Meet the Managers of the NPA and Player Registration
Sign ups have ended with 10 of the previous managers and 23 new users signing up to manage for this season of the National Pokémon Association. Only 6 spots were open and lots of thought was put into the managers chosen. It was tough to make the final calls, but these are the managers and teams that will be playing in this season.
Returning Managers
Zach, Fortree Brave Birds
Zach was the manager of the Brave Birds in the second season of the NPA. He has a large community presence, is a moderator on Nugget Bridge, and has organized many tournaments and kept track of their stats. He won three Regionals in 2013 and barely needed to attend US Nationals that year in order to clinch his Worlds invite. He is committed to victory and knows how to work hard to clutch out.
DrFidget, Goldenrod Gamblers
DrFidget has been a much-loved member of the community after being the only person to stream Worlds in 2010. He is also the organizer of The Lava Pool, a highly informative podcast about the Video Game Championships, usually featuring many powerful trainers sharing advice and strategy. In 2013, he placed 3rd and 7th at two different Regionals. The Gamblers finished 4-4 in NPA 2, and are hungry for an even better placing this season.
Ray, Hearthome Holy Spirits
The three-time World Champion Ray Rizzo. There is not enough space in this brief article to cover his Pokemon successes. In the first NPA, he managed the Cleveland Escavaliers, which finished seventh. Last season, he led the Holy Spirits to a 6-2 final record, losing in the Final Four to the Sunyshore Chargers. He is known for drafting star player DeagleBeagle every season. As always, expect the best.
PrettyLittleLiar, Sunyshore Chargers
PrettyLittleLiar experienced a brief stint as a player in the first NPA before returning as a manager in NPA 2, leading the Sunyshore Chargers to a 6-2 finish in the regular season and 2nd place overall. He has placed at Worlds himself, losing in the Top 4 in 2011 to eventual champion Ray Rizzo. He is an active poster, player, and threat.
Huy, Castelia Cones
Huy has had an incredibly strong presence in the online competitive Pokemon community since the early 2000s. He has also been mighty on the battlefield, with back-to-back Top 8 finishes at Worlds in 2009 and 2010. In the original NPA, the team he co-managed with Darnell Washington, the Chicago Afrobulls, reached the finals, losing to the Sacramento Slakings 2-3. His team, the Cones, went 4-4 last NPA season with a strong comeback at the end of the season. Expect big business from this manager.
Tan, Celestic Stars
Tan has been a member of the VGC community since 2012. The Stars have been known to flood the forum with not only their team spirit but also their good cheer. In NPA 2, he led the stars to a mediocre 4-4 finish. However, the Stars were the only team to take a week away from the Seafoam Islanders all tournament. If they can recreate that success, Tan’s Stars will definitely be a top tier team.
TalkingLion, Fuchsia Ninjas
TalkingLion returns to manage the Fuschia Ninjas, which made the Final Four in NPA 2 with a 4-4 record losing to eventual champions, the Seafoam Islanders. TalkingLion has been a member of the VGC community since 2011 with several high placings in offline tournaments in both the Senior division and the Masters division. He is active as a moderator on Pokemon Showdown and although one of the youngest managers, has shown he knows how to lead.
feathers, Fallarbor Flames
feathers returns to manage the Flames for NPA 3! The Flames finished 3-5 in NPA 2 with strong team players like Fish, gene, and PROFESSORLABCOAT. feathers is a powerful player herself, with an undefeated Swiss run at Oregon Regionals in 2013. She is one of the artists who regularly creates artwork for Nugget Bridge and also the only Canadian manager.
theamericandream38, Seafoam Islanders
theamericandream38 is the player who perhaps has had the most success in the NPA. In the first NPA, he played for the winning team, the Sacramento Slakings. In NPA 2, he led the Seafoam Islanders to a nearly undefeated victory. theamericandream38 and his Islanders are definitely the team to beat this season.
makiri, Mistralton Jets
Like Huy, makiri has been integral to the online Pokemon community for many years. He has had many first place Regional finishes and played in the World Championships. Last NPA season, he managed the Jets and in the eyes of many “won” the draft, emerging with an extremely powerful roster. Although the Jets had a mediocre performance in NPA 2, ending the season at 4-4, Makiri has led several teams in Pokemon tournaments to victory, as well as being a winning player on the Sacramento Slakings in the first NPA. You can never count him out!
