Team Report The Battle is Over

[Ezrael]

Hey, I’m Jonathan Evans (Ezrael, @EzraelVGC) and I recently got 2nd place at the Pokémon VGC World Championships in the Masters Division. I started VGC in late 2013, but I didn’t get any good placings until this year. I almost quit after 2015 Worlds because I felt so disappointed with my performances and my teambuilding ability. If you heard of me before 2016 Worlds, it was probably because I try to speak louder than I probably should, or because I lost to Mandibuzz in top 16 of UK Nationals.


This season was significantly better than previous others for me, in part because I moved to a significantly easier region (I’m an American, but I go to university in the UK). I was able to do well this season by ripping off Gavin Michaels’s (kingofmars, @komvgc) teams. I used CHALK to snag top 8 at London Regionals while we were still in the 2015 format (thanks to Chuppa (Chuppa, @ChuppaVGC)) . After that, I used Dual Primals (Gavin’s variant) at Sutton Coldfield Regionals and UK Nationals to secure two top 16s, while also convincing everyone and their mother that it was the call for UK Nationals. With my 700 odd CP and TPCi still considering me a player from the NA rating zone, I laughed and laughed and laughed and took my free trip to US Nationals, where I used XRay (with Enosh (Human, @EnoshShachar), literally his team) and bombed out because XRay is a bad team and it’ll never do well at an event. Going into Worlds, I knew I was going to have to change something up. I realized that I never do well when using anything Enosh uses, because Enosh is crazy. I decided I needed to go back to my roots: stealing from Gavin. After net-decking Gavin’s team and then yelling at everyone who was using it to stop laddering with it, I subsequently using something extraordinarily similar at the Liberty Garden Invitational: my set vs. Tommy Cooleen (Tman, @TmanVGC)

Then I was ready to go to Worlds with almost no practice.
Except I wasn’t. I had to endure weeks upon weeks upon weeks of Rajan not building teams but continuing to tell me that the one I intended to use was bad because Manectric was bad. I also played something like 10 practice sets and lost almost all of them. I was kind of just saying yams it going into
Worlds. At the end, I decided to trust myself and my ability to beat XernDon teams, but I wasn’t really confident with any of my matchups.


Now let’s get onto the team.


Hey I’m Gavin (kingofmars, @komvgc) and I made a bunch of teams in this format that were apparently really good but I couldn’t use. Around a month and a half before Worlds, I decided that Manectric was worth seriously investing time into, since, with the help of Kyogre making Hidden Power Water do more than literally zero damage to Groudon, it felt like a solid way to answer Primals, Yveltal, RayOgre, and in general any matchup that wasn’t Groudon and Xerneas. I, Jon, will be interjecting in this because Gavin sucks and couldn’t include all the relevant calcs. You now have no idea who wrote what.



The problem with beating everything that isn’t Groudon/Xerneas is that you get beaten by Groudon/Xerneas. If I wanted Manectric, I would need to have as much XernDon hate as humanly possible. After hearing Rajan Bal (blarajan, @blaramons) talk nonstop about how good Gengar/Kyogre/Bronzong was against XernDon for two weeks straight, I decided it might be worth a shot. Turns out that it’s scary good at dealing with every part of the team that isn’t Cresselia or Bronzong. I decided that the matchup was “good enough” after extensive testing with Aaron Traylor (Unreality, @NBUnreality).


Groudon was chosen as the second restricted almost purely by default. I just didn’t have the infrastructure available to support any other legendary, and, given Groudon’s strengths, it is very difficult for it to be dead weight against anything but Rayquaza/Kyogre. This was basically a 5 mon team for an extended period of time until I came to the conclusion that I A) wanted more coverage against Kangaskhan when I was using the team’s Manectric mode and B ) wanted to be able to shut down Bronzong/Cresselia from going for support moves. After debating whether Bronzor/Bronzong could actually work, I finally remembered the Pokémon that was able to actually beat Kangaskhan and shut down supports: support Talonflame.


With that, the team: (a full pastebin of my day 2 team is at the bottom of the report)

Gengar @ Gengarite (Brought 34/48 games, 10/17 Day 1, 22/29 Day 2, 2/2 Finals)

Ability: Levitate

Level: 50

EVs: 76 HP / 240 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA

- Sludge Bomb

- Will-O-Wisp

- Hidden Power [Water]

- Protect



The Spread:

The Speed is fairly self-explanatory: outrun base 100s before Mega Evolving, outrun base 120s + 2 points, which basically means Salamence since seriously, who cares about anything else that’s base 120. We also wanted to outspeed anything that decided to creep Salamence and hit 190, like any possible Sceptile, Mewtwo, Weavile, or 95 Speed Primals in Tailwind, so we hit 191. I originally invested enough Speed to outrun Weavile, but it came up so rarely in testing that I felt like I was basically punting EVs, especially considering how much work I could do by investing more in bulk. I learned later on that if I had decided to only outspeed Salamence by one point I could have ran 156 HP / 160 Def, (shoutout to Stats) which would have given me a much higher chance of surviving Wolfe’s Kyogre’s Origin Pulse in finals.



Gengar has no Special Attack EVs because it does this:

• 0 SpA Mega Gengar Hidden Power Water vs. 252 HP / 156 SpD Primal Groudon in Heavy Rain: 204-240 (98.5 – 115.9%) – 87.5% chance to OHKO

You will not find a bulkier Groudon, and most are less bulky than this.

And the point of the defensive EVs:

• 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Sucker Punch vs. 76 HP / 240 Def Mega Gengar: 124-148 (85.5-102%) – 2.7% chance to OHKO
  
  
• 252 Atk Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 76 HP/ 240 Def Mega Gengar: 121-144 (83.4 - 99.3%) – guaranteed 2HKO
  
  
• 108 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs 76 HP / 240 Def Mega Gengar: 121- 144 (83.4-99.3%) – guaranteed 2HKO
  
  
• +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 76 HP / 4 SpD Mega Gengar: 113- 133 ( 77.9 – 91.7%) – guaranteed 2HKO

While it may seem like overkill, taking a Sucker Punch was crucial since it let Gengar freely HP Water Groudon next to a Kangaskhan, or get free damage off onto Kangaskhans. While I don’t survive Sucker Punch 100% of the time, I wouldn’t anyways since, you know, it still has two chances to crit me. The additional amount I’m not surviving is less than half the chance of a crit, and it takes approximately a million EVs to survive it anyway, so whatever. Surviving the Dragon Ascent was a happy little accident that I will 100% take. Also, apparently 108 Atk Salamence is exactly as strong as 252 Atk Rayquaza. Who knew?



Move-wise, I feel like Sludge Bomb and Will-o-Wisp are so standard that they probably don’t need much explanation, and HP Water was chosen since, seriously, look at my team. Without HP water, Kyogre’s my only out for dealing with Groudon, which is no bueno.



Gengar’s role on the team is of utmost importance in most matchups. Gengar just allows you to outplay your opponent. It was the call going into Worlds partly because it was good against what we expected the metagame to be (Groudon Xerneas dominated, with a bit of everything in there, especially on day 1). But it was also the call going into Worlds because no one knew how to play against Mega Gengar. Mega Gengar had never been good before because of the abundance of moves to hit it. However, in this format, most Pokémon are either unable to hit Gengar at all (some Cresselia, Kangaskhan, and Smeargle), get neutered by opposing weathers (Groudon and Kyogre) can get Skill Swapped (Salamence), can get burned (Rayquaza), or don’t do any damage (Xerneas). Gengar allows you to control the pace of the game and outplay your opponent. When you are playing Mega Gengar--or at least when you were playing Mega Gengar before Worlds--no one knew how to deal with the trap, and no one was careful enough about the trap. Trapping certain Pokémon in can often lead to instant wins. I think Mega Gengar is fantastic and everyone should try it out.

Kyogre @ Blue Orb (Brought 48/48 games)

Ability: Drizzle

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Origin Pulse

- Ice Beam

- Thunder

- Protect



The first, and on this team, far more important part of the infamous primal duo, Kyogre is a monster. Almost nothing hits it for super-effective damage, and nothing hits it for an OHKO, while Kyogre scores 1 or 2HKOs on almost every Pokémon in the format, often while hitting for spread damage that’s not negated by by the opponent’s Pokémon’s typing. Kyogre is integral to the functioning of the team, as using Gengar, Bronzong or Manectric to win the weather war is the best way to knock out opposing Groudon. In order to do that though, you have to control the weather. That means at all times you must be cognizant of where the opposing Groudon is going. Is their Groudon in the back? If it is, it is much worse than a bad play to go for Origin Pulse; it is often a game losing play that is almost impossible to come back from. Even if their Groudon is in, it is often better to switch Kyogre out, as if you take a knock out and allow Groudon back in, you’re going to lose. Preserving Kyogre’s health and weather is key to using this team.


Kyogre is also (one of) the best way(s) to hit Rayquaza, Salamence, Amoonguss, Cresselia, Kyogre, and often Yveltal as a result of moveset choices. The moveset is chosen in order to maximize Kyogre’s utility across matchups. This team has lots of trouble damaging opposing Kyogre, so Thunder is really important. The ability to solo both primals on an opposing team or to take out both parts of Ray Ogre is key to a lot of matchups. If you’re running Thunder, Origin Pulse is the best choice that allows Kyogre to do damage even when it has taken some itself, while still being a spread move. With that in mind, the spread (Shoutouts to Rajan)


Defensive:

252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Primal Kyogre: 91-108 (43.9 – 52.1%) – 12.9% chance to 2HKO

Offensive:

4+ SpA Primal Kyogre Thunder vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Kyogre: 102-122 (49.2-58.9) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO



We also ran 95 Speed to outspeed Mega Salamence in Tailwind, but to still be slow in Trick Room. Modest and the 0 Atk IV also reduce Foul Play damage from Yveltal.

More offense on Kyogre does pretty much nothing else. Kyogre is used to do massive amounts of neutral damage to every single Pokémon in the format. +2 Xerneas? Still 3-4HKO it with Origin Pulse. Cresselia? Murder it with Origin Pulse. Everything gets destroyed by Origin Pulse. I don’t run Water Spout because I need to run Thunder, as mentioned above. Since we don’t run Water Spout, running 76 SpA Modest isn’t necessary and doesn’t get any additional calcs. Origin Pulse is never OHKOing Kang, which was also never an issue in practice. Ice Beam gets every knockout you want it to get, and Thunder is a 2HKO on opposing Kyogre.

Bronzong @ Lum Berry (Brought 34/48 games, 11/17 Day 1, 21/29 Day 2, 2/2 Finals)

Ability: Levitate

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD

Relaxed Nature

IVs: 4 Spe

- Gyro Ball

- Trick Room

- Skill Swap

- Safeguard



Bronzong was chosen to beat Xerneas and to have Skill Swap. I used 4 (Gavin used 8 because he is a dirty scumbag) Speed IV Bronzong because you win the Skill Swap war in Trick Room against 2 Speed IV Bronzong (if your Bronzong’s Skill Swap goes second, your weather goes up). This helped me out at the Liberty Garden Invitational, but not much at Worlds. It did allow me to feel comfortable with a number of situations in Team Preview, primarily against dual primal teams, which made me more comfortable with the team. Beating Xerneas is really important, and a lot of Xerneas were scared off just by Bronzong’s presence on the team. Skill Swap is critical to the success of this team and beating Groudon. If you’ve noticed, this team has almost no way to hit Groudon for moderate amounts of damage (think Hyper Voice from Salamence). That means you either need to hit it with a Water-type move or with 3-4 Ice Beams from Kyogre or 2 moves from Groudon. To do that safely, you need the Pokémon attacking to have Levitate.

Bronzong’s typing was also really clutch at Worlds; Being able to resist Flying- and Normal-type moves and set up Trick Room was fantastic.

This Bronzong is physically defensive:

252 + Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 188 + Def Bronzong: 146-174 ( 83.9 – 100%) – 6.3% chance to OHKO

We did this because we wanted the ability to set up a Safeguard and Protect with the partner Pokémon while our opponent was already in Gravity. I had no complaints about the spread and the heavy amounts of physical defense came in clutch time and again at Worlds.

Groudon @ Red Orb (Brought 47/48 games, 17/17 Day 1, 28/29 Day 2, 2/2 Finals)

Ability: Drought

Level: 50

EVs: 188 HP / 76 Atk / 156 SpA / 68 SpD / 20 Spe

Quiet Nature

- Eruption

- Precipice Blades

- Fire Punch

- Protect



The second half of the infamous duo, and by far the less important one, Groudon. Groudon was used because Groudon is a badass. Groudon does crazy amounts of damage to everything. Quiet 156 Groudon hits the bonus stat point that you get when using a boosting Nature. 20 Speed EVs hits 101 Speed stat, so in Tailwind you outspeed Crobat and max Speed Mega Gengar. It also means you outspeed slow Groudon outside of Trick Room. The Attack is designed to get a 2HKO on semi-bulky Xerneas as well as generally doing a bit of extra damage is nice. The HP and Sp. Def are designed to optimize chances of surviving a +2 Return or a Timid Earth Power. You do neither, but both are extremely unlikely to KO.


When making this spread, it’s amusing to note that I was originally at 252 HP / 4 Def, which would have helped me out in a couple of matches, as +2 Mega Rayquaza never OHKOes 252/4 Groudon. I completely forgot about this calc when making this spread because I did not think it was important.



Groudon is used to get advantageous board position with its massively high defense stats and just throw out Fire moves. I think a grand total of like 5 or 6 relevant Pokémon resist Fire-type moves, and most of them still don’t take too kindly to full powered Eruptions being launched their way. Groudon is important outside of just spreading damage though. It’s about being able to control what weather is on the field, especially when you can trap people in with Gengar. Being able to neuter Kyogre’s damage to 0 is massive both for me as a player and for the team (nothing likes taking a Water Spout).

Manectric @ Manectite (Brought 14 out of 48 games, 7/17 Day 1, 7/29 Day 2, 0/2 Finals)

Ability: Lightning Rod

Level: 50

EVs: 36 HP / 80 Def / 168 SpA / 4 SpD / 220 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA

- Volt Switch

- Thunder

- Hidden Power [Water]

- Protect



Now we come to the Pokémon everyone wants to see: Manectric. I did in fact bring Manectric to many games. I did not bring it in on stream because of team matchups and stuff. Manectric sucks. It has no stats at all. It does no damage to any Pokémon of any type and gets KOed by almost everything. HOWEVER. Manectric is the Pokémon for the matchups this team is otherwise weak to. Manectric gives the team a playable matchup versus every team archetype that does not have a Xerneas on it. Gavin says the matchup is positive everywhere, while I am inclined to disagree.


Manectric also gives you another advantage in the Primals mirror, besides being able to hit Salamence, Kyogre, and Groudon: timer stall. I’ll talk about this later, but after you Volt Switch to try to gain position, you can also waste 45 more seconds per turn.

Offensive:

168 SpA Mega Manectric Hidden Power Water vs. 252 HP / 92 SpD Primal Groudon in Heavy Rain: 204-240 (98.5 – 115.9%) – 87.5% chance to OHKO

Going much beyond this probability just messes with your ability to outspeed anything or take any hits.



Defensive:

252 Atk Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Sucker Punch vs. 36 HP / 80 Def Mega Manectric: 133-156 ( 88.6-104%) – 18.8% chance to OHKO



The Speed allowed it to outrun Mega Gengar (after Mega Evolution, and outrun Kangaskhan before Mega Evolution) and Speed tie 188 Speed EVs Modest Scarf Kyogre.

Talonflame @ Rocky Helmet (Brought 15 out of 48, 6/17 day 1, 9/29 Day 2, 0/2 Finals)

Ability: Gale Wings

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 76 Def / 20 SpD / 52 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Brave Bird

- Taunt

- Tailwind

- Will-O-Wisp



This is the Talonflame of legend. Revived from beyond the grave by Gavin Michaels, it came back and more than proved its worth, on stream as well. The history of this Talonflame is long and storied, and not many people know about it. One time in 2014, Ray was grimerposting in IRC and said “Rocky Helmet Talonflame XD”. Zach (Braverius, Braverius), being the crazy player that he is, decided to take this joke far too seriously, and calc’d out a Talonflame that would always beat Kangaskhan one-on-one with Rocky Helmet and Will-o-Wisp damage. He didn’t end up using it at 2014 US Nationals because of shenanigans that you can ask him about, but he gave it to Jeudy Azzarelli, who ended up using it on his top 8 Rain team. Jeudy’s Talonflame used Quick Guard though, which not necessary for this team. Enosh also used a similar Talonflame to get top 4 at the 2014 post-Worlds Philadelphia Regional. Then the Talonflame disappeared. No one used it for a whole year and a half. Then Gavin revived it. When Gavin wanted to use this Pokémon, he asked Jeudy for his spread, straight up.



While trying to figure out what the Speed stat did, I was very confused. Then Rajan suggested that the Talonflame was used originally to outspeed Garchomp. We took the points out of Speed, and never really changed the spread after that. That’s because it does what you want it to.

Defensive Calcs:

252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 252 HP / 76 Def Talonflame: 153- 181 ( 82.7-97.8%) – guaranteed 2HKO

The other calc is difficult to show you, because I calc’d it on an Excel spreadsheet to guarantee that I was right. However, Talonflame survives a -1 Mega Kangaskhan Fake Out combined with a -1 252 Dark Aura Life Orb Yveltal Knock Off. Assuming the opponent doesn’t crit, you only get knocked out 2% of the time. That means you have around an 80% to survive that, which is crucial.



The moveset is also pretty weird. Most people don’t think Will-o-Wisp is that good in this format, for good reason, as Groudon is immune to it. However, nerfing the damage of Kangaskhan, Rayquaza and Yveltal was the point of this Talonflame. Outspeeding all of them, or at least before they Mega Evolve, allows you to minimize the damage they deal. When one Pokémon does no damage and is trapped in, you can focus the partner, or let your Pokémon just take hits. Taunt is used to stop Cresselia and Smeargle. Smeargle is silly and it needs to be stopped. Preventing Cresselia from doing things is critical, as this team doesn’t have many other ways to deal with Cresselia with an 84 Speed stat, and Skill Swap can be extraordinarily disruptive. Tailwind is used for Speed control. I would not have used a different Talonflame moveset. Talonflame did everything I wanted it to do in almost every set I brought it in. I used Rocky Helmet (day 1 at least) as opposed to anything else because of comfort, the ability to break Rayquaza’s Focus Sash, and because we didn’t think Sitrus Berry would do much. Things changed a bit later. You’ll see.





