CIL Season 6 Rules

I'm sorry... season SIX?!  Where has the time gone?

There are a few changes regarding tiers and Z-Captains, but other than that, just about everything will be the same, although playoffs will have an extra round.I will do my best to keep this simple and brief as possible without compromising clarity.

Team Rosters  

I. Pokemon on each team's roster must be static except under the following conditions:

• All transactions occur between weeks 2-5.  Week two is the first week transactions may occur on rosters and no transactions can be completed once week five has ended.
• Trades: Each team has an unlimited number of trades with any team in the CIL.
• Trades must be submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter to be approved by the Kevmissioner (simply to check that all these conditions are met).
• Free Agents: Each team is allowed to use a maximum of four (4) free-agent transactions per season.
• Once a Pokemon has been dropped from a team's roster, any coach may acquire that Pokemon provided he or she has not already used his or her one free-agent acquisition.
• Free agency moves must be submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter to be approved by the Kevmissioner (simply to check that all these conditions are met).
• A dropped Pokemon will not be considered to be available in free agency until it has been approved (to avoid timing discrepancies).
• An acquired Pokemon will not be considered on a team's roster until it has been approved as well.
• Mega Pokemon: Previously, Mega Pokemon could not be traded, however Megas can now be exchanged one time through the course of the season.  This exchange counts towards the allotted roster transactions in a season if used in free agency.
• Z-Captains: If a Z-Captain is dropped or traded, its Z-Points can be reassigned a maximum of one (1) time to any Pokemon of the coach's choosing.  If a second Z-Captain is dropped, the coach will lose those points and be unable to reassign a new Z-Captain.
• Roster changes do not take effect immediately.  Approved changes will be visible on the draft board spreadsheet and available the subsequent week as described on the spreadsheet.

II. All roster change requests will be processed in the order they are received by the Kevmissioner.  So if Kartana gets dropped and two people request it, the person who submits their request first will be granted precedent.

III. Some Pokemon with multiple forms are eligible for a multi-pick in the draft: Silvally (all types),  Oricorio (all forms), Gourgeist (all sizes), and Wormadam (all forms) count as one pick.

IV. Banned Pokemon: Refer to the GBA's ban list for a list of Pokemon and items not eligible for draft in the CIL.  These Pokemon will not be present on the CIL draft board spreadsheet.

• New bans that were not banned in the previous season include: Magearna and Pheromosa.
• Some Pokemon have specific bans:
• Greninja (Protean and Battle Bond are banned on this Pokemon)
• Blaziken (Speed Boost is banned on this Pokemon)
• Landorus-I (Sheer Force is banned on this Pokemon)
• In the event that someone who has one of the above in lieu of a permitted ability (for instance, if a coach brings Protean Greninja instead of Torrent), they will be allowed to play out the match for fun but will receive a loss regardless of outcome.  If they win, they will get a -3 differential and a loss.  If they lose by a margin less than three, they will automatically be reduced to -3 and their opponent will receive a +3 win.

V. Before a new season, teams will enter a lottery like that used in the NBA to determine draft-order for the next season.  Also like the NBA, playoff teams are exempt from the lottery and placed in reverse-seeding order at the end of the draft.  New teams will be placed at the top of seeding in the lottery.

VI. Z-Crystals:

• Every team will have a designated budget of 100 points to be spent on Z-Captains for a maximum of three (3) total Z-Captains per team.  The cost per Captain depends on that Pokemon's tier:
• Tier 1: 80 pts
• Tier 2: 60 pts
• Tier 3: 50 pts
• Tier 4: 40 pts
• Tier 5: 20 pts
• Any Z-Crystal may be used with a Z-Captain
• Z-Captains can be changed one time during the course of the season.
• In the event that the second Z-Captain is dropped or traded from the roster, that coach will no longer have a Z-Captain and will not be permitted to use Z-Moves.
• Bans and Restrictions
• All omni-boosting moves like Clangorus Soulblaze, Z-Conversion, Z-Celebrate, etc, are banned, consistent with the GBA.  
• All evasion Z-moves like Z-Magnet Rise, Z-Kineses, etc are banned consistent with both the GBA and the Evasion Clause of Smogon.  
• Mewnium Z is banned, consistent with the GBA ban.

Battles 

I. Players have two weeks to complete their matches, constituting one CIL "week" unless extenuating circumstances prevent a match from happening.  In this case, an extension will be granted to both teams if the request is submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter with 24 hours notice prior to the conclusion of that week.  No notice results in a -3 differential loss for each team.

II. All battles will take place on Pokemon Showdown in either OU or Anything Goes (important for teams with Torrent Greninja, Blaze Blaziken, etc) at an agreed-upon time by both coaches.  If there are any problems finding time, contact your nearest Kevmissioner for help.  The level is set at 100 but you may bring any-level of Pokemon you want.

III. Rules will mostly follow standard Smogon rules.  Megas no longer need to Mega Evolve on their first turn staying in.  Designated Mega Pokemon can only hold their Mega Stone, no other items are permitted.

• To review general rules: http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/formats/ou/
• To review Smogon-wide clauses: http://www.smogon.com/xy/articles/clauses
• Baton Pass is allowed provided speed is not being passed.

IV. The timer should always be turned on except in the event of a disconnection. If a player should accidentally disconnect during a battle, the connected coach should turn off the timer to allow the other coach time to return to the battle.  

