Reports

Published on July 9th, 2015 | by FloristtheBudew

40

My Moth’s Got The Powder: A Top 8 Australian Masters Nationals Report

Hi there. My name is Brendan Webb, and this was my first season competing in VGC. Today I will be talking about my Top 8 placement at the 2015 Australian Nationals competition. I have never really introduced myself  to the VGC community so I will give a brief introduction about myself.

I live in Tasmania, a state in Australia. This is Australia’s third season competing officially in the VGC format and our first year having premier challenges.  My first event was a premier challenge on May 24th where I finished first. I earned my first 40 Championship Points (CP) ever and I was very proud of myself. The team I used here had issues but incorporated some of my favourite Pokemon at the time. The team has too many flaws to be consistent, and thus I have put it aside. The team was Mega-Metagross, Hydreigon, Arcanine, Gastrodon, Virizion and Zapdos. Regardles, this was my first step into building a semi-decent team.

Anyway I had wanted to use Choice Scarf Tyranitar for a few weeks leading up to Australia Nationals and had not much success incorporating it into any team I tried. This was when Aaron “Cybertron” Zheng (his YouTube channel is here and I recommend going to it, as it helps me out a lot with how I play) showed a variant of what would soon be known as the Japanese Sand team, which had the core of Sand Rush Excadrill, Choice Scarf Tyranitar and Special Mega Salamence. His team gave me inspiration and I went and started building of this core I had seen. Now I originally thought Nicholas Borghi (LightCore) thought of this idea due to Cybertron mentioning a Mega Salamence team once and I confused it with the next video I watched, which was an error on my behalf. Then I stupidly assumed Aaron made it from scratch but to my avail. A Japanese user had actually posted a picture of his team on his twitter and this was the origination of the idea, which took me a fortnight to discover. The team the Japanese user had included Assault Vest Azumarill, Rocky Helmet Amoonguss and Aegislash, so this was where the idea of the team originated from.

The Teambuilding Phase

When I tested the team, I ran Will-O-Wisp Rotom-W as like Cybertron’s version but I had a few issues with the team’s structure. I disliked how much Rotom-W would take damage before it could burn something. I did not like Amoonguss, and Aegislash was not something I was comfortable with. I felt people would start to bring ways to counter the team since it exploded with popularity after just a few days on Cybertron’s Channel. This concerned me, and I felt the best way to counter the rapidly popularized weather was to run something that was similar but had different Pokemon that performed the same roles.

I decided that I wanted to try out some other Pokemon to fill the last two options and see what I could do with Rotom-W. This is when I found my most important member of the team for Nationals – Rage Powder Volcarona. I have always liked the fire moth and this little guy made the cut for the team. I looked at what it could do and it seemed to fit better with Tyranitar and Salamence. It had key resistances to Fighting-Type and Ice-Type moves. It takes neutral damage from Ground-Type moves, but it does compound the Landorus-Therian weakness. However, as I will discuss later, with my playstyle it generally worked well for the team. I now had 5 Pokemon on the team, but in testing I found that Fairy types gave me more issues and I needed a counter to Gastrodon and Swampert (Gastrodon hurt my team terribly and I was scared it would pop up during Nats). I also needed something that checked Mega Kangaskhan and Landorus-T. Ferrothorn became my last Pokemon for the team. Rocky Helmet and Iron Barbs hurt the latter two Pokemon, and Power Whip deals with the 4 times Grass-Type weak Pokemon.

The topic of why I chose these changes came up after Nationals and addressing it here is the best course of action. Landorus-T did give the team issues, as did Heatran, and since then I have swapped Excadrill out for another Pokemon to improve this match-up. But I still believe the team I chose was preferable for my playstyle, specifically using Volcarona over Amoonguss. I also felt that Mega Kangaskhan went through the team a bit to easily, with Volcarona being a bit more insurance against the most prominent Mega Pokemon.

