Reports

Published on May 20th, 2014 | by Pendlz

8

Bringin’ the Summer Heat! 3rd Place Athens Report

Hey, it’s Jack (or Pendlz as I’m known here on the forums) bringing you the team I used to get 3rd place with a combined finishing record of 12-4 in the recent Spring Regionals held in Athens, Georgia. This team finished as the #1 seed after Swiss, with an 8-1 record and high opponent resistance. My team has served me very well and I appreciate the opportunity to share it with you.

I’ve been testing and tweaking this team ever since Winter Regionals with the same core Pokémon and a few changes here and there. The team itself is a combination of hard-hitting Pokémon and supporting Pokémon that create excellent defensive synergy, which enables me to keep up the momentum on my side of the field. I started with what I believe to be the best Pokémon in the metagame, Kangaskhan, and built from there. Amoonguss provided the much-appreciated Rage Powder support for the big-hitter, while Garchomp and Rotom-H have fantastic synergy together. Aegislash and Staraptor plugged holes that my other members couldn’t cover alone.

Team at a Glance

Individual Analyses

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 HP / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Fake Out
– Double-Edge
– Hammer Arm
– Sucker Punch

As I said, I based my team around Mega Kangaskhan. It seemed to me that the fastest Kangaskhan usually wins 1-on-1, and I expected to run into many opposing Kangaskhan, so Jolly with maximum Speed investment was very important to me. Fake Out and Sucker Punch are self-explanatory, but the other moves aren’t commonly seen on Kangaskhan. After reading Mattj’s report, I whole-heartedely agreed that both Double Edge and Hammer Arm are the superior choices over Return and Power-Up Punch because they help Kangaskhan realize her best potential: hit hard and hit fast. I realize the bulkier EV build is gaining popularity right now but I made a metagame call and this spread ended up working perfectly. The more I played with Kangaskhan, the more I realized that she performs her role best in the back when speed ties are not an issue.

Amoonguss @ Occa Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 180 HP / 92 Def / 236 SDef
Calm Nature
– Giga Drain
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Protect

I knew Rage Powder + Kangaskhan would be a deadly combination, so my mind immediately fell on Amoonguss. Despite losing the ability to Spore and Rage Powder Grass-types this generation, Amoonguss is still a fantastic Pokémon. I considered a Chesto / Rest build and even tested Focus Sash for a while to better deal with Fire attacks and Talonflame but I eventually returned to the standard Amoonguss moveset. Occa Berry is a bit of an odd choice, but with the prevalence of “fire power” (ha, get it?) right now I felt the fire resistance was the best choice for my team. This allowed me to better deal with Charizard, Rotom-Heat, Salamence, and Chandelure so I could take a hit and either Spore or Rage Powder back. The EV spread was taken from this thread and let me tell you, it makes Amoonguss incredibly bulky. I remember in my last round of Swiss in Wisconsin against Kappy my Amoonguss took an Overheat from his Rotom-H with 78 HP remaining and survived to Rage Powder another turn. Granted, I still lost that game but hey, it did the job!

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Protect

What can I say about this guy. Garchomp was the real oddball on the team–in fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a single other Garchomp on these forums for a while. In all seriousness, everybody knows Garchomp and why he’s here; he hits fast and hard with fantastic dual Ground/Dragon STAB attacks. I chose to go the standard 252/252/4 route because, let’s be honest: it works. The Lum Berry is for the plentiful Will-O-Wisps and Spores that come from every Rotom forme, Gardevoir, Amoonguss, Venusaur, and more. Rocky Helmet could’ve been useful at times but Lum did save me from a few Will-O-Wisps in Swiss and earned its place on the team. I finally got my hands on a Rough Skin Garchomp the last week before the tournament which helped immensely with how physically-based common attackers are.

