Reports

Published on August 27th, 2014 | by pyromaniac720

10

The Story of a Squid: A Top 16 LCQ Report

Hey everyone. My name is Stephen Brown III but I go by pyromaniac720 on here, Pokémon Showdown, and Twitter. This team was what I used at the Last Chance Qualifier for the 2014 Pokémon World Championships to reach the top 16 before losing to Blake Hopper. The team took me a while to figure out. I originally ran two megas, Mega Charizard X and Venusaur to bluff sun and to counter rai,n but I hardly used Venusaur so I switched to a core that I really liked — Mega Charizard X, Meowstic, and Rotom-W. I was using Dragonite and Lucario for a while with those three plus Venusaur and it worked for a while but it just wasn’t what I wanted. I ended up testing Scarf Gallade but it was way too frail and easily destroyed by Talonflame. I eventually found Scarf Gardevoir and loved it, meaning I needed two more. After tons of testing, I found Malamar and instantly fell in love. For the last spot, I wanted to have something to counter rain. I tested Ferrothorn, Assault Vest Ferrothorn, Ludicolo, Amoongus, Dragalgae, and a few others that I can’t remember. Eventually, I made a decision that I wouldn’t see too much rain at LCQ (I saw none) and decided that I wanted a Steel type for Rock Slide switch ins, for which I chose Aegislash. Also, huge shoutout to my girlfriend Kaela for drawing me the Malamar illustration for this article. Now on to the team.

The Team

Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 156 Spe
IVs: 27 HP
Adamant Nature
– Flare Blitz
– Dragon Claw
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

Charizard is my mega of choice but it’s not the more popular Y variant. I fell in love with X once Game Freak released it. Charizard was always my second favorite Pokemon (behind Dragonite) and Fire and Dragon are my first and second favorite types respectively. I’ve used Mega Charizard X on every serious non-Trick Room team that I’ve made since December. The spread and moves are pretty basic. The speed allows it to outspeed max speed Smeargle by 1 point and after a Dragon Dance, can outspeed max Speed base 135s. I had tested another spread with only 172 Attack which still allowed me to OHKO Mega Mawile at -1, but in the end I decided max Attack was best because it provides Charizard with so much raw power that it’s able to OHKO so much of the metagame — especially at +1. The reason for the 27 HP IV is because I bred for a shiny Charmander and it was perfect in only 4 IVs.

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 100 SpA / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hydro Pump
– Thunderbolt
– Volt Switch
– Hidden Power [Ice]

I always preferred Wash over any of the other Rotom formes because Hydro Pump, unlike Overheat and Leaf Storm, doesn’t have that annoying -2 Special Attack drop that may can force you to switch out even when you have an advantage. The spread accomplishes many things. It can survive a 252 Special Attack Timid Charizard Y Solar Beam and OHKO back with Thunderbolt. It also survives 252 Special Attack Modest Solar Beam 46% of the time. Thunderbolt OHKOs most Azumarill, some Politoeds, and does roughly 75% to Salamence. Hydro Pump is able to OHKO Mega Manectric 75% of the time. Hidden Power Ice can KO Salamence and Garchomp 100% of the time — even the 12/36 Garchomp. The defensive investment allows Rotom to survive an Adamant 252 Attack Mega Kangaskhan Return 100% of the time. Rotom was fantastic for me at Massachusetts Regionals and he was fantastic for me again here.

Meowstic (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Thunderbolt
– Thunder Wave
– Charm
– Quick Guard

I used to hate support Pokemon but Meowstic changed my mind. The support he provides is invaluable. Prankster Quick Guard blocks every Fake Out in the game and shuts down Prankster users, Sucker Punches, Talonflame’s Brave Bird, Azumarill’s Aqua Jet and any other priority attacks that may have otherwise KOed my weakened Pokemon. Thunder Wave is for speed control so that Charizard can come in take out anything that’s normally faster than it, like Mega Kangaskhan, Aerodactyl, Scarf Salamence, Hydreigon or Mega Tyranitar after a Dragon Dance. Charm was there to weaken physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan, Garchomp, and Mamoswine, which forced them to switch or be useless on the field. Charm was also amazing because I was able to sharply raise my Malamar’s attack with it. I opted to use Thunderbolt for an attack move because of the coverage it provides. It can hit Talonflame, Charizard Y, Gyarados, and Aerodactyl super effectively and hits tons of other popular Pokemon for neutral damage. I opted for a speedy Meowstic over a bulky one so that I could clean up anything low on health around base 100 Speed. I almost opted for 228 speed rather than 252. The 228 speed would’ve put Meowstic 1 point above all the base 100s. However, I decided that I wanted to at least speed tie with other Meowstic in case I needed to Thunder Wave quicker than a Safeguard. The only thing that sucks about Thunderbolt is that I can’t hit Garchomp, although that didn’t prove to be an issue at LCQ — only in practice sometimes.