Common Leads:

This lead was used almost every time the opponent had a Xerneas, and much more often when the opponent had a Smeargle. This lead allows you to pressure Xerneas leads, Kangaskhan leads, Groudon leads, Smeargle leads, and Salamence leads. You have the threat of Hidden Power Water because of the Kyogre switch in, the threat of setting up Trick Room and switching, the ability to safely set up a Safeguard while trapping in your opponents’ Pokémon, the threat of Will-o-Wisp, and the ability to control the pace of the game going forward. You also have the threat of using Skill Swap to take away an opposing Salamence’s Aerilate and trapping it in, which makes it a 100% worthless Pokémon. This lead doesn’t offer immediate offensive pressure, but it offers solid early-mid game board control, and is used if you want to bring Bronzong.

This lead is used if you DON’T want to bring Bronzong to the matchup. For example, Raydon teams, or a XernDon team with 84 Speed Cresselia. Talonflame is used to get off Will-o-Wisp and Taunt, and Gengar can also get of Will-o-Wisp. This lead offers you Tailwind control, but is very weak to Salamence. Again, HP Water is an option, yadda yadda.

This is the go-to lead vs Yveltal teams; the ability to Intimidate and burn Yveltal and Kangaskhan allows you to mess up most of their ability to damage Kyogre. Further, Yveltal teams crumble under the weight of Eruption in Tailwind, or even Origin Pulse if you get Kyogre in the right position. Used when your opponent has lots of ways to hit Bronzong AND Gengar (or you just really want Talonflame for some reason).

This is the lead when you are facing most Dual Primal teams, especially ones that you expect to have speedy Cresselia or don’t have a Cresselia at all. Having the 4 Speed IV gives you the advantage in most of those matchups, and Manectric + Bronzong is just a really flexible lead. You have the ability to go for Hidden Power Water, but more importantly, you have the ability to Volt Switch and Trick Room and adapt to whatever your opponent does.

This is pretty good vs. some Dialga stuff maybe? It’s also pretty good vs RayOgre, because they often have no way to stop Origin Pulse/Thunder/Ice Beam. Never ever use this vs. Xerneas teams. That just doesn’t make any sense.


How to play the team


This team does not get offense very easily. Most of your Pokémon are either slow, or are fast but do little damage, so you need to be very cognizant of board positioning. Thus, here are a set of things I think about when I play this team.

1. Having 4 Pokémon alive is really important. The ability to switch around efficiently gives you a lot more control over the board. If you need to make a sacrifice, go for it, but make sure you are getting proper rewards for that sacrifice.
   
   
2. Almost every team will have at least one Primal. You should try to use the primal of the same type to spread as much damage as possible in the midgame. Thus, against certain Groudon Xerneas compositions, your Groudon will be key (If you can set it up properly, but that is very difficult). Kyogre will also be very good against Groudon compositions if you set it up properly with Bronzong. Both will be good against Raydon. Against Kyogre compositions, your Kyogre can spit out damage that they can’t block. Often the other Primal should be in the back to preserve your ability to take Eruptions/Water Spouts by negating their damage.
   
   
3. Pay attention to the timer. Your team is going to be bulkier than your opponents, and you often have tools to control the board position such that your opponent will be doing little to no damage. That allows you to get up on Pokémon count and wait for a while.
   
   
4. Be very very scared of Cresselia. That Pokémon will eat you alive. Also Raichu. Be scared of Raichu.
   
   
5. Be scared of everything, honestly. This team requires you to be on the top of your positioning and health game in order to deal with any Pokémon. Thundurus is scary. Rayquaza is scary. Xerneas (yes, Xerneas, yes I have 4 fairy resists) is scary. Groudon is scary. Kyogre is scary. Yveltal is terrifying. Kangaskhan can be scary. Salamence is scary. The whole point of this team is that these Pokémon are all terrifying, but all manageable with proper board positioning, proper Trick Room, Tailwind, and Skill Swap management, and proper HP Waters.
   
   
6. Skill Swap is a really really really really really good move and very few people use it properly. Try to take away Aerilate, look for opportunities to steal Levitate away, take away the Desolate Land and switch out Bronzong. Think really hard when you’re using Skill Swap, because it is a better move than most people are aware of.
   
   
7. Sometimes you have to be really really aggressive with this team. Learn to recognize those scenarios, and make good plays that are aggressive, but safe. A play that is aggressive, but safe is one that is correct, i.e., your opponent has a very good reason to make the play you think they will, and you have good risk-reward from making that play.

Now it’s probably time to talk about my journey to Worlds. If you don’t care who I’m friends with or what I did, feel free to skip this; games are below. My journey started a week before Worlds, getting on the 4 o’clock plane to San Francisco:




I was going by myself because I had decided to stay with my brother for most of my San Francisco trip. Fortunately, I got to meet one of the Pokken commentators who was flying on the same plane: Vish(@ViciousVish). I mostly talked at him, because I couldn’t figure out what you’re supposed to ask people who you’re big fans of when you meet them. He was really nice about that, and was genuinely interested in my team and VGC. I saw him a couple of times throughout the event, and he was nice those times as well. I finally got on my plane:



And had my long flight. I met up with my brother at the airport and we got some Italian food for dinner (did you know that in San Francisco, calzones are the size of pizzas folded over?) and went to bed.


I woke up the next day and chilled out for a bit, trying to figure out who was in San Francisco. I decided to meet Matthias (Lega, @LegaVGC) at the venue, and we got some lunch. Then we had nothing much to do, so we decided to go hang out with the Smogon Crew (Rajan, Nails, Porengan, CasedVictory, Kiyo, Shray/Rozes, Chef Dave, Kimo(TFC), SamVGC, and CrashingBoomBang) and some others (TobySXE, Dan Oztekin/Necrocat). However, we decided that the best way to get to them was to walk.


This was not our best idea. It was only a 3 mile walk, which isn’t that bad, and is a good way to spend the day. However, what no one told us was that San Francisco is basically a big yamsing hill, and we were starting at the bottom. We were walking to the top.

I also took a picture of a cool fountain.


(the fountain)



(one of the pictures as we were climbing the godforsaken hill that is San Francisco)



(Seriously we got really high up)


(I swear to God this is what the hill angle was. It was less than a pleasant experience)


Then we got to the house, and I had a bunch of lemonade. Everyone was drinking lemonade the whole time. I was given a bottle of lemonade the second I walked through the door. People were just chilling around, shaping hamburgers and just joking around. We then realized Nails and someone else had to play their Smogon Grand Slam matches or NU open or something silly. We hooked a computer up to the television and we got to watch the matches together, like traditional nerds. Then Chef Dave continued to be the best and made some absolutely delicious hot dogs and burgers and ribs and vegetables and we also had some watermelon. Then we decided the best thing to do was to play randbats drinking games (with non-alcoholic drinks). Rajan and I played a bo5 randbats, where the loser of each game has to take a shot of lemon juice, and whoever loses the set has to take 3 shots of lemon juice. You also take a sip of lemonade every time a Pokémon on your side gets knocked out. Everyone else in the house would get to choose a team and would drink with the person of the team they were on. This is where Team Jon comes from. The games are below:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-battlefactory-186089

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-randombattle-186096

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-randomdoublesbattle-186104

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-battlefactory-186109

We played some Cards Against Humanity to end the night and went to bed distressingly early (12-1 am ish? It was really sad how early we went to bed). Lucky me, I got to sleep in the same bed as the genius mastermind himself, Rajan Bal. I’m the luckiest boy alive. When we woke up, Chef Dave had come through again in the clutch, making some of the best eggs I’ve ever had. It was at this point that Porengan started talking about the notion of a counterbier, to the adults who had had alcoholic beverages the night before. A counterbier is a bier you have in the morning to counter the beer you had the night before. So really what you do is you just never stop drinking. He insisted that this was a brilliant idea, while few of us believed him.

Then we decided that we wanted to go to In-N-Out, and that we might as well check out Fisherman’s Wharf after we went to the venue to pick up Amarillo. The trip to the venue and to the wharf was uneventful, except CBB decided that the drink to pack on a trip was a carton of yamsing milk.




We had a good time at the arcade talking about stuff like the Smogcast, what to use for Worlds, and generally how pretty San Fran was. I spent a lot of time trying to help Rajan build and justifying some of my EV spreads. We met up with a bunch of people at the Wharf and In-N-Out, including Szymoninho and his girlfriend, and some people from the other side of the Pacific, Matthew Roey, Shang Loh, and Boomguy. Maybe some other people were there as well, my memory is starting to get fuzzy.


Look we finally made it:





Later, we ended up taking a group photo:




which is honestly super pretty.

We head back to the venue and chill out there for a bit. Most of the Smogon crew heads back to their house for dinner, but I feel kinda gross and need to change, so I decide to stay with my brother this night. He’s already had dinner, so I went out to dinner with some Australians I had just met--Nicholas Bingham (@ludicolopatrol) and Jay Tyrell (@the_berger19)--and Sam. We tried to get sushi, but the sushi place was full. Then we decided to get Indian food.

When I say WE decided…
The Aussies and I decided to get Indian food. Sam decided the correct play was to go get pizza and bring that into the restaurant like a heathen.

This is what Sam had, while we had naan and curry like you can see on the right. The restaurant was very nice to not kick us or at least Sam out.
Then I went back to bed.


On Thursday, pretty much everyone had arrived. I went to the market near the hotel and hung out with Angel Jeudy Hibiki Marco Jio William and probably a couple of other people I’m forgetting. Angel was freaking out about what mon to use on his Yveltal Groudon team that could beat Primals with Manectric/Mawile. I suggest Swampert, which we talk about for the next 20 minutes while we go back to the hotel. When we get there, we meet up with JiveTime and Collin, and then we talk about Big B for a while. I then decide to go hang out with the boiler squad for a bit, and show up to Blake’s room just as they were about to go to lunch. This was the first time I met Ryan Tan and Yellowbox (a.k.a. Spiderman himself). When we got back from Sushirritos, Nic Valenti and I spent a couple minutes just talking about how good of a Sheik player Plup is. Nic was so invested in thinking about Plup that we had to watch Plup vs PPU at Smash Summit. Then I find Yuree (PokemonZone, YureeVGC) somehow and decide to watch a money match between him and Sanvy. Sanvy, using dual Psychic-types on dual Primals, somehow takes the set 3-1 over Yuree’s Yveltal Groudon. So that happened. I then realized that we had to sign up with our Battle Boxes ready TODAY. I got Yuree to trade me the mons that he had prepared in his Battle Box, and I went down to the line.

In line I got to meet a couple of people I’d never met before, in particular an old online acquaintance, Stats. Stats is a really cool dude who I first started talking to when I was a little kid back in 2013. He was super chill and helped me out a ton over the weekend.

I then realized that I didn’t have my computer with me. So I had to borrow DaWoblefet’s computer to use Nugget Bridge’s damage calc (because there was no internet) to figure out what my spreads were while I was IN LINE (I sat down in a chair next to the line) and re-EV all my Pokémon that had the wrong stats from the Liberty Garden Invitational. The reset bags I had prepared were very useful, as were the horde locations that I remembered. I finally saw Gavin in the line, and he helped me out by showing me his DS to let me figure out the rest of the spreads (I tried to use the stat levels of the Pokémon; it was a pain.)

(pic of me trying to figure out what Manectric’s spread was. I have just now realized that I was super wrong. )

168 SpA Mega Manectric Hidden Power Water vs. 252 HP / 92 SpD Primal Groudon in Heavy Rain: 204-240 (98.5 – 115.9%) – 87.5% chance to OHKO

160 SpA Mega Manectric Hidden Power Water vs. 252 HP / 92 SpD Primal Groudon in Heavy Rain: 196-232 (94.6 – 112%) – 68.8% chance to OHKO


So now you guys know my actual Manectric spread.
Huh.
It was super bad, my B guys.

I really should have checked it out after day 1.

Blame Gavin for having the wrong spread.


Then we chilled out and had dinner and I went to bed.


The next day we had to be at the venue by 9, so I set a bunch of alarms to be up at 7:30. I woke up at 8:35 and started freaking out, going to shower and get in line very quickly.
When I got out of the shower and looked at the clock, I realized that instead of it being 8:35, it was 6:35.
I was really wound up about this tournament, as you can all see.

I went to get some breakfast (I think I had a bagel) with Flash and Sekiam right before we got into the event. I was hyped up, and I realized what I had to say to myself; they asked me how I was going to do, and I said I was the smartest, so I was going to have the best thoughts and then win all my matches as a result. They both kinda laughed a bit, but I was taking myself seriously. I couldn’t honestly tell myself I was the best player, but I could tell myself I was the smartest, which I thought would give me the confidence I needed.


When we got to the event it was extraordinarily difficult to figure out where to go, but eventually I found a room with a TV and some Europeans and Australians. I was freaking out so Sam (Zelda, @ZeldaVGC) told me that it would all be ok, that I would play someone named Diego or something Round 1 and it would be easy. After some shenanigans involving a terrible crab Pokémon and quite a bit of delays, we got ready for the first round.

 

[Ezrael]

Day 1 Games


Round 1: Diego Llanes

Crobat/Liepard/Xerneas/Groudon/Kangaskhan/Cresselia


Going into Team Preview, I let out a bit of a sigh of relief. This was just a Groudon Xerneas team, a nice way to ease into Day 1. I noted that he didn’t have Smeargle and did have Cresselia, which made me inclined to bring Talonflame over Bronzong (especially because Liepard into Gengar Zong is pretty scary). I led Gengar and Talonflame, and in the back, I brought Groudon and Kyogre.


Game 1


Turn 1:

vs.

I decide that Round 1 Game 1 Turn 1 of Day 1 of Worlds is not the time to be taking big risks, so I Protect Gengar and Will-o-Wisp the Kangaskhan with Talon. This works out pretty ok, as my opponent Mega Evolves Kangaskhan, revealing that he is not Scrappy and uses Fake Out on Talonflame, activating Rocky Helmet, while going for Icy Wind with Cresselia for the BIG DAMAGE. (I also might have just went for wisp with Gengar, I forget exactly).


Turn 2:

vs.

He’s locked in now, so I decide to make sure both of his mons are burned and taking damage. He goes for a Sucker Punch into Gengar and Cress Icy Winds again, revealing that it definitely doesn’t have Psychic.


The rest of this particular game is a bit fuzzy, but he does reveal that he is Thunderbolt Groudon, and that his Xerneas is probably Specs, something I cross out in the next game, but later gets reaffirmed.


Game 2

Last game went pretty well; I didn’t see much of a need for Bronzong, and I was still a bit freaked out by Liepard. I decided to bring the exact same 4.


Turn 1:

vs

This game I really don’t want to just get Foul Play’d by the Liepard turn 1, so since his Cresselia only has Icy Wind and is thus no threat to Talonflame, I go for the pretty reasonable play of Mega Evolve and Protect the Gengar and Will-o-Wisp the Liepard.


Turn 2:

vs

I forgot about Encore, so I just went for what I thought was the safe play of Sludge Bombing Liepard and Will-o-Wisp Cresselia. Fortunately, his Liepard didn’t use Encore, got destroyed and his Cresselia got burned, as his Icy Wind missed my Gengar.


Turn 3:

vs

I knew he had Thunderbolt on Groudon, so I was kinda scared of that going into the Talonflame slot, but I was also kinda scared of the Cresselia’s Trick Room combined with the Groudon’s Protect. I played the 50/50 wrong, thinking that he would be more scared of the Gengar HP Water than of the Taunt Talonflame, and went for the Protect + Taunt, which was a bit silly: he was never going to attack Gengar in any scenario I had thought of. Sadly, he goes straight for the Thunderbolt on Talonflame, knocking it out before I could Taunt, due to the Icy Wind Speed drops, letting him set up Trick Room with Cresselia.


I send in Kyogre because Groudon has no place in this situation.


Turn 4:

vs

(Rain)

My opponent OBVIOUSLY set up Trick Room because he has slow, 84 Speed Cresselia. His Cresselia is definitely going to underspeed my Kyogre. Additionally, his Earth Power onto Gengar is pretty obvious. Considering this, I go for Ice Beam onto Groudon and double Protect my Gengar. The turn starts and I get the double Protect. Then Ice Beam goes off into Groudon. At this point my face furrows into a frown. His Groudon goes for Earth Power and Cresselia THEN goes for Skill Swap. I stare up at my opponent in horror at his team choices as he just smiles. It is at this point that I know I will absolutely destroy him in game 3 if it comes to that.

Turn 5:

vs

(Sun)

I just go for the same play as there’s nothing better to do in this situation. Ice Beam drops his Groudon to a bit above ⅓, he gets the Earth Power on the Gengar as the triple Protect fails, and his Cresselia actually reverses Trick Room, which was a fantastic play on his part.


Turn 6:

vs

I realize two things here. First, I can’t really win unless his Groudon just faints right now. Second, I’ve been playing really defensively the whole set. Thus, he’s probably going to go for a Thunderbolt on Kyogre. Mostly I just believe that. So, in the first of many times this tournament, I just man up and go for Eruption Ice Beam as his Cresselia goes for Icy Wind and his Groudon goes for Thunderbolt. I pop off as Cresselia and Groudon get DELETED.


Turn 6:

vs

I just Fire Punch and Ice Beam as he reveals Grass Knot (and thus, Choice Specs) onto the Groudon for not enough damage. Next turn I clean up.



WW (1-0)


I walk back to the social area to check on all my friends, seeing that a surprisingly large number of them, including Gavin (<3) have lost. I’m kinda sad, but I have to get back into my own head and get ready for Round 2.




Round 2: Sergio Subercaseux

Gengar/Cresselia/Kangaskhan/Whimsicott/Groudon/Kyogre


I see this in Team Preview and get a bit freaked out. My team has a pretty bad Cresselia matchup already, and Cresselia Primals can get really gross. Further, he has the Gengar Whimsicott shenanigans that can get a bit screwy. My opponent also won round 1 and I have no information on him. I know I have to play on the top of my game in order to win. I decide to lead with Manectric Talonflame, Manectric being good in the Primals mirror, and Talonflame being pretty good vs Cresselia/Whimsicott/Kangaskhan/Gengar. I bring Primals in the back, because I need damage.


LONG SECTION ON TIMER


Now is probably an important time to note: I decide to take this Primals team to timer as much as possible. What do I mean by that? I do not make different plays earlier on in the game in order to arrive at timer, but I start ticking down the clock as early as I can to bring timer into the game. This is because my double Primals matchup is atrocious, but if I can outplay people and use the natural bulk of Primals and Bronzong (which you’ll see later) combined with the artificial bulk and timer stalling of Manectric and its Volt Switch, I can end the game with a slight advantage when I might be about to lose if the game plays out.


