Reports

Published on June 28th, 2015 | by Xenoblade Hero

12

Latios Takes Flight: A Top 8 UK Regionals and Top 64 UK Nationals Report

“I can show you the world

Shining, Shimmering, Spleeendid!” – Jamie Miller, 2014

Hello Nugget Bridge! It’s Eden (Xenoblade Hero) here, and this is a report on my team that I’ve used for the entire ’15 circuit. I was only able to attend two events that distribute CP this year, so essentially my Worlds chances have been decided on twenty games! This is my second article on NB, and hopefully I can make it more in depth and enjoyable than my previous report; Fasten your seat belts as this is going to be lengthy!

Teambuilding Process

 

At the dawn of VGC ’15, I initially tested out the new ORAS Mega Pokemon such as Gallade, Glalie and my personal favourite Slowbro. Unfortunately, I could not warrant using the first two because they didn’t fit my more defensive playstyle; in the case of Slowbro, it was difficult to use in the current environment with prominent threats being Hydreigon, Aegislash and Thundurus. I even tried out level 1 Smeargle + Cresselia + Mega Heracross at one point to guarantee Trick Room against a fast environment and force offensive pressure due to the threat of Endeavour. Mega Heracross performed very well and manages to OHKO most Pokemon in the metagame however this team became unreliable due to over relying on Trick Room being set up. Therefore my new check-list for a Regionals team was the following: to include optional speed control, to have at least two checks to (or methods to get around) all of the current top 12 Pokemon, to contain powerful spread coverage that gets past redirection and last but not least, to include no Pokemon which are entirely passive. Arguably I didn’t fill all the criteria with this team but it both performed consistently in testing and contained threats that were bulky and fitted to my own style of play. Another added bonus of this team is both a Fire/Water/Grass core and a Steel/Fairy/Dragon core which allows me to make optimal defensive switches into punishing offensive options.

All of the EV spreads for this team I made myself – I like to refrain from using elements of others’ teams aside from as reference points to make my own EV’s around. I see many people asking online for people to make sets for them but ultimately, it is only the players themselves who know what their own team has a weakness to and what is optimal. Practice makes perfect!

MISS. INGNO (Kangaskhan) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 172 Atk / 156 Def / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Double-Edge
– Low Kick
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

Bought to 20/20 games this season

I’ll get this Pokemon out of the way first as many of you have seen Kangaskhan throughout VGC ’14 and this season. The majority of the Pokemon placed on my team are made to either threaten or deter threats that give my Mega trouble, such as Terrakion, Landorus-T, Mawile and Aegislash. I felt like Protect was a more consistent option than Fake Out as well due to opponents often double Protecting in BO1 anyway, and in BO3 being able to Protect helps me pivot around Kangaskhan so I can keep it in the field after turn one if a threat appears.

I made this EV spread myself to survive opposing Kangaskhan’s Adamant Low Kick, to outspeed max speed Timid Heatran that have become a common choice of late, and to contain enough attack power to still reliably OHKO 4HP Kangakhan with Low Kick. I only switched to Double Edge a week before the tournament; it was originally Return but the lack of power was noticeable and the bulk investment was still sufficient vs opposing Kang (as I would not be using Double Edge against them unless I predict a switch out). I brought Kangaskhan to every single game on the day, in fact I lead with it every game too! This proves the strengths outweigh it’s weaknesses in an effective team setup, with the right partners to deal with major threats.

STEVE (Sylveon) @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Def / 188 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Hyper Beam
– Helping Hand
– Protect

Bought to 11/20 games this season

Named after the one and only Edgson.

I found Sylveon to be exceptional vs more passive teams such as the one I faced in the UK Regionals top cut and opposing Trick Room during turn one. A lot of powerful setup strategies that use Pokemon such as Pachirisu and Togekiss are also hindered due to Hyper Voice being such a powerful spread move, hitting the partner for heavy damage. I found many opponents tried to target down Sylveon the instant it is sent out as well due to it being a hard-hitting threat, so I felt Protect was a must and Choice Specs was too risky to use (often the extra power is unnecessary because Pokemon like Assault Vest Conkeldurr are EV’d to survive the Specs variant of Hyper Voice anyway). The older version of this team had Life Orb with Hidden Power Ground, but I eventually found the power between that and Pixie Plate barely noticeable and Hyper Beam’s ridiculous wallbreaking potential means I could justify swapping the item and Hidden Power out. Helping Hand was an asset on the team for multiple situations – even with Tailwind Sylveon doesn’t outspeed the Jolly base 100+ speed tier and I wanted to keep the bulk investment as it was, so Helping Hand can guarantee faster threats get the KO’s they need. Even without speed control I can guarantee KO’s with Kangaskhan’s Sucker Punch, or my Scarfer which will be revealed shortly, before Sylveon is attacked. To give an actual situation where it came in useful I Helping Hand boosted my Kangaskhan to OHKO an opposing Heatran with Low Kick through Chople Berry during one of the Nugget Bridge Live tournaments I entered.

The EV spread was created to survive Jolly Mega Salamence’s Double Edge and KO back variants with slight bulk investment, as well as surviving some Kangaskhan Double Edge’s and all Kangaskhan’s Returns and KO’ing back less bulky variants with Hyper Beam if I need to remove one immediately. The special defence investment may seem very low but it still allows me to take an unboosted Flash Cannon from Aegislash and deal some damage back with Hyper Beam. The 20 speed investment was left over from my calculations and is there to speed creep other Sylveon.

KrillerQueen (Milotic) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 36 Def / 220 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Scald
– Icy Wind
– Ice Beam
– Hydro Pump

Bought to 10/20 games this season

I want to break free from making these terrible nicknames!

