Tournament SCL III PU Discussion Thread

[ishtar]

Welcome to the Smogon Champions League 3 Discussion Thread -- PU edition! This thread will be used to discuss PU in SCL III related topics, whether it’s about the players, general metagame trends, matches, predictions and so on.

Commencement thread
Schedule
Power Rankings

Pricelist

+------------------------+-------+
|         Player         | Price |
+------------------------+-------+
| mind gaming            | 36000 |
| SoulWind               | 32000 |
| GXE                    | 28000 |
| Nat                    | 27500 |
| umbry                  | 27500 |
| Kushalos               | 25000 |
| mncmt                  | 23000 |
| Punny                  | 22500 |
| Feliburn               | 21000 |
| entrocefalo            | 20000 |
| lax                    | 20000 |
| Separation             | 20000 |
| Beraldo                | 20000 |
| Carkoala               | 18000 |
| Icemaster              | 17000 |
| Floss                  | 17000 |
| Finchinator            | 16500 |
| Accel                  | 16000 |
| Highv0ltag3            | 15500 |
| qsns                   | 15500 |
| blunder                | 15500 |
| Thiago Nunes           | 15500 |
| zioziotrip             | 15000 |
| dcae                   | 15000 |
| Laroxyl                | 15000 |
| Xrn                    | 14500 |
| Fogbound Lake          | 14500 |
| Akaru Kokuyo           | 14500 |
| TJ                     | 14500 |
| Hacker                 | 14500 |
| Danny                  | 14500 |
| DugZa                  | 14500 |
| Welli0u                | 13500 |
| Ox the Fox             | 13000 |
| Sage                   | 12000 |
| Mana                   | 11500 |
| gum                    | 11000 |
| Ajna                   | 11000 |
| Togkey                 | 11000 |
| BIHI                   | 11000 |
| aesf                   | 11000 |
| Highlord               | 10500 |
| Scottie                | 10000 |
| Eternal Spirit         | 10000 |
| TPP                    | 10000 |
| DAHLI                  | 10000 |
| Elias PSY              |  9000 |
| Chloe                  |  9000 |
| watashi                |  8500 |
| tazz                   |  8000 |
| Storm Zone             |  8000 |
| robjr                  |  8000 |
| ninjadog               |  7500 |
| Aberforth              |  7500 |
| eifo                   |  7000 |
| Lunar.                 |  7000 |
| zS                     |  7000 |
| Wolf                   |  6500 |
| Santu                  |  6000 |
| Guille                 |  6000 |
| bb skarm               |  6000 |
| Eniigma                |  6000 |
| M Dragon               |  5500 |
| babyboyblues           |  5500 |
| teal6                  |  5500 |
| goldenghost            |  5500 |
| freezai                |  5500 |
| Xiri                   |  5500 |
| S1nn0hC0nfirm3d        |  5000 |
| GoldCat                |  5000 |
| Niko                   |  5000 |
| Tenzai                 |  5000 |
| xqiht                  |  5000 |
| hariyana grande        |  5000 |
| oldspicemike           |  5000 |
| Shaneghoul             |  5000 |
| Gondra                 |  4500 |
| zee                    |  4500 |
| Isza                   |  4500 |
| Askov                  |  4500 |
| clean                  |  4500 |
| etern                  |  4000 |
| z0mOG                  |  4000 |
| Toxigen                |  4000 |
| Jytcampbell            |  4000 |
| CTC                    |  4000 |
| tko                    |  4000 |
| procorphish            |  4000 |
| Sylveon used calm mind |  3500 |
| ishtar                 |  3500 |
| London Beats           |  3500 |
| Savouras               |  3500 |
| Expulso                |  3500 |
| Edgar                  |  3500 |
| asa                    |  3500 |
| hellom                 |  3500 |
| Actuarily              |  3500 |
| Meminger21             |  3000 |
| bage1                  |  3000 |
| SiTuM                  |  3000 |
| Axrtix                 |  3000 |
| SuperEpicAmpharos      |  3000 |
| Achimoo                |  3000 |
| Potatochan             |  3000 |
| justdrew               |  3000 |
| cleann                 |  3000 |
| Dr. Phd. BJ            |  3000 |
| Cam                    |  3000 |
| Clementine             |  3000 |
| Piyush25               |  3000 |
| Wail Wailord           |  3000 |
| Taka                   |  3000 |
| Acehunter1             |  3000 |
| JustFranco             |  3000 |
| Elfuseon               |  3000 |
| Glue                   |  3000 |
| vivalospride           |  3000 |
| Pokeslice              |  3000 |
| sempra                 |  3000 |
| eragon11145            |  3000 |
| Booty                  |  3000 |
| feen                   |  3000 |
| LpZ                    |  3000 |
| Ann                    |  3000 |
| mimilimi               |  3000 |
| Drifting               |  3000 |
| Éric                   |  3000 |
| Baloor                 |  3000 |
| Ash KetchumGamer       |  3000 |
| Feyy                   |  3000 |
| Mashing                |  3000 |
| raf                    |  3000 |
| Collette               |  3000 |
| s7a                    |  3000 |
| Rubyblood              |  3000 |
| Amukamara              |  3000 |
| Frania                 |  3000 |
| Lokifan                |  3000 |
| tier                   |  3000 |
| RichardMillePlain      |  3000 |
| Meru                   |  3000 |
| wesh papillon          |  3000 |
| Inder                  |  3000 |
| Joeshh                 |  3000 |
| avarice                |  3000 |
+------------------------+-------+

