This is a translation of Bicho‘s team and battle reports from the 2014 Asia Cup. The Japanese Wi-fi qualifier for the Asia Cup was hosted by R_Justice on the 2nd of March 2014 and involved about 128 players. Bicho went very nearly undefeated thorough the tournament, advancing from his round robin preliminaries group 7-1 and continued to win until he took 1st place. In the main tournament of the Asia Cup on March 30th, 2014 comprising of 32 participants from the 8 countries involved, Bicho once again swept the Swiss rounds undefeated (5-0), then beat his top 8 opponent Oktavian Jason before finally losing to eventual runner-up Nu in the semi-finals and then defeating Cantona, the other semi-finalist, to achieve 3rd place. We would like to congratulate Bicho on his phenomenal success and thank him for the opportunity to feature his team.

Trivia: Bicho’s success is not limited to the VGC ’14 Standard ruleset; he also placed 2nd worldwide in the recent Wi-Fi Test Competition (see his report here), as well as Top 4ing and above the majority of the grassroots offline tournaments he participated in last year and even winning a good chunk of them, including Singles tournaments. Truly, a player of exceptional strength.

Team Report

(Original: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/bicho5296/20140331/1396234411)

Asia Cup 2014 Main Tournament – 3rd Place
Asia Cup 2014 Japanese Wi-fi Qualifier – Champion
4th Hokuriku Offline Tournament – Top 16

Here I’ll present to you the team that achieved all of these!

* The actual stats, especially some of the speeds are quite subtle so I’m not going to reveal them.

Preface

When the rules of the Battle Spot Special ladder changed to Kalos Doubles, I was busy with real life and had no time to dabble in Pokémon. Once my graduation thesis had been safely submitted, I rebuilt my favourite season 1 Talonflame Kangaskhan team and attempted the ruleset, but just could not win. Several times when battling, I found Tailwind difficult to use, and after reading others’ blogs, I learned that speed control was not nearly as important in Kalos Doubles as in other metagames up til now, and rather, the ruleset focused more on individual matchups.

The feel of this ruleset, if you asked me to describe it, struck me as rather reminiscent of single battles, so I took the lineup which I felt was the most beautiful from Season 1 Singles — Mega Venusaur, Rotom-H and Azumarill — to use as a core and build my team around. The grass, fire and water typings of these three are the traditional types of the starter Pokémon in-game, and have excellent synergy. From there, I added Salamence, Garchomp and Aegislash, which were strong against the Pokémon at the core of the metagame, namely Garchomp and the strongest Mega Evolutions Kangaskhan, Charizard and Mawile. Thus, the team was complete.

Even in situations where Mega Venusaur can’t be sent out, the other Pokémon have really good stats so I don’t think I lose the stat point war. Even at the present point, one might say that the Salamence + Aegislash + Azumarill lineup, so often included even in Kangaskhan teams, are going to become the conclusion of this metagame, no?

I think what I’ve managed to build here is a team that, even though it does not possess conspicuous firepower or overwhelming strength, collects an assortment of various bulky Pokémon that complement each other beautifully and thus becomes a sturdy team that does not crumble easily. This is not a team that sets out to accomplish something it wants to, but one that aims to thwart the opponent’s win conditions. Because of that, it is hard to play. And yet, though there are difficult matchups, I would say that there are no difficult-to-the-point-of-being-impossible ones, and in that lies the stability of this team. Accordingly, when you lose with it it will mostly be due to either misplays or stupid amounts of luck, so using it might tend to stress one out (lol)

Having built it, I immediately jumped into Battle Spot to playtest it; won some, lost some, and achieved a not particularly spectacular win rate, but as I started getting used to it it began winning and surpassing my expectations to the point where it got me my results in the Asia Cup.

However, it’s quite difficult to find the correct play within 40 seconds, so I think that this is definitely not a team suited for Battle Spot (´-ω-｀)

(TanZYinG’s note: A good portion of competitive Pokémon in Japan takes place in grassroots real-life tournaments and friendly matches between players, where the game cannot be set to enforce VGC time limits)

Individual Analyses

The nicknames are all from the Children of Nisemachi in Madoka Magica: Rebellion

Salamence (nickname: Ibari)
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast
- Stone Edge

Part of Kalos Doubles’ Strongest, and one of the few that can come from behind to take out Garchomp with relative reliability. There are plenty of oppportunities to use it in a physically-oriented metagame that creates a demand for Intimidate. As for the moves, the two Dragon ones are indispensable, and while it may have shaky accuracy I decided to used Fire Blast for the fire moveslot, which can strike Mega Lucario down in one hit and take half of Aegislash’s health off. Lastly, Stone Edge, which ignores Wide Guard and KOs Mega Charizard Y even when intimidated, rounds off Salamence’s quintessential moveset.

As for the EV spread, well, firepower, bulk, speed, it really wants them all so I’ve always been lost regarding this and can’t give an answer!

Regarding how to play it, Intimidate is especially strong so I usually want to preserve it as best as I can. There will be plenty of openings for it to switch in and take attacks, and I don’t want to go crazy over the 10% miss chance of Draco Meteor so avoiding its use as much as possible, spreading Intimidate during the opening, and mopping up with Dragon Pulse during the endgame is the safe way to go. I have two solid switch ins for it in the form of Aegislash and Azumarill so I don’t partake in messy affairs like Salamence mirrors.

Its body is blue and its face looks like Suneo (note: from Doraemon) so its nickname became Ibari. (威張り: to swagger, act pridefully, be haughty, brag)

Garchomp (nickname: Ganko)
Item: Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

The other cornerstone of Kalos Double’s Strongest alongside Salamence. It’s been saving up its fury since Generation 5 and now that Cresselia, the Latis, Thundurus and Landorus aren’t around boy is it strong.

When building a Mega Venusaur-centric team, due to Venusaur being the mega evolution, it naturally becomes weak to the three major megas of Kangaskhan, Charizard and Mawile (though depending on the circumstances it can beat out Charizard and Mawile), and thus I use the non-mega that is strongest against all three of them.

At first, due to wanting to compensate for an overall lack of firepower, I ran Life Orb which would let me get the 2HKO on Mega Kangaskhan, but then Life Orb’s demerits just kept showing themselves such as Kangaskhans often getting chipped by Rough Skin and Double Edge recoil anyway, Garchomp barely surviving attacks but then dying to Life Orb recoil, and doing too much damage during the times where I decided I wanted to just go ahead and Earthquake even with my own Mega Venusaur out. Therefore, to patch up my team’s effectiveness against sleep and because Will-O-Wisps often come flying towards Garchomp, I made it hold a Lum Berry.

The moveset is again the quintessential Dragon Claw / Earthquake / Rock Slide / Protect. This is inevitable (I’m pretty sure). For the Rock move, options like Rock Tomb seemed interesting, but in the end Rock Slide off Garchomp’s 102 base speed does a good job at fishing for flinches and is just superior.

For the nickname, since Garchomp looks stubborn and it fits its real name, I used Ganko. It would have been even better if it had been female. (頑固: Stubborn, Obstinate)

Mega Venusaur (nickname: Nekura)
Item: Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll ->Thick Fat
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis

The axis of the team. After Mega Evolving it is ridiculously bulky.

With Thick Fat removing all but two of its weaknesses, and Flying and Psychic attackers being relatively absent, it really has a lot of staying power. This staying power shines especially against teams without Talonflame. With the exception of Choice Banded Brave Bird from Talonflame, there isn’t really anything that can OHKO it, so if it doesnt get focus fired it won’t lose due to Synthesis.

For the moves, Giga Drain, which gets STAB, hits the popular Rotom-W super effectively and its recovery effect fits right into Mega Venusaur’s own general playstyle, so it was set in stone. So was Synthesis, which heals up all the damage it accumulates and can checkmate opponents. Next, no matter how bulky it is it would be pointless if it just sat there so Sleep Powder, which is punishing against a wide range of opponents, was added. Lastly, I wanted to add HP fire to hit Steel types with, but there were situations where I wanted to hit Fire types too, and being able to hit Gardevoir super effectively was important so I ran Sludge Bomb. I think that in order to win against Salamence, Hydreigon, Goodra et al, attacking with Sludge Bomb interspersed with heals is the only way to win. Mega Venusaur cannot do anything once Aegislash gets a Substitute up, so that has to be covered by other Pokémon. In the worst case scenario where Sleep Powder misses one can usually switch out and salvage the situation in time so the 75% accuracy is somewhat acceptable.

For playstyle, if I feel at team preview that the opponent has no good way to hit Mega Venusaur, then I do my best to keep it on the field and aim to block them completely with it. If they have but one Pokémon that can hit it, I aim for more or less the same thing after eliminating that one threat. Sleep Powder is a powerful move, but one can’t rely on its 75% accuracy so I never want to use it at critical junctures. It is really effective when you fire it off from an advantangeous matchup and are predicting a switch. Even though Sleep Powder is inferior to Smeargle’s Dark Void both in accuracy and the amount of targets it hits, Venusaur’s forte, its bulk, allows it many attempts at the move and increases the number of safe opportunities to use Sleep Powder.

Given that both its body tint and what it does is dark and gloomy I don’t suppose the nickname can be anything other than Nekura. (根暗: dark natured, dull, gloomy)

Rotom-H (nickname: Wagamama)
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Thunder Wave
- Protect

A Pokémon that possesses excellent bulk for the major threats. It feels a little less stable than Rotom-W, but the Fairy resistance and anti-Charizard-Y properties make it stand out. Along with its main roles, it takes all the attacks of Venusaur’s nemesis Talonflame, takes all the Ice that comes flying towards my two Dragons, and basically makes use of its type synergy to the fullest.

On the offensive side, it was important that I could take a large chunk off Aegislash which I don’t have enough ways to hit. It applies some pressure on Mawile, and against other things I guess it’s acceptable. The consistent Thunderbolt and Steel-hitting Overheat were no-brainers, but for a Status move I used Thunder Wave instead of Will-O-Wisp. Though Will-O-Wisp is effective in an environmnet full of physical offense, Will-O-Wisps that hit second were often too little too late, and Rock Slide flinches messed with it a little too often, that I found myself not valuing Will-O-Wisp on Rotom much. It’s better on Rotom-W who does not take super effective damage from Rock Slide though. The team, with many members having middling speed, makes good use of speed support, and because it opens up the possibility of Mega Venusaur stalling out a paralysed opponent with repeated Synthesises, I think it fits the team really well. Lastly, I thought about putting Will-O-Wisp in anyway for two status inflicting attacks, but there were many situations in which I wanted to Protect so Protect was an easy choice.

Rotom takes plenty of hits switching in, and because of that and the need to survive Mega Kangaskhan’s Fake Out + Double Edge, Sitrus Berry is required.

The nickname is Wagamama because its activity in standby mode is noisy and its lack of base stats made EVing it such a pain. (わがまま: Egoistic, Willful, Headstrong, Selfish)

Azumarill (nickname: Manuke)
Item: Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower

A Pokémon with an excellent typing that completely walls Salamence. Although not used in this team, the terrifying ability of Belly Drum + Aqua Jet to steamroll everything inflicts great pressure on opponents even by just showing it in team preview. It is strong against rain, which despite the presence of Mega Venusaur still gives the team a little pause, and if it doesn’t flinch it can check the likes of Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Tyranitar too.

In my reactionary playstyle, I wanted to make good use of its inherent bulk and firepower to cycle it in and out while racking up damage on the opponent, but the most stable item of choice, Sitrus Berry, had already been taken by Rotom. At first, I had it hold a Choice Band, valuing the fact that Choice Band let it OHKO Dragons even through Initimidate, and also let it have a chance of OHKOing Mega Aerodactyl with Aqua Jet depending on the damage roll, but because I ended up wanting to change attacks often and being choice-locked into Aqua Jet opened up big holes for my opponent, I ended up being dissatisfied with it and rejected it. There were some instances of Choice Specs Rotom-W partnering Aerodactyl and taking out Azumarill in one hit, so to withstand that I tried out Assault Vest. And with it, it became able to attack confidently even in the face of Mega Manectric and win Rotom-H one on one, among many other appealing benefits. Being able to survive Mega Charizard Y’s Solarbeam is huge too.

With the drawback of not being able to use non-attacking moves (well, basically only Protect), and Waterfall, Aqua Jet and Play Rough already decided, I considered the fact that the rest of the team didn’t really have good ways to hit Mega Tyranitar and therefore added Superpower without much deliberation.

Being able to attack with confidence in situations where Azumarill would normally be completely pinned, and being able to induce opponents to overpredict and ignore Azumarill was extremely strong.

For the nickname, well, it’s kind of making a dumb face so… *appropriateness* (まぬけ： stupidity, idiocy, thick-headedness)

Aegislash (nickname: Reiketsu)
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- King’s Shield

A Steel/Ghost Pokémon with excellent bulk. Hm, I seem to have been using this phrase “excellent bulk” rather repeatedly!

It has magnificent type synergy with Salamence, and since Salamence often wants to switch out after firing off its Draco Meteor having it in the back is extremely handy. And conversely, Salamence can easily takes the Fire and Ground attacks that are aimed at Aegislash, so they are truly the best of partners. Although, because of that, it becomes easy for the opponent to predict the switch so care must be taken. Also, it’s just about the only Pokémon that can safely switch into Mega Kangaskhan’s attacks, and so is rather indispensable to teams focusing on switching based teams.

There are limited ways to hit this guy effectively, and with leftovers recovery factored in, it is another Pokémon you can aim to checkmate the opponent with. My playstyle involves using these two walls, Aegislash and Mega Venusaur, together and thinking about which opponents to eliminate so that either of them can seal the win. With that in mind, and because this is a middling speed bulky team and I wanted to deal with the Trick Room teams I hadn’t really considered up to this point strongly, I added Substitute and Leftovers. Shadow Ball and King’s Shield were in for sure. Sacred Sword can revenge KO Bisharp, whose popularity has been rising recently, in one strike and hit Tyranitar and Kangaskhan for more damage, but since Flash Cannon OHKOs Mega Aerodactyl and breeding a hexflawless Aegislash is such a drag, in the end I went back to the standard Flash Cannon.

It’s made of iron and looks cold so the nickname is Reiketsu. (冷血: cold-blooded/heartedness)

As you see, aside from the core of Venusaur, Rotom and Azumarill which had been determined from the start, the rest of the Pokémon are all high-usage Pokémon running their standard, defining items and movesets. One could say that that makes it predictable, but there are good reasons why those moves and items are there, and when combined with the rest of the team and handled properly I really think they are the strongest.

I guess I can say that I tend to lead with Salamence + Venusaur a little more often than the rest, but really, all of the Pokémon can work well both as leads and in reserves and I think I can say that this is a goodstuffs team with a wide plethora of options in battle. There are lots of things you have to consider while playing it, so it taxes the player alot and I won’t go out of my way to recommend playing it to people, but thank you to those who have read up to this point!

I mentioned this before in the preface, but with this team not being ideal for Battle Spot, I think it would be good if I could come up with a team that doesn’t involve nearly as much thinking and plays more straightforwardly for the Japan Cup.

Battle Report (Asia Cup Japanese Wi-Fi Qualifier)

(Original: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/bicho5296/20140310/1394465689)

I was placed in the K block of the preliminaries, and advanced from it in first place with a record of 7W – 1L. I’ve skipped the preliminary matches because this would be very long if I wrote about everything. However, my one defeat by Ao-san was a guessing game at the very end which I lost. I think I misplayed on the previous turn, but on the turn itself, even if I had chosen to do anything else, all the luck factors combined would have led to a roughly 50-50 guessing game anyway so I don’t think there were any other misplays.

Top Cut R1 – Top 32 vs Vete

Battle Video: 86PW-WWWW-WWW6-3AE2

Opponent:

Me:

Mega Venusaur looked like it had an easy field so I went ahead and proactively led with it. The leads came out as his Salamence and Rotom-W versus my Salamence and Venusaur which was completely in my favour. Because Rotom-W looked as if it couldn’t do anything productive, I swapped Aegislash for Salamence and Sleep Powdered his Salamence. Rotom Protected, Aegislash took a Meteor and I put Salamence soundly to sleep.

The 2nd turn I had Aegislash put up a Substitute while Venusaur Giga Drained Rotom. Salamence switched out for Chandelure, and Rotom moved before Venusuar to get a Will-O-Wisp off on Aegislash.

On the 3rd turn, wary of Chandelure’s Infiltrator I had Aegislash use Kings Guard once while firing a Sleep Powder at it, but wasted the turn completely as he got a Substitute up.

From then on, it became a bitter struggle as he stacked up the Minimizes and I couldn’t land my attacks. I tried to Sludge Bomb Chandelure with Mega Venusaur, but I had no idea that Poison attacks were not very effective against Ghost types. I thought I would have been able to break the Substitute.

Since I couldn’t possibly continue throwing myself at Chandelure in vain and since it looked as if it only had Heat Wave and no other attacking moves, I changed my plan and focused on shutting down the other Pokémon. Switching around and taking attacks, I took down Mega Kangaskhan without incident and created a Mega Venu + Mence + Chomp vs Chandelure situation.

Quite a few attacks got evaded, but in the end Garchomp’s Earthquake landed and I won. If the misses had continued, Chandelure’s 16 Heat Waves could not have outdamaged the 8 Synthesis’s worth of healing Venusuar had available, so if after 16 hits I had not gotten burned, it would probably have led to an ugly ending where I would Synthesis on the last turn and win on the HP tiebreaker.

Top Cut R2 – Top 16 vs Junio

Battle Video: YSEG-WWWW-WWW6-3AE9

Opponent:

Me:

Looking at my opponent’s team, there didn’t seem to be any obvious Mega Pokémon, so I expected that it was probably a Mega Tyranitar build.Letting it get a Dragon Dance off would make dealing with it very hard, so I tried my best to not leave any opportunity open for it to do so. Garchomp seemed to be strong against everything overall, but leading with it would only get it Intimidated by Salamence so I brought it in the back.

His leads were Salamence and Bisharp, and although I had Rotom-H -> Bisharp and Azumarill -> Salamence, being slower than both of them kept me cautious. Happy that I was making my opponent feel threatened at the possibility of Belly Drum, and expecting that no Dragon moves would be fired towards Azumarill’s slot, I switched it out for Garchomp and Thunder Waved Salamence as a precaution against a Scarf. My opponent double targeted Rotom with Sucker Punch and Draco Meteor to take it out, so I survived the LO Meteor and got the Thunder Wave off.

On the 2nd turn, because Garchomp had both Bisharp and Salamence pinned with Earthquake and Dragon Claw respectively, and moreover since my opponent’s team had nothing that could take Garchomp’s Earthquake safely, I deduced that Salamence would have no choice but to stay in and so Dragon Clawed Salamence and Overheated Bisharp. Bisharp’s Iron Head took half of my Garchomp’s HP off, but I successfully took out both of his Pokémon. Then, out came Talonflame and Tyranitar.

Garchomp was being pinned by Talonflame’s Brave Bird, but i thought it would be better to buy a little time rather than let it go down immediately, so I protected once. Rotom was in KO range from Tyranitar’s Rock Slide, but even if it were to go down Azumarill could take its place and handle Tyranitar, and furthermore the worst thing would be letting it Dragon Dance for free, so I Thunder Waved it.

Tyranitar Mega Evolved and Dragon Danced, but ate a Thunder Wave and was easily dealt with later, giving me the win.

Top Cut R3 – Top 8 vs Taruto

Battle Video: FG3W-WWWW-WWW6-3AEY

Opponent:

Me:

The lead matchup was so-so. First of all if Gardevoir was Scarfed, Garchomp would just go down without being able to do anything, so I made the safe switch to Aegislash. I didn’t want Rotom to take a possible Fake Out + Dazzling Gleam either so I Protected with it. Gardevoir used Dazzling Gleam instead of Moonblast so I determined it was using Choice Specs.

On the 2nd turn it was very obvious that Gardevoir would switch out and there was a very high probability of Garchomp coming in, and so I really wanted to switch Rotom out for Salamence, but if my opponent madethe gosu play of sending out Bisharp from behind I would lose, so I timidly Thunder Waved Kangaskhan. As expected it was Garchomp, but I guess there was nothing to be done about it.

On the 3rd turn the probability of Bisharp being in the back had more or less disappeared so I brought Salamence out while Flash Cannoning Kangaskhan.

On the 4th turn I predicted that Garchomp was going to switch out and wanted to dispatch Kangaskhan, so I meteored it but missed. I forgot why I Flash Cannoned Garchomp’s position instead of Shadow Balling it, but Talonflame came in and made me pay for it.

Turn 5, I couldn’t lose my Salamence yet and was fearful of Brave Bird and Sucker Punch so I used King’s Shield and switched to Rotom to take the Brave Bird.

Turn 6, I thought that Garchomp would come in to take a Thunderbolt for Talonflame, so I Shadow Balled Talonflame’s position and chipped away at Kangaskhan with Thunderbolt.

From here on, I thought that Garchomp, who I had preserved well up until now, would be able to plow through everything, so I sacrificed something to get it in safely and continued making safe plays for the win.

Semi-Finals vs Kantona

Battle Video: 7FAG-WWWW-WWW6-3AEJ

Opponent:

Me:

Between Bisharp and Malamar, bringing Salamence was most certainly out of the question (lol)

Azumarill, with water attacks unresisted by my opponent’s entire team and being able to hit the likely leads Bisharp or Malamar hard, was put out in the front, and Rotom-H, which also had lots of room to manoeuvre, accompanied it.

At the opening I was afraid of the possibility of getting outsped and flinched, but it looked like a pretty good matchup for me. Aerodactyl’s Rock Slide and Bisharp’s Iron Head tried to stop my Azumarill from moving, but Azumarill dodged the Rock Slide and took out Aerodactyl with Waterfall, and Rotom managed not to flinch as well and got a Thunderbolt off on Bisharp. At the time, I was sure that Gothitelle and Mawile were in the back so dropping my Special Attack with Overheat would be a terrible idea. Furthermore it was probable that Bisharp was Focus Sashed so I thought Thunderbolt was the way to go.

My opponent’s Rotom-H came out, and I was wondering if I should just sacrifice Azumarill, but then I decided it could still do some work with Aqua Jet if I kept it around, so I switched to Garchomp. A Will-O-Wisp came flying hither but I didn’t mind.

After that, somehow Garchomp still managed to be a good Pokémon even while burned and played sloppily. I recklessly spammed Rock Slide and the opponent’s Rotom just wouldn’t stop flinching. I kept that up and won.

Finals vs Moyomoto

During the 1st battle there was a communication error while the battle was in my favour, so it was decided to turn it into a best-of-3 with me one game up.

1st Battle

Twitcast Video: http://twitcasting.tv/bicho_5296/movie/42615880

Opponent:

Me:

It looked as if leading with Salamence and Venusaur would be good, but then I refrained from that after considering the possibility that Noivern was Scarfed. I didn’t think I would be particularly disadvantaged no matter who I brought so I sent Rotom-H out with Venusaur. I was a little scared of Specs Noivern Hurricane, but decided that that kind of thing would not appear on a Sun team and so abandoned those fears.

I didn’t know which of my Pokémon he would Fake Out at first, so I made both of my Pokémon attack with Sleep Powder and Thunder Wave. Venusaur got to move, but for some reason Noivern was carrying a Lum Berry so that ended in failure.

Turn 2, I couldn’t lose Venusaur so I switched to Aegislash while Thunder Waving with Rotom, but Rotom flinched due to Rock Slide.

Turn 3, I wanted to Substitute with Aegislash but it got flinched. However, I successfully got Thunder Wave off on Mienshao.

The subsequent exchanges created a situation where my opponent was unable to break Aegislash’s Substitute. The communication error occurred when I had caught Charizard on the switch with Sleep Powder and hit it into the red on the next turn.

It seemed that on the turn that Charizard came out, my opponent had originally intended to switch Mienshao out and Protect Noivern, but given that Noivern had already Protected the turn before, its special attack was cut from having Draco Meteored previously, and Aegislash still had its Substitute up, I think I would still have the advantage no matter what happened. Even if Charizard had woken up on the turn of the error, I would have switched Venusaur to Rotom and taken any of its attacks and won regardless of whatever happened, so the set was turned into a best-of-3 and I was given the first win.

2nd Battle

Battle Video: G8HW-WWWW-WWW5-UCAC

Opponent:

Me:

With the fact that Noivern was neither Scarfed nor Sashed exposed, I led with Salamence this time. With my opponent’s leads being Noivern and Charizard, a double pin situation was created and I had to decide who to go after. With Noivern possessing the ability to take out Salamence if allowed to move, and Venusaur’s Sleep Powder and Noivern’s Lum berry both being revealed during the previous match, Meteoring Noivern and Sleep Powdering Charizard certainly seemed like the safe option.

But then if I did that, Salamence could not possibly fight Charizard and Aegislash choice-locked into Draco Meteor with dropped special attack, and I felt that the absolute worst situation for me would be if he made the safe play of double Protecting and I left Charizard free to do whatever it wanted (by locking into Draco Meteor). So, because even if Protected, it would be better to lock into Stone Edge, I Stone Edged Charizard and Sleep Powdered Noivern. It was a dangerous gamble, but I figured it was my best option. My opponent moved exactly as I expected, and the game was sealed almost completely right there and then on turn 1.

After that, I dealt with the remaining Pokémon one by one while maintaining a way to hit his Aegislash hard, and won.

Mega Venusaur is such a beast for surviving Super Fang and Garchomp’s critical hit Earthquake.

Somehow or other I made it through a 150-man strong field and clinched the championship!

The post Synthesising Victory: 2014 Asia Cup 3rd Place & Japanese Qualifier 1st Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello reader, and thank you for reading my report of the recent April Regionals. I’m known as Crys here on Nugget Bridge and primarily CrystalNinetales on Showdown (among many other names). I’ve been participating in VGC since 2011, and after ages of reading other peoples’ reports on how they did at the events, I decided to try making my own report this year.

Building the Team

So, after my success at Virginia Regionals with Noivern, I wanted to try to use another Pokemon that was not used frequently but was still somewhat viable. After a lot of searching through the Kalos Pokedex, I settled on Wigglytuff. It had everything I wanted in a Pokemon as I was team building. Wigglytuff provided an answer to Salamence and other Intimidate users, and it was able to hit back fairly well and sponge a few hits as well. Unfortunately, after running Wigglytuff successfully for a few months, I noticed that not only was I getting bored with Wigglytuff, but it ended up being more of a dead weight on my changed team than actually supporting it. So, with a week before the actual event, I changed Wigglytuff to another Pokemon that I had never used before and wanted to try out: Gardevoir. I saw immediate improvement in my team, as Gardevoir let me hit faster threats that Wigglytuff could not, and let me absorb Special Attacks better as well.

The Team

lunarisbad
(Gardevoir) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psychic

Gardevoir was really clutch in most of my matches, scoring knockouts with Moonblast and Psychic, while occasionally burning a physical attacker. Shadow Ball was for coverage against Ghost types such as Aegislash, but sadly I never got to use it. I ran Modest 252/252/4 with Choice Scarf to hit very hard. I had tried Timid beforehand for more Speed, but I found that the extra power Modest gave me more than made up for the lower Speed. Trace was very useful during my matches, often copying Parental Bond from other Kangaskhan on the switch in. Gardevoir also paired well with Kangaskhan in multiple situations, letting Kangaskhan Fake Out whatever threatened Gardevoir on turn 1 while Gardevoir picked off a threat to Kangaskhan.

If you’re wondering about Gardevoir’s nickname, I noticed that Lunar and Gardevoir seem to have similar haircuts and, as such, I used that. Lunar isn’t bad by the way. On the contrary, he’s fairly good. When I devised the nicknames for my team, he was the butt of jokes on the Showdown VGC room, and so it stuck.

baby khan
(Kangaskhan) (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Facade

Ah, Kangaskhan. So good, yet so cheap. I used a rather basic Mega-Kangaskhan set, outside of Facade. The Scrappy Ability let me hit Ghost types with my attacks before Mega Evolving. When Mega Evolved, Kangaskhan could abuse Power-Up Punch to get to +2 Attack while breaking any potential Focus Sashes on the opposing team. Sucker Punch was used to hit Pokemon that outsped Kangaskhan, and also allowed me to somewhat hit Aegislash. Originally, I ran Return over Facade, but I forgot to max out Kangaskhan’s happiness before the competition. In the registry line I was forced to put the next best thing outside of Frustration: Facade. Facade was overall not as good as Return, but it allowed me to take a burn and hit back hard.

inst.noodle
(Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 68 SpA / 140 SpDef / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

So, after looking at the differences between Rotom-Heat and Rotom-Wash, I decided Heat form benefited my team more. Overheat and Protect are staples on Rotom-Heat. Thunderbolt was used to hit Water- and Flying-types for decent damage, and Will-O-Wisp was used to burn those pesky physical attackers while also providing residual damage.

I had issues coming up with an EV spread for Rotom, so I asked Drizzleboy for some help. The EVs let me survive Kangaskhan’s Return, 2HKO most Calm Amoonguss, and survive strong Water-type attacks from Mega Blastoise and Rotom-Wash.

imoccababy
(Ferrothorn) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Ferrothorn was really good for the team. It could sponge physical attacks as well as taking those pesky Water-type attacks that plagued my team. I ran Ray Rizzo’s EV set from the Virginia Regionals. While it may be unoriginal and cheap to not think of my own spread, why make a new one when this set does the job perfectly? Power Whip OHKOs most Rotom-Wash, and Gyro Ball provides a very powerful STAB move (which also hits Fairy-types for super-effective damage). Leech Seed was used as a recovery move and Protect was used either to scout or stall for more Leech Seed healing.

insecurity
(Gyarados) @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 152 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Taunt

Gyarados came in handy during a lot of my matches. The EVs listed allow it to be fairly bulky, and the Wacan Berry let it survive most Electric attacks. It can outspeed all Rotom forms (excluding regular Rotom), and then proceed to Taunt them. If I was up against a Rotom-Heat, I could alternatively use Waterfall, which could usually bring its HP down by 70-90 percent.

landshark
(Garchomp) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Garchomp was a good Pokemon in my matches. It absorbed Electric attacks, and was able to hit opposing Pokemon fairly hard. I ran a rather basic set here, but with Garchomp there’s really no need to make up any fancy sets outside of 252/252. Earthquake lets Garchomp hit Fire- and Steel-types. Dragon Claw was used for other Dragons. Rock Slide was used for Flying-types and Mega Charizard-Y.

Matches

With over 70 competitors in attendance, I had heard we would have to compete in eight rounds of Swiss.

Round 1 vs Captain Catastrophe

He brought Charizard-Y, Mamoswine, Rhydon, Mienshao
I brought Garchomp, Gardevoir, Ferrothorn, Kangaskhan

He led off with Charizard-Y and Mienshao, while I led with Garchomp and Gardevoir. Garchomp and Charizard protected turn 1, and strangely enough Mienshao didn’t go for the Fake Out, so I was able to OHKO it with a Moonblast. The rest of the match is rather hazy, but I remember his Mamoswine took down my Garchomp with an Icicle Spear. His Charizard revealed Flamethrower which managed to burn my Gardevoir and take it out. Fortunately, I was able to knock out the Charizard with Kangaskhan and Gyro Ball the Mamoswine. In the end it came down to my Ferrothorn vs his Rhydon. I was able to win the match thanks to a high Leech Seed damage roll, sealing my first win with only 26 HP remaining.

Round 2 vs William

He brought Aegislash, Klefki, Mega Lucario, Scizor
I brought Garchomp, Gyarados, Rotom-Heat, Ferrothorn

This wasn’t a very eventful match, as most of his team was under-leveled. Garchomp had a field day by KOing all four of his Pokemon, securing me my second win, and also giving me my first 4-0 of the day.

Round 3 vs John L.

He brought Smeargle, Azumarill, Mega-Alakazam, Nidoking
I brought Kangaskhan, Gardevoir, Ferrothorn, Rotom-Heat

He led off with Smeargle and Azumarill, while I led with Kangaskhan and Gardevoir. I got a lucky Fake Out critical hit turn 1 which knocked out the Smeargle right off the bat. I went for a Will-O-Wisp onto Azumarill, which Protected, blocking my attack. He brought in Alakazam, mega evolved it, and got flat out OHKOed by a Sucker Punch from Kangaskhan. Gardevoir landed the Will-O-Wisp onto Azumarill, while he went for a Belly Drum. He brought in Nidoking, and I switched into Ferrothorn, which absorbed an Aqua Jet from Azumarill and then gave it some recoil damage from Ferrothorn’s Iron Barbs. I used Facade against Azumarill, which was then knocked out at the end of the turn due to burn damage. I switched Kangaskhan into Gardevoir. He Earth Powered my Ferrothorn, which didn’t do enough to knock it out. Fortunately, I hit Nidoking with Power Whip, then knocked it out with Psychic on the next turn, giving me my second 4-0 of the day.

Round 4 vs Albert O.

He brought Ferrothorn, Mienshao, Mega Kangaskhan, Rotom-Heat
I brought Gardevoir, Ferrothorn, Mega Kangaskhan, Gyarados

All I remember from this match is that it came down to Ferrothorn versus Ferrothorn, which ended with the timer running out. I ended up losing because he had managed to get some damage onto my Ferrothorn prior to the 1v1. As I said, I don’t remember the specifics, but I do remember that it was a very good match.

Round 5 vs Miles A.

He brought Mega Manectric, Politoed, Ludicolo, Sableye
I brought Gardevoir, Kangaskhan, Gyarados, Garchomp

He led off with Manectric and Sableye, and I led with Kangaskhan and Gardevoir. He protected with Manectric and Rain Danced with Sableye. I KOed the Sableye with Moonblast, and used Fake Out against Manectric, but Protect blocked my attack. He brought in Ludicolo, who used Fake Out on my Kangaskhan. Gardevoir outsped Manectric and Moonblasted it before it Volt Switched into Politoed. What he did next I don’t remember that well, but in the end my Gyarados Thunder Waved his Ludicolo, letting my Ferrothorn clean up. I won this match 3-0.

Round 6 vs Triston L.

He brought Garchomp, Tyranitar, Mega-Mawile, and Zapdos
I brought Garchomp, Gardevoir, Rotom-Heat, Ferrothorn

Someone I had beaten in Virginia had come to take their revenge! I flinched from Rock Slide on turn 1, which may have ended up costing me the game. He then scored double knockouts, and his Pokemon took care of the rest of my team with relative ease. From here, my record was 4-2, so I was worried; I needed to win my next two matches if I wanted to cut.

Round 7 vs ???

He brought Greninja, Kangaskhan, Swellow, ???

I brought Kangakshan, Gardevoir, Ferrothorn, Garchomp

Remember how I said there were eight matches? Yeah, so it turned out it was seven. I knew that if I wanted to even hope to cut, I needed to win this match. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much from this match other than the fact that he was running a very interesting team, including a Honchkrow that I noticed in Team Preview. Needless to say, I managed to win the match, and then waited for the final results. Somehow I managed to get seventh seed, which got me into Top Cut! I’m really not too sure how I did it, but I was glad at the time.

Top Cut

Top 8 vs Aaron O.

Game 2: He brought Mienshao, Rotom-Heat, Mega Kangaskhan, Azumarill
Game 2: I brought Gyarados, Rotom-Heat, Ferrothorn, Gardevoir

Unfortunately, the first game of top cut was very hazy and I don’t remember a clue about it. Besides that, I lost. In game 2, he led with Mienshao and Rotom-H, while I led with Gyarados and Rotom-H. I Protected with Gyarados and he Faked Out my Rotom, causing it to flinch. He targeted my Gyarados with Will-O-Wisp, which was blocked by my Protect. I Taunted his Rotom, his Mienshao Rock Slided me and luckily my Rotom managed to land the Will-O-Wisp on his Mienshao. However, he predicted my Taunt and went straight for the Thunderbolt onto Gyarados, bringing it down to 10 HP. From there the match went downhill for me. I managed to knock out his Kangaskhan and Mienshao, but he ended up winning the game with Belly Drum Azumarill, who took out my Ferrothorn.

Overall, it was a rather fun event, despite the top cut choke. I look forward to Nationals, as I am confident that I can do better there.

The post Do you like my Scarf? A Seniors Georgia Regionals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello everyone, JRank here again! It’s been a while since I wrote an article (that being my 2013 U.S. Nationals report), but now I’m here to share yet another one! This time I attended the Overland Park (Kansas City) regional on April 6th, 2014. I finished 6-2 in swiss, good enough for 9th place and the first person on the accursed bubble. I definitely felt I was playing a few places higher than that, but through a combination of silly Pokémon and TPCi tiebreakers, I wound up on the outside looking in. Despite that, I thought my team was really solid and fit my style this year really well, so I wanted to share. I’m not discussing my battles this time because I might turn into Lot’s wife as a pillar of salt if I did. I hope you enjoy the team!

Building the Team

The story is weirdly similar to that of how I came up with my Nationals 2013 team. I had been using a Rain/Trick Room hybrid for a while and felt okay about how it would perform. It had the ability to deal massive amounts of damage quickly and steamroll over unprepared players, but it tended to get shut down too often and utilized several Pokémon that weren’t very good at taking repeated hits, including the Talonflame, Ludicolo, and Mawile on my team. After giving up on it and going back to a modified version of my St. Louis team, I read an article called Synthesising Victory, which I loved. The six Pokémon used on Bicho’s team were so similar to the six I had been using (I was using Ferrothorn over Venusaur and Kangaskhan over Garchomp) that I decided to try out his changes.

I was initially skeptical of Garchomp’s usefulness within the team upon first reading the article, and within a few battles my suspicions were confirmed: it was out of place. I lacked strong ways to deal with physical attackers, especially Kangaskhan. With that in mind I tried out Scrafty, who brought two ways to handle Kangaskhan via its Intimidate Ability and its Fighting-type STAB, as well as fitting in with the maxim of the team that was bulky offense. It fit pretty much perfectly and so I decided to take the team and run with it. I was (and am) satisfied with how it turned out, and, in retrospect, the only one Pokémon I would possibly alter is Aegislash.

When you read my explanations for each Pokémon, please don’t look at it through the lens of “how JRank changed the team he copied” because that’s not really what happened. Venusaur WAS inspired by the article, but the rest of the team was really what I had been playing with and just happened that it was almost identical to what Bicho used first. With that in mind, here’s the team!

The Team

Salamence (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 36 HP / 52 Def / 164 SpA / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Deployed in 2/8 battles

Salamence was one of the first things I changed from my St. Louis team. While Hydreigon was really good at what it did (sticking around, dishing out damage, and beating other Dragons due to its Haban Berry), I found myself losing against Kangaskhan and sun teams more often than was acceptable, so I went to Salamence. Salamence provided several things that Hydreigon did not, including a higher base Speed, Intimidate, and a way to hit Charizard for super-effective damage with Rock Slide, while also bringing the Dragon STAB and Fire-type move that Hydreigon had.

While most Salamence these days opt for a Choice Scarf, I’ve never really been a fan of it. I feel like you either invites speed ties if you run Modest or you lose out on a lot of power if you go with a Timid nature. I also don’t like the prospect of locking yourself into a stat-reduction move like Draco Meteor or a non-STAB physical move when you run no investment in Attack EVs, which happens with Stone Edge or Rock Slide.

Because of those thoughts, I used a Life Orb and a Modest nature. I wasn’t especially interested in the extra Speed Timid would bring, and really just wanted the power, because I tended to play as if my Salamence was slower than whichever Dragon it was facing, anyway. The moves aren’t anything special: Draco Meteor for a generic nuke/STAB, Flamethrower for coverage on Steel-types, and Rock Slide to take out Charizard and Talonflame. The Life Orb even allowed me to take out either of the previous Pokémon even with the damage reduction from spread moves, which is another reason I like Life Orb more than Choice items. Rock Slide could even be used against Rage Powder or Follow Me users, while potentially getting some delicious flinches. Protect is fairly obvious because I didn’t have a way to guarantee beating other Dragons one-on-one and I didn’t need any extra coverage anyway.

The EV spread is one that I am a big fan of. I maxed Speed because I didn’t feel like losing to ALL other base 100 Speed Pokémon. 36 HP and 52 Defense EVs guarantee its survival against most Garchomp Dragon Claws (provided they were Intimidated beforehand), including Adamant Life Orb users. The remaining EVs went into Special Attack to deal damage, with 4 going into Special Defense so as not to waste any. I never really lacked power, and being able stay in against Garchomp was a great asset to have, so I don’t regret going for the small amount of bulk.