A large threat to Kangaskhan was Intimidate and the prominent Landorus-T. This made Milotic a very good choice to threaten Landorus and, like Bisharp, manipulate the opponent into not leading with their Intimidators. This moveset may seem ridiculous at first glace; surely two water and ice type moves isn’t making the most of the movepool available to Milotic? I considered the other options a lot and I found all the Hidden Power types to be poor options to be forced into, with Grass and Fire being only powerful in best of one situations before being revealed. Often against threats such as Suicune a burn is a lot more valuable to chip away health consistently and to limit switch ins because of the burn chance. Mirror Coat falls into the same category of being tough to use after being scouted (as well as being awkward on a Choice set). Icy Wind found use as an extra form of speed control, and the spread coverage enabled me to get past redirection if needed (for example if the opponent uses Dragon Dance with redirection I can nullity the speed increase whilst doing chip damage, allowing my partner to KO the Follow Me/Rage Powder user). Hydro Pump was to guarantee a OHKO on Terrakion which Scald failed to pick up, and due to the popularity of the fighting type I kept it on the set. Scarf is also an interesting concept on a Milotic, making it difficult to remove due to being able to attack first reliably against common speed tiers in the metagame, with a brilliant base 81 speed that speed creeps Timid base 80 Scarfers, Adamant Scarf Landorus-T and base 130 speed Pokemon such as Mega Gengar.

The EV spread is simple – it survives all priority attacks up to Choice Band Talonflame’s Brave Bird and keeps the fantastic speed tier. The rest is invested in special attack.

FlamingShibe (Entei) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 116 HP / 132 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Sacred Fire
– Stone Edge
– Snarl
– Protect

Bought to 15/20 games this season

I’ve seen various sources stating that they believe Entei is a poor man’s Arcanine. However, there was several reasons I spent days soft resetting for one. Stone Edge makes Entei a fantastic option against Charizard Y, Volcarona and the sun archetype the rest of my team has problems against. Sacred Fire is also similar to Scald in that it limits the plays an opponent can make due to the threat of a burn. I saw that Safety Goggles was a popular option on Battle Spot which surprised me – Substitute is a very good option to check teams worried about Amoonguss and Breloom, and additionally Sacred Fire does massive damage to both of them, 2HKO’ing Sitrus Amoonguss if redirected and threatening just under a 50% chance to OHKO Breloom factoring in the burn chance and move accuracy, a heavy risk to take to Spore. On the subject of Substitute I did test it as a move alongside Will O Wisp for the guaranteed burn chance but found Snarl much more useful for the bulky style of my team, offering special attack drops alongside the potential physical attack drop of Sacred Fire to make my team’s bulk insurmountable in some situations. More reasons I used Entei over Arcanine were the higher BST which allowed me to invest more efficiently to take Earthquakes etc, and the lack of Intimidate due to many teams containing Defiant or Competitive alongside the more threatening physical attackers nowadays. I figured I would take my chances with a high probability to burn rather than occasionally cause a domino effect; even though Arcanine has access to Will O Wisp to lure Bisharp’s Sucker Punch as an example, the opponent could predict around my forced plays, leaving a powerful +1 Bisharp against my weakened team. Flexibility seems to be key.

The EVs were created to survive Landorus-T’s Choice Scarf Earthquake and Life Orb Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor. The speed investment was to outspeed Smeargle’s tier and give me another option to hit it and burn through a Sash if my Kangaskhan is threatened, as well as outspeeding a lot of Pokemon who aim for the same speed tier. The leftover EV’s went into attack to give Entei additional power.

Metal★Face (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 28 Def / 20 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
– Leech Seed
– Gyro Ball
– Power Whip
– Protect

Bought to 8/20 games this season

I have been using Ferrothorn as a hard rain check since VGC ’14 due to the prominence of rain teams in the European metagame. I didn’t end up facing it on the day of Regionals but Ferrothorn had similar uses to Heatran in that if certain threats are taken out, Ferrothorn can wall an entire team if unprepared (as well as stall with Leech Seed) – although you need a heavily defensive mindset and good team management to achieve this most of the time. The only major problem I face with Ferrothorn is it’s low speed, allowing it to be 2HKO’d in some situations (which Billa took advantage of during Swiss), however, physical attackers take a lot of damage and often put themselves into KO range for Kangaskhan to clean up. Power Whip and Gyro Ball are self-explanatory and as STAB moves help out my team’s overall coverage. Lum Berry was considered because Ferrothorn often gets targeted with burn by Rotom-W, but I found the large amount of chip damage from Rocky Helmet + Iron Barbs saved me on occasions where I had to stall physical attackers.

The EV spread 2HKO’s the most bulky AV Ludicolo set I have seen (Bopper’s ’14 Worlds Ludicolo set) and KO’s Mega Kangaskhan after being attacked by it, factoring in Rocky Helmet damage. It also survives Virizion’s Life Orb Close Combat, Terrakion’s unboosted Close Combat and has an 18% chance to be 2HKO’d by max attack Scrafty’s Drain Punch. It also beats Aegislash 1V1 in a mirror with Leech Seed as long as Aegislash does not get an early special defence drop with Shadow Ball.

Da Ba Dee♪♪♪ (Latios) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Psychic
– Hidden Power Ground
– Tailwind

Bought to 15/20 games this season

Latios turned out to be a surprise MVP during both tournaments. He manages to check plenty of threats with a good speed tier and excellent STAB coverage, helping me out against Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, Terrakion and more Pokemon that cannot hit Latios for super effective damage. Hidden Power Ground was an option for Steel types, particularly Heatran and Mawile in Rain if I needed to hit them relatively hard. My team lacked methods to OHKO Heatran but the presence of multiple threats that can hit it super effectively is usually enough to deal with it. Tailwind was another unexpected move for many I faced, and I found Latios to be both one of the most powerful and consistent setters with a Focus Sash and great typing; Latias misses out on extra power and needs a boosting item to even KO Terrakion, which means less investment for other areas. I will admit that if I could fit Protect on the set and didn’t run Tailwind I would remove Sash for Life Orb which was suggested to me multiple times, as it can pick up extra OHKO’s on some key threats e.g. fast Heatran and Virizion.

