Tournaments SPL XIV DPP Discussion

[16bit]

It's officially SPL season! Discussion on DPP OU in SPL XIV and its players, the trends of the metagame, predictions are more will all be discussed in the thread throughout the duration of the tournament.

Auction results:

DPP OU players of each team (starters bolded, managers notable for DPP in italics):
Alpha Ruiners: zf, Laurel
Congregation of the Classiest: oiponabys, Student of Sinnoh
Dragonspiral Tyrants: Jirachee, BKC, PDC, gilbert arenas
Cryonicles: Kristyl, soulgazer, -Tsunami-, august
Wi-Fi Wolfpack: SFG, 16bit
Team Raiders: DeepBlueC, Aliss
Stark Sharks: bruno
Ever Grande BIGs: twash, M Dragon, Monai
Indie Scooters: Sakito, Hyogafodex, BIHI, Excal, Tamahome
Circus Maximus Tigers: mael, BluBirD

Projected DPP Starter Prices

bruno - 15000
zf - 13500
Jirachee - 12000
Kristyl - 10000
mael - 8500
DeepBlueC - 5000
twash - 5000
SFG - 4000
oiponabys - 3000
Sakito - 3000

Power Rankings

TBD

​

 

[Excal]

really happy to see some more money being invested into dpp this season compared to last as well as the outcome of the pool overall, gonna post what I submitted for the PR and quick unbiased thoughts on each player/core, obviously leaving out saki cause he's on my team:

1. bruno - sharks
anti being the most expensive dpp player is no surprise to me. he's definitely no stranger to the tier, as he won an offshoot Bo5 tour a few years ago featuring bo5 (gsc / adv / 3x dpp) and beat a lot of good players while building his own teams. he definitely has the most popoff potential on paper imo. what may hold him back is that dpp is notoriously unfriendly to non-mainers in the teambuilder. it may take him some time to adapt to the current metagame and might initially bring flawed teams, and there's definitely enough talent in the pool to keep him honest. not really sure where his motivation/headspace is at either, although he was drafted around a lot of his close friends so i expect it to be more than enough to do well. looks like the sharks don't have backup options and have committed to 9 weeks of anti dpp, so i'm really excited to see what they bring.

2. DeepBlueC - raiders
dbc has been a mainstay in dpp for years and consistently puts up 4-5 wins for his season, and i'd say we can expect, at minimum, something similar here. he has a unique style, is self-sufficient, and is more than capable of beating anyone in the pool. i think dbc has the highest peaks of any dpp player in this pool: sometimes his builds are absolutely brilliant and his execution is insanely precise. however, i don't think we see this super consistently. the only concern here is that dbc expressed a desire to not play dpp and to support his teammate instead, but it looks like he will have to play a full season nonetheless, unless aliss can sub in for him. she has some decent results in smaller dpp tours, so she could definitely pull together some wins if she's motivated and not tilted. overall a very solid dpp core for the raiders and getting dbc for just 5k was a steal.

3. mael - tigers
mael is quite similar to dbc in every way except for their styles are completely different. he has experience performing well in high stakes games, is self-sufficient, and has consistently brought wins for his teams. blubird can be useful for some test games and activity in the channel, and maybe building too but i'm not really sure about that. idt mael has really played much since last spl and he vs dbc is a tossup ranking-wise but i chose dbc solely because he has played more and the raiders overall core is a bit stronger.

4. Kristyl - cryos
it would not be fair to put kristyl any lower than this, given that she was retained for her strong performance in classic coupled with a solid run last spl. what distinguishes dbc/mael/bruno here is complete self-sufficiency and more spl teambuilding experience. last year, kristyl mostly used osgoode teams, which is probably the best dpp support you can possibly have. i'm not sure if he will be involved this year, but at the very least she has august to help out, who had strong performances in dpp this classic and is historically one of the best dpp players of all time. despite her lack of teambuilding last year, she has her own unique style which can be seen in her teams. we can expect kristyl to load solid teams vetted by a lot of experienced players around her, but standalone i need to see a bit more before putting her above the top 3.

5. zf - ruiners
zf in dpp is very exciting to me for similar reasons to anti. i always enjoyed reading his old gens posts and was inspired a lot by his teambuilding & cohesive analyses of games back in the day. i kind of doubt zf will dpp the entire season, but nonetheless it's a pleasure to see him starting. i hope he builds his own stuff. potential concerns are similar to anti, but it seems like he's been away from the game for much longer/has done less in dpp which prompts me to rank him a bit lower. excellent and inspiring player tho, really excited to see what he brings.

6. Jirachee - tyrants
i am not super well-versed in jirachee's history as a player before like spl 10. he might have had some poor performances in the past, but in current time jirachee seems better than he probably ever was. he had some good games last spl, especially in adv, and seems to be extremely knowledgeable and capable in that tier. as for dpp, we've seen him play it a few times and he's definitely solid. having his good friend and one of the other dpp goats in bkc by his side seems like a great + synergistic core (also pdc will contribute for sure). i ranked him here cause i think other players in the pool have shown a bit more either in the tier or in general, and i'm not too sure where his teambuilding capabilities stand, but i think we will see some interesting teams that will definitely be inspiring.

7. twash - bigs
twash had strong performances in dpp this year in circuit and classic. i wasn't sure which tier he'd end up playing in spl, but it's nice to see someone sticking to their crazy style. it really does feel like watching a 2009/10 dpp player balling out with unseen mons like alakazam and drifblim. he's definitely quite solid, but it's super hard to tell how he will perform in an official teamtour once more. he may be the type of player who excels more in individual tournaments, as the landscapes can be very different, and the bigs have left him mostly to his own devices compared to other teams which have more dpp support, so we'll have to see how he performs. he'll get some wins, but could just as easily see 3-6 as 6-3, it's pretty unpredictable to me. the glass cannon of the pool, high upside but perhaps low floor despite his skills being undeniable.

8. Oiponabys - classiest
oipon is the only dpp player in the field to have never played an official teamtour, which by default puts him pretty low in my rankings. he won the ribbon tour, but his opposition wasn't particularly strong overall and consisted of nobody who he will be facing in spl. i remember running into him on ladder a very long time ago, so it's cool to see him improve and become integrated into smogon. i think he has come a pretty long way since then, but his teams have been a very mixed bag: some interesting stuff, and a decent amount of junk. should have good tier knowledge nonetheless, but it's difficult to tell what kind of consistency his teams will have in spl. i'm assuming he personally requested student of sinnoh to be his support. student of sinnoh is a huge ladder tryhard and seems to be building dpp teams constantly. i think he's decent, but rough around the edges and may have needed one more year of development and actual tour results before i would have considered to draft him. there's absolutely no harm in drafting a player like this as support, though, and he could very well be a great asset for the classiest dpp and could sub in to potentially win a game or two later in the season. this core can do well and make me eat my words for sure, but i don't rate them highly enough compared to the other players/cores in the pool off of inexperience and potential inconsistency concerns.

9. SFG - wolfpack
SFG being ranked 9th is a testament to how competent the rest of the dpp pool is. he's a solid player who has proven he can win spl games and does not have the least recent experience relative to the pool. the only reason i have him ranked low is that he's the only pilot who isn't self-sufficient, which is very significant to me. in addition, while 16 is great to have around on the team and is certainly improving since when they first returned to the scene, i think they are not quite there yet in terms of being a consistent support option. i think this tournament will be a great point of growth for both of these players, as sfg has not started a full season yet and 16 will inevitably go through a lot of development as they take on a proper supporting role for the first time. i think abr will likely have to provide input and quality assure team choices, but regardless of that this core has a lot of potential to surprise everyone, and sfg will for sure get some wins imo, but solely off rankings i have to put him here for the teambuilding reason alone.

gl to all dpp players, anyone can do well :)

 

[Fener]

DeepBlueC and Kevin.

 

[zf]

whoa i’m playing dpp???

 

[Gefährlicher Random]

go oipon

 

[mbh]

rooting for mael, Student of Sinnoh, Kristyl, Oipon

 

[Le Don]

Week 1 pairings :

[SCO] Sakito vs zf [RUI] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[TIG] mael vs twash [BIG] Sunday, 7:00 AM (GMT -5)
[TYR] Jirachee vs SFG [WOL] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[SHA] bruno vs oiponabys [CLA] Saturday, 2:30 PM (GMT -5)
[RAI] DeepBlueC vs Kristyl [CRYO] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)

Good luck to everyone !

 

[Le Don]

Hello folks, reporter Le Don here. As an unpicked player , I will do everything to eat my seum and try to get picked next year make this thread alive like Kristyl or 16bit did last year. Feel free to contribute, any post will be appreciated ! Enjoy and hf !

Quick reminder of last year tendancies / events :

- Spikes and Stall everywhere, emergence of the "Big 5" aka Jirachi Tyranitar Latias Skarmory Clefable. Rose outclassed by Skarm, unlike SPL XII.
- Tspikes, Azelf and Infernape very low usages.
- Scarf Lucario, winning games solo thx to Copycat but it's not allowed anymore ( I mean, you can't chain Copycat anymore ) as it was wrongly implemented since the beginning ( s/o Jirachee ).
- Mixed Flygon terrifying teams, especially Rose FWG teams.
- Quagsire resurgence, outclassing Milotic on stall teams.
- Tyranitar lead = 16/100 games, announcing a stall team most of the time ( 15/16 ).
- Paraspam being almost non existant BUT winning a lot ( 5/6 ). Swagger ban.

​

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[RAI] DeepBlueC vs Kristyl [CRYO]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
5-6 <- Past SPL Record -> 5-4
Lose <- Last official confrontation : Week 9 SPL XIII -> Win
Lose <- ( vs Mael ) SPL XIII Week 1 game result ( vs Void ) -> Win
Aliss <- Visible and notable support ( building / testgames etc ) -> August

.

