This post is a few things mashed into one RMT, if you do not care about vivalospride and his inner thoughts/experiences on Smogon dot com all that much, that is fair and just skip this mumbo jumbo onto the team.
Basically I wanted to use this post to RMT a team that I really enjoy, provide shoutouts to my UUPL team, and to have my journey this past year or so with mons in writing. Pokemon is smth that generally fills a competitive void for me, it is accessible and easy to throw loose time into. With that being said, I am extremely competitive and very hard on myself, and the competitive fire in me had died a fair bit a few years back when my life started to pick up and much more important things than mons came into play, work, relationships, etc. UUSD III rolled around and I was much less involved in this website than I had been for a while now, that last UUSD I had managed and borderline cancered in the sense that I was just extremely inactive and useless, and anyone who has teamed with me knows that I am a chatty fellow usually. But for whatever reason that UUSD III I had enough motivation to put a fair amount of effort into my own individual slot in SM, at that point SS was almost over and I had been pretty mentally detached from the gen for a few months. I did fine that tour all things considered, and honestly felt like I had broken through some walls as a player, I was much more productive and prioritized the right things more often than I had in prior tours, and felt like I learned a lot. It got me going a bit again.
However, SM UU is a tier that I put a lot of pressure on myself when I am playing it in any setting that is competitive. To me, I never fully proved myself as much as I wanted to when it was cg, and then in UUSD 1, I had enough clout to have certain expectations in that tier, and failed to even come close to meeting them, I did very poorly, and my poor play wasnt even the only problem, my builds were not winning ones, and at the time I was confident that they were for basically no reason at all. I have/had this irrational confidence as a builder, that if something makes sense to me it is for sure good (back then a lot more silly things would make sense to me). That tour crushed my confidence and the fuel I had to keep improving slowly ran out, as I felt like I gave this game the best shot I had and I just wasn't going to get much better.
Going backwards a bit in the above paragraph, but after UUSD III like I mentioned, I had an itch again, and it led to the decision to play in UUPL during 2023, but due to the aforementioned pressure I put on myself in SM, and hating SS, I entered for SV. I had no experience in SV whatsoever at the time and had no idea what tera even was, but I was confident it couldnt be too difficult, also didnt really care all that much, I just wanted to play. I got drafted by Pak and TSR to the Stars which was great, and I just kinda learned the meta as I went, and I felt fine, like I was adjusting fine and that my builds weren't bad. But tera dynamics aren't easy to get the hang of instantly, and I was very busy, I didn't do that well in the tour and also wasn't very active. But as time went on I started getting more and more motivated, and after going on vacation for one week I was excited to get back in and attempt to win out. Upon returning from vacation and trying to be as active as I could be while on vacation I ultimately ended up being benched. In hindsight it's not something I look back on with frustration or anything but at the time it really bothered me, as my managers and teammates were all people I'd known for years and people I assumed believed in me and recognized my attempts to work harder and improve. It's not that deep whatsoever but at the time I was surprised, and it lit a fire under me for sure. I felt the most motivated I'd been in some years, and I've kinda been riding it ever since.
UUWC came shortly after and it felt like I was in a training arc almost, relearning how to play mons in a productive in winning manner after hardly playing at all for the prior year and a half, I ramped up throughout the tour and felt like I was making progress, and got drafted to SCL afterwards. This was where I truly learned a lot, being on the same team as Punny was fruitful, I picked his brain as much as I could and tried to understand how he saw the game and building in totality as much as I could. Despite not playing a game and my team not making playoffs, it was fun and felt productive, I felt improvement throughout the tour in every aspect. UUSD 4 was next, and I felt more confident than I probably ever had till that point, I used to feign confidence and try to fake it till I make it, and just say cocky things constantly like I believed it... but this time around I felt relatively relaxed and unworried about my own performance.
I did do well, but the team underperformed and we barely squeezed into playoffs and got whooped. It all led to this UUPL, where I was on the fence about how large of a role I wanted to take on, then col voiced his desire to manage > playing, and Bouff tagged me, and our team up was inevitable from there. I was locked in from the second col posted the manager sign up. The draft plan went perfectly, and from there we were ballin.
Like I said, I was locked in, I was grinding from start to finish, and for portions of the tour my read on the meta wasn’t as good as it should’ve been and my team suffered for it. But to paraphrase the whole tour, it was a lot of using any loose time I had to try and optimize our chances of winning. The vibes were great, in 2024 you’re probably not gonna find many chats more active and harder working, I tried my best to prioritize my own slot as much as I could, I learned from prior tours how hard it was to perform to your ceiling when your stretched across multiple slots, I definitely managed it better this tour than I have any other.. but it was still very difficult.
In my mind we were the favorites all tour, but ofc as time goes on you have doubts and your confidence gets shaken up, we had a small rough patch in the middle of the tour for example, but come playoffs we were in a good groove. Semifinals were easy enough (sorry), and come Finals, we were up against the team we’d been trading first place with throughout the tour, and also the team slot that benched me last year (with the same core still intact). Once playoffs started, I felt like every slot had some more oomph to it, everyone was working harder and doing their best, especially for finals. Poor odr was on vacay until late sunday so couldn’t do much but across the board we were clicking, a few favored slots lost though and we ended up in a tb.
