Red Scizor Was Here: Shiny Scizor Is a Loser
Hi everyone, my name is Aaron Zheng and I’m a competitive Pokemon VGC player. I had a great weekend at the 2013 Pokemon National Championships two weekends ago, and this article is about my team and my experience there. Let’s get straight to it!
Background / The Story
While this is my first season in the Masters division, I played in the old “Seniors” division in 2010, where I was the youngest competitor at Nationals that year (I was barely 12, and there were only three kids in a field over 100+ who were under 18). I placed 17th at Nationals then, missing out on an invitation to the World Championships by less than 1% in tiebreakers. My VGC career really picked up after that year once Pokemon introduced the Masters division to the game, allowing me to compete with kids who were more my age as opposed to grown adults. I had two great seasons in the new Seniors division in 2011 and 2012, finishing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the three Regional Championships I attended. I also won back-to-back National Championships in those two years, and the only thing really missing from my resume is a World Championship title — I finished 17th in the world in 2011 after a very disappointing 2-3 finish. I improved from that the following year, advancing to the 2nd day of competition with a 4-2 finish day 1 last year, but I was eliminated from the quarter-finals right away and finished 8th there.
I knew that 2012 was probably my last realistic shot at winning a world championship, but that didn’t stop me from playing the game I love. I was eager to prove to the rest of the world that I have what it takes to compete with the best players in the game, and I jumped on the opportunity to show my skill in the Masters division. Why should age stop me? Leading up to Nationals this year, I had an incredibly strong season, with a 1st place finish at Massachusetts Regionals and a 2nd place finish at Philadelphia Regionals. I also played in all five online Wi-Fi tournaments. Going into Nationals, I had 278 Championship Points, good for 3rd in the country. There was a lot less pressure on me this year since I knew i had to just finish in the Top 12 in terms of Championship Points in the country to get my 4th worlds invitation, but I still wanted to 3-peat and win a 3rd consecutive title.
After my win in Massachusetts early April, I felt like I was on top of my game. I recovered from a mediocre 5-3 performance at Virginia Regionals earlier in the winter, and was suddenly in contention for a Worlds invite again. It was also the only tournament I have ever went undefeated in. I didn’t put too much time into the game with school and finals coming up, and didn’t think about teams or Nationals until really after the second week of June.
I suddenly realized I was in PANIC MODE when it was early Tuesday morning and I still had no team and no idea what I was doing. I had constructed a bunch of teams, but I didn’t feel comfortable with any of them. I was tempted in using the team I won Massachusetts Regionals with (Liepard / Breloom / Scizor / Thundurus / Terrakion / Cresselia), but after Sejun Park’s win in Korea Nationals with it, and everyone countering Breloom for the biggest event of the year, I figured it probably wasn’t the best of ideas. I built teams revolving around Pokemon such as Tornadus, Breloom, Skill Swap Cresselia, Heatran, and Scarf Tyranitar, but none of them fit my play style and were too prone to luck in practice. I went into my internship that day and brainstormed on a piece of paper, eventually ending with a team that was something like Thundurus/Landorus-T/Scizor/Rotom-W/Heatran/Breloom. I talked to my good friend Mohsyn (bcaralarm) about it, but he pointed out some holes in the team and I decided it would be a bad idea to use a team I hadn’t even tested at Nationals.
The journey to Nationals was now only 24 hours away and I still had no team and no plan. Mohsyn suggested that I go back to the basics and rebuild my Nationals winning team from last year, or the team I’ve pretty much used all season long (except MA Regionals). I liked that idea — the metagame had changed quite a lot since I last used it (December), and if it could carry me to a first National title, why not a second time? I knew this Nationals was less about the element of surprise and more about outplaying your opponents, so I figured it was not a bad idea. I built the team in game, had a couple of practice battles both online and on Wi-Fi, and after winning a majority of them, figured that it was my best bet for Nationals. I made a couple of edits to the team, which helped me along the way, and you can see that in the actual team report.
My family (myself, Brendan, mom, Sapphire Birch) left for Indianapolis early Thursday morning and got there with plenty of time to hang out and relax before the tournament actually started. Our flight there was quite uneventful, but only took 1.5 hours — faster than my commute home from school sometimes! After fun times with everyone on Thursday and Friday, I was ready for my 4th Nationals and a shot at the 3-peat. I’ll give you a run down on my team first, then my report.
The Team
This team is heavily resembles the one I analyzed in my previous team article, Graduation Day. I wanted to focus my article more on the games than the actual team, but I’ll still give you a run down of each Pokemon’s role and how the team works. However, you’ve probably seen the team 1000+1 times now, so feel free to skip straight to the tournament report.
Cresselia (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 132 HP / 4 Def / 248 SpA / 4 SpD / 120 Spd
Modest Nature
– Icy Wind
– Psyshock
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Trick Room
You’ll see right away that this Cresselia is Modest Nature with an Expert Belt on it, and barely has any defensive EVs. For anyone that does not know, the whole point of offensive Cresselia is to partner its natural bulk with its diverse movepool and set up KOes for the rest of the team. While I used Choice Specs Cresselia to win Nationals in 2012, Wolfe Glick used an Expert Belt version and I have adapted his item choice. Choice Specs was a great metagame call at the time: it was unexpected, people didn’t even realize offensive Cresselia was a thing, and my opponents had difficulty dealing with it. Now that offensive Cresselia has become a lot more popular, I felt that Expert Belt was the safer option. One major issue I had with Choice Specs was that I would often get locked into one move and have no offensive output, forcing a switch or for Cresselia to get KOed. I’ve used Expert Belt all year long, and I haven’t regretted it at all. The main use of Expert Belt is so that Hidden Power Fire is a 100% KO against 252 HP / 4 SpD Scizor, but it also helps increase damage output of both its other attacks, which hit a lot of the metagame for super-effective damage. The Speed EVs allow it to outspeed Timid Latios after an Icy Wind, and the rest are dumped into the defenses.
The one change I added to this Cresselia is Trick Room. (I’ve used Protect and Signal Beam previously). I didn’t want to use Protect because I felt like I could have something more useful, and Signal Beam fit well with the team I used it on but not this team. Trick Room gave me not one or two but three different methods of speed control on my team (Icy Wind, Trick Room, Thunder Wave). While it seems like a silly idea because Cresselia has Icy Wind, it allowed me to immediately outspeed teams like rain and heavy offense. I actually never used it for the full four turns in the tournament, reversing it before it could end, but it certainly helped me win a bunch of games so I’m pleased with the decision to use it.
