Reports

Published on October 7th, 2013 | by LPFan

11

Storming the LCQ: A Senior Worlds Report

Hello there. My name is Aaron Grubbs, and I’m here to combo report about how both my brother and I did at worlds. Many of you know my name around the forums and recognize me from the past, but you may not recognize my younger brother known as Sieg Balicula. This season I took an easy Regional win and Top Cut Nationals, while my brother took Top Four at a Regional and a lackluster 56^th place finish at Nationals, missing the bubble by one round. And now we both just recently did the grind through worlds LCQ into the main event, taking half the invites in a 34-man Last Chance Qualifier. My brother Mark Grubbs took 15^th place with a team we call “shadow hat” whilst I took 35^th place with my not so standard team!

The Team

On the trip back home from Nationals, my parents and I had talked of going to Worlds. Since this was my last year in the Senior division, Worlds was in an amazing venue, and we had a good amount of money raised from Regional stipends, my parents decided to take a trip to Vancouver. I was absolutely excited about the decision, but I knew I needed to bring a team to make it through the LCQ. I had turned to my good friends Reeseesee, Pokemaster649, and BlitzNburst who all helped me dive into good team building, allowing me to Top Cut Nationals and pick up my invite. Reesee had offered his Nationals team, which Top Cut the Master division this year at Nationals. I had tested it adequately, but the team ended up not fitting my play style. I was absolutely desperate for a team so I played Crow’s team that Kamz offered me after I had lost to it in a close game on the GBU. The team didn’t do me well in play testing, as it was a bit luck prone and didn’t fit my play style either. I had finally decided to go to the drawing board and build something out of a reliable core instead of begging for something already put together. My friend Reesee had mentioned a core that was reliable enough from his experience and I had some experience with it as well so I decided to put it to the test. With some good testing on the GBU and Pokemon Showdown, some inspiration for spreads from other team articles and help from my good friends, I was able to put together a solid team for Worlds. Unfortunately, the team was only able to help me grind through the LCQ, as you will see later in this article how I suffered the consequences in the main event. The team could have done much better if I was given more help, but the past is the past and I have to live and move on.

@ Dark Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
– Dark Pulse
– Protect
– Flamethrower
– Draco Meteor

Hydreigon was a great choice for this team, a Dragon Gem Draco Meteor can tear chunks off of monsters that can’t resist it. It was originally Dark Gem until I found out I needed more damage dealt rather than trying to fully counter common Cresselia which my team can handle easily with Scizor. Flamethrower outclassed both Earth Power and Fire Blast as I needed to abuse Sunny Day Cresselia in order to counter pesky Metagross. Hydreigon synergizes well with the whole team, and forms an excellent core with Scizor and Conkeldurr. I felt that the EVs were fine, I needed to balance out the Speed on this team despite having double priority.

@ Steel Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 220 HP / 20 Atk / 44 Def / 180 SDef / 44 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Bullet Punch
– Bug Bite
– Swords Dance
– Protect

Scizor was an excellent addition to the team in general. It forms an excellent core with Conkeldurr, I believe priority is a crucial thing in this metagame as the combo could hit most of the common Rock-Type Pokemon that run rampant at worlds such as Tyranitar, Rhyperior, and Rhydon. Swords Dance + Bug Bite was actually enough to take down common offensive Cresselia and still had a good chance to OHKO support Cresselia. This combo also still OHKOs Latios with Steel Gem after Swords Dance. He will also survive almost any non-Fire Special Attack including Rain boosted moves minus Water Gem/Life Orb Hydro Pumps at full health. The EVs were created with help from my friend Reeseesee. The EVs allowed this bug to take an Expert Belt Hidden Power Fire from Cresselia at green health, allowing him to hit back with Bug Bite.

This Scizor EV spread could have been changed, but the excellent testing had actually not discouraged me enough to change it, which I do regret in the end.