+------------------------+-------+

PU prices

Not all of these players necessarily start/play PU in the tour. * for retains

Beraldo- 20k
Floss- 17k
sensei axew- 16.5k*
pdt- 16k*
TJ- 14.5k
Danny- 14.5k
Dugza- 14.5k
Ox the Fox- 13k
Mana- 11.5k
gum- 11k
Togkey- 11k
Chloe- 9k
zS- 7k
eifo- 7k
Santu- 6k
Xiri- 5.5k
S1nn0hC0nfirm3d- 5k
Shaneghoul- 5k
clean- 4.5k
Askov- 4.5k
ishtar- 3.5k
asa- 3.5k
Axrtix- 3k
avarice- 3k
Baloor- 3k
justdrew- 3k

Lmk if I missed anyone!

PU Player Cores
Managers in italics
Starting slots bolded

Power Plant Tynamos-- TJ, Baloor, clean, Beraldo
Indigo Platoon-- Santu, Axrtix
Uncharted Terrors- sensei axew, Shaneghoul, avarice
Orange Islanders-- DugZa, Danny, pdt
Studio Gible-- S1nn0hC0nfirm3d, justdrew
Circuit Breakers-- gum, ishtar, eifo
Arena Spartans-- Mana, Vulpix03
Technical Machines-- Chloe
Mt. Silver Foxes-- Xiri, Floss, Togkey, asa, Askov
Showdown Shoguns-- zS, bb skarm



Some of this info is subject to change as starting lineups have not yet been released. Pls hmu if you have knowledge of some of the starting slots in the less clear teams! I'll update as soon as I can.
~

Here's to a fun SCL!!​

 

[gum]

hii, unofficial prs done by me for fun! once the real prs are done they'll be linked in the op. feel free to share urs in the meantime!!

1. uncharted terrors - sensei axew, shaneghoul, avarice

starting off, i think we have what i believe to be a rather uncontroversial number one. sensei has been the best pu player for a year and a half at this point, putting up very consistent results. he won circuit back to back, notably managing to qualify in 2022 by only signing up for one tour and winning it. to add on to that, he managed to put up a very good record last scl as well, going 8-2. despite this being a new generation and him taking a short break, he's already used to the intricacies of sv building so i'm not too worried about that. he also has great support in shaneghoul, so he'll have someone to build and test with. also i guess avarice can help too, if he doesn't mute the channel! i think if sensei can keep his form from last year, he should have another amazing season

2. arena spartans - mana, vulpix03

mana is probably the best overall player in this pool according to my sources, and other sources have told me he's going to tryhard. this combined with vulpix support to help him navigate through this ever-changing tier, means he can sit pretty in second. i don't have anything else to say about him, i think he's just good in some oldgens or something and should be able to translate that success to here x

3. power plant dynamos - tj, baloor, clean, (beraldinhoo)

tj is back to pu after a two year-long stint in ou and banned users land, and he should do well once again. amongst everyone in this pool, he has the most pu experience. i'm slightly worried about how much experience he has in sv as i don't know if he was keeping up with the tier / generation in general while banned, but he's a good player anyway. his support is slightly lacking, i sneaked beraldo here as apparently he'll be the one supporting tj..? so we'll see how that goes! baloor also has been learning the tier so there's hope. similarly to mana, i think that if he can adapt to the tier he should put up a great record, and both of these rankings are pretty interchangeable imo

4. indigo platoons - santu, axrtrix

another good tour player, i just rate santu and his support options slightly lower than the two people above him. i don't know how tuned in either are with pu as of right now, and how much they'll care, but after last year i don't think it's very wise to write off the platoons's pu slot; they seem to know what they're doing there, and santu seems to be more promising than their last year's slot. this is a slot i see going even at worst, really

5. orange islanders - dugza, danny, pdt

dugza is kinda sensei-lite as far as pu goes; won pult last year and qualified to circuit with that, and then got to finals. he's a good player and has been very involved with pu this generation, more than anyone above him. he did great in pupl, going 6-2 i think? he's self-sufficient, but his support is also good. danny and pdt are both knowledgeable of the tier and should be able to help with ideas / tests, which goes a long way. overall a very solid slot - i don't think it's amazing, but it's nowhere near bad either; fitting of the middle