The Team

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Crunch
– Rock Slide
– Ice Punch
– Low Kick

Tyranitar is necessary to have part of the Sand core. It has a wonderful move pool and gets good coverage moves for a Scarf user. I chose Rock Slide and Crunch for STAB options. People have asked why I did not choose Ice Beam over Ice Punch, and I will put it plainly. The only notable Pokemon that affect the power of Ice Punch is Mega Salamence and Landorus-T. Salamence is weak to Rock Slide anyway and outspeeds Scarf Tyranitar, whereas Lando-T basically hurts Tyranitar in any way if they switch in on the same turn. Typically, I lead Tyranitar as a common lead to set up Sand but rarely leave it in against a Lando-T. I will switch to get a better match-up, which means I can switch Tyranitar back in and suddenly have the threat of Ice Punch. I plan accordingly from there. Ice Punch is the least used move and for good reason. It is mostly used for hitting predicted switches and when you switch into a 4x Ice-Type weak Pokemon. Low Kick was for Bisharp and Heatran. The reason I chose Low Kick over Superpower is that both fill similar roles, but the -1 defense can be a issue when trying to still survive a physical attack. My team runs on predictions and ability to switch, and I dislike the idea of losing more momentum with a reduced attack and defense, as -1 Def Tyranitar can be KO’d easily if my opponent does something unpredictable. Low Kick is primarily to hit Heatran, with 15% chip damage netting the KO normally.

• 244 Atk Tyranitar Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 134-158 (80.2 – 94.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 244 Atk Tyranitar Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 116-138 (64 – 76.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO

The EV spread is something a little more easy to describe as you can see. My Tyranitar speed ties with other 252 Jolly Tyranitar if I am forced to make a play based on this speed tie. The bulk EV’s are just to maximize stat points. One point lost in attack in exchange for two points in both respective stats is something I believe is more than justifiable.

Tyranitar helps with Flying-Type Pokemon, Aegislash to a degree, Mega Salamence of all forms, Ice weak Pokemon, and Heatran. To knock out Mega Kangaskhan, Tyranitar needs at least 30% prior damage on the bulky variants and around 20% for the 4 hp variety. Special Salamence is good in this case to pick up that damage.

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Iron Head
– Rock Slide
– Protect

Excadrill is the apparent physical sweeper, but on the day of Nationals it was the least used Pokemon and what I now consider dead weight for the team. It was chosen for its spread Ground-Type move Earthquake, fast Rock Slides (faster than Choice Scarf Landorus-T) and Steel Coverage to hit the omni-present Fairy types like Sylveon. Protect is to scout moves, protect Excadrill from attacks for a turn, and to punish double targets. I chose Focus Sash as I wanted Excadrill to survive more than one attack. The Adamant nature and 252 Attack EV’s still give Excadrill a lot of offensive pressure. The spread maximizes relevant stats like Attack and Speed, with the remaining 4 EV’s going into Special Defense due to Excadrill having a better base Special Defense than Defense.

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA (244 SpA) / 4 SpD / 180 Spe (188 Spe)
Timid Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Protect

Special Mega Salamence is extremely good for the core. Salamence easily takes out Breloom after the sand breaks its Focus Sash (I like to lead sand and Salamence as it is pretty anti-Breloom). Hyper Voice is a good spread STAB attack, but it only picks up 2- 0r 3-hit KOs on neutral hits. Upon testing the Sand Team, I saw multiple Dragon types survive my Salamence’s Dragon Pulse. This was an issue, and I felt a way to fix this was to run Draco Meteor. This helped to KO Rotom-W, which took around 50-70% depending on their builds. Flamethrower was good for the Aegislash match up, but left the team open more to Heatran. Protect is for reasons stated above.

The changes in parentheses are the now what I run. I originally wanted to outspeed max Speed base 110 Pokemon. However, Life Orb Thundurus has a base speed of 111, which can potentially win a speed tie and KO Mega Salamence. I added one more Speed point to fix this issue.