Team Weaknesses

Cresselia almost always manages to set up on me as I lack ways to OHKO it outright, although chip damage allows me to take care of it with Sylveon + another Pokemon before it causes too many problems. Trick Room sets however will usually get the chance to set up with Fake Out support if my opponents suspect my own Kangaskhan doesn’t carry the move; I would simply have to adapt with slower Pokemon to the conditions and use Snarl and burns to chip away at their team, or resort to switching in resists (which thankfully isn’t too much of an issue due to my team’s good type synergy). I carry no Taunt as most Cresselia that need to set up seem to carry Mental Herb, so it’s not as useful as in previous seasons.

Suicune turned out to be a major problem for me at Regionals, resulting in two of my losses on the day when I decided it was too risky to bring Ferrothorn just to use Power Whip. Specifically Calm Mind sets and Snarl sets + recovery enable it to wall some of my more powerful attackers such as Sylveon and Latios.

Other major weaknesses are generally based on leading incorrectly for particular combinations as I had good checks to individual threats. Mega Gengar is not particularly common but if it is used effectively and the opponent gets past Latios’ Sash, it can heavily weaken most of my team with a Will O Wisp offensive set, or even cause issues with Perish Song. This team also doesn’t have a way to OHKO Amoonguss, which I accommodated for with a change to my team come Nationals.

UK Regionals Tournament

I woke up at 5am and took a train journey to get to Birmingham in time for the tournament. Thankfully my group arrived early so we managed to stock up on supplies before heading to the town hall where the venue was. I spent most of the journey trying to convince my friend Robbert (ragnarobb) not to use a Double Team Thundurus, telling him about the merits of Swagger. With that he decided, to the tune of many annoyed opponents during the day, to get rid of Protect for Swagger and put Brightpowder as it’s held item (Sitrus and Leftovers were already in use). Additionally, Jade (evilpinkdragon) was running a Mega Heracross team with various speed control options and Matt (bullanator) was running Wide Guard Mega Gallade. After a relatively painless registration we waited for our games to begin…

Round One vs Liam

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This was Liam’s first tournament and he was using what appeared to be an in-game team so I lead with my go-to Kangaskhan/Latios lead. Blaziken was the main threat to my Kangaskhan, so Latios covers the weakness nicely, and I even have the option of using Tailwind on a Protect. This comes into play on the second turn, where I Tailwind up for a relatively clean victory; not much on the team could survive a Double Edge from Kangaskhan. I wished my opponent luck in the next round and waited with my friends for the next game

1-0

Round Two vs James Kelly

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James recognised me from the train journey so it was nice to see a familiar face! As for the battle, his Kangaskhan/Sableye lead actually threatened mine heavily. Unfortunately a turn one misclick from James changed momentum in my favour entirely, despite a Quick Claw Quash activation happening to out-prioritise my Sucker Punch into the opposing Kangaskhan the next turn – I felt it was a safe play when it was shown that mine was faster by the mega evolution order. Sylveon and Kang dealt with the rest of the team relatively well as his Mega was on low health – also a shoutout to three Mega Kangaskhan’s being on the field during turn four!

2-0

Round Three vs Chris Barton (Havak)

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Chris is a great guy who the UK community has a lot to thank for, with his well hosted tournaments over the years. I had never actually battled him though so I was intrigued to see a team containing a heavy VGC ’13 influence with Conkeldurr/Cresselia/Heatran used against me. I figured Kangaskhan and Sylveon would be a safe lead to apply pressure if Trick Room + support such as Fake Out or redirection was on the field turn one (assuming he had Trick Room, which it transpired was actually never used). This turn was huge in terms of momentum, and I took an educated guess that Chris was carrying Fake Out to set up a Substitute for Heatran, so I opted not to Protect and double target the Kangaskhan. Hyper Beam from Sylveon OHKO’ing one of the biggest threats then allowed me to focus my efforts on taking out the rest of the team and keeping my two Pokemon on the field prepared for all potential opposition. Latios and Milotic worked brilliantly together for this purpose; Chris had a Togekiss in team preview so I was worried that would be bought and I would regret not bringing Ferrothorn, but it turned out not to be the case.

3-0

Lunch Break!

This tournament was so well hosted we actually got a break on time! My local friends, as well as Matthew (Aren142) and Nathan (Gazooki666) – who you may remember for the wonderful mono Fairy team he used at ’14 UK Nationals – walked to Subway to chow down on some well-earned lunch. The trek back was entertaining since the venue was considerably placed on a tall, steep hill. Whilst catching breath and realising the health benefits of competitive Pokemon battling, suddenly round four was upon us.

Round Four vs Rafik Sadli

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I know Rafik from the chat which the Walsall lads and I frequent, it was funny to be paired against another familiar name. Immediately I led Kangaskhan and Milotic to put me in a decent position vs Landorus-Therian in the back and Volcarona, which I wanted to take out quickly in case it was a Quiver Dance set with Aegislash as Wide Guard support (how wrong I was!). Hilariously Gardevoir tracing Competitive threatened me into not using Icy Wind on the first turn, so I had to switch out which was read perfectly by my opposition. Taking out Volcarona allowed my preserved Ferrothorn to seal up the game, but not without scoring an unfortunate critical hit to take out the Gardevoir earlier than planned. If you’re reading this Rafik you played superbly; you should join us all on the chat more often too!

4-0

Round Five vs Stephen Gibbon (Stegibbon)

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So here I was, sitting on Table 1 against Stephen, both of us with perfect scores. I feared him leading with Liepard/Breloom so I lead appropriately for it, with chances to KO the Breloom and switch to a backup plan of Ferrothorn if necessary (which coincidently walled the majority of his team too). Steve was in the back to scream at the opposition with Hyper Voice as well. What could possibly go wrong? The answer for me was a lot, and he dispatched my Ferrothorn quickly which didn’t allow me to chip the Suicune into KO range later. Even though I played poorly throughout this game by allowing team members to get paralysed, Sylveon bought the match down to a 50-50 call of whether to Sucker Punch the Metagross or Double Edge the Suicune – KO’ing either would almost guarantee me the game. I incorrectly call both predictions (the first Double Edge was a poor play as the Metagross should feel relatively safe, whereas Suicune was in KO range with a Helping Hand boost). The second attempt I felt I thought out somewhat better, because Metagross was faster and Suicune being taken out would have more than likely sealed up the game, leading me to conclude he’d Protect Suicune and attack with Metagross. This didn’t turn out to be the case and I lose. Thankfully all losses are learning experiences and I analysed the battle before heading into my next game.

