Reports

Published on October 16th, 2014 | by TheBattleRoom

25

I Got this Feeling On the Summer Day When You Were Hydreigon: A 3rd Place Worlds Report

Hello, I am Collin Heier, The Battle Room online. I have been playing competitively since 2011 but this was by far my most successful year. I began my 2014 season with bubbling out of Top Cut at Fort Wayne Regionals, followed by a Top 16 finish at St. Louis. I knew I needed to step up my game if I wanted a shot at the Worlds invite. I ended up getting Top 4 and 1st at other Regionals with my Trick Room team featuring Reuniclus. While preparing for U.S. Nationals, I focused on trying to make Mega Gyarados successful, but I ended up scraping the idea and going with my Trick Room team. I finished with 6-3 at Nationals. Although I got my invite, I felt disappointed. I thought I would be able to top cut. I knew I needed a new team for Worlds if I wanted to do well. The following team is the team I used to get 3rd at the Pokémon World Championships last month in Washington D.C.

Team Building Process

I began team building immediately after U.S. Nationals. I quickly ruled out Trick Room. I didn’t think it would be a good call for Worlds, because I assumed people would be well prepared for it. I started by looking at what did well at U.S. Nationals. I personally feel that Simon Yip’s (Simon) Blastoise team was the best team used at U.S. Nationals this year. I tried to get my own version to work but I found out quickly that I wasn’t comfortable with the way Mega Blastoise played. When Blastoise takes damage he starts to become dead weight. He needs to stay at full HP to really sweep and do damage with Water Spout. I kept Simon’s Assault Vest Tyranitar and put it on several of my teams. I felt that Tyranitar was a great call for Worlds. I assumed there would be a lot of Zapdos , Hydreigon, and Rotom-Heat. After scratching Blastoise off, I moved on to Ray/Sejun’s Nationals team. I ended up using a variant in the Nugget Bridge Invitational. After losing Round 1 of the invitational, I felt discouraged and doubted myself. I spent the next couple weeks before Worlds testing several ideas but nothing panned out. I left for D.C. on the Monday before Worlds.

I had nothing. I ended up talking to Zach Droegkamp (Zach) right before I left. I felt like I needed to show off and use something crazy/cool. Zach told me to go with what I have done in the past and to use Pokémon and strategies I felt comfortable with. The car ride was around 13 hours so I had a lot of time to think and figure my team out.  At 12:00 P.M. I began building the team in my head and I kept throwing stuff in a team builder. I stayed up until around 4 A.M. I finally decided on using a core I had used since early spring.

After deciding on these three, I knew I wanted to use Tyranitar. Tyranitar has always been a good Pokémon and I thought he would be the perfect call for worlds. On Tuesday, I began thinking of the 5th and 6th Pokémon. I knew I was in a rush so I knew I needed help.  I ended up talking to my good friend and previous National Champion Gavin Michaels (kingofmars). He noticed an instant weakness to Hydreigon, Mamoswine, Lucario, and enemy Tyranitar. He suggested Assault Vest Conkeldurr. Conkeldurr helped with Rotom formes, Hydreigon, Tyranitar, Kangaskhan, and Rain, all of which I expected to see a lot of.

At this point it was Wednesday and I was lost. I ended up spending all day Wednesday and most of Thursday talking to people and figuring the last slot out. I ended up talking to around ten different people but no one gave me anything that I felt fit. I was told to use Talonflame, Gengar, Pyroar, Rotom-Heat, Trevenant, and Aegislash. I can’t even begin to mention all the times Benji Irons (benji) told me to use Pyroar.  I ended up panicking and placing a Gengar in the last slot right before the eight o’clock player meeting. Thankfully, we did not need to lock our battle boxes and I was given several more hours to figure this last slot out. I ended up spending around an hour with Oliver Valenti (Smith) in his hotel room discussing why I could not use Rotom-Heat in the last slot. When we came up with nothing, I left to go get some sleep. Benji walked me to the elevator and we spent another hour laying on the floor trying to think of something to fit in the last slot. He kept trying to convince me that Safety Goggles Gengar was the play. I felt completely lost. When I woke up the next morning, I was in a state of absolute panic. In a few hours, I would be playing in Worlds. I still did not have my last Pokémon. I stopped to look at what I still had issues against. After seeing Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) make it through the LCQ with a Trick Room team featuring Gothitelle and Mega Mawile, I was a little scared of Trick Room. I also felt I did not have enough for Gardevoir and Mawile. I wanted something to switch in and out of Shadow Tag and take a Play Rough from Mawile. Right before the opening ceremony, I told Blake Hopper (Bopper) that I needed a Quiet Aegislash with Sacred Sword. As the opening ceremony started he was still EV training it for me. I can’t even begin to describe how nervous I was. I felt like I was going to throw up and before I knew it I was sitting down across from Ben Rothman (Ben7000). I had never done an official battle with all six of my guys before round one.

