G’day everyone! My name is Harry Boucher, and this past July I competed in the 2014 Australian and New Zealand VGC National Tournament. As this was only my second official tournament, I could not believe the amazing turnout of 442 Masters and roughly 700 competitors in total. It was, according to the event organisers, the second biggest Nationals event all year. Although there were issues that accompanied such a vast attendance, such as a two hour wait in line just to get inside, which in turn caused the event to run quite late, the atmosphere was electric and the event organisers were extremely professional and efficient given the circumstances. Now, on to the team!

Team Overview

This is my first year of competitive Pokémon, so I am still very new to a lot of concepts and strategies. Thus, team building was something I seriously struggled with at first. Personally, I am a strong believer in using a team that goes against the norm and nothing pleases me more than winning with a team that surprises people. I have messed around with the likes of Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Mawile in the past but they weren’t Pokémon that I felt comfortable using. I felt that I was only using them because they were perceived as the best Mega Evolutions and that they must be used to win. If you create a team that you feel comfortable with using and has great synergy, you are far more likely to outplay your opponents than if you were using a team that you were lead to believe is essential to win. That being said, I’m certainly not against going with the metagame. It just isn’t my preferred style of play.

To properly understand my Nationals team, I need to briefly explain the core concept of my Regionals team, as this was the foundation of my team going into Nationals. Earlier this year I came up with the idea of having a fast Water-type Pokémon use the move ‘Soak’ on a Shedinja so that, due to its Wonder Guard ability, only Grass and Electric type moves would be able to hit it. Upon further research, I discovered that not only had this concept already been created, but it was riddled with flaws. First and foremost, status moves such as Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, and Leech Seed were a serious concern, as they provided my opponent with an instant OHKO. Combine this with recoil damage from Rough Skin, Iron Barbs, and Rocky Helmet; and the threat of Sandstorm and Hail damage from Tyranitar and Abomasnow respectively, I suddenly had a very serious problem. The biggest threat of all was the susceptibility to Electric- and Grass-type moves. While Manectric was designed to soak up any Electric attacks that came my way with its Lightning Rod ability, I didn’t have much to counter the omnipresent Amoonguss and Venusaur or any other stray Grass-type moves that may be out there. Needless to say, I was knocked out in the first round at Regionals.

I was still not deterred, and for the two months between Regionals and Nationals I spent the majority of my time trying to create a perfect three Pokémon team (plus Manectric) that I could use when conditions were not ideal for bringing Shedinja. This led me to try countless different teams and ideas, which in the final weeks led to something that vaguely resembles what I had on the big day. Three weeks before game day I was running Mega Charizard Y, Mega Venusaur, and Klefki, inspired by the success of Redemption003. However, Charizard Y just wasn’t working for me, as it was falling to Rock Slide way too easily. I decided to make what would be one of my best decisions yet by changing Charizard Y to Charizard X. Potentially the best decision of all, however, occurred the day before the tournament, when I switched out Shedinja for Garchomp. I just could not justify going with the Shedinja strategy any longer. What was originally designed as my back up team to support Shedinja had become so successful that I wanted to make it the best it could be. My only regret was that I made this decision too late, which left me minimal preparation time to actually create the team in-game. Consequently, Floatzel would make an appearance at Nationals.

The Team

Prince Aegon (Charizard) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze/Tough Claws
EVs: 60 HP / 156 Atk / 120 Def / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature

• Dragon Dance
• Steel Wing
• Flare Blitz
• Dragon Claw

The clear MVP of the team, Charizard never once let me down. The EV spread was designed to be strong in defence, yet still have devastating offensive power, and it did just that. First turn usually saw me set up a Dragon Dance, which although risky would then provide enough Speed and attack power to OHKO pretty much any threat I would encounter. This EV spread let Charizard survive a Dragon Claw from Jolly 252 Attack Garchomp, and truly surprised me throughout every one of my battles.

As my team included both Venusaur and Charizard, and the role of an offensive Dragon on my team was already occupied by Garchomp, I anticipated my opponents would expect Charizard to Mega Evolve into Charizard Y, as the Drought + Chlorophyll lead is a common strategy that can be a big threat to a lot of teams. This worked very much in my favour, as my Charizard was comfortably able to survive many Rock Slides from my opponent and OHKO them in return. Probably the greatest thing about Mega Charizard X is the ability to use the move Steel Wing, and how many people don’t realise this in the game. Using Steel Wing, when boosted with Dragon Dance, meant that I was able to OHKO every Aerodactyl, Tyranitar, Gardevoir, and Carbink that I encountered, often to the complete astonishment of my opponents. The fact that this move checks Charizard’s Rock weakness is exceptionally useful, and was well worth the sacrifice of not having the move Protect. As for Flare Blitz and Dragon Claw: well, they’re pretty self-explanatory. They both have high damage output, especially factoring in STAB. The nickname is a Game of Thrones reference, as I am a big fan of the books and the TV show.

LaLADis (Liepard) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

• Taunt
• Encore
• Foul Play
• Fake Out

Liepard is in my opinion easily one of the best Pokémon in VGC ’14, and certainly the best Prankster abuser that can win you games by crippling opponent’s strategies. I nicknamed this Poke after one of my best friends as this setup was his idea, and it was certainly one of his best. Rocky Helmet is a very effective item to give to Liepard as it is prime Fake Out bait and, surprisingly, the item influenced games quite a lot even with such little damage output. The EVs are stock standard so that it will speed tie with other Liepards, and the HP investment is to assist it with sticking around longer. Any VGC player will tell you that Fake Out is extremely useful, so it’s no surprise that I employed it here. Prankster makes this Pokémon so useful because not only can it priority Taunt, but it can priority Encore. This means that at any stage if your opponent uses Protect (or any setup move), you can lock them into that move for the next few turns, and effectively shut it down all together. This is especially useful in situations where they have no other Pokémon to switch into as you can continue to spam the Encore, or then proceed to Taunt them so it forces the Struggle and you get the additional recoil damage. I also found that this works well against Trick Room teams, as when they use Trick Room again due to the Encore it cancels its affects and reverts the field back to default. Due to my last minute changes I didn’t manage to fully train this Pokémon, and consequently I had to run Foul Play instead of Sucker Punch. Sucker Punch would have been extremely beneficial in the tournament as it can provide support by KOing a threat before they can attack (providing they are only have a small amount of HP let), yet Foul Play was still quite useful as it deals damage based off the opponents base attack stat and not your own. In such a physical attacking metagame this is can be a deadly move, and it also means you can’t get walled by any Quick Guard users.

King G VI (Venusaur) (M) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 124 HP / 120 Def / 140 SpA / 84 SpD / 40 Spe
Modest Nature

• Protect
• Sleep Powder
• Giga Drain
• Sludge Bomb

While I didn’t actually use Venusaur a great deal in the tournament, I found that in practice it was a great addition to the team. Having two potential megas added a lot of versatility to the team and also played an integral role to my strategy. By having the Venusaur featured in my team preview, it really gave my opponents the impression that my Charizard was going to mega evolve into Charizard Y. I knew that, by having two megas, I had the potential to surprise my opponent should I make it to the best of three rounds. Additionally, Venusaur would be much more suited to face a dangerous rock/ground/dragon team that Mega Charizard X would struggle with. Additionally, Mega Venusaur has exceptional bulk which is only enhanced by the HP support that Giga Drain provides. I would much rather be mega evolving Charizard however, so the mega stone may have been wasted on Venusaur but it was a decision I was comfortable with and I think it definitely would have proved its worth if I had progressed further into the tournament. The EV spread ensured that it was capable of hitting hard while retaining its impressive bulk and the moves are rather standard.

The nickname is symbolic. I made sure that the father to this Venusaur was my first Pokémon ever, another Venusaur called G, which I have traded up from Leaf Green over the years. The ‘VI’ part of the name represents the 6th generation that we are currently playing in.

Many Quick (Manectric) @ Zap Plate
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

• Flamethrower
• Thunderbolt
• Protect
• Discharge

First things first, you’re probably wondering why I chose to use a Zap Plate. If you’re waiting to hear some ridiculously cool idea about the hidden potential of the Zap Plate and how it carried me to the glorious Top Cut, you’re going to have to keep on waiting. As I am the king of procrastination, I decided it would be a good idea to put off the team building process for a while, which I can assure you is not a good idea in the slightest. Originally I was using a Focus Sash on Manectric, but the week before Nationals someone was offering an event Deoxys for a Focus Sash and Choice Scarf. Obviously this was an exceptionally good deal for me, but unfortunately I forgot about acquiring another one until it was too late. This led to me scrolling through my bag looking for anything that would be useful as I stood in line outside the tournament, before I finally decided on using the Zap Plate as it was the only thing that may actually help. I’m sure this did play some role in my success and that potentially without it the day could have gone worse, but needless to say I sorely missed the Sash.

The EV spread and nature was designed simply to hit reasonably hard and fast, and it did just that. Manectric was a Pokémon that I brought to every match because of its Lightningrod ability. Whenever my opponent brought in a Pokémon that was likely to use an electric type move I could safely switch in to Manectric and get a free special attack boost if the prediction proved accurate. This also worked with Thunder Wave, which was amazing for Mega Charizard X as I found that, during practice, Charizard became prime Thunder Wave bait after powering up with a Dragon Dance.

The moves are fairly standard with Thunderbolt being the primary STAB attack and Discharge proving helpful at times as it is a multi-target attack that paired well alongside Garchomp. Protect ensured that I could keep it around longer and Flamethrower was a helpful fire type move for when I didn’t want to suffer the recoil damage from Flare Blitz on Charizard.

As I mentioned earlier I originally chose Manectric due to its integral role in my old Shedinja strategy, but I found that it remained extremely useful even after that strategy was abandoned. While I did consider switching him for a Rotom or something similar, I found that my play style had evolved to really rely on having Lightningrod in the back. Additionally, Manectric is rarely seen in the meta save for its Mega form, so I felt that this provided an extra element of confusion for my opponents.

The nickname is a play on Manectric’s name and is accentuated by the classic doge memes.

Saphira (Garchomp) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature

• Earthquake
• Dragon Claw
• Poison Jab
• Rock Slide

There is very little to explain here as it is just a basic Garchomp. I chose the Choice Scarf so that I could out speed any dragon that posed a threat to Mega Charizard, though later I regretted not going with a Lum Berry. While the Lum Berry would have limited my ability to OHKO a Scarfed Hydreigon or Salamence, it would have allowed for more versatility when picking moves and also would have nerfed the Will-O-Wisp that really cripples this Garchomp.

The nickname here is based on the dragon Saphira from the Inheritance Cycle book series that was a favourite of mine in primary school.

The Baptist (Floatzel) (F) @ Quick Claw
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

• Soak
• Aqua Tail
• Taunt
• Protect

Finally onto Floatzel… What can I say? Floatzel was the smoking ruins of my abandoned strategy. Whilst I never once actually used Floatzel in the tournament, it did work moderately well with the team. Floatzel’s biggest key was that it was a really fast Soak user, which is an extremely underrated move. For those that don’t know, Soak changes the type of the target Pokémon to water type. Seeing as I had strong electric and grass type moves on the team, it really could have caused some devastating damage. This change of type also means that, unless the opponent uses a water type move, they won’t have the STAB. In reality, I probably could have used this Pokémon more, but I didn’t want to risk the chance of wasting a spot on my team that could be better utilized. That being said, I think there is potential here and it is certainly something I plan on investigating further.

The best thing about having Floatzel on the team was that I knew it was going to confuse my opponents in the team preview, because really, Floatzel..?

Team Leads

(Charizard + Liepard)

The lead that I felt most comfortable with and used every game, save for one, was Charizard + Liepard. Liepard was an exceptionally good support Pokémon that gave my team a bit of an edge in almost every matchup. Charizard X alongside Liepard was a monster as the Fake Out support usually provided enough room to successfully Dragon Dance. I managed to pull this off nearly every game, and in all honesty it’s the only lead I really used. I was open to other leads, but I just didn’t see a reason to during the tournament. Venusaur and Liepard would have made another strong lead, but this was not something I capitalised on.

The Glorious Battles

I’m going to apologise in advance for my terrible recollection of these battles. My notes are only of the Pokémon that my opponents had and used and, even then, the notes only cover from the fourth battle onwards. Nevertheless, here’s what I can remember!

In all of the following battles save for one I used Charizard X, Liepard, Manectric, and Garchomp.

Swiss Round 1

This was a good battle that gave me a lot of confidence. My competitor was a girl called Laura whom I had spoken to a few times before hand, so it was coincidental that she would be my first opponent. I don’t remember much, but I clearly remember that Manectric was able to absorb a Thunderbolt and get the Spec Attack boost whilst my Mega Charizard X OHKO’ed her Shiny Mega Ampharos and subsequently the majority of her team. Once the Charizard was down I brought in Garchomp, which provided a swift end to her last Pokémon.

Win. 1-0

Swiss Round 2

Luckily, I just made it to this battle on time and didn’t get disqualified, but as a result missed out on getting a seat. Regardless, this was a good battle. I knew instantly from the team preview that this was a Trick Room team and knew that Liepard would be able to carry me here. He led with Slowbro and Abomasnow and I lead with my Liepard and Zard. I confidently locked in Flare Blitz and mega evolution to take out the Abomasnow and then Taunt to stop Slowbro from setting up the TR. What I didn’t realise was that Slowbro gets the ability Oblivious, which very nearly cost me the game. Abomasnow protected first turn and Slowbro fired of the TR whilst my taunt was completely ignored. It was a complete waste of a turn on my part, and the field was now in my opponents favour. What happened next you ask? Redemption. Liepard encored the Abomasnow forcing it to use and fail a Protect, Slowbro targeted Charizard, causing some mild damage, and Charizard incinerated the Abomasnow with a Flare Blitz. The rest of a battle is a blur, but I know that it was very close.

Win. 2-0

Swiss Round 3

Unfortunately I can’t remember a single thing about this battle, but I vaguely remember thinking it was tight.

Win. 3-0

At this stage, my friends and I were under the impression that the Swiss was going to be out of 6 rounds, so having the 3-0 under my belt was looking very promising. I was still quite nervous though and just focused on keeping a level head while having fun.

Swiss Round 4

From here on, save for one battle, I actually took notes on my matches! Though these notes only consist of the team the opposition had and then which 4 they used… Regardless, round 4 was a good one.

They had

• Conkeldur
• Rotom
• Gardevoir
• Mawile
• Salamence
• Tyranitar

This seemed like an obvious Trick Room with Gardevoir as the setter, so I didn’t see a reason to change the 4 that I used in this match.

They brought out

• Gardevoir
• Mawile
• Rotom
• Salamence

This battle is a blur at best, but I’m fairly sure that I was able to Encore a Protect for a few turns and that Steel Wing is great at killing fairies. This was a comfortable win that made me feel very content with adding Garchomp to the team at the last minute.

Win. 4-0.

Swiss Round 5

He had

• Kangaskhan
• Talonflame
• Ludicolo
• Garchomp
• Aegislash (which amusingly is noted as ‘Sword’ in my notes because I had blanked on its name)
• Gardevoir

Of which, he brought

• Kangaskhan
• Talonflame
• Ludicolo
• Gardevoir

The adrenaline was pumping now as I have never really achieved much success in the VGC world and suddenly was 4-0 and surrounded by pro players. I remember that the guy I played was pretty cool and we both were talking about how awesome it was to make it as far as we had, regardless of what was about to happen in the next game.

This game was RIDICULOUSLY close and I’m fairly sure that my Charizard went down way earlier than I would have liked, leaving me feeling like this would be a certain loss. Then, out of nowhere, something magical happened. Don’t ask me what it was, because I couldn’t tell you if I tried, but the game started to look a little more even. I do remember that a Scald from Ludicolo burned my Garchomp, which caused it faint the next turn anyway, and it was suddenly down to just Ludicolo and Manectric. Mano a mano. 1v1. What happened that day was a battle so great that it was worthy of a song written by Tenacious D. Many Quick pulled through.

Win. 5-0.

Swiss Round 6

I stood before the list of names, ecstatic with a 5-0 record and not stressing about what I believed would be the last round of Swiss, then I saw who my next opponent was… Dayne O’Meara, or Umberrific here on Nugget Bridge. Dayne had come second at the Melbourne Regionals, so I knew he was a great player and I had just read an article by Boomguy in which Dayne had been tipped to win Nationals. Did this formidable opponent intimidate me? Not in the slightest. To be completely honest I’d considered it lost from the moment I read his name, but I was still stoked that I had the opportunity to play someone with such a stellar reputation.

What he had

• Heliolisk
• Venusaur
• Meinshao
• Aegislash
• Charizard
• Staraptor

What he brought

• Heliolisk
• Meinshao
• Venusaur
• Staraptor

This was possibly the greatest display of my strategy ever, as it later became clear that Dayne thought I was running a Charizard Y. I remember there being quite a few errors in this game and a reasonable amount of luck though, thankfully, the luck went both ways evenly. At one stage, I switched in my Manectric to absorb whatever electric type move Heliolisk was going to shoot out, only to be left dumbfounded as Heliolisk used Hyper Beam and KO’ed my Charizard. Manectric also proved invaluable with a quick OHKO to his Staraptor which is always nice. There’s not much I remember about this game, though I do distinctly remember Dayne sending out his Venusaur with three quarters health when suddenly I realised that it was his last Pokémon and that somehow I’d KO’ed his other three. So now it was 2v1 and I had only just sent in Liepard which meant that I had a Fake Out up the sleeve. Needless to say, it was game. What surprised me the most at the time was the Venusaur’s item. I thought “No mega?”, but later, when watching his final battles, it dawned on me that Charizard Y was his only mega and that his team was heavily sun orientated. This explained the no mega conundrum as he must have held back his Charizard and relied on chirping the sun from my ‘Charizard Y’. Priceless.
Overall Dayne was a pretty great bloke and definitely deserved to win the whole event later that night and go on to represent Australia in Top Cut at Worlds. Beating him is definitely the biggest achievement of all my VGC exploits and it’s not something that I will be forgetting any time soon. GG Dayne.

6-0.

Being 1 of 6 people to go 6-0 in Swiss I figured I was certain to make it to Top Cut, right until the commentators announced that it would be a best of 9 rounds. The experienced players didn’t seem surprised in the slightest however, so I figured I’d just have to drink a cup of concrete and win a few more matches, how hard could it be?

Swiss Round 7

What he had

• Gengar
• Aegislash
• Klefki
• Dragonite
• Scrafty
• Staryu

What he brought

• Gengar
• Klefki
• Scrafty
• Staryu

This battle was a serious wet cloth to the old hype train. Within a few rounds it was game and suddenly I started to question how far I might go in the tournament. Credit to this guy for using Staryu though, it definitely seemed to work for him and it was good to see it do well.

Loss. 6-1.

Swiss Round 8

Not even my notes can help me here, as I have nothing but the bitter taste of defeat to help me reflect on this battle…
In all seriousness I was still overwhelmed that I had done so well thus far and wasn’t too disheartened.

Loss. 6-2.

It’s worth mentioning here that one of my friends was also doing quite well and it seemed fairly likely that we would be paired up in the next round (not the most delightful prospect). After losing his 4th and 5th matches (I don’t remember the full details) he had caught up to me as we were both now on 6-2 and desperately needed to win that last round so we would make it to Top Cut.

Swiss Round 9

The pressure was on. I needed the win and my opponents name was worryingly familiar. Later I realised that he was Boomguy, but that’s a different story.

What he had

• Delphox
• Hydreigon
• Kangaskhan
• Amoonguss (written as Mushroom in my notes)
• Carbink
• Rotom

What he brought

• Carbink
• Kangaskhan
• Delphox
• Amoonguss

This battle ended up being another perfect display of my team’s strategy and it was the first battle where I used Venusaur over Manectric. My memory is sketchy, so it may not be 100% accurate, but I’m fairly sure I used Fake Out on the Carbink because I was counting on Kangaskhan to Fake Out my Charizard, which proved to be an apt prediction. Then it was just a matter of encoring the Kangaskhan into Fake Out and, to my opponent’s apparent amazement, OHKO the Carbink with Steel Wing. Priceless. Overall, this battle was close, yet still a reasonably comfortable win with Venusaur landing a Sleep Powder on the second attempt, though by that stage it didn’t really matter anymore. Afterwards, Phil was asking me about my set-up on Charizard which was really awesome as I felt like I’d gone from scrub to legend overnight.

Win. 7-2.

The Results

The results were in and there were murmurings about people on 7-2 not making it which, needless to say, left me slightly worried. By now it was about 9pm, so more than half of the people had left and soon only 32 would be remaining. I finally got to see the list of who had made it and I was at place number 15. Pure elation was all I was feeling and at that moment I knew that, no matter what happened from here on in, I was content. I found my friends and quickly learned that Leigh, the guy I mentioned earlier, had come 33rd.
I still feel devastated for him, but come on, 33rd… You can’t help but laugh a little

The Prestigious Top Cut

Everyone that didn’t make Top Cut was herded into the grand stands around the arena and I was able to have a good look at just how few of us there were left. Then my name was called and I went over to the table where my opponent was waiting for me. Funnily enough it turned out to be a really cool guy that I met earlier on in the day as he had beaten my friend, which didn’t really fill me with confidence.

Regardless, it was game time.

What he had

• Rotom
• Meinshao
• Salamence
• Talonflame
• Aegislash
• Mawile

What he used (not in order)

• Rotom
• Meinshao
• Mawile
• Talonflame

I’d really like to be able to say this game was close, but it just really wasn’t. I changed my strategy for the first time all tournament and opened with Garchomp and Liepard out of fear of the Salamence threat, but alas it never came. I don’t really think that was a big enough difference to cost me the game, but I do wonder what else I could have done as they were a fairly weak lead.

It was down to 2v2 with my Liepard and Garchomp (interestingly the last two and first two on the field) VS his Rotom and Meinshao I think. Once Rotom landed Will’O’Wisp on my Garchomp the full reality kicked in and I knew it was over.

Overall it was a well-deserved win on my opponent’s part and I was really happy to see that he made it to the Top 8.

Things I’d Change

Potentially the greatest strategy I didn’t even consider at the time was Charizard + Venusaur.

This would have almost certainly convinced my opponent that I was running Charizard Y over X and the offensive options, coupled with the bulky Sleep Powder support of Venusaur, would have been a more versatile strategy. This is only something I’ve experimented with recently and the results so far have been overwhelmingly good.

The most notable flaw in my team was the sheer uselessness of Floatzel. Though it did have a little potential and I can’t stress how little that ‘little’ was, it was never going to be a risk I would have been comfortable taking in such a high stakes tournament. I’ve recently bred a shiny 6 IV Honedge so, while I’m slightly more biased towards the Pokémon, I now think it would have provided more options than Floatzel ever did.

Closing Thoughts

I love this team. This team and I achieved far more than I ever expected and it really is just a creation that I am so happy with. Also, big shout out to one of the event organisers that coincidentally always collected the results slip from my table and asked after every match “Did you win?” followed by “Ahhhh good job man!”. He was my real life ‘Yo Champ in the making!’ guy and made this experience all the more surreal.

The post Megazard X Steels the Win: An Australian Nationals Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, my name is Jeremy Rodrigues.  I’m relatively new to the competitive Pokémon community and even newer to the VGC side of things.  I probably started playing VGC about seven months ago and I instantly liked all of the freedom that doubles offered.  In particular, I was fascinated by strategies that involved field effects such as weather and Trick Room, seeing as they are much more viable in doubles than singles.

I spent a lot of time on Showdown down at the bottom of the ladder testing random stuff that any rational person would scoff at, but I enjoyed it.  One day, when I was looking for a new idea to try, I stumbled upon the Bulbapedia article on Pledge moves and I created the team that would eventually evolve into what I used at Philadelphia Regionals.

Before I go into the team itself, I believe it’s important to go over some Pledge basics.  Pretty much all you need to know is that, when Water and Grass Pledge combine, they form a Grass type attack with a Base Power of 160 and it creates a Swamp for three turns after it is used that lowers the speed of all opposing Pokemon by 50%.  If you want to know more about Pledge mechanics, I have a thread on it here.

Anyways, enough of that boring stuff.  Now, onto the team!

Greninja @ Focus Sash (Ranzou)
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Water Pledge
– Ice Beam
– Taunt
– Protect

Greninja, besides being essential for Pledge, proved to be a great team player.  Water Pledge is there to allow Venusaur to set up the swamp by increasing its speed, and Ice Beam is there for dragons, Garchomp and Salamence in particular.  Taunt used to be U-Turn and, before that, it was Dark Pulse, but I never used either of those two moves enough so I eventually settled on Taunt.  Taunt allows me to shut down some Trick Room teams and Pokémon that love to spam Thunder Wave, although Thunder Wave Gyarados suffered a massive drop in popularity since I added Taunt to the set.  Protect is simply there for the reliability, since I need a way to stop Fake Out and I don’t feel Mat Block would be as useful.  The spread is an incredibly simple 252/252/4 because I feel Greninja is best suited for speed and I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to survive with it that I could realistically achieve through EV redistribution.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite (Mystogan)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
– Grass Pledge
– Sludge Bomb
– Sleep Powder
– Protect

Venusaur was one of my team’s two Megas and it was both the one I used the most and the one I liked the least.  Mega-Venusaur is a nice Pokémon, but I’ve never really loved it for whatever reason.  Anyways, I chose Chlorophyll as the ability because I thought I might use this Venusaur for something else at a later date, but it actually wound up becoming useful.  Grass Pledge is to allow for the Pledge combo and Sludge Bomb is the secondary STAB.  I chose Sleep Powder over Synthesis or Leech Seed because I feel both of those moves are two defensive for my highly offensive team.  Sleep Powder allows me to stop Pokémon I wouldn’t normally be able to touch and I actually used Venusuar as an impromptu Mega-Mawile counter in Round 9 of Swiss.  Just like Greninja, Protect is there simply because this is doubles and Protect is always a good option.

The 252/252/4 spread is because I wanted to have an offensive presence.  As you will come to see, my team struggles with Talonflame and I was aware that there existed a Mega-Venusaur set designed to survive Choice Banded Brave Bird, but I didn’t feel that being able to survive that was worth neutering myself offensive-wise, so I just went max Special Attack, Modest nature for the damage and max HP to give me quite a lot of bulk.

Chandelure @ Choice Specs (Lumière)
Ability: Infiltrator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpA
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– Shadow Ball
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Energy Ball

When I first was picking members for my team, I knew that I would have to hit incredibly hard.  The swamp created by Pledge only lasts for three usable turns, so I needed to take advantage of the time I had.  To find my two main attackers I literally went onto Seribii and looked at the highest base SpA and Atk stats and, for SpA, I found Chandelure.  Sporting an insane base 145 SpA and great dual STAB, it proved to be a great Pokémon.  Heat Wave and Shadow Ball were selected as the STAB options, Energy Ball was for Water coverage and Hidden Power Ice was for any Dragons like Garchomp and Salamence.

The EVs allow it to survive Jolly Garchomp’s Earthquake and Jolly Mega Kangaskhan’s Sucker Punch 100% of the time.  It also gives it the bulk to take non Adamant 252 Atk Gyarados’ Waterfall 100% of the time.  Really, it was just a good defensive number to be at.  The Choice Specs were selected to maximize damage output.

Haxorus @ Life Orb (Acnologia)
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 21 Spe
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Dragon Dance

Haxorus, the team’s shiny, was also an MVP of sorts.  Quick shout out here to PokemonZone for getting me a foreign Axew as, otherwise, I would never have been able to get my shiny Haxorus.  Anyways, as the second Pokémon I selected to be one of my swamp sweepers, Haxorus used its insane Base 147 Atk stat to crush all in its way.  The moves are mostly self explanatory, except for the lack of Protect.  This was originally a Choice Band Haxorus, but after OHKOing my own Chandelure with Earthquake one too many times I switched over to Life Orb.  It was also at that time that I changed Outrage to Dragon Dance.

Now, Dragon Claw was necessary as STAB, Earthquake was a must because of Mold Breaker, Rock Slide provided a great way to deal with Mega-Charizard Y and Dragon Dance created win conditions.  Although Protect would have been useful, I felt that the moves I already had would be more useful in the long run and so I decided to forego Protect and simply run with the set I had.  I can’t say I regretted the decision.

Lucario @ Lucarionite (Rouge)
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Aura Sphere
– Flash Cannon
– Quick Guard
– Protect

The Lucario I decided to run at Regionals differs from the standard Lucario in two ways.  First, I decided to run a purely special set in order to be able to ignore Intimidate and not be neutralized by burns.  During testing, I took great joy in allowing my opponent to spend turns trying to burn my Lucario before I revealed that I was running a special set.  The second oddity about my Lucario is the move Quick Guard.  Quick Guard allowed me to hinder opposing Talonflame and it mainly functioned to stop Sucker Punches aimed for my Chandelure, but I’ll go more into that when I cover team combinations.  The moves and EVs should be self explanatory.

Zapdos @ Power Belt (Tempest)
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Roost
– Protect

Zapdos is simultaneously the Pokémon I used the least and the one I have the most to say about.  First off, I know the Power Belt makes no sense, but I’ll get to that later.  Second, I have to thank Alex (Stempe) for suggesting Zapdos as, even if I didn’t use it all that well at Philly, it was a good fit for my team.  Also, Tempest is an anagram of Stempe, which is how I got the nickname (Yes, I know Tempest has one too many T’s.  It was the best I could do).  Anyways, the moves were my attempt to function as bulky offense and speed control at the same time.  The EV spread. . . really, I have no idea where it came from or what it does.  I just ended up with it on Showdown one day and it was what I ended up using.  In its favor, it was able to take a Brave Bird and a Rock Slide from a Mega-Aerodactyl, so that’s something.

Well, now that you know the team, I’m going to go into a quick part about how I prepared for the Regional itself.

The Tournament

For the most part, I just battled on the Showdown ladder, but I also kept an eye out for who was on and tried to practice against other people I knew who were good.  I battled my friend Luka (Zephyl) a lot and practiced against Alex (Stempe) as well.  Among others I practiced with were Nightfront, Ezrl and Joey (joej m).  Actually, the Friday night before Regionals, I was on and battled Joey a few times. He won pretty solidly each time before he gave me some advice for the coming tournament.  That’s the hyper condensed version of my preparation. Now we get to the second thing you’re here for: the battles.  Sorry if anything is incorrect here, I’m pretty much entirely going off memory.

Round 1: Dakota

His team: Politoed, Aegislash, Blastoise, Manetric, Ludicolo and Gardevoir

I was really worried about my round one match even though I knew that it was the round I had the least to worry about.  I was starting way down at the end of the room, table 147 to be precise.  Since Haxorus has a base 147 Atk stat I decided to take it as a good omen.  Anyways, first turn my opponent led with his Politoed and Manetric while I led with Greninja and Venusaur.  Seeing a chance to get rid of what I suspected to be his Mega, I double Pledged into Manetric for the OHKO.  He didn’t Mega Evolve, so I started to suspect a Mega-Blastoise in the back, but I later found out that he didn’t even bring Blastoise.

After KOing Manetric, I was expecting an Ice Beam from Politoed onto my Venusuar, but instead he used—Swagger?  Well, he confused me and my Greninja, but I decided to roll with it.  Next turn he sent in his Gardevoir, which I quickly KO with a combination of Sludge Bomb and Water Pledge since my Greninja was able to hit through the confusion.  Once Gardevoir was down, his Politoed Swaggers my Venusaur, putting me at a 4-2 lead, but with both of my Pokemon on the field suffering from confusion.

Since Gardevoir went down, he had to reveal his last Pokemon, which turned out the be Ludicolo instead of Blastoise.  He Faked Out and Scalded my Venusaur for minimal damage while my Greninja proceeded to hit itself in confusion.  At this point I had one turn left of my swamp, so I double targeted Ludicolo with Sludge Bomb and Ice Beam for the KO.  I don’t remember if either of my Pokemon snapped out of their confusion, but the attacks went off.  Politoed once again used Scald on Venusaur for minimal damage.

With things now 4-1, I was feeling really good.  Deciding to end things with a bang, I used the Pledge combination to OHKO Dakota’s Politoed.  As it happens, it was the only time all day I would be able to set up my swamp for a second time.

Battle: 4-0

My Record: 1-0

Round 2: Julien

His team: Aerodactyl, Mawile, Charizard, Garchomp, Mamoswine, Hydreigon

So I finished Round 1 feeling all good about myself, only to come face to face with this terriflying team in Round 2.  Aerodactyl threatens my Pledge start because of Rock Slide flinches and Mawile gives my team all sorts of issues.  Still, I decided to stick with what worked and led with Pledge as he led with Garchomp and Mamoswine.

Now, I felt pretty good about this matchup and I was confident that Garchomp would Protect so I double Pledged into the Mamoswine.  Things didn’t go quite as expected, to say the least.  He withdrew Mamo and sent in his Charizard, to which Pledge did minimal damage, while his Garchomp used Earthquake, getting a ridiculous amount of damage off on both of my Pokemon.  I later discovered that his Garchomp was Banded.  After this, my memory sputters out and dies, all I can really say is that he also had Hydreigon and that this was one of my closer matches.  Julien was one of the people I talked with throughout the day and I know he finished with a respectable 6-3, which certainly helped my resistance.

Battle: 2-0

My Record: 2-0

Round 3: Matthew

Now, by this point, I had made my way up to the first table and I was getting really excited.  My Round 3 opponent had a super interesting team too.

His team: Exeggutor, Politoed, Rhyperior, Rotom-W, Doublade, Gengar

While it was an odd team, he was 2-0 like me so I knew he was doing something right.  Seing no real reason not to, I led with Greninja and Venusaur as he led with Politoed and Gengar.  Turn one, his Gengar Mega Evolves, which surprised me (even though it was his only possible Mega).  I believe I Mega Evolved Venusaur and got the double Pledge into Politoed for the OHKO as his Gengar proceeded to. . . Thunder my Greninja.  Thunder Mega-Gengar.  Needless to say, I didn’t see it coming.

Turn two, I’m pretty sure he sends out his Rhyperior.  If I recall correctly, I Ice Beamed the Mega Gengar and also went for the Sleep Powder on it, dealing over 50% and putting it out of the battle for awhile while his Rhyperior goes for the Rock Slide, taking out my Greninja and damaging my Mega-Venusuar.  Seeing that Chandy can do some work, I decide to send him in.

Turn three is pretty self explanitory as I OKHO Ryhperior with Grass Pledge and KO Gengar with Shadow Ball, placing me in a comfortable 3-1 lead.  He reveals his final Pokemon to be Doublade, which I easily one-shot with a Shadow Ball.

Battle: 3-0

My Record: 3-0

Round 4: Rob

His team: Pachirisu, Sableye, Florges, Aegislash, Hawlucha, Mawile

I literally have no idea what happened this battle, but I’ll do my best.  He brought Sableye, Aegislash, Hawlucha and Mega (surprise surprise) Mawile.  I think he led with Hawlucha and Mawile while I led with Greninja and Venusaur.

Seeing that Pledge wouldn’t do much here, I Ice Beam Hawlucha for the OHKO and Mega-Evolve Venusaur to go for the Sleep Powder on his Mawile as it Mega Evolves and I miss.  Still, I wasn’t worried.  He would probably just Iron Head. . . nope.  He sets up a Swords Dance and I proceed to freak out.  I just let a Mega-Mawile get up to +2 for free.  After that, I’m pretty sure he sends in his Sableye.

So, facing down a Mega-Mawile, I think I Protected my Venusaur, which blocked an Iron Head, and I get some damage (about 40%) onto his Mawile with Water Pledge.  Sableye Will-O-Wisps my Greninja, but I really had bigger concerns.  Next turn I think I went for the Sleep Powder, which missed again, and the Water Pledge, which did another 40% to his Mawile, but he OHKOes my Venusaur and Sableye did something, maybe Will-O-Wisp again.

This next turn is the only one I remember clearly.  I send in my Lucario and have just about resigned myself to taking massive damage onto one of my Pokemon, but then I realized that his Mawile was going to Sucker Punch and his Sableye was going to use a Prankster move.  And, wouldn’t you know it, I had Quick Guard.  Not seeing a way for it to go wrong, I used Quick Guard, which blocks the Will-O-Wisp headed for Lucario and the Sucker Punch aimed at Greninja, who proceeds to Water Pledge Mawile for the KO.

After that he sent in Aegislash and I doubled up on Sableye while sacrificing my Greninja to a Flash Cannon or Shadow Ball.  Fortunately, I had Chandelure in the back, which was able to OHKO his Aegislash with Shadow Ball, ending the match.

Battle: 2-0

My Record: 4-0

Round 5: Anthony (Chilebowl)

His team: Gardevoir, Salamence, Tyranitar, Rotom-H, Venusaur, Lucario

This was one of my harder matches, and sadly I don’t remember as much of it as I’d like.  Sorry about that Anthony, but you can correct me if I’m wrong.  Anyways, I know I led with Greninja and Venusaur and I believe he led with Tyranitar and Gardevoir.  I really can’t remember what happened, but the important part is that I lost my Venusaur while managing to get Pledge up.  Anthony spent the next four turns expertly dancing around my swamp until it disappeared.  At this point my memory becomes crystal clear and, considering the last turn of the battle, it’s no surprise.

I had my Mega-Lucario and Haxorus out on the field against his Salamence and Gardevoir.  My Mega-Lucario and his Salamence were both at full health, while his Gardevoir and my Haxorus were in the red and yellow respectively.  My Haxorus was at +1 speed thanks to a Dragon Dance, but was at +0 attack due to Intimidate.  Finally, I knew his Salamence was holding the Choice Scarf but, because Salamence had just switched in, he could lock himself into any of his four moves.

A mistake here would have cost me the match, but looking at the situation I felt confident that he would attack my Mega-Lucario, so I Protected.  Fortunately, I was correct and he used Flamethrower into the Protect and my Haxorus used Rock Slide for the double KO thanks to a critical hit on Salamence.  Still, even without the crit, I could have KOed Salamence next turn with Flash Cannon or Dragon Claw.

Anthony went on to finish 8-1 in Swiss and eventually placed 10th in the event, so congrats on that!

Battle: 2-0

My Record: 5-0

Round 6: Kris

Her team: Greninja, Salamence, Mawile, Rotom-H, Mienshao, Aegislash

I led with Pledge once more as Kris led with Greninja and Salamence.  Deciding to ignore the Scarf Salamence, which used Draco Meteor on Venusaur, I Pledged into Greninja, which I believe nets me the OHKO.  After that, I’m not sure what happened, but I probably made some switches and KOed her Mega-Mawile and Rotom-H with an Earthquake from Haxorus while her Salamence probably went down to an Ice Beam from Greninja.  I don’t really remember.

Battle: 3-0

My Record: 6-0

Round 7: Jeudy (SoulSurvivor)

I’m on a six game winning streak and who do I face round 7 but Jeudy, the player who finished 2nd at the 2014 World Championships.  Still, I wasn’t feeling all that intimidated. I thought I would do fine.  You can see this one for yourself though, since it was a feature match.  Enjoy the replay!

So as you can see, I didn’t “do fine”.  One last comment here before moving on, this was the round that I discovered that my Zapdos had the Power Belt as it proceeded to move before Jeudy’s Mega-Mawile under Trick Room.  I had brought Zapdos to my Round 1 match, but it never actually went onto the field so I had no idea that I had forgotten to give it Leftovers.

Battle: 0-4

My Record: 6-1

Round 8: Enosh (Human)

So, after that terrible performance I was ready to get my 7th win and make my way into Top Cut but, once again, I was paired with a Worlds player.  Really, Enosh scared me more than Jeudy because I had discussed my team with him at a Premiere Challenge we both attended, so he knew way more about my team than I would have liked.

His team: Talonflame, Garchomp, Manetric, Ferrothron, Politoed, Zapdos

With about 1/2 of a second left on the Team Preview timer I decide to just lead with Pledge, as he proceeds to lead with Talonflame and Manetric.  Now, I guessed that his Talonflame wasn’t carrying Choice Band because he wasn’t using one at the aforementioned Premiere Challenge, so I wasn’t in a terrible position.  Once again, I take up almost the full timer before I decide to just YOLO and Pledge into his Manetric, which did indeed turned out to be his Mega.  If it had connected, it would have been an OHKO, but he Protected as his Talonflame used Brave Bird on my Venusaur.  After that, he pretty much just cleaned up the rest of my team, but at least his Talonflame died to recoil so it wasn’t another 0-4 for me.

Battle: 0-3

My Record: 6-2

Round 9: Joey (joej m)

I’d been talking to my past opponents and I was able to determine that, if I could win Round 9, my resistance would probably be good enough to allow me to make Cut. But who would I have to battle?  There were a lot of good 6-2’s, one of them even being Cybertron.  Still, when I found out who I had to battle, Cybertron started to seem more appealing.

Remember Joey from the beginning of the story?  If Enosh knew a bit about my team, Joey knew double that plus some.  Not only that, but he had actual experience against my team, so I was pretty scared.  Still, nothing to do but play the game and hope to win.

His team: Malamar, Gothitelle, Ludicolo, Mawile, Nidoqueen, Salamence

This game I remember pretty well.  I led with Greninja and Venusuar as he led with Ludicolo and Gothitelle, a rather obvious Fake Out/Trick Room duo.  Turn one he Fakes Out my Venusaur, but I Taunt his Gothitelle and prevent Trick Room from going up.  It was fortunate that he forgot I ran Taunt, or else I would have had to rely on Venusaur landing the Sleep Powder I had also used on Gothitelle.

Turn two I double Pledge into Ludicolo for some pretty good damage as he Giga Drains my Greninja with Ludicolo and switches Gothitelle for his Mawile.  Now that the threat of Mawile and Sucker Punch is in play, I decide to Protect my Greninja and Sleep Powder the Mawile.  Thankfully, it works and my Venusuar just takes some Ice Beam damage from Ludicolo.  Now, it was at this point I decided to play the risky game called “ignore the Mega-Mawile and pray that it doesn’t wake up.”

The first turn goes well as I KO his Ludicolo with a combination of Ice Beam and Sludge Bomb as his Mawile slumbers.  After Ludicolo goes down, I can’t quite remember what he did.  What I do remember is that, when I went to set up my swamp for a second time, his Mawile wakes up and Sucker Punches my Greninja down.  The next turn my Venusaur lands another Sleep Powder though, so I go back to ignoring the Mawile.

I eventually KO the Mawile with something and, at some point, Sludge Bomb his Malamar. Much like Round 5, my memory really comes back into focus for the end of the game.  He had managed to set up Trick Room and I had my Mega-Lucario out on the field (bringing Lucario didn’t deter me from bringing Venusaur) with my Chandelure.  Both of my Pokemon were at full health and his Malamar was at 50% while his Gothitelle was probably a bit over 30%.  Unlike Round 5 though, I feel that Protecting Lucario won’t end well, so I Flash Cannon his Malamar.  As it turns out, I was right.  He had doubled into my Chandelure and managed to get the KO.

So now it comes down to a 1v1 between my Mega-Lucario and his Gothitelle in Trick Room.  The only reason I was able to win this is because his Gothitelle wasn’t at full health.  First, I Protect my Lucario to stall out Trick Room a little, in case I miss the KO. Then, I go for the Flash Cannon, which thankfully is enough to KO his Gothitelle and win me the match.

Battle: 1-0

My Record: 7-2

So, like I thought, my resistance was enough to let me make Top Cut. However, once I got there, I was pretty solidly defeated by Jonathan (MrFox) in both of games of the best-of-three.  Even though both ended 0-2 for me, he clearly had control of the matches and I don’t think anything can top that Round 9 match.  Really, clichés aside, I really enjoyed the journey to Top Cut even if I did get defeated immediately upon getting there.

In conclusion, I’d like to thank all of you for reading this.  I hope this was useful or entertaining and, if you ever decide to try Pledge, then I wish you the best of luck!

The post The Power of Pledge: A Philadelphia Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

So you want to be a Master of Pokémon! Do you have the skills to be number one?

Hi, and welcome to the tale of a young Australian named Phil Nguyen (Boomguy) who aimed to be the world’s best VGC Pokémon player in the 2014 season, both in Australia and in the world. The 2014 VGC season was my first full season of practicing nearly every day, and it was filled with ups and downs for me.  I will give you guys insight into what I did for the 2014 season, and show you guys the benefits and the fun of competing with the world’s best Pokémon players. Hopefully I can inspire you guys to commit to creating a name for yourself in the Pokémon VGC world next season!

The Beginning

Ever since hearing about the World Championships in 2013, and with the hype of Pokémon X and Y coming out, I knew I wanted to compete in the 2014 VGC season, and to go to the World Championships as my overseas holiday in 2014. When X and Y came out, my first goal was to make sure I had every TM and O-Power in order to set myself up for breeding. I managed to finish the story in one week, making sure I spoke to every NPC and collecting every item in each area. Since the game was released at the same time around the world, I had to rely on asking my friends and the users on Nugget Bridge and multiple Facebook groups to find out what I had missed. It wasn’t long until the whole world discovered that the breeding system had changed for the better, so many people in my network and I got to work. Together, we got as many 5 IV Pokémon in as many different egg groups as possible in order to breed any Pokémon we wanted easily.

In November, Nugget Bridge announced the third season of the Nugget Bridge Circuit. This offered great weekly practice to work on my battle skills against a range of players around the world, from players starting fresh to former World Champions. The tournaments used a Kalos Dex Pokémon only format, which ended up reflecting the official rules that came out later that month. I quickly got to work on making a team, and went on Battle Spot to practice.

The Path of Battle

I had my goals in sight: to get to play in the World Championships, to qualify for the Nugget Bridge Invitational, and to win a live tournament in the Nugget Bridge Circuit. I always encourage others to go for their dreams, because we all have just one shot at life and you might as well make the most of it. I understood that the path to success isn’t always easy, and that in achieving my goals I would encounter some difficulties. How I handled these difficulties would be the difference between being a champion or a total failure.  When things got difficult for me, I used to give up because they were too hard. Now, however, I have been trained to look for solutions by asking questions to yourself and others. Sometimes you have to ask an expert for solutions, and when I say expert, I mean someone who has had success in the past.

The Nugget Bridge live tournaments are spread out over many different times, and those times are mostly suited for American and European players, since those make up the vast majority of the Nugget Bridge membership. Australia is far away from those parts of the world, and most of the tournaments started at 5 or 6 AM my time. Sometimes I’d be able to afford the luxury of sleeping in a bit to wake up for  a 8 or 9 AM tournament start, and if I was really lucky, there may have been a tournament in the afternoon. What it came down to was how badly I wanted my dream. There was a huge difference in energy for me when I woke up at 4:30 AM for work as compared to waking up at 4:30 AM for a Pokémon tournament, because I desperately wanted to achieve that goal.

Every year we all start fresh, trying to understand the new rules and finding strong Pokémon combinations. As the year goes by, new trends appear and people want to use them. Many players adjust their teams accordingly to keep a winning edge. For example, 2014 World Champion Se Jun Park explained his choice of Pachirisu in an interview. He needed redirection to support his Mega Gyarados, and correctly assumed that other players would have options to deal with Rage Powder Amoonguss.

The first team I created in the VGC 14 season had a Scrappy Exploud with Boomburst as its focus. I combined Exploud with Soundproof Mr. Mime, Mega Bannete, Barbarcle, Rotom-Heat, and another Pokémon I can’t remember. I started the Nugget Bridge season well in November, only losing to Scott Glaza and Randy Kwa. Both were seasoned Pokémon players. so there was no shame in losing to either of them. Scott in particular thrashed me with a Mega Charizard Y and Venusaur Pledge team, which was cool at the time but nowadays too risky to use thanks to Talonflame’s popularity. December was a terrible month for me, as I lost to players who are no longer active as I struggled with team choices.

My Exploud team didn’t last very long, since most people were using dominant Pokémon such as Talonflame, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Mawile, and Charizard-Y with Venusaur. I had to readjust because I like to teambuild using Pokémon that counter the most popular strategies, often using less popular Pokémon or movesets. One such example is Haban Berry Salamence.

January 2014

The new year came, and I knew January was going to be a big month for VGC events. Nugget Bridge announced their annual Nugget Bridge Major. This is the world’s biggest online VGC tournament, with world class players such as Wolfe Glick, Aaron Zheng, and the 2013 World Champion Arash Ommati competing. This tournament was three months long and attracted over 200 players. Another huge online event was through Battle Spot. It was announced that the 2nd Special Ladder Season would be 2014 VGC rules, which offered great practice. One more event was a local one, hosted in Melbourne by PokeMelbourne during the Australia Day weekend at the end of the month. I decided to go to this tournament, because Melbourne has an established playerbase and the tournament would be a great test to see how I ranked as a player.

Nugget Bridge only hosted two live tournaments in January, due to the North American Winter Regionals taking up two weekends. In one of these tournaments I lost to a player who admitted that it was his first time playing. He played accordingly, but I overcomplicated things in our match, allowing him to earn the win. The lesson I learned there: keep it simple against newer players.

After that event, I created a new team using Mega Aerodactyl as a starting point. This team gave me great success, but Aerodactyl had a revolving door of teammates, from Meowstic for its ability to set up Safeguard and Swagger to increase Aerodactyl’s Attack, to Tyranitar for its ability to give Aerodactyl a Special Defense boost thanks to Sandstorm. Some unusual sets I toyed with included Choice Scarf Rotom-Heat, and Haban Berry Salamence to avoid the Speed tie with and KO back the more popular Scarf Salamence.

I played on Battle Spot as much as possible. Living in Australia, you’ll most likely play Japanese or Koreans at night, and in the morning you can often play Europeans and Americans. One morning I ran into 2014 Worlds Semi Finalist Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom), who I didn’t know at the time, only seeing his name in Nugget Bridge events. In our battle his experience showed off, and it proved I had lots to learn about battling, especially when it came to prediction and not always making the obvious play. One example was his Hydreigon attacking my Rotom-Heat instead of Salamence. You can watch our battle here.

In the last weekend of January I went to Melbourne to play in a VGC 14 tournament hosted by PokeMelbourne.  My team at the event was Mega Aerodactyl, Sitrus Berry Wigglytuff, Chesnaught, Scarf Rotom-Heat, Haban Berry Salamence, and Ray Rizzo’s mixed Tyranitar. By the time of this event, I was the number one Australian player on the Battle Spot Special Ladder. On paper, I was the favorite for this 180 player event in Australia’s biggest VGC city. In the end, I finished the Swiss rounds 3-1 and failed to make top cut. Yes, it was a poor decision to play only four rounds of Swiss with 180 people playing, but I always respect any organiser that takes the time to host an event and support the community. Despite the disappointing result at Melbourne, I felt like I ended January well with a 1839 rating on the Battle Spot Special Ladder.

I started my Nugget Bridge Major campaign with a win over Tommy Cooleen (Tman), who top cut at the recent Virginia Regional. I won the match 2-1 thanks to a clutch Rock Slide flinch from my Mega Aerodactyl on his Choice Scarf Mamoswine. Tommy introduced himself to me at the World Championships in August, and he remembered our battle. He is a great and energetic guy to be around. I can see he is getting better at best of three battles, so I’d watch out for him next season.

February

My winning momentum continued in February. I started with my best ever finish in a Nugget Bridge Live tournament, defeating Nugget Bridge co-founder Rushan Shekar (Firestorm) before losing to German sensation Markus Stadter (13Yoshi37) in Top 8. You can view our battle here.

Yoshi taught me some great lessons in this battle. I only just added Aegislash to the team, as Special Substitute Aegislash was trending at the time. I learned not to be afraid to stay in Blade forme and attack. The battle ended with his Garchomp KOing his own Mega Kangaskhan, preventing me from getting the Spiky Shield KO for the win. I would never have expected that move, but Yoshi’s experience let him know that move was the best choice, and it clearly showed in our battle. That was our first battle of four we had that month. I kept running into Markus on the Battle Spot ladder as well. I got revenge on him many hours after our first battle, and then eight days later I repeated my victory. At the end of Season 2, he got the better of me again.

I respected Markus’ hard work, and I was very happy that he won German Nationals. His spot at Worlds was well deserved. I am grateful for the lessons I learned from battling him and from other online resources he provided. The photo above is us at Worlds. Meeting him in person felt comfortable because we’d already developed a friendship through our battling and through Facebook.

Besides Markus, I ran into many other well known players on Battle Spot . Some of these players were Austrian Alex Kuhn (Hibiki), Britain’s Brandon Ikin (Toquill), Polish player Szymon (Szymoninho), and Americans Simon Yip (Simon), JoeJ M, and Greyson Garren (Greysong). On the 13^th of February I peaked at 34^th in the World (as pictured below). Top 50 in the world was great, but I was still far from world number 1, or even my next goal of top 30.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep winning consistently, which is more important to me than peaking high on the ladder.  I would rather be consistently winning every day than win one tournament and then flop. I wanted to be a legend like Se Jun Park, Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Serena Williams. They’re all known for winning many games consistently. They are the people I wanted to be like, and I wanted to copy their winning habits.

On the last day of the Battle Spot Special Ladder’s Season 2, the fight for best player in Australia came down to the wire between my good friend and VGC 2014 top 8 player Dayne  (Prof Teak) and I.  In the end, Dayne took first place in Australia by winning a single match, while I flopped hard, almost missing top 1000 in the world and finishing at 10^th in Australia. I have no regrets in trying to finish in the top 100, since I always say go hard or go home. The big lesson I learned here was that I need to focus on winning one battle at a time rather than obsessing about my end goal.

On the 8^th of February, I traveled down to Sydney for a grassroots tournament. This was the second such VGC event in Sydney, the first being a successful tournament in January. The event attracted 50 players, and just like the Melbourne event, I was the top Australian player on the Battle Spot Special Ladder at the time. Going in, I felt very good about my chances of winning the event. Unfortunately, I failed to make top cut, finishing 15^th with a 4-2 record in Swiss. I lost my second game to a hard Trick Room team, and I lost my fifth game in a pair down, thanks to me choking the match. In the end, I was happy that I won four matches including the must win final match, but I was not happy with the consistency of my focus. I knew I had to bounce back and refocus on my goals.

My play in the Nugget Major continued to be strong in February. I followed up my first round upset of Tman by defeating sconley262. After a disastrous start, getting swept 4-0 in the first game, I managed to pull out a win after finding out his Scrafty had no Dark attacks with which to hit Aegislash.  The next week, I played Hawaiian player HeroOfTheWinds and dominated him 2-0, as his team had no answer to Mega Aerodactyl. It wasn’t until the fourth round that I finally ran into a really big name. I got the privilege to battle Wolfe Glick (Wolfey), the 2012 Worlds runner up. Given his reputation, I expected some off-the-wall team like his Virginia Regional team ,where he finished in the top 8 with a Mr. Mime and Vaporeon. Instead, I got to play against a relatively simple team. I was still interested on how he battled, and I wanted to see how I would fare against a player of this caliber. You can watch our battles here:

• Game 1
• Game 2

I was very proud of how I battled against one of the world’s best players. In the first game, an unfortunate Rock Slide flinch prevented Aegislash from KOing his Mega Tyranitar. In the second game, I saw three of his four Pokémon, and none were a Mega Pokémon. I should have expected that his Mega Tyranitar was waiting in the back, and not making that assumption killed me. I should have went for the Flash Cannon on the Aegislash slot, because my Aegislash was faster than his and threatened to KO. His Tyranitar switch-in helped seal my defeat.

With one loss, you’d think I was going to avoid another big name player. However, some of those big name players lost early, and one of those players was my next opponent, Randy Kwa (R Inanimate). When I saw his team in Team Preview, I knew I was in for quite a battle. Watch my battles here:

• Game 1
• Game 2

The first game was a learning experience about his team. I fell victim to the darkness, with Dark Void hitting despite Moody’s accuracy negation. The second game I thought I adjusted extremely well and got myself into a good position to win, but one assumption cost me the match. Since not many people were using Mega Aerodactyl, I thought I could score a surprise KO on many Garchomp with Ice Fang. However, Randy expected the Ice Fang and protected Garchomp, which won him the game.

March

On the 2^nd of March, I said goodbye to my Mega Aerodactyl team. I was playing with the team in the Nugget Bridge Live tournament that day, and finished with another top 8 effort. In this tournament, I had my first battles against the Zheng brothers. I first battled the 2013 Junior World Champion Brendan Zheng (Babbytron) in the third round. You can watch our battle here. My Choice Banded Tauros was the hero of the match. That victory got me a match against his older brother and 2013 Worlds Semi Finalist Aaron Zheng (Cybertron). Part of why I lost to Aaron was because he won a speed tie between our Aerodactyl, and his Rock Slide flinched my Aerodactyl. I couldn’t recover from that moment, and that emotional disappointment caused me to remake another team. I didn’t want the Rock Slide flinch to happen to me again, and I really hate Speed ties. With Aerodactyl getting used more often, I thought it was time for a change.

While I was still deciding on a new team, I was still in the middle of the Nugget Bridge Major tournament. I was fighting for my life, as one more loss would prevent me from top cutting. I had to win my last three rounds to qualify. In round six, I played against American BigBonBon and defeated him 2-0 with a Sigilyph team that used Future Sight with Tinted Lens. This strategy doesn’t actually work in game the way it does in Showdown; next time, I’ll test strategies in game first to make sure they work. The following week I took on another American player, Ryan B. (lolfailsnail), with a completely random test team. I lost the first game, but felt that I adjusted well and ended up winning the match.

My last opponent in the Major was German player Peer Broxtermann (Bjart). My team at this point was Ferrothorn, Mega Charizard X, Mr. Mime, Gengar, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. He used Mega Kangaskhan, Rotom-Wash, Garchomp, and Scrafty in both games. In game one I made a shocking discovery: his Mega Kangaskhan had Protect instead of Fake Out. This threw me off because I double targeted into a Protect, and he was able to pick off my Pokemon from there. Game two lasted longer, and I brought Tyranitar instead of Gengar. I had no idea why he knew or thought I was Choice Scarfed, but I guess Scarftar was a thing at the time. I tried to Ice Beam his Protected Garchomp to no avail. With the second game in hand, Bjart moved on to the top cut. With the frustration of my loss, I dumped this team and worked on something new.

From the end of March until mid April, I experimented with a non-Protean Greninja, Scarf Abomasnow, Charizard X, and Pachirisu. I was using Pachirisu before it was cool, and even with the exact move set as Sejun’s. Sejun was more clever with his use of Pachirisu, where just I kept spamming Follow Me.

In the last Nugget Bridge Live event of the month, I made it as far as the third round. My opponent there was 2013 Masters World Champion Arash Ommati (Mean), and you can watch our battle here. It was a very close battle, and I had no idea that his Bisharp was holding a Choice Band until after the match, when he revealed it to me. It was hard at that time for me to recognize if a Pokémon was holding a Choice Band or Specs, and it wasn’t until months later I was finally using damage calculations in my team building and battling to find out this information.

April

On the first day of April, I ran into German fan favourite Lajos Kowalewski (Lajo) on Battle Spot. He is well known for his clever team building and for making deep runs in tournaments, though he has never won one. You can watch our battle here. This was my first win over one of the world’s best players, and so I thought this was my most successful team ever. The next morning, I took on another German in the second round of a Nugget Bridge Live event. Florian Wurdack (Daflo) was the Italian National Champion this year, but I played him before he won that tournament. This was our battle. Unfortunately, my move to swap Abomasnow for Charizard didn’t work out as planned, as he saw the switch coming.

The German theme for the month continued with a German online tournament hosted by German Pokémon fan site Bisafans. I used a team with Mega Medicham as my Mega, since I was practicing Yoga at the time and I thought it would be fun to play with. The tournament went for two days, with seven rounds of Swiss on the first day and top cut on the second. Myself and fellow Australians Emma Williams (cobalte) and Johnson Ng (Zantar) played in this tournament. Due to the tournament being organized around European time zones, we had a late night on day one. This was the latest I’ve ever played Pokémon, and it was a fun experience. Due to technical problems on the first day, the Swiss rounds had to run into day two, with Emma and I still in contention to make top cut. We each had to win our last match in order to make the top cut. I faced an Austrian player named Gueni who was streaming his matches on his Twitch channel. You can watch the hilarious replay here. I made a big mistake at the end, not Protecting Rotom on the second to last turn in order to reduce the damage from Haxorus’s Earthquake on the last turn. Had I done so, Krookodile would have been able to survive the second Earthquake due to the spread damage penalty with more than one target left on the field.

I continued to refine the team, and on the 19^th of April I ran into none other than future World Champion Sejun Park on Battle Spot. I had no idea that it was him at the time, but having checked my Global Link records and having the man himself confirm it at Worlds I found that it was actually him. In this battle, I experimentally changed my Rotom forme from Wash to Heat. You can watch our battle here.

May

So this is what the Mega Medicham team looked like at the start of the month. I will briefly explain what each Pokémon does.

I chose Telepathy on Medicham to let it switch in to an Earthquake or Discharge safely. Drain Punch was chosen for its healing properties, and I invested in Medicham’s defenses to recover a greater percentage of HP while still surviving certain attacks. I also mad Medicham outspeed Smeargle while in Mega forme. Rotom-Wash was Choice Scarfed because I originally wanted to outspeed Aerodactyl, but now I see there was no real point in achieving that. Scarf Will-O-Wisp did surprise some people. Krookodile provided Intimidate support and paired well with Aerodactyl, which supports it with Smack Down, Swagger, and Tailwind. Amoongus was used for redirection, as this team isn’t especially bulky. I used Aegislash to help deal with Mega Kangaskhan and Mawile.

May started off well, as I won a local Street Pass event two weeks before my home city’s Regional event. Unfortunately, I then choked terribly in the opening round of that event. I couldn’t figure out my gameplan in my third game, and ended up picking my team at the last second. In the May International Challenge, I ran into some Nugget Bridge members. One such battle was against young Brit Brandon Ikin (Toquill). I was very proud the way I won that battle, but overall I felt disappointed in how I finished the tournament with a 36-22 record and a rating of 1659.

After a weekend of poor results and learning something from the success of fellow Delphox Cub Lionel (CatGonk), I decided to represent the Delphox team by using a Delphox of my own for the rest of the season. The next weekend was the Melbourne Regional. The Delphox team started out as Delphox, Inner Focus Mega Kangaskhan, Hydreigon, Amoongus, Scizor, and Azumarill. I redeemed my play from the previous week by winning my first round match. I shocked my opponent with Inner Focus Kangaskhan, and his use of Swagger didn’t pay off for him. In the next round, I unluckily drew Dayne in a single elimination draw. My team at the time had no Flying-type resistances, so I gave Amoonguss a Coba Berry to try to buy time to get a KO on any Flying-types I might encounter. Dayne had two, however, and that was enough to overpower me.

It was back to the drawing board before my next trip to Melbourne: Australian Nationals in July. I also had my goal of qualifying for the Nugget Bridge Invitational, where I needed to finish in the top 16 by the end of the circuit. I was still on course to achieve that goal, but around 14^th - 18^th place my spot was by no means guaranteed. I did have the upcoming Scramble tournament to help out with that goal, and performing well in that gave me the motivation I needed to fix my team.

June

The Scramble’s first part of the tournament finished in the first week of the month, and in the end I didn’t qualify for the next stage. Finishing in the top 32 certainly helped me get those important points to qualify for the Nugget Bridge Invitational, though. This tournament gave me a lot of battle practice, especially against good players.

After the Scramble, there were only three live events left in the season. I was in 15^th place, so while I was in that top 16 needed to qualify for the Invitational, I still had to fight to make sure I stayed in it. The fight got tougher on the 14^th of June, when I faced Baz Anderson in a Live tournament. He was also fighting for a spot as well, as he was only one or two spots above me at the time. The result of the battle is a nail biter, and I felt that it was my best one set match of the season.

After that victory, I lost to an unknown Italian player named Leo. I was really disappointed, because I didn’t play with the same consistency that let me defeat Baz. Five days after that event, makiri, the tournament organizer of Nugget Bridge, announced that only a player’s best 18 results from Live tournaments would count towards the Nugget Bridge Invitational. It was a bit of a blow for me because I had already played more than 18 tournaments. In order to qualify for the Invitational, I’d have to do well in the last two Live tournaments I played in.

My June International Friendly campaign finished similarly to my May campaign, with an average result. I had 35 wins to 26 losses with a final rating of 1654. In the second to last Live event, I lost in the first round, so my chances of qualifying for the Invitational were not looking great. I kept looking for solutions, since I didn’t want to give up on my goal. I finally readjusted my team to look like this:

Delphox (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
EVs: 12 Def / 252 SpA / 244 Spe
Timid Nature
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect
– Psychic
– Overheat

This is a very basic Delphox build. I didn’t run max Speed because Garchomp was the only Pokémon I really wanted to outspeed. I put the remaining EVs in Defense to help survive hits from physical attackers. Overheat was my the choice of Fire move because it can OHKO Aegislash in Shield forme and Amoonguss with the help of Life Orb. If you get Delphox into Blaze health, it becomes even more powerful! For the Psychic-type attack, I considered Psyshock over Psychic, but my friend Lionel said “How often will you see Goodra or Florges?” I decided that it wouldn’t be very often, so I chose Psychic as the STAB move due to the increase power over Psyshock. I knew Sucker Punch would be a problem, so with inspiration from Markus Stadter’s German Nationals-winning Gengar, I decided to run Will-o-Wisp to punish Sucker Punch users.

Hydreigon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 60 Def / 252 SpA / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dark Pulse
– Draco Meteor
– Dragon Pulse
– Fire Blast

Next, I considered which Pokémon could switch in safely for Delphox. Hydreigon seemed like the best choice, as it resists all but Delphox’s Rock weakness, and the only Rock-type move I expected to see was Rock Slide, which is not that strong in doubles. When I saw the final of the Nugget Bridge Major, where the winner DarkAssassin used a Choice Specs Hydreigon to win the tournament, I was very impressed with its power. I liked how he built his Hydreigon to survive a Garchomp Dragon Claw as well. My move set was the same as his. Fire Blast can OHKO most Mawile with the help of Choice Specs. Dark Pulse can OHKO most Aegislash in Shield Forme, and Draco Meteor deals heavy damage to most Pokémon, even being capable of OHKOing Mega Kangaskhan depending how it’s built.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus -> Parental Bond
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 52 Atk / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Hammer Arm
– Double-Edge
– Fake Out
– Sucker Punch

Next, I looked for a Mega Pokémon that would work well with Delphox. In the end, I decided on Mega Kangaskhan. I chose the ability Inner Focus after discussing my ability options with Layne Hall (Lejn). He told me that not many people expect Inner Focus, and my choice did certainly shock a lot of people. I also couldn’t see myself using the Scrappy ability as much.

