Hi there. My name is Brendan Webb, and this was my first season competing in VGC. Today I will be talking about my Top 8 placement at the 2015 Australian Nationals competition. I have never really introduced myself  to the VGC community so I will give a brief introduction about myself.

I live in Tasmania, a state in Australia. This is Australia’s third season competing officially in the VGC format and our first year having premier challenges.  My first event was a premier challenge on May 24th where I finished first. I earned my first 40 Championship Points (CP) ever and I was very proud of myself. The team I used here had issues but incorporated some of my favourite Pokemon at the time. The team has too many flaws to be consistent, and thus I have put it aside. The team was Mega-Metagross, Hydreigon, Arcanine, Gastrodon, Virizion and Zapdos. Regardles, this was my first step into building a semi-decent team.

Anyway I had wanted to use Choice Scarf Tyranitar for a few weeks leading up to Australia Nationals and had not much success incorporating it into any team I tried. This was when Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng (his YouTube channel is here and I recommend going to it, as it helps me out a lot with how I play) showed a variant of what would soon be known as the Japanese Sand team, which had the core of Sand Rush Excadrill, Choice Scarf Tyranitar and Special Mega Salamence. His team gave me inspiration and I went and started building of this core I had seen. Now I originally thought Nicholas Borghi (LightCore) thought of this idea due to Cybertron mentioning a Mega Salamence team once and I confused it with the next video I watched, which was an error on my behalf. Then I stupidly assumed Aaron made it from scratch but to my avail. A Japanese user had actually posted a picture of his team on his twitter and this was the origination of the idea, which took me a fortnight to discover. The team the Japanese user had included Assault Vest Azumarill, Rocky Helmet Amoonguss and Aegislash, so this was where the idea of the team originated from.

The Teambuilding Phase

When I tested the team, I ran Will-O-Wisp Rotom-W as like Cybertron’s version but I had a few issues with the team’s structure. I disliked how much Rotom-W would take damage before it could burn something. I did not like Amoonguss, and Aegislash was not something I was comfortable with. I felt people would start to bring ways to counter the team since it exploded with popularity after just a few days on Cybertron’s Channel. This concerned me, and I felt the best way to counter the rapidly popularized weather was to run something that was similar but had different Pokemon that performed the same roles.

I decided that I wanted to try out some other Pokemon to fill the last two options and see what I could do with Rotom-W. This is when I found my most important member of the team for Nationals – Rage Powder Volcarona. I have always liked the fire moth and this little guy made the cut for the team. I looked at what it could do and it seemed to fit better with Tyranitar and Salamence. It had key resistances to Fighting-Type and Ice-Type moves. It takes neutral damage from Ground-Type moves, but it does compound the Landorus-Therian weakness. However, as I will discuss later, with my playstyle it generally worked well for the team. I now had 5 Pokemon on the team, but in testing I found that Fairy types gave me more issues and I needed a counter to Gastrodon and Swampert (Gastrodon hurt my team terribly and I was scared it would pop up during Nats). I also needed something that checked Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. Ferrothorn became my last Pokemon for the team. Rocky Helmet and Iron Barbs hurt the latter two Pokemon, and Power Whip deals with the 4 times Grass-Type weak Pokemon.

The topic of why I chose these changes came up after Nationals and addressing it here is the best course of action. Landorus-T did give the team issues, as did Heatran, and since then I have swapped Excadrill out for another Pokemon to improve this match-up. But I still believe the team I chose was preferable for my playstyle, specifically using Volcarona over Amoonguss. I also felt that Mega Kangaskhan went through the team a bit to easily, with Volcarona being a bit more insurance against the most prominent Mega Pokemon.

The Team

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Crunch
– Rock Slide
– Ice Punch
– Low Kick

Tyranitar is necessary to have part of the Sand core. It has a wonderful move pool and gets good coverage moves for a Scarf user. I chose Rock Slide and Crunch for STAB options. People have asked why I did not choose Ice Beam over Ice Punch, and I will put it plainly. The only notable Pokemon that affect the power of Ice Punch is Mega Salamence and Landorus-T. Salamence is weak to Rock Slide anyway and outspeeds Scarf Tyranitar, whereas Lando-T basically hurts Tyranitar in any way if they switch in on the same turn. Typically, I lead Tyranitar as a common lead to set up Sand but rarely leave it in against a Lando-T. I will switch to get a better match-up, which means I can switch Tyranitar back in and suddenly have the threat of Ice Punch. I plan accordingly from there. Ice Punch is the least used move and for good reason. It is mostly used for hitting predicted switches and when you switch into a 4x Ice-Type weak Pokemon. Low Kick was for Bisharp and Heatran. The reason I chose Low Kick over Superpower is that both fill similar roles, but the -1 defense can be a issue when trying to still survive a physical attack. My team runs on predictions and ability to switch, and I dislike the idea of losing more momentum with a reduced attack and defense, as -1 Def Tyranitar can be KO’d easily if my opponent does something unpredictable. Low Kick is primarily to hit Heatran, with 15% chip damage netting the KO normally.

• 244 Atk Tyranitar Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 134-158 (80.2 – 94.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 244 Atk Tyranitar Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 116-138 (64 – 76.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The EV spread is something a little more easy to describe as you can see. My Tyranitar speed ties with other 252 Jolly Tyranitar if I am forced to make a play based on this speed tie. The bulk EV’s are just to maximize stat points. One point lost in attack in exchange for two points in both respective stats is something I believe is more than justifiable.

Tyranitar helps with Flying-Type Pokemon, Aegislash to a degree, Mega Salamence of all forms, Ice weak Pokemon, and Heatran. To knock out Mega Kangaskhan, Tyranitar needs at least 30% prior damage on the bulky variants and around 20% for the 4 hp variety. Special Salamence is good in this case to pick up that damage.

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Iron Head
– Rock Slide
– Protect

Excadrill is the apparent physical sweeper, but on the day of Nationals it was the least used Pokemon and what I now consider dead weight for the team. It was chosen for its spread Ground-Type move Earthquake, fast Rock Slides (faster than Choice Scarf Landorus-T) and Steel Coverage to hit the omni-present Fairy types like Sylveon. Protect is to scout moves, protect Excadrill from attacks for a turn, and to punish double targets. I chose Focus Sash as I wanted Excadrill to survive more than one attack. The Adamant nature and 252 Attack EV’s still give Excadrill a lot of offensive pressure. The spread maximizes relevant stats like Attack and Speed, with the remaining 4 EV’s going into Special Defense due to Excadrill having a better base Special Defense than Defense.

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA (244 SpA) / 4 SpD / 180 Spe (188 Spe)
Timid Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Protect

Special Mega Salamence is extremely good for the core. Salamence easily takes out Breloom after the sand breaks its Focus Sash (I like to lead sand and Salamence as it is pretty anti-Breloom). Hyper Voice is a good spread STAB attack, but it only picks up 2- 0r 3-hit KOs on neutral hits. Upon testing the Sand Team, I saw multiple Dragon types survive my Salamence’s Dragon Pulse. This was an issue, and I felt a way to fix this was to run Draco Meteor. This helped to KO Rotom-W, which took around 50-70% depending on their builds. Flamethrower was good for the Aegislash match up, but left the team open more to Heatran. Protect is for reasons stated above.

The changes in parentheses are the now what I run. I originally wanted to outspeed max Speed base 110 Pokemon. However, Life Orb Thundurus has a base speed of 111, which can potentially win a speed tie and KO Mega Salamence. I added one more Speed point to fix this issue.

• 252 SpA Mega Salamence Dragon Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 152-180 (90.4 – 107.1%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO
• 252 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 79-94 (50.3 – 59.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 4 Def / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Leech Seed
– Protect

Ferrothorn helped with many matchups and did a lot of work for the team. I used it to help with my Swampert matchup since it wrecked me in either Mega or base form. Gastrodon gave me issues when I tested without Amoonguss, as I lacked any decent way of hitting it other than neutral STABs. Rotom-W is countered horrifically by Ferrothorn. It also checks Landorus-T and Mega Kangaskhan, with both getting KO’d after they hit Ferrothorn with their Fighting-Type moves. It also helped check Fairy types and helped in the late game if all Fire types were eliminated from the game. Unfortunately, Trick Room Heatran is a thing, and it mauls Ferrothorn hard.

This was a variation of the generic VGC 2014 spread. I moved 4 EVs from SpD into Def as it makes Terrakion’s Close Combat a 30% chance to OHKO so I can retaliate and OHKO with Gyro Ball. The Attack EVs were to OHKO 252 HP 44 Def Rotom-W. Unfortunately, I never KO’d any Rotom-W, as the metagame favors a lot more physical bulk on Rotom-W.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 134-160 (74 – 88.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 204+ Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (148 BP) vs. -1 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 117-138 (68.8 – 81.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 162-192 (89.5 – 106%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 92 SpA / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Thunder Wave
– Protect

Rotom-W was a fantastic pokemon to bring to Nationals, as Leftovers Rotom-W puts in a huge amount of work against a lot of the metagame, paralyzing fast threats and then hitting for decent damage with its combination of STABs. When the team underwent testing, it lacked permanent speed control and this was a way to help remove that issue. Paraflinch is always a nasty thing to deal with for my opponents as well.

The spread was a variation of Blake Hopper’s (Bopper) VGC 2014 spread. This one survived 252 Modest Mega Charizard Y’s Solar beam 81.2% of the time while speed creeping 4 speed EV Rotom-W’s (all Rotoms were faster than that expected value at Nats. It had slightly more Special Attack to nail Landorus-T built to survive +1 Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch. The Calm nature and pecial bulk were very useful, and my opponents often commented on how bulky my Rotom-W was.

• 252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 100+ SpD Rotom-W: 136-162 (86.6 – 103.1%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
• 92 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 164 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-T: 164-194 (88.6 – 104.8%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO

Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Timid Nature
– Rage Powder
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

The MVP of the team that carried me far throughout all of Swiss. Volcarona was definitely the most interesting Pokemon on the team. I feel Flame Body with Rage Powder is extremely undervalued in checking Mega Kangaskhan right now, with Kangaskhan lacking any good way to hurt Volcarona other than Return or Double Edge. Even then, both attacks hit Volcarona twice for a 51% chance to burn. Sitrus Berry was used to regain health. Rage Powder was why it was used as a substitute for Amoongus as it can burn while being hit, rather than Amoongus needing to not Rage Powder and use Spore to inflict status (ignoring Effect Spore shenanigans). Will-O-Wisp was a great support move against physical Pokemon. Overheat gave me a powerful Fire type STAB attack, but it made Volcarona absolute dead weight against Heatran, which I did not consider until battling a TR Heatran in Round 4.

The spread was optimal for what I considered on the team.  252 HP and 228 Defense EV’s allow it to survive Landorus-T’s Rock Slide 93.7% of the time barring a Critical Hit. Funnily enough, when I first made the spread the first Landorus-T I tested against got a Critical Hit.  I had 28 EV’s and a nature still left over, and I realized Volcarona needed just 20 Speed EV’s with a Timid nature to outspeed 252 Jolly Breloom by one point. Since I did not feel speed creeping those speed creeping Breloom was important, I placed the remaining EVs into SpA and SpD to get more overall stat points.

The Strategies

The team had multiple strategies, which means in a best-of-3 format I had many ways of dealing with multiple threats. Even though my opponent might know a certain amount of information about my team, I still had more methods of winning. I will go through and explain what each strategy did and, if it was used during Nationals, when and how it occurred.

The team has some mind game strategies designed for the Swiss rounds. Rotom-W is normally seen with Will-O-Wisp, where as Volcarona is not, so that served to throw off my opponents. If I lead these two against a Mega Kangaskhan, the obvious play for my opponent is to Fake Out Rotom-W, so Volcarona could often launch a Will-O-Wisp unopposed. This came in handy Round 6, and my Will-O-Wisp connected to give me the best momentum shift I think I had in the whole tournament.

Mega Kangaskhan was never once a threat during the whole tournament except when I faced Nathan Farrugia. He ran Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan, which became a threat once it had some boosts. However, Volcarona and Ferrothorn both dealt with Kangaskhan effectively, either burning with Flame Body/Will-O-Wisp or doing serious damage with Rocky Helmet/Iron Barbs.

Designated Lead Strategies

I know some people argue that you should pick only what you think is a safe lead against your opponents, but after playing enough games you will realize you choose certain leads for certain teams. Acknowledging this fate, I went and planned my leads for different teams so when it came to the competition, I could start planning for the late game as soon as the first turn was underway. Of course this is a “perfect world” scenario, and factors like stress can affect my gameplay and thought process.  Having these pre-planned leads can give me more time to think about what my win conditions are for the game.

Firstly, Rotom-W and Tyranitar are good leads, as they can cover a lot of types in general. Rotom-W KOs 44 HP Landorus-T and has a chance to OHKO those EV’d to survive +1 Bisharp’s Life Orb Sucker Punch. Rotom-W can paralyze other Pokemon if Tyranitar has a bad match-up just to help more in the late game.

Other possible leads combinations include Volcarona paired with Rotom-W, Mega Salamence, or Ferrothorn. I do not think I ever lead Volcarona and Tyranitar, as Fake Out hurts Tyranitar and makes Rage Powder useless.

Rotom-W and Volcarona can be good to set up Thunder Waves so my other Pokemon have an easier time later in game, but this is a very passive lead and does not have much offensive pressure. However, the Thunder Wave pressure is good against fast teams.

Volcarona and Mega Salamence can be good for having the ability to double protect on the first turn to scout. I can choose their moves from this point depending on what my opponent did and what they might do next. Volcarona helps remove Salamence’s Ice weakness with Rage Powder and gives Salamence some breathing room to make some noise (Hyper Voice).

Volcarona and Ferrothorn provide some early game defensive pressure by making Ferrothorn a threat with Leech Seed. Ferrothorn also can deal some good damage to fast Pokemon with Gyro Ball, two-hit KOing a chunk of the metagame. Power Whip also helps deal with Milotic and other Water-Type Pokemon.

My Playstyle

As the tournament progressed, I could start to see how I played. I have a strong emphasis on Dual-Typed Pokemon, including designated type cores, and I like to switch a lot in my games to better check for my opponents team. I feel most teams need a Grass type Pokemon to help against Gastrodon and Swampert. Both have excellent coverage, and my team especially hated Gastrodons since it could hit so much of my team for Super Effective damage.

Issues With the Team

Trick Room was an issue, as Heatran was the team’s major weakness. Rotom-W was the only decent check to Heatran in Trick Room. Landorus-T is an issue too, but the only when scarfed since much of the team outspeeds the Assault Vest variety. I went 7-2 in Swiss, with my losses coming in round 4 to a Trick Room Heatran/Mega Gardevoir team and round 9 to the eventual champion.

Another issue is the fact most of the Pokemon on my team have an inaccurate move. The team relies on these moves to function correctly, and this means the team has the potential to lose games due to RNG. This cost me dearly in game 3 of Top 8. Every move was there for a reason, but they made the team weak in that sense.

If you ever want to run the team, I never used Excadrill during Nationals and would recommend trying out another Pokemon that helps against Heatran and Landorus-T a bit better.

The Day Before Swiss

The day before Swiss was the main registration day, with the TCG Swiss being played in the background. There was a senior and his father in line behind me, and we talked about how this was his son’s first major event while we waited. I gave advice to the kid and tried to help him out with some strategizing. By the time we hit the start of the line, we had managed to talk about the location and our personal lives. We had a few small tournaments, and I got to meet some of the most amazing Australian VGC Players. I met Phil Nguyen (Boomguy), Nihal Noor (UchihaX96), Arvin Banerjee (EspyyVGC), and countless others. It was a really fun day, and I was feeling so excited for what Nationals would bring to the table tomorrow.

Swiss

The big day had arrived, and we starting to fill the venue at around 9:30 that morning. Registration closed a little after 10 AM. At that point, we began the grueling 9 rounds of best-of-3. matches The expected time to finish was 10 PM for the Masters division. I took some notes, but didn’t write down names of my opponent each round. I also did not write down which Pokemon I brought, as I was concerned with my writing speed.

Round 1

I gave my first opponent my notes after our battle so he could improve on his performance. In our second game, he onl yhad a Toxic Cresselia left against my Ferrothorn (which Cresselia couldn’t touch) and two other Pokemon. I do not remember any other Pokemon on his team, but I think he learned from our match and went 5-4 on the day. I was glad that I could help him! We played two games, and I won both. (1-0)

Round 2 vs Brendan Sims

This was a super intense match and I enjoyed it so much. It was definitely one of the best of the day. He ran a team of Bulky Mega Kangaskhan, Amoongus, Scarf Hydreigon, Gengar, Thundurus, and Blaziken. I remember he led off the first game with Amoonguss and Kangaskhan. The first game was really hard, as I realized my team struggled with Speed Boost Life Orb Blaziken. The game went to me in the end, with Will-O-Wisp Volcarona putting in a lot of work. Brendan came back and won the second game quite convincingly. The third was very close, with Thunder Wave Rotom-W doing the work this time around. I managed to play around my Salamence being paralyzed by his Thundurus by making a good call and switching my Volcarona into his Kangaskhan’s Fake Out, activating Flame Body. The set came down to my Rotom-W hitting a Hydro Pump against Blaziken in the final turn, and luckily it connected. I knocked out Blaziken and sealed up round 2. (2-0)

Round 3

My Round 3 opponent had Garchomp, Mega Venusaur, (presumed Mega) Kangaskhan, Gastrodon, Thundurus-I and Heatran.  I have little details, but I found out during the two games that he had a non-Rindo Berry Gastrodon. He also predicted my Salamence switch in one turn, but I had no reason to and the game was closed up. Definitely a fun sset. (3-0)

Round 4 vs Matthew Jiwa

This was a terrible match up right from the get go, with Matthew’s team including Mega Gardevoir, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Amoonguss, Scrafty, and Heatran. During the first game I suddenly realized I had a crippling weakness to Trick Room Heatran. As he blew through me, I had no chance to recover from Heatran’s Heat Waves. I remember the second game he double targeted my Rotom-W with Mega Gardevoir’s Psychic and a move from Heatran which got the KO. He sealed it up from there. Matt managed to get Top 16, and he had a great team. (3-1)

Round 5

I found out this player was from New Zealand, and his team was Talonflame, Scrafty, Arcanine, Metagross, Milotic, and Breloom. I mainly remember that Salamence’s Intimidate gave his Milotic +2 Special Attack due its ability Competitive. However, he had never seen Japan Sand and switched Breloom into a Hyper Voice. Needless to say, he lost that game and I closed up the second. Scrafty was a threat, and he made sure to use it well! (4-1)

Round 6 vs Stephan Lowings

This guy was friends with Brendan Sims, my second opponent, and it was a really cool match. His team was Mega Kangaskhan, Life Orb Blaziken, Sitrus Zapdos, Scarf Landorus-T, Leftovers Milotic, and Aegislash. He was a good player but did not expect support Volcarona, and I played that to my advantage. Either the first or second game I led with Rotom-W and Volcarona, with him having Kangaskhan and Milotic. He went for the predicted Fake Out onto Rotom-W, which I protected with. I then went for the Will-O-Wisp and burned his Mega Kangaskhan. He lost a huge amount of momentum and I carried the game to victory from there. His team was extremely well built, and I was scared of his Blaziken. He made some great predictions and called some of my switches. I believe I won this set 2-0, but I might be wrong. What is definitely true is that this was an awesome game. (5-1)

Round 7 vs Nihal Noor

This match was what I had been anticipating – a Sand team mirror match. I knew going into the match that this one would be difficult, as he was such a strong opponent. His team was composed of Landorus-Incarnate, Rotom-W, Amoonguss, Special Mega Salamence, Tyranitar, and Aegislash. Our set went to three games, and I won the last two. Predictions were made, and in the end Thunder Wave and Rock Slide helped seal the deal in the final turns of the last game. I could not believe I had beat Nihal, and it was an honourable game. It was a shame he missed Top Cut, maybe next year! (6-1)

Round 8 vs Nathan Farrugia

I went from battling one awesome guy to another. I met Nathan a few hours before the match and we had chatted a bit. He was a super nice guy and I really wanted to get this win. I wanted to set up my top cut position and a win would cement it here. He had a team of Landorus-T, Whimiscott, Mega Kangaskhan, Milotic, Zapdos, and Talonflame. His Whimsicott looked like an issue for my team, so I bought Sand every battle to remove the Focus Sash and hurt Talonflame as well. I know I bought Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Salamence, Rotom-W and Volcarona to these games, leaving Excadrill behind each time. I distinctly remember how I was concerned with his well built team, and I feared a Heat Wave Zapdos. Fortunately, after the second game he had revealed all his moves and I knew he did not carry Heat Wave. This made Ferrothorn’s match up brilliant, bar the Talonflame. The first game he had his -1 Talonflame crit my Salamence on a switch which he had jokingly predicted. This set me back a bit, and I lost Game 1. He revealed Power-Up Punch in the second or third game, and I fixed that by intimidating his Kangaskhan and going on the offensive. As I predicted, he would not Sucker Punch. The battles were close, and Tyranitar did a lot of work in this set. I won after Tyranitar knocked out his last two Pokemon, sealing up a 7-1 record. (7-1)

Round 9 vs Matthew Roe

Little did I know, this opponent would be the Champion of Australian Nationals. His Sand team, my second Sand mirror of the tournament, concerned me, as Volcarona had a bad matchup. Interestingly, he brought Excadrill all three games, while I never brought Excadrill to battle. Matt liked to double Protect in both of our games so he could learn crucial information about my team. He ran a mixed Salamence, unlike my fully special Salamence, and I was worried about my Salamence being KO’d by his Draco Meteor when he both lead with Salamence in our second game. Thunder Wave Rotom-W did immense work in this game, but in the end I could not hold back his offense and lost, ending Swiss with a record of 7-2. I was convinced I would not cut, but when the results were posted I had made 9th in Swiss and would proceed to the Top Cut on the next day. (7-2)

Top Cut

This was the day that would decide how far I would go. I was ecstatic to get this far and I was contempt from what I had achieved. But did not mean I wanted to go home any time sooner, so we were paired with our Top 16 opponents.

Top 16 vs Alexander Poole

Alex had made top cut as well, and it was really cool to meet him. He was a super swell guy and we had a good talk before we started. However, I was scared after seeing Team Preview. His team was made of Rocky Helmet Amoonguss, Thundurus-I, Chople Berry Heatran, Chesto Rest Cresselia, Mega Kangaskhan, and Physical Sitrus Berry Swampert. He had a Trick Room Heatran as well, which was unnerving. This set went to three matches, and my notes show that he did not bring Kangaskhan to at least one game. His Heatran was presumed to have a Timid nature, as it out sped my Volcarona, and he ran Overheat as his Fire-Type move. This allowed me to get back into one of our games, as it meant I could make some plays with my Ferrothorn if the choice had to be made. The last few turns of game 3 were crazy, and I got so hyped from it. He had used his Chesto Berry already in the game, and he had just used Rest again when Cresselia was at low health. At this moment, I had Tyranitar at about 40% in the back, with a low health Rotom-W and full health Salamence. I took out his Cresselia’s partner, and we were left at a Pokemon count of 3-2. His Cresselia had Ice Beam, but I knew it would not KO Salamence as he had used it in the last game and it had failed to do so. However, he got a Critical Hit and my Mega went down. I was worried at this point, but I brought back in Tyranitar. I cleaned up with a Crunch and a Thunderbolt from Rotom-W, and I had now reached the Top 8.

Top 8 vs Lionel Pryce

This was the closing match of this wonderful event. My opponent and I were about to battle when we found out Phil and his opponent had American cartridges and the stream was incompatible with them, or something along those lines. As a result, our battle was to be streamed for all who were watching. His team was composed of Mega Kangaskhan, Sitrus Zapdos, Scarf Landorus-T, Life Orb Heatran, Assault Vest Suicune and Rocky Helmet Amoonguss. The first game, I led with Salamence and Rotom-W against his Landorus-T and Suicune. His Intimidate went before mine, which revealed the Choice Scarf. I thought he would Tailwind and Rock Slide the first turn, so I switched Salamence into Tyranitar to gain momentum over his Pokemon. He ended up switching his Landous-T out into Zapdos, which instantly made me afraid what it might do. I assumed Tailwind, which made me question Suicune’s role in his team make up. However, as he explained later, he brought it in to take what he assumed was an attack on his Landorus-T slot. His Suicune went for the Snarl, indicating he knew my Salamence was special and hurting my Rotom-W’s offensive pressure. I then went for the Thunder Wave on his Suicune, as it would cripple his Speed even if he had Tailwind up. I swap Rotom-W out to reset the stat drops and make a hard prediction on what he would do. Since his Suicune would not be doing anything well under Tailwind, I decided he would switch in his Landorus-T in that slot to Intimidate my Tyranitar. I Ice Punched the slot and did a good 80% to his Landorus-T switch. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes later on, and all I can do is try to get more information. I protected a few times and knocked out his Landorus-T to find out that his last Pokemon was Heatran and that he had chosen not to bring his Kangaskhan. This concerned me, as I brought my Volcarona for that very reason. The next game I chose Ferrothorn over Volcarona. I did make some good plays, but the inaccuracy of Power Whip and a Critical Hit on my Rotom-W left me behind a bit, and I made a mistake in not giving myself a chance to win by Rock Sliding. I forfeited when I realized I had no chance, as I had no issues conceding to a better opponent. He was an excellent player and he made Top 4, something he should be proud of!

I found a link for our streamed battle on DYoshiiTV‘s YouTube channel. The details will be more clear here.

Overall Experience And Closing Moments

The overall trip was incredible, and inspired me to shoot for Worlds next season. I will attend all local PC’s, if possible, and a Regional or two depending on a few factors. I made some amazing friends, and it gave me something to add to my VGC resume. I hope you enjoyed the report!

I would like to credit Sam Pandelis (ZeldaVGC), as he gave me self confidence going into the tournament, something I lacked as a player. He is a very good VGC player, and I hope he does well in future seasons.

I want to thank Thowra, as they made the amazing art to go with my report.

I also want to thank Joshua Spriggins (Nido), as he helped fix up an error with a spread of mine.

The post My Moth’s Got The Powder: A Top 8 Australian Masters Nationals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This is R Inanimate, and today I’m writing about a team I’ve been using for the past few months. Unlike most of the other teams people are sharing around this time, this team did not have a particularly strong finish at any Regional event. While it did not get the big Regional finish I was looking for, it made up for it in the form of numerous minor successes. These range from things like reaching the top of the PS Ladder on an alt (~1730 rating, within 60 battles), to winning a couple Premier Challenges and Nugget Bridge live tournaments, to top cutting the 4th Nugget Bridge Major, and winning all my matches during the North American Regions Tournament held a couple months back. With the exception of 40 CP that was obtained from a Premier Challenge win using a Mega Metagross team in early January, all my CP has come from using this team or an older incarnation of it. As a result, this report will not directly reminisce upon any of my past tournament battles and instead will focus on the team itself.

Team History

As with most of my teams, I really don’t do much in terms of discussion with other players when building a team. I usually just use an idea I find interesting, or get some inspiration from something someone else uses, and put a lot of thought into refining it into a solid team. For this team, as strange as it sounds, I started off with my Mega Metagross team. For reference, it was:

Metagross / Togekiss / Breloom / Hydreigion / Landorus-T / Rotom-W

I often found that Hydreigon’s middling speed stat was a problem as it often made it unable to cover the weaknesses that Metagross had, dispite Hydreigon and Metagross having some strong synergize in theory. This led me to try to thing of different Pokemon to use in Hydreigon’s stead…

One of the Pokemon I found surprisingly effective was Infernape. Infernape with Life Orb was able to pick up OHKOs on Heatran, Aegislash, and Kangaskhan, three things that can be hard on Metagross to fend off, its high speed and KO potential allowed it to become an immediate threat to opponent teams. While Infernape provided some stronger offense, its defense left something to be desired for this team. I eventually just discontinued working on this team. But this led me to try to find a way to keep Infernape and Metagross as an offensive core, and build around that.

For people who ask my why I never tried to use Togekiss Excadrill again in 2015…I tried, it just didn’t work out that well. The Salamence on this team was a special Salamence, and I often found myself bringing both Metagross and Salamence to games… and mega evolving Metagross. This team was pretty short lived, but got me thinking about Mega Salamence instead. At some point I changed one of my Salamence’s moves to Double-Edge, making it a mixed set, and that is when the ball really started to get rolling.

I would consider this the starting point for this team, as it was the first team draft with Mega Salamence that I used at actual events. I kept my Life Orb Infernap and mixed Salamence from the previous team and built around that. I ended up putting in Gothitelle, since I thought that Shadow Tag and Helping Hand would be strong supportive tools for Salamence. Bisharp replaced Metagross, while the Rotom-W and Togekiss stayed from the previous team. Togekiss’ role did change to being a Scarfed Togekiss though.

This team was pretty fun to use, but I ended up getting a bit ahead of myself with this one. Bulky Electric-types, Milotic, Gengar, and worst of all, Sylveon, gave this team a ton on problems but practice matches always ended up with me somehow getting away with the win. I managed to get 2nd place at a Premier Challenge in the BC area with this team, going 5-0 in Swiss and only dropping games at the end in the finals, and was 2-0 in the Major with the team going into Winter Regionals. The team got exposed for its flaws pretty hard at Portland, as I went 4-4, barely getting any points at 64th place. The team had a lot of poor matchups that really required me to put in extra work to outplay my opponents and pull off my wins. While it is fun for me to try to outsmart my opponents every time to earn my victories, it does mean that I have to be playing constantly at the top of my game just to keep myself at level. A bad idea for Regionals when I was feeling fatigued from the drive down to Portland and just a bit under the weather at the time.

After Regionals, I knew I needed to change my team. In showing a few friends the team beforehand, they all told me the same thing: they didn’t really know what Gothitelle was doing on the team, and that it was a bit out of place. As such, Gothitelle was first to be cut, as I did agree with that sentiment.

This was the team I used in the Feburary International Challenge that occurred shortly after the Portland Regional. I gave Clefairy a try over Gothitelle, and used the tournament as a way to test its effectiveness as a support for Salamence. The Zapdos I used here was a Choice Specs variant, which I also wanted to try out. The results were a bit dissapointing for me, as I went 19-11, not even a 2:1 win ratio. I was able to get a lot of information from the battles I played, though. Clefairy worked fairly well, but it relies heavily on the rest of the team to pick up the offensive role, something I wasn’t always able to provide with how the team was built. Zapdos was a poor fit in practice. It has decent typing, and superior stats over a Rotom-Wash performing the same role… but having half my team Rock and Ice weak was an extreme liability. Also, Zapdos’s matchup against Heatran being weaker than Rotom-W’s made my issues against it a noticeable problem.

I played the February International Challenge on a 2nd cart. I transferred the team over, and tried it again for an additional 30 battles, but I replaced the Specs Zapdos with a Specs Rotom-Wash. I pretty much ended up with the same win/loss record, at 20-10 instead of 19-11 but over 60 rating points higher. I felt a lot better with this record though, as the opponents were a lot tougher and the team itself was playing better than it had with Zapdos. But a lot of glaring holes in the team still existed. I’m not sure whether I should be sad for my team that my win rate against Sylveon teams was about 50/50, or sad for Slyveon that its win rate against me was ONLY 50/50 given just how weak my team was to it.

After the International Challenge, I gave a bit of thought to how I could patch up some of the heavy weaknesses that the team had, which finally leads us to:

The Team:

I replaced my Togekiss on the team with a Kangaskhan. I was a bit worried that the team would lose its identity a bit with a situation where I would always bring Clefairy and Kangaskhan instead of using the Salamence that was the original focus of the team, but Kangaskhan was incorporated nicely into the team, and shares the spotlight for being the team’s Mega somewhat evenly with my Salamence. A few slight modifications were made for my team, which brings it to the form that it has been as since around the start of April.

Nicknames for this report were the nicknames I had during the Regions Tourney, and the Seattle Regionals. As I was on Team West Coast, the nickname theme is of characters from the Seihou Project, or the Western Project, series of shooter games.

Infernape (M) @ Life Orb ***Gates
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 108 Atk / 188 SpA / 212 Spe -> 68 Atk / 188 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
– Fake Out
– Overheat
– Close Combat
– Feint

Mixed Infernape. Fake Out Support. Infernape is an interesting Pokemon, to say the least. It can provide a lot of immediate offensive pressure with its speed and powerful STAB moves, but its Talonflame-esque lack of durability means one misstep and it’s lights-out. Sporting a faster Fake Out than Kangaskhan can often allow me to dictate flow of the battle right from the start, even if I often opt to just go in swinging with my other moves. The main selling point to Infernape lies in its speed and KO potentials. The original EV spread of 108 Atk / 188 SpA / 212 Spe allowed Infernape to easily pick up KOs against Heatran, Kangaskhan, Amoonguss, and Aegislash while still having enough to move before Garchomp. Specifically, this Infernape was guaranteed to OHKO 252 HP Aegislash with Overheat, and had a 7/8 chance to OHKO 252 HP Mega kangaskhan and a 3/4 chance to OHKO 252 HP Heatran.

Over time, I shifted 40 EVs from Attack into Speed, maxing it out. The reason for this was that I wanted my Infernape to outspeed Liepard and regular Lopunny, thus giving Infernape the faster Fake Out. Also, since Terrakions rarely respects the fact that Infernape ties it in Base Speed, I felt that being able to have a 50/50 chance to land a Close Combat on Terrakion before they can move was helpful. Especially on turns where I intend to sacrifice Infernape for a free switch in.

There are many options for Infernape’s last move, including Protect, Encore, Stone Edge, Gunk Shot, Quick Guard, Mach Punch, Feint, Heat Wave, and Hidden Power Ice. I originally had Protect when using Infernape with Mega Metagross, but then switched over to Feint for this team. Infernape used to be on a team where it was more important to try to preserve it so it could get the OHKOs it was intended for, making Protect more vital. But with this team I could more often afford having Infernape go down, so the extra offensive pressure I could apply with Feint became became more important. Punishing opponents for obvious Protects, or finishing off targets at a sliver of HP can allow me to keep up the offensive momentum that the team relies on.

Salamence (M) @ Salamencite ***Erich
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Draco Meteor
– Double-Edge
– Protect

Mixed Mega Salamence, my primary mega. This is a Pokemon that I tried for fun originally. The moveset and EV spread probably looks like I messed up somewhere, noting that at some point this Salamence had Earthquake over Draco Meteor, thus more Physical moves than Special moves dispite an EV spread of 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed, but believe me, it’s intentional. I’ve had a number of people ask me what my Mixed Mega Salamence EV spread was. It always seems to surprise them when I just tell them “It’s 252/252″.

When Mega Salamence was initially announced, one concern people had with trying to handle Mega Salamence was the unpredictability that comes with its movesets. It could be Physical, it could be Special. It could try to set up with Dragon Dance, or it could be a mixed set. In some rare occasions it might not even be Mega at all. But in practice, things sort of led to Dragon Dance Mega Salamence sets being the most popular set for it outside of Japan. Also, lot of the time you can have a good idea of what the Salamence is trying to do once you see one non-Protect move from it. A lot of the potential threat of unpredictability was lost.

By running a Mixed Mega Salamence, I can bring back some of that lost unpredictability. People may try to Will-o-Wisp and Intimidate my Salamence to negate it as a physical powerhouse only to be screamed at instead for guessing wrong. On the other hand, trainers who think that they are safe because Hyper Voice deals about 40% to their Pokemon can get a very rude awakening when they see Salamence go in for the kill with a Double-Edge. While using a Mixed Mega Salamence has an extra layer of surprise on it, it doesn’t need to rely on surprise to be successful against opponents. Having both Hyper Voice and Double-Edge makes it extremely easy for Salamence to attack relentlessly, and drive right through opposing teams if given a slight bit of momentum. It’s a pretty entertaining set to run, and I know a number of other players have adapted a similar Mixed moveset for their own Salamence, so give it a try.

Bisharp (F) @ Focus Sash ***Muse
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Assurance
– Protect

Sashed Bisharp. Intimidate Deterrent. Standard Bisharp fare, or at least it was until Bisharp got pulled back a year and had to retake 2014, for assuring reasons. The Life Orb on the team is held by Infernape, so naturally the Focus Sash falls to Bisharp. The insurance that Focus Sash provides allows me to play Bisharp a bit more aggressively than I’d normally be able to, which can allow me to sieze momentum in battles. Bisharp is slower than most of the Pokemon on my team so I found Assurance to be a better fit than Knock Off. While Knock Off is still a solid move, I was just a little tired of hitting things and activating Sitrus Berries, simultaneously healing the opponent and weakening my own Knock Off.

These days, there are a lot more Pokemon that aim to outspeed Bisharp, which makes life tough for our metallic hero. I’d say that Bisharp has two, maybe three, solid roles for the team and has become a bit difficult to use aside from those roles. Roles being:

1. It works well as a way to deter Intimidate users and can punish them hard when they feed Bisharp a +1 boost.
2. Bisharp is effective at harassing Trick Room setters, often being able to do a heavy amount of damage to them, if not just flat out KO them before they have a chance to set up anything
3. Strong priority, which helps on a few occasions like facing against Rain.

As such, Bisharp is my least used Pokemon on this team, but in a similar way to how it was my least used Pokemon on my 2013 team, it forces opponents to react to it when they see one on Team Preview.

Clefairy (F) @ Eviolite ***Hirano
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Def / 100 SpD
Bold Nature
– Icy Wind
– Protect
– Helping Hand
– Follow Me

Friend Guard Clefairy. Redirection Support. A shoutout to Crow, for being one of the first few players who had tried to use a Clefairy at an event, and to CT MikotoMisaka and Mancuso for reaching T4 and finals, respectively, acting as a proof of concept of Clefairy’s effectiveness. It was a Pokemon that I had considered using in the past, but didn’t really explore much until the successes it had Winter Regionals mentioned. This Clefairy has a simple EV spread which allows it to either survive Aegislash’s Flash Cannon or Life Orb Bisharp’s Iron Head when Clefairy is at full HP due to Eviolite. It’s 4 moves are pretty straightforward as far as being a Supportive Pokemin goes. Follow Me for redirection support, Helping Hand to increase power, Protect to keep itself on the field longer, and Icy Wind as a way of speed control that my team woefully lacks. But let’s face it, that stuff isn’t why Clefairy is here. Let’s talk about Friend Guard.

Friend Guard reduces the damage that Clefairy’s ally takes down to 75%. Another way to look at it is that it improves the durability of Clefairy’s ally by 1.33x. A Sitrus Berry, often considered one of the best items in VGC, improves a Pokemon’s durability by 1.25x, and only as long as the berry actually activates. Having Clefairy on the field is sort of like giving a slightly more effective Sitrus Berry to your ally, provided Clefairy stays on the field. Mega Kangaskhan with Sitrus Berry? Mega Salamence with Sitrus Berry? Think about those for a moment. Yeah, Friend Guard is a pretty amazing thing.

The boost can often turn 2HKOs into 3HKOs, leading to a number of situations where I can just Protect with Clefairy, and even if my opponent doubles into my other Pokemon, it will survive. Then I can just redirect attacks away and further extend the staying power of my attacking Pokemon. The only drawback is that Friend Guard is tied to Clefairy, and Clefairy will have to rely on its partner 99% of the time in order to get any damaging done towards the opposing team. What a friend.

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf ***VIVIT
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 44 HP / 252 SpA / 212 Spe
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Rain Dance

Scarf Rotom-W. Surprise Utility. If there was one Pokemon that could really catch opponents by surprise, it would be this one. It was originally a Specs Rotom-W, but I changed it to a Scarfed one in order to help my matchup against Pokemon like Greninja. The EV spread puts Rotom-W at 146 Speed, allowing it to outspeed Scarf Base 80s, Mega Sceptile, and most importantly; Adamant Scarf Landorus-T. It can punish people for making lazy, luck-fishing plays like trying to deal with Rotom-W by flinching it with Rock Slides, and is a relatively solid Pokemon to clean up in late-game situations. While the lack of HP EVs does make this Rotom rather frail, it’s typing still makes it relatively easy to switch in on resisted attacks.

Rotom-W’s moveset is mostly self-explainatory, so let’s just talk about the move that is interesting. Rain Dance. Rain Dance is here as a specific tech to Charizard Y, much like placing Rain Dance onto a Choice Scarf Politoed. I added it on as Rotom-W’s 4th move as I found that the team would quickly fall against teams using both Charizard Y and Heatran that just overpower my team with Sun boosted Fire moves. By having Rain Dance, I could stifle the opponent’s offensive presence which could open up an opportunity to deal some damage to my opponent, or set up in the case of Kangaskhan.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite ***Milia
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Return
– Sucker Punch
– Power-Up Punch
– Protect

Protect Kangaskhan. Backup Mega. No surprises at all that when I added a Kangaskhan onto the team, that it would be one that has Protect and Power-up Punch to go along with Clefairy. A lot of Pokemon that Mega Salamence tends to struggle with are Pokemon that can be dealt with by the use of Mega Kangaskhan. Pokemon like Sylveon, and Bisharp are often in danger of being swiftly taken out by Mega Kangaskhan’s attacks, while Pokemon like Rotom-W, Cresselia, and Suicune will often lack in offensive strength and gives Kangaskhan opportunities to strengthen itself with Power-up Punches. It’s EVs allow Kangaskhan to hit 135 Speed after going Mega, thus outspeed Breloom. Attack was maximized, and the remainder was added into HP for some non-specific boost to its durability. Retrospectively, it apparently will survive a +2 Flash Cannon from Aegislash, guaranteed. That’s cool.

Overview

Is anyone surprised that my team ends up being a high offense team held together by a Redirection Pokemon? The Pokemon may be completely different to what I successfully used in past years, but the concepts that the team runs by are definitely in line with past years. Let’s look at a few key features of the team:

Mixed Offense

The Infernape and Salamence on my team run both physical and special attacks and are able to hit decently hard on both sides. As such the team effectively has 3 Special Attackers and 4 Physical Attackers. This makes the team more flexible when dealing with things like Intimidate or Assault Vests that are used weaken one type of offense. Also, for Infernape and Salamence, it means that cutting Special Attack by using Overheat/Draco Meteor doesn’t stop them from keeping up their offensive presence. They’re also both Naive nature, hence the report title.

Redirection

As always, redirection is a big part of keeping my team alive. Clefairy’s role on the team is to try to buy enough time for me to put myself into a sweeping situation. It’s presence makes it a lot easier to stall my way through Tailwind or Trick Room, and often times it’s good for me as long as I can get it to sit around for a couple of turns. Redirection isn’t always about preventing damage however. Being able to take a Thunder Wave or Swagger for the team is extremely helpful in the effort of trying to remove status users. Clefairy also stops dumb gimmicks like Guard Split, Psych Up strategies, Heal Pulse, Simple Beam, etc.

Dual Mega

In 2015, a lot of teams have gone back to using a single Mega Pokemon. There’s a lot more variety in non-megas that can be used to create a strong team. But, for this team, I’ve decided to stick with a dual Mega strategy, using both Mega Salamence and Mega Kangaskhan. The two are able to complement each other well on the team, covering a wide variety of matchups effectively. Salamence acts as a sort of “fast mode” for the team. It attacks endlessly with double Flying moves, and is a complete terror for Fighting-types and Amoonguss, that may be used against Kangaskhan, to play against. Opponents who use more bulky teams, that are able to deal with Salamence’s onslaught may find themselves facing a Kangaskhan instead. With Power-up Punch and Clefairy support, teams that try to go defensive against me will instead find themselves facing a +2 Kangaskhan without enough firepower to break through Redirection/Friend Guard. Pokemon like Rotom-W, Cresselia, Suicune, Milotic, and bulky Thundurus, who are often a good match against Salamence will struggle at stopping Kangaskhan from setting up and rolling over their teams at +2.

Lack of Luck

If you look at the movesets, there are only two moves on the team with any secondary effect (that isn’t 100% chance to activate). There’s also only a small handful of moves that aren’t 100% accurate. As such, the team doesn’t generate very many luck factors, positive or negative, for itself. This means that the team can focus more on playing the game, and not “playing” the game. While it wasn’t an active decision to make the team like this, it certainly helps in making the battles I play with it a lot cleaner. Forcing me to rely on solid decision making, and a bit less on weighing odds.

High Speed

3 of my Pokemon have 170+ speed stats. The ones that don’t have Priority moves, or are Clefairy, who doesn’t really attack. The team uses that initial advantage in speed to try to go on the attack as soon as possible instead of utilizing speed control tactics in order to gain an advantage. As stated earlier, Clefairy’s presence on the team also acts as a way to disrupt the opponent’s ability to control Speed in the game or to take advantage of it.

Sample Lead Combinations

Here are a few examples in terms of Lead combinations that I used with my team:

/+

Infernape/Clefairy + Kangaskhan

This trio is used to try to set up a simple Kangaskhan sweep. Clefairy and Kangaskhan have been proven on teams to be a deadly combo against those unprepaired, as teams without a strong amount of spread moves or Intimidate can find themselves quickly overwhelmed by a +2 or +4 Kangaskhan.

More often though, I have a lot of situations where I can lead Infernape and Kangaskhan. Infernape can threaten Fake Out, and also be a threat with its STAB move KO potential, which leaves a number of opportunities for Kangaskhan to get off a Power-up Punch. If I’m worried about helmets, or swinging into Protect, as I often am… Infernape is usually the victim of Power-up Punch boosting action. Once Kangaskhan is at +2, it isn’t too difficult to switch out or try to sacrifice Infernape in order to bring in Clefairy to support the sweep.

Infernape + Salamence

This is a lead set up that often feels the most conservative on my team. I drop the opponent’s Attack, I have Fake Out pressure, and I have some strong immediate offense that isn’t hindered by the opponent’s Intimidate. Rotom-W and Clefairy also have a pretty easy time switching in for either of my leads.

Clefairy + Salamence

Redirect + Spread move set up. Clefairy covers for Salamence while it screams relentlessly at the opponent. The duo gives me a decent amount of control over the opponent, such that I can either try to go for KOs, or try to leave things at low HP to clean up after Clefairy is taken out.

/+

Infernape/Salamence + Bisharp

This is sort of a go-to lead in order to handle Trick Room set ups. Very few Trick Room users will be able to handle taking an Overheat/Hyper Voice followed up by an Assurance, allowing my team to have the ability to stop Trick Room from ever going up, and putting me in a big advantage in a battle.

Threats

No team is without their fair share of threats. But, a good team should be one that is aware of its own weaknesses, and can prepare in order to overcome any adversary. Keeping the list as single Pokemon threats, divided into categories, I try to look out for the following:

Bulky Electrics

My team has no Electric resistances. Bulky Electric-types can stay around on the field for a while against most of my team and deal out consistent damage or safely perform supportive roles. Kangaskhan does match up strongly against them though.

Strong Spread Moves

Clefairy can only act as a damage buffer for so long against the likes of Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir and Charizard-Y, who have hard hitting spread moves. As such it is important for me to be able to handle these Pokemon quickly, to minimize the amount of damage I’ll be taking. Otherwise I’ll lose out on the damage trade, fast.

Ghosts

It’s a bit difficult to describe, but Ghost-types often exist in such a way that trying to deal with them can be a bit awkward for my team.

Mawile

A special shoutout to Mawile, as it is one mega that has a strong matchup against both my Salamence and my Kangaskhan, along with having the ability to overpower and OHKO Clefairy in a single hit. Unless I manage to Intimidate Mawile, it has the ability to OHKO 5/6 of my Pokemon

At an End of Naive Ideals

While the team has gotten a large number of small scale victories, it fell flat at the two Regional events where I used it. I have a bad tendency to believe in the strength of a single team a lot longer than I should.  Going into US Nationals, I continued with using the same team. The following changes were made to my team in preparation for the biggest event of the season, in chronological order:

Infernape: Naive -> Hasty Nature, EV Spread changed to 4 HP / 60 Atk / 188 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Clefairy: Bold -> Calm Nature, EV Spread changed to 156 HP / 220 Def / 132 SpD

When playing using my team before US Nationals, Pokemon such as Timid LO Thundurus, LO Heatran, Mega Gardevoir and offensive Mega Gengar were seeing a decent amount of usage. For Infernape, switching to a Hasty Nature allowed it to survive attacks like Modest 252 Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice, LO Thundurus Thunderbolt, or Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb when it is at full HP. Clefairy’s EV spread was changed to allow it to take LO Heatran Flash Cannon, or Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb, at the expense of being unable to survive Mega Metagross Iron Head — a shift in matchups to something I felt more comfortable with for my team.

Rotom-W: Speed Stat – 149
Mega Kangaskhan: Speed Stat – 140

A slight amount of speed creeping. Rotom-W’s speed was increased in order to put myself ahead of kingofmars’ Landorus-T, which I knew was Jolly and a bit faster than 146. 149 also put Rotom-W ahead of Mega Aerodactyl or Mega Alakazam, however unlikely those would be to show up. Mega Kangaskhan’s speed hit 140 to be ahead of Smeargle.

Bisharp: Item changed to Safety Goggles, EV spread changed to 100 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 148 Spe

This was the last change I made, and the biggest one. My Bisharp no longer had a Focus Sash. Instead it had Goggles in order to improve the team’s match up against Amoonguss reliant teams such as the Gardevoir Amoonguss archtype and the Japan Sand teams. The EV spread takes out a sizable amount of speed from Bisharp in order to improve its durability. There is no reason for Bisharp to remain at 122 Speed stat, as any Pokemon around that speed area will ensure to creep themselves past that number, and having 122 just to tie other Bisharps is irrelevant. By reducing Bisharp down to 109 Speed, it provided enough durability for Bisharp to take a hit in various situations including: 252 Mega Salamence Flamethrower, 252+ Mega Gardevoir spread Hyper Voice, -1 252+ Excadrill LO Earthquake, and -1 252 Tyranitar Low Kick. Goggles on Bisharp was a bit of a secret tech for the team, as it was very easy for me to hide what item Bisharp had. In practice, the number of times I had Bisharp go from full HP to zero, was no more than 5 times in over 100 battles, and I had a lot of situations where I could bluff having a Focus Sash and pressure my opponent out of a position where they had a win all but locked up.