An interesting note: I was actually going to use a bulkier Calm Mind spread instead (Mohsyn suggested it to me), but I couldn’t get the Pokemon in time for the tournament, so I just went with one of my older Cresselias and stuck Trick Room on it. I’m not sure how much the Calm Mind spread would have changed, but it was an interesting idea and I was pretty much convinced on using it since it pretty much reaches this Cresselia’s offensive potential after a +1 boost while still retaining a lot more bulk. I’m still pleased with how this Cresselia performed over the weekend though!
Thundurus (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 24 SpA / 204 SpD/ 28 Spd
Calm Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Taunt
The only thing different between this Thundurus and the one I won Nationals with last year is the EV spread. I’ve been using an really outdated spread of 196 HP / 60 SpA / 252 SpD, which can always take a Timid Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from Latios, but there are much better spreads that can be used. I ended up going with 244 HP / 24 SpA / 204 SpD/ 28 Spd, which you can see has more HP, less special defense, less special attack, and more speed. The defense EVs still allow it to take a Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from Latios, but more HP EVs let it take more hits from physical attacks as well. I moved some EVs from special attack into speed to outspeed max speed Breloom by one point, which was a pretty huge concern of mine given the rising popularity of Breloom. Since I use Sitrus Berry anyway, I didn’t miss the lack of special attack EVs. While I’ve contemplated Electric Gem, another popular item on bulky Thundurus, I’ve practiced a lot more with Sitrus Berry and know my calcs for it better so I stuck with it.
The moveset is pretty self-explanitory. While I opted for Swagger over Hidden Power Ice at Massachusetts Regionals, I did not have Liepard’s Foul Play to reap the benefits from, so I went my original set. I also didn’t like my chances against Therian-forms, most notably Landorus-T. Thunder Wave was just one of three methods of speed control in this team, and the added paralysis often saved me when I needed it. Taunt is a move I seem to use less and less with each tournament, but it’s always safe to have when you are playing 9 rounds of swiss and can run into literally anything.
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide
– U-turn
– Protect
What used to be Garchomp was replaced by Landorus-Therian on this team, and it’s not very hard to see why. They both share very similar traits, but Landorus has a base attack of 145 compared to Garchomp’s 130. While it was difficult to say good bye to the hax-inducing Sand Veil, Intimidate is one of my favorite abilities in the game and in combination with Hitmontop can easily shut down common physical Pokemon such as Tyranitar. Landorus is a bit slower than Garchomp, but I didn’t mind that since I had three different methods of speed control on this team. I went with Focus Sash because, once again, of comfort — it’s the only item I’ve ever used on Landorus and I’m very comfortable with it.
This is the same set I won the Nugget Bridge Invitational with earlier this year, and it’s really as simple as it gets. Earthquake to hit pretty much everything except Levitators and Flying-types, Rock Slide to deal with Pokemon such as Volcarona and Thundurus, and U-Turn to get multiple Intimidates off while hitting Pokemon like Latios and Cresselia for great damage. I opted for Rock Slide over Stone Edge because I have nightmares about Stone Edge’s accuracy, and I also liked the flinch possibility. Ironically Rock Slide still ended up missing in my Round 2 matchup against Stephen Morioka for the win, but what can you do? I actually thought I was running Jolly nature during the tournament, and realized I had Adamant when my Round 9 opponent’s Mamoswine moved before my Landorus-T — more on that later in the tournament report. Always double check your team before playing in a tournament!
In the end, I didn’t miss Garchomp one bit and was very pleased with Landorus taking its spot. Unfortunately the one game I really needed Intimidate to work (Top 16, Game 3), my opponent’s Garchomp (how ironic) managed to get two critical hits while at -1 and -2 attack. Regardless, Landorus was something I just ended up throwing on the team since it worked in my head, and I have no regrets using it.
Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Crunch
– Rock Slide
– Low Kick
– Protect
Out of laziness (and because I saw no reason to make any changes), this Tyranitar is the exact same one I’ve used for the past year. It’s really as standard as it gets, but the main reason I had Tyranitar was for weather control and to beat Thundurus and Cresselia effectively. I quote from my previous team report, “I have seen so many different items used on Tyranitar, such as Dark Gem, Focus Sash, Leftovers, and Sitrus Berry, but I stuck with the classic Chople Berry. The EVs were just to ensure max durability and strength, and with Sandstorm up, he was a specially defensive tank against moves such as Latios’ and Hydreigon’s Draco Meteor. I didn’t use anything special like Fire Punch, Avalanche, Dragon Dance, or Substitute just because I liked having more coverage and didn’t feel the need to have moves that were used only in certain situations.”
While I used Scarf Tyranitar for the entire time on all the different teams I constructed for Nationals, I didn’t like how it could easily faint to one attack such as Breloom’s Mach Punch. I like Pokemon that are able to offer offense while still being able to take a hit or two, and I didn’t feel the need for a Scarf variant on this team, so I just went with a Chople Berry to insure that it pretty much can’t be OHKOed (except things like Fighting Gem Close Combat, but why would I keep a Tyranitar in on that when I have Cresselia, Thundurus, and Landorus-T to switch into).
Hitmontop @ Fighting Gem
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
– Close Combat
– Helping Hand
– Fake Out
– Wide Guard
Hitmontop has grown less popular because of the new Intimidate Scrafty, but I liked the amount of power Hitmontop’s Fight Gem Close Combat offered so I decided to stay with it. I changed the EV spread back to 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD because the extra speed EVs I had originally weren’t doing anything (and because I got lazy in EV training). I also changed what used to be Sucker Punch/Wide Guard to Helping Hand, which in practice worked very nicely with a +2 Scizor. However, Stone Edge probably would have helped more since I didn’t end up using Helping Hand once in the tournament.
The set is, like most of this team, pretty self explanatory. Intimidate, as I previously mentioned with Landorus-T, gave me a lot more comfort in dealing with physical Pokemon not named Metagross. It also allowed me to have two Intimidators in the team, and I could start the battle off with my opponent’s physical Pokemon at half their attack (this really helped me in one match during the tournament). Close Combat to deal a hefty chunk to anything that doesn’t resist it, Fake Out to help set up Hitmontop’s partner on the first turn, and Wide Guard just in case to deal with common attacks such as Rock Slide, Earthquake, and Heat Wave.
