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Published on November 25th, 2014 | by Zekira Drake

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Pokémon-Philippines: First Big Tournament

Hey guys, Zekira G. Drake here, writing about what is undoubtedly the Philippines’ most successful Pokémon Video Game tournament.

I do have to apologize for getting this out pretty late; by the time I finish writing this initial draft, the second big tournament (which takes place on October 26, 2014) has already ended. Oops. I won’t be able to cover that one as I had other commitments on the same day. (Author’s note: Our November tournament also just ended, which was on the 22nd; wasn’t able to attend that one as well though)

Introduction

Pokémon-Philippines: Pilipinas Got Pokémon (PKMN-ph: PGP) and its Video Game sScene

I joined the group known as “PKMN-ph” around 2007-8. It was a small group of Pokémon lovers in the Philippines who were mainly situated in a simple message board of their own, started in 2006. It covered Pokémon fans of multiple specialties: Trading Card Game, Video Game, fan art, writing, and a lot more. For a while, I was under the impression that it was the main Pokémon community in the Philippines.

For the video game side, we mostly played the 6v6 Singles formats as our main format. I don’t remember the official VGC formats being mentioned much back then. We had self-organized tournaments. Our venue? Random places around certain malls. To put it bluntly, we were loitering. We often used THE FLOOR™. We would sometimes even look for stray food/utensils/plates around food courts just so we could justify ourselves staying in one place as long as possible.

Stepping a few years into the 2010’s, we had some conflicts regarding a group situated on Facebook known as “Pilipinas Got Pokémon” (PGP), where the two groups were usually mistaken with the other. I wasn’t part of that one, so I don’t really know what’s going on their side.

Negative history and stories aside, the two merged into one Pokémon community that was nothing but support for the franchise just a few years ago. This is when PKMN-ph: PGP was born as one big Pokémon community.

As I was on a slight community hiatus for a long time, I don’t exactly know when the group started mingling in VGC formats.

Me as Part of the Battling Community

I honestly feel bad that I made an entire section that highlights myself, but I can’t find any other way to explain my limited perceptions on the community’s history.

I started playing the VGC formats during the season of VGC14, which was back around November of 2013. Why I suddenly started playing Doubles when I’ve been playing competitive Singles 6v6 since around 2005 is irrelevant right now.

The first tournament I attended hosted by the new PKMN-ph: PGP was a VGC14 tournament held last December 2013. We were STILL loiterers. This would repeat around February and April, and I think another month after that, but I only remember participating in only one more. I was more interested in battling with the international community, to be honest.

In these tournaments, we struggled to reach a participant count of 20. Though it was kind of exciting to see the participants grow more and more, it stagnated a bit around the 30 mark. I also lost count of how many times the mall security officers would tell us to leave.

Then came September 2014.

The Event Preparations

Prior to this, the Philippine VGC community wass largely aware of the international scene now. A lot of people are starting to have that big dream of one day having official support. Competitors are starting to watch international scenes more closely than before.

I didn’t think much of this booming activity because of the part I stated above of me wanting to battle the international community instead. But all this preparation and teasing really caught my eye.

The Month of Teasing

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When the admins and organizers would survey for the event setting, they usually opted for our ‘standard’ venues, with cheap registration fees for those joining the tournaments. So I was a bit surprised when we had a different proposal: Robinson’s Galleria Courtside, Registration Fee 100 PHP. I wondered what the increased price was for, and why this suddenly different venue? It was farther from where I lived, so I wasn’t that comfortable.

But this event kept getting hyped. Eventually I found out that Robinson’s Galleria Courtside is the same place where our TCG community (which has some official support) is holding their events. So I was like “wait… we’re gonna have TABLES?!” Guess that’s where the extra registration fee came in.

10688428_10152717595811661_5684904850023272260_o

Well, it’s just tables, big deal, right? Well, yeah it kinda is. I just can’t help but feel how much more professional this looks than what I’m used to.

More teasing aside like the above illustrated ID being given out, and the preparations keep going and going until the day itself. What did me in was the custom trophy.

