SPL X DOU Discussion

[Level 51]

Highlights of Week 1:

• Seeing Croven's team preview and thinking "oh huh I didn't know Victreebel learnt Beat Up"
• Watching Edu trying to have an argument with Lavos in Smogtours chat
• Jake's nicknames
• Struggling to figure out why people are using Mega Diancie

Looking forward to some good matches this week! MajorBowman vs SMB is probably the highlight for me but I hope to catch as many of these live as possible, let's have some great shows :)

p.s.: Croven vs emforbes

 

[Vallex]

[RUIN] Croven (49) vs (51) emforbes [TYRN]

I will take emgoat for this one. Not the best SPL start (props to Jake and his CM Cress), but I can clearly see he making some adjustments and coming back more stronger. Croven and qsns will bring some unexpected core, that probably won't work as well as they expect during the match. Croven can win this, but he needs to be one turn ahead of Emi and play perfectly.

[SCTR] Miltankmilk (49) vs (51) EmbCPT [CONG]

DOU Avengers: Civil War !!!!1!1!!1
I really wanted to see this match during last Snake between :messi: and Vai Malandra. If I know well Edu, he will prep x2 more serious after the teambuilder competition drama lol Looking forward to see what MooTree duo will bring to this match (stupid mons with a quadruple weaknesses to ground to make Edu mad during the teampreview can be a thing).

[BIGS] Ezrael (55) vs (45) fespy [SHRK]

Ezrael is a solid player and have Lunar/Nails to help him with teambuild and testing. Lost a tough match last week bit this will only make him stronger. On the other hand, we have fespy that kinda disappointed me last week :I First thing i saw in your team was 3 mons weak to rock type (sh*t am i becoming Edu?) against a Terrakion (rip) and some plays I didn't understand. You have potential to do well during this SPL, just need to improve teambuild and practice more, a victory here will be important to bring you some confidence. Picked Jon cause he's more solid and playing better atm.

[WOLF] Human (45) vs (55) Biosci [RAID]

I was so hype to see Human playing last week (i remember seeing him play VGC events on stream when I started to play competitive) but he got bodied by SMB's Diance and awesome plays :I Hope to see a better show this week, because we know you can do it. Again, like fespy, you need more practice to get into the tier and pull of good results. Biosci brought Mega Came as me and Edu were expecting lol Played really good besides the fact that his team had triple weaknesses to water and ground (get off my account Edu oo). Expecting Biosci to win, more experience in the tier and more "safe" choice.

[TGRS] MajorBowman (49,99) vs (50,01) SMB [CRYO]

I don't wanna write anymore :v Highlight match of the week, I really dont know what to expect. Both played really well and I hope to see good predicts and a battle decided on the last turn :) Choosing SMBoat because I don't feel 100% safe with Jake :x

Good luck guys

 

[DaWoblefet]

3/5 for predictions on week 1. Let's see how week 2's predictions go!

[RUIN] Croven vs emforbes [TYRN]

Though I'd probably rate emforbes as the better player on most any given day, I think he's been in a rut lately and needs the opportunity to spring back into action. Trying to do so against Croven's unorthodox team choices is going to be awkward, since bucking the typical bulky balance-style of DOU can throw off even the best players, as shown with Croven's excellent recent placements and play. I'm excited to see if Croven cooks up something equally crazy as Victreebel Terrakion or if he tries a more traditional route; either will capitalize on his good play as of late.

[SCTR] Miltankmilk vs EmbCPT [CONG]

The recent drama between these two has made me roll my eyes a bit at each, but I think it will be a factor in motivating each to win. EmbC has a bit more pride at stake, especially wanting to shut up players dismissing his victory in week 1 as only via timeout. I'll weigh EmbC's chances more than miltankmilk based on personal experience, but I do expect this to be a good match.

[BIGS] Ezrael vs fespy [SHRK]

After a narrow loss in week 1, Ezrael will be looking to reestablish himself with a win in week two against fespy, though I'm sure fespy feels similarly after getting knocked around by Croven. It appears most are continuing to sleep on fespy, so until I'm given a reason otherwise, I'll put Ezrael as the victor here.

[WOLF] Human vs Biosci [RAID]

A sleeper pick this round, I think despite SMB's tossing Human around in week 1 with Diancie, there was a good deal of innovation and intentionality with the team he brought. As time progresses, I expect this to progress into several wins as he continues to become accustomed to the tier. Biosci has a lot of motivation going into this round, though, with a timer loss in week one removing any chance for victory, so both have a lot to prove going into week 2.