I’ve run Kangaskhan many different ways this season. At first, I used the standard Power-Up Punch, Return, Fake Out, Sucker Punch moveset. After two weeks of testing on this team, I switched out Power-Up Punch for Hammer Arm because I wanted to secure KOs on Pokémon such as Tyranitar and Hydreigon. I used Return up to the Nugget Bridge Invitational, and I changed Return to Double Edge after battling Ash Siddiq Abu Bakar, the Brisbane Regional winner and a top 8 finisher at Australian Nationals in 2014. He was by far more successful than me this season, at least at real life events. When we battled three days before I left for the USA, I noticed his Kangaskhan had Double Edge instead of Return. I asked him about his move choice, and whether or not the recoil damage was worth the extra power. He said the extra damage helped him get important KOs, and the recoil was not a big issue. After switching to it myself, I noticed the extra damage certainly did help. I feel as though Double Edge is a must on Kangaskhan using Hammer Arm instead of Power-Up Punch.

The EVs and Nature also changed as the season went on. I started out with a Jolly nature and 252 EVs each in Attack and Speed. During the June International, I was watching Markus Stadter’s (13Yoshi37) twitch stream of the tournament, and I noticed that his Kangaskhan was running a bulkier build. Since I was using Hammer Arm and I hated Speed tying other Kangaskhan, I decided to copy his HP EVs. This ended up being a life saver.

• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 212 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 178-210 (85.9 – 101.4%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Hammer Arm vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 168-198 (81.1 – 95.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

I also changed the nature from Jolly to Adamant, and my speed was originally reduced to be two stat points faster than max Speed Smeargle when in Mega forme. After facing three people with Worlds invites (Dingram, Henrique & competny) who used Hydreigon, though, I decided to increase my Kangaskhan’s Speed to outpace 252 Speed EV Modest Hydreigon. This left me with just 54 Attack EVs, but thankfully those were enough OHKO Hydreigon and Tyranitar.

• 54+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Hammer Arm vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 171-204 (101.7 – 121.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 54+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Hammer Arm vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Tyranitar: 222-264 (126.8 – 150.8%) — guaranteed OHKO

Amoonguss (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 180 Def / 188 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 26 Spe
– Rage Powder
– Giga Drain
– Spore
– Protect

The fourth Pokémon I chose for this team was Amoonguss. I felt that redirection support would help my team, especially since two of my team up to this point had a Fighting weakness. Amoonguss also provided some defense against Trick Room teams, as I could put enemy Pokémon to sleep. The HP EVs are designed to give maximum HP regeneration from Regenerator. The Speed IV was chosen to outspeed common Trick Room Pokémon like Slowbro and Rhyperior outside of Trick Room. The rest of my EVs went into general bulk, without trying to survive any specific attack.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 132 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hydro Pump
– Protect
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp

Rotom-Wash was a late addition to the team. I found that after the June International Challenge, I had troubles with Talonflame, and I felt I needed a second Ground-immune Pokémon. Originally, I aimed to outspeed Ray Rizzo’s Rotom-Heat that he used in the 2014 Virginia Regionals, but I saw that many other players chose to run their Rotom-Heat faster than max speed Bisharp. I also had problems going against Mega Lucario that were able to OHKO Rotom with Close Combat. I adjusted my Defense to survive a Jolly Mega Lucario Close Combat as well as Play Rough from Mega Mawile. My Rotom is a basic Sitrus Berry build, with an even max HP to let the berry proc after a Super Fang. This saved me in many battles.

Carbink @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Moonblast
– Trick Room
– Protect
– Power Gem

The other thing I noticed in the June International Challenge was that I had no Speed control on this team. I tried Tailwind before to no avail, and I’m not a fan of Thunder Wave because of the possibility of Lightning Rod Pokémon, Safeguard, or Substitute completely invalidating the move. Thunder Wave also fails on Ground- and Electric-type Pokémon. Icy Wind and Rock Tomb let your opponent swap out to negate the Speed drops or just Protect to avoid them.

Trick Room was something I liked because I didn’t have to rely on opponent factors, and everyone else seemed to be playing the Speed creeping game. Which Pokémon to use, though? I wanted something that could tank Talonflame’s attacks, and possibly deal big damage in return. I looked at Carbink due to its typing and bulk, but I initially questioned its attacking options, seeing as its base Attack and Special Attack were only 50 base each. Still, I decided to try Carbink out, first with its Clear Body ability. I felt as though I wouldn’t want Sturdy initially because with Carbink’s bulk, only a critical hit or a really powerful attack would bring Carbink down in one hit. However, I later decided that the probability of getting critically hit was higher than getting a relevant stat loss. I chose Mental Herb as the item to let Carbink get Trick Room off through Taunt and Encore.

I instantly saw great results with Carbink. It overshadowed Delphox, who was supposed to be the star Pokémon on this team. I was surprised at how many teams could not handle Trick Room, and having a fast Spore was fantastic. I no longer had a problem with Talonflame, since I now had two Pokémon that can tank hits from it. Offensively, Carbink could only OHKO Scrafty, Hydreigon, Talonflame, and Charizard Y, but many other Pokémon are weak to Rock or Fairy, and Carbink could hit these Pokémon for decent damage. The surprise factor provided by Carbink was also nice to have, especially in the best of one format which was expected at Australian Nationals.

Threats

/ + 

Ferrothorn or Mega Abomasnow & Talonflame

A team that has both slow and fast Pokémon is really tricky for me handle, whether I have Trick Room up or not. This combination in particular really makes things difficult for me. Ferrothorn and Mega Abomasnow can cause a lot of damage to my team while Trick Room is up, and I cannot stop either Pokémon or Talonflame with Amoonguss. Both Pokémon I use to deal with Talonflame are weak to Ferrothorn. I do have Carbink’s Sturdy if I am desperate enough to utilise it. I can also use Kangaskhan in Trick Room against these two, as Kangaskhan can actually Sucker Punch Talonflame before it uses Brave Bird.

Goodra + Assault Vest

As you can see, I have five Special Attackers on my team. As a result, Assault Vest users give me a hard time, particularly Goodra. I usually want to Will-o-Wisp to chip away at an AV wearer slowly, and then try to bring in Mega Kangaskhan safely. Goodra is the hardest of the Assault Vest Pokémon to deal with, mainly due to Sap Sipper negating Spore and its bulk making it hard for me to make a dent in its HP. Even Carbink using Moonblast doesn’t do much to Goodra.

At 5 AM on the 28^th of June, the last Nugget Bridge Live tournament for the circuit was held. I found out that I needed to finish in the final in order to secure my spot in the top 16. Of course, I had to fight other players who were also fighting for that spot. The last tournament was a Swiss tournament, perfect practice for the upcoming Australian Nationals which was two weeks away. Fellow Aussies Lejn, Prof Teak, and FamousDeaf participated in the tournament as well. The event attracted 82 players, good for seven rounds of Swiss over five hours.

I started well, winning my first four matches in a row while defeating three tough opponents along the way: Zach Droegkamp (Zach), Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSurvivor), and Alexander Kuhn (Hibiki). You can watch my match against Jeudy, the runner up of the 2014 World Championships, here. I lost to Britain’s Wyrms Eye in the fifth round, thanks to some silly plays on my part. I recovered well, defeating PokemonZone and Gengarboi in order to finish the Swiss stage at 5th overall with a 6-1 record.

In the first match of top cut, I took on good friend EmBc from Portugal. We battled seven times on Battle Spot over the two seasons where the Special Ladder was VGC 2014 rules, and I have only beaten him twice. I did defeat him in the one other occasion we battled, a NB Live tournament, but this was our first ever best of three match. It was also a pressure-filled fight for a top 16 spot, as we were closely ranked in Circuit points. I won pretty comfortably in the first game, and while he did improve in game two I prevailed in the end. This victory meant that I’d finish at least one point ahead of him in the final Circuit standings.

In the Semis, I took on Hibiki again. Despite defeating him in Swiss, I was still uneasy about our matchup because of the threat of Smeargle. His best of three experience paid off, and he won our match 2-1. I fell one round short of ensuring myself a top 16 Circuit finish. After the tournament was over, I was tied for 15^th with American Ludimpact, but Szymoninho was still in a position to overtake me because he was still alive in the No Megas Allowed tournament. The Pole’s condition for qualifying for the Nugget Bridge Invitational was to win the No Megas Tournament, and luckily for me he lost to Randy Kwa in the finals, securing my spot in the tournament. I was extremely happy that I achieved my goal for the season, since I worked so hard on achieving it. All those mornings waking up at 4:30 to play the majority of the live tournaments were so worth it.

July

Going into Australian Nationals, I was the most confident I have ever been, thanks to qualifying for the Invitational and being the number one Australian on the Battle Spot doubles ladder. My record was 52-25 using my VGC team, giving me some extra confidence. I lost my first match at Nationals, but then rattled off six wins in a row thanks to Carbink. I lost my eighth match to Ty Power (TheBlooFoxx), and then got stunned in the final round by Harry Boucher’s (Hazza) Charizard X. Its Steel Wing destroyed my Carbink, and I couldn’t mount a comeback. I ended up finishing the Swiss stages with a 6-3 record, and sadly I needed a 7-2 record to move on to top cut.

August

I started August by playing in the Nugget Bridge Invitational, which almost felt like playing at the World Championships. In the first round, I took on DeVon Ingram (dingram). You can watch our dramatic match here. I lost the first match, but I felt I could still win the set. The big turning point was getting those Rocky Helmet KOs with Amoonguss, but right after that great play I made a boneheaded one by not protecting Amoonguss. I was still happy with the comeback, and winning this match was my best-played best of three match of the season. It was awesome to have Evan Latt (plaid), Duy Ha, and Justin Flynn commentating the match, and it’s something I can treasure forever. I also got to meet them at Worlds briefly (as pictured below), and they are real genuine people that want to get to know you.

We were the last to finish our first round match, and I quickly moved on to round two against Matt Coyle (PrettyLittleLiar). You can watch our battles here:

• Game 1
• Game 2

Game one was pretty much spent learning his team, as he had common Pokémon with strange movesets. In game two, I didn’t manage my priories correctly after gaining momentum from removing Kangaskhan quickly. I should have gotten rid of Sableye faster, and as a result I lost.

A few days later, I started my trip to the USA. I didn’t play for the first three days after arriving in order to get used to the time zone difference. Being in the US made it easier to play in the practice Nugget Bridge tournaments on the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons before Worlds. For the Tuesday live tournament I was in Orlando, Florida, and I played my first best of three battles since leaving Australia. I started off well, winning the first two rounds in straight sets, and then in the top 8 I took on Worlds Semifinalist Markus Liu (Henrique) from Germany. I didn’t know that he had a Worlds invite until after the match. In game one, he dominated me with a Taunt/Trick Room Gothitelle. Gothitelle used Taunt on my Delphox, and he used Mawile’s Sucker Punch to KO on the next turn. I also forgot that Rage Powder doesn’t work on Abomasnow due to its Grass typing. In game two (which you can see here) I fell for the same tricks again, which really annoyed me. The guy has some real skills to go into Worlds with a completely different team four days later and still finish in the top four.

The next day, I flew into Washington D.C. and got to my hotel room 30 minutes before the next practice tournament. I won my opening round match against Austrian Doppelgengar in straight sets. I then took on the famous Aaron Cybertron Zheng, who was still at home when we battled. I was very excited to see what he was going to use at Worlds. Our match went to three games:

• Game 1
• Game 2
• Game 3

I will let the videos do the talking this time, but I will say it was a great privilege to battle Aaron. These battles show why he is a world-class competitor, despite his struggles this season. He used a team that didn’t suit his usual style of play, but he still had a decent result using it at Worlds. I had a great battle despite my stupid decision at the end.

At the Last Chance Qualification, I got a bye in the opening round. In round two, I drew American Andrew Burley. It wasn’t until I saw his in-game name Andykins that I knew I was in for a tough battle.

LCQ 2014 Round 2

Game 1

He brought: ///

I brought: ///

When he started with Zapdos, I knew straight away his strategy would be to Paralyse my team. I Faked Out Zapdos, since most Zapdos builds don’t have Protect, and Delphox used Will-o-Wisp against Scrafty, which I correctly assumed was holding an Assault Vest because I figured Garchomp would be holding the Lum Berry. I remembered downing Zapdos quickly to prevent the Paralysis, and Delphox missed Overheat on Aegislash, which then finished it off with Shadow Ball. Thankfully it didn’t matter in the end, despite not having Delphox to deal with Mega Venusaur.  The power of Hydreigon and Mega Kangaskhan were enough to finish him off. I won the game 3-0.

Game 2

He brought: ///

I brought: ///

To my surprise, Aerodactyl was also a Mega, and his Subbing Garchomp has Leftovers instead of a Lum Berry. He dominated the game with his Speed advantage.

Game 3

He brought: ///

I brought: ///

I figured he might keep the same four as last match. If he did, I thought Carbink could set up Trick Room to reverse the speedy team’s advantage, and if he brought back Aegislash or Venusaur I felt like Hydreigon and Kangaskhan could handle it. You can watch game three here:

It was harsh way to lose, but I felt I could have prevented it if I actually made use of Trick Room. Not going for Aerodactyl first was a mistake, as Sky Drop is a good way to stall out Trick Room turns. Protecting Carbink in Trick Room for no reason was another mistake that cost me. I was very disappointed in the loss, but at least it was close.

Change or Get Left Behind

Sometimes in our lives, we have to make some changes for the better. Usually, it will take a life changing event for us to change our habits in order to live better. In Pokémon I made four massive changes just in order to be a player. I remember at the 2013 Australian Nationals, I lost in the top 22 because I had no idea how much damage Weavile’s Low Kick did to other Pokémon like Abomasnow. Instead, I chose to use Ice Punch on Abomasnow, because I wasn’t sure how heavy Abomasnow was. I wanted to be a winner and not a loser, so I got to work with damage calculations this year. I created some study notes (as pictured below). Another big change for me was to construct custom EV spreads, compared to last year where I was extremely lazy with my EV spreads. Most of my Pokémon were 252/252/4 or 252 attack and even defenses. After reading reports on Nugget Bridge or personal blogs about other people’s teams, you start to understand why they went with the EV spreads they did, and how such custom EV spreads help a lot against common threats like Mega Kangaskhan and Talonflame.

Another change I made was that I started taking notes during battles. Not everybody agrees to do this, but what made me start this habit was seeing champions doing it in Youtube videos. I noticed Markus Stadter (13Yoshi37) did it in the German National final, Florian Wurdack (daflo) also did it in the Italian National final, and Alex Ogolza (Evan Falco) did it in the US Nationals as well. It was after the US National that I decided to take up note taking. I practiced with Battle Spot battles, and I found that taking notes helped keep me focused on my match. I didn’t have to stress out about remembering what Pokémon, items, or moves the opponents used, as well as what Pokémon I used. My notes also served as a journal to keep after the match. I remember one of my opponents at the Australian Nationals asking me why I was writing notes for a best of one battle. I told him that I take notes every match so I can get used to taking notes efficiently. I not only write down the Pokémon, moves, and items, I also write down human behaviours of my opponent. I explained to him how he acted super defensive, and I managed to make him Protect into nothing. What everybody writes down is going to be different, and we all have our own personal preference on how we do things, so if you want to develop this habit always write down what you want to take note of for every battle. Remember, it takes 21 days to create a habit. Here is an evolution of my note taking over a 1 month period.

The last change I made was to analyze every battle and ask myself: how I can do better next time? I’d rather focus on things that I can control than blame the RNG, because that gets you nowhere as a player. For example, we all hate getting flinched by Rock Slide. Some players would rather be a sitting duck and pray it doesn’t happen to them. More proactive players who are concerned about that have a real strategy to do something about it, either by having Wide Guard, using priority moves, or by using Speed control.

Meeting the Community

Because participation in the World Championships was cut short, I wanted to meet and get to know as many people in the community as possible. It was easier to say hi to everyone because I had a previous engagement with them online, with a bit of friendship building in getting to know them. After Worlds is a crazy after party with battles in the trade room. Big thanks to Hibiki for telling me about the party, and for introducing me to some of the Japanese players.

With Zach Droegkamp & Dayne O’Meara (Prof Teak).  The picture on the right is me with Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka)

With Andrew Burley (Andykins) and his brother Justin Burley. It’s always better to be friends then enemies. Blaming others and disrespecting them get you nowhere.

After Worlds, I went to New York and spent the next nine days touring the city. I also got to meet some of the New York crowd the weekend after Worlds. Thanks to Simon Yip for inviting me to hang out. From left to right: Simon Yip (Simon), Fifi, Patrick (Pd0nZ), Chuppa Cross (Chuppa), Dan Levinson (dtrain), and Trista Medine (ryuzaki).

Thank You

It has been a long, crazy, fun, depressing, and exciting season of ups and downs. I want to thank the Delphox group for making life easier and supporting me throughout the season. Thank you Jackson, Emma, Johnson, Daniel, Ben, Lionel, Bailey, Matt, Denaysh, Dayne, and Nick. Thanks so much to Roland Walker for uploading my battles this season on my YouTube page. Thanks to the Nugget Bridge team for giving me exposure to the VGC world through Nugget Bridge streams. Thank you to my fans and twitter followers out there who supported me and believed in me for this continuing journey.

Closing Words

I won’t be playing as much next season, as I have to work on being an awesome sales person. I will be only playing ORAS for one week, setting myself to breed and collect every item and O power, and then I will come back two weeks before events depending how qualification for Worlds work in Australia. Final advice from me: Work hard. Train smart by having goals big and small. Always keep focused on the dream, and create friendships.  See you in 2015!

The post The Life of a Wannabe Professional Pokémon Player appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey everyone! My name is Andy Himes aka Amarillo (pronoiunced ah-mah-ree-oh) and this is my USA Nationals and season report. VGC 2014 was the first season that I’ve had that I can really call a success so I’m finally getting a chance to write a report about a team I’m proud of! I’ve been playing since 2010 and I think 10 is the year I was best at but I never got a chance to prove it because I was unable to attend any events that year. At the beginning of the season I was running a team with Mawile/Garchomp/Hydreigon/Rotom-H/Aegislash/Scrafty and at the time I believed I had the best team because I was number 1 on the Showdown ladder with around a 90% win rate. However, at Regionals everyone I played at both Virginia and St. Louis had 2 or 3 fairies on the team. I knew fairies would get played but I never imagined I would see teams like Mawile/Azumarill/Gardevoir and I had 2 Pokémon with 4x weaknesses. Between my team being awful for the real life, non-Showdown metagame, and a bit of bad luck I ended two straight Regionals with a score of 5-4. Some people may remember me crying in the corner in St. Louis because it seemed like all of my hard work for the last few years just hadn’t paid off. Reflecting on it, I let myself go on tilt and went into the events with a poor mentality that I’ll discuss later in my Guide for Beginners. Regardless, it was then I decided I would just play for fun the rest of the year and I decided I would start using Smeargle. I had used Smeargle to great success in the second season of the NPA and it has never let me down in online tournaments in the four years I’ve played this game. That said, I’ve been too afraid of taking it to a real tournament between the accuracy of Dark Void and it being way too easy to counter. After my depressing Winter Regionals performances I learned that all this time I’ve been playing to not lose instead of to win. At Madison I took a team consisting of Smeargle/Kangaskhan/Rotom-H/Salamence/Azumarill/Amoongus and ended up going 6-2 for a 13^th place finish. Feeling like I had made progress I decided to stick with the team concept and kept working at improving the team.  This is what I came up with after testing various things for around three months and ultimately used at the US National Championships.

Team

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Moody
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Dark Void
– Transform
– Follow Me
– Spiky Shield

The concept of Smeargle is to NOT spam Dark Void. Let me repeat that: if you are using Smeargle and you are relying on Dark Void then your team is not going to be consistent. Smeargle’s purpose is a scare tactic in team preview. My opponent must lead counters to Smeargle or they probably lose. This gives an opportunity to always get a lead advantage and counter whatever Smeargle counters they have that I can figure out from team preview. If the opposing team looks like it can’t handle it, then I’ll use it. I also never lead Smeargle/Kangaskhan unless the opponent has 1 or 0 Pokémon that outspeed Smeargle. In simple terms, you KO any Smeargle counters and then send it in from the back once they can no longer do anything to stop Dark Void. You can also not bring it at all and just gain a favorable team matchup because the opponent is forced to send out specific Pokémon against you.  A few sentences about the move set: Transform is one of the best moves in the game. It copies the stat boost of what you are transforming into which is why it’s so deadly after a Kangaskhan Power-Up Punch. Not many teams are equipped to handle 2 Mega Kangaskhan. Transform gives Smeargle an offensive presence. Transform is also helpful against certain strategies such as Perish Song. At Regionals in Fort Wayne I was able to transform into my opponent’s Mega Gengar and trap his Azumarill which had used Perish Song. I was also not afraid of being Shadow Balled by his Gengar because I still had my Focus Sash active. Ultimately I won a speed tie against his Mega Gengar and Smeargle-Gengar was able to win the game. I had tested Tailwind, Encore, and Fake Out in my 4^th move slot but decided on just running Protect. Smeargle naturally gets double targeted a lot due to the Focus Sash it’s running and a double target into a Protect when you have Kangaskhan as the teammate is usually game ending. Spiky Shield is a better Protect than King’s Shield because it blocks Taunt of course. A big shout-out goes to R Inanimate for convincing me the night before to use Moody. I was planning on using Own Tempo to prevent Speed drops but Randy just said, “Moody is the play”. Moody ended up winning me 2 battles in swiss outright and helping in a third. Moody also single handedly beat Ray in round 7 which I kind of felt bad about afterwards since I clearly wouldn’t have been able to beat him otherwise that game…

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
– Fake Out

Mega Kangaskhan is the biggest threat. It has Fake Out which you want if you plan on using Dark Void and it abuses Power-Up Punch letting you transform into a +2 version of what is already the biggest threat on the field. Simple and terrifying, Mega Kangaskhan is the best partner that Smeargle has ever had. Not even Kyogre was a better partner. I chose this EV spread because I wanted to outspeed all other Kangaskhan. With a slower Kangaskhan I would not be able to ever bring Smeargle to the battle if the opponent also had a Mega Kangaskhan on the team. I used Jolly for a while and it was okay, but I kept running into speed ties which is the last thing I wanted. I switched to Adamant and never noticed a difference in my speed, except if I Mega Evolved first I was confident I would always attack first which wasn’t true with Jolly max speed which is a tad ironic I think. Fake Out is chosen over Protect to help out Smeargle. I also really enjoy having two Fake Out users on the team.

Rotom-Heat @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 252 SpA / 92 Spe
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Protect

Disturb not the Harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning…or else Rotom will turn you to ash… I figured out very quickly that Kangaskhan is weak to Steel types so I decided I needed an aggressive Fire type. Rotom-H seemed like the best Fire type that fit my plan. Of course my team so far was weak to Garchomp. I then got an idea: why should I bother using Will-O-Wisp when I can just KO everything with Hidden Power Ice instead? This is where my idea of running a Life Orb set came from. The EV spread is simple and admittedly inefficient. Max Special Attack Modest gets the greatest damage output. I thought I might as well do as much damage as I could since I’m sacrificing Hit Points to do so. 92 Speed EVs hits 118 Speed. This was an arbitrary number that made me feel safe that I out-creeped all Rotom-W. Of course, this is slower than Bisharp which I didn’t even consider when I was building the team and then ultimately lost to on Day 2. If you want to run LO Rotom-H yourself, make sure you go to 132 EVs to outspeed Bisharp. The rest of my EVs were dumped into HP because there was not anything specific I cared to calculate for. The last thing I wanted to mention was that for Nationals, Will-O-Wisp was terrible. I know a bunch of people had success with it this season and I’m in the minority that thinks it was a really bad move this year, but I want to explain my thought process anyway. Rotom is probably slower than everything you want to WoW. That means it is taking a hit before firing off an 85 accuracy attack that isn’t going to get an opposing Pokémon off the field. In the case of Kangaskhan, burning it doesn’t remove its pressure. It still has Power-Up Punch and enough power on its own that it could still possibly run you over. Garchomp has Lum Berry often enough that Wisping it isn’t viable either. Mawile you should just be attacking with Overheat anyway. I was also terrified of players running Facade Kangaskhan in a field such as Nationals which just makes you lose instantly as much as the community jokes about it. In fact, I ran into a Facade Kang user at 7-0 so my judgment for running a statusless Rotom in the end was correct.

Salamence @ Haban Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Dragon Pulse
– Protect

I like Intimidate and needed as much Garchomp hate as I could possibly have because LumChomp is the best Smeargle counter — and it really isn’t close either. Against the very common Kangaskhan/Garchomp lead I would lead my Salamence and Scrafty while leaving Smeargle on the bench. I had been using Choice Scarf for a long time, but found that getting locked into Draco Meteor — especially if it missed — made me lose almost immediately. I switched to Haban Berry a week before Nationals because I was tired of Scarf’s inconsistency and never once regretted it during the tournament. Choice Specs Hydreigon still OHKOs Salamence through Haban Bery but since I ran max Speed, I always outsped the common Modest Specs Hydreigon anyway. Dragon Pulse was selected as a 100% accurate move that doesn’t lower my Special Attack. I always use Dragon Pulse unless I am sure that Draco Meteor will KO because I like not missing and I also like not losing immediately if I get a prediction wrong.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 148 SpA / 100 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
IVs: 2 Spe
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Substitute
– Protect

The more I tested Aegislash the more I realized that its greatest strength is its Special Defense stat so I went with a Sassy nature and added a lot of Special Defense. It goes way past what is required to survive a Choice Specs Dark Pulse from Hydreigon. The EVs aren’t supposed to be too specific but I made sure that Flash Cannon + Drain Punch from Scrafty always got the KO on 252 HP Kangaskhan. This spread  2HKOs 4HP Kangaskahn with Flash Cannon around 80% of the time and this amount of Special Defense is enough to take a maximum roll from a Choice Specs Dark Pulse and have enough HP left to also take one turn of burn damage so that’s neat. I switched into Will-o-Wisps a lot during the tournament so this actually came up despite being a pretty strange calculation. This Aegislash has a 2 Speed IV which speed ties Ray’s Amoongus from his Virginia team so naturally I had to add more points in speed since I was afraid of running into it. If you would like to use Aegislash then use TheBattleRoom’s spread from his Worlds team; it’s almost identical to this one in function but it doesn’t waste a bunch of stat points by going further than it really needs to. There is no difference between Sassy and Quiet when it comes to numbers — it just changes the allocation of EVs. This Aegislash was crucial to my success. Once again Kangaskhan is one of the best and most prevalent Smeargle counters and Sub Aegislash is really nice against opposing Kangaskhan. It had really good synergy with my double Intimidate and in one game it survived both a Dark Pulse from Specs Hydreigon and a Thunderbolt from Rotom-W so maybe going way past what was necessary in Special Defense was worth it in the end. I selected Flash Cannon over Sacred Sword in order to KO Smeargle counter Aerodactyl after a Fake Out and to let me switch into Will-O-Wisps without losing damage potential.

Scrafty @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 180 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Drain Punch
– Crunch
– Ice Punch
– Fake Out

This Scrafty was added in line the night before the tournament when the Sableye (which I wasn’t confident in anyway) that I had been testing wasn’t EV’d. I just kind of searched my box for something that had Synergy with the rest of the party. Scrafty was everything I wanted and more. It gave me double Intimidate, double Fake Out, and beats literally all of Smeargle’s counters. It Intimidates and Ice Punches public enemy number 1 Garchomp and does 70% with Drain Punch to enemy number 2 Kangaskhan. It one shots enemy 3 Tyranitar and beats obnoxious ghosts like Chandelure and Aegislash. For a last second addition that I never tested on this team it was probably the best Pokémon on the team.  Once again my EV spread is a tad arbitrary. I wanted max Attack Adamant because most of Scrafty’s bulk comes from Drain Punch instead of EV dumping. 180 HP was as low as I was willing to go to get the most out of Drain Punch healing, and because I ran Assault Vest I put a bunch of EVs into Special Defense in order to get more stat points off of my item. Scrafty needs 60 Defense in order to survive a Choice Band Brave Bird from Talonflame at -1 but I put it into Special Defense instead because I wasn’t worried about Talonflame and Scrafty probably couldn’t KO it anyway. I run Assault Vest over the other popular choice Lum Berry because Assault Vest is always on and is always an item. Lum Berry only counts as an item if they burn you. I like being efficient in what items I run.

I’m not going to talk about any of my matches because at this point I’ve forgotten most of them and the most interesting were against Gavin Michaels and Jon Hu who both wrote about our matches in their own reports. I also want to clear something up about my match against Ashton on stream. I said after the battle that I had chosen Smeargle instead of Rotom Game 3 because of the crowd. That was partly a joke. I knew from playing Ashton at a Premier Challenge that his Sawk OHKOs my Rotom-H. I decided that I wanted Follow Me and a Focus Sash more than I wanted Rotom. People were telling me how if I had brought Rotom then his Charizard couldn’t do anything to me. Well his Charizard couldn’t do anything to me anyway because Smeargle outspeds it. Or at least, that is what happened in Game 1. It turns out his Charizard was EVed to speed tie Smeargle (not on purpose according to Ashton) and I won the tie in Game 1 and  lost it in Game 3. If I had known it was a tie and not Smeargle being faster then I probably would have brought Rotom over it but the fact is that I thought that my team was well positioned to beat his team and it would have won if Heat Wave didn’t burn my Kangaskhan which allowed Heliolisk to tank a Sucker Punch.

At Fort Wayne Regionals where I finished 2^nd losing in the finals to Mancuso, I used a Choice Band Garchomp and a Sitrus Berry Zapdos over Salamence and Aegislash since they felt like they weren’t winning matches like they had a few months prior. I’m not sure if that was a good choice or not because Garchomp was good but not great and Zapdos I’d rather not talk about, but I guess they got me to my first ever top cut at a Regional so I’m thankful to them. Enough has been written about how the tournament was run so I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to say that I was really excited about who did make top cut as all of us (besides Dim) are from the same area and the top 4 felt like a Northern Ohio Premier Challenge. So shout outs to everyone in the Ohio/Michigan/West Virginia/Western Pennsylvania area because all of sudden we are now one of the strongest areas in the country! Now I want to make a few comments about the Pokémon game itself.

A Strategy Guide for Beginners

Have a Plan

I can’t understate the importance of having a plan. Almost every single successful team has some kind of strategy that they want to execute every game. Alex Ogloza’s Nationals team used Politoed and Ludicolo in order get his opponents’ Pokémon into Choice Band Brave Bird range. Jon Hu used Confuse Ray Sableye and Mega Gengar to create an extremely strong lock that left opponents without a whole lot of good options. Aaron Zheng had a similar plan that he tried to execute with a Heal Pulse Trick Room Gothitelle. Sejun Park used Follow Me and Tickle to defend his Mega Gyarados enough to set up a Dragon Dance. Smeargle’s plan is to counter lead the opposing Smeargle counters and get them off the field to allow Dark Void to be unstoppable. Never use a Pokémon because it just “counters a certain threat” or “it’s unexpected”. Everything you do in team building must contribute to your plan and what helps you execute you strategy. If you add a Pokémon that just “counters a specific threat” you are doing that because that threat will cause your plan to fail. Never try to counter everything, it just leads to your team not having a plan and therefore your team will be weak. No team can counter everything anyway. There is always a hole that someone will eventually exploit.

Be Efficient

I’m not talking about Effort Values because obviously I’m no good at that whatsoever and there have been many well written articles on this subject in the past. There is also item efficiency, turn efficiency, and making sure you are using the best Pokémon and best moves to execute your strategy. Some items are always an item and some items do not always count as an item. Choice items, Life Orb, Leftovers… these items are always on and always count as an item. Berries, Safety Goggles, Weakness Policy… these don’t always count as an item. If your opponent never uses a status move on you, then your Lum berry was not an item in that game. Safety Goggles isn’t an item if Tyranitar and Amoongus are not in the battle. Weakness Policy is not an item if the opponent never attacks you with a super effective attack, or if the super effective attack manages to KO. Items are an integral part of what makes a Pokémon strong, and if you are running too many items that don’t always function as items then your Pokémon might be lacking something that could have made it strong in that battle. I’m not claiming that any of these items that are not always on are bad — far from that — but I do think having too many of them in a party can be problematic as it might be decreasing the strength of your team.

Turn efficiency is just simply making the most of any given turn. The way you win a Pokémon battle is by doing more damage than the opponent. The simplest way to do that is to attack more than the opponent. Always keep in mind what targets let you attack the most and your opponent attack the least. As a simple example, let’s say your opponent has Garchomp and Mawile on the field, and you have Hydreigon and Ludicolo. Ignoring switching for this example, let’s say you know from game 1 the Mawile doesn’t run Sucker Punch. You know that Dragon Claw won’t KO Hydreigon and either of your Pokémon have the ability to KO Garchomp. If you decide to have Hydreigon use Flamethrower on Mawile and Ludicolo Ice Beam on Garchomp then you get the KO on Garchomp but your opponent got to use both Dragon Claw and Play Rough that turn. That is 2 attacks, whereas if you used both Flamethrower and Scald on Mawile then you get a KO, and your opponent only got to attack once that turn. Obviously to make this kind of play you need to be sure that your opponent’s Mawile won’t Protect so this play is a risk for you, but the point is to just keep in mind that it is important what Pokémon you attack in a situation where either of your Pokémon could get a KO. You also need to decide if switching makes the most out of your turn. Getting a type advantage or removing a -2 is nice, but that is a turn you aren’t attacking. I just think a lot of new players don’t prioritize targets well enough and believe it’s important for players to think about when they are first learning.

Make sure that you are using the correct Pokémon and moves for your plan. Garchomp and Zapdos do a lot of damage with Discharge + Earthquake, but did you know that Telepathy Gardevoir has the same base Special Attack as Zapdos and Dazzling Gleam has the same Base Power? Gardevoir also doesn’t share a weakness to Ice. You have the same plan and 2 completely different Pokémon choices. My plan for my Nationals team was to beat Garchomp. I had Rotom-H on my team and I could have run Will O Wisp, but I decided that KOing it with HP Ice and KOing Mawile with Overheat was more efficient than burning them. Sometimes a completely different Pokémon allows you to execute your strategy a lot better. Just keep in mind that what may seem like a big change may not be a big change at all but it may make your team significantly stronger. Also for players who are new to the game, a “standard” move set is standard because it is the best move set for that Pokémon. If you want to deviate from the standard set then you need to have a real reason for it. Don’t just say “I don’t want to be standard” because that is a losing mentality.

If you guys get anything out of this report at all, I want it to be this:

The game does not owe you anything

The RNG does not care how hard you have worked. I’m going to steal a quote from a Magic the Gathering article by James Fazzolari that I owe my first Regionals top cut to: “No matter how much time, energy or money you invest in the game, you deserve exactly zero success and zero recognition.” There will be games where the RNG decides to not let you have an opportunity to win. I know; I’ve had many of them at tournaments. However, I’m sure there are also many games that I have “lost to luck” where I could have made a different decision here or there to allow me to have a great enough advantage that I could still survive after a costly flinch. For too long I believed that just because I am a better player than my opponent, that I should beat them every time.  Just because I have practiced more that I deserve the win more. This isn’t true and it’s probably why I’ve had so little success at tournaments before Nationals this year. The approach I take now is that a 1-0 record just means that I might go 1-7. A 2-0 record just means you might go 2-6. Do not tell yourself before the start of the tournament, “I’ll get 5-6 wins today easily.” Telling yourself how you will do before any games begin is the quickest way to be disappointed. Always play to win; never play to prevent losing. Playing safe against someone who you believe you are better than leads to them having the opportunity to outplay you. Playing a certain style is perfectly fine against people you know, but don’t assume you know how a person you don’t know plays just because you haven’t seen their name in results lists. Obviously luck is a major factor in our game and the player who played better in any given game may not win, but they almost always do. A player who loses to luck may not have actually played better if they left win conditions open for their opponent. A critical hit turn 1 hurts but people win games down 3-4 all the time; if the game isn’t over yet you still have a chance. Luck can be an excuse for losing sometimes, but it is never an excuse for suboptimal play. I’d probably say the amount of games where the cartridge doesn’t let one person play the game is less than 10% of all games where the loser blames it. Cockiness gets you nowhere. Always play your best. The game owes you absolutely nothing.

I hope some readers got something out of this report. I’ll be going strong for a Worlds invite this year since I have never had the opportunity to yet. Playing in Worlds is probably my biggest dream at the moment so I look forward to getting the opportunity to play everyone in VGC ’15! One last thing, in the unlikely chance that AlphaZealot is reading this report, Dark Void is really bad for the game and despite my success with it, it probably should be re-banned for the sake of the game. I’ll keep on using it as long as it’s around because I’m a firm believer in using the biggest threats and will personally be a bit sad to see it go, but the fact is that the game as a whole is worse when Dark Void is legal and I’m pretty sure I gained no friends in 2014 by abusing it. Everyone please don’t hate me as I was only using what wins.

Thank you for reading!

The post A Journey into the Darkness: A 9-0 Nationals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello readers! My name is Greyson Garren, but I go by simply as GreySong on the forums. I first got my feet wet back in 2006 when the Journey Across America series was traveling all over the United States, but it wasn’t until late 2009/early 2010 that I became inspired to get better at the game from watching the Senior World Finals. My most notable accomplishment was placing 5th at the US National Championships in 2011, and following that up with a 3-3, 18th place finish at the World Championships. Earlier this year, I competed in the 2014 Winter Regionals in St. Louis and the 2014 Spring Regionals located in Kansas City and Madison, where I was able to place 4th, 2nd, and 11th respectively. Unfortunately, I was unable to Top Cut Nationals this year, which was necessary for me to earn my second Worlds invite. With the $300 I earned for being in the top 16 in Championship Points going into Nationals, I was able to pay for my plane ticket to Washington D.C., where I had my eyes set on the Last Chance Qualifier. I decided to give this team one last chance to redeem itself in D.C., and I knew it would still be successful despite the metagame evolving throughout the year. I felt confident and comfortable with the team, and in the end I placed Top 16 at the Last Chance Qualifier. The EVs remained the same throughout the season up until the Last Chance Qualifier, so I will be writing about the final version of the team.

The Team

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy > Parental Bond
EVs: 84 HP / 204 Atk / 28 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Return
– Protect
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch

Kangaskhan was an obvious choice to me, mainly due to its massive impact on the metagame. It’s also my favorite Pokémon from RBY, so how could I resist? In the first months of the metagame, most Kangaskhan were using Fake Out, with Protect being far rarer. I thought giving mine Protect would not only confuse my opponent and allow me to deflect incoming Fake Outs, but it also ended up allowed Kangaskhan to last much longer on the field. When I first used it, Protect was extremely successful in luring attacks. Later on, many more players knew about Protect Kangaskhan, but despite that, I continued to use Protect, and it has continued to be successful. The rest of the attacks are standard staples on Mega Kangaskhan.

While most Kangaskhan were running bog-standard Jolly spreads, I decided to build my Kangaskhan more defensively, adding more Attack and bulk while cutting out excessive speed. During my Regionals run, I ran 252 Attack and 156 Speed. This allowed it to outspeed maximum Speed Smeargle. Before the Last Chance Qualifier I decided that maximum Attack investment was unnecessary due to Power-Up-Punch, and my friend David Mancuso (Mancuso) agreed. I chose to add a few more points of Speed instead. This gives Kangaskhan the ability to outspeed Mega Blastoise, a threat that started to see play after Simon Yip (Simon) and Randy Kwa (R Inanimate) used it successfully. The Defense EVs allow it to survive Hammer Arm from opposing Kangaskhan 15 out of 16 times.

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 28 HP / 108 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
– Moonblast
– Psychic
– Thunderbolt
– Dazzling Gleam

When I read about the powerful Garchomp/Salamence duo that was very common in Japan, I decided that I needed a powerful Fairy-type. My immediate answer was Choice Scarf Gardevoir. Despite all of the hate, I found it to be an extremely strong asset for my team. Her great Special Attack allowed her to deal tons of damage to her opponents even without a boosting item, so Choice Specs or Life Orb were unnecessary. With a Choice Scarf, Gardevoir also allowed me to outspeed certain threats outside of Tailwind. Likely due to Gardevoir, I did not have a single problem with Garchomp over the entire season. Gardevoir ability, Trace, allowed it to pull off some massive shenanigans. Learning that Trace could not copy Stance Change allowed me to strategically copy a necessary ability. My favorite use of Trace was to copy Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan, which provided a significant offensive boost.

Moonblast and Psychic were standard choices, and Dazzling Gleam was just a reliable spread move should I ever need it. Thunderbolt was an odd choice, but it gave Gardevoir the ability to pick up a surprise KO on Gyarados and dealt decent damage to Mega Charizard Y and Talonflame. Although Shadow Ball would have given it the ability to damage Aegislash, I felt I could defeat the sword with my other Pokémon. In a pinch, Gardevoir could also provide chip damage on Aegislash to allow Hydreigon’s Dark Pulse to pick up the KO.

The EV spread was given to me by my very good friend Biosci. It allowed Gardevoir to withstand Life Orb Talonflame’s Brave Bird 70% of the time. As an aside, the spread also can withstand a +2 Tyranitar Rock Slide roughly 70% of the time. Before LCQ, Gardevoir’s spread was designed to outspeed Timid Noivern, but after unexpectedly running into Weavile at Nationals, I decided to invest the additional Speed to outspeed it.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 44 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Protect
– Fire Blast
– Dark Pulse

Hydreigon proved to be an absolute monster throughout my VGC 2014 season. It provided amazing coverage, as it was able to hit many different Pokémon super effectively. Ironically, Hydreigon’s most important purpose was to deal with Mawile, as it was able to cleanly remove 252 HP Mawile with a Fire Blast. Dark Pulse dealt with Aegislash—it wasn’t an OHKO, but it came close enough that chip damage could pick up the knockout. Hydreigon also helped to stop otherwise annoying Pokémon such as Meowstic, and also took care of Ferrothorn, Trevenant, and Gourgeist, Pokémon that I would otherwise be unable to deal with. I chose Life Orb since I felt that two Choice items would put me at a disadvantage, and it worked out well.

Like Kangaskhan, Hydreigon originally used a spread with maximum Special Attack and enough Speed to outspeed Smeargle. Mancuso suggested that it didn’t require all of that power, and that I should invest more EVs into bulk and Speed. As such, I designed a spread that would outspeed Mega Blastoise. The HP and Defense EVs allowed Hydreigon to comfortably take a Dragon Claw from Jolly Garchomp.

Talonflame @ Focus Sash
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Brave Bird
– Tailwind
– Quick Guard
– Will-O-Wisp

The glue that held the team together. Support Talonflame was actually a product of my goofing off with my friend, Uncle Taint. It was originally a purely damage-oriented Pokémon, but I thought it would be helpful to add Will-O-Wisp and Tailwind into the mix since I never used Flare Blitz. After the change, I started winning game after game after game, and I knew I had a monster in my hands. The difference between choosing support Talonflame and a similar Pokémon such as Aerodactyl came down to the move Will-O-Wisp. Will-O-Wisp gave Talonflame a great option to cripple the physical attackers that ran amok this season, most notably Kangaskhan, Garchomp and Mawile. It also provided decent residual damage over time. Quick Guard blocked moves such as Fake Out, Prankster-boosted status moves, and Brave Bird from opposing Talonflame. Tailwind proved to be extremely beneficial for the team. In a role similar to that of Tornadus from VGC 2011, Talonflame could immediately use Tailwind before opponents attacked. Even if Talonflame failed to do anything else, the Tailwind it set up was massively useful. It is truly horrifying to face a Mega Kangaskhan and a Hydreigon that are faster than your Choice Scarf Salamence. As the metagame evolved, Tailwind helped me counter the powerful Rain teams that started to see play, as it essentially matched their Speed boost from Swift Swim and allowed me to outspeed opposing Ludicolo and Kingdra.

I decided to use a very simple EV spread for Talonflame. Due to its fraility, I decided to use a Focus Sash on Talonflame. This gave it the capability to perform its various support roles more effectively. If I felt that the Sash was unnecessary, I could just choose to use Brave Bird instead. Once Talonflame was at 1 HP, I had the option of either setting up Tailwind or going out with a Brave Bird. Support Talonflame created a lot of mindgames on the battlefield, and I’m so happy that its set proved to be extremely successful.

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 196 HP / 180 Def / 132 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
Relaxed Nature
– Giga Drain
– Protect
– Rage Powder
– Spore

Although this slot was originally a Ferrothorn, my friends JiveTime and TheBattleRoom showed me how necessary Amoonguss was for this team. I took their advice and switched Ferrothorn for Amoonguss at the last minute before St. Louis Regionals. I haven’t looked back, as its Rage Powder and Spore support has proven invaluable. Sitrus Berry gave Amoonguss significantly better longetivity. I’ve always loved physically defensive Amoonguss, and this spread in particular can take attacks as powerful as a +6 Play Rough from Azumarill. Despite my failure to optimize the spread for Tailwind, I felt that this Amoonguss was very successful at its job, and I’m glad I made the change.

Rotom-Wash @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 36 SpA / 132 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Rest
– Hydro Pump

Rotom was another excellent support Pokémon for the team. It provided Will-O-Wisp if I couldn’t bring Talonflame, and Rotom helped deal with threats such as Rotom-Heat, Aerodactyl, and Mega Charizard Y. The “ChestoRest” moveset was inspired by Babbytron’s Worlds-winning Rotom-Wash. Rest had the potential to pull me out of tough situations where Sitrus Berry would not have been nearly as helpful. The defensive EVs allowed Rotom to take a Solar Beam from Modest Mega Charizard Y 15 out of 16 times, while the Special Attack EVs allowed it to OHKO Talonflame with Thunderbolt after any recoil damage. Overall, Rotom-Wash was a fantastic Pokémon that helped cover the remaining weaknesses that the team had.

Team Combinations

+

This was my most commonly used lead option during the Swiss rounds. Many of my opponents would focus their attention on Kangaskhan, worrying about a potential Fake Out or Power-Up Punch. Meanwhile, Talonflame would be able to freely set up Tailwind. Getting Tailwind set up causes most games to turn in my favor, as it brings massive offensive pressure in the form of incredible Speed.

+

When I felt that Amoonguss would be a relatively safe lead, I often used this combination. This was my answer to various rain teams, as well as teams that couldn’t threaten Amoonguss or were very slow. Against teams of these natures, Amoonguss was free to spam Rage Powder and Spore while Kangaskhan started setting up with Power-Up Punch. This combination is very nostalgic for me, as it is extremely similar to a combination I used with my Worlds team from 2011 that involved Amoonguss and a physical Swords Dance Samurott.

+

This was my anti-Trick Room lead. The majority of Trick Room users (Trevenant, Gourgeist, and Meowstic to name a few) are weak to Dark Pulse, and Mawile, the most common Trick Room sweeper, was weak to Fire Blast. Due to this, I felt that Hydreigon was the perfect team member to lead with Amoonguss.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I felt that I was very comfortable with how this team worked. Despite my attempts to make different teams, I always found myself returning to this one due to its success. It was able to adapt to the constantly changing metagame, and such a quality is fairly unique. This season has easily become one of my favorite VGC seasons, and I far exceeded my expectations. Although in the end I wasn’t able to earn my second Worlds invite, this setback only motivates me to continue to do my very best and to work even harder next season. This year was a perfect stepping stone for that goal, and I’m very happy with the accomplishments I was able to achieve with this team.

Thank You!

• Tommy (TMan) and David (Mancuso): My brothers. Thank you for being by my side and believing in me whenever I had doubts. Whether it was for practice, to adjust EVs, or for metagame advice, you guys were always there for me. I enjoyed sharing team ideas with you guys, and I can’t wait to hang with you guys again at Nationals!
• Tom (TheGr8): We’ve been best friends since Nationals in 2012, and I feel like I’ve gotten stronger every day since then. You’ve always been there for me whenever I needed someone to talk to, and I wouldn’t have made it far in the LCQ without that motivational speech you gave me. Thank you, for helping me become stronger not only as a player, but as an individual.
• Rhyder: I’ve known you since Tom introduced us way back in 2012, and it’s a shame we couldn’t finally meet until Worlds this year. You’re such a cool guy to hang out with, and I really hope you can come to more events in the future.
• Matthew (mattj): Thank you my friend, for introducing me to the competitive side of Pokémon. Back in 2009, when you and I fought in the finals of that 2009 VGC tournament in SerebiiForums, you told me that I had enough potential to make it to Worlds one day. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be typing this article out today. Also, thank you so much for allowing Brady and I to spend the night at your house the night before St. Louis Regionals. Your family was such a joy to meet, and I hope to see you guys again next season.
• Kevin (UncleTaint), Adib, (honchkro13), and the rest of the Poke-Pokes crew: Kevin, thank you so much for helping me build this team from the bottom up to what it is now. It’s too bad you had to experience our results first hand at St. Louis, but I’m so happy we were able to create something that was so successful. Adib, thank you so much for letting me stay with you at Worlds. You are such a kind individual, along with the rest of you guys. Those Multi Battles we had at Worlds were insane and amazing, witnessing the glory that is Ariados. I hope we can continue hanging out in future competitions!
• Jonathan (MrEobo), Keegan (Darkness), and the rest of the Michigan players: Thank you guys for being able to pick me up to help take me to Kansas City and Madison. Kansas City was the greatest, buying Yu-Gi-Oh cards at Collector’s Cache and just passing the time at the Salvation Army while we wait to check into our rooms. These are memories I cherish, and I want us to create more memories in the seasons to come. Also, don’t worry Jonathan. We will have our duel eventually.
• Michael (JiveTime), Collin (TheBattleRoom), and William (Biosci): Thank you guys for showing me what last minute changes I needed to make for my team to truly make it complete. We need to hang out more in the future.
• Brianna (TR Jessie): Thank you so much for the shiny Talonflame!
• Brady (Styrofoameon): Man, thank you so much for picking me up so we could go to St. Louis. If it had not have been for you, I wouldn’t have started this season the way I did. I hope you can continue attending these events in the future so we can hang out more.
• Osamu and Yohei from Japan: Thank you guys so much for transferring over my Pokémon back when Pokémon Bank was unavailable here in the states. Thanks to you guys, I was able to have a stylish Kangaskhan in a Safari Ball and a Gardevoir in a Love Ball just in time for Regionals. I’m happy we were able to meet at Worlds this year, as well as trade and battle after the event ended. Your gifts are just simply amazing, and I’ll try to make it to Worlds next year so that we can meet again.
• Marriland and the rest of the Pokémon YouTube community: I know I have thanked you numerous times before, but I don’t think I’ve expressed it enough. Had it not have been for you and the rest of the YouTubers, I wouldn’t have been able to see the phenomenon that was the Pokémon Symphony Orchestra. You told me that there was only one seat empty at the premier, and we all knew who that seat belonged to. It was stressful choosing between potentially a Worlds invite and attending the Symphony at all. Thanks to you, I was able to experience such a wondrous performance, and I’m eternally grateful for everything you guys did just so I could a fantastic time at Worlds. Thank you guys so, so much.
• TPCi: Thank you so much for awarding me free travel, a hotel room, and $300 for placing in the Top 16 in Championship Points this season. You guys continue to improve each and every year for the fans, and and thank you for everything you guys do.

Everyone else in the Pokémon community: I’m so thankful to know each and every one of you, whether it be online or in real life. This community is unlike any other, and you guys are what makes it worth it for me to go to these events. Thank you all, and I can’t to see you guys again in the upcoming 2015 season!

The post You’re Too Slow: A Regional Finalist and Top 16 LCQ Team Analysis appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Sorry for the length of this article. This report covers my entire season. If you don’t want to read the whole thing, I recommend skipping to the Nationals section and going from there.

Hey! So lets just start this by saying that this is my first year in the Masters division and my first year of actually trying for Championship Points. Last year, I was a garbage player in Seniors and I was struggling at the start of this season as well. I literally couldn’t get one win with standard teams like Mega Kangaskhan, Hydreigon, Politoed, Ludicolo, Talonflame, and Aegislash even if I tried. They just seem to not work for me. Trust me, I’ve really tried running “good stuff” but I felt that good stuff was easily countered, especially by my own ideas. People might say that I’m not original or the first to try these strategies, but I developed them on my own. The only other people that I know of that I’ll give credit to for running this kind of stuff on purpose and doing well are as follows:

• Talkinglion – <3 Thanks for the Sawk idea, even though you originally ran Sawk to counter team me!
• KillerOrcas – Biggest bae for weird mons. Ever.

Fall Regionals

Anyways, I started out this season in my basement with Mancuso. We were watching the 2013 World Championship on stream. I remember hating on all the common stuff because it all just kind of beat itself but, when I saw one guy running Magmar, I thought, “Whoa, he’s cool!” From then on, I wanted to emulate that guy and always considered any Pokemon for a team. My first regionals for the 2013-2014 season was the Ft. Wayne Indiana Fall Regionals, which was still using the VGC 2013 ruleset for Black and White. I had far more options than with the 2014 format and my first team looked like this:

Weavile @ Ice Gem
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Ice Punch
– Fake Out
– Night Slash
– Protect

This is the basis of the Weavile that would carry me with flying colors through the rest of the season. In this team, it was basically just an attacker and didn’t serve a complex purpose.

Infernape @ Fire Gem
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
– Heat Wave
– Fake Out
– Will-O-Wisp
– Helping Hand

Yet again, nothing special, just another Fake Out user. You can never have too much Fake Out and Helping Hand/Will-O-Wisp support is great.

Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Heat Wave
– Earth Power

Scarf Hydreigon is boss. I loved this thing and it was just too good not to use. The Heat Wave was for coverage and Dark Pulse was for Cresselia, as well as being a nice STAB attack that fit well with the rest of the team.

Mienshao @ Fighting Gem
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– High Jump Kitck
– U-turn
– Fake Out
– Acrobatics

More Fake Out? Um…YES. Fake Out is god. I’m exaggerating, but Mienshao probably pulled off some of the most clutch KOs for me. From doing major damage, even on resisted hits, to almost OHKOing non-bulky Metagross. It was just beautiful.

Thundurus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Swagger
– Hidden Power [Ice]

Full out assault is the best option. Ever. The end.

Archeops @ Flying Gem
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Acrobatics
– Rock Slide
– Roost
– Protect

Don’t ask. I don’t even know. This was in my box and then it was on my team. Magic!

So that’s the team. I ended up going 6-2 and bubbled at around 12th place or something, missing out of a top 8 cut. This was pretty cool to me considering I had expected to do terrible in Masters. Mancuso made cut and then lost after missing an Icy Wind on something, I think. The highlight of the tournament for me was Critting Scott Glaza’s (Scott) Cresselia with a High Jump Kick from my Mienshao when he switched it in for his Heatran. The attack put the Cresselia into KO range with U-Turn and this is what I’ll always remember about the first time I met Scott.

After this, with the introduction of the VGC 2014 format, I put away my old team and got right to work on a new team for the new format. I was really excited for the chance to use new Pokemon. Now you will get to see the weirdness that is my XY team(s).

First Winter Regionals

Before the first regionals of the new format, which was when the metagame started taking form, I was testing Shell Smash Cloyster and I was trying to figure out how I could support it and keep it on the field after stat drops. I still loved Weavile and wanted to use my old spread, but gems were not allowed anymore so I had to look for a new item. Additionally, I checked out the new egg moves in Weavile’s movepool and saw that Icicle Crash, which I had thought only Mamoswine could learn, was now available. I immediately switched Ice Punch to Icicle Crash and then my mom, who actually plays in tournaments and knows the game quite well, asks me, “Why is Fling a move? It has to be the most useless thing I’ve ever seen!” That pique my interest and I looked into the things that you could Fling and stumbled upon the King’s Rock Fling idea. It was really nice for shutting down opponents for multiple turns and supporting my other Pokemon. So, going into the first winter regionals, my team looked like this:

Fair warning: I wasn’t very good at breeding and ended up with Pokemon with less than stellar IVs, but I still performed well at the tournament. Take from that what you will.

~COVERGURRRLLL~ (Weavile) @ King’s Rock
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs:  xHP /  xDef /  xSpA /  xSpD
– Fake Out
– Fling
– Icicle Crash
– Protect

As I mentioned, Weavile had turned into more of a support Pokemon rather than an attacker and I utilized it as such.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: xHP /  xAtk /  xDef /  xSpA /  xSpD
– Heat Wave
– SolarBeam
– Overheat
– Protect

Ah, Charizard where do I begin? First off, thanks to my eighth grade friends, as Charizard would have never popped into my head without them. I had loved Charizard since forever and they were like, “if you don’t use Charizard, we’re going to shame you and your family.” So, naturally I knew what had to be done. Charizard was instantly added onto my team and I loved it forever (and ever and ever). It has been a proud member of my team all season. I want to say that DeVon and I were the first people to use Overheat on Charizard way early in the season, but that’s questionable.

Garchomp @ Leftovers
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs:  xSpA
– Substitute
– Protect
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide

Probably as close to standard as a Pokemon can get on my team.

Clawitzer @ Assault Vest
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: xAtk / xDef
– Aura Sphere
– Dark Pulse
– Water Pulse
– Dragon Pulse

A new Pokemon! It looked cool and I really liked the bulk and coverage.

Diggersby @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: xSpA
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Return
– Brick Break

This ended up being my signature Pokemon. It was the best Pokemon I’ve ever used so far. Major thanks to Ian (KittyKatterz) for the wonderful idea. It carried me through winter regionals and was a large reason for my success. Diggersby was super fast, around 200 with the Scarf, and it had amazing coverage for its odd typing.

Absol @ Focus Sash
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Sucker Punch
– Feint
– Swords Dance
– Psycho Cut

I’m greedy and wanted another dark type. That is all.

I ended up making top 16 and got knocked out in the first round. It was a frustrating loss because I had Diggersby locked into Rock Slide and Charizard-Y against a 1 health Mamoswine and a non-scarfed Salamence. All I needed was to nail a Heat Wave or Rock Slide on either opposing Pokemon, but instead I completely miss with both moves. Needless to say, I was disappointed and was eager to move onto the next major tournament.

Second Winter Regionals

The next winter regional was a week or so after the first one. I didn’t really change the team much, except that I swapped out Absol and added

Chesnaught @ Expert Belt
Ability: Bulletproof
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Def / 80 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
– Wood Hammer
– Brick Break
– Spiky Shield
– Quick Guard

I’m not going to lie, this was totally inspired by Enosh. Talonflame was becoming a huge thing and Quick Guard was valued. For the EV spread, I decided to max the Attack and then evenly distributed the remainder into bulk.

This regionals tournament was fun and it was the second one that I made top cut. I was pretty much in shock because I thought I was a terrible player. I don’t remember the swiss rounds or the top 16 very well, but my top 8 match was against the one and only Blake Hopper (Bopper). I made a good prediction, using Brick Break on his Rotom-W slot to nail his Lucario switching in. This essentially ended the match but it was still a really close match and it opened my eyes to the competitive side of Pokemon. Up to this point, I had figured that this year would just be one where I could beat some random people before being destroyed by the great players. However, when I realized that I actually stood a chance, I was ecstatic! I remember Mancuso telling me that I was screwed when he found out that I was facing Blake Hopper and I honestly thought I would lose, but I ended up moving onto top 4.

I had absolutely no idea who my top 4 opponent was besides the fact that his name was Matt. I was wondering how good he was when we sat down and I remember complimenting his Zelda shirt. Matt replied with a “thanks” and asked if I knew who he was because of the shirt. I was like, “noooooooo…should I?” And that’s how I met mattj. But yeah, Matt won game one because of Meinshao. I took game two, partially thanks to Matt timing out and both his Meinshao and Kangaskhan using Fake out on turn three. In game three it came down to a 25% damage roll with his Zapdos and I was on the losing side of the roll. Still, I thought it was pretty cool to reach top 4 at a regionals and I had some pretty cool ideas in mind for the next tournament.

Florida Regionals

The next regional was in Florida. It may seems like a long trip, but we did it for the love of the game. I was comfortable with CP under my belt from two top 16s and a top 4 and I just wanted to see if I could get any more. I arrived at the tournament thinking that, if I fought any of my friends, I’d definitely scoop to them because they all needed CP more than I did. Thankfully, I didn’t pair against anyone I knew and went 7-2, making the top cut again.

My team for the event was mostly the same, except for a few small changes. I swapped in Swords Dance for Protect on Garchomp and Ice Beam for Dragon Pulse on Clawitzer. At the time, the only common dragons were 4x weak to ice. I decided the switch to Ice Beam would definitely be worth it since I would be able to OHKO Garchomp and Salamence. I also put Wild Charge on Diggersby in lieu of Brick Break because I wasn’t too afraid of Kangaskhan anymore. Instead, I was more afraid of Gyarados, which Wild Charge could usually handle.

The last change I made was to add a whole new Pokemon, one inspired by MattJ. Zapdos was a very awesome addition to the team because I was running the Modest Choice Specs set and it just added a whole new level of unexpected power. The moveset was a pretty easy choice, with Discharge being only moderately unorthodox. I had two ground types on the team, making Disquake a viable strategy to fall back on in some tough situations. All my Pokemon still had their garbage IVs though.

In Florida, I started off the day 0-1 because my first opponent was Stephen Morioko. I was so bummed that I was already one down and basically had given up at that point. However, my day wasn’t over yet. I fought back and ended up getting to top 16. Again, I don’t remember much about all my matches. I did remember playing against someone who was running Mega Garchomp, which I thought was cool. I only ended up winning that match due to some crazy predictions and shenanigans with Substitute on my own Garchomp and I moved on to top 4, where I got destroyed by the one and only Zach Droegkamp (zach). My team was completely obliterated by his Kangaskhan/Talonflame combination and I felt that, no matter what I did, it was  over when he led with that combination, which he did for both games. At least I got to say that I lost to the eventual winner of the whole tournament, which is cool. Last thing about this tournament, I wanted to give a huge shout out to Garrett, who had the smart idea of using Thunderwave on my Diggersby and was confused when it didn’t work. It was the main reason I was able to beat him late in the swiss rounds.

Spring Regionals

The next  regional tournament turned out to be the only spring regional that I actually attended. It was a bad and weird time in my life. I honestly can’t tell you what I was thinking when I put this team together, but here it is:

One thing I will note, however, I did manage to get Pokemon with perfect IVs this time around. Oh, and they were also shiny.

~COVER GURLL~ (Weavile) @ King’s Rock
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Fling
– Icicle Crash
– Protect

Same old Weavile set. Trust me, it really doesn’t change much during the season.

Vivillon @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Sleep Powder
– Quiver Dance
– Bug Buzz
– Hurricane

I thought this thing was good, but it ended up getting knocked out by the stupidest things, such as Choice Scarf Tyranitar.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– SolarBeam
– Overheat
– Protect

Again, the same Charizard set except that it is on a Pokemon with good IVs. It also boasts a new EV spread.

Garchomp @ Garchompite
Ability: Rough Skin
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Substitute
– Swords Dance
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide

I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea, I really don’t. I just slapped a mega stone on it and didn’t use it once during the whole tournament.

Diggersby @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Huge Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Return
– Wild Charge

Same Diggersby. At this point in the season, I really thought that I would never part with this thing.

Steelix @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Rock Slide
– Ice Fang
– Heavy Slam
– Protect

Shout Out to Adib Alam for hooking me up with this awesome Steelix before it made a bigger splash during Nationals. It was awesome and I came back from a 3-1 with it and won that match. Did I mention that this thing was awesome?

I bubbled out of cut with a 6-2 record and ended up a little frustrated because I took a bad loss to Angel and a Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Shout out to Mancuso for going 6-0 before finishing 6-2. Thankfully, after this tournament I was still in the top 16 for CP and well on my way to a Nationals invite. However, with the recent announcement of Premier Challenges, I knew that I would have to step up my game and get some points.

US Nationals

My Nationals team went through several iterations. I put a lot of thought into creating a core of four and then looked into covering the core’s trouble match ups. Once again, the team started with Weavile, but it then moved in a different direction.

Weavile @ King’s Rock
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Fling
– Icicle Crash
– Assurance

Basially the same Weavile with the exception of Assurance over Protect because I was having trouble dealing with Aegislash leads. It also combo well with Rock Slide from Sawk, having a good chance to quickly KO many Pokemon, which was really useful.

fighting intensifies (Sawk) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Close Combat
– Double Kick
– Rock Slide
– Poison Jab

My whole team was destroyed by this Pokemon in the Dodrio Cup. I fell in love with it immediately and knew I had to use it. Sawk was present in almost every single match during Nationals. It is the best Kangaskhan counter and is just powerful overall. Double Kick was for Smeargle and Poison Jab was just for any fairy types.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 104 HP / 252 SpA / 152 Spe
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– SolarBeam
– Substitute
– Protect

Before anyone asks, I had never seen anyone else use Substitute on Charizard prior to this and I definitely didn’t get the idea from anyone else. I got the idea when I noticed that player frequently double Protected against me. Substitute was awesome at Nationals, I managed to set it up against Andy’s (Amarillo) Smeargle before he went for the Dark Void, which essentially won me game 3. It also helped that I got 13 burns off Heat Wave during my day two best-of-three matches. I distinctly remember bringing an Aegislash down to low red health, its Weakness Policy activating, and then it fainting to burn damage on the same turn.