• Should the disconnected coach be unable to resume, the connected coach may turn on the timer and temporarily claim victory so that he or she may use the replay to send to the disconnected coach so that they may recreate the battle as it was to that point.  If new hax (such as a Critical Hit or status ailment) that did not take place in the original play transpires in the recreation of the battle, coaches are expected to start over in recreating the battle.
• Variable damage rolls are acceptable in the event that it does not lead to a knockout that it did not obtain in the original battle (i.e. if Gliscor survives with 1% in the original battle and get's KO'd by a higher damage roll in the re-creation, coaches are expected to start over in re-creating the battle).
• The disconnecting coach should also utilize his or her phone to contact their opponent on Twitter immediately to inform them of the disconnect.

V. No forfeits will be permitted.  Having accurate measures of differential is important for determining end-of-season standings.  Forfeiting will result in a 6-0 loss for the forfeiting team.  A substitute may step in to play out the match to determine the other coach's differential.

VI. No shows: if someone does not show up within 15 minutes after a previously agreed-upon match time without providing advanced notice, they will be considered to be no show.  A no show results in a differential of -3 added to that coach's score regardless of the outcome of the match whenever it does take place.  Any disputes on the matter should be resolved with screenshots.

• In the event that one of the coaches commits two no-shows for a single opponent, the offender will take a 6-0 loss and -6 differential with no opportunity to make it up.  The other coach will play their match against the sub to assess the proper differential to be awarded to them.
• Coaches who have to play against the sub after their original opponent no-showed twice will automatically be awarded a win for the week even if they lose against the sub.
• A loss by any margin will result in +0 differential.  Wins will assess differential as normal.
• If any coach commits three no-shows in a season, they will be removed from the CIL and replaced by another coach at the discretion of the Kevmissioner. 
• If matches from two previous C-weeks do not take place, each coach will be automatically subbed in for by designated CIL subs (most likely the Kevmissioner and the Chasemissioner).  For instance, if a week 1 match has not taken place yet, the day week 3 begins, the subs will be in control of that game.
• If one of these coaches has been showing a consistent effort to get the match scheduled, only the non-responsive coach will be subbed in.
• This substitution will be treated just as the no-show, with the coach who made the efforts getting an automatic win, but differential determined exactly the same as the no-show method.
• Effort Rule:
• If a CIL week passes and one of the coaches was completely unreachable and made no demonstrable effort to coordinate with their opponent, they will be given a loss and a -3 differential. 
• The coach NOT being penalized will play against a sub to assess their differential for potential playoff seeding purposes.  They will be awarded a win, even if losing against the sub, and cannot have a negative differential from the match.
• If a CIL week passes and neither coach can demonstrate that they made an effort to have their match, both coaches will be given a loss on their record with a -3 differential.
• If any coach does this twice in a season, they will be replaced by another coach for the remainder of the season, and will not be guaranteed a spot in the next season.
• If this takes place in a playoff game, any team not making a demonstrable effort will be eliminated from playoff contention and the bracket will progress normally, even if both teams are dropped.

VII. Substitutions: any coach may have anyone of their choosing substitute a match in the event that they would be unable to complete a battle even with a reasonable time extension.

The Season 

I. The regular season takes place over 6 CIL-weeks (or 12 real weeks)

II. Playoffs - At the conclusion of the regular season, standings will be evaluated to determine playoff seeding.

• The top six teams make the playoffs.
• The top three teams from each division will be the playoff teams
• Seeding is determined by record, ties in record will be addressed with differential.
• In the event of a tied record and differential we will hold a wild card game to determine who gets the last seed.
• The #1 seed from each division gets an automatic bye to the semifinals while the #2 and #3 seeds from each conference will play in the quarterfinals in a single-elimination match to determine who advances to the semifinals.

IV. Championship - Once only two teams remain, they will play for the CIL Championship.  Once completed, the season will be officially over :[  It's ok though cause we've had five of them already so it seems likely there will be more :]

I think that's it.  Let me know if I missed anything.

KCBL Draft Analysis - The Kevengers

I thought about doing videos for this cause it's fun... and frankly I still might but for now... blog posts :D

New team name! Since I don't live in LA anymore, the LA Kinglers are now The Kevengers--I'm obsessed with those movies and wanted a team name that could go with me regardless of my city, and what better team to name mine after than the Avengers?!

I landed in roughly the middle of the draft, which is a little harder to draft from, imo.  That said, I did win one league while drafting from the middle but my worst season ever was also from that position (admittedly it was only my second time doing this). Instead, I prefer wheel picks because I like drafting pairs that go well together, but that's not where we are this time.

Also, this is a point-system draft based on the NPA's tier/cost system. It's actually not a bad system but a couple things should probably be tweaked if other leagues are considering adopting this system.

SO. Without further ado, the draft.

Round 1
Landorus-T (Hovercat) - T1

I have no idea how so many people passed this up. But I'm excited to use this guy.  I'm going to try and be defensive or utility as little as possible but I just love how this guy does so much for the team.  I've been wanting to try it for a long time since there's no true counter to it and it checks a lot of high-priority boxes for me: wall breaker, pivot, switch initiative, rocks + defog, set up on either side, and a reliable ground type.  It's also an "every game" Pokemon, meaning there will be few instances in which it's not a good option, and I love drafting mons like that so I'm sure I'll have fun with Hovercat :]

Round 2
Milotic (Mila) - T2

Maybe jumped the gun on her, but my other choice was Empoleon and it didn't feel right drafting best defogger that early (though you have to admit the amount of utility in my first two picks would have been insane lol).  In my opinion, Milotic is probably a top 5 water type in draft even though it isn't as versatile as other options like Manaphy or Rotom-W. Instead what you get is is a reliable, salt-of-the earth water type that's super easy to synergize with and extremely hard to kill. Blue's Milotic once lived a Thunderbolt and a Thunder in the same game from Zapdos and Heliolisk--tell me that isn't reliable bulk!  I also liked that I didn't have to risk someone abusing Lando's Intimidate for their benefit so that was a factor in choosing it so early and over Empoleon.  Bottom line was I wanted a water type that could beat the water/ ice types that Lando couldn't and Milotic seemed like the best call.

