Reports

Published on May 13th, 2014 | by Lajo

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The Tree That Surprises Germany! A Top 8 National Report

Hello Nugget Bridge community! Lajo here, some may remember my name from my report from last year of the sun team that finished at Top 8 in Bochum. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to get the paid trip to worlds. Therefore, I will attend all 3 Nationals this year to hopefully get not only the invite, but the paid trip as well. So let’s see how things worked out in Bochum!

The Team

While thinking of a team at the start of this season, I realized that it was all about Dragons (especially Garchomp), Kangaskhan, and Rotom-Wash, while Talonflame was the go-to Fire-type. I had a look at the new Pokémon from generation 6 and realized that Trevenant actually walls the top 3 pretty hard, but that I would need Intimidate support to stand against Talonflame as well, so I made my first attempt of a Trick Room team built around Trevenant and Mawile. Scrafty fit in just perfect for me, not only because its my favorite Pokémon, but because of Intimidate, Fake Out and its typing, which already forms a solid core with Trevenant and Mawile, leaving only the Fire weakness exposed (while I also had two Flying-type weaknesses). I knew I had to deal with Talonflame, since its a very strong Pokémon against Trick Room, so I looked at Rotom-Heat. Rotom also made the team pretty bulky with another Will-O-Wisp and dealt with not only Talonflame, but Sun in general, as well as Bisharp. So the core was formed.

Next, I decided to give Gardevoir a go, since it also learns Trick Room and due to the heavily Fairy weakness some teams had. Additionaly, due to its Psychic-type, Gardevoir would also beat Amoonguss and Venusaur, two common resistances to switch in against Fairy Pokémon.  Gardevoir was amazing. I experimented a lot with the last slot, but these five worked pretty well already, so let’s have a closer look!

Tenroujima (Trevenant) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 244 HP / 84 Def / 180 SDef
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Trick Room
– Protect
– Shadow Claw
– Will-O-Wisp

• survives -1 Life Orb Brave Bird from Talonflame 100% of time
• survives Aegislash’s Shadow Ball 100% of the time, including sand damage
• survives Modest Choice Specs Salamence Fire Blast 15/16 times
• survives Modest Choice Specs Tyranitar Dark Pulse 100% of the time
• has a 37.5% chance of OHKOing 252 H/0 Def Aegislash-Blade

Trevenant was brought 3/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times in Top Cut.

Trevanant, the amazing wall. The first thing I liked a lot was its typing: while Grass-type allows me to safely set up Trick Room in face of Amoonguss and Venusaur, its Ghost-typing would counter Kangaskhan, helped in dealing with Perish trap teams, and gave me the very good Ghost STAB. While I also had a look on other Trick Room setters and its other half Gourgeist, the point that made me use Trevenant over Gourgeist was its option to run Protect. Thanks to Harvest, it is already hard to take down, so it does not need Leech Seed for recovery like Gourgeist does. You would probably not be surprised by how many players double target Trevenant turn one, giving me a free attack with Mawile or a free turn to switch something in while protecting the Tree. Protect also gives me many extra turns where Harvest may activate. Trevenant is a Trick Room setter that can win me games even if I’m down 1-3, and it’s able to set up Trick Room more than just once without taking meaningful damage. The moveset should be obvious, except for Shadow Claw. While Rotom-Wash and Tyranitar surely don’t like Grass STAB, what else can I hit it with? Pretty much nothing except Normal-types. But what can’t I hit? There is quite a lot of stuff: Talonflame, Rotom-Heat, Aegislash, Venusaur, Amoonguss, Mawile… With Ghost STAB I am able to strike back at Ghosts, Fire-types and Steel-types. The neutral damage on both Rotom-Wash and Rotom-Heat was also very useful, which will be shown with the next member of the team:

Yaya (Mawile) (F) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 1 Spd
– Play Rough
– Rock Slide
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Mawile was brought 7/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times during Top Cut.

Mawile, the powerhouse. You know how strong Mawile is already, and utilizing it under Trick Room makes it even more of a threat. The moveset is pretty standard for TR Mawile, I guess. I opted to use Rock Slide over Iron Head to have a strong way to deal with Fire-types, which would otherwise wall Mawile. While the EV spread is pretty straightforward, it only makes sense to use as much power as you can if you can utilize it well. While Ray surely is right that people are calcing for things to survive Mawile’s Play Rough and therefore investing in Attack is not always the best idea, in this team, where I can easily give some chip damage, it makes a lot of sense. Speaking of chip damage, this is the reason why my Mawile sits on a Speed stat of 55, one point above Trevenant. This way, I am able to hit with Shadow Claw under Trick Room first before firing off a strong Play Rough or Rock Slide, giving me a combination of attacks that KOs Rotom formes in one turn.

Of course, the team profits a lot from Mawile’s Intimidate and typing,  and I often started with it just to get an Intimidate off and switch in Scrafty immediately for a second, saving a third against teams that had a lot physical attackers like Kangaskhan or Talonflame. Still, I couldn’t bring Mawile in every game, just because my match-up against Sun is way better without Mawile. I also don’t think you need to bring your one Mega in every game: I won every single game where my opponents decided to bring Kangaskhan against me, and played a team with Kangaskhan in Top 8 as well. but I lost the set, and one reason certainly was that my opponent did not pick his Kangaskhan.

Raishin (Scrafty) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature
– Fake Out
– Drain Punch
– Crunch
– Taunt

– survives Timid 252satk Mega-Charizard-Y Overheat 100% of the time
– survives Timid 252satk Mega Lucario Aura Sphere 15/16 times
– survives -1 Choice Banded Talonflame Brave Bird 15/16 times
– OHKOs 252hp/4def Aegislash-Blade 100% of the time
– 2HKOs 4hp/4def Kangaskhan 100% of the time

Scrafty was brought 5/8 times during swiss and 1/5 times during Top Cut.

