Reports

Published on November 26th, 2014 | by LightCore

5

The Look-A-Like: Top 8 Philadelphia Regionals and Holmes Premier Challenge 1st Place Report

Hello. My name is Nicholas Borghi. I am from South Brunswick, NJ. I started to get into VGC around three years ago, but this was the first year I took it seriously.

I started building several different gimmicky teams with my friends James (Jamesspeed1) Baek, Jake (Pokebeys) Skurchak, Dan (SharingIsCaring) Howse, Leonard (DaWoblefet) Craft III, and Shaun (Scal). These teams included Pokémon such as Mega Pinsir, Mega Houndoom, and Mega Banette. One day, I went back and re-watched the semifinal match between Alex Ogloza and Jon Hu at the US National Championships. Jon inspired me to build a team around Lapras. Unfortunately, I deleted my computer history since I originally made the team, due to a virus scare that turned out to just be my laptop being old. Because of this, I no longer have past versions of the team saved. I only have two versions with me: the one that I used to win the Holmes PA Premier Challenge, and the version used to get top eight at Philadelphia Regionals.

I started VGC back in 2012 when my friend Dan took me to Philadelphia Regionals. I played awfully, but ended with a neutral record. Next year I went again and ended with a better record at 4-3. I had actually done this while using a Hitmonlee and a Choice Scarfed Metagross. I actually tried this year though and I ended decently, I think. Where I got top 8 at Philly Regionals, First at the Holems PA Premier Challenge, and Second at a West Babylon Premier Challenge.

I went to MA Regionals with a team I had been very confident in. I unfortunately met very bad luck. At one point I lost a battle where I just had a Mega Charizard Y left against an under-leveled Conkeldurr, and a Mega Abomasnow. I double missed Heat Wave and that took me out of any chance of Top Cut.

Later I got 4th place at the Premier Challenge in Delaware, which is where I met my friend Jake Skurchak. I had done this using a Mega Aerodactyl team. Later I got 2nd at a Premier Challenge in Bluebell PA using a Mega Banette team. I unfortunately lost to Michael Spinetta-McCarthy (SirChicken). He had been using Mega Kangaskhan, the Pokémon my Mega had been designed to beat. The link to the post about this team is here.

Then it had come down to the LCQ. I don’t really like talking about this much because of the bit of luck that happened, two Draco Meteor critical hits in a row. My opponent who had knocked me out was a nice Australian player named Bailey (Bargens). He ended up getting knocked out next round by my friend James.

Then I had moved up to the Masters Division on September 4th. I also at that point knew that the competition would be much harder. Here is the team that I used at my first event ever in the Masters Division. I had not realized at the time though that my 6 Pokemon had been Sejun Park’s National Rain Team.

I enjoyed this version of the team for quite some time until I realized that I had a giant weakness to Mega Venusaur, Mega Lucario (especially Special variants), and Choice Scarf Machamp. Funny thing is, Zapdos had been the MVP of the tournament. So here is the 4th draft of the team:

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Modest Nature
EVs: 220 HP / 188 SpA / 100 Spe
– Fake Out
– Ice Beam
– Scald
– Giga Drain

Ludicolo was the eventual replacement for Lapras on the team, as I found that Lapras lacked the offensive presence that my team wanted. I used Ludicolo more for offensive support though instead of using it for its offensive prowess. Ludicolo was much faster than Lapras, especially under Rain. Ludicolo also added Fake Out support which my team lacked, and liked overall. I chose Scald over Hydro Pump because as I said, I used him more for offensive support than power, and the chance to burn never hurt.