Very exiciting game in perspective. Two excellent and experienced players.​

On the left side we have DeepBlueC, one of the most experienced DPP player of this pool. His first SPL appearence was in 2017 vs Mael, for the infamous SPL VIII ( Mazar memories ... ) and DeepBlueC is now on his 6th appearance in SPL in DPP which is very impressive ( VIII, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV ). DeepBlueC is known for being self-suffisant and very creative ( we all remember the Specs Heatran revealing Eruption and OHKOing BIHI's Mixed Flygon during SPL XIII Finals ). But he seems to never stand out from the other players, always ending with records like 4-3 / 4-5 / 5-5 etc which is of course not bad but also not impressive. I also remember that he signed up in ADV, DPP and BW but he clearly said that he prefered to be a DPP support and not a starter so we can maybe doubt about his motivation, something probably changed or wasn't expected. And he seems to be affected by the " week 1 lose " curse since SPL XII. Anyway, it is time for DeepBlueC to raise up because he has everything to make a good start, to claim precious wins and to finally end with a better SPL record than the previous years. Aliss can also help him as she expressed in her in post that she wanted to play DPP this year, pretty sure she will be involved. As one of my favorite builder, I'm really looking foward to see his games ( we are still waiting for your youtube channel ... ).

On the right side we have Kristyl who made her SPL debut last year with the Cryonicles and she ended with a very nice 5-4 record. Retained for this edition, she's definitly one of the best new players of the scene with notably a decent run in the Classic VIII ( semis ). Always laddering with numerous accounts, she seems to tryhard a lot. But unlike DeepBlueC, she's not known for being totally self-suffisant : she apparently mostly used crayon pop ( Osgoode ) teams last year and as Excal said we are not sure if he will be involved this year. Thankfully she has August to help her, one of the best DPPers of all time and the core is simply terrifying especially when you look at the recent performance of August : winning Smogon Classic without losing a single DPP game during Classic Playoffs. But is she really motivated ? In the DPP cord in late 2022, a discussion happened between a lot of experienced players with Kristyl expressing her frustration on the actual metagame. She also said that she didn't want to signup in DPP this year, so it was impressive to see her getting retained with only one SPL in her experience bag and unexpected to see her starting in DPP. Things probably changed and I hope it won't have an impact because she's a great DPP and pokemon player. Let's see if our Machamp spammer :kristyl: can confirm !

Will DeepBlueC be able to break the curse and win his first SPL XIV game ?
Will Kristyl use and win with Mamoswine / Swagoswine / Mamoswag again ?
We'll see this week ! Gl to both.​

 

[Le Don]

Week 2 pairings :

[WOL] SFG vs bruno [SHA] Saturday, 6:00 AM (GMT -5)
[BIG] twash vs DeepBlueC [RAI] Saturday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[RUI] zf vs Jirachee [TYR] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[CRY] Kristyl vs Sakito [SCO] Sunday, 9:00 AM (GMT -5)
[CLA] oiponabys vs mael [TIG] Sunday, 4:00 AM (GMT -5)

Week 1 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Tyranitar | 6 | 60.00% | 33.33% |
| 2 | Gyarados | 5 | 50.00% | 40.00% |
| 3 | Metagross | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Jirachi | 4 | 40.00% | 0.00% |
| 5 | Empoleon | 3 | 30.00% | 66.67% |
| 5 | Dragonite | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 5 | Flygon | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 5 | Latias | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 9 | Gengar | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Heatran | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Bronzong | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Azelf | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Machamp | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Infernape | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Scizor | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Swampert | 2 | 20.00% | 0.00% |
| 17 | Qwilfish | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Uxie | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Kingdra | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Mamoswine | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Magnezone | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Suicune | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Rotom-Heat | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 17 | Forretress | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 17 | Breloom | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 17 | Rotom-Wash | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from SFG.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER ( bruno ).
• Missing 1 Pokemon from OIPON ( oiponabys ).

Week 1 Lead Stats

| 1 | Heatran | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 1 | Empoleon | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 1 | Azelf | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 4 | Metagross | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 4 | Latias | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 4 | Dragonite | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Good luck to everyone !

 

[Le Don]

Week 1 games review ( feat Le Don's "expert" eye )

bruno vs oiponabys

Game review

A very cool game to start. The two players brought fast paced teams. I really like the Ttar Scizor synergy in bruno's team, Ttar not really caring about the burn and Dark Pulsing Rotom / Gengar is wonderful for his Occa SD Roost Scizor. I'm happy to see Occa Scizor in SPL because I feel like it's a really good pokemon atm, Scizor being very useful in general vs pokemons like DD Tar and Occa berry allowing to clutch many games. Oipon brought WoW Tran lead, getting a nice burn on bruno's Ttar helping Gengar ( even if was Dark Pulse ) and Suicune to break throught. Heatran did also a very good job, forcing and weakening bruno's Lati. We don't know the 2 lasts but pretty sure I was a physical setup in Oipon's team because it synergises very well with WoW Heatran getting early burns on pokemon like Scarf Tar / Hippodown / Swampert and with Iball Meta pressuring Skarmory if well played. For bruno I would say the last was a fast Ground type like Flygon ( Mixed ) or SD Gliscor, at least something to help for the Zapdos MU. The 2 players played well notably Oipon making agressive and smart plays like turn 19 where bruno tried to sack his Tar on the Explosion but Oipon aware of that did a very nice midground by sending Suicune. Sadly, Bruno timed out and Oipon won his first ever SPL game, gz. Depending on the last pokemons it was probably not over even if on the paper Oipon seemed to have the advantage. Really cool teams from both sides again.

mael vs twash

Game review

Finally ladies and gentlemen, after 1 year and 3 loses on 3 games in SPL XIII, Rain finally gets a win ! Mael's team is very interesting, Heatran is not annoucing a rain in general but it revealed Magma Storm meaning the Tran was aimed to trap early Special walls like Clef / Lati or Ttar for your rain abusers, nice lure. Machamp is also very uncommon on rain which usually prefer rain abusers like Ludicolo or setups like Suicune. Pretty sure it was Twave Qwil / Uxie, spreading para improving the speed control and faciliting Machamp late game. twash ran into Rain while not having a single fight or water resist which is pretty weird imo, Specs Kingdra could have gone crazy with Hydro Pump, ig Scarf Ttar helps reseting weather and being faster than all the rain abusers meaning it can revenge kill them after some chip. The most suprising thing was the Lum Forre in the back, it looks like a lot the offensive spiker Skarm set which also have the Lum Berry, the main difference is the speed tier and the movepool ( Forre having Spin and Skarm having Taunt ). Mael made a decisive play, exploding on the Swampert turn 9, meaning that both Qwil and Machamp have now easier time. After some misses, confusion hits and critical hits on both sides, mael's Machamp won the game. I'm sure twash will bounce back.

Jirachee vs SFG

Game review

Same as last year, Mamoswine won a game on week 1. Jirachee's team is a very cool approach of the double dragon core aka Lati Flygon. Specs Lati and MixGon putting high pressure on Clefable and Steel types in general allowing for exemple a Jirachi to abuse of Iron Head in late game and even more with Knock Off support from SpD Empoleon. Unfortunatly for him, SFG loaded a Magnezone offense with Sub Ice Fang Mamo which was terrifying for Jirachee who had to sack early his Breloom which seemed very good against SFG's team. SFG also revealed a Metal Sound Zone, prob to have easier time vs Jirachi and Clefable. After trapping Jirachee's Empo, SFG's Modest Specs Lati and Zong became very dangerous for Jirachee to deal with. Despite a questionnable Mamo sack, SFG was still able to win the game thx to a decisive Dragon Pulse turn 19. SFG last was surely a scarfer to deal with Gyara and Dnite. Both played well imo even the MU seemed to be in favor of SFG. Mamo was a very good call and that's promising ! Looking for more from both !

zf vs Sakito

Game review

HO vs HO. On zf's side we have the well known Dnite Paraspam, used and reused during the last 2 years notably by McMeghan for Classic POs or myself for DPPPL. Nothing more particular to say , the team is strong and has been approuved many times. On Sakito's side we have the classic Gyara Dnite Tar Meta setup core with Azelf as lead. It looks like a lot to Excal's SD Empo HO, same 5. The last pokemon here is a LO Gengar and I think that's a very good choice because it is very threatening in general and even more against zf's team ( unless it was Chople Tar ) which lacks of speed control. ( Note : I think it was a bulky or Colbur Azelf with Twave to para Scarf Tar lead for Gengar ). The game strated with Sakito getting his rocks up then exploding on zf's Ttar and allowing Gengar to spam freely Shadow Ball. From the start, Sakito had the momentum and applied pressure with Gyarados Meta and Gengar by making the right plays like turn 9. A nice double EQ on Champ in the end allowed Sakito's Dnite to finish the game. On the paper, the MU seemed to be in favor of zf with all those para spreaders but the early pressure applied by Sakito + the Lum Berry Metagross ( and maybe also Dnite ? ) + LO Gengar put zf in a bad position, forced to accept early rocks and to take huge damage on his Gyara / Jirachi and overall I feel like Sakito was just the better player. Exciting start from him.

DeepBlueC vs Kristyl

Game review

The last game and again offense vs offense. DeepBlueC is using a cool Iball Meta team which faciliates the sweep of Gyara or Ttar. Jirachi seemed to be Scarf especially because it adds a lot of speed control ( the seems very slow if you don't create / find the occasion to setup ) + potential Hwish. Kristyl team is based on CB Tar trapping Lati / Rotom for Gyara Zor and Nape. The Nape was a very good call, forcing damages on the Gyara and cleaning with Fire Blast, Close Combat and Grass Knot. I also like the Scizor + Scarf Rotom synergy, helping each other to revenge kill dangerous pokemons like DD Gyara / Tar. Early game started with Kristyl's Empo getting early rocks, which is huge since DBC doesn't have a spinner. The Empo also took down the Metagross turn 3 and that was extremly good for Kristyl especially for the Scizor and the Tar. She made progress with Gyarados by spamming Waterfall and once the Gyara and the Jirachi were down, Nape could then finish the game. DBC was behind since the beginning and didn't find a way to regain the momentum mainly because Kristyl played it very well.

See you soon for another post !

​

 

[Le Don]

Week 1 quick review :

MISSING ! IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION PLEASE CALL THE 911 !

​

• Ok so first : 10 teams, 10 offensives teams, 0 defensives teams. 0 Spikes usages, 0 Skarmory, Lucario, Gliscor, CLEFABLE usages ... what happened ??? It's unexpected compared to last season with spikes and stall everywhere and imo it's a good thing for 2 reasons : players were bored of the Big 5 + filler teams and now people will prob stop complaining about stall being everywhere and "overpowered".
  So who's the responsible of this ? I investigated and what I found is terrifying ...
  DPP Mafia is real !