@ Life Orb
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 186 SDef
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Mach Punch
– Hammer Arm
– Ice Punch
– Detect

One of the most over-hyped Pokemon in the game, Conkeldurr definitely earns a spot on this team as it abuses Trick Room and is one of the best priority users in the game. This is a pretty standard Conkeldurr, I decided to use Scott’s EV spread from his nationals team report. I had the option to use Ice Punch or a Rock-Type move such as Stone Edge or Rock Slide, but I ended up keeping Scott’s set. I actually was utterly satisfied not changing it as I didn’t see any other Volcarona at worlds. Nothing much to say here, but I wish I had swapped Hammer Arm for Drain Punch and put Helping Hand onto something such as Cresselia, as Hammer Arm’s legendary 90% accuracy cost me a few games during the main event. Drain Punch would have also helped out with the Life Orb problems. Mach Punch is a staple and a must have, ridding the field of pesky Tyranitars, Mamoswines and Bisharps.

@ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 220 HP / 28 Def / 180 SAtk / 76 SDef / 6 Spd
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Sunny Day
– Psyshock
– Ice Beam
– Trick Room

Cresselia is definitely a great addition to the team, the EV spread was also taken from Scott’s nationals report. Instead of Helping Hand I tested Sunny Day, because my team had a huge gaping hole for Rain teams to break through and I wanted to force switches to allow for more opportunities in the Rain match up. Sunny day also abuses Volcarona’s bulk and acts like a Helping Hand for both Volcarona and Hydreigon by boosting their Fire-Type attacks. Helping Hand could have been squeezed onto this set, but I didn’t really think this team would have needed it because her partners already have a great amount of power to use. Psyshock and Ice Beam are for coverage and are pretty standard. Trick Room was there to support Conkeldurr and Scizor and to reverse Trick Room on pure Trick Room teams if I were to encounter them in the LCQ.

@ Lum Berry
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 228 HP / 92 Def / 20 SAtk / 148 SDef / 20 Spd
Calm Nature
– Overheat
– Bug Buzz
– Rage Powder
– Protect

Volcarona has been the guts of the team. The moth is very bulky, it can lure in Spores, Fire moves, etc. to help support other members of the team. Even though this moth doesn’t have much in the way of attacking capability, Overheat is amazing underneath Sun; it acts as a Fire Gem or Helping Hand, ripping holes in things that don’t resist it. Bug Buzz is always an honorable mention and a staple move on Volcarona, allowing to deal a decent percentage against Cresselia, Hydreigon, Latios, Latias, and whatever else it can hit effectively. The EVs allow Volcarona to tank Water-Type moves under the Sun, be slower than Breloom to abuse Trick Room, and tank Fighting moves from Conkeldurr which can actually hit hard with Iron Fist even if the moth can resist, perhaps hoping for the Flame Body burn.

@ Flying Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 40 HP / 48 Def / 128 SAtk / 104 SDef / 188 Spd
Modest Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Flying]
– Thunder Wave
– Substitute

Originally Landorus-T, I knew I needed some sort of speed control to balance off Cresselia’s Trick Room and another answer to Rain so I decided to go with Flash’s Worlds 2012 Thundurus. Substitute is there to waste Gems and to act as a barrier against other attacks. Thunderbolt and Hidden Power Flying provide good STAB coverage. A Flying Gem boosted Hidden Power Flying demolishes Conkeldurr and other popular Fighting-Type Pokemon used in this metagame.

LCQ: Road to the main event

(Bear with me on the battle previews, I actually didn’t have the resources to take notes so I have to rely on memory for this…)

Round 1: Bye

I was absolutely nervous right before the LCQ, I knew qualifying for the main event wasn’t going to be too easy. Thankfully, I received a round one bye to calm myself down along with a lot of the other players.

Round 2: vs ???

Couldn’t remember his name or all of his Pokemon, all I could remember was cleanly winning 4-0 while his Flygon kept on spamming Dig trying to get off damage on my Volcarona.

After that round I was at Top 16. I was very afraid of getting paired up against some of the more notable players, as I didn’t have much time to warm myself up for the LCQ, plus I didn’t have much last minute testing at home before I left due to Wi-Fi being down. My brother had advanced on as well, he had the same result as me in that he played a very unprepared and inexperienced team and won in an easy series.