Despite me writing four paragraphs about it already, I only used Salamence twice at the tournament – and once it didn’t even appear on the field. It either had a bad matchup against the teams I played or wasn’t needed as much as something else, so I just didn’t bring it very much. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth its spot, however, because its presence in Team Preview would make opponents think twice about leading with a physical attacker and also made them want to bring a Fairy-type, to which I would respond with my three Fairy resists.

Venusaur (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 188 Def / 124 SAtk / 92 SDef / 52 Spd
Modest Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
Deployed in 6/8 battles

Probably the coolest Pokémon I used. It’s quite ironic that I used it, actually, because in the lead-up to the event I told my friend Aaron Traylor (Unreality) multiple times that I thought that at this point in the season you should only build around the three biggest Mega Pokémon: Kangaskhan, Charizard-Y, and Mawile. I hilariously contradicted myself by going forth with a very uncommon yet very good Mega Evolution in Venusaur.

The moveset was ripped straight from the article previously mentioned, with Sleep Powder to induce status, Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb for STAB, and Synthesis to crush opponents’ dreams when they thought they had it finished. I was originally nervous about forgoing Protect, but after playing with it for a bit I discovered that I wasn’t really using Protect anyway, so I never really regretted it. The EV spread was one that my friend Edward Fan (iss) used, so I’m not especially sure what it does other than take hits, recover more HP with Giga Drain, and outspeed uninvested Rotom formes.

I think it’s a testament to the team’s overall strength that my Mega Evolution was probably only the third-best performer of the day. I brought Scrafty and Rotom more often than Venusaur and they were probably more vital to my success, but Venusaur was no slouch. Often in both practice and the tournament I could keep it in the back, eliminate Flying- and Psychic-types, then send it in, Mega Evolve, and win the game, which is something that you generally want your Mega to be able to do.

Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 180 SAtk / 12 SDef / 60 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Deployed in 8/8 battles

If you’re not building around Charizard (and maybe even if you are), I think Rotom-Heat is the best Fire-type Pokémon in this format. Its offensive coverage with just Thunderbolt and Overheat is fantastic, and whatever third move you run (possibly Hidden Power Ice or Will-O-Wisp) is just gravy. It also has great stat distribution; I was able to accomplish just about everything I wanted to with the 510 EVs I had available to me.

As I covered already, the moveset is run-of-the-mill and the item probably is, too. Safety Goggles is incredible on Rotom-H, making it a fairly hard counter to Venusaur/Charizard leads. Safety Goggles also allows Rotom to hit Water-types with Thunderbolt or Will-O-Wisp physical attackers around Rage Powder. The EV spread is pretty neat, too. 60 Speed EVs puts it one point above neutral, max Speed Tyranitar (which has been growing in popularity). 180 Special Attack allows it to always OHKO Ray’s Mawile spread with Overheat and the remaining EVs are placed in HP and both defenses.

Along with Scrafty, Rotom was hands-down the MVP of the tournament (Overheat miss and Rock Tomb problems aside). Its combination of typing, coverage, stats, and strong matchup with almost every team I faced meant that I brought it to every battle I played.

Aegislash (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- King’s Shield
Deployed in 6/8 battles

While Aegislash was the key to my success at St. Louis (I used a Substitute/Leftovers version there that pretty much put me and the rest of the team on its back and carried us to 7-1 and Top Cut), its 6/8 usage statistic lies as to how useful it was in Kansas, too. Its typing and Ability remained stellar for me, but without Substitute or Leftovers it seemed more frail and exposed. While Weakness Policy was a nifty item for picking up surprise OHKOes on Dragon-types, Kangaskhan, and Tyranitar, it didn’t need it all day, and I ironically forgot that it activating would boost my Attack and put me in Foul Play KO range, which lost me my final match.

The EV spread is a common one, surviving Timid Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave. I didn’t want to have to do that if I could avoid it, but the spread felt good and so I didn’t see a need to change it. Shadow Ball was solid as usual because of its buff this generation, as was Sacred Sword. I switched from Flash Cannon to Sacred Sword to help out against Kangaskhan and Tyranitar, because I wasn’t using Flash Cannon very often anyway. Ray Rizzo’s thoughts on it are actually similar to mine when he says:

“I opted for Flash Cannon instead of Sacred Sword because they do the same exact thing except one is better vs some TTars and Bisharp while the other is better vs Mamoswine, Aromatisse and when Intimidated or Burned. I prefer the advantages of Flash Cannon. Another aspect of Flash Cannon that I prefer is that it makes it harder to switch in on Aegislash. Many times you’ll be in a situation where both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon will do the same damage. When Aegislash is in a threatening position in one of those situations (For example, when facing a Gardevoir that may opt to switch out) you choose which move based on potential switchins. If the opponent for example has no Pokémon that resist steel and one that resists Ghost, Flash Cannon becomes the easy move to make. That way you punish the opponent no matter whether they stay in or switch out. This situation is a lot more frequent than it may seem.”

Despite my agreement with the three-time World Champion, I chose Sacred Sword because of how big of a problem Kangaskhan could be, especially when you consider my lack of Substitute. To be honest, if I could play the tournament again I would not run Hidden Power Ice: its coverage was irrelevant with the Weakness Policy. I actually came very close to switching it to Wide Guard before I registered, but I forgot and so I used Hidden Power Ice anyway.

I’ll start off its final paragraph the same way I started Venusaur’s: I think it’s a testament to Aegislash’s strength that I wasn’t satisfied with the way I ran it, yet I still brought it to 6 of my 8 matches. Its typing is solid and its stats and ability are so good that I couldn’t justify not picking it most of the time.

Scrafty (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Atk / 12 Def
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Stone Edge
- Taunt
Deployed in 8/8 battles

My opinion on Scrafty had soured prior to picking it up, mostly because of the prevalence of Talonflame and Fairy-types. That wasn’t a problem on this team because Talonflame was on the downswing at the time and, as previously mentioned, I have three Fairy resists. With that in mind, I was able to bring Scrafty to all of my games to take advantage of its Fake Out, Taunt, and Intimidate support.

The moveset common, barring Taunt. The EV spread is also common and is able to survive a Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird at -1. When I considered adding Scrafty to the team, I went to my friend and reigning U.S. National Champion Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) for Scrafty advice. He advised Taunt over Crunch, so I tried it out and it was amazing. Along with the Lum Berry, it stopped Amoonguss and Venusaur cold, while shutting down Meowstic as well. I really only wanted Crunch in my final match, but by the time I needed it I was going to lose anyway, so I wasn’t bothered by not having it.

Although I’ve written the least about it, Scrafty was co-MVP for the day. I could try to list its characteristics that made it so useful, but then I would end up listing everything: it was just that good. I led with it 7 out of the 8 games I played, and four times Rotom-H led by its side.

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SDef / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Belly Drum
- Protect
Deployed in 2/8 battles

After writing oodles of words on the previous five Pokémon, I find myself at Azumarill without a strong opinion. It was stronger on the previous version of the team with Kangaskhan to support it, but when Venusaur hopped on board the emphasis shifted from getting Azumarill into advantageous positions to getting Venusaur and Rotom into them. Although it wound up going from shining star to pushed aside in favor of the newest toy (perhaps how I felt when my sister was born), it was solid in the two games I brought it to.

Everything about it is ripped from Daniel Nolan (Zog)’s When the Void Stares Back! report, although it’s really just the standard Azumarill these days. Even without specific support for it I still felt more comfortable with Belly Drum because of how much pressure it could create if I got a chance to get one off. Aqua Jet and Play Rough provided STAB and priority, while Protect is Protect. Not much else to say.

I hate to end on a somewhat down note, but Azumarill just really wasn’t needed during the tournament. However, it still earned its spot through practice and the games I did bring it to, so I am proud of its performance regardless.

Closing Thoughts

I absolutely loved my team and I think I played well all day; it just so happened that luck was not on my side all day. It’s one thing to accept that it’s the game we play, but it is quite another to not be bitter about it, and I obviously need to work on the bitter part. Hopefully you enjoyed the team aspect of my report and perhaps next time I’ll bring a report that ends somewhat happily; although I think that’s what I said last time, too. Thanks for reading!

The post A Microwave, (Thick) Fatty, and Low-Hanging Pants: Kansas City Regional Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello Nugget Bridgers, my name is Keewan. Let me introduce my self! I am a competitive VGC player living in Korea and I like rain teams and blitz tactics. I really hate SMEARGLE and Sand Veil Garchomp (they have turned my nationals into turmoil twice)! Today I will introduce my rain team which I used in the Asia Cup Korean Qualifier and the Asia Cup itself.

Introduction

When the sixth generation was released, many people assumed that the rain archetype would not see the same glory they had in the fifth generation and would instead see their end because of Mega Charizard Y, Mega Tyranitar, and Fairy type Pokémon whose moves threaten standard rain teams. I thought the same way at that time.  However, unexpectedly, even though rain teams can’t quite match up to their power in the fifth generation, it turns out they’re still quite effective. Needless to say, rain didn’t get many benefits with Pokémon X and Y. Mega Charizard Y, Mega Tyranitar, Fairy types, and Freeze Dry are all worries. However, VGC ’14 metagame gave Kingdra a chance to come back.

First of all, let’s think about the ability Intimidate. More players are picking Pokémon with the Intimidate ability to counter Mega-Kangaskhan and Mega-Mawile. However, that doesn’t affect Kingdra because it can attack easily with its Muddy Water regardless of whether or not it’s intimidated. Kingdra doesn’t even mega evolve, but it deals pain to many Pokémon just like any mega evolution! What that means is it can pair up with any powerful Mega Pokémon such as Mega Kangaskan, Mega Mawile, Mega Manectric, Mega Gengar etc. Also, the evironment of VGC 2014 (which doesn’t have many defensive Pokémon) makes the Muddy Water beatdown stretegy more effective. With that in mind, I thought about building an offensive rain team for sixth generation.

Team Building Process

Above all, I decided to use Kingdra, Politoed, Talonflame as the core of the team. I considered a lot when deciding which Pokémon to use. Wonsoek Jang (KrelCROC), the 2012 Korean National Champion, gave me the idea of using Mega Venasaur. It can be a good counter-measure against opponents’ rain teams. However, it is weak against Mega Kangaskan and Talonflame which are really popular in this metagame. So as a result, I decided to use Rocky Helmet Amoongus rather than Mega Venasaur and I put Mega-Manectric in the team to be stronger against physical attackers. After that, I chose Bisharp for the last slot. Bisharp turns opponents’ Intimidate Pokémon into friends that give it attack boosts. I thought a rain team’s best strength was the blitz tactics, so I built the most offensive rain team ever.

Anyway, there were some more problems left. Mega Charizard Y and Mega Tyranitar were the worst threats. To help with this, I had the bright idea of using Eject Button Politoed with Manectric’s Voltswitch! This idea helped me to achieve several things. I was ranked in 1st place in the Special Rating Battles in Season 2 and I qualified for Asia Cup 2014 by taking first in the Korea Representative Selection Tournament

So, I thought this team was not so bad, and I decided to introduce it to you all.

The Team

Kingdra @Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Sleep Talk
- Muddy Water
- Draco Meteor

I think I don’t have to explain much about this Kingdra. To OHKO Tyranitar in the rain, I had to maximize its Special Attack. Along with Politoed, Kingdra was my most picked Pokémon during the matches. Needless to say, Kingdra is a sweeper. Most of the less bulky Pokémon were knocked out by Modest STAB Muddy Water boosted by Choice Specs and rainy weather. Even though there are some accuracy problem with Kingdra’s moves, Kingdra is really a magnificent Pokemon. Sleep Talk is the countermeasure against really irritating Smeargle and Amoongus.

Politoed @Eject Button
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 228 HP / 172 Def / 108 Sp.Def
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hypnosis
- Protect

Politoed’s role is really crucial and it can maintain weather for only 5 turns now, so I gave EVs to make it as bulky as possible. I had to consider deeply, “Which move should I choose between Hypnotize and Encore?” I used to use Encore Politoed in fifth gen. However, sixth gen’s Encore Politoed is not as strong as it was in fifth gen so I chose Hypnotize which is able to limit the foe’s active turns. The item Eject button has great synergy with Manectric’s Volt Switch and Talonflame’s U-Turn. Eject Button Politoed was one of the impetuses for me to build a rain team again.

Manectric @Manectrite
Trait: Lightiningrod
EVs: 12 HP /244 Sp.Atk /252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Hidden Power Ice
- Volt Switch
- Thunder

Honestly, Mega Manectric is not really stronger than other Mega Pokémon like Kangaskan, Mawile and Charizard. However this fact never means that we can underestimate Mega Manectric. It is the one of the most appropriate Mega Pokémon for a rain team. Even though Manectric has not so great Special Attack and bulk, its ability Intimidate and the move Volt Switch can cover up those weaknesses. Because there aren’t as many Scizor and Ferrothorn in the meta game, I decided to use Thunder instead of a Fire type move. The synergy of Intimidate and Volt switch can be a disaster to the good stuff teams which are accompanied by Kangaskan and Mawile. Also, Volt Switch has great synergy with Eject Button Politoed.

Talonflame @Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
Evs: 36 HP/ 252 Atk/ 220 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- U-Turn
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird

Talonflame is also an appropriate Pokémon to cover a rain team’s weakness. It can OHKO Amoongus, Ferrothorn, fragile Gardevoir, Hariyama, and Abomasnow. Together with Kingdra’s Muddy Water, it can knock out lots of Pokémon.

Bisharp @Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Sucker Punch
- Night Slash
- Iron Head

I had to find a Pokémon which can easily break down Wide Guard Aegislash and Pokémon that have Intimidate. Bisharp was the perfect Pokemon to satisfy those conditions. It also has the move Iron Head which can OHKO opponents’ bulkless Gardevoir

Amoongus @Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 Der/ 4 Sp.Def
Relaxed Nature
- Protect
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Giga Drain

The main role of Amoongus is to be a countermeasure against Trick Room teams, Rotom-W, and protecting the team’s ace Kingdra with Rage Powder support. It also supports the team with Spore. Although Sejun Park said Effect Spore is better in the VGC 2014 ruleset, I chose the Regenerator ability because there I switch very often with this team. To counter strong physical Pokémon, I decided to give it Rocky Helmet and chose the Relaxed Nature.

Sorry that there is no warstory It was really hard for me to write it.

Thanks for reading!

The post U-Turn Makes My Turn: Asia Cup 9th Place and Korean Qualifier 1st Place Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

After going 4-3 at the Oregon Regionals I retired my Safeguard/Swagger team and began testing out new team ideas, playing with sun teams for the most part. I tried out Venusaur because it was a natural choice for the team. I’m not a big fan of using very common lead combos like Charizard and Venusaur, because everyone has faced them plenty of times and has a way of dealing with them, but I still went back to it every once in a while. At some point I decided to put a Mega Stone on Venusaur because I didn’t think its item was very important, and over time I found myself preferring Mega Venusaur over Mega Charizard.

About a month ago, I started to move away from sun teams because everyone seemed to have an answer to Charizard. I tried out a variety of Mega Pokemon and cores during this time but never found anything I was too fond of. I made a Mega-Lucario team and put Mega-Venusaur on it as an alternate Mega, but again found that I preferred Venusaur to Lucario. In the end, I decided to focus my team around a core Mega Venusaur, Rotom-H, Aegislash, and Salamence. The night before Washington Regionals, I was choosing between Charizard and Garchomp or Lucario and Azumarill as my last two Pokemon. I decided that Garchomp would be a strong asset for the team with its option to bluff sun or play in it effectively.

The Team:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll -> Thick Fat
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 156 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 Def / 92 Spd
Modest Nature
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Sleep Powder
-Protect

Mega Venusaur is such a tank; very few Pokemon can take it down in one hit. With Talonflame usage dropping, Mega Venusaur gets even better.  Venusaur is similar to Ferrothorn with its ability to checkmate the opponent, except Venusaur doesn’t have the gaping Fire weakness that opponents take advantage of when faced against a Ferrothorn. Luckily, all the Pokemon that I paired with Mega Venusaur were Pokemon that I had tried out on sun teams in the past, so I felt that bluffing sun would be easy in swiss.

I wanted to maximize my Special Attack so that I could heal more HP back with Giga Drain. The EV investment got me to 112 Speed, which was enough to outspeed most Rotom outside and in the sun I’d be able to outspeed Mega Manectric. Due to how little I utilized sun, I probably would’ve been better off investing more in HP instead of Speed, but if I ever wanted to bring the sun I guarantee I would have wanted the Speed. I had seen Mega Venusaur using Synthesis in Japan over Protect. I didn’t feel comfortable not running Protect so I opted not to use it.

Rotom-H @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 156 SAtk / 12 SDef / 20 Spd
Modest Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Overheat
-Will-O-Wisp
-Protect

During Oregon Regionals, I had a Rotom-W on my team that I only brought to one game. After this, I decided to explore Rotom-H. Whenever I built a team I found Rotom-H gave me so many useful resistances such as Fairy-, Fire-, Flying-, Ice-, and Ground-types. Rotom-H also makes me look more like a sun team. I also liked that Overheat was a stronger and more accurate move than Hydro Pump.

Rotom is a great ally for Mega Venusaur because it takes out Mega-Charizard-Y and Steel-types that try to wall Mega Venusaur. It also helps resist most attacks that the rest of my teammates are weak against.

I’ve copied this spread online a while back and was satisfied with how it performed. Little did I know that 68 Defense EVs are just enough to guarantee that Rotom survives Mega-Charizard-X’s +1 Dragon Claw. This was a pretty important number with the surprising amount of Mega-Charizard-X in Washington.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SAtk / 76 SDef
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
Quiet Nature
-Shadow Ball
-Sacred Sword
-Substitute
-King’s Shield

Aegislash has been a hit or miss Pokemon for me in the past. The nature of Stance Change makes it tough to use effectively. Everything changed when I tried out a Substitute set. Being able to get a Substitute on a turn the opponent expected King’s Shield or went for a Sucker Punch nets you a huge advantage. Aegislash was insurance against Kangaskhan and Gardevoir, which I didn’t like dealing with.

The Special Defense EVs allow Aegislash to survive a Heat Wave in the sun from Charizard-Y as well as a Shadow Ball from Mega-Gengar or Aegislash. The Quiet nature let me speed tie with other Aegislash and let me keep my Attack stat from being reduced by a Modest nature. I chose Sacred Sword over Shadow Ball because it dealt more damage against Kangaskhan and Tyranitar. I never ended up using Sacred Sword all day and I never wanted Flash Cannon so it ended up not mattering.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
Modest Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Dragon Pulse
-Fire Blast
-Rock Slide

Originally, I had Assault Vest Hydreigon in this slot to complement Aegislash and Rotom-H, but the lack of Protect, the double Fairy weakness, and the fact that it couldn’t tank the Dragon hits after receiving chip damage caused me to retire it. I went back to Salamence and then remembered just how good Salamence was: Intimidate would let me switch in Salamence to take a resisted hit while weakening the opponent’s Pokemon that would attack my other slot, allowing Salamence to help protect two of my Pokemon at once.

I stuck with a Modest nature because it OHKO’s Garchomp and Salamence with Dragon Pulse instead of needing Draco Meteor. I also didn’t want to breed for a hex Timid Salamence. I opted to use Rock Slide over Stone Edge because I’d rather miss the KO on Charizard and have a flinch chance on both of their Pokemon than miss Stone Edge and do nothing with the turn.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Solar Power -> Drought
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
Timid Nature
-Heat Wave
-Solar Beam
-Overheat
-Protect

When I was using Charizard as my main Mega I had a completely different set from this one. The night before the event I was deciding on the last two Pokemon of my team and settled on Charizard. I decided that if I ended up bringing Charizard, I wanted it to speed tie against Mega Kangaskhan and OHKO it with an Overheat right off the bat.

I brought this Charizard a grand total of 4 times during the tournament, and only Mega Evolved once. Charizard’s job on my team was to make the opponent prepare for sun and get taken by surprise by Mega Venusaur. In that regard he did his job, and I still had the option to go sun mode in top cut once the secret was out. Unfortunately, whenever I brought Charizard I threw him under the bus so that its teammate would be safe for a turn.

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
Jolly Nature
-Earthquake
-Dragon Claw
-Rock Slide
-Protect

I wanted Garchomp because it improves my match-up against Kangaskhan and Smeargle by a lot, and I was feeling weak against the pair with my initial core. Garchomp ended up being a fantastic choice for me; I only lost a single game with Garchomp on my team all day, and had I used it in top 4 it would’ve put in more work then Charizard did.

Team Strategy

This is probably the first team I’ve ever made that didn’t have a clear lead combination, despite the obvious Charizard/Venusaur combo. Instead of going for a specific strategy, I would try to lead with two Pokemon that could deal with my opponent’s team and bring two Pokemon my leads could switch to in the back. Analyzing the opponent and countering their team is my favorite play style , which is why I like playing with good-stuffs teams.

In top cut, I was able to switch between strategies to try and catch my opponent off guard. Both finalists Tony and Randy had versatile teams that could switch up their strategies between games, and this was the sort of thing I wanted to do with my team. Despite this, Mega Venusaur was usually the best strategy for me to use, and I only used Mega Charizard once.

The Tournament:

This was my first tournament where I took notes throughout the day. After playing mostly on Showdown, I wanted to record which six Pokemon they had so that I’d know what Pokemon could switch in on me during the match. I also wrote down their moves and items, just in case I met any of my opponents again in the top cut.

Round 1 VS Duy Ha (Duy)

While I didn’t know Duy personally, I knew he was a good player and that he often used creative teams. This game was streamed, so I was afraid that everyone would see my Mega Venusaur and ruin the surprise in later rounds.

Win 1-0

Round 2 VS Teren Baverman

Teren’s Team: Salamence / Ferrothorn / Aegislash / Rotom-W / Azumarill / Charizard

I brought: Rotom-H, Venusaur, Salamence, Garchomp
He brought: Salamence, Rotom-W, Charizard, Azumarill

Venusaur put in a lot of work in this game, putting Salamence to sleep and taking out Rotom-W and Azumarill. His Charizard was also using the X Mega Stone, but I never gave him a chance to use Dragon Dance so Garchomp and Salamence took care of him.

Win 2-0

Round 3 VS Kacey Traver (KTween)

Kacey’s Team: Aegislash / Politoed / Kingdra / Manectric / Mienshao / Ferrothorn

I brought: Salamence, Venusaur, Charizard, Aegislash
He brought: Manectric, Mienshao, Politoed, Kingdra

I expected him to put Politoed in back because of my Charizard. I switched in Charizard pretty quickly to try and draw his attention to it. He ended up using Feint and a Thunderbolt to take it down. Mega Venusaur was able to win this matchup by itself, making for an easy win.

Win 3-0

Round 4 VS Hajime Uyesugi (Aralevent)

Hajime’s Team: Scrafty / Amoonguss / Rotom-H / Azumarill / Charizard / Garchomp

I brought: Rotom-H, Garchomp, Salamence, Venusaur
He brought: Rotom-H, Garchomp, Scrafty, Charizard

Rotom and Garchomp were the two Pokemon I didn’t want to see him lead with, because I was doing the same. He switches Garchomp out first turn for Scrafty however and my Rotom is able to burn it while Garchomp Protects against a Will-O-Wisp. His Charizard turns out to be a Charizard-Y, which is fine by me. I’m able to win without revealing Venusaur, so if he had faced me again in cut I’d still have the surprise factor.

Win 4-0

Round 5 VS Braden Smith (Dope Alien)

Braden’s Team: Machamp / Manectric / Aegislash / Gardevoir / Rotom-H / Garchomp

I brought: Salamence, Rotom-H, Venusaur, Aegislash
He brought: Rotom-H, Gardevoir, Manectric, Machamp

My team is very weak against Gardevoir, so this could have been a difficult match for me. Thankfully his Gardevoir is holding Choice Specs, so after Salamence went down the rest of my team resisted its Fairy-type moves. On the first turn, my Salamence misses a Draco Meteor on Rotom-H. Because of this I later go for a Sleep Powder on it because I couldn’t KO it in one hit but it had Safety Googles to block that. I later miss an Overheat on Manectric as well, which forces me to spend another turn KOing it instead of attacking the Rotom-H. It ends up with Aegislash against Machamp and Rotom-H. Machamp’s best moves against Aegislash was Stone Edge, so had the Rotom-H been taken care of earlier I would have been able to close out the game against Machamp. However, this is the nature of Pokemon and if I wanted to hit 100% of the time I should’ve run 100% accurate moves.

Lose 4-1

Round 6 VS Daryl

Daryl’s Team: Kangaskhan / Meowstic / Talonflame / Charizard / Rotom-W / Garchomp

I brought: Aegislash, Garchomp, Salamence, Venusaur
He brought: Meowstic, Rotom-W, Charizard, Garchomp

I was worried about Kangaskhan and Meowstic from Team Preview; Kangaskhan is a major threat and if the Meowstic starts spamming Swagger I’m not going to get a single attack off. His lead combo gives him no offensive pressure against me, so I Protect Garchomp and set up a Substitute with Aegislash. He sets up a Reflect and Protects Rotom. Next turn, he sets up a Light Screen and I am no longer worried about this game at all. He ends up missing a Will-O-Wisp on a Salamence switch in which then let him Thunder Wave it instead. Salamence was fully paralyzed next turn, which made the game a much closer match.

Win 5-1

Round 7 VS Emilio Orozco

Emilio’s Team: Mawile / Chandelure / Slowking / Scrafty / Rotom-W / Sableye

I brought: Garchomp, Aegislash, Rotom-H, Venusaur
He brought: Chandelure, Slowking, Mawile, Rotom-W

When I first see Team Preview I think obvious Trick Room is obvious and would be an easy match-up for me. However, I misplay early on when I predict him to Protect Chandelure and then I still double target it anyways. It came down to Venusaur and Rotom-H versus Mawile and Rotom-W. I Protect Rotom and Sleep Power the Mawile. Sleep Powder misses and he gangs up on Venusaur to knock it out. While I would’ve won if Sleep Powder hit, I also could’ve won by playing smarter early on and Sleep Powder isn’t the sort of move I should have been relying on to win a game.

Lose 5-2

Round 8 VS Cory Mitchell

Cory’s Team: Charizard / Conkeldurr / Rotom-W / Klefki / Amoonguss / Kangaskhan

I brought: Garchomp, Aegislash, Rotom, Venusaur
He brought: Amoonguss, Charizard, Conkeldurr, Klefki

I see another Charizard-X this game, which means I’m not facing Kangaskhan this game. He’s able to take out Garchomp early but Aegislash gets a Substitute up. I send out Rotom which is able to survive the +1 Dragon Claw and OHKO the Amoonguss with Overheat. Aegislash then takes out the Charizard without losing the Substitute. Conkeldurr and Klefki come out and there’s no doubt in my mind that I have the game. He’s able to make the game last much longer by paralyzing my Venusaur and having it get fully paralyzed for three turns, but he can’t do much to either Venusaur or Aegislash so it only wasted time.

Win 6-2

At this point I’m one of 27 6-2s, and cut has room for 7 of us. Thankfully my resistance is just high enough to slip in at 16th seed. My friends Tony, Randy, and Jason all make it as well and we’re ready to represent BC in cut.

Top Cut

Top 16 VS Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut)

Mike’s Team: Venusaur / Azumarill / Aegislash / Rotom-H / Salamence / Garchomp

This team looks an awful lot like mine and I’ve seen it before online, although I’m not sure if it is identical. Either way, I’m not sure of how to approach the mirror, although our wild cards are Azumarill and Charizard.

G1: His Salamence, Rotom-H, Azumarill, Venusaur VS My Charizard, Venusaur, Rotom-H, Salamence
Game 1 was super close. I had Salamence Rock Sliding against Rotom-H and Azumarill trying to whittle them down and going for flinches. He’s able to attack through and the game ends with just his -1 Azumarill with a tiny sliver of HP remaining.

Loss: 0-1

G2: His Venusaur, Garchomp, Salamence, Rotom-H VS My Salamence, Garchomp, Aegislash, Venusaur
Game 2 goes much better for me. I don’t remember everything that happened. He launches Sleep Powders left and right without missing. My Salamence is able to get the turn 2 wake and attack when it counted. My Venusaur puts his Salamence to sleep and my Salamence is able to take out both of his Dragons with Dragon Pulse.

Win: 1-1

G3: His Garchomp, Venusaur, Rotom-H, Azumarill VS My Aegislash, Venusaur, Salamence, Garchomp
Game 3 is really haxy for me. During the game I go for Rock Slide for several turns and get a critical flinch on Azumarill on one turn and a flinch on Rotom-H the next. I think I also got a critical hit at some point, but I can’t remember for sure. I always feel bad when I get so lucky during a game because then I don’t feel like I truly earned it. On the other hand, I used a lot of Rock Slides during the series and I didn’t get more then statistically probable; they just all happened in this game right when I needed them.

Win: 2-1

Top 8 VS John Rust (jnrust)

John’s Team: Vaporeon / Garchomp / Azumarill / Aegislash / Charizard / Manectric

When I saw this team I knew that Venusaur and Rotom-H would put in a ton of work. Rotom-H checks both of his Mega Pokemon and he has two Water-types that are weak to Grass and Electric.

G1: His Manectric, Azumarill, Garchomp, Aegislash VS My Venusaur, Rotom-H, Garchomp, Salamence
Game 1 is completely one-sided and not only did I not lose a Pokemon – he didn’t even get to see what my last Pokemon was. After this game I figure he’s going to switch things up and use Charizard instead. I don’t know which form its going to take yet but I’m confident either way.

Win: 1-0

G2: His Charizard, Azumarill, Vaporeon, Garchomp VS My Rotom-H, Salamence, Garchomp, Venusaur
I played super carelessly in this game, letting Salamence go down right away but I’m still so confident I’ll win unless he gets an untimely critical hit. The game comes down to Rotom-H and Venusaur against Charizard and Vaporeon. I’m sure I have it in the bag but then his Charizard uses Air Slash on me and if he gets the flinch I lose. He didn’t get the flinch however, so I’m able to take out Vaporeon and bring Charizard down to red HP. Both my Rotom-H and Venusaur are very low on health as well, but Rotom is able to take a Heat Wave and KO Charizard with Thunderbolt and win the sloppiest game of my life.

Win: 2-0

Top 4 VS Tony Cheung (Chinese Dood)

Tony’s Team: Gengar / Scizor / Gyarados / Staraptor / Rotom-H / Raichu

Tony and Randy are the players I look up to the most, and I’ve only ever beaten them in casual events like local or online tournaments. From Team Preview I’m unable to get a read on Tony’s team, although I know Raichu has Encore and Fake Out. I also saw Substitute Rotom at the end of his game against Jason in top 8. Aside from that, his team was a mystery.

G1: His Raichu, Gengar, Rotom, ??? VS My Rotom, Venusaur, Salamence, Aegislash
Game one is a total wash. I get Perish Trapped and Raichu is able to stop me from doing any damage against Gengar with Lightning Rod.

Loss: 0-1

G2: His Raichu, Staraptor, Rotom-H, Gyarados VS My Charizard, Aegislash, Rotom-H, Venusaur
During this game I do something I hadn’t done all day: use Mega Charizard. This ends up working well; I take out Raichu early on and Staraptor uses Final Gambit to take out my Rotom-H. His Gyarados reveals a massive Sitrus Berry and that it doesn’t have Stone Edge, so my Charizard is able to tank the Waterfalls and KO with a couple of Solar Beams.

Win: 1-1

G3: His Raichu, Rotom, Gengar, Gyarados VS My Charizard, Venusaur, Rotom, Aegislash
I see that Charizard is going to do nothing against his leads, so I Mega Evolve Venusaur and Charizard switches out. We end up trading Venusaur and Rotom for Raichu and Gengar, and this leaves me with no way to beat Rotom-H. He reveals Raichu’s last move is not Hidden Power Ice, so Garchomp would have been able to do a lot of work in this game.

Loss: 1-2

Conclusion:

I ended up in fourth place overall and got a trophy and a box of cards for my accomplishment. Tony and Randy got to continue their rivalry in the finals with Tony winning the event. I got enough points that I’ll be in the running for travel stipends, so I’ll be able to put that towards a trip to US Nationals.

It was interesting to note that I saw an equal number of Mega Charizard X and Y. When I think about it, I probably would have been better of with X instead of Y. I’d still get to bluff sun all the same, and I’d have a great answer to Rotom-H.

I’m satisfied with how I did and how much I enjoyed playing my team. Oregon Regionals left me feeling frustrated my performance and it felt great to go as far as I did. With another Regional behind me, I’ll be testing out new team ideas for US Nationals, although I’m not sure if I can find anything I like as much Venusaur.

The post Charizard the Benchwarmer: Top 4 Washington Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This team actually began with an attempt to use Shedinja. A common Shedinja strategy is to have a partner use Soak on it, turning it into a Water type and leaving it vulnerable to only Electric and Grass attacks thanks to its Wonder Guard ability. Taking a look at the available Soak users in this metagame, I noticed that Lanturn had picked up Soak as a new egg move in X/Y. Lanturn’s Water/Electric typing and Volt Absorb ability are interesting, and it wasn’t long before I ditched Shedinja and fell in love with this pairing of Lanturn and Mega Manectric.

Lanturn @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SAtk / 244 Spd
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Soak

Choice Scarf allows Lanturn to do several important things:

• Move before my Mega Manectric, allowing for a Soak + Thunderbolt or Soak + Discharge offensive
• Surprise Garchomp with an Ice Beam OHKO before it can move
• Surprise Mega Charizard Y with a fast Volt Switch, taking over half of its health while evading the incoming Solar Beam
• Surprise Rotom-H with a fast Hydro Pump (sometimes a OHKO depending on the Rotom-H stat spread)

Lanturn did all of this and more in Seattle. It was quite the versatile little beast, with all four of its attacks being crucial to its role. Rotom-W is generally a far better choice for teams that want a Water/Electric type, but only Lanturn can execute this silly Soak strategy. If Lanturn and Mega Manectric get onto the field at the right time, they are an absolute terror. Defensive type synergy won’t help you when Lanturn changes your type to Water, causing you to take super effective damage from Mega Manectric’s Electric attacks. Mega Manectric can either Discharge for spread damage (and 25% health recovery to Lanturn with Volt Absorb), or Thunderbolt to focus on knocking out a single target.

I went with Modest Lanturn because it has a 94% chance of OHKOing standard Garchomp with Ice Beam, as opposed to Timid Lanturn which only has a 56% chance of getting that OHKO.

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod -> Intimidate
EVs: 100 HP / 252 SAtk / 156 Spd
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Discharge
- Hidden Power Ice
- Protect

I actually had Electric Terrain over Hidden Power Ice on this thing until the night before the tournament, when I decided that even I have my limits about how bad of a Pokemon I can let myself use (and I didn’t run into Dark Void anyway, so the change worked out).

In order for the Soak strategy to work, Mega Manectric needs to be slower than Lanturn, so I was able to forgo some speed EVs to maximize special attack and even have some bulk with 100 HP EVs. It’s a shame to not have a Fire move on Mega Manectric, but I really needed both Thunderbolt and Discharge for different situations, so I made sure to have a couple of other Pokemon with Fire moves to compensate.

With Lanturn’s natural bulk and Mega Manectric’s HP EVs and Intimidate support, the pair can survive some surprising hits (especially if the opponent’s STAB is nullified with Soak), but they still really rely on their speed. Outspeeding Garchomp and the entire base 100 speed tier puts them above most of the metagame. I knew that faster Pokemon and priority attacks would be a threat to them, which guided my decisions when filling out the rest of the team.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Atk / 12 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Protect

The idea with Ferrothorn was to provide another Pokemon besides Mega Manectric who could take advantage of a Lanturn partner who is locked into Soak. While not used as frequently as Mega Manectric in this way, Ferrothorn was able to KO a Soaked Talonflame and Soaked Amoonguss with Power Whip. Thunder Wave was a measure to help bring the enemy’s faster Pokemon to a speed where the Lanturn and Mega Manectric combo can go to work on them, but in practice it was not very effective at this because the ever present Fire type attacks made Ferrothorn difficult to use in the early game. Thunder Wave could also be used to target my own Volt Absorb Lanturn or Lightninrod Manectric in a pinch, but that isn’t something I ever actually did.

In hindsight, I think trying to use Ferrothorn in more of an offensive role wasn’t the best idea. But Rocky Helmet was still effective in dealing with contact-attacking threats like Mega Kangaskhan.

Azumarill @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Protect

I didn’t go with Belly Drum because I wanted to be able to do a lot of switching with this team. The Careful nature allows Azumarill to survive Timid Mega Charizard Y’s Solarbeam, and the Safety Goggles allow Azumarill to effectively counter all forms of Tyranitar without having to worry about Amoonguss supporters. Tyranitar is unpredictable and can be a big problem for the rest of the team, so I thought this was important, even though I ended up forgoing the more generally valuable Sitrus Berry. I didn’t end up battling any Tyranitars, though.

Besides countering Tyranitars, Azumarill was chosen for its strong Water/Fairy typing, which synergizes well defensively with Ferrothorn and Salamence.

Salamence @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Rain Dance
- Protect

This Salamence is just a general attacker with Intimidate support and an anti-sun bent. In hindsight, I don’t think it was a very effective use of Salamence. Choice Scarf Salamence is amazing, but I needed Choice Scarf for my Lanturn. A power boosting item might have been helpful as well as I found my team didn’t have a great way to threaten OHKOs off the bat and ended up quite susceptible to Perish Trapping Mega Gengar. At least in theory, Lum Berry was mainly to take Sleep Powders from Chlorophyll Venusaur and hit back with Fire Blast in the sun. I also figured Lum Berry + Intimidate would be a favourable lead against Kangaskhan / Smeargle combos.

If you look around at the other Salamence sets that people have run, the choice of Fire Blast vs Flamethrower seems to come down to what is needed to OHKO Ferrothorn. With Timid and without a power boosting item, Fire Blast is the better bet.

Rain Dance boosts Azumarill’s and Lanturn’s Water attacks while making it safer for Ferrothorn to come out and play. But really I just packed this move because sun is terrifying.

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Quick Guard

Sorry Ray, I know Talonflame is awful. But I really wanted a fast Quick Guard to protect Mega Manectric from Fake Out and other priority attacks (especially +1 Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch, which I faced in the top 16 and successfully Quick Guarded against). Other than that, Talonflame’s priority Brave Bird helps me against some of the fast Pokemon that outspeed Lanturn and Mega Manectric. I probably should’ve gone with Adamant, but I went with Jolly so that I could confidently U-turn in front of Greninja and potentially Choice Scarfed Tyranitar.

Talonflame can also help to check Gardevoir, who is a big threat to my Electric types if it manages to Trace Volt Absorb or Lightningrod (alas, a Gardevoir did Trace Volt Absorb in my final round of swiss, which was a big factor in me losing that match). Other than that, Talonflame just has good type synergy with the rest of the team and fits nicely as the last member.

Overall, I was more than happy with my top 8 finish in Seattle. I got to use something weird and fun that actually sort of worked and, combined with my top 8 finish in Oregon, earned me a travel stipend to Nationals in Indianapolis. With the experience I gained from this tournament, I’ve already made a revamped team around the Lanturn and Mega Manectric combo, and unless I think of something more fun before then, I’ll be using it at Nationals. So if you’ll be in Indy, bring a towel!

The post The Wild Wild Wet: Top 8 Seattle Regionals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi all! My name is Umayr Shaikh, but people know me as ushaikh17 here on the forums. This weekend I attended the Madison Regionals and competed in the Seniors division. Despite large number of seniors in attendance, I still felt confident going in, but it took a lot effort for me to get to Madison because I live in Indiana. I met so many cool people from Nugget Bridge, including FonicFrog and ryuzaki , who gave me great advice on my team. I faced a lot of tough opponents from all different places, including Grace Arnold, a previous Georgia Regional champion in the Juniors division. Everyone I faced was a great player and I did not have a single easy match. I ended Swiss at 5-2, just barely missing Top Cut. Anyway, enough of my babbling; let’s get to the team itself.

