(Inner)Focusing On A New Meta: VGC ’98 Tournament Champion Team Analysis
Hello everyone, I’m Jeudy (SoulSurvivor), and I won the VGC98 tournament a few weeks back. For the uninitiated, this is a custom metagame which is played in the standard VGC Doubles format but only allows the original 150 Pokémon except Mewtwo. It’s a really interesting metagame that gives some old favorites a chance to shine that’s not always available in the current overpowered format. I guess I’ll cut the small talk and get directly to my team now. When the tournament was first announced I already knew I wanted to use Trick Room even though there are an enormous amount of Fake Outers and viable Taunt Pokémon that can stop Trick Room in this metagame. In theory I wanted to make a team that made it near impossible for my opponents to stop me from setting up. It wasn’t until the semi finals where I found what I have been looking for in the form of Inner Focus and the only Ghost-type Pokémon available. Before I continue I am sorry for the 252/252 glory that is this team. I didn’t have time to really define the team as I thought I was eliminated round 1 due to not being ready only to find out I had a Bye.
Team At A Glance
In Depth
Slowbro@ Sitrus Berry
trait: Regenerator
Ev’s: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk
Nature: Quiet
– Scald
– Psychic
– Trick Room
– Protect
The team will be inroduced in the order I put them on the team. As I mentioned in the intro, I wanted to make a Trick Room team. This guy was the first Pokémon to pop up in my head, and I never looked back. The moveset is pretty standard. Scald’s Burn chance is always welcome, and I chose Psychic over Psyshock because unlike the 2012 metagame there is no Hitmontop to hit and I wanted to hit Machamp harder as well making Psychic the stronger move overall. Some might ask why I used Protect when I could have used defensive or coverafe moves like Slack Off, Fire Blast, or even Ice Beam. Well, I accounted for the fact that Slowbro would be a prime target for Fake Out and he was normally paired with Parasect, so a double Protect and then a Rage Powder/Trick Room pretty much guaranteed that I would have Trick Room up. After I made my team changes before the semis, I stopped using Slowbro as a lead and instead kept him as a backup Trick Room setter. The EVs I would not like to discuss. They’re pretty terrible, and if I could go back I would have made him a bit bulkier, but the Sitrus and Regenerator combo was pretty nice and helped keep him around.
Parasect @Leftovers
trait: Dry Skin
Ev’s: 252 HP /252 Atk
Nature: Adamant
– Spore
– Rage Powder
– Seed Bomb
– Protect
This was the second Pokémon added to my team and completes my original 100% Trick Room set up. To be honest, I only used Parasect for Rage Powder. I now some trainers would disagree with me on this one as Parasect is not particularly bulky — and my spread didn’t help there either — but he got the job done. Protect is there for reasons already explained. When he’s not taking the OHKO for the team, he’s Sporing the enemy’s team. Other than that there is not much to say about him but that Leftovers is a really bad idea on him. He was getting OHKOd left and right. I would have put a Focus Sash on him, but after I switched my team up, Gengar was holding it already.
Snorlax @Normal Gem
trait: Thick Fat
Ev’s: 252Atk/252SpD
Nature: Adamant
– Double Edge
– Earthquake
– Brick Break
– Protect
Here’s the third completely unchanged original Pokémon on my team. Snorlax was my MVP pre-Semifinals. When I was originally building, I wanted something that could do serious damage. Snorlax has always been one of my favorite Pokémon, and I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to use him. My original team had Choice Specs Zapdos which would Volt Switch out while its partner set Trick Room, gaining a lot of momentum. Snorlax would then proceed to damage anything that didn’t resist it with a Gem-boosted Double Edge. Snorlax was important in my games versus Drizzleboy because his Tangela threatened my duo of Parasect and Slowbro. My Gem was what secured my victory that round, effectively KOing Tangela. Earthquake and Brick Break were there as a filler moves, but I honestly only used Double Edge.
