Introduction

Hello everyone. My name is Eddie “Guru” Fernandez. I have been playing competitive Pokemon for quite a while now, but never played at a sanctioned event. I made my entrance into the VGC scene with the event I will be discussing today, an Alpha Series premier challenge that was held in Brooklyn, NY on January 11th, 2015. Whether it was beginners luck or just my practice paying off, I managed to go undefeated during the preliminary Swiss rounds (6-0) and made top cut. Alas, my victory train came to a screeching halt in the first round of the semifinals, landing me in 5th place. It was such a fun experience, and I hope you enjoy this report!

Team Building

The VGC ’15 format is quite unforgiving for newcomers. I had played VGC 2014 style matches in the past, but they were mostly for fun and the pool of pokemon to choose from was much narrower. Once the VGC 2015 format was announced and I had decided to start playing the real deal, I was a little lost on how I should develop my team. I decided to start off with something that I liked and that was relatively new, so I chose Mega-Metagross to be my main mega.

At a Glance

The Team

REGIS MK-V @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 156 HP / 156 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Iron Head
-Zen Headbutt
-Ice Punch
-Protect

“The REGIS MK-V is the ultimate fighting machine! Unstoppable! Merciless! Glorious! No one is safe from the REGIS…”

For those of you who are wondering, the Replicant Engineered for Galactic Infiltration and Sabotage Mark 5 (REGIS MK-5) was an alien spider-like robot from the cartoon “Megas XLR” that was known for its obnoxious, narcissistic rants about how great it was. Metagross is also a spider robot, so I couldn’t help using the nickname. Plus, it sounds boss.

As a Mega, Metagross has a lot of competition for the slot.  Steel types losing their resistance to both Dark and Ghost did not help it in the least, as it is now threatened by the ever present Bisharp, Hydreigon and Aegislash. Also, Psychic as an offensive type suffered with the introduction of fairy types scaring away the common fighting types of last generation. Despite all of these flaws, Mega-Metagross redeems itself by having superb bulk that is uncanny for something so powerful and fast, and steel is still the best defensive typing in the game.

Because of Tough Claws, Metagross’ decent movepool is chopped down to a few select moves that take advantage of the ability. For STAB, I went with Iron Head for its reliability and that game-changing 30% flinch chance. Zen Headbutt was really the only other STAB option, which I didn’t like due to the accuracy, but it did smack around most targets that resisted Steel while also possessing the flinch chance. The last slot is always a hard choice for Mega Metagross. I considered Hammer Arm, which threatens Kangashan and opposing steel types, but ultimately the side effect was considered too detrimental. Earthquake was also considered, despite not gaining the boost, in order to combat opposing steels and threaten Heatran. Ultimately, I felt Ice Punch was the best choice, allowing me to defeat Landorus and dragons, although this set leaves Metagross walled by virtually any Steel type.

In terms of EVs, I wanted to experiment a bit in order to take advantage of Metagross’ superb bulk. 196 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature surpasses the 102 speed benchmark, which I felt was a good place to settle in the speed department since it out-sped Garchomp and the plentiful 100 base speed tier. 156 HP EVs added to its overall bulk, surviving a max attack, life orb boosted Sucker Punch from Bisharp and a good chance to survive a full power Shadow Ball from Aegislash. Finally, 156 Attack EVs maintained Metagross’s offensive presence, being able to OHKO Scarfed Landorus even through Intimidate with Ice Punch and nabbing some nice 2HKOs on pokemon such as uninvested Kangaskhan.

Trigun @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP/36 Def/244 SpA/196 Spe
Modest Nature
-Dark Pulse
-Draco Meteor
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power

Hydreigon is named after the anime classic “Trigun.”

In terms of synergy, Hydreigon compliments Metagross perfectly thanks to its unique Dark/Dragon typing, resisting Fire, Ground, Dark, and Ghost. Hydreigon could also lay waste to the very Steel types that wall Metagross with fire and ground coverage, making Hydreigon’s spot on the team a sure thing. With these two, my team had its two main attackers, hitting hard on both ends of the spectrum.

The idea behind Hydreigon isn’t complicated: Blast things with choice boosted coverage moves. Dark Pulse and Draco Meteor served as potent STABs, with Dark Pulse being particularly important for opposing Metagross and to heavily damage Cresselia. Fire Blast and Earth Power were extremely important coverage moves to deal with the aforementioned Steel types that walled Metagross completely. Flash Cannon, strange as it sounds, was considered over Earth Power to deal heavy damage to Sylveon who would otherwise laugh at either coverage option. However, I felt Metagross was enough for that role and my team lacked any ground coverage, so Earth Power was chosen.

The EV spread was given to me by a friend, and it allows Hydreigon to survive an unboosted Dragon Claw from Garchomp while hitting as hard as possible, and maintaining some speed presence.

Murmaider @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP/156 Def/100 SpA/12 SpD/4 Spe
Bold Nature
-Scald
-Icy Wind
-Safeguard
-Protect

Milotic is named after Dethklok’s song “Murmaider.” Basically it describes a brutal mermaid, so it’s my go to name for Gyarados and Milotic.

Milotic adds several good things to the team so far. In terms of synergy, another fire resistance is added to aid Metagross while also adding an ice resistance for Hydreigon, all while adding two weakness which are already covered. Perhaps the most important thing Milotic brings is the Competitive ability, punishing the Intimidates Metagross was sure to attract.

Scald is pretty standard for any supporting water type, adding in the game-changing Burn chance. Icy Wind was chosen over Ice Beam to serve as my team’s first line of speed control, although I would miss the power of Ice Beam for destroying Landorus.  Milotic’s movepool is rather shallow but it does have some pretty good options in the support department. In this case, I went with Safeguard, a move most wouldn’t expect from Milotic. I loved the move because it greatly reduced my risk of losing due to some random paralysis or confusion, and it also protected Metagross from burns. Overall, Milotic gave much-needed support to my two heavy hitters.

With 236 HP/156 DEF / 12 SpD investment, there was very little that could outright OHKO it, as it can survive a thunderbolt from Zapdos and Manetric, Mega-Khan’s Double Edge, and Hydreigon’s Specs Draco Meteor. While great in the bulk department, I wanted it to have a least some sting behind its attacks so I just allocated 100 SpA EVs.  The remaining 4 went into speed.

Voltolos @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP/140 Def/36 SpA/20 Speed
Bold Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Ice
-Thunder Wave
-Taunt

The Japanese/German name for Thundurus sounds much better, so I went with Voltolos.

Sacrificing a little team synergy in return for great utility, I added Thundurus to the team. Thundurus was my answer to the terrifying power of Mega Salamence, a dangerous threat for those who are not prepared for it. Adding electric coverage, speed control, and the useful flying resistance, Thundurus secured a spot on my team.

Thunderbolt and HP Ice are standard moves that add nice coverage to the team. Prankster Thunder Wave and Taunt ensured excellent speed control and allowed me to stop annoying strategies like Dark Void Smeargle.

The EVs were crafted to survive the onslaught of Mega Salamence. With 244 HP / 140 Def+ and Sitrus Berry, Thundurus can survive 3 Double Edges from a max attack Mega Salamence while slapping it right back with Hidden Power Ice. 36 SpA was added to give it more of a sting while the 20 speed investment was meant to outspeed uninvested opposing Thundurus. In one of matches, I realized the special attack investment might have been too low, as an opponent’s Mega Sceptile was able to live a Hidden Power Ice.

Oxford @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Hp/252 Atk/252 Speed
Jolly Nature
-Rock Slide
-Close Combat
-Quick Guard
-Protect

While it infringed on my team synergy a bit, Terrakion added several things I wanted to my team: Another speedy pokemon, a rock slide user with STAB, and a powerful fighting type to threaten Kangaskhan.

Rock Slide and Close Combat were just the moves my team needed, adding rock coverage to crush Charizard/Talonflame while also being an excellent spread move, and Close Combat destroyed Mega Kangaskan. As with any Terrakion, the third move slot is always a wild card. I could have gone with Substitute, Taunt, or Earthquake, but I ended up going with Quick Guard. I did not use it once during the tournament, showing it is rather situational.

Bulbasage @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll – Thick Fat
EVs: 180 HP/76 Def/60 SpA/132 SpD/60 Speed
Calm Nature
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Sleep Powder
-Protect

Bulbasage is the name I gave to my first Bulbasaur back in Pokemon Red.

Lacking the useful resistances and benefits of a grass type, I was overjoyed when I realized that Venusaur fit nicely into the team. Bulbasaur was the first pokemon I chose all the back in Pokemon Red and it remained my favorite Kanto pokemon to date, so I was glad I’d be able to bring it to my first VGC event. Of course it brought much more than just nostalgia. I love Venusaur for its ability to stand up to Sun teams and utterly wall Rain teams, while kicking Sand around as well. Throw in the risky but game changing Sleep Powder and Venusaur was a perfect fit for my team.

I’m sure this set is pretty common, but it does the job. Sludge Bomb’s 30% change to poison came in quite handy from time to time, KOing Focus Sash Whimsicotts and adding more damage overall. Sleep Powder is risky, but it has won me a fair share of games that seemed hopeless at first, so I think it’s worth a moveslot.

The EVs are designed to make Venusaur more defensive than offensive, since I felt the team lacked a specially defensive pokemon. 180HP/76Def/132SpD gave Venusaur some nice rounded defense that survived both Mega-Khans double edge and Specs Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor. The remaining EV’s were dumped into SpA and speed to give it some offensive.

The Event Preliminaries: 6 Rounds of Swiss

After a long train ride, I arrived at the event, unsure what to expect since it was my first time. Registration was simple, though I felt a little silly having to write down my Pokemon nicknames on the registration sheet. Either way, it was very quick and I got to talk to some people before the event started. Good to know I wasn’t the only one a little stifled by the competition, which eased the tension a bit. The match pairings went up, and I was excited to see that both Jeudy Azzarreli and Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng were contestants.

Match 1: Vs Veno

Watch: EJSW-WWWW-WWWV-RXR4

VS

My first match in the competition was a mirror match with Metagross. He led Zapdos and Machamp while I led with Thundurus and Milotic, which was pretty much a battle of bulk. Both of my leads demonstrated their excellent bulk, with Milotic eating both a Dynamic Punch and a Thunderbolt from Zapdos while Thundurus survived a critical Stone Edge from the Machamp. The first turn safeguard proved useful as I blocked Zapdos’s Thunder Wave and nullified confusion from Dynamic Punch. Eventually I got an advantageous switch and gained the upper hand by OHKOing his Mega-Metagross with Hydreigon. I was very tense since it the first match, felt very relieved after getting my first win.

Match 2: VS Tomoko

Watch: GK2G-WWWW-WWWV-RXTJ

VS

I certainly did not expect to see Tangela in this competition, but boy did this guy use it well. It had Rage Powder, Leaf Storm, and Power Swap, which made quite an annoying combo by passing that -2 on to my pokemon. I led with Thundurus and Terrakion while he led with Tangela and Conkeldurr. It was a very close match, but it ended once we were down to Hydreigon and Tangela. My opponent saw it was hopeless and forfeited. With two wins under my belt, I felt optimistic.

Match 3: VS Morgan

Watch: WQHG-WWWW-WWWV-R2WH

VS

Overall I felt my team was well equipped to deal with his team thanks to Terrakion and Thunderus. He led with Sceptile and Gyarados and I led with Thundurus and Milotic. Both Milotic and Metagross’s bulk are shown here as the former takes Mega Sceptile’s Energy Ball while the latter eats Rotoms Overheat. Overall a straightforward match that I ended up winning.

Match 4: VS Kazi “Berserker” Rahman

Watch: 56ZG-WWWW-WWWV-R22U

VS

He led with Aegislash and Sylveon while I led with Metagross and Milotic. As soon as I saw Sylveon I wanted it gone, but I knew the Aegislash would be a hassle as well. I didn’t mega evolve Metagross for fear of the Landorus in the back, but it did its job. I narrowly won the match when it came down to my +2 Milotic vs his Landorus, who nearly KOed me with Earthquake. Despite the loss, Berserker went on to top cut and got 2nd place.

Match 5: VS Tommy “Tman” Cooleen

Watch: 5QEW-WWWW-WWWV-R239

VS

Team preview showed I was going to have a tough time. My opponent was carrying the TerraCott combo, and Mega Charizard (assumed Y). Seeing this, I thought it would be a good time to bring out my Mega Venusuar. I led with Venusaur and Terrakion while he led with Terrakion and Whimsicott. This paid off greatly, KOing his sashed Whimsicott (with Sludge Bomb + lucky poison) on the first turn and shutting down his later confirmed Charizard Y with Sleep Powder. I’m not going to lie that the RNG was strongly in my favor in this match, with the first turn poison and the several key misses later in the match. Despite the loss, Tman went on to Top Cut and placed 6th. This match was streamed so it might be on Youtube.

Match 6: VS Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng

Watch: YBWG-WWWW-WWWV-R28D

VS

I didn’t think I would get a chance to face him but here it is. At this point, we were both 5-0 and our place in top cut was secured, so this was a bit more of an exhibition match. Team preview showed he had three things that Metagross absolutely hated (Gengar, Bisharp, and Hydreigon) but I brought it anyway since Mega-Venusaur didn’t have much to do here. He led with Bisharp and Hydreigon while I led with Milotic and Terrakion, which was and great match up for me. Unfortunately, I made the mother of all mess-ups by protecting on the first turn with Terrakion, and using Icy Wind with Milotic…..with a Bisharp on the field. To be honest I don’t remember what I was thinking at the time. Brutal irony saved me however, as he decided to double target Milotic and KO it on the first turn, saving me from my own mess up. From there Terrakion was able to save the day, nabbing the KO on his entire team with a combination of Rock Slide and Close Combat. We shook hands and were off to the semi-finals. Cybertron ended up winning the competition at 1st place.

Top Cut: Best 2 out of 3

We all sat at a table and went through hack checks. No surprise to see Cybertron and Jeudy Azzarreli there, along with my two previous opponents Tman and Berserker. Once the checks were done, we were all paired up. I was hoping to get a match with Azzarreli but I was placed with Vincent “Vinny” Speciale.

VS: Vinny

VS

*No battle video for this match but I remember 5 of Pokemon. The last one was never used. I can recall the match pretty well.

I can pretty much tell you I got my backside handed to me in this match. In all of my team testing, I didn’t realize that I had a problem with Steel types. Metagross and Venusaur are completely walled by Steels, Milotic and Thundurus don’t do much to them, which leaves Terrakion and Hydreigon to handle all the Steels of the metagame.

He led with Ferrothorn and Clefable, and I had brought Venusaur, Milotic, Thundurus and Hydreigon. My fate was sealed as he went for a follow me-substitute combo on the first turn. Substitute Ferrothorn was something I was completely unprepared for. I tried to use Hydreigon to defeat it but with Clefable’s Follow Me support, I wasn’t touching it any time soon. I subsequently lost Hydreigon to Clefable’s Moon Blast, and from there nothing I had brought could defeat Ferrothorn.

At that point I felt pretty demoralized but I tried better on the second match, bringing Metagross, Hydreigon, Terrakion and Milotic while he brought Entei, Clefable, Salamence-Mega and I believe Ferrothorn. This time was a little less one sided but my opponent was able to read me like a book, and I subsequently lost 0-2. I was a bit disappointed but I couldn’t deny the skill of my opponent and that I had a lot to learn. I had come in 5th place, while I later learned Vinny placed 4th.

Closing Thoughts

After I lost, I wanted to stick around to watch the finals but the tournament took way longer than I had expected (it started at 12 and it was already 4:30, which at this time of year in NYC is dusk.) I had a long ride ahead of me so I decided to leave.

Mega-Metagross served its purpose as a fast, bulky battering ram, which seems to be its niche as it doesn’t get awesome super effective coverage compared to other Megas. As I’ve learned, a team centered on Mega-Metagross needs to have efficient counter-Steel capabilities, as Tough Claws doesn’t provide it with any particularly good ways of dealing with them. Since the competition, I’ve made a few changes to the team:

for 

Zapdos was originally considered over Thundurus before the tournament since it did fill the same roles +tailwind and heat wave. I went with Thundurus because it was hard to argue against Prankster Thunder Wave and Taunt. Realizing Heat Wave would offer an excellent spread move and help me out against Steels, Zapdos has since replaced Thundurus and I have not been missing it.

Quick Guard was replaced with Taunt to make up for the loss of Thundurus, but honestly taunt on something like Terrakion is very risky.

The only change so far was switching Zen Headbutt for Earthquake, which honestly is more useful for spread damage and to KO Heatran while dealing with Steels.

I had a bunch of fun meeting new players and finally competing in an actual VGC event. Personally I thought I was going to be garbage and not even reach top cut, but I ended up doing fairly well. Of course, I still have a lot to learn. I hope you had a good read, and all you who want to give Mega-Metagross a try, learn from my mistakes!

The post No one is safe from the R.E.G.I.S MK-V! An Alpha Series Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey there! I’m known as Metatyph here, Tempest in some places, and Icun Prayitno in others, and I’m somewhat of a lurker at Nugget Bridge. I was an Indonesian Asia Cup representative, and although my run in the continental tournament has ended, I want to share with you all the experiences I had in the qualifiers.

I began playing Pokémon competitively roughly five years ago, but I only played single battles. To keep a long story short, I became intrigued by the VGC format after watching the replays of the 2013 and 2014 World Championship finals, particularly by Arash Ommati’s Choice Scarf Mamoswine and Sejun Park’s Pachirisu. Since I was accustomed to the lack of innovation in singles, I was shocked that a Pokémon like Pachirisu could win Worlds. In October 2014, I started playing VGC, and quickly fell in love with the format. Sadly, in my first tournament, I was very inexperienced and only finished third to last. My team was truly atrocious, and I set out to build a better one.

Metagame Calls and Teambuilding

Here’s a quick glance at the team:

Most people would immediately think “sand team”, and they wouldn’t be wrong. I chose to go with sand because I thought it would be a good metagame call. The Pokémon are listed in the order that I picked them in, which should bring some light to why I chose them.

This team has two gears; a Sandstorm cleanup/pressure mode, and a fairly standard “goodstuffs”-esque role. I typically end up using a combination of both. Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Cradily form my Sandstorm core, while Talonflame, Thundurus, and Aegislash simply complement each other well.

Looking back, this team had many flaws that could have been fixed. It is relatively weak to the metagame’s most common Pokémon, and a team with multiple top threats (Kangaskhan, Landorus-Therian, and Sylveon for instance) would give this team a lot of trouble. I’ve modified this team since with the help of a fellow Asia Cup representative, but for now, I’ll discuss the version of the team I brought to the qualifiers.

Darude (Tyranitar) @ Tyranitarite
Sand Stream | Modest
196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
– Ice Beam
– Rock Slide
– Fire Blast
– Protect

Originally, this team was built around supporting Tyranitar. As it progressed, it ended up being Tyranitar’s job to support the team.

Honestly, the first reason why I even considered using Tyranitar was to have “Darude’s Sand Stream” show up onscreen. I thought of this even before VGC 2015, although I never ended up using Tyranitar in VGC 2014. However, my decision to use a sand team was nowhere near as silly.

I initially predicted that the two dominant teams of the new metagame would be offense built around Mega Salamence and rain built around Mega Swampert, with Kangaskhan being much less frequent. (This ended up being incorrect, but that’s irrelevant.) I reasoned that Tyranitar could handle rain (as well as any other weather) while still beating Mega Salamence. The Dragon-type frisbee can’t come close to OHKOing Tyranitar, while Tyranitar OHKOs any reasonable Mega Salamence with Ice Beam after sand damage.

Due to Sand Stream, Tyranitar can deal with other weather by simply switching in. It can easily OHKO Mega Charizard Y with Rock Slide, and maul the rare Abomasnow with Fire Blast. Sand also conveniently eliminates an opposing Focus Sash. In my singles-playing days, I loved breaking Focus Sash and Sturdy with Stealth Rock or Spikes. In doubles, however, hazard moves aren’t that great. Instead, I used sand to accomplish the same purpose. Quite sadly, the only Focus Sash user I played against was Landorus-Therian, which was immune to Sandstorm’s chip damage.

The decision to use Tyranitarite was a last-minute one. When I finished building this team, I didn’t have a Mega Evolution, so I decided to put one on Tyranitar. It’s been fairly useful, as Tyranitar can win the weather war against Mega Charizard Y and Eject Button Politoed, while gaining some defenses and Speed. However, the EV spread isn’t quite optimized for Mega Tyranitar.

Tyranitar had Ice Beam mainly for Salamence and Landorus-T, but it also helps with other Dragon-types that show up. Fire Blast deals with Ferrothorn, but can also take down the occasional slow Scizor that opts for Bug Bite over Bullet Punch. I chose Rock Slide instead of Stone Edge due to accuracy.

Apparently, special Mega Tyranitar isn’t common. I… didn’t know that when I used this set. However, Tyranitar’s Ability and stats allow it to run multiple very viable sets, so I don’t think this one is particularly suboptimal. I made multiple unorthodox team choices without knowing, and I’ll mention them when I get there.

Guacamole (Excadrill) @ White Herb
Sand Rush | Adamant
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
– Earthquake
– Iron Head
– Rock Slide
– Protect

The item Excadrill held probably caught your eye, but I’ll discuss it later on.

What’s a sand team without Excadrill? Excadrill, with Sand Rush bolstering its Speed in sand, functions as my main cleanup sweeper, but it also creates significant pressure in general, and is able to deal decent damage on his own.

Another metagame prediction I made was the use of redirection, mainly with Togekiss, Clefable, and Pachirisu. With Earthquake and Iron Head, Excadrill could deal significant super effective damage to these Pokémon. As a bonus, Excadrill is immune to Pachirisu’s Nuzzle, allowing it to essentially ignore it. I also predicted that Heatran would be very common, and Excadrill deals with it well. It can OHKO even the most defensive Heatran with Earthquake, and outspeeds Choice Scarf variants after a Sand Rush boost.

I know that Mold Breaker has typically been the ability of choice on Excadrill, and sometimes I wish I had it when facing Rotom. Sand Rush’s Speed boost, however, really comes in handy at times.

On to White Herb! I had originally planned to lead with Tyranitar and Excadrill, and I was aware that many players would attempt to stop such a combination with Intimidate. White Herb would have allowed me to ignore with the Attack drop without losing any valuable turns of sand. (I ended up never leading with the combination.)

CrayCrayLovr (Cradily) @ Sitrus Berry
Storm Drain | Bold
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
– Giga Drain
– Ancient Power
– Gastro Acid
– Protect

Cradily helps me deal with opposing rain, as well as pesky Water-types.

At first glance, Cradily seems to be a very mediocre Pokémon; good, but generally outclassed. It’s got decent stats and a good ability in Storm Drain, but nothing exceptional. However, its typing and ability fit in perfectly in this team. I saw a glaring weakness to Water-type attacks between Tyranitar and Excadrill, and chose a Storm Drain user to patch it up.

Storm Drain allows my entire team to be safe from most Water-type attacks. I knew that Water-type Pokémon would be very common (Suicune, Rotom-Wash, Politoed, etc.) so Cradily gave me an easy solution. One question I was asked many a time after making this decision, however, was “Why not Gastrodon?” Although Gastrodon is a great Pokémon, I needed Cradily more. Its STAB Giga Drain could deal massive damage to those pesky Water-types, especially after a Storm Drain boost. Additionally, with Ludicolo being so common, I was doubtful of Gastrodon’s ability to stop rain teams.

Cradily is also a Rock-type. Although Rock-type doesn’t provide many useful resistances, it does provide a 50% boost to Special Defense if sand is up. As such, I maximized Cradily’s HP and Defense, since its Special Defense would be boosted by the sand. These EVs make it extremely bulky, capable of withstanding powerful attacks such as Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor and Mega Salamence’s Return after a Dragon Dance. I didn’t invest in Special Attack, as Giga Drain and Ancient Power are mostly used for either super effective hits or chip damage, neither of which particularly benefits from investment.

Gastro Acid was somewhat of a strange choice, but provided a nice surprise factor. It could disrupt several common attackers, such as Sylveon, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Salamence to name a few. A well-timed Gastro Acid would often force my opponent to switch, netting me some decent momentum.

Bravest Bird (Talonflame) @ Life Orb
Gale Wings | Adamant
252 Atk / 44 SpA / 212 Spe
– Brave Bird
– Overheat
– Quick Guard
– Protect

At this point, I noticed that this team was extremely weak to Fighting-type attacks, so I took the easy way out again by adding Talonflame. Talonflame gave me both a way to hit Fighting-types and a Fire-type attack. However, between all the sources of recoil and residual damage, Talonflame doesn’t last for long. Most of the time, though, it does what it needs to.

Let’s start with the item. Choice Band has been the most common, so I initially went that route. However, Talonflame’s Attack stat is mediocre- it’s no better than Cradily’s. It’s not particularly hard to EV certain Pokémon to survive a Brave Bird or two. As such, I chose Life Orb instead; Talonflame’s Brave Bird won’t be pitifully weak, but since it’s getting the 2/3HKO anyway, it might as well sacrifice some of its nearly nonexistent survivability for the ability to switch moves. Being able to use Talonflame’s great support movepool is a huge benefit.

To be honest, there’s not much to say about this Talonflame. 212 Speed EVs allow it to block Lopunny and Kangaskhan’s Fake Out with Quick Guard. Quick Guard also allows me to handle priority moves, such as Bullet Punch Scizor, Prankster users, and opposing Talonflame. I maximized Attack for Brave Bird. Overheat OHKOes Cobalion and avoids even more recoil. I didn’t use Tailwind on this particular Talonflame, as the Speed boost was irrelevant for every Pokémon on this team. I passed over Taunt, too, as my next Pokémon covered that need.

Voltergeist (Thundurus) @ Safety Goggles
Prankster | Timid
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power Ice
– Taunt
– Protect

I was originally using Rotom-Wash, but then switched to Thundurus. Although my initial reason to replace Rotom was an immature “wait, I want to use a Legendary Pokémon”, I noticed that Rotom-Wash’s Hydro Pump could be redirected by Cradily’s Storm Drain. It was fortunate that I picked up on this, as I led with Cradily and Thundurus a lot due to their synergy.

I know that modern Thundurus typically invests heavily into defenses, but I wanted to deal with Whimsicott. To maximize Thundurus’s chances of winning the Taunt war, I maximized its Speed. I decided to invest into Special Attack as well, as I wanted my Thundurus to deal respectable damage. I chose Safety Goggles to avoid sand and deal with Rage Powder and Spore. Prankster Taunt is a scary tool to have, and can be a lethal weapon against Trick Room teams. Aromatisse can pose a problem due to Aroma Veil, but it’s relatively rare and is threatened by Aegislash.

Thundurus originally carried Thunder Wave instead of Taunt. Although Thunder Wave is a fantastic tool, crippling many common offensive Pokémon, I knew that many players would find ways to play around it. By removing it, I could play mindgames with Thundurus; my opponents, expecting Thunder Wave, would play inaccurately and place too much effort into stopping the nonexistant threat, occasionally giving me some momentum.

Blade Works (Aegislash) @ Weakness Policy
Stance Change | Quiet
252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
– Shadow Ball
– Sacred Sword
– Flash Cannon
– King’s Shield

It’s hard to go wrong with Aegislash. Its typing is fantastic both offensively and defensively speaking. Between its STAB attacks and Sacred Sword, it can hit any Pokémon in the game for at least neutral damage.

Despite its extremely standard set, this Aegislash serves as an important glue for this team. It deals consistent damage with Shadow Ball, checks threats such as Sylveon, Mega Kangaskhan, and Cresselia, and can even beat Landorus-Therian after a Weakness Policy boost. There really isn’t much to say about Aegislash—all in all, Aegislash is an amazing answer to many of top threats, and I never regretted using it.

Asia Cup Qualifiers: Indonesia

The event itself was held on January 11, 2015, and was the first Indonesian Premier Challenge. It was held in a pretty well known mall, fX. A total of 117 players attended it, and the Top 4 players were given invites to Asia Cup as Indonesia’s representatives. The 1st place prize was a brand new Nintendo 2DS, so it was a pretty big deal for many people. I, on the other hand, came to have fun, not really expecting to win anything but experience and maybe a few friends here and there. Even so, I was still really nervous—I ended up drinking roughly three bottles of water. Although it was only my second major tournament, I felt it was fairly easy to talk to people, since I had met some of Indonesia’s top players. I originally planned to attend with a friend, but he had to pull out at the last moment. There were seven rounds of Swiss and a top eight cut, which took over six hours to complete. It was a fun event, and I learned many things from it.

A note: I can’t remember every single detail. I did bring a notebook and pen, but halfway through the opening speeches, my pen ran out of ink.

Swiss Rounds

Round 1: vs. Yaku
 vs 
VS Recorder: ZDJG-WWWW-WWXB-NM8V

Since I put up Battle Recorder codes I won’t be walking through every turn of each battle, but I’ll try to highlight important turns and turning points.

I was greeted with an interesting team right off the bat, but I didn’t let myself be shaken by it. I decided to lead with Thundurus and Cradily, as they deal with most of the opposing team pretty well. I kept Talonflame in the back to clean up after Thundurus and Cradily harassed the opposing team, and chose Tyranitar just in case Cradily needed that Special Defense boost.

I played very reactively, switching between offense and defense as necessary. Even though I liked my lead matchup (Thundurus/Cradily vs Gliscor/Eelektross), I went for the double Protect turn one just to see what the opposing Pokémon were capable of. To be honest, I was somewhat worried, as I had never seen Gliscor nor Eelektross used in a doubles metagame before. My opponent played very offensively, and didn’t anticipate Thundurus’s Hidden Power Ice. From that point on, I decided to pretty much ignore Eelektross as it did not pose a threat to my team, and instead concentrated on harassing the Pokémon next to it. This allowed me to pretty much bottleneck my opponent’s entire team while Eelektros continued to struggle to dent Cradily. For some strange reason, my opponent refused to switch Eelektross out at all, effectively sealing the win for me. Sadly, I didn’t see much from Gliscor or Eelektross, save from the Flamethrower spam and an interesting move choice in Knock Off from Gliscor.

1-0

Round 2: vs Heterozygous
 vs. 
VS Recorder: 8NMW-WWWW-WWXB-NMR2

I was faced with another interesting team in my second battle. Remember when I said that I didn’t expect any Pachirisu usage? Well, I was wrong.

I used Thundurus and Cradily to lead again, as I thought it was the best combination I had to disrupt my opponent. I had Excadrill in the back in case Pachirisu became too much for me to handle, and I believed that Talonflame would help me in cleaning up and applying pressure. Aside from Pachirisu, none of my opponent’s Pokémon would enjoy switching into a Life Orb Brave Bird.

My opponent’s intentions were obvious enough: use Pachirisu’s Follow Me support to help Ninjask set up, and Baton Pass to a Pokémon waiting in the back. Thankfully, although it was a neat trick, it was fairly simple to stop. Within a few turns, both Pachirisu and Ninjask were Taunted and rendered useless, with the latter also brought down to its Focus Sash. This battle exhibited Cradily’s great staying power, as well as its annoying presence. It was a close match, but I managed to win.

2-0

Round 3: vs. Daniel Aldo
 vs. 
VS Recorder: 8HAW-WWWW-WWXB-NPSJ

After two battles, I finally saw a team that was relatively in line with the metagame. It was actually pretty reassuring.

Again, I used Thundurus and Cradily to lead; they started to develop into my defensive lead combination. This time, I actually formulated a game plan in my head. I didn’t think Charizard would lead, as it feared Tyranitar, and I predicted that my opponent would lead with a combination that could handle Tyranitar and Excadrill easily. I was right, as my opponent chose to lead with Garchomp and Rotom-Wash. I had Tyranitar and Excadrill in the back to clean up after my leads disrupted my opponent.

I am really fond of double Protecting to scout out my opponent, especially since I can’t risk losing a Pokemon turn one in a best of one set. This allowed me to burn off Garchomp’s guaranteed Protect, allowing me to hit Garchomp hard with Thundurus’s Hidden Power Ice. Rotom-Wash proceeded to burn Cradily for some reason, and Cradily knocked out Rotom with Giga Drain. With both leads KOed, my opponent was forced to bring out Greninja and Charizard.

I had no doubt that Cradily would withstand a Sun-boosted Heat Wave, but I forgot about Greninja’s Mat Block. This allowed Charizard to net some free damage, allowing my opponent to knock out both Thundurus and Cradily on the following turn. With Tyranitar and Excadrill out, I used two Rock Slides, and although Excadrill’s missed Charizard, Tyranitar was able to clean up the game.

3-0

Round 4: vs Inori
 vs. 
VS Recorder: SZVW-WWWW-WWXB-NUA9

I was finally able to lead with Tyranitar and Excadrill! You don’t understand how happy I was.