Scrafty, the glue of the team. It is just necessary to run Lum Berry on it, because I wouldn’t be able to set up Trick Room against Kangaskhan+Smeargle otherwise. If I see this duo, I just start with Mawile and Trevenant, and Protect with Trevenant while switching out Mawile to Scrafty turn one, so I can Fake Out the Smeargle and set up Trick Room pretty safely. Taunt was a late addition and once I tested it, I felt in love with it. Not only does it deal with Smeargle, it also gives me a better way to deal with Aegislash and Rotom’s Will-o-Wisp. Taunt also allows me to safely use Sucker Punch things with Mawile if they are in KO Range and can’t switch. Whenever I brought it, Scrafty did a great job. However, sometimes I needed my other members more, especially if I saw a way to set up Trick Room without Scrafty and if it wouldn’t hit more than one Pokémon on my opponent’s team super effectively.

Mr.Burns (Rotom-Heat) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 44 SAtk / 4 SDef / 156 Spd
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect

– survives Mega Kangaskhan Double Edge 14/16 times
– OHKOs Venusaur up to 164hp/4sdef 100% of the time
– outspeeds positive-natured Tyranitar by 2 points, speed creeping things that are EVed to outspeed Tyranitar by one point as well (most notably Gyarados)

Rotom-Heat was brought 7/8 times during swiss and 5/5 times during Top Cut.

I like my team as bulky and versatile as possible, which is why I opted for a bulky Leftovers set here. The moveset is fairly standard. I had an even faster spread before to outspeed max Speed Gyarados and jolly Bisharp, which gave my team quite a hard time, but it isn’t used that often, and I still have Trevenant and Mawile to deal with Gyarados and probably no one would run jolly Bisharp, so I saw no big problem here. Rotom was a great metagame call: it deals with the majority of threats to Trick Room, most notably Talonflame, Bisharp, Aegislash and Mawile, while also being very good against Charizard and Kangaskhan.

Eterna (Gardevoir) (M) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 180 SAtk / 20 SDef / 4Spd
Modest Nature
– Psychic
– Moonblast
– Trick Room
– Protect

– survives Life Orb Brave Bird from Adamant Talonflame 100% of the time
– survives 252satk Modest Aegislash Shadow Ball 100% of the time
– OHKOs 4hp/4sdef Garchomp 100% of the time
– OHKOs 4hp/4sdef Venusaur 100% of the time

Gardevoir was brought 5/8 times during Swiss and 0/5 times during Top Cut.

I love Gardevoir, it is such a good metagame call. Almost every team I faced had at least 2 weaknesses against Gardevoir, and sometimes even 4, which is why I picked it pretty often. Its Psychic+Fairy Coverage makes it just so good against teams that played Amoonguss and Dragons, and there were quite a lot of them. I opted to run Protect above any other options, because due to my testing it was (double) targetted pretty often.

I opted to run Safety Goggles Gardevoir to counter Amoonguss even harder and attack freely with Moonblast if I needed to. Even though I did only face 2 Amoonguss and either had Trevenant or my opponent did not pick it, due to my testing it was a very strong item, especially if I faced Mega Tyranitar teams.

The reason I used Modest was because I often was in situations where Trick Room wasn’t up and I could threaten things right from the start unless I am hit by two attacks. Good examples of this are Politoed+Kingdra or Tyranitar+Specs Gardevoir, where the Modest nature gave me at least the chance to do damage before Gardevoir would go down, since I am faster than at least one of the two Pokémon.

Also: SCREW GENDER. I bred a whole week for Gardevoir in every possible combination: Trace, Telepathy, Modest, Quiet. Then I got one with 0 Atk IVs — MALE.  I had a female one with 6 Atk IVs, but if you have it flawless, use it flawless. It also had that beautiful Dream Ball animation <3 Like I know a certain person who needs something green in his teams (on team preview, shiny doesn’t count!), I can’t stand Gardevoir to be MALE. Whatever, it worked and did a great job whenever I used it.

Lenessia (Goodra) (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sap Sipper
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 236 SAtk / 4 SDef / 12 Spd
Modest Nature
– Dragon Pulse
– Flamethrower
– Muddy Water
– Feint

– OHKOs 4hp Salamence 14/16 times
– outspeeds 4spd Chandelure

Goodra was brought 5/8 times during swiss and 4/5 times during Top Cut.

And here it is, the final addition of the team. I was trying out Politoed, Hydreigon and Salamence in this slot, but after testing Goodra I realized it was better for the team than the other three by far. It was more than just a filler like the other three. Goodra helped me deal with sun above all, but it was very strong in so many other match-ups as well. Goodra walls Aegislash, Chandelure and Rotom-Heat, which meant trouble to my team before, and you know how common Aegislash and Rotom are by now. Goodra’s role on the team is pretty simple: take special attacks and profit from the drawbacks they gave my opponent. I can’t tell you how many times Goodra took an Overheat from Charizard-Y that was aimed at Gardevoir and forced switch-outs just by its presence. Its special bulk is insane, and with Assault Vest, you would think super-effective hits like Ice Beam are not very effective at all. Another very important reason why Goodra worked so well was its ability, Sap Sipper. With Goodra, Trevenant and Gardevoir, my team is pretty much immune to Amoonguss, one of the best Trick Room counters. I lost not a single game where my opponent decided to bring Amoonguss, because it was just dead weight… but who wouldn’t bring it against Trick Room?