Espeon @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Psychic
– Shadow Ball
– Calm Mind
– Protect

A few days before Regionals, I realized that I needed a good counter to Mega Venusaur. Espeon’s Magic Bounce ability would bounce back the Sleep Powder and would let me set up or proceed to KO the threat. It was also very handy against Sableyes that tried to Taunt me, as it bounced back to them and rendered their Prankster ability useless. Espeon also did a lot of big damage after one Calm Mind. It could survive a Shadow Ball from Aegislash 100% of the time and then KO it in return with my own Shadow Ball and still have enough HP to survive the Life Orb damage.

Gigalith @ Weakness Policy

Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 212 Atk / 44 Def
Brave Nature
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake
– Wide Guard
– Protect

Originally, the last 2 Pokemons chosen for the team didn’t have any special synergy with the rest of the team. I had picked them for one job and they did it. Ironically, I ended up bringing them in just as much or even more than the original core.The only reason I considered Gigalith is that I knew that I needed a Wide Guard user and he was one of the Pokemon on the list that I had no idea could learn Wide Guard. I suspected that most of my opponents would also be caught off guard by this. Weakness Policy was a good way to abuse Gigalith’s Sturdy ability and add some extra damage. The EVs simply boosted the Attack stat up to an even 200 and the rest were tossed into Defence.

Heliolisk @ Choice Specs
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Volt Switch
– Focus Blast
– Dark Pulse

Ahhhhh, Heliolisk! This wonderful Pokemon caught almost everyone off guard. It was the most wonderful, random last minute addition to my team that I could have ever picked. I was thinking, “Oh Solar Power Heliolisk would be great in sun!”  Thus, I played with it on Showdown the night before registration and really liked it. However, as I was waiting in line for registration, I realized that I didn’t have one with the right ability. So, down the drain went the plans for a Life Orb Solar Power Heliolisk. I decided to totally scrap the idea with minutes left before I had to lock my battle box. Nothing else I looked at fit in the team and time was running out. So, instead, I just took the Dry Skin Heliolisk, slapped Choice Specs onto it, taught it Focus Blast and, I’m sure you all know now how amazing it ended up being. I probably used Focus Blast more than Thunderbolt. Anyways, Heliolisk was an amazing answer to the ever growing use of rain, Azumarill, and Tyranitar. Additionally, Dark Pulse had a chance to pick up a KO on Mega Gengars, which I was having trouble with a week prior.

Going into Nationals, I wasn’t even expecting to do well. I thought it would just be like every other year where I would end up making it to Nationals and then suck a lot and go 5-4. But starting the day off with a round one bye wasn’t too bad. Going into my actual first match as a 1-0 who hadn’t even played a match yet was really nerve racking. I knew almost everyone had already played a match and were warmed up. Of course, the night before Nationals, I was with Mancuso and friends, which happened to include Greyson (Greysong). Greyson was my first actual opponent. He led with the only things that beat my team in form of Kangaskhan and Talonflame, but I had a way to beat that now with Gigalith. As I go for the Rock Slide, I was shocked to see the Talonflame survive thanks to Focus Sash. That basically won him the match right there. Now I was 1-1. I was hard on myself, thinking that I didn’t stand a chance against anyone “good”. I got super depressed about my run after that, but cheered up a bit after playing against some really cool people. My opponents ran things like Electrode and Poliwrath, which inspired me to do better and I ended up making it to day 2 with an 8-1 record. Shout out to Mancuso for having an awesome record as well, but still missing cut.

After round 9, a Pokemon official comes up to me and asks if I would like to be featured on the website. I wanted to keep my team a secret and made sure that it would not be up that night, to which he responded, “Why would it go up tonight? That’s stupid!” Well guess what. They put my team up that night anyway. I still had to play the next day and my whole team, including items, moves, and everything was out there. Long story short, I requested for it to be taken down within the hour it was put up.

On day 2, my first match was against Huy. He had a really cool Trick Room team with Audino and stuff, but I ended up beating him 2-0 thanks to the Icicle Crash that was targeting his Rotom-W hitting Hydreigon on the switch in and getting the free KO. After that, I fought Adib. It was a really close match that I could have won if I wasn’t an idiot. I locked myself into Rock Slide when I should have gone for close combat. Game 3 ended with Sawk locked into Rock Slide against a Tyranitar locked into Rock Tomb, which took forever but he eventually won.

Later on, I fought Andy Himes (Amarillo) who, in all respect, definitely deserved the win but I was on a blind rampage and didn’t care at the time (sorry!). We were the featured stream match and I remembered that we drew so many people to the TV that they filled up the whole side passageway where we were playing and more people couldn’t even get in to watch. He told me that he was only pulling Smeargle because the crowd wanted him to and I really played differently because of that. I ended up getting a Heat Wave burn on his Kangaskhan in 2 of our 3 games and my Charizard at the time was actually EV’d to speed tie with Smeargle instead outspeeding it. Thus, in game 3, it came down to whether or not I could out speed Smeargle and set up a Substitute before he could get off a Dark Void. Luckily, I won the speed tie and it was game from there because he couldn’t touch me.

I don’t remember my next two matches too much but, as you all probably know, I ended up fighting Simon Yip on the big screen in my last match. This match was huge because it decided who moved onto top 8 and who got top 16. I finished at a cool 11th place, ensuring me a worlds invite thanks to the CP earned. This was pretty cool considering it was my first year in Masters and first year really playing competitively.

Worlds

This team is so last minute it makes me want to cry. Ok, lets start with some back story. Originally, the team going into Worlds was going to be Weavile, Sawk, Charizard Y, Aggron, Gengar, Talonflame. I was using the same spreads that I had used at nationals, but the Aggron carried Weakness Policy and the Gengar and Talonflame were standard. By now, you should know that I’m not about that life. Each Pokemon has a story of how they got from what they were originally to what they were going in to Worlds.

~COVER<3GURL~ (Weavile) @ King’s Rock
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Fling
– Icicle Crash
– Feint

Oh god, you don’t know stress until you’re breeding a Weavile the night before registration (that’s early the next morning). It was around midnight and I was in a friend’s room when I complained that Weavile really didn’t have any good move for the 4th slot. I began looking into it and saw that Weavile could learn Feint as an egg move. I freaked out and rapidly started breeding so that I could use Feint Weavile the next day in the tournament. I’m glad to say that it was the best decision I had ever made. People liked to double protect against me to try and make me waste my Fake Out, making Feint a great option. It greatly helped me in game one against Timo. He double protected with his Mega-Manectric and Gothitelle and I used Feint on his Manecrtic and fired off a Heat Wave that almost knocked it out. It was definitely game changing and I most likely would have lost without it in a couple of my matches.

fighting intensifies (Sawk) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Close Combat
– Stone Edge
– Rock Slide
– Low Sweep

Next was Sawk. A day or two before the event, I heard rain was still slightly popular and that all the Japanese players were using Mega Tyranitar or Mega Aerodactyl. So, instead of keeping Poison Jab or Double Kick, I went to a more useful option in my opinion. Low kick helped my rain match up because I would lower the speed of the any Swift Swim users, setting up for a KO with something in the back. Even though I didn’t battle any Mega Aerodactyl, Stone Edge was still great for dishing out a good amount more damage than Rock Slide when I needed more damage.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 220 HP / 44 Def / 84 SpA / 4 SpD / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
– Heat Wave
– SolarBeam
– Substitute
– Protect

This is the only Pokemon that didn’t change.

Gengar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 76 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 4 Atk / 30 Def / 5 Spe
– Shadow Ball
– Sludge Bomb
– Focus Blast
– Hidden Power [Ice]

This was fun and, surprisingly, I wasn’t the only one who thought bulky Gengar was a good idea *cough cough* senior world champ *cough cough*. The bulk took a 252+ Brave Bird from Talonflame using Choice Band plus one turn in sand and it also survived Sucker Punch from some Kangaskhan and Mawile builds. It was beautiful. I knew that I had to keep running Focus Blast after having success with it on Heliolisk. The Hidden Power ice was a pain to get, I had someone try for weeks to get it and eventually they got it, but with 4 Speed IVs. Thankfully, I wasn’t trying to out speed anything anyways.

Overall, the damage output was amazing and the bulk that it also had was amazing. Here’s an example of what I mean:

• 220+ SpA Politoed Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Gengar in Rain: 144-171 (86.2 – 102.3%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO.

This saved me in game 6 against Alex Oglaza. Needless to say, I was really impressed by the bulk.

Aggron @ Assault Vest
Ability: Rock Head
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 28 Def / 4 SpA / 28 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Rock Tomb
– Iron Head
– Head Smash
– Fire Blast

Well, this was interesting conceptualizing. This originally started as a joke, a non-serious way to beat Talonflame, but in the end it really had more power than anticipated. I loved this so much as a concept, but I ended up only bringing Aggron into two of my matches. Here are some calcs to show you the power.

Defensive side:

• 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 28 Def Aggron: 156-184 (88.1 – 103.9%) — 25% chance to OHKO
• 232+ SpA Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Assault Vest Aggron in Sun: 148-175 (83.6 – 98.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 SpA Politoed Scald vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Assault Vest Aggron in Rain: 152-182 (85.8 – 102.8%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO

Offensive side:

• 196+ Atk Aggron Head Smash vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Politoed: 153-180 (92.1 – 108.4%) — 50% chance to OHKO
• -1 196+ Atk Aggron Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Gyarados: 192-228 (95 – 112.8%) — 68.8% chance to OHKO
• 196+ Atk Aggron Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Zapdos: 198-234 (100.5 – 118.7%) — guaranteed OHKO

And remember, no recoil damage thanks to the Rock Head ability!

Staraptor @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Brave Bird
– Double-Edge
– Close Combat
– U-turn

• There is no amount of thanks to my friend for giving me this beautiful idea. Words cannot describe the perfection. Let me show you some damage calculations that will make you cry rainbows of happiness:
  252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Rotom-H: 157-186 (100 – 118.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 252 Atk Choice Band Staraptor Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 194-230 (107.1 – 127%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 220 HP / 44 Def Mega Charizard Y: 202-238 (111.6 – 131.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 252 Atk Choice Band Reckless Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 180-213 (98.3 – 116.3%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

Just is just a small portion of all the relevant calcs, but going into them would take too long and this report should have been done a month ago.

In the end, I finished Worlds at 4-2. It wasn’t too shabby for my first year in Masters. Here’s a quick summary of my swiss round matches:

Round 1 vs Timo Koppetsch (37TimoK1)

Coincidentally, the day before the swiss rounds my friend Adit (LithiumAcid) was telling me how much he loved Timo’s rain team and he actually had a copy of it, so I kind of had an advantage going into this match. Just having team knowledge in general was good. For example, I did know his Mega Manectric was bulky, which lessened some confusion when it required so many hits to go down.

His team was:

• Politoed
• Kingdra
• Manectric
• Gothitelle
• Escavalier
• Amoongus

I’m not going to say anything about the moveset, just in case Timo wanted some to maintain some secrecy. The match was definitely very good and very close, coming down to the last turn. In game one, he leads Mega Manectric and Gothitelle and I lead Weavile and Charizard. It was obvious that he was going to double protect and usually I would be unable to do anything about it. However, having recently added Feint to my Weavile, I proceeded to Feint the Manectric and fire off a Heat Wave that put it in range for a second Feint to KO it. Removing such a big threat so quickly basically decided the game. He did manage to get Trick Room up, but it was ill-timed since he was forced to bring out his Kindra out in rain and in Trick Room.

In game two he made the same leads and I’m not quite sure what he did (my notes are bad), but he had Politoed and Kingdra in the back and Charizard had been knocked out, so the duo just destroyed my team. In game 3, I was so nervous about losing my first round at worlds. I knew I really had to step it up to win. Timo used the exact same leads with the exact same two in the back and it looked like his game, but eventually I knocked out his Manectric with a bunch of Heat Waves in the rain and it came down to a full health bulky Politoed and my Staraptor. We both thought it was his win but, after I clicked the button for Double Edge, that beautiful bird charged full force at the Politoed it ended up doing enough damage to OHKO and win me the game. It was an intense first match, but I was up 1-0.

Round 2 vs Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSurvivor)

No words can be said about how upset I was to fight someone I knew. Jeudy had been really good this season, especially since Nationals, and I feared his team a lot. It also didn’t help that I made the worst possible plays ever. I don’t think it mattered too much in the end though, as he had a really good team match up and the games were pretty straightforward and not really that interesting. And I’m sure you all already know his team since he was runner-up and all. Now I was 1-1.

Round 3 vs Florian Wurdack (DaFlo)

I’m sorry to say that the only word to describe this match is “destruction”. There was really nothing he could do to stand up to my Staraptor. I beat him 2-1 the first game and 4-0 the second game.

His team was:

• Hydreigon
• Lucario
• Venusaur
• Gengar
• Azumaraill
• Rotom-W

Seemed pretty Talonflame weak aside from the Rotom-W, which Staraptor had a way of OHKOing. Once it was defeated, the game was basically mine, but I was still surprised to 4-0 him the second game. Still, it was a really fun set and my record was now 2-1.

Round 4 vs Namanja Sandic (Porengan)

I’m still kind of salty about this match even though there isn’t too much that I can complain about. The first game I should’ve won. It came down to Aggron vs his Mega Tyranitar and Smeargle choice locked into Dark Void. I attacked the Smeargle instead of the low health Tyranitar, which was my own stupid mistake. Before that, a Flare Blitz critical hit on my Aggron put it into a health range where two Crunch from Tyranitar could finish me. Sure enough, he used Crunch on the turn I knocked out the Smeargle and then outsped me to take game one. I had figured that it wouldn’t be too hard to come back, considering how close game one was, but then he proceeds to critical hit and burn my Aggron in game two with the same Flare Blitz doing at least 50% to my bulky monster again. That basically lost the game for me, but I knew it wasn’t the fault of my team. Now I was 2-2.

Round 5 vs Michael W.

This was the cool Australian with the Rotom-F. I’m not sure if he has a Nugget Bridge account, but I absolutely loved his team. It was really creative and I loved the fact that I encountered it at Worlds.

His team was:

• Gyarados
• Rotom-F
• Nidoqueen
• Ferrothorn
• Lapras
• Tyranitar

Even after seeing his battle on the big screen the match before, the only thing I knew about his team was that the Gyarados was the mega. Our match was the cleanest one I had ever played. There was not an instance of hax from either side of the field and it was just really fun to play. I won game one, he won game 2, and then I took game 3 and the match, putting me now at 3-2

R6:VS Alex Oglaza (Evan Falco) I was so upset when I saw this pairing. I was certain that I would end the day 3-3. I knew he had a rain team and I still didn’t have a really good answer to rain and he knew that.

His team was:

• Ludicolo
• Politoed
• Aegislash
• Hydriegon
• Kangaskhan
• Zapdos

I knew he had Mega Kangaskhan, but I was super sure he wouldn’t bring it in because of my Sawk threat, so I actually never even bothered to bring Sawk due to its minimal use in other situations. Amazingly, at the start of game 1, he leads Politoed/Ludicolo and I lead Weavile/Gengar. I knew he was going to Fake Out my Weavile and most likely Scald or Hydro Pump my Gengar. I had minimal Special Defense investment on Gengar, so I was certain that it would be a OHKO. I was surprised that my Gengar survived with 17 hp to spare after taking a Hydro Pump to the face. Since Gengar survive, it fired off a Specs Sludge Bomb that OHKOs the Luidcolo thanks to fact it wasn’t carrying Assault Vest. Game 2 started with the same leads, but this time he got the damage roll he needed and picked up the KO on my Gengar , which won him the game. In game 3 however, the damage roll was a null issue because Hydro Pump missed and I got the crucial KO for the momentum and the game. With this win, I was 4-2 and was hoping to cut, but I knew it was really a long stretch.

After a long day of playing and stressing out about every single decision, it still ended up being one of the best days of my life. I ended up placing 13th in the World, which was pretty cool for my first year in Masters. Going into this tournament I had so many people rooting against me. Rumor was that, if I managed to get a positive record at Worlds, people would stop giving me flack for my teams and finally acknowledge me as a decent player. Hopefully that’s true, since I got the positive record!

There weren’t only haters however, there were also people that had backed me the whole season and were friends with me before anyone thought I would have a chance to get anywhere. So, shout outs to them and wherever it’s due. It’s been a long report, so I’ll just wrap it up here. Thanks for reading!

The post A Look into the Mind of a Weirdo: My 2014 Season appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi everybody, my name is Polecat. Some of you may know me as Darkeness’s little brother while others of you may know me as “Double Poli Guy;” regardless, I felt my 2014 season would be somewhat unfulfilled if I didn’t do this team report. Although this team never performed super well (a lot of that having to do with my inexperience with the game), it still was able reach the second day of US Nationals, and hold its own against some pretty tough opponents, which I think is pretty great.

A couple of things to know about me before I write this thing:

Firstly, I’m not afraid to experiment with gimmicks. In fact I like gimmicks, they can often provide a springboard for some pretty good ideas. While some people may consider this team “gimmicky,” I would certainly defend its integrity. Is Swift Swim a gimmick? Is Belly Drum Azumarill a gimmick? If the answers to both of those questions are “no,” then I have reasonable support for my case. If you think the answer to either of those is “yes,” then sure, this team is a gimmick, but it doesn’t mean it wasn’t fairly successful considering the lack of skill and practice this player had (and has).

Secondly, I still haven’t grown out of that phase where I like to build teams with my favorites. It’s fun, and I think a lot of people forget that this is Pokémon and is supposed to be fun. Yes, Gardevoir is almost objectively a better Pokémon than Grumpig. It still doesn’t mean I’ll take Grumpig purely because it has thick fat (also it has a sillier design).

Thirdly, I don’t want anyone getting the impression that I only use favorites; that would simply be uncompetitive and stupid. I more like to scour Serebii for Pokémon with unique/useful abilities or stat combinations or movesets that a lot of people may overlook, which is where this team came from.

About three days before I was to depart for US Nationals, I was messing around on Pokémon showdown until far too late in the evening, coming up with all sorts of terrible ideas which included but were not limited to: stall Shuckle+sandstorm, Swift Swim Floatzel, and freaking Magnezone. But from this came a team that was just too darn fun to play with that I stayed up many extra hours just playing people online and getting to 1600 (around 10^th on the ladder) on showdown, a rank I had never even come near to touching beforehand. When I got to Indianapolis in a couple of days, I told my friend MrEobo about it; he insisted that I stay up all night and create the team in game, the night before the tournament. After staying up until 4 am (which was not a good idea because I made a few glaring errors in EV training and ability-setting), I had finished it. After about an hour of sleep, I registered for the tournament and started on my way.

I present to you, the original double poli team.

The Team

Poliwrath w/Sitrus Berry
Swift Swim
EVs: 52HP, 252Atk, 204Spd
Jolly Nature
– Waterfall
– Rock Slide
– Protect
– Belly Drum

Here he is! The star of the show! There are so many reasons not to use Poliwrath. He has 4 very common weaknesses (Psychic, Fairy, Grass, Electric), no base stat over 95, and is pretty mediocre in general.

That being said, the combination of Belly Drum and Swift Swim was too tempting to pass up, and seeing that Poliwrath is the only Pokémon with this combination, I felt his use was justified. His moveset is pretty formidable as well: Waterfall, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Earthquake, all are pretty good options. Swift Swim (in theory) allows him to outspeed a Choice Scarf Garchomp in rain, which would have been great, had I not messed up his EVs for speed. It was a rude surprise on the second day of competition when he fell to a Choice Scarf Salamence’s Draco Meteor when I thought I had secured the KO; the EVs on the Poliwrath above are correct, however. With the right EVs, Poliwrath outspeeds pretty much everything in rain. His 90/95/90 defensive spread allows him to take a surprising amount of attacks while at 75% health, as well, including holding on from a Zapdos’ Thunderbolt and a Garchomp’s Earthquake. Why Poliwrath over Azumarill? Poliwrath, for one, can use a fast Waterfall, which is twice as powerful as Aqua Jet, and has a chance to flinch in the slim chance the target survives, and his ability to shoot of powerful Rock Slides on both opponents (again, flinch chance) were two very convincing reasons. With Rock Slide, Poliwrath could KO one of his opponents, and leave the other one weakened enough for his partner to clean up. Also he looks so freaking cool this generation!

Kangaskhan w/Kangaskhanite
Scrappy –> Parental Bond
EVs: 132HP, 252Atk, 108D, 12SpD, 4Spd
Adamant Nature
– Fake Out
– Return
– Protect
– Sucker Punch

So everything can’t be totally out of left field, as I well know. Kangaskhan provided a combination of support for Poliwrath and offensive pressure; it’s weird how the two could work so well together. Fake Out is great to give Poliwrath the opportunity to set up a Belly Drum. Fake Out also allows me to immobilize one Pokémon while Poliwrath faints the other later in the match. It leaves opponents in a difficult spot. They have two offensive monsters on the field and aren’t really sure which one to hinder or knock out. A couple of well-timed protects (or lack of protects), and I could easily set myself up for victory. Sucker Punch was nice for Pokémon who tried to beat Poliwrath’s speed with priority moves. The EVs above, once again, probably aren’t what I had for Nationals but are what are on my current team.

Politoed w/Eject Button
EVs: 228HP, 172D, 108SpD
Bold Nature
– Scald
– Perish Song
– Protect
– Encore

Pretty standard Eject Button Politoed set taken straight from Keewan’s Rain Team. For the tournament I think I used a Relaxed Politoed due to lack of resources, which had its benefits considering it has Perish Song. Politoed was key to the team. She set up rain, and stalled out with perish song after Kangaskhan and Poliwrath had taken my opponent down to two Pokémon. Encore was also useful to mess with my opponent’s plans.

Ferrothorn w/ Rocky Helmet
EVs: 252HP, 252D, 4SpD (0 Spd IVs)
Relaxed Nature
– Power Whip
– Leech Seed
– Protect
– Thunder Wave

Ferrothorn was great for the end game and valuable against unsuspecting Kangaskhans. Ferrothorn could reliably be the slowest thing on the field, which was very useful when ending the game with Perish Song. It made my win condition much simpler: get the opponent down to two Pokémon and use Perish Song. As long as I removed Pokémon with fire-type moves, Ferrothorn could easily survive the three turns.

Electrode w/Light Clay
Aftermath
252HP, 252D, 4Spd
Timid Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Protect
– Light Screen
– Thunder

Not one of my best ideas, but Thunder can take down a Gyarados, so that’s something. Light Screen support was cool for a less than bulky Poliwrath. Thunder Wave also helped Poliwrath after the rain cleared away. He can outspeed Garchomps before falling to its Earthquake. I regret not using Soundproof because Aftermath’s effects are actually pretty small compared to being able to use perish song and keep a Pokémon in battle.

Rotom-H

I’m not really going to bother writing anything about this guy because I honestly can’t remember ever using him or even what set I used. It was a case where I didn’t have a lot of time to put together a team and needed something so that it looked like I was a somewhat serious player. Looked pretty menacing in team previews though.

General Game Plans with this team

This team left me fairly inflexible; I had essentially five Pokémon from which to choose, one being Electrode, and I’m pretty sure I brought Kangaskhan/Poliwrath in the front with Ferrothorn and Politoed in the back every match for the Swiss Rounds. The concept was to Fake Out whichever Pokémon was more threatening to Poliwrath and set up Belly Drum turn 1; then Protect and switch to Politoed turn 2; then Fake Out and KO something turn three (because Politoed would be switched out by an Earthquake or something). And that process worked for me as an inexperienced player. A few times I had to make a few tough calls (like calling quick guard talonflame and getting it right), so it’s not like I robotically did the same thing every time.

Common Leads

Kangaskhan/Poliwrath

By far my best and most reliable lead. Kangaskhan could Fake Out and Poliwrath could set up. I led this in 95% of my battles at Nationals.

Electrode/Ferrothorn

I led with this more in the days leading up to Nationals, but it allowed me to Thunder Wave a ton of stuff and set up a light screen for my team. With the opponent’s speed and offenses crippled, it allowed my more offensive-oriented back two Pokémon to knock out my opponents. At Nationals I might have used this once.

Electrode/Poliwrath

A slightly riskier lead, but if I saw my opponent didn’t have too much to harm Poliwrath, I could lead this. With a combination of light screens, thunder waves, and Protects, Poliwrath could get his Belly Drum set up and sweep.

Matches

I’m not going to get into every single match I played; it was so long ago that I don’t remember. R Inanimate has a pretty solid description of our battle; if you want to read that, it’s right here. I do know that I went 7-2 during the Swiss round and then 2-4 during Day 2 Swiss. Day 2 wasn’t super impressive, I know, but I started 2-0 and then kind of took a downward spiral after getting absolutely handled by Adib in Round 3 and realizing my EVs were wrong in Round 4. I still think my poor performance day 2 had to do with my sickness being magical or lucky, and that went away after the first two rounds. But that’s Pokémon! I did my best; I have no regrets!

Actually I have a lot of regrets, but I digress.

After Nationals

Although I didn’t take Nationals by storm or anything (I mean, I guess I did because of the rain…ba dum, ksshhhh), it was the first time that I realized that one of my stupid ideas had potential. After getting a lot of feedback at nationals from more experienced players, I was able to improve the team so that it was more versatile, more reliable and simply better, even if I never outdid my performance at Nationals. Unfortunately I didn’t get to test out the revisions at Worlds LCQs because my train broke down on the way over. In this section I’ll talk about Pokémon I used to replace Electrode and Rotom-H at Philadelphia Regionals.

Philadelphia Regionals Version

Salamence w/Haban Berry
Intimidate
52HP, 4Atk, 84SpA, 116SpD, 252Spd
Modest
-Rock Tomb
-Fire Blast
-Draco Meteor
-Protect

This was taken straight from Jeudy’s Worlds team, and it fits pretty well with the Double Polis core. Rock Tomb hits pesky Talonflames pretty hard and provides speed control, Fire Blast can do considerable damage to Mawiles, and Protect allows Salamence to stall out a Perish Song. Draco Meteor can take out non-scarfed Hydreigon, and Intimidate gives Poliwrath some defensive support. All-in-all, a pretty solid Pokémon to replace Rotom-H. Salamence also gave me a decent option so that I wasn’t forced to bring Poliwrath.

Raichu w/Focus Sash
Lightningrod
252SpA, 252Spd, 4HP
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Feint
-Thunder Wave
-Encore

If I had to choose one Pokémon to have brought to Nationals over Rotom-H or Electrode, it would have been Raichu. Raichu brings so much support to a team that relies on two hard attackers and four support Pokémon. Lightningrod allows Poliwrath to be safe around electric types; a second Fake Out user gives me a little more versatility; Feint lets Poliwrath hit whomever he wants on an attacking turn and breaks Focus Sashes, and a fast Pokémon with encore can be killer in the Perish Song phase of this team. By far the best fit for this team, Raichu is a much better lead with Poliwrath than Kangaskhan sometimes because Raichu has a faster Fake Out, provides Lightningrod support, and can encore protects. Even when I don’t bring Poliwrath, Raichu can provide assistance to most of my Pokémon.

Other Options

Here are some other options that I used while experimenting with the team between Nationals and Worlds LCQs. All are viable and useful in my opinion.

Electrode w/Light Clay
Soundproof
252HP, 236D, 20Spd
Timid Nature
-Thunder
-Light Screen
-Thunder Wave
-Protect

Still not amazing, but I consider this Electrode set to be superior to my Nationals one. The extra speed allows Electrode to outspeed Gengar and Raichu, and Soundproof allows me to be more threatening with Perish Song.

Rhydon w/Eviolite
Lightningrod
12HP, 252Atk, 244SpD
Adamant Nature
-Drill Run
-Rock Slide
-Mega Horn
-Protect

Another Pokémon that gives Poliwrath Lightningrod support. Kind of cool because he can do some massive damage to Mawile (provided that he doesn’t get knocked out first) and is really helpful against Manectric. His bulk made him pretty useful during the Perish Song phase. Running Rhydon with a Pokémon like Scrafty or Raichu also meant that I didn’t have to always bring both Polis.

Honorable Mentions

Finally I have some honorable mentions: Pokémon who have appeared on variations of this team, but I don’t feel like writing about, I didn’t like, or had really obvious roles. None of that means, however, that these Pokémon could not work for this team, and next to all of them I’ve commented on what they provide for the team.

• Meowstic: Supports Poliwrath
• Choice Scarf Salamence:Allows me to rely less on the Polis
• Scrafty: Provides Fake Out and Intimidate support
• Talonflame: Allows me to rely less on the Polis
• Liepard: Really stupidly annoying
• Amoonguss: Spore and Rage Powder

Overall I’ve loved using this team. It was such a weird experience for me to be recognized in the Pokémon community besides being “Darkeness’ little brother.” I can’t explain how exciting it was to hear someone in Italy using a variant of my team a couple of days after U.S. Nationals. Through this team, I have also grown as a player, it sort of validated that I don’t have to go straight for standard but that standard Pokémon are undeniably useful. Above all, it allowed me to see what kind of player I am. For a while I tried to go with more practical teams but was pretty unsuccessful with them. Maybe that means I’m just bad, but it might mean that I’m just not comfortable playing completely within the format, and that’s okay. I would rather go with something odd or surprising but can still hold its own without the surprise, than a straight standard team.

If you have any questions, feel free to PM me, especially if you want to know about my Grumpig/Flareon/Kecleon/Abomasnow/Azumarill team. It’s a lot of fun. I’m a bit of a naïve and new player, but I think my greatest strength right now lies in finding new and unique Pokémon that can be devastating in the right environment.

The post The Wrath of Khan: A US Nationals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Matt Peroutka, otherwise known as MittensAnimator. Recently I took 11th place at the Fall 2015 Regional in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Although I have only been playing competitively for less than a year, I feel like I am having a rather successful run so early in the season. For some reason this year, the Fort Wayne regional was a Top 8 instead of a Top 16, despite the fact that there were enough players in attendance. At the end of the day, I came in at 11th place, leaving me just outside the Top Cut, so I decided to write an article about my experiences as a new player and my latest run at the Fort Wayne Regional.

History

I, like most people I think, started playing competitive Pokémon using the singles Smogon format. I never made it very far and found more entertainment in the breeding and training aspects versus the actual game play. For me, singles battles would take too long and have too much switching. Eventually, I discovered that the official TPCi tournaments were held using the doubles format. I decided to try it out and I immediately fell in love with the faster format and strategically-advanced play.

The bulk of my competitive career started on X and Y where I began using Mega Kangaskhan. Earlier in the format, Kangaskhan was an awesome Pokémon. I guess she still is, but as the season advanced, more and more counters to Kangaskhan began to pop up. Eventually, I decided that she was no longer a reliable Pokémon to use, so I decided to go with my favorite Mega: the power-house Mega Lucario!

Team Building Process

Mega Lucario is a tricky Pokémon to use. He is fast and hits like a truck without brakes, but he is also incredibly frail. I tried to use Wide Guard methods with Aegislash and Aerodactyl, but I found most experienced players could outplay my strategy. Eventually, I decided the best way to use Lucario is to be smart and play him carefully without relying on gimmicks or obvious support moves. This decision led me to create a dual-Mega team. This left me with another Mega option to bring if my opponent’s team was very anti-Lucario. Thus, Mega Venusaur was added. Later, I saw a post by Kingofmars who also used the duo of Mega Lucario and Venuasaur, which led me to believe I was on to something.

The metagame is in constant flux; what works for one Regional or Premier Challenge will not necessarily work for the next tournament. While building this team, Mega Mawile rose to power and I suddenly needed a better counter to him as well. Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Talonflame could work, but they were all weak to Intimdate and burn, so I eventually decided to switch from Rotom-Wash to Rotom-Heat since he is not weak to Intimidate and does not damage himself while attacking like Talonflame does. He also has some bulk, which comes in handy. My only real problem with Rotom-Heat is that he is slow, so I gave mine a Choice Scarf. This either allowed me to get either a quick and sneaky knockout or a fast Will-O-Wisp before being knocked out myself.

In addition to Lucario and Rotom-Heat, I also really wanted to use Azumarill. The idea of destroying my opponents with a bunny wabbit was too enticing to pass up. I found that without the Belly Drum support, Azumarill’s damage output was just a little too low. Because if this, I then added Raichu onto the team. I needed a fast Fake Out user anyway, and the Lightning Rod ability did a great job protecting Azumarill. Raichu also came in handy alongside my scarfed Rotom-Heat. By using Discharge, I was able to cause some damage to my opponents while also powering up my Raichu, plus the 30% chance of a paralysis was an added bonus. There was one issue with this idea: if Raichu went down, then I was stuck with a Scarfed Rotom continually using Discharge. To help with this, I added Garchomp. Garchomp’s dual Ground- and Dragon-typing allowed him to absorb Discharges while also taking Rock Slides often aimed at Rotom-Heat. He was also great at taking a Brave Bird or Flare Blitz from Talonflame aimed at Venusuar or Lucario.

Final Team Analysis

For any of you who would rather watch a video than read a lengthy article, I have provided a team analysis video on my YouTube channel. Please watch and leave a like! Hitting that sexy subscribe button would also be helpful.

Raijin (Raichu) (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power Ice
– Encore
– Fake Out

Most of my team’s nicknames are based off of demons in the Christian mythology. In Raichu’s case, I decided to go with Raijin which is actually a Japanese lightning god. Raichu was the main support Pokémon on my team. He is one of the fastest Fake Out users in the game, which helped a lot against Kangaskhan and other Fake Out users. Encore is really useful against people who were foolish enough to use Protect on the first turn. It also was helpful in locking Aegislash into Substitute or locking other Pokemon into a useless move that I switched into. On a few occasions, I was able to lock the opponent into Thunderbolt and they were stuck continuously powering up my Raichu. Hidden Power Ice was key for taking out Garchomp threats, which could give my team a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, the nerf to Hidden Power made it impossible to knock out Garchomp, which was where Rotom-Heat’s Discharge came in handy. With a +1 boost, Hidden Power Ice is capable of one-shotting Garchomp and Salamence. Since I ran both Lucario and Raichu, opposing Garchomp could almost be guaranteed to show up, so I gave Raichu an Air Balloon. This forced Garchomp to use a move other than Earthquake and made it so he could never one shot my Raichu, which then allowed me to pick up the Hidden Power knock out on the second turn if I was not able to the first turn. It also allowed me to pair Raichu with my own Garchomp on the rare occasion I would need to.

Succorbenoth (Rotom-Heat) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
– Volt Switch
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Discharge

Succorbenoth is the chief eunuch demon of the gates of hell. I found this appropriate since Rotom is genderless and is also known as a wall. Volt Switch allowed me to cause some damage and also escape threats. It was also useful for fighting against Shadow Tag users, which is gaining popularity right now. Overheat is a given and was nice for taking out Mawile and Aegislash. Due to my Rotom not having a lot of investment in bulk, he was vulnerable to Sucker Punch. Therefore, I also ran with Will-O-Wisp to help counter the obvious Sucker Punch and to also bypass King’s Shield. Discharge was there for powering up Raichu, causing paralysis, and for running the classic Disquake combo with my Garchomp. This particular Rotom is not bulky at all, but he will still survive most Rock Slides. Hydro Pump should be avoided at all costs. I decided to invest as much as I could in Speed first, and then worry about bulk. This Rotom can outspeed a Jolly Aerodactyl, a very common threat against Raichu and Rotom-Heat.

Caerbannog (Azumarill) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Aqua Jet
– Belly Drum
– Protect

Azumarill is actually named after the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I was running a pretty standard set for him with no real surprises. He was also my main Trick Room counter. With Aaron Zheng’s team sprouting up all over the place, I really needed a counter for both Trick Room and Gothitelle. When I saw a player running Gothitelle, I would often let them set up Trick Room, Fake Out the partner with Raichu and get a Belly Drum up with Azumarill and then sweep, sweep, sweep. At +6, Azumarill even had a chance to KO Mega Mawile. That’s huge!

Belphegor (Garchomp) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake
– Protect

Belphegor was the demon or “god” of the Moabites, which I believe was a desert tribe so the nickname seemed to fit. Plus, it sounds cool. Anyway, this is a super standard Garchomp set, but also very useful for my team. Like I said before, Garchomp allowed me to swallow up Discharge and other electric attacks. He was also my biggest counter to Talonflame. Rough Skin really hurt Talonflame after a Brave Bird or Flare Blitz. It also allowed me to switch into predictable Fake Outs from Kangaskhan. The Lum Berry was used to avoid burns, but also gave me a counter for the common Dark Void Smeargle and Kangaskhan leads.

Sonneillon (Lucario) (M) @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus/Adaptability
EVs: 60 HP / 108 Atk / 92 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Bullet Punch
– Swords Dance
– Protect

Sonneillon is the demon of hatred. I originally used this nickname for Rotom because I hate Rotoms so much and called my Lucario “Thamuz”, who is the ambassador of hell and demon master of big weapons. I don’t remember the reasoning behind the switch. Anyway, Lucario was used a lot in practice on Showdown and for many of the local Premier Challenges in my area, but was rarely used at the Fort Wayne Regional tournament. I previously ran a special set with Vacuum Wave, Flash Cannon, and Nasty Plot, which hard to pull off but was actually a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it missed out on a lot of KOs. Vacuum Wave usually doesn’t KO Tyranitar in the sand, often leaving me open to a Fire Blast. It also has a chance of not KOing Kangaskhan even after a Nasty Plot boost, so I decided to swith to a physical set with a Jolly nature.

I cannot take complete credit for the EV spread, which was originally designed by Wolfe Glick. The Speed EVs allowed me to outspeed Gengar. The Defense and HP investments allowed me to survive an Earthquake from Garchomp, although I seemed to receive a lot of critical hit Earthquakes during the tournament so it rarely saved me! Close Combat allowed me to knock out Kangaskhan and could even do some hefty damage to Mawile as long as I was not Intimidated. Bullet Punch was nice for picking off threats that Raichu or the others weakened for Lucario. Since Nasty Plot was so much fun to run on my special Lucario, I decided use the same idea with my physical Lucario and added Swords Dance. This actually came in handy to power up Bullet Punch or shake off Intimidates. The Inner Focus Ability is really nice for punishing Kangaskhan, other Fake Out users, or to make sure Rock Slide did not land a flinch.

Caym (Venusaur) (F) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
– Energy Ball
– Synthesis
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect

Caym is the great President of hell who takes the shape of a thrush. Venusaur was basically my bulky, Special-Attacking option for the team. After seeing Kingofmars’ Venusaur set on NuggetBridge, I decided to run something similar but changed some of the moves. I did not like running Leaf Storm at all. Since I rarely led with Venusaur, he would often end up being one of my last two Pokémon. Therefore, I would be stuck using Leaf Storm without being able to switch out or a Gothitelle would Shadow Tag me on the battlefield. Energy Ball, in my opinion, was a better option. It still did an insane amount of damage to Rotom-Wash, still knocked out Mamoswine, and often allowed me to 2HKO other Pokémon. I also chose to run Synthesis over Leech Seed. With Leech Seed, I often found myself losing a game because of a Leech Seed miss or the health return was just not big enough. Synthesis also allowed me to run the more powerful Energy Ball over Giga Drain. Sludge Bomb has a surprisingly wide coverage and the 30% chance of poisoning the target proved to be very helpful. I actually ended up running with Venusaur more often than Lucario at the the tournament. Additionally, Chlorophyll gave me an option against sun. You would normally think that would be a suicide option, but with Garchomp, Raichu, or Rotom-Heat at Venusaur’s side, Mega Charizard-Y was not a big threat. It seems a lot people are still not prepared for the power that is Mega Venusaur. Because I had no Intimidate user, I had to be very careful with Venusaur against Talonflame. He cannot survive a Choice Banded Talonflame but was usually fine against other versions such as Life Orb Talonflame.

This team had an insanely strong core with Raichu, Azumarill, Garchomp, and Rotom-Heat. I have won many matches with just this core alone. My only regret is that my Mega Pokémon seemed more like filler rather than an addition to my core.

Lead Combinations

This was probably my most common lead. It allowed for a quick KO on Garchomp, which is a common lead against Raichu. It also allowed me to take out Aerodactyl or Talonflame before Tailwind could go up. Also, many people seemed to assume that I was going to run Raichu alongside Azumarill. This mistake often ended up with the opponent running Mawile, Venusaur, or Aegislash against my Rotom-Heat. Burn, burn, burn! I would rarely Overheat in this situation due to obvious Protects or switches. The Discharge/Lightning Rod combo often led to many paralyzed Pokémon, too. Even Mamoswine had trouble with this lead since even with the Thick Fat Ability, he does not want to take an Overheat. This was also my usual choice against sun teams, as long as they were not running Venusaur.

This was a common lead for me to use against Trick Room users. I would often Fake Out the partner while allowing Gothitelle to Protect or set up Trick Room. Azumarill would set up Belly Drum and then sweep from there. I also often used this lead if they did not have a Steel- or Grass-type as well.

A classic Discharge/Earthquake lead. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t: I had to be to very aware of Wide Guard. A surprising amount of people do not expect this kind of an attack since I think most are used to seeing this strategy with Zapdos.

This is what I would use against Kangaskhan and Dark Void Smeargle. I would usually not Mega Evolve so Lucario could not be Faked Out, and then double up on the Smeargle with Bullet Punch and Dragon Claw. Kangaskhan would rarely Fake Out the Garchomp due to the massive amount of Rough Skin damage it could take. In some situations, I would change my moves but this often worked against the less-experienced Smeargle players.

Another Kangaskhan and Smeargle counter. This one is pretty obvious. Fake Out and then Close Combat the Smeargle. It usually worked better against a Scarfed Smeargle, which I rarely saw.

This is my common lead against rain. It works alright but I do have to be very careful against Talonflame and Ludicolo. In the rain, Ludicolo has a faster Fake Out than my Raichu which can be a problem. Usually Ludicolo will Fake Out Venusaur so instead of trying to go for the Fake Out, I will Encore it. This forces a switch that is usually predictable.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This team has almost everything. Sun will not touch it, and sand is not a problem with Mega Lucario. Trick Room is nullified with Azumarill, Venusaur, and priority moves , and it has answers to the most common Mega Pokémon. Rain surprisingly gives this team a lot of trouble, but usually only when Ludicolo is involved… which is always. Venusaur could devastate a rain team, but Ludicolo and any Talonflame needs to be dealt with immediately. I wish I also had an Intimidate user on the team, which would have helped in certain situations where I could not get a burn off and my counter was KOed.

Battles

Due to the inability to save battle videos and this tournament already being a month over, my battle details will be a little sparse. I will try and fill in the details as much as I can based off my notes.

Round 1: vs Nathan Cole

VS

This battle actually really scared me because Nathan defeated me the night before at the Premier Challenge. He changed his team up a bit from the night before and brought Raichu and Kangaskhan instead of his Mega Gyarados. I think this was a mistake because he had ended up bringing two support Pokémon to the match, and support Pokémon cannot do their jobs if there are no Pokemon to support! Seeing this, I focused on his big hitters and wittled down his support mons. Sableye ended up giving me a lot of trouble because I do not have a solution for Prankster Pokémon. Remind me to never Encore Will-O-Wisp when I bring all of my physical attackers. This is one of the few matches where I brought Lucario and he cleaned up. (1-0)

Round 2: vs Cody Bernheisel

VS

Cody is actually a friend of mine from the Premier events here in Minnesota. The first time I went to a Premier Challenge, Cody mopped the floor with me using a Trick Room team, but he’s had trouble beating me since. During our match I was able to predict most of his moves which lead to a pretty good victory, such as when I swapped out Venusaur for Garchomp against his Talonflame’s Brave Bird, allowing me to KO my biggest threat. After that, Aegislash, Manectric, and Machamp were not too difficult to dispatch. The only surprise was his Manectric was able knock out Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice, leaving me to believe that it was Modest and not Timid. (2-0)

Round 3: vs Andy Himes

VS

This was a scary match because he had Dark Void Smeargle. Although I have ways to dispatch it, it’s always scary to come across because you have no idea what set it could be running. I never found out if he brought it or not because he never revealed his last Pokémon. Andy made an amazing prediction using Earthquake on my switch to Lucario. I think that awesome prediction cost me the entire match. He had me after that. Andy ended up taking second so it felt good to lose to somebody with such amazing skill. (2-1)

Round 4: vs Jake

VS

Honestly, this match was super hax-heavy in my favor. I felt bad for winning that way, but not bad enough to give up the victory. First, he surprised me with Charizard-X instead of Charizard-Y, but this didn’t help him. My Rotom paralyzed both his Pokémon with Discharge. He then tried to go for Dragon Dance on his Charizard but that was kind of useless after being paralyzed. After that, both of his Pokémon were fully paralyzed for two turns. That was pretty much the end of the match. It was really bad and I never had the chance to see how skillfully he could play. (3-1)

Round 5: vs Shane Black

VS

This was another match where I led with Raichu and Rotom-Heat. At least I think I did since my notes say Sableye was paralyzed and that was most likely from Rotom-Heat’s Discharge. I barely remember this match except for the fact that I won. I am not sure, but I think I finished this match 4-0. (4-1)

Round 6: vs Collin Heier

VS

This was the scariest match of the night against Collin Heier, 3rd place at the World Championships. I had faced Collin before in a Premier Challenge from last season where he destroyed me. That team was not prepared for Trick Room and I was even more of a noob than I am now. This time, I told myself this match would be different: I could win this!

That was a lie. Collin beat me again, but this time I at least I made him work for it. He started out with Ludicolo and Gothitelle (possibly Politoed) and I led with Raichu and Venusaur. For some reason I knew he wanted to Fake Out my Venusaur so I let him and had Raichu go for Encore instead, locking his Ludicolo into Fake Out. This would have worked out great if I could complete my plan. Like the noob that I am, I went for a Sludge Bomb into a Mawile switch-in, which was a rookie mistake I am still angry about. That move could have won me the game. After that, I could not escape the Shadow Tag shenanigans and Collin eventually took the game. It was a very exciting match and I hope I made him sweat. (4-2)

Round 7: vs Vincent

VS

When I saw this team, it screamed Trick Room so I decided to lead with Raichu and Azumarill. This was one of those situations where I didn’t want him to get Trick Room up so I didn’t let him. If I remember this right, I Faked Out his Slowking and then Play Roughed his Hariyama for the knock out. Then I doubled up on his Slowking to make sure it went down. After that, the match was pretty much over since his Ampharos could not do a lot with Raichu out there. I believe I won this match 4-0. (5-2)

Round 8: vs Spencer

VS

Honestly, I do not remember this match at all. But if I do remember correctly, it was a pretty quick match and did not give me too much of a headache. I may have won this one 4-0 as well. (6-2)

Conclusion

So there it is. My first team report and my 11th place standing. I hope you guys enjoyed the read.

All in all, I think this team performed extraordinarily well. I blame my losses on player error and not the team. I had an opportunity to win in both the matches that I lost, but I was just not able to gain the upper hand. I will be better prepared next time.

I am pretty happy with the way I performed, but I am extremely unhappy about the decision to have a Top 8 instead of a Top 16. This infuriated many players because it robbed them of the chance to do better. Who knows, I could have made Top 4 or even won the tournament if given the chance to advance. But either way, I did awesome and came home with some gloating rights and cards (which I promptly sold since I have no interest in collecting cardboard).

Thank Yous and Props

I would like to thank the entire Pokémon community, especially all the users at Nugget Bridge. I have never met such a nice and helpful group of people. I also want to thank the guys at the local Premier Events here in Minnesota, especially Aaron Liebersback (Arch) who consistently beats me in tournaments and enraged me enough to do better. I guess I should also thank the girlfriend. She is usually pretty good about not giving me grief for running off to Pokémon tournaments and skipping the house chores. Thanks for reading the report, and I hope to see you at future events!

The post What Could Have Been: An 11th Place Indiana Regional Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello. My name is Nicholas Borghi. I am from South Brunswick, NJ. I started to get into VGC around three years ago, but this was the first year I took it seriously.

I started building several different gimmicky teams with my friends James (Jamesspeed1) Baek, Jake (Pokebeys) Skurchak, Dan (SharingIsCaring) Howse, Leonard (DaWoblefet) Craft III, and Shaun (Scal). These teams included Pokémon such as Mega Pinsir, Mega Houndoom, and Mega Banette. One day, I went back and re-watched the semifinal match between Alex Ogloza and Jon Hu at the US National Championships. Jon inspired me to build a team around Lapras. Unfortunately, I deleted my computer history since I originally made the team, due to a virus scare that turned out to just be my laptop being old. Because of this, I no longer have past versions of the team saved. I only have two versions with me: the one that I used to win the Holmes PA Premier Challenge, and the version used to get top eight at Philadelphia Regionals.

I started VGC back in 2012 when my friend Dan took me to Philadelphia Regionals. I played awfully, but ended with a neutral record. Next year I went again and ended with a better record at 4-3. I had actually done this while using a Hitmonlee and a Choice Scarfed Metagross. I actually tried this year though and I ended decently, I think. Where I got top 8 at Philly Regionals, First at the Holems PA Premier Challenge, and Second at a West Babylon Premier Challenge.

I went to MA Regionals with a team I had been very confident in. I unfortunately met very bad luck. At one point I lost a battle where I just had a Mega Charizard Y left against an under-leveled Conkeldurr, and a Mega Abomasnow. I double missed Heat Wave and that took me out of any chance of Top Cut.

Later I got 4th place at the Premier Challenge in Delaware, which is where I met my friend Jake Skurchak. I had done this using a Mega Aerodactyl team. Later I got 2nd at a Premier Challenge in Bluebell PA using a Mega Banette team. I unfortunately lost to Michael Spinetta-McCarthy (SirChicken). He had been using Mega Kangaskhan, the Pokémon my Mega had been designed to beat. The link to the post about this team is here.

Then it had come down to the LCQ. I don’t really like talking about this much because of the bit of luck that happened, two Draco Meteor critical hits in a row. My opponent who had knocked me out was a nice Australian player named Bailey (Bargens). He ended up getting knocked out next round by my friend James.

Then I had moved up to the Masters Division on September 4th. I also at that point knew that the competition would be much harder. Here is the team that I used at my first event ever in the Masters Division. I had not realized at the time though that my 6 Pokemon had been Sejun Park’s National Rain Team.

I enjoyed this version of the team for quite some time until I realized that I had a giant weakness to Mega Venusaur, Mega Lucario (especially Special variants), and Choice Scarf Machamp. Funny thing is, Zapdos had been the MVP of the tournament. So here is the 4th draft of the team:

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Modest Nature
EVs: 220 HP / 188 SpA / 100 Spe
– Fake Out
– Ice Beam
– Scald
– Giga Drain

Ludicolo was the eventual replacement for Lapras on the team, as I found that Lapras lacked the offensive presence that my team wanted. I used Ludicolo more for offensive support though instead of using it for its offensive prowess. Ludicolo was much faster than Lapras, especially under Rain. Ludicolo also added Fake Out support which my team lacked, and liked overall. I chose Scald over Hydro Pump because as I said, I used him more for offensive support than power, and the chance to burn never hurt.

I choose Giga Drain over Energy Ball so that Ludicolo would be able to last longer on the field, and Energy Ball still didn’t get the OHKO on most Rotom-W’s. The EV spread is extremely simple. My team had a bit of a weakness to Mega Manetric, so I invested enough Speed EVs to outspeed Timid Mega Manetric when Rain was up. The Special Attack EVs allowed me to 2HKO everything I wanted to, and gave me a guaranteed OHKO on Mega Kangaskhan if I were to get the burn. The rest of the EVs were dumped into HP.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Protect
– Rock Slide
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake

Standard Garchomp. I chose Life Orb over the standard (at the time) Lum Berry because I found in testing that most Rotom would try to get damage off on Garchomp instead of going for two Will-O-Wisps. Not having to worry about Rotom Will-O-Wisps allowed me to switch over to Life Orb to deal more damage overall. It also allowed me to OHKO other Garchomp, and Hydreigon who are EVed to take non-Orbed Garchomp’s Dragon Claw. Although this made Garchomp a boon in best of one matches, the Life Orb seemed more of a liability than an asset in best of three matches.

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate —> Huge Power
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
– Protect
– Sucker Punch
– Play Rough
– Iron Head

This was my original Mawile spread. It was a slightly edited version of my friend Jake (SableyeMagma) Rosen’s spread. I basically took 8 EVs out of Special Defense and split them between Defense and Speed , letting it outspeed other Adamant Mawiles that run no Speed. At first I considered using Fire Fang to always win the Mawile mirror outside of Rain, but that would leave me without a reliable STAB move and could make me lose the mirror if Rain is up. During testing this happened eight times, so I’m glad I went with what I did.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpD
IVs: 30 Atk, 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Roost
– Swagger
– Thunder Wave

I wanted to change the EVs so that the HP would be divisible by 16 for maximum Leftovers recovery. However, I never got around to adjusting my spread. The HP and Defense EVs give Zapdos a 97.6% chance of surviving a Life Orb Garchomp’s Dragon Claw, and also makes Rock Slide from said Garchomp a 3HKO. The HP and Special Defense EVs allow Zapdos to survive a Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor, letting me Thunder Wave it and Roost the next turn to be at a good enough amount of health to still do work against my opponent’s team. I considered whether or not I wanted Hidden Power Ice or Swagger, and went with the latter. Just in case I decided to switch Swagger out at the last minute, I made sure that my Zapdos had the correct IVs to use Hidden Power Ice.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Modest Nature
EVs: 36 HP /36 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
– Dark Pulse
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Earth Power

Very standard Choice Specs Hydreigon. 36 HP and Defense EVs allow me to survive a Garchomp Dragon Claw or a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Return. 180 Speed allows me to outspeed Alex Ogloza’s Hydreigon from US Nationals, which I thought would be quite popular. Earth Power gives me an option to knock out Mega Mawile while Rain is in effect.

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Calm Nature
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 212 SpD
– Protect
– Rain Dance
– Scald
– Ice Beam

Let me start off by saying that I personally prefer this Politoed set more than the Scarf set. The spread, taken from my friend Jamesspeed1, optimizes Sitrus Berry recovery. The HP and Defense EVs allow Politoed to survive Mega Lucario’s Close Combat, and the Special Defense makes Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Dark Pulse a 4HKO. The moveset is very standard. Scald is a reliable STAB move, Ice Beam provides coverage, and Rain Dance helps to get my Rain back up against Tyranitar and Charizard-Y.

Onto The Tournament: Holmes, PA 9/14/14

Unfortunately, I do not remember how most of my battles went.

Round 1 Vs. Random Girl

She had just gotten the game five days prior to the tournament and was using her in-game team. She had been told that no Legendaries were allowed, so she called over the TO to check my team. I ended up getting a 4-0 victory.

Score: 1-0

Round 2 Vs. Random Guy

I remember absolutely nothing about this game, except that it was a win.

Score: 2-0

Round 3 Vs. Scott Morris (TheLoveDrVGC)

He Brought: Mamoswine, ????
I Brought: Politoed, Hydreigon, ??

I had decent position for most of this battle, but ended up losing.

Score: 2-1

Round 4 Vs. Kyle Morris (I can’t remember names too well)

He Brought: Mega Venusaur, ???
I Brought: Zapdos, ???

Can’t remember much about this game except that he had a Mega Venusaur and that Zapdos put in a lot of work.

Score: 3-1

I made it into Top Cut despite my low resistance. It was the first time I’d Top Cut in a sanctioned event, and doing it in my first event ever in the Masters Division made it better.

Top 4 Vs. Tyler VanBlargan (Eventual 3rd Place)

All I remember about this match was that he was a Singles player who wanted to try out VGC. Game one was a 4-0 victory, and game two was a 3-0 victory.

Finals Vs. Chris Semp (pookar)

I was very proud of my play in the first match, as I think I played very well. Game two was sloppier, and I got extremely lucky.

Here are the replay codes for these two matches. I was not able to save battle videos, but Chris did.

• G1: APPG WWWW WWW9 NVA9
• G2: 26GW WWWW WWW9 NVA8

My first competition in the Masters Division ended up with a win. I did realize, though, that my team still had a few weaknesses that needed to be addressed. Life Orb Mamoswine was annoying to deal, and Mega Venusaur wreaked havoc on my team.

Changes to the Team

I changed my spread very slightly. I realized that I only needed 148 Sp. Att with a Modest nature to get all the OHKOs I needed, so I put some bulk into each of its defenses. Not much else to say.

As an aside: I was testing this new iteration of the team with my friend Pokebeys, and something unbelievable happened. We go into a battle, and I start using Scald with Ludicolo. I get a burn on his Garchomp on the first turn. Then, I get a burn on his Zapdos the next turn. This then happens two more times in a row, with burns on his Mawile and Ludicolo. In our next battle, the same thing happened again, except that Politoed was the Pokemon doing the burning. Jake didn’t speak to me for three days after that.

I edited the spread, only using 236 Attack EVs. These were enough to be able to OHKO other Garchomp with Dragon Claw. I dumped the rest of the EVs into HP.

I changed the nature on Mawile from Adamant to Brave, and took away the Speed EVs. I felt this would help me out a bit against Trick Room teams. I still kept a 31 Speed IV in order to outspeed other Brave Mawile outside of TR. I also invested more into the Defenses at the expense of Attack. I originally only wanted to survive Modest Life Orb Tyranitar Fire Blast, which required 252 HP and 140 Special Defense EVs. The day before the Regional, though, I decided to also make Mega Mawile survive a -1 Attack Talonflame Flare Blitz, which required 60 Defense EVs. This left me with only 56 Attack EVs, but to be honest the drop in Attack wasn’t noticeable, and the extra bulk helped my matchups in general.

—->

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Trait: Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
Evs: 68 HP / 196 Atk / 68 Def / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– U-Turn
– Taunt

I swapped out Zapdos for Choice Band Talonflame in order to better check Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, Mega Lucario, and Scarf Machamp. This set is designed to win the Talonflame mirror, as the Attack EVs guarantee I OHKO 4 HP Talonflame. My friend who came up with the spread assured me that the HP and Defense EVs would allow me to always survive a Choice Band Brave Bird, but it turns out that he calculated using a Life Orb. I actually had a 50% chance to survive CB Talonflame Brave Bird, but I didn’t realize this until well after the tournament because during testing I never actually had another Talonflame OHKO me. Taunt was used to help against Trick Room.

I changed a few EVs on Hydreigon, taking out 16 Special Attack EVs. This still gave me an 81.33% chance of OHKOing 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor. I added 8 EVs each to HP and Speed. The former allowed me to always survive an Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Return, while the latter put my Speed above anything Speed creeping Smeargle.

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
Modest Nature
Evs: 20 HP / 4 Def / 236 SpA /4 SpD / 244 Spe
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Hydro Pump
– Rain Dance

Alex Ogloza’s Politoed spread. I hated this. I only used it because I thought other players might know that I ran Sitrus Berry Politoed in the Premier Challenge prior to the tournament. I wanted to take a few people by surprise. Scarf Politoed could also help with my Mega Lucario matchup, as I could try to burn it with Scald or OHKO it with Hydro Pump.

I liked using this team a lot, even though it was so standard compared to the other teams I’d made in the past. Here is why I called it “The Look-A-Like”:

Round 1 Opponent: “Hey, is that an updated version of Alex Ogloza’s National’s team?”
Round 2 Opponent: “Is that Sejun Park’s National Rain Team?”
Guy in between Rounds 2 & 3: “Hey, I told my friend that you’re using Sejun’s team. He says you’re using Ray Rizzo’s Nats team.”
Round 5 Opponent: “Are you using JiveTime’s team from Worlds?”
Round 6 Opponent: “I know I don’t know VGC too well, but isn’t that team that Ray Rizzo used at US Nats?”
SableyeMagma, the day after Philadelphia Regionals: “Why are you even writing a team report? You just used Sejun’s team. It’s as standard as Detroit.”

Now onto the big day.

Philadelphia Regionals

I was extremely nervous going into the Regional. My team was so standard and really didn’t have any tricks up its sleeve. I knew that no matter what, I wanted to Top Cut, but I also knew that it was going to be a blood bath trying to get to 7-2. I went in and saw players like Wolfe, Aaron, Cameron (Stormfront), Jeff (Expert Evan), OmegaDonut, and so many others. This did not stop me from trying however.

I had a few warmup battles with some of my Senior friends, where I won convincingly, and before long it was time to go see the first round pairings.

Round 1 Vs. Lauren Schwegler (Aovolt)

She brought: Manectric, Garchomp, Gardevoir Ferrothorn
I brought: Ludicolo, Hydreigon, Talonflame, Mawile

Really nice girl. I remember her switching out to Gardevoir expecting my Hydreigon to Draco Meteor it. I saw the switch coming and Dark Pulsed and Giga Drained that slot, expecting either Gardevoir or Politoed to switch in. The battle goes downhill for her from there and she starts trying to stall out the battle. I have to tell her that I have Talonflame in the back and she forfeits. She ended up going 5-4 at her first Regional ever.

Score: 4-0 Win
Record: 1-0

Round 2 Vs. Jesse Spinelli

He brought: Mawile, Slowbro, Garchomp, Gengar
I brought: ????

I don’t remember much about this battle. His team looked like a Trick Room team, but it wasn’t. Gengar had Life Orb with Dazzling Gleam, and the Slowbro had Calm Mind.

Score: 3-0 Win
Record: 2-0

Round 3 Vs. Jonathan Hiller (Mr. Fox) (Eventual 5th Place)

He Brought: Greninja, Pachirisu, Aerodactyl, ?
I Brought: Ludicolo, Politoed, ??

I don’t want to talk about this battle. I got completely wrecked by the Pachirisu/Greninja lead. I never actually thought that I would face Pachirisu in a real tournament, so I never adjusted my team to deal with it. Let’s just say I had a heart attack when I saw it in Team Preview.

Score: 1-3 Loss
Record: 2-1

After this loss, I was extremely discouraged. I thought that a loss this early in the tournament would stop me from making Top Cut. However, if Jon did extremely well, it would raise my resistance to the point where I would still have a chance.

Round 4 Vs. James Baek (Jamesspeed1) Eventual 31st Place

I was absolutely terrified. The person I’d spent months team building with, the guy I would Skype everyday, now sat in front of me.

He brought: Garchomp, Ludicolo, ??
I brought: Politoed, Ludicolo, Talonflame, ?

I can’t remember too much about this battle. I remember he had Life Orb Substitute Garchomp. I got a burn and a Critical Hit on his Garchomp. James was extremely mad at me. No hand shake for me at the end of the battle.

Score: 3-0
Record: 3-1

Round 5 Vs. Blake Maust (Drrek)

He brought: Mawile, Garchomp, Vivillon, Rotom-H
I brought: Hydreigon, ???

All I remember from this battle is that he went for Sleep Powder first turn. Had he gone for Powder, he would have done tons of damage to Hydreigon, and probably won in the end.

Score: 2-0
Record: 4-1

Round 6 Vs. Nainil Shan

He brought: Talonflame, Tyranitar, Kangaskhan, ?
I Brought: Garchomp, Mawile, Talonflame, Ludicolo
I led Mawile and Garchomp to his Tyranitar and Talonflame. I had a very advantageous lead matchup, but a critical hit on my Mawile with Flare Blitz knocked it out. Tyranitar was Choice Scarfed, and my team got annihilated.

Score: 0-3
Record: 4-2

Round 7 Vs. Angel Miranda (CT Mikoto Misaka)

He brought: Pachirisu, Zapdos, Ferrothorn, Garchomp
I brought: ???? Aren’t I great at remembering what I brought?

Very standard team. I was scared going into this match, but it was probably the most fun match I had all day. Angel is a great guy and he was a lot of fun to talk to during the battle. Hope I get to battle you again! Sadly, I don’t remember much about the actual battle. He had a Choice Scarfed Zapdos and a Ferrothorn with Leftovers.

Score: 2-0
Record: 5-2

Round 8 Vs. Joshua Edwards (General Josh)

He brought: Azumarill, Charizard, Raichu, Machamp
I brought: ????

My opponent had a Choice Scarfed Machamp, and he may have had Substitute on his Charizard, but I can’t be sure. He told me that he had a Choice Banded Azumarill, but I later saw in one of Cybertron’s Youtube videos that it was a Belly Drum variant.

Score: 4-0
Record: 6-2

It was my last match, and it came down to this. This battle would decide if I Top Cut or not. I went to look at the roster and my heart sank. I was facing a guy named Jeff Falberg. Expert Evan. He was an extremely experienced player, and I thought for sure that my run was over.

Round 9 Vs. Jeff Falberg (Expert Evan)

He brought: Gardevoir, Talonflame, Rotom-W, Lucario
I brought: Talonflame, ???

I can’t remember exactly how this battle went. I remember that it was a 2-0, and that he didn’t see my last Pokémon. I know that his Talonflame had Tailwind, and his Gardevoir was Choice Scarfed. I really wanted to see Roserade, but it didn’t happen. Jeff is a great guy and I friended him on Facebook after the tournament. He seems really cool and is amazingly well rounded.

Score: 2-0
Record: 7-2

I was extremely nervous going to the board to see the final Swiss results. I was stuck in the middle, and could only just snap a picture of part of Top Cut. I looked afterwards and my hand shot up into the air as I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I made it into Top Cut! I finally achieved the goal I’d been training for months to reach. And now, I was going in to face off against Anthony Kisson.

Top 16 Vs. Anthony Kisson (Chilebowl)

Game 1:

He brought: Venusaur, Gardevoir, Tyranitar, Rotom-H
I brought: ????

This was the most stressful set I had all day. I went in with absolutely no information about my opponent. How my opponent plays and their view on the metagame is very important to me when I go against experienced players.

I remember that he forfeited the match just so that I wouldn’t find out information about his Rotom. He didn’t have a Choice Scarf Tyranitar or Gardevoir. I thought the Tyranitar was an Assault Vest set because its damage output was lacking a bit, and he didn’t seem to have Protect.

Score: 4-0
Record: 8-2
Game 2:

He brought: Venusaur, Tyranitar, Rotom-H, Salamence
I brought: ????

In this game, I found out more information. He didn’t have Protect on his Venusaur. He also had Flamethrower on his Tyranitar, and that pretty much confirmed that he was running Assault Vest. Rotom-H had Safety Goggles. I also confirmed that his Salamence was running Choice Scarf because it outsped my Ludicolo in the Rain. He told me afterwards that he didn’t want to bring Lucario because of Talonflame.