Scizor @ Steel Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 172 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature
– Bug Bite
– Bullet Punch
– Swords Dance
– Protect
And finally, my favorite Pokemon set in VGC, Swords Dance Scizor. Wolfe suggested this set to me before Nationals last year, and I’ve slapped it on every team I’ve built ever since. You probably know how this works if you’ve played VGC for even a brief amount of time, but I’ll describe it anyway. The HP EVs allow it to survive a Fight Gem Close Combat from max attack Hitmontop 100% of the time — slightly outdated, but ensured I didn’t lose to silly physical attacks. The Speed EVs helped Scizor outspeed Metagross, Politoed, and Hitmontop with no speed investment. Steel Gem with Bullet Punch is a scary combination in itself, but sets up for a ton of OHKOes after a +2 from Swords Dance.
I’ve always liked Scizor because it checks Cresselia with its super-effective Bug Bite (although this has gotten a lot harder now that half the Cresselia I run into carry Hidden Power Fire). There are too many damage calcs to offer with +2 Steel Gem BP, but I’ve gotten OHKOes on pretty much anything that does not resist it — I’ve even managed to KO some Volcarona and Excadrill (although not at 100%! I’m also a big fan of Scizor because it’s moves are 100% accurate, unlike Metagross (Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt), Heatran (Heat Wave), and Excadrill (Rock Slide). I could go on and on about Scizor but you’ll see just how effective it is in my tournament report.
You’ll notice that this Scizor is the normal red color in contrast to the puke green version I’ve been using for forever. While I originally planned on using puke green again, my good friend Tom (TheGr8) surprised me at Nationals with a normal red Scizor figurine, and I decided that I would use the red version in honor of him (and so I wouldn’t get teased more if I made it onto stream/TV). Thanks for the gift Tom!
Some Thoughts
Once again, if you’re interested in seeing how why the team works and all the possible lead combinations, check out the bottom of this report.
I think the reason this team is still able to function in another year and a different metagame is because of how fundamentally sound it is. It has three different modes of speed control (Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, Trick Room), great type coverage, double Intimidate to deal with physical sweepers, Pokemon that can take a couple of hits and don’t immediately get KOed by an attack, and like I’ve mentioned in my previous article, has a good luck factor. (Although less now that Garchomp has been removed).
I also think that Hitmontop has become a lot less popular now that Scrafty exists, but I’m not a huge fan of Scrafty because it doesn’t offer too much offense. I grow to like offensive Cresselia less and less with each tournament, especially since it takes a hefty amount of damage from the new Therian-forms and doesn’t have an answer to Heatran, yet I still slap it onto the teams I use because it fits well and I’m comfortable with it. It’s weird — I personally think this team is outdated, but all the pieces are still there for it to function well enough. While we only have one tournament left in this metagame (The 2013 World Championships), I’m still writing this article because I think it shows a lot about how a team can be successful despite being used over and over and over again.
Of course, a lot of Pokemon now relies on how well the player uses a team vs. how good a team actually is. I knew that going into Nationals as I mentioned earlier up there, but I still wanted a team that could pilot itself to victory. I don’t have any regrets using this team at Nationals and honestly believe that I had a good shot at winning the title despite being told by several people it could only get me into top cut — I’ll elaborate on this a bit more in the tournament report. I’ve talked about the team long enough — time for the tournament!
The Report
With 338 players in the Masters division, I believe this was the largest VGC Nationals in Pokemon history — we were thus rewarded with a Top 32 cut (instead of Top 16). Play started a bit late, but ran quickly when we got started. For the report, the first two Pokemon in team preview will be the leads, the next two are the back two Pokemon, and the last two were not brought out in the battle. Unfortunately I did not take very good notes this time around so I am relying on my memory, but I’ll try my best to give my thought process in each match.
Round 1: Bye
Since I placed 1st at Massachusetts Regionals in April (and 2nd at Philadelphia Regionals and Top 16 CP in the country going into Nationals… boy I wish byes stacked), I got a free win for my first round. The bye also meant that my opponent’s win % would be significantly stronger in the end, helping my tiebreakers as it factors the bye as a 9-0 opponent. I’m always a bit scared when I have a bye (which I’ve had for the past three tournaments) because my round two opponent will have already won a game while I’m still starting out, but I walked around and got a feel of the environment and pumped myself for the day.
Record: 1-0
Round 2: Stephen Morioka (Stephen)
There is no worse feeling than starting the day off playing someone you know. But I’m used to this already (Human round one of Nationals in 2011, Unreality round one of Worlds 2011, MrFox’s sister round three of Nationals 2012 and Ray Rizzo round two of Regionals 2013). Stephen was ranked right below me in terms of CP at #4 in North America, and I knew I was in for a tough game.
From team preview, I immediately noted two things: he had Cresselia and Heatran, meaning Cresselia could potentially run Skill Swap, and that he had Heracross, a Pokemon I have not seen very often this season. Figuring out the items on the Pokemon would also be a difficult task — which Pokemon has the Sitrus Berry? The Focus Sash? The Choice Scarf? I also needed to make sure I had two leads that would not automatically lose to his two, so I took a lot of time thinking about which four Pokemon to bring.
Stephen leads with Cresselia and Heracross, and I lead with Thundurus and Scizor. I like my chances here, but I’m paranoid that Cresselia carries HP Fire (which in retrospect does not make too much sense since Stephen does run a Heatran as well). I’m also confident that he has Heatran in the back, which easily walls Scizor and can OHKO it, so I need to be careful and not set up a Swords Dance until Heatran is eliminated.
My memory is a bit more fuzzy now, but Stephen ends up revealing that his third and fourth Pokemon and Thundurus and Heatran — no surprise there. I figure out that his Heatran has Leftovers and Substitute, his Thundurus and a Flying Gem, and his Cresselia has the Sitrus Berry and, surprise surprise, no HP Fire. I recall getting very lucky early on with a Heat Wave and Icy Wind miss, and possibly a Rock Slide flinch along the way too. The game degenerates to his Heatran (~75%) and Heracross (in KO range from EQ), with ~80% Thundurus in the back against my Landorus-T and Scizor.
He goes for a Protect on both Heatran and Heracross while I end up doing something silly — using Earthquake with Landorus-T and Swords Dance with Scizor. My thought process was that if he switched out to Thundurus, I now had a +2 Scizor that could KO the Heracross the following turn, and if he decides to stay in and not Protect with either, I get a KO on both Pokemon. I get a free +2 from the Swords Dance, and feel like I have the game wrapped up at this point… until Heracross uses Feint on my Scizor the following turn and I KO my Scizor with Earthquake. Oops. I KO both of his Pokemon and we’re now left with a one vs one.
Since I knew Stephen carried Flying Gem and HP Flying, I figured I had a shot of surviving his HP Flying and KOing back with a max attack Rock Slide. Landorus survives the HP Flying with about 20 HP left, and then… “The foe’s Thundurus avoided the Rock Slide!” I let out a huge sigh, but gave Stephen a reassuring handshake — after all, the Landorus shouldn’t have even had 20 HP considering it had dodged two attacks earlier on. Stephen played a better game than I did, and he came out with a well deserved victory. He ended up going 9-0 and placing 5th in the tournament, so no shame in losing to him!