Unfortunately for me, my team once again fell a bit short of the mark. After a strong 5-0 start to Day 1, I ended the day going 6-3, missing Day 2 and subsequently eliminating me from contention for a World’s invite. While the number of invites expanded by 2.5x times this year, it seems that so did the competition level of high end players. Thus my performance throughout the season was inadequate. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit dissapointed that I’ll be sitting out as a spectator this time for 2015 Worlds, but it would be truly naive for me to believe that the impossible request of an invite to Worlds from the NA region every year would be an easy task. This marks the end of my 2015 VGC Season. Good luck to those competing in Boston. See you guys in 2016 (or Fall 2015).

The post Following a Mix of Naive Ideals: A 2015 Season Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Howdy folks, my name is Joseph “lucariojr” Brummett (often misspelled at events as ‘Burmett’ or worse), and in this report, I’ll be going through my team. I don’t remember most of my matches at this point and I don’t see much reason to go into too much detail about my weekend.

Team Preview

I’ll say upfront that this team was heavily inspired by someone else’s team that I saw on another regionals stream. In fact, it’s the same six Pokémon as the guy used, but whose name I can’t remember at the time of writing. I didn’t have anything better to run to be quite honest, and the team looked really solid, especially since I was hearing some good things about Rhyperior and Cresselia at the time. It also catered to my play-style of having two separate modes to one team and it fulfilled my somewhat misguided desire to use Mega Charizard Y (who doesn’t love the fact that Charizard is top tier now?), so I decided to run with it after looking at it in a teambuilder. I happened to have 4 out of the 6 Pokémon already as well, so that definitely helped things since I was planning the team the Wednesday before the regional.

While I did use a team preview screen as a reference, I didn’t have any prior knowledge of any sets because the stream quality at home is lousy apparently. I did see Super Fang Scrafty for a brief second, so that’s pretty much the extent of how hard I netdecked it. Going into making the sets, I knew:

1. Heatran’s damage output is dumb even with the sun, without a Life Orb, in my opinion. So it gets the Life Orb. This is the logic some Aegislash run on nowadays as well.
2. Expert Belt Venusaur is kind of poor as well, so Venusaurite is the next best thing. I don’t think highly of double Mega Venusaur & Charizard otherwise.

With these two decisions, it pretty much cemented every other set.

The Team

Charizard “Gertha” @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 164 HP / 4 Def / 136 SpA / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 SpD
– Heat Wave
– Solar Beam
– Hidden Power Ground
– Protect

I wanted this Charizard to have a bit more Special Attack than I usually use. Normally I run Modest with no investment, but since it’s not using Overheat, it needs the investment to work. With Terrakion going out of style, all I really need to watch out for is Rock Slide from Landorus, and after it has been intimidated it allows Charizard to survive. I don’t recall going too in-depth with these EVs, honestly, but it did what it needed to do. The Hidden Power Ground here was a requirement to avoid my Sun lead being completely walled by opposing Heatran. The nickname comes from a character created by Jim Henson, often described as “an ugly battle-axe” and “a bitterly sarcastic dragon”.

Venusaur “EarlSinclair” @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 188 HP / 252 SpA / 68 Spe
IVs: 30 Def, even SpA
Modest Nature
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Hidden Power Ice
– Protect

The Speed investment allows it to outspeed Scarf Landorus-T in sunlight and has respectable bulk in Mega form. Using an offensive Mega Venusaur definitely caught some people off guard throughout the day and is probably my favorite way to use it. Ultra-defensive Venusaur has a tendency to just kind of sit there, do nothing and die in vain if it happens to take a little too much damage. In comparison, offensive Mega Venusaur is much more efficient at killing the various Fairy and Water-types that are around, as well as Landorus-T. The nickname is that of the dumb father figure of the sitcom Dinosaurs.

Heatran “MiamiHeatran” @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 SpA
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– Earth Power
– Substitute
– Protect

The defensive EVs allow Heatran to survive Mega Salamence’s Earthquake the majority of the time, but it isn’t the Heatran I was planning on bringing anyway. The Life Orb definitely allowed Heatran to pull its weight as well, but by round 2 I discovered I was using the wrong Heatran. I had wanted Timid and a faster spread, but as you can see, I actually ended up using Modest with no investment. This almost cost me in a round where I had to face a Bisharp, because contrary to what you might think of a team with two Fire-types, a Ground-type and a Fighting-type, this team doesn’t really like Bisharp. Or maybe I just don’t like Bisharp personally. It owes me money.

Thinking back on it, I actually had a chance to correct this since a judge said something about my itemless Heatran before registering, so I had a chance to correct it, but didn’t. Oh well. Otherwise, there wasn’t much difference since it had the right moves anyway, though in hindsight Substitute probably wasn’t the best move on a hyper offense Heatran. The nickname comes from that one basketball team in Florida.

Cresselia “☆Estelle☆” @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 4 Spe
– Ice Beam
– Psychic
– Trick Room
– Helping Hand

The EV investment allows Cresselia to survive Bisharp’s Knock Off and helps KO Landorus-T and Mega Salamence. Cresselia’s Special Attack investment hits some decent benchmarks, but it’s usually helped by any Fake Out damage Scrafty provides, allowing it to pick up knock-outs it otherwise wouldn’t be able to. I didn’t use Helping Hand much if at all, so maybe that slot could’ve been put to better use. The 4 IVs in the Speed stat weren’t ideal, but I remember it helping me outspeed and KO something before a Modest Aegislash could intervene. The nickname comes from a British actress/rapper.

Scrafty “Dr. Teeth” @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Drain Punch
– Knock Off
– Super Fang

A very basic set and spread that does exactly what it aims to do. I usually used Fake Out on key targets like Landorus-T and Mega Salamence to get them into range for both Cresselia and regular Venusaur to pick up the necessary knock-outs. Super Fang was useful to get loads of damage off and weaken stuff like Mega Venusaur. In tandem with Knock Off, it meant that Scrafty had a lot of utility even when it got burned, which is a problem I had with Scrafty last season, though I didn’t find myself using it as often as I thought I would. The nickname comes from the Muppet of the same name.

Rhyperior “Vinny” @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 244 HP / 158 Atk / 108 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake
– Drill Run
– Protect

I think Rhyperior is overhyped. Do I like it? Yeah, it’s got great dual STABs for the metagame and it’s a beefy monster; the defensive EVs here helping Rhyperior survive Amoonguss’s Giga Drain and bulkier Water-types’ STAB moves in sunlight. But it’s either carrying the team or being complete dead weight, with the option to leave it on the bench often a favorable one against some teams. It seems like there’s absolutely no in-between. I tried to conserve it in some games, which was probably a mistake given the nature of the Weakness Policy, so maybe I’m just playing it wrong. It was definitely fun to use though and it definitely did pick up some hype knock-outs on Milotic’s after a Weakness Policy boost, so maybe Rhyperior is like Captain Falcon in Smash Bros? Anyway, I think I’d rather give it another item if I were to use it again, but oh yeah we don’t have any Gems to slap on it, do we? Forget I said anything, then. The nickname comes from a character in the animated movie Atlantis.

Overall

With respect to the team as a whole… I think it has a pretty bad match-up with the sand and Mega Salamence core that’s going around on Battle Spot right now and was the team that Angel Miranda used to beat me in both round 2 and top cut. I also don’t particularly care for the Kangaskhan matchup since nothing really OHKOs it, though it’s most certainly playable. I think my Salamence and sand match-up is playable as well, since my round 2 game was incredibly close and my first game of my set with Angel went smoothly more or less, so I think I can attribute my loss to me losing my nerve in the second game of our set. After the first round of Top Cut I knew I would have to fight him again, so I went over my notes and formulated a little game plan to follow, which I promptly abandoned after getting flinched with Scrafty and failing to pick up a critical knockout.

It’s really easy to get out-led with this team and things can go downhill very fast, as is the case with teams with more than one ‘mode’, I think. I think the attitude I went into regionals with helped a lot as well, as a lot of my opponents that had nice teams simply second guessed themselves one turn and kind of went on tilt because of that, sometimes visibly. A prime example of this is one of my opponents with a solid Gothitelle and Mawile team, switched in their Mawile turn two into a very dangerous position and was promptly roasted by Heatran. I’m not going to dismiss my opponents (you guys had cool teams!!) but staying calm and taking time to make smart moves really helps. Hmm, maybe I should take my own advice when I’m in top cut…

Anyway, I can’t really go into detail about my matches at this point because I didn’t record them and I only have team preview notes. Sorry if anyone wanted to read my disjointed play-by-plays. However, I do want to give shout-outs to Toler Webb, Caleb Ryor, Bryce Stewart, Roarke Tholen (you’re a horrible smash teacher, by the way), and Nicholas Peckman. It was great meeting you guys there!

Thanks for reading this report! Hopefully you enjoyed reading about the team and my thoughts on it.

The post A Sight for Venusaur Eyes: A Georgia Top 8 Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey, I’m Whitney Johnson and I’m relatively new to the whole competitive Pokemon scene. I’ve been playing since good ol’ Red and Blue but didn’t get into competitive battling until the release of X/Y when I found out that there was a regional tournament fairly close to where I live. After having some success in 2014 (cutting at the Kansas regional to finish 6th) and a fairly lackluster 2015 season prior to the Kansas regional (with 2 top 64 regional finishes) I was ready for a strong performance at my home regional.

While I had a really disappointing finish (4-3) at the Premier Challenge the day before the Regional in Overland Park, it gave me some good practice, and helped to calm some nerves going into the main event. I made one change overnight and was ready to go.

The Team

Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
– Air Slash
– Follow Me
– Tailwind
– Encore

I started the team with Togekiss and Kangaskhan, because I liked Togekiss’ ability to eat the fighting moves aimed at Kangaskhan like nobody’s business, as well as the Tailwind support allowing me to run a slightly bulkier Kangaskhan anyways because I could set up Tailwind to make up for the lack of speed investment. I decided to use Encore over Protect or Roost because prior to building this team I had been using a team featuring Whimsicott where Encore was able to lock down games for me. I knew that it would be unexpected on Togekiss which would help for baiting Protects or other similar moves that I want to lock my opponent into, and with the pressure Kangaskhan put on the opponent I was able to set up a free Tailwind on the double Protect, and then Encore the opposing Pokemon that Kangaskhan couldn’t KO on turn 2. The EV spread on this Togekiss survive Jolly 252 Mega Metagross Iron Head and Timid 252 Life Orb Thundurus-I Thunderbolt.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 76 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Double-Edge
– Low Kick
– Crunch 

Originally I had Power-Up Punch and Return on this Kangaskhan, thinking I could Power-Up Punch my own Togekiss on turn 1 when I predicted a double Protect, but that just didn’t ever pan out in practice and so I decided to go for the more immediate power offered by Double-Edge and Low Kick. Nearly everyone who looked at this team for me prior to Regionals had something to say about not using Sucker Punch. The thing that Crunch does is prevents end game Ghost type stall fests. With Tailwind support I didn’t feel like I was ever losing much due to not having the priority, and since I made the team with the main goal being to be able to navigate through swiss I was able to exploit obvious predictions that my opponents had to make assuming I had Sucker Punch. The EV’s outspeed +1 Mega Salamence under Tailwind, this also puts her above max speed base 70s for nailing Bisharp and being able to beat the common weather abusers once I get Tailwind up.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Earth Power
– Fire Blast

Choice Specs Hydreigon hits like an absolute monster, and it’s speed tier is another that can really take advantage of Tailwind. It’s another Pokemon that greatly benefits from Togekiss’ Follow Me thanks to Togekiss being immune to Dragon types and 4x resisting Fighting types. Obviously the shared Ice weakness is unfortunate, but I guess I can’t have everything. The moves are pretty straight forward, and I opted for Fire Blast over Flamethrower because Earth Power hits all of the relevant Steel types for the same damage, and Fire Blast is able to OHKO Amoonguss variants that are EVed to survive the Draco Meteor.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Atk / 84 Def / 12 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Leech Seed
– Protect

While the team started out as being focused around Mega Kangaskhan and a supporting cast to help her sweep opposing teams, once I added Ferrothorn it really turned into a “remove all fire types and win with Leech Seed” type of team. Originally I just added Ferrothorn to the team to help against Sylveon and as a second Dragon resist, but man does this guy just do work. He was a premier check to Rotom-W last season and he still functions as a great way to 2HKO (shaky accuracy aside) the bulky waters in the meta. I went with Rocky Helmet because switching him in to take a Fake Out from Kangaskhan was fantastic, and Rocky Helmet directly won me a match when Ferrothorn was 1v1 against a Conkeldurr, but I’d probably stick to lefties most of the time, as keeping Ferrothorn around for extra turns is in general going to be better than a little extra chip damage. The EVs survive Jolly Terrakion Close Combat and Modest Zapdos Heatwave 100% of the time, with the rest in attack which is enough to 2HKO Sitrus Suicune 100% of the time.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Taunt
– Protect

I don’t have a lot to say about Terrakion, as it’s pretty standard and was the least used Pokemon on my team. Personally I think Focus Sash is the best item to give him, due to his frailty and since so many run Lum Berry anyways you’re going to be fairly safe from status already. As far as the 3rd move goes I picked Taunt because without it I had little hope of keeping Trick Room from being set up, although since this team has little priority the case could be made for Quick Guard.

Nidoking (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 52 Atk / 252 SpA / 204 Spe
Naive Nature
– Sludge Bomb
– Ice Beam
– Earth Power
– Rock Slide

This slot was originally a Choice Scarf Rotom-W as a way to out-speed and KO Choice Scarf Landorus but after missing a Hydro Pump at the Premier Challenge for a loss I started looking for a more reliable way to handle the flying lion. Choice Scarf Nidoking fit the bill nicely, as he deals with both Choice Scarf Landorus and Assault Vest Landorus. Nidoking outspeeds and OHKOs both, which is fantastic. Sludge Bomb and Earth Power are it’s move that receive Same Type Attack Bonus, which help deal with Fairies and ground weak Pokemon like Aegislash and Terrakion. I went ahead and ran mixed with Rock Slide for hitting Charizards in a pinch and for that juicy spread attack. The EVs allow it to outspeed Adamant Landorus with maximum Special Attack and the extras dumped in Attack for extra damage on Rock Slide.

Battles

Unfortunately I didn’t take clear enough notes and had a lot of life between the tournament and my writing of this piece, so I don’t have a complete war story. I was lucky enough to be featured on stream once during swiss and once during top cut so I do have those battles if you want to check it out.

In Round 7 of Swiss I played Andrew Burley (Andykins) which you can watch here:

In this match I feel like I made a big mistake in not bringing Terrakion, because not having Taunt left me with only Air Slash flinches as a way to keep Trick Room from getting set up. On turn six I had a chance to make a great play but didn’t go for it. I thought that Scrafty was in Air Slash KO range so I went for that when I should have either predicted the Fake Out and gone for an Encore or targetted down Cresselia with another Air Slash and hope for another flinch. Either play would have given me a better chance to stay in that match.

My Top 4 match versus Michael Garret (YungstrMIKEY) hasn’t been uploaded to youtube yet but can be seen here starting at the 44:00 mark.

In game 1 Nidoking showed exactly why he got me that far getting the KO against Landorus for a 1 for 1 trade, which I’ll take any day of the week. Other than that Ferrothorn really carried the game. Had I been thinking I would have not gone for any Power Whips once I was down to a 3v2 just to keep the information and try and mis lead my opponent into thinking I didn’t have it. For Kangaskhan since I had the game wrapped up I just went with Fake Out to reveal as little as possible, for whatever that was worth.

In game two I choked away to game at the end by not being 100% sure on damage calcs thinking I was safe to use Dark Pulse to pick up KOs. The game could have also gone a different way had I put some more speed on my Togekiss as well, but I feel like the extra bulk served me better throughout the day so I can’t complain about that too much. All I can is do is make sure I’m more aware of potential damage rolls so I can make more informed plays.

Game 3 was very frustrating. On turn 2 I correctly predicted the Fake Out onto my own Kangaskhan and went for Encore on his Kangaskhan while Togekiss was fully paralyzed. That on top of my Kangaskhan getting paralyzed by the Thunderbolt was just a lot of bad luck, and Togekiss decided to go ahead and be fully paralyzed 2 more turns in a row which really hurt. I was pretty salty over all the hax that went against me that game, but I had games throughout the day where it was the other way around and since my motto is to never apologize for hax because it’s a part of the game we play I have to accept when it doesn’t go in my favor either. Instead of focusing on that game and blaming the RNG I have to think about how had I played game 2 better I never would have been in that situation anyways. Moving forward, I definitely think I’ll want to be packing some Prankster Taunter to help to mitigate that.

Closing Thoughts

• Huge thank you to Mattj for helping keep an eye on my brother while I was battling, that helped me focus more on my battles not having to worry about losing him somewhere.
• Thanks to Jessica for cosplaying with me, and in general putting up with my Pokemon obsession.
• Shoutout to Tehfatpanda for suggesting Nidoking the night before when I was fed up with Rotom missing Hydro Pumps, Nidoking was exactly the ‘mon I needed and he earned a special place in my heart that day.
• Thanks to Reddit user Demoyon for constantly looking over changes I had made and giving me good practice battles.
• Shameless plug to my practice community /r/PokemonLeague3DS. You guys got me into competitive battling and have been a great asset for team building ideas and practice.
• All in all taking 4th at my home regional is a great accomplishment and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

The post Kings and Kahns: Kansas Regional Top 4 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This is Team Rocket Elite and my partner is R Inanimate. Together we are Schrodinger’s Cat! We won the VGC Multi Cup Tournament side event during the 2015 US National Championship and we would like to present our winning combination.

The inspiration for our team dates back to after the Multi Battle tournament during the 2014 US Nationals where I started to wonder how the move Assist interacted with each team during a Multi Battle. I immediately tested it and found out that it worked exactly how I wanted it to. However, it was too late to field the team in the tournament (and we had slept through registration anyways). Unwilling to wait an entire year, we ended up showing off a prototype of our eventual team at Worlds that same year and we were happy with the results.

Just before the 2015 US Nationals, a top prize of a pair of Wii U’s was announced for the VGC Multi Cup Tournament so we knew that we had to sign up. Leading up to US Nationals, R Inanimate and I threw around a few ideas on what upgrades we wanted to make to the team. One of the obvious upgrades was changing out Incinerate for Heat Wave on Mega Houndoom. We used Incinerate last year because Heat Wave was not available on a Blue Pentagon Houndoom. Initially, we were not sure how seriously we wanted to take the tournament. It was not until we were both eliminated on Day 1 of Nationals and heard about how many other Multi Cup competitors intended to use an Assist Liepard team that we really decided to put effort into the team.

Team Rocket Elite’s team:

Liepard (F) @ Wide Lens ***Anshin’in
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Def / 52 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Assist
– Encore
– Sunny Day
– Protect

Liepard is one of the two MVPs of our teams. Assist normally chooses a move at random from all of the moves known by other Pokemon on your team and has Liepard perform the selected move. Due to Prankster, Liepard will use the selected move at +1 Priority. Assist will not select a move from the moves Liepard knows and will not select certain restricted moves even if another Pokemon knows that move. Assist will still select moves from Pokemon that have fainted.

Some of the more important restricted moves that can not be selected by Assist are Destiny Bond, Detect, Protect, King’s Shield, Spiky Shield, Nature Power, Focus Punch, Thief, Follow Me, Rage Powder, Transform, Bounce, Dig, Fly, Dive, Phantom Force, Shadow Force, Sky Drop, Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail and Circle Throw. Keep in mind that this is not a complete list. For the most part, restricted moves are unusual and poor at straight up offense.

My team takes advantage of how Assist works by setting up Smeargle and Amoonguss so they only know restricted moves and Dark Void. This means that Assist has no choice but to select Dark Void and let Liepard use Dark Void at +1 Priority. On top of that, Dark Void has a respectable 88% accuracy due to Wide Lens. Liepard using an Assist plus Dark Void combo like this is known as a Void Cats strategy.

We also take advantage of another feature that is unique to Multi Battles. In a normal Double Battle, Assist can select a move from any of your other Pokemon so all of the Pokemon on your team are limited to using restricted moves. However, in a Multi Battle, Assist does not select moves from your partner’s team. This means that only my team is limited to using restricted moves while R Inanimate’s team can use any move that he wants. This lets R Inanimate provide offensive power to go with my Dark Void support.

Protect is used for defending against Fake Out and for scouting countermeasures to our team. It is also useful for stalling out Safeguard and potentially blocking an attack from an opponent that just woke up.

Sunny Day combos with R Inanimate’s Mega Houndoom. Our goal is to set up a Mega Houndoom with 2 stages of Special Attack boosts and fire off Heat Waves that are further boosted by Sunny Day and Solar Power. The damage output from this set up is no joke as you will see later on.

Encore is used as another way of locking down our opponents. In particular, I can target opponents that think it is a good idea to Protect or Fake Out in front of Liepard. I can also Encore other non-damaging moves to buy time for R Inanimate’s team to defeat our opponents.

Liepard is given enough Speed EVs to be faster than Taunt Thundurus which tends to be slow and bulky. The low amount of speed investment usually means other Liepard are faster than mine. Priority attacks almost always come in the form of physical damage so Liepard is heavily invested in Defense and HP EVs. Liepard survives Brave Bird from 252 Atk Adamant Life Orb Talonflame and usually survives if Talonflame holds a Choice Band instead. The Defense investment also means Liepard is better able to absorb hits from the +2 Priority attacks Extremespeed and Feint.

Smeargle (M) @ Choice Scarf ***Pascal
Ability: Own Tempo
EVs: 72 HP / 100 Def / 84 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Follow Me
– Destiny Bond
– Dark Void

For Assist to be able to call up Dark Void I need to bring a legal Pokemon that knows Dark Void. The only Pokemon that can perform this role is Smeargle. Smeargle also acts as a back up Dark Void user in case Liepard is knocked out. Follow Me and Destiny Bond are restricted moves that can not be selected by Assist and Smeargle uses these moves to support R Inanimate’s team. Transform is a good fourth move to have but we ran out of time before we could put it on Smeargle. The EV spread comes from a Smeargle we already had on hand since we just needed one with max speed.

Amoonguss (M) @ Mental Herb ***Indolent
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Rage Powder
– Protect
– Nature Power

Rage Powder, Protect and Nature Power are also moves that can not be selected by Assist. Amoonguss’s role is to sit around and use Rage Powder to redirect damage away from R Inanimate’s team. In Link Battles, Nature Power turns into Tri Attack. Amoonguss has no Special Attack investment so Tri Attack does not do much damage. It is used as a last report when we have no better means of dealing damage. If we get lucky, Tri Attack can freeze an opponent to bail us out of a tough situation. The EV spread comes from a preexisting Amoonguss that is just generally bulky.

Salamence (M) @ Salamencite ***DragonBullet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
– Double-Edge
– Hyper Voice
– Draco Meteor
– Protect

Filler team member #1. Bringing Salamence means we have abandoned our Liepard strategy since Salamence knows moves that can be called by Assist. In the end, Salamence never saw battle.

Greninja (F) @ Life Orb ***VGCwithMATS!
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Ice Beam
– Dark Pulse
– Rock Slide
– Protect

Filler team member #2. Greninja also knows moves that can be called by Assist. Like Salamence, Greninja was unused.

Talonflame (F) @ Choice Band ***Tsukihi
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– Sleep Talk
– Quick Guard

Filler team member #3. Like the other filler team members, Talonflame knows moves that are select-able by Assist. Sleep Talk, Quick Guard and priority Brave Bird act as anti-Void Cats techniques. Brave Bird can OHKO opponent Liepard unless their Liepard almost fully invests in HP and Defense EVs. Even if their Liepard survives, it will be very close to being knocked out. The EV spread here comes from a Talonflame we already had on hand so this Talonflame is actually too slow. Talonflame needs 220 Speed EVs to be faster than 252 Timid Liepard. Talonflame’s Quick Guard can be used to block Prankster Assist Dark Voids while Sleep Talk can be used if Talonflame falls asleep due to Dark Void. In the end, Talonflame was also not used in battle.

R Inanimate’s Team:

Houndoom (M) @ Houndoominite ***Crimson Dead
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Heat Wave
– Dark Pulse
– Protect
– Nasty Plot

+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Heat Wave

• vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan in Sun: 288-339 (135.8 – 159.9%) — guaranteed OHKO
• vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence in Sun: 156-185 (91.2 – 108.1%) — 50% chance to OHKO
• vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion in Sun: 156-185 (93.4 – 110.7%) — 62.5% chance to OHKO
• vs. 220 HP / 92+ SpD Cresselia in Sun: 195-231 (87.4 – 103.5%) — 25% chance to OHKO
• vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune in Sun: 127-150 (61.3 – 72.4%) — 98% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry
• vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Blissey in Sun: 184-217 (50.8 – 59.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO

+2 252 SpA Solar Power Mega Houndoom Dark Pulse

• vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Heatran in Sun: 204-241 (103 – 121.7%) — guaranteed OHKO

A cat’s best friend is a dog?! Mega Houndoom is Liepard’s primary partner and the offensive core of the team. Since my team has little to no offense, R Inanimate’s three Pokemon need to beat all six of our opponent’s Pokemon. If everything goes according to plan, on turn one Liepard uses Dark Void to put both opponents to sleep while Houndoom uses Nasty Plot to double its Special Attack. On turn two, Liepard uses Sunny Day while Mega Houndoom unleashes a powerful Heat Wave that OHKOs almost all Pokemon that do not resist it and even some Pokemon that do. Even if our opponents survive the onslaught, they need to get lucky to even wake up and attack back. Each turn after this, we repeat the process of sending our opponents to sleep and blasting them with Heat Wave until we win. Dark Pulse is used to target down bulky Water or Dragon Pokemon that may not be knocked out by Heat Wave or as a single target attack to get around Wide Guard. Also, since Mega Houndoom uses special attacks, it is not susceptible to Intimidate which would reduce the damage output of a physical sweeper.

Houndoom’s Unnerve ability is a key anti-anti-Void Cats technique. If R Inanimate suspects our opponents are using status restoring berries he delays Mega Evolving Houndoom so that Unnerve prevents Lum or Chesto Berries from activating. Mega Evolution goes before all attacks so when Houndoom Mega Evolves the berries immediately kick in and wake up our opponents just before Liepard hits them with another Dark Void.

The EV spread is designed for Mega Houndoom to take advantage of its base 115 speed to outrun threats and hit them as hard as possible.

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf ***Life Spring
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 20 HP / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Sleep Talk

Rotom-W is one of the two Pokemon that R Inanimate frequently chooses to clean up should Houndoom ever faint or be forced to switch out. Rotom-W can fight off both Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Mega Salamence which are very dangerous if they can not be put to sleep since they are faster than Mega Houndoom. Sleep Talk is for fighting other Void Cats teams and allows Rotom-W to try and attack even while sleeping.

Aegislash (M) @ Life Orb ***Dream World
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 4 Spe
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Shadow Sneak
– King’s Shield

Offense is king on R Inanimate’s team which makes Aegislash a good fit. Aegislash is the second Pokemon that R Inanimate tends to favour as back up to Houndoom. I focus on raining down Dark Void and Rage Powder on our opponents while Life Orb Aegislash dishes out heavy damage without needing to constantly go back to Shield Forme. Ideally, Houndoom has defeated enough of our opponents that there is not much left for Aegislash to clean up. Shadow Sneak is useful for taking out opponents that have already lost 99% of their HP to one of Houndoom’s Heat Waves.

EV spread is designed to focus on high Special Attack based offense while putting the rest into bulk.

Sylveon (F) @ Choice Specs ***Fanelia
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 28 HP / 156 Def / 92 SpA / 4 SpD / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Sleep Talk

Sylveon is another Void Cats countermeasure through the use of Sleep Talk and Hyper Voice. The EV spread is once again from a Sylveon we already had on hand. Sylveon was not used very often.

Aerodactyl (M) @ Choice Band ***VisionTuning
Ability: Unnerve
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Sleep Talk

Aerodactyl is a countermeasure for opposing Liepard plus Mega Houndoom teams. Aerodactyl is faster and OHKOs 4HP Mega Houndoom with Rock Slide after Mega Houndoom takes damage from Solar Power. If Liepard puts Aerodactyl to sleep then Sleep Talk is still an option. Aerodactyl was not used very ofter either.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite ***Buddhist
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 156 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Kangaskhan is supposed to be an alternate Mega to use in place of Mega Houndoom but in the end was unused.

Team Preview

We always lead with Liepard and Houndoom. I have Smeargle and Amoonguss in the back while R Inanimate brings two other Pokemon that he feels like they work best against our opponents. This is usually Rotom-W and Aegislash. Bringing Aerodactyl or Sylveon is also possible if we faced a Void Cats team but we never did.

Anti-Anti-Void Cats

The official Multi Battle rule set disallows communication between partners so R Inanimate and I had to prepare preset counters to what we predicted other players might try to do to break our combo. At the actual tournament, enforcement of the rule turned out to be inconsistent. We ended up letting our opponents decided whether to allow communication during battle since we were prepared to play either way.

Fake Out + Safeguard

The counter to Fake Out is Protect. It sounds straight forward but knowing when to Protect in a Multi Battle where you can not talk to your partner can be more complicated than it seems since your partner may be expecting you to take action rather than defend. I always use Protect against a Fake Out user. If it looks like our opponents are planning to set up Safeguard as well, R Inanimate tries to sneak in a Nasty Plot since the Fake Out is likely heading towards Liepard. After that, I have the option of using Encore to lock down my opponents or set up a Sunny Day so we can set our opponents on fire. For the most part, Fake Out users are slower than Mega Houndoom and get OHKO’d by Heat Wave which forces our opponents to regroup and gives us time to stall out Safeguard.

Lum and Chesto Berry

As mentioned earlier, Houndoom has Unnerve before Mega Evolving. This prevents our opponents from using status healing berries until we already have our combo going and Mega Houndoom is launching out high power Heat Waves. At this point, the Pokemon with the status healing berry may not survive long enough to attack even if it does wake up. Furthermore, since the berries will trigger as soon as Houndoom Mega Evolves it is possible for Liepard to use Dark Void in between the berries activating and the opponents actually getting to attack.

Sleep Talk and Magic Coat

Against Sleep Talk and Magic Coat we bank on our opponents being too aggressive towards stopping Dark Void instead of realizing how dangerous Mega Houndoom is. Choice locked Sleep Talk Sylveon was sort of used earlier in the VGC season so we expect Sylveon to be a prime Sleep Talk candidate. Our game plan is to do a first turn Protect against Sylveon to scout for Sleep Talk. We also hope that Sylveon’s partner uses Protect to avoid being put to sleep while Sylveon deals with our Dark Void user. After Sylveon reveals its plan, Houndoom has hopefully snuck in a Nasty Plot while Liepard locks down Sylveon’s partner with Encore. Furthermore, Sylveon may be choice locked into a non-damaging move giving us free time to set up.

Taunt

For Taunt to be threatening, it needs to be on a fast Pokemon with the Prankster ability. Taunt Thundurus are usually slower and bulkier so we EV’d Liepard to be faster than them. Whimsicott and fast Taunt Thundurus are problems that we just need to deal with if they show up. In the end, we never fought a fast Pokemon with Prankster Taunt.

Insomnia, Vital Spirit, Sweet Veil, Magic Bounce

These abilities are largely on Pokemon that were not that threatening. We made a call that we would not see them and we were right.

Quick Guard

R Inanimate’s team probably should have something with Feint to deal with this. It does not. Fortunately, we never faced this since we did not have solid answers to Quick Guard.

Battles

Round 1: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Typhlosion .Rek (Devan / Ian)

Battle video: 4HDG-WWWW-WW2B-KV82
In our first game we managed to get Dark Void to connect on both opponents while Houndoom used Nasty Plot. However, there was a disconnect so we had to redo the battle. Next time our opponents lead with Fake Out Lopunny and a Toxic Orb Gliscor. Liepard Encore locked the Lopunny’s Fake Out to buy time for Houndoom to use Nasty Plot and start Heat Waving. Liepard missed a Dark Void on Scarf Typhlosion near the end of the battle so we ended up losing Houndoom and Liepard but Aerodactyl and Amoonguss were able to clean up. W 4-0

Round 2: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Team Scrubadub Dub (Devin / GTiffy)

Battle video: FWNW-WWWW-WW2B-KVMW
On turn one and two we successfully performed our full combo of Dark Void and Nasty Plot followed by Sunny Day and Heat Wave against Cresselia and Thundurus leads. However, Cresselia barely survived, woke up and used Thunder Wave on Houndoom. While Liepard did put an incoming Mamoswine to sleep, Houndoom got fully paralyzed then missed a Heat Wave which prevented us from getting rid of Mamoswine. I just kept up a sleep and Encore lock on our opponents while R Inanimate switched in Rotom-W to deal with Mamoswine. Rotom-W and Aegislash managed to clean up without needing Houndoom to come back. W 6-0

Round 3: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Team M (Evan / Ev)

Battle video: NZSG-WWWW-WW2B-KVNM
One of our opponents this round had an XY game card so they ended up getting disqualified. We decided to play this exhibition game against them anyways. Our opponents lead Suicune and Kangaskhan so we Protected on turn 1. Suicune did not want to go to sleep and Scalded Houndoom into critical HP while Houndoom set up Nasty Plot. I could no longer put up the sun without knocking out Houndoom with Solar Power damage. We ended up using a combo of Dark Void and Heat Wave to just get in as much damage as possible. Even without the sun and Solar Power +2 Heat Wave did a lot of damage. Suicune eventually took out Houndoom and an opponent Gengar dodged Dark Void to knock out Rotom-W with Energy Ball. We set up Aegislash with Amoonguss support to finish off a lone Suicune after Gengar went down. However, Suicune gave us a scare when it turned out to be Safety Goggles Suicune and nearly knocked out Sword Forme Aegislash. W 4-0

Round 4: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Team 5-3 (Ninten / Beau)

Battle video: NZAW-WWWW-WW2B-KVZL
Our next opponents lead with Weavile and Cresselia to perform Fake Out and Safeguard as their Dark Void counter while Liepard used Protect and Houndoom went for Nasty Plot. Liepard Encore locked Weavile while Houndoom attacked to take it out. However, Landorus-T came out next which was a big problem due to Safeguard. Liepard continued to stall out Safeguard while Rotom-W came it to deal with Landorus-T. When that failed due to Rock Slide flinches, R Inanimate tried to use Aegislash. Liepard used Encore on Cresselia to prevent another Safeguard as the first Safeguard wore off. After that, Liepard focused on using Dark Void while R Inanimate wiped out Ninten’s team and then Beau’s team. We did not lose anyone, but it was a tough match. W 6-0

Quarterfinals: Schrodinger’s Cat vs PUCL’s Powerhouse (Maximus / Scron)

Battle video: 2F9G-WWWW-WW2B-KVPU
This battle was a mess due to a critical error I made in battle. We lead the usual Liepard and Houndoom against Aegislash and Klefki. Klefki switched for Gyarados while Liepard used Dark Void and Houndoom used Nasty Plot without going Mega. Our opponents thought they were okay until their berries did not kick in. They then realized that they forgot about Unnerve. We did not know Gyarados had a Lum Berry so we went on the offense with Sunny Day and Heat Wave. Gyarados survived the Heat Wave and woke up but fortunately only ended up using Dragon Dance. I decided to continue using Dark Void to put the opponents to sleep. This was the critical error I made. Gyarados was very dangerous right now so I should have guaranteed a lockdown with Encore instead of gambling on Dark Void. As you might have guessed, during the next turn Dark Void missed Gyarados and it knocked out Houndoom with Earthquake. For the first time this tournament, we trailed in Pokemon count.

R Inanimate sent in Rotom-W to try and fix things. I lockdowned Aegislash while Rotom-W finished off Gyarados. Mega Venusaur replaced Gyarados and Aegislash switched for Chandelure. Liepard continued to use Dark Void in desperation to keep Mega Venusaur sleeping while Rotom-W knocked out Chandelure and Aegislash and even heavily damaged an opponent Rotom-W. However, it was at this point that my luck ran out and Liepard got a double miss with Wide Lens Dark Void. I lost Liepard here and our Rotom-W took a lot of damage. I sent in Smeargle for more Dark Void shenanigans. Our Rotom-W knocked out the opponent Rotom-W while Smeargle missed another Dark Void on Mega Venusaur. Mega Venusaur took out Smeargle in response so I could no longer use Dark Void for the rest of the battle.

Mega Venusaur also defeated our Rotom-W without any trouble while my Amoonguss constantly used Tri Attack via Nature Power. Tri Attack did not do very much damage but it let me fish for status effects and kept the healing from Giga Drain in check. R Inanimate sent in Aegislash which got put to sleep via Sleep Powder. Eventually, Aegislash woke up and attacked with Life Orb Shadow Ball which, along with the Tri Attack chip damage, managed to defeat Mega Venusaur. The last target was a Klefki. Amoonguss used Rage Power while Klefki went for Swagger. We got the luck rolls we needed and knocked out our final target. Somehow, we won. W 2-0

Semifinals: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Satellite Has More Channels (+MajorBowman / Andross)

Battle video: KVHG-WWWW-WW2B-KVSA
We used the same leads as always while our opponents lead Sylveon and Mega Salamence. We were afraid of Sleep Talk so we used Protect with both of our Pokemon on turn one. Sylveon used Magic Coat! That was not Sleep Talk but it was just as dangerous. Salamence made a mistake and used Protect on turn one. We suspected that Sylveon was either choice locked or would just use Magic Coat again due to fear of Dark Void and we were right. As a result, Liepard was freely able to lock Salamence into Protect with Encore while Houndoom set up with Nasty Plot. Salamence switched out for Landorus-T but we already had our combo in place. Liepard put the sun up and Houndoom OHKO’d both Sylveon and Landorus-T. From there we continued our offensive with Heat Wave and Dark Void. Houndoom did eventually go down due to a Mega Salamence that did not sleep for very long and Solar Power damage but Rotom-W cleaned up after that. W 4-1

Finals: Schrodinger’s Cat vs Sunnyshore Chargers (ZAKI / EnFuego)

Battle video: 2JVW-WWWW-WW2B-KVT9
Liepard and Houndoom lead into Togekiss and Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan attempted to use Fake Out on a Protecting Liepard while Togekiss set up a Safeguard. Houndoom used Nasty Plot to once again prepare for running over our opponents. Next turn, the sun went up again and we knocked out the opponent Togekiss and Kangaskhan with a single Heat Wave. Thundurus and another Kangaskhan came in which forced us to use Protect while Thundurus showed off Swagger. Kangaskhan retreated for a sacrificial Amoonguss while I had Liepard lock Thundurus into the non damaging Swagger. Houndoom broke through confusion and launched a Heat Wave to bring us up 6-2. Confusion prevented Houndoom from Protecting to waste the last turn of Safeguard so Houndoom got knocked out next turn. At that point we mostly had the game in hand. Sylveon came in and Hyper Voice plus Dark Void let us bring home the championship! W 5-0

Assist plus Dark Void lock down is not exactly a fun strategy for our opponents to face but it is something we wanted to try in at least one tournament. We especially wanted to use it after hearing all the buzz around Void Cats and anti-Void Cats just before the tournament. We certainly never expected to end up winning the tournament! A big shout out to TPCi for providing a Wii U to each of the winners and a New 3DS to each member of the second place team (so R Inanimate could trade his Wii U for one of their New 3DSs). After winning, will we ever use Void Cats again? No one will know until they look inside our Battle Box to find out!

The post Schrödinger’s Cat Box: US Nationals Multi Cup Champions Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey guys, my name is Carson, better known as Footballfreak99. I started playing VGC this year after watching the Nationals and Worlds streams. I have racked up an impressive amount of CP, but mostly from small PCs. My only regional finishes had been subpar, with 14^th and 27^th at Ft. Wayne and St. Louis respectively. After my 3-3 flop in St. Louis, I was determined to make a better team that could get me into Top Cut. After working with a terrible Trick Room team, a good, but outdated, regionals team, and a bad Choice Scarf Milotic team, I finally settled on this team.

Teambuilding Process

I tried using Metagross on my friend Justin (Spurrific)’s regionals team, and immediately fell in love. It had speed, bulk, power, and coverage against many common pokemon.

After mulling over some core ideas, my friend Rapha (rapha) suggested I use Togekiss Metagross. It looked good on paper and he had results with it, so I just went from there.

Landorus-Therian is one of the most powerful pokemon in the meta, and synergizes well with Togekiss.

I needed a Fighting-Type Pokemon, and also wanted him to be able to beat bulky water-type Pokemon and abuse Spore, so I chose Breloom.

Breloom is one of the most common Pokemon in the Seniors Division, so I needed another way to stop it, so I turned to a really cool idea I saw in amr97’s report: Safety Goggles Rotom-Heat

Last but certainly not least, Jellicent. During St. Louis Regionals, Trick Room was very common, and was a deciding factor in most of my losses, so I needed a Trick Room counter. I also wanted to complete the Fire-Water-Grass core, so I turned to Jellicent.

The Team

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Bullet Seed
– Mach Punch
– Spore
– Protect

This guy is the seniors metagame right now. He has good Fighting-type STAB, counters bulky waters, and can spore everything. I opted for the standard set, as it accomplished all of my goals. Focus Sash was used almost every battle I brought Breloom to, and in my opinion is necessary for Breloom to function.

Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Hustle
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 60 SpD / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
– Air Slash
– Tailwind
– Follow Me
– Protect

This set was given to me my good friend Rapha (rapha). This set was written about in his report No Substitute for Rain in the Northwest. This set survives an Iron Head from Bisharp, activates the Sitrus Berry after a Super Fang, and outspeeds defensive Rotom. The rest were dumped into Special Defense. Air Slash dug me out of a hole many times with its flinching power during the tournament, and after a Tailwind was just evil. Tailwind was to speed up, and Follow Me was to redirect Ground and Dark type attacks away from Metagross.  Speaking of Metagross…

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Iron Head
– Zen Headbutt
– Ice Punch
– Protect

Ah, nothing like a Shiny Metagross. When I was building this team, my friends told me to go the route of bulky Substitute, but it really wasn’t my playstyle. Another problem was the lack of powerful Ice coverage on this team. I decided that since I was running a slower team, to use the standard Jolly 252/252 set, to capitalize on Mega-Metagross’s best stats. Iron Head and Zen Headbutt were my two mandatory STAB moves, and I chose Ice Punch for coverage. My Round Three opponent Matt F. (aerodactyl) was dumbfounded when I revealed Ice Punch and One Hit KOed his Salamence and Landorus-Therian.

Landorus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Superpower
– Protect

Now you may be saying, “Life Orb Landorus-T? Who does he think he is?!” I tested Choice Scarf Landorus-T, and found it underwhelming and that it didn’t synergize well with Metagross. I decided to try out Life Orb, so that I could switch moves while gaining a higher damage output. Life Orb Landorus was amazing, and it performed its job beautifully. It checked many Pokemon weak to its moves, and was able to chip many Pokemon to set them up for a KO.

Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 108 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Thunder Wave
– Protect

Another spread I shamefully stole, this time from amr97’s report Today Our Future is Born. This spread outspeeds Adamant Bisharp by two points, has maximum HP to be bulkier, and the rest went into special attack to hit harder. I only recall being hit by one Spore and no Rage Powders with Rotom-H, but he did his job as offensive Fire-type well.

Jellicent @ Power Lens
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 72 SpA / 36 SpD
Calm Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Will-O-Wisp
– Trick Room

Last but certainly not least, we have the wonderful Power Lens Jellicent. I eved this guy in the car on the way, and must have forgot to change his item. Power Lens did end up saving me in the Finals, where I was able to do 40% to a Blade-Form Aegislash. This spread is made for Colbur Berry, and is 3HKOed by Timid Scarf Hydreigon Dark Pulse, survives all other Dark attacks, and survives Leaf Blade from Life Orb Virizion. If I were able to do it over again, I would use Sassy 0 Speed with the same spread and Colbur, so I could at least speed tie Quiet 0 Speed Aegislash. For move choices, I chose Ice Beam and Scald as basic attacks, capable of hitting a lot of things for decent damage. Will-O-Wisp was chosen to neuter physical attackers, primarily Kangaskhan. Trick Room was a tech I put on there for two reasons.

1. Trick Room was incredibly common at St. Louis Regionals, so I could reverse their Trick Room.
2. Some members of my team are slow, and Trick Room could be used to speed them up, or punish a Tailwind.

At the Event

After only going 3-3 at St. Louis and letting myself get depressed during the event, I decided to approach this event very differently. I built my team and practiced many times, and when I got to the event, I just told myself to not stress, have fun, and be nice. During the tournament, I tried to follow those three things at all times. These three things are what allowed me to be 4-0 by the team Round Five came around. However, I lost this Round to a great player by the name of Kylie, and an extremely good Rain team. Round Six, however, the opponent ran a Sand Team, which I luckily was strong against. I won this round, and I was shocked to see that I was the second seed after Swiss, the highest 5-1. My Round Six opponent was also the seventh seed, so I knew I would play him in the first Round of Top Cut. After a 45 minute lunch break, I battled him. They were incredibly close matches. Good games to you, Caleb. Afterwards, I found out Kylie had lost her Top 8 match, and that I wasn’t going to have to face her. I was overjoyed, because I can almost guarantee had I played her she would have ended my run. I ended up battling Tristan, my Round Four opponent. After some incredibly close games, we parted ways. I couldn’t believe it! I was in the Finals of Regionals! My opponent was Max S. (Maxdeese), who hadn’t dropped a game all day. Going in, I kept my eyes on the prize, and focused, trying my best to get that 120 CP and a New 3DS XL. We had the two closest and most nerve-wracking games I have ever played. I somehow came out on top, and then after some announcements and prize-getting, we took some pictures, parted with friends, and drove home. One of my favorite memories is the TO handing me my trophy and me being afraid I would drop it since my hands wouldn’t stop shaking. It was probably the most fun I have ever had, and now cannot wait to go to Nationals. See you all there!

Shoutouts

• Justin (Spurrific), Aaron (LPFan), Rapha (rapha), and Tim(6iv) for being great friends and for hanging out with me at the event and helping me teambuild.
• Also Arsal (OneTrueKing), Sohaib(sohaib), and Evan (FlashSentry) for also helping me teambuild.
• My parents for letting me attend.
• My dad for driving through a storm the whole way here and for sitting there all day.
• My brother who made me realize you can relax and have fun while competing.
• Anyone who I faced at the event or on Pokemon Showdown!
• Thowra for the beautiful Article Art.
• Rapha for introducing me to Togekiss.

Thanks for reading this far, it really means a lot to me. Good Luck in all your future endeavors, and Play Pokemon!

The post They all be Jelly of my Power: A Kansas Regionals First Place Senior Division Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi everyone! My name is Stephen Brown III, or pyromaniac720. Today I’ll be discussing the evolution of a Sun team that I’ve been using all spring. I won’t cover every single revision (there were far too many), but I will cover every version of the team that I used at an event. There’s also going to be a bunch of videos at the end so you can see how the team functioned.

Teambuilding Process

The night after my 6-3 performance at the Virginia Regionals, I was brainstorming my next team. I wanted to find something that I could use throughout the following Premier Challenge season. At first, I tried some ridiculous teams, such as Kabutops with rain and Lucario with Riolu. Nothing really stood out, but then my friend Jake Miller (Araragii) suggested that I use Shiftry in sun. I disregarded the idea at first, but then I realized that Shiftry was surprisingly good: its base 100 Attack and Chlorophyll could allow it to be a threat. Obviously, sun teams require a Drought user; although Mega Charizard Y was tempting, the lack of sun on the first turn meant that Shiftry couldn’t get a speedy Fake Out, so Ninetales was chosen. I then decided to go as offensive as possible, so I gave Ninetales a Choice Scarf so it could spam Heat Wave. After adding a few pieces, including Mega Salamence, I started testing the team on Pokemon Showdown.

Evolution of the Team

I immediately fell in love with the team; its speed and power could quickly overwhelm opponents, which fit in well with my offensive playstyle. In February, I used the team at a Premier Challenge and during the International Challenge. The team looked like this:

The team did well in the International Challenge, reaching fourth place in the US. Swampert was a good addition to the team, providing much-needed Wide Guard support as well as an easy way to deal with Heatran. For a more detailed look at the team, check out this video. Despite its success, I felt that the team still had some untapped potential; I was winning games mostly due to Shiftry, Ninetales, and Mega Salamence. As such, I made a few revisions:

Life Orb Hydreigon gave this team even more firepower, while still dealing with Heatran due to Earth Power. Choice Specs Sylveon did lots of work, as opponents were hesitant to bring Steel-types thanks to the threat of sun. It also provided a shaky check to rain teams. At the Premier Challenge, I made it to top cut before losing to Tom Hull (TheGr8). The team had amazing offensive pressure. However, it had major issues—it was incredibly weak to Fighting- and Fairy-type attacks, and had few ways to deal with bulky Water-types such as Suicune and Rotom-Wash. After some revisions, I ended up substituting physical Nidoking in place of Hydreigon. With Poison Jab, Drill Run, and Ice Punch, it added some very important coverage. This variant of the team placed fourth at a Premier Challenge.

