Reports

Published on March 31st, 2015 | by pokebeys

18

College and Pokemon: A Senior Division Virginia Top 4 Report

Hey everyone! My name is Jake Skurchak or some of you may know me as Pokebeys around the forums. I attended the Virginia Regional Championships a few weekends ago and ended up getting fourth place in the tournament, going 5-2 after swiss.

My history in Pokemon has not been the best and not much to talk about. I played the Trading Card Game for a few years, found out that I was terrible at it, and then switched to the Video Game Championships just as the 2014 season started up. Nothing too exciting happened in 2014 for me, but I truly thought that VGC was better for me in my Pokemon career. I’m currently 14 years old, in eighth grade, attending a middle school in New Jersey.

Now, I will be covering my team, all of my matches, and thank you’s at the end, but I wanted to give a lot of credit right now to Angel Miranda (CT MikotoMisaka), as I based my team heavily on his. He also made top 4 at the event in the masters division.

While in Virginia, my brother wanted to see UVA (University of Virginia) on Saturday. Obviously, the tournament on Sunday was what I was waiting for!

The Team at a Glance

The Team

Swampert @ Expert Belt
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 228 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Earth Power
– Wide Guard

Swampert was a very essential member to my team. Swampert was able to get decent damage off while giving me Wide Guard support against Sylveon, Landorus-Therian, Icy Wind users, Terrakion, and much more. Scald and Earth Power dishes out nice chip damage and massive super effective damage against threats to my team. Ice Beam allowed me to take out Landorus and Dragon type Pokemon with an easy one-hit or two-hit knock out.

The spread allows me to survive Mega Kangaskhan’s adamant Return, with an 18.8% chance to take a Double Edge from adamant Mega Kangaskhan. Swampert is able to survive adamant Double Edge from Mega Salamence 100% of the time while also being able to survive hits on the special side as well. Swampert is able to survive a Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor at max special attack with a 6.3% chance to return OHKO. I wasn’t too worried about that though, because I have recently been seeing the Choice Scarf version more, which does less damage and has a bit of bulk.

Clefable @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 28 SpA / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
– Follow Me
– Ice Beam
– Helping Hand
– Protect

Clefable was the most important member to my team as it provided Follow Me support for Salamence and absorbed attacks with its decent bulk. With this spread, I can survive an Iron Head from a non-Life Orb Bisharp 100% of the time, Double Edge from adamant Mega Kangaskhan 100% of the time, and also Double Edge from adamant Mega Salamence 100% of the time. Clefable can also survive Flash Cannons from modest Heatran and Aegislash.

Ice Beam gave me the best coverage possible. Ice Beam allowed me to OHKO Landorus. Moonblast and Flamethrower were too situational and Landorus was a more common threat to my team. Helping Hand was a great move to have in the back pocket for when I felt like I needed the boost. I didn’t use Helping Hand all that much in the tournament, mainly using Follow Me for redirection, but it was good to have as an option. I chose to use Unaware over Magic Guard because I didn’t have to worry about Bisharp’s Defiant boost and Milotic’s Competitive boost. Sitrus Berry was there to further increase Clefable’s bulk.

Rotom-Heat @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 252 SpA / 164 Spe
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Overheat
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Protect

Rotom-Heat was one of those Pokemon that added some surprise to my team, especially in swiss. It had a pretty decent base special attack stat of 105 and great coverage with Thunderbolt, Overheat, and Hidden Power Ice. Hidden Power Ice takes out 4 HP Landorus 100% of the time and, of all the Landorus I saw at the tournament, only one was bulky and I ended up winning that game anyway. Thunderbolt was able to 2HKO Suicune while Rotom survives at least one Scald.

With the 164 speed EV investment, I reach the speed stat of 127, which outruns neutral nature base 70 speed stat Pokemon, such as Bisharp. I ran 92 HP so that Rock Slide from Landorus-Therian is a 2HKO and, at -1, a 3HKO. This makes it easier to get off the Hidden Power Ice onto the Landorus.