Score: 3-0
Record: 9-2

Top 8 Vs. Aaron Zheng (Cybertron)

I would talk about his team, but I would rather post the link where he explains it himself.

The battles weren’t too good for me. I made several miss-plays in game 2 which could have turned the momentum in my favor. The link for the battles are here. These are from Aaron’s perspective and commentated by him. Hope you enjoy!

Score (Game 1): 4-0
Record: 9-3

Score (Game 2): 3-0
Record: 9-4

In my very first Masters Division Regional, I went 9-4 and ended with 8th place!

Shoutouts

I wanted to briefly talk about the other “newcomers” to Top Cut:

• Serapis of the VGC: I love how you used Pledge. You were doing amazing on Showdown!, and I loved watching you battle and talk about your team.
• TwoSmoove: While most people on Showdown! didn’t like you due to the strategy you used, you were able to make it work because you were comfortable with it. Good job, man.

On to the sappy thank yous:

•  James Baek (Jamesspeed1): Dude, I have to attribute a huge amount of my success to you. You helped me build, theorymon, and test, and you are just a great friend. Thanks, man.
• Jake Skurchak (Pokebeys): Great training partner. You are a good friend, and just a great kid overall. You’re awesome at theorymoning. Thank you for the countless days on Skype and for the amazing battles. I couldn’t have asked for a better training partner and friend.
• Jake Rosen (SableyeMagma): Thank you for the ride to Holmes. I wouldn’t have had as much success if you hadn’t been willing to help. I enjoyed your talk about Smash even though I didn’t understand half of it. Thank you for keeping me sane and not allowing me to make crazy changes that were stupid.
• Cameron Kicak (Stormfront): Thank you for being so cool, man. I only met you in September, but you are a great friend to have at Regionals and I was so upset to see that you didn’t Top Cut. I really wanna battle you again sometime, man.
• Leonard Craft III (DaWoblefet): You helped me all year, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone else to make better spreads for me. You helped me with team composition, and the help with my LCQ team will never go unforgotten. Thank you for the help on my Trick Room team, and thank you for just being awesome overall. I hope to see you at Nats, man.

The Parents:

• Mr. Rosen: Thank you for the ride to Holmes, and just for being one of the best parents a kid playing VGC could have. You are okay with the game and you don’t criticize for it.
• Mr. Havardansky: Thank you for driving me and my dad to Regionals. I had a lot of fun. Having Michael there with me was just great overall.
• My Dad (Perry): You have been so supportive. I love how I can talk to you and go on rants about Pokémon, and how you’ll actually listen, even though you probably don’t understand half the stuff I’m saying.

Other players:

• Angel Miranda (CT Mikoto Misaka): Thank you for one of the best matches I had all day. It was a ton of fun, man.
• Jeff Falberg (Expert Evan): Once again. An amazingly fun match. I couldn’t have asked to face someone as awesome as you in my final Swiss match. You’re a great guy and a well-rounded person. I hope you get better from what ever is ailing you.
• Dan Howse (SharingIsCaring): Oh, man. You are just awesome. I never would have started competitive battling without you had I not met you back in 6th grade. You helped me come up with original team compositions. You helped me get all of my Pokémon every year prior to this one. I always love talking with you, and you’re just a great friend. You are a guy I can always count on. You tell me when I being a dumb poop, and you always set me straight. If there was anyone I want to thank the most, it would be you Dan.
• Chris Semp (pookar): The Dark Horse!!!!!! I loved our finals matches and I really want a rematch against you considering how the final game was. Hit me up man.
• Aaron (Aaron “CT Cybertron” Zheng) Zheng: The matches we had were amazing, and it was so much fun playing you. I’m glad I got to face one of my idols in this community. I got so used to hearing you on Youtube. I would love a rematch someday.
• Mohammed Nihal (Mr. GX): Great guy. Such an awesome artist. I really wish that we were in the same time zone, though, so that we could battle and team build. Bro Hug!
• Mini: Mohamed Minhaj (Soon to be KENOG): Brother of MrGX. Helped with Talonflame. Thanks, man.
• Tushar/Colin: Great guys. Tushar is my best friend who actually is into this sort of stuff. He is an awesome friend who is into Singles and hopes to get into VGC this year. Colin is an amazing friend. While not into the competitive screen, he is awesome to talk to. He is always there to talk to me, and is always willing to listen. Thanks, guys.

The post The Look-A-Like: Top 8 Philadelphia Regionals and Holmes Premier Challenge 1st Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

I was fortunate enough to make it out to two Autumn Regionals this season. Both times, I finished at X-2, one win shy of qualifying for the Top Cut. While a 7-2 finish in the most talent-heavy portion of the country and a 6-2 finish at a tournament filled with big names from out of the region look good on paper, I can’t help but think I could and should have done better at both. In this report, I’ll talk about the team I used in Philadelphia and Fort Wayne and go through all of my battles at those events.

At a Glance

Just looking at the team, I can’t help but smile. Some of these Pokemon, like Ludicolo and Aegislash, are personal favorites. I don’t even mean competitively, I just like the concept and design of these Pokemon. The team was incredibly fun to use, and I wish I’d built something like it sooner in the format. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to a couple Alpha Series Premier Challenges so I can give it another shot at glory.

The Team In-Depth

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 68 Def / 12 SpD / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Dragon Claw
– Flare Blitz
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

• Nickname: Ike
• Deployed in Philadelphia: 9/9
• KOs in Philadelphia: 7
• Deployed in Fort Wayne: 8/8
• KOs in Fort Wayne: 11

Considering the most common mega Pokemon at the time were Mawile, Charizard Y, and Kangaskhan, I was looking for a mega of my own that could stand its ground against all three. Charizard X OHKOs Mawile without a Dragon Dance boost, OHKOs Kangaskhan at +1 with Flare Blitz, and takes laughable damage from Charizard Y. Charizard X has the potential for huge damage output if it gets set up, but can be a threat even without a Dragon Dance boost. I went with a bulkier spread to make setting up a bit easier. The HP and Defense EV’s allow it to survive a Jolly Life Orb Garchomp Dragon Claw and OHKO back with its own Dragon Claw. Most Rotom-Wash Hydro Pumps fail to 2HKO as well. Being able to safely Dragon Dance in front of these fairly common Pokemon made Charizard’s life a lot easier. It’s especially funny to see people switch in Rotom-Heat, which all but hard counters Charizard Y, and watch them flail when they realize Rotom-Heat is pure setup bait for Charizard X. As you can see, I brought Charizard to all of my battles at each regional. It also scored far and away the most knockouts of any of my team members. Charizard X is such a powerhouse, and I am very happy I chose to use it.

While this wasn’t meant to be a team that bluffed Charizard Y (I had two water types…why would I use sun with two water types…), Charizard Y with Mega Lucario had just been used by Jeudy Azzarelli to take 2nd place at Worlds, and the fact that I also carried Lucario probably flipped the Charizard Y switch in some people’s heads. Charizard Y is also much more popular in general, and most of the time it’s a safe assumption. I was able to capitalize on this fact pretty well, as most of my opponents would say something like “oh, I didn’t expect that” when I revealed the Charizardite X. I honestly nicknamed it Ike because I just liked the name, but a friend told me that Ike is apparently the name of the “Hero of the Blue Flame” from the Fire Emblem series, which I haven’t touched. This worked out nicely, considering Charizard has blue flames spewing from his mouth upon mega evolution.

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 148 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Fake Out
– Giga Drain
– Scald
– Ice Beam

Nickname: QuieroBailar
Deployed in
Philadelphia: 5/9 KOs in Philadelphia: 6
Deployed in Fort Wayne: 6/8
KOs in Fort Wayne: 7

This is the Ludicolo Blake Hopper took through the LCQ into Worlds. Ludicolo has such a great matchup against a large portion of the metagame, especially teams with a rain component. If you can clear the field of strong physical attackers, Ludicolo can often clean up at the end. The EVs are built to make Jolly Garchomp Dragon Claw a 3HKO while OHKOing back with Ice Beam. The remaining EVs were dumped into speed to creep slower Ludicolo variants. I thought about adding a little more speed, but I valued the defense and special attack benchmarks too much to drop those stats at all. Ludicolo + Charizard was a very common lead for me, since more often than not I could Fake Out the bigger threat to Charizard and start Dragon Dancing right off the bat. Ludicolo also does very well against some of Charizard’s checks, such as faster Dragons. The general bulk and diverse type coverage Ludicolo brought to the team were invaluable. I brought Ludicolo to the majority of my battles, typically only leaving him out when I saw a team full of physical attackers. Flying-types in general scared Ludicolo away. However, there were times when I faced Talonflame or Mega Pinsir and still brought Ludicolo since I was confident that my other three Pokemon could handle them easily. The nickname was inspired by United States Nationals, where the crowd would always start doing Ludicolo’s dance when it was on stream. “Quiero bailar” is Spanish for “I want to dance,” so I saw it as a fitting name for the pineapple with fancy feet. A clone of QuieroBailar made its way to Top 8 in Fort Wayne under Andrew Burley’s control, so I like to think that I made Top 8 in spirit.

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast
– Stone Edge
– Dragon Pulse

•  Nickname: Brutalanda
• Deployed in Philadelphia: 5/9
• KOs in Philadelphia: 2
• Deployed in Fort Wayne: 5/8
• KOs in Fort Wayne: 1

Choice Scarf Salamence, though very straightforward, was an important addition to this team. With the exception of Goodra and random Haban Berries, it picks off the Dragon-types that give Charizard trouble, such as Garchomp and Hydreigon. I really hate playing the speed tie game, so I just opted to go with 252/252 Timid. I probably could have optimized the spread a little bit, but I wanted to give myself the best possible chance of outspeeding and KOing opposing Salamence and Hydreigon. In hindsight, a slower, bulkier spread like Simon Yip’s US Nationals Salamence would have worked just fine, but I don’t regret my decision. The moveset is pretty standard as well. I think Rock Slide on Scarf Salamence is a bad choice, considering it’s way too weak to deal considerable damage and is mostly only good for fishing for flinches. The only real reason to use a rock type move on Salamence is to hit Charizard Y, but Rock Slide can’t even OHKO it, so I didn’t think it’s worth a move slot. While it looks like Salamence’s KO count is really low, that’s because it isn’t meant to be a powerhouse that knocks out Pokemon left and right. Timid Scarf Salamence is really good at taking chunks out of semi-bulky Pokemon for the rest of the team to finish off. It was often switched in and out to utilize Intimidate, and occasionally was saved for an endgame when there was a Pokemon at low health it could finish off. For example, the only time Salamence knocked out a Pokemon at Fort Wayne was in Round 8 when it knocked out a Charizard Y late in the game, but it was brought frequently throughout the tournament and was key in a few wins. The nickname is just the German translation of Salamence. I really like a lot of the foreign Pokemon names (in particular: Scrafty’s German name, Irokex), so if I can’t think of a better nickname that’s usually my default choice.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 236 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Substitute
– King’s Shield

Nickname: Durengard
Deployed in Philadelphia: 7/9
KOs in Philadelphia: 9
Deployed in Fort Wayne: 4/8
KOs in Fort Wayne: 2
I’ve been playing Sub + Leftovers Aegislash since a little before Nationals and I really, really like it. I know a lot of people have switched to other sets like Life Orb or Wide Guard + Weakness Policy, but the somewhat defensive nature of this set really meshes well with my playstyle. Aegislash creates really good endgames if it can get behind a substitute against key threats like Mawile or Kangaskhan, while stacking up well against a lot of common archetypes such as Gothitelle + Mawile in Trick Room. The speed EVs are there just to creep other Aegislash and slow Tyranitar, with the leftovers in HP and special attack. My usage of Aegislash dipped from Philadelphia to Fort Wayne, and its KO count dropped severely. I don’t really have an explanation other than less favorable matchups at the latter regional. Aegislash was definitely my MVP in Philadelphia, and my two losses came when I severely misplayed with it. In Fort Wayne, however, it was much less important in determining the outcome of my matches. The nickname is just another German translation that I admire.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 76 SpA / 164 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
– Hydro Pump
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

• Nickname: Sterling
• Deployed in Philadelphia: 5/9
• KOs in Philadelphia: 3
• Deployed in Fort Wayne: 4/8
• KOs in Fort Wayne: 4

Rotom was a bit of a wild card, honestly. It felt a bit like dead weight in some matchups but really shined in others. It helped disable some physical threats like Mawile, Kangaskhan, and Tyranitar with Will-O-Wisp, and also gave me a solid answer to Talonflame, which could otherwise be pretty troublesome. After using Rotom-Heat and Rotom-Wash back and forth this whole format (I’m pretty sure one of the two has been on every team I’ve ever taken to a live event), I preferred Rotom-Wash in general since its secondary STAB move, Hydro Pump, could be spammed, unlike the oven’s Overheat. Rotom-Wash also helped the rain matchup somewhat, while Rotom-Heat was pretty much helpless against rain. I think Rotom-Wash fit well enough on the team that I’m not wishing I had used something else, but there may have been a better choice out there somewhere. I’m not surprised by the low usage, as Rotom was never meant to be an integral part of the team. It was mostly around to help out during certain matchups, and that’s certainly what it did. The nickname is just kinda something I thought up. Appliances can be silver, and sterling is a type of silver I guess?

Lucario @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Extreme Speed / Stone Edge
– Bullet Punch
– Protect

• Nickname: Sun Tzu
• Deployed in Philadelphia: 5/9
• KOs in Philadelphia: 5
• Deployed in Fort Wayne: 5/8
• KOs in Fort Wayne: 4

Part 2 of the potential Charizard Y / Mega Lucario bluff. It served as the “glue” Pokemon, if you will. Lucario was the last Pokemon added to the team, since I was having a lot of trouble with Tyranitar. Even though Charizard X isn’t double weak to Rock Slide like its Y-version counterpart, it still doesn’t appreciate taking Rock Slides. Non-Life Orb Garchomp fails to 2HKO, but Tyranitar can do a lot of damage. Wide Guard was certainly an option, but I’m just not comfortable playing that mind game on a regular basis and opted to just knock out Rock Slide users instead. Lucario was great for that role since Inner Focus prevents it from flinching from Rock Slides. Close Combat is such a powerful move, easily knocking out Pokemon such as Scrafty, Tyranitar, and Hydreigon. The Jolly nature let me outspeed Hydreigon reliably, since Modest is almost always the nature of choice on the three-headed dragon. It also gave me a chance to outrun opposing Kangaskhan before they mega evolved. I would often lead with Lucario if I saw a Kangaskhan at team preview, since most people target Lucario with Fake Out assuming it will mega evolve and lose Inner Focus. I give up my Focus Sash in the process, but OHKOing Kangaskhan before it can rip through my team was usually worth it. Bullet Punch was great for picking off Gardevoir and Aerodactyl, which can be pretty annoying if left unchecked. I ran Extreme Speed in Philadelphia, but I only used it once on the day and I felt it was unnecessary. I switched it to Stone Edge for Fort Wayne since it made my Charizard Y and Zapdos matchups easier in theory, but I never used Stone Edge at Fort Wayne either so that slot seemed like a waste of space. Follow Me, Feint, and Quick Guard are all cool techs that could possibly have helped me out. Follow Me specifically could have eased setting up with Charizard, but there wasn’t really a point in either tournament when I thought “I really need Follow Me right now.” All in all, Lucario was a great asset when I needed Tyranitar to faint quickly, and helped put dents in some other threats to my team. Its usage to KO ratio reflects his role on the team. I typically brought Lucario to target a specific Pokemon, and it averaged one knockout per match. My tactical use of Lucario prompted the nickname “Sun Tzu” after the author of the ancient book The Art of War.

I put this team together one night while I was on Pokemon Showdown with some friends (Andykins, Darkeness, AdamHoffer, Seaco), and I won one of the VGC room tournaments with it. Obviously that isn’t exactly a measure of prestige, but it was enough for me to feel confident in the team’s ability. I decided to not play any battles on the Showdown ladder since that almost always leads to me losing confidence in myself and the team. I limited myself to matches with friends, focusing on best-of-three sets in preparation for top cut. The first game of best-of-threes function somewhat like Swiss rounds too, so I definitely felt prepared for the Fall Regional season.

2015 Philadelphia Regionals

Result: 7-2, 30th place, 30 CP

Formatting note: The first two Pokemon listed were the leads, the next two were brought in the back, and the two in parentheses were not brought to the battle.

Round 1 vs Christopher Kennedy

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I used

My pre-tournament nerves were running high, so I was pretty relieved to see this team, complete with a Level 42 Scizor. That’s not to say that a team composed of these lesser-used Pokemon can’t be successful, but combined with my opponent saying he was relatively new to VGC, I wasn’t really fearing much. Charizard-X had a good matchup here, so I tried to get it set up early. Dragalge’s Dragon Tail was a bit troublesome since it reset the stat boosts, but I was able to burn most of his team to rack up chip damage and eventually was able to checkmate him with Aegislash when I took out his Greninja.

W 4-0 (Record: 1-0)

Round 2 vs Jalen Parente

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Teams like this are exactly why I put Lucario on my team. Hoping he’d lead with Kangaskhan, I led Salamence and Lucario to bait a Fake Out and get an Intimidate off. He led with Meowstic and Kangaskhan, and I knew that Kangaskhan was going down this turn unless he switched it out or Charmed Lucario. I switched Aegislash into Salamence’s slot, while Meowstic and Kangaskhan both ended up using Fake Out. Thanks to Inner Focus, I knocked out Kangaskhan immediately. Aegislash was key in taking out Meowstic, hiding behind a substitute to shield itself from status moves. Ferrothorn was easily dispatched by Salamence, which then proceeded to spam Fire Blast on Tyranitar since I didn’t want to take the risk of switching something into a +2 Tyranitar (Aegislash’s Flash Cannon activated a Weakness Policy). Salamence connected on all 4 Fire Blasts it used this match, and ended up burning Tyranitar on the 4th. It was an easy cleanup from there.

W 3-0 (Record: 2-0)

Round 3 vs Greg Johnson

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I used

My opponent’s name sounded familiar to me, but I didn’t remember why. I was a bit leery looking at his team, as Zapdos and Conkeldurr could give me a bit of trouble. I led with Ludicolo and Aegislash against his Conkeldurr and Zapdos. The way I played Aegislash during this battle was unfortunately my undoing. Turn 1, I used Fake Out on Zapdos and Substitute with Aegislash, only to have the substitute broken by Payback from Conkeldurr. I didn’t think he’d attack Aegislash again for fear of a King’s Shield, so I used Substitute again while he paralyzed Ludicolo and broke the substitute with a second Payback. I don’t remember a whole lot about this battle, only that at some point I knocked out his Zapdos and Tyranitar with a few Ice Beams and Close Combat, respectively. At that point, I knew I had a chance to win if his last pokemon was something other than Mawile, but Mawile was sent out and I knew I was done for.

L 0-2 (Record: 2-1)

Round 4 vs Colin Schonewolf

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I used

This battle was pretty intense from what I can remember. I Bullet Punched Aerodactyl down to its Focus Sash while he set up Tailwind, and I switched Aegislash into Salamence’s slot to take an Ice Punch. After I finished off Aerodactyl with another Bullet Punch, we tried maneuvering around each other until it was my Charizard and Lucario against his Machamp and Aegislash in Blade Form. I really needed Aegislash gone, but I was pretty confident he’d King’s Shield so I doubled into Machamp and knocked it out while Aegislash did, in fact, protect itself. After this turn, he just had Kangaskhan and Aegislash to beat my Charizard, Lucario, and Aegislash. I knew that I could win if I preserved my own Aegislash while knocking out his. Eventually, I was able to Shadow Ball and KO his Aegislash while his Kangaskhan knocked out my Charizard with a Return. Being in Blade Form, I decided to King’s Shield before using Substitute on the off chance that he carried Crunch (he hadn’t revealed Sucker Punch yet either). When the King’s Shield animation started, my opponent looked visibly disappointed and I was pretty confident I had sealed up the game when I saw “Kangaskhan used Crunch!” There was no point in stalling out Sucker Punch with Substitute so I just went straight for a Flash Cannon, which ended up knocking it out from around 70% with a critical hit. That critical hit really didn’t matter, as his Crunch was nowhere close to 2HKOing Aegislash. This was definitely one of my best battles of my Fall Regionals.

W 1-0 (Record 3-1)

Round 5 vs Julius Solomon

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Seeing the lead matchup, I thought I was in a pretty good position. Since Charizard-Y doesn’t really threaten Hydreigon, I thought he’d Fake Out and Draco Meteor the Salamence slot and decided to switch Aegislash in. He did burn his Fake Out on that slot but ended up targeting my mega-evolved Charizard X with Draco Meteor for a quick OHKO. This kind of threw me for a loop, as I knew a really good win condition against this team was setting up Charizard, provided he didn’t bring Azumarill (he didn’t). I still had a fighting chance if I could get his Hydreigon and Charizard out of the way, since Aegislash walls Mienshao and Gardevoir pretty easily. Lucario also handles these two well, outspeeding and OHKOing them both. My opponent’s Mienshao gave me a lot more trouble than I anticipated, and I had a chance to KO it with Aegislash but instead decided to double into Gardevoir. In hindsight, I really should have taken out that Mienshao since Gardevoir really doesn’t trouble me too much. Mienshao proceeded to take out my only ways to pressure Charizard and Hydreigon with High Jump Kick and Stone Edge, combined with a timely Heat Wave burn on Salamence. I really could and should have played this battle smarter, and my lack of forethought led me to my second loss.

L 0-2 (Record 3-2)

Round 6 vs Julia Bernhard

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I used

Julia is a friend and training partner, so I knew that her team had a couple tricks that could give me some trouble. The most key information was that her Sableye held a Lagging Tail and knew Trick, and that her Garchomp was running Substitute instead of Protect. I had a hunch she wouldn’t bring her Venusaur since it has a poor matchup against Charizard and Aegislash, so I took Rotom along to help out with Talonflame and try to burn Gyarados. Knowing she’d probably lead with Sableye, I led Charizard and Aegislash to bait a Trick onto the Aegislash slot. I also knew that Sableye in general can do almost nothing to Charizard X, so it would be easy to start setting up. She did lead Sableye, along with her Mega Gyarados. We both Dragon Danced on Turn 1, while I switched in Salamence to make Sableye swap its Lagging Tail for a Choice Scarf. I was completely fine with Salamence taking the Lagging Tail, since its speed wasn’t too important in this matchup. Garchomp doesn’t OHKO it, Gyarados would be increasing its speed with Dragon Dance anyway, and Talonflame has priority with Gale Wings. The first few turns were just us trying to get in position to knock out the opposing mega evolution and sweep from there. I was able to chunk her Gyarados with a couple Dragon Pulses while we both did some switching around in our non-mega slot. At one point, it was Charizard and Rotom against Gyarados (with no attack boosts) and Talonflame. My bigger priority at that point was burning Gyarados as opposed to knocking out Talonflame, and I was able to tank an Earthquake and land a Will-O-Wisp. From there, Charizard took a Brave Bird and KO’d Gyarados while Rotom knocked out Talonflame. I was able to finish off the battle from there, as Charizard had a speed boost and could freely OHKO the Protect-less Garchomp. I was happy to have won the battle, but it was unfortunate to knock a friend out of the tournament. I encouraged her and told her to win out with me, and we both got ready for round 7.

W 2-0 (Record 4-2)

Round 7 vs William Gu

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I used

A Charizard X mirror! Seeing this team (and assuming his Charizard was the Y form…I fell into my own trap), I knew that my own Charizard had a field day. It didn’t even need a boost to beat most of this team, so I kept it in the back to play it safe. Ludicolo and Aegislash were my leads of choice, and they matched up well against my opponent’s Mr. Mime and Snorlax. I did my default play of Fake Out + Substitute, and targeted his Snorlax, since it could potentially do a lot of damage to Ludicolo. Mr. Mime set up a Light Screen, so I essentially got a free Substitute. The next turn, I targeted Snorlax with Scald and Flash Cannon, again ignoring Mr. Mime since its very low damage output wasn’t threatening me at all. I ended up scoring a Burn and a Critical Hit through his Light Screen with that Scald, which was a nice little bonus. Mr. Mime used Icy Wind and Snorlax used Power-Up Punch on Ludicolo, and based on the relatively low amount of damage it took from Scald + Flash Cannon I decided it had Assault Vest. I kept chipping away at Snorlax, eventually knocking it out, while he failed to do meaningful damage to either of my Pokemon. He replaced his fallen Snorlax with Gardevoir, which I promptly burned on the first try with Scald. Aegislash was still hiding behind its Substitute from Turn 1, which I was able to preserve with a couple timely King’s Shields that blocked double targets. Eventually I KO’d his Gardevoir and Mr. Mime with Aegislash, and his Charizard was on the field against my Ludicolo and Aegislash, which hadn’t left the battle at all. I had won the battle at this point, as even the best Charizard X can’t win a 1 v 4.

W 3-0 (Record 5-2)

Round 8 vs Anthony Rossano

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This team looked a bit scary. He had the Raichu + Azumarill combo that Baz Anderson used to win the Nugget Bridge Invitational, and Raichu and Weavile both have the power to disrupt teams very well. They can create a bunch of free turns for Pokemon to set up or deal heavy damage. I knew Rotom would be important in this matchup, but I had to play carefully around Raichu to avoid giving it any Lightningrod Boosts. On Turn 1, I expected the Fake Out from Weavile onto Rotom, but didn’t want to Protect in case Raichu came in next turn for the Encore. He did Fake Out Rotom, while mega evolving his Pinsir and using Return on Charizard. Charizard tanked the Return like a pro and was able to KO Pinsir with Flare Blitz. I could tell my opponent was counting on that Return OHKOing the assumed Charizard Y, and even told me afterwards that it usually knocks out Charizard Y in one blow. I forget how the turns played out exactly after that, but he ended up flinching Rotom again the next turn with Fling + King’s Rock and (I think) set up a Belly Drum with Azumarill. I was eventually able to burn the Azumarill (again, leery of trying to Thunderbolt it in case Raichu switched in), which put Azumarill in range to be knocked out by Giga Drain after a couple turns of burn damage. Raichu ended up being very easy to manage, especially since Rotom was feeling particularly cooperative this round and didn’t miss a Hydro Pump.

W 3-0 (Record 6-2)

Round 9 vs Benjamin Sorohan

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I don’t remember a whole lot about this battle. My notes were pretty scarce, and I actually wrote down Talonflame twice so I’m not sure what his sixth Pokemon was. From what I do remember, this was another match in which Lucario proved its worth, outrunning and dealing significant damage to Blastoise before it could get off a powerful Water Spout and making Tyranitar much easier to beat. This was the second Raichu I faced in a row, yet both times I brought my Electric type since it had too good of a matchup to pass up. My opponent switched Tyranitar into a Hydro Pump to activate his Weakness Policy, and I would have knocked it out with another on the next turn but it missed. Rotom barely survived a Rock Slide, and I believe I brought Lucario in the next turn. Rotom was in Thunderbolt range from Raichu, and I was pretty confident he’d Protect Tyranitar so I used Protect with my own Rotom and Close Combat on Raichu. Thankfully my bold play paid off as he did exactly what I predicted. The next turn I was able to KO Tyranitar and freely Thunderbolt the Blastoise for the win.

W 3-0 (Record 7-2)

I had managed to claw my way up to an X-2 finish after a poor start, and I was pretty happy with the way I finished. Since we had a top 16 cut, there were a few X-2’s that made it, but I knew my resistance would be too bad for me to make the cut. Nevertheless, I hovered around the pairings and waited for standings to be released. I didn’t make top 16, but I did manage to have a high enough resistance to make top 32, a threshold some X-2’s failed to reach. All in all, Top 32 is a solid result in Philadelphia considering the talent in the region, but I can’t help feeling I could have gone farther.

2015 Fort Wayne Regionals

Result: 6-2, 27th place, 30 CP

I was able to play in the Premier Challenge the night before despite the 64-person cutoff, but used a team that I wasn’t familiar with and played pretty poorly, finishing 3-3. Top 16 got CP, but I was somewhere in the 20’s so it was a (Rotom) wash. I’m not going to even bother talking about it since the battles were mediocre and I don’t know enough about the team to explain it in detail. Onto the main event!

Round 1 vs Sean Ring

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I used

I had seen this guy around at the Premier Challenge, but didn’t know anything about his team. He told me he was using something different so it didn’t matter anyway. He had a very interesting Scrafty set, using a Life Orb with Fake Out, Drain Punch, Crunch, and Smack Down. I imagine he used Smack Down alongside Garchomp (and maybe Tyranitar) to make Earthquake more potent. He ended up not bringing Garchomp, however, so I didn’t see it in action. He put Charizard to sleep early, which proved troublesome later in the match. We both switched around a little bit, and I tried to burn Tyranitar once but Will-O-Wisp missed the mark. His Tyranitar ended up having a special bias so it wasn’t a huge deal, but the chip damage would have been nice for sure. The next turn I read the Talonflame switch in on Tyranitar’s slot, attempting to block another Will-O-Wisp, so I used Thunderbolt instead and got the KO on the bird. Venusaur’s Sleep Powder gave me a lot of trouble, and there were a couple times I really needed a first-turn wake up to stay in a good position. Lucario was able to wake up quickly and get rid of Tyranitar, which would have knocked out Aegislash that turn with another Dark Pulse. Venusaur knocked out Lucario with a Giga Drain, and it came down to my Shield Form Aegislash with 32 HP and Charizard at full health with a guaranteed sleep turn remaining. Venusaur used Giga Drain on Aegislash and critical hit it for the KO while Charizard slept. I didn’t think this critical hit was a big deal at the time since Aegislash was at such low health. Charizard slept for another turn while Venusaur Sludge Bombed it down to ~45%. Thankfully I woke up the next turn, but Flare Blitz wasn’t enough to KO as Venusaur knocked out Charizard with another Sludge Bomb. Discouraged that I had lost my first round, I decided to look up the damage calculation for Venusaur’s Giga Drain against an Aegislash, remembering that I had 32 HP at the time.

252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 24-29 (14.3 – 17.3%) — possible 9HKO after Leftovers recovery
(24, 24, 24, 25, 25, 26, 26, 26, 27, 27, 27, 27, 27, 28, 28, 29)

So yeah, that Critical Hit definitely mattered. Even against Venusaur with maximum Special Attack investment (which is probably not what my opponent used), Aegislash should have survived the Giga Drain to fire off a Shadow Ball. That chunk of damage would have been enough to make Charizard’s Flare Blitz a KO, so unfortunately I had been robbed of a win. Since the tournament organizers thought it would be a good idea to run a Top 8 cut instead of Top 16, I knew that I had to win my next 7 matches if I wanted to make the cut. I was under a lot of pressure, but determined to do my best.

L 0-1 (Record 0-1)

Round 2 vs Shayne Kelly

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This was another matchup where Charizard could do some work if it could get set up. Knowing his Miltank would probably be carrying Thunder Wave, I decided to target it with Fake Out and start Dragon Dancing right away. Charizard was unable to KO Miltank the next turn, so Charizard was paralyzed while Rotom revealed a Thunder Wave of its own and paralyzed Ludicolo. The next few turns consisted of me praying to not be fully paralyzed and trying to knock out Miltank, which kept healing its HP back with Milk Drink. Eventually I was able to knock out Miltank after a couple turns of breaking through paralysis, and Ludicolo got some good chip damage onto Rotom. My opponent’s Garchomp came in and dropped a Rock Slide, which prevented Charizard from attacking but couldn’t phase Ludicolo. Garchomp was eliminated by an Ice Beam, and when I saw that Greninja was my opponent’s 4th Pokemon I was confident in my win. Ludicolo really shined in this battle, showing off it’s great ability to shrug off special attacks and give some pretty common Pokemon a lot of problems. While Charizard knocked out Miltank, Ludicolo got the other 3 KO’s in this battle.

W 2-0 (Record 1-1)

Round 3 vs Thomas Spoor

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I used

Yay! Another impending Charizard sweep! I went with my standard setup lead with Ludicolo and Charizard, and went straight for the Fake Out on Amoonguss (since I obviously can’t Fake Out a Sableye). Sableye went for a Confuse Ray on Charizard, and I thought I’d be in for another luck-fest since that’s where Sableye excels. Ludicolo was confused the next turn, while Charizard attacked through confusion to KO Amoonguss with a Flare Blitz. Between the recoil and the Rocky Helmet damage, I was barely above 50% after the attack and knew I’d have to be careful if Talonflame was brought out. Ludicolo got some chip damage off on Sableye, and Dragonite entered the battlefield. Dragonite went straight for a Dragon Dance of his own while I broke its Multiscale with Scald (not wanting to activate a Weakness Policy and fishing for a burn). I was able to finish off Sableye that turn with a Dragon Claw as well. The next turn, Charizard snapped out of confusion to KO Dragonite with Dragon Claw. Mega Manectric didn’t have a hope against Ludicolo and Charizard, and I easily cleaned up the next turn. This was the cleanest Charizard sweep I had ever experienced, and it felt pretty good. Neither of my Pokemon hit themselves in confusion at all, and neither Pokemon ever left the field.

W 4-0 (Record 2-1)

Round 4 vs Matthew Peroutka

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I used

This team had a few Pokemon that could be annoying, namely Raichu and Azumarill. I debated trying to get cute with my leads and go with Rotom and Ludicolo to pressure the Azumarill, but decided to go with the default Ludicolo/Charizard again. I was very happy to see the Rotom-Heat and Garchomp on the field, as this was a perfect opportunity to set up. I targeted the Garchomp with Fake Out while it Protected, then watched as his Choice Scarfed Rotom-Heat fired off a Discharge that paralyzed both my Ludicolo and Charizard. Charizard was able to Dragon Dance, but the speed drop from paralysis really hurt. The situation wouldn’t have been all that bad if I could still get some good damage off (both of his Pokemon could have been OHKOd at this point), but I spent the next two turns seeing the words “Charizard was fully paralyzed!” and “Ludicolo was fully paralyzed!” I didn’t want to make any switches and let him get free damage off or risk another Discharge paralysis. But I didn’t make any progress, and my opponent was able to knock out both of my leads without much cost, and I was left with Salamence (locked into Dragon Pulse) and Rotom against a Venusaur and Azumarill. My opponent made smart plays, protecting Azumarill and dealing huge damage to Rotom with Energy Ball when I tried to Thunderbolt the bunny. Once Rotom was gone, I had no way to deal damage to Azumarill and I was doomed.

For the second consecutive tournament, I had been eliminated with 4 rounds remaining. However, my two losses here in Fort Wayne hurt a lot more. I lost in Philadelphia when I made poor decisions, while I lost in Fort Wayne because I got unlucky while making the right plays. I’m sure I could have played those matches a little differently to give myself a better chance, but at this point I couldn’t help but feel a little bit cheated. I got pretty frustrated and decided to leave the hall and take a walk around the convention center to clear my head. I still had the chance to finish at a respectable 6-2 for another Top 32 finish and 30 more CP, so that became my new goal.

L 2-0 (Record 2-2)

Round 5 vs Jacob Short

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I used

I saw another Sableye and was somewhat annoyed, honestly. I had played 4 straight matches where I had to worry about staying asleep, hitting myself in confusion, or being fully paralyzed, and I just wanted to play a clean match. I went with my best anti-Kangaskhan lead and brought Aegislash and Charizard in the back. I don’t remember the exact details of the match, but I know that my opponent double targeted Lucario with Fake Out and Overheat, so I traded my Lucario for his Kangaskhan (a trade I’d take any day). I don’t remember what I did with the Salamence slot, but I’m pretty sure I switched it out into Aegislash. Gardevoir and Charizard came in the next turn, and I set up a Dragon Dance. Aegislash OHKO’d his Scarfed Gardevoir after Rotom failed to knock it out with a -2 Overheat, and from there it was an easy cleanup.

W 3-0 (Record 3-2)

Round 6 vs Brendan Hudson

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I used

Before the round started there was a longer wait than usual, and I talked to my opponent for a bit. He was a really nice guy from the area competing in his second tournament, the first being Nationals. I was looking forward to the battle, as battling against someone friendly is a lot of fun regardless of the outcome. Charizard did very well against a lot of his team, and Rotom helped to patch up a couple holes. I don’t remember how the battle went exactly, but I remember a couple key turns. At one point, I had Rotom on the field against Gyarados at mid-range health and a Talonflame, and my opponent had already revealed the non-mega Manectric. I really wanted to knock out the Gyarados but decided to burn it just in case the the Manectric switched in. I ended up making the right call as Talonflame U-Turned into Manectric, Gyarados attacked Rotom’s partner, and Rotom’s Will-O-Wisp connected. This made Gyarados much easier to handle, and I could turn my focus to eliminating its partners. Another huge turn was when Ludicolo at ~30% HP was up against Manectric and -2 Special Attack Goodra (which had previously used Draco Meteor). Manectric attacked Ludicolo’s partner while Goodra used Sludge Bomb on Ludicolo, which survived with 4 HP to finish off Manectric with a Giga Drain. At this point, I had essentially cleared the field for Charizard to come in and clean up without needing a Dragon Dance.

W 2-0 (Record 4-2)

Round 7 vs Abraham Morales

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I used

This team was very similar to the standard rain teams that had been running around, so I wagered that Politoed would be Choice Scarfed with Rain Dance. I also bet that he would lead with Politoed and Ludicolo, so I lead Charizard and Lucario to bait the Rain Dance on Politoed, since my opponent’s assumption would be that I lead Charizard Y to disrupt the rain. I immediately switched Charizard out for my own Ludicolo, while my opponent Faked Out Lucario and used a pointless Rain Dance. Confident that his Politoed was choice locked and would need to switch out, and that his Ludicolo wasn’t running Protect, I was free to Fake Out and Close Combat the Ludicolo while his Politoed switched. I was able to get Ludicolo down to very low health while Zapdos switched in. I finished Ludicolo off with a Bullet Punch while the rain enabled Ludicolo to move before Zapdos and get off a nice Ice Beam. Politoed was brought in the next turn, and Ludicolo finished off Zapdos while Politoed KO’d Lucario with Hydro Pump. I brought in Charizard, and knew that once I knocked out Politoed I could checkmate Kangaskhan in what is definitely my favorite endgame of all time: Subsitute Aegislash vs Crunch-less Mega Kangaskhan. I doubled into Politoed with Giga Drain and Dragon Claw. I had sealed the win at that point, as I was able to Substitute with Aegislash to limit Sucker Punch’s damage. Flash Cannon is a solid 3HKO (sometimes 2HKO) on Kangaskhan, so it was just a matter of making sure I could survive a Critical Hit from Sucker Punch’s second strike before I attacked to guarantee the win.

W 1-0 (Record 5-2)

Round 8 vs Jonathan McMillan (MrEobo)

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Jon is a friend of mine, and we were both ready to finish off the day with a fun match. This ended up being the single most hilarious game of Pokemon I’ve ever witnessed, much less participated in. I’ll just let you watch it for yourself.

Something in me knew his Hydreigon wasn’t going to be choiced, but I went ahead and tried to flinch it. I really should have targeted the Zapdos since the incoming Thunder Wave was pretty obvious. When Charizard was fully paralyzed while trying to Protect the next turn, I knew I would have to dodge a Draco Meteor, attack through paralysis with Ludicolo, AND freeze his Hydreigon with an Ice Beam to have a shot at winning the match…and they all happened. We were both cracking up at this point, though his laughter might have been more in the “laugh so you don’t cry” vein. A Flare Blitz left Zapdos in the red, but a Dragon Claw was able to finish it off after he Roosted the next turn. I’m convinced that either Flare Blitz was a low damage roll or Dragon Claw was a high damage roll since I really wasn’t expecting Dragon Claw to KO from that range. Luckily, Hydreigon didn’t unfreeze and Ludicolo was able to knock it out with a second Ice Beam. Jon sent out his Charizard and Mamoswine, and I knew that if I could knock out Mamoswine I could KO Charizard with a Stone Edge from either Lucario or Salamence. After a couple turns of paralysis and flinching, Flare Blitz connected and knocked out the Mamoswine. After Salamence’s Stone Edge didn’t miss, Jon said “but wait, I’m bulky!” in an attempt to inspire his Charizard to live another day. Charizard didn’t believe in itself hard enough, as it was knocked out and I sealed up my final win.

W 2-0 (Record 6-2)

So my terrible habit of losing early and winning out at Regionals continued, as I logged another X-2/Top 32 finish. I was definitely happy I was able to wipe out my frustration and anger from earlier rounds, but I can’t say I was satisfied with my performance. I had hoped to cut at least one of the two fall regionals I attended and fell one win short at both. I did learn more about myself as a player, which will definitely help me in the future. I showed myself that I’m capable of putting together a string of consecutive wins, I just need to figure out how to do so earlier in the tournament. Breaking through the early-round nerves is going to be my focus in the future.

Post Regionals

I made a couple changes to the team for the remainder of the season, specifically a couple Premier Challenges I knew I’d be able to play in before the format switch. I switched to using Simon’s bulky Modest Choice Scarf Salamence but with a slight adjustment in moving the Special Defense EV’s into Special Attack (EV’s: 212 HP / 20 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 156 Spe). I thought the extra bulk would be really helpful since a lot of times I kept Salamence in for consecutive turns, as opposed to using Draco Meteor once and switching out immediately. Since Salamence was my only Intimidate user, I figured keeping it around longer could only be good, and I didn’t really notice the small drop in power.

I didn’t think Rotom was pulling its weight, so I swapped it out for Zapdos. Since the Zapdos I had was Calm, I used Collin’s Worlds spread (Calm Nature, EVs: 220 HP / 144 Def / 32 SpA / 76 SpD / 36 Spe). I used the same attacks Collin did (Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Hidden Power Ice, Roost), but didn’t think Safety Goggles were necessary, given the huge drop in usage Amoonguss has seen. I originally used a Rocky Helmet, but then switched to Sitrus Berry at the suggestion of Andykins. Sitrus Berry was really clutch on Zapdos, as a lot of Pokemon had trouble breaking through Sitrus Berry + Roost. Zapdos helped out a lot of matchups, as Thunder Wave can be an incredibly useful move. This team is relatively slow overall, and the speed control and general bulk Zapdos provided were crucial.

I finally tested Follow Me on Lucario on top of Stone Edge, and it was very effective. It was able to pull attacks away from Charizard as it Dragon Danced or Aegislash as it set up a Substitute. My favorite way to use Follow Me was to pull Sucker Punches away from a partner and watch them fail. Often times, the Focus Sash allowed Lucario to use Follow Me one turn and survive to get off one final attack later in the battle.

I also switched up the EVs on Charizard. Hydreigon could be a little bit of a problem if I had the wrong Pokemon on the field since it can OHKO a large portion of my team. I decided to up Charizard’s speed to make sure it always outspeeds Hydreigon with 252 EV’s and a neutral nature, the most common spread by far. I originally had some fancy Jolly spread with lots of cool numbers, but when I shared the spread with fellow Charizard X afficionado Pyromaniac720, he pointed out that I was wasting some stat points. The final spread ended up coming out to 252 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe, which is much more boring than the Jolly spread, but also more efficient.

I played in a Nugget Bridge Circuit Live Tournament and made it to the finals, so I was happy with the changes I made and the way I was playing. I took the team to a Premier Challenge in Alpharetta, Georgia, the next weekend and was able to come away with a first place finish and 40 more CP, putting me at 100 CP in the season so far. Considering my grand total for last season was 52, I’m pretty happy with the way this Fall has gone. Hopefully I can ride this momentum into a successful Winter.

Shoutouts

• Julien Porto – thanks for going out of your way to pick me up at the Philadelphia airport and for letting all of us stay in your hotel room. Hopefully we showed you a good enough time to convince you to stick with it!
• Meghan Swyryn – thanks for letting me stay with you on Sunday night in Philadelphia. It was great seeing you again and I’m really really sorry if I woke you up at 4:30 on Monday morning.
• Andrew Burley – thanks to you and your family for pretty much being my lifeline for Fort Wayne. There’s no way I could have made it there without you, and hopefully we can do it again next year. And congrats for cutting both events I guess… #QuieroBailar

There are way too many people to thank individually, but it was really great to see everyone again. The people in the community make traveling to these events worthwhile, whether you finish X-0 or 0-X. Well maybe not 0-X, but you get the picture. Follow me on Twitter at @jakesaysstuff for your daily recommended allowance of sarcasm. 4 out of 5 dentists recommend following me on twitter, and the 5th is stupid. Go check out my blog, Bowman’s Corner. I originally posted this report in 3 parts there, and will be updating it regularly in the future. I always tweet out a link when I publish a new post, so you should definitely follow me on Twitter.

Thanks for reading! If you managed to make it all the way through this whole post, you deserve a cookie. Go get yourself a cookie.

The post The X Factor: A 2015 Fall Regional Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Introduction

Hey everyone, it’s your friendly neighborhood TO, Nic! I’m here to talk about something that a number of people have been asking for over the past year or so: a tournament report… from the perspective of the organizers! I’m not going to be getting into too many gritty details or things that will bore you, but I’m going to try to give a fairly straightforward idea of how things work when you’re running a big event.

Personal Bio

I’m currently a 4th-year student at Penn State University, and my plan is to head to Seattle, WA next year to start my professional career as a Program Manager. My major accomplishments are:

Staff Accomplishments

• Pokémon Professor and Tournament Organizer since 2011, the day I turned 18
• VGC Head Judge at 5 Regionals from 2012-2014
• TCG Judge at 2 Regionals, 1 States, and multiple City Championships, Battle Roads, and League Challenges
• US Nationals Judge in 2013 and 2014
• Worlds VGC Judge in 2013
• Worlds VGC Head Judge in 2014

TCG Accomplishments

• 2009: Started playing again 2009 after taking 6 years away from the game
• 2010: Up to a .500 record in TCG
• 2011: Up to a .558 record in TCG
• 2012: 6-3 at US Nationals TCG for 162/1003 and a .640 record overall
• 2014: First event win at Penn State League Challenge

VGC Accomplishments

• 4-3 at Philadelphia Regionals in 2012
• 6-2 at Virginia Regionals in 2013

At this point, I was really questioning what I was doing with the game – I had made progress and felt like I was doing better and making friends, but something was missing. At this point, I was also now 18 years old and had become a Pokémon Professor and Tournament Organizer. I was having fun going to events, but something was missing.

One notable event that sticks out to me is the “infamous” Philadelphia VGC Spring 2012 Regional, where many of us (including myself) got to see what happens when you have a major shift in event structure. The 2011-2012 tournament season was the shift from the single-elimination-random-draw structure that so many members of the community recall to the now-used Swiss system. There were Regionals that year with less than 64 people, and it just so happened that this would be the first (and hopefully last) flighted Regional I played in. After getting put into Pink flight and seeing the insanity, I made a commitment to help improve the quality of VGC events in the future.

Going into the 2012-2013 season, I started contacting PTOs and I got my first chance to judge as head judge at Philadelphia, PA’s fall regional. It was this fateful day that I met the one and only AlphaZealot who had just started working for TPCi, and after hearing about his vision for the future, I became committed to growing this game as much as possible. I took a break to play in the Virginia Regional and after playing Ray and Wolfey in the first two rounds, I wanted to give my all to running events and making things go as well as possible for all of you great people! At that point, I ended up judging at US Nationals and then at my first ever World Championships in Vancouver. Hands down, one of my favorite Pokémon moments to date is sitting on stage with Mean and gebebo waiting to see them face off for the title. It was an awesome, awesome year.

Last season was a bit different for me because I had made the decision to take a term off from school to continue my work at Microsoft. While that was a great experience, it was also a ton of work getting ready to ship a video game console, and so I missed everything for the first few months of the season. I was able to get back into the swing of things by head judging at Virginia Regionals as well as judging in Massachusetts (both of which happened to be won by Ray who was on a Regionals tear last year.) In the middle of that, I caught a huge break, winning my first ever event (A TCG League Challenge which involved a final-round showdown against a parent) and reaffirmed to myself that I like helping out. I got to be on staff at US Nationals and then had the privilege and honor to head judge Worlds in Washington, D.C. with a great staff.

This year, I’m back at school to wrap up, and I’ve started off the year by traveling across the country to help run some awesome events. I started the year by head judging Philadelphia regionals, which was a blast thanks to how many of you turned out with so much energy. Two weeks later, I grabbed a flight to San Francisco for the first time in my life, and got to head judge San Jose Regionals with awesome hosts in Huy, Duy, Cassie, and Kimo. I’m still in the planning stages for Winter and Spring Regionals, but I’m hoping to connect with more PTOs so that I can continue traveling around the country and making all of your tournament experiences great!

The Report

Pre-Event

Okay, so enough about me and the events I’ve run in the past. Let’s get down to the actual report for San Jose Regionals. In August after Worlds concluded, the PTO for the event, Karl, reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in staffing his event. While I had to explain that I wasn’t living on the West Coast quite yet, I happily replied that I was interested in coming out to California to help with the event. For those of you that have reached out to organizers or are trying to staff Regional-level events, this is probably the time you want to start volunteering or checking your e-mail for any invitations.

Once I’ve been contacted, my first steps are always to make sure that I have a travel plan. In this case, that meant finding a way to fly from State College, PA where I go to school to California, attempting to schedule the flight so I miss the fewest possible classes. That ended up being a crack-of-dawn flight on Friday morning with layovers to get to San Francisco and then an ugly redeye flight to get home on Monday morning. Once I had this planned out, Duy told me that he would be happy to help show me the city and be my host, which was hugely helpful. All weekend, the Duy/Huy/Cassie/Kimo crew was awesome, whether they were helping me figure out how to escape Stanford’s campus, find awesome food, teaching me new games, or getting me from place to place. Huge props to them.

One of the best parts about getting in on Friday was the fact that I got to see parts of the area. I think it’s important to do this if you can – we’re fortunate to get to travel around the country to see our friends and share Pokémon, but if you can spare the half-day or day so that you get to share the culture and surrounding areas, it can be even better. For me, that meant going into the city to see sights, eat food, and then checking out Stanford and some startups my friends are a part of. I absolutely could have spent more time chilling, and I’m hopeful that I’ll get to come back again someday!

Friday night ended with an awesome ramen dinner followed by way too many games of DC Deckbuilding, only for me to realize at like 2 AM that I had a school assignment I needed to make progress on, so I gave up another hour of sleep for that. I don’t recommend doing that before an event, whether you’re playing or not.

Saturday – TCG Regional

Saturday started off early, and I arrived on site at the San Jose fairgrounds to see that there were a lot of people lined up outside and lots of people getting ready to play in the event. I got inside and talked to Karl, only to realize that there’d been e-mails that I hadn’t received and so I had missed arriving early to help with setup. As a note to aspiring judges and staff out there – this is why you should always follow up to make sure you don’t miss any last-minute changes. This was a mistake I made, and one that I spent a portion of Saturday trying to correct.

The issue is, when you miss the pre-event dealings, you get put into a pool of staff who already have spent some time working together, building up a routine and plan, and learning how they can solve the problems that will come up. I was able to rendezvous with Leo O. who was going to be in charge of Juniors TCG, and I was really happy to see that some veteran staff were being utilized alongside new staff. One of the best feelings in the world is being able to look at someone and see the journey they’ve made to reach the current stage, whether that’s a player who has played with their heart and eventually makes the decision to start judging or an adult who helped mentor you that’s not running their own events. Leo has helped me learn a ton about the game and Japanese culture over the past few years, and it’s always awesome to see him when we’re running events.

I spent the majority of the day helping out with the TCG staff and making sure their event was going as smoothly as possible. A big part of being on staff is helping out in any way possible, and for me, that means that I’m just as willing to cut match slips and hang pairings as I am to keep people in line, answer questions, or make rulings on the floor. I spent most of the first few rounds doing deck checks and fixing issues that came up. Thanks to a great team of volunteers, we were able to get all of the Junior issues fixed before starting the tournament, and the Masters lists were all reviewed by 11:12 AM, within an hour of the start of round 1.

It’s never fun when players earn penalties, but it’s unfortunately a part of many tournaments. There were still a few players who used shorthand (“Juniper”) on their decklists or forgot to write cards, and I hope that even though the penalty is painful, it’s a teaching moment that they’re able to use to avoid making mistakes in the future and to be more careful. Also, while it’s a TCG-related comment, I strongly encourage players to print their decklists out ahead of time so that they can verify the contents without risking a handwritten mistake or point of confusion.

There were 8 rounds of swiss for masters and 6 rounds of swiss for juniors and seniors, with a top 8 for all three divisions. The day was a pretty long one, and I was ready for things to wrap up as we did, around 8:30 PM. After dinner, I got the chance to grab some boba and walk to a food truck with Leo and some of the other staff, only to find out that they were out of tortas! After we all laughed about my attempt to order in Spanish and my dismay after finding out my food wasn’t available, we all got some sleep before the events of Sunday.

Sunday – VGC

The big day! I pretty much always start out tired, but once I get to an event, everything kicks into gear and I’m ready to go. I used to have a lot of trouble sleeping the night before I had to play, but that’s since gone away, so perhaps it’s a sign that I’m less stressed? Who knows. We get on site early, and I see that my staff list has a mixture of a few experienced folks with several newer judges.

One big mention is that Cassie volunteered to be on staff instead of playing, and she was a huge help in providing me with another knowledgeable expert. I can’t say it enough – if you’re a knowledgeable, mature, friendly member of the community and you don’t want to play, reach out to your local judges and organizers and offer to help. While it might not turn into anything immediately, these are the baby steps that lead to more opportunities and responsibilities. As an aside, don’t worry about the Professor Exam if you don’t play or understand the TCG. While having more knowledge is always good, if you can demonstrate that you’re able to act within the goals of the event and contribute to the team, you can still get your chance to help out.

I got the chance to brief the staff on effective ways to register teams and lock Battle Boxes, and along with Cassie, set up a side table to help fix issues that staff weren’t going to resolve. In my mind, the key to running great VGC events revolves around keeping the day running smoothly for the players, from registration straight through the conclusion of the event. Part of my pre-event goals are giving defined goals to the staff that I’m working with so that they can get a grasp for how things work. That means having teams of two people on each Battle Box-locking station to ensure that they can help each other if things go awry and also to ensure that we’re getting maximum turnover in the line. It’s easy to get flustered when a Battle Box isn’t locking or a player has leftover regulations from a past event, and having a second person to bounce ideas and talk through your plan helps make things run more effectively.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the online registration system. The only online registration that I’ve actively dealt with have been at the large events (Nationals/Worlds) where we had an online system to check players in. In San Jose, we were doing it more old-school with paper check in sheets, and this was part of what would lead to our delay before starting the event. This would also prove to be a bottleneck, and is part of why it took us so long to let people into the building.

By 8:30 AM, there were over 300 people (including parents and friends) in line, and we were having a very serious conversation about what to do when we reached venue capacity. This was a great reminder to players, myself included, that it’s always best to arrive at events as early as possible. My belief is that you absolutely need to be in line before the end of registration, but being in line doesn’t guarantee you a spot if the fire marshal is arriving in the hall to shut everything down. Alex Ogloza was the LAST person to get in line without a Round 1 or beyond loss, and he showed up just as I was counting out the last minutes of the registration window. Being on time means a lot, because when individuals come up and ask us to let them in because they’re (x) minutes late, I want them to realize that hundreds of other people had no problem NOT being (x) minutes late. I understand that emergencies come up, and I’ve also seen players with Round 1 losses make top cut, so I revert to my stance on penalties from before – it hurts when a player earns a penalty, and as a judge, my goal is to help make it a teaching moment for the future.

Similarly problematic was the individual who was in line with level 30 Pokémon with 5 minutes to go in registration. C’mon, train them beforehand or on the trip to the event! You should be ready to roll when you get in line.

At 9:40 AM, we thought that we had everything set, with a tentative count of 195 Masters, 45 Seniors, and 6 Juniors. For any experienced organizers out there, you’re well aware of the restriction that an event must have at least 8 players to be sanctioned. That’s not a problem, unless you have different computers for different age divisions, as is customary at many Regionals and higher events. That means that if for some reason you have less than 8 players in an age division, you need a backup plan.

At this point, I was able to confer with Dave from TPCi and Karl to make a decision on how best to proceed with our Junior division players. Simultaneously, the division judges I’ve delegated are getting ready to seat players for the players’ meeting to explain how the day is going to go. They print the roster which has seats for the player meeting and they go up. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, a page of masters division players didn’t get entered into the computer, and finding this page and correcting the issue takes the staff about 45 minutes to resolve. We had to move the players out of the venue for a variety of reasons, but please believe me when I say that I didn’t want everyone to be without information and confused as to what was going on. The simple answer is that it’s much better (for event integrity and for the running of an event) to have a single delay that can be addressed than to have repeated delays, whether that’s from re-pairings or issues mid-event.

By 10:45 AM, we’re ready to go, and we’re basically 45 minutes behind my target schedule for the event. We ended up with an Age-Modified Junior/Senior tournament with 6 rounds of Swiss and a Top 8 for seniors as well as 8 rounds of swiss with a Top 8 for masters. We ended up with 207/47/6 players, which actually beat the TCG numbers for masters, which is a great feeling, so thank you all and congratulations on showing them that VGC is alive and well!

I spent most of round 1 fixing a TOM problem, but thanks to the great judging staff, we had great folks running the divisions and keeping the players rolling along. Around this time, a lot of players were asking about lunch breaks for the day. In Philadelphia, we had so many masters and were behind due to an incorrect time being listed for registration, so we made the difficult decision to not break for lunch. This time, however, I felt that we could have a lunch break and still keep the event running in a timely manner.

By 12:45 PM, the players are on lunch break after completing four rounds of play, and we’re starting to turn rounds over faster. The staff are getting more comfortable with each other, and the highlighting of match slips is going really well. One of the biggest issues in a tournament of this size is that cutting match slips takes a long time – it can be upwards of 40 printed pages that have to be cut and distributed, and miss-cutting can cost your event time. It’s basically a game where doing small things like putting up pairings or match slips is important, and if you keep doing those things correctly, your event runs smoothly.

After round 5 wraps up, Duy and Alex make the call to drop from the tournament and start commentating on the Nugget Bridge stream. Big props to them: they had a stellar setup from this point out, and the crowd that was watching was respectful and great to see. At this point, we have wrapped up the Juniors (all of them got prizes and CP!) and are finishing Seniors.

At 3:15 PM, four hours and thirty minutes after the start of round 1, we are done with swiss. That’s 8 rounds of swiss along with a lunch break. Not bad, eh? This, to me, is a great example of how VGC events should be run. When staff know their roles and have a well-designed plan for the day, there are fewer mistakes. There were no re-pairs during the day, and we were able to keep the number of match record issues to a minimum. We were able to correct record errors, and the players were on top of their records making sure that if we made a mistake in the hundreds of match slips, we could fix it.

Thanks to some convenient timing, we were able to weave the Seniors division final matches in with the Top Cut for Masters, which really made their day. When we told them before Top Cut that the final match might be streamed, a few of them were really excited at the prospect. Masters: keep being awesome role models for them, and watch as that excitement and spirit continue to grow in the younger age divisions. By 5:00 PM, we were done with everything and packing up the VGC event. We’d made it through with only a few bumps along the way, and I was really proud of the way the staff and players responded to the challenges that came up.

Post-Event Review

So, that’s what it’s like for me to run an event and talk about it. My goals on Sunday followed a pretty basic flow:

• Ensure staff know how to register and interact with players
• Delegate division judges to ensure that rounds and staff will run effectively
• Get everyone registered correctly
• Ensure rounds 1 and 2 go well
• Support the event by doing anything else necessary to solve problems that arise

I really think that as an organizer, if you follow this nice “EDGES” system, you can set yourself up for success. There’s a lot to be said for having an awesome staff, expert knowledge, or someone who knows the game inside and out to commentate, but really, my goal is making sure that there’s a clean, fun, fair event that goes as smoothly as possible.

The three things that I really want to call out for making this event a success are:

• Having enough staff
• Highlighted match slips
• Players stepping up to help

A few things that really helped were the high quantity of staff we had. From my experience at US Nationals and Worlds, I believe that 25-30 players per judge is a great ratio for an event. It’s enough players that a judge will be able to interact and feel like they’re busy, without having too many players that make the staff feel overwhelmed. When the staff are overwhelmed, they can start making mistakes on match slips or providing information to players, and that’s not good. We had staff who ranged from 10-year veterans of the game to first-time staffers, and a good head judge or organizer should be comfortable finding roles for everyone. Staff is a team, and each person brings their own skills to the table – we don’t want to waste them or make them feel like they’re not helping. TPCi often mentions how committed they are to helping in any way necessary, and I really take their goal to heart. Remember that no matter what role a volunteer or staff member is in, they’re taking their time and energy to try and make your event better.

Another key to success was the use of highlighted match slips. While it’s not perfect, we had three errors during Philadelphia regionals due to the use of the highlighters (out of approximately 2000 match slips, or a 99.85% confidence rate for accuracy) and we had less than five in San Jose. My goal is and will always remain 0 mistakes made by staff, but I also acknowledge that as humans, we are prone to error. I’ll also take this chance to remind players of a few important things. Sit at the correct table. We had multiple matches where players didn’t sit at the right table, and you earn yourself a Game Loss penalty by not sitting at the correct table. Secondly, play the game to see who wins – this matters a lot less than it used to, but I still have a lot of players asking me how the game breaks ties. All of that information is publicly available online, and one of the most unpleasant experiences I’ve had is when a player or parent comes up and asks why the game resolved in a certain way. If you play the game, then there will be a result! It’s that simple

Finally, I think that’s it’s really important to thank the staff who are helping out. For some of them, it’s a next step in their roles in growing the community. For others it’s a big decision to not play in a major event, maybe your only major event for the year, to help make the experience better for your peers. In 2014, Sheryl R, Geoff S, Casey B, Bolt, and Cassie have all done this, and they’ve all been absolute pleasure to work with. Remember that the next time something goes wrong at your premier event to ask yourself, “Could I help fix that next time?” Sometimes it’s hard to take that next step, to step out of the potential  glory of competition, but I’m buoyed by the conversations I’ve had this year with future judges and organizers who have come from the ranks of this great community.

On that note, a quick shout-outs section, and I’ll leave you with a farewell and glossary.

Shout-outs to:

• Philip K on a Top 16 finish in the TCG. You’ve been awesome to meet over the past few years doing media, and it was great to see you playing and rewarded for your hard work.
• Duy, Huy, Cassie, and Kimo for being my hosts to the area and being so awesome to hang out with, as well as providing a place to stay.
• Leo, Justin, and Ricky for being awesome to hang out with and for going to get tortas and horchata after Saturday’s event.
• Karl B, Dorian R, Tom S, David T, and TPCi for inviting me to staff their events over the years and giving me the opportunity to give back to the community in this way.
• Junicki for welcoming me to the Dark Side at Nationals and Worlds – thanks for everything!
• All the staff I’ve worked with – thanks for being friendly and effective. Let’s keep running great events!

I hope you enjoyed this insight, and please feel free to leave me comments or send me a message if you have any feedback, questions, or concerns. Thanks, and have a great day!

~Nic

Organized Play Roles Overview

(All for North America – I’m not going to be discussing the situation in other countries because I don’t have the experience or background)

At the top of the food chain, you have The Pokémon Company International, based out of Washington, who coordinate Organized Play. They’re great folks, and the one this community is most familiar with is likely AlphaZealot, the gentleman in charge of the VGC side of things.

Then you have Premier Tournament Organizers – these are individuals who have proven themselves as Tournament Organizers and who are permitted by Pokémon to run “big” events. These are your Regionals and States organizers in most cases.

Next, you have Tournament Organizers – These are individuals (like myself) who have made an effort to be recognized by Pokémon to run local tournaments, like Premier Challenges.

Outside of the “Organizer” structure are the Pokémon Professors, individuals who have taken a test (which currently focuses primarily on TCG mechanics and event operation) and who are willing to uphold the Spirit of the Game and Professor Core Values while judging. In many cases, these people can be seen helping run Pokémon League or judging at events.

After that are Volunteers – often seen wearing neon colors at Nationals and Worlds. These are parents, players, and friends who are willing to help make a tournament even better by doing anything that’s necessary. From helping out by directing the flow of traffic, providing information, or helping with match slips, these great folks do all sorts of good.

All of these roles help out in different capacities, and if you’re interested in learning how they work or want to participate in Organized Play, feel free to reach out and I’d be happy to help if I can!

The post NorCal TOurnament Report: A Judge’s Perspective appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, I’m Paul Chua. Some of you may know me better as pwny person. I started playing VGC in 2010, but didn’t really have a breakthrough until 2012, where I placed top 4 in the Seniors division at my first nationals. I won Nationals in 2013, and went on to finish top 8 at Worlds the same year. Even with these accomplishments, I was pretty nervous going into the Philidelphia regional, as this is my first season in the Masters dvision. In the end, I finished top 8, losing to Wolfey in some very fun games. I’m here to give you some insight into the team I used at the tournament.

The Team at a Glance

On the surface, this team looks just like a standard rain team, similar to the ones Ray (Ray) and Sejun (pokemontcg) have been using. However, this team gives me many options other than a simple offensive rain mode, which I will explain in detail later. Let’s take a look at each Pokemon individually.

More In Depth Look at the Team

@ Leftovers

Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 204 HP / 148 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Perish Song
– Protect

Politoed is one of my favorite Pokemon due to its bulk, cuteness, and versatility. For this team, I felt like I needed Politoed to be slow in order to set up rain as often as possible, and to faint after other Pokemon in Perish Song. Because of the offensive nature of this team, I didn’t feel like I needed any investment in Special Attack and just went for a defensive build. The EV spread is the same as the one used by Japanese player YT (read more about his team here). The HP EVs allow Politoed to take minimal damage from hail and sandstorm, and the Defense and Special Defense EVs allow it to survive an Adamant Mawile Play Rough and a Thunder from Timid Mega Manectric, respectively.