  
  Jokes aside, that was really refreshing so thank you all !
• 5 Gyarados usages. Nothing impressive, it just proves again that Gyarados is still the pillar of offensive teams. It adds so much offensively and defensively to a team that you really can't go wrong with it.
• Jirachi usages = 4 ... Jirachi winrate = 0% . Nothing serious, just a fun fact because it's actually hilarious when you know that it's the best pokemon in the tier.
• Heatran lead had 2 usages this week for my greatest pleasure. It is nearly unpredictable thx to its great movepool, hits hard with Overheat / Magma Storm / Explosion etc. It is definitly one of the best leads atm.
• It's only the beginning so we can't conclude too much. And maybe we will see 10 stall teams this week ...

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[CLA] oiponabys vs mael [TIG]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
/// <- Past SPL Record -> 4-4
Win <- ( vs bruno ) Last week game result ( vs twash ) -> Win
Student of Sinnoh <- Visible and notable support ( building / testgames etc ) -> BluBird / Ojama

.

Newcomer vs Veteran, both won their first game, hype pairing !
​

On the left side we have oiponabys, the french newcomer representing the Congregation of the Classiest. Oipon is a regular player of major French tournaments ( FCL aka French Community League ) but also big ladder player ( 93,2 % GXE, 1807 max ), always testing gimmick pokemons. On Smogon, he made good perfomances last year : positive ratio in DPPPL II, final of the DPP Championship and his best performance, his victory in the DPP circuit championship final using notably a Smeargle lead g1 ( I still have nightmares about it ), proving that he's full of confidence even when using low ranked pokemons. To support him, Amaranth and d0nut picked the other french newcomer, Student of Sinnoh and it was a very smart choice because him and oiponabys are good friends. Well-renomed ladder hero ( 93,3 % GXE, 1823 max ), he doesn't really have notable perfs on Smogon ( except for a victorious appearance in DPPPL II ) but I can assure you that he's very good builder / player and as well an insane helper ( he hepled me a lot for the DPP circuit ). Oipon made a very impressive debut vs bruno, bringing a solid and modern team and making the right plays ( like turn 8 / turn 14 ) or good midground switches ( like turn 19 ); a very promising start. The duo is very promising, I can't wait to see more of them.

On the right side we have mael, the croatian veteran representing the Circus Maximus Tigers. mael is on his 5th appearance in SPL ( SPL VII, VIII, IX, XII, XIII ) and on his 3rd appearance as a DPP player ( SPL VIII, XII and XIII ). After 3 SPL participations between 2016 and 2018, he cameback in 2021 after the Dugtrio ban and won the 12th edition with the Wolfpack. Self-suffisant and consistent, he also has a big experience bag making him at least top 5 of the pool. To help him, he can count on the versatile BluBird who played DPP OU in some tournaments like PP World Cup and maybe Ojama as he also signed up in DPP but he's prob more focused on SM OU. For his first SPL XIV game, mael decided to use a heat Machamp rain and it was a very good call because twash didn't bring any single water resist / fight resist. He played the game well ( nice Explosion turn 9 ) and even after a harsh crit on his Uxie, his Machamp was still able to win the game thx to a Dynamic Punch moment :kristyl:. I think now the objective for mael is to keep up the good work and to end with a positive record, thing that he achieved to do in 2018 but he wasn't playing DPP at this time ( RBY OU / SM RU ); he has everything to do it.

Which one will be able to keep going ?
Will we see again heat teams / pokemons ?
We'll see that on Sunday at 8:00 AM (GMT -5). Gl to both !
​

 

[Drifting]

I just wanted to drop by to say that I really appreciate these in-depth write-ups from Le Don, the insight into the players, matches, and the tier itself is not only informative, but also makes things far more entertaining from a spectator perspective.

 

[Le Don]

Week 3 pairings :

[SCO] Sakito vs twash [BIG] Sunday, 9:00 AM (GMT -5)
[RAI] DeepBlueC vs oiponabys [CLA] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[RUI] zf vs Kristyl [CRY]
[TIG] mael vs SFG [WOL] Sunday, 9:00 AM (GMT -5)
[TYR] Jirachee vs bruno [SHA] Saturday, 2:00 PM (GMT -5)

Week 2 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Jirachi | 6 | 60.00% | 33.33% |
| 1 | Latias | 6 | 60.00% | 33.33% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Hippowdon | 4 | 40.00% | 25.00% |
| 3 | Skarmory | 4 | 40.00% | 25.00% |
| 3 | Clefable | 4 | 40.00% | 25.00% |
| 6 | Tyranitar | 3 | 30.00% | 100.00% |
| 6 | Heatran | 3 | 30.00% | 66.67% |
| 6 | Rotom-Heat | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 9 | Metagross | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Starmie | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Gyarados | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Breloom | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 9 | Dragonite | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Swampert | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Lucario | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Forretress | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Zapdos | 2 | 20.00% | 0.00% |
| 18 | Cresselia | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18 | Azelf | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18 | Rotom-Wash | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18 | Suicune | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 18 | Scizor | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 18 | Magneton | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 18 | Gengar | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from KRISTYL ★.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from Jirachee.

Week 2 Lead Stats

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

| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |

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

| 1 | Hippowdon | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |

| 2 | Dragonite | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Breloom | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Azelf | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Skarmory | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Zapdos | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Forretress | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Swampert | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Good luck to everyone !

 

[Le Don]

Week 2 games review ( feat Le Don's "expert" eye )

SFG vs bruno

Game review

First game and first stall of SPL XIV ! Classic stuff from SFG, mostly Big 5 with Hippo > Tar and Rotom-Heat as filler and antispin. On bruno's side we have a lot of breakers : CB Nite, CB Tar and ... Specs Lucario. Yes, you read that correctly, Specs Lucario which ig is supposed to lure physical walls like Skarm freeing space for your CB Nite / Tar while CB Tar traps Lati / Rotom. Pure heat.
Right from the start, bruno pressured the Skarm with Dnite + Swampert and turn 13, SFG sacked his Skarm aka his only Dark resist and Jirachi will have hard time vs Swampert / Metagross without Spikes. CB Dnite claimed another one turn 19 and was finally KOed by Jirachi. The game slowed down and we had to wait turn 35 where bruno tried to explode on the Hippo but SFG went on Rotom and kept his Hippo. Jirachi / Hippo alive and Metagross + Swampert out, SFG was in a really good position even without SR / Spikes. But 3 turns after, the gamechanger, Specs Lucario came in and destroyed the Jirachi with an unexpected Focus Blast and nearly KOed it. bruno was back in the game but still behind : his Starmie didn't have Leftovers so it was on a timer due to Sand. He made a good double to bring back in his Tar on the Clef, Hippo went down and turn 47, Lucario revealed Vaccum Wave and killed the Jirachi. After a flex Hyper Beam, Ttar finished the game. Brilliantly done by bruno. What a game that was !

twash vs DeepBlueC

Game review

Mixed offense vs Hippo stall. twash team is particular but has good synergies like Mag + Dnite. We also have CB Zor helping Zapdos, Heatran and Suicune against Lati. DeepBlueC's team is ... I would say unique : we have the GyaraForre core with Cresselia and Heatran which not common on stalls nowdays. This is gonna be very interesting.
DeepBlueC made early progress with Twave Clef and Twave Gyara, both very strong against offense. Suicune didn't reveal Leftovers and that clearly helped DeepBlueC who didn't need to Knock it, it was already on a timer. On turn 11, Heatran exploded on the Gyarados but Clef escaped from the death. Two turns after, Cresselia revenge killed the menacing Dragonite with Ice Beam and revealed no Leftovers meaning that Cress is ... Scarf ? twash was still in game thx to a nice Pursuit turn 17 that was very close to KO Clef but DBC made a decisive double switch turn 23 on Cress to Lunar Dance the Clef and now Clef + Hippo is unbreakable. Before that, DBC revealed Tormant Heatran which was very suprising ( this set is so hard to make it work without Dugtrio to trap Clef / Heatran ) and that pretty much confirmed the Cress was Scarf with Trick ( lure Clef for Heatran and support its teamates with Lunar Dance and Twave ). I was talking about DBC's creativity in one of my previous posts, I think now we all know what does that mean ! twash MU was hard imo, Magneton being a bit useless ( Forre trapped but sets 1-2 spikes ) and Hippo seemed to be very hard to break.

oiponabys vs mael

Game review

Now onto the third game ! We have pretty much the same teamstyle on eachside : Spikes with special spam core ( GarRachiTias vs RachiTiasWashMie ). Oipon's team is classic and simple : Defensive core + Antispin + Breaker + Scarf + Wincond. Mael's team is more offensive because it has a Starmie as Water type and breaker.
Game started with both players setting their EH. After some Roars, on turn 7, Starmie came in and Mael revealed the unexpected Grass Knot reversing the pressure because now Swampert is dead on the EH. Because of that, Oipon was forced to take damage on his Lati to manage the Rotom creating space for Starmie. Despite the high pressure due to the 2 Spikes + Rocks, Oipon was still making progress thx to his Scarf Lucario and did a nice predict turn 16 preventing the Starmie to come in and claim another KO. Unfortunatly for him, his Gengar missed an important Focus Blast on mael's Ttar turn 20 that pretty much sealed the game ( but remember earlier in the game mael missed an important WoW on the Swampert so then it wasn't in range of Grass Knot and Starmie took huge chip on EQ ). Both players played well but mael had the "suprise effect" allowing him to make progress quicker and win the game. Starmie was a very good call, terrifying for Oipon's team. Cool teams ( I won't be suprised if it was DD Tar, especially with GK Starmie to lure Pert / Quag etc ).

