Reports

Published on August 9th, 2014 | by Elder Lugia

19

Mexican Trick Room? Not Really: A Top 8 Monterrey Premier Challenge Report

Hello, everyone! Hector Lozano (Elder Lugia) here with my first post ever. A while ago, here in Mexico, we got our very first official VGC events. Three different Premier Challenges were held this year, occurring in Monterrey, Queretaro, and finally Mexico City. Here in Monterrey I managed to get into the Top 8 with a team I created after reading articles on Nugget Bridge.

I really wanted to make a special team for this tournament since it was Mexico’s first official event, so I decided to try my hand at a Trick Room team, which is a different playstyle than my standard Thunder Wave-Offensive core. At first, I decided to use two Mega Pokémon, but it didn’t work, so I started to search for a team that I liked. In the end, after reading Evilwolf’s winning Singapore Asia Cup Qualifier team report on Nugget Bridge, I decided to try his team because I found it really balanced for a Trick Room team. After practicing with it, I made some changes to both adapt to my own playstyle and to work well against the local metagame. (Just so you know, my team members’ nicknames were inspired by Accel World and Kill la Kill characters.) Let’s get started!

The Team

Mawile (Kuroyukihime)
Item: Mawilite
Nature: Brave
Ability: Intimidate → Huge Power
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 HP, 72 Atk, 180 SDef
– Play Rough
– Iron Head
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

As I said earlier, my team initially had two Megas: Kangaskhan and Mawile. After practicing with Trick Room, I found out quite fast that I relied more upon the sheer power of Mawile than the bulky Kangaskhan that I carried. So, I decided to take Kangaskhan out and let Mawile wreck my opponents. The EV spread is kind of simple: it allowed Mawile to both survive a Flamethower from a Mega Manetric and still managed to OHKO most opponents.

I originally had Fire Fang over Iron Head when Kangaskhan was still on the team, but in the end I decided to use Iron Head for more power. The IVs from the Brave Mawile were enough to underspeed Adamant ones in Trick Room and Brave ones outside of it (as Evilwolf explains in the original team report). This Mawile was a monster and a really important part of the team, which ironically worked out really well with my Azumarill.

In the nickname department, I decided to use the full name of Hime because Black Lotus is pretty much a powerful monster, just like Mega Mawile.

Tyranitar (Ryuko)
Item: Weakness Policy
Nature: Brave
Ability: Sand Stream
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 88 Atk, 72 Def, 96 SDef
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Ice Beam
– Protect

I have to admit that I had my doubts about this set, but it worked wonders both in practice and the actual tournament, because most people didn’t expect Weakness Policy Tyranitar. Pretty much every attack could knock out the opponent after a +2 boost, and Chandelure could even set up Trick Room to make Tyranitar faster. The ability to destroy most opposing Pokémon with super-effective boosted attacks was perfect for the team, because it helped me with overall fire power.

Tyranitar is nicknamed Ryuko because of its versatility more than anything. Both characters are really versatile, and paired with with Senketsu, they became one of the best duos around.

Chandelure (Senketsu)
Item: Colbur Berry
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Flash Fire
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 Def
– Flamethrower
– Energy Ball
– Trick Room
– Protect

I personally had tried Chandelure a few times and I knew that it was a really good Pokémon for a Trick Room team, but I had never really built around it. I was tempted to make a more defensive EV spread but this worked the way it should have and that’s it. I have to agree with the inclusion of Energy Ball over Shadow Ball because firstly, this Chandelure is more of a support Pokémon and secondly, the team didn’t allow it to go for a double STAB, and I really needed a way to hit Water-type Pokémon so Energy Ball was the real deal.

Something I really want to point is that most people went for a double target into Chandelure fearing a Focus Sash, but it was okay for me, since that prediction actually won me the first game.

Why did I nickname it Senketsu? Easy: Chandelure is a Ghost type and as I said before, it worked well with Ryuko, so it was a good decision in the end.

