Reports

Published on April 28th, 2015 | by LithiumAcid

18

Best in Show: 4th Place St.Louis Regionals and 7th Place Orlando Regionals Team Report

This is a report on two variations of the team used originally used by Michael Fladung (Primitive), and later used by Adit Selvaraj (LithiumAcid) to get 4th and 7th place at St. Louis and Orlando Regionals, respectively. This article is written by both of them, and they have chosen to written this as such, to highlight the differences in both variations.

Primitive’s Take

Hey everyone! I’m Michael Fladung, a.k.a Primitive here on the forums. In this article, I want to showcase the team I used to achieve 4th place at Missouri Regionals and 2nd place at the subsequent Premier Challenge. This team was very fun and reliable. I’m glad I had success with this team.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash (Squad Lord)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Quick Guard
– Protect

(Used in 8/9 Swiss games and 5/9 Top Cut games)

Terrakion is my favorite Pokémon. It’s a Pokémon that brought me success back in 2013, so I aimed to use Terrakion on this team as well. I chose to use Focus Sash because I always wanted my Terrakion to win the mirror even if it lost a Speed tie. Focus Sash also made Terrakion a great lead option.

Terrakion helped against a lot of Pokémon that the other members of this team had problems with – namely, Mega Charizard-Y, Heatran, Mega Kangaskhan, and Thundurus. I don’t think this team would have been as successful without Terrakion and its ability to deal massive damage.

Terrakion was the leader of the group, making it the Squad Lord.

Thundurus-I (M) @ Sitrus Berry (Steeznuts)
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 100 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 132 SpD / 156 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Thunder Wave
– Taunt

(Used in 6/9 Swiss games and 3/9 Top Cut games)

What can I say about Thundurus? Best Pokemon in VGC ’15, in my opinion. Thundurus is an amazing support Pokemon that can help shut down a lot of teams. Prankster Taunt can prevent any sort of set up from your opponent with the gift of priority. Thunder Wave is the best move in the game, and it definitely won me a few matches.

The EV spread makes Landorus-T Rock Slide a 3HKO with Sitrus Berry. It also survives Double-Edge from Adamant Mega Kangaskhan and Life Orb Draco Meteor from Hydreigon. The speed was continually tweaked until I found myself outspeeding opposing Thundurus at least 8/10 times, as I saw it important to outspeed and Taunt the opposing Thundurus.

The nickname is my Pokemon Showdown! alt. I couldn’t think of any good nicknames, so I went with the only name I knew for a fact I liked.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite (20XX)
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch

(Used 9/9 swiss games and 9/9 top cut games)

When I was thinking of a mega, my first thought was Kanghaskhan. I saw Kangaskhan as the safest, most reliable mega going into a tournament with no set meta. I went with the most basic spread. I wanted to, at worst, speed tie with other base 100’s and saw it unnecessary to invest in more bulk. Kangashkhan appeared in all of my games and was extremely useful in all of them.

The nickname is stolen from William Hall (Biosci) I saw his Kanghaskhan named 20XX back at Arizona regionals last october, and I thought it was hilarious and a great reference.

Suicune @ Leftovers (Bruh)
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 100 SpA / 108 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Tailwind
– Protect

(Used 3/9 swiss games and 6/9 top cut games)

Suicune is, in my opinion, the best Water-type right now. With its amazing base stats and a good variety of support moves, it was the first Water-type to catch my attention.

I really needed a good counter to Landorus-T and Suicune definitely filled that role. The EVs allow it to outspeed Choice Scarf Landorus-T in Tailwind and OHKO 252 HP Landorus-T with Ice Beam.
The Defense EVs allow it to live a +1 Jolly M-Salamence Double-edge and retaliate back with an ice beam. The Special Defense EVs are to live Choice Specs Thundurus Thunderbolt and to absorb stronger special attacks.

I nicknamed Suicune “Bruh” after a game I played on Pokemon Showdown! where my opponent said “Bruh” to me after it survived from turn the first turn to the end of the game.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy (Shmoney.)
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Wide Guard
– King’s Shield

(used 5/9 swiss games and 8/9 top cut games)

Aegislash’s role was to help against Trick Room teams because they were a huge problem and nothing on my team could work well with Trick Room up. Giving Aegislash the least possible amount of Speed allowed him to outspeed most other Pokemon in Trick Room.