10710997_906355706049240_2845571965036198951_n

I don’t know why, but there is just something that attracts me from having things like these, especially for achievements involving games I love. I couldn’t resist. I pre-registered.

I then took team creation and practicing more seriously than I usually did. I emphasized on meta-counter picking, something I don’t usually do, because I really, REALLY just wanted this. The day came. Funnily enough, I think I wasn’t done with my team back then.

The Event

So I hadn’t finished my team while going into the event itself; I was still conflicted with a 6th member. But I was already picking from just 2 left so I decided that I’d be finishing it on the way there.

Visual First Impressions

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The place was already pretty packed when I got there, despite it still being relatively early. The shot above is taken from the registration booth while people were lining up to register their teams.

Speaking of that, this was the first tournament where we were going to try and use as much of the ruleset used in tournaments held in the US; we were all restricted to just one team for the entire tourney. We even had judges willing to take care of match monitoring; even though they’re not a lot, it gave some reassurance that this is gonna be good.

I got there and talked to the people I know from the community. Haven’t seen them in a long time, but it’s good to know that they still know my face at least. I go ahead and register my team… which I was not done EV’ing.

I felt comfortable around this community since I’m one of the more, longer-time members in there, so I was a bit noisier than I usually am. Made some small talk with some of the people I don’t know, even. I was seated in one of the chairs fixing my things, and was told that I forgot to get my freebies. So I got my freebies which composed of those Points card things (which we weren’t actually gonna use), some TCG cards, a Pokemon strap which I attached to my 3DSXL. After seeing what I was given, I was fortunate I got their early as I was able to swap all of them with Fennekin ones.

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I’m thinking of replacing my 3DSXL to a Fennekin one so that I can have a fully Fennekin themed rig.

Not clearly seen here was me bringing large headphones to the venue. If there’s one thing I learned from participating in Fighting Game tournaments, is that you want to do as much as possible to block out external sound. In this case, I wanted to make sure that I’m listening to Music 10 (Elite Four Battle Theme) on blast while battling. Yeah, I know other electronics normally shouldn’t be allowed in the official tourneys.

Later I found out that we were going to have a bracket split into Beginners and Advanced brackets. This meant that there were a lot of new players coming in, which was good. I did mention above that the place was pretty filled when I got there already, right? I recognized many faces, and I didn’t recognize many as well. It was pretty exciting.

I clarified the round format used; first is a 5-round BO1 swiss, then top 8 from each bracket advances into top cut.

I started taking pictures then. I specifically wanted to look for the prize I was aiming for. I was kinda stunned when I found it.

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After taking pictures, I sat down and continued finishing my team.

After Registrations

Registrations finished and then lunch break was announced. I found out that we had a total of 96 participants for VGC that day. I was really excited at being able to participate in such a large tourney. Oh yeah, I put “for VGC” there since I also found out that a TCG tourney was also held on the same day.

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(sorry for blurry pic)

So I finished EV training my 6th member… or so I thought; I use Reset Bags to check whether I EV’d it right, and I found out that it was wrong. I started to panic a bit so I just bought fries for lunch along with 3 bottles of water and quickly sat down to rush the EV training throughout lunch break.

Bit of a random pic, but sitting across me is who most of us consider to be the best player in the country.

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I wanted to see what he was using in the case that I run into him again. After he posted his team report in PKMN-ph though, I was thankful that I didn’t meet him in swiss.

By the way, needless to say, we eventually still had to use THE FLOOR™ due to the number of people.

The Battling Experience

I decided to keep my battles and team separate from this post as I wanted to highlight the event itself here. But if anyone’s still interested, you can find me posting about it in one of my tumblr posts. A summary of which is:

  • Me trying to counterpick more than play with what I’m comfortable with, which leads to me winning my first 3 games convincingly and then choking + overestimating my team on the last two, barely missing my top cut opportunity with just 1 match.
  • Seriously guys, if you really REALLY want to win something, use what you’re most comfortable winning with. And don’t use a Pokémon that you hate so much that you’d rather die.
  • I also have vids of all of my matches there, in case you guys wanted to see how stupid my decisions were…

The Battling Statistics

Aside from the event, I also wanted to highlight a bit of the meta’s state here. The organizers were keen enough to start gathering usage statistics at the same time as the team registrations. I was able to borrow this info from them. Thanks guys!