I am not happy starting off a nine round tournament at 1-1, even if my loss is to a really strong player. In the past three years I’ve started out Nationals 4-0, 3-1, and 4-0, and I’ve never lost so early on before, so this was a huge blow to my confidence. However, I knew that I still had seven more games to go, and as long as I kept on winning, I’d be okay.
Record: 1-1
Round 3: John William
This looks like a pretty standard rain team, but with Armaldo. (Fun fact, I lost to Armaldo at Winter Regionals and have a win rate of 0% against it in real tournaments. Yikes.) I like my matchup against rain because I have Thundurus to spread paralysis, Tyranitar to change the weather, Hitmontop to prevent Surf/Muddy Water from hitting, and Trick Room on Cresselia. I go with my standard lead of Thundurus and Cresselia against his Politoed and Kingdra.
I decide I want to try out Trick Room this time, so I go for a Trick Room with Cresselia and a Thunderbolt with Thundurus onto the Politoed. Kingdra goes for a Protect (woo hoo!), Politoed does not have Wacan Berry but survives with a slight amount of HP left, Thundurus takes an Ice Beam, and Trick Room goes up. John laughs and says “I knew that was coming,” and I like the position I’m in right now.
With Trick Room up now, my main priority is to get rid of Politoed so I can safely bring in Tyranitar later on. Cresselia takes out Politoed with a Psyshock, while Thundurus is KOed by Kingdra’s Draco Meteor. I think I decide to bring in Scizor here to take Thundurus’s spot instead of Tyranitar, which is a silly play. He brings in Gastrodon to replace his Politoed. I know that I can safely get rid of the rain now, so I switch Scizor to Tyranitar, and get burned by Gastrodon on a Scald switch in. Oops.
However, now that his Kingdra is at -2, it can’t offer much offensively so I still have a decent position. After taking down the Kingdra, Cresselia comes in and I know Scizor can finish the job. I think both my Cresselia and Scizor end up getting burned from Gastrodon’s Scald (100% burn rate for the win), but Scizor is too much for him and ends up cleaning up the rest of the game despite being burned. Good work.
Record: 2-1
Round 4: Kenneth Albin
From Team Preview, I immediately assume that this is a Trick Room team because of Hariyama, Dusclops, and Togekiss. I decide to lead Hitmontop and Thundurus to get a Fake Out + Taunt on the first turn. He leads with Hariyama and Dusclops as expected, and I feel like I have a good lead matchup. I decide to just Fake Out Hariyama and Taunt the Dusclops to prevent any Trick Room shenanigans.
He does something really unexpected and goes for a double switch, swapping Haryiama for Abomasnow and Dusclops for Swampert. Fake Out breaks any potential Sash that Abomasnow may have while Swampert gets Taunted. Not what I was going for, but I guess that’s not so bad. Thundurus is dead weight at this point and it seems like a perfect time for Scizor to come in, so I make that switch and target Abomasnow for a Close Combat. Abomasnow switches right back out into Haryiama while Swampert gets a Ground Gem Earthquake (?!) off and hits every Pokemon on the field. Close Combat is negated.
I decide Swampert is the threat now so I double target it with Close Combat and Bug Bite… only to find out that Swampert is the fastest Pokemon on the field and it gets an Earthquake off and KOes both my Hitmontop and Scizor. (I now realize I should have noticed it moved before Hitmontop when it went for Earthquake, though I may be forgetting something about the battle). Either way, I’m in a less than optimal position now and this battle is already over. Thundurus and Cresselia come in, but I’ve already accepted defeat. A few turns later and I face my first 0-4 all season long.
Well, that was embarrassing… and my worst loss all season. I got curbstomped, and there was no luck involved. I am also now 2-2 — my worst start at Nationals in four years. I began questioning my team choice and my playing ability, but figured it was too late to change anything and it was all in or all out now. I also had five more games, and if I wanted to make Top 32, I’d have to win the next five games in a row. Not an easy task, but doable for sure, especially since my schedule would probably be weaker at this point. I isolated myself for a bit to get into the zone again and remind myself that I’m a lot better than how I’ve been playing up to this point, and walk back for round five.
Record: 2-2
Round 5: Graham Wilcox
I’m immediately concerned when I see Graham’s team pop up on my DS. Its screams Trick Room, and I just lost to a Trick Room team the previous round. However, he is using Pokemon I am more comfortable with and I don’t expect any max Speed Swampert shenanigans this time around, so I go with the same four I usually use for Trick Room.
My Cresselia and Thundurus go up against his Chandelure and Amoonguss, a favorable matchup. I target the Amoonguss with Psyshock while Taunting the Chandelure, in fear that he might Protect and Trick Room. Amoonguss goes for the Rage Powder, taking both hits while Chandelure goes for a Trick Room. That’s fine though, he’s now forced to let Amoonguss faint or switch it out.
The game ends up at a point where I’ve successfully stalled out his first Trick Room and Chandelure is KOed, but I assume that Slowking is coming in to try to set up another Trick Room. I predict an Amoonguss to Slowking switch correctly and Thunderbolt the Amoonguss, and the Slowking comes in and takes a hefty amount. I am able to deny the second Trick Room from going up, and from there on out it’s just picking each Pokemon one at a time. I’m a bit relieved that Escavalier never came in since my only real check to that is HP Fire Cresselia, which I need to get off outside of Trick Room. Either way, a win is a win and I’m just relieved I’ve started my path to top cut.
Record: 3-2
Round 6: David Hart
I’m honestly a bit relieved when I see David’s team – Thundurus and Cresselia do a nice job dealing with pretty much all of it, and Landorus-T/Scizor can clean up pretty well. I go with those four while he lead with Hitmontop and Scizor. He goes for a Fake Out on the first turn on my Cresselia and Scizor gets a Swords Dance up while I Thunderbolt the Hitmontop and Cresselia flinches. The second turn I immediately realize I misplayed as Cresselia can fall to a Sucker Punch and Bullet Punch. The Sucker Punch goes off on Cresselia, and I’m kicking myself when I see Bullet Punch activate… except he targets Thundurus! Huzzah!
Cresselia KOes Scizor with HP Fire and Thundurus KOes Hitmontop with Thunderbolt and I now have a 4-2 lead. He brings out Sableye and Latios, and the game is pretty much wrapped up as Latios can’t throw around Draco Meteors and Sableye is easily shut down by Taunt. I end up winning the game 3-0 after I take a 4-2 lead in the first two turns, but I remind myself that this game could have very easily gone another way and that I need to make safer plays.