Thunderbolt and Overheat are obvious STABs, meant to get as much damage as possible so that Mega Salamence can just clean up afterwords even if I don’t get the KOs with Rotom. Rotom definitely was helpful whenever I brought it in a match, as you’ll see in my swiss analysis and top cut report below.

Hunter J (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Double-Edge
– Earthquake
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

Salamence, the only Mega Pokemon on this team, was a great way to get off fast damage with Double Edge and Earthquake. It dealt well with Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Venusaur as well as threatening Heatran with Earthquake. I went with a standard 252/252 EV spread because I felt I needed as much speed and power as possible.

Dragon Dance worked well with redirection from Clefable. I ran Jolly Nature over Adamant because I didn’t have as much speed control on my team as I would like and I needed to make sure that I could outspeed Terrakion and Gengar after mega evolving.

#GotRekt (Terrakion) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Protect
– Taunt

Terrakion was perfect for this team for a few reasons. It can successfully OHKO Talonflame with Rock Slide and Mega Kangaskhan with Close Combat. I used Focus Sash on my Terrakion because I didn’t want to worry about the defense drop from Close Combat putting me in OHKO range.

I used Taunt to prevent Trick Room from going up as well as stopping Smeargle from using Dark Void. If I could change one thing on my team, it would be switching Taunt to Double Kick to take out Focus Sash Bisharp and Smeargle. Still, Terrakion did very well in swiss and top cut as you’ll see later.

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 20 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Power Whip
– Leech Seed
– Protect
– Gyro Ball

I felt that Ferrothorn was definitely better than Bisharp on this team because Ferrothorn had more bulk and Iron Barbs was great for dealing extra damage to opposing physical attackers. Ferrothorn also dealt with water types such as Suicune and Rotom-Wash much better than Bisharp could. Additionally, Focus Sash and Life Orb, which are the most common items for Bisharp, were already used on my team. So I swapped out Bisharp for Ferrothorn, which ultimately improved my match up against Water Pokemon, especially rain teams.

The 236 Attack investment allows me to OHKO 68 Defense Rotom-Wash 100% of the time. I invested the remaining 20 EVs in special defense just because I had Salamence’s Intimidate to help with the physical side. Ferrothorn was also handy in the Trick Room match up as it was still slower than most Pokemon used in Trick Room. Gyro Ball surprisingly OHKOs Mega Sceptile and does over 50% damage to Talonflame. In the tournament, I only missed one Power Whip and never missed a Leech Seed.

Swiss Rounds

I will be listing what Pokemon participated in each match, with the first two being the leads.

Round 1 VS. Micah Fabrizio

He brought:

I brought:

Going into this match, I knew I needed to take out the Greninja if I want to ensure my win. During turn 1, I double protect to see if he was physical or special. Luckily, he was special, so the following turn I used Follow Me as he Bullet Punches my Clefable and the Scald is redirected into Clefable. Clefable survives the barrage of attacks and I Close Combat the Lucario to take it out. Clefable is now at low health and Terrakion is at full HP.

He brings in Aegislash and now I’m in a tough spot. I don’t need Clefable much anymore so I let it faint to scald and Terrakion goes for Close Combat on to Greninja which activates the Focus Sash. Aegislash goes for Flash Cannon on Terrakion and is knocked down to it’s Focus Sash. I then bring in Swampert and I predict the King’s Shield and I used Earth Power on to Greninja and it goes down.

I’m now up 3-2 as he sends out his Jolteon and I go for the Taunt onto Aegislash but that didn’t happen because He went for Thunderbolt to take me out as his Jolteon outsped the Terrakion. Swampert gets the Earth Power on Jolteon and it faints. I bring in Rotom-H and a Overheat plus Earth Power takes the game 2-0.