The Team

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 116 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Mawile is by far my favorite Mega Pokémon. Ever since I began using it after spring Regionals, I never looked back. I usually use it on Trick Room teams but I felt that Thunder Wave would be better for worlds. With Zapdos providing the speed control, this time around my team wasn’t as focused on Mawile. I ran the standard moveset because I don’t think there is anything better for my team. Play Rough is a strong Fairy STAB move that is useful for general damage. Sucker Punch is for priority and just a nice way to hit Ghost-types if need be. Iron Head is by far my favorite move on Mawile. Iron Head is just a slightly weaker Play Rough that never misses. I can’t run Mawile without it. I hate missing.

My spread was somewhat simple. I ran enough Special Defense to be 3HKOed by max Special Attack Rotom Thunderbolts and to survive Modest Charizard Heat Waves in sand. I ran enough Speed to hopefully speed creep other Mawiles. I dumped the rest of the EVs in Attack. Mawile performed exactly as I expected it to. I brought Mawile to every game at Worlds. Mawile is a Mega I was comfortable with and I knew it inside and out. Mawile is a great check for Mega Kangaskhan and does well against most teams.

Zapdos @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 220 HP / 144 Def / 28 SpA / 76 SpD / 36 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 4 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Thunder Wave
– Roost

I love speed control. I need it on almost every team. For Worlds, I chose to go with Thunder Wave Zapdos. Thunder Wave also helped against enemy Mawile, Hydreigon, and Rain teams. In my opinion, Zapdos is the best non-Mega Pokémon in Kalos.  Zapdos has two weaknesses that are easily covered and Zapdos is a very difficult Pokémon to KO. I ran a standard moveset on Zapdos because it was the best set I could run for what I needed it to do. I ran Thunderbolt for a strong Electric-type STAB move. Although I cannot actually KO any Dragon-types with Hidden Power Ice, I still ran it so I had the option to hit them. Thunder Wave was my form of speed control. Roost was for recovery so Zapdos could hang around and Paralyze more Pokémon. I treated this Zapdos as I would a Thundurus from 2013. I have been using Zapdos since early spring after seeing Keewan Bae use it on his rain team. I ran Safety Goggles as I was afraid of facing Azumaril and Amoonguss. Safety Goggles also allowed my Zapdos to avoid Sandstorm damage that my Tyranitar provided.

My HP allowed me to survive Staraptor Final Gambits. I ran 76 EVs in Special Defense to survive Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteors with my Calm Nature. My defense allowed Zapdos to be 3HKOed by Life Orb Garchomp Rock Slides. My speed allowed me to outspeed max Speed Tyranitars. The rest of my EVs were dumped into Special Attack. Zapdos was a key component to my team as it allowed me to control the battle with Thunder Wave. Zapdos was also a great defensive pivot. Not many teams have a Pokémon that can OHKO Zapdos and are forced to double up on him. Zapdos provided offensive pressure because it hits a lot of Pokémon in the metagame for neutral damage and the Pokémon that is getting hit cannot deal enough damage back to Zapdos.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 28 HP / 36 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Fire Blast
– Earth Power

Ahh, Hydreigon. I have used Hydreigon at all but one event in X and Y. He has been my favorite dragon by far this format. He has fantastic synergy with Mawile and provides huge offensive pressure. Hydreigon threatens very common Pokémon in the meta including: Rotom formes, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Aegislash, Mawile, Charizard, and Amoonguss. The core of Mawile, Zapdos, and Hydreigon is one of the best I have used all season. There are very few things that can stop them. I ran Choice Specs this time around. I ran Choice Scarf almost all season, but I felt I would need more power for Worlds. My moveset is very standard, but I would like to touch on Earth Power. I had Dragon Pulse in the last slot for a while but I changed it to Earth Power two days before worlds. Earth Power allows me to OHKO almost all Mawile in and out of rain. It also allowed me to hit Tyranitar.