6. mt. silver foxes - xiri, floss, togkey, asa, askov

this team has probably the most support out of any team, with multiple people involved with the tier; asa's on council and went 6-3 in pupl, floss also did great for that tour i think? and both askov and togkey qualified for ladder tour and won round 1. morever, they're supporting a well-known player in xiri. the reason they find themselves in the lower half is that, while xiri always does decently, he never seems to do amazingly in these tours. i think having too many people support can also backfire if they have too many ideas and their personalities don't mash well together, so it'll be interesting to see if the foxes can overcome this challenge. if they can, i think this slot has the potential to do well, and i'd be surprised to see xiri flop terribly

7. technical machines - chloe

chloe finds herself on the machines yet again! she's a decent player and already knows the tier, but i think her lack of support is worrying. obviously this is something she can overcome by testing / building with people not on her team when their teams don't face each other, but being alone in a channel is never much fun. i think she can win against like, everyone in this pool if she's at her peak form, but on average i think i'd favour the people above - obviously this is something that might change as the season goes on and we see who performs well

8. studio gible - s1nn0hc0nfirm3d, justdrew

there's not much to say other than, while i don't think sinnoh's bad at all, he simply lacks experience in the tier. compared to people above him with more experience, either with the tier or overall, it's just pretty hard to justify ranking him higher imo. another concern i have is that, from what i've seen / heard, he and drew seem to have very different approaches and i don't know how well they'll work together, which might end up being an issue in the builder. he's still a capable pilot and creative builder, so i expect him to pick up some wins, and i hope he and drew prove me wrong

9. showdown shoguns - zs, bb skarm

lastly, we have the shoguns. i feel bad ranking this team last as i like both, but zs lacks current gen pu results and i don't think either is too in touch with the metagame right now. i also don't know how involved skarm's even going to be with prep here, as i assume he'll be spread thin between tiers. i do think they have the potential to do better than this ranking implies, especially with the metagame changing for week 2, but really i feel like every slot above this one can do the same, while also having pilots that i'd consider better or around zs's skill level with more / better support.

 

[sensei axew]

SV PU: DugZa vs TJ - Although TJ is a very good player, he hasn't been playing much of SV PU at all and I think it's going to take him this week to get adjusted before he catches up to everyone else thanks to the tier-defining shifts that will take place next month. DugZa is one of the best players in the pool in my opinion and I don't think he'll drop week 1
SV PU: gum vs Chloe - Highlight matchup tbhhh, love both of these players but I'm gonna favor gum as they have been the driving force of the PU player base since basically the start of SV
SV PU: Santu vs S1nn0hC0nfirm3d - ummm i don't honestly know who to pick here because honestly I don't think either of them have played a single game of SV PU! so uh gonna pick the player higher on the power rankings..!
SV PU: Xiri vs zS - Another close one! While Xiri is a veteran at this point in big stage lower tier tournaments whereas zS is a relative newcomer, I don't think that's going to make too much of a difference here. zS has been pretty strong as of late and his recent teams have been really good so I'm fairly confident he will take this one

Here's to a great SCL :)

 

[Shaneghoul]

SV PU: DugZa vs TJ - Really exciting matchup, looking forward to seeing TJ back in action and seeing if there's any rust. I give this to DugZa on account of him being more familiar with SV PU as a whole while still being a great player, but it wouldn't shock me to see TJ winning either
SV PU: gum vs Chloe - Super exciting game. Going to ride the hot hand as Chloe is coming off of some great tournament performances and has looked really sharp this generation. Gum is also great though and I expect this to be super exciting
SV PU: Santu vs S1nn0hC0nfirm3d - Despite disappearing for a while, I think Hoenn has still kept up with SV and has been playing SV PU to some capacity, something that I can't say for Santu, who I've never seen play an SV PU game in my life. He's still a great player though and he's no stranger to lower tiers though so I could see him taking the upset.
SV PU: Xiri vs zS - Xiri in PU is a surprise to see and I'm not sure how comfortable he'll be. I don't think he's played much of the tier at all while zS has been hanging around the tier in some capacity since its inception, and has a lot of building and playing practice coming off of PUPL.

Excited for SCL to be back, enjoy the tour everyone!