Either way, that’s two down. Only three more wins now — this seems doable!
Record: 4-2
Round 7: Tyler McMillan
Tyler’s team reminds me of another Trick Room team and looks like a combination of the teams I’ve faced up to this point. Thundurus, Cresselia, Tyranitar, and Scizor look like they can easily take care of his six so I decide to lead with Thundurus and Cresselia with Tyranitar and Scizor in the back. He leads with his Hitmontop and Abomasnow. I know I want to get rid of his hail immediately so I swap Thundurus out for Tyranitar.
He decides to keep Abomasnow in for the next two turns, missing Blizzard after Blizzard but finally connecting on both of my Pokemon. I assess that Abomasnow is not the threat to my team so I take advantage of the situation and take care of the other Pokemon one by one. In the end, I learn that he did not end up brining Scizor and Chandelure — the two Pokemon I feared the most in the matchup, and Togekiss did not carry a Fire-type attack, so Scizor was free to come in and finish the job after getting a Swords Dance up.
Things are finally picking up after losing so quickly early on in the tournament. I managed to win three games in a row now and was sitting at a much more respectable record of 5-2. However, with two more rounds left, now was not the time to get confident. I was pretty relieved that none of my past few matches were too close, as I had won them pretty convincingly. This was soon to change…
Record: 5-2
Round 8: Ryan Brooker (lolfailsnail)
I knew my luck of avoiding people from Nugget Bridge would run out soon enough as I sat down for round eight. Ryan Brooker, also known as lolfailsnail, is a recent Seniors graduate just like me. He actually went undefeated in the swiss rounds of Nationals last year, and having played him multiple times in online tournaments, I knew he was a very good player. I immediately didn’t like what I saw in team preview — Gyarados can give my team a lot of trouble if Thundurus cannot take care of it. Bisharp and Infernape reminded me of Jonathan Hiller (MrFox)’s 2nd place Nationals team from last year, and now that I had Landorus-T instead of Garchomp, I feared Bisharp a lot more.
I actually recorded this match because I thought it was incredibly good, so I’ll give you a turn by turn. If you want to watch it, the link and video number is here: 79-75229-09564
I decide to bring Thundurus and Scizor as my lead with Tyranitar and Cresselia in the back. Thundurus can spread paralysis, doesn’t get OHKOed by anything on his team, and can check Garchomp and Gyarados, which Scizor can bait an attack and set up a Swords Dance if Infernape is not out. He leads with his Bisharp and Infernape, and I know Scizor has to get out of there immediately.
Turn 1: I want to get Scizor out of there immediately since I don’t want to run the risk of it getting OHKOed by Infernape. I assume he’s smart enough to predict that and double target my Thundurus, but I decide it’s worth taking the damage if I can get a clean Scizor for the rest of the game. I switch Scizor to Tyranitar in case he does target it with a Fire-type attack, but double targets my Thundurus with a Fake Out and Dark Gem Night Slash, brining it down to ~35% after Sandstorm damage. (Score: 4-4)
Turn 2: Bisharp switches out for Garchomp to take in a Thunderbolt/Thunder Wave. I decide that I am more scared of Infernape, so I Protect my Tyranitar and Thunder Wave the Infernape while his Close Combat on my Tyranitar is negated. (Score: 4-4)
Turn 3: I want to keep Thundurus around because I need to take care of a potential Gyarados he may have in the back, so I switch out to Cresselia to take the incoming Dragon Claw/Rock Slide. I also decide to play my odds with Infernape and go for a Rock Slide in hopes of getting a para-flinch. Garchomp Dragon Claws the Cresselia for some damage, Tyranitar gets a Rock Slide off, and Infernape does get a Close Combat onto Tyranitar, bringing it down to ~15% after the Chople Berry. (Score: 4-4)
Turn 4: I have no idea what to do at this point — he has all the offensive momentum on his side, and I really don’t want to Icy Wind into a Bisharp switch in. At the same time, it’s too risky to predict a Bisharp switch because HP Fire/Low Kick won’t do anything to Garchomp. I decide to go with my safest option, which is setting up Trick Room. To my surprise, Infernape carries Mach Punch, completely messing up my strategy as Tyranitar will now faint first. Garchomp Dragon Claws my Cresselia, and Trick Room goes up. (Score: 4-4)
Turn 5: Not wanting to take a Mach Punch, I switch Tyranitar into Thundurus and go for an Icy Wind with Cresselia. (In perspective this move does not make much sense at all, but my plan was to reverse Trick Room the following turn. I was also really desperate to hit Garchomp at this point.) He predicts me perfectly, switching Garchomp into Bisharp and Overheating my Thundurus instead of going for the Mach Punch. Thundurus faints, and Icy Wind does nothing to Bisharp/Infernape while Bisharp gets the +2 Defiant boost. (Score: 3-4)
Turn 6: At this point, I’m convinced the game is over and I have no possible way to win. I bring out Scizor in a last attempt to pull off some shenanigans. I decide that my only shot at winning is if I get a Swords Dance up and slowly pick off his team members one by one. I reverse the Trick Room with Cresselia to prevent a possible Sucker Punch and go for a Swords Dance. I knew Infernape would KO the Scizor with an Overheat, but he had gone four turns without a paralysis, including the turn I Rock Slided him, so I played my odds and hoped it would work out. Everything plays out perfectly — Bisharp’s Sucker Punch is negated, Infernape gets paralyzed, and I get a free Swords Dance up. Infernape faints from sand damage. Maybe this game isn’t over yet! (Score: 3-3)
Turn 7: He brings in Garchomp for Infernape. I knew he had run Fire Fang Garchomp in the past, and Bisharp can’t beat Scizor one on one, so I target the Garchomp with a +2 Steel Gem Bullet Punch. I get caught off guard as Bisharp goes for a Sucker Punch on Scizor instead of Cresselia, which is negated because Scizor outspeeds him from the -1 Icy Wind. Garchomp is OHKOed, and Cresselia gets free damage onto Bisharp. The last two turns have played out perfectly for me! (Score: 3-2)
Turn 8: He reveals his last Pokemon to be Cresselia. I do a silent cheer inside because Gyarados would have swept the rest of my team for sure. The game is not over yet — if Cresselia carries HP Fire, I’m done for. I Protect to scout out a potential HP Fire, and his Bisharp Protects while his Cresselia goes for an Icy Wind. No HP Fire! I’m not sure if he is bluffing me, but I cross my fingers for the next two turns. (Score: 3-2)
Turn 9: Scizor finishes Bisharp off with a Bullet Punch, and his Cresselia goes for an Icy Wind again — OK, it must not have HP Fire. It misses my own Cresselia, and I get a free Icy Wind off against his Cresselia. I’m still a bit wary of HP Fire because it can still save him and win him the game, so I make sure to play my last turn carefully. My own Cresselia goes down to sand damage. (Score: 2-1)
Turn 10: I bring out Tyranitar and target Cresselia with a Bullet Punch + Crunch. Bullet Punch gets a critical hit, and I win the game and pull one of the best comebacks I’ve ever managed to do in VGC history. I know I got very lucky with the well timed full paralysis back in turn six, but you have to play your odds sometimes. I shake Ryan’s hand, and I’m now only one game away from making top cut.
