Reports

Published on March 3rd, 2015 | by KellsterCartier

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Shaping the Metagross: A 2015 European VGC Regionals Runner Up Report

Hi there! Welcome to my brain. My name is Kelly, also known as KellsterCartier on Twitter and NuggetBridge, and I’ll be your host for today. You might know me as that guy who made Worlds in 2014 from Ireland, but who turned out to be some lousy Canadian who just lives there. On the 7th of February, Europe had its very first VGC Regionals. It came to a big shock to me when I first heard of it. And when I later learned that it would likely be the only of its kind this year, I was torn. On one side, a Regional! More Championship Points, more reason to travel, and more Pokemon to play. But then again, as the only one, I was concerned that if I messed up in this tournament, or if I couldn’t get the time off work, I could be at a serious deficit for precious points. Luckily for me, attending was no trouble. Looking forward to the tournament, I started working harder on my VGC 15 team. I brought it to two Premier Challenges and won both, so feeling confident in my ability to play, I flew to The Netherlands. This is my story.

Building The Team

The first team concept I wanted to try was Rain. Immediately, I thought of Metagross to go on a Rain team, and saw that Hydreigon and Landorus could complete the core. The first iteration looked like this:

Not particularly loving the coverage Rain gave me, I decided to swap out the Rain mode, and put in a second Mega. It didn’t synergize too well, but was doing better than Rain.

Not good enough. I wasn’t winning consistently. Talonflame seemed like more of a liability on this team than anything. I needed to change. Luckily, time was on my side before the first VGC15 Premier Challenge. I had a few more weeks left. I took the team back to the drawing board, bringing in my favourite elements from both iterations of the team. After another week or so on Showdown, I finally came up with this.

The Final Team

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Bullet Punch
– Zen Headbutt
– Ice Punch
– Protect

In my opinion, Mega Metagross is one of the best new Mega Evolutions in the game. Every one of its stats is fantastic. Base 145 Attack in combination with Tough Claws means that it will be dishing out lots of pain. Base 110 Speed means that with maximum investment, I can outspeed Terrakion, Adamant Mega Salamence, Garchomp, Mega Kangaskhan, and many more metagame threats. Finally, its natural heavy bulk means that I can invest my EVs offensively and still expect to be able to take a hit or two. I decided that it would be best to maximize Speed, and then to try to do as much damage as possible.

Aside from the stats, Meta Metagross has a few other perks. Clear Body in its normal form means I can safely lead with Metagross against the threat of Intimidate, or even switch it into a predicted Icy Wind. Metagross’ movepool gave me options as well. With all the genies and dragons running around, Ice Punch provided some great coverage. Zen Headbutt was there when I needed to dish out big damage on something. Unless Amoongus is Bold or somewhat heavily invested in Defense, chances are Metagross can OHKO it. Bullet Punch was needed to dodge opposing Sucker Punches. Nothing is more satisfying than Bullet Punching Kangaskhan to get some damage off, and then watching Sucker Punch fail. Unsurprisingly, I brought Mega Metagross to every single one of my matches.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
– Dark Pulse
– Protect
– Fire Blast
– Draco Meteor

Hydreigon and Metagross are like bread and butter, or Ash and Pikachu! Hydreigon covers almost all of Metagross’ weaknesses, and vice versa. Funnily enough, I had Aegislash in this slot for the longest time, but once I decided to use Hydreigon, my team’s core really felt complete. Again, my EV spread is really simple. Honestly, it could probably be improved, but this spread allowed me to deal a lot of damage to just about anything that Metagross couldn’t deal with. I ran Choice Specs initially, but with the rise of Tailwind and Trick Room, I felt like having the option to stall turns was important, especially after losing to a Trick Room team at a Premier Challenge. I really like Hydreigon, and I think it was a great fit here.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– Knock Off
– U-turn

Landorus is a really great Pokemon all around. There’s a reason its consistently among the top three Pokemon on Battle Spot. I wanted something on my team to deal with fast but frail threats such as Greninja, so Choice Scarf Landorus was my pick. Intimidate is really nice to surpress enemy physical attackers, although I do need to watch out for Bisharp. The EVs are spread out in such a way that Landorus can survive a -1 Adamant Mamoswine Ice Shard 100% of the time, outspeed Timid max Speed Greninja by one point, and still maximize damage output. The moveset is pretty standard, but it works. There wasn’t really a time in the tournament where I felt I needed another move to win. If I could change one thing, though, I’d invest a bit more in Defense in order to survive a Life Orb +1 Bisharp Sucker Punch 100% of the time. Landorus did its job on the team really well.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 116 HP / 140 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Quick Guard
– Protect