The Team

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Stone Edge
- Dragon Pulse
- Fire Blast

This is an incredibly standard Choice Scarf Salamence. This did not seem popular in the Senior division at all, as I only saw one other team with using Salamence and it had the Moxie Ability instead of Intimidate. In addition to that, my opponents throughout the day seemed to be amazed that I ran Choice Scarf on it, instead expecting it to hold a Life Orb. Due to this lack of knowledge, Salamence helped me clean up a lot of Garchomps and Hydregions that I faced. In addition to this, he could still OHKO the majority of Charizard Y’s and Talonflames with Stone Edge, but its 80% accuracy arose as a problem for me, as I ended up nearly losing a battle because my Stone Edge missed my opponent’s Charizard-Y.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 28 HP / 164 Atk / 84 Def / 36 Sp.Def / 196 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Protect

Mamoswine: Salamence’s partner in crime. I always love pairing Salamence with Mamoswine. While Salamence may not be a very common Choice Scarf user in the Senior division, apparently Mamoswine is. Lots of my opponents thought Salamence’s and Mamoswine’s items were the reverse of what they were, with Salamence having Life Orb and Mamoswine instead having the Choice Scarf. I picked up on this very early on and always got a few chuckles when sending them out as my leads that caused some opponents to make some pretty bad mistakes on the first turn of the match.

Mamoswine’s EV spread is very unique, as it has a 56% chance of OHKOing a 4 HP/ 0 Def Salamence with Ice Shard at -1 Attack. In addition to this, it also survives an Iron Head from an Adamant Bisharp and outspeeds max Speed Timid Tyranitar. Surprisingly, I did not run into any of these guys at the tournament. The only Salamence I faced had defensive bulk. Mamoswine still served me well throughout the day, as priority Ice Shard saved me in a couple of my battles.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 156 Spd
IVs: 0 Spd
Brave Nature
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

This is the Ferrothorn that Ray Rizzo (Ray) used at Virginia, and it has definitely served me well. This spread allows it to OHKO the very common 252 HP / 44 Def Rotom-Wash. Lum Berry is used to cure any potential burns from a Will-O-Wisp. Once again, nothing went as expected, and I did not face a single Rotom-Wash. As a matter of fact, I only faced one Rotom, and it was a Rotom-Heat. Despite this, Ferrothorn held a great position on my team, and its amazing late game presence helped me to clutch a couple of my battles as well.

Dragonite @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 90 Def / 44 Sp.Def
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- ExtremeSpeed
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake

To be honest, I have always preferred Dragonite over Garchomp. People often ask me why I bring two Pokémon with the same Dragon-typing to the tournament. Well, the answer is quite simple, actually. Salamence is there for coverage and quick, speedy KOs, while Dragonite is there for the tanky setup. The only con that I found with Dragonite was that I couldn’t switch into him to take a hit, otherwise the Multiscale setup would be all but ruined. In fact, there was only one situation where Dragonite was able to fully setup and quickly get a KO, and that was just in a one-versus-one situation with an opponent’s Rotom-Heat. That being said, Dragonite was my least used Pokémon, as I only battled with him once. However, when I did, he was able to win the match for me.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 Sp.Atk / 132 Sp.Def / 4 Spd
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

This is somewhat similar to Ray Rizzo’s Rotom-Wash, except Modest instead of Calm. Changing Rotom’s nature to Modest over Calm drastically reduces the chance that it survives a Solarbeam from Mega Charizard-Y: from 6.25% to 62.5% to be exact. However, I figured I needed more firepower on my team, and that Salamence should be able to KO an opposing Charizard before it got a chance to touch Rotom-W. Rotom-W is definitely the MVP of this team, as it helped me drastically in all of my matches. In fact, there was only one match in which I did not bring Rotom-W, as I needed him almost all the time. The only problem I had with it (and a rather big one, at that) was Will-O-Wisp. As a matter of fact, my Will-O-Wisp’s missed more than they hit, despite being an 85% accuracy move. I lost one of my matches to Grace Arnold because I missed three Will-O-Wisps against her consecutively. Due to this, her team of physical attackers, including Mega Kangaskhan, was able to defeat me. Despite Will-O-Wisp’s overall performance, Rotom-W deserves the MVP title, as I won more battles because of him than I lost.

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate -> Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 4 Def / 196 Sp.Def / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

Here it is: my Mega Evolution. I tested at least 18 different Mega Evolved Pokémon for this tournament, and I eventually came down to the decision between either Mawile or Manectric. Manectric’s frailty and limited movepool led me to Mega Mawile. At first, I started using Ray’s Virginia Mawile, but the more I tested it, the more I noticed that it brought a more defensive presence to the team, whereas I wanted an offensive presence. In addition to this, he used 20 EV’s to speed creep other Mawile, and I found this to be incredibly excessive, as the majority of Mega Mawile run a 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def anyway. I did agree with the bad Special Defense however, and found a way to give Mawile more firepower while somewhat compensating for that lack of Special Defense as well. As a result of my thinking, this set was born. I actually did not face a single Mawile at all and I was stunned. Mawile is just so good, as it is one of the few Pokémon that can wall and knock out Mega Kangaskhan. I brought Mawile to every single one of my matches, and ended up needing it in each match.

Well, there you have it; that’s the team. Though I missed the top cut, I think I performed decently at this tournament, and I look forward to meeting so many more people at Nationals. Thanks to all who took time to read!

The post Will-O-Miss: A Seniors 9th Place Madison Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello this is Drizzleboy. My brothers and I had recently placed well at Regionals in the Senior Division so I wanted to show you guys the team. Since 5th generation I have been having trouble adjusting to the metagame, until I began testing Rain. I originally started testing with Manectric and Politoed, then built a Trick Room team around that. I ran into many problems doing so. The team lacked the ability to deal large amounts of damage, and also couldn’t beat Charizard even with Manectric, who doesn’t KO with Thunderbolt or Volt Switch, or Amoonguss, which Overheat doesn’t KO. So I started the team building process over again. This time, I started out with Talonflame and Politoed. Talonflame had no problem dealing with Charizard and Amoonguss (knocking out 4 HP Charizard and bulky Amoonguss with Brave Bird). U-Turn also allowed me to switch out and set up Rain again against Sun. Now that I had dealt with some major issues, I was able to build the rest of the team.

The Team:

Politoed @ Life Orb
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpA
Quiet Nature (+SpA,-Spe)
IVs: 0 Speed
-Hydro Pump
-Ice Beam
-Scald
-Protect

Politoed one of my favorite Pokémon. With his ability, Drizzle, he can instantly set up Rain when being sent in. With Rain, Water-type attacks are boosted and Fire-type attacks weakened, which came in handy some times, yet at times it hurt me instead. In VGC 2013 I used a bulky Helping Hand Politoed. At first I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to use him in XY, since he doesn’t get Helping Hand. When I was doing damage calculations, I found out with Life Orb he can KO non-bulky Mawile with Hydro Pump. As a result of that knowledge, I put on Life Orb and went with an offensive Politoed instead of a bulky one. Then I added Ice Beam to hit Grass-types with a super effective move. For the next move slot I had originally tested Rain Dance to counter Charizard-Y, but it left me without an accurate STAB attack. So I used Scald to protect myself from important misses. The EVs that I ran on Politoed are to survive Play Rough from Adamant Mawile. The leftover EVs were put into Special Attack.

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk,-SpA)
-Brave Bird
-Flare Blitz
-U Turn
-Quick Guard

Talonflame is one of the best new Pokémon of this generation. He gets Gale Wings, which lets him get +1 priority with Flying-Type attacks, he can 2HKO almost everything with Brave Bird, and he counters Mawile. I used Choice Band instead of Life Orb so I would have an 87.5% chance of knocking out Charizard-Y and to knock out bulky Amoongus with Brave Bird. I used Flare Blitz so I wouldn’t be walled by Quick Guard and to knock out Mawile. U-Turn was used to get damage out on Tyranitar while also helping Rain set up. For the last slot I chose Quick Guard to punish Prankster users and Fake Out users, which surprisingly came in handy quite often.

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Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy>>>Parental Bond
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe,-SpA)
-Fake Out
-Return
-Sucker Punch
-Power-Up Punch

Kangaskhan one of the powerhouses of my team. I chose her because I needed Fake Out support and she could hit harder than anyone. With Parental Bond, single target attacks hit twice, with the second one doing half damage. I sometimes didn’t mega evolve her so I could hit Ghost-Types (because of Scrappy) with Fake Out, which helped against Trick Room teams. The set I used for her was basic. Fake Out was used for support. I chose Return because it was a strong move and I got bonus STAB with it. Facade was another option, but without a status condition its damage output was quite small. Another option was Double-Edge, as it was stronger, but it had the downside of doing major recoil damage, which I thought wouldn’t work on such a bulky Pokémon. Power-Up Punch was used for getting to +2 Attack, which could cancel out burn and allowed her to hit Rock- and Steel-types hard. Sucker Punch was used to hit Ghost-types and for knocking out faster Pokémon with its +1 priority. Sucker Punch also has great synergy with Power-Up Punch, allowing you to knock out faster Pokémon before they attack with +2 Attack.

Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature (+SpA, -Atk)
-Draco Meteor
-Surf
-Ice Beam
-Hydro Pump

Kingdra, my favorite Swift Swimmer. He was an easy pick for the team because of his ability, which doubles his Speed in Rain. I chose him over Ludicolo because he hits harder and is faster. The reason I used Choice Specs was because Life Orb didn’t hit hard enough, and I wanted it to do more damage. Hydro Pump knocks out 4 HP Kangaskhan 100% of the time in Rain with Choice Specs! I added Draco Meteor to hit Rotom-W and because it was got STAB. Sadly, Draco Meteor has a down side of lowering Kingdra’s Special Attack to -2. Dragon-types could switch out to a Pokémon who could tank the attack, and then later come back in to survive the -2 Draco Meteor. So I used Ice Beam to hit Grass- and Dragon-types without falling to-2 Special Attack afterward. Now that I had my last spot left I was going to choose Muddy Water, but then he would have fallen under the same boat as Politoed could have, having no accurate STAB, so instead I added Surf. Surf definitely hurt me at times but over all it was worth it because I wasn’t afraid of missing.

Reuniclus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Sassy Nature (+SpD,-Spe)
IVs: 0 Speed
-Psyshock
-Helping Hand
-Trick Room
-Protect

Reuniclus I didn’t use often because his lack of power but he still was somewhat useful. I used Overcoat to counter Amoongus and to stop Spore and Rage Powder. I ran Psyshock to hit Pokémon with weaker Defense harder and because it gets STAB. Helping Hand came in handy often, boosting the teammates of Reuniclus. With Helping Hand, Kingdra can knock out Rotom-W which came in handy. Helping Hand also let Talonflame get a guaranteed knock out on Charizard-Y and Kangaskhan, and Helping Hand let Kangaskhan knock out almost everything that didn’t run a bulky spread. Lastly, I used Trick Room for speed control. I rarely used it, but it definitely came in handy when I did use it.

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Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate>>>Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature (+Atk,-Spe)
IVs: 0 Speed
-Play Rough
-Iron Head
-Sucker Punch
-Protect

Mawile was added to my team for Intimidate support and to add someone who could switch into strong Dragon-type attacks. With Huge Power my Attack was doubled which made Mawile one of the strongest Pokémon. Mawile’s somewhat low Speed came in handy both inside and outside of Trick Room. Mawile hits hard with Play Rough, 2HKOing almost every Pokémon, and letting me hit Dragon-types super effectively. Iron Head was used because a 100% accurate STAB was needed and to hit other Mawiles. Sucker Punch was used for finishing off already weakened foes that were faster. Overall, I used Kangaskhan far more often than Mawile. However, Mawile let me counter opposing Kangaskhan instead of hoping my Kangaskhan is faster than theirs.

Threats

Bulky Sitrus Berry Rotom-W has given me a lot of trouble with this team. With Will-O-Wisp, he is able to burn my Kangaskan and Mawile. Thunderbolt is super effective against Politoed and Talonflame. He is also boosted by Rain, making him able to do heavy damage with Hydro Pump. I can KO it in one hit with Helping Hand Draco Meteor or Return(only after Fake Out), but Intimidate and enemy Dragon-types can ruin that plan.

Ferrothorn is another Pokémon that gives me issues. He walls Politoed, Kingdra, Reuniclus, and Mawile. With Iron Barbs. I can be knocked out by Gyro Ball after Power-Up Punch with Kangaskhan. He is slow as well, so he can abuse my Trick Room. My only counter is Talonflame, who is very frail and has many weaknesses.

My team didn’t like Thunder Wave. Most of the team is fast, so they became useless after Thunder Wave. I have Trick Room to deal with the Speed part, but the other effect of Thunder Wave I could do nothing about.

Overall:

At Virginia I had went 5-2, going into Top Cut as the 8th seed. I was glad I had made top cut, but I felt like I could have done better in swiss. There was a little luck in swiss rounds, but overall it was my fault for getting into that situation and I should have avoided it. However, in the end I felt like I made up for how I did in swiss by winning the next matches in top cut. After all, I went 5-2 getting first! My brothers went 4-1 getting 1st, 4-1 getting Top 4, and 6-1 getting Top 8.

I used the team during the Nugget Bridge Major. I went 5-3, which is what my expectations were, so I wasn’t too sad that I didn’t make top cut. The matches I played were great and gave me some practice that was needed. By the end, I realized I needed a new team.

The next regional was Massachusetts. I had planned on using another team, but things didn’t work out. So I used the same team and went 6-1! I was proud of myself because I felt like I had redeemed myself after the Nugget Bridge Major. I went into Top Cut and lost due to some careless choices and a little luck. I ended up going 6-1, getting Top 8. My brothers went 4-1 getting 2nd, 3-2 Top 4, and 5-2 Top 32.

Overall this team has had a great run, but now it is time to retire it. I learned a lot about the metagame during the past few months, and I hope I can make another team that does as well as this one.

The post Who Says Rain isn’t Good? Pokémon Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello! For anyone who has battled me or seen me battle in the last 6 months, you’ll probably recognize this team. I’ve been using this for a long while improving it and trying to get it to work as best as it can. It’s obviously not perfect and I had to make specific calls on what to use for what event I used it at. I’m too lazy to write about the other tourneys, so this is only going to be a report about the team at the Utah Regionals. Before we get to that, here’s some backstory to the event:

So for those that don’t know, I’ve been moving around a lot lately. I’ve gone from Hawaii, to New York, and now to Arizona, so I haven’t really been able to attend many Regional competitions this year. The only tournaments before this past one I’ve gone to this year were the Philadelphia Regionals and Apex 2014. I was going to make an attempt to go to Seattle Regionals after moving to Arizona, but opted to focus more on Utah since it was much closer. I saved up the money for the trip, and off I was. My dad and I left Phoenix Friday night and arrived at Salt Lake City at around 10 am. I didn’t want to leave my dog Koko behind in Arizona, so she drove up with us.

We had until 1 pm to wait until Zach and Snake flew in from Seattle, so we went to go get something to eat and checked in at the hotel where we would be staying. After all that we headed off for the airport to pick up Zach and Snake. They got to meet Koko, and we all headed off to the hotel to play some Melee and Brawl for a bit. After Snake destroyed everyone, we headed off to Culvers to get something to eat. Zach got the usual chicken in memory of his victory in his bet over Gavin, and Snake got a burger that looked like it felt the wrath of Captain Falcon’s knee. We head back to the hotel to meet up with Kobra, only to find out he went to the wrong hotel which was 10 miles away. My dad was tired from the drive up so I got the car keys from him and Zach drove us to go pick him up.

We find Kobra, then find out that Zach left his phone charger in Seattle (along with feathers‘ 3DS), so we had to make a run to a Target a few blocks away in a shady part of town. We get back to the hotel, and I brought Koko to Zach’s room to meet Kobra. She wouldn’t stop barking at him, so I had to take her away to my room when some hotel worker knocked on the door. After that it was just playing Smash and prepping last minute things on our teams until the pool was cleared out. We relaxed in the hot tub for a bit, discussing things about our teams and other things for the next day. After that, I decided I needed some sleep and went to bed.

My dad wanted me to set the alarm for 6 am, even though I knew we weren’t leaving until 8:20 am, so I got up then and got ready. Eventually I got bored of waiting and decided to go on a donut run. We looked for directions for the closest Krispy Kreme in our GPS, and it led us on a wild goose chase to the airport. Since we weren’t able to find it, we just circled back to where we found the Culvers the day before. We found a Dunkin’ Donuts and decided to get breakfast there. On our way back to the hotel, we unfortunately got delayed by a train that kept stopping and going for about 30 minutes. After finally making it back to the hotel, we found Zach, Snake, and Kobra all in the lobby ready to get going.

We got to the venue and met up with everyone. At registration, we got a little type chart DS cloth as a bonus for pre-registering. I talked to Metabou, and he showed me a little error on the type chart which showed Psychic rather than Poison resisting Fairy. I noticed I needed a notebook to take notes for today, so I went and bought a cool Latios and Latias notebook at Alaka‘s set up. After that, there was just small chit chat until the player meeting started. I’ll go ahead and get to the team for this part.

Kyoukai (Kangaskhan) (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch

The Shiyuu showing her true fighting abilities. Going into the VGC 2014 ruleset looking at the list of megas, Kangaskhan really stood out with it’s offensive capabilities thanks to the gift of Parental Bond. Power-Up Punch is a fun new toy for it, as the attack allows Kangaskhan to not only get an attack off, but also to get a free +2 boost allowing for a player to gain huge momentum in one attack. Mega Kangaskhan is just too ridiculous not to use.

The entire set is extremely standard, so there’s not a lot to explain here. I considered other offensive options like Double Edge or Hammer Arm, or defensive options like Protect over Fake Out, but just decided that deviating from the standard wasn’t worth it.

Karyo Ten (Gardevoir) (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Trace
EVs: 116 HP / 60 Def / 92 SAtk / 44 SDef / 196 Spd
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

The Strategist leading the team to the best path of victory. Ruby and Sapphire was the first generation of games where I started paying attention to how things worked in Pokemon, and I’ve always liked Gardevoir as a Pokemon. I never cared enough to use it before, however, since it was pretty frail, weak offensively, and in a speed tier just awkward enough to not have enough merit to use. In this generation, however, Gardevoir was given the god-like typing of Psychic/Fairy. Gardevoir’s abilities Trace and Telepathy were always good as well,  which made Gardevoir even more appealing. Another point in Gardevoir’s favor is that it has a fairly decent offensive movepool as well as a plethora of support options. Overall, Gardevoir was another Pokemon that I really wanted to try out this year.

As opposed to my Kangaskhan set, my Gardevoir set stands out from the usual one. When I first made the team, it was initially a Choice Scarf Gardevoir, but after getting bodied by Talonflame repeatedly I decided to go for a different approach. I looked through Gardevoir’s movepool for something to help out against opposing Rotom, and Taunt seemed like a really interesting option to stop Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, and Reflect and Light Screen. Taunt also helped to  shut down Prankster Pokemon, especially if Gardevoir Traced their own Prankster from them. Will-O-Wisp was another move that stood out to me. In a format where many of the main attackers are physically based, it seemed like a really good move in theory. I found that it paid off a lot in practice as well. I debated between using Moonblast or Dazzling Gleam, but just never got around to testing Dazzling Gleam. Psychic tended to be a better attack than Psyshock against everything except Amoonguss, and Taunt already crippled Amoonguss.

When making my spread, I wanted to keep enough Speed to outspeed 0 Speed EV Meowstic and max Speed Tyranitar by 1 point. The defensive portion of the spread left a lot to be desired, since I’m not really good with this sort of thing. Gardevoir had enough Defense to take an Life Orb Talonflame Brave Bird 81% of the time, as well as enough Special Defense to take a Shadow Ball from Simon’s 172 SpA EV Aegislash almost 70% of the time. I debated between using Lum Berry and Safety Goggles, which completely shut down Amoonguss, but Lum Berry was always a nice thing to have when the opponent was armed with Swagger or Thunder Wave so I ended up using the Lum Berry.

Duke Hyou (Mamoswine) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Protect

The powerful Duke carving his name on the battle field. With this year’s increased use of Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, and Rotom-W and -H, Mamoswine has gotten a lot less of the spotlight this year. That’s not to say, however, that it’s completely useless. Having priority that can OHKO Garchomp and Salamence with a Life Orb boost is really nice to have. The Ground-type coverage also helped out for my Aegislash and Mawile match ups. Getting Intimidated really ruined the amount of work that Mamoswine could put into one battle, though, so you always have to be careful using it.

Most of this set is standard. I preferred Icicle Crash over Icicle Spear just to be able to secure a specific amount of damage as opposed to an amount of damage decided upon by the RNG. Not having to worry about an enemy Sitrus Berry as much was also nice, and the flinch chance could be useful as a last ditch out in a match if my other options were exhausted. I had Focus Sash on Mamoswine for the longest time, but when I started messing with the sixth slot on my team I switched the item to Life Orb.

Ouki (Noivern) (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Flamethrower
- Super Fang
- Tailwind

The monstrous bird takes flight once again. This was a slot that I messed with a lot during the course of the last six months. I had Talonflame here for the longest time, but I just felt the slot could be used for a Pokemon that helped my team more than Talonflame did. I tested Mega Pinsir, Aerodactyl, Mega Charizard-Y, Salamence, and then finally Noivern after Werford mentioned it to me. After some testing, I fell in love. Noivern helped out with my double-Dragon match up and gave me important coverage on Ferrothorn. Although Flamethrower is not an OHKO on Ferrothorn, the coverage was still very much appreciated. I could’ve very easily gotten the same performance from Salamence in this slot, but I just didn’t have lots of time to test it out in the last week before Regionals.

I was going to use Dragon Pulse on Noivern, but then after running damage calculations for it I opted to run Draco Meteor instead. Dragon Pulse misses out on the OHKO on Garchomp and the other Dragons, so I had to go with the go to nuke Dragon move Draco Meteor. I needed Fire-type coverage for Steel-types that were annoying to face, so Flamethrower was a given. Super Fang was really nice in that I could drop Pokemon down to half HP and then guarantee a KO with Mega Kangaskhan, Mamoswine, or Lucario. Super Fang also allowed Noivern to do meaningful damage to Fairy-type Pokemon. Tailwind wasn’t used a lot, but helps a good bit against Rain and Sun match up.

Tou (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 108 SAtk / 44 Spd / 104 SDef
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp

The trusty lieutenant assisting in the battle field. Rotom is just one of those Pokemon that if you aren’t using in the VGC 2014 metagame, you’d better have a really good reason. Rotom-W showed a strong presence at the World Championships in 2013 with its strong bulk and ability to spread burns, and this year the Will-o-Wisp accuracy buff from 75% to 85% makes it even better. The offensive variants definitely got hurt by the Hidden Power, Thunderbolt, and Hydro Pump base power nerfs, but defensive versions are still as strong as ever. I was close to changing Rotom-W to Rotom-H, but doing so would make my team weak to opposing Rotom-H.

The moveset for Rotom-W was easy to decide on, with the exception of the last slot. I had toyed with many different moves, from Protect to Reflect, but decided to change to the move to Thunder Wave at the last minute. I used Reflect for the longest time, but I didn’t regret the change to Thunder Wave during practice and at Regionals, since Thunder Wave helped with my Mega Charizard-Y and Salamence match ups.

I made the EV spread a long time ago, but I still faintly remember what I designed Rotom-W to take. I needed Rotom-W to take a Timid Charizard-Y Solarbeam, so I started there. From that I wanted to Speed creep other Rotom-W, so I gave it 44 Speed EVs. This actually outspeeds Adamant/Modest 252 Speed Tyranitar as well, which was a nice bonus. The rest was just dumped into Special Attack. I toyed with the idea of giving Rotom-W Safety Goggles, but opted to use the extremely helpful Sitrus Berry instead.

Shin (Lucario) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
- Shadow Ball

Started from nothing to aspire to do great. I’ll just flat out say this: I only used this as a strong gimmick that could completely shut down Mega Kangaskhan on the opening turn, as long as it wasn’t absurdly bulky. Lucario gets OHKOd by a lot of the common threats in the metagame and can barely take neutral hits. Lucario was just very situational, but when it worked it worked amazingly. I was extremely close to switching Lucario to Aegislash and regret not doing so a bit, but as they say hindsight is 20/20.

I used Choice Specs Lucario instead of any other boosting item because it was the only item that 100% secured the OHKO on 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan. Aura Sphere and Flash Cannon were the two main STABs, not much to explain there. Vacuum Wave was nice on occasion to knock out faster threats that were at low health. Shadow Ball was only there for filler just in case I found myself locked into a one on one against Aegislash. Pretty straight-forward set overall.

The Tournament

And with that, I’ll get to the event itself. I took notes on the players I played, but not notes about the battles themselves, so some of the details might be fuzzy/incorrect.

Round 1: Ash Li, 4-4

They used:

+

I Used:

I was relieved to see a name I didn’t recognize as my first opponent of the day, but I still knew not to take things lightly when I saw the Team Preview screen. The game started out with my Kangaskhan/Gardevoir against his Aegislash/Rotom-W. I Faked Out his Aegislash and Taunted his Rotom-W as he went for a Will-O-Wisp. Gardevoir served its purpose, so next turn I just went for a Power-Up Punch on Rotom-W and Taunted the Aegislash as he Substituted and Volt Switched with Rotom-W to Mawile. Kangaskhan Sucker Punched his Aegislash and activated its Weakness Policy, but luckily the second hit from Parental Bond finished the job. If I recall correctly, I landed the Will-O-Wisp on Mawile as Kangaskhan ate a Play Rough with no problems. Ash sent in Mamoswine, and I was relieved that he didn’t bring Talonflame. From there Gardevoir went down to an Iron Head, but +3 Kangaskhan and Rotom-W cleaned up and secured the game.

1-0

Round 2: Michael Burgos, 5-3

They used:

+

I Used:

Looking back at this battle, I beat myself up over a lot of it. I added Noivern to specifically help out with my double-Dragon + double-Steel match up, but decided not to bring it for some odd reason. I ended up paying for that mistake badly. On the opening turn, he switched out his Salamence into Aegislash and Protected his Garchomp as I went for the Moonblast and Fake Out on Salamence. I assumed he would’ve brought Mawile to this game instead of what ended up being Charizard, so I Power-Up Punched the Garchomp, thinking that with this being a perfect chance for Mawile to come in, he would switch. Instead, Garchomp stayed in and Aegislash took out Gardevoir, which flinched while going for a Moonblast. The game just went downhill from there, and ended with Charizard cleaning up late game. I had a good bit of regrets in this game, but all I could do is learn from it and press forward.

1-1

Round 3: Erin Comption, Did Not Finish

They used:

+

I Used:

I saw the Mienshao in Team Preview and thought that this was the start of the Mienshao swarm, just like during my practice on Battle Spot. Luckily, it would be the only one I saw all day. I was super cautious the first few turns due to the threat of a High Jump Kick, but the Mienshao turned out to have Drain Punch instead. I find out thanks to Frisk that the Gardevoir has an Assault Vest as well. The battle goes on, and the Mienshao is able to snag two critical hit Knock Offs, OHKOing Rotom-W and Noivern, and also avoids a few Will-O-Wisps. The battle ended with my 60% HP Kangaskhan and 100% HP Gardevoir against his 50% HP Gardevoir and 100% HP Blastoise. Kangaskhan got the KO on Gardevoir while getting taken down by Blastoise, but Gardevoir sealed the game with three Moonblasts.

2-1

Lunch break

We ended up getting a lunch break that would last close to two hours, so Snake, Zach, Metabou, Kobra, and I had my dad pick us up to go to In-N-Out for a bite to eat. Metabou got to meet Koko, and she sat in his lap all the way there.

I got my usual nausea from being nervous so I didn’t really eat much beyond the fries until the car ride home.

Round 4: Chalkey Hornstein (Chalkey), 6-2

They used:

+

I Used:

I managed to get Chalkey in the pair up since he was 3-0 at the time and I was 2-1. At the Team Preview screen I noticed his team was fairly similar to what Mrbopper used at Kansas City from some pictures I saw on Facebook, but other than that I didn’t know much about it. I figured a double Protect on the opening turn was highly likely, so I Power-Up Punched my Gardevoir and targeted Mawile with Will-O-Wisp. He didn’t double Protect at all, possibly thinking Gardevoir had a Scarf or Specs, and went for a Tailwind with Aerodactyl and an Iron Head from Mawile onto Gardevoir. Gardevoir took the Iron Head with ~20% HP remaining thanks to the burn and the Attack drop from a Traced Intimidate. The next turn I switch Gardevoir out for Rotom-W to take the Iron Head and conserve Gardevoir for later, while Kangaskhan got Sky Dropped. I know that Mawile is doing close to no damage to me, so I double into Aerodactyl with a Power-Up Punch and Thunder Wave in an attempt to stall out Tailwind. He switches out Mawile for Garchomp to get KOd by a +3 Return and Aerodactyl went down to a Thunderbolt. Chalkey forfeited at that point seeing no way out. He was in a really rough spot after not Protecting Mawile on the first turn, as he let me get momentum in my favor right off the bat.

3-1

Round 5: Kendrick Udy, 4-4

They used:

+

I Used:

I got into a pretty good position at the lead match up, and carried momentum from there. After I KOed his Kangaskhan by the second turn, Gardevoir, Rotom-W, and Mamoswine were able clean up. I was worried he might’ve cycled around more with the Salamence, but he only sent it in when it was his only Pokemon left.

4-1

Round 6: Eric Abraham Mendez (EricOfficially), 5-3

They used:

+

I Used:

We talked before the battle, and I found out that he’s EricOfficially on the forums. It was nice meeting you! At the Team Preview screen I saw the Pokemon that I worried about playing the most: Scizor. Scizor and Ferrothorn were the two Pokemon that pushed me to want a Fire-type move more and more, and with Noivern’s Flamethrower I felt a little more at ease. After looking back on this match up, Noivern is actually really good against everything on his team except for Gardevoir. The first few turns I was able to hit around his Protects and put myself into a position where Noivern and Mamoswine in the back just cleaned up. Kangaskhan went down at one point, but Noivern and Rotom-W secured the last two KOs.

5-1

Round 7: Johnathon Mendoza, 5-3

They used:

+

I Used:

I was talking with DrFidget at the table right next to me before the match, each of us asking if we knew each other’s opponents. We had no clue who either of us were playing, but when my opponent sat down he said “Oh, good to see you again.” DrFidget looked over at me and chuckled. I later remember that I met him at a local tourney at the Arizona TCG State Championships, so sorry about that.

Anyway, we started the match, and Gardevoir Traced Prankster from his Meowstic. I got caught by his Quick Guard as I tried to Fake Out his Charizard and Taunt his Meowstic, and he ended up getting in a free Dragon Dance. I was definitely back pedaling at the moment. I knew I had to sacrifice one of my Pokemon if I wanted the momentum to swing back in my favor. I knew Kangaskhan was going to be key to this match up, so I swapped it out for Rotom-W. The washing machine almost got OHKOed by Flare Blitz, but Sitrus put it at about half HP. Gardevoir took a Swagger without issue thanks to its Lum Berry, and fired a Psychic off on Charizard to bring it down to about 10%. I was now able to pressure the Charizard with Rotom-W and Gardevoir. I figured Gardevoir might be the bigger threat for him, so I just went for the Taunt on Meowstic expecting Charizard to Flare Blitz it this turn. Instead, Charizard took out Rotom-W with Dragon Claw after his Meowstic set up Reflect. Now his Charizard was pressured by a possible Fake Out from Kangaskhan, so I accounted for a possible Protect or switch and Power-Up Punched and Moonblasted the Meowstic. However, rather than take the hit Meowstic got switched out to Tyranitar, only for it to get nuked into oblivion. Charizard also switched out into Aegislash, which kind of hinted to me that his Charizard didn’t have Protect. Meowstic came back in and Quick Guarded my Sucker Punch and Taunt once again. Aegislash got a critical hit Flash Cannon on Kangaskhan, which leaves Kangaskhan able to take only a few more turns of sand.

The battle wound down with my 100% HP Mamoswine and 7 HP Kangaskhan against a 100% HP Aegislash in Sword Forme and a 10% HP Charizard. I had Kangaskhan Fake Out Charizard and Mamoswine Earthquake, since Kangaskhan would go down to sand that turn anyway. As I suspected earlier in the match, his Charizard lacked Protect, so it was KOed by Fake Out. Aegislash, however, threw up a Kings Shield and avoided the KO from Earthquake. I saw he tried to Substitute earlier in the game and Reflect had one more turn left. I used Earthquake with Mamoswine just in case he went for the Substitute, but he went for a Wide Guard instead, revealing his set to be Kings Shield/Substitute/Wide Guard/Flash Cannon (o_O). The match ended three turns later when he attempted to be cheeky and go for a Substitute as Mamoswine Earthquaked for the game.

6-1

Round 8: Zach Droegkamp, (Zach) 6-2

They used:

+

I Used:

I looked at the match up and died a little bit on the inside. I spent the whole weekend with Zach talking with him and telling him about my team, so to get paired down to have to play him was not ideal for me. The match went down to his Gyarados and Aegislash against my Kangaskhan and Gardevoir. I know his Gyarados had Thunder Wave, and to prevent that I went for the Taunt with Gardevoir in the hope of stopping it. Gyarados ended up going first and getting the Thunder Wave off on  Kangaskhan. The battle just went downhill from there, as my best answer to Mega Venusaur was crippled and I couldn’t do anything to recover. I later found out that the Gyarados actually Speed tied with Gardevoir, so had I won the Speed tie I would’ve still had a fighting chance. Sadly that’s how it all ends, but at least losing to a friend took some of the sting off.

6-2, 11th place

It was a pretty good run overall. It was nice to meet everyone and get to hang out for the weekend. Luckily I didn’t need to worry about placing high enough to get a stipend for Nationals, since kingofmars is taking me as his guardian, so hopefully I’ll see you guys there. Until next time!

The post Barking at the Bubble: 11th Place Utah Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

My name is Simon and I just got Top 16 in the Nugget Bridge Major. I’ve had a rough season in the Video Game Championships circuit. The only thing keeping my spirits up was the Major and “I was happy” with how I performed. I wish I could’ve gone deeper, but DeVon just played much better than I did. I wanted to post a team report because I think I should finally “retire” the team after four months of playing nothing else.

I’ll first introduce my team as well as explain their sets and spreads before moving on to team synergy. All my Pokémon are named after characters from the Accel World and Index/Railgun Series. I’m also going to “pull a Randy” and explain nicknames now that I’m apparently an anime girl.

The article name comes from the two megas on my team being “Kings” from Accel World and the other four being from the To Aru series. This was not intended, but ended up happening anyway, so why not.

The Team

Garchomp (<3Kinuhata<3) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 204 Atk / 252 Spd / 12 HP / 36 SDef / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect

This Garchomp uses a fairly standard moveset with a slightly modified EV spread. The small amount of bulk will always allow it to survive a Timid Mega Manectric HP Ice. The Speed was maxed to outspeed base 100s and tie with other Garchomp (might as well speed tie with them, since it’s 1 point anyway). The remaining 204 Attack EVs allow it to always OHKO 4 HP 0 Defense Charizard with Rock Slide.

Kinuhata is an esper that has an ability called “Offense Armor,” which allows her to control nitrogen and use it to reflect attacks, similar to how Rough Skin deals damage to anything that tries to hit Garchomp.

Salamence (Accelerator) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 Spd / 124 SAtk / 20 HP / 140 SDef / 4 Def
Modest Nature
- Stone Edge
- Draco Meteor
- Sleep Talk
- Fire Blast

A fairly standard Scarf Salamence set. The EVs allow it to outpseed Jolly Mega Aerodactyl. The bulk prevents it from being OHKO’d by Timid Mega Manectric HP Ice and 2HKO’d by Max Special Attack Rotom Forme Thunderbolts. I chose Stone Edge over other Rock-type moves because it has the best chance of OHKOing Charizard and Talonflame even if they run some bulk. I added Sleep Talk because I decided that Lum Berry on Garchomp (to beat Smeargle) wasn’t paying off as much as I wanted it to.

I couldn’t really think of a good name for Salamence so I chose Accelerator because they both have wings or something.

Charizard (<3Yuniko<3) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
EVs: 164 Spd / 12 SAtk / 108 Def / 4 SDef / 220 HP
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
- Protect

The moveset for my Charizard is nothing special, so I’ll just get straight to the EV Spread. 164 Speed hits a speed stat of 141 which speed creeps anything that just wants to outspeed max speed Smeargle. The HP and Defense allow it to always survive Adamant Rock Slide from Mamoswine and everything weaker than it, including Garchomp. It also survives Mega Kangaskahn Returns as well as Aerodactyl Rock Slides after Intimidate. A Modest Mega Manectric only has a 7/8 chance to OHKO my Charizard with Thunderbolt. The remainder was put into Special Attack.

Yuniko is The Red King and has the Duel Avatar Scarlet Rain. Scarlet Rain is the Duel Avatar that just hides in a huge Mecha thing and shoots endless rounds of Firepower, similar to how my Charizard is set up

Gardevoir(<3Misaki<3) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Trace
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 108 SAtk / 4 Spd / 20 SDef / 124 Def
Modest Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Protect

Gardevoir’s moveset is different from most. It’s very defense-oriented as opposed to most. I chose Dazzling Gleam because it allowed me to hit dragons on a switch regardless of which position they switched into, in addition to being able to hit Scrafty and dragons in the face of Rage Powder Amoonguss. Trick Room gave my team another option in case I played a team that was ridiculously fast and is often unexpected from a Gardevoir.

The EV spread allows it to take a Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Return after Sitrus Berry activates. It also always survives a Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird/Flare Blitz and a max Special Attack Aegislash Shadow Ball/Flash Cannon. The Special Attack allows it to KO standard dragons as well as KO 4HP Talonflame after Brave Bird Recoil ~91% of the time.

Misaki is an esper with the “Mental Out” ability, which allows her to manipulate and control the minds of just about anyone that isn’t stronger than her. Being a Psychic-type, Gardevoir has similar abilities.

Mawile (Kuroyukihime) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 196 SDef / 16 Atk / 44 Def
Careful Nature
IVs: 4 Spd
- Play Rough
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

You’ll notice a couple of things that are different from the usual Mawile. First, it has Rock Slide instead of Iron Head. I noticed that I would only ever use Iron Head when I didn’t want Play Rough to miss. I also had problems with Charizard when I used my Trick Room mode, so I needed an easy way to deal with it. Rotom-H is probably the single biggest threat to my team and Rock Slide gave me to option to nail one on a presumed safe switch in.

The EV spread is very similar to Ray’s, but I didn’t really value the 15/16 chance to KO 252 HP Tyranitar and had other priorities. The 44 Defense ensures that it would survive a Choice Band Talonflame Flare Blitz after Intimidate. The Special Defense guarantees that it will survives a Timid Choice Specs Fire Blast from Salamence and a Modest Mega Manectric Overheat. You’ll also notice that it has a 4 Speed IV, this is was to ensure that I would always move after Aegislash so I could nail it with a Play Rough for about 60% of its health after it switched to Blade Forme.

Mawile is named after Kuroyukihime who’s Duel Avatar is Black Lotus, aka The Black King. Black Lotus is one of the strongest DAs in the series, just like how Mawile is also one of the strongest.

Aegislash (<3Kanzaki<3) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 SAtk / 76 SDef / 4 Def / 4 Atk
Quiet Nature
IVs: 20 Spd
- King’s Shield
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword

This is a fairly standard Substitute Leftovers Aegislash. I chose Sacred Sword over Flash Cannon because my team has problems with Tyranitar and Pyroar. The 76 Special Defense is NOT for Timid Charizard Heat Wave as most people seem to think. It’s for max Special Attack Modest Rotom-H Overheat (which it survives 15/16 times) as well as a couple Rain-boosted moves that aren’t as relevant. The 20 Speed lets it outspeed other Aegislash and underspeed minimum speed Mega Tyranitar, as well as neutral Mawile and Azumarill. Underspeeding those Pokémon ensures I would get hit in Shield Forme before switching to Sword Forme to attack.

Kanzaki is a saint/magician that uses a katana and metal wires to destroy things in her path. I named my Aegislash Kanzaki because it’s metal… and is half sword.

