Reports

Published on February 18th, 2014 | by Dim

13

Flower Power Pumpkin: Virginia Regional Top 4 Team Analysis

Let me tell you a story about a super real team… To preface this analysis, I will say that the team I used was something that did not involve a huge amount of planning or time spent practicing. Instead, this team was almost entirely theory based on one of the combos from X and Y that I thought would be the most effective along with Pokemon that could support that combo well, whether that be because I couldn’t use it or because they needed a little extra help to work properly. I would say that, in practice, this team functioned similarly to my 2012 worlds team in that I had a core four (in the case of my 2012 worlds team, Garchomp, Rotom-Heat Forme, Hydreigon and Metagross; on this team, those four were Garchomp, Talonflame, Rotom-Wash Forme, and Mawile) who functioned well against almost any team and then two extra who functioned well in more specific situations where they had the potential to decimate an opponent or deal with something the core couldn’t deal with. I don’t really like this style since it restricts my usage options, but as I was left without spending much time practicing or planning I didn’t get to put together one of the more variable teams that I usually like using more. It really was a team based upon my initial analysis of what I wanted to test that I was left to use since I had run out of time, but the fact that it ended up working was a pleasant surprise. With that out of the  way, I would like to present the team that I used to finish 4th place with in the Pokemon Video Game Championships 2014 Virginia Regional.

Blakesucks Rocks (Garchomp) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50 EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP Jolly Nature
– Dragon Claw
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake
– Protect

Garchomp is a key member of this team and provides many important pieces. It’s primary goal is to act as a spread move user; often times to net KOs with Mawile or Talonflame, I would have to soften up one or both of the opponents first. Garchomp helped me do that. Rock Slide in particular was also very helpful in that checked Charizard and Talonflame very easily and made them hard to switch in on Garchomp. This move, along with Talonflame, made Garchomp very easy to use when dealing with the Venusaur and Charizard team cores that had become so common by the time of the Virginia regional. In fact, I often found myself leading with Garchomp and Talonflame just to make sure that I would be able to deal with Charizard and Venusaur if they came out, and that certainly worked to good effect in practice. I was using Life Orb on Garchomp so, if I won the speed tie, I would knock out other Garchomps and have an easier time knocking out Charizard and Talonflame in one hit. However, I found that my Talonflame really needed the boost from Life Orb much more and I had Focus Sash free, so I decided that it would better suit Garchomp… 15 minutes before I got to the actual registration tables. By this token, however, Garchomp seemed pitifully weak in the actual event compared to his power in what testing I actually had; so, then was the thought of him softening opponents up spawned. Regardless of whether or not he had a Life Orb, his high base Attack and Speed along with Rough Skin made him invaluable in dealing with opposing threats while forcing the opponent to deal with him in his own threatening way. The nickname was a result of me naming the Garchomp blakesucks; when Blake bred the team for me, he re-named it Blake Rocks. Go figure.

#2chompz (Mawile) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50 EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Sucker Punch
– Iron Head
– Play Rough
– Protect

Mawile was the great offensive powerhouse behind this team. It provided strong offensive pressure and priority along with useful utility in a way that no other Pokemon could have done. I think more often than any other Pokemon I came to find my strategy relying on the effectiveness of Mawile before it even played out. Sucker Punch was incredibly useful (well, until I realized I was -2 and not -1 against Ray) and netted many surprising KOs with the sheer attack power that Mawile had. Iron Head and Play Rough were extremely powerful STAB moves to have at my fingertips and, along with Mega Mawile’s Huge Power ability, weren’t hindered at all by coverage issues. This particular Mawile was slower than most of the other Mawiles I played against, which was both a blessing and a curse; a blessing because I would out speed them if I set up Trick Room with Gourgeist, and  a curse because the opposite would occur if I didn’t. Regardless, I managed to find creative ways to handle opposing Mawiles with the combination of Rotom-Wash, Talonflame, and Garchomp. Intimidate on this particular Pokemon is incredibly useful in my opinion. I often found myself and my opponents using Mawile not mega evolving right away just so they could switch out in a bad situation and re-use the Intimidate on switch in. On of the best examples of this was Devon McCloud’s (Rigel) use of Mawile against me in round 8. He didn’t mega evolve Mawile until one of its final turns, but the way that he avoided doing this until it would be useful despite facing defeat was very impressive and definitely helped me to think of new and creative ways to use Mawile.

dollars (Talonflame) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 50 EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
– Brave Bird
– Quick Guard
– Flare Blitz
– Protect

Once you put a Life Orb on this bird, you can never go back. Talonflame has incredible power a priority move in the form of Brave Bird and great utility with Quick Guard that brings it to a very high status in terms of its effect on this team. Talonflame’s priority led to it being effective in helping against many pokemon, from Venusaur to Kangaskhan, without having to worry about their speedy attacks and still being able to run a higher amount of bulk. I might have messed around with the spread more if I had time.  The coverage was also very useful in hitting Mawile and scoring neutral damage on many Pokemon in the meta-game, dropping 50% or more from pokemon like Salamence or Gardevoir. I was actually able to win a top 8 match almost entirely because the combination of a Brave Bird and a Rock Slide while both of my attackers were intimidate was able to knock out a Gardevoir. Talonflame also has several other uses, but I felt like my team didn’t need the speed control of Tailwind and that Roost would be ineffective, so I went with the above move set.

