Only a quarter of those that entered the top cut portion of the Season 4 Nugget Bridge Major remain. Some huge upsets have already ruined some predictions but we’re getting to the biggest matches of the tournament with less than 2.5% of the entrants who started in February remaining. Congratulations to all those who have made it this far!

The players above are guaranteed at least 30 Nugget Bridge Circuit Points and will be battling for an auto-invite as well as cash prizes:

The post Round of 32 Begins for the Season 4 Nugget Bridge Major appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

This season of the Pokémon Championship Series has seen a number of new countries join the battle for the title of World Champion. Today, we learned another country will join the fray: Russia. The Pokémon Trading Card game was only localized earlier this season in Russian so it’s promising to see the country joining in on both the TCG and video game at a competitive level so quickly! One representative from each game will make their way to the World Championships in the Masters division. They will not have a Junior or Senior division representative as only those 18 years of age or older are allowed to enter the events.

There will be 20 Regional Championships held in the following cities on the same weekends as the US Regional Championships:

Tournaments will use the Swiss format. The two finalists from each Regional Championship will be invited to play at the Russian National Championships in Moscow on June 27th & 28th, 2015. The winner of the National Championships will receive an invitation to the 2015 Pokémon World Championships in Boston, MA, USA happening from August 21st to 23rd, 2015.

The post Russia Joins the Pokémon Championship Series appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey Nugget Bridge! My name is Michael Shropshire but I go by the name of shrop05 when it comes to Pokémon. I suspect the majority of the people reading this have no idea who I am so I’ll give everyone a quick introduction.

I’m eighteen years old, living in North Texas. I started playing competitive Pokémon this past year when I saw a good buddy of mine playing on Pokémon Showdown during class. After asking about it, he told me to hop in the doubles room on Pokémon Showdown that night and that he could teach me the basics of Smogon doubles.

I played Smogon doubles for about five months and had a blast. However, the idea of tournaments where you meet people and make friends really intrigued me. Because of this, I decided to venture over to a local Premier Challenge and test my skills there.

I met some awesome people who were very inclusive and I got second place, losing to Blake Hopper (Bopper) in the finals. I had such a good time that I decided to take VGC a little more seriously. After getting some more decent Premier Challenge finishes, I thought that going to St. Louis Regionals would be awesome.

I think it’s really neat when people have videos that accompany their team reports so my good buddy KyleCole and I thought that we would do a video team report for all the people that prefer watching a video over reading.

Brief Team-building Process

I wasn’t sure what other people would be bringing to the tournament, so my overall plan in team-building was to bring a team I felt could deal with everything I would see. I also wanted a team that I felt comfortable with. The teams that have the most success for me start with a solid Fire/Water/Grass core so I decided to use that. Then, I felt Mega Kangaskhan was such a solid pick overall that I couldn’t pass it up. Finally, I rounded the team off with two offensive powerhouses in Landorus-Therian and Sylveon.

The Team

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

I came up with this innovative set right before the event and I’m so proud of it. Oh wait, other people used this set before me? Not much to say here honestly. Mega Kangaskhan has the speed, power and team support that I love. I personally believe that Mega Kangaskhan is still the best mega. Even after all of the hype surrounding Metagross at St. Louis Regionals.

There’s nothing fancy with the EV spread so I’ll explain why I chose certain moves. First off, I chose Fake Out over Protect which had been gaining popularity at the time when I built this team. I felt the team benefited from Fake Out more because it could allow Kangaskhan’s partner to get a useful supporting move off, such as Tailwind or Substitute. I chose Return over the much more popular Double Edge because I felt the recoil puts Mega Kangaskhan in KO range for things that otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. I tend to play very aggressively with my Power-Up Punches, so I didn’t notice a lack of damage with this set because I’m so often at +2 attack.

Kangaskhan was definitely the Pokémon I used the most throughout the tournament and its consistency helped so much.

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– Tailwind
– Protect

The first part of the core I wanted to build around. I picked Talonflame for a multitude of reasons. First, I saw a huge spike in Mega Venusaur usage after Cybertron won APEX 2015 and Talonflame is the biggest counter to this. Secondly, Tailwind is such a good move and Talonflame is arguably the best Tailwind setter. Because of Gale Wings, it gets Tailwind up the majority of the time. Lastly, I don’t consider myself the most talented VGC player, so Talonflame offers me an easy way to get guaranteed damage off and isn’t necessarily the hardest Pokémon to use.

Once again I decided to go with the standard EV spread and moves for Talonflame. Brave Bird is a necessity, Flare Blitz is its best Fire STAB because Overheat can miss, my team benefits a lot from Tailwind and Protect helps buy some extra turns. I chose Life Orb because Talonflame has a puny 81 base attack. I didn’t really mind the extra recoil because Talonflame’s goal isn’t to stick around. It’s meant to get Tailwind up, hit something really hard, then get KO’d and let a teammate get a safe switch in.

Looking back, one change I would make to this team is adding another fire-type move on another team member. In my opinion, Talonflame is too frail to have the team’s only fire-type move. If Talonflame gets KO’d early and the opponent has a bulky steel this team often struggles to deal with it.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 36 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
– Hydro Pump
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

The next part in the core is Rotom-Wash. I feel like no matter what the other team has, Rotom-Wash always has at least a decent match-up. Mega-Salamence, Mega-Metagross, Mega-Kangaskhan and Mega-Mawile are all pretty scared of this guy so I felt like Rotom was a safe but effective play. I chose the standard move-set which cripples physical attackers, while still being able to hit a lot of things for super effective damage. Rotom was one of my most valuable Pokémon from this tournament because of its ability to do a little bit of everything.

The EV spread is something that I made and I was super pleased with the results. The HP and Special Defense EVs paired with its Calm nature allow it to survive a max Special Attack Timid Charizard Y Solar Beam 100% of the time. Additionally it lives Talon’s bulky Charizard’s Solar Beam from Houston Regionals 15/16 times. The Special Attack investment allowed me to one shot standard 4 HP Talonflame with Thunderbolt. This allowed me to not have to play mind games on whether or not to go for Hydro Pump or Thunderbolt because I knew the latter would be enough. 20 EVs into speed were there to speed creep other Rotom. Lastly, the rest went into Defense because VGC’15 is such a physical meta.

I think that Rotom-Wash is the best water type in VGC’15. I like to call it the Swiss Army Knife of Pokémon because of its ability to do everything. One thing I might have changed to this set is to replace Protect with Thunder-Wave. The team has speed control through Talonflame’s Tailwind, but having alternative speed control options is never a bad thing. I don’t remember even using Protect during the tournament because with this EV spread; Rotom survived pretty much everything I wanted it to.

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

The last member of the core was Aegislash. Wait what? Aegislash is a steel type, how could it possibly be a grass type? Aegislash’s Safety Goggles lets it gain all the perks of being a grass type such as being immune to Spore and Rage Powder, but still packed the punch that I didn’t feel any grass type could fulfill. Originally, this slot was filled by Amoonguss, but the night before Regionals I decided to swap it out for Aegislash to improve my Metagross match-up. I chose Substitute over Wide Guard for its third move because I felt that my team wasn’t particularly weak to any spread attack and getting a Substitute up almost always lead to a win for me.

I used the same EV spread Alex Ogloza used to win U.S. Nationals in 2014. The speed EVs almost never mattered except for when I was faced against enemy Aegislash. In the event of a mirror match-up, I would just keep clicking Substitute with my Aegislash until the opponent chickened out and went for a King’s Shield while in blade form. This would result with my Aegislash behind a Substitute awhile the opponent was not.

Not having Leftovers on a Substitute Aegislash is pretty unconventional but it felt right for this team. After taking Amoonguss off of the team, I needed something to be able to switch into Spores, something every team needs in my opinion. As a bonus I still got to use the Aegislash set that I felt most comfortable with.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 184 Def / 252 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Psyshock
– Hyper Beam
– Helping Hand

I felt that Sylveon, with the hardest-hitting spread move in the meta, was an obvious choice for this team to power through opponents. The sad thing is, people had Sylveon checks everywhere. I used Sylveon quite often in the early stages when playing less-skilled players. As the day progressed however, Sylveon saw less action on the field. For its moves, Hyper Voice was a no-brainer, while Psyshock was there so I could knock out Amoonguss after some chip damage. Hyper Beam was there to hit something very hard if I needed to, and then there’s Helping Hand. I think Helping Hand is an awesome option to have on Sylveon even if it’s using the Choice Specs. A scenario that happened quite often in practice was Sylveon would just enter the match, but would be Knocked Out before it could do anything because of its slow speed. In order for it to serve some purpose, I could Helping Hand before getting KO’d to help its teammate out. I never got to use this option during the tournament, but the option was there if needed.

Sylveon’s EV spread was quite simple. I maxed out its special attack just to hit things as hard as possible. Then, I gave it 72 speed EVs to out-speed the musketeers under Tailwind. The rest I dumped into physical defense to bolster its awful base defense. If the opponent is at -1 attack, Sylveon easily survives a Double Edge from Adamant Mega Salamence which leads me into my next Pokémon choice…

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Stone Edge
– Superpower

The best non-mega of the format hands down. I didn’t mind if people assumed this was a Scarf Landorus because it’s still so hard to stop. I felt that my team could use Intimidate and required another Pokémon that would out-speed the base 100 speed tier. I chose the standard move-set for Scarf Landorus, except I opted for Stone edge over U-Turn. I chose this because I noticed a weakness to Thundurus and Zapdos and Stone Edge is a damage roll to KO both of these Pokémon. Also, I’m always really scared to actually use U-Turn. VGC’15 is the meta of random Scarfed Pokémon with Hidden Power Ice are used to counter Scarf Landorus-Therian. I often would get caught cold before I could even U-Turn out.

Shoutouts!

• KyleCole: You’ve been my best buddy when it comes to Pokémon and I’ve had a blast doing random things with you. Whether it’s Skype calls, team-building, or just messing around you are always hilarious. For those who haven’t heard of him you should definitely check out his YouTube channel.
• Finally: Thanks so much for getting me involved in the Pokémon community and thanks for being such a good friend. I’m going to miss you a lot when we part ways next year for college.
• Texas VGCers: You know who you are. I was incredibly nervous going to my first few events but you guys made me feel at home.

The post Kang and Company: A Missouri Top Cut Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

The first International Challenge of the season is finished! As the first online ladder tournament with a game limit to award CP this season — and the first to not split it up by region — the results will be a really strong indication of where players will need to aim for next time. 6,293 Masters division players and 825 Junior/Senior division players played in this tournament. Japanese and Korean players were not permitted to enter.

As a reminder, these are the point payouts for this event:

1. [USA] Dagret – 1816
2. [GBR] Jez – 1802
   -
3. [CHE] APlatypus – 1789
4. [USA] Legacy – 1785
   -
5. [USA] Paul – 1780
6. [ITA] Li.PROX – 1779
7. [USA] Kai – 1777
8. [USA] Jabberwocky – 1773
   -
9. [DEU] Massi – 1773
10. [USA] Mikhail – 1773
11. [AUT] Ying – 1772
12. [USA] EULER – 1771
13. [ITA] Matty – 1770
14. [GBR] Hanayo – 1769
15. [CAN] T-block – 1769
16. [USA] Signum – 1767
    -
17. [USA] zygarde – 1763
18. [USA] Wolfey – 1760
19. [GBR] Benster – 1757
20. [DEU] Dark Psiana – 1756
21. [MEX] Kodama – 1755
22. [DEU] Billa – 1755
23. [AUT] Mike – 1753
24. [CAN] Yin – 1752
25. [USA] Matthew – 1752
26. [DEU] RAFFAEL – 1751
27. [ITA] Andrea – 1750
28. [FRA] Andrea – 1746
29. [USA] Zonextreme – 1745
30. [BRA] Dietrich – 1744
31. [ITA] FireGohan – 1743
32. [GBR] Alby – 1743
    -
33. Joe – 1741
34. #fonsi
35. Nowak
36. ACE
37. Reckoner
38. TR Kid TG
39. Osirus
40. TM-Silv3r
41. galacticat
42. Luca
43. Hibiki
44. Ham
45. Kamaal
46. May
47. Jorge
48. Seba
49. Zyihk VGC
50. Necron
51. Himawari
52. DEMITRI
53. SrMomo
54. MEAN
55. TwoSmoove
56. Porengan
57. *Dawg*
58. Anael
59. Mika
60. Enrique
61. Pyro+
62. Lalo
63. Beni
64. Min
    -
65. Ste – 1715
66. Yuudachi
67. Rattatta 2.0
68. #1TOQUILLFAN
69. ~codeko~
70. Clemens
71. Tynator
72. Jhos75
73. Nico-Robin
74. +MajorBowman
75. Nayjay
76. ~SKALARI~
77. Popsicles
78. Psycho
79. Jason
80. Jake Birch
81. BARRY
82. Nick
83. Guille
84. Pearl
85. SFlynned
86. Kynetron
87. GooseyVGC
88. Brandon
89. Chandra
90. Alex
91. Error404
92. Math
93. Jiwa
94. Jackson
95. Albus
96. MrPenguin93
97. Thomas
98. W E S E R
99. MAX
100. MuhQ
101. Silver
102. bryn
103. Matt
104. Brandon
105. Lucifer
106. Toby
107. Denaysh
108. David
109. keyboredom
110. Frankie
111. Michilele
112. CybertronVGC
113. Neloks
114. Ashby
115. Yung Zoggy
116. Ashin
117. Lajo
118. Elmo
119. Everlance
120. IsraVGC
121. illumihotty
122. ZEKIRA
123. Conti
124. Sekiam
125. OmegaDonut
126. Tyvyr
127. Abel
128. Joan
     -
129. Haruka – 1688
130. Kevin
131. CodyVGC
132. Coogin
133. Iss Shii
134. DAN
135. Akiva
136. César
137. The Darkside
138. Andrew
139. Hiker Chaivn
140. Daniel
141. H3ntaiS3npai
142. Hussayn
143. Lati
144. Kuroan
145. FlynRider
146. Michael
147. MSankey
148. ModernGamer
149. Tman
150. Firefly
151. Cruise
152. Eyy
153. TITUS
154. Isaac
155. Tomato Queen
156. Shaun
157. Rafa
158. Lucy
159. drug duck
160. competny
161. Snoozle
162. Jack
163. Bright
164. Dede
165. Jason
166. Mr. Dos
167. EdoEdo
168. Kazuto
169. Tadei
170. Cameron
171. JJ
172. Dr Sugus
173. Scrappy
174. Kirro
175. LOUP
176. King Will
177. Bidi
178. Kasira
179. Queen
180. Squirtwo
181. Bladepower
182. Pat
183. Jamesspeed1
184. Skator X
185. Alicia
186. LORENZO
187. Reth
188. Blue
189. Tyler
190. Ash
191. May
192. Mike
193. Teak
194. Pirate Lion
195. Khalfabv
196. Kalash18
197. Pd0nZ
198. JiveTime
199. Florent
200. Daphnee
201. Snailor
202. Lucas
203. Andy VGC
204. Andy
205. Asami
206. Alicia
207. Mauro SC
208. Rosalina
209. Jacob
210. ANDY
211. Antonio
212. Alex
213. Dreico
214. Asuna
215. Megan
216. Dolan
217. Marco
218. Zellel
219. Masakado
220. Betto
221. Styrofoameon
222. Claudio
223. Ash Ketchum
224. Alexis
225. Syntex
226. AquaDragon
227. Alex
228. Henry
229. Rasta
230. Sebast
231. LPFanVGC
232. Luna
233. Thowra
234. NitroDavid-
235. LEx
236. IRNemesis
237. Juliet
238. Anthony
239. Shinji
240. Gardios
241. Macros
242. yoko SG50
243. Nobody
244. GRANISHADO
245. Mike
246. Tim
247. Sam
248. Waffles
249. Ultra-Poke
250. Jebedex
251. Borrego
252. Adaranoy
253. Adrian
254. Victor
255. Aioros
256. Mellow
     -
257. Yagami 1660

The post Results from the 2015 International Challenge – April appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi guys! Alvin “corsolakid” Mo here with my very first event and team report! Here with me is my beloved DOUBLE DOG VOICE QUAKE PLANT PUNCH team that netted a 6-2 record at Socal Regionals, earning me a 28th place finish.

Teambuilding

I’ve been asked how I came up with such a strange team, so here is a rundown of my team building process. I was home for winter break and, if there was one thing I wanted to accomplish over the 2 weeks, it was to build a solid team for the upcoming Alpha series Premier Challenge. The initial conception was slow, but eventually, during one late night solo team building session, I decided on After You Stoutland, with a Sandstream Tyranitar that would activate Stoutland’s Sand Rush ability!

For those of you unfamiliar with After You, it is a non-attacking move with no priority that forces the target to move immediately after the user. This means that slow Pokemon, or Pokemon using lower priority attacks such as Focus Punch, Trick Room, Roar, and the like are able to move based on my Stoutland’s speed, regardless of priority!

For the next four Pokemon, I tried not to focus on the metagame too much. I wanted a team with great synergy, but also made up of members who could shine on their own. Perhaps I got lucky, or perhaps I just really wanted this team to work out, but I never changed any of my initial Pokemon. As always, however, picking the right moves on each Pokemon proved difficult and I’ll elaborate on this in the individual Pokemon analysis below.

The Team

Friendly (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 108 HP / 148 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
– Double-Edge
– Protect
– Hyper Voice
– Flamethrower

If you skim through my team, you can see I have an enormous fighting weakness, with half team being weak to it. Mega Salamence offers Intimidate support, outspeeds, and destroys fighting types with Aerilate boosted Hyper Voice and Double-Edge. Salamence provides great support and offensive presence for his teammates.

The reasoning behind having both Double-Edge and Hyper Voice is that I needed a powerful and reliable attack. Paired with a monstrous 145 base attack, even zero-investment Double-Edges were getting KOs. Another option was Draco Meteor, which provided great coverage but, because it would hinder my subsequent attacks and is also unable to damage threatening fairies such as Sylveon and Gardevoir, I decided against using it. Flamethrower is important for handling Scizor, Aegislash, and other pesky steel types. Finally, for Mega-Salamence, being the huge Frisbee-UFO target that it is, protect is essential for its livelihood.

I decided against using a 252/252 spread because Hyper Voice was not usually a one hit KO either way, so I went for a bit of bulk to absorb Rock Slides and other attacks better. The spreads on many of my Pokemon are quite arbitrary, but the 108 hp allows me to survive uninvested Suicune Ice Beams 15 out of 16 times.

Turtle Lion (Torterra) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe  (note that, on my in-game team, the IV is more like 8)
– Wide Guard
– Wood Hammer
– Earthquake
– Stone Edge

In a metagame where Terrakion and Sylveon run rampant, Wide Guard protects my team from common spread moves such as Hyper Voice, Heat Wave, Rock Slide, and Earthquake. Wood Hammer and Earthquake were my STAB attacks of choice. Originally, my Torterra carried Protect over Stone Edge. Protect is great for when Torterra was my win condition, such as against teams with Tyranitar and/or Terrakion. In general physical attackers were weak to Torterra’s Wood Hammer while Stone Edge was good for nailing common flying type switch-ins, such as Crobat or Thundurus, which Wood Hammer and Earthquake did not cover.

As for the EV spread, it’s my personal lazy spread. 252 in what needs 252, 196/60 in the other two. After playing with damage calculations, I was pleasantly surprised how well Torterra could take special attacks, even without any Special Defense investment. Ice Beam didn’t even come close to knocking out Yache Berry Torterra. I am considering changing the spread around and invest more in attack because I already easily survive Brave Bird from Adamant Life Orb Talonflame. A small attack boost would be nice, as there have been a few instances where I just barely miss out on knock outs on Battle Spot.

In my experience, Torterra synergizes really well with Mega-Salamence. Salamence’s typing leaves it very vulnerable to super effective spread moves such as Icy Wind, Rock Slide, and Pixelate Hyper Voice, which are all nullified by Wide Guard. Torterra can also Earthquake freely with Salamence on the field, putting opponents in KO range of my powerhouses in the back. Torterra’s relaxed nature also allows Torterra to move after any Aegislash (barring Iron Ball).

Wan (Entei) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 120 Atk / 28 Def / 104 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Sacred Fire
– Stone Edge
– Reflect
– Protect

 Woof woof. Entei, in addition to providing a doggy (yes, Entei is a dog) companion for my Stoutland, deals with Steel and Fairy types quite well. For the moveset, I knew that Sacred Fire is a must. On top of having a 50% burn chance, Sacred Fire is a physical non-contact attack, meaning it ignores Iron Barb, Rocky Helmet, King’s Shield’s attack drop, as well as any other pesky contact effects. Stone Edge is great against Charizard Y who puts out huge pressure against my team when the sun is up.

I opted for Reflect over Will-o-Wisp, as Reflect never misses and covers both allies. Also, it does not activate Guts boosts on Pokemon like Hariyama or Conkeldurr. There are drawbacks with Reflect, of course. Opponents can stall out Reflect, there is no chip damage from burns, and Reflect only reduces physical attack damage by a third in doubles, as opposed to half in singles.

Safety Goggles protect me from sand damage and from powder moves. I opted for maximum speed with a Jolly nature, as Entei is great for protecting my team against the aforementioned Kangaskhan and Charizards. Again, EVs were quite arbitrary. My Entei’s IVs were not perfect, so my EVs made it so that my defense and special defense values were equal and that I had nice round numbers, such as 150 attack and 190 HP on my Entei in game.

Foes punched over the weekend

TYsomuch (Tyranitar) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 196 HP / 220 Atk / 16 SpA / 76 SpD
(Speed IVs were 15, not 31, which has actually saved me against a Flareon trick room team)
Brave Nature
– Ice Beam
– Rock Slide
– Focus Punch
– Protect

Now we reach the point in the article where I hope I can inform the skeptical and the curious alike! Focus Punch Life Orb Tyranitar is extremely powerful. With some assistance from Stoutland’s After You, I have nailed countless unsuspecting Kangaskhan and Heatran. I also have the option for a super fast, super strong Rock Slide!

I know what you guys are thinking, “But Terrakion can take out Kangaskhans and has a fast Rock Slide by itself! Why bother even wasting a move with After You?!” But! Has your Terrakion ever OHKOed a Landorus? Or a Mega Salamence? My Stoutland can outspeed scarfed Landorus, Garchomp, and Dragon Dancing Mega-Salamence in the sand, so I can easily remove them with an After You assisted Life Orb Ice Beam from my Tyranitar. A fatal drawback of this strategy is, of course, that a timely Protect completely wastes a turn for me. In addition, many Landorus carry Assault Vest or Focus Sash now, which unfortunately allows them to survive an Ice Beam from Tyranitar.

After putting 220 EVs into attack, I placed the majority of the remainder into bulk as the brave nature allowed Tyranitar to function decently under an opponents’ Trick Room, being slower than Pokemon such as Cresselia.

I really want to talk more about Focus Punch though! People have suggested less risky alternatives such as Low Kick or Superpower, but I feel that, in this meta, I’ll always wish that I had Focus Punch. Low Kick, and even Superpower, just don’t provide enough power. Check these calcs

220+ Atk Life Orb Tyranitar Focus Punch vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 244-289 (115 - 136.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
220+ Atk Life Orb Tyranitar Superpower vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 195-231 (91.9 - 108.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
220+ Atk Life Orb Tyranitar Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 161-192 (75.9 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after sandstorm damage

As you can see, Focus punch will knock out even bulky Mega-Kangaskhan variants with Focus punch, while Low Kick struggles to even knock out 0 HP/0 Def Mega-Kangaskhan. After playing with this team for a while, I would still attempt a Focus Punch confidently, even without After You support. Just being a Pokemon four times weak to fighting in a metagame filled with Low Kick, Close Combat, and Superpower is risky. Raw Focus Punch in doubles is quite simple to play with since, for most scenarios, I either get a Focus Punch off or I would have be OHKO’d before I could attack anyways. Plus, landing a raw Focus Punch just feels soooo gooood.

BFFF (Stoutland) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– After You
– Protect
– Return
– Crunch

 After reading the Tyranitar analysis, you may think Stoutland is just here to support Tyranitar. But After You and Sand Rush gives Stoutland an amazing amount of flexibility in team plays. For example, Mega-Sceptile, as rare as it is, out right destroys my Mega-Salamence. However, with the sand up, my Salamence will have the chance to knock Sceptile out first! Stoutland can also help a paralyzed teammate move first, which was crucial in one of my battles at Regionals! Stoutland is often targeted by Prankster Thunder Wave and Taunt, so one must learn to play around this.

Max speed EVs is a must, since Stoutland is the team’s only form of speed control. Max speed allows it to essentially outspeed everything speedy, even if they’re under tailwind. Having a Focus Sash allows me to survive at least one hit and invest maximum EVs into attack since I didn’t have to worry about bulk. Sand Rush negates sand damage, so sand wouldn’t break my Focus Sash. Return does a good amount of damage, even on some bulkier foes like Suicune and Venusaur. Crunch was my ghost coverage and prevented any endgame scenario where my Pokemon just cannot do any damage. Those situations are really demoralizing. Finally, Protect is necessary to block Fake Outs and similar attacks.

NP Man (Cradily) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpA
Sassy Nature
– Ancient Power
– Giga Drain
– Mirror Coat
– Recover

Cradily and its unique Storm Drain ability is a popular pick for many sand teams, as it protects partners from single targeted water attacks and also receives a special defense boost from the sand. Giga Drain and Leftovers gives it a favorable match up against bulky water types, such as Suicune and Milotic. Recover is great for regaining health if the opponent starts to ignore Cradily, or double protect to stall out sand or Reflect.

Mirror Coat also allows it to deal massive damage to Heatran and Sylveon who love to fire off spread moves that are forced to also target Cradily. Unfortunately Mirror Coat does not effectively deal with Substitute Heatran or any dark type Pokemon, such as Hydreigon, making it tricky to use. Finally, Ancient Power is a great coverage move and the 10% chance to boost all stats is certainly an amazing secondary effect.

Tournament Report

I did not take any notes during my matches, so I must apologize. I will try my best to detail some of the matches, especially the ones that I lost, as they stuck out the most in my memory!

Round 3 (W) vs. Michael Hart

This was a showcase of Tyranitar and Stoutland tearing through a team. The Darmanitan, I presumed, was Choice Scarfed with Superpower or a similar move, but it went down in one blow from After You + Rock Slide. The Gardevoir survived, but was unable to knock out either of my Pokemon with Dazzling Gleam. From my recollection, Tyranitar and Stoutland took down the whole team with a combination of Rock Slide, Crunch, Return, Focus Punch, and Ice Beam. The game ended in 3-0, with my Tyranitar fainting from Life Orb recoil.

Match 4 (L) vs. Matthew Greaves (picklesword)

     /  ( )

This match happened right after the lunch break and I was really, really nervous—heart pounding, face red, and jittery even before the match started. Fortunately, we were able to talk before the match about my Lillipup plushie. We revealed to each other that we were both using sand teams, his featuring an Excadrill and mine, a Stoutland. This battle was, without a doubt, the closest and most exciting match I had of the weekend.  He brought Excadrill, Cresselia, Gyarados, and Mega-Tyranitar while I brought Entei, Torterra, Mega-Salamence and Stoutland. This is a rare instance where I decided to bring Stoutland without Tyranitar.

The lead matchup was perfect for me, as he leads Excadrill and Cresselia against my Torterra and Entei. Torterra blocked any Icy Winds Cresselia would want to use and Entei threatened Excadrill with Sacred fire. For the first half of the match, I felt I was leading and in control, having set up a Reflect and burning his Gyarados on the switch in. Even after Gyarados had paralyzed my Entei with Thunder Wave, I was still able to land a Sacred Fire on Excadrill with some After You support! Sacred Fire did not KO, due to Gyarados’ Intimidate, and failed to burn, which was definitely important.

