Week 6 Preshow

Week 6 back to basics again.

Week 5 was big, and it's not even done yet... because of me. But the last match will be coming out tomorrow and I'll be talking about it Wednesday.  So, I'll talk about the other 7 matches briefly, as I haven't actually watched any of them.

The biggest news this week was the trend of unfinished matches. Of the 7 already played, only 4 had a team with 0 at the end.  Up until this week, that hasn't happened even once.  One was due to a Disconnect, one due to time, and the third I'm not sure of yet.

This resulted in a few 5-2 and a 5-1.  This week also saw the fall of one of our undefeated teams.  The Gastrodons failed to keep their streak with a win by the Detroit Dracos.

Our first battle was Ohio Ninetales against the Chicago Tauros.  Michael, the coach of the Ninetales, was the only of the analysts to predict the Tauros would win. And he ended up being correct. There was no replay due to DC but Landorus-Therian improved his K/D ratio by 1 with a pair of kills before falling to Infernape. Battle ended 5-2 win for Chicago.

Next was Klinks and Mags.  This one also was unfinished but has a replay so I assume it was either a FF or a time out. Beheeyem had its first appearance in the league to start out 2-0.  Gyarados got 2 more kills with Bounce as well.  The battle ended 5-2 win for the Klinks.

Our third match was the new Oregon Golducks and Kansas City Kingdras.  This one was a difficult one for the Kingdras, as they had no idea of Ballistics play style, and it shows in the play.  Only Terrakion getting a kill for the Kingdras.  This is going to start a big change for the Kingdras and the Golducks. 5-0 win for the Golducks.


Our third and (hopefully) last unfinished match this week was Akron Alakazams and Rochester Roggenrolas. This one went to time.  After an early kill by Ttar for the Roggs in turn 5, it started going down hill slowly for them. with the next 5 kills all going to the Alakazams over the next 55 turns before a time out at 5-1 Alakazam win.

The undefeated Gastrodons met up with the Dracos for an early season showdown.  I'll have to view Emerson's videos about this match because I don't know his thoughts behind this team against the Dracos. But this match ended fast. 17 turns in total.  4-0 win for the Dracos taking down the undefeated Gastros.

Our other undefeated team the Bulbasaurs against the Kennesaw Noctowls. This match was given the match of the week. And looking at the kills and turn timers, I agree with that.  Brooklyn may be undefeated but their matches have been fairly close with many of their opponents. This was the second 2-0, and fourth 2 or less win out of the five.  2-0 Bulbas win.

The last battle I'll talk about is the Gliscors against the Lairons.  Unfortunately, it's been a rough start for the Lairons this season, and Mimikyu was a big threat here netting 4 kills without dying. I expect the Lairons start turning it around in the later half of the season.

The battle between the Ponytas and the Charjas will be written about later, when it actually happens.



Transactions:

Only three transactions happened this week, two free agent moves by one team and a z-crystal trade by two teams.

Bulbasaurs drop:
Starmie(T2)
Raichu(T5)

Bulbasaurs add:
Magnezone(T2)
Dusclops(T5)

Detroit Lairons and Kansas City Kingdras trade Z Crystals

Lairons receive DarkZ
Kingdras receive NormalZ


This is the limit of free moves for the Bulbasaurs until week 7, I think this was a good overall change for their team, regardless if they need that or not. Magnezone and Dusclops bring a lot of bulk to the team that Raichu and Starmie lacked.

As for the Z Crystal moves, the Lairons can utilize DarkZ with a few of their mons, and definitely more than NormalZ. The Kingdras may be utilizing the NormalZ with Heliolisk or Silvally for STAB but basically anything gets normal moves.




Week 6 matches


Akron Alakazams(2-3) V Chicago Tauros(3-2)

This could be an interesting match.  Akron hasn't won in this league against Lando-T, but they are coming off a 5 kill 1 death win last week. But Chicago is also coming off a win against the near top tier Ohio Ninetales.  But this is an even week, Chicago has won every odd week and lost every even week.  We'll see how this one goes but this is going to be one of my matches to watch for this week.

