It's that time of year again. The time when PurpleGatorade comes out of retirement. The time when the Devastating Dialgas (still) refuse to make themselves a logo (come on guys, even the Durians mocked themselves up a shitty one). The time when a controversial hosting call is made somehow before the tournament even starts. The time when the most Dangerous of the Daves gets Minority to approve a random rule change. It's UPL season, and the excitement is mounting more than ever as all eight teams frantically prep last-minute for the remaining 73% of games this week — after all, it wouldn't be a Premier League format without nearly everyone johning until the weekend, would it? And this UPL is particularly special: in addition to the tournament drawing a record amount of interest despite signups being open less than a week, the tournament has grown to ten slots. This has enabled the much-anticipated (by me) reincorporation of GSC Ubers, a format (for reasons completely unknown) not seen since before that one UPL that everyone collectively decided to block out of their minds (did it actually happen? To this day I still don't know). In any case, with a new UPL comes a new tradition: here are the second ever ¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°UPL Power Rankings°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø, now with 50% less effort!
TEAM #1: DANGEROUS DRACOVISH (79 Points)
Managed by Stone_Cold and TrueNora
SS: TrueNora
SS: Icemaster
SS: FatFighter2
USM: Holy Ghost
ORAS: SparksBlade
BW: Carl Murray
DPP: Highlord
ADV: Melle2402
GSC: Silksong
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Goat Heart ♥
Subs: Bushtush, The Dovahneer
It's perhaps unsurprising that The Dangerous Dracovish have swum to the head of the pack in this year's rankings, given their fishious-looking lineup and victory last UPL. Veteran manager David Peligroso (as he is known in certain Spanish-speaking countries) chose a new self-buying assistant manager, one who hopefully won't get banned mid-tournament this time. TrueNora himself is coming off a pretty good Most Wanted and looks to represent a pivotal part of the team's SS core—although he flopped last UPL, he may well cement that he can translate his skill beyond the ladder in this one. Even if Nora underwhelms, it seems nearly impossible—nearly—that prior UPL superstar icemaster523 and winter seasonal finalist FatFighter2 will. With these three at the helm, it's no surprise that Dracovish SS ranks first in the tournament; the team seems poised to clutch victory after victory in SS in its jaws. In the other fairygens we have USM enthusiast Holy Ghost and distant cousin of FatFighter2, FitFighter12 (also known as SparksBlade in certain Hindi-speaking countries). Despite a troubling week one loss, Holy Ghost could easily turn it around next week to replicate his solid Most Wanted performance (perhaps he could take some inspiration from fellow Most Wanted star Lord Thorx's pregame rituals..?). Meanwhile SparksBlade, if he's not too busy posting terrible memes in his team chat, should be grinding at least 300 ORAS games a week and will if nothing else be adequately prepared going into his matches (not that that excuses anything he might do in them....). In BW the Dracovishes spent an arm and a fin on Carl Murray in a risky maneuver that might leave some scratching their heads by the season's end. Though a good performance last UPL put him close to the top of the rankings of a rather shallow BW pool, it remains to be seen whether he'll be able to replicate last year's success or whether his eccentric teambuilding will catch up with him. Many are certainly hopeful. Rounding out DPP and ADV are the Dracovishes' most- and least-surprising catches, respectively. In an elaborate effort to snatch storied ADV player Highlord up for a steal in the auction, Dave the Dangerous has pretended to hate him for at least the past seven years only to turn around and start him (to the surprise of many!) in DPP. As long as he gets along with everyone he'll be a great asset to the team. Melle2402, meanwhile, has for the second time in two UPLs been absolutely cuckolded by Dave Danger in the auction only to get traded to him soon after. Though he ranks around the middle of the ADV pool, he'll certainly put in a lot of effort for his favorite team. Carrying the last old gen is Silksong, seemingly with no support. His level of motivation for and experience in GSC Ubers are big question marks, but it's entirely possible he'll shape up to be the steal the Dracovish hoped for when they bid on him. Speaking of team members with ambiguous activity, we have Goat Heart in Bo3. I haven't heard anything from this guy ever since he was found to be the sole person responsible for extending Homefield Advantage three years past its initial deadline, and that was over half a year ago...but if he's around, he'll probably do well. Last but least, the Dracovish round out their bench with The Dovahneer and Bushtush, who certainly both exist. In conclusion, Daver Dangernous has once again drafted a solid and well-rounded team which should more than compensate for his own lack of Ubers knowledge and skill.
TEAM #2: MANLY MELMETAL (76 Points)
Managed by Alkione and KyogreF4N.
