I didn’t praise the sun much this time

Hello Hat Lovers!

I recently made top 4 at Washington VGC Regionals. I’ll give an overview of the team I used and the matches I had. After going 4-3 at Oregon Regionals with our Swaguard team I started working on a new team. After trying out a variety of teams I began to favour sun teams. Whenever I used Venusaur I would give it a Mega Stone in case I didn’t want to bring Charizard. Eventually I found that Venusaur was becoming my preferred Mega. I was close to dropping Charizard from the team entirely, but in the end I decided to keep it in order to scare away Grass and Steel types and give the opponent the impression that I was a run-of-the-mill sun team.
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Solar Power
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
– Heat Wave
– SolarBeam
– Overheat
– Protect

When I was deciding on the set for Charizard I figured I wouldn’t use it much, so I scrapped my bulky set so that I could force the speed tie against Mega Kangaskhan and OHKO with Overheat. I brought Charizard to 3 games all day and only Mega-Evolved it once. Had I gone with my set that runs Ancient Power I would’ve been more inclined to bring it, as it would be able to hit Fire types like Rotom-H. In the end Charizard did its job just by being in team preview, the element of surprise goes a long way in swiss and being able to change strategies in top cut won me a game.

Less speed, more fat.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 92 Spd
Modest Nature
– Giga Drain
– Sludge Bomb
– Sleep Powder
– Protect

Venusaur was the star player of this team. I brought it to every game I played. The EVs allow it to out-speed Mega Manectric in the sun, as well as Rotom-A without significant investment. From here I maximized its SAtk and dumped the rest into HP. Considering how little time it spent in the sun I could’ve put all that speed into bulk and be better off for it, but I like having that option.

Unlike in Oregon, this Rotom put in work

Rotom-Heat @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 156 SAtk / 12 SDef / 20 Spd
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

Rotom-H has recently become one of my favourite Pokemon, providing the team with a myriad of resistances such as Fairy, Ice, Fire, Ground, and Flying. This spread allows it to survive +1 Dragon Claw from Mega Charizard X, which was very popular at Washington. I had been testing Thunder Wave on Rotom as a way to cripple Salamence and Mega Charizard X, but I found that a lot of Pokemon could wall me out without Will-O-Wisp.

Excelleshirt can’t be replaced

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dragon Pulse
– Fire Blast
– Rock Slide

After Oregon I stopped using Salamence because I started using Scarf-Gardevoir on my teams. I couple weeks ago I revisited Salamence and remembered just how good it was. Intimidate makes physical attackers easier to deal with, and Dragon/Flying has an easy time switching in on attacks meant for the rest of my team. During the whole event Dragon Pulse was usually my goto move. I never used Fire Blast once, yet I’m glad I had it. I would’ve considered using Timid Salamence but Mark got me a perfect Modest Salamence and I didn’t want to breed for another one.

You never have to justify  putting Garchomp on a team

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

Before the event I wasn’t sure if I wanted Garchomp on the team. It works well with the team but leaves me weak to Ice and Fairy. The day before I decided that I was more used to Garchomp then my alternatives. I’m very pleased with how well Garchomp did, I only lost a single game that I brought Garchomp to.

Aegislash @ Leftovers

The best option against Gardevoir

Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SAtk / 76 SDef
Quiet Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Sacred Sword
– Substitute
– King’s Shield

Aegislash has been very hit or miss for me. Since its reliant on good prediction I was wary of using it early this season. As the season progressed I began to like it for the resistances it brings to the table and the fact that Kangaskhan can’t touch it. Aegislash was used in most battle that I lost, but I’m glad to have it on the team. If it gets a Substitute up then it becomes a big threat. I ran Sacred Sword because it out damages Flash Cannon against Kangaskhan and Tyranitar. The 76 SDef allows Aegislash to withstand Charizard-Y’s Heat Wave in the sun, Mega Gengar’s Shadow Ball and Tyranitar’s Dark Pulse 100% of the time.

Overall the team was effective, even if it was basically a 5 Pokemon team with a distraction. This was the first tournament where I took notes, so I’ll go over my battles as best as I can.