4-1

Round Six vs Baris Akcos (Billa)

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I was so glad to face off against a Worlds competitor in this tournament! I feel this match could have gone a lot differently had I played less aggressively with the Ferrothorn because it was a win condition against Baris’ team; I assumed that he would target down the Kangaskhan as he saw his own was faster the first turn of the game and he also didn’t know I had Protect at that point. It was tough for me to come back at this stage, and eventually my Choiced Milotic runs out of PP due to Suicune’s Pressure! I thought that I played much better in the latter half of the game but, with Kangaskhan KO’d, it was too little too late. Regardless it was an entertaining game – although I felt like I was out of the top cut at this point I still decided to play the tournament out and was eager to see what other strategies I’d face.

4-2

Round Seven vs Gerald de Olivera

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This player faced me on heavy tilt, mentioning their previous game where they fell victim to Swagger, Thunder Wave, Double Team Thundurus. I knew I shouldn’t have let Robbert take the genie through team registration…

I decided not to share this replay as I felt the opponent’s previous match somewhat affected the outcome of this game. I managed to set up a Tailwind turn one and KO his Charizard before he burns my Kangaskhan which I felt was a good trade. From there, I take out the Gengar and Hydreigon with Kangskhan, Latios and Sylveon as my Draco Meteor misses and my opponent scores a critical hit with a -2 Draco the following turn to knock out my Kang. Thankfully, with those two out, Conkeldurr could be taken out with the combined presence of Sylveon and Entei in the back.

5-2

Round Eight vs (bagleopard)

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My final opponent of the Swiss turned out to be another Nugget Bridge member! Once again I fell back on the Kangaskhan/Latios lead as I felt they supported each other well and I had the ability to set up Tailwind; Latios could also take out the troublesome Mega Salamence whilst Kangaskhan could defeat Mamoswine. I loved his use of Crobat as a lead – I tested it myself earlier in the season and found it was a fantastic Tailwind supporter. Fortunately for me the opposition decided to Quick Guard the first turn as I used Double Edge on Crobat and got my own Tailwind up with Latios, forcing my opponent to play on the defensive to get around the situation throughout the next few turns. I bought it down to a Choice Scarfed Mamoswine and doubled up on it to secure the win, Milotic being clutch throughout this game with its item choice.

6-2

I didn’t expect to get into Top Cut at this point, but felt pleased that I had managed to play some incredible opposition and not go on tilt during the tournament. Looking at the results, I was completely stunned to see myself in 8th position above some very big names who had just missed out via percentage. This meant I had to fight the only player who went undefeated in Swiss.

Top Eight vs Jamie Boyt (MrJellyLeggs)

My opponent went undefeated in the Swiss and his team immediately struck me as one that has plenty of surprises up it’s sleeves, with an unconventional choice in Serperior as well as both Lucario and Charizard. Milotic had served me well throughout Swiss but here there were too many threats that either OHKO’d it outright or didn’t care about it being on the field. I didn’t bring Ferrothorn to either game, which in hindsight would have been incredibly useful in threatening Suicune and Serperior. Additionally, all of Jamie’s Pokemon that threatened the Steel and Grass type had to take both Rocky Helmet and Iron Barbs recoil – in the case of Mega Charizard X, Flare Blitz recoil too which would have put it into Sucker Punch range. In game two I feel Ferro could have been useful over Entei seeing as the Charizard wasn’t a Y variant, meaning Stone Edge wasn’t quite as valuable.



Game One

My go-to lead was Latios and Kangaskhan – it provided immediate speed control against what appeared to be a very offensive team. The coverage Latios and Kangaskhan provided takes on most of his team including Suicune and Serperior, which I predicted as a lead. However, he leads Thundurus and Lucario. With this I felt I had a chance to Tailwind as Kangaskhan would be the number one target to get rid of, and if I Protected I could outspeed Jamie’s lead the second turn and force him to make a call. This happens, and I make the decision to Double Edge Thundurus assuming he would Protect and he didn’t Mega Evolve to keep Inner Focus on the first turn. This knocks out the Thundurus, but I was surprised to see Lucario not Mega again and use Close Combat, which I thought was rash initially as I could have KO’d it outright. Turns out after analysis Jamie had no safe switch ins, nor did he have Protect so that was his best play to preserve the Pokemon in the back. He knocked out Kangaskhan factoring in Double Edge recoil and I discover the Focus Sash when my Latios uses Psychic. The next turn I switch in Sylveon as he brings in Charizard. I expect the double target into Sylveon with Heat Wave and Bullet Punch, so I switch Entei in over Latios (in case I need the Focus Sash later) and Protect. He does indeed double target but the Charizard X is revealed which makes my Hyper Voice more effective. The next turn Follow Me is shown as I decide a double target is the only play he could use to win this match, so I fire two attacks off and thankfully both of them connect, knocking out both Pokemon. The match is pretty much mine from this point, but not without seeing a very fast Togekiss that could have potentially been a Scarf variant.

