Reports

Published on June 12th, 2015 | by GENGARboi

26

Standard Six Squad with a Twist: 1st Place Seattle Regionals Report

Yooooooo Nugget Bridge! My name is Riley Factura, also known as GENGARboi online. I was born and raised in New Jersey, and now reside in Orange County, California. I’m 22 years old and I’ve loved Pokémon ever since Red and Blue came out when I was a kid. I started playing competitively when Netbattle was around in Generation 3, so some of you may have known me to hate Substitute “Viloplumes.”   Now that that broken strategy isn’t viable anymore, I began to start having decent success. I had a slight stint of appearances in VGC with top cuts in 2010 and 2014 California Regionals. My 2014 goal was to get an invite to Worlds. After a disappointing performance on day 2 of Nationals, I knew I needed to step up my game. I worked even harder for the 2015 season. I’ve had multiple top cuts and wins in Nugget Bridge circuit tournaments, maxed out my Premier Challenge wins, and won the Spring Regionals in Seattle. The following is a report for the team I used.

Team Building Process

After using Kangaskhan for the entire 2014 season, I knew I wanted to start the new metagame with a completely different mega. When the rules were announced, I first tested Charizard. I was playing around with teammates such as Terrakion, Landorus, Thundurus, Sylveon, Aegislash, Conkeldurr, Hydreigon, Cresselia and a few others. However, no matter which other five Pokémon were doing well, Charizard felt overwhelmed by the metagame’s Landorus and Terrakion Rock Slides, as well as being walled by Heatran, barring Hidden Power Ground variants, which would have to give up a move slot.  I think it is a completely viable Mega Evolution and can do well at tournaments. However, Charizard just wasn’t working best for me at the time.

This was the main Charizard core:

Next, I did a lot of Salamence and Metagross testing, and even tried Gyarados, Abomasnow, Swampert, Camerupt, and Gallade. However, the teams weren’t meeting expectations from practice on the Pokémon Showdown ladder. The highest results I got were from Salamence teams, but I still wasn’t completely comfortable with it.

These are the Salamence and Metagross cores:

Reluctantly, I started testing Kangaskhan again. She gave me no trouble powering through online play. Anthony Jimenez (DarkAssassin) and I started working on the same Kangaskhan team and we eventually brought the same six to SoCal Regionals. Our spreads, movesets, and items were different, and he did well with it getting 4^th, but I didn’t do so hot at the Regionals. I did however, win the Premier Challenge the day after with the team. In between Winter and Spring Regionals, I tried playing around with the team to get more comfortable with it and making any adjustments I could. I tried replacing Pokémon, but I felt the most comfortable with these six. The Pokémon seem pretty standard, but some of the sets gave opponents a surprise by being different from the most popular ones. This is the team:

Team Accomplishments:

• 2/8/15 Nugget Bridge Live Tournament – 1st Place
• 2/15/15 Lancaster, CA Premier Challenge – 1st Place
• 3/6/15 Nugget Bridge Live Tournament – 1st Place
• 3/28/15 Ventura, CA Premier Challenge – 1st Place
• 5/17/15 Seattle, WA Regionals – 1st Place
• Any 2nd Place finishes don’t count.

The Team

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 148 HP / 108 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
– Protect

The moveset is the same set I used to top cut 2014 SoCal Winter Regionals. Fake Out is a good move, but I really didn’t see much use for it with nothing on the team to setup besides Kangaskhan herself. Most opponents usually prepare or expect the Fake Out and use Protect or switch accordingly, making Fake Out a wasted turn. Instead, I can go for the Power-Up Punch on a predicted switch or Protect, having three members that I could set up on myself, resulting in always have one in every game. This would net me a quick +2 attack boost, where Kangaskhan could rampage through the opponents, or attracting the opponent’s attention of being the threat. This attention sometimes lured the opponent to double target Kangaskhan, which would in the end waste their turn if I used Protect.

I could also get a free switch in and support Kangaskhan even further with any of the team members.  Sylveon did well against Scrafty and Conkeldurr, Landorus for Terrakion and Intimidate, Heatran for Aegislash and Mawile, Thundurus for Salamence and as a status abuser, or Amoonguss to redirect threatening attacks, since these were some of the common threats that stop Kangaskhan from sweeping.  You can see how this team revolved around Kangaskhan, and even though the Pokémon standard, they all worked well to support Kangaskhan.