For the moveset, I opted to go with the useful Dragon-Fire coverage and added Muddy Water to deal with Chandelure as well as Rotom-Heat. For the last slot I found out Goodra learns Feint, a very useful move in Trick Room, since outstalling it is no longer possible with Protect (unless you are a Ghost). You may wonder why I opted to run max HP and not Defense. The reason was simply because it works as a special wall only, and stays on the field way longer with more HP. I also brought Goodra in way more situations where my opponent had only special attackers out, so the added capability to take more hits was much appreciated. The two Intimidators helped in dealing with Kangaskhan Returns, Talonflame Brave Birds, and Garchomp Dragon Claws, though.

Lead Combinations

Trevenant + Mawile

+

This was my go-to lead if I saw Kangaskhan. Starting things off with Scrafty wouldn’t be clever if you see a faster Fake Out user, right? But Scrafty was often in the back, to give even more Intimidate support and the option to Fake Out on turn two by switching Mawile out.

Gardevoir + Scrafty

+

One reason while I hated to lead Trevenant + Scrafty was its lack of offense presence. With Gardevoir, I could threaten things right from the start after Trick Room goes up. Bisharp+Aerodactyl is a good example of such a lead where I’d rather bring Gardevoir than Trevenant. If I saw a Sun Team without Fake Out, this would be my lead as well.

Goodra + Rotom-Heat

+

My strangest, but most surprising lead combination. If I saw a Trick Room team or something threatening that I’d be able to OHKO with a combination of Feint+Overheat, like Mega Lucario or Bisharp without Kangaskhan, I would lead these two.

Everything+Everything

The team works very well as a whole, every Pokémon helps in a way. I think due to my testing, I tried out every possible combination of four Pokémon. Of course some work better together (like my main core), but what I do like is that I really needed every Pokémon in this team. I wouldn’t replace any of them for something else, so if you would ask me for the “perfect Trick Room team” I would probably end up with these 6 every time.

Threats

+

(Un-Fake Out-able) Taunt (Mienshao, Gengar, Crobat, Noivern, Aerodactyl)+Bisharp/Smeargle

Taunt was a thing you rarely see in VGC 14, because almost no one uses Trick Room, and there are mostly frail users that won’t survive more than two hits usually. Taunt alone wasn’t that much of a problem(unless I could not flinch it with Fake Out), but together with Bisharp or Smeargle I was in a pinch, since Scrafty wouldn’t help much and therefore it was impossible to set up Trick Room safely. This is a special occasion, but also the biggest problem of this team.

Chandelure

Chandelure is so annoying because you never know its set. Usually it is supported very well and that’s why I have serious trouble dealing with it. If it is a fast Substitute, or even Minimize Chandelure, it is so hard to take down, since I run nothing too fast. If it runs Life Orb or Choice Specs, I can be punished with a OHKO on my Trick Room setter if I don’t use Protect. Goodra is a very important Pokémon here, but if my opponent can keep it in check, I won’t be able to get into the game. Amusingly, Chandelure is such an easy Pokémon to take care of once Trick Room is up, since 4/6 of my team can hit it super-effectively.

Charizard-X

Charizard-X? Well, in swiss it was. If you don’t know your opponent and his team, what do you usually think if you see a Charizard? Yes, it must be Charizard-Y. Now look at my team and counters for Charizard-Y: Goodra and Rotom-Heat.
And now you bring both of it into the game, and Charizard Mega evolves into Charizard-X. Well, crap. My counters are being countered.

The Event – Day 1

I pre-registered for the event together with my friend Andre a week before, but Szymon Wojdat (Szymoninho) joined us, so we drove as a team of three to Bochum with the aim to make it to pre-registration on Friday, which would be possible until 6pm. (Un)fortunately, we barely missed the pre-registration since we arrived at 6:01 pm… but we were able to meet Yoshi and Massi at least. We headed out to our hotel and met with my friends from Sachsen, so the Lajo-fan Crew was complete. My friend Olli (Yanzin) had no time to make a team, so I gave him one: the same six WhiteAfroKing used and later  top cut with, haha. He would buy me whatever I wanted for dinner, so I gladly helped him out :D.

We headed out to the event on Saturday and of course needed over half an hour to find the location thanks to my bad orientation, and because everyone just followed me, lol. As we finally got there the “fast lane” was full with over 200 players, while there were only 20 in the usual line. And we hadn’t had anything to eat yet… Thankfully, Szymon missed his pre-registration so he was in for buying us some food while I was waiting in the “fast lane” together with Barry, NidoRich, WhiteAfroking and some others from the UK, and also meeting Mean, drug_duck, Fatum, Osirus and many other cool guys. Two hours later we finally pushed through, and around 2 pm swiss rounds were finally about to start. I also had a first look on both flights: while we had Barry, Fatum, Massi, Yoshi, Havak, Szymon, Andre, Mean, Billa, Michilele and DaFlo in Flight 1, we had the Ginis, drug_duck and Osirus in Flight 2. Of course, I was in Flight 1 as well.

Swiss Rounds

Round 1: Julian Grande (Solariiii)

He used: Salamence, Charizard, Aegislash, Garchomp

I played a well-known German player right in round one and made a new friend at the same time. Julian was a very nice guy and recognized my name very well, so I know I had to play careful. Seeing his team, I thought it’s a sun team so I had to bring both Goodra and Rotom-Heat. Since it was possible he could bring Kangaskhan instead, I was tempted to bring my Mawile, although I usually don’t want it to bring against sun teams. So I lead with Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat with Goodra and Mawile in the back, hoping to bait his Charizard and bring Gardevoir in safely later.