Hitmonchan @ Fighting Gem
trait: Inner Focus
Ev’s: 252 HP / 60 Def / 192 Atk
Nature: Brave
– Fake Out
– Close Combat
– Ice Punch
– Feint
Hitmonchan was in my original build, but Biosci gave me one with keen eye so I had to ask him for an Inner Focus Hitmonchan before the Semifinals. This shift sparked the change to my team. After having close matches with DrizzleBoy and Foodking, I knew I had to change my team up before my match with Stormfront. Hitmonchan would be a close second for the MVP spot before the team change and remained there even after. I knew I wanted a Fake Out Pokémon, and Hitmonchan filled the role similarly to Hitmontop but with better coverage. Fighting Gem-boosted Close Combats hurt in any metagame and were key to my victory against Drizzleboy. Feint was awesome because some players were a bit easy to predict, especially when they would alternate protects, and allowed for some pick-offs against Pokémon with little HP left. Ice Punch was a great addition, hitting the legendary birds and Dragonite for heavy damage.
Before I begin talking about the next two Pokémon, I would like to talk a bit about what made me change. The original two Pokémon that were in these spots were Cloyster and Zapdos. Cloyster provided a “Goodstuff” mode alongside Hitmonchan but never quite worked out — the only time I used it, I forfeited early on. It was a pitiful sight. Zapdos was a bro, but I changed him because Foodking showed me something that was pretty broken.
Gengar @ Focus Sash
trait: Levitate
Ev’s: 252 HP / 252 SpA
Nature: Quiet
– Shadow Ball
– Thunderbolt
– Sludge Bomb
– Trick Room
I was looking at the available Pokémon, and Gengar was the only Ghost-type Pokémon allowed. I also still had Hitmonchan’s info in front of me. Then it hit me. If I used two Pokémon immune to Fake Out, I could set up Trick Room with ease. This is where Gengar came in. Paired with Hitmonchan, who could Fake Put any Pokémon that may carry taunt, it was pretty easy to set up Trick Room against any team that didn’t carry Kangaskhan, in which case I would have to revert to my Slowbro/Parasect lead. Also Gengar’s Speed is a little odd, but I figured players would all just dump all of their EVs into either Speed or HP. By ignoring Gengar’s Speed stat, I was able to underspeed a large majority of Pokémon I faced — unless it was an enemy Trick Room team, of course, in which case I would be faster and take them out first with Fake Out and Shadow Ball. Other than that everything else is standard. I was actually considering using Haunter to Speed-tie with Base 70s, but in the end I decided Gengar’s extra points in Special Attack were more useful.
Dragonite @Dragon Gem
trait: Inner Focus
Ev’s: 252 HP / 252 SpA
Nature: Quiet
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast
– Extremespeed
– Protect
Here is my sixth and final Pokémon, which took the place of Zapdos. During my round 3 match against Foodking, he used a Choice Specs Dragonite which did some serious damage, but he lost because he forgot to use probably the most broken move in the game: Draco Meteor. My thought was if Draco Meteor is hard to stop in a metagame like 2012 where Steel-typesare present on every team, how broken would it be in a metagame where there really are no Steel-types, and the only one that existed wasn’t used. Then I scrolled over to abilities and saw that it had Inner Focus too. This led to another lead combo that gave me a non-Trick Room option that actually worked, which I will dub DragonChan. This lead would normally be used Game 2 when my opponent brought their Trick Room counters only to face Dragonite and Hitmonchan. Nothing survived a Draco Meteor, and Inner Focus helped in my game two against Stormfront when he Faked Out my Dragonite, knowing Hitmonchan carried Inner Focus, only for Dragonite to also be immune. The rest of Dragonite is standard: Fire Blast is there for the rare Magneton, and Extremespeed is there to pick off low health enemies. I also used this on Stormfront in Game 1 to bluff a Physcial set and in Game 2 hit him with with a Gem Meteor.
Common Leads
+
This was my Game 1 lead. No one really expected Gengar to know Trick Room, so my opponents were generally reacting instead of attacking, making it a downhill battle for them. I would normally have Dragonite or Snorlax ready in the back to fire a Draco Meteor or Double Edge, respectively. Slowbro can then help reset Trick Room if needed.
+
This lead became less used after Gengar was added, but this lead was used if my opponent didn’t have anything to stop Trick Room, which I could determine by Game 2 or 3. Before the Semifinals, this was my second best lead, allowing me to have a more offensive Trick Room set up that the Parasect / Slowbro lead did not offer.
+
My original 100% Trick Room lead. This was another lead I stopped using after the Semifinals but was my go-to lead prior to the Semis. This combo usually left me at a 3 to 4 disadvantage, but I could then sweep with powerful Pokémon like Snorlax, Dragonite, and even Hitmonchan.