Round 1: Duy Ha

I probably should’ve run one of these myself

I was pretty scared that I’d have to face Duy first round, and to top it off the game was streamed for everyone to see (There goes the Mega Venusaur surprise.)
Duy’s Team: Charizard / Aegislash / Aerodactyl / Amoonguss / Mienshao / Azumarill
This team looks like a sun team at first glance, but I had a feeling things weren’t as they seemed. This game was streamed and you can find the video here:

 I’ll give my thoughts on the first couple turns that I can remember:

The leads were Charizard & Aerodactyl VS Garchomp & Rotom-H. I’ve used his lead before, so Wide Guard and Tailwind seems likely, but I expect his Charizard to be Mega Charizard X. I’m correct on this prediction but he Sky Drops my Garchomp and dodges the Thunderbolt on Aero while using Dragon Dance with Charizard. Next turn he drops Garchomp and Protects Charizard while Aero goes down to a Tbolt and Rough Skin. Mienshao comes in. Garchomp goes down to a Dragon Claw and Rotom-H Protects a Fake Out. I bring in Salamence and Intimidate him. Charizard retreats for Azumarill and I get some damage on Mienshao. From here I’m able to manoeuvre around him with Venusaur and when Charizard comes back in it never gets a turn to use Dragon Dance, so Salamence takes it out when Venusaur goes down.

Win 1-0

Round 2: Teren Baverman
After facing Duy round 1 I was feeling confident.
Teren’s Team: Salamence / Ferrothorn / Aegislash / Rotom-W / Azumarill / Charizard
Nothing seemed special about his team. My Charizard is able to scare away his steel types so I never have to deal with those. His Charizard also ends up being a Mega Charizard X, so at this point I begin to assume that ever Charizard I see will be. This game was pretty easy for me, Venusaur and Rotom dealt with Azumarill and Rotom-W, allowing my Dragons to combat his.

Win 2-0

Round 3: Kacey Traver
Kacey’s Team: Aegislash / Politoed / Kingdra / Manectric / Mienshao / Ferrothorn
I looked at this team and figured that Mega Venusaur would take it apart on its own. I brought Charizard to this game for some reason, even though I lead Venusaur and Mega’d right off the bat. I ended up foddering it for no real gain, but Venusaur easily takes the game on its own.

Win 3-0

Round 4: Hajime Uyesugi
Hajime’s Team: Scrafty / Amoongus / Rotom-H / Azumarill / Charizard / Garchomp
Don’t think you can fool me, that’s a Charizard-X. Oh wait its Charizard-Y. Okay I’ll wreak it with Garchomp and Rotom-H. I managed to win this game without sending in Venusaur, so he was my only opponent not to know what I was doing at the end of the match

Win 4-0

Round 5: Braden Smith
At this point I figure that I’ll make cut if I win this game one more of the next 3 rounds. I heard R Inanimate bemoaning all the Machamp he saw, but since he beat them I thought I was safe. I wasn’t
Braden’s Team: Machamp / Manectric / Aegislash / Gardevoir / Rotom-H / Garchomp
On the first turn I miss a Draco Meteor on Rotom, and this sets the tone of the battle for the rest of the game. He ran a Specs Gardevoir, which takes out Salamence right away but the rest of my team resisted Fairy so I was able to force I switch. The game came down to Rotom-H and Machamp VS Aegislash. If the Rotom can taken the Draco Meteor I could’ve finished it off sooner. The Machamp’s best move against Aegislash was Stone Edge, so I’m confident I would’ve won if it was one on one. But that’s the nature of the game, and it wasn’t even guaranteed that I would win if I hadn’t missed so many attacks. I got my luck back in spades later in the tournament.

Lose 4-1

Round 6: Daryl
Daryl’s Team: Kangaskhan / Meowstic / Talonflame / Charizard / Rotom-W / Garchomp
I see a Kangaskhan and a cat and I think “crap, this isn’t going to end well.” My opponent leads Rotom-W and Cat to my Aegislash and Garchomp. On the first turn Meowstic uses Reflect while Garchomp Protects and Aegislash gets a Sub. Next turn Cat sets up a Light Screen. It is at this point that my fears are alleviated. He starts spamming Thunder Wave after this but His team doesn’t present a threat to me at this point. In the end he brings out Charizard and reveals it to be the Y version and I’m able to clean up with Garchomp and Venusaur.

