Tournament ZUPL III - Format Discussion and Manager Signups

[Oathkeeper]

approved by 5gen

art by SnorkleDove ​

Anyone may post in this thread to give their input on this year's format. You do not need to sign up as a manager to have a say. Post in this thread if you want to sign up as a manager.

I will be hosting the tournament and will need a co-host, so if you are interested please hit me up.

The loose structure of the tournament will remain the same: six teams with eight starters and managers will be able to buy themselves for a fixed price (15K, subject to change). There will be no signups for assistant managers, but managers may assign one after the draft is complete (or during if they want to). Like past years, there will not be retains.

Last year's format was as follows: 3 SS / 2 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP. Gen 8 ZU is at a vastly different point compared to last year and there have been some changes to ZU old gens (most notably BW), hence the need to discuss this year's format for ZUPL.

Use the following format to sign up as a manager:

• Team name (avoid inappropriate names)
  • If you want to take over an existing team, you must get permission from last year's manager
  • Last year's names
• Qualifications (why you believe you deserve to manage)

Example Signup

Deadline for manager signups is August 6th at 10:00 PM GMT -4.​

 

[Jett]

Not signing up as manager but I think the best option for this year's format would be 4 SS, 1 SM, 1 ORAS, 1 BW, and 1 DPP.

It makes very little sense to cut out certain old gens and keep others and even BW and DPP still have dedicated players who would return and sign up to play these formats from last year. As for my reasoning for cutting down the SM slots from 2 to 1 and adding an additional SS slot; SS has been the current ZU generation for a while now (compared to last year when it was pretty much in its infancy and stability of the metagame etc. could be used as argument against a 4th slot inclusion). SM ZU is in a very good state at the moment and there is no need for much further development of the metagame, and it would be much better to put more attention towards current gen, especially given the ongoing suspect test. While SM is often praised as the golden generation of ZU, it's fair to say that many of those players have now moved on and are also able to play SS so there is little harm to making this shift as the risk of losing player is relatively low. On an additional note, a slot that some people may consider is BO3 but I question the ability to fulfil this slot with a player and teams (especially since the third format would be ORAS) as it significantly increases burnout, and am pretty against it overall despite the fact "it would be hype" may be enough reason for some to want it.

 

[Earthworm]

Is GSC ZU being considered by the community? I'm totally joining this if it gets in. Very fun tier.

 

[dawnbuster]

As a member of the esteemed GSC ZU council, I have to say,

FREE GSC ZU

 

[DC]

I would like to put up 10 slots as consideration for this year's ZUPL.

4 SS / 1 SM / 1 XY / 1 BW / 1 DPP / 1 ADV / 1 GSC

I think this format is definitely doable considering the amount of signups we got for last ZUPL (like ~170) + the fact that we only have 6 teams. It balances the need to focus on current gen, by giving them 4 slots, with the representation of old gens, which have gone thru considerable changes since last ZUPL and deserved to be showcased this ZUPL.

 

[Antares]

ADV ZU is iconic, free adv zu

 

[S1nn0hC0nfirm3d]

Team Name: The Lucky Stunkies

Returning to clutch the finals this time babyyyyyyyy and I might finish the fanfiction this time!

4 ss sounds like a lot. ZU Oldgens had a lot of work this last year and having another, wether that would be gen2 or 3, wouldn't be that awful of an idea imo. There's definitely a "prestige" or assumption that ADV and GSC maybe aren't competitive enough due to their lack of mons, but I don't think that's too fair. Lack of players is the bigger concern. If we opened signups to be "Either ADV, GSC, or a 4th SS depending on signups" and decide a few days before auction, maybe that could be the way to go.

 

[Toto]

Team name: Morpeek-A-Boos

Reason to be chosen: ZU Driver, Manager of the Aesthetic Articuno (Finalists), Totodile lover, Skribblio Cacographer. Joking aside I know the ZU playerbase very well, am knowledgeable in all the oldgens and will create a nice friendly team environment :)

On the format I agree with Jett that 4SS, 1SM, 1ORAS, 1BW and 1DPP is the best format. 2SM just doent make sense anymore, I may also be in the minority here as everyone is SM fans but I think it wont even be that easy to find 6 top level SM without stealing top players from the SS pool let alone 12 and yes ik some ss players would prefer to play sm and they can, its not like were axing SM alltogether. Now onto ADV and GSC they simply don’t have the playerbase to be included in a PL. 10 slots is an interesting approach and im not entirely against it, I just dont know how feasible it is and again I don’t thinking the playerbase is there. Allthough objectively 4SS is the bet format, personally I would prefer Bo3 and 3SS. Bo3 would be incredibly hype seeing the very top players facing off each week. It also allows people who want to play both SS and SM to do just that, ORAS is also a perfectly fine choice as the third gen, it's the most balanced gen after SM and the hate it gets is unjust. Alot of the complaints I see with bo3 format is that you have build more and more building = bad. Whilst this is a valid concern I think it's blown out of proportion a bit. You were allready gunna build for 4SS slots anyway. Making your SM and ORAS slots build 1 more team per week isn't the end of the world as people make it out to be. The only way I can see this going wrong if is somehow you draft 1 builder and 7 tour players and if that happened your builder was gunna get burnout regardless.