SS: Fc
SS: Royal1604
SS: Ballfire
USM: PurpleGatorade
ORAS: fourmi
BW: Edgar
DPP: Tomahawk
ADV: 64 Squares
GSC: Conflict
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Zesty43
Subs: King Billu, CKW
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it even a Pokemon? It's MEL METAL BONJOUR, with a decidedly less French draft than last year's (they've only got four this time—Froyal1604, frenchmi, and French Canadians Frenchcanadian04 and Edgar). This team went from being last in power rankings to finalists last year, and they've got the broken (and cheap!) retains to show for it. Their draft this year also happens to be quite good—will they steel themselves to take the title this time? Their SS core secures a very narrow second place overall, with Fc being the obvious star player to watch for. Although he (unsurprisingly) hasn't been quite as much of a monster in tournaments since dropping the 04 at the end of his name, he's still a killer slot 1 pick that will go negative in almost no universe. Royal1604 (who has wisely held onto his numbers) I personally associate more with USM, but the team's first of two chess wizards has enough support to make a dominant showing in SS should he apply himself to it. Ballfire has already lost week one and massively underperformed for the Drizzlers last year, but he's been grinding SS recently and still has the potential to turn himself around. A rather cheap yet competent SS core gave the Melmetal the extra cash for some splurge buys, which they seem to have used wisely. The first of these is PurpleGatorade, whose reputation as a USM juggernaut precedes him; expect big things and a justified price tag from him this UPL. fourmi, too, ranks high in his pool and, despite being the sacrificial ORAS lamb of the team, proved just this week with his convincing victory over Eternal Spirit that he can kill it even in a tier he doesn't want to play. If fourmi was on the higher end of what the Melmetal Men expected to pay, Edgar was certainly on the lower side—though a great BW player in the glory days of the tier, he hasn't had a jaw-dropping performance in a while. It'll be interesting to see if he can bash his way through the competition and prove himself a good value for his price tag. The DPP slot sees cheap retain #2 Tomahawk (another player who ditched the number after his name—risky move?), who had a nice run last UPL but will need to prove himself anew in a post-Farceus world. ADV sees chess wizard #2 64 Squares (wouldn't it be weird if they ditched the numbers before their name?), whose generally bad attitude makes it hard to root for them despite their recent impressive tour results. Possibly of more interest than their eventual win-loss record is the number of posts of theirs that will get deleted by the tournament's end...Last of the Bo1 slots is Conflict, who claimed to be inactive and seems nearly on an island in terms of GSC support this UPL. Though a strong player when motivated and certainly one of the best in GSC OU, it seems unclear how much he'll put into the tournament—if he has a weakness, it's that. Username-numbers-haver Zesty43 may too be inactive, but the difference between him and Conflict is that he has such powerful support in the gens he plays that it legitimately may be enough for him to play a few test games, show up with borrowed teams, and win. And then the All-Male Melmetal round out their team with a small but decent bench, with two players who are unlikely to get to play but would do okay if put in.
TEAM #3: DEVASTATING DIALGAS (69 Points)
Managed by Mr.378 and Manaphy
SS: Manaphy
SS: SiTuM
SS: BasedWhat?
USM: HunterStorm
ORAS: Trade
BW: Blim
DPP: BKC
ADV: 0kay
GSC: vani
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Mr.378
Subs: Endill, Basedburner, Ainzcrad
The Iron Moron of Ubers is back baby, and he’s more delusional than usual this year, given he just drafted Chad and Tad, the Basedstreet Boys. I can’t wait for the leaked logs of BKC being forced to spectate their games. Jokes aside, overall, their team is stout. Let’s dive into it. Manaphy and SiTuM are top tier talent in SS, and although it was originally expected for SiTuM to Bo3 given his results this year, he provides a ton of utility for the team and should come away with a positive record. Manaphy on the other hand has to top his UPL from last year, which may be hard to do, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a consistent carry for his team. I don’t know what the expectations are for the Based Bros, but I am expecting they might have growing pains to start. In USM, HunterStorm is a Mr.378 must-have. He seems to consistently hit that .500 mark or better in team tournaments and posted a very solid 5-3 score during UPL last year. Trade is a ladder hero who is looking to make a name for themselves in this tournament. Usually, it could be easy to predict them to struggle given it’s their rookie season, but in ORAS, it’s very well possible they sweep the field, who knows really. Blim and BKC make up a very solid old-gen core that should carry the team to many wins, and absolutely no introduction is needed for either of these geezers. 0kay and Vani round out the old-gens as two cheaper pocket picks for 378. Vani is coming off a GSC Ubers tournament win, and 0kay has been heralded as a solid ADV option for a few years now. Anchoring the team in Bo3 is Mr.378 himself, which is incredibly surprising, and perhaps even admirable. I think most expected him to play GSC this year, but he’s all-in on himself with the self-buy and is putting himself in the toughest tier of the tournament. If he can consistently get wins, his team will go far, purely based on the motivation and effort he gives this tournament. Endill is an above average sub who could certainly start down the line, and the other half of the Based Bros might see some starting time if his other-half flunks out. Ainzcrad rounds out the team and may find it difficult to find playing time with how stacked this roster is. Overall, this is a very balanced team with strengths in SS, USM, and every old-gen. I believe their performance as a team will heavily rely on 378’s performance as well as his ability to help his pocket tiers get key wins. He’s risking a lot on himself this season, which is certainly respectable.
TEAM #4: DEFIANT DURIANS (60 Points)
Managed by Skysolo, byronthewellwell, TonyFlygon, Pohjis, Enzo Gorlami, and Krauersaut
SS: TonyFlygon
SS: McSim
SS: Garay oak
USM: GO lucario
ORAS: obii
BW: watashi
DPP: Chill Shadow
ADV: Triangles
GSC: d0nut
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Skysolo
Subs: Rhmsitb, Cam, eden
What do you think of when you hear the word, "show?" I expect a spectacle. A performance for the ages. The Durians Show last year was more of a Highschool Production, if you will. But, this year, the Durians have a brand-new cast looking to right the ship. The Durians are in good hands in terms of management, with Byronthewell and Skysolo being two very talented players. With TonyFlygon offering decades of experience, it’s only expected that this is one of the top teams to beat this year. However, they certainly weren’t shy about taking some risks. The first risk was buying Garay oak after he proclaimed his availability would be very limited this season. The second risk was drafting the goon squad in old gens. Obii, Watashi, Triangles, and D0nut are no strangers to tournaments, and individually are all talented players, but the risk is—can they play Ubers? Guess we are gonna find out real soon. The third risk is pretty fucking great. GO Lucario, the two post wonder, hand-picked by Byron. On the bright side, if he wins, he’s GOAT Lucario. If he loses, it’s NO Lucario! Quite simple huh? This team is what we refer to as top-heavy—Tony, Garay, Skysolo, and Chill Shadow are expected to win every week, and any additional wins they can net are the whipped cream and cherry on top. However, McSim finally gets his chance in SS which is going to be a real treat. And their subs are crisp. Cam is a Durians staple, Rhmsitb is hyphy and I am a fan, and of course Eden is amazing utility in old-gens. Overall, I could easily see this being a playoff team – but this is going to largely be dependent on Skysolo cranking out teams and maintaining a high level of play, and their big-money buys carrying the load week-after-week.