What’s the best way to deal with Charizard or Kangaskhan? Outspeed them and hit them with a Super Effective attack! Terrakion is such a clutch Pokemon at all the right times. Being fast meant flinches could possibly help out games over the edge. I decided to run a bit of bulk on Terrakion, but to be completely honest, I can’t remember why I did so. This spread does still manage to get important KOs. Lum Berry allowed me to avoid Burn, Paralysis, and Sleep, which all make Terrakion ineffective. I originally ran Helping Hand over Quick Guard, and honestly I completely forgot I’d made the change the whole way through the tournament. I don’t think I ever used Quick Guard, even though in many situations it would have been the correct play.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 128 SpD / 28 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Thunderbolt
– Protect
– Taunt

Thundurus is so good. It’s so, so, so good. I can’t stress enough how important this Pokemon was to my run at Regionals as well as the Premier Challenges I brought this team to. Paralysis is by far my favourite means of Speed control. It makes Tailwind and Icy Wind useless, and it allows me to get that extra boost of momentum in a game when full Paralysis activates. It’s probably a good thing that two different types are immune to Thunder Wave, but regardless, it puts me into situations where I could outspeed entire teams. I chose to run a really bulky Thundurus EV spread in order to Paralyze as many of my opponent’s Pokémon as possible. I chose Protect because I assumed that Thundurus would be double targeted by teams that couldn’t handle it well, and Protect could help Thundurus stay on the field longer while its partner would be free to attack. The downside of this Thundurus is that it’s 100% walled by Ground types. In retrospect, Hidden Power Ice would have been a nice choice of move.

Lapras @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 228 HP / 124 Def / 156 SpA
Calm Nature
– Ice Shard
– Hydro Pump
– Freeze-Dry
– Protect

Lapras is my Rain counter and my answer to other common Pokémon. I didn’t end up seeing any Rain, thankfully, because I’m unsure if Lapras was enough to deal with it. This Lapras set hit many threats with STAB-boosted Super Effective damage. Heatran, Landorus, Thundurus, Rotom-W, Ludicolo, Politoed, Kingdra, Swampert, Gyarados, and Terrakion are just a few of the Pokémon that can’t really switch into Lapras safely. I felt as though Assault Vest Lapras’ damage output was lacking, and that Lapras often survived attacks without it. I decided to rework my EVs to do more damage while still maintaining bulk, and added Weakness Policy for more offensive pressure. I wish I could remember the exact reason I settled on this EV spread, but I just can’t recall. Overall, I think Lapras ended up being a great niche addition to my team.

Often in team building, we talk of team goals, or what your team should be trying to do to win. My team goal was fairly simple: put on strong offensive pressure from the start, and keep it up until I win. My powerful and fast Pokemon made it difficult for opponents to switch without taking significant damage. The natural bulk on most of my Pokemon would then help my switching game, letting me keep up momentum and pressure. I know this metagame is supposed to be shaping up to be more defensive, but I felt like going for strong offense was a successful strategy. Now, let’s go through the tournament!

The Tournament

Prior to the tournament, I brought this team to two separate Premier Challenges, and with a bit of luck, won both of them. This gave me an opportunity to see how I could do in both the Swiss and best of three formats. I figured out my team’s strengths and weaknesses, and adjusted the team accordingly. Feeling confident after two PC wins, I set off to Arnhem with my friend Jono. On the day of the tournament I was very nervous, and felt intimidated by all the big name players in attendence. However, I was determined to prove that I could play among them, and that my top four finish in Manchester last year wasn’t a fluke. On to round one.

Round 1 vs Peer Broxtermann (Bjart)

He brought:

I brought:

Ready. Set. Go! We both led with Landorus; I paired it with Metagross, he with Blaziken. During the match, he expected me to switch out Metagross. I eventually KOed the Blaziken with it, and then his Ludicolo with a +2 Freeze Dry from Lapras. Lapras came in clutch again with another Freeze Dry KO, this time on Landorus. His own Mega Metagross took out Lapras, but the game was all sealed up by my Hydreigon and Landorus. I’m 1-0.