My plan this game involved using Tyranitar’s Sand Stream to complement Excadrill’s Sand Rush so I could immediately apply pressure, while bringing Cradily in the back to handle Milotic. The first turn went horribly with Excadrill knocked out and Tyranitar severely injured, while the opposing Gardevoir Traced Sand Rush. So much for pressure.

Thankfully, I was able to bait out a Scald from Milotic by sending in Talonflame, and Cradily snagged a Storm Drain boost. This allowed me to handle Milotic pretty easily, while Talonflame fired off Brave Birds to clean up its teammates. I was able to force Togekiss to face Cradily and Tyranitar alone, which quickly made it a nonissue.

4-0

Round 5: vs. Kévin
 vs. 
VS Recorder: 3JLW-WWWW-WWXB-P88V

As soon as I confirmed that I had a 4-0 record, I started getting worried. There were plenty of others who were 4-0, too, but I believed that most of them would have much more experience than I did. I also was worried about some of them being elitists and looking down on me for being relatively new; for the record, though, everyone I met was really kind, so there’s that!

I faced yet another interesting team (we sure do have a lot of those here), this time starring a Beedrill. Going in, I had no way to tell if it was Mega or not, but since this person was also 4-0, I thought it likely that it was Mega Beedrill.

I started off with a double Protect on my side. Big mistake, as the opposing Aegislash set up a Substitute. I then used Brave Bird on the Sub, hoping to break it without resorting to Overheat, only to be met by an Attack drop. I got off to a very bad start. Despite all of this, however, I didn’t see Aegislash as much of a threat for the remainder of the battle, likely due to the ability of Excadrill and Tyranitar to deal with it. Thundurus was a great asset, too, locking Aegislash out of its Substitute and King’s Shield while pressuring Togekiss with powerful Thunderbolts.

In the end, I was able to force Beedrill to face both Tyranitar and Excadrill. Beedrill could not outspeed Excadrill under sand, even after Mega Evolving, and a Rock Slide quickly dispatched of it.

5-0

Round 6: vs. Josua (Josua Sudrajat Marbun)
 vs. 
VS Recorder: 5JWW-WWWW-WWXB-PFJV

For the sixth round of Indonesia’s Asia Cup qualifiers, I had the honor of battling the eventual champion! Of course, I didn’t know he was going to take the prize at the end, but it was an honor nonetheless. I was pretty intimidated by him. If you’re reading this, Josua, I’m sorry I couldn’t strike up a conversation!

This was the first time I played against Mega Kangaskhan. Since Kangaskhan has a really good matchup against my sand mode, I decided to only use my standard core. I led Thundurus and Talonflame against his Breloom and Suicune, which was a good matchup. I went for the double Protect first turn, scouting out a move or two while burning Breloom’s guaranteed Protect. Surprisingly, Suicune used Surf. I knew that Breloom would switch out, so I switched out Talonflame to save it from a potential Surf. Although Breloom did switch out to Landorus-Therian, Suicune used Ice Beam instead of Surf, so it wasn’t a perfect turn.

Although the combination of Landorus-T and Kangaskhan was a terrible one for me, I managed to play around it. A well-timed Hidden Power Ice on the Landorus left it at low health, and after a series of turns my opponent was left with only a low-health Mega Kangaskhan and a Breloom against my Talonflame and Aegislash. From there, it was a simple win.

6-0

Round 7: vs. Osiris (Purabaya Bon)
 vs. 
VS Recorder: F3AG-WWWW-WWXB-QCUK

I was the only player remaining with an undefeated record, so I was paired with someone with a 5-1 record. This was perhaps the fiercest battle I had during the Swiss rounds.

I led with Tyranitar-Excadrill as I thought the matchup was suitable against most of his team. I had Cradily at the back mainly due to Swampert and added Aegislash to stop Staraptor. My opponent led with Swampert and Staraptor, whose Intimidate revealed my White Herb for the very first time. I Protected Tyranitar, fearing the Close Combat, and used Iron Head on his Staraptor. That was a bad play, as Staraptor Protected while Swampert OHKOed Excadrill with Earthquake.

This was a relatively long battle compared to my other ones, and eventually, I burned out. I made questionable plays and failed to factor in the chance of full paralysis. I was unable to keep my head in the game, and eventually my opponent was able to close out the game.

W:L Ratio = 6:1

Top Eight

Although I was confident that I wouldn’t make it to top eight, I somehow made first place in Swiss!

It was announced that my battle would be streamed on a huge projector screen. It might be considered a disadvantage for most players as others can scout your team, but I personally was really excited! I was just really weird that way. I guess I was thinking that if I were going to go down, I’d better go down with a bang.

I was designated to battle against Ama Bon, my Round 7 opponent’s younger brother. That was actually a name I recognized, and I knew the battle was going to be really, really hard.

vs. Ama Bon (Ama Bon)
 vs. 

Game 1
 vs. 
VS Recorder: AMYG-WWWW-WWXB-QFWE

Thankfully, I had enough time to recover from the burnout I suffered in the last battle (read: take the stress out of my mind by beating up some AIs in Smash 4). I actually had some difficulty thinking in general after that particular round and started stuttering for a minute or two. Pokémon. Not for the weak-minded.

I started off with Tyranitar and Excadrill, while my opponent opted for Mesprit and Salamence. Everyone watched Excadrill’s White Herb activate for Salamence’s Intimidate, and the crowd went wild. I guess unseen innovations aren’t that badly received by the community here.

I had absolutely no idea what Mesprit is capable of, as my singles experience told me that Mesprit was outclassed by Uxie defensively and Azelf offensively. But heck, it only took about 40% from Adamant Excadrill’s Iron Head! This led me to believe that it had a physically defensive spread, and made a mental note to bring Aegislash in the next game. Mega Salamence was able to OHKO Excadrill with a Helping Hand boosted Fire Blast. However, I was able to knock out Salamence with an Ice Beam.

Though fierce, this match was relatively simple. We traded blow for blow multiple times. In the end, though, I learnt a meaningful lesson in that Talonflame cannot defeat a Landorus-T one-on-one, no matter how hard it tries. My opponent claimed victory in a very close first game.

0-1

Game 2
 vs. 
Vs. Recorder: NAXW-WWWW-WWXB-QF6H

My opponent did not opt for a team change at all. I pretty much banked on this, as I attempted to counter his previous leads.

I immediately used Hidden Power Ice on his Mega Salamence, but it managed to take the blow. It then knocked out Thundurus with a Helping Hand boosted Draco Meteor. Aegislash hurled a Shadow Ball at Mesprit, dealing a good 70% or so, but Sitrus Berry activated and healed a significant amount of health. I then switched Tyranitar in, applying pressure on Salamence. The first turn ended up being a fairly equal trade.

The highlight of the battle was when Cradily survived a Helping Hand Life Orb Iron Head from Cobalion. Its survival didn’t mean much, but it sure excited the crowd!

This battle was ultimately very close. In fact, I won due to sand damage finishing off my opponent’s final Pokémon, Mega Salamence. I panicked when Mega Salamence survived a turn of sand damage in the red, but sand picked up the KO the following turn. I managed to nab the win in game two.

1-1

Game 3
 vs. 
Vs. Recorder: EKZW-WWWW-WWXB-QGRG

I kept my previous lead, as it seemed to work. I brought Tyranitar and Cradily in the back: Tyranitar for the Ice Beam pressure, Cradily for disruption. My opponent decided to lead with Landorus and Cobalion with Salamence and Volcarona in the back.

My biggest mistake was that I didn’t have any tricks left by game three. I had revealed Excadrill’s White Herb, Tyranitar’s special moveset, and Talonflame’s Life Orb during game one, and Cradily’s bulk, Aegislash’s Weakness Policy, and Thundurus’s Hidden Power Ice during game two. My opponent, on the other hand, had the ability to bring one of the two Pokémon he hadn’t revealed. Additionally, I forgot that Volcarona could learn Rage Powder, which contributed to my loss.

There really is nothing much to say about this battle. I might have been burned out, or I might have not; to be honest, I don’t exactly remember. Words can’t do justice to how beautifully I got bodied in this match. I lost 4-0 this battle, and I can’t even get mad about it.

1-2

End Results

I got utterly destroyed in top 8, thus ending my run in the qualifiers and leaving me with a fifth place finish. With only the top four receiving invites to Asia Cup, I didn’t expect to be invited. But, as it turned out, Ama and Aya Bon both did not receive invites for personal reasons: Ama Bon already had an invite from last year’s event, and Aya Bon decided to help the other representatives prepare instead of going. Thus, the invites were given to the 5th and 6th place finishers instead.

I received a certificate signifying my 5th place finish, an ORAS mug given away as a door prize, and a Latias plush from the prize pool, alongside the Asia Cup invite. I grabbed the Latias because I was planning on using it in the next Premier Challenge with some interesting shenanigans I had thought of, but I soon gave up on that idea. I missed out on a Nintendo 2DS, which is regrettable, but I did come in not expecting to get anything, so what I received was more than enough.

Indonesia: The Metagame

From this tournament alone, it’s pretty obvious that the meta around here isn’t as Kangaskhan-heavy as other regions might be. Instead of using Kangaskhan themselves, players seem to be more interested in stopping the beast. Indonesian players also tend to use more gimmicks. For instance, I played against Ninjask and Mega Swampert outside of rain. My Top Cut opponent, Ama Bon, used Mesprit, a choice that seemed questionable at first, but ended up being very effective. I made choices that might throw off certain opponents, such as using an offensive sand team. Granted, Mega Kangaskhan eventually won the qualifiers, but I personally find it refreshing to see so many rouge Pokémon being used, even in the Top Cut.

Conclusion

The Asia Cup qualifiers showed great variety. It was an open tournament, so people from varying experience levels gathered to battle, prove their worth, and just play a few rounds of Pokémon. It was great to have such a big event hosted in a popular public setting, as it really gave the Indonesian VGC community the exposure it deserves.

I know this might sound cliche, but I feel that it’s wonderful that a game can bring a community together. I talked to people I never met before, making friends left and right. Though the event itself was about competition, the sense of togetherness was exceptionally strong, and even as a newbie I didn’t feel alienated.

Right now, my journey at Asia Cup has ended. I lost in Stage 2 of the Asia Cup, but in return, I learned a lot of valuable lessons I would never have gotten otherwise. My message to all of you is this: don’t be intimidated! The competitive VGC scene may seem scary at first, and you might not net as many wins as you’d like, but don’t let that stop you from playing. There are many things to learn from playing in tournaments; it is possible to learn from both wins and losses, and both as a player and as a person. My run has ended; will you continue yours?

I’d like to thank ryuhashegi and Michael Pond for organizing this awesome tournament! I would also like to thank everyone who attended the Indonesian Asia Cup Qualifiers: players, organizers, staff, and otherwise, for making the event as enjoyable as it was. On a special note, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, who have been extremely supportive of my endeavors in Pokémon. I would have gotten here without them.

And with that, I end my report on the Indonesian qualifiers. Thanks for taking your time to read this wall of text—I really do appreciate it! Feel free to ask me questions if I was unclear about anything. This is Metatyph, signing out!

The post Bring In the Storm! An Indonesian Asia Cup Qualifiers Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Location: Park Inn by Radisson, 3011 Maingate Lane Kissimmee, Florida 34747
Registration: Masters: 8:00-9:00am, Juniors and Seniors 9:00-10:00am
Last Year’s Winner: Zach Droegkamp (Zach)

Difficulty:

/5

(A genie, an electric street rat, an evil genie, a Raja, and a Mega Jasmine out of five, because if you’re not doing Disney World while you’re at Florida Regionals you’re doing it wrong.)

For the second year in a row, Florida the only Winter Regional for its particular weekend. This means that, while many of the players will be from the Florida area, this one could potentially get players from anywhere. Between all the people that haven’t had a Winter Regional yet and all the people wanting that second chance, expect a huge turnout; last year we had 351 in the Masters Division, if that’s any indication of what is to come.

Our returning champion for this regional will be Zach Drogenkamp Drogkamp DrKamz Droegkamp (Braverius). Zach brings a very analytical side to the game, known for his love of spreadsheets and whiteboards to break the game down – and this hard work pays off, considering he’s probably won more Regional Championships than anyone at this point. Not to mention he scored a 2nd place finish in St. Louis this past set of Winter Regionals just two weeks ago. Having played him before, I can personally say the only thing more difficult than beating him is spelling his last name.

Among the other players that top cut last year and plan on returning include Devon Ingram (dingram) and Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario). While Devon has been quiet this season, Ashton has been tearing up the Premiere Challenge world, having accomplished the feat of five first place finishes. Sitting comfortably at 21st in the Championship Points rankings, all he needs is another strong Regional finish to wrap things up – and considering how well he did last year, I am interested to see how he will fare this year.

Given that Florida is, for the second year in a row, a regional after all the other ones for that segment of the VGC cycle, we can also infer a lot of predictions based on who scored well in Winter Regionals so far. Wolfe Glick is high on the list here, considering he’s 6th in Championship Points rankings, including but not limited to a 2nd place and a top 8 for Regional finishes so far. For those who have been living under a rock, he’s also been National Champion twice in a row and he’s played in worlds for 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. Not many people have a higher track record than that, so you can expect some strong finishes this weekend from Wolfe.

On the note of other players who top cut two weeks ago, Cameron Swan (DrizzleBoy) entered top cut at 15th place in Virginia, Jake Muller (majorbowman) got 9th in St. Louis, and Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67) got 9th in Virginia. Others who did not make cut but still are reasonable threats for this tournament include Patrick Donegan (Pd0nZ), Gabby Snyder (JTK), Daniel Stein (BlazikenBurner), and Tommy Cooleen (Tman). All of these players have been doing pretty well this season, and we can expect all of them to get some sort of CP from this event.

I should also mention that one infamous team The Boiler Room, specifically Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom) and Logan Castro (Yellowbox). Both of these players have played at the World Championships last year, and have considerable experience by this point in their Pokemon careers. Collin got 5th in Virginia two weeks ago, and Logan got top four at Nationals last year, demonstrating their ability to win consistently and stand out in high pressure tournaments. These players, when not updating their team’s personal website, are always training – and given how pathetically seldom they write an article, they have probably been training a lot. David Mancuso (Mancuso) is also part of this group, and will be attending as well. This guy needs no introduction, but for those living under a rock the last fall: he is currently first in Championship Points for North America, having won a regional and reached semis of another, with a handful of successful Premiere Challenges as well. Expect a strong finish from each of these three gentleman.

Last but certainly not least, I’d also watch out for Tom Hull (TheGr8), Garrett Cresenzi (araluen7), Jeremy Rodrigues (serapis), and Nicolas Borghi (LightCore) – all of whom, while not as visible from this most recent past set of regionals, have all proven themselves at some point or another in this community. Speaking of people who have been lurking in the shadows lately, Ray Rizzo (does he have a username besides bluecookies anymore?) will also be attending, if rumors are correct. While Ray is currently 568th in Championship Point Rankings, his reputation tells us this is more a result of him focusing on his job or something than any real fall from grace. As a three time World Champion, someone who won two regionals last year, and someone who has played in worlds for 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, Ray is someone you can never really assume is over the hill. That kind of experience never really goes away, and I have no doubt he’ll do well if he chooses to do so.

The Smart Money Is On: Wolfe Glick looks the best on paper, followed by Zach Droegkamp, then Logan Castro. This is gonna be a big crowd, and these three have great track records for high pressure and consistent win records. Not only that, but these three have demonstrated highly active seasons thus far, benefiting both from past experience and knowledge of the here and now.

The post VGC 2015 North American Winter Regionals Preview, Part II: Florida appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Players will finally need to step back into the Pokémon world after days in Disney World to play in the final Regional Championship of the Winter season. After this weekend we’ll have a bit of a better picture of how the CP standings may need to look going into Worlds. Premier Challenges are also kicking off again for the Omega Series this weekend so there will be a lot of movement on the charts!

We’ll be streaming this weekend on our Twitch channel as long as everything goes smoothly so remember to subscribe on Twitch.

We’ll also have updates on our Twitter account throughout the weekend as we usually do. Remember to follow @nuggetbridge and keep an eye on the #PlayPokemon hashtag for news!

Tweets by @nuggetbridge

The post Live Updates from the VGC ’15 Florida Regional appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

The Winter Regional Championships are over for the season! We’ll have some Championship Point updates soon but let’s take a look at how the tournament finished up today in Florida:

Masters Division

1. Wolfe Glick (Wolfey)

2. David Mancuso (Mancuso)

3. William Collins (WireTap)

4. Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario)

5. Cash Koskta (Cash Koskta)

6. Priciliano Garcia (Pirate Lion Inferno)

7. Adit Selvaraj (LithiumAcid)

8. Jake Underwood (Jake U)

9. Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67)

10. Matt Vibert (MattTV)

11. Scott Cornman

12. Jeremy Cua

13. Tommy Coolean (Tman)

14. Franklin Sujo

15. Ziad Elaawar (Zenithian)

16. Austin Reed

Senior Division

1. Carson S. (Dorian06)

2. Abel G. (YummyKittys)

 Junior Division

1. Parker H.
2. Jordan S.
3. Emma C.
4. Lucas D.
5. Max O.
6. Beatrix M.
7. Kyle G.
8. Enzo R.

The post Results & Teams from the VGC ’15 Florida Regional Championships appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi there! Welcome to my brain. My name is Kelly, also known as KellsterCartier on Twitter and NuggetBridge, and I’ll be your host for today. You might know me as that guy who made Worlds in 2014 from Ireland, but who turned out to be some lousy Canadian who just lives there. On the 7th of February, Europe had its very first VGC Regionals. It came to a big shock to me when I first heard of it. And when I later learned that it would likely be the only of its kind this year, I was torn. On one side, a Regional! More Championship Points, more reason to travel, and more Pokemon to play. But then again, as the only one, I was concerned that if I messed up in this tournament, or if I couldn’t get the time off work, I could be at a serious deficit for precious points. Luckily for me, attending was no trouble. Looking forward to the tournament, I started working harder on my VGC 15 team. I brought it to two Premier Challenges and won both, so feeling confident in my ability to play, I flew to The Netherlands. This is my story.

Building The Team

The first team concept I wanted to try was Rain. Immediately, I thought of Metagross to go on a Rain team, and saw that Hydreigon and Landorus could complete the core. The first iteration looked like this:

Not particularly loving the coverage Rain gave me, I decided to swap out the Rain mode, and put in a second Mega. It didn’t synergize too well, but was doing better than Rain.

Not good enough. I wasn’t winning consistently. Talonflame seemed like more of a liability on this team than anything. I needed to change. Luckily, time was on my side before the first VGC15 Premier Challenge. I had a few more weeks left. I took the team back to the drawing board, bringing in my favourite elements from both iterations of the team. After another week or so on Showdown, I finally came up with this.

The Final Team

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

In my opinion, Mega Metagross is one of the best new Mega Evolutions in the game. Every one of its stats is fantastic. Base 145 Attack in combination with Tough Claws means that it will be dishing out lots of pain. Base 110 Speed means that with maximum investment, I can outspeed Terrakion, Adamant Mega Salamence, Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, and many more metagame threats. Finally, its natural heavy bulk means that I can invest my EVs offensively and still expect to be able to take a hit or two. I decided that it would be best to maximize Speed, and then to try to do as much damage as possible.

Aside from the stats, Meta Metagross has a few other perks. Clear Body in its normal form means I can safely lead with Metagross against the threat of Intimidate, or even switch it into a predicted Icy Wind. Metagross’ movepool gave me options as well. With all the genies and dragons running around, Ice Punch provided some great coverage. Zen Headbutt was there when I needed to dish out big damage on something. Unless Amoongus is Bold or somewhat heavily invested in Defense, chances are Metagross can OHKO it. Bullet Punch was needed to dodge opposing Sucker Punches. Nothing is more satisfying than Bullet Punching Kangaskhan to get some damage off, and then watching Sucker Punch fail. Unsurprisingly, I brought Mega Metagross to every single one of my matches.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dark Pulse
– Protect
– Fire Blast
– Draco Meteor

Hydreigon and Metagross are like bread and butter, or Ash and Pikachu! Hydreigon covers almost all of Metagross’ weaknesses, and vice versa. Funnily enough, I had Aegislash in this slot for the longest time, but once I decided to use Hydreigon, my team’s core really felt complete. Again, my EV spread is really simple. Honestly, it could probably be improved, but this spread allowed me to deal a lot of damage to just about anything that Metagross couldn’t deal with. I ran Choice Specs initially, but with the rise of Tailwind and Trick Room, I felt like having the option to stall turns was important, especially after losing to a Trick Room team at a Premier Challenge. I really like Hydreigon, and I think it was a great fit here.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Knock Off
– U-turn

Landorus is a really great Pokemon all around. There’s a reason its consistently among the top three Pokemon on Battle Spot. I wanted something on my team to deal with fast but frail threats such as Greninja, so Choice Scarf Landorus was my pick. Intimidate is really nice to surpress enemy physical attackers, although I do need to watch out for Bisharp. The EVs are spread out in such a way that Landorus can survive a -1 Adamant Mamoswine Ice Shard 100% of the time, outspeed Timid max Speed Greninja by one point, and still maximize damage output. The moveset is pretty standard, but it works. There wasn’t really a time in the tournament where I felt I needed another move to win. If I could change one thing, though, I’d invest a bit more in Defense in order to survive a Life Orb +1 Bisharp Sucker Punch 100% of the time. Landorus did its job on the team really well.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 116 HP / 140 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Quick Guard
– Protect

What’s the best way to deal with Charizard or Kangaskhan? Outspeed them and hit them with a Super Effective attack! Terrakion is such a clutch Pokemon at all the right times. Being fast meant flinches could possibly help out games over the edge. I decided to run a bit of bulk on Terrakion, but to be completely honest, I can’t remember why I did so. This spread does still manage to get important KOs. Lum Berry allowed me to avoid Burn, Paralysis, and Sleep, which all make Terrakion ineffective. I originally ran Helping Hand over Quick Guard, and honestly I completely forgot I’d made the change the whole way through the tournament. I don’t think I ever used Quick Guard, even though in many situations it would have been the correct play.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 128 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Thunderbolt
– Protect
– Taunt

Thundurus is so good. It’s so, so, so good. I can’t stress enough how important this Pokemon was to my run at Regionals as well as the Premier Challenges I brought this team to. Paralysis is by far my favourite means of Speed control. It makes Tailwind and Icy Wind useless, and it allows me to get that extra boost of momentum in a game when full Paralysis activates. It’s probably a good thing that two different types are immune to Thunder Wave, but regardless, it puts me into situations where I could outspeed entire teams. I chose to run a really bulky Thundurus EV spread in order to Paralyze as many of my opponent’s Pokémon as possible. I chose Protect because I assumed that Thundurus would be double targeted by teams that couldn’t handle it well, and Protect could help Thundurus stay on the field longer while its partner would be free to attack. The downside of this Thundurus is that it’s 100% walled by Ground types. In retrospect, Hidden Power Ice would have been a nice choice of move.

Lapras @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 228 HP / 124 Def / 156 SpA
Calm Nature
– Ice Shard
– Hydro Pump
– Freeze-Dry
– Protect

Lapras is my Rain counter and my answer to other common Pokémon. I didn’t end up seeing any Rain, thankfully, because I’m unsure if Lapras was enough to deal with it. This Lapras set hit many threats with STAB-boosted Super Effective damage. Heatran, Landorus, Thundurus, Rotom-W, Ludicolo, Politoed, Kingdra, Swampert, Gyarados, and Terrakion are just a few of the Pokémon that can’t really switch into Lapras safely. I felt as though Assault Vest Lapras’ damage output was lacking, and that Lapras often survived attacks without it. I decided to rework my EVs to do more damage while still maintaining bulk, and added Weakness Policy for more offensive pressure. I wish I could remember the exact reason I settled on this EV spread, but I just can’t recall. Overall, I think Lapras ended up being a great niche addition to my team.

Often in team building, we talk of team goals, or what your team should be trying to do to win. My team goal was fairly simple: put on strong offensive pressure from the start, and keep it up until I win. My powerful and fast Pokemon made it difficult for opponents to switch without taking significant damage. The natural bulk on most of my Pokemon would then help my switching game, letting me keep up momentum and pressure. I know this metagame is supposed to be shaping up to be more defensive, but I felt like going for strong offense was a successful strategy. Now, let’s go through the tournament!

The Tournament

Prior to the tournament, I brought this team to two separate Premier Challenges, and with a bit of luck, won both of them. This gave me an opportunity to see how I could do in both the Swiss and best of three formats. I figured out my team’s strengths and weaknesses, and adjusted the team accordingly. Feeling confident after two PC wins, I set off to Arnhem with my friend Jono. On the day of the tournament I was very nervous, and felt intimidated by all the big name players in attendence. However, I was determined to prove that I could play among them, and that my top four finish in Manchester last year wasn’t a fluke. On to round one.

Round 1 vs Peer Broxtermann (Bjart)

He brought:

I brought:

Ready. Set. Go! We both led with Landorus; I paired it with Metagross, he with Blaziken. During the match, he expected me to switch out Metagross. I eventually KOed the Blaziken with it, and then his Ludicolo with a +2 Freeze Dry from Lapras. Lapras came in clutch again with another Freeze Dry KO, this time on Landorus. His own Mega Metagross took out Lapras, but the game was all sealed up by my Hydreigon and Landorus. I’m 1-0.

Round 2 vs Leander Aggelidaktis

He brought:

I brought:

This game was really done in two parts. I started off by Taunting Breloom to prevent Spore from affecting my Pokemon, but surprisingly Thundurus took a Technician-boosted Rock Tomb while Landorus was Faked Out. I managed to catch Greninja on the switch with a strong Earthquake while bringing Raichu to its Focus Sash. I was very scared of Greninja, and was relieved to KO it shortly after thanks to my Choice Scarf. Breloom came back in and started spreading Spore everywhere. His Terrakion then managed to KO Thundurus and Metagross, but not before my opponent lost his Breloom and Raichu to Bullet Punch. I got the final KO with a Life Orb boosted Draco Meteor. Nice! I’m 2-0.

Round 3 vs Laurin Arz (Lohgock)

He brought:

I brought:

Three matches in, and already another Blaziken. When I saw the Team Preview, I saw that Lapras hit almost every Pokémon on my opponent’s team for super effective damage. With any luck, Amoonguss would activate Weakness Policy. I also noticed that I could freely Paralyze his whole team if I wanted. That’s what ended up happening, as I got Thunder Wave off early against Salamence, and then avoided Rock Slide with both of my Pokémon. Metagross took out Salamence quickly. After my opponent’s Suicune got fully Paralyzed and Blaziken was KOed, the match was pretty much over. I won and I was 3-0. Excellent start!

Round 4 vs Tim Huessen (Huessen147)

He brought:

I brought:

I felt very nervous when Team Preview came up. Aegislash and Sylveon are two threats I tend to struggle against. Backed up by Mega Kangaskhan, I knew I was going to have to play really well, or at least get lucky at key moments. Guess which one happened? My Hydreigon barely survived a Return, from his Kangaskhan, and as a result gets a Dark Pulse off on Aegislash… which then flinches. That basically won me the game. With Metagross and Terrakion in reserve, I was able to clutch out the end game against Hydreigon and Sylveon. This win put me at 4-0. I was very excited at this point. I was two wins away from Top Cut!

Round 5 vs Eloy Hahn (Dragoran5)

He brought:

I brought:

Uh oh! I think this is what I brought, but I don’t remember. Eloy and I had faced off at Worlds last year, and he won convincingly. This game was no different, really. On the first turn I double Protected against his leads, and Charizard surprised me by setting up Tailwind. The game was over in three turns as he swept my whole team clean. Oh well, 4-1. I was disappointed that I didn’t put up a fight against a player as good as Eloy, but I knew Top Cut was still very possible. My resistance seemed to be high enough.

Round 6 vs Jip Snoek (Keonspy)

He brought:

I brought:

Before actually playing, I was really excited about this match. I got paired up with a 5-0 player, which would help my resistance. Jip’s team took me by surprise at Team Preview. I was worried because such an original team managed to go undefeated until now. I decided to play it safe. Metagross would be great in this matchup, Terrakion could put in work, Lapras again hit most of my opponent’s team Super Effectively, and Landorus could help out against Heliolisk. Facing his Amoonguss/Sceptile lead with Metagross was great for me, as I could try to knock out either of them. I decided to keep up the pressure with my leads, and before I knew it, I had won 4-0. Jip was a great sport, and I applaud him for cutting this tournament with such an interesting team. With that done, I was a single win away from making Top Cut! 5-1

Round 7 vs Peter Probst (Jira)

He brought:

I brought:

This was it: go big, or go home. This team was fairly standard, and I thought my matchup was good. Once again, Lapras could hit nearly everything on my opponent’s team for Super Effective damage. Go Lapras! I did decide to lead with Terrakion and Metagross, though, hoping to start off with strong offensive pressure again. After a few turns, that’s exactly what happened. Lapras caught Landorus on the switch with Freeze Dry, and Hydreigon took care of Metagross. A weakened Rotom fell against Draco Meteor, and then Ice Shard was enough to take out Salamence after it was weakened as well. I was really impressed by just how good Lapras and the rest of the team performed in Swiss, and now I was in Top Cut because of it! Final Swiss result was 6-1, and I was ranked 3rd overall!

Top Cut

After a dinner at Subway with some of the UK and Dutch players, I retreated back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest. I learned that I would be playing an Austrian named Noah, and that he was running three Steel types on his team. I thought about what I would do for a while, and content with my plan, I went to bed.

Top 8 vs Noah Fuchs (Kadoya)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

I settled on leading double genies. Aside from his Thundurus, I could spread Paralysis and hopefully deal some damage too. With Hydreigon, I could handle Aegislash. For my last Pokémon, I just picked Metagross, out of habit more than anything. My matchup was tough, but I went in with a plan. His leads were Mawile and Hydreigon. Great! Time to Paralyze the Hydreigon and just Earthquake right away. However, Hydreigon surprised me by setting up Tailwind! I switched out Landorus into Metagross in order to dodge the incoming Sucker Punch with Bullet Punch, and later knock out Mawile after the Tailwind subsided. With Mawile out of the way, Hydreigon could come in, and with Metagross could take care of the rest of his team. First round went to me, 1-0

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

Noah decided to lead with Mawile and Thundurus this time, and I decided to keep my solid genies. Landorus survived a Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus, and I got to Knock Off the opposing Thundurus’ Sitrus Berry. Swapping Landorus for Metagross, I tried to take down Thundurus with a Thunderbolt, but it hung on with a sliver of HP. I then Paralyzed the Mawile and Bullet Punched the Thundurus to avoid Sucker Punch and land a KO. Aegislash came out to replace Thundurus, so I decided to Taunt it before letting Thundurus go down to a Shadow Ball. From there, Landorus could simply Earthquake its way to victory. Noah, you battled well, and I hope to see you at other events!

Top 4! Ayyy! I was really proud to have made it this far. Even if I lost now, I’d be satisfied with my run, but at the same time, I wanted to go all the way.

Top 4 vs Christopher Arthur (Koryo)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

I was happy, yet nervous to be playing Chris. I didn’t know too much about his team. Upon seeing the Team Preview, I thought I had a team advantage. His team seemed susceptible to Thunder Wave spam. In addition, Terrakion and Hydreigon could deal with most of the threats he had. I decided to lead Terrakion and Thundurus, expecting the Charizard and Venusaur lead I saw in Team Preview. Instead, I was surprised to see Gengar and Terrakion. The Terrakion mirror match is really scary, but I decided I would risk the Speed tie in order to get the jump on Chris early, and I Paralyzed the unexpectedly mega-evolving Gengar to avoid Speed ties with Metagross later on. I did lose the Terrakion Speed tie, but Chris decided to go for a Rock Slide, knowing his Terrakion was carrying a Focus Sash. I won the Terrakion Speed tie on the next turn, as Rock Slide knocked out his Terrakion and got the flinch on the paralyzed Gengar. Cresselia came in, and I felt that Hydreigon could likely seal my victory if I conserved it well enough. Gengar swapped out for Bisharp, while I went for another Rock Slide and Thunderbolted the Bisharp. Cresselia’s Icy Wind knocked out Thundurus, letting me bring in Hydreigon, and I Protect it while taking out Bisharp with Terrakion. With just Gengar and Cresselia left, I knew Hydreigon and Metagross could clean it all up. I won my first Top 4 match.