[TGRS] MajorBowman vs SMB [CRYO]

This matchup looks to be a fun one, and I'm giving it to SMB despite an excellent showing from both players in week 1. Seeing CM Cress + Zard Y again is awesome, as the pairing of the two is classically one of my favorites to watch in doubles play. Like MajorBowman, SMB's first week match was full of good play, but I've given the edge to SMB based on gut feeling and nothing else. Predicting matches with players so close in skill level makes for a difficult choice in writing the post, but it typically invites a fun, engaging match, and I'll happily take that trade-off any day.

 

[MajorBowman]

Week threeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[WOLF] Human vs miltankmilk [SCTR]
[CRYO] SMB vs emforbes [TYRN]
[BIGS] Ezrael vs Croven [RUIN]
[RAID] Biosci vs MajorBowman [TGRS]
[SHRK] fespy vs EmbCPT [CONG]

What are your Week 2 highlights? Week 3 predictions?

 

[laptops]

Genesect used Iron Head!
(The opposing Venusaur lost 44% of its health!)

The opposing Venusaur flinched and couldn't move!

[BIGS] Ezrael vs Croven [RUIN]

 

[DaWoblefet]

3/5 again on predictions. It's a treat to watch some good games of Pokemon, and I'm hoping to see some more good ones this week.

[WOLF] Human vs miltankmilk [SCTR]

I'm loving the new, creative ideas that Human has brought to weeks 1 and 2, and his involvement on the forums and PS indicates to me that he cares quite a bit about improving his DOU game. However, I find it unlikely miltankmilk will bring a DUU team again for week 3, and as a result I expect a good clash between the two. miltankmilk taking advantage of his 6v6 experience will be key in putting down Human this round.

[CRYO] SMB vs emforbes [TYRN]

While I caught signs of the top tier play I praise emforbes for in last week's match, I still think he's sort of in a rut that he needs to pull himself out of. Meanwhile, SMB seems to be performing alright at least, and I think he's definitely not going to be terribly fazed even after a decently rough loss to MajorBowman. I loved watching these guys play in other high-stakes matches, and this game is the one I look most forward to watching this week.

[BIGS] Ezrael vs Croven [RUIN]

I'm a big fan of Croven's attitude in last week's match; it sounded like the mindset of a player that recognized there was potential to play better even despite hax, which is the mindset of a person who wants to win. By no means does Ezrael lack that mindset, but I feel like Ezrael is sort of in that awkward area where you're just not quite sure what to try next. Ezrael is more than capable of beating Croven and I will not be surprised if he does, but Croven seems to be the safer pick overall.

[RAID] Biosci vs MajorBowman [TGRS]

Having bet against MajorBowman in the two previous matchup predictions, I've since learnt my lesson and will be placing my bets with Bowman. MajorBowman seems to be combining strong teambuilding choices with excellent play, and even despite using Shedinja Chansey and not really wanting to play still went x-2 at the most recent VGC Regional. I wouldn't say Biosci is in a slump by any means, but MajorBowman seems to be on fire, and he'll be difficult to crack without careful preparation and play.

[SHRK] fespy vs EmbCPT [CONG]

I really would like to give fespy the edge in one of my predictions, but I just haven't been impressed with his play yet. EmbC seems to be playing well enough that on paper at least, it should go to EmbC, but I would love to see a close game between these two regardless.

 

[Gotheru]

(I didn't know where to post this but I guess I'll post it here, might delete later if someone asks)

Regarding the match between Biosci and Edu, I'd like to discuss a point that I've been curious about since I started playing DOU some weeks ago. I come from VGC, and I know that there isn't much in common between the official rules and Smogon rules, but I want to talk about the timer on PS!

When you play on cartridge, if you don't happen to click a move before the time limit of that turn (time out), the move in the first slot is autoclicked, and thus, the player that times out doesn't lose the game. Meanwhile, if this happens during a match in a Smogon-based tier, you lose the game; and I think this is a little bit unfair (seeing how Biosci said that he clicked the move but maybe his net wasn't working properly), and I think that it should be changed to how the cartridge works (as you can see in this video)

I think that PS! implemented this feature because of the timer mechanics (and I really don't know how they work), as this can end in a long game against an afk opponent, which is harming for ladder players. But, in my opinion, this shouldn't happen in tournament matches (it could only be implemented in Smogtours) but I think it's worth it having having a discussion on it.