Game Two

For the second game Jamie leads with Serperior and Suicune. Completely unaware of their tricks I went for the Tailwind/Double Edge into Serperior, expecting to pick up a KO. However, Serperior goes for the Reflect which enables it to survive and set up a Tailwind of its own with Suicune. I felt it was a bad decision in hindsight for me to go for the Tailwind on the same turn because if I managed to let the opponent use Tailwind first, my Tailwind would fade out afterwards, giving me momentum. I would have also been able to double up on a Pokemon of choice but, of course, Jamie may have considered the same action. Reflect was really troublesome for me to get past with the Suicune setting up a Calm Mind the next turn as I knock out the Serperior and cause chip damage with Psychic. Next I double target the Thundurus slot, which I end up regretting, as Thundurus outspeeds and KO’s Kangaskhan – I was expecting the Latios to get double targeted due to Reflect being in play and Kangaskhan potentially knocking herself out with recoil anyway. If I’d used Draco Meteor on the Thundurus slot I would have had a high chance to OHKO factoring in Life Orb recoil (I didn’t discover the item until this turn) and put myself in a better position; I feel that the lowered Special Attack (preventing me from OHKOing the Charizard X on the switch-in) and the belief that my Kangaskhan would not be KO’d in the turn stopped me from doing this. Jamie from here cleverly doubles the Sylveon that I switch in the next turn, although it doesn’t cause enough damage to stop me from using Hyper Voice. The match was truly over when my opponent set up Tailwind, which guaranteed both of his Pokemon outsped and KO’d my own. I was outplayed in this match, and the different Pokemon choices Jamie made caught me out.

Game Three

This time around I lead with Kangaskhan and Sylveon in fear of the lead used in game two. This is punished with a fantastic lead from Jamie: Charizard and Lucario. From this I expect the Sylveon to be double targeted so as a result play defensively and switch Latios in to set up my own Tailwind whilst Sylveon Protects. I was surprised to see that Sylveon was not Bullet Punched nor did it get hit by Flare Blitz. Dragon Dance happens, and it’s a smart move, albeit risky if my Sylveon did decide to launch a Hyper Voice at both Pokemon on the field. He chose not to Mega Evolve, however, to combat the possibility of that happening, as it’d be resisted. Close Combat hitting Latios also breaks its Sash so I find myself in a bad spot for misreading the first turn. Turn two brings me back some momentum as Jamie aims attacks at both of my Pokemon, not KO’ing the Sylveon and taking a Hyper Voice for his troubles. The turn afterwards I feel decided the outcome of the match. My flawed logic was that my opponent had to stop Sylveon from attacking, but Kangaskhan can Sucker Punch. As he hadn’t shown Protect I assumed his only play was to Close Combat Kangaskhan and Flare Blitz the Sylveon since Follow Me is punished by Hyper Voice. He does use Follow Me in the turn however and KO’s my Kangaskhan, which lets me knock out both Pokemon with Hyper Voice and bring the match to a 2v2. I use Protect on Sylveon the following turn as it’s my win condition and if it manages to Hyper Voice the game would be won; he doesn’t fall for this however and does a gutsy play of predicting my Protect and targeting Entei. My Entei then Snarls and I know my Sylveon is likely to survive a combination of -1 Thunderbolt and Scald based on the damage Sylveon received from a +1 Scald and Thunderbolt in game 2. Unfortunately the next turn he manages to get a critical hit with the Thunderbolt, which may have changed the course of the battle. It was still a slim chance of winning if I used Hyper Voice that turn, but it was possible. I don’t have any regrets about how I played the latter half of the game and I’m glad I could have faced Jamie’s unconventional and well-built team, as well as feel the atmosphere of being up on stage with other UK players clapping and cheering us. Eighth place at the first UK Regionals isn’t half bad either!

UK Nationals Preparation

Whilst my Pokemon choices remained the same when entering the UK Nationals, I made a few edits to the team to help me out against certain problematic team builds:

Feeling Ruff (Entei) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 116 HP / 132 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 164 Spe -> 92 HP / 100 Atk / 4 Def / 148 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Sacred Fire
– Stone Edge
– Snarl -> Roar
– Protect

To compensate for removing Snarl, I felt the need to increase the Special Defence investment to live a +2 Aegislash Shadow Ball whilst still surviving Landorus-T’s Scarf Earthquake. But you may be asking yourselves: why on earth use Roar over Snarl?

You may notice that my team appears weak to Trick Room and Perish Song at a glance. Roar enables me to prevent Trick Room from being set up by being -6 priority, one priority above Trick Room. I can also shout at my own Pokemon or a Shadow Tag Pokemon to get them out of the field, giving me the versatility of switching. I also have the cheeky combo of using Hyper Beam with Sylveon, then Roaring with Entei to pivot myself out and remove the cooldown turn of that attack. Overall I believe changing Snarl was one of the best decisions made for my team.

Da Ba Dee♪♪♪ (Latios) @ Focus Sash -> Life Orb

After much convincing from Matt (Mattsby), I switched my item to Life Orb. Bisharp’s apparent decline in popularity (and the fact my team had multiple answers for it already) resulted in me feeling more confident about removing the Focus Sash. Here is a few calculations that wouldn’t have been possible without a Life Orb

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Hidden Power Ground vs. 44 HP / 4 SpD Heatran: 172-203 (100 – 118%) — guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Virizion: 164-195 (98.2 – 116.7%) — 81.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Thundurus: 173-204 (111.6 – 131.6%) — guaranteed OHKO (NOTE – Life Orb Offensive Thundurus seemed to be the most common variant in testing)

UK Nationals Tournament

At the tournament itself registration went ahead of time and we were all checking in at about 10am. Unfortunately the time ticked down to 2pm before the first round even started, which was disappointing after a promising start organisation-wise. I couldn’t gather the replays for the event but I did record them on my camera – they will soon be up on my Youtube channel if anyone likes shaky cameras and hates words.

Round One vs Liam Murphy

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Liam knew me before the match started as I faced his friend at Regionals! From team preview I knew I wasn’t going to have an easy time when I saw the Perish/Rain core, so I had to be careful with my leads. Kangaskhan was relatively flexible as a lead and hits Mega Gengar hard if I don’t mega evolve, whereas Milotic will allow me to hit the potential Mega Lopunny before it attacks, as well as put pressure on all leads barring Politoed + Ludicolo. I knew Ferrothorn was my win condition as only Mega Lopunny threatened to 2HKO it, and it fares well against the Rain mode. Perish is set up turn one with the Gengar/Raichu lead but on the second turn of Perish, Liam switches out both of his leads for Politoed and Ludicolo, predicting I would target the Raichu slot. Unfortunately for him I call the potential Eject Button switch in and double up on what was the Mega Gengar slot. Ludicolo lives the attacks and I’m free to switch out. From here I gain momentum from a double switch and manage to deal with the rest of the team before another Perish Song destroys my ‘mons.