+
Definetly my favorite Game 2 lead. Double Inner Focus normally won me the Turn 1 match up against opposing Fake Outs, getting me a 4 to 3 advantage quite easily. I also had Parasect and Slowbro in the back of this to set Trick Room for Dragonite to fire off more Meteors.
Matches
Round 2: vs Drizzleboy (Zapdos/Kabutops/Arcanine/Tangela)
Before we started, I figured he would be using manual Rain given his name, and I was correct. This helped me with my Game 1 win, but he used a Pokémon I had overlooked: Tangela. It was definetly a tough matchup for me, but luckily he didn’t lead it so I was up 4 to something before tangela was taken out by a Choice Specs-boosted Hidden Power Flying from my Zapdos. Game 2 I try to go Cloyster/Hitmonchan as his team looked very Cloyster weak. Never again will I do this. I forfeited at 4-3 because it was over, and I didn’t want to reveal to him anything else. The final game I play Hitmonchan/Slowbro into his Tangela and Arcanine. It was a good lead matchup for me, and Close Combat and Psychic took out the Tangela, leading me to a comfortable win.
Round 3: vs foodking (Dragonite/Gyarados/Zapdos/Venasaur)
From team preview I was afraid of Gyarados because it is known to carry Taunt, but I quickly find out his has a Life Orb and uses Bulldoze…. Game 1 he gets a Dragon Pulse critical hit on Slowbro from his Dragonite, making this an uphill battle. I only lose 0-1, though, so I know if I can set up Trick Room it’s a winnable game. I was correct, and in Game 2 I notice his Dragonite is only using Dragon Pulse so I figure out that it’s Spec’d. Game 3 starts off with a pretty tense turn. He has Gyarados and Dragonite versus my Slowbro and Hitmonchan. At this point I don’t know that Gyarados has 4 attacks and not Taunt, but I decide to take a chance that he doesn’t have Draco Meteor and his Dragon Pulse doesn’t crit. I was correct and end up 3 to 1 with his Gyarados left when the hurricane strikes. We conclude that I won, and I move on.
Semi-Finals: vs Stormfront (Starmie/Pikachu/Primeape/Arcanine/Tangela/Gyarados)
I don’t remember these matches too well except for the first turns of each match. Game1 he was mainly reacting to Gengar’s surprise Trick Room, and he also Fakes Out my Hitmonchan leading to a safe turn where my Gengar doesn’t take any damage. Game 2 I lead Dragonite and Hitmonchan and do quite a bit damage as he does Fakes Out my Dragonite into the Inner Focus. It was a fun set and I move on with my first 2-0 win, giving me confidence for my new additions.
Finals: vs Biosci (Hypno/Persian/Marowak/Vaporeon/Cloyster/Zapdos)
I ended up making it to the Finals only battle the person who bred my team. I know he knows my Gengar has Trick Room, and I remember the team he used in the last VGC ’98 Tournament was Trick Room, so Game 1 I double attack and hope he sets it up. He Taunts my Gengar expecting me to setup Trick Room instead! I also find out he isn’t running a Trick Room team during this match too.
[Both games of the finals and one of SoulSurvivor’s matches vs. Stormfront were recorded but have not yet been uploaded to Youtube. This space will be updated once they have been uploaded. – Ed.]
Conclusion
Overall this tournament was like a breath of fresh air, and winning was pretty cool, too. Sadly I won’t play this metagame until the next Nugget Bridge VGC ’98 Tournament. Though this meta is very under developed, seeing as we have to make a team 2 weeks prior, I was lucky to find something unique like Trick Room Gengar, and it was cool seeing the different teams that competed and how diverse it was. Biosci used a Persian with a team that looked like it was full Trick Room, Drizzleboy used a cool manual Rain team, and Stormfront used a Pikachu. I would fully support this being a Wifi tournament one day. Hopefully the next time I make a article about a team, it will be about my National Championship team, but a lone man’s dreams aside, I encourage everybody to try these limited formats once in awhile, and I look forward to playing in the VGC ’11 + BW2 tournament.
[For more information on limited-run metagame tournaments hosted by Nugget Bridge, pop on over to our Online Tournaments forum to see what our users have cooking! – Ed.]
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