http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen1ou-44367

turn by turn commentary/bad play analysis!

turn 1 - using twave instead of psychic (which he had) - it's not a misplay if he's intent on getting sleep later; in this scenario, it's typical that if he's twaving here it means he wants chansey paralyzed, before trying to get sleep.

turn 2-6 - he stays in with a starmie on a chansey, risking being paralyzed (or frozen I guess) which is a pretty big thing to avoid. However Finchinator Ice Beams (i'd say probably the best play, but depending on his team strat, going for a twave might have worked out too) and sg isn't punished. Staying in on turn 3 fishing for crits/specdrops isn't too bad I guess, given that he already stayed in and it worked out, as it pressures chansey and lets him play aggressively. Turn 5 it was clear to Finch that SG was sitting there trying to break Chansey with Starmie and gets the twave off, which is poor for Soulgazer. If he had switched in Chansey to a thunder wave he could block sleep with it, but Starmie can't switch in on gengar whilst paralyzed very easily, as tbolt 2HKOs (and can critical hit!).

turn 7 - sooo much wrong here. Apart from, firstly, why the fuck is SG running Ice Beam Starmie?! Blizzard's extra damage is well worth it, the accuracy is not dire (since it's rarely a crucial move to hit, whilst it can often run Thunderbolt/Psychic for a reliable attack when it NEEDS to KO). Secondly, since Chansey had just recieved 2 special drops, and was at full health, it's blindingly obvious he's going to switch out, and SG should either double switch or Thunder Wave rather than trying to Ice Beam a potentially deadly physical. Worst case scenario happens (I guess jolt is worse for him maybe?), and Snorlax enters. It gets a free Body Slam here which is always nice, especially since Ice Beam off of Starmie is weak!

turn 8 - finch switches chansey back in. I disagree with that since something like Snorlax could very easily switch in, putting him in a bad position. SG staying in with mie isn't exactly the worst thing in the world, but a full health starmie could probably be preserved since it can be valuable even whilst para'd as a physical switch in later on in the match. Furthermore his own Lax/Rock (which he almost definitely possesses) can switch in handily versus opposing Lax, as well as would have pressured finch's misplay, and would have kept mie healthy. Overall, bad play by both sides.

turn 9-11 - Finch plays correctly and forces SG out for being a tard. He has Lax and Gar already revealed, so if SG were to do the sensible thing [go to his rock/lax to soak the weak tbolt and pressure chansey] he'd not be in dire straits.

turn 12 - sg makes the correct play in eq-ing since he probably doesn't have a sleep absorber for gar waiting in the wings so nicely, so stopping it coming in is nice.  Also making sure Finch's Lax if it switches in can't counter versus it is a plus. Chansey's moveset is already scouted though, and if he had a Zam in the wings, I would have preferred to body slam (Gar can be handled, no counter on chansey, does more damage to a possible egg or goodness knows what switch-in, and lax ditto is not the worst thing in the world). If I were Finch though, I would have gone Egg probably, since Lax EQ was super obvious with Gar revealed, and Finch has yet to get Sleep.

Turn 13 - Finch makes the correct play, SG plays badly again, switching in Egg when going for a lax ditto is so much better. SG's Exeggutor's sleep is blocked by the para'd chansey, and it's not likely to be an earthquake it's coming in on. Trading Laxes is possibly worth it for SG. On the other hand, his Lax is clearly valuable for breaking open Finch's team, and could be preserved because of that, HOWEVER it should have been brought in on chansey much earlier.

turn 14 - Finch correctly blocks sleep, going to Chansey. SG rightly Psychics to fish for drops vs chansey switch in. A better play here though, would be to go lax and pressure Finch's team again - but the lack of a nice Lax switch-in means that overall he'd probably lose more of his team to Lax than Finch would lose to his Lax, so on balance it's definitely a passable play.

turn 15 - I would have softboiled if I were Finch - 68% Chansey = in KO range for Tauros HB! Going Mie to be aggressive and take sleep is not dire but I'd like to be out of KO range with my Chansey first. SG plays fine.

turn 16 - both play fine. Sleep is nessecary, damaging Egg is great. Switching to Gar to take sleep was an option however, as generally Starmie is more valuable than Gar later on in the game, unless he has some serious need to chain switch threats in [moltres, articuno most come to mind but are unlikely picks. Egg and Lapras sorta do this stuff too], whilst Starmie>Tauros so..