Round 3: vs (CanadianMudkipz)

Looking up at the pairings, I was relieved to see my name paired up against someone I didn’t recognize. The only information I knew about my opponent is that he beat Top Eight Nationals contender MrFookie in the very first round and was one of the few players who didn’t get a bye first round. He was unfortunately on the TV screen in the previous round and was watched by myself and others so I had a big advantage knowing that he had somewhat a good team. I wished him good luck and have fun and he did the same. When we paired up, I saw on his trainer card that he was from Canada, so I asked him “Are you CanadianMudkipz?” He said yes, so I was in for a good fight.

This was a matchup to remember. It was a crucial round that clinched my chances of qualifying for Worlds.

Game 1:

vs

The game started out slowly, both of us scouting out Pokemon and playstyles. A few flinches worked against me, preventing from me setting up Trick Room.

This game was very much in my favor at first despite all of the flinches from air slash, until I made a disappointing misplay. I was in a great position until I over predicted his Protect as I switched. He ended up hitting me hard with Draco Meteor and fired off a free Spore, eventually winning him the game and leaving me at 0-1 for the set.

0-1

Before game two, I thought to myself that I’m not going to give up this easy. I didn’t want my Senior year to close up just yet, and I knew this team could beat that one very easily with good plays. I knew after playing game one that his Salamence had a Choice Scarf, so if I played my cards right, I would have the second game of the set easily.

Game 2:

vs

We both used the same exact setup from the previous game, though this time I decided to try and get rid of Rotom-W right away instead of playing mind games with Protect. It ended up working, bringing it down to yellow. Next turn I was able to switch out Thundurus safely for Conkeldurr and set up Trick Room. From there I was able to successfully predict, allowing Conkeldurr and Scizor to sweep up the competition.

1-1

I was happy to win game two, so far this had been a tough set for both sides. I decided to shake off the pressure and just play.

Game 3:

Vs

I continue to lead Thundurus/Cresselia in this set as I thought it was the only viable lead setup I could use. I couldn’t remember much about this battle, all I could remember was getting up Trick Room immediately and capitalizing from it, Scizor and Conkeldurr dominate once again winning me the match.

After round three, I was at Top Eight!

Round 4: vs (???)

This match went by quick, I knew I my team could beat his easily so a Hydreigon/Cresselia lead was the best thing to go with. All I could remember was a lot of Protects and switches made on both sides to gain the best field advantage, but Trick Room allowed me to easily beat this and he struggled to outplay me.

After the win I was absolutely excited! I’m going to play in Worlds!

I watched my brother. He unfortunately got paired up against notable player KobraTail, who has been invited to Worlds twice already on top of having a UK National Champion title under his belt. I was biting my teeth for him to qualify as this would make up for his bubble at 2010 US Nationals. After seeing a disappointed face on his opponent, I jumped with excitement, though he later told me that the battle was luck based. Despite that, we had taken half the invites for Worlds and we were both going to play in it! I knew from this moment I actually had a shot for the title, but I was really nervous because I didn’t expect to make it through.

The Main Event

Round 1 vs Abram Burrows (Abman261) [US]

I got paired up against 2012 Junior World Champion Abram Burrows. From looking at his past performances and even though he won only a Juniors competition, he was no player to underestimate. His team basically looked really aggressive Rain, and I knew I was in for a fight.

Games one and two: I couldn’t account for the whole set, but I won with a great amount of luck and he made a misplay that lost him the win. A bit of prediction was involved on both sides as well, but a double critical hit in game two gave me the win.

2-0 Win

Round 2 vs Ben Hickey (darkpenguin67) [US]

I was happy to start off well, but this matchup was a tough one. Ben has been familiar to me since 2010, he had played up until now and he has always been a threat in my book when it came to the Junior/Senior field.

Games one and two: He takes the set with a combination of surprises and my misplays. Game one was a close game, finshing at 0-1 due to me making a huge misplay and him carrying Fire Punch on Rhyperior. Game two was also a good set, however my team had failed to bounce back. If I had a standard 252 Attack Scizor I may have had a better chance to win the game but I forgot about it at the time.

0-2 Loss

Round 3 vs Luca Breitling-Pause (sewadle) [DE]

I knew after that round I needed to stop fooling around and play. I knew 1-1 wouldn’t crush my hopes and I still had a good chance to make Top Cut.