Round 3
Clefable (Lil Cletus) - T1
If there's ever a Pokemon on my squad that needs no introduction, it's Lil Cletus. Still one of the best fairies around, I had to jump on her early.  Even though offensive sets are more often outclassed than in gen 6, I just love building with her in general and I wanted to get a great fairy as early as possible. Say what you will about type-based cored (FWG, DSF, etc) but they're nice to have and almost always synergize really well.  Also, Lil Cletus is a former champ for me and a season MVP, so I'm really excited to have her on the squad.

Round 4
Scizor (Iron Mantis) - T1
Another former Kingler Champion (albeit in mega form), I wanted to add a steel-type as soon as possible also.  Besides that, I like to use Scizor offensively since it utilizes priority, making it slightly more reliable and defensively, it pairs quite well with all my previous picks while providing another Defog option.

You'll also notice I've drafted three T1 Pokemon at this point which is already boxing me into a specific Mega.  The plan, before this draft even began, was to draft Mega Banette to show how much work it can put in so this is all part of the plan haha.  But do I get Mega Banette? Stay tuned ;]

Round 5
Roserade (Thug Rose) - T3
Named after one of my favorite female MMA fighters, Roserade is a Pokemon I feel is criminally underrated in draft.  Spikes + T-Spikes is enough to get my attention, but the power of this Pokemon at 125 base special attack means even bulky sets can do damage, which is a great quality in a pick.  Natural Cure and Technician are both good abilities to build with and I think Roserade in general is just a very unpredictable Pokemon that I expect will catch a lot of people off guard, especially when you're focusing on all the picks before this.  Just wait until people realize too late how hard it is to switch into a specs Leaf Storm :D

Round 6
Mesprit (Marley) - T4
I felt Mesprit was one of the most versatile Pokemon in T4 and I liked that I wouldn't have to force rocks on to Clef or Lando.  Healing Wish is always something I look for if the opportunity presents itself so Mesprit can actually support the team quite well both offensively and defensively.  I wouldn't be surprised to see it come to a majority of games.

Round 7
Noivern (Corrin) - T4
Honestly, Noivern isn't one of my favorites to use, although I do like the design a lot.  I really wanted to finish that DSF core and there were very few (maybe a couple) dragons left in my budget.  I also really needed some speed, so Noivern actually fit the bill surprisingly well and gave me another defog option should I need it.

Round 8
Dusclops (Winky) - T5
At this point, you probably assume I'm drafting this guy for the general bulk, but I've actually forecasted all of my remaining picks at this point and Dusclops is going to be somewhat essential to...some things :] But when picking out of tier 5, you're probably picking something for the bulk anyway and I like that this gives me a spin blocker and lots of disruptive support options.

Round 9
Mega Camerupt (Sally) - T4 Mega (adds points)
My friend Mav and I were discussing our draft plan, and I felt Mega Banette suited his team better, and Camerupt actually suited my team really well, so I sadly had to let my plans with Banette go, but Sally is actually an amazing pick for the team. 

I *have* to draft a T4 Mega now because of the amount of points I've spent to get all of those T1s earlier but Camerupt gives me an additional ground type that forces you to choose a hidden power--do you run Ice for Lando? Or Water for Camel? Most likely Ice, which adds to the usefulness of this extremely hard-hitting mega.  It also has decent bulk and paired with Dusclops and Mesprit, I have a very dangerous trick room option I can use to dent teams, then clean up with my faster threats in the back.  And outside of trick room, I have yet another good Stealth Rock option at my dispsoal, bringing my total to 4.  I think you'll be seeing this Pokemon more than you might expect :]

Round 10
Scrafty (Scrafteezy) - T4
So thanks to the points Mega Camerupt gave my draft, I can now pick a T4 and a T5.  I wanted the best Dark type possible and decided that Pokemon was Scrafty.  While it can technically work in my Trick Room mode, I expect it more often to fill a more defensive role or perhaps a bulky set up Pokemon. Scrafty has great coverage meaning it can break through would be counters and checks more easily with a Z-move and I really like all the abilities it brings to the table, especially a second Intimidate mon.  I've also got a lot of Knock Off on the team but Scrafty brings the first STAB one so I don't expect to see a lot of clutch berries, making prep probably a bit easier.  I also wanted a fighting type, so Scrafty did a lot for me for a T4 pick.

Round 11
Rotom Frost (Freon) - T5
Whaaaat Rotom Frost? Yep :]  Listen guys, a Rotom is a Rotom and even though Blizzard isn't as accurate, I get another levitating mon, great dual stab, initiative and defog.  Rotom Frost is also a great Z-mon with Icium Z to mitigate that god awful accuracy for a turn while nuking something with very powerful Ice STAB. Rotom Frost also synergizes very well with several members of the team and frankly, I'm really happy with this pick :]

Final Thoughts
So that's the squad :] I honestly don't think I'm going to make any changes unless I get bored building with it, which I doubt I will do.  Also, any changes would require a significant overhaul and I don't think there's any moves that could improve the team as of now :]

If there was something I'd change about it, I'd like to see a little more priority on the team since Scizor's is really the only good option, and maybe a little more diverse speed tiers.  The speed tiers are a little clustered but I feel it was a worthwhile sacrifice for the synergy, utility, and diversity of the draft.

