Reports

Published on February 25th, 2014 | by Uncle Taint

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Don’t Super Effective Me Bro! US Nationals Top 16 Team Analysis.

Learning the Type Chart

Have you ever landed a Fire Gem-boosted Overheat on an enemy’s Scizor before? It feels great doesn’t it? Now have you ever used Overheat on an enemy’s Scizor only to have them switch into a Chandelure? That feels bad, real bad. My name is Kevin Fisher, also known as Uncle Taint, and I would like to share my 16th place US Nationals team that was built around forcing my opponents to make plays similar to this one.

I began building the team months ago. When I had started, there was only one pokemon that I knew I wanted to play with: Gyarados. I had faced Tiffany Stanley (Shiloh) at the Winter Regional in St. Charles Missouri, where her Gyarados mopped the floor with my Trick Room team and I realized the way I played Pokemon really needed to change. At that point, I had been playing Pokemon competitively for over a year and had built only Trick Room teams. It was going to be tough, but I decided to build a team without Trick Room and this Gyarados was going to help me.

Using the Atrocious Pokemon

My good friend Matt Siebert (el_scorcho) sat down with me and we began building a team around Gyarados. Looking at its stats and abilities, I really felt it was under-appreciated. It has awesome Hit Point, Attack, and Special Defense stats as well as a very interesting base 81 Speed stat which allows it to out-speed a lot of very important Pokemon. Pair all of this with one of the best abilities in the game, Intimidate, and you have a very strong physical sweeper with support options. So why don’t more people use Gyarados? Stumble upon his typing, Water/Flying, and things start to go south for this giant scary serpent.

Water/Flying typing has some really interesting interactions. The Grass and Ice weaknesses become neutral, which is nice, but it takes double damage from Rock type moves and quadruple damage from Electric type moves, both extremely important in the current Metagame. For quite a few players, these weaknesses alone are enough to overlook Gyarados, but I was determined to make it work. I began team-building in a new way for me. I decided to start with Gyarados and work my way backwards through the type chart defensively. This method landed me at Gastrodon, which had Water/Ground typing, allowing it to resist both of Gyarados’s biggest fears.

Gastrodon then was set to be Gyarados’s best friend (Besides the Storm Drain thing, more on that later). Gastrodon had problems with Grass types, which Gyarados would have to take neutral damage from. I found answers to Grass types in Chandelure, Scizor, and Breloom. Breloom’s quad-weakness to Flying was the only type I did not have a particularly strong answer for. I chose Breloom because Spore was too good of a move to pass up, not to mention how hard it hits with Bullet Seed and Mach Punch. I decided the best way to give Breloom defensive coverage would be to just give it a Focus Sash, because it rolls over and dies to a lot of attacks. I then put what I described as a “mandatory dragon” on my team, Latios, and the team was ready for battle.

Playing a New Style

I started practicing on Pokemon Showdown. At first I felt very disorganized with the team. I was accustomed to having a very simple goal with my team: set up Trick Room and knock them out as fast as possible. The more I played, the slower my pace became. Up until that point, I believed that if I was not knocking out a Pokemon in one hit or at least hitting it super-effectively, I was playing the game wrong. This team became all about switching and protecting a lot while paying attention to the opposing team. Most of my Pokemon were pretty difficult to knock out without hitting them super-effectively. If I could get my opponent to use their gem-boosted moves on a resisting Pokemon or double target a protecting Pokemon I could easily bring momentum in my favor. Playing in a very passive switch style allowed me to very effectively scout the enemy’s team for Pokemon with tricky held items like Choice Scarf, particularly terrifying Hidden Power types, or if a player was targeting a specific Pokemon because it posed a large threat.

The team was working great and I particularly liked how it played out, but I quickly found myself in a pretty big dilemma. I was essentially playing a team of five Pokemon because I never had a reason to use Latios. My team, excluding Gastrodon, felt like it would run out of steam in really long games. So I decided to try out Latias and use it to prepare for especially long games.

The Important Color Synergy

Shortly after putting Latias on the team, I realized I could have all of my Pokemon in a form of red. Thus, my red colored team was born. I decided to do some calculations and get some specific EV spreads put on them after getting a decent feeling for all of them.

The team was performing great but it still did not feel right. Latias wound up being just as much of a dead weight as Latios was, but I was content with this because my win percentage was right around 60% on Pokemon Showdown with about 80 matches played. Matt then pointed out that many players had been using Togekiss with Breloom and doing extremely well. I really did not want to have a team of 5 color-themed Pokemon and then have Togekiss  there to ruin it all, but then I began to realize what Togekiss can do. My team inherently was begging for Follow Me support, a way to control Speed, a move to hit Fighting types super-effectively, and a way to survive in the late-game. Togekiss did all of these things better than I could have ever imagined. So I let it join the team not only because it would be the MVP of my team, but also because I learned it’s shiny had a little red tint to it and little red triangles. My win rate shot up to 75% over 130 games and I knew that not only was I getting better at the game, that my team was complete as well.

Behold! The first (to my knowledge) in-depth team analysis of a mono-color team.

Red Team

Chandelure (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 160 Spd / 252 SAtk / 96 HP
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 Sdef / 30 Spd
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Shadow Ball
– Hidden Power [Rock]
– Heat Wave

I decided to step away from Trick Room in a big way. I feel as though Choice Scarf is an important part of the Metagame, it gives certain Pokemon new and interesting styles. Choice Scarf Chandelure definitely was not a new thing whenever I started to use it, but I feel like I made a very solid EV spread for it. The speed EVs put Chandelure’s Speed stat at 120. With a 50% boost in Speed from the Choice Scarf, Chandelure would hit the very important 180 Speed stat. This allowed Chandelure to out-speed and demolish positive Nature maximum investment base 110 Pokemon like Latios and the base 111 Genies. As for the other stats, I just decided to maximize investment in Special Attack and dump the remaining EVs into Hit Points. The biggest thing to note about this Chandelure is that it comes equipped with Hidden Power Rock. My team was having problems with Volcarona, before I had this move I would just lose a match if Volcarona was able to Quiver Dance. The opposing Volcarona would have to invest at least 196 EVs into Hit Points to survive. Hidden Power Rock also helped give Chandelure great coverage, being able to hit the genies, Ninetales, Salamence, and Togekiss super-effectively. Chandelure was quite possibly the most important defensive switch-in on my team. It could come in to take a Flash Fire boost from someone targeting Scizor and Breloom. Chandelure could also be an amazing switch for Fighting type moves, which were commonly used against my team for neutral damage. It could also be used to tank Ice type moves for Togekiss and Grass type moves for Gastrodon. There were three important types it could not cover, however. Flying Gem Acrobatics from Tornadus would always OHKO Chandelure. Thunderbolts from various Electric types would deal significant damage. Thirdly, it would be hit super-effectively from rock moves being aimed at Togekiss and Gyarados. Despite the problems caused by these three types, Chandelure was the source of some of my greatest plays with this team.