TEAM #5: CHOICE BANDITS (54 Points)
Managed by steelskitty and squinn
SS: Fogbound Lake
SS: DNNP
SS: Lacus Clyne
USM: gostop
ORAS: dream
BW: Noitu
DPP: Void
ADV: Aishia
GSC: steelskitty
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Catalystic
Subs: JT Yao, Ismakhil, Peli, Aberforth, Indercover
Veteran manager steelskitty found herself managing Choice Bandits again, this time with Most Wanted-winning manager squinn. This pair wasn’t totally out of the blue but they sure form a strong manager core with lots of experience in both managing and Ubers as a whole. They started with a steelskitty self buy which many expected along with retaining Lacus Ichinose and Aishia, two very solid retains. steelskitty holding gsc down with Lacus having won Winter Seasonal during the draft and Aishia being able to comfortably slot into ADV or ORAS with squinn support seems to be the foundation of the team. They managed to snatch some Most Wanted teammates with Noitu, Fogbound Lake, and DNNP which complete the SS core with potentially great support from DNNP. Noitu strays away from the tier that most associate him with into BW. This surprised most, but he has top-of-the-line support from his managers. Void, Gostop and Dream fill the rest of the older generations with the first two going for cheap, potentially being sleeper picks, and Dream being an ORAS mainstay who offers excellent team support. This team definitely has major team players if they give it their all. Catalystic fills the Bo3 slot with amazing support so realistically he doesn’t have too much pressure on his back in building and preparing for such a high skill ceiling slot. Lastly the Bandits got a handful of substitutes with lots of potential for starting, JT Yao, Ismakhil, Peli, Aberforth, and Indercover. These substitutes can cover many generations and are solid players which will be interesting to see later in the tournament.
TEAM #6: DELTA RAYQUAZAS (51 Points)
Managed by Mysterious M and Tricking
SS: Mega Zygarde-100%
SS: Cromagnet
SS: crucify
USM: Lazy_bread27
ORAS: Star
BW: Punny
DPP: Lord Thorx
ADV: Safes
GSC: lax
Bo3 (ORAS, USM, SS): Leru
Subs: Ara, Bouff
Rayquazas brought together people I wouldn’t expect to be together for UPL, managed by Mysterious M and Tricking, neither strangers to managing. The Rayquazas lack cemented “top tier” Uber players but they have lots of newer talent, with this being the potential breakout Ubers tournament for many. They start off strong going with the army drafting strategy and lucky charm while getting the upcoming USM prospect Lazy_bread27 early on, hot right now for winning USM cup. Their retain Lord Thorx had an unexpected Most Wanted and is trying to keep that momentum going by slotting himself into DPP. Their other retain, Leru, goes straight into Bo3 with showings across the generations. The Rayquazas then picked a rather quiet but expensive crucify along with Cromagnet, both of which have a lot of pressure to build and support the SS slots this tournament. They went with Mega Zygarde-100% to be their last SS slot, with him starting week 1 in his team tournament debut. Punny had a good run last UPL and we can assume he will put up a good record this time again. Rayquazas then picked up Star to play the cursed ORAS tier with Mysterious M feeding teams? Lax signs up seemingly only for GSC and his managers fulfill his wishes, slotting him in the tier week 1. Assuming he is almost alone with support, as GSC is not too big, we will see if he can hold the tier down. The team, lacking an ADV mainer, scoops promising hidden gem Safes up. Tour players Bouff and Ara are the substitutes for the Rayquazas. I assume they will just be rotated in and fed teams throughout the season.
TEAM #7: DAREAL DRIZZLERS (49 Points)
Managed by Staxi and Perry
SS: Lunala
SS: TJ
SS: Thiago Nunes
USM: Gondra
ORAS: Eternal Spirit
BW: Evuelf
DPP: SoulWind
ADV: SuperEpicAmpharos
GSC: M Dragon
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Fardin
Subs: Heysup, MMII, Luna's Banned Now, QWILY, hs
It feels almost criminal to rank a team that's so strong on paper so low. How is it that a team with a much better draft than it had in UPL ViII rises only a place in the rankings this year? Old man Nayrz has been replaced by old man Perry, with Staxi making his return to captain the ship. Given that they even have former manager Melee Mewtwo lurking in the depths of the bench, it's almost a certainty they're under better management than they were previously. And their players look better, too—Staxi's clear strategy going into the draft was eschewing retains so as to spend early on some valuable names, and spend he did—the team has the two most expensive players in the tournament in SoulWind and M Dragon, and both look absolutely deadly in their pools. But then where do the Drizzlers fall short? There are a number of unproven players in their starting lineup, and if some of their big names go inactive the team will have some serious holes. Too many holes can sink even the sturdiest of vessels; it's unclear that an unmotivated Gondra, Evuelf, SoulWind, or M Dragon is a storm the Drizzlers can weather. It's probable the SS core here is severely underrated, as all three starters have massive upside potential; look no further than Lunala and Thiago Nunes' commanding wins versus the #2 ranked SS core for proof of this. All three also have the chance to run the team aground, however; if current gen motivation dips, the Drizzlers will sleep with the rest of the fishes. For more on the potential disasters an unmotivated or discouraged set of Drizzlers could face in current gens, look no further than the ORAS and USM slots. But have the Drizzlers taken the bait of buying big tournament players at the expense of an active or fun team environment? Not necessarily; there are enough interested and motivated names here that I expect plenty of the team to have a whale of a time. Of particular note is the team's powerhouse ADV core: LanturnLoverSuperEpicAmpharos/Lanturn (that's his full name, don't wear it out) is getting support at minimum from Heysup and MMII, as well as from Evuelf and SoulWind depending on their levels of interest. That segment of the team is likely to be a lively hub of discussion. The only reason the Drizzlers wouldn't win ADV every week is if ADV was actually a significantly hax-prone and volatile metagame that only sometimes rewards the better player...but that'd be too insane to believe. Right? Speaking of too insane to believe, look no further than Fardin's absolutely batshit SS teams to analyze the way the Drizzlers round themselves out. Fardin has been doing great in individuals lately, in some part because of his wild ideas, but it's very ambiguous how well they'll translate to his team tournament debut. It's unknown also if Fardin is up to the demand of holding down three slots a week in his first big league Ubers team tournament; if he has to sub out, who subs in for him? The Drizzlers have a large bench that only knows about 2 tiers combined, and having to use it for anything except those two might leave the team stranded.