Honorary Mention

I used Noivern in the first half of the swiss rounds, but switched to Salamence because I felt I needed Intimidate as well as another Rock-type move.

Noivern @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 36 HP / 4 SDef / 252 SAtk / 212 Spd
Modest Nature
- Super Fang
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse

Noivern was used in a way that was very similar to a Scarf Salamence. The difference is that a Modest Noivern actually has more Special Attack and Speed than a Timid Salamence which eliminates the speed tie factor. Noivern had Infiltrator instead of the superior Frisk because I wanted to hide the fact that it was holding Choice Scarf and get a surprise KO on Scarf Salamence. I actually ran enough speed to outspeed Scarf Garchomp just in case that showed up. Infiltrator was also useful in hitting Aegislash through Substitute. I used Super Fang when I just wanted to chip large chunks of health off of my opponent’s Pokémon without having to predict too hard.

Noivern didn’t have a nickname because I wasn’t an anime girl at the time, but I would probably name it after the Infinite Strator Unit SilentZephyr or Blue Tears.

Team Synergy & Selection

First I want to talk about the team as a whole and Team Preview. Most players don’t like two mega evolutions on their team because it “limits their options,” but I disagree. If anything, running two megas widens the range of options I have. When you only have one mega, you’re almost forced to select the one mega every game. You get to pick one mega and then three out of five. With two megas, you get to pick one of two and then three of four. Megas are arguably the strongest Pokémon in the game and having the variety of choosing between them is in my eyes a bigger asset than being able to select from a wider range of non-megas.

The Charizard Mawile Double Mega

I really enjoyed using both Charizard and Mawile. Charizard had a strong Sun and Rain matchup, while Mawile excels in Sand, Trick Room and Hail. I also enjoyed that both megas had the ability to wipe out Mega Kangaskahn from the start.

Gardevoir was probably the Pokémon I brought to the most battles. It complimented both of my megas really well. It threatened dragons that wanted to KO my Charizard and also had the option to set up Trick Room for Mawile.

Double Dragon Double Steel Double Fairy

My team had very strong type synergy because I always had a good switch with how Fairy/Steel and Dragon compliment each other. I would always be able to switch in Mawile, Gardevoir or Aegislash into Salamence and Garchomp because of this, though it was starting to become predictable, which is something I feel contributed to my loss.

Trick Room Mode

I used my Trick Room option in about 25% of my games. Most of these games involved Scarf Pokémon and Aerodactyl with Tailwind. I would lead Salamence + Gardevoir and they would try to set up Tailwind wanting to outspeed my Salamence and be decimated by a Mawile/Aegislash switch-in combined with a Trick Room.

Biggest Threats

Rotom-H was by far the biggest threat to my team. They were generally bulky enough to survive multiple Rock Slides from Garchomp and threated the KO on both of my mega Pokémon, as well as my Steels. Rotom-H was a big factor in my loss to dingram and is being used more and more.

Tyranitar was the second biggest threat to my team. I didn’t really have an answer to ones with Ice Beam and even with Mawile and Sacred Sword from Aegislash, I’d still have to take a huge chunk of damage to KO. Tyranitar was tricky to beat because it could be a variety of sets and trying to defend against a special set only to have it Dragon Dance is pretty devastating. Dingram also had Tyranitar, though I knew exactly what set it was running.

Closing Thoughts

I really enjoyed the Major and it helped remind me that I’m still a really good player despite my performances in events “that count.” I noticed that my team has a similar playstyle to the one I used in 2013 and that I need to expand my skillset with different strategies. I hope I get enough points to qualify for the Nugget Bridge Invitational so I can have another run at that elusive tournament win I’ve never gotten.

The post A Saint, 2 Kings and 3 Espers: A Nugget Bridge Major Top 16 Team Analysis appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello guys! It’s LPFan here bringing you a VGC team report. The final wave of regionals was gruesome, but I managed to place 5th at the VGC ’14 Kansas Regionals, which is my very first top cut of the season. This team finished strong in swiss, taking the 2nd seed, and I’m very proud of it. I’ll just be writing about the team itself because some of the matches I had throughout the day would put me to shame, but I have to admit that luck is a part of this game.

Building the Team

I had been working on this team since December 2013 after I played a solid Japanese player on Battle Spot who sparked my interest in using a team based around the core of Kangaskhan, Rotom-Heat, Tyranitar, and Salamence. I playtested together with PM649 and his team of Kangaskhan, Rotom-Heat, Amoonguss, Manectric, Gyarados, Garchomp and felt really comfortable playing with it, but chose to use a different team at winter regionals. Unfortunately for me, he managed to top cut at his regional and I didn’t, which left me bitter for quite some time.

Flustered, but feeling confident for the future, I revisited the core of Kangaskhan, Rotom-Heat, Tyranitar, and Salamence once again. This time, I decided to mix it with my playstyle and made a solid team consisting of Kangaskhan, Rotom-Heat, Tyranitar, Salamence, Amoonguss, and Meowstic. I really liked using the new team and played as many matches as possible on Pokemon Showdown in order to get used to it. Another reason why I really liked the team is because it had a unique, hyper-offensive style compared to all the other offensive teams that I had used comfortably beforehand. I find comfort to be the most important factor when it comes to competition, especially in X and Y, in which being one step ahead of your opponent is crucial. So, here’s the team:

The Team

Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Pulse

This Choice Specs Salamence was the heavy hitter of the team. Many players would expect Choice Scarf Salamence and would play safely against it, so I decided to use Choice Specs instead as it helped grab a few knockouts that Choice Scarf could not. Also, Choice Specs meant Salamence could deal a huge chunk of damage to anything that was not immune to Draco Meteor, which was very helpful in matches where I needed extra damage to get a step ahead of my opponent. I opted for as many powerhouse moves as possible and decided to keep only one consistent move to ensure victory against pesky Garchomp: Dragon Pulse. Hydro Pump could OHKO most Rotom-Heat (especially those with a Modest nature), Fire Blast allowed me to OHKO non-Careful natured Mawile and other common Steel-types, and Draco Meteor would 2HKO most Rotom-Wash, bar those with a Calm nature and bulky Special Defense EV investment. I chose Modest nature for Salamence because I wanted as much strength as possible.

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 108 Def / 164 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Protect
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder

Amoonguss is one of those popular “hit me” Pokemon that perfectly functions as a support Pokemon. Rage Powder benefitted all of Amoonguss’s teammates, whether by redirecting heavy hits or allowing its teammate to set up. Amoonguss’s bulk pressured players to double target it, allowing the other half to have a free opportunity to attack. The EVs were created to survive an Overheat from Rotom-Heat at full HP and recover HP back with a Sitrus Berry, allowing it to then retaliate with a Spore. The Regenerator Ability always helped in tough match-ups, especially against Rain teams or Dragon-types.  I felt that a 0 Speed IV to help in Trick Room wasn’t worth it, so I instead decided to go with a Calm nature and 31 Speed IV.

Rotom-Heat @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 164 SAtk / 20 SDef / 60 Spd
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Will-O-Wisp

A really solid Pokemon in generation 6, Rotom-Heat is an excellent core-building Pokemon. On my previous team, I used an EV spread that was more offensive because I had double Intimidate support to back me up. On my new team, however, I had to change that in order to survive, and received help from PM649 to create the perfect EV spread. The 252 HP / 12 Def combination gave it a chance to survive a non-boosted Return from Kangaskhan without the help of Intimidate. This spread also helped Rotom-Heat tank -1 Attack Garchomp’s Rock Slide with the help of Intimidate. The 252 HP / 20 SDef also gave Rotom an 81%  chance to survive Timid Choice Specs Salamence’s Draco Meteor. With its decent bulk, I gave Rotom Safety Goggles as a held item; the Goggles helped solve any problems against Amoonguss and also countered sun teams that run rampant in swiss.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 60 HP / 160 Atk / 4 Def / 34 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Ice Beam
- Fire Blast
- Crunch
- Rock Slide

Mixed Choice Scarf Tyranitar is a surprising Pokemon that catches players off guard and greatly helps in the popular double Dragon matchup. This team had a tough time tanking Draco Meteors and Dragon Claws and still having enough HP to survive other strong attacks, so I had to incorporate a Pokemon capable of tanking a hit and countering the opponent at the same time. The EV spread could have been better, but I ended up keeping it as it is. The EV spread gave me a enough HP to tank Earthquake from Garchomp with the help of Intimidate while still having enough Special Attack EVs to knock out Garchomp with the help of chip damage. Also, it allowed me to invest a good amount of EVs into Attack in order to do decent damage with Crunch and Rock Slide. I had previously used a Dragon Dance Tyranitar holding Weakness Policy, but I found it less reliable in most games and instead chose Choice Scarf mixed Tyranitar that allowed me to easily knock out Garchomp, Salamence, and Noivern.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Return

Kangaskhan is a core Pokemon that I felt was important to use on my team, due to its reputation as a hyper-offensive threat in this metagame with Parental Bond. Before using Power-Up Punch, I had tested Hammer Arm but was unhappy with its inconsistent accuracy. Hammer Arm also seemed to be meant for a slower, Adamant-natured Kangaskhan with a bulky EV spread. Even though Hammer Arm guarantees OHKOs on any Tyranitar that does not carry Tyranitarite or Chople Berry, I felt that Power-Up Punch was better due to it’s consistency and ability to sneak in a free boost on switch-ins against unprepared players. Inner Focus was a ability I found to be better than Scrappy, because it helps against Weavile and other opposing Fake Out Pokemon. Return is the best STAB Normal-type move (over Double-Edge and Facade), because it does not risk recoil damage nor rely on a status condition in order to deal out high damage.

Scizor @ Lum Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
- Protect

The final Pokemon on this team was the toughest decision to make, and, believe it or not, this was originally a Meowstic. Although Meowstic helped against the Kangaskhan/Smeargle combination that manipulated a lot of players’ playstyles, I felt it wasn’t worth it, so I took it out. I also noticed that I was incredibly weak to Choice Scarf Gardevoir weak, so I felt like it was necessary to replace Meowstic with a Steel-type Pokemon.

At first, I tested Mawile. Mawile is a fantastic, hard-hitting Pokemon in its Mega Evolved state, but I felt that I needed both Mega Kangaskhan and a strong Steel-type in many situations. The Mega Evolution conflict was pretty problematic, so I searched for a different Steel-type and tested out Bisharp. I found Bisharp to be a great Pokemon because of its ability to pressure my opponents to not bring Intimidate users into our match because of Bisharp’s Defiant Ability. Unfortunately, using Bisharp meant that I would lose against Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan’s, so I still needed to find a different Steel-type Pokemon.

I finally found the perfect teammate: Lum Berry Scizor. Scizor was an excellent Pokemon in previous VGC seasons, as demonstrated by Aaron Zheng (Cybertron). The EV spread was pretty standard; it was EVd to survive Talonflame’s Brave Bird and tank Rock Slides while still having the power to attack problematic Pokemon (like Gardevoir, Smeargle, and other Fairy-types) with a Bullet Punch. I could also set up Scizor to be a major threat on the field by using Swords Dance.  Even though Aegislash or Azumarill could have easily been a better choice, I felt Scizor was still pretty decent despite it being an underwhelming Pokemon.

Conclusion

So that’s the team, standard with a little spice to it. I’m so fortunate and grateful to top cut a regional in masters after being on bubble twice. Out of all the matches I played at Kansas, I felt that I had played pretty well the whole day with a solid team. I also admired most of my opponents’ teams, too, as they all gave me fights to remember. I’m currently at 150 CP, which puts me  in the top 32 standings with a $700 stipend for Nationals, so I’ll definitely be in attendance. I hope you enjoyed my team report and hopefully next time I’ll feel just as confident enough to write another report. See you all at Nationals!

The post Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures: Kansas Regionals Top 8 Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

What’s good Pokémon community?

I spent a good 10 minutes thinking about how to creatively start this report, but in the end I gave up. I guess an introduction is a good start. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m MangoSol (Manoj Sunny) from Illinois. For the past few years I’ve only attended the regionals in Madison for practical reasons, so I’m shamelessly on the low end of the CP system.  With the Madison and Utah regionals being spaced a week after the other spring regionals, I knew that I’d be going into a room where many of the top players had already participated in a tournament the week before, so I’d be a bit rusty in comparison. To make matters worse, the player roster boasted names like Human , Ryuzaki, and Scott. Sometimes you just need to ignore the names and battle like you always do and hope that your skills (and luck) win out. Speaking of luck, there is no BrightPowder for reasons I’ll explain below! Like the title says, I’ll be going over the team that got me through 8 rounds of swiss and 3 rounds of top cut before falling to TheBattleRoom in the finals.

Without further ado, let’s begin!

The Team at a Glance

When constructing the team, the first thing I wanted to ensure was that most of my Pokémon were bulky. When looking at all the teams that placed highly, whether it be from a Winter Regionals or the Battle Road Circuit, the recurring theme was that the majority of the team was bulky. Extra survivability always trumps a hyper-offensive strategy when the cookie crumbles, so I went along with a team that had a mix of both, but tried my best to use naturally bulky Pokémon. Also, most successful teams had a Dragon/Steel/Fairy type core- the defensive synergy between the three made it obvious why it was such a popular combination.

A week before Madison, I was struggling to make a decision between my last two Pokémon. It was a toss-up between Azumarill/Rotom-H and Gardevoir/Talonflame. If I chose the former, I would have slapped Trick Room on Gourgeist and gone down that path. Even though Rotom and Azumarill are bulkier, I ended up using the latter because that fit my play-style better and the 90% accuracy of Play Rough and Overheat made me abnormally paranoid. Really, when constructing a team, there is no “best” team- it’s just a matter of picking the right combination of types and a speed tier that you are most comfortable playing in. From previous experiences I know that I’m not the best at Trick Room, so I opted out of that. I’ll begin with the boring part of this team and then escalate to the more original ideas. Oh, also, the nicknames are chess themed.

-Before round 7-
Matt Coyle: So are you really using BrightPowder Garchomp?
Me: Nahhh. Don’t tell anyone yet, though.
Matt: So what are you running?
Me: What do you think?
Matt: Rocky Helmet.
Me: !…How’d you figure it out that fast??!!
Matt: That’s just the kind of item you’d use.

Garchomp (KNIGHTblade7k) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Earthquake

So here we are, with the most boring Pokémon on the team. It is physically impossible for me to make a team without Garchomp, so with a heavy heart I had to opt for a standard set. With the advent of limited weather (lasting only 5 turns) it would be hard pressed for Sand Veil BrightPowder Garchomp to fully abuse sand the way I was able to in 2012-2013. For those of you that still are opposed to the logic I gave in my previous team article regarding BrightPowder Garchomp, the only reason I switched to Rocky Helmet was for the reason mentioned above. Also, the aspect of BrightPowder I really liked, was that I had an always on item. Yache or Haban berries had a single use which was almost never activated anyway. Rocky Helmet was exactly the kind of item I desired: an always on item. In fact, when deciding between BrightPowder and Rocky Helmet, it was the fact that Rocky Helmet would be on for a longer duration of the battle than Sand Veil which swayed me. Also, the chances of getting hit by a physical attack outweighed the chances of dodging an attack, so again, logic dictated that Rocky Helmet be used. A difficulty that we’ve all faced is the reluctance of NOT using a Pokémon that we love, but winning sometimes takes precedence over favoritism. I mean, come on, we’ve all felt a little attraction to those tiny digital critters…

The move set on Garchomp is standard, obviously. I used Rock Slide instead of Swords Dance because of the greater presence of Rotom-H, Talonflame, and Charizard. Also, since this team used Will-o-Wisp over Thunder Wave as its status infliction of choice, there weren’t many openings to set up a Swords Dance. I experimented with different EVs for Garchomp, always erring on the side of a bulky variant. Practice showed that the max Speed stat was critical for outspeeding common threats like Charizard and non-scarfed Salamence/Hydreigon. Also, it was really important to ensure Garchomp mirror speed-ties. In one of my middling rounds, my opponent and I both led with Garchomp. We both protected the partners, but proceeded to kill off both of our Garchomps with a combination of Dragon Claws and Rough Skin/Rocky Helmet damage on that same turn. A good chuckle was in order.

Also, later the next round, my opponent and I were down to his Mawile vs. my Garchomp. I had about 60% health left, and his Mawile had around 90%. I expected him to go for the Sucker Punch (we both admitted to not knowing what the damage roll would have been after the round), but instead he went for a Play Rough and survived with about 20% health remaining after my Earthquake hit. His Play Rough KO’d my Garchomp, but the Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet provided just enough damage to also knock him out. We both held our breaths as we waited for the screen to show who won that match, and I let out a (manly) squeal when it claimed it as my victory. Firm handshakes and GGGGGGs were in order.

So anyway, it was a nice mental advantage to unnerve people and throw them off by my item of choice. Rocky Helmet is also a great item and you should check it out if you’re one of the 51+ percent that use Garchomp!

Gourgeist (PumpKING) @ Leftovers
Ability: Frisk
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SDef
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- Phantom Force

I’ll be honest- this is the first Pokémon EV spread I’ve ever ripped from someone else. This is Zach’s Vacation on Gourgeist Island‘s Gourgeist. When reading his article, I was surprised at our team’s similarity in playstyle, and wanted something that could serve as my team’s primary tank. So I experimented with Gourgeist. This thing has won me matches (in practice) even when it’s 1-3 in my opponent favor. By burning and seeding everything (oftentimes sacrificing other Pokémon to get into a position where the opponent’s team is completely crippled) Gourgeist thrives on the amazing recovery Leftovers+Leech Seed brings. Being an uncommon and overlooked Pokémon, it can drain the life out of any team that isn’t prepared for it. Also, it pretty much hard counters any rain team and the ubiquitous Kangaskhan. Zach’s description of Gourgeist pretty much sums everything up, but the difference was our metagame calls.

Like I said earlier, I didn’t expect that many Talonflame or Charizard Y users. Though I was correct, I failed to capitalize on the fact that the metagame had already shifted to a more special attack-oriented metagame. Without being able to cripple the rare physical attackers, Gourgeist pretty much lost half of its capabilities. I was worried about that metagame call and would’ve switched to something else like Salamence or Aegislash had I known how badly Gourgeist would fare at regionals, but oh well. To be honest, every match I brought Gourgeist in resulted in a loss. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad Pokémon, it’s just when only 1-2 of the opponent’s Pokémon are physical attackers…

Check out Gourgeist doing its job in the finals (and Bisharp T1 of game 2):

Kangaskhan (ROOKout!) (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy <—– (Scrappy Doo… Scooby Doo reference… “rook out!!!” no…? Okay…T_T )
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Hammer Arm
- Sucker Punch

I originally had two mega evolutions on some prototype teams, but soon discovered that team flexibility would be greatly cut down if both mega evolutions were in a battle and only one could mega evolve. After testing between Mawile, Kangaskhan, and even Heracross, I settled on Kangaskhan. It’s the most consistent and versatile mega evolution, in my opinion, and fits well with almost any team. There isn’t much you don’t already know about Kangaskhan’s ridiculous stats and ability, so I won’t go into that.

Again, comparing my team to Zach’s, I felt that his Kangaskhan wasn’t getting the job done well enough. The amount of Kangaskhan mirrors is just absurd, and I don’t believe that a Jolly Kangaskhan with maxed Speed is the way to go. That only incites coin flip games where a game can be decided early on by who has the first Fake Out. Kangaskhan is a Pokémon that is meant to be bulky, and its potential is truly maximized when it takes a hit and hits back twice as hard. And for that, you need an Adamant nature.

Jolly Kangaskhan doesn’t really do much to my Kangaskhan with Power-Up Punch. On the other hand, I can KO back with a Hammer Arm. Hammer Arm actually had a two-fold purpose: it was also a check against Trick Room. By lowering my Speed by 2 stages, I would “outspeed” some Pokémon in TR that would otherwise breeze through my team.  All the other moves are standard, so I won’t explain them. I would rarely use Fake Out in a Kangaskhan mirror and instead go for the Hammer Arm. But yeah, Kangaskhan. The strongest Pokémon in the metagame.

Gardevoir (Queen)  (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 4HP/ 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic

Scarf Gardevoir, not very common, but expected nonetheless. Gardevoir has a lot of options it could use, so opponents can’t really do anything safely until they’ve protected a bit and scouted. Failure to do this would be punished with a swift KO to one of their Pokémon. There are a couple things you might notice about this Gardevoir. First off, is its ability. Instead of using Trace I opted for Telepathy. Although the rare Parental Bond Gardevoir could quickly steamroll teams, I used Telepathy because it was almost never expected. When taunting Darkeness that I could beat him early in the season, he quickly demolished me with a Garchomp/Gardevoir combination. By spamming earthquake and speedy dazzling gleams, my team became mincemeat. It never occurred to me that Garchomp could Earthquake without worrying about hurting his own Gardevoir, and my third round opponent had the same mindset when it also made quick work of his team.  Although Earthquake damage on Gourgeist was almost negligible, my team only had one member with the Levitate ability (and only 2 Pokémon that could Protect X_X) so I wanted to make sure I could Earthquake without being impeded by my own Pokémon. So a big thanks to Darkeness for inspiring me to use this brilliant strategy.

The second thing you might notice about my Gardevoir is its EV spread. No, I was not lazy when I went the 252/252 route. The standard spread for Scarf Gardevoir has about 84 HP EVs invested at the cost of Special Attack and Speed in order to survive a Life Orb Brave Bird from Talonflame. Fortunately, I made the right metagame call by pooling all its EVs into Special Attack and Speed. I didn’t expect many Talonflames to be present, and I really wanted that speed tie with Scarf Salamence. Furthermore, I wanted the maximum firepower I could get out of her. Even though 196 SAtk could comfortably KO all of the Dragon-types, raw calculations like that are hardly ever in use when you’re actually in the middle of a drawn out battle. Sometimes it can be the difference between knocking out your opponents 55% Kangaskhan with 252 SAtk or 196 SAtk, and for that reason I allocated offensive EVs to a Pokémon with a purely offensive purpose.

The move set is standard. Thunderbolt was the best coverage move. I might have gone with Shadow Ball for Aegislash, but chances are I wouldn’t bring a Gardevoir in those situations.

Talonflame (Blitz) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Quick Guard
- Taunt

Talonflame is one of the best Pokémon to come out of the Kalosdex. With a blistering base 126 Speed and a respectable base 81 Attack stat, this fire bird can either weaken Pokémon for my other attackers to finish off, or clean up weakened Pokémon late game. Earlier in this season Talonflame experienced extremely high usage, but it quickly plateaued later on in the season for the more defensive choice of Rotom- H. Although it was easy to see why people opted for the little toaster, with Intimidate being rampant and all, Talonflame fits a niche that no other Pokémon could do as well as on this team.

The king of priority, it could either block incoming priority moves, courtesy of Quick Guard, or hit back with its own priority move. By boasting its ability, Gale Wings, Talonflame also sports the highest base damage priority move in Brave Bird. Flare Blitz is an equally powerful attack with a great attack typing so that it hit anything that Brave Bird couldn’t. I didn’t go with Tailwind because Zach and I both came to the conclusion that it was a pretty useless move with a true effective speed boost of only one turn. So instead…

…we have Taunt. When testing with SuperIntegration a few weeks before Regionals, he played me with a semi- TR team. By just popping a TR in the middle of battle, my team fell a lot quicker than it should have. After losing to the same team for about 4 matches, I had enough.

SuperIntegration: The way the metagame is right now, random TR will screw over everyone. I know you’re a nob, but Don’t feel bad about it.

Ben7000: Yea, no one accounts for TR.

There was indeed wisdom in his words, and as I mentioned at the beginning, this was one of the reasons I was considering Rotom-H/Azumarill over Talonflame/Gardevoir. I also noticed a slight weakness to Aegislash and other Pokémon that focused on setting up, and I was stumped for the longest of times trying to figure out how I could solve all these problems. When I messed around on Showdown and saw that Talonflame could learn Taunt, I tried it on and quickly erased any previous weaknesses. Since King’s Shield didn’t stop non-attack moves, Taunt went through it and eased prediction the next turn. Being able to stop Smeargle dead in its tracks was also a big plus. Taunt seems to have almost disappeared from this metagame, so when I tossed it out in the middle of a battle, my opponents were more than surprised. Especially when it came from a Talonflame.

SuperIntegration: Did I really scare you that much with my TR that you’re using a Talonflame with taunt?
Ben7000: ORLF!

EV spread was basic. Hit hard and fast. Get the speed tie in worse-case scenarios. Even with Taunt and Quick guard, it seemed almost useless to invest any EVs defensively. If my opponent wanted Talonflame dead, it’d probably be dead regardless of the spread I gave it. But anyway, Talonflame served more of a support role than an offensive role counter to its EV spread. It’s all about using the most overused Pokémon in the most underused way!

Bisharp (#Checkmate) @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Def / 200 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Sucker Punch
- Assurance
- Iron Head

The hero. At first glance, Bisharp doesn’t look like a top-tier threat. It’s got decent stats at most. Sure, it’s attack is nothing to laugh at, but its speed is just too pitiful to exploit its dual Dark/Steel offensive prowess. You’d expect it’s defenses to make up for its middling speed- after all, on paper it seems to be able to take a few hits. But strangely, it seems to be knocked out by every move that hits it super effectively, and heavily dented by those that aren’t. But then you look at its move pool. And ability. And typing. Bisharp is one of those few Pokémon that don’t have the greatest stats, but maximizes what little it’s given.

Originally, this slot was taken by a mixed Tyranitar. But I hated it. Its attacks were pitifully weak (I wanted Fire & Ice coverage), and unless a move was super effective, Tyranitar had no offensive presence on the field. Besides, I wasn’t even running Sand Veil Garchomp, so Tyranitar packed its bags and went to vacation (on Gourgeist Island) until Gamefreak decides to revive permanent weather. The Dark/Steel offense had less coverage than the Fire/Ice brought by Tyranitar, but the sheer power Bisharp bought to the table overlooked that seemingly minor flaw. One of Tyranitar’s primary purpose was to get rid of Salamence (which were a pain for my team with all the physical attackers), but Bisharp did a better job of that. The look on my round 6 opponent’s face when my unboosted Bisharp OHKO’d his Manectric T1… Priceless.

This impressive power was brought about by a CHOICE BAND. This inspiration was based off of R Inanimate‘s 2013 team and playing chess with SuperIntegration (because Bisharp=Bishop… get it…?). Half of R Inanimate’s ideas are crazy, and I was a bit hesitant on using CB Bisharp, especially in a completely different metagame. I used R Inanimate’s Battle Tower team to get through 100 battles in the battle tower way back when I was a wee child playing Pearl Version, so something tugged at my guts to use it.

So we got our standard move set in Brick Break, Iron Head, and Sucker Punch. But then we got Assurance. For those of you who don’t know what Assurance is, it’s a 60 base power move that doubles damage to a target that has already received damage. So in other words, it has a base power of 120 if your opponent had received chip damage earlier that turn. Now, add a Choice Band, a possible Defiant boost, a base 125 Attack stat, and we’re looking at instant KOs. And really, a lot of my opponents asked what that move was after matches. It truly is an underused move. To put things into perspective, this combo one-shotted TheBattleRoom’s Hydreigon. Check out game 2 of the video below. This combo (even without a Defiant boost) was very useful in taking out any Rotom which my team had difficulty dealing with. I wanted to outspeed said Rotoms and other middling-speed Pokémon, so I invested a lot of speed in it.

I actually have no idea as to what I outspeed. I kind of just assigned an arbitrary number of EVs in all of its stats except Attack. Choice Band does a greater job of maximizing attack output when Attack EVs are maximized. Basic math. But really, I have no idea what 48 HP + 8 Def does. It’s actually a waste of 2 EVs. Oops.

I’m not even sure if my Pokémon supplier EV’d it like that. In fact, the Bisharp I used at Regionals didn’t even have Brick Break. It ran Night Slash instead. I really didn’t care to switch it to Brick Break, as if I were in a position where I had to use Brick Break, I’d probably be lost anyway.

No hero ever PLANNED on saving the day. So I’ll just settle on that.

Putting it all together:

Team Synergy

Taunt+ Sucker Punch. By forcing the opponent to attack, Bisharp could quickly lay waste to the opponent with Sucker Punch. This combo especially worked when the opponent had nowhere to switch out. These two also have a way of cleaning up teams before they can even move with Brave Bird and Sucker Punch.

I already mentioned this earlier, but Dazzling Gleam and Earthquake/Rock Slide spam. Since these 2 are most likely the fastest on the field, they can quickly bring down a lot of enemies just like Talonflame and Bisharp. Fairy and Dragon also have excellent coverage, so sometimes I double targeted an oppnent with Moonblast and Dragon Claw for the KO should they choose to stay in or switch out. You’ll see a lot of Earthquake on Gardevoir action in the videos.

My anti-lead combo, this duo primarily served to counter any other opposing Kangaskhan leads. By Quick Guarding against their Fake Out and killing off opposing Kangaskhan, I turned games into decisive victories by turn 1. Really, megas are the kings in the metagame and your objective should be to neutralize them as fast as possible.

Having an offensive threat on the field made it easier for Gourgeist to fire off Will-o-Wisps and Leech Seeds. Garchomp also eased the threat of Fire and Flying Pokémon with its Rock/Ground coverage. Also, I could comfortably Earthquake without protecting Gourgeist and let the pumpkin recover the damage off within the next turn.

 Everyone with Everyone

What kind of team would work well without entire team synergy?! Although I’ll admit I was hard pressed in some situations due to being choice- locked and lacking Protect, this team had great opportunities to switch around and absorb attacks.

Conclusion

As you saw throughout the report, I referenced a multitude of people. By no means was this team my own product, and I owe a bunch of people for helping me come up with a great team that carried me through Regionals.

First, I want to give a shoutout to my hometown crew, Team DP. Rafal Gladysz, for being my secretary and making sure I know what’s going on in the Pokémon world. Ian Eklof, for breeding half of my team and EVing them on such short demand while being the best sport out there. Eric Brooks, for taking the time to stop by even with a hectic college schedule and cheer me on throughout topcut. George Treviranus, for being a good older brother and letting me use his team. Wink wink. And finally, my big brother, Manu Sunny, for going 6-2 with a team he was working on ever since the season started. I’m amazed at the leaps he’s made trying to learn this game, despite a rigorous college schedule, so for anyone that’s going to face him at Nationals I’m giving you a fair warning right now. Also, I apologize, again, to Keegan for Manu’s defensive reaction.

-Fire Blast misses Garchomp in top 8-

Keegan: Man, screw Mango and his BrightPowder!!!!

Manu: Man, shut up. You’re just jealous you didn’t top cut.

Must’ve been awkward for the spectating crowd, but now you guys are buddies. So yay.

Also a big thanks to Keegan Beljanski — I owe him for sparking some creative ideas, especially the Garchomp/Gardevoir combo. You kept my creative juices flowing and always was a great person to theorymon with. You also taught me a valuable skill which I was able to apply to real world situations. The power of Lickilicky. Same goes to Zach. Your Gourgeist was yams, but I was able to figure things out through your help. #Boof.

Michael Lanzano, for giving me crucial last minute advice and helping me perfect my team. Both of us suffer from being overlooked by other players, so we were able to weep on each other’s shoulders and curse the world. Sam Bentham, for sparring with me and enlightening me on his European playstyle. It’s nice to have someone that plays both Pokémon AND chess. I’m sure it must be more satisfying when you beat me on both fronts. Jonathan Evans, for editing this report and helping me realize the importance of never giving up.

Enosh, for making sure I’m at my best. Trista, for giving me a free shiny, taking terrible selfies, and also helping me out between rounds. Oh, and Matt Coyle, I’m sorry I can’t play online matches as well as I can in person. You’re still a terrible NPA manager. Eh. Fine. The best NPA manager.

Collin Heier, for having a great set of matches in the finals even though your sub Chandelure walled/killed half my team. Regardless of the matchup, you definitely played well enough to deserve the title. After preventing you from top cutting last year, I’m impressed at the leaps you’ve taken to improve your game. 1-1. We’ll settle it at nationals…? And also, Oliver Valenti and Andrew Burley for giving one heck of a top cut series.

Alex Buell, for breeding and EVing the other half of my team, painstakingly editing the mute battle videos in which our commentators had technical difficulties with, and keeping me going throughout the season. I loved the audience’s reaction to the shiny Gourgeist. And yes, be proud that you gave birth to that Kangaskhan. TS + AB

Ben Rothman, for being the best friend and battle buddy any trainer could have. I can’t begin to explain how many school nights he’s stayed up trying to sort through my frustration and patch holes in my team. And of course, the power of ORLF doesn’t just stop there.

Jimmy Ballard, for running an extremely smooth Madison Regionals. I’ve attended three times, and all three times the event ran perfectly with no delays. Truly, he is the finest of tournament organizers, and TPCi did a good job of putting him in charge.

And finally, you, the Pokémon community, for being the awesome community you are. Play for a couple years, make connections for life. The depth of character, charisma, and camaraderie I’ve seen at these events make me proud to be part of it all.

Thanks for reading and see you at Nationals!

The post No Hax Assurance! 2nd Place Madison Regionals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Before spring regionals, Harrison (Crow) wanted to build a team around Mega Kangaskhan + Mega Venusaur. I kind of just threw four Pokémon out there that seemed like they’d work. They kinda did. He liked it, so he took it to Athens reached Top 16 with it. I tweaked it a little to my own liking and used it at Utah and also reached Top 16 with it… so it’s pretty consistently decent, I guess. We’ll walk you through how it worked in this dual team analysis.

Harrison’s Venusaur:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
220 HP / 4 Def / 140 SAtk / 76 SDef / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed
- Protect

• Credit goes to Enosh (Human) for the spread
• Leaf Storm OHKOs 252 HP / 172 SDef Calm Rotom-W 100% of the time
• Sludge Bomb + Leaf Storm KOs 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan 100% of the time
• Speed creeps 4 Speed Rotom-W

Zach’s Venusaur:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
220 HP / 4 Def / 140 SAtk / 84 SDef / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed
- Protect

• Same as Harrison’s except I wasted a point in speed because I was too lazy to optimize the spread

Harrison’s comments: Venusaur has been a pretty cool Mega. If the opponent doesn’t have Talonflame or Mega Kangaskhan it’s really hard for them to take down most of the time. Running it with Mega Kangaskhan probably seems odd, but between Leaf Storm, Leech Seed, and Chlorophyll, it could function as a non-Mega often enough. In testing I seemed to speed tie a lot with Rotoms, so I opted to take some EVs out of Special Defense and put it into speed to raise it a point.

Zach’s comments: With Kangaskhan it might seem almost useless to run the Mega stone on Venusaur as well, but there were some matches where Venusaur could carry the team similar to how Gourgeist worked on my Florida Regionals team. I mostly regret running Venusaur here, as I think Amoonguss would have been a smarter choice, but it did decently in 2/3 battles I brought it (albeit flopping pretty badly in the other.)

Harrison’s Kangaskhan:

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Return

Zach’s Kangaskhan:

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Fake Out

Harrison’s comments: It’s Mega Kangaskhan and I’m pretty sure everyone knows all about it at this point. I used Double-Edge over Return because a) I didn’t want to deal with happiness and b) I liked the slightly increased damage. The recoil didn’t really bother me. Jolly because I don’t find the Adamant sets to be nearly as effective. Kangaskhan is a lot less scary when it doesn’t have the Speed investment.

Zach’s comments: Mega Kangaskhan has been a pretty tough thing to take down most of the season, mostly when it’s surrounded by things that help it do its job. It paired very well with two Intimidate users and especially well with the Gyarados, which was the major draw to this team.

 

Harrison’s Gyarados:

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
252 HP / 44 Def / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Ice Fang

Zach’s Gyarados:

Gyarados @ Wacan Berry
252 HP / 20 Atk / 20 Def / 28 SDef / 188 Spe
Impish Nature
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt

• Survives Modest Mega Manectric Thunderbolt 100% of the time
• 2HKOs 252HP Tyranitar with Waterfall 100% of the time
• Outspeeds Jolly 252 Speed Tyranitar
• I realize a Jolly nature would have given me one extra speed point, but I already made Snake breed like 15 Pokemon for me over the span of a week so I wasn’t about to ask for another after I realized my mistake just to get one more stat point

Harrison’s comments: Gyarados was mostly a last minute addition in order to stop Smeargle, because no one wants to lose to one. Despite Lum Berry not being used once (and therefore Leftovers or Wacan Berry would’ve been a better choice) Gyarados tended to put in solid work whenever I brought it. There’s not a whole lot of speed control right now, so having it was nice, especially on something with Intimidate. The 44 Defense EVs were legitimately just an EV dump. Up until the day of the tournament I had Stone Edge, but made a last second change to Ice Fang. It was a good choice; I ran into no situations where I would’ve rather had Stone Edge.

Zach’s comments: Wacan Berry was handy during three battles, two times versus Rotom and one time versus Gardevoir, allowing Gyarados to survive their respective Thunderbolts. Although it was a pretty good choice that day, I think it could afford to be tested; I didn’t do much testing with Gyarados before the Regional with any other item, so there are a ton of options out there that could potentially be superior to Wacan. As far as the Gyarados itself goes, I loved this version of it. I’ve run both Choice Band and Mega in the past, and while I think both of those are solid options, this bulky one was far and away my favorite fit in any of the metagames we’ve had this year. It helped Kangaskhan immensely with Thunder Wave + Intimidate, it outsped and Taunted a lot of common threats, and provided some decent attacking coverage moves, as Tyranitar and Charizard-Y were looming issues for the team without Gyarados around.

Harrison’s Rotom-H:

Rotom-H @ Choice Scarf
36 HP / 252 SAtk / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Hidden Power Ice
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt

Zach’s Rotom-H:

Rotom-H @ Sitrus Berry
244 HP / 4 Def / 188 SAtk / 4 SDef / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-Wisp
- Protect

• From max health, knocks 252 HP / 4 SDef Aegislash out of Substitute range for two turns 100% of the time (assuming Leftovers heals it back up)
• OHKOs Ray’s bulky Careful Mawile 100% of the time
• Survives Timid Life Orb Salamence Draco Meteor
• Outspeeds -1 Kangaskhan

Harrison’s comments: Rotom-H is garbage. It missed every Overheat it used all day and got critical hit more than once during inopportune times. Legitimately every loss I had could be traced to some fault of Rotom-H.

Zach’s comments: Sitrus Berry was nearly mandatory on Rotom. I know Harrison ran Scarf, and I did like that, but I felt with the huge upswing in Aegislash, it was important to be able to take two Shadow Balls (allowing me a turn to risk damage on a switch in if needed.)

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
252 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SAtk / 76 SDef
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
- King’s Shield

• Credit goes to Simon for the spread
• Survives 252 SAtk Timid Charizard Heat Wave in sun 100% of the time
• Still does all the other Aegislash things other than KOing Biosci’s anti-Simon-Aegislash Gardevoir

Harrison’s comments: To me, Weakness Policy Aegislash is one of those early metagame Pokemon that everyone moves past and doesn’t give a second look at. However, a bulkier spread has definitely given it new life. I’m sure there’s a number of people who think I should have Substitute over Shadow Sneak, but there were really only one or two games where I could’ve safely gotten the Substitute off. I’m not really sure why, but it seemed to be the most consistent Aegislash I’ve used.

Zach’s comments: I really wanted to test the Weakness Policy Aegislash after being pushed into a corner numerous times by them on Showdown. I think the Substitute + Leftovers set is more consistent and a better option on most teams, but for some reason this just seemed to click here. I needed something on this team to put offensive pressure on the opponent outside of Kangaskhan, and this filled that role pretty well. I liked the locks it gave me on Garchomp and Salamence especially. Hilariously enough, I was put to sleep more times by Infiltrator Jumpluff than by Amoonguss all day, so there’s that, too, I guess…

Salamence @ Life Orb
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Rock Tomb
- Protect

• As straightforward as spreads go
• Rock Tomb was really solid for slowing Kangaskhan down to allow Rotom to outspeed and either burn or KO before it took a Return

Harrison’s comments: I think Scarf Salamence needs to be phased out. Between Garvdevoir and Azumarill I think Choice Scarf is more of a liability than an asset. Life Orb was pretty solid. Rock Tomb is the weirdest thing here; it was mostly included in order to nail Mega Charizard Y without the risk of Stone Edge. The speed control was a neat bonus, but probably ultimately unnecessary since Gyarados had Thunder Wave. Hydro Pump probably would’ve been more useful.