Even with the good start that I had, my opponent played very well to gain the momentum. He had a super bulky Mega Tyranitar in the back and played around my reflect turns while also resetting the sand with Protects and switches. A crucial double target into my Torterra midgame while I Protected with Mega-Salamence swung the game in his favor. Eventually the game ended with a duel between low HP Mega-Salamence and a Mega-Tyranitar in the yellow. He managed to get a double protect and my Mega-Salamence unfortunately went down to sand damage. GG Matthew and thanks for the great battle!

Match 6 (L) vs. Anthony Jiminez (DarkAssassin)

/ ( )

As I often try to learn from my losses, I remembered my losses much better than my wins! And this one was a pretty solid loss. I believe I lead with Torterra and Entei against his Sylveon and Kangaskhan. Sylveon switches out, perhaps suspecting Wide Guard from Torterra, and Kangaskhan Fake Outs my Entei. I was playing from behind for the whole battle and, to make things worse, his Landorus-T was able to survive After You + Ice Beam from Tyranitar, likely because of Assault Vest.

I recall losing 0-3. His prankster Thundurus taunted my Stoutland after seeing the first After You, preventing any possible Rock Slide flinches to swing the game on my side. Good game Anthony and congrats on the Top 4 finish! 

Conclusion

It was definitely a fun tournament run. Sharing a hotel room with seven friends over the weekend was also quite the experience. I’m glad I could make it so far into Regionals with my unique team. I was really excited when I won the final round and had a 6-2 finish, since it meant I would have a chance at top cut.

To say I wasn’t disappointed with missing cut would be a lie. Missing top cut hit me hard, I lost my focus and couldn’t move. That’s not to say my VGC run is anywhere near complete, however. I’ll take this event as a learning experience and sprint further than ever before. Thanks for reading and I hope to bring even more freeze-shocks and astonishments with my future teams!

Shoutouts:

• UCSD Pokemon!!
• My posse : Alex, Mike, Stephen, Andrew, Amiko, Danny, Jon, DJ, Matt!
• Double shoutout to Mike and Stephen and Jon for driving!
• Nugget bridge for all the VGC knowledge!
• Serebii and Bulbapedia for all my researching needs!
• All the great Pokemon Youtube content out there~
• You, the reader!! Any feedback or questions are welcome~ Leave comments and I’ll be sure to read em’ :]

The post After You My Friend: A SoCal Regionals Team Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

On April 18th, México held its first ever Regional Championship in Mexico City. This was just the second Regional event in Latin America following the Buenos Aires Regional Championship in Argentina at the beginning of the month. The tournament was held at the Tlatelolco Convention Center, which featured a Live Stream on Twitch.

The Masters Division had 143 trainers who participated in 8 rounds of Swiss followed by a Top Cut of the best 8 players. Seniors and Juniors played their own 4 Rounds Tournament culminating in an international final with Cristian Milligan from Perú defeating Sebástian Alzate from Colombia.

Final Standings and Teams

These are the Final Standings and Teams from the Top Cut in the Regional.

1. Miguel Lope Moreno

2. José Campuzano (Joaquin Page)

3. Luis Alfonso Trujillo (Aioros)

4. Ruben Ulises Lince (RubenLinx)

5. Fabián Chavez

6. Luis Miguel Hernandez (Luvier)

7. Jhon Bucio

8. Mario Roqué Barcena

Final Matches

As a bonus, here is the final match between Miguel Lope Moreno (ale) and José Campuzano (Joaquin). While Mega-Kangaskhan was the popular choice among most of the top teams, it was eventually Mega Venusaur who took the Tournament. It was a great surprise to see Jose using Mega Kangaskhan on a Trick Room team though!

The Seniors Division final saw Christian Milligan who traveled from Perú face Sebastian Alzate, a Colombian player who resides in México. With this win, Christian becomes a strong contender for one of the two paid trips invites for Worlds this season.

Final Thoughts

While the top players in CP from México in the Masters Division didn’t receive any significant boost from this event, we saw many new faces that will fight for those Worlds invites this year. This was a great first Regional for México with a lot of players having a good time. Seeing some of them with shirts of their “Pokemon Guild”, others traveling from far away states and even another countries, it hopefully gives us a taste of what is to come for upcoming Regional events in South America.

The post Mexico City Regional Results, Videos and Teams appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

When there is a Gastrodon in team preview, people often wonder what kind of role it is fulfilling. Is it an offensive Pokémon that will hit your Steel and Fire types hard with a super effective move? Or is it a bulky Water type Pokemon using its amazing ability Storm Drain? Gastrodon can fulfill many roles on a team and is flexible with how it performs. This analysis on the Water/Ground type sea slug will hopefully help you understand why and how you should use it.

What is a Gastrodon and what can it do?

Gastrodon is a Pokémon with Water/Ground typing. Most Water types are weak to Electric and Grass types, but with a Ground typing Gastrodon is immune to Electric-type attacks. However; this comes with the cost of having a 4x super effective weakness to Grass-type attacks. It has access to the ability Storm Drain, which makes it immune to Water-type attacks and gains a +1 boost to its Special Attack when targeted with one. Storm Drain can also redirect single-target Water-type attacks from anywhere on the field, which can be used to protect your team members! Gastrodon can provide great synergy support for your VGC team with Storm Drain, one weakness, and its attack coverage. While it is only able to hit 5 types for super effective damage with its Water and Ground attacks, having access to Ice-type attacks brings it’s range of type coverage to 8 types out of 18, nearly half of all Pokemon types. Gastrodon has the ability to hit many common Pokémon for super effective damage, such as Mega Mawile, Terrakion, Thundurus, Landorus-Therian and Mega Metagross.

An Analysis of Gastrodon’s Base Stats

Hit Points: 111
Attack: 83
Defense: 68
Special Attack: 92
Special Defense: 82
Speed: 39
Total: 475

Looking at the base stats, we can see that Gastrodon has excellent base hit points, but the rest of the stats are below average, with the only other notable stat being the special attack. It has a low base speed stat of 39, which is slow enough to be useful in Trick Room. With only having a Base Stat Total (BST) of 475, we can see Gastrodon is not used for its stats, but rather for its useful typing and ability.

How do you build a spread for Gastrodon?

Because Gastrodon has such a high base HP stat, investing more in your defenses can give Gastrodon more bulk. Depending on the team composition, you may want a spread more suited to the common bulky Water types; or perhaps you require a hard hitting Water/Ground type special attacker? Do you have an Intimidate user on your team?  Gastrodon, with its lackluster defense, can really strut its stuff when you patch that up. With a Modest nature, Gastrodon makes use of its best stat for a nature, as it gives the most efficient stat increase. While natures such as Bold/Relaxed or Calm/Sassy can work, they are generally for more niche roles as they are used for a specific purpose.

Why would I use Gastrodon over another bulky Water-type Pokemon?

Why would you use a Gastrodon over Pokémon like Suicune, Swampert (which has the same typing as Gastrodon), Rotom-Wash, or Politoed/Swift Swim users?

Gastrodon is used primarily for protecting members from single target Water-type moves, with team members benefiting directly from this such as Heatran (which also has a 4x resistance to Grass-type moves, which helps cover Gastrodon), Landorus-Therian, Arcanine, Terrakion and Mega Camerupt. Indirectly, Gastrodon can also help by covering types that are otherwise difficult for some popular Pokémon. Mega Salamence, Mega Metagross and Mega Mawile dislike fighting Steel types, with both the Steel Megas disliking Fire types as well. Gastrodon’s Water/Ground typing synergizes well as it can be built to KO said Pokemon that resist Salamence, Metagross, and Mawile.

Gastrodon checks Pokémon like Rotom-Wash, as the only way for Rotom-Wash to hurt Gastrodon is by having Will-O-Wisp, which may not even be seen on every set. It stops Suicune in its tracks other than a potental Snarl, but even then Suicune will not be exerting any pressure on Gastrodon.

Gastrodon, with enough offensive investment as shown in the EV spreads below, can get knock-outs on common Pokémon like Terrakion, Bisharp, Heatran, Mega Mawile and Mega Metagross with Earth Power. Thundurus, Zapdos, Landorus-T, Salamence and other Dragon/Flying types can be targeted with Ice-type attacks such as Ice Beam or Icy Wind.  Gastrodon can also use Water-type moves such as Muddy Water or Scald to get knock-outs on Rotom-Heat, Arcanine, Blaziken, Volcarona and Chandelure.

Gastrodon has a few useful moves, such as: Muddy Water, Scald, Earth Power, Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Sludge Bomb, Recover and Mirror Coat, with the first 5 moves being the most common for a balance between offense and defense. Muddy Water can be used as a good spread move, but it has a shaky accuracy of 85%, so it should only be used if a more accurate Water-type attack is not a necessity. Recover is more effectively used in a Trick Room scenario where it can move before the opponent’s Pokémon and able to recover health. Mirror Coat should only be considered for an Assault Vest variant, which is an extremely niche set for Gastrodon.

What does Gastrodon need to be wary of?

Gastrodon needs to be wary of most Grass types, as most common Grass-type attacks can knock it out. A small amount of defensive investment can make Giga Drain a two-hit KO from Amoongus.

• 0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Gastrodon: 172-208 (82.2 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Gastrodon does not like to be hit with Snarls due to its mediocre special attack or heavy hitting physical moves such as Mega Kangaskhan’s Return/Double-Edge, as it heavily damages Gastrodon. Gastrodon dislikes being burned, but if it has Recover the issue can be slightly negated.

Sample Gastrodon Spreads

Offensive Gastrodon

Gastrodon @ Expert Belt
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 204 HP / 100 Def / 196 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Scald
– Protect

Offensive Calculations

• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 168-202 (100.5 – 120.9%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 226-269 (132.1 – 157.3%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 262-310 (156.8 – 185.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 36 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 245-288 (144.9 – 170.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 139-168 (89.1 – 107.6%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO
• 196+ SpA Expert Belt Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Mawile: 161-190 (102.5 – 121%) — guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Calculations

• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 204 HP / 100 Def Gastrodon: 121-144 (57 – 67.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 204 HP / 100 Def Gastrodon: 187-222 (88.2 – 104.7%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO
• 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 204 HP / 8 SpD Gastrodon: 97-115 (45.7 – 54.2%) — 50% chance to 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 204 HP / 100 Def Gastrodon: 91-108 (42.9 – 50.9%) — 2.3% chance to 2HKO
• 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 204 HP / 100 Def Gastrodon: 117-138 (55.1 – 65%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 204 HP / 100 Def Gastrodon: 172-204 (81.1 – 96.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO

This is Simon Yip’s (Simon) spread who used Gastrodon successfully in a Premier Challenge. That report can be found here.

The team was composed of physical Mega Salamence, which struggles against Pokémon who resist its Aerilate boosted Flying-type attacks and Pokémon such as Mega Mawile, Aegislash, Zapdos and Mega Metagross. Simon also wanted to use a Landorus-Therian or a Terrakion in his team, but due to conflicting weaknesses, Terrakion was chosen over Landorus-T. These two are still unable to hit some Steel types such as Aegislash though. He used a Drought Ninetales that gave him some added coverage, but he needed more than one Pokémon that could hit certain threats hard in order to have a reliable team counter. This is when Gastrodon was selected for the team. Simon wanted to hit Aegislash in its Blade-form, where it is most vulnerable. Having 196 special attack EV’s with Modest nature and a speed IV of 27 enables it to under speed and KO Aegislash with Earth Power. It also can Knock out 36 Hp / 4 SpD Landorus-T, 4 Hp Mega Salamence, and 4 Hp Terrakion with Ice Beam and Earth Power respectively. This is an example of how Gastrodon can be used to fulfill an offensive role in a team. Having a special Ground-type is extremely useful in the 2015 VGC Meta game as it gets many KOs on common Pokémon highlighted before.

Supportive Gastrodon

Gastrodon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 148 HP / 164 Def / 100 SpA / 96 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Scald
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Protect

This is my own Gastrodon spread, which was made for supporting a team rather than being a major offensive threat. It fulfilled multiple roles in my team. I used Mega Metagross, Arcanine, Gastrodon, Hydreigon, Zapdos, and Terrakion. As you can see, a bit of my team dislikes taking Scalds as Mega Metagross can get burnt, Terrakion can be brought down to its Focus Sash, and Arcanine getting hit for a lot of damage. Arcanine’s Intimidate helped Gastrodon a lot and helped check Grass types that Gastrodon needs help dealing with. The spread was built to tank Salamence’s 252 Adamant Aerilate Double-Edge, and fire back with Ice Beam. The Quiet nature helped out my team against Trick Room teams, and the reduced speed does not impact it in any other match other than against Trick Room. The remainder of the EVs were placed into special defense.

Offensive Calculations

• 100+ SpA Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 36 HP / 4 SpD Landorus-T: 184-220 (108.8 – 130.1%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 100+ SpA Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 172-204 (100.5 – 119.2%) — guaranteed OHKO
• 100+ SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 128-152 (76.6 – 91%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 100+ SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Metagross: 108-128 (69.2 – 82%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 100+ SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Mega Mawile: 108-128 (68.7 – 81.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Calculations

• 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 148 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 84-100 (40.9 – 48.7%) — 99.7% chance to 3HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 148 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 175-207 (85.3 – 100.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 148 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 112-133 (54.6 – 64.8%) — 14.1% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 148 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 160-189 (78 – 92.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Zen Headbutt vs. 148 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 109-129 (53.1 – 62.9%) — 1.2% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

Defensive Gastrodon

Gastrodon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 27 Spe
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Recover
– Protect

This Gastrodon is built to be bulky, trying to prolong its time on the field in order to make use of its ability. The HP number minimizes burn damage. The EV spread takes Adamant 252 Attack Double-Edge from Mega Kangaskhan and Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor. This spread takes nearly any neutral attack, which helps Gastrodon in supporting the team. Rocky Helmet punishes physical attackers, which could potentially help teammates KO opposing Pokémon. The moves are a standard defensive set, with Earth Power dealing decent damage and Ice Beam for hitting Pokemon 4x weak to it. Recover can be used effectively due to the bulk on Gastrodon in prolonging its time on the field. Protect also helps with the goal of keeping Gastrodon on the field

Offensive

• 0 SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 156 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 128-152 (76.6 – 91%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 0 SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 128-152 (90.7 – 107.8%) — 37.5% chance to OHKO
• 0 SpA Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 140-168 (81.8 – 98.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 0 SpA Gastrodon Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 104-126 (62.2 – 75.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 0 SpA Gastrodon Ice Beam vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 156-184 (91.7 – 108.2%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO

Defensive

• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 180-214 (83.7 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 228 HP / 116+ SpD Gastrodon: 168-198 (78.1 – 92%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 175-207 (81.3 – 96.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Knock Off vs. 228 HP / 164 Def Gastrodon: 86-101 (40 – 46.9%) — guaranteed 3HKO (Noting that knock off loses power after the first hit).
• 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 228 HP / 116+ SpD Gastrodon: 79-94 (36.7 – 43.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO

Items that Gastrodon Uses

Gastrodon can use the following items effectively:

• Expert Belt
• Sitrus Berry
• Rocky Helmet
• Assault Vest
• Leftovers
• Rindo Berry

While the items are in no specific order, Gastrodon usually runs Expert Belt, Leftovers, Sitrus Berry or Rocky Helmet. What it uses for you is dependent on what role your Gastrodon will fulfill. Sitrus Berry, Leftovers and Rocky Helmet are used for the more supportive roles, whereas the Expert Belt focuses more on its offensive Ground typing. Assault Vest is a very niche set, but can potentially be used with Mirror Coat to knock out Pokemon who hit it hard on the special spectrum such as a Mega Venasaur’s Giga Drain. This is best used in Best of One as once revealed in a Best of Three, it can be more of a hindrance due to the lack of surprise factor.

Who should I use on my team with Gastrodon?

Gastrodon has good synergy with Heatran, Talonflame, and Volcarona as they quad-resist Grass-type attacks and Gastrodon can redirect Water-type moves away from them. Talonflame in particular pairs especially well with Gastrodon as both Pokemon are either immune or resistant to each other’s weaknesses. Gastrodon can take out many Pokemon that threaten Talonflame, and likewise with Talonflame quickly eliminating opposing Grass types using Brave Bird. Heatran has good synergy with Gastrodon as well, but Gastrodon tends to take a lot of damage when facing Ground/Fighting types before it can KO them.

Volcarona is an interesting choice as it can hit Grass types very hard with both Bug Buzz and it’s array of Fire-type moves. However; Gastrodon does not have a flying resistance meaning that opposing Talonflame and Mega Salamance can hit both of them for a lot of damage.

A Mega Evolution that appreciates being paired with a Storm Drain user is Mega Camerupt, as it has a 4x weakness to water. Gastrodon can take out Landorus-Therian as well, as Landorus is a good check for both Gastrodon and Camerupt. However; other than that, there is not much Gastrodon can help Camerupt with. The shared Ground typing on both is redundant, with neither one helping each other with their weaknesses.

Mega Salamence and Mega Metagross enjoy being paired with Gastrodon as it can redirect potential burns from Scald.  Terrakion can partner with Gastrodon well as it can take out hard hitting physical Pokemon for Gastrodon, and Gastrodon can support Terrakion with Storm Drain as well as take out potential threats such as Mega Salamence.

I hope this analysis has given you an insight on why you would consider Gastrodon for your VGC 2015 team.

Credit to Simon and Angel Miranda (CT MikotaMisaka) for both helping me with the offensive team spread and their own short reports on the team.
​Credit to Stats‘ Pokémon Attack Survival Calculator as it helped with making the last spread.
Credit to P3DS and his idea of an Assault Vest Gastrodon.

The post A Sea Slug Approach: VGC ’15 Gastrodon Analysis appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hi, I’m Zach Droegkamp, and I recently took 2nd place at the St. Louis Missouri Regional.

I’ll cut right to the chase with how I decided on the team I did.

The Teambuilding

The weeks before, I was working on Clefairy + Breloom + Metagross as Harrison (Crow) got me interested in it after watching a few games of his on Showdown where they did a lot of work.

The Metagross had Hammer Arm / Bullet Punch / Zen Headbutt (was Ice Punch > Zen Headbutt for a bit, too.) I loved the core and the Metagross set, but I could never find three other Pokemon that worked well enough with it. After practicing the weekend before with Jake (Majorbowman), I started to become keen on the idea of running Cybertron’s core of Terrakion / Bisharp / Gengar with Metagross, along with Suicune and Scarf Thundurus-Therian as it had a slightly positive matchup against a wide variety of things, especially Mega Venusaur, which I was admittedly a little overly-cautious about after it won Apex finals against a Metagross.

It was working decently well in practice, but had some issues with sustaining versus bulkier teams and lacked some board control, mostly because of the Thundurus-T. I couldn’t really find a suitable replacement for it and rearranging the team made it lose its identity. At this point, I decided that I liked the Clefairy / Breloom / Metagross core more, but wanted Quick Guard on the team. I felt that I couldn’t give up Breloom, so I turned Landorus-T into a Crobat and Milotic / Suicune / whatever was in that slot over those few days I used it into a Rotom-W since I didn’t need a method of speed control due to Crobat being on the team now.

I kind of liked the team, but it had some consistency issues and was way better in theory than it was in play. After practicing with Jake more, I decided to test something similar to his team with the same six Pokemon. I felt like he had something good going on with the double genies paired with the Hydreigon / Metagross / fighting type core.

After testing for a while, I realized that Ludicolo was pretty much useless in most of my games. I didn’t like the prospect of having a weak matchup against bulky Water-types, but I realized that Ludicolo’s slowplaying versus them wasn’t the problem; the main issue I had was that while Ludicolo could slowplay and win one-versus-one against the bulky Water-types, it couldn’t take on the common partners. Landorus-T dented it with U-turn, Kangaskhan smacked it around, and if Thundurus packed Thunder Wave and Swagger, it opened the door to some low probability scenarios that ideally I’d like to avoid. I tried Suicune, but I still noticed the Kangaskhan problems with the team as I couldn’t bring down Kangaskhan + Heatran + Landorus-T + bulky Water-type with Suicune + partners very easily. It looks okay on paper with Terrakion, but it’s hard to Switch anything into a Kangaskhan Double Edge, and it’s not fun trying to play around Landorus-T Switching. If I could get around those things, I’d still be left with a shaky matchup with the bulky Water-type, and bringing Thundurus vs Landorus-T and Kangaskhan is very tough, especially since it doesn’t OHKO bulky Water-types. I wanted something that could stay on the field regardless of what switched in.

I added Jellicent as it matches up well versus all four of those (barring Rotom-W, which I had enough options for.) It also aided the Sylveon matchup a bit, which wasn’t too fun for me either, as it stonewalled Choice Specs sets late-game with Cursed Body + Recover. It had very good switch synergy with Hydreigon and Terrakion, so it fit the team’s defensive side well enough for me to want it on the team.

I felt pretty confident with the team even though I didn’t get to play more than a couple dozen games with it. It seemed to put me in winning position versus most of the well-built teams I was playing. I didn’t worry about my team too much before the tournament for the first time in as long as I can remember.

The Team

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Iron Head
– Zen Headbutt
– Substitute
– Protect

Usage: 95%
Win Percentage: 70%
Lead Percentage: 67%
Win Percentage When Lead: 64%
Back Percentage: 29%
Win Percentage When Back: 83%

As I explained before, I thought Metagross was the key to what I wanted to do with a team at St. Louis and I made sure that I kept it in all of my plans with my teams. I had tested a few sets and didn’t really like Substitute on most of the teams I had, but I think on this team it had a much better application as the core of the team was capable of switching around and getting Metagross on the field in good board position, which often forced switches that I’d be able to Substitute up on. The Iron Head and Zen Headbutt are pretty self-explanatory; Meteor Mash doesn’t get any extra KOs that Iron Head does, and I didn’t want to unnecessarily sacrifice accuracy. I probably would go with Jake’s spread if I did it all over again, but I’m okay with how the 252/252 worked out for me; the lack of a little extra bulk was never an issue during either day of Regionals.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Earth Power
– Protect

Usage: 57%
Win Percentage: 58%
Lead Percentage: 33%
Win Percentage When Lead: 57%
Back Percentage: 24%
Win Percentage When Back: 60%

This is the one Pokemon I struggled with most of the week before and ended up not liking a lot during Swiss. It had the lowest win percentage on the team, and it felt like it wasn’t pulling its weight offensively most of the day. The speed tier it’s in is kind of weird and made me hesitant to run any bulk on it, so I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into the spread. I wish I would have run Timid in hindsight as it can pressure Kangaskhan before it Mega-Evolves and naturally outspeeds fast Adamant. The set was pretty okay for what I needed it to do. In practice I realized that Protect was very important without having a way to redirect or Fake Out, so I opted for Life Orb over Choice Specs. The positive behind Hydreigon, though, is its type synergy with Metagross and Jellicent. It’s able to effectively switch in on Ghost and Dark-type moves and aid Jellicent with its Electric and Grass weaknesses and Metagross with its Ground and Fire weaknesses, respectively. On paper it looks a lot better than it is in play, but I do feel like I made the correct decision to stick with it regardless of how underwhelming it was on other teams in practice.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Close Combat
– Protect
– Quick Guard

Usage: 48%
Win Percentage: 70%
Lead Percentage: 19%
Win Percentage When Lead: 75%
Back Percentage: 24%
Win Percentage When Back: 60%

Terrakion was one of the strangest things not only about the team, but about the Missouri Regional in general. I ended up playing a plague of Terrakion (over half of my opponents had it on their team) so it was a little hard to find a good time to bring it given that it didn’t have Focus Sash. It fits what I need this slot to take care of given the other five Pokemon, but it wasn’t able to do that a lot of the time and due to this, I felt like I ended up having to rely on Landorus-T and Thundurus a lot instead which ended up making my games a lot messier. The moveset was basic, but although Quick Guard was decently useful in practice, I never used it once during the entire tournament.

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Scald
– Recover
– Will-O-Wisp
– Taunt

Usage: 86%
Win Percentage: 61%
Lead Percentage: 29%
Win Percentage When Lead: 67%
Back Percentage: 57%
Win Percentage When Back: 58%

Jellicent was kind of a last-minute addition to the team (I had a decent amount of practice with it and had some time to theory matchups with it, but it was only on the last edition of the team.) I was really comfortable with how it played, though, so the lack of experience didn’t matter much. This type of Jellicent won me 2013 Fort Wayne Regionals, and I think the familiarity from how it played on that team helped me out a bit here. Its purpose was, as explained above, to be able to shrug off hits from Kangaskhan, Landorus-T, Terrakion, Sylveon, and Heatran while slowplaying bulky Water-type Pokemon and providing a solid mid to late-game win condition for the team. It ended up performing way better in Top Cut than it did in Swiss; I’m not sure if that’s because I faced more favorable matchups or because teams were slightly less offensive, but for whatever reason, it was solid for me in best-of-three for the second time in a row I’ve used it. It wasn’t so good in Swiss, however, and I think running either Hex or Trick Room over Taunt would have helped a little bit more in Swiss as I Tauned into a few things with either Mental Herb or that didn’t have the Taunt-able move I thought they did.

Jellicent was quite the roller coaster ride all day. It had its games where it absolutely locked things down, and others where it probably shouldn’t have been brought but the other members of the team took care of things. I liked it enough to keep it in my mind when building for the future, but I don’t think it’s by any means something that will become a “staple”. The types of teams it works with are much more limited than many of the other Pokemon on this team.

Now the thing everyone’s been bugging me about: the spread. Well…it’s for a Sitrus Berry Jellicent, it takes two Shadow Balls from Gengar with the Sitrus recovery. The issue? The Pokemon below is holding the Sitrus Berry and needs it a lot more. This led me to throw Leftovers on Jellicent as it was typically staying on the field 4-5+ turns when I brought it anyways. However, I simply forgot to adjust the spread when I did so, and would definitely tweak it a bit if I were to run Leftovers again. Oops.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 192 Def / 92 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Swagger
– Thunder Wave

Usage: 57%
Win Percentage: 67%
Lead Percentage: 33%
Win Percentage When Lead: 57%
Back Percentage: 24%
Win Percentage When Back: 80%

Thundurus was the Pokemon that surprised me the most as I got used to the team. In theory, it really doesn’t fit on this team and I tried pretty hard to replace it when theory-ing through the team’s matchups, but the more I practiced with it, the more I liked it. However, I had Taunt for most of the week over Swagger and kept Taunting either into Aegislash and not being able to do much afterward, or relying on it too much vs hard Trick Room and ended up Taunting into Mental Herbs. Since I already had Lum Berry on Terrakion, I figured Swagger could be a nifty option for when both were on the field at the same time, which I noticed was happening a lot when practicing with the team. It also helped a bit with the Aegislash problem the team had; Swagger was generally a more effective move versus it than Taunt was. It came in very handy during one game during the day, and bought me a chance that I otherwise wouldn’t have had in Game 2 of Top 16. I initially planned to bring Thundurus + Terrakion vs Aaron (Unreality) in Finals, but I suspected he wouldn’t bring Conkeldurr with Jellicent probably coming to that game, so I hesitated (+2 Close Combat is a 15/16 KO on Conkeldurr).

The spread gave Thundurus a 98% chance of surviving Adamant Kangaskhan Return + Fake Out, allowed it to easily take an Adamant Double Edge. It also took two Aegislash Shadow Balls 100% of the time assuming no Special Defense drop. It outsped things that were speed creeping Breloom by 1 point. I didn’t see a need to invest in Special Attack as I wasn’t very concerned with getting OHKOs on things with Thunderbolt or HP Ice, and my EVs already left me pretty inflexible to move any around.