My lead choice was fine as he started things off with Salamence and Charizard. I switched out Gardevoir for Goodra to take a possible Overheat, but Julian opted to Protect (and mega evolve) his Charizard instead and fired off a Fire Blast on Goodra. In the next turn, I doubled his Charizard and took it out, while he did around 60% to my Rotom with Overheat and switched his Salamence to Aegislash. He brought Salamence back in, but I didn’t want to risk a possible Substitute, so I just attacked. Rock Slide from Salamence did not give him any flinches, so I took out the Salamence with a Dragon Pulse and Aegislash with a Sun-boosted Overheat. His last Pokémon was Garchomp, and although he made a good prediction in going for Earthquake as I double switched to Mawile and Gardevoir, he had to hope for some more flinches to win the game. He didn’t get them so my Mawile cleared the game with a Play Rough for me. 4-0
1-0

Round 2: Dominik Kindermann

He used: Garchomp, Crobat, Tyranitar, Rotom-Wash

I did not recognize his name and he seemed to not know me as well, so we both got into the fight without any clues. He said hes played VGC for a while, though, and we were 1-0, so I at least knew he can play on a decent level. Seeing his team, I knew Gardevoir would have to do a good job again, so I lead it together with Scrafty, with Goodra (for Amoonguss) and Mawile in the back. I was afraid of a Taunt from Crobat, so I started scouting and used Fake Out on Garchomp and Psychic on Crobat, while he protected his Garchomp and U-Turned out to Tyranitar. This gave me a safe turn to set-up Trick Room and go for Drain Punch on Tyranitar, while he switched Garchomp out to Crobat and Protected with Tyranitar. I expected a switchout, so to give more pressure I switched out my Gardevoir to Mawile and Drain Punched the Tyranitar, while he Protected Crobat and switched Tyranitar out to Rotom-Wash, which revealed it had Leftovers. I then switched out my Scrafty into Goodra and opted to Play Rough his Rotom (which barely survived the Play Rough!), while he U-turned Crobat out and Hydro Pumped into my Goodra. Rotom went down by sand and Crobat came back in. Now this was the moment where Feint should be good. I doubled his Garchomp while he double protects, but unfortunately I missed with Play Rough on Garchomp. In the next turn, I should have Dragon Pulsed and Rock Slid, but for some reason I Play Roughed again and switched my Goodra out to Scrafty, while he lost his Garchomp but took out my Scrafty with a critical hit Brave Bird. Trick Room ended while I brought my Gardevoir in. I was thinking he may expect the Trick Room now and tried to Psychic his Crobat again while Protecting my Mawile from a potential Fire Blast. He Protected his Crobat again and went for Earthquake, getting a critical hit on my Gardevoir as well, so I was in a pinch. I just hoped to survive the next turn to set up Trick Room (which I should have last turn, really), and I thankfully did because he U-turned into Gardevoir instead of Brave Birding it. Mawile survived a critical hit Earthquake (yeah I got pretty unlucky that game) and took out Tyranitar with Play Rough, and Garvevoir barely survived with 3 hp. Thanks to Safety Goggles, I did not faint to sand and sealed the game with Psychic a turn later. 3-0

This was frustrating, but not because of the critical hits; I almost lost because I did not play the best moves. I had to focus more, since it would be tougher to win in the upcoming rounds.

2-0

Round 3: Huib Buijssen (Lolnub)

He used: Kangaskhan, Gardevoir, Gyarados, Aegislash

So here I got Lolnub, who I knew had a good season so far and would be a tough opponent to play against. I was hoping he would bring his Kangaskhan since it would make my match-up a lot easier, and he did lead it together with Gardevoir against my Trevenant and Mawile, perfect. I also had Rotom and Scrafty in the back. I was trying to set up Trick Room and Play Roughed the Kangaskhan. He decided to take the Play Rough damage on Kangaskhan (which survived by a sliver of HP) and switched Gardevoir out to Aegislash. Kangaskhan got a critical hit with Fake Out on Trevenant. He then switched Kangaskhan out to Gyarados, while I switched Trevenant to Scrafty, and he Substituted with Aegislash while I Rock Slid with Mawile, doing a bit under 50% to Gyarados. I didn’t know his Gyarados set yet, so I thought he may Protect and get free damage with Aegislash. I taunted and Sucker Punched the Aegislash while he Waterfalled and Shadow Balled my Mawile, taking it out, so I knew his Gyarados was Choice Banded.

I brought Trevenant in, and made a risky play here by not Protecting Trevenant. Since Lolnub knows I don’t run Detect on Scrafty but could have Protect on Trevenant, he would get highly rewarded by double attacking my Scrafty if I chose to Protect Trevenant- I wanted to punish that, which is why I opted to go for Trick Room, and it worked out: he doubled my Scrafty, but it survived with 48 hp and took out Aegislash, while I got Trick Room up. In came Kangaskhan. I tried to Will-o-Wisp his Gyarados, which switched out to Gardevoir, and I missed, while my switched-in Rotom ate some Fake Out damage (still not Mega Kangaskhan). And again, I made a stupid play: I attacked with Rotom although Sucker Punch could happen. Indeed Kangaskhan used Sucker Punch, and Rotom only lived because Kangaskhan did not mega evolve, so both Lolnub and I choked here, hahaha. I should have Protected Rotom anyway since both Kangaskhan and Gardevoir couldn’t do much to Trevenant. I burned the Kangaskhan, taking it out with burn damage, and in came Gyarados. I protected Trevenant while switching Rotom out to Scrafty, while he Psychiced it and tried to Ice Fang Trevenant. I Faked Out Gyarados and Shadow Clawed the Gardevoir to see how much damage I would do, but Lolnub protected Gardevoir. Next turn, I switched my Scrafty out to Rotom-Heat and burned the Gyarados, while Trevanant took damage from Moonblast and Ice Fang, but thanks to Sitrus it had still 100/191 hp left. The timer went down, and so went Gyarados after a switch to Scrafty and Protect from my side, while Trevenant was double targeted again. It came down to Rotom, Scrafty and Trevenant against Gardevoir which traced Harvest and had a Sitrus Berry, so my safest option would be to time stall here, because a critical hit on my Trevenant would give Lolnub a chance to win. While the last 40 seconds were going down and I had a Rotom and Trevanant on my side, we both wanted to know how much Moonblast would do, so Gardevoir attacked and Trevenant survived with 27hp. I took finally out the Gardevoir with Thunderbolt and Shadow Claw, winning the game 3-0. Good game, Lulnub!