When asking Toler Webb (Dim) for advice on my spreads, he told me to use his Nationals Hydreigon spread. It does all the things it needed to. It survives Garchomp Dragon Claws 100% of the time. It outspeeds the Pokémon that speed creep Smeargle. Finally, Hydreigon has max Special Attack to hit as hard as possible with Choice Specs. Although many people were prepared for Hydreigon this time around, he was crucial in eliminating the threats to Mawile. He could OHKO Amoonguss, Aegislash, and Rotom-Heat. He was an important offensive powerhouse on my team.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 52 Atk / 204 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Rock Slide
– Dark Pulse
– Ice Beam
– Fire Blast

Tyranitar was the MVP of my worlds team.  Tyranitar added much needed Speed to my team with Choice Scarf. Tryanitar was key in my rain match up and in my sun matchup, as he was able to change the weather. I ran Rock Slide for obvious reasons. Ice Beam was to OHKO Garchomp, as I did have some issues with that Pokémon. Fire Blast was just so I could at least hit Mawile. Dark Pulse was for the Dark-type coverage and it has a safe accuracy if I needed to hit. Tyranitar provided pure offense and speed on a very slow and bulky team.

My spread was very simple. I wanted to OHKO 4 HP Garchomp and run max Speed. I dumped the rest of the EVs into Attack. This meant that my Attack stat was higher than my Special Attack stat meaning Crunch would technically be stronger but I wanted the safety of Dark Pulse. I wanted to avoid King’s Shields, Intimidates, and Will-O-Wisps. In Game 1 of tournament battles, I would commonly be able to steal a KO with Ice Beam. In the following games, it would become much harder to get KOs, but the pressure it provided was still very useful. Tyranitar was a key Pokémon to my success at worlds. Tyranitar has always been a good Pokémon and Worlds was the perfect metagame to let his strength truly shine.

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Ability: Guts
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Atk / 144 Def / 108 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 15 Spe
– Drain Punch
– Mach Punch
– Rock Slide
– Payback

Conkeldurr was the weirdest Pokémon I used at Worlds. I needed a way to deal with Tyranitar, Mamoswine, and Lucario. Also, having another answer to Kangaskhan is always nice. I used Assault Vest to strengthen his already amazing bulk. The Assault Vest also allowed me to handle the Rotom formes and Hydreigon better. The moveset is quite standard. Drain Punch is great for damage and recovery. I always like to come out on top with priority so Mach Punch is a must have. Rock Slide is useful for hitting Charizards, Talonflames, and Rotom-Heat. Payback was a move I ran so that I wouldn’t be walled by Aegislash. I ran 15 Speed IVs and an Adamant nature to always underspeed Aegislash by one point so I would be able to Payback it in Blade Forme. I wanted to be one point less than Aegislash so I could still abuse the Thunder Wave Zapdos provided.

I wanted to get the most out of Conkeldurr’s natural Defense stat, so I focused his EV spread in a defensive manner. For Conkeldurr to become a Kangaskhan counter, he needed to survive her attacks. He survives a Fake Out and Return from an Adamant Kangaskhan unless they max roll both Fake Out and Return. I ran 212 EVs in HP so I would be able to take one less point from sand damage. My Special Defense EVs allowed me to survive Modest Charizard-Y Overheats in sun 100% of the time with my Assault Vest.  The rest was put into Attack. Although Conkeldurr was my least used Pokémon, I felt he was necessary for the team to function. He gave me ways to deal with the most common Pokémon in the format. I did not play many Rotom or Kangaskhan throughout the day, so he remained inactive. He was easily the MVP of my 5th round of Swiss and my Top 8 match. I think more people should give him a shot. Conkeldurr is still good, even though it no longer has access to Ice Punch.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpA / 156 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Shadow Ball
– Sacred Sword
– Substitute
– King’s Shield