Zach’s comments: Constantly went back and forth between LO and Scarf the week before, but with Gyarados having Thunder Wave and an extra Intimidate to help deal with opposing Salamence and Garchomp, respectively, I figured having a little extra power for non-dragons would be appropriate as I didn’t need the speed as badly. The lack of a second resistant switch in for Dragon-type moves also nudged me towards going with the item that allowed me to Protect. There were pros and cons to both, but on this team, Life Orb was the better choice.

The post GyaraDos Veces Dieciséis appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Introduction

I’m Sprocket, also known by my real name of Matthew Crews. I hail from Phoenix City in the Arizona Region, a relatively obscure city somewhere in the southwest United States. The weather here is Sunny Day 300 days out of the year, often with the occasional Drought, and rarely do the weather folk issue a Snow Warning or a chance of Drizzle, though the native peoples often perform a Rain Dance. I’ve played Pokemon since the days of Red and Blue, but only recently started playing competitively. My VGC experience includes the Spring 2012 Regional in Colorado Springs (5-1-1 record) and Fall 2013 Regional here in Phoenix (4-3 record), where I played average both times and never made top cut. This time I decided to travel away from my desert dwellings to Emerald City, known to some as Seattle, to compete in the Northwest Regional.

Seattle ended up being a much, much larger Regional than anyone had expected: 249 Masters, 71 Seniors, and 25 Juniors. The attendance meant that the top cut for Masters would feature 16 people rather than the expected 8, and participants would have to play 8 rounds of Swiss. My goal was to make top cut, which meant if I wanted to secure top cut, I would need to win seven games to guarantee making it in, or six to make it a possibility.

Team Analysis

My team building process is haphazard at best, random at worst, and downright insane all the time. I don’t recommend it. I was fiddling with my team up until the very last minute, breeding possible candidates the night before, and finalizing movesets while in line to register. I don’t like playing on Pokemon Showdown, instead preferring to test in a “live” environment whenever possible. I experimented with all sorts of different combinations, trying out Infiltrator Jumpluff, Kangaskhan, different Rotom builds, and even a mixed Scarf Garchomp at one point, before finally settling on a more balanced team that didn’t rely on gimmicks and just performed well consistently.

Meowstic-M @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Impish
252 HP / 252 Defense / 4 Sp.Defense
-Safeguard
-Swagger
-Quick Guard
-Thunder Wave

Meowstic is a Pokemon I knew I had to use on my team because of its utility. Its nickname, Purrball, is the same as my real life cat’s name. Quick Guard is used to stop Fake Out and rival Prankster users, Safeguard to put a stop to status, and Swagger and Thunder Wave to round out the set. One might think that I had the makings of a SafeSwag team, and indeed I do, but in practice I was rarely able to make use of the strategy. Instead, I found myself using Thunder Wave and Swagger in a more defensive posture.

The combination of Thunder Wave and Swagger is extremely potent when it can be used. Thunder Wave is an excellent form of Speed control against all but Ground and Electric types, neutralizing an opponent’s Choice Scarf, Tailwind, or Chlorophyll (all very common), and with Prankster it is almost always guaranteed to connect. Swagger, though prone to missing at inopportune times, often forces switches on its own. Combine the two and it cripples opponent, reducing their chance to act to 37.5%. This is better than using evasion boosts, and better in my opinion than relying on Sleep moves like Dark Void or Spore to prevent opponents from acting.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Nature: Jolly
4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Protect

There isn’t a lot to be said about Garchomp that hasn’t already been said. Garchomp is fast, it has reasonable bulk, it has two of the best spread moves in the game, and its hard to stop. I didn’t feel as though I needed to use a Lum Berry because of Meowstic, and Rocky Helmet felt gimmicky, even though it is a fantastic Kangaskhan punisher. Instead, I opted to use a Life Orb, which turns some key 2HKOs into guaranteed OHKOs. It also partially counteracts Intimidate.

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Adamant
252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Sp.Def
-Play Rough
-Iron Head
-Sucker Punch
-Protect

My Mega Pokemon of choice. It was a tough call between Mawile and Kangaskhan, but ultimately Mawile won because of the Intimidate support it provides. I opted for a pure offensive build. While there is merit to using a bulky Mawile, the number of Intimidates floating around meant that I preferred Mawile to hit as hard as possible. Mawile is fairly predictable, but even against good prediction it is a force to be reckoned with.

Chandelure @ Focus Sash
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Modest
4 HP / 252 Sp.Attack / 252 Speed
-Heat Wave
-Shadow Ball
-Overheat
-Protect

Chandelure was brought in as my answer to Aegislash, as well as a check for Gardevoir. Overheat from Chandelure is a guaranteed OHKO on every Aegislash, every time, short of a defensive boost or a Coba Berry, while Shadow Ball and Heat Wave are general purpose attacks. The Focus Sash was used to ensure Chandelure always got at least one hit off. I ran Flash Fire as Chandelure’s ability in order to punish predicted Flare Blitzes and Overheats directed at my Mawile and Bisharp, but Infiltrator is also an equally good choice. 252 Speed EVs guarantee I outspeed all common Rotom formes and at worst speed tie with other unboosted base 80 Speed Pokemon.

Bisharp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Adamant
252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Sp.Def
-Iron Head
-Night Slash
-Sucker Punch
-Protect

I wanted to somehow incorporate Bisharp onto my team as an Intimidate deterrent, and for the most part it seemed to work. I didn’t feel the need to run a fast Bisharp due to Sucker Punch. Instead, I opted for a bulky offensive build. Lum Berry was more of a backup plan in case I couldn’t run Meowstic, since Life Orb was taken by Garchomp and Focus Sash by Chandelure. Ultimately, I didn’t need the Lum Berry.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Nature: Calm
252 HP / 44 Def / 12 Sp.Atk / 180 Sp.Def / 20 Speed
-Hydro Pump
-Thunderbolt
-Will-O-Wisp
-Protect

Originally this was going to be an offensive Rotom-Wash, but I decided to run a bulky build instead. This Rotom-Wash is similar to other bulky Rotoms, and surprisingly durable and hard to take down. However, without Special Attack investment, this Rotom-Wash felt as though it lacked something. Rotom-W spent most of its time spreading Will-O-Wisps and being a target, rather than actually attacking.

Common Leads (based on actual usage)

+

Meowstic + Anything

Meowstic makes a fantastic lead, as it able to set up Safeguard, establish speed control with Thunder Wave, and of course block Fake Out with Prankster Quick Guard. It provides nice synergy with pretty much every Pokemon on my team, with the possible exception of Rotom-Wash due to overlapping status (Thunder Wave vs Will-O-Wisp). Another aspect of Meowstic is its unpredictable nature: until it reveals its moveset, you can’t know for certain what it will do, and a smart player will use this uncertainty to his advantage.

Meowstic + Chandelure

In particular Meowstic + Chandelure is a tough combo for my opponent to predict against. With Focus Sash, Chandelure is free to fire off at least one attack (barring a double target), or to Protect, which leaves Meowstic open to do what it does best. Chandelure is also somewhat annoying to predict against, because it can run several viable sets, and until I reveal its moveset, I have the upper hand.

Chandelure + Mawile

Another interesting combination to use as a lead. Though they both share a Ground-type weakness, both Mawile and Chandelure could score an early KO or go for misdirection and switch to a Pokemon waiting in the back. Mawile also establishes an early Intimidate, and often forces a switch on its own.

Swiss Rounds

Round 1 vs Nathan Rojas (0-0)

His Team: Gardevoir, Mawile, Hydreigon, Meowstic, Tyranitar, Charizard

He brought Gardevoir, Meowstic, Hydreigon, Mawile
I brought Bisharp, Garchomp, Mawile, Chandelure

Battles are often decided before the first turn begins, but in this case this battle was decided because of the first turn. His Gardevoir’s Moonblast triggered a Special Attack drop on Bisharp, which triggered Defiant and allowed me to OHKO his Meowstic and nearly OHKO his Gardevoir with Sucker Punch. From there it was cleanup for the remaining members of my team, resulting in a 3-0 win.

Round 2 vs Kenny Ho (1-0)

His Team: Charizard, Venusaur, Scrafty, Rotom-Wash, Garchomp, Nidoking

He brought Venusaur, Scrafty, Garchomp, Nidoking
I brought Meowstic, Rotom, Chandelure, Bisharp

I lost Chandelure and Rotom fairly early, but I was able to recover thanks to Meowstic spreading Thunder Wave and Swagger. It also saw my only chance in the tournament to use Swagger to boost Bisharp’s attack to +4. Venusaur was carrying a Lum Berry which meant Charizard was likely Charizard Y, and that Nidoking was likely Choiced, but it fell to a +4 Sucker Punch before it could attack. I won 2-0.

Round 3 vs Adam Moyer (2-0)

His Team: Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Mienshao, Gardevoir, Talonflame, Charizard

He used Mienshao, Talonflame, Rotom-Wash, Gardevoir
I used Meowstic, Chandelure, Garchomp, Rotom

Adam led with his Mienshao and Talonflame, while I led with Meowstic and Chandelure. He played very well, but I was able to stop Brave Bird shenanigans with Quick Guard. When Gardevoir switched in, it traced Chandelure’s Flash Fire, and I made the rookie mistake of Overheating it the next turn, bringing me down 2-3. Garchomp and Rotom-Wash were able to clean up though, and I won 1-0.

Round 4 vs Gabby Snyder (3-0)

Her team: Rotom-Heat, Chesnaught, Aerodactyl, Aegislash, Kangaskhan, Sylveon

She brought Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Chesaught, Aerodactyl
I brought Chandelure, Mawile, Garchomp, Rotom

This ended up being a very interesting battle, with Gabby using a Mega Kangaskhan with Rock Tomb, Sylveon with Skill Swap and Misty Terrain, and a shiny Chesnaught which is rarely seen due to the abundance of Talonflame. Sylveon ended up Skill Swapping Huge Power away from Mawile, while her Chesnaught avoided the Will-O-Wisp and promptly KO’d both Rotom-W and Garchomp with Wood Hammer. Mawile and Chandelure were able to salvage the match, however, and I won 2-0.

Round 5 vs Alberto Lara (4-0), eventual 7-1 and 2^nd place in Swiss

His Team: Talonflame, Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Salamence, Charizard, Garchomp

He brought Talonflame, Meowstic, Charizard-Y, Garchomp
I brought Meowstic, Chandelure, Garchomp, Rotom

As I’ve said, Meowstic is one of those Pokemon that you can’t predict on the first turn. This a battle where I regretted my choice of Flash Fire Chandelure over Infiltrator. I open with Quick Guard to block his Brave Bird, but he opens with Light Screen which prevents Chandelure’s Shadow Ball from OHKOing his Meowstic. He ends up setting up Double Screens and Safeguard, blocking my attempt to spread status, and hampering my ability to score easy KOs. I lose 0-2.

Round 6 vs Brett Wyborney (4-1)

His Team: Gengar, Lucario, Kangaskhan, Haxorus, Garchomp, Talonflame

He brings Kangaskhan, Lucario, Haxorus, Talonflame
I bring Chandelure, Mawile, Garchomp, Meowstic

He opens the battle with a Kangaskhan and Lucario lead, a combination I’ve never encountered. To my surprise his Lucario Mega Evolves, and he scores an easy OHKO on my switch-in Garchomp with Flash Cannon, while Kangaskhan is able to Fake Out Chandelure and disrupt me from the start. The next turn Haxorus switches in and is paralyzed by Meowstic’s Thunder Wave, and Kangaskhan is burned by Chandelure’s Heat Wave. Lucario scores a clean OHKO on Mawile with Flash Cannon (I was not able to Mega Evolve it), while Chandelure continues to Heat Wave and chip away at my opponent until it comes down to his Talonflame vs Chandelure and Meowstic. I win 2-0.

Round 7 vs Niv Shachaf (5-1)

His Team: Sableye, Garchomp, Charizard Y, Mamoswine, Greninja, Aegislash

He brings Garchomp, Charizard Y, Mamoswine, Aegislash
I bring Meowstic, Mawile, Rotom, Garchomp

Seeing his Sableye, I know my Meowstic will be required to neutralize it, so its an obvious lead. First turn he leads with Charizard and Garchomp, I with Meowstic and Mawile. First turn is a wash with three Protects and my revealed Thunder Wave, but the second turn ends up being quite interesting. I Swagger the Charizard spot while he switches in Mamoswine, which proceeds to KO itself across three turns of confusion, effectively making it useless the entire battle. I forgot to use PP Up on Mawile, so I actually ran out of Sucker Punch uses, another rookie mistake that almost cost me the match! Eventually it came down to Swagger and Thunder Wave winning me the game versus his Charizard Y, with the final score being 2-0.

Round 8 vs Tony “Chinese Dood” Cheung (6-1), eventual tournament winner

His Team: Gengar, Scizor, Gyarados, Staraptor, Rotom-H, Raichu

He brought Gengar, Raichu, Staraptor, Rotom-H
I brought Bisharp, Meowstic, Chandelure, Garchomp

Going into this battle, I didn’t know I would be battling the eventual tournament champion. Nugget Bridge streamed several of his battles in top cut rounds, and he plays very impressively every time. Admittedly his team is extremely impressive and unique.

What I did know is that he has Gengar, which screamed Perish Trap to me; also Raichu is a major annoyer with Encore and Fake Out. Most people didn’t seem to be familiar with Raichu; however I knew Raichu inside out. Meowstic’s utility will be key, and Bisharp will also be needed to counter his two Intimidators, so I lead with them versus his Mega Gengar and Raichu.

I open with Quick Guard to block his predicted Fake Out, and Bisharp manages to OHKO his Mega Gengar with a critical hit Night Slash on the first turn! I later ran the damage calculations and a non-critical hit had a 56% chance of OHKOing anyway, so that critical hit may not have mattered. This stopped Tony from setting up “Perish Encore” on the first turn, and I imagine it threw him for a loop. From there it was a matter of simply outplaying and overpowering him. Not running Infiltrator on Chandelure could have cost me versus his Rotom-H due to his Substitute, but he Overheated into my Chandelure switch in. With the Flash Fire boost, Heat Wave was then enough to keep his Substitutes down. After the battle he admitted that he probably wasn’t playing his A game, since he likely made Top Cut anyway regardless of the outcome. I won 4-0, sweeping him.

Top 16 battle

My record at the end of Swiss was 7-1, putting me in 5^th place for Swiss rounds and securing my Top Cut placement. This would be my first time making Top Cut at a Regional, and I’ll admit I was rather nervous. I had studied up on best-of-three tactics, so I had a fairly good idea what to do: Game 1, gather information. Game 2 and 3, turn that information around for the win.

My battle for top 16 would be against Jason “Arti” Wynja, a Nugget Bridge regular.

Top 16 battle vs Jason “Arti” Wynja (6-2)

His team: Talonflame, Lanturn, Manectric, Salamence, Ferrothorn, Azumarill

Battle 1
He brought Talonflame, Azumarill, Mega Manectric, Lanturn
I brought Meowstic, Garchomp, Bisharp, Mawile

The first battle went rather poorly for me. I didn’t have an answer for Mega Manectric, since a Mega Manectric’s HP Ice will OHKO Garchomp, and it was my only Ground type. Azumarill is another Pokemon I didn’t want to battle, since only my Rotom-Wash could really do any damage to it. Lanturn also surprised me by revealing it was wearing a Choice Scarf and knew Ice Beam, scoring a clean OHKO on Garchomp before I could Earthquake. I lost the first battle 0-2.

The second battle is the highlight of my entire night. You can watch the replay here, recorded after the fact with my cell phone:

Yes, that’s right. Choice Scarf Lanturn with Soak! Admittedly Jason outplayed me on a couple turns, but Choice Scarf Lanturn with Soak! Absolutely crazy way for my opponent to win! I’m not even mad, I’m impressed!

Probably the most impressive part though is Jason scoring a Paralysis on Garchomp, something every Electric type dreams of.

So that’s the end of my Washington VGC Regionals run. Top 16 out of 249 Masters is a good way to end any way you look at it, and I’m quite happy.

Post Mortem Team Analysis

Looking back at my usage statistics, my four core Pokemon were Garchomp (9 out of 10 battles, lead 2/10), Meowstic (7 out of 10 battles, lead 6/10), Mawile (6 out of 10 battles, lead 4/10), and Chandelure (7 out of 10 battles, lead 4/10). Rotom-W (6 out of 10 battles, lead 2/10) was a reluctant fifth, while Bisharp was a sixth (5 out of 10, lead 2/10). The four core Pokemon performed the best and were used to their fullest extent, despite a few misplays.

Meowstic

Meowstic is easily my MVP of the tournament. If I had to change anything about it, I would change its nature from Impish to Bold and maybe balance its defenses (Impish was its nature only because this specific Meowstic tried a Fake Out set in the past, and I didn’t feel like re-breeding). Thunder Wave and Swagger proved valuable and I’m happy I ran with those options. Quick Guard is also one of the best reasons to use Meowstic at all, and in my opinion any Meowstic not running it should be replaced with a different Pokemon.

Usage – 7/10

Garchomp

Garchomp is a formidable offensive presence, and no one likes to take a Life Orb boosted Earthquake or Rock Slide. It also draws a lot of attention to itself and care must be used when dealing with it. I rarely led with Garchomp, preferring to put it in the back until it was safe to switch in.

Usage – 9/10

Mawile

As a Mega Pokemon, Mawile puts pressure on my opponent to take it out, neutralize it, or play to avoid a hard hitting Sucker Punch. As an Intimidate lead Mawile is fantastic, and I feel that support justified my choice to use it over Kangaskhan. I never felt the need to run Fire Fang, nor did I feel that I needed to run a bulky Mega Mawile, but I might try it in future tournaments.

Usage – 6/10

Chandelure

Chandelure performed exactly as I wanted it to perform, with one caveat. Running Flash Fire instead of Infiltrator cost me in my fifth match, and could have cost me in my second and eighth matches as well. I wasn’t able to utilize Overheat as much as I hoped, but the combination of Shadow Ball and Heat Wave proved sufficient for me. In the future, I might run Fire Blast over Overheat (I don’t like the Special Attack drop from Overheat), or even try an Imprison set.

Usage – 7/10

Rotom-W

I was not terribly happy using Rotom-W. A lot of times I felt it was more of a liability or a target than a benefit to my team. Rotom-W was extremely bulky and could take hits like a champ, but I felt the lack of offensive presence could have cost me a few battles. Will-O-Wisp also didn’t always mesh well with Meowstic’s Thunder Wave, forcing me to choose between crippling my opponent’s Speed or their Attack.

Usage – 6/10

Bisharp

Bisharp sadly was my LVP. It scored a few key KOs when it needed to, but Defiant put pressure on my opponents to not bring Intimidators, negating its reason for being on my team. I could have easily replaced Bisharp with a different Dark or Steel type such as Lucario, Aegislash, or Weavile. With any of those, I would still be able to counter key threats such as Gardevoir, Meowstic, and Mega Gengar.

Usage – 5/10

Opposing Team Statistics

I kept excellent notes on what my opponents brought, and which Pokemon were Megas. The whole Seattle metagame is very strange when you think about it. Some people reported seeing more Machamp than Kangaskhan! Not to mention someone winning with a Raichu of all things!

The big names — Garchomp, Talonflame, Kangaskhan, Charizard, Rotom, and Gardevoir — are well represented. If your opponent has them, its very likely they will bring them. Salamence was very underused in my opinion, as was Aegislash and Gengar (though Chandelure and Bisharp are both strong threats). Overall its refreshing to see the kind of diversity we have; it means the metagame is healthy and people are inventing creative sets, and its not completely dominated by the big names.

Final Thoughts

This Regional was an awful lot of fun, and I’m glad I attended. Though I didn’t win, I did make 5^th place in Swiss, which I couldn’t be happier with. Making top cut was a major achievement. I will be making some adjustments to this team to counter a few key threats, but the core seems fairly solid and I’m happy with it.

The post Defiant Swagger in the Emerald City: Top 16 Seattle Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello everyone! My name is Ama Bon and I am from Indonesia, a country that has a very small competitive Pokémon community. You can find me on Nugget Bridge (amadayo), Twitter (@ama_dayo), or on X/Y itself (my in-game name is Ama). I’m really new to the world of competitive Pokémon; this year marks the first Pokémon competition I have played in so far.

I didn’t even expect much of myself when I first entered the Indonesia Qualifiers Tournament in February but I’m quite satisfied with my results! I finished 13th, which means I would later be competing in the 2014 Asia Cup Tournament on March 30, 2014. I was really happy that I joined this tournament because I made a lot of good friends and we could share our ideas about Pokémon with each other. I also found out that playing Pokémon competitively really is fun! Whether you play rated battles or join a tournament like this, you surely will enjoy yourself! I never knew the Asia Cup actually had over 1000 people participating! That’s pretty amazing.

So, let’s move on to the story itself. On February 2, 2014 I competed in the Asia Cup 2014 Indonesia Qualifiers. Also, on that day I wasn’t quite sure whether I could come or not because my city was flooding due to the rainy season that month! At last I did come to the tournament and finished 5th in the Top 8 cut, which was quite surprising because I didn’t have any experience. But thanks to my family (especially my brother and my friends who came there to support me) I managed to do well at the tournament! So I guess that’s quite enough; let’s jump to the team itself!

The Team

Champing* (Machamp) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability : No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 132 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Wide Guard
- Quick Guard
- Dynamic Punch

Machamp is really the most important Pokémon in my team because it supports Zapdos and Charizard really, really well! As you can see, the only attacking move I had on Machamp is Dynamic Punch; if Machamp was faced against a Ghost-type Pokémon then it would be the end for me! The reason I chose Machamp is because it could use Quick Guard and also Wide Guard, which were necessary for my team. As you can see, both Zapdos and Mega Charizard Y are really fragile to Rock Slides so for me, Machamp was the Pokemon of the match in every one of my battles! By leading with Machamp in the front, I could also pressure opposing Tyraintar by forcing them to Protect or switch out. Machamp’s Wide Guard also protects my Rhyperior from getting Earthquaked by opposing Garchomp. Here are a few damage calculations that explain the EV spread on my Machamp.

• 252+ SpA Gardevoir Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 132 SpD Machamp: 170-204 (86.2 – 103.5%) – 18.8% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 132 SpD Machamp: 152-179 (77.1 – 90.8%) – guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 124 Def Machamp: 145-172 (73.6 – 87.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 252 Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 124 Def Machamp: 156-186 (79.1 – 94.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Two Pokémon in particular could be really troublesome to my team, which is why I used this EV spread on Machamp. Mega Kangaskhan was a big threat so I created this EV spread to survive a Return or maybe a Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan and heal myself with Sitrus Berry. Then, Machamp could bring Mega Kangaskhan’s HP down to 10% with Dynamic Punch and the next turn it will potentially hit itself through confusion for the KO. Talonflame was also a really big threat. Thanks to Quick Guard I was safe from those Brave Birds! There is a video down below that shows how effective Machamp’s EV spread really is; Machamp survives a 252+ SpA Moonblast from Gardevoir in one video and even survives a Draco Meteor from Life Orb Hydreigon followed by an Energy Ball from Chandelure (after consuming its Sitrus Berry) in another video.

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability : Pressure
EVs : 252 HP / 4 Def / 84 SAtk / 148 SDef / 20 Spd
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Ancient Power
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Zapdos! One of the best legendary birds! The reason why Zapdos is outclassed now is because it can no longer learn Heat Wave anymore without move tutors. Yet it really is still a great Pokémon in my opinion! To be honest I was quite confused if I should use Zapdos or Rotom-W in my team, but when I used Rotom I realized that my team was really weak to opposing Charizard-Y, and the fact that my Charizard-Y didn’t have AncientPower, opposing Charizard could just KO anything out on the field. So I decided to use Zapdos instead of Rotom-W.

After a lot of tries, I felt like Garchomp was also a big threat to my team, so I decided to borrow my friend’s game and catch a Modest Zapdos with a Hidden Power Ice! A big thanks to my friend named Dee for this beast! I originally used Choice Specs on my Zapdos but after a lot of consideration, I chose Life Orb so I didn’t have to switch out to use Hidden Power Ice when I would otherwise be locked into Thunderbolt. I also feel like my team is not able to switch in and out often because many of them have the same weaknesses. I invested EVs into the SDef because I wanted to survive strong special moves like Draco Meteor, Moonblast and Aegislash’s Shadow Ball. With the SpA EVs I was be able to OHKO normal 4 HP Garchomp and every Salamence because most Salamence were Scarfed and Mixed so there wouldn’t be any bulky Salamence out there. 252 HP also let me survive Mega Kangaskhan’s Return and Garchomp would usually 3HKO my Zapdos with Rock Slide. Thanks to the Life Orb boosted Hidden Power Ice, Garchomp was not quite as threatening as before.

(Rhypey) Rhyperior @ Weakness Policy
Ability : Solid Rock
IVs : 31/31/21/31/31/31
EVs : 252 Hp / 88 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SDef
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Hammer Arm

Yes I know, there are only 21 Defense IVs! I was really looking for a shiny Rhyperior, so I started breeding it at my friends house while we were studying for an exam the next day and surprisingly I hatched a shiny Rhyhorn! Unfortunately it was a 5 IV, lacking Defense. I calculated the stats and found it had 21 Defense IVs, so I decided to use it afterall. This Pokémon helped me a LOT, especially against Trick Room. Even without Trick Room, this Pokémon does a really great job, because Garchomp would only 3HKO my Rhyperior and at the same time trigger the Weakness Policy. After that it will take Garchomp down to around 20% health. It also sometimes outspeeds Mega Mawiles and OHKO it with +2 Earthquake. Also, Mega Kangaskhan users always seem to Power Up Punch Rhyperior which only does around 30% damage, then I can OHKO in return with a +2 Hammer Arm.

Rhyperior paired up with Mega Charizard-Y is great because the effect of Drought decreases the power of Water-type moves. Sometimes Electric-types, such as Mega Manectric, which really threaten Mega Charizard-Y would be afraid to use Thunderbolt because they think that Rhyperior has the Lightning Rod Ability. The SDef EVs do give it a chance to survive a Hydro Pump from Rotom-W outside of sun and some Flash Cannon from Aegislash.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability : Iron Barbs
IVs : 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs : 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Impish Nature
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed

I didn’t use Ferrothorn a lot, but sometimes it helped me in battle. If the enemy didn’t have any Fire- or Fighting-type moves then Ferrothorn could just stall them out with Leech Seed! I was a little concerned that there were so many Modest Tyranitars out there with Fire Blast. I liked to use the best-of-three format to scout a little, and check for Fire Blasts on the opposing team before bringing Ferrothorn to the next match.

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
EVs : 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 Hp
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Dragon Claw

I think Garchomp is one of the best Pokémon about, and this is reflected by it being number 1 in the usage stats. I need Garchomp in my team to bring Mega Charizard-Y down because it’s really dangerous to my team if it stays in the arena with sun up. I need Focus Sash to survive some unexpected Hidden Power Ice, or a Scarfed Salamence with Draco Meteor, but it always did a good job at handling opposing Charizard really well.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability : Blaze > Drought
EVs : 252 SpA / 100 Def / 156 Spd
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Overheat
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam

Last but not least, the mighty Mega Charizard-Y! Charizard-Y is the main star of my team, and in my opinion is one of the best Mega Evolutions out there! With Wide Guard support from Machamp, this Pokémon is a beast! A Modest 252 SpA Overheat is really enough to OHKO most Fairy-types like Gardevoir, which is a threat to Machamp. Sometimes it could even OHKO unboosted Florges. The reason I choose 100 Def EVs is because I wanted to survive a Brave Bird from Talonflame which is really dangerous if not accounted for. There’s not much to talk about regarding Mega Charizard Y because a lot of people already use it and have explained the spreads. I found in rated battles my Charizard would speed tie other Charizard, which meant there are also so many other players using the same spread with 156 Speed EVs. Of course Mega Charizard-Y helped me through a lot of difficult battles and close battles.

Common Leads

Machamp + Zapdos

This is the most common lead and I use this lead in almost every match I’ve played. This lead is quite good for handling the popular double Dragon lead, where I would go for a surprise Wide Guard to catch them out. This lead also counters Kangaskhan and Talonflame leads, because Ancient Power OHKO’s Talonflames and Machamp could help Zapdos out by defeating the Kangaskhan.

Garchomp + Charizard

This is the combo I bring if the opposing team uses weather. I usually Mega Evolve to change the weather to sun and then switch out my Charizard because the opposing team is likely to reset the weather. Then, on another turn, when I need the weather to be gone, Charizard would come back to the arena and reset the Sun.

Indonesia Qualifiers Tournament (5 Round Swiss)

Note: At the Indonesia Qualifier Tournament I used Flamethrower instead of Overheat and Air Slash instead of Heat Wave.

Round 1 vs Guy

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I don’t quite remember the battle, but it was quite good to start the tournament with for me as it gave me a confidence boost for the following rounds.

Win (1 – 0)

Round 2 vs Jack

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As soon as I saw his team, I knew it would be Trick Room-based. This match had a number of rolls going either way, though what sticks out most for me was a crucial Air Slash miss. Overall it was a really intense battle with a close ending where my Charizard with only 4HP remaining was against his Mega Mawile, which survived an Earthquake from my Rhyperior with 1 HP. It was a really fun game, and he was the first friend I made at the tournament!

Loss (1 – 1)

Round 3 vs Yufen

One thing I remembered about this player is that Garchomp had a Yache Berry and my Zapdos got knocked out by Sneasel and a Rock Slide from Garchomp. Sneasel didn’t hit itself during confusion for about three turns, while it hung on with a 1 HP left from a Focus Sash. It ended up my three vs his one Trevenant stalling out, so I let my Rhyperior and Machamp faint so I could bring my Charizard in without taking any damage, and then finished the match with Flamethrower.

Win (2 – 1 )

Round 4 vs Stevan

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This guy really confused me in Team Preview. I had to take a really long time to think and it ended up being a really great match! I got quite lucky during this game as I successfully got two Protects in a row off with my Ferrothorn. Close match!

Win (3 – 1)

Round 5 vs Mightaditya

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I noticed the team was really similar to Ray Rizzo’s team, which I had just read the team report for. It even had the same items as Ray! I got quite lucky in the third turn with a critical hit on both opponents from Rhyperior’s Earthquake which knocked out both Tyranitar and Mega Mawile.

Win : (4 – 1)

With my performance, I qualified for the Southeast Asia Qualifier Tournament which would determine who would play in the 2014 Asia Cup.

Southeast Asia Qualifiers Tournament (5 Round Swiss)

Round 1 vs BlueInfinity (Marlon Valeza)

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When I looked at my opponent’s team in Team Preview, it looked like a standard Rated Battle Spot Special team, which I’ve had plenty of practice against. I won this match.
Win (1 – 0)

Round 2 vs Kelvin (Kelvin Klein Lazam)

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I was really afraid of Swagger-boosted Garchomp and Kangaskhan, but I managed to pull through and win the game!

Win (2 – 0)

Round 3 vs Maxdrassil (Max Evilwolf)

GDRG-WWWW-WWW6-GU3H

Even though I’d read Evilwolf’s team report in advance, I still didn’t have a counter for Ghost-types. His Chandelure ended up giving me trouble. I was also surprised that his Tyranitar could survive a Solar Beam from Charizard. Evilwolf is a great player, and I liked the way he utilized relatively rarely-seen Pokemon. I ended up losing, and I felt I had to play better in the next round in order to stay alive in the tournament.

Loss (2 – 1)

Round 4 vs Ronaldojj (Jun Jie Lim)

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Win (3 – 1)

Round 5 vs MegaOddish (Nelson Lim)

His Team Preview showed Garchomp, which was the only Pokémon on his team I was really afraid of. He chose not to bring the Garchomp, however, so my Charizard was safe to repeatedly Heat Wave the opposing Pokémon and secure the win.

Win (4 – 1)

In my second tournament, I ended up finishing third overall and first among Indonesians. My good friend Jason finished fourth overall and second among Indonesians. Both of our showings were good enough to qualify us for the Asia Cup! Neither of us expected to get this far, so getting to the Asia Cup was a great achievement.

Asia Cup Spring 2014 Tournament ( 30 March 2014 )

Round 1 vs MegaOddish (Nelson Lim) [SG]

This battle ended up being a really close match. I led with my usual Zapdos and Machamp versus my opponent’s Azumarill and Amoonguss. My opponent managed to put both of my leads to sleep in the first two turns, while Machamp’s Dynamic Punch revealed that Azumarill had a Lum Berry. Waterfall from Azumarill 2HKOed my Zapdos, allowing me to switch Charizard in and get up the Sun. My Heat Wave the next turn failed to OHKO Amoonguss, as it revealed an Occa Berry, but I did manage to get a burn on Azumarill! This allowed Machamp to survive the incoming Play Rough, and it woke up and knocked out Azumarill with Dynamic Punch. I got another critical burn on his Salamence later in the match, which allowed me to survive its Rock Slide and KO it back with Overheat for the win.

Win (1 – 0)

Round 2 vs Maxdrassil (Max Evilwolf) [SG]

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I don’t know what but I kept playing against opponents I had battled against in other tournaments. This was a really close match. I used defensive switching to help me win the match.

Round 3 vs Miraba [JP]

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I lost this match. I didn’t have any counters to Ghost-type Pokémon on my team, so Gengar was able to help him take the win.

Lose (2-1)

Round 4 vs See [JP]

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Another Gengar, another loss. I remember I rushed through Team Preview and the first turn of the match, which was a big mistake. Zapdos fainted on the first turn and it went downhill from there.

Lose (2 – 2)

Final Round vs Sepia [KR]

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This was quite a close match. We ended up with my Rhyperior versus her Gardevoir at the end. I was worried that Gardevoir had a Grass-type move, such as Magical Leaf or Energy Ball, but luckily she didn’t and I was able to win the match.

Win (3 – 2)

Finishing Thoughts

My friend Jason (witzel) and I both finished the tournament with the same score ( 3 – 2 ). For our first year playing competitive Pokémon, these are great results! This was also the first time Indonesia was able to enter an international event and I am very happy that I could participate this year. Jason managed to participate in the Top Cut, and Team Indonesia was cheering him on! Unfortunately, he lost in the Top 8 to bicho (@bicho_5296) which means he finished in 8th place. The battle was on stream and it was a really great match, but sadly Jason didn’t have any counters to bicho’s Mega Venusaur once his Mega Charizard-X fainted.

I guess that’s it for my team report. I hope next year we’ll do better and I hope you guys enjoyed my team report. I would like to give credit to a really awesome guy, Huy Ha (Huy) and Soon for allowing me to post here. You guys rock! Also, I must give a really HUGE thank you to Michael Pond Wijaya, Ryan and my brother Aya Bon who all gave me encouragement for each round. Thank you to my friends (especially Timidsony) who helped me a lot with practice matches and gave me shiny Pokémon to compete with. I would also like to thank Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) for his VGC videos. Even though we don’t know each other, I couldn’t have done well at the tournament without your videos.

The details for the Asia Cup can be found here. Thank you so much for reading my article!

The post Takes it Like a Champ! Asia Cup Spring 2014 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, my name is Bridger Snow, known as squirtwo here on Nugget Bridge. I am going to give you a look at a slightly different, yet highly effective Trick Room team that I used to take 16^th place at the SoCal Regional and 3^rd at the Utah Regional.

The Beginning

I started out with a hard Trick Room team based around Exploud’s STAB Boomburst.  Trevenant was used to set up Trick Room and Mr. Mime was able to avoid damage from Boomburst through its Soundproof Ability. Scrafty’s job was to help set up Trick Room with Fake Out, and dish out damage once Trick Room was in effect. Azumarill functioned well in the twisted dimensions and was still able to use Aqua Jet after speed returned to normal.  Arcanine added a second Intimidate to the team, as well as working well if I couldn’t get Trick Room up. I practiced a lot on the Battle Spot Doubles Ladder before any official VGC format had been announced. I got used to how the team functioned, but it just wasn’t working as well as I wanted it to.

After the format was announced, I had to replace Arcanine. I also took out Azumarill because I was still too weak to Intimidate, and I wanted to have a Mega Evolution on my team.  This led me to Blastoise with his strong Water Spout and Bisharp with his anti-Intimidate ability in Defiant. These two didn’t last long, however, because I found myself losing any time my opponent had a good Trick Room counter such as Amoongus or Mawile.  Addressing this weakness would greatly increase the strength of my team; I just had to figure out how to do it.

I realized that almost all of the counters to Trick Room were either Steel- or Grass-types, which both share the common weakness against strong Fire-type moves. Who is the strongest Fire type as of X and Y? Mega Charizard-Y, of course! Forgoing the usual EV spread for Charizard, I added as much bulk as I could without sacrificing its power. With no Speed investment, he could still hold his own under Trick Room against many of the Pokémon in the primarily fast-paced metgame. With max HP and a few Defense EVs, my Charizard found himself able to survive both Rock Slides from Jolly Garchomp and Thunderbolts from Manectric, sitting in the yellow HP range after either attack. Rhydon wasn’t as useful to the team, but he supported Charizard well with his Lightning Rod Ability and he could hit like a truck in Trick Room. Ben Gould (Ben91293) gave me the inspiration to use Rhydon after I read his Top 4 finish at World’s with Rhydon. So, after two modifications to the original six Pokémon, I finally settled on the team I used at the SoCal Regional in Long Beach, California.

Long Beach Team: A Closer Look

Exploud @ Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/1
Quiet Nature
- Boomburst
- Hammer Arm
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Ahh, Exploud: the very reason I started creating this team. There honestly isn’t much to say about him. His main point is to hit hard under Trick Room with Boomburst.  People often did not realize that he had the Scrappy Ability and were confused when Boomburst destroyed their frail Ghost-type Pokémon. Although Exploud was the original heart of the team, when I added Charizard to the team, Exploud was overshadowed. His role instead shifted to a back-up attacker for when I noticed Pokémon that Charizard could not handle during Team Preview, such as Tyranitar, Rotom-H, Garchomp, and Pokémon that resisted Charizard’s Fire-, Grass-, and Rock- moveset.

Mr. Mime @ Lum Bery
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 12 Sp. Atk / 84 SDef
IVs: 31/10/31/31/31/0
Relaxed Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick Room
- Wide Guard
- Quick Guard

Mr. Mime is generally used alongside Exploud or Charizard. His Soundproof stops him from taking damage from Boomburst and any other sound-based moves, which is especially nice thing to have when staring down a PerishTrap team.  Mr. Mime has good special bulk, but he is lacking on the physical side, so I added a lot of EVs there along with a Relaxed nature. The Lum Berry allows Mr. Mime to work around Kangaskhan and Smeargle leads, and also allows me to undo my own Trick Room in the face of Amoongus.

What really makes Mr. Mime shine is how well he partners with Charizard-Y. Wide Guard blocks Rock Slides that scare Charizard, as well as Muddy Waters and Surfs that could otherwise deal significant damage in against a Rain team. Since my Charizard is unusually slow, Mr. Mime can set up Trick Room against the likes of Garchomp, Kangaskhan, and other Charizards which leads my Charizard to the top with its higher defensive EV investment. Mr. Mime works well with Charizard from a typing standpoint as well. Mr. Mime can hit the Dragons that resist Fire-type moves with a super effective Dazzling Gleam, while Charizard can roast the Steel-types that inherently give Fairies trouble.

X and Y introduced a big change to Wide Guard and Quick Guard that made running a set like this possible. I can now use both of them indefinitely with no chance of failing, even if I switch between them. This comes up surprisingly often with almost every member of my team being weak to either a spread move or a priority move. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stopped a Talonflame from finishing off a partner with Brave Bird, then stopped a Rock Slide or Dazzling Gleam immediately after that.  At one point I had Fake Out on Mr. Mime, but I found that I didn’t use it very often, so I went with Quick Guard since it could be used after the first turn. Mr. Mime always finds ways to be valuable no matter what the situation. He is the surprising MVP of the team even though he rarely is the one scoring knockouts.

