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 →
Timezone: Pacific Time Zone
Tell Us About Yourself: I’ve been playing Pokemon since 2nd grade, and I’m going to be a sophomore in High School this year. I have played competitively since I was 11 years old, but did not get into actual VGC this year. I am currently a senior, will be a master next year. Beedrill is my favorite pokemon, yeah.
Notable Accomplishments:
2nd at Seattle Regionals – Seniors
10th in US May International Challenge – Seniors
Time zone: EST
About me: my first year in VGC, I have made a lot of progress such as winning local tournaments
Noble accomplishments: I made it to round 3 of the dodrio cup, won a premier challenge and got a 6-3 record at nationals
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself:
Started playing VGC earlier this year. Been playing the game as a whole since 2nd generation, and picked up competitively in DPPt. Passionate about the game and its community, and always striving for the best performance.
Notable accomplishments:
4th place, Corpus Christi Premier Challenge May 24th
2nd place; Richland Hills Premier Challenge May 26th
24th place; Houston Regionals October 2012
Timezone:
UTC +10:00
Tell us about yourself:
Hello fellow pokenerds, I’m a 20 year old male who has loved Pokemon from the beginning. Like many of the “older” players on here, RBY was my first taste of Pokemon. ( I actually started with bulbasaur because he is a beast and demolished the first two gyms single-handedly). However after playing constantly my dad became really fed up and threw my gameboy advance in to the wall, smashing it into pieces. This meant that I missed the GSC era , due to not having a gameboy. I skipped straight to RSE after I received a gameboy SP for my 10th birthday. (Which to this day is still my favourite region, ORAS hype!). Ever since I have not missed a generation.
Anyway in regards to my competitive background, I was predominantly an OU player where I had relative success (winning a few online tournaments). However I didn’t start playing competitive VGC until January of this year and ever since then I have been juggling work, law school and pokemon. I have also hovered around the top of the pokemon showdown VGC14 ladder for some time now, my name on there is also Yourf so come say hi if you see me online!
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
2014:
-Top 32 (21st) at the Australian National Video Game Championships. (7-2 swiss, 443 masters.)
– Top 4 (4th) at the Good Games Town Hall February VGC Tournament. (5-1 swiss, 52 masters.)
– Top 4 (3rd) at the Australian Trading Card Championships, VGC side event. (4-1 swiss, 27 competitors.)
2013:
Watching Aaron Zheng losing apart of his soul. LOL
Timezone: UTC
Tell us about yourself: I have a hideous username but actually I’m alright and I don’t really know what this is but Duy told me ‘my stock will have gone up’ after the Invitational so here I am
Notable accomplishments: Top 8 in Major 3, runner-up in Invitational 3 and I’m quite good at wifi tournament grind because I have low self-esteem
Timezone: US Central
Tell us about yourself: There are really a couple reasons why i’d like to join NPA, of course i love battling and the competitive game as a whole but NPA offers a chance to work with people who love the game as much as you do and help you improve week by week. the main reason that i entered this is because i want to get better fast. I really would like to work with everyone on my team to improve my skills and sharpen up my game. I feel that team work is the strongest part of NPA, and something that i’d really like to be a part of.
Notable accomplishments: Went to St.Louis 2014 Regional and went 5-4 with a team that wasn’t fully prepared, then had a downer day at Kansas Regionals going 4-4 although another team i had built that was being used by another person went 5-3.
TImezone: US EDT
Tell us about yourself: I just graduated college so I’ve got a little extra free time as I hunt down a career, I’m a cyclist, musician, audiophile, and I’m really getting into cooking. I don’t know what people are really looking for in a team member for this but I’m intelligent, dedicated, creative, and pretty easy to get along with. Thanks for taking the time to read my blurb about myself.