Breloom @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
– Bullet Seed
– Mach Punch
– Spore
– Protect

The main use for Breloom was the move Spore, which I believe to be one of the most, if not the most, important moves in the Metagame at this point. Breloom was also the source of the only Fighting-type move on my team and hit surprisingly hard with Technician-boosted Mach Punch, so it naturally fit well on the team. I was not too proud of the EV spread on Breloom, however. At first, I had calculated it to out-speed neutral nature, no investment Suicune. There were two glaring problems with this spread. The first was the fact that very rarely (or never at all) would anyone pass up training a Suicune in Speed. The second problem was that opposing Brelooms were faster than I was, and this was a huge issue. I decided that holding a Focus Sash and needing to win the Breloom speed wars were good enough reasons to pass up having EV investment in Hit Points. As for being a defensive switch-in, Breloom didn’t do anything too amazing. Breloom was okay with switching to cover Rock type moves for Chandelure, Gyarados, and Togekiss, rarely used to cover Dark type moves for Chandelure, and most commonly used to take Electric type moves for Gyarados and Togekiss.

Gyarados @ Water Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Waterfall
– Dragon Tail
– Earthquake
– Protect

Here is the big guy that started it all. I had initially wanted to use a Choice Band. I think it is a very solid item on Gyarados because it likes switching often to intimidate and it already has a monstrous base 125 Attack stat. The problem I had with using Choice Band was Gastrodon’s ability, Storm Drain. I did not want to be locked into using my only STAB option and having it unable to do damage because Gastrodon would redirect it. Storm Drain wasn’t a gigantic hinder on the team if I used Water Gem with Gyarados. Gyarados could still get one strong hit off from it’s Waterfall and I could sometimes use it to boost Gastrodon, which was on the team mainly to stay in for long periods of time. What had started it all with Gyarados was the use of the move Dragon Tail. Dragon Tail is a move that has -4 priority (just one priority tier above Trick Room). The move itself has a base damage of 60, and forces the Pokemon it hits to switch with a random teammate. This effectively stops Trick Room dead in its tracks, unless you’re playing Enosh Shachar (Human), but more on that later. The Speed EVs I invested in Gyarados put its Speed stat at 125, allowing it to be faster than positive Nature, maximum investment Tyranitar. This allowed Gyarados to demolish almost any Tyranitar before they could even consider Rock Sliding Gyarados. I decided to max out the Attack stat, and dump the remaining EVs into Hit Points. Gyarados has amazing defensive switch capabilities. It could be used to neuter physical attackers in general, and not only to cover Chandelure’s Water and Ground-type and Scizor’s Fire-type weaknesses, but to tank those types of moves hoping to hit another teammate neutrally.

Scizor @ Steel Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 166 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Bullet Punch
– Bug Bite
– Swords Dance
– Protect

Scizor was the Pokemon I had to be most careful with. During my course of practice, I ran into countless numbers of Pokemon using Hidden Power Fire. Pair that with my choice of using Swords Dance and I had a Pokemon that made huge plays, rarely not going in my favor. Scizor is huge bait for Fire type moves, and Chandelure loved this fact.

Gastrodon (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Storm Drain
EVs: 128 HP / 128 SDef / 252 SAtk
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Earth Power
– Ice Beam
– Protect
– Recover

Gastrodon was quite possibly the most effective sweeper on my team. I do not believe that Rindo Berry is very effective on Gastrodon, and I did not want to have a one-use item on it because I wanted to use it for longer games. All of these decisions lead me to using Expert Belt. The moves Ice Beam and Earth Power have great type coverage, so it was a very strong fit. Using Expert Belt, Gastrodon was able to deal significant damage to many dangerous Pokemon. Gastrodon could one-hit KO a Metagross with maximum Hit Point investment 68% of the time, and many common Ice-weak Pokemon were two-hit KOs. Pair these facts with the bulk investment and the move Recover, Gastrodon became a monster. The EV spread on Gastrodon I was not too proud of. I made an arbitrary spread for it and forgot to recalculate it later. This did not slow Gastrodon down in the slightest. Speaking of being slow, one might notice that I decided to use a Modest nature rather than a nature that would give it a deficit in speed. I made this decision because I wanted to know whether my Gastrodon would out-speed other Gastrodon, rather than leave it up to the chance of a speed tie. I could use this knowledge to adjust my play, such as knowing whether or not I needed to stall out someone using Trick Room. Not only was Gastrodon a monstrous sweeper, but it was also an awesome defensive switch-in. It was crucial to use as a switch to resist Rock, Steel, and Fire, but most importantly as an immunity in Electric, Gyarados’s worst fear, and Water type moves, which would give huge momentum in my favor because of Storm Drain.

Togekiss (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Spd / 76 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Air Slash
– Tailwind
– Follow Me
– Roost

I was very indecisive about Togekiss at first (Mostly because it wasn’t as red as my other Pokemon). Togekiss quickly became the MVP of my team. The main thing about Togekiss that made it so amazing was it’s bulk paired with the move Follow Me. Togekiss could redirect all of my other Pokemons’ biggest fears and allow them to take care of the threats. Another amazing use for Follow Me is to redirect Swaggers, Beat Ups or other partner-targeting support moves of my opponent’s Pokemon. Tailwind was another crucial move for my team as a whole. Most of my Pokemon are on the mid-range or slower side of the Speed spectrum. Tailwind allowed me to make up for my lagging Pokemon. Air Slash was simply the obligatory STAB option, while Roost increased Togekiss’s longevity. The EV spread I used for Togekiss was simply the one that Wer (Need to have a link here) made for his top-eight team at the Sandston, Virginia Regional. This spread allows Togekiss to redirect Fake Outs from Hitmontop and survive Draco Meteors and Ice Beams with relative ease. Another move that Togekiss took surprisingly well was Overheat from Ninetales in the sun, which I did not think would be relevant at US Nationals, but I was very wrong. Togekiss was probably the worst defensive switch of the team, but it’s support more than made up for this fact. After Tailwind was put up, Togekiss could use Roost to recover lost HP from opponents using their Gem-boosted moves and also to take away it’s Ice and Rock type weaknesses before it could get hit with them. All the while Togekiss’s partner would be taking care of the Ice or Rock threat. Togekiss was the Pokemon that put my team over-the-top and I would like to give huge thanks to Wer for creating the EV spread and to Matt for suggesting I use it.

How Red Team Performed in Indiana

To begin with, I almost did not make registration. It was past registration time by a few minutes and I told the judge not to worry about getting me in, but they waited for me and I barely signed up in time. So after coming to terms with not playing in the tournament and then suddenly playing in the tournament, I did not have high expectations for myself right out the door. This fact greatly helped my actual performance, I believe.

Round 1: Jordan Becks

My opponent tells me that he’s not very good and that he is only playing in the video game because he missed out on top cut of the card game. So naturally I come in to the match with high hopes of winning this round.

