Reports

Published on July 8th, 2014 | by Ty Flowsion

34

For Whom the ‘Bel Tolls! A 10th Place UK Nationals Report

Hello Nugget Bridge! My name is Terence Dray, and unless you met me in Manchester then you will have no idea who I am! I’m a long-time lurker, practically zero-time poster here on the site. I finished in 10th place at the UK Nationals, and I’m proud to have the opportunity to write this (long overdue) report on the team that got me there. With so many great reports being born from the event, I’ll try to make this one as entertaining and insightful as the rest. Before I kick this off I will add a short disclaimer: I do not consider myself to be particularly great at creating EV spreads, so some could possibly be improved upon. Also, being that this was my first competitive tournament and I didn’t expect to get so far, my notes don’t tell me much at all beyond which Pokémon my opponents chose, so I apologise if I haven’t recounted the battles too well. On to the team!

Team Facts

• The team was roughly 4 months in the making before it reached its final state.
• In terms of damage-dealing moves, my team covers just 8 of the 19 Pokémon types (theoretically it covers 9 if you count the possibility of dropping a rain-influenced Weather Ball).
• The philosophy of the team is to bait out would-be counters and grab almost unpredictable KO’s, manipulate the field to better strengthen my team’s position while hindering my opponents, and all the while hit very hard.

Team Preview

Team Analysis

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Charizard (M) @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
Modest Nature
EVs: 212 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp Atk / 4 Sp Def / 36 Spd
– Protect
– Hidden Power Ice
– Solar Beam
– Heat Wave

Charizard Y was my Mega Evolution of choice, delivering both powerful spread damage and the ability to take on Water-types. Though it requires some support, Drought provides it with the necessary tools to dismantle unprepared teams.

The fastest Charizard will always be slower than Garchomp, so bulk and power was my chosen modus operandi. With this in mind I quickly realised that I could use Charizard to deal with the army of Garchomp that would undoubtedly stand before it, so some form of speed control (read: Trick Room) was in order. I was a little bit worried upon seeing Squirtwo’s team report, as our teams had a lot in common and I was anxious that come Manchester, some of my opponents would be wary of me using Charizard in Trick Room. While it is a coincidence that our teams share several similarities, I did like his rationale at running 36 speed EVs to outspeed all non-scarfed Tyranitar and so re-tweaked my own Charizard’s speed from a redundant 12 speed EVs. Everything else was simply there to maximise damage output and minimise damage received.

I value Protect/Detect and try to find a spot for it when I can. Heat Wave is there for good spread damage, dishing out hits that went from debilitating to devastating once Helping Hand came into play, and nabbed easy KOs on any Manectric that hadn’t come prepared for Trick Room. Solar Beam is there for mandatory coverage to dismantle would-be rain teams and any rogue Mamoswine that pop up. Hidden Power Ice is the real stand-out move of the set, easily OHKOing Garchomp and Salamence. Considering that most teams that run Garchomp would absolutely bring it to a battle, thanks to Wide Guard/Trick Room support my Charizard has KO’d innumerable Garchomp, probably KOing it more than it has any other Pokémon. Furthermore, the popularity of Salamence with a Choice Scarf also made it an easy target, although I always had to be wary of any rare Stone Edge variants.

Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
– Protect
– Wide Guard
– Sunny Day
– Rock Slide

I couldn’t solely rely on Trick Room for Charizard to defeat Garchomp, and it was Darkeness’s St. Louis team report that provided me with what in retrospect seemed to be the glaringly obvious alternative: Wide Guard Aerodactyl. Maximum Speed investment was non-negotiable to at least speed-tie with opposing Aerodactyl, and the Focus Sash provided me with some pseudo-bulk, so max Attack also seemed obvious to allow easy KOs on opposing Charizard and Talonflame. I didn’t bring Aerodactyl as much as I normally would have at the National tournament as I felt that maybe my opponents would wise up to Wide Guard alongside Charizard, but it was the difference when I did need it.

The choice of moves don’t need much explanation. Again Protect is self-explanatory. As I’ve mentioned already, Wide Guard is there primarily to stop opposing Rock Slides from wrecking both Aerodactyl and Charizard. Rock Slide is, well, Rock Slide; good typing, STAB, a spread move and capable of flinching. Sunny Day took up the final slot because I believe that all weather teams should have some form of manual weather.

