#'oh so like picking a build/playstyle for your main dps and then building your supports to maximize the buffs on that'

[hua-fei-hua]

i understand why the characters in yu-gi-oh monologue abt what their cards do and shit now

#for various equally silly reasons i'm reading abt how to build a pokemon card deck for competitive play #and like. i fucking understand how these things work now. it's crazy. i'm not entirely sure how a game would flow #but i'm understanding the mechanics of how these things work now #and i'm imagining watching a pokemon card game tournament and i'm like 'hmm yeah i do imagine i'd need someone to narrate #what each of these cards lets me do when they're played assuming i'm not married to the game meta' #although i also kind of imagine that the sort of people who'd watch this stuff would know enough to not need it narrated #kind of like how i understand how the kits of most gnshn characters work on a basic level n i'm familiar enough w/the game n its meta #to be able to understand most kits just from reading abt them although ofc it's hard to know anything for certain #w/o playing for yourself to get a Feel for it since there can be fiddly nonsense not mentioned in print lol #but i know enough abt how the game works on a more basic/fundamental level that i can follow/recognize core strategies at a glance #the sort of fundamentals players draw upon to execute their plays n stuff. i imagine someone good enough at pokemon cards #would be familiar with these sorts of things to not need every word of every card narrated to them to know what's up #even if they don't have the text of each one memorized; it would be a simple elaboration from there anyway i imagine #it's kind of fun to see the same kind of advice repeated in this site on pkmn deck-building that friends and randos i let into my world #taught me when i was learning the basics of gnshn team building n investment priorities and whatnot #like 'build your deck around your main attacker; everything should synergize w/Them' #'oh so like picking a build/playstyle for your main dps and then building your supports to maximize the buffs on that' #'make sure you have enough energy cards in your deck but make sure to pay attn if they're too much or too little for your strategy' #'oh so like managing er requirements' and so on and so forth #tbh i just think it's neat how there seems to be universally applicable advice going in to teaching people strategy n stuff #i can totally understand why my high school physics teacher (the one who is now a verified twitch streamer) is so into gaming meta #limitations force compromises and since different people will decide how to compromise differently it breeds creative strategy #花話

[owldesk]

welcome back to the 2020 edition of “liz owldesk guesses the owl power rankings out of nothing!” let’s get started! (as usual, location within the tiers means nothing)

S-Tier -

Atlanta Reign 

a great team that has only improved during the offseason. 

the editions of edison and sharp plus added time to work together will help this team thrive. 

also, all the talent/analysts have been putting atlanta in s-tier and i’m gonna take the risk that they know something we don’t (don’t fuck me, actual owl desk)

San Francisco Shock

this should be obvious. they’re literally the same team that one last year 

they’re all still good and are a super flexible team so the hero lock stuff shouldn’t hurt them at all

Hangzhou Spark

pretty much the same team as last year when they came in 4th

hero lock shouldn’t affect them at all

their players are still insane and have had a couple long months to get better

New York Excelsior

idk how others feel about this

their new pickups are super good, even if neither bianca or hotba are quite “meko worthy”

one of the deadliest dps trios in the league (nenne, libero, and whoru) plus the veteran leadership of sbb

jjonak is still good. he may not be the best flex support in the league for certain anymore, but he’s still top 3

the only weakness i see is that they still don’t have a backup main tank for mano. like, c’mon guys. pick up bumper or SOMETHING

A-Tier

Guangzhou Charge

the same team as last year and they made it into the playoffs

have all their players available at the beginning of the season now

SUPER flexible all around, hero lock won’t phase them

they added neptuno, an aggressive support who should fit right in, and wya another great support

London Spitfire

i honestly don’t know how this pick is gonna look in a couple weeks

like yes it’s basically a whole new team

but they players they picked up were all super good (or at least sorta good) korean contenders players

if they’ve built synergy i can see this team going far. OR they’re gonna fall to the bottom of the rankings and this will look stupid. oh well

Shanghai Dragons

super flexible team

their new pickups are GREAT like fleta? void?! izayaki??!! LEEJAEGON!!!!!!!!!???????????

anyways, a good team

Vancouver Titans

maybe i should have put them higher. i love this team sm but like,,,,,,,

i do not see fissure as the main tank going well. i just do not. he’s an amazing main tank but his personality and trying to fit into the prebuilt synergy will be ...interesting

also, side note, i really do not see them ever playing jehong which will be. so sad

still a good team but will have to struggle to the playoffs

B-Tier

LA Gladiators

a really interesting mashup of players

if they get the synergy together they’ll be good and if they don’t i fear for them