Gardevoir (Sanageyama)
Item: Sitrus Berry
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Trace
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 SpAtk
– Moonblast
– Psychic
– Trick Room
– Safeguard

This was a Pokémon that I aso had my doubts about, but when I saw the amazing 160 Special Attack with only a Quiet nature and 4 EVs, I have to admit that it had more than needed. This set was crucial since I confronted many Talonflame, that were trying to OHKO it and never expected my Gardevoir to survive a Brave Bird and either knock it out or useTrick Room.

The original set was with Mental Herb instead of Sitrus Berry, but the Berry for me was more beneficial; this Gardevoir needed a way to recover itself. I wasn’t really afraid of Taunt since it’s not a common move here.

Safeguard is a move I really suffered with. In practice, I won a battle because I used it against a Smeargle that missed the Dark Void and allowed me to set it up. On the other hand, not having protection was a problem. I was about to put Protect over Safeguard but really forgot to do it before filling out my paper sheet, which was a problem during the tournament and almost cost me a match.

Gardevoir is nicknamed Sanageyama, because in the story of Kill la Kill he decides to sacrifice his pride for a better end. This Gardevoir was male, so it pretty much made a sacrifice of ever being a Gallade for a better end, which was a bulky Gardevoir capable of better things.

Hydreigon (Yuniko)
Item: Life Orb
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Levitate
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 4 Def
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Dark Pulse
– Protect

I was about to change this Hydreigon for a faster set, but then decided to keep it just because I could not find a new set or a new Pokémon to use instead, even though I tried Salamence, Garchomp, Dragonite, Noivern and even Druddigon! The EVsa nd moveset were really perfect, and I have to admit that I personally love Hydreigon and was searching a way to use it since it was viable in this format. I chose Flamethrower over Fire Blast for accuracy, along with Dark Pulse and Draco Meteor for dual STAB, not really needed Flash Cannon since I had Iron Head in Mawile.

Why is Hydreigon nicknamed Yuniko? Easy: both are really explosive. The first time that Yuniko appears in Accel World it is a monster in fire power, which was something I was searching for in a Pokémon to replace it, which wasn’t found.

Azumarill (Haruyuki)
Item: Assault Vest
Nature: Brave
Ability: Huge Power
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP, 144 Atk, 108 Def, 4 SDef
– Play Rough
– Waterfall
– Aqua Jet
– Superpower

Azumarill was both a good choice and a bad choice for the team. He was good because he added bulk and firepower at the same time, but it cost me the lack of a status move. At first, this Pokémon was a bulky slow Kangaskhan for the typing, but Azumarill was a need because Kangaskhan wasn’t really having battle time. I also needed another priority move different to Sucker Punch and Azumarill’s Aqua Jet was perfect.

I was searching for another item for this little rabbit since Sitrus Berry was already in use. Choice Band and Life Orb were plausible since the I could replace Hydreigon’s Life Orb with a Roseli Berry that didn’t sacrifice too much power. Unfortunately both items made Azumarill really fragile, so I realized that Assault Vest was the way to go. Assault Vest let Azumarill use more moves and surprised more than one opponent.

With the EV spread, it arrived at a not-so-bad 98 Attack stat, which I believe ended as 196 with Huge Power. Still, this EV spread is far from perfect, so if anyone knows of a better EV spread for an Assault Vest Azumarill I hope you tell me, since I really think this is a cool way to use this guy.

Superpower allowed me to hit Tyranitar without fear of missing from Play Rough and could also be used to hit Kangaskhan. Aqua Jet and Play Rough were musts in the moveset and Waterfall was chosen for a more powerful Water STAB.

Haruyuki was an easy choice for a nickname, since he is fat. In my imagination, Assault Vest makes Azumarill even fatter and worked out wonders alongside Mawile, so the nickname pair was good.

The Tournament

I have to admit that I didn’t use much Trick Room in the tournament. It defined my first battle, but wasn’t really needed in anything else, except in the last match but that’s debatable as well. Since Mexico is still in a “beta” tournament phase I managed to save and upload all the battle videos, which are there so you can watch them and understand certain parts of each battle.

