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 →
EST time zone
I’m Shredman 3 and most of my accomplishments include bubbling pretty much every tourney that i have been in with 7-2 and 6-3 records and so on
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’m good at pokemon, trust me.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
RIP rockets
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’ve been playing on and off since VGS 2008 but I still haven’t done anything notable. Maybe I should just reconsider my entire Pokemon career…
Notable accomplishments:
meh
Timezone: Central
About me: I’ve played Pokemon for a while, but I’ve only recently started competitive ranked matches this gen, and VGC-specific play starting at the beginning of this year. That said, I feel like I’ve gained a relatively solid understanding of how competitive Pokemon works. In all honesty, I put a crap ton of time into breeding and team building, but since I haven’t gone to any major event, I don’t know how I’d stack up. All I know is that on online competitions, my W/L isn’t too bad. About 2/3 in most cases.
I’m a Masters player and a student in college.
Achievements: Well, none. >_>
Timezone: CMT
About me: I played Pokemon competitively since 2010 as a Junior until 2013 as a Senior during the previous NPA season. After a weak performance at the 2014 Texas Regional, I felt it was time to take a break from Pokemon and focus on my first year of high school and baseball. I have remained fairly inactive apart from reading the occasional team report on the site, but the upcoming World Championship has gotten me fairly excited about the game again. Anyways, I’m a pretty relaxed guy, and I’m hoping that NPA could help me to reintegrate myself into the community.
Achievements:
Timezone: EST
About me: I’ve been playing Pokemon competitively for just this Gen, and this weekend I am attending the LCQ for worlds and going to be there for it
Achievements: Placed 4th in Arizona’s Desert Sky Premiere Cup, placed 32 in North America in the June International Challenge
Timezone: PDT
About Me: I have a really unique and cool hobby called competitive Pokemon!…
Also I have an extremely basic idea of what Matrix-assisted laser desorption is (elephants apparently fly when you blow up buildings around them).
Notable Accomplishments:
2011: 2nd place Seattle Regionals (Seniors)
2012: 2nd place Pleasanton Regionals, Top 16 US Nationals (Seniors)
2013: 1st place Vancouver Regionals, Top 16 US Nationals, 1st place Worlds (Seniors)
2014: Top 16 NB major
I haven’t been able to do too well yet this year (aside from the major) mostly because my Worlds invite and trip were already locked up- and i’ve had to get used to people expecting me to be good, which hasn’t happened before and was surprisingly hard for me to deal with. I’m hoping to do well at worlds,though, and at the very least I’ll have had worlds experience in this metagame by the time the draft rolls around.
Timezone: CDT
About Me: I have KiwiDawg’s phone number and am Aaron Zhang’s number 1 fan
Notable Accomplishments:
2011: T16 Dallas Regional
2012: 6th Houston Regional, 8-0 Nats Swiss 9th overall
2013: T4 Athens Regional
2014: T8 Houston Regional
Timezone: Central European Time (Germany)
Tell us about yourself: I got back into Pokemon this generation from a long break after PKMN Silver, mainly because I heard the Generation I Starters would be available again and I wanted to see Pokemon actually moving in 3D.
What sparked my interest in VGC were the youtube channels of Aaron Zheng and Alex Ogloza, however I didn’t manage to participate in any events this year, so I literally created my account here today to sign up for this event, hoping to learn more about VGC.
Notable accomplishments: None so far.
I’m signing up
Timezone: GMT+1
Tell us about yourself: Competitive player since 2012
Timezone: CST
Tell us about yourself: I play pokemon, league, etc
Notable accomplishments (Optional): idk i just got 4th in worlds is that good enough
(im too tired to make a long post)
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I’ve been playing VGC since around the beginning of the year. I have been playing competitively since gen 4 playing singles and I played through a lot of gen 5 singles.
Timezone: What is a timezone I don’t sleep. (But PST)
Tell us about yourself: Canada, Denny’s, OITNB.
Notable accomplishments (optional): I made it on time for a tournament once! Also one of Aaron Zheng’s top picks for a basketball team and at an almost-Suleski-level at sleeping on things. Oh and silly stuff like winning/Top 4ing a combined five Regionals and participating in Worlds like once. I can win kinda sometimes maybe?
Timezone: EST (Puerto Rico)
Tell us about yourself: I’m 20, currently studying accounting. Been playing pokemon since I was 7, competitive wise (VGC) since last year and I trying to make a name for myself so I can represent my hometown.
Notable accomplishments: Won some local tourneys (Poke Island) and won 2 online tourneys (Pokemon PR) that’s pretty much it.
Timezone: (will edit it when i find this out)
.
Tell us about yourself: i am 19 years old and i am a VGC player from chile. Im currently studying but always make some time to play this game
Notable acomplishment: i dont have to many achievments becouse we dont have too many official tournaments (and when there are, im always unable to atend haha), but i wast first place from my country when special ladder had VGC rules, and also i had the oportunity to represent my country in an internationational battle against ecuador, and to represent southamerica in VGC13 when we played against team USA.
