Tournament World Cup of Randbats 2023 - Qualifying Round

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World Cup of Randbats 2023 - Qualifying Round
wcor_logo-012.png

Logo by Syrinix
Hosted by Javi, sharpclaw, and Syrinix
with help from Amaranth

~Spreadsheet~
courtesy of Amaranth​

Pokémon players of the world, it’s time: the kick-off of WCoR ‘23 proper with our Qualifying Round! Which teams will win their place among those who’ve already qualified and earn a shot at WCoR glory? It’s time to find out!

Format
Each team is led by two captains, who may themselves count among the total roster of twelve starters and three-to-five substitutes. The formats, as announced in our original signups post, are:
Gen 9 Random Battle Bo5
Gen 9 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 9 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 8 Random Battle Bo5
Gen 8 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 7 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 6 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 5 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 4 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 3 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 2 Random Battle Bo3
Gen 1 Random Battle Bo3
This year, the Qualifier Round will be an 11-team round robin. For each format, each player will play against four opponents, and across all formats, teams will play each other no less than four and no more than five times.

Teams will be ranked based on overall aggregate records. The seven teams with the best records will advance, joining the qualified teams in the regular season. If there is a tie in records for the last spot, the teams will face off in a tiebreaker series consisting of three Bo3 matchups: Gen 9 Random Battle and one format chosen by each team.

Substitutions
Captains may sub in any of their substitutes as they see fit. Keep in mind that once a player is subbed out, they cannot be subbed back in during the same round, but can return for the next round.

Substitutions will not be allowed in tiebreaks unless both teams agree (or hosts enforce a double sub). Hosts will be reluctant to give activity wins to those who are clearly fishing for them.

Standard Tournament Procedures
Like all other tournaments on Smogon, the World Cup of Randbats will follow the general rules and guidelines. Please read them carefully. Also note that replays are required.
What constitutes ghosting in a Random Battles game can be a particularly fine line, so before commenting in a WCoR game, always ask yourself: “Would my comment reveal information that hasn’t already been explicitly revealed in this battle?” Examples of ghosting include suggesting that an unexpectedly fast Pokemon might be holding a Choice Scarf, pointing out that a Zoroark’s disguised level proves it’s a Zoroark, etc.

Matchups
Thanks to the math that ensures teams play each other no less than four and no more than five times, there are no distinct “these 5 players each play each other, with no overlaps or outside matches” groups or pools, per se. To find your opponents, refer to the Matchups tab of the WCoR ‘23 Spreadsheet. Hosts will make sure this sheet stays up to date.
Again: to find your opponents, refer to the Matchups tab of the WCoR ‘23 Spreadsheet.

Team Africa + Europe: Shaneghoul Sieeeffmon Lily mj RoFnA Petros Xceloh EpicBoost mael Zoyotte SANKE CARP Amir GoldCat saba pannu tlenit Lokifan
Team Bangladesh: Let's Rumble Shall We Igniizard RaiyanGotNo3DS MaswoodShaheb I love Bagon Kaif Squirtle Nornor Xboy Hasuinna BlackKnight_Gawain feen Rowlet69420 Sadi Tonmoy Nazib stroikerrr Soumav metagross does architectu
Team France: PokemonCestDur ProDigeZz dunoks Clementine Tuthur Teclis BlazingDark Wait2Seconds Altthiel Ereshkigal Dragonillis Ice Yazu mimilimi SFG Trefleuh Tarrembeau CMDoge
Team Mexico: papiloco GiovanyDC Jhoiran DAHLI luisin ZeroKitss Robert Edgar Churielix Elian Angel tiopo Akaru Kokuyo AnimeroDaniel Gondra JeoZ Mrbanana45
Team Oceania: Sjneider iloverandbats Chloe ChrisPBacon Trade damien the genius Drifting ninjadog O1V7O2X9O mad dawg Stallion nicole7735 Exotic64 MTB Dark Pulse Some Thug
Team Spain: Accidere TheSergio235 Guille Sheik SoulWind Reze Failbor Real FV13 SMB Irene-2002 Eeveeto Dorron Malekith Mirbro Mandibuladel5555 seroo Kenix
Team Turkey: TrappTea Can04 Abilty Saylıns Mete08 Ariellthemermaid devin Bullet Puncher Oltan Perish Song Makato Naegi StormPegasus Jolltr Lupus Fluvium Mr.Serperior
Team UK: BigWes95 MasterJ007 Celever Roginald jyusaan TTK London13 HSOWA shade Stockings ionnss YBW Toto Aletheia_Nyx autumn TobyTheBoss64 Bomby23
Team US Northeast: Lady Writer Buhrito Emboar02 BoRida peap Betathunder Rage.Spam.Quit. Monai Casual dot exe Jisoo Alpha Male Psyduck king edgy za Legendary Fragments Forsh berry Lrogue
Team US South: GXE TeamCharm Kate Typhlosion48 Hacker RSB Piapia FMG SuperEpicAmpharos Xrn HSA royzin clean Theia airfare Stone Cold chub TPP teal6
Team Venezuela: CaesarzeppeliXD Akarui~Kurayami Windingsss Hashg Skynyrd Ferenia Just ceruledge Juseth sepulveda Gochan disgusting LoD Shiddo Raahel kaipro Long Spirit KiruHatade Lugi Lugi Fakee sassyflygon2