I had the idea of going to timer because of an earlier discussion Gavin and I had had, referring to the Gengar Zong part of the team against Kangaskhan Smeargle and Salamence Smeargle. We noticed that If you trapped them in and, in the case of Salamence, Skill Swapped away their Aerilate, Kangaskhan Smeargle and Salamence Smeargle would be unable to do any damage. We thought it would be amusing and successful to use their inability to do damage, or switch, to take the games really slowly and win on timer. In practice, this wasn’t as successful as I would have liked, as most opportunities I had to do that ended with me just winning.


Is timer good for the game?
The game needs a timer. Period. Minimize is complete BS and it has almost no place in a competitive system. Guard Split + Chansey is also complete BS and has no place in a competitive system. Shedinja is BS (Looking at you, Jon (Jhufself, @Jhufself)). Sometimes, CM Cress is BS. So the timer exists to prevent strategies like that from just taking over the game. However, if I’m being realistic, the timer probably wasn’t created to allow me to end games the way I ended some of them. With that in mind, I think there are a few reasons timer was a big deal at the World Championships.

First: Primal Reversion takes forever. Often times no moves would occur in games before the 12 minute mark, just because there were so many animations just being flung around. Similarly, Skill Swap is extremely prevalent and wastes a lot of time, because the weather has to be turned off and then turned back on again. Moody is also a thing. Basically, there is a lot of dead time due just to the format.

Second: Smeargle can put things to sleep, allowing the timer to run down while your opponent can’t make any moves (See: JiveTime vs Trista

Third: Wolfe and I were both playing to timer, so you were going to see a lot of it.

I think people misunderstand timer a lot on the Internet. They think it’s some sort of broken strategy that can’t be beat and has no counterplay. However, playing to timer A) is extraordinarily difficult and

can easily backfire. I’ll show you an example of B in my Day 2 Round 7 Swiss recap. Anyone who thinks “Oh I’ll just timer people” doesn’t understand the intricacies of a team that is able to go to timer and of controlling the board state so the game ends precisely the turn you want it to.


In conclusion, I think timer is really interesting and valuable, and it was kinda luck that timer ended up being so common at Worlds. I would welcome a couple of changes to the timer and would not like some others. I think Volt Switch/U-turn/Eject Button switch timer could be decreased to 30 seconds. I do not think it should be decreased far past that, as the whole point of Volt Switch etc. is that you should be able to react to the situation that has developed during the turn, as they allow you to make later choices. However, 45 seconds is probably not necessary to make those choices and those extra 15 seconds are probably just for timer stalling.


I think the in-game timer could be increased, if not to 20 minutes, to 17 or 18 minutes, to add 2-3 more turns to the game. I think if that happened, fewer people would be willing to play to timer because of how far away it is, and thus games might actually go faster. 20 is pretty long for a tournament, and after seeing how long Day 2 Worlds took (sorry about my pretty large role in making that happen), I don’t think we need longer games.

Even at the game time we had, very few (only 7 if I remember correctly) of my games went to time.


I do not think the game should force you to make a choice if it is the only one you have remaining. The timer when you select your Pokémon, even if you can’t actually make any meaningful decisions, does a couple of things. 1) It allows you to select slots in case there’s a Ditto on the opposing team. 2) It gives a benefit to a person who has recently been disadvantaged. If you’re down Pokémon, you deserve a chance to think out your turn properly, with double the time your opponent has. Giving someone that chance can turn a game around, and makes games more even. The fact that you, the random reader, may not take that time does not mean that that time is not advantageous for reasons that are not directly related to timer stalling.


I’m saddened by the VGC ‘17 timer change. I think that TPCi took away an interesting mechanic for one that will probably lead to a bunch of problems. If there is an overall in game timer though, I think the change won’t be that meaningful. ANYWAY, I was supposed to be playing a set.



Game 1


Turn 1:

vs

This turn was a bit weird, and I was close to doubling the Gengar. However, I trusted in my instincts, noting that his Kyogre didn’t really have that much pressure on it, while the Gengar did, especially from Talonflame, and also noting that Gengar tend to Mega Evolve and Protect turn 1. Considering all of that, I just go for Volt Switch on the Kyogre and Tailwind. His Gengar Protects, and Volt Switch goes on Kyogre, doing around 30%. My Groudon comes in and blocks his Kyogre’s Scald.


Turn 2:

Vs

(Sun)

I know that Groudon is probably coming in, and I don’t want to miss, so I go for Eruption instead of Precipice Blades. Furthermore, I expect Kyogre to switch out in order to reset the rain in a couple of turns. In order to cover Kyogre not switching, I go for Brave Bird onto it. My opponent decides that his best play is to switch Gengar into Groudon and to not even Protect Kyogre. His Kyogre gets obliterated and his Groudon takes > 50%.


Turn 3:

vs

My Groudon is still faster than his Groudon because I am still in Tailwind. Further, my Talonflame is faster than Whimsicott for the same reason. I decide to not break a winning formula and go for Brave Bird on Whimsicott and Eruption. My opponent’s Groudon Protects as Brave Bird does not activate the (presumed) Focus Sash on Whimsicott and Groudon finishes it off.


Turn 4:

vs

I have Kyogre in the back and I don’t even consider Skill Swap Mega Gengar, so I go for the pretty safe play of Precipice Blades + Brave Bird the Groudon to put it into Ice Beam range (at least that’s what I think I did with Talon, that’s pretty smart if I did.) He Protects Gengar and goes for the Rock Slide… which misses my Talonflame and doesn’t flinch my Groudon. He forfeits at 4-1.


Game 2



I see absolutely no reason to deviate from my gameplan of outplaying him; he doesn’t really have anything better to do, and most of my other leads are suboptimal. I bring the same Pokémon.


Turn 1:

vs

You know when you think a play will work but you don’t actually think it will work, you’re mostly just hoping it’ll work? That was the feeling I got this turn. I haven’t revealed my Hidden Power yet. And I’m just kinda hoping that he doesn’t switch. I also think he might Protect Gengar again. Even as I’m saying this I know I’m lying. I’m mostly just hoping it works out. However, I have a plan if it doesn’t work out. I switch in Kyogre and go for the HP Water on Groudon as Groudon Protects and Gengar Mega Evolves and Sludge Bombs Kyogre, scoring a poison.


Turn 2:

vs

(Rain)

I know that in this position, as a fellow DP player, he’s going to go for a switch into Kyogre and something else. I just Thunder the Groudon slot and Origin Pulse. He switches Groudon into Kyogre and takes the brunt of the Thunder and paralysis right to the face. His Gengar Protects itself from the Origin Pulse and his Kyogre gets knocked down to 10%.


Turn 3:

vs

I think I just Volt Switch the Kyogre to cover Kyogre not Protecting and Ice Beam the Gengar?? Not entirely sure what plays I make this turn. His Kyogre doesn’t Protect, gets knocked out and his Gengar gets knocked down to just above 50%, and I send in Talonflame (it might have been Ice Beam the Kyogre to cover the Groudon switch-in and Volt Switch the Gengar??). He Sludge Bombs my Kyogre, which survives with 14 HP and faints to Poison.


I send in Manectric to get an Intimidate on the probable Groudon incoming.
Notice at this point that the only Pokémon that can hit his Groudon is my own Groudon; this is important as it dictates the remainder of my gameplan: set up Tailwind and sweep.


Turn 4:

vs

I think I go for Protect Tailwind? That sounds about right. I think his Gengar Protects as well. I might have gone for Volt Switch on Gengar though. He uses Rock Slide, which does pitiful damage (for a Rock Slide) to Talonflame and either misses Manectric or I Protected, I don’t remember.


Turn 5:

vs

He just Protected with Gengar, so there’s definitely a Whimsicott incoming. I double the Gengar slot with Volt Switch and Brave Bird to make sure the Whimsicott can’t set up Tailwind. I also just pray he doesn’t Blades the switch-in. Whimsicott gets destroyed and he doesn’t Blades the switch-in.


Turn 6:

vs

I think he might be going for something like a double Protect, so I consider scouting it out. Right around the time I click my moves, I realize he’s probably going to Protect his Gengar and attack with Groudon, which would really suck. However, I play into it, going for Volt Switch on the Gengar and Precipice Blades, thinking that if my Volt Switch hits, my Blades will OHKO his Groudon. His Gengar Protects, my Blades does around 65% and his Precipice Blades from his -2 Groudon does NOT knock out my Manectric, leaving it with 5 HP. It also does less than 50% to my Groudon. EV spreads bailing me out from a bad situation (<3 you Gavin).


Turn 7:

vs

I make the same play; he doesn’t Protect with either Pokémon despite it being the last turn of Tailwind, and I take Game 2.


WW (2-0)


I walk over to my friends to hear the irritating news: Gavin had to play Angel in round 2, knocking Angel into the 0-2 bracket, one round away from elimination for the next 6 rounds. I spend it telling them how I beat this guy and psyching myself up for the next round.


Round 3: Ferdinando Vincenti

Kangaskhan/Salamence/Thundurus/Bronzong/Groudon/Kyogre


Again, I don’t recognize this name. I’m sitting next to Markus (13Yoshi37, @13Yoshi37) though, which is nice. My opponent suggests that he saw me at Liverpool (UK Nationals), and we engage in some banter about that.

We get into the game and I sigh. Dual yamsing Primals. I note that he doesn’t have Cresselia and that Talonflame gets dunked on by most of his team and as a result decide to bring Manectric Bronzong, with both Primals in the back.


I can’t do this set turn by turn, as now Primal mirrors turn into a lot of shenanigans, involving Volt Switching, switching, switching and more switching, with occasional Origin Pulses. The game came down to Manectric + Kyogre vs Bronzong at 30%, Kyogre at very high health and a Salamence at 70%, outside of Trick Room. I think his Kyogre was faster than mine. I think that he might want to not Protect Kyogre in order to take out my Manectric or something. This wasn’t a very properly thought out turn. I go for the double Thunder into Kyogre as he Protects his Kyogre. I put my head in my hands, expecting a game 2. However, he actually went for Gyro Ball, in what I can only assume was a misclick. Thanking God that I was put back in this game, I went for the same play next turn. Manectric’s Thunder KO’s the Salamence switch in. Kyogre’s Thunder KO’s the Bronzong. He forfeits.


Game 2 was a bit cleaner, but I remember absolutely none of it. I walk out feeling pretty good about life


WW (3-0)


Round 4: Nimiel Catipon (Leimin, @LeiminVGC)

Kangaskhan/Zapdos/Whimsicott/Bronzong/Groudon/Kyogre



I don’t recognize the name, and I think I’m lucky for playing probably the only 4-0 player from the Philippines. I’m celebrating a bit inside until I sit down in front of Leimin. Leimin is a pretty unknown player who I got to know on PS thanks to Enosh talking about him all the yamsing time. I’ve seen him top the ladder again and again so I know he’s good.

I’ve seen him use Life Orb Whimsicott before, but I wasn’t really even expecting him to bring it.


Game 1

I decide to go with the same plan as I did against Ferdinando last round, because my Bronzong beats other Bronzongs on Primals teams.


I start with Manectric Bronzong with Groudon Kyogre in the back, and he leads Kangaskhan Zapdos, presumably with Groudon Kyogre in the back. I take an early lead, damaging his Kangaskhan with my Volt Switch and setting up Trick Room, while he sets up a +1 Kangaskhan. I go for a Skill Swap on his Kangaskhan and Origin Pulse as I think he sends in Kyogre, while his Kangaskhan reveals Protect. Next turn I go for Skill Swap on my Kyogre to cover the Groudon switch and Origin Pulse… but miss the Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan Double-Edges my Kyogre and the game is pretty much over from there.


Game 2: I’m kinda flustered, but I don’t let that get to me. I go for the same thing, knowing that A) I don’t really have better options and

I probably should have won that game. He leads Kangaskhan Bronzong.
I mismanage my KOs, and Bronzong is actually Gravity Hypnosis. On Primals. Who’d have thought? It also survives a Precipice Blades in Gravity. Then I lose. RIP.


LL (3-1)


Round 5 Ku Chao Chen

Rayquaza/Xerneas/Talonflame/Thundurus/Scrafty/Smeargle



I don’t know this name, which continues to be a plus. Him being from Taiwan gives me a bit of hope as well, but I know I need to be careful of the gimmicks that might befall me. When we get into the game, I breathe a sigh of relief. I know this team. I basically built this team (Enosh actually built this team) And my matchup is fantastic, because when I played Gavin in the reverse matchup, I got quickly 2-0’d. Game 1 I decide to just go with what Gavin used against me: Gengar Bronzong with Primals in back. Gengar Bronzong pressures Xerneas and Rayquaza pretty well, and it’s hard for them to deal with it.


Game 1


Turn 1:

vs

In the traditional X-Ray team, that Talonflame is Red Card, so I’m not too worried about its damage output. Further, I don’t want to let my Kyogre take any damage, so I go for Will-o-Wisp on Rayquaza while doing something with Bronzong. Turns out it’s a Choice Band Talonflame, which deletes the Bronzong with Flare Blitz, while Rayquaza gets burned, but launches a non-Mega Draco Meteor into my Gengar, which survives with 23 HP. I send in Kyogre because Groudon has no place here.


Turn 2:

vs

He can’t switch out Talonflame as it has taken a bunch of damage, and it’s locked into a non-priority move. Sludge Bomb on it is thus very safe. Further, I can just Ice Beam the Rayquaza for the knock out. I think he goes for the Mega Dragon Ascent into Kyogre expecting my Gengar to Protect. 2 knockouts, easy.


He might have brought Smeargle Xerneas? I’m not sure. All I know is I Sludge Bombed and Ice Beamed the Xerneas and it fainted.


Game 2: There’s no chance I lead Bronzong again after how it got dunked in the last game. I decide that Talonflame can come to this game instead. I bring both Primals because Primals are god.


Turn 1:

vs

Not really sure what I had expected in Team Preview, but I guess this is about as good as I could get. In this position it looks like he’s going to Brave Bird the Gengar and Fake Out Talonflame, so I protect the Gengar and Brave Bird his Talonflame. He does indeed Brave Bird into the Protect, my Brave Bird goes into his Talonflame doing a pitiful 40%, and his Scrafty’s Knock Off does around 50% to my Talonflame.


Turn 2:

vs

First, I convinced myself that because his Talonflame was faster than mine it was Jolly Choice Band, and thus my Gengar would survive a Brave Bird. (This is in fact not the case as my Talonflame is slower than Adamant max Speed Talonflame, but I convinced myself that this was true. Further, my Gengar does survive an Adamant Choice Band Brave Bird, which I thought was a possibility). Second, I noticed that if he Brave Birded the Talonflame and I switched, I would be in a really terrible position for next turn, because I would just have to switch my Gengar back in. So I decided to just wing it and double the Talonflame slot (Brave Bird from my Talonflame to make sure his Talonflame would faint if it attacked my Gengar). You can be sure when I saw him Brave Bird my Talonflame I popped off. I think he also knocked off my Gengar.


Turn 3:

vs

This turn I just felt the Truth. He couldn’t risk attacking with his Xerneas. Thus, I make the hard read of Sludge Bomb the Scrafty + Origin Pulse it. Xerneas Protects, Scrafty gets deleted. In retrospect, I should have protected instead of killing the Scrafty to ensure game security, as letting him send in Rayquaza was quite dangerous



Turn 4:

vs

I double the Xerneas with Ice Beam and Sludge Bomb to knock it out and the game finishes pretty quickly from there. It was perfectly safe since it had protected last turn.


Note that my memory for this round is a bit hazy; I could be incorrect about many of these details.


WW (4-1)


Round 6 Kazi Rahman (Awakened City, @AwakenedCityVGC)

Kangaskhan/Cresselia/Bronzong/Thundurus/Groudon/Kyogre.



This is a name I see all the time. Kazi is a New York local who has started really competing this year. 2015 was his first year, but he’s shown up a lot more in 2016, in more ways than one. Going into this match, our record was 1-2 in favor of Kazi, where he beat me at the first PC of the season and in NPA, and I beat him in a bo3 tournament for something. However, I kinda have a read on his playstyle, and he did very poorly at the NY/NJ invitational, so I’m not particularly scared. However, when I see his team I freak out a bit.

God bidoof it. Another yamsing dual Primals team. Unfortunately for you guys, that means I’m not really gonna cover the games.

Game 1: I lead Manectric Bronzong. He brings Thundurus this game. I play extraordinarily slow and am winning on timer. The game gets pretty sealed however, when I call him HP Watering my Groudon and switch it back into Zong. Making a play like that gives you so much momentum because their Water-type attacks are not pressuring your Groudon if you switch it back in, giving you time to kill the Thundurus/Manectric/Gengar/etc. I win 4-0 at 9 minutes.


Game 2: He recognizes that Thundurus was not working out for him and brings Cresselia, which only has Icy Wind for damage. Early on in the game I forget to take the full time for my Volt Switch, which ends up costing me. I am winning the midgame really hard by putting a lot of intimidates on Kangaskhan and taking no damage.

Kazi has Kangaskhan at -2 and Cresselia vs Bronzong Groudon, but then I miss Precipice Blades on a switch to Kyogre, which gives me fewer options. If I had hit the Blades I could have Thundered the Kyogre in the mid-late game. However, I couldn’t, so Kazi gets his Groudon in a good position at the end, which culminates in him getting 2 kills on the last turn to win the game. If I had taken the full Volt Switch time, I think I could have won.


Game 3: I know that I should have won game 2 if I had played a bit better, so I just go for the same thing again. This game honestly felt like a complete L to me. He brought Imprison Bronzong, which nullified my ability to go for Skill Swap. However, the game came to a point when it was his 50% Kyogre and his Bronzong vs my Groudon and my Kyogre in the rain. My Groudon had just used Protect, I think. (His Kyogre does not have Thunder, <3 non-Thunder Kyogre when my opponents use it). I make the read that he’s going to switch to his Groudon, so I go for Thunder and Precipice Blades to destroy the Bronzong and the Groudon switch-in. In a really strong play, Kazi goes for Scald, knocking out my Groudon while I knock out his Kyogre. At this point, I think that the game is over. He sends in his Groudon, I send in my Manectric. I make the HELLA read that he’s going to Fire Punch my Kyogre, expecting the Bronzong switch in, so I Ice Beam the Groudon instead, while Protecting with Manectric to be safe. I win the game on time off of that, probably because Trick Room ends or something and I get to Volt Switch back into my Kyogre and set up Trick Room. I’m definitely the last game to finish this round, and I win 3-2.


WLW (5-1)



Round 7: Cedric Bernier (Talon, @TalonVGC)

Kangaskhan/Cresselia/Groudon/Xerneas/Talonflame/Smeargle



I know that I’m facing one of the toughest opponents I could face at this point. Cedric is a fantastic Groudon Xerneas player who got top 8 at Nats this year and has been extremely consistent across Regional level tournaments. However, I know I can beat him, and beating him gets me through to day 2. I knew I was in for a ride, but not how MUCH of a ride I was in for (hint: a lot of ride).