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 164 HP / 124 Atk / 12 Def / 28 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– U-turn
– Rock Slide
– Superpower

Usage: 62%
Win Percentage: 77%
Lead Percentage: 19%
Win Percentage When Lead: 100%
Back Percentage: 43%
Win Percentage When Back: 67%

Landorus-T wasn’t brought to as many games as Jellicent and Metagross, but it seemed to be helping out a lot every time I was able to bring it. It had far and away the highest win percentage on the team with 77%, and I felt it played a large role in the games it was winning. There were multiple times during the day where I was able to survive a move that a typical 4HP Landorus-T could not take, and that ended up winning me at least 1 game in Swiss and helping a lot in my series vs Primitive in Top 4. The spread allowed it to survive a Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch, Adamant Kangaskhan Return + Sucker Punch, and Timid 252 Special Attack Thundurus HP Ice 100% of the time, as well as bulky Rotom-W Hydro Pump the vast majority of the time (depending on the SpAtk; it took anything with up to 44 SpAtk 15/16).

I got a chuckle out of Scott’s comment on stream about me constantly talking about how Rock Slide is the best move on Landorus most of the time, and while I think it’s mostly in jest, I feel like it did have some truth to it because of the situations I was putting Landorus in with all the teams I tested with. I think the way the team played, it was typically going to be on the field versus things it was going to want to use Rock Slide against anyways, so the best play most of the time really was to Rock Slide and any flinches I got were simply a cherry on top.

Team Conclusion

To wrap things up, I felt the team played much more steady than the teams I’ve done well with at Regionals in the past, and I think I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. At the end of the day, I caught quite a few lucky breaks and ended up winning a couple games that I shouldn’t have, but I felt I played the matchups that I could handle pretty well for the most part. I think if I were to go through that event again I likely would make some changes and prepare a bit more, but I felt that the team had a solid base to it and that my understanding of how Mega Metagross played and what kind of team it needed around it helped me a lot during the course of the event.

I’ve heard some people talk about how my team (or even more directly, my strategy) was to rely on the RNG a bit because of the team having five moves that could flinch, Thunder Wave, Swagger, and Cursed Body. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t help me out in a few games, but I think it’s a very bad idea to go into games relying on those types of things to come through for you. It’s better to play the team as you would any other team and let those somewhat-unlikely benefits come as they may. I don’t want this team or my success at the event to give the wrong impression that you’re going to be just fine if you get lucky and play for the flinch / paralysis / Cursed Body. It isn’t sustainable to rely on those things, and the fortunate things that happened for me on stream changed the entire scope of how those games were played. I did have a gameplan in place if I didn’t end up getting those 30% chances to come through for me, but ended up playing a lot differently after they did happen because of how they changed the board position and my win conditions.

The Tournament

I’m not going to be able to remember exactly how every single game went, but here are the matchups and the scores of each game I played during the tournament and about as much as I actually do remember about each one. Also, I’m not sure it’s something I’m exactly proud of, but I somehow ended up playing 21 total matches over the course of the event and got 2nd place with winning only 2/3 of my games (basically, I lost the maximum amount of games as possible at a regional while still making Top Cut).

Round 1: Dustin Miller (5-4, 115th)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I saw a Mamoswine in team preview and was a little worried about it, and knew that plus Scrafty would be quite a problem for me. I wasn’t exactly sure what to lead or bring in back here, but it ended up working out in the end. I think the Mamoswine was Scarfed, which made it easier to handle once it locked into a move. Things got close, but Metagross did a good job of handling the threats in the back and Hydreigon finished the Venusaur 1-vs-1 late to seal the game for me.

WIN 1-0

[1-0]

Round 2: John Thrasher (5-4, 81st)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

This was probably the messiest game I played all tournament. I led poorly, nearly timed out turn 2 and rushed a move because I couldn’t get through my thought process quickly enough with the plethora of options Gengar presented against Terrakion + Thundurus due to it outspeeding them and me needing to eliminate it to ensure no Speed tie on Metagross, then got smacked with an Icy Wind on Landorus-T which put me in a scenario in which I lost the game if his moves simply hit. Well, I avoided one of the Heat Waves that I needed to avoid to stay in the game, and then got another avoid which improved my win condition a bit. I then got a full paralysis on Charizard to make my win condition 90% as all I had to do was hit a Zen Headbutt, which I missed. After that, I think it came down to calling what his Bisharp did, and I called it correctly, and Metagross ended up able to 1-vs-1 Bisharp as it was behind a Substitute and Bisharp was Life Orb. A game I definitely didn’t deserve, and I was legitimately not sure I wanted to continue playing in the tournament if things went downhill too quickly because the 45-second timer was giving me a lot of problems early in games.

WIN 1-0

[2-0]

Round 3: Tyler Hagan [Tyler] (4-5, 145th)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

This one was over before it ever started, but I’m only saying that because of how stupid turn 1 and turn 2 were, not because of matchup or because of Tyler. I wish this would have been a little bit less messy and a little closer, but such is Pokemon. If I remember correctly, I flinch + full paralyzed him turn 1, and full paralyzed him again turn 2 while he switched. At that point, there wasn’t much of a chance for him to rebound or anything else. At this point, I’m wondering when the downfall starts to happen due to how these last two games weren’t at all decided by me playing well.

WIN 3-0

[3-0]

Round 4: Cody Bernheisel [CodeUmbreon] (6-3, 26th)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I saw the team and it was pretty clearly dedicated Trick Room, and he led pretty much what I expected him to. I figured the Jellicent wasn’t Mental Herb, so I’d Iron Head Clefable and Scald it as well to either get close to the KO or entirely KO it if it wasn’t Sitrus. He switched into Escavalier, and I pick up the Scald burn as he gets Trick Room up. I maneuver around the powerful Escavalier attacks, and think I’m in good position the last turn of Trick Room when he switches in Abomasnow next to Jellicent and Blizzards, KOing my Thundurus that was supposed to KO the Jellicent. All was well as long as I could Taunt his Jellicent and stop Trick Room, though, so I Taunted the next turn…right into the Mental Herb. He sealed the game up from there.

LOSS 0-3

[3-1]

Round 5: Max Albeiker [CatzVGC] (5-4, 70th)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I saw the team and figured it’s mostly what I prepared for all week, but was scared of Aegislash more than anything. I didn’t want to bring Landorus, though, because of the Suicune + Breloom + Salamence giving it too many issues versus the rest of the team, and due to Aegislash probably having Weakness Policy if I were ever able to fire off an Earthquake. I led Thundurus and Metagross into his Kangaskhan and Breloom, and he made a really good read and Fake Out + Spored Thundurus while Metagross protected. I feel like I shouldn’t have played so passively there as I really had nothing to gain by Protecting, but kudos to him on making that play as it was definitely the best he could have done. From there on out, I tried to juggle things around to end up in good position late-game, but never ended up rebounding enough to finish of Breloom in the end. Max played really well all game, and it was one of the more enjoyable games I played at this event, even if I was on the losing end of it.

LOSS 0-1

[3-2]

Round 6: Jake Hockemeyer (5-4, 102nd)

His team:

He brought:

  / 

I brought:

  / 

I saw that he could potentially have four Mega Pokemon and figured that someone who’s 3-2 probably isn’t running…four megas…so I figured I’d take a bit to think through what was going on here. The Tornadus hinted at the Swampert being Mega, but the Azumarill hinted that maybe the Gengar was Mega (Perish maybe? I’m not sure.) I banked on the Swampert Mega and led Thundurus and Landorus into what I guessed would be Swampert and Tornadus, and guessed it correctly. I planned to switch around a bit to keep Landorus-T and its Intimidate fresh to make sure Swampert wouldn’t be able to do too much damage. I ended up KOing Gengar on the Switch turn 2 and got Tornadus the next turn, making it 4-2 in my favor and putting me in position where I had a 100% win condition by turn 4. I played carefully and finished off the game.

WIN 2-0

[4-2]

Round 7: Mark Grubbs (5-4, 105th)

His team:

He brought:

  / 

I brought:

/ 

My plan versus Mega Venusaur + “bulk squad” was to play carefully with Metagross and Hydreigon and try to pin them in a bad position where I can pick up KOs in a lot of scenarios, since those were the two hardest-hitting Pokemon versus this type of team. I noticed the Talonflame in team preview, though, and figured it might be more of an issue than even Aegislash here due to its role on the team, and I remembered having a hard time versus Lunar’s in the Nugget Bridge Live a week before, so I decided to bring Thundurus over Landorus-T in case of Tailwind, and so that I could potentially ring up a +2 Terrakion Turn 1 in the event he led Rotom-W. I started off by Swaggering my own Terrakion as he did lead the Rotom-W, Close Combatted into a Protect, and took a Giga Drain on Terrakion, putting me in questionable position. I then Swaggered the Venusaur and used Rock Slide, as the Venusaur hit itself in confusion and Rotom-W either flinched or missed a move (I don’t remember which). I Swaggered into Rotom-W the next turn which Protected, and finished off Venusaur with a Rock Slide. He brought in Hydreigon which I assumed was Scarfed or would be next to a Talonflame under Tailwind shortly, so I protected Terrakion and Thunder Waved it. The next turn, I used Close Combat on the Hydreigon which switched into Talonflame, and took about 90% health off of Talonflame. I pretty much cruised from there as I was able to take Talonflame out and Metagross and Hydreigon outsped and KOd his last two Pokemon.

WIN 3-0

[5-2]

Round 8: Stephen Morioka [Stephen] (6-3, 25th)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

Stephen and I have faced off in finals and top four before, so it was odd having to play an elimination match so soon. I noticed that I had a very good matchup with Metagross + Jellicent + Hydreigon + Landorus-T. I made a point to play rather carefully as I knew although Stephen is more than capable of pulling out a tough win, I thought the edge I had based on matchup was going to work in my favor. I got some decent chip damage on Blastoise early and once I noticed he didn’t bring the Zapdos, which I was most worried about, I played a little more aggressively and got in good position versus Amoonguss and Tyranitar to take KOs and end up sealing the game.

WIN 3-0

[6-2]

Round 9: Steven Burton [PikaPastor] (6-3, 31st)

His team:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

Before this match, I had never ever once played against a Smeargle in an official competition. Of all the times to run into one, it’s in 2015 in Round 9 of Swiss, about the last place I’d ever expected to see it. However, the team looked pretty sound in team preview, so I wasn’t taking this lightly at all, and I knew Steven was a solid player. I got lucky early in the match by dodging a Hydro Pump that would have put him in a lot better position later in the game. While I don’t remember everything about the rest as I was pretty exhausted by this point of the day, I know he had a Timid Thundurus that gave me a lot of problems late in the match. I caught a couple breaks here and ended up winning my last four to have a shot at Top Cut.

WIN 2-0

[7-2]

Top 16: Jake Muller [MajorBowman] (9-0 Swiss, 1st, 9th Overall)

His team:

I made it in as the 16th seed somehow, but I knew who I’d be facing before I even read who the first seed was since I knew Jake went 9-0. I knew most of his team because I’d been practicing with and against it all week, but the Jellicent and Ludicolo and how they played against the mirror was going to be a big part of the set. I figured he wouldn’t bring Ludicolo as it didn’t help a lot versus my team even though on first glance it appears to, but needed to account for it a little anyways.

Game 1:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I felt my best chance here was to lead Landorus and Jellicent to help put pressure on Metagross if he led it. He didn’t lead Metagross, but I was still in a very good position against Thundurus + Terrakion. I knew I could take a Rock Slide + Thunderbolt with Jellicent and a Rock Slide + HP Ice with Landorus-T, and I wanted to get a lot of damage off onto the Thundurus to make sure Metagross would be in better position to handle Hydreigon late-game if I could get any chip on it. I went for the Rock Slide + Scald as I figured his Thundurus would get KOd by two Rock Slides + Scald. I ended up getting two flinches and a burn on the Terrakion, which put me in excellent position right from the start. He switched Terrakion into Hydreigon and I Rock Slid again since Rock Slide + burn damage would finish off Terrakion if he kept it in, and I wanted to make sure Thundurus was close to getting KOd. I was a little concerned about a Landorus-T switch there, but I opened up another turn of taking Thundurus damage with the previous flinch, so I felt comfortable Rock Sliding again. Thundurus flinched yet again, and Jellicent nearly got the KO on Thundurus with a Scald. I figured he’d try and Thunder Wave Jellicent as a last-ditch effort and felt having Thundurus in against him would give me better position after Hydreigon chose its move (if it was Dark Pulse, I felt more comfortable having Thundurus take that as I incorrectly assumed Jellicent couldn’t), so I switched and Rock Slid as he KOd my Landorus with a Draco Meteor. I then switched Thundurus back into Jellicent as he was locked into Draco Meteor and I had an easy play on his other slot, but he Critical Hit the Jellicent and gave himself a slightly better chance of clawing his way back into the game. I managed the rest of the game pretty well from here on out, though, and ended up sealing the victory. I also got to scout his speed on Hydreigon, which I realized was slower than my Thundurus which was at 136 – this would come in very handy game 3. The lead I gained early on with the flinches ended up working in my favor, allowing me room to take that Critical Hit Draco Meteor.

WIN

(1-0)

Game 2:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I underprepared for the Metagross lead this game, but I saw one way out that I felt was sort of risky but worth a shot. I Thunderbolted it turn 1 fully expecting the Substitute, and I played to him not attacking Terrakion turn 2 because it was a near-telegraphed switch. I knew that the minimum damage roll on uninvested Metagross was 58, and I assumed he was running 4HP or 12HP so if I got anything above two minimum rolls, I’d have the KO with Thunderbolt + Substitute + Thunderbolt as I’d break the Substitute with Close Combat (58 + 39 + 58 = 155 / 157, so if either of the two rolls was a 60 I’d have the KO.) I still had about an 80% chance to 2HKO given that he was running 44HP, so I’d have likely made the same plays regardless if I knew about the odds, but he managed to pull through with the 20% chance and hang on with a sliver of health, which ended up making me have to play a bit differently from there on out. I still had a chance, but I made a poor play by Scalding into the Thundurus when I should have Will-o-Wisped or Scalded the Hydreigon for chip damage / covering the potential switch. The play would have been sort of okay, but I ended up burning it which allowed him to switch in Metagross for free, which hurt me much more than it helped. I had a chance to pull it back that after that, too that I didn’t even see as I didn’t know Jellicent survived a Specs Dark Pulse (I thought he was running Modest 252 Special Attack and I thought it had more than a 30% chance to KO). Ironically enough, I ended up throwing away a chance to seal the series game two because I didn’t know my damage calculations after playing to the ones that I did know. Jake played well all game and made an especially good play by doubling the Jellicent and calling the Terrakion Protect and deserved to take the game in the end. I tried to Swagger my way back into it as a last-ditch effort as it was my only win condition remaining, but no dice.

LOSS

(1-1)

Game 3:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

  / 

I saw the Ludicolo and I saw a pretty good opportunity to jump out to an early lead if he didn’t switch. I knew my matchup against him if he brought it was pretty good, so I just needed to make sure Landorus-T was safe and sound in the back until it was either removed or in position for Landorus to handle it itself. I assumed he brought Terrakion and Metagross in the back as he needed a way to hit my Hydreigon and Terrakion outside of the two things he had, and those were the only two that could tag-team that task. I knew from game 1 that my Hydreigon outsped his, so not having to worry about the speed tie there helped me immensely. Turn 1 I double protected as I didn’t lose anything by doing so. I was expecting a switch into Metagross turn 2, but Draco Meteor plus a -2 Dark Pulse nets the KO on it anyways, so I wasn’t too concerned with that play if he made it. I wanted to dent Ludicolo to put it in KO range for Landorus-T and potentially for -2 Hydreigon as well, so I made pretty offensive plays right away there. I took out the Hydreigon and knocked Ludicolo down to about 30% health while he Scalded my Metagross. I didn’t get burned, and that about sealed the game. I had to do some maneuvering in the end in order to make sure Landorus-T was able to Earthquake both of his Pokemon without needing to Earthquake my own Jellicent (Cursed Bodying myself was not the way I wanted to lose this tournament), and I managed to get into winning position and took game three of a pretty intense set.

WIN

(2-1)

Top 8: Ammar Baig [Knife] (7-2 Swiss, 8th, 6th Overall)

His team:

I had heard about this team throughout the day because of the tricks it had, and I wasn’t really thrilled of the prospect of facing it. It sounded like a really fun team to use, but trying to play against it with a lot on the line was one of the last things I wanted to have to do. I was very worried about my matchup since I didn’t have a whole lot to deal with Gastrodon + Camerupt under Trick Room, and I spent a lot of time the night before trying to figure out how to go about playing the matches.

Game 1:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

Ammar led Gardevoir and Cofagrigus, which I definitely didn’t expect given that his best lead seemed to be Hariyama + Cofagrigus. I figured the Gardevoir might have Trick Room, but wasn’t sure, so I had to play passively. I don’t remember how he started off this game, but I got into bad position at the end after allowing him to get Trick Room up and ended up losing. I wish I remember the turn one, but I know Ammar played better than I did here and I was not very confident going into game 2, although I did have some sort of a gameplan ready.

LOSS

(0-1)

Game 2:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

This is where things started getting kind of crazy. Turn 1 he led Gardevoir and Ferrothorn into the same lead I had from last game. I Protect Hydreigon and go for the KO on Gardevoir assuming nothing could go wrong with the play, but he Swords Danced with Ferrothorn. He switched in Cofagrigus and I realize there are two plays he had: either Ally Switch and attack something, or Trick Room and Protect the Ferrothorn. I realize that because I have Metagross and Hydreigon on the field and because I’m going to Iron Head + Dark Pulse regardless of what happened, double attacking Cofagrigus was the best play possible. He Ally Switched, I chunk the Ferrothorn for about 70% damage and end up getting the flinch on it, which pretty much ended up deciding the game right then and there.

WIN

(1-1)

Game 3:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

Seeing his lead, I was almost 100% sure he had Trick Room on the Gardevoir. I decided to Protect and KO the Hariyama, though, because regardless, I couldn’t afford to lose Hydreigon Turn 1 and had enough switch potential assuming he didn’t bring Ferrothorn in the back to be able to stall out any Trick Room. Instead of using Fake Out, though, he used Feint on my Hydreigon and took the KO with Moonblast as I KOd the Hariyama with Zen Headbutt. He brought in Camerupt as I brought in Landorus-T. I decided to go for the Rock Slide here given that I really didn’t have any other way to play this turn as if I locked myself into Earthquake, I had to switch out Landorus the next turn, and if Camerupt used Protect, I was in a very bad position (either would have to Earthquake my own Jellicent on a switch or switch out Landorus-T and Substitute up.) I KOd the Gardevoir with Iron Head and the Camerupt did attack, and I flinched it with Rock Slide. Looking back, I regret that play a lot and think the Earthquake probably would have been safer, but hindsight 20/20. Either way, I got pretty lucky and probably didn’t deserve this set as Ammar played better and had the better matchup. The team was incredibly hard to play against and was well-crafted, the amount of cool tricks he was pulling out during that set surprised me.

WIN

(2-1)

Top 4: Michael Fladung [Primitive] (7-2 Swiss, 13th, 4th Overall)

His team:

When I saw the team, I was a little more than terrified of the Aegislash + Thundurus paired with Tailwind and I wasn’t too keen on my matchup. I liked how Jellicent dealt with a lot of his team, but I wasn’t so sure I would be able to handle Aegislash alongside Terrakion and Kangaskhan under Tailwind if he were to get into that position. I needed to play carefully to heavily punish any Tailwind setup and bring everything I had for Aegislash, as it was arguably the biggest thorn in my team’s side.

Game 1:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

He led Suicune and Kangaskhan right out of the gate, arguably his best lead, and I led Landorus-T and Metagross to either put myself in decent position turn 1 if he led Arcanine or to allow myself to switch into better position turn 2 if he led the Kangaskhan + Landorus. I got a lucky Critical Hit on the Kangaskhan with Superpower and ended up KOing it after he used Fake Out on Metagross, and he got the Tailwind up. I had a plan in place if the Kangaskhan didn’t end up getting KOd because I’d have a free switch-in with Jellicent. He wisely sent in Aegislash, which posed a major threat to Metagross and Landorus-T locked into Superpower. I sort of wanted to Superpower the Suicune as I didn’t expect him to Ice Beam me, but in the event that he did and given that I didn’t know if he had any investment in Special Attack or not, I switched out into Jellicent. I Zen Headbutted the Suicune in order to get as much damage off onto it as I could, and he Scalded the Metagross and hit the Jellicent hard with a Shadow Ball. I wanted to be able to keep all four Pokemon alive going into the last turn of Tailwind, so I switched Thundurus in for Jellicent and Protected Metagross as he Scalded Metagross and Shadow Balled Thundurus. He revealed Protect on Suicune the next turn which I didn’t expect, and I missed a Swagger on the Aegislash as he took my Thundurus down to low health by hitting it with another Shadow Ball. I doubled the Suicune the next turn, which he switched into Terrakion, and missed a Zen Headbutt and hit it with a Thunderbolt as he KOd my Metagross with Shadow Ball. I wasn’t as disappointed about missing Zen Headbutt for the KO as much as I was that I didn’t get to see if it had a Focus Sash or not. I ended up switching in Landorus-T and KOing the Terrakion with a Superpower as I Swaggered the Aegislash, which used Wide Guard. I switched out Landorus-T for Jellicent as I expected him to Shadow Ball the Thundurus, and Thunderbolted the Aegislash as I predicted the Suicune to Protect. Since Aegislash either had to attack through confusion and the possibility of a flinch or Wide Guard / King’s Shield, I went for the Rock Slide and Scald on it and knocked it out as it Wide Guarded my Rock Slide as Suicune put up a Tailwind. From here, Suicune ended up in a stall war with Jellicent and Jellicent came out on top.

WIN

(1-0)

Game 2:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

He again wisely led Kangaskhan and Suicune, and I was a bit more prepared from the outset this time with Thundurus and Jellicent in front rather than in back as I liked this prospect a bit more. His Kangaskhan got a revenge turn 1 Critical Hit on the Thundurus that knocked it into Ice Beam KO range while I got a burn off onto Kangaskhan. I thought turn two he’d go for the Tailwind and switch into Aegislash or Thundurus, but he ended up Protecting and made the right play as I doubled into Suicune. I probably should have thrown up a Substitute here either way. The next turn I did put up a Sub as he switched in Arcanine, and got around the Sucker Punch. He made a good read the next turn by doubling into Jellicent as I Scalded the Kangaskhan. Then I made a pretty crucial misclick, I thought I clicked Iron Head on Kangaskhan but apparently straight up missed that it didn’t prompt me to select a target after I pressed my move, so I Substituted and he doubled into my Metagross, which ultimately lost me any chance of pulling this game out. Jellicent wasn’t able to tag-team the rest of what he had with Landorus-T.

LOSS

(1-1)

Game 3:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

Game three Michael went with Kangaskhan + Thundurus as a lead and I expected him to try to put himself in better late-game board position with Thunder Wave this time around rather than relying on Suicune, so I switched Metagross out to Thundurus expecting the Thunder Wave, and Jellicent into Landorus expecting an Aegislash switch from the Kangaskhan slot. Turn 2 he wisely Wide Guarded my Rock Slide and Taunted my Thundurus as I took a little chip damage on his Thundurus with my own Thunderbolt. I thought long and hard about the next turn and considered calling a potential bluff and Rock Sliding again as I could take a HP Ice from Thundurus, but I felt a bit more strongly about switching into Jellicent as he had more incentive to Wide Guard than to attack. I called it correctly, as he HP Iced the Jellicent on the Switch and I picked up a bit more damage on Thundurus, putting it into KO range for Metagross and Landorus-T. I expected either a Taunt or a Thunderbolt on Jellicent as well as a Shadow Ball, so I switched back into Landorus-T and Thunderbolted his Thundurus again as he did what I expected, and I landed a Critical Hit on the Thundurus, scoring a KO. I figured here it would be a bit risky to Earthquake, but I also didn’t expect him to Fake Out + Wide Guard or King’s Shield and attack Landorus as he risked playing games with Taunt, and I expected him to not expect me to EQ here, so I made a pretty risky play and went all in and it paid off as I scored the Aegislash KO. He tried to make a neat play by Sucker Punching his own Terrakion which unfortunately got ruined by a full Paralysis, and after that I was able to seal the third game of a really close, intense series.

WIN

(2-1)

Finals: Aaron Traylor [Unreality] (7-2 Swiss, 7th, 1st Overall)

His team:

I knew a few things about Aaron’s team and was confident in how to approach the games after watching Andy play him on the big screen before our match, but I wasn’t sure how everything would pan out early to mid-game. There were a few things that I saw as roadblocks (mostly the Bisharp + Clefable pairing and Kangaskhan in general) and needed to be on top of my game if I wanted to come away with this series.

Game 1:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

I led Metagross and Hydreigon expecting either Landorus-T + Clefable or Kangaskhan + Clefable, and he ended up bringing the former. I predicted him to not Protect or switch with Clefable, so I double attacked it since Earth Power + Iron Head would KO. It looked like a poor play at first, but I didn’t know the Clefable had Protect, so that caught me off guard – had I known this, I’d have attacked the Landorus instead. I was expecting a Clefable switch the next turn given that I wasn’t sure Clefable survived an Iron Head, but he kept in Clefable and switched out the Landorus-T, which ended up paying off for him. I tickled Heatran with an Iron Head and missed a Draco Meteor on it which potentially would have mattered in a prospective situation where I landed a Rock Slide and got an alright damage roll later in the game due to the timer, but since I didn’t hit and it went Minimizing away, he ended up being able to seal the game by running the timer out regardless of if I landed two Critical Hits or not, so I forfeited.

LOSS

(0-1)

Game 2:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

This one was pretty ugly from the start. I saw a Bisharp Landorus-T lead and figured if I preserved the Metagross and was able to allow Terrakion onto the field without sacrificing too much, I’d be in good position early on. I obviously didn’t think throwing Hydreigon turn 1 was the best play I had, but I thought he would Earthquake the Metagross again, so I ended up Draco Meteoring the Landorus-T in the event that he did as I didn’t expect Bisharp to attack and didn’t think Landorus-T would go for a Superpower Turn 1 given his positioning. He made a good play and KOd Hydreigon, and I was down 4-3 turn 1. I switched in Terrakion and figured he’d probably not attack it with Bisharp, so I doubled the Landorus-T and ended up KOing a Kangaskhan switch. I still was in poor position unless I could land a flinch on one of his Pokemon the next turn. Landorus-T avoided the Rock Slide, but it landed on Bisharp and flinched it, so I still had a chance assuming I could flinch the Bisharp with Iron Head. I ended up getting the flinch the next turn, and Jellicent was able to finish the job. Definitely didn’t deserve this one, but I’ll take it after the Game 1.

WIN

(1-1)

Game 3:

He brought:

/ 

I brought:

/ 

As soon as I saw the leads, I realized the plays I had to make through the first two or three turns regardless of what he did as I felt I let appropriately to deal with what he had. I went straight for the Iron Head on Clefable and Draco Meteor on Kangaskhan, and he used Fake Out on Metagross and KOd the Hydreigon after I knocked his Kangaskhan down to 8 HP. I realized I was in very good position this turn and figured he wouldn’t leave the Clefable open to getting KOd, so I Substituted with Metagross and used Rock Slide in order to knock out the Kangaskhan in the event that it didn’t switch. I ended up missing Rock Slide, though, and everything went downhill from here since I now a) had Kangaskhan around, which could Sucker Punch the Metagross and b) had Kangaskhan around, which means I couldn’t see another Pokemon he brought and figure out how to better play the rest of the game. I ended up playing into his Sucker Punch and shook his hand as it pretty much ended the game. Had I knocked out the Kangaskhan and had a Substitute up with Metagross, I was in really good position down the stretch, but such is the game. I finished it off with a Quick Guard with Terrakion since I hadn’t used the move the entire tournament and wanted to fire it off once. I could have probably went for the bazillion flinches and hoped to not get hit once, but given the unrealistic scenario and that he probably could have timered me out anyways, it wasn’t really worth playing out. He KOd the Jellicent with Knock Off and took the series.