Reuniclus (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Overcoat
Relaxed Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp Atk
– Trick Room
– Helping Hand
– Skill Swap
– Psychic

Trick Room support? Check. Skill Swap? Got it. Opinion on mushrooms? Thinks they’re delicious.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Reuniclus to this team. I once described it to my girlfriend as the conductor in front of a symphonic orchestra, which sounds ridiculous since I’ve never seen Valery Gergiev OHKO’d by a Choice Specs boosted Hydro Pump. That one hiccup aside (we’ll get to that later), it was this Pokémon’s job to manipulate the field and maintain the most advantageous circumstances for the rest of the team.

Its EVs maximise its incredible bulk. With 110/75/85 as its base defensive stats, maximum HP investment guaranteed surviving a Shadow Ball from max Special Attack, Modest Aegislash. Knowing this, I invested purely in Defense to minimise the damage taken in this heavily-physical metagame. Factor in Intimidate support and Reuniclus has some real staying power, perfect considering I need it on the field for as long as possible.

Trick Room is self-explanatory, and was needed to help support three other members of the team as well as allowing Reuniclus to more often than not move first each turn and therefore for Skill Swap to work to its full potential. In a metagame where many Pokémons strengths lie in their abilities (sometimes quite literally), Skill Swap undoubtedly has more of an influence this generation than in the past. And believe me, simultaneously crippling Mega Kangaskhan/Mega Mawile and using their abilities against them is extremely satisfying. Along with the Wolfe Glick-inspired Intimidate shuffling, Skill Swap allowed both Reuniclus and Scrafty to abuse the power of Parental Bond.

Helping Hand was here to maximise damage. As I mentioned above, my teams attacking options spanned just 8 of the possible 19 types, and as such there were occasions where I couldn’t hit things super-effectively, or I could but the attack would not receive STAB. Helping Hand made up for this, taking my teams high-powered moves and allowing them to grab those KOs that would not be possible otherwise. To give an idea of the power it packs, a Helping Hand-assisted Heat Wave from maximum Special Attack Modest Mega Charizard Y has a 75% chance to OHKO 4HP Mega Kangaskhan with the sun up. However, this was not the calculation that originally convinced me to run Helping Hand, but we’ll get to that soon.

I chose Psychic in the last slot for several reasons:

1. Strong STAB coming off of a base 125 Special Attack stat, allowing Reuniclus to 2HKO Amoonguss should it be my opponent’s preferred method of countering Trick Room. Along with the Overcoat ability blocking Spore and Rage Powder, Reuniclus could easily deal with the annoying mushroom, or ignore it altogether.
2. In case I couldn’t block an incoming Taunt I didn’t want to be forced to switch out. Similarly, if Helping Hand or Skill Swap were not optimal plays, then I could always go for extra, fast damage under Trick Room.
3. In my opinion, no support Pokémon should be without an attacking move. There’s no greater support than being able to KO a threat.

I went with Sitrus Berry to keep Reuniclus on the field for even longer. I did consider going with Mental Herb but the berry proved to be more useful more often. I was wary of Taunt with this team, and if I suspected it in team preview then I would either go fast and leave Reuniclus out/in the back or I would try to prevent it with Fake Out.

Conkeldurr (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Brave Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp Def
– Detect
– Mach Punch
– Rock Tomb
– Drain Punch

Next, I needed a Pokémon that could deal with any Kangaskhan-Smeargle leads that I crossed paths with, but I soon found that Conkeldurr’s utility went far beyond just countering that particular match-up. Boasting some real bulk with 105/95/65 across the base defensive stats, maximum HP investment allowed Conkeldurr to survive a Choice Band Brave Bird from Adamant Talonflame at -1 attack. I went for maximum damage output since base 140 attack translates to big damage against opponents that do not resist the hit, making Conkeldurr one of those Pokémon that had many of its 2HKOs upgraded to OHKOs thanks to some assistance from Reuniclus.

Detect is mandatory for Guts Conkeldurr, allowing the burn to safely take effect should my opponent be threatening with sleep or paralysis. I originally ran Earthquake over Mach Punch to allow Conkeldurr to take on Aegislash, Mega Gengar and Chandelure, but since the team already had several ways to deal with each I concluded that Mach Punch was the way to go, giving me strong priority and some better use outside of Trick Room. Although Conkeldurr would rather not take on Mega Kangaskhan outside of the twisted dimensions, it was the following calculation that gave me solace that Helping Hand and Mach Punch were indeed crucial to the team.