Team Preview: Chandelure, Latios, Krookodile, Bisharp, Haxorus, Zoroark
My team (leads first): Chandelure, Gastrodon, Scizor, Breloom
His leads: Haxorus, Krookodile

So with the opening turn I had Chandelure and Gastrodon out for good type coverage and to feel around his team a bit. Somehow Zoroark managed to slip my mind in the team preview and it could have went terribly for me. I chose to switch Chandelure out for Breloom to take the Crunch from Krookodile while Gastrodon Ice Beamed the Haxorus, which KO’s it in one hit, but not before landing a Dragon Claw on Gastrodon.

The score was now 4-3 in my favor.

He switched in Latios for the fallen Haxorus and we went into turn two. I switched Breloom in for Scizor because Krookodile’s Crunch had actually gotten the defense drop on it, also Scizor could resist any Dragon type moves from Latios and Crunch from Krookodile. For Gastrodon, I Ice Beamed the Latios and hoped to chip away at it a bit. The Latios used Shadow Ball and Krookodile uses Outrage on Scizor. Shadow Ball had me confused for a bit, but when Gastrodon landed its Ice Beam on the Latios, it was revealed to actually be Zoroark. For turn three, I chose to keep both of my Pokemon out. I had Scizor Bullet Punch the Zoroark for the KO and Gastrodon Ice Beam the Krookodile for the KO as well, not before Krookodile gets an Outrage on Scizor again, however.

4-1

I already knew what his last Pokemon is, and I knew I was in an awesome position to finish the game off as he sends in Latios. For the final turn, I chose to Bug Bite the Latios for the KO and Recover on Gastrodon while the Latios lands an Ice Beam on Scizor.

4-0

Afterwards, I felt great winning my first round, but I knew things were only going to be more difficult. I didn’t let the victory go to my head and focused on the next round.

Round 2: Derek Perkins

My opponent this time told me that he isn’t looking to win and that he was just there for fun. He also mentioned that he was not involved with, nor even heard of, any online forums like Nugget Bridge or Smogon. Going in to this game, I had high hopes for myself again, this time letting it go to my head a bit…

Team preview: Breloom, Togetic, Conkeldurr, Regice, Cradily, Chandelure
My team: Chandelure, Togekiss, Scizor, Breloom
His leads: Chandelure, Togetic

The team preview was not helping my ego at this point. I saw Regice on the team and assumed this would be an easy victory and I would soon learn that it wouldn’t be. The opening match-up is very awkward, but I have the upper hand. On the first turn, I went with Chandelure’s Hidden Power targeting his Chandelure, just in case his Togetic decided to use Follow Me. With Togekiss I used Follow Me, hoping he would Shadow Ball my Chandelure. The animations start and his Togetic uses Helping Hand. My Hidden Power went off and dealt decent damage to his Chandelure. He opted for the Shadow Ball and completely wasted a turn since I chose to follow me. Turn two I expected my Hidden Power to KO his Chandelure, so I chose that again, setting up Tailwind with Togekiss. He Protected his Chandelure and Tri-Attacks my Togekiss for little damage, and although I was more terrified of getting one of the three statuses, none of them landed. The game is going exceedingly well for me at this point, so I get a bit ahead of myself. I Hidden Powered again and went with Air Slash from Togekiss, forgetting to use Follow Me. His Togetic uses Follow Me and tanks the Hidden Power and Air Slash quite well while his Chandelure KO’s mine.

3-4 in his favor.

I had a bad turn, but I wasn’t going to let it get me down. I sent in Scizor. I Bullet Punched Chandelure to clean it up, using Air Slash on it as well just in case the Bullet Punch didn’t do it. The turn starts and he uses Follow Me. I’m now on a one-way trip to Tiltville. His Fire Gem Boosted Heat Wave wrecked my Scizor, but I finished his Togetic off.

2-3

Now I sent in Breloom and he sent in Regice. Surely I couldn’t mess this up; Breloom could KO the Regice in one hit… I hoped. Turn four I went with the Protect on Breloom, expecting his Regice to Protect and Chandelure going for the Breloom KO. Togekiss uses Air Slash to finish off Chandelure. Everything went according to plan, except his Regice used Ice Beam on Togekiss.

2-2

Derek threw out Cradily, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. Spore could shut down both of the Pokemon easily. For turn six I Spored his Regice, fearing the Ice type, and used Roost on my Togekiss to bring it back up to full health. His Regice was sound asleep while Cradily used Ingrain. Things are looking up for me, for now. Turn seven I opted to Spore the Cradily, only to have it consume its Lum Berry. Togekiss aimed at Cradily with Air Slash, Cradily then Stockpiled up and my heart falls into my stomach. Regice is still napping, luckily. I went for the same turn again, except using Air Slash on Regice. Cradily went to sleep and Regice woke up, only to be flinched. I decide it is time to start shutting these Pokemon down. I Mach Punch the Regice, only to punch into a Protect. Togekiss Air Slashed Cradily for next to nothing while it sleeps undisturbed. Panic mode: engage.

Turn ten I played the exact same turn as last time. Mach Punch doesn’t KO and I’m pretty upset. Regice used Ice Beam on Breloom, activating the Focus Sash, and then froze it as well. Going in to turn eleven, I was for a one-turn thaw. Of course, that didn’t happen, Breloom decided to faint to Regice’s Ice Beam instead. Cradily wakes up and uses Stockpile, I’m accepting my fate at this point.

1-2

Togekiss had to bring it home and it was not looking good. Togekiss is at full health, but so is his +2 Special Defense Cradily while it is Ingrained, his Regice hung on for dear life. For turn twelve, I was on autopilot. Togekiss used Air Slash at Regice, it Protected, I facepalm, Cradily attacked with Giga Drain. I realized it didn’t have Ancient Power and I began to think I might have a chance. Turn thirteen, I finally took out his Regice and Cradily is still Giga Draining it’s little heart out for around ten percent of Togekiss’s max HP. This was where the stall war begins.

1-1

We had about five minutes left in the round and the status was my Togekiss versus Derek’s +2 Special Defense Cradily. Air Slash lands on Cradily and deals around one-eighth of its max HP and it flinches. I learned earlier in the day that when time is called, the first thing that is checked for a tie-breaker is the percentage of Hit Points remaining for each Pokemon, with my recovery method being Roost, I can secure the win. This realization gave me my second wind; I just needed chance and spot-on predictions on my side.

Turn fifteen rolls around and I was still Air Slashing away, causing a flinch again. My opponent was getting quite upset. Sixteen, same play, same outcome. A judge began to watch us as we’re freaking out about the flinches. Cradily is setting at around seventy percent HP and I’m around the same. He has Ingrain and Giga Drain on his side, however. I continued to assure my opponent that he has the win in the bag, hoping that he’ll just spam whatever move to make the game move faster. Togekiss Air Slashes and Cradily flinches. At this point, I was beginning to feel genuinely guilty for the terrible luck I am enabling and benefiting from.