 

[rien]

SV PU: Mana vs gum - mana played decently last week and will be backed by pretty creative building this week. gum struggled quite a bit last week, i don't think it's an unwinnable matchup but i'd give mana the edge here
SV PU: zS vs DugZa - zs might have some tricks up his sleeve as he's highly familiar with the drops from nu, but it's hard not to bold the more solid player here (do try to click the correct moves this time though!)
SV PU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs Xiri - i rate both players and their support very highly, this can go either way
SV PU: Chloe vs Santu - very concerned about santu's building support, his team last week had some glaring holes in it and unfortunately he wasn't able to make much progress. chloe didn't play optimally last week but she should be back to form here and i expect her to be more robust in the builder
SV PU: TJ vs sensei axew - another match that can easily go either way, both are good players and seem very motivated to learn the new meta

prediction format

SV PU: Mana vs gum
SV PU: zS vs DugZa
SV PU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs Xiri
SV PU: Chloe vs Santu
SV PU: TJ vs sensei axew

 

[zS]

SV PU: DugZa vs S1nn0hC0nfirm3d: he's been on a roll this far and i don't expect him to stop, i haven't liked DugZa teampicks as much but he's still a good player, and DugZa desperately needs this win to turn his season around so i expect him to try very hard. I think this game's gonna be a lot closer than what records say here.
SV PU: Santu vs Mana: two great players, santus teams felt a bit lackluster compared to manas, and i expect vulpix to never allow a team with morpeko as fastest mon ever again, so mana should take this. however, if santu starts getting or making good teams, i think he takes this as i rate him slightly higher as a player, but i'm still going with mana waiting for santu to prove me wrong.
SV PU: Xiri vs Chloe: chloe is having a great start, xiri is no slouch ofc but chloe atm is on a roll. I also liked her brings a lot this far.
SV PU: sensei axew vs gum: gum had a nice win last week and i think she's a good player, but i can't predict sensei to go 0-3.

 

[gum]

so this thread is extra dead..!

SV PU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs sensei axew (45/55) - highlight mu me thinks. looking at records alone, bolding sensei here might seem odd but he's had a harder first half of the tournament, while sinnoh hasn't really played anyone in the top half of the pool since week 1 santu, who looked pretty lost in the builder then. sinnoh's style tends to be bringing unorthodox teams / cores to take advantage of common meta trends, which has worked well so far, but against an opponent like sensei that doesn't always bring standard and likes to use off meta things himself, i can't see it working too well. obviously, i can't fully ignore their respective records; 5-0 is very impressive and it's clear sinnoh's doing something well, while sensei has struggled comparatively. in an even matchup though, i'd probably favour sensei to take it, and i think he has the tools in the builder to make that happen. should be a fun watch regardless of who wins

SV PU: Chloe vs zS (55/45) - don't think i'll have as much to say here, i think chloe has played pretty solidly so far this tournament while zs has looked a bit more sloppy in his play, though he played well against sensei to make an unfavourable mu come down to sandslash be barely out of aura wheel range. in general i've liked chloe's teams more, they seem more overall solid while zs's builds are sometimes pretty weak to some big threats, and he's more willing to play russian roulette with matchups. i think this approach isn't the best in this metagame, where matchup issues are already present but there's always ways to offset them. i still wouldn't be surprised if he managed to get a solid advantage in the builder to walk away with the win, even if chloe has been using pretty varied stuff herself. despite what i said earlier, i'd say he has a slightly higher playing ceiling, and he could probably outplay in an even / 40/60 matchup

SV PU: Mana vs 3d (65/35) - so well 3d is the dynamos's 5th pu player in 6 weeks! i don't think they know what they're doing there post-tj ban, despite them generally bringing good teams. this is one of the two reasons i don't think this matchup is completely one-sided, as at least 3d is most likely bringing something solid. i've liked mana's and pix's building this season, with fun and off-meta brings such as otr spiritomb, but i do think they can bring stuff that looks pretty bad at the same time (fastest pokemon cryogonal week 2, trick room week 3). the second reason is that spartans are out, so i don't really know how much they care. dynamos can still make it if they win out, and i assume 3d is going to be much more motivated after getting bought mid-season and getting a chance to start, while being a decent player himself. i still favour mana a fair amount though, as he's the better player and already has a solid grasp on the tier

SV PU: Santu vs asa (70/30) - yasss asa is IN! sadly she's playing santu, who's been on a roll these past three weeks, going from 0-2 to 3-2. i think bolding against him is very hard, as the platoons seem to have figured out this slot now. they seem to be experts at getting good matchups, and i think the foxes's pu slot has been rather unimpressive in the building department, often bringing teams with sets / pokemon that look out of place and with exploitable weaknesses, which i expect the platoons to capitalize on. this is a pretty uphill battle for asa, as they're facing a good player with much more experience for their debut game in an official. she's still a capable player though, and her building might give her an edge here. i think santu is likely to outplay even a bad matchup, but asa has the ability to prevent that. her main challenge is going to be getting over her nerves, and if she can, this should be closer than i'm making it out to be. but i might be slightly biased idk! good luck queenie

prediction format

SV PU: S1nn0hC0nfirm3d vs sensei axew
SV PU: Chloe vs zS
SV PU: Mana vs 3d
SV PU: gum vs DugZa
SV PU: Santu vs asa