LOSS

(1-2)

It marked the first time I’d ever lost a best-of-three finals in a sanctioned tournament, which was an odd feeling, but Aaron played the set well and there’s no shame in losing to a player like him.

Shoutouts

• MajorBowman – for the team core, and for dealing with my teasing and crap all weekend. I really appreciated the testing beforehand, and know I’ll be seeing you getting past Top 16 sometime soon!
• Crow – for showing me how darn good Mega Metagross is and for throwing a ton of cores at me throughout the year
• The BAGEL BEATS – for the teambuilding help throughout the season
• Nave – for offering me a spot on the ride down and also dealing with my crap all weekend and for ten hours in the car. You da best
• Illuminatimon – for booking the hotel room and saving my dirt poor college student self from the despair of having to book another room, as well as for the drinks and conversation Saturday night
• Andykins – for helping me not have nightmares on Saturday night
• TM Gold – for the lift to the event Sunday and for holding onto my bag for me while I played
• TM Ruby & Gold – for some fun convos Saturday night
• Jio – for trading me the Thundurus about five minutes before I had to head to the train station. Thanks, you’re a life saver
• Unreality – for being amazing person and bringing me chicken nuggets at lunch break after I lost my 3DS. Congrats on the regional win again, too!
• ReviNoctre – for helping me catch my train home on time, and I guess also a second shoutout to Nave for somehow getting me to the station with five minutes to spare

The post L’Anse-aux-Méduses: A Missouri Regionals 2nd Place Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Powerful, bulky and born to fight! These powerhouses are Steel-type Pokemon, and today we’re going to be looking at Steel-types that dominate the VGC 2015 metagame, and even look at some more interesting Steel-types! One thing that’s interesting about Steel-types is that there are not that many pure Steel-type Pokemon. In fact, only five Pokemon have a pure Steel typing: Registeel, Klink, Klang, Klinklang and Mega Aggron. Due to this, notable weaknesses vary by pokemon, such as pure Steel-types being weak to Fire, Ground and Fighting, while a Steel/Psychic Pokemon like Metagross has weaknesses to Fire, Ground, Ghost and Dark. On the side, Steel-types can hit for super effective damage against Fairy, Ice and Rock-type Pokemon, with Fairy-types being very common in the VGC 2015 meta due to Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir’s popularity.

In terms of offense, Steel-types are excellent and very well balanced, with Mega-Mawile having the largest Attack stat after the Huge Power boost. Other notable Steel-type Pokemon that hit hard include Mega-Scizor, which has a base 150 Attack stat, an excellent ability in Technician, and access to Bullet Punch, which experiences a strong shift in base power from 40 to 90. Another Steel-type Pokemon that carries great offensive weight is Bisharp. Bisharp is arguably one of the most used Pokemon in the VGC format today, a title that it certainly deserves. Sporting a great movepool with Iron Head, Sucker Punch, and Knock Off to boot, Bisharp’s main weight comes from its base 125 Attack stat and its ability Defiant, which boosts Bisharp’s Attack by 2 stages when a stat is lowered. When considering a lot of Pokemon carry the ability Intimidate, such as Landorus-Therian and Salamence, this is an amazing ability to have.

In terms of defense, Steel types don’t slack around either. When in Shield Forme, Aegislash has a Defense stat and Special Defense stat equal to 150. Mega-Steelix and Mega-Aggron are both amazing in the physical defense department, sharing a Defense stat of 230. One main problem with Steel-types and their defensive viability is that their weaknesses are all common types, or at least common moves. Arguably the biggest threat is Mega Charizard Y, which can deal a lot of damage and usually KO many Steel-types with Heat Wave or Overheat. Landorus-Therian can also KO Steel-Types such as Heatran and Mawile with Earthquake, while Fighting-type Pokemon are very common in VGC since they can provide Fake Out or Intimidate support.

Since we have covered the basics, let’s get straight on ahead to some viable Steel-type Pokemon in today’s metagame!

Scizor

Type: Bug/Steel

Notable Items:
Life Orb 30.0%
Lum Berry 23.7%
Scizorite 18.0%
Choice Band 14.6%
Expert Belt 2.0%

Notable Moves:
Bullet Punch 98.9%
Bug Bite 72.1%
Protect 62.0%
Swords Dance 32.2%
Knock Off 30.2%
Superpower 24.3%
U-turn 17.3%

Ah, Scizor. It’s a shame that you got such a nerf since VGC 2014, but I still see some potential in you. Scizor is rather interesting. While it is a bulky physical attacker with only one weakness in Fire, it still burns up like a marshmallow you forgot to take out of the fire against a Charizard Y. It still is being used today, and for good reason. Technician means that you’ll usually be hitting Pokemon like Kangaskhan hard with a Bullet Punch at 90 base power. In addition, since these days most people don’t expect Scizor too much or don’t really know what to do against it, you can usually get off a free Swords Dance if the opponent lets you.

Scizors in VGC 2015 are usually always Adamant, and most other natures can just be overlooked for now. You don’t want to invest too much in Speed with Jolly because you want to hit hard, and you want to keep yourself bulky so you can take hits and whatnot. Bullet Punch is a must for Scizor, as it allows for priority and hits very hard with the Technician and STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) boosts. You also have Bug Bite, which gets a Technician boost and STAB, but also consumes the opponent’s berry, which is super helpful considering that a lot of Pokemon like Rotom-Wash have Sitrus Berries attached to them. Superpower,, in my opinion, is extremely helpful, as it takes care of Pokemon that otherwise wall it completely, like Heatran.

Example Sets

Randy Kwa’s Scizor set (16th Place at US 2014 Nationals)

Scizor @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 12 HP / 236 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Bullet Punch
– Feint
– U-turn
– Protect

Aaron Grubbs’s Scizor set (Top 8 at Kansas Regionals 2014)

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

Mawile

Type: Steel/Fairy

Notable Items:
Mawilite 99.9%

Notable Moves:
Play Rough 94.2%
Sucker Punch 90.4%
Protect 80.7%
Iron Head 72.5%
Rock Slide 33.1%
Fire Fang 10.6%
Knock Off 10.2%

Now we get to a very powerful Pokemon in Mega-Mawile, not normal Mawile. It goes without saying that if you’re using Mawile instead of Mega-Mawile, you’re doing something wrong. With amazing utility in Trick Room and rain teams, Mega-Mawile finds its spot in many teams with its enormous Attack stat. Who knew that such a small Pokemon like Mawile could hit so hard? Seen in National Champion teams and World Champion teams alike in 2014, how does Mega-Mawile fare in the VGC 2015 format? Short answer: it still works, but today, we’re putting on our science pants and taking a look at what makes Mega-Mawile work. First, we’re going to be taking a look at Mega-Mawile’s stats: 50 HP / 105 Atk / 125 Def / 55 SpAtk / 95 SpDef / 50 Spe. As you can see, its saving grace is its Defense. Without it, Mega-Mawile would be the equivalent of Cacturne or Golurk, powerful hitters but lacking in everything else. That big of a Defense stat actually allows Mega-Mawile to survive more than what you may give it credit for.

Just like Scizor, Mega-Mawile is usually Adamant nature. If you ask me, the EV spread of Mega-Mawile should usually be a simple 252/4/252. You don’t have to use this spread, but the extra HP really helps Mawile survive a lot of attacks. As you can see up in the Notable Moves list, Mawile actually has a lot of good moves for VGC, like Iron Head, Play Rough, Sucker Punch and even Rock Slide. One of my favorite parts about Mawile is its usage in Trick Room. Mawile’s biggest weakness is its Speed, and Trick Room erases that weakness completely while making Mawile a huge threat. Another usage for Mawile is on rain teams, which can weaken Fire-type attacks directed at Mawile while Politoed covers Fire-types and Ground-types.

Example Sets

Paul Chua’s Mawile set (Top 8 at Philadelphia Regionals)

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

Collin Heier’s Mawile set (3rd Place at 2014 Worlds in the Masters Division)

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Metagross

Type: Steel/Psychic 

Notable Items
Metagrossite 89.2%
Assault Vest 8%
Choice Band 5.1%

Notable Moves
Zen Headbutt  96.1%
Protect 89.2%
Iron Head 52.9%
Ice Punch 52%
Bullet Punch 47.1%
Meteor Mash 27.5%
Hammer Arm 10.8%

Metagross is a Pokemon that is growing in popularity these days, and why shouldn’t it? With base 110 Speed, 145 Attack plus Tough Claws boost, and decent bulk, the only thing keeping Metagross from being amazing is the defensive nerf that was given to Steel-types, leaving it with weaknesses to Ghost and Dark. In terms of movepool, Metagross isn’t the best, but in a weird mix, it isn’t bad either. (Most Steel types seem to have this issue as well.) Zen Headbutt, Iron Head and even Meteor Mash are all fairly decent, and it also gets moves like Ice Punch for coverage. Also, and this applies to most of the Pokemon that I’ve mentioned, be extremely careful for Will-O-Wisp. Pokemon like Gengar, Rotom-Wash, Rotom-Heat, and defensive Arcanine are, in my opinion, the best switch-ins to Mega Metagross with either Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, or the Fire typing.

I prefer Jolly Nature on Mega Metagross. Metagross is already powerful enough with 145 Base Attack plus the Tough Claws boost, so Adamant isn’t too necessary. Metagross is another Pokemon that can have a simple EV spread. However, it’s usually helpful to make a couple complex EV spreads. For example, if you’re going to run Substitute Mega Metagross, you’re going to want to invest in some bulk. Metagross should always be Clear Body, which blocks Intimidate, while Light Metal isn’t helpful in the slightest. Quick note: on the first turn, I recommend you Protect since you are going to be pretty slow with only 70 Base Speed. However, if the situation is such that it isn’t necessary to Protect on the first turn, then you don’t really have to. A Pokemon you should worry about is Heatran. Except for say, Zen Headbutt, you can’t really do much to Heatran.

Example Sets

KellsterCartier’s Metagross set (2015 VGC European Regional Runner Up)

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

Rapha’s Metagross set (2015 VGC Oregon Regionals 9th Place)

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Iron Head
– Zen Headbutt
– Substitute
– Protect

Heatran

Type: Fire/Steel

Notable Items
Leftovers 41.6%
Air Balloon 13.7%
Chople Berry 8.2%
Choice Specs 7.3%

Notable Moves
Heat Wave 86.6%
Earth Power 83.0%
Protect 81.2%
Flash Cannon 47.7%
Substitute 38.3%
Ancient Power 20.4%
Overheat 13.7%

Heatran is currently the 8th most used Pokemon on Battle Spot, and for good reason. With base 130 Special Attack and amazing bulk to cover it, Heatran is one of the best Steel-types you can imagine. Heatran is special compared most Steel-types due to its ability Flash Fire, which allows it to be completely immune to Fire-type attacks. With this ability, Heatran can wall huge threats such as Charizard Y, Gengar and other Steel-types. Unlike most of the other Pokemon that I’ve mentioned in this article, Heatran hasn’t changed too much since 2013. It’s just as good as it was in 2013, so accomplishments from those years are still legitimate. One big problem that Heatran has always suffered is its 4x weakness to Ground-type attacks, making items like Shuca Berry a great item for Heatran.

As stated earlier, Heatran’s biggest weakness is Ground-type attacks. Considering Pokemon like Garchomp and Landorus-Therian are very common, this could lead to a whole bundle of problems. Because of this, players seem forced to run Shuca Berry on Heatran. However, the best set for Heatran is usually the Leftovers Substitute set, as you can set up a substitute that allows you to take at least one Earthquake. This is actually the reason Heatran is so popular on Trick Room teams, as it can outspeed both Landorus-Therian and Garchomp in Trick Room. Bisharp could also be a problem, especially the Focus Sash variant, since it can survive one Heat Wave or Earth Power and then Knock Off for about 50% damage onto a normal Heatran set. Heatran is just as solid if not better than it was during 2013, since now it can put in a lot of pressure on Fairy types that dominate the meta, such as Sylveon.

Example Sets

Hayden McTavish’s set (Seniors 2013 World Champion)

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 44 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 204 Spd
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Heat Wave
– Protect
– Earth Power
– Substitute

Arash Ommati’s set (Masters 2013 World Champion)

Heatran (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 212 HP / 4 Def / 36 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
– Substitute
– Heat Wave
– Protect
– Earth Power

Bisharp

Type: Dark/Steel

Notable Items:
Life Orb 59.5%
Focus Sash 35.0%
Lum Berry 1.9%

Notable Moves:
Sucker Punch 99.5%
Iron Head 99.4%
Protect 96.2%
Knock Off 95.5%

Bisharp is the most used Steel-type Pokemon on Battle Spot, and just like Heatran, for very good reason. Now before we begin talking about how great Bisharp is, let’s talk about its biggest flaw in my opinion. It’s amazingly easy to counter Bisharp. The reason why I say this is that, well, most Bisharps are usually the same. They usually have Life Orb or Focus Sash, and they usually have the same four moves: Sucker Punch, Iron Head, Protect and Knock Off. You don’t want to replace any of those moves, as they are almost essential for Bisharp to perform well, which means you won’t be running into any Slash Bisharps any time soon. Because of this, you can usually play around Bisharp since you know what it’s going to do…that is if it lets you. Bisharp may just be the most offensive Pokemon in today’s metagame. Is that an exaggeration? Maybe. But at the same time, if you play Bisharp correctly, it WILL take something down with it. Some people are usually turned off to using Bisharp because of its big weakness to Fighting-type Pokemon, and why shouldn’t they? With Pokemon like Conkeldurr, Terrakion and even Hariyama and Hitmontop walking around, it is going to set off some alarms. But like how we explored what makes Heatran a great Pokemon, types don’t mean everything.

Bisharp’s biggest strength is its base Attack stat of 125 and its great (albeit less varied) movepool. With it, it can switch in to Pokemon like Charizard Y and use Sucker Punch, or it can use Knock Off on Pokemon like Heatran for about 55% damage. Most Bisharps run a simple 252/252 spread and are almost always Adamant. Big Pokemon to look out for include Terrakion, Charizard, Heatran and Landorus-Therian. On the other hand, Bisharp can easily counter Pokemon like Sylveon and Cresselia. Focus Sash is still probably the best item to have on Bisharp since it can survive a Heat Wave from, say, Heatran and use Knock Off. Bisharp can also survive an Earthquake from Landorus-Therian with the Focus Sash, then knock it out with Knock Off and Sucker Punch. Life Orb is another option, and can deal much more damage than Focus Sash Bisharp.

Example Sets

Alec Rubin’s Bisharp Set (2015 Virginia Regionals 3rd Place)

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Adamant Nature
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
– Protect
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Assurance

Pietro Chiri’s Bisharp Set (2014 Italy Nationals Top Cut)

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
Adamant Nature
Evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
– Protect
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Brick Break

Aegislash

Type: Steel/Ghost

Notable Items:
Weakness Policy 45.3%
Leftovers 28.6%
Life Orb 11.6%
Safety Goggles 6.0%

Notable Moves:
King’s Shield 96.9%
Shadow Ball 94.6%
Flash Cannon 83.3%
Wide Guard 64.3%
Substitute 18.8%
Shadow Sneak 18.3%
Sacred Sword 8.7%

Currently 10th on the Battle Spot Doubles Statistics, Aegislash is extremely versatile. It can be a Trick Room Sweeper, a Bulky Wall with offensive power, or even both. Aegislash can run a multitude of sets, depending on what you really want in terms of a Pokemon. Aegislash, like most of the Pokemon on this article, is extremely vulnerable to Spread Moves like Heat Wave and Earthquake. However, it gets a move that does cover this weakness, and that move is Wide Guard. Sure there are moves like Overheat that knock it out through Wide Guard, but that’s why you have King’s Shield. In Shield Forme, Aegislash has a base 15o stat in both defenses. While in Blade Forme its stats switch to 150 in both attacks, further proving the point that Aegislash is extremely versatile.

Aegislash is usually Quiet nature, or sometimes Modest. Quiet is most common because with Quiet nature it can perform extremely well under Trick Room. As for EV spreads, a good example would be Alex Ogloza’s Aegislash EV spread, which I find very useful. The EV spread is as follows: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe. With this set, it can stall Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Mawile with Leftovers. Attacks that can do major damage to Aegislash are Talonflame’s Flare Blitz, Bisharp’s Knock Off (which can remove Aegislash’s Leftovers) and Rotom-Heat’s and Charizard-Y’s Overheat. With Substitute, Aegislash can stay on the battlefield for a long time when played right. Because of this and King’s Shield, Aegislash is a big threat.

Example Sets

Alex Ogloza’s Aegislash set (US National Champion in the Masters Division)

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

Conan Thompson’s Aegislash set (US Oregon 1st Place in Masters)

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

Honorable Mentions

Steelix is a Pokemon that I personally believe is underrated, but of course, I do see why trainers don’t use Mega Steelix. In my eyes, Mega Steelix is probably one of the best Pokemon to have on a SandRoom (Sand and Trick Room) team, since it gets the ability Sand Force, which boosts its already pretty high Attack stat. With its low Speed, it becomes a powerhouse once you set up Trick Room. However, due to it being weak to a lot of popular Pokemon like Terrakion and Charizard Y, Steelix only gets an Honorable Mention.

Lucario is interesting. It can run Follow Me for a support option, or it can be one of the best Kangaskhan counters if it holds the Lucarionite. However, all the pros of Lucario are outweighed heavily by the cons. The biggest problem Lucario faces is its frailty, as it loses to a lot of common Pokemon like Charizard Y, Terrakion, Landorus-Therian and Heatran. Because of this, Lucario only gets an Honorable Mention.

An Iron-Willed Conclusion!

Terrible conclusion name aside, thank you for reading all the way through! I hope I could teach you a bit more about a fan favorite Pokemon type and some of the strongest Pokemon in the VGC 2015 metagame. That’s all for me, see ya!

The post Metal Detecting: A VGC ’15 Overview of Steel-type Pokémon appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Beating everyone else to the obvious title for Charizard / Cresselia teams, get innnn.

I appreciate my name isn’t too recognizable around these parts so I’ll give you a brief-ish introduction to myself as a Pokémon player. I’ve been playing the game competitively since 2006, peaking as a Black/White singles player in 2010-2013, with decent tournament results and representing the UK in Smogon’s World Cup of Pokémon those years. I’ve followed and played VGC on the side since 2009, but mostly as a means to keep in touch with some of the guys I knew through Smogon. After dropping Pokémon altogether for almost a year, I picked up VGC again last season although as I couldn’t make it out to any major events due to my schedule, this season marks my first season “try-harding” at VGC.

Well, that’s how it was meant to go at least. One Premier Challenge attendance (Top 8) by April isn’t too hot, and has resulted in a lot of pressure to perform in the big events to keep my World’s invite hopes alive. The following is a team report for the team I used to reach top 8 at the first UK regional event, and a general review of my performance.

The Team

If you look through my post history, you’ll see how highly I rate Charizard / Cresselia / Terrakion as a core, so no surprises here. It is a core I’ve been messing around with since Chris Barton (Havak) used a variant of it against me at a Premier Challenge over Winter. It has seen a lot more exposure since then, most notably with Sejun Park using a variant in the February International Challenge and a very similar Charizard / Cresselia / Landorus-T core taking the Korean National championships. Expect to see this archetype much more in the coming months!

Like Sejun, I opted to run Venusaur to provide a “fast mode” that limits random losses in early rounds, although Sejun went a little more all-in on this mode than I like with his Pledges. Charizard / Venusaur / Cresselia / Terrakion was the main “functional core”, with the last two slots resigned to counter-play and making a second, non-Charizard mode for mix-ups. I know this kind of “main 4 with 2 substitutes” seems a little primitive and 2010-esque but it genuinely was how I built the team and eh, its not done too bad for me up until now.

At this point, I think it is important to note this is by no means the best version of the team I have made, as weird as that may sound. I have like 20+ variants of Charizard Y builds on Showdown! and I’m sure a number of them would be smarter picks than what I ended up running. I opted for this build because I have significantly more experience with it than the others although it is objectively worse. For anyone interested, Charizard / Clefairy and Sun-TR switch with either LO Conkeldurr or Rhyperior are legit!!

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 44 SpA / 20 SpD / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
– Protect
– Overheat
– Heat Wave
– Solar Beam

Charizard Y is the mega I’m most comfortable with, having run it for the vast majority of the last two seasons. It kinda effortlessly fits how I like playing the game in that it provides a defensive typing that has become a staple in this format and combining it with solid bulk, a “KO button” in Overheat, and almost unique team support in Drought. Years of playing a certain singles format at a high level in Black and White has also conditioned me into trying to shoehorn some kind of weather control into every team I make, so Charizard is just about a perfect fit for me!

I ended up using Zog‘s / Level 51‘s EV spread because in testing I didn’t find much reason to deviate from it. I know a few guys are EVing to survive Landorus-T Rock Slide and so on, but I avoided going down that route because I think you compromise a little too much speed and/or special bulk. There’s sort of a psychological reason in there too – I know if I EV my Charizard to survive those Rock Slides, I’ll tempt myself into risking the flinch instead of making a smarter play. That might be a slightly hypocritical comment to make given the spread I’m running is specifically EVd to survive Rock Slides from Garchomp and Mamoswine, but I’ve opted for that benchmark here more for the vague region of physical bulk it hits and not really with those calculations in mind.

The moveset is also very standard. Overheat takes out just about any non-resist to open up exploitable holes early game. Heat Wave is the spammable STAB that gets around redirection and is Charizard’s best move for clearing through weakened, paralyzed opponents in the late game. Solar Beam is standard coverage on the bulky Water-types, Terrakion, and so-on. Charizard has a few other cool options in its limited movepool, but as far as consistency goes, you can’t really go too wrong with the moves I, and literally everybody else, have been using for the best part of 2 years.

Venusaur @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Protect
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Hidden Power [Ice]

The 7 year old in me still can’t quite get over how Charizard and Venusaur are a viable combination in this day and age. It is a nice little reminder that this is actually this same video game we played casually as kids. I was hoping to get on stage and the stream in top cut because everyone backs the Charizard / Venusaur player, but it just wasn’t meant to be!

Charizard / Venusaur isn’t anything particularly clever or groundbreaking, but it is mostly here to clean through first-time players without having to take too many risks. I still use it fairly often against seasoned players because my team tends to do a decent job of luring in dedicated Venusaur counters, but the explicit reason I stuck it on the team was to make sure I don’t ruin a tournament by getting unlucky or misplaying against players that are gonna go 1-6.

Last season, I used Mega Venusaur here for a second mega option, but I ditched the idea this time round. Firstly, I don’t rate Mega Venusuar very highly in the VGC 2015 metagame. It loses really badly 1v1 to all the other “big 5″ megas. While on paper it redeems itself by beating the “big 3″ non-megas in Landorus-T, Thundurus, and Terrakion, I found in practice that it spent most of its time getting targeted down by paralysis and flinches. Secondly, in order to run a Venusaur that works as both mega and non-mega, you have to compromise both modes to the extent that it doesn’t really work very well in either configuration. For these reasons, I opted to run a Life Orb set and was happy enough running a non-mega mode with Cresselia / Terrakion / Hydreigon / Aegislash if Charizard had a very bad match-up.

The only thing that might stand out on the set is Hidden Power [Ice]. Like with the Charizard-Rock Slide scenario, I wanted to avoid Sleep Powder at all costs because last year I found myself relying on 75% chances to win games way too often instead of playing it safe. The Ice-type coverage helps a lot against Landorus-T (which, as the #1 most used Pokémon, you kind of want to have a good match-up against with one of your main lead pairings) and Mega Salamence (neutral Speed nature variants of which are outsped even after a Dragon Dance).

Cresselia (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP / 100 Def / 184 SpA / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Moonlight
– Ice Beam
– Hidden Power [Ground]
– Thunder Wave

She’s fallen out of favor with many, but still has a place in my heart. Cresselia is an incredible consistency booster for Mega Charizard Y teams and performs a diverse range of roles on this team that I can’t even begin to cover here. The main reason she is on this team is to provide speed control. In theory, one of Charizard’s bigger shortcomings is its speed, and therefore letting it move faster than many of its checks makes it a massive pain to deal with. It only took me 3 games to realize all Charizard Y’s hardest checks and counters are “immune” to Thunder Wave (Scarf Landorus-T, Substitute Heatran, Lum Terrakion), but the move still plays a major role in counter play and sets up situations where Charizard or Hydreigon just… win. Additionally, Cresselia still beats the aforementioned hard checks comfortably by virtue of its typing, ability, and coverage, so it kind of works out.

Moonlight is what makes Cresselia so effective on this team, making her incredibly difficult to wear down for teams that don’t have something like Hydreigon or Bisharp. With access to reliable recovery, Cresselia can free up its item slot for a Rocky Helmet that allows it to ruin Kangaskhan and turns Ice Beam into OHKOs against most Landorus-T and Mega Salamence that try to hit Cresselia with a contact move. Ice-type coverage is a staple on Cresselia, especially on Charizard Y teams. Hidden Power [Ground] lures and wears down Heatran for Charizard and Venusaur, as well as prevents Metagross getting free Substitutes. Many people have asked why I don’t run a set of Moonlight / Psychic / Icy Wind / Hidden Power [Ground] and it simply boils down to the fact I’m really rusty and don’t feel comfortable working with speed stats on the fly. Also, it triggers Defiant / Competitive and I really value actually KOing Landorus-T and Salamence with my counter.

To round up, the EVs have a few benchmarks in mind but like Charizard, it is more of the vague area of bulk I like here. I think the HP and Defense investment with a Bold nature survives Choice Band Bisharp Knock Off whilst optimizing HP for minimizing Sandstorm and Hail residual damage. The Special Attack does hit a specific damage calculation but it is apparently so unimportant that I can’t remember it. All I know is that helps a lot against Landorus-T and Mega Salamence in particular. Cresselia comfortably handles a lot on the special side without needing to invest at all, so I was pretty content with the spread I settled on.

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

See: VGC 2014 Garchomp. Terrakion is a really easy Pokémon to throw onto teams and immediately improve match-ups against Kangaskhan, Charizard Y, Thundurus and a host of other threats.

Everyone experimented with the item slot and final attack on Terrakion for a while but I think we have mostly reached a consensus on Lum Berry and Quick Guard to mess around with Thundurus. Quick Guard also occasionally gets used when I come up against Talonflame or Fake Out + set-up leads, but for the most part it is just a tech to protect Charizard and Venusaur from Thunder Wave and Cresselia from Taunt.

The rest of the set requires next to no explanation really. Close Combat and Rock Slide are reliable STABs and I run a no-brainer EV spread because is there really anything better? There are some spreads going around that survive 0 SAtk Rotom-W Hydro Pump, or some attacks from Mega Salamence, but Terrakion is already kinda borderline on getting the OHKO on bulky Kangaskhan and I didn’t want to compromise that at all.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Earth Power

In my opinion, Hydreigon is a pretty overrated Dragon at this point in the season, but it fits better than anything else in this slot. Hydreigon has great defensive synergy with Aegislash and Cresselia and fits seamlessly into the Sun mode for its amazing match-up against Rotom-H and Heatran. Hydreigon also provides some much needed firepower to the no-mega mode of the team so I am not playing completely passively.