Keys:  Matchups.  Ninetales-A and Lando-T are great match ups to Zygarde-50 and Volcanion respectively. Knowing when to bring things out will be big here.

Prediction: Even week, Chicago loss. Alakazams win a close one.


Brooklyn Bulbasaurs(5-0) V Los Angeles Charjabugs(3-2) 

The Charjas are coming off a big win against the Indy Ponytas 4-0 in the middle of a tough streak of games.  The Bulbas are continuing their domination but close games. I expect more of the same from them.

Keys: Magnezone can handle Koko and Kyurem fairly well, but Entei could run a little havoc after it's checks get removed.

Prediction: Brooklyn wins a close one.


Detroit Dracos(3-2) V Michigan Magcargos(0-5)

The Dracos are one of the unexpected Goliaths of the league only falling to the Bulbasaurs by 1 and the Ponytas by a lot(check back on Wednesday for my thoughts on that). The Dracos can sweep this one 6-0 potentially as the Mags are coming off a hard loss to the Klinks.  I've been saying the Mags are close to finishing off their games, but I don't see it happening this week.

Keys: Rocks are going to be big for both teams. Momentum is also going to be needed for the Mags to win this one.

Prediction: Dracos win.


Detroit Lairons(0-5) V East Sea Gastrodons(4-1)

Full transparency, this match has already happened. But I have literally no clue of what happens during it. This match was played before their week 5 matches so the Gastros loss didn't affect this match, but neither team had a lot of time to focus on just this match.  I expect it to be a little more soppy than most of the teams' other matches.

Keys: Marv(Krook) has the ability to tear through the Lairons.  But so does Sharpedo through the Gastros.  Knowing when to bring them out is imperative.

Prediction: Gastros win.


Galesburg Gliscors(4-1) V Oregon Golducks(1-4)(1-0 with new coach)

This is Michael's Match of the Week nominee.  Galesburg has only lost one match to Chicago in a 1-0 loss.  The Golducks are coming off their first week in the RDL with a 5-0 victory over the Kingdras.  This is probably going to be a close game if the Golducks don't use their late game mons too early.

Keys: Momentum.  Both teams can push the other out but whoever gets an early lead may be able to finish this match fast.  But both need to recognize threats from the other team for speeds.

Prediction: Galesburg Win.


Indianapolis Ponytas(3-2)V Kennesaw Noctowls(1-4)

This will be the first match up between Kennesaw and Indianapolis, as Kennesaw came into the league the week after they would have played in season 1. Kennesaw was an early pick for one of the upper middle team and they should start making their way back to the mean.  This will be a close match either way it goes. 

Keys: Planning. This is a match of list chicken.  Call it right and it can be a sweep, call it wrong and it could be a sweep the other direction.

Prediction: Kennesaw Win.


Kansas City Kingdras(2-3) V New York Klinks(4-1)

The Kingdras are one a hard dip. Two losses in a row putting them -8 over the past two weeks, and -3 overall. They face a NY team that only lost to a close match in week 1, with 4 wins in a row.  I really think this should be the Match of the Week.  Both teams match up really well with each other.

Keys: Predictions. Both teams like making switches but not into the most obvious thing. Reading what they switch into will be big for this one.

Prediction: I've gone back and forth on this one a lot over the past few days. Klinks win.


Ohio Ninetales(3-2) V Rochester Roggenrolas(2-3)


Both teams coming off an unfinished match in which they both lost, they both need to get the win here. This being an even week, the Roggs can win this one, as they have only won on even weeks.   And the Ninetales have what it takes to beat the Roggs.

Keys: Xurkitree can sweep the Roggs if it gets any momentum going, but Mew can do the same if it isn't brought in at the wrong time.

Prediction: I've been back and forth on this too, but because of patterns, I'm going to go with Roggenrolas win.



Week 5 is almost fully in the books. This post will be updated on Tuesday night so keep an eye on that.  Remember at the end of this week starts the week 7 two free agency moves for every team.  These don't apply until week 8, but expect quite a few teams to do early moves.  So if there's something you really want, and you have moves, do it before Saturday night.