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

I thought that my lead would be strong again. Thundurus gets momentum on anything he could want to lead with. Seeing Chris’ Charizard and Venusaur lead was good. I’d played this lead before on Battle Spot. Rock Slide and Thunder Wave was the key, and I try to execute that as turn one is wasted against a double Protect. I then Protected Terrakion from a Giga Drain or Solarbeam, and Paralyzed the Venusaur. Thundurus does go down to an Overheat, but this was a great situation to bring in Metagross. Charizard switched out for Bisharp as Venusaur Protected, and the turn was basically wasted on my end. My safest and best play at this point was to Zen Headbutt Venusaur and Close Combat Bisharp, and I play accordingly. Bisharp actually switches out for Terrakion, and as a result I knock out Venusaur and Terrakion gets reduced to one HP. Bullet Punch KOs his Terrakion, dodging a Sucker Punch, and I seal the game with a Close Combat on Bisharp. With only Charizard left to take care of, I had won the game, and made it to the finals of the first ever European VGC Regional tournament. I was eager to know who my opponent was, since the other Top 4 match was between Eloy, who had already destroyed me, and Baz Anderson, who would want redemption after our best of three set last year in Manchester. I really didn’t want to face either opponent.

Finals vs Barry Anderson (Baz Anderson)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

Nerves started to get to me here. I knew that Baz was not going to go easy on me at all, and the match was going to be streamed. There was a lot of pressure. I’m sure many of you have seen the stream, or Baz’s recap video once it is out, but I’ll try to give my perspective. I led Terrakion and Thundurus against Baz’s Liepard and Breloom. I made a huge mistake by double Protecting to avoid the Fake Out. Special thanks to Ben Kyriakou for slapping me repeatedly across the face afterwards for this play. Now, I knew Liepard had Encore, but I honestly forgot on that Baz was going to lock me in. Thundurus got locked into Protect, and I get a KO on Liepard asTerrakion goes down to Bullet Seed. I now had to play around a Breloom free to Spore anything Baz chose. We both bring our megas in and as we mega evolve, I switched out Thundurus because I didn’t think Breloom would Spore the basically useless slot. I Protect Metagross, and that turns out to be the wrong call, as Breloom Spored the Hydreigon I brought in. To make things worse, Scizor got a Swords Dance in for free. Facing down +2 Mega Scizor and Breloom, I decided to Ice Punch the Breloom, knowing that Metagross was going to nap afterwards. I also took a Knock Off. Breloom and Scizor knock out Hydreigon on the next turn before I could wake up and land a Fire Blast, and I lose Metagross to Mach Punch  on the turn after that. With just Thundurus left, I forfeited, going down 0-1.

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

I felt as though I needed a much stronger start. I decided I would lead with Thundurus and Metagross, bait the Spore onto Thundurus, swap out Terrakion for the next turn, and have Metagross take two turns to take out Breloom. That didn’t go as planned. Baz decided to Spore my Metagross, but at least I got an Ice Punch off on Breloom. I then thought that Terrakion should Rock Slide to take out Breloom, and hopefully Metagross wouldn’t go down. Rock Slide did connect, but Foul Play easily knocked out Metagross. I then decided to bring Hydreigon in, but Baz brought out Terrakion, so I was kind of forced to swap out Hydreigon for Thundurus. Two turns later, my Terrakion was Encored into Rock Slide and his was protected by a Substitute. I did not forsee many ways in which I could win. Swagger confused Thundurus, and my Terrakion went down, but I at least managed to break the opposing Terrakion’s Substitute. Hydreigon comes back in, and I went for a Dark Pulse to take out the rest of Liepard’s health. A Thunderbolt from Thundurus would have helped a lot, but it hurt itself in confusion. Staring down Mega Scizor and Terrakion, I thought my chances of winning were all but gone. Baz assured me it wasn’t over. Thundurus was taken out by Scizor, though, and Terrakion set up a Substitute safely as Fire Blast easily knocked out Scizor. With Hydreigon standing alone against Terrakion, it was all but over. Good games to Baz! He played much better than I did, and fully deserves the win and the championship!

Closing Thoughts

I’m so happy I finished as well as I did. I accomplished two important goals: I got a lot of exclusive Championship Points to help me get back to Worlds this year, and I managed to prove to myself that my UK Nationals run last year wasn’t a fluke. Aside from the competition, I had such a great time in Arnhem. Everyone I met was really friendly. I hope that the rest of the VGC 15 season can be as kind to me as this tournament. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Irish Premier Challenges to come, as well as to Nationals! Hope to see you all there again. Before I sign off, I just want to give a few shoutouts.

• Team UK for letting me join the team. I loved hanging out with all of you that Sunday night. Let’s do it all again sometime soon.
• Jono for being my travel partner and hanging out all weekend long. It made the weekend that much more enjoyable.
• Rory for lending me legendaries with much better IVs than I had the patience to soft reset for. Sorry I ruined your EVs!
• The rest of the Irish VGC community for helping me toss around last minute ideas for my team, and for all the support you guys gave me. I hope to see us grow even more going forward.
• Jip for creating the banner image for this article. Isn’t is sweet?
• You! For reading my report! I hope that this was helpful to you! Should you have any questions, just ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to give a good answer.

The post Shaping the Metagross: A 2015 European VGC Regionals Runner Up Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi Nugget Bridge! My name is Alec Rubin, but you probably know me better by my username on the forums, amr97. You might recognize me from Round 4 of the 2014 US Nationals stream or as one of the newer moderators in the VGC room on Pokémon Showdown, but as it turns out, when I’m not lurking in wait to issue pedantic warnings, I actually play some VGC as well. I recently attended the 2015 Regional Championships held in Doswell, Virginia and placed third out of 313 competitors in the Masters Division.

Since I haven’t been around the scene as long as most people, I think it’s best to provide a bit of context on my Pokémon history. I first started playing competitively near the end of 2012, primarily in singles formats such as Neverused. While I enjoyed the Singles experience, and still do on occasion, upon stumbling upon Nugget Bridge sometime in the spring of 2013, I began to become interested in the VGC circuit. However, most of my early VGC teams were designed more for fun than to be competitive. However, near the end of 2013, I learned my father would be visiting a town near Doswell for his job during Regionals. I finished with a record of 6-3, which was really better than I should have done. I then scheduled a college visit to Williams College on the Monday after Massachusetts Regionals so that I could attend that as well, finishing 5-3 this time. Sometime after that, I began practicing more seriously, and my efforts paid off as I placed 19th at the 2014 United States Nationals. Although I had disappointing finishes at the Fall Regionals I attended, my 5-2 NPA record and Premier Challenge wins left me cautiously confident going into Virginia. With my third place finish, I am well in position to achieve my top 40 goal.

As a side note, all of the Pokémon are nicknamed after songs from the Idolm@ster Anime and Game Series.

Team at a Glance

Teambuilding Process

Preparing a team to use this year was actually a pretty difficult process, as I had not played VGC 2013. The sheer number of legal Pokémon and big threats left me lost as to how to teambuild. Eventually, I ended up with a pretty decent sand team with Mega Tyranitar/Mega Salamence/Excadrill/Suicune/Thundurus/Amoonguss, and I had planned to bring it to Virginia. However, after using it at a few Premier Challenges, I noticed that many of my wins were due to flinches and full paralyses, which wasn’t quite optimal for a Regional setting. The team also struggled with Landorus-Therian, especially when my Suicune and Mega Salamence were countered, so I decided to create a more consistent team.

One of my main goals while teambuilding was to create a team that did not need too much Speed control. During the Holiday Scramble, I watched Worlds runner-up Jeudy Azzarelli (SoulSurvivor) use a team based around Kangaskhan, Azumarill, and Togekiss. I noticed that the Kangaskhan-Azumarill combination was very strong, as they were both powerful boosting attackers that opponents struggled to deal with. As such, I decided to use them as my core.

Since Kangaskhan and Azumarill are both set-up sweepers, with Power-Up Punch and Belly Drum respectively, a redirection user was the next logical choice. I didn’t like the Togekiss that Jeudy had been using, as it shared many weaknesses with Azumarill, and Clefable was a nonstarter due to Azumarill taking the Sitrus Berry. This left me the options of Volcarona, Amoonguss, and Clefairy. I tossed Volcarona pretty quickly since many of Kangaskhan’s checks, such as Landorus-Therian and Terrakion, can easily OHKO it with Rock Slide. Clefairy often didn’t feel very useful, as Friend Guard was often irrelevant due to Follow Me, so I chose Amoonguss. Its bulk with Regenerator and synergy in a Fire-Water-Grass core were both, in my opinion, very important strengths.

I knew that I wanted a Fire-type Pokémon to complete my defensive core. My candidates were Heatran, Talonflame, and Rotom-Heat. I’ve always disliked Talonflame and already had two physical attackers, so I eliminated it. The team had a weakness to opposing Talonflame, so I needed a counter for it. Heatran could only OHKO Talonflame with the suboptimal Ancient Power, so I went with Rotom-Heat. I originally used a Choice Scarf variant to further liberate the team from Speed control, which also could surprise Pokémon such as Landorus, Salamence, and Charizard.

With my core intact, I looked for two supplementary Pokémon. The team looked a bit weak to Landorus-Therian, Salamence, and Mega Venusaur, and also lacked an efficient method to deal with Fairy-types such as Sylveon. Bisharp seemed like a natural choice given its strength against all of those Pokémon. It also covered many of Azumarill’s weaknesses, giving the team a supplementary defensive backbone.

For my last Pokémon, I wanted something that could check Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard Y, as well as something that could deal with status moves. Conkeldurr was the obvious choice, as between Assault Vest and Guts it could completely wall Pokémon such as Rotom-Wash and Thundurus.

This left me with a pretty solid team. I was fairly pleased with its performance, but it definitely had flaws. One of the main issues was an inability to react effectively against sweepers after a Tailwind such as Sylveon. Additionally, if an opponent could shut down my priority options, I would often be left in a bad situation. Although the team was fairly successful, I felt that its wins were more due to my skill advantage than the team itself. As such, I stopped using this team about three weeks before Regionals, and instead attempted to teambuild with other Pokémon, such as Mega Gengar and Blaziken. However, none of those ideas really worked out, so on the Tuesday before Virginia I decided that my best plan of action would be to practice with this team despite my reservations, since I already knew how it worked and already had it in-game. Although my practice in the following days went well, I wasn’t entirely pleased with the team, and as such decided to try out Mega Lopunny.

I thought Lopunny might be able to give this team the extra oomph it needed, and so I rebuilt the core a bit to try and accommodate it, although I didn’t expect much. I switched Kangaskhan with Lopunny and Conkeldurr for Assault Vest Landorus-Therian.

I experimented with the item choices, eventually switching Landorus-Therian to Choice Scarf, which forced Rotom-Heat to Life Orb and Bisharp to Focus Sash. Eventually, I concluded that Mega Lopunny could be viable with significant support, but as this team was focused on interplay between team members, it wasn’t great. I also missed Kangaskhan’s Power-Up Punch threat. However, I did notice that Landorus-T, which I had overlooked in the past for being too common, fixed several bad matchups, such as Charizard and Salamence. Even though Landorus-T was weak to Water-types, the team had enough ways to deal with them already. As such, I decided to bring Kangaskhan back, along with returning Life Orb to Bisharp and giving Rotom-H Safety Goggles.

This left me with a team that worked well, despite not quite living up to my original plan of independence from Speed control. I used to dislike Kangaskhan since most players using it didn’t have a good reason why, but what made this team work was that I used it with the intention of team synergy. I was left with a team that was incredibly effective, although not incredibly unusual by any stretch of the word (I had the first, second, and fourth most common Pokémon on my team, and Azumarill, which was unique to this team, was the only Pokémon to see less than six uses). I went 16-0 on Pokémon Showdown on the Friday before the event on a decently established alt, which gave me more than enough cause to bring this group to Regionals despite only having one day of practice. My third place finish was well above my goal of top 16, so the team’s results pretty much speak for themselves.

My Song (Kangaskhan) @ Kangaskhanite
Scrappy / Parental Bond | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Fake Out
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch

(Brought in 8/9 Swiss games and 9/9 top cut games; 17/18 total games)

Kangaskhan was previously one of my least favorite Mega Evolutions. Although I’ve always seen its raw strength, I’ve always hated what it does to teambuilding. Don’t get me wrong—with only one weakness, flawless neutral offensive coverage, a boosting option that deals damage, and strong STAB moves mean that Mega Kangaskhan is an absolute nightmare to deal with once it’s on the field. However, its typing also provides it with only a single resistance, making it nearly impossible to safely switch in. As a player who heavily emphasizes switching, this flaw was difficult for me to overlook; I felt pressured into either leading with it or waiting until a lead was knocked out to provide it with a free switch-in. Additionally, nearly every good team either carries Mega Kangaskhan or has several counters to it, making every game either a mirror or unfavorable matchup. However, as its presence on this team makes clear, it still provides unparalleled offensive pressure, and its quick and hard hitting nature works perfectly on this team.

The EV spread is quite simple—it hits hard right off the bat, and frees Kangaskhan from Speed control. Although Pokémon above base 100 Speed typically will invest to outspeed Jolly Kangaskhan, several threats right below the threshold, such as Timid Hydreigon and Modest Mega Charizard Y, might try to outrun some slower Kangaskhan. I think Kangaskhan is scariest when it’s outspeeding its foes, and a Jolly nature allows me to do just that; many Pokémon can be OHKOed before they can get off an attack.

Fake Out was my primary motivation for picking Kangaskhan, as it allows Azumarill to set up Belly Drum uncontested. It also can provide an opening for a teammate to spread status or just deal damage. In any case, a free attack that’s as strong as Fake Out is is always nice. Choosing between Return and Double-Edge was more difficult, but three key factors help me make my decision. Firstly, since my Kangaskhan has no defensive investment, Double-Edge’s recoil would often cause it to faint. With Return, I could sometimes throw out an extra attack, which made up for its weaker base power. Secondly, although Double-Edge’s claim to fame was picking up knockouts on Pokémon EVing to withstand Return, its popularity has killed its niche; many of Double-Edge’s former targets now are built to take the stronger attack. Lastly, after a Power-Up Punch, Double-Edge’s extra power was often unnecessary, so the recoil was meaningless.

Power-Up Punch might be the least common move on this set. The majority of Kangaskhan (at least on Battle Spot) have switched to Low Kick, and honestly I don’t like that at all. I thought Hammer Arm was a decent choice in VGC 2014 due to its surprise factor, but now that Low Kick is so common, it really doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. Power-Up Punch makes Kangaskhan extremely threatening, especially against unsuspecting opponents. After an Attack boost, it OHKOes nearly the entire metagame. Without the boost, Kangaskhan does good damage, but can’t seem to find straight-up knockouts. Additionally, I was able to abuse the common turn one double Protect (guarding against Fake Out) by having Kangaskhan Power-Up Punch its teammate, which could often win games alone due to the power of a boosted Kangaskhan.

Sucker Punch rounds out the set, and it was pretty good as a supplementary move. Initially, the move didn’t strike me as particularly good, as every Ghost-type except for Aegislash can just use Will-O-Wisp to dodge it. I tested both Crunch to reliably hit Ghost-types and Ice Punch for Landorus-Therian and Salamence, but in the end I found the priority to be more helpful than a relatively unnecessary coverage move, even if Sucker Punch didn’t really cover Ghost-types. At +2, Sucker Punch hits harder than an unboosted Return, which gives Kangaskhan the ability to quickly pick off faster threats such as Latios and Greninja (after Protean).

Trial Dance (Azumarill) @ Sitrus Berry
Huge Power | Adamant
196 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Def / 12 SpD / 28 Spe
– Aqua Jet
– Play Rough
– Belly Drum
– Protect

(Brought in 7/9 Swiss games and 5/9 top cut games; 12/18 total games)

Azumarill was definitely the MVP of this team at the tournament, and it’s not hard to see why. Huge Power boosts its attack stat to a fantastic 224 (the equivalent of having base 152 Attack), and it can boost immediately to +6 Attack through Belly Drum. I think that Azumarill has definitely been one of the more overlooked Pokémon in the format so far, especially given the success of other bulky Water-types such as Suicune, Milotic and Rotom-Wash. Although it has suffered residually from the popularity of Sylveon (and thus Fairy-type counters such as Gengar), many players use Steel-types to check Sylveon, which Azumarill deals with just fine. With support from its teammates, Azumarill was often able to Belly Drum and sweep an opponent’s entire team because they simply had no way to stop +6 Aqua Jet.

Sitrus Berry is required: it keeps Azumarill healthy (at 75% HP) after a Belly Drum, providing some well-needed extra bulk. The EV spread, on the other hand, is a bit more creative. Maximum Attack gives Azumarill as much mileage as possible off a Belly Drum, while allowing it to hit decently hard even unboosted. The Speed EVs were designed to Speed creep other base 50 Speed Pokémon, most notably Sableye, opposing Azumarill and Mega Mawile (Play Rough has a notably higher chance to OHKO 252 HP Mega Mawile than Aqua Jet at +6). The HP EVs, hitting a stat of 200, make Sitrus Berry as efficient as possible: an odd stat would cause the berry to fail to activate after a Belly Drum, while even numbers that are not a multiple of four lose a single point of HP due to rounding. The Defense EVs allow Azumarill to withstand a Double-Edge from Jolly Mega Salamence.

Flower Girl (Amoonguss) @ Rocky Helmet
Regenerator | Sassy
188 HP / 164 Def / 156 SpD
IVs: 0 Spe
– Spore
– Rage Powder
– Giga Drain
– Protect

(Brought in 2/9 Swiss games and 8/9 top cut games; 10/18 total games)

Amoonguss is an excellent support Pokémon since it demands attention with Spore and Rage Powder, unlike more passive Pokémon such as Cresselia. Its usage numbers are slightly skewed; although I did bring it to approximately 50% of my games in practice, Amoonguss was actually more useful against lower-caliber players, so I expected greater usage in Swiss. This anomaly occurred due to team matchups; in seven out of my nine Swiss games, my opponent had a heavy spread presence, Mega Salamence or Metagross (which could OHKO Amoonguss), or multiple potential Taunt users, while two of the three teams I played in top cut were heavily based on Trick Room. Amoonguss was generally fantastic when I got to use it, and although it wasn’t quite as flashy as Kangaskhan or Azumarill, it definitely got the supporting job done.

I chose Rocky Helmet over Black Sludge for two reasons. For one, it turned Amoonguss into a decent Kangaskhan counter; if I could switch Amoonguss into a predicted Low Kick, opposing Mega Kangaskhan would sometimes KO themselves if they attempted to then knock out Amoonguss with Double-Edge. Also, Rocky Helmet synergizes well with Bisharp’s Assurance, turning Rage Powder into an offensive weapon. Regenerator greatly enhances Amoonguss’s role as a pivot, allowing it to switch in, Rage Powder away a couple of attacks, then switch back out and stay relatively healthy. It also avoids finicky paralysis and poison from Effect Spore. The EV spread allows Amoonguss to almost always survive Mega Kangaskhan’s Double-Edge, as well as Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Fire Blast. Although there is a slightly more efficient spread, this one gains an extra point of HP from Regenerator, so the difference is essentially negated. The minimum Speed allows Amoonguss to serve as a solid Trick Room counter.

Smile Taisou (Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Levitate | Modest
252 HP / 4 Def / 108 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Thunder Wave

(Brought in 7/9 Swiss games and 3/9 top cut games; 10/18 total games)

Rotom-Heat is in a strange position in the current metagame. Although it is effective against almost all of the most common Mega Evolutions, it is no longer the sole defensive Fire-type that it was in last year’s format and now has to deal with a surge of bulky Water-types, Landorus-Therian, and Terrakion. However, Rotom-H’s unique typing completes my Fire-Water-Grass core, and allows it to deal with threats such as Mawile, Talonflame, and Charizard. It has a fantastic ability to spread status to support my team while still hitting decently hard.

After I gave Rotom-H’s Choice Scarf to Landorus-T, I wanted a defensive item. Sun teams, Amoonguss, and Breloom were causing this team a lot of trouble, so Safety Goggles was the obvious choice. At Regionals, it ended up being useless, as no powder-based moves were used against Rotom-H; still, it significantly afffected several matchups, so I would have kept it regardless. The EV spread is fairly simple: enough Speed to outspeed Adamant Bisharp by two points (catching some Speed creepers), maximum HP for efficient defensive investment, and a bit of Special Attack to just hit harder in general.

I chose to use Thunderbolt over Volt Switch since whenever Rotom-H was on the field, I generally wanted it to stay in to spread status or deal constant damage, which Volt Switch could sometimes hinder. Overheat and Will-O-Wisp are standard for a multitude of reasons. Although I never used it at Virginia, I chose Thunder Wave over Protect, since, despite my goal of ignoring Speed control, it was a nice option to counter Tailwind and could surprise opponents expecting the standard Protect. While I never ended up needing it at Regionals, I also never needed Protect, so it was still a nice option to have in my back pocket.

BANGxBANG (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate | Adamant
12 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Def / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Knock Off
– Superpower

(Brought in 7/9 Swiss games and 4/9 top cut games; 11/18 total games)

Landorus-Therian is the most common non-Mega Pokémon for a good reason: with base 145 Attack, a fantastic ability in Intimidate, and super effective moves against several of the most popular Pokémon, it might be surprising that Landorus-T doesn’t see even more use. Having a Choice-locked Earthquake might seem to conflict with the rest of the team, given that I only have one immunity and lack Protect on Kangaskhan, but the other strengths that Landorus-T had made up for it; Earthquake was actually its least-used move.

I think that Choice Scarf Landorus-T is a bit overrated, but it was the right item for this team. I valued the ability to outspeed threats such as Kangaskhan, Gengar, and Charizard and take them out before they could begin to be a threat (my priority options further enhanced this option). Maximum Attack allowed Landorus-T to be as effective as possible, while also maximizing Superpower’s KO chances on Mega Kangaskhan (it’s still only a 7/16 chance). The defensive EVs allows it to always withstand a +1 Sucker Punch from Life Orb Bisharp, while the Speed gives it the ability to outspeed Jolly Weavile.

Earthquake, Rock Slide and Superpower are all staple moves on Landorus for their coverage, so I added them to the set right away. Rock Slide’s infamous flinch chance ended up winning me a game in top 16 against Chris Danzo (Lunar). Knock Off was a fairly arbitrary choice; I added Landorus-T at the last minute and didn’t do too much testing. In the past, U-turn had not been very helpful, and I felt that it would not synergize well with this team. I considered Stone Edge (to beat Wide Guard) and Hidden Power Ice (for the mirror), but Knock Off’s utility and ability to hit Ghost-types gave it the nod. It ended up being the best choice for the tournament, since I didn’t face a single situation where an alternate move would have been useful.

Smoky Thrill (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Defiant | Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Assurance
– Protect

(Brought in 5/9 Swiss games and 7/9 top cut games; 12/18 total games)

Bisharp was fairly underwhelming. Although it was useful against opponents with Intimidate and provided a nice set of resistances, I found myself mostly relying on its raw power to blow through opponents, something that’s probably unsustainable against better players. Given its popularity at Regionals, it might have been a bad choice for me as a player or for the team, but I think a different, more defensive Steel-type such as Aegislash or Metagross could have been better. Still, Bisharp was able to carry me through the early rounds via its sheer strength, which is nice at the Premier Challenge/Regional level, and having STAB Dark-type attacks is always appreciated.

This is the standard Bisharp set, with the exception of Assurance. Although the move gained a lot of traction after being used by Wolfe Glick (Wolfey), Knock Off has become the most common fourth move on Bisharp in this metagame. I think that Knock Off is the right choice on almost all teams, but since this team has plenty of ways of getting the Assurance boost (including two priority users, three Pokémon faster than Bisharp, and Rocky Helmet Amoonguss) I had a lot of opportunities to pick up surprise knockouts on Pokémon that Bisharp can’t typically OHKO.

Common Combinations

 + 

This combo was the core this team was based on. The basic idea is to flinch the bigger opposing threat with Fake Out to allow Azumarill to get a Belly Drum off. However, this duo has more nuanced play as well, such as using Power-Up Punch and Protect (expecting a double target on Azumarill), or the all-in play of Power-Up Punching Azumarill and Belly Drumming (predicting a double Protect or switch).

 + /

This is the classic Rage Powder and setup combination. Again, the idea here is to use Rage Powder and either Power-Up Punch with Kangaskhan or Belly Drum with Azumarill, although, of course, there are other potential plays. I can Fake Out with Kangaskhan or Protect with Azumarill and Spore a threat—the former is especially useful against Taunt users such as Thundurus. One theoretically useful play is to lead with Azumarill and Amoonguss, set up a Belly Drum, and then switch out to Kangaskhan, leaving me with a Fake Out and a +6 Aqua Jet to rip through the opposition.

 + 

While Rotom-Heat and Azumarill obviously cover each other well defensively, Thunder Wave could also allow Azumarill to safely use Play Rough against Grass-types or bulky Water-types, picking up easy OHKOs after a Belly Drum.

 + 

These two get a special mention as they allow me to completely ignore Breloom and Amoonguss, eliminating half the opposing field whenever one of those two were out.

 + / (everyone else…)

This is a pretty interesting combination. A fast Rock Slide and Assurance make for a VGC 2014-esque combination, and Landorus-Therian can also take out threatening Fire-types with Earthquake or Rock Slide. As a side note, Bisharp can have its Assurance boosted by every member of the team, allowing for a variety of combinations on that front.

 + 

Rotom-Heat is this team’s only Ground immunity, so these two were naturally often seen when I needed to use Earthquake. They were also a strong pair against opposing Landorus-T, since I could switch them into an opposing Earthquake without taking damage.

 + /

A neat trick that I used was to switch in Landorus-T against physical attackers who expected to knock out Kangaskhan or Azumarill, allowing them to set up after surviving an attack due to Intimidate. I did this especially often against Close Combat users, allowing Kangaskhan to barely endure the attack and clean up afterwards.

Weaknesses

Mega Venusaur was probably my worst Mega matchup (ironic considering how much I’ve liked using Mega Venusaur in the past). Of course, I ended up playing two in top cut. My team does not have a solid answer to its massive bulk, and although Rotom-Heat can wall Sleep Powder variants to some extent, the bulkier Leech Seed variants can do my team in. Usually my best best was to relentlessly attack it, either with a boosted Assurance or with a boosted Return.

Gengar threatens most Kangaskhan teams, and this one is no exception. This weakness also includes Ghost-types with Will-O-Wisp such as Jellicent, Cofagrigus, and Dusknoir. Since Mega Kangaskhan couldn’t do much, keeping Scrappy for Fake Out was usually a good gambit. A Knock Off from Landorus-T or Assurance from Bisharp could typically take pesky Ghost-types out as well.

Despite using it myself, Rotom-Heat still gave me trouble. This team has several issues with it: Safety Goggles circumvents Rage Powder (allowing for free Will-O-Wisps), it is usually bulky enough to tank Rock Slides from Landorus-T (or can outright knock it out with Hidden Power Ice), it is typically faster than Bisharp, and it is one of the few Fire-types not walled by Azumarill. Generally, smart play and good predictions were enough to beat it, although it never felt good to know that I’d probably have to make a lot of 50/50 calls.

Due to how focused I was on stopping the more prevalent Landorus-T, this team didn’t really have any way to deal with Garchomp besides Azumarill. However, Azumarill was more than enough against the two Garchomp I faced, although against better players it could be a major threat. Still, 21 Landorus-T to two Garchomp in top cut suggests that most top players aren’t using the Dragon-type shark.

Conclusion

Overall, I was very happy with my results from this tournament. Although I wasn’t able to win, I had my best tournament finish to date. Funnily enough, in the top cut matches I played I was actually very relaxed and had a lot of fun, so I’m not complaining about my finish. This puts me in a very solid spot in terms of Championship Points, as I am currently 8th in the country. I hope to try to continue to improve before Nationals, and I hope to have a lot of fun watching the metagame evolve in this exciting format. Goodbye for now, but with any luck, regardless of whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a new player yet to attend your first event, I hope we’ll be able to meet at the World Championships someday!

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‘Ello reader. Two weeks ago I attended the Portland, Oregon regional finishing with a 6-2 record and bubbling out of top cut at 9th place. Given that it was my first regional I can’t realistically say that it was a subpar performance, though coming so close to making top cut was pretty disappointing.

Teambuilding

For much of January I had been testing a team centered around Imprison Mega Gardevoir and Rage Powder Volcarona. The basic idea was to discourage or draw away physical attacks (mainly Steel-type attacks) from Gardevoir, while Gardevoir swept with Hyper Voice. Imprison stopped opposing Sylveon and could corner opponents if they were locked out of Protect in an unfavorable situation. For the most part, I liked the combination. However, Gardevoir itself had plenty of flaws that were difficult to cover. I was alright with Gardevoir’s inability to OHKO most opponents, but it was useless against Steel-types, and had terrible physical bulk. Talonflame and Landorus-Therian were the biggest weaknesses, as the former could easily OHKO both while the latter nullified Rage Powder with its powerful spread attacks. It was an offensive core that couldn’t deal enough damage to make up for its shoddy defenses.

What I ended up using at Regionals wasn’t something that I built for the tournament. I was interested in testing the classic combo of Metagross + Hydreigon after seeing it on Battle Spot, and I pretty much worked out the team from there. I immediately added Togekiss for Tailwind and and Follow Me. I added Politoed and Ludicolo to scare away threats such as Landorus-Therian, Fire-types, and Terrakion. Afterwards, I included my own Terrakion to deal with Steel-types and improve my matchup against Kangaskhan and Charizard. I built the entire team in about thirty minutes; it was just supposed to be a test, but it worked a lot better than I thought it would. I had wanted to test Justin Burns’s (Spurrific’s) Trick Room team with Conkeldurr before Oregon, but I was too lazy to obtain the necessary Pokémon. I was running out of time, so I decided to just perfect what I had.

I thought the team was fairly solid, as the rain bluff allowed Metagross, Hydreigon, and Togekiss to smash through most opposition. However, it ended up being quite flawed. Hydreigon was essentially my only answer to Steel-types (Terrakion can’t hit many of the more common ones super effectively), paralysis shut down my attackers, and a well-built sun team meant a nearly guaranteed loss. Throw these threats together with a good player and I’m helpless, which is what ended up happening in round four of Swiss. I’m going to continue using this team on Battle Spot, but it won’t see any more live usage, as its gimmicks (Substitute Metagross and a rain bluff) are now fairly well known.

Last thing about the team: it’s a flinching machine. I have six moves that can flinch and five Pokémon overall that can do so, including the very evil Rock Slide from Terrakion and Serene Grace Air Slash from Togekiss. I don’t rely on flinches, but a well timed flinch could turn into a free Substitute, a Tailwind, or just free damage. I didn’t intentionally add many flinching moves, but it was an extra out that I had. Combined with the team’s general quickness, this also meant that the RNG usually played in my favor. I can’t count the number of times I said “sorry” after I flinched my opponent (how very Canadian). Good thing everyone I played at the tournament was very accepting of the nature of the team and the game, and no one got even a little bit angry at me!

Elmo (Politoed) @ Leftovers
Drizzle | Calm
212 HP / 132 Def / 4 SpA / 116 SpD / 44 Spe
– Scald
– Icy Wind
– Helping Hand
– Protect

This team might be classified as a “rain team”; however, Politoed is by far my least used Pokémon. Rain mode was far too easily prepared for. However, the threat of rain played significant mindgames with my opponents, and Politoed had a major effect even if I never brought it. I also intentionally placed Politoed and Ludicolo first and second in Team Preview to further increase the illusion of rain.

Compared to VGC 2014, Politoed is far better due to its access to support moves like Icy Wind and Helping Hand, allowing non-Choice Scarf Politoed can do more than just set up Drizzle. However, Politoed was still pretty disappointing when I did bring it, as effectively using Icy Wind was difficult. Its decent bulk was still insufficient against repeated hits. At Regionals, I only brought it in a single game, and it was taken down in two turns without attacking.

The spread was created by DaWoblefet, so credits go to him for helping me with it (and countless other spreads that I had asked him for in the past). The bulk allows it to withstand Kangaskhan’s Double-Edge and avoid a 2HKO from Sylveon’s Hyper Voice. I didn’t actually care about either of these attacks, I just wanted Politoed to be as bulky as possible to keep rain up and provide speed control. However, my favorite part of the spread is the speed. After an Icy Wind, Politoed outspeeds non-Scarf Landorus-Therian. I didn’t actually care about outspeeding it either, but Icy Wind allows me to gain critical information about its item—based on damage and Speed, I can figure out whether it’s Choice Scarf, Assault Vest, or Focus Sash.

I have since changed Politoed to a straightforward offensive Choice Scarf variant. I had been timid (pun intended) of it originally, as it would have left me with three Pokémon without Protect and less Speed control (from the loss of Icy Wind). However, having a fast option gives me more freedom against Terrakion and Landorus-Therian, and the change dramatically improved my Mega Salamence matchup. I also added Rain Dance, which I forgot about on this set, and it’s been a key move in winning weather wars.