Game 1:

Looking at Team Preview I’m scared of the Smeargle. Further, I think that his Cresselia might not be 84 Speed and might instead be a faster Cresselia. Thus I lead Gengar Bronzong with Primals in the back.



Turn 1:

vs

That could have gone better. However, I think that if I go for Will-o-Wisp into his Kangaskhan and switch into Kyogre, my board positioning will be overall solid, regardless of his counterplay.

Cedric switches Kangaskhan into Groudon, setting up the sun only to have the rain take its place. Will-o-Wisp does nothing to his Groudon while Flare Blitz does 0 to Kyogre.


Turn 2:

vs

(Rain)
I play poorly here; there’s no way around it. The correct play is to Protect the Kyogre, Hidden Power Water the Groudon to scout out a Protect +Tailwind, then next turn switch out Gengar into Bronzong and go for the Origin Pulse and hope it hits. However, I didn’t Protect the Kyogre. I just Origin Pulsed. He goes for Protect + Tailwind, Talonflame gets knocked out, Cresselia comes in, and you can see how the rest of the battle went for yourself:

Turn 3:

vs

(Rain)

I think I just want to get the Trick Room advantage in case his Cresselia isn’t 84 Speed, so I can win once Trick Room is up. I also want to Origin Pulse in case he isn’t Skill Swap, just to put me back in the game. In retrospect, I probably should have gone for the HP Water on his Groudon, just to really check his Cresselia’s Speed stat and give me a 15% chance of just winning the game.


Turn 4:

vs

(Sun)

I know I need to preserve rain, so I go for the only possible way I can win: hoping he attacks Kyogre and giving myself the weather advantage in the medium term. It doesn’t work out as he just Fire Punches the Bronzong and Psychics into the Groudon.


Turn 5:

vs

I protect Gengar in case he doesn’t set up Trick Room, so that way I can get the weather advantage by sending in Kyogre. The game is pretty over though, and Cedric hits his Precipice Blades to seal it up.


Turn 6:

vs

(Rain)
I just hope he misclicks, and I’m trying to reveal the Cresselia Speed. It’s 84 Speed and I lose.



Game 2: I decide to bring Talonflame this time, to counter his previous lead. It was not necessarily well thought out, as Cedric is a better player than I was used to playing. Game:

Turn 1:

vs

Not having Chesto Berry on Talonflame hurts a bit here, as my best play is probably to just take both voids for a burn on his Kangaskhan. That is exactly what happens, as his Smeargle gets a Speed boost.


Turn 2:

vs

I make some play that I forget, probably Will-o-Wisping the Smeargle and Taunting it with my Talonflame. This turn doesn’t matter as both of my Pokémon take the guaranteed turn of sleep, Kangaskhan gets brought into the red by Rocky Helmet and burn, and so does Talonflame. Smeargle gets a Speed DROP, which is even worse, because now it might be slower than my Gengar and use Dark Void after Gengar wakes up, putting it right back to sleep.


Turn 3:

vs

I go for Protect on Gengar because I know that if Gengar wakes up and does a thing, his Smeargle could underspeed it very easily and put it back to sleep, which would put me in a bad position for the rest of the game. I also go for Tailwind to give myself Speed control. Both my Pokémon wake up, which is bad, because if Gengar hadn’t woken up, I could have woken it up next turn and Protected maybe, which would have been better considering what the Smeargle did. Further, if I had Sludge Bombed the Kangaskhan, it turned out that I probably would have won? You’ll see why.


Turn 4:

vs

I recognize the problem with this situation. My Gengar has just used Protect, so I can’t Protect myself and safely target down the Cresselia. The proper play in this situation is guaranteed Fire Punch and Sludge Bomb the Cresselia. There’s no question about it. He’s probably going to go for Trick Room, baiting me into knocking out the Smeargle. I think I go for Sludge Bomb the Smeargle + Eruption, as his Dark Void goes off before my Groudon attacks, which would have been great for me if it had HIT THE Groudon, but it didn’t and I knock out his Smeargle with Sludge Bomb + Eruption, doing some chip damage to the Cresselia.


Turn 5:

vs

From here on out I have to play as if he is going to misplay, so I go for the Precipice Blades. He doesn’t misplay, he gets the Skill Swap, and he wins the game from here.


I’m a bit salty after that, and looking back on it, I didn’t really consider my faults in that match. The most important thing about this team, especially when facing Cresselia teams, is board position and how you manage your kills. When Smeargle is on the field, not killing it can be really important. If I had managed to take out the Cresselia with, say, double Fire Punch + Sludge Bomb, there would have been a third game.

I brush it off though, as Cedric is really really good, and he played better than me. I look at my pairings to see my next match. I know that I have a second chance to take home the final victory I need.


LL (5-2)


Round 8: Markell Thornton (Mellow, @MellowVGC)

Kangaskhan/Salamence/Cresselia/Smeargle/Xerneas/Groudon

I see this name and I’m really confused. He’s from America. But I’ve never heard of him. I go around asking people. None of them had ever heard of him. I take it as a really, really good thing that I’ve never heard of him, and count myself lucky. As I sit down, I’m surrounded by Paul Chua, Baz Anderson, Riley Factura, and just count myself lucky that I’m not playing them. I realize that I’m out of water and send Yuree to go get me more water. Except I give him the water bottle from the guy next to me. Fortunately, it was pretty empty, and Yuree gets it back pretty quick.



Game 1: I go with my standard plan, which is Gengar Bronzong with Groudon and Kyogre in the back. Markell leads Kangaskhan Smeargle. I get a bit freaked out, but I just go for Mega + W-o-W and Safeguard. I breathe a sigh of relief as things get burnt, there’s no Crafty Shield, and I win the game. Some stuff happens like he KOes his own Smeargle for momentum, but then Kyogre Bronzong things happen iirc. He reveals that he’s Low Kick, which makes me really happy.


Game 2: I see no reason to change things up: Salamence is still scary, and he’s shown that he can’t beat Gengar Bronzong. I lead Gengar Bronzong with Groudon Kyogre in the back.


Turn 1:

vs

I think for a while and then I just know. Turn 1 begins and I’m gesturing at Lega and Kamz who are standing outside of the player area behind Markell to watch. Salamence switches out for Groudon. At this point I pump my fist and then pray that I didn’t misclick. Groudon takes its time Primal Reverting, roaring like the big idiot it is. Bronzong switches out and in comes the Big Blue Fish, who also roars, and sets up the rain. Gengar Mega Evolves and puts its feet on the ground. I see I didn’t misclick as HIDDEN POWER goes off and Groudon gets DELETED. Cresselia uses Psychic on my Gengar, leaving it with 23 HP.


At this moment, I’m sure I’ve gotten my Day 2. I relax for a bit. Then Markell sends in Xerneas.


Turn 2:

vs

I realize that I can still lose, because Pokémon is a silly game and Xerneas is a silly Pokémon. I look at my ways to lose, and they seem to all consist of Xerneas getting a boost while unpunished. This turn it looks like my Gengar is likely to Protect, as the Cresselia is putting a lot of pressure on it. I also recognize that he can’t hit Bronzong. Further, my Gengar is probably going to faint this turn, because he needs to put pressure on it so it can’t OHKO the Xerneas. Thus, I decide to go for Origin Pulse + Sludge Bomb the Xerneas. The Xerneas goes for the Geomancy, Origin Pulse hits and it gets dropped. Cresselia also goes for an Icy Wind that fails to KO my Gengar, which is actually huge.

Turn 3:

vs

My team is generally pretty weak at dealing with Salamence if my Kyogre has taken a lot of damage, and his Cresselia probably has Trick Room, so if Kyogre goes down, the game can get a bit tricky. However, my Gengar has survived so far. I can Skill Swap away Salamence’s Aerilate with Bronzong. After that, I can use only 100% accurate moves on the Cresselia to deal damage to it. In order to do this, I need to protect my Gengar. I switch Gengar into Bronzong and Protect Kyogre in order to prevent Double-Edge from Salamence from KOing my Kyogre. He goes for HH Double-Edge into the Protect.


Turn 4:

vs

I realize that I can just go for Ice Beam on the Cresselia (instead of Origin Pulse) and Skill Swap the Salamence. So I do. He goes for Protect on the Salamence and Psychic onto my Kyogre, dropping me to around 75%, as Skill Swap gets blocked by Protect. In retrospect, Thunder would do more damage.


Turn 5:

vs

I go for the safe play of Protecting my Kyogre and Skill Swapping his Salamence. His only out to this play was to Skill Swap away the Aerilate first with his Cresselia, but that doesn’t make any sense. He goes for the Helping Hand Double-Edge into the Protect and then forfeits.


And I’m in day 2. Some of my friends give hugs, some don’t because they’re so sad.
Then I go to watch JiveTime vs Trista, which was a set and a half. You can look that up for yourself on Youtube. After that, it was time for Jeudy’s 5-2 match. If you have not seen it, go watch it now:

This match is basically VGC 16 in a nutshell. Also Jeudy in a nutshell. This led me to make some team decisions.

 

[Ezrael]

Day 2 Team differences:

Groudon @ Red Orb

Ability: Drought

Level: 50

EVs: 188 HP / 44 Atk / 156 SpA / 68 SpD / 52 Spe

Quiet Nature

- Eruption

- Precipice Blades

- Fire Punch

- Protect

This Groudon is slightly better than the one above. The slight difference in Atk EVs is pretty marginal, and it still preserves the calc that they were designed for, which is a 2HKO on 252 HP 0 Def Xerneas with Fire Punch. 52 Speed hits 105 stat, which allows you to outspeed Scarf Smeargle in Tailwind.

Talonflame @ Chesto Berry

Ability: Gale Wings

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 76 Def / 20 SpD / 52 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Brave Bird

- Taunt

- Tailwind

- Will-O-Wisp


Chesto is just better than Helmet. Helmet was putting in little work; when the Kangaskhan is burned and trapped, I don’t really care how fast the Kangaskhan goes down. All that matters is that I can control the sleepiness of my Talonflame.




Going into Day 2 part of this report, there will be fewer turn by turn games as I didn’t have enough time to tell people about them after I played them like I did in day 1. A lot more sets, a lot more games.


Day 2


Round 1: Jamie Boyt (MrJellyLeggs, @JamieBoytVGC)

Xerneas/Rayquaza/Gyarados/Whimsicott/Arcanine/Scrafty

You can watch about his team here:

I’m a tiny bit scared, because I’ve played Boyt before, and it always feels like he manages to play me. I feel like he’s able to play me because I understand that he’s an offensive player who likes to play on reads, so I try to read him when I don’t need to. However, I do know that he’s using X-Ray, so I’m feeling pretty ok about this. His team looks a bit unconventional, but at least it’s not Scarf Smeargle. Scarf Smeargle is scary and silly.


Game 1: I lead with Gengar and Bronzong, with Groudon Kyogre in the back. I think he led Scrafty Gyarados. I don’t remember the entire details of this game, but I burn his AV Icy Wind Rayquaza, I crit his Scrafty to make the midgame a bit more comfortable, and I think I end up 4-0ing him. His Gyarados reveals that it is Thunder Wave.


Game 2: I lead Gengar Talonflame with Groudon Kyogre in the back. I’m comfortable doing this because I know his Rayquaza doesn’t have Protect. He leads Xerneas Gyarados.


Turn 1:

vs

My first instinct is to think that he’s definitely not going to keep Xerneas in in front of a Mega Gengar. However, he doesn’t have particularly good switches into Sludge Bomb. I decide to go for Taunt on the Gyarados and Sludge Bomb to cover for the Thunder Wave and to punish any switches or attacks with Xerneas on reads. Unfortunately, Jamie goes for Protect with the Xerneas and Icy Winds with his Gyarados.


In retrospect, the proper play that turn would have been Protecting my Gengar and Taunting the Xerneas slot, but I was scared of a potential switch and Waterfall the Talonflame, which he could do, as my Gengar hadn’t Mega Evolved yet.


I don’t particularly remember the rest of this game, but I know I mess up my risk-reward and end up Brave Birding something that wasn’t a +2 Xerneas and the Xerneas gets off an attack.


Game 3: I think about the game again, and this is where my flaws in Team Preview start showing up. My poor Team Preview will be a theme throughout this Day 2. I decide to go Gengar Bronzong to cover what he just went for, with Kyogre Groudon in the back.

Turn 1:

vs

I just don’t switch out Bronzong. I kinda predicted Jamie to go for a double onto the Gengar in order to heavily punish an attempt to switch to Kyogre and burn the Rayquaza. He Flare Blitzes Bronzong as I Protect Gengar and I forfeit one or two turns later.


WLL (0-1)


I walk away from the table a bit disappointed, but not particularly discouraged: I know that Jamie is a very good player despite his… interesting team choices.


I just cool down, tell people kinda what happened, and get ready for the next round. When I look at the pairings board I get a bit depressed. My friends tell me that I can definitely do it, and to just focus. I take the advice and go to sit down.



Round 2: Hideyuki Taida (BIDCp, @BIDCp)

Xerneas/Rayquaza/Talonflame/Landorus-Therian/Amoonguss/Smeargle

BIDCp was the Worlds runner up in 2015, so I knew I was in for a match and a half.

I was a bit more scared before Team Preview. XRay is one of the teams I like my matchup against, again. His team does seem a bit weird though; Amoonguss can be troubling, and I haven’t played against any Landorus-Therian.


Game 1

I do not remember the specifics. I do remember that I led Gengar Bronzong, with Groudon and Kyogre in the back, just as my standard go-to vs XRay and a lot of switching ensued. I traded Ray for Gengar, and I remember thinking by my positioning that if he had Amoonguss in the back that I had lost. He had Amoonguss in the back. However, I had started off by timer stalling, because XRay does no damage, especially when they don’t bring the X. Also, the Amoonguss had Foul Play instead of Grass Knot. There were a couple of turns that were particularly important:


Turn Z:

vs

My Groudon had just taken an Earthquake, and was left at 84 HP. Trick Room had just ended, and Smeargle Wide Guarded. I thought he might predict a Protect and went for Fire Punch on the Landorus and Trick Room. However, Hideyuki made a really smart play and switched into Amoonguss and Earthquaked. Amoonguss covered my Trick Room Protect play, and Earthquake covered my Fire Punch. However, I didn’t notice that it was just a good play. After this turn I assumed it was a Choice Band Landorus.

Then some stuff happened.


Final turn(by timer):

vs

I went for the safe play of Skill Swapping the Landorus-T, to take its intimidate and reduce Landorus’s damage and Protecting with Kyogre. Hideyuki Protected Amoonguss and Exploded. After this turn, I was sure that it was a Choice Band Landorus.


Game 2: I decide to go for the same thing as last game because it worked so well. I couldn’t see what he could do to Gengar Bronzong, with Groudon Kyogre in the back. This starts (not a streak, but a trend) of Game 2s going horribly horribly wrong.


Turn 1:

vs

Looking at his options as a CB Landorus-T, I expect him to go for an Earthquake and Dark Void, or switch to Rayquaza. In retrospect, my thought process wasn’t super great this turn. Anyway, I go for the no Mega Will-o-Wisp onto the Landorus and Safeguard. This works out about as poorly as it could have, as Hideyuki goes for a Knock Off onto Bronzong and Dark Voids.


My mons stay asleep. I think I knock one out and show that he brought Talonflame and Rayquaza.


It’s here that I do the first intelligent thing in Team Preview in the tournament. I realize that Hideyuki hasn’t been bringing Xerneas, and that against Landorus Rayquaza Smeargle, Groudon does absolutely nothing. So I decide to be a bit crazy. I lead Talonflame Kyogre with Gengar Bronzong in the back. There were a couple reasons for this. 1) Talonflame outspeeds Rayquaza before it Mega Evolves, and so I can burn it when it gets sent out. That’s huge, because Rayquaza is his only real source of damage. 2) His Smeargle had been revealed to have Focus Sash, I think, so I can just Taunt it. 3) I don’t need Groudon > Talonflame to beat Xerneas, because he’s not bringing Xerneas. I bring Gengar anyways because Manectric probably wouldn’t do enough.


Turn 1:

vs

I’m thinking hard about this turn. First, it’s pretty obvious that he’s going to double the Kyogre. It’s also pretty obvious that the Kyogre is going to Protect. I go for my usual play of being reasonably aggressive with Kyogre and go for Will-o-Wisp Origin Pulse. My Will-o-Wisp hits, which makes me sigh in relief. Rayquaza goes for Dragon Ascent into my Kyogre and Talonflame goes for U-turn, making me confused about everything I’ve learned this game (Talonflame is Choice Band, making his Landorus probably AV). My Kyogre is left with 98 HP and misses the Origin Pulse on the Smeargle that switches in, but hits the Rayquaza for reasonable damage. I think the Smeargle gets an evasion boost??


Turn 2:

vs

(strong winds)

My play here is pretty obvious: Taunt the Smeargle and switch in Bronzong. If he misses any of a number of Dark Voids, the game is in my control. I'm pretty sure Smeargle avoids the Taunt, and Rayquaza does a bunch of damage to my Talonflame.


I forget exactly what happens for a couple of turns, but 2 or 3 turns later, he gets an accuracy drop, misses the Bronzong and I get a Safeguard up. Rayquaza gets knocked out somehow, and Landorus has taken some damage. After the evasion boosts, I made a joke about Smeargle, and we both laughed a bit.


Turn 5? :

vs

(Safeguard is up).

This turn is a bit of a mixup. I know he has Talonflame in the back, and my obvious play here is to go for a Protect Trick Room. However, if Hideyuki switches in Talonflame as I Protect + Trick Room, my position will be pretty bad. I think I would win regardless because my Gengar in the back can absorb a Brave Bird as I knock out the Talonflame, and then Kyogre can deal with the Landorus. However, I’m not entirely sure of my damage calculations, so I have to think of a better play. I know that if I can read the Talonflame switch in and don’t Protect my Kyogre, I can go for the Protect + Skill Swap next turn to neuter his Talonflame in Trick Room. I also think that his Landorus can’t KO my Kyogre with Earthquake. I decide to make the safe play and cover almost all of his options by going for Ice Beam on the Landorus-T (to prevent Wide Guard) and Trick Room. Hideyuki switches Talonflame into the Landorus slot, it goes from 60% to 10% and Trick Room gets set up.


Turn 6?:

vs

I decide to execute the earlier part of my plan and go for the Protect + Skill Swap. Hideyuki switches his Smeargle into Landorus-T and goes for the Brave Bird into Kyogre, just as planned.