1-0

Round Two vs (gingeruprising)

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A member of Nugget Bridge for the second round! Unfortunately this match took several minutes to start due to both our 3DS’s being unable to connect for an unknown reason, forcing us both to restart our games. When the battle does start I decide to lead Kangaskhan with Latios to support against the potential Amoonguss, Hydriegon or Conkeldurr. The lead also enables me to KO Milotic with a Double Edge + Draco Meteor. My opponent however leads Talonflame and Amoonguss, Protecting and Quick Guarding on the first turn as I Double Edge the Talonflame for the OHKO. I can understand why Quick Guard was used and it’s a shame it didn’t succeed due to me not carrying Fake Out! Next turn Metagross is on the field and Amoonguss is switched manually for Hydreigon as I Psychic and Double Edge the Amoonguss slot to accommodate for a switch, catching and OHKO’ing Hydreigon. Metagross sets up a Substitute which was a wise choice. Hidden Power and Sucker Punch hits the Metagross next turn, an unfortunate critical hit on the Hidden Power sealing up the game for me as Amoonguss is left alone on the field.

2-0

Round Three vs Sam Brookes-Franclin

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So for round three I find myself getting paired up with Sabrofra of SONM, a Nintendo-based forum I frequent. It was nice to finally meet him in person and his team scared me in preview by being intimidatingly bulky. I had to lead very hyper-offensively to even hope to break through it, whilst Sam bought out Bisharp and Cresselia, evidently wanting to take out the Latios that threatened Mega Venusaur. Once again, my win condition was the Ferrothorn and I couldn’t afford to lose it recklessly so I had it in the back, ready to switch in. I manage to take out Bisharp turn one, switching Latios for Ferrothorn as Cresselia uses Skill Swap on my Kangaskhan, cruelly taking away Parental Bond! This is given to Venusaur next turn as I switch my Kangaskhan out and Leech Seed Cresselia. Over the next few turns I trade Latios to get Tailwind up as the leads change to Kangaskhan and Entei in Tailwind on my end vs a Mega Venusaur and Suicune on the other side. Thankfully I win the struggle and manage to take out Venusaur, allowing my Ferrothorn to clean up the remainder of the team. Good game Sam and I hope to see you around the circuit more!

3-0

Round Four vs Maxwell Boyle

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Maxwell was my round four opponent and I was met with a very well-constructed Trick Room team! Thankfully I lead with my secret weapon, attempting to lure attention with Kangaskhan whilst my Entei threatens Trick Room being placed with Roar. Double Edge may have seemed strange on the Mawile turn one but it guaranteed my Entei KO’s the Mawile with Sacred Fire even at -1. Play Rough does severe damage to Kangaskhan from the Mawile and it puts me in Sucker Punch range. The next turn I Low Kick the Heatran and score an unfortunate critical hit which OHKO’s whilst I Sacred Fire the Mawile slot which switches to Dusclops. Hariyama and Dusclops put me in a difficult position and Maxwell gets his Trick Room as I choose to switch Kang for Sylveon in case of Close Combat, and to threaten his switch ins. Hariyama switches for Mawile as Dusclops shows the ace up it’s sleeve: Memento. Unfortunately for me I miss the Sacred Fire on the predicted switch, so even though I have more Pokemon on my side of the field, the game definitely isn’t over. My Entei is targeted with Hariyama’s Stone Edge and KO’d whilst I Hyper Beam the Hariyama and incorrectly call the amount of damage it would do, leaving a Mawile and Hariyama on half health against my Sylveon and Kangaskhan. I manage to stall out the Trick Room with Protects and predicting Sucker Punch onto my Kangaskhan, Helping Hand Sucker Punch the Hariyama, which only just manages to OHKO after the earlier Hyper Beam. My preserved Milotic in the back manages to clean up a very close match.

4-0

Xenoblade Hero vs No Lunch Break?

It was roughly 6pm at this point and my food rations had ran out. To avoid further delays we weren’t given a break, nor could we risk leaving the venue due to potentially missing a round. I wasn’t the only person in this situation and I can safely say this did affect players throughout the day. I hope the tournament organisers can plan the event better for next year, as this level of neglect in organisation isn’t a one-off.

Round Five vs Miguel Marti (Sekiam)

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I was paired with none other than Sekiam in round five! I expected the Blaziken lead so I lead with Latios/Kangaskhan in an effort to potentially set up Tailwind. This came in useful unexpectedly since Milotic and Amoonguss were bought out. Over the next two turns, Miguel switches Amoonguss for Tyranitar when I predicted redirection, then Tyranitar back into Amoonguss to cause Rocky Helmet recoil from Low Kick when I called the Scarf attack onto Latios, which was very clever. This caused my Kang to become burned with a Scald from the Milotic, and my Kangaskhan knocks itself out with Double Edge the next turn whilst the Amoonguss/Milotic lead Scalds and Spores into Latios. From this point onwards it was very difficult to win the match. There’s a lot of switches, but I do manage to OHKO the Scarf Tyranitar with a Gyro Ball as I keep switching between Latios and Milotic to take hits between them and preserve them both. Milotic even survives a critical hit Power Whip from three-quarters health, and Amoonguss lives a Life Orb Latios Psychic on a minimal amount of HP when it wakes up! Eventually I bring it down to a 1 against 2 with Ferrothorn remaining but ultimately Miguel chose to wait for the timer to count down and win the match. Even without the timer though, Excadrill would have likely cleaned up the remaining Ferrothorn. Good game!