Game one: This game was a bit luck based but I felt it was a legit win, he brought a good enough pick to wear down my Conkeldurr and Scizor with the Hitmontop/Landorus-T combo, however my bulky Scizor was great for this.

Games two and three: This is where I misplayed. I found out my team was actually weak to the Cresselia/Landorus-T/Tyranitar core after game one so I needed to play carefully, however I over-thought costing me both games. In game three I went in for a gamble, I tried burning both Tyranitar and Landorus-T with Rage Powder Volcarona. Volcarona only managed to burn Landorus-T, leaving Cresselia weak to Tyranitar.

1-2 Loss

Round 4 vs Tyler Allen (Elite4Allen) [US]

Games one and two: I couldn’t account for game one, all I could remember was feeling hopeless playing against a Choice Band Metagross and misplaying. Game two was based on prediction, Scizor and Gastrodon were the last two Pokemon on the battlefield, and I picked Swords Dance while he Recovered predicting a Bug Bite to give me the easy win.

Game three: This game was pretty much my fault, I didn’t read the team well. I bring the wrong Pokemon as he brings the right Pokemon. Infernape was the MVP for his team that game, destroying my chances of making Top Cut.

1-2 Loss

Round 5 vs Daniel Cardenas (KermitTheFrog14) [US]

Game 1: I couldn’t account for this game, all I could remember was his spamming helping hand while I proceeded to take things out giving me the game.

Games 2-3: I could only remember making gambles and misplaying both games.

1-2 Loss

Round 6 vs Seung Heon Sah [KR]

Game one: I cannot account for this, the game actually went really well for me until a crucial Hammer Arm miss cost me the win.

Game two: Hazy on the details for this game, but prediction played a large role.

Game three: I made a bad read again losing this one in a close match. Again, could not account for this…

1-2 Loss

My Final Thoughts

I had played one Rain team, one unprepared team, one Sand team and six different variants of goodstuff the whole weekend, and I won 50% of my matches that weekend including the bye. After losing five rounds in a row in some good 1-2 matches, I felt really bad and felt that I could have done better overall. But after the day concluded I thought that I shouldn’t let my bad plays bother me, at least I made it to Worlds and that’s what matters most. After three years of failure at Nationals in this division, I was able to make it to Worlds LCQ and grind my way into the actual event, and I should feel honored. Even though I had already competed in Worlds before back in 2010 as a Junior, I feel that this was my first Worlds due to the skill growth of the game. The game will continue to grow tougher every year and I have to be ready for it because life is going to be harder in the Masters division, where all the fun will be.

My Brother’s Weekend

My brother had accomplished a better feat over the course of the weekend than me. In the LCQ, he had lucked his way through the odds of making Top Four by beating KobraTail, earning him an invite to Worlds. He was able to do well in the main event. Even though he had gone 3-3, he had a huge resistance due to his tough schedule, netting him a 15th place finish, earning him two nice booster boxes. Notable players he lost to include World Champion Enigne, Top Eight finalist woopahking123, and Senior Division veteran MrFox, all of which he had finished 1-2 against. I’m not going to go into a full analysis over his matches due to his poor memory, but I will cover his luck oriented team that I had constructed for him that had previously been used at Nationals in a simple analysis.

The Team

@ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 46 HP / 224 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Energy Ball
– Ice Beam
– Psyshock

An all-out attacking Cresselia, it was one of the core members of the team. It was an asset to wiping out threats that would harm this team, and it wasn’t Taunt bait so it was able to pull off more damage than any other standard Cresselia can. 240 Speed EVs put it at three points fast than standard Breloom, enabling it to pull off the knock outs on those pesky things as well as pull off a guaranteed 3KO on Conkeldurr with Psyshock. Hidden Power Fire was a staple and a must need to OHKO standard Scizor, as well as hit Metagross and other common steel-types. Energy ball was an excellent choice, it help out Amoonguss a little bit more for the purpose of getting rid of Rotom-W, which this team can be weak to. Ice beam allowed this Cresselia to hit genies right away, harder than the sometimes preferred Icy Wind.