Grapes? (Ludicolo) @ Assault Vest
Swift Swim | Modest
108 HP / 252 SpA / 148 Spe
– Fake Out
– Scald
– Giga Drain
– Ice Beam

Very boring Pokémon and EV spread. It’s a standard Assault Vest Ludicolo with a standard moveset; there’s not much to say here! The Speed EVs allows it to outrun Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian under rain or Tailwind. I chose a more offensive spread because I anticipated that I would use the rain portion of the team more often, but I sometimes wish I had more bulk. It’s not an optimized spread, certainly, but Ludicolo did very well when I needed it. Fake Out and its special bulk paired with its unique and excellent typing helped greatly against Trick Room teams, as Ludicolo is perhaps the best counter in the game to the Gastrodon and Camerupt duo.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Justified | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Double Kick
– Protect

Another boring build. I kind of regret not testing Stone Edge more extensively, as when I did test it a few days before the tournament, I forgot to save my game and ended up with Double Kick for several games. By the time I caught it, it was very close to tournament time, so I kept Double Kick. Having Stone Edge would have allowed Terrakion to OHKO most Thundurus-I (assuming it actually hit!) and knock out Charizard through Wide Guard, two very important knockouts for this team. Obviously, Stone Edge would be used sparingly, but the main targets of Double Kick (Smeargle and Focus Sash Bisharp) aren’t that big of a deal to me. I’ve been using Stone Edge ever since Oregon, and even though it’s a minor change, it covers several weaknesses. Stone Edge would have definitely helped in round 4 of Swiss.

Oppenheimer (Hydreigon) @ Choice Specs
Levitate | Modest
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Earth Power

Hydreigon is one of my favorite Pokémon to use competitively because it fits my playstyle so well: it’s fast, bulky, has a good typing, and is very powerful (I suppose this can be loosely interpreted as “my play style is to use good Pokémon”, but whatever). I tend to shy away from very defensive teams and instead prefer offensive Pokémon with good defensive synergy, which is exactly what Hydreigon provides in many situations. It’s my only answer to Aegislash and other Steel-types, and it has nearly perfect defensive synergy with Metagross. I originally used Life Orb over Choice Specs, but the damage output was somewhat lacking. Without an Electric-type on the team to hit Suicune (and other bulky Pokémon) for good damage, Hydreigon’s raw power was certainly appreciated. While it isn’t nearly as good as it was last year due to new Fairy-types, Terrakion, and Landorus-Therian, Hydreigon still has enough going for it for it to be a Pokémon worth using.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Clear Body / Tough Claws | Adamant
252 HP / 36 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SpD / 180 Spe
– Iron Head
– Zen Headbutt
– Substitute
– Protect

The EV spread is Randy Kwa’s (R Inanimate’s). I know that the Speed EVs allow Mega Metagross to outpace neutral natured base 100 Speed Pokémon. I’m not really sure what the rest of the EVs do, outside of being defensively focused. I shamelessly stole his spread because I was too lazy to run damage calculations when practicing. However, I never felt that I needed a different spread, and I definitely think that Adamant is better than Jolly after discussing it with Randy. Bulky Mega Metagross is really nice, as it allows it to win its advantageous matchups (Sylveon and Terrakion, for instance) more consistently. Weak attacks such as Suicune’s Scald also fail to break its Substitute most of the time, which definitely did a good job of throwing off my opponents.

I originally had Ice Punch over Substitute, but I never used the move. Substitute allowed Metagross to work around Sucker Punch and status, two of its biggest counters. It also had some unintended positive effects, such as helping stall out Trick Room and Tailwind. With Follow Me and Fake Out support combined with Metagross’s natural bulk, it could dominate games once behind a Substitute. Opponents would often tunnel on Metagross after a Substitute, which left them wide open to Terrakion, Hydreigon, and Togekiss. Substitute also let Metagross shut down the increasingly popular Mega Venusaur, and provided a secondary Protect-like option. I could go on and on about Substitute’s advantages; it was my favorite move on this team, and I was elated to see it in Missouri’s top cut. Even though Metagross’s coverage was suboptimal with only two attacking moves, between Iron Head and Zen Headbutt, it was still able to 2HKO most of the metagame.

Honestly, there are very few Steel-types that can comfortably handle Sylveon. Mawile (before Mega Evolving) is terrible at taking Hyper Voice, Cobalion is too weak, and Ferrothorn and Escavalier are held back by their Speed. Metagross, with Clear Body and a fast Substitute, has many advantages over the other Steel-types, and is one of the only physical attackers that can deal with Intimidate and burn. Don’t let Metagross’s lack of raw power compared to Charizard or Kangaskhan discourage you; it’s a fantastic Pokémon that simply functions differently. Substitute was the key that made Mega Metagross even more rounded than it already was.

such toge (Togekiss) @ Sitrus Berry
Serene Grace | Bold
252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 60 SpD / 76 Spe
– Air Slash
– Follow Me
– Tailwind
– Protect

For whatever reason, I’ve become obsessed with redirection in this format, and Togekiss is one of the best users of it. I know Randy doesn’t like that Togekiss picked up extra weaknesses via Fairy-type, but for this team, its resistances to Dark-, Dragon-, and Fighting-type moves were very important: it allowed me to win Hydreigon mirrors, and forced opposing Terrakion to use Rock Slide most of the time. Opponents almost never want to risk a Close Combat into Togekiss, so they often take the safe Rock Slide—only to give Metagross, Hydreigon, and even Togekiss a free turn. Follow Me isn’t even necessary all of the time, as the mere threat of it can prevent Terrakion from doing meaningful damage. Togekiss is my most commonly used Pokémon since there’s almost never a situation where redirection or Tailwind wouldn’t be helpful.

The EV spread allows Togekiss to withstand Life Orb Bisharp’s Iron Head and allows Sitrus Berry to activate after Super Fang. The Speed EVs allows it to get the jump on defensive Rotom, letting Togekiss set up Tailwind or go for a flinch. I put the rest of the EVs into Special Defense, as Togekiss isn’t really there for damage.

The Tournament

I don’t take notes on each battle and only write down Team Preview, so I’m going off of memory. Bear with me if there are any mistakes!

Round 1: Aaron Whitehurst

He brought: 

I brought: 

Looks like a Trick Room team. Oh, and a Golem. I go for my standard anti-Trick Room play: get Metagross behind a Substitute and have Ludicolo in the back to stall with Fake Out. His team didn’t have a lot of offense, so I was able to outdamage him even in Trick Room, and the game ended up being 4-1 in my favor with only Aegislash remaining. The battle took a while to finish because I was wary of switching Hydreigon into a critical hit Flash Cannon, so Togekiss and Metagross slowly chipped away at Aegislash until I won.

1-0

Round 2: Travis Knickerbocker

He brought: 

I brought: 

Another Trick Room team, with a couple of fast options in Mega Salamence and Raikou. As such, I brought the same setup as last game. It was a good thing that Team Preview alone scared him away from bringing his most powerful threat in Camerupt, so it was just a matter of trading damage effectively against his other Pokémon while maintaining good board position. For some reason, I was surprised to see non-Mega Abomasnow due to his Salamence and Camerupt, but it didn’t end up mattering as Salamence Mega Evolved very early in the match. After the first Trick Room ended, I misplayed by not double targeting his Cresselia, as Dark Pulse was negated by a Colbur Berry and Trick Room went back up. Eventually, I was able to set up Tailwind on the last turn of Trick Room, and Metagross cleaned up his Mega Salamence. Travis praised Metagross’s Substitute, calling it a cool tech; I agree!

2-0

Round 3: Zach Costello (shadowz900)

He brought: 

I brought: 

I missed Zen Headbutt twice in this game, which was definitely annoying. My Metagross was, to my surprise, faster than his, and his Rotom-Wash revealed its offensive nature with Volt Switch. I remember his Tornadus getting Tailwind up, which was difficult to play around, and during the last turn of the the game, I thought I was done for. He had a full health Metagross and a very low health Conkeldurr against my full health Hydreigon and dented Metagross. He double targeted Hydreigon with Bullet Punch and Mach Punch, and I thought I would lose the ensuing Metagross mirror. However, his Conkeldurr was the bulky variant, as my Hydreigon was able to survive both priority attacks and knock out the opposing Metagross. This was a close game that I thought was lost at multiple points.

3-0

Round 4: Demitrios Kaguras (kingdjk)

He brought: 

I brought: 

I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I learned after our battle that Demitri was having a good start to the season after his top 4 finish at the NorCal Regional. Also, man, this battle. Remember how I mentioned that Charizard / Thundurus / Aegislash / Terrakion was almost an autoloss for my team? Well, yeah, that’s exactly what happened. I had nothing for his Aegislash and Thundurus lead, and Demitri gave me no change to get back into the game. I didn’t even get to find out his last Pokémon! He was still a few turns away from clinching the win when I forfeited, but I didn’t want to drag the battle out any longer than I had to. Also I really had to go to the restroom. Props to him for the good team and dominating win. This battle was the biggest indication that I should have used Stone Edge on Terrakion instead of Double Kick.

3-1

Round 5: Max Douglas (starmetroid)

He brought:

I brought: 

Welp. It’s Max. He entered the weekend first in Canada in CP and I’ve played against him countless times at Premier Challenges. Coming off of a loss, I was definitely nervous that I could very well drop a second straight game. I immediately recognized his team: I had played against Max’s teambuilding partner, Mark Hanson (Crawdaunt), who was using the exact same Pokémon at a Premier Challenge; this gave me quite an advantage. This game ended up being almost an exact mirror, which was kind of weird. The endgame was my Terrakion and 50% health Hydreigon at -2 with a paralyzed Togekiss in the back against his full health Hydreigon and Metagross. I was going to Protect with Terrakion, but misclicked and used Close Combat instead. Terrakion was knocked out by Iron Head, and I lost the game from there. I was definitely bummed out about choking away a potential win, but my plan necessitated Togekiss not being fully paralyzed twice, so I’d like to think that I would have been fully paralyzed and lost anyway. After losing my second game, I wasn’t feeling so hot about my top cut chances, but at least I lost to a friend who really needed the win after he lost in Round 1.

3-2

Round 6:Matt Alcina

He brought: 

I brought: 

The first thing I noticed in Team Preview was that he probably wouldn’t bring Heatran or Landorus-Therian due to the threat of rain. Against his remaining four Pokémon, I realized I could probably win the game with Terrakion and a Metagross behind a Substitute, so I went for that setup immediately. After a turn one double Protect, I proceeded to flinch his Cresselia three times and knock out its partner twice. In the end, I won without him ever getting an attack off. I know that the team matchup would have likely won me the game anyway, but the repeated flinches were just overkill, and I definitely felt bad about it. Matt was kind enough to understand that these things happen in this game and didn’t act the least bit salty.

4-2

At this point we headed into lunch break. I still wasn’t feeling good about my chances of making top cut, but sideline reporter Justin Burns let me know that my opponents had done very well thus far, putting my resistance at an astounding 76.7% before round 6. After talking with Mark (a TO who was very familiar with the tournament structure) he told me that there were 5-1s who probably didn’t have as high of a resistance and even though it definitely wasn’t going to stay at 76%, it likely would remain sufficiently high for top cut. So, while I knew that I still had to win my last two games, I was getting excited over an opportunity to play in top cut. As I looked at the pairings for round 7, though, I was crushed to see that Max and Demitri had been paired. I really needed that to not happen to maximize my resistance, and two of my opponents getting paired meant that one of them would be guaranteed to lose.

Round 7: Richard Schmidt

He brought:

I brought: 

My eyes lit up during Team Preview as his team was overwhelmingly weak to Metagross. This was the first and last game I brought Politoed, because I didn’t need much else and I figured he might bring Volcarona as he had nothing else against Metagross. I led with Metagross and Hydreigon to his… Volcarona and Terrakion. Not what I was expecting, and despite the good team matchup I was behind due to an awful lead. I got rain up, but Politoed was knocked out without attacking. Eventually, I was able to get Tailwind up and go on the offensive, allowing me to take out his Florges and Scizor with my Metagross and Hydreigon. I don’t fault myself for leading the way I did, but I was definitely very nervous that I almost threw a game that I had a big team advantage in.

5-2

Round 8: Kayhon Tahmaseb

He brought: 

I brought: 

I almost timed out during Team Preview and ended up not leading what I wanted to because of it. Metagross and Togekiss covered just about his entire team, except for Ferrothorn, which I really figured he would lead with because I had rain. He ended up leading with Mega Gardevoir and Sableye, which gave Metagross a free Substitute. At that point, Metagross quickly won the game without any substantial opposition since his Sableye didn’t have an attacking move to break the Substitute.

6-2

I was stoked at this point. After a convincing round 8 win and with my resistance looking strong, my heart was racing because I had a very real chance to make cut at my first regional. It wasn’t to be though: I finished in 9th place with an opponents’ win percentage of 65.62% while Demitri, in 8th place, had an opponents’ win % of 70.31%.

After getting over bubbling (okay, I still haven’t really gotten over it), I was elated to see that Max and Rushan Shekar (Firestorm) had won seven straight games after losing round 1, and both had made the cut. They were also on opposite sides of the bracket, so we had a chance at an all BC finals. Max and Rushan ended up finishing second and third respectively, both losing to Conan, who had won the Premier Challenge the previous day and had gone undefeated in Swiss.

In the end, I took home 40 CP from a top 16 finish, putting me in the top 100 in North America with 158 CP. Only the top 40 will receive Worlds invites, so I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I’m in a better position now than before the weekend had started.

Lastly, special shoutouts go to our unnamed Google+ group who helped me greatly with practicing and getting the Pokémon I needed and the people that I hung out with at Oregon for making it a fun weekend, especially Randy Kwa for driving me to and from the event. Y’all are the best!

The post No Substitute for Rain in the Northwest: 9th Place Oregon Regional Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi there! I’m Joseph Costagliola, or Life Orb on the forums, and I recently placed third at the 2015 Virginia Regional Championships in the Senior Division. I went undefeated in the Swiss rounds before losing to eventual champion Michael (Sir Chicken) in top four. This was my first regional, and I was really proud of my performance, so I decided to share my experience with the community. Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Before The Tournament

Friday: 9 Days Remaining

I was discussing my chances of making Worlds with Michael on Pokemon Showdown, and I realized that I needed to achieve at least a top four finish in Virginia for a reasonable chance, as I hadn’t played in any tournaments prior to the rule change. I had planned on using a really cool team with Mega Salamence and support Azelf, but I didn’t know if it could bring me the results I needed. As such, I decided to build a more consistent team that could carry me if I played well.

Saturday: 8 Days Remaining

I worked really hard on the team, as I realized that waiting any longer would cut into valuable practice time. I knew that I was going to use a core of Mega Kangaskhan, Landorus-Therian, and Sylveon as they fit in well with my playstyle (not because they were common, as you might think). By looking at the team’s resistances and weaknesses, I decided to add Heatran, Cresselia, and Suicune as the remaining members.

Tuesday/Wednesday: 5/4 Days Remaining

After about 20 games of Battle Spot practice, I noticed two major flaws: the team struggled to deal significant damage to opposing rain teams, and my play with Suicune was lackluster, turning it into dead weight. Therefore, I took out Suicune for Hydreigon to apply additional offensive pressure, and added Sunny Day onto Cresselia’s moveset.

Friday: 2 Days Remaining

I was able to get a lot of practice in, and I put together a good winning streak on Battle Spot, going 11-1. This made me incredibly confident going into tournament weekend.

Saturday: Road Trip

This was a great day! I had lunch with my family before setting out for Doswell with my grandpa around 3:30 in the afternoon. There’s not much to say about the ride (I was actually somewhat upset about not being able to listen to the new Imagine Dragons album, as it wasn’t released until the Tuesday after). That evening, I, my grandpa, and the Green Machine (a 1980 Honda Civic) pulled into the Best Western we were staying at. We were hungry, and I remember reading about a Cracker Barrel from Ray Rizzo’s (Ray) Virginia Regional report last year, but we decided to just go to the nearby Denny’s. The food was incredibly greasy, which my grandpa was quick to point out, and the service wasn’t stellar. Afterwards, I watched King of the Hill and Rick and Morty (which my grandpa surprisingly enjoyed) until I went to sleep around 11.

Before I discuss how the tournament went, I’ll introduce my team members.

The Team

Lanorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Intimidate | Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Earthquake
– U-Turn
– Knock Off
– Rock Slide

This is a pretty standard Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian set. I wanted a fast and hard hitting Pokemon that also provided substantial team support. Landorus-T filled that role between Intimidate, massive base Attack, and decent Speed supplemented by the Scarf. I chose Knock Off as its fourth move as I wanted an attack that could circumvent Wide Guard (and didn’t force Landorus-T to switch out). It also hit Gengar, a significant threat to this team. This team didn’t really mind the loss of Superpower as it had plenty of ways to deal with opposing Kangaskhan, Tyranitar, and Hydreigon; even so, it’s probably the better move for most teams.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Scrappy / Parental Bond | Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Fake Out
– Double-Edge
– Low Kick
– Sucker Punch

About as standard of a Kangaskhan that you can find in this metagame. Mega Kangaskhan deals a ridiculous amount of damage, especially with Double-Edge. I chose Low Kick over its other coverage options as this team needed coverage against Bisharp and Kangaskhan, and other options such as Ice Punch weren’t especially useful. Fake Out and Sucker Punch provided two much-needed priority attacks.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Pixilate | Modest
92 HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
– Hyper Voice
– Shadow Ball
– Psyshock
– Moonblast

The “bulky offensive special attacker” niche in the current metagame is pretty much filled by only two Pokemon, Heatran and Sylveon. Sylveon was fantastic for me, carrying the team through several Swiss rounds (and top eight). Moonblast as the fourth attack is the only slightly non-standard thing about this set; I felt that Hyper Beam left Sylveon too vulnerable, Helping Hand didn’t quite fit in with the team’s offensive nature, and Hidden Power Ground was too much of a pain to breed for. It ended up being the right choice, as Moonblast won both games two and three of my top eight match. Credits go to Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) for the EV spread.

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Flash Fire | Modest
252 HP / 168 Def / 68 SpA
– Heat Wave
– Flash Cannon
– Earth Power
– Protect

Finally, a somewhat interesting Pokemon! Heatran complemented the initial core very well. Shuca Berry and Flash Cannon extended Heatran’s threat coverage, giving it a better matchup against Gardevoir, Landorus-Therian, and Sylveon, three big threats for this team. The EV spread allows it to withstand Jolly Terrakion’s Close Combat and OHKO in return with Flash Cannon. Despite the rather small investment in Special Attack, Heatran always dealt enough damage; it doesn’t rely on the stat as much as something like Sylveon does. Heatran was a solid pick; its unique typing gave me two of the metagame’s best types (in my opinion) in a single Pokemon.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Levitate | Modest
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Fire Blast
– Protect

I wanted a hard hitting special attacker that synergized well with Landorus-T, and Hydreigon filled the role pretty well. Unfortunately, it was a late addition to the team, so I didn’t get too much practice with it. It’s a pretty simple set. I chose Modest over Timid for the extra damage output, and the Speed drop never mattered during the tournament. Since Sylveon had Choice Specs, Life Orb was the obvious option. Flash Cannon was unnecessary due to Heatran.

Cresselia @ Sitrus Berry
Levitate | Bold
220 HP / 100 Def / 188 SpD
– Icy Wind
– Helping Hand
– Sunny Day
– Psyshock

I’ll be the first to tell you that Cresselia is nowhere near as good as it was in 2013. On an offensive team like this one, its only purpose was to remove opposing rain—it was essentially useless otherwise. In hindsight, Gengar would have been the much better option, but I was paranoid of running into opposing rain. Cresselia was my least used Pokemon; I only brought it in a single game.

Sunday: The Tournament

I woke up that morning at 6:15, but instead of being excited to play Pokemon, my stomach was in knots. I panicked, because my immediate thought was, “I’m gonna get sick and have to go home.” My grandpa decided he wanted pancakes from Denny’s, so we made the trek back there in even colder weather than the previous night. After I had a fourth of a pancake and half a glass of Coke, I really felt sick to my stomach. After he was done eating, we made the drive to the event park. It was really, really cold. Seriously, if I had been out there for another 30 seconds, I think my hands would have been frostbitten. Anyway, I got there, registered (finding out I didn’t need a team sheet after I spent 10 minutes filling one out that morning), and ran into a friend, Tyler, who I had met at a Premier Challenge. We talked for a bit and then he left to get some breakfast. My grandpa also decided to head to the gas station down the road and hang out for a while, so I had nothing to do.

While I was sitting at a table filling out some notes, I noticed a kid who looked like he was bored sitting at the table next to me. I decided to go over and talk to him. I found out he was using a team with Sandslash, and his goal was to go 1-6 and have fun while doing it. While I was talking to him, my stomach finally gave up. I went to the bathroom and vomited. After I was done, I talked to Sandslash guy for a few minutes before the players’ meeting was called.

Round 1: vs. Andrea

This match was nothing to write home about. She used a team with three starters, and the combination of Hydreigon and Landorus-T knocked out all of her Pokemon in three turns.

1-0

Round 2: vs. Logan Honts

Logan was the son of the tournament organizer, and I had seen him at both of the Premier Challenges I attended (he top cut both). I remembered that he had brought a Magnezone to the Salem PC, and I saw it again in team preview. I noticed that Hydreigon and Landorus-T could tear his team apart, and I added Heatran in the back as he had a major Fire-type weakness. The battle was fairly uneventful; despite an early Fire Blast miss by Hydreigon, Heatran was able to easily finish off his team after Cresselia set up Sunny Day.

2-0

Round 3: vs. Lyndon Rees (Crys)

Although I heard Lyndon drop some trash talk before the match, this game ended up being a fairly simple win. I noticed that if I could get rid of his Steel-types, Sylveon could easily take out everything else with Hyper Voice. I don’t remember this match too well, but I recall Mega Kangaskhan picking up several cleanup knockouts with Sucker Punch.

3-0

Lunch break was after round three. I wasn’t planning on eating anything, but my grandpa brought me some Pepto-Bismol and ginger ale, which really helped out. I relaxed and prepared for the rest of the Swiss rounds.

Round 4: vs. Michael Skipper

I thought that my opponent was Sir Chicken at first (his first name is also Michael), but this Michael never showed up, so I got a free win.

4-0

At this point, I was feeling good both physically and mentally, as I knew that I only had to win 2 out 3 of my next rounds.

Round 5

At this point, there were only roughly seven undefeated players remaining, and I socialized with them before the match. I was feeling much better by now. My opponent had competed at the Raleigh PC, and he had a threatening sand team with Mega Garchomp. I don’t remember too much about this game, but I recall his Mega Garchomp in sand facing down my half health Sylveon and Kangaskhan near the end of the game. After he knocked out Sylveon, however, I noticed I still had Landorus-T in the back, and it was a fairly easy win from there.

5-0

Round 6: vs. Rebecca

Rebecca and I had some unfinished business from Raleigh, where I had lost to her sun team in round one and beaten her in top right. We were 2-2 overall, which made this match an unofficial tiebreaker. She had a really cool team this time, with Thundurus, Mega Swampert, and Conkeldurr. However, Sylveon and Kangaskhan cut through her team fairly easily, and I took a quick win. We both had a lot of fun this round, as we talked back and forth during the match.

6-0

I ran over to my grandpa and told him that I made top cut, and he congratulated me. I made cut at my first regional!

Round 7: vs. Joshua

This was my favorite match of the entire day. It wasn’t a great match in terms of the game itself, but since we were both guaranteed top cut, we just talked and laughed the whole game. He had a pretty cool team with Mega Charizard X, a fairly rare Pokemon. One really cool play I remember is that he chose to delay Mega Evolving his Charizard for a turn in order to dodge Heatran’s Earth Power. Even with that play, he couldn’t really stop the combination of Kangaskhan and Landorus-T, and I cruised to a win.

7-0

I honestly couldn’t believe it. After an incredibly rocky start (I still had a drop of vomit on my jeans), I had gone undefeated at my first regional! I called home to my mom, grandma, and dad to tell them how the Swiss rounds went, and then talked to Tyler and Sandslash guy until they left.

Top Cut

After a brief hack check, I talked with the other top cut players and got cool hats with Hoenn starter designs. I got a Mudkip hat! My top eight opponent was Mark Garas, who I had never heard of before.

Top 8

Game 1

In Team Preview, I was strongly reminded of Aaron Zheng’s Fall Regionals team, which also had Gothitelle and Mawile. I went for the tried and true Kangaskhan and Hydreigon lead, while bringing Landorus-T and Sylveon in the back for their damage output. He led Swampert and Gothitelle, preventing me from switching. I went for a huge prediction on the first turn, using Fire Blast on the Swampert slot (expecting a Mawile switchin), but it didn’t work out. Trick Room went up, and Mega Mawile tore through my team.

0-1

Game 2

For the second game, I decided to lead with Hydreigon and Sylveon, as I knew I could beat anything he led with as long as I predicted correctly. He led with Gothitelle and Swampert again, and I successfully predicted the Wide Guard, knocking out Gothitelle on turn one with Dark Pulse and Shadow Ball. With no Trick Room available, his other Pokemon quickly fainted at the hands of mine. I was confident about the match again.

1-1

Game 3

All the marbles were on the line for this game: 20 Championship Points, a trophy, and ~$100 in TCG packs. I can’t really remember this match well, but I recall Sylveon picking up several KOs with its single target moves, circumventing his Wide Guard-spamming Swampert.

2-1

Top 4

The judge announced “Joseph versus Michael” and my heart sank. I knew I didn’t have a shot of beating one of the top three Seniors this year (in my opinion), and that’s exactly what happened. I got demolished in both games, and all I remember is wishing him good luck in the finals.

On the bright side, I skyrocketed to top 60 in Championship Points, picked up a nice trophy and some cards, and went undefeated in Swiss! Although I played three people who made top cut during the Swiss rounds, I can’t help but feel I had a relatively easy schedule, especially with a free win in round four. My goal is now to qualify for the World Championships in August, and I’m looking forward to playing in the Georgia Regional this spring!

Props

• Going 7-0!
• Winning a trophy
• Meeting Michael and Sandslash guy
• Having a great time
• My grandpa being awesome!
• Landorus-Therian
• Sylveon doing something in every game

Slops

• Denny’s
• Stomachache caused by food at Denny’s
• Walking to Denny’s in cold weather for a terrible sandwich
• The waitress at Denny’s taking forever with our food
• Denny’s not having Dr. Pepper
• Imagine Dragons for not releasing their album before the road trip

The post Blame It On Denny’s: A 3rd Place Virginia Seniors Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, my name is Conan Thompson, and I recently placed 1st at the Oregon Regional. Going into it, I was a bit nervous since I had a pretty bad finish at the San Jose regionals earlier in the season and I was not feeling very confident with this format. Thankfully, I was able to finish much better than I expected, so I would like to share the team I used at the event.

Team-Building Process:

What I started with was a team used by a top Japanese player on battle spot (I do not know how to contact him/her though). I really liked this team at first glance, so I wanted to try it out.

This team has 4/6 members of my final team. The reason I ended up not using this exact team was because I was not having as much success with it as I wanted. This made me want to go back to the mega I had on my previous team, which was Mega Salamence. I thought Mega Salamence had good synergy with the Weavile Terrakion core, since Fake Out from Weavile would help Salamence set up Dragon Dances. I also wanted to keep Aegislash because it is one of the best Wide Guard users and Wide Guard support would be great for guarding Salamence from Rock Slides  and Terrakion from Earthquakes. I then built off of this core of 4 Pokemon. I was set on the last 2 being Thundurus and Mega Venusaur for a while, but the double Mega option wasn’t working out as well as I wanted. A lot of the times, when I brought Mega Venusuar, Mega Salamence would have helped out a lot as well. The day before regionals there was a Premier Challenge at the same venue and I saw a number of cool teams with Cresselia. Cresselia was a Pokemon I’ve almost never used before since I never played in 2013, but I decided to give it a shot since I still thought it would be better than what I previously had.

The Team:

Analysis:

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate / Aerilate
EVs: 76 HP / 244 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Double-Edge
– Dragon Dance
– Roost
– Protect

Salamence was my mega and I think it is one of the best ones. Double Edge was my only attack and I felt it was the only important one. Dragon Dance was used to boost Attack when I wanted more power or neutralize an intimidate drop. It also boosts my speed, which was useful against Scarfed Pokemon and Pokemon with weather speed boosts, such as Venusaur. Roost was an idea I got from Bopper. It let me easily heal up on incoming rock and electric type moves if I was faster and even take an ice type move decently well. Roost also allowed me to get off more Double Edges before fainting or dropping too low from recoil.

The EV spread is not very complicated: enough speed to outspeed max Speed Landorus-T before Mega Evolving, which helped scout for Choice Scarf (if my Intimidate went before theirs, it’s not scarfed, if theirs went before mine, they were scarfed). 244 and 252 Attack made no differences in my calcs and the rest went into HP. Recently, most Dragon Dance Mega Salamence have run more bulkier spreads without max Attack and with a non-recoil move. The reason I chose to go with near max Attack and Double-Edge was so that I can get KOs without having to set up a Dragon Dance first.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Protect
– Earthquake

Terrakion was part of the main core of the team. The first three moves are pretty standard. I considered a variety of moves for the last slot, including Double Kick, Stone Edge, Quick Guard, and Taunt, but I chose Earthquake because it gave me another coverage attack, which is very helpful when you’re at +2 or +4 Attack and facing a Pokemon, like Aegislash, that resist both your STABS. It’s also handy against something like Heatran with redirection support. The EV spread is the standard max Atk/Spd spread.

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Icicle Crash
– Beat Up
– Low Kick
– Fake Out

Weavile is a Pokemon that I’ve really started to appreciate in this format. Not only was it great at supporting other team members, it also has very useful coverage. Of course, the main purpose of Weavile was Beat Up. Beat Up was mainly used to boost my own Terrakion’s Attack thanks to Terrakion’s ability Justified. Beat Up also had about the same power as an unboosted Knock Off at 65 Base Power and, since it hit 4 times, it lets me OHKO Gengar through their Focus Sash, which is usually unexpected. It also does good damage to Pokemon that are weak to it, such as other ghosts and psychic types, provided that I still have 4 healthy Pokemon. Icicle Crash was my choice for a STAB Ice type attack because it is the strongest one, letting me get KOs on Pokemon like Landorus-T, even after an Intimidate.

Fake Out support is always appreciated by the other team members and Weavile, having a high speed stat, can reliably Fake Out Kangaskhan and other Fake Out users. Finally, I chose Low Kick over other moves like Knock Off and Ice Shard because the coverage was important. With Low Kick, I was able to lead Salamence Weavile safely vs. teams with Bisharp. Even if Bisharp gets the Defiant boost, I can outspeed and OHKO it while Dragon Dancing with Salamence to avoid a Sucker Punch. I can also Fake Out Bisharp first if I suspect a Focus Sash. Low Kick also hits for good damage on opposing Terrakion and Kangaskhan. The ability Pressure rarely becomes a factor, but can be used to scout for Choice Scarf on a Landorus-T the same way that Salamence’s Intimidate would. The EV spread is max Atk/Spd since bulk was not needed.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Wide Guard
– Flash Cannon
– King’s Shield

This is a completely standard Aegislash, so there is not much to say about the moveset. Wide Guard support was great for this team, mainly helping to block Earthquakes and Rock Slides. I chose not run minimum speed on this Aegislash so that I can outspeed most other Aegislash. A Shadow Ball from Aegislash with Helping Hand support from Cresselia will often get an OHKO against opposing Aegislash. I also had the option of activating my own Weakness Policy with a weak Beat Up from Weavile or an unboosted Earthquake from Terrakion, which doesn’t do too much damage unboosted.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 132 SpD / 44 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Taunt
– Swagger
– Thunder Wave

Thundurus was one of the last additions to the team. I knew I wanted some form of speed control and Thundurus, with its priority Thunderwave, was what I chose. Thundurus was also my main solution to redirection, Trick Room, and other status moves thanks to Taunt. Thunderbolt is standard and I choose to run the one and only Swagger over something like Hidden Power Ice mainly because, like Weaviles’s Beat Up, it could also boost Terrakion’s Attack. Terrakion would avoid the confusion thanks to its Lum berry. Of course, that was not the only reason to use Swagger.I can also use it to lessen the chance of my opponents’ Pokemon acting. Swagger did become a major factor in one tournament match, causing my opponent’s Pokemon to hit itself on a crucial turn, and it gave me an advantage in many other matches. In other words, Swagger is god. The EV spread primarily maximizes bulk, with the 44 speed EVs there to outspeed positive nature base 70s. I chose a Calm Thundurus over a Bold one because I think tanking special hits makes a bigger difference on this team, since I have no way to reduce special damage, while I have intimidate to reduce physical damage and Wide Guard to stop Rock Slides.