Still, even with Nidoking, the team’s issues with Trick Room, rain, and bulky Water-types persisted. Additionally, I became aware of an annoying weakness to Landorus-Therian, who could only be OHKOed by Ninetales’s Overheat. After considering my options, I went with Mamoswine and its powerful Ice-type attacks. Additionally, I added Life Orb Thundurus-Therian to deal with Water-types; it was fantastic at doing its job, so I kept it on the team. I tested a variety of attackers in the last slot, but in the end I ended up with Porygon-Z.

Porygon-Z brought a ridiculous amount of damage between Choice Specs and Adaptability. When boosted by Shiftry’s Tailwind, it was incredibly powerful. I also tossed in a quirk on this version of the team by giving Salamence Giga Impact, allowing it to finish matches in style. In back-to-back Premier Challenges, I finished in fifth and second. I was still unhappy with how the team played; Trick Room was essentially an autoloss, and Bisharp’s Sucker Punch was also a huge issue. As such, prior to the Georgia Regionals, I took out Porygon-Z for Sableye to cover the remaining threats.

Shiftry @ Focus Sash
Chlorophyll | Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Fake Out
– Leaf Blade
– Knock Off
– Tailwind

Shiftry was far better than I ever could have expected. When led with Ninetales, its incredibly fast Fake Out gave Ninetales a free Heat Wave or switch. Leaf Blade had solid coverage, hitting a good chunk of the metagame for super effective damage. Knock Off dealt good damage and could remove items right from the get-go; this was amazing for disruption and scouting. Tailwind, however, was certainly Shiftry’s best move. It gave Mamoswine the ability to outspeed and OHKO common Pokemon such as Thundurus and Landorus-Therian, and gave the team a fighting chance against opposing weather teams if sun wasn’t up. The combined boost of Chlorophyll and Tailwind could also cancel out paralysis, allowing Shiftry to outspeed many slower Pokemon even after a Thunder Wave.

Ninetales @ Choice Scarf
Drought | Modest
60 HP / 252 SpA / 188 Spe
– Overheat
– Heat Wave
– Solar Beam
– Hidden Power Ground

Shiftry’s partner in crime. Although its Special Attack is underwhelming, sun allows Ninetales to still put out respectable damage with Heat Wave. Overheat had OHKO power and could avoid Wide Guard. The other two moves gave it coverage against Water-types and Heatran. Choice Scarf caught many opponents off guard, and could lead to quick KOs when combined with Overheat. Hidden Power Ice is unnecessary, as Mamoswine covers that niche well and Overheat can OHKO Landorus-Therian. I had contemplated using a bulky set with Will-O-Wisp, but I never got around to testing it.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Intimidate / Aerilate | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Double-Edge
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Protect

Salamence has become my favorite Mega Pokemon due to its raw power and Speed. Rock Slide brings useful flinches and gives me a good option against Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. This set originally had Dragon Claw and later Giga Impact; on the final version, I chose Earthquake to give me an additional option against Heatran. I brought Salamence to every game, and it never let me down.

Thundurus-Therian @ Life Orb
Volt Absorb | Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 8 Def / 30 Spe
– Thunderbolt
– Focus Blast
– Hidden Power Ice
– Protect

Thundurus-Therian is awesome. With Life Orb, its attacks hit extremely hard against most of the metagame; it can also bait out attacks from opponents expecting a Choice item. Except for Focus Blast, this set is standard; I chose to use it over Grass Knot because I already had two Grass-type attacks, and Focus Blast gave me an out against Kangaskhan and Heatran. Although I never ended up using the attack at Regionals, it was helpful in testing and during a few Premier Challenges. Thundurus-T was undefeated at Georgia, going 6-0.

Mamoswine @ Expert Belt
Thick Fat | Adamant
28 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Def / 4 SpD / 204 Speed
– Icicle Crash
– Ice Shard
– Earthquake
– Protect

This is a fairly standard Mamoswine set; Expert Belt was necessitated by Thundurus-T’s use of Life Orb. The EVs allow it to outspeed Bisharp (and Pokemon attempting to Speed creep it) and withstand a Close Combat from an Intimidated Terrakion. Although Mamoswine was usually helpful, I didn’t play against many genies in Georgia, so it wasn’t brought very often. I still don’t regret using it, though—I think it’s a very underrated Pokemon that should definitely be used more.

Sableye @ Mental Herb
Prankster | Careful
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
– Feint
– Taunt
– Quash
– Will-o-Wisp

I chose Sableye to support my attackers. Prankster Will-O-Wisp was a fantastic tool, allowing me to neuter physical attackers and chip away at bulky Pokemon. Taunt and Quash went hand-in-hand; Taunt prevented Speed control moves such as Trick Room, Tailwind, or Thunder Wave from being used, while Quash negated them if they did go up. This team greatly appreciated going first, so Sableye’s role here was very important. Feint made predictions far easier, and could punish opponents attempting to stall out Tailwind or sun with Protect. As a bonus, it also broke Wide Guard and Quick Guard. Mental Herb gave it a crucial edge against opposing Thundurus attempting to Taunt first. I used Sableye far more than I had expected, and it did a lot of work—it only missed a single Will-O-Wisp!

Tournament Battles

I’ve uploaded a bunch of battles with this team from Premier Challenges and the Nugget Bridge Major. Those videos are in this playlist. Below are my games from Georgia Regionals.

Round 1: vs Karl Concepcion (Masakado)
Final record: 6-2

This is the only battle I didn’t record during the event. I was excited and nervous this game, as Karl had won Virigina Regionals. His team featured both a Tailwind and a Trick Room mode. Even though I was able to prevent him from using either, he was able to take out Mega Salamence, and I didn’t have enough damage to finish off his Suicune with Sableye. It was a close game that I would’ve won had I brought Thundurus-T instead of Ninetales, but that’s all hindsight. Karl ended up making top cut before losing in top eight.

Round 2 vs Cory Craven
Final record: 4-4

Round 3 vs Ellie Hols
Final record: 1-4 (dropped)

Round 4 vs Harrison Williams
Final record: 5-3

Round 5 vs Jake Hatch
Final record: 5-3

Round 6 vs Chet Daugherty
Final record: 6-2

Round 7 vs Ian Packer
Final record: 6-2

Round 8 vs Edward Glover (MinVGC)
Final record: 7-1

Overall, I had an amazing time in Athens. My final record was 6-2, which was good enough for 17th place; I missed top cut on opponent’s opponent’s win percentage, partially due to my round 3 opponent who dropped. However, I mostly have myself to blame—if I had won my last match, I would’ve easily made top cut. Both of my losses were to teams with bulky Water-types and I didn’t bring Thundurus-T in either game, so I definitely didn’t do a great job in team preview. I also got a bit headstrong in the last game: I assumed Ed’s sand team was bog standard, and his Lum Berry Tyranitar surprised me and gave him a huge advantage.

Shoutouts to everyone who helped me:

• Jake Miller (Araragii) for giving me the idea to use Shiftry. Even though you meant it as a joke to bully me, it managed to put in some serious work and earn me my best regional finish ever.
• Andy Anderson (TwiddleDee) for being my main support and team builder every step of the way. When I tested overly ridiculous things like Mega Houndoom, he’d help me find a Pokemon that would actually work well in that spot on the team. Also thanks for letting us stay at your house. Can’t wait to do some more team building with him for Nats!
• Mitchell Davies (MissingNoL), Brendan Lewis (Mrbdog46), and Phil Nguyen (Boomguy) for giving me little tidbits of advice here and there that helped the team evolve into what it is today. I’m exciting to do some more extensive team building with Brendan for nationals!
• Chance Alexander (Paragon), Tyson Gernak (Firefly), and Nick Borghi (LightCore). It was awesome meeting you guys and hanging out with you!
• Brendan Lewis (Raptor) and Sohaib Muffti (Sohaib) for taking the trip with me. 18 hours alone would’ve been a nightmare but you guys made it super fun.
• To anyone else I met or that helped me team build. I’m sure I’m missing a few people and I’m sorry if I missed you. Also, this report is getting kind of long and I need to wrap it up and mentioning everyone would probably take another page.

I hope you guys enjoyed the team—if you did, check me out on Twitter (@pyromaniac720) and YouTube. Thanks for reading!

The post The Tree Thing in High Heels: A Spring Season Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, My name is Jake Hwang-Twigg, although I’m known as Jake HT or Jhoqk mostly. I have been playing Pokemon competitively since 2009, where I finished in 5th place at my first regional, and have been hooked ever since. My first real accomplishment was in 2012, where I ended up winning the Oregon Regional in Salem, got to travel to Nationals, where I finished in 35th place. I came back the next year in Salem for another regional win, but I ended at 64th in nationals that year, which was a bit of a letdown for me.

Fast forward to 2014, my first year in the Masters division, I ended with a 3-5 record at the Salem regional, and 6-2 at the Seattle one. I had really hoped to transition smoothly into the Masters division, but that simply isn’t what happened. I really wanted to step up my game in 2015, as I knew I could do better than I had in 2014.

With that in mind, I put more effort into the game than in 2014, and did what I did best; making a team based around an uncommon or underused Pokemon. This year, I started with Mega Absol, and with that in mind, I built my team around it, and this was what I came up with.

The Team Building Process

The team started out with Mega Absol, whose set I still hadn’t decided on. I just knew I wanted to use it, and I make the best teams when I have a goal from the very start.

With an amazing 1/6th of my team (somewhat) done, I looked for inspiration for the rest of my team. It came from two of my friends, who has been running Sableye for the longest time. It provides Fake Out support, Will-o-Wisp, and Foul Play as a source of damage for a support. So I went with it to try and test it out. In the end, I loved it, and it became a permanent addition to my team.

With double Dark-types, I knew that I needed something with Wide Guard to protect me from Sylveon and Gardevoir, along with a Steel type to either wall or knock out any fairies I might see. I added Swampert for its amazing coverage and Wide Guard, and Heatran for the Steel type, as it takes almost no damage from the loudmouths of the metagame. I also usually like to have solid switch options and a bulky team, so I chose those as my next two.

From here, I didn’t have much to beat rain or defensive teams. I ended up adding Mega Venusaur, as it beat rain, as well as making defensive teams struggle to break through it. Heatran was not working out for me, so I needed to find something else to replace it with. Excadrill provided the Steel typing I was looking for, as well as being able to offensively pressure Fairy types.

With my team nearly complete, I still had a few important choices to make. I still had not decided on what to run on my Absol, and with a team based around it, it is somewhat important. I had a rough idea of what I was going to do, but it wasn’t solidified. The other big choice was figuring out what to run in my last team spot. I ended up trying so many other pokemon, from Blaziken to Lapras, Clefable to Virizion, I couldn’t find something that fit well. About a week before the tournament, I knew what I wanted, but hadn’t been able to find it. I wanted a pokemon with Helping Hand, to pick up KOs the rest of my team couldn’t get, and a Fire type to complete my Fire/Water/Grass core. I looked, and I found Arcanine, who I tested and immediately liked. So with that, I had my finished team!

The Team

CryWolf (Absol) @ Absolite
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 148 Def / 124 SpA / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
– Foul Play
– Ice Beam
– Superpower
– Protect

(Used in 1/10 games)

“Once I was afraid I’d find you, your patient trembling eyes would unwind me, and all I’ve become”

I can already hear it through the internet, and I can explain. When I was looking over my team, I was relying on Venusaur to beat defensive teams, and Absol to beat offensive ones. I also wanted Absol to cover for Venusaur’s weaknesses, which were Mega-Metagross and Mega-Salamence. Metagross was easy, as I had a natural typing advantage, but no Dark type attack would OHKO, so I would have to settle with a 2HKO. Of my options, I liked Foul Play the most; it let me invest in other stats, while still doing good damage to other physical threats. For M-Salamence, I chose Ice Beam, as M-Absol has a usable Base Special Attack stat of 115, so I wouldn’t have to invest too much into it to have it KO Salamence. For my last spot, it was a choice of Flamethrower to hit Steel-types (mostly Aegislash), or Superpower, to hit Heatran primarily. I chose Superpower as it allowed me to hit Heatran as well as being able to pressure M-Kangaskhan and Terrakion.

The EV spread is something I worked carefully to balance. The offensive EVs allow me to one-shot M-Salamence, and have 50% chance to OHKO Lightcore’s bulky Salamence. It also guarantees a clean knock-out on Landorus-T, which is nice. I can 2HKO M-Kangaskhan, with Foul Play followed by Superpower, or OHKO with Superpower and Helping Hand assistance. Defensively, I can take a M-Metagross Iron Head, Landorus-T U-Turn, an intimidated M-Salamence return, and a damage roll on M-Kangaskhan Low Kick, where I survive 72% of the time. It also allows for general physical bulk, which helped in testing. I ran enough speed to outspeed M-Lucario, which I didn’t think would be popular, but better safe than sorry.

M-Absol was one of those things that works well in theory, decent in testing, then when it gets to the main event it flops. I only got to use it once in the main event, and I ended up losing that game due to a low damage roll. Was definitely fun though. And here is your disclaimer, don’t just throw this set onto your team and expect it to work. In fact, don’t use M-Absol unless you have a VERY specific purpose for it, as it takes a lot of support and doesn’t really fit anywhere in this metagame.

As for the nickname, I was reading Zog’s articles from last year, and fell in love with the idea of nicknaming my pokemon after songs. Sorry! But Absol’s nickname isn’t after a song, but a producer, and I felt that it fit. Quote is from one of his releases, titled “Angels”, as I would need a miracle for this to work out well.

DISCOnnected (Sableye) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 212 SpD
Careful Nature
– Will-O-Wisp
– Foul Play
– Fake Out
– Quash

(Used in 10/10 games)

“D-d-d-d-d-DISCONNECTED!”

Part of the original core, I knew generally what I wanted to run on Sableye. Fake Out, since I love the pressure it brings, Will-O-Wisp to burn opposing physical attackers, and Foul Play to be able to do something when I’m Taunted. The last moveslot is something I had played around with, and I decided to run Quash. It allowed me to have a form of pseudo Speed control, so Absol could “outspeed” Salamence, and other members could also take advantage of this. It allowed my medium speed team to tear apart faster ones, and is definitely a great addition to this team. It was always useful to this team, which is why I brought it to every single battle in the tournament, and I never regretted the decision.

A lot of people asked me in testing why I didn’t run Taunt on Sableye. I feel like while Taunt is good, and definitely has its place on SOME Sableye’s, I feel that it wasn’t necessary on mine. The only thing it really helped with was Trick Room, which I felt I already had a decent matchup with. It helped neutralize other support pokemon, but I felt that it wasn’t enough of a reason to run it. The utility of Quash had a higher priority over Taunt.

The EV spread is simple, it gave a bit more Physical bulk, and let me survive attacks. I can’t remember what specifically, but it let me live some notable hits. I would have added more physical bulk to live more attacks, as I can’t survive a positive-nature M-Salamence Return, so I would go back and calc for that. Otherwise, the EV spread is very simple, nothing much to explain.

Sableye is named after this specific song because I can see Sableye being one of those people going absolutely ham at a rave, and this song fits that pretty well. It also is somewhat twitchy, also like Sableye, plus Sableye lives in a cave for crying out loud, how much more Disconnected from society could you get?

CityOfDreams (Swampert) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 228 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Scald
– Wide Guard

(Used in 8/10 battles)

“Everything seems like a City of Dreams, I never know why, but I still miss you”

I really wish I had some imaginative, spark of creativity here. Something to rival my Scarf Amoonguss from 2012, or the full Special Garchomp I was running earlier this season. Nope. Same old Swampert set that everyone has ingrained into their mind by now. Thanks to CT MikotoMisaka for creating this set, it’s truly a wonderful, amazing thing.

As for the purpose of Swampert on this team, it provides Wide Guard support to protect Sableye and Absol from any fairies who have the need to yell incredibly loud. It also protects from general spread moves, which I believe is a must in this metagame where Rock Slide, Earthquake, Heatwave, and Hyper Voice are commonplace. Swampert also gave me a way of beating the infamous double-genie lead, which I despise with my whole being. And in addition to being a fantastic addition to the team support wise, it also strengthened various match-ups, such as, but not limited to, those against Aegislash, Heatran, Terrakion, Salamence, Metagross, and so many other match-ups. This is compounded by Sableye’s Quash, so I can “outspeed” those pokemon, and OHKO them. This surprised some people, and is definitely a neat trick. I’m honestly surprised at Swampert’s lack of usage, as against almost every team it is useful in some way, and it puts a lot of pressure on the opposing team if they lack a Grass-type.

The nickname is from the song, City of Dreams, simply because when you believe in something, anything can happen. Seriously though, Swampert simply carried me through several games, completely decimating the opposing team. So it definitely earned the title of this name.

Thru (Excadrill) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Drill Run
– Rock Slide
– Iron Head

(Used in 6/10 battles)

“Don’t know about you, but I can feel it Thru and Thru”

Excadrill, old friend. I missed you, and would have given almost anything for your offensive presence last season. I added Excadrill, not only for time lost, but as a way to OHKO fairies I might encounter, as well as pressuring Terrakion, Aegislash, Salamence, Charizard-Y, and Metagross. Seeing a pattern of what pokemon I hate? But it’s role on the team was simple, was to be a fast offensive Pokemon designed to put pressure on the enemy team. It’s moveset is very standard, with Drill Run in case I didn’t want to hit my own team, or just slam a single target harder.

The EV spread is simple, but effective. It allows me to hit 135 Speed, which lets me outspeed base 130s, any random stuff that is scarfed and trying to outspeed base 130s, and lets me outspeed Breloom in case I got hit with Knock Off, Trick or something similar. Max Attack for big damage, and the rest was dumped in HP, which actually let me live several important attacks, such as Kangaskhan Low Kick, Heatran Earth Power, and a chance to live bulky Politoed Scald.

Excadrill’s nickname is Thru, ’cause it can and will tear right Thru unprepared teams.

Begin Again (Venusaur) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 12 Def / 172 SpA / 100 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect
– Hidden Power [Ice]

(Used in 9/10 battles)

“You’ll be the moon, I’ll be the earth, and when we both start over, oh darling, Begin Again, begin again, begin again”

The secondary mega that ended up being the MVP of the tournament, Venusaur has the power to break both defensive and some offensive teams, which is invaluable in this metagame. It has so many good matchups, it is crazy. The only problem, is that it has bad matchups with the popular megas of this format, Kangaskhan, Metagross, and Salamence. The original solution to this problem was Absol, but Absol has bad matchups to so many things, that it was usually better to just bring this monster of a pokemon. The rest of the team was (unintentionally) prepared to deal with the big threats to Venusaur, which let me bring it in almost every game, which it was always able to do work.

The moveset is somewhat standard. Sludge Bomb and Giga Drain for offensive STABs, Protect for Protect, and the last slot I always have trouble figuring out. I decided on Hidden Power Ice, which I have valid reasoning for. I believe that double-genie + rain is absolutely terrifying, and Swampert can’t deal with the Rain portion of that combination. Venusaur on the other hand, can easily deal with it, being able to pretty much ignore all of their attacks. My offensive EVs almost always guarantee the OHKO on 4 HP Landorus-T, along with giving me a 31% chance to OHKO 4 HP M-Salamence. You may think, I would have to take a hit to get that damage off, but with Sableye having Quash, I could easily dismantle both Salamence and Landorus, which is amazing for a Venusaur to do.

The EV spread is also fairly unique, so I’ll elaborate. I know bulk is very important on Venusaur, but I needed the offensive EVs to get KOs with Hidden Power Ice. And the extra damage was useful too, as it allowed me to hurt the opponents much more than they expected. The bulk allows me to take an intimidated Salamence Return, burned Salamence Double-Edge, a possible 3HKO from a burned Metagross, Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge, which became a 3HKO when Kang is burned, 3HKO from Landorus-T Earthquake, have a 2HKO from Level51’s Charizard-Y Overheat, 3HKO from Aegislash Flash Cannon and Shadow Ball, and just a lot of general bulk. The Speed allows me to Speed creep neutral no investment Rotom-A by 3 points, just in case people were afraid of Rotom.

Overall, Venusaur was the MVP of the team, allowing me to win many matchups just from the defensive pressure it gives me. Let let me comfortably combat rain, which is a matchup I have struggled with in the past, and Venusaur was one of the best checks to rain in the format, which I am grateful for.

The song that Venusaur is named after, Begin Again, references that Venusaur is a plant, and will keep rising from the ashes or something or another. I had run out of ideas at this point, and I made the loose connection that in the song it says “I’ll be the earth”, which made me think of Venusaur. I really need to get better at this nicknaming thing.

OneForAll (Arcanine) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 Spe
Bold Nature
– Helping Hand
– Snarl
– Flamethrower
– Protect

(Used in 6/10 battles)

“Are you ready?”

The last minute addition to the team, I wanted Helping Hand to get some surprise OHKOs, Intimidate because it is my favorite ability in the entire game, and a Fire type to round out a Fire/Water/Grass core. Even though it was the last minute addition to the team, it worked wonderfully, and definitely earned its place on the team.

The moveset is a bit of standard, and a bit of non-standard. Helping Hand is a move rarely seen on Arcanine, and it worked great to get surprise OHKOs, which is amazing. Snarl not only allowed me to control both the physical attackers on the enemy team with Intimidate, but also let me control the special attackers. It generally added bulk to my team, which is always a good thing. I chose Flamethrower as my Fire-type STAB, as it is the most consistent. Heat Wave has spread, but can backfire against Heatran, and can miss. Overheat is a good one-time nuke, but again can miss, and can only be used once per switch, and with no investment it can’t get many important OHKOs, as it only has a chance to OHKO M-Metagross. Flamethrower can 2HKO all the threats I needed to beat with Arcanine, and for a support Pokemon I find that absolutely amazing. Protect is mandatory, as it gives me a free turn, and many focused Arcanine to stop it from controlling the pace of the match.

The nickname is not only because it is one of the supports for the team, but because it provides support for the whole team by reducing the enemy’s offences. It really does support the entire team for one team slot, which is great. Also, another weird connection with the song is that the video is four minutes and 20 seconds long, which is somehow fitting seeing that Arcanine is a Fire type.

Common Leads

+

This was one of my safe leads; it gives me a lot of safety with Fake Out, Will-O-Wisp, and Wide Guard, along with being able to pressure the enemy offensively with Quash and Swampert’s coverage. I was able to safely take control of the match with this lead, and it was one of my favorites.

+

This is my other safe lead, and I lead it when there is nothing the enemy can do about Venusaur. Sableye again can take control of the match, while Venusaur was this undying wall that still chunked the enemies. I again have offensive pressure with Quash + Coverage, but it isn’t as good as Swampert’s damage wise. Sableye also could burn the opposing threats to Venusaur, which just made the game a whole lot easier.

+ Everything

While I could put the above two leads under this category, those were the ones I used the most in the tournament. In practice, I lead every Pokemon + Sableye, each having their own reason, and Sableye acted very much like the glue to this team, and there was always a reason to bring it.

Match Ups for the Team

Goodstuffs

I had a pretty good match-up versus goodstuffs, and while it varied based on the team, I had answers to almost everything on a standard goodstuffs team. I had multiple ways of checking all the popular megas, barring Mega-Kangaskhan, but thankfully I didn’t face any in my Regionals run.

Trick Room

I felt that I had a decent matched against Trick Room, as none of my Pokemon are outrageously fast barring Absol and Excadrill, and I could still use Quash as a means of Speed control. I was used to my Pokemon not going first, so it wasn’t that bad.

Sand/Japanese Sand

Sand is a match-up I am very comfortable with, as my entire team can either hit the opposing Pokemon for super effective, or control the match very easily. Swampert and Venusaur especially help with the matchup, and while Japanese sand has Salamence to deal with Venusaur, I have Swampert to deal with it, along with generally having a good match-up against it.

Rain

I have a decent match-up against rain, with me relying on Venusaur to carry me through those match-ups, with the help of Swampert and possibly Excadrill to deal with any Metagross I might see. Otherwise, this is a pretty balanced match-up, but if I can take control of the match early I can stay in control the rest of the game.

Random Stuff

My team has a general good match-up against pretty much everything, and so I can deal with anything thrown at me, with the amount of control my team has over the pace of the match. The only match-up I was scared of was Charizard-Y, as I had no solid answer for it. I didn’t face any during the tournament though, so all ended well.

Closing Thoughts on the Team

I ended up really enjoying the team, as well as being glad that I could place as high as I did with one of my favorite Pokemon. After the event, I went onto Showdown to try out some changes, so if you consider running this team, or something similar, here is what I changed post tournament. I ended up swapping Absol for Terrakion, as it made my Kangaskhan match-up better, along with allowing me to deal with Charizard-Y better, as well as being more consistent in general. I switched Venusaur’s EV spread to a bulkier one, and changed Hidden Power for Leech Seed, as it helped me play the “Venusaur win condition” that I had somewhat wanted in an earlier iteration of this team. I gave Sableye a more physically bulky EV spread, as I fail to survive a neutral 252 Attack M-Salamence Return, and that cost me a game later in the tournament. Protect was exchanged for Roar on Arcanine, as while Trick Room isn’t a bad match-up, it isn’t the best one either, so that helps a bit.

The Tournament

I was able to take some notes about each battle, and along with my wonderful(ly bad) memory, here are my matches from the tournament.

Round 1 vs. Daniel Tapp

His team: +

My team:

I had the early advantage, as I get a lot of free damage onto his Jellicent, and Conkeldurr can’t do anything due to Fake Out. He sets up Trick Room, but he doesn’t have anything out to pressure my Venusaur. He swaps in Mawile, which I predicted and ended up burning, and from there he has nothing to take care of Venusaur as the match ends 4-0 due me controlling all of his offensive pressure.

1-0

Round 2 vs. Tony Cheung

His team: +

My team:

This match was really fun, and also had a lot of pressure (not the ability thankfully) on me, facing last years Seattle Regional champ. As far as the game goes, I can’t remember much, but he ended up swapping Infernape for Gyarados turn 1, as I got a Fake Out and Ice Beam onto his Thundurus, when ends up freezing. Next turn I KO his Thundurus, his Gyarados sets up a Dragon Dance, and I then OHKO’d it with a Foul Play from Sableye. After that, I can limit hit offensive pressure with Arcanine, and the match ended 3-0 in my favor

2-0

Round 3 vs. Ben Demian

His team: +

My team:

Yay, another trick room team! I ended up using Fake Out on his Reuniclus turn 1 to prevent his Trick Room from going up, while Conkeldurr protected and I hit Reuniclus with a Sludge Bomb, which ended up scoring a critical hit and getting his Reuniclus in KO range next turn. After that, he struggled to gain control over the match, with Venusaur pretty much soaking up all of his damage while Arcanine (again) kept control over this game.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Gabby Snyder

Her team: +

My team:

I had joked with Gabby the round before, as we were sitting next to each other and her table won hats, that she needed to win so we could get paired up together to win prizes. Well, it happened, and while we didn’t get prizes, we got our game on stream. So here is the game, and there isn’t much else, was a great game, and I really had fun!

4-0

Round 5 vs. Mitchell Moscrop

His team: +

My team:

I was against a somewhat standard sand team, and there wasn’t anything big that happened in this match. He Overheated my Sableye turn 1, and swapped out his Gastrodon for Landorus. His Landorus started spamming Rock Slide, while I burned it and started to work on the rest of his team. I predicted his switch out of Landorus, and OHKO’d Gastrodon that was coming in. From there, his Tyranitar came out, and I burned it immediately. With him down to his last two, both burned, and now intimidated from me switching in Arcanine. I swapped it out for Swampert, and from there it was a slow grind for the 3-0 win.

5-0

Round 6 vs. Nikolai Zielinski

His team: +

My team:

At the pairings I was both worried, and excited. Facing last year’s Senior World Champ is pretty cool, but also hard knowing that he is a fantastic player. And he is running Trick Room. Great. The game pretty much went his way the entire game, as I go for the safe plays, while he punished me with good defensive switches. The game comes down to my Excadrill, full health, and Swampert, half health, against his Gardevoir in the red, half health Heatran, and Jellicent in the red. Excadrill can easily clean up the game, but his trick room is 1 turn from ending, and he cleans up the game. This game was great, even though I lost, as it really came down to the wire, and was an intense match all the way. it ended 0-3 for me, but I wasn’t to mad. I just needed to win 1 of my next 2 games to make it into cut, as I have fairly high resistance at this point.

5-1

Round 7 vs. Gary Qian

His team: +

My team:

It is time. This is the team that Absol dreams he could face. I didn’t want to lead it however, as he has multiple things that can KO Absol, so I go for the safe Excadrill + Sableye lead. His Terrakion has Quick Guard, which stops Sableye’s Fake Out, and I can’t remember what I do with Excadrill, as he sets up a Dragon Dance with Salamence. The next turn, I go for the Foul Play with Sableye, and swap in Arcanine to lower Salamence’s attack. His Terrakion Quick Guards, and Sableye fails to live the neutral Return. I swap in my Absol, mega-evolve, and double Protect as his Salamence Protects. I manage to KO his Salamence an Ice Beam the next turn, after Arcanine takes a Return and lives. This sparked quite a reaction from Gary, which was very entertaining to watch, as he didn’t expect Ice Beam from a Mega Absol. It comes down to Arcanine and Absol, Excadrill in the back, against his Terrakion and Smeargle with an unknown Pokemon in the back. Arcanine has 6 health left at this point, but I can still turn this. His Smeargle goes for the Fake Out on Arcanine, which I should have seen coming, and it faints. His Terrakion is at 90%, as it had taken Life Orb recoil earlier this game. I go for the Superpower with Absol, knowing that I can KO his Terrakion… As I get the lowest possible damage roll, fail to KO Terrakion, and he takes Absol out with a Close Combat, then faints from Life Orb Recoil. It becomes my Excadrill against his Scizor and Smeargle. I can turn this, I say to myself. I go for the EQ, Smeargle lives from Focus Sash, then Transforms into Excadrill, while Scizor KO’s me with a Superpower. It was a good game, but it puts me on edge, as I need to with my next game to make it into cut. 0-2

5-2

Round 8 vs. Paul Hornak

His team: +

My team:

Japanese Sand! I had actually wanted to play against this team, as I have heard good things about it, and I have a good match-up against it. The game is fairly anticlimactic though, as I go for the safe plays, and it ended very easily in my win, as I had control almost the entire match, and he couldn’t do anything to Venusaur once I took care of his Salamence.

6-2

I had ended 6-2, and hoped that I didn’t bubble from cut. They post the standings, and in no rush, I try to get in close to see who cut. With me being fairly tall, I was able to see from afar that I had cut at 15th seed, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I walk over to the other standings, to look for some of my friends, and I see Gabby screaming, running to her group of friends. I guessed correctly that she had cut, which was awesome, as she was a good player and I wanted her to cut. After that, I hung around, got my DS checked and then went home, planning on how to play my matches the next day.

Dawn of the Second Day

After getting a decent night’s sleep, I head over to the venue. I show up early, and get to chill out for a while, and meet up with Gabby and her group of friends. After waiting a really long time, We finally got into the pairings, and I’m up against Nikolai Zielinski as my first top cut opponent. After yesterday, I reviewed the matchup and what I could do to improve it, so here are the games!

Round 1 vs. Nikolai Zielinski

Game 1

His team: +

My team:

I know from our battle yesterday that he is running minimum Speed Gardevoir, as my Venusaur can outspeed it. The leads look about even, and my general plan is to not take too much damage, and have Arcanine gain offensive control with Snarl, as his team is mostly special attackers. This ends up not working out, as he predicts my every move, and he wins this game 3-0

0-1

Game 2

His team:

My team:

With me having the momentum turn 1, things are looking good. I manage to get a little bit of control, but it slips away as he was able to get Trick Room up, and from there things go downhill, as I lose 0-2.

The Aftermath

It was somewhat disappointing to get knocked out of top cut in the first round, but I had fun, and I top cut, so I can’t really complain about anything. Pretty much all of my games were good, and none were really decided on chance. Overall, it was a good tournament, and I am glad I was able to cut after being pretty much non-existent (I’ll probably still be non-existent).

Big thanks to-

• My friends, for believing in the Mega-Absol dream, and inspiring some of this team
• The editors, as well as my friend Jared, who helped with this monstrosity of an article
• The NB community, as you guys have been a great help in my teams in the past, and are really fun to hang around with
• The tournament organizers, even though the tournament didn’t start until like 2 PM on the first day

And again, disclaimer, don’t run my M-Absol set, it was specifically for this team, so unless you run this team, don’t run this Absol. Ever.

Thanks to Kagekabuki for the awesome article art!

The post Mega Absol Brings a Disaster! A Seattle Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This is posted and translated by Martin Tan (mewmart) from Singapore on behalf of Hugo Ng Chi Yat (hugo0379) from Hong Kong.

Greetings from Hong Kong! I’m Hugo Ng, an avid VGC player starting since 2014. First I would like to express my appreciation to Martin Tan who helped me to translate my report into English. I’d also like to thank HIMTE from Hong Kong, who has taught me tons about VGC. This report is for me to introduce to everyone the team that I’ve been using for the past year. It’s the result of my hard work and dedication in creating and play-testing this team. With the conclusion of the VGC 2015 season, it’s a good time to retire this team and move on to the next season with new ideas, new beginnings and hopefully new strategies! I certainly feel rather attached and emotional with the team’s retirement and bidding farewell, but as the Chinese saying goes, it is necessary to renew ideas and it can only be possible with the departure of the old and obsolete. So yeah, let’s get to the introduction of my team members!

My results with this team are as follows:

1. 1st for 2 Premier Challenges in Hong Kong
2. 12th place finish for the 1st Hong Kong Regional Championships (with 3 – 3 record)
3. 25th place finish for the 1st Singapore National Championships (with 5 – 2 record)

I wanted a team that reduced the likelihood for me to be in a losing position even with one mistake made in-between turns and preventing unforeseen factors from breaking my momentum. This provided the inspiration and objective of the team! I also wanted a team that was able to deal with the ever annoying Sylveon, and also exercise better speed control for opponents who go “auto-pilot” in their plays.

Hence Mega Venusaur was my pick, with its superb bulk and versatility.

Eventually, the 1st Premier Challenge that I won was with a team of:

Through some play-testing I also tried other variants to try and find the team synergy and balance, the team variants included:

and

Eventually, before the Singapore Nationals, I landed with this as the final version, which I’m very happy with!

Without further ado, let’s dive into the team members and their individual analysis!

The Team

>

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 76 SpA / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect
– Leech Seed

Here are some damage calculations to illustrate Mega Venusaur’s bulk:

• 252+ Atk Life Orb Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 148-174 (79.1 – 93%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 168-200 (89.8 – 106.9%) — 37.5% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Mega Gardevoir Psychic vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Mega Venusaur: 168-198 (89.8 – 105.8%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Sylveon Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 92-110 (49.1 – 58.8%) — 98% chance to 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Mega Venusaur: 128-152 (68.4 – 81.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 146-174 (78 – 93%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 134-162 (71.6 – 86.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Sylveon Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Mega Venusaur: 92-110 (49.1 – 58.8%) — 98% chance to 2HKO
• 76 SpA Mega Venusaur Sludge Bomb vs. 244 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 104-126 (51.7 – 62.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The main objective for Mega Venusaur in this team is to act as a lure for the ever annoying Sylveon and other Fairy-types. Its natural bulk coupled with its Thick Fat ability makes it a superb tank for its teammates. After its teammates get rid of its adversaries; Mega Salamence, Mega Metagross and Talonflame to name a few, it can single-handedly control a game, just like a boss that doesn’t go down at all!

Although it can be stopped by a lot of popular megas such as Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence or even Mega Metagross, it can also be a bane for rain teams, Japanese sand and bulky Waters such as Rotom-W, with its Grass STAB Giga Drain. It improves my matchup against Sylveon with Sludge Bomb as well.

Notably, before mega-evolving it’s not really bulky, so my way of optimizing its use is mega evolve as soon as possible, or to have a window of opportunity to switch in.

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 148 Atk / 12 Def / 112 SpD / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 SpD
– Earthquake
– U-turn
– Rock Slide
– Superpower

Some notable calculations about this set:

• +1 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 140 HP / 12 Def Landorus-T: 153-181 (84 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• +1 252+ Atk Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 140 HP / 12 Def Landorus-T: 142-168 (78 – 92.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 148+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 144-170 (102.1 – 120.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
  Outspeeds 252 Speed Bisharp by 1 point
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 140 HP / 112 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T: 76-91 (41.7 – 50%) — 0.4%(1/256) chance to 2HKO
• 148+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 100-118 (49.7 – 58.7%) — 98.4% chance to 2HKO
• Same speed as 252 Speed+ Sylveon

The reason I picked Assault Vest for Landorus-Therian was with the following objectives in mind. Firstly, Landorus-Therian has a superb coverage it offers in terms of moves. Second, the Assault Vest allows me to fully exploit the coverage by not being locked into a single move that you see on most variants because of the Choice items they tend to hold. Finally, its able to tank hits like a boss; just look at the damage calculations!

At full health, it can deal with Steel and Dark types with no issues and can even survive a 252+ SpA Hyper Voice from Sylveon! It can also deal with Mega Kangaskhan Double Edge and fire back a SuperPower to nab the crucial OHKO. Its bulk is certainly not a walk in the park. It is also capable of surviving non-STAB Ice Beams fired by the likes of Suicune, Ludicolo, Milotic, etc.

Being able to U-Turn to Mega Venusaur to gain momentum is also another role that it can play in this team. However, this is really very situational, as Venusaur before mega-evolving is much more frail than I would have liked.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dark Pulse
– Earth Power
– Draco Meteor
– Hidden Power [Ice]

In the beginning, I opted for Choice Scarf with minimal speed investment to outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus T and Mega Sceptile. However, as time went by, I had issues with speedier Dragons and I didn’t want to risk any under-speeding and hence I decided to max Speed to prevent any unnecessary speed ties. Hydriegon is my solution to Heatran, Landorus-Therian via Earth Power. It is also my solution to Salamence and Latios via Hidden Power Ice, of which these 2 can cause major issues for my Mega Venusaur.

Hidden Power Ice to me has a great surprise factor that I can use, and certainly improves my match-up against Landorus-Therian. At the same time, it provides defensive synergy against Fairies and Psychic attacks against my key player Mega Venusaur. Furthermore, a speedy Hydriegon provides the momentum, initiative and certainly a surprise factor for this team.

Milotic @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 244 Def / 20 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Ice Beam
– Scald
– Recover
– Toxic

Initially, I was using Suicune in this slot as I believed that it could help me in a Rain match-up. For instance, under Rain, it powers up Water moves against the powerhouses such as Salamence, Gardevoir, Hydriegon and Heatran which again are key nemeses of Mega Venusaur. The objective for my plays and game plan is always to get rid of the hard counters for Mega Venusaur using its teammates to allow it to dominate. However, I found that I was encountering difficulties with Calm Mind Cresselia which grew in popularity as the season went by, and hence I found a unique solution: Toxic Milotic.

I started to play-test Milotic, to very interesting but positive results. It could be a good counter to Salamence due to its ability Competitive acting as a strong deterrent. Since the team revolves around a strategy of attrition, bulk is absolutely essential.

Her EV spread just outspeeds Mega Venusaur by 1 point, so that it can help to thaw Mega Venusaur via Scald in the event of a freeze hax! It was a reliable option, but certainly very situational.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 56 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– Flash Cannon
– Protect
– Substitute
*Note that the HP EVs should be 212 such that it’s HP should be 16n+1 while it is going with substitute and leftovers. It is a mistake while building this team*

Standard bulky Heatran set. It is certainly a core member in my team, completing the Fire, Water and Grass core. In terms of defensive and offensive synergy, it pairs up with Mega Venusaur flawlessly. Its Steel typing resists Aerilate boosted attacks from Mega Salamence, Mega Metagross and Mega Gardevoir (or non Mega, but who would use non-Mega?). The reason I dropped Earth Power is because of its very limited use other than to deal with opposing Heatran. By opting for Flash Cannon, it certainly improves my match-up against Fairies in general. The defensive synergy with Venusaur was my prime consideration.

Although Aegislash is an excellent candidate as the steel-type partner of Mega Venusaur, Heatran, being non-ghost type, works a better role of utilising types complement and makes an easier switch-in for Mega Venusaur and bringing it to the field when necessary.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Close Combat
– Protect
– Safeguard

Terrakion’s pick was simple: Hard counter against Mega Charizard Y and Mega Kangaskhan. Similarly it has great switching synergy with Venusaur, which boosts its chance of survival. The choice of Focus Sash is to ensure the 1HKO on opposing Terrakion in the event of a speed tie.

As for Safeguard, its main role: To stop Smeargle’s Dark Void, which is a major weakness to my team due to the team’s speed range generally. It certainly was very situational however, compared to the more popular Quick Guard or even the occasional Substitute or Taunt, Safeguard fits the team’s requirements really well.

Common Matchups

Rain

Certainly Venusaur in Rain is a match for the Rain meisters Politoed and Ludicolo with its Giga Drain and Sludge Bombs respectively. However, it is almost given that such teams would have counters for Venusaur as well, such as Metagross, Salamence, Gardevoir, Talonflame, etc.

Therefore in team preview, I would exercise caution as to my team member’s choice in order to get rid of such counters before I let my Venusaur run rampant. For Gardevoir, Heatran is certainly a good counter to warrant me bringing it to the party even though my opponent will make use of Rain to swing things in his/her favor. In terms of plays, they could drop their guard as they may have assumed that it was a mistake to bring Heatran in view of Rain during team preview, assuming that the rain was a bluff.

Japanese Sand

Venusaur doesn’t even need to be on the field when dealing with Japanese Sand teams. Certainly, to counter Mega Salamence and Excadrill, Hydriegon and Landorus-T is a must for me. However, team mate selection during team preview has to expand beyond just considering about Salamence and Excadrill. Selection largely depends on the remaining composition of the opposing team.

Mega Salamence

Usually for teams built around Salamence, they will almost certainly contain Pokemon that will be countered by Venusaur, so Sylveon, Amoonguss or Rotom-W for example. Hence, in order to remove Salamence from the field, preservation and utilizing Venusaur to its full potential is the key to stop Salamence from doing its thing. So as long I make the right calls, my win condition would be me having Venusaur and my opponent biting the dust with all the above.

Trick Room

Substitute and Leech Seed are my main tactics to out-stall Trick Room. I aim to win the battle of attrition by slowly inching my way towards victory via Leech Seed. Coupled with Protects, Substitutes and smart switching, I can burn the Trick Room turns and regain momentum with the opponent not being able to optimize the turns of Trick Room.

Mega Kangaskhan

Against Mega Kangaskhan teams, its hard counter Terrakion acts as a lure for Landorus-T to appear to Intimidate. Never would they expect that when paired with Hydriegon, I can drop a surprise HP Ice on Landorus-T and gaining considerable momentum. This limits their ability to switch freely as well.

From my perspective, I would aim to use Landorus-T to drop Kangaskhan’s attack, while Milotic acts as an Intimidate deterrent against other opposing Landorus-T or Salamence.

Charizard Y

In the case I run into a Mega Charizard-Y, my main leads would be Terrakion and Hydreigon with Heatran and Landorus-T as the main checks in the back. Venusaur would occasionally debut but it is often situational, depending on the team preview.

Mega Gardevoir (with Heatran, Amoonguss, Landorus-T)

Mega Venusaur and Hydreigon are the core for the match up because of the typing to switch in and out while taking a Psychic or Hyper Voice. At the same time, Mega Venusaur is EVed such a way that it can always survive a Psychic from Mega Gardevoir and deal tons of damage back to Gardevoir via Sludge Bomb.

Assault Vest Landorus-T can also take hits from Mega Gardevoir. Similarly, Heatran can also help to seal a win condition by walling opposing Gardevoir, provided that the opposing Heatran is gone too.

Nationals

Here are some of the replays during the VGC Nationals held in Singapore on 29th June 2015.

Round 1: Win

• Game 1
• Game 2

Round 2: Lose

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

Round 3: Win

Game 1: Disconnection when winning soon and opponent give up.
Game 2

Round 4: Lose

*The guy who helped to translate this report*

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

Round 5: Win

• Game 1
• Game 2

Round 6: Win

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

Round 7: Win

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

Closing thoughts

Overall, I finished 25th out of 130+ Masters, which I felt wasn’t too bad a result. I’m glad that I made the trip to Singapore to meet new friends who share the same interest as me and I hope to come back stronger in VGC 2016! Thanks everyone and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed penning them down! Hope to see you guys next year!

Shoutouts

• Credit to Juliet Kong for the featured art
• Credit to Martin Tan (mewmart) for the translation
• Dedicated to HIMTE for all the help that he has rendered for my VGC journey

The post The Boss You Can’t Take Down: A Top 32 Singapore National Championship Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi, I’m Jamie Boyt, and I recently came in 3rd place at the first UK Regionals. This was quite the achievement for me because not only did I go 8-0 in Swiss, it was my first official tournament apart from a Premier Challenge, where I came 12th. I had been a singles player until X & Y and only properly started VGC when ORAS came out, so my experience is still very limited. However, I had a number of people come up to me during and after the tournament commenting on how cool my team was, and asking what I was using to be doing so well, which was a very surreal experience as I still considered myself somewhat of an amateur.

Teambuilding Process

First Draft

Would you believe that my team started out around an Assault Vest Shuckle? In the sand, an Assault Vest Shuckle can reach a special defense stat of 697 at Level 50! It had Struggle Bug, Rock Tomb, Infestation, and Bulldoze (which works great with Serperior) and is a lot of fun to use. However, it was far too gimmicky for a tournament, so I swapped some things around, while still trying to keep the fire-grass-water core, and eventually came up with the six Pokemon I would end up using.

Final Team

Before I get to the spreads, I will just point out something. It’s strange how I didn’t really realise this until after the first game in the tournament, but I only had one Pokemon with Protect on my team. While this may seem very strange, I felt that every move was necessary and I didn’t want to give any of the moves up, so I figured I would just have to rely on my predictions. I also figured that a lot of players would expect Protects here and there, so I could make use of this and go for some fairly unexpected plays, which worked out very strongly in my favour in the end. I don’t recommend having no Protect though, there were definitely points throughout the tournament where it would have been very useful.

The Team

Charizard-Mega-X @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 220 Atk / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Flare Blitz
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance

Used in 12/13 games, KOed 12/45

The final change I made to the team was changing Charizard from Y to X. Drought did not help my team at all, and hindered Suicune, although the main reason for changing to X was that Heat Wave missed waaaaay too often for my liking, hence the nickname I gave it (HW90%AccHaHa). I also got to bluff Charizard Y, which would put me in a great position as opponents would always predict Y and would choose different moves, and even different Pokemon in Team Preview as a result. This helped me in many games.

Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw are obviously two great stab moves, and Dragon Dance was necessary for very fast, very strong attacks. Earthquake was chosen as the final move as I expected to see a lot of Heatran, which would otherwise completely counter Charizard X. I didn’t end up facing any Heatran in the whole tournament, and only used Earthquake twice, both to not much use, as the power was very underwhelming, mainly because it doesn’t get the Tough Claws boost. After a Dragon Dance, it only did about 60% to a Mega Metagross, so I would not recommend Earthquake unless you really hate Heatran.

The Ev spread allows Charizard to outspeed Scarfed Landorus Ts after a Dragon Dance. After looking at the damage calculations, I didn’t feel that having 252 EVs in Attack did anything more significant than 220 Evs, so I settled with 220 and put the rest in bulk.

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 4 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk, 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Nasty Plot
– Thunder Wave

Used in 12/13 games, KOed 9/45

This was my favourite pokemon of the whole tournament, and the one people were commenting on the most. Everyone was saying how cool it was to have Nasty Plot, and I am quite surprised by this because Thundurus can OHKO most non-resisted pokemon after one boost, so I don’t understand why it isn’t more common. This definitely worked out in my favour though, as there was more than one opponent who predicted a Taunt here and there, which allowed me to set up a Nasty Plot and basically sweep. Thundurus was also chosen over Thundurus-T as 111 Speed is a much better base speed than 101, and after a Nasty Plot, the difference in Sp Atk becomes negligible.

You may notice that there are 8 EVs missing. This was just bad training on my part, it was meant to be 164 SpA. Max speed was necessary to outspeed base 110s, and surprises some people who expect a bulkier Thundurus. I thought I would be fancy and gave Thundurus the bulk it has to nearly always survive a Tyranitar’s Rock slide. I found this bulk added nothing to Thundurus, as it was OHKOed by every strong attack that hit it, so the Evs could have been invested in more SpAtk, which would have helped in the tournament as I missed out on two important knockouts, one of which lost me the first game of the Semis. I will be changing the spread to 36HP, 220 SpAtk, 252 Spd since the extra bulk doesn’t add anything significant, it hits a very optimised 159HP for life orb recoil, and allows Thundurus to survive a Ludicolo Fake Out + Politoed 252+ Ice Beam with two Life Orb hits left.

Suicune @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 212 SpA / 4 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Tailwind
– Calm Mind

Used in 9/13 games, KOed 7/45

After a random match on Showdown, where my Suicune was left against three opposing Pokemon and still won, Suicune has become my favourite Pokemon in VGC and a staple in most of my teams. It is definitely one of the best Tailwind users as it has amazing bulk, while still having decent attacking power, and I prefer it to Zapdos as it lets you have a Thundurus on your team as well. My team was already fast, but Tailwind ensured I could outspeed anything that wanted to try and boost its speed, had a Choice Scarf, negate Icy Wind’s speed drop, or match an opposing Tailwind. Calm Mind was used as more than once in practise I was left with my Suicune against an opposing Cresselia, and I wanted to be able to ensure a win in this situation.