4-1

Round Six vs Suzan Radić (Sumpex)

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I knew Suzan as I battled her at one of the Streetpass qualifier events in 2014, so it was nice to battle again. She had a considerably threatening team and this was the first battle in my competitive season I chose not to lead with Kangaskhan because she had so many answers for it with a potential Mega Lopunny, Salamence (which turned out to be Scarf) and Landorus-T. Milotic was a good pick for the double Intimidate core, and it can support Entei relatively well so I decided to lead with those two. Sylveon and Lopunny was her lead and I spent the first turn trying to burn Lopunny with Scald, which fails, as Fake Out goes into Entei and Hyper Voice hits my team. Lopunny shows the Protect second turn as I switch the Milotic to Ferrothorn in case I need it later. Third turn was scary as I had to call what the Lopunny would target, otherwise I would be in a very difficult position. Protecting Ferrothorn is my call seeing as it can potentially OHKO both the Pokemon on the field. It turns out to be the correct choice as I get to OHKO the Lopunny with Sacred Fire whilst Drain Punch hits the Protect and Hyper Voice almost KO’s my Entei due to the chip damage it had taken. Salamence switches in, and I switch Kangaskhan into the Ferrothorn slot in fear of a Fire move. Suzan chose to Earthquake with the Salamence and switch Sylveon for Aegislash, activating a Weakness Policy but also putting the Aegislash in Sucker Punch range for me, as well as knocking out my Entei. KOing the Aegislash seals the game for me, as Sylveon and Salamence are cleaned up with the combination of Kangaskhan and Milotic.

5-1

Round Seven vs Pedro Lima

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A very polite Portuguese player was my seventh opponent. From team preview I saw that Ferrothorn was a must-bring, and the rest of my choices were made to protect the Ferrothorn and allow it to clean up late game. The first turn I predict Heatran to Protect so I attack Suicune and switch back to Latios. I call this incorrectly as Pedro decided to Heat Wave, causing plenty of damage, whilst Tailwinding with the Suicune. This caught me by surprise as unless the Heatran was exceptionally bulky (it wasn’t running Chople) I had the chance to OHKO it turn one, clearing up the main threat to Ferrothorn, but I didn’t call this correctly. When I get up my own Tailwind my opponent decided to play more defensively, Protecting with the Heatran that was behind a Substitute then switching it out for Cresselia, which I didn’t call. My opponent seemed to adapt quickly to the situation. Whilst we both make defensive switches I eventually catch out Cresselia using Icy Wind as I switch in my Milotic, giving me a +2 Special Attack boost. This allows me to take out the Heatran before it uses Heat Wave on Ferrothorn since my opponent didn’t suspect the Scarf I’m holding. Kangaskhan switches in, and eventually reveals it has both Fake Out and Protect which turns out to be very important later. With less than a minute left on the clock we’re put in a 2V2 situation with Pedro’s switched in Kangaskhan and Cresselia vs my own Ferrothorn and low HP Kangaskhan. I make the mistake of targeting Kangaskhan as he Protects and wins on HP majority. My mistake cost me as I drop to X-2 with two battles left.

5-2

Round Eight vs Gareth Buckley

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Gareth was such a great guy to face; so full of energy despite all of us being at the venue for over thirteen hours at this point! His team was full of unconventional sets, namely Charge Zapdos which gave me an awful lot of trouble with the Special Defence boosts he managed to get up. I lead with Kangaskhan and Latios against a Bisharp and Zapdos. Sylveon was very useful in this situation so I decided to switch it in on the second turn whilst scaring the Bisharp out, allowing me to throw out Hyper Voice against a bulky Charge Zapdos and Suicune. Zapdos takes out my Kangaskhan as I Double Edge and Hyper Voice the Suicune, which barely survives and throws out an Icy Wind. My Draco Meteor misses Zapdos unfortunately as Roost and Rest is used against me, Suicune showing it’s Chesto Berry. The next turn I focus my efforts on successfully KO’ing the Suicune. Bisharp switches into the slot and I switch Latios out for Entei as I Protect my Sylveon and go on the defensive, successfully predicting the Iron Head. By the time I knock out the Bisharp with Sacred Fire, I’m facing a very scary +4 special defence Zapdos and a Terrakion. Sylveon managed to avoid a Rock Slide and survive the charged Thunderbolt as I Hyper Voice the Terrakion for the KO, leaving three members of my team to deal with Zapdos. Very good game sir, you had me worried when you pulled off so many Charges whilst I was dealing with your other threats!

6-2

Round Nine vs Alberto Gini (BraindeadPrimeape)

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My final opponent was none other than Alberto Gini. Seeing a sun mode within the team I chose to lead with Latios and Entei instead of bringing Kangaskhan. This is because Tailwind is possibly the key to me winning this game, and Entei deals with the sun archetype very well. Charizard and Aegislash is the lead. I manage to double target the Aegislash with Hidden Power and Sacred Fire for the KO as Charizard switches out to Sylveon, and Landorus-T is sent in. I’m worried that the Scarf Landorus-T will flinch me when it goes for the Rock Slide but thankfully it doesn’t as I Protect Entei and get my Tailwind up, sacrificing Latios to get Kangaskhan on the field. From here I make the mistake of not targeting the Sylveon, instead double targeting the Landorus-T expecting either a switch or Protect from the Sylveon. Landorus faints as Hyper Voice is successful and hits my team for good damage. I then wrongly predict twice in a row that Charizard Y will Protect to live my Stone Edge attempt, instead double attacking Sylveon expecting it to Hyper Voice. This is punished, and I’m left with Milotic on red health against a burned red health Sylveon and a full HP Charizard. From here, I double target the Charizard with a Scald and Stone Edge combination, but unfortunately for me Stone Edge misses. Alberto gets the momentum he needs, Heat Waving to knock out Milotic and put Entei on low health. From here I successfully use Protect twice to stall out the sun and Sylveon faints. All rests on me surviving the oncoming Overheat outside of Sun from Charizard Y, but the damage is enough to knock my Entei out. I was still very happy to see the win meant a lot to Alberto and his friends cheered him on as he went 7-2. I shake his hand and wish him the best for top cut!

6-3, 41st overall

It shows that there’s such a small line between victory and failure. Although my season is over, I will keep practising so I can get even stronger when VGC ’16 comes around where hopefully they’ll be more tournaments that I can gain CP from and get some realistic practise in before the Nationals.