Cresselia (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP / 172 Def / 4 SpA / 92 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
– Psychic
– Helping Hand
– Icy Wind
– Moonlight

Because Cresselia was a last second change, I didn’t have time to make my own EV spread. Instead, I found one in a Nugget Bridge report. The spread was from Level 51‘s recent report, so big thanks to him. I chose Rocky Helmet as the item for Cresselia because I thought it would be more useful than any other item, due to how it chips away the HP of physical attackers, especially Kangaskhan. For the move set, I chose Psychic over Psyshock because most Pokemon weak to it are usually more physically defensive. I definitely wanted Helping Hand on this set, because giving a boost to some other members of the team sounded like a really good idea. Icy Wind was an alternate speed control option and it was good against Landorus, which was immune to Thunderwave. Moonlight pairs well with Rocky Helmet, as recovery allowed Cresselia to stay around much longer. Overall, I think the decision of Cresselia over Venusaur did turn out to be better for the team, so I’m happy with the decision.

Conclusion:

Overall, I am very satisfied with this team and the tournament was lots of fun as well. Unfortunately, I don’t remember many of my matches and opponents in swiss, so I couldn’t go over all the matches I had. Thanks for reading, and I hope this was enjoyable!

The post Beating Up Oregon: A 1st Place Regionals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello, everybody! I am Joe Nunziata (JoeDaPr0), and I recently conquered the Senior Division of the 2015 St. Charles, Missouri Winter Regional without a single loss. I’ve been playing Pokémon competitively for about one year, and until this point hadn’t done anything spectacular outside of getting CP in local Premier Challenges. You can say I’m pretty new to the competitive scene. However, this article isn’t about how I’ve been a poor player prior to this, so let’s dive straight into the Regional. I would say St. Charles was a fairly challenging Regional in terms of the Senior Division. A few players who had gone to Worlds before were in attendance; however, the number of competitors was somewhere around 50, which isn’t the best for a Regional. Some of the notable attendees included Ian M. (raikoo), Brendan Z. (Babbytron), Darrin C. (Ninten678), Jacob W. (ThankSwalot), and Beau Berg (Oreios), and none of those players would be horsing around.

The Team

Chesnaught @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 224 HP / 60 Atk / 44 Def / 180 SpD
Sassy Nature
– Super Fang
– Feint
– Helping Hand
– Low Kick

One member of the core for this team was Chesnaught. I decided to use Chesnaught because of its Fighting type and it’s physical bulk, both of which would come in handy against Mega Kangaskhan, the most dominant Pokémon in the VGC 2015 format. I originally used a pretty bad Chesnaught set, holding a Big Root while using Leech Seed and Drain Punch, but it ended up being dead weight on the team. I scrolled through its movepool and tried out a supportive Chesnaught, which ended up working fantastically. The new Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire tutor moves, including moves such as Super Fang and Helping Hand, really helped Chesnaught out. I found that Drain Punch wasn’t doing enough damage to opponents, so I replaced it with Low Kick. This allowed me to KO Mega Kangaskhan from around 60% HP. Feint is a great support move in general, especially on this kind of team, because if I knew that something was a threat and it was staying on the field, I’d just use Feint to guarantee a KO or at least some additional damage. The Bulletproof Ability isn’t the best, but it does give an immunity to Sludge Bomb, which was actually used twice on it from opposing Mega Venusaur.

Damage Calculations:

252+ SpA Life Orb Heatran Heat Wave vs. 224 HP / 180+ SpD Chesnaught: 159-190 (83.2 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

• This wasn’t a very crucial attack to survive, but being able to survive this attack helped Chesnaught survive other powerful Special attacks that weren’t x4 Super Effective

252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Icicle Crash vs. 224 HP / 44 Def Chesnaught: 172-203 (90 – 106.2%) — 25% chance to OHKO

• A 75% chance  to survive this attack is better than a 0% chance. Guaranteeing survival took a bit too much investment, but I figured a 25% chance to OHKO was basically the same as landing a Sheer Cold

Heatran @ Life Orb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA Modest Nature
– Flash Cannon
– Heat Wave
– Earth Power
– Protect

I’m not going to lie, I wish I could’ve optimized this spread a bit more. It did its job for this tournament, I suppose. Heatran had pretty good defensive synergy with Chesnaught, outside of its Fighting-type weakness. I decided not to go with Substitute/Leftovers variant of Heatran because I felt as though I really needed to deal significant damage to opposing Sylveon with Flash Cannon. Earth Power was essential for dealing with opposing Heatran. Heatran was pretty good for switching into Will-O-Wisps, and I used it as Terrakion bait, which I will explain later. Heatran also ended up being one of my Trick Room powerhouses that could really put a dent into teams that weren’t prepared for it. All around, Heatran was just a great addition to the team.

Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 236 HP / 172 Def / 4 SpA / 92 SpD Bold Nature
– Ice Beam
– Skill Swap
– Psychic
– Trick Room

I took a good look at Heatran and Chesnaught, and realized that both Pokémon were pretty slow. In addition, neither had a way to hit Landorus-Therian or Thundurus-Incarnate Super Effectively. Cresselia looked like a natural choice to support my first two Pokémon, and it ended up being a workhorse. I decided to use Rocky Helmet as my item as a check to the physical side of the metagame. Cresselia synergized well with Heatran due to it being able to Skill Swap Levitate onto Heatran. Trick Room gave me a Speed Control option just in case I felt the opposing team was too fast, or if the opponent had Trick Room themselves. Ice Beam was pretty mandatory to threaten Landorus-Therian, and Psychic helped me deal with troublesome Poison types.

Damage Calculations

252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 236 HP / 172+ Def Cresselia: 94-112 (41.4 – 49.3%) — guaranteed 3HKO

• The reason I calc’d for Return as opposed to Double-Edge was because Mega Kangaskhan was going to be taking so much recoil after attacking that it might knock itself out, or merely rely on using Sucker Punch. I figured at least if I ran into its next best option, Return, I’d still be in a good position.

+2 0 SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 236 HP / 92 SpD Cresselia: 188-224 (83.5 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO

• I figured if Aegislash was going to use the VGC 2014 standard Sassy spread with 252 HP / 252 SpDef / 4Def, it wouldn’t be able to get an easy knockout on Cresselia.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe Adamant Nature
– Dragon Dance
– Double-Edge
– Protect
– Rock Slide

Mega Salamence is just a fantastic Pokémon. Its versatility allowed me to have a speedy option outside of Trick Room, as well as providing sweeping potential with Dragon Dance. The main reason I added Mega Salamence instead of Mega Kangaskhan was because Amoonguss is a great threat to any Trick Room Team, and being able to remove it quickly was pretty nice. Double-Edge also took care of Conkeldurr, which was another threat to this team. I decided to use a simple EV spread just because there wasn’t a need for anything else. I needed maximum power in order to do at least 60-70% damage to anything that didn’t resist Double-Edge. If there was anything I could change, it would have to be Dragon Dance, since I never found the opportunity to set up during this tournament. I would probably change it out for Draco Meteor so it can get KOs on opposing Mega Salamence, of which I saw quite a few. Rock Slide was chosen for dealing with Mega Charizard-Y, and for a possible way to climb out of a game with that flinch chance.

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

Yeah, yeah, it’s Angel M. (MikotoMisaka)’s exact same Swampert. It worked beautifully on the team though, since it managed to get unexpected KOs against Landorus-T, Mega Mawile, and other threats. Wide Guard was what set it apart from Rotom-Wash, since it helped out against opposing Heat Waves and Hyper Voices. All in all, it was a brilliant addition to the team.

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe Timid Nature
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Snarl
– Thunderbolt
– Extrasensory

I felt like I needed something to deal with Mega Charizard-Y, specifically something that could outspeed and KO it without having to Protect and Mega Evolve on the first turn. I also needed a reliable way to deal with Suicune that wasn’t Choice Specs Thundurus-Therian (and yes, I did try that). Snarl was a really clutch move that allowed me to win a few games by surviving an attack that would otherwise KO my Pokémon, and then KOing the attacker. I didn’t want to replace the Life Orb on Heatran since it was a pretty crucial item, and being locked into Snarl generally isn’t the best of ideas, so I went with an Assault Vest as my item to have maximum Special bulk. The Assault Vest helped Raikou survive common Special Attacks such as Draco Meteor, Hyper Voice, and Overheat. Some may question why I decided to use Extrasensory in the last moveslot instead of Volt Switch or another option. I used it to get 2HKOs and 3HKOs on Pokémon like Mega Venusaur, which was popularized after Aaron Z. (Cybertron) won Apex 2015 with it. Using a simple spread was good enough for me since Raikou’s Speed, power, and bulk seemed to catch opponents off guard — just what every Pokémon wants.

Playstyle

The team primarily worked by leading with a supporter, such as Chesnaught or Cresselia, alongside a Pokémon with offensive pressure, such as Heatran, Mega Salamence, Raikou, or sometimes Swampert. Swampert could function as either role, depending on the opponent’s team. If I felt the opponent’s team was fast and offensive, I’d use Cresselia to set up Trick Room and wall things to the bitter end. If the team looked quite defensive, I would use Chesnaught to chip away at their walls with Super Fang and break any potential Protects with Feint, while also being able to support my offensive threats with Helping Hand. I had mentioned that Heatran would be used as “Terrakion Bait”. This meant that I would use Heatran in a best-of-three match to get rid of the things that don’t like Heatran, forcing my opponent to bring Terrakion to game two. Terrakion only really hits Heatran hard, and can at most deal decent chip damage to Mega Salamence.

Leads

Probably my main lead of the tournament. It doesn’t necessarily fit my team’s playstyle; however, this was my main lead against Sylveon, Charizard-Y, and Ice-types. It is just one of those leads that will work in most situations. The next couple of leads are a bit more descriptive on how they functioned.

I normally used this lead when facing opposing Grass-types or the Mega Charizard-Y/Venusaur with Chlorophyll combo. The basic idea was to use Feint on said Grass-type or Mega Charizard-Y, and then attack with Salamence using a strong Double-Edge or Rock Slide. Chesnaught could also Super Fang bulky Pokémon such as Suicune or Cresselia, letting me pick up a KO the following turn with Mega Salamence. Helping Hand was an option that wasn’t used too much, but, if needed, a Helping Hand boosted Double-Edge could easily KO most Sylveon, considering almost all of them run Choice Specs without Protect.

Here, Mega Salamence would function as a big damage dealer and scare off threats such as Amoonguss in order for Cresselia to set up Trick Room. I would use this combination if I felt my opponent had Trick Room themselves, so I could reverse their Trick Room with Cresselia. My back two would normally be Swampert and Heatran, both of which function well in Trick Room. I would rarely bring Raikou in the back, and never Chesnaught. I only brought Raikou once with this, and it worked well as a late-game post Trick Room sweeper.

Threats

Hydreigon has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, many of which gave me problems. To start with, Hydreigon can deal a lot of damage to Cresselia especially if it’s Life Orb or Choice Specs boosted. Chesnaught can’t get the KO with Low Kick, but it can survive basically every attack from the current metagame’s Hydreigon. Heatran always has the possibility of being wiped off the field by Earth Power, which is never good. Salamence can be felled by Draco Meteor from Scarf Hydreigon. Swampert couldn’t hit Hydreigon that hard with Ice Beam, even with a Helping Hand boost. Raikou could take powerful attacks such as Draco Meteors and Earth Powers all day, but could only 3HKO Hydreigon with Hidden Power Ice. It’s a good thing that I didn’t see any Hydreigon in this tournament, but this weakness is something to note in the future.

I understand that Cresselia isn’t normally an offensive threat, but I literally have no attacks that can hit it Super Effectively besides Snarl. Super Fang from Chesnaught can help me KO it with a Mega-Salamence Double-Edge, but that’s a lot of setup just to KO one Pokémon. If you factor in that Cresselia can set up Trick Room in the meantime and then fire off an Ice Beam, I couldn’t count on Mega Salamence to KO it. It’s quite ironic that my favorite Pokémon to use in this metagame is the bane of my existence.

Since Chesnaught does not carry a Grass-type attack, I cannot hit this bulky monster Super Effectively. Cresselia in theory can handle it, as Cresselia can basically wall Rotom with its pure bulk and chip away at it with Psychic. Raikou was one of my only answers to Rotom-Wash, as it can 4HKO it with Thunderbolt after Sitrus Berry activates. If it doesn’t carry Sitrus Berry, then it’s a 3HKO. Rotom-Wash just walls my entire team, though it only threatened to OHKO Heatran. Will-o-Wisp was also annoying to deal with, even though my only Physical attacker was Mega Salamence. Swampert could fish for a burn with Scald, but that was not my best option against Rotom.

Top Cut

Top 8 vs. Ian M. (raikoo)

    ? ?

Ian and I played in Swiss, which made me a bit nervous to face him in Top Cut. I didn’t quite reveal all my tricks during that match, though, with the most notable exclusion being Chesnaught. I knew I wanted to use the spiky rodent in this match. He led Arcanine and Mega Venusaur as I led Chesnaught and Mega Salamence. I decided to Feint Mega Venusaur, breaking the Protect, and Double-Edge it with Mega Salamence. It didn’t quite pick up the KO, as Arcanine’s Intimidate had lowered my Attack stat. Ian decided to Will-O-Wisp my Chesnaught, but missed. I then decided to switch out Salamence for Heatran to avoid a Will-O-Wisp into that slot, as I Super Fanged the Arcanine expecting a switch. Ian actually used Sludge Bomb against Chesnaught, which it is immune to thanks to Bulletproof. I want to say I went for an Earth Power here, but I do know he went for Flare Blitz first in order to deal a pretty good chunk of damage to Chesnaught. After that part of the game, it was a few switches in and out with Heatran, Salamence, and his Bisharp, but I managed to win the game. He did miss a Sleep Powder during this set that could have cost him a game, but I can’t say for certain. Regardless, I was honored to play the #1 Senior in North America and Top 4 in the world, and did not expect to come out of this one with a win.

Top 4 vs. Jacob W. (Thank Swalot)

?

When playing this set, I was a bit puzzled, considering we had played in the sixth round of Swiss as the only two undefeated players. I had also run out of note paper right before this set, so I felt overwhelmed. Like the vast majority of sets in VGC go, there were pretty good plays from both sides. For example, he Close Combated Heatran with Terrakion when I predicted him to go for the safe Rock Slide. I felt pretty proud of a play I made in the last three turns of game two. Jacob knocked out Cresselia’s partner with Terrakion as Mega Salamence Double-Edged Cresselia, dealing half of its health. I set up Trick Room, knowing it would be a 1v2 with Cresselia. He made a misplay here, Protecting with both of his Pokémon as I Ice Beamed into the protecting Mega Salamence. Had he used Rock Slide with Terrakion, he could’ve won the game. The following turn, I knock out his dragon with Ice Beam as he uses Rock Slide, doing about 23% HP damage. One Psychic brings Jacob’s horse down to its Focus Sash as a Rock Slide brings Cresselia to red HP, and his Quick Attack the next turn secures me the win as Rocky Helmet KOs Terrakion.

Finals vs. Darrin C. (ninten678)

? ?

I had a pretty bad lead matchup in game one, as my Raikou and Swampert stared down a Landorus-T and Ludicolo. However, I was able to double switch into Cresselia and Salamence, knowing he had no reason to not Earthquake here. Suddenly, momentum was swung back in my favor. He made a pretty good switch into Bisharp as I Ice Beamed that slot with Cresselia, but I was able to knock out Ludicolo with Double-Edge. Knocking out Ludicolo this turn practically sealed the victory for me, as Swampert could clean up his last three Pokémon — Bisharp, Talonflame, and Landorus-T — with a little help from Raikou. It was interesting to note that he did not have a Mega-Evolution, which was somewhat odd considering it was the Finals match. However, a Mega isn’t necessary to succeed, and I’ve got to give him credit for snagging that runner-up glass brick thing without a Mega.

Seniors Metagame

This is based on what I faced at the St. Charles Regional Championship, as well as what I’ve heard from others.

Megas

Mega Venusaur is used with either the Leech Seed/Protect set, or rarely Sleep Powder/Synthesis. It’s a bulky Mega evolution that is pretty annoying to deal with if you do not have the correct Pokémon to handle it. In fact, I would say you lose immediately if you cannot 2HKO or 3HKO it. Mega Salamence can be used with Dragon Dance or Roost, while other Mega Salamence opt for Draco Meteor and another coverage move. I didn’t see any Mega Kangaskhan during this event, which surprised me, but it’s definitely something to look out for.

Other Pokémon

Terrakion or Bisharp were on nearly every team I had faced, and for good reason. Terrakion can shut down most Mega Kangaskhans by outspeeding with a Jolly nature and picking up a KO with Close Combat. Bisharp mostly runs Life Orb, which can be a huge threat to any Trick Room team, as nearly every Trick Room setter get’s KOed by Bisharp. It was also good all around because it can outspeed and Iron Head Choice Specs Sylveon for the KO. Thundurus-Incarnate forme is pretty standard to see with Taunt, Thunder Wave, Thunderbolt, and Hidden Power Ice. It’s probably the best Prankster abuser in the game, as it can just slow down any non-Ground or Electric-types while Taunting support Pokémon like Cresselia. Landorus-Therian is basically like Garchomp from VGC 2014: fast and powerful with a 4x weakness to Ice. Landorus outclasses Garchomp in that it has Intimidate while having more power behind its attacks thanks to the +10 points in attack. It can run a variety of items as well such as Choice Scarf, Choice Band, Life Orb, Focus Sash, and Assault Vest. Heatran is pretty good, as it is bulky and synergizes well with other common Pokémon due to its unique typing and the ability to use Substitute effectively. Shuca Berry Heatran is OK, but I prefer Chople Berry in this meta if you don’t want to run Leftovers or Life Orb, as Terrakion is just so common.

Credits

• Thanks to TwiddleDee for giving me the Cresselia.
• Thanks to MissingNol for giving me the Raikou and helping me teambuild.
• Thanks to mellowVGC for giving me the Chesnaught.
• Thanks to GreenIrokex for giving me the Heatran and the Swampert.

The post Chesnaught Expecting This: A Senior Champion Team Report from Missouri appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hello everyone, and thank you for taking the time to read my report.  My name is Dylan Robison, and I go by DylanxArsenal. I want to give you some of my impressions on my first tournament. I attended the Winter Regionals in Lancaster, California, which was held on February 15. There were 260 Masters, including some extremely talented players, so it was definitely a tough tournament.

Teambuilding Process

I knew I wanted to bring a weather team, as I feel that weather is strong in every format; allowing one player free control of the weather is a huge advantage. I decided to use my favorite weather, rain, as Politoed and Ludicolo were incredibly strong. After testing on Battle Spot, I noticed that Bisharp was a good answer to nearly every common Pokémon in the format. It also provided a very good check to Intimidate and Fairy-types. I realized that Terrakion would be an issue. Naturally, I thought “Cresselia!” However, Cresselia didn’t quite have the offensive presence I wanted, but with an offensive set, it did enough. Afterwards, I needed a Mega Evolution, so I picked Mega Gardevoir and Pachirisu. (I wasn’t really on the Pachirisu hype train, but I needed redirection, and it was the best choice.)

The team ran into a couple of issues: it lacked Taunt, and Cresselia’s Moonlight clashed with rain. I decided to change things up and run sun instead, with Charizard, Mamoswine, Bisharp, and Cresselia. Thundurus patched the Taunt issue up, and I was lucky enough to obtain a shiny Thundurus on my fourth reset. For my last Pokémon, I added Gastrodon to patch up the team’s weaknesses to Water-type moves.

The team worked well, but it struggled against the increasingly common Tailwind. I was upset about not being able to form a consistent team, so I reverted back to rain and started over. After adding Thundurus to my original four, I still had no Mega Evolution. I struggled to find one, as adding nearly anything messed up the team’s defensive synergy. Then it hit me: Kangaskhan. It had the right balance of power and bulk, and even though I knew many players would heavily prepare for it, Kangaskhan was merely a bonus to an already balanced team. Here’s the final team I decided to bring:

The Team

Twinkle (Politoed) @ Choice Scarf
Drizzle | Modest
252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
– Scald
– Focus Blast
– Ice Beam
– Rain Dance

I opted for a simple EV spread, as I thought maximum Speed would be very important with Mega Salamence running amok. It worked out, as Politoed was able to knock out two Mega Salamence during the tournament with Ice Beam. Focus Blast gave me a way to beat Ferrothorn, which this team struggles with; although I did not run into any Ferrothorn, it was still nice to have the move just in case.

Icingdeath (Ludicolo) @ Assault Vest
Swift Swim | Modest
76 HP / 236 SpA / 196 Spe
– Fake Out
– Giga Drain
– Scald
– Ice Beam

This is Alex Ogloza’s (Evan Falco’s) Ludicolo, and there isn’t much to say about it. Ludicolo provided Fake Out support and dealt consistent damage, especially when in rain. Its excellent coverage proved to be very useful.

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Defiant | Adamant
252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Knock Off
– Protect

This is a pretty standard Bisharp set. I chose Knock Off over Assurance for its utility, as well as its ability to deal massive damage to Cresselia. Life Orb gave me more switching freedom than Focus Sash, and allowed Bisharp to OHKO most Sylveon with Iron Head.

Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet
Levitate | Modest
252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
– Icy Wind
– Psychic
– Light Screen
– Moonlight

Cresselia was my MVP. As I mentioned earlier, I disliked that Cresselia typically lacked offensive pressure. By heavily investing in Special Attack, I turned it into a tank that could dish out a lot of damage. I knew that doing so would sacrifice some of its famous bulk, so I added Rocky Helmet and Light Screen to help mitigate that tradeoff. Moonlight, despite the rain, was an excellent way to restore HP; it required some tricky play to avoid a reduced heal, but I made it work. Icy Wind was a great move, as it dealt heavy damage to Mega Salamence and could punish Taunts directed at Cresselia. Psychic dealt solid STAB damage, and hit threats such as Terrakion, Gengar, and Mega Venusaur very hard.

DatTail (Thundurus) @ Sitrus Berry
Prankster | Calm
244 HP / 108 Def / 64 SpA / 72 SpD / 20 Spe
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt
– Swagger

Thundurus gave me a little bit of everything: Speed control, Taunt, and when I needed it, Swagger (which was somewhat hit or miss). It was an incredibly versatile Pokémon, and gave me numerous options. I pulled the EV spread off a Smogon Doubles analysis, and even though it was suboptimal, it got the job done.

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Scrappy / Parental Bond | Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Sucker Punch
– Double-Edge
– Low Kick
– Facade

I decided to run Adamant Mega Kangaskhan, as I had significant Speed control in the form of Icy Wind and Thunder Wave. Additionally, an Adamant nature gave Kangaskhan a better shot of winning the mirror, even against Jolly variants. I chose to forgo Fake Out, as I thought most opponents would see it coming and easily avoid it. This allowed Kangaskhan to be more offensive, throwing out powerful moves even on turn one. I made a last minute decision to use Facade, expecting heavy Will-O-Wisp usage. This didn’t quite work out, as Kangaskhan was only burned once (when Facade was already revealed). Looking back, I should have run Protect.

The Tournament

Round 1 vs. Louis

He brought:

I brought:

This was a pretty close game. Early on, his Terrakion knocked out Ludicolo with a critical hit Rock Slide, but Kangaskhan answered right back by knocking out Terrakion through its Chople Berry with a critical hit Low Kick. Later, Cresselia picked up a clutch knockout on Mega Salamence with Icy Wind, which sealed the game. Great game, Louis.

1-0

Round 2 vs. Nawraz Bashir (knawraz)

He brought:

I brought:

I don’t have extensive notes for this game, but I do remember most of it. This was a back and forth game; we traded damage throughout. Cresselia was extremely important here, as it was able to deal heavy damage to his Mega Venusaur. There was a key turn where he misclicked Flash Cannon instead of Shadow Ball with Aegislash, causing it to fail to knock out Politoed. Afterwards, Kangaskhan was able to clean up the rest of his team. Good game knawraz, and congratulations on your top eight finish!

2-0

Round 3 vs. Doran

He brought:

I brought:

A fairly simple game. On turn two, he decided to use Swagger on my Bisharp, but it was able to break through confusion twice and pick up two quick KOs as a result. This was one of my better games on the day.

3-0

Round 4 vs. Brandon Dickerson

He brought:

I brought:

I don’t have many notes on this game, but I got bodied pretty hard. Even though I had the better lead matchup, I threw it away by using Swagger on Gastrodon turn one… which switched to Metagross. I attempted to paralyze him to improve my chances, but Metagross was able to break through paralysis and confusion three times to pick up three knockouts. Luck was not on my side this game.

3-1

Round 5 vs. Daniel Berumen

He brought:

I brought:

I led with Thundurus as he had Amoonguss, Gothitelle, and Sableye. I was able to quickly neutralize his Amoonguss with Taunt and knock out Greninja with a Thunderbolt. Sableye was shut down by Thundurus, and Cresselia took out his Mega Salamence with an Icy Wind to quickly end the game.

4-1

Round 6 vs. Chris Hernandez

He brought:

I brought:

I noticed that his team was rather weak to rain, so I decided to lead with it here. My rain mode quickly knocked out Latios and Volcarona, but went down to his Choice Scarf Landorus-Therian. Nevertheless, my Bisharp and Kangaskhan were able to clean up for a quick win. Great to see you again after UCI, Chris!

5-1

Round 7 vs. Jobany

He brought:

I brought:

I pretty much got destroyed here. Although the lead matchup seemed decent, I completely mispredicted turn one and allowed Tailwind to go up. Afterwards, he outpredicted me every turn and quickly took out all of my Pokémon. The 3-0 defeat really taught me a lesson, but I’ll discuss that later.

5-2

Round 8 vs. Aaron

He brought:

I brought:

We both needed to win to have a chance at top cut, so this was a very intense game. Before the game, I shook his hand and told him, “Look, we both played really well today.  Only one of us will go 6-2 and have a chance at top cut.  At this point we should both be proud of ourselves and enjoy this match; congrats on making it this far, good luck if you make it to top cut!”

The game started off well, as I was able to knock out his Kangaskhan on turn one (his Kangaskhan had Inner Focus, so he attempted to make a play off that). However, a critical hit Hyper Voice from Sylveon knocked out my Ludicolo on turn two, which set me back. Breloom was able to put two of my Pokémon to sleep, but Cresselia slept for only a single turn and scored two critical hits on his Zapdos with Icy Wind, allowing me to win the game with Bisharp. This was an intense match; I’m sorry we couldn’t both go through!

6-2

At this point, I eagerly awaited the final standings. I knew I had a chance to make top cut, and I had talked to many of the people I had played. Two of them were 6-2 and one was 7-1. They posted the rankings, and I had made 14th on resistance! Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) and Omari Travis (BadIntent) had bubbled out, two players who I thought had a good chance at winning the tournament. I felt bad for them, as I (and knawraz) had made top cut in our first regionals while they had not, but that’s Pokémon.

Top 16 vs. Jobany

After seeing I was paired with Jobany, I was actually kind of excited.  This was a chance at redemption for the crushing Swiss format defeat he inflicted on me.  I literally took 0 notes during this so my commentary might be a bit off, but its close enough.
Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

Game one went my way. I was worried about Tailwind, but I was able to knock out his Togekiss on turn two and knock out his Mega Salamence with Cresselia shortly afterwards. Politoed and Ludicolo made short work of his team after that. I was elated, as I had made top cut, avoided a 2-0 defeat, and taken revenge for my Swiss defeat!

1-0

Game 2

I don’t remember much of this game, but he outplayed me most of the match. I tried to throw him off with an arbitrary lead, but his Mega Salamence was able to cut through my defenses and win the game.

1-1

Game 3

1-2

Conclusion

All in all, what an event. I mainly want to stress how I prepared for the tournament: I spent roughly a month building this team, but that was only half the battle. I commented on one of Alex Ogloza’s YouTube videos, asking for advice for a first-time Regional attendee, and he replied:

“Showing up to your first tournament and top cutting an event would be incredible. If that’s what you’re looking for, my only advice would be “good luck”. But honestly, just go to have fun. You’re gonna get haxed at some point, and it’s probably gonna be pretty bad. Just remember that.”

Before and during the tournament, I constantly reminded myself to have fun. My goals were to have fun, meet new people, and get tournament experience. I definitely achieved all three, and as I told my girlfriend, top cut was the icing on the cake. That mindset took away so much pressure and allowed me to play confidently. Getting through unlucky games was the hardest part, and being able to is a key talent of the best players. I just want to repeat: PLAY POKÉMON TO HAVE FUN!

Big shout-out here to Jeremy (ClassyCobra), as he was basically my only friend during the whole tournament.  None of my friends play Pokémon, so I made the two hour journey to Lancaster alone (unless you count the cop that gave me a speeding ticket as a friend).  Thanks Jeremy! I’m sorry you bubbled, but you played amazing and you should take some pride in that 6-2 record for sure!

Quick shout-out to my girlfriend, who probably won’t read this, but she let me spend Valentine’s Day away from her (at least during the day) <3.

Next shout-out goes to Alex Ogloza, because his advice guided me to success at my first regionals.  I love watching his videos and his random Twitch streams… Also a shout-out to ShadyPenguin, as I learned a lot from his singles videos.  I don’t play singles, but his videos provide very useful general information.

Finally, thanks to the Nugget Bridge and Pokémon Showdown staff for everything they do!

The post My First Regionals: A Top 16 SoCal Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

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Since the cancellation of their Regional Championships in 2011, Pokémon players in Japan have had to deal with an online ladder-based tournament as their first step towards the Pokémon World Championships. This year will be no different as they play for 31 of the 32 spots available at Japan’s invite-only National Championships in the online 2015 Japan Cup. The final spot in the Masters Division will be determined in a different method to be announced at a future date. The top 32 Junior and Senior Division players in the Japan Cup will qualify for the National Championships with no other method of qualification announced at this time.

Players will only be able to play 10 battles a day over the four days the tournament will run for. It will begin at 9:00 AM on Friday, May 1st and end at 8:59 AM on Tuesday, May 4th. The Japan National Championships will be held on June 14th, 2015 at the Pacifico Yokohama Annex Hall.

We do not currently know the number of players from Japan who will qualify for the World Championships or how many of them will receive travel awards. The format of the National Championships has not been announced either. Last year, the qualified players played in a Round Robin stage separated into eight groups with the top player from each group moving onto a Single Elimination bracket. All games in both the group stages and elimination stage were best of one until the finals.

The post Japan’s Path to the 2015 Pokémon World Championships Announced appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Greetings, readers!

I’m Eugene Tan from Singapore, and this is a report on the Malaysia Asia Cup Qualifier that was held on 24th January 2015 at Kuala Lumpur. This team may be familiar to some of you, as it is very similar to the one I used at the 2013 Last Chance Qualifiers in Vancouver. Without further ado, let’s go into the team building!

Cresselia (Luna)@ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 216 HP / 60 Def / 36 SpA / 184 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
– Psychic
– Ice Beam
– Skill Swap
– Thunder Wave

Despite the introduction of hard hitters like Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Charizard X/Y, I believe Cresselia is still a great Pokemon in the current metagame. The moveset is the same as the one on my VGC 2013 Cresselia, except I switched Psyshock for Protect

The EV spread went through a massive overhaul. HP was placed at an even number to allow Cresselia to eat its Sitrus Berry immediately after getting hit by Super Fang. With that amount of EVs invested, Cresselia is capable of surviving Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Dark Pulse with over 50% health after Sitrus Berry recovery. It also survives a Life Orb Knock Off from Bisharp. The Speed EV allows Cresselia to outspeed my Heatran by 1 point, allowing me to Skill Swap Levitate onto Heatran so it can avoid Ground-type attacks. The remaining EVs are dumped into Sp. Attack to give Cresselia some offensive presence.

Important Notes on Skill Swap

As Wolfe Glick explained in his 2012 Worlds report, Skill Swap’s potential is nearly endless. In VGC 2015, Skill Swap’s viability stretched to a greater length, giving Cresselia the ability to steal useful abilities like Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan, Competitive from Milotic, Contrary from Serperior and Pixilate from Sylveon. After stealing Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan, I have the option to use Psychic and Ice Beam twice to double my chances of dropping an opponent’s Sp.Def and freezing them respectively. It may seem useless to steal Pixilate from Sylveon, but on many occasions it turned a potential OHKO into a 2HKO on my Pokemon that are weak to Fairy-type attacks. And don’t forget, Skill Swap is still capable of stealing older abilities like Intimidate and Storm Drain from other Pokemon to make Cresselia almost untouchable when battling against physical attackers and rain teams respectively.

Cresselia’s nickname was taken from a DotA hero called Luna Moonfang.

Heatran@ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Intended EVs: 244 HP / 148 Def / 44 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Actual EVs: 236 HP / 148 Def / 44 SpA / 12 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
– Protect
– Substitute
– Heat Wave
– Earth Power

Heatran fulfilled one of my team-building criteria of having a strong Fire-type attack. The moveset remains the same as the one on my VGC 2013 Heatran.

The EV spread was designed to allow Heatran to take a Close Combat from Infernape and still having enough HP to create a Substitute. That amount of bulk also allows Heatran’s Substitute to take two Rock Slides from an Adamant Landorus-T. 44 Sp. The Attack investment allows Heatran to 2HKO a Shield-forme Aegislash with 252 HP / 4 Sp.Def, and the remaining EVs were dumped into Speed.