Jirachee vs zf

Game review

Jirachee brought a pretty classic Iball Gross offense featuring Sash Breloom, Specs Latias and DD Tar whereas zf decided to go for the Forre stall route but, compared to DBC's team, zf doesn't have a wincond. Interesting teams from both especially from zf because Forre ( ane even more as a lead ) is rare nowdays.
Breloom got the early Spore on Forre and Focus Punched it after which means that Forre is forced out and now zf prob won't have spikes for the rest of game. Both players made progress notably by setting rocks turn 7. After some switches, we had Metagross vs Jirachi. zf went back on Hippo but Jirachee went for Meteor Mash and got the attack raise and now Hippo ( that has been tricked earlier so no more Leftovers ) is in big trouble. Just after, Metagross got another attack raise and also a crit and now that Hippo is down DD Tar is a huge menace for zf. ( The other crit on zf's Latias was also huge especially if it had Twave ). Jirachee managed very well to get his Ttar on the field on the Zapdos by sacking his Lati to get a free DD and finish the game. The Lum Berry was decisive to prevent a Body Slam para. Jirachee's last ? Hmm I would say a BPunch Lucario because it fits very well here, helping against DDers and fast and powerful pokemons like Infernape; Scizor is also possible. I hope we will be able to see zf bounce back because that was very unfortunate overall.

Sakito vs Kristyl

Game review

Last game of the week and again Stall vs Offense. Sakito used the same 6 as SFG, standard stall team with surely different movesets and spreads. Kristyl's team is also quite standard and is centered on DD Gyarados.
Azelf vs Hippo for the lead matchup, Azelf has the advantage and Hippo is forced out, no rocks for Sakito. Azelf down, Heatran in. Kristyl decided to go for WoW to burn Hippo or Lati but sadly Sakito went on Clef and now Sakito has the information. After that, Breloom and Heatran did a great work midgame : Breloom did a lot of damage to Sakito's Jiarchi and Hippo while Heatran prevented rocks with Taunt turn 13, critted the Twave Clef turn 15 and burned the Thunderbolt Latias turn 20; everything was perfect for Gyarados. After a slow phase between Skarm and Kristyl's Jirachi ( good Whirlwind turn 26 ), Gyarados came in, DDed and OHKOed the Rotom ( which suprisingly wasn't invested in defense ) and finished the game with a flinch on the Skarm. Kristyl made good early decisions and switches and kept the pressure very well ( her last was surely a Scarfer ... Latias Scarf with Twave and Hwish seems the best option here ). Sakito was unable to reverse the pressure mostly because he couldn't set his EH early in the game and his Jirachi after taking 80% on Focus Punch was in range of any attack. Once the Lati was dead and the Skarm paralysed, Gyarados had a great chance of winning. Well played again by Kristyl.

See you soon for another post !

​

 

[Le Don]

Week 2 quick review :

uh

​

• Stall teams are back but they're not dominant as they used to be ( 4 teams, 1 win ). The thing that surprised me the most is that we still haven't seen any Gliscor and Quagsire and also where is Scarf Tyranitar ? Players prefered to use Hippowdon as their sand setter and Ground type : more bulky than Glisc / Quag ( SpD Hippo is very hard to break even for a LO Gengar for ex, not even a chance to 2HKO ), it has a recovery move so it's not really condamned to die on Spikes like Scarf Tar and Roar makes it very threatening with Spikes up.​
• Forretress is also back despite the Skarmory dominance. With Rapid Spin it can supports pokemons that are weak to EH like Gyarados, Zapdos, Heatran or Hippodown adding more diversity in stall teams.​
• How many Latias this week ? 7. It's 2 more uses than Jirachi and 4 more uses than Tyranitar. Less and less Ttar run Pursuit also; Latias is clearly taking advantage of this.​
• The pace of games has slowed down overall compared to last week.​

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[TYR] Jirachee vs bruno [SHA]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
1-1 <- Actual record -> 1-1
Win <- ( vs zf ) Last week game result ( vs SFG ) -> Win
BKC / PDC / Gilbert arenas <- Visible and notable support ( building / testgames etc ) -> / or unknown ?

.

Tyrantrum vs Garchomp ! Dragon clash in coming !
​

On the left side we have Jirachee for the Tyrants who is on his 8th SPL apprearence ( his first one was in 2013 = 10 years ago ! ). Versatility is one of its biggest strengths : he played before BW OU, ADV OU, GSC OU and now DPP OU this year ! He got good results last year in the tier, he's inspired when it comes to build ( I have always found his teams interesting ) and to top it all off he has an insane support ( the best ? ) : BKC, PDC and the last DPP Cup winner Gilbert arenas; surely their presence will be more than just positive for the canadian. However, SPL has never really worked for him with many negative records, phantoms of the past can comeback. For the first two weeks, Jirachee came with two pretty standard and efficient offensive teams. He lost the first but he bounced back and won the second. Time for him to get another one !

On the right side we have bruno ( formerly KratosMana ) for the Sharks. What shocked me the most is bruno's past SPL records : they're all positives ! Like Jirachee, he played a lot of different tiers before ( RBY OU, SM OU and GSC OU ) but it's his first time in DPP OU in SPL. To support him he has ... well he seems to be on his own ? Idk if it's a good or a bad thing but for his first SPL as DPP player the gamble looks a bit risky. But he always did very well in the past so who knows ? For his first games, bruno brought also offensive teams but with heat pokemons like Dark Pulse Tyranitar or Specs Lucario and managed to win one. bruno's teams appear to have this " surprise effect " capable to turn things around at the most unexpected moment like vs SFG. Unpredictable ? Maybe ! One thing is for sure, I can't wait to see his future games.

Will we see heat pokemons from bruno or even from Jirachee ?
Will they change their team choice when they only used offensive teams ?
We'll see this week on Saturday, 2:00 PM (GMT -5) ! Gl to both !
​

 

[Le Don]

Week 4 Pairings :

[CLA] Student of Sinnoh vs Sakito [SCO]
[CRY] Kristyl vs Jirachee [TYR] Sunday, 10:00 AM (GMT -5)
[SHA] bruno vs mael [TIG]
[BIG] twash vs zf [RUI]
[WOL] SFG vs DeepBlueC [RAI] Sunday, 8:00 AM (GMT -5)

Good luck to everyone !

Week 3 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Latias | 7 | 70.00% | 57.14% |
| 1 | Jirachi | 7 | 70.00% | 57.14% |
| 3 | Tyranitar | 5 | 50.00% | 20.00% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 4 | 40.00% | 75.00% |
| 4 | Heatran | 4 | 40.00% | 75.00% |
| 4 | Swampert | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 4 | Dragonite | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 8 | Gliscor | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 9 | Clefable | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Metagross | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Gengar | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Skarmory | 2 | 20.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Hippowdon | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14 | Forretress | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14 | Bronzong | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14 | Snorlax | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14 | Roserade | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 14 | Smeargle | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Scizor | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Suicune | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Flygon | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Breloom | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 14 | Lucario | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.

Week 3 Lead Stats

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

| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |

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

| 1 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |

| 2 | Hippowdon | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Bronzong | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Roserade | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Gyarados | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Gliscor | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Smeargle | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Flygon | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Skarmory | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Overall Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Jirachi | 17 | 56.67% | 35.29% |
| 2 | Latias | 16 | 53.33% | 43.75% |
| 3 | Tyranitar | 14 | 46.67% | 42.86% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 11 | 36.67% | 63.64% |
| 5 | Heatran | 9 | 30.00% | 77.78% |
| 5 | Dragonite | 9 | 30.00% | 44.44% |
| 7 | Metagross | 8 | 26.67% | 62.50% |
| 7 | Swampert | 8 | 26.67% | 37.50% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 6 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 9 | Clefable | 6 | 20.00% | 33.33% |
| 9 | Skarmory | 6 | 20.00% | 16.67% |
| 11 | Gengar | 5 | 16.67% | 60.00% |
| 11 | Hippowdon | 5 | 16.67% | 40.00% |
| 13 | Forretress | 4 | 13.33% | 50.00% |
| 13 | Breloom | 4 | 13.33% | 50.00% |
| 13 | Rotom-Heat | 4 | 13.33% | 50.00% |
| 13 | Flygon | 4 | 13.33% | 25.00% |
| 13 | Scizor | 4 | 13.33% | 25.00% |
| 18 | Bronzong | 3 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 18 | Azelf | 3 | 10.00% | 66.67% |
| 18 | Empoleon | 3 | 10.00% | 66.67% |
| 18 | Suicune | 3 | 10.00% | 33.33% |
| 18 | Lucario | 3 | 10.00% | 33.33% |
| 18 | Gliscor | 3 | 10.00% | 33.33% |
| 24 | Starmie | 2 | 6.67% | 100.00% |
| 24 | Machamp | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |
| 24 | Infernape | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |
| 24 | Rotom-Wash | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |
| 24 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |
| 24 | Zapdos | 2 | 6.67% | 0.00% |
| 30 | Qwilfish | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Uxie | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Kingdra | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Mamoswine | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Magnezone | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Cresselia | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Snorlax | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Roserade | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |
| 30 | Magneton | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |
| 30 | Smeargle | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from SFG.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from OIPON.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from KRISTYL ★.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.