Rotom-Heat @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 228 Spd / 164 SAtk / 116 HP
IVs: 31/x/30/31/31/31
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Protect

I knew a strong Fire-type would be important for this team and I eventually settled on Rotom-Heat, which provided fantastic synergy with Garchomp. Thunderbolt and Overheat are mandatory STABs. I decided to go with Hidden Power Ice over Will-O-Wisp because of the prevelance of Dragons, especially Garchomp and Salamence. I saw at least four teams with both Garchomp and Salamence, and twelve of my sixteen opponents had either one or the other. Hidden Power Ice handled these threats perfectly as I could tank whatever attack they threw at me and get a guaranteed OHKO back. I don’t know why people continue to assume Will-O-Wisp is standard–the only thing I ever need to burn is Garchomp nowadays but since a good chunk of them already carry Lum why waste your time when you can just knock it out? The EV spread was built to outspeed max Speed base 70s like Politoed, Bisharp, and 252 neutral Gyarados. The Modest nature and 164 Special Attack EVs allowed Rotom to OHKO the aforementioned Garchomp with a Life Orb. This also allowed me to OHKO all Amoonguss, all Talonflame, most Mega Charizard-Y, and most Azumarill. The rest of the EVs were put into HP to give Rotom as much bulk as possible. Rotom was the MVP of the team, handling many threats and maintaining great switching synergy that made it difficult for the opponent to play around.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Quiet Nature
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Shadow Sneak
– King’s Shield

Originally in this spot I had a Choice Scarf Abomasnow. My defensive synergy was just awful and I realized I needed to find both a Steel-type to deal with Dragons and Fairies, and another Pokémon that resisted Fighting-type moves. I almost gave up the search until I finally realized rather stupidly that Aegislash is in the top 10 for usage right now because it accomplishes both of those roles. It took me a while but I got there eventually!

Honestly, if I were to use Aegislash again I would probably use the Substitute + Leftovers variant, but this build worked well enough for Athens. With such fantastic bulk in its Shield Form, Aegislash can take many super-effective hits, obtain the +2 boost from Weakness Policy, and continue to wreck the field. The EVs are standard but do the job well; maximum HP increases Aegislash’s bulk and maximum Special Attack with a boosting nature lets it hit as hard as possible. There weren’t any specific benchmarks to hit since the plan was to get the Weakness Policy boost anyway, but this spread allows me to 2HKO many threats like Garchomp, Salamence, Tyranitar, and Mega Mawile. Another change I would make would be to switch Shadow Sneak to Sacred Sword. Although the priority from Shadow Sneak gives you #swagfactor, it is much less useful than Sacred Sword which would at least allow me to 2HKO opposing Mega Kangaskhan.

Staraptor @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 156 Spd / 132 Atk
Jolly Nature
– Final Gambit
– Brave Bird
– Close Combat
– U-turn

Staraptor is the final Pokémon of the team, and is definitely the coolest. For the longest time I had Choice Specs Greninja in this slot but one Pokémon I greatly struggled with was Mega Mawile, even though Rotom and Amoonguss resist both of its main STABs. Unfortunately, Choice Specs Greninja just misses the knockout on Mega Mawile with Hydro Pump, so I needed a replacement that could hit hard and fast. I stumbled across Staraptor and thought that even though they’re completely different in almost every way, they actaully end up performing extremely similar tasks. When I brought Greninja, it could maybe knock out one threat but then it was usually deadweight. With Staraptor, however, I could guarentee a knockout with Final Gambit and then make room for a free switch-in. With how fast-paced and frail this metagame is compared to post-Nationals last year, Final Gambit is as good as ever since most people are investing more EVs in Speed and Attack rather than defenses. Less opposing HP makes one happy Staraptor.

Even if I don’t want to Final Gambit, Staraptor has fantastic coverage with a powerful Brave Bird, Close Combat, and U-Turn that allows me to stack Intimidates. 212 HP EVs ties with all maximum base 70s, but I decided to go with 220 in case anyone was actually trying to break that benchmark. A Jolly nature with 156 Speed EVs and a Choice Scarf allows me to outspeed all neutral-natured, maximum investment base 100s like Salamence and Zapdos. The remaining EVs were put into Attack so that Staraptor could still hit hard. Staraptor even knocks out up to 252 HP / 56 Defense Amoonguss 94% of the time, which was good enough for me! This also allowed me to 2HKO all Scrafty at -1 along while granting a 2HKO on Mega Khan with Close Combat if I didn’t want to use Final Gambit, while Kangaskhan could only 2HKO me after an Intimidate.

The Tournament

I left my dorm room at Auburn University on Saturday afternoon with some of the friends I’ve met in my freshman year here. All three of them are mostly single players on Smogon, but they do go to the Athens tournament every year and were kind enough to let me ride with them. We met another friend just east of Atlanta that graciously allowed us to spend the night at his house. I was going to finish EV training my team the entire way there, but I forgot to charge my 3DS the night before, so I was stuck listening to the driver’s weird electronic-Indy music. We arrived at the house, I finished my team, everyone enjoyed a fantastic dinner, and then we all went to bed.