Current record: 1-0

Round 2 VS. Andras Oehler (TrickRoomMaster)

He brought:

I brought:

From the team preview, I could see that my opponent and I had similar teams except that he had Bisharp and Venusaur where I had Ferrothorn and Rotom-H. I felt pretty comfortable with my leads, so I Power Whipped the Swampert to remove the threat to my Salamence later on in the game. He switches Bisharp for his Swampert and I miss the Power Whip on the switch in while Terrakion used Protect that turn.

The next turn I protect Clefable and Leech Seed the Bisharp as he protects the Bisharp and brings in Venusaur for his Terrakion. Now I’m pretty much stuck. I can’t really recall much after that but towards the end of the match, I had Salamence and Rotom-Heat against his Terrakion. I predict the switch from the Venusaur into Bisharp and I play it correctly by going for Protect on Rotom and Earthquake on the switch in. I do good damage to the Bisharp and KO his Terrakion that was already damaged. The Venusaur comes back and and I Overheat Bisharp and Double Edge the Venusaur to take the game.

Current record: 2-0

Round 3 VS. Reese Shohet

He brought:

I brought:

As you can see, I brought the same four pokemon from the last round in to this round as well. This match definitely was a close one. As he lead Suicune and Terrakion, I knew I had to take out the Suicune considering it did a good number to my team. On turn one, I bring his Suicune down to red health with Power Whip from Ferrothorn as I Follow Me to redirect a potential Close Combat from Terrakion, but he went for Rock Slide instead. The Suicune’s Scald went into Clefable that turn.

Suicune was no longer much of a threat since I had Rotom in the back, which was faster. As a result of this, he switches his Suicune and goes into Infernape to try and take out Ferrothorn. I used Follow Me and used Gyro Ball on his Terrakion, he Protects with Terrakion. The next turn I switch Ferrothorn into Salamence as I Protect Clefable. I wasn’t worried about the Rock Slide from a -1 Terrakion. The following turn I used Follow me and Dragon Dance as he Rock Slides and Fire Punches into Clefable to get rid of my redirection.

I bring in Rotom-H and Thunderbolt the Infernape, bringing it to red health as he surprises me with a Thunder Punch on Salamence that actually took it out. In retrospect, I should’ve gone for Earthquake that turn to take out Terrakion and bring Infernape to its Focus Sash, which would let Rotom-H take out Infernape. He’s now up 2-3, but both of my remaining Pokemon are at green health and his Suicune was badly damaged. He brings in Suicune, which indicates to me that he was going to try and take out Ferrothorn, so I protect Ferrothorn from the incoming Fire Punch and Thunderbolt KOs his Infernape. Scald brings Rotom-H into the red.

He brings in Salamence. Return knocks out Rotom and he tries to freeze me with Ice Beam, but since I had the Lum Berry, I wasn’t worried. Power Whip hits Suicune and removes it, pitting my Ferrothorn against his Salamence 1v1. I Leech Seed his Salamence as he goes for Return, doing about 40% to Ferrothorn. I Protect the next turn to recover more health and then go for Gyro Ball his Salamence, which does about 35% to it. I Protect again and then manage to hang on with three HP on the following turn as Gyro Ball finishes the job. 

Current Record: 3-0

Round 4 VS. Michael Spinetta-McCarthy (Sir Chicken) the Eventual Winner

Funny story about this battle, right before the event started, Mancuso came over to where me, my friends Salmon (Megachar10), James (Jamesspeed1) Baek, and Michael were sitting and he asked to see his team. Mancuso pointed out that Michael’s Charizard did not have a mega stone and he asked a judge if it is possible to cancel his participation and join back into the tournament on the same cartridge. He couldn’t. James gave him a his spare cartridge and Salmon and Sir Chicken had to trade over his team to James’s cartridge. They ran out of stuff to trade so Michael went to catch some random Pokemon and they caught a Wurmple that had berry on it and they called the Wurmple, “God Wurmple.” Michael barely got back into the tournament with about two minutes to spare before registration was over.