There are also arguments against it. Timer is sometimes a wincon, and the better players should know hoy to manage their time; but bad connections aren't any player's fault. This new feature could be exploitable indeed, and might be unhealthy for the game, but so they are losses like the one that we had on R1.

Sorry if I'm speaking without any kind of knowledge about the Smogon's policy, but again, this is my point of view as someone who has played vgc for some time and this proposal might not have any sense in this tier.

 

[DaWoblefet]

(I didn't know where to post this but I guess I'll post it here, might delete later if someone asks)

Regarding the match between Biosci and Edu, I'd like to discuss a point that I've been curious about since I started playing DOU some weeks ago. I come from VGC, and I know that there isn't much in common between the official rules and Smogon rules, but I want to talk about the timer on PS!

When you play on cartridge, if you don't happen to click a move before the time limit of that turn (time out), the move in the first slot is autoclicked, and thus, the player that times out doesn't lose the game. Meanwhile, if this happens during a match in a Smogon-based tier, you lose the game; and I think this is a little bit unfair (seeing how Biosci said that he clicked the move but maybe his net wasn't working properly), and I think that it should be changed to how the cartridge works (as you can see in this video)

I think that PS! implemented this feature because of the timer mechanics (and I really don't know how they work), as this can end in a long game against an afk opponent, which is harming for ladder players. But, in my opinion, this shouldn't happen in tournament matches (it could only be implemented in Smogtours) but I think it's worth it having having a discussion on it.

There are also arguments against it. Timer is sometimes a wincon, and the better players should know hoy to manage their time; but bad connections aren't any player's fault. This new feature could be exploitable indeed, and might be unhealthy for the game, but so they are losses like the one that we had on R1.

Sorry if I'm speaking without any kind of knowledge about the Smogon's policy, but again, this is my point of view as someone who has played vgc for some time and this proposal might not have any sense in this tier.

Having also played VGC for some time, perhaps I can offer perspective on why this sort of implementation isn't considered seriously in Smogon formats at large (don't forget we're talking here more broadly about Smogon formats, not just doubles).

Smogtours timer is essentially set up in this way (source):

• Players each have 300 seconds to make their move choice. If players are taking a lot of time to make their moves over a set of turns, then they will have less time to make their moves on future turns. Similarly, if they are making their choices quickly, they will be rewarded with extra time to make their moves on following turns.
• If either player disconnects, the regular timer is paused, and there is another 300 second timer that begins counting down. This second "disconnect timer" will never replenish, and should a player fail to reconnect, they will lose the game. This disconnect timer can trigger multiple times if a user DCs multiple times.

As you corrected described from the linked video, VGC timer behaves differently to each of these. Move selection is currently 45 seconds for VGC matches, but historically has been 60 and currently in normal rules is 99 seconds (note the huge drop off from 300!). However, the resolution of the timer hitting 0 is also different than PS:

• Tiebreaker-determining wins based on a global timer: Currently, if you were to play a match of OU on cart, your best way to replicate the tier would be to play a 60 minute, 99 move second timer game. If a match goes to time, the match result is determined by which player has more Pokemon, then by which player has the greater % of HP remaining. As you may be familiar, timer stalling to win games was a legitimate win condition in Gen 5-6 VGC, but many players found it undesirable. This is even more appalling when you realize that, if both players decided to take the full time allotted to them, matches could be resolved in a mere 36 turns. Let's consider the primary arguments against a global timer:

1. It is currently unknown exactly how much time every attack animation in the game takes to complete under various circumstances. As a result, games on PS will naturally move much faster than cart without this information, but that would detract from the desire to emulate cart mechanics.
2. Playing to a win condition of a one-hour match would result in players, especially stall in singles, revolving around taking a single KO and playing passively for the remainder of the game.
3. The 99 second move timer applies to every action, including switching moves, which means if both players decided to U-turn, in theory you could take nearly 7 minutes for a single turn to resolve. In general, both players are just going to be sitting around waiting to click their move at the last possible second in various endgame scenarios. This decreases the spectator value of a match.

