2014 International Challenge – June
The second and final International Challenge is coming up in a few weeks! As the final chance for European players to earn points before Worlds and North American players to earn points before Nationals, it’s going to be a very heated event! The Top 128 players in each age division from each of those two regions will receive Championship Points for their efforts.
The International Challenge is an online ladder-based tournament. You will be able to play up to 20 battles per day (unplayed games will roll over to the next day) from 00:00 UTC on Friday, June 20th, 2014 (5:00 PM PDT on Thursday, June 19th ) to 23:59 UTC on Sunday June 22nd, 2014 (4:59 PM PDT on Sunday June 22nd).
To register, you’ll need to have an account on Pokemon.com and register your game with the Global Link. Your game must be attached to the same account that has the player ID you use to play in Regionals, Nationals, and other events in the Play! Pokémon program if you want to receive Championship Points. You will be able to participate if you are one of the first 50,000 players to register on the Global Link for the event between 00:00 UTC on Thursday June 12th, 2014 (5:00 PM PDT on Wednesday, June 11th) and 23:59 UTC on Thursday, June 19th, 2014 (4:59 PM PDT on Thursday, June 19th).
The tournament will use the Standard ruleset and should prove to be the most competitive tournament yet with thousands of players worldwide playing to prove themselves and increase their chances at a World Championship invite! Championship Points will be awarded as follows:
| Placement | Points |
| 1 | 10 |
| 2–8 | 8 |
| 9–16 | 4 |
| 17–64 | 2 |
| 65–128 | 1 |
About the Author
Firestorm is one of the co-founders of Nugget Bridge and the Community Manager for eSports Tournament Platform Battlefy. He has been playing Pokémon since 1999, competitively since 2007, and attending tournaments since 2010. He lives in Vancouver, Canada with a degree in Interactive Art & Technology + Communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @rushanshekar.
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Aside from 2 losses due to hax, I’m really happy with my losses so far. All of them were just me getting outplayed, and thinking back to those battles I could’ve gained so much momentum turn 1 if I hadn’t tried to be clever and predict protects that never happened.
That being said, I faced a really epic Mienshao this morning:
Mienshao@Focus sash
Ability: Regeneraor
No idea the EVs/Nature but I’m assuming jolly 252/252
-fake out
-u turn
-ME FIRST
-drain punch
Naturally I expected it to carry HJK, and spent several turns alternating protects to bait the HJK. It then proceeded to u-turn all over my team, dealing annoying chip damage and regaining health. Eventually it was down to his Mienshao at 50% and Rotom at 20% against my Garchomp at 75%. I was all like ‘AHA! I’ve cornered that annoying weasel, now it has no place to switch out >: ) BUT THEN…
Mienshao used Me First!
Mienshao used Dragon Claw!
It’s super effective!
Garchomp fainted!
GG. X(
Best Mienshao I’d seen so far. Didn’t even know it could get Me First.
Maybe “best” because it bested you, but regen + uturn isn’t really effective on such a frail mon. Kind of a waste of mienshao’s potential in this meta IMO.
Ending tonight at 21-9. Today I’ve just been playing horribly, still being way too hasty under pressure and not analyzing my risks/rewards well enough. Also finding out that I’m majorly Azumarill and Blastoise weak, but my Azumarill weakness seems to be evident no matter what team I use.
Ending the night at 1701, I wanna go higher but 33 hours without sleep is enough so I’d rather not play more games without being 100%. Tons of fun so far though, gonna aim for 1730-50 and probly call it quits tomorrow.
Stopping for the night at 1746 (24-6).
Finished my first 20 games right before the reset and I ended up with a record of 15-5 and a rating of 1639. I started off really well 5-0 but then managed to drop three in my next four games, one to an Outrage Charizard X… went on a 9-2 run afterwards to close the day off. Just played 10 games for day 2 and managed to go 9-1 so I’m a combined 18-3 in my last 21 games which feels a lot better than my 6-3 start. Siting around 1750 now. Aiming for 1800+ at least this time!
I’m really enjoying this tournament, it’s nice to have one last shot at legitimate Wi-Fi practice before US Nationals. Like I said throughout a lot of the 2013 season, I think the Wi-Fi tournaments then (although a lot more frustrating) helped me improve a lot throughout the season since I was basically forced to have 500+ serious games, and I’ve learned a lot just from my first 30 games. Hoping to finish the 2nd half of the tournament as strong as my 1st half!
Stopping for the night at 23-5.
My rating is mid 1700s (don’t know the exact, somewhere near Aaron).
Just waiting til I start blowing this somehow.
So the information page says “Junior Division players will be limited to playing between the hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. (local time).” However local time right now is only 8:44, does anyone know why my Junior can’t play and a solution to solving this?
Edit: The account profile gives our correct location as “California, United States of America.” If the competition is locking us out because it is 11 PM in the East there are some issues that need to be resolved here. My sister isn’t going to play at 3 AM so she is missing out on precious time to train because she happens to live in a time zone that isn’t the East Coast.