Round 2 vs Leander Aggelidaktis

He brought:

I brought:

This game was really done in two parts. I started off by Taunting Breloom to prevent Spore from affecting my Pokemon, but surprisingly Thundurus took a Technician-boosted Rock Tomb while Landorus was Faked Out. I managed to catch Greninja on the switch with a strong Earthquake while bringing Raichu to its Focus Sash. I was very scared of Greninja, and was relieved to KO it shortly after thanks to my Choice Scarf. Breloom came back in and started spreading Spore everywhere. His Terrakion then managed to KO Thundurus and Metagross, but not before my opponent lost his Breloom and Raichu to Bullet Punch. I got the final KO with a Life Orb boosted Draco Meteor. Nice! I’m 2-0.

Round 3 vs Laurin Arz (Lohgock)

He brought:

I brought:

Three matches in, and already another Blaziken. When I saw the Team Preview, I saw that Lapras hit almost every Pokémon on my opponent’s team for super effective damage. With any luck, Amoonguss would activate Weakness Policy. I also noticed that I could freely Paralyze his whole team if I wanted. That’s what ended up happening, as I got Thunder Wave off early against Salamence, and then avoided Rock Slide with both of my Pokémon. Metagross took out Salamence quickly. After my opponent’s Suicune got fully Paralyzed and Blaziken was KOed, the match was pretty much over. I won and I was 3-0. Excellent start!

Round 4 vs Tim Huessen (Huessen147)

He brought:

I brought:

I felt very nervous when Team Preview came up. Aegislash and Sylveon are two threats I tend to struggle against. Backed up by Mega Kangaskhan, I knew I was going to have to play really well, or at least get lucky at key moments. Guess which one happened? My Hydreigon barely survived a Return, from his Kangaskhan, and as a result gets a Dark Pulse off on Aegislash… which then flinches. That basically won me the game. With Metagross and Terrakion in reserve, I was able to clutch out the end game against Hydreigon and Sylveon. This win put me at 4-0. I was very excited at this point. I was two wins away from Top Cut!

Round 5 vs Eloy Hahn (Dragoran5)

He brought:

I brought:

Uh oh! I think this is what I brought, but I don’t remember. Eloy and I had faced off at Worlds last year, and he won convincingly. This game was no different, really. On the first turn I double Protected against his leads, and Charizard surprised me by setting up Tailwind. The game was over in three turns as he swept my whole team clean. Oh well, 4-1. I was disappointed that I didn’t put up a fight against a player as good as Eloy, but I knew Top Cut was still very possible. My resistance seemed to be high enough.

Round 6 vs Jip Snoek (Keonspy)

He brought:

I brought:

Before actually playing, I was really excited about this match. I got paired up with a 5-0 player, which would help my resistance. Jip’s team took me by surprise at Team Preview. I was worried because such an original team managed to go undefeated until now. I decided to play it safe. Metagross would be great in this matchup, Terrakion could put in work, Lapras again hit most of my opponent’s team Super Effectively, and Landorus could help out against Heliolisk. Facing his Amoonguss/Sceptile lead with Metagross was great for me, as I could try to knock out either of them. I decided to keep up the pressure with my leads, and before I knew it, I had won 4-0. Jip was a great sport, and I applaud him for cutting this tournament with such an interesting team. With that done, I was a single win away from making Top Cut! 5-1

Round 7 vs Peter Probst (Jira)

He brought:

I brought:

This was it: go big, or go home. This team was fairly standard, and I thought my matchup was good. Once again, Lapras could hit nearly everything on my opponent’s team for Super Effective damage. Go Lapras! I did decide to lead with Terrakion and Metagross, though, hoping to start off with strong offensive pressure again. After a few turns, that’s exactly what happened. Lapras caught Landorus on the switch with Freeze Dry, and Hydreigon took care of Metagross. A weakened Rotom fell against Draco Meteor, and then Ice Shard was enough to take out Salamence after it was weakened as well. I was really impressed by just how good Lapras and the rest of the team performed in Swiss, and now I was in Top Cut because of it! Final Swiss result was 6-1, and I was ranked 3rd overall!

Top Cut

After a dinner at Subway with some of the UK and Dutch players, I retreated back to the hotel to get a good night’s rest. I learned that I would be playing an Austrian named Noah, and that he was running three Steel types on his team. I thought about what I would do for a while, and content with my plan, I went to bed.