1 Garchomp 37 44.05
2 Talonflame 32 38.10
3 Gardevoir 23 27.38
4 Mawile 22 26.19
5 Rotom-W 20 23.81
6 Kangaskhan 18 21.43
7 Charizard-Y 17 20.24
8 Salamence 15 17.86
9 Lucario 13 15.48
10 Rotom-H 12 14.29
11 Gengar 12 14.29
12 Aegislash 11 13.10
13 Gyarados 11 13.10
14 Azumarill 11 13.10
15 Meowstic-M 11 13.10
16 Tyranitar 10 11.90
17 Aerodactyl 10 11.90
18 Scrafty 9 10.71
19 Ferrothorn 9 10.71
20 Venusaur 8 9.52
21 Zapdos 8 9.52
22 Smeargle 8 9.52
23 Ludicolo 8 9.52
24 Manectric 8 9.52
25 Greninja 8 9.52
26 Lapras 8 9.52
27 Mamoswine 8 9.52
28 Politoed 7 8.33
29 Gothitelle 7 8.33
30 Klefki 7 8.33
31 Sableye 7 8.33
32 Raichu 7 8.33
33 Hydreigon 6 7.14
34 Noivern 6 7.14
35 Amoongus 6 7.14
36 Clawitzer 5 5.95
37 Bisharp 5 5.95
38 Liepard 4 4.76
39 Charizard-X 4 4.76
40 Machamp 4 4.76
41 Scizor 4 4.76
42 Malamar 4 4.76
43 Weavile 3 3.57
44 Rhydon 3 3.57
45 Mr. Mime 3 3.57
46 Slowbro 3 3.57
47 Gourgeist 3 3.57
48 Nidoking 3 3.57
49 Pyroar 3 3.57
50 Slowking 3 3.57
51 Espeon 3 3.57
52 Hariyama 3 3.57
53 Sylveon 3 3.57
54 Zoroark 2 2.38
55 Trevenant 2 2.38
56 Staraptor 2 2.38
57 Krookodile 2 2.38
58 Aromatisse 2 2.38
59 Carbink 2 2.38
60 Goodra 2 2.38
61 Rotom-M 2 2.38
62 Mienshao 2 2.38
63 Rhyperior 2 2.38
64 Reuniclus 2 2.38
65 Pachirisu 2 2.38
66 Dragonite 2 2.38
67 Roserade 2 2.38
68 Conkeldurr 2 2.38
69 Snorlax 2 2.38
70 Sawk 2 2.38
71 Alakazam 2 2.38
72 Probopass 1 1.19
73 Aron 1 1.19
74 Chandelure 1 1.19
75 Kingdra 1 1.19
76 Delphox 1 1.19
77 Audino 1 1.19
78 Pidgeot 1 1.19
79 Tyanitar 1 1.19
80 Togekiss 1 1.19
81 Flygon 1 1.19
82 Ampharos 1 1.19
83 Galvantula 1 1.19
84 Gogoat 1 1.19
85 Mandibuzz 1 1.19
86 Diggersby 1 1.19
87 Rotom-F 1 1.19
88 Jolteon 1 1.19
89 Vivillion 1 1.19
90 Charizard 1 1.19
91 Articuno 1 1.19
92 Medicham 1 1.19
93 Moltres 1 1.19
94 Escavalier 1 1.19
95 Skarmory 1 1.19
96 Pikachu 1 1.19
97 Blastoise 1 1.19
98 Exploud 1 1.19
99 Heracross 1 1.19
100 Umbreon 1 1.19
101 Hawlucha 1 1.19
102 Tentacruel 1 1.19
103 Aggron 1 1.19
104 Gliscor 1 1.19
105 Chesnaught 1 1.19
106 Lanturn 1 1.19
107 Tyrantrum 1 1.19
108 Abomasnow 1 1.19
109 Nidoqueen 1 1.19
110 Sharpedo 1 1.19
111 Scolipede 1 1.19
112 Emolga 1 1.19
113 Golurk 1 1.19
114 Scyther 1 1.19
115 Sigilyph 1 1.19
116 Mantine 1 1.19

First, I would like to point out that I am aware that there are illegal Pokémon in here. Sorry for that.