The EV spread was my favourite one I made. I wanted max HP for the most benefit from the Sitrus Berry, enough SpAtk to OHKO standard Mega Salamence with Ice Beam, outspeed Scarfed Landorus Ts under Tailwind while creeping other pokemon trying to do the same, and have all this while having a Bold nature. Achieving these goals left me with 4 Evs for each defense stat, which I found very satisfying indeed.

Serperior @ Meadow Plate
Ability: Contrary
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 4 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Leaf Storm
– Reflect
– Light Screen
– Protect

Used in 7/13 games, KOed 7/45

The only Pokemon I had on my team with Protect. I’m surprised there aren’t more Serperior around, not just because of Contrary Leaf Storm, which is amazing, but because of its base speed of 113, which outspeeds so much of the Metagame, so it can get off a base 130 power move off before them. Serperior was very strong in a lot of my games, where it was just able to sweep. In one of my games I managed to get up to +6, and effectively sweep with just Serperior.

Since I figured that I would be having Sylveon’s Hyper Voice Syndrome with Leaf Storm, and I prefer Pixie Plate as opposed to Choice Specs on Sylveon, I did the same for Serperior and gave it a Meadow Plate. Having Choice Specs would mean I would have to have three other attacking moves that I would almost never use, so Meadow Plate was used so that I could have supporting moves, which ended up being Reflect and Light Screen, and allowed Protect. When I settled on dual screens, I considered Light Clay, but removing Meadow Plate would mean I would have to give up considerable bulk for the SpAtk stat I wanted. I did consider Glare instead of Protect, which would really live up to the team name, but I already had Prankster Thunder Wave on Thundurus, so I didn’t feel it was necessary.

The EV spread was effectively chosen as a Terrakion counter, with maximum speed to even outspeed Mega Lucario. 60 SpAtk Evs is enough to KO 252 Terrakions, but I gave Serperior 116 SpAtk Evs to KO a certain Substituting Terrakion, as I thought that people would want to copy the spread since it was successful at the Arnhem Regionals (Hint hint). The rest I put in bulk, while keeping an odd HP number in case any Super Fangs came my way.

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Bullet Punch
– Follow Me
– Roar

Used in 6/13 games, KOed 5/45

I hate Trick Room, you have to alter your whole playstyle to try and counter it, and my team was very fast, so I needed to find a way to stop it, and I wanted to be able to do it with one Pokemon. After many failed Taunts into Mental Herbs, and many times being Faked Out by the Trick Roomer’s partner, I found what I believe to be the single greatest counter to Trick Room, Inner Focus Lucario. It can bluff Mega Lucario, possibly attracting Fake Outs, which then don’t work thanks to Inner Focus, and can then just Roar away the Trick Roomer since Roar has one more priority than Trick Room. With Focus Sash, even when the Trick Roomer’s partner goes for the KO on Lucario, it will still always be able to get the Roar off. This worked very elegantly in one of my Swiss games, and I was almost disappointed that that game was my only battle against Trick Room, which is usually a weird thing to say. A quick mention should go to Dragonite, Crobat and regular Kangaskhan, as they also have Inner Focus + Roar/Whirlwind (But who is going to use regular Kangaskhan with Roar?).

Lucario also played another huge role in my team: it countered Mega Kangaskhans. It couldn’t be faked out by them, and worst case scenario speed ties with them before Mega-Evolving, and always outspeeds Adamant Kangaskhans. This meant that I could lead with Lucario against a Kangaskhan and pretty safely Close Combat it, in a lot situations KOing it without it doing anything. Adamant Lucario would almost guarantee a KO on even the bulkiest of Kangaskhans, but Jolly ensures you speed tie at worst. Bullet Punch was good priority, and Follow Me came in handy for allowing a teammate to set up, especially since my Togekiss was not running it.

Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Dazzling Gleam
– Air Slash
– Aura Sphere
– Flamethrower

Used in 6/13 games, KOed 5/45

This Togekiss was originally a standard Follow Me and Tailwind Togekiss, but since I already had both of those moves on my team, I opted for a Choice Scarf variant, which caught a lot of people off guard and got a couple of surprise KOs. People were coming up to me saying to me about how they had heard about my Scarfed Togekiss, so it was the other celebrity of my team.

The moveset is pretty standard for a Scarfed Togekiss. Air Slash flinches more often than not, and is coming from a Pokemon faster than Landorus, which can be game-changing. I chose Flamethrower over Fire Blast as I wanted all my moves to be as accurate as possible. I gave it Max Speed Timid so I would creep Scarf Landorus Ts, and the rest in SpAtk for as much power as possible, which, in the end, turned out to be pretty underwhelming.

The Tournament

Round 1 vs David Williams

()

I brought:

I was already nervous going into this match as David won the Premier Challenge that I had done so poorly at. I chose Charizard and Serperior as they were my best counter to rain, thanks to my Y bluff, and in the first turn of the tournament it came into play as he proceeded to Ice Beam my Serperior barely missing the KO, allowing me to OHKO Kingdra with Dragon Claw and set up a Light Screen while his Politoed went for Rain Dance. He then brought Swampert, which I knew had to Protect to get the Swift Swim so I Leaf Stormed Politoed and switched to Suicune, while Politoed Icy Winded, KOing Serperior. Helping Hand Rock Slide OHKOed my Thundurus, leaving Zard and Suicune to face his last three. Another predicted protect on Swampert let me set up and eventually 1v1 Swampert with Suicune.

W, 1-0

Round 1 vs Nigel Baker

()

I brought:

I was no longer nervous going into this game, as I had redeemed my awful Premier Challenge and won a game, so I would at least be satisfied with however the tournament would turn out.

This was a cool looking team, and I knew it was Trick Room, so I led with Lucario to Roar away Reuniclus or Jellicent, and Serperior since he was very weak to grass. Roar worked perfectly, and I swept with Serperior’s Leaf Storm, a very simple game.

W, 2-0

Round 3 vs Lyndsey Swift

()

I brought:

This was the only match I forgot to take notes for, so I can’t remember the other two members. I switched Lucario for Charizard to avoid Will-O-Wisp and got Faked Out by Liepard. Liepard paralysed my Charizard and Rotom protected, but I doubled on Liepard for the KO. Kang came in and I switched Thundurus for Suicune while Zard got Faked Out and Suicune dodged a Will-O-Wisp. Kangaskhan KOed Charizard, Suicune Scalded Kang and Rotom revealed Hex. Lucario Close Combated the Kangaskhan after a failed Sucker Punch on my Calm Minding Suicune. Follow Me stopped a Brave Bird on my Suicune, which scalded Talonflame, leaving Rotom against Thundurus and Suicune, giving me the win.

W, 3-0

Round 4 vs Brandon Ikin

( )

I brought:

Thundurus dodged a Rock Slide and barely missed KOing Charizard, while it Flamethrowered Thundurus for the KO, while Serperior set up a Reflect. I brought in Togekiss, and decided Drought boosted Flamethrower would be my strongest attack, which worked amazingly, as Bisharp came in for Landorus, and was brought to its Sash. Serperior Light Screened as Charizard Protected, which was a perfect turn. Togekiss’ Flamethrower then swept the rest of his team, with Charizard KOing the Sylveon, Dragon Dancing in normal form to reduce Hyper Voice’s damage.

W, 4-0

Round 5 vs Jake Birch

( )

I brought:

The one time Earthquake can be useful, and he doesn’t bring his Heatran. Intimitdated Lucario fails to KO Kangaskhan as Thundurus is Faked Out and Lando U-turns. Cress comes in and I switch Lucario for Serperior as Kangaskhan swaps for Rotom. I Hidden Power the Rotom as I expected Lando to come back in, and Serperior gets a speed boost from the Icy Wind. I predict the Protect from Rotom and switch Thundurus for Lucario and Leaf Storm the Cresselia. I then KO Rotom with Leaf Storm, and chip Cresselia with a Close Combat as Cresselia Psychics Serperior. Kangaskhan comes in, then is brought straight back out for Lando, as I Leaf Storm that slot for the KO. Serperior Protects to avoid the Fake Out, then proceeds to sweep.

W, 5-0

Round 6 vs Stephen Gibbon

( )

I brought:

The nerves started to come back going into this game as I realised how well I was doing. Going into the tournament, I was hoping for at least a 4-4 record, and I had already done better with my 5th win, so the tournament suddenly got a lot more intense for me.

Metagross had to Protect to get the speed boost and I expected Thundurus to Thunderbolt Charizard expecting Y, which is exactly what happens as I Dragon Dance and Nasty Plot. His Thundurus paralyses Charizard and he switches Metagross for Suicune to take a Flare Blitz, which doesn’t happen as I Flare Blitz the Thundurus and Thunderbolt the Suicune for the double KO. I then misclick and Hidden Power Metagross instead of Breloom as it puts Thundurus to sleep. Zen Headbutt then misses the KO on Thundurus and Earthquake breaks Breloom’s Sash and Halves Metagross’s HP. I switch Thundurus for Togekiss to take a Mach Punch, and Charizard faints to an Iron Head. Togekiss then cleans up with Flamethrower.

W, 6-0

Round 7 vs Yan Vianna Sym

 ( )

I brought:

* Yan’s Report can be found here.

I Air Slash the Zapdos to try and stop Tailwind and get the flinch as I Thunderbolt the Aegislash switch. I switch Togekiss to Suicune to take the Flash Cannon and Thunderbolt the Zapdos, which Thunder Waves Suicune and Aegislash actually Shadow Balls Thundurus. I predict him to stay in Blade Forme, and KO with a Thunderbolt as Suicune takes a Thunderbolt and sets up Tailwind. A second Thunderbolt misses the KO on Zapdos after its Sitrus Berry, Suicune takes a Dark Pulse, Heat Wave KOs Thundurus and Ice Beam KOs Zapdos. I then realise that Charizard Y can’t touch Charizard X, so I KO the Hydreigon with Dragon Claw, and then KO the helpless Charizard Y.

W, 7-0

Round 8 vs Andy Waddell

( )

I brought:

*Andy’s Report can be found here.

This was a game where I was both relaxed and nervous, as I was guaranteed top cut, but I could also get a perfect Swiss, which would be amazing for my first big tournament.

Terrakion was scared out by Serperior, Aegislash comes in, only to see my Thundurus set up a Nasty Plot and Serperior set up a Light Screen, while Cresselia paralyses my Serperior. I then KO Cresselia with a Thunderbolt crit which mattered, but the worst Cresselia could have done was Ice Beam, which from the later report turned out to be the case. but with my Light Screen and the SpAtk Cresselia had, the worst it could have done was 38%, but Aegislash could have KOed it afterwards, but I was Leaf Storming Cresselia as well anyway, but I got fully paralysed, so it was important because of the full paralysis. Terrakion comes in and switches straight to Hydreigon to take a Leaf Storm, but I get fully paralysed again and Thunderbolt KOs Blade Forme Aegislash. I then Thunder Wave the Hydreigon in case it was scarfed so Charizard could clean up as Thundurus faints to Dark Pulse, Terrakion Protects, and I set up a Reflect. Charizard then KOs Hydreigon after a Rock Slide, Leaf Storm KOs Terrakion, and I have just gone 8-0 in the first ever UK Regional.

W, 8-0

Quarter Final vs Eden Batchelor

The match is available to watch here.

*Eden’s Report can be found here.

Match 1

vs

I was very nervous going into this game, as I had never played a best of three match before, and I felt that my team was much more suited to best of 1, as I had a couple of surprises in the team. It was also the first time I had ever been on stream.

The first turn he sets up Tailwind and Protects, as I close Combat into the Protect and Thunder Wave the Latios. Thundurus then faints to a Double-Edge as Lucario KOs with Close Combat, and Psychic brings me to my Sash. I bring in Charizard as he brings in Sylveon, then he switches Latios for Entei and Protects Sylveon as I Bullet Punch and Flare Blitz into the Protect. Lucario then Follow Mes away a Stone Edge and Charizard KOs itself after taking a Hyper Voice, while missing the KO on Sylveon, revealing a much bulkier Sylveon than usual. Scarfed Togekiss can’t do anything to the rest of his team so I forfeit after a Dazzling Gleam, which I probably should have done before so I didn’t reveal my Scarf, but this was my first best of three, so I made the mistake.

L, 0-1

Match 2

vs

We start off by matching Tailwinds, and Serperior sets up a Reflect and takes a Double-Edge. I then Leaf Storm the Kangaskhan and get KOed by Double-Edge. Latios Psychics Suicune which sets up a Calm Mind. Thundurus comes in and KOs Kangaskhan with Thunderbolt, and takes a Psychic while Suicune Ice Beams Latios, bringing it to red. Sylveon comes in and Latios switches out for Entei. I ended up doubling on Sylveon, bringing it to red as it Hyper Voices for the KO on Thundurus. Charizard comes in and Earthquakes to knock out Sylveon and do decent damage to Entei, while Suicune sets up a Tailwind after taking a Sacred Fire to ensure I outspeed both his Pokemon next turn, and I proceed to KO with a Dragon Claw and a Scald, bringing the match to 1-1

W, 1-1

Match 3

vs

I predict a change in leads for the final match, so I ended up bringing Lucario since I still thought he would lead with Kangaskhan, and bring Charizard to try and set up straight away. I go for Close Combat on Kangaskhan for the KO, which switches into Latios which takes it nicely. I don’t Mega-Evolve Charizard so that it can take Hyper Voice better and set up a Dragon Dance, and Sylveon ends up Protecting anyway. Charizard then KOs Latios and Lucario Bullet Punches only doing 40% to Sylveon, while Hyper Voice brings me to my Sash and about 30%. Kangaskhan comes in, and I predict the Sucker Punch on Charizard, so Follow Me to redirect it, which ends up working perfectly as Sucker Punch fails and Flare Blitz KOs Kangaskhan while KOing Charizard from recoil, and Hyper Voice KOs Lucario, so it comes down to my Suicune and Thundurus vs his Sylveon and Entei. I make a huge prediction as he has shown that Sylveon has Protect, and double target the Entei expecting Sylveon to Protect, which is exactly what happens. Thundurus brings Entei below 50%, activating its Sitrus Berry. Entei then Reveals Snarl, lowering Suicunes SpAtk enough that Scald Doesn’t KO. I then double target Sylveon as I know all of Entei’s moves, and I realise that Sylveon can’t Protect, and if its Suicune vs Entei I would win, so I don’t mind Thundurus taking a Stone Edge. Thundurus ends up critting Sylveon for the KO as Entei Protects, and then I take the match with a Thunderbolt on the Entei. I did some calcs after the tournament, and the crit theoretically mattered since Thunderbolt and Scald would not have KOed Sylveon, but since Sylveon wasn’t Specs, he wouldn’t have KOed either of my Pokemon, so I could have just Thunderbolted Entei and Scalded Sylveon the turn after, so in the end, I don’t think the crit mattered. I go into the top 4 amazed that I managed to pull through.

W, 2-1

Semi Final vs Philip de Sousa

Match 1

   vs

This match was not streamed, and I am very pleased it wasn’t. I was still so shaken by the fact that I had made it to the Semis that I did not register with me that, if there is a Whimsicott, the Gengar is Mega, and I foolishly assumed it was sashed for some reason. I end up Thunderbolting Gengar to “bring it to its Sash” and Dazzling Gleam to KO it, but he just Mega-Evolves, survives both attacks and gets off a Perish Song, while setting up Tailwind with Whimsicott. I then make another stupid play as I know he will double Protect, so I go for a Nasty Plot, which I obviously get Encored into, while he Disables my Dazzling Gleam. He then switches Gengar for Terrakion, Beats Up, and sweeps with Terrakion. An embarrassing loss.

L, 0-1

Match 2

vs

I am very shaken by the first loss, that I don’t really feel that I can recover. I change leads to Lucario so I can Roar myself out to avoid Perish Song. I double on Gengar with Bullet Punch and Thunderbolt, which fails to KO as he Beat Ups and Shadow Balls Lucario, missing the KO. I then predict the Protect on Gengar and double on Whimsicott, KOing it after it sets up Tailwind. He then brings in Terrakion and uses Quick Guard to stop my Bullet Punch, Shadow Ball KOs Lucario, and Thundurus Thunderbolts Terrakion for 60%. Zard then gets critted by Rock Slide which I thought might have mattered at the time, but Shadow Ball would have KOed Charizard anyway, which is a shame, as I was going for Earthquake, which would have KOed Gengar and Terrakion, leaving Zard and Suicune against his Suicune, so I would have stolen the second match. Rock Slide also KOs Thundurus, and seals up the game for him as Suicune cannot take on his last three. I give him a scare by saying that I was using Surf to KO both his Pokemon, and that at least gives me something to smile about as I am knocked out of the tournament.

L, 0-2

Conclusion

In the end, I was over the moon with where I had placed, as I had not even expected to top cut, or even win more games than I lost. This has encouraged me to attend more tournaments, as the regionals was very well organized and a lot of fun, and it was a great experience to have all these world class players saying how much they liked my team and congratulating me on my place. Hopefully this won’t be my only report I post on here, although I’m expecting that as much as I was expecting to get 3rd in the first UK Regionals, but we now know how that turned out

Update: So I ended up qualifying for Worlds; how did that happen?

The post Who Needs Protect? A UK Regionals Top 4 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi, my name is Joaquin Campuzano (Joaquin Page) and I’m 23 years old. I’ve been playing Pokémon for a long time and I’ve always enjoyed it. This is the first year that Mexico had official tournaments and I’m really happy with my performance during this 2015 season.

The Team

I started building this team after Pokemon X and Y were released. In VGC 2014 I thought that a rain team was excellent as an anti-meta option, but this season saw rain and the team itself find its best performance.

Relevant Team Accomplishments

• 2^nd Place – Mexico 1^st Regional (April 2015)
• 1^st Place – Pokémex  TNT Tlatelolco (May 2015)
• 1^st Place – Mexico 2^nd Regional (June 2015)

Kangaskhan @Kangaskhanite

Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 248 HP / 212 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Return
– Crunch > Sucker Punch
– Protect > Low Kick

When X and Y came out, I started analyzing all the available Mega Evolutions, and to no one’s surprise Kangaskhan was the obvious call as the best mega in the game. Even with the introduction of all the new Mega Evolutions such as Salamence, Kangaskhan hasn’t lost her place. I used Adamant nature from the very beginning (even before using Trick Room) and the main reason was that most defensive damage calculations were performed using a Jolly nature.

There are some Kangaskhan that work perfectly without Fake Out, but it is essential for my team to have Fake Out since it is my lead to ensure that either Trick Room or Tailwind goes up and also my only priority attack during the first regional when I didn’t use Sucker Punch. I chose Return over Double-Edge since I really don’t like the recoil damage which affected Kangaskhan’s durability on the field, plus it affected the defensive damage calculations and Return is just enough to disrupt the opponent.

For Mexico’s 1^st Regional I chose Crunch/Protect over Sucker Punch/Low Kick which actually worked great as I was able to catch many opponents by surprise while having both Fake Out and Protect. This saved me many times, and I probably wouldn’t have made the finals without this combination. I chose Crunch for that first Regional since it can assure some damage on ghost types and some other Pokémon that are capable of resisting Return.

For the 2^nd Regional I opted for a more standard Kangaskhan moveset, as most players that know me would expect me to still have Protect. Additionally, as it is well known, Sucker Punch and Low Kick provide more coverage.

• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs 248 HP / 44 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 174-208 (82.4 – 98.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 44 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 194-230 (91.9 – 109%) — 50% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 4 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 177-208 (83.8 – 98.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Politoed @Choice Specs
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpA
Modest Nature
– Surf
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Sleep Talk > Focus Blast

When I first thought about using rain in VGC 2014 I searched for the most efficient Politoed set. Bulky Politoed sometimes tends to become dead weight when it doesn’t have enough power. Scarf Politoed, even though it came as a surprise at first, didn’t have the the bulk I wanted. That’s when I thought, “Why not take full advantage of Politoed’s own rain?” To be honest, I have no regrets over this decision as the Politoed became a powerhouse, tearing holes in my opponents’ teams. The move I used the most was Surf, unless I had to focus on getting a KO with Scald. It is really not a good position for your opponent when they find themselves with both Pokémon under 50% HP, especially after the Fake Out from Ludicolo. I used Sleep Talk for extreme conditions at the first Regional. I only got to use it once and it worked perfectly. However, with the increase of Ferrothorn usage I decided to switch to Focus Blast which can provide me a win condition in case I have to get rid of Ferrothorn.

You’re more than welcome to try some offensive damage calculations from Politoed, and I’m sure you are going to like it.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Politoed: 177-208 (89.8 – 105.5%) — 37.5% chance to OHKO
• 52+ SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Politoed: 144-170 (73 – 86.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Politoed: 169-201 (85.7 – 102%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO

Ludicolo @Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 100 HP / 68 Def / 188 SpA  / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
– Fake Out
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Giga Drain

Ludicolo’s set is pretty common. It has enough EVs in Speed to outrun Choice Scarf Landorus in Rain, and the 188 Special Attack EV’s are there to have a chance to OHKO bulky Mega Salamence.

• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 100 HP / 68 Def Ludicolo: 140-165 (83.3 – 98.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 188+ SpA Ludicolo Ice Beam vs. 52 HP / 84 SpD Mega Salamence: 168-200 (94.9 – 112.9%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO

Ferrothorn @Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Atk / 108 Def
IVs: 0 spe
Nature Brave
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Leech Seed
– Protect

I really love this Pokémon. Ferrothorn was part of my team when I built my VGC 2014 rain team. This year after trying out the double mega with Venusaur and seeing standard results, I decided to find a substitute for it and I think Ferrothorn was the best decision I made all season.

I really want to thank Moises Briones (NekronV) for trading me this Ferrothorn, which bailed me out at the 1st Regional (I wasn’t able to breed for a 0 IV speed Ferrothorn). There is a curious story behind this Ferrothorn – this EV spread was built for my 1^st Mexico Regional, but after some confusion with another Ferrothorn I had and my distracted nature I used a different spread with the EV’s in Special Defense instead of Defense. Whoever watched the finals of the 1^st Regional will see how I realized I made this mistake, as Ferrothorn was supposed have a chance to survive Terrakion’s Close Combat.

Ferrothorn is one of the best anti metagame Pokemon in the format and one of the best ways to get rid of Kangaskhan. It is also the perfect Pokémon to deal with other Rain Teams. It works perfectly in rain as it can take Fire type attacks decently, but I would prefer to deal with its threats before sending Ferrothorn onto the field. Ferrothorn is also a great end game Pokémon since it can stall many Pokemon out with Leech Seed.

• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Ferrothorn: 150-176 (82.8 – 97.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Ferrothorn: 164-194 (90.6 – 107.1%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 108 Def Ferrothorn: 124-148 (68.5 – 81.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 148+ Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (95 BP) vs. 180 HP / 212 Def Sylveon: 140-168 (72.5 – 87%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Gardevoir @Sitrus Berry
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpA
Bold Nature
– Psychic
– Dazzling Gleam > Moon Blast
– Trick Room
– Ally Switch

Without this Gardevoir, all the magic of the team would be lost. I started using Trick Room with the rise in usage of Tailwind, as this team can take full advantage of the speed reversal. Even some opposing Trick Room teams feel the pressure as my team can use their Trick Room to its advantage.

Gardevoir was the perfect switch in for obvious Fighting type attacks directed against Kangaskhan or Ferrothorn. Additionally, Gardevoir could use Ally Switch with its +1 priority to take Fighting type attacks without many negative effects. I believe one of the best plays I could make was having Ferrothorn and Gardevoir on the field against Kangaskhan, since if the opponent would go for a Low Kick it would hit Gardevoir for minimum damage while Ferrothorn would attack with a Gyro Ball, or if the opponent opted for the Double-Edge/Return it would take Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet damage. I was able to use this play not just against Kangaskhan but any other attacker. If needed, Gardevoir would attack using her STAB moves.

Also, Gardevoir’s ability was necessary while using Surf with Politoed without any issues.

• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Gardevoir: 164-195 (93.7 – 111.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 196+ Def Gardevoir: 144-169 (82.2 – 96.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Gardevoir: 138-164 (78.8 – 93.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 60 SpA Gardevoir Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Scrafty: 168-196 (97.6 – 113.9%) — 81.3% chance to OHKO

Zapdos @ Weakness Policy > Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 36 HP / 64 Def / 212 SpA / 196 Spe
IVs: 30 Def
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Heat Wave
– Tail Wind
– Roost > Hidden Power Ice

At the 1st Mexico Regional, I used a bulkier version of Zapdos so I could make sure I successfully got Tailwind up and secured a +2 Special Attack boost for some extra power. However, during the weeks prior to the 2^nd Regional I started to have a lot of trouble with the rise of Charizard Y usage and I wanted to increase my chances against those teams.

I tried to use Terrakion, Landorus-T, and Life Orb Thundurus, but I was a little afraid of having to deal with opposing Ferrothorns and I wanted to have my own Fire type attack.  I decided to go back to Zapdos but use a Life Orb this time, which would ensure that I would get the OHKO on most Bulky Charizard Y and Ferrothorn while outspeeding them. I personally prefer Hidden Power Flying so I can have a better matchup against Mega Venusaur (a Pokémon that gives me a lot of trouble), but I wasn’t able to get one in time. HP Ice was really helpful in some situations against Landorus-T during the tournament.

• 212+ SpA Life Orb Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Ferrothorn: 187-224 (103.3 – 123.7%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 212+ SpA Life Orb Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 182-218 (98.3 – 117.8%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

The Tournament

I really don’t want to extend too much, so I’m just going to leave my top 4 match against Daniel Nuñez (DannyTDS) and the Finals match that was streamed on Pokémex’s Twitch channel against Daniel Rivera (Zlatant). If you want to watch my whole journey in Top Cut for both regionals, I’m going to leave the Battle Codes at the bottom.

Top 4

Thank for the video – César Ramírez (Cesariego)

Finals

Closing and Acknowledgements

This year I started the season a little late and at that point I didn’t even think about having a chance to qualify to Worlds, but just like the saying over here goes, “Lo hecho, hecho está” (Editor’s note: this translates to “What’s done is done”), and I’m really happy with my results. I really hope that fellow Mexican players can qualify and attend Worlds so Mexico will get some representation. I also wish everybody from Latin America the best at Worlds.

I would like to thank PokéDF League for all the incredible experiences. Without them, I wouldn’t have reached the level I am at today. I would also like to thank my friend Luis Canseco (Chaivon) for all his advice and talks that we had since we met. Lastly, big thanks to my friend Cristopher Muñoz (Cris Torchic), who has always provided me with all his support.

Battle Codes:

Mexico 1^st Regional (April 2015)

• Top 8:

1. YQTW-WWWW-WW28-GGAP
2. KJGW-WWWW-WW27-G3SZ

• Top 4:

1. 8XTG-WWWW-WW27-G44H
2. 9ZCG-WWWW-WW27-G454

• FINAL:    YouTube

Mexico 2^nd Regional (June 2015)

• Top 8:

1. PAWW-WWWW-WW28-GGD5

The post Tlaloc’s Rain Room: Mexico Regional 1st Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Evening all, most of you won’t know me, but my name is James Kean and I’m fairly new to the competitive scene. A few of you may actually recognise my name, as I was featured in this year’s Italian Nationals preview article, and for those of you who are fans of free-for-alls, I’ve been in a couple of DuncanKneeDeep’s YouTube videos and live streams.

This report features the team I used at all five of the tournaments I attended this year and, with the exception of the Italian Nationals, I placed in top 32 in all of them, which included Top Cutting both the UK and the German National championships.

Finding Where to Start

Knowing where to start was probably the most difficult part of building a team. For the longest time I was adamantly against using other people’s teams, but eventually I got over myself and saw the benefits of using a team that had proved itself in the past. That’s a big part of why I wanted to write my own article, to help people the same way I was helped a year ago. In the end, I must have replicated at least six different teams I saw on Nugget Bridge. Some worked for me and some didn’t, but without that experience I wouldn’t have had a clue of what I’m doing now.To give credit where it is due, Crobert’s Perish Trap team and Prof Teak’s Worlds team were two teams that helped and influenced me the most.

At the start of the 2015 season I was still pretty new to competitive Pokemon. I had little experience in tournaments and barely even knew what Championship Points were. So, I set small, achievable goals: ‘I will take this year to learn about team building and hopefully I’ll improve enough to make an impact in 2016.’ But despite setting the bar for myself pretty low, I found myself getting nowhere with my teams, and it was frustrating. It wasn’t until I saw a YouTube video about “knowing your playstyle” that I actually decided to take a look back at the teams I mentioned earlier and what it was about them that worked for me.

The Original Team

The first tournament in the UK I found out about was actually the UK Regional Championships (I didn’t know Premier Challenges were even a thing until early May). It was there that I tested the first incarnation of the team. To say it has changed a lot would be an understatement, but the core concept and idea surrounding the team is still the same.

I really like control or ways that make the game less fun for other people. The basic idea behind the team was that I would limit their options with Shadow Tag while the rest of the team bothered them with speed control, sleep, and encore. I added Fake Tears to Liepard to get the surprise KOs on things when paired up with Gengar as well as  to make Suicune and Thundurus have a bit more of an offensive presence. And Terrakion… Well, Terrakion was just there.

Even with a less focused version of the team, I did quite well and managed to go 6 – 2 in the Swiss rounds, missing out on top cut due to tie-breakers. Despite this, it didn’t take much for me to see the massive flaws within the team.
Liepard and Breloom just don’t work. In theory they do, but in practice they’re frail, predictable, and don’t do much unless you’ve got a good bit of luck on your side. Suicune, while bulky and with  good coverage, it’s so passive that it just wasn’t pulling its weight on the offensive side of things.

The team on the whole was just too frail. If I lead incorrectly, I would be playing down because I didn’t have the bulk to switch and pivot around to improve my chances against what I was facing.

The Team

To say that I was unprepared for the German National Championships would be a massive understatement. I didn’t settle on the final members of the team until the morning of the competition. The only two that were still around from the original team were Mega Gengar and Thundurus.

Terrakion was replaced with Landorus-T, the extra support provided by Intimidate was something I was severely lacking and it fit nicely with Shadow Tag. It retained the same coverage, albeit sacrificing a little power for more utility. I added Heatran to deal with those pesky Steel types with Sucker Punch that kept giving me a lot of grief. Whimsicott seems so obvious now, but it took me longer to come to that conclusion than I care to admit. I wanted the shenanigans of Liepard, the speed support of Suicune, and the Grass typing of Breloom. Whimsicott was the best part of all three of those Pokémon rolled into one little handy puff. Breloom was powerful, but with a team more focused around Special Attackers there was a lot of weight on its shoulders to bring the pain on the physical side. Moreover, after just one Intimidate, Breloom just couldn’t really do anything anymore and banking on sleep turns was a risky game. Bisharp was suggested by a friend on the day before Germany and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It countered fairies, loved intimidate, and added more of that beautiful, beautiful priority to my team.

For the sake of my own convenience I’m going to only include the most up-to-date version of the team’s spreads and moves, because, as absolute display of unpreparedness would have it, most of my Pokémons’ EV spreads were wrong in Germany. Too many things didn’t out-speed what they were supposed to or live hits they were supposed to, it was just a mess.

Gengar @Gengarite
252 HP / 44 Def / 4 SpAtk / 28 SpDef / 180 Speed
Timid
– Protect
– Disable
– Perish Song
– Shadow Ball

I shamelessly stole this spread from Wolfe Glick two days before the UK National Championships, but it does things my original spread only wished it could, such as surviving -1 Landorus EQ. The speed investment is to out-speed Jolly, max speed Mega Salamence.

I started out using offensive Mega Gengar, but the more and more I used it, the more I got disappointed when I couldn’t even take resisted attacks. Gengar, even without any special attack investment, is still stronger than most things.

Perish Song might seem like an odd choice on the team, but I put it there as a way of dealing with annoying pokemons that are hard to OHKO or double KO. Before adding it, I ran Will ‘O Wisp, but changed it before Germany. Burns are always nice, and it’s probably my favourite status, but the amount of times I missed the WoW, and Gengar fainted because of it, meant I had to re-assess its value.

I did, however, miss Sludge Bomb at first, but Disable opened up a lot more opportunities for Gengar and the rest of the team. While I lost the ability to hit Kangaskhan, I could disable it, Perish Song, and then just forget about it for a while until it went down whilst dealing with its partners.

Whimsicott @Focus Sash
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Speed
Timid
– Tailwind
– Fake Tears
– Encore
– Giga Drain

Whimsicott, the handy combination of all things right with the first version of the team. The spread is as standard as standard can be, but it does everything it needs to. Tailwind offers a lot more options, but is primarily there to get me away from those nasty Rock Slide flinches. Encore, alongside Disable and Shadow Tag, can create some very annoying situations for my opponents, thus limiting their options while I shuffle around and go on the offensive without fear. It also helps when I need to resort of Perish Trapping.

Fake Tears was one of my main forms of offence. The idea being to use it to get some surprise KOs. A lot of players have certain expectations when they see Whimsicott and Gengar, so they’ll switch (the turn I’m mega evolving) or be more aggressive leaving them open, and Fake Tears takes advantage of that. At the UK National Championships, I OHKO’d a grand total of four Cresselias in the first turn of the game.
Giga Drain was to give Whimsicott a bit more longevity as well as deal to deal with Gastrodon, which the team really didn’t like going up against very much.

Landorus @Choice Band
172 HP / 60 Atk / 12 Def / 36 SpDef / 228 Speed
Jolly
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake
– Superpower
– U-Turn

Landorus @Choice Scarf
68 HP / 132 Atk / 60 Def / 4 SpDef / 244 Speed
Adamant
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake
– Superpower
– U-Turn

The first Landorus was used during both German and UK Nationals. With an investment of 228 Speed, it out-sped max speed, neutral nature, base 100 pokemons; it guaranteed the OHKO on 4/0 Mega Kangaskhans; and it survived both Bisharp and weaker ice attacks. However, I changed into a Scarfed Landorus with different spreads, because I didn’t want to roll the dice against other Landorus’ Rock Slides.

The second Landorus spread was a gift from one of the United Kingdoms other top level Jamie, Jamie Miller (Blaze King7). The perks to this set are simple, but notable! It out-speeds max speed Scarf Heatran (as well as usually other Landorus since very few run max speed), it lives +1 LO Adamant Sucker Punch from Bisharp, and most importantly it is a Landorus.

The move set is pretty standard. Rock Slide is the best move in the game for a reason, though I must admit I had very few flinches over the course of all the tournaments. In all honesty, the most valuable move of cheeky Lando’s was U-Turn: pivoting during Shadow Tag, shuffling Intimidate, and just having an all-round good time.
With the exception of Water, Landorus and Heatran cover each others weaknesses almost perfectly – meaning I could usually switch without much fear.

Thundurus @Sitrus Berry
236 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpAtk / 76 SpDef / 76 Speed
Bold
– Taunt
– Thunder Wave
– Hidden Power Ice
– Volt Switch

Oh! Thundurs, my old friend, I should never have doubted you. Thundurus was one of the only two remaining members of the original version of this team, but I briefly subbed it out for Rotom-W for the Italian National Championships. I will try to include a video detailing my opinions on the brief change, but if I don’t, it means I couldn’t figure out how.

The spread has that nice and golden even HP stat, so Super Fang will activate my Sitrus Berry. The defence allows it to live a Landorus’ Stone Edge, with Rock Slide being a 3HKO after Sitrus Berry. The speed speed creeps things that are speed creeping Smeargle, and the rest was added into SpDef.

The moveset is for the most part fairly standard, with the exception of Volt Switch over Thunderbolt. The drop in power is notable, but it allows for a lot more opportunities alongside Shadow Tag. It also means that in situations where I need to Perish Song in order to get past a particularly problematic pokemon I don’t have to worry about Thundurus not having Protect to stall turns.

Bisharp @Life Orb
4 HP / 252 Atk  / 252 Speed
Adamant
– Protect
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Knock Off

Bisharp was the last member to be added to the team, and honestly I don’t know how I managed without it. It adds a completely alternative style to the team by itself, with potentially ridiculous levels of offensive pressure. Bisharp is effectively the replacement for Breloom, even though they function as very different pokemons. While I did like Breloom – Spore was nice, as were both of its STAB moves -, whenever it was Intimidated it was effectively dead weight. Bisharp, on the other hand, does not have that problem. Bisharp with even just a +1 boost forces your opponent to play differently if they want to get by it unscathed.

Everything about the set screams standard cookie cutter Bisharp, but it is one of those Pokemon that doesn’t need to do anything fancy in order to be effective or be a threat. Its STAB moves offer the mostly reliable way of dealing with both Fairy and Ghost types, which was something the team struggled with beforehand.

When I was adding Bisharp to the team, I initially thought I was being the craftiest person alive with a last ditch Fake Tears from Whimsicott to give me a free +2 when my back is against the wall. Luckily, it was pointed out to me that that doesn’t actually work before I accidentally gave myself less of a fighting chance.

Heatran @Safety Goggles
44 HP / 4 Def / 204 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Modest
– Protect
– Heatwave
– Ancient Power
– Earth Power

Ah, Heatran! I added it because I really did not like facing Amoonguss with its Spore and redirection and because with the beta version of the team Mawile just laughed at me. Although I do like its defensive typing a lot, I initially considered Arcanine for this slot.

Ancient Power might seem like an odd choice on a non-scarfer, but I really don’t like Mega Charizard Y.
The EVs are fairly simple. I didn’t want to be under-speeding rival Heatrans and even with the amount of speed control on my team, I’d rather have the option to win the speed-tie than not. The 44 HP / 4 Def means that it can live Adamant Mega Kangaskhan’s Low Kick at -1, though the only time that situation ever arose it got a critical hit, so if it’s really worth it or not is debatable.

I’m still trying to decide whether I want to run Flamethrower over Heatwave or not. I really don’t like Heatwave’s shaky accuracy (I swear I’ve missed more than I’ve hit), but the spread damage is nice. Especially when I can Fake Tears whichever side is giving me the most bother. Catching things like Landorus on the switch is nice since at -2 with Fake Tears, Heatwave has a 31.3% chance to OHKO the spread I use.

Leads and Using the Team

The leads are pretty much exactly what you’d expect from looking at the team. Mega Gengar plus guest or double genie. Gengar is 9/10 times what I want to lead with (if I’m bringing it to the match), because getting that early Shadow Tag can really disrupt the opponent.

If the opponent has a nasty looking physical attacker, Gengar/Landorus was the choice to make. While getting that intimidate off, I’d mega and trap them, and usually U-Turn to cycle the intimidates.
Whimsicott was for situations where I felt like the team looked easy to exploit with Encore and Disable, or if they had a Cresselia. Scoring the surprise first turn OHKO on Cresselia before it can do anything can sometimes decide the game right from the get go. In fear of the Encore, it also pressures my opponent to make decisions they wouldn’t normally make with their leads. If Whimsicott got Parting Shot, I would have been the happiest man alive.
Thundurus does essentially what Whimsicott does, but with different moves. They’re useful for very different situations, but when paired next to Gengar the goal is the same.

Double Genie was the lead of choice when using “good stuff” mode of the team, on occasions where I didn’t bring Gengar and Whimsicott at all, or only brought Gengar, but conserving him was key. I don’t feel like I need to explain to you why these two are a good lead pairing.

The team on the whole works best when you’re playing it aggressively. VoltTurning for momentum, Fake Tearing to create more pressure on the opponent to Protect, and then punishing them for going on the defensive with Encore and Perish Song. Bisharp adds to this pressure with Sucker Punch (especially when at +1), meaning they’ll be reluctant to go for the attack if they know a Sucker Punch will KO, thus forcing them into a situation of deciding to either go down to Sucker Punch, or do nothing because of Encore.

The team doesn’t lose to opposing Perish Trap teams either, as in absolute dire straights (or if you can’t predict where the Eject Button pokemon is switching in) it can VoltTurn on itself.

The Struggles

There are two pokemons in particular that I’d like to mention which are the ones I have the hardest time dealing with.

The first,

“But Jamie, you have the three best checks to Charizard on your team. Don’t be such an idiot.”
Why yes outspoken reader, I do. The problem though is every good Charizard-Y has the supporting cast to deal with those three Pokemons exclusively. Meaning, I usually have to deal with them before Charizard does too much damage. Which is difficult! The best way to deal with it, is to hopefully lock it into a move that’s going to be doing nothing for it or Disable Heat Wave, and buy yourself some time while you deal with its supporting cast.

The second,

Milotic is an actual pain. It wasn’t so much of an issue in Germany and the UK Nationals, but its increase in popularity was one that I did not welcome. While it doesn’t do a lot of damage to any of my team members without the competitive boost, dealing with it without giving it that boost is not an easy feat. I also end up reluctant to Shadow Ball with Gengar, because I fear the accidental Sp. Def drop. I can’t pivot Landorus around at all, because I’ll make it a problem, and I can’t deal with it quickly enough with Whimsicott or Thundurus without Fake Tears support. Heatran doesn’t like Water and Bisharp doesn’t like Fire. Once again,  it is something that can only be dealt with smoothly by either Encoring or Disabling or both. Though again, how easy that’s going to be depends on what’s in Milotic’s corner.

I’m going to give an honorable mention to Aromatisse. I have only faced one in my time, but before that battle I didn’t realize Aroma Veil blocks Disable. I now know better. It severely limits the amount of shenanigans I can go for.

Closing Comments

This was the first team I’ve ever truly built myself, and to have had so much success with it has been a satisfying ride. It has secured me my first ever World Championships invite, which three/four months ago when I went to the the first tournament felt like nothing more than a pipe dream. I want to do it justice and retire it by putting it out there for everyone to see, because of just how proud I am of it.

I hope you enjoyed reading my team report. I have always wanted to write my own as I read every single one published. It’s always been a personal dream to be able to write my own report and I’m so excited for when it finally gets published. I hope it helps people in the way other team reports have helped me, and I really hope I end up facing someone using it on Battle Spot or Showdown.

The post Mr. Top 32 or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Shadow Tag appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello! My name is Jackson Lakey, but some of you might know me as FamousDeaf. I’ve played competitive Pokemon since late 2011, with my best friend Nicholas Steer (IncredibleChaos) who initially introduced me to the VGC format and I loved it.

Over the past few years, I’ve watched the best players on YouTube, Pokemon Showdown and Live tournaments on Nugget Bridge, and I’ve learnt a lot of stuff from them. In 2013, Australia finally got events that were sanctioned and contributed towards the World Championships. I was a semi-finalist in the Melbourne Regional and top 16 in the National for that year. The format for the events that year were unfortunately single-elimination, but things improved with the structure of events moving ahead to 2014 and this year.

While I was testing on Pokemon Showdown for VGC 2014 I came to find I hated the format because it restricted me too much. I couldn’t find any teams that I completely enjoyed using, and while Charizard-Y/Garchomp or Mega Tyranitar/Amoonguss were decent for me, I still was not 100% satisfied. I had no passion and no motivation for VGC 2014. I didn’t have a good result from either regional or national events in 2014. I decided to have a long break until the next format because of it.

When I found out the format for this year, I came back from my self-imposed break. I really enjoy the format and I wanted to get good results from the regional and national events I planned to attend. Before regionals, I knew I needed to build a good team and test it with the help from the Delphox Cubs. As a result of my preparation, I made top 4 at the Melbourne regional and I was pretty happy about it.

When the Australia National was announced to be a Best-of-three Swiss, me and fellow Australian CatGonk went absolutely crazy on Facebook and Twitter.

Australia Metagame analysis:

Australians have this massive love affair with using Mega Kangaskhan, Breloom, Landorus-T, Thundurus-I, Heatran, Sylveon and Suicune, so these were key Pokemon to bear in mind while team-building. I knew I wanted to have a good match-up against the common archetypes such as Sun, Rain, Trick Room and general good-stuff teams.

Australia’s metagame also tends to have some unorthodox choices; they used random Pokemon such as Whiscash, Serperior and other lesser used options in the regional events. I wanted to make sure to not lose against those sorts of teams.

Because of the nature of best-of-three swiss is affecting players’ decision-making, most would want to go with the safe Mega Kangaskhan and friends, standard sand team or other team archetypes. The Best-of-three format would help to remove a significant portion of the gimmicks and unorthodox Pokemon choices.

Teambuilding and Decision Process:

I was testing a lot of various cores such as Mega Salamence/Raikou, Mega Metagross/Hydreigon/Landorus-T, Mega Charizard-Y/Landorus-T, Mega Kangaskhan/Clefable and lot of other things.

I used this team in the PokeMelbourne tournament and came 2^nd overall. This was a really good team and suited my play-style. However the metagame had shifted, with Mega Metagross much weaker compared to the start of the season due to Aegislash, Heatran, Scrafty as well as the Japanese sand team. The team itself was also really weak to Mega Charizard-Y with Icy Wind support and Rain teams in general. I decided to scrap that team.

I used this team on a WiFi Easter VGC tournament, specific to Australian players, where I made top cut and lost to Luke Curtale (Dawg) in top 4. However I was still not happy with my team and decided to scrap it as well as I wasn’t enjoying using it or found it comfortable.

I decided to find a draft team that I was really successful with on Battle Spot, Pokemon Showdown and the live tournaments.

The dual-mega team is a good option but I prefer to have one mega evolution where possible on a team so that I can focus my support around it. Mega Salamence is my favorite mega to use because it’s perfect for my play-style. It has the Intimidate ability, a reliable recovery move in Roost, and is able to set up with a boosting move, have the bulk to survive and is able to hit hard as a result. That’s what I want with everything. I wanted to protect Mega Salamence better otherwise I would have a hard time to find the momentum to deal with the biggest threats

I replaced Mega Charizard-Y for Heatran and Aegislash for Clefairy, and was really happy with how they fit. Heatran is able to control the board with Substitute and is able to do good damage. Clefairy is a good Pokemon for Mega Salamence because of redirecting the myriad of Ice and Dragon-type moves among many to allow Mega Salamence to set up. Heatran/Salamence/Clefairy is a good Dragon/Fairy/Steel core. Additionally Heatran and Salamence have a good offensive and defensive synergy.

I was not happy with Ludicolo and Terrakion because Ludicolo is not good Pokemon anymore. Most of the time, Ludicolo was dead weight and doesn’t carry enough offensive pressure. Terrakion has good STABs and was able to apply offensive pressure and provide a supportive role with Quick Guard and Taunt. However, a combination of its best match-ups, Mega Charizard-Y, Talonflame and Bisharp dropping the usage and the Japanese Sand team becoming a thing, meant that Terrakion struggled to carve out a purpose for itself. Terrakion was a mediocre Pokemon in today’s metagame. Me and the Delphox Cubs had a discussion about them; they agreed with me and so I dropped them both.

I was looking for Pokemon that threatened Water-types, Mega Kangaskhan, Heatran, Tyranitar and many Pokemon besides. Virizion was the perfect Pokemon, acting as a perfect partner for Mega Salamence and Heatran on the team. Virizion and Salamence can also apply a lot of offensive pressure.

At this stage, I had one slot available for my team. I was looking at bulky Water-type such as Swampert, but none really were a good fit onto my team. I needed to find another Pokemon able to give more protection for Mega Salamence to fulfill its role. I was talking with the Delphox Cubs about this, and Catgonk was suggesting me to test Aegislash again now that the team had changed. I decided to have another go with Aegislash. Its ability to provide Wide Guard support to protect my team from spread moves and more switching options was incredibly helpful. I had double Steel-types on the team, Heatran and Aegislash, but they are doing different functions. Aegislash was a perfect Pokemon for my team.

Finally, I finished my team and I was pretty happy about it!

The Squad

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 52 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature

– Dragon Dance
– Double Edge
– Protect
– Roost

Salamence my favorite mega evolution for a good reason. Dragon Dance allows me to set up when it’s next to my re-direction or when the opponent’s Pokemon can’t do much to it and it’s able to bring more offensive pressure after the Dragon Dance. I prefer Double Edge over Return (or Frustration if your that sort of trainer) because it can OHKO a lot of Pokemon at full HP, or after some chip damage with without a boost. It’s able to OHKO bulky Sylveon and some Mega Charizard-Y too. Protect is an obvious move, it allows me to scout an opponents’ move and allow Salamence to mega evolve without taking unnecessary damage. Roost is a filler move that is more defensive. It provides a better end-game option against threats such as Rotom-W, Bisharp (without defiant boost) and Heatran (without Flash Cannon) and provides survivability. While Earthquake is a good move to hit Heatran, my team only has one immunity to Earthquake in Thundurus-T, and it was the least used member in both the regional and national.

Defensively, it has a high chance to survive two Rock Slides from 0+ Attack Terrakion. It’s able to survive some Suicune’s Ice Beam occasionally, depending on the investment into Special Attack, and also some random Hidden Power Ice users, but I normally retreat it rather than taking the hit. The 20 Sp.Def was leftover, it’s allowed to take a special hits bit better. After Dragon Dance, it can outspeed everything relevant in the metagame. It’s able to outspeed Jolly Breloom in Tailwind after a single Dragon Dance which it’s important because Breloom is everywhere in Australia. It is able to 100% OHKO 252 HP Sylveon unless it is EV’d to survive my Mega Salamence’s Double Edge.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

– Flash Cannon
– Shadow Ball
– King’s Shield
– Wide Guard

Aegislash is a really good Wide Guard user, with plenty of resists and immunities. Aegislash’s ability to resist Ice, Dragon and Fairy-type moves, as well as Rock Slide are really important factors for my team. It has a nice synergy with Salamence by being able to protect my Salamence from spread moves plus the Ice and Dragon-type moves. Wide Guard is one of the best moves in VGC at the moment; it’s really important to have.