Tiebreaker I felt confident, honestly part of me felt like it was destiny for odr to win his game, after 4 years of being a dominant friend, it only makes sense for our potentially final uupl together for him to put the nail in the coffin, secure our ring, everything we’ve worked for over the years together. This ring is more than me, and more than odr, WAY more, that’s not even a small percentage of it… main reason these are the most important things to this post is bc LOL i’m rmting the team he used, full shoutouts will be towards the end of this post B)
Basically, this past year came full circle for me, and I hope I continue to grow as a player and individual. For a long time I would talk a lot about my “skills” ig? like I’d talk like I was the greatest builder ever, and I’d talk like my support was completely invaluable towards success, I’d talk like I was a good player… but back then, I never had anything to show for it tbqh, I was insecure just trying to exude a certain energy. What makes me most proud of myself for this tournament, is that I don’t feel like I act any certain way anymore, I don’t feel like I try to control any narrative around my name, I proved to myself that viv support is winning support, and anyone who wants to tell me or anyone else otherwise, i’m jiggy w it.
This whole thing could be longer but it’s already angsty and dramatic enough as it is, I do apologize.
Thanks for everyone who’s believed in me on this site :)
However, SM UU is a tier that I put a lot of pressure on myself when I am playing it in any setting that is competitive. To me, I never fully proved myself as much as I wanted to when it was cg, and then in UUSD 1, I had enough clout to have certain expectations in that tier, and failed to even come close to meeting them, I did very poorly, and my poor play wasnt even the only problem, my builds were not winning ones, and at the time I was confident that they were for basically no reason at all. I have/had this irrational confidence as a builder, that if something makes sense to me it is for sure good (back then a lot more silly things would make sense to me). That tour crushed my confidence and the fuel I had to keep improving slowly ran out, as I felt like I gave this game the best shot I had and I just wasn't going to get much better.
Going backwards a bit in the above paragraph, but after UUSD III like I mentioned, I had an itch again, and it led to the decision to play in UUPL during 2023, but due to the aforementioned pressure I put on myself in SM, and hating SS, I entered for SV. I had no experience in SV whatsoever at the time and had no idea what tera even was, but I was confident it couldnt be too difficult, also didnt really care all that much, I just wanted to play. I got drafted by Pak and TSR to the Stars which was great, and I just kinda learned the meta as I went, and I felt fine, like I was adjusting fine and that my builds weren't bad. But tera dynamics aren't easy to get the hang of instantly, and I was very busy, I didn't do that well in the tour and also wasn't very active. But as time went on I started getting more and more motivated, and after going on vacation for one week I was excited to get back in and attempt to win out. Upon returning from vacation and trying to be as active as I could be while on vacation I ultimately ended up being benched. In hindsight it's not something I look back on with frustration or anything but at the time it really bothered me, as my managers and teammates were all people I'd known for years and people I assumed believed in me and recognized my attempts to work harder and improve. It's not that deep whatsoever but at the time I was surprised, and it lit a fire under me for sure. I felt the most motivated I'd been in some years, and I've kinda been riding it ever since.
UUWC came shortly after and it felt like I was in a training arc almost, relearning how to play mons in a productive in winning manner after hardly playing at all for the prior year and a half, I ramped up throughout the tour and felt like I was making progress, and got drafted to SCL afterwards. This was where I truly learned a lot, being on the same team as Punny was fruitful, I picked his brain as much as I could and tried to understand how he saw the game and building in totality as much as I could. Despite not playing a game and my team not making playoffs, it was fun and felt productive, I felt improvement throughout the tour in every aspect. UUSD 4 was next, and I felt more confident than I probably ever had till that point, I used to feign confidence and try to fake it till I make it, and just say cocky things constantly like I believed it... but this time around I felt relatively relaxed and unworried about my own performance.
I did do well, but the team underperformed and we barely squeezed into playoffs and got whooped. It all led to this UUPL, where I was on the fence about how large of a role I wanted to take on, then col voiced his desire to manage > playing, and Bouff tagged me, and our team up was inevitable from there. I was locked in from the second col posted the manager sign up. The draft plan went perfectly, and from there we were ballin.
Like I said, I was locked in, I was grinding from start to finish, and for portions of the tour my read on the meta wasn’t as good as it should’ve been and my team suffered for it. But to paraphrase the whole tour, it was a lot of using any loose time I had to try and optimize our chances of winning. The vibes were great, in 2024 you’re probably not gonna find many chats more active and harder working, I tried my best to prioritize my own slot as much as I could, I learned from prior tours how hard it was to perform to your ceiling when your stretched across multiple slots, I definitely managed it better this tour than I have any other.. but it was still very difficult.
In my mind we were the favorites all tour, but ofc as time goes on you have doubts and your confidence gets shaken up, we had a small rough patch in the middle of the tour for example, but come playoffs we were in a good groove. Semifinals were easy enough (sorry), and come Finals, we were up against the team we’d been trading first place with throughout the tour, and also the team slot that benched me last year (with the same core still intact). Once playoffs started, I felt like every slot had some more oomph to it, everyone was working harder and doing their best, especially for finals. Poor odr was on vacay until late sunday so couldn’t do much but across the board we were clicking, a few favored slots lost though and we ended up in a tb.