252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Helping Hand Mach Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 180-212 (99.4% – 117.1%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

The next move was a toss-up between Drain Punch and Hammer Arm. Hammer Arm provided pure power at the cost of healing and 90% accuracy, while Drain Punch still packed a, well, punch and allowed Conkeldurr to heal off its burn damage. Such was the strength of Drain Punch with a Helping Hand boost that the games frailer Pokémon simply could not take the hit, OHKOing the likes of Kingdra, non-bulky Rotom formes, and a 68.8% chance to OHKO the respectably bulky standard 4HP Garchomp. With 3 Speed IVs (I didn’t have time to breed for 0 and 3 was good enough) Conkeldurr could underspeed even the slowest Mega Mawile and deal 87.8-103.8%, snatching a crucial KO after prior damage from Reuniclus’ Psychic.

Last but not least was Rock Tomb. Quite simply, I needed a Rock-type move to deal with Charizard/Talonflame/anything with wings in Trick Room. Stone Edge was overkill and has horrible accuracy. Rock Slide’s shaky accuracy also had me shaky whenever I needed it to hit. Smack Down, at base 50 power, seemed underwhelming and I had no way of abusing it with Ground-type moves, and so Rock Tomb was my best option. Base 60 power means that it hits harder than Rock Slide after factoring in the damage drop for multi-target moves, and 95% Accuracy was not quite what I wanted but it was pretty darn close. The Speed drop comes in handy should I find myself in the peculiar situation of having both Conkeldurr and Charizard on the field outside of Trick Room with a Garchomp staring them down. In the months of testing I came across this scenario once, against an opponent who was ranked #1 in Australia on the VGC battlespot ladder when it was still around, and Rock Tomb came up clutch and won me the match. Rock Tomb also allowed Conkeldurr to threaten Chandelure and for the most part at least do something to Ghost-types, although it goes without saying that whenever I saw an Aegislash, Gengar, Trevenant or Gourgeist on the opposing team I didn’t immediately start massaging Conkeldurr’s shoulders and discuss tactics with it.

Scrafty (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Brave Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 174 Atk / 12 Def / 76 Sp Def
– Fake Out
– Quick Guard
– Drain Punch
– Crunch

But I did look to Scrafty for some of my ghost-busting needs. One of my favourite Pokémon, I went through 3 or 4 iterations of Scrafty before finally settling on this one.

With 3 team members that are weak to Flying-type moves and a single, frail resist in Aerodactyl, I knew my opponents would more often than not bring Talonflame to the party. Scrafty gave me both Intimidate and vital Quick Guard support, baiting Talonflame out and allowing Conkeldurr to OHKO or Charizard/Reuniclus to hit it for heavy damage. As long as I played Scrafty carefully, Talonflame would not remain on the field for very long.

The HP and Defense EVs allowed Scrafty to survive an Adamant Choice Band Talonflame’s Brave Bird should I have no option but to switch it in, a calculation which generally sat me in good stead against the physical hitters that could only hit Scrafty for neutral damage. I can’t remember what the Special Defense EVs were for, but Aegislash’s Flash Cannon is a 3HKO should I be in the awkward position of relying on Scrafty to take it out. In my opinion Scrafty is one of those Pokémon that really requires some investment in attack, and so I decided to pass-up trying to survive any Dazzling Gleams coming from Gardevoir since Moonblast would be an easy OHKO anyway. While an Assault Vest would have helped in this sense, there was no compromise between it and Quick Guard. Instead, I ran Lum Berry to shake off a burn and to give me the option of switching in on Dark Void.

Fake Out was there to stop an incoming attack if I needed to, whether it be by way of flinching or forcing a Protect. Besides alleviating the teams Talonflame problem, Quick Guard allowed Scrafty to frustrate any Prankster Pokémon that were looking to have some fun. Drain Punch supplements Scrafty’s good bulk and allows it to go head-to-head with Mega Kangaskhan when the field is more conducive to Scrafty than it is Conkeldurr. Crunch threatened Chandelure among other things, and was there for the times when I needed that little bit more damage to grab a KO.