TEAM #8: ALOLAN MUKKERS (41 Points)
Managed by Reje and March Fires
SS: Reje
SS: Alpha Rabbit
SS: Maxomega
USM: InkPupil
ORAS: Shocki
BW: Lasen
DPP: Inspirited
ADV: iry
GSC: mc56556
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): March Fires
Subs: PinkDragonTamer, Terracotta
The Alolan Memers come back for a second UPL with a lineup that raises some eyebrows. There are some years-long bonds on this team that could yield some fantastic synergies in a lively chat atmosphere with only occasional hints of racism, but there are also some serious doubts about the competitiveness of the team. Reje in particular is a polarizing figure due to his efforts to try as hard as possible to make it seem like he doesn't try—if this is actually the year where he doesn't give a single shit, it's possible that most of the Muks' SS will collapse in on itself. I almost feel bad that the (almost certainly) young Maxomega found himself in such a caustic team environment; he'll have at least three years added to his life in just as many months if the Muks post even a fraction of what Lasen dm'd me last night. He'll almost certainly try hard regardless of this, but it's unclear if that will yield a positive record in his debut in the big leagues. Finishing off the SS core is Alpha Rabbit, an underrated pick who'll probably post some really interesting ideas if he's not too busy telling iry to "go [REDACTED] a big [REDACTED] in [his] [REDACTED] [REDACTEDLY] [RERDACTED] [REDACTED]." As long as Terracotta doesn't join in too much on the aforementioned name-calling and death threats toward iry to the point where he gets discouraged, he should actually hold down ADV really well. It's entirely possible iry is the strongest point of this team and the key to its synergy, although how much does that matter in Bo1 ADV? Dude's gonna get 6 mons frozen in sun...and then time out at 270 seconds and see the host give the win to his opponent. Speaking of bad luck, the Muks have The Iguana Don himself in GSC, who unfortunately caught some bad breaks vs Silksong yesterday but should hopefully rebound and start taking some games. But, on the topic of taking games, InkPupil's insane Life Orb Greninja tech yesterday has many wondering: are they the loving1096 of USM? If so, it could have been a terrible mistake to rank them so low...InkPupil certainly had a few question marks surrounding them before that game, but perhaps those will soon dissipate. And who knows? Maybe Shocki's question marks will too—they're a player I've never heard of before, but it seems they've been around for a while and maybe they'll be a surprising sleeper pick. At the risk of sounding too optimistic, maybe Inspirited too will surprise us in this DPP pool, even though it's the most stacked one the tournament has seen in years. He had a good showing in ADVPL and it's evident he's improved as a player, but will he hold down the fort in what's only his second-best tier? If not, does Terracotta sub in for him and bring Gravity Blissey or a full Trick Room team? Does PinkDragonTamer get fed something??? For that matter, perhaps the biggest question of all: who is feeding March Fires teams? Good matchups could be the secret to his Bo3 success in this tournament, but if the rest of the team can't provide him with quality builds and he doesn't build on his own they could see one of their strongest slots squandered.
DATA:
And now for the part some of you may have just wanted to skip ahead to in the first place: the raw math behind each of these holistic team rankings. Here you'll see which players, cores, and managers are considered to be at the top and bottom of their categories, each compiled via votes from separate pools of 8-12 trusted community members. I'll leave the analysis here up to you folks—what do you agree with? Who got snubbed? Can we draw anything meaningful from this data, or is it about as accurate as Focus Blast vs. a Sand Veil Brightpowder Garchomp?
SS Ubers Core Rankings:
Icemaster + TrueNora + FatFighter2 = 31 points
Fc + Royal1604 + Ballfire = 22 points
TonyFlygon + Garay oak + McSim = 21 points
Lacus Ichinose + DNNP + Fogbound Lake = 20 points
Manaphy + SiTuM + BasedWhat? = 19 points
crucify + Cromagnet + Mega Zygarde-100% = 16 points
Reje + Alpha Rabbit + Maxomega = 15 points
Lunala + TJ + Thiago Nunes = 12 points
CREDITS:
Lord Thorx, who organized the power rankings initiative, handled the spreadsheet work, and surveyed for the SS and Bo3 Rankings
Tomahawk, who surveyed for the DPP Rankings
Holy Ghost, who wrote up the prose for Rayquazas and Bandits and surveyed for the ADV Rankings
Staxi, who surveyed for the USM Rankings
dream, who surveyed for the ORAS Rankings
Stone_Cold, who wrote up the prose for Dialgas and Durians
The pool of voters surveyed for the rankings: too many of you to list, but we appreciate all of you!