I used a very straight forward EV spread for a very straight forward Pokemon. The boost from Weakness Policy allows me to OHKO Mega Mawile with Flash Cannon after taking a Sucker Punch. I was very split on whether or not to use Wide Guard or Substitute, but after thinking about the pros and cons, I chose Wide Guard to help against Sylveon Hyper Voice and Landorus-T Rock Slide/Earthquake.

The name Shmoney was a joke nickname I threw on in the registration line before a Premier Challenge back in January. My local friend John enjoyed the name a lot and wanted me to keep it, so I did.

Arcanine @ Rocky Helmet (TheGr8)
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
– Flamethrower
– Snarl
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

(used 5/9 swiss games and 5/9 top cut games)

Arcanine is by far my favorite member of the team. I got this EV spread from Colten Lybbert (Rookie Slayer MLG), so thank you Colten for the Arcanine. I am really glad I used Arcanine during the event; I really like Arcanine as a Pokemon, and he was very fun to use.

For this slot on my team, I needed a Fire-type, needed Intimidate, and I also needed more physical bulk. The 60 Speed EV investment allowed me to outspeed Adamant Bisharp and the rest was put into bulk. It was very effective in the tournament and it allowed my Arcanine to stay on the field without fear.

This Arcanine is named after my good friend, Tom Hull (TheGr8), who has supported me for a long time and has really helped me stay focused.

Shoutouts:

• Richard Ashby (TheAshAttacks) and Lee Camacho (raindanceking) for driving out there with me and helping me out the whole weekend.
• Adit Selvaraj (LithiumAcid) Glad to have made this article with you. And I’m happy to see your success with the team.
• Chase Lybbert (I Am A Rookie), Colten Lybbert (Rookie Slayer MLG), Sam Johnson (Rasta Charmander), and Chris Danzo (Lunar), thanks for being my good friends and testing with me before the event. Team Tank Top!
• Tyson Gernack (Firefly) Talking to you daily helps me think a lot and really helped me prepare for regionals. Thanks for supporting me!
• Tom Hull (TheGr8) You’re awesome! Thanks for all your help, and I got Arcanine in top cut just for you!
• Andrew Burley (CandyAndykins) you are the funniest, and you made me laugh all weekend.
• Kevin Fisher: thanks for letting us stay in your room the night before the tournament and playing Project M with me until 5 am.

LithiumAcid’s Orlando Regional Report

Hello there, Nugget Bridge! My name is Adit Selvaraj (LithiumAcid) and today I’m going to talk about the team that I used to get Top 8 at the Florida Pokemon Regional. However, before we get started, I’d like to introduce myself a bit more properly.

To get some context about me, I started playing VGC in 2011 after reading about it on pokemon.com. I have fond memories of playing on the SkarmBliss server and have enjoyed watching the meta evolve. I attended my first event last year at Orlando Regionals with a heavily modified version of Keewan Bae’s Eject Button Politoed team and ended the day with a 5-4 record. With this, I had my first live tournament experience and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the majority of the community. I was unable to attend Nationals due to a previously planned trip to India and the United Kingdom. While in the UK, I had the opportunity to meet my friends Brandon Ikin (Toquill) and Worlds 2013 competitor Rina Purdy (SqishyRina). The whole international scope of the social experience was enough to pester my parents to let me go to Washington D.C for the World Championships.

My final event of the VGC 2014 season was the Worlds Last-Chance Qualifier where I used UK national champion Albert Baneres (Arbol Deku)’s team of Politoed /Ludicolo/Manectric-M/Talonflame/Mawile-M/Hydreigon. I went 2-1 where I lost in the 3rd round to a Japanese player using a Scarf Smeargle and an Unnerve Mega-Tyranitar. Despite not qualifying through the LCQ, Worlds was a such a great experience and I became even more determined to make a name for myself in the following season.

I wasn’t able to attend any Fall Regionals, so I spent a lot of time studying the Battle Spot Doubles metagame, namely the Japanese grassroots tournaments such as the Arena-Off.

As soon as ORAS was released I played a lot on the Battle Spot Doubles ladder even at one point reaching 5th in the USA with a strange Perish Trap team of non-Mega Disable Kangaskhan/ Sap Sipper Azumarill/ Mega-Gengar/Fire Spin Arcanine/ Amoonguss/ Landorus-T. I liked the inherent feel of the team, but I didn’t want to use a team that required it to reveal all of its tricks to win.