cash (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50 EVs: 4 Spd / 252 SAtk / 252 HP
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

Rotom-Wash was a vital member of my team. Safely using Will-O-Wisp on Pokemon like Mawile and Garchomp to keep them from wreaking havoc upon my team was crucial, as well as the general provision of a second Will-O-Wisp to support Florges. His Water and Electric coverage was very useful in handling Pokemon like Talonflame or Politoed, with the sheer power of Hydro Pump helping to soften opponents up. He also provided the most middling speed tier for my team, working safely in or out of Trick Room. He proved crucial in handling water heavy teams like Simon Yip’s, whom I played in the last round of swiss. He was also useful in providing pure special power ( the reasoning for max Special Attack) to a core that was entirely physical. This power made it so the opponent’s efforts to stifle my physical Pokemon proved wasted if I brought in Rotom-W to replace something. It’s defensive typing was also powerful on its own, making it stay on the field for long periods of time without falling, which is also some of the reasoning behind Sitrus Berry.

bucks (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
Level: 50 EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Moonblast
– Energy Ball
– Protect
– Calm Mind

Here we are, Florges! Florges is the big special attacker for this team and the reason why I felt justified in running double Will-O-Wisp and Intimidate. When this team goes into Florges mode, Florges sets up several Calm Minds and is able to sweep the enemy team. Even after a single Calm Mind, Florges is able to wall almost any special attacker and with Will-O-Wisps flying around it was even able to take down physical attackers. I think the key reason that I didn’t feel too comfortable bringing it to matches on the actual day was the high number of Talonflames, who are hard to stop with Mawile or Gourgeist and often runs away in the face of Rotom. The priority Brave Bird also counters the speed control I bring with Trick Room, so sadly, my flower didn’t blossom often. In justification of my lack of use against Ray despite 4/6s of his team being weak to it; he also had Ferrothorn and Mawile, who hard counter Florges in every way. On to the reasoning, though! It’s hard to think of Florges in anything other than a pair with Gourgeist or a similar physically defensive Grass type. In this combination, Gourgeist is able to support Florges through Will-o-wisp and Trick Room, while Florges prevents non-volatile status blocking and stat reduction for Gourgeist, making it so Gourgeist is immune to even Dark Void from Smeargle. This defensive opening for Florges allowed it to set up and deal 50% or more to opposing Pokemon even if resisted after a +1 or +2 from Calm Mind. My only real gripe with Florges is its lack of pseudo-legendary status, since it can’t have a slightly higher Defense and Special Attack stat without ascending to the echelon of Pokemon like Salamence and Garchomp.

paper (Gourgeist-Super) @ Occa Berry
Ability: Frisk
Level: 50 EVs: 252 HP / 36 def/220 sp. def
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Leech Seed
– Will-O-Wisp
– Trick Room
– Phantom Force

The cutest pumpkin in North America reveals himself! Gourgeist has more of a solo presence than Florges does on this team. It provides useful defensive support with Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Force, and Leech Seed while also providing Trick Room speed control. Occa Berry is useful in that it keeps Gourgeist from being knocked out in a single blow by Charizard-Y’s Heat Wave, but I also run the risk of getting hit by an Overheat by the aforementioned Pokemon without an answer instead. Gourgeist will fall to that attack as long as it’s in the sun. Regardless of this, Gourgeist is excellent against several common physical attackers, sporting a high physical defense, while it’s HP and attack depend on size. When Gourgeist is super sized, it has a relatively high HP and attack stat while being relatively slow; perfect for a Trick Room setter, in my opinion. While his typing isn’t wonderful due to the Grass part of it, it does allow him to be affected by Flower Veil, which is very helpful in keeping him relevant throughout the game. Perhaps if I had been able to run two Leftovers items I would have done so to put one on Gourgeist, but alas, I could not. Rules are rules.

In conclusion, I would like to thank Blake Hopper (Mrbopper) for getting this ENTIRE team for me two nights before the tournament. I would also like to credit Zach for the Gourgeist EV spread, as I believe that’s where Blake got it from. Although I might have benefited more from more Defense effort values, the Special Defense definitely saved me on several occasions. Perhaps in the future I’ll be able to plan more and come up with cool things like Careful Mawile, which always looks before it leaps, unlike my pitiful Brave one. I would like to say that I think Florges definitely deserves more testing and respect on teams and I’m glad to bring it to the forefront with this particular combination, even if in the tournament itself I didn’t make the best use of it. I also think that Gourgeist probably got some deserved second looks for its viability and I hope that people can see it was something of a Kangaskhan counter now. I’d like to thank all of my opponents and friends who went to Virginia and made it a good time, and I was really glad that I went. I would type up some match reports, but I don’t think I have quite the memory to make those worthwhile. Lastly, thanks to you, reader, for looking at my team!

About the Author

Dim has been playing competitive Pokemon for 5 years now. In 2012 he won the Pokemon World Championships in the senior division. He likes chocolate, running, gaming, and coming up with weird ideas about gaming.

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 →