WELCOME TO THE 3RD CYCLE OF BATTLE FRONTIER
About time too! Thanks to lag, World Championships, and a massive moveset update, the start of Cycle 3 looked like it would take forever to get here. Well, hopefully no other outside forces slows us down from getting these battles, and articles, going (look I’m in Ohio dealing with on-and-off electricity, flash floods, and wind damage, to y’all dealing with the full force of Hurricane Helene fuck the game be safe).
TIER PREVIEW
Newbies in Legendary: Elite TMS, Inferno Overdrive, NEB: Udder Madness, Evanstonks
Who I Got: Chicago Stars
Who I Want: Inferno Overdrive
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: Elite TMS
Newbies in Champion: PoGoats, SoCal Swablu, NEB, Decidueye Dynasty Black, Canadian Shieldon
Who I Got: PoGoats
Who I Want: BraveNerds
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: SoCal Gold
Newbies in Elite: Phoenix Rising, Hammer Heads, LU: Origins, SoCal Swablu SD, RoSlarkBo
Who I Got: LU: Origins
Who I Want: TexasPVP
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: Hammer Heads/Phoenix Rising
Newbies in Expert: Antimatter GO!, Cool Cats, Fearsome Froslass, NerdyBirds, (*sigh*)…SeaKingPin, Sw1tchMstrz, The Great Unown
Who I Got: Cool Cats
Who I Want: Fearsome Froslass
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: OMEGALUL
Newbies in Premier: Bad Mewtwos, Coastal Kings, Decidueye Dynasty Green, Delibird’s The Word, Eastcalibur, FletchenDErella Story, Island Guardians Elite, Thundersquirells
Who I Got: Bad Mewtwos
Who I Want: Bad Mewtwos
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: D’Nair Don’t Care/Pioneer Valley PVP
Newbies in Ace: EVERYONE
Who I Got: If you remember how I was with Cycle 1’s Group 6, aka The Battle Pyramid, same sentiment. If you don’t… SHHHHEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIT!
Who I Want: SHHHHEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIT!
Who’s Gonna Hurt Me: Wing Attack, boffum!
LEGENDARY TIER: ROCK PAPER SLARK VS CHICAGO STARS
Oh we starting off heavy handed in Legendary I see! RPS & Chicago’s last two bouts being as close as they’ve been ensures this one will be another classic worth watching while keeping in mind some of the newer tenants in the NA Legendary Penthouse. Zuoken & XehrFelrose rematch is going to be fun to see how it plays out, as in the previous two meetings Xehr is 2-0, 4-2. I could make the argument that Zuoken would need to break Xehr’s winning streak for Chicago to put true pressure on RPS, but (and my memory might be wrong), Zuoken was the last point Chicago needed to get the 11-10 win last match, so what do I know?
Future Sight Matchup: XehrFelrose vs Zuoken in Ultra League
CHAMPION TIER: DECIDUEYE DYNASTY BLACK VS HOMESLICEHOMIES
Decidueye Dynasty is coming off an impressive cycle in the hotly contested C2 Elite Tier and a good showing in the Battle Tower. HomeSliceHomies used the Battle Tower as a way to refine and regroup themselves after a less than ideal C2 Champion run last cycle. Both teams are in a brutal Champion Tier with at the very least four Legendary Tier worthy teams, but both can be in that conversation of promotion. While this is uncharted territory for DDB, HSH has been near the top for a bit going all the way back to Silph. The thing about that, though, is HSH has struggled to break even in the upper tiers (finished in bottom 3 in Silph S2C4 Diamond, 1-3 in Battle Frontier C1 Playoffs, 3-4 in C2 Champion Tier). To be fair to them, two were regular season records and only of those regular season outcomes can we fairly judge them (BF C1 Playoffs guaranteed no matter their record they would start in the top two tiers & S2C4 Diamond was the last cycle for Silph, so no consequences). Decidueye Dynasty Black has consistently improved with every cycle, and while a good amount of their rise can be pointed at the success of KingOwlexander & KPine, don’t overlook contributions from the other members of DDB especially when KingOwl & KPine have grueling matchups (like in this matchup: KPine has Sceptileice25 & King has Firestar73), in particular BicBukLau & Algernone25.
Future Sight Matchup: KPine vs Sceptileice25
ELITE TIER: THUNDER ROAD VS ROSLARKBO
The Thunderdome & Mighty Thunderducks merged while running on Victory Road to form Thunder Road. While both teams weren’t nearing their peak, this writer was wondering what a superteam would look like if the most dedicated of Thunderdomers & Thunderduckers joined forces. So fresh off the their fusion, who does Vegito have to face? The Gogeta from C2 Expert Tier in RoSlarkBo! RoSlarkBo defeated Thunder Fury in Expert Tier last cycle en route to a 7-0 Expert run, so either the elders of The Thunderdome exact revenge for their little siblings or the thunder road becomes property of Slark & Co.
Future Sight Matchup: Migo1224 vs StopAlcatraz
EXPERT TIER: ANTIMATTER GO VS NERDYBIRDS
All those who don’t think Cool Cats will run away with this tier can keep reading; everyone else, come back when Cool Cats and OMEGALUL do their 11-10 dance in Week 8… Ok for those of you who think Cool Cats won’t steamroll through the tier, these are two of (if not the) best options to stop them. Antimatter Go only dropped one match in their Open pool last cycle, with their only slip-up coming at the hands of LU: Origins. NerdyBirds went 7-0 in Premier after being free from Cycle 1’s Battle Pyramid cellar. Both teams have good reason to start this cycle off with a win; Antimatter has Cool Cats next up and NerdyBirds get iCarly next and I know they’re looking to shake things up this cycle. Thing is, Antimatter might need this more. It’s entirely possible that by the time they get to Round 5 they can be 4-0 or 0-4.
Future Sight Matchup: Coisabeast757 vs kayjacker
PREMIER TIER: D’NAIR DON’T CARE VS DECIDUEYE DYNASTY GREEN
I have a confession to make… I think Bad Mewtwos are running away with this Tier. Good thing two teams get promoted, right? This week in the Premier Tier it’s the battle of the double D’s (ay, Ed Boys?) with D’Nair Don’t Care & Decidueye Dynasty Green. DDC has the lineup to make me eat my words; they did come within a point of beating Sharks & Rec in the Battle Tower and put up a good showing against Chicago while taking a win away from Hoosier Daddies. Their weak spots aren’t as worrisome as some of the other teams in this tier either (can PVPVP carry ThxObama & Gortakem if they combine to get less than 4 points, is FletchinDErella going to play up to competition more consistently, will this be the cycle Eastcalibur puts it all together), but considering a good chunk of this tier got promoted “just cuz,” there’s no reason DDC shouldn’t threaten for a top 2 finish… Right?
Future Sight Matchup: Jackofheartsss vs asixyearoldboy
CHAOS- ERR, I MEAN ACE TIER: …
Excuse me, I’ll be right back… Picking a name out of a hat… Can already let y’all know this tier and Elite Tier will stress me out this cycle… Ok got one!
ACE TIER: BLOUSES VS WING ATTACK
All of Ace Tier is going to be chaotic. Like every single one of these teams can do well in the Premier Tier, and some even higher. Not to mention academy-on-academy violence coming in the last two weeks, what’s not to love about this tier! Blouses & Wing Attack seems like the most fun and dynamic match of the matches in Ace this week. Both teams can produce points like baby downing a fresh bottle of milk.
Future Sight Matchup: moonliiiight vs nck228