Turn 7?:

vs

I decide that the safest play is to Skill Swap away Intimidate from Landorus-T, reducing the Attack of both of Hideyuki’s Pokémon, which will cover me if I miss one of my two Origin Pulses. I also went for Origin Pulse because I think it was the smartest play; my Bronzong was at reduced Attack so I wasn’t sure it could KO the low HP Talonflame, and I was kinda freaking out. Both Origin Pulses hit and I pop off.


The game is over and Smeargle gets knocked out soon after.


WLW (1-1)


This round was very important to me, as it gave me a lot more confidence, especially considering how differently I had played game 3. Beating the Worlds Runner-Up last year made me feel like I could hang with the big boys, that my day 1 wasn’t just a fluke, and that I wasn’t going to pull a Ben Rothman. My match was one of the last ones to finish, so I went and sat down for a couple minutes before the next round started. I see I’m matched up with


Round 3 Demitrios Kaguras (kingdjk, @kingdjkVGC)

Rayquaza/Groudon/Weavile/Ferrothorn/Cresselia/Talonflame
You can read about the team here: https://vgcwithhats.com/2016/10/23/raydon-is-the-truth-84th-place-worlds-team-report/

Demitrios is a player who has a solid resume, including top 4 at Regionals and 9th in CP in 2015. I’ve played Demitrios twice before, once in an IC and once in line at 2015 Worlds with Hayden McTavish. Both times he got the best of me. Demitrios is particularly good at making solid reads/calls in situations when he needs it. Going into this round I’m expecting Raydon with Life Orb Rayquaza and Timid Groudon, which is a matchup I’m extremely comfortable with, so I’m not that worried.

Looking at his team, what I’m scared of is Groudon Cresselia, because if he gets them into the right position, my Water-type moves are a bit useless. I also predict him to bring Ferrothorn in the back, because my team has some issues dealing with it. I decide to not bring Manectric, because trapping Groudon/Rayquaza in would be really nice. I bring Talonflame because A) Tailwind + Eruption is very good vs Raydon and

it’s my only Pokémon not named Manectric that can outspeed and deal with Weavile. Groudon is mandatory because that team has nothing that can really take an Eruption and be happy, and Ferrothorn is a Pokémon. Kyogre beats Groudon and takes advantage of the de-synergy that Rayquaza and Groudon can have.


Game 1


Turn 1:

vs

My play here is pretty simple, as is his. His play is to go for the Dragon Ascent or the Draco Meteor onto Gengar and Fake Out the Talonflame (or to switch or something). My best play to punish that is to first hope that he goes for Dragon Ascent and Will-o-Wisp the Rayquaza and Tailwind. Demitrios does go for Fake Out on the Talonflame, Will-o-Wisp misses and Dragon Ascent KOes my Gengar. I get a bit salty after this, but I don’t let it phase me.


I’m not sure what happens for the next couple of turns; I think at some point I switch my Kyogre into a Draco Meteor and switch it back out while firing off high-powered Eruptions at everything. Eventually it comes down to


Turn X:

vs

(Sun)

Groudon is at 5 HP, Talonflame is in Extreme Speed (and maybe Gyro Ball?) range,and I have Kyogre in the back at 134 HP, around 67%. I do not believe the Rayquaza is burned, and it is in Brave Bird range. I think that he might attack the Talonflame or something with the Rayquaza, and that he won’t Protect with Ferrothorn. I also thought it was possible that he goes for a Dragon Ascent into the Groudon, predicting the Kyogre to switch in.

I’m kinda screwed as the Extreme Speed takes out the Groudon, Talonflame takes out the Rayquaza and Ferrothorn takes out the Talonflame.


Turn X + 1:

vs

I play to my outs and Ice Beam the Ferrothorn. As Ice Beam goes off, I say “freeze.” Ferrothorn freezes. I pop off a bit, then calm down.

I just hit it until it faints.


I know I got a bit lucky game 1, but I feel confident in my matchup. Further, if I had hit the Will-o-Wisp, the entire game changes. I decide to go with the same thing, because I feel I can win with it.


Game 2



Turn 1:

vs

I am a bit confused: leading Groudon into Gengar can be a death sentence, especially when you have Rayquaza in the back, and are thus almost unable to negate the Rain. I went for Protect with Gengar just to cover any shenanigans he could go for and I think Tailwind with Talonflame, as he goes for the Fake Out on Talonflame and Earth Power into the Gengar.


Turn 2:

vs

Now I’m really confused (and a tiny bit hopeful). He seems to just… not have any idea it’s coming. If he was scared of HP Water, he would have switched last turn. I just input HP Water and switch my Talonflame into Kyogre. I think Kyogre tanks an Icicle Crash as Groudon evaporates.


Turn 3:

vs

I think I go for Will-o-Wisp on Rayquaza + Origin Pulse. That covers pretty much everything he can do; I’m predicting Ferrothorn in the back, so nothing can really switch into Origin Pulse without taking a bunch of damage, and if I burn the Rayquaza, the game is 100% over. Demitrios goes for a Protect with the now Mega Rayquaza and Knocks Off the Gengar, putting my Gengar in range for another Knock Off to knock it out. I think I bring Weavile down to sash.


Turn 4:

vs

I go for Will-o-Wisp + Ice Beam as it secures a late game position no matter what Demitrios does (unless he gets a double Protect, which I can still deal with). He doesn’t go for the double Protect, Knock Off KOes Gengar, Dragon Ascent doesn’t KO Kyogre (thank you, not getting crit), and Rayquaza disappears.


My Groudon comes in and so does his Ferrothorn. Eruption. GG.


WW (2-1)


I have a lot of time after this round, so I go around talking to people. It might be after the next round, but at some point I see someone eating lunch, and my good friend Ansel (Stats) does me a solid and gets me an amazing chicken sandwich, and refuses to let me pay for it. Amazing guy, and one who understands that it’s basically impossible to eat when you play 11 rounds in a day.


I go to check my pairings, and I see someone who I’ve wanted to play in a tournament for a while:


Round 4: Grant Weldon (Velocity, @VelocityVGC)

Salamence/Groudon/Kyogre/Gengar/Bronzong/Togekiss

You can watch about this team here:

Grant is a player who came out of relatively nowhere to get top 4 at Nationals with my baby, my one, my only, dual Primals. He’s also a member of my old NPA team, the Holy Spirits, so I’ve played with him a couple of times before. I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, and was dreading ANOTHER GOD bidoof DUAL PRIMALS MIRROR

I had asked Grant to breed some of my mons before the Liberty Garden Invitational a couple of weeks earlier but had tried to obscure some of my team decisions by giving the mons some wrong moves (sorry Grant), so I knew he knew a lot about my team.

I sit down, and we start Team Preview.

His team looks like a kind of bastardized version of my NY/NJ invitational team (I had Venusaur > Salamence). That means I know all of the things he can try to do, and what he thinks of the matchup. I also am a bit terrified because I’m expecting him to bring Imprison Bronzong like he did on his Nationals team (Read about it here: http://nuggetbridge.com/blogs/entry/1892-take-no-imprisoners-a-top-4-us-nationals-2016-report).

I decide to just do the standard stuff here, with Manectric Bronzong Primals in the back.


Game 1 is pretty standard: Grant leads Salamence Togekiss, My Bronzong doesn’t get flinched as Trick Room gets set up. His Kyogre turns out to be Spout Scald (which makes his Primals matchup even worse).


Turn X:

vs

His Togekiss is at full, his Kyogre is at 50%ish, in Thunder range. In my mind, it’s completely unsafe for him to switch into Groudon, as I can just go for Skill Swap, so I think he’s staying in with Kyogre. I go for Thunder on the Kyogre and Gyro Ball on the Togekiss. I see Groudon switch in and I’m blown away. Then Grant uses Follow Me. I feel like a fool. Gyro Ball hits and does 47%, and Thunder hits in the sun and crits the Togekiss. The crit did not matter, I think, because of this: 4+ SpA Primal Kyogre Thunder vs. 236 HP / 236 SpD Togekiss: 112-132 (58.9-69.4). The game was pretty much over from that point, as I had control of the weather and the Thunder on Kyogre.


Game 2

I didn’t change up my mons. Neither did Grant. The same stuff happened. There was probably timer stall. Sorry for not knowing any of my Primals matchups. They were gross and nothing ever happened.


WW (3-1)

I go celebrate with my friends, I think I eat the sandwich now, and I just try to not get messed up by being 3-1. I think I watch Rajan lose to Salamenace now. I check the pairings after that match finishes up and I see I’m paired against



Round 5: Tatsu Suzuki (@MDK_yuiko0313)

I rush around trying to figure out who the Detroit Tatsu is. I’ve never heard of him before, but I assume that that’s probably because I’m ignorant, not because he doesn’t have any results. I found absolutely nothing; no one had heard of Tatsu. So I decide to just go for it.


I sit down ( at the top tables :DDD ) in front of a Japanese guy wearing a face mask. I try to get as much information as I can about him, asking for his Twitter name and showing him my phone to try to communicate. He isn’t fooled though, and says he’ll tell me after the set.


Kangaskhan Salamence Xerneas Groudon Smeargle Talonflame


Standard Big 6. I know what I want to do against this.


Game 1: You already know what I was generally thinking in Team Preview.


Turn 1:

vs

I’m very confused about his lead; I’ve never seen anyone lead it against me. I assume he’s lead it because he doesn’t know I have Hidden Power Water. So I decide to just go for it. I also decide that Tatsu can't really punish that play if he keeps Groudon in, as next turn I can HP Water the Groudon and Ice Beam the Salamence. I also think that a Tailwind is unlikely as I have the Trick Room option. In retrospect, perhaps switching Gengar out to Kyogre and Trick Rooming would have been a safer play. However, I'm certain Tatsu doesn't know about my team. Tatsu switches out Salamence for Smeargle and Protects Groudon.


Turn 2:

vs

(Rain)

I just autopilot through this turn. I need Kyogre to stay in to guarantee the KO on Groudon with HP Water, and I Origin Pulse to try to knock out the Smeargle. Smeargle goes for Fake Out on Kyogre and Groudon gets knocked out.


Turn 3:

vs

I think I go for Sludge Bomb on Xerneas, predicting him to try to get a Geomancy for free, and Origin Pulse. I think he’s going to try to get a free Geomancy and Protect with Smeargle, because of how bad of a position he’s in. I also know that I can set up Trick Room with my Bronzong and Groudon in the back if the game starts to go south. Tatsu Protects with his Xerneas, and I get a bit scared about the future of the game. However, his Smeargle just gets Knocked out by an Origin Pulse, revealing that it is both slow and not sash.


Turn 4:

vs

I think I go for Sludge Bomb on Xerneas + Origin Pulse. This is because I’m not sure that Sludge Bomb on +0 Xerneas + Ice Beam on +2 Xerneas will knock it out, so I decide to risk Origin Pulse to secure the Knock out. This works, and Xerneas gets deleted.



Game 2: I see no reason to change it up, so I go for Gengar Bronzong with Groudon Kyogre in the back


Turn 1:

vs

I get worried at the start of this turn; I think he might know the secret of just pressing Crafty Shield. However, I convinced myself that A) he probably didn’t know and

he was probably not PuP Kangaskhan, as Japanese Kangaskhan are all Low Kick. I go for my standard play of Wisping the Kangaskhan turn 1 and Safeguarding. He goes for Fake Out on the Bronzong, Will-o-Wisp hits Kangaskhan and Dark Void goes off, which misses my Zongers <3


Turn 2:

vs

This turn, I make the safe play of going for Will-o-Wisp with Gengar to prevent myself from taking any Sucker Punch damage, as it was a guaranteed turn of sleep. I also went for Safeguard this turn as well. Tatsu gets a Power-Up Punch with his Kangaskhan and burns my Lum Berry with his Dark Void.


Turn 3:

vs

I’m starting to get a bit worried about that Kangaskhan powering up, even if it seems like Smeargle won’t be doing much. I go for Sludge Bomb on the Smeargle (I think) with my Gengar, and I Gyro Ball the Kangaskhan, thinking “What can go wrong?”, and trying to get as much damage on Kangaskhan as possible.

Tatsu Sucker Punches my Gengar, getting a high damage roll, or his Kangaskhan was Adamant, and TRANSFORMS with his Smeargle, copying his + 2 Kangaskhan.


I have Groudon and Kyogre in the back. If I send in Kyogre, he just sends in his own Groudon, I can’t do anything, and I lose. In retrospect, it wouldn’t work exactly like that, and I think I could have come out of the game on top. I would have had to predict whether he was going to attack the Kyogre, and if I got it right I might win. However, I wanted Kyogre in the back so when I took out his front two Pokémon I could set the rain back up. I send in Groudon.


Turn 4:

vs

I just know that he’s going to try to take out my Bronzong this turn. My Groudon Protect is obvious. I just know that it’s going to happen. I slowly click Eruption + Trick Room and pray as the turn starts. The first Frustration goes off into Bronzong from the burned Kangaskhan. I pop off a bit but then pray a tiny bit longer. The Smeargle/Kangaskhan goes for the Frustration... ALSO INTO BRONZONG. Bronzong survives with 1 HP and Tatsu’s eyes widen. Eruption knocks out both of his Pokémon. Trick Room goes up.


Turn 5:

vs

I make the safe play of Skill Swapping my own Groudon and going for Precipice Blades. There’s no reason to switch in Kyogre, and Gyro Balling is a bit too risky, especially when I feel like the game is in my favor. Tatsu Dazzling Gleams and does something to knock out the Bronzong as both of my Precipice Blades connect.


Turn 6:

vs

(Rain)

I just go for Origin Pulse and Precipice Blades to try to get both knockouts. Origin Pulse misses both of Tatsu’s Pokémon, (and goes before the Groudon, so even if Bronzong had been knocked out I think I still would have won) but Precipice Blades cleans them both up, with an additional crit on Xerneas I think.


WW(4-1)


Tatsu and I shake hands and he finally tells me who he is on Twitter (@mdk_yuiko0313). You can go read his report here: http://mdk-yuiko.hatenablog.com/entry/2016/08/26/214433

I go celebrate for a bit, because I know I’m only one set away from securing my spot in Top Cut at Worlds. I forget what I did between rounds (the whole experience starts to become a bit of a blur at this point). When I check the pairings, I see that I’m facing another Holy Spirit:


Round 6: David Mizrahi (Awesome Platypus, @PlatypusVGC)

Kangaskhan/Exeggutor/Groudon/Xerneas/Talonflame/Smeargle

I go get the insider info from my friend Nails (Nick Navarre, @NailsOU). I learn that his Exeggutor has Swap, Psychic, and Sleep Powder and holds a Coba Berry. His Groudon is special. I think that’s all I learned. I go into this just intending to do my normal stuff, not particularly scared of Eggy. You can read about his team here: http://nuggetbridge.com/blogs/entry/2017-the-good-the-bad-and-the-eggy-34th-at-worlds-report/



I’m scared of the Smeargle in Team Preview, so I think (god knows why) that bringing Bronzong is a good choice. I go with my standard mode vs Big stuff.


Turn 1:

vs

This is an interesting position. I think that my safest general play is to trap the Exeggutor in and set up the Rain, saving my Bronzong. I don’t want my Gengar to get destroyed in the meantime, so I Protect gengar and switch Kyogre into the Bronzong slot. It turns out Swap = Skill Swap, not Power Swap, so I get blown back as the Rain turns back to Sun and my Kyogre eats an Eruption.


Turn 2:

vs

(Sun)

Well last turn went… poorly. However, the Exeggutor is now slow, so I can try to knock it out with Sludge Bomb, and send Groudon back in, in order to bring Kyogre back a turn or two later. But, in a trend you’ll see later, Skill Swapping away an ability does in fact give it to the partner. Groudon went for Eruption BEFORE my Gengar. I was blown away and stared at David, who indicated that Groudon had Chlorophyll. Exeggutor put my Groudon to sleep with Sleep Powder.


Turn 3:

vs

(Rain)

I think I go for Origin Pulse and Precipice Blades here? It doesn’t really matter because my Groudon was asleep and my Kyogre gets put asleep. David switches his Groudon out for Xerneas. I think, by the way, that that was the only bad play that David made this game.


Turn 4:

vs

(Rain)

I know that my only real chance of winning here is to get the thunder off on the Xerneas. I also go for Precipice Blades to do as much damage as possible. David goes for Geomancy and Skill Swaps my Groudon, resetting the sun, so even if my Kyogre does wake up, my Thunder will only have 50% accuracy. My Groudon wakes up and hits the Precipice Blades on both targets. Kyogre also wakes up, hits the Sunder and gets the paralysis on the Xerneas.


I do not remember what happened the rest of this game. I got Trick Room up somehow. All I know is that the Lord himself wanted me to win that game, and I did. I think I also got a full paralysis or two in there.


Game 1 went disastrously, so I know I’m going to have to change things up for game 2. Based on the last game, I think he’s not going to bring Smeargle, so Bronzong really has no place in this matchup as opposed to Talonflame. I decide to lead Gengar Talonflame, because if I can taunt the Eggy and keep it locked in, the game would not be that hard.


Game 2

Turn 1:

vs

I decide to do something with my Gengar and burn his Kangaskhan with my Talonflame. It’s been a long time so I forget exactly what my thought process was. His Kangaskhan revealed that it was Scrappy by Faking Out my Gengar and his Talonflame Taunted mine.


This game went pretty poorly. I remember trying to organize my positioning as if he had Xerneas in the back, but instead of Xerneas he had Exeggutor.



Game 3: I decide to go for the same thing again, considering that he might switch up his leads. Further, I don’t believe my lead matchup from last game was that terrible. I also know I have no better matchup against anything he could bring than Gengar Talonflame.


Turn 1:

vs

I think I Mega Evolved and Protected my Gengar and went for Taunt with Talonflame. I did not want my Gengar to take damage, and I hoped that David did not know I was Taunt, and if he did, I was hoping he would switch out, which would lose him the game. Groudon switches out into Talonflame and Exeggutor Psychics into my Gengar.

I think.


Turn 2:

vs

??

I probably went for Sludge Bomb onto the Exeggutor and Brave Bird into the Talonflame, which Red Carded me into Groudon??

????

I think his Exeggutor gets knocked out.


I’m not gonna lie. I don’t remember this game at all. All I remember is I Taunted the Exeggutor and then I murdered every single one of his Pokémon. I got Red Carded out by his Talonflame into my Groudon, I think, which was nice. If I had gotten Red Carded out into Kyogre, I could have been put in a bad position, but I could have come out of it. My play this game made up for games 1 and 2 in my mind. According to David I even HP Watered his Groudon.