We had a very funny conversation afterwards. Since I wasn’t prepared for max speed Choice Band Gyarados, I asked him how much speed he runs, and he told me his Gyarados outspeeds timid Tyranitar by two points to outspeed Rotom that were designed to outspeed it by one point, so we had a speed tie here! We had a good laugh and wished each other the best of luck for the next games!

3-0

Round 4: Florian Ernst (Mentosbombe)

He used: Talonflame, Mawile, Politoed, Kingdra

I was surprised to see another name I didn’t recognize, but I should know him well after team preview. Before our game started, he told me that he had only played VGC for about 2 months, and that he knows me and we battled once on Showdown, where I 4-0d him… I still had no clue, until I saw his team and I yelled: “MENTOSBOMBE!”

So I kinda knew what to expect and lead Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat against his Mawile and Talonflame, giving me a good position. I Protected my Gardevoir while he U-turned out his Talonflame into Politoed, which ate a Thunderbolt, and Gardevoir was safe from the Iron Head. The Politoed didn’t reveal Sitrus Berry or Eject Button, so I assumed it to be Scarfed, and I was right: while I Protected my Rotom from a Scald which got up before my Gardevoir attacked, I knocked out the Politoed with a Psychic. My Gardevoir survived the Iron Head with 1 hp thanks to the Traced Intimidate, too! In comes Kingdra on his side, and I knew I had to stall out the rain to win. I Protected my Gardevoir and switched Rotom out to Scrafty, while he tried to Sucker Punch my Gardevoir and used Muddy Water, which did quite a lot to my Scrafty, so I knew his Kingdra must be Choice Specs. I then used Fake Out on Kingrda and got a Trick Room off since he Sucker Punched my Gardevoir again.

Now I just had to lose something to bring in my Mawile safely. He knocked out both my Scarfty and Gardevoir with another Muddy Water and Sucker Punch. I brought in Rotom and Mawile, so his Mawile was at -3, and Kingdra was at 70% after Drain Punch damage from the last turn. He stayed in with Mawile and switched out Kingdra to Talonflame, which went down to a Rock Slide, while his Mawile was Protected from any damage (I Thunderbolted the Kingdra slot). In came Kingdra again, and I was afraid of a miss with Play Rough and Thunderbolt not doing enough damage, so I Sucker Punched and Thunderbolted the Kingdra slot, but Sucker Punch was already enough to take it out, so Mawile ate the Thunderbolt and did around 25% to my Mawile with Iron Head. I know I had that game at this point, and so it was after the next turn. 2-0

This was a game that  just shows how strong rain can be, but also how bad 3 Choice item users can be (especially against Trick Room), and I think I only won because my Gardevoir barely survived the Iron Head. I asked Florian about his Mawile spread afterwards and he told me it was Careful with 52 atk, a similar spread to Ray’s (and of course the Trace of Intimidate), which saved me here! I calced out how lucky I was, so here we go:

-1 52 Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 52 Def Gardevoir: 174-206 (99.4 – 117.7%) — 93.8% chance to OHKO

Wow, I got the lowest roll. Sorry, Flo. That calc clearly mattered…maybe male Gardevoir isn’t so bad. I really love this Rain team, hope you’ll do well this year and I am looking forward to meet you again!

4-0

Round 5: Daniel Thum

He used: Klefki, Malamar, Shuckle, Delphox

Yeah ok, I admit it, I didn’t expect to see THAT kind of team in round 5… I found out he was 3-1 and pretty lucky so far, and I knew I could beat this kind of team just because of the addition of Taunt on Scrafty. However, I lead Rotom-Heat and Gardevior against his Malamar and Klefki. I started things of with the obvious Moonblst + Overheat, while his Klefki survives thanks to Light Screen and the incoming Delphox took only 15% of damage, making me think he may run Assault Vest. I then switched out Rotom for Scrafty while protecting Gardevoir. He set up Reflect and revealed Shadow Ball on Delphox. I then Faked Out the Delphox, which switched out to Shuckle, while setting up Trick Room, and Klefki used Foul Play on Gardevoir. He then switched out Klefki for Malamar while I brought in my Mawile for Gardevoir and Taunted the Shuckle, but not before he got a Power Split  on my incoming Mawile! Since he got the Attack boost from Contrary, too, I was afraid of not being able to KO his Malamar with Mawile. However, I switched out Scrafty for Gardevoir and did go for the Play Rough, netting the OHKO! After Malamar was gone and Delphox came back in for Shuckle, I had no more trouble: I will just say that his Delphox did near to 50% to my Rotom and over 50% to Scrafty and Gardevoir with Flamethrower (it was under 33%, but still…wow.) and later found out that he uses Assault Vest Malamar and Delphox with Charcoal. 4-0

His Shuckle had Struggle Bug, Toxic and the Split moves, so he probably tried to Guard Split with Malamar and give it even more bulk with Screens and sweep through teams with it. After that battle I talked to Lolnub and found out that if you Mega evolve a Pokémon, the effects of moves like Power Swap are reset. That was news to me, but good to know!