However, I had to modify the EV spread on my in-game Heatran as it had 30 IVs in HP and 29 IVs in Sp.Def. The spread was change to give Heatran an odd number for its HP value to better take Super Fangs and to create more Substitutes.

Gastrodon@ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 68 SpA / 88 SpD
Bold Nature
– Muddy Water
– Earth Power
– Protect
– Recover

Once again, Gastrodon is there to help to cover up Heatran’s Water weakness with Storm Drain, while boosting its own Special Attack. My luck with Muddy Water’s secondary effect remains the same though it didn’t matter much in most of my tournament matches. There’s nothing much to say about Gastrodon.

The EV spread was designed to take an Adamant Mega Kangaskhan’s Double Edge. 68 Sp. Atk EVs allows Gastrodon to OHKO 252 HP / 4 Sp. Def Heatran with Earth Power. The leftovers were put into Special Defense.

Lopunny (Praline)@ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber —> Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Low Kick
– Protect
– Return

Mega Lopunny is the BEST counter to Mega Kangaskhan. Yes, the best of the best. Terrakion is commonly used to check Mega Kangaskhan, but there are three reasons to pick Mega Lopunny over Terrakion. The first is that she has access to Fake Out, Allowing her to beat Kangaskhan’s own Fake Out. Secondly, unlike Terrakion, Mega Lopunny has access to Scrappy, and thus Ghost-types cannot switch into its attacks in anticipation. Finally, unlike Terrakion, Mega Lopunny avoids speed tie risk when facing an opposing Terrakion thanks to her blazing Base 135 Speed after Mega Evolution. Low Kick was selected to deal with Mega Kangaskhan consistently. High Jump Kick is a no-go for me due to the risk of missing and taking 50% recoil damage upon missing. Here are some damage calculations for some of Mega Lopunny’s moves.

• 252 Atk Lopunny Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 176-210 (83 – 99%) — guaranteed 2HKO (guaranteed OHKO after Fake Out damage with lowest damage roll)
• 252 Atk Lopunny Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 176-210 (97.2 – 116%) — 81.3% chance to OHKO (guaranteed OHKO after Fake Out damage)
• 252 Atk Lopunny Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 204-240 (103 – 121.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 252 Atk Lopunny Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 102-120 (61 – 71.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 252 Atk Lopunny Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Gyarados: 170-204 (100 – 120%) — guaranteed OHKO
• The EV spread is just a generic 4/252/252 spread to maximize Mega Lopunny’s damage output and to outrun many Pokemon in the game.

Important Notes on Lopunny

During some practice matches, there were a few times where I didn’t Mega Evolve Lopunny to retain its Limber ability. This was to prevent paralysis from Thundurus-I’s Thunder Wave. In such situations, I would always eliminate Thundurus before Mega Evolving. Therefore, having Limber as an ability for her regular form was really useful and important to my game plan.

Lopunny’s nickname was taken from an annoying boss from the game Bravely Default, who wears a pair of bunny ears.

Granbull (Spike)@ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 76 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Super Fang
– Rock Slide
– Ice Punch

Granbull was selected to deal with opposing Conkeldurr, which Cresselia cannot counter consistently as most Conkeldurr hold Assault Vest these days. Granbull was the Pokemon that caught most players off guard because many players do not know what Granbull is capable of. With move tutors being re-introduced in ORAS, Granbull’s movepool expanded further with the elemental punches and Super Fang.

Play Rough is there for obvious reasons. Close Combat was replaced by Super Fang as Close Combat was never used in practice. Super Fang allows Granbull to cut the target’s HP in half, which gives me an option should Granbull be burned. With Intimidate and Super Fang, Granbull functions as a decent support Pokemon in my team. Having both Rock Slide and Ice Punch may seem iffy due to the mutual coverage between both moves, but the choice of which move to use is often dependent on the situation. Rock Slide deals with Talonflame while Ice Punch is used to threaten Landorus-T and other 4x Ice-weak Dragons.

Cresselia, Heatran and Gastrodon easily form the main core of my strategy. However, in certain situations, Granbull is there to provide Intimidate support to reduce damage from Fighting-type Pokemon and threaten them with Play Rough. With that, essentially all of Heatran’s weaknesses (barring special fighting moves like Aura Sphere and the rare Vacuum Wave) are eliminated by my other Pokemon, which made Heatran my most-used Pokemon in this tournament.

The EV spread allows Granbull to take some hits from Special attackers with help from Assault Vest, and the Attack EVs allow Granbull to net some potential OHKOs on Pokemon like Conkeldurr and Garchomp. Rock Slide is also a guaranteed OHKO on Talonflame with the attack investment. I could have dropped some Attack EVs for more Sp. Def, but the additional Attack points were pretty useful.

His nickname (yes, I went through the trouble to breed a male Snubbull just for this) was taken from the bulldog from the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Thankfully, the word “spike” is no longer a censored word in ORAS which allowed me to use the name Spike. It was spelt as Spyke in X/Y due to the word being censored.

Virizion(Midori)@ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Leaf Blade
– Protect
– Quick Guard

Previously, Zapdos occupied this slot, but I replaced it after I had issues with Chansey. Virizion also dealt with Calm Mind Suicune, Rotom-W, and most other Water-type Pokemon. Additionally, adding Virizion to my team fulfills my team building criterion of having 3 Physical attackers and 3 Sp. Attackers. Lum Berry was chosen as the item due to one reason. DARK. VOID. SMEARGLE.

I could have chosen Double Kick for my last move to eliminate Smeargle, but I felt Quick Guard was more important. It protects Mega Lopunny from the priority Brave Bird of Talonflame and priority Thunder Wave from Thundurus after Mega Evolving.

The nickname for Virizion is basically green in Japanese. Just so you know, I have a huge obsession with the colour green.

The Battles – Swiss

Match 1 vs Daud Adnan

I was pretty surprised that Cresselia outsped Bisharp, which netted me a KO with my Mega Lopunny and Cresselia double targeting it. Bisharp had low speed (and therefore most likely high or even max HP), so Focus Sash is definitely weird on it. The interesting move from my opponent was a Moonblast from Whimsicott. I was really surprised that it OHKOed my Mega Lopunny. At the very end, I knew Talonflame would faint regardless of whichever target it chose, so I went for a double target on Mega Kangaskhan. He made a very bad play in double targeting my Heatran with Brave Bird and Drain Punch which resulted in his Mega Kangaskhan regaining very little health, allowing my Gastrodon to defeat it and clinch my first victory in this tournament.

Record: 1-0

Match 2 vs Brighton Lim

Brighton is a Malaysian whom I befriended on Facebook a few years ago. After all this time, we finally met in real life. Brighton made the common mistake of not maxing out his Mega Kangaskhan’s happiness, which explains his extremely low damage on Gastrodon despite having +1 Attack. Luck was not on my side despite me having a bigger advantage when he was down to Scizor and Landorus-T (Rock Slide flinches and Bullet Punch’s critical hit on my Granbull with -2 Attack). Thankfully, at the very end, Gastrodon managed to execute Muddy Water and finish off his Landorus-T before he forfeited the match. Good game, Brighton. It was great to be able to see you in real life!

Record: 2-0

Match 3 vs Poh Yu Jie

Yu Jie, the only Singaporean who qualified for the World Championships through LCQ last year in the Senior Division was my third opponent. I didn’t feel good winning this match due to a terrible misclick of him using Helping Hand on his Pokemon which was switching out. This match would have been a better one if not for that misplay.

Record 3-0

Match 4 vs ???

I’m sorry but I can’t remember the guy’s name. I kept my Lopunny in her regular form to prevent paralysis from Thundurus and he actually went for a Thunderbolt which actually gives him a slight advantage. He also made quite a few great moves to stop my Cresselia from giving Levitate to Heatran and KO it with Earthquake. The freeze was unfortunate for him and I managed to steal Pixilate from Sylveon which saved my Virizion from being knocked out by Hyper Voice. He would have won if he went for a Sucker Punch and Shadow Ball on my Virizion after the stat drops from Close Combat.

Record 4-0

Match 5 vs Justin Teh

With Whimsicott in his team, I knew paralyzing his team was the most important thing to do due to Tailwind. I also used Psychic on Aegislash to scout for Leftovers recovery. If Leftovers didn’t not trigger, I would assume the Aegislash was holding the Weakness Policy and I’d play more cautiously. I also went for Earth Power on Aegislash fearing that he might use Wide Guard. Mega Lopunny’s Low Kick was a critical hit on his Aegislash and KOd it. Justin also made a very bad play of Earthquaking his own Milotic. Gastrodon is easily the star of this match thanks to Storm Drain and Rindo Berry, which prevented Milotic from getting the KO with Hidden Power [Grass].

Record 5-0

Match 6 vs Ryan Loh

This match with Ryan Loh was a pretty good one. Things got really terrifying when his Landorus-T racked up two Swords Dances. I knew I wouldn’t let Landorus-T stay in the match for too long. Due to some bad predictions, Talonflame was able to pick up the KO on my Mega Lopunny with Brave Bird. At one point, Cresselia did her job of stealing Parental Bond from Mega Kangaskhan and dropped Kangaskhan’s Sp. Def twice with Parental Bond Psychic.

Record 6-0

Match 7 vs Akil

Akil is another brilliant player running a few unorthodox choices like Technician Hitmontop and Safety Goggles Greninja. I was very aware of his Hitmontop not having Intimidate and played very carefully to avoid any potential KOs on my Heatran and Mega Lopunny from a Technician-boosted Mach Punch. He chose to keep his Gyarados in its regular form to avoid the potential KO from my Granbull’s Play Rough. Thankfully, the power was strong enough to bring its health down to a small amount, and Gyarados was eliminated by hail. Once Gyarados was out of the way, the game was pretty much over and I won my last Swiss round.

Record 7-0

The Battles – Top Cut

With me getting 7 wins straight, there was no doubt that I’d top-cut. From here onwards, the matches will be best of three, single elimination.

Top 8 vs Theron Ho

Game  1

Right from the start of the match, I already had the advantage because I know Theron’s team pretty well. That Sylveon belongs to me and was loaned to him, and I know its EV spread. With Scrappy, I was able to Fake Out Theron’s Mega Gengar and, once again, stole Sylveon’s Pixilate with Skill Swap which easily gives me the advantage right from the beginning.

Match Record: 1-0

Game 2

I brought Granbull for the previous match and, knowing that he would probably use Bisharp for this match, I brought in Gastrodon instead. The match ended pretty quickly.

Match Record: 2-0

Top 4 vs Ryan Chiam

Game 1

I have to admit that I didn’t really deserve to win this game. I struggled through most of the match. At the very end, I noticed Ryan Chiam didn’t go for a Sucker Punch on my Heatran and I assumed that he forgot that Steel no longer resist Dark, and I went for the KO on his Mega Kangaskhan instead of creating a Substitute.

Match Record: 1-0

Game 2

This is the only match in this tournament where I didn’t bring Heatran. That burn from Suicune’s Scald took away a lot of my momentum, and I had to sack my Mega Lopunny. Without Mega Lopunny, I couldn’t deal with Mega Kangaskhan, and in the end I lost this match. Ryan Chiam broke my undefeated streak in this tournament.

Match Record: 1-1

Game 3

It was clear that Ryan Chiam had a sharper edge over me after he knew about my Skill Swap shenanigans. Plus, I made a grave mistake of not bring Virizion and Gastrodon for this match and I had a lot of trouble dealing with his Suicune. With a +2 Sp.Attack and +2 Sp.Def Suicune standing strong in front of me without my Virizion and Gastrodon, I knew the game was pretty much over. I lost this game eventually.

Closing

After a horrible performance from the previous two Premier Challenges (5-2 for the first one and 3-3 for the second), I was finally able to achieve an outstanding result by placing 3rd in this tournament. Going back to my old playstyle made a huge difference. If you want to do well in tournaments, I recommend you always play with a team that you are comfortable with. Thanks for reading this report!

The post 2013 Buddies’ Reawakening: Malaysia Asia Cup Qualifiers 3rd Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

We’ve started Round 6 marking 2/3 of the way there! More players are starting to officially be eliminated from top cut if they have more than two losses, but players should stick out as long as they can; the practice is invaluable and can help translate to future results.

As a reminder here is the bracket. Please read the kick off post for instructions on reporting your score and messaging your opponent.

Flight Leaders are an important part of this tournament, make sure you are using them properly. Please do not spam them with requests and private messages. They are busy people and they will eventually be able to help you. In case you may have forgotten these are your Flight Leaders (they have not changed):

• Flight A: Wyrms Eye + feathers
• Flight B: makiri + Hibiki
• Flight C: Gonzo + Unreality
• Flight D: Braverius + majorbowman

Once again the rules for this tournament:

• The ruleset will be the Standard Format.
• The tournament will follow the Swiss structure and leads to a final single elimination top cut to determine the champion. This means you play every round whether you win or you lose
• The top 32 players or all players with 2 or fewer losses (whichever is the larger number) will make it to the top cut single elimination stage
• Games will be played in a best of 3 set and the winner of 2 games will be declared the winner of the match. Report the proper score because your tiebreakers are affected. The only results should be 2-0 or 2-1.
• You may not change teams during that best of 3, but you can change teams between rounds.
• Games must be played on Nintendo 3DS systems using Pokémon Omega Ruby or Alpha Sapphire. In certain circumstances Pokémon Showdown may be used, but it needs to be cleared with makiri, the tournament host.
• This is not a live tournament. Matches will play out over the course of the week.
• A Nugget Bridge account is required to play.
• If your match comes down to activity and you either never read your opponent’s communication, never replied to your opponent’s communication, or never logged on to Nugget Bridge during the current round you will be dropped from the tournament.
• As mentioned it is Swiss, just because you lose it does not mean you are done, play the tournament out!
• Please record a video while playing your match (using a phone or camcorder or something similar) to help in case of disputes. We also recommend saving all battle videos.

Any other important information can be found in the kick off post.

Deadline for this round Monday, March 23rd, 2015 at 11:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

The post Round 6 of the Nugget Bridge Major 4 Has Started appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi there! As my Twitter bio says, I am Jake Muller, MajorBowman, and sarcastic, and that’s all you really need to know about me. This is my second full season playing VGC, and while I had top cut and won a few Premier Challenges, I had never top cut a regional at the time. With that in mind, I traveled to St. Charles (not St. Louis!) to play in the 2015 Missouri Winter Regional Championships. I managed to get through all nine Swiss rounds without dropping a game, finishing 9-0 and earning the first seed for top cut. I was defeated in top 16 by eventual Finalist Zach Droegkamp (Braverius), but that set and the previous nine games in Swiss were a great experience and a whole lot of fun. I’ve received a lot of requests for my spreads and such, so in this report I’ll go through the entire team and talk about each member, then run through my battles in Missouri. I will also include a word from Caleb Ryor (BlitznBurst), who created the art for this report (Thanks Caleb!) and also took a slightly altered version of the team to Virginia Regionals.

The Team

Before we get started, I’d just like to point out that, while some very similar teams had success in other parts of the world, this is a team that I built on my own with some input from close friends. Rapha and KellsterCartier both had very similar teams that led to great results at their respective tournaments. Andrew Burley (Andykins) asked me for the team the morning of the tournament, decided to change one of Terrakion’s attacks, and ended up finishing Top 4. Zach and I had done some practice matches the week before Missouri, and he ended up using my core with a few adjustments that obviously worked out quite well.  Without further ado, here’s the team!

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 164 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Iron Head
– Zen Headbutt
– Protect
– Substitute
Deployed in 10/12 battles, accounted for 13/42 knockouts

As soon as I saw all of the new Mega Evolutions that were released with Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, I knew that Metagross was the first one I wanted to try out as soon as the format switched. It has two fantastic abilities in Clear Body (before it Mega Evolves) and Tough Claws (after it Mega Evolves). Starting off with Clear Body meant that Metagross could safely be led into a potential Intimidate from Landorus-Therian and avoid the -1 Attack drop while it Mega Evolves that turn. I also took full advantage of Clear Body by switching non-mega Metagross into Icy Winds and other stat-dropping moves. There was an instance at a Premier Challenge when I was facing off against a Gothitelle with Charm, so I left Metagross in non-mega form until Trick Room ended so my opponent’s Charms were useless. Since early January, I had been testing teams with Metagross and trying to work out a spread and moveset that I liked. This is the eventual Metagross that I fell in love with.

I originally used Meteor Mash as a Steel STAB move, but after missing one too many times I switched to Iron Head. Having a STAB move that was guaranteed to not miss was a great security blanket if I just needed some reliable damage. Mega Metagross’ high base 110 Speed meant that I had a lot of opportunities to flinch my opponent as well, which could help gain momentum early on or bail me out of tough spots late in the game. I honestly don’t think people should even consider Meteor Mash anymore since its base power got nerfed from 100 to 90. It is literally the same argument as Waterfall versus Aqua Tail, and we all know how many Aqua Tail Gyarados have seen decent success. Well, I guess it won Canadian Nationals in 2012…but that’s not important.

Zen Headbutt is the obligatory Psychic STAB, and really the only option in this category. The 90% accuracy was a pain at times, but I felt that Zen Headbutt was reliable enough to do its job. Often times, I would follow up a Zen Headbutt with a 100% accurate Iron Head on the next turn even if Zen Headbutt did more damage, since Iron Head was sometimes enough to finish off an opponent’s Pokemon. For example, Iron Head fails to 2HKO Ludicolo since it is resisted, but Zen Headbutt + Iron Head will knock it out. If I landed the first Zen Headbutt, I would use Iron Head to finish it off 99% of the time so there was no chance I would miss. I know some people have chosen not to use Zen Headbutt in favor of other coverage moves in the past, but I think the neutral coverage Zen Headbutt provides, plus the super effective coverage against common Fighting and Poison types, was enough to warrant its use.

I chose to use Protect since Metagross could quickly become the biggest target on the field. It exerts a lot of offensive pressure with its high Attack and Speed stats, so opponents tend to want to eliminate it quickly. It also holds the designation as the team’s Mega Pokemon, which is often labeled as a team’s biggest threat and often attracts attention for that reason. Protect gave me the chance to shield Metagross from any attacks for a turn while its partner could eliminate another threat.

Substitute is the crux of this set, and easily the most talked about part of this team. I was unimpressed by the other moves Metagross could run, and decided very early on  that Substitute would be my fourth move. Metagross can force a lot of Protects or switches, which are perfect times to get behind a Substitute. It is a prime target for status moves like Thunder Wave or Will-o-Wisp, which are both blocked by Sub as well. There are a lot of common Pokemon that have a hard time damaging Metagross to begin with, so trying to take down a Metagross behind a Substitute proved to be a real challenge for some opponents. You might notice that Metagross is also weak to Sucker Punch, which is certainly a move common enough to take into consideration. Sucker Punch will fail on the turn Substitute is used, and will just break the Substitute on the next turn, essentially meaning that Metagross just takes 25% damage from the Sucker Punch as opposed to the 70-80% it might do otherwise. Another thing I liked about Substitute is that it made Metagross an even larger target. Often times, opponents would try to target Metagross with both of their Pokemon. This meant that Metagross’ partner was safe for the turn, and also that I could potentially use Protect with Metagross that turn to burn both of my opponent’s attacks. As Evan put it on the Missouri stream, Metagross had the potential to use Follow Me behind that Substitute just by being so threatening.

Since a lot of people have asked why I used Substitute over a third attack, I’ll quickly run through the other options for that last moveslot. Ice Punch is the move most commonly chosen, almost solely for Landorus-Therian. While having the option to OHKO Landorus (even at -1) is nice, most Landorus hold a Choiced Scarf and have the option to Earthquake you for big damage or just U-Turn away before the Ice Punch can connect. I was disappointed by the other coverage and had multiple Ice-type moves elsewhere on the team, so I didn’t see the need to run Ice Punch. In fact, I found myself thinking “I wish I could use Substitute here” more often than I actually used Ice Punch. I think Ice Punch might be a better option on teams that utilize Tailwind since that gives Metagross the chance to attack and knock out Scarf Landorus before it can move. Bullet Punch is an intriguing move that can also be used to dodge Sucker Punches and finish off weakened opponents. While the priority of Bullet Punch is a great option, I much preferred the utility of Substitute. Hammer Arm is actually the first attack I would have used over Substitute due to its ability to hit Bisharp, Heatran, and Kangaskhan for huge damage. However, I had two Fighting moves elsewhere on the team and, again, did not see the need for the coverage. I guess Earthquake is an interesting option to hit Steel types that give Metagross a hard time, but its power is very underwhelming. Bulky Heatran can be EV’d to survive it even without a Shuca Berry, and it doesn’t have a chance to 2HKO Shield-forme Aegislash. Blade-forme Aegislash even has a chance to survive! 

Since I had decided on using Substitute, I wanted an EV spread that would optimize its use. The first thing I did was max out speed to take advantage of Metagross’ incredible base 110 Speed. The ability to outspeed and OHKO a lot of common threats in the base 108 and below tier was too good to pass up. The 44 EV’s in HP gives Metagross an HP stat of 161, which meant that Metagross could set up 4 Substitutes and be left with 1 HP. For future reference, this is accomplished by having an HP stat that equals 4n + 1, where n is any positive whole number. The extra Defense EV’s accomplish a couple extra goals. The second hit from 252 Adamant Mega Kangaskhan’s Sucker Punch does no more than 25% (or 40 HP points) to Metagross, which means that Metagross can always set up a Substitute and survive a Sucker Punch twice in front of Kangaskhan. Since Iron Head (usually) 2HKO’s Kangaskhan, it gave me a unique way to improve the Kangaskhan matchup. Sucker Punch from Bisharp that don’t carry a boosting item does a maximum of 74.5% (or 120 HP points) to Metagross, so I will always survive the Sucker Punch after one Substitute has been broken. Bisharp was a large threat to my team, so this calc was pretty important. I dumped the remaining EV’s in Attack, with the 4 in Special Defense for optimization, and did not notice the slight drop in power from 252 EV’s at all. Metagross was still able to OHKO pretty much all Gengar, Sylveon, and Hariyama, and most Togekiss, Amoonguss, and Conkeldurr, just to name a few. All but the bulkiest Pokemon that took neutral damage from both Iron Head and Zen Headbutt were still 2HKO’d, and Metagross’ very high damage output is reflected in the fact that it accounted for a sizable portion of the team’s KO’s.

All in all, I am very happy with the way Metagross performed and do not regret using it in the slightest. I’m incredibly happy it got a Mega Evolution in OR/AS, and can’t wait to use it even more. I told myself that if I top cut a regional this Winter I would buy this shiny and beautiful and perfect Japan-exclusive Mega Metagross plush on ebay since the Metagross I was using was also shiny and beautiful and perfect, so the plush is now in the mail

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 180 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Earth Power
– Flamethrower
Deployed in 10/12 battles, accounted for 14/42 knockouts

The only Pokemon on the team to knock out more Pokemon than Metagross, Hydreigon served as a powerhouse for the team and had almost perfect defensive synergy with Metagross. With the exception of Fighting, every type that is super effective against one of Hydreigon or Metagross is resisted by the other, which meant switching between the two was pretty easy. Hydreigon threatened an OHKO against a lot of the Pokemon that Metagross really couldn’t touch, like Aegislash, Heatran, and Ferrothorn. Hydreigon also made the Rotom match-up much better, as most Rotom can’t touch Hydreigon while Draco Meteor OHKOs less bulky variants. I decided to use Choice Specs since I could viably use 4 attacking moves to get maximum coverage out of Hydreigon. Choice Specs Hydreigon is also one of the hardest-hitting Pokemon in the game, and Draco Meteor can get a lot of quick OHKOs that Hydreigon holding other items miss.

Draco Meteor is an obvious choice on Choice Specs Hydreigon. If an opposing Pokemon doesn’t resist Draco Meteor, it is either getting OHKOd or taking a huge chunk of damage. It also OHKOs every other Dragon type without a second thought, with the exception of some Assault Vest Goodra or Dragons holding random Haban Berries.

Dark Pulse is the other STAB move and also deals a ton of damage to neutral targets. It was mandatory for taking on Aegislash, which this team otherwise had some trouble with. While I couldn’t rely on Dark Pulse to always OHKO Aegislash, there were plenty of opportunities for this team to chip Aegislash enough to make Dark Pulse an easy knockout.

Earth Power was a great way to dispatch Heatran, a prime threat to Metagross. It also OHKOs 252 HP / 4 Special Defense Mega Mawile, which, while uncommon, is enough of a threat to warrant coverage. I didn’t use Earth Power a whole lot, but it made me pretty comfortable to have a way to immediately wipe Heatran and Mawile off the map before they could do much damage.

Since I couldn’t fit a Fire-type Pokemon on this team, I desperately wanted a Fire-type coverage move somewhere. Flamethrower served this purpose, providing invaluable coverage. It easily OHKOs 4x weak Pokemon like Ferrothorn and Scizor, which pretty heavily threatened Metagross. With the same base power as Earth Power, it also OHKOs Mawile; having the option to lock into two different moves and still threaten Mawile was quite valuable. Fire Blast is worth considering in this slot for more power, but I valued the 100% accuracy of Flamethrower and didn’t really notice any notable OHKOs or 2HKO’s that Flamethrower misses.

The EV spread is much slower and bulkier than the typical Hydreigon. I didn’t feel the need to use max Speed or Special Attack, and wanted to see how bulky I could get while still maintaining a respectable amount of Speed and Special Attack. I looked into creating a spread that accomplished the following goals: OHKO 252/4 Mega Mawile without needing to use Fire Blast, outspeed positive nature base 70’s like Breloom and Bisharp, and survive Superpower from 252 Adamant Landorus-T. Coincidentally, 132 EV’s was what I needed for both the Speed and Special Attack benchmarks, and I messed around with the remaining EV’s in HP and Defense to find the spread that survived Superpower with the highest HP stat to help with overall bulk. A lot of common Hidden Power Ices, such as those from bulky Thundurus and Zapdos, fail to 2HKO Hydreigon, so the bulk was certainly appreciated. I realize that a lot of Mega Mawile run a little bit more bulk than just 252 HP / 4 Special Defense, but I’ll just say that I never missed an OHKO on a Mawile with this spread in either practice or the tournament itself.

I know a lot of players think that Hydreigon isn’t as good of a Pokemon this season as it was towards the end of 2014, probably due to the prevalence of Fairy-types like Sylveon and Clefable, but Hydreigon was the unsung hero of this team. It scored the most knockouts and was a great presence for the team, both offensively and defensively.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 60 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Superpower
– U-turn
– Rock Slide
Deployed in 7/12 battles, accounted for 2/42 knockouts

Landorus-Therian is quite the strong Pokemon. Sure it might be on every other team and super unoriginal and blah blah blah, but there is a reason: it’s just that good. I personally don’t like Choice Scarf as an item for Landorus, as it wastes a lot of its potential, but it certainly is a viable option (as I would learn in my Top 16 match). I had originally used a Careful Choice Band set, but didn’t see the need for that much bulk and wasn’t happy with the speed drop I had to take. I ended up switching to a Jolly Choice Band set after a couple Premier Challenges and I really enjoyed it.

The moves are all self-explanatory, really. Earthquake is a great move in doubles that has a lot of power backed by Landorus’ huge base 145 Attack. To quote Baz Anderson, “Rock Slide is a lovely move.” It completes the nigh-unresisted Rock/Ground coverage set and deals a lot of damage to a lot of Pokemon. U-Turn can get Landorus out of trouble and still deal some decent damage with the Choice Band. Superpower is great coverage that OHKOs Bisharp, Kangaskhan, and Terrakion without a second thought.

The EV spread is adapted from a bulky Choice Scarf set that Braverius had previously posted on his blog. Andykins actually made the adjusted Band spread and gave it to me after using it himself to some good success. The HP and Special Defense ensure that Landorus survives Hidden Power Ice from neutral nature Zapdos and Thundurus, while the HP alone allows Landorus to survive +1 Sucker Punch from Life Orb Bisharp. Max Speed was used to outrun neutral nature base 101’s and below, including Kangaskhan, Charizard, and Thundurus-Therian. The remaining EVs were dumped into attack, but still allow Landorus to OHKO Kangaskhan, Terrakion, and Heatran with one (or both) of Earthquake or Superpower. 252 HP / 4 Defense Mega Mawile has a 75% chance to be OHKOd by Earthquake even with the spread damage reduction. The combination of bulk, speed, and power that Jolly Choice Band Landorus-Therian brought to the team was invaluable. The KO count may seem low, but Landorus was very good at supporting the team with Intimidate and providing valuable chip damage that allowed other teammates to finish off opponents.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 104 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 108 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Thunderbolt
Deployed in 10/12 battles, accounted for 5/42 knockouts

Thundurus is the second half of the popular double-genie combination. This Thundurus is also pretty standard while having a few features that set itself apart, most notably the Timid Nature and Speed investment. Again, Thundurus is just so good at its job that it’s very hard to not use. Prankster Thunder Waves and Taunts support the team to an unmatched level while still being fast and powerful enough to deal significant damage. The problem I have with other Prankster users like Liepard and Whimsicott is that they can often seem like dead weight, as their attack stats leave much to be desired. Thundurus has a respectable base 125 Special Attack and can still OHKO some frailer Pokemon like Talonflame with just the 4 EV’s.

Thunder Wave is my favorite method of Speed Control, as it can’t be stalled out or reset by switching like Tailwind or Icy Wind, respectively. While it doesn’t affect Ground or Electric types and can be circumvented with Lum Berry, it is still an incredibly useful move and my go-to whenever Thundurus had a free turn. It also kept in line with this team’s theme of turning the odds in my favor, as Paralysis + Flinching Move has a 47.5% or 40% chance to prevent a Pokemon from attacking, depending on if the flinch chance is 30% or 20%.

Taunt is a move a lot of people drop for something like Swagger or Protect, but I value Taunt way too much to not use it. It can shut down a lot of team archetypes, like Trick Room, or gimmicks, like Minimize. It also helped prevent my opponent from spreading around status moves because only I should be able to paralyze entire teams!

Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Ice allowed Thundurus to theaten a lot of Pokemon offensively and kept it from being dead weight if there was nothing else to paralyze or Taunt, or if it got Taunted itself.

The EV spread is what sets this Thundurus apart. The HP and Defense investment allows it to survive 252 Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge with the Sitrus Berry. Landorus Rock Slide is also a 3HKO, sometimes without even needing the Sitrus Berry. The Speed investment allows Thundurus to outspeed non-Choice Scarf Jolly Landorus by 2 points. I would have just outsped it by 1, but I thought some people might have Pokemon EV’d to that benchmark and decided to creep them. The rest of the EV’s were just dumped into Special Defense for extra bulk. While most people opt for a Calm Nature, I decided that I was fine with sacrificing the bulk for a little more speed. I was still able to survive Ice Beams from random bulky Water types like Ludicolo, Milotic, Gastrodon, and company. Even some STAB Ice Beams, like that from Greninja, don’t OHKO Thundurus (Life Orb Greninja does OHKO, however), so I felt comfortable with this change.

Thundurus was a great team player that I brought to a vast majority of my battles due to its great ability to support the team and set up knockouts.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Quick Guard
– Protect
Deployed in 8/12 battles, accounted for 6/42 knockouts

Terrakion is the best non-mega Pokemon in the format. It has the ability to outspeed and OHKO a lot of prime threats, including but not limited to: Kangaskhan, Charizard, Heatran, Hydreigon, and Bisharp. The best part is that it does all of this with just its two STAB moves, which, after the obligatory Protect, leaves another moveslot wide open. I chose to use Quick Guard for a few reasons. Terrakion is faster than the vast majority of Fake Out users and can waste the opponent’s turn if they try to use Fake Out. Since Quick Guard was buffed to block Gale Wings and Prankster-boosted attacks, it can prevent Thundurus, Sableye, and Meowstic from spreading annoying status moves, as well as make Talonflame’s Brave Bird useless. Finally, Quick Guard was a great way to deter true priority attacks like Bullet Punch and (especially) Sucker Punch. (If you haven’t caught onto the “Protect the Metagross” theme of this team yet, catch on now.) Andrew decided to use Substitute instead of Quick Guard on his Terrakion. I do think Substitute is a great move, but I don’t like how it synergizes with the Focus Sash and think Sub is probably better on Lum Berry Terrakion. It does have some interesting best of 3 applications, though, in which you can reveal the Focus Sash game 1 and whip out Substitute game 2, or vice versa. Speaking of which, I chose to use Focus Sash instead of Lum Berry since I had multiple ways to block statuses in Quick Guard and Thundurus’ Taunt. I also noticed that a lot of players chose to avoid using Thunder Wave or Will-o-Wisp on Terrakion since Lum Berry is such a common item. The Focus Sash let Terrakion take a big hit from something that could OHKO it and survive to get one more attack off. It also helped out a lot in the mirror, especially if the opposing Terrakion had a different item. Terrakion was such a solid team player, as he performed very well in matches while forcing players to potentially leave some Pokemon behind at team preview.