Aegislash’s move-set is straightforward, the Weakness Policy is used as Aegislash is able to take a ‘Super Effective’ move and can retaliate hard. I wanted my Aegislash to outspeed other Aegislash, as Mega Salamence’s Double Edge and Aegislash’s Shadow Ball onto opposing 252HP Aegislash comes pretty close to a guaranteed knockout. I’m not that bothered whether the Sylveon is faster or slower than my Aegislash, its unlikely to be a threat in the long run.

I’m almost always bringing Aegislash against Trick Room teams because it is able to threaten Cresselia while being slower than it. Wide Guard is amazing in Trick Room match-up, it’s able to protect my team from Abomasnow, Camerupt and Rhyperior as they are the main Trick Room sweepers that are seen.

Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

– Heat Wave
– Earth Power
– Protect
– Substitute

My Heatran is a pretty standard set. I love Heatran’s ability to control the board with Substitute. I felt like outspeeding Breloom and Smeargle are really important. I couldn’t see how I needed the Modest nature to have more damage output and Timid Heatran felt like a good choice for my team. Substitute allows me to set up on Amoonguss that try to get off a crafty Spore and provides me the potential to set-up a better match-up against Trick Room.

I tested Flamethrower and Fire Blast for Heatran’s primary STAB, but I feel like spread moves are an important tool to have on a team, and the team would otherwise lack a spread move. I needed it because it’s able to do some damage on both opposing Pokemon to allow Mega Salamence, Thundurus-T and Virizion to pick up key knockouts. Earth Power is there to hit opposing Heatran, Tyranitar and those Aegislash that attempt to use Wide Guard.

Virizion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

– Close Combat
– Leaf Blade
– Stone Edge
– Protect

The fact that Mega Salamence and Heatran have problems with Water-types such as Rotom-W and Suicune, the need for something to cover this issue. Hence choosing Virizion for the team, who can deal with them effectively. I used Virizion over Breloom because the 108 base Speed is really important to outspeed Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Charizard-Y and Timid Heatran since it’s become popular, all of which usually outspeed Breloom. I also don’t really like Breloom either, because it doesn’t fit my playstyle. Virizion is a decent Pokemon to deal with Thundurus-I, able to largely tank hits and reply back with Stone Edge.

Mega Salamence and Virizion has one of the best offensive synergies in my team, they cover each other to beat a lot of Pokemon. Life Orb is needed to hit extra hard with its various attacks; to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan unless it runs a crazy bulky setup. The move-set itself is standard. I was testing various moves in the 3^rd slot such as Taunt, Quick Guard and Double Kick. I felt that hitting Thundurus-I and Mega Charizard-Y with Stone Edge is important, thus I chose Stone Edge. The Grass-Type legendary continues not to disappoint.

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Evs: 236 HP / 212 Def / 12 SpA / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

-Protect
-Moonblast
-Follow Me
-Helping Hand

I used this Clefairy in Regionals because its Friend Guard ability is amazing and provided support to my other team members. Moonblast is just for chip damage without being completely dead-weight from Taunt. The remainder of the move-set is straightforward enough. The EV spread is one from the Nugget Bridge forum that I found. It can survive Bisharp’s Iron Head, Aegislash’s Flash Cannon a large majority of the time, Mega Kangaskhan’s Double-Edge, Mega Salamence’s Double-Edge and Life Orb Heatran’s Flash Cannon most of the time.

I was not happy with Clefairy in Regional because it’s being dead-weight in lot of matches in the Regional. It lacks any presence in the team preview stage, because it has a lack of Ice Beam, Sitrus Berry and the Unaware ability. I was desperate for Ice Beam and Sitrus Berry, so I decided to replace it for its evolved brethren for those benefits.

Clefable @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unaware
EVs: 244 HP / 164 Def / 28 SpA / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature

– Ice Beam
– Protect
– Follow Me
– Helping Hand

Clefable is one of the best Follow Me users in the format. This Clefable is a carbon copy of DaWoblefet’s, with investment in what it needs to survive hits from Bisharp, Life Orb Heatran’s Flash Cannon the majority of the time and Aegislash’s Flash Cannon. In response, it’s able to OHKO Landorus-T the vast majority of the time which is very important with it being practically everywhere. I feel like Helping Hand is important move to allow other team members to OHKO Pokemon such as Cresselia and Suicune, among other bulky options.

Sitrus Berry is an important item for Clefable because I want to be able to use multiple Follow Me’s compared to those that run Rocky Helmet and Safety Goggles. Being able to support for more turns with Helping Hand to boost my Pokemon’s attacks also cannot be understated.

Follow Me allows to Mega Salamence to orchestrate my plans to set up without worrying about any potential Ice Beam’s and Dragon-type moves. You never want to let Salamence set up and sweep or rack up a lot of damage your team if your an opponent, so Clefable allows me to apply pressure via Salamence. It’s not just Mega Salamence though, it can support everything on my team. It proved to be a pretty good replacement for Nationals, I am really happy with how it worked out.

Thundurus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature

– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Grass Knot
– Volt Switch

Thundurus-T is my least used team member, but it’s good at what it needs to do. Thundurus-T is important to use against Landorus-T, Thundurus-I, Mega Salamence, Mega Charizard-Y, Suicune and Talonflame. It’s able to protect my Salamence from Thunderbolt and Thunder Wave, as well as the other big threats in Thundurus-I, Zapdos and Rotom-W.

The move-set are standard for a Choice set. Grass Knot is important because it has an 88% chance to one-shot 4/0 Terrakion, Swampert and Rhyperior. Volt Switch is a good move for my team, it lets me to maintain or gain momentum with it. I can switch out Salamence and use Volt Switch then switch in Salamence for second Intimidate or one of the Steel-types on my team. I wanted to keep it simple with Thundurus-T’s EV spread because I couldn’t see how it needed any bulk.

If I were to use my team again, I would look to test Zapdos, Thundurus-I and Rotom-W in this slot to provide better support and switching options, which my team would appreciate.

Team Synergy

Heatran and Aegislash are the Steel-types here but as I mentioned earlier, they serve completely different functions. They both provide good switching options. Aegislash is able to use Wide Guard to protect Heatran from Earthquake. Heatran and Aegislash can be used as a lead against Landorus-T, force it to use Superpower on Heatran and therefore Salamence can switch in, then look to set up on it or Intimidate Landorus-T to allow Aegislash to take a -1 Earthquake and OHKO Landorus-T or the other opposing Pokemon with +2 Shadow Ball or Flash Cannon.

Salamence/Heatran/Aegislash was used a lot in both the Regional and National events; they can win a lot of games against inexperienced and experienced players, and they are a really good core to use.

This core provides a lot of offensive pressure by being able to set-up Substitute and Dragon Dance. Virizion is able to beat Water-types, Tyranitar, Heatran, Mega Kangaskhan and Hydreigon relatively easily. Mega Salamence is able to beat Talonflame, Sylveon, Landorus-T and soften up a lot of physical attackers with Intimidate. Heatran is able to beat Aegislash and switch into Mega Charizard-Y, with the possibility of catching a Flash Fire boost. They all cover each other offensively and defensively so well.

Clefable is arguably one of the best options in providing a good support, and on this team its role is protecting Mega Salamence with Follow Me to allow it to Dragon Dance. This is a duo I often brought to games against someone who was weak or completely unprepared to deal with Mega Salamence and Clefable.

Honestly, every member of my team was able to work together, and no single member was the MVP because everything worked so well between them.

Threat List

This combination of Pokemon is one of my worst match-ups, and one that understandably I really hate. Mega Gardevoir is able to set up Trick Room or fire off an Icy Wind with Scrafty’s providing Fake Out support. Aegislash wouldn’t be able to protect my team from Hyper Voice for long because of Scrafty and Heatran. Both Matthew Jiwa (JiwaVGC) and Callum Witt (CruiseVGC) beat me with this setup in the Swiss Rounds. I couldn’t see how I can win against that team unless I make some crazy plays. That match-up is pretty harsh and borders on being an auto-loss, depending on the teammates that complete the roster.

I don’t like to play against Rotom-W, as I need to rely on Virizion and Aegislash to deal with it. I could try to get end-game scenario with Mega Salamence on Rotom-W. Wherever possible though, I need to remove Rotom-W as soon as possible, but its not biggest problem like Mega Gardevoir/Scrafty/Heatran.

I don’t like to play against Rotom-H either to be fair, but it depends on the item it holds. I don’t have any safe switch for it’s STABs and I don’t have a 100% accurate move that hits it for Super Effective damage — only Stone Edge does — which is an issue. If it has the Safety Goggles, it’s a bit easier to deal with it because I can damage it with Mega Salamence, Virizion and Heatran. Clefable can help by providing redirection on the Will-o-Wisp’s and attacks in general. If it’s using the Choice Scarf however, it’s worse for me, basically I would need to OHKO it quickly. Fortunately enough, I only had to battle one Rotom-H at Nationals.

You may be sitting there thinking that my team is bit weak to Landorus-T, but it has a good match-up against it because Heatran can be sat next to Aegislash and threaten to Wide Guard. I also have options all round; Clefable’s Ice beam, Mega Salamence in general, Thundurus-T and Virizion are all great against it.

Matchups:

Sun:

• My team has a really good match-up against Sun teams.
• I need to scout out my opponents’ Mega Charizard-Y to see whether it has Hidden Power Ground.**
• I need to find out what items are being held on opposing Heatran and Landorus-T if the opposing team has them.
• Aegislash can be really useful if the sun team is reliant on spread moves, particularly from the likes of Landorus-T, Mega Charizard-Y and Heatran who are commonly seen.
• Mega Salamence and Heatran are almost always brought in the battle with such a team.

Rain:

• Salamence and Clefable is a pretty good lead against the common Politoed and Ludicolo/Kingdra and using Follow Me and Dragon Dance then allows Salamence to outspeed Ludicolo. Mega Salamence is unable to outspeed Kingdra after a Dragon Dance, but I can use Double-Edge to OHKO Kingdra anyways.
• Aegislash is pretty important if the rain team have either Mega Metagross or Mega Mawile.
• Thundurus-T is a good Pokemon to bring against the rain team with the likes of Landorus-T and Thundurus-I.
• Virizion is a good Pokemon to use against a rain team with Mega Kangaskhan.

Mega Kangaskhan/Thundurus-I or Zapdos/Landorus-T/friends:

• This is one of the common team archetypes in the Australian metagame because it’s really successful and easy to use. It’s really important to prepare against them.
• Sometimes I don’t bring Mega Salamence against this kind of team, because Landorus-T can Intimidate it, with Thundurus-I and Heatran (if it has Flash Cannon) can threaten it.
• Aegislash and Heatran make a really good duo against teams that are similar to Chiron’s regional winning team, because it can limit the damage taken from Sylveon and Landorus-T.
• Virizion can be brought against this type of team as it can threaten Mega Kangaskhan and Heatran with Close Combat and the fact it outspeeds both under normal circumstances.
• Clefable can be helpful against Thundurus-I in combination with Mega Kangaskhan and Heatran. By using Follow Me, it can allow me to set up Substitute with my Heatran or assist Virizion without needing to worry about Thunder Wave.
• Thundurus-T is just really good against a double genies lead. Other than that, it’s not usually worth bringing.

Clefable/Mega Salamence:

• It’s a mirror match.
• I need to scout out whether the opposing Mega Salamence has Earthquake. Sometimes Heatran can prove to be really good against this team strategy.
• Thundurus-T is an amazing Pokemon against Mega Salamence because it outspeeds and use Hidden Power Ice before Salamence can do anything… unless it’s next to Clefable.
• Virizion is not usually bring against that archetype unless they have Terrakion/Bisharp/Suicune/Salamence pretty much on a single team. I did encounter them in Regionals. As long as I can remove Salamence from the occasion before I can bring it out, then it is a valuable pick.

Trick Room:

• This squad has a pretty decent matchup unless Mega Gardevoir, Scrafty and Heatran are all together, as previously mention in the threat list.
• Heatran and Aegislash are the best Pokemon my team has against Trick Room. Wide Guard is just amazing against Rhyperior, Abomasnow, Sylveon and many other Trick Room sweepers. Heatran is able to set up Substitute before Trick Room is set up, providing added security.
• Mega Salamence and Clefable can be brought against Trick Room due to Intimidate and putting pressure on a possible Scrafty and Amoonguss lead. Clefable can also use Follow Me to let Mega Salamence get free damage with Double Edge or even set up a Dragon Dance in last turn(s) of Trick Room.

Japanese Sand:

• This can be a tricky matchup because while a team of Heatran, Aegislash, Thundurus-T and Virizion is good against Mega Salamence/Excadrill/Tyranitar/Rotom-W/Aegislash/Amoonguss, they in return are good against my team.
• Heatran and Aegislash is amazing against the pair of Excadrill and Salamence because they are able to limit sweeping with spread moves.
• Virizion is normally a good pick against a sand team, as long as I can rid of Salamence and Aegislash specifically.
• Salamence and Clefable rarely brought, because the conventional sand team has 3-4 Pokemon that is resistant to Flying-type attacks. In addition, Excadrill and Aegislash effectively helps to render Clefable useless.

Mega Venusaur team:

• Mega Venusaur is uncommon in the Australian metagame but my team is usually has a good matchup against teams built around this behemoth.
• Heatran and Mega Salamence are almost 100% picks because they can force Mega Venusaur to play really defensively or switch out. The plan for the endgame is to force a situation where it’s their Mega Venusaur against either one of my Mega Salamence or Heatran.
• Aegislash is useful, it’s another Pokemon to switch into Mega Venusaur and is able to protect my Mega Salamence and Heatran from any potential spread moves such as from Landorus-T.

Event Summary:

My experience was amazing for both the Regional and National events I attended. The events ran smoothly, so thanks a lot to Jamie and his staff! I am looking forward for next season. I can say I’m really happy with my strong performance at Regionals and Nationals because I came back really strong from my horrible season that I endured last year.

I had some amazing matches across these events. I had one of my best battles with (Yourf) in the top 16 at Nationals, I just wish it was on stream or I could have saved the battle video of it. It was nail-biting and were really close matches. I also had a good battle against Sean Ronzani and Matthew Roey (RoeySK) in the Quarter and Semi-Finals of the National.

The staff asked me to battle with CatGonk for some exhibition battles. We weren’t serious in that battle. The battle had a huge amount of luck such as Ice beam freezing Zapdos and it let Mega Salamence set up a second Dragon Dance then the game was over quickly. His Heatran’s Flamethrower was devastating on my Virizion switch in. We had a lot of fun though and enjoyed our result, it was the perfect way to finish the amazing days we had.

Shout-out:

• The Delphox Cubs who helped me to build a team and suggested some Pokemon to try. They were able to provide the legendaries I needed to help me to build a team.
• (Dawg), (MitchVGC), (Yourf), (Zyihk), (BaseIn2), (ZeldaVGC), (UchihaX96), (ha1cy0n), (JiwaVGC) and many people who made the weekend so much fun and being able to catch up with them. We usually spend time chilling on a group Facebook chat. It’s sometime less than savory but it’s really fun nonetheless, and they did help me with a few things such as Virizion.
• Jamie, the Nintendo staff and TCPi whom organized the Regional and National events. They were run very smoothly and have improved from last year. I can’t wait to see you organizing the events for next year, I’m sure they will be bigger and better.
• Some people from Nugget Bridge and on Twitter who were supporting me during these events. I got sent numerous private messages saying congrats on making the Semis at Nationals. I really appreciate those who supported me.

The post A Deafinite Victory: Top 4 in Melbourne Regional and Australia National appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi guys, my name is Thomas and I am from Austria. After participating in both the Italian Regionals and Nationals I figured it was time for me to share the team I used in both tournaments. Since I tweaked Heatran’s item and EV spread after the Regionals I am going to include two spreads for Heatran.

Teambuilding Process:

After having a lot of success with Perish Trap in my  local community, I knew I had to use something similar to what I was used to, but in the 2015 metagame Perish Trap was easy to counter. I avoided this problem by using the enemy’s strategy to counter Perish Trap against them by building a team that looks like a Perish Trap team with regular Kangaskhan, like the one that was featured on Alex Ogloza’s YouTube channel at the time, to predict and counter the opponents lead. The first 3 Pokemon I added to my team were Gengar, Gothitelle and Kangaskhan; however, Gothitelle had little synergy here, until I got the idea to make the team a Trick Room Team. I built the the team so it would work well with and without the Trick Room to counter other Trick Room teams by either using their Trick Room against them or by surprisingly reverting it with Gengar. I added Sylveon and Conkeldurr to the squad to balance out some weaknesses and add 2 things that can do a lot of damage while Trick Room was up. The last Pokemon I used was Heatran. It covered a lot of the remaining weaknesses without adding more. It also provided much needed fire coverage and walled entire teams after I wiped out its counter with Kangaskhan and friends.

The Team:

Gengar (Trip with me) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Trick Room
– Shadow Ball
– Protect
– Will-O-Wisp

Gengar was my main Trick Room setter for the team. Although it seems squishy, the only ways to stop it from getting out Trick Room if I lead it with Kangashan are random flinches, Paralysis, Scrappy Fake Out, and Taunt users that cannot be Faked Out. Gengar did most of its work at 1 HP after it got up Trick Room. I would switch it out to preserve it for a fast Shadow Ball in the late game or Will-O-Wisp to cripple Landorus that desperately try to Superpower my Kangaskhan. The spread was pretty standard. I tried running a minimum speed Gengar, which was a horrible idea. It was too fast for Trick Room and too slow without it.

Kangaskhan (F) (Shadow Khan) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 244 HP / 92 Atk / 148 Def / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Low Kick
– Double-Edge
– Sucker Punch

For Kangaskhan I chose survivability over damage, because Double-Edge 2 hit KO’s almost everything that does not resist it and after the recoil my Gothitelle could revive all the damage it took with Heal Pulse. Low Kick was because I did not want to waste Trick Room turns boosting stats as it was difficult to set up Trick Room twice in one game if I chose to bring in Gengar over Gothitelle.

Heatran (Vulcan) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Heat Wave
– Substitute
– Protect
– Earth Power

For the Italy Regionals I knew that I needed my Heatran to deal with Mega Kangaskhan and all other fighting types. I chose to ditch this spread because Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan rose in popularity a lot and Chople Berry was basically useless. I also had troubles against other, faster Heatrans.

Heatran (Lava Cookie) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 196 HP / 172 Def / 76 SpA / 64 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
– Heat Wave
– Substitute
– Earth Power
– Protect

This is the Heatran spread I used in the Italian Nationals, since Chople Berry was outdated at the time and I needed a way to beat faster Heatrans in the turn I set up Trick Room without Protecting — a pretty obvious move that put me into a bad position often while testing. The spread takes Scarfed Landorus Earthquake and any Earth Power thrown at it. It can also get up a Substitute after taking a hit.

Sylveon (Fairy Tale) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 164 HP / 100 Def / 196 SpA / 44 SpD / 4 Spe
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Quick Attack
– Hyper Voice
– Protect
– Shadow Ball

Sylveon did exceptionally well in Regionals; however, it was the worst Pokemon on my team during Nationals. The whole metagame got a lot bulkier and Hyper Voice did almost no damage to neutral Pokemon.

Gothitelle (Love Me) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Trick Room
– Heal Pulse
– Helping Hand
– Psychic

I sadly only brought Gothitelle a handful of times because Gengar was a safer pick in most of my matches. However, it performed phenomenally in the matches I did pick it for. Heal Pulse made my Kangaskhan almost immortal and forced my opponent to try to deal with Gothitelle first. The spread takes a Choice Specs Dark Pulse from Hydreigon and was similar to the spread Cybertron used in the 2014 season. I used this spread because at the time of the Italy Regionals, Specs Hydreigon was the most common one on Showdown.

Conkeldurr (Nerf) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 44 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Drain Punch
– Mach Punch
– Ice Punch
– Knock Off

My Conkeldurr was used to deal with Aegislash, Kangaskhan and Mega Salamence while Trick Room was up. It also worked well with Gothitelle because I could Heal Pulse and Drain Punch to get most of my HP back. I also used it as my main Rain counter because it takes very little damage from Politoed and Ludicolo while profiting from burns due to Guts. This also qualified it as a switch in for opposing Will-O-Wisp. The moveset and spread are the standard for Assault Vest Conkeldurr and allows it to take Sylveon’s Hyper Voice without Choice Specs.

Conclusion

I was really happy with my placement in the tournaments, however the 9th place in Rome was rather unfortunate. I got 9th by 1 percent with a 5-2 score in swiss. Other that that I earned my Worlds invite this season and I definitely hope to achieve a reasonable placement there. I also want to thank a special group of people that helped me over the time of this season and helped me come up with some ideas that went into this team. Noah Fuchs (Daydreaming Ninja on NB, Kadoya on Twitter) Kelly MW (KellsterCartier) and Jip Snoek (keonspy)

The post Perish Trap was not the Trap! A 9th Place Italy Regionals and Top 32 Italy Nationals Team appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello there reader! Rapha “bagel bagel” Bagara here! I recently earned a second place finish at the US National Championships, losing to former World Champion Toler Webb (Dim) in the finals. Playing 18 best-of-three games, meeting people who were merely usernames to me before, receiving lots of support during the weekend; it was far and away the best experience I’ve in Pokemon ever.

I’ve always viewed myself as just another player in this community and I never could have imagined I would have this kind of run during what was considered the most difficult US Nationals ever.

Let me give you some background information on me as a player. I first started playing VGC just last season after I discovered it thanks to Worlds being hosted in my hometown of Vancouver in 2013. The first event I attended was a 50 person Premier Challenge where I lost to Randy Kwa (R Inanimate) and his villain-mode Smeargle in the finals. I attended another Premier Challenge two weeks later, but lost in top 8 because Bidier’s Ice Beam Kangaskhan froze my Aegislash (still salty!).

Over the past year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the BC community quite well and I even joined the VGC With Hats crew, a blog founded by two fantastic and accomplished players in Max Douglas (starmetroid) and Mark Hanson (Crawdaunt).

I’ve also met people I had known about online during regionals and, while I was having a very middling season before my miracle run during Nationals, I don’t regret the time and effort I’ve put in trying to earn a worlds invite. My near disastrous finishes during spring regionals (4-4 in Seattle, 5-3 in Kansas) taught me not to take opportunities for granted and I realized I needed to be more attentive in my practice if I wanted to salvage my season at Nationals.

Team Building

Sohaib once told me of Trick Room Mega Gardevoir with Amoonguss and I immediately dismissed it as being a dumb idea because of Mega Gardevoir’s high base speed (oops!). Months later, I saw Lajo using it and, after being better informed of how the team functions, I was immediately interested in trying the team structure for myself. Lajo used Hydreigon on his team, but training partners Spurrific and LPFan, who were both also trying the team, had decided that Scrafty was a better fit.

Some time after those two were using the team, Ray started streaming with pretty much the same Pokemon, and I copied his Super Fang Scrafty set. I created a version of the team that had Gardevoir / Amoonguss / Heatran / Scrafty / Landorus-T / Rotom-W and won the BC Invitational with it, going undefeated the entire way (check out my report of that tournament here!).

After I won the BC Invitational, however, I started to struggle while practicing for Nationals. I tanked on the BattleSpot ladder due to bad plays and new techs, like Safety Goggles Aegislash, that gave the team a rough time. Two weeks before Nationals, I started toying around with other teams, such as Charizard / Cresselia, and I even entertained the idea of bringing back MegaGross Rain. However, those ideas also led to nowhere in practice and I kept coming back to Gardevoir.

It was at this point that I decided to try Thundurus over Rotom-W. I liked Rotom-W over Thundurus in theory because its Water-typing was useful against Heatran and Landorus. However, I realized that I would play situations sub-optimally, acting as if Hydro Pump would always miss, and Rotom ended up being a massive weak link to the team. Thundurus was very helpful in its ability to Taunt problematic Pokemon like Aegislash and Breloom, while priority Thunder Wave and Swagger worked well in conjunction with Landorus’ Rock Slide. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this change meant that I ended up with the same six Pokemon as Ray, even though this team was originally taken from Lajo.

I used the team of Gardevoir / Amoonguss / Heatran / Scrafty / Landorus-T / Thundurus-I in the June International Challenge and had solid results, but the biggest thing I took away from the online tournament was that I had started to feel very comfortable with the team. I probably should have learned all my damage calcs but, overall, I knew exactly what I wanted to use for Nationals.

The team structure is something a lot of people are familiar with, so I’ll go over it quickly. The team relies on two different modes with Trick Room and Thunder Wave. Which mode I would go with largely depended on how easily I could set up Trick Room, how Amoonguss and Scrafty fared against my opponent’s team, and where Gardevoir’s speed stat lies relative to my opponent’s bigger threats.

For example, I wouldn’t care too much if my opponent had Pokemon like Suicune or Cresselia because they exert little offensive pressure against my team, but I would be more inclined to use Trick Room versus a team with Garchomp or Terrakion than one with a Sylveon or Mawile. These are very specific requirements, which is why I used Thunder Wave more often than Trick Room throughout the tournament, but having these two modes allowed this team to excel in the best-of-three format of US Nationals.

My go-to lead during the tournament was Landorus + Thundurus, because it had so few bad matchups and it was a combination that allowed me to pivot into even more favorable positions. Even in bad lead situations I could always U-Turn out with Landorus and start putting myself in a better position with Thunder Wave. Swagger was also used effectively to discourage my opponent from staying in to take advantage of a good lead.

If I wanted to set up Trick Room, the preferred lead was Gardevoir + Landorus. I could start the game with Intimidate and U-Turn out in order to have a turn two Fake Out with Scrafty and another Intimidate. Typically from there, in most situations, Scrafty would use Super Fang (or Knock Off on a Sitrus Berry holder) so that Gardevoir’s powerful Hyper Voice can get the KO. Alternatively, I could also bring Amoonguss out in Trick Room and start putting things to sleep quickly so that Gardevoir can get several uninterrupted attacks off in quick succession.

The Team

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Spd
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Psyshock
– Trick Room
– Protect

As expected, given that it’s my mega of choice, the team is centered around Gardevoir. I have double Intimidate to support its pitiful physical bulk and two forms of speed control to solve the problem of Gardevoir’s middling speed. Redirection from Amoonguss allows Gardevoir to attack more freely and Gardevoir pairs well with Heatran as Fairy / Fire / Ground attacks offer fantastic coverage.

I have tried Mega Gardevoir in the past, but was left largely unimpressed by its frailty. However, it’s a Pokemon that can shine in this archetype and I was glad that I didn’t face too many players that tried to counter this team with specific techs. The EV spread is pretty lazy, but I haven’t needed Gardevoir to do much else: 36 Speed is there to speed creep Bisharp after mega evolving, 252 special attack for maximum damage output, and the rest into HP for generic bulk. I chose Psyshock over the more powerful Psychic because a lot of opposing Amoonguss and Mega Venusaur are trained to survive Psychic already, so both attacks are only 2HKOes, but Psyshock allows me to hit Pokemon like Milotic, Sylveon, and Ludicolo for more damage.

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 108 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spd
– Giga Drain
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Protect

I honestly don’t think Amoonguss is a very good Pokemon. People have wised up to its antics and started using items like Safety Goggles, Rage Powder is greatly inferior to Follow Me, and lots of popular Pokemon, such as Charizard, Salamence, and Talonflame, have a field day against Amoonguss. On this team, however, there weren’t very many good alternatives, as redirection has become a staple on every team I’ve built and it helps set up Trick Room.

Under Trick Room, Amoonguss can Spore targets quickly to give Gardevoir free turns to use Hyper Voice. The set is incredibly standard, but I’ve been asked why I use Sassy nature with Rocky Helmet. I trained my Amoonguss to always survive the first hit from +2 Mega Kangaskhan’s Return without requiring Relaxed nature. Plus, I already have double Intimidate to help soften the blow from physical attackers. Amoonguss’ defenses are more split and choosing Sassy over Relaxed was more efficient. During the BC Invitational, I used an EV spread that mostly focused on just physical bulk, but I didn’t like how that spread was damaged by Sylveon so easily.

Heatran @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
– Heat Wave
– Flash Cannon
– Earth Power
– Protect

I don’t know whether I’m ahead or behind the curve with my use of Life Orb Heatran. Literally all the opposing Heatran I faced at Nationals had Shuca Berry. I like Life Orb a lot on Heatran because I felt that it would never quite hit hard enough without it. Also, yes, this Heatran is indeed Timid and max speed despite the team having a Trick Room option. I felt that if I leaned too heavily with making this team slow that I would have trouble handling Breloom and Bisharp. Also, given that this team uses Thunder Wave more, I was better off with speed over bulk.

The Trick Room portion of this team was mostly just Gardevoir / Amoonguss / Scrafty anyway. During the BC Invitational, I used Overheat over Flash Cannon, but I felt that this team needed more ways to deal with Fairies. I never needed Overheat during Nationals and Flash Cannon was useful beyond hitting Sylveon for good damage. Also, Heatran was the only Pokemon on this team that wasn’t significantly trained in defense, which follows the bulky-offense approach I went with when building this team.

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Fake Out
– Drain Punch
– Knock Off
– Super Fang

One half of the double Intimidate combo and an integral part of the Trick Room mode for this team. Scrafty helps set up Trick Room with Fake Out and, once the dimensions have been twisted, Scrafty supports Gardevoir a great deal by softening up Pokemon with Knock Off and Super Fang, making them even more vulnerable to Hyper Voice.

Relaxed Scrafty with max defense is an idea that I outright stole from Ray Rizzo. All that defense investment coupled with Assault Vest made Scrafty capable of taking hits from both sides of the spectrum and gave Scrafty great longevity to support the rest of the team. I never needed much attack investment, nor did I particularly care for burns, as Scrafty’s offense came primarily from using Super Fang. I generally don’t like Scrafty very much and it was my least used Pokemon during the tournament, but its role on this team was irreplaceable. It’s also difficult to overstate how good of a move Knock Off is in best-of-three play.

Landorus-T @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 164 HP / 20 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– U-Turn
– Superpower

This was my favorite set on the team, and Choice Band has always been my favorite item on Landorus. I didn’t have much use for Choice Scarf because I typically only like that item for the purpose of outspeeding Terrakion, but I already have plenty of options to deal with the Rock-type muskateer. Assault Vest was taken by Scrafty and Choice Band allowed me to forgo investing too much in Landorus’ attack, which in turn allows it to be heavily trained in speed and bulk.

This Landorus is able to survive an Ice Beam from 100 SAtk Suicune 100% of the time, survive a +1 Sucker Punch from Life Orb Bisharp, while still OHKOing Pokemon like Charizard and Kangaskhan that were trained to barely survive attacks from 252-Attack Adamant Choice Scarf Landorus. During the tournament, the use of Choice Band was most useful against all the Shuca Berry Heatran I faced. The moveset is standard, because this is still Landorus after all. I did consider Knock Off, but U-Turn allowed me to shuffle Intimidate better, as well as do neat things like reseting Scrafty’s Fake Out or healing Amoonguss with Regenerator while still keeping it on the field.

Thundurus-I @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 4 SAtk / 180 SDef / 68 Spd
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt
– Swagger

I hit 140 speed to outrun other Thundurus and, while I thought that this was excessive at first, I ended up facing three Thundurus that were faster than mine. This was a struggle to work around as I was heavily dependent on Thundurus to Taunt problematic Pokemon like Aegislash. For my Thundurus, I chose to invest heavily into special defense due to my team’s lack of concrete answers to Sylveon and because I already have double Intimidate. This Thundurus was trained to only be 3HKOed by Choice Specs Sylveon’s Hyper Voice but still maintains enough physical bulk to avoid a 2HKO from Landorus’ Rock Slide, even without Intimidate.

Though my team doesn’t have a way to hit Landorus for super effective damage, I chose to forgo Hidden Power Ice in favor of Swagger and this is a decision that I want to talk about a little bit. Though it gained a reputation as an amateur strategy, Swagger is a move that often has little downside when used and, even beyond its ability to win games from a sure-loss situation, Swagger can turn bad positions into neutral ones, neutral positions into positives, and positives into an insurmountable advantage. Preventing your opponent from moving even just once in a battle is a powerful tool, especially when stacked with Thunder Wave and Rock Slide. The worst thing it can do is discourage your opponent from trying to attack. This is especially true if I use Swagger on Aegislash. Despite missing Swagger a whopping nine times during the tournament, the move was still instrumental in allowing me to win matchups where I otherwise would have no chance.

Day 1

Round 1: Whitney Johnson (brokestupidlonely) (2-1W)

Round 2: Zach Droegkamp (Braverius) (2-1L)

Round 3: Ethan Simpson (2-1W)

Round 4: Sheryl Rummel (2-0W)

Round 5: Nathan Powell (Illuminatimon) (2-1W)

Round 6: Hanna Coder (2-1L)

Round 7: Walter Morales (Wally1021) (2-0W)

Round 8: Kyle Ayala (crazyck) (2-1W)

Round 9: Sohaib Mufti (sohaib) (2-1W)

I played very poorly versus Hanna Coder to drop to 4-2, and I legitimately feared that my tournament life would end because I put myself in a position where I no longer had any margin for error. Two rounds later, I played Kyle Ayala, who was making very strong reads that put me on the edge. Thankfully I was one step ahead when I needed to be and won a very close set. In round 9, I was paired up against friend and training partner Sohaib, who was using a team that I had a hand in putting together. It was a messy set because of double genie shenanigans on both sides, but I won based on a good prediction in the final turn of the final game. It was a shame that one of us had to knock the other out of the tournament.

Day 2

Round 1: Blake Hopper (Bopper) (2-1L)

Round 2: Nikolai Zielinski (Nikolai) (2-0W)

Round 3: Alex Underhill (Lexicon) (2-0L)

Round 4: Leonard Craft III (DaWoblefet) (2-1W)

Round 5: Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) (2-1W)

Round 6: Evan Bates (Veteran Padgett) (2-0W)

I lost to Blake in round 1, but playing that set gave me some insight on how to approach Charizard / Aegislash teams, which helped me win versus Leonard in round 4. In round 5 versus Gavin, Swagger really proved its worth as I won a very messy set. After beating Evan in round 6, I guaranteed myself a worlds invite with a guaranteed Top 16 finish.

I was on cloud nine. I played a lot of Pokemon that weekend and I was ecstatic that all my effort culminated to an invite to Boston. I celebrated with friends, watched the stream a little, and I didn’t think about anything other than the fact that I had earned the invite. I didn’t even think about top cut because of my 1-2 start. I didn’t want to trick myself and get my hopes up for top cut because the most important thing was that I had an invite. Did I mention I had a worlds invite?

The celebration lasted a fair amount of time because I finished the round 6 set quickly. After some time passed, Justin (Spurrific) had pulled up the standings and informed me that I had made top cut as the 8th seed.

Somehow, some way, despite my poor start, I was still moving on. The rest of the day disappeared in a blur. Eventually, it had sunk in that I made top cut and I realized that I would be playing against good friend and former world champion Hayden McTavish in the first round. At that moment I honestly would have been perfectly fine with getting destroyed since I was already happy to have made it this far but, of course, I still wanted to give it my best to go even deeper in the tournament. Anything less would be a waste of the opportunity. Also, man, my name still looks out of place next to everyone else in top cut.

I also want to talk about how much sheer, dumb luck helped me get into top cut. I got paired up and won in round 2 versus Nikolai, which helped my resistance tremendously. Meanwhile, the eventual 9th place finisher Aaron Liebersbach (Arch), who I edged out on the secondary tie-breaker, lost a pair down in round 5. A certain Volcarona user also mysteriously disappeared from competition when he was 3-1. Of course, if I wasn’t the one to have gotten lucky, it would have been someone else. I just wanted to express how grateful I was for the opportunity and that I didn’t squander it.

Top 8: Hayden McTavish (enigne)

Sadly, I have to start this section to acknowledge some of the unfortunate conversations Hayden and I had with other people. Hayden is typically reluctant to scout his opponent. He will often tell people that one of the major factors to his win at Worlds was because his final opponent refused to scout him. However, people had gotten in his ear about the scholarship prize for top 4 finish at Nats, how he he apparently had a fantastic team matchup versus me, and a certain former opponent of mine had told him that my Landorus had Assault Vest (which it most definitely doesn’t).

This all caused Hayden to think that he already had the set won and was pressured to do everything he could not to lose this set. Also, a mutual friend of mine and Hayden’s, Demitrios Kaguras (kingdjk) had accidentally blurted out to me that Hayden’s Aegislash did not have Wide Guard.

Mutual unsolicited scouting aside, Hayden is a fellow BC Invitational competitor and he had read my report on that tournament. Hayden had some crazy sets on his team, such as a Conkeldurr that didn’t carry Hammer Arm or Drain Punch. Also, his Salamence was trained to survive a Hyper Voice from my Gardevoir. I abused Swagger a fair bit in this set and, while it wasn’t anything like my set against Gavin, Swagger gave me a few crucial turns that allowed me to win this very close set.

Towards the end of game 3, Hayden said something along the lines of “that cost me $1500″ and I had no idea what he was talking about at the time, but he was referring to the scholarship, and “that” was his decision to scout me before our set started. He had known my Landorus had Choice Band and was capable of OHKOing his Heatran through Shuca Berry from my BC Invitationals report but, motivated to secure assurance, he had gathered team information to his detriment. I genuinely felt awful to see Hayden crushed after this set. Unfortunately, as a certain NPA manager once taught me: there are no friends once the round starts.

Top 4: Blake Hopper (Bopper)

After I won my top 8 match, I was immediately pulled aside to the play area that hosted Day 2 Swiss. I was honestly confused at what was happening, as I was hoping, and expecting, to be on the stage and stream. Blake and I weren’t being streamed and, instead, were relegated to one of the side TVs, much to my disappointment. I had badly wanted to get on stream, but I suppose it became another thing motivating me to win the set.

It really was too bad that this match wasn’t streamed, as I thought it was a phenomenal set filled with high level plays from both sides. Thanks to the close nature of this match, the atmosphere of the crowd that we gathered, the giddiness that Blake and I shared over the fact that we were in top 4 of US Nationals, this was probably the most fun set of games I had all weekend.

In game 1, I realized that I hadn’t actually revealed Heatran’s Flash Cannon during our Swiss match, and I was able to pick up a KO on his Sylveon on turn 1. I win game 1 handily with that early advantage. In game 2, I had given his Aegislash a Weakness Policy boost that allowed it to KO my Heatran. I don’t remember any particulars of game 3, but man, that game was the one I enjoyed the most all weekend because I was doing cartwheels in my mind over how I played. I felt that I was making off-the-wall reads that allowed me to win this set and I got to move on to the finals!

At this point I learned that everyone in top 4 earned a scholarship, not just the winner like I had previously thought. I also completely forgot that the finals were going to be played on the next day because I was still struck by how surreal everything was: I didn’t think too highly of my season’s performance before Nationals, but I now somehow found myself in the finals of what was widely considered the most difficult US Nationals ever. I was met with congratulations from everyone and it took some time for everything to sink in.

It’s worth mentioning that my opponent in the finals, Toler Webb, was also one of my roommates for the weekend. It would have been impossible for me to prepare if I had gone back to my own hotel room, so I spent the evening with Mark, Max, Hayden, and Demitri at their hotel in order to prepare for the finals. Preparation that night admittedly went nowhere, so when I finally returned to my hotel room, Toler and I had some awkward conversations because our teams were published online. I don’t think this sort of information really changed anything considering we had already shared a good deal of team information before we even knew we’d be facing each other in the finals, but it really was strange that our teams were posted before we even played. Toler even ran into someone online who had been using his exact six Pokemon.

The next day, nerves really had their way with me, as I had serious difficulty eating anything. We checked in at 10 AM but didn’t play until after 4 PM, so it was a solid 6+ hours for nerves to continue piling up. It was during this wait that I also realized that I really, really hate Wailord. I spent some time during the wait with Mark and Max to see how I should approach the upcoming matchup, and this time, we were able to assess certain things about the matchup that I thought would help me. Once the VGC matches had begun, excitement started to replace the nervousness that I felt and I was ready to finally play.

Finals: Toler Webb (Dim)

I know this is Nugget Bridge, but if I had any regrets about the weekend, it is that I wish I would have played better in the finals. Apologies to the viewers and Toler for not making the best plays. For those wondering why I chose to Super Fang Landorus instead of Gardevoir at the end of game 3, my answer to that is that I was already in a losing position and KOing Gardevoir sooner wouldn’t help the situation. If I chose to Super Fang Gardevoir, the best that could have happened is that I lose Scrafty in exchange for Gardevoir and I would then lose to timer against Landorus since my Thundurus had no way to touch it.

I needed Gardevoir to not attack so Scrafty could KO Landorus with Super Fang and then Knock Off. Had that happened, Thundurus would have had enough turns to KO Gardevoir. What I should have done in that game prior to that scenario, though, was conserve my Gardevoir and Heatran better. I fully acknowledge that played them recklessly and lost the game and set as a result. Props to Toler for the Helping Hand + Earthquake play, though. I did not see that coming and it gave him a huge advantage.

Congrats once again to Toler for his incredible performance that weekend, as he truly deserved his National title. I was genuinely happy for his win and, if I had to lose to anyone in the finals of such a large and high level tournament, it would be to him. In the end, only one of the two Mega Gardevoir users could take home the title! America won, Swagger lost, and the VGC With Hats crew keeps the second place finish streak alive.

See you guys in Boston,

Rapha

The post We Stand on Garde for Thee: 2015 US Nationals Runner Up Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey everyone! My name is Alberto Lara, and I go by CaliSweeper/Sweeper online (just call me Alberto though). I will give a quick competitive background on myself before I get into it. I have been playing Smogon OU since the release of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl in 2007, and I got into VGC during VGC14. I have been a fairly consistent player top cutting 5/8 Regionals I have attended, and winning 2 Regionals along the way. I typically keep to myself when it comes to both the Smogon and Nugget Bridge communities, but I decided why not write a team report (you can also thank GENGARboi for hassling me to write one a while now). Basically I will cover the team I have used the whole season in 3 different sets of tournaments, Winter Regional, Spring Regional, and Nationals. Anyways let get straight into it, considering this is a thorough report.

Origins of the Team

I will make this short and sweet. Salamence is one of my favorite Pokémon, Mega Salamence was broken in ORAS OU, so it should be good in VGC 15. Sylveon did well during VGC 14.5 I heard (I did not play this format), it is a Fairy type, so I threw it onto the team. Might as well use a steel type to complete a fairy/dragon/steel core, Ferrothorn seems cool. Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian is the most used Pokémon in OU, so I should add it to the team. Rotom-W is bulky, and lets me abuse Earthquake. I want to deter intimidators for my Salamence, Landorus-Therian, and Ferrothorn, so Bisharp fits the job. The team was created the day VGC15 rules were announced, in about 1 hour, and I stuck with it because of my lack of enthusiasm for VGC at the time. The team was surprisingly very solid for a first draft and little testing. Moving on to Winter Regional.

SoCal Regional

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Ability: Inner Focus
Adamant Nature
– Double-Edge
– Low Kick
– Fake Out
– Sucker Punch

This slot was originally a Bisharp, but I changed it the morning of the tournament. I changed it to have an easier time dealing with Bisharp, and for a double mega option. I chose an Adamant nature, because it was what I had ran in VGC14. Adamant with Fake Out was a terrible choice, and protect would have been the better option. I auto lost the mirror match most of the time, since most Kangaskhan were Jolly. I remember leading off with Kangaskhan, getting faked out, getting low kicked turn two, and getting zero value out of my Kangaskhan during one of the rounds. The spread was simply meant to maximize damage output, and catch opponents off guard with Adamant Double-Edges.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Levitate
Calm Nature
0 Atk IV
– Hydro Pump
– Thunderbolt
– Protect
– Will-O-Wisp

Defensive Damage Calculations

• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 82-97 (52.2 – 61.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 132-156 (84 – 99.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 135-159 (85.9 – 101.2%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO

Rotom-W was put on the team to help my Landorus-Therian be able to use Earthquake easier, and to have a bulky water type. The spread was meant to be able to take most power special attacks, and the rest was put into bulk for physical attackers. I am not a big fan of the spread, since it does not out speed Adamant Life Orb Bisharp. Bisharp out speeds Rotom-W, uses Knock Off doing 63 – 75.1% (+ an extra 25% if you count the Stirus Berry that is lost), and Rotom-W only has an 85% chance to burn it with Will-O-Wisp. I would definitely recommend running enough speed to out speed Adamant Bisharp. The choice of moves are standard, since it is Rotom-W 4 best moves.

Salamence @ Salamencite
EVs: 76 HP / 180 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Naive Nature
– Double-Edge
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast
– Protect

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 180 SpA Mega Salamence Helping Hand Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 158-186 (101.2 – 119.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 0 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Helping Hand Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 181-214 (100 – 118.2%) — guaranteed OHKO

Salamence is an awkward Pokémon to use in my opinion. The reason is that its only real standard move is Protect, and the 3 other move slots are up to your discretion. It has amazing total base stats of 700, versatility, a great move pool, high speed, great bulk, and more. I ended up going with a mixed Salamence with Fire Blast, because I had expected certain steel Pokémon to be popular (Mega Mawile, Mega Metagross, and Aegislash). Draco Meteor and Double-Edge were there for dual stab, and just being powerful attacks in general. I do not remember the full purpose of the spread. A few things I do remember about it though were the Offensive Damage Calculations above, and I wanted it to be the fastest Pokémon on the field (except for choice scarf users). I felt HP investment would be best in order to avoid fainting from Double-Edge + Helping Hand recoil. At the end of the tournament I had not run into a single Aegislash, Mawile, or Metagross. For this reason, I began testing a Dragon Dance variant for the rest of the season. I also disliked running a Naive nature, since it lowers the great natural bulk Salamence has.

Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Pixilate
Modest Nature
0 Atk IV
– Hyper Voice
– Shadow Ball
– Helping Hand
– Protect

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 76+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 168-198 (100.5 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 76+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence: 186-218 (108.7 – 127.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 76+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Scrafty: 180-216 (104.6 – 125.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 76+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 91-108 (55.1 – 65.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The MVP of the season. I credit most of the team and season’s success to Sylveon, as a result of its great typing, amazing ability, and its bulk. I think Sylveon is the best non mega Pokémon, because it has very few flaws. The spread was originally based off a standard Smogon OU Sylveon, which is typically 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA with a Bold nature. I already had Sitrus Berry on Rotom-W and Leftovers on Ferrothorn, so I was unsure of the item to use on it. I looked at other popular items, and I was personally not a fan of Choice Specs. I ended up going with Pixie Plate, because it was really the only other viable item to run on it. It ended up being the perfect item, since Pixie Plate let me minimize special attack investment in favor of physical bulk. The offensive damage calculations I had in mind are listed above alongside having an 81.3% chance to OHKO a 4 HP Jolly Salamence. Shadow Ball was meant for Aegislash, but I never used it. Helping Hand was extremely useful, since Sylveon almost always lived attacks with <10% which let me get off a priority Helping Hand before being targeted down. Protect was also appreciated, since most opponents assume Sylveon to be Choice Specs. The 12 speed EVs were to help me speed creep Pokémon with a base speed of 60. The rest of the EVs were dumped into HP and defense, but it was not done optimally. At the time I really did not have any defensive benchmarks that I wanted to meet, but this was later fixed.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Ability: Iron Barbs
Relaxed Nature
0 Spe IV
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Protect
– Leech Seed

Another crucial member of the team. I saw that my only good answer to Rain was Sylveon, so I threw Ferrothorn onto the team, and it was a great choice. It also helped me complete a Dragon/Fairy/Steel core which is something that I typically aim for when team building. Ferrothorn is a great Pokémon, because many teams simply do not have a great way to deal with it. If a team does not run a Pokémon with a strong fire attack, it is very difficult to knock out Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn can take Fighting type moves with ease, since I run both Landorus-Therian and Salamence with Intimidate. The spread is a standard Smogon OU spread, because I did not know of any other bulky spread. It really is not meant for VGC, since the benchmarks of this spread include surviving a 252 Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick and 252+ Atk Choice Band Scizor Superpower, which really are not relevant benchmarks in VGC. The spread worked fine though for the tournament. Leftovers was the item of choice, since when paired with Leech Seed and Protect, I could recover a ton of HP after being heavily damaged. Gyro Ball was the main STAB attack and Power Whip was there for bulky Water types.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Superpower
– Explosion

Landorus-Therian is very predictable, but it does a really good job at being a revenge killer, Rock Slide flincher, intimidator, and more. The spread was simply to maximize damage and out speed Pokémon like 252+ Spe Mega Lopunny and Mega Manectric. The rest was put into HP for a bit of bulk. Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower are all standard, and I chose Explosion as my last move slot because of lack of testing. I was unsure of U-turns utility in VGC, and I was not a fan of Knock Off. After the tournament I felt that Landorus-Therian was the weakest member of the team. Besides being able to constantly Rock Slide flinch Biosci in the Finals, it did not have much of an impact on my tournament run. While I felt that it was the weakest member of the team, Landorus-Therian is one of my favorite Pokémon, so I refused to remove it from the team.

After winning SoCal Regional, I decided to play the rest of the season, and chase a Worlds invite (I intended SoCal to be my last tournament of the season for lack of interest in Pokémon at the time). I did not want to make the same mistake that I did the previous year, and abandon a successful team abruptly during the season. My biggest regret last season was going into nationals with a new team that I was not comfortable with, which cost me my Worlds invite. So I decided that I would like to stick with the same team, make changes to improve it, and adapt to the metagame. This time around I heavily focused on efficiency, and meeting many new offensive and defensive damage calculation benchmarks.