Malamar @ Lum Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Superpower
– Night Slash
– Psycho Cut
– Protect

Now for my true MVP. Contrary to popular belief, this squid is quite powerful (haha, get it?). First off, Contrary reverses Intimidates which scares away Intimidate users and discourages opponents from Intimidate shuffling which can threaten Charizard. My favorite lead was Meowstic and Malamar (or as I called it, Meowlamar). Meowstic was able to slow down Malamar’s faster threats or Charm Malamar for a +2 Attack boost. At +2, I was able to OHKO Amoongus and Aegislash in shield form. Of course I could also spam Superpower and get the +1 attack and defense. If I was able to take out the special attackers on the opposing team, Malamar was given free reign to dominate. I went with Lum Berry because it protects Malamar from Spores and burns. The spread is super basic and needs no explanation. I brought Malamar to probably 10/14 games because people just didn’t have answers for it.

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 12 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
– Moonblast
– Psychic
– Taunt
– Thunderbolt

Scarf Gardevoir is the best Gardevoir. The 148 Speed EVs lets me outspeed max Speed base 110 Pokémon by 1 point while the defense and HP investment allows me to survive a Jolly Life Orb Talonflame’s Brave Bird or Flare Blitz and gives me a 50% chance to survive the same attacks from Adamant Life Orb Talonflame. Gardevoir was amazing because it took out Garchomp which threatened Charizard. Moonblast and Psychic are its primary STAB attacks, Thunderbolt is for coverage and Taunt is for any Smeargle that I may have faced (which I didn’t).

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 196 HP / 252 SpA / 60 SpD
Quiet Nature
– Flash Cannon
– Shadow Ball
– Sacred Sword
– King’s Shield

Rounding out the team is Aegislash. I needed a Steel type, I’ve always liked Aegislash, and it was a good fit for my team. The 196 HP EVs put me at 160 HP, which allowed for exactly 1/16 of my health to be recovered from Leftovers. Putting the remaining EVs in special defense gave me a 50% chance to survive Modest Specs Dark Pulse from Hydreigon. I originally ran Substitute but opted for Sacred Sword to hit Tyranitar, Kangaskhan and specially defensive tanks like Goodra or Assault Vest Ludicolo.

As much as I loved this team, I think one of its big flaws is that I don’t have many safe switches. There were times when I was forced to make a decision to just sacrifice a Pokemon rather than switching it out. That being said, I don’t switch too much with my playstyle. I like an all out offensive approach with hard hitting Pokemon. Putting my opponent under constant offensive pressure forces switches which allow me to rack up chip damage. Switching lets me see their whole team which allows Meowstic to paralyze them all, giving me a huge advantage. Meowstic spamming Charm on physical attackers also forces a lot of switches which in turn, gives my Charizard chances for a free Dragon Dance to outspeed and OHKO most of the metagame at +1 attack and speed.

The Battles

So unfortunately, my notes for the battles are pretty scarce. I mostly took notes of the Pokemon, Items, and Moves of my opponent. I’ll recap the best I can and highlight key points. My goal going into each bo3 was to not bring Charizard to game 1 if I didn’t need to. I wanted as few people to see Charizard as possible since I didn’t want people to know which Charizard I was using.

Round 1 vs Jun Tumaneng (Cypher)

In round 1, I played Cypher, but I wasn’t aware of this until after the round. I didn’t bring Charizard to Game 1 of this match. I remember it being close, I believe 1-0, but I don’t remember thinking that I was ever in too much danger of losing. In Game 2, I didn’t bring Charizard again and won handily 3-0. 

WON 2-0

Round 2 vs Miguel Vicencio (Dracoeye)

I don’t remember much about this set but my Game 1 against him was my favorite in the whole tournament. Eventually, it came down to my Rotom-W in yellow health and Malamar at +1 Attack in red health vs his Mega Mawile at around 60% health. I just double targeted as he sucker punched my Rotom for the KO. We both sat and waited to see if my Superpower would be enough for the KO. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as Mawile survived with about the same amount of health as Malamar had left. I knew he was going to Sucker Punch so I protected. He then Sucker Punched again as my protect failed. Then I protected a third time while his protect failed. Then, I decided to go for the Superpower. Expecting that I was going to try Protecting again, he went for Iron Head. Therefore, I outsped and won. Game 2 I won handily by a score of 4-1. Once again, I didn’t bring my Mega to either game. 