Myself, who surveyed for the GSC, BW, and Manager Rankings, wrote up the introduction and the prose for Dracovish, Melmetal, Drizzlers, and Mukkers, and formatted, proofread, and organized the final thread
DISCLAIMER:
If you felt offended by anything in this thread, just know that it's all in good fun and nobody involved has any intent to make you feel bad! Additionally, power rankings don't mean that much. They don't represent how your team will do—just how others think your team will do. It's ultimately still up to the players, managers, and helpers involved to prove rankings wrong (or right).
With all that said, let's all have an enjoyable UPL season!
TEAM #1: DANGEROUS DRACOVISH (79 Points)
Managed by Stone_Cold and TrueNora
SS: TrueNora
SS: Icemaster
SS: FatFighter2
USM: Holy Ghost
ORAS: SparksBlade
BW: Carl Murray
DPP: Highlord
ADV: Melle2402
GSC: Silksong
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Goat Heart ♥
Subs: Bushtush, The Dovahneer
It's perhaps unsurprising that The Dangerous Dracovish have swum to the head of the pack in this year's rankings, given their fishious-looking lineup and victory last UPL. Veteran manager David Peligroso (as he is known in certain Spanish-speaking countries) chose a new self-buying assistant manager, one who hopefully won't get banned mid-tournament this time. TrueNora himself is coming off a pretty good Most Wanted and looks to represent a pivotal part of the team's SS core—although he flopped last UPL, he may well cement that he can translate his skill beyond the ladder in this one. Even if Nora underwhelms, it seems nearly impossible—nearly—that prior UPL superstar icemaster523 and winter seasonal finalist FatFighter2 will. With these three at the helm, it's no surprise that Dracovish SS ranks first in the tournament; the team seems poised to clutch victory after victory in SS in its jaws. In the other fairygens we have USM enthusiast Holy Ghost and distant cousin of FatFighter2, FitFighter12 (also known as SparksBlade in certain Hindi-speaking countries). Despite a troubling week one loss, Holy Ghost could easily turn it around next week to replicate his solid Most Wanted performance (perhaps he could take some inspiration from fellow Most Wanted star Lord Thorx's pregame rituals..?). Meanwhile SparksBlade, if he's not too busy posting terrible memes in his team chat, should be grinding at least 300 ORAS games a week and will if nothing else be adequately prepared going into his matches (not that that excuses anything he might do in them....). In BW the Dracovishes spent an arm and a fin on Carl Murray in a risky maneuver that might leave some scratching their heads by the season's end. Though a good performance last UPL put him close to the top of the rankings of a rather shallow BW pool, it remains to be seen whether he'll be able to replicate last year's success or whether his eccentric teambuilding will catch up with him. Many are certainly hopeful. Rounding out DPP and ADV are the Dracovishes' most- and least-surprising catches, respectively. In an elaborate effort to snatch storied ADV player Highlord up for a steal in the auction, Dave the Dangerous has pretended to hate him for at least the past seven years only to turn around and start him (to the surprise of many!) in DPP. As long as he gets along with everyone he'll be a great asset to the team. Melle2402, meanwhile, has for the second time in two UPLs been absolutely cuckolded by Dave Danger in the auction only to get traded to him soon after. Though he ranks around the middle of the ADV pool, he'll certainly put in a lot of effort for his favorite team. Carrying the last old gen is Silksong, seemingly with no support. His level of motivation for and experience in GSC Ubers are big question marks, but it's entirely possible he'll shape up to be the steal the Dracovish hoped for when they bid on him. Speaking of team members with ambiguous activity, we have Goat Heart in Bo3. I haven't heard anything from this guy ever since he was found to be the sole person responsible for extending Homefield Advantage three years past its initial deadline, and that was over half a year ago...but if he's around, he'll probably do well. Last but least, the Dracovish round out their bench with The Dovahneer and Bushtush, who certainly both exist. In conclusion, Daver Dangernous has once again drafted a solid and well-rounded team which should more than compensate for his own lack of Ubers knowledge and skill.
TEAM #2: MANLY MELMETAL (76 Points)
Managed by Alkione and KyogreF4N.
SS: Fc
SS: Royal1604
SS: Ballfire
USM: PurpleGatorade
ORAS: fourmi
BW: Edgar
DPP: Tomahawk
ADV: 64 Squares
GSC: Conflict
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Zesty43
Subs: King Billu, CKW
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it even a Pokemon? It's MEL METAL BONJOUR, with a decidedly less French draft than last year's (they've only got four this time—Froyal1604, frenchmi, and French Canadians Frenchcanadian04 and Edgar). This team went from being last in power rankings to finalists last year, and they've got the broken (and cheap!) retains to show for it. Their draft this year also happens to be quite good—will they steel themselves to take the title this time? Their SS core secures a very narrow second place overall, with Fc being the obvious star player to watch for. Although he (unsurprisingly) hasn't been quite as much of a monster in tournaments since dropping the 04 at the end of his name, he's still a killer slot 1 pick that will go negative in almost no universe. Royal1604 (who has wisely held onto his numbers) I personally associate more with USM, but the team's first of two chess wizards has enough support to make a dominant showing in SS should he apply himself to it. Ballfire has already lost week one and massively underperformed for the Drizzlers last year, but he's been grinding SS recently and still has the potential to turn himself around. A rather cheap yet competent SS core gave the Melmetal the extra cash for some splurge buys, which they seem to have used wisely. The first of these is PurpleGatorade, whose reputation as a USM juggernaut precedes him; expect big things and a justified price tag from him this UPL. fourmi, too, ranks high in his pool and, despite being the sacrificial ORAS lamb of the team, proved just this week with his convincing victory over Eternal Spirit that he can kill it even in a tier he doesn't want to play. If fourmi was on the higher end of what the Melmetal Men expected to pay, Edgar was certainly on the lower side—though a great BW player in the glory days of the tier, he hasn't had a jaw-dropping performance in a while. It'll be interesting to see if he can bash his way through the competition and prove himself a good value for his price tag. The DPP slot sees cheap retain #2 Tomahawk (another player who ditched the number after his name—risky move?), who had a nice run last UPL but will need to prove himself anew in a post-Farceus world. ADV sees chess wizard #2 64 Squares (wouldn't it be weird if they ditched the numbers before their name?), whose generally bad attitude makes it hard to root for them despite their recent impressive tour results. Possibly of more interest than their eventual win-loss record is the number of posts of theirs that will get deleted by the tournament's end...Last of the Bo1 slots is Conflict, who claimed to be inactive and seems nearly on an island in terms of GSC support this UPL. Though a strong player when motivated and certainly one of the best in GSC OU, it seems unclear how much he'll put into the tournament—if he has a weakness, it's that. Username-numbers-haver Zesty43 may too be inactive, but the difference between him and Conflict is that he has such powerful support in the gens he plays that it legitimately may be enough for him to play a few test games, show up with borrowed teams, and win. And then the All-Male Melmetal round out their team with a small but decent bench, with two players who are unlikely to get to play but would do okay if put in.