At 7:45 the next morning, the four of us hopped into the car and headed to the tournament. The drive was alright and we ended up getting to the convention center parking deck 30 minutes prior to the end of registration, which gave us plenty of time to register and take in the Poké-atomsphere. The convention center itself was roughly the same size as other tournaments I’ve been to but the attendance was bigger than any Regional I’ve been to yet, with 274 players! Originally the staff announced nine rounds of Swiss with a Top Cut of eight, but after round 2 of Swiss they announced we would instead have a Top Cut of 16 which made me a lot more confident that Top Cut was a realistic endeavor for the day.

The Matches

Let me start by saying that it is really unfortunate that you cannot save battle videos from live events. In X/ Y we finally gained the ability to save more than a few videos at a time, but for some reason we are unable to save videos from the only official tournaments. If it’s at all possible to patch the game so we can save battle videos from events–even just for Worlds–then it should be done. Anyway, back to the tournament! I sat down for my first round and was ready to go!

Round 1: Katie W.

She brought:

I brought:

Her team appeared to be hard Trick Room so I put Amoonguss in the back with Garchomp and Rotom as leads. Turn 1, she Rage Powders and Trick Rooms, while I get the KO on her Amoonguss and Garchomp Earthquakes. She brings out Mawile and I switch out Garhomp for my own Amoonguss while Rotom Protects. Right here, I discover that double Fairy gives me a load of trouble, which is something I didn’t run into enough in practice, so I know I’ll have to play smartly to pull this one out. This match is a little hazy since I tend not to take great notes when I’m losing. I am down 2-3 and she has both her Fairies still alive (Mawile in the back) while I have only Garchomp and Amoonguss. I maneuver around her Rotom-W while getting some chip damage on Aromatisse and Mega Mawile and luckily my opponent doesn’t make the obvious play to Sucker Punch Garchomp for the KO and I end up getting the KO on Mawile. It’s now 2-1 in my favor and all I have to do is Spore Aromatisse and continue to attack it for the win. This one is way too close, especially for a first round match, so I know I’ll have to be more attentive from here on out.
Win, 1-0

Round 2: Eujin S. (KiwiDawg7)

She brought:

I brought:

I did not want to deal with Mawile again and so in comes Staraptor. I hope she doesn’t Sucker Punch on the first turn–which she didn’t–and I get the quick 3-3 with Final Gambit as Aegislash uses King’s Shield to protect itself from the oncoming Overheat. She sends in Ludicolo against my Kangaskhan and I swap out Aegislash for Rotom-H, (correctly predicting that Ludicolo did not have Fake Out) so I Double Edged her Rotom-H for the knockout while Ludicolo knocked out my Rotom-H making it 2-2 with my  -1 Attack Kangaskhan and Aegislash versus her Salamence and Ludicolo. Thinking Salamence will KO Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor, I Sucker Punch the Ludicolo to put it into KO range for Aegislash, but instead Salamence Fire Blasts Aegislash, activating its Weakness Policy, and Ludicolo knocks out Kangaskhan with Hydro Pump. Thanks to the +2 Weakness Policy boost, I was able to knock out Salamence on the same turn with Shadow Ball. Aegislash proceeds to Shadow Ball Ludicolo for the knock out as Hydro Pump is only a 3HKO.
Win, 2-0

Round 3: Manda V.

He brought:

I brought:

This guy had a very interesting team. The Gyarados scared me but as long as I could knock it out quickly I would be okay. He leads Salamence/Jolteon, getting an Intimidate off on Kangaskhan and Amoonguss. This guy plays very well, switching in Rotom-C to an incoming Spore, preserving his Mega Gyarados well, and using his Intimidate effectively. I maneuver Salamence around the field and Gyarados knocks out my Intimidated Kangaskhan. Jolteon definitely gives me some trouble and with the combined power and bulk from Mega Gyarados, it was a tough match. The star play was when Rotom-H outsped and Thunderbolted Mega Gyarados from around 80% for an unexpected knockout and from here the momentum swung in my favor. Rotom-H continued to wreck the field by knock out his Jolteon and Rotom-C, sealing the match.
Win, 3-0

Round 4: Coty S.