I choose Giga Drain over Energy Ball so that Ludicolo would be able to last longer on the field, and Energy Ball still didn’t get the OHKO on most Rotom-W’s. The EV spread is extremely simple. My team had a bit of a weakness to Mega Manetric, so I invested enough Speed EVs to outspeed Timid Mega Manetric when Rain was up. The Special Attack EVs allowed me to 2HKO everything I wanted to, and gave me a guaranteed OHKO on Mega Kangaskhan if I were to get the burn. The rest of the EVs were dumped into HP.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk / 252 Spe
– Protect
– Rock Slide
– Dragon Claw
– Earthquake

Standard Garchomp. I chose Life Orb over the standard (at the time) Lum Berry because I found in testing that most Rotom would try to get damage off on Garchomp instead of going for two Will-O-Wisps. Not having to worry about Rotom Will-O-Wisps allowed me to switch over to Life Orb to deal more damage overall. It also allowed me to OHKO other Garchomp, and Hydreigon who are EVed to take non-Orbed Garchomp’s Dragon Claw. Although this made Garchomp a boon in best of one matches, the Life Orb seemed more of a liability than an asset in best of three matches.

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate —> Huge Power
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
– Protect
– Sucker Punch
– Play Rough
– Iron Head

This was my original Mawile spread. It was a slightly edited version of my friend Jake (SableyeMagma) Rosen’s spread. I basically took 8 EVs out of Special Defense and split them between Defense and Speed , letting it outspeed other Adamant Mawiles that run no Speed. At first I considered using Fire Fang to always win the Mawile mirror outside of Rain, but that would leave me without a reliable STAB move and could make me lose the mirror if Rain is up. During testing this happened eight times, so I’m glad I went with what I did.

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 148 SpD
IVs: 30 Atk, 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Roost
– Swagger
– Thunder Wave

I wanted to change the EVs so that the HP would be divisible by 16 for maximum Leftovers recovery. However, I never got around to adjusting my spread. The HP and Defense EVs give Zapdos a 97.6% chance of surviving a Life Orb Garchomp’s Dragon Claw, and also makes Rock Slide from said Garchomp a 3HKO. The HP and Special Defense EVs allow Zapdos to survive a Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor, letting me Thunder Wave it and Roost the next turn to be at a good enough amount of health to still do work against my opponent’s team. I considered whether or not I wanted Hidden Power Ice or Swagger, and went with the latter. Just in case I decided to switch Swagger out at the last minute, I made sure that my Zapdos had the correct IVs to use Hidden Power Ice.

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Modest Nature
EVs: 36 HP /36 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
– Dark Pulse
– Draco Meteor
– Flamethrower
– Earth Power

Very standard Choice Specs Hydreigon. 36 HP and Defense EVs allow me to survive a Garchomp Dragon Claw or a Jolly Mega Kangaskhan Return. 180 Speed allows me to outspeed Alex Ogloza’s Hydreigon from US Nationals, which I thought would be quite popular. Earth Power gives me an option to knock out Mega Mawile while Rain is in effect.

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Calm Nature
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Def / 212 SpD
– Protect
– Rain Dance
– Scald
– Ice Beam

Let me start off by saying that I personally prefer this Politoed set more than the Scarf set. The spread, taken from my friend Jamesspeed1, optimizes Sitrus Berry recovery. The HP and Defense EVs allow Politoed to survive Mega Lucario’s Close Combat, and the Special Defense makes Choice Specs Hydreigon’s Dark Pulse a 4HKO. The moveset is very standard. Scald is a reliable STAB move, Ice Beam provides coverage, and Rain Dance helps to get my Rain back up against Tyranitar and Charizard-Y.

Onto The Tournament: Holmes, PA 9/14/14

Unfortunately, I do not remember how most of my battles went.

Round 1 Vs. Random Girl

She had just gotten the game five days prior to the tournament and was using her in-game team. She had been told that no Legendaries were allowed, so she called over the TO to check my team. I ended up getting a 4-0 victory.

Score: 1-0

Round 2 Vs. Random Guy

I remember absolutely nothing about this game, except that it was a win.

Score: 2-0

Round 3 Vs. Scott Morris (TheLoveDrVGC)

He Brought: Mamoswine, ????
I Brought: Politoed, Hydreigon, ??

I had decent position for most of this battle, but ended up losing.

Score: 2-1

Round 4 Vs. Kyle Morris (I can’t remember names too well)

He Brought: Mega Venusaur, ???
I Brought: Zapdos, ???

Can’t remember much about this game except that he had a Mega Venusaur and that Zapdos put in a lot of work.