• 252 SpA Mega Salamence Dragon Pulse vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 152-180 (90.4 – 107.1%) — 43.8% chance to OHKO
• 252 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 79-94 (50.3 – 59.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 4 Def / 48 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Power Whip
– Gyro Ball
– Leech Seed
– Protect

Ferrothorn helped with many matchups and did a lot of work for the team. I used it to help with my Swampert matchup since it wrecked me in either Mega or base form. Gastrodon gave me issues when I tested without Amoonguss, as I lacked any decent way of hitting it other than neutral STABs. Rotom-W is countered horrifically by Ferrothorn. It also checks Landorus-T and Mega Kangaskhan, with both getting KO’d after they hit Ferrothorn with their Fighting-Type moves. It also helped check Fairy types and helped in the late game if all Fire types were eliminated from the game. Unfortunately, Trick Room Heatran is a thing, and it mauls Ferrothorn hard.

This was a variation of the generic VGC 2014 spread. I moved 4 EVs from SpD into Def as it makes Terrakion’s Close Combat a 30% chance to OHKO so I can retaliate and OHKO with Gyro Ball. The Attack EVs were to OHKO 252 HP 44 Def Rotom-W. Unfortunately, I never KO’d any Rotom-W, as the metagame favors a lot more physical bulk on Rotom-W.

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 134-160 (74 – 88.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 204+ Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (148 BP) vs. -1 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 117-138 (68.8 – 81.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 162-192 (89.5 – 106%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 92 SpA / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Thunder Wave
– Protect

Rotom-W was a fantastic pokemon to bring to Nationals, as Leftovers Rotom-W puts in a huge amount of work against a lot of the metagame, paralyzing fast threats and then hitting for decent damage with its combination of STABs. When the team underwent testing, it lacked permanent speed control and this was a way to help remove that issue. Paraflinch is always a nasty thing to deal with for my opponents as well.

The spread was a variation of Blake Hopper’s (Bopper) VGC 2014 spread. This one survived 252 Modest Mega Charizard Y’s Solar beam 81.2% of the time while speed creeping 4 speed EV Rotom-W’s (all Rotoms were faster than that expected value at Nats. It had slightly more Special Attack to nail Landorus-T built to survive +1 Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch. The Calm nature and pecial bulk were very useful, and my opponents often commented on how bulky my Rotom-W was.

• 252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 100+ SpD Rotom-W: 136-162 (86.6 – 103.1%) — 18.8% chance to OHKO
• 92 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 164 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-T: 164-194 (88.6 – 104.8%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO

Volcarona @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Timid Nature
– Rage Powder
– Overheat
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

The MVP of the team that carried me far throughout all of Swiss. Volcarona was definitely the most interesting Pokemon on the team. I feel Flame Body with Rage Powder is extremely undervalued in checking Mega Kangaskhan right now, with Kangaskhan lacking any good way to hurt Volcarona other than Return or Double Edge. Even then, both attacks hit Volcarona twice for a 51% chance to burn. Sitrus Berry was used to regain health. Rage Powder was why it was used as a substitute for Amoongus as it can burn while being hit, rather than Amoongus needing to not Rage Powder and use Spore to inflict status (ignoring Effect Spore shenanigans). Will-O-Wisp was a great support move against physical Pokemon. Overheat gave me a powerful Fire type STAB attack, but it made Volcarona absolute dead weight against Heatran, which I did not consider until battling a TR Heatran in Round 4.

The spread was optimal for what I considered on the team.  252 HP and 228 Defense EV’s allow it to survive Landorus-T’s Rock Slide 93.7% of the time barring a Critical Hit. Funnily enough, when I first made the spread the first Landorus-T I tested against got a Critical Hit.  I had 28 EV’s and a nature still left over, and I realized Volcarona needed just 20 Speed EV’s with a Timid nature to outspeed 252 Jolly Breloom by one point. Since I did not feel speed creeping those speed creeping Breloom was important, I placed the remaining EVs into SpA and SpD to get more overall stat points.