He brought:

I brought:

Another Mawile, which means I really want to get that Final Gambit off immediately, so I lead Staraptor/Amoonguss against his Tyranitar/Amoonguss. Thinking he will Protect Tyranitar in fear of a Close Combat, I U-Turn into Amoonguss instead, but he promptly switches Amoonguss into Mawile. I U-turn into Aegislash while he Rock Slides and I get the Spore off onto Tyranitar. From here, Aegislash 2HKOs Mawile and I switch Amoonguss for Khangaskhan. Lots of switches occur but I feel pretty confident I can position myself for the win. We swap some knockouts and it ends up with my Staraptor and Kangaskhan out against his Amoonguss and Tyranitar. I Brave Bird his Amoonguss for the knock out which is followed by Tyranitar knocking out Staraptor, but Kangaskhan hits the Hammer Arm on Tyranitar for the easy OHKO.
Win, 4-0

Round 5: Bo M.

He brought:

I brought:

My notes are very slim for this match, but from what I can remember the momentum was swinging my way most of the game. I made a couple smart switches between Aegislash, Rotom, and Amoonguss, eventually setting myself up to knock out his Garchomp with a Hidden Power Ice. He got a few knockouts afterwards, but Rotom and Aegislash managed to stay alive until the end, netting me a 2-0 advantage.
Win, 5-0

With roughly eight 5-0s left in the field, I was very surprised at this point that I had not yet played any fellow members from Nugget Bridge. I’d talked to a few guys here and there and recognized some names but the fact of the tournament was that there were not that many well-seasoned players that other tournaments seem to have. Of course, Nugget Bridge players aren’t the absolute embodiment of the competitive Pokémon player, but I just expected to see more well-known players at this point.

Round 6: Mike A.

He brought:

I brought:

Mike appears to have a fairly standard team. I know I want Kangaskhan in the back to clean up so I start off with my go-to lead: Garchomp and Rotom. Amoonguss also has a good matchup so he was brought as my fourth slot. When leads are brought out I immediately switch Rotom for Amoonguss, fearing a Hydro Pump from his Rotom-W and Garchomp Rock Slides for the easy knockout on Talonflame. From here Amoonguss really did work with Rage Powder and I was able to narrowly survive the mirror-matchups despite losing the Garchomp speed tie. The battle ended with Kangaskhan versus Kangaskhan. Mine was faster and got the final knockout with Hammer Arm.
Win, 6-0

Round 7: Michael L. (Jivetime)

He brought:

I brought:

Finally, someone I recognized from Nugget Bridge! I was familiar with Jivetime’s reputation and knew this would be my toughest battle of the day so far. I went with my go-to lead as he got the Intimidate off with Salamence. Right off the bat he double targets Rotom with Fake Out and Draco Meteor, netting him the KO and an early lead. I send out Kangaskhan and then switch Garchomp for Aegislash, not wanting to take a Return. The entire game Jivetime made the better plays and had the momentum, but this was by far the haxiest match of the tournament for me. I must’ve gotten five Rock Slide flinches, two or three important critical hits, combined with a few misses on his side. I felt guilty about the obscene amount of luck on my side but Jivetime was really chill about it and reassured me that it was no big deal. “That’s Pokémon sometimes,” he said, “and it’s the game we play.” What a baller. I believe I ended up winning 2-0 but knew that if I had to play Jivetime again in Top Cut it would definitely be a different story.
Win, 7-0

At this point I was fairly confident I would make Top Cut and was pumped up! I reminded myself that every match counts and despite being almost certain I would be in the Top 16 even if I lost the next two matches, I still wanted to finish strong and secure a high seed so I wouldn’t have to play anyone fantastic in the first round. These next two matches would be huge.

Round 8: Harrison S. (Crow)

He brought:

I brought:

Crow is another fantastic player. I have very few notes for this match, and that’s because every ounce of my attention was poured into the game because from the get-go Crow had control of the match. I didn’t even get to see his last Pokémon because he made s0 many smart switches and made me pay for leaving my Pokémon unprotected at times. I don’t know what it was but he controlled momentum from the very beginning of the match and earned a very decisive 3-0 victory.
Loss, 7-1

Okay, first loss of the day. I didn’t want to slip here and accidentally lose all my confidence from previous matches. Even if I did lose this next match I wanted to make sure to give it my all and prove to myself that I belonged in the Top Cut.