This Aegislash is the glue that held my team together. I needed another Pokémon that could deal with Fairy types and Gothitelle. Gothitelle has excellent synergy with Hydreigon and Mawile. If I was going to be able to threaten it, I would need to be able to survive Hydreigon’s strongest attack. I ran max HP and 156 Special Defense to always survive Specs Hydreigon Dark Pulse. This may seem like a lot of bulk, but I found it necessary if I was going to counter the Gothitelle/Mawile Trick Room teams. I find that the recovery you get from Leftovers can sometimes be unimportant to the rest of the battle. If I could survive Hydreigon’s attack, I might as well KO it back. So, naturally, I choose Weakness Policy. Weakness Policy also functions as a small surprise factor, as it isn’t as commonly seen on Aegislash as Leftovers is. Weakness Policy-boosted Shadow Ball also put Pokémon into my priority Mach Punch or Sucker Punch range.  I normally hate Quiet-natured Aegislash and run Modest, but on this team, I saw it as necessary for his role. He needed to be able to dish out as much as he could with both Shadow Ball and Scared Sword. I put the rest of my EVs into Special Attack so I could do more damage with Shadow Ball. My spread allowed my Aegislash to become even more defensive and to abuse his phenomenal bulk.

Concluding Thoughts

I loved this team. It fit my playstyle completely. I built my team with a defensive focus in mind. I wanted to make sure there were no exploitable holes or problems. Although I had three Ground-type and three Fairy-type weaknesses, I didn’t have too difficult of a time playing the team. Since I had such a short amount of time, I focused on using Pokémon I was comfortable with and that simply were the best I could use. I tried to be creative early on in the team building process, but I couldn’t get anything to function, so I went back to what worked for me all season. Thanks for reading about my team, and now let’s move on to the actual report of Worlds 2014.

(Since Worlds was over a month ago, my memory on some of my matches isn’t that great. I apologize if I get anything wrong in advance.)

Worlds 2014

Round 1: Ben Rothman (Ben7000)

Before the pairings went up I was beyond nervous and didn’t feel so good. I kinda felt good seeing my pairing. The week before Worlds, Ben stayed with Toler, and they practiced together. I watched them battle, and even helped Ben get some of his Pokémon, so I had an info advantage going into it. I don’t remember much about this set as I was really nervous. I made some risky plays and they paid off for the most part.

Game 1: Ben’s team had a lot of Pokémon I didn’t want to see for the sake of my Mega. The Amoonguss and Salamence scared me away from bringing Conkeldurr, and he had a lot of Pokémon to check Aegislash. In Game 1, I was nervous and kinda let it get the best of me. I misplayed repeatedly and lost momentum as soon as my Hydreigon fainted. I don’t want to take anything away from Ben, I respect him quite a bit, and he deserved the win.

Game 2: I led Zapdos/Mawile into Ben’s Amoonguss/Kangaskhan. I am able to get an early Thunder Wave on his Kangaskhan allowing my Hydreigon to take control of the game as he brought Amoonguss/Kangaskhan/Rotom-Heat/Aegislash. Hydreigon was the key to my success, as it was able to OHKO all of his Pokémon with its Choice Specs boosted attacks.

Game 3: This game played out very similarly to Game 2. We lead the same Pokémon and bring the same Pokémon in back. Hydreigon was too much for Ben to handle once I got control of the Kangaskhan. I was in control the entire match.

Ben is a great person and player. I was glad to play against someone as skilled as him. (1-0)

Round 2: Hayden McTavish (Enigne)

After winning Round 1, I wasn’t as nervous going into Round 2. After seeing the pairing I was actually pretty excited. Hayden didn’t have a spectacular season this year, but last year, he did win Worlds in the Seniors division. When I saw his team in team preview, I noticed that his Talonflame was the only thing from stopping my two Steel types from tearing through his entire team.

