Reports

Published on October 28th, 2013 | by KermitTheFrog14

13

Hold On, We’re Going Home: 1st Place Pleasanton Seniors Report and Analysis

With the 2014 season just beginning, it couldn’t start any better than in Pleasanton, California. My name is Daniel Cardenas (KermitTheFrog14) if you didn’t know me, and I had three Top 4 regional placements last season (2nd Salt Lake City, 3rd San Jose, 4th Long Beach) and I recently participated in the Fall Regionals in Pleasanton, California. Currently it’s my last year in the Senior Division, and I plan to do very well this year. I have a regional win at hand, but it’s gonna take a lot more.

The Team

I had to come up with a team that was gonna counter most of the metagame, and after Worlds I had an idea of what people were using. This team took a while to build, I was going through various strategies and Pokemon, trying to find something that fit my playstyle, so I kept testing and decided that I needed a solid main core, so I went with Cresselia and Heatran.

Cresselia @ Lum Berry
Trait: Levitate
Ev’s: 220 HP / 84 Def / 124 Sp Att / 76 SDef
Modest Nature
IV’s: 0 Spe
– Ice Beam
– Psyshock
– Trick Room
– Sunny Day

First up is Cresselia, arguably one of the most popular Pokemon in the metagame, its versatility as support is great. For my set I ran Trick Room since I had a pretty slow team, and it could help me speed-wise. I also ran Sunny Day, to boost my Heatran’s Fire moves, notably Eruption. Ice Beam was for the bothersome Dragon-Types and Psyshock for Fighting-Types, mainly Hitmontop. I decided to use Lum Berry Cresselia after testing my team countless times with Mental Herb, which would help me set up Trick Room reliably, but after thinking for some time I knew I would see more sleep abusers like Amoonguss or Breloom instead of Taunt users.

Heatran @ Fire Gem
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 25 Spe
– Protect
– Earth Power
– Heat Wave
– Eruption

The partner in crime was the one and only Heatran, and as you can see this one is an Eruptran. Next to Cresselia this thing can be a big threat. After a Protect+Trick Room setup, it can sweep on the next turn, and of course it receives even more of a power boost with a Sunny Day right before Eruption, which will take out a big chunk of HP from the opponents Pokemon. If I had taken damage, Heat Wave would be the alternative option so I wouldn’t have a low powered attack. With 25 Speed IVs it would be really slow, but a little faster than Cresselia, so Cresselia can set up Sunny Day right before Heatran attacks.

Conkeldurr @ Life Orb
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Protect
– Ice Punch
– Mach Punch
– Drain Punch

The most standard of standard Conkeldurr sets, its pretty self explanatory. Ice Punch and Drain Punch get the Iron Fist  boost and with Life Orb they’re very deadly. I was thinking of switching to a Hammer Arm alternative the week before Regionals, but I stuck with this, since it could backfire on me without Trick Room up. Mach Punch for priority, which was always useful to me since  I ran max Attack just to get the most out of the power. I could’ve gone with a more complicated spread, but I stuck with this.

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pickpocket
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Low Kick
– Night Slash
– Ice Punch

Weavile is strong, always a Pokemon I would suggest putting on a team. I was going to use Liepard at first but I decided I needed a faster Fake Out and more of a variety of coverage, which Weavile supplied. It got Low Kick to help deal with opposing Heatran or Bisharp which were frequent problems, Night Slash for Psychic-Types like Cresselia, and I decided on Ice Punch over Ice Shard for a hard hitting attack. Focus Sash for survivability, and I ran max Speed and Attack to get the most out of him.

Escavalier @ Bug Gem
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
– Megahorn
– Iron Head
– Substitute
– Protect

This guy was the backup sweeper, with a Bug Gem Megahorn it can OHKO Cresselia and Tyranitar which gave me trouble, especially the slower versions of it. I was debating Swords Dance over Substitute but I opted for the more creative and useful move. Substitute worked in situations where you could predict switches or Protects, which was always in my favor, but I had a notable Volcarona weakness from the team’s standpoint as of now, so next  I chose:

Jellicent (M) @ Water Gem
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
– Water Spout
– Giga Drain
– Ice Beam
– Trick Room

Jellicent was the last Pokemon I chose after testing various things such as Rotom-W, Thundurus, and Gastrodon. I was leaning towards Jellicent since it could use Water Spout to aid me under Trick Room. Giga Drain was for the bothersome Rotom-W and Gastrodon, and it’s not very common on Jellicent, which was a nice factor. Ice Beam for Dragon-Types like Garchomp which could be a bother, and Trick Room to pretty much set up for other Pokemon. Jellicent helped me counter Conkeldurr as well, which under Trick Room, was a pain to play against. Volcarona and Heatran were giving me trouble so Jellicent could cover them nicely as well.

Lead Combinations

This was the lead I used in most of my battles, it got Trick Room up and the rest of my team could take it from there.

This lead was only used against Julian Laisne (BluDoom) in a tense Top 8 match.