WLW (5-1)


I stand up and shake David’s hand, and apologize for the hax. I go over to my friends outside of the playing area though and we pop OFF. I CUT. MY FIRST WORLDS. I’m jumping around and hugging the squad. Then I calm myself down. My friends are all reminding me that if I win the next round I’m locked for top 16. I also make sure to celebrate with everyone who cut (iirc, JiveTime was the only one I talked to :/ ).


Pairings come out. I’m playing Wolfe Glick. The one (of three) person in the tournament that I didn’t want to play. As I said above, my gameplan going into day 2 against Wolfeteam was “avoid playing it”. So I did what I always did when I freaked out at Worlds: I consulted Gavin. Gavin told me a couple of things. First, Wolfe was always going to lead Raichu Kyogre, and he was always going to go for Fake Out + Water Spout on turn 1. Second, he was always going to lead Raichu Kyogre with Rayquaza Hitmontop in the back. Finally, Gavin told me that Wolfe always makes the correct play. That makes him good if you can’t always think of the correct play or are unwilling to hard read him. However, he’s not unbeatable.

I worked out a gameplan with Gavin. First I was going to lead Gengar Kyogre with Groudon Bronzong in the back. Turn 1 I was going to switch out Kyogre into Groudon and Sludge Bomb the Kyogre. Turn 2, he wasn’t going to just VOLT SWITCH HIS OWN Kyogre, so I could Protect Gengar and Precipice Blades. Game 2 I can figure it out from there. It was important, when understanding the plan, that the whole point was to get rid of one restricted. Once Wolfe loses either Rayquaza or Kyogre, it becomes a playable game. Unless I can get that type of a favorable trade, I lose.

I go to face the best player and the worst matchup in the world.


Round 7: Wolfe Glick (Wolfey, @WolfeyVGC)

Rayquaza/Kyogre/Raichu/Hitmontop/Bronzong/Gengar

You can watch about his team here:

I had decided going into this match that I was going to beat him at his own game. I was going to timer Wolfe, take the full time every turn. I was going to prove that I was better than him.


Game 1:

I go into Team Preview with the plan. However, I make sure to show that I don’t have a plan by taking a lot of time in Team Preview. I do decide to go with the plan that Gavin and I had worked upon.


Turn 1:

vs

I know Wolfe is going to go for Fake Out with Raichu and Water Spout. I make the play I had agreed upon with Gavin: Sludge Bombing the Kyogre and switching my own Kyogre into Groudon. As I enter the play my hands shake, as if Wolfe switches out Raichu, the game is over. However, Wolfe goes for exactly what I was told he would. My Sludge Bomb connects on Kyogre, doing around 30%, without a critical hit or a poison.


Turn 2:

vs

(Sun)

I think long and hard about this play. I end up going for what I had decided earlier: that there was no way Wolfe was just going to Volt Switch against his own Kyogre. I also considered the possibility of my Groudon being faster than his Kyogre, which would win me the game on the spot if I hit my Precipice Blades. I Protect the Gengar and go for Precipice Blades. The turn starts, and Wolfe Volt Switches his own Kyogre into Rayquaza and Origin Pulses. Origin Pulse connects on my Groudon and it disappears.


I think this game goes to time somehow, but I’m effectively locked out of it, as I have to take down both of his restricteds, and I don’t really have the tools to do so. Wolfe reveals that his Rayquaza Swords Dance, which I knew. I made plays to attempt to get back in, but the game is effectively over.


I think about what happened in that game, what went wrong. All that happened poorly was one turn. I played solidly for the rest of it, and almost brought myself back in. I needed to play more safely on that turn, or make a different read. (or make the same read). Either way, I understood that my plan was fundamentally sound. The only problem was I made one incorrect play and didn’t have luck bail me out.


Game 2 starts, and Team Preview starts and I realize that my DS is red. I ask Wolfe if we can just run over to a charging station, and he says that we can’t since the game is started. I call over a judge, who allows us to run really quickly (Jen is the best judge in existence, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar or has never met Jen).


Turn 1:

vs

I had been told that Wolfe would make the same play again. Again my hands shake, and I switch Groudon into my Kyogre and Sludge Bomb the Kyogre. Again, my Groudon tanks the Fake Out and again, the Sludge Bomb does not poison nor crit. Again Wolfe goes for Water Spout and again the Water Spout fizzled out in the sun.


Turn 2:

vs

(Sun)

I recognize that Wolfe is willing and able to Volt Switch his own Kyogre, and if he went for it, Kyogre would not be knocked out by Sludge Bomb. I decide to go for what I recognize as the safe play, and switch my Groudon out into Kyogre and Sludge Bomb Wolfe’s Kyogre. I put it in range to get knocked out by anything else (ideally Origin Pulse) if he goes for the same play this time. Wolfe reads into this and Volt Switches my Gengar while he Protects his Kyogre. Wolfe recognizes that if he switches into Hitmontop his position is awful, as I can just bring Groudon back in and knock out Kyogre while burning the Hitmontop. He brings in Rayquaza instead.


Turn 3:

vs

Game 1 Wolfe had played aggressively with his Rayquaza and defensively with his Kyogre. I recognized that my Gengar was in range of Origin Pulse knocking it out. I also recognized that if Wolfe Protected his Rayquaza and I Protected my Gengar, I could (probably) get a knock out on his Kyogre. Most of the above on this turn is kind of a lie. I didn’t actually think about these things. I just intuited most of this understanding into my conclusion: Wolfe was not Protecting his Rayquaza. I go for the Sludge Bomb and Ice Beam onto the Rayquaza. The turn starts. Sludge Bomb goes off onto Rayquaza. Rayquaza Swords Dances. Origin Pulse from Wolfe’s Kyogre knocks out my Gengar. Ice Beam from my Kyogre knocks out his Rayquaza.


I do not remember the rest of this game. However I played most of it to time, and I remember playing more poorly than I should have because I believed I had won the game. The situation on the last turn of the game is as follows:


Turn X (last turn of the game on timer):

vs

I have Groudon at 60% health in the back. My Kyogre is at 60 health and my Bronzong is at 11 health. Wolfe’s Kyogre is at 25% and his Raichu is at full health. Trick Room is up. I make possibly the dumbest play in my life. I Skill Swap away Raichu’s Lightning Rod, so I can get the Thunder off on Wolfe’s Kyogre. As the turn starts, Wolfe sees the Skill Swap and starts laughing. I realize what I had done and hold my head in my hands. Thunder gets absorbed by Bronzong’s Lightning Rod as Ice Beam knocks out my Bronzong and Raichu’s Volt Switch leaves my Kyogre alive at 10 HP. If I had gone for Origin Pulse, I would have won on time and gone to a game 3. (I think I had Protected last turn). However, I misplayed and choked on the biggest bag of human male genitals that I ever have.


LL (5-2)


I’m kinda irritated, but it’s whatever. I had already made top cut, and I just had to win the next round. I tell people that I choked, and they’re sad, but we all understand that losing to Wolfe (especially with the team matchup) was something that was likely to happen.


Also, on a side note. On one turn I looked up at Wolfe while I was timering him, and he had finished his move and was just staring really hard at me. It kinda freaked me out, so I looked back at my DS. 20 seconds later I looked up again, and Wolfe had not moved one centimeter. This was the most disoriented I had ever been at Worlds.


I try to find out info about my friends, hearing that many had cut, and many had missed out. I’m way too late on this report to go over exactly what happened and who cut and who I hugged and I kinda didn’t want to. I was just waiting for the pairings. When I saw who I was paired against I was pissed and terrified.

 

[Ezrael]

Top 24: Wonseok Jang (KrelCROC, @Krelcroc)

Rayquaza/Xerneas/Meowstic/Arcanine/Scrafty/Thundurus

For those of you who don’t know, Wonseok is one of the most storied Koreans in VGC, just overshadowed by Sejun Park at Nationals. Wonseok hadn’t had the most beautiful Worlds performances yet, but I knew he was fantastic. When we were teammates on the Holy Spirits, Wonseok was saying how he hadn’t played that much and how he didn’t like VGC 16. Then he just went and got 2nd at Korean Nats like it was nothing. Wonseok had also kicked my arceus time after time in VGC 13. Not only that, but he had beaten some of the players I really respected in VGC 13 and 16, making some insane reads in the process, e.g.

Game 1 vs Aaron Traylor (Unreality, @NBUnreality): http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5gbudoubles-362114015
Game 2:http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5gbudoubles-362114015
Game 3:http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5gbudoubles-362114015

So I’m very scared. I try desperately to get as much information as I can about his team before the set starts. I learn that his Meowstic has Yawn, Fake Out and Quick Guard, his Xerneas is bulky, his Rayquaza is Life Orb, and his Arcanine is Safeguard. You can check his full report here: http://nuggetbridge.com/blogs/entry/2052-krelcroc-worlds-day2-report/

I’m not scared because my matchup is bad; I’m glad to be facing another XRay player. I’m just scared because I believe Wonseok is very good, and this is one of the toughest players I could be facing. I freak out for a while, and do some mentality things that are unique to me, like freaking out and then being perfectly fine (Rajan made fun of me for this, so it’s important to put it in).


We sit down with everyone else playing top 24 (I think I’m late because I went to the bathroom, which I did before every round.) Wonseok is gracious. The people surrounding us are terrifying. To my right, Markus (13Yoshi37, @13Yoshi37) is playing Till (DarkPsiana, Dark_Psiana). To my left Conan (c0nan, @conanyk) is playing Edu (EmbC, @MeninoJardim). We start our match.


Game 1: My matchup against XRay is excellent. I decide that Wonseok’s changes--swapping out a Smeargle for a Meowstic and adding Arcanine--do not make the team significantly stronger against my main mode of Gengar Bronzong, with Primals in the back.


Turn 1:

vs

Well I was pretty wrong about that. This is one of the worst positions I could be in. I know that Rayquaza is Life Orb, so since I had played a bunch of Draco Meteor Rayquaza earlier today, even on XRay, I assume that it’s Draco Meteor. Considering this, I decide that my best play is to go for Sludge Bomb on the Rayquaza, as I believe that a Draco will knock out my Gengar.

Wonseok just goes for a Dragon Ascent. My Gengar gets blown back. I do not remember the rest of this game. All I know is that I make him reveal Overheat on his Rayquaza and I get completely destroyed.


Game 2: That went about as terrible as it could have. I can see my Worlds ambitions slipping out of my grasp. I can’t see how to break Thundurus + Overheat Rayquaza. It puts too much pressure on my team. Then I decide. For some reason, I think that the right play is MANECTRIC KYOGRE lead with Bronzong Groudon in the back. I have 0 memory of this game. All I know is that it works. I swear to god I could not tell you why.


Game 3: This is where the real mindgame comes in. After the work of god that was game 2 and Mega Manectric, does Wonseok expect me to lead the same thing again? If he expects me to lead the same thing, he’ll lead Xerneas and it’ll basically be all over. However, if he does that and I lead Gengar Bronzong, I win the game. If Wonseok expects me to cover the Xerneas, he can just lead what he led games 1 and 2 and win the game. I freak out during Team Preview, and just go Manectric Kyogre, changing it away from Gengar Bronzong.


Turn 1:

vs

Well. That’s it. The run is over. The game is over. I had fun at Worlds. I messed up in a massive way. Wonseok can’t be mindgamed. The god himself.

I recognize that the game is not over though, and I still have to win it. I convince myself that he’s going to Fake Out the Manectric to prevent me from going for a Thunder before Xerneas uses Geomancy. So I switch out the Manectric into Bronzong and go for Origin Pulse. Manectric switches out and the Fake Out GOES INTO THE BRONZONG. I pop off a bit. Xerneas gets the Geomancy off, and Origin Pulse hits both targets, doing around 34% to Xerneas and 80% to Meowstic.


Turn 2:

vs

My play here is clear: I set up Trick Room and Origin Pulse. There’s nothing he can do to stop it. I think Wonseok Protects Xerneas and switches in Scrafty, which takes slightly more than 50%. Trick Room goes up.


Turn 3:

vs

I know that Wonseok is forced to Fake Out Bronzong, but I force him to be forced to, in order to get another Origin Pulse off. Wonseok Fakes Out Bronzong and Dazzling Gleams, leaving both of my Pokémon at slightly above 50%, unless I Protected my Kyogre here, which I might have. I remember that Scrafty survives this turn, so I think I Protected Kyogre here.


Turn 4:

vs

I think I just go for the obvious play, which is to Origin Pulse and Gyro Ball the Xerneas. I smell blood in the water, and I want that Xerneas to faint (it is in range to get Knocked Out from getting hit by both of those attacks). I realize too late that Wonseok is going to switch out his Scrafty into Meowstic to get the double Intimidate off by switching his Scrafty back in later. Xerneas Protects and Meowstic switches in. Meowstic eats the Origin Pulse and gets knocked out, and Xerneas survives just fine.


Scrafty gets sent back in.


Turn 5:

vs

I know that my Bronzong can’t knock Xerneas out from this range and I’m scared of my Kyogre taking too much damage, so I (painfully) switch out my Bronzong into Manectric to save my Zong. I consider not doing that and reading Wonseok to Fake Out my Kyogre with Scrafty. I also think about whether I need Bronzong since I have Groudon in the back. I decide that having Bronzong for the next few turns should be enough. I also Protect Kyogre. Fake Out goes somewhere and Dazzling Gleam destroys Manectric (cry).


Turn 6:

vs

I go for the simple play: Origin Pulse and Gyro Ball the Xerneas. Xerneas Protects and Scrafty gets obliterated. I think Scrafty goes for Knock Off, but Bronzong isn’t left in Extreme Speed range.


Turn 7:

vs

I just double attack, Origin Pulse and Gyro Ball. No reason to do any other play. Reads are difficult and hoping that double Protects don’t happen is easy. Further, if I read into the double Protect and Wonseok doesn’t do it, he wins. Xerneas doesn’t get the double Protect and it gets knocked out. Rayquaza Dragon Ascents my Kyogre and knocks it out. Trick Room ends.


Turn 8:

vs

(Sun)

My play here is pretty simple: double the Rayquaza. I might have gone for Trick Room; I’m not really sure. Rayquaza goes for Overheat on the Bronzong and Fire punch puts Rayquaza in KO range next turn.


Turn 9:

vs

(Sun)

Groudon doesn’t get crit and I walk away with the win.



I give the thumbs up to my crew and they all rush me. The judge tells me not to go anywhere as we are going to be starting top 16 in a few minutes (I’m the last set to finish because I was playing each turn to time because XRay is a joke, as I mentioned before). I just kinda collapse with the weight of being top 16. Gavin shows me my bracket and I learn that I’m playing Giovanni Costa. I’m not particularly worried until I see the team. Nails shows me he’s running Eruption Overheat Groudon, Water Spout Kyogre, Kangaskhan, Disable, Icy Wind, Sludge Bomb Mega Gengar, Whimsicott, and a Cresselia. Looking at this team, I expect Kangaskhan to be max Speed and Cresselia to be Icy Wind Trick Room.

The saving grace here is that Mega Gengar can’t really do anything to my Bronzong, so I feel confident going with my usual plan. Also, Water Spout means Gio’s Kyogre has Scald as opposed to Thunder, so my Kyogre should just walk through Gio’s team if I play right. Finally, I have time on my side.


Top 16: Giovanni Costa (The Gio, @The_One_Gio)

Kangaskhan/Gengar/Whimsicott/Cresselia/Groudon/Kyogre


Gio is a player I had only first heard of during the Metro Melee tournament that Jen hosted. He was playing for Gavin’s team. I didn’t expect him to be anything particularly threatening, especially since I just beat Wonseok and I’m pretty good at the primals matchup. I just go with the same plan I went with for all the primals: Manectric Bronzong with Groudon Kyogre in the back.


Primals happened. Game 1 I Skill Swapped away a Shadow Tag to waste a couple more turns, and I think I won 3-3. Game 2 Gio baited out the HP Water and then trapped my Kyogre in. I felt embarrassed, and in a trend that started round 1 day 2, I get 4-0’d game 2. Game 3 Gio decided for some reason to bring Kangaskhan. It came down to


Turn x:

vs

(Rain)

Manectric was at 97 HP, Kangaskhan was at -2 Attack and at 1 hit point, Kyogre was at full health, and I forget how much health his Groudon in the back had. I had probably Protected last turn with my Groudon or my Manectric. I don’t remember my entire thought process for the turn, but I spent 30 seconds freaking out and finally inputted my move at the end. I decided that he might go for a Water-type move, and my best play was to Volt Switch his Kangaskhan and hope he didn’t switch into Groudon. Further, because I knew he was probably going to go for Water Spout, I had to switch my Groudon into Kyogre so I could Volt Switch back into Groudon. The turn starts, no Sucker Punch goes off, his Kangaskhan gets knocked out, and Gio hangs his head in his hands. I tell him that it’s not over, and he tells me that it is. I ask if he Water Spouted and he nods his head. I pop off silently, and take my hands off the DS. My friends are all in a crowd by the side of the play area. I indicate that I have 3 Pokémon and Gio has 2. They’re all really confused. I just turn back to the game and refuse to touch it. The game sends Groudon in, and then I refuse to touch the game even as the timer is 0, because of Pokealex (rip game 2, UK Nats finals).


I jump up, and all my friends do too. I rush over to show them the set, but since Gio disconnected, they got to see the game where I got 4-0ed. The judges told the organizers to put me at the end of the ordering for Top 8 streaming, and I learned I was playing Baz Anderson, a pretty accomplished player. I learned that Baz was running some jank: XRay. Importantly, I learned that he was running the variant with Scarf Smeargle. Now, I wasn’t scared until I learned what his moveset was. He was running Fake Out, Dark Void, Transform, and, most importantly, SWITCHEROO. Now I’m pretty sure the only time I lost to XRay on the ladder (before I stopped laddering) was to a guy who led Scarf Switcheroo Smeargle + Xerneas who Switcheroo’d my Bronzong and Geomancy’d as I Protected and Safeguarded. I got 4-0’d. I knew I had to go for a different option, or I would have had to make too many hard reads.


Talking with Gavin, I decided to go for Gengar Talonflame game 1 to counter Smeargle. In retrospect, I’m not sure exactly what I would have done against a Smeargle Xerneas llead. Probably Sludge Bomb and Taunt the Xerneas, and then tank the Dark Void with both, and use the fact that Baz has to hit three voids and get reasonable sleep lengths in order to come close to winning the game. I also decide to bring Kyogre for obvious reasons and Groudon because Thundurus and Scrafty are irritating and get super bodied by Groudon.

Anyway, that was my plan going into game 1. I knew all of Baz’s sets generally, except Volc, which I knew was Red Card and I knew he wasn’t going to bring. I didn’t know Scrafty’s fourth move, I don’t think, but it never really came up in the set. I don’t think I ever considered Quick Guard in my plays, or Super Fang. I watched some of the games that were going on, gradually getting more and more stressed about the set. Then we sat down.