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 52 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
– Scald
– Giga Drain
– Ice Beam
– Fake Out
Brought to 3/12 battles, accounted for 2/42 knockouts

Ludicolo was a Pokemon I used this season before the format switched to the 2015 rules. I think it was very good towards the end of 2014, but its value has since dropped. However, it still has a few good matchups that I think made it worth using. I was actually quite terrified of Rain with this team, specifically Mega Swampert rain. I had played Mega Swampert multiple times on Showdown and really had no way to beat it other than relying on Terrakion’s Focus Sash or banking on Hydreigon surviving a Helping Hand Ice Punch. Ludicolo also does very well against Mega Camerupt + Gastrodon teams, with the ability to OHKO both Pokemon while taking little damage. Finally, the dancing pineapple beats almost all of the bulky water-types, such as Suicune and Milotic, so I didn’t feel forced to bring Thundurus against those Pokemon. As you can probably tell, Ludicolo was mostly just used to patch up some less-than-optimal matchups. Both of the knockouts it scored actually came from the same battle. The other time I brought Ludicolo during Swiss I never actually revealed it, and you all saw how great Ludicolo did during Game 3 of Top 16… (It sat there and did nothing.) I don’t regret using Ludicolo, but would consider other options in this slot since Pokemon like Mega Swampert and Mega Camerupt really aren’t that common.

A Word From the Artist

Hey guys, Caleb Ryor (BlitznBurst) here to quickly talk about the version of this team that I piloted to a Top 64 finish in Virginia with a record of 6-3, losing to such notable players as Cameron Swan (Drizzleboy) and Danny Hemchand (Jabberwocky). Because I went to Virginia Regionals, one advantage I had was being able to see the results of Day 1 of St. Louis Regionals with VGC taking place only on Sunday at Virginia. Not only hearing about the team, but being able to see the team on stream made me fall in love with it and with all of Jake, Andrew, and Zach doing well with it, I knew it would be foolish for me not to give it a try the night before. I had plenty of experience with the Terrakion / Thundurus / Metagross core in my own testing, but in the environment of a rain team. Something just didn’t seem right about my team in testing and I initially thought it was because Metagross was just an inferior mega, so I had every intention to go ahead and just run Kangaskhan with rain. Having seen the success of Metagross meant that my practice with it was not at all in vain, so I ditched what I was working on in favor of this new team, joining the Metagross squad.

Now the interesting part about the team itself to me was that Zach did not agree with the use of Ludicolo as the last slot for the team. I was playing around with sets but overall stayed with what Jake had except for using Swagger over Taunt on Thundurus and a Timid Life Orb Hydreigon. I had intended to go with the Ludicolo version as I felt more comfortable with it, but late that night before regionals, Blake Hopper (Bopper) sent me this set and almost immediately convinced me to use it:

Gyarados-Mega @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 204 Atk / 20 Def / 4 SpD / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Waterfall
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

I have always been a fan of double mega teams, sporting one myself for almost the entirety of last season. The thing about Mega Gyarados though is that it totally walls opposing Mega Metagross unless they have Hammer Arm. The spread is simply just a bulky Adamant attacker as I wanted a bit more power, not thinking outspeeding Scarf Landorus-T would be too crucial (it would have been nice…). Being able to deal with Rotom forms with Earthquake in testing was very useful, and I never felt the need to go for the STAB Crunch. The build felt perfect for the team, with two Flying types to avoid Earthquake and the ability to apply early double Intimidate pressure with Landorus-T. The annoying thing about the event itself, however, was that I never faced a single Mega Metagross and I lost every match to which I brought Gyarados. Do I regret using it, however? Not in the slightest. I felt like it was a great option for the metagame and it covered a lot of the team’s weaknesses, I just didn’t end up needing to use it too often, and when I did use it I lost to players simply playing better and/or being prepared for Mega Gyarados. It’s always important to give a Pokemon change a chance and, even if one member of a team didn’t seem to do much for you at an event, keep practicing with it to find its real potential on the team.

The Tournament

Since we can’t save battle videos from Regionals (ugh), my memories are going to be a little hazy. I’ll try to remember how each battle played out to the best of my ability, but no promises.

Round 1 vs Derrick Rogers

His Team:

+ 

I brought:

It was pretty cool to see another Mega Metagross/Terrakion/Hydreigon core this early on, but my memories of this battle are probably the most unclear of them all. I do remember that on turn 1, his Mega Metagross OHKOd my Thundurus with a Critical Hit Ice Punch. I was pretty confident that I would otherwise survive that move, but it wasn’t a big deal since I was still able to paralyze the Metagross before the Ice Punch. Metagross and Hydreigon pretty much cleaned up at that point, with Metagross taking out the Terrakion and Sylveon while Hydreigon KO’d the Metagross and Milotic.

W, 1-0

Round 2 vs Neal Fiebiger

His team:

+ 

I brought:

This is the match where Ludicolo did the most work. I know for a fact that it knocked out the Garchomp with an Ice Beam and Suicune with a couple Giga Drains. Thundurus paralyzed his Weavile and Metagross, allowing Terrakion to outrun and deal significant damage to both. I had a second Mega Metagross mirror match in a row, and I ended up dominating this one as well.

W, 2-0

Round 3 vs Kevin Fisher (Uncle Taint)

His Team:

+ 

I brought:

I knew Kevin had some great success in the past, so this battle was going to be fun. Turn 1 was…interesting to say the least. I paralyzed his Gengar right off the bat, and it was immediately fully paralyzed. However, his Suicune froze Thundurus with an Ice Beam. Thundurus stayed frozen for the next 4 or 5 turns, when it finally thawed out to finish off the Suicune with a Thunderbolt. During that time, I believe Metagross knocked out his Gengar. Other stuff happened, and eventually we both were down to two Pokemon remaining: my just-over-50% health Thundurus with Sitrus Berry intact and full health Hydreigon not yet locked into a move against his full health Taunted Thundurus and full health Mawile. I thought he might Sucker Punch the Thundurus for some damage before Mawile went down, so I just doubled into the Mawile with Thunder Wave and Flamethrower. He ended up not using Sucker Punch, so Thundurus’ turn was wasted while Hydreigon OHKOd Mawile and Kevin’s Thundurus knocked mine out with a Thunderbolt. Next turn, his Thundurus used Hidden Power Ice on my Hydreigon, taking it down to 1 less than half HP, while my Flamethrower did around 60% and activated his Sitrus Berry. I knew at this point that I needed Kevin’s Hidden Power to hit a low roll and my Flamethrower to hit a high roll if I was to win. His Hidden Power went off, and Hydreigon hung on with 5 HP. Hydreigon used Flamethrower, and I was able to score the knockout and win the game. A great battle came down to an incredibly intense last turn, and I was pretty energized going into Round 4.

W, 3-0

Round 4 vs Jonathan McMillan (MrEobo)

His team:

+ 

I brought:

As an honorary member of the Michigan Crew, I’ve become pretty good friends with Jon over the course of this season. If you remember from my last team report, I played him during the last round of Fort Wayne Regionals this fall. That match was a hilarious luck-fest that I was able to barely edge out, so we were both looking forward to the rematch and hoped for a more clean battle. I knew the team Jon was using and had practiced against it a good bit, so I knew that my key to victory was taking out the Rhydon. Doing so meant I could freely paralyze his Greninja, which could otherwise do a whole lot of damage. He didn’t lead with Rhydon but had a sneaking suspicion that he brought it, so I was wary about using Electric-type moves until I knew. He ended up switching the Rhydon in early on, so I was able to knock it out with a Hidden Power Ice + Draco Meteor combo. From there, I was able to slow down the rest of his team and take the win.

W, 4-0

 Round 5 vs Stephen Morioka (Stephen)

His team:

+ 

I brought:

While we were on our lunch break, I got a message from my friend Tommy Cooleen (Tman), who had been following the pairings online. He simply said, “You got Stephen,” and I knew I would be in for a tough match. His team seemed to revolve around protecting his Mega Blastoise so it could launch powerful Water Spouts, with the additional option of setting up some Dragon Dances with his Tyranitar. Terrakion put in a lot of work during this battle as it had the ability to OHKO the Tyranitar, even at -1 from Intimidate. The turn-by-turn details are somewhat fuzzy, but I do remember Hydreigon’s Flamethrower nailing an Amoonguss switch-in for some great damage. He was able to put Hydreigon to sleep eventually, but I believe Hydreigon was able to wake up on the second turn to finish off his Hitmontop. Eventually, I was able to get Metagross on the field with no threat from Tyranitar, so it was able to fire off some Zen Headbutts to seal up the match.

W, 5-0

Round 6 vs Tiffany Stanley (Shiloh)

Her team:

+ 

I brought:

Before I sat down for my match, I was approached by one of the TPCi employees and told that we would be streamed. I was so excited to be on the official Pokemon stream! GamerGraphy uploaded the matches from the Swiss rounds to their YouTube channel, so you can watch my match here. In case the auto-jump feature doesn’t work, my battle against Tiffany starts at 10:51.

I went straight for the Substitute on turn 1 since I figured that her Metagross would target my Thundurus and Milotic would either protect itself from the threat of a Thunderbolt or try to Icy Wind. I was right about the Icy Wind, so Metagross got a free Substitute while Thundurus some pretty good damage against the Milotic. I thought that would probably put it into Zen Headbutt range, and I got the nice KO the next turn while I paralyzed the opposing Metagross and got a lucky full paralysis. When Terrakion came in, I didn’t think she would let her Heatran take the free Close Combat, which is why I went straight for the double target into her Metagross. Luckily, my gambit paid off, and I even got the flinch with Iron Head (see: 47.5% chance for her Metagross to attack that turn). Another turn I’ll talk about is when I protected Terrakion and attacked the Greninja with Iron Head. I wasn’t sure what moves her Greninja was carrying, and knew that she had the option to attack Terrakion with a potential Water-type move or attack Metagross with Dark Pulse. I figured that either way, protecting Terrakion and attacking with Metagross would guarantee some good damage on Greninja. I could have used Zen Headbutt to avoid doing not very effective damage should it use a Water-type attack, but didn’t want to risk attacking into a Dark-type Greninja with a Psychic-type move should she choose to use Dark Pulse. Luckily, she went straight for the Low Kick onto Terrakion, and Iron Head was able to pick up the OHKO with the Critical Hit. Iron Head actually has a 12.5% chance to OHKO 4 HP Greninja without a Critical Hit, so there was a chance that it didn’t matter. This is the aforementioned match where I brought Ludicolo in the back but ended up not revealing it.

W, 6-0

 Round 7 vs Andrew Burley ([Candy]Andykins)

His Team:

+ 

I brought:

Look familiar? Unfortunately, I got paired up with Andrew in Round 7. After making a couple jokes about intentional draws in honor of our friend Keegan’s (Darkeness) undefeated* run in Missouri last year, we decided that even though we could have feasibly forced a draw if we brought the same 4 Pokemon and just didn’t attack at all, that wouldn’t guarantee both of us making cut.

At team preview, I realized that I didn’t think Metagross was a great choice for the mirror and figured he would expect to see it, so I decided to leave it behind. When he led with Ludicolo and Metagross to my Thundurus and Terrakion, I figured the best way to guarantee a Thunder Wave on Metagross was to use Quick Guard with Terrakion, even though he knew I was running it and could have easily used Scald or Ice Beam. He did try to use Fake Out on Thundurus, so Thundurus was able to paralyze Metagross, which proceeded to be fully paralyzed for what seemed like the entire battle. I got pretty lucky over the course of this match, with his Metagross failing to get a single attack off and my Thundurus winning a pretty crucial speed tie. I was able to win the match without much of a fight, but that was certainly no fault of Andrew’s. He went on to qualify for Top Cut anyway, which was a great relief.

W, 7-0

Round 8 vs Andrew Hovis (Andrew Hovis)

His team:

+ 

I brought:

At 7-0 with two rounds to go, I was somewhat confident that I had a place booked in cut. However, I wanted to win this one pretty badly to guarantee my spot in case all of my opponents had gone on to lose every single battle. My opponent’s team was a bit different but I really liked it. He revealed Ice Punch on his Kangaskhan pretty early on, so I felt comfortable just going for attacks with Metagross since most Kangaskhan drop Sucker Punch when they use Ice Punch. I think this battle was straightforward for the most part. I was able to attack through some Dynamic Punch confusions without much issue, and I think I got to whip out Quick Guard again to block Scizor’s Bullet Punches. There was one turn when his Machamp survived a Zen Headbutt from Metagross. My opponent then told me that he was EV’d to survive that attack, which surprised me since I didn’t think Mega Metagross was common enough to warrant dedicating EV’s to surviving its attacks. Andrew is pretty new to the scene and was worried he may still miss cut if he lost Round 9, but I assured him that since his first loss came so late in the tournament, he would have very good tiebreakers and would still have a very good chance to cut if he went 7-2.

W, 8-0

Round 9 vs Ken Wright (DoctorKen2K)

His Team:

+ 

I brought:

Well, I had done it! At this point, I was the only 8-0 left in the tournament and had guaranteed a place in top cut. I probably should have played this match carefully to not reveal much information in case I played Ken in cut, but I got greedy and really wanted that 9-0. On turn 1 his Kangaskhan did not mega evolve, which was obviously pretty surprising, and he used Fake Out into a protecting Terrakion while Hydreigon missed the KO on Slowking with Dark Pulse. He was able to set up Trick Room, and I thought at this point that he probably had Mawile in the back, which would explain not mega evolving Kangaskhan (I later learned that his Kangaskhan carried a Lum Berry). He proceeded to set up Safeguard with Slowking the next turn while his Kangaskhan missed a Hammer Arm on my Terrakion, so my Terrakion’s Close Combat knocked out Kangaskhan and gave Ken a free switch into Mawile. I don’t remember what I did with Hydreigon, but I think I switched it out to preserve it and have the chance to knock out Mawile with Flamethrower. The next turn, he Swaggered his Mega Mawile to increase its attack power, and Mawile became a pretty scary threat. The next few turns are kind of a blur, but I do know that I was able to stall out Trick Room without taking too much damage from his Mawile. Weavile came in late in the game but was unable to turn it around. I had completed the legendary ***Flawless run through Swiss and couldn’t have been more excited to see how I fared in top cut.

W, 9-0

Top 16 vs Zach Droegkamp (Braverius)

His Team:

Of all the people in Top 16, Zach was probably the one I wanted to battle the least. I had been practicing with him for a couple weeks before the tournament and knew he ended up picking a team very similar to mine. His choice of Jellicent over Ludicolo gave him a slight advantage in the mirror match, but I was confident that I could work around it. Our match was chosen to be streamed, and Pokemon uploaded the set on their YouTube channel. You can watch it here. The actual battle starts at 7:35, but there is some good discussion in the lead-in that is worth listening to at some point.

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

I actually didn’t know what item Zach was running on Landorus, but I figured it was the bulky Choice Scarf set he had been using earlier this season. I knew from practice that -1 Rock Slide + Hidden Power Ice got the KO on Landorus, so I went straight for that play. Unfortunately, this turn could not have gone much worse. His Landorus was, in fact, Choice Scarfed, and proceeded to flinch both of my Pokemon with Rock Slide while Jellicent burned Terrakion with Scald. I was kinda reeling at this point, trying to reach for a win condition that I wasn’t really sure I could find. Thundurus was flinched once again the next turn while I tried to use Hidden Power, which kinda sealed my fate for the game. I was able to knock out his Landorus with a Draco Meteor and was actually fishing for a critical hit the next turn so I could knock out his Thundurus. I did get the critical hit, but on the Jellicent switch instead of the Thundurus. Obviously I was happy with the lucky break, but I really needed that Thundurus gone if I wanted a chance. I got some questions as to why I used Dark Pulse on his Thundurus instead of at the very end. At that point, my only win condition was for Landorus to survive the Iron Head from Metagross and knock it out with an Earthquake, so I just attacked into Thundurus. I knew my damage calculations well enough to know that Landorus really didn’t have a chance to survive the Iron Head, but on the off chance I was wrong, that was my only way out.

L, 0-1

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

It was his turn to lead with Thundurus and Terrakion while leaving Metagross on the bench. This is when all of my practice battles against Zach might have been a bit detrimental, as I’m sure Zach knew my first idea would be to Taunt + Substitute. On turn 2, I thought he wouldn’t let me get the free KO on Terrakion, but he made a great read and left it vulnerable. Luckily, I was able to survive the Thunderbolt with 1 HP, which would prove to be essential. On the next turn, I went for the Thunderbolt on his Terrakion in case he was running Sash (I didn’t know that item either), and was happy to see his Jellicent switch in. Unfortunately, Cursed Body disabled Thunderbolt on that same turn. In a stroke of unfortunate timing, Zach offered the fist bump right at that moment as a way of saying “good play,” but if you were watching on stream, it looked like Zach was gloating in the fact that his luck from game 1 hadn’t quite run out yet. He immediately realized what had happened and looked pretty mortified, but I knew what he meant and he both laughed about it. Not surprisingly, Thundurus flinched to another Rock Slide while I tried to Hidden Power, and Jellicent healed back up to full health while I brought Hydreigon in. I was FINALLY able to get that Hidden Power off against Landorus and finished it off with a Dark Pulse. Jellicent got another Scald burn, this time on Thundurus, but I honestly didn’t mind that burn since I got a free switch into Metagross. On this turn, I was pretty confident he wouldn’t let Terrakion get knocked out right away and knew that Dark Pulse does not OHKO Jellicent, so I just went straight for the double target into Jellicent and was able to knock it out. When he brought Thundurus in, Zach said “You know what I have to do.” I laughed and said “Bring it on,” and I was fortunately able to attack through the Swagger and knock out his Terrakion. I will say that I 100% would have switched Hydreigon out that turn, but after I selected Metagross’ attack the system just confirmed my moves. I wasn’t given the option to attack or switch out with Hydreigon, it just auto-chose Struggle. I’m not sure if this was some kind of glitch or if that’s how it works when a choice-locked Pokemon has its move disabled, but in another circumstance this really could have put me in a bad position. Luckily, I broke through Swagger again to knock out the Thundurus (plus I still had an unrevealed Landorus in the back), so it wasn’t a big deal.

W, 1-1

Game 3

He brought:

I brought:

If I could go back and redo any battle of my Pokemon career, it would easily, 100%, without a doubt be this one. I really should not have brought Ludicolo to this battle. I think my reasoning was “I’ll just try to Fake Out and blow something up on Turn 1.” Unfortunately, he brought two Pokemon with Protect and was able to foil that plan off the bat. I just made really bad plays this game, quite frankly. I reached for predictions that just didn’t make sense and was thrown around like a rag doll as a result. On Turn 2, I was so scared to switch my Hydreigon into Metagross because I thought Zach would read into that and Dark Pulse the slot. I also thought there may have been a slight chance my Hydreigon was faster, but I really had no reason to think that considering how deliberately slow mine was. On the next turn, I actually will defend my Giga Drain into the Hydreigon, and here’s why. I don’t think Zach knew my Terrakion was Sashed, so he played that turn as if Terrakion wouldn’t have the chance to Close Combat the Hydreigon. Had he known my Terrakion’s item, I think there was a large chance that he would have switched Jellicent in for Hydreigon, which is the play I was fishing for. However, that was another outrageous prediction that I really had no business making. I should have just gone for the safe Close Combat + Scald into Metagross to knock it out. A couple turns later I won the Metagross speed tie, which was huge. I really needed to win that tie to have any kind of chance to win, and I even got the lucky critical hit on Landorus as it switched in. Landorus was now in Iron Head range, and I had a tough decision to make. Zach’s most obvious play was to Earthquake + Dark Pulse the Metagross, and if I protected Terrakion I could have eliminated Landorus with Iron Head. However, I would have been left with 1 HP Terrakion vs full health Jellicent and ~50% Hydreigon and would have needed a million Rock Slide flinches to win, as well as avoiding any Cursed Body shenanigans. Instead, I thought Zach might read into that play and U-Turn + Dark Pulse the Metagross to knock it out while getting Jellicent in for free. Again, this was another pretty wild read, but there was such a small chance that I won either way that I wasn’t too beat up about that one. Overall, I just think I played this battle very poorly, probably due to a combination of exhaustion and a loss of focus. All the credit to Zach though, he saw his openings and capitalized on all of my mistakes. I really don’t think I could have asked for a greater lesson from my first regional top cut set.

L, 1-2

So my run came to a close here at Top 16. I was pretty discouraged after that first game, really just the first turn, but I was happy that I was able to come back strong and take a pretty convincing game 2. I would love to forget that game 3 happened, but this set was a great learning experience. After getting to know Zach before and during the tournament and practicing with him a bit more between Missouri and Florida regionals, I have so much respect for him and was glad to see him make it to the finals. Contrary to popular belief, however, Zach has not won more regionals than I’ve played!

Closing Thoughts

The Good:

• Going 9-0 in Swiss #IWokeUpLikeThis
• Finally making Top Cut at a Regional
• Getting to see all of my friends again
• Playing on stream was super fun

The Bad:

• Getting bushwhacked in Top 16
• Getting stranded at the airport for 6 hours while the Michigan Crew LIED TO ME
• It was so cold and my Florida-born body was not ready
• Getting paired with multiple friends during the tournament

The Ugly:

• “Thundurus flinched and couldn’t move!”
• Bendable, posable RNJesus giveth and bendable, posable RNJesus taketh away
• Catching a nasty flu virus the week after the tournament
• A forgettable follow-up performance at Florida Regionals

For your daily dose of rapier wit, follow me on twitter at @jakesaysstuff. Thanks for reading!

The post I Woke Up Like This! A Missouri Regionals 9-0 Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi everyone, my name is Jan Doek and this is a report about the team I used to get 10th place at the recent Regional Championship in Arnhem, The Netherlands. I started playing Pokémon at age 11 after watching the first episode on television, and played the games vigorously until I retired during Generation 2. The announcement of a new Mega form of Charizard, my favorite Pokémon, persuaded me to try the games again and I have been hooked ever since. I owe a lot to the franchise and I hope it keeps prospering!

Aspiring newcomers and powerful veterans alike, came to Arnhem to compete in its very first Regional, with over 100 Masters in attendance. After an extremely poor showing last year of 4-4 at the National Championship in Germany (with a rather unorthodox Ampharos + Lanturn team) and a 21th place finish at a local 2015 Premier Challenge, I was hoping to finally get a good placing since this was my second year playing VGC.

Team at a Glance

The team started off as an attempt to make Mega Camerupt work; I really liked its design and thought it had potential, but after a lot of testing scrapped the idea and instead made a team revolving around Mega Mawile and other popular “goodstuffs”. I love this team and plan to make adjustments to it the rest of this season, so let’s move on to the team analysis!

Marina (Mawile) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate -> Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

“Shake shake!”

This tried-and-true Mawile set gives it both strong coverage and a priority move to always pose a threat to the opponent. I picked Mawile due to her unique typing, enormous power, and her slow speed to take advantage of Trick Room. Mawile did its job well throughout the tournament, although changes in the metagame and her lack of bulk pre-Mega made her hard to use at times. It feels like her sexy hairdo has even lost a bit of shine with age, to be honest…

The spread is also a standard one with some EVs in Speed to always go first against basic Mawile and Azumarill spreads, since I didn’t use Trick Room against these opponents. This also gave me a guaranteed win in a 1v1 against other Mawile.

The nickname comes from a little underrated Nintendo 64 gem called Mischief Makers (a game I still play from time-to-time) which also served as inspiration for the other nicknames on this team. The main star, Marina, is a female robot trying to save Prof. Theo from the emperor of Planet Clancer. Mawile is made of steel and those jaws are made for grabbing stuff and shaking them, just like Marina does, so it felt like a fitting nickname.

Calina (Trevenant) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 100 Def / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Wood Hammer
– Will-O-Wisp
– Trick Room
– Protect

“Miracle Outer Galactic Android Z!!”

I needed a Trick Room setter that could ignore Fake Out and hit hard, as well as having good bulk and a Grass-typing for absorbing Spores from Amoonguss. I settled on Trevenant for the role because it has a far stronger Grass STAB in Wood Hammer than Gourgeist does and the Sitrus Berry + Harvest recovery makes her nearly impossible to bring down if put in a good position. Trevenant also has strong synergy with Suicune to nerf both physical and Special Attackers and together they walk through Rain teams, an archetype that gave me a lot of trouble in practice.

Most of my opponents’ teams really threatened Trevenant so I sadly couldn’t bring her to 6 of the 7 Swiss rounds. In the future, Trevenant will be switched out for a member with more general use as Trevenant really was useless if there were no physical sweepers or Rain teams to counter.

The spread OHKO’s 244/4 Azumarill and 252/44 Rotom-W and can take a Play Rough from Mawile and a -1 Life Orb Brave Bird from Talonflame. I dumped the rest of the EVs into Special Defense.

• 76+ Atk Trevenant Wood Hammer vs. 244 HP / 4 Def Azumarill: 206-246 (100 – 119.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 76+ Atk Trevenant Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Rotom-W: 158-188 (100.6 – 119.7%) — guaranteed OHKO
• -1 252+ Atk Life Orb Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Trevenant: 156-187 (81.2 – 97.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 252 HP / 100 Def Trevenant: 160-189 (83.3 – 98.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Teran (Suicune) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 108 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Bold Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Icy Wind
– Snarl

“I have Blockman blood!”

I was in need of a good bulky Pokémon that could support the team and fight Rain. A topic on Nugget Bridge brought Assault Vest Suicune to my attention and after testing it I fell in love! The Speed and power control Suicune provided for the team was invaluable. Most of the Suicune sets right now are focused on physical bulk, due to the meta being so physical, but I had no need for another physical tank and using the Assault Vest made it possible for Suicune to not be forced out by super-effective Grass- and Electric-type attacks. Assault Vest Suicune was the second strongest member on this team during the tournament. Pairing Suicune with Zapdos was also a very safe and versatile lead combination.

During testing, I noticed that Suicune could survive pretty much anything with just 252 HP EVs, and the Assault Vest already made him exceptionally bulky on the Special side without any investment anyway, so I opted to go for a Speedy set to better utilize Snarl and Icy Wind. The Speed investment allows him to outspeed uninvested Zapdos and Adamant Bisharp to Snarl and Scald them respectively before they can inflict massive damage. I forgot about investing to outspeed -1 Mega Salamence as well, but luckily that situation never came up during the tournament.

• 108 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 172-204 (101.1 – 120%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 4+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Suicune: 90-106 (43.4 – 51.2%) — 3.1% chance to 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Mega Venusaur Giga Drain vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Suicune: 80-96 (38.6 – 46.3%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• 252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Suicune: 90-108 (43.4 – 52.1%) — 5.9% chance to 2HKO

Lunar (Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 236 HP / 84 Def / 20 SpA / 4 SpD / 164 Spe
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

“Through fire, justice is served!”

Fire has now become a strong typing with its new Fairy resistance. With all the Steel types running around, too, it’s almost a necessity for a team to have their own Fire type. After testing out various things like Blaziken and Darmanitan, it became clear that none did the job as well as Rotom-Heat. I decided to put Safety Goggles on it because the team was weak to Breloom and Amoonguss and this gave the team a counter to both of these, as well as the Charizard-Y/Venusaur combo that’s still popular on Battle Spot.

This Rotom is faster than most as I wanted it to outspeed both Bisharp and -1 Mega Croissant Mega Salamence so I could hit them with Will-O-Wisp or an attack before they could cause too much damage. Not many EVs were left after reaching that goal so I just maximized its physical bulk to compensate for the lack of Sitrus Berry recovery.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 236 HP / 84 Def Rotom-H: 130-154 (83.8 – 99.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Adaptability Mega Lucario Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 84 Def Rotom-H: 130-154 (83.8 – 99.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Merco (Zapdos) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 20 SpA / 148 SpD / 52 Spe
IVs: 4 Atk / 30 Def
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Heat Wave
– Hidden Power Ice
– Volt Switch

“A hero with shining armor is called.”

Zapdos was the MVP and was inspired by a loss against Huib Buijssen’s (Lolnub) Zapdos at a local Premier Challenge. It was originally running a supportive set, but I quickly changed it to a Choice Specs build after seeing all the work Lolnub did with his. Even with so little investment, Zapdos hits like a truck and takes hits like a champ, too, making it easy to switch him out and in again to reset the move lock. Zapdos was a very safe lead for almost every match and was key to many of my victories.

The spread was generally bulk to help Zapdos switch in and out against a wide variety of opponents. I gave it the same amount of Speed as Rotom-Heat for dealing with the same targets and put the few remaining EVs into Special Attack.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 32 Def Zapdos: 163-195 (82.7 – 98.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 148 SpD Zapdos: 166-196 (84.2 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 20+ SpA Choice Specs Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Suicune: 182-216 (87.9 – 104.3%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
• 20+ SpA Choice Specs Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 144-170 (102.1 – 120.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 20+ SpA Choice Specs Zapdos Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Salamence: 224-264 (130.9 – 154.3%) — guaranteed OHKO

Tarus (Terrakion) @ Lum Berry
Nature: Justified
EVs: 44 HP / 124 Atk / 100 Def / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Close Combat
– Double Kick
– Protect

“To punish evil forces, I have been charged!”

For the final slot I needed a fast Fighting type to deal with Kangaskhan and other threats. Terrakion was the obvious pick with its awesome Rock- and Fighting-type STAB coverage. I like pairing him with Zapdos for immediate offensive pressure and the two complement each other well both offensively and defensively. I mimicked Aaron Zheng’s idea of using Double Kick as the filler move to beat Focus Sash Smeargle and Bisharp, but it turned out that most Bisharp carry Life Orb nowadays and Smeargle never appeared. Quick Guard would have been much more useful to prevent any priority moves from hitting the team, since Fake Out in particular proved to be an issue for Zapdos and Suicune.

I checked the offensive calcs and noticed that Terrakion overshot all his targets by a mile and Intimidate prevented him from KOing the targets he needed to deal with in one go. It was also far too easy for him to get knocked out with a basic EV spread so I tried to make something more efficient. I began with investing enough into attack to still KO 4 HP Kangaskhan and get a near-guaranteed KO on Bisharp at -1 with Double Kick. The bulk investment was used to safely switch into Jolly Mega Kangaskhan’s Double-Edge if needed. Finally, I lowered his Speed a bit to beat other Terrakion with Trick Room support and not have to deal with the Speed ties, but that situation never came up during the actual tournament so I can’t say how effective this trick actually is.

• 124 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 186-222 (102.7 – 122.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
• -1 124 Atk Terrakion Double Kick (2 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 128-168 (90.7 – 119.1%) — approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Terrakion: 72-85 (41.8 – 49.4%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• -1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Terrakion: 144-171 (83.7 – 99.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Bisharp Iron Head vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Terrakion: 144-170 (83.7 – 98.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Terrakion: 154-183 (89.5 – 106.3%) — 37.5% chance to OHKO

The Tournament

Round 1: vs. Jeremy Francis Odusa

It took some time before the first round started, Jeremy and I chatted for quite awhile. It turns out that he was also from The Netherlands and this was his first time playing a VGC tournament. I explained to him how the tournament was going to be run and tried to ease his nerves a bit by revealing how bad I am during every first round of a tournament because of my own nerves.

At first glance, his team had a lot of stuff in it that screams “Singles player”, but during the match he revealed to actually have Protect on his Mega Altaria, putting me in a bit of a predicament. For the most part, this match was a disaster for me after I messed up big time by switching Trevenant into an obvious Ice Beam from his Greninja and making other stupid plays. I eventually clutched out a win after his Altaria missing Fire Blast on my Mawile, a scene that will haunt him for the rest of his days. I was not happy with how I had played and it gave me the wake-up call I needed to get my act together.

Afterwards I told him that we’d not be facing each other again unless we both made it into Top Cut and he decided to show me his team. The Seismitoad was actually a metacall he made expecting to run into a lot of Suicune and Mawile and he also quickly realised that Toxic was too slow for the VGC metagame after hitting my Suicune with it. He ended up going either 1-6 or 2-5 at the tournament, but I hope it didn’t discourage him from playing VGC in the future as he showed promise. Looking forward to facing him again someday!

Round 2: vs. Joe Birch (Professor Birch)

I recognized Joe’s name from the preview article and knew this was going to be a good fight! I decided to lead with Suicune and Rotom-Heat, knowing they could do lots of work against his entire team, as he led with Sableye and Bisharp. I double-targeted into Sableye on turn one, predicting Bisharp to Protect or switch out and knocked it out just barely thanks to a Scald burn.

Kangaskhan came in next. Expecting to see a Fake Out, I double-targeted Bisharp with Will-O-Wisp and Scald knowing that I would either burn it or at the least would break any potential Focus Sash and have the 30% burn chance. Instead, he goes for the agressive play, double-targeting my Suicune and almost knocking it out if not for the burn. Wanting to keep the momentum, I Protect Rotom-Heat and Scald Kangaskhan again, fully expecting him to just Sucker Punch it. He doesn’t, instead opting to Double-Edge into Rotom’s Protect, and I get some more damage off before fainting to Bisharp’s Knock Off (probably predicting a switch) allowing me to switch in Terrakion for free. I got some more free damage off thanks to the obvious Kangaskhan switch-out into Nidoqueen.