The moveset is pretty simple. Scald is just a reliable STAB attack, and Ice Beam hits Pokemon that resist Scald, such as Salamence. Perish Song can be used to force switches, or used alongside Gothitelle’s Shadow Tag to knock out Pokemon that would otherwise cause problems for my team. Protect prevents Politoed from taking damage and allows for Leftovers recovery.

If I were to use this team again, I would definitely consider replacing Ice Beam with Encore. Due to Politoed’s lack of Special Attack investment, Ice Beam doesn’t do very much damage, even when its super effective. Encore is very useful in setting up Perish Song, locking my opponent into an ineffective move while I wait out the Perish count.

@ Assault Vest

Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 132 HP / 20 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
– Fake Out
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Giga Drain

Ludicolo was Politoed’s rain partner. I prefer Ludicolo over Kingdra due to Ludicolo’s lack of reliance on rain, and its useful grass typing, which allows it to go ignore rage powder and spore. I didn’t really like using a fast variant of Ludicolo so I went with an Assault Vest to allow it to take some hits a bit better. I’m going to be honest here, I got lazy on thinking of a Ludicolo spread and just used the EVs Sejun Park’s Ludicolo had on his nationals team. The problem is that the Ludicolo Sejun used was for a Sitrus Berry, so i wasn’t getting the most out of it. However, I never really had any issues when I was testing with it.

The moveset is pretty much what you would see any Ludicolo have. The only move that might seem a bit out of the box is Scald instead of Hydro Pump. I’m the kind of person that is really paranoid when it comes to moves with less than 100 accuracy. I didn’t want to risk missing any attacks so I went with Scald because it does some decent damage in and out of rain and the 30% burn chance is also a nice bonus.

@ Choice Specs

EVs: 60 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Dragon Pulse

Hydriegon is the next member on my team. The EVs allow it to outspeed Pokemon that are meant to outspeed Smeargle by 1 by 1 point (the speed stat number is 143). The HP EVs allow it to survive a Jolly Dragon Claw from a Garchomp. The 244 in Special Attack makes it so that I don’t waste the 8 evs in something that isn’t relevant. User Risky Chance showed me that 244 and 252 Special Attack  pretty much do the same thing, so investing 252 in Special attack would be a waste so invested it into other stats.

Moveset is pretty standard, Dragon Pulse was chosen over other options such as Earth Power because when testing, I never found a use for it and I had a feeling that i might need a time to do damage consistently compared to Draco Meteor with the Special Attack Drop.

@ Mawilite

Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Iron Head
– Play Rough
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Mawile is the Pokemon I chose as my mega. Its ability, Huge Power, when it mega evolves is really helpful because it allows Mawile to do even more damage. It also does well against the common Pokemon people use such as Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Kangaskhan. As you can tell, the EVs for this Mawile are very standard. As Mawile was my only physical attacker, I felt like I needed it to do as much damage on the physical side as possible. The moveset is also pretty standard as I saw no need to run anything unusual such as Rock Slide.

@Safety Goggles

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 76 SpA / 156 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Roost

Zapdos, in my opinion, is the best Electric type Pokemon you can have on a rain team. It is very bulky but also has a decent amount of offense. The EV Spread is really old. I was struggling to think of a Zapdos spread and I didn’t like using a Bold one. In the end, I decided to go with Human’s spread from his rain team from long ago which can be found here. It pretty much accomplished the only goal I wanted it to do, survive a Draco Meteor from a Choice Specs Modest Hydreigon, so I went with it. The moveset is also very basic. Thunderbolt for STAB, Thunder Wave for speed control, and Roost in order for it to survive for a longer time. I chose Hidden Power Ice over another attack such as Swagger because I was worried about not being able to hit Garchomp if a scenario were to end up like that.

Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Calm Nature
– Trick Room
– Psyshock
– Charm
– Protect

Gothitelle is the last Pokemon on my team. It helped me set up Perish Song or disrupt my opponent’s strategies with its ability. The EV spread allows it to take a Choice Specs Hyderigon Dark Pulse and the remaining EVs were put into Defense to make it a little tankier on the physical side. The moves are also self explanatory. Trick Room for speed control,Psyshock was chosen over psychic just so that i can hit Assault Vest Pokemon harder. Charm is there to cripple physical attackers. One notable thing about this is that my Gothitelle is faster than Mawile outside of Trick Room. This can help me a lot by outspeeding a Mawile and charming it which leads to my Pokemon surviving an attack I normally wouldn’t. Protect is there to stall out my own Trick Room if I wanted to, but mostly I used it to stall out Perish Song turns if it was going on.

Conclusion

In the end, I enjoyed this team. This has to be, in my honest opinion, my favorite team I have ever used out of all 4 years of playing VGC and I am glad I got to share this team with you guys! The many different options the team has is part of what makes it fun, causing your opponent to wonder which mode you decide to bring into the match. Other people have also used similar versions of my team and have achieved better results than I have, such as Kamz and TheBattleRoom getting 2nd at their respective regionals.

So with that being said, I would like to give a few thank yous to people who have helped somewhere along the journey of becoming the person I am today:

• Eric1999: You were the best team building partner I could have asked for. The ideas you give me for my teams always help my team and you are very supportive of me. Hopefully we can meet one day in person, and I am very glad to have met you.
• Cybertron: My match against you in 2012 was one of the best matches I ever had and I still haven’t forgotten it. That was motivated me to keep playing Pokemon. Your YouTube videos also help me in coming up with cool ideas and become a better player.
• LudiImpact: Thanks for being a great friend and also telling me how good my team was. You are always very positive when it comes to me in these events, and that always makes me happy.
• My parents: Thanks for actually putting up with me and actually bringing me to these events. You guys are also very positive and always tell me to not worry about doing bad and to just have fun, which has always helped me whenever I get flustered from a loss.

This is all from me for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this report as much as I had writing it. Have a nice day!

The post Making a Splash: A Top 8 Philadelphia Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

“They say that Wii Us are reserved for kings.
That trophies are the realm of those who deserve them.
And in a critical hit, in the missing of a stone edge, fortunes change.
Through every bubbling comes the chance to top cut again.
To rebuild anew, atop the misclicks of the past.
Out of scrub comes pro.

We come to you, with the salt of a proud gamer, and the tilt-filled mind of a haxer-bathed Smogonite.
Let us begin the story now…”

Well, I asked my baby tarantula for ideas on a cool opening and that’s definitely what he told me. He moved his mouth and everything, honest, he was like the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but less Soho.

He’s called Rob Swire, and he true be cold like Alaska freezer, whatever that means. Ask the guy he’s named after. Yet another tribute to glorious electronic music, he lives on my desk next to Skrillex the centipede and Calvin Harris the pitcher plant, who, incidentally, I did meet in the Summer. It just so happens that we fell in love, as his leaves turned brown. Yes, that’s another terrible musical reference, and I regret nothing. Because it’s funny. More importantly, however, Rob lives next to my brand new shiny Wii U, which is what this story is about.

Hold up your hands, and begin again

So, you probably know how sick I got of the standard XY format and its don’t-be-weak-to-Kangaskhan-use-Rock-Slide tendencies, and who didn’t? It was a format that I never really found myself a cohesive team for, which meant I wasn’t playing with anything good enough to more than top cut Nationals. I pretty blindly ran into it with stuff I’d made in about two seconds, and used practically the same stuff all season. In the end, come Worlds I was busy anyway, but it did kind of bother me how I hadn’t properly cracked the 2014 format. So, once I heard the lovely announcement for the Streetpass UK Autumn Event, I decided I had to make an effort for once and rolled out of bed to the local qualifier, which was a convenient one minute’s walk away, in a hall with walls adorned in paintings of cherubim, and naked soldiers. I managed to lose to Steelix, because I’m an idiot and was really hung over and forgot it learned rock moves, but I won an invitation to the grand final in Manchester, which was what mattered. Soon after, I began thinking about finally making that one team I could say I was proud of. I decided to make like Knife Party’s new album and Abandon Ship: Reconnect and bring out a load of new material. Begin Again and come up with something that’s basically the same but kind of slightly different. A Pokémon equivalent to middling electro, text-to-speech sampling, and bad deep house. A team so foolproof that even I can win a Wii U with it. So dastardly and ironic that the Mamoswine is called Mammoth. The Best. Team. Ever.
So I began training. I spent long and hard nights on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber that is Pokémon Showdown, with a variety of unprintable and hilarious usernames involving words such as “massive”, “leaky”, and “panther”. I’d organised something nice, based around a specially defensive Aegislash named Resistance (“This… is a knife!”), the beautifully-monikered XGonGivIt2Ya the Charizard X, and Red Dawn the Talonflame. All was well, until I kept playing this German guy with a Raichu and Azumarill lead, and couldn’t beat him however hard I tried. I must’ve lost to him a dozen times before it (Red) dawned upon me: “I practically invented Lightningrod + Azumarill! What am I doing not using it again?!?!” I’d well and truly forgotten the trick of my best team in the format… whoops. Except Raichu was an even better partner for Azumarill than Mega-Manectric, and it let me use a Mega in the back. So I pondered, deeply and meditatively, for about the ten seconds it required to put a team together. This is what I came up with.

You are now about to witness the strength… of street knowledge

Gin and Juice- Snoop Dogg
“Rollin’ down the street, doing nothing in particular, sippin’ on gin and juice!”
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Attack / 92 Speed
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Aqua Jet
– Belly Drum
– Protect

With my mind on my offensive pressure and my offensive pressure on my mind. Nope, doesn’t work. This Azumarill set, though, works obscenely well.
The cool thing about Azumarill is how everything takes huge damage from its Play Rough, but barely anything can one-hit KO it. And if the opponent doesn’t hit it, they leave it able to set up a massive attack stat and risk taking Aqua Jets that wreck their entire team without giving them a chance to hit it back. So, Azumarill is pretty much always going to win if it’s played right. That’s why I like it. That, and it’s really cute.

Like the clearly tanked rabbit itself, gin and juice is so pleasant, but it hits you hard if you don’t pour it right. Pour a measure of clear gin in the bottom of the glass, and then fill it up with orange juice on top. Looks kind of like a shiny Azumarill’s pattern, right? So the Snoop Dogg classic suits better than anything.

And hey, notice something funny about the EV spread? Yeah, it’s Baz Anderson’s spread with 1 extra speed in case I played him. Teehee, I’m so naughty.

Volt- Yung Lean
“Not supposed to make it so we chase it till we got ‘em all”
Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 Attack / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Fake Out
– Encore
– Protect

This is my Raichu. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My Raichu is my best frien- actually nah… that’s pushing it a bit. Really, though, my Raichu’s pretty unique.

For some reason, nobody else seems to run Protect on Raichu and I have absolutely no idea why. It’s clearly a better move to carry than Hidden Power Ice, which doesn’t actually KO anything Azumarill can’t already. Raichu’s here to support Azumarill and pressure the opponent into attacking me, and it does that better if it stays alive for longer, hence the Protect and Focus Sash. Encore, however, is the real star move. Try to use Protect against Azumarill? Enjoy getting either Encore sticking you into it, or having to switch out into something Azumarill can totally wallop. Basically, Raichu’s support puts a lot of pressure on the opponent, since they can’t use Electric moves in front of it, its fast Fake Out gives me advantage in the first turn, and I can use Encore to trap the opponent in bad moves, all while Azumarill is dealing loads of damage. Raichu and Azumarill has to be one of the best lead combinations in the game: it gives the user overwhelming field control and lets you punish practically everything the opponent can throw at you. Just how I like it!

Volt’s not just called that because it’s Electric-type, it’s actually more imaginative than you might think. Yung Lean is possibly the definition of niche. Nobody sane can even come close to comprehending that which is Yung Lean and his Sadboys. So, you have no idea how happy I was when I found him on the internet last year. He constantly wears bucket hats with sunglasses and goes on about Pokémon whilst prancing about and ostentatiously sipping Arizona iced tea. If this wasn’t literally me aged 10 and up, I’d be copying him right now and not regretting a minute of it. God, I love Yung Lean. If you’re not already a Sadboy (Which is legitimately a unisex term), go and watch the video to the song Hurt, because it is, in my opinion, the best four minutes on the internet. Volt’s one of his newer and artier tracks, which, if you read into the lyrics, is about how all the haters told him he’d never get famous, but now he’s mixing orange juice and alcohol, in a spaceship. And there’s a basketball involved, and rupees. Oh, and he puts drugs in his smoothies. The orange juice and alcohol represents Azumarill, and the spaceship his alienation from society. The basketball is an allegory for oranges, and how they are also orange, like my shiny Raichu and Azumarill. But oranges don’t bounce. They just splat and make a mess, a situation that’s affected me personally. As you can see, there’s hard-hitting themes involved and it’s very deep and meaningful. Really makes you think.

Bad- David Guetta
“Why does it feel so good… to be bad?”
Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate/Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Speed
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the club tune of 2014. As the DJ presses the play button on his Macbook, tensions rise: the build-up resonates into the glory of synthetic fanfare. Pray tell, what is that luminous serenade emanating from those standard issue Welsh nightclub speakers, the ones famous Nugget Bridge member _OR1 lost a paper parrot between, leading to a fatal case of the jolly belly tickly? For the fifth time tonight, it’s Bad by David Guetta, and it has all 6 misfits on the dancefloor bouncing. I wonder: why does it feel so good… to be bad?

RAH NANANAH RANAH RAHNANANAH NANAH, RAHNANANAH NANAH, RANANANAH NAH

The crowd goes wild, shuffling around vaguely in circles as they usually do.

“HANDS UP IF YOU’RE FROM BANGOR UNI!”

Everyone flails their hands somewhere in the air, except Koryo because bless him he’s actually a local.

RAH NANANAH RANAH RAHNANANAH NANAH, RAHNANANAH NANAH, RANANANAH NAH

“Gaz from Geordie Shore is in the building!!!” The kids keep shamble dancing. They can’t get enough of this big room house music. Except they can, because I honestly couldn’t tell you the kind of person who enjoys listening to it. It’s in the charts! Who is paying money for this stuff?!

RAH NANANAH RANAH RAHNANANAH NANAH, RAHNANANAH NANAH, RANANANAH NAH

And then you just give up and start laughing because, honestly… who even cares? You’re in Wales, for some reason, surrounded by people who are equally questioning why they’re there, drowning in a booming sonic mire; the soundtrack to the end of the world. The sticky satellite town dancefloor is the embodiment of grimness; it’s a scum that grips. It’s grimmer than Kony 2012, and hey look, there’s even a naked guy running down the street. You question everything about the kind of society that not so much allows this kind of nonsense, but encourages it. Then you don’t care. Because it feels good to be bad.

This is basically why I use standard Mega-Mawile. No matter how hard you can try to be above it, you can’t, so just go with what you’re given, and focus on playing it to its strengths, which means play your Mawile standard. You can try to be smart with a fancy defensive spread, or Rock Slide, or Fire Fang, but it just doesn’t work. Thanks to Huge Power, your Attack EVs actually have twice as much effect than if you put them in any other stat, so it’s so much more efficient than using anything else. To use anything other than the standard is, as they say in my country, all fur coat and no knickers. Which, fair enough, is a good look if you can rock it. You, however, probably can’t.

Spitfire- The Prodigy
“If I was in World War Two they’d call me… Spit-fire!”
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze/Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Defence / 60 Special Attack / 4 Special Defence / 188 Speed
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Heat Wave
– Solarbeam
– Protect

Tuuuune! If you don’t like The Prodigy, you’re lying to yourself. Given the fact I do possess questionable taste, you may disagree with me. I mean, I’m not going to beat about the bush, I did think “Hey QT” was a good song. That said, The Prodigy are pretty great, as you’ll probably agree with me.

In this song, the sampled vocalist asserts that, had he been involved in world conflict of 1939-1945, people would’ve referred to him by the name of a kind of English fighting aeroplane. Now, I can’t vouch for the legitimacy of that somewhat fanciful claim. What I can do, however, is point out that Charizard, too, was a child of the late ‘90s, and he definitely spits fire. Setting Sun’s more refined brother, Spitfire probably has the best Charizard Y setup you’re ever going to get. Truth be told, if I’d run this guy at Nationals, like I should’ve done, I think I’d probably have done a lot better. But I went with Kangaskhan because I was beginning to feel like a one-trick pony, so whoops. That’s how I ended up with my massive rain weakness: I’d basically been using Charizard to beat it the entire time, then totally forgot rain was a thing as soon as I removed it, which was something of a mistake.

Charizard Y controls the field and pressures the opponent. If they don’t immediately get on his case, he’ll blow them away. He’s simple enough, but gets the job done and gives people plenty of trouble, unless they have a faster Rock-type move user, which is pretty much only Garchomp, and something else I’d later be reminded of. Anyway, Spitfire is a plain good piece of music. Sadly though, the fact they never play it anywhere, yet I’m always hearing stuff like Bad. Like TM21, that’s an endless source of Frustration.

(Whaaayyy!!)

Mammoth- Dimitri Vegas, Moguai and Like Mike
“Woop doop doop! Woopa doopa doopaaa! Woop doop doop!”
Mamoswine @ Life Orb
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Icicle Spear
– Ice Shard
– Protect

‘Cause he’s a mammoth? Get it? …oh, it’s just not a good joke. That’s okay. I suppose I can’t win them all.

If Spitfire’s my favourite dance floor tune of the ‘90s, Mammoth is probably my favourite of the current decade. It’s so sad-sounding, and yet so powerfully stoic. Kind of like Manny the Mammoth from Ice Age. He’s pretty cool, but he misses his family, so he’s a sad boy but also a strong boy. The song’s writers manage to convincingly synthesize this dicey melancholic vibe, despite being respectively named after money laundering, something you shouldn’t feed after midnight, and a septic tank of Lil’ Bow Wow. It’s inspirational.

So yeah, quite clearly this guy is the perfect partner for Charizard. Those icy cool wabi-sabi overtones are just too much for dragons like Garchomp to handle. Mammoth knows he’s not perfect. He knows he’s no longer meant for this world. But he’s come to terms with it, and it just makes him want to dance his stubby little legs off, and then die again, like he should’ve done 10,000 years ago. Honestly, I wish I could tell you the mammoth was going to come back, but I actually share a lab with a guy on the front line of mammoth ancient DNA research and yeah, not going to happen anytime soon. He reckons that if they did Jurassic Park one back to life, it’d just sit there like a big woolly Eeyore and ruin everyone’s day, and I think he’s right. I like to play with the dead squirrel he keeps in the fridge.

Now, how to finish off my team? Hmm…

Next, on Intervention…

Satisfaction- Benny Benassi
“Push me. And then just touch me. Till I can get my. Satisfaction.”
Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Dragon Claw
– Rock Slide
– Protect

I was warned about Garchomp. I was told, dog. But it keeps happening. I tried to do things differently. I TRIED!

Actually no I didn’t. I really, really didn’t. Please, just check me into Garchomp rehab or something. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel: Zog doesn’t always have to use Lum Berry Garchomp. This is a short appeal. For just two pounds a month, you could help Zogs like Zog have access to a clean Dragon-type. A Dragon-type that doesn’t have 4 HP EVs, 252 Attack EVs, and 252 Speed EVs. The future is bright, and it’s hopefully not nicknamed Satisfaction.

Well, Garchomp is still as good as it always was. I picked it in games where it was better than Mamoswine, like if they had a Charizard or Talonflame. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Garchomp is the best non-Mega Pokémon in the metagame. I win by never having deadweight, and Garchomp is never deadweight.

That’s each of the members of the team!

Where the hood, where the hood, where the hood at?

<Each Pokémon’s picture all in a line here would be cool>

So, you’ve seen each Pokémon. The most important part of the team, though, is how it fits together. You’ve probably guessed that Raichu and Azumarill are meant to go alongside. By default, I’d usually lead those two whatever the opponent had, using different if they had a team that was particularly unfriendly to either. Raichu would then be free to distract the opponent and put down any cocky Pokémon weak to Electric, while Azumarill wreaks havoc on the rest of the team. The only real answers to this lead are Grass-types, which, by virtue of being rare thanks to their weakness to Talonflame, and handled by Charizard, aren’t much of a problem. If I was up against a Grass-type or a rain team, Charizard would be chosen in the back, or frequently as a lead alongside Raichu. As you can imagine, Charizard did show his face in pretty much all of my games. Mawile was almost exclusively left to matchups involving Kangaskhan, which was weirdly not that often. Then I’d have Garchomp or Mamoswine depending on if I needed Garchomp’s Rock Slide or Mamoswine’s Ice Shard and stronger Earthquake. But hey, that’s enough boring explanation. You’d rather see for yourself, right?

Are you ready… for the grand finale?

I’d actually been looking forward to the day, as it happens. When Chris (Havak) and the rest of the team organise a tournament, it’s always as good as UK Pokémon gets, so probably the highest quality grassroots Pokémon you’ll find anywhere, plus alcohol. So all in all, top day out.

This one was the Streetpass UK Autumn Grand Final, which was the culmination of a couple of dozen qualifiers held by Streetpass UK groups across the country. The top four at each won an invitation to play at Bar21 in Manchester, for the chance to win a Wii U, trophies and the new games. I’ve had a secret rule for myself since the Wii U came out: I wasn’t allowed to buy one, I had to win one from a tournament. So, I had to put some effort in and bring it home this time.
The lil’ bro and I managed to easily make it to the venue this time, without walking past and entirely missing it. Which was fortunate, since later it turned out there was a dead guy poking out from under a bush a little down the road and had I got lost in the same place as I did last tournament, it would’ve been me that found the poor fella. Hash tag downer? Luckily for me that ended up being somebody else’s problem, so I settled down and got myself a gin and juice, in honour of my lovely Azumarill. I vaguely remember Foodking accusing me of having ebola and me telling him that if he wasn’t careful I’d wee on his face, and then he’d have ebola too. It’s funny; where life takes you.

Round one… FIGHT!

Round 1 Vs. Rachel Annand (SPEevee)

Raichu, Azumarill, Mega Mawile, Mamoswine Vs. Mienshao, Gardevoir, Mega Manectric, Garchomp

Her country might’ve quailed at competing with the rest of the UK, but Rachel, Scotland’s strongest trainer, has been doing it for years and it shows. I had a tough first round, and it was time to give it a go. Things get off to an extremely Rocky start, and for a while it seems like my chances are Sliding into oblivion, but give it a watch and you’ll see what happens! Loads of really cool moves in this one.

1-0

I may have taken the first round, but I did not take Scotland’s freedom. Its general public did that.

Round 2 Vs. Joe Wilson (Russian)

Raichu, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Garchomp Vs. Mega Manectric, Talonflame, Politoed, Ludicolo

Oh, hello. Yet again, I’m playing Mr. Fluffy Hair and his… actually glorious rain team. Get ready for a nice game! It’s all about bringing it to 2-2 and positioning my Charizard to underspeed his scarf Politoed and get the sun on the field for the endgame.

…ah, wasn’t scarfed, was it? Splish splash, quality game with a quality player.

1-1

Round 3 Vs. Chris Littlechild

Raichu, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Garchomp Vs. Mega Kangaskhan, Politoed, Ludicolo, Aegislash

Chris was a little bigger than I expected, and seemingly also an adult. I felt somehow lied to. He was, however, packing both one dangerous rain team and the favour of the gods. Scary!

See, games like that are why I wear dark-coloured trousers. Around now I begin to realise how badly-prepared for Ludicolo I am after dropping Talonflame, so I buy a fifth or seventh gin and juice.

2-1

Round 4 Vs. Ben Markham (Benster)

Raichu, Mega Mawile, Mamoswine, Garchomp Vs. Talonflame, Hydreigon, Mega Kangaskhan, Azumarill

Sadly gonna have to omit the video for this one since I can only upload 10 at once, but it was still a nice game. Raichu takes down Talonflame on the first turn, Kangaskhan drops Garchomp soon after but goes out with Rough Skin, and I’m feeling comfortable with Ben’s Specs Hydreigon locked into Fire Blast. But wait… oh whoops, I brought Mawile. That’s… going to be a problem. So I have to go a little into the rough and double target Hydreigon with Ice Shard and Sucker Punch for the KO. Kids, this is why I use 252 Attack EVs. Wins you games, even if you screw up!

3-1

Round 5 Vs. Dennis Kinghorn

Raichu, Azumarill, Mamoswine, Mega Mawile Vs. Garchomp, Zapdos, Mega Mawile, Greninja

This pleasant fellow named Dennis used a classic and imposing ZapChomp DisQuake team, which made me nostalgic for the olden days of 2009. Ah, those days as a chubby-cheeked and insomniac 16-year-old, with a shiny addiction and zero killer instinct. That year I top cut Nationals with Explosion Gengar and Kabutops, with IVs so bad they each got OHKOed by Thunder Fang Salamence and Charge Beam Cresselia. In March, I introduced my good friend Andy to his first Pokémon game. By June he’d blown my idiot self out of the water and won tickets to Worlds. Yeah, I don’t think I miss 2009. All this nostalgia made me wonder, though, what would it be like to have a baby named Dennis? It just doesn’t fit. It’s like having an Imogen who isn’t an emo. In case you’re guessing, yeah the game left a little to be desired. But it was nice talking to Dennis.

4-1

Round 6 Vs. Sam Bentham (SuperIntegration)

Raichu, Azumarill, Mamoswine, Mega Charizard Y Vs. Garchomp, Rotom-W, Scrafty, Mega Mawile

Ouch! It’s a nasty matchup to end the Swiss rounds. See, I might be a scientist, but at heart I’m a bit of a dippy creative. Sam’s a mathematician, and his cold hard numbers hit me for super effective damage. Mathematics scare me. They make me feel lost and powerless, like Les Dennis.

Harsh, harsh game, and it all comes down to one turn.

…ah, that had to happen, didn’t it. Icicle Spear only needed 3 hits or one critical to KO, then Rock Slide goes and flinches me. But I don’t mind that much; I didn’t play perfectly, Sam is strong, and as luck would have it I’m still in the top cut!

4-2

Time for some pretty nice free pizza and a sixth? Eleventh? Gin and juice. Delicious. And now, the top cut.

Top 16 Vs. Alex Parker

Game 1

Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, Mamoswine, Azumarill Vs. Nidoqueen, Azumarill, Mega Lucario, Rotom-H

Immediately Rotom’s Thunderbolt critical hits and somehow knocks out my Charizard, meaning he’s running the rare offensive set and I’m not happy. I’m more than a little mad at this kind of thing happening at exactly the wrong moment, and end up running right into a Protect from his Azumarill, losing Mamoswine to a sun-boosted Overheat that I weirdly assumed wouldn’t KO. In the space of two turns, I’ve been unnecessarily wrecked by this stupid Rotom, and it’s all my fault. Then, the icing on the cake: he’s running a ridiculously fast Azumarill. As the brothers from Rotherham would so wisely say: Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. I’m about to throw the teddy out of the cot when Alex, God bless him, points out that it’s a best of three. Phew! Good thing I’m not a sore loser, right? …right?

Game 2

Mamoswine, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Garchomp Vs. Azumarill, Nidoqueen, Abomasnow, Mega Lucario
I hope you, dear reader, realise at this point just how stressy Alex’s team was making me. I used to have a stress ball that, if you squeezed it, would play a sound clip of Michael Winner saying “Calm down, dear!”. Michael Winner doesn’t stop you from feeling stressed. Michael Winner only makes it worse. But now he’s dead, so I’m safe now. This game was thrillingly noxious so I’ll give you the video. I brought Charizard thinking it wouldn’t be threatened by his Mega Lucario. Then, once the big dog hit the field, I knew something was wrong. My spidey senses were tingling. So I took a risk, and it paid off. Happy viewing.

Game 3

Garchomp, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Mamoswine Vs. Mega Lucario, Rotom-H, Azumarill, Hydreigon

So here it is. Back to the wall against one brutally tough adversary. I know what’s coming: it’s a leap of faith. Come on, Stone Edge! Show me why you’re the worst move in the game!

I’m a lucky little lolcat. Thanks to Alex for being a good sport and giving me one of the toughest matches I can remember! I’m a little worried, though, about facing any more Rock-carrying Mega Lucario, which I’d totally forgotten was even a thing. Because I’m silly.

Top 8 Vs. Alan West (alanspurs)

Alan was the 6-0 in Swiss, so I know I’m in for a hard time. It’s time to fight for a copy of Omega Ruby!

Game 1

Mamoswine, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Raichu Vs. Ludicolo, Politoed, Hydreigon, Mega Mawile

Eek, Politoed and Ludicolo! I don’t really know what to do and just hit everything with Play Rough until I get a grip and remember… wait, I can use the rain to KO Politoed with Aqua Jet. How fortunate. From there I make it sunny again and clean up with Charizard and priority moves. Sorted.

Game 2

Mamoswine, Mega Charizard Y, Azumarill, Raichu Vs. Hydreigon, Mega Mawile, Politoed, Ludicolo

I had a hunch and I rode it like a Japanese grasshopper man on a talking motorbike. Strong game!

Thanks for the games, Alan! Lovely games, lovely bloke. And hey, he got his revenge on me a few days ago when he steamrolled my second badge Omega Ruby team with… Swagger spam. Surskit and Nuzleaf had less of a chance than Barney in the Kowloon Walled City.

Top 4 Vs. Joe Wilson (Russian)

We meet again, fluffy man. Your rainy poser days are over, jerk! Now I’ll get my revenge. Sun versus rain. Dragon versus frog. Hotness versus wetness. Two polar opposites, so divergent yet intrinsically linked. Our teams form antipodean perfection: a Yin and Yang of children’s computer gaming. In case you’re wondering, though, yes, I am the hot one.

Game 1

Raichu, Azumarill, Mega Charizard Y, Mamoswine Vs. Mega Manectric, Talonflame, Politoed, Ludicolo

Now I know his Politoed isn’t scarfed, I manage to face Joe down and beat him. Like Alan Partridge before me, I’ve proven the possibility of being funnier than rain. In this moment, I am euphoric. Now all I have to do is keep it up.

Game 2

Raichu, Mega Charizard Y, Mamoswine, Azumarill Vs. Mega Manectric, Aegislash, Politoed, Ludicolo

Here we go, I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna go full Adele and set fiiiire, to the raaaaain!

…ah. Whoops. Well, Play Rough’s always going to do you in every now and then. If I hadn’t have been overly cautious about a possible Wide Guard at the start of the game, though, that wouldn’t have happened.

Game 3

This is it. A Pokémon battle so relatively epic, it would’ve made Jesus Ninahaza fall backwards off his chair all over again. Enjoy.

Amazing games as always with Joe, the best rain player in the country. And hey, would you believe it? Just like that, I’m in the final.

Final Vs. Richard Fairbrother (NidoRich)

Now, Rich and I were the only two guys playing who’ve won a Manchester tournament before. Could I let him beat me and be drawing with my at this point 2 Manchester wins? No way! Manchester’s mine, I can’t lose it to a literal Scrub! I’d come so far. I needed that Wii U, and its ability to waste even more of my precious free time.

Game 1

Raichu, Azumarill, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp Vs. Gardevoir, Mega Manectric, Lapras, Talonflame

Here we go! We’re on the big screen for glory, and a Wii U. Gardevoir, which for some reason is named Boris, traces Huge Power… lucky. I want to beat it up because someone once told me I was the Boris Johnson of Pokémon, and I was very offended. However, he switches it into Talonflame? Well, I do what I did last time I played Rich, and to give the crowd a bit of excitement Belly Drum up, the only time I used it all tournament. Thanks to Talonflame, Azumarill’s now in huge danger from Brave Bird, which ironically plays in my favour since the predictability of me Protecting it means I’m almost certain Rich will double up on the Raichu that’s bothering Manectric, so I just attack with Azumarill for an easy KO at the expense of Raichu, who I deliberately sacrificed to hide Protect for the next game. *I move away from the mic to breathe in*. So I bring in Charizard and… ah, he doesn’t have a counter to it. That’s boring. I feel kind of bad for spamming Heat Wave for the win on the big screen final but it’s all in the name of a Wii U, and bashing Boris Johnson.

Game 2

Raichu, Mega Charizard Y, Garchomp, Azumarill Vs. Manectric, Talonflame, Gardevoir, Mega Lucario

Now, that’s more like it. This game was on a knife-edge. My team’s one true nemesis, Rock-carrying Mega Lucario, in the final. A double target from Lucario and any of its teammates is enough to KO any of my Pokémon, so one wrong prediction and I’m done. How will Zog cope? Will he crack under the pressure? Find out by clicking the play button!

Had that Rock Slide flinched my Azumarill, I think that would’ve been a very different story. Rich played it well and made some ballsy moves, but other than Lucario I think the matchup was strongly in my favour. Once he was out of the picture, Charizard could to town on his whole team and that really swung it for me. So woo! I won! I got the Wii U! I’m proper chuffed.

Oh baby, a triple! Oh, yeah!

And that’s how I won my third Manchester tournament and got more excited for the next year of Pokémon. I hope you enjoyed reading about it, and maybe learning something new and pointless. Being able to do well again’s really got me back into the Pokémon, and I’m looking forward to the new format. I’ll be putting a lot of effort in this year to make sure I get to Boston, and really smash the scene up a bit. I want that World Champion title!

Hey QT! Yeah, there’s something I want to say!

• Massive thanks to everyone who organised the event, wherever you were. None of this would’ve been possible without your hard work! You’re all treasures. Especially Chris and James who were on the frontline managing the brackets and- get this- having the next round’s matchups ready within seconds of the last result being posted in. These events are literally the gold standard of grassroots Pokémon. Non-UK people, y’all better be jelly.
• Love you all, amazing Pokémon trainers. It wouldn’t be the same without the beautiful, tipsy characters gracing the tournament floor, and meeting great new people at every event. Moments like Jake’s “I think it’s rum?” shots, oh wait, too late, it’s 85% alcohol drain cleaner and now we’ve all downed it. Teehee. Stuff like that, it’s special. You’ll get me out one day, promise! And I’m gonna swing from the Chandeluuuure, from the Chandeluuuuuuuuure.
• I’ve been thinking a lot about how I should practise for the coming season, and I decided I’ll give a shot at doing proper VGC livestreams, where I’ll test out teams and talk about VGC and just random funny things. Problem is, right now I can’t afford a capture card. If you think it’s worth doing and you’d watch me, I’d like you to tell me. I think it’ll be really fun and I want to help the game grow but it’s a pretty big investment, so let me know if it’s worth doing!

So, thanks for reading! See you next time.

The post Begin Again: First Place at the StreetPass UK Autumn Grand Final appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey guys! My name is Cedric Bernier, but you might know me as Talon. Or maybe not. Probably not, actually, which is completely understandable considering I haven’t had a large presence online since 2013. My notable accomplishments consisted of Regional wins in the Junior and Senior divisions and a 15th place finish at the 2011 World Championships in Seniors. Most recently, I won a Premier Challenge and the Houston Regional Championship in the Masters division, which I’m going to discuss in this report.

After a weak finish at US Nationals in 2013 (my final event as a Senior), I was lucky enough to be drafted by the Fallarbor Flames for NPA 2, which allowed me to develop more as a player. For my first Masters event, the 2014 Houston Regional, I created what I thought to be a solid team, and was hoping for an x-2 or better performance. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. An early string of bad luck put me on tilt, and I dropped at 3-3. Completely demoralized, I decided that I might retire early.

I stopped chatting with my friends online and stopped frequenting Pokemon-related websites. By the time the 2014 US National Championships came around, I hadn’t thought about the game for months. However, I couldn’t resist following the event and watching the stream. As I watched the high level of play in the top cut, I realized that I had missed not only the strategy of the game, but the friends I had made through it. However, the centralization of the metagame at the time of US Nationals curbed my desire to start playing again. It was only once I saw in the World Championship that the metagame had become fairly diverse that I decided I would give this format a shot.

By reading Nuggetbridge, I gained a simple understanding of the VGC 14 metagame. I had trouble learning the speed tiers due to the inclusion of incredibly fast Pokémon such as Aerodactyl and Mega Manectric that had previously not been viable or hadn’t existed. However, with the help of my good friend Jaquar I was able to garner a good enough understanding of the metagame to get high on the Pokemon Showdown! ladder using several different popular teams.

Soon, I logged on as my normal alias of TalonVGC on the VGC server, and was pleasantly surprised to receive a personal message from one of my good friends, Kenan Nerad (Lucien). We spent a while chatting, and he told me a lot about what I had missed that season. It was later that week that Kenan gave me the opportunity… No, the honor of aiding him in the building of Dig Boom 3.0. For those unaware, Dig Boom is a seekrit strategy that dates back to 2010 that involves the use of Dig, Fly, or Dive to avoid a partner Pokémon’s Explosion or Self-Destruct. Although it only came with mixed success, Dig Boom is an elite strategy with deep roots that will continue to be viable in all VGC formats.

Using such a fun team brought the joy back in Pokémon for me. It was the first time in years that Pokémon wasn’t a competition for me anymore, but a game as it was meant to be. Eventually, Kenan asked me if I was going to attend the Houston Regional this year. I answered truthfully that I hadn’t made any plans to. He informed that on top of the people that usually attended Houston, there was a high chance that Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) and Edward Fan (iss) would be attending. As I hadn’t seen those two since 2013 US Nationals, I decided I would attempt to attend. It was only 2 weeks before the event that I had booked a hotel room. With far less time than I’ve ever had to build, refine, and obtain the Pokémon for a team, I knew that I would need to train smart, not hard. Past knowledge reminded me that rain teams tend to be prominent at Regionals. The rising Mawile usage was also something I kept an eye on, as I knew that it was arguably the best functioning Mega Evolution in rain and out of rain. After identifying what I wanted my team to counter, I began to build the team that would win the 2015 Houston Regional Championship.

The Team

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 188 HP / 44 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
-Heat Wave
-Overheat
-Solarbeam
-Protect

Mega Charizard-Y looked to be the most anti-meta Mega Pokémon going into the Regional in my eyes, countering both rain and Mawile very well. This Charizard has a standard move set, so I won’t waste many keystrokes explaining it. Heat Wave was effective in doing spread damage quickly, Overheat was my option when I wanted to drop a bulky Pokémon to low HP, and Solarbeam was used mainly against Water types. Protect was almost mandatory so that I could stall turns and eliminate Pokémon threatening Charizard with Rock type attacks.

The EV spread does what most do these days, with the HP and defensive investment allowing Charizard to survive a Jolly Garchomp’s Rock Slide 15/16 times. This was mainly for insurance, as I rarely left my Charizard on the field against a Garchomp if I had a choice. The speed EVs allow me to hit 140 Speed, although I have debated running a faster Charizard to outspeed Timid Mega-Blastoise. I invested the rest of my EVs into special attack to maximize my damage output.

In both the Premier Challenge and Regional, Mega Charizard-Y came in very handy. I saw several rain teams on both days, with Mawile as their Mega Pokémon, as anticipated. Despite having two 90% accurate moves, Charizard was extremely consistent. I didn’t miss any Overheats, and Heat Wave never missed when I absolutely needed it to hit. Mega Charizard-Y was the right metagame call for Regionals, and it was a key factor in every game that I brought it to.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 36 Atk / 212 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
– Rock Slide
– Ice Beam
– Fire Blast
– Crunch

I had always planned to use a Choice Scarf Tyranitar during my teambuilding process, but I had no intention of using Crunch nor a Hasty nature. However, on Friday night I didn’t have any of the Pokémon that I needed in-cart, let alone trained. I looked through the Nuggetbridge IRC chat for anyone that might be able to trade me a Tyranitar. I noticed Randy Kwa (R Inanimate) online and remembered from his World Championship team report that he tested a Choice Scarf Tyranitar. I immediately messaged him asking if he could lend it to me for the weekend. He was able to trade it to me, but it was only during the Premier Challenge that I learned that it wasn’t the standard Timid Dark Pulse version.

Although I only have a small sample size, I now believe that Hasty is a better nature than Timid is. The main purpose of Timid is to use Dark Pulse instead of Crunch, which can be hindered by Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp. However, I rarely used Dark Pulse in practice, and I found that the trade off of stronger Rock Slides for a less reliable Dark type STAB and weaker physical defenses was worthwhile. This came in useful throughout the tournament, with Rock Slide doing just enough damage to get the 2HKOs that won several games. I only used Crunch once throughout the tournament, but it did ensure that I got an important KO against an Assault Vest Ludicolo that Dark Pulse wouldn’t have gotten. Randy’s EV investment allows Tyranitar to move before Choice Scarf Politoed and Mega Lucario and OHKO 4 HP Garchomp with an Ice Beam. The remainder of EVs go are split between Attack, Defense, and HP for a bit more bulk and offensive power.

It wasn’t as useful of an end game tool as some of my other Pokémon were, but Tyranitar was effective in applying chip damage that allowed my other team members to clean up. It was also an extremely strong choice as a lead with almost any other Pokémon on the team because it applied pressure to my opponents early, forcing them to play predictably.

Salamence @ Choice Specs
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 20 HP / 52 Def / 180 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Flamethrower
-Dragon Pulse
-Sleep Talk

For the longest time, I was using a Hydreigon over Salamence because I believed that its Dark type STAB would be needed for my Gothitelle matchup. However, the day before Regionals I realized that most teams with Gothitelle were effectively countering Choice Specs Hydreigon. I switched to Salamence because of the utility provided by Intimidate. I opted to use both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse so that I could choose either power or reliability based on the situation. I decided to use Flamethrower over Fire Blast because this team excelled at doing chip damage to Pokémon, and I didn’t want to bet entire games on hitting a Fire Blast when I could use a more reliable move. I used Sleep Talk in the last slot in case I ran into any Choice Scarf Smeargle in the tournament. There was no reliably way to stop it from getting a Dark Void off on this team, so I needed at least some way to beat it. I didn’t get into a situation where I needed to use Sleep Talk, but no situations occurred in which I wished that I had Fire Blast during the tournament.

I don’t believe that the EV spread for Salamence was optimal. I hadn’t used a Salamence prior to the event, but I knew that I wanted to outspeed Modest Hydreigon and speed tie with other Salamence if I needed to. With the defensive investment, Salamence will survive a Life Orb Mamoswine’s Ice Shard at -1 15/16 of the time. In retrospect, I think these are wasted EVs that should have been invested into Special Attack, but at the time of EV training, I saw that my team was fairly Mamoswine weak. I wanted another Pokémon on my team to survive one of its attack and KO back, but in practice I decided to sideline it when I saw Mamoswine, as just a little of Sandstorm chip damage made its defensive EVs moot.

During the tournaments, the Intimidate that Salamence provided was instrumental in setting up win conditions. Despite never using it before the Premier Challenge, it played so similarly to Hydreigon that I didn’t have any troubles adapting. The damage it provided with Choice Specs put threats such as Kangaskhan and Rotom-H in KO range of my teammates, allowing them to sweep in the late game.

Mawile @ Mawilite
Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 76 Def
Adamant Nature
-Play Rough
-Iron Head
-Sucker Punch
-Protect

In testing, I found that Mega Charizard-Y was at a significant disadvantage if I came across a fast user of Rock Slide, such as Aerodactyl or Choice Scarf Tyranitar. I tried several different options before Mawile to strengthen my matchup against these two, but nothing clicked. I wasn’t eager to use Mawile at first, as I was sure that many others would see the sharp rise in Mawile usage and try very hard to counter it. This wasn’t an issue because my team members covered Mawile’s weaknesses well, with Garchomp, Tyranitar, and Ludicolo serving as checks to its most common counters.

I decided to use the standard moveset on Mawile, as alternative options like Fire Fang and Rock Slide didn’t improve any matchup significantly enough to warrant the valuable moveslot. Play Rough was almost exclusively used against Dragon and Dark types or when I needed to hit something that the more reliable Iron Head couldn’t, such as Zapdos. Sucker Punch was effective in picking off Pokémon at low HP. The EV spread is simple as a result of laziness. I got this Mawile late at night, and I was far too tired to use my ideal Mawile spread, which invested a bit into Special Defense and Speed, while still being able to survive notable physical attacks such as Jolly Life Orb Garchomp’s Earthquake. However, it was roughly 2 AM by the time I received the Mawile, so I decided that sleep would be more valuable to me than the small difference that retraining it could make in the tournament.

Mawile’s strength was its synergy with Charizard. The matchups that Mega Charizard-Y struggles in are often positive for Mega Mawile. This made this team fairly easy to play in Team Preview, as I knew my opponents would be forced to bring their Pokémon that beat both Charizard and Mawile. If there was Rotom-H or Garchomp in my opponent’s party I could safely assume that they would bring it, often in the lead position, in a desperate attempt to check both Charizard and Mawile. Knowing this allowed me to outlead my opponents consistently, forcing them to play predictably early in the game.

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

In past VGC formats, I was never a fan of Garchomp. However, I believe that Garchomp is better in the VGC 2014 rule set than it has been in any format since 2009. Garchomp is perfect for the fast paced metagame that developed as a result of the introduction of outrageously powerful Pokémon via Mega Evolution. There’s a small group of Pokémon that truly counter Garchomp, and most are either easy to play around (Choice Scarf Dragon types and Tyranitar) or aren’t common. For this reason, Garchomp is an extremely safe option and synergized with this team well, despite it only being able to safely use Earthquake with Salamence or Charizard on the field.

The moveset and EV spread are as simple as it gets. Earthquake and Dragon Claw serve as powerful STAB attacks, while Rock Slide is for coverage on Flying types like Talonflame and Zapdos. In general, I think that Substitute is a better option than Rock Slide. However, Rock Slide was definitely the right call for this team, because if Salamence or Tyranitar ended up Choice-locking into the incorrect move, Talonflame could go to town on my remaining team members. The EV spread is as common as it gets. Maximum Speed was necessary because, in a format where Garchomp is the most common non-Mega Pokémon, having a chance to win the Garchomp mirror can make or break games. I opted not to EV to survive Timid Mega Manectric’s Hidden Power Ice. It isn’t as common as it was in early 2014, and those EVs are useless if the Manectric comes in late-game after Garchomp has taken one turn of Life Orb recoil.

The consistent damage output that Garchomp provided with Life Orb proved to be useful. Slowly chipping away threats to Garchomp until they were in range of its powerful attacks was my win condition in many games throughout the tournament, making it the MVP of the weekend.

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 148 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Scald
– Giga Drain
– Ice Beam
– Fake Out

Two days before the Premier Challenge, I had no idea what I would be using at the sixth member of my team. Ideally, I wanted my last member to check Mamoswine, Rotom-Heat, Azumarill, as well as giving me good tools to defeat Rain teams and the Gothitelle-Mawile combination that was rapidly rising in popularity. I experimented with Zapdos, Ferrothorn, and Rotom-W but none of them could stand up to all variations of Gothitelle-Mawile teams, specifically ones that led with Ludicolo or Hariyama. I experimented with several terribly bad options to beat this combination, even going so far as to remove the Choice Scarf on my Tyranitar to test out CHOICE SCARF FINAL GAMBIT LUCARIO. Unfortunately, an extremely fast Final Gambit user with an immunity to flinching is better in theory than in practice once you see how many KO’s are missed with a base 70 HP stat.

Eventually, I realized that the Pokémon I was trying so hard to beat were all fundamentally different. To beat them all, I would need to find something with extremely diverse coverage. In reading nearly every team report I could find online, only Ludicolo’s movepool jumped out at me. Without a second thought, I knew it would be the final member of this team.

It was Blake (Bopper) Hopper’s  team report that convinced me to use Ludicolo, so I decided to use his EV spread. For those unaware, the defensive investments allows Ludicolo to be 3HKO’d by Garchomp’s Jolly Dragon Claw, while the Special Attack EVs let it OHKO back with an Ice Beam, assuming Garchomp isn’t bulky. Looking back, I would invest the Speed EVs into another stat, as being slower in the Ludicolo-mirror isn’t an important factor in most situations. Fake Out is a useful form of disruption, while the combination of Ice Beam, Giga Drain, and Scald hit some of the most common Pokémon in the format for super effective damage. I used Scald over Hydro Pump mainly for consistency. The Special Defense boost from Assault Vest, combined with Intimidate support from Salamence and Mawile, allowed to Ludicolo to stick around for quite a while in most battles. This had the added benefit of increasing the chances of burning my opponent’s Pokemon with Scald.

Despite me never using it prior to the event, Ludicolo came in clutch whenever I brought it. With weather-changers and Swift Swim, my rain matchup was blissfully easy. By applying Fake Out pressure, Ludicolo made playing against Gothitelle-Mawile teams far easier, as I could waste the first turn trading Fake Outs with my opponent and double target the Gothitelle next turn. In my opinion, Ludicolo’s usefulness in most matchups makes it one of the best non-Mega Pokémon in the format.

Effective Lead Combinations

 /  +

This lead’s purpose was to apply offensive pressure extremely early in the battle by allowing my Mega Pokémon to get off a lot of damage. Tyranitar checked many of the Pokemon that gave Charizard and Mawile trouble, which often gave me the opportunity to score an early KO.

 + 
This was my typical lead against rain teams lacking Talonflame, although it was useful in general as Ludicolo and Charizard complement each other well. It was also a useful lead against Gothitelle-Mawile teams that had a rain mode, because even if Mawile got past Charizard, it had to risk getting burned by Ludicolo’s Scald. I found this was the most neutral lead choice I could make, and I often defaulted to it when I wasn’t sure what else to do.

 + 
Double the dragons, double the fun! This was my anti-Kangaskhan/Smeargle lead. My opponents had to assume Garchomp had Lum Berry, but Salamence was the real threat. I would often use Protect with Garchomp on the first turn and target Smeargle with Salamence. If the Smeargle turned out to be Choice Scarfed, I would simply Sleep Talk the next turn and nab a surprise KO in the early game, with a -1 Kangaskhan on the field.

Premier Challenge

After roughly a four and a half hour drive to Houston, I arrived at the hotel at about 5:30 PM. Knowing better than to play on an empty stomach, I ate dinner at a restaurant in the hotel and made sure to get caffeinated for what I believed would be a late night. Following my meal, I picked up a team registration sheet and sat down at a table with Ben (Benji) Irons, Blake Hopper, Collin (TheBattleRoom) Heier, and Logan (Yellowbox) Castro. They were surprised to find that an untimely death was not the cause of my hiatus. After some idle chit-chat and inspirational ballads (“Like a game of chess…”), we began to turn in our team sheets and went through the registration process. The player meeting started sometime after 9:00 PM, with the actual competition beginning roughly 25 minutes later. Registration lasted an abnormally long time because over 100 players showed up to the event, which is actually more than we had at Houston Regionals last year. That really put into perspective for me how much the Pokémon community has grown since the release of X and Y.

Round 1: vs Joseph (lucariojr) Brummett

 v. 

I’m going to get this out of the way now: going into a big tournament after taking a year off, I didn’t anticipate doing well enough to warrant a report. For that reason, I did not take notes during any of the tournament. There will likely be inaccuracies and there will definitely be vague descriptions of battles, since I am going off of memory here. But I’ll attempt to explain the thought processes behind my plays for the turns that I can recall.

When looking at the pairings, I found a name that was vaguely familiar to me. As soon as I saw him approaching the table, I recognized him as lucariojr. While waiting for the judges to start the mathes, I asked Nico (Calm Lava) Villalobos how to actually battle via IR connection, as I had never been to an XY event and was unfamiliar with the game.

I didn’t identify this to be Markus (13Yoshi37) Stadter’s Nationals team in Team Preview due to my lack of knowledge of the 2014 season. Knowing this information could have been extremely useful in Team Preview, as I would’ve known that the Salamence was likely to be holding a Choice Scarf. Regardless, anticipating Joseph to bring Rotom-H and possibly Salamence to check my Mega Pokémon, I led with Tyranitar and my own Salamence. I brought Mawile and Garchomp in the back as checks to his Kangaskhan. Joseph led with his Salamence and Rotom-H, just as expected.

The opposing Salamence’s Intimidate activated before my Tyranitar’s Sand Stream, but I missed this valuable information. Predicting his Salamence to switch out against the threat of an Ice Beam, I used Rock Slide and Dragon Pulse on the Rotom-Heat slot, hoping to get either an early KO or put it into sandstorm KO range. However, he sent my Salamence packing with a Draco Meteor while switching Rotom-H to Mawile. My -2 Rock Slide did roughly 35% against Salamence and minuscule damage to Mawile, with sandstorm bringing Salamence to about 60% HP. I reprimanded myself internally for not paying attention to the order of abilities activating, as there was no way I would do remotely well if I kept making careless mistakes like that. I brought in my own Mawile to put Joseph’s Mawile at -1 Attack.

Knowing that it wasn’t an appealing option for his Salamence to stay in, I targeted Joseph’s Mawile with an Iron Head. I felt I couldn’t risk a Play Rough knocking out my Garchomp on a switch, so I used Rock Slide with Tyranitar. He double switched, with his Garchomp taking the Iron Head and Rock Slide, bringing it to about 20%, with Rock Slide doing roughly 30% to the Rotom-Heat that took Salamence’s place.

The Rotom-Heat was threatening to Mawile, so I had to switch in Garchomp despite the fact that I would most likely be burned. I kept Tyranitar in and continued to use Rock Slide, wanting to chip Rotom-H down slowly before Mawile came back later in the game. Tyranitar hit both Rock Slides, which after Sitrus Berry and sandstorm damage put it at just above 50%. Joseph’s Garchomp used Earthquake, which put Tyranitar at 25% and my Garchomp at 60%. Rotom-Heat burned Garchomp with Will-O-Wisp, putting it at just below 50% HP at the end of the turn.

This turn I thought a bit about what I needed to happen so that I could make a comeback. I had to risk the speed tie and try to KO his Garchomp with a Dragon Claw or I had no chance to win. This was the most opportune time to switch out my -2 Attack Tyranitar, assuming that I won the imminent coin flip. My Garchomp did move first, and Mawile came in safely for Tyranitar while Rotom-Heat used Protect as anticipated. However, a combination of Life Orb, Rough Skin, and burn damage put Garchomp at a little above 15% HP. Joseph brought in Salamence in the spot of his fallen Garchomp.

I used Protect with Mawile and Rock Slide with Garchomp in order to put both Salamence and Rotom-H into KO range of Tyranitar’s Rock Slide. Joseph double targeted Mawile with a Fire Blast and Will-O-Wisp, and Rock Slide did connect with either of his Pokémon. Garchomp fainted to Life Orb recoil and Burn, and I brought in Tyranitar.

I believe this to be the turning point of this battle. Salamence was at a low enough HP that my Mawile, despite being -1, had a good chance to nab the KO with Sucker Punch. He could have either switched in Mawile to Intimidate my physical Pokémon while letting Rotom-Heat faint to my Tyranitar’s Rock Slide, or he could have stayed in and risked the game on whether or not I got the KO with Sucker Punch. I used Iron Head onto the Salamence slot, hoping that I had made the right play. To my elation his Salamence did switch, and I hit the Mawile for significant damage while Rotom-Heat used Protect.

I had no choice but to use Iron Head on the Mawile slot and hope that he wasn’t running any speed while using Rock Slide with Tyranitar. To my surprise, Joseph Sucker Punched Tyranitar, missing the KO. Rock Slide took Rotom-Heat out, while Iron Head finished off Mawile. Salamence came in, and a Sucker Punch+Rock Slide combination gave me the win.

Record: 1-0

Despite a devastating turn one, I was able to turn the game around in a nerve-racking first game of the Premier Challenge. I think that playing the start of that game so horribly actually helped me focus better for the rest of the night, though. From then on I was committed to observing every aspect of my games while playing, so as not to make such a bad mistake again.

Round 2: vs Abram Calderon

 v. 

This battle is mostly a blur to me, but there are some key events that I do remember. On the first turn, I Mega Evolved Charizard and used Heat Wave, but I did negligible damage as his Sableye used Rain Dance. My lack of knowledge of this format became obvious here, and my opponent informed me that Rain Dance is common on most Prankster users to counter Mega Charizard-Y. He later revealed Confide, which lowers Special Attack by one stage. I was aware of that, but I was shocked to find that it also bypasses Protect! Despite being slightly flustered by all of this new technology being dropped on me, including a non-Mega Manectric, I was able to put myself into a winning position, with full HP Garchomp and Tyranitar locked into Rock Slide against a Full HP Mega Scizor. I went for Rock Slide with Garchomp, knowing that using Earthquake on my own Tyranitar was less than ideal. The Scizor did not flinch and he revealed Brick Break, OHKOing Tyranitar. At this point I had the win, as a Life Orb Earthquake finished Scizor off, and even a Bullet Punch critical hit couldn’t save him.

Record: 2-0

Round 3: vs Collin Heier

   v.

Going into this game, I didn’t feel very confident. This has been Collin’s format, and I wasn’t entirely sure that I knew my team well enough to even compete. Seeing his rain mode, I led with Ludicolo and Charizard. Collin didn’t seem to have a reliable answer to Ludicolo aside from Mawile. I chose to use Tyranitar as a way to deal with Hydreigon and Zapdos primarily, with an added bonus that I would be able to further control the weather. For my final team member, I chose Garchomp over Salamence, wanting the option of Protect in a team that potentially carried three Ice type moves. Collin led with Mawile and Zapdos.

Knowing that he would most likely try to preserve his Mawile by switching out or using Protect, I double targeted the Zapdos with Fake Out and Overheat. Zapdos went down and Mawile did use Protect, giving me a 4-3 lead on Turn 1. Collin brought in Politoed, setting rain up.

I scouted whether Politoed would use a Water type attack or Ice Beam by using Protect with Charizard and attacking the Mawile with Scald, hoping for a burn. This turn went well, with Scald doing 75% to Mawile with a critical hit, and Politoed attacking into Charizard’s Protect with an Ice Beam. Ludicolo survived a Play Rough with 10%.

I didn’t want to lose my Ludicolo to the potential Sucker Punch from Mawile, so I switched out to Tyranitar, and used Heat Wave with Charizard as I knew I could easily survive what was likely a Choice Scarf Politoed’s Ice Beam. Collin realized that Politoed wasn’t in a favorable position and switched it out for his Hydreigon. My Heat Wave did 35% to Hydreigon with a critical hit while Mawile hid safely behind its Protect.

I used Heat Wave once again, while using Ice Beam on Hydriegon with Tyranitar. Collin played this turn well, switching Politoed into the Mawile spot and using Protect with Hydreigon. My -2 Heat Wave in the rain amusingly missed Politoed.

At this point in the game there was no point in keeping Charizard in, so I switched Ludicolo into Politoed’s Scald which survived with 1 HP, with no burn occurring. Collin switched Hydreigon into Mawile which survived a critical hit Ice Beam with little more HP than my Ludicolo did.

I identified that Collin wasn’t likely to snipe Ludicolo with a Sucker Punch, as doing so would allow my Tyranitar’s Ice Beam to KO it as well. I used Giga Drain on Politeod, leaving it at roughly 25% HP, and Ice Beam on Mawile, which Protected. Politoed’s rain boosted Scald OHKOd Tyranitar, which allowed me to bring Mega Charizard-Y in and set up sun.

I made a fairly stupid play this turn, using Fake Out with Ludicolo to try and avoid Mawile’s Sucker Punch that would clearly be targeting Charizard. As long as Heat Wave hit both of his Pokémon, I had the battle, but using Fake Out with Ludicolo opened me up to losing on account of a miss. Collin knew he needed Charizard gone, so he double targeted it with Scald and Sucker Punch. But thankfully there were no critical hits, and Heat Wave hit both Mawile and Politoed. Collin sent in Hydreigon and forfeited the match.

Record: 3-0

This battle was honestly a really good confidence builder for me. I felt really in control for most of that battle, and I had managed to get a win against a Worlds-caliber player. However, I tried not to become overconfident. I still needed to maintain my focus.

Round 4: vs Sam Haarsma (DrFidget)

 v.  

I was familiar with Sam from his presence online, and I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this battle. In past years he had used some less common Pokémon, but he isn’t the type of player to use an obscure Pokémon unless it has competitive merit.

Looking at his team, I knew that Mawile was a safer choice than Charizard, as the Umbreon could outstall every other Pokémon on the team, so I needed a way to deal damage to it quickly that didn’t involve dropping my Special Attack to -2. I led with Tyranitar to deal with Sam’s Mawile checks, specifically Rotom-Heat. He led with Greninja and Pinsir, which wasn’t affected by Intimidate due to Hyper Cutter.

I made a mistake here in thinking that Sam’s Greninja might have Mat Block. That move is more common with less skilled players, and it was a lapse in judgment thinking that he might have it. I used Protect with Mawile to avoid taking either a Hydro Pump from Greninja or attacking into a Mat Block, while using Rock Slide with Tyranitar. Sam Mega Evolved Pinsir and Hydro Pumped Tyranitar for 80%. Rock Slide left Greninja at a 40% after sandstorm damage.

It was fairly obvious that a neutral Sucker Punch from a Mega Mawile would now be able to KO Greninja, so I decided to Iron Head the Pinsir. I switched Tyranitar to Salamence to lower Pinsir’s attack stat, but Sam switched his Ferrothorn into the Pinsir slot in fear of my Tyranitar’s Rock Slide. Greninja used Protect, while my Iron Head did roughly 25% to Ferrothorn, with Leftovers bringing it back to over 80%.

This next turn, I didn’t want to mess around with Greninja using Ice Beam on Salamence, so I targeted it with Sucker Punch. Expecting Ferrothorn to make a switch, I targeted it with Dragon Pulse. Although Sucker Punch knocked out Greninja, Sam protected Ferrothorn to scout Salamence’s locked move. Rotom-Heat came in to threaten Mawile.

I didn’t want to risk a potential Hidden Power Ice from Rotom-H KOing Salamence, so I switched it out for Ludicolo, which also had the benefit of resisting a Gyro Ball. I played it safe this turn by Protecting Mawile. Rotom-H tried to Will-O-Wisp Mawile while Gyro Ball did very little to Ludicolo.

Not wanting my Mawile to be burned by a Will-O-Wisp or OHKOd by an Overheat, I switched Salamence in its slot, while attacking Rotom-Heat with a Scald. The Scald was blocked by a Protect, and Salamence came in for free. After Intimidate, Ferrothorn’s Power Whip left Ludicolo at roughly 40% HP.

I expected Ferrothorn to use Protect once again to scout for a Fire type attack, so I double targeted Rotom-H with a Scald and Flamethrower, hoping to get the KO. This turn did not go well for me, with Scald failing to KO because of Rotom-Heat’s Passho Berry, and he double targeted Salamence with Thunderbolt and Gyro Ball and KOd it. Suffice it to say that turn did not go as I expected. I brought in Tyranitar, hoping to bait a Thunderbolt.

This turn, I allowed Mawile to take a Thunderbolt and Ludicolo to take a Power Whip so I could KO Rotom-Heat. Power Whip left Ludicolo with 5 HP, but the Mega-Pinsir that came in for Rotom-Heat could easily take Ludicolo out next turn.

I knew that I needed to get Tyranitar in safely with my Mega Mawile if I wanted a chance to win this game. I did so by using Protect Mawile and letting Sam’s Pinsir KO Ludicolo with a Return.

After bringing in Tyranitar, I figured that I had no chance of winning if I didn’t KO one of his Pokémon this turn, so I attacked Pinsir with Fire Blast and Sucker Punch. I felt like it was less likely to use Protect this turn than Ferrothorn was. I groaned in dismay as I didn’t see Ferrothorn go for a Protect this turn. Pinsir, however, did faint to the double target. Ferrothorn used Leech Seed on Mawile instead of attacking Tyranitar, which really surprised me. He used Protect next turn, sapping a bit of HP from my Mawile. Tyranitar’s Fire Blast was able to connect and did roughly 85% to Ferrothorn, with Iron Head finishing it off to give me the win.

Record: 4-0

Following the battle, Sam informed me that he didn’t think that my Tyranitar was Choice Scarfed, as his Greninja did outspeed it. I recalled that a maximum Speed Greninja will always outspeed a Choice Scarfed Tyranitar, so he must have had an EV spread, or a Modest nature, that allowed him to scout out the items of different Tyranitar. For some reason, his Greninja didn’t underspeed in this case, which ended up causing him to misplay the final turns of the battle. I really got lucky here, and I don’t think I deserved the win in this game. As this was a fairly long battle, pairings went up quickly afterwards and I didn’t have much time to linger on this.

Round 5: vs Mario Contreras

 v.  

I honestly can’t remember much about this battle, other than my leads doing work against his team. Mario couldn’t really switch anything into a fast Ice Beam paired with sun boosted Heat Waves, apart from Rotom-Heat. However, because his Rotom-Heat was offensive, I knocked it out with an Overheat after I had gotten off one Heat Wave. After those two were gone, I simply had to switch Charizard out to reset my Special Attack and take out Aegislash’s partner.

Record: 5-0

I was pleasantly surprised by my results so far, as I knew that it I had a decent chance of getting into Top Cut, even if I lost the next two games. It was at this point that Aaron arrived at the venue, and was consequently swarmed by his adoring subscribers. I was able to push my way through the stampede and have a conversation with him for the first time in over a year, which was really nice. I had missed the friends I had made from VGC more than the competition, and I was glad that attending this event had allowed me to see some of them again. Pairings did eventually go up, but at this point it was getting so late that I didn’t even feel like battling anymore. I half-heartedly went to my next battle, the fatigue of playing finally hitting me.

Round 6: vs JT Hunsaker

 v.

Manectric was very scary to me in Team Preview. It could do work against every member of my team except Tyranitar and Ludicolo with his team’s support. Ludicolo, however, wouldn’t be very useful against his Scizor, so I decided not to bring it. I brought Mawile over Charizard for some Intimidate support, although in hindsight Charizard would have been a better choice, with my opponent having two Steel types. I brought Tyranitar as a way to threaten Garchomp and Scizor with fast, 4x Super Effective moves. Salamence was brought to keep his physical attackers in check, specifically Scizor if it went for a Swords Dance. My opponent led with Scizor and Manectric.