Seattle and Utah Regional

First Pokémon Change Kangaskhan ———> Charizard

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
EVs: 188 HP / 196 Def / 8 SpA / 116 Spe
Ability: Blaze
Modest Nature
1 Atk IV/ 30 SpA IV / 30 SpD IV
– Heat Wave
– Solar Beam
– Hidden Power Ground
– Protect

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 8+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Helping Hand Heat Wave vs. 12 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-Therian in Sun: 177-208 (106.6 – 125.3%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 8+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Helping Hand Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 170-200 (108.2 – 127.3%) — guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Damage Calculations

• 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Rock Slide vs. 188 HP / 196 Def Mega Charizard Y: 148-176 (83.6 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 188 HP / 196 Def Mega Charizard Y: 146-173 (82.4 – 97.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 188 HP / 196 Def Mega Charizard Y: 72-85 (40.6 – 48%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• +2 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 148-175 (83.6 – 98.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Zapdos/Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 146-174 (82.4 – 98.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO

As mentioned earlier I am a big fan of dual Mega Pokémon on my teams. It gives you better options when it comes to team preview and team matchup. After testing variants of the team with Salamence as a Dragon Dance variant, steel types such as Metagross, Mawile, and Aegislash were a huge issue for the team. I originally ignored this flaw in the team, since I had faced 0 of those 3 Pokémon during my tournament run at SoCal Regional. Testing though made me realize that the metagame was evolving, and Aegislash and Metagross were rising in popularity quickly. Charizard was a good answer to the steel types that gave problems to the team. Charizard also essentially made my rain match up from favorable, to almost an auto win. The spread was designed to be able to out speed Jolly 252 Spe Metagross, Breloom, and Bisharp by 1 point, as well as a decent amount of bulky Thundurus with minimal speed investment. There is only 8 special attack investment, since Heat Wave is a 2HKO on most popular Pokémon anyway (Cresselia and Sylveon are not threats to Charizard). 188 HP and 196 Def EVs was the most HP optimized spread to be able to live 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Rock Slide. I chose to go with Hidden Power Ground after testing Charizard with Sylveon, since I realized the combination of Hyper Voice and Heat Wave have almost no switch ins, besides Heatran and Charizard. Hidden Power Ground was then put on both Charizard and Sylveon to lure Heatran in, and KO Heatran with ease. Hidden Power Ground also hit other fire types like Arcanine. Charizard and Sylveon is an amazing offensive core, and many teams get punished if they lead wrong against it with powerful spread moves like Heat Wave and Hyper Voice. Solar Beam and Protect are the last two moves, since they help with Bulky Water types and Pokémon that threaten Charizard.

Second Pokémon Change Rotom-W ———> Conkeldurr

Conkeldurr @ Sitrus Berry
EVs: 196 HP / 140 Atk / 172 SpD
Ability: Guts
Adamant Nature
– Drain Punch
– Wide Guard
– Mach Punch
– Knock Off

Offensive Damage Calculations

• +1 140+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 198-234 (100 – 118.1%) — guaranteed OHKO
• +1 140+ Atk Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Scrafty: 182-216 (105.8 – 125.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 140+ Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Smeargle: 162-192 (100 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 140+ Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 148-180 (104.9 – 127.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 140+ Atk Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 84-98 (50.2 – 58.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Damage Calculations

• -1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 196 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 170-204 (82.9 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 196 HP / 172 SpD Conkeldurr: 173-204 (84.3 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Another big flaw with my SoCal team was that it was vulnerable to burns (Kangaskhan, Landorus-Therian, Salamence, and Ferrothorn). For that reason I wanted a Pokémon that could absorb Will-O-Wisp, but still be an offensive threat. Conkeldurr was the answer, and it also helped with other match ups like against Trick Room Teams. It was also great against the rise of “Japan Sand”, with having priority Mach Punch. I did not feel max attack was necessary, since most Pokémon that were weak to fighting fainted by the combination of Drain Punch + Mach Punch. I opted for Knock off over Ice Punch, since I wanted a way to hit Aegislash and other ghost types hard. In hindsight I should have ran a Brave nature so that I would always attack Aegislash in Blade Forme. I originally had Assault Vest over Sitrus Berry, but I changed the item about a week before Seattle Regional for a few reasons. 1. I went to a Premiere Challenge, and while I knew the team was weak against Sun Teams, this Premiere Challenge made me realize that I almost auto lost against them. 2. I saw Aaron Taylor’s Team Report on his Missouri Regional win, and read that Assault Vest was a terrible item on Conkeldurr. At first I highly disagreed, since in testing Assault Vest had worked fine. After testing Sitrus Berry though, I agreed that Assault Vest on Conkeldurr was inferior to Sitrus Berry. Sitrus Berry is almost identical to Assault Vest (turning typical 2HKO to 3HKO etc.), except it gives you more HP bulk, and allows you to run Protect or Wide Guard. So Sitrus Berry allowed me to run wide guard, which slightly improved my match up against Sun Teams.

Salamence @ Salamencite
EVs: 148 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 60 SpD / 100 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
– Double-Edge
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 196+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon/Terrakion: 168-198 (100 – 117.8%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 196+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-Therian: 168-198 (101.8 – 120%) — guaranteed OHKO
• +1 196+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 181-214 (100 – 118.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
• -1 196+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Scrafty: 182-216 (105.8 – 125.5%) — guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Damage Calculations

• -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 148 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 81-97 (42.8 – 51.3%) — 0.5% chance to 2HKO
• 252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 148 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 78-92 (41.2 – 48.6%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 148 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 75-91 (39.6 – 48.1%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• 252+ SpA Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 148 HP / 60 SpD Mega Salamence: 152-180 (80.4 – 95.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 100 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 148 HP / 60 SpD Mega Salamence: 144-172 (76.1 – 91%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Cresselia Ice Beam vs. 148 HP / 60 SpD Mega Salamence: 160-192 (84.6 – 101.5%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO

Adding Charizard to the team let me use a bulky set up sweeper Salamence. I went with a bulky Adamant nature, since I think that Salamence does not need to be Jolly if you run a Dragon Dance variant. The large amount of bulk allows Salamence to set up at least 1 Dragon Dance with ease. The speed was meant to out speed neutral base 100 speed Pokémon, and most Choice Scarf users like Landorus-Therian after a Dragon Dance. The bulk was typically clutch, since most opponents always played around the Salamence as being fast anyway. Earthquake is there for Heatran and other steel types. Adamant nature with 196 Attack EVs also allowed me to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan after it took recoil damage from its Double-Edge.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Ability: Iron Barbs
Relaxed Nature
0 Spe IV
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Protect
– Leech Seed

Defensive Damage Calculations

• 252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Ferrothorn: 152-180 (83.9 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The least changed Pokémon of the team. It served the same purpose and role, win against Rain Teams, and frustrate opponents. There was only one benchmark that I wanted to meet on the special defense side. The rest was put into defense, to be able to more likely live two 252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan Low Kicks after Leech Seed recovery + Leftovers + Protect.

Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
EVs: 236 HP / 172 Def / 80 SpA / 8 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Pixilate
Modest Nature
1 Atk IV / 30 SpA IV / 30 SpD IV
– Hyper Voice
– Hidden Power Ground
– Helping Hand
– Protect

Defensive Damage Calculations

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 236 HP / 172 Def Sylveon: 169-200 (84.5 – 100%) — 0.4% chance to OHKO
• 252+ Atk Bisharp Iron Head vs. 236 HP / 172 Def Sylveon: 164-194 (82 – 97%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 236 HP / 172 Def Sylveon: 84-100 (42 – 50%) — 0.4% chance to 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Overheat vs. 236 HP / 8 SpD Sylveon in Sun: 169-199 (84.5 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 44+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 236 HP / 8 SpD Sylveon in Sun: 81-96 (40.5 – 48%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 236 HP / 8 SpD Sylveon: 174-205 (87 – 102.5%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO

In my opinion, this is the best Sylveon spread (talking to you GENGARboi). Putting Hidden Power Ground over Shadow Ball let Sylveon be a better partner for Charizard, and be able to 1v1 a Heatran without Flash Cannon. Unfortunately there is not a spread that lets you live 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon, without giving up special attack investment or defense investment, which are higher priorities. The special attack investment did not change (besides 4 SpA EVs to make up for using Hidden Power Ground), since it was still sufficient. I did not speed creep any further, since I felt that most Sylveon still opted for only 4 Spe EVs. The change in HP and defense investment was more optimal than the previous set in order to better meet the defensive benchmarks above.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 44 HP / 156 Atk / 92 Def / 4 SpD / 212 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Superpower
– U-Turn

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 156+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 144-170 (102.1 – 120.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 156+ Atk Landorus-Therian Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon/Terrakion: 168-198 (100 – 117.8%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 156+ Atk Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 102-120 (50.4 – 59.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Damage Calculations

• +1 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 44 HP / 92 Def Landorus-Therian: 140-165 (82.3 – 97%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 44 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-Therian: 141-166 (82.9 – 97.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

I wanted my Landorus-Therian be more of a utility Pokémon, than a Revenge Killer/Pokémon that just dishes out damage. For this reason, I replaced Explosion with U-turn. I tested U-turn after SoCal, and really liked it as it let me reset weather with my Charizard, spread intimidates, and gain momentum on switch outs. 156 Attack investment is sufficient to net important KOs, and leaves EVs for bulk. The bulk spread out between HP/Defense/Special Defense is not optimal, so I do not recommend it. I messed up the EV spread, since I had about 4 different spreads, and could not settle on one. Speed stayed the same, since I don’t think there is a reason to go higher unless you are scared of Choice Scarf Smeargle.

I was tempted to go with a completely new team at Nationals, since Pokemon.com posted all of my items and moves after Utah Regional. I did have a second team that was doing extremely well in testing for nationals, but I was not comfortable enough with it. I did not want to make the same mistake as last year, and miss out on my worlds invite by disbanding a successful team. So I decided to stick with the same team with some minor tweaks. So while I was paranoid about my team being recognizable, I was still extremely comfortable with the team.

U.S. Nationals

Pokémon Change Conkeldurr ———> Greninja

Greninja @ Life Orb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Ability: Protean
Naive Nature (Timid the day before the tournament)
– Ice Beam
– Low Kick (Hidden Power Ground the day before the tournament)
– Grass Knot
– Protect

Offensive Damage Calculations

• 0 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 164-195 (98.2 – 116.7%) — 81.3% chance to OHKO
• 252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 187-221 (94.9 – 112.1%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO
• 252 SpA Life Orb Protean Greninja Grass Knot (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Suicune: 164-195 (79.2 – 94.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

Defensive Damage Calculations

lol

I will just start off by saying Greninja is the most underrated Pokémon this season, it is a top 20 Pokémon. While it does not always net OHKOs, it usually has a good shot to do so, or its partner can finish off Pokémon with a spread move (Landorus-Therian Rock Slide, Sylveon Hyper Voice, Charizard Heat Wave, and Salamence Earthquake). Greninja has a bad stigma because of how frail it is, but that is well worth the trade off for stab everything, unmatched offensive versatility, and a speed base stat of 122 to out speed Mega Salamence. No opponent can ever know what to expect from Greninja, since it legitimately has 10+ viable offensive moves, can be a special attacker, a physical attacker, or mixed. Greninja being such an offensive threat, paired extremely well with Mega Salamence. In testing, Greninja’s unpredictability allowed my Salamence to set up a Dragon Dance turn 1 very often, because opponents would typically double Protect to scout. The reason I added Greninja to the team was simply because I hate Thundurus and Zapdos (these damn Pokémon don’t die). While Thundurus can Thunder Wave and cripple Greninja, it risks being OHKOd by Ice Beam depending on its EV spread. Grass Knot was added because Grass/Ice/Ground coverage is great offensive coverage. Hidden Power Ground was for steel and fire types, and Protect was the last move for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, I switched Hidden Power Ground to Low Kick the morning of Nationals, because I was stupidly paranoid about Shuca Berry Heatran. This was a terrible last minute decision, since I had tested Hidden Power Ground for over a month with great success. Without Hidden Power Ground, it made my match up against any Wide Guard Aegislash unbearable.

Salamence @ Salamencite
EVs: 92 HP / 196 Atk / 220 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
– Double-Edge
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

I opted to prioritize speed over bulk this time around, since I had removed Conkeldurr from the team. This let me out speed Mega Kangaskhan and hit it hard or KO it before it got off a hit. With the addition of Greninja to the team, there was no need to be able to live a Suicune Ice Beam, since I could pick it off with Grass Knot + Double-Edge. As mentioned earlier, the offensive presence of Greninja still let me set up a Dragon Dance, even without the bulk.

Charizard @  Charizardite Y
EVs: 228 HP / 148 Def / 8 SpA / 124 Spe
Ability: Blaze
Modest Nature
1 Atk IV/ 30 SpA IV / 30 SpD IV
– Heat Wave
– Solar Beam
– Hidden Power Ground
– Protect

Defensive Damage Calculations

• 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Rock Slide vs. 228 HP / 148 Def Mega Charizard Y: 156-184 (85.7 – 101%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 148 Def Mega Charizard Y: 153-182 (84 – 100%) — 0.4% chance to OHKO

In testing after Spring Regional, I never really found the physical bulk to be able to live 252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Rock Slide useful. I had only run into this situation a few times. So I opted to go with a more HP invested EV spread to be able to take special attacks better. This spread still lived 252 Atk Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge mostly, but it gave Landorus-Therian Rock Slide a 6.3% chance to OHKO Charizard. This was something I was willing to trade for more HP investment, since the odds were still in my favor if I was ever forced into that situation. I invested 8 more speed EVs just to speed creep on bulky Thundurus.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 108 HP / 156 Atk / 28 Def / 4 SpD / 212 Spe
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Superpower
– U-Turn

This EV spread accomplished the same physical benchmark as my Spring Regional spread, except it is optimized. What I mean by optimized is that this is the highest HP investment you can run, while still surviving +1 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch. The higher HP investment is nice, because of the better odds of living special attacks, such as Rotom-W Hydro Pump.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Ability: Iron Barbs
Relaxed Nature
0 Spe IV
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Protect
– Leech Seed

No changes from Spring Regional.

Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
EVs: 236 HP / 172 Def / 80 SpA / 8 SpD / 12 Spe
Ability: Pixilate
Modest Nature
1 Atk IV / 30 SpA IV / 30 SpD IV
– Hyper Voice
– Hidden Power Ground
– Helping Hand
– Protect

No changes from Spring Regional.

Now I know what you are probably thinking, why in the world does this guy run Hidden Power Ground on 3 of his Pokémon, and Earthquake on 2? This was something that I was also against originally; I had convinced myself that 5 ground moves was over kill. In reality though, I discovered through using this team the whole season that the team actually really revolves around Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn’s amazing typing gives many teams trouble, because many opponents only reliable way to knock it out is with a Fire type attack. Take out the Fire type Pokémon threatening Ferrothorn, the most popular being Heatran, and just win with Ferrothorn. This is an over simplification of the goal of the team, but at its core this is the way the team earns many of its wins. So I eventually accepted that while 5 ground type attacks are over kill typically, it is not for this team.

Final Team Results

• 1st of 260 SoCal Regional
• 1st of 159 Utah Regional
• 4th of 97 Utah Regional Premier Challenge
• 50th of 229 Seattle Regional
• 7th of 69 Seattle Regional Premier Challenge
• 24th of 418 U.S. Nationals

Shout Outs

• Riley Factura (GENGARboi) He is the one who basically got me write this extensive team report. It has been fun hanging out and rooming with you the majority of the season!
• The Jimenez brothers (Legacy & DarkAssassin) I know I always give you guys a hard time, but you know it is all in good spirit!
• Everyone else I have conversations with or hang out with at tournaments as well!

Closing Comments

While this is not my favorite team I have ever built, it probably is my most consistent and successful team. This team report is already deep enough in my opinion, and I did not want to have it drag on with sections on common leads, the team’s biggest weaknesses (just know it hates Aegislash), etc. While I keep to myself online, that is the complete opposite at tournaments. I do not use it often, but follow me on Twitter @Alberto310 if you have any questions on the team, and I will answer them. Otherwise, I hope you found this team report enjoyable and insightful. This season has been a ton of fun, and I am looking forward to Worlds!

The post 20XX Mence: Two Time Regional Champion & Top 32 US Nationals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello and thank you for clicking on this report.  My name is Phil Nguyen, also known as Boomguy.  I am a 27 year old part time professional Pokemon VGC player from Brisbane, Australia. OK, I don’t get paid to play Pokemon video games but I treat it as my profession so I can become the world champion. Most of us on this website dream to be the Pokemon world champion, striving to achieve our childhood dreams of being a Pokemon Master recognized by the Pokemon Company Hall of Fame.  Some of you may recall my previous report on November 2014, followed me on Twitter, seen me stream on my Twitch channel, moderate the VGC chat room on Pokemon Showdown or maybe you heard me shout out ‘C’MON!!’ at live Pokemon events. Yeah that was me Australia, Singapore & 2014 worlds.

In this report I will go through a brief story of my of online & regional events at the beginning of the VGC 2015 season where I was in a really dark place with depression.  Then I will show you how I turned my season around for the better at the most important national events where I qualified for the paid invite for the 2015 VGC World championships.

Goals for VGC 2015

The Championship Points system debuted in the Asia Pacific region (Not including Japan or Korea) for VGC this year, with the top 18 players receiving invites to the world championships and the top 2 getting paid invites. My aim was to be in the top 18 at least, and I would do whatever I needed to make it possible. I also wanted to qualify for the Nugget Bridge Invitational again and win the Nugget Bridge Major.  My qualification for the Nugget Bridge Invitational this season was going to be a much more difficult challenge for me, as all the live events were now Swiss tournaments during the weekends with each likely to take 3-4 hours to complete.  My work schedule meant I was only able to play a live event every 2 weeks.  So my best chance of qualifying was to earn my place through the Major or the Dodrio Cup.

ORAS Release and the Rest of 2014

In my previous report I mentioned I was only going to play ORAS for a week, to set up breeding in this game and get to a stage where I could soft-reset for the good legendary Pokemon for the VGC 2015 format. That didn’t happen because I forgot it’s best not to do a career move during December and the 1st week of the new year, so I stayed at my current job during that period.  So I continued playing by testing the new Mega Pokemon & played the Nugget Bridge Circuit online tournaments during December. It ended up being a horrible start to the circuit, bubbling out in a live tournament and a shocking 2-10 record in the Holiday Scramble challenge using a Whimsicott, Terrakion team with Mega Houndoom.

VGC 2015 Team Building Evolution

During the 2014 season all the teams I used were with Pokemon that were either different, that I like or could deal with the meta game.  Then my team building went to Pokemon I liked with Pokemon that were good. How ever I regressed in January by picking Pokemon I liked, plus I liked to be tricky on some Pokemon sets.  I had a team with Mienshao with Regenerator, Thundurus-I, Mega Abomasnow, Heatran, Swampert & Cresselia with Trick Room. This team did work in a best of 1 format on Battle Spot, especially against good players like Billa and Bopper who I defeated on Battle Spot. But it unfortunately didn’t work against some oblivious people who don’t know that Mienshao’s most common ability is Inner Focus and they use Fake Out in it and tends to lead to a loss. That made me realize to not use the tricky stuff at an open tournament where there are more casual players than good players, especially in Australia.

My next team I created wasn’t much better.  It contained Aegislash, Milotic, Staraptor, Mega Heracross, Entei and Parchirisu. Whilst I was playing with this team on Pokemon Showdown, a wonderful man from Switzerland named Daryl Sprenger (Dr Sugus) took interest on what I was using and we helped each other build this team to it’s potential.  While he found success with the team at his local Premier Challenge events in Europe, I found that it instantly failed against the inexperienced players at a local Brisbane Bisharps January VGC event.  I kept trying to use the team due to Daryl’s success but I didn’t feel comfortable playing with it because most of the Pokemon were slow.

With the struggle of creating teams and the Nugget Bridge Major about to start in February,  I decided to play with more standard Pokemon so I could get an understanding on why they are popular and what other trainers were using to counteract them. I was using Mega Kangaskhan, Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Bulky Thundurus with Sitrus Berry, Sash Bisharp and a mixed Life Orb Blaziken.  I left the 6th slot open to anything because I was struggling to find a good fit.  By using this team my results on Pokemon Showdown and Battle Spot started to improve and my knowledge for the meta game was growing. Because of this, I decided to use the Kangaskhan and friends team for the Nugget Bridge Major because it was good for thrashing the more casual players and it was good enough to challenge the good players.

Let the Real VGC 2015 Competitions Begin

The first major tournament of my VGC 2015 season was the Nugget Bridge Major in the beginning of February. The tournament, an online tournament that lasted three months this year, attracted over 1000 players worldwide and the tournament was split into 4 flights playing 9 rounds of best of 3 Swiss.  I was excited to play a tournament this big and I wanted to test myself against the world.  By the time tournament started my 6th Pokemon on the aforementioned team was a Cloud Nine Golduck to counter the weather teams, as I had a huge weakness to them.  My opponent for round 1 was against YouTuber Nipps from New York. Nipps is generally an entertainer more than a serious Pokemon player and he got a real taste of playing a world quality professional player as I gave him his most depressing 2-0 thrashing which you can watch here. Prior to our scheduled match I was watching his YouTube videos and took notes on how he battled which helped me to get an edge.

Back at home the Brisbane Bisharps hosted another VGC throw down in February. By this tournament the 6th Pokemon had changed to Mega Latios so I was running dual megas in a team for the first time in my VGC competitive life. The reason for changing Golduck to Mega Latios was because it wasn’t doing well against the weather teams and Latios has good bulk and offense to survive the weather match up. This event was the event to test my local city of how it can handle against the most standard Pokemon in the meta game.  They handled it really well since most of my matches gave me a good test as I lost 2 games in the Swiss rounds including to fellow 2015 Worlds qualifier mustytkd.  I made it to the top cut stages where the matches were best of 3, winning my first match 2-0 then took revenge against Musty in the semis. A hard fought 2-1 victory in the final against an anti-meta team followed shortly after.

Round 2 of the Major took me to Indonesia and with some information from lolfailsnail helped me take a 2-0 victory as he lost to my opponent in the previous round. Round 3 took me to Chile where I played SebaGomez and this was when I started streaming.  Seba likes to put on a show and I think his nerves got to him as he lost to me 2-0.  I thought I considered myself lucky for avoiding a well known player but that all ended in round 4 as I took on German Lajos Kowalewski . This was going to be a tough battle against a player who I admire and look up to. When I know I have tough competitor in front of me I repeat this quote “To be the best. You have to beat the best”.  This quote helps me take on the challenge and makes me believe that I am the best.  I saved this battle on my Twitch channel here to remind myself of this moment.  In turn 1 of game 1 I was so nervous that I ran out of time. I was happy how I almost recovered to save the game but the Assault Vest Conkeldurr was too bulky that it survived Mega Latios Psychic. In game 2 my fear got in the way that I didn’t stick to a game plan; he consequently dominated the match and I suffered my first loss for the Major.

With my new found understanding of the meta game, I decided to create a 2nd team just in case I was playing someone who wanted to counter team my main team for Nugget Bridge Major. What I learnt about most of the popular Pokemon is that they are strong offensively and defensively and with the right support they can create pressure. So I decided to test what I learnt into a fun team for the February International Challenge, which was the perfect tournament to test a new team as there was no points on offer.  This is what the team looked like for the tournament.

I won’t go in depth with the team as a whole but I’ll explain the reason for Mega Audino.  I tested Mega Audino when I finished the story in ORAS. Back then I made a supportive Mega Audino with Trick room which didn’t work.  I wanted to re-test it and this time I made an offensive set.  I realised that Mega Audino is one of those Pokemon that doesn’t need Protect; it’s really bulky and I was using Draining Kiss to recover HP. I put Hyper Beam to get KO’s on Pokemon, Fire Blast to help damage Steel types and Calm Mind to increase it’s special bulk and offensive pressure.   What I found with Mega Audino is while it can bulk attacks well, do some decent damage and potentially recover HP from the Draining Kiss, I found getting critical hits against me really hurt Mega Audino. Without Calm Mind set-ups, it was hard to deal good damage. In many respects it’s similar to a Cresselia.  There were multiple games where I couldn’t bring Mega Audino. I finished the International Challenge with a 19-11 record.  I also used this team in March Brisbane Bisharps event as a joke because I didn’t want to win again.  I made one small change by putting Icy Wind on Ludicolo for speed control and surprisingly I won the event.

It was my Birthday weekend during the March Brisbane Bisharps event, so afterwards I had a laser tag party with my fellow Pokemon players and friends outside of the game. So going into my 5th round against Colombian Albus Magus it was the day after my party. I was using my Kangaskhan team but was mentally fatigued in our battle. I didn’t have the brain power to figure out a strategy for game 2 after learning his Specs Sylveon was max Speed Timid and that it out-sped my Adamant max Speed Bisharp and lost game 1 and 2. I was therefore in a familiar spot from last years Major where I lost 2 matches at the same stage. The fight to stay alive got scary in round 6 when I was paired up with a Japanese player.  The game was played at midnight my time so I got a coffee at night to make sure I was mentally aware for the do or die match. After losing game 1, I adjusted well enough to win game 2 and won game 3 by making some gutsy calls that paid off.  Round 7 was against American LPFan which certainly made making the cut harder. I was considering using a different team for this battle because I know LPFan knows who I am and may potentially counter team me even though he has never done that before.  By the time we had our battle I ended up using the Kanga team because I wasn’t confident in the 2nd team and I didn’t want to risk it since I was fighting for my survival in the tournament.  I lost game 1,  LPFan disconnected in game 2 and RNG was too kind to me in game 3.

In round 8 I played against American LudiImpact and again similar to playing LPFan I knew he knows me and this time I had a 2nd team ready.  In this secondary team I wanted to include my favorite Pokemon Delphox which is a real difficult thing to do but I managed to build a team that I was satisfied with.  The 2nd team contained Life orb Delphox, Mega Salamance, Clefairy, Roserade with HP ground holding the Expert Belt, Sitrus Berry Swampert and a Sash Bisharp. Once again I lost game 1 learning about his team.  In game 2 I disconnected so by the rules that meant I lose, but LudiImpact was a champion and allowed a replay to the same conditions as we left off.  So upon resumption I won game 2 and in game 3 he brought his Perish Trap mode.  He successfully trapped my first 2 Pokemon but I knew I could still win the match with my last 2 Pokemon. However, I forgot he had 3 Pokemon left and I ignored his Politoed because I didn’t think it was a threat. He proceeded to Perish Song my last 2 Pokemon and he managed to survive at the end of the song.  I didn’t regret my Pokemon choices it was battling that let me down and this is something I really want to improve on.

Let the Championship Points Hunger Games Begin

The first Australian/New Zealand CP events kicked off with the regional circuit in April, 6 regional events held on consecutive weekends.  After looking at my work schedule and finances I booked myself for four regional events to give myself a buffer in case I failed badly at one of the events, as there is a 3 best finish limit for regional events. I was scheduled to work at the first regional event in my home city of Brisbane, but managed to make a deal with one of my co-workers in order to go. I didn’t want to miss the event because I wanted to reclaim my home title that I won in 2013 when VGC first started officially in Australia.

I planned to use my Kanga and friends team at the regional, but I replaced the Mega Latios for a good old Calm Mind Moonlight stalling Cresselia since our regional events are untethered.  Thanks Dawg for this advice. Days before the regional I played my 9th round dead match of the Nugget Bridge Major with the regional team against Brazilian Henricosta and I defeated him 2-0, so I was feeling confident prior to the event. Brisbane regional had seven rounds of swiss; I won my first 3 matches followed by a loss to a Quash Sableye team in round 4.  I proceeded to recover and win round 5 & 6 with my round 6 match being a carbon copy of my round 4 match that I lost to because the 2 players were friends.  In the last round I was paired down and lost that match and bubbled out of the top 8 cut finishing 9th.  If I had won the match no x-2’s would have made the cut.

Going into the next regional event Sydney I was starting to lose confidence in the team I used in Brisbane and I wanted to use the Delphox team because I was getting better results in practice. But I stuck to my theory that standard Pokemon will be best against Australians and it was half right.  At this event there was 8 rounds of Swiss and the quality of players was much stronger than my home city. In round 1 I was paired against a player I knew that likes to use anti-meta Pokemon. He almost defeated me,  were it not for his Arcanine missing a key Will-O-Wisp and that I won a key mind game call with Sucker Punch from my Bisharp against a faster user. Round 2 was an easy win as my opponent had no answer to Life Orb Mixed Blaziken but in round 3 I got a real challenge against the eventual champion Daniel Pol (Chiron). I got thrashed in 5 turns because I was not expecting Trick Room from a Cresselia when at the time most were using Icy Wind or Thunder Wave for speed control.  I recovered in round 4 to get a win but returning from the lunch break I lost in round 5 to a level 1 Aron/Sandstorm team followed by another loss in round 6 to heavy rain.  I continued playing in the tournament in the hope I could finish in the top 32, which I did by winning my last 2 games.

My next CP event was the April International Challenge.  I was really frustrated about my poor result in Sydney that I wanted to make another team that was suited for a best of 1 format and something I would use in my next regional event in Melbourne. Some of you may remember me streaming my IC run on my Twitch stream and this is the team I used for the competition.

It was another disappointing tournament as I went 20-10 record in the tournament with a ranking of 583rd in the world. Looking at the team now it was poorly built. There was no speed control, although surprisingly I did get to a final of a side event at Australian Nationals with it, eventually losing to Chris G’s real team.

So it was back to the drawing board again, building a new team for the Melbourne regional which was on the weekend after the International Challenge and I was really struggling.  When the International Challenge results came out. I saw that my best American fan & friend Legacy finished 4th overall in the International Challenge. I asked him for a copy of his team, got testing & made minor adjustments.  The team was Mega Kangaskhan, Sitrus Suicune with Tailwind, Sub Lefties Heatran, Specs Sylveon, Breloom and AV Landorus-T.  The minor change I did was increasing his Sylveon speed to out-speed Terrakion in Tailwind since his IC spread was designed for max Speed Mega Kangaskhan in Tailwind.  I really liked what I saw and I grew comfortable with the team quickly so my confidence was back on a high going into the Melbourne regional, where Australia’s largest Pokemon community is.

Going into the regional with the 4th best team in the West in a best of 1 tournament that only just happened last weekend and none of my Australian rivals knew what a powerful team I have in my game.  I was thinking this tournament is going to be mine. What could possibly stop me?  While waiting for our round 1 matches to start my opponent Zak Tober (Zakdos) who knew who I was, but I only recognize his name through Facebook posts in Australian groups.  He said to me “I’m about to get a thrashing am I?” in the most deflated voice.  So I was feeling good that I was going to win my first game when you got an opponent with no confidence in himself.  Once the battle started he made an excellent call by using Earthquake with his Choice Scarf Metagross against my Kangaskhan and Sylveon, which I swapped into Heatran and it survived.  But things went down hill as he set up Trick Room on his Trevenant and I couldn’t recover.  I was so upset that I slammed my fist onto the table in disgust that I got out played by an inexperienced player. Turns out he went 7-1 in the end finishing 2nd in Swiss, so major props to him.

I was still angry with myself after the match that everyone could see in my face that my ego was damaged.  When round 2 was posted I regrouped as it was still possible to make top cut, but meant I must win all my remaining matches.  Round 2 opponent was a complete random to me and he had a fairly decent looking team on preview.  I got myself in a commanding lead setting up tailwind and getting myself to +2 attack on Kanga with his Terrakion KO and his Aegi behind a sub who wouldn’t like to be snarled.  In the next turn he protected his Raikou from getting KOed from Kangaskhan but my Snarl missed Aegislash and it proceeded to KO my Kangaskhan. I was fine with that because I got Landorus in the back and Tailwind is up. I sent in my Landorus and I was 100% sure he wouldn’t have Wide Guard on Aegislash having already revealed Substitute and Flash Cannon, so surely his last 2 moves were King Shield and Shadow Ball. Also since my team has zero ground-immunity partners surely he wouldn’t think I would be crazy enough to Earthquake my team mate.  Then I got a shock of my life when he reveals Wide Guard and KO’s my Suicune, then I got to see the Shadow Ball the turn after. So I lost to a King Shieldless Aegislash. I got full on depressed with tears after that match because I knew my tournament was over. Cutting from 0-2 is near impossible and I didn’t believe he was good enough to get more wins to make my resistance good.

I told Legacy the bad news online, put my hoodie up, ran off to a place where I wanted to be alone and no one could see me crying. Not only I was upset of my loss but I was really down with how my season was going in general because I had achieved just average and bad results. My ego took a huge bruising and I was just lost mentally. I kept saying that I suck, I’m not good enough, I am a loser and whatever negative self talk you can think of.  I decided to play on in an attempt to get some points from the event.  Going into round 3 I had my hoodie up looking and feeling deflated sitting at the back tables alone where all your friends are at the front tables because they were winning. Prior to the start of the match my friend Jesse walked past me and saw the distraught look on my face. So he tried to cheer me up saying “It’s OK”, I snapped back at him and said “It’s over.  I cannot make the top cut now with 2 losses already”. I was facing another Trick Room team in round 3 and with the mental state I was in.  I proceeded to lose the match and of course I wanted to get away to hide myself from the public and cry.

It didn’t take long for my friends to know what happened to me.  First FamousDeaf saw me crying at the spot I choose to hide and he asked “If I was OK” in my best attempt in translating sign language.  Then when I got up to play round 4, walked into the playing area and I saw Luke (Dawg)  & Bockers (Zyihk) along the way.  Luke surprised me with a hug to cheer me up.  It was good to know that I had people to cheer me up.  In Round 4 I defeated my mate Jesse girlfriend Samantha, then we had a lunch break.  After the match Jesse and Sam talked to me to snap me out of my depression which I really appreciated.  One of the keys things to beat depression is to think about others and help them.  At the lunch break I saw Bargens and he was really looking defeated after losing the previous round.  So we chatted about his previous match, talked about what he can do for future matches and I reassured him that he is a good player.  Looks the pep talk did the trick because he didn’t lose another Swiss match defeating Lejn in the final round.

My mood was slightly lifted afterward but I still didn’t want to be in human contact and Jesse saw me sitting alone.  So he invited me to sit with him to have a chat which helped lifted my mood a little. Without Jesse actively looking out for me who knows what could of happened. Thanks from the bottom my heart mate for helping me get out of the darkness and checking up on me through out the event. I did get one good feel good story at the tournament.  I thrashed Yourf in our 6th round match by making gutsy plays at the start of the match that paid off.  I consider Yourf a greatest threat mentally because he is very smart and is mentally strong since he can play very good mind games.

On the plane ride home I was again depressed about my season, too much alone time on flights has that effect, considering how much time into the game I’d invested with very little reward. So I got home, called in sick from work the next day because I got home late, and I was really depressed.  Things didn’t improve the next day at home because I had no energy for my life. Going into work the next morning my fellow co-workers saw me depressed about my weekend. As I was doing my job caring for others problems and solving them, by the end of the shift my mood improved dramatically and I had energy for my life again.

When I got home from work I went though my collection of business improvement books and I decided to start a reading habit of a chapter a day.  So I started reading a new book called “The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth” by John Maxwell.  By reading the first chapter that night it opened my mind and inspired me for my future as a Professional Pokemon player.  I also restarted listening to some business talks from various entrepreneurs and coaches around the world. That night I choose to listen to a series called “Overcoming Temptation of leadership”.  It made realized why my season was average and also learnt what let me down during the Melbourne regional.  These were things I learnt from my season:

1. I was assuming I was going to succeed automatically and easily, just because I had some experience of success in the past
2. My pride literally killed me in Melbourne regional.  It’s good to have confidence but it is dangerous to have too much confidence where you become too arrogant and lazy to improve because you feel like you don’t need to learn.
3. My battling skills is still my biggest weakness and I need to commit to a growth plan.

So I went into action to improve myself everyday by first of all changing the way I think about life.  I deleted the word easy in my vocabulary because everything we want in life will be hard. The other mental change I needed to do is to balance my confidence and not get arrogant and also committed reading a chapter each day and applying each law into my Pokemon profession. I also limited my Battle Spot to 8 battles a day made sure I was playing like I was in a tournament with a notepad and seated the same way.

I kept using Legacy’s team because I still believed that the team was good and worked in the current metagame. Everyday I was starting to see small improvements that 1 week into my growth the 9th season of Battle Spot ended and I finished in the worlds top 100 for the very first time of my playing career, defeating a mirror match against Legacy and Portuguese player EmbC as my last 2 matches of the season. I was getting excited to test the new and improved Phil at the Adelaide regional that weekend.

Even at Adelaide I made sure I committed myself to growing so I read my book early in the morning I only played 1 or 2 matches on Battle spot prior to leaving for the regional event.  At the regional we played 7 rounds of Swiss.  I won my first match 4-0 then going into round 2 my assumption that a +2 Return Kangaskhan can OHKO Cresselia almost killed me because it lived the attack. Thankfully it stayed asleep so I won the match in the end. In round 3 against Luke (Dawg) the hax was in my favor as I froze his Amoonguss that never thawed.  Luke tried to Swagger me to win the game but to no avail. Round 4 was against Bailey (Bargens) and our teams almost match. However Bailey outplayed me and I brought the wrong Pokemon.  In the fifth round I took on Chris G (TheBatman) and I did have a good start against him but a few wrong moves cost me the match.  So mentally I was a mess going into the next round, but I refocused to win the match with my newly learnt skills of how damage calculation works.  I learnt that Sylveons Pixilate Hyper beam does more damage than Shadow Ball to a Mega Charizard Y.  In the final round I played against Nathan (Cappa) and played the most perfect match against him.  I finished 5-2 and bubbled at 9th for the 2nd time this season scoring 110 CP from the regional circuit.

Bubbling again did kind of hurt me but at least it was better than my Brisbane regional 9th and least I was growing as a trainer, so that is more important to me.  I spent the rest of the weekend watching the German Nationals and Utah Regional in the USA to get inspiration and watch how others battle, which is important for development as a player. On Monday night the pain of my regional failure was still lingering so I spoke to my mate Jesse who helped with my depression in Melbourne about how I was feeling because I didn’t want to keep it to myself and I knew he cared about me. He showed me this video to keep me inspired and I suggest everyone to watch it.

The Completed Team

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 36 HP / 140 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Sucker Punch
– Return
– Power-Up Punch

This is the original spread that Legacy used in the April IC.  This spread was very good especially against the Kangaskhan mirror matches where I got good recognizing the opponents Kangaskhan spreads.  We noticed in the April IC stats that there was more Kangas were Adamant nature so when I get into a mirror match I had the confidence that my Kanga was going to be faster.  The Jolly nature also surprised some opponents because usually when you see Kanga in a Tailwind team you assume it’s an Adamant Bulky variant.  This spread also helped against the Tailwind mirror-match.  As for the defenses EV’s. It helped against the Jolly Kangaskhan mirror-matches as it can survive Low Kick from Jolly Kangaskhan’s and if other Kangaskhan gets the KO using Low Kick then that means it’s Adamant nature.  I also can survive Max Attack Landorus-T Superpower.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 36 HP / 76 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 154-184 (83.2 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Landorus-T Superpower vs. 36 HP / 76 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 150-178 (81 – 96.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Protect
– Spore
– Mach Punch
– Bullet Seed

Basic Breloom spread. Breloom was one of my outs for Trick Room. Having a fast Spore user provides great offensive pressure.  With Rage Powder being a common re-director Breloom was a good threat against the partners.

Suicune @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 100 Def / 108 SpA / 20 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
– Tailwind
– Snarl
– Scald
– Ice Beam

The speed stat is designed to out speed a Choice Scarf Adamant Landorus-T under Tailwind and the Sp. Attack is enough to KO it as well. Bulk-wise it has enough to live Life Orb Thundurus-I and gave many Pokemon a tough time taking down Suicune besides. Snarl is a great move in doubles to annoy special attackers.

• 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 244 HP / 100+ Def Suicune: 108-127 (52.4 – 61.6%) — guaranteed 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• +1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 244 HP / 100+ Def Suicune: 160-189 (77.6 – 91.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 244 HP / 20 SpD Suicune: 172-203 (83.4 – 98.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Def / 84 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Shadow Ball
– Hyper Beam
– Psyshock

The set that Legacy originally gave me had less Speed and more Sp. Attack. The original speed set was only faster than Mega Kangaskhan under Tailwind, but I felt it was important to be faster than Terrakion at least so it doesn’t get Rock Slide flinched by it. Sacrificing some Special Attack for the Speed wasn’t ideal, but it was still enough to KO a max HP Mega Kangaskhan:

84+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 211-250 (99.5 – 117.9%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

The bulk means Sylveon can survive Neutral Nature max Attack from the 2 most popular mega Pokemon and also Adamant Scizor.  If the megas are Adamant Nature then Intimidate is required to survive these attacks:

• 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 100 HP / 252 Def Sylveon: 148-175 (80.8 – 95.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 100 HP / 252 Def Sylveon: 153-182 (83.6 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 100 HP / 252 Def Sylveon: 151-182 (82.5 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 84 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– U-turn
– Knock Off
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake

Same set Legacy gave me since April.  I always liked Landorus but didn’t like being choice-locked into a move.  I was an immediate fan of the Assault Vest variant because it gave me the freedom to pick whatever move was necessary. It can survive all non STAB Ice-type attacks and can survive most rainy water attacks depending on the user.  The EVs are designed to live +1 Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch.  I loved having max Speed just in case I have Tailwind up and when people use Icy Wind on it.  I love the mind games against people that don’t know my set.  Most people assume I’m a using the Choice Scarf which helps against the Mega Gengar match-up.  People do ask why no Superpower? Knock off is really handy to have to remove items plus I really needed U-Turn for the Cresselia match up because my other Pokemon cannot damage it well and I can do the old hit and run to it and escape traps.

Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 116 HP / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

So this is the only Pokemon change I did to Legacy’s team after Adelaide regional.  I found that I was having problems against Amoonguss Spore and Breloom is my only safe Spore switch.  I could of slapped the Safety Goggles to Heatran but I really wanted a Earthquake-immune partner for Landorus and the Heatran mirror is fraught with issues.  The EV spread, 252 Sp Attack is to maximize my chances of OHKO Amoonguss with Overheat, 140 Speed is 2 points over 252 speed adamant Bisharp and the rest was just dumped into HP. The other benefit of this change is that I know have 2 Pokemon immune to Thunder Wave paralysis. So with this change my team was starting to look like Billa’s team because we share 5 Pokemon that are the same but we have different sets on our teams.

Australian Nationals

About 2 weeks prior to Australian Nationals I made a commitment to only play 4 battles on Battle Spot a day whilst focusing on my growth plan. I only missed 2 days of training and I played around 50 games in a 2 week period including 2 games on the morning of Nationals. I was 38 wins and 12 losses on Battle Spot in practice, a 76% win ratio and I was the Australian number 1 on the ladder. The week before Nationals I managed to organize a Premier Challenge with one of my local Tournament Organizers with 3 days notice and we had enough people that turned up to the event.  I went undefeated at the event scoring the important points I needed.  During the week of Nationals we were told  that it was going to be Best of 3 Swiss, which was very good news to me as I prefer the format. I got to work asking my friends from other countries for best of 3 battles so I could get used to that format again without exposing myself to other Aussies. I’d like to thank Pephan from Chile, American pyromaniac720 for using the Japanese Sand team, DrSugus from Switzerland and Britons Wyrms Eye for the training. I got myself to Melbourne on the Thursday morning to enjoy the great food and I spent 2 hours in the library on Thursday, Friday and Saturday reading, growing and practicing.

Round 1: Romany Coventon W 2-0

For the 2nd time in a row at Australian Nationals my first round opponent is a girl.  She was full of energy and fell in love with my Delphox plush, so I continued to use my rugged charm against her. But she was playing rough when we battled and I wasn’t going to let her dominate me.  She started Salamance, Clefairy in both games and things got tricky in the start as she had Dragon Dance on Salamance and her Clefairy had Thunder Wave.  Both matches were hard fought but I got my goal correct to remove the Clefairy quickly so I could set up Tailwind and dominate.

Round 2: Richard Buckley (Arahpthos) W 2-0

Standard-looking team from the preview but there was a few strange things. His Rotom-H was slower than my Suicune and it wasn’t holding a Sitrus Berry, his Amoonguss didn’t have Rocky Helmet and his Mega Kangaskhan was slower than my Landorus.  In game 2 I got the luckiest automatic move selection when I ran out of time in turn 1.  My Rotom-H’s first move is Overheat and it targeted Richard’s Thundurus which KOed it after my Kangaskhan faked it out and I was able to capitalize from that lucky break to win the game.

Round 3: Theron Ho (BlazingSceptile) L 2-1

First time I got to play against a player from Singapore.  In game 1 he took control of the battle by taunting my Suicune with Thundurus and paralyzing my team. His Terrakion was a massive offensive threat with it’s Focus Sash and he was also predicting my switches really well, so I proceed to lose game 1. My plan for game 2 was not to be obvious in the switch outs but I wasn’t on the defensive at the start, as I had the stronger leads with Kangaskhan and Sylveon whilst he led with Thundurus and Bisharp, with Kangaskhan and Terrakion in the back. Despite the good start he did make it tough for me by making some good calls on my obvious plays but I edged him out in the end. In game 3 I lead with Kanga/Sylveon again whilst he started with Bisharp/Terrakion and I was already on the back foot from the start. I decided to Power-Up Punch the Bisharp whilst I was going to swap my Sylveon for Landorus so I could survive the Close Combat and KO the Bisharp before it gets any attack off.  I thought it was a clever idea because not many people are crazy enough to give Bisharp a free Defiant boost. But he actually saw it coming, Sucker Punching and Close Combating my Kangaskhan to knock it out and the game was over.  I was annoyed at myself that I didn’t commit to the gutsy stay-in aggressive play. He kept doing the non-obvious move meaning he wasn’t going to Iron Head my Sylveon. But my stupid fears got in the way and made me pick the safe moves which killed me.

Round 4: Jordan Taskovski W 2-0

This was the case of ‘my Tailwind team is faster than yours’ and ‘why are you using Tailwind and Aegislash in the same team?’  Of course I caught his Kangaskhan being Adamant and bulky. I was able to dominate the match as he just made the obvious plays of protecting his weaknesses and attacking the obvious targets.

Round 5: Luke Hey W 2-1

This was the most interesting team of the whole day. From the team preview it was really anti-meta having both Bisharp and Milotic just to prevent Landorus-T.  Mega Gallade was there to scare Kangaskhan.  Going into game 1 he lead with Rotom-M and Thundurus, whist I lead with Kangaskan and Rotom-H. What I noticed straightaway was that his Thundurus was not holding a Sitrus Berry and his Rotom-M was holding the Choice Specs as Volt Switch did 50% to my Kangaskhan.  I noticed his Gallade in non-mega form was slower than Rotom-H. I wasn’t quite sure on normal Gallade’s Base Speed (Editors Note: It’s Base 80), but knew Mega Gallade hit a Base Speed of 110.  The biggest surprise was his Gallade knew Skill Swap and stopped my Sylveon cold to win game 1.  Game 2 I lead Kangaskhan/Breloom whilst he lead with Rotom Mow/Bisharp.  I dominated game 2 by putting most of his Pokemon to sleep and I crucially learnt that my Jolly Mega Kangaskhan was faster than his Mega Gallade.  Going into game 3 I knew every single item his Pokemon were holding and none of them were anything to prevent Spore.  Also knowing that my Kangaskhan was faster than his Gallade, I dominated game 3. After the match he admitted that his Gallade is only faster than 252 Speed Adamant Kangaskhan.

Round 6: Ben Munroe W 2-0

I wasn’t quite sure if Ben was trying to reinvent the Japanese Sand team or this was his own idea. I took it as if it was his own idea because it looked worse than the Japanese Sand team on team preview. Game 1 saw his Mienshao miss the Hi Jump Kick into the switched-in Landorus and noted it was holding the Safety Goggles as it took no damage from the Sandstorm. My Suicune sets up Tailwind and I dominate game 1 without revealing my 4th Pokemon.  Game 2 he readjusted by leading Tyranitar and Clefable so he could set up a Dragon Dance on Tyranitar, but I took control of the speed once again and got a lucky Scald burn on his Tyranitar.  He did surprise me having Ice Punch on Tyranitar just to KO enemy Landorus. But as he was burnt I lived the hit and I went on to win game 2.

Round 7: Shawn Tang W 2-1

Another match against a player from Singapore. His team confused me on what speed method was he going to use. I expected it to be Trick Room because of the Amoonguss. Gothitelle are always scary to play against and he did bring it to all 3 games.  In game 1 he was very protective to Gothitelle and I learnt that my Mega Kangaskhan was faster than Mega Metagross and that its attacks were Ice Punch, Protect, Bullet Punch and Zen Headbutt.  His Gothitelle revealed it held the Safety Goggles with the moves of Psyshock and Tickle; despite not showing his 4th move I was very sure it was Trick Room because of the Mega Metagross being notably slow. Shawn decided not to set up Trick Room and brought Terrakion, which helped him win game 1.  In game 2 I lead with Kangaskhan and Landorus whilst he started with Gothitelle and Terrakion.  It was a ideal start for me as his Terrakion cannot KO Kangaskhan in 1 hit whilst intimidated.  I vaguely remember this battle but it was tense and no Trick Room was set up. I learnt that my Landorus was faster than the Mega Metagross and I popped his Air Balloon Heatran on a switch in, so he had a really bad Landorus match-up and I won the game.  In game 3 he led with Gothitelle and Scrafty and I lead with Breloom and Landorus.  This time, Shawn sets up Trick Room and all I remember is that I managed to put his Metagross asleep in the Trick Room. I managed to stall out the Trick Room and somehow won by making good moves because I shouted “C’Mon!” a lot. I only tend to do that if I make good moves or escape confusion/paraflinch hax which he doesn’t have. Needless to say, the Singapore people at home were not happy about the result!