Trevenant @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 112 Def / 78 SDef
IVs: 31/31/31/16/31/0
Brave Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick Room
- Protect

Trevenant serves multiple purposes for my team. His main goal is generally to set up Trick Room. He also makes a fantastic counter for those troubling Kangaskhan, Rotom-W, Tyranitar, and physical attackers in general. With good overall bulk and the ability to infinitely use his Sitrus Berry, Trevenant can stay on the field for a very long time. Oftentimes he is my last Pokémon standing and can win games all by himself if the opponent is not prepared.

The few Trevenant I have seen before have always had Horn Leech over Wood Hammer. I started that way with mine, but I wanted to be able to hit harder and actually get the KO on Rotom-W, Tyranitar, and Politoed.  With the Attack EVs I can take out bulkier Tyranitars and hit other things with a bit more force. I found that the way Trevenant takes attacks and heals HP back with Sitrus, often leaves him sitting a little above half HP, which means that the recoil I take is usually healed off during the same turn. Wood Hammer also sets Trevenant apart from his twin Ghost/Grass-type, Gourgeist, making him more of a power hitter compared to Gourgeist’s slow, HP-draining strategy.

Scrafty @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
IVs: 31/31/31/27/31/0
Brave Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Detect

Scrafty acts as glue for the team. Intimidate and Fake Out combined with a pretty good defensive typing make Scrafty great for switching in and out. He makes for a great core that I often lean on, consisting of Scrafty, Mr. Mime, Rhydon, and Charizard. Scrafty can take the Rock moves aimed at Charizard really well with his resistant typing and Intimidate Ability.

Fake Out is mainly used to set up Trick Room. It does not have to be used every time that Scrafty is switched onto the field. I often don’t use Fake Out if Trick Room is already up; I normally opt to just start attacking.  You may notice that I have Ice Punch over Crunch, which is what makes this Scrafty slightly different from normal. I honestly was having more trouble with Dragons than I wanted, and I hated when I would be left with Scrafty versus an Intimidated Garchomp — I would often lose because I couldn’t hit it hard enough. Detect is pretty standard, as it helps Scrafty protect itself for a turn.

Rocky Helmet, I think, is a really good item for Scrafty. It punishes a Kangaskhan who tries to Fake Out Scrafty before getting Faked Out herself, and ends up dealing more damage to Kangaskhan in the long run than the damage that Scrafty receives. This also puts most Kangaskhan in knockout range from Drain Punch after attacking Scrafty with any move.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze –> Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 4 Def
IVs: 31/12/31/31/31/0
Quiet Nature
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Ancient Power
- Protect

Charizard is what makes this team work. I bring him to 99% of battles, quite often as a lead. Just about every Trick Room counter is taken down by Charizard’s immense power and convenient typing. The most common way that I’ve seen for people to deal with Trick Room is to tack an Amoonguss, Mawile, Aegislash, Ferrothorn, or something similar on to their team and proceed as if Trick Room was no big deal. Well, when Charizard is on the field, the opponent has to think twice about how haphazardly they throw around their Fire-weak counters. Once their Trick Room counter is out of the way, then I can spam high-powered moves until Charizard faints. Afterwards, I clean up with the other Trick Room friendly members of the team.

I feel that Heat Wave is a must on Charizard Y. Heat Wave’s 90% accuracy does cause problems occasionally, but I find that the risk is still worth the high damage output. Solar Beam is really good when I can almost guarantee the Sun being up the turn that I Mega Evolve. Ancient Power is an odd choice that I mainly used to hit other Fire-types for respectable damage such as Charizard-Y and Talonflame.

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 228 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 120 SDef
IVs: 31/31/31/22/31/0
Brave Nature
- Drill Run
- Rock Slide
- Substitute
- Protect

It is insane how much damage Rhydon can take from the physical attackers. In my top 32 match he was able to take a super-effective, critical hit Iron Head from a non-burned Mega Mawile and then hit back with a super-effective Drill Run. His special tanking ability is pretty incredible as well — fainting only to high power, super-effective moves such as Solar Beam or STAB Giga Drain. Under the sun, not even Rotom-W’s Hydro Pump can take him down.

Aside from taking hits extremely well, Rhydon also has strong offensive capabilites. While he may not be able to OHKO many things without a super-effective hit, he does solid damage to pretty much everything with great STAB coverage. Rock Slide is able to eliminate pesky Talonflame, Rotom-H, and Charizard, while Drill Run threatens the likes of Mawile and Aegislash.

I must give credit to Ben for coming up with this great set. Even though I used it for a slightly different purpose, it was still highly effective.  When I first read about how Ben used Substitute I was skeptical, because I wanted to add another coverage move to Rhydon. After testing it out, however, I realized just how strong Substitute can be. Trick Room very often causes people to play more defensively by switching, Protecting, and trying to stall out the five turns of reversed speed. With Substitute, I can capitalize on that defensive approach by setting up a Substitute, which also helps Rhydon avoid crippling status moves such as Will-O-Wisp and Spore.

Strategy and Combos

The overall goal of the team has slowly evolved from its original “hit hard with this absurd move” strategy. I have multiple Pokémon who can create a nice win condition by themselves as long as my opponent’s main threat to that Pokémon is neutralized. Charizard has the power to rip through an unprepared opponent, Trevenant can out-stall anything that can’t quickly knock it out, Mr. Mime turns threats into dead weight by blocking their potent moves, and Trick Room in general can take a match by storm once the opponent’s slow Pokémon are gone. The beauty of these different win conditions is that I can bring any and all of them into a single match and then change my strategy depending on which threats I can eliminate soonest. For example, if my opponent has Amoonguss and Rotom-H on their team. I can either eliminate the Amoonguss and safely proceed with Trick Room and let Rhydon walk all over the Rotom. Alternatively, I can focus on the Rotom and then let Charizard proceed in safety, not caring about the Amoonguss. The strategy for each match would depend on the opponent’s Pokémon team of four Pokémon and the leads we chose. Here are a few of the more common leads and combos I used:

This is my preferred lead when I’m not really sure what else to do. It gives me speed control, power, and a great combination of offensive and defensive synergy. Mr. Mime protects Charizard with Wide and Quick Guard. He also threatens Dragons that resist Charizard’s moves, while Charizard can easily take out the Steel-types that Mr. Mime fears. This duo can handle a wide range of things, and Pokémon that threaten both Mr. Mime and Charizard are surprisingly hard to come by.

If I see a fast team with multiple physical attackers, this is the g0-to lead. It is especially effective against Kangaskhan / Smeargle leads, where Scrafty draws the Fake Out while Mr. Mime freely sets up Trick Room. Dark Void is not an issue since he carries a Lum Berry. This combo also fares well against the double-Dragon lead, with both members hitting for super-effective damage.

This is very similar to the above lead, with a little more offensive capability and the nice combination of burn and Intimidate. This is one of my main ways to handle opposing weather as well. Trevenant scares away Politoed and sets up Trick Room easily, and both Scrafty and Trevenant threaten Tyranitar.

Really, any two Pokémon on my team can work together in a lead position. Rhydon is the only one who doesn’t see much time as a lead, and that is primarily because I like having him available as a switch-in. Setting up Trick Room is completely optional; sometimes I prefer to rely on the the natural bulk and good switch-in opportunities that the team provides.

Battle Highlights from Long Beach

I’m not going to go over every match because I didn’t take good notes and can’t remember everything. The first couple rounds I played against local guys who were attending their first event. I handily beat them and encouraged them to do well and have fun the rest of the day at their first event. In round three, I came across my first good battle of the day, and I met Matt Souerbry (matt).  He used Charizard, Mienshao, Salamence, and Venusaur to take me down 2-0 in a pretty close match and my first loss. I continued to win my next two matches and make friends with both of my opponents.

Round six came and I was feeling pretty confident. I looked at my opponent’s team of Tyrantrum, Escavalier, Carbink, Slowking, Clawitzer, and Mawile and I decided it would be a simple victory with me reversing his Trick Room and stomping all over with Charizard.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.  The battle started well with me letting him set up Trick Room as my Exploud used Hammer Arm to underspeed pretty much everything. Things went bad when I was left in a situation with his Mawile and Escavalier versus my Charizard and Scrafty with Trick Room up.  I expected a Play Rough to hit Scrafty so I Detected, but then his Mawile revealed Stone Edge, knocking out Charizard. After that, I had no way to deal with his two Steel-types and I slowly got swept away. Looking back at this battle, I think I was not focused and I should have aimed to undo his Trick Room rather than abuse it when my Pokémon were, for the most part, faster than his.

My seventh, eighth, and ninth rounds were all good games with a lot of pressure to win.  I was able to win them and made it into the Top Cut of 32 as 15th seed in my flight.  At this point I was very tired, yet extremely happy to have made the Top Cut at my first VGC Regional. I went over to check the standings to see who my opponent would be and was upset to find out that I would be playing against fellow Utah player Len Deuel (Alaka).  I didn’t know Len super well, but I didn’t like that the two Utah players to make cut had to play in the first round. He used the following six Pokémon:

After waiting almost an hour for the staff to figure out the issues with TOM, we started our best-of-three match.  Len handily won the first game, but I learned a lot about his team, including the fact that he used a Guts Ability Heracross carrying a Choice Scarf with Rock Slide as a move. In game two, I turned things around and won 4-0 using Charizard and Mr. Mime to sweep through his Charizard-weak team. In the third game, he adapted well to my surprise from last game, but he still hadn’t seen Quick Guard on Mr. Mime. We were down to my Mr. Mime and Charizard both with about half HP versus his Heracross and Mawile with something still left in the back. I predicted his Sucker Punch and used Quick Guard and Heat Wave as he Sucker Punched into my Quick Guard and Mega Horned my Mr. Mime. Everything on the field was knocked out except my Charizard, and I just had to pray that his last Pokémon wasn’t able to take on Charizard. It was an Amoongus. I smiled as it fainted to a Heat Wave and I won the series.

My next opponent was Jackson Daugherty (Jackson7 D), who went on to make the top 4. I had no idea who he was, but I was excited to play him. By now it was around midnight and I was perfectly happy whether I won or lost, because the hotel bed seemed pretty inviting. Unfortunately, that mentality showed up in my games. Take a look at the team he used to knock me out of the tournament:

Our first of three games was very much in my favor. I started out with a good guess that his Tyranitar would be fast, so I Protected Charizard and went straight for Trick Room. He hadn’t brought Amoonguss, so he had no way to deal with the Trick Room and I just swept through. The second game was much more interesting. We traded Pokémon throughout the game, with me setting up Trick Room pretty early, hoping for a repeat of last time. He was ready for Trick Room this time, although he still didn’t bring Amoonguss. The game ended with my Charizard left against his Rotom-H with one turn left of Trick Room. I go for the Ancient Power, doing about 65% damage, while he Thunderbolts, doing about the same. Then the dimensions returned to normal just in time for him to outspeed and knock out Charizard. Our third and final game is where my tiredness really started to kick in. I just assumed that since he had not brought Amoonguss the last two games that he wouldn’t bring it this time. I Protected with Charizard turn one, opting not to Mega Evolve.  Jackson didn’t realize that I hadn’t Mega Evolved, so turn two he switched his Blastoise out for Tyranitar, wanting to change the weather. I had aimed a Solar Beam at that Blastoise, but it hit Tyranitar instead, knocking out one of his biggest threats to my team. I was confident after that lucky lapse in Jackson’s judgement, so I started playing sloppy and I set up Trick Room with Amoonguss sitting right in front of me, ready to Spore everything.  My nice lead turned into an sleep-filled nightmare and I could do nothing to recover.  I was out of the tournament and jealous that my Pokémon had more sleep than I had in that last game.  

Regardless of the loss, I was excited that I had made it so far with the little experience that I had. I left California with high hopes for my odd little team, and I knew what adjustments I needed to make for my next tournament.

Salt Lake Team and Changes from Long Beach

The Changes

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze –> Drought
EVs: 228 HP /  4 Def / 236 SpAtk / 4SDef / 36 SPeed
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Overheat
- Protect

Charizard took a few modifications, but still remained the same beast as before. After facing a lot of Tyranitar with different amounts of Speed, I was sick of having to guess whether or not I should use Trick Room. I decided to forgo the absolute minimum Speed Charizard that I used in California in order to be sure that I would outspeed all non-Choice-Scarf Tyranitar. It only took a small amount of Speed investment after changing the IVs and Nature, so I took a little out of bulk and a little out of Special Attack in order to preserve the hard-hitting and surprisingly resiliant Charizard I had grown used to.

The other change on Charizard was replacing Ancient Power with Overheat. While I liked having the coverage against opposing Fire-types, the ability to destroy anything that did not resist Fire moves was just too appealing, especially with the problems I had been having against Kangaskhan. It was also an easier decision to take off Ancient Power with the addition of my next Pokémon to the team.

Kecleon @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 200 Def / 4 SDef
IVs: 31/31/31/8/31/0
Relaxed Nature
- Skill Swap
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
- Trick Room

I finally retired the original idea of Exploud and Boomburst in favor of this type-changing chameleon. I needed a Trick Room setter who didn’t share any common weaknesses with Trevenant and Mr. Mime. Last generation, I had success with Porygon2 and his sole Fighting-type weakness, but he sadly wasn’t legal in the current VGC rules. I wanted something that had the same good typing and bulk, who could still pose a threat since I had dropped Exploud. Kecleon, while not as bulky as Porygon2, fit the bill pretty well and he offered a lot of different options to the team.

It isn’t very often that a single Pokémon can offer as much as Kecleon. He gave a STAB priority move, a STAB spread move, and speed control all in one tricky little package! Skill Swap was the icing on the cake. Rock Slide helped scare away opposing Charizard, Talonflame, and Rotom-H just as Ancient Power had once done and Sucker Punch let Kecleon pose a threat even when Trick Room wasn’t up. Trick Room, of course, was the main reason for adding him in the first place, which allowed me to set it up even when facing Ghost-, Dark-, Steel-, and Fire-types who put too much pressure on Mr. Mime and Trevenant. The Life Orb and Attack investment allowed me to do damage after setting up Trick Room and not have to waste a turn switching into a stronger Pokémon.

Skill Swap opened up so many ridiculous strategies. Kecleon has the perfect ability for Skill Swap, allowing me to use the move both offensively and defensively at the same time.  Many of the Mega Pokémon are good because they gain some powerful new ability. I could use this to my advantage by stealing Huge Power, Thick Fat, Parental Bond or Shadow Tag and using it against my opponent. If my opponent didn’t have any juicy abilities to steal, I could go ahead and shuffle around my own Drought, Intimidate, Lightning Rod, and Protean. Perhaps the best example of when this was useful was against rain teams where I could reactivate Drought and give Charizard a STAB Solar Beam at the same time.

Mr. Mime @ Lum Bery
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 12 Sp. Atk / 4 SDef / 36 Speed
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
Bold Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick Room
- Wide Guard
- Quick Guard

Mr. Mime benefited hugely from removing Exploud. Without the need to have Soundproof I was free to run the vastly superior Filter Ability. I changed the EV spread to allow Mr. Mime to take Bisharp Iron Heads. I decreased the now-redundant Special Defense EVs that were originally used to survive Mega Gengar’s Sludge Bomb. Similarly to Charizard, I changed the nature to speed neutral and put in a few EVs and IVs in order to work better outside of Trick Room. Even with the EV changes, Mr. Mime’s function on the team remained the same:he just did it better than before.

These three didn’t receive any changes between Long Beach and Salt Lake, so I won’t bother restating what they do, although it is good to note that the addition of Kecleon did help all three of them in some way or another. Skill Swap paired very well with Scrafty’s Intimidate, Rock Slide reduced my dependence on Rhydon, and the extra Trick Room option made it so Trevenant could avoid bad situations.

Battles from Salt Lake

After judging for the TCG event the day before, I was pretty tired to begin this event, but I was determined to do well and earn the stipend I would need in order to go to Nationals. I showed up early to finish off my staff duties and help with registration for the video game event. Once registration was over and I was done scanning QR codes, I walked around trying to find my friends before pairings went up. I was able to say hi quickly, but pairings were up pretty fast and I found out who my first opponent of the day would be.

(Note: The last two Pokémon listed for each swiss round were not brought to our match.)

Round 1 Vs: Spencer Trujillo

I don’t remember much from this round. Trick Room was obvious from Team Preview, so I brought Charizard and Mr. Mime to outspeed and counter his Trick Room with my own. He couldn’t handle the raw power of Charizard without his speed control, so it was a pretty easy 4-0 victory.

1-0

Round 2 Vs: Tyler Hagan (Tyler)

His team looked fairly standard (with the exception of Staraptor) and it didn’t seem to have any way of dealing with Trick Room.  He started with Staraptor and something else versus my Charizard and Mr. Mime. I was afraid of Final Gambit taking out Charizard early, so I Protected while going straight for Trick Room with Mr. Mime. He instead used Final Gambit on Mr. Mime, which was fine by me, because I had also brought Trevenant and could still set up Trick Room anyway. Like I said, he didn’t have much of an answer to Trick Room, so  I took a nice 2-0 victory.

2-0

Round 3 Vs: James Sorge

After the fairly tough opponent I played last game, I was surprised to see this strange team sitting at a 2-0 win record. I realized, however, that people probably thought similar things about my own team, so I didn’t let my guard down. I led with Charizard and Mr. Mime again versus his Gardevoir and Kangaskhan. While some of his Pokémon were slower, I decided that Trick Room was still the way to go in this match. The combination of Rhydon and Charizard was able to easily take down everything but Garchomp, who was burned by Trevenant which led me to victory.

3-0

Round 4 Vs: Erik Holmstrom

This match was on stream, and I wish I could show it here, but apparently the streamed videos were not able to be archived because of the shaky internet connection at the event. His team posed some major threats to my team in Tyranitar, Rotom-H, and Amoonguss. The game started with my typical Charizard and Mr. Mime lead against his Lucario and Rotom-H. Lucario could potentially threaten both of my leads if it carried a Rock move, so I was very careful at the start. I Protected with Charizard and used Dazzling Gleam just to get out some damage and hurt any potential Tyranitar or Garchomp switches, while his Lucario also Protected and Mega Evolved while Rotom hit Mr. Mime with an Overheat. Still scared of a Rock Slide, I used Wide Guard with Mr. Mime, Mega Evolved Charizard, and dealt out a Heat Wave. It turns out Lucario didn’t have Rock Slide and he switched to Tyranitar while my Charizard took a weak Thunderbolt to the face and did little damage to both foes with Heat Wave. Thinking that Tyranitar could be Scarfed at worst, I Wide Guarded again and used Solar Beam right into his Protect while his Rotom got a free switch to Garchomp. This turn, I switched Charizard for Scrafty and used Dazzling Gleam with Mr. Mime as he double targeted Scrafty with Dragon Claw and Dark Pulse, revealing a Life Orb on Tyranitar. Scrafty was in a very strong position now, so I Faked Out Garchomp and set up Trick Room as Tyranitar switched back to Rotom. Scrafty could handle everything he had left with Drain Punch and Ice Punch as long as he didn’t get burned, so I focused my attacks on Rotom. Once the toaster was gone Scrafty cleaned up nicely.

4-0

Round 5 Vs. Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67)

I was very happy to be 4-0 in the tournament, as I knew that making the Top Cut of 8 would most likely give me a stipend to Nationals in July. Before the match started I was talking to Ben about where he was from and if he was chasing points for an invite.  He let me know that he was from Maryland, and he was just after a Nationals stipend because his Worlds invite was locked from taking second place at Worlds last year in the Seniors division. After hearing this, I knew he must be a very good player. Once Team Preview came up, I immediately noticed Chandelure as the only thing that really threatened my team. He must have noticed this too, since he started with Chandelure and Mienshao versus my Charizard and Mr. Mime. I Protected Charizard and went straight for Trick Room out of the gate, trying to lure in his Mawile, but he OHKOd Mr. Mime with Shadow Ball while Mienshao’s Fake Out did nothing to my Protecting Charizard. I knew my only hope at dealing with that Chandelure was to use Rhydon, so I sent him out even though Trick Room wasn’t up. He focused on Rhydon with a Low Kick and Shadow Ball as my Charizard gave Chandelure a Flash Fire boost and Mienshao hung on with its Focus Sash. My last Pokémon was Trevenant and I knew that I had lost for sure. He used Shadow Ball, sending Trevenant into oblivion while Protecting Mienshao from Charizard’s Solar Beam. I Solar Beamed Chandelure on the next turn just to see how much damage it would do and he knocked out Charizard for a clean 4-0 victory. (I later found out that his Chandelure was holding Choice Specs, which is why it easily knocked out Mr. Mime, who could normally take that Shadow Ball.)

4-1

Round 6 Vs: Anthony Jimenez

After seeing the perfect duo to destroy my team last round, I was a little worried going into this one. I don’t remember exactly what he led with, but I knew that taking out Tyranitar would be the key to victory. I was able to do that and Charizard handled everything else without needing to set up Trick Room at all. I do remember that his Talonflame was completely dead weight because it got locked into Brave Bird while my Mr. Mime could consistently counter with Quick Guard, which pretty much sealed the game in my favor.

5-1

Round 7 Vs. Joshua Hardy

For the first time today I was facing somebody that I actually knew.  Having played Josh before at the Utah State Championships I knew he was a strong player.  I also recognized his team as mattj‘s first place team in Missouri.  While I had watched mattj’s report, I didn’t remember all the specifics of his team, and I wasn’t sure how much Josh had changed it.  For the second time that day I was greeted with a Chandelure / Mienshao lead, which I responded to with Charizard and Mr. Mime. I decided to go straight for the Chandelure this time, switching Charizard out for Rhydon and trying to set up Trick Room with Mr. Mime. The switch worked to block the Fake Out aimed at Charizard but Chandelure’s Imprison blocked Trick Room. The next turn, I used Protect and Dazzling Gleam as his Mienshao Hi Jump Kicked into my Protect and Mr. Mime took a Shadow Ball to the face. Josh replaced his Mienshao with Kangaskhan. The next part is sort of fuzzy and I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I ended up trading my Rhydon with his Chandelure, losing Mr. Mime and Kecleon to the Kangaskhan although I had brought it down to fairly low health. This left us in a position of his full-health Abomasnow and less-than-half-health Kangaskhan at -2 speed against my full-health, un-evolved Charizard.  I knew that a single Heat Wave could win me the game as long as Heat Wave didn’t miss and Josh didn’t get any lucky critical hits. He Sucker Punched Charizard, putting me around half HP. His Abomasnow revealed its Choice Scarf and used Ice Beam, taking me to the low yellow range. Heat Wave went off without missing and I won my seventh match.

6-1

Round 8 Vs: Joey McGinley (joej m)

There was only one person left undefeated now and I was playing him. I was pretty confident that my tie-breakers would help put me in the Top Cut whether I won or not, so there wasn’t much pressure going into the match.  We shook hands, and the battle began with Charizard and Mr. Mime against his Kangaskhan and Rotom-H.  I decided that if this guy was undefeated then he would probably be smart enough to know that my Charizard should Protect in this situation. Naturally, I switched out Mr. Mime into Rhydon and Overheated his Kangaskhan for the KO as his Fake Out and Thunderbolt did close to nothing to Rhydon. He replaced Kangaskhan with Azumarill. Rhydon and Azumarill both went for the Protect as I Solar Beamed and he Will-O-Wisped, which both hit the Protecting Pokémon. Next, I decided to double switch into Scrafty and Mr. Mime, as he used Belly Drum and burned Mr. Mime’s Lum Berry. On the next turn, Scrafty Faked Out Rotom and Mr. Mime used Dazzling Gleam for a bit of damage as Scrafty went down fast to a +6 Play Rough. Charizard replaced Scrafty and I used Quick Guard to block the incoming Aqua Jet, but he switched Azumarill with Amoonguss, who fainted to Charizard’s Heat Wave on the same turn. Azumarill came back in without his dangerous Belly Drum boosts. I failed to notice that the Sun had disappeared on the next turn, but luckily I went for an Overheat on Rotom rather than a Solar Beam. Dazzling Gleam chipped away at the low HP Rotom and put Azumarill just below half HP. I switched Charizard back into Rhydon and finished off Rotom with another Dazzling Gleam. His Azumarill couldn’t stand up to all three of my Pokémon and I ended the match with one last Dazzling Gleam.

7-1

I had done it! I had played the last undefeated player and won! After celebrating with my friends, I went to check the standings and see what seed I was. I ended up fifth seed, right behind my friend John Steffen (Legend). Immediately I realized that, once again, the two Utah players to make Top Cut would be playing in the first round.  I was determined to win, but I would be okay with having John continue in my place. My games with John were on stream, but again the videos are not usable so I’ll have to remember them.

Top Cut

Top 8 Vs. John Steffen (Legend)

Game 1

He used: Rotom-H, Pinsir, Tyranitar, Ludicolo

I used: Charizard, Mr. Mime, Rhydon, Scrafty

This game started out with John showing off his Mega Pinsir along with Rotom-H. Having tested out Mega Pinsir, I knew that the speed gained from Mega Evolving was essential, and he would more than likely Protect.  I used this to my advantage, switching Charizard for Rhydon and using Trick Room from the beginning while his Rotom’s Thunderbolt did nothing due to Rhydon’s Lightning Rod Ability and his Pinsir Protected, just as I thought it would.  I was now in an extremely good position. Rhydon used Rock Slide to hit both of his Pokémon hard and Mr. Mime used Dazzling Gleam to hit a potential Garchomp or Tyranitar switch-in. Pinsir switched to Ludicolo and Rotom flinched as both of his Pokémon were brought down to less-than-half HP from my combined attacks. I predicted a Fake Out next, so I used Quick Guard and Rock Slide. He didn’t Fake Out, but Rock Slide still took out his Rotom before Rhydon went down to a Giga Drain. I don’t remember exactly what happened next, but my Scrafty and Charizard were able to deal with Pinsir, Ludicolo, and Tyranitar pretty easily from there.

1-0

Game 2

He used: Tyranitar, Ludicolo, Pinsir, Garchomp

I used: Charizard, Mr. Mime, Scrafty, Rhydon

I unfortunately don’t remember much from the second game, as I was relying on having the stream to look back on later.  I had learned in the first game that his Tyranitar was holding a Choice Scarf, which made me much less scared of it, which allowed me to set up Trick Room and have a field day. He also didn’t bring Rotom, which surprised me because Rotom-H has such a great matchup against Charizard-Y. I really wish I remembered more about this game, but I do remember that it was a closer game than our first. It ended with his lone Tyranitar against my Scrafty and Rhydon. His only hope was to get critical hits and flinches on both of my Pokémon multiple turns in a row. He, of course, didn’t get such insane luck and I took out the Tyranitar with Drain Punch to put me into the next round of cut. Thank you, John, for the good games, and I look forward to training with you for Nationals.

2-0

Top 4 Vs: Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67)

Game 1

He used: Mienshao, Chandelure, Mawile, ???

I used: Kecleon, Trevenant, Charizard, Rhydon

I am not sure how, but I convinced myself before this game started that my Trevenant could survive a Heat Wave from Chandelure. I somehow concluded that that was my best way of setting up Trick Room, which basically threw out my chances of winning this game. Even so, I fought well and did better this match than I did against Ben in Swiss (at least getting to see his next Pokémon) and realizing that the Chandelure had to have Choice Specs because it continued to use Heat Wave on my Charizard and Rhydon. Now I understood how my Mr. Mime had gone down so easily, and I started formulating a plan for our next match while destroyed my team in this first game.

0-1

Game 2

He used: Mienshao, Chandelure, Rotom-W, Mawile

I used: Charizard, Mr. Mime, Kecleon, Rhydon

This time, I was finally ready to deal with his lead after he had punished me with it twice.  I started Charizard and Mr. Mime, knowing that he would Shadow Ball Mr. Mime. I switched to Kecleon to absorb the Shadow Ball and lock him in to using it while Charizard took a Fake Out from Mienshao. I wanted to go for Trick Room with Kecleon, but I was scared of Hi Jump Kick, and I still wanted to get rid of that Chandelure. So, I Sucker Punched right into Mienshao’s Quick Guard. Charizard hit Mienshao with Solar Beam, activating its Focus Sash, and Chandelure threw a Shadow Ball at Charizard. I made a smart decision on the next turn, letting Mienshao uselessly Quick Guard as I Protected Charizard and Rock Slided, knocking out Mienshao and seriously damaging Chandelure. The next couple tuns are blurred together, but I do remember setting up Trick Room and then taking it back down again in order for Charizard to be faster than Mawile.  It didn’t matte because Mawile eventually took out Charizard with a Sucker Punch, only for me to Skill Swap and take away Mawile’s Huge Power. I was down to a highly damaged Kecleon and fresh Mr. Mime against his low health Rotom-W and healthy Mawile with Protean.  Hope had mostly been lost for me, but I continued to play on and try my hardest. I predicted his Mawile Sucker Puching Kecleon and blocked it with Quick Guard, while I Sucker Punched Rotom and Mr. Mime took a Thunderbolt.  I hit Mawile with a super-effective Dazzling Gleam the next turn, but it wasn’t enough as Kecleon fell to Thunderbolt and Mr. Mime took an Iron Head.  Without Huge Power active, Mr. Mime survived, but there was nothing I could do against Ben’s last two Pokémon.  Mawile used one last Sucker Punch and I was out of the tournament.

0-2

So, I finished the day in 3rd place, with my only losses against Ben and his Choice Specs Chandelure. I am happy with my team; it has taken me far and earned a lot of respect.  It goes to show that with enough practice, any team can work well. While the “big six” may be popular, they aren’t the only viable Pokémon by a long shot. Thank you to anyone who has read this long report and I sincerely hope you learned something from it.

The post Mime Time: A Long Beach 16th Place and Salt Lake 3rd Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello Nugget Bridge community! Lajo here, some may remember my name from my report from last year of the sun team that finished at Top 8 in Bochum. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to get the paid trip to worlds. Therefore, I will attend all 3 Nationals this year to hopefully get not only the invite, but the paid trip as well. So let’s see how things worked out in Bochum!

The Team

While thinking of a team at the start of this season, I realized that it was all about Dragons (especially Garchomp), Kangaskhan, and Rotom-Wash, while Talonflame was the go-to Fire-type. I had a look at the new Pokémon from generation 6 and realized that Trevenant actually walls the top 3 pretty hard, but that I would need Intimidate support to stand against Talonflame as well, so I made my first attempt of a Trick Room team built around Trevenant and Mawile. Scrafty fit in just perfect for me, not only because its my favorite Pokémon, but because of Intimidate, Fake Out and its typing, which already forms a solid core with Trevenant and Mawile, leaving only the Fire weakness exposed (while I also had two Flying-type weaknesses). I knew I had to deal with Talonflame, since its a very strong Pokémon against Trick Room, so I looked at Rotom-Heat. Rotom also made the team pretty bulky with another Will-O-Wisp and dealt with not only Talonflame, but Sun in general, as well as Bisharp. So the core was formed.

Next, I decided to give Gardevoir a go, since it also learns Trick Room and due to the heavily Fairy weakness some teams had. Additionaly, due to its Psychic-type, Gardevoir would also beat Amoonguss and Venusaur, two common resistances to switch in against Fairy Pokémon.  Gardevoir was amazing. I experimented a lot with the last slot, but these five worked pretty well already, so let’s have a closer look!

Tenroujima (Trevenant) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 244 HP / 84 Def / 180 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Trick Room
- Protect
- Shadow Claw
- Will-O-Wisp

• survives -1 Life Orb Brave Bird from Talonflame 100% of time
• survives Aegislash’s Shadow Ball 100% of the time, including sand damage
• survives Modest Choice Specs Salamence Fire Blast 15/16 times
• survives Modest Choice Specs Tyranitar Dark Pulse 100% of the time
• has a 37.5% chance of OHKOing 252 H/0 Def Aegislash-Blade

Trevenant was brought 3/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times in Top Cut.

Trevanant, the amazing wall. The first thing I liked a lot was its typing: while Grass-type allows me to safely set up Trick Room in face of Amoonguss and Venusaur, its Ghost-typing would counter Kangaskhan, helped in dealing with Perish trap teams, and gave me the very good Ghost STAB. While I also had a look on other Trick Room setters and its other half Gourgeist, the point that made me use Trevenant over Gourgeist was its option to run Protect. Thanks to Harvest, it is already hard to take down, so it does not need Leech Seed for recovery like Gourgeist does. You would probably not be surprised by how many players double target Trevenant turn one, giving me a free attack with Mawile or a free turn to switch something in while protecting the Tree. Protect also gives me many extra turns where Harvest may activate. Trevenant is a Trick Room setter that can win me games even if I’m down 1-3, and it’s able to set up Trick Room more than just once without taking meaningful damage. The moveset should be obvious, except for Shadow Claw. While Rotom-Wash and Tyranitar surely don’t like Grass STAB, what else can I hit it with? Pretty much nothing except Normal-types. But what can’t I hit? There is quite a lot of stuff: Talonflame, Rotom-Heat, Aegislash, Venusaur, Amoonguss, Mawile… With Ghost STAB I am able to strike back at Ghosts, Fire-types and Steel-types. The neutral damage on both Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Heat was also very useful, which will be shown with the next member of the team:

Yaya (Mawile) (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 1 Spd
- Play Rough
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

Mawile was brought 7/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times during Top Cut.

Mawile, the powerhouse. You know how strong Mawile is already, and utilizing it under Trick Room makes it even more of a threat. The moveset is pretty standard for TR Mawile, I guess. I opted to use Rock Slide over Iron Head to have a strong way to deal with Fire-types, which would otherwise wall Mawile. While the EV spread is pretty straightforward, it only makes sense to use as much power as you can if you can utilize it well. While Ray surely is right that people are calcing for things to survive Mawile’s Play Rough and therefore investing in Attack is not always the best idea, in this team, where I can easily give some chip damage, it makes a lot of sense. Speaking of chip damage, this is the reason why my Mawile sits on a Speed stat of 55, one point above Trevenant. This way, I am able to hit with Shadow Claw under Trick Room first before firing off a strong Play Rough or Rock Slide, giving me a combination of attacks that KOs Rotom formes in one turn.

Of course, the team profits a lot from Mawile’s Intimidate and typing,  and I often started with it just to get an Intimidate off and switch in Scrafty immediately for a second, saving a third against teams that had a lot physical attackers like Kangaskhan or Talonflame. Still, I couldn’t bring Mawile in every game, just because my match-up against Sun is way better without Mawile. I also don’t think you need to bring your one Mega in every game: I won every single game where my opponents decided to bring Kangaskhan against me, and played a team with Kangaskhan in Top 8 as well. but I lost the set, and one reason certainly was that my opponent did not pick his Kangaskhan.

Raishin (Scrafty) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Taunt

- survives Timid 252satk Mega-Charizard-Y Overheat 100% of the time
- survives Timid 252satk Mega Lucario Aura Sphere 15/16 times
- survives -1 Choice Banded Talonflame Brave Bird 15/16 times
- OHKOs 252hp/4def Aegislash-Blade 100% of the time
- 2HKOs 4hp/4def Kangaskhan 100% of the time

Scrafty was brought 5/8 times during swiss and 1/5 times during Top Cut.

Scrafty, the glue of the team. It is just necessary to run Lum Berry on it, because I wouldn’t be able to set up Trick Room against Kangaskhan+Smeargle otherwise. If I see this duo, I just start with Mawile and Trevenant, and Protect with Trevenant while switching out Mawile to Scrafty turn one, so I can Fake Out the Smeargle and set up Trick Room pretty safely. Taunt was a late addition and once I tested it, I felt in love with it. Not only does it deal with Smeargle, it also gives me a better way to deal with Aegislash and Rotom’s Will-o-Wisp. Taunt also allows me to safely use Sucker Punch things with Mawile if they are in KO Range and can’t switch. Whenever I brought it, Scrafty did a great job. However, sometimes I needed my other members more, especially if I saw a way to set up Trick Room without Scrafty and if it wouldn’t hit more than one Pokémon on my opponent’s team super effectively.

Mr.Burns (Rotom-Heat) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 44 SAtk / 4 SDef / 156 Spd
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

- survives Mega Kangaskhan Double Edge 14/16 times
- OHKOs Venusaur up to 164hp/4sdef 100% of the time
- outspeeds positive-natured Tyranitar by 2 points, speed creeping things that are EVed to outspeed Tyranitar by one point as well (most notably Gyarados)

Rotom-Heat was brought 7/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times during Top Cut.

I like my team as bulky and versatile as possible, which is why I opted for a bulky Leftovers set here. The moveset is fairly standard. I had an even faster spread before to outspeed max Speed Gyarados and jolly Bisharp, which gave my team quite a hard time, but it isn’t used that often, and I still have Trevenant and Mawile to deal with Gyarados and probably no one would run jolly Bisharp, so I saw no big problem here. Rotom was a great metagame call: it deals with the majority of threats to Trick Room, most notably Talonflame, Bisharp, Aegislash and Mawile, while also being very good against Charizard and Kangaskhan.

Eterna (Gardevoir) (M) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 180 SAtk / 20 SDef / 4Spd
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Trick Room
- Protect

- survives Life Orb Brave Bird from Adamant Talonflame 100% of the time
- survives 252satk Modest Aegislash Shadow Ball 100% of the time
- OHKOs 4hp/4sdef Garchomp 100% of the time
- OHKOs 4hp/4sdef Venusaur 100% of the time

Gardevoir was brought 5/8 times during Swiss and 0/5 times during Top Cut.

I love Gardevoir, it is such a good metagame call. Almost every team I faced had at least 2 weaknesses against Gardevoir, and sometimes even 4, which is why I picked it pretty often. Its Psychic+Fairy Coverage makes it just so good against teams that played Amoonguss and Dragons, and there were quite a lot of them. I opted to run Protect above any other options, because due to my testing it was (double) targetted pretty often.

I opted to run Safety Goggles Gardevoir to counter Amoonguss even harder and attack freely with Moonblast if I needed to. Even though I did only face 2 Amoonguss and either had Trevenant or my opponent did not pick it, due to my testing it was a very strong item, especially if I faced Mega Tyranitar teams.

The reason I used Modest was because I often was in situations where Trick Room wasn’t up and I could threaten things right from the start unless I am hit by two attacks. Good examples of this are Politoed+Kingdra or Tyranitar+Specs Gardevoir, where the Modest nature gave me at least the chance to do damage before Gardevoir would go down, since I am faster than at least one of the two Pokémon.

Also: SCREW GENDER. I bred a whole week for Gardevoir in every possible combination: Trace, Telepathy, Modest, Quiet. Then I got one with 0 Atk IVs — MALE.  I had a female one with 6 Atk IVs, but if you have it flawless, use it flawless. It also had that beautiful Dream Ball animation <3 Like I know a certain person who needs something green in his teams (on team preview, shiny doesn’t count!), I can’t stand Gardevoir to be MALE. Whatever, it worked and did a great job whenever I used it.

Lenessia (Goodra) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 236 SAtk / 4 SDef / 12 Spd
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Muddy Water
- Feint

- OHKOs 4hp Salamence 14/16 times
- outspeeds 4spd Chandelure

Goodra was brought 5/8 times during swiss and 4/5 times during Top Cut.

And here it is, the final addition of the team. I was trying out Politoed, Hydreigon and Salamence in this slot, but after testing Goodra I realized it was better for the team than the other three by far. It was more than just a filler like the other three. Goodra helped me deal with sun above all, but it was very strong in so many other match-ups as well. Goodra walls Aegislash, Chandelure and Rotom-Heat, which meant trouble to my team before, and you know how common Aegislash and Rotom are by now. Goodra’s role on the team is pretty simple: take special attacks and profit from the drawbacks they gave my opponent. I can’t tell you how many times Goodra took an Overheat from Charizard-Y that was aimed at Gardevoir and forced switch-outs just by its presence. Its special bulk is insane, and with Assault Vest, you would think super-effective hits like Ice Beam are not very effective at all. Another very important reason why Goodra worked so well was its ability, Sap Sipper. With Goodra, Trevenant and Gardevoir, my team is pretty much immune to Amoonguss, one of the best Trick Room counters. I lost not a single game where my opponent decided to bring Amoonguss, because it was just dead weight… but who wouldn’t bring it against Trick Room?

