A Top 16 and 12th place finish at Virginia Winter Regionals 2014 Team Report

A Top 16 and 12^th place finish at Virginia Winter Regionals 2014 Team Report

Sorry for the late report, it took me a while to write and remember the rounds as best as I could. 

Introduction and Teambuilding:

Hi, I’m Westin Lee and this is my second Pokemon VGC tournament I have ever participated in. The first one I participated in was at last year’s Virginia Winter Regionals. I usually play in the TCG events, but since I did not top cut the day before, I decided to play in the VGC for fun and to see if the team I built could withstand the current VGC metagame.

As for team building, I originally ran Talonflame, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Meowstic, Gyarados, Kangaskhan.  In Battle Spot and Pokemon Showdown, I ended up hitting a lot of Manectric and Rotom Wash that would take out my Mega Gyarados.  Gyarados was my Trick Room counter since it had Taunt on it. I was thinking of another pokemon that could slow down Trick Room.  After watching the NYC Elite tournament battles on YouTube, I came to the conclusion that Amoonguss would fit the team best since it could put Trick Room pokemon to sleep and had good bulk to withstand attacks when I needed it to with Rage Powder.  Also, I changed my Kangaskhan from Jolly nature to an Adamant nature one because in testing the heavier damage output was better.  Lastly, the Pokemon I switched out was Meowstic because it would not survive Kangaskhan’s Return attack and did not help much in late game even with dual screens. I replaced Meowstic with Salamence because it had the Intimidate support and also with Choice Scarf it would most likely hit first against other dragons that were not running Choice Scarf.

The Resulting Team:

Amoonguss @ Black Sludge

Ability: Regenerator

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 140 SDef / 12 Spd

Sassy Nature

-Rage Powder

                                  -Giga Drain

                                  -Spore

                                  -Protect

Garchomp @ Expert Belt

Ability: Rough Skin

Level: 50

EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd

Jolly Nature

-Dragon Claw

                                  -Rock Slide

                                  -Earthquake

                                  -Protect

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite

Ability: Scrappy

Level: 50

EVs: 124 HP/ 252 Atk/ 12 Def/ 12 SDef/ 110 Spd

Adamant Nature

-Fake Out

                                  -Sucker Punch

                                  -Return

                                  -Power-Up Punch

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Levitate

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Def/ 116 SAtk/ 116 SDef/ 20 Spd

Modest Nature

-Thunderbolt

                                  -Hydro Pump

                                  -Will-O-Wisp

                                  -Protect

Salamence @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Intimidate

Level: 50

EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SAtk/ 252 Spd

Modest Nature

-Draco Meteor

                                        -Flamethrower

                                        -Rock Slide

                                        -Brick Break

Talonflame @ Life Orb

Ability: Gale Wings

Level: 50

EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd

Adamant Nature

-Brave Bird

                                             -Flare Blitz

                                             -U-Turn

                                             -Protect

Tournament Report (I did not take any notes during the event, so most of this is from off of my head…):

There were about 300 people in the master division that day. :O Master Division was filled enough to have a Top 16 cut and 9 Swiss Rounds.

Round 1: Guy

His Team: Aegislash, Klefki, ??? , ???

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I don’t remember much from the 1^st round except I one shot his Klefki with Earthquake from Garchomp. After, I sweep the rest of his team.

Round 2: Guy (1-0) vs Me (1-0)

His Team: Golem, Gengar, Mamoswine, ???

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

He starts with Gengar and Mamoswine to my Rotom and Garchomp. Turn 1 I use Protect on Garchomp and get a Hydro Pump off to one shot his Mamoswine. His Gengar gets an Energy Ball on to my Rotom leaving it at half of HP. He sends out Golem. His Gengar goes first and uses Dazzling Gleam to bring Garchomp down to half HP and my Rotom down 5 HP. Garchomp uses Dragon Claw on to Gengar bring it down to half HP and Rotom pulls off Hydro Pump on the Golem bringing it down to 1 HP thanks to Sturdy ability. Golem Weakness Policy it was holding was activated. His Golem uses Rock Polish to sharply raise its speed.  His Golem out speeds my Garchomp thanks to Rock Polish and uses Rock Slide to KO both of my Pokemon. I send out Kangaskhan and Talonflame. This turn I Fake Out Golem and Brave Bird his Gengar for two KOs. I forgot what his last pokemon was but I was able to take it out for the win.