Cradily was down to about sixty-five percent HP and I choose to keep playing the Air Slash lottery. This time I failed to get the flinch and Cradily got a Giga Drain off. Turn eighteen, Togekiss Roosted and Cradily Giga Drained for a bit more damage and Hit Points. Turn Nineteen, Cradily and Togekiss were hovering at around eighty-five percent HP with about two minutes left in the round. Togekiss Air Slashed and Cradily Giga Drained. One minute, thirty seconds. Turn twenty, Togekiss goes for the Air Slash again and Cradily Giga Drains. One minute left. I act like I’m just spamming clicks and go for Air Slash again and he Giga Drains. Cradily is up by about ten percent Hit Points. Thirty-five seconds on the clock. I acted like I’m thinking hard about my next move until the timer gets down to five seconds. He called me out for timer stalling as soon as I click my move. Cradily Protected, predicting an Air Slash! Togekiss Roosted up to max Hit Points and Cradily finished at around ninety-five percent HP after Ingrain and I claimed the victory, albeit barely. Talk about nerve-wracking.

Despite my narrow victory versus Derek, I was still pretty upset with myself. Various misplays put me in a terrible late-game situation that I should not have even won. After beating myself up a bit (and a bit of inner celebration), I felt prepared for round three.

Round 3: Maria Gutin

Having mixed feelings about my play last game, I’m completely prepared for my next challenger, hoping to change the feelings from mixed to good. I’m not entirely sure, but I do believe Maria said that she was not affiliated with Nugget Bridge, if I’m wrong then I’m very sorry if you’re reading this and I don’t have your Nugget Bridge alias posted Maria!

Team Preview: Chandelure, Terrakion, Sableye, Swampert, Cresselia, Ludicolo
My team: Gyarados, Togekiss, Scizor, Gastrodon
Her leads: Chandelure, Terrakion

For this game, I was feeling she would be going for a bit of Trick Room. So I passed on bringing Chandelure, bringing instead Gyarados for Dragon Tail support and Gastrodon just in case Trick Room goes up. Scizor made an appearance on the team to take on Terrakion and Cresselia, which could have given my team big problems. For my opening turn, I Protected Gyarados because I knew Terrakion was going to Rock Slide and I set up Tailwind with Togekiss. All went according to plan and Chandelure switched out for Cresselia. Turn two, I didn’t want Togekiss taking another Rock Slide because it already ate its Sitrus Berry, so I switched it out for Gastrodon. With Gyarados, I went for the Waterfall on Terrakion, hoping for the KO.

I immediately wanted to punch myself in the face. The turn started and Terrakion Protected, then I realize that everything turned out way better now that Gastrodon is going to be redirecting the Waterfall to it anyway for the Special Attack boost. Cresselia Ice Beamed Gyarados for respectable damage. Turn three, I was fearing Trick Room with Tailwind up so Gyarados used Dragon Tail on Cresselia. Gastrodon with +1 Special Attack was itching to ruin that Terrakion’s day, so I went for the Earth Power. She switched Terrakion out for Swampert so Earth Power didn’t hit too hard, sadly. Gyarados’s Dragon Tail connected before Cresselia can do anything; therefore it prevented a Trick Room. Cresselia went out for Terrakion again.

Turn four rolls around and all Pokemon except Gastrodon Protect, which went for the Earth Power. Turn five, I was not ready for Gyarados to get beat down yet because I need him for Intimidate and Dragon Tail support, so I switched him for Scizor while Gastrodon Earth Powered Swampert, expecting Terrakion to Protect. Terrakion used Rock Slide, however, and Scizor took an Ice Punch from Swampert. Scizor came out for Gyarados for a quick Intimidate and a Ground immunity. Gastrodon Recovered. Terrakion Protected and Swampert attempted to Earthquake, but hit only Gastrodon for negligible damage.

I realized I was playing a very dangerous switching game, losing Hit Points on my Pokemon fast. So I decided it was time to start dishing out some damage. Gyarados Protected again, waiting for Gastrodon to KO Terrakion, but the Earth Power activated Terrakion’s Focus Sash, sadly. Terrakion attempted to throw another Rock Slide but Gastrodon avoided it. Swampert switched out for Cresselia. Coming up on turn eight, I was in a rough position offensively. My Gastrodon needed to Recover and my other Pokemon were hurting quite a bit and no KO’s have been issued. I switched Gyarados out for Scizor again and Gastrodon Recovered. Terrakion went for another Rock Slide, dealing negligible damage to both of my Pokemon and Cresselia Psyshocks Gastrodon for another tiny chunk of damage. Turn nine and neither my opponent nor I have scored a KO. I Bullet Punched the Terrakion for the KO and Gastrodon Protects from a Cresselia Psyshock.

4-3 in my favor.

Chandelure steps in for the defeated Terrakion. I go for a double switch, Scizor out for Gyarados and Gastrodon out for Togekiss, a very strong turn because Chandelure whiffs a Shadow Ball at Togekiss and Cresselia Psyshocks Togekiss for just a bit of damage. I believe I am finally in the position to go on offense fully. Gyarados Waterfalls Chandelure for KO while Togekiss uses Follow me to pull another Shadow Ball and Psyshock.

4-2

By turn twelve,  it appeared the game will be going to time before the end. Swampert came in for the fallen Chandelure. Gyarados Waterfalled Cresselia for chip damage and Togekiss used Roost. Cresselia Ice Beamed the Togekiss and Swampert Ice Punched Gyarados. Not being in any hurry, I switch Togekiss out for Scizor and Gyarados Waterfalls Cresselia some more. Ice Beam went for Gyarados and Ice Punch went for Scizor this time. I Bullet Punched the Swampert for the cleanup, but it Protected and Gyarados continued to Waterfall Cresselia. Cresselia used Hidden Power Fire on Scizor and KO’ed it.

3-2

Time was called and I put another victory under my belt. I felt quite good about my performance, now starting to believe I can go the distance. But then, for the first time that day, I was paired against a Nugget Bridge member.

Round 4: Cassie “Cassie” Fordyce

Cassie let me know that she is an admin for Nugget Bridge and I instantly knew I have a rough battle ahead of me. But on the other hand, I was almost halfway through the tournament without a loss, so I was not entirely worried about losing.

Team preview: Reuniclus, Gastrodon, Metagross, Abomasnow, Chandelure, Scrafty
My team: Gyarados, Togekiss, Gastrodon, Breloom
Her leads: Chandelure, Scrafty

Pretty similar strategy as last game on my side. I picked Breloom over Scizor in the match-up to deal with Scrafty and Gastrodon better.