Win 5-1

For some reason I wrote  that he had two Scrafty

Round 7: Emilio Orozco
Emilio’s Team: Mawile / Chandelure / Slowking / Scrafty / Rotom-W / Scrafty
This looks like easy Trick Room to me, but I misplay on the first couple turns even though I predicted his moves. In the end its Mawile and Rotom-W VS Venusaur and Rotom-W. Rotom-H Protects and Venusaur misses the Sleep Power and goes down. Had Sleep Powder hit I’d be able to Overheat the Mawile and Giga Drain the Rotom-W for game, but if Sleep Powder could hit ever time I needed it to it would be too good.

Lose 5-2

Round 8: Cory Mitchell
At this point I need to win in order to have a chance at top 16 cut.
Cory’s Team: Charizard / Conkeldurr / Rotom-W / Klefki / Amoonguss / Kangaskhan
This team looks easy to me, but I’m worried about Kangaskhan. He leads Amoonguss and Charizard against my Garchomp and Aegislash, so I expect Charizard-X. I’m right again, and I Rock Slide and Sub against a Rage Powder and Dragon Dance. He takes out Garchomp and Aegislash gets hit off on Charizard. Next turn my Rotom takes the Dragon Claw and Overheats the Amoongus for KO and Aegislash finishes the Charizard. Conkeldurr and Klefki comes out and I’m able to clean up with Venusaur.

Win 6-2

At the end of swiss I have a chance of cut. My losses were late in the tournament and my early wins were good players so I had a good chance. I make it in at 16th seed.

I tallied up all the wins and loses that my Pokemon got me after Swiss

Swiss Statistics:
Charizard: W
Venusaur: WWWWWWLL
Rotom-H: WWWWLL
Salamence: WWWWWL
Garchomp: WWWWWL
Aegislash: WWWLL

Charizard was a part of a battle I won, even if it was only to distract the opponent for a turn. I saw more Charizard-X today then Charizard-Y, and that includes my own usage of it! Venusaur was a part of every battle. Rotom pulled its weight. Salamence and Garchomp were both amazing. Aegislash was a bit weak, but I don’t blame my loses on its performance but the performance of the team and myself as a whole.

Top 16: Mike Suleski (Omega Donut)
Mike’s Team: Venusaur / Azumarill / Aegislash / Rotom-H / Salamence / Garchomp
I’ve seen this exact team online before, but I don’t know if Mike had posted it before or if he copied it for himself. At any rate its a good team and its almost the same as mine, only he has Azumarill and doesn’t bluff sun.

I bring Charizard game 1 for some reason, but I didn’t like how it fared against his leads so I end up foddering it. I lose a very close game with just a -1 Azumarill with a sliver of health left.

Game 2 I go for my regular strategy and manage to get into a favourable position. Salamence surprises me by getting the OHKO on both Garchomp and Salamence without needing a crit for either. My opponent forfeits before seeing my fourth Pokemon.

Game 3 was full of hax for me. I got a crit that mattered, two Rock Slide flinches, and he missed a critical Sleep Powder. I was also pretty good at getting the turn 2 wake when I really needed it, and the time where I got 4 turns it was on Aegislash which wasn’t as important. Throughout the three games he hadn’t missed a Sleep Powder yet, never flinched from a Rock Slide (and I launched a ton of Rock Slides in game 1) so I don’t feel as bad about it as I normally would, but to get as many things in one game must’ve been hard on him. It wasn’t the way I’d like to win game 3 in top cut but that’s the game we play and I’m just glad it didn’t happen to me.

Win (LWW)

Top 8: John Rust
John’s Team: Vaporeon / Garchomp / Azumarill / Aegislash / Charizard / Manectric
I take one look at this team and realize I’m going to top 4. If my Dragons and Rotom and take out the Charizard Venusaur will be able to clean up the rest of his team.

Game 1 he uses Manectric as his Mega, which is fine with me because I have Venusaur and Rotom-H which can’t be touched. I don’t lose a single Pokemon this game.

Game 2 I expect him to change things up and bring Charizard. I play carelessly in this game and end up bringing it down to the wire. I still think its a sure thing but his Charizard goes Mega and Air Slashes my Venusaur. If he got the flinch on that turn he would’ve been able to win the game right there but fortunately Venusaur gets its attack off and we end up with Rotom-H and Venusaur against Charizard, all with very low HP. He goes for the Heat Wave in hopes that he can finish off both of my Pokemon but Rotom survives and finishes the game.