Posting these statistics reminded me of the one guy I really wanted to see, who was said to be using Mega Alakazam, Mr. Mime, and Scyther in the same team. I had an idea what each did, but having all those 3 seemed really interesting to me. I never knew who it was, though.

There’s little differences from the meta that the community here normally knows about. The main difference would probably the high usage of Gardevoir and Rotom-W, who fell in usage just before worlds.

Top Cut Teams

I think Top Cut Teams always deserve special mentions.

1. Migz Garcia

lucario talonflame garchomp kangaskhan-mega rotom-wash smeargle

2. Alvin Rambano

gothitelle pyroar manectric-mega conkeldurr bisharp aerodactyl

3. Keith Magali

zapdos kangaskhan-mega garchomp gengar salamence talonflame

4. Nigel Descalzo

machampmantinecharizard-mega-ytyranitargarchompmawile-mega

The rest of the top cut people below are in no particular order in their placings.

Rikki Castro

trevenantmawile-megarotom-heatgoodraaromatissescrafty

Joshua Manalansan

tyranitarsmearglehydreigonblastoise-megatalonflamekangaskhan-mega

Allan Joseph Coral

trevenantmawile-megascraftyrhydonexploudslowking

Martin Ocampo

gothitellegarchompmawile-megarotom-washsylveonmanectric-mega

Allain Larin

garchompgengargardevoirlucario-megarotom-washpyroar

Jonathan Delos Santos

garchomphydreigoncharizard-mega-yaerodactylmanectric-megatalonflame

Marlon Valeza

ludicolopolitoedkangaskhan-megaaegislashtalonflamehydreigon

Reymar Canada

alakazam-megaclawitzernidokingtalonflamemr-mimescyther

Juan Miguel La Torre

garchompaerodactylmamoswinehydreigonmawile-megacharizard-mega-y

Renelle Payumo

lucario-megagarchompgardevoirrotom-heatgengarludicolo

Jerry San Miguel

tyranitarscraftyvenusaur-megasalamencegardevoirrotom-wash

Cris Vincent Bondoc

weavileaerodactylrotom-heatvenusaur-megasawkgardevoir

The People

Just wanted to highlight some of the conversations I had that I found interesting.

I was small talking Alvin Rambano and checking out how he was doing in the tourney. I was also trying to get some info on his team somehow, but wasn’t able to. There were a lot of people doing multi-battles on the side and I really wanted to join in one of them. Wasn’t able to though since most of them seem like they knew each other 🙁

After around Round 2 or 3 or something, I talked with Marlon a bit and he told me he just won a match where he and his opponent had a lot of similar Pokémon. It was also the time I found out that his Kangaskhan had Double-Edge. I have no idea why this didn’t give me the signal to bring Mawile in our match, though.

When I was borrowing the files from the organizers’ laptops, I told the PKMN-ph admin Serpol that I’d do the competitive battling side of the event coverage. Sorry that I couldn’t highlight it as much as you probably were expecting though, the event was just too good that I have to make it the main focus.

One conversation I remember having was with the guy tallying the wins; he told me that, after my third win, I just needed any next win out of my two matches to guarantee my top cut spot. Which didn’t happen. I don’t know if I got overconfident, but I’ll make a mental note not to let that get to me next time. To this day, I’m still surprised that JM suddenly didn’t bring Rain when he was the sole reason I was scared of rain in our local community.

That’s mostly what I remember; I was too busy griping about all my mistakes the whole day.

Other Resources

  • Our photographer allowed me to link his album of the shots he took at the event. It’s mostly shots of people though, so it might not be interesting, but it gives a really good idea of how big the event was, with some funny shots like the comsat moment caught on cam.
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  • (this was the very last turn of the very last match by the way; it was already a decided match)
  • The PKMN-ph admins decided to share their own thoughts about the event itself.
  • A short video by our same photographer about the event. He recently just posted it on his official page.