After testing the standard Entei goodstuff team (which was extremely popular in Japan in XY) extensively, I became frustrated about how Sacred Fire rarely burned the opponent for me. I knew I would need something more consistent to make it through the Swiss Rounds, so I bid farewell to the Volcano Pokemon.

Feeling hopeless and woefully uninspired, i decided to watch the St. Louis Regional stream to get some inspiration, I saw Michael Fladung (Primitive)’s team of Kangaskhan/ Arcanine / Terrakion/ Suicune/ Thundurus/ Aegislash. The team instantly caught my eye, namely because the team utilized some of my favorite Pokemon of all time. I honestly think that one does the best with Pokemon they are attached to (granted if they are viable, of course).

Michael kindly shared his spreads with me and I tailored them to my liking. I was extremely pleased with how this team performed, and I was ecstatic I could achieve a Top 8 at a regional with my favorite Pokemon. Without further ado, let’s get on to the team!

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite (<3MamaBirch<3)
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

I don’t have much to say about Kangaskhan. It’s simple, effective, and I don’t want to overcomplicate such a standard fixture in our metagame.

In testing I found that Kangaskhan would accumulate boosts and then be the victim of a double target which would effectively taking her out of the battle. For this reason, I decided to run Protect over Fake Out. Protect was extremely helpful in burning Trick Room or Tailwind turns, and I would highly recommend it over Fake Out.

A well timed Protect allowed my +2 Kangaskhan to ravage an opponent’s team with ease if they foolishly double targeted her.

Kangaskhan is named after everybody’s favorite cute white girl, Angel Miranda (CT_MikotoMisaka).

Suicune @ Leftovers (HeavenlyBlue~)
Ability:Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 92 SpA / 44 SpD / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Protect
– Tailwind

Suicune is THE premiere bulky water type in my opinion. With absurd bulk on both sides of the spectrum, an impressive support movepool, and an amazing design, Suicune appealed highly to me.

Suicune’s locus of support goes far beyond what Rotom-W can do in regards to its teammates. Tailwind was a form of speed control that ultimately sold it for me on over the washing machine.

The EVs allow Suicune to outspeed Scarf Landorus 100% of the time in Tailwind and OHKO most variants barring the uncommon but effective Assault Vest version. This was a better chance to outspeed than the more bulkier 20 Speed one I was planning on using. Thanks to David Mancuso and Tommy Cooleen for convincing me to use this spread instead.

I was annoyed that I was forced to forgo Sitrus Berry, but Thundurus appreciated the burst recovery instead. To accommodate this change I decided to use Protect over Snarl to synergize better with Leftovers.

Suicune is named after the song “Heavenly Blue” by Kalafina. It’s the opening theme for the anime Aldnoah Zero, which is one I highly recommend.

Thundurus-Incarnate @Sitrus Berry (Dear My Friend~)
Ability: Pranskter
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 68 Spe
Bold Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power [Ice]
-Taunt
-Thunder Wave

As much as I’d like not to admit it, I felt like I abused Thundurus far too much during this particular tournament.

Whether it was spreading paralysis with Thunder Wave, or preventing set up with Taunt, Thundurus truly pulled it’s weight during the event.

The EV spread was given to me by 2-time UK national champion Ben Kyriakou (Kyriakou) and allowed it to survive a Stone Edge from Adamant 252 Attack Landorus, as well as Rock Slide being a 3HKO after Sitrus Recovery. 68 Speed was used to always outspeed all non-Scarf Smeargle 100% of the time.

Thundurus’s nickname comes from one of the ending theme songs of To Aru Kagaku Railgun, a series with a protagonist who can manipulate electricity.

Terrakion @ Focus Sash (Oath/Sign)
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
-Close Combat
-Quick Guard
-Protect
-Rock Slide

Terrakion’s purpose was to be a check for Charizard Y as well as a way to deal heavy damage to opposing Mega Kangaskhan. Having a fast STAB Rock Slide was immensely helpful as well.

I absolutely hate mirror matches so I chose Focus Sash as an extra insurance in case I ended up losing the speed tie to opposing Terrakion. Unfortunately, the Focus Sash was broken in both instances I was facing another Terrakion, but I was able to either make a prediction or naturally win the speed tie to make up for it.

The nickname is the title of the opening song to my favourite anime, Fate/Zero.