Overall Lead Stats

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

| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |

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

| 1 | Hippowdon | 4 | 13.33% | 50.00% |

| 2 | Azelf | 3 | 10.00% | 66.67% |

| 3 | Heatran | 2 | 6.67% | 100.00% |

| 3 | Empoleon | 2 | 6.67% | 100.00% |

| 3 | Gyarados | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |

| 3 | Dragonite | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |

| 3 | Skarmory | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |

| 3 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 6.67% | 50.00% |

| 9 | Breloom | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |

| 9 | Bronzong | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |

| 9 | Roserade | 1 | 3.33% | 100.00% |

| 9 | Metagross | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Latias | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Zapdos | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Forretress | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Swampert | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Gliscor | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Smeargle | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

| 9 | Flygon | 1 | 3.33% | 0.00% |

 

[Le Don]

Week 3 games review ( feat Le Don's "expert" eye )

Jirachee vs bruno

Game review

Aero was back for the pairing of the week ! Jirachee went for a classic Spikes BO team very similar as Oipon's team vs mael whereas bruno used an Aero HO featuring Shuca Mixed Jirachi and Wacan DD Gyarados.
Aero lead means that Skarm can't get rocks up so Jirachee had to find the opportunity later. He made a good double switch on Skarm turn 5 and got his rocks up but bruno revealed Thunderbolt Jirachi and after an Iron Head crit + flinch, Skarm is forced out. Swampert also had hard time vs Jirachi, taking 16% on Iron Head + another crit on Ice Punch this time and to top it all off Swampert was unable to KO it because of the Shuca Berry. Latias finally took it down with Surf but now Gyarados had a free DD. Scarf Lucario couldn't revenge kill Gyarados because it was Wacan Berry and now that the Lucario is no longer in the game, bruno's DDers can go crazy. Turn 21, we still didn't have any information on Jirachee's Jirachi moveset so bruno made the right play aka going on Heatran scouting Ice Punch for ex. Jirachi revealed Draco Meteor so now -2 HP Ground doesn't kill Heatran which can simply explode on it ( instead of Overheat in case it's DD Tar last ) allowing Dnite to finish the game. bruno's Jirachi was desicive making important early progress. bruno's last was DD Tar, 99,9%. Very cool teams from both sides.

mael vs SFG

Game review

For this game, mael used a very offensive team featuring Mixed ( or CM Iron Head ? ) Jirachi and DD Dnite. As for SFG, he brought a bulky offense with a lot of breakers / choice locked pokemons ( Flygon, Ttar, Tran and prob also Lati ? ).
On turn 2, after U-Turning with Flygon, SFG tried to predict a switch in when he had Latias against Gyarados by switching in his own Jirachi to prob get rocks up but mael decided to DD. As a result, Gyara went wild as it critted SFG's Jirachi and KOed with Double-Edge the Latias. Then mael DDed again on the Breloom but greeded imo because SFG expecting the Lum Berry just went for Seed Bomb while he could have just chip the Loom but it was still fine. Just after on turn 8, SFG scouted the HP Ground by going on Flygon whereas mael went on his Tar and then made a good play by pursuiting it meaning that it is now in range of Extreme Speed. Despite being behind, SFG didn't not give up because once Latias being slept and Jirachi being low ( TTar breaking throught para + flinch was amazing lmao ), Breloom was looking good against mael ... until he revealed DD Dragonite. Flygon went down because of Extreme Speed and now SFG has to pray for no EQ on Dnite and to crit the Swampert with Dragon Pulse to win the game which didn't happen so mael remains undeafeted ! That early mistake costed a lot to SFG, mael took a significant advantage thx to it and was able kept it till the end.

twash vs Sakito

Game review

Both players brought stall teams. twash's team seems standard but he used a mixed itemless Swampert ( with prob HP Elec ) as breaker with Wish support ( Clef ) which is uncommon. Sakito went for BIHI's GyaraForre stall from last SPL with only one visible change the Jiarchi moveset.
The game was very long ( 213 turns ! ) but it was clearly in Sakito's favour : twash didn't have Leftovers on his Swampert and didn't have Knock Off on his Clef so he was unable to make significant progress. No Leftovers also means harder time vs Jirachi and Spikes. Forre played a huge role in this game : Rapid Spin was free against twash's team and Spikes were very threatening ( Pert and Tar ). Special mention to Heal Bell Clef saving the game turn 22 by waking up the Forre which was able to remove SR + 2 spikes 7 turns after. Imo twash was on timer since the beginning and had 0 opportunities to comeback, despite hax or choke which didn't happen, because Sakito played well overall as he always managed to keep Forre healthy, preventing twash to make progress.

DeepBlueC vs oiponabys

Game review

Fire teams : Boom offense vs Smeargle HO. On DeepBlueC's side we have Scarf Gliscor and Snorlax ... well Snorlax is normally terrible but it has Self-Destruct + Pursuit so it can be an alternative to Ttar. On Oipon's side there's a Smeargle ( again ! ), known for its movepool and its very poor stats. Double EH with a ghost in the back seems really strong especially against Snorlax, Tran and Meta.
Game started with Zong getting rocks despite Spore thx to the Lum Berry but Smeargle can Spore again and set SR + Spikes. Oipon pivoted well in the early game and made progress with CB Zor and MixNite while DeepBlueC was hard pressured by all the EH. Turn 16, Dnite went down just before and now Suicune can take advantage of the Latias locked into Surf. A Hydro Pump miss allowed Snorlax to boom on the Cune and DeepBlueC was back in the game. Turn 20, Latias was slower ( Specs Modest ? ) than Jirachi and went down and now Metagross can Agility but it was Shuca Berry Jirachi, leaving Gliscor in 1v2. At this point oiponabys was supposed to win but DBC revealed Scarf Gliscor ( yes, more than uncommon ) and flinched the Jirachi with Thunder Fang and then clutched the game vs Gengar, getting DBC's second win of the season and Snorlax's first win in SPL since ... well ? Despite the hax, entertainment was at its peak so ty both for this cool game.

zf vs Kristyl

Game review

Rose first appreance and another Aero ! zf's team is like a status spam with all these moves that can poison / para ( Sludge Bomb / Thunder etc ) and maybe Rose had TSpikes ( it didn't reveal but who knows ? ). On Kristyl's side we have Aero HO but it's not a mono setup, Ttar's and Meta's sets are different than usual : usually it's DD Tar and Agility Meta but here we have Pursuit Ttar to help against Gengar / Rotom / Lati and IBall Meta for Skarm; both have great synergy with SD Gliscor.
Early game is well managed by Kristyl getting rocks first and taunting the Rose second preventing Spikes. Dnite got KOed by the Scarf Heatran after getting Poisoned by the Rose but now Gyarados is free. Kristyl tried to EQ the switch in expecting prob a Suicune or a Jirachi but a Latias came and Thunder is free against HO. Fortunately for Kristyl, she had Pursuit Ttar in the back; zf tried to switch out expecting a DD Tar but got pursuited. Later, Ttar also trapped the Gengar thx to the Chople Berry. Gengar and Swampert out, EQ was free against zf's team but Tar and Gyara dead means no more Fire Blast switch in ... Metagross was able to 1v1 the Jirachi so to win the game zf needed to not miss 2 Fire Blast and to get the max roll on the second one. Scarf Heatran was the hero as he didn't miss and critted the second ! Both players played well imo but apparently it was SR Jirachi so if it was really the case ( and that would make sense cause Swampert had free rocks vs Tar ) zf choked by thundering again turn 17 because Heatran is assured to KO Gliscor with Fire Blast after SR maximising his odds of winning.

sry for the delay, was busy alas and as always if you seed dumb things / mistakes, tell me !

See you soon for another post !

​

 

[Le Don]

Week 3 quick review :

We finally know what's really inside nuclear bombs !

​

• Fun fact : Snorlax's last victory was in 2017 for SPL VIII ! https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4ou-253307
• Gliscor is finally back with 3 apprearences. Swampert / Heatran / Dragonite high usages ( 4 ), it's more than Gengar / Metagross / Breloom. Magnezone / Magneton usages = 2 in 3 weeks, that's very low whereas Iball Metagross usages = 4 in 3 weeks.
• Only 2 stall teams this week, offense is still dominant for now.
• Hippo with one more appearance as a lead is now number 1 with 4 in total. Second is Azelf with 3 lead apprearances.

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[CLA] Student of Sinnoh vs Sakito [SCO]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
0-0 <- Actual record -> 2-1
Loss <- ( Oipon vs DBC ) Last week game result ( vs twash ) -> Win
oiponabys <- Visible and notable support ( building / testgames etc ) -> BIHI / Hyogafodex / Excal / Tamahome

.

I promise I wanted to do zf vs twash for the POTW but they played when I was doing it alas ............... ( that explain the delay sry again lol et désolé mon pote si ça te fous une pression en plus =( mais azy la pression yen a pas car la pression on la boit tsé ).

The first Frenchman vs Frenchman pairing ! Hyyyyyype ^_^!
​

Student of Sinnoh replaces oiponabys for this week ( he asked to be subbed out ). For his first SPL game, he's facing another french player, Sakito ! SoS is a more standard player compared to Oipon who used a lot of gimmick stuff in the past ( I've already talked about him in one of my previous post so check it out for more informations on him ! ). Last week in DPP has been rude for the Classiest, a rather unlucky game ended on a second defeat in a row. They have to bounce back to regain stability and confidence even if it will be difficult especially when you look at the opposition. Oipon made a good impression with his first games, let's see if SoS can do the same; I'm eager to see if SoS will be able to win his first SPL game !

As for Sakito, there is no doubt that he's confident after his 213 turns victory against twash. For his third SPL, Sakito is with the Indie Scooters and he has again Excal as manager so they surely know each other very well as they're used to being together. The DPP core is reinforced by BIHI, Tamahome and Hyogafodex. They're all accomplished DPP players and they will have a positive influence; the core is just impressive and scary. For now Sakito juggled between standard offense and stall, a bit like last year and it worked well for him with 2 victories in 3 games. Even if he seems to have the advantage in terms of support and in terms of experience, ofc it won't be easy, ofc it's gonna be a tricky game and the Scooters know it. I'm really exciting to see what Sakito will use for this game.

Oipon brought only offensive teams, will SoS follow the same path or will he bring a more defensive team ?
If Sakito win this game, he will have the same record as mael / bruno i.e. 3-1 aka the best record for now; will he get it ?
We'll have the answer on Sunday evening ( both are +1, Idh a precise hour ). Gl to both !​

 

[badabing]

lmfao

 

[Le Don]

Week 5 pairings :

[RAI] DeepBlueC vs bruno [SHA] Saturday, 80:00 AM (GMT -5)
[SCO] Sakito vs SFG [WOL] Sunday, 7:00 AM (GMT -5)
[CRY] Kristyl vs twash [BIG] Sunday, 5:00 PM (GMT -5)
[TYR] Jirachee vs mael [TIG] Sunday, 9:00 AM (GMT -5)
[RUI] zf vs oiponabys [CLA] Sunday, 11:00 AM (GMT -5)

Good luck to everyone !