• Chess-clock style wins via the "your time" system: without hacking, the maximum amount of your time available in a match is 10 minutes. A player's selection time is counted against a global timer for that player, and once they run out of "your time", they lose the match. PS already has somewhat of an implementation of your time for VGC, but there are several significant bugs still unresolved. Assuming a perfect implementation of your time, let's consider the primary arguments against your time:

1. Accounting for input delay in selecting moves on PS is difficult to resolve. In doubles play, with optimal mashing, a player can input their move in 4 seconds. In singles, you can pull this off in roughly 2 seconds. However, on PS, you can easily choose your move in less than 1 second. This extra input delay would need to be accounted for to, at a minimum, force players to use 2 seconds of Your Time each turn in singles and 4 in doubles. Additionally, you can disable animations on PS to "get the upper hand" on your time; forcing this to be the norm seems undesirable.
2. Assuming input delay is accounted for, the maximum number of turns in a singles match is 300 turns. This is a generous maximum, as oftentimes players will actually think about their moves. This leads to the old problem of stall matches being uncompletable, as well as stalling for your time being a legitimate win condition if the other player took too much time to think.

Both of these match resolutions for VGC play, in addition, do NOT account for disconnections. If a player DCs on cart, the match is indeterminate (though custom is to give the loss to the player who disconnected). I think that one of PS's biggest advantages is the ability to not instantly lose the state of the game if either player disconnects, and as you argued, it is actually for the reason of Internet troubles that a move autoselection on timeout would be nice. However, you must answer this question: what is the reason for having a timer at all then? Or why not create something like, you can have, say, 90 seconds per turn of input time but no global timer? I can think of a few arguments for keeping some sort of global timer:

1. Having a global timer encourages players to play at reasonable speeds for the spectators. While I would personally love to spend as much time as possible per turn running damage calculations and analyzing my board to prepare my win conditions, the audience does not like that.
2. Without a global timer, infinite move selection time can be abused to drag on stall matches (or even just general long matches in singles), for dozens of minutes or even hours longer than necessary in an attempt to make an opponent cold, tired, or stall for irl reasons to leave a match, all of which seem undesirable.
3. Having move selection time be reduced over time if the player is taking longer and longer rewards the player who comes to the recognition of their best move more quickly, and it reduces the impact of ghosting (players dishonestly collaborating together over a voice call or chat to attempt to win the game together), since there is less discussion time available.

I think I have shown why the two major VGC timer solutions are undesirable in at least singles play, where stall is considered a legitimate strategy and it is preferred that games are completed rather than ended prematurely (save the 1000-turn rule). While you can probably argue that DOU does not face the same issues as singles to the same degree (which is why I'm totally fine with either VGC timer in VGC), I would counter by saying consistency within Smogon formats is preferred compared to whatever overriding benefits would be gained from switching to a system that would permit a player to time out without significant consequence. In the case of Biosci vs. Edu, yeah, it's lame the match didn't complete, but I think on average players prefer situations like that than the situations described in either VGC timer implementation for Smogon formats.

tl;dr Having a move auto-selection on timeout is not possible without a global timer that results in a possible win/loss upon its completion. There are good reasons not to incorporate either of VGC's timers, for the sake of stall games in Singles, and the disconnect timer seems to be the best compromise available to not punish players with bad Internet, which is already implemented on Smogtours.

 

[Gotheru]

Oh, I didn't know all the reasoning behind, now it makes much more sense ^^'
Although I wasn't thinking of a full VGC-like timer, I was talking about just the timeout part of it, but knowing the 300 second rule in Smogtours when a player disconnects, maybe Biosci could have won by disconnecting and taking another 300 seconds to fix the net? I don't know, but I have to admit that the Smogon timer is much better than the cartridge one for sure. Thanks for the information! :)

 

[DaWoblefet]

Oh, I didn't know all the reasoning behind, now it makes much more sense ^^'
Although I wasn't thinking of a full VGC-like timer, I was talking about just the timeout part of it, but knowing the 300 second rule in Smogtours when a player disconnects, maybe Biosci could have won by disconnecting and taking another 300 seconds to fix the net? I don't know, but I have to admit that the Smogon timer is much better than the cartridge one for sure. Thanks for the information! :)

Don't forget that a large part of why VGC needs its timer is to make events go smoothly; if we just let players take however long they wanted, irl events could potentially run extremely late into the night, etc. I would definitely prefer having either VGC timer in VGC than Smogtour's timer. In Biosci's particular situation, he probably didn't know the move didn't go through until it was too late, which is an unfortunate side effect of this system. If PS just autoselected his move though, not only would it be potentially random (Mew would have had to have Fake Out in the first slot and randomly selected the correct target), but it struggles with the issues of having no overarching global timer, and I laid out those 3 arguments for having a global timer at the end of my post. So while I think everyone would prefer a match completes, this does seem to be a necessary side effect.