The Strategies

The team had multiple strategies, which means in a best-of-3 format I had many ways of dealing with multiple threats. Even though my opponent might know a certain amount of information about my team, I still had more methods of winning. I will go through and explain what each strategy did and, if it was used during Nationals, when and how it occurred.

The team has some mind game strategies designed for the Swiss rounds. Rotom-W is normally seen with Will-O-Wisp, where as Volcarona is not, so that served to throw off my opponents. If I lead these two against a Mega Kangaskhan, the obvious play for my opponent is to Fake Out Rotom-W, so Volcarona could often launch a Will-O-Wisp unopposed. This came in handy Round 6, and my Will-O-Wisp connected to give me the best momentum shift I think I had in the whole tournament.

Mega Kangaskhan was never once a threat during the whole tournament except when I faced Nathan Farrugia. He ran Power-Up Punch Kangaskhan, which became a threat once it had some boosts. However, Volcarona and Ferrothorn both dealt with Kangaskhan effectively, either burning with Flame Body/Will-O-Wisp or doing serious damage with Rocky Helmet/Iron Barbs.

Designated Lead Strategies

I know some people argue that you should pick only what you think is a safe lead against your opponents, but after playing enough games you will realize you choose certain leads for certain teams. Acknowledging this fate, I went and planned my leads for different teams so when it came to the competition, I could start planning for the late game as soon as the first turn was underway. Of course this is a “perfect world” scenario, and factors like stress can affect my gameplay and thought process.  Having these pre-planned leads can give me more time to think about what my win conditions are for the game.

Firstly, Rotom-W and Tyranitar are good leads, as they can cover a lot of types in general. Rotom-W KOs 44 HP Landorus-T and has a chance to OHKO those EV’d to survive +1 Bisharp’s Life Orb Sucker Punch. Rotom-W can paralyze other Pokemon if Tyranitar has a bad match-up just to help more in the late game.

Other possible leads combinations include Volcarona paired with Rotom-W, Mega Salamence, or Ferrothorn. I do not think I ever lead Volcarona and Tyranitar, as Fake Out hurts Tyranitar and makes Rage Powder useless.

Rotom-W and Volcarona can be good to set up Thunder Waves so my other Pokemon have an easier time later in game, but this is a very passive lead and does not have much offensive pressure. However, the Thunder Wave pressure is good against fast teams.

Volcarona and Mega Salamence can be good for having the ability to double protect on the first turn to scout. I can choose their moves from this point depending on what my opponent did and what they might do next. Volcarona helps remove Salamence’s Ice weakness with Rage Powder and gives Salamence some breathing room to make some noise (Hyper Voice).

Volcarona and Ferrothorn provide some early game defensive pressure by making Ferrothorn a threat with Leech Seed. Ferrothorn also can deal some good damage to fast Pokemon with Gyro Ball, two-hit KOing a chunk of the metagame. Power Whip also helps deal with Milotic and other Water-Type Pokemon.

My Playstyle

As the tournament progressed, I could start to see how I played. I have a strong emphasis on Dual-Typed Pokemon, including designated type cores, and I like to switch a lot in my games to better check for my opponents team. I feel most teams need a Grass type Pokemon to help against Gastrodon and Swampert. Both have excellent coverage, and my team especially hated Gastrodons since it could hit so much of my team for Super Effective damage.

Issues With the Team

Trick Room was an issue, as Heatran was the team’s major weakness. Rotom-W was the only decent check to Heatran in Trick Room. Landorus-T is an issue too, but the only when scarfed since much of the team outspeeds the Assault Vest variety. I went 7-2 in Swiss, with my losses coming in round 4 to a Trick Room Heatran/Mega Gardevoir team and round 9 to the eventual champion.

Another issue is the fact most of the Pokemon on my team have an inaccurate move. The team relies on these moves to function correctly, and this means the team has the potential to lose games due to RNG. This cost me dearly in game 3 of Top 8. Every move was there for a reason, but they made the team weak in that sense.

If you ever want to run the team, I never used Excadrill during Nationals and would recommend trying out another Pokemon that helps against Heatran and Landorus-T a bit better.