Week 4 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Jirachi | 6 | 60.00% | 66.67% |
| 2 | Dragonite | 5 | 50.00% | 20.00% |
| 2 | Tyranitar | 5 | 50.00% | 20.00% |
| 4 | Latias | 4 | 40.00% | 75.00% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 4 | Metagross | 4 | 40.00% | 25.00% |
| 7 | Breloom | 3 | 30.00% | 100.00% |
| 7 | Heatran | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 7 | Starmie | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 10 | Azelf | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Gliscor | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Celebi | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Magneton | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Mamoswine | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Flygon | 2 | 20.00% | 0.00% |
| 16 | Suicune | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Gengar | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Milotic | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Clefable | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Zapdos | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Blissey | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Machamp | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Empoleon | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 16 | Rotom-Heat | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 16 | Infernape | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 16 | Froslass | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Week 4 Lead Stats

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

| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |

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

| 1 | Azelf | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |

| 2 | Suicune | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Jirachi | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Zapdos | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Breloom | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |

| 2 | Dragonite | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Flygon | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Heatran | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

| 2 | Froslass | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Overall Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Jirachi | 23 | 57.50% | 43.48% |
| 2 | Latias | 20 | 50.00% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Tyranitar | 19 | 47.50% | 36.84% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 15 | 37.50% | 60.00% |
| 5 | Dragonite | 14 | 35.00% | 35.71% |
| 6 | Heatran | 12 | 30.00% | 66.67% |
| 6 | Metagross | 12 | 30.00% | 50.00% |
| 8 | Swampert | 8 | 20.00% | 37.50% |
| 9 | Breloom | 7 | 17.50% | 71.43% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 7 | 17.50% | 42.86% |
| 9 | Clefable | 7 | 17.50% | 42.86% |
| 11 | Gengar | 6 | 15.00% | 66.67% |
| 11 | Flygon | 6 | 15.00% | 16.67% |
| 11 | Skarmory | 6 | 15.00% | 16.67% |
| 14 | Azelf | 5 | 12.50% | 60.00% |
| 14 | Starmie | 5 | 12.50% | 60.00% |
| 14 | Rotom-Heat | 5 | 12.50% | 40.00% |
| 14 | Hippowdon | 5 | 12.50% | 40.00% |
| 14 | Gliscor | 5 | 12.50% | 40.00% |
| 19 | Empoleon | 4 | 10.00% | 75.00% |
| 19 | Forretress | 4 | 10.00% | 50.00% |
| 19 | Suicune | 4 | 10.00% | 50.00% |
| 19 | Scizor | 4 | 10.00% | 25.00% |
| 23 | Bronzong | 3 | 7.50% | 100.00% |
| 23 | Machamp | 3 | 7.50% | 66.67% |
| 23 | Mamoswine | 3 | 7.50% | 66.67% |
| 23 | Infernape | 3 | 7.50% | 33.33% |
| 23 | Lucario | 3 | 7.50% | 33.33% |
| 23 | Zapdos | 3 | 7.50% | 33.33% |
| 23 | Magneton | 3 | 7.50% | 33.33% |
| 30 | Rotom-Wash | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 30 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 30 | Celebi | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 33 | Qwilfish | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Uxie | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Kingdra | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Magnezone | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Cresselia | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Snorlax | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Roserade | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Milotic | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Blissey | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 33 | Smeargle | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 33 | Froslass | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from SFG.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from OIPON.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from KRISTYL ★.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.

Overall Lead Stats

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Azelf | 5 | 12.50% | 60.00% |
| 2 | Hippowdon | 4 | 10.00% | 50.00% |
| 3 | Heatran | 3 | 7.50% | 66.67% |
| 3 | Dragonite | 3 | 7.50% | 33.33% |
| 5 | Empoleon | 2 | 5.00% | 100.00% |
| 5 | Breloom | 2 | 5.00% | 100.00% |
| 5 | Gyarados | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Zapdos | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Skarmory | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 5.00% | 50.00% |
| 5 | Flygon | 2 | 5.00% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Bronzong | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 12 | Roserade | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 12 | Suicune | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 12 | Jirachi | 1 | 2.50% | 100.00% |
| 12 | Metagross | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Latias | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Forretress | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Swampert | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Gliscor | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Smeargle | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |
| 12 | Froslass | 1 | 2.50% | 0.00% |

 

[Le Don]

Week 4 games review ( feat Le Don's "expert" eye )

zf vs twash

Game review

Offense vs Offense. Some kind of paraspam with Empoleon and Mamoswine ( suprising to not see Magnezone with Mamo because Skarm seems very hard to deal with, zf prob has a tech for it somewhere) vs classic offense with double breaker ( Dnite + Nape ), double setup ( Meta + Ttar ) and Rotom as Scarfer.
Game started with Breloom being faster than Heatran, twash is already in trouble. After getting his rocks with Heatran, twash switched on his MixNite to absorb the Spore and fortunatly for him, Dnite woke up very early so Breloom couldn't break as zf wanted to. After some pivoting, zf went for Draco Meteor with Latias but now Metagross has a free Agility. zf was forced to go again on his Scarf Lati and to Twave the Metagross. Good news for him : Meta wasn't Lum Berry and he got full para so Lati was still alive. twash went back on Dnite on the Breloom sack but unfortunatly for him, zf revealed just after Mamoswine and it had a free Sub because Dnite doesn't want to stay. Mamo made big progress but as soon as it is no longer behind a Sub, Infernape can revenge kill it. Latias being low means that Gyarados had to check Infernape but it was on a timer due to rocks being up. A few turns after, Jirachi dodged the Explosion with Sub and just after Fire Blast from Infernape ( zf was prob too scared of U-Turn to go on Latias and Gyara was very scary for twash ) and paralysed it with Twave and thx to this, Jirachi won the game solo with Iron Head. A messy game overall; the early game was lucky for twash because Breloom was scary as hell but then the crit on Rotom and the Fire Blast miss costed him the game.

mael vs bruno

Game review

For this game we have a paraspam mirror : Double ground vs double fighters. mael's team is very interesting, using para + trapper to support uncommon pokemons like CB Flygon or Mamo and Celebi was prefered to Latias. bruno used the standard LoomChamp paraspam; I like the Twave Zap, very good vs offense.
Early game was a bit slow because the Zapdos was very hard to break through and bruno also had a Starmie to deal with Mamo. But on turn 23, bruno tried to predict Knock Off but it didn't worked and now Starmie cannot deal with Mamo anymore. Regardless max def Zapdos is still a huge problem : even paralysed it took nothing from CB Dclaw and it revealed Heat Wave so Celebi wasn't very safe against it. So mael decided to Outrage on turn 36, hoping to get a para on the roost. He got it but now Jirachi can just come in and paralyse the Flygon. Wish Protect Jirachi was very difficult to force out so mael had to go on Mamo, sub, get a full para and double EQ it to take it down. But then bruno can just spin, allowing his Zapdos to Roost later on the Celebi for ex. mael, aware of that, did a nice double on Magneton turn 49 and got huge chip on the Loom coming in and bruno was forced to go on Bliss aka free in for Mamo. bruno went on Starmie first on the sub and then went on Zapdos on the EQ so he healed the Zapdos and kept his Starmie; everything has to be redone for mael. A Heat Wave crit on Celebi sealed the game : mael lost his rocker and then both Magneton and Mamo to get rid off the Zapdos, leaving Starmie and his own Jirachi in 2 v 4. Once Celebi was out, Machamp could simply finish the game. Unfort for mael to face Zapdos with this team. Imo this game showed very well how strong Zapdos is in sandless MU and also Sub Mamoswine limits, Ice Fang was better in this game > Knock Off but if you do that then you pretty much lose against Shed Skarm.

DeepBlueC vs SFG

Game review

Double HO matchup ! Classic stuff from DeepBlueC, suicide lead + 4 setups but with some movesets changes ( DD Taunt Tar ) and with Scarf Lati this time adding a lot of utility with Twave, Trick and Hwish; it also adds an important electric resist. SFG's team seems also standard but we have a Scarf Froslass lead which is definitly uncommon.
Froslass tricked gave the Scarf to the Azelf which now lock into taunt, no rocks for DBC for now. SFG then switched on his Jirachi on the Tar so now it can spam Iron head or get rocks if it has it. DBC went back on Azelf on the IH and he decided to Twave the Rachi instead of getting rocks up because if it is smthing like Shuca Berry Mixed, it's a huge threat to DBC's team. A great Meteor Mash turn 5 did a lot to SFG's Dnite which turns out to be Mixed. DBC pivoted very well to take down the Dnite ( LO + Sand ) and keep alive both Meta and Lati. Turn 10 : DBC paralysed the Froslass and went on his Lum Tar just after because it is Taunt DD Tar so it can use the Froslass as a setup folder and Jirachi being paralysed cannot really threaten it. DBC knew that DD Tar takes a Waterfall from full so he went for another one but didn't expect Twave Gyara in his gameplan. Despite para + flinch odds, Tar was still able to KO the Gyarados. Tar came back later thx to Hwish, claimed another one and did 88% to SFG's Tar but then lost the tie. SFG could have won the game on this ( depending on the moveset ) but DBC had Extreme Speed Dragonite so it was pretty much lose at this point. SFG still had a shot : he had to force the Fire Punch to get the Flash Fire boost and then spam Flamethrower in order to crit the Dnite and then hope the Gyarados doesn't DD. He got the Flash Fire boost but didn't get the crit so it was over. Playing vs HO without rocks is always tricky and hard so well played by DBC.

Jirachee vs Kristyl

Game review

I love both teams. The first one is based on Sky Attack SD Gliscor supported by pokemons like Iball Metagross, Specs Starmie and MixNite. The second one is a Mag Balance ( the first one in this SPL, finally ! ) but with a different approach : no Latias / Breloom / Swampert; instead we have Milotic, Celebi and Gliscor.
Turn 2 : Metagross came in and Kristyl aware of a potential Iron Ball switch out so instead of getting Milotic's Leftovers Meta got Celebi's Leftovers. Then both players got their rocks up but Celebi, slowed by the Iball, was under the threat of the Ttar. Kristyl decided to stay twice to take the down the Ttar and she was right because Jirachee tried to Pursuit it. On turn 12, Starmie tricked the Clefable and was able afterwards to spin ( that explains why Jirachee Pursuited twice, Celebi down = no more sr setter ). Clefable was now a setup folder for SD Gliscor, so Kristyl had to switch out. She went on Milotic thinking she was safe but she was caught off guard by Sky Attack that destroyed the Milotic and now she has to RK the Gliscor with HP Ice Magneton. I really like the SD Sky Attack set, Gliscor that lacks of power in general has now a move that does 75% to Quagsire for ex. On turn 29, Kristyl sacked Magneton ( that took down the MixNite earlier ) to get safely Gliscor on the field and Roost. Two turns after, somewhat to everyone's surprise, Jirachee went for Hwish directly instead of Trick first. I suppose he didn't have Trick or he was afraid of a potential Ice Fang. He decided then to explode on the Gliscor leaving his own Gliscor in 1v1 vs the Jirachi. He has to not get paralysed by Body Slam or he needs a crit but alas, Jirachi got the para and the flinches so it's another win for Kristyl ! I don't know what to think about the endgame, I have the impression that he has been kinda rushed somehow. A cool game regardless.