I opened turn one with the Follow Me and Dragon Tail. Scrafty used Stone Edge, and I cried a little inside. Chandelure switched out for Metagross, who then got Dragon Tailed into Abomasnow. Already by turn two, the game wasn’t looking so awesome for me. I Roosted Togekiss to heal up and remove the Ice/Rock weaknesses while switching Gastrodon in for Gyarados. Gastrodon took a Stone Edge and Blizzard, while Togekiss froze. A feeling of doom rose over me. I attempted Roost on Togekiss, and it thawed! I switched Gyarados in for Gastrodon in the meantime, predicting a grass move of some sort from Abomasnow. Scrafty exited the battlefield for Metagross and Abomasnow continued to Blizzard, this time freezing Gyarados! Remember that feeling of dread? It was back again. Togekiss attempted to Air Slash Abomasnow, but a Meteor Mash from Metagross and Blizzard were too much for Togekiss and it tapped out for the first time this tournament. Gyarados amazingly thaws and lands a tasty Earthquake on the two opposing pokemon. I began to fear my luck was going to catch up with me before the end of the tournament.

3-4 in Cassie’s favor.

Breloom came in after Togekiss and made an attempt to Spore Abomasnow while Gyarados attacked Metagross with Waterfall. The opposing team Protected and Gyarados fell to hail damage and Breloom’s Focus Sash broke.

2-4

Gastrodon stepped (squiggled?) in for Gyarados and Earth Powered Metagross for the KO, but not before it knocked out Breloom. Scrafty stepped in for Abomasnow and immediately fell asleep, thanks to the doomed Breloom.

1-3

Abomasnow came out ready to do work, and work is exactly what it did to claim victory for Cassie. I wasn’t really bummed at all about this match, I was outplayed by a great player and she was extremely nice about it. She openly invited me to become an active member in the Nugget Bridge community, which is why I’m even writing this article in the first place! So a big shout-out to Cassie for kicking my team’s teeth in and being really nice about it.

Round 5: Alex Moy

For this battle, I believe my opponent was running a bit late, so I did not get a chance to speak with him much about himself. The previous battle put my feet back on the ground and gave me a bit of tunnel vision, therefore my note-taking skills took a hit for this battle.

Team preview: Tyranitar, Scizor, Zapdos, Garchomp, Cresselia, Hitmontop
My team: Togekiss, Gastrodon, Scizor, Breloom
His leads: Cresselia, Zapdos

Going in to team preview, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’m not saying his team was not good, he just happened to be using Pokemon that I understood very well. I knew if I was careful around the Tyranitar and Cresselia, I could take the match handily. Therefore, I brought Scizor to see if I could scout Alex’s team out a bit and pin his Scizor counter. I wouldn’t be leading with Scizor, however, because I wanted to prepare for a Hitmontop lead and did not want to be Intimidated. Togekiss is a natural at making Hitmontops very sad, so she was an obvious choice. Gastrodon was paired with Togekiss, simply because Gastrodon has solid type coverage against this team and I could use Follow Me to scout potential Hidden Power Grass or Energy Ball. Team preview started to run into the last seconds so Breloom was hastily chosen to clean up whatever Gastrodon could not one-hit KO, should Scizor fall to an unexpected turn of events.

I’m pretty happy with my match-up for turn one so I surprisingly decide to go on the offensive right out the door. My plan was to have Togekiss set up Tailwind while Gastrodon worked on Zapdos with Ice Beams. His Cresselia cut my Tailwind boost in half, however, by using an Icy Wind, while Zapdos let out a Hidden Power Ice on Togekiss. Gastrodon’s Ice Beam dealt enough damage to activate Zapdos’s Sitrus Berry.

Togekiss had done all it could do for now, so I switched her out for Scizor to threaten Cresselia. Gastrodon launched another Ice Beam at Zapdos, aiming to KO. His Cresselia threw another Icy Wind and Zapdos used Hidden Power Ice on Scizor before fainting.

4-3 in my favor.

Tyranitar stepped in for the fallen Zapdos. I decided to let Gastrodon keep bringing the pain and use Earth Power on Tyranitar while Scizor Protected to scout for Hidden Power Fire or Fire Punch. His Cresselia attempted to Thunder Wave Scizor and Tyranitar caused a Rock Slide, dealing a bit of damage to Gastrodon. Feeling pretty confident in Scizor’s safety, I let him loose. He took aim at Tyranitar with Bullet Punch, but he Protected. Cresellia landed a Thunder Wave on Scizor and Gastrodon Recovered to full Hit Points. Scizor was now paralyzed, but I reasoned that as long as he didn’t fail to move too many times we were still in a pretty good situation. Scizor Bullet Punched once again for turn five and landed the KO on Tyranitar. Cresselia continued to spray the Icy Wind and Gastrodon chipped away at Cresselia with an Ice Beam.

4-2

Garchomp was now in with Cresselia as the last two defending Pokemon. Garchomp does not scare me in the least, as long as  his Sand Veil does not get out of hand. I obviously made an attempt to Ice Beam his Garchomp. With Scizor hovering under fifty percent HP, I decide to use Protect  just in case he didn’t Protect with Garchomp. Sure enough, Garchomp Earthquaked and Cresselia used Psychic on Gastrodon, getting the Special Defense drop and putting Gastrodon at critical HP. Garchomp fell easily to Gastrodon’s Ice Beam, however, and leaving Cresselia all by her lonesome.

4-1

Cresselia made an attempt to finish Scizor off with Icy Wind on turn seven, but Bug Bite on turns seven and eight took Cresselia down.

4-0

This battle felt great for me, but I wasn’t going to let it tilt me. Not yet anyway…

Round 6: ?????

This round, I embarrassingly sat in the wrong seat up until the round almost started. I had to hurry to my correct seat and forgot to write my opponent’s name and the team preview. All that I remember is that he was a male.

My team: Breloom, Togekiss, Gastrodon, Scizor
His leads: Ludicolo, Politoed

I picked quickly because I was running a bit late. I just grabbed a few Pokemon I knew were good against rain teams. Normally I bring Chandelure to bait in Water moves for Gastrodon, but it didn’t happen this game.

Turn one I was prepared for my Breloom to eat an Ice Beam from either Ludicolo or Politoed, or even both. I chose to Protect Breloom while Togekiss set up Tailwind to put the team up to speed with Ludicolo. Ludicolo Ice Beamed Togekiss and Politoed used Surf, buffing Ludicolo with its Absorb Bulb. Now it was time for Breloom to start doing work. He put the Ludicolo to sleep and Togekiss Roosted to heal some damage and take less damage from Politoed’s Ice Beam. Turn three I decided to go offensive, which seemed really early for me so far. Breloom Bullet Seeded the Politoed for the KO and Togekiss Air Slashed the Ludicolo, only to have it switch into Metagross.

4-3 in my favor.