This lead was only used in game two of my finals match against George Langford (KobraTail)

The Tournament

Record by end of swiss rounds: 4-2   #6 Seed

I lost my first game due to me not thinking smart since it was pretty much my win, just didn’t think right. Won four straight games then lost to Julian Laisne (BluDoom) in a close game. Didn’t think I would Top Cut after my average record, but happy I did.

I don’t have much memory of swiss rounds since I didn’t take notes, so I’ll just get straight to Top Cut.

Top 8 vs Julian Laisne (Bludoom)

After previously losing to BluDoom in the last round of swiss, I found out that I was playing him in Top Cut. I wasn’t nervous since I knew I could win if I played well. So game one was pretty straightforward with us going back and forth with predictions, with Trick Room being set up and reversed all game. I knew Amoonguss was a problem, so Heatran was going to be big since it was faster than his Pokemon. I ended up winning game one, it was close.

Now game two was very interesting, I got Trick Room set up with him leading Landorus-T and Rotom-H against Cresselia and Heatran. I felt like I was in a good position, but he played around it, his Amoonguss taking advantage of Trick Room. I remember the big turn of the game, it was his Landorus-T and Amoonguss against my sleeping Conkeldurr, that had been asleep for only one turn, and Heatran who just got off the double Protect. He Protects Amoonguss while I go for the triple Protect. Thankfully I get it, and his Landorus-T gets off the Earthquake and my Conkeldurr survives with very little, and then it was up to Conkeldurr to wake up and seal the game. Ice punch hit Landorus-T and knocked it out. It was game from there, I felt so happy and thankful, I couldn’t believe it had happened. I made it to the Top 4.

Top 4 vs Jennifer Custodio

I heard that she was running Quick Claw Rhyperior and I was in awe. It was her first time at a regional too, and she was going to put up a good fight. First glance at the team and I thought, I’ve gotta win this after countless battles in Pokemon Showdown with random people using the same kind of stuff, I knew I was gonna have an advantage. I started Weavile and Cresselia in both games like as usual and in both games she leads with Rhyperior and Togekiss. Both times the exact same thing happens, I Fake Out Togekiss and both times she gets the Quick Claw Megahorn onto Cresselia. In game one I just played straightforward and used Ice Beam, then slowly took it from there with Jellicent and Conkeldurr under Trick Room. In game two I got a critical hit on Rhyperior with Ice Beam so it went a little faster with Jellicent and Conkeldurr against her Blaziken in the end. I shook her hand once the game was over, it was unbelievable how I made it this far, I made the finals again.

Meanwhile George and Tommy were battling it out in the other semifinal match, I heard they were 1-1 so it was going to be close. I wanted Tommy to win so we could have our San Jose Top 4 rematch, but George came out on top.

Finals vs George Langford (KobraTail)

I was back in the finals, and last time I was known as the guy who choked after losing to fellow Senior rival TechnoZ in the finals. I knew I had to win this. I had previously played George in swiss as a 3-1 and him as a 4-0, since I was paired up against him 5th round. I pretty much outplayed him the whole match and won 4-0 with everything going my way, but I knew George was gonna put up a tougher fight in the finals.

Summary of both games:

Game one was prediction vs prediction until one key moment when his Rotom-W’s Hydro Pump missed the Heatran, which cost him the game. I continued to eventually knockout Amoonguss and Volcarona the following turn, and it was over by then. Game two came down to his Rotom-W and low HP Amoonguss against my sleeping Jellicent and Conkeldurr under Trick Room, and with each having one Pokemon in the back. His being Choice Scarf Tyranitar. I Mach Punch Amoonguss and get the knockout, he Hydro Pumps Conkeldurr, which misses, and Jellicent wakes up to Giga Drain Rotom-W, bringing it down to a little less than half after Sand damage. Under Trick Room this was pretty much game. Tyranitar comes out, and I Drain Punch for the KO, and Jellicent Giga Drains Rotom-W for the win.

Closing Statements

I shook George’s hand after the games ended and we congratulated each other. I was mindblown, I didn’t even think I would make Top Cut after going 4-2. I was congratulated by family and friends. Jerico (DoctorRiceYouSee) congratulated me, since I finally won a regional. Getting every other place but 1st at Regionals last season was tough, along with my Nationals and Worlds performances. This has boosted my confidence, and I’m going to do my best at Nationals. This is my last year, and I have to make the most out of it.

Props:

• Finally winning a regional
• Getting to see my Senior friends once again
• Taking a pic with Geodude, Tommy (tlyee61), Emilio (emforbes) and friends.
• Also thanks to my amigo Zack (TechnoZ) for believing in me and helping me test my team out.

About the Author

KermitTheFrog14 Pokemon player since 2011. Has gotten 3 top 4 placements in Regionals for the 2013 Season (2nd Salt Lake City 3rd San Jose 4th Long Beach) Just won the Pleasanton, CA regional, so my regional resume for Seniors is complete. I always want to have fun playing pokemon and am looking forward to succeeding in VGC.

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