Deadlines
All matches are to be completed by Sunday, August 20th at 11:59PM GMT-4. Matches that are not completed will be reviewed for activity and have a winner declared accordingly. If both parties are at fault, the match will simply not count in deciding final standing. Activity calls will not be made until the end of the round. Captains should ensure their players play their matches, and make substitutions as necessary.

Furthermore, if by Sunday, August 13th at 11:59PM GMT-4 a player has not completed at least one match, hosts will force their captains to sub them out. Two weeks is more than enough time to play four games that don’t require teambuilding, but players shouldn’t delay only to then try to cram all four matches into a single week. Be respectful of each others’ schedules.

Good luck, have fun, and may the strongest region prevail!
 
my power rankings
S tier (~95% to qualify)
1. US South
they got hella good players across the board and it tends to be People Who Are Good At Every Tier They Touch, so it should also translate to randbats. disgusting team
2. US Northeast
lady writer + buhrito + borida + monai + jisoo is pretty insane for qualifiers. and its not like the rest of their slots are weak lol. would be insane if they miss

A tier (~80% to qualify)
3. Europe + Africa
A few names I don't recognize, but also a lot of names I think are great and underrated. I like this team a lot, I think they might not be 3rd in many people's lists but I feel pretty good putting them here in mine.
4. France
They got some heaters esp in the older generations that should be enough to carry under most circumstances, a few very unreliable slots too imo but we'll see, France is known to turn up with randoms and have them destroy out of nowhere

B tier (~65% to qualify)
5. Spain
homies rlly managed to bring in soulwind. amazing. I think they lack the star power across the board to jump up a tier, but I would expect them to make it
6. Oceania
mostly great players with mostly very little randbats experience. they probably won't light the world on fire, but they're still likely to make it across the finish line
7. United Kingdom
a good number of names with a good amount of randbats prowess, but also a ton of people i straight up have never seen play before. if I had to call one of the top 7 to fall, it'd definitely be them, but I still largely expect them to get the job done

C tier (~40% to qualify)
8. Bangladesh, Mexico, Turkey, Venezuela
I don't know enough about these teams to seriously comment about them. I could come up with arguments for why any of these 4 could be the one to make an upset on paper, but those arguments would be mostly based on guessing lol. I support all 4, would be fun to see any of them make it up.
 
UNBIASED WCOR 2 QUALIFIERS POWER RANKINGS

1: US Northeast
1691402556171.png

Changes since last year's roster:
- KingZuko, not a racist, Finchinator, arcexofficial, randompikatrod,
+ Buhrito, Borida, Monai, Jisoo, Legendary, fragments, Forsh, lrogue, berry

On the one hand, nearly every starter (and most of the subs (except Forsh)) is a top and active rands player and then if not specifically a rands player, a good mons player in general. On the other hand, za kicked out arcexOFFICIAL, which is a huge mistake because everyone knows you get more powerful after posting a ragequit post, and let Forsh on the team :pikuh:. More examples of managerial missteps ever since he put a ladder hero on the Bo5 slot and that predictably flopped?

Regardless, this team is certain to get out of qualifiers and very well a threat to take the whole tournament.

Highlights: just about everyone on here
Lowlights: Forsh.