The Day Before Swiss

The day before Swiss was the main registration day, with the TCG Swiss being played in the background. There was a senior and his father in line behind me, and we talked about how this was his son’s first major event while we waited. I gave advice to the kid and tried to help him out with some strategizing. By the time we hit the start of the line, we had managed to talk about the location and our personal lives. We had a few small tournaments, and I got to meet some of the most amazing Australian VGC Players. I met Phil Nguyen (Boomguy), Nihal Noor (UchihaX96), Arvin Banerjee (EspyyVGC), and countless others. It was a really fun day, and I was feeling so excited for what Nationals would bring to the table tomorrow.

Swiss

The big day had arrived, and we starting to fill the venue at around 9:30 that morning. Registration closed a little after 10 AM. At that point, we began the grueling 9 rounds of best-of-3. matches The expected time to finish was 10 PM for the Masters division. I took some notes, but didn’t write down names of my opponent each round. I also did not write down which Pokemon I brought, as I was concerned with my writing speed.

Round 1

I gave my first opponent my notes after our battle so he could improve on his performance. In our second game, he onl yhad a Toxic Cresselia left against my Ferrothorn (which Cresselia couldn’t touch) and two other Pokemon. I do not remember any other Pokemon on his team, but I think he learned from our match and went 5-4 on the day. I was glad that I could help him! We played two games, and I won both. (1-0)

Round 2 vs Brendan Sims

This was a super intense match and I enjoyed it so much. It was definitely one of the best of the day. He ran a team of Bulky Mega Kangaskhan, Amoongus, Scarf Hydreigon, Gengar, Thundurus, and Blaziken. I remember he led off the first game with Amoonguss and Kangaskhan. The first game was really hard, as I realized my team struggled with Speed Boost Life Orb Blaziken. The game went to me in the end, with Will-O-Wisp Volcarona putting in a lot of work. Brendan came back and won the second game quite convincingly. The third was very close, with Thunder Wave Rotom-W doing the work this time around. I managed to play around my Salamence being paralyzed by his Thundurus by making a good call and switching my Volcarona into his Kangaskhan’s Fake Out, activating Flame Body. The set came down to my Rotom-W hitting a Hydro Pump against Blaziken in the final turn, and luckily it connected. I knocked out Blaziken and sealed up round 2. (2-0)

Round 3

My Round 3 opponent had Garchomp, Mega Venusaur, (presumed Mega) Kangaskhan, Gastrodon, Thundurus-I and Heatran.  I have little details, but I found out during the two games that he had a non-Rindo Berry Gastrodon. He also predicted my Salamence switch in one turn, but I had no reason to and the game was closed up. Definitely a fun sset. (3-0)

Round 4 vs Matthew Jiwa

This was a terrible match up right from the get go, with Matthew’s team including Mega Gardevoir, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Amoonguss, Scrafty, and Heatran. During the first game I suddenly realized I had a crippling weakness to Trick Room Heatran. As he blew through me, I had no chance to recover from Heatran’s Heat Waves. I remember the second game he double targeted my Rotom-W with Mega Gardevoir’s Psychic and a move from Heatran which got the KO. He sealed it up from there. Matt managed to get Top 16, and he had a great team. (3-1)

Round 5

I found out this player was from New Zealand, and his team was Talonflame, Scrafty, Arcanine, Metagross, Milotic, and Breloom. I mainly remember that Salamence’s Intimidate gave his Milotic +2 Special Attack due its ability Competitive. However, he had never seen Japan Sand and switched Breloom into a Hyper Voice. Needless to say, he lost that game and I closed up the second. Scrafty was a threat, and he made sure to use it well! (4-1)