Top 8: Barry Anderson (Baz Anderzon, @BazandersonVGC)

Rayquaza/Xerneas/Smeargle/Scrafty/Thundurus/Volcarona

You can find Baz’s team report here:

I’m going to leave the video of the set here so you can all see, but I’m still gonna commentate/explain

Turn 1:

vs

Baz’s lead surprised me, but it indicated a couple of things. First, Baz had Xerneas Rayquaza in the back (this was almost guaranteed). Second, I had the option to start timering him from turn 1. Baz had decided to lead no damage, so I was going to take as much time as possible. I thought Baz had two options: Fake Out Talonflame and Dark Void, or switch out Scrafty and Dark Void. I decided to Protect Gengar to cover Scrafty switching out or deciding to not Fake Out my Talonflame, as maybe -1 Brave Bird wouldn’t have KOed Smeargle from Life Orb Talonflame (apparently it does. Who knew?). I also thought that if Baz left them both in, the game was pretty much mine, as I can timer and tank the voids. I Taunt the Smeargle just in case.


Turn 2:

vs

The miss was fortunate, as I’m free this turn to go for a Sludge Bomb and tank the Dark Void with Gengar (I don’t want to double Protect, since if I do not get the double Protect, Gengar will not have burned a sleep turn) and set up a Tailwind with Talonflame. If the Dark Void hadn’t missed turn 1, I would have had to go for Taunt instead. I set up Tailwind because it was the best way to get positional advantage with my board. It also allows me to get the Taunt off on the Smeargle on turn 3.


Turn 3:

vs

Well uh, Baz made an interesting move last turn. I’m ambivalent about the Dark Void missing, because it didn’t reveal Chesto Berry. However, results about this turn will make me sad about it missing. I decide to double the Rayquaza, because Baz is unlikely to Protect and just burn one of my sleep turns. I Sludge Bomb with Gengar because I believe in my Talonflame <3 (I Will-o-Wisp the Rayquaza with Talonflame because that’s pretty obviously the best thing to do with Talonflame).


Turn 4:

vs

I’m kinda angry about the second void missing, due to all of that extra Knock Off damage. I’m happy about waking up with Gengar though. I’m not really sure what I was thinking this turn. I think I thought that Baz was going to go for the Talonflame, and I wanted my Kyogre to tank the Knock Off? But at that point, Protecting my Gengar was the safest play. I might have thought that he was going to double the Gengar, in which case my play makes sense. However, my play worked out and looked super baller as I put myself in a position to obliterate the Scrafty. I switch in Kyogre and again go for the burn on the Rayquaza (which I can get because of Tailwind).


Turn 5:

vs

(Rain)

That… was an interesting set of choices from Barry, but I will more than take it. I note that my Kyogre lost 104 HP, so it was in danger of getting KOed by the same targets this turn. I thus decide a couple of things. First, my Talonflame is bulk af, so it can probably take an Extreme Speed. Second, that Baz is probably going to Protect his Rayquaza, as my Kyogre outspeeds it in Tailwind and Ice Beam will OHKO it. Third, that Brave Bird + Origin Pulse will probably take out Scrafty. I just let my Talonflame rip.

I send in Gengar because that is obviously the safest option. Groudon would have been very silly. Fast Sludge Bomb off of base 170 Sp. Atk is broken. Changing the weather would have been very bad.


Turn 6:

vs

(Rain)

This turn I made what looks like a silly play. However, it made perfect sense. I have to Sludge Bomb the Xerneas to cover the Geomancy. However, I also want to make 100% sure that I win. I see the only way I lose as Baz Protecting with Xerneas and getting a Dragon Ascent off, and then maybe double Protecting and getting a Dragon Ascent crit on my Gengar or something. Even then, I think I still win. I also wasn’t sure whether Sludge Bomb on +0 and an Ice Beam on +2 Xerneas would KO.

Turn 7:

vs

(Rain)

Rayquaza will faint to burn after this turn. Safe play is to take time and play safe: double Protect.


Turn 8:

vs

Safe play is to attack. I think about not attacking with Gengar to see if Ice Beam would knock out from here, but I decide that I get more net information by not risking either of my Pokémon getting knocked out. 1 goes my way.


I sigh in relief, as I’m one game away from top 4 of Worlds. I get a bit irritated when all I hear are cheers for Baz, but it’s whatever. I know I can do it.


Going into game 2, I consider changing up my leads, but I wasn’t sure what Baz would do. I was also still scared of Smeargle. If I didn’t lead Talonflame, I wasn’t sure that I could really beat Smeargle as a lead. I’ll go through this game because you all deserve it, but I apologize for how awful I played.

I didn’t think about Thundurus as a lead, and I had already forgotten my set with Wonseok. I go for the same Team Preview stuff as I did game 1.



Game 2:


Turn 1:

vs

I am a bit surprised by this lead, as I was not expecting it at all (I’m not great at Team Preview). I think that because Talonflame messed Baz up last game, he was going to target it down. My only counterplay to that is to switch Talonflame to Groudon, and I decide to try to burn Rayquaza with Gengar, which would secure me the game if it went off. Baz predicted this, which becomes a theme for this game. After this turn is over, I’m pretty sure that the game is over as well.


Turn 2:

vs.

I know that Baz is probably going to go for a Swords Dance with Rayquaza, just to set up for the rest of the game. I also think that he is going to want to Taunt my Gengar at the same time, in order to prevent me from Wisping the Rayquaza. Overall, I think my play is pretty safe, as worst case scenario he doubles the Gengar, which allows me to put on a ton of damage onto both of his Pokémon. Also there’s no way he goes for that.


Turn 3:

vs.

That paralysis kinda sucked, as if I hadn’t missed I would have been able to make a bunch of plays here, e.g., switch Groudon out for Talonflame (which wouldn’t get KOed by a +2 Extreme Speed) and put pressure on the Rayquaza that way.

I know I have to get damage off onto the Rayquaza, so I double target it, with Fire Punch as I believe that Baz, if he attacks, would be Dragon Ascenting the Groudon. Sludge Bomb from Gengar is obvious.


Turn 4:

vs

Yeah, he probably was going to Protect last turn. I have already resigned myself to this loss as I go for the same play. Dragon Ascent actually OHKOes Groudon (I did not know my calcs on this, so I just assumed it would always happen).


Turn 5:

vs

I go for Brave Bird onto the Rayquaza, knowing that I need Talonflame to knock it out to have any chance in this game. I also go for Origin Pulse, assuming that Talonflame will knock out the Rayquaza. It doesn’t. I lose. There were a bunch of cheers for Barry.


That was about as depressing as it gets. If you count game 1 vs Wonseok, this is 3 consecutive 4-0s in game 2. I also am one game away from being eliminated from the World Championships. By my best matchup. I recognize a couple of things about the matchup that I’m playing. First, Baz is unlikely to change his winning formula from last game. As a result, Talonflame is unlikely to do anything. Also, apparently according to my mind, my best way to beat Thundurus Rayquaza was Gengar Groudon. I didn’t think about Manectric Kyogre because I had forgotten, and because Scarf Smeargle is scary. Mega Gengar helps beat Scarf Smeargle because it traps it in and lets me tank the voids. I also decide to bring Bronzong because it helps more against Rayquaza.


I’m terrified of a Scarf Smeargle lead, but I pray, and it doesn’t happen.


Game 3. All down to this.


Turn 1:

vs

I’m excited, because Baz lead what I expected him to lead. Looking at this position, I don’t expect Rayquaza to go for a Dragon Ascent: it needs a Swords Dance to really do any damage. I predict Baz is going to go for the Thunder Wave on the Gengar, because making it slower than Rayquaza has to be a priority for him. Thus, my move is pretty simple. I switch Gengar out for Bronzong and Eruption.


My Eruption crit the Thundurus, in the only instance of hax so far in this set except Baz’s paralyses on my Gengar. The crowd boos me quite loudly, which really rattles me. I had literally never heard booing before in a Pokémon event, and if you read my lips you can see I say that to Baz. I spend 10 seconds of my move choice time talking about that.


Turn 2:

vs

I don’t think about Scrafty here. All I think is, if Rayquaza goes for Dragon Ascent on the Groudon, Bronzong will be able to take it out. If Rayquaza goes for the Dragon Ascent onto the Bronzong, Bronzong won’t get knocked out (even to a follow-up Thunderbolt), and Groudon can take Rayquaza out with Eruption. The crit was nice, because Thundurus is in Eruption range now (I don’t think the crit mattered for the game outcome though). Baz predicted me to Protect with Groudon or at least not Eruption, but as the turn goes through, I’m very happy with the outcome.


Turn 3:

vs

I make the same play for the same reasoning. I’m just much happier about it.

As the Dragon Ascent goes down, I note that it was on the Bronzong, and I pray that the Thunderbolt doesn’t crit. It doesn’t and I pop off.


Turn 4:

vs

This is it. I’ve made Top 4. The game is over. I just have to not attack my own Pokémon. I very carefully select Gyro Ball and Fire Punch on Xerneas. If Baz goes for Geomancy, Xerneas gets knocked out. If Baz doesn’t go for Geomancy, but goes for Dazzling Gleam, my Gengar comes in for free and gets a fast Sludge Bomb, which does a lot of damage as we saw in game 1.


Then it happens.

Baz goes for Dazzling Gleam and knocks out my Bronzong. I’m ok with that, and Fire Punch goes onto the Xerneas. It crits. I laugh and stick my tongue out, knowing that that crit was meaningless.
Then the whole crowd boos me.

What I did in response was not right, but after reading this I hope you all understand what I was feeling at that moment.
This is the biggest event of my life. This is my first hard fought win on stream. This is top 8 of Worlds. This was at that point the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life. You can see from my popoff how much it meant to me.

And then I got booed. Now maybe the crowd was booing the crit. But that’s kinda silly and I didn’t understand it in that way. The crit didn’t matter. It very obviously didn’t matter. I had beaten Baz fair and square, in a good set. And to me, it felt like the crowd was booing me and my win individually. That is one of the most hurtful things in the world, when you have earned a result and people say very, very, very, loudly that they don’t like you and don’t feel like you deserve it. And in the heat of the moment I wanted to tell them to yams off.

The way in which I did it was not smart. It was not good. But I think if you were in that position, you would understand.


Turn 5:

vs

I take the time and click Sludge Bomb. And I’m in top 4.


Well, almost. I spend 30 minutes after this pretty confused and then being told I’m about to get disqualified. Shoutouts to the best judge ever, Nic Freda, for believing in me, believing that I was a good person and didn’t deserve to be disqualified. It was a time when I was freaked out, but it didn’t even feel real to me. I didn’t believe I was going to get disqualified at all. To be honest, I had forgotten about flipping the crowd off and had no clue why I had to wait in the player area. When the TOs spoke to me though, it felt very very real.


After I failed to get disqualified, I sat down by the side before top 4. I got some info on Edu’s team from Nails again (the GOAT). Edu was running Safeguard Kangaskhan, the type of Hitmontop I expected, and Substitute Groudon, like I saw on stream. I didn’t get the full Thundurus moveset, but I could predict it pretty well.


Overall, Edu’s team is just what it looks like. I decide that game 1, I’m just going to go with my standard mode, not taking into consideration what I saw of him on stream. I mostly tried to calm down and eat the slice of pizza Edu offered me.


On a side note, Edu is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I swear to god, no one I have ever met has said a single bad thing about this man.


So it wasn’t that big of a surprise when everyone in the crowd was cheering for him. We sit down. I actually take my flag off because it’s a bit uncomfortable.


Then, we play.


Semifinals: Eduardo Cunha (EmbC, @MeninoJardim)

Kangaskhan/Groudon/Xerneas/Thundurus/Hitmontop/Bronzong


I know that Talonflame probably doesn’t have a place here, so I am going to bring Bronzong. I decide in game 1 that like usual it is going to come in the front, hoping (for no good reason) that Edu doesn’t really know what he’s doing and will lead Kangaskhan or Hitmontop.

Game 1:

Turn 1:

vs

First, I want to note that in this match, I was cheering for Edu whenever the crowd did as well. It was a way for me to deal with the incident in top 8.

When I saw this lead matchup, I was pissed. My Gengar and my Bronzong were doing pretty much nothing. However, I thought that Edu’s Groudon was unlikely to attack this turn, as I figured he would be scared of the Hidden Power Water. I also was terrified of the Thunder Wave on my Gengar. My play is a play I find it hard to make sitting down here, but it was 10 pm at night after a long day of Pokémon, so I Trick Roomed and switched my Gengar out to Groudon.


Turn 2:

vs

My Groudon is in no danger unless Edu Double-Edges it, and Fake Out will do approximately zero damage. I’m not sure what I think about the Thundurus, but I think I assume Xerneas is in back. I try to reduce Kangaskhan’s damage by Skill Swapping, as I see that as the most productive thing Bronzong can do this turn. Not exactly sure what I did with Groudon? Probably Fire Punched the Kangaskhan.


Turn 3:

vs

Ok, that didn’t do anything. However, Edu has revealed that he does not have Xerneas, so I don’t really need to care about anything besides Kangaskhan and Groudon. I think that the Protect on my Groudon is pretty obvious, but it won’t take too much damage from Feint + Double-Edge, so I predict Edu to cover the Protect by Close Combatting Bronzong. Also Bronzong isn’t really doing much in this position, and Gengar would be great. I just Protect the Groudon because it’s safe.


Turn 4:

vs

Edu’s Kangaskhan is weak and it’s facing down a Groudon and a Gengar. In my mind, it is obvious that a switch is coming, and likely a switch to Groudon followed by a Wide Guard to cover the only thing I could do while staying in to punish that switch. I thus decide that the best play is to switch Kyogre in on my Groudon slot and go for a Hidden Power Water.
This is an idiotic idea, and I’m ashamed I ever thought of it. Because Trick Room is up, my Groudon switched out first. Thus, if Edu had switched into Groudon, the sun would have been up, and Hidden Power Water would have done nothing.
I am an idiot, and I was saved by Edu not making the right play, which I’m sure he had a reason for.


Turn 5:

vs

In this position, Edu cannot switch out. I can abuse that by making a switch he is unlikely to call, and use that to get board position. I can switch Gengar into Groudon. I also predict Edu not to go for Feint and Thunderbolt on the Kyogre because that loses to just Protect on Gengar and Origin Pulse.


I have now successfully done the craziest thing: I have stalled out my own Trick Room while getting off damage once.


I do not remember what happens for the next couple of turns. All I remember is that I was able to get my Groudon a Levitate in Trick Room and win the game. The last turn of the game was


Turn X:

vs

My Groudon was Levitating, in the Rain, and was slower than Edu’s Groudon. However, it was Trick Room. Therefore, my Kyogre and my Groudon were faster than Edu’s Groudon. I have heard some people tell me that Edu should have gone for Wide Guard and Precipice Blades. However, they forget a couple of things. First, they forget that timer is significantly on my side even if Edu goes for that, because my Kyogre survives a Precipice Blades. Also, I can go for Ice Beam on Groudon twice. I make the simple play of going for Precipice Blades and Ice Beam, and Edu plays to his outs by Feinting the Kyogre and presumably going for Precipice Blades.


I win and I’m up in semifinals. Unfortunately, the judge tells us to wait for a while, which (and I’m johning here) disrupts my mojo. My original thought going into this game was to lead Gengar Groudon, which I believe would beat Groudon Thundurus. However, I realize that my Kyogre is slower than his Groudon, so leading Gengar Kyogre would allow me to get the rain up and punish a Groudon lead. I decide to go for that in game two, with Groudon and Bronzong in the back.


Game 2:

Shoutouts to Abel Sanz (Flash, @flash0mc) for uploading these videos

Turn 1:

vs

I’m disappointed by this lead matchup. I was scared of the Thundurus either Thunder Waving Gengar or Thunderbolting the Kyogre, so I switch in Groudon on the Kyogre slot and Protect. I think I predicted Kangaskhan to Fake Out the Kyogre, so I wasn’t scared of the damage. I also think that Edu might switch out one of his Pokémon into Groudon, which is why I don’t just double switch Gengar and Kyogre into Groudon and Bronzong, which would lead to a very bad position for me. Unfortunately, Edu doesn’t switch into Groudon and calmly calls me out for being a scrub.


Turn 2:

vs

That turn went about as poorly as it could have. This turn I’m scared of a Double-Edge on my Groudon, and I don’t want to Protect as that gets me no momentum. I switch my Groudon into Bronzong and Sludge Bomb, expecting Edu to not Sucker Punch, expecting a Will-o-Wisp again.

Turn 3:

vs

I know that Groudon is going to take a Double-Edge, so I decide to Protect. I also want Bronzong in the back in order to take the Double-Edge next turn, to at least force some sort of mindgame on Edu. If I just Protect and Trick Room, Edu will just Taunt.


Turn 4:

vs

I predict that Edu is going to switch in Groudon here, noting that my Groudon is pretty obviously switching out, and he’s going to Double-Edge the Kyogre. I thus decide to go for Precipice Blades and Ice Beam the Thundurus slot, because if I catch the Groudon on the switch, I might still have an out. Edu sees right through this though.


Turn 5:

vs

I want to prevent myself from being 4-0ed in game 2 three (four if game 1 vs KrelCROC counts) times in a row, so I go for a Gyro Ball on the Kangaskhan and a Precipice Blades I think, to catch a possible Groudon switch-in.

I think somewhere around this time, Edu lets slip that he brought Hitmontop this game. Then he says “oops”. This confuses me but I think nothing of the “oops”. Maybe he was playing a mindgame. This statement helps me make plays in game 3, because I know he’s not going to bring Xerneas.


Going into game 3, I can tell that Gengar Kyogre was a big misplay, and that I should have gone with Gengar Groudon. Gengar Groudon would have done pretty well last game as well, so I decide to just make it happen.


Game 3: whole game is here:

Again, it has come down to this. The game starts.


Turn 1:

vs

I have a few plays here. I can go for the Hidden Power Water. I can go for Sludge Bomb + Eruption. I can go for Protect Eruption. I can switch Gengar into Bronzong and Eruption. I think that Edu is scared of the Eruption and won’t Protect his Groudon, instead trying to get a Precipice Blades off and neuter my Eruption. I also just have a feeling (but one that kinda feels wrong, you know) that he’s not going to Protect Groudon. Also, if I take out Groudon, the game is over. Edu has Hitmontop and Kangaskhan in the back (I just know) so he has no real way to damage my Groudon or my Gengar once the Groudon goes down.

I go for it.

And you can hear the crowd’s cheers when I hit into the Protect.