Tiebreaker I felt confident, honestly part of me felt like it was destiny for odr to win his game, after 4 years of being a dominant friend, it only makes sense for our potentially final uupl together for him to put the nail in the coffin, secure our ring, everything we’ve worked for over the years together. This ring is more than me, and more than odr, WAY more, that’s not even a small percentage of it… main reason these are the most important things to this post is bc LOL i’m rmting the team he used, full shoutouts will be towards the end of this post B)
Basically, this past year came full circle for me, and I hope I continue to grow as a player and individual. For a long time I would talk a lot about my “skills” ig? like I’d talk like I was the greatest builder ever, and I’d talk like my support was completely invaluable towards success, I’d talk like I was a good player… but back then, I never had anything to show for it tbqh, I was insecure just trying to exude a certain energy. What makes me most proud of myself for this tournament, is that I don’t feel like I act any certain way anymore, I don’t feel like I try to control any narrative around my name, I proved to myself that viv support is winning support, and anyone who wants to tell me or anyone else otherwise, i’m jiggy w it.
This whole thing could be longer but it’s already angsty and dramatic enough as it is, I do apologize.
Thanks for everyone who’s believed in me on this site :)
Sets and Analyses
Celebi @ Psychium Z
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- U-turn
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- U-turn
Celebi is a pretty interesting mon in the metagame, on paper it doesn’t do a ton and its speed tier is pretty awkward, Latias generally outclasses. With that said, there’s two things, being a stallbreaker and then this set. I think grass z recover whatever set is pretty mid at this point, it folds to common mons to an extent to where if you run into them, it's just instant momentum loss, ie scizor and latias. This set above though, I think is good, just niche. Clefable coined it as a "brivot", which is what I've called it ever since, it does indeed have NP and can act as a wincon/breaker, but really it's role on the team is primarily to keep momentum up when necessary. For example, something to abuse Amoonguss Spore and U-Turn on the incoming Hydreigon/Latias for free breaking/Pursuit opportunity. It helps that it's Atk stat is pretty high, the aforementioned mons for example get chipped into CB Bullet Punch range rather easily. This mon is the perfect thing for this team, in fact I believe it encapsulates how this team is supposed to be played very well, more on that later.
Altaria-Mega @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
Happiness: 0
EVs: 168 HP / 172 Atk / 32 SpA / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Ability: Pixilate
Happiness: 0
EVs: 168 HP / 172 Atk / 32 SpA / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Roost
Malt has fallen out of favor over the years and it's honestly fair, but I do think it isn't ass or something. You just have to understand which malt sets are actually threatening to where you're not just gonna roll a 40/60 mu every single game. I'd say that primarily falls into mixed sets and sets with Toxic. They give you pretty consistent breaking opportunities against common cores like Empoleon + Amoonguss or Mega Steel + Amoonguss, and Pixilate Frustration hits neutral targets like fat prim for example very hard. It's the type of mon that in theory can chunk most teams any time it's in, you just have to click the right button. With that being said it's the right mon for this slot as well, it solidifies Hydreigon and Electrium Latias mu, and provides more early game direction for a team that otherwise is just pivoting endlessly.
Empoleon @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 172 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic / Ice Beam
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 172 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Knock Off
- Toxic / Ice Beam
In UUSD III, I basically came to the conclusion that Empoleon is god. This mon OHKOs the tier with Scald + Knock + Toxic, and that makes it an extremely reliable rocker vs a majority of removers. Odr for his game actually went Ice Beam > Toxic which is something I think makes a lot of sense for this team, being in the fact that I think just doing any damage to Latias is enough for the mu to be OK since there is CB Scizor in the back, but it also forces random roosts/recovery moves in order to further gain momentum and keep the opponent on their heels. Toxic is a broken move though so it can go either way.
Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 236 HP / 24 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Defog
- Toxic
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 236 HP / 24 SpA / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Overheat
- Defog
- Toxic
I am the biggest defog oven hater in the world for sure, but here I am. Basically, this team is just clicking the pivot moves, ideally you keep your momentum up at all times to where you are either living with rocks up or you are winning the hazard war (obviously the latter being the better one). This mon isn't tryna fuck around, it's here to do what it's supposed to and that's it. Is it a great remover? no, but it works for this team. Oven is very self explanatory though, helps vs. Scizor which is the thing it's most necessary here for, helps vs. Mane, and likely toxics electrium lati, which can be big. Oven being here also takes pressure off of Empo's back as the primary flying resist, and Empo does the same in return.
Nidoking (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
This is another star of the show, Scarf Krookodile has been very standard within the tier for a very long time, and for good reason. Ground types are 100% necessary in this tier due to mane's dominance, and Krookodile actively pressures Latias with STAB Pursuit, that is massive. With that being said, the guy just doesnt pressure things well enough, you win 50/50s just to do like 40% with Stone Edge... after the initial early Knock Off, it's too often where all clicks just aren't rewarding, it doesn't feel great. Nidoking isn't like that, yeah you have to get the turns right, but it's usually something you can do with a timer. Nidoking's clicks hold weight, and on top of that I've decided Scarf is his best item, idc. With Scarf, it has so much more utility, being able to blanket come into fighters once a battle and provide pressure, or just things in general that Krookodile cannot come in on or even force out. They're very different mons and if you're specifically feeling lati weak, obviously krook is the man for the job, but Nidoking feels way fuckin better and for this team he is for sure the guy. Also, Nidoking generally only really needs three moves (Ice beam and STABs), so Toxic Spikes is interchangeable but also I think potentially just best option due to capitalizing on miscellaneous matchups. It's also a potentially good click if you expect them to be harding into their Poison type on that turn specifically, which in this tier can be rare but ye.. it'd force them to go to at least one other pokemon that (probably) isn't a Poison type.