A solid member on most teams, I’m just glad that Sylveon doesn’t get Hyper Voice outside of Gen 5 move tutors. I miss battlespot’s VGC ladder…

Victreebel (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
Timid Nature
EVs: 48 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp Atk / 4 Sp Def / 204 Spd
– Protect
– Encore
– Weather Ball
– Solar Beam

And finally, the one you’ve all been waiting for…

As with all of these niche, surprise pokemon, Victreebel offered my team something that I couldn’t find elsewhere. First of all I’d like to cover the bad points, of which there are three: 80/65/70. Not the most stellar defensive stats, coupled with the fact that Aerodactyl was already holding the Focus Sash (although I did need the Life Orb in order to further increase damage coming off of its base 100 Special Attack stat) meant that Victreebel could very rarely be switched in, so it was either lead with it or bring it in after a Pokémon faints. As such, I had to choose Victreebel’s battles very carefully. There was no middle ground with Victreebel; either it would be instrumental in getting me a win, or it would essentially make the battle a 4vs3 affair in my opponent’s favour.

So, why did I choose Victreebel? I wanted something that could abuse the sun and really allow me options outside of Trick Room. A Chlorophyll Pokémon seemed obvious, but I wasn’t interested in Venusaur’s 75% accurate Sleep Powder. In fact, I wanted something that could go up against and beat the flower-clad dinosaur. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t know (and still don’t) what speed investment a standard Chlorophyll Venusaur would run, but I wagered that it wouldn’t be much since that would just be a waste of EVs, so I created my own benchmark in Choice Scarf Garchomp and ran with it. In testing I didn’t encounter any problems, and so the speed EVs stuck. In hindsight I could have EV’d to at least outspeed max Speed Modest Venusaur, just in case. Anyway, versus the Charizard Y/Venusaur lead and partnered first with Charizard and then with Aerodactyl on the second turn, Victreebel was capable of punishing my opponent’s Protects and OHKOing Venusaur in this particular match-up. I tested it more and more against a variety of other teams, and found it to be useful against a good number of opponents.

The EV spread is essentially a 4/252/252 with unneeded speed EVs shifted into bulk. Kind of like how pencil lead adds to the structural integrity of a sheet of paper when you write on it.

The moves are what make this Pokémon so unique. Protect was probably more important on Victreebel than it was any other Pokémon on the team given its awful defensive stats. I chose Solar Beam because if there’s anything Talonflame has taught me this year, it is that base 120 STAB moves deal big damage even when coming off of a base 81 attacking stat, so one coming off of a base 100 attacking stat was good enough for me and, furthermore, I didn’t like the Special Attack drop and 90% accuracy of Leaf Storm. Solar Beam OHKOs bulky Rotom-W and non-Assault Vest Azumarill’ that would otherwise survive a Solar Beam from Charizard. The green beam also really hurts anything that doesn’t resist it, including having a 50% chance of OHKOing 0HP Mega Manectric.

Weather Ball may seem redundant alongside Charizard, but it allowed me to surprise OHKO Bisharp or Mega Mawile. For those who may not know, Weather Ball is a 50BP Normal-type move that changes typing depending on the weather (fire in this case) at which point it becomes boosted to 100BP.  With Victreebel in the back I could afford to play more aggressively with Charizard as long as I maintained a way to get the sun back up should it go down. It was also Victreebel’s job to take on any of these Sucker Punch-wielding threats in the face of Charizard should the orange dragon have already taken prior damage. Encore was the icing on the cake, allowing me to punish Mega Kangaskhan’s Fake Out, any Protect/Detect, and Aegislash’s King’s Shield/Wide Guard/Substitute since Victreebel could only 2HKO defensive stance Aegislash and I never wanted to chance activating a Weakness Policy.

Victreebel also gave me a way to easily deal with the rare but troubling Mega Lucario, and shut down Raichu leads before they could do the same to me.

Careful play was required and having the sun high in the sky was an absolute must, but as long as I provided the right conditions for it, Victreebel could shut down the opposition, force switches, grab KOs and go a long way to getting the team a win. And having a Grass-type capable of setting fire to Steel- and Grass-types just seemed like a good idea.

Since I didn’t record any of my battle replays from the tournament, here’s a video that showcases just how effective Victreebel can be: 7UXG-WWWW-WWW8-5VFV

Matchups

Goodstuffs

Quite simply, if Talonflame was involved then Scrafty had to be too. How I approached goodstuffs teams really depended on which Pokémon my opponent had, and I generally went with which Rotom forme I could be facing, if any. If it was Rotom-H then Trick Room would probably be the way to go, whereas any other appliance meant that a speedier approach could possibly be better. There was no real game plan aside from play carefully and score knockouts when possible.

Sun Teams

Sun teams were usually easily threatened by my team, so a lot of protecting would ensue. I could either take advantage of this with Victreebel and hammer away with Aerodactyl while the ‘bel dropped its Weather Balls onto any opposing Grass-types, or I could go slow and have Reuniclus prey on any dual-type Poison Pokémon. Again, it all came down to what I thought would be the more straightforward approach.