For the moveset, I opted to go with the useful Dragon-Fire coverage and added Muddy Water to deal with Chandelure as well as Rotom-Heat. For the last slot I found out Goodra learns Feint, a very useful move in Trick Room, since outstalling it is no longer possible with Protect (unless you are a Ghost). You may wonder why I opted to run max HP and not Defense. The reason was simply because it works as a special wall only, and stays on the field way longer with more HP. I also brought Goodra in way more situations where my opponent had only special attackers out, so the added capability to take more hits was much appreciated. The two Intimidators helped in dealing with Kangaskhan Returns, Talonflame Brave Birds, and Garchomp Dragon Claws, though.

Lead Combinations

Trevenant + Mawile

+

This was my go-to lead if I saw Kangaskhan. Starting things off with Scrafty wouldn’t be clever if you see a faster Fake Out user, right? But Scrafty was often in the back, to give even more Intimidate support and the option to Fake Out on turn two by switching Mawile out.

Gardevoir + Scrafty

+

One reason while I hated to lead Trevenant + Scrafty was its lack of offense presence. With Gardevoir, I could threaten things right from the start after Trick Room goes up. Bisharp+Aerodactyl is a good example of such a lead where I’d rather bring Gardevoir than Trevenant. If I saw a Sun Team without Fake Out, this would be my lead as well.

Goodra + Rotom-Heat

+

My strangest, but most surprising lead combination. If I saw a Trick Room team or something threatening that I’d be able to OHKO with a combination of Feint+Overheat, like Mega Lucario or Bisharp without Kangaskhan, I would lead these two.

Everything+Everything

The team works very well as a whole, every Pokémon helps in a way. I think due to my testing, I tried out every possible combination of four Pokémon. Of course some work better together (like my main core), but what I do like is that I really needed every Pokémon in this team. I wouldn’t replace any of them for something else, so if you would ask me for the “perfect Trick Room team” I would probably end up with these 6 every time.

Threats

+

(Un-Fake Out-able) Taunt (Mienshao, Gengar, Crobat, Noivern, Aerodactyl)+Bisharp/Smeargle

Taunt was a thing you rarely see in VGC 14, because almost no one uses Trick Room, and there are mostly frail users that won’t survive more than two hits usually. Taunt alone wasn’t that much of a problem(unless I could not flinch it with Fake Out), but together with Bisharp or Smeargle I was in a pinch, since Scrafty wouldn’t help much and therefore it was impossible to set up Trick Room safely. This is a special occasion, but also the biggest problem of this team.

Chandelure

Chandelure is so annoying because you never know its set. Usually it is supported very well and that’s why I have serious trouble dealing with it. If it is a fast Substitute, or even Minimize Chandelure, it is so hard to take down, since I run nothing too fast. If it runs Life Orb or Choice Specs, I can be punished with a OHKO on my Trick Room setter if I don’t use Protect. Goodra is a very important Pokémon here, but if my opponent can keep it in check, I won’t be able to get into the game. Amusingly, Chandelure is such an easy Pokémon to take care of once Trick Room is up, since 4/6 of my team can hit it super-effectively.

Charizard-X

Charizard-X? Well, in swiss it was. If you don’t know your opponent and his team, what do you usually think if you see a Charizard? Yes, it must be Charizard-Y. Now look at my team and counters for Charizard-Y: Goodra and Rotom-Heat.
And now you bring both of it into the game, and Charizard Mega evolves into Charizard-X. Well, crap. My counters are being countered.

The Event – Day 1

I pre-registered for the event together with my friend Andre a week before, but Szymon Wojdat (Szymoninho) joined us, so we drove as a team of three to Bochum with the aim to make it to pre-registration on Friday, which would be possible until 6pm. (Un)fortunately, we barely missed the pre-registration since we arrived at 6:01 pm… but we were able to meet Yoshi and Massi at least. We headed out to our hotel and met with my friends from Sachsen, so the Lajo-fan Crew was complete. My friend Olli (Yanzin) had no time to make a team, so I gave him one: the same six WhiteAfroKing used and later  top cut with, haha. He would buy me whatever I wanted for dinner, so I gladly helped him out :D.

We headed out to the event on Saturday and of course needed over half an hour to find the location thanks to my bad orientation, and because everyone just followed me, lol. As we finally got there the “fast lane” was full with over 200 players, while there were only 20 in the usual line. And we hadn’t had anything to eat yet… Thankfully, Szymon missed his pre-registration so he was in for buying us some food while I was waiting in the “fast lane” together with Barry, NidoRich, WhiteAfroking and some others from the UK, and also meeting Mean, drug_duck, Fatum, Osirus and many other cool guys. Two hours later we finally pushed through, and around 2 pm swiss rounds were finally about to start. I also had a first look on both flights: while we had Barry, Fatum, Massi, Yoshi, Havak, Szymon, Andre, Mean, Billa, Michilele and DaFlo in Flight 1, we had the Ginis, drug_duck and Osirus in Flight 2. Of course, I was in Flight 1 as well.

Swiss Rounds

Round 1: Julian Grande (Solariiii)

He used: Salamence, Charizard, Aegislash, Garchomp

I played a well-known German player right in round one and made a new friend at the same time. Julian was a very nice guy and recognized my name very well, so I know I had to play careful. Seeing his team, I thought it’s a sun team so I had to bring both Goodra and Rotom-Heat. Since it was possible he could bring Kangaskhan instead, I was tempted to bring my Mawile, although I usually don’t want it to bring against sun teams. So I lead with Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat with Goodra and Mawile in the back, hoping to bait his Charizard and bring Gardevoir in safely later.

My lead choice was fine as he started things off with Salamence and Charizard. I switched out Gardevoir for Goodra to take a possible Overheat, but Julian opted to Protect (and mega evolve) his Charizard instead and fired off a Fire Blast on Goodra. In the next turn, I doubled his Charizard and took it out, while he did around 60% to my Rotom with Overheat and switched his Salamence to Aegislash. He brought Salamence back in, but I didn’t want to risk a possible Substitute, so I just attacked. Rock Slide from Salamence did not give him any flinches, so I took out the Salamence with a Dragon Pulse and Aegislash with a Sun-boosted Overheat. His last Pokémon was Garchomp, and although he made a good prediction in going for Earthquake as I double switched to Mawile and Gardevoir, he had to hope for some more flinches to win the game. He didn’t get them so my Mawile cleared the game with a Play Rough for me. 4-0
1-0

Round 2: Dominik Kindermann

He used: Garchomp, Crobat, Tyranitar, Rotom-Wash

I did not recognize his name and he seemed to not know me as well, so we both got into the fight without any clues. He said hes played VGC for a while, though, and we were 1-0, so I at least knew he can play on a decent level. Seeing his team, I knew Gardevoir would have to do a good job again, so I lead it together with Scrafty, with Goodra (for Amoonguss) and Mawile in the back. I was afraid of a Taunt from Crobat, so I started scouting and used Fake Out on Garchomp and Psychic on Crobat, while he protected his Garchomp and U-Turned out to Tyranitar. This gave me a safe turn to set-up Trick Room and go for Drain Punch on Tyranitar, while he switched Garchomp out to Crobat and Protected with Tyranitar. I expected a switchout, so to give more pressure I switched out my Gardevoir to Mawile and Drain Punched the Tyranitar, while he Protected Crobat and switched Tyranitar out to Rotom-Wash, which revealed it had Leftovers. I then switched out my Scrafty into Goodra and opted to Play Rough his Rotom (which barely survived the Play Rough!), while he U-turned Crobat out and Hydro Pumped into my Goodra. Rotom went down by sand and Crobat came back in. Now this was the moment where Feint should be good. I doubled his Garchomp while he double protects, but unfortunately I missed with Play Rough on Garchomp. In the next turn, I should have Dragon Pulsed and Rock Slid, but for some reason I Play Roughed again and switched my Goodra out to Scrafty, while he lost his Garchomp but took out my Scrafty with a critical hit Brave Bird. Trick Room ended while I brought my Gardevoir in. I was thinking he may expect the Trick Room now and tried to Psychic his Crobat again while Protecting my Mawile from a potential Fire Blast. He Protected his Crobat again and went for Earthquake, getting a critical hit on my Gardevoir as well, so I was in a pinch. I just hoped to survive the next turn to set up Trick Room (which I should have last turn, really), and I thankfully did because he U-turned into Gardevoir instead of Brave Birding it. Mawile survived a critical hit Earthquake (yeah I got pretty unlucky that game) and took out Tyranitar with Play Rough, and Garvevoir barely survived with 3 hp. Thanks to Safety Goggles, I did not faint to sand and sealed the game with Psychic a turn later. 3-0

This was frustrating, but not because of the critical hits; I almost lost because I did not play the best moves. I had to focus more, since it would be tougher to win in the upcoming rounds.

2-0

Round 3: Huib Buijssen (Lolnub)

He used: Kangaskhan, Gardevoir, Gyarados, Aegislash

So here I got Lolnub, who I knew had a good season so far and would be a tough opponent to play against. I was hoping he would bring his Kangaskhan since it would make my match-up a lot easier, and he did lead it together with Gardevoir against my Trevenant and Mawile, perfect. I also had Rotom and Scrafty in the back. I was trying to set up Trick Room and Play Roughed the Kangaskhan. He decided to take the Play Rough damage on Kangaskhan (which survived by a sliver of HP) and switched Gardevoir out to Aegislash. Kangaskhan got a critical hit with Fake Out on Trevenant. He then switched Kangaskhan out to Gyarados, while I switched Trevenant to Scrafty, and he Substituted with Aegislash while I Rock Slid with Mawile, doing a bit under 50% to Gyarados. I didn’t know his Gyarados set yet, so I thought he may Protect and get free damage with Aegislash. I taunted and Sucker Punched the Aegislash while he Waterfalled and Shadow Balled my Mawile, taking it out, so I knew his Gyarados was Choice Banded.

I brought Trevenant in, and made a risky play here by not Protecting Trevenant. Since Lolnub knows I don’t run Detect on Scrafty but could have Protect on Trevenant, he would get highly rewarded by double attacking my Scrafty if I chose to Protect Trevenant- I wanted to punish that, which is why I opted to go for Trick Room, and it worked out: he doubled my Scrafty, but it survived with 48 hp and took out Aegislash, while I got Trick Room up. In came Kangaskhan. I tried to Will-o-Wisp his Gyarados, which switched out to Gardevoir, and I missed, while my switched-in Rotom ate some Fake Out damage (still not Mega Kangaskhan). And again, I made a stupid play: I attacked with Rotom although Sucker Punch could happen. Indeed Kangaskhan used Sucker Punch, and Rotom only lived because Kangaskhan did not mega evolve, so both Lolnub and I choked here, hahaha. I should have Protected Rotom anyway since both Kangaskhan and Gardevoir couldn’t do much to Trevenant. I burned the Kangaskhan, taking it out with burn damage, and in came Gyarados. I protected Trevenant while switching Rotom out to Scrafty, while he Psychiced it and tried to Ice Fang Trevenant. I Faked Out Gyarados and Shadow Clawed the Gardevoir to see how much damage I would do, but Lolnub protected Gardevoir. Next turn, I switched my Scrafty out to Rotom-Heat and burned the Gyarados, while Trevanant took damage from Moonblast and Ice Fang, but thanks to Sitrus it had still 100/191 hp left. The timer went down, and so went Gyarados after a switch to Scrafty and Protect from my side, while Trevenant was double targeted again. It came down to Rotom, Scrafty and Trevenant against Gardevoir which traced Harvest and had a Sitrus Berry, so my safest option would be to time stall here, because a critical hit on my Trevenant would give Lolnub a chance to win. While the last 40 seconds were going down and I had a Rotom and Trevanant on my side, we both wanted to know how much Moonblast would do, so Gardevoir attacked and Trevenant survived with 27hp. I took finally out the Gardevoir with Thunderbolt and Shadow Claw, winning the game 3-0. Good game, Lulnub!

We had a very funny conversation afterwards. Since I wasn’t prepared for max speed Choice Band Gyarados, I asked him how much speed he runs, and he told me his Gyarados outspeeds timid Tyranitar by two points to outspeed Rotom that were designed to outspeed it by one point, so we had a speed tie here! We had a good laugh and wished each other the best of luck for the next games!

3-0

Round 4: Florian Ernst (Mentosbombe)

He used: Talonflame, Mawile, Politoed, Kingdra

I was surprised to see another name I didn’t recognize, but I should know him well after team preview. Before our game started, he told me that he had only played VGC for about 2 months, and that he knows me and we battled once on Showdown, where I 4-0d him… I still had no clue, until I saw his team and I yelled: “MENTOSBOMBE!”

So I kinda knew what to expect and lead Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat against his Mawile and Talonflame, giving me a good position. I Protected my Gardevoir while he U-turned out his Talonflame into Politoed, which ate a Thunderbolt, and Gardevoir was safe from the Iron Head. The Politoed didn’t reveal Sitrus Berry or Eject Button, so I assumed it to be Scarfed, and I was right: while I Protected my Rotom from a Scald which got up before my Gardevoir attacked, I knocked out the Politoed with a Psychic. My Gardevoir survived the Iron Head with 1 hp thanks to the Traced Intimidate, too! In comes Kingdra on his side, and I knew I had to stall out the rain to win. I Protected my Gardevoir and switched Rotom out to Scrafty, while he tried to Sucker Punch my Gardevoir and used Muddy Water, which did quite a lot to my Scrafty, so I knew his Kingdra must be Choice Specs. I then used Fake Out on Kingrda and got a Trick Room off since he Sucker Punched my Gardevoir again.

Now I just had to lose something to bring in my Mawile safely. He knocked out both my Scarfty and Gardevoir with another Muddy Water and Sucker Punch. I brought in Rotom and Mawile, so his Mawile was at -3, and Kingdra was at 70% after Drain Punch damage from the last turn. He stayed in with Mawile and switched out Kingdra to Talonflame, which went down to a Rock Slide, while his Mawile was Protected from any damage (I Thunderbolted the Kingdra slot). In came Kingdra again, and I was afraid of a miss with Play Rough and Thunderbolt not doing enough damage, so I Sucker Punched and Thunderbolted the Kingdra slot, but Sucker Punch was already enough to take it out, so Mawile ate the Thunderbolt and did around 25% to my Mawile with Iron Head. I know I had that game at this point, and so it was after the next turn. 2-0

This was a game that  just shows how strong rain can be, but also how bad 3 Choice item users can be (especially against Trick Room), and I think I only won because my Gardevoir barely survived the Iron Head. I asked Florian about his Mawile spread afterwards and he told me it was Careful with 52 atk, a similar spread to Ray’s (and of course the Trace of Intimidate), which saved me here! I calced out how lucky I was, so here we go:

-1 52 Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Gardevoir: 174-206 (99.4 – 117.7%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

Wow, I got the lowest roll. Sorry, Flo. That calc clearly mattered…maybe male Gardevoir isn’t so bad. I really love this Rain team, hope you’ll do well this year and I am looking forward to meet you again!

4-0

Round 5: Daniel Thum

He used: Klefki, Malamar, Shuckle, Delphox

Yeah ok, I admit it, I didn’t expect to see THAT kind of team in round 5… I found out he was 3-1 and pretty lucky so far, and I knew I could beat this kind of team just because of the addition of Taunt on Scrafty. However, I lead Rotom-Heat and Gardevior against his Malamar and Klefki. I started things of with the obvious Moonblst + Overheat, while his Klefki survives thanks to Light Screen and the incoming Delphox took only 15% of damage, making me think he may run Assault Vest. I then switched out Rotom for Scrafty while protecting Gardevoir. He set up Reflect and revealed Shadow Ball on Delphox. I then Faked Out the Delphox, which switched out to Shuckle, while setting up Trick Room, and Klefki used Foul Play on Gardevoir. He then switched out Klefki for Malamar while I brought in my Mawile for Gardevoir and Taunted the Shuckle, but not before he got a Power Split  on my incoming Mawile! Since he got the Attack boost from Contrary, too, I was afraid of not being able to KO his Malamar with Mawile. However, I switched out Scrafty for Gardevoir and did go for the Play Rough, netting the OHKO! After Malamar was gone and Delphox came back in for Shuckle, I had no more trouble: I will just say that his Delphox did near to 50% to my Rotom and over 50% to Scrafty and Gardevoir with Flamethrower (it was under 33%, but still…wow.) and later found out that he uses Assault Vest Malamar and Delphox with Charcoal. 4-0

His Shuckle had Struggle Bug, Toxic and the Split moves, so he probably tried to Guard Split with Malamar and give it even more bulk with Screens and sweep through teams with it. After that battle I talked to Lolnub and found out that if you Mega evolve a Pokémon, the effects of moves like Power Swap are reset. That was news to me, but good to know!

5-0

Round 6: Florian Wurdack (DaFlo)

He used: Charizard, Aegislash, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash

Revenge for last year, where I beat DaFlo in Round 4. Last year he played rain and this year it looked like he played sun, so I lead with Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat with Goodra and Scrafty in the back, while he lead Charizard and Aegislash. I switched Gardevoir out to Goodra and… Charizard Dragon Danced, reavealing itself to be Charizard-X. My nightmare came true. Of course, Rotom’s Thunderbolt did nothing and Aegislash King Shielded. He then Dragon Clawed the Goodra which I switched back to Gardevoir, but I also had to switch my Rotom to Scrafty to get TR up safely, and DaFlo saw through that play and used Substitute. I used Fake Out on Charizard and Trick Roomed, while he protected Charizard and went for Shadow Ball on Gardevoir, almost taking it out. Then Aegislash took care of Gardevoir and Charizard did some meaningful damage to my Scrafty, while I Taunted the Aegislash. I brought Goodra in. I thought DaFlo would assume a double target in the next turn which would knock out the Aegislash and therefore not Protect with his Charizard, but he did so, and I only broke Aegislash’s substitute while Dragon Pulsing in the Protect. Since I would knock out both if he stayed in, I made a reverse play and Dragon Pulsed the Aegislash and Crunched the Charizard, while he switched out his Aegislash for Garchomp and Charizard for Rotom-Wash. At this point, I had only one turn of Trick Room left, so a double Protect was more than likely, and I Feinted and Drain Punched the Garchomp, which indeed Protected. However, I had lost the game at that point, since his Charizard would just take care of my remaining Pokémon. 0-3

5-1

Round 7: Felix Wintersberger (Brisingr)

He used: Kangaskhan, Gyarados, Chandelure, Rotom-Wash

I wasn’t happy to see a Chandelure there, which tempted me to bring both Goodra and Rotom, but with Kangaskhan, I had to bring my Trevenant and Mawile, too. So I lead with Trevenant and Mawile with Rotom and Goodra in the back against his lead of Kangaskhan and Gyarados. I scouted with a Protect on Trevenant and switched to Rotom-Heat, while he used Fake Out on Rotom and revealed his Gyarados to have Taunt. I hoped his Gyarados wouldn’t have Wacan Berry, so I tried to Trick Room, while his Gyarados indeed had Wacan and Taunted my Trevenant. Kangaskhan switched out for Chandelure. I then Protected with my Rotom-Heat (I guess) and switched my Trevenant out for Goodra, while Chandelure did Shadow Ball damage to it and Gyarados Protected as well. I tried to Thunderbolt the Gyarados and Muddy Watered,  and to my surprise, his Chandelure was faster than my Rotom and knocked it out(Kangaskhan got a critical hit with Fake Out on turn 1 to weaken it) , and Gyarados did some Waterfall damage to Goodra. I got a Muddy Water off, though, so Gyara was at only 10% and Chandelure under 50%. I brought Trevenant in. Assuming a Scarf on Chandelure, I protected Trevenant and Muddy Watered again, but the Gyardos barely survived and Chandelure Protected! Gyarados tried to Taunt Trevenant. Now I had to hope he’s running Heat Wave, but Chandelure used Overheat… and missed. Oh god, that miss was big. Goodra knocked out both Gyarados and Chandelure, and I got Trick Room up. His last two were Rotom-Wash and Kangaskhan, so I did some chip damage to Rotom with Dragon Pulse and burned the Kangaskhan, and as Goodra fainted, I got Mawile in and cleared the game. 2-0

I still feel sorry for the miss. In hindsight, I could have won with enough time if I would have switched my Trevenant for Mawile, since with Rotom and Kangaskhan in the back, my Trevenant could probably win with enough time left (and I think there was still over nine Minutes on the timer).

6-1

One more win, and I will be in Top Cut!

Round 8: Andre Velte

He used: Wigglytuff, Amoonguss, Aegislash, Kangaskhan

Going into that matchup, I knew Goodra would be incredibly good, given that he used five special attackers, while only Kangaskhan would be a bit problematic, so I lead with Trevenant and Rotom-Heat to make sure to burn it right from the start, should he lead with it. He started with Amoonguss and Wigglytuff, so I Protected my Rotom while burning his Wigglytuff, and Trevenant took the Fire Blast with exactly 50%+1hp,  so Sitrus activated, and I harvested a new one at the end of the turn. Amoonguss tried to Spore my Rotom. Then I switched Rotom out for Goodra and Protected Trevenant, to gain some more burn damage on Wigglytuff and wall Amoonguss completely(he Fire Blasted and Spored again). Knowing he had to switch it out, I go for Muddy Water and Will-o-Wisp on the Amoonguss, burning the incoming Aegislash, while Wigglytuff went for Dazzling Gleam. I then Protected Trevenant again and went for another Muddy Water, and paid for it: I got the Accuracy drop on both Aegislash and Wigglytuff, activating Competitive and ate a +2 Ice Beam while Aegislash attacked into a Protect. Goodra still had 55 hp left. Wigglytuff was about to faint from burn next turn, so I opted to use Flamethrower on Aegislash and switched to Rotom in case he would use King’s shield, but in hindsight that was the wrong play, since I needed my Goodra and could have lost it to another Ice Beam… but, he missed, so the +2 from last turn equaled out a bit. Aegislash indeed used King’s Shield, so it was my Rotom and Goodra against his Aegislash and Amoonguss, which came in for Wigglytuff. Amoonguss used Rage Powder and was OHKOed by my Rotom’s Overheat, which was very surprising given I only run 44 Special Attack. Goodra’s Flametthrower hit Aegislash and it fainted after burn damage. It tried to Shadow Ball my Goodra but missed, and I told him my Goodra would have survived that anyways. In came his last Pokémon, and of course it was Kangaskhan. I switched out Goodra for Mawile while trying to burn Kangaskhan, which used Fake Out on Rotom. I proceeded to switch my Rotom for Trevenant, and went for a Play Rough on it, but I missed. No problem, though, since his Kangaskhan couldn’t do anything against my Trevenant and Mawile, so I won a turn later with another Play Rough. 4-0

7-1

I did it! All my friends came to congratulate me and wish me the best of luck for the Top Cut! I was heading to my friends and found out Andre went 6-2 while Szymoninho made Top Cut as well, so we were all happy and waited for the final results. I ended up as the 3^rd seed from Flight one, meaning I’d face Ciskejan G., the last Dutch guy remaining in the National! Lolnub showed me who he was and we already talked a bit, and he seemed to be really nervous since it was his very first National. Since it was 10 pm already, we all were pretty hungry, so we were heading out in no time, looking for something to eat. We ended up eating at our hotel, and eating around midnight is better than eating nothing, I guess…
Szymon was a bit worried about his matchup(he knew he would face Sejun’s Team), so he told me everything he would usually do to beat Sejun’s team, and I told him he would be fine. Around 2 am, I finally got some sleep…

Day 2

Next day, next mission: A trip to worlds! We were all pretty excited and glad that we could sleep until 9 am (and to my surprise, I slept pretty well) and even got to eat something before the Top Cut started. All my friends where watching me on the little screen, so some of the guys that were wondering what I used found it finally out, haha.

I also found out that there were nine players from Germany in the Top Cut, and 2 Mega Gyarados Teams (including Bisharp+Aerodactyl) as well as many Kangaskhan. I was hoping to see Kangaskhan for me, since I don’t really like Aerodactyl+Bisharp.

Top Cut

Top 16: Ciskejan Giannakos (sagaciousslowpoke)  (also called CJ)

Game 1

Another Kangaskhan team, that kind of team I was very well prepared for. I started things with Trevenant and Mawile, while having Rotom-Heat and Goodra in the back, and he lead Kangaskhan and Rotom-Heat. I double switched into Goodra (for Trevenant) and Rotom-Heat(for Mawile). Goodra took Fake Out damage and Rotom wasn’t affected by Will-o-Wisp. I then went for a Muddy Water and Will-o-Wisp, while he protected Rotom and went for a Return on Goodra, and thankfully my Will-o-Wisp hit Kangaskhan. From that point my memory is a but fuzzy. I remember CJ was using Sucker Punch (I’m not sure why)on my Goodra, which barely survive with 3 hp, and he switched to Azumarill and Garchomp, which revealed Rocky Helmet. I managed to get Trick Room up at some point with Mawile out, so I threatened his whole team and did some good damage. I also found out that his Rotom-Heat was carrying Charti Berry, but that was revealed on a switch-in, so I was still safe. However, in the next turn I missed Rotom with Rock Slide and he burned my Mawile. I had Trick Room up still for a last turn and he had Garchomp and Rotom out, neither of which had Protected on the last turn, so I went for Feint and Play Rough on Garchomp, barely missing the OHKO with my burned Mawile. Rotom and Azumarril were almost KO’d, too, so Goodra had a good time, netting 2 KOs with Feint after Trick Room ended! (I also avoided being KO’d by Aqua Jet this way). I’m not sure what the score was, but I won and remember that my Mawile also missed a Play Rough on Kangsakhan in that game, so shame on you, Mawile.

Game 2

I thought the four I brought last time would be the perfect choice, so I didn’t change anything beside the order and lead Rotom-Heat and Mawile this time. CJ lead with Garchomp and Ferrothorn, giving me a huge lead advantage. With Garchomp being threatened by Play Rough and Ferrothorn by Overheat, I felt that a switch-in from Rotom-Heat was very possible, especially with my Mawile out and Garchomp’s Earthquake in mind, so I opted to go for Will-o-Wisp on Garchomp and Rock Slid with Mawile. I flinched, but only took 25% damage on Rotom and Ferrothorn Protected. I followed with the same play on turn 2, this time I succeeded in burning Garchomp and did some damage with Rock Slide to the incoming Azumarill and Garchomp. I then Protected Mawile and switched Rotom to Trevenant, but here again my memory starts to be fuzzy. I know I did not take much damage on Mawile for several turns while burning Ferrothorn (twice, it had Lum Berry) with Trevenant. Eventually Garchomp went down and Kangaskhan came in. Mawile was Leech Seeded, and took some damage. CJ brought Trevenant down to 60%, and the game was in a state where I had Goodra and Trevenant out against Ferrothorn and Azumarill. I was afraid of Belly Drum all the time by that point, so I chose not to Protect, losing my Trevenant this way to a Play Roughy. The game was down to Mawile, Rotom and Goodra against Ferrothorn and Azumarill. Again, I did not Protect anything so Rotom went down, but Azumarill was almost KO’d and I got an Attack drop with Play Rough. I’m not sure why, but I did not use Sucker Punch (I used Rock Slide instead) and almost lost my Goodra, but it survived with 27 hp and cleared the game with Flamethrower while Mawile fainted to Iron Barbs damage. 1-0

CJ was a very nice guy and since it was his first National, I was able to give him some advice. Still a pretty impressive run! Hope to see you again in Milan.

Top 8: Matthias Suchodolski (Lega)

Game 1

I started the same way I did against CJ, and Lega also started Kangaskhan+Rotom-Heat, so I was interested in how he would start things off. He decided to burn my Goodra and Fake Out on my Rotom. He switched Kangaskhan out to Tyranitar which ate a burn and revealed Lum Berry. Tyranitar and avoided Muddy Water, while Rotom Protected, I guess. I opted to burn the Tyranitar again while switching out Goodra for Mawile, and Lega used Will-o-Wisp on my Rotom, expecting a switch, while Tyranitar fired off a Rock Slide. I don’t know what happened after that, but he eventually switched Rotom out for something and I got my chance to bring Trevenant in and set up Trick Room with Mawile out, so sweep mode started. I got rid of most of his things, burned the Azumarill, and missed a Play Rough on Kangaskhan (again), and some more bad luck I guess, but I still managed to win that game 4-0. His Tyranitar also revealed Crunch and Fire Blast, so I had to be careful with my Mawile in the next games.

Game 2

I decided to give Scrafty a go, since his Tyranitar was good against half of my team, I would be able to Taunt Rotom and threaten Aegislash and Kangaskhan as well, but it was a hard choice what to not bring. I eventually decided for Goodra, since I needed Rotom for Aegislash, Azumarril, and burning his physical threats, and Mawile and Trevenant for Kangaskhan. I did not expect him to not bring it, which was a smart choice. As he revealed his leads to be Aegislash+Rotom-Heat against my Rotom and Trevenant, I regretted not having Goodra, and got punished instantly by missing a Will-o-Wisp on Aegislash as well as getting a critical hit Shadow Ball on my Rotom. I decided to go Trick Room mode and Overheated the Aegislash just in case he wouldn’t Protect. He switched it out for Tyranitar and fired off an Overheat on my Rotom, knocking it out. This wasn’t so bad, though, since I got my Mawile in safely. I then protected Mawile and switched Trevenant out for Scrafty, while he attacked Scrafty with Crunch (crit) and Will-o-Wisped Mawile. There was no way he would let Tyranitar stay in, but a Protect on Rotom was more than likely, too, which is why I Rock Slid and Taunted the Tyranitar slot. He switched it out for Aegislash and indeed protected his Rotom. At this point, I made a fatal mistake that cost me the game. With three turns of sand damage, I knew a Rock Slide would have a good chance to KO semi-bulky Rotoms already, and with the addition of Drain Punch I felt pretty safe, to also punish him in case he would switch to  Tyranitar or Kangaskhan (which I thought he had in the back). However, my Rock Slide missed his Rotom-Heat and since I did not Taunt it, my Mawile got burned and all my momentum was gone(he switched Aegislash to Azumarill, though). With the Taunt I still could have won the game and simply attacked a turn later on possible switch-ins, but this way he just took advantage of the burn and finished off my remaining Pokémon as soon as Trick Room ended. I’m not sure if I even knocked out one of his Pokémon. 0-4(?)

Game 3

So since Goodra would helped me a lot in the last game, or at least I was thinking that, and Lega lead Aegislash and Rotom last time and won, I thought he may do that again, which is why I leaded with Goodra and Rotom, with Mawile and Trevenant in the back. However, Lega leaded with Tyranitar and Aegislash this time, meaning he would get good damage soon since he has Lum Berry to get rid of burn for one turn. I also played very badly in that game, trying to knock out his Aegislah with Muddy Water and Overheat, as he used King’s Shield and did a huge amount of damage to my leads with a Rock Slide. I switched out Rotom for Mawile while firing off another Muddy Water, while he switched Aegislash out for Azumarill. Goodra had 55 hp remaining after that turn. I Protected Mawile while switching into Trevenant, which got some good damage to a Crunch and was back around 50% after Sitrus Berry, while Azumarill used Waterfall on Mawile. I thought that after my Protect last turn he may double target my Mawile, but for some reason I did not switch it out to Goodra… He indeed doubled Mawile, but since I stayed in, I was knocked out with a combination of Waterfall and Fire Blast. I got Trick Room up, but that helped Lega more than me now, so this game was already over. If I would have switched Mawile to Goodra, the game would have been a bit more interesting, though I think with Aegislash Lega was still in the better spot. 0-4

Good games, Lega. At least you made me reach my goal to counter the metagame (aka Kangaskhan) so hard that people think twice about bringing it, even if it is their only Mega.

You were smart enough to see that, which is why I think you deserve the win, even though I had some bad luck. Hopefully we’ll meet at Worlds!

After my loss I was looking at the other pairings and found out Szymon lost in his Top8 game as well, but we decided to stay there to watch Yoshi win the whole thing

Closing thoughts about the National

+ great to see everyone from last year again, as well as making new friends (can’t list them all, just everyone I talked to)
+ making Top Cut
+ Yoshi winning the whole thing, no one would have deserved it more than him
+ Goodra doing excellent work
+ Shuckle in Round 5
+ Free meal for me after day one was over!

- “Fast Lane”, biggest joke ever
- extension of 2 hours at day one
- Barry losing all his hope (5-3 in the end)
- battle videos couldn’t be saved
- Mawile missing 4/16 Play Roughs as well as 2 Rock Slides on Rotom-Heat

All in all, it was a great event: the atmosphere, the players, just everything. I’m glad I could do so well with a team that utilizes Trick Room to its fullest, it surely isn’t dead this generation and looking at the way I lost in my top 8 match, I think I had a chance to even win this thing. Though Yoshi was running Taunt on his Gengar, so he was well prepared even for my Trick Room!

Shoutouts to:

• Timo Koppetsch, who gave me the Trevenant
• Gonzo, who caught a Ralts in a Dream Ball for me which I later used for breeding
• Andre and Szymon for being great mates before, during and after the event
• Everyone I talked to, you guys made the event so much better
• Everyone who rooted for me, you guys gave me so much motivation and made me feel like I could do anything
• Scott for editing this report to make it more enjoyable to read
• And last but not least, you who read this report. I hope you enjoyed it!

The post The Tree That Surprises Germany! A Top 8 National Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey, it’s Jack (or Pendlz as I’m known here on the forums) bringing you the team I used to get 3rd place with a combined finishing record of 12-4 in the recent Spring Regionals held in Athens, Georgia. This team finished as the #1 seed after Swiss, with an 8-1 record and high opponent resistance. My team has served me very well and I appreciate the opportunity to share it with you.

I’ve been testing and tweaking this team ever since Winter Regionals with the same core Pokémon and a few changes here and there. The team itself is a combination of hard-hitting Pokémon and supporting Pokémon that create excellent defensive synergy, which enables me to keep up the momentum on my side of the field. I started with what I believe to be the best Pokémon in the metagame, Kangaskhan, and built from there. Amoonguss provided the much-appreciated Rage Powder support for the big-hitter, while Garchomp and Rotom-H have fantastic synergy together. Aegislash and Staraptor plugged holes that my other members couldn’t cover alone.

Team at a Glance

Individual Analyses

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Hammer Arm
- Sucker Punch

As I said, I based my team around Mega Kangaskhan. It seemed to me that the fastest Kangaskhan usually wins 1-on-1, and I expected to run into many opposing Kangaskhan, so Jolly with maximum Speed investment was very important to me. Fake Out and Sucker Punch are self-explanatory, but the other moves aren’t commonly seen on Kangaskhan. After reading Mattj’s report, I whole-heartedely agreed that both Double Edge and Hammer Arm are the superior choices over Return and Power-Up Punch because they help Kangaskhan realize her best potential: hit hard and hit fast. I realize the bulkier EV build is gaining popularity right now but I made a metagame call and this spread ended up working perfectly. The more I played with Kangaskhan, the more I realized that she performs her role best in the back when speed ties are not an issue.

Amoonguss @ Occa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 180 HP / 92 Def / 236 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Protect

I knew Rage Powder + Kangaskhan would be a deadly combination, so my mind immediately fell on Amoonguss. Despite losing the ability to Spore and Rage Powder Grass-types this generation, Amoonguss is still a fantastic Pokémon. I considered a Chesto / Rest build and even tested Focus Sash for a while to better deal with Fire attacks and Talonflame but I eventually returned to the standard Amoonguss moveset. Occa Berry is a bit of an odd choice, but with the prevalence of “fire power” (ha, get it?) right now I felt the fire resistance was the best choice for my team. This allowed me to better deal with Charizard, Rotom-Heat, Salamence, and Chandelure so I could take a hit and either Spore or Rage Powder back. The EV spread was taken from this thread and let me tell you, it makes Amoonguss incredibly bulky. I remember in my last round of Swiss in Wisconsin against Kappy my Amoonguss took an Overheat from his Rotom-H with 78 HP remaining and survived to Rage Powder another turn. Granted, I still lost that game but hey, it did the job!

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

What can I say about this guy. Garchomp was the real oddball on the team–in fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a single other Garchomp on these forums for a while. In all seriousness, everybody knows Garchomp and why he’s here; he hits fast and hard with fantastic dual Ground/Dragon STAB attacks. I chose to go the standard 252/252/4 route because, let’s be honest: it works. The Lum Berry is for the plentiful Will-O-Wisps and Spores that come from every Rotom forme, Gardevoir, Amoonguss, Venusaur, and more. Rocky Helmet could’ve been useful at times but Lum did save me from a few Will-O-Wisps in Swiss and earned its place on the team. I finally got my hands on a Rough Skin Garchomp the last week before the tournament which helped immensely with how physically-based common attackers are.

Rotom-Heat @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Spd / 164 SAtk / 116 HP
IVs: 31/x/30/31/31/31
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

I knew a strong Fire-type would be important for this team and I eventually settled on Rotom-Heat, which provided fantastic synergy with Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Overheat are mandatory STABs. I decided to go with Hidden Power Ice over Will-O-Wisp because of the prevelance of Dragons, especially Garchomp and Salamence. I saw at least four teams with both Garchomp and Salamence, and twelve of my sixteen opponents had either one or the other. Hidden Power Ice handled these threats perfectly as I could tank whatever attack they threw at me and get a guaranteed OHKO back. I don’t know why people continue to assume Will-O-Wisp is standard–the only thing I ever need to burn is Garchomp nowadays but since a good chunk of them already carry Lum why waste your time when you can just knock it out? The EV spread was built to outspeed max Speed base 70s like Politoed, Bisharp, and 252 neutral Gyarados. The Modest nature and 164 Special Attack EVs allowed Rotom to OHKO the aforementioned Garchomp with a Life Orb. This also allowed me to OHKO all Amoonguss, all Talonflame, most Mega Charizard-Y, and most Azumarill. The rest of the EVs were put into HP to give Rotom as much bulk as possible. Rotom was the MVP of the team, handling many threats and maintaining great switching synergy that made it difficult for the opponent to play around.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Quiet Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
- King’s Shield

Originally in this spot I had a Choice Scarf Abomasnow. My defensive synergy was just awful and I realized I needed to find both a Steel-type to deal with Dragons and Fairies, and another Pokémon that resisted Fighting-type moves. I almost gave up the search until I finally realized rather stupidly that Aegislash is in the top 10 for usage right now because it accomplishes both of those roles. It took me a while but I got there eventually!

Honestly, if I were to use Aegislash again I would probably use the Substitute + Leftovers variant, but this build worked well enough for Athens. With such fantastic bulk in its Shield Form, Aegislash can take many super-effective hits, obtain the +2 boost from Weakness Policy, and continue to wreck the field. The EVs are standard but do the job well; maximum HP increases Aegislash’s bulk and maximum Special Attack with a boosting nature lets it hit as hard as possible. There weren’t any specific benchmarks to hit since the plan was to get the Weakness Policy boost anyway, but this spread allows me to 2HKO many threats like Garchomp, Salamence, Tyranitar, and Mega Mawile. Another change I would make would be to switch Shadow Sneak to Sacred Sword. Although the priority from Shadow Sneak gives you #swagfactor, it is much less useful than Sacred Sword which would at least allow me to 2HKO opposing Mega Kangaskhan.

Staraptor @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 156 Spd / 132 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Brave Bird
- Close Combat
- U-turn

Staraptor is the final Pokémon of the team, and is definitely the coolest. For the longest time I had Choice Specs Greninja in this slot but one Pokémon I greatly struggled with was Mega Mawile, even though Rotom and Amoonguss resist both of its main STABs. Unfortunately, Choice Specs Greninja just misses the knockout on Mega Mawile with Hydro Pump, so I needed a replacement that could hit hard and fast. I stumbled across Staraptor and thought that even though they’re completely different in almost every way, they actaully end up performing extremely similar tasks. When I brought Greninja, it could maybe knock out one threat but then it was usually deadweight. With Staraptor, however, I could guarentee a knockout with Final Gambit and then make room for a free switch-in. With how fast-paced and frail this metagame is compared to post-Nationals last year, Final Gambit is as good as ever since most people are investing more EVs in Speed and Attack rather than defenses. Less opposing HP makes one happy Staraptor.