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Def / 44 SpD / 40 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Ability: Technician
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 132 Def / 44 SpD / 40 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-turn
- Pursuit
Ah SM UU's mascot, the spread is a bit strange on CB Scizor but I felt like smth like this was pretty necessary. All the defense is for being a more proficient Maero and Krookodile answer, and taking less from Shark. The SpDef is mostly for rolls vs hp fire and elec Latias, and the speed is general creep. Not to spill all my secrets or anything lol. But this guy is basically Celebi's pivot partner, Celebi's U-Turn spamming directly leads to Scizor having a field day, whether it be chipping things into a BP endgame, or providing Pursuit opportunities, or simply spamming U-Turn together to shred fatter cores. CB Scizors can have troubles with well played amoongs due to amoong having regen and not taking a crazy amount from any of Scizor's moves (U-Turn does like 40ish), but Celebi directly feeds off of Amoonguss, using it for momentum or setup opportunities, same goes for any random fat waters that Scizor might be U-Turning on as well, like Alomomola. Anyways, Scizor is p self explanatory as well even though I've already rambled for a while, he is here to solidify Latias mu, provide potential endgame wincon, and fulfill pivot core with Celebi.
Blurb About the Team
How to Play, Specific Interactions, etc.
As I've stated already a few times, this team is all about momentum, and it's well equipped to acquire said momentum in a good spread of matchups. Key things to keep in mind: Do not be afraid to use Celebi early, Celebi's role is primarily offensive utility, it abuses Amoonguss and fatter waters for momentum to get the ball rolling early, don't throw it into Amoonguss early willy nilly, but on confident spores, definitely. Another thing, rocks early = good, Empoleon is a very reliable rocker and it doesn't confidently let opposing rockers in brainlessly either, it is very plausible for you to get rocks up as early as humanly possible so you can just play the pivot game earlier, and it'll make the pivot game much more effective. There is no true setup wincon vs faster teams, keep your choiced mons in mind during endgames, vs. slower cores left on the battlefield, malt and celebi can act as fine potential wincons. However vs more offensive pokemon remaining, CB Scizor and Scarf Nidoking are both plausible to fall into a sweep during endgames, play them well and use your timer wisely on turns where you are committing to a click with one of them specifically. With Scarf Nidoking, keep in mind your opponent's best interests, it's most threatening when it gets a turn right (obviously), bc then the ball is completely in your court, this mon FORCES discomfort, click the things that keep the opponent uncomfortable. In regards to oven, it's a loose slot on the team, use it for what it's there for and not much more. Pivot when you can and use it to bother teams specifically weak to it early with spreading toxics etc etc, especially while rocks aren't up on either side you have much more freedom. Malt can often fall into a wincon situation later in games vs. slower teams that can't directly break it with the pokemon remaining left, however in 6v6 that is literally never the case, use it as a breaker to abuse the opportunities your pivots grant it. Both Celebi and Rotom-H are great pivots for malt, Both potentially bringing it in on both Hydreigon and Latias, etc.
I am not organized enough to do much more than provide a big block of text, but hopefully it's digestible enough, I used to do a "Teambuilding Process" section above the sets/analyses section, where I'd get into each specific roll, but I figured it was easy enough to just combine that with the "Sets and Analyses" and go over more specific in-game stuff with a blurb. Altogether, this team is about keeping your opponent uncomfortable and fluidity.
Replays
UUSD III vs. Luirromen
UUPL XII Finals vs. pdt
UUPL XII Finals prep vs. Chaitanya
UUPL XII Finals prep vs. Meru
Many friendlies w Pak replays lost over time ;_;
col49 - Thank you for goin on this journey w me, we couldn’t be a better duo for the job. We drafted a great team, we got it done, the job is finished. You help show me what winning support is, and how to more productively provide input and build teams with a certain direction in mind. Also, thank you for the ev spreads on demand, that shit saved my life man LOL.
Upon writing this, I realized you actually posted something of a shoutout post in the finals thread, I just now read it, and I knew I had to come back here and directly respond to your words. There is a reason this is the year we won the ring as a franchise, timing was a big factor in the picks we got, there was luck involved in regards to the draft and obviously pokemon is a partly luck based game, etc etc. But to me, col49 being the manager was a big part of it. Your words hold more weight than most people, when you say something positive about a team, in any gen, i just kind of assume blindly that the team is good, and vise versa if you say the team is shit. You are one of the smartest ppl on this site, to me, you were the only person right for this job. You can scan through every channel in like 5m and provide valuable insight to about 70% of the slots regularly. Your experience was the foundation of what helped make this team work, and what led each player into a certain direction in most weeks.
Without question, you were vital to our success.
Punny - You have become one of my closest friends on the site and I’ve learned a lot from you. You are a great person and I am extremely grateful we were able to snatch you up for a MEASLY 21k or whatever it was. I’ve told you a million times but you are that guy and a bar for me to try and meet as a user, builder, and player. You know I'm always a DM away abt anything life related, mons related, etc etc.
odr - The team started with you, didn’t even have a price next to your name in our sheet for the most part, everyone else did. Knew you were 100% necessary at any cost. You proved your worth, not that you needed to, you cared more for the success of this team than I’ve seen most anyone else, you are friends culture. You’ve been one of the best ppl to be around on this site since I met you in randbats, thank you for everything and rly without you especially this RMT couldn't be possible.