Post game: When I added the game online and checked out his sets on Pokecheck, I was surprised to see two things: Jolly HP Ice Ice Gem Garchomp, and offensive Expert Belt Cresselia without HP Fire. Had he just had a normal Garchomp with max Attack EVs and HP Fire on Cresselia instead of Sunny Day, I would have lost that match for sure, but given what I had to work with, I think I did a good job pulling out the game with a victory. (Score: 2-0)
Record: 6-2
Round 9: Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom)
Before Round nine pairings went up, I now had the same record as multiple other players from Nugget Bridge, most notably Ben Rothman (Nightblade7000) and Enosh Shachar (Human). I knew the chances of running into someone from the online community was high, so I breathed a sigh of relief when I pulled a name I didn’t recognize. After asking around, I realize my opponent was actually from Nugget Bridge and a member of Team Magma — also known as TheBattleRoom. I didn’t know too much about him, but I knew not to under or overestimate him going into the match.
From team preview, I liked my chances — there weren’t any Pokemon that my team really had a weakness to, and I had a way to hit all six of his Pokemon for super-effective damage. I decide to go with Hitmontop and Landorus-T as my leads, since it shuts down his three physical sweepers immediately and does well against everything except Cresselia (and even then, I can get a U-Turn off on it with Landorus-T). I think I brought Cresselia and Tyranitar in the back.
I’m delighted to see that he leads with Volcarona and Mamoswine, and go for a Fake Out on the Mamoswine and a Rock Slide with Landorus-T. I didn’t expect Volcarona to stay in, but free chip damage on anything would be fine. Here’s the issue: I forgot Volcarona could learn Rage Powder, and also did not realize my Landorus-T was Adamant nature (as opposed to Jolly nature). Volcarona redirects the Fake Out away from Mamoswine, and Mamoswine moves first and gets an Icicle Spear on Landorus-T. My dreams of top cut are slowly fading away… until Icicle Spear stops at two hits and Landorus hangs on with around 7 HP. Volcarona falls down to a Rock Slide and Mamoswine’s potential Focus Sash is broken.
Now that Volcarona is out the way, Tyranitar and Cresselia have a much easier job defeating the rest of his team. I don’t remember the rest of the battle very well, but I recall telling myself that the battle is not over despite how much of an advantage I had gained after the first turn. I make a few good predictions, and manage to pull away with away with away with a slim victory. The battle probably would have been over right there and then in turn one had Icicle Spear hit more than two times, but luck was on my side.
I had done it: from 2-2 to 7-2, and guaranteed top cut with a bye on my side. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that I had locked up my invitation to the 2013 Pokemon World Championships, but I also told myself that I was only five best two- of-three sets away from winning a 3rd consecutive national title. I walked around, congratulated everyone who made top cut, and waited around until they posted the final standings/bracket for the Top 32.
Record: 7-2, top cut
Top 32: Jonathan Neville
Once the standings are posted, I am the #18 seed, playing against the #15 seed — Jonathan Neville. I didn’t recognize his name, which seems to be a common trend for me when I make it into top cut (the past two Nationals, the past two Regionals), but I knew not to underestimate him as he had gone 7-2 just like me and was seeded higher, meaning he probably had a tougher schedule. He was a really nice guy, and we chatted briefly before we started the best two-of-three set.
In team preview, I already like my chances against his team — Scizor can punch holes through Terrakion, Yanmega, and Cresselia, and with enough speed control, can pretty much rip his team apart. Thundurus and Cresselia have nice coverage against anything he might choose to lead, and Landorus-T can finish the job. I choose to do exactly that for the first game — lead Cresselia and Thundurus, with Scizor and Landorus-T in the back.
Game 1: Jonathan lead with Metagross and Rotom-W against my Cresselia and Thundurus. I’ve played this out around one hundred times with this team, but I still am always torn on what to do. Do I double target the Rotom-W? What about the Metagross? Should I Thunder Wave Rotom-W instead? What if its a Protect/Explosion lead? etc. I decide to double target the Rotom since it gives my back two more trouble, and successfully KO it with a Thunderbolt/Psyshock, leaving me to believe that it is Choice Specs. (Cresselia moves before his Rotom). His Metagross gets a Meteor Mash off on Cresselia, and I’m up 4-3.
He replaces the Rotom-W with a Dragonite, a Pokemon I don’t like seeing very much. I think I go for a HP Fire / HP Ice this turn, and he goes for an Extremespeed and Meteor Mash again, but this time on Thundurus. I attack into both his Occa and Yache Berry on his Metagross and Dragonite. Regardless, with Landorus-T and Scizor in the back, I’m not too worried and I think the game is pretty much wrapped up at this point.
He reveals his last one to be Yanmega. Scizor goes down right away to a Fire Punch when I sent it out (going for the Swords Dance), but in the end it is my Thundurus and Landorus-T against his Dragonite and Yanmega: clearly a favorable matchup towards me. A couple of Thunderbolts and Rock Slides later, and the game is in my hands. I won Game one pretty convincingly, but told myself to treat each game as its own and stay focused.
1-0
Game 2: My notes for this game are scarce, but he lead with Cresselia and Terrakion this time with Metagross and Yanmega in the back. Even better for me now since Scizor can handle all four of those Pokemon. He spends the first two turns just using Helping Hand and Rock Slide, but that’s not a big deal as long as I switch my Thundurus out into Scizor. I am able to pick each Pokemon off one by one, and we have a similar situation where Yanmega is left against my Landorus-T.
Post game: Well, that was a relief. It’s always good getting a best two-of-three set down quickly, and I extended my Nationals top cut win streak to a perfect 10-0. I knew it’d only get harder from here on out, but I liked how my bracket looked. I’d most likely be up against #2 seed Demitri Camperos, who was using the same team as 2011 Seniors World Champion Kamran Jahadi (Kamz). I also happened to build this exact team for Brendan to use at the National Championships, so I sat down to figure out a game plan. Lo and behold, Demitri was indeed my opponent for the Top 16.