CIL Season 5 Review

So we've done 5 laps around the track at this point and I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.  I'm gonna cut back on the fluff since I've got a lot to cover so here I go:

Draft:
Jirachi [[[Chi Chi]]]
Zygarde-50% [[[Jormungandr]]]
Blacephalon [[[Disco Inferno]]]
Azumarill (Z-Captain) [[[Captain Bun Bun]]]
Toxapex [[[Reefer]]]
Tangrowth [[[Spaghett]]]
Cloyster (original Z-Captain) [[[Dat Boi Cloi]]]--> Miltank [[[Shazoo]]]
Jolteon [[[Ion]]]
Dugtrio [[[Thugtrio]]] --> Crobat [[[The Count]]]
Hydregion [[[Yamata]]]
Mega Aerodactyl [[[Pteriyaki]]]

I get haxed a lot so I wanted to turn things my way and pick Jirachi this time.  Originally I was going after Koko or Necrozma but both were picked. Even though I did make a couple transactions, I was really pleased with the draft; it had great synergy throughout, three Stealth Rockers, two T-spikers (later 1), Spikes (later none), two defoggers + a spinner (later 3 defoggers), a fantastic regen core, and a lot of speed without being too weak to trick room. 

I ultimately dropped Cloyster because I felt Miltank helped with several problematic Pokemon going forward and as bad as I wanted to show off how good I think Cloyster could be, I wanted to give myself the best chance at winning so I had to make the swap.  Dugtrio, a Pokemon I wish I could have kept, was fantastic in the season but I noticed in future match-ups I was very weak to substitute as some of my bulky switch ins to wall breakers would have issues breaking the sub.  I also wanted an additional defogger since I was having some frustrations fitting it onto teams.

The most pleasant surprises were Toxapex + Tangrowth, Azu, and Mega Aero.  The regen core was good in just about every match and Pex wasn't as much of a liability as I had initially feared. Having the most reliable T-spiker almost every week was really nice.  Azu, I knew was a good Pokemon but it worked incredibly well on the team because of the Perish Trap set.  I believe I brought that maybe twice as often as Belly Drum as I felt most teams had enough checks to it and trapping a key defensive wall made a lot more sense.  And Mega Aero, which I definitely had low expectations for was fantastic at pressuring teams with great speed and always having the right coverage.  I even brought a defensive set a couple times and it played beautifully.

Perhaps the only underwhelming member of the team was Zygarde.  I know how great that thing is on the ladder, which is why I drafted it so early, but I found the damage output to be very disappointing.  To be completely honest, I don't think I'd draft it again as Hydreigon proved to be far more useful on a regular basis; obviously it's still a top tier dragon and I think on a different team it could do well, but I've been much happier with Kyurem-B, Latias, and even Dragonite in the past. That said, I think if I made Zygarde my Z-Captain, it would have performed significantly better. Access to something like a +1 Adamant Corkscrew Crash probably would have won a couple games on its own.  Bottom line: if you draft Zygarde, I really think you should make it your Z-Captain to get the most out of it.


The Season
Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better regular season.  Going undefeated with a +26 differential narrowly left the Kinglers out of the top spot (+29) but we averaged better than a 4-0 win in all our games.  I really think that's remarkable to achieve that level of consistency and I'm very proud of my prep and play throughout the season.  I really don't have much else to add other than Toxapex was voted Defensive MVP honors, but Tangrowth could have been as well if I nominated it and actually was second in KOs on my team to Jirachi.  I nominated Pex simply because I knew people recognized it as a wall more than Tangrowth and I like taking home these little honors haha.

Playoffs
EVERY time I play Mav, he haxes me LOL. But luckily, this game was fine.  I brought Mega Aero, Crobat, Tangrowth, Toxapex, Hydreigon, and Miltank while he brought a team of Mega Venusaur, Keldeo, Sylveon, Gliscor, Snorlax, and Scolipede, which I mostly predicted him to bring, except for Keldeo and Scolipede.  He left Necrozma and Weavile on the bench, both of which I felt were really strong in the match-up in favor of those two; Scoli makes sense to me, Keldeo doesn't.  The problem with Keldeo is that you can't set up because I have Pex (and Tangrowth to an extent) so your best set is going to be choice-locked.  Scarf loses you momentum because I have TWO counters in Pex and Tangrowth, and depending what move you lock into, Crobat and Hydreigon can also come in on it.  I also have Jolteon, which means you have to be scarf to put any offensive pressure on me with surprise KOs but I suppose a specs set might have gotten a little chip on my regen core.

On my end, Toxapex was mostly spdef for that rogue Keldeo (and Sylveon & Mega Venu) but I did have some phys def to better take on Scolipede and potentially Weavile. Tangrowth completed the regen core, Miltank was there for Rocks and my Weavile counter, Mega Aero was just a standard attacker, Crobat had Super Fang and was the defogger (Mav only really had one defogger so I figured he'd be more inclined to hazard stack than me).  Hydreigon was the most heat set, being physical and sporting Throat Chop. I liked this because I needed my dark type for Necrozma (I was still weak to it but if he was Iron Defense AND CM, he probably couldn't touch Hydreigon and if no Iron Defense, then Physical attacking would be superior for taking on a more likely CM set) but also his most likely switch in to this was Sylveon and if I Throat Chop, it can't use Hyper Voice, giving me a couple turns to gain momentum back.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-748011161

In review, the Snorlax set was surprising because I can easily Haze CurseLax so I do feel Mav could have definitely beat me with a few adjustments to his prep.  Also not knowing Infiltrator would work behind his Reflect was kind of critical because Scolipede could have done some damage once it got going.  Throat Chop kind of worked and we got the W so I was pretty pleased with this game.