Win (WW)

Tony made me give a Raichu

Top 4: Tony Cheung (ChineseDood)
Tony’s Team: Gengar / Scizor / Gyarados / Staraptor / Rotom-H / Raichu
Tony has been known to bring a lot of creativity to the game and his team reflects this. There are three potential Megas and while I could guess what his Pokemon would do on their own I have no idea what this team’s overall strategy is. Surprise must’ve taken Tony a long way in Swiss but in best-of-three top cut I knew he’d also have the skill to win without it.

Game 1 is complete and utter domination for him. His Gengar goes Mega and uses Perish Song, while Raichu hinders my movements with Lightning Rod, Fake Out, and the threat of Encore. I forfeit at 2-4 so avoid giving away information.

Game 2 I do something I hadn’t done all day: I use Mega Charizard. I get an early KO on Raichu, and he knocks out Rotom-H using Final Gambit Staraptor. I’m able to take the game with Charizard and Venusaur against his Rotom-H and Gyarados. Gyarados didn’t have a good way to damage my Pokemon in the sun, but Rotom was a pain without Ancient Power. I managed to take them out in a close finish.

Game 3 I decide to go YOLO with Charizard & Venusaur and end up against Rotom and Raichu. This completely backfires on me and while I’m able to take out a couple of his Pokemon we end up with Charizard and Aegislash versus Rotom and Gyarados. I don’t have a good way to beat Substitute Rotom-H on my team and its able to win the game for Tony. It was only in this game that I find out Raichu didn’t use HP Ice and my Dragons would’ve been safe to go for a rampage against his team.

Lose (LWL)

Top Cut Statistics:
Charizard: WLL
Venusaur: WWWWWLLL
Rotom-H: WWWWLLL
Salamence: WWWWLL
Garchomp: WWWW
Aegislash: WWLL

Garchomp didn’t lose a single game in cut, and it would’ve put in work in top 4. Charizard won the game that I praised the sun it Mega Evolved in, and lost in the two that it didn’t. Everyone else did about as well as they did in Swiss.

I end the day in 4th place, I get a box and a trophy so I’m happy with how things turned out. It never feels good to lose but I’m glad it was to a friend and I’m glad BC dominated the tournament. It feels great to have done so well after bombing Oregon at 4-3. Plus maybe now Nugget Bridge will post a battle video that I won in.

I did my best and have no regrets, except that I forgot my water bottle at the event. I wish I still had that on the ride home.

Too cool to actually look at the camera

Hello Hat Lovers!

Max and Mark here:

We attended Oregon Regionals this past weekend to play both TCG and VGC. We decided against playing TCG so that we could enjoy our Saturday. We also didn’t want to pay the $30 entry fee when we were going to play VGC regardless of whether or not we made cut in TCG.

We tested a couple different teams for VGC, our team was a toss up of about 10 Pokemon. I (Max) had been running Kangaskhan and Meowstic for a Swagguard combo, as well as Garchomp, Rotom-W, Talonflame and either Amoonguss or Ferrothorn. Mark was running Manectric/Gyarados and testing Timid Liepard alongside Kangaskhan, with the same 4-5 in back. The Talonflame was swapped out for a Choice Specs Salamence because Talonflame isn’t that great and we wanted an Intimidate user on the team. After Ray Rizzo revealed his winning team for Virginia we saw that it was very similar to our team at the core. We added Mawile over Kangaskhan and used Ray’s Ferrothorn EV spread over our own.

I wanted to test the team on the weekend to iron out the kinks, but didn’t find the time because friends. We did play in a side event on the Saturday with the team and I went 5-0 while Crawdaunt went 4-1. I would have liked to change some things about our team, but didn’t have time to fully test some newer ideas and instead went with what I knew.

Two heads are better than two attacks

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 4 Def / 180 SDef / 20 Spd
Carreful Nature
– Iron Head
– Play Rough
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

The same as Ray’s Mawile. The move-set is incredibly standard, but the EV spread wasn’t. The idea behind this spread is that Mawile already hits hard enough with Huge Power and investing into Attack is redundant. Instead the EVs are put into Special Defence, which makes Mawile incredibly tough to OHKO.

Mark: I wanted to play around with the EV’s on Mawile, but when we sat down and ran calcs, the EV spread Ray ran was really really good… A funny realization was that with Swagguard and 52 Atk, a +2 Sucker Punch would just OHKO standard M-Charizard Y.

We chose to replace the Kangaskhan that was originally in this slot because players are making themselves prepared for it by using effects that trigger on contact like Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin. Mawile doesn’t attack twice but its base attack is much higher due to Huge Power. Adding Intimidate to the team was also much appreciated as extra support.