He brought:

I brought:

When I was on lunch break, I checked the pairings for round four. They were up and I found out I was playing against Michael. I was completely nervous and I couldn’t think straight considering he won the Regional Championships in the fall in Philadelphia and I bubbled out at 12th place. I knew I was in for a tough match.

I was facepalming right from the start, I lead with Salamence and gave him the Defiant boost. For what ever reason, I predicted his Bisharp to switch into Charizard to absorb the Overheat or Will-o-Wisp. He doesn’t switch out or Protect Bisharp and I went for the Thunderbolt onto Bisharp and it picked up the OHKO onto Bisharp with the most perfect critical hit to ever happen. I almost fell out of my chair in excitement as I couldn’t believe what just happened. The critical hit essentially won me the game as he also lost his Landorus early in the game and I left that match with a nice 3-0 and a terrific sense of accomplishment.

Current record: 4-0

Round 5 VS. Michael Klos

He brought:

I brought:

For this match, I was paired down. I was actually a bit happier to see this as I felt less pressure going into the game. I was pretty comfortable with my lead matchup. I started by using Wide Guard to block the incoming Rock Slide and Hidden Power Ice takes out his Landorus. Next, he brings in his Bisharp. I go for the Overheat onto his Bisharp and he reveals the Focus Sash. He uses Knock Off and Shadow Ball to knock out my Swampert to tie it up 3-3.

I bring in Ferrothorn and used Gyro Ball to knock out his Gengar as Rotom protects to avoid the Knock Off. I’m now ahead again, but he brings in Zapdos. I have no choice but to stay in with Ferrothorn and hope he misses the potential Heat Wave. Luckily, Ferrothorn survives the Heat Wave from Zapdos. The Bisharp went for Knock Off on Rotom, but it fortunately survives both attacks and Thunderbolt takes out Bisharp. Ahead 3-1, I’m still pretty comfortable with my position.

The next turn, I simply Leech Seed his Zapdos, hoping he misses Ferrothorn with Heat Wave. He does miss Ferrothorn and Rotom also hangs on with a bit of HP to get a clean Overheat onto Zapdos. I’m pretty confident now that I can take the game. I double protect, but he pulls Roost out of nowhere. I could’ve let both of my Pokemon faint during the previous turn to Heat Wave and have Salamence finish the game with Double Edge.

However, he now takes out Ferrothorn and Rotom with Heat Wave and it is my full HP Salamence against his Zapdos at roughly 50%. I go for the Double Edge as it is the only damaging attack that I had. He survives and uses Discharge onto Salamence and scores the paralysis. In the following two turns, Salamence was fully paralyzed and he wins the game with Roost and Discharge.

Current record: 4-1

Round 6 VS. Evan ??????

He brought:

I brought:

As soon as I saw my opponent’s lead, I knew Salamence would not be of any use in the game. Since he led the Ludicolo, I switched Swampert into Salamence. He Giga Drains the Salamence and sets up Trick Room as I Power Whip his Ludicolo. I get a critical hit onto Ludicolo, which actually knocks it out. Now all I need to do is bring in Swampert safely and I can take the game if I can get Cresselia to low enough health.

He brings in Mawile, threatening Salamence. I go for the Leech Seed onto Cresselia to recover some health and I used Protect with Salamence to stall out some of the Trick Room. The next turn, I Leech Seed the other slot as he KOs Salamence with Play Rough. I’m pretty comfortable with my position as I bring in Swampert. I just go for the Earth Power as he Protects Mawile. I was fine with that as I got to stall out more Trick Room turns. Cresselia goes for the Psyshock on Swampert as Ferrothorn does some damage to Cresselia with Power Whip.

On the last turn of Trick Room, I knew he would try to knock out Swampert. Because of this, I switch my Swampert into Rotom and the Play Rough does about 30% to Rotom. The following turn, I go for the Overheat on to Mawile as he switches in Tyranitar. I then switch Rotom back into Swampert to threaten the Tyranitar. I do manage to remove Cresselia with Power Whip as Earth Power crits Tyranitar for the OHKO. With only Mawile left and no way to deal with Ferrothorn, he just forfeits.