Finals
I hate to be a debbie-downer but I knew I couldn't win this one.  I knew for certain 4/6 mons Black would bring and there was literally nothing I could do about it: Unaware Clef, P2, Amoonguss, and Zapdos.  I was fairly confident Greninja would come, that there would be some kind of substitute mon, and possibly his sand mode, but the first four I mentioned form a defensive core that my team is truly incapable of breaking--he doesn't even have to predict because he has the perfect counters to all the options I had at my disposal so the plan was to hax him haha.  I didn't even like Jirachi that much in this match-up but I honestly felt I needed to flinch stuff to even have a chance.  Besides the 4 I knew were coming, he brought Zard X and Excadrill while I had Blacephalon, Normalium Z BD Azu, Hone Claws Mega Aero, Pex, Jirachi, and Infiltrator Crobat.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-760179753

I do feel I played very well in these finals but as you can see, there was just no way I could muscle through his defense.  I think my plays towards the end (going hard Aero on a mon that has been spamming Discharge) might seem reckless but I really had no choice.  I had to try and set up for a last-ditch Azu sweep and hope I was wrong about the Clef set (of course I wasn't lol).  As much as I hate taking L's, I really don't feel bad about this one because a) I truly feel there was nothing I could do in the matchup b) I lost to my good friend who works incredibly hard at this and is easily one of the best draft players to ever do it.  So if you're reading this Black, congrats again to you, my friend and well-played all season long :]

Side note: His team shares a lot in common with my team that won season 3 so there might be something worth examining here.  We both had Hippo + Drill sand, a Kyurem (black for me, regular for him), Clefable, an electric flying type (Thundy-I for me, Zapdos for him), and a fast dual spiker (Scoli for me, Gren for him). He even had Manaphy earlier in the season, which I also had in S3 and both teams were exceedingly dominant in their respective seasons so if you've stumbled upon this and are new to draft leagues, I suggest examining those drafts :]

Final Thoughts
To be honest, I don't feel I learned a ton this season so it's hard to reflect on lessons learned, but rather just built on stuff I've learned in past seasons.  Picking a Z-Captain was difficult because I had so many Pokemon that could use it well (Blacephalon, Zygarde, Azu, Cloyster, Hydreigon) and frankly, I think I chose wrong both times lol. Z-Zygarde might have actually helped me in the finals because if I could have used it to draw in Clefable and weaken it, Azu might have pulled off the sweep.  But that example almost feels too specific/ situational so I'm going to apply that wisdom cautiously going forward.

If you read this book, thanks for sticking with me and if you haven't for some reason, check me out on Twitter @KevinVGC since I'm the guy you need to talk to if you were thinking about joining the CIL yourself in Season 6 :]  See you there!

CIL S4 Championship Analysis: Rocky (Helmet) Road to the Top

So the RU league experiment has ended and I'm going to look back on the concept as a whole before diving into the championship game breakdown.

Basically, I don't think RU is balanced as a draft because there are certain Pokemon that are so good for RU that it makes it incredibly difficult to prep in a way that's not predictable. And there's some things we let in (like Tentacruel or Klefki for instance) that proved to be very balanced in the format, providing a lot of much-needed utility for some teams.  The reason I think we had this problem is because we went by Smogon's RU tier and not say Tier 3 and below from the GBA or something.  If I were doing it again, I think an NU/PU-style draft would be better suited for draft, taking other leagues' tiering into consideration as well, such as the GBA's, and just having a generally flexible outlook on where we place certain things in our own custom tiers.  If a low-tier draft happens again, definitely expect to see these changes.

Onto the championship analysis! First the team analysis, then the replay with an analysis of the game itself.


Team Analyses

His team options: Gardevoir, Porygon2, Kommo-o, Cofagrigus, Rotom-H, Bewear, Shaymin, Rhyperior, Decidueye, Yanmega, Blastoise, Garbodor, Machamp, Golisopod

Kyle has many powerful options to bring, some of which I nearly banned (Shaymin, Kommo-o, Bewear, P2) before the draft but ultimately decided to keep them because I felt they could be played around.  But things like Kommo-o, P2, and Shaymin in particular are threats even in tierless drafts, so I felt like I'd have to bring out some really good prep to even stand a chance.  Here's what I came up with...

Purple Haze (Weezing) (M) @ Rocky Helmet Ability: Levitate Shiny: Yes EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Venoshock - Thunderbolt - Toxic Spikes - Pain Split

Purple Haze was a late season free-agent transaction where I dropped Togetic for it due to my need for more physical bulk and matches up well vs many physical attackers on his team. I also really liked Toxic Spikes to wear things down for other members of the team, and hopefully get that damn P2 badly poisoned if possible. Tbolt was an excellent coverage option and I originally had Sludge Wave over bomb until Black pointed out that I could get more mileage out of Venoshock without risking regular poison on the P2. Pain Split was originally Haze, but I felt OK about dealing with DD Kommo-o or NP Cofag. Zoolander (Vaporeon) (M) @ Leftovers Ability: Water Absorb EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Scald - Wish - Protect - Toxic
Secondary physically defensive Pokemon because his threats were that big. I also wanted to Wish pass to Weezing to help prolong it's longevity given its lack of reliable recovery and the fact that I dropped Black Sludge for the chip damage of Rocky Helmet. Toxic was for P2 but also comfort. Anyone who has been in this league has seen me use Wish + Protect + Toxic very consistently and successfully, and my highest laddering OU team in gen 6 featured an Umbreon set that was nearly identical. It's a little passive but for some reason, those Protect mind games usually seem to go my way and if Golisopod was banded again, I could dodge that big First Impression this way.
Galadriel (Delphox) (F) @ Choice Scarf Ability: Blaze Shiny: Yes EVs: 32 HP / 252 SpA / 224 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Psychic - Psyshock - Flamethrower - Trick