Score: 3-1

I made it into Top Cut despite my low resistance. It was the first time I’d Top Cut in a sanctioned event, and doing it in my first event ever in the Masters Division made it better.

Top 4 Vs. Tyler VanBlargan (Eventual 3rd Place)

All I remember about this match was that he was a Singles player who wanted to try out VGC. Game one was a 4-0 victory, and game two was a 3-0 victory.

Finals Vs. Chris Semp (pookar)

I was very proud of my play in the first match, as I think I played very well. Game two was sloppier, and I got extremely lucky.

Here are the replay codes for these two matches. I was not able to save battle videos, but Chris did.

• G1: APPG WWWW WWW9 NVA9
• G2: 26GW WWWW WWW9 NVA8

My first competition in the Masters Division ended up with a win. I did realize, though, that my team still had a few weaknesses that needed to be addressed. Life Orb Mamoswine was annoying to deal, and Mega Venusaur wreaked havoc on my team.

Changes to the Team

I changed my spread very slightly. I realized that I only needed 148 Sp. Att with a Modest nature to get all the OHKOs I needed, so I put some bulk into each of its defenses. Not much else to say.

As an aside: I was testing this new iteration of the team with my friend Pokebeys, and something unbelievable happened. We go into a battle, and I start using Scald with Ludicolo. I get a burn on his Garchomp on the first turn. Then, I get a burn on his Zapdos the next turn. This then happens two more times in a row, with burns on his Mawile and Ludicolo. In our next battle, the same thing happened again, except that Politoed was the Pokemon doing the burning. Jake didn’t speak to me for three days after that.

I edited the spread, only using 236 Attack EVs. These were enough to be able to OHKO other Garchomp with Dragon Claw. I dumped the rest of the EVs into HP.

I changed the nature on Mawile from Adamant to Brave, and took away the Speed EVs. I felt this would help me out a bit against Trick Room teams. I still kept a 31 Speed IV in order to outspeed other Brave Mawile outside of TR. I also invested more into the Defenses at the expense of Attack. I originally only wanted to survive Modest Life Orb Tyranitar Fire Blast, which required 252 HP and 140 Special Defense EVs. The day before the Regional, though, I decided to also make Mega Mawile survive a -1 Attack Talonflame Flare Blitz, which required 60 Defense EVs. This left me with only 56 Attack EVs, but to be honest the drop in Attack wasn’t noticeable, and the extra bulk helped my matchups in general.

—->

Talonflame @ Choice Band
Trait: Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
Evs: 68 HP / 196 Atk / 68 Def / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
– Brave Bird
– Flare Blitz
– U-Turn
– Taunt

I swapped out Zapdos for Choice Band Talonflame in order to better check Pokemon like Mega Venusaur, Mega Lucario, and Scarf Machamp. This set is designed to win the Talonflame mirror, as the Attack EVs guarantee I OHKO 4 HP Talonflame. My friend who came up with the spread assured me that the HP and Defense EVs would allow me to always survive a Choice Band Brave Bird, but it turns out that he calculated using a Life Orb. I actually had a 50% chance to survive CB Talonflame Brave Bird, but I didn’t realize this until well after the tournament because during testing I never actually had another Talonflame OHKO me. Taunt was used to help against Trick Room.

I changed a few EVs on Hydreigon, taking out 16 Special Attack EVs. This still gave me an 81.33% chance of OHKOing 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Draco Meteor. I added 8 EVs each to HP and Speed. The former allowed me to always survive an Adamant Mega Kangaskhan Return, while the latter put my Speed above anything Speed creeping Smeargle.

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Drizzle
Modest Nature
Evs: 20 HP / 4 Def / 236 SpA /4 SpD / 244 Spe
– Scald
– Ice Beam
– Hydro Pump
– Rain Dance

Alex Ogloza’s Politoed spread. I hated this. I only used it because I thought other players might know that I ran Sitrus Berry Politoed in the Premier Challenge prior to the tournament. I wanted to take a few people by surprise. Scarf Politoed could also help with my Mega Lucario matchup, as I could try to burn it with Scald or OHKO it with Hydro Pump.