 

[Kenpwnchi]

Human vs MiltankMilk
So, while both are 1-1, and I feel like this match could be won by either player, I feel like MiltankMilk has the advantage here. With him having more DOU experience, and it being week 3, I’m sure he’s going to bring something he knows will win for sure. Human is still a wild card, and trying to learn the tier, so I think that might hinder him. However, he did 6-0 Biosci, so there’s a chance he could win.

SMB vs Emforbes
I think this is the highlight match of this week. Both contestants are pretty damn good. Like Human and MiltankMilk, both are 1-1, but I think SMB will bring more to the table.

Ezrael vs Croven
I think this is the match of two extremely creative players. That being said, I think Croven might have more imagination power, and, thus, wins with some obscure strategy. I wouldn’t doubt Ezrael, though.

Biosci vs MajorBowman
MajorBowman is 2-0, and Biosci is 0-2. I think it’s safe to say that MajorBowman is “back” with a vengeance. I’m not gonna say Biosci can’t win, but he’s gonna need to bring his best if he wants the victory.

Fespy vs EmbCPT
Like above, EmbCPT is 2-0, and Fespy is 0-2. Not tryna be rude, because I think both players a great at what they do, but I just don’t think Fespy has a chance at all here. Again, I’m not the type to doubt anybody, but EmbCPT is on another level.

 

[ryo yamada2001]

you might as well just link me to a random.org coin flip page if all you're going to say that all users in SPL are good and have a chance of winning without actually providing any insights

 

[lightninging]

you might as well just link me to a random.org coin flip page if all you're going to say that all users in SPL are good and have a chance of winning without actually providing any insights

on that note:

Human vs MiltankMilk
Experience in 6v6 will trump similar levels of skill. Milk takes it comfortably.

SMB vs Emforbes
SMB gonna smack around a slightly less-skilled and considerably less in-form player.

Ezrael vs Croven
Croven is either gonna 6-0 with something wack (im hoping for a talonflame maybe?) or get dragged into an actual game that he wins via last-minute hax.

Biosci vs MajorBowman
Highlight of the week imo. Bowman is probably slightly more skilled but im a huge fan of Biosci's teams in general. Gonna take the pussy way out here.

Fespy vs EmbCPT
Fespy has fared abt as well as I prolly would. EmbCPT with an easy 5-2 win via forfeit.

 

[Level 51]

Highlights of Week 2:

• Noticing that Biosci brought Cress/Zard/Koko vs Human after Human destroyed my Cress/Zard/Koko team in testing
• miltankmilk's team with only 1 Pokemon above Tier 4: the effects of talkingtree teambuilding™ begin to present themselves
• 3 chansy slap egg
• Missing basically every battle live because of the MIT Mystery Hunt

I said this last week but this week I don't have anything on and I just put the Matches tag back on myself, so: I hope to catch as many of these live as possible! I was gonna state my highlight match for this week but honestly most of these matches look like a lot of fun :D

p.s.: Ezrael vs Croven

 

[talkingtree]

Croven vs emforbes was another showing of the qsns + Croven UR spotlight, but emforbes was not going to let them take that fame and brought a literal horse. Tough, long game that definitely saw some of the playing quality drop towards the end, but a very enjoyable one in a collection of many one-sided fights.

miltankmilk vs EmbCPT is a lesson that I should stick to the Pokemon that I know are good and not just the ones that I wish were good. Still, I stand behind the team and have faith that it won't be the start to a trend.

Ezrael vs fespy was a bit disappointing; Ezrael recycled a team and fespy didn't play his best. Still, Ezrael will use this success as a solid confidence booster going into later weeks with hopefully new teams and fespy had some flickers of potential that I think could see him turn a Cr0-4ven-style start with a hopefully similarly decent finish.

Human vs Biosci is proof that this pool will adapt to sets; if they work really well one week they probably won't work the next. A beautifully executed game by Human didn't really let Biosci take any ground.

MajorBowman vs SMB showed that Bowman will even take down his main man Salamence to get the W. The Koko set and Buzzwole as a Kartana/Chansey answer both shined, looking forward to see what else he comes up with this tour.