So...I saw no Psychic resists outside of Gardevoir and the speed tier was perfect for Kyle's team. Both Psychic and Psyshock because AV Bewear crossed my mind but I definitely wanted the damage output of Psychic. Flamethrower for secondary stab and Trick because of that damn P2 lol. Goomsday (Goodra) (M) @ Assault Vest Ability: Sap Sipper EVs: 248 HP / 120 SpA / 140 SpD Calm Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Sludge Bomb - Thunderbolt - Draco Meteor - Flamethrower
I originally had an even bulkier Goodra, but Black thought I could use a little extra power, which paid off. This coverage hits nearly his entire team super effectively and I believe even Specs Gardevoir's Moonblast can't 2hko this guy. Plus with Pokemon like Yanmega, Shaymin, Rotom-H, Cofag, and special Kommo-o as options, I needed a bulky special sponge and Beef Jones was too heavily pressured by his 3 dangerous fighting types.
Muramasa (Doublade) (M) @ Eviolite Ability: No Guard Shiny: Yes EVs: 252 HP / 112 Atk / 144 SpD Adamant Nature - Swords Dance - Shadow Sneak - Sacred Sword - Shadow Claw

Pretty standard Doublade but I think I made this spread to live two scarf Shadow Balls from Gardevoir, giving me +4 from full in a pinch. To me, this was another must bring because Bewear was just too big of a threat and it provided a lot of helpful resistances I could take advantage of to set up. Originally, this was a full on SpDef one like what we used to use back in gen 6 OU (yes, it was sometimes brought up to OU lol) but I felt it was too passive and even with EQ, I could potentially 1v1 Bewear, a Pokemon I felt *had* to come. The Law (Tyrantrum) @ Weakness Policy Ability: Strong Jaw EVs: 200 HP / 164 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 88 Spe Adamant Nature - Stealth Rock - Head Smash - Earthquake - Rock Polish Literally 1 minute before the battle, this was Lord Helix, the Omastar with Stealth Rock and Shell Smash. I had mentioned it to Black when we were proofreading the team and he seemed to agree it could be very useful here but not in the way I brought it haha. But I thought to myself, "what happens when you fight the law?" The Law wins. There's literally an entire song about it guys, come on. It's really bulky to take something like a weak coverage move from a defensive mon or EQ from Rhyperior after rocks, get that speed and just plow through. Also, get up rocks. EdgeQuake for coverage because of freaking Bewear, otherwise Dragon Claw over EQ would have been nice. Speed is because at +2 it outruns his fastest scarfer, Shaymin. And this has nothing to do with why I picked it, but Tyrantrum has only played in one other game all season (weird, right) and right now has zero KOs xD. Fun fact for ya lol

The Game
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-719129796

Analysis/Highlights
Team Preview
At team preview, I'm ecstatic to see no P2. Shaymin was somewhat surprising given that I had a lot of really good ways to deal with it but his team struggles with Vaporeon, so it makes sense. Double fighting was sort of surprising but Beef Jones has won me so many games in RU and Season 3, even against big hitters like Fightium Z Emboar, so the extra precaution isn't that surprising, really.

Lead
I lead Weezing because the things it's designed to switch into are the hardest things to switch into and I also want T-spikes up early.  He notices his problem with T-Spikes and switches hard to Blastoise to spin; I was tempted to block with Doublade but keeping it healthy seemed more important and I could get up a layer later as well on half his team.

Turn 6
I know I talked about having Protect on Vaporeon for First Impression but it also occurred to me he could SD up and based on my calc, he did 40-47% if banded so I could Wish it off and get some intel in the process. When I see the 43%, right in the range of Banded, I decide to go hard Delphox for some momentum, thinking he has to switch out if he's locked into FI, but I goofed on the calc guys! It was Life Orb damage I calc'd and I didn't notice the recoil in the battle also x_x This was why I hard switched turn 7, which could have been a significant blunder on my part, but luckily I had some bulk in the ol' girl.  Oops.

Turn 8
From here I decide not to play as aggressively as Delphox can still win pretty handily if I keep rocks away and Kommo-o is his only way of getting rocks up. Just switch into designated switch ins, whittle away, wear down with Toxic, and pave the way for The Law, Muramasa, or Galadriel to finish him off.

Turn 18-25
The freeze on Weezing was unfortunate and definitely made me slip a little in the momentum department, but actually less impactful than the poison on Vaporeon.  Had it not gotten poisoned, it might have made it out of the stall cycle with Kommo-o but I decided to part with it over WEezing if necessary, because I felt it was more important to save Levitate if Shaymin was specs and just wanted to spam Earth Power or something--which I was *very* weak to at that point.

Turn 26
Also, when I brought Doublade in, I probably should have just Sneaked for the KO but I forgot how healthy things like Blastoise & Shaymin were. And you see right away, saving Weezing to dodge Earth Power was key here, so even frozen, Weezing is proving to be a tremendous asset.

Turn 29
The next turns played out very differently than what I expected lol. I thought he'd try to spin again so I could get in Tyrantrum, Rock Polish up, take an Ice Beam and just sweep. Did not expect the Water Spout at ALL so I decide to go for damage.