The only thing to note here is that I’m running Timid and max Speed for the mirror match-up against opposing Hydreigon. Hydreigon is really common at the moment and I wanted to make sure I could at least speed tie with the most common sets. I personally don’t think Hydreigon gains too much from running significant bulk anyway, and I see a lot of people losing out on outspeeding Landorus-T for the sake of very situational damage calculations. Again, simplicity works best for me here and I’ve never really been let down by Hydreigon on the defensive side even with no investment. The moveset is standard for Specs Hydreigon although I often considered ditching Flamethrower because I can’t remember ever using it. I was very close to switching to U-turn or Flash Cannon but the threat of something like really well-supported Ferrothorn made me keep it.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 180 SpA / 76 SpD
Quiet Nature
– King’s Shield
– Wide Guard
– Flash Cannon
– Shadow Ball

Aegislash is a really strange Pokémon in 2015 in that it completely walls around half the metagame but can’t do anything to the other half. I bring it if I’m not feeling too confident about handling specific combinations of Terrakion, Landorus-T, Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Metagross and so-on. It also has really good defensive synergy with Hydreigon in terms of typing and it is a major reason the Cresselia / Terrakion / Hydreigon / Aegislash selection works when I don’t want to bring Charizard.

I’ve opted for the Wide Guard set here because although I really like the Substitute set most of the time, I have at least one weakness to all the common spread moves and I don’t really want to get cheesed by Rock Slide. Wide Guard in combination with its typing also makes Aegislash a really strong check to Trick Room teams, which often pack on a lot of spread moves so they don’t waste their 4 turns whiffing moves into Protect. I opted for double STAB instead of Shadow Ball + Sacred Sword in the end because not being able to hit Sylveon, Clefable, Clefairy and Togekiss for super effective damage actually turns out to be a really big problem. Leftovers is a remnant of when I was using Substitute and I just kind of stuck with it; I think its a much more consistent option than Weakness Policy and survivability is really needed given how many threats Aegislash can be relied on to beat. Without it, chip damage from the likes of Hidden Power [Fire] and [Ground] Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir put on more much pressure than I’m comfortable taking.

Match-Ups

The team is by no means perfect and I probably could have optimized some match-ups a lot more, but I ended up feeling very comfortable with this variant after significant testing on battle spot.

• Mega Kangaskhan & friends (70-30) – The team is kind of designed to destroy teams like Kangaskhan / Landorus-T / Thundurus / Heatran and I’m proud of how consistently I’m able to win these games on match-up alone.

• Mega Metagross / Hydreigon & friends (35-65) – It comes down to the sets on these two. I have a poor match-up overall but I basically auto-lose to well-played Substitute Metagross + Choice Scarf (or Timid Specs/LO) Hydreigon. This showed in my Top 8 game, where I had to rely on not getting flinched to stay in the game.

• Mega Salamence & friends (50-50) – This matchup typically depends on how we lead. I generally have a good match-up against Salamence + redirection, but it baits out all of my Bisharp weak Pokémon. I’d like to say most of the times I’ve lost to this have been misplays so I can’t really say for sure, but I think this match-up is fairly even.

• Mega Charizard Y & friends (50-50) – Charizard teams can be pretty diverse so its difficult to comment. I have a significant advantage in the mirror because of Thunder Wave Cresselia, Timid Hydreigon, and 252 Speed Venusaur, but teams with very different compositions aren’t nearly as one-sided.

• Mega Venusaur & friends (55-45) – Thunder Wave Cresselia nullifies Tailwind support, and Hidden Power [Ground] Cresselia baits the Heatran that these teams rely on defensively. It depends if I can do all that before Venusaur really gets going with Leech Seed.

• Mega Gengar cheese (50-50) – Aegislash + Quick Guard Terrakion has pretty good time against Gengar + Whimsicott, but it comes down to what the back 4 are. I think the best Mega Gengar teams are the ones that take advantage of the specific leads that it forces and have a second mode that gets an immediate lead advantage, but I can’t think of any examples.

• Rain (90-10) – I don’t think I’ve ever lost to rain before with this team. Mega Charizard Y + Thunder Wave Cresselia is just too good against it. In theory, I’m a little weak to Rain Dance Scarf Politoed + MSwampert + Talonflame but I haven’t faced it before, and between Rocky Helmet Cresselia and Venusaur I’m probably okay anyway.

• Trick Room (60-40) – Trick Room is a really diverse playstyle so its kinda hard to sum up a match-up into a ratio. If they have a TR setter that can survive Dark Pulse from Hydreigon or Overheat from Charizard, then they have almost guaranteed set-up. However, a lot of these teams have TR abusers that simply can’t get around Wide Guard Aegislash (Mega Abomasnow, non-Drill Run Rhyperior, Mega Mawile). As a result, a lead combination of Hariyama / Cresselia that guarantees Trick Room against me (barring flinch), with Mega Camerupt in the back probably auto-wins against me, but I do okay against most other variants.

Overall Thoughts on the Team

As I said, this definitely isn’t the most solid variant of Charizard / Cresselia out there by any means, but I racked up so many games with it prior to regionals that it would have been silly to switch to something I don’t know the ins-and-outs of.

Ask any Charizard player what the biggest issue with the archetype, and they’ll probably say consistency. These builds tend to be highly reliant on Charizard actually hitting attacks to the extent you will often flat-out lose games if you miss Overheat or Heat Wave. For this reason, I tried to ensure Charizard Y was very well protected so a single miss wouldn’t result in the starter becoming fodder. Wide Guard Aegislash does a good job at giving Charizard free turns and alleviating some of the risk of blowing Overheat or Heat Wave. Thunder Wave’s paralysis chance is just as important as its speed crippling effects here meaning that even if I whiff an Overheat or Heat Wave, I still have a 25% of getting bailed out. Combine this with Terrakion’s Rock Slide having the flinch chance that always seems to be larger than 30%, I have a good chance of keeping myself in the game should Charizard miss an attack on an important turn. To exemplify the point, of the 16 Heat Wave targets during the event, I missed 6 and still went on to win all but one of the games it came into effect in.

Similarly, I wanted to avoid inaccurate attacks elsewhere. Venusaur, Cresselia and Aegislash all have exclusively 100% accurate attacks. Hydreigon carries Flamethrower over Fire Blast so I don’t miss on the odd occasion I even need to use it. Although my Hydreigon packs Draco Meteor, it is really just a secondary STAB to Dark Pulse in this format. Terrakion’s Rock Slide is the only inaccurate move I ever find myself relying on outside of Charizard’s Fire attacks. This gives me a great peace of mind when closing out games because I’m often actually sitting on a 100% win condition as opposed to praying I don’t miss 4 consecutive Hydro Pumps or something. Screw you, Rotom-W!

I think I have done as much as I could within reason in trying to limit how much luck has an influence on games with this team. Not only do I rarely rely on low accuracy moves outside of Charizard, but the presence of Wide Guard and Quick Guard effectively shuts down Landorus-T and Thundurus, two Pokémon I credit with bringing a significant amount of luck back into this format. The core Sun mode of the team is also great at grabbing momentum and keeping it meaning that most of the time I’m applying pressure rather than being on the back foot and switching around. This significantly limits the opportunities I lose due to bad luck.

The other side of that is that if I can’t lead Charizard and Venusaur, I almost always start the game on the back foot. This is why fast Hydreigon + Substitute Metagross poses an issue – I generally have to lead very slow, passive combinations of Pokémon and just give them loads of chances to land a critical hit or flinch me. If I can’t get Hydreigon paralyzed, then I can wave the game goodbye.

Sutton Coldfield Regionals

Round 1 vs Elliot Gibb

Elliot said this was his first event. Why can’t we go back to 2009 when new players were actually walkovers? Seriously, for a first timer this team is deceptively solid. Mega Salamence + Bisharp is something I struggle with a little bit and he played well early in the game to scout for Hidden Power [Ice] on Venusaur. He made a bit of a misplay from a neutral position in the late game by making an unnecessary double target into Terrakion which handed me the win, but for his first tournament this guy played pretty well in general. A very scary opening game. (1-0)

Round 2 vs Sheldon Greenaway

The kind of match-up that Sun mode thrives in. His Mega Blastoise Dark Pulse got a critical hit on my Cresselia that put me under pressure a little, but then my Aegislash landed another critical hit right back on the next turn to restore the advantage. On the last turn, I needed a paralysis to get one Wide Guard from two turns. I didn’t get either, but then his Terrakion missed Rock Slide anyway… and finally I could breathe. (2-0)

Round 3 vs Kelly Mercier-White (KellsterCartier)

Kelly came out of nowhere last year and very quickly solidified himself as one of the best European players. Because I didn’t play too much in the last format and hadn’t made it out to many Premier Challenges so far this year, this was my first time meeting Kelly, and he comes across like a great guy. I’m looking forward to playing him again in the future.

I remember reading his Arnhem report but couldn’t recall what variant of Metagross / Hydreigon he was using. I take an early punt on his Metagross not having Substitute and drop a Thunder Wave on it, which sets the pace for the rest of the game. We both make mistakes a couple of turns later in the face of a Hydreigon mirror. With Aegislash in the back, I probably should have not risked the Choice Scarf, but I made the risky play by staying in and targeting his Hydreigon with mine hoping that his was a slower Choice Specs or Life Orb variant. It turns out that his Hydreigon was actually Choice Scarf, but Kelly made a little misplay of his own by targeting down my Cresselia with Dark Pulse that ended up giving me the game. I’m sure neither of us are particularly proud of that turn, but it is what it is! (3-0)

N.B. Kelly, if you read this, I want to apologize for blurting out something about your Landorus-T set midgame. Wasn’t thinking at all and I hope that didn’t make later rounds difficult for you!

Round 4 vs Baris Akcos (Billa)

I recognized the name, but didn’t notice I was playing Billa until we were underway. Sun mode with Hydreigon had a good match-up here, so I ended up running with that. I did not do anything too risky and just made some safe plays to maintain an advantage. Pretty late in the game, my Hydreigon flinched his Aegislash with Dark Pulse but at that point, I think he needed to get a critical hit Sacred Sword against Hydreigon for it to have mattered anyway. The game came down to just waiting for a free switch to Venusaur which came when he knocked out my weakened Charizard the next turn. He was pretty visibly annoyed with this loss, which made me question whether I missed something really obvious and made a bad play somewhere, but he went on to make Top Cut later anyway. (4-0)

Round 5 vs Josh McDonald

After some really difficult rounds against established players, I was kind of thankful to see a Luxray in team preview. I wanted to run full Sun mode at first but eventually decided I wanted all of Terrakion, Cresselia and Aegislash to cover other bases, so dropped Venusaur with a couple of seconds on the timer. Expecting the Talonflame + Garchomp lead in anticipation of Sun mode, I go Terrakion + Cresselia for a near-enough perfect lead match-up. He gets up Tailwind turn 1 while I dispatch the Garchomp which gave Charizard Y an invitation to clean up. His back two turned out to be Sableye and Mega Gardevoir which have no response either Charizard Y or Aegislash. (5-0)

Round 6 vs Hannah Glover

Yet another first time tournament player with a solid team, definitely not a walkover. I decide to go with my standard Sun mode here despite a shaky match-up, mainly for a lack of better options. I scout for Tyranitar’s Choice Scarf early in the game and then cleared it out with Terrakion. Arcanine comes in on Charizard Y’s Heat Wave and it turned out to be Flash Fire; Hannah later said she couldn’t get an Ability Capsule in time but it definitely helped her out here! After a few scary turns of Garchomp avoiding Ice Beam with Bright Power and trying to dance around Sun- and Flash Fire-boosted Overheats from Arcanine, I eventually managed to get the game down to burned Cresselia and Charizard Y vs -6 SAtk Arcanine and thankfully avoid critical hits to close it out. (6-0)

Round 7 vs Chris Barton (Havak)

Unlike last time I played Chris, where I had a horrible match-up (my Mega Swampert Rain with Ferrothorn Trick Room mode versus his Mega Charizard Y + Ludicolo + Trick Room Cresselia team, yuck), I go into this one knowing there is surely no way I can lose to it. This is the kind of team that Hidden Power [Ground] Cresselia loves to tear apart. As long as I don’t make the absolute worst plays every turn, I should come out on top.

I start badly and lead poorly against his Kangaskhan + Togekiss. I had a split-second moment of stupidity and targeted the Togekiss with Thunder Wave. This puts me out of position and I have to dance around a lot of scary Pokémon in Tailwind without letting Cresselia get too worn down. The big turn is Kangaskhan + Heatran vs Cresselia + Terrakion, where I’m sure Landorus-T has to switch-in somewhere, or he has to protect his Heatran. Instead, he does neither and Sucker Punches Cresselia, I knock out Kangaskhan with Close Combat and Terrakion gets taken down by Heatran’s Earth Power. Got really annoyed with myself on this one because I had such an amazing team advantage and managed to throw it away with playing really terribly. Mad props to Chris though, for him to take this game he needed to be on fire with Landorus-T switches and he was. Good game pal, I think I’ve found my bogey opponent! (6-1)

Round 8 vs Jamie Boyt (MrJellyLeggs)

Yan Sym just played this guy before me and said he had Charizard X, so naturally I’m a little scared of running Sun mode. He leads Thundurus + Serperior into my Cresselia + Terrakion. I don’t really want to let Terrakion take a Leaf Storm so switch out for Aegislash, only for him to Light Screen and Nasty Plot turn 1 as I paralyse Serperior. Thundurus’ Thunderbolt lands a critical hit on Cresselia that stopped me getting off an Ice Beam that would have limited it to a single turn of Life Orb recoil and at this point, part of me just wanted to resign the prospect of winning this game and just focus on acquiring information in case I play him in Top Cut. This is the kind of team and player that experienced guys will lose to because he’s using established Pokémon in weird ways, even if I’m not convinced he was deliberately trying to catch people out like that. Props to him for what he did with it though, he definitely didn’t have an easy Swiss schedule! (6-2)

Having gone undefeated in the first 6 rounds gave me good resistance and getting paired up in the final round, I knew I had a pretty secure Top Cut place despite the final two losses. I ended up as 6th seed, as the highest seeded 6-2 player:

Top 8 vs Stephen Gibbon (Stegibbon)

The warped lovechild of Baz Anderson’s team and the Hydreigon + Metagross archetype? I don’t know, but I’m just praying to God that he doesn’t have Substitute Metagross and Scarf Hydreigon otherwise this tournament is over for me. You can guess what happens!

Game 1

He leads Breloom + Thundurus as I lead Terrakion + Charizard. There’s no reason for me not to just go Rock Slide and Heat Wave here so that’s exactly what I do, taking out Thundurus as he paralyses Charizard, but Breloom protects itself. Metagross comes in and reveals Substitute right off the bat. Breloom switches out for Hydreigon which dodges a Heat Wave as I sub out Terrakion for Aegislash. He eventually reveals Hydreigon is Choice Scarfed as I feared. The game goes down to the final turn, as I have full health Terrakion and 10% Aegislash vs full health Hydreigon and weakened Breloom, so it comes down onto a 50:50 on whether to Protect Terrakion or not. I don’t, as he risks the roll on Dark Pulse + Mach Punch to take down Terrakion. (L)

Game 2

I know my only shot of winning this was to catch Metagross behind a Substitute with Hidden Power [Ground] and Shadow Ball or to get a paralysis on Hydreigon and luck the guy to heaven and back. I lead Cresselia and Terrakion again into his Metagross and Suicune. Turn 1, I switch Terrakion out for Aegislash and paralyze Suicune with Thunder Wave, which subsequently fully paralyses as Metagross sets up a Substitute. Next turn, he makes the smart play of Protecting Metagross from behind a Substitute to avoid my Hidden Power [Ground] and Shadow Ball, as Hydreigon comes in for free on the Suicune slot. My only shot here now is to get a Thunder Wave off on Hydreigon, but he double targets Cresselia with Dark Pulse and Iron Head and catches a flinch, putting me out of the game and the tournament (L).

Concluding Thoughts

Overall, I’m very happy with the result finally getting some significant Championship Points in my pocket and closing the massive gap to the top guys . I know the team was solid, but nothing really special and I was relying on avoiding my bad match-ups all day if I was going to place well. Of course, there’s a part of me that wonders how far I could have gone had seedings worked out differently, as in my opinion I had positive match-ups against every other team in Top Cut. However, we all have to acknowledge that strength-of-schedule is a huge determinant in how you place at these events. Besides, I’m sure if I got matched up against someone else in top 8 and went on to win the whole thing, somebody would have complained I got lucky by avoiding my worst match-up, just as many are claiming about the guys who got to the finals. Nobody is to blame here but myself; I had a number of teams with better match-ups against Metagross + Hydreigon than the one I ended up running. I knew what I was getting into when I chose to run this variant!

I don’t know how many Championship Points I need to keep a statistical chance at making Worlds this year, but I still have a Premier Challenge planned in the run-up to Nationals, so I’m feeling good. Now I have some actual practice with the objectively better variants of this team, I’m excited to see how far I can go. Thanks for reading, guys!

Shout-outs:

• Chris Barton (Havak) – Stop beating me please. Also kinda have to thank you for introducing me to Charizard / Cresselia / Terrakion, even if I really dislike the direction you went with the other three slots way back when, haha. Also let me know when you quit so I can quit as well, we’ve been doing this Pokémon stuff way too long.
• Tyler Bakhtiari (Pokeguru01) – Stop using bad Pokémon, and change your name to something easier to spell. Seriously though, you’ve tested with me a hell of a lot since this team’s first conception and have always been around to bounce ideas off of. Now just stop trying to be super hipster and you might actually get a positive Swiss record sometime!!
• Yan Sym (Sogeking) – oO. Good to finally meet you after all these years, man. I can’t understand like every other word you say you Brazilian nutjob but C H A R I Z A R D B O Y S.
• …and the other guys I’ve inevitably forgotten.

The post Dancing in the Moonlight: A Top 8 UK Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Greetings fellow Pokémon enthusiasts from the land of Oz! On May 3rd the Melbourne VGC’15 Regionals took place at the Collingwood Town Hall, Collingwood in Victoria. There were 41 Juniors, 81 Seniors and 251 Masters, for a total of 373 entrants. The Juniors, Seniors and Masters played 6, 7 and 8 rounds of best-of-one Swiss respectively, with a best-of-three top cut of 8 for both Junior and Senior division, while Masters had a top cut of 16.

Masters

1. Chris Giagozoglou (The Batman)

2. Nathan Farrugia

3. Callum Witt (CruiseVGC)

4. Jackson Lackey (FamousDeaf)

5. Nicholas Vella

6. Yehya El-Leissy (millifor)

7. Jake Robins

8. Aaron Kovacs (Esquilax)

9. Zak Tober (Zakdos)

10. Bailey Owens (bargens)

11. Thomas Selby

12. Devlyn Wu

13. Nihal Noor (UchihaX96)

14. Luke Bradley (auselote)

15. Jim Sullivan

16. Layne Hall (Lejn)

Senior Division

1. Jakob S. (TheRealFurret)

2. Samuel L.

3. Arvin B (EspyyVGC)

4. Harrison O

5. George K

6. Michael A (GreatTornado)

7. Sam G

8. Deloy T

Summary

There were 50 different Pokémon used across both divisions in top cut. A tabulated result of those used more than once can be seen below.

Recorded Matches

The Masters semi-final of Callum vs Chris and the final between Chris and Nathan can be watched as a past broadcast on twitch here.

Photo taken by Jesse from PokéMelbourne and used with permission. Check out other images by him of the event on the PokeMelbourne Facebook group.

The post Teams & Results from the VGC ’15 Melbourne Regionals appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Yo, the name’s Josh Krieger, though most people online know me as Red Striker. I’ve been around since Nov. 2011 and, over time, have been trying to step up my game. The 2012 and 2013 seasons were good to me (28th at Nationals 2012, 9th at San Jose Regionals 2013, and 10th at Salem Regionals 2013), but when VGC 2014 came about, it just didn’t feel quite right.

After failing to launch, I decided to take a break from VGC and was itching to swing back in 2015. I got good experience at the Oregon Winter Regional tournament and knew what I needed to do to catch up after my break. I was determined to make 2015 a revival year for me.

Looking back at my past successful teams, I knew I needed to pinpoint certain aspects of what I’d done well before and adapt it to the new metagame. Like any consistent TCG deck, the successful components of my teams often had a clear objective. In 2012, my Nationals team of Raikou / Scizor / Staraptor / Cresselia / Rhyperior / Politoed worked in part because I was sick and tired of seeing weather everywhere (ironic, ain’t it?).

With VGC 2015 being rather nascent, the only thing to really counter was the metagame itself.

Team Background

My team building process involved testing a few teams similar to the final product. Eventually, I ran out of time and made my final team decision out of sheer desperation.

My first real VGC 2015 team. In testing, it was determined to be a far better Singles team than anything else. Still, it served as a precursor to future teams.

The first true rough draft of my final team. I remember testing this team only briefly before I realized major flaws here and there, notably in the survivability department.

Here we go, one of my final drafts. Truthfully, I intended to bring this version to Regionals, but it never happened because nobody responded to my Terrakion trade requests. I had a month left before Regionals and decided to make a contingency plan. In retrospect, it’s probably better that I never brought this team, as I would discover a number of problem match ups in later testing.

I decided to change to Blaziken because my team lacked a good way to deal with Mega Kangashkahn. I wasn’t overly confident about replacement options for Terrakion. My good friend Stormfront suggested Blaziken and I saw how it performed elsewhere, solidifying its place on the team.

Eventually, Blaziken would raise to MVP status, proving more than worthy of usage. My change from Rotom-Mow to Mega Venusaur stems from needing a good way to handle Sylveon, a popular threat. Additionally, I wasn’t keen on using both Zapdos and a Rotom forme on a team and Mega Venusaur had better overall bulk anyways.

Drawing only from my in-game supply of Pokemon, I had started to build my team. I didn’t have time to waste breeding and I obviously wasn’t getting a Terrakion anytime soon. While browsing my PC, I knew I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice of having two Water-types on a team with no way to combat their common threats. This turned out not to be an issue, as I didn’t have the Starmie I wanted anyways.

Looking at what was popular in the metagame—Terrakion, Sylveon, Gengar, etc.—Scizor felt like a good replacement for Starmie. I also knew I needed more Rock coverage to threaten common Pokemon. Thinking Choice Specs Tyranitar could replace Terrakion, I tested it in my team up until the night before Regionals, but I felt like something was off and wasn’t confident in it…

… until I found the assistance of KillerOrcas, who helped shrug away any uncertainties. After pinpointing my weak matchups in Charizard-Y, Mega Metagross, and (to some extent) Mega Kangaskhan, my change to Krookodile came almost too late. I have absolutely no regrets adding Krookodile. Many games were saved by this decision.

The Team

Venusaur @ Venusaurite *** ♣Measure♣91♣
Ability: Chlorophyll → Thick Fat
EVs: 204 HP / 100 Def / 36 SpA / 164 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect
– Sleep Powder

Nickname reference: See Oregon’s recently passed measures.

• Survives neutral 252 Tough Claws Zen Headbutt from Mega Metagross 100% of the time
• Survives Adamant 252 Life Orb Brave Bird from Talonflame ~94% of the time
• Survives neutral 252 Life Orb Psychic from Latios 100% of the time
• No notable offensive calculations

On Battle Spot I noticed a heavy influx of Suicune and Milotic usage. I found it kind of surprising when I considered usage in previous formats (though Competitive didn’t exist back then). On top of Suicune and Milotic, we had our usual suspects of Rotom-Wash, Swampert, and an occasional Gastrodon.

Sure, Zapdos could neutralize Suicune and Milotic, but Hidden Power Ice doesn’t tend to go far when facing a Swampert or Gastrodon. Rotom-Wash or Mow? Duplicate Electric-types have never flown well with me. Virizion? No way, my matchups against things like Talonflame would only be worse. With nothing else in my PC Box being viable, Mega Venusaur stood as my last, and best hope against some of the metagame’s aforementioned threats.

Venusaur oftentimes ended up in coming from the back unless I felt confident in being able to Sleep Powder my opponent’s setup Pokemon (typically Trick Room). During most of my matches, I was stuck between a demon wall and the pale doors of defeat, but Venusaur brought back the match into my favor, turning fatal 2-4 and early 3-4 situations into 2-0 and 3-0 victories.

In round seven against Chalkey Horenstein (Chalkey), my Blaziken—which would’ve been helpful against his Zapdos—went down early unexpectedly, leaving me with a Venusaur/Gyarados/Scizor core. Midway through, Venusaur’s efforts took down Zapdos through a mix of Sleep Powder, Sludge Bomb, and various partner attacks, which ultimately secured victory.

My set was pretty typical. I initially questioned using Giga Drain over Energy Ball but, in the end, offense wasn’t essential and I couldn’t pass up on the recovery option. For those of you saying, “Sleep Powder is inconsistent. Why not use Leech Seed? Or Safeguard? Or Toxic? Or anything other than Sleep Powder?” Geez, calm down. Sleep Powder misses suck, I know that. If my team’s functionality allowed for Venusaur to sit a lot longer than it normally did, I would’ve gone for a different move.

Besides, it’s VGC 2015, not 2014. If Sleep Powder misses, it’s not game over and I can easily bounce back to recover momentum. I considered Leech Seed, but I didn’t see myself using it a lot. I understand that it pressures opponents to switch out, granting me free damage in the meantime, but my preferred kind of offense doesn’t offer too many opportunities for Leech Seed.

I wanted to focus my spread on having absolute bulk, taking inspiration from a friend of mine. Despite the metagame being young at the time, I still knew what attacks I needed to survive. During the tournament, however, I didn’t encounter any Mega Metagross, but apparently it was seen by a fair number of my friends.

I’m not sure why I never went back to calculate for Talonflame’s Life Orb Brave Bird. Had I done so, I would have found out that just another eight Defense EVs would allow Mega Venusaur to survive the attack 100% of the time. Despite my extra Special Defense helping out against various Cresselia, Gardevoir, and Rushan Shakar’s (Firestorm) +2 Ice Beam from Gastrodon in round one, I still question EVing against the uncommon Latios. Were I not rushed to complete the team, I might’ve changed my investments around (for example, more Speed EVs to take advantage of Gyarados’ Icy Wind). Still, I’m fairly satisfied with this Venusaur’s spread overall.  

Zapdos @ Expert Belt
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 140 SpA / 4 Spe
IVs: 30 Def
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Roost
– Tailwind

• Survives neutral 252 Life Orb Stone Edge from Landorus-T 100% of the time
• Can OHKO nearly any Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, or Garchomp running just over regular 4 HP / 0 SpD bulk
• Can 2HKO 252 HP / 4 SpD Thundurus-I 100% of the time with Hidden Power
• Outspeeds neutral 252 Speed Scarf Terrakion under Tailwind

I’m loving what Zapdos does in this format and consider it the second most important member in my team’s functionality as well as a threat to common metagame sightings. Your standard Mega Charizard-Y? Consider it gone after Feint damage from Scizor (most Charizard Protect after going Mega. Weird). Talonflame being a pest? First off, that’s nothing new. Secondly, Zapdos couldn’t care less after one Thunderbolt. Oh, Mega Salamence and Landorus-T standing in your way? No problem. If one looks closely, they can spell out “Hidden Power Ice Bait” by rearranging the letters in their names.

More often than not, Zapdos was a leading Pokemon, and not just for Tailwind. Many other opposing leads are either weak to one of Zapdos’ moves or can be put into KO range with neutral damage from Thunderbolt. Because of its versatility, Zapdos ended up being my Fake Out bait. A lot of people ended up targeting it on Turn One, allowing me to switch into a bulkier Pokemon from the back if desired. When I did setup Tailwind, my party was a force to be reckoned with, especially Venusaur. Comebacks made with Venusaur were usually only possible because of Tailwind. An extra one or two turns are all you need to catch up sometimes.