Round 8: Chris Giagozoglou (TheBatman) W 2-0

I have known Chris ever since I got into VGC tournaments in Australia. I know how he behaves and plays.  I have never known Chris to be an especially good team builder for himself and he tends to stay with the same team all season which he did in 2013 & 2014. This happens especially if he has been winning with it because he thrives on his confidence which turns into ignorance.  The night before at the TCG event there were side tournaments and I was only playing just to fill the numbers, so I played using the May IC team. Chris was playing in the tournament as well and used the same team he has been using all season.  He and I made the finals of the side tournament and I got thrashed as to be expected because I was using a bad team.  I managed to save our battle and later that night I analysed his team using the mock battle feature to find out his spreads and if he had made any subtle changes. Coming into this battle I was loaded with information after finding out that I was playing Chris. I saw Saamid (Yourf) who defeated him in the earlier rounds and asked for his advice.  He told me to stay aggressive which reaffirmed my game plan and I just recently played Chris at the Adelaide Regional, so I knew the mistakes I made there.

Going into game 1 our leads was a deja-vu of Adelaide. I lead Kangaskhan and Breloom and he leads Kangaskhan and Sylveon, the exact same leads in Adelaide Regionals. Our moves were also the exact same in Adelaide.  He swapped his Kanga for Landorus, whilst I use Power-Up Punch on the Kangaskhan slot and spored his Sylveon.  In turn 2 he did the exact same thing as our previous match. He used Superpower onto my Kangaskhan which it survived, then I used Return to KO Sylveon because it destroyed me last time and I stayed in with my Breloom this time to spore his Landorus because on the previous occasion I switched it out to reset the Intimidate. So this was looking like a much better start for me and I didn’t get let go to that lead. In game 2 he changed his leads to Kangaskhan and Landorus whilst I kept the same leads, so he had the early advantage and this was going to test me. I wanted to stick to my game plan by standing my ground and being aggressive, because going against my original game plan failed against Theron. I know Chris likes to recycle intimidates using U-Turn and he certainly did that in turn 1, swapping into Amoonguss.  I think I used Fake Out and Spore into his Kangaskhan because I have sleep turns for it written in my notes. Next turn I swapped my Kangaskhan into Rotom-H to reset the attack drop and protect it from a possible Spore which he end up doing. All I remember about the rest of game 2 that it was really tense and longer than the first game but I still took control the game to win the match.

Round 9 : Nicholas Bingham (Spiritbomber) L 0-2

Seeing how I was paired up against the only undefeated player, I felt comfortable about making the cut win or lose. But I wanted to win because I tend to bubble at x-2. Nick is also one of my best fans and he did offer to drop to me since he was already guaranteed cut but I refused his offer after seeing Theron winning his last Swiss match. During the tournament all day I felt like throwing up, I couldn’t eat a proper meal so I was left snacking on protein bars, nuts and coffees.  I have spent a lot of mental energy on my battles that I don’t remember much on this match.  My note taking this this match was minimal as well and all I remember is that I was close to winning game 1 but I lost due to either lower damage roll or a miss.  I got dominated in game 2.

I was super nervous and worried about the top cut results. We had to wait a long time for the results and to my shock I made the cut and not bubble but I was also shocked that I was ranked 14th. I was expecting to be seed higher because I lost to 2 players with great Swiss results but I was wrong. I make a mental note for myself to make sure I don’t go x-2 in any future Swiss rounds.

Round 1 top cut:  Matt Jiwa (JiwaVGC) W 2-0

Figuring out the top cut draw is easy and I knew I was going to play Matt. When I got home I started messaging people that had played Matt during the Swiss rounds to get as much information about his team.  When FamousDeaf told me about the Pokemon on his team, I felt very comfortable about my match up, because I have defeated this Mega Gardevoir Japanese Trick Room team every time I played against it on Battle Spot.  I got more information from Ty Power (Sarkastik) and Nihal Noor (UchihaX96) as they both played Matt during the Swiss rounds.  I was told that the Garchomp is a filler and never used, Heatran has Safety Goggles and Amoonguss was wearing a Rocky Helmet. I asked a couple of questions about his play style as well so I could understand his behavior.

Prior to the match I was planning to bring Kangaskhan, Breloom, Sylveon and Rotom-H. I brought Kangaskhan for offensive pressure, Breloom to prevent Trick Room being set up, offensively scare his Pokemon and he negate Spore abuse. I brought Sylveon because I figured he’d bring Scrafty against me so I needed good offensive pressure against it. Rotom-H was there to provide an additional way to block Spore from Amoonguss and Heatran can’t touch it.  In game 1 I stuck to the game plan and I must of prevented Trick room because I wasn’t counting Trick Room turns on my notes for game 1.  I remember that it ended with Sylveon waking up and finishing off Gardevior and Scrafty.  In game 2 I started with Breloom and Rotom H whilst Matt started with Gardevior and Scrafty.  Matt manages to set up Trick Room immediately, I managed to stall it out successfully and I won the match.  I was the first person to move on to the top 8 and my homework paid off.

Quarter finals:  Matt Roe (RoeySK) L 0-2

I was really happy that Roey won because he pretty much qualified for worlds getting this far and he is a fun person that I really liked. Going into the match I knew I can beat the Japanese Sand teams, as I have played many of them on Battle Spot and I knew exactly of how I was going to play this. I brought Kangaskhan/Rotom-H with Landorus and Breloom in the back whilst Roey led Salamence/Tyranitar with Rotom-W and Aegislash in the back. I ended up losing game 1 as I missed a Will-O-Wisp and made some bad plays. I learnt that he plays defensively and our Rotom Speed tie. At this event I was only 1 point faster than Bisharp. Game 2 we lead the same and brought the same 4 Pokemon. This time he starts with switching in Rotom-W, which made life difficult without Breloom in play and when I tried to switch it in, it got burnt. I did put it to sleep and it got to a point where I was 2-3 down when Roey had his Salamence and his 2HP sleeping Rotom Wash with Tyranitar in the back whilst my last 2 were Kanga and a full HP Rotom-H. I caught him out protecting his Salamence as my Kangaskhan Power-Up Punched my Rotom because I wanted a +2 boost and not 1 from his Rotom.  Then the most unfortunate thing happened his Rotom won the speed tie, woke up and hit Hydro Pump into my Rotom and it was game over.  My Rotom was going to Thunderbolt his Rotom because I knew he would Protect the Salamence. This is the reason why my Rotom-Heat is now 2 points faster than Bisharp.

Once again my arrogance killed me again.  At the time I thought using Suicune was a really bad idea to use in this match up because of the Amoonguss. I know Suicune can be good against this because of the value of Tailwind set up. Generally my match-up against Japan Sand teams is 50/50; it depends on how well me and my opponent plays because some of my Pokemon can destroy some parts of this team whilst they can be destroyed by other parts of the team.

South East Asia Nationals

I was planning to make my decision going to Singapore depending on my Aussie National result.  I knew I was a strong shot of qualifying for worlds as I was comfortably inside the cut-off in CP for Asia Pacific after Australian Nationals so I didn’t need to go to Singapore. I was considering going because this year is my last year of playing unless I win worlds.  The local players were encouraging me to be there plus I haven’t been to Singapore as an adult and I love summer.  It wasn’t until the next day that the organizers announced that their Nationals was also going to be best of 3 Swiss and that validated me going to the event for primarily the battle practice, then social reasons and a chance on getting the paid invite.

Practicing for this National was completely different as I made it very public by streaming my 4 daily Battle Spot battles plus inviting a guest to do a best of 3 battle afterwards. On my days off at work, I organised private battle appointments with American players and I create a schedule of one best of 3 battle every hour for 6-8 hours to simulate a tournament situation.  My Battle Spot results did improve as I entered the worlds top 10 for the first time getting as high as 4th at one point. I wanted to keep battling with that high rating because it was good pressure practice to get to world number 1.  My stay in the worlds top 10 only lasted 3 days as streaming plus battling in the same time can be distracting as you miss some information.

As the event came close, some doubt in my team was starting to creep in as I was losing some matches and was concerned about some match-ups. I asked Luke (Dawg) for some advice and gave me some changes. I was practicing the changes doing best of 3 battles with Americans and it failed badly there.  So I stuck with my old team with the belief knowing I have beaten some of the bad match up Pokemon before and they are rarely seen in the meta game as well for example Mega Venusaur and Clefairy.

The tournament attracted just short of 128 players around Asia Pacific from countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. We were playing 7 rounds of best of 3 Swiss with only a top 8 cut.  People back in Australia calculated that only x-1’s would make the cut.

Round 1: Melvin Keh (Shaman) W 2-1

I knew I recognized my opponent’s name from the streams of Asian events and he quickly reminded me of our International Challenge match last year where I successfully timer-stalled him. It was my Aerodactyl against his Aegislash where I had no right in winning without the timer. So I knew I was in for a tough battle.  I lost game 1 because of his tricks. His Kangaskhan was Adamant with the Inner Focus ability, Rotom-W had Thunder Wave for speed control which shut down my Tailwind, My Landorus was faster than his, and was holding a Lum Berry. I’d managed to get good information about his team and how he played, promptly using it to my full advantage and made good gutsy plays to win games 2 and 3.  The gutsy play was in the start of game 3 where I used Fake Out on his Kangaskhan because I was pretty confident he was thinking I wasn’t going to fake out his Kangaskhan. Singapore was starting to hear my battle cries really early!

Round 2: Zulherryka Yosuf (Mewzxc) L 1-2

It turns out I’m actually known in the Asian market as young Zul recognized my name and praised me.  His team looked scary as I didn’t want to bring Suicune because of the sun and knocking out Cresselia in the sun is a massive challenge. I managed to win game 1 because I lead well with Kangaskhan/Sylveon against double genies and the game finished with my Rotom’s Overheat in the sun knocking out Cresselia at 60%. In game 2 he started with his Fire-power with Heatran and Charizard whilst I kept the same leads. Things didn’t look good at all and he dominated the match. In game 3 I figured he might want to keep the same Pokemon so I decided to bring Suicune and he knew I was going to do that so he adjusted to that. At the end of the match my Suicune became dead weight in the sun and I lost the game.

Round 3: Ezer Tan W 2-1

Thank goodness for best of 3 because I lost game 1 thanks to his tricks.  This was a full on Trick Room team with his Heatran being slower than Suicune and my Breloom being faster than his Kangaskhan. Game 2 I learnt his Cresselia wore the Safety Goggles and Trick Room went up again, however I successfully stalled it out and won the game. I cannot remember much of game 3 other than me getting critical hits and Scald burns which made my life easier to win game 3.

Round 4: Vishal W 2-0

I was happy in team preview because the team composition looks seriously outdated. Talonflame and Bisharp were past their prime but I promised myself not to be arrogant this tournament so I played with due caution.  First turn of game 1 I faked out the Thundurus and set up Tailwind, whilst his Kangaskhan used Low Kick onto mine and it hung on, which indicated that his Kangaskhan is Jolly natured. Next turn I won the Sucker Punch mind game and he made other questionable plays like not protecting Landorus in front of my Tailwind Suicune which got a free kill.  Game 2 I completely dominated him; he was just doing the safe plays and his team was really outdated in the current meta at the time.

Round 5: Chi Yuen Fu W 2-0

Playing a player from Taiwan and seeing rain made me comfortable in bringing Suicune to set up Tailwind do some serious water damage. He starts with his rain duo of Politoed and Ludicolo whilst I started with Kangaskhan and Suicune. I escape the Scald burns, noticing he was being very protective to his Pokemon. I took Politoed out quickly so when Tailwind ended I could stall out the rain and take control from there. He lead with rain again in game 2 and the same thing happened, despite using Thundurs instead of Terrakion to control my speed. It was nice to get 2 less stressful wins.

Round 6: Ericsson Marquez (MaximumZero) W 2-1

Ericsson from the Philippines was the next opponent. While on the surface it’s another rain team, this one looked more threatening than the previous team. I dominated game 1 as he started with Politoed/Terrakion against my Kangaskhan/Suicune lead.  I noticed his Politoed was holding a Choice Scarf as Drizzle activated before Suicune’s Pressure.  I use Fake Out on Terrakion and promptly set up Tailwind whilst avoiding a sScald burn from the Politoed. I took control of the match without revealing my 4th Pokemon but the result was the reverse in game 2 where he adjusted by not bringing rain. Going into game 3 he’d brought Mega Scizor both games and he didn’t use rain in game 2 so I left Breloom behind and took Rotom-H with me. I still lead with Kangaskhan and Suicune whilst he started with Weavile/Terrakion. His lead was more favorable than mine but in the first turn things didn’t go as planned for Ericcson. I swapped my Kangaskhan for Landorus whilst his Weavile used Icicle Crash on my Suicune and Terrakion used Close Combat into the Kangaskhan slot, whilst my Suicune sets up Tailwind. From there I took control of the match and won as I correctly assumed he wouldn’t bring rain. At the end of the game, Ericsson said that he thought I was going to swap my Suicune for Landorus so I can make sure Kangaskhan could live the Close Combat and Power-Up Punch his Weavile.

Round 7: Jaryl Chan L 1-2

This must win match was being featured on stream, so I was looking forward to putting on a good show for the world. Looking at team preview I was having concerns of a Calm Mind Cresselia and Charizard Y combo but that was not the case when I lost game 1 to Trick Room, whilst I used Tailwind.  By the time I stalled out the turns, my Pokemon were too hurt that I couldn’t recover. In game 2 I readjusted and brought Sylveon into the party. I made a good call in game 2 expecting his Landorus to switch out for Charizard and it took a Thunderbolt to get the KO. Jaryl ended his Trick Room early when I had my Sylveon out and Jaryl made a comeback thanks to some favorable rolls. My Sylveon was in prime position to KO his Landorus and Cresselia with Hyper Voice. I swapped in my Landorus to make sure I was going to survive his Life Orbed Landorus’s attack but the critical hit Earthquake took out my Sylveon. The organisers gave me the win in game 2 because Jaryl was taking too much time selecting his moves as there was a strict enforcement of the 45 second turn selection rule (Editors Note: This was down to the fact the event was ‘untethered’ – they didn’t have the luxury of the official software). I knew Jaryl was doing this because he looked extremely nervous and tense during the game.  So my game plan in game 3 is to continue applying pressure.

Going into game 3 I knew that my Lando was faster than his. I started game 3 perfectly. I knocked off the Life Orb from his Landorus, preventing a KO to my Kangaskhan from the Helping Hand-boosted Superpower. I took control in game 3 by leaving his Cresselia alone and picking off its partners Landorus, then Condelkurr in the Trick Room leaving me with a 4-2 lead.  His last Pokemon was Sylveon, and had Trick Room turns remaining. My Sylveon and Rotom-H had about half HP left and I thought his Sylveon would just finish me off with Hyper Voice because I thought it was holding Choice Specs.  So I just picked Hyper Voice on my Sylveon because it was choice-locked into it and Thunderbolt the Cresselia.  But to my shock, my Sylveon was slower than his, plus it wasn’t holding a choice item because he used Calm Mind whilst his Creeselia used Moonlight to heal. Then the Trick Room ended. His Sylveon was at about 30% of health and I didn’t know how much damage a Thunderbolt would do to his Sylveon at +1 so I went for Will-O-Wisp so I could slowly accumulate damage because I knew we were going back into Trick Room. But my Will-O-Wisp missed and my Kangaskhan failed to KO Sylveon with Sucker Punch, giving Jaryl the win. The biggest mistake I made in game 3 was thinking that I was going to lose my Pokemon on the turn he used Calm Mind with Sylveon. If I’d said to myself ”What if I somehow lived this attack?’ I would of picked proper attacks against him and not careless ones.

I was pretty sure my tournament was over for me but there were people who dropped out the tournament, so maybe at least 1 x-2 was going to cut. I wanted to find out where I finished because if I finished 9th I was going to celebrate with Bubble tea – thanks Level 51 for the idea! Soon the Tournament Organizer voiced out the top cut line up and he said that there will be 4 different countries representing the top cut. 4 players from Singapore, 2 from Hong Kong, 1 from Malaysia and 1 from AUSTRALIA!!! I was in total shock that I made the cut and but it was no surprise when they showed the tie-breaker resistances on screen. The 2 people I lost to were x-1 plus 3 players I defeated joined me at x-2. Thank you Melvin, Chi Yuen Fu and Ericsson!

Quarter Final: Wai Yin Low (TextFont) W 2-0

So this is it.  The winner of this match would get the paid invite because if either of us got into the semi final no one else in the top cut can catch up to our points and Wai Yin was only 10 CP ahead of me. I was trying to do well in the International Challenge that weekend to negate the deficit, but it was no longer needed because I had full control of my fate in front of me. The Aussies back home were quick to find YouTube videos of Wai Yin playing the Malaysian Regional where she won.  I got back to the hotel after having a real dinner and took notes on how she plays. The morning after I enjoyed a good swim in the Singapore heat and I remembered that Zarif (Hikari0307) the eventual champion played her in Swiss and I got the information regarding her team.

I knew she had a Tailwind team but my team absolutely dominates Talonflame in general. I lead with Kangaskhan and Suicune vs Kangaskhan/Sylveon. In the videos of the Malaysian Regional, I noticed that her Kangaskhan was bulky and it was most likely an Adamant nature. That was true going into our battle as my Kangaskhan outsped hers and it was going to be another case of Phil’s Tailwind team is faster than yours. I dominated game 1 by not giving any control. Game 2 was a repeat of game 1 as she struggled to find an out to Suicune and Breloom. After the match she admitted to me that she forgot to add King’s Shield on her Aegislash prior to the tournament.  So she went 7-0 in Swiss without King’s Shield. Wow. So the 2nd paid invite was mine as my trip to Singapore ended up being a profitable one. The same could be said about Theron Ho after finishing 2nd in Australia and top 32 in Singapore.

Semi Finals : Zulherryka Yosuf (Mewzxc) L 0-2

I knew it was going to be difficult playing Zul again. I started really badly game 1, with Kangaskhan/Sylveon against his Charizard and Heatran.  He dominated me as I had no real switch into the fire attacks so I was stalling game 1 whilst figuring out a plan for game 2 because this was an extremely difficult match up.  In game 2 I led better with Kangaskhan/Landorus whilst he kept up with his fiery duo. In the previous game he protected against the Fake Out so I thought he would do the same in game 2 so I decided to Power-Up Punch my Landorus. To my shock he didn’t Protect and went all offense and it was over for me. My biggest down fall in this match was not committing the same amount of homework that I did against Wai Yin. I had a lot time to do it as well, so it was my own lack of commitment that cost me here.

TV Interview

After returning from Singapore I contacted an Australian TV show called Good Game and I sent a tweet to the host of the Online E-Sports show called Well Played and pitched the story about the Pokemon World Championships.  I was invited to travel to Sydney and got interviewed to showcase to the audience about high-level Pokemon VGC.  Here is the interview:

Thank Yous

• Thank you to my awesome and sexy friend from the best coast of USA,  Alejandro Jimenez (Legacy).  Using your team has taught me a lot about the game. I cannot wait to see you at worlds and get your picture & autograph.
• Thank you to my great mate in Melbourne Jesse Wilsone for always being there for me plus getting me out of the darkness.
• To the Team Delphox Cubs: thanks for assistance of getting legendary Pokemon, practice battles and bouncing ideas off of each other.
• Thank you Australia for cheering me on and supporting me.  I have seen the Twitch chat logs of the stream and I have never had so much fun whilst competing.  I will do you guys proud for worlds.
• To all my international fans: thank you for supporting me, giving advice and battling me.
• Thank you Nintendo Australia and Russell Peters for organising a successful national event.
• Thank you to team Singapore for your hospitality and your tournament was equally well ran like Australian Nationals.  I love your dedication for excellence and you all have good team synergy.

Closing Words

Here is commitment to my supporters.  I will be working hard and smart to make sure I do come home with the World Championship trophy. There is still heaps for me to learn to become a champion because I have yet to win a tournament this season despite these great results.  I cannot wait to see all my new friends I made this season and see all the old friends I saw last year at worlds!

The post From Wannabe to Professional: Asia Pacific Circuit Top 2 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello everybody! My name is Blake Hopper, but you can call me Bopper. I’m here to talk about my team that I used at the United States National tournament where I placed 3rd. This was not only my first time to place in the top 8 of any major tournament, but also my first time to make day 2 of nationals! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy!

Team Building Process

Imagine me on Tuesday prior to Nationals without a team. It’s not a pretty sight. I was extremely stressed out as my entire season would be riding on this tournament at which I had to place within the top 32 in order to lock up my Worlds invite. I was talking with Oliver Valenti (Smith) and Toler Webb (Dim) while at dinner and Oliver suggested I mess around with Alberto Lara’s (CaliSweeper) team that he used to win two Regionals. The team sounded very appealing as it had both Salamence and Charizard, two Pokémon that I was very comfortable with, so I went with it.

I really didn’t like Ferrothorn on this team and felt like it should go as it doesn’t fit my style. I also wanted to have a solid steel type but also needed a good strong fighting type that allowed my team to gain a lot of offensive momentum.

This version seemed to click much more than the previous. However, I rarely brought Salamence and whenever I did, it never really pulled its weight, as the team didn’t really seem to work well with it. In addition to this, Breloom was way too inconsistent for my liking, so I decided to switch it out for a more consistent fighting type that still put a lot of pressure on the opponent in the form of type coverage.

This version of the team is what stood out the most to me. It had a lot of speed control in the forms of Charizard and Thundurus which had access to Tailwind and Thunder Wave respectively. On the original draft of the team, I didn’t like Conkeldurr in conjunction with Salamence because Conkeldurr was always too slow to help out the rest of the team. With Thundurus, I was able to control much more of my matches and it was also a very reliable way to prevent any gimmicks that I might have faced in a Swiss style tournament.

The Team

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 36 SpA / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
– Flamethrower
– Tailwind
– Solar Beam
– Protect

• OHKOs 252HP/156SDef Aegislash with sun boosted flamethrower
• Survives a Rock Slide from -1 Jolly Terrakion
• Survives Choice Specs boosted Draco Meteor from Hydreigon 93.7% of the time
• Outspeeds Adamant Landorus-T by 2 points, hitting 145 speed

Charizard was one of the megas that not a lot of people really believed in going into Nationals. Due to the large spike in usage of the famous Japanese sand team with Mega Salamence, Charizard didn’t seem to be a great play for the event. However, Charizard has amazing matchups against some of the top pokemon when supported correctly. There are always some matchups where Charizard severely lacks the offensive pressure that I love to apply. It was situations like these that made me want to try out Tailwind on Charizard in order to fill a support role for whenever Charizard couldn’t apply much offensive pressure on its own. With the use of Tailwind, I was able to set up a lot of really weird win conditions that my opponents didn’t really see coming, and these win conditions were usually able to immediately lock up games.

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 100 HP / 116 Atk / 140 Def / 68 SpD / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Drain Punch
– Mach Punch
– Ice Punch
– Rock Tomb

• Survives Life Orb Hyper Voice from modest Sylveon
• Survives a -1 Return from adamant Mega-Salamence 93.7% of the time
• Outspeeds max speed adamant Mega-Kangaskhan in Tailwind
• KOs 4 HP Landorus-T with a -1 Ice Punch + Mach Punch

Hands down the MVP of the entire tournament. Conkeldurr was a Pokémon that I was testing with constantly prior to Nationals. I thought that Conkeldurr had the most potential out of any Fighting type going into Nationals seeing that it was able to OHKO Landorus-T and Kangaskhan, which were two very threatening Pokemon for Charizard if I were to lose Aegislash. Conkeldurr was one of the best pokemon I used in the tournament due to its access to a strong priority move in the form of Mach Punch, which gained a power boost from Conkeldurr’s ability Iron Fist. There were a few moments where I wished I had Guts instead of Iron Fist, but there were far more times where I was happy about having Iron Fist instead. I decided that Conkeldurr needed to act as the sort of “glue” to this team, meaning it was able to patch up some of my weird matchups and generally provide solid coverage to help support the team. Rock Tomb was an interesting choice that I decided on the day prior to the tournament. I was really afraid of opposing Charizards so I wanted some hidden ways to take out Charizards in order to clear up some of my opponents’ offensive threats. Rock Tomb also counted as a form of speed control but was unfortunately never used in that way.

Sylveon @ Life Orb
Ability: Pixilate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 HP / 20 Def / 212 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Hidden Power [Ground]
– Helping Hand
– Protect

• Survives -1 Mega-Kangaskhan Double-Edge AND Life Orb recoil
• KOs 4HP Heatran with Hidden Power
• Outspeeds Mega-Salamence in Tailwind

Sylveon used to be one of the best pokemon in the metagame with little to nothing to stop it quickly. But now, I feel as if Sylveon has dropped down in usage as people are becoming more aware of how to handle it. With the abundance of Salamence and Kangaskhan which both OHKO Sylveon and Aegislash which prevents Sylveon from using Hyper Voice, Sylveon can have a bit of a tough time getting damage off in some matches. I feel like outside of these pokemon and a few others, Sylveon is a monster that specializes in punishing switches that the opponent may be making due to being in a bad position. Charizard was able to plug up a lot of the things that give Sylveon some issues. Charizard OHKOs Aegislash and Amoonguss, two very annoying pokemon for Sylveon, and Charizard is able to set up a Tailwind which allows Sylveon to outspeed and KO Salamence, and do very sizeable damage to Kangaskhan.

The spread was probably one of my favorite spreads that I used on my team. Sylveon being able to outspeed Mega-Salamence and Tyranitar holding a Choice Scarf was extremely useful and netted many KOs throughout the tournament.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 104 Def / 4 SpA / 72 SpD / 116 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt

• Survives Kangaskhan Double-Edge with Sitrus Berry recovery
• Outspeeds Jolly Landorus-T by 1 point
• Dumped Special Defense

This specific Thundurus was mainly just ripped from Jake Muller’s (MajorBowman) Winter Regionals team. I wanted to use Timid Thundurus because I felt like it was a stellar meta call going into nationals, as it could outspeed and Taunt opposing Thundurus reliably and prevent any Swaggers or Thunder Waves they might have been trying to set up on my team. Thundurus was amazing support for this team. My team had three forms of speed control in the forms of Charizard’s Tailwind, Conkeldurr’s Rock Tomb, and Thundurus’ Thunder Wave. This allowed for me to be able to control the momentum of a large portion of my matches due to how many options I had to speed up my team.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 140 SpA / 76 SpD / 52 Spe
Modest Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Wide Guard
– King’s Shield

• General speed investment to speed-creep opposing Aegislash
• Survives 252 SAtk Timid Charizard Heat Wave in sun
• Dumped Special Attack

Many of the teams that I played seemed to only have a Landorus-T as their “Charizard counter,” which was easily stoppable with the support of Aegislash and its move Wide Guard. After Nationals, I’m convinced that Aegislash is tied with Landorus-T for the best Pokemon in the metagame. Aegislash is able to fit on nearly any team and offer either offensive or defensive support. It’s also easily one of the best defensive pivots in the entire game due to its insane amount of type resistances and lack of weaknesses. What Aegislash brought to this team was mainly the threat of Wide Guard and its ability to freely switch into opposing Kangaskhan, which none of my Pokemon really wanted to take a hit from. Not much else to say about this guy – it’s an Aegislash, it’s good.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 108 HP / 156 Atk / 28 Def / 12 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– U-turn
– Superpower

• KOs 4HP Hydreigon with Superpower
• Outspeeds Mega-Gengar with choice scarf
• Survives +1 Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch

Oh hey! That one Pokémon that’s used on almost every team! I wonder if there’s a reason for that. Well there is! Landorus-T is almost too good of a Pokémon. With access to intimidate, base 145 Attack and amazing coverage for the metagame, there’s no surprise that this Pokémon is used on over half of the teams. I wanted to use a less common Landorus set at nationals but this team lacked speed and didn’t have a lot of options for Kangaskhan due to that. I figured Choice Scarf was going to be the best option to fix that issue, and it definitely was. A fast Landorus paired with the multiple forms of speed control gave me options outside of the speed control options to still outspeed my opponents and apply a lot of offensive pressure. Another thing that Landorus was able to bring to this team that ended up saving my butt in a lot of situations was Intimidate. With Intimidate, my team immediately is able to do a lot of insane things defensively that wouldn’t have been possible without it. Because of this, it allowed my team to be much more flexible and get out of sticky situations.

The Tournament – Day 1

At the start of the first day of the tournament, I was a nervous wreck. I had never cut a National tournament prior to this year and I knew that if I wanted to qualify for Worlds, I had to play my best for the entirety of the tournament to make day 2, which was no small task. Going into the tournament, I tried to keep a different mindset before each of my matches. In the past, I always seemed to let losses get to me and affect how I play in future rounds. This always resulted in me not playing my best and translated to preventable losses. Going into this tournament though, I tried to stay as confident as possible, set my goals high, and to not expect to do great. This allowed me to look at each game positively and not get too down on myself if I were to lose, which was absolutely huge for a best-of-3 tournament where losing a game could ruin your mentality halfway through a set.

Round 1 [0-0]: Martin Gajdosz (ThunderRaikou22)

Going into this match, I immediately had an advantage due to his mega being Venusaur. Typically a Venusaur team’s goal is to set up Venusaur to lock up games. Due to the fact that my mega was Charizard and I had a lot of speed control, it was tough for Martin to set up his Venusaur late game. He put me in some weird spots and played pretty well.

Win 2-0 [1-0]

Round 2 [1-0]: Mark Hanson (Crawdaunt)

Prior to Nationals, I knew I needed answers to this exact team because it’s a very good Swiss team that has a lot of offensive pressure and I didn’t want to fall victim to it. Going into this match, I knew I had a pretty solid matchup. My Charizard’s ability to Tailwind really payed off and my fairly speedy Sylveon really did work in this match.

Game 1 he didn’t bring Terrakion which surprised me, so anticipating this, I brought Landorus-T game 2. This practically sealed the game for me as he didn’t bring rain and brought Terrakion and Thundurus instead.

Win 2-0 [2-0]

Round 3 [2-0]: Patrick Ball (PBall0010)

Prior to sitting down, I tried to think of what I could do against Patrick matchup wise. I knew Pat had been using the Charizard / Sylveon / Landorus-T core for nearly the entire season and that it wasn’t a great matchup for me. I had Rock Tomb on Conkeldurr for matchups like these, but the fact that he had Aegislash and Cresselia in addition to Sylveon really limited Conkeldurr and forced me to not bring it.

I lost game 1 because I didn’t play to my win condition and Pat played better.

Game 2 I got an early lead by KOing his Charizard turn 1 by correctly calling a Protect from his Hydreigon which was expecting my Landorus to superpower it. After this, I just rode my momentum to comfortably take game 2.

Game 3 Pat didn’t really bring the right pokemon and it sort of bit him in the butt. I got an early KO on his Sylveon that he lead and got to paralyze his Hydreigon. What the match came down to was his Landorus locked into rock slide and Wide Guard Aegislash at full versus my +2 Aegislash at 30HP and Landorus that were both faster than Pat’s corresponding Pokémon. On the turns I decided to be bold enough with my Aegislash to attack his Aegislash, I first flinched from his rock slide which was then followed by him missing my Aegislash which was at the time, at around 10HP. Really unfortunate way to win it, but the flinch did happen so it sort-of-not-really balances it out.

Win 2-1 [3-0]

Round 4 [3-0]: Kolby Golliher (LoveTrain)

As soon as I saw team preview I knew I was going to have a tough time with this set. I really hate playing against Talonflame + Kanga + another Fighting weakness due to Talonflame’s ability to knock out my Conkeldurr before I can even Mach Punch.

Game 1 Kolby lead Kangaskhan Smeargle and I came prepared (but not really) with Thundurus and Landorus. I was fortunate enough that Kolby used Tailwind first turn instead of Dark Void. After that, I was able to just Taunt the Smeargle and make it worthless and unable to use Dark Void until it switched out. After that, I was able to Thunder Wave things and slowly build back my momentum, taking game 1 very convincingly.

Game 2 I knew that if he was going to be playing Smeargle cleverly, he wasn’t going to bring a counter lead to what my best lead against Kangaskhan Smeargle is. And he did just that by leading Kangaskhan and Landorus-T which just completely ran through my team.

Game 3 he did the same thing and 100% outplayed me. Most people hate on Smeargle but Kolby played it very well in games 2 and 3. Because of Smeargle in team preview, it limited a lot of my options lead wise, and he was able to capitalize off of that completely.

Loss 1-2 [3-1]

Round 5 [3-1]: Justin Stipe (Panko)

Going into this match, I knew Justin was testing a lot with a fun combo using the move Round. The way the mechanic works, the second user of Round moves right after the first and has the power of the move doubled. This meant that Sylveon could get some really strong attacks off against unsuspecting victims. I wasn’t having any of that, and played knowing he was likely going to test the waters with it game 1.

Game 1 I got a free Thunder Wave off on his Salamence as he doubled into my King’s Shielding Aegislash, and that gave me enough momentum to clean up the rest of the game fairly handily.

Game 2 I lead with Sylveon and Thundurus knowing that I could put a lot of pressure on his Salamence, which I assumed to be fully special, and could potentially get me into an amazing position from the very start. He lead with Blaziken and Sylveon so I was glad I didn’t stick with the Aegislash from game 1. Once I took out his Blaziken, Tyranitar and Thundurus sort of cleaned up the remainder of his Pokémon.

Win 2-0 [4-1]

Round 6 [4-1]: Matthew Jackson

Once team preview came up I already wasn’t feeling great about the match. Talonflame + Kangaskhan + Fighting weakness seemed to be a trend among my Swiss rounds. However this matchup was much worse due to Bisharp limiting my lead options as it was very risky to lead Landorus, which helps with Talonflame and Kangaskhan. I really don’t remember much about this match, but I remember having to dance around his Talonflame quite a lot. Once it went down, it was smooth sailing from there

Win 2-0 [5-1]

Round 7 [5-1]: Chris Danzo (Lunar)

Prior to this tournament I had only heard about how solid of a player Chris is. I’ve actually never seen him play in a serious setting before, and boy was I in for a trip. Chris threw me for loop after loop with his highly aggressive playstyle and after I figured that out immediately from the first turn of our set, it made for a crazy couple of games.

Game 1 was fairly clean and close. My Thundurus ended up surviving a Sucker Punch and a Flare Blitz from his Bisharp and Talonflame respectively with only 4HP and was able to get an early KO on his Talonflame. After that, I had a lot of options and was able to clean up carefully.

Game 2 was stupid and we should have gone to a third. I ended up getting a critical hit on his Talonflame with my Charizard’s Flamethrower which 100% sealed the game since I was forced to switch in my Conkeldurr in the following turn as it was my only Pokémon left. His Gardevoir got fully paralyzed twice as it was, I assume, attacking my Charizard with Psychic. I didn’t deserve to take the set 2-0 as Chris played really well and I got lucky but that’s how it turns out sometimes. Nothing but respect for Chris, very well played.

Win 2-0 [6-1]

Round 8 [6-1]: Jake Muller (MajorBowman)

This match was streamed! You can watch it below thanks to Pokémon streaming the games and Eiganjo for uploading the set to YouTube!

I was very sad to see I was playing my friend Jake in the eighth round of Swiss as we both needed Day 2 to confirm our Worlds invites and I wanted both of us to make it there if possible. While it was possible, the loser would have to play at 6-2 in the last round of Swiss and a loss in that match would result in being knocked out of top cut.

Game 1 was pretty gross. I played way too risky and brought the wrong Pokémon. I left both of my Pokémon open to being flinched and possibly KO’d. Jake got a KO on my Landorus as I flinched with Charizard which was trying to pick up a KO his Charizard. Got destroyed after that.

Game 2 I had a bit of a poor lead matchup due to Jake deciding to bring Kangaskhan. I just tried to get as much damage on things as possible and set up for some late game KOs with Landorus. After I got a lot of chip damage on his Thundurus and Sylveon and KO his Landorus, my Landorus was able to get a double KO with a Helping Hand boosted Rock Slide, locking up the game.

Game 3 I started pretty strong by immediately knocking Jake’s Landorus down to very low red health with an HP Ice as he also got some very solid damage off on my Thundurus. After the Landorus was heavily damaged, I was able to send in Sylveon and limit a lot of Jakes switches. He couldn’t switch in anything to comfortably take a Hyper Voice because he opted to not bring Aegislash. After his Landorus was gone, Charizard was able to do big damage to the remainder of his team and Landorus was able to beat whichever mega he had in back, which ended up being Charizard. I hit my Rock Slide and locked up the game, securing Day 2!

Great games, Jake.

Win 2-1 [7-1]

Round 9 [7-1]: Aaron Liebersbach (Arch)

I told Aaron that I promised Jake I would try my hardest to win the next game. He said he knew Jake and was kind enough to give me the win to help Jake make Top 64 in case he lost. Jake did end up losing his last round, but still got Top 64 to secure his invite so it paid off!

Win 0-0 [8-1]

Day 2

I ended up doing what I thought was impossible; I managed to top cut nationals! I knew that if I wanted to 100% lock up my worlds invitation, I had to get top 32. Which seemed very reasonable considering it was only a top cut of only 38 (technically 37 in rankings, hi Ian!). Going into Day 2, I tried not to expect too much from it. I wanted to be very cautious of my attitude as to not completely bomb and miss Worlds. Of course, I wanted to do the best I could, but I knew that I was going to be perfectly content with only making it as far as Top 32.

Round 1 [0-0]: Raphael Bagara (Rapha) [2nd Place]

Going into this first round, I wanted to start strong so I wouldn’t have to worry about needing wins later on in the Swiss rounds. I knew the matchup was in my favor and I just needed to play around his Heatran properly to seal up a win.

Game 1: I can’t quite remember how this game went down, but I know that I ended up putting a lot of pressure on his Landorus and Thundurus which allowed my Sylveon to sort of clean up after his Heatran was paralyzed.

Game 2: His Thundurus and Gardevoir went crazy on me and I let him get a lot of chip damage off that came back to bite me in the end game.

Game 3: Raphael ended up setting up Trick Room, which allowed my Conkeldurr and Sylveon to run through his team.

Win 2-1 [1-0]

Round 2 [1-0]: Evan Bates (Veteran Padgett) [14th Place]

I know Evan from the local Dallas scene. This isn’t the first time I’ve played him so I kind of knew what to expect in terms of his play style.

Game 1 I knew that Kangaskhan was the biggest threat on his team so I immediately paralyzed it, which ended up really paying off as it got fully paralyzed twice during the duration of our match. After his Kangaskhan was paralyzed I was able to clean up with Conkeldurr fairly easily, but the two full paralyses on Kangaskhan really saved me.

Game 2 I had to tackle differently and not bank on full paralysis to get by. He changed things up by bringing Noivern to game 2, which barely missed a KO on my Conkeldurr with Hurricane and immediately went down to an Ice Punch. Conkeldurr was able to put a lot of things in KO range for attacks from Charizard and Aegislash, which ended up narrowly securing a win.

Win 2-0 [2-0]

Round 3 [2-0]: Kolby Golliher (LoveTrain) [13th Place]

I ended up getting paired against my only loss in Swiss from day 1, so I had to approach this set very carefully in order to take a win.

Game 1 can be perfectly summed up in the first 2 turns. I lead Thundurus Landorus as he leads Kangaskhan Smeargle. He fakes out my Thundurus as I try to Taunt and Rock Slide him, doing about 45% to Smeargle. He doesn’t flinch, misses my Landorus with Dark Void, and gets an Evasion boost and a Defense drop from Moody. My Landorus is able to connect with Rock Slide despite Smeargle being at +2 Evasion, and thanks to the defense drop, Smeargle was knocked out. After that, some paralysis happened and that “cleaned up” game 1 in one of the grossest matches of Pokémon I’ve seen in a long time.

Game 2 I was ready for him to not lead Kangaskhan Smeargle, so I led accordingly and was able to get a straightforward win as he didn’t bring Talonflame, making things much easier for me.

Win 2-0 [3-0]

Round 4 [3-0]: Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka) [6th Place]

Knowing I had clinched Top 32, I was happy with whatever was to happen in the following rounds. I saw that I got paired up against Angel and I got excited. Angel is a very solid player that always manages to use very creative teams that never fail to impress. However, he’s never really had too many stellar performances outside of this season so I was glad to see him at 3-0 on day 2.

Game 1 was pretty straightforward but had a lot of momentum shifts. Turn 1 Angel revealed his Landorus-T carried Earth Power, which made me assume it also had a Rock move and Hidden Power Ice. This helped me later on in the set. Angel also revealed that his Aegislash was faster than mine on the first turn, which was quite surprising but very nice to note. I ended up sealing up game 1 by setting up Tailwind with Charizard and cleaning up swiftly with Sylveon as it outsped his Tyranitar and others under Tailwind.

Game 2 Angel completely overpowered me with his team’s offense and made a very impressive read and Hidden Powered my Charizard as I switched to Landorus, sealing the game.

Game 3 I was able to get a quick KO on his Landorus with my Thundurus early on, which freed up my Charizard a lot. Towards the end of the game, I was hesitant to mega evolve my Charizard so I could wait to set up the sun after he sent in his Tyranitar. I ended up calling a switch and double targeted his Aegislash with Flamethrower and Thunder Wave as he switched to Tyranitar, virtually sealing up the game.

Great set, Angel.

Win 2-1 [4-0]

Round 5 [4-0]: Hayden McTavish (Enigne) [5th Place]

This set was recorded! Thanks to Team Rocket Elite, this set is on YouTube here:

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Hayden is someone I didn’t really know too well but have a lot of respect for. I’ve seen a few of his matches before and I know he can play really well and always has some interesting teams, which made me excited to see what I was in store for.

Game 1 I knew that I had a rough matchup against Salamence / Cresselia / Heatran, and it wasn’t going to be easy if I was going to beat Hayden. I kinda got destroyed game 1 as his Cresselia just sat around and I couldn’t do much to it.

Game 2 I played Thundurus the best I could as it was my win condition for the entirety of the game. I had to slow down Hayden’s team and set up for Conkeldurr and Aegislash to clean up. Unfortunately for Hayden, I got a very timely full paralysis on his Heatran which allowed me to take game 2.

Game 3 I let Hayden get a solid start by getting a free switch into his Aegislash. I anticipated his Salamence to switch in, so I used Hidden Power on his Rotom’s slot, but he brought out Aegislash instead. I started to gain some momentum in the middle of the game as I switched in my Aegislash into a Shadow Sneak from Hayden’s Aegislash, activating my Aegislash’s Weakness Policy. After Hayden KO’d my Thundurus, I was able to set up a Tailwind with Charizard to put myself in a very good position. I knocked out his Choice Scarf Rotom-W with Solar Beam, leaving his Salamence up against my Charizard and Aegislash. Unfortunately, Hayden was able to KO my Charizard on the same turn I KO’d his Rotom and my Aegislash then went down to an Earthquake, sealing the set for Hayden.

Loss 1-2 [4-1]

Round 6 [4-1]: Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) [8th Place]

This set was streamed! Thanks to Pokémon for streaming it and Eiganjo for uploading it, this set is on YouTube here:

This set was pretty crazy and full of luck on both sides. If I wanted to guarantee my spot in the Top 8, I would have to take this win, which was no small task as Wolfe is easily one of the best players in the country. I knew that Wolfe really likes to preserve his Pokémon whenever he can and control the positioning of his Pokémon defensively, so calling those switches and defensive set ups was going to be very key in taking the win here.

Game 1 got off to an unfortunate start as I burned his Kangaskhan with Flamethrower. As the match progressed, I was able to set it up to where all Wolfe had left was his Landorus and Heatran, both at full health but Landorus was intimidated and Heatran was Paralyzed, versus my Conkeldurr and Charizard. I made a pretty risky and unsafe play and just went for the Drain Punch on Wolfe’s Heatran. I saw that his Heatran didn’t protect so I was ecstatic that I had the game locked up as long as I didn’t flinch, which I unfortunately did with both Conkeldurr and Charizard, losing me the game. It’s Pokémon, and I could have possibly gotten around that by just Mach Punching his Heatran instead of Drain Punching, so I guess I was asking for it there.

Going into game 2 I had to get rid of Wolfe’s Milotic as fast as possible to set up my Landorus and Conkeldurr to be in a great spot to clean up the remainder of his team. I tried to focus on that going into this game, hoping it would pay off. This game started off pretty roughly as Wolfe got an early Scald burn on my Conkeldurr, which limited a lot of what I could do. I had to completely change the way  my Conkeldurr played in the set from a Pokémon that was picking up KOs to something that was putting on bits of chip damage for the rest of my team. I was eventually able to KO his Landorus, which allowed me to potentially clean up his team with Landorus as long as his Heatran wasn’t behind a Substitute. Wolfe saw that as his only option but I was able to call the Substitute and went for a Drain Punch on his Heatran as his Heatran went for Substitute and his Kangaskhan protected itself. This then allowed my Landorus to swiftly clean up the remainder of Wolfe’s team, sealing game 2.

Game 3 was pretty gross as I got handily outplayed and forced into some weird positions. My Conkeldurr once again got burned from Scald but Wolfe set himself up really well the entire game and easily took it.

Loss 1-2 [4-2]

Top 8 [5th Seed]: Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) [8th Place]

This set was recorded! Thanks to Team Rocket Elite, this set is on YouTube here:

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

After my match against Wolfe in Swiss, I noticed that I wasn’t capitalizing on Wolfe’s switches enough and that was really hurting me because he was able to set up better board positioning very quickly. If I wanted to advance into the Top 4, I was going to have to punish those switches even harder and make some very risky plays to come out on top.

Game 1 I opted to bring Aegislash instead of Thundurus, which seemed to be a much better idea because my team was much less prone to flinching from Rock Slide. This would free up a lot of breathing room during the set. I was able to get up an early Tailwind but at the expense of Wolfe getting up a Substitute with his Heatran, which immediately slowed me down. I ended up calling his switch from Landorus into Milotic and doubled that slot with Solarbeam and Shadow Ball, taking out the Milotic. Landorus was able to intimidate his Kangaskhan after it replaced the fallen Milotic and my Aegislash got knocked out, which put a lot of pressure on Wolfe’s Heatran. Unfortunately for him, he missed a Heat Wave on my Landorus in the sun which could have set him up for a Sucker Punch or a Rock Slide KO later on in the game. After that, I was able to clean up with Landorus and Conkeldurr to take game 1.

After seeing the leads in game 2, I figured Wolfe would go for the Rock Slide to take out my Charizard and score huge damage on my Thundurus. I risked a possible flinch to set up a Tailwind, which I managed to set up at the expense of taking huge damage with my Charizard and Landorus. I make a somewhat bold play and go for the Earthquake against Wolfe’s -1 Kangaskhan and Landorus as he switches out his Landorus into Heatran. Getting rid of the Heatran was huge for me as it took out a huge defensive pivot on his team, which allowed me to attack without worrying about it switching in later in the game. Seeing as my Landorus was locked into Earthquake against a Landorus and a Kangaskhan, I decided to switch out my Landorus into Thundurus, which unfortunately got KOd due to Wolfe’s Kangaskhan’s Return scoring a critical hit on both hits. After that, I didn’t have Thundurus there to really help support the team speed-wise, and that made this match much harder to lock up. Everything seemed to be doable but I then missed a Rock Slide on his Milotic as I was also Ice Punched his Kangaskhan that switched into Landorus. Had that rock slide hit and KOd, I would have had the game won, not much else I could have done in the moment.

Game 3 was a bit crazy and I had a few lucky breaks towards the end of the game. I started off the game strong by doubling Wolfe’s Kangaskhan, expecting his Landorus to switch out or U-Turn anticipating a Wide Guard from my Aegislash. Because of this, I was able to KO his Kangaskhan, but my Charizard took roughly 90% in the process. I was then able to set up a Tailwind which let me take a lot of control of the match after Wolfe activated my Aegislash’s Weakness Policy. I managed to take out his Heatran thanks to the help of the Tailwind, which set myself up very nicely for the rest of the match and made it to where I didn’t have to worry about Heatran being able to fire off sun-boosted Heat Waves left and right. I was able to get an Ice Punch off on Wolfe’s Landorus, which survived since Conkeldurr had been intimidated. After that I should have gone for the Mach Punch to not risk the flinch but opted for Ice Punch while I unfortunately flinched. After Aegislash getting a double King’s Shield and dodging Wolfe’s Landorus’ Rock Slide, I was able to get a Shadow Ball off onto Milotic, which sealed up the game for me.

Win 2-1; Advancing to top 4

Great games, Wolfe. Really unfortunate that we couldn’t have a clean set, see you at Worlds!

Top 4: Raphael Bagara (Rapha) [2nd Place]

I’m not even going to lie here. I was completely dead after my matches with Wolfe and that resulted in me not making the best plays I could have. Raphael was on top of it all and outplayed me completely.

Game 1 I let Raphael get a KO on my Sylveon on turn 1 in exchange for his Thundurus being taunted. Not a great start. It was incredibly difficult to come back from that and I kind of got stomped.

Game 2 I was falling behind but I was able to catch back up because Raphael activated my Aegislash’s Weakness Policy which let me KO his Heatran, sealing the game.