Rain Teams

Rain teams required a strict game plan, but it was one that was often super-effective. Reuniclus and Charizard would be my go-to lead. My opponent would often not lead with Politoed so as not to lose rain upon Charizard’s Mega Evolution, but if they did then it generally meant that their team also carried manual weather. Either way, if Politoed wasn’t on the field and Kingdra or Ludicolo were, then they essentially acted like a sign post that read ‘Politoed incoming to my right/left on the next turn.’ So I would get the sun up, twist the dimensions, then turn two would see Drought Skill Swapped away, and Politoed would be basking under a Solar Beam. From that point, there was rarely a way back into the game if my opponent didn’t have a way of restarting the downpour.

Trick Room

Again, this all came down to exactly which Pokémon would be hopping around on the oppositions side of the field. If Aromatisse was around, then I would be very wary of having Scrafty or Conkeldurr across from it. Reuniclus and Charizard would generally make life difficult for the opposing team, so those two at least would be coming to the battle with the other two members decided based on whether I wanted the fight to stay in Trick Room or out of it.

Threats

Fairy types. Mega Mawile and Azumarill were usually easily dealt with thanks to their dual typings, but any pure Fairy-type or Gardevoir can potentially cause this team huge problems. Since Gardevoir can easily OHKO three of my Pokémon with super-effective damage, if I saw it in team preview then I would hope that Charizard’s Fire-typing and the threat of a Sludge Bomb from Victreebel would be enough to deter it from entering the field of play, but this was rarely successful. The team can KO Gardevoir, and as a last ditch attempt Scrafty could target its low defense stat with a HH-boosted Crunch, but it was something that I simply always had to be mindful of.

‘It’s not on the field, but is it in the back? I better keep Charizard out of harms way, just to make sure.’

Beyond here is my recollection of events at the tournament. Thank you for reading this far, and if you stopped here then I hope you enjoyed the team! As for anyone still remaining, let’s hop right in.

Day 1 – Swiss Rounds

I got registered at about 9.10am and didn’t have my first battle until about 3pm. The time in between was spent sitting around with my girlfriend and watching the Junior competitors of the TCG look like they were going through a mid-life crisis while playing (I wish Pokémon was the most stressful thing in my life). At about 2’o’clock each participant of the Masters Division was given a seat number. Me – in my infinite wisdom – believed that this would be my first battle, but I was later informed that this was just a measure to check that we were all still there or something. I still don’t know exactly what that was about.

Anyway, at this time I sat opposite a cool guy called Tom. We had a chat and he was nice enough to trade me a Moltres that my girlfriend wanted. Being super friendly AND putting me in my girlfriends good books? Top man.

3’o’clock arrives and with it so does a succession of bad note-taking as well as the first battle against a fellow first-timer. Sorry, I didn’t write anybody’s surname down.

Round 1 – Chris

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Salamence, Rotom-W

I think I chose:

I decide to go full Trick Room simply because I don’t want to fight Salamence out of it in case of a Choice Scarf + Stone Edge. Upon seeing my opponents leads, I decide Skill Swapping Shadow Tag would be the best play since Trick Room no longer seemed like a good idea and Psychic was almost useless. Straight away Reuniclus gets taunted by Scrafty and is kind of just sitting there, so it was down to Charizard to Heat Wave everything away. Luckily, neither of the opposing Pokémon hit as hard as I expected them to, and I was able to turn a bad situation into a favourable one. One faints before the other and Aegislash enters the field. Reuniclus goes down and Charizard finishes off the remaining lead Pokémon. Charizard comes out on the opposite side of the field and Scrafty comes out on mine. In another stroke of good fortune, Charizard Mega Evoles into the X variant, so Intimidate did have some use on the switch-in, and I managed to close it out from there. I started on the back foot but luck favoured me.

Match score: 3/2-0
Overall score: 1-0

Round 2 – James

James was a quiet guy and thus I suspected he had some tricks up his sleeve.