I didn’t do anything special for Zapdos’ set. Heat Wave and Roost are fairly common, but my team had no use for Heat Wave. I wanted Zapdos to have a bulky offense role, making Roost essential. In practice, I noticed how people typically predict Heat Wave and respond with Wide Guard. Fire coverage would have been nice, but surprising opponents with one of the other moves was better in my experience. Ice coverage was more important than fire coverage and, when combined with Thunderbolt, gave Zapdos unresisted offense.

Now, I sometimes struggle with non-Choiced bulky offensive sets, so I turned to my friend Stormfront for help yet again and he suggested running the above spread. I consider Expert Belt to be an underrated item, especially on Zapdos, as it can hit a huge list of Pokemon for super-effective damage. Most calcs don’t factor in Expert Belt, giving my Zapdos a surprise factor.

On top of possibly feigning a pair of Choice Specs, Mega Salamence, non-Yache Berry Landorus, 92 HP / 4 SpD Charizard Y, and other Pokemon EVed to survive a typical Thunderbolt or Hidden Power [Ice] from Zapdos find themselves suddenly down a Pokemon. My Life Orb was taken by Blaziken and Life Orb recoil didn’t fit in with the bulky offense mentality. At the same time, my desire to use Tailwind and Roost prevented me from using Choice Specs.

At the end of the day, had Blaziken not shone like it did, Zapdos could’ve easily taken my MVP slot. I’m sure you noticed how it stayed in every team variation that I tested, including the very first team I made at the start of VGC 2015. I am under the strong impression that Zapdos’ pliability to a plethora of situations cannot be replicated by any other contender for its role on my team.

Gyarados @ Sitrus Berry *** BrooklynRAGE
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 244 HP / 20 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 212 Spe
IVs: 30 SpA
Jolly Nature
– Waterfall
– Icy Wind
– Protect
– Taunt

Can’t beat my- can’t beat my, no they can’t beat my Brooklyn Rage~!

• Outspeeds Jolly max Speed Smeargle
• Lots and lots of bulk

In the first serious version of the Regionals team, I originally had Gyarados as a filler since I wasn’t sure what to put for my last slot. When I started making adjustments to the team, however, I knew Gyarados had earned its place. Between team synergy and Intimidate support, I had no reason to choose another Water-type, especially since none could pull off fast attacks while providing teammate support like Gyarados. Although Gyarados did not directly countered any specific metagame threat, being able to put your opponent at -1 Attack and Speed hurts more than one might think.

Gyarados, paired alongside Zapdos, Venusaur, Blaziken, or Krookodile made for an excellent lead. In practice and at Regionals, Zapdos / Gyarados had to have been my most common lead pairing. Remember when I said Zapdos was Fake Out bait? With Gyarados as its partner, I usually switched to a more favorable matchup while Gyarados used Icy Wind, thus making my new switch-in faster than what was on the field.

If Zapdos didn’t switch, it was still taking reduced Physical damage and setting up a Tailwind or putting Pokemon into KO range with Thunderbolt. Venusaur paired with Gyarados’ almost as often. Opponent’s weren’t able to hit Venusaur too hard after an Intimate (and it was already specially defensive!). Icy Wind, unlike Thunder Wave, provided speed control without leaving a status condition that would prevent Sleep Powder. Gyarados / Krookodile lead-outs sported the classic double Intimidate..

I think Icy Wind caught a lot of people off-guard. There’s a pretty good reason I’m running it over Thunder Wave, aside the one I mentioned above. In a Gyarados / Blaziken vs. Mega Salamence scenario, my opponent would typically predict a Protect from Blaziken and put me at a disadvantage by setting up Dragon Dance. Icy Wind negates their Speed increase while also allowing Hidden Power [Ice] from Blaziken to OHKO 100% of the time. Similarly, unsuspecting Landorus-T would U-Turn into a Protect only to be OHKO’d next turn.

Taunt was used maybe once or twice through the tournament. Trick Room didn’t make an appearance after round one, where the setter had Oblivious, so I didn’t use Taunt. Cresselia wasn’t very popular at the tournament either. Despite the usage shortfall, Taunt did matter a lot in the few instances I did use it. I used Waterfall over Aqua Tail because I preferred accuracy over power. Knowing RNGsus, I would’ve missed Aqua Tail every time. Besides, RNGsus has also been known to lend an ear to flinch rate abusers, so why not?

Regarding the spread…I have no clue what it does beyond outspeeding 252 +Speed Smeargle by one point. I snipped it from Demitrios Kaguras’ (kingdjk) VGC 2014 NorCal team (found here). As it was intended for Mega Gyarados, I knew I was probably going to need to make small edits. After much practice, however, I decided to “not fix what isn’t broken,” and I didn’t regret it. Running 244 HP / 12 SpD / 252 Spe would’ve done almost the same thing on top of outspeeding all max Speed Base 80s such as Dragonite, Mamoswine, etc. Luckily, none of the possible max Speed Base 80s showed up.

There’s no special reason for having 30 SpA IVs. I wanted to ensure Icy Wind did the most possible, so 20-31 in SpA IV was desired.

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Knock Off
– Stone Edge
– Superpower

• Outspeeds 252 +Speed Landorus

Krookodile was incredibly important to the team, I can’t imagine my team functioning too well without it. Unsurprisingly, Terrakion saw an uprise in usage right before the event which, on top of my other qualms with Tyranitar, gave me all the more reason to stick with Krookodile. Choice Scarf Knock Off from anything can be downright annoying, if not powerful.

Being able to cripple Pokemon that relied on items, such as Scarf Landorus-T, really put the pressure on my opponents. They could either stay in to be KO’d or switch out and risk losing another item. Some players don’t Mega evolve immediately to keep their opponents guessing, but Knock Off would clue me into this plan immediately. Nice Garchomp nerd, I sure hope you didn’t need that Lum—oh look, it’s a Mega-in-hiding. Totally called it.

Krookodile’s flexibility was were handy in Team Preview, as I could lead with it or keep it in the back. Dual Intimidate gave me a huge advantage in momentum while keep Krookodile in the back allowed for revenge KOs. Krookodile’s set is straightforward, which was honestly all I needed.

I debated on using Adamant Nature but, in the end, I opted for Jolly to outspeed the possible Jolly Scarf Landorus. Well over 50% Landorus faced ran a Scarf before Regionals, so even if they were Jolly instead of Adamant, Krookodile could easily be the bane of their existence with Intimidate and Knock Off (though I’ll admit that U-Turn still hurts!). Jolly also outspeeds all Scarf Base 80s, something that was more common in previous years.

Superpower isn’t enough to OHKO Mamoswine by itself (83 – 98%), but that’s perfectly fine as any chip damage gives me a 50% chance to finish them off, assuming they run 0 HP / 0 Def. To those saying, “Dude, if they’re a Mega Pokemon or they don’t have an item, Knock Off won’t be doing much. Why not use Crunch?”, I agree that it’s a valid question, but being able to scarf Knock Off consumable items like Sitrus and resist Berries was invaluable. I quickly learned to play my cards right so that these items are not consumed before Krookodile hits the field. I just gotta play it cool and then BAM! Trap Card. Gg no re. Shadow Realm for you, sucker. *Maliciously stares at Sitrus Berry Cresselia and Zapdos*

Superpower and Stone Edge are fairly self-explanatory. Like I mentioned earlier, I needed more Rock-type offensive coverage. Between Stone Edge, Rock Tomb, and Rock Slide, I might as well have only had one option. I didn’t need any more Speed control, so Rock Tomb was a no. Rock Slide’s damage output would’ve been absolutely terrible even with Adamant Nature. Despite what I said about Waterfall, I don’t believe in relying on constant flinches either, putting Rock Slide in the same boat as Rock Tomb. Superpower was needed against Mega Kangaskhan.

Blaziken @ Life Orb *** GOTTAGOFAST
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 52 Atk / 204 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 30 HP / 30 Def
Naive Nature
– Overheat
– Superpower
– Protect
– Hidden Power

Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Gotta go fast, gotta go fast,
Gotta go faster, faster, fasterfasterfaster!

• OHKOs 4 HP / 4 SpD Mega Salamence 100% of the time with Hidden Power [Ice].
• OHKOs up to 252 HP / 52 Def Heatran 100% of the time with Superpower.
• Outspeeds Timid max Speed Mega Sceptile after a +1 Speed boost.
• IVs are the most optimal for a mixed set.

Ladies and gentlemen, people of all ages, the time has finally come! The true master of faster, the “over” in “Overheat,” “overkill,” and “game over,” the OG Fire / Fighting-type himself, Blaziken is here to stay. Striking down the meta where it stands. Metagross, Landorus-T, Kangashkahn, Terrakion—pah, send them back home, son. Blaziken will have none of ‘em, for this is his era and his alone.

You know, until a Talonflame shows up.

I’m proud to say that Blaziken was the crown jewel of a team for once. When Speed Boost was released in 2012, I always felt there was potential. I tried running a set in 2013, but it didn’t pull through (although I was running a fully physical set). Now in 2015, Blaziken does so well against most of the meta, it’s almost scary. Nobody really runs Jolly Scarf Landorus-T, which meant any Landorus-T not running an Assault Vest, Focus Sash, or Yache Berry stood forfeit to Blaziken’s surprise Hidden Power Ice. I never bothered to calculate for Garchomp because Landorus-T dropped Garchomp usage so much.

OHKOing 4 HP / 4 SpD Mega Salamence meant I could OHKO anything I needed to. I originally ran Double Kick over Superpower for Focus Sash Bisharp and Smeargle. After encountering many Life Orb Bisharp and failing to do more than 32% to a typical Milotic quickly changed my mind. For the record, 52 Attack EVs guarantees 252 HP / 0 Def Smeargle is OHKOed by a -1 Double Kick.

With Wide Guard finding itself on a fair number of Pokemon and lacking an effective way to remove opposing Pokemon in one fell swoop, I chose Overheat over Heat Wave as the fire STAB. Flamethrower still lacked the power I wanted and Fire Blast’s 85% Accuracy was unreliable. Essentially being forced to switch out after an attack drop made my team’s functionality shift for the better. As opposed to getting greedy with power and Speed, I preserved Blaziken longer than I probably would’ve with Fire Blast or Flamethrower.

Blaziken proved itself versatile as a lead or switch-in option. Zapdos / Blaziken was my most offensive lead, though Gyarados / Blaziken and Scizor / Blaziken were also threatening in their own ways. When times got rough, Venusaur’s Sleep Powder gave Blaziken enough time to pick up Speed Boosts safely, allowing me to better manage Scarf revenge hitter in my opponent’s reserves. In fact, when Blaziken stayed in back, it was essentially a revenge hitter/sweeper. Overall, Blaziken paired well with any member of the team and could go toe-to-toe with a great deal of common Pokemon.

Typically with my teams, I have a sort of “niche Mon.” Sometimes it’s something completely out of the ordinary and sometimes it’s a standard Pokemon running a set most people would consider weird. In my experience, Blaziken almost falls into both categories. It was kind of common, but most Blaziken were running a Mega Stone and a fully physical set at Regionals. I personally disliked these variants due to Intimidate Pokemon running rampant and a lower damage output compared to Life Orb variants.

Aside from Krookodile, I knew I needed another answer to Mega Kangaskhan, which meant more Fighting coverage. I also needed to maintain Fire coverage and there were only two viable Fire / Fighting types to consider (sorry, Emboar!). I like Infernape and all, but I didn’t want to rely on Focus Sash and speed tying against all three Musketeers. When Blaziken hits the inevitable +1 Speed mark, Infernape becomes rather outclassed for what I needed in my team. Welcome to my team, Red Sanic.

Scizor @ Lum Berry *** RStriker
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Bullet Punch
– Bug Bite
– Protect
– Feint

Does “Green Striker” really ring to you? Yeah, I didn’t think so, either. Besides, green is the color of the Illuminati. Trust no one using a green Scizor.

• Outspeeds neutral 0 Speed Base 75 Pokemon.
• Outspeeds 252 +Spe. Talonflame under Tailwind.
• Maximum bulk over max offense means Scizor is able to do more for extended periods of time.

Well well, my very own in-game personification returns. I’m glad to have him back, as I haven’t used a Scizor in competition since Nationals 2012. When I scouring my PC Box for Pokemon, I didn’t have many Steel-types to choose from. I knew I needed Steel coverage, as well as a way to hit Cresselia. Aegislash didn’t feel quite right. Aegislash also lacked priority, lacked concurrent bulk and offense, added more team weaknesses than necessary, and slowed down the team’s functionality whenever it changed Formes.

Scizor was also versatile in the front and back. I’ve noticed a lot more people opting to Protect at least one of their Pokemon during turn one. This made sense to me, seeing as how some Mega Pokemon had a higher base speed stat than their default forme. Scizor allowed me to take advantage of this by using Feint on Turn One. After breaking an opponent’s guard, the possibilities were endless. I could fire off a Sleep Power from Venusaur, Icy Wind from Gyarados for speed control, or pick up a KO with Zapdos or Blaziken (I never led Krookodile with Scizor).

If it was coming in from the back, Scizor was a great revenge hitter / sweeper, depending on the remaining health of my opponent’s Pokemon. Brave Bird from Jolly Talonflame and Extreme Speed from Arcanine, neither of which could OHKO Scizor, were some of the few moves that could outspeed Scizor’s Bullet Punch under Tailwind.

The combination of Lum Berry and Bullet Punch / Bug Bite made Scizor an excellent answer to Gengar, Amoonguss, and Breloom, as most people probably expect Life Orb. The extra turn provided by Lum Berry puts my opponents in bad positions, allowing me ample time to KO the offending Pokemon.

I’d like to give the genius behind move design at Game Freak some props for creating Bug Bite. Lum and Sitrus Berries appear to be scattered on nearly every team I encounter. On top of 2HKOing most neutral targets, removing berries let Scizor’s partners secure the KO that turn and allowed Venusaur to Sleep Powder freely. Without a method to handle these berries, I can imagine my matches not going too smoothly; Suicune and Cresselia being among those I care nothing for.

I’d also like to give a big thanks to the designer behind Feint’s creation. There were moments where I was just short of the KO and wasn’t sure if my opponent would Protect or Quick Guard, anticipating Bullet Punch. Psych, Feint for the KO! I’m not going to lie, I found it pretty satisfying.

As for the spread, I never bothered to re-EV Scizor due to my time crunch. I used Scizor’s spread back in VGC 2014 to outspeed neutral uninvested Klefki, Mega Banette, and Mega Scizor, leting me win the priority war. Today, I use it more for plus neutral uninvested Base 70s and any Pokemon EV’d just above them (Politoed, Ludicolo, Breloom, Bisharp, Mega Swampert, etc.). The bulk is appreciated against any Pokemon I don’t outspeed. I’m not certain if I would’ve changed Scizor’s spread even if I had time. 252 HP / 252 Attack Scizor doesn’t feel right for my team.

Scizor feels like another one of those Pokemon that I couldn’t have replaced. My other option for a Bug / Steel type was Escavalier. Not only would I have to breed one, but it lacks priority and is too slow to take advantage of Tailwind. Every other viable Steel-type added weaknesses I didn’t want. Metagame-wise, Scizor was perfect, hitting the popular Fairies hard before they can hit him. With Terrakion’s rising sage, Scizor’s utility in the team increased. Of course, Terrakion and Fairies aren’t the only threats, but I feel they’re the most significant in terms of what Scizor can deal with effectively.

At the End of the Day…

Unfortunately, outside of what I mentioned in my report earlier, I can’t remember too many details from my matches. Sorry!

Winter Regionals felt more and more like a learning experience throughout the course of the day. An entire year had passed since I attended any major premier event. This meant that some of my old tendencies, in and out of battle, still lingered. Don’t get me wrong, not all of them were bad, but I will list some of my learnings below. Hopefully, you can learn from them like I did!

Take your time and think!

Before pairings for round three, I heard a parent tell their kid to “take their time and think”. I never bothered to remind myself to do that and, though the comment was obviously not directed to me, I took what they said to heart. Even when you have less than 15 seconds left to input your moves, don’t start worrying and choke yourself up. I’ve done just that in practice and other events. Sometimes just a few extra seconds is all you need to clear your mind and put the match in your favor. Make every second you have count.

If you lose, reflect, but don’t overdo it.

I reminded myself of this prior to the event. In round three, I was playing from behind early on and lost the game due to a sub-optimal play:

Their side: 49% HP Mega Kangaskhan, 100% HP Conkeldurr
Their reserves: 100% HP Talonflame, 100% HP Milotic
My side: 1% HP Scizor, 80% HP Zapdos
My reserves: 77% HP Gyarados

My opponent sent in Mega Kangaskhan as a switch-in the turn before to take a Thunderbolt in place of Milotic, putting Scizor at risk of a Fake Out KO. I over predicted and got ballsy, leaving Scizor and Zapdos in and attacking. Fake Out seemed too obvious and Scizor could only dent Kangaskhan with Bug Bite, leaving Conkeldurr open to KO with Mach Punch, which was what I predicted.

Instead, they Fake Out Scizor for a KO and Ice Punch my Zapdos for game. The play to make would’ve been to send in Gyarados to take the -1 Attack Ice Punch for Zapdos and Protect Scizor. After that match, I made sure to analytically reflect without taking it too personally. I knew myself well enough that overdoing would affect my performance in future rounds.

(I probably could’ve chosen my Pokemon better, too. Round three usually isn’t my strong suit for some reason.)

Side note: in relation to round three, if you’re that guy who blurts out what your opponent has [move/item/etc.] on their Pokemon at a premier event mid-battle out of shock or whatever the reason, please stop. No, really. Anyone sitting near you could end up being a future opponent. Don’t be that guy.

Finally, don’t psych yourself out!

Ask anyone what Terrakion’s item is typically. What will they say? Lum Berry. What would I have said prior to round six? Lum Berry. During round six? Focus Sash. Without a reason to believe my opponent’s Terrakion had Sash, I clung to the idea, choking myself out of a win in in latter turns. I remember vividly:

Their side: 100% HP Terrakion, 100% HP Mega Charizard Y
Their reserves: none
My side: 70% HP Blaziken (+2 Spe.), 65% HP Mega Venusaur (Paralyzed)
My reserves: 67%-ish HP Zapdos

I deliberately played around Terrakion in early turns, since I knew I had more than enough to deal with it. At this moment, I was poised to land the KO with Blaziken’s Superpower.

Only, I don’t. Instead, I Overheat Charizard. I got in over 50% damage, so there’s something I guess.

Even now I don’t know why I did that. Perhaps I thought there was an offshoot chance of Terrakion Protecting for Heat Wave to do damage followed by a Heat Wave / Rock Slide combo later, but Protecting would’ve been futile as Terrakion would still go down on the following turn. It should’ve occurred to me that Blaziken was the biggest threat. A Paralyzed Venusaur at half health against Charizard-Y / Terrakion was not a large threat.

If I had taken out Terrakion, Zapdos would be able to win out with Venusaur there to make Heat Wave a double-targeted attack. Even if Terrakion had a Focus Sash, my chances to win were still favorable after Superpower. Venusaur could Sleep Powder Charizard the same turn I lost Blaziken to Close Combat, leaving me in a still-favorable position. Long story short, I eventually lose Zapdos after KOing Charizard and Venusaur goes down a couple of turns later after a Full Paralysis. After the match, my opponent even revealed that he had a Lum Berry on Terrakion.

My point is, the outcome would’ve been significantly different if I wasn’t scared of things that weren’t there. Remembering Focus Sash Terrakion being common at some point in 2013, I got myself locked up inside the wrong metagame mindset somehow and paid for it dearly. Suspect something? Ask yourself why. If you can’t provide a valid answer based on evidence, it’s probably best to not get worked up about it.

Conclusion

6-2 and a 10th place finish after a year of hardly any activity? I ain’t overly upset by it. Like I said: I needed to learn or reflect on a few things. At the end of the day, if what I take with me can be used elsewhere, who am I to reject it? No brakes—or Johns—for me!

Also, shoutouts to my fellow Northwest Magmas and my Oregon crew. Thanks for making the tournament what it was. It felt great to be back at an event.

The post No Brakes From Here! A 10th Place Oregon Regionals Report appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

We’re in the money rounds now! With only eight players of the 1300 who entered left in the Nugget Bridge Major, each win becomes increasingly more valuable. We have players from across the world left as we get closer to the finals of the largest Pokémon tournament in history:

Toquill
Juan Carlos Mateos

Darkpenguin67
duffy

MajorBowman
Pd0nZ

Shinon64
Lumina

• 1st place: $300 + 120 NP
• 2nd place: $150 + 110 NP
• 3rd/4th place: $75 + 100 NP
• 5th-8th place: $25 + 70 NP

Look out for battle videos from these rounds on the Nugget Bridge YouTube channel in the coming weeks! Who do you think will move on to the semi-finals?

The post Nugget Bridge Major 4 Moves on to the Quarter Finals appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Hey everyone, this is Adib. I’m here today to talk about how you can setup your Secret Base quickly and in a way that can help you raise an individual Pokémon’s EVs, happiness and levels much faster. Notice that I said “individual.” For EV training multiple Pokémon, horde battling is far more efficient. For more details, see Gonzo’s horde battling article for ORAS. For individual Pokémon, however, EV training can basically be a matter of talking to a few NPCs in about two minutes when you have a competitive Secret Base.

NOTE: I won’t talk about decorations and the like in this article. Plenty of other people have already written very good guides about that on more general sites like Bulbagarden. This article will also assume you know the very basics of Secret Bases, such as collecting flags, setting up decorations, adding/generating QR codes, adding Secret Pals, etc.

Why Secret Bases Are Helpful Competitively

Short answer: competitive secret bases allow easy daily access to:

• 300 EVs
• 10 levels
• 10 massages + 1 in Mauvile City

Long answer: read on.

In each Secret Base, you can have up to five Secret Pals, all of whom you can recruit from other Secret Bases you get from StreetPass. Each Secret Pal comes packed with up to four Special Skills, depending on the avatar type of the Secret Pal. To use a skill, simply talk to a Secret Pal in your Secret Base, select “Show me a special skill,” then choose the skill you want to use.

If you have collected 1000 flags and achieved Platinum Rank status, then each Secret Pal can use two skills per day which is huge. The skills are listed in the table below (Source: Serebii & Bulbapedia):

As you can see, most of the skills in the above table are either useless or inferior to other methods available in the game. However, the top three rows highlighted in bold—Massages, Do Some Training, Do Some Exercise—are the reason why you should even bother setting up a competitive Secret Base in the first place.

After getting 1000 flags and achieving Platinum Rank status, you can use these three skills twice a day for each of the five Secret Pals. If you do the math, each Secret Pal can give you 30 EVs per selected stat to a Pokemon twice a day. Multiply those 60 EVs by the 5 Secret Pals available and you’ve got 300 free EVs every day right there. By the same logic, you’ve also got access to 10 free levels or 10 massages or various combinations of the three per day.

The 300 EVs part is huge because it means that when combined with vitamins, wings, and/or 1-2 quick Super Training exercises, you can fully EV train an individual Pokémon without horde battling in many cases — just by talking to a few NPCs over the course of two minutes. The 10 massages, in addition to the 1 in Mauville City, allows you to raise your Pokémon’s happiness very quickly. This is (debatably) good news for Kangaskhan!

However, there is a catch—in order for each Secret Pal to have access to at least three skills and the ability to use them twice a day, you must collect 1000 flags and talk to Aarune to reach Platinum Rank status. That’s a lot of flags. You can collect 1 flag from each Secret Base currently in your game once a day. Sounds like it would take forever, doesn’t it? Well, not really.

Fly by Easy Access

Before I discuss how to efficiently collect 1000 flags, make sure to set up your Secret Base somewhere very close to a place you can Fly to. Don’t forget, you can fly near signposts you’ve checked on routes as well as cave entrances now! Also, avoid setting up your Secret Base in a place where you have to use an HM move like Surf or Rock Smash to access. It’ll get really old really fast. By having your Secret Base in a place you can Fly directly to, you’ll significantly cut down on the amount of time needed to collect 1000 flags and even future EV training once you’re done.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about how you can collect 1000 flags very quickly.

How to Quickly Collect 1000 Flags

User PreyingShark made a very good post about how to do this here, but here’s the process below:

1. Update your BuzzNav once every 8 hours by simply connecting to the Internet. This allows you to receive more Secret Bases through StreetPass.
2. After each update, go to the new bases that appeared and collect their flags.
3. Recruit all of the new Secret Base trainers as your Secret Pals. This may require several trips, as you can only have five Secret Pals at a time.
4. Go back to your base and talk to each Secret Pal. Each will give you 0 – 30 or more extra flags.
5. Tell each Secret Pal to leave your base by selecting “Let’s say good-bye”
6. Repeat steps 1 – 5 every 8 hours.
7. After the game clock rolls over to midnight, the flags in each Secret Base in your game will respawn. Run around and collect them all. And DON’T try to change your 3DS’s clock to try getting more flags. It won’t work.

PreyingShark managed to get about 400 flags in three days using the above 7 steps. Collecting 1000 flags isn’t anywhere near as time-consuming as it sounds. However, this method means that you won’t have permanent Secret Pals until after you’ve collected 1000 flags. Speaking of Secret Pals…

Which Secret Pals to Invite Back to Base?

Okay, so now you’ve collected 1000 flags, talked to Aarune in Fortree City to get the Platinum Rank Flag and won a Garchompite from a Flygon trainer (really, GameFreak?). Now it’s time to invite five Secret Pals with the following three skills we talked about earlier back to your Secret Base for a permanent stay. These skills are:

• Do Some Exercise
• Do Some Training
• Massages

However, you can’t just invite anybody. Different Secret Base trainer classes have different combinations of Special Skills. Unfortunately, since many of the Special Skills are useless, this means that many of the trainer classes available (including the ever popular Ace Trainer) come packed with many useless skills. You’ll want to invite only the Secret Base trainers that have all three of the above competitively useful skills. These trainer classes are as follows:

• Black Belt
• Battle Girl
• Expert (male & female)

Not a lot of options, are there? Well, anyways, after you invite your Black Belt, Battle Girl and Expert Secret Pals to stay over at your base permanently, feel free to add those Lv. 100 Blissey bases that have spread like wildfire across the Internet to your Favorites list since you likely won’t be downloading new Secret Bases like crazy anymore. This way, you’ll also ensure you’ll never lose access to your Blissey bases.

Oh and for those of you who don’t know, these “Blissey Bases” are Secret Bases setup by other players that are filled with three Lv. 100 Blissey without any damaging attacks. Together, they allow you to level up your Pokemon at rates unseen before in the franchise. Definitely download as many as you can by scanning their QR codes!

How to Avoid Overwriting Your Secret Base Team

This last section actually has no impact as far as making your base competitively useful. However, many people have accidentally overwritten their Secret Base teams due to the auto-Game Sync that happens whenever you save online, so this section will talk about how to prevent that from happening. After all, once you get 1000 flags, Platinum Rank status and decorate your Secret Base to your heart’s content, you’ll probably want to show off your awesome base to the rest of the world. This includes creating your very own Secret Base team of literally any three Pokémon in the game. This means you can use that Mega Rayquaza you used to clear the Elite Four or whatever.

However, there’s a few things you need to be careful about. Your Secret Base team of three Pokémon is determined by the order of the first three Pokémon in your party. Every time you Game Sync, your Secret Base team is updated to whatever three Pokémon you have leading your party. Most players automatically Game Sync their games by saving while connected to the Internet. This means that if you’re not careful, that Secret Base dream team of Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza will turn into a Talonflame and two random baby Pokémon you just hatched just before you traded with somebody by going online. It’d be a pain to have to lead with your Secret Base team every time you go online, so how do you save your Secret Base team without a ton of hassle?