Round 3: Guy (2-0) vs Me (2-0)

I don’t remember this round, but I won though. (Sorry)

Round 4: Tanner (3-0) vs Me (3-0)

His Team:  Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Greninja, Talonflame

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I start with Rotom and Garchomp. He starts with Kangaskhan and Meowstic. Turn 1 He sets up Safeguard and uses Fake Out. I use Protect on Rotom and Garchomp. Turn 2 His Meowstic uses Swagger on to Kangaskhan and then it uses Sucker Punch on to my Garchomp leaving at 26 HP from knock out and his Kangaskhan takes the damage from Rough Skin. I thought my Garchomp would have been knocked out from it, but luckily it was not.  My Garchomp uses Earthquake knocking both Kangaskhan and Meowstic down to half of HP. My Rotom uses Thunderbolt and KOs his Kangaskhan.  He then sends out Greninja. My Garchomp uses Protect and then his Meowstic uses Swagger on to my Rotom. His Greninja uses Ice Beam on to my Garchomp but fails thanks to Protect.  My Rotom ends up hurting itself in confusion and not using Thunderbolt.  Next turn, I switch out my Garchomp thinking he is going to go for the Ice Beam again. I thought wrong and instead he goes for the Scald which KOs my newly switched Talonflame. His Meowstic used Swagger on Rotom again, I don’t know why but Rotom was already confused. My Rotom ends up actually snapping out of confusion and used Thunderbolt on to his Greninja to KO it. Next turn, I send out Garchomp which still has 26 HP left and he sends out Talonflame. I use Protect on Garchomp, he uses Brave Bird on Garchomp but fails to Protect, and then he uses Swagger on Rotom again.  Rotom does not hurt itself in confusion and hits his Talonflame with Thunderbolt bring it down to 3 HP.  Next turn, he uses Swagger on my Garchomp and his Talonflame uses Brave Bird on Rotom instead of Garchomp, which brought Rotom down to half HP and killing Talonflame from its own recoil damage. Both Garchomp and Rotom ends up hurting itself in confusion and Garchomp faints.  I send out Kangaskhan. On the last turn, his Meowstic uses Swagger on Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan does not hurt itself in confusion and uses Return for the KO on his Meowstic for game.

Round 5: bearsfan092 (4-0) vs Me (4-0)

His Team: Scrafty, Rotom, Chandelure, Tyranitar

My Team: Amoonguss, Kangaskhan, Rotom, Garchomp

I was thinking his team was Trick Room, so I lead Amoonguss and Kangaskhan. He led Scrafty and Rotom. Turn 1 He switches out Scrafty for Chandelure. My Kangaskhan mega evolves and uses Fake Out on Chandelure, which did nothing. His Rotom used Protect and Amoonguss ends up getting a Spore on to his Chandelure.  Next turn, I switch Kangaskhan out for Garchomp thinking his Rotom might use Thunderbolt on to my Kangaskhan. I was wrong, his Rotom ends up using Will-O-Wisp on to Amoonguss and his Chandelure stays asleep for turn. Amoonguss uses Spore on to Rotom putting it to sleep. The next turn he switches his Rotom with Scrafty, then his Chandelure wakes up and uses Hidden Power Ice to bring my Garchomp’s HP down to 8.  Garchomp uses Earthquake to KO Chandelure and bring Scrafty down to almost half of HP. My Amoonguss uses Spore again and puts Scrafty to sleep. Next turn, he switches out Scrafty for Rotom and brings out Tyranitar. I switch out Amoonguss from dying from burn to my Rotom. He mega evolves Tyranitar and uses Protect on it and his Rotom stays asleep for the turn. I misplay on that turn using Earthquake which did nothing. Next turn, he switches out Tyranitar to his Scrafty for another Intimidate. My Garchomp ends up using Dragon Claw on to his Scrafty and a Hydro Pump from Rotom, which brings Scrafty close to KO. His Rotom stays asleep for turn. Next turn, His Scrafty wakes up from sleep uses Fake Out on to my Rotom (making it flinch) and I misplay by using Dragon Claw on to his Rotom where as I could of taken the knock out on Scrafty. His Rotom still stays asleep for turn. Next turn, he switches out Scrafty for Tyranitar. My Garchomp uses Dragon Claw on to his Tyranitar which barely did any damage. Then my Rotom uses Thunderbolt on to his Rotom, which was asleep, and activates his Sitrus Berry. His Rotom wakes ups and uses Thunderbolt on to my Rotom activating my Sitrus Berry.  Next turn his Tyranitar uses Protect. I forgot he switched his Tyranitar the turn before so I misplay by using Garchomp’s Earthquake again and my Rotom used Will-O-Wisp to Tyranitar, which did nothing to his pokemon. His Rotom goes for the Thunderbolt onto my Rotom bring it down to 24 HP. Next turn, his Mega Tyranitar uses Rock Slide to KO both my Garchomp and Rotom, which had low HP. (I was surprised his Mega Tyranitar was faster than my Garchomp.) The next turn I send out Amoonguss and Kangaskhan. His Tyranitar uses Protect. My Kangaskhan used Power Up Punch and Amoonguss used Spore on Tyranitar, which did nothing because of Protect. His Rotom misses Will-O-Wisp on my Kangaskhan. Next turn, Kangaskhan uses Power Up Punch on his Tyranitar but does not KO it. It was a couple HP from fainting. His Tyranitar uses Rock Slide and both my Amoonguss and Kangaskhan avoid the attack! That surprised me a lot. His Rotom was able to get a Will-O-Wisp on Kangaskhan that turn though and my Amoonguss was able to get off a Giga Drain to KO his Rotom. The next turn, he sends out Scrafty with Intimidate. I misplay with Amoonguss using Rage Powder, thinking that it would occur first before Scrafty’s Fake Out.  Scrafty uses Fake Out on to Kangaskhan and his Tyranitar uses Crunch to KO my Amoonguss. On the last turn, there was 10 seconds remaining on the battle clock, so all he had to do was stall and not use an attack to win the game, which ended up happening. He won with 2 Pokemon to my 1 remaining. It was such a good and close game.