Somehow I keep losing to guys who spam swagger and thunder wave with Klefki and Meowstic since turn 1. That’s the main weakness of my team so far, hopefully I won’t see those kind strategies in the late 1600s. Also I ran into some monotype teams(fighting,bug, psychic, steel).
Stopping tonight at about 26W/8L (just about). A bit over 1700.
Yesterday, I was really excited about going 13W/2L, so when I dropped 3 games this morning, I was pretty bummed to the point of not posting back here, especially since 2 of those losses occurred while I was being distracted by family members. After chatting on Showdown a bit, I was told that a 15-5 record was actually pretty solid, and it raised my mood a bit. Guess the good feeling carried over to this session, and I played pretty well. Of course, some hax both cost me matches and won me matches, or just made them easier or harder, but yea, I’m pleased atm.
Day 1 – Game 1 is memorable with my opponent running a SubSwagger team; even though I somehow eventually won the battle, my opponent still earned himself an XL cup filled with my delicious tears of rage. Learned scarfed Salamences like to run Hydro Pump, something my Pyroar isn’t fond of.
Considering breaking rules and running Wide Lens on my whole team in future battles so all of my attacks with below 100% accuracy can hit; it’s only cheating if I get caught. Did okay with a 15-5 record, despite my unfortunate scenarios.
Day 2 – Made the mistake of playing at night in the US when the Japanese players on the other side of the world were alive and thriving while I was also tired, a terrible combination. Also battled several players who I happened to be talking to in the Pokemon Showdown VGC chat, which was pretty cool. Battled several Mega Charizard-Y’s that apparently were also simultaneously holding Brightpowder and Razor Claws since they kept dodging all of my Rock Slides and critting my team members back; if anyone would tell me the secret of holding multiple items, that would be greatly appreciated.
Randomly DC’d several battles, which was weird since my internet was working perfectly fine; I think Obama had something to do about this. Finished the day with a terrible 10-10 record, making my overall record 25-15 in the low 1600’s, which is very disappointing compared to my last IC record.
Also good battle LPFan, glad to have battled such an experienced player, but in the future when you’re losing and plan to leave your battles early, I suggest just pressing the forfeit button instead of DC’ing – I find it an easier process for everyone.
Using a team featuring the JIC mascots, Mega Garchomp/Ttar/Aurorus. Ttar’s Modest LO and Aurorus is scarf with Hyper Beam. To round off the trio would be Manectric, BD Azumarill, and SD Skarmory with Lum Berry and Taunt. So it only has BB as an attacking move. I should’ve thought that through.. Also, Mega Garchomp has Sand Tomb instead of EQ so I can’t really use it. I mean I could but it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as I intended for it to be.
Summary of my current 6-5 record which has involved me either tilting or laughing – mainly laughing – can be found External.
My only regret is that I didn’t think ahead and use one of my secondary carts to try out a team that’s actually competitive. Oh well, I’m still having fun and I suppose that practice is practice, especially with the 3 standard mons I’m using.
Ended Day 2 with 13-7… a 1 point lower score than I finished the first 20 battles in the May IC with and I dropped 20 or so points in ranking as a result. Still, I’m happy with the progress as a couple of losses were to uncommon mons with surprise tactics/strategies like Selfdestruct Snorlax so I learned a lot of new stuff to watch out for and most of my wins were against smart players. Those smart players also highlighted the fact that I really need a constant form of speed control instead of purely relying on my 3 Discharge users and I know just how to do that so watch out world! My Ampharos team will become even stronger!
Oh, and shoutouts to that Jolteon player that kept spamming Sand Attack! Most hilarious thing I’ve fought all year xd
Day 1: 3-0
Day 2: 2-1
Yes, I haven’t played many battles because I’m actually trying to make a nats team while battling with my regs team lol. Hopefully I get some battles in tomorrow and my rating can go higher than 156X. I’ve played 4/6 people above 1650 too so that’s nice. Oh yeah played Drizzleboy’s brother as well apparently.
Really horrible day ^^. Haxxed to death when i was in a good position with some random disconnections for no reason… I guessed i’m 167something , ended up with 27 wins / 13 losses. I hope i will do my best tomorrow. So far so good, my machamp did great in all of his matches ^^ ( like a champ !). Good luck everyone and i hope i will be at 1800 soon ^^.
Well I’m 9-6 right now at low 1500s. I found out my team is weak to anything that isn’t an in game team. Luckily I had little to no hax, but I do need to make a new team.
Haven’t been playing my best, I’m somewhere around the low 1600s. I have seen a total of four explouds, a shedninja, and a physical torrent Greninja.
Architeuthis hello ^^ what’s your in game name ? I’m pretty sure i have battled you today mine is Benian don’t give up ^^ do your best !
IGN is Don. Your name sounds familiar.
IGN is Don. Your name sounds familiar.