One Pokemon down, though Politoed wasn’t much of a threat to my team anyway. He sent out Dragonite. I felt like Breloom needed to start Sporing things. Togekiss used Follow Me and Breloom attempted to put Dragonite to sleep. Big mistake. Dragonite threw Thunder Togekiss’s way, then Metagross Zen Headbutted Togekiss to near-fatal. Breloom landed the Spore on Dragonite. Not wanting to have Togekiss eat another Thunder, I switched into Gastrodon and Breloom went for the Spore on Metagross. My opponent wasn’t buying it. Metagross Protected and Dragonite woke up in time to blast Breloom with a  Hurricane and activate its Focus Sash. Turn six, Metagross Zen Headbutted into Breloom’s Protect while Gastrodon threw an Ice Beam into Dragonite’s Protect. Breloom sacrificed himself for the greater good and Mach Punched the Dragonite to break its Multiscale, should it have it as its ability. Gastrodon went for the KO on Dragonite, but not before Breloom fell to Dragonite’s Hurricane. Metagross just stood around using Protect as half of the field got wiped.

3-2

I knew Ludicolo is his last Pokemon, so I sent out Scizor. Scizor used Bug Bite on the sleeping Ludicolo for the KO. Metagross tried its hardest with an Earthquake, but deals negligible damage. Gastrodon cleans up Metagross with Earth Power for the win.

By this point I had learned that any players with two losses or less would be making the top-cut of 32. I have one loss under my belt and three more matches to play and I start to think that I actually was going to make it to top-cut relatively easily. I should have spent my time between games six and seven preparing my face to make another visit with the floor.

Round 7: Richard “TheAshAttacks” Ashby

Richard sat across from me and we chatted it up for a bit. He told me he was just using Lajo’s team, which I had no idea who Lajo was or what the team was. We go into team preview and I was nowhere near as prepared as I should have been for the trashing this team was about to deliver me.

His team: Ninetales, Cresselia, Heatran, Thundurus, Amoonguss, Scrafty
My team: Togekiss, Gyarados, Gastrodon, Breloom
His leads: Ninetales, Thundurus

In team preview I saw Ninetales. I had a lot of experience playing with and against Ninetales and it never went well for any Ninetales involved, so I got a bit cocky going into battle. I saw potential for Trick Room with Cresselia and Scrafty, so I lead with Togekiss-Gyarados to put a stop to that. Breloom came to put everything to sleep and Gastrodon came to sweep.

I saw his leads and was unconcerned. I hoped that Gyarados would bait the Thunderbolt from Thundurus as I switched Gastrodon in for it. Togekiss set up Tailwind to get some momentum. Ninetales burned a Fire Gem-boosted Overheat on Gastrodon and dealt rather decent damage. Thundurus did Thunderbolt, but not at Gastrodon and dealt considerable damage to Togekiss. I figure that Ninetales is going out for a switch or is going to do little damage so I choose to ignore it. Gastrodon Protected (I’m so paranoid about Grass Knot on Thundurus) and Togekiss Roosted to heal up. Thundurus used Thunderbolt on Togekiss for neutral damage and Ninetales attempted to Power Swap Gastrodon. I knew I absolutely need to keep Gastrodon alive so I had Togekiss use Follow Me while Gastrodon tried to Recover. Ninetales Protected and Thundurus paralyzes Togekiss. I was not prepared to lose Togekiss either, so she tried to Roost, only to be Taunted by Thundurus. Ninetales Power Swaped Gastrodon before its Ice Beam connected with Thundurus. At this point, I was way too far on tilt to even think about what Power Swap does. Turn five came around and I was in tunnel vision. Togekiss used Air Slash on Ninetales and Gastrodon used Ice Beam on Thundurus. Thundurus landed his Thunderbolt on Togekiss and Ninetales used Solarbeam on Gastrodon. I was pretty visibly upset at this point. Somehow I managed to forget that Ninetales learned Solarbeam and now was playing like garbage. Togekiss barely hung in there, but Gastrodon was done for.

3-4 in Ashby’s favor.

I lost the most important offensive and defensive Pokemon on my team in this matchup and I know things are going to fall apart fast. Out came Gyarados for Gastrodon. Gyarados Protected while Togekiss proceeded to faint at the hands of Thundurus’s Thunderbolt. Ninetales Solarbeamed on Gyarados’s Protect.

2-4

Breloom reluctantly stepped up. My only hope was to Spore Thundurus and hope Breloom didn’t get Taunted by Thundurus for some unknown reason. Gyarados Protected again hoping for the 50/50 chance to succeed and also for Thundurus to attack it. Breloom gets Taunted and Overheated, Focus Sash activates. Last hope. The only play that I think could possibly have brought me out of that situation would be to Bullet Seed Thundurus for five critical hits and then proceed to sweep with Gyarados. That didn’t happen.

0-4

Welcome to my worst defeat ever. Ashby took down all of my Pokemon without switching his lead Pokemon and barely taking damage. I have no idea what his other two Pokemon were. I didn’t feel the need to drag myself down further by asking him. All self-hate aside, I was pretty excited to lose to such an interesting team, even though he didn’t make it. Surely things couldn’t get worse…… Right?

Game 8: Srihari “Thadenvy” Yenamandra

I wasn’t going to let my previous game get me down. I watched the replay a few times between rounds and learned where I messed up. Talking with my opponent and people around me, my opponent said his name on Nugget Bridge’s forums is Thadenvy. I should have kept my mouth shut. See, I played Thadenvy multiple times on Pokemon Showdown and even sought his help in team-building after I couldn’t beat him multiple times. He knew everything about my team. I then introduced myself under my Nugget Bridge name and thought it was cool because we talked a lot on Showdown. Then I immediately face-palmed. I look at and tell him that he was probably going to win. He responds with “Yeah your team is pretty predictable.”

Team Preview: Rotom-C, Volcarona, Weavile, Salamence, ?????, ?????
My team: Chandelure, Togekiss, Gyarados, Breloom
His leads: Weavile, Volcarona

What team preview said to me is that he will open Fake-Out and Volcarona. I finally got to destroy a Volcarona with the Hidden Power on Chandelure! Or so I wanted him to think. I switched Chandelure into Gyarados to drop Weavile’s Attack, expecting the Night Slash on Chandelure. He instead switched Weavile out for Salamence. Togekiss set up Tailwind and took a super-effective Hidden Power from Volcarona. Gyarados attempted to Waterfall the Volcarona, but Rotom-C switched in. Togekiss went for the Air Slash on Salamence, it switched out for Weavile. Now I didn’t have to worry about a Focus Sash on Weavile. Next turn, Togekiss avoided Weavile’s Fake-Out by switching out for Chandelure. Gyarados Protected itself from Rotom’s Thunderbolt. Expecting him to KO Chandelure before it can even move, I immediately switched Chandelure back to Togekiss and Gyarados out for Breloom to avoid a Thunderbolt. He instead Protects both of his Pokemon. Turn five Breloom Mach Punched at Weavile and Togekiss Air Slashed at Rotom-C, only to fall to Rotom’s Thunderbolt before it can attack.

3-3

With Weavile out of the way, I sent Chandelure out. Thadenvy sent out Salamence. Breloom attempted to Spore Salamence only to have it switch into Volcarona and Chandelure began spamming Heat Wave. Rotom-C Protected itself for now. Breloom Spored at Rotom-C, just in case it tried to switch to Salamence and Chandelure continued taking its only offensive option. Rotom-C fell to Heat Wave.