Even if I don’t want to Final Gambit, Staraptor has fantastic coverage with a powerful Brave Bird, Close Combat, and U-Turn that allows me to stack Intimidates. 212 HP EVs ties with all maximum base 70s, but I decided to go with 220 in case anyone was actually trying to break that benchmark. A Jolly nature with 156 Speed EVs and a Choice Scarf allows me to outspeed all neutral-natured, maximum investment base 100s like Salamence and Zapdos. The remaining EVs were put into Attack so that Staraptor could still hit hard. Staraptor even knocks out up to 252 HP / 56 Defense Amoonguss 94% of the time, which was good enough for me! This also allowed me to 2HKO all Scrafty at -1 along while granting a 2HKO on Mega Khan with Close Combat if I didn’t want to use Final Gambit, while Kangaskhan could only 2HKO me after an Intimidate.

The Tournament

I left my dorm room at Auburn University on Saturday afternoon with some of the friends I’ve met in my freshman year here. All three of them are mostly single players on Smogon, but they do go to the Athens tournament every year and were kind enough to let me ride with them. We met another friend just east of Atlanta that graciously allowed us to spend the night at his house. I was going to finish EV training my team the entire way there, but I forgot to charge my 3DS the night before, so I was stuck listening to the driver’s weird electronic-Indy music. We arrived at the house, I finished my team, everyone enjoyed a fantastic dinner, and then we all went to bed.

At 7:45 the next morning, the four of us hopped into the car and headed to the tournament. The drive was alright and we ended up getting to the convention center parking deck 30 minutes prior to the end of registration, which gave us plenty of time to register and take in the Poké-atomsphere. The convention center itself was roughly the same size as other tournaments I’ve been to but the attendance was bigger than any Regional I’ve been to yet, with 274 players! Originally the staff announced nine rounds of Swiss with a Top Cut of eight, but after round 2 of Swiss they announced we would instead have a Top Cut of 16 which made me a lot more confident that Top Cut was a realistic endeavor for the day.

The Matches

Let me start by saying that it is really unfortunate that you cannot save battle videos from live events. In X/ Y we finally gained the ability to save more than a few videos at a time, but for some reason we are unable to save videos from the only official tournaments. If it’s at all possible to patch the game so we can save battle videos from events–even just for Worlds–then it should be done. Anyway, back to the tournament! I sat down for my first round and was ready to go!

Round 1: Katie W.

She brought:

I brought:

Her team appeared to be hard Trick Room so I put Amoonguss in the back with Garchomp and Rotom as leads. Turn 1, she Rage Powders and Trick Rooms, while I get the KO on her Amoonguss and Garchomp Earthquakes. She brings out Mawile and I switch out Garhomp for my own Amoonguss while Rotom Protects. Right here, I discover that double Fairy gives me a load of trouble, which is something I didn’t run into enough in practice, so I know I’ll have to play smartly to pull this one out. This match is a little hazy since I tend not to take great notes when I’m losing. I am down 2-3 and she has both her Fairies still alive (Mawile in the back) while I have only Garchomp and Amoonguss. I maneuver around her Rotom-W while getting some chip damage on Aromatisse and Mega Mawile and luckily my opponent doesn’t make the obvious play to Sucker Punch Garchomp for the KO and I end up getting the KO on Mawile. It’s now 2-1 in my favor and all I have to do is Spore Aromatisse and continue to attack it for the win. This one is way too close, especially for a first round match, so I know I’ll have to be more attentive from here on out.
Win, 1-0

Round 2: Eujin S. (KiwiDawg7)

She brought:

I brought:

I did not want to deal with Mawile again and so in comes Staraptor. I hope she doesn’t Sucker Punch on the first turn–which she didn’t–and I get the quick 3-3 with Final Gambit as Aegislash uses King’s Shield to protect itself from the oncoming Overheat. She sends in Ludicolo against my Kangaskhan and I swap out Aegislash for Rotom-H, (correctly predicting that Ludicolo did not have Fake Out) so I Double Edged her Rotom-H for the knockout while Ludicolo knocked out my Rotom-H making it 2-2 with my  -1 Attack Kangaskhan and Aegislash versus her Salamence and Ludicolo. Thinking Salamence will KO Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor, I Sucker Punch the Ludicolo to put it into KO range for Aegislash, but instead Salamence Fire Blasts Aegislash, activating its Weakness Policy, and Ludicolo knocks out Kangaskhan with Hydro Pump. Thanks to the +2 Weakness Policy boost, I was able to knock out Salamence on the same turn with Shadow Ball. Aegislash proceeds to Shadow Ball Ludicolo for the knock out as Hydro Pump is only a 3HKO.
Win, 2-0

Round 3: Manda V.

He brought:

I brought:

This guy had a very interesting team. The Gyarados scared me but as long as I could knock it out quickly I would be okay. He leads Salamence/Jolteon, getting an Intimidate off on Kangaskhan and Amoonguss. This guy plays very well, switching in Rotom-C to an incoming Spore, preserving his Mega Gyarados well, and using his Intimidate effectively. I maneuver Salamence around the field and Gyarados knocks out my Intimidated Kangaskhan. Jolteon definitely gives me some trouble and with the combined power and bulk from Mega Gyarados, it was a tough match. The star play was when Rotom-H outsped and Thunderbolted Mega Gyarados from around 80% for an unexpected knockout and from here the momentum swung in my favor. Rotom-H continued to wreck the field by knock out his Jolteon and Rotom-C, sealing the match.
Win, 3-0

Round 4: Coty S.

He brought:

I brought:

Another Mawile, which means I really want to get that Final Gambit off immediately, so I lead Staraptor/Amoonguss against his Tyranitar/Amoonguss. Thinking he will Protect Tyranitar in fear of a Close Combat, I U-Turn into Amoonguss instead, but he promptly switches Amoonguss into Mawile. I U-turn into Aegislash while he Rock Slides and I get the Spore off onto Tyranitar. From here, Aegislash 2HKOs Mawile and I switch Amoonguss for Khangaskhan. Lots of switches occur but I feel pretty confident I can position myself for the win. We swap some knockouts and it ends up with my Staraptor and Kangaskhan out against his Amoonguss and Tyranitar. I Brave Bird his Amoonguss for the knock out which is followed by Tyranitar knocking out Staraptor, but Kangaskhan hits the Hammer Arm on Tyranitar for the easy OHKO.
Win, 4-0

Round 5: Bo M.

He brought:

I brought:

My notes are very slim for this match, but from what I can remember the momentum was swinging my way most of the game. I made a couple smart switches between Aegislash, Rotom, and Amoonguss, eventually setting myself up to knock out his Garchomp with a Hidden Power Ice. He got a few knockouts afterwards, but Rotom and Aegislash managed to stay alive until the end, netting me a 2-0 advantage.
Win, 5-0

With roughly eight 5-0s left in the field, I was very surprised at this point that I had not yet played any fellow members from Nugget Bridge. I’d talked to a few guys here and there and recognized some names but the fact of the tournament was that there were not that many well-seasoned players that other tournaments seem to have. Of course, Nugget Bridge players aren’t the absolute embodiment of the competitive Pokémon player, but I just expected to see more well-known players at this point.

Round 6: Mike A.

He brought:

I brought:

Mike appears to have a fairly standard team. I know I want Kangaskhan in the back to clean up so I start off with my go-to lead: Garchomp and Rotom. Amoonguss also has a good matchup so he was brought as my fourth slot. When leads are brought out I immediately switch Rotom for Amoonguss, fearing a Hydro Pump from his Rotom-W and Garchomp Rock Slides for the easy knockout on Talonflame. From here Amoonguss really did work with Rage Powder and I was able to narrowly survive the mirror-matchups despite losing the Garchomp speed tie. The battle ended with Kangaskhan versus Kangaskhan. Mine was faster and got the final knockout with Hammer Arm.
Win, 6-0

Round 7: Michael L. (Jivetime)

He brought:

I brought:

Finally, someone I recognized from Nugget Bridge! I was familiar with Jivetime’s reputation and knew this would be my toughest battle of the day so far. I went with my go-to lead as he got the Intimidate off with Salamence. Right off the bat he double targets Rotom with Fake Out and Draco Meteor, netting him the KO and an early lead. I send out Kangaskhan and then switch Garchomp for Aegislash, not wanting to take a Return. The entire game Jivetime made the better plays and had the momentum, but this was by far the haxiest match of the tournament for me. I must’ve gotten five Rock Slide flinches, two or three important critical hits, combined with a few misses on his side. I felt guilty about the obscene amount of luck on my side but Jivetime was really chill about it and reassured me that it was no big deal. “That’s Pokémon sometimes,” he said, “and it’s the game we play.” What a baller. I believe I ended up winning 2-0 but knew that if I had to play Jivetime again in Top Cut it would definitely be a different story.
Win, 7-0

At this point I was fairly confident I would make Top Cut and was pumped up! I reminded myself that every match counts and despite being almost certain I would be in the Top 16 even if I lost the next two matches, I still wanted to finish strong and secure a high seed so I wouldn’t have to play anyone fantastic in the first round. These next two matches would be huge.

Round 8: Harrison S. (Crow)

He brought:

I brought:

Crow is another fantastic player. I have very few notes for this match, and that’s because every ounce of my attention was poured into the game because from the get-go Crow had control of the match. I didn’t even get to see his last Pokémon because he made s0 many smart switches and made me pay for leaving my Pokémon unprotected at times. I don’t know what it was but he controlled momentum from the very beginning of the match and earned a very decisive 3-0 victory.
Loss, 7-1

Okay, first loss of the day. I didn’t want to slip here and accidentally lose all my confidence from previous matches. Even if I did lose this next match I wanted to make sure to give it my all and prove to myself that I belonged in the Top Cut.

Round 9: Jerry W. (Sabaku)

He brought:

I brought:

Sabaku was the third name I recognized from Nugget Bridge, and he was a pretty cool guy. He gave me some good advice as the battle was starting: since we were both going to make Top Cut, the best thing to do for this match would be not to worry about who would win or lose but to gain as much information about the opponent’s team as possible so that if you happen to play again in Top Cut you will have the upper hand. Well said, Sabaku. He did gain the upper hand when he correctly predicted Aegislash would not use King’s Shield and Hydro Pumped it for the knockout, but in the same turn I tried Sporing Rotom-W and found it to be holding Safety Goggles (is that the kind of information you were talking about, Sabaku?). It seemed like he had the game with a 3-2 lead, but I somehow battled back with some smart double targets with Kangaskhan and Rotom-H. It ended with Kangaskhan and Rotom out versus his Gothitelle and Charizard-Y. I double targeted Gothitelle for the knockout while Heat Wave takes out low-HP Rotom and does a good chunk of damage to Kangaskhan, but since I was faster Kangaskhan was able to Double-Edge Charizard for the final knockout on the next turn. Very good game.
Win, 8-1

Upon looking at the final standings after Swiss, I was amazed. I knew my resistance was pretty good, but I thought for sure there would be a 9-0 or two, and I was definitely not expecting to be the #1 seed. I must admit that it was a pretty cool feeling. Hearing people ask each other “Who’s Jack Pendleton?” while crowding around the final standings was pretty fun. Of the friends I traveled with, one went 6-3 and the other two went 5-4 so they were very proud of my performance and congratulated me. There was a little time before Top Cut started so I prepared myself mentally and then sat down in the enclosed circle of chairs that I dubbed the Top Cut Circle. Very ominous. Anyway, I sat down across from my opponent and was ready to begin my first Top Cut match.

Top Cut

Top 16: William P. (whatthechuck3)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

Apparently it was his first Top Cut too, so this was a new experience for both of us. I went with my go-to leads, Garchomp and Rotom-H, while he smartly lead with two perfect counters: Rotom-W and Pyroar. I very much feared that Pyroar carried Hidden Power Ice for Garchomp, so I Protected and switched Rotom out for Aegislash. However, he switched Pyroar for his own Garchomp and Rotom-W Will-O-Wisp’d into Garchomp’s Protect. Next turn, I switched Garchomp back for Rotom-H while Rotom-W Hydro Pumped into King’s Shield. I revealed Rotom’s Hidden Power Ice here, netting a knockout on his Garchomp which he replaced for Pyroar, giving me a 4-3 lead. For some reason, I thought Aegislash would be able to take an Overheat from Pyroard because I always overestimate his bulk, and this led to a prompt knockout. Kangaskhan replaced Mr. Ghost Sword. Kangaskhan knocked out Rotom-W and Rotom-H knocked out Pyroar after they both received some heavy hits in return. Mawile comes out and Sucker Punches Rotom-H for the knockout while Kangaskhan gets some chip damage with Hammer Arm, but the game is mine. Garchomp replaces my fallen Rotom and gets the final knockout with Earthquake. Information gained: Rotom-W has Leftovers, Pyroar has Life Orb, not sure about HP Ice, Garchomp is either Lum or Rocky Helmet.
Win, 1-0

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

We both adjust our leads; I decide to bring Kangaskhan and Amoonguss against his Rotom-W and Garchomp. I Fake Out Rotom and Spore the incoming Mawile, which is great because Mawile makes me want to spit on puppies. I switch out Kangaskhan for Rotom-H, Amoonguss Rage Powders away the Hydro Pump, and Mawile sleeps. Amoonguss Rage Powders again, tanking the Hydro Pump, while Rotom-H gets the Thunderbolt knockout on Rotom-W which he replaces with Pyroar. I make a few more smart switches and focus Rotom-H on Mawile as soon as it wakes up and I find out Pyroar has Hyper Voice rather than Hidden Power Ice, which makes things easier for me. My own Rotom takes out his Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice. It eventually comes down to Rotom-H and Amoonguss versus Pyroar. Amoonguss tanks two Overheats with Occa Berry and Rotom earns the final knockout with Thunderbolt. Good games, William.
Win, 2-0.

Alright, I made it to the Top 8. I’m feeling pretty good about the last series but I know it will only get tougher from here. I check to see how Jivetime and Otterz (whom I met earlier) did and they said they both won and we were all very happy for each other. The next round begins and I sit down in the Top Cut Circle.

Top 8 Quarterfinals: Patrick G. (Moe1216)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

I hate playing against 2/3 of the Pokémon on his team and he was sitting next to me last round in a very intense series so I knew this series would be a challenge. Double Intimidate at the start forced an immediate switch out from Kangaskhan into Amoonguss while Rotom Protects and his Manectric switches to Salamence. After some damage was dished out on both sides I got Kangaskhan out against a weakened Salamence and netted a knockout with Double-Edge. Gardevoir definitely gave me some trouble, knocking out my Amoonguss and severely weakening Rotom, but Aegislash eventually took her down. He got Manectric out again to Intimidate Kangaskhan, but it was too late: Aegislash and Rotom still remained on my side and were able take out Salamence for the 2-0 win. Information gained: Scrafty has Leftovers, Salamence is not carrying Choice Scarf, unsure of Gardevoir’s item.
Win, 1-0

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

Scrafty gave me a load of trouble in this match. I didn’t preserve the Pokémon I needed in order to take out his threats, and I stupidly let Scrafty knock out Aegislash and Rotom, while also crucially damaging Kangaskhan. I also discovered Gardevoir was holding a Choice Scarf which was important to know that Kangaskhan would not be able to outspeed it. Rotom did get the Hidden Power Ice knockout on Salamence and Overheat knocked out his Aegislash, but it was too little too late and his smart switches and defensive synergy was enough to outplay me.
Loss, 1-1

Game 3

He brought:

I brought:

He used the exact same Pokémon and so did I, but I switched up my leads a little bit as I felt I knew what to do this time. This game was much more similar to game 1, where the momentum was swinging in my direction and some good switches really paid off. I will admit that I got very lucky on turn 3, where a Double-Edge critical hit was enough to take out his full-HP Gardevoir, an attack that previously did about 80%. I felt bad but knew that if I were in the same situation I would not blame one critical hit for the loss of an entire match. If all it takes is one unlucky play to make your team fall apart your team isn’t good enough against that certain matchup; Moe knew this and played like a champ till the end. With the loss of Gardevoir he didn’t really have a great check to Amoonguss, and so I was able to disrupt his attacks long enough to whittle down his the rest of his team (only losing Rotom in the process) and claimed a 3-0 win. Very nice guy with some great talent and I look forward to playing him again.
Win, 2-1

Top 4 Semifinals: Michael L. (Jivetime)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

Not Jivetime again! He is a super nice guy but I do not like playing against him because he is such a skilled player. Right off the bat he double targets and knocks out Mega Kangaskhan while Rotom KO’s Salamence with Hidden Power Ice. I made some really terrible choices by not switching out my Pokémon after this and he capitalized on my open Pokémon. Garchomp got the knock out on Bisharp late after revealing a Focus Sash, but this match was all his, and this time with no hax involved! Clean 2-0 finish.
Loss, 0-1

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

I don’t think I even saw his last Pokémon. After a long day of Pokémon, I crashed super hard. I got maybe one knockout near the end but this game would finally bring my day to an end with a 3-0 finish.
Loss, 0-2

Conclusion

This was a very long day of Pokémon. I finished in 3rd place out of 274 competitors and beat Otterz in a best-of-3 rock-paper-scissors after we both lost in the top 4 for the swagged-out Chespin hat (which might have been more exciting than winning an actual match) along with receiving a very cool Regional semi-finalist trophy and 36 packs of TCG boosters. I couldn’t have been happier with my performance. Although I did get lucky at times and may not have consistently played against the best players at the venue, getting 3rd place at any Regional feels rewarding. My friends congratulated me for the performance but they really wanted to go so we left in a hurry, all of us exhausted.

Me and my prizes!

Props and Slops

Props

• Getting #1 seed after Swiss and 3rd place overall = not too bad.
• Getting a free lift to and from the tournament.
• IceKingz for always helping me out when I wanted to bounce ideas off him and generally being a great dude.
• Meeting a ton of great people like Sabaku, Otterz, Jivetime, and every other person I played.
• ScottMtc for trading me the Hidden Power Ice Rotom. Thanks a ton, dude!
• Great staff and a very well-run tournament.
• Selling the Pokémon cards for $65 at Wisconsin the next weekend. I’m in the positive!

Slops

• Not performing as well at Madison the next weekend; only going 5-3.
• 3 hour drive there and back.
• Not arriving back in Auburn until 10pm and then having to do all my homework.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience and I look forward to seeing everyone again at Nationals! Thanks for reading!

The post Bringin’ the Summer Heat! 3rd Place Athens Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi! My name is Oliver Reilly, known on Nugget Bridge as ImOliLetsBattle, and I’m a player from the UK. I’m relatively new to VGC, which is why there hasn’t been any activity – yet – on my profile. I will be getting much more involved in the online community soon, though.

This event was the Pokemon Battle Tournament UK Grand Finals 2014. 19 Regional Heats were held with two winners from each going on to the next round, a total of 38 participants in the Ultimate Pokemon Expert Category. We were split into eight groups, each with four or five members. During the group stages we each played each other once – no best of three, just one battle. A winner was declared for each group, and then the eight of us were put into the knockout stage.

This was the first competitive event I’ve been to. My friend Ben and I, filled with excitement and nerves, queued for what seemed like hours to get into the Music Room in Mayfair, London. I genuinely had no idea what to expect. I was really lucky to get through Regionals given I hadn’t prepared at all, and I wanted to prove that I deserved to be there. What was up for grabs? A bye to the second round of the UK National Championships for the finalists. Oh, and a weeklong trip to Japan for the winner, which made the final a little more nerve-wracking!

Leading up to the event, I wanted a team focused around Mawile and Tyranitar that was bulkier, rather than faster, and was not threatened by status conditions or Confusion. My team was focused around removing threats to Tyranitar and Mawile and allowing those two to sweep. After a long run with a completely different team, I scrapped it and started again from scratch around three days before the tournament. I only got about three hours of sleep on the day of the tournament – a terrible idea that I would not recommend to anyone. I just hadn’t finished training the team!

Tyranitar @Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SDef / 236 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Dragon Dance
- Rock Slide
- Crunch

This Tyranitar was the strongest member of my team. Most players were expecting a Special set, given that Special Tyranitar is the most popular at the moment. Switches by my opponent became an opportunity for me to Dragon Dance. Tyranitar can Dragon Dance on a Garchomp, take an Earthquake, and respond with a +3 Crunch to KO. There isn’t much that can survive once Tyranitar is at +3. Rock Slide provides powerful STAB spread damage with potential flinches.  Crunch was very helpful for dealing with Aegislash and other popular Steel types, and it also worked as a single-targeting move when you predict a Protect.

What’s great about Tyranitar is that a lot of Special attacks in particular are Super Effective against it, but since the Sand is up (and hopefully Screens) Tyranitar can more easily take the hit, and your opponent ends up suffering for it. If they don’t take the bait, they end up having to KO it with neutral moves.

The EVs provided allow Tyranitar to outspeed Jolly Garchomp after one Dragon Dance. Attack was maximised to KO all the things, and the remaining EVs were thrown into the defensive stats.

Mawile @Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate — Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Atk / 132 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Fire Fang
- Protect
- Sucker Punch

I decided to run Fire Fang rather than Iron Head on Mawile. Iron Head would only ever have been useful in the tournament against Gengar when my opponent Disabled my Sucker Punch. Instead, I decided to run the slightly unusual Fire Fang. It ended up being one of the most helpful moves on the set, because of the surprise factor and the large number of Fire weaknesses that plague various top tier threats. The EV spread allowed me to OHKO Ray Rizzo’s Ferrothorn, which I came across a lot and threatened my Tyranitar. The rest went in HP and Special Defense, similarly to the way Ray Rizzo used his Mawile.

Sucker Punch was always helpful, either as a Super Effective hit, to provide chip damage to support another Pokemon, or to provide enough power to finish off weakened opponents.

Mawile complimented my Tyranitar incredibly well, providing Intimidate support and giving decent typing synergy, as well as working well in a Sandstorm. Play Rough helped with the Fighting types that Tyranitar hates.

Meowstic @Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Safeguard

No, this isn’t one of those annoying Meowstic with Thunder Wave or Swagger.

Tyranitar took all of the glory, but Meowstic was probably just as helpful. It was absolutely key that I brought Meowstic. I originally wanted Meowstic just to deal with Venusaur, Amoonguss, Smeargle and Rotom-W by blocking status, preventing Mawile and Tyranitar from getting shut down. However, I think having Screens up is far too underrated. Barely anyone I played set them up, and I don’t know why. The bulk that they add to your teammates will surprise your opponents, such as when your Mawile survives a Talonflame Flare Blitz. They were also especially helpful for my team, because my team was slow and really benefited from being able to survive hits first and then respond. Also, since Tyranitar needs to take a Super Effective hit to activate Weakness Policy, it really benefits from the increase in bulk.

My set is far less bulky than most. There’s a reason for this. First of all, Meowstic’s bulk is improved by the screens you set up anyway. Secondly, it allows Meowstic to respond with a STAB Super Effective Psychic on Amoonguss or Venusaur that will deal a surprising amount of damage, as well as finish off any other Pokemon that you need to. Also, Meowstic isn’t really needed once you set up Screens and a Safeguard – just Psychic away until it faints, allowing you a free switch into another Pokemon. Also, when previously your opponent could simply ignore Meowstic after it had set up Screens, this set forces them to eliminate it before it deals any more damage. In this way, it also acts as a dummy that your opponent must take down before they focus on your other Pokemon.

Rotom-Wash @Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4SDef
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Volt Switch

This Rotom was used for a number of reasons. I needed to bring some powerful Special offense, and I also wanted another way of countering Pokemon that I had issues with. Tricking a Pokemon with a Choice item removes some of the mind games that are being played when you’re in a tight situation, providing you with a more reliable idea of what your opponent is going to do and potentially crippling an opponent if they need to switch up their moves as you switch up your Pokemon. Trick also completely neuters opponents if they are down to their final two Pokemon. Rotom was also helpful in that I really needed a Pokemon that could switch into an Earthquake.

Aegislash @Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk
Quiet Nature
EVs: 0 Spd
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- King’s Shield

Nothing much to say here, pretty standard Aegislash. It was helpful to switch into when Tyranitar was threatened by a Fighting move and it provided reliable damage at the end of every turn. Gengar occupied this slot until just before the Tournament, but I found that it was too frail. I didn’t want to run a Choice item set with it either, because of the ubiquitous Sucker Punch.

Amoonguss @Black Sludge
Abiliy: Regenerator
Level: 50
Evs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 Spd
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Spore
- Protect
- Rage Powder

I could talk about what I wanted Amoonguss to do, but there’s not much point because I never even brought it. It could have been really helpful, but I had very little experience with Amoonguss which is why I didn’t feel comfortable bringing it. I probably would have brought it in a different scenario, like if I ever faced a Rain team where I needed the Spore support and the ability to redirect damage with Rage Powder.

Special Mention:

Garchomp @Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
-Stone Edge
-Fire Fang
-Outrage
-Earthquake

What a stupid set, right? Right. I hadn’t used Amoonguss all day, so I swapped him out for Garchomp. That way, I could sponge Thunder Waves and add Rock Slide support for Charizard. I forgot to check his moves though, and as a result I picked the wrong Garchomp going into the final. I ended up making my life a lot harder in the finals.

Battles

I’m not going to say too much about my battles. I’ll put the codes up – they’re pretty self-explanatory. However, I will talk about the final, because unfortunately there is no battle video to upload, since the battle happened on a different 3DS so it could go up on the big screens at the event.

Match 1 vs Justin Miller(ThrillerMiller9)

MTQG-WWWW-WWW7-4ELP

Match 2 vs Sam (WM Sam)

ZDEG-WWWW-WWW7-4ERU

Match 3 vs Sam (MCPanda69)

8QYG-WWWW-WWW7-4ESD

Match 4 vs Sam (samgei)

Far too many Sams…

I actually lost one of my matches in the group stages against MCPanda69. I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. He played really well, however, predicting my Sucker Punch, switching to prevent large amounts of damage, and winning the game by Perish trapping my last two Pokemon. We had one of the most competitive groups of the eight that were competing.

I was still able to go through to the quarter finals because luckily no one won all four games. Justin and I both had 3-1 records and both had the same number of Pokemon remaining in each, but since I had defeated him I was selected to go through. It was a shame that there was no time for a rematch or a best-of-three.

Quarter-Final vs Garry

R6TG-WWWW-WWW7-4ETY

Semi-Final vs Connor

ETMG-WWWW-WWW7-4EUA

Final vs Lee Watson (Redemption003)

Opponent’s team:

Rotom-W / Meowstic / Charizard / Venusaur VS. Meowstic / Garchomp / Tyranitar / Mawile

My opponent lead with Rotom-W and Meowstic and I lead with Meowstic and Garchomp. I left my Garchomp in as fodder, not really worrying about it getting statused, and set up my screens first before trying to set up a Safeguard. Unfortunately, my Meowstic got paralyzed multiple times before it faints, and I was unable to set up Safeguard. The first half of the battle was boring – it was just chip damage turn after turn. Eventually, with significant damage to both his Pokemon, my Meowstic and Garchomp both fainted, forcing me to bring in Mawile and Tyranitar. I mega evolved and went for the Play Rough onto his Meowstic, KOing it, and I set up a Dragon Dance. However, he was able to Thunder Wave my Tyranitar and Will-o-Wisp my Mawile before his Meowstic went down and his Rotom fainted due to Sandstorm. Things were not looking good for me. He brought in his Charizard and Venusaur. Predicting him to Protect with his Charizard fearing the Rock Slide, I Crunched the Venusaur. He does in fact Protect with his Charizard, but he mega evolved his Venusaur instead – strange! My Tyranitar is hit with a Giga Drain, but thanks to Sandstorm and Light Screen, my Tyranitar is able to survive and its Weakness Policy was activated. I Fire Fanged the Venusaur with Mawile and proceed to land my Crunch through Paralysis – thank god. The damage was nail-bitingly close – just enough to bring Venusaur into the range where it would be taken out by Sandstorm, leaving me with a burned Mega-Mawile and a paralysed Tyranitar with low HP against his Charizard. Charizard outspeeds and goes for the Flamethrower onto T-Tar, which would be a 2HKO at the range of HP Tyranitar was at. However, I am able to hit through Paralysis again and get off a Rock Slide (I really should have Crunch’ed) to knock out the Charizard. What an incredibly close game.

This was a fantastic tournament, and I was so happy to win, although at the end of the day the winner could have been anyone. I was definitely very lucky. For example, my team has severe issues with Kangaskhan, but luckily I did not face a single one, which was strange. I hope to go to Nationals later on in May and I hope to see some of you there!

Many thanks to Ben Dyson for spending many hours helping me build my team and test it. He deserves half of the credit. Maybe a little less. Because of that, he’s going to accompany me to Japan.

The post Tyranitar’s Tyranny! Pokémon UK Battle Tournament 2014 1st Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

I’m DrDimentio, an Australian player you probably haven’t heard of since our country only recently entered VGC. Adelaide’s Regionals were the second set of Regionals to occur in Australia and had a rather small turn-out (due to the event being held on Mother’s Day); however, this meant that the most dedicated players were there.

I spent a lot of time thinking of team ideas in the weeks leading up to the event, and even practiced quite a lot with various ideas. However, most of this practice was wasted as I ended up changing some team members and moves the night before, so I actually had zero practice battles with my final team.

The tournament had an unusual double-elimination format. My first loss was against the eventual runner-up (he was the only undefeated player until the finals), and my second loss occurred in the top 4, which left me with a somewhat disappointing 4th place finish. Still, it’s not too bad considering my lack of testing with this team.

Team Analysis

I was inspired to run a Tailwind-based Charizard-Y team after reading about a 2nd place Asia Cup team. That was enough to convince me that Mega Charizard-Y is viable. Thus, the first team member I chose was Charizard-Y.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze > Drought
Nature: Modest
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Substitute
- Protect

I don’t regret settling for Blaze as its base form’s ability, as Gardevoir can actually make use of Solar Power if it Traces it. Substitute is the only thing that stands out here, which was important for my intended play style: set up Tailwind and then punish opponents that try to stall it out with Protect or switching. When Charizard is behind a Substitute, an opponent may try to double-target it, but that’s risky for them since Charizard also has Protect. There are other ways an opponent can deal with Substitute, which some of my remaining team members were intended to prevent.

The EV spread was simple – I wanted maximum power to take full advantage of Tailwind turns, which also give me the best chance to KO Rotom-W. Maximum Speed seems unnecessary for a base 100 under Tailwind, but I thought it would be pointless to invest in bulk when Substitute takes away from it. It would probably be better to have some bulk to survive certain attacks after one use of Substitute, but I didn’t have enough time to consider that.

Substitute requires good prediction along with a teammate that can deal heavy damage to anything that isn’t threatened by Charizard. That’s where Mamoswine comes in.

Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Adamant
116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spd
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
- Protect
- Rock Slide

Mamoswine is surely one of the best partners for Charizard-Y in Tailwind. Sun reduces their shared weakness to Water, while Mamoswine KOs the common fast dragons (Scarf Salamence and Garchomp). A -1 Life Orb Ice Shard KOs Salamence, and a neutral Ice Shard KOs Garchomp. Mamoswine also KOs Aerodactyl without defensive EV investment. Ice Shard’s priority meant that its partner Charizard wasn’t necessarily unsafe without Tailwind. Rock Slide is for things like opposing Charizard and Talonflame, although in Tailwind Mamoswine can finish off a weakened Talonflame with Ice Shard before it can Brave Bird. The pure power of Mamoswine’s Earthquake was evident when it finished an opponent’s full-HP Mega Mawile and Tyranitar to win a battle. Rock Slide also does reasonable damage to Rotom-H, but Sitrus Berry and Will-o-Wisp are problematic.

For the EVs, all I remember is that it outspeeds Ray Rizzo’s Rotom spread, and in Tailwind it outspeeds neutral Scarfed Garchomp, not that I expected to see that. The bulk investment doesn’t help much due to Life Orb, but Mamoswine’s speed tier is awkward so it wasn’t necessary to add more Speed EVs.

Noivern @ Lum Berry
Ability: Frisk
Nature: Timid
252 SAtk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
- Draco Meteor
- Super Fang
- Tailwind
- Protect

My choices for a fast Tailwind user were basically limited to Noivern or Aerodactyl. Aerodactyl had the advantage of Wide Guard to support Charizard, but it added more Electric and Water weaknesses. Aerodactyl also can’t OHKO Dragons with its Ice Fang, so I decided to use Noivern instead. Noivern had the advantage of dealing solid damage with Super Fang after the Special Attack reduction from Draco Meteor, though I typically preferred to Super Fang something and then finish its remaining 50% HP with Draco Meteor. Super Fang was useful against bulky Pokémon such as Ferrothorn. In one of my matches, my opponent had both Tyranitar and Ferrothorn, so I chose Mega Kangaskhan instead of Charizard that time. Kangaskhan’s Power-Up Punch was my only super-effective move on Ferrothorn in that battle, so Super Fang was the only reason I even won the game.

Frisk is a very useful ability in best-of-one matches; it often revealed a lot about my opponent’s intentions, especially when revealing Mega Stones on Pokémon that aren’t necessarily Megas, such as Gyarados. It also confirms if a Salamence is Scarfed, in which case Protect may be used along with Gengar’s Disable to set up Tailwind the next turn, or Noivern can lead with Mamoswine to ensure that faster Dragons can’t prevent the Tailwind setup.

Lum Berry was there because it didn’t really fit on my other team members, and any team without a Lum Berry can struggle against Smeargle or Amoonguss. Amazingly, there was a complete lack of sleep at the tournament, or at least in the battles I watched and played. Focus Sash may have been a good alternative, but that item was already taken by Gengar.

The EV spread was basic. It ensured KOs against Dragons and had the highest chance of finishing a Pokémon after Super Fang. The worst this spread could do was speed-tie with other Noivern, which were surprisingly common at this event.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy > Parental Bond
Nature: Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Protect
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-up Punch

I really tried to build a team without it, but there’s no denying how good Mega Kangaskhan is. Seven of the top eight teams in Masters used it. I found in practice that Charizard couldn’t always be relied on even with Tailwind up, partly because of the 90% accuracy of Heat Wave, which makes me play too cautiously. Even with Mamoswine on my team, I didn’t want to risk using Charizard against teams with Tyranitar. Having two Megas makes a team more versatile, and also makes it harder for opponents to choose the right counters. Some Pokémon that do well against Kangaskhan (such as Mawile, Aegislash and other Ghosts) are easily defeated by Charizard. Likewise, Charizard’s counters such as Tyranitar are Power-Up Punch bait for Kangaskhan.

The moveset is a slight deviation from the standard, as I found Fake Out wasn’t useful enough – since many opponents double-Protect on the first turn against it, which means it is often better to Power-Up Punch my own teammate on the field. Leading with Kangaskhan + Noivern can allow me to have a +2 Kangaskhan in Tailwind if they both Protect. Protect is an underrated move on Kangaskhan; opponents usually need to KO it more urgently than its partner, especially when its Attack is boosted. It is quite satisfying to punish a double-target onto it. Another reason for Protect is that Kangaskhan was my only Pokémon not immune to Mamoswine’s Earthquake.

Although it could have been a bulky Adamant set because of Tailwind, I didn’t want to be too reliant on setting it up, so I went for the safe option of at least speed-tying against standard Jolly Kangaskhan and other Pokémon in the same speed tier.

Gardevoir @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Telepathy
Nature: Modest
196 HP / 252 SAtk / 60 Spd
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Encore
- Protect

Gardevoir was added because I wanted further protection against Dragons, and unlike Mamoswine, Gardevoir doesn’t worry about burns, isn’t weak to Rotom, and is not threatened by Intimidate. Its immunity to Mamoswine’s Earthquake lets them work together. Gardevoir also threatens Venusaur (which is a problem for Mamoswine), but I didn’t encounter any in the tournament. I tested many of Gardevoir’s support moves from its huge movepool, and settled for Encore because it punishes opponents that Protect to stall out Tailwind. It can also mess with Aegislash after it uses King’s Shield or Substitute, since Substitute doesn’t block Encore or Disable. In my final battle, I Encored an Aegislash into Substitute, making it useless for many turns. Since Aegislash is tempted to attack Gardevoir with its super-effective moves, Gardevoir can first Protect to block it and then Encore once again after Aegislash uses King’s Shield to switch back to Shield form.

I maximised Gardevoir’s Special Attack to ensure it had some offensive presence in Tailwind, while the Speed EVs allow it to outrun Rotoms without any Speed investment. In Tailwind it even outspeeds Scarf Smeargle. The Sitrus Berry and HP EVs made it less frail, but it still hates taking attacks from the likes of Kangaskhan.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Shadow Ball
- Disable
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp

The final, last-minute addition to the team. I realised I needed a solid counter to Kangaskhan, and had read about 13Yoshi37‘s success with it at Germany’s Nationals. I hatched it the night before the tournament, without having time to test how well it would work with my other team members. That was definitely a mistake. It was also chosen as another partner for Mamoswine that avoids its Earthquake. Taunt had the potential to prevent targets from Protecting to stall out Tailwind, and Will-O-Wisp was my main way to deal with Kangaskhan and other physical threats. Disable is what makes my moveset different. I figured it could help Charizard set up a Substitute if it’s obvious which of the opponent’s Pokémon will try to attack it with the same move they used last turn. Disable completely shuts down Choice-locked Pokémon, although the most common is Salamence, which will probably be discouraged from use when my opponents sees my anti-Dragon measures such as Mamoswine and Gardevoir.

The EV spread is another simple one because Gengar isn’t going to survive much, hence the Focus Sash. In the tournament there were an unusually high number of Tyranitars, all of which were Special Attackers with Dark Pulse. Sandstorm breaks the Sash and Dark Pulse is unaffected by a burn, so I could rarely find opportunities for Gengar to do its job.

The tournament winner, Darkmalice, used an interesting alternative in Sableye. It offers the same Kangaskhan support and anti-Kangaskhan measures, without being weak to Tyranitar and opposing Gengar. It also has Prankster which allows it to invest in bulk rather than Speed. However, with Mamoswine on my team I needed Levitate, and I also wanted to try out Disable.

Conclusion

I probably underestimated the metagame awareness of Adelaide players, as there were countless other Mamoswines to counter the ubiquitous Dragons, and even a few Gengars, probably all inspired by the same team. I think the main problem was that I played too differently from my practice battles on Showdown. Apart from using Gengar (which I had never tested online), I found myself playing too cautiously and not attempting to set up Tailwind from the start, which I usually did online. The higher pressure of real-life tournaments is something most Australians are not accustomed to, as we’ve only had VGC since last year. Note-taking was also new to me, so unfortunately my notes aren’t detailed enough to write a detailed summary of my battles.

I only remember using Charizard twice, because Tyranitar was so common. Since I had mostly tested with Charizard online, I was actually quite inexperienced in using my team’s ‘Kangaskhan mode’.

The tournament format was unusual: double-elimination. My first loss was to one of the only interstate players, who was clearly very dedicated as he ended up in 2nd place, only losing to the eventual champion. His Kangaskhan attempted to Hammer Arm my Kangaskhan as I Protected in case of Fake Out, so I switched to Gardevoir, hoping he’d use the same move. However, he surprised me with Double-Edge, an easy KO. The battle went downhill from there, with luck being on his side – my Draco Meteor missed his Talonflame, but his Rotom-W didn’t miss my Mamoswine with Hydro Pump.

In the Top 4, I faced CassyTheGastrodon who surprised me with a semi-Rain team. It had Ludicolo and Politoed as the Rain component, while the rest were common Pokémon such as Kangaskhan. I managed to set up Tailwind as my Gengar Disabled his Ludicolo’s attempt at a second Ice Beam on Noivern, since I had Protected on the first turn. However, I made the mistake of bringing Kangaskhan instead of Charizard – with virtually no practice against Rain teams, and from knowing that he was a good player to be in the top 4, I assumed he’d have measures against Charizard-Y, such as manual Rain resetters. Thus, I was too paranoid to choose Charizard. Kangaskhan could have performed well, but it was burned by Scald. At one point my Gardevoir Encored his Aegislash into Substitute, but without Charizard I would have struggled against Aegislash anyway – I deserved the loss for my poor choice of Pokémon that round. It’s a shame it wasn’t best of three at that point, as I could’ve adjusted well.

Overall, the event was enjoyable and surprisingly tough. I hope to devise a better team for Nationals, since I’m determined to make up for my costly mistakes in these Regionals.

The post No Substitute for Practice: Adelaide Regionals Top 4 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.