Game 1:  I led Mawile/Aegislash into his Gardevoir/Manectric. He ends up Overheating my Aegislash as I Protect with Mawile. He Will-O-Wisps into a Protect and I KO Gardevoir with a +2 Shadow Ball. Once Gardevoir was removed, Tyranitar and Hydreigon were able to handle his last three Pokémon.

Game 2: During Game 2, his Gardevoir revealed Trick Room and my Aegislash just stood in his way, truly sweeping on its own. This was the only game that went to time for me all day. I had three Pokémon remaining to his two, so I won the battle.

Hayden was a nice guy and it was cool to play a former world champion. (2-0)

Round 3: Daichi Kumabe (Scar)

After going 2-0, I needed to keep winning to increase my chances of reaching Top Cut. When I saw the pairing, I recognized the name as the person I sat across from during the player meeting. As we go into team preview, I also noticed that his name was Scar ingame. I had heard of Scar before, so I whispered over to Blake that I was playing Scar. Daichi asked me if I knew who he was, and I told him that I had heard of him. Daichi seemed happy that an American player had heard of him before.

Game 1: I led Tyranitar/Aegislash into his Garchomp/Zapdos. His Pressure ability activated first, and then my Sand Stream, which revealed to me that he had to be Choice Scarf Zapdos. I went for Ice Beam to try and snag an easy KO, and I went for a Sub on Aegislash. He fell into my trap and got OHKOed by my Ice Beam as he Thunderbolted my Tyranitar. The game was in my favor as he lost his best answer to my Mawile as he had Gardevoir and his own Mawile in back.

Game 2: This was a game I couldn’t forget. I lead with Mawile/Hydreigon into his Garchomp/Gengar. I felt so safe going for an easy Protect with Mawile and a Draco Meteor on his Garchomp. Once we both locked in our moves Daichi looked at me and started smiling and laughing. I see him try to Will-O-Wisp my Mawile. Then it happens. His Garchomp uses Draco Meteor. My Hydreigon is gone just like that. I bring in Zapdos and go for a Thunderbolt on Gengar and I go for an Iron Head with Mawile on Garchomp predicting him to switch out and to target my Zapdos with Gengar. He switches into Mawile. My Zapdos moves before his Gengar and this surprised me. I get my Iron Head off and then he sets up Trick Room with Gengar! I was shocked. He ends up sweeping most of my team until it’s just my Mawile/Aegislash vs his Tyranitar/Garchomp in Trick Room. I feel safe going for a Scared Sword on the Tyranitar to faint it and Play Rough onto Garchomp. I expected Aegislash to move fist, but Tyranitar does and it KOs my Mawile with Fire Blast. I KO his Tyranitar with Scared Sword and then he KOs Aegislash with Fire Blast from Garchomp!

Game 3: I was a bit thrown off from Game 2. I knew I needed to pressure his Garchomp and I couldn’t lose Hydreigon. I led Tyranitar/Hydreigon into his Zapdos/Garchomp. I go for an Ice Beam on Garchomp and a Fire Blast on Zapdos. I expected Mawile to switch in or I would 2HKO him. He switches out Garchomp into Gengar and Discharges. Thankfully my Tyranitar does not get paralyzed but my Hydreigon does. I switch out my Tyranitar for Aegislash and go for another Fire Blast on Zapdos. Gengar Protects and he Discharges. The match continues on like this for a while. Hydreigon misses a Fire Blast and gets fully paralyzed twice… Until it’s my Tyranitar and Mawile vs his Mawile and Gengar with Garchomp in the back. Gengar will faint to an Ice Beam, but his Mawile is full HP. I have to flinch the Mawile with my Iron Head so I can get an Ice Beam aimed at his Garchomp. I cross my fingers and hope for the best. Ice Beam KOs Gengar. My Mawile hits the Iron Head and he flinches! I am able to KO Garchomp with Ice Beam and his Mawile with my Iron Head.

I had a blast playing Daichi. It was really incredible to play someone from Japan at a live event. (3-0)

Round 4: Yuichi Saski

After going 3-0 in my first Worlds, I was shocked. I had built this team not even a week ago and I was 3-0!! I saw my next opponent and found out he was from Japan as well.