Brief predicts for the matches I'm not involved in:
SMB vs emforbes - my highlight of the week, I think this will be a close game

Ezrael vs Croven - Ezrael's got a W under his belt and Croven/qsns might struggle with finding the line between creative and crazy. I know from personal experience how much that can hurt

Biosci vs MajorBowman - I just can't see Bio starting 0-3; really tough to predict against an on-form Jake here but that's what my gut's saying

fespy vs EmbCPT - I'm hoping this won't be as one-sided as the matchup may look. 0-2 vs 2-0 and 10th in PR vs 1st in PR, but I think this is when fespy's going to be able to actually execute a game plan. I just don't know that will be enough to take down such a big target as Edu

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Milktank vs Bowman
I'm a big fan of TalkingTree and I dont like milk so I've been hoping the milk keeps losing so TalkingTree gets subbed in. But aside from my own personal biases, I think Bowman has done 95% excellent in SPL so far and predict him to win. He started 2-0 then almost pulled out a victory in a very close match versus Biosci. I thought Milo+SD Bulu was really cool but his team overall had some holes and he went too far out of the VR by using Nidoqueen. I'm predicting he brings a more solid team this week and as always plays at the highest level

SMB vs BioSci
BioSci turn things around in week 3 after a slow start. His team was solid and I think he will continue to preform well going forward. This is my match of the week, I am excited to see what each player brings. But I stand by my power rankings as SMB being the best player competing in SPL, so SMB gets the nod.

Human vs Fepsy
This is my second favorite match of the week. Human is my #1 favorite rando VGC player to pop up for SPL. Yet Fepsy is my favorite underdog to root for in SPL. So my who I want to win is conflicting, but who I believe will win is not conflicting. Although Fepsy has picked up a win, he performance through week 3 has been among the worst, so Human is the favored player for now.

Croven vs EmbCTP
This is my third favorite match of the week, I really like this match up and have high hopes for a close game and exciting finish. I think EmbCTP is getting pretty pissed at the circle jerking haters on discord, if he channels his rages correctly he should become the unstoppable Room Tour hero that we all know and love. Or will his emotions get the better of him and will he fail? To be determined...
Ever since the week 1 Victreebel I have looked forward to what the Croven/Qsns duo brings out. I hope week 4 brings the same surprises as week 1. Croven is truly a "Premier" player and is fun to watch but I'd also like to see Qsns play. I have a lot of thoughts about this match.

Emforbes vs Lunar
Still don't know who Lunar is. Apparently he played in SPL last year and did snake, so thats a grand total of maybe 10 DOU tour matches (unless I'm missing something?). On the other hand Emforbes had a very impressive Circut tour performance in 2018, So he is who I got to predict as the winner here.

 

[MajorBowman]

^ I've truly never seen anyone with less regard for spelling or capitalization in my life

Anyway, week 4!

[SCTR] miltankmilk vs MajorBowman [TGRS]
[CRYO] SMB vs Biosci [RAID]
[WOLF] Human vs fespy [SHRK]
[RUIN] Croven vs EmbCPT [CONG]
[TYRN] emforbes vs Lunar. [BIGS]

Week 3 thoughts? Week 4 predictions?

This week had 2 of the more luck-influenced games of the tournament so far (miltankmilk vs Human, me vs Biosci) which was weird. I felt like I played my game about as well as I possibly could given an awful matchup so I was happy to at least have a shot to win, the last 2 turns were a rollercoaster lmao. I played SMB in a test game this week and his team freaked me the hell out, was cool to watch it in action.

also i love that nidoqueen was "too far outside the vr" but buzzwole wasn't

 

[Human]

Recap
Let's start off by recapping some of the games and takeaways this week, I'll try to get more in depth in the future, but for now I'll stay rather general.

Fespy pulling out his first win of SPL against EmbCPT was wild. Especially bringing a team he's used before and is comfortable with. I have to play against him this week so I'm hoping that he didn't find his stride, but him taking down such a big name shows the parity between the DOU players this time around.

My game vs miltankmilk obviously wasn't the cleanest, but shout outs to the guy for doing some really clean double switches, it's hard not to root for him in the future after he managed to set up strong positions like he did.

SMB vs emforbes was a super interesting game, really impressive performance by emforbes with the Volcanion managing to keep a lot of pressure on the field at all times and stopping SMB from doing what he was trying to. The Knock Off getting rid of the Choice Scarf on Landorus-T was unforunate in the end game, but still a game I really enjoyed watching.

Bowman vs Biosci had Biosci bring a team that was super solid defensively, but without the clearest ways of dealing damage, and Bowman whose team had the offensive stats but not really any of the coverage. I appreciate the research on Biosci's end coming prepared to deal with the grass and flying spam of Mence Bulu teams by putting on a true steel type. The coverage moves on his Pokemon just made this very difficult for Bowman.