Mawile’s attack stat can be boosted to turn its 2HKOs into OHKOs against most of the game with help from the next member of the team; Meowstic.

Swear by Safeguard

Meowstic @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SDef
Calm Nature
– Quick Guard
– Safeguard
– Swagger
– Charm

Meowstic might just be our Togekiss of 2014. I never want a team without it. Safeguard blocks Will-O-Wisp and Dark Void from ruining your day. Swagger is used primarily to boost your attackers damage output, and can be used to try and hax out the opponent in a pinch. Quick Guard blocks Fake Out, Sucker Punch, Brave Bird, and other priority moves. Charm is another move we’ve become fond of. Being able to -2 the opponent’s attack before they can move makes it difficult for physical attackers to be effective.

Safeguard is such an effective safety net against status reliant strategies that I can’t see myself dropping the blue cat from the team. Meowstic doesn’t have any way to damage opponents outside of Swagger so it is best to lead with it so that if the opponent doesn’t KO it they have to put up with Charm and Swagger all game. It’s also important to pair Meowstic with partners that can deal large amounts of damage on their own.

Meowstic and Mawile are the main lead combination for the team.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry

Mark’s Ferrothorn was named “Barby Girl”

Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Leech Seed
– Protect

This slot has been between Ferrothorn and Amoonguss. Both Pokemon improve the Trick Room match-up with their low speed. Amoonguss brought Spore and Rage Powder to the table, and could heal through Regenerator, Black Sludge and Giga Drain. This made for a useful support Pokemon that would tank hits and stay around. Regenerator also meshed well with Manectric/Gyarados and the switching dynamics. The downside was that it was useless against other Grass type Pokemon and needed to fear Talonflame.

Ferrothorn has more offensive power, and could be a win condition by itself if the opponent couldn’t deal significant damage to it. The downside of Ferrothorn is that it gets incinerated by fire attacks and could also get walled by grass types.

In the end we went with Ferrothorn. It works with Swagger without the need for a Safeguard due to Lum Berry and can help deal with Smeargle. I would’ve gone with Leftovers for Ferrothorn’s item but Meowstic was already using it.

Fire Blast… there for a reason

Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dragon Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Hydro Pump

This slot originally had a Talonflame to deal with Venusaur, however I found another way to handle Charizard / Venusaur and didn’t need the slot anymore. We put Salamence on the team to provide Intimidate support as well as deal with other Dragons, and used a Choice Scarf because we didn’t want to have to deal with a bunch of speed ties with other base 100s.

I don’t remember if I planned to put Fire Blast over Flamethrower, but if I did I forgot to do so before the event. Me and Crawdaunt faced in the last round and my Ferrothorn survived a Flamethrower so that should become Fire Blast.

I wasn’t sold on Salamence before the event but I knew I’d want it more then Talonflame and I ended up bringing it to most of my games.

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet

Stay classy Garchomp

Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Earthquake
– Dragon Claw
– Rock Slide
– Protect

This Garchomp has been a staple Pokemon on our teams since VGC 2012. There really isn’t much to say about it, it hasn’t changed at all since the last team analysis.

When the opponent’s team seemed to counter Mawile I would often lead Garchomp / Meowstic and go for Swagguard as usual.

Look at that stupid grin on its face

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 116 SAtk / 100 SDef / 36 Spd
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Will-O-Wisp
– Light Screen

Rotom has also been a staple member of our teams (thought not always in Wash form.) Lately we had been feeling disenchanted with Rotom-W’s performance. Most players have a way of dealing with Rotom-W. Back when Talonflame was on the team I brought Rotom-W to most of my games because it was one the 4 Pokemon on the team that were good in general. With the introduction of Salamence I had less motivation to bring Rotom and never brought it once during Regionals.

Mark: I actually brought Rotom-W to one game! But it wasn’t a desirable prospect. It was just the best out of what I had left to choose from. I also ran an extra 16 Speed EV’s (removing from SpDef) on my Rotom to outspeed Max’s Rotom 100% of the time, and never changed it. I wanted to make him think I was just getting lucky with speed ties if we ever faced each other. Then with the new incarnation of the team and Rotom’s use waining, I never even got the chance!

Mark’s Tournament

Mark: I kept notes from each of my games on my opponent’s teams, but am a bit rusty on the turns and order. We had 127 Masters, one short of an extra round, meaning you had to go X-1 to make Top Cut (and an X-1 could even whiff).