Game 1: His team was somewhat similar to Daichi’s team. I led with Tyranitar/Aegislash into his Garchomp/Aerodactyl. I went for the Ice beam and his Garchomp SURVIVED! He got off an easy Earthquake and I was done for. My Tyranitar fainted and my Aegislash was near to fainting. He easily cleaned up and won Game 1 very convincingly.

Game 2:  After that terrible Game 1, I needed to adapt and pressure his Garchomp more. I decide to lead with Mawile and Tyranitar to threaten the Ice Beam and Sucker Punch KO onto his Garchomp. He leads with Aerodactyl and Garchomp again. I decided to Fire Blast his Garchomp and Iron Head his Aerodactyl. Garchomp switches into Mawile and his Aerodactyl tailwinds. Mawile faints to my Fire Blast, Aerodactyl uses Tailwind and my Mawile Knocks his Aerodactyl down to sash. Zapdos is able to deal enough damage to help clean up his Garchomp and Gardevoir.

Game 3: I felt like Mawile and Tyranitar was my best lead option regardless of what he leads, so I go with it again. He changes up his Mega and uses Charizard-Y this time. It becomes much more difficult as he gains momentum, and I lose my Tyranitar. Near the end of the battle I end up making the right Sucker Punch calls and barely win.

Yuichi was fun to play against and he kept me on my toes. Aerodactyl is a very annoying Pokémon to deal with when you don’t have any Pokémon to outspeed it with. I knew I was one win away from a guaranteed top cut at my first worlds. (4-0)

Round 5: Lee Provost (Osirus)

Lee is a really nice guy and he was 4-0 at this point so he was clearly doing something right. When I saw his team, I saw this as an opportunity to really abuse Conkeldurr.

Game 1: I don’t remember too clearly how this game went. I believe I got an Ice Beam off on his Garchomp, and from there I was able to take control with my own Mawile.

Game 2: This game was very close. In the end, it came down to if Lee could land two Thunders in sand. He was able to and takes game 2.

Game 3: I remember this game a little more clearly. I lead with Tyranitar/Hydreigon into his Tyranitar/Zapdos. Turn 1, I predicted him to Volt Switch into his Mawile, so I Fire Blast his Zapdos and Draco Meteor his Tyranitar. He does indeed Volt Switch into Mawile and Tyranitar KOs Mawile. I take easy control after that point and lock up the game securing my spot in Top 8 of Worlds. (5-0)

Round 6: Ryosuke Kosuge

After Round 5, I knew I had reached Top Cut. I wanted to defend myself here. As many of you saw on stream or on the big screen, Ryosuke destroyed me. He even 4-0ed me Game 2. Simply put, I sandbagged. I didn’t show everything I had, and I didn’t try to beat Ryosuke because I had no incentive to. I tried to hide my Choice Scarf Tyranitar, as it improved my matchup vs Ryosuke. I do think that Ryosuke’s team has a phenomenal matchup against my team, but I wanted to give myself anything I could use in Top Cut if I had to play him again. My match should not have been streamed. I knew I was going to throw the game regardless, but it embarrassed me to do it on stream and on stage. I wish that wasn’t my only streamed match. I think they should stream at least two or three of the Top 8 matches and both of the Semi-final matches.

Top Cut

I tried to get myself back into it after being utterly embarrassed. I walked it off, and tried to hype myself up again. I just Top Cut my first Worlds! I found out I would be playing Dayne O’Meara from Australia. I had not expected Australia to make it this far, as they haven’t proved themselves yet. I wished Jeudy Azzareli (SoulSurvivor) luck as I set off to play Dayne.

Top 8: Dayne O’Meara (ProfTeak)

The first thing I heard about this team is that it had Sheer Cold Lapras. After seeing the team in team preview I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. My team doesn’t really have issues with Lucario because Zapdos walls it completely. The Pokémon that allowed Dayne to shut me down was Raichu. Staraptor also threatened my Choice Scarf Tyranitar with a Choice Scarf Close Combat.