I liked using this team a lot, even though it was so standard compared to the other teams I’d made in the past. Here is why I called it “The Look-A-Like”:

Round 1 Opponent: “Hey, is that an updated version of Alex Ogloza’s National’s team?”
Round 2 Opponent: “Is that Sejun Park’s National Rain Team?”
Guy in between Rounds 2 & 3: “Hey, I told my friend that you’re using Sejun’s team. He says you’re using Ray Rizzo’s Nats team.”
Round 5 Opponent: “Are you using JiveTime’s team from Worlds?”
Round 6 Opponent: “I know I don’t know VGC too well, but isn’t that team that Ray Rizzo used at US Nats?”
SableyeMagma, the day after Philadelphia Regionals: “Why are you even writing a team report? You just used Sejun’s team. It’s as standard as Detroit.”

Now onto the big day.

Philadelphia Regionals

I was extremely nervous going into the Regional. My team was so standard and really didn’t have any tricks up its sleeve. I knew that no matter what, I wanted to Top Cut, but I also knew that it was going to be a blood bath trying to get to 7-2. I went in and saw players like Wolfe, Aaron, Cameron (Stormfront), Jeff (Expert Evan), OmegaDonut, and so many others. This did not stop me from trying however.

I had a few warmup battles with some of my Senior friends, where I won convincingly, and before long it was time to go see the first round pairings.

Round 1 Vs. Lauren Schwegler (Aovolt)

She brought: Manectric, Garchomp, Gardevoir Ferrothorn
I brought: Ludicolo, Hydreigon, Talonflame, Mawile

Really nice girl. I remember her switching out to Gardevoir expecting my Hydreigon to Draco Meteor it. I saw the switch coming and Dark Pulsed and Giga Drained that slot, expecting either Gardevoir or Politoed to switch in. The battle goes downhill for her from there and she starts trying to stall out the battle. I have to tell her that I have Talonflame in the back and she forfeits. She ended up going 5-4 at her first Regional ever.

Score: 4-0 Win
Record: 1-0

Round 2 Vs. Jesse Spinelli

He brought: Mawile, Slowbro, Garchomp, Gengar
I brought: ????

I don’t remember much about this battle. His team looked like a Trick Room team, but it wasn’t. Gengar had Life Orb with Dazzling Gleam, and the Slowbro had Calm Mind.

Score: 3-0 Win
Record: 2-0

Round 3 Vs. Jonathan Hiller (Mr. Fox) (Eventual 5th Place)

He Brought: Greninja, Pachirisu, Aerodactyl, ?
I Brought: Ludicolo, Politoed, ??

I don’t want to talk about this battle. I got completely wrecked by the Pachirisu/Greninja lead. I never actually thought that I would face Pachirisu in a real tournament, so I never adjusted my team to deal with it. Let’s just say I had a heart attack when I saw it in Team Preview.

Score: 1-3 Loss
Record: 2-1

After this loss, I was extremely discouraged. I thought that a loss this early in the tournament would stop me from making Top Cut. However, if Jon did extremely well, it would raise my resistance to the point where I would still have a chance.

Round 4 Vs. James Baek (Jamesspeed1) Eventual 31st Place

I was absolutely terrified. The person I’d spent months team building with, the guy I would Skype everyday, now sat in front of me.

He brought: Garchomp, Ludicolo, ??
I brought: Politoed, Ludicolo, Talonflame, ?

I can’t remember too much about this battle. I remember he had Life Orb Substitute Garchomp. I got a burn and a Critical Hit on his Garchomp. James was extremely mad at me. No hand shake for me at the end of the battle. 😉

Score: 3-0
Record: 3-1

Round 5 Vs. Blake Maust (Drrek)

He brought: Mawile, Garchomp, Vivillon, Rotom-H
I brought: Hydreigon, ???

All I remember from this battle is that he went for Sleep Powder first turn. Had he gone for Powder, he would have done tons of damage to Hydreigon, and probably won in the end.