Turn 33
Also, the reason I was willing to double down with Weezing & Bewear despite a reasonably healthy Golisopod sitting in the back is because I felt Doublade could handle it just fine. I also messed up SD'ing because he emergency exit's outta there but at this point, I think all I have to do is play totally safe and Goodra + Doublade will win... which they did :]

Kyle played a hell of a game and had some fantastic prep, as is expected whenever you play the guy.  He's always a playoff-caliber coach, drafts well, and preps even better so being able to win even with a little hax against me, particularly when I felt so little confidence about the matchup feels really good.

Game MVP(s)
MVP honors for this game... go to Weezing and Vaporeon.  This was for sure the whole unit, but those two put in the most work, I feel, basically being the only reasons I didn't lose to his entire team lol.

Season MVPs
Season MVP honors of course go to Beef Jones who lead with 8 KOs and was only KO'd twice, though Silvally was close behind with 6 KOs, and Goodra with 5.  Defensive MVP for the team could be a few options, Uxie (who I actually didn't initially want) stepped up and delivered so much, so I'd probably go with that, although Goodra was big in this regard as well.

Final Thoughts
This one feels a little extra nice given the horrendous start to the season and being able to avenge my losses in doing so adds to this gratification.  It feels much harder fought than previous titles, which isn't a knock on past opponents, I just had a near-perfect draft when I first won the CIL last season, so many match-ups were tilted in my favor to begin with.  Plus the only loss I suffered in week 1 was due to a crit (yes I did play it rather poorly to lose to a crit, I understand that lol). Otherwise I would have been undefeated with a differential right at +30 in 8 games (nearly a 4-0 average).  It was basically a perfect season (EBC was similar) and about as different from this one as can be where I barely made playoffs as the last seed and had to claw my way to the title so when I say it feels much harder fought, that's what I mean.

I must thank Mav & Black who proofread my teams throughout the season.  Also, thanks to all the coaches who participated in this fun experiment and I look forward to more casually intense battles in the coming seasons :]

CIL Season 5 Rules

No league is complete without rules.  I will do my best to keep this simple and brief as possible without compromising clarity.

Team Rosters  

I. Pokemon on each team's roster must be static except under the following conditions:

• Each team is allowed four (4) total roster transactions to alter their team between weeks 2-5.  Week two is the first week transactions may occur and no transactions can be completed once week five has ended.
• Trades: Each team is allowed to use any number of their allotted transactions on trades with any team in the CIL.
• Trades must be submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter to be approved by the Kevmissioner (simply to check that all these conditions are met).
• Free Agents: Each team is allowed to use any number of their allotted transactions on free-agent acquisitions per season.
• Once a Pokemon has been dropped from a team's roster, any coach may acquire that Pokemon provided he or she has not already used his or her one free-agent acquisition.
• Free agency moves must be submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter to be approved by the Kevmissioner (simply to check that all these conditions are met).
• A dropped Pokemon will not be considered to be available in free agency until it has been approved (to avoid timing discrepancies).
• An acquired Pokemon will not be considered on a team's roster until it has been approved as well.
• Mega Pokemon: Previously, Mega Pokemon could not be traded, however Megas can now be exchanged one time through the course of the season.  This exchange counts towards the allotted roster transactions in a season.
• Roster changes do not take effect immediately.  Approved changes will be visible on the draft board spreadsheet and available the subsequent week as described on the spreadsheet.

II. All roster change requests will be processed in the order they are received through the Twitter account.

III. Some Pokemon with multiple forms are eligible for a multi-pick in the draft: Silvally (all types),  Oricorio (all forms), Gourgeist (all sizes), and Wormadam (all forms) count as one pick.

IV. Banned Pokemon: Refer to the GBA's ban list for a list of Pokemon and items not eligible for draft in the CIL.  These Pokemon will not be present on the CIL draft board spreadsheet.

• New bans that were not banned in the previous season include: Magearna and Pheromosa.
• Some Pokemon have specific bans:
• Greninja (Protean and Battle Bond are banned on this Pokemon)
• Blaziken (Speed Boost is banned on this Pokemon)
• Landorus-I (Sheer Force is banned on this Pokemon)
• In the event that someone who has one of the above in lieu of a permitted ability (for instance, if a coach brings Protean Greninja instead of Torrent), they will be allowed to play out the match for fun but will receive a loss regardless of outcome.  If they win, they will get a -3 differential and a loss.  If they lose by a margin less than three, they will automatically be reduced to -3 and their opponent will receive a +3 win.

V. Before a new season, teams will enter a lottery like that used in the NBA to determine draft-order for the next season.  Also like the NBA, playoff teams are exempt from the lottery and placed in reverse-seeding order at the end of the draft.  New teams will be placed at the top of seeding in the lottery.

VI. Z-Crystals:

• Every team will have one designated Z-Captain to be determined at the end of the draft, but before the start of the first week.
• Any Z-Crystal may be used with that Pokemon.
• Z-Captains can be changed one time during the course of the season.
• In the event that the second Z-Captain is dropped from the roster, that coach will no longer have a Z-Captain and will not be permitted to use Z-Moves.
• Bans and Restrictions
• All omni-boosting moves like Clangorus Soulblaze, Z-Conversion, Z-Celebrate, etc, are banned, consistent with the GBA.  
• All evasion Z-moves like Z-Magnet Rise, Z-Kineses, etc are banned consistent with both the GBA and the Evasion Clause of Smogon.  
• Mewnium Z is banned, consistent with the GBA ban.

Battles 

I. Players have two weeks to complete their matches, constituting one CIL "week" unless extenuating circumstances prevent a match from happening.  In this case, an extension will be granted to both teams if the request is submitted to @CIL_Official or @KevinVGC on Twitter with 24 hours notice prior to the conclusion of that week.  No notice results in a -3 differential loss for each team.