And the Newcomers
benjitheGREAT, Goldenrod Rollouts
benjitheGREAT, while a relatively unknown player until the start of the 2011 season, has picked up considerably since, winning multiple Regionals in 2013 and 2014. He is replacing Smith as the manager of the Goldenrod Rollouts. Last season in the NPA, benjitheGREAT went 6-2 playing for the Stars and has shown he knows how a successful team runs in the league.
CT MikotoMisaka, Lavarre Pixies*
CT MikotoMisaka, although sometimes partaking in the oft-forgotten Trading Card Game section of official Pokemon tournaments, has been a longtime member of the online Pokemon community. He joins his Sacramento Slakings teammates makiri and theamericandream38 in the ranks of managers for NPA 3. He played for the Mossdeep Rockets in NPA 2, but otherwise has won every Pokemon team tournament he has participated in.
jio, Lilycove Cruisers*
Jio began his VGC career in 2011. Although he was unable to attend Regionals for the first year, he continues to be an active teambuilder and breeder for many high-level players. When he finally attended a Regional in 2012, he placed Top 8. He is one of the most powerful trainers active in the breeding scene.
Dubulous, Viridian Forest Hornets*
Dubs managed in the first NPA, but took a year off before returning to the scene. His team, the Golden State Wartortles, reached the Final Four before losing 3-2 to the eventual champions, the Sacramento Slaking. He has been a member of the competitive Pokémon community since around 2009.
Alaka, Olivine City Splashes*
Alaka is the second manager to return from the original NPA to manage in NPA 3 without managing last season. He led the Orlando Magikarp to a 5th place finish out of the 8 teams present, drafting a strong roster featuring current Regional champion mattj and first NPA 2 draft pick skarm. Alaka has shown intelligence in both managing and operating a team, and he will not disappoint this season.
Dim, Ever Grande Elite*
Dim has been an active user in the VGC community since 2010, and achieved success in the Senior division in 2012 by winning the World Championships. He didn’t stop there, with high finishes at Regionals, US Nationals, and especially at Worlds in 2013, barely losing in the last round to Cybertron who would go on to make Top 4. Dim continues to be a strong player in the 2014 season, and has clinched his Worlds invite.
Thank you again to everyone who took the time to sign up, sorry if you missed the cut.
*These are new teams and their logos are currently being worked on.
Player Sign-ups
To sign up as a player you must post the following in the comments thread:
Timezone:
Tell us about yourself:
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Now, signing up won’t put you on a team by itself. The NPA draft will take place at some point after the 2014 Pokémon World Championships. The registrations will make up the pool of players that the managers will bid on. You can keep an eye out for managers doing try out sessions in this thread, but please keep in mind that spots are limited and not everyone will be drafted! We will be working to ensure the NPA is as entertaining for spectators as well as the participants themselves. Sign ups will last until August 17th! We look forward to seeing who will sign up this season to be drafted onto one of these 16 teams!
Related Posts
Nugget Bridge Update →
GS Cup Announced as Pokémon’s 2016 Ruleset →
2016 Pokémon World Championships Date & Location Surfaces →
Congrats to the all the managers, I’m looking forward to a great season as a spectator/player!
Timezone: GMT
Tell us about yourself: I am Zog.
Notable accomplishments: I am Zog.
Timezone: Central (GMT -6)
Tell us about yourself: I’ve been playing competitively since 2012 and recently made a name for myself in the community. Most of you guys know me,so I don’t think I need to write that much about myself.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
2014 Season:
Regionals
Houston Regionals: 4th
St. Charles Regionals: 5th
Kansas City Regionals: 7th
Online
Major Season 3: Top 16
International Challenge May: 17th North America
End Season
Nationals: 124th Place (5-4)
Final CP Placement: 24th
Timezone: GMT
)
Tell us about yourself: I’m P3DS, a currently bored student waiting for to go to university. I started playing pokemon in 2007, and then got a friend into pokemon, who in turn got me into the competitive scene in late 2012. I’m prefer more unusual strategies to win my games, and I am not afraid to try out new strategies and pokemon. Notable pokemon I have used (and abused) include delphox, raichu and whiscash (Though not on the same team
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Top 32 UK Nationals 2014
Summer scramble 2.0 runner up
Timezone: US Central Daylight Time
Tell us about your self: I lurked around in 2013 and decided to join this year. I sadly couldn’t make any events this year because of life (stupid life). I hope to attend events not only to do good but to meet people in this community.