Round 1 vs Oziel Montemayor

His team:

He used:

Battle Video: AZLG-WWWW-WWW8-XR24

This first match was funny for us since we had fought with our teams one night before in a practice tournament. First turn, I Protected my Chandelure and both Ludicolo and Politoed Scalds were blocked so I knocked out Ludicolo. Then his Mawile came in and I decided to make a double switch and his Scald went into Chadelure’s spot where Tyranitar came and luckily did not get burnt. Azumarill was knocked out by two Iron Heads, but this allowed me to eventually have Chandelure activate Trick Room, and from there it was my win.

1-0

Round 2 vs Jose Everardo

His team:

Well, neither of us was expecting to fight so early, since we are really good friends. Jose felt he could win with a cheap tactic and that cost him the battle, which consisted of boosting Slurpuff and going for the KO with Draining Kiss and Wish combo. I knew he was also running a Trick Room team, so I didn’t bring any Trick Roomers this time, which was both a blessing and a curse.

He used:

Battle Video: PWTW-WWWW-WWW8-XR2A

Jose started the match by putting up screens and surprisingly boosting his Slurpuff, which at first concerned me a lot. I decided to knock out Meowstic but I missed both Play Roughs! The next turn, only one Play Rough missed and the other activated his Sitrus Berry, which I thought was an item for extra evasion. Then, he sent in Talonflame which was easily knocked out. Finally, his Kangaskhan survived my attack with a little HP left but Azumarill knocked it out with Superpower. By the end of the match, Slurpuff was easily knocked out by a boosted Iron Head.

2-0

Round 3 vs Cuauhtemoc

His team:

I was up against a new guy I had never met before. Luckily for me, one of my friends told me that he was using an Abomasnow without Trick Room, which seemed really odd to me. I also knew that he was using nasty Fake Out+Fling shenanigans so I was prepared for this.

He used:

Battle Video: XSHW-WWWW-WWW8-XR2D

I decided to Protect my Mawile (since it seemed obvious that he would Protect his Mega Abomasnow) and went for a Flamethrower against Weavile. Surprisingly, he switched Weavile out for a Flash Fire Chandelure, which caught me off guard. The next turn, he went with an Imprison and let his Abomasnow be knocked out. In the long run, I noticed that his Chandelure was more of a support Pokémon than an offensive threat. He eventually took out both of my initial pokemon with Mamoswine but went for a double Protect with Chandelure that didn’t work, so I managed to knock it and Mamoswine out with a boosted Rock Slide and Waterfall, leaving me with a 2-1 lead. He sent out his last Pokémon, Weavile, who eventually was knocked out by Superpower.

3-0

Round 4 vs Moises Briones

His team:

I had fought with Moises before at another big tournament at our local official league. He had previously used a pretty standard team, but this team looked  more balanced team so this battle was more interesting than our previous match.

He used:

G22W-WWWW-WWW8-XR2F

This battle was interesting, but easy for me since he made bad predictions and switches. Most of his Pokémon ended up really damaged so by the end all I needed to do was pick up fast and furious KOs. I tended to use Chandelure as my primary Trick Room user but in this fight Gardevoir was the MVP.

4-0

Round 5 vs Jairo

His team:

At this moment, only four people were undefeated in the tournament: Jairo, another Hector (the eventual champion), someone else, and me. The organizers made a huge ruckus since there would be two important matches to define the undefeated people.

He used:

Battle Video: TDAW-WWWW-WWW8-XR2Y

On the first turn, both of us made defensive moves and my Chandelure absorbed a Will-O-Wisp, but was quickly knocked out the next turn. This allowed me to get a fast KO on Aegislash who used Shadow Sneak. He double targeted Chandelure sadly with Hydro Pump, and from there I predicted a few moves and got a nasty KO on his Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor (showing how powerful my Hydreigon really was) while he burned my Tyranitar. From here, it was a battle of predictions and it ended up with one Draco Meteor versus the world, since I needed a critical hit to ensure the win against Rotom-W. Guess what? I got it and then survived with 1 HP left, which was enough to knock out his Mamoswine with Flamethrower. Close match.