Like I said in my massive rant at the top, I felt like you sealing the deal might as well been fate, I wouldn't change it for anything. Thank you for making this victory the most satisfying it could possibly ever be.
Donphantastic - Friends culture, you are that guy, always have been. Thank you for contributing to our 10-0 hero, and for contributing every other year the friends have fought for a ring. This ring is without question as much yours as anyone else's on this team.
LpZ - 10-0, dawg what? You know, DPP we had no idea what to do, we were stuck on Highlord for a while, considered retaining fatty, I DM’d Beraldo to see if he wanted to DPP… We ultimately landed on you, and you beat the living dogshit out of this pool. I saw it in you in the playoffs, part of me was like “he’s gotta lose eventually right?”, but another part of me knew you were locked in. You were the MVP of this tour if I had to choose one, I feel no shame in saying that and I bet the whole team would agree. I could ramble for another 4 paragraphs if I had the time, words can’t describe how you impacted this tournament, for all we know if you had even a slightly worse record, maybe we didn’t make playoffs, maybe we lost finals prior to having a chance for tb, etc etc Every win of yours mattered and counted, you are cold blooded, the bear is somewhere fucking crying bro
Meru - death, taxes, and Meru cookin in UUPL. Supporting you can be a rollercoaster sometimes, but I enjoy it more than anything at the same time. Seeing your success in this tour felt as rewarding as my own or anyone else’s if not moreso. You are a great pilot and have been nothing but great to me, and I’m grateful you were finally part of the final winning formula for the friends. Honestly you felt like a cheat code this year, just as you usually do to be quite honest. Thanks for being you and giving this tournament so much effort, at one point our SV core was underperforming a bit collectively, and you putting as much work into testing and playing as you did helped not only you, but the rest of us out a lot. You were irreplaceable on this team.
dawnbuster - I admire passionate people quite a bit, and you are a passionate person. You put in the work every week to be great and I expected nothing less every week. You have a great mind for the tier and I am gonna be rooting for you as a spectator if we are not teammates from here on out without question. You brought smth adjacent to a killer mentality to our GSC slot, you carried yourself with confidence, I apologize I couldn’t personally be of more help, but no shot i’m ever learning that tier LOL. Thank you for bringing the heat this tour
Bebo - well well well this fuckin dickhead eh? We did it, after being the friends BW support/cheerleader in 2019, to being a 2 time player. Now you returned as our biggest cheerleader/pseudo shadow manager or whatever tf. Without you, this tournament wasn’t as fun, and I can say with full confidence I speak for every single player on the team when I say that. Thanks for being passionate about the franchise for literal years, only a few people can understand me when I share my excitement and passion for this team, and you are for sure one of them.
Monai - We were set on getting Punny for SV, and we really just wanted a good pilot in BW. In this day and age simply finding a “good pilot” isn’t that easy, but when you signed up I was instantly pretty sure you were the one, and not JUST because you were a “good pilot”. From when you first started in DPP NU not that long ago I could tell you got the hang of it really fast, and having a team full of the DPP NU pool was simply not something I could pass up tbh… I think your finals game and prep best sums up how I feel looking back on your tour, you worked so hard to get a dub for us, you played well, and all of the effort you put into the team payed off. When you put your mind to the matchup, you basically always won. You are that guy and thank you for a great tour.
Chaitanya - I know you had a rough tour but honestly my confidence in you never really wavered. Throughout the season you just kind of did your own thing and I think it more often than not works for you, but you mostly rolled pretty abysmal matchups this time around. Not much ended up being in your favor for most of your losses, your record in my eyes is far superior than what you ended up with. You also won in finals, and your slot was an important one, you clinched the tie. I wouldn’t trade you for another ORAS slot in any world, you were what we needed and I appreciate the effort you put into your games and the way you played them. You were resilient and never really let your confidence as a player be shaken.
BigFatMantis - You were a lock the second it was decided I’d be managing in this tour. You are invaluable, i apologize you didn’t get much playing time… I do believe in you to start a whole season with success. It wasn’t in the cards for this tournament, it’s hard when I believed in all my players. You though are one of my favorite humans on this site, I could get drafted to a team of infants but if BFM is there i’m happy. You were invaluable to this team like I said, your personality and input is one of one in this community and website, you deserve a “BigFatMantis Award” for just being yourself truly. I have said “thanks for being you” a few times to people in this post but I’m not gonna mean it the same like I do here, thank you for being you.
Crushy - You are like an angel sent down to be nice to everyone and put your heart and soul into the things you care about. You were extremely helpful amongst all slots, to be quite honest, i didn’t even realize you knew a ton of non cg tiers, I would’ve been happy with sv ss zoomer crushy, but here you were dropping paragraphs in every channel from top to bottom. You tested with everybody whenever people asked, you provided input when appropriate, you were as worth as 4k gets in any tournament. I also would like to say you were an amazing manager for UUWC, you are a players’ manager, you take care of your people. You are appreciated.