5-0

Round 6: Florian Wurdack (DaFlo)

He used: Charizard, Aegislash, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash

Revenge for last year, where I beat DaFlo in Round 4. Last year he played rain and this year it looked like he played sun, so I lead with Gardevoir and Rotom-Heat with Goodra and Scrafty in the back, while he lead Charizard and Aegislash. I switched Gardevoir out to Goodra and… Charizard Dragon Danced, reavealing itself to be Charizard-X. My nightmare came true. Of course, Rotom’s Thunderbolt did nothing and Aegislash King Shielded. He then Dragon Clawed the Goodra which I switched back to Gardevoir, but I also had to switch my Rotom to Scrafty to get TR up safely, and DaFlo saw through that play and used Substitute. I used Fake Out on Charizard and Trick Roomed, while he protected Charizard and went for Shadow Ball on Gardevoir, almost taking it out. Then Aegislash took care of Gardevoir and Charizard did some meaningful damage to my Scrafty, while I Taunted the Aegislash. I brought Goodra in. I thought DaFlo would assume a double target in the next turn which would knock out the Aegislash and therefore not Protect with his Charizard, but he did so, and I only broke Aegislash’s substitute while Dragon Pulsing in the Protect. Since I would knock out both if he stayed in, I made a reverse play and Dragon Pulsed the Aegislash and Crunched the Charizard, while he switched out his Aegislash for Garchomp and Charizard for Rotom-Wash. At this point, I had only one turn of Trick Room left, so a double Protect was more than likely, and I Feinted and Drain Punched the Garchomp, which indeed Protected. However, I had lost the game at that point, since his Charizard would just take care of my remaining Pokémon. 0-3

5-1

Round 7: Felix Wintersberger (Brisingr)

He used: Kangaskhan, Gyarados, Chandelure, Rotom-Wash

I wasn’t happy to see a Chandelure there, which tempted me to bring both Goodra and Rotom, but with Kangaskhan, I had to bring my Trevenant and Mawile, too. So I lead with Trevenant and Mawile with Rotom and Goodra in the back against his lead of Kangaskhan and Gyarados. I scouted with a Protect on Trevenant and switched to Rotom-Heat, while he used Fake Out on Rotom and revealed his Gyarados to have Taunt. I hoped his Gyarados wouldn’t have Wacan Berry, so I tried to Trick Room, while his Gyarados indeed had Wacan and Taunted my Trevenant. Kangaskhan switched out for Chandelure. I then Protected with my Rotom-Heat (I guess) and switched my Trevenant out for Goodra, while Chandelure did Shadow Ball damage to it and Gyarados Protected as well. I tried to Thunderbolt the Gyarados and Muddy Watered,  and to my surprise, his Chandelure was faster than my Rotom and knocked it out(Kangaskhan got a critical hit with Fake Out on turn 1 to weaken it) , and Gyarados did some Waterfall damage to Goodra. I got a Muddy Water off, though, so Gyara was at only 10% and Chandelure under 50%. I brought Trevenant in. Assuming a Scarf on Chandelure, I protected Trevenant and Muddy Watered again, but the Gyardos barely survived and Chandelure Protected! Gyarados tried to Taunt Trevenant. Now I had to hope he’s running Heat Wave, but Chandelure used Overheat… and missed. Oh god, that miss was big. Goodra knocked out both Gyarados and Chandelure, and I got Trick Room up. His last two were Rotom-Wash and Kangaskhan, so I did some chip damage to Rotom with Dragon Pulse and burned the Kangaskhan, and as Goodra fainted, I got Mawile in and cleared the game. 2-0

I still feel sorry for the miss. In hindsight, I could have won with enough time if I would have switched my Trevenant for Mawile, since with Rotom and Kangaskhan in the back, my Trevenant could probably win with enough time left (and I think there was still over nine Minutes on the timer).

6-1

One more win, and I will be in Top Cut!

Round 8: Andre Velte

He used: Wigglytuff, Amoonguss, Aegislash, Kangaskhan

Going into that matchup, I knew Goodra would be incredibly good, given that he used five special attackers, while only Kangaskhan would be a bit problematic, so I lead with Trevenant and Rotom-Heat to make sure to burn it right from the start, should he lead with it. He started with Amoonguss and Wigglytuff, so I Protected my Rotom while burning his Wigglytuff, and Trevenant took the Fire Blast with exactly 50%+1hp,  so Sitrus activated, and I harvested a new one at the end of the turn. Amoonguss tried to Spore my Rotom. Then I switched Rotom out for Goodra and Protected Trevenant, to gain some more burn damage on Wigglytuff and wall Amoonguss completely(he Fire Blasted and Spored again). Knowing he had to switch it out, I go for Muddy Water and Will-o-Wisp on the Amoonguss, burning the incoming Aegislash, while Wigglytuff went for Dazzling Gleam. I then Protected Trevenant again and went for another Muddy Water, and paid for it: I got the Accuracy drop on both Aegislash and Wigglytuff, activating Competitive and ate a +2 Ice Beam while Aegislash attacked into a Protect. Goodra still had 55 hp left. Wigglytuff was about to faint from burn next turn, so I opted to use Flamethrower on Aegislash and switched to Rotom in case he would use King’s shield, but in hindsight that was the wrong play, since I needed my Goodra and could have lost it to another Ice Beam… but, he missed, so the +2 from last turn equaled out a bit. Aegislash indeed used King’s Shield, so it was my Rotom and Goodra against his Aegislash and Amoonguss, which came in for Wigglytuff. Amoonguss used Rage Powder and was OHKOed by my Rotom’s Overheat, which was very surprising given I only run 44 Special Attack. Goodra’s Flametthrower hit Aegislash and it fainted after burn damage. It tried to Shadow Ball my Goodra but missed, and I told him my Goodra would have survived that anyways. In came his last Pokémon, and of course it was Kangaskhan. I switched out Goodra for Mawile while trying to burn Kangaskhan, which used Fake Out on Rotom. I proceeded to switch my Rotom for Trevenant, and went for a Play Rough on it, but I missed. No problem, though, since his Kangaskhan couldn’t do anything against my Trevenant and Mawile, so I won a turn later with another Play Rough. 4-0