Accomplishments: I was 17th in the summer scramble and was picked to manage a team in the NPSCS (basically a mini mini NPA).
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I am Charles, new to VGC this year looking for a shot to prove myself
Notable accomplishments: My first live event was Nats this year went 6-3 with a round 9 lost and was able to squeak out wins against Prettylittleliar and Stormfront/Nightfront.
Timezone: GMT +10: (Australia) but I pretty much live on Europe/USA timezones since I’m always up really late.
Tell us about yourself: 18 years old, I enjoy fine wine and long walks on the beach. My favourite breed of dog is the beagle and I adore Russian Blue Eyed kittens. My favourite Sushi is Tuna, but I’d also settle for the teriyaki chicken. My name on Pokemon Showdown is Zelda, which is what most people should know me by (if they know me) I’m infamous in the Australian community for being bad at accepting defeat. (Trying my best to work at it!)
Notable accomplishments:
We’ve only ever had four tournaments here (that I’ve been able to reasonably attend since the distance between each regional is like 5-6hours away) so I’ll just list them all.
VGC’13 Melbourne Regional: 1st Place
VGC’13 Australian National: did not place
VGC’14 Melbourne Regional: 1st Place
VGC’14 Australian National: Top 32
but it’s Australia so it doesn’t count right?!
Timezone: GMT -6 or Mountain time.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: Bug Catcher and Focus Band Shedinja extraordinaire.
Notable accomplishments: Someone thought I was Cybertron at Nats.
Timezone: GMT
About Me: Played Pokemon for years, usually found drinking too much alcohol
Notable Accomplishments:
Top 16 Germany Nationals 2014
Top 4 Manchester 6.
Timezone: CET (Central European Time)
Tell us about yourself:
I started playing VGC in 2012 where I also learned about RNG and how deep this game actually is. Starting from there, I did anything to make good teams and learned pretty fast what worked and whatnot. I eventually finished high in the International Challenges and formed my first solid team after I got quite some ideas from battle videos and the nugget bridge forum. People told me to join the forum and so I did, and it was the best decision I could make. Pokémon is by far my most favorite hobby and to be honest I probably love this game too much and spend way more time on it then I should^^
Notable accomplishments:
Top8 Germany National Bochum 2013- Team: Cresselia, Heatran, Scrafty, Amoonguss, Thundurus, Ninetales
Top8 Germany National 2014- Team: Mawile, Trevenant, Scrafty, Rotom-Heat, Gardevoir, Goodra
To32 UK National 2014- Team: Mawile, Trevenant, Scrafty, Rotom-Heat, Gardevoir, Goodra,
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: Been doing competitive Pokemon since FR/LG, and it’s been a huge part of my life ever since. Didn’t get into VGC until this season, though.
Notable accomplishments: I got top cut at US nationals this year with a team featuring Hawlucha and Krookodile.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself:
Many of the managers probably know me, and I’ve been around VGC since 2011. I’m an east coast player an avid sports fan, especially baseball. I’ll be going into my Freshman year of college. Also, if you’re a Yankees fan, don’t bother drafting me, we won’t get along (jk).
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Top 4 VA Regionals 2012
Top 8 Philly Regionals 2014
Top 16 VA Regionals 2014
Top 64 GA Regionals 2014
A few high wifi tournament placings (not that they mean much)
Mountain. GMT -6
ABOUT ME: I started playing Pokemon when it first came out. It’s a long hiatus to play Magic the Gathering for many years and after my schedule changed I was unable to do so I had to look for a new hobby. I found that back in Pokemon. I’ve always had a competitive spirit and always want to win. While I had a great run in vgc 2013, I’ve struggled with the new meta. But I’m not a quitter and will continue to improve my game.
ACHIEVEMENTS: I got 6th place at my first regional. I got second place losing to Jivetime in my first international challenge. Later that year, I got 9th place at the US national championships.
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: Been doing competitive Pokemon since FR/LG, and it’s been a huge part of my life ever since. Didn’t get into VGC until this season, though.
Notable accomplishments: I got top cut at US nationals this year with a team featuring Hawlucha and Krookodile.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m a senior who lives in Canada and have been playing vgc since late last season. I am barely known in the community as I rarely post and am mostly a lurker here. I have a lot of free time in the summer and am willing to dedicate a lot of time to the NPA. I also have a terrible name that is misspelt.