Current Record: 5-1

Round 7 VS. Zachary Boyd, the Eventual Second Place

Zachary and I have some history. We faced each other in the last round of swiss in Philadelphia this past fall. He beat me that time 1-0 as it went down to a Mawile speed tie. This was my chance for revenge.

He brought:

I brought:

The first turn of this match was tricky and I definitely could’ve played better. I went for the Double Edge on Smeargle and Rock Slide. I was so desperate to take out Smeargle and he knew this as he went for the Spiky Shield with Smeargle and the Dazzling Gleam from Togekiss, picking up the double critical hit on, which KOs my Salamence and brings Terrakion to its Focus Sash.

I then bring in Swampert and Taunt the Smeargle as Ice Beam KOs Togekiss. It seemed to be going well until he brings in Breloom, which totally dominates me. Mach Punch takes out Terrakion as he switches Smeargle out for Heatran. It goes down to Rotom-H and Swampert versus Heatran and Breloom. His Breloom gets the Spore onto Rotom as Heatran Protects. I basically call it quits at this point as I had no outs and he wins the game 3-0.

Current record: 5-2

I definitely thought I wouldn’t make top cut. But luckily, my resistance was the best out of the 5-2’s and I squeaked in at 7th seed. I’m gonna keep my top cut analysis a bit shorter as all my sets went to three games.

Top 8 VS. Joshua Noah

His team:

Game 1

He brought:

I brought

In this game, I was confident that he wouldn’t lead his Bisharp even though I had the obvious Salamence and Clefable lead because I suspected that he thought that it was too obvious. Thankfully, I was correct. I wasn’t really sure what would happen turn one but I just felt that Follow Me and Dragon Dance was the safest play as he reveals the Charizard X and Mat Black on Greninja and sets up Dragon Dance as well.

I was convinced that his Greninja was a Focus Sash variant, so I Protect Salamence and Ice Beam the Greninja to break the Focus Sash while he Protects his Charizard X. I then proceed to Double Edge the Charizard X slot because, even if he switched into Bisharp, he would still take over half damage. Double Edge KOs his Charizard and I gained the momentum. He then brings in Talonflame and I Double Edge the Greninja and Follow Me. I take out Greninja and he sends in Bisharp. I Protect Salamence and let Clefable faint for the free switch into Rotom. He then forfeits to not reveal any more information.

Game 2

He brought:

I brought:

For the second game, I got a bit overconfident due making all the right plays in the first set. Leading Terrakion and Clefable was the worst thing that I could’ve done. The first turn, I used Follow Me and Rock Slide, forgetting about Mat Block and Brave Bird brings Clefable to low health. I Protect Clefable from the second Brave Bird and Close Combat Greninja, again blanking on the fact that he has a Focus Sash. He then gets a burn with Scald, which takes down Terrakion that turn.

I’m down 3-4 as I send in Swampert. I need to take out Greninja so I used Earth Power on it. But he predicts my Clefable switching into Salamence and Ice Beams that slot for the OHKO as he switches Talonflame into Cinccino. With a low health Clefable and a Swampert against a healthy Cinccino and Talonflame, I basically knew I lost this game so I just call it quits.

Game 3

He brought:

I brought:

This is it. This game would decide whether I would be in top four. This game, I clearly figured out my win condition: conserve Salamence and setup a Dragon Dance. Once I could do that, I’ve basically won. My leads end up being good versus his as I could just double Protect to make the Mat Block turn useless. I then use Follow Me and Double Edge the Cinccino to eliminate it and take momentum.