Student of Sinnoh vs Sakito

Game review

On SoS's side we have a team that looks like to a Special offense but we have a Physical Jirachi instead of CM, kinda surprising. I like the Protect Suicune lead, clearly designed to chip Latias / bait Explosion Metagross for Breloom and Jirachi. Sakito loaded pretty much the same team as week 1 but with Flygon > Gengar.
Suicune didn't miss Hydro Pump and so was able to take down Azelf before it exploded. Gyara used the Suicune as a setup folder, forcing the Scarf Lati to come it. Wacan Berry is revealed and Lati went down on Outrage, great news for Sakito. A few turns after, SoS was in big trouble : he had to revenge kill a +1 Dnite without Scarf Lati. He went first on Suicune on the DD because it prob has Ice Beam but if you let Suicune take chip then you lose against Agility Metagross so he prefered to sack Gengar on the Outrage to then revenge kill it with Explosion Heatran. Suicune was able to take down the Metagross but a Hydro Pump miss put it in range of +1 DD Tar but that wasn't a big deal thx to Mach Breloom in the back, a Hydro miss on Tar could have been way more problematic. Sakito revealed his last pokemon, Flygon. Imo it is very suprising but not meaningless because an elec immu is always appreciated on HO and with all those physical attackers, you can easily beat Skarm for ex and then spam Outrage to clean the game. Depending on the set, it can instant win but it can also instant lose. Sakito went for EQ, meaning it was prob Scarf Flygon, but Breloom survived and then Spore + FPunch was able to win the game for SoS. First SPL win for him, gz ! The Flygon did not work out as Sakito expected to. Very cool and close game.

sry for the delay, normally I will be less busy for future weeks :pray:

Another post is coming soon !

​

 

[Le Don]

Week 4 quick review :

when spore goes wrong

​

• Dragonite this week = 5 appearances = #2 this week; 2 MixNite and 3 DD Nite. We also saw a lot of uncommon pokemons like Mamoswine, Celebi, Milotic or even Froslass. They all take advantage of the actual metagame : a lot of Spikes less teams ( Milo / Celebi don't like Spikes MU, especially Rose teams ), offensive teams are much more present than defensive teams ( Mamo is better vs Offense than vs Stall ) and Scarf Tar is almost never used ( no more Scarf Tar lead means that Froslass is better now, not like in 2022 ).
• Two Mag teams, two Scarf Magneton, 0 Scarf Magnezone. Being faster than + 1 DDers is crucial especially in a metagame dominated by offensive teams.
• Was Skarmory playing Hide N Seek last week ? Second week with 0 usages ... Also, has anyone seen SD Lucario ? We've been looking for him for four weeks. Less Spikes also means less Lucario.

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[CRY] Kristyl vs twash [BIG]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
3-1 <- Actual record -> 0-4
Win <- ( vs Jirachee ) Last week game result ( vs zf ) -> Loss
august <- Visible and notable support ( building / testgames etc ) -> M Dragon ?

.

Generation clash !

​

With a current record of 3-1, Kristyl is definitly in great form, the few doubts that we had before were quickly dispelled ( her only loss was due to a last turn crit ). I already talked a lot about Kristyl and her perfs here so check it out ! For this SPL, she didn't hesitate to bring uncommon pokemons like Infernape, Milotic or Celebi and it worked well for her; august is surely very precious for her preps ( her week 1 team looks like a lot to this august's team from SPL XII ). The machine is in motion and seems difficult to stop.

twash last apprearance in SPL before this one was in 2013 ! twash came back recently and is part of the players that perfed well for Smogon Classic this year. twash made DPP Cup finals and the most impressive thing about twash's run is that he used pokemons like Alakazam, Sceptile or even Drifblim, pokemons you never see in high level games, definitly THE heat mons player. But alas unlike Kristyl, the Custap Berry enjoyer is not successful with a 0-4 record and I'm not even sure if twash has support since M Dragon is already playing GSC. Between bad luck, bad MUs and surprising team choices, it's a rough start. After using during the first 3 weeks some crazy and creative stuff, twash seems now to load more standard teams. Comeback time ? Anyway, twash really needs to get back on track especially as this is twash last chance not to be sure to end up with a negative record at the end of the regular season.

It has been more than 10 years since twash's last SPL win; will twash be able to get his first SPL XIV win ?
We will see on Sunday, 5:00 / 6:00 PM (GMT -5) ! Gl to both !
​

 

[Le Don]

Week 6 parings :

[BIG] twash vs BKC [TYR] Sunday, 7:00 PM (GMT -5)
[WOL] SFG vs zf [RUI] Sunday, 11:00 AM (GMT -5)
[TIG] mael vs DeepBlueC [RAI] Sunday, 8:30 AM (GMT -5)
[CLA] Student of Sinnoh vs Kristyl [CRY] Sunday, 1:00 PM (GMT -5)
[SHA] bruno vs Sakito [SCO]

Week 5 Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Latias | 5 | 50.00% | 80.00% |
| 2 | Breloom | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 2 | Heatran | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 2 | Clefable | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 2 | Zapdos | 4 | 40.00% | 50.00% |
| 2 | Jirachi | 4 | 40.00% | 0.00% |
| 7 | Tyranitar | 3 | 30.00% | 66.67% |
| 7 | Azelf | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 7 | Gyarados | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 7 | Suicune | 3 | 30.00% | 0.00% |
| 11 | Skarmory | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 11 | Rotom-Wash | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 11 | Scizor | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 11 | Hippowdon | 2 | 20.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Quagsire | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Magneton | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Hitmonlee | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Gliscor | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Gallade | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Donphan | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Magnezone | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15 | Aerodactyl | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Dragonite | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Starmie | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Bronzong | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 15 | Forretress | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from SAKITO.
• Missing 2 Pokemon from TWASH.

Week 5 Lead Stats

+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ----------------------- + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Azelf | 3 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 2 | Skarmory | 2 | 20.00% | 100.00% |
| 2 | Zapdos | 2 | 20.00% | 50.00% |
| 4 | Hitmonlee | 1 | 10.00% | 100.00% |
| 4 | Aerodactyl | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |
| 4 | Hippowdon | 1 | 10.00% | 0.00% |

Overall Usage Stats

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Use | Usage % | Win % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1 | Jirachi | 27 | 54.00% | 37.04% |
| 2 | Latias | 25 | 50.00% | 56.00% |
| 3 | Tyranitar | 22 | 44.00% | 40.91% |
| 4 | Gyarados | 18 | 36.00% | 55.56% |
| 5 | Heatran | 16 | 32.00% | 62.50% |
| 6 | Dragonite | 15 | 30.00% | 33.33% |
| 7 | Metagross | 12 | 24.00% | 50.00% |
| 8 | Breloom | 11 | 22.00% | 63.64% |
| 8 | Clefable | 11 | 22.00% | 45.45% |
| - | Rotom-Appliance | 9 | 18.00% | 44.44% |
| 10 | Azelf | 8 | 16.00% | 50.00% |
| 10 | Swampert | 8 | 16.00% | 37.50% |
| 10 | Skarmory | 8 | 16.00% | 37.50% |
| 13 | Zapdos | 7 | 14.00% | 42.86% |
| 13 | Suicune | 7 | 14.00% | 28.57% |
| 13 | Hippowdon | 7 | 14.00% | 28.57% |
| 16 | Gengar | 6 | 12.00% | 66.67% |
| 16 | Starmie | 6 | 12.00% | 50.00% |
| 16 | Gliscor | 6 | 12.00% | 50.00% |
| 16 | Scizor | 6 | 12.00% | 33.33% |
| 16 | Flygon | 6 | 12.00% | 16.67% |
| 21 | Forretress | 5 | 10.00% | 40.00% |
| 21 | Rotom-Heat | 5 | 10.00% | 40.00% |
| 23 | Bronzong | 4 | 8.00% | 75.00% |
| 23 | Empoleon | 4 | 8.00% | 75.00% |
| 23 | Rotom-Wash | 4 | 8.00% | 50.00% |
| 23 | Magneton | 4 | 8.00% | 50.00% |
| 27 | Machamp | 3 | 6.00% | 66.67% |
| 27 | Mamoswine | 3 | 6.00% | 66.67% |
| 27 | Infernape | 3 | 6.00% | 33.33% |
| 27 | Lucario | 3 | 6.00% | 33.33% |
| 27 | Aerodactyl | 3 | 6.00% | 33.33% |
| 32 | Magnezone | 2 | 4.00% | 100.00% |
| 32 | Celebi | 2 | 4.00% | 50.00% |
| 34 | Qwilfish | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Uxie | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Kingdra | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Cresselia | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Snorlax | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Roserade | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Milotic | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Blissey | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Quagsire | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Hitmonlee | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Gallade | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Donphan | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |
| 34 | Smeargle | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |
| 34 | Froslass | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

• Missing 1 Pokemon from SFG.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from OIPON.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from KRISTYL ★.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from AICORDER.
• Missing 1 Pokemon from SAKITO.
• Missing 2 Pokemon from TWASH.

Overall Lead Stats

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

| Rank | Leads | Use | Usage % | Win % |

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

| 1 | Azelf | 8 | 16.00% | 50.00% |

| 2 | Hippowdon | 5 | 10.00% | 40.00% |

| 3 | Skarmory | 4 | 8.00% | 75.00% |

| 3 | Zapdos | 4 | 8.00% | 50.00% |

| 5 | Heatran | 3 | 6.00% | 66.67% |

| 5 | Dragonite | 3 | 6.00% | 33.33% |

| 5 | Aerodactyl | 3 | 6.00% | 33.33% |

| 8 | Empoleon | 2 | 4.00% | 100.00% |

| 8 | Breloom | 2 | 4.00% | 100.00% |

| 8 | Gyarados | 2 | 4.00% | 50.00% |

| 8 | Flygon | 2 | 4.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Bronzong | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |

| 12 | Roserade | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |

| 12 | Suicune | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |

| 12 | Jirachi | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |

| 12 | Hitmonlee | 1 | 2.00% | 100.00% |

| 12 | Metagross | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Latias | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Forretress | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Swampert | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Gliscor | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Smeargle | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

| 12 | Froslass | 1 | 2.00% | 0.00% |

Good luck to everyone !