The EV Spread I used was actually not the one I intended to use during the tournament. I didn’t find out that I had put the wrong Kangaskhan in my battle box until after the Swiss rounds. It actually hurt that with less attack, I failed to OHKO a Venusaur with a +2 Sucker Punch in my top 8 match.  However, I was still able to pull through with a win. In hindsight, I would have preferred the standard 252/252 like I have been using in testing because of the cases of leaving opposing Pokémon in the red with less attack and for maximizing my chances of winning the Kangaskhan mirror match.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 180 HP / 212 Def / 88 SpA / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
– Hyper Voice
– Quick Attack
– Shadow Ball
– Hidden Power [Ground]

Sylveon in my opinion, has made just as big of a metagame impact as Kangaskhan. It is a must to have at least one, preferably two, three, and you couldn’t go wrong with even more resistances to Fairy on your team. Sylveon will produce massive amounts of damage with Hyper Voice and Choice Specs to both of the opposing Pokémon. Sylveon’s precense forces a lot of switches.  No matter which slot the opponent switches, the incoming Pokémon will take a significant amount of damage.  Even Pokémon that resisted the attack would now be in range for another one of my Pokémon to KO if it was normally a damage roll.  I could also punish any predicted switches by using a move from Sylveon’s partner that would heavily damage it.

For example, I see from Team Preview that my opponent’s resistances to Fairy type is Aegislash or Amoonguss.  My opponent is in a situation where Hydreigon is out on the field against my Sylveon locked into Draco Meteor.  I could safely Flamethrower that slot with Heatran, knowing that either Aegislash or Amoonguss would come in.  And if my opponent didn’t switch then the Hydreigon would faint to the Hyper Voice.  Either choice my opponent does is a win/win situation for me.

Hidden Power Ground was used to damage Heatran harder, while Shadow Ball was used for Aegislash.  The last and most arguable move was a tough decision. I was choosing between Psyshock, Hyper Beam, and Quick Attack. Psyshock hits opposing Amoonguss, while Hyper Beam OHKO’s almost anything (damn that bulky Cresselia) that doesn’t resist Fairy at the cost of not moving next turn.  In the end, I decided to go with Quick Attack so I could pick off the popular Focus Sash users Breloom and Gengar, or anything that was left in the red.  Here are some damage calculations with the EV Spread:

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 180 HP / 212 Def Sylveon: 162-191 (83.9 – 98.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 180 HP / 212 Def Sylveon: 81-96 (41.9 – 49.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• 56+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Overheat vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon in Sun: 150-177 (77.7 – 91.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 56+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon in Sun: 81-96 (41.9 – 49.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO
• -1 252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Iron Head vs. 180 HP / 212 Def Sylveon: 152-182 (78.7 – 94.3%) — guaranteed 2HKO

Intimidate from Landorus helped Sylveon survive even more attacks.  The 28 EVs in Speed was just to speed creep other Sylveon, and the rest was dumped into Special Attack.  If there’s anything I would change about this spread it would probably be because of this:

• 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 180 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 174-211 (90.1 – 109.3%) — 50% chance to OHKO

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 4 SpA / 132 SpD / 32 Spe
Calm Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Taunt

Thundurus was a very situational Pokémon, but he was vital at shutting down Mega Salamence, Blaziken, Greninja, any random fast Pokémon, and various setup strategies.  The moveset was pretty standard, as it is the only Pokémon on my team to use the top four most popular moves for a particular Pokémon on Battle Spot.

• 252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 132+ SpD Thundurus: 103-123 (55.3 – 66.1%) — 25.4% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 88 Def Thundurus: 196-232 (105.3 – 124.7%) — 0.4% chance to OHKO

With Sitrus Berry, I had a pretty decent chance to survive 2 Hyper Voices from Sylveon and a Double-Edge from Kangaskhan.  The bulk allowed me to spread paralysis throughout my opponent’s team even further.  During Seattle regionals and playing online, Thundurus was brought the least amount of times.

* While editing this article, HeliosanNA pointed out that this Thundurus spread has 4 less Speed EVs than it should. Moving the 4 EVs in Special Attack into Speed would be optimal. The 88 Defense EVs is not a waste since Thundurus has 30 IVs in Defense for Hidden Power Ice.

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 188 HP / 156 Def / 164 SpD
Sassy Nature
– Spore
– Rage Powder
– Sludge Bomb
– Protect

• 188 HP Maximizes HP recovery with Regenerator
• -1 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 188 HP / 156 Def Amoonguss: 180-212 (84.5 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• -1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 188 HP / 156 Def Amoonguss: 180-212 (84.5 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
• 252+ SpA Mega Gardevoir Psychic vs. 188 HP / 164+ SpD Amoonguss: 182-216 (85.4 – 101.4%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
• 56+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 188 HP / 164+ SpD Amoonguss in Sun: 186-218 (87.3 – 102.3%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO
• 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 188 HP / 156 Def Amoonguss: 180-214 (84.5 – 100.4%) — 0.8% chance to OHKO