TEAM #3: DEVASTATING DIALGAS (69 Points)
Managed by Mr.378 and Manaphy
SS: Manaphy
SS: SiTuM
SS: BasedWhat?
USM: HunterStorm
ORAS: Trade
BW: Blim
DPP: BKC
ADV: 0kay
GSC: vani
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Mr.378
Subs: Endill, Basedburner, Ainzcrad
The Iron Moron of Ubers is back baby, and he’s more delusional than usual this year, given he just drafted Chad and Tad, the Basedstreet Boys. I can’t wait for the leaked logs of BKC being forced to spectate their games. Jokes aside, overall, their team is stout. Let’s dive into it. Manaphy and SiTuM are top tier talent in SS, and although it was originally expected for SiTuM to Bo3 given his results this year, he provides a ton of utility for the team and should come away with a positive record. Manaphy on the other hand has to top his UPL from last year, which may be hard to do, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a consistent carry for his team. I don’t know what the expectations are for the Based Bros, but I am expecting they might have growing pains to start. In USM, HunterStorm is a Mr.378 must-have. He seems to consistently hit that .500 mark or better in team tournaments and posted a very solid 5-3 score during UPL last year. Trade is a ladder hero who is looking to make a name for themselves in this tournament. Usually, it could be easy to predict them to struggle given it’s their rookie season, but in ORAS, it’s very well possible they sweep the field, who knows really. Blim and BKC make up a very solid old-gen core that should carry the team to many wins, and absolutely no introduction is needed for either of these geezers. 0kay and Vani round out the old-gens as two cheaper pocket picks for 378. Vani is coming off a GSC Ubers tournament win, and 0kay has been heralded as a solid ADV option for a few years now. Anchoring the team in Bo3 is Mr.378 himself, which is incredibly surprising, and perhaps even admirable. I think most expected him to play GSC this year, but he’s all-in on himself with the self-buy and is putting himself in the toughest tier of the tournament. If he can consistently get wins, his team will go far, purely based on the motivation and effort he gives this tournament. Endill is an above average sub who could certainly start down the line, and the other half of the Based Bros might see some starting time if his other-half flunks out. Ainzcrad rounds out the team and may find it difficult to find playing time with how stacked this roster is. Overall, this is a very balanced team with strengths in SS, USM, and every old-gen. I believe their performance as a team will heavily rely on 378’s performance as well as his ability to help his pocket tiers get key wins. He’s risking a lot on himself this season, which is certainly respectable.
TEAM #4: DEFIANT DURIANS (60 Points)
Managed by Skysolo, byronthewellwell, TonyFlygon, Pohjis, Enzo Gorlami, and Krauersaut
SS: TonyFlygon
SS: McSim
SS: Garay oak
USM: GO lucario
ORAS: obii
BW: watashi
DPP: Chill Shadow
ADV: Triangles
GSC: d0nut
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Skysolo
Subs: Rhmsitb, Cam, eden
What do you think of when you hear the word, "show?" I expect a spectacle. A performance for the ages. The Durians Show last year was more of a Highschool Production, if you will. But, this year, the Durians have a brand-new cast looking to right the ship. The Durians are in good hands in terms of management, with Byronthewell and Skysolo being two very talented players. With TonyFlygon offering decades of experience, it’s only expected that this is one of the top teams to beat this year. However, they certainly weren’t shy about taking some risks. The first risk was buying Garay oak after he proclaimed his availability would be very limited this season. The second risk was drafting the goon squad in old gens. Obii, Watashi, Triangles, and D0nut are no strangers to tournaments, and individually are all talented players, but the risk is—can they play Ubers? Guess we are gonna find out real soon. The third risk is pretty fucking great. GO Lucario, the two post wonder, hand-picked by Byron. On the bright side, if he wins, he’s GOAT Lucario. If he loses, it’s NO Lucario! Quite simple huh? This team is what we refer to as top-heavy—Tony, Garay, Skysolo, and Chill Shadow are expected to win every week, and any additional wins they can net are the whipped cream and cherry on top. However, McSim finally gets his chance in SS which is going to be a real treat. And their subs are crisp. Cam is a Durians staple, Rhmsitb is hyphy and I am a fan, and of course Eden is amazing utility in old-gens. Overall, I could easily see this being a playoff team – but this is going to largely be dependent on Skysolo cranking out teams and maintaining a high level of play, and their big-money buys carrying the load week-after-week.