7-1

I did it! All my friends came to congratulate me and wish me the best of luck for the Top Cut! I was heading to my friends and found out Andre went 6-2 while Szymoninho made Top Cut as well, so we were all happy and waited for the final results. I ended up as the 3^rd seed from Flight one, meaning I’d face Ciskejan G., the last Dutch guy remaining in the National! Lolnub showed me who he was and we already talked a bit, and he seemed to be really nervous since it was his very first National. Since it was 10 pm already, we all were pretty hungry, so we were heading out in no time, looking for something to eat. We ended up eating at our hotel, and eating around midnight is better than eating nothing, I guess…
Szymon was a bit worried about his matchup(he knew he would face Sejun’s Team), so he told me everything he would usually do to beat Sejun’s team, and I told him he would be fine. Around 2 am, I finally got some sleep…

Day 2

Next day, next mission: A trip to worlds! We were all pretty excited and glad that we could sleep until 9 am (and to my surprise, I slept pretty well) and even got to eat something before the Top Cut started. All my friends where watching me on the little screen, so some of the guys that were wondering what I used found it finally out, haha.

I also found out that there were nine players from Germany in the Top Cut, and 2 Mega Gyarados Teams (including Bisharp+Aerodactyl) as well as many Kangaskhan. I was hoping to see Kangaskhan for me, since I don’t really like Aerodactyl+Bisharp.

Top Cut

Top 16: Ciskejan Giannakos (sagaciousslowpoke)  (also called CJ)

Game 1

Another Kangaskhan team, that kind of team I was very well prepared for. I started things with Trevenant and Mawile, while having Rotom-Heat and Goodra in the back, and he lead Kangaskhan and Rotom-Heat. I double switched into Goodra (for Trevenant) and Rotom-Heat(for Mawile). Goodra took Fake Out damage and Rotom wasn’t affected by Will-o-Wisp. I then went for a Muddy Water and Will-o-Wisp, while he protected Rotom and went for a Return on Goodra, and thankfully my Will-o-Wisp hit Kangaskhan. From that point my memory is a but fuzzy. I remember CJ was using Sucker Punch (I’m not sure why)on my Goodra, which barely survive with 3 hp, and he switched to Azumarill and Garchomp, which revealed Rocky Helmet. I managed to get Trick Room up at some point with Mawile out, so I threatened his whole team and did some good damage. I also found out that his Rotom-Heat was carrying Charti Berry, but that was revealed on a switch-in, so I was still safe. However, in the next turn I missed Rotom with Rock Slide and he burned my Mawile. I had Trick Room up still for a last turn and he had Garchomp and Rotom out, neither of which had Protected on the last turn, so I went for Feint and Play Rough on Garchomp, barely missing the OHKO with my burned Mawile. Rotom and Azumarril were almost KO’d, too, so Goodra had a good time, netting 2 KOs with Feint after Trick Room ended! (I also avoided being KO’d by Aqua Jet this way). I’m not sure what the score was, but I won and remember that my Mawile also missed a Play Rough on Kangsakhan in that game, so shame on you, Mawile.

Game 2

I thought the four I brought last time would be the perfect choice, so I didn’t change anything beside the order and lead Rotom-Heat and Mawile this time. CJ lead with Garchomp and Ferrothorn, giving me a huge lead advantage. With Garchomp being threatened by Play Rough and Ferrothorn by Overheat, I felt that a switch-in from Rotom-Heat was very possible, especially with my Mawile out and Garchomp’s Earthquake in mind, so I opted to go for Will-o-Wisp on Garchomp and Rock Slid with Mawile. I flinched, but only took 25% damage on Rotom and Ferrothorn Protected. I followed with the same play on turn 2, this time I succeeded in burning Garchomp and did some damage with Rock Slide to the incoming Azumarill and Garchomp. I then Protected Mawile and switched Rotom to Trevenant, but here again my memory starts to be fuzzy. I know I did not take much damage on Mawile for several turns while burning Ferrothorn (twice, it had Lum Berry) with Trevenant. Eventually Garchomp went down and Kangaskhan came in. Mawile was Leech Seeded, and took some damage. CJ brought Trevenant down to 60%, and the game was in a state where I had Goodra and Trevenant out against Ferrothorn and Azumarill. I was afraid of Belly Drum all the time by that point, so I chose not to Protect, losing my Trevenant this way to a Play Roughy. The game was down to Mawile, Rotom and Goodra against Ferrothorn and Azumarill. Again, I did not Protect anything so Rotom went down, but Azumarill was almost KO’d and I got an Attack drop with Play Rough. I’m not sure why, but I did not use Sucker Punch (I used Rock Slide instead) and almost lost my Goodra, but it survived with 27 hp and cleared the game with Flamethrower while Mawile fainted to Iron Barbs damage. 1-0

CJ was a very nice guy and since it was his first National, I was able to give him some advice. Still a pretty impressive run! Hope to see you again in Milan. 🙂

Top 8: Matthias Suchodolski (Lega)

Game 1

I started the same way I did against CJ, and Lega also started Kangaskhan+Rotom-Heat, so I was interested in how he would start things off. He decided to burn my Goodra and Fake Out on my Rotom. He switched Kangaskhan out to Tyranitar which ate a burn and revealed Lum Berry. Tyranitar and avoided Muddy Water, while Rotom Protected, I guess. I opted to burn the Tyranitar again while switching out Goodra for Mawile, and Lega used Will-o-Wisp on my Rotom, expecting a switch, while Tyranitar fired off a Rock Slide. I don’t know what happened after that, but he eventually switched Rotom out for something and I got my chance to bring Trevenant in and set up Trick Room with Mawile out, so sweep mode started. I got rid of most of his things, burned the Azumarill, and missed a Play Rough on Kangaskhan (again), and some more bad luck I guess, but I still managed to win that game 4-0. His Tyranitar also revealed Crunch and Fire Blast, so I had to be careful with my Mawile in the next games.