Closing Remarks and Credits

I really regret that I was not able to go to the tournament on October 26. There were 83 participants then, 66 of which were registered even before the event itself. They had better management this time to make match calling easier and made sure that no illegal Pokémon went through. They also made it into one bracket due to a controversy with the brackets for a while in the previous tournament.

I think the organizers are trying to make this a monthly thing, which will be pretty exciting; the air of an offline tourney is still much better compared to an online one. I have a feeling some of the players here are actually not performing as well as they should be because of the offline environment.

I hope this will be a signal for the Pokémon community and the battling community to grow larger and larger in the future; I’d love to see it get bigger and bigger. Maybe one day, we’ll achieve the dream of getting noticed by officials. But until then, we’ll keep rocking the game the way we love to rock it.

Special shoutouts:

  •  Of course, first, THE FLOOR™. You will forever be a part of the PKMN-ph venue.
  • 10682167_593018854157456_2917425879634828816_o
  • Our admins Paul Morada and Ray Powao of PKMN-ph and PGP respectively for organizing an amazing event. And of course, to all of our rangers (moderators).
  • Speaking of which, http://pkmn-ph.com/, of course.
  • Our photographer Ricky Namin for providing us with great photo coverage.
  • Marlon Valeza for reminding me how bad he is at this game. He even selected Trade when he wanted to do our match. Must be jelly of my Mawile or something.
  • Keith Magali for making me realize that there’s something more annoying than bulky helmet Talonflame. Also, I found out late that he wanted to write this article himself. Sorry!
  • That guy who was calling matches whose name escapes me again. Sorry!
  • That guy who was recording match wins who even posted his name on the Facebook group reminding everyone of himself. Sorry that I forgot your name too!
  • The TCG community and admins for helping us out. Really, REALLY helping us out a lot. I’m glad we’re beginning to bridge the two communities together.

I think that’s pretty much it. Thanks for reading, guys.

Random Picture Corner

I’m not much of a paparazzi, but for some reason I just loved taking random pictures at the event.

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About the Author

Zekira Drake has played various Singles 6v6 Formats of different communities since 2005. Recently started studying VGC during the middle of VGC2014. Self-proclaimed hugest Absol fan.



9 Responses to Pokémon-Philippines: First Big Tournament

  1. albus says:

    Thanks to Logan Castro for helping promoting this Event.

  2. Holy Mantine in the top four. What a god.
     
    Good to learn from other VGC communities on the other side of the world! I’m glad to see a lot more interesting things that we don’t typically see in the United States metagame, and I’m interested in seeing how your scene develops moving forwards. Good luck in future tournaments!

  3. Nigoo says:

    That’s my Mantine! asdfgjkl;.<3.

    The VGC community here in the Philippines is evolving really fast! There is no other way but to go forward! Thankyou Pilipinas Got Pokemon for developing this community for the game we love. Let's continue to do our best. :).

  4. Raerumon says:

    If a Philippine tourney report can make it to the front page, I’d be soooo happy <3

  5. Schinken says:

    @Nigoo
    What was your reasoning for using it and what did you use it for?

  6. keithmagali says:

    I battled Nigoo for the 3rd Place. He used the bulky Mantine as his Tailwind setter. The latter also comes with Confuse Ray for disruption. 🙂

  7. Zekira Drake says:

    It also had Wide Guard (I think) and I’m sure it also performs well against Rain teams.

  8. HenryTwizz says:

    Just looking at the list of the pokemon used is so cool, such unique pokemon were brought to the competition. I want to know who brought the emolga since ive been trying to find a way to use it in doubles.

  9. Nigoo says:

    @Schinken
    Originally, it was an aerodactyl for my tailwind setter. But I needed to have something that rain teams can have a hard time with. That’s when I stumbled upon using mantine. 140 base SpD. Water Absorb as its ability making it also untouchable by the standard gyara set. It also has wide guard making it the guardian of my megas. (Char Y and Mawile). Overall, it just synergized well with my team and provided the the much needed protection and HAX (due to confuse ray) for my team. Haha. Easily considered as my MVP for this tournament. :).

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