2-0
Record: 8-2, advancing to Top 16
Top 16: Demitri Camperos
As I just mentioned, Demitri is using a team I (and you probably) am very familiar with. It’s a modified version of a popular Japanese team, with offensive Cresselia, Choice Band Gyarados, and Choice Scarf Tyranitar. I felt that Scizor would be excellent in this matchup if I am able to: 1. eliminated Gyarados and: 2. paralyze Cresselia, so that was my game plan going into the set. After some thinking, I figured that Thundurus + Scizor was my best lead combo, and he would most likely lead with Bisharp game one since I have two Intimidators. In the back I had Cresselia and Tyranitar for the first two games, and swapped Cresselia for Landorus-T in the third game. Hitmontop was absolute dead weight for this set so I never brought it in. These games were recorded by TRE, so I’ll go back and edit in play by plays when they go online, but for now I am relying on my memory.
Game 1: As I mentioned before, I decided Thundurus + Scizor was my best bet against anything he could lead. He went with his Cresselia and Bisharp, and I knew that it would be time to spread the paralysis. On the first turn, his Bisharp Protects and Thundurus gets the Thunder Wave on Cresselia off and Cresselia’s HP Fire is negated — a perfect turn for me. I don’t want my Scizor KOed just yet, so I switch into Tyranitar the following turn as Thundurus goes for another Thunder Wave on Bisharp. He predicts me and goes for a Low Kick (I assume) but gets fully paralyzed with Bisharp while Cresselia gets an Icy Wind off (this is huge later in the game). He decides to stay in with both of his Pokemon and a couple of turns later, I am up 4-2 with my ~100 HP Thundurus and max HP Tyranitar against his Garchomp behind a Substitute and his Gyarados.
Here is where I make one of the biggest mistakes in my VGC career. Having played so many games of Pokemon already up to that point, I didn’t properly think my moves through and forgot that my Thundurus was at -1 speed from Cresselia’s Icy Wind earlier on. I knew his Gyarados had a Choice Band, so I could OHKO it with a Thunderbolt. I also knew his Garchomp didn’t carry Rock Slide, so the only way I could miss the KO on Gyarados is from a crit Dragon Claw. I contemplated using Thunder Wave to slow down the Gyarados, but just went for a Thunderbolt. Of course his Gyarados moved before my Thundurus getting a free KO on it, and his Garchomp’s Earthquake left Tyranitar with less than 50%. Oops.
What I should have done was switch Thundurus out to Scizor at this point to take the Waterfall and let it faint. Then I could switch the Thundurus back in and get the KO on Gyarados. This misplay basically lost me the game as I now had no way to effectively hit Gyarados, and he KOed my team one by one. I was already getting ready for game two, but I was very frustrated and mad at myself for letting a game I had in the back end up in a loss. I knew that Demitri would also adjust properly for the next two games, meaning I’d have to figure out a game plan.
0-1
Game 2: Game two is the game I remember the least, but I went with the same four Pokemon while he went with Amoonguss and Tyranitar this time. I went straight for a Taunt on the Amoonguss and a Swords Dance with Scizor, and his Amoonguss takes the Taunt while Tyranitar does a hefty amount with Rock Slide but both are able to hang on. I’m in a huge advantage already at this point, and go for a Bullet Punch to KO the Tyranitar the following turn while Gyarados switches in for Amoonguss. While I nearly used Thunderbolt on the Amoonguss, I didn’t want to risk a potential Garchomp switch in. This time around, Thundurus was able to successfully KO the Gyarados with no Icy Wind speed control, and I take game two with confidence.
1-1
Game 3: Game three is one of the games I’ll have nightmares of for the rest of my Pokemon career. I was one game away from advancing into my 3rd consecutive Top Eight at the National Championships, but I was also one game away from elimination. Thundurus + Scizor worked well for the first two games, so I figured why not and lead with the same two again. This time, I swapped Cresselia out for Landorus-T as I anticipated he would leave Bisharp out of the game and bring Garchomp and Tyranitar.
I was overjoyed to see him lead with Garchomp and Tyranitar to start the game off. I went straight for a Steel Gem Bullet Punch onto the Tyranitar, knowing it has a 33% chance to OHKO, while bringing Thundurus back in for Landorus-T to get an Intimidate off on the two physical sweepers. Bullet Punch OHKOes the Tyranitar (a critical hit included, making it a 100% KO instead of a 33% chance), while Garchomp goes for a -1 Dragon Claw onto my Landorus-T. Perfect turn for me.
He replaces his Tyranitar with a Gyarados, giving him a huge swing in momentum. I know I need to bring in Thundurus safely so I don’t want to switch it in and allow it take any additional damage. I expect Garchomp to go for a Substitute this turn, so I U-Turn with Landorus-T and Swords Dance with Scizor. He does indeed go for the Substitute, while Landorus-T swaps out into Tyranitar (not Thundurus in case he targeted that spot with a Waterfall), and Gyarados gets a critical hit Waterfall to OHKO my Scizor. This is just the beginning (and the critical hit that mattered the least).
A bit flustered, I bring in my Thundurus to replace the fallen Scizor. I get a free Thunderbolt KO on Gyarados, but not before his Garchomp (at -1) gets a critical hit Dragon Claw onto my Thundurus to bring it down to 2 HP. Thundurus heals with its Sitrus Berry, but this is huge because what would be a 3HKO just turned into a 2HKO. Tyranitar takes care of Garchomp’s Substitute, and it’s now 3-2 in my favor, but my Thundurus is heavily damaged. Two critical hits in two turns. Bleh. I still have a good chance at winning this though as I see him bring in Amoonguss.
I predict an Earthquake Protect coming my way, so I swap the Thundurus into Landorus-T to get another Intimidate off. I think both Tyranitar and Amoonguss Protect here, and Garchomp Dragon Claws my Landorus-T to around 100 HP. OK, not bad. The following turn, I figure the Amoonguss is not going to Protect so I double target it with an Earthquake and Crunch. Yes, I know I just targeted my own Tyranitar, but he’s not going to Earthquake with Garchomp and Tyranitar outspeeds the Amoonguss so I’ll live and KO it before it attacks.
But then Garchomp goes for a Dragon Claw and… lo and behold, a third critical hit in four turns. Landorus-T falls down, and Tyranitar gets a critical hit Crunch off onto Amoonguss, but it survives with a sliver of HP and Spores my Tyranitar, and I know my dream of becoming a three time National Champion are pretty much dead. I bring in Thundurus, which falls to Garchomp’s Dragon Claw right away, and the game is over within the next few turns.