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Malamar, Dragonite

I chose:

This was it, Victreebel’s grand entrance. Both sets of leads looked precarious at best, so I double-protected turn one to see if my opponent would switch out either of his Pokémon. If he did, fine. If he didn’t, then he obviously had a way of dealing with the mighty combo (not) known as Victreezard. Jolteon went for a Thunderbolt and Greninja went for the Ice Beam. I suspected that Jolteon at least carried Choice Specs, and Greninja threatened a Focus Sash even though I could outspeed and OHKO with Weather Ball thanks to its Protean-gained Ice-typing. I wanted to switch but couldn’t risk allowing Reuniclus to take damage on the way in and subsequently being KO’d by Dark Pulse on the next turn. I kept both leads on the field and my fears were confirmed, with both being OHKO’d but not before Victreebel activated Greninja’s Focus Sash.

Reuniclus and Conkeldurr entered the fray. Mach Punch dealt with Greninja while Reuniclus got to work setting up Trick Room. Amoonguss took that as its cue to join in, leading to a bad play by me: I decided to give away Reuniclus’s Spore immunity in favour of Jolteon’s Volt Absorb. Amoonguss was throwing Rage Powder all over the show, forcing Conkeldurr to hit it with Drain Punch. Skill Swap activates, and Reuniclus gets… Quick Feet. For some reason, my opponent elected to continue Rage Powdering, allowing Psychic to KO in conjunction with a second Drain Punch. From there I was able to KO Jolteon without much of a problem. Scolipede was taken down in one hit by Reuniclus somewhere amongst the mayhem. A very testy game that I felt fortunate to win.

Match score: 2-0
Overall score: 2-0

Round 3 – Timo Koppetsch (37TimoK1)

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Escavalier, Amoonguss

I think I chose:

Upon asking Timo how long he’d been playing pokemon for, he informed me that he went 8-0 through swiss in the Germany Nationals a few weeks prior and had finished 9th overall. Hearing this, I realised that this was my opportunity to really earn my so-far flawless record.

Seeing rain in team preview, I knew what had to be done. Charizard Mega Evolved and protected against Mega Manectric’s Volt Switch, Kingdra threw out a Muddy Water, and Trick Room went up. I hoped that Manectric would be switched out for Politoed as opposed to Kingdra, and I guessed right, OHKOing it on the switch once Skill Swap re-established harsh sunlight as the dominant weather on the field. Kingdra again went for a Muddy Water, lowering the accuracy of both of my Pokémon. Manectric reappears and I go for a Helping Hand-boosted Heat Wave, with which Charizard overcomes the accuracy drop and OHKOs what could have been a big problem had he missed. Reuniclus misses the Psychic on Kingdra, who starts dropping Draco Meteors. From there, I KO’d Kingdra and my opponent conceded defeat.

Timo was very gracious in defeat, expressing admiration for my team and supporting me for the rest of the tournament (unless of course I happened to face-off against any of the friends he’d travelled so far from Germany with).

Match score: 3-0 I think.
Overall score: 3-0

Round 4 – Greg

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Garchomp, Amoonguss

I chose:

Greg was in the same position as me: there to have fun but happened to be doing well.

Seeing the Team Preview, I decided that it was once again time for Victreebel. Turn 1 I double-protected to block the Fake Out, Encoring it on turn 2 while Charizard Solar Beamed into Rotom’s Protect. Turn 3 I knew a double switch was coming, and a quick glance at my notes told me that no matter what switched in it wasn’t going to take a combination of Solar Beam and Heat Wave. Gyarados came in for Rotom-W and was promptly KO’d by the combination of the two moves, and Rhyperior dodged the Heat Wave as it tagged out Mega Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan came back out immediately, causing me to make a questionable play. I decided to again go for a Solar Beam + Heat Wave combo on Kangaskhan’s slot, expecting a Protect from Rhyperior. Rhyperior didn’t Protect, and I think it went down like this: Solar Beam hit Kangaskhan, Kangaskhan KO’d Victreebel with Return, Charizard KO’d Kangaskhan with Heat Wave and Rhyperior slid some rocks in Charizards general direction, grabbing an easy KO.

So we’re down to 2vs2, but I still feel as though the battle is in my favour. Conkeldurr KO’d Rhyperior while Reuniclus set up Trick Room, and Rotom fired a Hydro Pump at Conkeldurr. The next turn saw Rotom take a HH-boosted Drain Punch, after which it again hit Conkeldurr with a Hydro Pump. There may have been a critical hit in there somewhere, because after the ensuing burn damage, Conkeldurr was one more burn away from fainting. Expecting the Protect I targeted Reuniclus with Drain Punch, knowing it could easily take the hit. Rotom indeed protected and Conkeldurr again had just enough HP after the burn to allow for one more hit at Rotom. Feeling good about that play, I went for the Drain Punch… but didn’t account for the second Protect. Conk goes down and Reuniclus at almost full HP takes on the low HP Rotom and comes out on top. A tricky game at times.