2: US South
1691402576236.png

Changes since last year's roster:
- Gray, Referrals, Zen, Crashy, roxiee, Abyssal Ruins, Felines, Sae
+ GXE, TeamCharm, Kate, Piapia, FMG, HSA, royzin, airfare, Stone Cold, TPP, teal6

Team US South went through a complete restructure, booting out just about every starter and replacing them with someone from Team US South (but from WCOP). They lost some strong names in Referrals and Gray, but the end result looks better. A few of the starters and some of the subs might not really gaf once SCL gets going but they'll make it out of qualifiers at least. Big shoutouts to Typhlosion48, who is perhaps the best to ever do it.

Highlights: GXE, TeamCharm, Typhlosion48, RSB, Pia are all rands mainstays. Everyone else is a strong Pokemon player with great showings in official tournaments.
Questionable aspects: Has Dave already added the waifu bot?


3: Spain
1691402591671.png

Changes since last year's roster:
- javitu, Joya, Tenzai, Revenge Killer, Regnite, Luispeikou, Klay, Viduf, bd,
+ TheSergio235, Sheik :, SoulWind, Real FV13, Irene-2002, Eeveeto, Dorron, Malekith, Mandibuladel55555, Mirbro, seroo, Kenix

I can't believe I'm ranking Spain #3.....Please fucking kill me....

But in the spirit of being unbiased, Team Spain has booted out just about every shitter from last year and replaced them with not a ton of rands names but very strong Pocket Monster Players, both old and new. Anti Chinese manager Dorron has done a great job!

Like South, there are more than a few prospective SCL players in this roster so I can't speak to how much motivation there will be in the regular season and beyond, but for qualifiers at least I would be shocked if they didn't make it out. Big shoutouts to SMB as the goat of Gen 4 and big apologies to Kenix for banning you for 1 year that one time :blobsad:. Anti shoutouts to Failbor for literally looking at my team and cteaming me in BLT 9 qualifiers, you must really like shooting squirrels with a BB gun.


4: France
1691402606988.png
Changes since last year's roster:
- 0NI, ironwater, Alkione, Staxi, Lambovino
+ PokemonCestDur, ProDigeZz, dunoks, Tuthur, Teclis, BlazingDark, CMDoge, mimilimi, SFG, Trefleuh

Similar to Spain, France had a rough season last year and has kicked out a lot of the previous starters in favor of mainstays from other tournaments around Smogon. In particular, Tuthur has been on fire in recent rands memory and looks poised to lead this team out of the qualifiers. It'll be interesting to see how ProDigeZz, dunoks, and Teclis, mostly recognized names outside of Rands, translate their skill into click super effective move simulator.

There are still some questionable/new faces but at least as far as the starters go, this is a strong squad.

@ the hosts so is ice yazu allowed to join the team discord or how does that work, because iirc they weren't allowed to in the last rbtt and even further that meant they were barred from participating...


5: Oceania
1691402620139.png
Changes since last year's roster: N/A, split from Europe + Oceania

The first "new" team on this list, Team Antarctica sensations Drifting and damien have split from Europe + Oceania, taking most of the players from the fairly strong team with them. This team is a blend of old and new, Randbats and other Smogon tournaments, untypable names. Most important are the starters, because none of the subs look particularly strong (though most of them have TC, so there's that).

The starters are pretty strong but not without some unsure slots: Trade is coming off of a couple years of middling or poor performances; iloverandbats literally has 1 post; O1V7 and nicole7735 are getting their debuts. edit: sjneider is out and he would've been a pretty strong player, especially for their bo5 slot, so thats kinda goobed...

However, Europe + Oceania from last year was mostly Oceania and they performed well last year in what was by far the toughest pool in the tournament (going 25-25 to just miss out on playoffs by one game), so while there's not as much starpower on this roster compared to the ones above, I'm fairly confident this team will make it out of qualifiers, which I can't say about the ones coming next.


6: Europe + Africa
1691402634346.png
Changes since last year's roster:
- Just about everyone due to losing Oceania
+ Just about everyone + some players from Africa

This one's weird because I'd rank it higher if some of the subs were starters but even with that in mind, not higher than Oceania so w/e. A team of mostly new faces to rands is led by Petros and Xceloh. A little over half of their roster are strong players (rands or otherwise), but as far as I can tell: Zoyotte, SANKECARP, RoFnA, and EpicBoost are getting their debut in tournaments in general, with Amir getting his debut in randbats specifically.