GoGo(at) Power Rangers!

Round 1 vs. Nicole

Gengar / Gogoat / Lucario / Tyrantrum / Charizard / ???

I was sitting at Table 1 for this game, and got to joke about how my tournament experience could only go downhill from here. It was her first tournament and we were playing on the likely-unpopulated stream. She told me her cartridge was borrowed from a friend, and her team looked like a bunch of semi-legit Pokemon. I’ve faced Gogoats before that are intended to OHKO Rotom-W with Leaf Blade, so I wasn’t even counting that out of potential quirky Pokemon.

Just imagine my surprise when her Tyrantrum (that had previously used Stone Edge) Dark Pulse’d my Meowstic for the KO, and followed up with a Draco Meteor on my Garchomp. I won, but she did take 2 Pokemon! It was kind of funny.

Win, 1-0

Round 2 vs. Tim

Smeargle (lvl 1) / Clefki / Mawile / Rotom-W / Aromatisse / Aggron

The Smeargle was level 1, which always means Endeavor/Focus Sash. He led with Smeargle/Aromatisse and I brought two Pokemon capable of attacking (Salamence/Mawile?). I just knew I wanted to be able to double target the Smeargle if necessary. I used to play a team with Cottonee/Jellicent in 2011 that went for TR/Endeavor on Turn 1 and Water Spout/Endeavour on Turn 2 to net a double KO early. I figured that was his strategy via Dazzling Gleam and got a free KO on Smeargle turn one. In retrospect, it might have been better to bring Meowstic for Safeguard, but with my choice I could be sure that Endeavour + Double Target wouldn’t wreck my team.

Win, 2-0

Lovable little scamp

Round 3 vs. Michael

Talonflame / Amoonguss / Scizor / Garchomp / Rotom-W / M-Kangaskhan

This was a standard team, and his only answer to Ferrothorn was Talonflame. I led with
Meowstic/Mawile I think to his Talonflame/Kangaskhan. I never actually needed to KO his Talonflame, as he KO’d himself by Brave Bird’ing my Meowstic turn one, and repeating that on a switched-in Garchomp. The extra damage from Rocky Helmet finished it off. Ferrothorn too strong.

Win, 3-0

After this round I got to watch the end of Max’s game against Stephen Morioka on the stream of Table 1. It looked really close, and I couldn’t really tell who would win, though Max had an advantage as I arrived. In the end, Stephen took the game on time with a greater number of Pokemon remaining.

Last year, Max and Bidier were running my team. I lost early, and Max and Bidier kept sending their opponent’s down to me who then had knowledge of my team, further compounding my woes. This year it was meant to be the opposite…

Round 4 vs. Stephen

Gardevoir / Salamence / M-Charizard / Garchomp / Azumarill / Venusaur

When I found out my pairing I was a little on tilt. Last year when Max and Bidier were sending me opponents, they were people who had lost a game or two already. This year, I had to face someone who actually beat Max, and knew my team. Oi vey…

He led Gardevoir/Charizard to my Meowstic/Garchomp. I figured there was no way he’d let a Rock Slide go off unchallenged first turn, and under-predicted (as it turned out). It was that sort of tier of prediction where I knew the obvious play, and so went to the second tier being a bit gutsy. He went to the third tier and kept his original play since he figured I wouldn’t make the obvious play. After that I fell into his pace and made a pretty poor choice to Rock Slide into a Protect turn 2. He took the game quite handily and I couldn’t recover.

Lose, 3-1

That all said, this was my favourite round of the tournament! It was refreshing to face someone who could make that high-risk high-reward, extra level of prediction. I was itching to get to Top Cut to get a chance at another game. Also, he was just a super pleasant guy.

Not a Mega, not a problem

Round 5 vs. Luis

Gengar / Clawitzer / Salamence / Garchomp / Kangaskhan / Meowstic

Luis was using most of the mons from my team/considerations (Kangaskhan). Mawile does a lot to Kangaskhan, while Kangaskhan doesn’t do much to Mawile. He did have a Focus Sash on his Gengar which caught me a bit off-guard, but never really put me in danger. His Garchomp ran Fire Fang to try and deal with Mawile/Ferrothorn.