 

[Le Don]

Week 5 games review ( feat Le Don's "expert" eye )

DeepBlueC vs bruno

Game review

I love both teams. DBC's brought standard Azelf offense based on DD Mono attacker Gyarados with again a SubPunch Breloom. bruno's team is more defensive and particular : it looks like a lot to Christo's Curse Quag team from SPL XIII but with Magneton > Magnezone; with Curse Quag + Magneton, it clearly means that bruno was prepared for offense.
Azelf vs Skarm, DBC predicted a switch and went directly for rocks. bruno went on his Ttar so he also got his rocks up. Tar means free Loom aka free Spore but it's walled by Latias. On turn 14, Tran exploded on the Clef and just after bruno revealed EQ Scarf Tar and that did a ton to Jirachi but nearly died to Iron Head and now Rotom is free to spam Shadow Ball because Tar just dies on rocks. Rotom made good progress but still walled by Quag without a SpD drop so DBC went on Breloom which means free Lati for bruno. DBC had to find a way to beat it otherwise his team will die on SR + Sand. Unable to make significant progress, he still found a way on turn 45 but it was too late, Azelf, Rotom and Breloom were already all KO and now Quag can solo win the game with Ice Punch. The Gyarados could have been very dangerous if Quag's set was different ( EQ / Counter / Encore for ex, a set that you can pp stall ). Unfortunatly for DBC he faced the only Quag that completly walls his Gyarados aka Ice Punch Quag. Good prep by bruno, 4 wins in a row for him !

Sakito vs SFG

Game review

We have surprising stuff right here ! Bulk Up + Rapid Spin Hitmonlee and Scarf Zapdos ... well apparently Hitmonlee is supposed to prevent rocks from leads like Aero / Azelf thx to Spin + Limber ( immu to para ); Scarf Zapdos seems very gimmick ( at least completly uncommon, I personally never saw it before ) but it is extremely good vs HO. SFG's team is pretty classic : Aero HO but this time with a Suicune which is not very common in this kind of HO that usually prefer Lucario / Metagross / Gliscor etc.
Hitmonlee prevented rocks effectively and on turn 6, SFG switched out in case Hitmonlee was Custap Berry but too bad it wasn't. Gyarados DDed while Sakito went on his Zapdos and the turn after he revealed Scarf Zapdos and KOed Gyara, huge threat for SFG. Ttar came in next to DD but Zapdos kept thunderbolting and got a para so Sakito just sacked his Hitmonlee to setup his own Gyarados. Dnite came in on turn 15; SFG, expecting Sakito to switch, went on Aero but Sakito stayed in and Gyara claimed another one. At this point it was impossible for SFG to comeback, Scarf Zapdos, Heatran and Gliscor finished the game for Sakito. SFG loaded double water HO and faced Scarf Zapdos, clearly unfort but the prep worked perfectly for the Scooters. Sakito's last ? I would say it was DD Tar but it can be Gengar / Latias with their great speed since Sakito's team seems a bit slow overall.

twash vs Kristyl

Game review

twash's team is interesting : it uses again the Azelf + Loom combo but with this time a Gallade ( prob SD ); there should be a pursuiter in the back. Kristyl brought what seems like to be a Spikeless stall with a lot of potential para spreaders ( again a Hippo vs twash uh ? :ledon: ).
Azelf put SR up and made good progress with Twave + Fire Blast, forcing the Starmie to come in. Loom got the Spore on the Zapdos and revealed the unexpected SD and with Zapdos being asleep and Jirachi being paraed it looks very very dangerous. We can also note that Breloom outspeeded Zapdos so it was prob Jolly. twash also revealed Facade and it did a ton to Zapdos which btw woke up early but missed an important Heat Wave and now Kristyl just lose the game unable to revenge kill the Breloom because it outspeeds everything. Hippo roared it out but it was too late; Gallade was able to finish the game at the end after Starmie went down. That Breloom set was a very good call and even the Gallade seemed to have an insane MU. As a big fan of fighting spam teams, I wouldn't be suprised if we have Pursuit Tyranitar / Metagross as Gengar seems to be a pain for twash ( at least something that can Pursuit trap ). Happy to see twash finally getting a win; is it the beginning of a comeback ? Maybe ?

mael vs Jirachee

Game review

BO vs Azelf Offense ( another one ! ). I like mael's team, U-Turn Zapdos into CB Tar / Breloom is terrifying for a lot of teams that rely on Latias / Clefable to check Zapdos. We also have a Donphan and it is surprising to see it in such offensive team because Donphan is mostly seen in stall teams. Jirachee's team is more oriented on special attacks with CM Cune / Rachi etc with a Breloom as Ground resist and adding the important Mach Punch for DD Tar.
Azelf got rocks up and exploded right into the Tar leaving it at 26%, good news for Lati and Rachi. Suicune came in, CMed and mael had to Twave it was not enough : his Latias didn't have Roar so he decided to go Tar hoping for full para. He got it he could Crunch it and then revenge kill with his Breloom. Jirachee kept Suicune went on Tar and start pressuring with it. With Taunt + Epower and Tar weakened, it's a huge threat to mael's team but Jirachee wasn't wary of a potential EQ Latias and got smashed on turn 11. It was still fine but Latias was still out of range of 2 Flamethrower. mael accepted to let his Latias getting tricked so he could get his rocks up and boomed on Jirachee's Latias, 4 v 4. Jirachi revealed Draco Meteor but Lati survived and it has free EQ / Twave. mael went for EQ because he really wanted to take down Heatran who could have been problematic. Last pokemon is revealed on Jirachee's side, Breloom but mael's Breloom was faster and now Jirachi is in 1v4. Unfortunalty for Jirachee, Donphan is revealed and did a tom with EQ so Zapdos was able ton win the game for mael ! Cool teams from both sides.

oiponabys vs zf

Game review

For the last game we have a stall vs stall MU. Oipon's team is definitly a hard stall, everything seems to rely on Forre aka the spinner with all these pokemons affected by Spikes and SR. As for zf, his team is a Magnezone semi-stall with SD Scizor as wincond ( we already saw this kind of team before with Milo or Gastro > Rotom ); I like Rotom a lot in this team, being able to manage Jirachi quite well while preventing a potential spin seems very appealing here especially in a weather-less.
An important WoW miss turn 15 allowed Oipon to stay in the game but with all these EH on his side, Oipon was a timer, unable to remove them. Turn 40, Rotom burned the Jirachi and now it is even move safe against it, 0 chance to get bs by Iron Head. zf made the first blood turn 47 : his Clef being forced out, Oipon tried to go Hippo on a Knock Off but it didn't work because zf went for SToss and it's a 2HKO. Game was pretty much won for zf after this, he just needed to keep his EH up and make progress with his Clefable. He could have been in trouble in lategame vs Suicune but it wasn't even CM so he was safe. SD Zor was also very Scary once Zapdos was pretty much dead. To resume, zf had a clear advantage because : his own Clef outspeeded Oipon's Clef so you always Encore first and you can Knock another pokemon; 4 pokemons in Oipon's team are affected by Spikes so you don't want to switch out; Rotom prevented the spin during 140 turns so Oipon had no way out ( except crit on Payback ? ). Terrible MU for Forre.

See you tomorrow for another post !

​

 

[Le Don]

Week 5 quick review :

• Azelf is the most popular lead atm with 8 appearances ( 3 this week ). It's often combined with an Hyper Offense with a lot of setups ( Sakito / DBC week 4 ) or a more traditional offense with most of the time a FWG core + Scarf + Steel type.
• Zapdos has been popular this week with 4 appearances and it's not surprising with all these Gyarados and Breloom being around.
• Heatran seems stronger than never : with its high speed and good utility movepool ( Sub, WoW, Taunt ... ), it is deadly for a high number of teams and ofc we cannot sleep on Explosion.
• We finally found Quagsire, finally ! Gastrodon next week ? With all these Brelooms around prob not but who knows ?
• Jirachi's users are ... losers ... hey don't look at me like this it's not me it's the stats ! Second week that Jirachi has a 0% winrate lmao.

Now time for the ...

PAIRING OF THE WEEK

[TIG] mael vs DeepBlueC [RAI]

I'm not the owner of these sprites, pls check this post for more informations here
4-1 <- Actual record -> 3-2
Win <- Last official confrontation : Week 1 SPL XIII -> Loss
Win <- ( vs Jirachee ) Last week game result ( vs bruno ) -> Loss

.

This is not the first time they faced each other for SPL; banger incoming !
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mael is on fire since the beginning of the season, he varied his teamstyle a lot while remaining offensive and it worked well because he managed to get four wins ( only one loss against bruno ). His teams are always a bit tricky : everytime they seem standard but they alaways have this important surprise factor / those unique techs ( like Grass Knot Starmie ) that can catch off guard your opp allowing you to make progress when your opp is still trying to understand what just happened. For the two last weeks, he even brought some uncommon pokemons like Mamo / Celebi or Donphan. mael seems confident and he's for sure one of the key players of the Tigers this season.

He too has never ceased to amaze us, ofc I'm talking about DeepBlueC ! Making a good start too, the Raiders' DPP slot seems to alternate between the very standard and the very creative / heat : he brought a classic hyper offense for week 4 vs SFG but one week before that he was using a Snorlax Boom offense vs Oipon. Unpredictable ? Hmmm not sure because last week bruno was blatantly prepared to offense ( and to Gyarados lol ) and he was right as DBC went for an Azelf offense with a mono attacker Gyarados. Simple call to order or real weakness ? Remember that mael had also hard time against the sharks' player so it probably doesn't mean something ... anyway, DBC wants to bounce back so I'm really exiciting to see their game and what they will bring.

Will they opt for a defensive team or will they stay on the offensive ?
Will DeepBlueC be able to take his revenge ?
We will see on Sunday 8:30 AM (GMT -5). Gl to both !

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