He revealed a couple of tricks in the end, like his Kangaskhan having both Fake Out and Protect and his Nidoqueen not being a Choice Scarf set, but a mixed attacker, but it was only a matter of staying on the offensive at this point to secure the match.

Having achieved my first win ever against a well-known player I went into round 3 with newfound confidence only to encounter…

Round 3: vs. Eloy Hahn (Dragoran5)

The name sounded familiar so when Lolnub told me he was a Worlds competitor from Germany I was ecstatic! There’s no better way to test your team and yourself than to take on somebody like that.

Suicune and Rotom-Heat seemed like the safest lead here so led with them against his Charizard-Y and Hitmontop. It was a decent enough match-up as I knew Suicune could take two Solar Beams from the standard bulky 4 EV Charizard-Y set and Rotom-Heat threatened both of them. I knew he was going for a Fake Out and Solar Beam combo, but targeted Hitmontop with a Will-O-Wisp anyway in the offchance he wouldn’t do that and I wanted to preserve Rotom’s Protect in case he brought Hydreigon in. Charizard-Y gets a critical hit on Suicune revealing he runs a more offensive variant and unfortunately forcing me to switch Suicune out to Zapdos while he switches Heatran in to take my Will-O-Wisp. I did an aggressive play here by doubling into Heatran, knocking it out while he switches Charizard out for Hitmontop, so there was still a chance to win this. We were back to the Charizard-Y and Hitmontop match-up and this turn decided the match, as I switched Zapdos out for Terrakion only to see Charizard-Y reveal Tailwind. From there on I tried to play around it, but he had Cresselia as his final member and I had nothing to deal with that so it was over.

Losing this match was irritating as I felt I could still have squeezed out a win if I’d played better, but it was the most fun I had had in a match in years and it did gave me very valuable information regarding my team’s weakness to Tailwind and Cresselia. Eloy went on to get 4th place and after seeing just how well-constructed and tricky his team is he definetly deserved it!

Round 4: vs. William Tansley

The world is indeed a small place as the 4th opponent was William from the UK, whom I had faced before in the Breda Premier Challenge. I went with my safe Suicune and Rotom-Heat lead because there was nothing on his team that could handle both of them as he led with Bisharp and Sylveon.

I predicted him to Protect with Bisharp so I went for a Snarl to neuter the Sylveon and targeted Bisharp with a Will-O-Wisp to be safe in case he didn’t Protect. Sylveon’s damage output at -1 revealed that it was a Choice Specs set, but both of my Pokémon could take the Hyper Voice just fine so I decided to ignore it for now and focus on whatever would switch into the Bisharp spot and got some good damage off on the incoming Thundurus as a result.

I switched Rotom-Heat out for later use for Mawile as he went for the Thunderbolt onto Suicune. Suicune survives and gets one final Icy Wind off, setting Sylveon up for an Iron Head KO, before fainting to Hyper Voice. He switches out Sylveon into Landorus-T and Thunder Waves my Mawile, of course getting the full paralysis, but I do knock out the Thundurus with Rock Slide and get a critical hit on Landorus-T so the hax is even for both sides. I made a stupid play by switching in Rotom-Heat, despite the obvious Rock Slide, and then it happened…

Suddenly, Bonnie Tyler’s “I need a hero” started playing in the background and with newfound determination the near-death Rotom-Heat dodged every single Rock Slide for the rest of the game was I watching Short Circuit 2 the Pokémon Edition with Landorus starring as Oscar?, carrying the team to victory single-handedly.

We shook hands with a wry smile after that very haxy game and I went on to face another German player in round 5.

Round 5: vs. Luca Beitlig-Pause (Sewadle)

I have to apologize here for not providing a video of the match and the lack of details in the description. My opponent turned his 3DS off before I could save the replay and I have a terrible memory.

His team was very interesting with a Raikou, Blaziken, and Mega Venusaur. The battle plan was easy after realizing Suicune and Mawile can beat this entire team together: bring Suicune as a lead with Mawile in the back and remove any potential threats first. I do remember him leading with Blaziken and revealing both Superpower and Overheat, when usually you see Blaziken with Low Kick and Flare Blitz. Blacken was able to knock out one of my Pokémon before falling to Suicune’s Scald. I switched out Suicune for later use and we traded blows until we ended up with a 1v1 between our Suicunes. He tried to set-up with Calm Mind, but a Snarl quickly changed his mind about going for that tactic, and my Suicune got a Scald burn effectively ending the match right there as I could just keep spamming Snarl until he went down to the residual damage.

Round 6: vs. Timo Kloppetsch (37TimoK1)

Kelly Mercier-White was my first opponent for the sixth match, but it turned out that a mistake was made with the pairings and a re-pairing was done. My new opponent was Timo Kloppetsch, another German player and also a Worlds competitor, running a modified version of Paul Chua’s famous HailRoom team.

This was another team where Assault Vest Suicune could do tons of work with only Abomasnow being able to threaten it so I lead with Suicune and Terrakion to be safe. He predicted this and brought out Togekiss and Excadrill. I couldn’t afford to lose Terrakion with Abomasnow lurking in the back so I switched him out for Zapdos to get more offensive pressure on the field. Suicune took the Life Orb boosted Earthquake like a boss and put Togekiss into Zapdos’s KO range with Ice Beam.

Now, he had 3 options: sacrifice Togekiss, switch in Abomasnow to take the obvious Thunderbolt, or switch in Chandelure to absorb Heat Wave with Flash Fire. I figured he didn’t expect me to run Heat Wave on my Zapdos, as most Zapdos were still bulky supporters without Heat Wave, and would switch in Abomasnow. At the very least I would get strong spread damage off and possibly knock out Excadrill if my prediction was wrong. Abomasnow did come in and got pulverized, putting me into an early 4-3 lead.

Chandelure came next, forcing me to switch out Zapdos for Terrakion, and he got free damage off and a flinch on Suicune with Rock Slide. I misplayed here by not doubling into Chandelure and he got Trick Room up as a result of that. I had to Protect with Terrakion against the incoming switch + Earthquake and hope Suicune, who now was “faster” than Excadrill, could knock him out with Scald, but he survived with a sliver of health only to knock both Suicune and himself out thanks to Life Orb recoil. I brought Zapdos back in again to try and knock that Chandelure out so Mawile could come in and win the match. Zapdos showed off his shining armor by surviving an Overheat + Dazzling Gleam combo and knocked out Chandelure with Volt Switch. Mawile came in and he forfeited.

Round 7: vs. Noah Fuchs (Daydreaming Ninja)

With both of us at 5-1 this match would decide who would go on to Top 8 and who would be sent home.

The one thing standing out here were the three Steel types and Thundurus combination. In a metagame where Landorus-T reigns supreme you need some serious skill and courage to play a team that is 2/3 weak to it, so props to him for making it work! I led with Rotom-Heat and Zapdos against his Breloom and Hydreigon.

I made a misplay here by Protecting with Rotom-Heat instead of doubling into Breloom with Overheat and Volt Switch. I broke the Focus Sash and brought out Suicune only to watch in horror as Hydreigon revealed itself to be a slow bulky Tailwind setter. He doubled into Rotom-Heat the next turn and knocked it out and from there on the Breloom and Tailwind combo was just too much for the team to handle. I tried to turn things around with lots of bold switches, hoping to get Noah to screw up at one point and gain some momentum, but that didn’t work and he set up Tailwind again for his Mawile to come in and sweep the team.

My tournament run ended here, but my resistance was high enough to be awarded 10th place. Satisfied with this result, and having attained lots of useful information to improve the team and myself, I went home after hanging out with the other Dutch people for awhile and taking a group picture.

Closing Thoughts

Now knowing that Tailwind, Cresselia and Breloom gave the team a lot of trouble and not being satisfied with some team members’s performance I did a major overhaul:

for 

Mawile didn’t do as much as I wanted her to throughout the tournament and that low Speed and bad bulk pre-Mega made her very hard to use. Also, without Mawile this team struggled a lot against Mega Venusaur.

Metagross was the natural replacement to fill the need for a fast bulky bruiser with a Steel-typing. Its superior bulk and Speed have been a great asset for the team so far. I chose Hammer Arm over Substitute to not be walled by opposing Heatran and other Steel types in this meta. It’s also a great move for beating Hydreigon and doing massive damage to Kangaskhan.

Finally, I went with Bullet Punch over Iron Head to avoid Sucker Punches. In practice, this is the move I use most often. Being able to attack without having to wait for the Speed increase to kick in is great and it’s a great move to finish off weakened Pokémon.

for 

I needed a Tailwind setter of my own to combat opposing Tailwinds. After seeing the work Noah’s Hydreigon did it felt like a natural fit and I dropped the Trick Room mode entirely. I made Hydreigon a Life Orb Timid one and EVd it to outspeed the more popular Modest Hydreigon sets to nuke them with Draco Meteor before they can get to Metagross. Hydreigon is both Metagross’s best friend and worst enemy thanks to those resistances and its Dark-type STAB and I often find myself leading with these two.

for 

I did not want to lose the Grass-typing that Trevenant provided as bulky Water-types have given me a lot of trouble in the past and Terrakion’s performance as the Fighting type of the team was only okay at best so I looked at possible replacements that could fill both roles. The decision came down to either fast Virizion, who has seen a rise in usage after performing well in the recent American Regional Championships, or the slower but more powerful and bulky Chesnaught. I eventually settled on Virizion for its fast offensive pressure and its ability to quickly remove Kangaskhan and Hydreigon with Close Combat.

for 

Huib recommended Arcanine to me as a replacement for Rotom-Heat’s “anti-physical” role in the team and it was a great call! Intimidate + Will-O-Wisp is a nightmare for physical Pokémon to deal with and his Flare Blitz packs a wallop. I put Wild Charge on him for the final move so I wouldn’t be walled by Water types and to be able to check Charizard Y: a Mega that the team really doesn’t like dealing with.

I made Zapdos and Suicune fast enough to outspeed Breloom since they can’t use Protect to defend themselves from Spore, and I am currently hunting for a Calm Suicune to make a more efficient Assault Vest spread.

I had a lot of fun meeting up with the Dutch crew again and learned a lot from playing in the tournament. I’d also like to extend a big thank you to the following people:

• EricOfficially, chipndip and DecaDraco for practicing with me and bouncing team ideas back and forth throughout the 2014/2015 season.
• gdubley and all the other people who read and critiqued the teams I made and posted to the Rate My Team subforum.
• Aaron Zheng and James Baek for their very insightful Youtube videos that taught me a lot about playing the game.
• A big thanks in particular goes to Tabris for providing me with the Suicune and Terrakion.
• You, for reading this report!

To close things off, I’ll leave the Dutch group photo below. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this report. Until next time!

The post The Unlikely Alliance: A 10th Place Arnhem Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey everyone! My name is Jake Skurchak or some of you may know me as Pokebeys around the forums. I attended the Virginia Regional Championships a few weekends ago and ended up getting fourth place in the tournament, going 5-2 after swiss.

My history in Pokemon has not been the best and not much to talk about. I played the Trading Card Game for a few years, found out that I was terrible at it, and then switched to the Video Game Championships just as the 2014 season started up. Nothing too exciting happened in 2014 for me, but I truly thought that VGC was better for me in my Pokemon career. I’m currently 14 years old, in eighth grade, attending a middle school in New Jersey.

Now, I will be covering my team, all of my matches, and thank you’s at the end, but I wanted to give a lot of credit right now to Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka), as I based my team heavily on his. He also made top 4 at the event in the masters division.

While in Virginia, my brother wanted to see UVA (University of Virginia) on Saturday. Obviously, the tournament on Sunday was what I was waiting for!

The Team at a Glance

The Team

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

Swampert was a very essential member to my team. Swampert was able to get decent damage off while giving me Wide Guard support against Sylveon, Landorus-Therian, Icy Wind users, Terrakion, and much more. Scald and Earth Power dishes out nice chip damage and massive super effective damage against threats to my team. Ice Beam allowed me to take out Landorus and Dragon type Pokemon with an easy one-hit or two-hit knock out.

The spread allows me to survive Mega Kangaskhan’s adamant Return, with an 18.8% chance to take a Double Edge from adamant Mega Kangaskhan. Swampert is able to survive adamant Double Edge from Mega Salamence 100% of the time while also being able to survive hits on the special side as well. Swampert is able to survive a Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor at max special attack with a 6.3% chance to return OHKO. I wasn’t too worried about that though, because I have recently been seeing the Choice Scarf version more, which does less damage and has a bit of bulk.

Clefable @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 28 SpA / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Follow Me
– Ice Beam
– Helping Hand
– Protect

Clefable was the most important member to my team as it provided Follow Me support for Salamence and absorbed attacks with its decent bulk. With this spread, I can survive an Iron Head from a non-Life Orb Bisharp 100% of the time, Double Edge from adamant Mega Kangaskhan 100% of the time, and also Double Edge from adamant Mega Salamence 100% of the time. Clefable can also survive Flash Cannons from modest Heatran and Aegislash.

Ice Beam gave me the best coverage possible. Ice Beam allowed me to OHKO Landorus. Moonblast and Flamethrower were too situational and Landorus was a more common threat to my team. Helping Hand was a great move to have in the back pocket for when I felt like I needed the boost. I didn’t use Helping Hand all that much in the tournament, mainly using Follow Me for redirection, but it was good to have as an option. I chose to use Unaware over Magic Guard because I didn’t have to worry about Bisharp’s Defiant boost and Milotic’s Competitive boost. Sitrus Berry was there to further increase Clefable’s bulk.

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

Rotom-Heat was one of those Pokemon that added some surprise to my team, especially in swiss. It had a pretty decent base special attack stat of 105 and great coverage with Thunderbolt, Overheat, and Hidden Power Ice. Hidden Power Ice takes out 4 HP Landorus 100% of the time and, of all the Landorus I saw at the tournament, only one was bulky and I ended up winning that game anyway. Thunderbolt was able to 2HKO Suicune while Rotom survives at least one Scald.

With the 164 speed EV investment, I reach the speed stat of 127, which outruns neutral nature base 70 speed stat Pokemon, such as Bisharp. I ran 92 HP so that Rock Slide from Landorus-Therian is a 2HKO and, at -1, a 3HKO. This makes it easier to get off the Hidden Power Ice onto the Landorus.

Thunderbolt and Overheat are obvious STABs, meant to get as much damage as possible so that Mega Salamence can just clean up afterwords even if I don’t get the KOs with Rotom. Rotom definitely was helpful whenever I brought it in a match, as you’ll see in my swiss analysis and top cut report below.

Hunter J (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Double-Edge
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

Salamence, the only Mega Pokemon on this team, was a great way to get off fast damage with Double Edge and Earthquake. It dealt well with Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Venusaur as well as threatening Heatran with Earthquake. I went with a standard 252/252 EV spread because I felt I needed as much speed and power as possible.

Dragon Dance worked well with redirection from Clefable. I ran Jolly Nature over Adamant because I didn’t have as much speed control on my team as I would like and I needed to make sure that I could outspeed Terrakion and Gengar after mega evolving.

#GotRekt (Terrakion) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Protect
– Taunt

Terrakion was perfect for this team for a few reasons. It can successfully OHKO Talonflame with Rock Slide and Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat. I used Focus Sash on my Terrakion because I didn’t want to worry about the defense drop from Close Combat putting me in OHKO range.

I used Taunt to prevent Trick Room from going up as well as stopping Smeargle from using Dark Void. If I could change one thing on my team, it would be switching Taunt to Double Kick to take out Focus Sash Bisharp and Smeargle. Still, Terrakion did very well in swiss and top cut as you’ll see later.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 20 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Power Whip
– Leech Seed
– Protect
– Gyro Ball

I felt that Ferrothorn was definitely better than Bisharp on this team because Ferrothorn had more bulk and Iron Barbs was great for dealing extra damage to opposing physical attackers. Ferrothorn also dealt with water types such as Suicune and Rotom-Wash much better than Bisharp could. Additionally, Focus Sash and Life Orb, which are the most common items for Bisharp, were already used on my team. So I swapped out Bisharp for Ferrothorn, which ultimately improved my match up against Water Pokemon, especially rain teams.

The 236 Attack investment allows me to OHKO 68 Defense Rotom-Wash 100% of the time. I invested the remaining 20 EVs in special defense just because I had Salamence’s Intimidate to help with the physical side. Ferrothorn was also handy in the Trick Room match up as it was still slower than most Pokemon used in Trick Room. Gyro Ball surprisingly OHKOs Mega Sceptile and does over 50% damage to Talonflame. In the tournament, I only missed one Power Whip and never missed a Leech Seed.

Swiss Rounds

I will be listing what Pokemon participated in each match, with the first two being the leads.

Round 1 VS. Micah Fabrizio

He brought:

I brought:

Going into this match, I knew I needed to take out the Greninja if I want to ensure my win. During turn 1, I double protect to see if he was physical or special. Luckily, he was special, so the following turn I used Follow Me as he Bullet Punches my Clefable and the Scald is redirected into Clefable. Clefable survives the barrage of attacks and I Close Combat the Lucario to take it out. Clefable is now at low health and Terrakion is at full HP.

He brings in Aegislash and now I’m in a tough spot. I don’t need Clefable much anymore so I let it faint to scald and Terrakion goes for Close Combat on to Greninja which activates the Focus Sash. Aegislash goes for Flash Cannon on Terrakion and is knocked down to it’s Focus Sash. I then bring in Swampert and I predict the King’s Shield and I used Earth Power on to Greninja and it goes down.

I’m now up 3-2 as he sends out his Jolteon and I go for the Taunt onto Aegislash but that didn’t happen because He went for Thunderbolt to take me out as his Jolteon outsped the Terrakion. Swampert gets the Earth Power on Jolteon and it faints. I bring in Rotom-H and a Overheat plus Earth Power takes the game 2-0.

Current record: 1-0

Round 2 VS. Andras Oehler (TrickRoomMaster)

He brought:

I brought:

From the team preview, I could see that my opponent and I had similar teams except that he had Bisharp and Venusaur where I had Ferrothorn and Rotom-H. I felt pretty comfortable with my leads, so I Power Whipped the Swampert to remove the threat to my Salamence later on in the game. He switches Bisharp for his Swampert and I miss the Power Whip on the switch in while Terrakion used Protect that turn.

The next turn I protect Clefable and Leech Seed the Bisharp as he protects the Bisharp and brings in Venusaur for his Terrakion. Now I’m pretty much stuck. I can’t really recall much after that but towards the end of the match, I had Salamence and Rotom-Heat against his Terrakion. I predict the switch from the Venusaur into Bisharp and I play it correctly by going for Protect on Rotom and Earthquake on the switch in. I do good damage to the Bisharp and KO his Terrakion that was already damaged. The Venusaur comes back and and I Overheat Bisharp and Double Edge the Venusaur to take the game.

Current record: 2-0

Round 3 VS. Reese Shohet

He brought:

I brought:

As you can see, I brought the same four pokemon from the last round in to this round as well. This match definitely was a close one. As he lead Suicune and Terrakion, I knew I had to take out the Suicune considering it did a good number to my team. On turn one, I bring his Suicune down to red health with Power Whip from Ferrothorn as I Follow Me to redirect a potential Close Combat from Terrakion, but he went for Rock Slide instead. The Suicune’s Scald went into Clefable that turn.

Suicune was no longer much of a threat since I had Rotom in the back, which was faster. As a result of this, he switches his Suicune and goes into Infernape to try and take out Ferrothorn. I used Follow Me and used Gyro Ball on his Terrakion, he Protects with Terrakion. The next turn I switch Ferrothorn into Salamence as I Protect Clefable. I wasn’t worried about the Rock Slide from a -1 Terrakion. The following turn I used Follow me and Dragon Dance as he Rock Slides and Fire Punches into Clefable to get rid of my redirection.

I bring in Rotom-H and Thunderbolt the Infernape, bringing it to red health as he surprises me with a Thunder Punch on Salamence that actually took it out. In retrospect, I should’ve gone for Earthquake that turn to take out Terrakion and bring Infernape to its Focus Sash, which would let Rotom-H take out Infernape. He’s now up 2-3, but both of my remaining Pokemon are at green health and his Suicune was badly damaged. He brings in Suicune, which indicates to me that he was going to try and take out Ferrothorn, so I protect Ferrothorn from the incoming Fire Punch and Thunderbolt KOs his Infernape. Scald brings Rotom-H into the red.

He brings in Salamence. Return knocks out Rotom and he tries to freeze me with Ice Beam, but since I had the Lum Berry, I wasn’t worried. Power Whip hits Suicune and removes it, pitting my Ferrothorn against his Salamence 1v1. I Leech Seed his Salamence as he goes for Return, doing about 40% to Ferrothorn. I Protect the next turn to recover more health and then go for Gyro Ball his Salamence, which does about 35% to it. I Protect again and then manage to hang on with three HP on the following turn as Gyro Ball finishes the job. 

Current Record: 3-0

Round 4 VS. Michael Spinetta-McCarthy (Sir Chicken) the Eventual Winner

Funny story about this battle, right before the event started, Mancuso came over to where me, my friends Salmon (Megachar10), James (Jamesspeed1) Baek, and Michael were sitting and he asked to see his team. Mancuso pointed out that Michael’s Charizard did not have a mega stone and he asked a judge if it is possible to cancel his participation and join back into the tournament on the same cartridge. He couldn’t. James gave him a his spare cartridge and Salmon and Sir Chicken had to trade over his team to James’s cartridge. They ran out of stuff to trade so Michael went to catch some random Pokemon and they caught a Wurmple that had berry on it and they called the Wurmple, “God Wurmple.” Michael barely got back into the tournament with about two minutes to spare before registration was over.

He brought:

I brought:

When I was on lunch break, I checked the pairings for round four. They were up and I found out I was playing against Michael. I was completely nervous and I couldn’t think straight considering he won the Regional Championships in the fall in Philadelphia and I bubbled out at 12th place. I knew I was in for a tough match.

I was facepalming right from the start, I lead with Salamence and gave him the Defiant boost. For what ever reason, I predicted his Bisharp to switch into Charizard to absorb the Overheat or Will-o-Wisp. He doesn’t switch out or Protect Bisharp and I went for the Thunderbolt onto Bisharp and it picked up the OHKO onto Bisharp with the most perfect critical hit to ever happen. I almost fell out of my chair in excitement as I couldn’t believe what just happened. The critical hit essentially won me the game as he also lost his Landorus early in the game and I left that match with a nice 3-0 and a terrific sense of accomplishment.

Current record: 4-0

Round 5 VS. Michael Klos

He brought:

I brought:

For this match, I was paired down. I was actually a bit happier to see this as I felt less pressure going into the game. I was pretty comfortable with my lead matchup. I started by using Wide Guard to block the incoming Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ice takes out his Landorus. Next, he brings in his Bisharp. I go for the Overheat onto his Bisharp and he reveals the Focus Sash. He uses Knock Off and Shadow Ball to knock out my Swampert to tie it up 3-3.

I bring in Ferrothorn and used Gyro Ball to knock out his Gengar as Rotom protects to avoid the Knock Off. I’m now ahead again, but he brings in Zapdos. I have no choice but to stay in with Ferrothorn and hope he misses the potential Heat Wave. Luckily, Ferrothorn survives the Heat Wave from Zapdos. The Bisharp went for Knock Off on Rotom, but it fortunately survives both attacks and Thunderbolt takes out Bisharp. Ahead 3-1, I’m still pretty comfortable with my position.

The next turn, I simply Leech Seed his Zapdos, hoping he misses Ferrothorn with Heat Wave. He does miss Ferrothorn and Rotom also hangs on with a bit of HP to get a clean Overheat onto Zapdos. I’m pretty confident now that I can take the game. I double protect, but he pulls Roost out of nowhere. I could’ve let both of my Pokemon faint during the previous turn to Heat Wave and have Salamence finish the game with Double Edge.

However, he now takes out Ferrothorn and Rotom with Heat Wave and it is my full HP Salamence against his Zapdos at roughly 50%. I go for the Double Edge as it is the only damaging attack that I had. He survives and uses Discharge onto Salamence and scores the paralysis. In the following two turns, Salamence was fully paralyzed and he wins the game with Roost and Discharge.

Current record: 4-1

Round 6 VS. Evan ??????

He brought:

I brought:

As soon as I saw my opponent’s lead, I knew Salamence would not be of any use in the game. Since he led the Ludicolo, I switched Swampert into Salamence. He Giga Drains the Salamence and sets up Trick Room as I Power Whip his Ludicolo. I get a critical hit onto Ludicolo, which actually knocks it out. Now all I need to do is bring in Swampert safely and I can take the game if I can get Cresselia to low enough health.

He brings in Mawile, threatening Salamence. I go for the Leech Seed onto Cresselia to recover some health and I used Protect with Salamence to stall out some of the Trick Room. The next turn, I Leech Seed the other slot as he KOs Salamence with Play Rough. I’m pretty comfortable with my position as I bring in Swampert. I just go for the Earth Power as he Protects Mawile. I was fine with that as I got to stall out more Trick Room turns. Cresselia goes for the Psyshock on Swampert as Ferrothorn does some damage to Cresselia with Power Whip.

On the last turn of Trick Room, I knew he would try to knock out Swampert. Because of this, I switch my Swampert into Rotom and the Play Rough does about 30% to Rotom. The following turn, I go for the Overheat on to Mawile as he switches in Tyranitar. I then switch Rotom back into Swampert to threaten the Tyranitar. I do manage to remove Cresselia with Power Whip as Earth Power crits Tyranitar for the OHKO. With only Mawile left and no way to deal with Ferrothorn, he just forfeits.

Current Record: 5-1

Round 7 VS. Zachary Boyd, the Eventual Second Place

Zachary and I have some history. We faced each other in the last round of swiss in Philadelphia this past fall. He beat me that time 1-0 as it went down to a Mawile speed tie. This was my chance for revenge.

He brought:

I brought:

The first turn of this match was tricky and I definitely could’ve played better. I went for the Double Edge on Smeargle and Rock Slide. I was so desperate to take out Smeargle and he knew this as he went for the Spiky Shield with Smeargle and the Dazzling Gleam from Togekiss, picking up the double critical hit on, which KOs my Salamence and brings Terrakion to its Focus Sash.

I then bring in Swampert and Taunt the Smeargle as Ice Beam KOs Togekiss. It seemed to be going well until he brings in Breloom, which totally dominates me. Mach Punch takes out Terrakion as he switches Smeargle out for Heatran. It goes down to Rotom-H and Swampert versus Heatran and Breloom. His Breloom gets the Spore onto Rotom as Heatran Protects. I basically call it quits at this point as I had no outs and he wins the game 3-0.

Current record: 5-2

I definitely thought I wouldn’t make top cut. But luckily, my resistance was the best out of the 5-2’s and I squeaked in at 7th seed. I’m gonna keep my top cut analysis a bit shorter as all my sets went to three games.

Top 8 VS. Joshua Noah

His team:

Game 1

He brought:

I brought

In this game, I was confident that he wouldn’t lead his Bisharp even though I had the obvious Salamence and Clefable lead because I suspected that he thought that it was too obvious. Thankfully, I was correct. I wasn’t really sure what would happen turn one but I just felt that Follow Me and Dragon Dance was the safest play as he reveals the Charizard X and Mat Black on Greninja and sets up Dragon Dance as well.

I was convinced that his Greninja was a Focus Sash variant, so I Protect Salamence and Ice Beam the Greninja to break the Focus Sash while he Protects his Charizard X. I then proceed to Double Edge the Charizard X slot because, even if he switched into Bisharp, he would still take over half damage. Double Edge KOs his Charizard and I gained the momentum. He then brings in Talonflame and I Double Edge the Greninja and Follow Me. I take out Greninja and he sends in Bisharp. I Protect Salamence and let Clefable faint for the free switch into Rotom. He then forfeits to not reveal any more information.

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

For the second game, I got a bit overconfident due making all the right plays in the first set. Leading Terrakion and Clefable was the worst thing that I could’ve done. The first turn, I used Follow Me and Rock Slide, forgetting about Mat Block and Brave Bird brings Clefable to low health. I Protect Clefable from the second Brave Bird and Close Combat Greninja, again blanking on the fact that he has a Focus Sash. He then gets a burn with Scald, which takes down Terrakion that turn.

I’m down 3-4 as I send in Swampert. I need to take out Greninja so I used Earth Power on it. But he predicts my Clefable switching into Salamence and Ice Beams that slot for the OHKO as he switches Talonflame into Cinccino. With a low health Clefable and a Swampert against a healthy Cinccino and Talonflame, I basically knew I lost this game so I just call it quits.

Game 3

He brought:

I brought:

This is it. This game would decide whether I would be in top four. This game, I clearly figured out my win condition: conserve Salamence and setup a Dragon Dance. Once I could do that, I’ve basically won. My leads end up being good versus his as I could just double Protect to make the Mat Block turn useless. I then use Follow Me and Double Edge the Cinccino to eliminate it and take momentum.

He sends out Talonflame, which makes the next turn tricky. I knew I needed both Salamence and Clefable so I protect Clefable and switch into Rotom as he uses Brave Bird and Scald into my Protect. I then bring Greninja to the Focus Sash with Thunderbolt as Clefable barely survives a Scald and Brave Bird. I use Follow Me again to divert as much damage as possible away from Rotom as I take out Greninja with Thunderbolt and he switches Talonflame into Charizard.

He then brings Talonflame back in as I bring in Salamence. He sets up Tailwind and goes for the Outrage onto Rotom-H, which knocks it out, but not before I KO his Talonflame with Rotom-Heat. I was relieved at this point as I knew Double Edge would knock out Charizard, winning me the set.

Current record: 7-3, Set Record: 2-1

Top 4 VS. Zachary Boyd

His team:

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

In this game, I knew I had to lead Salamence and Terrakion, as they both outsped Smeargle and did fairly well against Togekiss. There wasn’t much I could remember from this game other than the fact that he only got one Dark Void off and Breloom definitely made my matchup a lot harder. I ended up losing this game 2-0 and that wasn’t much of a morale boost.

Game 2

He brought:

I brought: 

For this match, I figured I needed to play a lot smarter and I believe I did. I figured out during swiss that his Breloom had Life Orb instead of Focus Sash, which I used to my advantage. Double Edge takes out Breloom, but he picks up the Rock Slide flinch on Terrakion, which would’ve knocked out the Aerodactyl given that my Rock Slide would’ve been a single targeted attack.

He then brings in Smeargle and I instantly Rock Slide again and Double Edge the Smeargle to take it out. Salamence goes down from recoil, but Terrakion’s Rock Slide hits this time, finishing off Smeargle. I then bring in Swampert to close out the game with Wide Guard and Rock Slide spam.

Game 3

He brought: 

I brought: 

In this game, I knew he’d try and take down Terrakion as soon as possible so I Protect it turn one and I Double Edge the Breloom again, picking up the knock out. Then he brings in Smeargle and I was confident I would win the game from there. Unfortunately, I missed the Rock Slide onto Smeargle and he gets off a Dark Void. He eventually wore down my team as my Pokemon slept for the full three turns. Looking back on this final game, I should have went for Taunt onto Smeargle as it would’ve had to switch out and hopefully give me enough momentum to take the game from there.

Conclusion

Overall, I would call this tournament a success. I achieved my goal of making top cut at a regionals and managed to win a top cut set as well. There were a few plays that I would’ve done differently, but I still had an incredible time at the event. I got to meet some awesome players and hang out with a bunch of my friends in the community. Without them, I couldn’t have made this accomplishment.

Thank You

• James Baek (Jamesspeed1) – I want to thank you the most for your help over the summer in making me into a better player. If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have made this accomplishment.
• Salmon or Mihrab Samad (Megachar10) – Salmon, you have always been a great friend from when I met you back in October right before regionals. It’s always fun team building and testing with you’ve been a great friend in general.
• Jake Rosen (sableyemagma) – You’re a great friend Jake and a great team builder as well. I always love the wacky stuff you come up with sometimes and you always make it work.
• Nick Borghi (Lightcore) – Nick, you’re an awesome team building partner. You’re incredibly awesome and great friend to have!
• Vinny Speciale (ThatSpecialKid) – You’re hilarious and always make the Skype calls we have so energetic with the Free For Alls.
• Michael Spinetta McCarthy (Sir Chicken) – It’s always fun seeing you at events, Michael and especially a bunch on Skype. Congrats on the win!
• The community in general – I love this community and I definitely love seeing everybody working together on teams and building friendships with each other overtime.
• I hope to get to know the community a lot better and I hope to see everyone at worlds this year!

The post College and Pokemon: A Senior Division Virginia Top 4 Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.