I decided to roll the dice here to see if I could survive Manectric’s Hidden Power Ice and KO it back with an Earthquake. I obviously didn’t want to Earthquake my own Tyranitar, so I switched into Salamence, which could also threaten Scizor with a Flamethrower. I was glad to see my Garchomp survive with a sliver of health and KO Manectric with a Life Orb Earthquake. This meant that Garchomp went down to Life Orb recoil, but I believe it was a worthy trade. I can’t recall the rest of the match, but each of us preserved our final three Pokémon until he had Garchomp with a little chip damage and -1 Scizor out against my Salamence and Tyranitar. At this point, I knew his final Pokémon was Aegislash, so I locked into Flamethrower and attacked the Scizor slot, while using Ice Beam on his Garchomp. I thought to myself while inputting my moves, “Alright, I’ve got this game in the bag, as long as this Garchomp doesn’t have a Choice Scarf. But who runs Choice Scarf Garchomp, right?” Apparently JT runs Choice Scarf Garchomp, as he outsped Tyranitar and knocked out Salamence before falling to an Ice Beam. At this point I had no chance to win unless I could freeze both his Scizor and his Aegislash. As soon as Mawile was knocked out, I forfeited.

Record: 5-1

Although I joked around with my friends that I hoped to lose the next game so I could just go to sleep, I really wanted to make Top 8 at this event. I tried to keep my competitiveness in check and have fun in the final round, but I was so close to getting my first Top Cut in a Masters division event. I awaited the pairings, hoping that I wouldn’t be paired against one of the many other 5-1 players that I knew.

Round 7: vs Zach Asdasda (Hooligan)

 v.

Unfortunately, this is where my memory starts to get a little sketchy. Keep in mind that it was about 1:00 AM, and I was just trying to get through each battle. As a result, I can hardly remember this battle apart from my opponent having a White Herb Azumarill and Substitute Kangaskhan. I was able to get a timely critical hit on the Azumarill with a Giga Drain and knocked it out before it could do any significant damage to my team. Later in the game, I was able to prevent Kanghaskhan from setting up a Substitute and limited its damage output using Salamence’s Intimidate. I did end up on top of this one in the end.

Record: 6-1

Everyone was relieved that the Swiss rounds were finally over and that they could finally get some sleep, except for those poor souls who had made the Top 8. It must’ve been terrible to be one of those guys, right? As the Tournament Organizers and Judges were itching to get some shut-eye, they hurried the Top Cut process to initiate. It was to our great surprise that we would be operating in a best-of-one system until the finals. While many of us were upset by this, as best-of-three is general a more reliable way to determine who deserves to move on, it’s pretty easy to understand why they did this. If every match had been a best-of-three, the people running the event, as well as the players in the finals, would probably finish at around 4:00 AM. Regardless, we had no say on the matter, and we simply grit our teeth and dealt with it.

Top 8: Michael (shrop05) Shropshire, 6th Seed

 v.

Yet another battle I hardly remember. His team seemed to lack a way to beat both Salamence and Garchomp, so I got a feeling that he had an Ice type attack on one of his Pokémon. When he led with Rotom-Heat, I had a gut feeling that it was carrying Hidden Power Ice. I decided to switch into Tyranitar in anticipation of this. My intuition was correct, and the Rotom Heat did target the Salamence’s slot with a Hidden Power. My Charizard just spammed Heat Waves, getting two burns, one on his Mega Gyarados. The luck made the game play out entirely differently, and without those burns I think this game would have been far more difficult.

Top 4: vs Aaron (LPFan) Grubbs, 4th Seed

 v.

I’ve known Aaron since 2010, when we played in the semi-finals of a Junior Division Regional Championship. We had avoided playing each other in sanctioned events since then, but it was bound to happen eventually. Looking at Team Preview, I saw what appeared to be a Mega Blastoise team with a potential Mega Tyranitar. Charizard would have a terrible time against both of these, as a Timid Blastoise would be able to outspeed it and get off a powerful Water Spout, which would do a lot regardless of the weather condition. I led with Ludicolo because it did well against every member on his team except for Aegislash, which it has a neutral matchup against. I brought Salamence and Garchomp as a way to beat Aegislash, but also to deal with Tyranitar if it got a Dragon Dance off. Aaron led with Blastoise and Tyranitar.

Because he led with both of them, I second guessed myself on whether or not Tyranitar was actually holding a Tyranitarite. I used Fake Out on it to see in what order the Pokemon would flinch. I attacked Blastoise with a Play Rough in the hopes of lowering its damage output with Water Spout. I was shocked to see Aaron’s Tyranitar Mega Evolve over his Blastoise, while his Blastoise used Fake Out on my Mawile! This was a dead turn, but I got valuable information from this. From here, things start to get blurry.

At some point, I predicted a Blastoise switch into Amoonguss and used Ice Beam and Iron Head on it, getting a timely freeze. Aaron’s Tyranitar got a Dragon Dance up safely, and began to spam Rock Slide. It got a double flinch onto my Ludicolo and Mawile while Amoonguss was frozen. Garchomp was burned by a Will-O-Wisp, but was still able to do enough damage throughout the battle to KO Tyranitar and Rotom Heat. As I had Ludicolo still at a good amount of HP, I was able to beat both Blastoise and Amoonguss with the help of Salamence.

Finals: Danish (Danish555) Ali, 2nd Seed

Game 1:

 v.  

Looking at Team Preview, I thought that Mawile would be the better Mega Pokémon in this situation. Charizard usually ends up doing almost nothing against teams with Aerodactyl, so I often don’t even consider it. I led with Mawile and Garchomp to apply offensive pressure very early in the battle. Danish made a great call, leading with Lapras and Aerodactyl.

I liked my position here, despite Lapras threatening Garchomp with an Ice Shard. Mawile’s Intimidate ensured I could take at least one prior to any possible Weakness Policy activation. I used Iron Head and Rock Slide, which would have knocked Lapras out and allowed me to pick off Aerodactyl in the following turns. Danish used Protect with his Lapras this turn, and set up Tailwind with Aerodactyl. I wasn’t upset that I didn’t go after Aerodactyl that turn, as doing so would have allowed him to send in his Charizard and potentially take two KOs under Tailwind.

I stalled one turn of Tailwind by using Protect with Garchomp and Iron Head on the Aerodactyl slot, not wanting to activate the Weakness Policy Lapras was likely carrying. Aerodactyl used Sky Drop on my Mawile, which was really beneficial to me, as that is one less turn of Tailwind that it could act in. Lapras attacked into Garchomp’s Protect with Freeze Dry.

I once again used Iron Head on the Aerodactyl slot, knocking it out after Sky Drop ended on Mawile. I was not keen on letting my Garchomp get OHKO’d by a Freeze Dry, so I switched it out for my Tyranitar. This turn went exactly according to plan, with Danish’s speed control option being eliminated. Tyranitar took little damage on account of its Special Defense boost provided by the sandstorm. With only one turn of Tailwind remaining, I was feeling good about my position. Charizard came in for the fallen Aerodactyl.

I made a critical mistake here by choosing to use Rock Slide with Tyranitar. Charizard used Protect and Lapras’ Weakness Policy activated, making it a threat. I used Protect with Mawile to stall the final turn of Tailwind, but Lapras used Hydro Pump on Tyranitar… and it missed! This was a horrible break for Danish, as I was able to clean up with Tyranitar and any one of my other team members. If the Hydro Pump had hit, I would have needed to make some risky switches with Salamence to Intimidate his Lapras to a point where its Ice Shard wouldn’t OHKO my Garchomp. This wouldn’t have been an overly hard end game to set up, but missing that Hydro Pump basically guaranteed me the win in game one.

Game 2:

 v.

I decided to lead with Mawile and Tyranitar in this game so that I didn’t have to try and play around Lapras as much. I brought Garchomp and Salamence in the back because they could do well against every member of Danish’s team, excluding Lapras. Danish decided to completely change his game plan by leading with Scrafty and Charizard.

I didn’t like my position here with Tyranitar, as his Charizard could Protect while Scrafty could knock it out with a Drain Punch. I switched Tyranitar out into Garchomp, which had a better matchup against Scarfty while still threatening to OHKO Charizard with a Life Orb Rock Slide. I used Protect with Mawile just to be safe. Danish used Fake Out and Solarbeam on Garchomp, leaving it at 35% HP. Although I took a lot of damage for that switch, I gained a lot of momentum. At this point, my opponents 3DS started to blink red, signaling that the battery was in a critical state.

I saw no significant risk with playing this turn obviously, so I used Rock Slide and Play Rough on the Scrafty slot. Charizard used Protect, while the Scrafty switched out into Lapras, which fainted as a result of its poor Defense. Scrafty came back in, lowering both of my Pokémon’s attack and threatening with Fake Out pressure.

Garchomp didn’t seem important to this battle anymore, as even with Life Orb my -1 Garchomp was unlikely to get the KO on Charizard with a Rock Slide. I preserved Mawile by using Protect, while using Rock Slide with Garchomp. Danish made the correct play in here in using Fake Out on Garchomp while firing off a sun-boosted Heat Wave. Garchomp went down this turn, and I brought in my Tyranitar.

Everyone was nervous about Danish’s 3DS power, so I recommended that we move to a different location and charge it. We circled the room, finding that some of the outlets weren’t working with his 3DS for some reason. We were eventually able to get one to work, but this process left Danish with very little time to pick a move. Knowing this, I went for the obvious play of Rock Slide and Play Rough into the Scrafty slot, which resulted in every Pokémon on the field except Mawile being knocked out. Had this turn occurred at any other time other than 2:30 AM while frantically trying to plug in a 3DS, I think Danish could have made a really good play here by switching in Garchomp for Charizard. I almost predicted that and acted accordingly, but knowing that he didn’t have enough time to fully consider this option I simply attacked what was in front of me. The following turn Danish sent in Garchomp while I sent in Salamence.

I attacked Garchomp with a Dragon Pulse and Play Rough and knew that without some horrible luck that the game was mine. Garchomp got a critical hit Dragon Claw on Salamence, but Play Rough hit, winning me the Premier Challenge. I wish that I could attest to the jubilation that I felt at that moment, but I was honestly more interested in finally getting some rest for the Regional the next morning. I received my nifty Froakie hat as my prize, and within five minutes I had fallen asleep in my hotel room.

Regionals

I woke up at about 7:00 AM. I wasn’t too eager to play with less than 5 hours of sleep, but I eventually made my way downstairs where I made sure to eat as much as I could to keep my energy up. By 8:00 most people had arrived at the event. Most everyone I knew got into the FAST Pass lane that helped to speed us through registration, which was a really cool idea on the Tournament Organizer’s part. It was about at this time that Kenan arrived. Blake started dealing out Pokémon, leading to Logan and him having a lively debate over whether Jolly or Adamant Focus Sash Lucario would be better, in which they finally had to agree to disagree. Eventually everyone got through the process of registration, except for one lone champion. We cheered Ben on as he struggled to defeat his greatest opponent of 2014 after a long year of training, the devilishly clever hack check.

We sat down at a table and chatted while waiting for the rest of the line to get registered. Aaron tried to set up a stream with the tournament organizers, but the internet at the venue wasn’t fast enough for it to be worth it. We convinced Logan to use Tickle on Aaron while talking logistics with Chris Brown, in hopes that he wouldn’t find it amusing at all. There was a loud enough reaction for us to hear from across the room, alerting an admirer to Aaron’s presence. It was at this point that we discovered the soon-to-be legendary Twitter god, Aaron’s Stalker. Aaron came over to our table, inquiring about Logan’s motives. Aaron’s Stalker, however, wasn’t focused on the answer. His only real interest was that Aaron (and his sweet, sweet, sweet, and sour lips) stay in top physical form for the tournament.

After entertaining ourselves with the Twitter account, the pairings for the player meeting went up and I was paired up with Aaron Zheng Chalkey Horenstein. The meeting didn’t begin for a fair amount of time, causing Ben to grow bored and take a quick snooze. Chalkey and I took this opportunity to pile our possessions onto him, as well as the contents of the table.

The meeting did eventually crawl to a start, with them giving us the standard information: have good sportsmanship, make sure to turn in battle result slips, etc. They let us know that we had 206 Masters in attendance, giving us hope that Chris Brown might give us the gift of a Top 16 Cut. No dice. We would be playing 8 rounds of Swiss with a Top 8 cutoff. With such a large attendance, this guaranteed that losing two games would knock anyone out of Top Cut contention. Knowing the odds of getting into the Top 8, I kept my expectations low and simply tried to enjoy the event. This mentality kept me relaxed throughout the day, which ended up enhancing my play.

Round 1: ???, 0-0

 v.

I was glad that I hadn’t been paired up with one of my friends early in the tournament. I engaged in some casual conversation with my opponent, trying to stay entertained until play officially began. Once Team Preview began, I saw a fairly standard rain team that lacked Talonflame. Ludicolo was a very safe choice as a lead here, and Charizard complimented it very well. Tyranitar and Garchomp gave me some flexibility in the matchup, and completed my anti-rain mode. My opponent led with Zapdos and Politoed.

Mega Evolving with Charizard could put me into a bad position if his Politoed switched out this turn, so I chose to use Protect. I targeted Zapdos with an Ice Beam so that I could KO it the following turn,  while Politoed attacked Charizard with a Scald. The Zapdos paralyzed my Ludicolo with Thunder Wave, taking away its speed advantage in rain.

I used Heat Wave with Mega Charizard-Y this turn while targeting the Politoed with Giga Drain. The Politoed stayed in and revealed a Choice Scarf as it outsped Charizard and did roughly 40% with a Scald, while Heat Wave did 30% to the Politoed and knocked out the Zapdos. Ludicolo was paralyzed this turn, and Mawile came in for the fallen Zapdos.

I can’t recall exactly how the rest of the game went, but I knocked out the Mawile without much trouble, and my opponent was unable to beat Ludicolo once it had fainted. I won this battle fairly convincingly due to my team’s great rain matchup.

Overall Record: 11-1

I waited for everyone else to see how they did in their first battles. Apart from a few exceptions, most of my friends had won their first match. The pairings went up fairly quickly and I was thankfully not paired against anyone that I knew. However, there’s a lot of unknown talent out there, so every game that I play I assume that my opponent knows what they are doing until they prove otherwise. With that in mind, I faced down an interesting team for my second battle.

Round 2: ???, 1-0

 v. 

I can’t recall his name, but looking at my oponenents’ team, two Pokémon were threatening to me in Team Preview: Staraptor and Mamoswine. A Choice Scarf Staraptor could get a free Final Gambit off against anything on my team, and only Mawile could lower Staraptor’s damage output with Sucker Punch. Mawile’s matchup against Ferrothorn and Mamoswine is shaky though, so I led with Charizard and Ludicolo to use Fake Out on the Staraptor if I saw it. My opponent led with Staraptor alongside Mamoswine.

This turn I chose not to mess around with Staraptor, as it could OHKO Ludicolo and Charizard with Brave Bird and Final Gambit, respectively. I targeted it with a Fake Out and a Heat Wave, which could also do some respectable damage to Mamoswine. This turn worked out very well, with Staraptor getting KO’d by Heat Wave and Mamoswine wasting a turn by using Protect. My opponent brought in Ampharos for the fallen Staraptor.

I decided to use Solar Beam onto the Mamoswine for the KO, assuming that it was a Life Orb variant, while using Ice Beam on the Ampharos. I was surprised to see the Mamoswine once again use Protect. Ludicolo hit what had become a Mega Ampharos for about 50% damage, and Ampharos knocked out Mega Charizard-Y with a Thunderbolt. My opponent informed me that he timed out this turn, which worked out well for him, as one of my Ferrothorn counters was now decommissioned. I brought in Tyranitar for my fallen Charizard.

I used Rock Slide with Tyranitar and targeted Mamoswine with a Giga Drain. Mamoswine was knocked out at the cost of Tyranitar taking an Earthquake. Ampharos did little damage to Ludicolo with a Thunderbolt and Ferrothorn switched in for the fainted Mamoswine.

I needed to preserve Tyranitar at this point so I could get rid of Ferrothorn later in the game. I knew that Ampharos would get knocked out by Ludicolo’s Ice Beam after it had taken another turn of sandstorm damage. I switched Tyranitar into Garchomp to preserve it. Ampharos went down this turn while Garchomp took a Gyro Ball. I didn’t see any Leftovers recovery, so he needed to use Leech Seed on Garchomp if he wanted to win.

I used Protect with Garchomp to prevent a Leech Seed, which my opponent did attempt. Ice Beam did a bit of damage to Ferrothorn, and the following turn an Earthquake critical hit knocked it out.

Record 12-1

I made that battle much harder than it needed to be when I let Charizard get knocked out. I very easily could have switched into Tyranitar on the turn that his Mamoswine went for a double-Protect, while attempting to KO Mamoswine with a Giga Drain, achieving the same reward for far less risk. Regardless, I was able to get the win here.

, 

Round 3: Stephen Morioka (Stephen), 2-0

 v.

I wasn’t thrilled to see myself paired against Stephen for round 3. I can recall getting demolished by him several times online in 2013, so I know how great of a player he is. He came over to the table with his trademark smile, and he snapped a picture. Unfortunately I was making conversation when he took the picture, resulting in this awkward, mid-sentence grin.

Anyways, on to the battle. I recognized that this was inspired by one of R Inanimate’s teams. I hadn’t fully read the report about it, so this knowledge wasn’t actually useful to me. I assumed that Blastoise and Venusaur were holding their respective Mega Stones, but apart from that I was in the dark (void). Had I done my research, I would have known that the Rotom-Heat would be holding a Choice Scarf if this team was copied from the report.

I led with Garchomp and Salamence, assuming Blastoise was the only thing on his team threatening an Ice type attack. Whoops. I chose to bring Charizard as my Mega Pokémon because neither of Stephen’s Mega options could stand up to Charizard as long as I was in sun. I used Ludicolo to support Charizard by checking Rotom-Heat and Garchomp. Stephen led with Rotom-Heat and Smeargle.

Ignorant to the fact that Rotom-Heat could threaten both of my Pokémon, I used Rock Slide and Dragon Pulse on the Smeargle. Luckily, Stephen probably assumed that I knew about this team and used Thunderbolt on Salamence predicting a switch. Smeargle used Fake Out on Garchomp, taking Rough Skin damage, while Dragon Pulse knocked Smeargle out. I leaned back in my chair, feeling fortunate as it could have been me that was behind 4-3 at the end of turn 1. I don’t recall what immediately occurred after this, but everything is crystal clear after a certain point.

Stephen was down 3-2 with his -1 Attack Garchomp out alongside a nearly full HP Mega Venusaur. I had the game won if I could hit his Garchomp with a Dragon Claw, but he won the speed tie and knocked out my Garchomp, putting me in a less favorable position.

The game was full of momentum shifts, with the fate of the match being determined by who played the final two turns better. Stephen’s Garchomp had taken a bit of damage, and my Ludicolo, Charizard, and his Venusaur were at full health. I predicted Stephen to use Protect with Venusaur and attack my Charizard with a Rock Slide, expecting a Fake Out and Overheat combo onto it. I chose to Protect Charizard and Ice Beam the Garchomp, hoping to KO Garchomp for the win. He played this very well, using Protect with Garchomp while getting a big chunk of damage on Ludicolo, although it was out of range for a -1 Dragon Claw to finish it off.

I had to hope that Garchomp didn’t get a flinch or critical hit on either of my Pokémon with Rock Slide and that Overheat could somehow knock Venusaur out. Attacking Garchomp with Ice Beam and using Overheat on the Mega Venusaur was my only play. Garchomp’s Rock Slide left both of my Pokémon with enough HP to fulfill their roles. Charizard didn’t flinch and Overheat hit the Mega Venusaur. The HP bar went down painfully slowly until…Venusaur fainted! I don’t know the damage calculation for this one, but I’d be willing to wager it came down to a damage roll. Ludicolo also avoided being flinched, and clinched the game with an Ice Beam.

Record 13-1

After I had gotten out of it, I realized how much fun that match was. I was never sure who would pull out the win, and it came down to the wire. It was a really great experience getting to play Stephen. He is a player I respect a lot.

Round 4: ???, 3-0

I’m not going to lie, I can’t recall anything about this round. I want to say that I played another rain team this round, but I can’t be sure. I did win though, and the Tournament Organizers gave us a lunch break.

Record: 14-1

After getting some pizza from the venue, I sat down with Kenan and his friends. We chatted about out records, and I watched replay of a battle involving a Kecleon. The damage output coming from that thing was impressive, doing big damage to a Zapdos. Eventually, I decided to go wash my pizza-covered hands, and I caught Jonathan (JRank) Rankin in the middle of his patented pre-battle Arkansas rituals, and I passed by with a moment of awkward eye contact. He later tried to convince me he was trying to shake off a heavy meal, but I KNOW THE TRUTH. The pairings went up shortly after this.

Round 5: Gabby Snyder (JTK), 4-0

 v.

I knew that Gabby has played VGC for a long time, so I knew that this wouldn’t be an easy game. I knew that Aerodactyl made bringing Charizard a poor option. Mawile had the potential to put in work against Gabby’s team if I could eliminate Rotom-Heat and Hydreigon, so I focused on beating those with my leads. In case this didn’t work out, I brought Ludicolo to beat Rotom-Heat and to provide Fake Out pressure in order to stall a Tailwind turn if need be. Gabby led with Aerodactyl and Ludicolo.

I didn’t like my matchup here with Salamence or Garchomp, so I decided to double switch here. From what I remember, this went fairly well with neither of my switches taking significant damage. From there on, I can only recall bits and pieces of the battle. I learned that the Rotom-Heat was heavily offensive when I did about 75% with Garchomp’s Rock Slide, but it answered back by knocking Garchomp out with a Hidden Power Ice. I recall getting a clutch burn with Scald on a Mawile switch, which really gave me an advantage. After taking out Mawile, I forgot that it Mega Evolved, and I played the game into a situation where a Mega Aerodactly Ice Fang wouldn’t OHKO my Salamence. It did end up being a standard variant, which allowed me to finish off the Rotom-Heat with Salamence’s Dragon Pulse and Aerodactyl with a Sucker Punch before it could tempt the RNG with a few Rock Slides.

Record: 15-1

With my highest hope for Regionals being to go 5-3, I was very pleased that I had done this well. I was feeling very good about my play, but I tried to keep my competitive nature in check. I tried to remember that I came to Houston to socialize with my friends and enjoy myself. Every opponent I played against I made sure to converse with, making sure not to take the games too seriously. I think this is a good way to play in these tournaments, as even when you end up losing you can say you had a good time.

Round 6: Tien-Dan Nguyen (Tabris), 5-0

 v.

My opponent and I talked a bit about how our days have gone so far until the the judges let us know that we could start. I saw no reason in Team Preview not to use my standard anti-rain option, so I went with it once again. Tien-Dan led with his Zapdos and Ludicolo, and we traded Fake Outs for a dead first turn

Having not Mega Evolved the previous turn, I safely used Overheat onto the Zapdos in sun, taking the KO. Charizard took a Scald while Ludicolo used Giga Drain for a bit of damage onto Tien-Dan’s Ludicolo. I can’t recall how, but the final turn of the battle came down to Mega Charizard-Y with sun up against a 15% HP Ludicolo and a 10% HP Politoed with a Choice Scarf.

I knew that Tien-Dan either had to set up rain with Politoed and attack Charizard with a Scald or try to double target it. I figured that even if rain was set up by Politoed, I had a chance to knock Ludicolo out with a Heat Wave. Tien-Dan decided to play it simply and attacked Charizard with Ice Beam, and my Heat Wave picked up a double-KO here, giving me the win.

Record: 16-1

I regrouped with all the players that were undefeated going into round 6 to see who the remaining 6-0s were. It ended up being Aaron, Collin, me, and Lee Camacho. I hoped that I wouldn’t be paired against Aaron, as I knew that my matchup against his team wasn’t very strong, as it struggles to knock Mawile out once Trick Room is set up. Despite how well my game went in the Premier Challenge against Collin, I knew that he had switched teams and would be ready for me. I wasn’t sleeping on Lee, though, as he had managed to get to 6-0 at a fairly large Regional, and that wasn’t an accident. Anyways, I checked the pairings to see whose name I drawn out of the hat and saw that I would be playing against Collin once again.

Round 7: Collin Heier, 6-0

   v.

Although I wasn’t happy to play Collin, I did find comfort in the fact that one of us was guaranteed to cut. Despite the situation we were both fairly relaxed before initiating the battle, attempting to start a sing-along at our table. I didn’t like what I saw in Team Preview, as Collin was threatening both a rain and Trick Room mode. My only safe lead against this team was Charizard and Ludicolo, as they gave me tools to combat the duality of Collin’s team. I picked Garchomp in order to beat Hydreigon and Mawile outside of Trick Room, and Tyranitar to change the weather in the late game. Looking back, bringing Choice Scarf Tyranitar against a team with a threatening Trick Room option wasn’t a good call, regardless of how influential its ability could have been. Collin led with Gothitelle and Ludicolo, which put us at a fairly neutral position.

Here, I decided not to be overly aggressive with Charizard. I didn’t want to get flinched by Fake Out and set up sun, only to see Politoed come in the next turn and render Charizard useless. I went for a Heat Wave with Charizard without Mega Evolving while using Fake Out on the Gothitelle. This turn went as I expected, with both of us trading Fake Outs for an unproductive turn. I didn’t see any Leftovers on Gothitelle, bringing me to believe it was either a Sitrus or Chesto Berry variant.

Now was the opportune time for Charizard to set up sun. I double targeted the Gothitelle with an Overheat and Giga Drain, hoping to pick up a KO. The Gothitelle survived with a fair amount of HP after Overheat, and a revealed Sitrus Berry put it out of range for Giga Drain to KO. Although I would have preferred to see Gothitelle knocked out this turn, I knew that Gothitelle was in range for any Pokémon to KO it.

I expected the Ludicolo to switch into Politoed to further weaken my Charizard’s attacks, so I used Giga Drain on that slot, while using Overheat on the Gothitelle in hopes of removing its Shadow Tag pressure. This turn went about as well as I could hope, with Ludicolo switching to Politoed which took about 50% of its HP. Its revealed Leftovers brought it back to over 50% while Gothitelle used Protect.

I got the feeling that Collin wouldn’t risk losing Politoed to a high Giga Drain damage roll and would use Protect. For this reason, I targeted the Gothitelle with Scald instead of Giga Drain. Either would have gotten the KO on Gothitelle if it had chosen to stay in, so I went for the play with a higher potential reward of getting a burn on a switch in. Collin could take the KO on Charizard any time he wanted to, so I saw was no reason to use Protect with it. I used Heat Wave this turn, fairly confident that Charizard wouldn’t be targeted. Politoed used Protect and Charizard’s Heat Wave did pitiful damage to Collin’s Ludicolo switch-in. Scald did miniscule damage to it, but luckily got a burn.

With Politoed out of Ludicolo’s Giga Drain range by just a hair, I knew that I needed some residual damage to chip it down. I also needed to get Charizard out of this situation, so I switched in my Tyranitar. Bringing it in would preserve my Charizard for the late game and also allow Ludicolo’s Giga Drain to knock Politoed out. Collin decided not to risk his rain mode and switched Politoed into Mawile, which took about 20% from Giga Drain. Collin used Ice Beam on the slot in which Charizard was previously in, telling me that Collin knew I would be switching that turn. Fortunately, I had brought Tyranitar over Salamence.

Collin had one turn to abuse Mawile moving first under Trick Room, and we both knew he would take a KO this turn. I targeted Mawile with a Fire Blast and Collin’s Ludicolo with a Giga Drain, knowing that I could do some valuable damage this turn regardless of what Collin chose to knock out. Tyranitar fainted to an Iron Head, and we traded Giga Drain, with Collin’s getting a critical hit. The burn and sandstorm damage put Collin’s Ludicolo into the red. I brought in Charizard for my fallen Tyranitar.

I had brought Charizard in to stall another turn of residual damage on Ludicolo, as I didn’t know the damage calculation for Ludicolo surviving an Earthquake. Expecting to come out of this turn in a good position, I allowed Charizard to get knocked out by Mega Mawile’s Sucker Punch while trading Giga Drains with Collin’s Ludicolo to make sure that it fainted to Garchomp’s Earthquake. However, another critical hit healed Collin’s Ludicolo to roughly the same HP that it was at when Charizard came in, making that a very useless turn for me. I sent in Garchomp, and I could almost see the weight of the game being carried on its back.

I went for an Earthquake with Garchomp while using a Fake Out with Ludicolo, not wanting to lose it to a Sucker Punch. This turn went well, with Garchomp getting a double KO, but knocking my Ludicolo down to 20% HP. Collin sent in Gothitelle and Politoed.

Gothitelle could be easily picked off by Garchomp, but I wasn’t sure that I could take out Politoed with an Earthquake. If Politoed survived, it could knock Garchomp out with an Ice Beam after Life Orb recoil. He could also use Protect with both Pokemon, which would result in only Ludicolo fainting. For this reason, I used Protect with Garchomp and Giga Drain onto the Gothitelle, expecting Collin to preserve Politoed with a Protect. Collin made a great read here by using Protect with Gothitelle and Scald onto Ludicolo, knowing that going for a burn was his highest percentage play here. A tip of the hat to Collin, he read me like a book this turn. Ludicolo got burned, but it survived with 10 HP.

I knew that Collin’s best play here was to use Protect with Politoed and go for the double-Protect with Gothitelle. Unfortunately I had no counter play to this, and I was forced to Giga Drain the Gothitelle to heal enough HP back so that Ludicolo could survive the burn. The game was winding down, and we both knew it was in the hands of the RNG. I was relieved to see the Gothitelle fail to get off its Protect, and after Giga Drain recovery and burn Ludicolo fell to 2 HP.

Politoed had been slowly recovering its HP with Leftovers, and was now at about 70% HP. I attacked with Giga Drain and Dragon Claw onto the Politoed. Things rolled in my favor once again, and the combination of my attacks knocked Politoed out after its double-Protect failed. I shook Collin’s hand and complimented him on a really well-played game. This was easily the most fun game of the Swiss rounds for me, and the luck happened to go my way in the final turns, guaranteeing me a spot in the Top 8.

Record: 17-1

Following this match, a series of raffles delayed the final round for about an hour. I ended up talking with a lot of my old friends, as well as making some new ones. It was enjoyable to reminisce about some of everyone’s favorite VGC memories and teams, so the time passed quickly for me. I am sure the same couldn’t be said for the players that were 6-1.  The delay gave them a lot of time to stress out about the game that would ultimately decide whether or not they would reach Top Cut. During this time I learned that Aaron had lost to Lee, but I didn’t probe him on any team details. It didn’t seem necessary to scout out his team, as this next match wasn’t very important to me.

Round 8: Lee Camacho (raindanceking), 7-0

 v.   

Just at a glance, I knew that Lee hadn’t simply tossed this team together. He could apply offensive pressure easily without even using his rain mode. I had to deviate from my standard anti-rain option in order to win, as Kangaskhan and Talonflame were far too threatening to warrant bringing Ludicolo. Instead, I brought Tyranitar and Charizard in hopes of drawing a Power-Up Punch into Tyranitar while dropping a sun-boosted Overheat onto the Kangaskhan. Garchomp and Salamence rounded out the team, as they could do well against Lee’s team as long as the rain mode was out of play. Lee led with Kangaskhan and Talonflame, and I was immediately glad that I had benched Ludicolo.

From turn 1 and on, I knew that I needed to beat Lee’s lead, while preserving my Charizard for what I was sure to be a rain mode in the back. The first half of the game I played very obviously, my focus not as intense knowing that I was already guaranteed to Top Cut. Lee exploited this, outpredicting me for the first half of the game. Every Protect or switch he called perfectly, putting me behind going into the final turns of the battle. At some point I decided I needed to get my act together, and I was able to maneuver myself into a decent position. I made the right plays in the last couple of turns, getting me the win. I learned from this game that Lee was capable of making solid reads, which would be valuable information if I played him in the Top Cut.

Record 18-1

I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on this win, as I saw a crowd drawing around Aaron’s game. When I came over, I only needed to look at his body language to see how intense the game was. From what I could gather, it would come down to one prediction that would decide who would make cut. Aaron did make the right play, giving him a spot in the Top Cut, along with the 7 others listed below.

Top Cut 

I sat down and struck up a conversation with some of the people I didn’t know at the Top 8 table, and I was really glad to hear some enthusiastic responses. One person was in his first Top Cut, and he was just glad to be there. Seeing new faces do well at these events is always enjoyable for me to see, as it shows just how well Nuggetbridge has helped beginners get past what used to be an extremely steep learning curve very quickly so that they can thoroughly enjoy these events.

While we got our teams checked for illegitimacy, Aaron tried to set up a stream or a recording from every round of the Top Cut. The head judge seemed uncomfortable at first, so Aaron found a compromise in recording one set of Top 4 battles and the finals. After the recording situation had been dealt with and the judges explained to us the format of Top Cut play, we began to get settled across from our opponents. Stephen snapped a money shot of us before the battling began, and then the battles began!

Man, I just have problems taking pictures. I had no idea we were smiling I swear!

Top 8: Omari Travis (BadIntent), 8th Seed

Game 1:

 v.    

Omari is a player that I’ve seen doing well at events since 2010, and I have a lot of respect for his playing. We had sat near each other during battles several times that day, so I knew a bit about his team. I knew that Gardevoir was using a Life Orb, the Zapdos was extremely physically bulky, and that his Aegislash was carrying Hidden Power Ice. I was aware from watching him play on the Worlds stream that he favored Mega Garchomp, so I assumed that the Talonflame would be running Tailwind to support it.

I didn’t see a lot on Omari’s team that could stand up to Tyranitar and Charizard’s offensive pressure other than his own Tyranitar, so I chose to lead with them. I used Ludicolo to potentially get an Ice Beam off against the Mega Garchomp and do super-effective damage to Tyranitar. I brought Garchomp as my final Pokémon, as I wanted to have another option for Aegislash and Garchomp. Immediately after picking my team I noticed how badly I had to go to the restroom. Hoping that this game would go by quickly, I waited for Omari to select his team members. After urine-stalling me in Team Preview, he selected Gardevoir and Zapdos as his leads.

I was really glad to see this lead, as I could potentially grab a double-KO here if my Rock Slide and Heat Wave both hit. I decided to go for it, and it paid off stupendously. Tyranitar’s Rock Slide brought Zapdos to 60%, comfirming that Zapdos was physical defensive, and a critical hit on the Gardevoir put it just above 50%. I was thrilled to Mega Charizard-Y’s Heat Wave finished off both Gardevoir and Zapdos, giving me a first turn double-KO. The combination of Heat Wave and Rock Slide under normal circumstances probably needed high damage rolls to snag the KO on Gardevoir, but the critical hit guaranteed that it would go down before getting off a Moonblast on my Tyranitar. Omari sent in Talonflame and Garchomp.

I knew that I had to put myself into a position to take down Garchomp, as Talonflame isn’t usually a threat when it is fighting from behind. I sacrificed Tyranitar in exchange for Talonflame, giving me the win with Ludicolo and Garchomp which could both beat his slower, bulkier Garchomp. Omari did not choose to Mega Evolve the Garchomp in this battle, but I was still sure that it was his Mega Pokémon. It was at this point that I asked Omari and the head judge if I could hustle over to the facilities to relieve myself, which they agreed was acceptable.

I think now is an appropriate time to give some advise to beginners and veterans alike. Never let your bladder dictate your pace or mental state at these events. Frequent potty breaks a key to victory, and don’t you ever forget it. Having returned from my voyage to the lavatory (that’s a fancy way to say john, right?), I began to battle with a new sense of well-being.

Record: 19-1

Game 2:

 v.

After the success of my lead in the first game, I knew that Omari would adapt to beat it. I expected him to lead with one or both of Talonflame and Tyranitar, hoping to either get Tailwind up or to threaten my Charizard with a Rock Slide. For this reason, I led with Garchomp. I felt safe from a Choice Scarf Tyranitar, as I found it unlikely that he was running it on a team that already had a potential form of speed control in Tailwind Talonflame. I led with Charizard once again, as its matchup against Omari’s team was solid for the most part. I brought Tyranitar in the back to threaten Talonflame and switch into its Brave Birds, and Salamence was brought to regulate Omari’s physically threatening Pokémon with Intimidate. I was glad to see the Talonflame start off the battle on Omari’s side, but I wasn’t thrilled to see Garchomp.

I Mega Evolved Charizard and fired off a Heat Wave, but I Protected with my own Garchomp. I honestly couldn’t explain the logic behind that if I tried. This was a terrible play, as I completely forgot that Talonflame would most definitely be setting up a Tailwind and the opposing Garchomp didn’t have maximum Speed. Omari Mega Evolved Garchomp while using Protect, and Talonflame used Tailwind. Charizard did respectable damage to Talonflame, but everything went downhill from there.

I can’t remember the specifics past the first turn. I stalled out the Tailwind, but the Mega Garchomp did enough damage to my team to give Omari an easy win. The game ended 2-0, but the score didn’t represent how badly I played that game. I had already lost the game on turn 1 to a moment of stupidity, and I knew that I would have to make an adaptation here to move on to the Top 4. I did gain some valuable information this game, such as that his Garchomp was slower than my Charizard without Tailwind, and it was using Substitute over Rock Slide. Going in to game 3, I knew I had to focus hard and not let that lose get to me. I completely zoned in, not wanting to end my tournament run here.

Record: 19-2

Game 3:

v. 

I had been completely demolished the previous game, so I needed to make some changed. Charizard had been fairly useless in the previous battle, and I felt that bringing Mawile in this battle would be the right play. I made a really risky prediction that was completely dependent on Omari sticking with his previous leads of Garchomp and Talonflame by leading with Mawile and Salamence. If it worked, the double Intimidate would force a switch out of Garchomp and ensure that Talonflame’s Brave Bird and Flare Blitz wouldn’t be doing much damage. I didn’t want to bring Tyranitar in this battle, as giving Mega Garchomp the Sand Force boost ruined me in the previous game. For that reason, I had to use Garchomp and Ludicolo as my back two. I nervously inputted my choices, aware that I was risking my entire tournament on this gamble. I was understandably hyped to see the Talonflame-Garchomp combination come out in the lead position.

By committing so hard to counter-leading Omari here, I was in a fantastic position. I had no reason not to use Play Rough on the Garchomp, as only Aegislash could easily switch in on it. After bringing Garchomp and Mega Charizard-Y in the previous games, Omari wasn’t likely to have selected it. I targeted Talonflame with a Dragon Pulse instead of Draco Meteor to prevent it from fainting, which would have allowed Garchomp to come in for free. Garchomp switched to Zapdos, which took about 65% damage, activating Sitrus Berry. Talonflame set up Tailwind and took 90% damage from a Dragon Pulse. Although I had lost the speed advantage, I still felt I had the advantage.

I needed to preserve Salamence to knock Garchomp out in the late game, so I switched it into Ludicolo to take Zapdos’ potential Hidden Power Ice. Knowing that Sucker Punch wouldn’t knock Zapdos out or would fail against a Roost, I used Play Rough on the Zapdos. Omari popped off here by predicting the Ludicolo switch by using Brave Bird onto it. We both reacted as if Ludicolo would faint. However, because Talonflame was at -2 Attack, Ludicolo survived with 35% HP remaining. Zapdos used Thunderbolt on Mawile, doing 45% damage while I brought it to a very low amount of HP. The Talonflame went down with the Brave Bird recoil, and Omari brought in the Garchomp.

There were still two more turns of Tailwind left, but Ludicolo was applying Fake Out pressure. Omari had no reason to risk his Garchomp fainting to a Play Rough,  so a Protect was obvious.  I still used Fake Out on it, as there was a high risk but little reward of targeting Zapdos with it. A Thunderbolt brought Mawile to about 10% HP and Play Rough knocked Zapdos out. Omari brought in his final Pokémon, Gardevoir.

With this being the final turn of Tailwind, I just needed to allow my Pokémon to be knocked out to bring Salamence and Garchomp in without Tailwind on Omari’s side. I used Sucker Punch on Gardevoir and an irrelevant move with Ludicolo while a Dazzling Gleam and Earthquake combination, with Telepathy Gardevoir, got the double KO. Gardevoir was at about 30% after the Sucker Punch and Life Orb recoil. I brought in Salamence and Garchomp, feeling confident I had the game won as long as I don’t choke it away.

Unsure of Garchomp being able to KO the Gardevoir with Earthquake (although I’m not sure why, Gardevoir has fairly pitiful Defense), I used Flamethrower on it for insurance. This opened me up for a Mega Garchomp Dragon Claw critical hit to lose the game. Regardless, Garchomp knocked Gardevoir out with an Earthquake and the Mega Garchomp did not get a critical hit. I won the game the next following turn with a Dragon Claw, and I shook Omari’s hand for a well-played series. He is a player I really respect, and I was glad that I got the opportunity to battle him.

Record: 20-2

Although I misplayed that last turn, I felt good about how I adjusted in the third game. The gamble I had made in Team Preview had paid off, earning me a spot in the Top 4. Our set was one of the first to finish, so I didn’t know who I would be playing next. After some congratulations, I went to a charging outlet and refocused. Blake came over to inquire about my team, as he had actually built a team that was almost identical to mine in all aspects apart from the use of a Rotom-Wash over Salamence, but he had not used it. We ended up talking about a lot of important items and moves for a good amount of time before we realized simultaneously that someone from the Top 8 was sitting about six feet to my right. He mouthed his apologies to me. I began to spout false information about the team, and Blake followed my lead for a bit before we went somewhere private. He started to laugh and apologized, but thankfully the guy near us didn’t end up being my Top 4 opponent.

Top 4: Lee Camacho, 4th Seed

Game 1:

 v.

I found it unlikely that Lee would bring his rain option this game, as it hadn’t been effective in our previous battle. I felt that a Kangaskhan lead would be probable, so I led with Mawile paired with Tyranitar, which could pressure the Talonflame if it came out. I brought Salamence to deal with Kingdra out of rain, and to provide consistent Intimidate support. Garchomp rounded out the team for being able to excel against all members of the team except Gardevoir, provided that rain was not in play. Gardevoir and Kangaskhan came out for Lee, with Sand Stream being copied by Trace.

The obvious play here was to use Protect with Mawile to avoid taking a Fake Out and a Will-O-Wisp. However, Lee showed that he could predict Protects easily in our round 8 game, so I decided to use Iron Head on Kangaskhan. I went for a Rock Slide with Tyranitar, which would do enough damage so that an Iron Head and 1-2 turns of Sandstorm would knock out Kangaskhan. Lee used Fake Out on Tyranitar and tried to use Will-O-Wisp on Mawile. Fortunately it didn’t hit, and Iron Head did incredible damage.

Things went well after that, with Kangaskhan and Talonflame (on a switch in) getting KO’d by Rock Slide. With all but Tyranitar at full HP, I was able to clean up Lee’s Gardevoir and Lucario easily.

Record: 21-2

Game 2:

 v.

This game I was sure that Lee would bring Politoed and Kingdra, so I brought Charizard paired with Garchomp to do major damage to Kangaskhan and KO Talonflame if it showed up. Tyranitar and Salamence looked to be good answer to anything that could beat my leads, and Ludicolo didn’t function well against a rain team like Lee’s that had many powerful physical attacks. Lee brought Politoed and Kingdra as his leads.

I can’t recall much of this game, but I did get a few clutch misses and a critical hit against Gardevoir with a -2 Mega Charizard-Y Overheat to seal my victory and put me in the finals. I felt for Lee here, as all the luck I was getting made it difficult for him to keep up with the offensive pressure that was being applied.

Record: 22-2

I charged my 3DS while spectating the battle between Collin and Aaron in Top 4. Blake and Logan informed me that Collin had won game 1, and we watched him play smartly to win game 2, proving that he is the superior 3^rd in the world.

Finals: Collin Heier, 2nd Seed

Game 1:

 v.  

I hadn’t even entertained the idea of making the Top Cut prior to the Regional, so being in the Finals against Collin “#3 in the world but #1 in your heart” Heier was a surreal experience. Having made it that far, I figured I might as well play my heart out and go for the win. After playing games against each other this weekend we both had a strong grasp on each other’s playstyles, so this promised to be a great set. I had decided in the time before the match that I would use combinations on Charizard, Garchomp, Ludicolo, and Salamence. I felt that Mawile and Tyranitar couldn’t excel against Collin’s team because Mawile’s damage output could be limited by Tickle from Gothitelle and Tyranitar tends to struggle under Trick Room. For game 1, I led neutrally with Ludicolo and Charizard. With this, I could deal with rain and Trick Room, and Garchomp+Salamence could succeed as long as I could get them into play without Trick Room or rain set up. Collin brought Ludicolo and Gothitelle.

In our previous match, I had delayed Mega Evolving with Charizard on the first turn while still using Heat Wave so as not to waste a Protect and to discourage a Politoed switch in. To mix it up, I used Heat Wave while Mega Evolving. This did roughly 50% to both of Collin’s Pokémon, but Collin’s faster Ludicolo used Fake Out onto mine as Gothitelle set up Trick Room. Collin was in the perfect position to start doing major damage. He was able to knock out Charizard, so the rain would be there to stay once Politoed came in.

I found myself on the final turn of Trick Room with Salamence and Garchomp against Mawile and Gothitelle. I struggled to think of a consistent way to weather the storm. I analyzed the situation and found that with Mawile in rain, my odds of winning the game were slim. Because he had Politoed still at a high amount of HP, Collin would attempt to knock Garchomp out with a Play Rough. Whatever move Salamence locked into would be doing little or no damage to either Politoed or Mawile, winning Collin the game. Unless of course, my Garchomp was able to survive the next turn until Trick Room ran out. There was only 2 ways for this to happen: Mawile missed the Play Rough or Garchomp successfully double-Protected. Getting the second Protect was the higher percentage play but was dependent on Mawile targeting Garchomp instead of Salamence. After inputting my moves I anxiously waited to see whether or not the RNG would favor me. Thankfully, the Protect was succesful and Mawile had targeted Garchomp with Play Rough. Salamence knocked out Gothitelle with a Dragon Pulse, and Politoed came in.

Knowing that I would have to get two low damage rolls to miss the knockout on Politoed, I used Earthquake and Dragon Pulse onto Politoed. I was able to knock it out while Mawile used Protect, and I won the game the following turn with an Earthquake while Collin attempted to KO Garchomp with a critical hit Sucker Punch.

Record: 23-2

Game 2:

Although the previous match came down to a double-Protect, I remained confident in the line-up that I had chosen. I decided to stick with Charizard, Ludicolo, Garchomp, and Salamence as my four, while Collin led with Gothitelle and something I can’t recall, with Mawile and Politoed in the back.

I can’t recall much of this battle other than I got a burn on Gothitelle on the first turn. This residual damage allowed me to easily knock it out later in the battle. I also got a Heat Wave burn onto Mawile, which crippled it. I can recall the final two turns of the battle. I had Garchomp and Charizard in the rain and Trick Room against a low HP Mawile and a Politoed, with Salemence in the back at full HP. I knew that should Charizard get knocked out, Collin’s very bulky Politoed would be able to give him the win. However, since this was the final turn of Trick Room, I could Protect with Garchomp and switch Charizard, which had used Protect the previous turn, into Salamence. I knew this was painfully obvious and Collin would almost definitely use Ice Beam on the Charizard slot, but I realized this would put me into a winning position in the following turn. Everything went according to plan, and Trick Room went away as Charizard came in and got rid of the rain.

This next turn I knocked out Mawile, but Politoed somehow was able to survive this turn and use Perish Song. As soon as Collin used this, I laughed, realizing that yet another of our games would be decided by the RNG. Collin proceeded to use Protect in the following two turns without fail. We selected our moves and waited, and to Collin’s dismay he was unable to get the third consecutive Protect, netting me the championship.

Record 24-2

Both games were determined by which side the RNG would favor, and thankfully it rolled my way. Collin and I shook hands over a well-played series, and we received our playmats, binders, trophies, and last but not least, the Treecko hats.

I should really get my spine checked out, that can’t be healthy neck positioning…a bit before taking this picture Aaron brought it to my attention that I had now won a Regional Championship in every division, which I honestly think is pretty cool. I hadn’t thought about that before the weekend, as winning had never crossed my mind. I think the main competitive lesson that I learned that weekend is that if you see an exploitable hole in the metagame prior to an event, trust your instincts and act on it. I’m glad that I acted on my observations of rising rain and Mawile usage, as I probably would have had the mediocre performance that I expected had I not done so.

Shoutouts

Thanks to Stephen, Chalkey, Blake, and Jonathan for taking these pictures. There aren’t enough taken these days, and I think that these ones will be great memories someday.

I would like to thank TheZeroVirus, religiousjedi, and R Ininimate for supplying me with the Pokémon I needed with very short notice.

Special thanks go to Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) for completely squashing a new team that I was considering to bring to Regionals, forcing me to use what I was comfortable with. He also traded me his Charizard and Tyranitar the night before the event, one of which I used.

Shoutouts to Aaron Traylor (Unreality) for being an all around nice guy and supporting me before the event. Hopefully we can have that fiesta at Nationals this yar buddy!

Thanks to the members of the Boiler Room, namely Ben, Logan, Blake, and Collin for being great guys. I got to know everyone better during the weekend and I met Logan for the first time, and I’m glad that we got to hang out.

Shoutouts to Jonathan, Edward, and Aaron for coming out to this out-of-state event. Hanging out again was one of the main reasons that I decided to attend the event, and it was great to see you guys again.

Lastly, I want to thank Kenan. You reminded me of the fun that could be had at these tournaments and you inspired me to come out to Houston. It’s always a joy talking with you online and at events, and I’m looking forward to next time.

#seniors for life, can’t wait for the entire gang to get back together at Nationals.

Despite how well the weekend went for me, I don’t regret taking a hiatus from Pokémon. I think that when most people are asked why they continue to play, their almost-automatic response is because they love the community. That was my answer for a long time, but I always took it for granted. In taking such a long break, I never missed playing, teambuilding, or competing, and I definitely never missed the online drama that so often occurs. What I did miss was staying in touch with the friends that I have made over the years. For that reason, taking a break was good for me as a person. It has taught me to fully appreciate my friends and the effect that they have on me.

And so, my dear reader, I will leave you with some advise. The Pokémon Video Game Championship is a competition, yes, but the competitive aspect of it should never take the entirety of your focus. Locking in so completely on victory will only lead to crippling disappointment once you lose. And you will lose. Maintaining a relaxed state of mind is the most vital part in making the most of these events because at the end of the day, win or lose, you can say that you had fun.

The post Reborn in Flame: Texas Champion Team Analysis and Tournament Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi, I’m Demitrios Kaguras, and I managed to place 3rd at the San Jose Regional Championship. I was very happy with this, considering it was my first tournament as a master. I’ve been working on basically the same team since February, so I’m glad I had some success with it. I’ll talk about the team first, then go over the games I played throughout the tournament.

Origin and Evolution

When I first created this team, I was completely new to VGC. I just saw a few Pokémon next to each other in my box, and decided to take them to my first regional.

This was my first VGC team ever, and I took it to the Seattle regional last Spring. It consisted of Mega Garchomp, physical Chople Berry Tyranitar, Liechi Berry Talonflame, Thunder Wave/Taunt Gyarados, Focus Sash Alakazam, and Light Clay Klefki. At the time, I didn’t know that Mega Garchomp was generally considered inferior to its non-mega counterpart, and I didn’t really have a justification for using it. I somehow managed to get 2nd place in the Senior division with this strange team, but I still wasn’t satisfied with how it performed. I did not like Klefki at all, and Alakazam never seemed to carry its weight, even with a focus sash. I loved Mega Garchomp though. I edited the team a bit, using some more standard Pokemon.

I swapped Klefki and Alakazam for Substitute Leftovers Aegislash and Choice Specs Gardevoir. I also changed Tyranitar to a Dragon Dance Lum Berry variant, and gave Talonflame a Life Orb. These changes were made to adjust to the metagame, which I was finally beginning to understand, while still keeping the original type synergy of the team. I used this version of the team through US Nationals, up until Worlds LCQ, where I made another change.

Life Orb Substitute Chandelure took Talonflame’s spot, and I gave Aegislash a Weakness Policy. After removing Talonflame, I came to realize how much I missed its powerful priority Brave Birds. I lost in the first round in LCQ, partly due to my DS freezing, which was very disappointing. I still won a couple side tournaments with the team and had a lot of fun with it. But, after Worlds, I decided the team still needed improvement.

I got rid of Chandelure and went back to Talonflame right away. I also changed Gyarados to Choice Scarf Staraptor to help with my poor Rotom-Wash matchup, and to take out Pokémon like Garchomp if they were causing trouble. I also gave Tyranitar a mixed Weakness Policy set, and changed Aegislash’s item back to Leftovers. I honestly liked Aegislash better with Weakness Policy, and only changed it due to item clause. I changed Garchomp from solely physical to mixed with Draco Meteor. This was the team I used against my friends and online until the night before regionals, where I made another last second change.

This was the final version of the team that I brought to regionals.

The Team

Garchomp @Garchompite
Ability: Sand Veil
EVS: 20 HP/ 208 Atk / 28 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
-Draco Meteor
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Protect

Mega Garchomp is my favorite mega in X and Y, and my favorite to use competitively. I used a mixed set due to the huge amount of Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp in VGC. The EVs allow it to survive Modest Zapdos HP Ice 100% of the time and Modest Mega Manectric HP Ice 68.7% of the time. It also gives it a bit of additional overall bulk. This came in handy during one of my matches in Swiss, where I won with 3 HP left on my Mega Garchomp. It can also survive weaker Ice Beams from Pokémon like Politoed. The Special Attack basically allows it to OHKO all relevant dragons, besides Goodra, all the time. Some bulkier Hydreigons have a chance to survive, but this hasn’t been an issue so far. I maxed out speed to speed tie other Garchomps and outspeed all base 100s before or on the first turn of mega evolving. Even if I lose the speed tie with other Garchomp, I can take a Dragon Claw and KO back. The rest of the EVs were dumped into attack, to really give that Sand Force boosted Earthquake some power. Mega Garchomp has worked really well for me. Most people assume Tyranitar or Gyarados to be my primary mega when they first see the team, so Mega Garchomp gives the otherwise standard team a surprise factor. Those prepared for a regular Garchomp’s Earthquake are surprised when it mega evolves and picks up two KOs with Earthquake that a regular Garchomp could never have achieved. Its Earthquake is one of the most powerful spread attacks in the game, and that’s what I try to take advantage of.

208 Atk Sand Force Mega Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Mawile in Sand: 164-194 (104.4 – 123.5%) — guaranteed OHKO

Mega Garchomp packs a punch, and backs it up with solid bulk and a respectable speed. This Pokémon is the star of the team, no doubt.

Tyranitar @Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Def / 68 SpA / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Ice Beam
– Protect

Tyranitar has always been a reliable member of my team, and I love how many different sets it can run. Special Tyranitar has been popular lately, but I prefer a more physically-focused one. This Pokémon is scary after a Weakness Policy boost, even when Intimidated. Ice Beam takes out Garchomp and Salamence, and can KO Hydreigon at +2. On this team, Tyranitar also had the role of setting up sand to activate Garchomp’s Sand Force. I chose a Brave nature to boost Attack without compromising Special Attack, since Speed wasn’t that important for Tyranitar. I honestly don’t remember what the EVs were designed to survive, but the point was to help Tyranitar take hits easily and get the great Weakness Policy boost. Weakness Policy allows Tyranitar to get some surprise KOs, which helps a lot, especially in combination with Mega Garchomp’s power. I did not lead with Tyranitar Garchomp very often, due to some bad synergy between the two, but they were both used in almost every battle, since I love Sand Force boosted Earthquake. Tyranitar also helps against rain, which is really important considering rain’s surge in popularity

+2 252+ Atk Mega Tyranitar Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 178-211 (98.3 – 116.5%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

If Kangaskhan tries to set up with Power Up Punch, I can gain an easy KO on fast sets.

Surprise KOs are always nice, especially in best of one games. Weakness Policy is obviously a lot less effective in best of three, but I still thought it was a really good item choice, and fit Tyranitar really well. Tyranitar’s great bulk, huge amount of weakness, and its ability to go mixed makes it the perfect candidate for this item, and I thought it worked really well. Overall, Tyranitar was a Pokémon I brought to almost all of my matches, and every time it did its job well.

Talonflame @Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 64 Def / 12 SpA / 176 Spe
Naughty Nature
– Brave Bird
– Overheat
– Taunt
– Protect

I really love using this Pokémon. The pressure it can apply with priority Brave Birds is great, and its Fire typing was also very helpful. I initially had Flare Blitz, but changed it to Overheat after seeing it at Worlds. This was definitely a good choice, as Overheat can take down things like Ferrothorn without recoil damage. This happened during one of my swiss matches, where it came down to my 3 HP Talonflame vs. a full HP Ferrothorn.  Talonflame’s Flying type was useful as well, allowing it to dodge Garchomp’s Earthquakes and KO any fighting types or switch in on Fighting-Type moves threatening Tyranitar. Taunt was used as a filler simply because I did not have Taunt on the team. I feel like Taunt is a really strong and necessary move, and I wanted it somewhere on the team. It can stop Trick Room and prevent Will-O-Wisp users from threatening my powerful physical attackers. Talonflame’s EVs allow it to outspeed Kangaskhan’s Sucker Punch, and to survive Life Orb Brave Bird from other Talonflame and KO back. Overall, I’d say Talonflame is my favorite Fire Type in the VGC ’14 metagame. It was a very valuable member of this team, and I brought it to almost all of my battles.

Gyarados @Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Atk / 28 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Waterfall
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

This mega was a last-second choice. I bred and trained it the night before regionals after bouncing ideas around with my friend the day before. It was put on the team because I didn’t feel that Staraptor was reliable enough. I also wanted the flexibility of two megas. I chose Gyarados because I felt it worked both in and out of mega form. I could bring both Gyarados and Garchomp to one match and choose which to mega evolve depending on the circumstances of the match, since both Pokémon could work well in their regular forms as well. I also wanted something on the team that could set up, since none of my other Pokémon had boosting moves. Since my team already revolved around a strong Earthquake user, levitate was nice to have. The only problem was that, after mega evolving, Gyarados’ Earthquake was not dodged by Gardevoir’s Telepathy. Thankfully, I was never in a situation where this caused problems for me. The moves are standard, and I don’t remember the purpose of the EV spread to be honest. I built this at the last minute, so I didn’t write down explanations for the EVs, but the spread seemed to work well. Gyarados also brought Intimidate support to the team, which is pretty important.

Aegislash @Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVS: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 140 SpA
Quiet Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Sacred Sword
– Substitute
– King’s Shield

This is probably my least favorite Pokémon on the team. Despite this, it still played an important role. It had a crucial Steel typing, which I like to have on all of my teams. It also has a pretty favorable matchup against standard Kangaskhan, and it had good synergy with the rest of my team. Ghost typing helps with Tyranitar’s Fighting weakness, and Steel allows it to switch in on Ice attacks aimed at Garchomp. My Aegislash is a standard Substitute variant with Sacred Sword. I like Aegislash’s overall awesome bulk and power. I’ve used Weakness Policy Aegislash in the past, and I honestly preferred it to this set, but I felt a Weakness Policy on Tyranitar was more important. The EVs allow for a 2HKO on Kangaskhan with Sacred Sword. One thing to note is that my Aegislash’s speed IV is not zero. There are certain situations where I would much rather have a faster Aegslash than my opponent. I know that if my full HP Aegislash takes on another full HP Aegislash it will most likely lose, but I like knowing that rather than being urged to take the risk with the speed tie, and I can KO other Aegislash that have prior damage before they can hit me. Otherwise, this is your standard Aegislash. It completes the Steel-Fairy-Dragon core that you see a lot of in VGC ’14. It did its job and helped in my top 8 match and during one of my swiss battles, but it was still my least used Pokémon.

Gardevoir @Choice Specs
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 196 HP / 164 Def / 84 SpA / 60 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dazzling Gleam
– Psychic
– Energy Ball
– Moonblast

Gardevoir is my Fairy Pokémon of choice. I love the power of its Choice Specs boosted attacks. It isn’t hindered by intimidate, which is really important since a lot of my team is physical. Dazzling Gleam is a very strong spread move, and Psychic helps especially against Mega Venusaur.  Energy Ball was added as a very niche move, and it helps deal with Rotom-Wash. Moonblast was used to secure a OHKO on Garchomp. The EVs allow for Gardevoir to survive a 252+ Attack Choice Band Talonflame’s Brave Bird, but also OHKO Salamence with a two-target Dazzling Gleam. Gardevoir fit very well onto my team. Fairy typing is key, and Telepathy allowed it to dodge Garchomp’s Earthquake. With Telepathy, I had three different Pokémon that could switch in when my Garchomp used Earthquake. This allows me to move to a favorable position while still being able to deal massive amounts of damage with Garchomp. Gardevoir could also switch in well for Tyranitar due to its double fighting resistance. One of my favorite positions to be in is to have both Mega Garchomp and Gardevoir on the field with sandstorm up. They can dish out so much damage between Dazzling Gleam and Earthquake. I initially debated using Choice Scarf instead, but I preferred the damage output Choice Specs brings to the table.

Team Playstyle

From the start, there was a specific way I liked to use the team. I would dish out damage and take out threats to Garchomp, with my foes not knowing that it would Mega Evove. When the opportunity arose, I would mega evolve my Garchomp and KO some unsuspecting Pokémon. I have had multiple battles where my opponent had what looked like an easy victory with a 4-1 lead, but I was in a position where Garchomp could KO all four of my opponents Pokémon. Players would identify their win condition, but no one took into account the possibility of Garchomp going mega. This did not always work, of course, as I could easily make bad predictions and lose the way to my own Mega Garchomp win condition. I also struggled a little in best-of-three matches, since my opponents knew Mega Garchomp was coming after game one. This is why I added Mega Gyarados, giving me some more options.

Identifying the Mega Evolution’s Win Condition

Team preview was very important for me. I would look at my opponents team, and see what I had to do in order to get my mega Pokémon into a good position, whether it be winning a weather war for Garchomp to take advantage of Sand Force, taking out that Rotom, or whatever else I had to do. If I saw a very unfavorable matchup, I would bring Gyarados and try to get into a position where I could set up Dragon Dances.

Talonflame Pressure

Talonflame was very important to the team as a whole. I mainly used it as a way to pressure certain foes, forcing them to Protect or to switch. I could pin down my foes and put them in unfavorable positions. A well played switch into Talonflame can change the flow of a battle immensely. Take my round 8 match for example. I had a Garchomp encored into Protect and a Gyarados against a Azumarill at max attack, but in Brave Bird range, and a Raichu. I protected Gyarados from a double target, and brought Talonflame in safely, pressuring the Azumarill. He protected Azumarill, but I attacked Raichu, getting the KO.

Playing Safe and Mind Games

I rarely make super crazy predictions that can make or break a game. Whenever I make a risky play, I try to back it up well enough so I feel I can come back if it goes as wrong as possible. Of course, there are some situations where this isn’t possible. Sometimes, it all comes down to mind games, like whether or not someone will use protect. This is part of why I lost my semifinals match. In game two, I predicted and protected well with my leads. But game three, I ran into the exact same situation. This is what would be called a mind game. I did not know what to do. It was 50-50. Do they go for the same move, or do they predict me predicting that and actually do something else? What if they predict me trying to predict them trying to predict me and they make the right move? What if I predict at too high of a level and make an error? In the end, there were only two moves, but no way to know for sure which one to choose. It felt more like a luck-based decision to me. There wasn’t really a way to know what to do, and I did not have reliable switches. I ultimately made the wrong decision, and they made the right one, and that’s part of why I lost that match. I try to avoid mind games whenever possible, and I try to play it safe. I only make risky predictions when necessary. In my round 8 match, I used Waterfall and Brave Bird on my opponent’s Mega Tyranitar, knowing even if he Protected, I’d still have Mega Garchomp to finish up. (I did not take into account Wide Guard on his Aegislash, but I’ll talk about that later.) Making safe plays allowed me to win in the most reliable way.

Weather

I loved having a slow Tyranitar because I would always have the weather advantage against Politoed. Charizard-Y could be handled easily with some switching, and hail was never a problem. This meant I was battling in my weather most of the time. My team did not revolve completely around weather however. It had a type of weather mode, with one Pokémon being dedicated to setting up sand, and one to abusing it. My other Pokémon could function well in and out of sand. I like to have multiple options available and choose my game plan at team preview.

Battles

My notes only included what my opponents had and what they brought, so sorry about my lack of in-depth information. Sorry if you’re mentioned and I don’t have your name.

Round 1

I was sort of scared at team preview, because this looked like a really strong team. I felt pretty confident with my matchup, however. I knew I wanted Talonflame for Conkeldurr and Amoonguss. Garchomp would be able to do quite a bit of damage as well. Tyranitar could deal with Chandelure and set up sand, and Gardevoir could take out Amoongus, Conkeldurr, or Hydreigon. Gyarados and Aegislash didn’t look as useful, so I didn’t bring them to the battle. My opponent did not bring his Kangaskhan or his Amoonguss. Early into  the match, my opponent switched Conkeldurr in on a Brave Bird. He also missed a Draco Meteor, but I don’t think that mattered.

WIN (Record is 1-0)

Round 2

This was a very close match. I’m not entirely sure which Pokémon I brought to the match, but I know I brought Tyranitar and Garchomp. My opponent brought Gardevoir, Staraptor,Tyranitar, and Garchomp. Early in the battle, my opponent’s Gardevoir used Ally Switch, which caught me seriously off guard and messed with my thought process. At the time, I didn’t know Ally Switch had Priority, so I thought he was holding a Choice Scarf and would switch, but I was completely wrong and misplayed a bit. My Garchomp took a Rock Slide and a Crunch from the +1 Tyranitar throughout the battle, and won me the match with 3 HP remaining. It was my last Pokémon. I was really thankful I invested those 20 EVs in HP, or I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now.