5-0

Round 6 vs Hector Hugo

His team:

Hector was a legend in the tournament; he never lost a fight and ended up champion with a 2-1 final as everyone cheered “Invicto!” after he won. Anyway, this fight defined the last undefeated battler in the tournament. I have to admit that from here I started making really bad decisions and it pretty much destroyed my tournament run; from here I lost my last four battles, which were all due to my errors, nonetheless.

He sent:

Battle Video: DEFG-WWWW-WWW8-XR2K

I’m not going to spoil the intense battle we had, so you’ll have to watch the battle video. I have to admit that my error here was to not have a 252 Attack EV spread on Mawile. I also had a hunch in using Aqua Jet against his Amoonguss at some point but guess what, I didn’t follow my hunch and got destroyed after that, since only my Azumarill was left against his Amoonguss and Garchomp. Surprisingly, his Amoonguss had a 31 IV in Speed! Hector played really randomly despite his standard-looking team.

5-1

Round 7 vs Diego

His team:

At first glance in Team Preview, I knew that his team had a real weakness against Tyranitar so I decided to bring both it and Gardevoir as well, which was a crucial error.

He sent:

Battle Video: SGSG-WWWW-WWW8-XR2M

I heard from another friend that there was a guy bluffing a Charizard Y with Brick Break under his belt, and somehow I knew this was that guy, but I made a risky decision on the first turn with a Rock Slide, which quickly cost me the battle after that. I probably could have won but at some point in the last turns of the match, we both lost a Pokémon, leaving only his Aegislash versus my Mega-Mawile. His Aegislash got a critical hit Shadow Ball, and that was the end of the match.

Final record 5-2

Top Cut

I thought I was going to miss out on Top Cut with those two losses; I definitely needed a win from the undefeated Hector Hugo against his friend to bump me into Top Cut. Hector won, and I had hopes of going forward. Some friends told me that I could actually still make it since I went undefeated as well for the first five rounds. When the places where shown, I realized that I lost to the first and eventual second place, but I had to wait for certain since there were eleven other people with the same record as me of 5-2.

The tournament organizers announced that in first place was the undefeated Hector Hugo, then the three next places with a 6-1 record, which left only four more Top Cut spots for eleven candidates. They called out my name in sixth place and I couldn’t believe it; I had made it into the Top 8 in my very first Nintendo Tournament! I was jumping with joy. When the pairings for the final matches were drawn, I was up against a really powerful foe: Luis Canseco.

Top 8 vs Luis Canseco

His team:

Battle 1

He used:

Battle Video 1: J9HW-WWWW-WWW8-XR43

This was a battle that had luck on both sides. It was a really close battle as I tried to figure out the items on his Pokémon. I don’t recall much of the match other than the last turn of the battle; he used Sleep Powder on my Mega Mawile which was in danger of knocking out his Garchomp.

Battle 2

He used:

Battle Video 2: 8EGW-WWWW-WWW8-XR4C

My strategy for this match was to go full power with Trick Room since he didn’t see it during the last battle. Unfortunately, I made a mistake on the first turn and sent in Mawile, which boosted Wigglytuff’s Competitive Ability, and from there he destroyed my team.

0-2

Watch both battles so you can be the judge. I believe I could have done something after Wigglytuff’s boost in the second battle but I’m okay; it was my mistake, after all!

Conclusion

This was a good day. I have to admit that I loved using this team and have to thank Evilwolf, the original owner of this team, because he is an inspiration for the Trick Room users out there like me.

I will probably continue using something similar to this team and try the Pokémon seen here on other teams eventually. Hydreigon’s raw power with Life Orb in undeniable, and Gardevoir’s unpredictability is fun to use against your opponent.

If Mexico continues like this, maybe next year with the new rule set we could be having our first Regionals event. Even though it doesn’t look like it, Mexico and the rest of Latin America have a really big Pokémon community just waiting for an opportunity to shine. I hope I can publish a new report someday; until then, Elder Lugia flies away.

P.S. Remember, people: if you have a hunch, make the move! A risky move may be the win or loss in a battle.

About the Author

Elder Lugia

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