It turns out all you have to do is turn AutoSync off. Here’s how you do it:

1. Go to the Player Search System
2. Click on Game Sync
3. Click on Settings
4. Click on Turn off AutoSync

And that’s it. This makes it so that the game doesn’t automatically Game Sync whenever you save while connected to the Internet. Therefore, your Secret Base team won’t be overwritten every time you save while playing online. Now, whenever you want to GameSync, you’ll have to do it manually using Steps 1, 2 and the prompts on the screen while having your Secret Base team occupying the first three slots in your party in your desired order.

On a sidenote, it’s recommended to raise your Secret Base team to Lv. 100 so that people will be more inclined to download and battle against it. Your non-Blissey team may not give as much experience, but it would still give a lot and make things a little more refreshing to other players who’re used to bashing a bunch of Blisseys.

Conclusion

Well, that’s pretty much all I got as far as making your Secret Base competitively useful. Personally, I had a blast decorating and customizing my Secret Base as I unlocked more decorations by collecting more flags, and I hope you will too. Setting up these competitive Secret Bases isn’t hard and it certainly isn’t as time-consuming as it may seem at first. And the reward of being able to EV train an individual Pokémon and/or drastically raise a Pokémon’s happiness just by talking to a few NPCs in minutes is worth it.

The post Competitive Secret Base Training: A Setup Guide appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

It’s that time of year again guys; Nationals season is finally upon us! The bountiful feast of Championship Points will be ripe for the taking as the best that Europe can muster will do battle for the first of three clashes in Stuttgart, Germany on the 16^th and 17^th May. We’ll be looking at how the rankings currently stack up in Europe, give a little time going over the boring information part relating to the event, as well as going over the names that we can expect to see at the front of the field.

Prizes

As expected, there is a mountain of Championship Points on the line for players attending, far above what has been seen so far at the Regional events. These points are critical for securing that important invite to the Pokémon World Championships that are being held in Boston, Massachusetts from 21^st – 23^rd August. In addition to the points, there will be some very valuable Pokémon and Nintendo prizes on offer to those who do well.

1^st Place:

• 1^st Place ‘Champion’ Trophy
• Nintendo Wii U Deluxe
• Groudon Playmat
• 600 Championship Points

2^nd Place:

• 2^nd Place ‘Finalist’ Trophy
• A “New” Nintendo 3DS / 3DS XL
• Groudon Playmat
• 500 Championship Points

3^rd & 4^th Place:

• 3^rd and 4^th Place ‘Semi-Finalist’ Trophies
• A “New” Nintendo 3DS / 3DS XL
• Groudon Playmat
• 400 Championship Points

5^th – 8^th Place:

• 36 Booster Packs of XY Roaring Skies
• Kyogre Playmat
• 300 Championship Points

9^th – 16^th Place:

• 200 Championship Points

17^th – 32^nd Place:

• 150 Championship Points

33^rd – 64^th Place:

• 100 Championship Points [128+ Players Required]

65^th – 128^th Place:

• 50 Championship Points [256+ Players Required]

Current CP Rankings

With the season now starting to reach a climax, each of the preview articles for the National Championships will feature the current CP Rankings in Europe. I will be focusing on the paid world invite positions, the Top 16 in Europe, as well as give the current cut-off for the unpaid invites for reference. These figures are correct as of the 5^th May on Pokémon Global Link:

It is worth pointing out that these rankings do not include the International Challenge held in April, and the CP awarded to those who did well enough to get points has yet to be distributed. Taking this into account, both Barry and Baris are in fact level on 316 CP thus jointly leading the way. Another interesting point is that the standings are still fairly compact so there will be a great deal of change throughout the field, and we will have a clearer indication of who will likely be heading to Boston by the close of play on Sunday. I’m expecting 16^th place to have roughly 320 CP, while 60^th is likely to be in excess of 200 CP following this event.

The Main Event

Difficulty Rating:

/ 5

(Five cogs in a well-oiled machine of German efficiency) / 5

Location: Carl Benz Arena, Mercedesstraβe 73, 70372 Stuttgart, Germany

Registration Time: 7.30am – 9.00am (You must be in the line by 9am to register!), Saturday 16^th May

In addition to the above information, there are a couple of further points that are worth noting. Firstly and possibly most importantly, players are reminded that they need to update to the latest version of Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire on their games. It is your responsibility as a participant to adhere to this rule. If a player is found to not have updated to version 1.4, they will be subject to disqualification from the event. You will also require a completed team sheet at this event, which will need to be provided to organizers at registration. Please come prepared, as it will speed up the registration process.

Players are advised that there will be no lunch break during the event. Drinks and snacks will be offered at the venue, and players are advised to consume food and drinks between rounds. Please remember to take your Player ID to the event if you already have one. There will not be any byes awarded for the first round of swiss this year for those at the top of the CP Rankings, so everyone will be starting on a level playing field regardless of their achievement this season to date.

However, the notable piece of information is that the top cut will comprise all players that have an X-2 record or better, assuming that the division attendance is 65 or greater. This will almost certainly be achieved in the Masters Division and is likely also for Seniors, but may not be hit with the Junior Division, based on attendance figures last year. The top cut itself will be a single-elimination bracket, with byes awarded to the top seeds in the opening round should the number of players not equate to a power of two, similar to the format of the Nugget Bridge Major.

There will be a commentated live stream available to watch throughout the weekend for those unable to attend. A brief run-down of the schedule for live stream is given below:

Saturday 16^th May Live-Stream Schedule

• Live-stream starts at 12 o’clock till end of swiss rounds/Saturday top cut.

Sunday 17^th May Live-Stream Schedule

• 09:00 – 10:15 TCG AT Masters Top 8
• 10:30 – 11:45 TCG DE Masters Top 8 (TCG AT Masters Top 4 will not be streamed)
• 11:45 – 12:30 VGC Masters Top 8
• 13:00 – 14:15 TCG AT Masters FINALS (TCG DE Masters Top 4 will not be streamed)
• 14:15 – 15:00 VGC Masters Top 4
• 15:30 – 16:45 TCG DE Masters FINALS
• 16:45 – 17:30 VGC Masters FINALS

You can watch the live stream here; and you can find this information regarding the tournament, including side events to be held here.

Last Years’ Results:

1. Markus Stadter (13Yoshi37)
2. Simon Stanford (Falco)
3. Nemanja Sandic (Porengan)
4. Matthias Suchodolski (Lega)
5. Lajos Kowalewski (Lajo)
6. Zacharias Daum (Mercury)
7. Stephan Appelfeller (Appi)
8. Szymon Wojdat (Szymoninho)
9. Timo Koppetsch (37TimoK1)
10. Florian Wurdack (DaFlo)
11. Carlo Arbelli (shinycarletto)
12. Baris Akcos (Billa)
13. Steve Edgson (SirSmoke)
14. Faaiz Ashfaq (Feis)
15. Ciskejan Giannakos (sagaciousslowpoke)
16. Jake Birch (WhiteAfroKing92)

The Scoop

This tournament without question will feature the biggest number of established names in Europe at one event this year so far. Understandably so due to the volume of points it’s awarding, as well as the prestige of the title, which is reflected in the difficulty rating above. Arguably, Germany is the most important National event for the players in Europe. An excellent result here will potentially provide them with a World Championship invite meaning that any further events they participate in will have less pressure on their shoulders to do well. While winning here is not an iron-clad guarantee to get a paid invite, it certainly will put whoever does win in the driving seat.

The event promises to be a multi-cultural one and numerous countries will be represented in Stuttgart, from Ireland to Italy, Poland to Portugal. This cauldron of clashing styles promises to simmer over the weekend, before coming to the boil in the final matches!

Returning Top-Cut Players

Most of the players who made the top-cut last year will be back in attendance this year. Last years’ undefeated champion Markus Stadter will be looking to have his battling do the talking this weekend as he looks to defend his title, but it would be a herculean effort to have another clean run this year. His season thus far has been solid despite not attending any Regionals so far for various reasons, lying 32^nd in the rankings, which is respectable given the circumstances. However, Simon Stanford, who he beat en-route to the title, will not be attending as it seems he was last seen sat in a cinema waiting for the new Star Wars movie to release. All I will say is may the Force be with him on his wait! Both semi-finalists, Nemanja Sandic and Matthias Suchodolski, will be looking to go further this year. Nemanja has had a relatively quiet season thus far but could be someone to look towards for an unusual team composition that may be his key to unlocking success, especially based from his exploits last year. Matthias meanwhile has some good form with his 5^th Place in Arnhem helping to place him 10th on the rankings list.

Lajos Kowalewski and Szymon Wojdat have confirmed they will be back to try and improve on their quarter-final berths. For Lajos, his exploits at various Premier Challenges, including those under the Arena Cup have given him a workable platform in the standings, currently sitting at 38^th. Lajos looks to be in good form regardless, with a Top 16 berth in the Nugget Bridge Major for another feather in his cap. For Polish player Szymon, this will be his first and only major event for this season, barring a strong run to qualify for worlds. That said, do not discount Szymon because of a lack of live tournament practice, as he’s more than capable of pulling out results.

Of the remaining top-cut players, seven have confirmed their attendance plans. While Faaiz Ashfaq and Ciskejan Giannakos will not be present, Timo Koppetsch, Florian Wurdack, Baris Akcos, Steve Edgson and Jake Birch will be taking part. Of the German players in this quintet, Baris has had the strongest season thus far with two 6^th place finishes at the Regionals in Arnhem and Sutton Coldfield, and goes into the tournament effectively as CP co-leader in Europe. If there is one person I would bank on top cutting, Baris is currently top of the list. Timo is also not to be discounted either, and has had a solid season amongst the Premier Challenges to lie in 29^th on the rankings. With Florian, I think this tournament will hopefully be the spark of life his world championship crusade needs after a relatively low-key spring, though he still remains in the Major at the time of writing. As we saw in the standings above, Florian sits in 16^th place for CP. With all three being ex-world competitors however, they are more than capable of claiming the title here. The British duo of Steve and Jake have had rather contrasting seasons. In Steve’s case, a steady run of good Premier Challenge results has been met with some pretty underwhelming Regional results. His 89^th position in the CP rankings reflects this. However, Steve does boast a flawless record of reaching the knockout stages at Nationals he’s attended, so on that statistic we should expect nothing short of another top cut! Jake on the other hand has had only a couple of notable Premier Challenge performances earning points, but has enjoyed decent success at Regional events with a 9^th Place in Sutton Coldfield and a Top 32 in Arnhem, so sits 105^th in the standings.

Players to look out for

Despite the strong array of players already mentioned, there are still plenty more on the radar that will be looking to carve a path to the trophy. Even looking at the Top 16 of the CP standings there are a host of recognisable names amongst them. As the effective co-leader in the rankings with Baris, Barry Anderson has been able to bounce back from a disappointing UK Regional showing by his standards with his fourth Premier Challenge victory of the season. Barry is a fierce competitor, I have no doubts he will be re-doubling his efforts to make a triumphant return to the top table at the main events. At 3^rd in the rankings, Canadian-Irishman Kelly Mercier-White will be making one of his two planned National appearances for the year.  Kelly’s season has shown a high level of consistency in every event he has attended, sharing many similarities with Baris, so will be a solid shout to do well in Germany. Yan Sym is possibly Europe’s biggest dark horse this year to find himself in 5^th Place for CP. Yan’s 5^th Place at Sutton Coldfield has probably helped to cement the view that he is a valid contender to make World’s this year, and he has earned CP at every regional event thus far. Continuing down the list in 6^th place, Austrian Noah Fuchs will also be looking to get stuck into the thick of the invite battle, and is another person that has put in an assured performance this season to stake his claim to being at the World Championships. Noah will be keen to back up his Top 8 result earned at Arnhem in Stuttgart.

7^th through to 9^th in the CP standings sees unquestionably the three biggest names in the Italian scene in Arash Ommati, Alberto Gini, and his brother Matteo in close company. All three are potentially viable candidates to win the event, but I feel the formbook favours Alberto to date with his Top 8 in Rome only a few weeks ago. Matteo was somewhat unfortunate to end up 17^th in Rome due to resistance, for those extra championship points. And while Arash struggled in Rome, he does have a Top 16 Regional result from Arnhem to his name. Do not be surprised if one of them manages to claim a National title this season. I think it’s some kind of unwritten rule that it should happen, along with the one that also says Zach Droegkamp wins a Regional every season.

Moving further down in 12^th place, Eloy Hahn from Germany is another potential name that could be one to watch. He was able to hit the ground running this season with a top cut in Arnhem, and is a seasoned individual, thus will be able to manage the pressure situations. Just below Eloy in the standings is Christoph Kugeler, who I expect to be in attendance in Stuttgart. However, I’ve only got second-hand information on the matter, plus Christoph has been keen to keep expectation on his performances in check. In 14^th place for CP, Lee Provost will be looking to shift his season into another gear, although I am making the assumption he will be making the trip out rather than from a confirmation. His 10^th place finish in Sutton Coldfield was a positive result to work with, so expect Lee to build on that and go even further, as I am sure he will be keen to replicate his run at Worlds for a second consecutive year. The last name I want to cover within the Top 16 not already mentioned is Austrian Thomas Schadinger. While the other names in this list are fairly high-profile or have produced a notable result this season, Thomas has generally slipped into his current position relatively unnoticed. His 9^th place in Rome went by largely without any fanfare, though it was understandable by the lack of information that came out from that particular event. I would be keen to see Thomas make the single-elimination section of the tournament, but a solid performance will be needed regardless to maintain his position.

The Chasing Pack

We’ve covered a significant number of players, but there are still so many that would be foolish to gloss over. Starting with those from Germany, one player who I’ve yet to mention is Jan Michelberger (Lati). Like many of the players that will follow, he is an ex-Worlds competitor, and should be treated as a valid contender for the title. At 44^th place on the rankings, Jan currently has an invite spot, but a solid result will be required to solidify his position. Michael Richert (Michilele) is well known among the usual suspects as a solid, respected player who can easily take a battle to the strongest opponents. Despite being outside the invite spots at 92^nd, a healthy haul of points would lift him up in the standings; I personally feel he could get a real result from this weekend. I had the pleasure to battle Michael in Arnhem, one match I’m not likely to forget any time soon. One player definitely in need of a strong result is Marcel Kapelle (Massi), who sits in 131^st position currently. I’m not totally sure of the situation regarding Marcel’s lowly position here. I’m assuming it’s a lack of Premier Challenge attendances rather than form, as Marcel is still in the hunt to win the Major at the time of writing. Whatever the reason, this is one of two planned National events he is attending, so keep a sharp eye out for him as the event progresses.

While there are no Dutch players inside the paid invite spots, there are a couple of notable names hovering on the fringes in Andres Escabosa (000aj) and Huib Buijssen (Lolnub) among the fairly solid contingent attending. At 20^th and 23^rd in the rankings respectively, both players will be looking to build on their Premier Challenge platform and push towards qualifying for Worlds, with an eye for a paid trip on the agenda. I think the strength of the Dutch contingent of players this year has improved significantly and I would be disappointed if neither to these two qualify. Realistically, CP is the target for both to maintain pace with the pack.

With regards to Italian players, three more names yet to be mentioned spring to mind. These are Simone Sanvito (Sanvy) lying in 27^th, Andrea Sala (Yaya) lying in 52^nd and Nicholas Rottoli (Wonder) who lies in 70^th. Despite all three being reasonably strongly placed in the rankings, all three failed to make a significant impression in Rome as I had expected them to. It will be interesting to see if any of them step up to the plate in Stuttgart to answer the questions that will be posed to them.

Finally, we move onto those from the United Kingdom, and there are a few here that stand out. Two of the four individuals that made up team fruitcake are key players in William Tansley (StarKO) who lies 28^th, and Steve Edgson’s dutiful and far less good-looking sidekick Ben Kyriakou (Kyriakou) lying back in 126^th. For Will, I have quite often backed him to the hilt as a good friend who I know is capable of results if he’s on form. Premier Challenge results aside, I do not believe we’ve seen him hit his stride in the main events. In Ben’s case however, this season seems to have treated him less than favorably and it shows in his low ranking position. I can’t discount Ben to produce a result here, but smart money is on an average CP haul to keep him in the hunt for an invite. I want to be proven wrong here Ben! Justin Miller (ThrillerMiller9) as well as his brother Jamie (Blaze King7) are both making the trip and should be respected. Justin fared better than his brother in Sutton Coldfield, who struggled badly like many good players on the day. But, as a result of the CP awarded from Regionals, both are in serious need to get a good result from Stuttgart to stay on track for a worlds invite. The same rings true for Christopher Arthur (Koryo) if he is heading out like I assume he will. Christopher should rebound strongly for his average performance in Sutton Coldfield, and will need to in order to regain his place inside the Top 60 in Europe.

As an added extra…

I recently had the opportunity to join Baz Anderson for one of his YouTube videos as one of his guests, discussing the prospective players who we expect to do well in Stuttgart. Many of the names mentioned in this article are also covered in the video, so please feel free to watch as Baz, Lajo and I go over the main players to look out for.

The Crystal Ball Predicts…: Realistically the standard of players here is so high and the skill level of those at the top is so close that it is a frankly impossible task to predict the winner. For me to pick one person would be doing the rest of those going a disservice! Yeah, if you hadn’t gathered by now, I’m taking the cowards’ way out. I think quite a few have recently heard my view on these predictions, how all of the guys I’ve backed thus far have fared poorly. Even to the point that a small number of you have asked for me not to not to get the mention here so as not to curse their chances! Some of you guys are a superstitious lot! Understandably though, Germany will be heavily represented in the top cut bracket simply due to the number of players, so the likelihood is one of the big names from Germany will win here. While I may be chickening out on a prediction, I’m going to put you, the readers, on the spot and ask: “Who do you think will be victorious come Sunday evening?”

As for me…

I unfortunately won’t be attending this event, though not for lack of wanting to go. My holiday time at work is a very precious commodity, as everyone hopefully can understand. I will be endeavoring to bring as much information away from the event from the comfort of my laptop and phone, so do keep up to date with twitter and the various forum threads relating to this event. Information will be available as soon as physically possible, and don’t forget that you can watch the live stream of the event to get your tournament fix! Please feel free to leave your comments, predictions and give your own insight into this event.

The post VGC 2015 German National Preview appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Here we are again; the final stretch of the North American Regionals season as we approach U.S. Nationals in July. These events will be key for players looking to solidify their Championship Point standings before entering Nationals, where the North American representatives for the World Championships will be determined. This preview will cover the first two out of five regional events for the Spring, the Washington and Massachusetts Regionals.

Washington Regional

Difficulty Rating:

/ 5

(Five Pokemon that really enjoy being in the waters. Look how happy they are!) / 5

Location: Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, 305 Harrison Street, Seattle WA

Registration Time: Saturday 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM

Last Year’s Winner: Tony Cheung (Chinese Dood)

The Washington Regional sees a venue change from last year’s event, moving from the Washington State Convention Center to the Seattle Center. To recap last year’s event, the top cut was dominated by a number of Canadian players, such as Tony Cheung, Randy Kwa, Jason Wynja, and Max Douglas. Tony Cheung (Chinese Dood) returns to defend his title of last year’s winner. Max (starmetroid) has had a very successful season from Canada so far, maximizing his Premier Challenge CP and earning second place at the Oregon Regional in the winter. He currently sits at 18th in North American CP and looks to increase that total with this event. Randy Kwa (R Inanimate), the Canadian player most people are familiar with, earned second at the 2014 Washington Regional and sits just outside the Top 64 in North American CP. Randy is known for sticking with a consistent team for the entire circuit season and adjusting it to what the metagame throws at him. He’s been quiet this season, but it’s hard to sleep on Randy. Resident Nugget Bridge Administrator Rushan Shekar (Firestorm) has been doing a lot more than just feeding in League of Legends this season. Along with his Premiere Challenge CP, he’s got a Top 4 finish and is on pace to qualify for Worlds. Rounding out the familiar Canadians are Nugget Bridge moderator Aryana Welsh (feathers) and long time VGC veteran Jason Wynja (Arti). Relatively new Canadian face Tyson Gernack (Firefly) is just outside the Top 40 and has a third regional available for his best finish limit.

The Canadian regulars will also be joined at the event by the West Coast regulars. Conan Thompson (conan) is fresh off of a regional win in Oregon in the winter. Combined with his maximized Premiere Challenge CP, he holds 6th place in North American CP and still has a third regional empty for his best finish limit. Seattle locals and Team Magma members Gabby Snyder (JTK) and Sam Haarsma (DrFidget) aim to break into the Top 40 with this event, with both of them sitting just outside of the boundary. Another Washington player who recently sneaked into the Top 8 of North American CP is Demitrios Kaguras (kingdjk). With a Top 4 and a Top 8 in earlier Regionals, Demitrios looks to round out his best finish limit in his home state. Not as well known as the others mentioned, but just as successful this season is Chris Stotts (MasterFisk) from Oregon. He’s currently at 26th overall for North American CP with a Top 4 finish from Oregon in the winter.

Just a bit further down the coast comes the NorCal crew. The Northern California community is pretty tight knit, evidence being the stream that Duy hosts for all of their Premier Challenges. Arguably held together by players Huy Ha (Huy), Duy Ha (Duy), Kimo Nishimura (TFC), and Cassie Fordyce (cassie), NorCal also includes other strong individuals like Sam Johnson (RastaCharmander), Mitchell Davies (MissingNoL) and Phillip Wingett (NME THATSaplusone). Not to be outdone by the NorCal players, SoCal looks to send their regards in the form of some of the strongest players in VGC history. Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) is a consistent top competitor, winning the 2013 US Nationals and placing Top 8 in the 2014 Nationals. Gavin has also reached the World Championship the last 3 years in a row and will be looking to extend it further. Veteran VGC player and Nugget Bridge founder Paul Hornak (makiri) is also making the trek up to Washington as he reminisces about his glory days of having a 36-2 record over the first five years of VGC Regionals. One of the longest standing members of the competitive Pokemon community, Paul is looking to have a strong showing at this regional and prove to the community that he is still a force to be reckoned with.

If the local players weren’t enough for this preview, there are plenty of players flying in to this event. Former Washington resident and 4-Time Regional champion Zach Droegkamp (Braverius) will be in attendance. Zach has had recent success, placing second to Aaron Traylor at the St. Louis Regional earlier this year and is 7th place in North American CP with two Top 64 regional finishes as well. Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom) has continued his success off of his 2014 Worlds appearance into the 2015 format and currently holds 5th place in North American CP. In order to solidify that placement, he will need to finish in the Top 8 or better. His compadre Ben Irons (benji) will be joining him in Washington as he works towards a possible second World Championship appearance. The 2013 Worlds competitor has one Top 16 finish this year and has a lot of room to increase his CP total to reach that goal. I would not be surprised if this duo has one of the stronger showings of the field with their consistent success across multiple formats. In the midst of all these veteran players flying in, Jake Muller (MajorBowman) is having somewhat of a breakout season with some consistent regionals performances. With a Top 16 and two Top 32 results already, Jake will need a strong performance to improve his best finish limit. Another Midwest region player coming into Washington is Nico Villalobos (CalmLava). Nico’s just outside the Top 40 in North American CP and still has a third regional finish to fill out. Harrison Saylor (Crow) looks to attend his first event this season, and yes this is confirmed. Harrison is an experienced player who top cuts events at a pretty good pace. Usually the doubt lies in whether or not he shows up, not his results. Priciliano Garcia (Pirate Lion Inferno) is coming from Florida to this event which is definitely the longest distance traveled to attend here. He’s at 32nd in CP with a Top 8 finish from Florida to his name.

The Smart Money is on: Zach Droegkamp (Braverius)

It wouldn’t be a VGC season without a Zach regional win, in my opinion. He’s won four in total but at least one in every season since Swiss events started. This regional is really top heavy, with a lot of top players in attendance.

Massachusetts Regional

Difficulty Rating:

/ 5

(Four Clefairy things and a Kangaskhan because let’s be real here.) / 5

Location: Venue: Sturbridge Host Hotel & Conference Center 366 Main Street, Sturbridge, MA 01566 United States

Registration Time: Sunday

Last Year’s Winner: Ray Rizzo (Ray)

Last year’s champion of Massachusetts is coming off of a Top 32 (21st place) finish at the Virginia Regional. This event is especially important for Ray Rizzo (Ray) if he wants a shot at another World Championship run. After missing the cut at Virginia, Ray has motivated himself by producing content on YouTube in addition to streaming his International Challenge competition. As anyone from 2009-2012 can tell you, there is no player more feared than a motivated Ray. For the third time this season we are going to get some double Aaron action at a regional event. Both Aaron Traylor (Unreality) and Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) are having fantastic seasons so far with each taking home a regional Championship. Zheng’s came in Philadelphia in the 2014 format, while Traylor’s came at St. Louis, streamed by TPCi. Despite Aaron Zheng’s humongous point total, he can still easily improve his CP with a Top 16 finish or higher at Massachusetts. Aaron Traylor’s CP total will be even easier to improve as he has not reached the best finish limit for the season. Wolfe Glick (Wolfe) is one of the two players that actually has more CP than Aaron Zheng, eclipsing him by about 40 CP. The reason for this is because of Wolfe’s incredibly high regional placings already. In order to gain CP at this event, Wolfe will need to get Top 4 or better because his best finishes are already very solid. Wolfe has already seen success in 2015, however, so its really not out of his boundaries to improve his CP by even more from this event.

There are a couple of players in the 8-16 CP standings range that can really propel themselves into Top 8 consideration. At 9th place, Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario) can improve his Top 128 finish. A master of using the unorthodox, Ashton saw success in Florida using Eruption Typhlosion in the Sun. Alec Rubin (amr97) has two Top 64 finishes he can boost up with a solid showing in Massachusetts. Third, Pat Ball (pball0100) is at 16th in CP and has not reached his best finish limit yet. It will be important for all of these players to be prepared for this regional in order to avoid their National Championship results being relied upon for their overall circuit performance.

There’s going to be a bunch of players coming from the mythical area also known as “New York Area Premier Challenges” that are apparently legendary and of unfathomable difficulty. Trista Medine (ryuzaki) and Joe Pulkowski (sandman) have qualified for Worlds in the past and are regulars among these events. Angel Miranda (CT Mikoto Misaka) got Top 4 at the Virginia Regional and Arbin Tumaneng (.Cypher) got Top 8. Nicholas Borghi (Lightcore) and Paul Chua (pwny person) both got Top 8 in Philadelphia and are young Masters Division players creating tough competition for the veteran players. Patrick Donegan (Pd0nz) is currently Top 8 in the Nugget Bridge Major and looks to continue his success this weekend. A quick rundown of some of the rest of the notables: Chuppa Cross IV (Chuppa), Matthew Terriberry (crazysnorlax), Jonathan Evans (Ezrael), Tommy Cooleen (Tman), James Baek (jamesspeed1), Dorian Nousias (crazyblissey), Danny Hemchand (Jabberwocky), Daniel Stein (BlazikenBurnerVGC). Chuppa, Danny, Tommy and Matthew actually cut Massachusetts last year, so it will be interesting to see if they can repeat their success this season.

Matt Coyle (PrettyLittleLiar) is another former Worlds Competitor attending this event. He’s sitting at a pretty decent spot in the CP standings, just inside Top 64. With a strong finish at this event he can pave his path to another World Championship appearance. Fellow NGR associate Junghun Yeom (ANGDE) is in his first year as a Master and managed to Top Cut the Virginia Regional in the winter. Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut) hasn’t had too many events to go to, but he did finish second at the Apex tournament that Aaron Zheng won and is also a former Worlds Competitor. Ben Hickey (darkpenguin67) may be in attendance as well. The 2013 Senior World Championship Finalist is 30th in CP and Top Cut the Virginia Regional in the winter. Caleb Ryor (BlitznBurst) Top Cut Massachusets last year and has racked up most of his CP from Premier Challenges this season, but does have a Top 64 finish and a solid group of team-builders behind him.