Notable achievements: Unfortunatly I have not been able to attend an official event due to where I live and my parents not being willing to drive me to the US for pokemon. However I did place 32 in the May ic for juniors/seniors and have been in the top 10 for showdown.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: 500 likes and I’ll tell you everything you want to know
Notable accomplishments (Optional): Top 32 at three Regionals, 5-4 at US Nationals 2014
Timezone: US CST
Tell us about yourself: I just started VGC this year and have really enjoyed the competitiveness and the game overall. Sadly, I too have not gone to any in-person tournaments either but I am planning to go in the near future.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): None
timezone: pacific
Tell us about yourself: Real name is Tony DeWitt.
-Im from Washington State.
-currantly 17 years old
-I’ve played pokemon since 2005.
-first tournament i ever went to was 2010 seattle regionals
-entered more tournaments after that
-i still hate those single elimination rounds.
-signed in to nuggetbridge in 2013 after worlds
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
–27th oregon regionals 2013 (4-3)(wasn’t a lot of people)
-22nd oregon regionals 2014 (5-2)
-181st Nationals 2014
-only got 2nd in 1 premiere challenge 2014 (wasn’t listed in the results threads which was during the end of june in renton)
-top 32 in LCQ for Worlds 2013
-i wont attend worlds for 2014 sadly
Timezone: GMT
Tell us about yourself:
Just an everyday person who likes to play games competitively ranging from Fifa, call of duty and Pokemon xD
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
UK Nationals 2013: Record 6-3
UK Nationals 2014: Record 6-2
NB Major 3 Top Cut: Top 32
Finished 1st and then 2nd on the Special Doubles battlespot in UK
Winter Championship Finals: 2nd Place
Went 40-2 on showdown until scores got reset at start of the season xD
Finished 9th in Europe in the 1st International Challenge with a record of 29-7
Timezone: CET (Central European Time)
Tell us about yourself: iwinnerrespect
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
-VGC Germany 2012 4th place
-VGC Italy 2014 1st place
+ some top 16 etc at VGCs
Timezone: US Mountain Daylight Time
Tell us about yourself: I didn’t really start playing VGC until 2013 when I attended the Utah Regional. After that, I had the bug and traveled to Phoenix and Salt Lake again this season. I also played in the Nugget Bridge Major this season.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I slept with a worlds qualifier once
I’m also the best VGC player in Connecticut at this time (that’s right TheGr8 you heard you me right)
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
14th Seniors US Nats 2011
20th Senior US Nats 2012
6th MA Regs 2014
68th Masters US Nats 2014 (respectable 6-3 finish)
Timezone: GMT+8
Tell us about yourself:
My name is Melvin and im from Singapore, been playing pokemon since gen 1 and all.
21 this year and currently waiting to serve my conscription.
I have a very competitive spirit and a passion for the sport of MMA.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Although im fairly new to VGC, (started late last season)
I’ve improved tremendously and quickly.. my accolades rank among regularly topping the vgc ladder on pokemon showdown and placing 3rd in americas and 14th overall in the June International Challenge..
I’ve had some offline competition experience as well, placed in the semi-finals of my local competition(although it wasnt an official one as my area does not have those), losing only to the eventual champion.
June IC challenge 14th overall, 3rd in americas
Local tournament: Top 4
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m a Senior
Notable accomplishments (Optional): Won a PC, 8th in World and 1st in Canada for June Senior+Junior IC
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m 22 years old. I’ve been playing Pokemon for a few years now. I have only really gotten interested in competitive Pokemon earlier last year due to X and Y being more accessible in terms of access to mons. I want to be the best I can be. I have not been able to attend live events yet due to transportation issues. I’m willing to work as hard as I can to get better and get as far as possible if drafted.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): None really.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m a Senior
Notable accomplishments (Optional): I won the Brampton PC, 8th Worldwide, 1st in Canada for the Senior+June IC
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: Don’t have much to say other than the fact that I’m the brother of Aaron “CT_Cybertron” Zheng.
Notable accomplishments :
5 time regional champ and World Champion – in Juniors, so you know it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m good.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: My first year in VGC. Never left a tournament with a losing record. 26 ranked in Seniors global.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): 1st Seniors Premier Challenge Wilmington, Delaware
Timezone: (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Tell us about yourself: I didn’t get picked last year.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):