Game 2

I decided to give Scrafty a go, since his Tyranitar was good against half of my team, I would be able to Taunt Rotom and threaten Aegislash and Kangaskhan as well, but it was a hard choice what to not bring. I eventually decided for Goodra, since I needed Rotom for Aegislash, Azumarril, and burning his physical threats, and Mawile and Trevenant for Kangaskhan. I did not expect him to not bring it, which was a smart choice. As he revealed his leads to be Aegislash+Rotom-Heat against my Rotom and Trevenant, I regretted not having Goodra, and got punished instantly by missing a Will-o-Wisp on Aegislash as well as getting a critical hit Shadow Ball on my Rotom. I decided to go Trick Room mode and Overheated the Aegislash just in case he wouldn’t Protect. He switched it out for Tyranitar and fired off an Overheat on my Rotom, knocking it out. This wasn’t so bad, though, since I got my Mawile in safely. I then protected Mawile and switched Trevenant out for Scrafty, while he attacked Scrafty with Crunch (crit) and Will-o-Wisped Mawile. There was no way he would let Tyranitar stay in, but a Protect on Rotom was more than likely, too, which is why I Rock Slid and Taunted the Tyranitar slot. He switched it out for Aegislash and indeed protected his Rotom. At this point, I made a fatal mistake that cost me the game. With three turns of sand damage, I knew a Rock Slide would have a good chance to KO semi-bulky Rotoms already, and with the addition of Drain Punch I felt pretty safe, to also punish him in case he would switch to  Tyranitar or Kangaskhan (which I thought he had in the back). However, my Rock Slide missed his Rotom-Heat and since I did not Taunt it, my Mawile got burned and all my momentum was gone(he switched Aegislash to Azumarill, though). With the Taunt I still could have won the game and simply attacked a turn later on possible switch-ins, but this way he just took advantage of the burn and finished off my remaining Pokémon as soon as Trick Room ended. I’m not sure if I even knocked out one of his Pokémon. 0-4(?)

Game 3

So since Goodra would helped me a lot in the last game, or at least I was thinking that, and Lega lead Aegislash and Rotom last time and won, I thought he may do that again, which is why I leaded with Goodra and Rotom, with Mawile and Trevenant in the back. However, Lega leaded with Tyranitar and Aegislash this time, meaning he would get good damage soon since he has Lum Berry to get rid of burn for one turn. I also played very badly in that game, trying to knock out his Aegislah with Muddy Water and Overheat, as he used King’s Shield and did a huge amount of damage to my leads with a Rock Slide. I switched out Rotom for Mawile while firing off another Muddy Water, while he switched Aegislash out for Azumarill. Goodra had 55 hp remaining after that turn. I Protected Mawile while switching into Trevenant, which got some good damage to a Crunch and was back around 50% after Sitrus Berry, while Azumarill used Waterfall on Mawile. I thought that after my Protect last turn he may double target my Mawile, but for some reason I did not switch it out to Goodra… He indeed doubled Mawile, but since I stayed in, I was knocked out with a combination of Waterfall and Fire Blast. I got Trick Room up, but that helped Lega more than me now, so this game was already over. If I would have switched Mawile to Goodra, the game would have been a bit more interesting, though I think with Aegislash Lega was still in the better spot. 0-4

Good games, Lega. At least you made me reach my goal to counter the metagame (aka Kangaskhan) so hard that people think twice about bringing it, even if it is their only Mega.

You were smart enough to see that, which is why I think you deserve the win, even though I had some bad luck. Hopefully we’ll meet at Worlds!

After my loss I was looking at the other pairings and found out Szymon lost in his Top8 game as well, but we decided to stay there to watch Yoshi win the whole thing 😉

Closing thoughts about the National

+ great to see everyone from last year again, as well as making new friends (can’t list them all, just everyone I talked to)
+ making Top Cut
+ Yoshi winning the whole thing, no one would have deserved it more than him
+ Goodra doing excellent work
+ Shuckle in Round 5
+ Free meal for me after day one was over!

– “Fast Lane”, biggest joke ever
– extension of 2 hours at day one
– Barry losing all his hope (5-3 in the end)
– battle videos couldn’t be saved
– Mawile missing 4/16 Play Roughs as well as 2 Rock Slides on Rotom-Heat

All in all, it was a great event: the atmosphere, the players, just everything. I’m glad I could do so well with a team that utilizes Trick Room to its fullest, it surely isn’t dead this generation and looking at the way I lost in my top 8 match, I think I had a chance to even win this thing. Though Yoshi was running Taunt on his Gengar, so he was well prepared even for my Trick Room!

Shoutouts to:

• Timo Koppetsch, who gave me the Trevenant
• Gonzo, who caught a Ralts in a Dream Ball for me which I later used for breeding
• Andre and Szymon for being great mates before, during and after the event
• Everyone I talked to, you guys made the event so much better
• Everyone who rooted for me, you guys gave me so much motivation and made me feel like I could do anything
• Scott for editing this report to make it more enjoyable to read
• And last but not least, you who read this report. I hope you enjoyed it!

About the Author

Lajo Lajo plays competitive since 2012 and is known for using underused Pokémon. He loves to use Trick Room and his favorite Pokémon is Scrafty.

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