Croven vs Lunar we saw Croven bringing comfort, so it's hard to say much. Lunar didn't call all the switches or make as aggressive double switches for positioning like full room tends to need to in order to get its lead, I think I'd rather see more comfort this next week cause I think in a real game of Pokemon he fares rather well against just about anybody.


Predictions
For this upcoming week, I'm gonna put together some predicts and see how wrong I end up getting.

[SCTR] miltankmilk vs MajorBowman [TGRS]
I think that I've fundamentally enjoyed MajorBowman's teams and play a little bit more throughout the tournament. Thing is that miltankmilk has managed to get more or less the match up(s) he's been trying to get each week, and if that trend keeps up everyone is going to be in for a really rough time when they play against the guy.

[CRYO] SMB vs Biosci [RAID]
I think that SMB is one of the more difficult players to prepare for, to take the win against the guy you have to come in with your own strategy and execute it better than he does his own. That or actively put in measures that disrupt his strategy. I have a feeling that this game is going to be the highlight of the week.

[RUIN] Croven vs EmbCPT [CONG]
Croven has straight up been on fire recently, but I think that EmbCPT this week is going to do a really good job of forcing a game of Pokemon, that's where his team building shines the most and makes the risks that the Croven/qsns duo takes with their teams, well, risky. EmbCPT is usually very good at getting the right Pokemon in at the right time, so assuming he comes back with a vengeance after this week I have to give him the edge.

[TYRN] emforbes vs Lunar. [BIGS]
Like I said, emforbes really has been impressing me with his play and how he manages to control a game. Lunar needs to go big or go home, but he is a part of the BIGS, so if he doesn't then I'll be a bit bummed.

 

[Level 51]

hey this is becoming a weekly thing!

Highlights of Week 3:

• Getting more likes with this joke about fespy's win that I stole from Human than fespy's actual win post
• SMB's team having the entirety of my Top 3 Pokemon I Hate Using But Also Dread Playing Against (Torkoal, Mew, Diancie)
• Persian-A doing what Persian-A does best: a Fake Out here and there, a mostly inconsequential Taunt / Parting Shot, and getting 2HKOd by a kinda-strong neutrally effective move
• Getting to make a lot of jokes about "Human downing milk" but feeling so bad about miltankmilk's loss that I don't
• Catching a nonzero number of matches live!

Week 4 Predictions:

• Someone gets haxed out so badly it makes miltankmilk's misfortune look like a puppy tripping over a fluffy carpet
• Now that all 3 Kanto starters' megas have seen appearances, we move on to Johto, where "Mega"nium makes an appearance
• In Week 1, there was exactly 1 match with 0 Incineroar; in Week 2, every match had 1 Incineroar; in Week 3, there was exactly 1 match with 2 Incineroar. Thus this week will see one match with 3 Incineroar
• I miss a match because I'm too busy writing puzzles
• 5 players lose their games, but everyone loses by playing

p.s.: Croven vs. EmbCPT

 

[DaWoblefet]

It's interesting to see Lunarr replace Ezrael as the DOU player for the Bigs; I hope everything's alright for Jon on that front. I'm not sure whether to count my prediction for that match as correct or not, but I'd prefer to stay consistent at 3/5 as far as predictions go, so I'll just say I got it right.

[SCTR] miltankmilk vs MajorBowman [TGRS]
Despite a loss last week to Biosci, I considered the team matchup to be difficult for MajorBowman, and to bring the match within striking distance of winning with a double Protect is a testament to his level of play at the moment. miltankmilk by no means is playing bad, but if MajorBowman continues his trend of bringing solid teams and playing well, this will be a tough opponent to crack. miltankmilk would be wise to analyze trends from MajorBowman in his preparation this week to perhaps get the edge over Jake.

[CRYO] SMB vs Biosci [RAID]
This is my second most-anticipated matchup of the week, and I think I'm doing Biosci a disservice by predicting against him 4 weeks in a row, but man, it's SMB. Both players played excellently in their game last week, and it'll be a good show regardless I think, so my choice this week is purely based on record and nothing else.

[WOLF] Human vs fespy [SHRK]
I am happy to see fespy getting a win to buck off the haters, utilizing comfort to produce a higher skill cap in his plays rather than trying to catch EmbC off guard with some unusual team. Human's transition to DOU appears to have been quite natural, however, and already I've been waiting to see what Enosh brings each week as potential inspiration in my own teambuilding (not like I ever actually use anything but Durant, but still). Human would be wise to make sure his teams on average have a good matchup against fespy's previous squads, but I imagine fespy will pull out something new this week again; time will tell how the match goes, but I envision Human winning this one.