Match score: 1-0
Overall score: 4-0

Round 5 – Daniele

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Amoonguss, Politoed

I chose:

Once again, a rain team, so I assumed the usual position and hoped to grab a straightforward win. I saw Meowstic alongside Kingdra and expected the Politoed switch on turn 2. So turn 1 I do the obligatory Mega Evolve + Protect while Reuniclus uses Tr-

Meowstic used Rain Dance!

Kingdra used Hydro Pump!

Reuniclus fainted!

‘Poop.’ said my inner voice, in a much less child-friendly manner. Though Rain Dance was predictable in normal circumstances, I’d been completely thrown off by Politoed in team preview. It was at this point that I started performing a little rain dance of my own in order to get it off of the field, but I honestly saw no way back for me.

Scrafty came in to Fake Out Kingdra and allow Charizard to switch out for Conkeldurr, while Meowstic starts Charming Scrafty. Next turn I switched Scrafty out for Charizard, Meowstic brings the rain once again and Kingdra aims his Choice Specs-boosted Hydro Pump at Conkeldurr…

Conkeldurr avoided the attack!

Conkeldurr then knocks Kingdra’s HP down to the red zone, allowing Mach Punch to KO on the next turn. My fortunes were changing, but Meowstic was still an issue. The rest of the battle is a blur, but I narrowly grab it with Charizard relying on Heat Wave not missing, KOing Mega Pinsir and Aegislash after it was revealed that Pinsir was not carrying a Rock-type move.

Easily the most stressful match of the two days. However, I made a good friend and sparring partner in Dan, and we’ll no doubt be sharing ideas once the new metagame hits later this year. A really cool guy.

Match score: 1-0
Overall score: 5-0

Round 6 – Guillermo Sanavia

My next opponent informed me that he had been playing pokemon for a few years and has done well in prior tournaments, so I knew I was going to be in for an incredibly tough match.

Opponent’s leads (I think): In the back:
Ommitted: Venusaur, Tyranitar

I think I chose:

I don’t remember much other than it was intense. It was like a dance-off, with both of us switching pokemon to try to get the upper hand. At no point did I feel that either player was winning in the tussle for momentum until the very end, when I managed to pull ahead.

A protracted, nervy affair.

Match score: 2-0 I think
Overall score: 6-0

Round 7 – Carlo Arbelli (shinycarletto)

I didn’t know who Carlo was, and up until that point I had simply known him as ‘the vocal guy to my left/right during my battles’. A very skilled player, I would definitely have changed my lineup should I have faced him again.

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Amoonguss, Blastoise

I chose:

Turn 1 saw Victreebel and Charizard both use Protect, while Tailwind goes up for my opponent and my Aerodactyl dropping rocks on the opponent. Straight away, I had a problem. Again, I don’t remember exactly how it went, but I managed to stall out Tailwind, and predicted a Charizard switch-in which Conkeldurr nailed with Rock Tomb. I got very fortunate at one point, beating the opposing Aerodactyl in a speed-tie, KOing it with Rock Slide and flinching Garchomp, allowing Charizard to grab the OHKO. Against Bisharp, I switched out Aerodactyl for Victreebel while my low-HP Charizard used Protect. Predicting the Protect, Carlo had Bisharp target Aerodactyl with an Iron Head which just put Victreebel in the red and my heart in my mouth. Having survived, Victreebel was able to OHKO with Weather Ball after Charizard was taken out by a Sucker Punch. A fortunate win.

Match score: 2-0
Overall score: 7-0

Round 8 – Tyler Bakhtiari (Pokeguru01)

Tyler and I both sat down at table 1 and congratulated each other on being the only remaining players in flight A with a 100% win percentage. Feeling at ease, we had a chat while everyone else around us started their battles. After a while, it became apparent that some of those battles had already begun to finish, so we decided it was finally time to get down to business.

Opponent’s leads (I think): In the back:
Ommitted: Garchomp, Gyarados, Gourgeist

I think I chose:

Urgh, Gardevoir. I knew I had to get it knocked out as soon as possible otherwise I would have no chance of winning. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but through some clever play on Tyler’s part with the use of Substitute and Ally Switch, my team soon found itself in a hole from which there was no escape, thus incurring my first and only loss of the day. A great guy with a great team.