 

[hayedenn]

Not signing up, but I’m going to instead propose some kind of Bo3 slot in the 8th slot (if we go with 3 SS / 1 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP).

It could be an...

- SS Bo3 (ZU is a very easy tier to recycle teams imo so this isn’t too problematic)
- SS/SM/ORAS Bo3
- All gens (not ADV or GSC unless we maybe go with 10 slots) Bo3
- Ancient gens Bo3 (could go 4 SS and then fit DPP/ADV/GSC into a Bo3 slot)

There are other options as well and I think this could be a very customizable game slot if it’s desired by people. Ik NFEPL is going to be trying Bo3 in its upcoming iteration, and it may be something that people may be interested in here as well.

 

[DurzaOffTopic]

Team Name: The Fiery Flamencos

Reason to be chosen: 1x ZUPL Champion, 2x ZUPL playoff manager. Just got my League of Legends account banned again so I have some free time on my hands. Probably won't be buying myself this year but have been sneakily keeping track of sleeper picks that will allow me to have the best draft for yet another year.

My preferred format would be something like this:

1 Bo3 (SS/SM/ORAS) / 3 SS / 1 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP

I'm a big fan of the Bo3 inclusive format as I believe they put a lot of hype matchups and players together and have shown to be effective in other tier subforum premier leagues. While ADV and GSC might have made a lot of progress in the last year I still think they're too niche and isolate an even bigger part of the playerbase than DPP and even BW do. The ADV cup had very limited signups, half of which will be playing other tiers this ZUPL, and a large portion of signups being activity wins anyway. We just don't have the playerbase to support ADV or GSC yet. For this reason I personally don't even love having DPP in the tour despite the fact that I think its a fun tier, but it is a staple at this point.

 

[DnB]

#freeadv
#maybefreegsctoo

 

[JdRDMS]

I would prefer 3 SS / 2 SM / 1 XY / 1 BW / 1 DP / 1 ADV / 1 GSC, because I play both SS and SM, but I do agree that 4 SS / 1 SM / 1 XY / 1 BW / 1 DP / 1 ADV / 1 GSC is probably the best option. It gets all the formats that ZU has, while also giving the most emphasis to the current gen. Again, because I don't play old gens, I'll probably be fine with anything, but one of those two is my preference.

Also ZUPL hype!

 

[SBPC]

Team Name: Pay Day Persians
Reason to manage: Returning two time co-manager with 5gen so he's allowed me to have the name, Long time ZU Oldgens guy who's kept touch with the community.

Format opinion: 4 SS / 1 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP
don't really care for bo3 but pre phys/spec split gens just don't have playerbase yet so I'd just prefer 4th SS

 

[pac]

#freegsc
#freeadvtooigdontreallyplaythetierbutmightaswellifwe'rethrowingingsc

 

[Hitmonstars]

I think GSC would be a fun addition as we have enough players for a single slot per team and it would help develop the meta which is pretty stable rn.

 

[Hitmonstars]

Team Name: Golden Duck Psyducks
Reason to be chosen: Some Team tour experience, Zu voice and knows the community well, top 8 in ssnl, as well as having knowledge about the old gens and players, also ̶B̶a̶d̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ A̶e̶s̶t̶h̶e̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶̶A̶r̶t̶i̶c̶u̶n̶o̶'s (̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶ ̶d̶r̶a̶f̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶)̶̶̶̶.
I would like to have GSC or ADV but if that isit possible I would opt for 4 SS/1 SM/1 ORAS/1 BW/1 DPP, However a 10 slot
4 SS/1 SM/1 ORAS/1 BW/1 DPP/1 ADV/1 GSC would be my preferred option. I personally would rather have one of the other old gens over 2 SM and I would rather have 4 SS.Also Im not a fan of Bo3 as I feel like Bo3 induces too much burnout during Teamtours.

 

[yovan33321]

Team Name: Lasagna's Crustles
Reason to be chosen: playing zu since a while, i won the last zupl beeing co-captain, and i also asked to ban centrikorch 3months before his ban. i won the rigged tour, top 16 from the last ssnl, top 4 from zult. i have a lot of time and i love win

My preferred format would be something like this:

/ 3 SS / 2 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP / 0 GSC

 

[File 13]

Hey, everyone. I am yet unsure if I will be participating in this tournament; however, I wanted to take the opportunity to vouch for the legitimacy of GSC ZU. Despite some people's negative preconceptions regarding the general duration of GSC games, GSC ZU is heavily geared towards offense and is therefore quite fast-paced. It's also worth mentioning that GSC has several resources available in the ZU Old Gens Hub, as well as sample teams in the ZU room. As someone who has put a lot of time and effort into the tier, I would be thrilled if the community would show it some love.