Arcanine @Safety Goggles (*Synre*)
Ability:Intimidate
EVs: 204 HP / 156 Def / 44 SpA / 28 SpD / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
-Flamethrower
-Will-O-Wisp
-Snarl
-Morning Sun

My absolute favorite Pokemon on this team. I have been enamored with Arcanine ever since 1999 and my goal was to simply Top Cut a regional event with it.

I knew Arcanine wasn’t used as much in previous metagames except for 2009 as a Lv.1 Smeargle counter. However, the more physically oriented metagame of VGC 2015 gave Arcanine the perfect targets to smite a Will-o-Wisp on. My bias toward it only increased more and more after seeing Scott Glaza (Scott) hyping it up on Twitter.

The reason why I employed Arcanine as my Fire-Type over Rotom-H or Heatran is simply because I enjoyed using moves like Will-O-Wisp and Snarl in tandem with Intimidate. My play style is focused on lowering the opponent’s offensive potential and I used Arcanine much like my bulky Snarl Manectric I used in the majority of my 2014 events. Arcanine couldn’t have been a more perfect candidate (or canine) for this role on my team.

The Defense EVs allows Arcanine to survive moves like 252 Attack Double Edge from Jolly Kangaskhan and a double target Earthquake from 252 Adamant Landorus-Therian even before factoring in the attack drop from Intimidate. The 76 Speed investment allows it to outspeed max speed Adamant Bisharp and burn it with a Will-O-Wisp. The rest of the EVs were dumped in Special Attack and Special Defense.

While talking to Michael (Primitive) about the team, he mentioned he wished he had Safety Goggles to help with the Amoonguss match up. Unfortunately, I did not run into a single Amoonguss or Breloom the whole day and in hindsight, another item like Rocky Helmet would have sufficed. Flamethrower was chosen over Heat Wave because of the stronger power a single-target move has.

The nickname comes from Scott’s name from his time as magnanimous moderator on Smogon. Arcanine is one of his favorite Pokemon as well, so it was only fitting I named it after him.

Aegislash @Weakness Policy (ShadowWORLD)
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 92 SpA / 156 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
-Shadow Ball
-Flash Cannon
-King’s Shield
-Wide Guard

And now in the most anti-climactic fashion I bring you the most boring Pokemon on the team.

The spread is a Modest version of Colin Heier (TheBattleRoom) ‘s Worlds Aegislash spread. However in retrospect, I wish I had used a Quiet 0 Spd IV one, as it would have helped immensely against Wolfe, and possibly help me win Game 3 of my Top 8 match with Wiretap.

Combined with Arcanine’s Snarl, and the SDef EVs, Aegislash was able to survive a double target Earth Power from M-Camerupt and Cradily on the same turn, and OHKO Cradily with a +2 Flash Cannon in my 6th round Swiss game.

The nickname comes from Persona 4: The Golden’s opening theme ,”Shadow World”.

War Story:

First of all I want to thank Franklin Sujo (kunx990) for picking me up from my house and driving me to the event.

When we reached Orlando, we had a few hours before we have to pick up David Mancuso (Mancuso), so I went to the venue. The TCG event is in full-swing and I’m fortunate enough to see my friends Tom Hull (Arcanine buddy :>) and Tommy Cooleen (Tman) who’s already 2-1 in the TCG event (he later scooped out of Top Cut to play VGC the next day). It was great to see them after Worlds again.

At 4:30, Franklin and I leave in the pouring rain to pick up Mancuso from the airport. Unfortunately we hit a pot-hole, and we have to spend another 3 hours replacing a damaged tire. On the car ride to Zach Drogenkamp (Braverius) ‘s hotel, Mancuso and I hype Franklin up on the power of Clefairy/Clefable over Amoonguss. Franklin heeded the advice and ended up making Top Cut the next day!

Franklin drops us off at the Ramada hotel, where an old man (who had far too much to drink) helped Mancuso and I find our hotel room. I was so happy to see Zach again, and meet Jonathan McMillan (MrEobo) for the first time. Later, Justin Stipe (panko), Garrett Cresenzi (araluen7), and Jake Muller (MajorBowman) and a few other players stopped by the hotel room. We all were hungry, so we decided to get a late dinner at Chik-Fil-A (in our pajamas, more or less).

I spent a lot of time talking to MrEobo (who rocked some fabulous Pikachu lounge pants) and MajorBowman, talking about a multitude of things like the Shiny + Contest Ribbon animation mechanics (which actually wastes 20 seconds on the timer every time you switch a Pokemon in) and MrEobo’s legendary response to the “Is Dewgong viable?” thread.