@ Focus Sash
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def / 4 SDef / 108 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Sucker Punch
– Night Slash
– Low Kick
– Protect

Once a Bright Powder Sableye, Bisharp has been an excellent addition to this team, being able to bring down common Cresselia, Tyranitar and Latios. Sableye did also fit pretty well in this core, but the Will-O-Wisp misses were very painful against the Sand matchup for him, especially at Nationals. The EVs were pretty last minute, they allowed Bisharp to have a little bit of bulk even though it has Focus Sash already. Low Kick has overall been a more popular and much better choice then Iron Head allow it to hit opposing Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Excadrill. Night Slash and Sucker Punch are the best STAB moves that Bisharp can have, hitting anything that doesn’t with decent amount of damage.

@ Leftovers
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 202 HP / 6 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Substitute
– Protect
– Rock Slide
– Earthquake

Garchomp, the main karma monster on board! This is a bulky Garchomp that is best paired with Gyarados’ Intimidate. Substitute + Protect was a solid choice for to make good use of his bulk along with Leftovers, allowing it to become much more of a nuisance with its ability and allowing for more survivability. Rock Slide and Earthquake allow it to hit many things and perhaps get more flinches. I know many people dislike Garchomp and it still is despised in this format but if it’s available to players, it’s going to see some use.

@ Choice Band
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 92 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SDef / 204 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Aqua Tail
– Ice Fang
– Stone Edge
– Earthquake

Choice band Gyarados is another staple and an asset to the team. The EVs allow it to be both a bit bulky and offensive while abusing it’s important ability. Aqua Tail was irrelevant and was supposed to be changed to Waterfall, but apparently we forgot to do that. Aqua Tail did pushed the damage a little further however, allowing it to get guaranteed OHKOs that Waterfall could not. Ice Fang was excellent addition to this luck based team along with Stone Edge. Earthquake was a decent choice to hit Metagross and other Steel Types.

@ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Ice Punch
– Low Kick

Very standard Choice Scarf Tyranitar and another vital asset to the team despite the amount of Breloom and Conkeldurr running around. Rock Slide was superior choice over Stone Edge as it could pull off flinches and hit two Pokemon at once. Crunch and Low Kick are important, allowing it to cover common threats like Cresselia, Tyranitar, and Bisharp. Ice Punch hits Landorus-Therian for either a OHKO or a 2HKO depending on the circumstances.

@ Lum Berry
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 SDef
Sassy Nature
– Spore
– Giga Drain
– Rage Powder
– Protect

The final member of the team, Amoonguss. The EVs were pretty last minute, it was able to take any non-boosted Special Attacks that aren’t super effective with a Sassy Nature. Regenerator is an amazing ability and ever since it was released it has made Amoonguss a popular choice. Spore and Rage Powder are the main support for the team, allowing Amoonguss to assist his more offensive team members. Giga Drain allowed it to restore its bulk and hurt Gastrodon in addition to other Water or Ground types. Lum Berry was a must in order to counter Breloom, it was once Mental Herb but Lum Berry proved to be better.

Conclusion

Worlds was amazing this year, TPCI really outdid themselves. Vancouver was an amazing venue, very diverse and beautiful city and it definitely attracted many across the globe, making worlds very big in attendance. I had a great time just road tripping up there and I hope you guys who attended had a blast as well, it was great to just be there and the experience has been much better than the last time I was able to attend. Even though I didn’t do so well I was still able to root for some of my boys and root for those who made it far, they really deserved it from all the hard work and dedication.

Article image created for Nugget Bridge by ryuzaki. See more of ryuzaki’s artwork on deviantART.

About the Author

LPFan Playing VGC since 2009, Aaron Grubbs is a seasonal player who is mainly up and down. Ever since he took a disqualification in 2009, he never looked back. He has had many accomplishments in the junior and senior categories including an excellent 7th place finish at the 2010 Pokemon World Championships, top cut USA nationals in 2010, 2012, 2013, two regional wins, and two worlds invites. He is finally in the masters division and is trying to earn his third invite to be one of those guys with a worlds invite in all three age divisions.

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