Top 8 vs Noah Fuchs (Kadoya)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

I settled on leading double genies. Aside from his Thundurus, I could spread Paralysis and hopefully deal some damage too. With Hydreigon, I could handle Aegislash. For my last Pokémon, I just picked Metagross, out of habit more than anything. My matchup was tough, but I went in with a plan. His leads were Mawile and Hydreigon. Great! Time to Paralyze the Hydreigon and just Earthquake right away. However, Hydreigon surprised me by setting up Tailwind! I switched out Landorus into Metagross in order to dodge the incoming Sucker Punch with Bullet Punch, and later knock out Mawile after the Tailwind subsided. With Mawile out of the way, Hydreigon could come in, and with Metagross could take care of the rest of his team. First round went to me, 1-0

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

Noah decided to lead with Mawile and Thundurus this time, and I decided to keep my solid genies. Landorus survived a Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus, and I got to Knock Off the opposing Thundurus’ Sitrus Berry. Swapping Landorus for Metagross, I tried to take down Thundurus with a Thunderbolt, but it hung on with a sliver of HP. I then Paralyzed the Mawile and Bullet Punched the Thundurus to avoid Sucker Punch and land a KO. Aegislash came out to replace Thundurus, so I decided to Taunt it before letting Thundurus go down to a Shadow Ball. From there, Landorus could simply Earthquake its way to victory. Noah, you battled well, and I hope to see you at other events!

Top 4! Ayyy! I was really proud to have made it this far. Even if I lost now, I’d be satisfied with my run, but at the same time, I wanted to go all the way.

Top 4 vs Christopher Arthur (Koryo)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

I was happy, yet nervous to be playing Chris. I didn’t know too much about his team. Upon seeing the Team Preview, I thought I had a team advantage. His team seemed susceptible to Thunder Wave spam. In addition, Terrakion and Hydreigon could deal with most of the threats he had. I decided to lead Terrakion and Thundurus, expecting the Charizard and Venusaur lead I saw in Team Preview. Instead, I was surprised to see Gengar and Terrakion. The Terrakion mirror match is really scary, but I decided I would risk the Speed tie in order to get the jump on Chris early, and I Paralyzed the unexpectedly mega-evolving Gengar to avoid Speed ties with Metagross later on. I did lose the Terrakion Speed tie, but Chris decided to go for a Rock Slide, knowing his Terrakion was carrying a Focus Sash. I won the Terrakion Speed tie on the next turn, as Rock Slide knocked out his Terrakion and got the flinch on the paralyzed Gengar. Cresselia came in, and I felt that Hydreigon could likely seal my victory if I conserved it well enough. Gengar swapped out for Bisharp, while I went for another Rock Slide and Thunderbolted the Bisharp. Cresselia’s Icy Wind knocked out Thundurus, letting me bring in Hydreigon, and I Protect it while taking out Bisharp with Terrakion. With just Gengar and Cresselia left, I knew Hydreigon and Metagross could clean it all up. I won my first Top 4 match.

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

I thought that my lead would be strong again. Thundurus gets momentum on anything he could want to lead with. Seeing Chris’ Charizard and Venusaur lead was good. I’d played this lead before on Battle Spot. Rock Slide and Thunder Wave was the key, and I try to execute that as turn one is wasted against a double Protect. I then Protected Terrakion from a Giga Drain or Solarbeam, and Paralyzed the Venusaur. Thundurus does go down to an Overheat, but this was a great situation to bring in Metagross. Charizard switched out for Bisharp as Venusaur Protected, and the turn was basically wasted on my end. My safest and best play at this point was to Zen Headbutt Venusaur and Close Combat Bisharp, and I play accordingly. Bisharp actually switches out for Terrakion, and as a result I knock out Venusaur and Terrakion gets reduced to one HP. Bullet Punch KOs his Terrakion, dodging a Sucker Punch, and I seal the game with a Close Combat on Bisharp. With only Charizard left to take care of, I had won the game, and made it to the finals of the first ever European VGC Regional tournament. I was eager to know who my opponent was, since the other Top 4 match was between Eloy, who had already destroyed me, and Baz Anderson, who would want redemption after our best of three set last year in Manchester. I really didn’t want to face either opponent.