The game turned into a battle of Meowstics, where we were both using Swagguard and Charm to either increase our damage output or reduce theirs. A few turns occurred where I was sure to Swagger my own Mawile to ensure it wouldn’t be at -2 by the end of the turn. And the same occurred with Charm to ensure his Pokemon wouldn’t be able to deal with me. Fire Fang would have 2HKO’d Mawile with a Swagguard mixed in on the second hit, but Charm controlled it and I had the game from there. It was a good game!

Win, 4-1

Round 6 vs. Alex

Salamence / Rotom-W / Tyranitar / Goodra / M-Mawile / Scizor

I’d met Alex (Evan Falco) 3 years ago (holy crap has it been that long?) in VGC Seattle 2011. I knew I was in for a tough round, and the loser would be knocked out of contention. I figured the Goodra had some Fire move, as did TTar and/or Mence so I knew Ferrothorn couldn’t be my answer, which left me with Rotom-W as my 4th mon.

He led Salamence/TTar to my Meowstic/Mawile. I was in for a rough decision, as I figured he would double-target one of my leads for a KO. Time was running down and I decided on Safeguard with Meowstic and a Play Rough on his Salamence with Mawile. I figured he knew Meowstic couldn’t protect, while Mawile could, making that the safer double-target. But if he took Mawile out, I’d have Swagguard ready for Garchomp in the future.

Maybe my Mawile was just too intimidated

Unfortunately I was a bit too late in choosing my move. I was conscious of the timer and selected my moves with 3 seconds to spare, but it never communicated. My Meowstic still used Safeguard (first moveslot), but Mawile failed to Mega Evolve, and instead launched a piddly Iron Head at Salamence (couldn’t even hit TTar! >.<). A cruel reminder that your first moveslot should be your preferred STAB or at least Protect.

I never recovered from that, though I like to think I put up a good effort in the face of adversity. His Mence turned out to not be Scarfed, and I lost my Garchomp to it thinking he might switch out fearing the KO via Dragon Claw (it was at about 60%). Alex controlled the battle with good prediction, but I at least managed to make a game of it losing only 0-1. Very curious to know how things would have turned out had I KO’d the Salamence first turn. By no means would I have won, but we’d have been on relatively equal footing. His own Mega Mawile ran Fire Fang to get the advantage in the mirror match, so by no means would my Mawile have survived the next turn. Very curious to see how that would have turned out…

Either way, it was a good game! And Alex went on to take 2nd, so congratulations to him!

Lose, 4-2

This loss was surprisingly not that surreal. I would have loved to see how it would have turned out with my intended Turn 1, but I didn’t really feel that upset about the circumstance. I think I’ve taken a lesson from Trevore and accepted the sun as my lord and saviour.

I met up with Max who had also lost his second game of the tournament this round, and waited for the pairings to go up. I had borrowed the use of a friend’s phone to check the pairings earlier, so my Player ID was entered into the Pokegym App. He came up to me saying the next round’s pairings were up and there I was… facing

Round 7 vs. Max

I honestly don’t know if he even used Pokemon…

Some random crap. I didn’t even write down his mons. They must’ve been really bad.

The mirror match with nothing everything on the line. Beauty. Easily the battle with the most skilled predictions of the day. We both knew that Ferrothorn would likely win us the game, and that our only answer was Salamence. He led with Salamence/Ferrothorn to my Meowstic/Mawile.

Turn 1, Max predicted that my Play Rough would miss his Salamence, and he takes the KO on my Meowstic with a double-target. My Play Rough misses for the third time that day. The first time it would have dire consequences though. Sometimes you just can’t keep up with skill.

Later in the battle, it was my Salamence/Ferrothorn to his Salamence/Ferrothorn. Both our Mence’s had just switched in, so the speed tie could determine the winner of the game. I figured I’d lose the speed tie, but that Max would also think he’d lose the speed tie. Because of that I figured he’d go for the KO on my Ferrothorn with Flamethrower, and I wanted to be sure I wasn’t at the disadvantage against his combo, so I Flamethrowered his Ferrothorn.

I’d like to amend what I just said though and re-write history. I predicted his Draco Meteor would miss my Salamence and knew my Gyro Ball would finish it off anyways, so I Flamethrowered his Ferrothorn to be sure it couldn’t Gyro Ball me. My prediction paid off and I ended up KO’ing his Salamence and forcing his Ferrothorn to ignore its master’s orders and Protect for dear life. The game was mine.

Win, 5-2

In Conclusion