[RUIN] Croven vs EmbCPT [CONG]
Although I've mostly been oblivious to the meme of predicting against Croven, I'll do so here partly to meme but mostly because I think this is the highlight match of the week for me. Croven has been doing exceptionally well as far as I'm concerned, and while EmbC took a tough loss against fespy last week, I'm sure that's all the more motivating for him to prepare this week (though I hope this is motivation, not worry). As I watch Croven interact in his matches and on Discord, I've been consistently impressed with his overall mentality and how he approaches the game; I think he's got the mentality of a top player and will soon start expecting it of him. Similarly, however, I already consider EmbC to be a top player, and I hope encouragement that he's received after recent drama (including from Croven himself) is positively impactful for his own mental state. Good luck to both, I look forward to this match.

[TYRN] emforbes vs Lunar. [BIGS]
emforbes has experienced close set after close set so far in SPL, and I think it's about time to be due for a solid win he can feel confident about. From a outsider perspective, Lunarr seems to have sort of been thrust into the role of replacing Ezrael, which are big shoes to fill against the likes of someone like emforbes. I'd love to see solid play from more standard teams from Lunarr as he approaches preparation, since I think it'll be tough to build something fresh and play to the level you want when you aren't as active in the scene. Lunarr is a solid VGC player, so there's no lack of skill here, but it'll just take some time to apply it.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Some week 4 highlights for me:

• Side Soak. It didn't really do anything in this game, but I think its an interesting play
• 3 different weather setters (CharY, Pellipepper, Torkoal)
• Fespy is 2-0 the last two weeks after a slow start, now 2-2

Some week 4 lowlights for me:

• too many TL;DR posts in this thread. (my personal preference is to keep it short and shitty)
• Electric Seed Accelgor
• still no appearances by Talkingtree or Qsns

Week 5 match-ups:

[CONG] EmbCPT vs Ezrael [BIGS]
[TGRS] MajorBowman vs Fespy [SHRK]
[CRYO] SMB vs Croven [RUIN]
[TYRN] emforbes vs Human [WOLF]
[RAID] Biosci vs miltankmilk [SCTR]


Which games are you looking forward to the most?

 

[Demantoid]

EmbCPT vs Ezrael

Both have been good but I'm going to give the edge to EmbCPT here.

MajorBowMan vs Fespy

Both have been solid recently but MajorBowMan has had more consistency overall.

SMB vs Croven

Croven's creative teambuilding has given him the edge in his games so far but I think SMB is more solid. Highlight match for sure.

emforbes vs HuMan

I'm not too familiar with either player but I think emforbes is the better player.

BioSci vs MilTankMilk

MilTankMilk has been in solid form.

Real Predictions

 

[Level 51]

Highlights of Week 4:

• fespy wins the award for Worst Team To Win In An SPL DOU Game
• Not understanding any of the plays made in the Human vs fespy match
• I tried to warn you that Naganadel was useless. I really did.
• "No way SMB is coming back from this" - me, turn 4 of SMB's game
• "No way Croven is coming back from this" - me, turn 6 of Croven's game
• If Biosci's Week 1 game hadn't gone to timer, Gothitelle would have 5/5 (edit; 5/6) wins by now

Week 5 Predictions:

• Following the trend of Araquanid, Volcarona, and then Accelgor, Bug-type choices get increasingly obscure and someone brings Ultimate Ground Resist Parasect
• More people bring broken Pokemon Gothitelle, and it gets its first (edit: second) loss but only by the pigeonhole principle
• Someone completes the trifecta of Decent Pokemon You Only Use For Defiant by bringing Tornadus
• Since Naganadel's out of the way already anyway, the SPL players band together to make sure every UB features at least once by the end of the season
• A player with really solid and often creative teambuilding features in a very evenly matched game on paper but manages to edge out their opponent in a match due to having more consistency overall

p.s.: SMB vs. Croven

 

[BLOOD TOTEM]

• fespy wins the award for Worst Team To Win In An SPL DOU Game

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-doublesou-131979maybe you missed this one

 

[Checkmater]

For what it's worth I really liked Fespy's team, it's a good implementation of double fire + rocks, since a lot of teams overely on Incineroar to eat fire hits/spread. Plus there are some insane sets which came in clutch. Seems like full tr is going strong so far