Slip - You were amazing this tournament, I apologize you didn’t get more than a game, but your scouts in playoffs were incredibly helpful. Not to mention all the tests you got with everybody, I didn’t know you too well prior to this tournament, and we had some great players on our bench ready for games at any time, and you were for sure one of them, You were really helpful in every tier you were familiar with, and when we envisioned drafting you (which was a big priority for us), we expected certain things from you, and you delivered across the board.
TyCarter - I actually thought we wouldn’t be able to land you as easily as we did, it’s other teams’ loss and your gain though, You were very helpful this season as expected, and you more than anyone subbed in whenever necessary and provided some dubs for us onto the sheet. Your input, ideas, scouts, etc. You were a swiss army knife this tour for us in the cord, and your presence alone was extremely valuable as well. I enjoy your catalog of miscellaneous images containing quotes that you use to respond to any given situation itc. Thank you for being active this season and ALWAYS remaining ready for anything.
ChrisPBacon - You started out hot, and honestly the whole draft planning process from the second you signed up I was pretty sure you’d end up being our SS slot, and i’m glad it shook out that way. When you had time to buckle down and get your footing in the tier, you were very strong, and you clearly cared about your own success and the team’s success. Thank you for putting in the effort early on to get us rolling as a team, you were a big part of our hot start, taking out strong opponents without much SS UU experience under your belt yet, it seemed natural to you. You were an integral part to this team, thank you.
shiloh - sup dawg, bout time. After I set you up for failure every single week the last time we teamed up in UUPL, here we are with a ring. Congratulations on the back to back as well, why didn’t you go 7-2 for me? bitch.
Anyways, you did great and provided a sense of security for me as a manager, honestly, when I would get antsy you’d usually tell me smth that’d snap me out of it in some way shape or form, and it’s clear you cared about the team’s success. If you knew every UU tier (or rly any), your linecount would’ve tripled. It’s not over for us though, we have NUPL and WC right around the corner, can’t get rid of me yet
Larry - First and foremost, you signed up for SV, we got you for 3k unexpectedly and it was hard to just hamfist you in when we already had our SV situated pretty early on in the draft and in the planning process. With that said you stepped up when you needed to regardless and I’m very thankful for that. Despite the lack of SV time you got, you were shamelessly asked to fill into roles for non SV tiers, ADV, SS, etc. And when playoffs came, you were hungry for some individual and team success. It was also enjoyable seeing you jerk Attribute around during finals just to sweep w cune immediately LOL. Thank you for truly being a Friend Safari Pokemon Trainer (GSC Legend). Thank you also for winning in DPP in tiebreaker!!
Ina fable - I’m sorry you didn’t get a ton of playing time, but I’m glad we did get you a game. You deserved better, and I admire your hunger for games as well. I wish we as a team got to know you better though, and I’m glad you were a part of the team in general, the friends are a family, and you are now a part of that B)
Accel - From the get go you were dedicated to our cause, and come playoff time, you stepped up in a way that was completely game changing. Monai is good and always could’ve beaten liam regardless of anything… but the amount of time you spent with him honing ideas and drafts payed dividends. Regardless of that though, you were very supportive throughout the whole tour and dealt with my random tagging with no complaints, you were a part of the team and I really appreciate all the insight you gave me and the rest of the friends this UUPL.
Pak umbry Attribute - You three are some of my closer friends on the site, in Pak’s case I have met him twice already and will see him again in a few months so i’m sure he doesn’t need me to tell him that, but you guys are all bars that I strive to reach in your own regards. You dealt w my nagging and spam typing abt pokemon more than anyone this tour and without the three of you, my own personal record especially would’ve suffered, you guys helped me balance helping myself as a player and helping my team as a manager.
BeeOrSomething eden Adaam - Thanks for being great support for each individual slot and keeping the vibes up as well, you guys were very helpful and we probably didn’t win without you, in Adaam’s case i literally slid him the invite to the server IRL and begged him to join, and he made the SM slot a lot more fun and contributed a lot. Ik BeeOrSomething was passionate about the friends and helped dawn more than anyone in GSC, and eden you helped Monai a lot, and especially in playoffs similarly to Accel, it payed dividends. Thank you guys for everything :)
Clementine - You made our custom and were a joy to talk to as well, thanks so much for being you and being so nice, people like you deserve the world :)
s/o Clefable and FUMA HI-FI and Corperate n
ANY FRIENDS FROM PRIOR ITERATIONS I HOPE IS AWARE THAT THIS IS A FAMILY AND YOU ARE INCLUDED IN MY GRATEFULNESS
Upon writing this, I realized you actually posted something of a shoutout post in the finals thread, I just now read it, and I knew I had to come back here and directly respond to your words. There is a reason this is the year we won the ring as a franchise, timing was a big factor in the picks we got, there was luck involved in regards to the draft and obviously pokemon is a partly luck based game, etc etc. But to me, col49 being the manager was a big part of it. Your words hold more weight than most people, when you say something positive about a team, in any gen, i just kind of assume blindly that the team is good, and vise versa if you say the team is shit. You are one of the smartest ppl on this site, to me, you were the only person right for this job. You can scan through every channel in like 5m and provide valuable insight to about 70% of the slots regularly. Your experience was the foundation of what helped make this team work, and what led each player into a certain direction in most weeks.
Without question, you were vital to our success.