WIN (Record is 2-0)

Round 3

I remember my opponent saying that he hadn’t been to many events, so that put me at a bit of ease. I told him I had taken second at an event last year, and he started to say that there was no way he would win. But, judging by his record and team, he was at least a competent foe. I played extremely well for most of this match, making perfect reads. But when I had the game locked down, his ferrothorn Critical Hit my Garchomp after it and Talonflame took a hit from Heat Wave. My Talonflame managed to survive that turn with 3 HP, and it was my last Pokémon. But, all that was left was the full HP Ferrothorn. My opponent asked if Iron Barbs activated before or after Ferrothorn was KO’d. I told him before, and he got pretty excited. Thank god for Overheat.

WIN (Record is 3-0)

Round 4

I was really surprised to see a team like this make it this far. One word popped into my head as soon as I saw team preview: Talonflame. Talonflame could  OHKO Everything besides Aegislash, barring Focus Sash. I think I led Tyranitar and Talonflame, breaking sash with Sandstorm, and then proceeding to Brave Bird his team to death. I won against his team of Vileplume, Machamp, Aegislash, and Weavile rather quickly, and I was relieved to have some time to relax before round 5.

WIN (Record is 4-0)

Round 5 vs Daniel C.

The first opponent I actually recognized. I remembered using Rock Slide to flinch his Mawile and winning in top 8 at Seattle Regionals last year. It was really cool to see a fellow first year master doing well. This was the first battle where I brought Mega Gyarados, in order to hit Rotom and Hydreigon. I set Gyarados up and used Earthquake a lot to win. I was really happy to see my last-second choice do really well, as I may not have been able to win otherwise. Mega Mawile was scary as always, and this was actually the first one I had seen so far.

WIN (Record is 5-0)

Round 6 vs Mitchell

I don’t remember this guy’s last name, but he was a nice guy and I talked with him and his friend a bit throughout the tournament. At a side event the day before, I had lost to him, so I was feeling really nervous right away. I saw the team and expected Trick Room right away. I was feeling good about taunting with Talonflame and letting it faint, then letting Mega Gyarados and Garchomp Earthquake through the rest of his team. Turn 1 went really well, just as planned. I used Taunt on Gardevoir, mega evolved and used Dragon Dance with Gyarados, and brought in Garchomp after Talonflame was KOd by Mega Tyranitar’s Rock Slide. I was really sure Earthquake from both of my Pokémon would take out his. This didn’t happen. I was so nervous this far into the tournament, and I was not playing as well as I could have. I didn’t take into account the fact that Gardevoir probably had a Sitrus Berry, and that Tyranitar would have a lot bulkier of a spread than Dragon Dance ones. Both of his Pokémon survived with a sliver of health each, and both of my Pokémon fell. I was crushed.

LOSS (Record is 5-1)

Round 7

Mitchell and one of his friends gave me some words of encouragement before this match, and it actually helped a lot. I went into this match confident. I was up against a sun team. I was prepared for this matchup. I was extremely nervous at this point, more than I probably have ever been before. I knew that I just had to get my sand up, and I should be able to win. This match turned into a huge weather war, with lots of switches. It was a really long battle. But, I felt I was in control the whole time. I knew that I’d be able to seal up victory if I didn’t miss a Rock Slide at the end, and thankfully, I didn’t. After winning, I tried to take the cap off of a pen to mark the match slip, but I couldn’t. My hands were so sweaty… I realized that I now had only one more match to win. It was do or die.

WIN (Record is 6-1)

Round 8 vs Andre E.

This video pretty much shows it all. The match was cut off, but I won it. I was unbelievably nervous at this point. I had never been streamed before, and did not want to fail in front of everyone. But, I recognized the team and it looked like I could win it. When I made the switch to Talonflame, I thought I had it sealed. Azumarill was pressured, Mega Garchomp was ready to come back in and finish the game. It looked great. But when Aegislash used Wide Guard, my heart skipped a beat. I still felt confident however, as I had Draco meteor. But then it missed. My heart skipped another beat. I thought everything was over. I decided to stall and bank on my opponent going for Rock slide and missing. I had a chance to take out Tyranitar, but missed it. I was never expecting him to go for another Dragon Dance when he almost had the game sealed up. Anyway, I was still hoping for justice. Rock Slide had to miss, and thankfully it did. I ended up having just slightly more HP than my opponent’s Aegislash did, so I won. I was heading for top cut!

WIN (Record is 7-1)

Top Cut

Top 8 vs Colten L.

I really don’t remember these matches very well. I know I won game one, and lost game two, so game three was really intense. My spirits were crushed as I instantly lost my Talonflame to Scald on a switch, and I still had to deal with Ferrothorn. But I managed to battle back and take down Ferrothorn with Mega Garchomp’s brute force. This set was really fun to play, and I was beyond relieved when I emerged victorious.

WIN (Set was 2-1)

Top 4 vs Shreyas R.

It all finally came to an end here. Part of this was due to nervousness, and part of it was because my opponent played games two and three really well. I took game one, as Shreyas used Kangaskhan and Jumpluff. I knew this combo really well, as I had tried it out online before. I knew about Rage Powder, Helping Hand, Encore, and Sleep Powder already, so his surprise did not work against me. Games two and three, Shreyas brought Mawile and Hydreigon instead, while I led Talonflame and Tyranitar. Game two I predicted well, protecting Talonflame from Hydreigon’s attack and Ice Beaming Hydreigon while Mawile protected. But I played the rest of the game badly, ultimately losing to Azumarill and Rotom-Heat. Game three, I was far too nervous when met with the same lead matchup. What was I supoosed to do now? Does he expect me to make the same moves as last time? Or should I predict that? It felt like more of a random decision than a mind game, and I played it wrong. There might have been something I could have done, but I was too nervous to play at my prime. I lost rather decisively.

LOSS (Set was 1-2)

Closing Thoughts on Tournament

I had a lot of fun throughout the entire tournament. It was fun to make it so far and do so well. I’m looking forward to future events where I can carry this momentum to some more good performances. On a personal level, I have to work on my nerves, as it was affecting my play farther in the tournament. The tournament ran pretty well overall and I had a blast getting to do what I love and do it well. GGs to everyone.

Closing Thoughts on VGC ’14

I am going to miss this format. It was the first VGC format I played seriously, and I really liked it. The breeding changes are what really got me in to competitive play this generation. I enjoyed the limited format, as there were a lot less things to prepare for, making teambuilding easier. I really liked watching the metagame evolve. Mega evolution spiced things up quite a bit, and I really loved using a mega that wasn’t considered viable. Even the absence of move tutors was kind of nice. The metagame was really fast paced, with the major threats being hard hitters like Kangaskhan and Mawile. We’ll probably see more defensive playstyles next year, with Pokémon like Cresellia back. Speed control had quite the absence though, and I’m looking forward to using Icy Wind next year. This was my favorite format, probably since this is the first VGC format I’ve played seriously. Despite all this, I’m looking forward to playing VGC ’15 next year and doing the same thing all over again.

If you made it all the way through, thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed my report.

The post A Different Garchomp: NorCal Regionals 3rd Place Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This is a translation of 2014 World Championships Masters Champion Sejun Park’s team report by Edward Fan (iss) and Y. J. Kim. The original is located at Sejun’s blog and we would like to thank him for his permission to post this translation. Sejun earned his invite to Worlds by winning the 2014 Korean National Championships and blazed through the tournament, defeating Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSurvivor) 2-0 in the finals.

Hello! I want to apologize for how late this team report is, as 2014 is already ending. To those who cheered for me and made drawings, I’m sorry for being late, and thank you very much—I was very moved.

Teambuilding Process

The Korean National Championships were in June. Afterwards, however, I was very busy since it was the end of the school semester, so I didn’t have much time to prepare for Worlds in August. I considered using my Nationals team since it worked very well during the tournament, but then I decided to build a new team in a short amount of time, and the first Pokémon I considered was Mega Gyarados. Mega Gyarados was pretty common early in the metagame, and it was good then. Since many international players hadn’t seen it often, I thought it would provide a nice surprise factor. To it I added a trio that many players considered powerful: Scarf Gardevoir, Garchomp, and Talonflame, along with Rotom. In order to take advantage of Gyarados’s power, I needed a Pokémon that had Rage Powder or Follow Me. In the past, I had used Amoonguss, but I ran into an issue: Zapdos and Ludicolo were very strong against this combination, so I decided to use Pachirisu instead. Finally, there were certain Pokémon that Mega Gyarados was weak against, so I used Gothitelle to remedy this weakness.

World Championships

Hence, this was the logic I used to choose my team. I knew that there were some weaknesses, but overall I felt it was very stable. I thought I would have a smooth ride to top cut. However, two players in the Last Chance Qualifier, America’s Wolfe Glick and Japan’s Shota Yamamoto, had teams with a strategy that I was weak to: Trick Room Gothitelle. As a result, I was very worried the day before Worlds. The fact that seven other people were also using Gothitelle was strange—I think that other people used it because Gothitelle was a good hidden card against Garchomp. I ended up playing against Gothitelle in round 2 and round 4 of the Swiss rounds. I lost the first set, but I managed to play really carefully and get past it in the second.

I wanted to write commentary for each match, but I didn’t have enough time, so here are some recordings of my games. (Thanks to Jimmy Kwa (Team Rocket Elite) for recording my top 8 and top 4 matches.)

• Swiss Round 5 vs. Omari Travis (BadIntent)
• Top 8, Game 3 vs. Miguel Marti de la Torre (Sekiam)
• Top 4, Game 1 and Game 2 vs. Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom)
• Finals vs. Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSurvivor)

Team Analysis

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Intimidate / Mold Breaker | Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Dragon Dance
– Waterfall
– Earthquake
– Protect

This is the party’s ace. Mega Gyarados is a very serious threat in double battles, especially after a Dragon Dance. When combined with Talonflame, it is even more threatening. Additionally, the ability to hit Rotom formes with Earthquake due to Mold Breaker is extremely useful in this format. After a single Dragon Dance, Gyarados can knock out Rotom with Earthquake and Mega Tyranitar with Waterfall.

Since this power is very important, I chose not to focus on defensive investment—instead, I used Gyarados’s Attack and Speed to defend it. Before using Dragon Dance, Mega Gyarados sits at 133 Speed, which outspeeds standard Rotom. After a Dragon Dance, it outspeeds standard Scarf Gardevoir.

Pachirisu @ Sitrus Berry
Volt Absorb | Impish
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
– Nuzzle
– Follow Me
– Super Fang
– Protect

Unlike Amoonguss, this squirrel has an attack that ignores the enemy’s defenses. With Super Fang, I can quickly lower the opponent’s HP, making it easy for Pachirisu’s teammates (such as Talonflame and its Brave Bird) to pick up KOs. Additionally, Nuzzle and Super Fang are attacks, so Taunt does not impede Pachirisu very much. Pachirisu is very good against Electric-types due to Volt Absorb, especially in the later stages of a game. Therefore, it dissuades my opponent from using those attacks in the first place, so I don’t actually have to use Follow Me very often. As such, I can use Nuzzle and Super Fang very often, which makes Pachirisu amazing in doubles.

In order to improve my matchup against Amoonguss, I originally considered using Safety Goggles. However, this situation did not come up very often, and since Pachirisu is very versatile, I decided to use Sitrus Berry instead. Since Pachirisu does not have very good base HP, Sitrus Berry is a huge benefit. When Pachirisu is able to stay on the field for a long time, the entire team benefits.

Since there are a lot of physical attacks in the metagame, I invested all of my EVs into HP and Defense. Thankfully, Pachirisu was able to handle Mega Kangaskhan’s Double-Edge and Mega Mawile’s Play Rough. Pachirisu has good base Special Defense, so I didn’t invest into it. Even strong attacks such as Aegislash’s Shadow Ball are only a 3HKO with Sitrus, as long as Pachirisu’s Special Defense isn’t lowered.

Gothitelle @ Leftovers
Shadow Tag | Calm
252 HP / 172 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
– Psyshock
– Thunder Wave
– Tickle
– Protect

Originally this team didn’t have Gothitelle, but I added it as a late response to new threats in the metagame. Gothitelle is very good for weakening the Pokémon Gyarados is weak against, such as Salamence and Mawile. I thought paralysis was incredibly useful in the metagame, so I wanted a second way to inflict it. Tickle was great for weakening my opponent’s physical attackers so that Gyarados or Talonflame could easily finish them off. Psyshock synergizes well with Tickle, and deals significant damage to Assault Vest Ludicolo.

To be honest, I didn’t mess around with the EVs. Gothitelle has pretty good all-around stats. I knew that many opponents would have Choice Specs Hydreigon. Other Gothitelle users dealt with this problem by investing heavily into Special Defense. Rather than giving up Defense, my solution was to simply prevent the situation from occurring. Due to Shadow Tag, my opponent would have to lead with Hydreigon in order for the situation to occur. In response, I would lead with Gothitelle and Gardevoir and use Dazzling Gleam to immediately knock out Hydreigon. If they chose not to lead with Hydreigon, I had a variety of options. One common one was to lead with Gothitelle and Gyarados for Intimidate, switch Gyarados out to Pachirisu in order to weaken my opponent’s Pokémon with Tickle and Super Fang, then bring Gyarados back in to finish the job with Dragon Dance.

I considered using Life Orb Gothitelle to defeat some threats. Even without using Competitive, I could have used Psyshock to OHKO Amoonguss. With Competitive, Gothitelle could knock out 252 HP Mega Mawile with Hidden Power Fire, which was fantastic! But then Gothitelle would always faint first to Sucker Punch.

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Telepathy | Timid
4 HP / 44 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe
– Dazzling Gleam
– Psychic
– Moonblast
– Swagger

Throughout this metagame, I constantly used Gardevoir. Its high Special Attack stat and powerful Fairy-type attacks make it consistent and unique. Moonblast OHKOes 4 HP Garchomp 7/8ths of the time, and Psychic deals a heavy blow to Amoonguss and Venusaur.

In order to outspeed Mega Tyranitar after a Dragon Dance, Mega Manectric, and Aerodactyl, I had to use a Timid nature. I invested heavily into Speed in order to outspeed Mega Manectric and Ludicolo after a Swift Swim boost. Since Gardevoir’s low Defense can make it very risky, I decided to invest the remaining EVs into Defense instead of HP. In the finals, Gardevoir was able to take a Bullet Punch from Mega Lucario, and investing into Defense instead of HP maximized my chances.

The first three moves were set in place. I put a lot of thought into the final move—I considered Shadow Ball, Focus Blast, Healing Wish, Destiny Bond, Will-O-Wisp, and Ally Switch. But what I found was that I almost never used the fourth move, no matter what it was. In the end, I chose Swagger, so I could potentially turn around a disadvantageous situation. I didn’t end up using Swagger at all during Worlds. Looking back, I think I should have picked Focus Blast, as it is quite versatile.

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Rough Skin | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Earthquake
– Dragon Claw
– Rock Slide
– Protect

Garchomp was the most common Pokémon in VGC 2014 for good reason. As a Dragon-type, it is naturally an amazing counter to so many Pokémon. Due to Focus Sash, I could freely attack without much fear of retaliation. There isn’t much else to say about this Pokémon.

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Gale Wings | Naive
252 Atk / 164 SpA / 92 Spe
– Brave Bird
– Overheat
– Taunt
– Quick Guard

Fighting-type Pokémon are very good against Mega Gyarados, so I wanted a Pokémon that could easily defeat them. As such, I chose Talonflame. Quick Guard was very good for blocking opposing Brave Bird and Prankster, which were often used against Gyarados. I added Taunt to deal with Trick Room teams, but I didn’t end up using it very often—there was one time where it was almost very useful, but it was blocked. In hindsight, I could have used a defensive move in place of Taunt.

Overheat, unlike Flare Blitz, isn’t hindered by Intimidate, so it is very effective against Mega Mawile. It also doesn’t have any recoil damage, so it is a great choice when Talonflame’s HP is low. It can even OHKO physically defensive Amoonguss most of the time. Overheat is also safe to use against Aegislash’s King’s Shield. However, there are two big weaknesses. The first is that Overheat can miss. The second is that I had to invest heavily into Special Attack instead of Speed in order to properly use Overheat. (Also, Overheat doesn’t defrost Talonflame.)

In order to maximize Brave Bird’s damage, I maximized Attack. Then, I invested enough Speed to outspeed base 105 Speed Pokémon such as Mienshao, so that I could block its Fake Out with Quick Guard. I placed the rest of the EVs into Special Attack to maximize Overheat’s effectiveness.

Conclusion

This was my 2014 World Championships team report. I know that this might not be the clearest writing, but I hope you enjoyed it. For a long time my dream was to become World Champion, and I successfully accomplished that. Don’t worry, I’m not done yet—I’ll be back next year. Thanks to everyone who cheered for me, and have a happy New Year!

The post Follow Me: 2014 Pokémon World Champion Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi everyone, my name is Emma Williams and this is the team I used to win 2^nd place at a local grassroots tournament in Melbourne, Australia. These grassroots tournaments are held about 3-4 times every year and always attract a fair amount of competitors, this one in particular with 100 Masters. I struggled a lot during the VGC ’14 season, placing pretty averagely at official events this season, so if felt good to finally do well with a team I felt comfortable with.

This team originated largely because I wanted to try something involving Staraptor. This Pokemon had gained popularity in the country after having a successful Nationals and Worlds run piloted by fellow player Dayne O’Meara (Prof Teak). I remembered creating a team earlier in the season that included Staraptor, Rotom-H, Garchomp, Gardevoir and Raichu. The main strength of that team came from firing off strong spread moves, creating situations of overwhelming offensive pressure on both opposing Pokemon. Around the time, teams based around Mega Blastoise and Pachirisu were also becoming quite popular for Premier Challenges in the US. Combining these two ideas, with Pachirisu replacing Raichu, I started testing and was very pleased with the results, making very few changes from the initial concept.

The Team

Staraptor (M) @ Choice Scarf ***GeneralBoris
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 196 HP / 156 Atk / 156 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
– Close Combat
– Brave Bird
– Final Gambit
– U-turn

Used in 7/11 battles

It’s the bird that started it all! Staraptor’s HP EVs allow it to nab 12HP Garchomps with a Final Gambit and adds some general bulk. The speed investment combined with Choice Scarf allows Staraptor to outspeed Scarfed Jolly Smeargle for a Close Combat KO. The rest of the EVs were dumped into attack for the following calculations:

• 156+ Atk Staraptor Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 134-158 (74 – 87.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 156+ Atk Staraptor Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Lucario: 148-176 (102 – 121.3%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 156+ Atk Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 180 Def Amoonguss: 212-252 (95.9 – 114%) — 75% chance to OHKO
• 156+ Atk Staraptor Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 180-212 (81.4 – 95.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Some of those calculations might seem a bit strange where attacks do ~75% of damage at minimum, but they were used to line up KOs when necessary.

Rotom-Heat @ Leftovers ***Major Hottie
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 116 SAtk / 4 SDef / 132 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– Discharge
– Protect

Used in 5/11 battles

This is very similar to the set that I ran at Australian Nationals, except with Leftovers and Discharge. Rotom-Heat can fire off Discharges freely without having to worry about 3 of the other team members taking any damage from it, even healing Pachirisu, so only my opponents have to worry about taking the 30% paralysis chance. I used 156 Speed EVs to outspeed Adamant max speed Bisharps. The bulk is rather simple but let me take multiple attacks from common Pokemon such as Adamant Mega Kangaskhan, Adamant Mawile and Jolly Garchomp.

With 116 SpA EVs, Overheat OHKOs physically bulky Amoonguss and Thunderbolt deals over 75% damage to most Charizard-Y.

Gardevoir (F) @ Choice Specs ***Lucette
Trait: Telepathy
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 36 SAtk / 4 SDef / 116 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

– Dazzling Gleam
– Moonblast
– Shadow Ball
– Psychic

Used in 5/11 battles

I don’t remember exactly where I got the concept for this Choice Specs set. It’s a variation of a rather common 60 SpA one that was going around Nugget Bridge at some point.

116 Speed EVs puts Gardevoir above my Mega Blastoise by one point to avoid awkward speed ties. I had to sacrifice a 100% guarantee to take some attacks, but with tinkering I managed to get it to a very acceptable compromise of:

• 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 236 HP / 116 Def Gardevoir: 148-175 (85.5 – 101.1%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon/Shadow Ball vs. 236 HP / 4 SpD Gardevoir: 150-176 (86.7 – 101.7%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO

On the offensive side, 36 SpA comes a bit short on some guaranteed OHKOs, but comes very close on the following:

• 36+ SpA Choice Specs Gardevoir Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Salamence: 168-198 (98.8 – 116.4%) — 87.5% chance to OHKO
• 36+ SpA Choice Specs Gardevoir Psychic vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 212-252 (95.9 – 114%) — 75% chance to OHKO
• 36+ SpA Choice Specs Gardevoir Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Venusaur: 180-212 (96.2 – 113.3%) — 75% chance to OHKO

Garchomp (M) @ Life Orb ***Pluto
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 12 HP / 204 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Substitute

Used in 11/11 battles

Good old Life Orb Garchomp, famed for disrupting opponents when they have calculated their Pokemon’s defenses for a Lum Berry variant.

With this set, I chose Substitute over Rock Slide. At one stage, Garchomp had 3 attacks and Substitute, but I found myself in many situations where Protect could have been helpful. I was a little worried that I would run into a lot of Charizard-Y which can really threaten this team if I’m not careful, and Rock Slide is always nice to fish for flinches, but Substitute proved itself very effective in testing.

Pachirisu (M) @ Sitrus Berry ***Sejun Spark
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -Atk)
– Follow Me
– Nuzzle
– Super Fang
– Protect

Used in 6/11 battles

Pachi-fever spreads Down Under! The popular rodent suits my playstyle well by adding some more defensive elements to this team than Raichu did. I ran maximum physical bulk after realizing that Pachirisu functions on my team pretty similarly to how it did in Sejun Park’s team: tanking physical attacks while supported by Intimidate and shielding other members from electric attacks.

Super Fang proved useful not just for spreading damage, but also by giving me information about my opponent’s HP EVs, usually whether they were maxed or not. With 4 Speed EVs, Pachirisu outspeeds my own Mega Blastoise and Gardevoir so I can use the move before they attack. When Pachirisu didn’t really have too much to do, I would just use Nuzzle for disruption.

Blastoise (M) @ Blastoisinite ***Boogie
Trait: Rain Dish
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SAtk / 124 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Ice Beam
– Water Pulse
– Aura Sphere
– Protect

Used in 10/11 battles

Blastoise was added last to the team when I realised I didn’t have a Mega Evolution, but it fits in just fine. Mega Blastoise can be a nuisance to a fair range of common Pokemon used in Australia.

Rain Dish was just chosen because I thought it’d be more useful on a switch-in than Torrent. I went with maximum Special Attack investment to dish out as much damage as possible. 124 Speed EVs outpaces 44 Speed EV Rotoms to hit first. As for the bulk, 132 HP survives a Timid Thunderbolt from Mega Manectric if worst comes to worst.

The Tournament

I met up with my friends and fellow competitors in the venue and registered. Looking around, at least 100 other trainers had shown up for their shot at the title and some post-season fun. There were quite a few notable regulars missing though which though sad.

The initial announcements before round 1 revealed that for Masters we would be having 7 best-of-1 Swiss rounds with a top cut of 8. I was a little apprehensive at this because I was already a bit tired, and I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage on what was an unusually warm spring day inside with so many people, but I tried not to focus on that and take it one round at a time.

Round 1 vs Chris Taylor

I had time to chat with my opponents a little bit before each round while we waited for everyone to find theirs. Chris told me he had gone to Nationals and finished about 5-3.

Battle Video code: B9DW-WWWW-WWW9-T37Q

My team:  + /
Chris’ team: + /

I’m not really too sure there’s much to say about this one. Chris brought Azumarill, and I picked 3 Pokemon that could either OHKO or 2HKO it. He played this game fairly well compared to my shaky reads. A first round loss is never really a great feeling, but I just had to pick myself up and shake it off for round 2.

LOSS 0-1

Round 2 vs Alex Dug

Battle Video code: ZH5G-WWWW-WWW9-T37K

My team: + /
Alex’s team: + /

For some reason, I didn’t realise that I had brought both of my fastest Pokemon to a Trick Room party on turn 1.

On turn 2, I decide to conserve my Intimidate for later and swap Staraptor for Rotom-Heat. Gallade reveals Helping Hand as Mawile Mega Evolves and tries to Play Rough Rotom-Heat, missing. Knowing that this combination is probably what my opponent is going to rely to deal significant damage without needing to switch out and risk losing momentum, I swap out Garchomp for Staraptor again to put both of my opponent’s Pokemon at -2 Attack. The Helping Hand + Play Rough combination comes out again but this time on Staraptor, which survives on 20HP. Rotom-Heat Thunderbolts Gallade to put it in the yellow again.

Alex withdraws Mawile and brings in Talonflame, correctly predicting that I will aim an Overheat in its direction. However, he forgets that Ghost-type moves don’t affect Normal types and tries to Shadow Sneak Staraptor. This costs him his Gallade.

I send out Garchomp and Alex sends out Mega Mawile. I Protect Garchomp as this is the last turn of Trick Room, and Talonflame uses a rather surprising move on Rotom-Heat…Acrobatics. I didn’t catch if the bird had an item on it in Team Preview, I guess it did due to the low damage output. Mega Mawile also shows an interesting move when it Crunches Rotom-Heat for over 50% HP. Mawile takes an Overheat for about 75% HP.

On the next turn, my opponent swaps out Talonflame for Aegislash. Mawile Protects and I Earthquake and Thunderbolt the Aegislash slot. Alex mentions he didn’t expect me to do that, maybe he predicted a switch? Now I know I can hit all his Pokemon with super effective moves and clean the rest of the field up for the win.

WIN 1-1

Round 3 vs Jordan Guthrie

Battle Video code: D2XG-WWWW-WWW9-T37E

My team: + /
Jordan’s team: + /

I picked Staraptor as a lead due to the dual grass types, and Blastoise to cover Gigalith. These choices work out well as Jordan sends out Gigalith and Amoonguss. I double-targeted the Amoonguss expecting Rage Powder shenanigans, but instead it Protects and Gigalith uses Explosion. At -1 attack, this isn’t as effective as my opponent would have hoped. Jordan replaces Gigalith with his own Staraptor.

I wasn’t really sure whether my Staraptor outsped his, but I figured I didn’t really have too much to lose by leaving it in. Jordan’s Staraptor moves first to knock mine out, so I assume it had an EV spread of 252 Attack / 252 Speed. Mega Blastoise Ice Beams Amoonguss which retaliates with a Giga Drain, putting Mega Blastoise in the red and healing back up to 55% HP. I send out Pachirisu.

On the next turn, I manage to Nuzzle a Venusaur that had switched in for Staraptor. I assumed this was his Mega, so this turned out okay for me as from experience, paralysis was really inconvenient for Mega Venusaur when it needed to be doing something every turn to apply pressure. I Protect Mega Blastoise from an incoming Spore.

I Protect Pachirisu and decide to target Amoonguss with Ice Beam, figuring I’ll rid the field of it and afterwards either get a free switch-in for Garchomp in the back should Blastoise go down, or a free turn of damage. I got a free turn instead with Mega Venusaur targeting Pachirisu with Sludge Bomb. The fainted Amoonguss is replaced with Staraptor.

I’m in a pretty good position now with Garchomp sitting in the back against a paralysed Mega Venusaur and a Staraptor. I wasn’t exactly sure whether Pachirisu could resist a Final Gambit, but there wasn’t too much risk in using Follow Me to possibly draw away attacks aimed at Mega Blastoise. Staraptor uses Final Gambit and… Pachirisu survives on 3HP, healing itself back up with Sitrus Berry. Mega Blastoise Ice Beams Mega Venusaur, and it then is fully paralyzed this turn. I use a combination of Super Fang and Ice Beams to win the game from here.

WIN 2-1

Round 4 vs Ashley Lang

Battle Video code: D66W-WWWW-WWW9-T36V

My team: + /
Ashley’s team: + /

I’m a little less than proud of this match, as I made some careless plays that really weighed things in Ashley’s favour.

I decide to let Mega Blastoise attack Vaporeon for some minor damage and take a Thunderbolt from Starmie, which does about 55%. Gardevoir locks into Shadow Ball on the Starmie, which shows a Focus Sash. After Mega Blastoise’s Aura Sphere, Vaporeon reveals the Red Card which forces Blastoise to switch for Garchomp, and then uses Toxic on that slot.

I Protect Garchomp from an incoming Ice Beam (Vaporeon’s, in this case). Starmie uses Surf to heal Vaporeon and does 30% damage to Gardevoir, which retaliates with a Shadow Ball for the knock out. Ashley sends out Tyranitar.

I was a little worried about a mixed special Tyranitar and Ashley double-targeting my Garchomp to negate Substitute, which is kinda nonsensical when I haven’t revealed it. Garchomp Earthquakes and puts Tyranitar in red HP, with Vaporeon in the same state after a Shadow Ball. Vaporeon’s Ice Beam knocks out Garchomp and Tyranitar’s Rock Slide sends Gardevoir into the red. I send out Mega Blastoise. I know both of my Pokemon are faster than Ashley’s and attack them both. Ashley sends out her last Pokemon, Garchomp.

I know I’m not out of the woods yet with a Garchomp sitting in the sand… I swap out Mega Blastoise for Staraptor to get an Intimidate off, figuring Ashley would Earthquake. This works out, as Gardevoir goes down, though Ashley has Mega Evolved her Garchomp. I’m pretty worried at this point, I had been having a few conversations earlier in the day about people running into Mega Garchomp, where one tends to think it’s bad to use due to the middling speed and then get beaten by the overpowering attacks.

I don’t know if Ashley knew what Scarf Staraptor does, so I opted for the Final Gambit to take the match. It seems I forgot Staraptor had already taken some sandstorm damage on the switch-in. Then, she Protects, locking me into losing Staraptor next turn. I don’t think I’ll ever try and do that again on a Chomp in the sand against anyone, whether I think they know how Final Gambit works or not. On the next turn, I’m forced to Final Gambit the Mega Garchomp into the red and cross my fingers for some sort of low HP on the Mega Garchomp or a low damage roll from the heavens, knowing that after losing the first round I probably won’t make it into Top Cut as a 6-2. Mega Garchomp uses Dragon Claw… Mega Blastoise survives on 8HP! It then Ice Beams for victory.

WIN 3-1

Round 5 vs Brent Crowford

Battle Video code: 7VKW-WWWW-WWW9-T36Y

My team: + /
Brent’s team: + /

From turn 1 I assume that Chandelure is some sort of speedy variant, most likely Scarfed if it’s sitting next to Weavile. I Protect Mega Blastoise from an incoming Fake Out + Energy Ball. Chandelure moving before Rotom-H confirms my Scarf suspicions and I Discharge to get some spread damage and break a potential Focus Sash on Weavile. Unfortunately for Brent, Discharge paralyses Weavile.

I switch out Mega Blastoise for Staraptor to take the locked-in Energy Ball. Rotom-H Overheats Weavile for the KO. Brent sends out Kangaskhan.

I expect Chandelure to switch out, so I send in Garchomp in place of Staraptor hoping my opponent will use Fake Out on that slot. Chandelure switches out for Magnezone. Mega Kangaskhan uses Fake Out on Garchomp, taking Rough Skin damage. Rotom-H is at -2, not really being able to do significant damage, so I use Discharge again and get the paralysis on Mega Kangaskhan.

Garchomp Earthquakes to OHKO Magnezone and leave Mega Kang with about 30% HP left. Rotom-H uses Discharge again for minor damage. Brent reveals Façade on the paralysed Kangaskhan, which OHKOs Rotom-H. I send out Staraptor and Brent sends out Chandelure.

Mega Kangaskhan fails to do significant damage with a -1 Sucker Punch, and I clean up Brent’s last two Pokemon with Scarfed Brave Bird and Earthquake.

WIN 4-1

At this stage I’m starting to get more confident in my ability to cut. I’m playing a bit better by each round and starting to get more focused. I hear that we might be having only 6 rounds instead of the original 7, so I think I just need to win the next match to cut.

Round 6 vs Jordan Saunders

We were both pretty excited at the prospect of one of us making the top cut, I may have said that it was 6 rounds (genuine mistake), oops…

Battle Video code: 8M7G-WWWW-WWW9-T363

My team: + /
Jordan’s team: + /

Rotom-W gets swapped out for Mawile while Meowstic-M uses Safeguard. Mega Blastoise Protects and Pachirisu gets a Super Fang off on the switched-in Mawile.

I picked Follow Me on Pachirisu to avoid the possibility of Meowstic using Swagger for a quick +2 on a Mega Mawile and attack it with Water Pulse. Jordan Protects Mega Mawile from any attacks and targets Pachirisu with Swagger anyway.

Meowstic is switched out for Rotom-W. Pachirisu manages to use Follow Me through the confusion, fishing for any extra Swaggers aimed at Mega Blastoise. Mega Blastoise KOs Mega Mawile with Water Pulse. Tyranitar is sent out in its place.

Tyranitar Crunches Pachirisu for around 40% damage and manages to get a defense drop. Pachirisu hits itself in confusion. Mega Blastoise uses Aura Sphere on Tyranitar for a OHKO and Rotom-W burns Pachirisu with Will-O-Wisp. Pachirisu heals itself with a Sitrus Berry back to around 70% HP remaining before taking some burn damage. Meowstic-M is sent out.

My plan from here is to try and set up a situation where I can ignore Meowstic safely and take down Rotom-W. Mega Blastoise Protects from an incoming Swagger and Pachirisu uses Super Fang on the washing machine, activating a Sitrus Berry. It takes a Hydro Pump in return and succumbs to the residual sandstorm and burn damage. As there are only special attackers left on the field, I send out Gardevoir.

The rest of the match involves Jordan trying to get some sort of reprieve with Meowstic-M through Swagger and Thunder Wave, but it isn’t enough for him to come back. I take down the Prankster cat first and then follow through with Rotom-W being knocked out on the next turn.

WIN 5-1

I feel relieved thinking I’m in cut and find out we still have the seventh round as originally planned. Just one more…

Round 7 vs Leigh Biggerstaff

During one of the usual post-round discussions of how everyone went, one of my friends had mentioned that he had a close battle with a Leigh something-staff. I expected this to be a tough one.

Battle Video code: EL4W-WWWW-WWW9-T35L

My team: + /
Leigh’s team: + /

I needed to get rid of these two strong Steel types if my Gardevoir was to be of any use. Aegislash had an Air Balloon as well, making my Garchomp lead a bit less effective.

Mawile doesn’t Mega Evolve and is switched out for Salamence. I Protected Garchomp and used Super Fang on the slot that Salamence now occupies. Aegislash sets up a Substitute.

Salamence is switched out for Tyranitar. Pachirisu uses Follow Me, because I don’t think switching it is the best of ideas next to a -2 Garchomp that needs some attention and I can’t think of anything else for it to do. Garchomp Dragon Claws the Tyranitar for minimal damage. Aegislash uses Shadow Ball on Pachirisu for just over 50%, activating Sitrus healing. Tyranitar reveals that it has Leftovers.

I switch Garchomp for Blastoise, deciding to use Pachirisu as a bit of a sacrifice to get Garchomp back in with normal attack. Pachirisu Nuzzles Tyranitar and gets the full paralysis before going down to Aegislash’s Shadow Ball.

Now that Mega Blastoise is in, I decide to use it to get rid of Aegislash’s sub and Air Balloon with Water Pulse. Garchomp Dragon Claws the Tyranitar and puts it in yellow HP, while Aegislash Shadow Balls Mega Blastoise and gets a special defense drop. Tyranitar is fully paralysed again.

Mega Blastoise is swapped out for Gardevoir to prepare for any Salamence switch-ins. Aegislash uses King’s Shield and Tyranitar Protects. On the next turn, Garchomp uses Earthquake and Gardevoir uses Dazzling Gleam for the double knock-out. Leigh sends out Salamence and Mawile.

I switch Garchomp for Mega Blastoise, using it as another sacrifice to clear the effects of Intimidate. Mega Mawile Protects while Salamence’s Draco Meteor takes out the weakened Mega Blastoise. Gardevoir Dazzling Gleams to KO Salamence.

Mega Mawile could only really Sucker Punch to take out my Garchomp sitting at ¾ HP remaining, so I decide to use Substitute. There weren’t any drawbacks to doing this. If he Iron Headed Gardevoir, I still get to sit pretty behind the sub. Leigh chose to Sucker Punch. I Earthquake and Dazzling Gleam the last turns to win.

WIN 6-1

Hoorah, I made top cut! That was my main goal. Now I could relax a bit more and just enjoy the battles ahead.  I was the bottom 6-1 sitting at 6^th seed. This pitted me against the 3^rd seed who turned out to be none other than Sam Pandelis (Cypress). I hadn’t beaten him the few times we’d had to battle during the season, so hopefully I could buck the trend. Due to time limitations, all the top cut matches bar the final were to be best of 1.

Quarterfinals (Top 8) vs Sam Pandelis (Cypress)

Some of the finals matches were being shown on the TV behind us using my capture card 3DS, this was one of them.

Battle Video code: VFGG-WWWW-WWW9-T346

My team: + /
Sam’s team: + /

On turn 1, Pachirisu uses Follow Me and Bisharp Protects itself from my Mega Blastoise’s Aura Sphere. Talonflame U-Turns into Pachirisu and switches out to Rotom-W.

Bisharp switches out for Kangaskhan. Pachirisu Super Fangs the Rotom-W and doesn’t activate a Sitrus Berry, so I assume it’s likely a 252HP spread of some kind with no speed investment. Mega Blastoise Aura Spheres Rotom-W and after Sitrus recovery it sits at around 40% HP. Rotom-W burns Pachirisu, hoping for residual damage.

The next turn was a bit of a slop on my behalf. I double Protect in the face of a Mega Kangaskhan Fake Out, but Cypress switches Rotom-W for Talonflame and Power-Up Punches it for +2. The burn activates Pachirisu’s Sitrus Berry.

Poor Pachirisu is once again delegated sacrificial lamb as I opt to redirect all attacks and try to deal some good damage with Mega Blastoise’s Aura Sphere. Pachirisu takes a Brave Bird and is defeated by +2 Return. Aura Sphere crits Mega Kangaskhan for the guaranteed OHKO. Sam sends out Bisharp and I send out Garchomp.

Sam uses a combination of Brave Bird and Sucker Punch to knock out my Garchomp straight away, which I’m not terribly concerned about. Bisharp is OHKO’d by Aura Sphere. I send out Rotom-H against Sam’s Rotom-W.

I Protect Mega Blastoise against a potential double-target and Discharge to safely KO Talonflame, securing the win with Rotom-W left in red HP.

WIN 7-1

I was pretty nervous about this battle so I was relieved it worked out well. I just hoped I didn’t have to battle fellow Delphox Cub FamousDeaf for my top 4 match and knock one of us out. We don’t, thankfully.

Semi-finals (Top 4) vs Joshua Spriggins

I knew a little bit of what to expect after Dayne had mentioned losing to Josh with the help of a Confuse Ray Sableye.

Battle Video code: 6UKW-WWWW-WWW9-T32X

My team: + /
Josh’s team: + /

My initial plan was just to get rid of the Sableye as soon as possible. Although Gardevoir can survive a Mega Kangaskhan Return, it probably wouldn’t with Fake Out, so Staraptor was chosen as the partner here.

Mega Kangaskhan Fake Outs Staraptor and Sableye confuses Gardevoir, not quite what I expected. Gardevoir hits itself in confusion. On the next turn, Sableye burns Staraptor before it uses Close Combat on Kangaskhan for around 40% damage. Mega Kangaskhan uses Return on Gardevoir to put it into the yellow. Gardevoir thankfully snaps out of confusion and Dazzling Gleams both of Josh’s Pokemon into red HP, activating Sableye’s Sitrus Berry.

Sableye confuses Gardevoir again, and Staraptor attacks Mega Kangaskhan to knock it out. Gardevoir hits itself into red HP, while Staraptor’s burn puts it just below half. Josh sends out Talonflame.

Thinking that he might target Staraptor, which I needed in case of a Ludicolo, I swapped it out for Rotom-H. Sableye’s Shadow Sneak fails to KO Gardevoir and Talonflame’s Flare Blitz hits Rotom-H. Gardevoir snaps out of confusion and Dazzling Gleam finishes off Sableye. Josh sends out Ludicolo.

I Protect Rotom-H this turn and let Josh take out Gardevoir so that I can safely send in Staraptor against Ludicolo. The most common set for a Ludicolo is one with Assault Vest, so it’s unlikely to have Protect. I double-target it to knock it out and Staraptor goes down to Flare Blitz. I send out Garchomp. Talonflame can’t do much here, and I take down the bird to win this game.

WIN 8-1

The other top 4 match was still underway and being shown on the TV. I managed to catch the end of the match, where FamousDeaf was up against a Smeargle + Mega Kangaskhan ‘KhanArtist’ team. I’ve faced this combination only once before and was beaten pretty soundly with it, so I needed to think of some ways I could counter it. KhanArtist had done well at a few Regional Championships across Australia, though I didn’t expect to see it in Melbourne several months later. The matchup against my team really wasn’t in my favour, as I only really had 2 Pokemon that could be considered fast, and no Lum Berry.

KhanArtist made it to the finals and I know I really have to play well to get around this one.

Final vs Ben Veltmeyer

I recognised Ben as having played this team throughout Regionals, so he definitely had a fair amount of experience with it.

Game 1

I was a bit fatigued by this point and had a few mental slip ups which meant I failed to take advantage of the position I was in. KhanArtist is a team that mine struggles against, but there were some points where I feel I could have potentially turned the first game into a win for me. I end up relying on a speed tie between the Garchomps, which I lose.

LOSS

Game 2

I definitely tilted a bit in this game, not Protecting Garchomp once I got the initial Substitute up. There wasn’t much that could be done once there were double +2 Mega Kangaskhans with Tailwind. Ben adjusted really well this game to any countering plans I may have come up with, so props to him.

LOSS

But it’s not all bad! Second place  means I get this fancy trophy!

Conclusion

I’m pretty happy with the team overall and how it performed. It reminded me to have a simpler fast and offensive mode in my team, which I neglected a bit this year in building my own teams and probably had to suffer because of it.

I ran this team without any changes in two much smaller local tournaments and managed to take the title at both of them, which was nice. I had thought about taking the HP off Blastoise to make it faster and changing Gardevoir’s spread somehow, but that wasn’t necessary for those victories.

As for improving the Smeargle matchup, Lum Berry on Rotom-Heat could be a quick fix for now but it’s not the best when Rotom can just be smacked with Returns. I would probably have to make significant changes by replacing some Pokemon with faster ones.

Although it has been successful for me, I don’t think I’m likely to be running this exact team again in VGC15. The team has had it’s run and I have other ideas on what could be more effective in this new format.

Thanks are in order!

• Thanks to the PokeMelbourne team for holding the event, it was smooth from start to finish.
• To EB Games Swanston Street who let us use that space for the whole day and their continued support.
• You think I forgot about you guys? Cat-Gonk, Prof Teak, Boomguy, FamousDeaf, are just a few of the fantastic people that make up the most glorious Delphox Cubs. I probably wouldn’t be at this sort of renewed stage without all of your ongoing support.

The post The Dynamic Duo: Runner-Up at PokéMelbourne’s Spring Tournament appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Matt Peroutka, otherwise known as MittensAnimator. Recently I took 11th place at the Fall 2015 Regional in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Although I have only been playing competitively for less than a year, I feel like I am having a rather successful run so early in the season. For some reason this year, the Fort Wayne regional was a Top 8 instead of a Top 16, despite the fact that there were enough players in attendance. At the end of the day, I came in at 11th place, leaving me just outside the Top Cut, so I decided to write an article about my experiences as a new player and my latest run at the Fort Wayne Regional.

History

I, like most people I think, started playing competitive Pokémon using the singles Smogon format. I never made it very far and found more entertainment in the breeding and training aspects versus the actual game play. For me, singles battles would take too long and have too much switching. Eventually, I discovered that the official TPCi tournaments were held using the doubles format. I decided to try it out and I immediately fell in love with the faster format and strategically-advanced play.

The bulk of my competitive career started on X and Y where I began using Mega Kangaskhan. Earlier in the format, Kangaskhan was an awesome Pokémon. I guess she still is, but as the season advanced, more and more counters to Kangaskhan began to pop up. Eventually, I decided that she was no longer a reliable Pokémon to use, so I decided to go with my favorite Mega: the power-house Mega Lucario!

Team Building Process

Mega Lucario is a tricky Pokémon to use. He is fast and hits like a truck without brakes, but he is also incredibly frail. I tried to use Wide Guard methods with Aegislash and Aerodactyl, but I found most experienced players could outplay my strategy. Eventually, I decided the best way to use Lucario is to be smart and play him carefully without relying on gimmicks or obvious support moves. This decision led me to create a dual-Mega team. This left me with another Mega option to bring if my opponent’s team was very anti-Lucario. Thus, Mega Venusaur was added. Later, I saw a post by Kingofmars who also used the duo of Mega Lucario and Venuasaur, which led me to believe I was on to something.

The metagame is in constant flux; what works for one Regional or Premier Challenge will not necessarily work for the next tournament. While building this team, Mega Mawile rose to power and I suddenly needed a better counter to him as well. Garchomp, Mamoswine, and Talonflame could work, but they were all weak to Intimdate and burn, so I eventually decided to switch from Rotom-Wash to Rotom-Heat since he is not weak to Intimidate and does not damage himself while attacking like Talonflame does. He also has some bulk, which comes in handy. My only real problem with Rotom-Heat is that he is slow, so I gave mine a Choice Scarf. This either allowed me to get either a quick and sneaky knockout or a fast Will-O-Wisp before being knocked out myself.

In addition to Lucario and Rotom-Heat, I also really wanted to use Azumarill. The idea of destroying my opponents with a bunny wabbit was too enticing to pass up. I found that without the Belly Drum support, Azumarill’s damage output was just a little too low. Because if this, I then added Raichu onto the team. I needed a fast Fake Out user anyway, and the Lightning Rod ability did a great job protecting Azumarill. Raichu also came in handy alongside my scarfed Rotom-Heat. By using Discharge, I was able to cause some damage to my opponents while also powering up my Raichu, plus the 30% chance of a paralysis was an added bonus. There was one issue with this idea: if Raichu went down, then I was stuck with a Scarfed Rotom continually using Discharge. To help with this, I added Garchomp. Garchomp’s dual Ground- and Dragon-typing allowed him to absorb Discharges while also taking Rock Slides often aimed at Rotom-Heat. He was also great at taking a Brave Bird or Flare Blitz from Talonflame aimed at Venusuar or Lucario.

Final Team Analysis

For any of you who would rather watch a video than read a lengthy article, I have provided a team analysis video on my YouTube channel. Please watch and leave a like! Hitting that sexy subscribe button would also be helpful.

Raijin (Raichu) (F) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power Ice
– Encore
– Fake Out

Most of my team’s nicknames are based off of demons in the Christian mythology. In Raichu’s case, I decided to go with Raijin which is actually a Japanese lightning god. Raichu was the main support Pokémon on my team. He is one of the fastest Fake Out users in the game, which helped a lot against Kangaskhan and other Fake Out users. Encore is really useful against people who were foolish enough to use Protect on the first turn. It also was helpful in locking Aegislash into Substitute or locking other Pokemon into a useless move that I switched into. On a few occasions, I was able to lock the opponent into Thunderbolt and they were stuck continuously powering up my Raichu. Hidden Power Ice was key for taking out Garchomp threats, which could give my team a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, the nerf to Hidden Power made it impossible to knock out Garchomp, which was where Rotom-Heat’s Discharge came in handy. With a +1 boost, Hidden Power Ice is capable of one-shotting Garchomp and Salamence. Since I ran both Lucario and Raichu, opposing Garchomp could almost be guaranteed to show up, so I gave Raichu an Air Balloon. This forced Garchomp to use a move other than Earthquake and made it so he could never one shot my Raichu, which then allowed me to pick up the Hidden Power knock out on the second turn if I was not able to the first turn. It also allowed me to pair Raichu with my own Garchomp on the rare occasion I would need to.

Succorbenoth (Rotom-Heat) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
– Volt Switch
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Discharge

Succorbenoth is the chief eunuch demon of the gates of hell. I found this appropriate since Rotom is genderless and is also known as a wall. Volt Switch allowed me to cause some damage and also escape threats. It was also useful for fighting against Shadow Tag users, which is gaining popularity right now. Overheat is a given and was nice for taking out Mawile and Aegislash. Due to my Rotom not having a lot of investment in bulk, he was vulnerable to Sucker Punch. Therefore, I also ran with Will-O-Wisp to help counter the obvious Sucker Punch and to also bypass King’s Shield. Discharge was there for powering up Raichu, causing paralysis, and for running the classic Disquake combo with my Garchomp. This particular Rotom is not bulky at all, but he will still survive most Rock Slides. Hydro Pump should be avoided at all costs. I decided to invest as much as I could in Speed first, and then worry about bulk. This Rotom can outspeed a Jolly Aerodactyl, a very common threat against Raichu and Rotom-Heat.

Caerbannog (Azumarill) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Aqua Jet
– Belly Drum
– Protect

Azumarill is actually named after the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I was running a pretty standard set for him with no real surprises. He was also my main Trick Room counter. With Aaron Zheng’s team sprouting up all over the place, I really needed a counter for both Trick Room and Gothitelle. When I saw a player running Gothitelle, I would often let them set up Trick Room, Fake Out the partner with Raichu and get a Belly Drum up with Azumarill and then sweep, sweep, sweep. At +6, Azumarill even had a chance to KO Mega Mawile. That’s huge!

Belphegor (Garchomp) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake
– Protect

Belphegor was the demon or “god” of the Moabites, which I believe was a desert tribe so the nickname seemed to fit. Plus, it sounds cool. Anyway, this is a super standard Garchomp set, but also very useful for my team. Like I said before, Garchomp allowed me to swallow up Discharge and other electric attacks. He was also my biggest counter to Talonflame. Rough Skin really hurt Talonflame after a Brave Bird or Flare Blitz. It also allowed me to switch into predictable Fake Outs from Kangaskhan. The Lum Berry was used to avoid burns, but also gave me a counter for the common Dark Void Smeargle and Kangaskhan leads.

Sonneillon (Lucario) (M) @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus/Adaptability
EVs: 60 HP / 108 Atk / 92 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Bullet Punch
– Swords Dance
– Protect

Sonneillon is the demon of hatred. I originally used this nickname for Rotom because I hate Rotoms so much and called my Lucario “Thamuz”, who is the ambassador of hell and demon master of big weapons. I don’t remember the reasoning behind the switch. Anyway, Lucario was used a lot in practice on Showdown and for many of the local Premier Challenges in my area, but was rarely used at the Fort Wayne Regional tournament. I previously ran a special set with Vacuum Wave, Flash Cannon, and Nasty Plot, which hard to pull off but was actually a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it missed out on a lot of KOs. Vacuum Wave usually doesn’t KO Tyranitar in the sand, often leaving me open to a Fire Blast. It also has a chance of not KOing Kangaskhan even after a Nasty Plot boost, so I decided to swith to a physical set with a Jolly nature.

I cannot take complete credit for the EV spread, which was originally designed by Wolfe Glick. The Speed EVs allowed me to outspeed Gengar. The Defense and HP investments allowed me to survive an Earthquake from Garchomp, although I seemed to receive a lot of critical hit Earthquakes during the tournament so it rarely saved me! Close Combat allowed me to knock out Kangaskhan and could even do some hefty damage to Mawile as long as I was not Intimidated. Bullet Punch was nice for picking off threats that Raichu or the others weakened for Lucario. Since Nasty Plot was so much fun to run on my special Lucario, I decided use the same idea with my physical Lucario and added Swords Dance. This actually came in handy to power up Bullet Punch or shake off Intimidates. The Inner Focus Ability is really nice for punishing Kangaskhan, other Fake Out users, or to make sure Rock Slide did not land a flinch.

Caym (Venusaur) (F) @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
– Energy Ball
– Synthesis
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect

Caym is the great President of hell who takes the shape of a thrush. Venusaur was basically my bulky, Special-Attacking option for the team. After seeing Kingofmars’ Venusaur set on NuggetBridge, I decided to run something similar but changed some of the moves. I did not like running Leaf Storm at all. Since I rarely led with Venusaur, he would often end up being one of my last two Pokémon. Therefore, I would be stuck using Leaf Storm without being able to switch out or a Gothitelle would Shadow Tag me on the battlefield. Energy Ball, in my opinion, was a better option. It still did an insane amount of damage to Rotom-Wash, still knocked out Mamoswine, and often allowed me to 2HKO other Pokémon. I also chose to run Synthesis over Leech Seed. With Leech Seed, I often found myself losing a game because of a Leech Seed miss or the health return was just not big enough. Synthesis also allowed me to run the more powerful Energy Ball over Giga Drain. Sludge Bomb has a surprisingly wide coverage and the 30% chance of poisoning the target proved to be very helpful. I actually ended up running with Venusaur more often than Lucario at the the tournament. Additionally, Chlorophyll gave me an option against sun. You would normally think that would be a suicide option, but with Garchomp, Raichu, or Rotom-Heat at Venusaur’s side, Mega Charizard-Y was not a big threat. It seems a lot people are still not prepared for the power that is Mega Venusaur. Because I had no Intimidate user, I had to be very careful with Venusaur against Talonflame. He cannot survive a Choice Banded Talonflame but was usually fine against other versions such as Life Orb Talonflame.

This team had an insanely strong core with Raichu, Azumarill, Garchomp, and Rotom-Heat. I have won many matches with just this core alone. My only regret is that my Mega Pokémon seemed more like filler rather than an addition to my core.

Lead Combinations

This was probably my most common lead. It allowed for a quick KO on Garchomp, which is a common lead against Raichu. It also allowed me to take out Aerodactyl or Talonflame before Tailwind could go up. Also, many people seemed to assume that I was going to run Raichu alongside Azumarill. This mistake often ended up with the opponent running Mawile, Venusaur, or Aegislash against my Rotom-Heat. Burn, burn, burn! I would rarely Overheat in this situation due to obvious Protects or switches. The Discharge/Lightning Rod combo often led to many paralyzed Pokémon, too. Even Mamoswine had trouble with this lead since even with the Thick Fat Ability, he does not want to take an Overheat. This was also my usual choice against sun teams, as long as they were not running Venusaur.

This was a common lead for me to use against Trick Room users. I would often Fake Out the partner while allowing Gothitelle to Protect or set up Trick Room. Azumarill would set up Belly Drum and then sweep from there. I also often used this lead if they did not have a Steel- or Grass-type as well.

A classic Discharge/Earthquake lead. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t: I had to be to very aware of Wide Guard. A surprising amount of people do not expect this kind of an attack since I think most are used to seeing this strategy with Zapdos.

This is what I would use against Kangaskhan and Dark Void Smeargle. I would usually not Mega Evolve so Lucario could not be Faked Out, and then double up on the Smeargle with Bullet Punch and Dragon Claw. Kangaskhan would rarely Fake Out the Garchomp due to the massive amount of Rough Skin damage it could take. In some situations, I would change my moves but this often worked against the less-experienced Smeargle players.

Another Kangaskhan and Smeargle counter. This one is pretty obvious. Fake Out and then Close Combat the Smeargle. It usually worked better against a Scarfed Smeargle, which I rarely saw.

This is my common lead against rain. It works alright but I do have to be very careful against Talonflame and Ludicolo. In the rain, Ludicolo has a faster Fake Out than my Raichu which can be a problem. Usually Ludicolo will Fake Out Venusaur so instead of trying to go for the Fake Out, I will Encore it. This forces a switch that is usually predictable.

Strengths and Weaknesses

This team has almost everything. Sun will not touch it, and sand is not a problem with Mega Lucario. Trick Room is nullified with Azumarill, Venusaur, and priority moves , and it has answers to the most common Mega Pokémon. Rain surprisingly gives this team a lot of trouble, but usually only when Ludicolo is involved… which is always. Venusaur could devastate a rain team, but Ludicolo and any Talonflame needs to be dealt with immediately. I wish I also had an Intimidate user on the team, which would have helped in certain situations where I could not get a burn off and my counter was KOed.

Battles

Due to the inability to save battle videos and this tournament already being a month over, my battle details will be a little sparse. I will try and fill in the details as much as I can based off my notes.

Round 1: vs Nathan Cole

VS

This battle actually really scared me because Nathan defeated me the night before at the Premier Challenge. He changed his team up a bit from the night before and brought Raichu and Kangaskhan instead of his Mega Gyarados. I think this was a mistake because he had ended up bringing two support Pokémon to the match, and support Pokémon cannot do their jobs if there are no Pokemon to support! Seeing this, I focused on his big hitters and wittled down his support mons. Sableye ended up giving me a lot of trouble because I do not have a solution for Prankster Pokémon. Remind me to never Encore Will-O-Wisp when I bring all of my physical attackers. This is one of the few matches where I brought Lucario and he cleaned up. (1-0)

Round 2: vs Cody Bernheisel

VS

Cody is actually a friend of mine from the Premier events here in Minnesota. The first time I went to a Premier Challenge, Cody mopped the floor with me using a Trick Room team, but he’s had trouble beating me since. During our match I was able to predict most of his moves which lead to a pretty good victory, such as when I swapped out Venusaur for Garchomp against his Talonflame’s Brave Bird, allowing me to KO my biggest threat. After that, Aegislash, Manectric, and Machamp were not too difficult to dispatch. The only surprise was his Manectric was able knock out Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice, leaving me to believe that it was Modest and not Timid. (2-0)

Round 3: vs Andy Himes

VS

This was a scary match because he had Dark Void Smeargle. Although I have ways to dispatch it, it’s always scary to come across because you have no idea what set it could be running. I never found out if he brought it or not because he never revealed his last Pokémon. Andy made an amazing prediction using Earthquake on my switch to Lucario. I think that awesome prediction cost me the entire match. He had me after that. Andy ended up taking second so it felt good to lose to somebody with such amazing skill. (2-1)

Round 4: vs Jake

VS

Honestly, this match was super hax-heavy in my favor. I felt bad for winning that way, but not bad enough to give up the victory. First, he surprised me with Charizard-X instead of Charizard-Y, but this didn’t help him. My Rotom paralyzed both his Pokémon with Discharge. He then tried to go for Dragon Dance on his Charizard but that was kind of useless after being paralyzed. After that, both of his Pokémon were fully paralyzed for two turns. That was pretty much the end of the match. It was really bad and I never had the chance to see how skillfully he could play. (3-1)

Round 5: vs Shane Black

VS

This was another match where I led with Raichu and Rotom-Heat. At least I think I did since my notes say Sableye was paralyzed and that was most likely from Rotom-Heat’s Discharge. I barely remember this match except for the fact that I won. I am not sure, but I think I finished this match 4-0. (4-1)

Round 6: vs Collin Heier

VS

This was the scariest match of the night against Collin Heier, 3rd place at the World Championships. I had faced Collin before in a Premier Challenge from last season where he destroyed me. That team was not prepared for Trick Room and I was even more of a noob than I am now. This time, I told myself this match would be different: I could win this!

That was a lie. Collin beat me again, but this time I at least I made him work for it. He started out with Ludicolo and Gothitelle (possibly Politoed) and I led with Raichu and Venusaur. For some reason I knew he wanted to Fake Out my Venusaur so I let him and had Raichu go for Encore instead, locking his Ludicolo into Fake Out. This would have worked out great if I could complete my plan. Like the noob that I am, I went for a Sludge Bomb into a Mawile switch-in, which was a rookie mistake I am still angry about. That move could have won me the game. After that, I could not escape the Shadow Tag shenanigans and Collin eventually took the game. It was a very exciting match and I hope I made him sweat. (4-2)

Round 7: vs Vincent

VS

When I saw this team, it screamed Trick Room so I decided to lead with Raichu and Azumarill. This was one of those situations where I didn’t want him to get Trick Room up so I didn’t let him. If I remember this right, I Faked Out his Slowking and then Play Roughed his Hariyama for the knock out. Then I doubled up on his Slowking to make sure it went down. After that, the match was pretty much over since his Ampharos could not do a lot with Raichu out there. I believe I won this match 4-0. (5-2)

Round 8: vs Spencer

VS

Honestly, I do not remember this match at all. But if I do remember correctly, it was a pretty quick match and did not give me too much of a headache. I may have won this one 4-0 as well. (6-2)

Conclusion

So there it is. My first team report and my 11th place standing. I hope you guys enjoyed the read.

All in all, I think this team performed extraordinarily well. I blame my losses on player error and not the team. I had an opportunity to win in both the matches that I lost, but I was just not able to gain the upper hand. I will be better prepared next time.

I am pretty happy with the way I performed, but I am extremely unhappy about the decision to have a Top 8 instead of a Top 16. This infuriated many players because it robbed them of the chance to do better. Who knows, I could have made Top 4 or even won the tournament if given the chance to advance. But either way, I did awesome and came home with some gloating rights and cards (which I promptly sold since I have no interest in collecting cardboard).

Thank Yous and Props

I would like to thank the entire Pokémon community, especially all the users at Nugget Bridge. I have never met such a nice and helpful group of people. I also want to thank the guys at the local Premier Events here in Minnesota, especially Aaron Liebersback (Arch) who consistently beats me in tournaments and enraged me enough to do better. I guess I should also thank the girlfriend. She is usually pretty good about not giving me grief for running off to Pokémon tournaments and skipping the house chores. Thanks for reading the report, and I hope to see you at future events!

The post What Could Have Been: An 11th Place Indiana Regional Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey readers, how have you been enjoying ORAS so far? After doing a bunch of in-game activities, I eventually found myself back at the Battle Maison. Although disappointed that the Battle Frontier had not returned, and the fact that opponent movesets have not changed since XY for the Battle Maison, I still ended up feeling compelled to at least get some sort of decent record on my cart. Got to boost those in-game statistics that show up between turns in link battles, right?

While you may have collected a decent stock of BP in XY, items cannot be transferred between games via Pokémon Bank. As such, unless you manually trade items between your games one-by-one, you’ll likely have to leave behind all your items in XY and rebuild a supply of items in ORAS. In addition to this, you’ll need BP for the Move Tutors in the Battle Resort. While these moves come pretty cheap, often at 8 or 12 BP a pop, the points required do add up when tinkering with movesets.

About a year ago, I hit 1000 wins in the Battle Maison in triples with a team involving a highly AI-exploitative strategy in order to obtain easy victories. Once again, I’ve hit 1000 wins (on my first attempt), but this time I used a different team. Instead of the AI abuse-centric style of my previous team, this one is a little bit more straightforward and intuitive to use. As you may have guessed from the title and art, it is a rain team. Perhaps you feel like you need a change of pace from Greninja + Aron, or already have some of these Pokémon already at your disposal from VGC 2014. In any case, here is another 1000-win team you may want to give a try:

Team Members

No nickname theme this time.

Politoed (M) @ Choice Scarf ***Araragi
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Surf
– Ice Beam
– Hydro Pump
– Rain Dance

Scarf Politoed, rain setter. Pretty straightforward stuff—it’s a familiar face from the latter half of VGC 2014. You can’t start a rain party without some drinks, and Politoed is happy to oblige by quenching our thirst. Surf is for spread damage, Ice Beam is for coverage. Hydro Pump is for the rare cases when I need some extra power, and Rain Dance resets the rain if my opponent leads with a different auto-weather Pokémon. Unlike in VGC, I often have very little to worry about in regards to weather wars in the Maison. If they lead with auto-weather, I can reset my rain. If they have one in the back, that often means that I’m already in a large lead. As such, Politoed is pretty content with just using Surf 90% of the time or so.

Ludicolo (F) @ Absorb Bulb ***RideTheDucks
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Surf
– Fake Out
– Ice Beam
– Grass Knot

Swift Swim attacker number one. Another straightforward set, and a blast from the VGC 2012 past. Ludicolo gets a Special Attack boost from the Absorb Bulb when hit by its ally’s Surf. Once at +1, Rain boosted Surf deals a considerable amount of damage to opponents (and allies, too). Ice Beam and Grass Knot provide coverage, and Fake Out provides a small support option when the lead matchup is unfavorable. Since Ludicolo will have its Speed doubled most of the time by Swift Swim, its Fake Out will go before any opponent’s attempt at the same. A simple EV spread is used here. I needed at least 121 Speed to outspeed Scarf Terrakion, which would have required 244 EVs in Speed. As such, I decided to simply use maximum Speed, as that gave me a Speed tie with any opposing Fake Out Ludicolo.

Nicknamed after my Subway Double Battle Ludicolo with the same name, which is nicknamed after a tour in Seattle. *quack* *quack* *quack*

Grass Knot, Energy Ball or Giga Drain?

I chose Grass Knot as my Grass-type move. Many of the targets that I would use a Grass-type attack on are heavy, making Grass Knot the highest-damage option. Additionally, this team is mostly focused on raw power, so Giga Drain’s healing was not nearly as attractive as it usually would be. Energy Ball, after its buff in XY, is slightly stronger than Grass Knot in a number of situations, particularly against Vaporeon and Lanturn. But it is weaker against a large variety of other, heavier Pokémon, such as Suicune, Walrein, and Gyarados. Vaporeon can be a bit threatening due to Water Absorb and Signal Beam (which hits Ludicolo hard), but Grass Knot’s advantages often make it the better choice overall.

Kingdra (F) @ Life Orb ***Misdirection
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Surf
– Hydro Pump
– Draco Meteor
– Dragon Pulse

Swift Swim attacker number two. Since this is triples, I might as well lead with another Swift Swim friend. I ended up with a set having two Water-type and two Dragon-type attacks. Surf and Dragon Pulse are my typical moves, while Draco Meteor and Hydro Pump give me a bit of extra power for sticky situations. I had Ice Beam over Dragon Pulse for a bit of time, but Dragon Pulse is able to reach across the field, which is extremely useful. One quirk of the AI is that it will always replace Pokémon on the right first; since Kingdra is more powerful than Politoed, I placed it on the right side.