Notable Accomplishments: I’m going to assume you only wish to know about my Pokemon accomplishments. I won the block 2 live swiss tournament here on the NB and I won the Okemos, MI Premier challenge a couple months back
Timezone: Arizona (PST until November, GMT)
Tell us about yourself: I am a Christian homeschooled sophomore in my last year of the seniors VGC age division. I have been playing VGC since 2010 and haven’t turned back. I really enjoy using off-metagame Pokémon seriously such as Bronzong, Gothitelle (well, it used to be off-meta anyways…), and Reuniclus. I am a proud member of Team Magma and love playing in team vs. team style tournaments. I play Pokemon seriously and play to win, I wont let any team that drafts me down.
Notable Accomplishments: (Bold– Official Play Pokémon! events, Underlined– Nuggetbridge tournament, Normal Text- Premier Challenge / International Challenge / Other)
1st Salt Lake City Regionals 2013
3rd Phoenix Regionals 2013 (2014 Circuit, Fall 2013)
Top 8 Indianapolis Nationals 2013
2nd Indianapolis Nationals 2014
5th Holiday Scramble
1st Summer Scramble 2.0
2nd seed for overall NB Circuit points (Season 3/VGC 2014)
1st Phoenix Premier Challenge June
2nd Phoenix Premier Challenge May
1st June International Challenge
Top 16 May International Challenge
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: This was my first season playing in official VGC tournaments. Every ‘mon I use without a Choice item carries Protect. I used to put my PokeWalker on my dog’s collar.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
6-3 at ’14 Long Beach Regionals.
5-3 at ’14 Kansas City Regionals.
6-3 at ’14 US Nationals.
Timezone: (GMT -5:00) US EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m Godzilla Big. I’ve been playing VGCs since my crushing 1st round loss in Atlanta, GA during VGC 2011. Been a long time Pokemon player since Red & Blue and my favorite Pokemon is the fiery monkey himself, Infernape. I pretty much lurk the forums/articles and think of new team comps. When it comes to Pokemon I know my stuff. Send me your best and I can find a way to beat their team with a lv 9 Pidgey. Ok maybe not lv 9 but it’ll still be a Pidgey.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): top32 every Florida and Georgia regional I’ve been to in the 2012-2013 seasons.
I hope to make the cut and make some new friends in the process
GB
in fc: 0232 – 8267 – 3674
Timezone: WEST +1
Tell us about yourself: Hi guys my name is Tiago and i start to play vgc this year, i participate in some online tournaments here and out of here to improve my skills and my team.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): no one… for now x)
Timezone: EST (GMT -5)
Tell us about yourself: Been playing VGC since 2012. Looking to take that next step and this seems like good practice.
Notable Accomplishments:
2012 Philly VGC Regional: 5-2 (55th)
2013 Philly VGC Regional: 5-3 (46th)
2014 Philly VGC Regional 5-3 (38th)
2013 International Challenge April: 47th in North America
2013 International Challenge June: 27th in North America
2014 International Challenge May: 37th in North America
2014 International Challenge June: 33rd in North America
Timezone:
PST
Tell us about yourself:
I have a very busy life IRL, but I return every year to do my best at the events I can attend.
Notable accomplishments
2nd Seattle Regional
4th Salem Regional
6th Salem Regional
Timezone: GMT, baby.
Tell us about yourself: I’m an actor and YouTuber. I’ve been playing Pokémon since, like, EVER, but I’m pretty new to VGC, and VGC ’15 will be my first proper taste of competitive battling. I can’t ride a bike. I can ride a bike in Pokémon, but not in real life.
Notable Accomplishments:
1. I went into an online doubles battle with someone recently and only selected 3 Pokémon instead of 4. I didn’t even realise my error until he brought his 4th Pokémon out and I was left with a forlorn looking Charizard who probably thought I did it deliberately to punish him or something.
2. Almost beat Cybertron in a battle a year and a bit ago (I lost 4-0 and barely did any damage to him, but I don’t see why that’s relevant).
3. Handsome.
Timezone: IST (Which is the same as GMT I think)
Tell us about yourself: I’m Kelly, I’m a Canadian living in Ireland. I play music. I program. I play video games. Been playing Pokemon competitively since 2013, but really only got more serious about it this year. I also co-host 2 Pokemon Podcasts.
Notable accomplishments: Top 4 at a difficult UK nationals 2014, earning myself a trip to Worlds.