II. All battles will take place on Pokemon Showdown in either OU or Anything Goes (important for teams with Torrent Greninja, Blaze Blaziken, etc) at an agreed-upon time by both coaches.  If there are any problems finding time, contact your nearest Kevmissioner for help.

III. Rules will follow standard Smogon rules.  Megas no longer need to Mega Evolve on their first turn staying in.  Designated Mega Pokemon can only hold their Mega Stone, no other items are permitted.

• To review general rules: http://www.smogon.com/dex/xy/formats/ou/
• To review Smogon-wide clauses: http://www.smogon.com/xy/articles/clauses
• Baton Pass is allowed provided speed is not being passed.

IV. The timer should always be turned on except in the event of a disconnection. If a player should accidentally disconnect during a battle, the connected coach should turn off the timer to allow the other coach time to return to the battle.  

• Should the disconnected coach be unable to resume, the connected coach may turn on the timer and temporarily claim victory so that he or she may use the replay to send to the disconnected coach so that they may recreate the battle as it was to that point.  If new hax (such as a Critical Hit or status ailment) that did not take place in the original play transpires in the recreation of the battle, coaches are expected to start over in recreating the battle.
• Variable damage rolls are acceptable in the event that it does not lead to a knockout that it did not obtain in the original battle (i.e. if Gliscor survives with 1% in the original battle and get's KO'd by a higher damage roll in the re-creation, coaches are expected to start over in re-creating the battle).
• The disconnecting coach should also utilize his or her phone to contact their opponent on Twitter immediately to inform them of the disconnect.

V. No forfeits will be permitted.  Having accurate measures of differential is important for determining end-of-season standings.  Forfeiting will result in a 6-0 loss for the forfeiting team.  A substitute may step in to play out the match to determine the other coach's differential.

VI. No shows: if someone does not show up within 15 minutes after a previously agreed-upon match time without providing advanced notice, they will be considered to be no show.  A no show results in a differential of -3 added to that coach's score regardless of the outcome of the match whenever it does take place.  Any disputes on the matter should be resolved with screenshots.

• In the event that one of the coaches commits two no-shows for a single opponent, the offender will take a 6-0 loss and -6 differential with no opportunity to make it up.  The other coach will play their match against the sub to assess the proper differential to be awarded to them.
• Coaches who have to play against the sub after their original opponent no-showed twice will automatically be awarded a win for the week even if they lose against the sub.
• A loss by any margin will result in +0 differential.  Wins will assess differential as normal.
• If any coach commits three no-shows in a season, they will be removed from the CIL. 
• If matches from two previous C-weeks do not take place, each coach will be automatically subbed in for by designated CIL subs (most likely the Kevmissioner and the Chasemissioner).  For instance, if a week 1 match has not taken place yet, the day week 3 begins, the subs will be in control of that game.
• If one of these coaches has been showing a consistent effort to get the match scheduled, only the non-responsive coach will be subbed in.
• This substitution will be treated just as the no-show, with the coach who made the efforts getting an automatic win, but differential determined exactly the same as the no-show method.
• Effort Rule:
• If a CIL week passes and one of the coaches was completely unreachable and made no demonstrable effort to coordinate with their opponent, they will be given a loss and a -3 differential. 
• The coach NOT being penalized will play against a sub to assess their differential for potential playoff seeding purposes.  They will be awarded a win, even if losing against the sub, and cannot have a negative differential from the match.
• If a CIL week passes and neither coach can demonstrate that they made an effort to have their match, both coaches will be given a loss on their record with a -3 differential.
• If any coach does this twice in a season, they will be replaced by another coach for the remainder of the season, and will not be guaranteed a spot in the next season.
• If this takes place in a playoff game, any team not making a demonstrable effort will be eliminated from playoff contention and the bracket will progress normally, even if both teams are dropped.

VII. Substitutions: any coach may have anyone of their choosing substitute a match in the event that they would be unable to complete a battle even with a reasonable time extension.

The Season 

I. The regular season takes place over 6 CIL-weeks (or 12 real weeks)

II. Playoffs - At the conclusion of the regular season, standings will be evaluated to determine playoff seeding.

• The top four teams make the playoffs.
• Seeding is determined by record, ties in record will be addressed with differential.
• In the event of a tied record and differential we will hold a wild card game to determine who gets the last seed.
• 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3

IV. Championship - Once only two teams remain, they will play for the CIL Championship.  Once completed, the season will be official over :(

I think that's it.  Let me know if I missed anything.

CIL Season 5: Preseason Timeline

Hooooly shiiiit

I wasn't sure the CIL would last one season but here we are about to start number five.  This is more of a reminder to myself on things to cover prior to starting but I don't mind anyone else seeing what's to come.  The points of order probably also in sequential order:

1) Who the returning coaches are:

1. Kevin
2. Chase
3. Mav
4. Sanyer
5. Fiona
6. Matt
7. Mike
8. Kyle
9. Sam
10. Kiev

2) Season length

• 6-game regular season
• Top 4 get a playoff spot, 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3.

3) Draft style (GBA tier or continue with tierless?) No Tiers

4) Ban votes:
Hoopa-U:
Landorus-I (sheer force):
Mega Mawile:
Mega Latios/Latias:
Necrozma:

5 Z-Crystal rules: 1 Z-Captain

6) 1st turn mega rule: Gone!

7) Arena Trap: No Ban

8 )Transactions (5 total like before or like GBA, 3 FA & unlimited trades): 4 Total

9) New coaches (how many, then selection process) : N/A


I think that's it for now, maybe more to add later.