Round 6 vs Stephan Lowings

This guy was friends with Brendan Sims, my second opponent, and it was a really cool match. His team was Mega Kangaskhan, Life Orb Blaziken, Sitrus Zapdos, Scarf Landorus-T, Leftovers Milotic, and Aegislash. He was a good player but did not expect support Volcarona, and I played that to my advantage. Either the first or second game I led with Rotom-W and Volcarona, with him having Kangaskhan and Milotic. He went for the predicted Fake Out onto Rotom-W, which I protected with. I then went for the Will-O-Wisp and burned his Mega Kangaskhan. He lost a huge amount of momentum and I carried the game to victory from there. His team was extremely well built, and I was scared of his Blaziken. He made some great predictions and called some of my switches. I believe I won this set 2-0, but I might be wrong. What is definitely true is that this was an awesome game. (5-1)

Round 7 vs Nihal Noor

This match was what I had been anticipating – a Sand team mirror match. I knew going into the match that this one would be difficult, as he was such a strong opponent. His team was composed of Landorus-Incarnate, Rotom-W, Amoonguss, Special Mega Salamence, Tyranitar, and Aegislash. Our set went to three games, and I won the last two. Predictions were made, and in the end Thunder Wave and Rock Slide helped seal the deal in the final turns of the last game. I could not believe I had beat Nihal, and it was an honourable game. It was a shame he missed Top Cut, maybe next year! (6-1)

Round 8 vs Nathan Farrugia

I went from battling one awesome guy to another. I met Nathan a few hours before the match and we had chatted a bit. He was a super nice guy and I really wanted to get this win. I wanted to set up my top cut position and a win would cement it here. He had a team of Landorus-T, Whimiscott, Mega Kangaskhan, Milotic, Zapdos, and Talonflame. His Whimsicott looked like an issue for my team, so I bought Sand every battle to remove the Focus Sash and hurt Talonflame as well. I know I bought Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Salamence, Rotom-W and Volcarona to these games, leaving Excadrill behind each time. I distinctly remember how I was concerned with his well built team, and I feared a Heat Wave Zapdos. Fortunately, after the second game he had revealed all his moves and I knew he did not carry Heat Wave. This made Ferrothorn’s match up brilliant, bar the Talonflame. The first game he had his -1 Talonflame crit my Salamence on a switch which he had jokingly predicted. This set me back a bit, and I lost Game 1. He revealed Power-Up Punch in the second or third game, and I fixed that by intimidating his Kangaskhan and going on the offensive. As I predicted, he would not Sucker Punch. The battles were close, and Tyranitar did a lot of work in this set. I won after Tyranitar knocked out his last two Pokemon, sealing up a 7-1 record. (7-1)

Round 9 vs Matthew Roe

Little did I know, this opponent would be the Champion of Australian Nationals. His Sand team, my second Sand mirror of the tournament, concerned me, as Volcarona had a bad matchup. Interestingly, he brought Excadrill all three games, while I never brought Excadrill to battle. Matt liked to double Protect in both of our games so he could learn crucial information about my team. He ran a mixed Salamence, unlike my fully special Salamence, and I was worried about my Salamence being KO’d by his Draco Meteor when he both lead with Salamence in our second game. Thunder Wave Rotom-W did immense work in this game, but in the end I could not hold back his offense and lost, ending Swiss with a record of 7-2. I was convinced I would not cut, but when the results were posted I had made 9th in Swiss and would proceed to the Top Cut on the next day. (7-2)

Top Cut

This was the day that would decide how far I would go. I was ecstatic to get this far and I was contempt from what I had achieved. But did not mean I wanted to go home any time sooner, so we were paired with our Top 16 opponents.