Almost all of the subs are established players on Smogon so it's confusing why these newer names are starting ahead of them. GoldCat in particular did really well last year (4-1) so I don't know what's up with that. But I suppose we'll find out in the coming weeks if that ended up being the right call.

This team for all intents and purposes is completely new, since they lost most of their players to Oceania splitting. They might make it through qualifiers, they might not. Hard to tell.


7: UK
1691402647144.png
Changes from previous year's roster:
- tob, Icemaster, Stareal, Banbadoro, Roseybear, Lutra
+ BigWes95, MasterJ007, jyusaan, TTK, HSOWA, shade, Stockings, ionnss, YBW, Toto, Aletheia_Nyx, autumn, TobyTheBoss64, Bomby23

Team UK started out last year being at the top of power rankings, only to underperform in admittedly the toughest pool of last year. Fast forwarding one year, they've lost a lot of talent, comanager ate a permaban and ended up on The List, and the replacements don't look too promising, nor do most of the players that remained.

Roginald can be expected to put up a strong performance as always and YBW will probably farm in the gen 1 qualifiers pool, but the rest of the roster either has had poor performances in recent memory or are flat out new (either to playing in rands tournaments or Smogon in general). Toto and autumn look to be great subs though and I'm not sure why they're not starting. Both of them are pretty good, if possibly a little washed, but certainly better than debuting ladder heroes and a definitely washed Cong moderator.


8: Mexico
1691402662429.png
Changes since last year's roster:
- Players from LA and Caribbean due to splitting
+ Some other players

Mexico has split from what was previous LA/Central America/Caribbean. Not sure why they did that, it doesn't seem to be similar to the Europe + Oceania case where nearly every single player was Oceania and this roster doesn't look that strong. I don't know most of these players, but luisin is one of the goats and is making his WCOR debut; Papiloco, Akaru Kokuyo, and Elian are returning from fairly poor performances; and a couple of Smogon mainstays are debuting. A lot rides on the unknown slots to overperform to make it through qualifiers, but I don't think it's completely out of the question.


9, 10, 11: Bangladesh, Venuzuela, Turkey

Too many unknown players on these 3 teams to reasonably expect they'll make it through qualifiers. Shoutouts devin tho.


Northeast > South > Spain = France = Oceania > Europe + Africa = UK > Mexico > Everyone else
 
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Wigglytuff said:
Fast forwarding one year, they've lost a lot of talent, comanager ate a permaban and ended up on The List, and the replacements don't look too promising, nor do most of the players that remained.
Click to expand...
x6uj5qu.png
SOZXQPz.png
vpgGEcT.png

3 starter players went positive last year on UK and all 3 are here this year but pop off. Thanks for the well-researched and thought out post! :boi:
 
Wigglytuff said:
9, 10, 11: Bangladesh, Venuzuela, Turkey

Too many unknown players on these 3 teams to reasonably expect they'll make it through qualifiers. Shoutouts devin tho.
Click to expand...
Yeah man Bangladesh making it out of qualifiers despite having a roster of mostly unknown players is completely unrealistic. Would never happen in a World Cup. Would be completely ridiculous and unprecedented. Never happened before yep
 
Amaranth said:
Yeah man Bangladesh making it out of qualifiers despite having a roster of mostly unknown players is completely unrealistic. Would never happen in a World Cup. Would be completely ridiculous and unprecedented. Never happened before yep
Click to expand...
cmon man you literally quoted my post, you can see exactly what i said. im sure you've heard a lot of what you're saying but i wasnt the one saying it.

but i decided to consult the statistics just to be extra sure and you're right, because as far as i can tell, bangladesh has already made it out of qualifiers:
1691416249559.png

congrats to venezuela, turkey, and bangladesh for proving me wrong, can we start main event now ?
 
Oke my turn.

Gotta love seeing so many new teams, specially the countries that stepped up and are attempting to bring national glory to Randbats. Good luck to all! Now let's power rank you with absolute objectivity, no biases, and perfect clairvoyance.