TEAM #5: CHOICE BANDITS (54 Points)
Managed by steelskitty and squinn
SS: Fogbound Lake
SS: DNNP
SS: Lacus Clyne
USM: gostop
ORAS: dream
BW: Noitu
DPP: Void
ADV: Aishia
GSC: steelskitty
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Catalystic
Subs: JT Yao, Ismakhil, Peli, Aberforth, Indercover
Veteran manager steelskitty found herself managing Choice Bandits again, this time with Most Wanted-winning manager squinn. This pair wasn’t totally out of the blue but they sure form a strong manager core with lots of experience in both managing and Ubers as a whole. They started with a steelskitty self buy which many expected along with retaining Lacus Ichinose and Aishia, two very solid retains. steelskitty holding gsc down with Lacus having won Winter Seasonal during the draft and Aishia being able to comfortably slot into ADV or ORAS with squinn support seems to be the foundation of the team. They managed to snatch some Most Wanted teammates with Noitu, Fogbound Lake, and DNNP which complete the SS core with potentially great support from DNNP. Noitu strays away from the tier that most associate him with into BW. This surprised most, but he has top-of-the-line support from his managers. Void, Gostop and Dream fill the rest of the older generations with the first two going for cheap, potentially being sleeper picks, and Dream being an ORAS mainstay who offers excellent team support. This team definitely has major team players if they give it their all. Catalystic fills the Bo3 slot with amazing support so realistically he doesn’t have too much pressure on his back in building and preparing for such a high skill ceiling slot. Lastly the Bandits got a handful of substitutes with lots of potential for starting, JT Yao, Ismakhil, Peli, Aberforth, and Indercover. These substitutes can cover many generations and are solid players which will be interesting to see later in the tournament.
TEAM #6: DELTA RAYQUAZAS (51 Points)
Managed by Mysterious M and Tricking
SS: Mega Zygarde-100%
SS: Cromagnet
SS: crucify
USM: Lazy_bread27
ORAS: Star
BW: Punny
DPP: Lord Thorx
ADV: Safes
GSC: lax
Bo3 (ORAS, USM, SS): Leru
Subs: Ara, Bouff
Rayquazas brought together people I wouldn’t expect to be together for UPL, managed by Mysterious M and Tricking, neither strangers to managing. The Rayquazas lack cemented “top tier” Uber players but they have lots of newer talent, with this being the potential breakout Ubers tournament for many. They start off strong going with the army drafting strategy and lucky charm while getting the upcoming USM prospect Lazy_bread27 early on, hot right now for winning USM cup. Their retain Lord Thorx had an unexpected Most Wanted and is trying to keep that momentum going by slotting himself into DPP. Their other retain, Leru, goes straight into Bo3 with showings across the generations. The Rayquazas then picked a rather quiet but expensive crucify along with Cromagnet, both of which have a lot of pressure to build and support the SS slots this tournament. They went with Mega Zygarde-100% to be their last SS slot, with him starting week 1 in his team tournament debut. Punny had a good run last UPL and we can assume he will put up a good record this time again. Rayquazas then picked up Star to play the cursed ORAS tier with Mysterious M feeding teams? Lax signs up seemingly only for GSC and his managers fulfill his wishes, slotting him in the tier week 1. Assuming he is almost alone with support, as GSC is not too big, we will see if he can hold the tier down. The team, lacking an ADV mainer, scoops promising hidden gem Safes up. Tour players Bouff and Ara are the substitutes for the Rayquazas. I assume they will just be rotated in and fed teams throughout the season.
TEAM #7: DAREAL DRIZZLERS (49 Points)
Managed by Staxi and Perry
SS: Lunala
SS: TJ
SS: Thiago Nunes
USM: Gondra
ORAS: Eternal Spirit
BW: Evuelf
DPP: SoulWind
ADV: SuperEpicAmpharos
GSC: M Dragon
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): Fardin
Subs: Heysup, MMII, Luna's Banned Now, QWILY, hs
It feels almost criminal to rank a team that's so strong on paper so low. How is it that a team with a much better draft than it had in UPL ViII rises only a place in the rankings this year? Old man Nayrz has been replaced by old man Perry, with Staxi making his return to captain the ship. Given that they even have former manager Melee Mewtwo lurking in the depths of the bench, it's almost a certainty they're under better management than they were previously. And their players look better, too—Staxi's clear strategy going into the draft was eschewing retains so as to spend early on some valuable names, and spend he did—the team has the two most expensive players in the tournament in SoulWind and M Dragon, and both look absolutely deadly in their pools. But then where do the Drizzlers fall short? There are a number of unproven players in their starting lineup, and if some of their big names go inactive the team will have some serious holes. Too many holes can sink even the sturdiest of vessels; it's unclear that an unmotivated Gondra, Evuelf, SoulWind, or M Dragon is a storm the Drizzlers can weather. It's probable the SS core here is severely underrated, as all three starters have massive upside potential; look no further than Lunala and Thiago Nunes' commanding wins versus the #2 ranked SS core for proof of this. All three also have the chance to run the team aground, however; if current gen motivation dips, the Drizzlers will sleep with the rest of the fishes. For more on the potential disasters an unmotivated or discouraged set of Drizzlers could face in current gens, look no further than the ORAS and USM slots. But have the Drizzlers taken the bait of buying big tournament players at the expense of an active or fun team environment? Not necessarily; there are enough interested and motivated names here that I expect plenty of the team to have a whale of a time. Of particular note is the team's powerhouse ADV core: LanturnLoverSuperEpicAmpharos/Lanturn (that's his full name, don't wear it out) is getting support at minimum from Heysup and MMII, as well as from Evuelf and SoulWind depending on their levels of interest. That segment of the team is likely to be a lively hub of discussion. The only reason the Drizzlers wouldn't win ADV every week is if ADV was actually a significantly hax-prone and volatile metagame that only sometimes rewards the better player...but that'd be too insane to believe. Right? Speaking of too insane to believe, look no further than Fardin's absolutely batshit SS teams to analyze the way the Drizzlers round themselves out. Fardin has been doing great in individuals lately, in some part because of his wild ideas, but it's very ambiguous how well they'll translate to his team tournament debut. It's unknown also if Fardin is up to the demand of holding down three slots a week in his first big league Ubers team tournament; if he has to sub out, who subs in for him? The Drizzlers have a large bench that only knows about 2 tiers combined, and having to use it for anything except those two might leave the team stranded.