Yes your name sounds familiar too ^^. Well, may be we will fight again see you tomorrow dude ^^
I’m 1700 with a record 20-6 and leave the competition, unfortunatalyvi haven’t time to lay this weekend so…but i’m happy about my record and ranking, good luck to everyone for the rest of the competition
Im on 16-10 at the moment, which I know isnt the greatest record at all, but I’m pleased with it. I havent got huge amounts of time to play more games before the tournament ends unfortunately, so I’ll try to get in a few more battles, but if not, I’ll be pleased with this.
Doing well so far, currently 12-3 and just beat Babbytron. I have to say, the competition is a lot bigger this month than it was before. It’s more challenging as well, from my experience at least in Juniors/Seniors.
Finished today at 1720ish after bouncing around 1700 and 1750 all day. I really had some great games today against all the NB guys and would like to say well played to every one who beat me today, especially cybertron who completely destroyed me. If you’re reading this Aaron can you please explain to me the garchomp protect (if you still remember it) because it was an excellent move which i completely did not see coming. The highest rated player i faced today was pdYoshi who was at 178X if that information is worth anything to anyone.
I know that nobody loves a whiner but i lost 30 points against a japenese player who was fortunate enough to witness my mons hit themselves in confusion 8 times out of 8. That was not funny.
I would like to see this thread evolving into something like IC May’s last pages, with everyone sharing their experiences, their teams, if they worked, etc. It would be an interesting read. I will share on my own when the tournament is over, since I am testing a team around Mega Venusaur with some surprises on its teammates.
Yesterday I ended up with 16-4 (Masters), and fortunately the Hax didn’t come for me or my opponents. That’s cool, because I could play a lot of interesting games, facing some very good players out there, mostly Japanese people. I remember playing against a german player,Timo, who defeated Arbol Deku on Italy, and against someone called Justice (his profile said he achieved 8-0 at UK Nationals). Do you know who this guy is? It was a very good game. I also faced a Japanese player with a high rank (+1750 I think); his/her team was Mega Tyranitar, Zapdos, Talonflame… I can’t remember very well, but I think there was no Amoonguss! I don’t know hmmm
But yes, sooner or later, hax appears, and makes you want to quit for a while, making your record go down. You only have to remember that this is Pokémon, and luck factor is so real for everyone. Are you being haxed? Well, stop playing and take a break. We all are being haxed sooner or later. Now I have some more losses only because of hax, and it sucks, yes, but since I only want to have fun and face good players this IC, it’s not a big problem.
Some things I faced so far:
– Encore Victreebel (Sun team with Charizard Y). It can work very well in a bo1 heh
– Furfrou with Charm and Snarl (Rocky Helmet). It can be very annoying with its Ability if not prepared.
– Moody Smeargles and Octillerys
– Mega Tyranitar. A lot.
– Trick Room teams inspired by Lajo I guess
Some thoughts so far:
– Mega Tyranitar is getting VERY popular, specially in Japan, lately (thanks to Wolfey and friends, maybe?). I love Mega Tyranitar, but I have found a lot of Mega TTars and I don’t want to see it anymore this IC haha Most of them were from Japanese players. I found some Mega Gyarados too.
– Kangaskhan is still a trend, and Trick Room teams are growing I think.
– No Rain? I thought after Deku won in UK, Rain would get more popular, but I can only find it on Showdown, and only in one game this IC. Btw, I remember playing against Joej m on PS, and yeah, Hydro Pump hax is real man ^
– Don’t play when you are still asleep. I’m serious. You will destroy your record.
broke 1800 on my stream earlier today (16-4 d1 and 13-1 d2 for a total of 29-5).
but now it’s world cup time! gl hf to everyone and ggs to all of my opponents so far
I’ll stream my final games tomorrow btw
been really unlucky with a record of 30-10 and in the low 1700s rating.
Too true. I had a few matches with some rather scrupulous flinches and paralysis that irritated me, but then I remind myself of my eighth match that I won because my Sableye with just a sliver of health beat two full health pokemon with Swagger. After nine turns of them hitting themselves and misses. So yeah, I don’t get to complain about hax ever.
Yep, I came across someone using his exact team too. Suffice it to say, they didn’t use it nearly as well.
My luck went downhill 30-10.
Ending Day 2 at 26 W – 5 DC – 9 L, or 26 W – 14 L. Pretty pathetic. I don’t really have a choice but to stick with bad (but free) wifi, so I haven’t been able to break 1700 due to a combination of DC’s on my end and the games I lost where I didn’t play as well as I should. Both of those are obviously on me, but other than that, I’ve been learning a lot about my new team and the Pokemon/combinations that give it a hard time that I didn’t expect when I first built it. I also had some great matches with a few users on here.
I can’t even remember my current record since it’s really horrible =( though I did’t expect too much since I’m just testing a new team in order to prepare for the nationals. Good thing is that I keep track of everything in this IC and already have a lot of feedback. My team is too slooow and weak to status moves