PLEASE don’t ever play paintbrush. ever. also, keep birdring healthy and oge from tilting

Paris Eternal

i do not want to put them here. it hurts me to put them here. BUT

 in may, sp9rk1e and hanbin will become available to the team. they’re good enough that they can carry any team they’re on to an at least middle of the pack finish. all the rest have to do is keep from fucking it up through the beginning of the season.

that’s why they’re here

Philadelphia Fusion

they have one of the most insane teams EVER like??? fury, alarm, carpe, poko, ivy, etc

so why are they not in a/s tier, you ask? well, i’ll tell you

first up their support line is WACK. either they’re gonna pair alarm, with funnyastro (??????????) or boombox is gonna have to start playing main support. OR alarm is gonna be benched while boombox and funnyastro run around (????????????) it’s just a mess. having two new to owl supports working together OR benching your best support. good luck guys.

second up: chipsa. they have chipsa. enough said

third: THEIR MAIN TANK IS STILL SADO!!!!!!!!!!! whether or not you like sado, you have to accept that he is an average main tank at best. he cannot be the rock on this team of superstars like they need. it’ll be rough.

Florida Mayhem

another kinda weird pick but i believe!!

they got rid of xepher (finally) and have a solid tank line up

they have sayaplayer still AND they got yaki, who’s SUPER good

AND they have gangnamjin, another really good flex support

i believe if they build synergy quick they can go really far

C-Tier

Houston Outlaws

these poor guys have had a rough time and it’s not gonna get any easier

they have, honestly, a really good team. with a few exceptions, they have stars at every spot in their roster

the only problem is that every other team above them in this ranking has the same amount of stars, fewer non-stars, and potentially better synergy

like, look, there are some duos that should be the go-to every time (jecse and rapel over rawkus and boink, for example) but i just don’t put it past this team to ignore that and try to force something that’s really not there

and even if they end up good, i don’t see them (outside of their dps lineup) ever truly becoming great so. c-tier

LA Valiant

their team is nothing. absolutely nothing. looking at this now, i really should have put them lower

i’m just hoping the core of ksf, shax, and mcgravy will keep them from having a terrible season

they’ll win a couple games. probably. maybe.

Chengdu Hunters

exactly the same as last year but without yxl (i feel like there was drama there but i can’t remember)

they have a solid team but hero lock will prevent them from being as surprising as last year

i see them doing pretty well but not spectacularly (same as last year) if there isn’t a breakout performance from a player like yveltal or leave

the edition of leave is very interesting tho. he has the ability to be a star dps........... hm. we’ll see. for now, they stay here

Seoul Dynasty

they DO have profit and gesture now but that’s basically the only two who are gonna have any effect

it really all depends on what the coaches can do, but idk....... wizardheyong proved last year he wasn’t the god everyone thought he was so. we’ll see

i hope they do well and move outta c-tier tho

Toronto Defiant

this team is either gonna be good or REALLY bad

i like all their players. they have talent. it’ll definitely be a meme team

honestly, they even have past synergy between most of them

idk. it could go either way. i hope they’re good, but we’ll see

D-Tier

Dallas Fuel

all their pickups were average to good, but it’s still a dumpster fire of a team. they’re weak in the dps and honestly even in the support

they still have the same head coach. the same org. mostly the same players. a garbage fire of a team

Boston Uprising

much like dallas, they’re still the same system and GM as before. why should this year be any different

a bunch of unknown talent outmatched by all the other teams, a bad coach........ stop me if you’ve heard this one before

so long as huk is still there nothing is gonna change for this team. i feel so bad for them

Washington Justice

their team is too small, not strong enough, and doesn’t have a great coaching staff

like. only 8 players??????? for such a weird league with so much travel?????

elivote and lullish are good but so are all the other tank duos in the league. ark and aimgod are good individually but we don’t know their synergy and their playstyles are v different. corey is very good, but his other two dps partners are only on the average/good scale. the point is this isn’t a great lineup 

and there’s WAY TOO FEW OF THEM like JESUS

#just wanted to put my thoughts down #i left this til way too late but #pls talk to me abt these i wanna talk to people #overwatch league #owl #owl power rankings #overwatch #mine