Thank you for your consideration.

 

[Apagogie]

Team name (avoid inappropriate names)

• If you want to take over an existing team, you must get permission from last year's manager

Team Name : Humilau Hakamo-os
Returning this year to defend the champion title of the best team which ever existed in ZUPL and hopefully beat once again my like ratio. I will eventually learn my team name as well. Will do my best to keep our domination three years in a row my proud Haka members ~

Format: 1 Bo3 (SS/SM/ORAS) / 3 SS / 1 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP

I think this format would be the most competitive & interesting to watch. A fourth slot SS is not that interesting and could easily be swapped out by a Bo3 featuring SS . This format also has the advantage to keep virtually 2 SM instead of one. More than 4 SS slots is not an option, we were exhausted last year with only 3. I don't think we could either keep the consistency in teams with more than 8 slots (and would give way too much weight on old gens compared to current gen). ADV is our less competitive old gens which probably deserves some tiering actions and updates so I don't think it is a good idea at all to include it somewhere in the tournament. GSC is surprisingly pretty balanced so I don't think it's that crazy to think to include it but BW & DPP also have a decent support from players of previous edition (especially DPP). I vote to keep the tradition with 1 bo3/ 3 SS / 1 SM 1 Oras / 1 BW / 1 DPP.

 

[Aaronboyer]

I suppose I'll throw my hat in the ring for what lineups I would like to see in ZUPL this year. 4x SS / SM / ORAS / BW / DPP makes the most logistical sense when considering what metagames do we want to see the most metagame development out of. This has already been outlined before by several users that have made similar posts above for the same proposed lineup, but its worth iterating again that in a 3x SS / 2x SM lineup, teams would likely require a tournament main to play in the second SM slot. Need proof? Look no further than ZUPL II Week 1, where 5/6 teams had to plug in a non-ZU main. SM is without argument the most fully-developed metagame of all the ZU gens; are we really going to prioritize SM over another slot of current gen SS?

Most importantly I want to share an ideology I've adopted from the PU Community concerning PL lineups. I sincerely believe that there is absolutely no reason whatsoever that a PL team could in theory win all 3 SS games (or 4/10 in the case of people proposing 10 slot lineups), and still lose the week. We want use ZUPL as an opportunity to highlight some of our ZU old gens, but it should never be the focus of why we are holding a PL in the first place. Old gen players tend to cost a lot during the auction, which is to be expected if you want the best one out of the small pool, but that doesn't mean ZUPL teams should have an old gen-centric draft plan.

I can't convince you that 4 SS slots are better than 2 SM slots though until the light bulb finally turns on about putting current gen ZU at the forefront. It is what it is. Get your priorities straight.

Couldn't be bothered to write a paragraph about these

Including an XY slot - Are you kidding me? People brought illegal mons in old gens slots multiple times in both ZUPL I and II with updated resources and teambuilder checkers and you think including a player-existent, resource-lacking "metagame" deserves to be included? At that rate, why don't we throw BW1 into the mix... EDIT: Misread above posts; DC and JdRDMS called ORAS "XY" even though those terms are not interchangable as XY ZU "resources" do exist deep in the troves of the Gen 6 closed forums.
10 slots - More slots, more players needed, more players drafted, makes the tournament less high-level
Bo3 - Burnout for whoever plays that slot. In theory its super hype but like who really plays SS/SM/ORAS besides 5gen? Ho3n? TwiTT? If you're a manager applicant who supports this, idk I just don't get it. Seriously, by week 5 it'll be an absolute chore.

 

[Drud]

Team Name: tbd
Qualifications: Made finals of zult, semis of zu no johns, finals of oras zu cup and i am in zu classic playoffs. I have plenty of managing experience and the pupl team i'm managing is currently 2nd out of 8 teams after 6 weeks.

Best format to me seems 1 Bo3 / 3 SS / 1 SM / 1 ORAS / 1 BW / 1 DPP

 

[Oathkeeper]

Thanks to everyone that signed up! We can only take 6 of ya and believe me when I say that deliberating and picking these managers with my cohost 85percent was very tough.

The selected managers are:
Fiery Flamencos - managed by DurzaOffTopic
Lucky Stunkys - managed by Ho3nConfirm3d
Morpeek-A-Boos - managed by Toto
Humilau Hakamo-os - managed by Apagogie
Pay Day Persians - managed by SBPC
TBD - managed by Drud

Congratulations to our managers! Player signups will be up shortly.