Top 16 vs Alexander Poole

Alex had made top cut as well, and it was really cool to meet him. He was a super swell guy and we had a good talk before we started. However, I was scared after seeing Team Preview. His team was made of Rocky Helmet Amoonguss, Thundurus-I, Chople Berry Heatran, Chesto Rest Cresselia, Mega Kangaskhan, and Physical Sitrus Berry Swampert. He had a Trick Room Heatran as well, which was unnerving. This set went to three matches, and my notes show that he did not bring Kangaskhan to at least one game. His Heatran was presumed to have a Timid nature, as it out sped my Volcarona, and he ran Overheat as his Fire-Type move. This allowed me to get back into one of our games, as it meant I could make some plays with my Ferrothorn if the choice had to be made. The last few turns of game 3 were crazy, and I got so hyped from it. He had used his Chesto Berry already in the game, and he had just used Rest again when Cresselia was at low health. At this moment, I had Tyranitar at about 40% in the back, with a low health Rotom-W and full health Salamence. I took out his Cresselia’s partner, and we were left at a Pokemon count of 3-2. His Cresselia had Ice Beam, but I knew it would not KO Salamence as he had used it in the last game and it had failed to do so. However, he got a Critical Hit and my Mega went down. I was worried at this point, but I brought back in Tyranitar. I cleaned up with a Crunch and a Thunderbolt from Rotom-W, and I had now reached the Top 8.

Top 8 vs Lionel Pryce

This was the closing match of this wonderful event. My opponent and I were about to battle when we found out Phil and his opponent had American cartridges and the stream was incompatible with them, or something along those lines. As a result, our battle was to be streamed for all who were watching. His team was composed of Mega Kangaskhan, Sitrus Zapdos, Scarf Landorus-T, Life Orb Heatran, Assault Vest Suicune and Rocky Helmet Amoonguss. The first game, I led with Salamence and Rotom-W against his Landorus-T and Suicune. His Intimidate went before mine, which revealed the Choice Scarf. I thought he would Tailwind and Rock Slide the first turn, so I switched Salamence into Tyranitar to gain momentum over his Pokemon. He ended up switching his Landous-T out into Zapdos, which instantly made me afraid what it might do. I assumed Tailwind, which made me question Suicune’s role in his team make up. However, as he explained later, he brought it in to take what he assumed was an attack on his Landorus-T slot. His Suicune went for the Snarl, indicating he knew my Salamence was special and hurting my Rotom-W’s offensive pressure. I then went for the Thunder Wave on his Suicune, as it would cripple his Speed even if he had Tailwind up. I swap Rotom-W out to reset the stat drops and make a hard prediction on what he would do. Since his Suicune would not be doing anything well under Tailwind, I decided he would switch in his Landorus-T in that slot to Intimidate my Tyranitar. I Ice Punched the slot and did a good 80% to his Landorus-T switch. Unfortunately, I made some mistakes later on, and all I can do is try to get more information. I protected a few times and knocked out his Landorus-T to find out that his last Pokemon was Heatran and that he had chosen not to bring his Kangaskhan. This concerned me, as I brought my Volcarona for that very reason. The next game I chose Ferrothorn over Volcarona. I did make some good plays, but the inaccuracy of Power Whip and a Critical Hit on my Rotom-W left me behind a bit, and I made a mistake in not giving myself a chance to win by Rock Sliding. I forfeited when I realized I had no chance, as I had no issues conceding to a better opponent. He was an excellent player and he made Top 4, something he should be proud of!

I found a link for our streamed battle on DYoshiiTV‘s YouTube channel. The details will be more clear here.

Overall Experience And Closing Moments

The overall trip was incredible, and inspired me to shoot for Worlds next season. I will attend all local PC’s, if possible, and a Regional or two depending on a few factors. I made some amazing friends, and it gave me something to add to my VGC resume. I hope you enjoyed the report!

I would like to credit Sam Pandelis (ZeldaVGC), as he gave me self confidence going into the tournament, something I lacked as a player. He is a very good VGC player, and I hope he does well in future seasons.

I want to thank Thowra, as they made the amazing art to go with my report.

I also want to thank Joshua Spriggins (Nido), as he helped fix up an error with a spread of mine.

About the Author

FloristtheBudew Hi there. My name is Brendan Webb, over wise known as FloristtheBudew. My hobbies range from Pokemon battling in the VGC format, drawing digital art and living on the Nugget Bridge Forum. I decided to no longer continue my engineering degree, with myself pondering my career and what to pursue. For the time being I will just under take adult education courses until something catches my fancy.

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