TEAM #8: ALOLAN MUKKERS (41 Points)
Managed by Reje and March Fires
SS: Reje
SS: Alpha Rabbit
SS: Maxomega
USM: InkPupil
ORAS: Shocki
BW: Lasen
DPP: Inspirited
ADV: iry
GSC: mc56556
Bo3 (SS, USM, ORAS): March Fires
Subs: PinkDragonTamer, Terracotta
The Alolan Memers come back for a second UPL with a lineup that raises some eyebrows. There are some years-long bonds on this team that could yield some fantastic synergies in a lively chat atmosphere with only occasional hints of racism, but there are also some serious doubts about the competitiveness of the team. Reje in particular is a polarizing figure due to his efforts to try as hard as possible to make it seem like he doesn't try—if this is actually the year where he doesn't give a single shit, it's possible that most of the Muks' SS will collapse in on itself. I almost feel bad that the (almost certainly) young Maxomega found himself in such a caustic team environment; he'll have at least three years added to his life in just as many months if the Muks post even a fraction of what Lasen dm'd me last night. He'll almost certainly try hard regardless of this, but it's unclear if that will yield a positive record in his debut in the big leagues. Finishing off the SS core is Alpha Rabbit, an underrated pick who'll probably post some really interesting ideas if he's not too busy telling iry to "go [REDACTED] a big [REDACTED] in [his] [REDACTED] [REDACTEDLY] [RERDACTED] [REDACTED]." As long as Terracotta doesn't join in too much on the aforementioned name-calling and death threats toward iry to the point where he gets discouraged, he should actually hold down ADV really well. It's entirely possible iry is the strongest point of this team and the key to its synergy, although how much does that matter in Bo1 ADV? Dude's gonna get 6 mons frozen in sun...and then time out at 270 seconds and see the host give the win to his opponent. Speaking of bad luck, the Muks have The Iguana Don himself in GSC, who unfortunately caught some bad breaks vs Silksong yesterday but should hopefully rebound and start taking some games. But, on the topic of taking games, InkPupil's insane Life Orb Greninja tech yesterday has many wondering: are they the loving1096 of USM? If so, it could have been a terrible mistake to rank them so low...InkPupil certainly had a few question marks surrounding them before that game, but perhaps those will soon dissipate. And who knows? Maybe Shocki's question marks will too—they're a player I've never heard of before, but it seems they've been around for a while and maybe they'll be a surprising sleeper pick. At the risk of sounding too optimistic, maybe Inspirited too will surprise us in this DPP pool, even though it's the most stacked one the tournament has seen in years. He had a good showing in ADVPL and it's evident he's improved as a player, but will he hold down the fort in what's only his second-best tier? If not, does Terracotta sub in for him and bring Gravity Blissey or a full Trick Room team? Does PinkDragonTamer get fed something??? For that matter, perhaps the biggest question of all: who is feeding March Fires teams? Good matchups could be the secret to his Bo3 success in this tournament, but if the rest of the team can't provide him with quality builds and he doesn't build on his own they could see one of their strongest slots squandered.
DATA:
And now for the part some of you may have just wanted to skip ahead to in the first place: the raw math behind each of these holistic team rankings. Here you'll see which players, cores, and managers are considered to be at the top and bottom of their categories, each compiled via votes from separate pools of 8-12 trusted community members. I'll leave the analysis here up to you folks—what do you agree with? Who got snubbed? Can we draw anything meaningful from this data, or is it about as accurate as Focus Blast vs. a Sand Veil Brightpowder Garchomp?
SS Ubers Core Rankings:
Icemaster + TrueNora + FatFighter2 = 31 points
Fc + Royal1604 + Ballfire = 22 points
TonyFlygon + Garay oak + McSim = 21 points
Lacus Ichinose + DNNP + Fogbound Lake = 20 points
Manaphy + SiTuM + BasedWhat? = 19 points
crucify + Cromagnet + Mega Zygarde-100% = 16 points
Reje + Alpha Rabbit + Maxomega = 15 points
Lunala + TJ + Thiago Nunes = 12 points
CREDITS:
Lord Thorx, who organized the power rankings initiative, handled the spreadsheet work, and surveyed for the SS and Bo3 Rankings
Tomahawk, who surveyed for the DPP Rankings
Holy Ghost, who wrote up the prose for Rayquazas and Bandits and surveyed for the ADV Rankings
Staxi, who surveyed for the USM Rankings
dream, who surveyed for the ORAS Rankings
Stone_Cold, who wrote up the prose for Dialgas and Durians
The pool of voters surveyed for the rankings: too many of you to list, but we appreciate all of you!
Myself, who surveyed for the GSC, BW, and Manager Rankings, wrote up the introduction and the prose for Dracovish, Melmetal, Drizzlers, and Mukkers, and formatted, proofread, and organized the final thread
DISCLAIMER:
If you felt offended by anything in this thread, just know that it's all in good fun and nobody involved has any intent to make you feel bad! Additionally, power rankings don't mean that much. They don't represent how your team will do—just how others think your team will do. It's ultimately still up to the players, managers, and helpers involved to prove rankings wrong (or right).
With all that said, let's all have an enjoyable UPL season!
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