Turn 2:

vs

That went… about as poorly as it could have, assuming Groudon stays in. However, his Groudon is still in and my Kyogre is undamaged. Edu has also burned his Protect. I just make this play kinda without thinking it full through because I just knew it would work. But I had known this from the turn before. My Protect on Gengar is obvious, and it seems silly to just GO FOR DOUBLE WATER MOVE.
My reaction in Flash’s video says it all.


At this point the game is over.
However, the game’s not over. I can still lose and I quickly remind myself of that.

Edu sends in his Kangaskhan. If Edu had sent in Hitmontop I could have gotten Groudon going much earlier and taken out Thundurus, which would have given me an unlosable board position.


Turn 3:

vs

Now I’m terrified of choking this game away. I know the game is won so I need to be as sure of it as possible. I don’t want to let Edu Taunt my Pokémon and I don’t want him to start getting the ability to switch. I note that the rain can’t go down and that Thunderbolt is not a 2HKO on my Kyogre. Therefore, unless Edu gets a Thunderbolt crit or a full para on my Gengar, I am not punished (in a gamelosing sense) for attacking with both of my Pokémon. If Edu doubles my Gengar like he did in the last game, my Kyogre just wins by knocking out the Thundurus and doing massive damage to Kangaskhan. If he targets down the Kyogre, then I get a Sludge Bomb off. I’m unwilling to go for the “safe” double Protect this turn because it’s not safe: Gengar can just get para’d and take a Thunderbolt.


Edu knocks out Kyogre and does < 50% (I think it does around 47%?) to my Gengar with a Thunderbolt. Sludge Bomb goes off on Kangaskhan and gets the POISON which pretty much guarantees the win.


HOWEVER I remind myself that the win is not guaranteed. I send in Bronzong because I want to get the KO on Kangaskhan before Groudon comes in. I would prefer Groudon not to be Intimidated just to guarantee the win.


Turn 4:

vs

I don’t think there’s anything Edu can really do to punish Gyro Ball the Kangaskhan. I Protect Gengar to prevent Gengar from taking too much damage, as Gengar guarantees wins, and if Gengar gets knocked out my Groudon has to come in at the same time as Hitmontop and would get Intimidated. Bronzong survives the Sucker Punch, and would have survived the Thunderbolt. Kangaskhan goes down.

Turn 5:

vs

(you can watch the rest with commentary here):

I want my switch into Groudon to be free. Since Gengar was paralyzed last turn, I can just Protect it this turn and not get punished. I consider switching Gengar into Groudon, but decide that that is a bit too risky. Gyro Ball on Hitmontop is free and pretty much obligatory as I have no real reason to switch Bronzong out unless I want to win on time (which is less likely than winning on board) and I’m Taunted.


Edu crits. The crowd goes wild and so do I. This gives me a free switch into Groudon. The only way I can possibly lose this game is if Edu gets 2 super crits on Groudon, or if Edu times me out somehow. Thus, getting in Groudon freely and safely while preserving health on my Gengar is the best possible outcome.

Edu hangs his head in his hands. However, even if he hadn’t crit, I still would have been in a good position as Hitmontop would have taken damage. Next turn I would have gone for Sludge Bomb on it, and then I could have Fire Punched it to knock it out.


Turn 6:

vs

I’m kinda irritated at Ray’s commentary. I’ll try to explain my play. Edu has a couple of plays he can go for here. He can Protect Thundurus (if he has it) and Close Combat the Groudon. He can Wide Guard and Thunderbolt the Gengar. Or, he can Thunderbolt the Gengar and Close Combat the Groudon. I was a bit worried about the Wide Guard, and I knew that Edu was going to start playing to time, so I have to go for Fire Punch. Do I go for the Thundurus or do I go for the Hitmontop? Going for the Thundurus is the best choice for a couple reasons. First, Thundurus is the only mon that can hit Gengar. Thundurus is also unlikely to KO Gengar, as the Thunderbolt did less than 50% the first time. I also am not sure of Fire Punch’s damage on Hitmontop. Therefore, If I go for Fire Punch on Thundurus and Sludge Bomb on Hitmontop I guarantee my victory, pretty much no matter what Edu goes for. The only way Edu could even have a shot is if he got a double/triple Protect on Thundurus. However, since his Hitmontop would be at -2/-3 Def I would go for the Hitmontop with Fire Punch, and Sludge Bomb is probably going to do damage if I ever don’t get fully paralyzed.


Turn 7:

vs

https://twitter.com/YahooEsports/status/767234434735149057


Edu tries to tell the crowd to cheer for me, to relatively no avail. I don’t get an interview because it’s too late.

Also at some point after top 8, my brother showed up to cheer me on which was fantastic. I knew there were definitely people in my corner even if the crowd was against me. I had to do some procedural stuff before I could leave.
I finally got outside the playing area to right outside the room. Gavin, Rajan, and a couple of other people who I can’t remember at this moment all started jumping up and down and cheering “Edu! Edu! Edu!” recognizing how I had dealt with the chanting. Honestly, that was one of the moments when it hit me what had happened, and. And it was fantastic. I took a long walk back to my brother’s house, did a bit of prep that I’ll discuss in a sec, and went to bed.


I had talked with Enosh about some gameplans, and there were a couple that I had going into finals. I was going to play game 1 the same way as I did in swiss. Exactly the same way. I was going to make the same turn 1 play, and probably the same turn 2 play as I made in game 2 of swiss. Game 2 I was going to lead Bronzong Groudon with Gengar Kyogre in the back (I wasn’t sure this would work but w/e). This was to convince him that Bronzong Groudon meant Gengar in the back. Game 3 I was going to do the same thing but with Manectric in the back instead of Gengar. This was not a very good plan, and in finals I probably would have just defaulted back to what I had done in swiss. Of course, these plans were all assuming that Wolfe was going to lead Raichu Kyogre.


I took my time waking up, as I didn’t have to be in the venue until 11. When I got there (and got my brother and his girlfriend in, through begging and pleading people to give us passes), I was assigned Jen to be my handler. When you are going to be on stream, they assign a tournament staff member to you to make sure that when they want you on stream, they know where you are. Then I hung out with Jen and the SQUAD during the TCG finals (Gavin, Angel, Chuppa, Jeudy, Rajan, Nails, Alvin, William etc. there were so many people I can’t name them all). We joked with Jen about the lemonade we had that was non-alcoholic, and about how fun the experience was.
There’s a lot of sitting down time, during which I treated to some nearby screaming by a very very happy and shrill mom, talked to Hayden McTavish (Enigne, @Enigne_) about how much damage Bronzong could take from Raichu and Kyogre, and freaked out for a couple of hours. This was one of the most stressful moments at Worlds, and I just steadily got more and more distressed, no matter how much I tried to push it down. I started listening to some really hard rock/metal music to get myself pumped up and freaking out less. Then it was time to go up.


This is going to be a hard set to write about. It took me a month and a half to watch it all the way back. It’s just very difficult for me. I definitely think I didn’t play my best, probably for a whole host of reasons. I think that I was kinda cold after waiting a whole day, and I definitely didn’t remember Gavin’s advice about how Wolfe plays.


One little aside before I get into the set: Wolfe pulled some grimer here. He said he didn’t want to be on the stream DS, so I offered to do it. However, when we got on stage, and put on the headphones that normally are all white noise, Wolfe put his earbuds into his DS and put them under the headphones. So Wolfe got to listen to the Worlds Finals battle music, and I did not.

 

[Ezrael]

Finals: Wolfe Glick

Here it is. The final battle. There is one person and one Detroit of a matchup standing between me and ultimate victory. Watch the set here:

Game 1: I go for the same plan as I did in my first set. A lot of people have asked me why I didn’t bring regular Manectric in addition to my Gengar, instead of my Bronzong. Couple of reasons. One: Manectric has the worst stats. It has no bulk, no Speed and no offense. Wolfe’s Rayquaza would outspeed it once it had Mega Evolved, Kyogre would one shot it, Hitmontop would come close to one shotting it, and I would then have no bulk on my team. Further, I wasn’t sure I could get myself into the situation where it was Gengar Groudon vs Raichu Kyogre, and If I don’t find that situation, Manectric is 100% useless, as it does no damage if Wolfe still has Raichu. Bronzong sets up Trick Room, which is really helpful to beat Wolfe’s whole team.


The game starts.


Turn 1:

vs

This was not what I had prepared for. Now looking at this situation, Wolfe is obviously going to switch out his Rayquaza into his Raichu. So the optimal play is probably to Sludge Bomb the Kyogre with my Gengar and Origin Pulse with my Kyogre, or do the same thing with Gengar and switch my Kyogre into my Groudon. I wanted to switch my Kyogre into Groudon particularly, because I knew it was correct. However, I thought that Wolfe wouldn’t just let me get away with that. Then I did the scrub thing: assume he’s going to cover the play that you were thinking about. I know it was wrong. If Wolfe is covering the Groudon switch in, Rayquaza is just going to Protect here. That means that Gengar is not going to take much damage from a Water-type move, so Sludge Bomb + Thunder the Kyogre is the proper play.
It was not. Wolfe made the correct play. He always does.


Turn 2:

vs

Well, that was silly. However, Wolfe isn’t Volt Switching his Kyogre here, and he’s almost certainly Ice Beaming the Gengar. Switching Kyogre into Groudon is thus perfectly safe. I also use Protect Gengar to prevent the Ice Beam from knocking it out.


Turn 3:

vs

(Sun)

Well last turn went about exactly the way I expected it to, but I’m in a really awkward position now. Wolfe is pretty free to go for the Volt Switch on my Gengar and Origin Pulse. Considering that, my best play to counter that play is to switch Gengar into Bronzong and Groudon into Kyogre, so I can manage the weather (which I need four Pokemon to do). However, Wolfe expects me to have a Manectric in the back and instead goes for the Endeavor into Groudon (now a Kyogre) and Protect. I think this was a poor play on his end, as a simple Precipice Blades and switch into Bronzong would have been really bad for him, but it worked out.


Turn 4:

vs

This turn I think that Raichu is probably going to switch out, but I don’t hard read that (which is bad on my end). I just go for safe damage with Origin Pulse and I Trick Room in order to get an advantage going into the next couple of turns. In retrospect, going for Thunder to get the hard read probably would have been a better play. However, I don’t. Trick Room goes up.


Turn 5:

vs

This turn was another big misplay. There are a ton of options. First, I can switch Bronzong into Gengar and Thunder. I can double the Rayquaza with Gyro Ball and Ice Beam. I can Thunder the Kyogre and Gyro Ball. I can Origin Pulse and Gyro Ball. I can switch to Gengar and Thunder and switch to Gengar and Gyro Ball. I thought Wolfe would think that I’m going to do something like switch to Gengar and Ice Beam the Rayquaza, so I expect him to do something like Protect the Rayquaza and use Origin Pulse. I don’t think I actually believed that it would happen, but I believed that I needed it. Wolfe made the correct play.


Turn 6:

vs

I think that the Extreme Speed into Bronzong is pretty safe, especially with the Fake Out covering it. I decide to switch Bronzong into Groudon to get some possible damage off next turn and Protect with Kyogre, reading into the possible Fake Out Dragon Ascent into it. Wolfe makes the safe play, and gets the Swords Dance off.


Turn 7:

vs

(Air Lock on Sun)

I kinda think that Wolfe is going to go for the Extreme Speed, but I think that my only way to win the game is if he doesn’t. I’m also not sure that Extreme Speed will knock out Kyogre. I try to get the Ice Beam off, but Kyogre gets knocked out, and I knock out his Raichu. I have to go for Precipice Blades because if I don’t, Raichu would have endeavored my Groudon.

Turns out that that Extreme Speed was a roll: +2 252 Atk Rayquaza Extreme Speed vs 252 HP / 252 Def Primal Kyogre: 86-102 (41.5 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 102), so a 50% roll. If that roll had gone in my favor, I think this game would have been extremely reasonable. In light of this, going for Eruption to secure the breaking of the Focus Sash would have been a better idea, even if Raichu could have gotten off an Endeavor.



I send in Gengar. I’m really not sure why.

Turn 8:

vs

I don’t know what I’m even trying to do here. I decide that it’s best to attack with Groudon because I need to get damage off, and I switch Bronzong back in. I think maybe I was sending in Gengar first in order to bait the Dragon Ascent into Bronzong so maybe I could do damage with Gengar later?


Turn 9:

vs

The game is basically over, so I hope he goes for the Close Combat + Dragon Ascent into Groudon. In order to prevent that I need to burn the Rayquaza. Wolfe just knocks out my Gengar.


Turn 10:

vs

I go for Eruption to represent the move. It got me here, so I gotta show it, you know?


Game 2


Game 1 went really poorly. However, I feel that the reason it went poorly was because my turn 1 went poorly. If I had gotten off the Origin Pulse on Raichu, I would have been able to Sludge Bomb it to knock it out the next turn and get a Thunder off onto the Kyogre, and then I could manipulate Speed with Bronzong and knock out the Rayquaza. Thus, I decide to go for the same exact team composition. I also can’t think of anything else to bring, as Manectric is really scary to have against the lead that I know Wolfe is going to bring.



Turn 1:

vs

Based on the damage from last game, I think that my Gengar is safe. Similarly, I know Wolfe is going to make the same play he did last game: switch Rayquaza into Raichu and Water Spout. I decide to go for Origin Pulse with Kyogre and Sludge Bomb his Kyogre with Gengar. If I do this, I can double Protect and then pressure the rest of Wolfe’s team. I might have to not knock out the Kyogre to get the optimal board position, but everything would start to fall into place.


Gengar gets knocked out. It is at this moment that I know for sure that I have lost Worlds Finals. I do not have the resources left to counter Wolfe’s weather control. Having 3 Pokémon instead of 4 is a massive problem because it means I can’t control switches the way I wanted to in my set vs Edu. GG.

I would like to note things about the roll and the alternate spread: 44+ SpA Primal Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 76 HP / 4 SpD Mega Gengar in Heavy Rain: 136-162 (93.7 - 111.7%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO. Even with the spread I had, including the chance of missing, Wolfe only had a 58% chance of OHKOing the Gengar.

If I had changed my spread: 44+ SpA Primal Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 156 HP / 4 SpD Mega Gengar in Heavy Rain: 136-162 (87.7 - 104.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO.

I’m ok with having not changed my spread, but I’m irritated that this ended up mattering.



I send in Groudon with the intention of switching back into Bronzong and going for the Origin Pulse. I do this to try to bait the Raichu to switch back into the Rayquaza in order to reduce Wolfe’s Kyogre’s damage to my Bronzong through taking away the rain.


Turn 2:

vs

I execute my plan, switching Groudon into Bronzong and going for the Origin Pulse. I could have gone for something more like Protecting Kyogre and attacking with Groudon, and I guess that would have been ok? I wasn’t thinking about that read. I think I made an overall safe play, and it ends up getting me into a good position at the end of the day.

Wolfe switches in Kyogre instead of Hitmontop at the end of the turn, something that I found pretty interesting.


Turn 3:

vs

I go for Trick Room with Bronzong in order to be able to possibly win the game. I also attack with Kyogre because there’s no benefit to having my Kyogre alive under TR, as it gets knocked out by an Extreme Speed. I thus go for Ice Beam I think. Wolfe drops his Rayquaza’s Def/SpD by going for Dragon Ascent.


Turn 4:

vs

I’m not sure what exactly I was thinking. I think I thought Wolfe was going to go for Wide Guard and Dragon Ascent into my Groudon. Gyro Ball + Protect punishes that. I also thought that if I Protected, there was nothing Wolfe could do to counter that. I guess I had forgotten about Swords Dance. So I Protected Groudon and Gyro Balled. If I had gone for Eruption, I win this game. Wolfe’s Rayquaza is at -1 SpD, so it will take 45-53% from an Eruption. His Hitmontop will also get knocked out, forcing Wolfe into Kyogre. That allows me next turn to go for the free Skill Swap + Eruption to reset the sun and secure the game (the Rayquaza might Extremespeed, but the combination of poison on the Kyogre, Gyro Ball on the Rayquaza and Eruption damage would knock them both out). Even if Wolfe goes for Wide Guard + Dragon Ascent there I end up in a better position, as even though my Groudon has damage on it, I can start to damage the Kyogre and the Rayquaza. However, I Protected.


Turn 5:

vs

The game is over. I go for Precipice Blades and Gyro Ball on the Rayquaza even though the correct play (looking back on it) was to go for Skill Swap Eruption, which would have done more damage, but I do not believe would have won me the round. I don’t know man, I was depressed. I didn’t notice the correct play.


Turn 6:

vs

I Protect Groudon because I had to. If I had crit the Rayquaza with Gyro Ball I still could have won the game, but I didn’t.

The rest of the game is self explanatory.


And that’s it! You’ve finished! Time has run out! The battle is over! Now I’m going to give shoutouts.

• Ben Rothman. Ben Rothman is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and has been a consistent friend to me throughout the years. He taught me how to play competitive Pokémon and has built teams with me and has cheered me on and never stopped believing in me. I love Ben. There’s not much more to say.
  
  
• Enosh Shachar. I met Enosh at my first Pokémon tournament, and he has also been an amazing friend this whole time. He’s given me teams, told me how to improve, battled with me. He’s been fantastic, and really helped me grow as a player. He also practiced with me for Worlds, and must have at that point given me his “never win curse”.
  
  
• Toler Webb. I honestly don’t remember how I met Toler, but he has believed in me for a long time. Again, he helped me practice. He comforted me when I thought I was about to quit, even though he was going through a tough time then. I couldn’t have done this without him.
  
  
• Gavin Michaels. The brains behind the whole operation. I literally could not have done this without Gavin, as his teams got me my invite and then got me my placing. He’s played so many practice games with me across so many different teams across so many different years that it’s hard to count.
  
  
• The brains behind the brains, Rajan Bal, for coming up with Gengar Bronzong Ogre.
  
  
• Imoutos for giving me a really good community in NYC to keep coming back to and to hang out with, and everyone else in NYC. Specific shoutouts to Angel for being the heart and soul of the group.
  
  
• Nic Freda (and the rest of the judges) for getting me not disqualified.
  
  
• Nick Navarre for getting me lots and lots of information.
  
  
• My man Pedro (@Pedroazl) for cutting those videos so I don’t have to see comments like https://twitter.com/YureeVGC/status/788814444788846594
  
  
• Zachary Lemonides and Trey (DaWoblefet, DaWoblefet) for being fantastic editors.
  

Final team: http://pastebin.com/FaqdayWG

 

[Mr.GX]

How much time did it take you to type all this? :o

Interesting report, covers everything, was fun to go through. Who says Manectric is bad, huh? Good job securing second place at worlds!