Finals vs Barry Anderson (Baz Anderson)

Match 1

He brought:

I brought:

Nerves started to get to me here. I knew that Baz was not going to go easy on me at all, and the match was going to be streamed. There was a lot of pressure. I’m sure many of you have seen the stream, or Baz’s recap video once it is out, but I’ll try to give my perspective. I led Terrakion and Thundurus against Baz’s Liepard and Breloom. I made a huge mistake by double Protecting to avoid the Fake Out. Special thanks to Ben Kyriakou for slapping me repeatedly across the face afterwards for this play. Now, I knew Liepard had Encore, but I honestly forgot on that Baz was going to lock me in. Thundurus got locked into Protect, and I get a KO on Liepard asTerrakion goes down to Bullet Seed. I now had to play around a Breloom free to Spore anything Baz chose. We both bring our megas in and as we mega evolve, I switched out Thundurus because I didn’t think Breloom would Spore the basically useless slot. I Protect Metagross, and that turns out to be the wrong call, as Breloom Spored the Hydreigon I brought in. To make things worse, Scizor got a Swords Dance in for free. Facing down +2 Mega Scizor and Breloom, I decided to Ice Punch the Breloom, knowing that Metagross was going to nap afterwards. I also took a Knock Off. Breloom and Scizor knock out Hydreigon on the next turn before I could wake up and land a Fire Blast, and I lose Metagross to Mach Punch  on the turn after that. With just Thundurus left, I forfeited, going down 0-1.

Match 2

He brought:

I brought:

I felt as though I needed a much stronger start. I decided I would lead with Thundurus and Metagross, bait the Spore onto Thundurus, swap out Terrakion for the next turn, and have Metagross take two turns to take out Breloom. That didn’t go as planned. Baz decided to Spore my Metagross, but at least I got an Ice Punch off on Breloom. I then thought that Terrakion should Rock Slide to take out Breloom, and hopefully Metagross wouldn’t go down. Rock Slide did connect, but Foul Play easily knocked out Metagross. I then decided to bring Hydreigon in, but Baz brought out Terrakion, so I was kind of forced to swap out Hydreigon for Thundurus. Two turns later, my Terrakion was Encored into Rock Slide and his was protected by a Substitute. I did not forsee many ways in which I could win. Swagger confused Thundurus, and my Terrakion went down, but I at least managed to break the opposing Terrakion’s Substitute. Hydreigon comes back in, and I went for a Dark Pulse to take out the rest of Liepard’s health. A Thunderbolt from Thundurus would have helped a lot, but it hurt itself in confusion. Staring down Mega Scizor and Terrakion, I thought my chances of winning were all but gone. Baz assured me it wasn’t over. Thundurus was taken out by Scizor, though, and Terrakion set up a Substitute safely as Fire Blast easily knocked out Scizor. With Hydreigon standing alone against Terrakion, it was all but over. Good games to Baz! He played much better than I did, and fully deserves the win and the championship!

Closing Thoughts

I’m so happy I finished as well as I did. I accomplished two important goals: I got a lot of exclusive Championship Points to help me get back to Worlds this year, and I managed to prove to myself that my UK Nationals run last year wasn’t a fluke. Aside from the competition, I had such a great time in Arnhem. Everyone I met was really friendly. I hope that the rest of the VGC 15 season can be as kind to me as this tournament. I’m looking forward to the rest of the Irish Premier Challenges to come, as well as to Nationals! Hope to see you all there again. Before I sign off, I just want to give a few shoutouts.

• Team UK for letting me join the team. I loved hanging out with all of you that Sunday night. Let’s do it all again sometime soon.
• Jono for being my travel partner and hanging out all weekend long. It made the weekend that much more enjoyable.
• Rory for lending me legendaries with much better IVs than I had the patience to soft reset for. Sorry I ruined your EVs!
• The rest of the Irish VGC community for helping me toss around last minute ideas for my team, and for all the support you guys gave me. I hope to see us grow even more going forward.
• Jip for creating the banner image for this article. Isn’t is sweet?
• You! For reading my report! I hope that this was helpful to you! Should you have any questions, just ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to give a good answer.

About the Author

KellsterCartier Kelly is a Irish residing Canadian who has been playing VGC since 2013. He first attended a live event at UK nationals 2014, finishing amongst the top 4. Enjoying creating different teams with a mix of standard and niche Pokemon, Kelly works hard at keeping his Pokemon skill level up with the other top European players. Give him a Follow on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KellsterCartier

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