytic, JohnYiu, and Fruitdealer as competent SM players. Add to that the fact that Chill Shadow, Eden's Embrace, GGFan, and DeepBlueC are all forces to be reckoned with in their respective generation and you have yourself a playoff team.
8. US Midwest - Is my last pick for a playoff team. Dice is a tier 1 bw player and Eo can play a lot of generations at the highest level. If Eo can take on a leadership role and help the new talent from Den of Thieves find their ground in SM I think that the team will be able to qualify for playoffs as Mr.378, Windsong, and Nails are serviceable.
9. Canada - Canada is the definition of a middle of the pack team. They are above avarege in some slots like ORAS with blunder DPP with soulgazer and SM with flcl and below average in others like SM with Jytcampbell, suapah or BW with Tokyo Tom. If fate favors them Canada might barely make it into playoffs.
10. Germany - This team lost a lot of their core players, however, with more space on their starting lineup they are also able to field more new talent. They still look good across RBY - ORAS with a few questionmarks such as pasy_g and Porengan but also consistant variables like Lusch and xray. The most important question is if the new german SM lineup is able to hold their own and I believe they will, especially Leru and Relous will give their opposition a lot of trouble. If their unproven SM overperforms Germany might as well make playoffs.
11. Oceania - Oceanias oldgens are good. Smurf, Bab, linear & Earthworm are all very capable of bringing wins and everybody knows that. The reason I ranked Oceania this high is because I, unlike some other people, have a lot of faith in their SM as well as ORAS. Googly is good, False is very underrated, GispyKing is ok and Last Hurrah had a solid OST run, losing because of timer. If their SM performs even better than I expect them to, then this is a potential poffs team.
12. Brazil - Brazil's days of glory are over. They have gotten worse and worse every year and their team seems like its in shambles internally as well. They technically still have the talent to make playoffs, but I wouldnt expect it as they have tied 6-6 with a similar lineup against us Austria in POWC.
Some standout players I believe need to carry the team are Tamahome and Nintendi.
13. US West - West lost a huge amount of their players and are looking like a shadow of their former selfes. Aside from pm2, Lavos, and Philip7086
their oldgens are looking bleak compared to the rest of the field and unfortunatly so does their SM. However, I will say that their SM players are very similar in style and they might craft some crazy offensive squads that can surprise the best of players.
14. Latin America - I believe a lot in Posho but unfortunatly he can only play one slot. Their SM and Oras slots look like they'll be able to hold their own, their DPP-RBY not so much. If Latin America wants to make it to playoffs Posho will need to hard carry while Gondra, Vai Lusa and Znain also bring in good wins and their oldgens overperform.
15. Greece - Greece has some of the absolutely best old generation players in roudolf13 (who despite being a newer user has had a phenomenal SPL showing in the oldest generation), Fear, and Astamatitos. My problem with this team is that its strong points end right here. From DPP to SM-1 I dont see a single person that I expect to go positive. Eternam is the only one who could do it as he had a solid OST run and even beat M Dragon but that still wont be enough to carry Greece.
16. United Kingdom - Its no secret that this year the UK lineup is widely regarded to as the weakest. They have some middle of the pack players like Triangles, and Toxzn but if middle of the pack is your best its not looking very good. However, I must say that their new SM talent is certainly promising and I am looking foward to how players like 1 True Lycan who gave me a good run for my money in OST R2, The Hallows and HamHamHamHam evolve.