WON 2-0

Round 3 vs Alex Valente (avdc90)

I played Alex at Massachusett Spring Regional and he beat me in a close match where he outpredicted me in the end. Getting the opportunity to avenge my previous loss was nice. I don’t remember much about either of these matches. I do remember that at one point, I Charmed my own Aegislash to reduce Foul Play damage from Sableye, a move that I was kind of proud of since it’s something that I wouldn’t have thought of a few months ago. I didn’t bring Charizard to game 1, however I did bring it to game 2 and ended up not using it. So far, I was 3 sets in and hadn’t used my mega yet.

WON 2-0

Round 4 vs Justin Friedman (tennisace)

I remember pretty much nothing about this set. I won game 1 without Charizard but lost Game 2. I made a bad move in Game 2 where Charizard was my only Pokemon left against 3 of his and I mega evolved it. I should’ve just battled with it as a regular Charizard to hide which form it was. I ended up winning Game 3 with Charizard. I was a little worried that I finally lost a game but my victories were decisive so I still had confidence moving forward. 

WON 2-1

Round 5 vs Thomas Irwin

My opponent here had defeated Alaka last round. I lost Game 1 but was able to make some good adjustments and Malamar took over to get me the win. One thing that shocked me was when Thomas’ Zapdos was at roughly 55% health and survived a +1 Dragon Claw from Mega Charizard X. I did the calcs and it would’ve needed to be nearly max Defense and HP. 

WON 2-1

Round 6 vs Blake Hopper (Bopper)

I was really excited to play Blake in my top 16 match because I knew he was a top player. Game 1 I decided to not bring Charizard and I got manhandled 3-0. If you want to watch game 2, you can watch here. Otherwise, keep reading. Game 2, I decide to lead Aegislash and Malamar, anticipating that he’ll lead Amoongus and Tyranitar. He ended up leading those two. I anticipated that he’d Protect with Tyranitar with the Superpower threat from Malamar. I decided to double target Amoonguss with Psycho Cut and Shadow Ball. Sure enough, Tyranitar mega evolved and Protected but my double target left Amoongus with a sliver of health. He Spores Malamar who eats its Lum Berry while Amoongus faints to sand damage. A great turn for me that leaves me up 4-3. Ludicolo then comes in. The Fake Out is obvious so I protect Malamar. However, I feel like he might predict a King’s Shield and Protect which would give him a free Dragon Dance so I decide to take the risk and stay in Blade form and use Sacred Sword on Mega Tyranitar. However, Blake predicted this and Crunched my Aegislash, tying the score at 3-3. After a couple of turns, the game and my time in the LCQ comes down to his full health Salamence and Ludicolo with about 15% left vs my full health Rotom-W. If I didn’t have Choice Specs, I have the easy win because I can Thunderbolt Ludicolo and Hidden Power Ice Salamence. However, since I’ll be choice locked, I need to have Hidden Power KO Ludicolo and then Salamence. I know that Salamence is Scarfed because in the first match, its Intimidate activated before my Gardevoir’s Trace. Therefore, Dragon Pulse should be a 3HKO on Rotom, meaning I have a chance. I go for the Hidden Power on Ludicolo and it survives with 3 HP left. I asked Blake for his spread and did the calculation later to find out I would’ve had to have one of the lowest damage rolls to not KO Ludicolo in that situation, but that’s how it goes some times! Blake outplayed me and would go on to earn his much deserved invite to Worlds.

LOST 0-2

Conclusion

All in all, I had a great experience. I’ve come so far in the past few months. I went 4-4 at Massachusetts Regionals and now, four months later, I reached the top 16 at the Last Chance Qualifier. A special thanks to Twiddledee for training with me for the month before and giving me some great ideas. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have made it so far. This tournament was a great experience and gave me a lot of confidence going forward into Philly in October. I was especially happy that I was able to use Mega Charizard X, a Pokemon that in my opinion is incredibly underrated. It was also cool using an uncommon Pokemon like Malamar. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @pyromaniac720. Also, check out my YouTube channel here.

About the Author

pyromaniac720 I started reading up on competitive battling in 2013 after I couldn't beat Ray in the PWT. I became addicted to the competitive scene in Feb 2014 when I found showdown and Nugget Bridge

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