Later that night 3rd in the World but number 1 in our hearts, Collin Heier, finally comes from the airport. Me and Collin messed around with Mancuso for an hour and then fall asleep. I was a bit sleepless for a while, as by that time tomorrow I would know whether I made it into my first Regional top cut. The fear of bubbling plagued my thoughts as some of my more accomplished friends were unable to beat the bubble like Gavin Michaels (kingofmars) at Southern California and Blake Hopper (Bopper) at Houston.

We kind of overslept, and rushed to get to the venue. I forgot to register online, so I had to rush and find my Play! ID and go through the necessary steps to register on PokeGym.

After we finished the registration, I see a multitude of familiar faces, including Chalkey, JTK, Yellowbox, and OmegaDonut. It was really nice to catch up with them after seeing them in DC.

Later, I meet some seniors including Sir Chicken, and raikoo (Best Senior NA), who’s Worlds team I used to win a copy of Omega Ruby to give to Mancuso.

Me and David meet up with DeVon (dingram), who looks quite tired from his late-night ride to get here. While those two were talking, I tried getting myself in the right mindset for achieving my goal.

I think my biggest flaw as a player is heavily underestimating “unknown” players or players who do not have any presence on Nugget Bridge. As much as I was intimidated by the big names here (Dingram, ryuzaki, Wolfey, Mancuso, TheBattleRoom, etc…) I was even more intimidated by the fact that I could potentially underestimate an unknown opponent and play below par.

I didn’t have much time to mull over this prospect, because I saw Keegan Beljanski (Darkeness) and decided to chat him up.

Keegan was a big part of my success at this regional. He and his girlfriend, Rosemary, were always encouraging and were great to talk to during the event and lunch break. It turns out Keegan and Rosemary are huge anime fans, and we shared our feelings on how much Clannad was heart wrenchingly sad among other things.

Battles

(I didn’t take notes, but I will recall the ones I can remember)

I was able to go 7-0 in a row in Swiss and lost rounds 8 and 9 after I was guaranteed cut.

Round 2: Jeremy Rodriguez (Serapis) – Win

Team:

Jeremy recorded this match on his capture card, so you can watch the battle here:

From a first glance, it looked like my opponent was heavily inspired by Randy Kwa (R Inanimate)’s 2013 Togekiss+Mold Breaker Excadrill team. Terrakion would probably struggle in this match up, so i went in with the goal of setting up Kangaskhan and dealing heavy damage. Strangely, Jeremy did not bring Togekiss which may have had made this a more irritating match up. I’m glad to say that Thundurus and it’s magical hax powers managed to ameliorate some bad situations caused by my own stupidity this match.

Some of these situations included Power-Up Punching his low health Mega-Mence. If his Salamence didn’t get fully paralyzed, a combo of Return+ Conk’s Mach Punch could have possibly KOed Kangaskhan, leaving me unable to deal with his Gastrodon.

Round 3: Adam Doricott (Dozz) – Win

Team:

The next round, I get drawn against Nugget Bridge Moderator and Worlds 2011 competitor, Dozz. He was very skilled and kind, and I’m glad I had the privilege to play him.

His team has some semblance to his 2012 US Nationals top cut team, and some 2011 flair with the Durant.

I think this match was one of my closest all day, and it honestly came down to him targeting the Kangaskhan slot (which I switched into Arcanine) rather than my Terrakion slot with his own Terrakion.

Round 5: Justin Stipe (panko) – Win

Team:

This match was against one of my friends and fellow Florida player, Justin Stipe.

Justin was talking animatedly about his team during lunch break, so I knew he was using Protect LO Thundurus with Grass Knot, and Lum Terrakion. Terracott was extremely frightening but he luckily he didn’t bring it against me.

From turn 1, Justin played beautifully. He smartly targeted my Terrakion with Grass Knot and brought it down to its Sash. Whoever won this game was determined by which Terrakion won the speed tie. My Terrakion managed to win it and I was able to take the match.

Round 7 – David Kubiak (MangoPickle) -Win

Team:

I got paired down this round, and was playing my good friend Blake Hopper (Bopper)’s friend David Kubiak.

His Latios had interesting techs like Tailwind and Light Screen, but I was able to win by setting up my own Tailwind and paralyzing his pokemon. His LO Bisharp was extremely scary but I managed to block Sucker Punch by using Sucker Punch with my own Kangaskhan.