Punny - You have become one of my closest friends on the site and I’ve learned a lot from you. You are a great person and I am extremely grateful we were able to snatch you up for a MEASLY 21k or whatever it was. I’ve told you a million times but you are that guy and a bar for me to try and meet as a user, builder, and player. You know I'm always a DM away abt anything life related, mons related, etc etc.
odr - The team started with you, didn’t even have a price next to your name in our sheet for the most part, everyone else did. Knew you were 100% necessary at any cost. You proved your worth, not that you needed to, you cared more for the success of this team than I’ve seen most anyone else, you are friends culture. You’ve been one of the best ppl to be around on this site since I met you in randbats, thank you for everything and rly without you especially this RMT couldn't be possible.
Like I said in my massive rant at the top, I felt like you sealing the deal might as well been fate, I wouldn't change it for anything. Thank you for making this victory the most satisfying it could possibly ever be.
Donphantastic - Friends culture, you are that guy, always have been. Thank you for contributing to our 10-0 hero, and for contributing every other year the friends have fought for a ring. This ring is without question as much yours as anyone else's on this team.
LpZ - 10-0, dawg what? You know, DPP we had no idea what to do, we were stuck on Highlord for a while, considered retaining fatty, I DM’d Beraldo to see if he wanted to DPP… We ultimately landed on you, and you beat the living dogshit out of this pool. I saw it in you in the playoffs, part of me was like “he’s gotta lose eventually right?”, but another part of me knew you were locked in. You were the MVP of this tour if I had to choose one, I feel no shame in saying that and I bet the whole team would agree. I could ramble for another 4 paragraphs if I had the time, words can’t describe how you impacted this tournament, for all we know if you had even a slightly worse record, maybe we didn’t make playoffs, maybe we lost finals prior to having a chance for tb, etc etc Every win of yours mattered and counted, you are cold blooded, the bear is somewhere fucking crying bro
Meru - death, taxes, and Meru cookin in UUPL. Supporting you can be a rollercoaster sometimes, but I enjoy it more than anything at the same time. Seeing your success in this tour felt as rewarding as my own or anyone else’s if not moreso. You are a great pilot and have been nothing but great to me, and I’m grateful you were finally part of the final winning formula for the friends. Honestly you felt like a cheat code this year, just as you usually do to be quite honest. Thanks for being you and giving this tournament so much effort, at one point our SV core was underperforming a bit collectively, and you putting as much work into testing and playing as you did helped not only you, but the rest of us out a lot. You were irreplaceable on this team.
dawnbuster - I admire passionate people quite a bit, and you are a passionate person. You put in the work every week to be great and I expected nothing less every week. You have a great mind for the tier and I am gonna be rooting for you as a spectator if we are not teammates from here on out without question. You brought smth adjacent to a killer mentality to our GSC slot, you carried yourself with confidence, I apologize I couldn’t personally be of more help, but no shot i’m ever learning that tier LOL. Thank you for bringing the heat this tour
Bebo - well well well this fuckin dickhead eh? We did it, after being the friends BW support/cheerleader in 2019, to being a 2 time player. Now you returned as our biggest cheerleader/pseudo shadow manager or whatever tf. Without you, this tournament wasn’t as fun, and I can say with full confidence I speak for every single player on the team when I say that. Thanks for being passionate about the franchise for literal years, only a few people can understand me when I share my excitement and passion for this team, and you are for sure one of them.
Monai - We were set on getting Punny for SV, and we really just wanted a good pilot in BW. In this day and age simply finding a “good pilot” isn’t that easy, but when you signed up I was instantly pretty sure you were the one, and not JUST because you were a “good pilot”. From when you first started in DPP NU not that long ago I could tell you got the hang of it really fast, and having a team full of the DPP NU pool was simply not something I could pass up tbh… I think your finals game and prep best sums up how I feel looking back on your tour, you worked so hard to get a dub for us, you played well, and all of the effort you put into the team payed off. When you put your mind to the matchup, you basically always won. You are that guy and thank you for a great tour.
Chaitanya - I know you had a rough tour but honestly my confidence in you never really wavered. Throughout the season you just kind of did your own thing and I think it more often than not works for you, but you mostly rolled pretty abysmal matchups this time around. Not much ended up being in your favor for most of your losses, your record in my eyes is far superior than what you ended up with. You also won in finals, and your slot was an important one, you clinched the tie. I wouldn’t trade you for another ORAS slot in any world, you were what we needed and I appreciate the effort you put into your games and the way you played them. You were resilient and never really let your confidence as a player be shaken.
BigFatMantis - You were a lock the second it was decided I’d be managing in this tour. You are invaluable, i apologize you didn’t get much playing time… I do believe in you to start a whole season with success. It wasn’t in the cards for this tournament, it’s hard when I believed in all my players. You though are one of my favorite humans on this site, I could get drafted to a team of infants but if BFM is there i’m happy. You were invaluable to this team like I said, your personality and input is one of one in this community and website, you deserve a “BigFatMantis Award” for just being yourself truly. I have said “thanks for being you” a few times to people in this post but I’m not gonna mean it the same like I do here, thank you for being you.
Crushy - You are like an angel sent down to be nice to everyone and put your heart and soul into the things you care about. You were extremely helpful amongst all slots, to be quite honest, i didn’t even realize you knew a ton of non cg tiers, I would’ve been happy with sv ss zoomer crushy, but here you were dropping paragraphs in every channel from top to bottom. You tested with everybody whenever people asked, you provided input when appropriate, you were as worth as 4k gets in any tournament. I also would like to say you were an amazing manager for UUWC, you are a players’ manager, you take care of your people. You are appreciated.