Conclusion

  • Thanks firstly to my sister (evilpinkdragon) for encouraging me, offering input and just being an awesome person in general.
  • Congratulations to my good friend Robbert for going 4-0 at one point with Swagger, Thunder Wave, Double Team, Brightpowder Thundurus at Regionals. Never forget. Thanks to Matt, Robbert, Katy, Nick, Andrew, Sean, Alex, Nathan and Matthew for being there at the events and being wonderful people to talk to.
  • Thank you Ben (Kyriakou)! You were the main inspiration for me to start competitive Pokemon battling when I faced you at ’13 Nationals. Sylveon is better than Florges though, I’m sorry :(. Likewise thanks to Steve (SirSmoke) and Sam (SuperIntegration) for being great, it’s always good to catch up with you guys!
  • Nosepasses (you know who you are) thanks for inviting me to your humble chat. You’re all top lads and it’s great to talk to you on there.
  • Pokemon Battle Club, particularly Jamie (BlazeKing7) for helping me test out team ideas; hopefully I can join you at Worlds one day.
  • Thanks everyone who talked to me across the events – sorry if I haven’t given you a personal shoutout!
  • And thank you, the reader, for reading this article and being part of our fantastic community!


About the Author

Xenoblade Hero first appeared on the Pokemon scene at VGC '12. From there, he's been consistently practising and team building to become the trainer he is today. Xeno is also a rhythm-action game fanatic, eagerly awaiting Rock Band 4. He also studies video game design at University.



12 Responses to Latios Takes Flight: A Top 8 UK Regionals and Top 64 UK Nationals Report

  1. nice team and report!

  2. Aurorusite says:

    It really must get guts to take in-game team at Regionals…
     
    Anyways, neat team, and i love to see Scarf Milotic being used. It is indeed interesting.

  3. nice team man, hopefully we can have a better match next time, rule from that match just put protect on talonflame, bidoof my love of tech moves :P .

  4. Nice Entei and Scarf Milotic but…
    “Another added bonus of this team is both a Fire/Water/Grass core and a Steel/Fairy/Dragon core which allows me to make optimal defensive switches into punishing offensive options.”

    Added. Bonus.

    I’m really bad about correcting people…sigh…why am I even annoyed by this?…

  5. 13Yoshi37 says:

    One of the best teams and reports this season. After having scouted you on PS! you were actually my prediction to win the UK Regional and I was pretty glad for you that you managed to take your very consistent online playing to the big stage. good job and congrats on the cool team and your results.

  6. Scarf Milotic? YES
    Ferrothorn? YES
    Tailwind Latios? GENIOUS

    Loved reading this report. However, I wouldn’t overthink the threat of an in-game Bliziken… it probably knows something like Ember / High Jump Kick / Blast Burn / Shadow Claw. Looking forward to more reports in the future!

  7. hydreigone says:

    I almost got destroyed by an in game during the IC today. do not under estimate the power of Dual Chop Sceptile 
     
    anyways, I really like your team and the Kang + Latios core. Want to try it out myself, though I hate dealing with mirror match ups that come with kang

  8. nice team man, hopefully we can have a better match next time, rule from that match just put protect on talonflame, bidoof my love of tech moves :P .

    Quick Guard is a good move to catch people off guard mind! In honesty I was fearing the Tailwind play more and I needed Talon out for my Ferro to get on the field safer. Hope I can play you again sometime as the game could have gone more in your favour in a BO3
     
     

    One of the best teams and reports this season. After having scouted you on PS! you were actually my prediction to win the UK Regional and I was pretty glad for you that you managed to take your very consistent online playing to the big stage. good job and congrats on the cool team and your results.

    I’m flattered and that means a lot coming from you, thanks :’)

  9. Nice Entei and Scarf Milotic but…
    “Another added bonus of this team is both a Fire/Water/Grass core and a Steel/Fairy/Dragon core which allows me to make optimal defensive switches into punishing offensive options.”
    Added. Bonus.
    I’m really bad about correcting people…sigh…why am I even annoyed by this?…

    I have no idea. It’s quite rude to make a post basically to point out a minor grammatical error when so much effort has gone into the article. I actually spellchecked the whole thing myself, so it’s my bad… considering the length of the bidoof thing, I’ll happily take one small error.

    Anyway moving on, I’m so proud of you bro. I used this team at the start of the season before I had the time to make my team, and it’s absolutely solid. Scarf Milo is one of my absolute favourite calls this year, it’s beautiful.
    You’ve done amazingly this year and continue to improve so much, your hard work is paying off and hopefully we’ll have our road trip next circuit c;
    So pleased to have been involved in both the article and your season~ congrats! ♡

  10. Interstellar says:

    Nice job using latios and entei! I’ve been testing them and they’re pretty darn good!

  11. P3DS says:

    I absolutely loved your team, and played your sister’s version in Majors. Also, you were right, Jamie Boytt’s togekiss was scarfed.
     
    Also, I was with Sam for the day, as we knew each other, and I can say he was very happy to play you at UK nats, when I told him who he was facing. Plus, his surname is Brooks-Franklin
     

     
     
    Congratulations to my good friend Robbert for going 4-0 at one point with Swagger, Thunder Wave, Double Team, Brightpowder Thundurus at Regionals. Never forget.

     
    I faced him at regs round 5 I believe. Did not know he had swagger or double team on it. 
     
    Also, Gareth Bukley Is FroZen85 iirc.

  12. I have no idea. It’s quite rude to make a post basically to point out a minor grammatical error when so much effort has gone into the article. I actually proofread the whole thing myself, so it’s my bad… considering the length of the bidoof thing, I’ll happily take one small error.

    Anyway moving on, I’m so proud of you bro. I used this team at the start of the season before I had the time to make my team, and it’s absolutely solid. Scarf Milo is one of my absolute favourite calls this year, it’s beautiful.
    You’ve done amazingly this year and continue to improve so much, your hard work is paying off and hopefully we’ll have our road trip next circuit c;
    So pleased to have been involved in both the article and your season~ congrats! ♡

    Thanks for saying that. I wasn’t trying to be rude, just sarcastic. Great report.

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