3-2 in my favor.

Salamence returned. Chandelure fired off one more Heat Wave, almost KO-ing Volcarona but leaving it with a burn. Salamence used Draco Meteor on Chandelure and took it down easily. Volcarona woke up in time to fire off a Heat Wave of its own and bring Breloom to one Hit Point. Breloom, deciding there wasn’t enough sleeping going on, put Salamence to sleep. Volcarona fell to its burn and I sent in Gyarados.

2-1

Two turns of Bullet Seeds and Waterfalls later, Gyarados and Breloom brought home the win!

Afterwards, I felt a little bit bad for bumping Thadenvy out of top-cut, but I knew it had to be one of us. I just walked off and tried to gather myself before the last round. Again, being at the verge of losing top-cut only to come out on top left me with very little stress for round nine.

Round 9: Jimmy “Team Rocket Elite” Kwa

I sat across from Jimmy and we didn’t talk much. I believe we were both ready to get this final round out of the way and figure out which of us would be moving on to top-cut.

Team preview: Aerodactyl, Politoed, Kingdra, Togekiss, Breloom, ?????
My Team: Chandelure, Togekiss, Gastrodon, Breloom
His leads:  Togekiss, Breloom

I knew quite a bit about Aerodactyl, because it is one of my favorite Pokemon. I knew it had an extremely fast Taunt and was no pushover offensively either. I chose Chandelure and Togekiss for the leads because I could switch into Gastrodon if Politoed-Kingdra were out. I would chase off Togekiss-Breloom pretty well, and Aerodactyl couldn’t take out Chandelure before it was taken down. Opening turn Chandelure threw out a Heat Wave and Togekiss sets up Tailwind. Kingdra and Politoed came in to battle now. Going in to turn two, I felt like I already had momentum in my favor. Gastrodon came in for Chandelure and Togekiss Air Slashed Politoed in an attempt to get some damage and possibly a flinch in. Kingdra used a Life Orb-boosted Muddy Water and dealt negligible damage to Togekiss and gave Gastrodon a Special Attack boost. Turboslug is now primed. Politoed flinched. Turn three I’m expecting a Draco Meteor on Gastrodon and I’m not thrilled at the idea of switching into either of my Pokemon in the back, so Togekiss continued to use Air Slash. Kingdra Protected and Politoed switched out to have Togekiss take the Air Slash for it. Togekiss prepared for a Draco Meteor and used Follow Me, his Togekiss did the same. Gastrodon Ice Beamed the opposing Togekiss and froze it while Kingdra stepped out for Breloom. I knew he was going to expect another Follow Me, therefore I double-targeted on his Breloom. Togekiss’s Air Slash landed activating Breloom’s Focus Sash, but Gastrodon went to sleep. With Gastrodon being extremely susceptible to Bullet Seed, I brought Chandelure back out. Togekiss made an attempt to set up Tailwind again, but took a nap instead. His frozen Togekiss swapped out for Kingdra. Turn seven and neither of us have scored a KO. It seemed the first to lose a Pokemon will forfeit all momentum. Hoping he would expect another Gastrodon switch-in for Chandelure, I kept it in to use Heat Wave and switch Togekiss for Gastrodon instead. Nevertheless, Kingdra uses Muddy Water and buffs Gastrodon again, but KO-ing Chandelure. His Breloom Protected itself.

3-4 in Jimmy’s favor.

I sent in Breloom to put Kingdra on my other Pokemon’s level. Breloom Mach Punched at Jimmy’s Breloom in hopes of getting the KO while waiting for Kingdra to burn its free Protect. Gastrodon Earth Powered at Breloom as well, just in case. Kingdra Protected as planned and Jimmy switched his Breloom for Togekiss. Breloom aimed to put Kingdra to sleep, but not until after Kingdra brought it to Focus Sash with Draco Meteor. Gastrodon finished off Togekiss with an Ice Beam.

3-3

With one of his Pokemon at one Hit Point and the other two asleep, I’m in a pretty awesome situation. Breloom came in for Togekiss and immediately fell to Mach Punch from mine. Gastrodon Earth Powered Kingdra as it napped.

3-2

Politoed was now in as Jimmy’s last two Pokemon. Bullet Seed from Breloom took care of it easily though, and Gastrodon cleaned up Kingdra with another Earth Power.

3-0

*I tried to contain myself as best as I could after I saw the victory screen. Probability helped me win that battle and it didn’t make me feel good, but this is the game we play. I realize it is much easier for me to say in this position, but all I can do is keep on playing.

-* I’m not entirely sure how I’m supposed to handle explaining games full of probability issues.

All of the Masters get to take an hour break before top-cut begins. My hour was actually spent just pacing about waiting for it to start. I finally get to my seat, and there is a white box that projects our matches onto the screens at the spectator’s area. I was pretty excited at this point; I had quite a few friends rooting for me, and now they can watch things unfurl.

Top 32, Game 1: Geoff “PROFESSORLABCOAT” Hamilton

Geoff and I did the normal pre-game discussions and I just couldn’t be happier. I finally top-cut a tournament and have already done infinitely better than I had expected. I was not going to be upset at all if I lost to Geoff, but I definitely was going to make him fight for it.

Team preview: Cresselia, Heatran, Exeggutor, Sableye, Ninetales, Gastrodon
My team: Chandelure, Togekiss, Breloom, Gastrodon
His leads: Exeggutor, Ninetales

As soon as I got into team preview I saw Ninetales and I wanted it KO’ed as soon as possible. I’m now going to take a break from typing out these battles and actually let you watch one! Please excuse the quality, it was captured on a phone.

So there was game one. I was feeling pretty good after that victory and was hoping I could use my momentum to carry me through game two.

Top 32, Game 2:

My team: Chandelure, Togekiss, Breloom, Gastrodon
His leads: Gastrodon, Ninetales

Turn one of this round I was pretty confident in Togekiss’s ability to survive an Overheat from Ninetales, eat its Sitrus Berry, and then survive an Ice Beam (Hope for an Earth Power) from Gastrodon. Togekiss used Follow Me and Chandelure used Hidden Power on Ninetales. Togekiss survived the Overheat and Ice Beam as expected. Turn two, Chandelure repeated of turn one, only to hit a switching in Cresselia. Togekiss healed itself up and Gastrodon KO’ed Chandelure with its Ground Gem Earth Power.

3-4 in Geoff’s favor.