Gastrodon (M) @ Rindo Berry ***Totenblume
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 100 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA / 64 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Muddy Water
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Protect

Storm Drain offense and Trick Room check. Gastrodon was a member of my Subway Doubles rain team, and it is used here for similar reasons. Storm Drain and its Ground-type make Gastrodon immune to both Water- and Electric-type moves. This allows it to be a relatively safe switch-in, even while I spam Surf. Storm Drain also provides Gastrodon with free Special Attack boosts. Very often, when Gastrodon enters play, it piles up a ton of boosts from friendly Surfs, increasing its Special Attack to the point where any Pokémon it hits is usually OHKOed. Rindo Berry allows it to avoid being automatically OHKOed by Grass-type attacks. Humorously enough, due to the nerf to critical hits in XY, Rindo Berry actually allows Gastrodon to survive critical hit Grass-type attacks from more defensive Pokémon. Muddy Water provides a spread move. I had Surf back in BW, but boosted Surfs dealt too much damage to Gastrodon’s teammates, so I switched to Muddy Water despite the accuracy. Earth Power and Ice Beam provide it a secondary STAB attack and coverage move respectively, but more importantly two 100% accurate attacks to use. The defensive EVs provide a slight increase in bulk compared to 252 HP.

Bisharp (F) @ Focus Sash ***Bismarck
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Knock Off
– Protect

Focus Sash Bisharp provides a Trick Room check and Knock Off support. This team needed a Steel-type, and I decided to go with Bisharp instead of Scizor (which I used in BW). Scizor’s typical item, Life Orb, was already taken by Kingdra, and Bisharp has a better matchup against Trick Room setters. The moveset isn’t anything groundbreaking. The Speed EVs allow Bisharp to hit 108 Speed while allowing for a small amount of bulk. Knock Off is pretty helpful against some of the more annoying stall/setup Pokémon. Removing their Leftovers, Chesto Berry, etc. definitely makes life easier for this team. Bisharp’s typing allows it to draw Fighting-type moves into Protect. And if it reaches 1 HP (via Sash), it can draw away all opponent moves in a similar fashion to L1 Aron.

Conkeldurr (F) @ Assault Vest ***GONG
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 28 Def / 28 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 24 Spe
– Mach Punch
– Drain Punch
– Payback
– Ice Punch

To round out my roster, I wanted another physical attacker. I didn’t want to allow some of the specially bulky Pokémon to get the better of me, and I felt like I wanted something that could help when I needed to reset the weather. I arbitrarily decided to go with Assault Vest Conkeldurr, and it sort of stuck. Conkeldurr’s impressive bulk allowed it to roll with the punches, then slug back with a Drain Punch to restore HP. Most of the time, Conkeldurr merely picks off low-health Pokémon with Mach Punch, cleaning up the opponent’s team. But when times get tough, it really ends up being something I can fall back on to stand its ground and start a comeback. EVs here, once again, are marginally better than a simple 252/252. I suppose the fact that my total HP is a bit lower does make Drain Punch’s recovery a bit more valuable.

Strategy

This team’s strategy is an adaptation of that of my Subway Doubles rain team. The primary strategy is pretty straightforward: mash A, Surf Surf Surf, and wash away the opponents. My team’s back half helps to combat threats such as Trick Room and specially defensive Pokémon. The priority moves of Conkeldurr and Bisharp also keep me from falling behind against faster teams that get past my initial offense.

Due to how the team works, it is sometimes even more mindless than my previous Aron team, as you literally just hit the A button until everything faints. No targeting, no fancy plays, just raw damage. However, since you aren’t tricking the CPU into attacking a L1 decoy, there are definitely a few more things to pay attention to. Once again, the team ended up without a Mega. I can’t say for sure whether this was the right call or not, but I guess if I’ve made it to at least 1000 wins, it can’t be too bad. Besides, it saves me from having to watch the Mega Evolution animation hundreds of times. Similarly to my Aron team, I’d say that the leads are pretty well defined, but you can try substituting your own ideas for the latter half of the team.

How to Play

Due to the fast and powerful leads, you have quite a lot of control over the battle right from the start. From being familiar with opponent Pokémon and movesets, I’d say a good 80-90% of battles boil down to a simple game of what moves to use such that opponent does little or nothing on their turn. About 40% of the time, the answer is “mash A”. Every 100-200 battles or so, you’ll probably have to play a battle where you actually do have a real chance of losing if things go wrong. Since a lot of trainers have only one moveset for any given species of Pokémon, a look at some of the moveset and trainer resources available online can help save you from tricky spots.

Basically, you want to ask yourself:
Q1: Can you reliably KO all of the opponent’s active Pokémon?
Q2: If not, can you KO 2/3?
Q3: Which opposing Pokémon is the least threatening? Which are difficult to take down?
Q4: Are the any threats (see below) that you need to pay attention to?

Threats

Here are some various factors to pay attention to that might prevent full Surf spam mode. These are listed in no particular order. This list should cover just about everything you may need to watch out for, even if some might be somewhat minor. The list really isn’t that long, and some of it is pretty obvious. Don’t worry.

1. Grass-types

Grass is one of three types that resists Water. Naturally, that means that they won’t fall easily to the crashing waves. Grass-type Pokémon are far more abundant than Dragon-types, and are a lot more likely to be able to do significant damage compared to Water-types. Most of them will be able to take a non-STAB Ice Beam, but the combination of an Ice Beam and a Life Orb/+1 boosted Surf is often enough to take out offensive ones. There are a number of them that are more defensive, such as Venusaur, Meganium, and Cradily; these will easily be able to withstand a Surf+Ice Beam, but they don’t deal nearly as much damage and often use Protect. As such, they can usually be ignored. Virizion gets a special mention, as it has high Special Defense and often has offensive movesets. Fortunately, it doesn’t hit extremely hard, but it should be a priority target. It is very difficult to get Virizion down in one turn, but using Surf once and then focusing it usually does the trick. Use Fake Out on Virizion if you feel like you need to gain some extra ground.

2. Dragon-types

Dragon-types are typically more damaging than Grass-types, but are much easier to take out. Many of the common Dragon-type Pokémon are four times weak to Ice-type moves, and almost all of them are KOed by a single Dragon Pulse. Kingdra pretty much makes quick work of Dragons you’ll see; if not, a +1 Ludicolo is often more than enough to handle them. Be aware that Garchomp has a Focus Sash, so you’ll need two hits to KO it in any case. Haxorus holds a Yache Berry and will outspeed Ludicolo after a Dragon Dance, so quickly down it with Dragon Pulse. Latios/Latias have varying sets: for both, one set has an evasion item, and another has enough Special Defense to take a Dragon Pulse. Sometimes, using Fake Out on Latios/Latias is necessary. Dragonite may have Multiscale, so it should be targeted with two attacks.

3. Water-types

Water-type Pokémon are the most abundant of types that resist Water, but they are often the least threatening. It’s usually a pretty safe play to just use Surf on them, then follow up with Ludicolo’s Grass Knot at the first opening. There are a number of exceptions that will need a bit of extra attention, but many of them will be covered later in this section.

4. Lax Incense / Bright Powder

It’s just a 10% chance. No big deal. This team often just attacks everything indiscriminately with Surf anyways. Tangrowth, Lickilicky, Latios, Latias, and Regigigas are a few noteworthy Pokémon that may hold evasion items.

5. Quick Claw

Once an item that you’d probably see on something every other battle, Quick Claw is now an item you’ll likely only see on three Pokémon. Leafeon and Donphan are typically harmless. Muk can be a pain, as it will usually use Gunk Shot on Ludicolo if possible, so switching Ludicolo out for Gastrodon or Bisharp against Muk to avoid a Gunk Shot is something you may want to consider if you don’t want to risk the 20% roll.

6.Storm Drain / Water Absorb / Dry Skin

If Surf spam can knock out two opposing Pokémon, I often take a risk and ignore the possibility of these abilities. Otherwise, I might try to play around it. Poliwrath deserves a special mention, because I sometimes want to guarantee a hit to avoid Focus Punch. Storm Drain Cradily can cause serious issues if it gains too many boosts. Toxicroak and Jynx deal a lot of damage if they stay on the field, so it’s important to play with caution against them as well.

7. Swift Swim

Opposing Kingdra are more or less KOed on sight by my own Kingdra. The other Swift Swim users are largely non-factors. Note that if Seismitoad has Swift Swim, it will outspeed Kingdra, but even Poison Jab doens’t OHKO Ludicolo.

8. Cloud Nine

Weather negation sucks. Fortunately, there are only two Pokémon with Cloud Nine in the Battle Maison. Altaria is pretty easy to deal with; Ice Beam and Dragon Pulse make short work of it. Lickilicky is a bit more tricky. Against Lickilicky, I’ll likely switch out my leads, as its first move is often Explosion. Once it disposes of itself, I can bring back my weather Pokémon.

9. Drought / Sunny Day

This basically refers to Ninetales (whenever it actually shows up with Drought) and those Chefs with Fire-/Grass-type Sunny Day teams. Usually I try to switch out Politoed as soon as possible to prepare for a possible rain reset. Alternatively, I focus on taking out anything that potentially has Sunny Day before it can change the weather.

10. Sand Stream / Sandstorm

I honestly can’t remember the last time something has used manual sand, so this pretty much just refers to Hippowdon and Tyranitar. There are Sandstorm users, but the move is very rarely used. Conkeldurr is a great help against Tyranitar. Since sand teams are typically inherently Water weak and slow, sand is usually not too hard to handle when Politoed can just use Rain Dance to restart the downpour.

11. Snow Warning / Hail

The most dangerous weather. Usually Abomasnow, but sometimes Aurorus. I sometimes feel that Pokémon with two abilities (one standard, one hidden) have a 2/3 chance of having their standard ability, as it always seems that Abomasnow, Tyranitar, and Hippowdon have their standard weather abilities, but Ninetales often simply has Flash Fire. Since Hail makes Blizzard 100% accurate, even Bisharp isn’t a very safe switch in due to the possiblity of a freeze. Sometimes it’s better to not switch too hastily against hail teams; sacrificing one of the leads or Gastrodon to get Bisharp or Conkeldurr safely onto the field is occasionally the best play .

12. Wide Guard

You know what feels really bad? Surf, Surf, Surf… all into Wide Guard! You deal a bunch of damage to yourself, none to the opponent, and give the other two opposing Pokémon a free turn to attack. Maison Triples is very heavy on offensive momentum, and Surf spam into Wide Guard is a very quick way to lose all of it. There are three Wide Guard users you’ll encounter: Bastiodon, Regigigas and Mienshao. Mienshao quite literally never uses it and I believe the Regigigas is only used by one or two of the Veterans, so the big threat is Bastiodon. I usually use single-target attacks to rid the field of it as soon as possible.

13. Trick Room

If Trick Room goes up, it’s usually time to switch in Gastrodon. If it looks like I’m in enough of a lead, I may just sacrifice my leads in order to safely get Bisharp or Conkeldurr into the fray. Since Trick Room teams will usually be used by Hex Maniacs or Psychics, Bisharp can easily tear things apart. Just make sure you pay enough attention to realize that Trick Room has gone up.

14. Protect

There are actually quite a few Pokémon that carry Protect. Since this team doesn’t have a L1 Aron throwing the AI into a blind attacking rage, they will actually use Protect. It doesn’t matter too much most of the time, but keep it in mind when planning a single-target attack.

15. Fake Out

Fake Out users exist. Similarly to Protect users, they usually aren’t too bad, and in some cases they won’t even use it because they can OHKO one of my Pokémon with another move. Ludicolo does have a faster Fake Out in rain, so you are in control of the opening turn of the battle. Use Fake Out on a threat, use Fake Out on the opposing Fake Out user, or not use Fake Out at all. It’s up to you.

16. Miscellaneous

Other notable mentions include:

• Assault Vest Magnezone and Snorlax: Extreme special bulk.
• Blissey: Minimize is dumb.
• Venusaur, Tentacruel, Roserade, Meganium, Lanturn: Have the potential to stall. While none of these are too threatening, they take a while to KO.
• Registeel, Cresselia, Latios, Latias, Regice, Virizion: High special bulk. As previously mentioned, there is a Latios/Latias set with an evasion item. These Pokémon tend to be priority threats when facing veterans.
• Talonflame: Due to Gale Wings, the proper play is to Fake Out and Surf it on sight. If it comes in late game, just spam Surf and hope for a trade.

Conclusion

This should cover most of what you need to know about playing this team. This team generally takes less thought to play compared to my Aron team. But naturally, there is a bit more risk of losing as there are more threats that can disrupt the strategy. With another 1000 wins down, perhaps it’s time for me to start playing for real on Battle Spot? I’m running out of excuses on why I haven’t by now…

The post Here at the Battle Resort, We Do Nothing but Surf: A Return to 1000 Wins in the Battle Maison appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is James Baek, and I’m known as Jamesspeed1 in the VGC community. Some of you might recognize me from my YouTube channel. I’m a 15 year old student from Staten Island, New York, and I have played at Pokémon events since Pokémon Platinum. I’ve only started playing competitively this year, though. At every Play Pokémon event I have gone to in this past year, I have gotten at least Top 32.

My 2014 Season

When the rules for 2014’s VGC season came out, I started by testing a lot of different Mega Evolutions, getting a lot of practice in with Mega Charizard Y in particular. I went 5-2 at the Virginia Regionals in January, getting a Top 16 finish. At Spring Regionals, I decided to build a team around Mega Kangaskhan with a lot of support. I ended up going 4-3 with a Top 32 finish. I was unable to go to U.S. Nationals because of family matters, but had I played and placed high enough, I probably could have sealed up my Worlds invite.

The Team Building Process

After Spring Regionals, I decided to craft my Worlds team. I wanted a lot of time to get really comfortable with my team. I also brought many different versions of the team to different Premier Challenges. I was pretty successful, with three first place finishes and one third place finish. This is the team I ended up with:

There were some flaws with this team. The team was weak to Fighting types, and I didn’t feel comfortable with bringing some of the leads I would have liked. I found that I rarely brought Mamoswine or Rotom-Heat to any of my battles so I decided to keep the Pokémon I did use and change those two. I then tried using the following:

I really liked Jumpluff on the team, since it offered Helping Hand support and was able to Encore other Pokémon into using useless moves. However, I decided that I didn’t want to use Sleep Powder because it was inconsistent. I ended up changing Jumpluff to Vivillion, but I also wanted a Pokémon that gave me a better matchup against Trick Room, so I just went with good old Amoonguss. I also considered Follow Me/Final Gambit Lucario, but it would miss out on important OHKOs against common Trick Room Pokémon.

I ended up with a core I really liked. It might be standard, but it works. This core (along with Lapras) got me into the Top 16 of Nugget Bridge’s No Mega Tournament, so I felt comfortable using these Pokémon. Hydreigon and Azumarill had fantastic synergy together, as I could switch one out into the other to take hits comfortably. Amoonguss helped support both of them by putting other Pokémon to Sleep or drawing away attacks with Rage Powder. This allowed Azumarill to set up with Belly Drum or Hydreigon to deal heavy damage to the opposing team without fear of being attacked.

Going into Worlds, I expected the main threats to be things like Rain (since Rain was so powerful, winning three Nationals), Kangaskhan, Lucario, Sun, and Trick Room. I wanted my team to have an answer to all of these strategies and Pokemon, so I decided to make my team as anti-meta as possible. Azumarill gave me an answer to Rain teams that used Kingdra and also walled other Dragons. Amoonguss helped out against Trick Room and Rain, and Hydreigon dealt heavy damage no matter how bulky an opposing Pokémon was. I also wanted an answer to Sun teams, Ludicolo, and Mega Venusaur, so I added Talonflame.

Talonflame is an interesting Pokémon in that its stats are pretty bad (except for its Speed) and that needs an Attack boosting item to deal a decent amount of damage, but these drawbacks are made up for by its excellent Ability. Talonflame did help a lot with my matchup against other Amoonguss, being able to KO Amoonguss in one hit. Talonflame also was able to help against Aegislash and Mega Mawile, as those two Pokémon always give me trouble.

Once I settled on Talonflame, I knew I needed a powerful option against Kangaskhan, its counter Lucario, and Charizard Y. I tried several different Fighting types. Conkeldurr, Medicham, Machamp, Gallade, and Meinshao were all considered, but they were susceptible to Fake Out , letting my opponent knock out my supposed counter with their other Pokémon. While watching the U.S Nationals stream, I saw Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario) using a Choice Scarf Sawk. I didn’t even know Sawk was in the Kalos Dex. I had used Sawk a bit in 2011, so I decided to give it a chance. Sawk turned out to be amazing.

Inner Focus meant that opponents couldn’t use Fake Out on Sawk, and if they didn’t know Sawk’s Ability I could score a free KO. Sawk could survive a Draco Meteor from Timid Scarf Salamence, and can destroy standard Kangaskhan. Sawk also performed well against a lot of other Pokémon, such as Hydreigon, Tyranitar, Mamoswine, Lucario, and Bisharp. I have no regrets using Sawk, and I’d highly recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

With five of my Pokémon decided, I needed a Mega. I planned on using Mega Manetric, but I didn’t want Intimidate because if I did make it past the Last Chance Qualifier, I would be facing a Worlds metagame which included Bisharp and Wigglytuff. I finally decided on Mega Kangaskhan because it was a reliable Mega with Fake Out support. My final team was this:

If anyone would want to look at the team video, click here.

The Team

Sawk @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Poison Jab
– Sleep Talk

The MVP and superstar of the team. I originally used Mold Breaker Earthquake Sawk to surprise enemy Rotom, since most players didn’t go for the Fake Out on Sawk, but I decided that Mold Breaker would have worked better in Swiss than in Best of 3. I also forgot that Mold Breaker is shown when Sawk appears on the battlefield, immediately giving away my plan. Sawk did what I needed it to do: get rid of all the threats to the rest of my team. 228 Speed EVs with an Adamant nature gave Sawk a Speed stat of 134, boosted to 201 with its Choice Scarf. This allowed me to outspeed Jolly max Speed Aerodactyl by one point. I gave Sawk max Attack because I wanted it to hit hard as well as fast, and the leftover EVs were dumped into HP. Close Combat is obvious because it is Sawk’s most powerful move, getting the KO on Mega Kangaskhan and Hydreigon. I used Rock Slide for two reasons. First, I didn’t like the lower accuracy of Stone Edge. Secondly, with a fast Pokémon using Rock Slide, I could potentially turn the tide of a game with flinches. Poison Jab let me hit Fairies like Gardevoir and Azumarill super effectively. Sleep Talk was an interesting choice. I anticipated a lot of Amoonguss and Smeargle, so I wanted to be able to get around sleep. Sleep Talk allowed me to catch my opponents off guard. Although I never used Sleep Talk during Worlds, or even faced a Smeargle, I never regretted have the option. Overall, Sawk was amazing and more bulky than I’d thought it would be.

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 50
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Def / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– U-turn
– Quick Guard

Originally, I used standard Choice Banded Talonflame with 252 Attack and 252 Speed. I found that sometimes losing Speed ties with other Talonflame was annoying, so I decided to use a spread that allowed me to survive Choice Banded Talonflame’s Brave Bird. With 124 HP and 108 Defense, I am guaranteed to survive Choice Band Talonflame’s Brave Bird, Choice Band Bisharp’s Sucker Punch, and Mega Mawile’s Sucker Punch. I opted for max Attack because Talonflame is lacking in the Attack stat. The leftover EVs were put into Special Defense and Speed. This Talonflame was a little tricky to use, as it underspeeds my Mega Kangaskhan. Sucker Punch would go before Brave Bird, so I often had to not use Sucker Punch in order to not give information to my opponent. While I did have to play around this disadvantage when Talonflame was in, Talonflame’s power and bulk were good enough to make up for it. I found that the key to using Talonflame was to save it for the late game and pick up KOs when the opponent’s team was weakened. Brave Bird was a necessity on Talonflame, and I chose Flare Blitz over Overheat because of my Choice Band. U-turn allowed me to hit Malamar Super Effectively, as well as get some damage in while switching to get into a better position. For the last move, I struggled to decide between Taunt, Will-o-Wisp, Tailwind, Quick Guard, and Giga Impact. I decided that Quick Guard would be an excellent move choice, since my team has nothing to resist a Brave Bird from Talonflame. I didn’t mind being locked into Quick Guard because of the mechanic change in Generation VI. As a bonus, Quick Guard helped deal with Prankster Pokémon.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast
– Dark Pulse
– Flash Cannon

Choice Specs Hydreigon is one of the metagame’s heaviest hitters. The EV spread is a bit boring, but it fulfilled the role I needed it to. Max Special Attack gave me a good chance to OHKO 252 HP / 4 Special Defense Aegislash with Dark Pulse. I wanted to use max Speed on Hydreigon because I felt Hydreigon would be a popular choice, and with most people were investing in bulk over Speed I took the opportunity to just outspeed non-Choice Scarf and non-Timid Hydreigon. This worked, as the only Hydreigon matchup I lost was against a Scarf Hydreigon. I used Draco Meteor over Dragon Pulse because I needed to do a lot of damage to Rotom, which could give my team some trouble. Dark Pulse was chosen as a reliable STAB and a way to damage Aegislash. I was a bit nervous deciding between Flamethrower and Fire Blast. I really don’t like moves with shaky accuracy, but the chance to OHKO Ray’s Mawile was too good. For the last moveslot, I had to decide between Flash Cannon, Earth Power, and Dragon Pulse. I ended up using Flash Cannon in order to hit Gardevoir Super Effectively. When teambuilding, I like to make sure that I have options against different types, and I didn’t have any Pokémon that could hit Fairies Super Effectively. Even though this helped my matchup, I would probably switch Flash Cannon with Earth Power were I to make the team again.

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Giga Drain
– Spore
– Rage Powder
– Protect

I’ve used this Amoonguss throughout the 2014 season. I think Amoonguss should be special bulky in order to survive certain Fire-type attacks, such as bulky Rotom-Heat’s Overheat, as well as tank other Special attacks. I invested a bit into Defense just so I could also take a few physical hits. The moveset is pretty standard. I opted to go for Giga Drain over Sludge Bomb because it allowed Amoonguss to gain some health back. I used a 0 speed IV in order to function better in Trick Room. Even though Trick Room wasn’t that common, it was still a powerful option, especially since a lot of Seniors who top cut were using Trick Room. I used Rocky Helmet so I could switch on a Kangaskhan Fake Out to do some chip damage.

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Aqua Jet
– Belly Drum
– Protect

Azumarill is a powerful option. It can rip through unprepared teams, especially paired up with Kangaskhan. I tried Assault Vest and Choice Band on Azumarill, but I felt more comfortable using the Belly Drum set. 212 HP EVs make my HP stat even, so I can use my Sitrus Berry after a Belly Drum to heal back to 75 percent HP. I opted to invest 20 EVs in Speed in order to outspeed 0 Speed Mawile and to Speed tie Ray’s Mawile. I invested a bit in Special Defense to help take Special hits. This spread did what I wanted it to do, and I had no problems with it. The moves were standard but very effective.

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

Standard Kangaskhan doesn’t need a huge explanation. I originally only used Kangaskhan for Fake Out support, but soon I started to rely on Kangaskhan more. I knew the Worlds metagame would have teams that shut down Kangaskhan, but I decided that if I played smart, I could still pull out a victory. I originally ran 100 HP EVs in order to survive Choice Scarf Staraptor’s Final Gambit, and I thought Power Up Punch would have made up for the lack of Attack. However, I found myself not being able to do as much damage as I’d have liked, so I just went back to full Attack. I chose Scrappy as my Ability because I wanted to hit Ghosts with Fake Out. Fake Out was my first move because it supported the rest of my team. I chose Return over Double Edge or Facade because I liked having reliable power and I didn’t like the recoil from Double Edge. I felt that Hammer Arm was a good move, but I didn’t want to switch out Kangaskhan every time I used Hammer Arm. I chose Power Up Punch for its ability to negate Attack drops and to increase Kangaskhan’s sweeping potential.

The Day Before Worlds and The LCQ

I had a pretty bad day the day before I arrived at Worlds. I was supposed to arrive in Washington at 5PM, but I missed my first bus and the next two buses were full. I ended up having to take the 4:30 bus, waiting three hours at the terminal. I arrived at the Hotel at 9:30PM, went out to dinner, and fell asleep at 11. I was hoping to get more sleep. I woke up at 7AM and headed straight for the Convention Center. I had to wait on a huge line for the Last Chance Qualifier, and I ended up talking to a lot of friends as well as other people I recognized from Nugget Bridge. The stage looked amazing. I hoped to play on that stage, but I would need to focus on the matches ahead first before I could think about playing on stage. LCQ pairings went up for the first round, and I felt fired up for the battles ahead.

Round 1 – Bye

Over half of the Senior division got a bye in the first round. All of my friends also got a bye, so at least I wasn’t alone waiting for the 20 or so people who did get paired up to finish their games.

Round 2

Game 1

Team Preview: Looking at his team, Greninja was going to be a problem because it could deal heavy damage to my team. I felt Hydreigon would do really well against him, so I wanted to conserve Hydreigon until the rest of his team was weakened.

He brought:

I brought:

I decided to lead with Kangaskhan and Azumarill because I wanted to create heavy offensive pressure. I decided he wouldn’t want to lead with Ferrothorn because I had three checks to Ferrothorn. My opponent ended up leading with Aegislash and Rotom-Wash.

Turn 1: I knew Rotom-Wash was most likely to Protect, not wanting to take any chip damage from Fake Out, and I felt that Aegislash would love to set up a Substitute if he had it. I decided not to Mega Evolve and Faked Out the Aegislash, while switching out Azumarill to Hydreigon so I could threaten both Pokémon on the field. He ended up switching his Rotom-Wash out for Ferrothorn, probably expecting a Fake Out. Once I saw Ferrothorn, I assumed it had a Rocky Helmet. Hydreigon came in for Azumarill while his Aegislash takes the Fake Out. His Aegislash does not Stance Change, and as Leftovers is revealed as the item on Aegislash, I assume my opponent had tried to Substitute. At this point, I can guess all four Pokémon my opponent brought: Rotom-Wash, Aegislash, Ferrothorn, and most likely Mega Kangaskhan in the back.

Turn 2: I wasn’t sure if Ferrothorn was going to Protect or not, but I knew Azumarill wasn’t needed for the rest of this battle. I didn’t want unnecessary damage on Kangaskhan, so I switched out Kangaskhan for Azumarill while using Dark Pulse on Aegislash. Dark Pulse knocks out the Aegislash, and his Ferrothorn elects to Thunder Wave my Hydreigon. My opponent sends out Kangaskhan to replace his Aegislash.

Turn 3: I choose to switch out Hydreigon for Sawk while using Play Rough on Kangaskhan, expecting a Fake Out from Kangaskhan onto Hydreigon and a Power Whip from Ferrothorn onto Azumarill. His Kangaskhan Mega Evolves and does Fake Out the switched in Sawk. Azumarill’s Play Rough does about half to his Mega Kangaskhan, and Ferrothorn’s Power Whip knocks out my Azumarill. I replace my fallen Azumarill with Hydreigon.

Turn 4: I want to make the safe play, using Close Combat on Mega Kangaskhan and Fire Blast on Ferrothorn. Sawk picks up the KO on Kangaskhan, but my Hydreigon is fully Paralyzed and Ferrothorn gets a Thunder Wave off on Sawk. My opponent sends out Rotom-Wash as his last Pokémon.

Turn 5: At this point, I feel like I can win as long as I can knock out the Ferrothorn, so I double targeted the Ferrothorn with Close Combat and Fire Blast. Rotom-Wash’s Hydro Pump KOs my -1 Sawk, and Hydreigon is fully Paralyzed again as Ferrothorn’s Gyro Ball does little damage to my Hydreigon. I sent out Kangaskhan as my last Pokémon.

Turn 6: The score is 2-2, and either of us could win. I really needed to knock out the Ferrothorn for a win, so I Mega Evolve Kangaskhan and Fake Out the Rotom-Wash as it Protects. Hydreigon finally is able to act, but misses the Fire Blast as Ferrothorn Thunder Waves my Mega Kangaskhan.

Turn 7-9: I try to use Return on Rotom-Wash and Fire Blast on Ferrothorn, but I end up with both my Pokémon fully Paralyzed as Rotom Hydro Pumps Mega Kangaskhan and Ferrothorn Gyro Balls Hydreigon. At this point I had given up, so I Sucker Punch the Rotom-Wash before it finishes my Mega Kangaskhan off with another Hydro Pump. Hydreigon misses another Fire Blast. I survive both attacks on the next turn, but Hydreigon is paralyzed again and my opponent cleans up the game on the last turn. Loss 0-2

Game 2

Team Preview: The previous game wasn’t how I wanted my first game at my first Pokémon World Championship to go. I knew I’d need to win the next two games in order to keep going. I decided that since I didn’t need Azumarill in the last game, I’d bring Talonflame this time as another way to eliminate Ferrothorn.

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Kangaskhan and Hydreigon against my opponent’s Ferrothorn and Greninja.

Turn 1: Since Ferrothorn is out on the field, I felt there was no risk in using Fake Out on Greninja. Ferrothorn Protects as my Kangaskhan Mega Evolves and uses Fake Out on Greninja, doing a lot of damage. Greninja flinches, and Hydreigon’s Fire Blast goes into Ferrothorn’s Protect.

Turn 2: I thought that Sucker Punch would be able to finish off Greninja, and I was correct. Hydreigon’s Fire Blast connects with the Rotom-Wash switch in, doing about 20-25%. He replace the fallen Greninja with Mega Kangaskhan.

Turn 3: I felt I needed a free switch-in for Sawk, so I decided to withdraw Hydreigon and send out Talonflame while Power-Up Punching his Kangaskhan to negate any incoming Will-o-Wisp. His Kangaskhan Mega Evolves and does not go for the Fake Out. My Kangaskhan is faster, and Power Up Punch does about 40 percent to his Kangaskhan while his Kangaskhan goes for Power Up Punch on the switched in Talonflame. Rotom-Wash uses Thunderbolt on my Kangaskhan.

Turn 4: I’m in a very good position at this point. I can Brave Bird the Kangaskhan and Return the Rotom-Wash to pick up two KOs. My plan goes off without a hitch, and my opponent is only left with Ferrothorn.

Turn 5: I want to save Talonflame so I can Flare Blitz if needed. I decided to switch Talonflame out for Hydreigon and Fake Out with Kangaskhan. I knew it would fail, but I didn’t want to accrue any Iron Barbs or Rocky Helmet damage. His Ferrothorn goes for a Gyro Ball on the switched in Hydreigon.

Turn 6: Fire Blast from Hydreigon finishes the game. Win 4-0

Game 3

Team Preview: I thought that it could be a good idea to switch leads this time around, but I decided that since Hydreigon and Kangaskhan worked so well in the previous game that I would lead with them again.

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Kangaskhan and Hydreigon against Greninja and Talonflame.

Turn 1: I anticipated a Quick Guard from Talonflame, as I thought the only other reason to lead with Talonflame was that he expected me to lead with Sawk. I decided to switch out Hydreigon for Talonflame to take the incoming Ice Beam and Return his Talonflame in order to get rid of the possible Quick Guard threat, letting me Brave Bird my opponent’s Greninja next turn. His Talonflame goes for Tailwind instead, as Greninja’s Ice Beam does a little more than 50% damage to my Talonflame and my Return knocks out the opposing Talonflame. My opponent sends out his own Kangaskhan to replace the fallen Talonflame.

Turn 2: I needed to knock out one more of my opponent’s Pokémon before I could relax. I decided to double target his Greninja to get rid of it quickly. His Kangaskhan Mega Evolved and Faked Out my Kangaskhan, and Brave Bird knocks out both the Greninja and my Talonflame, as the recoil damage is enough to knock me out as well. I sent out Hydreigon to replace Talonflame, and he sends out his last Pokémon: Ferrothorn.

Turn 3: I needed to stall out the remaining turns of Tailwind. I decided to Sucker Punch and Fire Blast his Kangaskhan, expecting Ferrothorn to Protect. My opponent surprised me by Sucker Punching my Kangaskhan, making my Sucker Punch fail. Fire Blast does about 45% to his Kangaskhan, and Ferrothorn Thunder Waves mine.

Turn 4: I thought that he’d Protect his Ferrothorn, so I double target his Kangaskhan with Sucker Punch and Fire Blast. He does not Protect Ferrothorn and my Kangaskhan gets Paralyzed as his Kangaskhan goes for Power Up Punch onto my Hydreigon as Hydreigon’s Fire Blast brings his Kangaskhan to about 5 percent. Ferrothorn goes for Power Whip onto my Kangaskhan but misses.

Turn 5: I planned to Sucker Punch his Kangaskhan and Fire Blast the Ferrothorn, but his Ferrothorn finally Protects as his Kangaskhan Sucker Punches my Kangaskhan, finishing it off. I switched in my last Pokémon, Sawk.

Turn 6: I used Close Combat the Kangaskhan, knocking it out, as Hydreigon’s Fire Blast misses the Ferrothorn and Ferrothorn Thunder Waves my Hydreigon.

Turn 7: Sawk goes for a Close Combat on Ferrothorn, missing the KO. Hydreigon is fully Paralyzed, and another Thunder Wave hits Sawk.

Turn 8: Sawk is fully Paralyzed, but Hydreigon’s Fire Blast connects, knocking out Ferrothorn and winning the game. Win 2-0

Final Result: 2-1

Most of my friends also got through Round 2, with the exception of my friend Sean (Scal721). Luckily, I didn’t know my third round opponent.

Round 3

Game 1

Team Preview:  His team looked like it was designed to support Mega Kangaskhan. I felt that I needed to bring Azumarill or Hydreigon to effectively knock out his Gyarados.

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Kangaskhan and Sawk, while my opponent led with Mamoswine and Kangaskhan.

Turn 1: I predicted the Kangaskhan to switch out, so I decided that I would Power-Up Punch the Kangaskhan slot and Close Combat the Mamoswine. My opponent’s Kangaskhan does switch out for Gyarados, which fires off an Intimidate onto both of my physical attackers. Sawk gets the Close Combat off on Mamoswine, picking up the KO even at -1 Attack. My Kangaskhan Power-Up Punches Gyarados, putting it at +1 Attack. My opponent sends out Amoonguss to replace the fallen Mamoswine.

Turn 2: I really didn’t want to switch out my Sawk, since I didn’t want a switch in to take a Spore or Thunder Wave for free. I decided to double target Amoonguss with a Close Combat and Return and hopefully knock it out. His Amoonguss Rage Powders as the combination of Close Combat and Return is able to take out the Amoonguss. I learn that his Amoonguss does not carry Rocky Helmet. Gyarados Thunder Waves my Kangaskhan, slowing it down. My opponent sends out Kangaskhan as his last Pokémon.

Turn 3: I have no reason to not Close Combat the Kangaskhan and Return the Gyarados. His Kangaskhan Mega Evolves and Sucker Punches Sawk, but even at -2 Defense Sawk is able to survive and fire off a Close Combat, picking up the KO. Gyarados’s Waterfall fails to KO or flinch my Kangaskhan, letting it knock out Gyarados with a Return. Win 4-0

Game 2 

Team Preview: I expected my opponent to lead with Gengar this game in order to deal with the Sawk and Kangaskhan lead I brought last game. I did not want to lead Hydreigon, though, because of the small chance my opponent brings Wigglytuff or has Dazzling Gleam on his Gengar. I decided that leading Azumarill and Kangaskhan would be good, as I wanted to knock out Gyarados quickly with some offensive pressure.

He brought:

I brought:

My opponent led Gengar and Gyarados against my Kangaskhan and Azumarill, putting both of my Pokémon at -1 Attack right off the bat.

Turn 1: I expected the Gyarados to Protect, but I was curious what his Gengar would do, as he could go for a Will-o-Wisp, Sludge Bomb, or Protect. I decided to Fake Out Gengar and set up Belly Drum with Azumarill. If his Gyarados carried Taunt, I would have been in a bad position, but I could always just switch out Azumarill. Gyarados does go for the Protect, and Kangaskhan’s Fake Out does a good amount of damage to Gengar and gets the flinch. Azumarill is free to set up Belly Drum and heal back to 75% HP with its Sitrus Berry.

Turn 2: I wanted to Protect Azumarill this turn because I expected either a double target onto Azumarill or Gengar Protecting and Gyarados trying to slow me down with Thunder Wave. I felt like Kangaskhan could get a free Power-Up Punch as well, letting me have two scary Pokémon on the field at once. Kangaskhan Mega Evolves as Azumarill Protects. My opponent’s Gengar Sludge Bombs into the Protect, and Kangaskhan gets to +1 Attack by Power-Up Punching Gyarados while Gyarados’ attempt to Thunder Wave Azumarill fails.

Turn 3: At this point, I could safely Aqua Jet my opponent’s Gengar and Return his Gyarados to pick up two KOs. If he were to switch, his Pokémon would still take lots of damage. He doesn’t switch, and I am able to knock out both of his Pokémon. My opponent’s last two Pokémon are Kangaskhan and Amoonguss, I felt like I had the win secured with my Talonflame and Sawk in the back.

Turn 4: I decided to double target Amoonguss because if he uses Fake Out with his Kangaskhan, his Amoonguss would still faint to my other Pokémon. His Kangaskhan Mega Evolved and my Kangaskhan went first, picking up the KO on Amoonguss with Return. A Return from his Kangaskhan was able to KO Azumarill, and I sent out Sawk to replace it.

Turn 5: Close Combat KOs the enemy Kangaskhan, and I advance to Round 4 of the LCQ. Win 3-0

Final Result: 2-0

Most of my friends lost this round (sableyemagma and Lightcore). The only other person I knew who was left in the tournament was Max Glick, a good friend of mine. We spent time in between rounds talking about our previous rounds.

Round 4

Game 1

Team Preview: Mr. Mime looked interesting, and I wanted to know what moveset it had because Mr. Mime gets a wide range of support moves to bolster offensive moves like Dazzling Gleam, Psychic, and Psyshock. Other than that, my opponent’s team looked really standard, but I would need to find out which items he was using on Talonflame and Tyranitar.

He brought:

I brought:

He led with Mr. Mime and Kangaskhan, as I led Kangaskhan and Hydreigon to create some offensive pressure.

Turn 1: I expected a few combos from my opponent’s lead. He could Fake Out and use either Icy Wind or Dazzling Gleam with Mr. Mime. He could also Quick Guard or Fake Out with Mr. Mime and use Power-Up Punch with Kangaskhan. I felt that my safest play would be to Draco Meteor my opponent’s Kangaskhan and use Return on Mr. Mime. I hoped to get a KO on at least one of Pokémon, if he did go for Fake Out. Mr. Mime ended up being the one to use Fake Out, using it on Hydreigon. My Kangaskhan’s Return barely failed to KO Mr. Mime, as it hung on with what looked like 1 HP. His Kangaskhan Power-Up Punched my Kangaskhan, getting to +2 Attack as Hydreigon flinched.

Turn 2: I knew he’d want to quickly KO one of my Pokémon, so unless his Mr. Mime had Dazzling Gleam, I should be fine. I decided to Draco Meteor the Kangaskhan and Power-Up-Punch the Mr. Mime. I figured that if he knocked out my Kangaskhan, I could KO his with a Choice Specs Draco Meteor, and if he targeted my Hydreigon, I could KO his Mr. Mime, get to at least +1 Attack, then safely bring in Sawk next turn. His Kangaskhan Sucker Punched mine, knocking it out, and Draco Meteor misses his Kangaskhan. His Mr. Mime uses Icy Wind, doing a decent amount of damage to Hydreigon and lowering my Speed by one stage. I sent out Sawk to fill in for Kangaskhan.

Turn 3: At this point, I figured that I’d most likely lost this game. I decided to Close Combat the Kangaskhan and switch Hydreigon out for Talonflame. My opponent switched out his Kangaskhan into his own Talonflame, and Sawk’s Close Combat deals about 50% damage while his Mr. Mime uses Icy Wind again.

I don’t remember the rest of the battle, and all I can tell from my notes is that his last Pokémon was Rotom-W and that I lost. Loss 0-3

Game 2

Team Preview: I knew that I needed to change my plan of attack for this game. I decided my best bet was leading Kangaskhan and Amoonguss and the only lead that could screw me was Talonflame and Rotom Wash.

He brought:

I brought:

We both end up leading Kangaskhan and Amoonguss.

Turn 1: I decided to Fake Out and Spore my opponent’s Kangaskhan. My Kangaskhan is faster than his and gets the Fake Out off. His Amoonguss uses Rage Powder, probably predicting me to go for a Power-Up Punch, and my Amoonguss gets a free Spore off, putting his Kangaskhan to sleep.

Turn 2: I felt as though my Amoonguss had done its job, and that there was no need to keep it on the field any longer. I felt as though I could safely switch out Amoonguss for Talonflame and Power-Up Punch to get some Attack boosts in, since my Kangaskhan was probably going to be put to Sleep this turn. His Kangaskhan takes some damage and the guaranteed first turn of Sleep as his Amoonguss does Spore my Kangaskhan.

Turn 3: I decided that my best play was to Brave Bird the Amoonguss, as I did not want both of my Pokémon asleep at once. If my opponent Protects, it wouldn’t matter as my Kangaskhan could knock out both of his Pokémon, and I could always Brave Bird the Amoonguss on the next turn if his Kangaskhan was still asleep. If his Kangaskhan did awaken, he would either knock out my Talonflame, letting me get a free switch in for Amoonguss, or I could Brave Bird the Kangaskhan next turn. His Amoonguss did not Protect and got knocked out by Brave Bird while both Kangaskhan takes a turn of Sleep. He sent out Rotom-Wash to replace his Amoonguss.

Turn 4: I didn’t see any reason to not Brave Bird my opponent’s Kangaskhan and to Return his Rotom-Wash, as I figured I should be guaranteed at least one KO. My opponent withdraws his Kangaskhan, sending out his Talonflame, and my Talonflame knocks it out with a Brave Bird. My Kangaskhan woke up this turn and knocked out Rotom with a +2 Return.

After sending out his sleeping Kangaskhan, my opponent forfeits, and I bring the series to a Game 3. Win 4-1

Game 3

Team Preview: I felt like my opponent wanted to bring Mr. Mime this game to support his team. I expected him to lead Talonflame and Rotom-Wash to counter my lead from the last game, so I decided that I would bring the same lead as game one.

He brought:

I brought:

I led Kangaskhan and Hydreigon against my opponent’s Kangaskhan and Amoonguss.

Turn 1: I was surprised to see him lead the same lead, but I was happy about my position as I had two choices. I could either Fake Out the Amoonguss and Draco Meteor Kangaskhan, or Fake Out the Kangaskhan and Fire Blast Amoonguss. I decided to Fire Blast the Amoonguss, as I did not want to take a Spore late in the game. My Kangaskhan is once against faster than my opponent’s and gets the Fake Out off. Hydreigon’s Fire Blast connects and knocks out Amoonguss, and I take an early lead. He replaces his Amoonguss with Mr. Mime.

Turn 2: I figured my opponent wanted to Fake Out one of my Pokémon, but I didn’t know which Pokémon he wanted to target. One thing I did know was that his Kangaskhan was in Brave Bird KO range, so I decided to switch out Hydreigon for Talonflame and use Return on Mr. Mime because I did not want to deal with Icy Wind again. Mr. Mime Faked Out Kangaskhan, flinching it, and his Kangaskhan’s Return knocks Talonflame out. I sent out Sawk to replace my Talonflame.

Turn 3: I couldn’t make assumptions about what my opponent’s last Pokémon was, so I needed to be careful. I didn’t know if he had a safe switch-in, so I Close Combatted his Kangaskhan and went for a Return onto his Mr. Mime. Sawk was able to knock out my opponent’s Kangaskhan, and Kangaskhan got the knock out on Mr. Mime. My opponent sent out his last Pokémon, which was Tyranitar.

Turn 4: Sawk gets the final knock out with another Close Combat, and I advance to the Top 8 of the Senior Division Last Chance Qualifier. Win 3-0

Final Result: 2-1

Top Eight of the LCQ. One more game, and I’d be participating in the Pokémon World Championships. I found out that Max had also won his last set. We talked for about an hour while waiting for the next round to start. Max and I hoped we wouldn’t be paired against one another because both of us to wanted to make it into Worlds. Pairings went up and thankfully we weren’t paired together. After a handshake, we wished each other good luck.

Round 5 vs Bargens

Game 1

Team Preview: Conkeldurr was an interesting choice of Pokémon. I did have Pokémon weak to Mach Punch, so I couldn’t afford to leave Conkeldurr on the field for long. His team also seemed weak to Garchomp, so I expected the Hydreigon to have a Choice Scarf. I thought Talonflame and Kangaskhan would make a good lead, with Azumarill and Hydreigon in the back to help deal with the bulkier Pokémon on my opponent’s team.

He brought:

I brought:

Both players led with Talonflame and Kangaskhan.

Turn 1: I knew I could win the Talonflame mirror match, so I wanted to Fake Out his Kangaskhan, anticipating him not wanting to go for Protect if he had it. I doubted he had Quick Guard, since his team really didn’t seem to benefit from Quick Guard support. My Kangaskhan was faster and got the Fake Out off. His Talonflame Brave Birded my Kangaskhan, doing enough damage to indicated that it was a Choice Band Talonflame. My Talonflame’s Brave Bird picked up the KO on the weakened enemy Talonflame, and my opponent sent out Rotom-Wash to replace his fallen Talonflame.

Turn 2: I feared a Will-o-Wisp from the enemy Rotom, so I decided to switch my Kangaskhan out for Hydreigon and Brave Bird my opponent’s Kangaskhan. I figured that I could either knock out Kangaskhan with Brave Bird, or if he switched out into Aegislash I could have Hydreigon KO Aegislash on the next turn with a Dark Pulse. Talonflame’s Brave Bird knocks out Kangaskhan, but is KOed in return by a Thunderbolt from Rotom-Wash. My opponent sends out Hydreigon to replace his Kangaskhan, while I send out my Kangaskhan to replace Talonflame.

Turn 3: I had a win condition in mind: all I needed to do was knock out the Rotom-Wash, because Hydreigon couldn’t touch the Azumarill I had in back. I decided to Fake Out his Rotom-Wash with Kangaskhan, because if he Protected Rotom he would have wasted a turn, and if he didn’t I’d have gotten free chip damage in. I switched out my Hydreigon into Azumarill to take the incoming Draco Meteor, and Kangaskhan’s Fake Out flinches Rotom after doing about 30% damage.

Turn 4: I knew if his Hydreigon went before my Kangaskhan, it would confirm that the Hydreigon was holding a Choice Scarf. If not, I could figure out which item it was using based on the damage it did to my Kangaskhan. I simply decided to use Return on Rotom-Wash and Play Rough on Hydreigon. Hydreigon was faster than my Kangaskhan, and knocked it out with a Draco Meteor. Rotom-Wash’s Thunderbolt did about 70% to Azumarill, and Play Rough knocked out Hydreigon. I sent out Hydreigon as my last Pokémon.

Turn 5: Hydreigon KOs Rotom-Wash with a Draco Meteor. Win 2-0

Game 2

Team Preview: I expected my opponent to lead with Hydreigon and maybe Rotom-Wash this game. I decided my best lead would be Amoonguss and Kangaskhan in this scenario.

He brought:

I brought:

I lead with Kangaskhan and Amoonguss against his Kangaskhan and Talonflame. I made a bad play on the first turn by predicting him to expect my Amoonguss to Protect. I ended up with a fainted Amoonguss for my trouble. Later in the game, his Rotom-Wash revealed Thunder Wave and ended up Paralyzing all of my Pokémon. I don’t remember much from this game except Rotom-Wash spreading Paralysis and Conkeldurr doing some heavy work with Drain Punch.

Game 3

Team Preview: That was one of the worst games I have ever played in an official tournament. I decided that because he brought Talonflame and Kangaskhan twice, I would abuse the fact his Talonflame didn’t have Quick Guard. I decided to lead Kangaskhan and Sawk so that I could Fake Out the Talonflame and Close Combat the Kangaskhan. I also assumed that because he didn’t bring Aegislash in the first two games, he probably wouldn’t bring it this game.

He brought:

I brought:

I led Kangaskhan and Sawk against his Kangaskhan and Conkeldurr.

Turn 1: Even though my opponent didn’t lead as I expected, I would still be able to finish the Kangaskhan off on the first turn. I doubted he would switch out his Kangaskhan because of all of the crazy predictions in the first two games. My Kangaskhan Faked Out my opponent’s Conkeldurr, and Sawk got the KO on the enemy Kangaskhan. My opponent sent out Rotom-Wash to replace his Kangaskhan.

Turn 2: I anticipated a Drain Punch on Kangaskhan and a Thunderbolt or Hydro Pump on Sawk. I didn’t want to risk a double target into a Protect, and I couldn’t knock out each Pokémon on my opponent’s side of the field individually. If I tried, I could have lost both of my Pokémon in the process. The safest play I could make was switch out Kangaskhan for Azumarill to take the anticipated Fighting-type attack while getting some damage off on Rotom-Wash with another Close Combat. Conkeldurr’s Mach Punch on Azumarill did almost no damage, while Sawk’s Close Combat left Rotom with around 52% HP remaining. Rotom-Wash knocked out my Sawk with a Thunderbolt, and I replaced it with Kangaskhan.

Turn 3: I decided that I would use Return on Rotom-Wash instead of going for Fake Out, as I was hoping the damage from the first hit would be enough to KO the Rotom without activating its Sitrus Berry. I also decided to Belly Drum with Azumarill because Conkeldurr couldn’t touch Azumarill unless it had Poison Jab, which I highly doubted. Conkeldurr’s Mach Punch does about 50% damage to Kangaskhan, and the first hit of Kangaskhan’s Return barely failed to KO Rotom. Rotom’s Sitrus Berry activated, and my second hit brought Rotom down to about 1 HP with a critical hit. Rotom Thunder Waves my Kangaskhan, and Azumarill gets the Belly Drum off without a hitch.

Turn 4: I felt as though Azumarill’s Belly Drum had won me the game, so I Aqua Jetted the Conkeldurr and Sucker Punched the Rotom-Wash, knocking both out.

Turn 5: His last Pokémon is his Choice Scarf Hydreigon, and a Play Rough gets me the win. Win 2-0

Final Result: 2-1

I felt relieved. I’d finally gotten my invite to the Pokémon World Championships. Everyone I knew congratulated me, and while I was on line for the Pokémon World Championships check in, I spent a lot of time talking to ShadePride who had also gotten in through the LCQ. I got my Worlds items and headed over to the player’s area for the player’s meeting. I ran into Tommy (Tman), who told me that my good friend Vinny (who I played in the finals of two West Babylon Premier Challenges) had made it through the TCG LCQ. We congratulated each other and talked about the things we used to get through our respective tournaments. We found out half an hour later that the player’s meeting was postponed until the next day, so I decided to head back to my hotel. On my way back, I got to run into my friend TechnoZ as well as the finalists of the 2013 Pokémon VG Senior World Championship: Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67) and Hayden Mctavish (Enigne). I had a great time talking to them.

The Pokémon World Championships

I woke up and felt very confident in my team. Thanks to the Last Chance Qualifier, I got a few extra practice games in before Worlds. Pairings went up, and I was placed right next to Mark McQuillan (woopahking). While waiting me, Mark, Mark’s opponent, and Thomas (my opponent) started talking. They mentioned Bargens, who I’d eliminated the day before in the LCQ.

Round 1 vs Thomas Davies (UK) (51st)

Game 1

Team Preview: My opponent placed in the top 16 at two different UK Nationals tournaments, so I was looking forward to the challenge. His team looked standard with good synergy. I felt that as long as I could find out which items his Pokémon were using, I should be in control of the games. His team looked like it could easily be swept by Azumarill, so I knew that Azumarill would be the key to winning this set.

He brought:

I brought:

My opponent led Gyarados and Hydreigon against my Azumarill and Amoonguss. I couldn’t have asked for a better lead. I was able to set up Belly Drum with ease, and I didn’t have to worry about Taunt from Gyarados since it was a Dragon Dance set. As soon as Azumarill got its Belly Drum up, I started to sweep his entire team, as Amoonguss was able to Rage Powder attacks away from Azumarill or just Spore Pokémon that didn’t threaten Azumarill.

Game 2

Team Preview: Since Azumarill and Amoonguss did so well against my opponent’s team, I figured that he was going to adjust his leads. I expected a Talonflame lead, and I decided that instead of trying to set up Belly Drum with Azumarill, I would instead use it to bait attacks into Protects and have Kangaskhan set up instead.

He brought:

I brought:

I led Kangaskhan and Azumarill against Talonflame and Gardevoir. I was able to bait a double target with both of my opponent’s Pokémon attacking into Azumarill’s Protect, and Kangaskhan was able to set up a Power-Up Punch with ease. At that point I was able to sweep through the rest of his team, and later in the game Azumarill was also able to set up Belly Drum for an unstoppable duo. I took the set 2-0.

Round 2 vs Keita Miyamoto (JP) (25th)

Game 1

Team Preview: I felt ready for this battle. This set was going to be one of the craziest sets I have ever played in my VGC career. My opponent’s team looked standard as well, and finding out moveset and item information would allow me take control of the set. It looked as though Kangaskhan and Talonflame would be my best lead for the first game, so that is what I led with.

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Kangaskhan and Talonflame against Hydreigon and Amoonguss. There was a lot of switching, as he would often switch his Gyarados in to try to Intimidate my Pokémon, but my Kangaskhan was able to Power-Up Punch the stat drops away. Sawk was able to deal a lot of damage to Gyarados and Amoonguss with Rock Slide as my Kangaskhan did damage with Power-Up-Punch or Return. The game ended with Sawk being able to knock out his Hydreigon, Gyarados, and Kangaskhan, and Sawk ended up being the MVP for this battle.

Game 2

Team Preview: I was able to win the first game pretty easily, but I knew that letting my guard down would be a bad idea. I planned to sweep with Azumarill while knocking out the Pokémon that threatened it with Talonflame and Gyarados.

He brought:

I brought:

I led Kangaskhan and Azumarill against Hydreigon and Gyarados. Unlike the last set where Gyarados was not a threat to Azumarill, my opponent in this round used a support Gyarados with Taunt and Thunder Wave. I was able to Fake Out my opponent’s Gyarados and set up Belly Drum with Azumarill, even through Hydreigon’s Earth Power. At this point in the set, Gyarados starts spreading Thunder Waves around on my Pokémon. My Kangaskhan was fully Paralyzed three turns in a row, preventing me from getting chip damage onto his Gyarados. The game ended up coming down to my 1 HP Paralyzed Kangaskhan against his low HP Gyarados. All I needed to do was hit a Sucker Punch, and my opponent used Protect to try to stall out my Sucker Punch PP. Unfortunately, the turn he decided to go for the Waterfall my Kangaskhan got fully Paralyzed again, and I ended up losing a very close match.

Game 3

Team Preview: I decided there was nothing wrong with what I led in the previous game, so I decided I would bring the same Pokémon and try to knock out the Gyarados quickly before it could Paralyze too many of my Pokémon.

He brought:

I brought:

We both used the same leads as before, as I led Kangaskhan and Azumarill against my opponent’s Hydreigon and Gyarados. This time we both made different plays, and his Hydreigon KOs my Kangaskhan with a Draco Meteor. Azumarill still gets the Belly Drum off, but gets Paralyzed by Gyarados. Unfortunately for me, my Azumarill was often fully Paralyzed, and I ended up missing a crucial Draco Meteor on his Gyarados. My opponent made some great plays, like Waterfalling the Amoonguss slot when I switched it out for Talonflame. The game came down to Azumarill being able to attack through Paralysis, but it ended up being fully Paralyzed. My opponent and I ended up laughing at the games we had, and I was already thinking about the next game.

Round 3 vs Takumi Furugori (JP) (14th)

Game 1

Team Preview: I wasn’t feeling too stressed going into this set. This team looked very standard, so I felt that I needed to find out the opponent’s play style and adjust accordingly. I felt Azumarill would be great in this set, so long as I brought Hydreigon to deal with the Rotom-Wash and the Aegislash.

He brought:

I brought:

I decided to lead with Kangaskhan and Azumarill, and my opponent led Rotom-Wash and his own Kangaskhan. I remember getting the Belly Drum off easily, but his Rotom-Wash revealed that it had Thunder Wave, and I hoped that this game would not be like the last. I predicted that Rotom-Wash would not attack my Azumarill, and was able to KO it with a +6 Attack Play Rough. From there, I was able to make quick work of the rest of my opponent’s team.

Game 2

Team Preview: Now that my opponent knew that I had Belly Drum Azumarill, I had to play around that factor and counter his possible leads. I decided that he would probably lead with Rotom-Wash and Kangaskhan again, but change up his strategy. I decided that my best lead would be Kangaskhan and Amoonguss.

He brought:

I brought:

My opponent did lead Rotom-Wash and Kangaskhan. Normally, I would have had the better matchup in this situation, but his Rotom-Wash revealed that it had Safety Goggles, making it free to Paralyze my Pokémon. My Kangaskhan is knocked out by a Hammer Arm from my opponent’s Kangaskhan, and his Rotom-Wash survived a Draco Meteor from my Hydreigon.

Game 3

Team Preview: Now that I knew my opponent’s Rotom-Wash had Safety Goggles, I knew that Hydreigon was going to be crucial. I decided that I would lead Kangaskhan for Fake Out pressure as well as Hydreigon to hopefully KO Rotom.

He brought:

I brought:

I led Kangaskhan and Hydreigon against my opponent’s Kangaskhan and Salamence. I knew that my lead match up wasn’t good, so I decided to pull a double switch, switching out Hydreigon for Azumarill and Kangaskhan for Amoonguss. My opponent ended up Protecting his Kangaskhan and switching out his Salamence for Garchomp. I predicted his next move to be switching out the Kangaskhan for Salamence while using Earthquake with Garchomp, so I felt that I could double target the Garchomp with Play Rough and Giga Drain. I did not want to Spore the Garchomp on the off chance that it was holding a Lum Berry. The turn went as I expected, with Earthquake getting a critical hit on my Azumarill, activating the Sitrus Berry. Play Rough misses Garchomp, and Giga Drain does very little damage. My only out at this point is to Rage Powder and try to Play Rough the Garchomp again, because I knew I could survive another Earthquake. However, Garchomp gets another critical hit with Earthquake and picks up the knock out. I had no chance of winning from that point on.

Round 4 vs George Langford (KobraTail) (US) (40th)

Game 1

Team Preview: From looking at this team, I felt that either Gardevoir or Tyranitar was holding a Choice Scarf in order to deal with Garchomp. The only problem that I had to deal with is if the Gardevoir is holding a Choice Scarf, was my Sawk faster than his Gardevoir? I decided that Kangaskhan and Talonflame would be my best lead because Talonflame could deal heavy damage to his team.

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Talonflame and Kangaskhan against my opponent’s Amoonguss and Kangaskhan. The first couple of turns went in my favor, as I was able to get rid of the Kangaskhan and Amoonguss early with Talonflame. However, I did make a huge mistake when I thought Talonflame could KO my opponent’s Rotom-Wash with a Brave Bird when it was under half HP. As a result, I carelessly lost Talonflame. I still had a favorable situation with my Hydreigon, Kangaskhan, and Sawk against his Gardevoir, but I ended up losing due to the Gardevoir carrying a Choice Scarf. All Gardevoir had to do was use Dazzling Gleam to knock out all of my Pokémon. His Gardevoir was faster than my Sawk, which was interesting.

Game 2

Team Preview: I knew I wanted to conserve Talonflame in order to KO Gardevoir. I felt as though there was nothing wrong with the Pokémon I brought in the previous game, so I just decided to switch up my lead with Kangaskhan and Sawk.

He brought:

I brought:

This game was close, as George and I kept switching out our Pokémon to try to gain momentum and find an opening to attack. I was able to KO his Kangaskhan and Amoonguss with Hydreigon, and he was able to KO Sawk early in the game. On the game deciding turn, I only had Talonflame with a bit of chip damage left against George’s full HP Gardevoir and a Choice Banded Talonflame at 25% health. My Talonflame would always survive an Adamant Choice Band Talonflame’s Brave Bird, but with the chip damage I thought I needed my opponent to get a low damage role with his Brave Bird, knocking his own Talonflame out with recoil and letting me KO his Gardevoir with Brave Bird. His Talonflame does get the KO with Brave Bird, though, and I shake George’s hand. It turns out his Gardevoir was Timid, so that’s why it was able to outspeed my Sawk. I really couldn’t be mad at that game, but I felt like I shouldn’t have made the mistake of losing Talonflame prematurely in the first game. At this point, my chance at making Top Cut was gone, so my goal from there out was to get at least a 3-3 record, with hopefully a Top 32 finish.

Round 5 vs Tim Sudermann (DE) (44th)

Game 1

Team Preview: Looking at my opponent’s team, I thought the Charizard would be Mega Charizard X, as he didn’t have any other physical attackers other than Tyranitar (unless his Aegislash was physical, which I highly doubted). Sylveon was the most interesting Pokémon on this team, as Hyper Beam was the best STAB move it got without access to Hyper Voice. I was very interested in its moveset. I felt that Kangaskhan and Sawk would be a pretty safe lead against this team.

He brought:

I brought:

My opponent brought Charizard and Sylveon against my Kangaskhan and Sawk. I Faked Out Sylveon and Rock Slided to start the match, doing a lot of damage to Sylveon as Charizard Protected. On the next turn, I found out his Charizard was indeed a Mega Charizard X, as Rock Slide does about half HP to Charizard X. Sylveon is KOed by Return as Charizard Flare Blitzed Kangaskhan. I was able to KO Charizard next turn with another Rock Slide, and Talonflame and Hydreigon were able to take care of my opponent’s Amoonguss and Rotom-Wash in the back.

Game 2

Team Preview: Finding out that my opponent had Mega Charizard X was good, as I knew I would have to KO it with by double targeting Charizard instead of just using Rock Slide. I decided that my opponent would probably lead Amoonguss this time, so I led Kangaskhan and Talonflame. I wasn’t sure if he would bring Sylveon, but I did expect Aegislash to appear.

He brought:

I brought:

My opponent led Aegislash and Amoonguss, and I could not have been happier with my lead. I used Fake Out the Aegislash while not Mega Evolving, and pick up an early 4-3 lead by Flare Blitzing the Amoonguss for a early 4-3 lead. Sylveon replaces the fallen Amoonguss, and I Flare Blitzed Sylveon, predicting a King’s Shield from Aegislash. I switched out Kangaskhan for Sawk to be able to create Fake Out pressure later, and Aegislash does attempt a King’s Shield as Flare Blitz knocks out Sylveon. His last Pokémon was Tyranitar, which Mega Evolved and Protected as Sawk wasted a turn. Flare Blitz knocked out Aegislash, but the recoil was enough to knock out Talonflame as well. I sent out Kangaskhan, and I was able to finish the game with Sawk’s Close Combat.

Round 6 vs Melisa A (DE) (50th)

Game 1

Team Preview: I knew that even if I was able to win this next set, I would probably not get a Top 32 finish because my opponent was 1-4 currently. Her team was interesting, with three possible Mega Evolutions and a Sharpedo. I had no idea what to expect, so I decided to lead Kangaskhan and Talonflame since it would hit most of her team hard, especially if she decided to lead with Sun.

She brought:

I brought:

My opponent ended up leading with Sylveon and Sharpedo. I had no idea what this lead combination would do, so I hesitated a bit while choosing my moves. She Protected with both Pokémon on the first turn in order to avoid my Fake Out. The next turn, I ran out of time because I was unsure as to whether or not I should double target Sharpedo, since most Sharpedo carry Focus Sash. Instead, I used Return on Sylveon and Brave Bird on Sharpedo, which indeed carried a Focus Sash. My opponent then uses Round with both Pokémon, and Sylveon’s Round gets the Knock Out on Kangaskhan with a critical hit I’m not sure mattered. I sent out Sawk to replace Kangaskhan, and by knocking out Sylveon with a Brave Bird, I’m able to stop the Round shenanigans. Her last Pokémon were Mega Charizard Y and Tyranitar, and with some switching I was able to win with Sawk and Talonflame.

Game 2

Team Preview: I found out a lot of information in the last game. Her Tyranitar was holding a Choice Scarf. Her Charizard was Mega Charizard Y. I also now knew about here Round combination. I decided that she probably wouldn’t lead Sylveon this time, instead leading with her Tyranitar. I decided that this would be my best opportunity to set up a Belly Drum with Azumarill, so I led Azumarill and Kangaskhan for this battle.

She brought:

I brought:

She does lead with Tyranitar, with the second Pokémon being Talonflame. I used Fake Out on Tyranitar to avoid a Rock Slide flinch, and her Talonflame used Sleep Talk for some reason. I was really confused, like someone had hit me with Swagger. As a result, Azumarill was able to get a free Belly Drum in. Her Talonflame switched out for Venusaur as I Protected my Azumarill and Power-Up Punched Tyranitar. I then Aqua Jetted Tyranitar and used Return on Venusaur for a double KO. From there, I was able to deal with her Talonflame and Charizard in the back.

After Worlds Thoughts

Final standings were posted, and I finished 36th overall. I was decently satisfied with that result after a crazy weekend. I spent the rest of the day battling people with my Worlds team in best of threes, going undefeated. I really enjoyed the Pokémon World Championships. I got to meet so many friends in person that I have known online, such as Zach (TechnoZ) and Alex (Pokealex). I had so much fun playing in the tournament, and I definitely hope to come back next year.

Pros

• Using an amazing team and going so far into the Pokémon World Championships
• Meeting a lot of old and new friends, and making friends with people I have never met before
• Eating Chinese food everyday
• Not running into Smeargle at Worlds
• Having fun at every single moment

Cons.

• The long bus rides, especially when someone right next to you is chatting on his cell phone for three hours
• The first event that I didn’t get at least a Top 32

Conclusion

The Pokémon World Championships were an amazing experience and I highly recommend going, either as a player or just as a spectator. I will definitely be trying hard to make it back next year in the 2015 season. I hope to do well in the Masters Division, and if I make it back, who knows. I could be a future World Champion. Until then, I will be working hard. If you want to get into Worlds, I recommend that you work hard and practice a lot as well.                                      

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