Score: 2-0
Record: 4-1

Round 6 Vs. Nainil Shan

He brought: Talonflame, Tyranitar, Kangaskhan, ?
I Brought: Garchomp, Mawile, Talonflame, Ludicolo
I led Mawile and Garchomp to his Tyranitar and Talonflame. I had a very advantageous lead matchup, but a critical hit on my Mawile with Flare Blitz knocked it out. Tyranitar was Choice Scarfed, and my team got annihilated.

Score: 0-3
Record: 4-2

Round 7 Vs. Angel Miranda (CT Mikoto Misaka)

He brought: Pachirisu, Zapdos, Ferrothorn, Garchomp
I brought: ???? Aren’t I great at remembering what I brought?

Very standard team. I was scared going into this match, but it was probably the most fun match I had all day. Angel is a great guy and he was a lot of fun to talk to during the battle. Hope I get to battle you again! Sadly, I don’t remember much about the actual battle. He had a Choice Scarfed Zapdos and a Ferrothorn with Leftovers.

Score: 2-0
Record: 5-2

Round 8 Vs. Joshua Edwards (General Josh)

He brought: Azumarill, Charizard, Raichu, Machamp
I brought: ????

My opponent had a Choice Scarfed Machamp, and he may have had Substitute on his Charizard, but I can’t be sure. He told me that he had a Choice Banded Azumarill, but I later saw in one of Cybertron’s Youtube videos that it was a Belly Drum variant.

Score: 4-0
Record: 6-2

It was my last match, and it came down to this. This battle would decide if I Top Cut or not. I went to look at the roster and my heart sank. I was facing a guy named Jeff Falberg. Expert Evan. He was an extremely experienced player, and I thought for sure that my run was over.

Round 9 Vs. Jeff Falberg (Expert Evan)

He brought: Gardevoir, Talonflame, Rotom-W, Lucario
I brought: Talonflame, ???

I can’t remember exactly how this battle went. I remember that it was a 2-0, and that he didn’t see my last Pokémon. I know that his Talonflame had Tailwind, and his Gardevoir was Choice Scarfed. I really wanted to see Roserade, but it didn’t happen. Jeff is a great guy and I friended him on Facebook after the tournament. He seems really cool and is amazingly well rounded.

Score: 2-0
Record: 7-2

I was extremely nervous going to the board to see the final Swiss results. I was stuck in the middle, and could only just snap a picture of part of Top Cut. I looked afterwards and my hand shot up into the air as I screamed at the top of my lungs.

I made it into Top Cut! I finally achieved the goal I’d been training for months to reach. And now, I was going in to face off against Anthony Kisson.

Top 16 Vs. Anthony Kisson (Chilebowl)

Game 1:

He brought: Venusaur, Gardevoir, Tyranitar, Rotom-H
I brought: ????

This was the most stressful set I had all day. I went in with absolutely no information about my opponent. How my opponent plays and their view on the metagame is very important to me when I go against experienced players.

I remember that he forfeited the match just so that I wouldn’t find out information about his Rotom. He didn’t have a Choice Scarf Tyranitar or Gardevoir. I thought the Tyranitar was an Assault Vest set because its damage output was lacking a bit, and he didn’t seem to have Protect.

Score: 4-0
Record: 8-2
Game 2:

He brought: Venusaur, Tyranitar, Rotom-H, Salamence
I brought: ????

In this game, I found out more information. He didn’t have Protect on his Venusaur. He also had Flamethrower on his Tyranitar, and that pretty much confirmed that he was running Assault Vest. Rotom-H had Safety Goggles. I also confirmed that his Salamence was running Choice Scarf because it outsped my Ludicolo in the Rain. He told me afterwards that he didn’t want to bring Lucario because of Talonflame.

Score: 3-0
Record: 9-2

Top 8 Vs. Aaron Zheng (Cybertron)

I would talk about his team, but I would rather post the link where he explains it himself.

The battles weren’t too good for me. I made several miss-plays in game 2 which could have turned the momentum in my favor. The link for the battles are here. These are from Aaron’s perspective and commentated by him. Hope you enjoy!

Score (Game 1): 4-0
Record: 9-3

Score (Game 2): 3-0
Record: 9-4

In my very first Masters Division Regional, I went 9-4 and ended with 8th place!