Game 3 I lost a lot of momentum early on because I didn’t play around his Gardevoir and Heatran too well. I had a very obscure win condition in the end game if I could double flinch Raphael’s Pokemon with Rock Slide two times in a row in addition to my Sylveon attacking through Swagger and paralysis. I got the double flinch on the first turn and one flinch on the next, but I needed both to flinch if I wanted a chance.

Loss 1-2; Eliminated from tournament

Closing Thoughts

Prior to this year, I had never cut a national tournament before. I knew that I had the potential to but for some reason I always lost my drive halfway through the tournament. This year though, I had a very healthy mindset going through the entire event. If I ever lost a game, I never let it get to me and was able to shake it off quickly before my next round. Another thing that I did at this event that I don’t think I’ve ever done before is do a few breathing exercises in-between rounds and individual games. This allowed me to calm down and get the nerves out of my system so I could really focus on the match. I couldn’t be happier with how I performed at Nationals. I felt like I was playing my best during a large majority of my games, which I can’t regret in any way.

Shout-outs

Ben Irons (Benji): Hey we did it! We both qualified for worlds on the same year finally. So happy you were able to finally cut Nationals for the first along side me and Collin, seeing us both succeed really made this Nationals special. Also thank you for helping me iron out team ideas, I wouldn’t have used that Thundurus if you didn’t talk me into it.

Oliver Valenti (Smith): Thank you for hyping me up to everybody and saying I’m good even though I suck. Stop lying to people. But seriously, thanks for being a great friend and helping me out with teams at your house with Toler, it really helped.

Toler Webb (Dim): Oh man. You did it! Couldn’t be happier that you won and I’m so happy for you. Thank you so much for helping so much with my team the week of Nationals and keeping me calm. I would have been even more of a nervous wreck had you not been there to help me out, I really appreciate it.

Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom): You’re a weirdo but you’re amazing at Pokémon, so keep it up. I’m glad you were able to cut Nationals for the first time and go deep as well.

David Mancuso (Mancuso): Thank you so much for letting me stay in your room. Sorry for hogging the bed, but giving me a place to stay made this weekend possible.

The rest of The Boiler Room: For anybody else that I didn’t mention, you all know how much you mean to me. Thank you to all of you for being there when I needed it and helping me out with whatever it is whenever I need it. I wouldn’t have done so well at Nationals without all of you people.

Article image created by ryuzaki and used with permission by Nugget Bridge. See more of ryuzaki’s artwork on deviantART.

The post Flaming in Indiana: A US Nationals Top 4 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello everyone, my name is Jon Hu (JHufself) and today I’m writing about my VGC 2015 season and the team I created and cultivated from the start of the format change. However, I’m getting a little bit ahead of myself, so let’s start with the small time window before the format change.

After Worlds

As I wrote about previously, I did not have a great Worlds run although I took a lot of important lessons and made a lot of good friends from the experience. Up until Fall Regionals, I decided to just stick with my Nationals 2014 team and have fun with it. The reason for this is because I consider the Fall Regionals tournaments to be the resolution to the previous season. If the US Nationals and World Championships are the highest points in a season, then Fall Regionals is both the end of a format and the start of a new season, and thus has a tendency to stagnate. Because I put very little effort into actually making a new team, the team I took to Ft. Wayne this season was

Yes, that is a normal Rotom, and no, that is not a mistake. I really brought a normal Rotom to Fall Regionals. As expected, I didn’t really make any big splashes at Ft. Wayne due to this lazy stance I had settled into. After that came the Alpha Premier Challenges, which continued to use the VGC 2014 format up until November 21st, where it became VGC 2014 + tutors. For these events I began to mess around with the following team:

The goal of this team was to take advantage of the player-conceived notions of the VGC 2014 metagame, especially the fact that most players will assume Kangaskhan is a Mega Evolution. Known as the “Dumpy Kang” team, this was an early concept that would eventually evolve into the team I used for the National Pokédex format. I attended and won exactly one Premier Challenge with this team before I had to scrap it due to the format change.

2015 – A New Format

In the days leading up to the format change, I used the Smogon Doubles ladder to test a plethora of oddities that I wanted to try out. These were mostly terrible ideas, but to give you a taste of how terrible it was, I’ll concede that I once tried to make Assault Vest Serene Grace Blissey work. After testing a good amount, including most if not all of the new Mega Evolutions, I took a shine to Mega Lopunny. There were other Mega Evolutions I leaned towards as well, like Gallade, Metagross, and Swampert, but it took too much team support to make those pull their own weight, or in the case of Metagross, I had no idea how to craft a spread that achieved what I wanted it to. With the decision made, I then began to think about how to build a team to complement Mega Lopunny. Instead of thinking logically about how to provide support for Lopunny, I came up with a thematic idea. What if I ran Azumarill next to Mega Lopunny for double the bunny power? And thus, Double Bunnies was born.

This was one of those coincidences where the thematic idea was also very workable as a team idea. Azumarill applies offensive pressure after a Belly Drum to potentially draw away attention from Lopunny, while Lopunny allows Azumarill a turn to set up due to the fast Scrappy Fake Out. With Azumarill, a redirector was needed, and because this was an idea quite similar to the “Dumpy Kang” team, I ended up transferring a lot of the members on that team to this one, and the first draft of the team looked like

I would be lying if I said this team was made with winning as the primary goal in mind. I took it to the in-game Battle Spot ladder where it achieved moderate success, reaching just under 1800. After messing around with it there, I decided that this was the team I was going to take to every event this season. After I attended and narrowly missed cutting another Premier Challenge, I discovered that this version of the team was fairly inconsistent for a few things.

1. I was using Teeter Dance Lopunny. At the time, it was just a way to make impatient and intolerant opponents on Battle Spot forfeit as well as being funny to watch. The animation is hilarious.
2. Smeargle. In the early days when not everyone had a Thundurus running around, it was still pretty good if by good you mean free sleep turns. Until you missed that is.
3. Nothing was bulky. The bulkiest thing on the team was Azumarill, and even then that’s probably not who you want your bulkiest Pokémon to be.

So it looked bad. I cut off all of the excess and started back with Lopunny and Azumarill. I also dropped Teeter Dance during this time because I wanted to have a serious outlook on how to make the team as successful as possible, testing out various other moves that could help such as Ice Punch and Return. However, as I’ll discuss later the final version of the team still had Teeter Dance. The next team I came up with was the team I used at the Missouri Winter Regionals.

At the event, I ended up going 7-2, missing top 16 by a tiny margin. This team also had major faults that I knew about and decided to just deal with.

1. Weakness to sun. Any matchup against sun was basically an autoloss. I fought one sun team at Missouri and lost majestically.
2. Dual Mega with Lopunny and Mawile was very limiting. I didn’t like it, and Mawile was bad most of the time anyway.

Fun fact: That Ludicolo was running Own Tempo to synergize with Teeter Dance. As much as it pained me to change this team, which I thought was pretty good, I knew that I couldn’t continue to be weak to sun since it is a very common archetype. During this time, I continued to play on Battle Spot, even claiming the #1 spot on the BS Doubles ladder in America for a time, and I also participated in the Nugget Bridge Major, where I played some of my earlier rounds with this team. After much deliberation, I settled on a new team for use at Madison Spring Regionals.

Those who faced me when I was using this team may remember that Chandelure was carrying Minimize. A cheesy move indeed, it was a good fit for a playstyle like mine, but I don’t recommend its use in the slightest. This team fixed a lot of the previous iterations’ problems. Chandelure and Goodra handled sun very well, Excadrill was a Fairy slayer as well as a nice check to Rotom formes with Mold Breaker, and the overall bulk of the team increased. Even though I had improved the team overall, I only went 6-2 at Madison, and 4-2 at the attached Premier Challenge, disappointing finishes for a team I thought to be very solid.

And so with a measly 128 Championship points at this point, I knew that to get an invite to Worlds I would need to reach bracket at Nationals, but to actually go I would need to pull another semifinals placement for the money. Since I started taking summer courses right after Spring Regionals, I didn’t have much time to make a whole lot of improvements on the team. About a week or two before Nationals, I made the final changes to the team, and the end result is to be discussed here.

The Team:

I piloted this team in the June International Challenge before Nationals to obtain necessary battle data to finetune it. I ended up going something like 21-9 in that affair, a fair result for a team that had never been played prior. Without further ado, let’s hop right into the team and take a look at the inner workings.

->

Lopunny @Lopunnite “Koto”
Ability: Limber -> Scrappy
EVs: 148 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Drain Punch
– Encore
– Teeter Dance

“I have no idea what’s going on!” –Koto, Kyousougiga

What began as the central Mega for the team slowly turned into more of a tech with each iteration of the team. Lopunny is a strange Mega to consider for a primary offensive source, since compared to Mega Kangaskhan it seems to be outclassed in almost every way. So let me lay down what exactly sets it apart from the reigning queen of Mega Evolutions.

First off, I have to say that Mega Lopunny IS NOT an offensive powerhouse like Mega Kangaskhan, nor is it truly effective in that way. Lopunny’s job is to offer SUPPORT. You read that right. While Kangaskhan’s job provides momentum for the user through sheer offensive presence, Lopunny’s job disrupts the opponent’s momentum and attempts to redistribute it to the user. One of the traits that most distinguishes Lopunny from Kangaskhan is its vast support movepool, which includes Encore, Charm, Thunder Wave, Baby-Doll Eyes, Entrainment, Healing Wish, After You, and Teeter Dance. The second thing that separates them is Lopunny’s much faster base Speed of 135. While Lopunny’s 136 base Attack screams physical attacker, I think most players will find that Lopunny’s damage output against neutral targets is anywhere from disappointing to downright awful after Intimidates and burns. This is because Lopunny really likes having a Jolly nature to maximize its speed. Now that I’ve laid out why I think Lopunny should play a partial supporting role, let’s move on to what I chose to run.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first because I’m sure to catch a lot of hate regardless of what I say anyway: Teeter Dance. Teeter Dance is a move that confuses everyone on the field other than the user. It is not blocked by Wide Guard, nor is it reflected by Magic Coat or Magic Bounce, and has 100 Accuracy. Effectively, a three-way Confuse Ray. There wasn’t a specific reason to run Teeter Dance other than the fact that no matter what I tried putting there instead, Teeter Dance yielded the best results. Teeter Dance requires no real skill to use and can change the flow of battle in an instant. Did I have to confuse my own Pokémon to win? The answer is yes, a lot, and I don’t regret running it. Moving on.

Every Lopunny set should be running Fake Out and Encore in tandem at all times. That combination is just too good to pass up for anything else and is the reason that Pokémon like Raichu or Liepard who run it perform their roles. The last slot was reserved for a Fighting move, and I chose Drain Punch to extend my longevity.

For the spread, I ran a complex pseudo bulky spread to make sure Lopunny wasn’t entirely useless in her base form. The Speed EVs hit 170 base, 203 Mega, which outspeeds all base 102 Speed and below in base form, while still outrunning Scarf base 70s in Mega form. This set misses out on Speed ties with other base 105s for the initial turn, but they’re so rare to begin with that I didn’t miss the two points. HP EVs gives her a nice passive damage minimizing max HP, while the Attack EVs guarantees an OHKO on 4 HP/ 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan with a Helping Hand boosted Drain Punch. One notable attack that Lopunny can take is unboosted Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor, but as witnessed throughout the competition she more than took her fair share of hits.

Azumarill @Sitrus Berry “Honey”
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 228 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SDef / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Belly Drum
– Aqua Jet
– Return
– Protect

“Picking on my friends is bad, got it?” –Honey, Ouran High School Host Club

A fairly standard BellyJet Azumarill, but the one thing that sticks out is the move choice of Return. Originally, I was using Play Rough, but I found Grass/Poison types like Amoonguss and Venusaur very inhibitive to Azumarill’s sweeping potential. With a +6 Return, Azumarill will cleanly OHKO nearly anything that doesn’t resist, and believe me when I say Normal isn’t a commonly resisted attack type as evidenced by Kangaskhan still dominating. Water/Normal coverage only misses out neutral coverage on a few things: The Halloween Kalos Pokémon which are both fairly uncommon, Ferrothorn which resists Water/Fairy anyways, Jellicent, and Empoleon. Return also has the benefit of 100 Accuracy over Play Rough’s 90. Lack of a strong STAB option meant I was a little more reliant on Belly Drum, but on the day of the tournament sticking with Return ultimately helped me out more than Play Rough would have.

EV spread is also nearly bog standard, but I decided to dump the leftover 44 EVs mostly into Special Defense to have a better chance at surviving 0 Special Attack investment Thundurus and Rotom. This paid off both in practice and at the event.

Togekiss @Rocky Helmet “Kanade”
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 244 HP / 84 Def / 4 SAtk / 116 SDef / 60 Spe
Calm Nature
– Follow Me
– Air Slash
– Thunder Wave
– Protect

“I’m not an angel.” –Kanade, Angel Beats!

Togekiss’s main goal is to redirect attacks from Azumarill so that it can sweep. Another role I delegated to Togekiss with was spreading Thunder Wave, especially on Water resistant Pokémon like Venusaur or Salamence so that Azumarill or other team members could get the KO. Tailwind was considered, but since Tailwind was a short lived 3 turns of Speed boosts, I decided Thunder Wave was the better option. No Togekiss is complete without Air Slash, so of course that’s here as well. Finally, Protect is here to stop a lot of unwanted damage. EV spread deviates a little from the standard as I opted to go a bit more bulky on the special side, but still handles the majority of strong attacks with ease.

At Nationals I found myself sorely wanting Tailwind a whole lot more than Thunder Wave as I faced more and more Thundurus and Landorus. So that’s one thing I would have changed going into it, but ultimately did not.

Excadrill @Focus Sash “Simon”
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe, IVs: 18 HP
Adamant Nature
-Drill Run
-Iron Head
-Rock Slide
-Protect

“My drill is the drill that creates the heavens!!!!!” –Simon, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

Aside from being a Pokémon representation of Gurren Lagann, Excadrill’s best claim to fame was usage by Randy Kwa. Similarly to how he ran it, I also happen to have a Togekiss on this team. However, a simple glance at my team composition will tell you that Togekiss is my only Ground immunity on the team. Several of the other Pokémon also lack Protect to dodge Earthquake. So I instead chose to run Drill Run, which holds other properties that Earthquake doesn’t have such as a higher base power (80 vs. EQ’s spread 75), a 12.5% critical chance, hits through Wide Guard, and has a way cooler attack animation, all at the cost of 5 Accuracy and loss of spread damage. The other moves, Iron Head, Rock Slide, and Protect are all self-explanatory. I kept the Focus Sash on Excadrill because most Excadrill being run on Battle Spot are Choice Scarf or Life Orb variants and the ability for Excadrill to take one hit and retaliate back comes to be invaluable in many 1v1 situations where Excadrill normally loses.

Out of all the Pokémon on the team, I was surprised to find that Excadrill was the least helpful, mostly due to the swarming Landorus and opposing Excadrill Sand teams. While it didn’t perform quite as well as it did at Madison, Excadrill was still pulling its weight most of the time, just not as much.

Arcanine @Safety Goggles “Scooby Doo”
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 36 SAtk / 12 SDef / 60 Spe
Timid Nature
-Flamethrower
-Will-o-Wisp
-Helping Hand
-Snarl

“Scoob, what’s your conclusion?” “Bunny!” –Scooby and Shaggy, Scooby-Doo series

As a way to mitigate the damage against my Pokémon, Arcanine is one of the best damage managers in the format. I call it a damage manager because in addition to having Intimidate, many Arcanine run Will-o-Wisp and Snarl as moves, or have Rocky Helmet as a held item. What some people don’t realize though is that Arcanine has access to Helping Hand, which on this team is quite a boon. With it, the lack of maximum Attack investment on Azumarill is made even more negligible, Lopunny earns an OHKO on 4/0 Kangaskhan, Gengar hits even harder, and even Excadrill or Togekiss can receive some bonus damage on their STAB attacks. Since Rocky Helmet was already on Togekiss, I decided to give Arcanine the Safety Goggles to safely ignore Amoonguss, Breloom, and other Powder users. Its EV spread maximizes its HP, since Arcanine does not often take passive damage, with only poison status and Leech Seed affecting Arcanine. Speed lets it outspeed Jolly Breloom; in conjunction with the Special Attack EVs, it gets the OHKO with Flamethrower 100% of the time on it and 4/0 Bisharp. The rest was dumped into the Defense for maximum survivability.

->

Gengar @Gengarite “Saya”
Ability: Levitate -> Shadow Tag
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe, IVs: 27 HP
Timid Nature
-Shadow Ball
-Icy Wind
-Substitute
-Protect

“How wicked and terrible Saya is. Perhaps others would fear and loathe her; to me, however, her malevolence is irresistibly charming.” –Saya no Uta

Gengar remains the same from my last season, but I’ve replaced Sludge Bomb with Icy Wind to snipe Landorus, avoid redirection, and have another form of Speed control. Shadow Tag as usual works extremely well for my team, as having certain matchups and knowing the opponent won’t be able to switch benefitted me greatly. At one point changing Gengar’s EV spread to be more defensive was considered, but in the end the use of Substitute conflicted with any kind of defensive investment. Gengar would also miss out on OHKOs with Icy Wind if it were running anything other than 252 SAtk.

Team Performance: Leads and Matchups

Double Bunny Special – +

The team’s origin, this lead is the basic lead to almost any matchup. The main idea is to Fake Out a threat with Lopunny, who I may choose to Mega or not, while Azumarill sets up a Belly Drum. If I deem my opponent’s leads to be too threatening or if it appears obvious that they will double target Azumarill, I will instead Protect Azumarill and Teeter Dance with Lopunny. Since Lopunny plays the red herring in this duo, it’s not uncommon for her to take a lot of damage or even get knocked out in the first turn. Not knocking Lopunny out allows her to support Azumarill in future turns, while getting knocked out allows me a free switch into Togekiss or something else in the back.

Double Fairy Standard – +

If I feel generally safe from spread moves I bring in the fairies, since Togekiss can redirect to allow Azumarill a setup opportunity. This lead could be considered the converse lead to the Double Bunny special, since pretty much the same principles apply to Togekiss as they did to Lopunny, but replace Fake Out with Follow Me and Teeter Dance with Thunder Wave. Thunder Wave is especially important against Pokémon like Suicune, Salamence, and Venusaur that resist Aqua Jet so this is another reason I would lead these two.

Luck+4: Dancer Class Exclusive Skill – +

Usually if a team has no immunity to Thunder Wave, I use Togekiss as a lead to spread the paralysis love while Lopunny provides the confusion end of the bargain by Dancing. It’s usually topped off with Air Slash spam with just a pinch of Encore locking. The end result is a lot of salt. Not an ideal offensive lead, but the amount of free turns given by all of these attacks stacking with each other often lends me a big advantage regardless of the opponent’s move choices.

The Mystery Gang – +

The name of this lead comes from the obvious pairing of a ghost and Scooby-Doo. It was a perfect naming opportunity. This lead is my answer to Amoonguss + Gardevoir, seeing as Arcanine can Snarl to decrease the threat of Gardevoir while being immune to Amoonguss while Gengar will lock the two of them in and get up a Substitute on the first turn, where Gardevoir presumably Protects or Trick Rooms. Amoonguss generally has a rough time doing anything in the time that it is trapped here, while Gardevoir will just faint to a Helping Hand boosted Shadow Ball. This lead also performs well against Landorus and Salamence leads, as a Helping Hand Icy Wind will OHKO the standard sets, even when spread.

Mega Mystery – +

Truly the most bewildering lead combination of them all, this lead has me leading both of my potential Mega Evolutions. While for the most part I will choose to Mega Evolve Gengar for the Shadow Tag, occasionally I will Mega Evolve Lopunny. Just like last year’s Sableye + Gengar combination, this combination performs similarly, where Lopunny provides the disruption and Gengar takes advantage of board position. An added synergy bonus results from when Lopunny Teeter Dances next to Gengar’s Substitute, as Substitute will allow Gengar to avoid getting confused.

I will now discuss the inherent flaws of running such a team, which became apparent in Day 2 Swiss due to the skill level of the player pool being drastically higher than what I am used to playing.

+

The Double Genies lead is not a lead combination I normally have problems with. That is, if the player piloting the genies isn’t playing proactively and is instead reacting to my moves. By now, many players will have noticed that a team along the lines of Kangaskhan, Thundurus, Landorus-Therian, Sylveon, Heatran, and a Bulky Water, otherwise known to me by the name “Battle Spot Special” appears regularly in every competitive VGC 2015 environment. It is a fairly solid team that is as good as it is common when it is being handled by an experienced player. Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) and Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) come to mind as some of the players that used “Battle Spot Special”-like teams at Nationals. Other than that, it is apparent to almost anyone looking that my team is indeed torn apart by this combination, should I let them erase my win conditions.

It wouldn’t be a Jon Hu team without a glaring weakness to the big bird himself. Outprioritizes Azumarill? Check. Hits my whole team for unresisted damage? Check. Has Quick Guard, Tailwind, and other moves that can hamper the effectiveness of my Pokémon? Check, check, and check. I only fought one in the entire tournament, and it definitely took the game pretty handily.

This thing caused me grief throughout the whole season due to my choice to run Return over Play Rough. The only way for me to reliably KO it was with Gengar, a Pokémon who in turn is weak to Jellicent should they choose to run Shadow Ball. It was generally bulky enough to take a lot of abuse from my side of the field and often carried Trick Room or Will-o-Wisp to further stop my progress.

Ironically, Azumarill is also a rough matchup for this team, as it will often have multiple opportunities to set up its own Belly Drum and sweep with it. Arcanine and Gengar, while efficient at checking Azumarill, cannot do much if the Azumarill is paired with a Follow Me user. I also tend to forget that most Azumarill run Play Rough, an unfortunate force of habit for running Return for the majority of the season.

In conclusion, this team has a number of glaring, gaping holes, which appear to be quite obvious to more experienced players. In Day 2, rarely would I have an opponent that would ever change their leads due to the fact that they reasoned any other lead would result in an autoloss should I decide to lead Double Bunnies. As a player who has mostly concerned himself with improving his punish game this season rather than his pressure game, I have yet to obtain the amount of wisdom necessary to consider myself among the top level of VGC players. However, I feel content using Double Bunnies to net myself a Top 32 at US Nationals 2015, a team I poured much effort and time into to make work to the best of my ability. With that, I would like to thank the following individuals:

• Adib (Adib), for being a great Theorymon partner and convincing me to use Arcanine (eventually). Good luck with your last few classes of college!
• Kaston (Chronos), for providing me the Arcanine I used in competition. I hope we can continue to interact despite that dirty Round 9 elimination set on Day 1.
• Chris (Icekingz), for giving me some much needed practice before Nationals. He recently started his own Youtube channel, check it out if you’re interested!
• My close personal friends, squirrelboy1225, Zefrin, Quill292, and Truthwalker for going with me to the event and for the endless fun (and salt) we have during our Theorymon sessions.
• The commentators, for making rewatching all of my losses on stream a lot more manageable because you put a smile on my face with what you have to say about my team.
• Anyone who I had the pleasure of facing in battle, be it Day 1, Day 2, or even the Multi-Battle Side Event! You’re all wonderful people.

Will I use this team again at the next Regionals, after the end of the season? That remains to be seen, but I will continue to try my hardest to make up for my lack of presence this season. And so, I will leave you until the time comes again for me to spout nonsense about the next big happenstance. Good luck to all of the Worlds qualifiers! I’ll be watching this year, so do your best!

The post Mad as a March Hare: A VGC 2015 Season Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Honestly, it was rigged the entire time. MAJORBowman. Nugget Bridge MAJOR. Coincidence?

Yes, actually. Hey there, I’m MajorBowman, and I recently won the largest Pokemon tournament ever held. This 4th edition of the Nugget Bridge Major attracted 1,327 participants, and I was able to walk away with the title, $300 in cash, a spot in the Nugget Bridge Invitational, and most importantly, ultimate bragging rights.

For those that don’t know, the Nugget Bridge Major was a tournament held completely online over the course of a few months. The participants were split into four flights and played nine rounds of Swiss in their flight. Each player that finished Swiss with a record of 7-2 or better moved on to Top Cut and was placed into a single elimination 128-man bracket. Each match was a best of three set, which meant that a player who made it to the finals had the potential to play 48 battles throughout the tournament. I ended up playing only 38, with an overall (official) game record of 32-6 and set record of 14-2.

Due to the nature of the tournament, changing teams between rounds was allowed. I used similar teams in early rounds, but began to switch it up as the tournament progressed. With the gracious help of my opponents (thanks everyone!), I was able to compile almost all of the teams I used and faced throughout the tournament. In this report, I’ll walk through each round and talk a bit about each set I played, as well as give my thoughts on the tournament format and some of the issues that arose. But first, statistics!

Usage Stats

My Usage

My Opponents’ Usage

Note: I only remember 3 Pokemon from one of my opponents’ teams and I’m completely missing another. GamerMan or lovemaryn if you’re reading this, send me a PM!

As you can probably guess from my high usage of Pokemon like Metagross and Hydreigon, I ended up using my Missouri Regionals team a good amount. It was mostly confined to Swiss though, as I began to make adjustments once I got into Top Cut. I really appreciated the ability to change teams, as there are always slight adjustments that can be made to any team. I also think that this tournament in particular helped me grow as a player in that I learned how to use teams with different objectives and tools. It challenged my teambuilding more than one tournament ever has or will, which was an incredibly valuable experience.

Thoughts on Scouting and Counterteaming

Counterteaming was a hot button topic this year during the Major. I know that a lot of players were annoyed when they were counterteamed by their opponents, and somewhat justfiably so. However, scouting and counterteaming are unavoidable in a tournament like this, and players need to be aware of that. I frankly think it’s pretty naive to assume that your opponent won’t have any information about your team going into a match if you’ve been using the same team over and over again. This is part of the reason that I began to switch up my teams more when I got to the latter stages of the tournament. There was a good chance that people who made it that far knew how to play the game, and I’m not just talking about battling. I’ll admit that I did a bit of counterteaming myself, and I’ll talk about specific instances when I go through each round. As Braverius has said, people will do anything they can to win when there is money on the line, and I am no exception. I was never ghosted and I didn’t ask people for advice during my matches, but I always made sure I was prepared.

What You Really Came Here For

Now that my little sermon is over, it’s time to talk about the battles! A lot of the details from early rounds are pretty fuzzy, but I’ll do my best to recall what went down. I saved replays to my 3DS each round, but I must have cleaned out my VS Recorder at some point since I could only find replays from Round 8 on. VioletPumpkin was gracious enough to send me codes from our battle (Thanks Amelia!), so I was able to record and upload all of my battles starting from Round 7. The playlist containing each video can be found here.

Round 1 vs GoldenEmp

My team:
Their team:

My first opponent was a player from Mexico whose name I had seen around the forums before. His team was pretty threatening, with Pokemon like Charizard and Aegislash that could give me issues. His Cresselia used Thunder Wave instead of Trick Room for speed control, so Metagross was able to control the match pretty well with its Substitute. If I recall correctly, I won the first game pretty handily. My opponent made some great adjustments in game 2 and I got a little lazy, so he was able to take even up the match. I remember game 3 being pretty close, but I ended up taking the game and the set.

W 2-1

Round 2 vs 8BitSnowman

My team:
Their team:

The only thing I remember from this match is that his Mamoswine had a Choice Scarf, which actually made it a pretty big threat to my team. It had the potential to OHKO 5 of my 6 Pokemon and I couldn’t slow it down with Thunder Wave. I imagine that Sash Terrakion put in some good work in this set, but I can’t remember specifics. Devin introduced himself to me at Nationals and I was happy to see he earned his Worlds invitation in the Seniors division. Good luck at Worlds, Devin!

W 2-0

Round 3 vs lovemaryn

My team:
Their team:

Unfortunately, I remember very little from this match. I had the flu at the time and the match was played pretty late at night, so nothing really stuck in my mind except that my opponent had a Mega Steelix Trick Room team. At least I won! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

W 2-0

Round 4 vs Shinelo

My team:
Their team:

Sitting at a comfortable 3-0 record, I decided to have a little bit of fun with my team this week. It started out as somewhat of a joke team that I used for fun on Showdown, but it ended up being halfway decent. The team was based around Jolly Assurance Bisharp, and the other 5 members of the team were both faster than Bisharp and carried a spread move, which allowed Bisharp to fire off boosted Assurances pretty easily. The funny (or sad?) thing is that I couldn’t bring Bisharp to this match because my opponent’s Conkeldurr scared it off. I even used this team (with Mega Gardevoir instead of stupid Scarf Gardevoir) in a Nugget Bridge Live tournament the next day and faced 6 Conkeldurr in a row. Needless to say I retired the team that night.

During this match, I know that I played game 1 very well and took it pretty convincingly. Similarly to my first round, I got careless and gave up game 2 without much of a fight, and needed to regroup to maintain my undefeated record. Game 3 was going pretty well until my Zapdos was frozen by an Ice Beam from my opponent’s Suicune. This was pretty detrimental, as Zapdos was incredibly strong in this matchup as long as it could keep Roosting away damage. Zapdos never thawed, so I lost game 3 and the set. It was pretty disappointing to lose like that, but I can only blame myself for not wrapping the set up in 2 games and giving my opponent the chance to come back.

L 1-2

Round 5 vs raptor

My team:
Their team:

The team I used this round basically had two modes: Belly Drum Azumarill and Calm Mind Cresselia. I would see what my opponent was using and decide which of the two sweepers had a better matchup. The majority of the time, I would bring Kangaskhan and Amoonguss, then either Cresselia and Heatran or Azumarill and Zapdos. Heatran carried a Life Orb and the move Overheat so it could eliminate opposing Aegislash quickly, as Aegislash is probably the hardest thing for Calm Mind Cresselia to beat. Zapdos held a Choice Scarf and was useful for picking off Scarf Landorus and other faster Pokemon, like Mega Salamence.

It was cool to see my opponent’s team, as it looked like it was inspired by my Winter Regionals team. Azumarill and Cresselia both had pretty even matchups, and I know that I set up one during each game of the match, though I forget the order. The modes aspect of the team proved its worth in this set, as I took it in two games.

W 2-0

Round 6 vs GamerMan

My team:
Their team:

I’ll be honest, I remember literally nothing about my opponent’s team. I’m not even 100% sure that this is the team I used, but it’s a good guess. This match was played the night before the first Texas States’ Premier Challenge, and this is the team I used there. I had been at a Smash 4 tournament and driving all across the DFW metroplex that night, so I was beyond tired once my opponent showed up. At least I won! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

W 2-0

Round 7 vs VioletPumpkin

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2 (Game 3 unavailable)
Note: these battle videos are from VioletPumpkin’s perspective

I know Amelia had a lot of success at New England Premier Challenges, so I knew she would be no slouch. Her team looked pretty similar to mine, but had a few key differences. Most notably, her Thundurus was max Speed Timid, help a Life Orb, and carried Rain Dance to activate Ludicolo’s Swift Swim. Her Hydreigon also held a Choice Scarf, which really hurt me in game 2. Game 1 was very tight, and I ended up taking a very close win after I was fortunate enough to attack through paralysis and possible flinches multiple times. Amelia dominated game 2, even after my Clefairy managed to survive an Iron Head from what I assume was an Adamant Mega Metagross. Her Choice Scarf Hydreigon was able to pick off my Terrakion, and there wasn’t much I could do after that. Rotom and Talonflame weren’t enough to beat her combination of Thundurus, Hydreigon, and Metagross. Unfortunately, there was a disconnect during game 3 that prevented the battle video from being saved. The game started out very poorly for me, however. I led Rotom and Terrakion into her Thundurus and Metagross. She reavealed Bullet Punch on turn 1 and was able to knock out my Terrakion before it could even move with a combination of Bullet Punch and Thunderbolt. We couldn’t tell whose end the disconnect was on, but Amelia was awarded the win due to her commanding position. I was very happy to see Amelia do so well at Massachusetts Regionals. Great set!

L 1-2

Round 8 vs KVI

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3

This set is a little bit embarrassing for me. I used a bulky Rage Powder Volcarona for this set, and I was pretty happy to see that it could do some serious work against KVI’s team. It could knock out his Abomasnow and Escavalier with Overheat, and comfortably redirect attacks from his Heatran, Scrafty, and Escavalier…or so I thought. It turns out that Overcoat does, in fact, make the user immune to Rage Powder, which I thought was not true. There were a couple turns when I used Rage Powder in front of Escavalier, assuming it would redirect a Drill Run away from Metagross. Luckily, my opponent ended up targeting Volcarona those turns anyway, or maybe he had a different ability, but I could have shot myself in the foot pretty hard.

Game 1 my opponent managed his Trick Room turns very well, and played the game pretty much flawlessly. Towards the end I thought I was in a really good position, with my low health Hydreigon out against his Jellicent and Abomasnow without Trick Room active. Turns out I also forgot that Abomasnow often carries Ice Shard, which cost me the game. I switched up my game plan for game 2, and decided to go straight for damage on KVI’s Jellicent rather than a Substitute. I was a little annoyed that I wasn’t getting any Flame Body burns, but I stalled out Trick Room much more effectively in this match and took the win. Game 3 started a bit differently, and my opponent saw right through the Quick Guard + Taunt play. He switched his Pokemon around very well, and managed to get his Jellicent back on the field when my Thundurus was on the bench. I realized that the only way to prevent Trick Room from going up was to pray for a Rock Slide flinch, and RNGesus blessed me with not only a flinch, but a critical hit as well. The game was still very close until the second to last turn, when I correctly guessed that my opponent would Ice Shard my Hydreigon as opposed to Protecting Abomasnow and setting up Trick Room. I sent in Terrakion as a sacrifice and Hydreigon was able to come back in and clean up the weakened Jellicent.

W 2-1

Round 9 vs Unreality

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3

Aaron was one of the last people I wanted to see myself paired with. After meeting him at Missouri Regionals and seeing him take the title, I had a lot of respect for him as a player and as a friend. Since he played and defeated my Metagross team (under Andrew Burley‘s control) in his Top 4 match at Missouri, I didn’t think that was a good call. I looked at the teams I had on my cartridge and decided this one had the best matchup against his regionals team, which I correctly assumed he would bring (apart from switching Conkeldurr to Mega Gengar). I did decide to switch Heat Wave to Flash Cannon on my Heatran since I knew it would knock out his Clefable in one hit.

These were some pretty clean cut matches. Game 1 was basically over as soon as Azumarill got a Belly Drum off without much objection. Aaron managed Azumarill very well in game 2, not allowing me to set up as early. I was still able to get Azumarill to +6, but it didn’t have enough support to finish off the rest of his team at that point. Turn 1 of Game 3 was one of the biggest plays I made in the whole tournament, and it set me up very well for the rest of the game. I knew Aaron’s Clefable would be important and that he probably wouldn’t risk losing it on turn 1, so I just double targeted his Kangaskhan with Fake Out and Overheat for the knockout. Amoonguss was huge during this game, surviving so many attacks and firing off crucial Spores. I almost choked the game at the very end when I brought in Heatran instead of Kangaskhan. His Assault Vest Landorus managed to survive the Flash Cannon with a sliver of health, and would have won Aaron the game if it had woken up and fired off an Earthquake. Luckily enough, it stayed asleep and I booked my ticket into Top Cut.

After the match Aaron was very encouraging and told me that he believed I would win the tournament while offering his help with practice matches and the like. I sort of laughed it off, but the thought that someone was backing me was pretty inspiring.

W 2-1

Top 128 vs dingram

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3

After making it to Top Cut in last year’s Major and losing to Simon right away, I really wanted to win this match. Playing DeVon wasn’t going to be easy, and I knew he had been having a rough season so he’d be determined to do well. Knowing that DeVon was on the KangClef hype train, I was pretty comfortable with this version of my Missouri team in that matchup. I switched Landorus from Choice Band to Assault Vest to add some survivability, which ended up being pretty valuable. I also switched U-Turn to Knock Off, a move that I think is great on Landorus but not on choice item sets. DeVon was just two steps ahead of me for the entirety of game 1. He made some great switches and maintained offensive pressure quite well, taking the game pretty decisively. Game 2 started out similarly, but I managed to bring it back a little bit, thanks in part to some timely full paralyses. I was very happy with the way I played game 3, specifically getting a big Superpower off against his Kangaskhan as it was brought in. Suicune pulled a lot of weight in this match, and Assault Vest / Knock Off Landorus proved its worth.

W 2-1

Top 64 vs TrickRoomMaster

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2

Thanks to Showdown replays, I knew that my next opponent was fond of Mega Metagross rain with Life Orb Thundurus-T and what I assumed to be Choice Specs Kingdra. I liked the rain matchup with the altered Metagross team I had been using, but figured that a simple switch from Terrakion to Virizion would make it even better. I did consider Stone Edge for its third attack since it could hit his non-Choice Scarf Thundurus-T for big damage, but realized that using Sunny Day to turn off the rain would be more beneficial in the long run. I never got to use Sunny Day in the actual set, but it was a neat option I liked having. Game 1 was pretty clinical, and Virizion showed us just how great it is against rain. My opponent a great play at the beginning of game 2, but unfortunately missed a crucial Super Fang which allowed Hydreigon to survive a Hidden Power and knock out his Thundurus. From there, I was able to quickly clean up the rest of his team with Zen Headbutts and Leaf Blades.

W 2-0

Top 32 vs Lati

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2

At this point I had decided I was done with Metagross for good. I knew Lati was a former worlds competitor, and he should know that I had been riding the Metagross train pretty hard. Once again, I trolled Pokemon Showdown for replays and found a team that Lati had been using that included Blaziken and Mega Gyarados. These two Pokemon were both reasons to drop Metagross, so that was the final straw. I built this team to somewhat model the Kangaskhan Clefairy teams that had been running around. However, I really don’t like Clefairy, and if Round 7 told me anything it was that I’m not too great at using it, so I replaced it with a super bulky Sitrus Berry Sylveon that knew the moves Helping Hand and Baby Doll Eyes. For those that don’t know, Baby Doll Eyes has +1 priority and will lower the target’s Attack by one stage, so it’s basically a targeted Intimidate that you can use at will. It was a neat move that I had been using pretty well in practice, but I ended up not bringing Sylveon to either battle in this match. Lati used a team other than the one I had scouted, but I was still pretty happy with my matchup. I played pretty well during this set, calling the Fake Out target correctly on the first turn of game 1, which basically set the pace for that battle. Lati caught a bit of an unlucky break in game 2 when he missed a Will-O-Wisp on my Hydreigon, which allowed it to stick around and whittle away at his Arcanine at the end of the battle. An unfortunate end to what was otherwise two very entertaining games, but Lati was a great sport and he and I had a good conversation about the tournament once it was all over. I would also just like to say that this was easily the best set of nicknames I had used all tournament. There’s always money in the banana stand!

W 2-0

Top 16 vs Lajo

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2

This is where I thought the line ended. In my prediction bracket, I had myself losing right here to Lajo, as did most people who thought I would beat dingram. That’s not to say I didn’t think I had a chance, but Lajo is a player I’ve come to respect a lot since I’ve joined this community. He’s had some really consistent results in Europe with incredibly well built teams, and he’s kicked my butt a couple times in Nugget Bridge Live tournaments. I was really excited for this match, and I really didn’t have anything to lose. Between reaching Top 16 in the Major and results from some Lives, I had already qualified for the Invitational. I knew that Lati and Lajo were countrymen and most likely friends, so I would need to use a different team. A friend of mine had just played Lajo in the Summer Scramble, so I talked to him about what Lajo had used and what I should use. I came up with this wonky team, including Intimidate / Choice Band / Final Gambit Staraptor and Assault Vest / Dragon Tail / Mirror Coat Milotic, which was meant to have solid matchups against the team my friend had seen and other teams Lajo was known for using, specifically involving Gothitelle and Mawile. While the exact team was obviously not what I expected, the general archetype was similar and I knew I was in for a fun set.

Game 1 started out almost perfectly, as Gardevoir traced Staraptor’s Intimidate and gave Milotic a Competitive boost. Final Gambit didn’t take out the intended target, but did a hefty amount to Amoonguss, a trade I was fine with. I got a Scald burn on Lajo’s Gardevoir on Turn 1 as well, which put me in a pretty solid spot even though Trick Room was active. Whimsicott came in to Taunt the Amoonguss and prevent it from spreading Spores, but Lajo was ready with the Sludge Bomb. Luckily Whimsicott wasn’t poisoned, or else the game probably would have been over there. I was able to whip out Mirror Coat for a surprise knock out on Lajo’s Rotom the next turn, and Milotic underspeeding Gardevoir to knock it out in Trick Room was a huge bonus. The match was to be decided by an Earthquake, and luckily Milotic survived with 9 HP to knock out the Landorus and seal up the game.

In game 2 I wagered that he wouldn’t lead with his Landorus, considering my Milotic lead from the last game, and thought that TerraCott was a solid option to get some quick knockouts. I was so happy to see Amoonguss and Hydreigon, because that meant I could basically Beat Up and Rock Slide for free. Unfortunately, I missed the Rock Slide on Lajo’s Hydreigon and his Landorus just barely survived thanks to Intimidate. His Hydreigon was able to set up a Tailwind, which completely threw me off. My Whimsicott actually wasn’t carrying Tailwind, so I couldn’t just Protect and Tailwind myself to cancel it out either. I was forced to withdraw my boosted Terrakion and bring in Gengar to take the Hyper Voice as I went for a desperate Beat Up knockout with Whimsicott. After Tailwind ran out, I was able to get Staraptor and Gengar on the field against Amoonguss and Taunted Gardevoir. Since Lajo saw Final Gambit and probably assumed Choice Scarf Staraptor, I knew there was a good chance he would Protect Amoonguss from the potential faster Brave Bird. I was able to knock out Gardevoir with Sludge Bomb and U-Turn, and from there I played a few really solid turns to clean up the game. I set up a Substitute with Gengar at the perfect time, and that momentum carried me to victory. I was so thrilled to have won this match and moved on to Top 8. It was about this time when I realized there was a very real chance that I could win this tournament.

W 2-0

Top 8 vs Pd0nZ

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2

Between Patrick, Ben Hickey (darkpenguin67), and myself, there were three Americans left in the tournament, and this match would guarantee that at least one would move on to Top 4. I knew Patrick was quite fond of using Charizard and Latios, so I knew I had to come prepared for those. After seeing TerraCott almost sweep a match from turn 1 against Lajo, I thought it would be a good idea to bring against Patrick. I asked my good friend Tommy Cooleen (Tman) for his best TerraCott team, since I knew Tom Hull (TheGr8) had used a team Tommy had built to win a recent Premier Challenge. He ended up giving me the same team Tom used, and it was really entertaining. Between Beat Up and Fake Tears, Whimsicott was all about helping teammates do more damage, while Charizard and boosted Terrakion in Tailwind are all kinds of threatening.

I played the beginning of Turn 1 a little bit risky, since I knew Patrick had used Choice Scarf Latios against DaFlo the week before. I left my Choice Scarf Thundurus in to scout the Latios item, and I was lucky enough to survive the Draco Meteor. I was able to set myself up for a pretty clean Beat Up sweep, which is exactly what happened from that point. I had 3 turns of Tailwind with +4 Terrakion, which wasn’t to be stopped. I know I should have used Close Combat on the last turn to guarantee a knock out on one of Patrick’s remaining Pokemon, but I had Aegislash and Thundurus in the back. Even if I missed Rock Slide on either Patrick’s Latios or Charizard, I had a Pokemon in the back that could OHKO the survivor without any trouble. I would have needed to double miss the Rock Slide to lose that game, and I risked the 1% lose condition for some style points.

Game 2 was much less cut and dry. I knew Patrick had a fondness for Assault Vest Landorus, so I was confident that my bulky Charizard would outspeed to launch an Overheat its way, then most likely survive the Rock Slide. The game was pretty tight up until I called a King’s Shield right and doubled up on Patrick’s Weavile on the last turn of Tailwind. For those that were wondering, I did have Earthquake on Terrakion, but chose not to reveal it just in case I missed a million Overheats and had to go to a game 3. I did end up missing one, but I still had Thundurus in the back at full health. I nailed my next Overheat and moved on to Top 4!

W 2-0

Top 4 vs Lumina

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1

Ah yes, the famous 5 move Volcarona. I was completely blind going into this match, so I decided to use this combination Pledge + Cresselia / Rhyperior team that a lot of my friends used at Kansas City Regionals. Lumina outplayed me pretty hard in game 1 and won it without much of a fuss. I didn’t get Trick Room up fast enough, which needed to be my goal against that team. I got off to a much better start in game 2, baiting a Fake Out and setting up Trick Room on turn 1. However, I let my lead slip as Lumina revealed the infamous “Billaslash,” which carried both Wide Guard and Substitute. I won’t say that I was definitely going to lose that game, as I think I still had a chance to come back, but then something happened that made any effort I may have made unnecessary. In game 1, Lumina revealed all 4 attacks on his Volcarona, including Quiver Dance, Heat Wave, Hidden Power, and Protect. Midway through game 2, Lumina’s Volcarona used Bug Buzz, which was immediately followed by a disconnection. Lumina messaged me saying that he had two versions of the team in his Party and Battle Box that he was using to test on Battle Spot, and he accidentally picked the wrong one for game 2. It was certainly an unfortunate circumstance, but I was awarded the match win after the stream was reviewed. Again, I won’t say that I was 100% going to lose that second game, but Lumina had a good amount of momentum that could have carried him to victory. However, I was once again moving on, and needed to regroup for what was to be the biggest set of my career so far.

W 2-0*

Finals vs Juan Carlos Mateos

My team:
Their team:

Battle videos: Game 1 Game 2

Full set with commentary by Duy and Evan Falco can be found here:

I was sad to see fellow American Ben Hickey lose in the semi finals, since that would have made for a fun All-American finals. Ben was nice enough to give me a bit of info instead, which influenced what type of team I would bring to the finals. Again, I built this team a couple days before the match with Tman, who also played a lot of practice battles against me with similar teams to what I had seen. Juan Carlos ended up using a slightly different team, but with similar components, so I knew that his Landorus was probably slower than my Breloom and holding an Assault Vest, and that his Rotom was most likely wearing a pair of Safety Goggles. The rest of his team was incredibly bulky, so there weren’t too many turns where either of us scored huge damage on anything. This match was mostly a war of attrition. The player would could whittle down the opposing team first would be the one to win.

Game 1 started out somewhat poorly, with Juan Carlos reading through the Taunt immediately and going straight for some damage. It took a few turns for me to get the gears turning, as he kept spreading little bits of damage across my team. On turn 3, I knew that if I could Power-Up Punch the Suicune without activating its Sitrus Berry, I’d be in a pretty commanding spot. Suicune ended up barely getting knocked under half health, so it survived the subsequent Thunderbolt, but I was still able to get my Kangaskhan up to +1 Attack without losing much. The rest of the game turned into an Intimidate fest, with my Landorus and Juan Carlos’s Landorus and Salamence switching in and out. Eventually, I forced myself into a position where Breloom could start Sporing by switching it in without it taking any damage. At that point, Rock Slide did it’s thing, and I eventually racked up enough damage to win the match. I did get a few timely flinches, but nothing that was too game altering…yet.

Game 2 started out in a similar fashion, with neither me nor Juan Carlos making a whole lot of progress. I almost took a big lead early on when I read the Safety Goggles Rotom switch in the Suicune slot and Spored the Landorus instead, but his Rotom barely survived the combination of Mach Punch and Return on the next turn and was able to burn my Kangaskhan. Had Rotom gone down, Breloom would have been able to command the match with its fast Spore, and could take one attack from Salamence with its Focus Sash. Unfortunately, I had to play the switching game, trying to get myself into a spot where I could start getting knockouts. This game is where luck was clearly on my side, as I scored a crucial first turn full paralysis on Juan Carlos’s Suicune, as well as a million flinches on everything else. Juan Carlos made some good plays, like not letting my Breloom stick around and Spore the Salamence like it did during game 1, but there was unfortunately not much he could do. I’m not necessarily apologizing for what happened, since Rock Slide was pretty clearly the best move to use damage-wise in most of those situations, but I felt pretty bad that Juan Carlos had played a solid game and had nothing to show for it. He was an incredible sport however, and he had nothing but congratulations for me. Juan Carlos proved himself to be a classy competitor and person, and I wish him all the best in his future tournaments.

W 2-0

Closing Thoughts

I had done it! I was the Nugget Bridge Major Champion! It felt pretty surreal to have won the biggest Pokemon tournament to date, and the only thing that could get me down that day was getting called in to work a closing shift. This entire tournament was such a great experience for me. I got to play some intense matches with great players, and it helped me grow a lot as a teambuilder and a player. I was not hesitant to spend my prize money, and I’m really looking forward to the Invitational. Can’t wait to defend my title next year!

Huge thanks to everyone that helped me teambuild for each round and calmed me down when I got nervous, specifically Tman and Adam Hoffer (AdamHoffer). Whenever I needed help I went on Showdown and at least one of the two was usually there to talk me off the ledge.

Also thank you to everyone who commentated my matches, including Ben Irons (Benji), Cedric Bernier (Talon), Kenan Nerad (Lucien Lachance), Chuppa Cross (Chuppa), Jon Evans (Ezrael), Duy Ha (Duy), Alex Ogloza (Evan Falco), and anyone else I may have forgot. Streaming my matches was really entertaining, and I’m sure the viewers appreciated your presence.

Huge shoutout to FloristtheBudew for the article art! Check out more of his art here.

Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter at @jakesaysstuff!

The post A Major Accomplishment: The Champion’s Journey Through the Season 4 Nugget Bridge Major appeared first on Nugget Bridge.