Round 9: Jerry W. (Sabaku)

He brought:

I brought:

Sabaku was the third name I recognized from Nugget Bridge, and he was a pretty cool guy. He gave me some good advice as the battle was starting: since we were both going to make Top Cut, the best thing to do for this match would be not to worry about who would win or lose but to gain as much information about the opponent’s team as possible so that if you happen to play again in Top Cut you will have the upper hand. Well said, Sabaku. He did gain the upper hand when he correctly predicted Aegislash would not use King’s Shield and Hydro Pumped it for the knockout, but in the same turn I tried Sporing Rotom-W and found it to be holding Safety Goggles (is that the kind of information you were talking about, Sabaku?). It seemed like he had the game with a 3-2 lead, but I somehow battled back with some smart double targets with Kangaskhan and Rotom-H. It ended with Kangaskhan and Rotom out versus his Gothitelle and Charizard-Y. I double targeted Gothitelle for the knockout while Heat Wave takes out low-HP Rotom and does a good chunk of damage to Kangaskhan, but since I was faster Kangaskhan was able to Double-Edge Charizard for the final knockout on the next turn. Very good game.
Win, 8-1

Upon looking at the final standings after Swiss, I was amazed. I knew my resistance was pretty good, but I thought for sure there would be a 9-0 or two, and I was definitely not expecting to be the #1 seed. I must admit that it was a pretty cool feeling. Hearing people ask each other “Who’s Jack Pendleton?” while crowding around the final standings was pretty fun. Of the friends I traveled with, one went 6-3 and the other two went 5-4 so they were very proud of my performance and congratulated me. There was a little time before Top Cut started so I prepared myself mentally and then sat down in the enclosed circle of chairs that I dubbed the Top Cut Circle. Very ominous. Anyway, I sat down across from my opponent and was ready to begin my first Top Cut match.

Top Cut

Top 16: William P. (whatthechuck3)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

Apparently it was his first Top Cut too, so this was a new experience for both of us. I went with my go-to leads, Garchomp and Rotom-H, while he smartly lead with two perfect counters: Rotom-W and Pyroar. I very much feared that Pyroar carried Hidden Power Ice for Garchomp, so I Protected and switched Rotom out for Aegislash. However, he switched Pyroar for his own Garchomp and Rotom-W Will-O-Wisp’d into Garchomp’s Protect. Next turn, I switched Garchomp back for Rotom-H while Rotom-W Hydro Pumped into King’s Shield. I revealed Rotom’s Hidden Power Ice here, netting a knockout on his Garchomp which he replaced for Pyroar, giving me a 4-3 lead. For some reason, I thought Aegislash would be able to take an Overheat from Pyroard because I always overestimate his bulk, and this led to a prompt knockout. Kangaskhan replaced Mr. Ghost Sword. Kangaskhan knocked out Rotom-W and Rotom-H knocked out Pyroar after they both received some heavy hits in return. Mawile comes out and Sucker Punches Rotom-H for the knockout while Kangaskhan gets some chip damage with Hammer Arm, but the game is mine. Garchomp replaces my fallen Rotom and gets the final knockout with Earthquake. Information gained: Rotom-W has Leftovers, Pyroar has Life Orb, not sure about HP Ice, Garchomp is either Lum or Rocky Helmet.
Win, 1-0

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

We both adjust our leads; I decide to bring Kangaskhan and Amoonguss against his Rotom-W and Garchomp. I Fake Out Rotom and Spore the incoming Mawile, which is great because Mawile makes me want to spit on puppies. I switch out Kangaskhan for Rotom-H, Amoonguss Rage Powders away the Hydro Pump, and Mawile sleeps. Amoonguss Rage Powders again, tanking the Hydro Pump, while Rotom-H gets the Thunderbolt knockout on Rotom-W which he replaces with Pyroar. I make a few more smart switches and focus Rotom-H on Mawile as soon as it wakes up and I find out Pyroar has Hyper Voice rather than Hidden Power Ice, which makes things easier for me. My own Rotom takes out his Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice. It eventually comes down to Rotom-H and Amoonguss versus Pyroar. Amoonguss tanks two Overheats with Occa Berry and Rotom earns the final knockout with Thunderbolt. Good games, William.
Win, 2-0.

Alright, I made it to the Top 8. I’m feeling pretty good about the last series but I know it will only get tougher from here. I check to see how Jivetime and Otterz (whom I met earlier) did and they said they both won and we were all very happy for each other. The next round begins and I sit down in the Top Cut Circle.