turn 17 - Psychicing vs a sleeping mie is not a good play, 1 in 7 chance of a wake up, and you're doing low damage. Better to be aggressive with something [lax or whatever else you have]. Egg by Finch is a good play, he hasn't got Sleep yet, and it switches into whatever SG throws out (stun spore would be a pest though! Stunning the switch is often a good play here, when you have egg in vs something it's just slept).

turn 18-19 - finch should sleep powder there, or go to Gar if he predicts a boom (unlikely since it's a good thing to keep your sleeper alive whilst the opp's sleeping mon is alive, otherwise it's free fodder). Stunning with Egg is fine by SG, since he's more or less using it as sleep bait, but really if I were him I'd want to use something else as sleep bait if I possibly could. Finch's sleeping Pokemon is much more valuable than SG's (well it would be if finch actually used sleep powder like he should have!), as it's more easy for it to wake up (than SG's exeggutor would be), whilst furthermore his sleeper(s) aren't sleeping (unlike SG's would be). If Finch played better this turn he'd have a fantastic advantage.

turn 20 - Exploding here is bad since now Starmie is pretty much free to fodder (AND has a good chance to wake up whilst being foddered since it's so bulky and fast).

turn 21 - the zam which he should have switched in a time or two earlier makes an appearance by SG! Furthermore, it's a pretty garbage time to bring it in since Eggy gets kept for EXTRA foddering later! (very useful vs tauros late game). SG should have brought out Lax/Tauros here to guarantee the kill, since egg's not too valuable and a switch without taking damage is very valuable to finch at this point. Lax would probably be better since tauros is more easy to force out, and Zam is there to take gar's hypnosis later on. Finch instead switches his chansey in on Zam which is probably the best thing to do, although sacrificing the near-useless eggy to be able to beat the zam more consistently (would require an extra FP etc. for him to be lucked out) would have been wiser in my view.

turn 22 - finch plays correct, sg goes to lax but he should have gone to it turn 21.

turn 23 - if I were finch I would have kept chansey safe at its 100% HP, and gone Gar. Even if Lax EQ's (which it didn't!), there's only a 5.9% chance of lax critting, and it allows him to get Sleep, which he has still yet to get. SG should have EQ'd to prevent gar switching in for totally free I feel, but it's not a bad play since gar's more likely to die from exploding than from being attacked I feel.

turn 24-27 - sg lucks out, but finch should have gone gar and preserved chansey.

turn 28 - finch makes good use of his egg there at least, although he fp's and doesn't get an explosion/psychic/sleep powder? off, which would have been helpful. SG trying to sack dnite to it, since gar led, so it's unlikely to be useful, was a pretty solid play.

turn 29 - gar switch is correct, SG should have gone Zam though to pressure the super obvious gar switch in, rather than trying to chip gar.

turn 30 - double to egg for another shot at exploding is good, since a lax switch-in looks sensible, but on the other hand Zam is a threat, so SG is in a good position, were he to go to Zam instead of Lax to soak the double. On the other hand, surfing the risky egg double paid off.

turn 31 - I would have gone lax to earthquake for pretty free damage and block the hypnosis if I were SG, but letting dnite sleep isn't too bad since it's doing jack shit in this match.

turn 32 - lax switch is fine, but really finch should have gone aggressively into something (ideally his lax I feel, Starmie works here too since it's pretty impossible to abuse, and if it wakes up then it's nice, failing that it acts as a free switch to his own lax when mie goes down.)

turn 33 - my god get starmie in finch, no need to make gar take huge damage for poke damage on lax! Perfectly fine play by SG though.

turn 34 - finch shouldn't explode since his sleeper being alive allows him to pressure keeping dnite alive so as not to reactivate sleep clause. SG predicts it and absorbs with dnite appropriately.

turn 35 - both make the right play, dnite is useless, tauros is a great revenge killer. Lax would work here too for finch, less afraid of the potential stuff coming in after due to its speed being less valuable (so para less deadly), and its slightly greater bulk than tauros.

turn 36-38 - should have gone starmie, don't let tauros get para'd, especially when starmie just eats this up. If he'd preserved chansey earlier and gone for sleep with gar though he'd be in a much better position and be unafraid of this alakazam, which is now a pretty big threat. SG's doing ok there, especially since if mie comes in, he can double into lax and get some extra damage in if finch stays in!

turn 39-42 - game is completely in sg's favour at this point due to finch's several misplays, including losing tauros to try and damage zam. SG plays fine to finish the match off.