One Year of VGC and Counting: Indonesia’s ORAS Opening Tournament
Hey guys, Hashegi’s here again! Today I won’t be talking about International Friendly matches. Rather, I would like to tell you a story about Indonesia’s ORAS Season Opening Tournament. Even though this tournament was not worth Championship Points, Trainers came from all over Indonesia to find their place at the top.
Held on the 14th of December, this was one of the biggest VGC tournaments Indonesia has ever seen, second only to last year’s XY opening event. Here’s how it all started: a high school in North Jakarta was holding a Japanese Event called Tozka, which stands for Tokyo in Alazka. One of the committee members mentioned that we should hold a tournament for the ORAS season opening. At first, we only targeted around 30 Trainers, but things changed. Long story short, we got permission from the principal to use the school’s auditorium. Well, things just got real! We pushed and promoted our event, we printed banners, nametags, and everything else. Many problems arose leading up to the tournament. In particular, many trainers decided to cancel their participation on day one. I panicked and thought the Tournament would fail to be as epic as I had imagined, but I turned out to be wrong.
On Sunday morning, the team from Tozka and I started preparing everything around 07:00 a.m. The auditorium we used for the tournament opened at 11:30. Around 09:00, I was kind of nervous, but then participants started flooding in and queuing up in front of the entrance gate. Happiness and excitement is what I felt.
Never ending lines.
I started preparing the POP ID form (because there were so many first timers in Indonesia, preparing and describing IDs consumes a lot of time), coordinating the committee into their positions, and started the registration process. During the process, I saw many familiar faces, and a lot of new faces. Over time, my nervousness disappeared.
Packed auditoriums.
The tournament started at 12:00. After we finished all the registration, I started giving opening speeches. There were also speeches from the Tozka chief of committee, and Premier Tournament Organizer Ng Soon Aik, describing how Southeast Asia had gotten their Premier Challenge. The crowd went wild, thinking that they finally got a chance to go for Worlds! But the most important part was that I explained to all 71 trainers the rules for this tournament in a kindly reminder, mainly because Pokemon Competitive Battling is quite new here in Indonesia. After explaining all the rules, the battles started. This tournament used modified Double Flat rules using ORAS cartridges, and each team was required to bring two Hoenn native Pokemon, just to mess around with the format before VGC 15 was out. The usages of Legendaries was forbidden, even though they can be caught in both ORAS games; we didn’t want to see early Cresselia and Heatrans. But of course, as it turns out, ORAS legendaries are allowed in VGC 2015.
Preliminaries were Swiss rounds (with 71 trainers). Rules were best-of-one with a 10 minute limit for each game (due to lack of time and player experience) and best-of-three for Top 8 Cut. It took 7 battles to get 8 people in top cut. We had a break after swiss rounds ended. After the break, around 4 o’clock, Top Cut started. We also did some trivia quizzes for trainers who didn’t make it into top cut. It contained pokemon trivia such as “What is the number of citizens in Castelia City” or “List 5 Professors excluding Oak, Elm, Birch, etc.” The responses from participants about this trivia quizzes were quite good, even though most of them said it was hard, but they had fun! So maybe we’ll do it again in the next event.
Before Round 1
The Organizers (me on the far left)
Finals were between Oktavian Jason and Fakhrirozi Sulaiman, two players already well known in the Indonesian VGC community. Especially Jason, who won all three of his International matches between Indonesia and Taiwan, Malaysia and also Phillipines. The battle happened around 6:00 p.m., and ended at 6:30 p.m. The atmosphere was really cool. People were shouting at the big screen. Loud shouts happened when one of them get an unexpected OHKO by critical hit or when misses happened. The tournament hype, along with the chance to commentate, were both new to me. It was such an adrenaline rush!. This tournament ended with Oktavian Jason winning and get the prize.