1-2
Record: 8-3, eliminated from tournament
Final placing: 13th place
Post-game: I was very upset about losing against Demitri, mainly because I misplayed in a game I pretty much had locked up. And of course, had the second or third critical hits not had happened, I’m fairly confident I could have taken game three. However, that’s the game we choose to play, and I don’t want to take anything away from Demitri’s victory. He was a great sport about everything and I’m glad he had finally has some time to shine in the spotlight, because he certainly deserves it. He is a really chill dude in general, and I’m happy he’ll be with us up in Vancouver next month, even if it was at my expense. He played really well in our set, and ended up finishing 3rd in the country. Congrats again man, and I hope we get a rematch in Vancouver.
Post Tournament Thoughts
I expected Brendan, my little brother, to win us a trip to the World Championships this year, but he failed to even make top cut because of a tough schedule and a lot of bad luck, so at the moment I was frustrated because I thought all the work I had put into the season was over. We later found out that the money Brendan and I had made this season was more than enough to cover for Vancouver expenses.
While my results in this tournament were a step down from the previous two Nationals, it’s pretty hard to match two first place victories in a row. I’m pleased with how I did, because I had a lot of doubt on myself as a player before this season started on whether I could match my success from the last two years in the Masters division. There isn’t a shiny trophy, a free trip to Vancouver, or a nice 3DSXL to show for 13th place, but it boosted my confidence knowing that I was only a couple of games away from winning the entire tournament.
This Nationals was incredibly well held, and I applaud TPCi for making it the best Nationals I have attended in four years. I watched three fantastic finals this time around, and while I am a bit envious that my finals matches weren’t featured for everyone to watch the past two years and don’t have 100K views on JWittz’s YouTube channel, as a true fan of the game, I think it was a great job that AlphaZealot and the rest of his team did. I am very excited to see what happens at Worlds!
After this season, I placed 1st and 2nd at two of the more competitive Regionals in the country, and 13th at Nationals. I also earned my 4th World Championship qualification, something only a few other players have been able to accomplish (the only ones I can think of on the top of my head are Ray Rizzo, Santa Ito, and Brian Hough). I also became the first player in Pokemon history to qualify for the World Championships in three separate divisions — Juniors, Seniors, and Masters. That’s a pretty cool honor in itself!
The goal for me and Brendan is to obviously win a World Championship — something we haven’t been able to do despite five world qualifications between the two of us. I know Brendan is hungry for his first title after two 3rd place victories in a row, and as I said in the very beginning of the article, a win would pretty much complete my VGC resume. While it certainly won’t be easy, I think it’s a doable task and I know I’ll be training hard for the next few weeks.
Regardless, I’m just happy to say that Brendan and I have both made it to Worlds for the third year in a row. It’s been an incredible journey for the two of us, and we’re also fortunate enough to make enough every year that this hobby is completely free for us, and we’re able to even make a bit of extra money on the side. The Pokemon community is an incredible group of people, and I’m excited to just hang out with everyone next month in Vancouver and play alongside some of the best players in the world.
This article is around 10,000 words, so I applaud you if you’ve made it this far. Back when we were on Smogon, I spent most of my time talking about the social experience at these tournaments, and not the Pokemon. I hope that you’ve gotten to learn more about myself as a player and that you enjoyed this report. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you all next month in Vancouver!
About the Author
Cybertron is a five time Worlds qualifier ('08, '11, '12, '13, '14), a three-time Regional Champion, and a two-time National Champion. Aaron also placed 3rd at the 2013 Pokemon World Championships. He is sponsored by CLASH Tournaments and aims to promote competitive VGC through his YouTube channel, CybertronProductions. Aaron is currently a senior at Trinity School NYC.
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Any man with good taste knows to love the Scizor <3
That set was, believe it or not, inspired by the cobbled-together bug team my little brother used at London 2009. Early 2012 season I thought like, why doesn’t anyone use Scizor he’s good, and put that amazingly original moveset together. When I obviously couldn’t use it myself, I got Wolfe to incorporate it into his nats team along with his HP fire cresselia and my equally metagame-shifting genius creation, dragon dance tyranitar. So scizor went on to win masters and seniors at US nats, then UK gamerbase. It’s like the butterfly effect but toilet signs lol.
Doesn’t shiny scizor have more wins under it’s belt?
Good work on reviving your old Nationals team, clawing back from a 2-2 start to make Top Cut, and making the T16. Since I was having my own tourney progress on the line for most of the T16, I didn’t see the battle you had with Demitri which was on the TV for the spectators, but that was quite a tough way to go out. 10k Words doesn’t really feel like much when the report is well written, which was the case here. Besides the one I wrote was ~9k words, so the article isn’t THAT long, relatively.
Now that you have gone with regular (and superior) Red Scizor, are you going to go back to using the awful shiny Yellow one?
See you in 2 weeks.
It was tough listening to Collin explain that first turn to me. Guess this goes to show that old ideas really are good again. Just touch up the team a bit and hey! Good team.
Congrats on top 16. Even if you did get haxed out, top 16 is not something to be sad about. Great job! See you in Vancouver.
Awesome article that is really well written. I enjoyed reading it thoroughly.
Tough luck on how you got eliminated, I’ve had similar things happen to me before. I had a crucial miss point, only to be returned in kind by a critical hit Draco Meteor from a -4 Latios. Suffice to say I was shattered. Congrats on making it to worlds though, and good luck in your attempt to win in Vancouver. I wish I could go
Most opportunist title I’ve ever seen. I want the puns back, period.
Good job on qualifying right away and overall good season beside that, and more evidence for the notion that being well used to a team goes a long way in big tournaments. Though, I’m not sure I understand why you would have Cresselia TR against rain when she struggles with boosted Water attacks and you don’t quite have a team that is designed to beat Politoed under it. And yeah, crits ignoring attack nerfs certainly belong to the most annoying and illogical aspects of this game…
That 3rd match was really, really unfortunate, but i’m impressed that managed to maintain your composure and even document your matches for us. That said, congrats on making top 16 and good luck in worlds!
PS: Good call on that Scizor, shiny Scizor is vile.
I just finally got around to reading all of this. What a great write up!!
It’s comforting to see that a well-built team can still perform well despite shifts in the meta game, and the turn-by-turn detail that you included for some of the matches was extremely insightful and also helpful for me to know why certain decisions were made. Well done.
And also congratulations on your performance at Worlds!