The Smart Money is on: Trista Medine (ryuzaki)

It seems obvious to go with Aaron or Wolfe at this event, but the stakes for them at this event just aren’t high at all. This doesn’t mean they won’t play to win, but I want to choose a player who is determined to win and make a statement. Trista has made Worlds twice before and plays in every event that is physically possible for her. There aren’t many more players trying to get to events and she has a good track record of results.

The post VGC 2015 North American Spring Regional Preview: Week 1 of 3 appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

It’s a tense month as the final month of Regional Championships in North America and first month of National Championships in Europe start up. May is also the final month of Premier Challenges* making it extra busy for those players trying to get in position for a World Championship invite! Here’s where everyone ended up last weekend.

EU National Championships

Stuttgart, Germany

Masters

1. Markus Stefan
2. Tobias Koschitzki
3. Baris Akcos (Billa)
4. Luca Breitling-Pause (sewadle)
5. David Sperati
6. Sergi Luna
7. Matteo Gini (Matty)
8. Adrian Baumann
9. Nemanja Sandic (Porengan)
10. Alejandro Gomez (Pokealex)
11. Jamie Miller (BlazeKing7)
12. Christopher Schumacher
13. Tirso Buttafuolo
14. Daniel Pastor
15. Pagonakis Yohan
16. Amin Sulzer
17. Szymon Wojdat (Szymoninho)
18. Pietro Chiri
19. Florian Henry
20. Carlos Rodriguez
21. Markus Stadter (13Yoshi37)
22. Naomi Flückiger
23. Luigi Lo Giudice (LProx)
24. Jonas Esser
25. Rebecca Wolf
26. Huib Buijssen
27. Brian Zourdani
28. James Kean
29. Christian Cheynubrata
30. Abel Sanz (Flash)
31. Richard Z.
32. Felix Rössler
33. Mattis Tebäck
34. Brian Bruno
35. Daniel Mardjonvic
36. Christian Schultz
37. Mark Klamt (Flame)
38. Alexander Kuhn (Hibiki)
39. Ufuk Kücükakyüz

US Regional Championships

Seattle, Washington

Masters Division

1. Riley Factura (gengarboi)
2. Mark Hanson (Crawdaunt)
3. Harrison Saylor (Crow)
4. Wesley Warthe-Anderson
5. Nikolai Zielinski (Nikolai)
6. Yuanhao Li
7. Max Douglas (starmetroid)
8. Gabby Snyder (JTK)
9. Luis Canseco
10. Gary Qian
11. Tiffany Stanley (Shiloh)
12. Travis Knickerbocker
13. Carter Power Beggs
14. Michael Groshans (Mikewando)
15. Jake Hwang-Twigg
16. Kimo Nishimura (TFC)

Senior Division

1. Carson S. (Dorian06)

Junior Division

1. Isaac W.
2. Macaria W.
3. Cory C.
4. Nathaniel B.

Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Masters Division

1. Wolfe Glick (Wolfey)
2. Ashton Cox (linkyoshimario)
3. Amelia Zoldy (VioletPumpkin)
4. Danny Hemchand
5. Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut)
6. Michael Lanzano (JiveTime)
7. Pat Ball (pball0100)
8. Eric Bartlett

Senior Division

1. Kylie C.

Junior Division

1. Micah H.
2. Ian T.
3. Jordan S.
4. Hunter S.
5. Beatrix M.
6. Luke S.
7. Gabriel F.
8. Colin K.

The post Results from Week 1 of the VGC ’15 US Regionals and EU Nationals appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Of the many viable strategies in VGC, Sand is at the same time one of the least common and most powerful.  Still, like all strategies, Sand has both weaknesses and strengths.  The goal of this article is to help you learn everything you need to know about Sand, including both how to use it and how do beat it.

Sand Effects

• Lasts for 5 turns (unless inducer holds a Smooth Rock, in which case it lasts for 8 turns)
• Effects of other weather conditions are overridden
• All Pokemon except Rock, Steel, and Ground types lose 1/16th of their total health at the end of each turn (Overcoat, Sand Veil, Sand Rush, Sand Force, Magic Guard and the Safety Goggles all negate this effect)
• Weather dependent healing moves (Morning Sun, Synthesis, and Moonlight) recover only 1/4th of the user’s total HP
• Pokemon with Sand Veil have their Evasion increased by 25%
• Pokemon with Sand Rush have their Speed doubled
• Pokemon with Sand Force deal an extra 30% damage when using a Rock, Ground, or Steel type move
• Weather Ball becomes Rock type and its Base Power is doubled from 50 to 100
• All Rock type Pokemon receive a 50% boost to Special Defense

The Summoners

Hippowdon is the same as ever, a slow tank that is for the most part outclassed by both Tyranitar formes, but it does have the slowest Weather ability in VGC discounting Mega-Abomasnow.  This means it is near guaranteed to set up Sand, but it is often left with nothing to do after it has asserted its weather dominance.

Tyranitar is an interesting Pokemon, with good stats everywhere except Speed.  In its regular forme, Tyranitar can use a Choice Scarf to execute dreaded fast Rock Slides with their infernal flinch chance, or it can opt for a slower, bulkier spread.  Scarf variants make use of Tyranitar’s excellent coverage, often running Rock Slide, Crunch/Dark Pulse, Ice Punch/Ice Beam and Low Kick/Superpower, although there are several other options like Fire Blast and Earth Power for special sets.  Slower Tyranitar are often seen abusing the Weakness Policy or the Assault Vest, while Lum Berry and Chople Berry are occasionally selected.  The moveset remains about the same, with the 4th move usually changing to Protect.

While simply a different forme of Tyranitar, Mega Tyranitar is worthy of its own section for several reasons.  First and foremost, its ability remains Sand Stream after it Mega Evolves, which can be surprisingly useful to reset the weather to Sand without being forced to switch out.  Mega Tyranitar almost always run Rock Slide, Crunch, Dragon Dance and Protect, but occasionally the moves will deviate depending on the team.  While regular Tyranitar focuses on supporting its teammates, Mega Tyranitar is just the opposite.  Often it will be paired with redirection (such as Amoonguss, Clefairy, Clefable, or Togekiss) in order to allow it to set up Dragon Dances and then sweep with Rock Slide.

Sand Attackers

Sand Rush

Excadrill on Sand teams almost always run Sand Rush, but occasionally Scarf Excadrill with Sand Force makes an appearance on Sand teams.  Or, if you happen to be Randy Kwa, you can ignore your own Sand and just run Mold Breaker, which is still incredibly useful for its ability to deal massive damage to the Rotom formes.  Excadrill, powerful as it is, suffers from a bit of a shallow movepool.  Almost all sets will consist of Earthquake, Rock Slide, Iron Head and Protect, although Substitute sets can occasionally turn up.  Offensive Excadrill usually run Life Orb, while the more defensive sets that abuse Sand’s residual damage are more drawn to Leftovers or Sitrus Berry.

This guy is nostalgic for me, seeing as I ran a Safeguard Sandslash quite a while back.  Yeah, I didn’t win many games with it.  Sandslash is a cool Pokemon, don’t get me wrong, and on Sand team it can abuse Sand Rush to get off fast damage, but overall it is inferior to Excadrill.  The only things that make it stand out are its access to the aforementioned Safeguard, Knock Off, and Super Fang.  I suppose Sand Rush Super Fang is something to watch out for, assuming you ever see a Sandslash, but I doubt you will.

Ah, Stoutland.  I must thank Haylay Aldworth for giving me an excuse to include this guy.  For those who don’t know, Haylay managed to place 11th at the California Winter Regionals with a Stoutland Sand team.  Stoutland, unlike Excadrill, actually has a decent movepool.  Stoutland sets usually consist of some combination of Return, Iron Head, Play Rough, Superpower, Helping Hand and Protect.  Finally, as a note, Stoutland gets After You, which it can use to deadly effect thanks to Sand Rush.  Well, as deadly of an effect as After You can create anyways.

Sand Force

Excadrill does have Sand Force, but that’s already been covered.

Lagging far behind its Therian Forme, Sand Force Landorus is desperately clinging to what little use it has.  It can actually be pretty deadly though, sporting a fast base 101 Speed and a good base 125 Attack, which is effectively driven even higher with Sand Force.  Landorus all the same moves you’d expect to see on its Therian Forme, but it will often carry Protect over U-Turn unless you’re facing that guy who figured that making his Choice Scarf Landorus the Incarnate Forme would make it cooler.  Assume Life Orb unless proven otherwise.

Now THIS is where the fun really starts.  What’s worse than a base 170 Attack stat?  A base 170 Attack with a free Life Orb boost to that Pokemon’s strongest STAB.  Can it get worse?  Yeah, that STAB attack is spread.  Mega Garchomp boasts by far the strongest Earthquake in VGC, and its other attacks (Dragon Claw, Rock Slide, Iron Head, or Fire Blast and Draco Meteor for mixed sets) deal massive damage too.  Mega Garchomp’s main issue is its base 92 Speed, but that can easily be fixed by Tailwind support.  Its second main issue is the existence of Landorus-T and its Intimidate, which isn’t as easily solved.  Mega Garchomp is a Pokemon that wields extreme power, but requires quite a bit of support to function.

This just keeps getting better and better.  Mega Steelix is like Garchomp, except both of its STABs receive the Sand Force boost.  What’s the catch?  Mega-Steelix is as slow as the ton of iron it is, has a noticeably inferior attack stat when compared to the Super Saiyan Land Shark, and is weak to the common Fire, Water, Fighting, and Ground moves that permeate the VGC 2015 metagame.  In order to have any chance of doing anything, Mega Steelix requires Trick Room support.  I suggest Reuniclus, seeing as Magic Guard blocks Sand damage, but of course Cresselia is always an option with its obscene bulk and Levitate to dodge friendly fire Earthquakes.  Mega Steelix usually runs Earthquake, Heavy Slam/Iron Head/Gyro Ball, Rock Slide and Protect.

Sand Veil

Not much explanation is needed here. Sand Veil is pretty much only going to be seen occasionally on Garchomp, although if you’re running Heliolisk and want to be even more unusual Sand Veil is an option.  Cacturne gets Sand Veil, but Cacturne on Sand teams usually prefer Water Absorb anyways.

Sand Supporters

Storm Drain

Cradily is an interesting case on Sand teams.  It is a repeat Rock type (unless you’re using Hippowdon), but on the other hand it benefits from the 50% Special Defense increase.  Its main job is, of course, to redirect Water type attacks, but it can also be useful as a hard Rain counter.  Cradily usually run special sets to maximize Storm Drain’s potential, the moves usually being Giga Drain, Ancient Power, Recover and Protect, with some people opting for Energy Ball’s extra power.

Gastrodon does many of the same things as Cradily, but there are two big differences.  First and foremost, Gastrodon can function as a Landorus-T counter, which is the most threatening Pokemon to Sand teams.  On the other hand, it’s a less solid answer to Rain than Cradily is simply because Ludicolo’s Giga Drain hits it for 4x super effective damage.  Gastrodon can be run offensively or defensively, and information on all of that can be found here.  Cassie’s article is several years old, but all of the information it presents remains relevant today.  Finally, the one thing Cassie overlooks is Gastrodon’s Sand Force ability.  It does fit in on Sand teams, but honestly a boosted Earth Power is far less useful than Water redirection and immunity.  Storm Drain is definitely the superior ability among the two.

Other Good Sand Pokemon

Scizor mainly fits onto Sand teams due to its Steel typing and subsequent immunity to residual Sand damage, but it also appreciates the extra damage Sand causes to opponents and the breaking of Focus Sashes that Sand provides.  Scizor can easily come in towards the end of a game and clean up Sand-weakened Pokemon with its powerful Technician Bullet Punch.  Scizor is also fortunate enough to be one of the few Steel types to take neutral damage from Earthquake, so you aren’t compounding your Landorus-T weakness too much if you add it, although it is still plenty susceptible to Intimidate.

Honestly, I’m not sure where Ferrothorn went.  It was common in 2014, but then VGC 2015 arrived and the strange steel plant just straight up vanished.  Probably a result of all the new Fire types in this metagame, honestly.  Fortunately for Ferrothorn, if Sand can do one thing it’s beat Fire types.  Tyranitar, Garchomp, Excadrill, Hippowdon, and almost all classic Sand Pokemon have a way to deal with Fire types.  Ferrothorn is in a similar boat to Scizor with Earthquake hitting it neutrally, and it is still vulnerable to Intimidate, but not quite as much due to its defensive nature.  Ferrothorn’s Grass typing also allows it to deal with the Rain teams that can be such a pain for Sand’s main sweepers.

Aegislash is an interesting Pokemon in the Sand.  While it is weak to Ground type attacks unlike Scizor and Ferrothorn, Aegislash has something those two could only dream of – Wide Guard.  Wide Guard is a massive threat to Sand teams, but it can also be an invaluable asset.  With almost all Sand Pokemon being weak to Earthquake, having a reliable way to stop enemy Landorus-T from spamming it can be priceless.  Aegislash also adds some special attacking power into the primarily physical Sand teams.  Finally, Aegislash walls Breloom, which otherwise gives Sand teams issues.  Of course, Breloom will just Spore Aegislash, so it isn’t all good for the ghostly sword.

Another Pokemon that makes it onto the threats list with Aegislash, Expert Belt Swampert is fully content to be a double agent and help Sand out if it’s recruited.  With immunity to Sandstorm and the ever valuable Wide Guard, Swampert functions similarly to Aegislash with a few key differences.  First and foremost, Swampert has better coverage, and besides simply offering Wide Guard against Landorus-T it also has Ice Beam and Scald to strike back.  Unfortunately, Swampert’s excellent defensive typing is a little wasted on Sand teams, as many Sand teams find themselves weak to Grass as it is.  And, while Aegislash has to worry about Breloom’s Spore, Swampert has bigger issues with Bullet Seed.  Unfortunately, -2 Attack Breloom Bullet Seed is a 100% OHKO onto 252 HP 20 Defense Swampert.

Threats

Landorus-T is almost certainly the best Sand counter, as it is immune to Earthquake, takes neutral damage from Rock Slide, and is the premier Intimidate shuffler in the format.  The fact that its own Earthquake deals massive damage to most all Sand Pokemon is just icing on the cake.  Anyone serious about running Sand needs an answer to this monster, and anyone looking to counter Sand needs look no farther.  Of course, other counters do still have merit as Sand teams are less likely to be prepared for them.

Two words – Mach Punch.  While Breloom dislikes the fact that Sand removes its Focus Sash, it’s happy enough to OHKO Excadrill with Mach Punch, cripple Tyranitar, and Spore anything else that feels like getting in its way.  It also has Bullet Seed for the Gastrodon Sand teams might run to beat Landorus-T.  Breloom is just a good Pokemon, and the ability to counter Sand is just something it naturally has.

Conkeldurr is similar to Breloom, but different.  While it makes use of the same Fighting STAB to wreck its way through Sand teams, Conkeldurr also carries Ice Punch for Landorus-T and Garchomp.  Beyond that, Conkeldurr has bulk that Breloom can only dream of but loses out on quite a bit of Speed in exchange.  Still, as long as Conkeldurr survives long enough to get its Drain Punches off, against Sand teams it could really care less.

Now this one is out of the blue.  Well, not entirely.  Altaria is the only Pokemon that can claim to have a viable Cloud Nine, although I suppose Golduck and Lickilicky are lurking in the shadows.  Cloud Nine negates the effects of weather that Sand (well, all weather) teams value so much.  At the same time, Altaria is unspeakably underwhelming before Mega Evolution, and weak to Rock Slide too.  Once it Mega Evolves, it loses the Rock Slide weakness but picks up a Steel weakness, so Excadrill or another Steel type can pick it off just fine.  Sand teams may not fear Altaria, but it is certainly something of which to be aware.

Or any other bulky Water type

Azumarill is scary, heck, all bulky waters are. They’re even scarier when a large portion of your team is weak to them, which tends to describe Sand teams.  Gastrodon can help against Azumarill and other Water types, but if the sea rabbit manages to set up a Belly Drum that’s probably game over.  Sand teams should carry a way to deal with bulky waters (Safety Goggles Zapdos, anyone?) or else Azumarill and its buddies will have a field day.

Some More Things to Watch

Sand teams often focus around spread moves, namely Rock Slide and Earthquake, so Wide Guard can be extremely dangerous.  Aegislash in particular can give Sand teams issues if left unchecked, and the less common Expert Belt Wide Guard Swampert is even worse.

Trick Room can threaten Sand, as it robs Sand sweepers of the speed on which almost all of them depend. I TOLD you Mega-Steelix was the call, IT’S not weak to Trick Room!  But in all seriousness, because of the offensive nature of most VGC Sand teams, losing the speed advantage for four turns can often mean defeat right there.  Taunt is a pretty good solution, but Mental Herb Trick Room setters are depressingly common.  In order to truly counter Trick Room you may need to get more creative (like Ashton Cox’s Roar Terrakion).

Finally, other weather inducers, especially Politoed, threaten Sand because of their ability to remove it from the field.  Of course, Charizard can only be so threatening to a Sand team, and Abomasnow fears Rock Slides and Iron Heads, so the main competing weather that you have to watch out for is Rain.  Rain is the most common dedicated weather strategy too, which is unfortunate.

Conclusion

Sand teams are capable of exerting nearly peerless offensive pressure, but at the same time they often suffer from bad matchups against the omnipresent Landorus-T and the Rain that never seems to go away.  Still, if you are able to play around the Pokemon that threaten Sand, you will have the full force of the desert on your side.  I wish you all good luck, and I hope that some of you give Sand a shot.

The post Storms on the Horizon: A Guide to Sand in VGC ’15 appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

Looking to follow the footsteps of esports documentaries like Free to Play and The Road to Worlds, To Be the Very Best will cover the path of some of the best players in the Pokémon Championship Series as they aim for the title of World Champion. Coordinated by 2x US National Champion Wolfe Glick (Wolfey), the feature length documentary will focus on stories from players like Aaron Zheng (Cybertron) and Ray Rizzo (Ray) but also interviews from all members of the community done during events. To Be the Very Best‘s goal is to showcase the strength of the Pokémon community and the side of players  you might not get to see during a tournament match or on stream.

To ensure a quality production, To Be the Very Best will be directed by Emmy award-winning Dan Karlok (Law and Order) with advising from Matt Weaver (Jiro: Dreams of Sushi, We’re the Millers, Rock of Ages). By using Kickstarter, the team hopes to harness the power of the community to create something that can give a boost to the competitive side of Pokémon the same way The Smash Brothers did for the competitive side of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

The post Kickstarter Begins for Documentary on the Pokémon Video Game Championships appeared first on Nugget Bridge.

As we enter the second week of the VGC 2015 Spring Regionals, let’s look at some of the top competitors coming to Utah and Kansas City Regionals this weekend.

Utah Regionals

Difficulty Rating:
/ 5

(Three simple but effective Pokemon out of Five)

Location: Utah State Fair Park – Grand Hall 155 N 1000 W, Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Registration Time: Sunday 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Last Year’s Winner: Joey McGinley (joej m)

If you’ve read the Week 1 Regional preview, you’re going to see quite a few familiar names who attended the Seattle Regionals who are also attending the Utah Regionals. Since both events are located in the West Coast area of the United States, it makes sense for repeat appearances by some of the top players looking to maximize Championship Points. We’re going to begin this preview with some of the top finishers of last week’s Seattle Regionals, starting with Riley Factura (gengarboi). In addition to winning Seattle last week, which put him into the Top 8 in CP, he also made Day 2 of US Nationals last year in Indianapolis. Second place at Seattle was Mark Hanson (Crawdaunt). His second place finish actually bumped him into the Top 40 in CP for North America after an otherwise quiet season. Continuing to go down the list, Harrison Saylor (Crow) came out of the shadows last week to come in third at Seattle. It’s possible we might see him again at Utah this weekend with another strong showing. Wesley Warthe-Anderson earned fourth at Seattle last week, and attends University of Victoria in Canada with Mark and Max Douglas (starmetroid), who finished at seventh in Seattle. It wouldn’t be out of reach for him to tag along with his buddies down to Utah and prove himself with another performance. At fifth came last year’s World Championships Senior champion, and last year’s Utah Senior’s champion as well, Nikolai Zielinski (Nikolai). Remembered for his heartfelt World Championship interview, Nikolai has continued his success into the Master’s division this year by controlling a Top 8 CP spot in North America. Kimo Nishimura (TFC) rounds out players who made the Top 16 going to Utah as well.

A couple of players who didn’t do as well as they hoped at Seattle are also attending Utah regionals this weekend. Nugget Bridge admins Rushan Shekar (Firestorm) and Huy Ha (Huy) are both going to Utah. Rushan is in the Worlds qualification hunt and Huy looks to leave the middle of the pack and get a bit higher before Nationals. I can also guess that Duy Ha (Duy) will be on the mic this weekend on the stream, but that only means the field will be missing one more top competitor. Jason Wynja (Arti) is another core Nugget Bridge veteran who is doing the back-to-back. Demitrios Kaguras (Kingdjk) has had a great season so far and actually bubbled out of Top Cut at Seattle last week at 17th. He’s going to have to improve that performance this week in order to gather any CP from this event. Sam Johnson (RastaCharmander) earned 24th in Seattle last week and has room for improvement at Utah. Tyson Gernack (Firefly) has the same Regionals finishes as Sam and can similarly improve from a good Utah placing. Alberto Lara (Sweeper) has been a West Coast Top Cut staple over the last two years, but was unable to place last weekend. It will be interesting to see if a good finish can propel him into the Top 40 for CP. Finishing off Seattle attendees is Conan Thompson (conan), who previously won in Oregon in the winter. He has two Top 64 finishes in addition to his victory, so he goes into Utah looking to replace one of those.

There are still quite a few players left that chose not to attend the Seattle Regionals last weekend. Tied in finishes with Conan is Chase Lybbert (I Am A Rookie). Previously solidified in the Top 8 in North American CP with his brother, Colten Lybbert (Rookie Slayer MLG), other players have caught up and both brothers now sit around the 8-16th place range. In 16th place is Michael Fladung (Primitive). Michael has been a pretty consistent player the last two seasons and has two Top 32 finishes in addition to a Top 4. Alejandro Jimenez (Legacy) is just outside of the Top 16 right now, but has not hit his best finish limit yet for Regionals. His brother, Anthony Jimenez (DarkAssassin) is a bit further out, just outside the Top 40, but also is not at his best finish limit yet. Both of them have high finishes this season and look to repeat their success. Tracy McLaughlin (Mack) and Williams Halls the Third (Biosci) are two Arizona residents looking to invade the neighboring Utah for some Regionals CP. William is right outside Top 16 CP so this event is especially important if he wants to secure a spot in there before Nationals. Tracy is right outside Top 40, and both players’ worst finish is Top 64, so they both need to get Top 32 or better to improve their totals for the season. Mitchell Davies (MissingNoL) has earned all of his CP from Premier Challenges and looks to make a splash with a strong Regionals performance.

Smart Money is on: Nikolai Zielinski (Nikolai). Call it a hunch, I think Nikolai can take Utah for a second year in a row across divisions. He was second in Seattle after Swiss and I think Seattle had a stronger field of players than Utah will, based on experience.

Kansas City Regionals

Difficulty Rating:
/ 5

(Four Royal Pokemon out of Five)

Location: Overland Park Convention Center 6000 College Blvd Overland Park, KS, 66211

Registration Time: Sunday 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM

Last Year’s Winner: Ben Irons (benjitheGREAT)

The Kansas City Regional came as quite a surprise last year, being announced late compared to the other Regionals. As such, it didn’t have the strongest attendance or players attending. That should change this season, as all players were properly alerted of the event’s existence and planned accordingly. I wouldn’t expect enough attendance for a Top 16 Cut… but it should definitely be more competitive than last year.

Team Michigan

Although former force of Michigan has since gone west to rainier endeavors, Team Michigan looks to show up strong in Kansas City. Team Michigan features who I believe is the person with the most Championship Points attending this event, Andrew Burley (Andykins), who has already amassed three solid regional finishes (Top 4/8/16) during the season. Jonathan McMillan (MrEobo) is another strong trainer from Michigan who is currently at 32nd place for North American CP. He’s maxed out on Premiere Challenge CP, but can improve his Regionals CP with a Top 32 or better. Keegan Beljanski (Darkeness) made a much larger splash last season but has a respectable 204 CP and is just outside Top 64. With a strong finish here and next week at Madison, Keegan could quickly be in the running for Top 16 or better. Kevin Beach (RandomVGC) is just below Keegan in the standings and is in a similar situation where he can really move up in the next two weeks before entering Nationals. Rounding out Michigan is Sam Schweitzer (Sam). Less accomplished than the other four players listed, Sam is a younger player who can use this event to prove he can play.

Team Illinois

Kamaal Harris (Kamaal) leads the pack of Chicago players with a few Worlds appearances and he looks poised to get to another one this season. He’s at 30th overall for CP and can really solidify his place entering Nationals. Evan Deligiannis (nave) borders Top 64 and could definitely push into stipend range with a strong Regionals performance. Rounding out the Chicago area mentions is Matt Swanson (Swanner). Matt has had some decent performances this season and could be a name to look out for.

Team Texas

Arguably the strongest “state” attending the Regional, Texas features some of the strongest competitors in the Video Game Championships. Ben Irons (Benji) is a former Worlds competitor from 2013 who most definitely yearns to get back there and make a statement. He’s just outside Top 64 right now and wants to prime himself for a strong Nationals run in order to get back to the World Championships. Oliver Valenti (Smith) is one of Ben’s close friends and is a strong player when he wants to be. He hasn’t gotten himself to many tournaments this year, so his CP total is low, but the finishes he has are respectable and he’s a player you can’t count out. Cedric Bernier (Talon) echoes Oliver’s tournament appearances, but has better results, winning a Regional in the fall. Along with some strong Premiere Challenge results, his Regional win has him comfortably at 25th in North American CP. Last but not least (literally) is Texas’ leader in 2015 CP, Jake Muller (MajorBowman). He’s made the rounds this season, picking up CP from all over the United States and leads Cedric by just 3 CP. Unlike Cedric, Jake needs a Top 16 or better finish at Kansas City in order to gain CP.

Team Arkansas

It’s just Justin Burns (Spurrific) and Jonathan Rankin (JRank). But Justin has kinda dominated my buddy Clayton all season and has Top 8/16 Regional finishes to boot. And Jonathan is another good regional placement away from a seriously good position going into US Nationals. Arkansas might not be too deep but these two sure can play.

Team Kansas Vacation

As with most Regionals, we’re gonna have some travelers coming. Caleb Ryor (BlitznBurst), Patrick Donegan (Pd0nz), Paul Chua (pwnyperson), and Mike Suleski (OmegaDonut) are coming from the Northeast. Mike was able to top cut last week’s Massachusetts Regional so he might be on a bit of a hot streak. Ben Hickey (Darkpenguin67) comes from Maryland and is right around the 32nd place cutoff for Nationals stipends. Adit Selvaraj (LithiumAcid) has gotten to play in Florida for this season and was able to get Top 8 there in the winter. It will definitely be interesting to see if he can prove himself with another good finish.

The Smart Money is on: I’m going with Ben Irons (Benji) for the Kansas City Regionals. This does mean I am calling for the repeat from Benji, which should be significantly harder to achieve this year with the increased attendance and overall strength, but I believe he is motivated enough to get it done.

The post VGC 2015 North American Spring Regional Preview: Week 2 of 3 appeared first on Nugget Bridge.