Amoonguss was the glue of the team and the most important member for keeping the rest of the team alive. Spore helped my matchup against Trick Room. I could put opposing Trick Room setters to sleep to prevent setup. If Trick Room was already up, I could prevent the Trick Room abusers from attacking for one turn. Notice how I said one turn. When using Spore with Amoonguss, I play assuming the opponent will wake up turn 1. This allowed me to be prepared for the worst possible scenario. Any sleeping turns after the first one is luck based, so I chose not to rely on it, but it is a plus if given. Rage Powder allowed the rest of my team perform their roles for a longer period of time. I chose Sludge Bomb over Giga Drain to hit Breloom and Whimsicott down to the Focus Sash. The damage was also more beneficial towards Sylveon, Gardevoir, Ludicolo, and Pokémon that resisted Grass. Grass typing hits more of the current metagame for resisted damage.

Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 36 Def / 220 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
– Flamethrower
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Earth Power
– Protect

Shuca Berry and maximum investment in Speed with a Timid nature gave me confidence in winning the mirror match. With the EV investment, I would also take a spread Landorus-T Earthquake 100% of the time and could OHKO back with Hidden Power Ice and it also gave an option to hit Salamence hard as well. I opted for Flamethrower for a couple reasons. Heat Wave had a chance to miss and dealt less damage to the opponent I want to take the Fire move. For example, if my opponent had Hydreigon and Metagross out on the field and I used Heat Wave, there was a chance I would miss the Metagross and hit the Hydreigon. I basically got unsignificant amount of damage to Hydreigon without even damaging Metagross at all, essentially wasting a turn. With Flamethrower, not only was I going to get damage into that slot 100% of the time, I could chose the target I wanted to hit, and deal more damage than a spread move.

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Earthquake
– Stone Edge
– Rock Slide
– Superpower

As you’ve seen from above, Landorus-T’s Intimidate was important for helping the rest of my team survive attacks. Terrakion gave above five members a problem, especially if it was going to start flinching Sylveon with Rock Slide. Landorus-T helped fill the role of taking Terrakion down nicely. With Choice Scarf, I could outspeed and OHKO Terrakion as well as opposing Kangaskhan.

As a fourth move, I think U-turn is bad in the VGC format. In singles, U-Turn helped abused Stealth Rock damage onto your opponent and essentially you have five Pokémon to switch into. In VGC, you only have two options, so switching into the correct Pokémon to counter your opponent is a lot less difficult. U-turn seems to have more negatives than positives. A lot of times, U-Turn can be tempting to use on a Hydreigon, only to find out it had Choice Scarf with Hidden Power Ice, and you lose your Landorus-T turn one. Switching not only performs the same goal, but now you have even more momentum. Stone Edge helped vs. Wide Guard and could OHKO Charizard at -1, and maybe even -2 depending on the opponent’s spread. I’ve tested a bit bulkier sets with less Attack and Speed to survive things like +1 Life Orb Sucker Punch from Bisharp. In the end, I chose to run 252/252 because I wanted to outspeed Choice Scarf Heatran, which was gaining popularity next to Charizard to abuse the Sun. I also felt I was leaving too many Pokémon in the red with less attack investment and non max Attack Landorus-T doesn’t always OHKO Terrakion with Earthquake.

Shoutouts

I’ve asked for help from some people and literally got shut down before.  So here’s to the people that have supported me throughout the season.

• Team West Coast #BestCoast
• Team Tank Top
• Angel Orozco (lafanz), Alicia Martinez (leeshe), plus the rest of the SoCal locals
• Andy Himes (Amarillo) for giving me the play I needed to make in my Top 8 match.  He was very supportive throughout the season and the weekend.  Although I couldn’t get any help from him for finals because he was friends with Mark too!
• Alberto Lara (Sweeper) for being the most stubborn, fun, and persistent person I know.
• Alex & Anthony Jimenez (Legacy & DarkAssassin) for sharing strategies, gossiping about NuggetBridge drama, and everything else Pokémon pretty much everyday.  These two have been helping me grow as a player ever since I met them at 2014 SoCal Regionals.  A lot of credit goes to them for the Seattle win and 380 CP I racked up before Nationals.
• Everyone else I talk to on Showdown
• Nugget Bridge and the community – The admins, moderators, and everyone else take the time out of their day to put effort into this site for nearly free.  From hosting tournaments, to editing and creating articles and other content, the damage calculator customized for VGC, Stats for the survival calculator, and even the drama to spice up life while I sit behind the computer screen with some popcorn.  Shoutouts to HeliosanNA for editing this article! I really wouldn’t have become the player I am today without being on this site literally everyday.

About the Author

GENGARboi GENGARboi is always striving to become a better player.

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