Teams
1. Oktavian Jason
2. Fakhrurozi Sulaiman
3. Jonathan Ramlan
4. Edward Ang
5. Ibnu Wiharja
6. Randy Tenderan
7. Jonathan Chandranegara:
8. Janitra Lomorov:
And here are the overall usage statistics of the tournament:
| # | Pokemon | # of uses | % usage | # made to topcut |
| 1 | Gardevoir | 22 | 30.99% | 4 |
| 2 | Talonflame | 20 | 28.17% | 3 |
| 3 | Mawile | 17 | 23.94% | 4 |
| 4 | Garchomp | 15 | 21.13% | 1 |
| 5 | Greninja | 14 | 19.72% | 2 |
| 6 | Rotom-W | 14 | 19.72% | 3 |
| 7 | Salamence | 14 | 19.72% | 3 |
| 8 | Sableye | 13 | 18.31% | 3 |
| 9 | Blaziken | 12 | 16.90% | |
| 10 | Aegislash | 11 | 15.49% | 2 |
| 11 | Metagross | 10 | 14.08% | 1 |
| 12 | Sceptile | 10 | 14.08% | |
| 13 | Togekiss | 10 | 14.08% | 1 |
| 14 | Charizard | 9 | 12.68% | 1 |
| 15 | Ferrothorn | 9 | 12.68% | |
| 16 | Swampert | 9 | 12.68% | 1 |
| 17 | Tyranitar | 8 | 11.27% | 3 |
| 18 | Azumarill | 7 | 9.86% | |
| 19 | Ludicolo | 7 | 9.86% | 2 |
| 20 | Milotic | 7 | 9.86% | |
| 21 | Gengar | 6 | 8.45% | 1 |
| 22 | Zapdos | 6 | 8.45% | 1 |
| 23 | Manectric | 5 | 7.04% | |
| 24 | Scizor | 5 | 7.04% | |
| 25 | Bisharp | 4 | 5.63% | 1 |
| 26 | Dusclops | 4 | 5.63% | |
| 27 | Lucario | 4 | 5.63% | |
| 28 | Sylveon | 4 | 5.63% | |
| 29 | Amoonguss | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 30 | Breloom | 3 | 4.23% | 1 |
| 31 | Chandelure | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 32 | Crawdaunt | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 33 | Gallade | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 34 | Goodra | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 35 | Illumise | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 36 | Infernape | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 37 | Kangaskhan | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 38 | Kingdra | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 39 | Meowstic | 3 | 4.23% | 1 |
| 40 | Politoed | 3 | 4.23% | 1 |
| 41 | Slowbro | 3 | 4.23% | 1 |
| 42 | Venusaur | 3 | 4.23% | 1 |
| 43 | Volcarona | 3 | 4.23% | |
| 44 | Aerodactyl | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 45 | Aromatisse | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 46 | Camerupt | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 47 | Chansey | 2 | 2.82% | 1 |
| 48 | Chesnaught | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 49 | Delphox | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 50 | Dragonite | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 51 | Gliscor | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 52 | Heracross | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 53 | Hitmontop | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 54 | Jolteon | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 55 | Lapras | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 56 | Lopunny | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 57 | Machamp | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 58 | Mamoswine | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 59 | Noivern | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 60 | Pikachu | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 61 | Pinsir | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 62 | Rotom-H | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 63 | Scrafty | 2 | 2.82% | 1 |
| 64 | Sharpedo | 2 | 2.82% | |
| 65 | Umbreon | 2 | 2.82% | 1 |
| 66 | Abomasnow | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 67 | Absol | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 68 | Aggron | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 69 | Altaria | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 70 | Ambipom | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 71 | Arcanine | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 72 | Articuno | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 73 | Banette | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 74 | Barbaracle | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 75 | Beedrill | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 76 | Blastoise | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 77 | Blissey | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 78 | Cloyster | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 79 | Cofagrigus | 1 | 1.41% | 1 |
| 80 | Crobat | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 81 | Darmanitan | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 82 | Delcatty | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 83 | Ditto | 1 | 1.41% | 1 |
| 84 | Donphan | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 85 | Doublade | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 86 | Durant | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 87 | Electrivire | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 88 | Escavalier | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 89 | Espeon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 90 | Feraligatr | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 91 | Flygon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 92 | Galvantula | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 93 | Gastrodon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 94 | Gigalith | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 95 | Glaceon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 96 | Gothitelle | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 97 | Gyarados | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 98 | Hariyama | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 99 | Haxorus | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 100 | Heliolisk | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 101 | Hydreigon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 102 | Kecleon | 1 | 1.41% | 1 |
| 103 | Klefki | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 104 | Lilligant | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 105 | Magnezone | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 106 | Malamar | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 107 | Masquerain | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 108 | Mienshao | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 109 | Mightyena | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 110 | Miltank | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 111 | Moltres | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 112 | Muk | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 113 | Nidoking | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 114 | Rhyperior | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 115 | Scolipede | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 116 | Serperior | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 117 | Skarmory | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 118 | Slowking | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 119 | Snorlax | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 120 | Steelix | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 121 | Torkoal | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 122 | Typhlosion | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 123 | Vaporeon | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 124 | Walrein | 1 | 1.41% | |
| 125 | Whimsicott | 1 | 1.41% |
More Photos
At least something to show
Of course it won’t be complete without a video!
Honorable Mentions:
- One of the participants prepared his team in XY then transferred it to ORAS, and then he realized he hadn’t got the Mega Bracelet in-game yet. So he finished two gyms and rushed to reach the point where Steven gives you the mega bracelet. One of the participants who observed at the process said he was playing ‘Metal Gear Solid’, in the sense that he avoided as many trainer as he could.
- This tournament had zero Smeargles! Maybe some of the players thought Dark Void was banned.