Breloom came out to stop Cresselia from setting up Trick Room. Breloom succeeded in putting Cresselia to sleep, while Geoff’s Gastrodon switched out for Heatran and Togekiss lands an Air Slash on it. While Cresselia slept, I didn’t want his Heatran setting up Substitute so Breloom went for the Mach Punch, in hopes of bringing its Hit Points low enough to stop it. Heatran still manages to get Substitute set up. Gastrodon came in for Togekiss to deal with Heatran and Cresselia was out like a rock. Turn five I expected Cresselia to wake up or for Heatran to use Heat Wave. Breloom Protected, but so does Heatran. Cresselia woke up to use Psyshock and Gastrodon Earth Powers, both smacking into Protect. Breloom was at full Hit Points so I knew I could get one Spore off. I chose to put Cresselia to sleep and Earth Power Heatran again, but Heatran ate a Shuca Berry. Turn seven Breloom made an attempt to finish off Heatran, but it Protected. Cresselia woke up in time to finish Breloom off, but then took a bit of damage from Gastrodon’s Ice Beam.

2-4

Togekiss and Breloom were pretty low on Hit Points at this point, but I knew I couldn’t let Heatran get a Substitute set up. I decided to go full-offensive against the Heatran. It used Heat Wave, and I proceed to lose game two.

0-4

Top 32, Game 3:

Going in to game three, I realized it is time to bring Gyarados around and put Geoff’s Heatran in it’s place. I passed up bringing Chandelure and take Gyarados instead.

My leads: Togekiss, Breloom
His leads: Ninetales, Exeggutor

Right out the door Exeggutor was a giant threat. In game one I was caught off guard by his Exeggutor having Chlorophyll and not Harvest, but in game three I was feeling very savvy to his team. My plan was to put Exeggutor to sleep while Togekiss took the big hits it had taken in the previous matches. Instead he double-targeted Breloom for the KO and Togekiss set up Tailwind.

3-4

Losing a Pokemon on turn one doesn’t happen very often for me, but I wasn’t going to let this setback get me down. Gastrodon was in. Gastrodon attempted to use Earth Power on Ninetales, but Cresselia comes in for it. Exeggutor landed a Psyshock on Togekiss. Two turns of Life Orb damage and an Air Slash from Togekiss took Exeggutor down.

3-3

Geoff threw out Ninetales and turn three began. Gyarados used Waterfall on Cresselia in hopes of weakening it and betting on Ninetales using Protect. Ninetales instead decided to Overheat on Togekiss. It survived and Roosted back up to health. Cresselia tried to whittle down Gyarados with a Psyshock in the meantime. With my Water Gem gone, I decided to start using Earthquake. Togekiss Roosted back up to full health just after Gyarados slammed down an Earthquake, KO-ing Ninetales. Cresselia Skill Swapped Gyarados and Intimidated my team.

3-2

Heatran came out as the last offensive presence on Geoff’s team. Completely forgetting about the sun still being in effect, I continued to use Waterfall, which was pretty moronic considering I could be hitting Heatran for x4 weakness and still hit Cresselia because she no longer had Levitate. Togekiss set up Tailwind and Geoff’s Pokemon attempt to take down Togekiss, but fail. Gyarados and Togekiss eventually cleaned up Heatran and Cresselia and we advanced to the next round!

Top 16, Game 1: Enosh “Human” Shachar

Going into the round of sixteen I started to believe I could go all the way. I had my friends’ support and I played well on the monitors. I had momentum. Then I learned the name of the person I was playing. Not even a week before this tournament I watched Enosh battle Kamaal H. on Nugget Bridge’s Tuesday Night Fights. Knowing about his performance there, I was quite sure I was in for an extremely difficult battle.

Team preview: Abomasnow, Scrafty, Rhyperior, Rotom-W, Misdreavus, Cresselia
My team: Gyarados, Togekiss, Chandelure, Breloom
His leads: Rotom-W, Abomasnow

I took a look at team preview, made a double-take, and then stared in disbelief. This year’s competition was nothing like US Nationals the previous year. The only thing I could efficiently point out was Trick Room, the rest I was going to have to play by ear.

Going off of Trick Room, I chose my general lead for it, totally forgetting to bring Gastrodon. When turn one started, I’m already in trouble. Rotom-W was so ready to make my entire team miserable, and I failed to bring any efficient switch-ins for this matchup. I started by trying to take care of Abomasnow so I can bring Breloom around. Enosh saw this coming a mile away and Protected. Rotom Thunderbolted into Gyarados’s Protect as well. I was not ready to give up on Gyarados just yet, so I switched out for Chandelure and ate Rotom’s Thunderbolt. Togekiss managed to safely Roost before Abomasnow unleashed a Blizzard. Chandelure began using Heat Wave and landed a burn on Rotom but Abomasnow Protected itself from it, as well as Togekiss’s Air Slash. Turn four Chandelure Heat Waves again, Abomasnow switched out for Misdreavus, however. Togekiss Roosted yet again, but Chandelure fell to the Thunderbolt of Rotom.

3-4 in Enosh’s favor.

Breloom cames out in hopes of scaring off Rotom. Breloom used Bullet Seed at Rotom, but it switched into Scrafty. Togekiss Air Slashed the Misdreavus and it flinched. Turn six Breloom switched to let Gyarados Intimidate Scrafty while it burns its Fake-out. Togekiss continueed to Air Slash the Misdreavus, but this time it set up Trick Room. Now I was in a really bad spot. I made an attempt to Waterfall Scrafty, but Enosh sent Rotom in to take the hit and be KO’d. Misdreavus Pain Split Togekiss and then Togekiss Roosted again.

3-3

I may have gotten a KO, but it was on purpose by Enosh and I was not in a better position because of it. Abomasnow came back in as we started turn eight. Gyarados was looking to take Misdreavus down, but it instead switched to Scrafty. Abomasnow set up Substitute, but it got shut down shortly after by Togekiss’s Air Slash. Expecting a Blizzard, I protected Gyarados and Air Slashed the Scrafty. Abomasnow finally got the Substitute up. A few Drain Punches and Blizzards later, my team was all knocked out.

0-3

Top 16, Game 2:

I have another video! Hooray for my fingers!

Once again, with the forgetting of the Gastrodon. I didn’t really realize it at first, but after reevaluating this series I realized how much each of my other Pokemon depend on each other defensively. If I failed to bring Pokemon that can switch well with each other or if I played against a player that is absolutely better than me, this team will definitely lose. Many people who watch Enosh and I’s game two point out the “unlucky freeze” that occurs. I don’t attribute this to the reason why I lost this game like quite a few would. My failure to completely understand my team and use it within the intended methods was the reason I lost that series. The fact that Enosh is one of the top players around might have had something to do with it too.

Closing Statements

I’m not upset with myself in the least for my loss. It allowed me to learn much more about my team and myself. Not only that, but I get to have some pretty awesome bragging rights in my group.  I just wanted to thank everyone I’ve missed so far in this article. El_Scorcho for helping me build the team. All of my friends who supported me back home and all of the friends I met at the event who supported me. As well as my Poke-Poke teammates. I had an amazing time and hope to meet up again in the 2014 circuit.

Article image created by The Knights of Wario Land for Nugget Bridge. See more of his artwork on Tumblr.

About the Author

Uncle Taint

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