Match score: 0-4
Overall score: 7-1

Having finished 2nd in the flight, I headed back to the hotel to get some long overdue rest before the next day’s knockout phase.

Day 2 – BO3 Knockout Stage

Last 32 – Pedro Lima

I started this set by asking Pedro how to pronounce his name, making me look like a real idiot. However, the blame lies with Nugget Bridge for spelling his name as Predo on the site the night before, so thanks for that!

Battle #1

He used (not in order): 
Ommitted: Amoonguss, Talonflame

I chose:

Rain mode, activate! I can’t remember the exact order of events, but I got Trick Room up and Charizard was able to OHKO Garchomp and Ludicolo, (Hidden Power Ice and Helping Hand boosted Heat Wave, respectively) and 2HKO Politoed. Kangaskhan stood no chance against the two Fighting-types in the back, and I won quite handily.

Match score: 3-0 I think.
Set score: 1-0

What I learned from battle 1:

1. I expected Politoed to be slower than Charizard but without rain Ludicolo was too.
2. Garchomp carried neither a Focus Sash nor a Yache Berry, and did have Rock Slide.
3. Kangaskhan was expectedly faster than Charizard, and it had Protect over Fake Out.

Battle #2

He used (not in order): 
Ommitted: Amoonguss, Talonflame

I chose:

With the info I had gained from game 1 – and believing that my opponent would switch it up a bit – I decided that going fast with slow in the back was my best bet since Aerodactyl could stop Garchomp’s Rock Slide and deal with the Talonflame that I was certain would make an appearance. As you can see, Pedro’s lineup in fact remained unchanged.

Memory fails me once more, but at one point Kangaskhan Power-Up Punched Conkeldurr as it switched in alongside Reuniclus. Trick Room wasn’t up, and I knew that Kangaskhan would absolutely remain on the field given its +2 attack boost, so out came the Helping Hand-boosted Mach Punch to grab the surprise OHKO. I kept rain off of the field and managed to net win number 2.

Pedro was another in a long line of cool dudes that I met over the two day event, and talked very enthusiastically about my team afterwards. Thumbs up to you, sir.

Last 16 – Niall Crallan (TheLastSheikah)

Battle #1

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Garchomp, Rotom-H

I chose:

I tried to keep this fight outside of Trick Room, but my efforts were in vain. Trick Room went up, Scrafty revealed Rock Slide, and Abomasnow cleaned up Victreebel and Reuniclus, but not before Nidoqueen fell to Psychic.

Match score: 1-3
Set score: 0-1

Battle #2

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Nidoqueen, Scrafty

I chose:

Since fast-mode was more like ineffective-mode in game 1, I resigned myself to the fact that game 2 was going to be fought in Trick Room no matter what and prepared accordingly.

This game went a lot smoother than the first. Scrafty was able to OHKO Slowking with a Helping Hand-boosted Crunch, Charizard KO’d Garchomp, and Conkeldurr grabbed KOs on Abomasnow and Rotom-H. I spent part of the game trying to make it seem as though Conkeldurr wasn’t running priority so as not to have to worry about Mach Punching into Protect when facing off against the ice tree. Although I was successful, my opponent now knew that I packed both Mach Punch and Hidden Power Ice going into the final game.

Match score: 3-0
Set score: 1-1

Battle #3

Opponent’s leads: In the back:
Ommitted: Abomasnow, Nidoqueen

I chose:

If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Except this time Charizard faced impending Rock Slides both in and out of Trick Room. It was a long match, ending on the turn that the timer hit 0, with Trick Room being used countless times as each player vied to twist or untwist the dimensions. The game ended in ironic fashion, with Charizard being OHKO’d by the one pokemon and the one move that I had tried so hard to counter: Garchomp’s Rock Slide.

I’ve thought about this set quite a lot since the event, and even now I simply cannot see a concrete, consistent strategy that I could employ against Niall’s team. I felt as though I had built a team that was difficult to counter using conventional methods, but this particular opponent just had the right balance of pressure both in and out of Trick Room to make these matches extremely tough for me. A really great, original team.

Match score: 2-0
Set score: 1-2

Thanks for reading this far, and I hoped that you enjoyed the team and the report. I would like to say thanks to all of the great people that I met that made the experience what it was, and I would also like to thank Olivia, my girlfriend, for making the trip with me from London. Next year, you’re gonna compete too!

Thanks again, and come say hi if you recognise my name at future events. See you there!

About the Author

Ty Flowsion

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