- The top cut usage statistics have quite a bit of variety, with some of the single-use Pokemon in the tournament reaching the top cut, one of them even get the runner up position.
- In total, 68 Masters and 3 Seniors participant were present. However, because Seniors had fewer than 6 participants, it was automatically combined with Masters division.
- All Trainers with 5-2 record were in the Top 16!
- This was the first sanctioned VGC Tournament in Indonesia with more than 64 participants! I am surprised that they are coordinating events so well.
- This was also the first time I got to be the MC for a tournament.
Shout Outs
- Michael Pond Wijaya as the Tournament Organizer!
- Ng Soon Aik who came from Singapore to see and helping us with the set up and technical issues!
- The Bon Brothers, Aya and Ama for convincing us to make this huge event a success in your High School! You guys rocks!
- Bima Amalsyah for helping with (more like doing) this report and for all the statistics!
- Congratulations again to Oktavian Jason for winning another Tournament! You should spare some titles for the others!
- Naoya Takahashi, who is Japanese, with no ORAS but still came to join the event (our committee lent him a 3DS)
- 2 Players came all over from the other island of Sulawesi to Java and joining this epic event.
- Huy, for letting me post this awesome Tournament.
- Alifka Yudhis, who made the awesome video!
- Adrian Adi, who was originally a TCG Professor but came to help, and no one in Indonesia could handle TOM faster than he could.
- All of the Tozka committee. Even though you guys don’t understand Pokemon, you helped us make this tournament work, especially the runner!
- PSe as I used some of their Photos to publicize
- So many people helped, and I can’t name them all.
- You guys who joined the tournament.
- AND You Guys! Those who are still reading this post ! Congrats.
By the way, if you see those pokeball-with-wings logos, that is the Indonesian VGC Community logo!
Upcoming schedule is on the 11th of January which will also be a BIG event for us! It is the Asia Cup 2015 qualifier and also the first Premier Challenge for Indonesia! It’s an exciting time for our community. I hope it all goes well. Keep track of our updates, and Get Your Game ON!
About the Author
ryuhashegi Pokemon Competitive Battler Since 2011, but went into VGC since 2013. One of the mastermind in making an Indonesian VGC Community and forum http://pkmn-id.com Right now he is more into building the Community rather than polishing his Battling Skills. But he still has a dream to win the Nationals in his home Country, Indonesia where there would be one some time soon enough.
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11 Responses to One Year of VGC and Counting: Indonesia’s ORAS Opening Tournament
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Congratulations on the successful tournament.
I have to say, the teams all looked awesome, especially the one with Ditto.
Can’t wait to hear how the next one goes!
I love seeing VGC spread to more and more countries 😀 Hopefully Indonesia will eventually represent at World’s!
Really nice to see some variety in the tournament. I’d also like to make note that there were same number of Illumises in the tournament as there were Kangaskhans.
Great to hear the community expanding in the Southeast Asia area! Looking at the usage statistics, it seemed like everybody had a creative and fun time playing. That Ditto in 2nd place is really interesting to me. I also noticed a few Pokémon that I used in past tournaments near the top; namely Umbreon and the Mawile + Sableye combo. Which I think is also interesting! Keep on doing a great job, Hashegi!
really cool teams here
Gardevoir is the most used Pokemon? Can’t wait until they realize Sylveon is 4x better than Gardevoir…
I’m liking that Delphox and Breloom usage 😉
Great job Hashegi on getting this up. I’m very pleased to see that Indonesia now has a chance at worlds, you guys have so many good players and are very deserving of worlds chances. All the best for the Indonesian VGC scene and selamat sukses to all of the Indonesian players fighting for a worlds invite!
On another interesting note, I’d like to see some more coverage on the meta that was used in this tournament, a no-legends ORAS meta. This might be an interesting thing for a Nugget Bridge tournament, it’d be cool to see a meta without all of the Cresselia and Landorus shenanigans.
Dan juga, ini adalah PurpleMudkip dari Showdown 😉
Thanks on the comment! Yup I realized you were lol! Come here and have a Tournament with us if you have the chance!
I suppose why Gardevoir usage is high is because of the modified structure that we used, where we need to bring 2 Native Hoenn Pokemon.
Yeah, sadly we do not have the time to commentate and upload the final battles. Hope we could make it on the next tournaments.
That’s what we hope!
Thank you guys for the comments. The 11th January Premier Challenge went great! Total of 104 Masters, 12 Seniors and 1 Junior joining the PC. Probably biggest PC in the World? Anyway, I do hope that the numbers will grow each time. Hope that 85% of the max slot will always fill in each Premier Challenge
very nice event
Congratulations for this aniversary, hope we can see in Worlds some of this trainers
Btw, hilarious the story of the mega-bracelet dude
Thank you! Hope will make a better one!
I do hope so! The mega-bracelet dude reached the Top 16 with 5-2 record, he borrowed my team. lol!