Shoutouts

I wanted to briefly talk about the other “newcomers” to Top Cut:

• Serapis of the VGC: I love how you used Pledge. You were doing amazing on Showdown!, and I loved watching you battle and talk about your team.
• TwoSmoove: While most people on Showdown! didn’t like you due to the strategy you used, you were able to make it work because you were comfortable with it. Good job, man.

On to the sappy thank yous:

•  James Baek (Jamesspeed1): Dude, I have to attribute a huge amount of my success to you. You helped me build, theorymon, and test, and you are just a great friend. Thanks, man.
• Jake Skurchak (Pokebeys): Great training partner. You are a good friend, and just a great kid overall. You’re awesome at theorymoning. Thank you for the countless days on Skype and for the amazing battles. I couldn’t have asked for a better training partner and friend.
• Jake Rosen (SableyeMagma): Thank you for the ride to Holmes. I wouldn’t have had as much success if you hadn’t been willing to help. I enjoyed your talk about Smash even though I didn’t understand half of it. Thank you for keeping me sane and not allowing me to make crazy changes that were stupid.
• Cameron Kicak (Stormfront): Thank you for being so cool, man. I only met you in September, but you are a great friend to have at Regionals and I was so upset to see that you didn’t Top Cut. I really wanna battle you again sometime, man.
• Leonard Craft III (DaWoblefet): You helped me all year, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone else to make better spreads for me. You helped me with team composition, and the help with my LCQ team will never go unforgotten. Thank you for the help on my Trick Room team, and thank you for just being awesome overall. I hope to see you at Nats, man.

The Parents:

• Mr. Rosen: Thank you for the ride to Holmes, and just for being one of the best parents a kid playing VGC could have. You are okay with the game and you don’t criticize for it.
• Mr. Havardansky: Thank you for driving me and my dad to Regionals. I had a lot of fun. Having Michael there with me was just great overall.
• My Dad (Perry): You have been so supportive. I love how I can talk to you and go on rants about Pokémon, and how you’ll actually listen, even though you probably don’t understand half the stuff I’m saying.

Other players:

• Angel Miranda (CT Mikoto Misaka): Thank you for one of the best matches I had all day. It was a ton of fun, man.
• Jeff Falberg (Expert Evan): Once again. An amazingly fun match. I couldn’t have asked to face someone as awesome as you in my final Swiss match. You’re a great guy and a well-rounded person. I hope you get better from what ever is ailing you.
• Dan Howse (SharingIsCaring): Oh, man. You are just awesome. I never would have started competitive battling without you had I not met you back in 6th grade. You helped me come up with original team compositions. You helped me get all of my Pokémon every year prior to this one. I always love talking with you, and you’re just a great friend. You are a guy I can always count on. You tell me when I being a dumb poop, and you always set me straight. If there was anyone I want to thank the most, it would be you Dan.
• Chris Semp (pookar): The Dark Horse!!!!!! I loved our finals matches and I really want a rematch against you considering how the final game was. Hit me up man.
• Aaron (Aaron “CT Cybertron” Zheng) Zheng: The matches we had were amazing, and it was so much fun playing you. I’m glad I got to face one of my idols in this community. I got so used to hearing you on Youtube. I would love a rematch someday.
• Mohammed Nihal (Mr. GX): Great guy. Such an awesome artist. I really wish that we were in the same time zone, though, so that we could battle and team build. Bro Hug!
• Mini: Mohamed Minhaj (Soon to be KENOG): Brother of MrGX. Helped with Talonflame. Thanks, man.
• Tushar/Colin: Great guys. Tushar is my best friend who actually is into this sort of stuff. He is an awesome friend who is into Singles and hopes to get into VGC this year. Colin is an amazing friend. While not into the competitive screen, he is awesome to talk to. He is always there to talk to me, and is always willing to listen. Thanks, guys.

About the Author

LightCore LightCore is a 15 year old Master who is looking to go all the way. I have had a pretty pathetic past but I think that the Masters Division is my time to shine. I constantly try to balance practice with my swimming practice and Boy Scouts. I'm currently going for my Eagle rank and are working on my Eagle Scout Service Project

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