Game 1: This one was kinda hectic. I switched around a lot to try and stay alive. In the end, he was always in control threatening me. I found his combination of U-Turn and Volt Switch very annoying and hard to play around. I really wasn’t on my full game, I still didn’t fully recover from my match vs Ryosuke.

Game 2: This game went downhill fast. Near the middle of the game, I predicted his Staraptor to switch out, but it just Close Combatted my Tyranitar. I looked over to Blake (Bopper) and mouthed the words “I lost”. I thought the game was over. Then something came over me. I came to the realization that if I won this set I would most likely get to play Sejun Park. I have always been a fan of Sejun and it would be a dream come true if I got to play him at Worlds in top 4. I don’t remember how I won, I just know that I took Game 2 and I kept myself alive.

Game 3: This game started off ugly. I led with Tyranitar/Mawile vs Lapras/Politoed. I went for a Rock Slide and a Play Rough onto Lapras. He flinched with Politoed and missed Hydro Pump on Mawile. The game was pretty much over from there.

After Game 3, I immediately jumped out of my chair and ran over to my friends. I was greeted with hugs and congratulations. I had just gotten top 4 at my first Worlds.  After celebrating I waited to face Sejun Park.

Top 4: Sejun Park (pokemontcg)

Worlds is about playing the best of the best. Sejun is one of the best, if not the best, Pokémon player in the world, so playing at Worlds without playing Sejun would make Worlds incomplete. I had a blast playing against one of my idols. I can’t even begin to describe how cool it was to play against Sejun in an actual live event. If I was to get knocked out by anyone, I wanted it to be Sejun.

Game 1:

Game 2:

I think the videos speak for themselves. Thanks to Team Rocket Elite for recording this. I wouldn’t have any way to watch these without you. Most (if not all) of the crowd was cheering for Sejun, and this made it even more daunting to play him. I think I played well, but not my best. It was intimidating to be playing Sejun and it affected my play. I don’t want to take any credit from Sejun, because he deserved to win. I found it hard to react to his team as I had no practice playing against that kind of team before.

Closing Thoughts

Going into Worlds, I did not expect to do as well as I did. I had a great time and I am glad I was able to get an invite to go again next year. My entire season was focused on getting my invite. I didn’t actually have a plan for when I got it. This team isn’t the most creative, but it is defensively and offensively sound. If anyone wants to take my team for a spin, go ahead. I think practicing with the best teams from an event is a good way to get better and to understand why the team did well. I can’t wait to come back next year and try to win it all! Thanks for reading!

Thank Yous

• Blake(Bopper) – Oh man, I wouldn’t have even got third without your help. You let me into The Boiler Room and helped me grow as a player. Thank you so much for getting my Pokémon last minute, I wouldn’t have even been able to compete at worlds without you. I am glad you got a chance to shine at Worlds!
• Benji (Benji) – Thanks for all your team building help and just being a great friend. You have helped me with all my teams over the past year. Thank you for being there for me.
• Ryan (Tan) – Thank you, Tan, for cheering for me and believing in me. It was nice to have someone to come find and talk to after each battle. I hope to see you at worlds next year.
• Oliver (Smith) – I wouldn’t be here without your desire to create a teambuilding group. Sometimes your ideas get out of hand and you start getting a little crazy. You share the same wonder and awe that I had for Worlds. I hope you can make it there soon, it’s as good as we thought.
• Toler (Dimsun) – I think you have single-handedly taken me from a nobody to third in the world. Thank you for the countless hours we spent team building and stressing out before events. I hope everything goes well for you, I want to see you next to me in 2nd place next year at Worlds.
• Gavin (Kingofmars) – Thank you so much for spending those hours with me pounding out my core and helping me finish my team. I respect you a lot as a player and I am glad I have you as a friend. We need a rematch sometime soon.
• David (Mancuso) – I have to give you a shout out. You got Top 4 at Philly with my team, nice job!
• Zach, 13Yoshi37, and Cybertron– Thank you for giving me advice before Worlds. I asked all three of you how I should prepare and how to look at Worlds. You guys helped me out and I used all the advice you gave me. Without it I don’t know if I would have gotten third.

About the Author

TheBattleRoom

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