He sends out Talonflame, which makes the next turn tricky. I knew I needed both Salamence and Clefable so I protect Clefable and switch into Rotom as he uses Brave Bird and Scald into my Protect. I then bring Greninja to the Focus Sash with Thunderbolt as Clefable barely survives a Scald and Brave Bird. I use Follow Me again to divert as much damage as possible away from Rotom as I take out Greninja with Thunderbolt and he switches Talonflame into Charizard.

He then brings Talonflame back in as I bring in Salamence. He sets up Tailwind and goes for the Outrage onto Rotom-H, which knocks it out, but not before I KO his Talonflame with Rotom-Heat. I was relieved at this point as I knew Double Edge would knock out Charizard, winning me the set.

Current record: 7-3, Set Record: 2-1

Top 4 VS. Zachary Boyd

His team:

Game 1

He brought:

I brought:

In this game, I knew I had to lead Salamence and Terrakion, as they both outsped Smeargle and did fairly well against Togekiss. There wasn’t much I could remember from this game other than the fact that he only got one Dark Void off and Breloom definitely made my matchup a lot harder. I ended up losing this game 2-0 and that wasn’t much of a morale boost.

Game 2

He brought:

I brought: 

For this match, I figured I needed to play a lot smarter and I believe I did. I figured out during swiss that his Breloom had Life Orb instead of Focus Sash, which I used to my advantage. Double Edge takes out Breloom, but he picks up the Rock Slide flinch on Terrakion, which would’ve knocked out the Aerodactyl given that my Rock Slide would’ve been a single targeted attack.

He then brings in Smeargle and I instantly Rock Slide again and Double Edge the Smeargle to take it out. Salamence goes down from recoil, but Terrakion’s Rock Slide hits this time, finishing off Smeargle. I then bring in Swampert to close out the game with Wide Guard and Rock Slide spam.

Game 3

He brought: 

I brought: 

In this game, I knew he’d try and take down Terrakion as soon as possible so I Protect it turn one and I Double Edge the Breloom again, picking up the knock out. Then he brings in Smeargle and I was confident I would win the game from there. Unfortunately, I missed the Rock Slide onto Smeargle and he gets off a Dark Void. He eventually wore down my team as my Pokemon slept for the full three turns. Looking back on this final game, I should have went for Taunt onto Smeargle as it would’ve had to switch out and hopefully give me enough momentum to take the game from there.

Conclusion

Overall, I would call this tournament a success. I achieved my goal of making top cut at a regionals and managed to win a top cut set as well. There were a few plays that I would’ve done differently, but I still had an incredible time at the event. I got to meet some awesome players and hang out with a bunch of my friends in the community. Without them, I couldn’t have made this accomplishment.

Thank You

• James Baek (Jamesspeed1) – I want to thank you the most for your help over the summer in making me into a better player. If it wasn’t for you, I couldn’t have made this accomplishment.
• Salmon or Mihrab Samad (Megachar10) – Salmon, you have always been a great friend from when I met you back in October right before regionals. It’s always fun team building and testing with you’ve been a great friend in general.
• Jake Rosen (sableyemagma) – You’re a great friend Jake and a great team builder as well. I always love the wacky stuff you come up with sometimes and you always make it work.
• Nick Borghi (Lightcore) – Nick, you’re an awesome team building partner. You’re incredibly awesome and great friend to have!
• Vinny Speciale (ThatSpecialKid) – You’re hilarious and always make the Skype calls we have so energetic with the Free For Alls.
• Michael Spinetta McCarthy (Sir Chicken) – It’s always fun seeing you at events, Michael and especially a bunch on Skype. Congrats on the win!
• The community in general – I love this community and I definitely love seeing everybody working together on teams and building friendships with each other overtime.
• I hope to get to know the community a lot better and I hope to see everyone at worlds this year!

About the Author

pokebeys

Related Posts

Memoirs of a World Champion: by 2015 World Champion SHADEviera →

The Other Fire Doge: A Top 8 Lancaster Report →

Blazing Forward! A Malaysian Regionals 2nd Place Report →

Top 4, Top 4, We’ve Never Used This Team Before →