Round 9 – Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) – Lose

Team:

I was playing a playing a player I admired since 2011 on stream this round and it was somewhat surreal getting the opportunity to do so. I have contributed Japanese translations to Wolfe’s website Eggy Emporium last year, so it was nice to see him again (albeit, I wish this encounter was under different circumstances)

This was a very anti-Kangaskhan team, so i was unable to bring it safely. I was simply unable to play how I normally play with this team, removing a majority of my offensive pressure from the get go.

I was guaranteed cut at this point, but I desired to put up a good fight. I mainly wanted to show off Arcanine, and in my opinion the highlight point of the match was whenever my 20 HP Aegislash-Blade was able to survive a Mega Venusaur’s Giga Drain thanks to Arcanine’s Snarl and KO it back with a +2 Shadow Ball. Despite that knock-out on Venusaur, Wolfe was one step ahead of me the whole game, and I concede defeat. I was very glad to play a Worlds-caliber player for the 2nd time that day.

Top Cut

Top 16 – Scott Corman- Win (2-0)

Team:

Apparently my opponent had beaten Zach (Braverius) on stream earlier, although this was unbeknownst to me at the time. This looked like an extremely hard Trick Room team, and seemed to have no fast mode to speak of. To put it frankly, it looked like a team an AI in Pokemon Battle Revolution/XD/Colosseum would put together, simply unified by a general concept or strategy (in this case, having a low Speed stat) and not deviating from it.

Since I beat him in the 6th Round of Swiss, I had information from our previous match. He had Life Orb Protectless Conkeldurr and Sitrus Berry Magic Coat Cresselia (with no other attacking move bar Ice Beam and only minimum Special Attack Investment).

In both games I focus on nuking Conkeldurr right of the bat, and then proceed to sweep with my boosted Kangaskhan. Protect Kangaskhan, and support Arcanine were hands down my MVPs.

Top 8 – William Collins (Wiretap)- Lose (1-2)

Team:

Another highly anti-Kangaskhan team. LO Blaziken and Terrakion made me very uncomfortable, as did his Swampert. This match up highlighted all the flaws in my team, specifically the weakness to Blaziken and a way to sucessfully deal with bulky Ground/Water types sans attempting to hit them hard with the brute force of Kangaskhan.

In game 1, I get frozen 5 turns in a row with his Swampert’s Ice Beam. I have no way to win this match and forfeit (0-1)

Next round, he couldn’t deal with my boosted Kangaskhan and I take the game (1-1)

In the final match,we were almost evenly matched in terms of the amount of Pokemon we had eliminated from each other’s party. However victory was not to be, for me as a critical hit Earth Power takes my Arcanine out, completely changing the outcome of the game and giving William the tools needed to win. (1-2)

William was a great opponent, and even though I had an extraordinary amount of hax in these matches, I don’t want to take away from his playing ability one bit. There’s a very good reason he was 8-1 in Swiss. Kudos to him for running Blaziken so successfully!

With this my Florida Regionals run comes to its end. I was one win away from a regional brick, but I am more than pleased with how I performed.

Shoutouts:

• Michael Fladung (Primitive)- Thank you for collaborating with me to build this second version of the team, I’m so grateful for all the help.
• Tyson (Firefly), Andy (TwiddleDee), Shannon (Souldewz) and many more- You guys were the best support! It made me smile throughout the event when you guys were cheering me on!
• Yellowbox, TheBattleRoom, Bopper, JiveTime, BlitznBurst– It was nice getting help and encouragement from each and everyone of you. I hope I can give you more Japanese meta secrets soon, Jive :>
• #imoutos + Call Chat – Thanks for letting me not watch bad anime~
• Tommy Coolen, Tom Hull- You were such a big support at the event #Arcanine Nation.
• Brandon Ikin (Toquill)- Thank you so much for helping me when I was freaking out in the weeks before regionals. You are really one of the best friends I could ever wish for, and I hope to come back to Milton Keynes soon.
• David Mancuso (Mancuso)- David, I am so proud of you for the finish. I always love seeing you and your help in updating spreads and helping me get in the right mindset was invaluable.
• Zach (Braverius)- Really enjoyed rooming with you, and thank you so much for the encouragement before I played on stream.
• Dozz, OmegaDonut, ryuzaki, P_d0nz– Thank you so much for streaming and commentating! The stream made the whole experience much more enjoyable ~

About the Author

LithiumAcid @miyukihimeVGC

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