Slip - You were amazing this tournament, I apologize you didn’t get more than a game, but your scouts in playoffs were incredibly helpful. Not to mention all the tests you got with everybody, I didn’t know you too well prior to this tournament, and we had some great players on our bench ready for games at any time, and you were for sure one of them, You were really helpful in every tier you were familiar with, and when we envisioned drafting you (which was a big priority for us), we expected certain things from you, and you delivered across the board.
TyCarter - I actually thought we wouldn’t be able to land you as easily as we did, it’s other teams’ loss and your gain though, You were very helpful this season as expected, and you more than anyone subbed in whenever necessary and provided some dubs for us onto the sheet. Your input, ideas, scouts, etc. You were a swiss army knife this tour for us in the cord, and your presence alone was extremely valuable as well. I enjoy your catalog of miscellaneous images containing quotes that you use to respond to any given situation itc. Thank you for being active this season and ALWAYS remaining ready for anything.
ChrisPBacon - You started out hot, and honestly the whole draft planning process from the second you signed up I was pretty sure you’d end up being our SS slot, and i’m glad it shook out that way. When you had time to buckle down and get your footing in the tier, you were very strong, and you clearly cared about your own success and the team’s success. Thank you for putting in the effort early on to get us rolling as a team, you were a big part of our hot start, taking out strong opponents without much SS UU experience under your belt yet, it seemed natural to you. You were an integral part to this team, thank you.
shiloh - sup dawg, bout time. After I set you up for failure every single week the last time we teamed up in UUPL, here we are with a ring. Congratulations on the back to back as well, why didn’t you go 7-2 for me? bitch.
Anyways, you did great and provided a sense of security for me as a manager, honestly, when I would get antsy you’d usually tell me smth that’d snap me out of it in some way shape or form, and it’s clear you cared about the team’s success. If you knew every UU tier (or rly any), your linecount would’ve tripled. It’s not over for us though, we have NUPL and WC right around the corner, can’t get rid of me yet
Larry - First and foremost, you signed up for SV, we got you for 3k unexpectedly and it was hard to just hamfist you in when we already had our SV situated pretty early on in the draft and in the planning process. With that said you stepped up when you needed to regardless and I’m very thankful for that. Despite the lack of SV time you got, you were shamelessly asked to fill into roles for non SV tiers, ADV, SS, etc. And when playoffs came, you were hungry for some individual and team success. It was also enjoyable seeing you jerk Attribute around during finals just to sweep w cune immediately LOL. Thank you for truly being a Friend Safari Pokemon Trainer (GSC Legend). Thank you also for winning in DPP in tiebreaker!!
Ina fable - I’m sorry you didn’t get a ton of playing time, but I’m glad we did get you a game. You deserved better, and I admire your hunger for games as well. I wish we as a team got to know you better though, and I’m glad you were a part of the team in general, the friends are a family, and you are now a part of that B)
Accel - From the get go you were dedicated to our cause, and come playoff time, you stepped up in a way that was completely game changing. Monai is good and always could’ve beaten liam regardless of anything… but the amount of time you spent with him honing ideas and drafts payed dividends. Regardless of that though, you were very supportive throughout the whole tour and dealt with my random tagging with no complaints, you were a part of the team and I really appreciate all the insight you gave me and the rest of the friends this UUPL.
Pak umbry Attribute - You three are some of my closer friends on the site, in Pak’s case I have met him twice already and will see him again in a few months so i’m sure he doesn’t need me to tell him that, but you guys are all bars that I strive to reach in your own regards. You dealt w my nagging and spam typing abt pokemon more than anyone this tour and without the three of you, my own personal record especially would’ve suffered, you guys helped me balance helping myself as a player and helping my team as a manager.
BeeOrSomething eden Adaam - Thanks for being great support for each individual slot and keeping the vibes up as well, you guys were very helpful and we probably didn’t win without you, in Adaam’s case i literally slid him the invite to the server IRL and begged him to join, and he made the SM slot a lot more fun and contributed a lot. Ik BeeOrSomething was passionate about the friends and helped dawn more than anyone in GSC, and eden you helped Monai a lot, and especially in playoffs similarly to Accel, it payed dividends. Thank you guys for everything :)
Clementine - You made our custom and were a joy to talk to as well, thanks so much for being you and being so nice, people like you deserve the world :)
s/o Clefable and FUMA HI-FI and Corperate n
ANY FRIENDS FROM PRIOR ITERATIONS I HOPE IS AWARE THAT THIS IS A FAMILY AND YOU ARE INCLUDED IN MY GRATEFULNESS
Closing Thoughts
This past year has been probably the most rewarding mentally of all time, out of all the years I've spent on this site. A year ago, I literally felt like my stock hit the floor and I was simply not a winning player, recipe for success, etc. I have tried to be more humble and constantly fight for insight from others more successful than me, and this is something that I can take with me to other aspects of my life, work, other skills, etc. Work ethic is important and I take this game way too seriously all things considered, but I feel great about this year's journey and I hope it can serve as a foundation for me on this site in the future at the bare minimum.
I can't rest in peace cause they diggin' me
One last thank you to the Friend Safari Pokemon Trainers, this is your celebration, I am just providing a platform for it
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