Timezone: EST
About myself: I’m from Quebec. I’m 19 and started to play VGC this year. I started playing pokémon when I was a kid with the blue and yellow version. I play often on Showdown to try my team and see if I have to change something for make my team better or for try a new team. I will do everything I can to help the team !!!
Notable accomplishments: Top 8 of the Dodrio Cup.
Timezone: GMT
About myself: I’m from Kent in UK, 35 years old and been playing since the originals. Been on the UK competitive scene for the past 5 years with limited success, but this year after going to the German VGC as well as UK I managed 5-3. I also put together a team for and entered my 4 year old son into juniors for the first time and he came 9th (finished 18th in Europe for CP)
Notable Accomplishments: Currently 12th in the UK on the current season of BS Rated Doubles. Last 16 of the Dodrio Cup.
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I was once a very courageous avialae. Zach can vouch that I was a big team player last year, accommodating odd schedules and breeding needs of the other teammates, and went out of my way to improve over the course of the NPA season. I also made spreadsheets and things, since Zach likes those. Pick me if you want someone who can devote himself fully to the team and get along with basically anyone.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
Timezone: GMT
Tell us about yourself: My names Simon I’m 22 and live in London, I’m currently a freelance videographer. Played Pokemon for years but entered my first Pokemon tournament this year finishing 2nd at Germany Nationals. I’m in it to win it!
Notable accomplishments:
2nd Germany Nationals, losing to Yoshi in the final.
Going Worlds, tomorrow in fact for paid invite.
Timezone: Central Standard Time US (Wisconsin)
Tell us about yourself: 20 years old, played pokemon since the beginning but only got into the competitive scene in the VGC 2014 season and participated in VGC Wisconsin as my first ever event and also took part in the May and June IC Challenge!
Notable Accomplishments: 25th at VGC Wisconsin 2014 going 6-2 (1st ever event), 81st in NA for May IC 2014, 50th in NA for June IC 2014, 48th in USA for online ‘Super Speed Double Battle Competition’—1st competitive season
Timezone: GMT +1
Tell us about yourself: I’m 18 years old, i’m starting my carreer at Law this year and I’ve been playing Pokémon since Ruby Sapphire. I started playing competitively this year.
Notable Accomplishments: None i guess
Timezone: EST
Tell about yourself:16 years old, rising senior, curry, played vgc since 2011, i go by nacho
Notable Accomplishments: Top 4 Worlds 2012 (Seniors), Top 8 Philly 2013 (Masters)
Timezone: CET (GMT +1)
Tell us about yourself:
I’m originally a tcg player, but i started vgc earlier this year and it was kind of fun. So maybe i’ll play vgc events from now on. There’s only one problem, there are no vgc tourneys in the Netherlands, buuuuh. I’m also active on PS, testing new teams and stuff.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
5th place German National championships
I also wanted to play in UK, but I did not have the money for it.
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: Started VGC this year, however I have been playing since Red & Blue, I am in my Junior year at one of the top 30 Universities in the world.
Notable accomplishments:
Although not VGC only anymore, Rated Doubles I have gone highest of ~1750 by using only VGC teams.
Timezone: gmt
Tell us about yourself: you know who i am
Notable accomplishments (Optional): there’s a character limit on this forum sorry
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: Approaching 10th year playing competitively IRL events. Calm and quiet person and practically a ghost online, but am willing to try to improve in the online team environment.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
4 for 4 in VGC 2009 Lottery Events
1-2 Regionals Finals – Ft. Wayne Fall 2012, Madison Spring 2013, Phoenix Fall 2013
5th/8th US National Championships (2013/2011)
Competed in World Championships 2013 & 2011 – 14th 2013 World Championships
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m Dan.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
If you don’t know who I am or what my accomplishments are I probably don’t want you to draft me :3noneTimezone: GMT+1
Tell us about yourself: Chargers Veteran
Notable accomplishments: check by yourself
Timezone: Eastern
Tell us about yourself: VGC Competitor of 4 years. Poor decisions such as previous usernames and team choices are in the past now.