1st. US NE
LMAO this lineup is absolutely broken, to the point that I'd rank it quite high on the main stage. Except monai and jisoo, all the starters have RBTT experience and/or are simply amazing on their randbats format. Their bench if composed of 5 RBTT players (some of them winners!) and even had to leave great za out. Overall I think this team is miles over the rest of the other rosters, and as long as they keep their heads calm and have a good team dynamic and discipline, we'll see them competing on the highest levels in both qualys and main round.

2nd. France
Half of this team is made by absolute bangers on randbats. The captains are very much the stars of the team, and they have a strong army on Yazu, Dragonillis, Eresh, and W2S. I also recognize Teclis and dunoks as potential great performers, and if they sat Tarrem, Doge, and Tref on the bench, I'm sure the rest of the starters have a thing or two to showcase.

3rd. US South
I'm ranking this team high out of sheer potential "power". While we can see seasoned RBTT players like GXE, RSB, pia, Typh, and great randbats players on TC, Hacker and royzin, the rest of the roster is composed by amazing smogtour players, but from I've seen little involvement in the rands scene. Personally, and taking on account RBTT precedents, this is a hit or miss situation that solely depends on how the managers (who aren't either the biggest rands mains) motivate their roster and help them prepping and overall being knowledgeable of niche elements that can make the final difference on high level rands games. Still ranking them 3rd and absolutely expect them to get into the main stage.

----------------------------- (↑ these should qualify unless they play their games on mobile while watching a movie) ------------------------------

4th. Europe + Africa
They have a couple of randbats proven players, with the managers being top quality. I have faith in them as a managerial team and believe they can order a very interesting roster, mainly composed of smogtours players with different levels of experience. My prediction is that they will be able to make it pass qualys, although they'll struggle in their less randbats experienced slots.

5th. Spain
While the goat javitu stepped up to host the tournament, Spain has been looking to freshen up its poor image from last year and line up a team made up of mostly smogtour players with a solid overall background. Managers might be lacking some randbats experience, but they still have some RBTT players proven to do well like hoop hoop Eeveeto and SMB, and with the right guidance, this team should be able to go on the main stage, as long as they are motivated to do so.

----------------------------- (↑ these have great potential as long as they are focused and take it seriously) ------------------------------------------

6th. Oceania
THANK GOD YOU BROUGHT STEVEN THIS TIME. While the roster might be looking weaker than last year, I actually believe it has good chances of showing off over the rest. Maybe a few MUs and luck will determine their final standing, but having Drifting, ninjadog, Steven (wifi password), and non-RBY Trade will for sure give a solid chance for the rest of the team to carry on and get the necessary points to qualify.

7th. UK
Well, I'm actually surprised because usually you'll expect to see strong teams composed by either seasoned randbats players, or known smogtour ones. In this case, I see the two amazing managers, London, YBW (hoop hoop), aaaaand... A lot of others that I'm unsure where they are from. Similar feeling than from Oceania, I'm sure the managers have a plan, I just haven't catched on it yet.

8th. Bangladesh
One of the most intense teams regarding team spirit (JOY BANGLA) that have already made big waves in OU WCoP. With a hella competitive captain that can teach about everything-you-need-to-know about competing in the Randbats realm. While they lack known names on the format, I think they have a slight advantage over other "new" teams based on sheer team potential, and they actually have a chance at qualifying if attitude and some luck are on their favor (and if they have actually prepped for this).

-------------------------- (↑ two spots for three teams, will depend on a lof of factors, attitude and commitment will be key) -------------------------

9th. Mexico
Perdón amigos, while the additions of Luisin, Dahli, Zero, Gondra and Edgar should improve the quality from last year, I don't see Mexico beating the other teams. I do wish for the team to prove me wrong, but overall I see more seasoned players in most of the other line ups.

10th. Turkey
Sorry Perish. Not much to say, I really haven't seen most of this players in any randbats environment, so you'll have to make a name for yourselves on this tour. Good luck though!

11th. Venezuela
A team that has a lot of last minute calls on their line up, in my opinion even benching some of their best players. While Ferenia and Winds have several Rands Slam games, overall the team will need to show up and demonstrate that they are here to make some noise, not just to sign on presentism.

---------------------------------- (↑ here to make a surprise run, very eager to see them proving me wrong) ------------------------------------------
 
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