Gmt +1
“Ben pick me”
Timezone: GMT
Tell us about yourself: My name is Anis Haque. I like playing games, travelling & watching sports
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
LCQ Top 8 Hawaii 2012
17th UK 2013
Top 32 UK 2014
Timezone: PST
Tell us about yourself:
Being as a Canadian player and fairly new to VGC, I have not yet joined any large tournament in real life or online one either except for one. This is due to my nature that I don’t really like to travel around (traveling always leaves fatigue and I am very bad at adjusting myself back to my ordinary life.). However, I have joined couple of events held in my hometown, Vancouver; they include a regional in 2013, world LCQ in 2013, and a Premiere Event held this year. However, for the former two, I found out about it a day and three days before respectively. This left me with minimal time to plan my team for those two events.
Currently, I call myself teambuilder rather than a player because I have found that I spend more time thinking about a team and individual spreads of a member than actually playing. I like to analyze a metagame and produce a very critical yet well-rounded team. I have shared many of my thoughts, strategies and spreads in Showdown! chatroom.
I usually give a team based on my friends’ wants, such as “I want to use Mega-Mawile” and “I want to use Mega-Ampharos”, and think of a team that satisfies their favour. In terms of playing, I only test teams out and don’t stick to one team for a long time.
The reason that I have decided to take a shot for this is because I have a bunch of ideas that I want to try out. I have simulated on Showdown! but haven’t had a chance to make it in-game. If I were picked, I would do my best to support my team by providing ideas, advices, and suggestions and by training myself to become a better player.
Notable accomplishments (Optional):
I want keep my real name secret. Besides, they are not that notable : )
Timezone: GMT+1
Tell us about yourself: VGC Player since 2011
Notable accomplishments (optional): UK & Germany National Champion
Timezone: GMT+10 (Australia)
Tell us about yourself:
Last minute putting my name down here after doing well at Worlds and being encouraged by Zach to join in. Been playing competitive since gen 4, VGC since 2011. Was living in Thailand in 2013 when Australia had their first official circuit, so this was my first proper season. I’m a well known player in the Melbourne community (Dayne O’Meara), regularly placing highly in grassroots VGC tournaments. Also known as ProfTeak on Showdown. I would describe my playstyle as blending creative/niche stuff with standard picks. I like tricky stuff, but also to have multiple modes to bring for best of three games. I test millions of awful teams before I settle on a couple I like, which I tend to stick with for a long time.
Edit: Not relevant to Pokemon but I’m 25 and I teach first year anthropology at university by day, roll burritos by night.
Notable accomplishments:
Top 8 at 2014 Worlds this weekend (7th seed after swiss)
2014 Australian National Champion
2014 Melbourne Regionals runner up
Top ranking Australian player in season 2 of Battle Spot special ladder
Edit: Very very brief Worlds warstory-
Round 1 vs Tony Nguyen/Competny (Aus): win 2-0
Round 2 vs Ryota (Japan): win 2-1
Round 3 vs Jeudy/SoulSur (US): win 2-1
Round 4 vs Miguel/Sekiam (Spain): win 2-1
Round 5 vs Ryosuke (Japan): lose 0-2
Round 6 vs Yosuke (Japan): lose 0-2
Top 8 vs Collin/TheBattleRoom (US): lose 1-2
Timezone EST
Tell us about yourself: Joined in april 2012 as a disciple of the almighty Ben Rothman. i have only been to one live tournament, Philly regionals 2013 where i placed 34th after a disappointing run. I have the drive you want and if nothing else i can make ben perform. so that’s something.
accomplishments:
T8 dodrio cup. not much else as i have had conflicts with basically every tournament
Timezone: EST
Tell us about yourself: I was connecting through DC earlier today and noticed a couple hats from Worlds and thought to myself, “man I miss those events!” I’ve played some 2014 on showdown to get a feel for the game, but I did not play a single event with CP involved all. I do not have a 2014 team on a game cartridge. So that being said I am definitely far from a value pick but I remember NPA being really fun, things are always more fun as a team.
Timezone: CDT
Tell us about yourself: It’s yo boy nave aka chicken little aka the most average vgc player.. I Started vgc at madison 2013 with a really strong 3-4. I started really practicing and learning how the game works leading up to u.s. nats and landed myself at a 6-3 record. I had a disappointing run throughout the season with but brought myself together right before nats 2014 where i landed a 7-2 record for day 1 and a 3-3 record for day 2. I got the drive and love testing new ideas with players and tearing apart the meta!
Tell us about yourself:
I did marginally better than Ray in Worlds 2014.
Timezone: CET
Tell us about yourself: I’m 15 years old and my name is Amin Sulzer. I started playing CP and VGC this season, Septembre 2013. I like playing Pokemon because there are so much possibilities what to do and Predict in just one turn and this is awesome.
Notable accomplishments (Optional): I was the runner up in the Italian Nationals in Milan and lost against Mark, the runner up on Worlds. Also, I was on Worlds and I’m still lying here in my room in the hotel xD. I only went 3-3 and were top32, but this were my first Worlds and I think it’s good^^
Timezone: UTC -4 (Santiago)
Tell us about yourself:
I don’t speak english, it always has been difficult for me but I’ve read many reports and analysis to improve.
Timezone: Central
About myself: I’m Kinderlew
Accomplishments: I’m Kinderlew
In
I’ll edit my friend code into the post later