Top 8 Quarterfinals: Patrick G. (Moe1216)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

I hate playing against 2/3 of the Pokémon on his team and he was sitting next to me last round in a very intense series so I knew this series would be a challenge. Double Intimidate at the start forced an immediate switch out from Kangaskhan into Amoonguss while Rotom Protects and his Manectric switches to Salamence. After some damage was dished out on both sides I got Kangaskhan out against a weakened Salamence and netted a knockout with Double-Edge. Gardevoir definitely gave me some trouble, knocking out my Amoonguss and severely weakening Rotom, but Aegislash eventually took her down. He got Manectric out again to Intimidate Kangaskhan, but it was too late: Aegislash and Rotom still remained on my side and were able take out Salamence for the 2-0 win. Information gained: Scrafty has Leftovers, Salamence is not carrying Choice Scarf, unsure of Gardevoir’s item.
Win, 1-0

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

Scrafty gave me a load of trouble in this match. I didn’t preserve the Pokémon I needed in order to take out his threats, and I stupidly let Scrafty knock out Aegislash and Rotom, while also crucially damaging Kangaskhan. I also discovered Gardevoir was holding a Choice Scarf which was important to know that Kangaskhan would not be able to outspeed it. Rotom did get the Hidden Power Ice knockout on Salamence and Overheat knocked out his Aegislash, but it was too little too late and his smart switches and defensive synergy was enough to outplay me.
Loss, 1-1

Game 3

He brought:

I brought:

He used the exact same Pokémon and so did I, but I switched up my leads a little bit as I felt I knew what to do this time. This game was much more similar to game 1, where the momentum was swinging in my direction and some good switches really paid off. I will admit that I got very lucky on turn 3, where a Double-Edge critical hit was enough to take out his full-HP Gardevoir, an attack that previously did about 80%. I felt bad but knew that if I were in the same situation I would not blame one critical hit for the loss of an entire match. If all it takes is one unlucky play to make your team fall apart your team isn’t good enough against that certain matchup; Moe knew this and played like a champ till the end. With the loss of Gardevoir he didn’t really have a great check to Amoonguss, and so I was able to disrupt his attacks long enough to whittle down his the rest of his team (only losing Rotom in the process) and claimed a 3-0 win. Very nice guy with some great talent and I look forward to playing him again.
Win, 2-1

Top 4 Semifinals: Michael L. (Jivetime)

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

Not Jivetime again! He is a super nice guy but I do not like playing against him because he is such a skilled player. Right off the bat he double targets and knocks out Mega Kangaskhan while Rotom KO’s Salamence with Hidden Power Ice. I made some really terrible choices by not switching out my Pokémon after this and he capitalized on my open Pokémon. Garchomp got the knock out on Bisharp late after revealing a Focus Sash, but this match was all his, and this time with no hax involved! Clean 2-0 finish.
Loss, 0-1

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

I don’t think I even saw his last Pokémon. After a long day of Pokémon, I crashed super hard. I got maybe one knockout near the end but this game would finally bring my day to an end with a 3-0 finish.
Loss, 0-2

Conclusion

This was a very long day of Pokémon. I finished in 3rd place out of 274 competitors and beat Otterz in a best-of-3 rock-paper-scissors after we both lost in the top 4 for the swagged-out Chespin hat (which might have been more exciting than winning an actual match) along with receiving a very cool Regional semi-finalist trophy and 36 packs of TCG boosters. I couldn’t have been happier with my performance. Although I did get lucky at times and may not have consistently played against the best players at the venue, getting 3rd place at any Regional feels rewarding. My friends congratulated me for the performance but they really wanted to go so we left in a hurry, all of us exhausted.

Me and my prizes!

Props and Slops

Props

• Getting #1 seed after Swiss and 3rd place overall = not too bad.
• Getting a free lift to and from the tournament.
• IceKingz for always helping me out when I wanted to bounce ideas off him and generally being a great dude.
• Meeting a ton of great people like Sabaku, Otterz, Jivetime, and every other person I played.
• ScottMtc for trading me the Hidden Power Ice Rotom. Thanks a ton, dude!
• Great staff and a very well-run tournament.
• Selling the Pokémon cards for $65 at Wisconsin the next weekend. I’m in the positive!

Slops

• Not performing as well at Madison the next weekend; only going 5-3.
• 3 hour drive there and back.
• Not arriving back in Auburn until 10pm and then having to do all my homework.

Overall, this was a fantastic experience and I look forward to seeing everyone again at Nationals! Thanks for reading!

About the Author

Pendlz

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