Gonna post some individual shout-outs because Poek sent me a sadface emoji when I didn't initially and that's more than my heart can handle at this time. Doing these in alphabetical order so that my strong preference for
SamVGC Kaori doesn't become
too obvious. :p
bugzinator
Sorry lads. Your fake games/posts throughout the season made us a few enemies in the UU community (my apologies again,
AmaROQ), but you were fantastic when it came down to it. As far as I'm concerned you balanced messing around and trying to win your games/this tournament to perfection. An absolute steal in my book. :D
Finchinator
Bop. As you know I had been wanting to team up with you for a while now, so I had no issue with paying big to make that happen (I got 12k auction credits from the other managers anyway wallahi!). The first impression of teaming up with you was the obvious one, too! I woke up to 1000+ messages in our server the day after the auction and knew the Finch effect was in place. You were determined to end up as the best BW player this tournament and except for the #FINCHSOUP incident I'd say you had a great tournament. I'd have happily gone over 20k to get you and you lived up to your price tag 100%. ^_^
Floppy
Originally I had intended to spend a little bigger on the ADV slot, but then mid-way through the auction I decided to go big on Malekith (whomstd've I'll get to later) instead. Thankfully I watched a certain veteran play in the ADV UU Cup a little while before UUPL. You built your own teams, got unlucky to get eliminated from the Cup and were an under the radar pick-up for UUPL. You won more than a handful of games (including a win in the final!) and only cost me 3k to add to our roster. I know you were primarily focused on Smogon Tour and Smogon Classic play-offs, but I hope winning this with the rest of the team was a fun experience nonetheless! c:
Kaori
I fucking love you Sam. I got some shit from some of the UU community for picking you up for this, but I obviously have no regrets. Fun fact for everyone reading this: Kaori is 4-0 all-time in SM UU. Just as undefeated as our team is this tournament. :goat: You're the best and I can't wait for our inevitable next team tour adventure. <3
Malekith
Daddy. :3 Tfw your motivation isn't to win every week, but to do so without revealing all 6. You were the big buy this season and our only 20k+ player, but holy shit you made up for it. Losing in OST was a blow, but instead of dropping your motivation you performed even better. I don't think anyone in this tournament dismantled their opponents quite like you have. You're absolutely incredible and I would love to team up again sometime. :D
obii
Another very active chat presence and someone I knew I wanted 100% as soon as I knew I'd be managing for this. Don't beat yourself up over your record, my man. You were A+ as anyone bar bugzinator would agree with. I honestly believe any team is better with you in it. It was an absolute pleasure and Metro looks genuinely strong this year, btw. From tie-breaker to play-offs wouldn't shock me at all. n_n
Pearl
My friend! When Hogg first brought up retains being a possibility I started looking at last year's teams. I knew Fuga wanted to retain me, but with his inevitable forum ban coming right up I wanted to spread my options a little bit. :p For real though, when I saw I could take over a team and retain you in the process I knew that's what I wanted to do 100%. You were worried about your UUPL curse, but that's well taken care of now. Holy shit. 8-1, supporting multiple team mates in the process and being an unbelievable presence. I don't really do team tours without you it seems, but I don't think I'd ever want to either. UUPL, OUPL, WCoP next? :o #1DAY2PLS
Poek
Poek! I love talking to you and you were part of the draft plan from start to finish. How you only cost 8k is an absolute travesty, but we take those. You were a delightful chat presence, showed incredible playing level and had a lot of fun in the process. I can't wait to potentially team up with you again and I'll always support you in your individual tournament runs as well! :blobcheer:
Rare Poison
Rad. n_n Completing our Rage Channel BW core and being a nice presence as per usual. I would've loved for you to grab a win this tour, but I guess winning the whole thing isn't a bad return in the end. :p No regrets getting you whatsoever, don't you forget that!
rozes
Hey! You did a lot better in this tournament than the atrocious 1-6 you put up in EPL, thanks! ^_^ Jokes (kind of) aside, you're an all time :goat: team mate and you better know it. Outrageously active, supporting the team with test games, providing scouting reports and putting up a fantastic SM record in the process. While you should've liked my LTPL post, I still love you immensely. Stay awesome! #1DAY2PLS
TDK
Unreal. From being new to SM UU to being (one of) the best teambuilder(s) in this metagame. As the tournament progressed, so did the amount of teams you produced. Thanks again,
BOUFF! :D You'll undoubtedly dominate in WCoP again, even though everyone else is hoping you'll implode entirely. I've said this many times already and I'll do it once more: you were incredible. c:
YABO
King Turt! I always love seeing your teams and ideas, even though I probably should've been a bit less supportive at times. :p Turtonator has a 50% winning record and its all because of
Hawlucha you! I know you would've liked to put a better record, but you've made your mark and I'm glad we ended up getting you.
Also...
Hogg
- UUTL. One of my favorite users of all time. Thank you for joining our server to help out Gorgie with testing in play-offs. We were pretty bad at ADV UU testing/building ourselves so its very much appreciated. Always a pleasure! ^_^
Ice Tea
Hey! I know things didn't work out the way you would've liked on your team, but know that you're still a don in my eyes. You gave us some team suggestions throughout the tournament and I won't you to know I haven't forgotten. We should be on the same team again next time though imo tbh.
KratosMana
You're fat lol. You joined us in posting Turtonator memes when Yabo won with it, so you're getting a shout-out. :blobcheer: Thanks for picking me up in OUPL and I hope we dodge you in our WCoP SM groups. :p
Pak
Pacc. Huge fan, btw. The ORAS UU master of this tournament. Ty for your feedback the last week and keep up the good stuff.