Round 6: Alex Valente (4-1) vs. Me (4-1)

His Team: Scrafty, Chandelure, ??? , Kangaskhan

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I don’t remember much from this game, except for getting an early KO with Return on to his Scrafty and Earthquake from Garchomp that KOed Chandelure the turn before.  After, I beat his other two pokemon but I don’t remember how. His team was similar to bearsfan092.

Round 7: Senior World Champion of 2013 (5-1) vs. Me (5-1)

His Team: Rotom Heat, ??? , ??? , ???

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

This was another game that was a blur to me. I remember my Rotom Wash being able to KO a previous pokemon and then he sent out Rotom Heat, which I was also lucky to get second Hydro Pump off on it for KO. After, my team managed to knock out his remaining two pokemon. Sorry that I couldn’t remember the game.

Round 8: Good Friend: Wolfe Glick (6-1) vs. Me (6-1)

His Team: Mr. Mime, Tyranitar, Salamence, ???

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Talonflame, Kangaskhan

I haven’t played against Wolfe since the days he played TCG. It was good to see a familiar face, during the rounds. I get swept in this game lol. His Mr. Mime tries to use Fake Out Garchomp and his Salamence tries to use Draco Meteor on my Rotom, but I double Protect. Turn 2, my Rotom uses Thunderbolt on Mr. Mime bringing it down to half of HP. Garchomp uses Rock Slide but Mr. Mime avoids and he switched into Tyranitar that same turn and the attack does barely any damage on to his Tyranitar. His Mr. Mime then uses Icy Wind (that caught me off guard) which bring Garchomp down to half and Rotom’s HP down to almost half. Next turn, he switched into another pokemon, I forgot which one. And after that his Tyranitar uses Ice Beam to KO my Garchomp and something else KOed my Rotom. I send in Talonflame and Kangaskhan. He gets a Rock Slide KO on my Talonflame after I tried to Brave Bird one of his Pokemon. It came down to my Kangaskhan. He switched into Mr. Mime and Fake Out next turn and used Crunch to KO my Kangaskhan (I think). Anyways it was a fast game, but it was great to see Wolfe again and help him ensure a position in top cut.

Round 9: Guy (6-2) vs. Me (6-2)

His Team: Meowstic, Kangaskhan, Smeargle, ???

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I knew I had to win this round to make the top cut because only 7-2 could make it. He starts Meowstic and Kangaskhan to my Garchomp and Rotom.  I double Protect prevent Fake Out, while his Meowstic used Safeguard. Next turn, Meowstic uses Swagger on his own Kangaskhan. Then he used Sucker Punch on my Garchomp bringing it down to over half HP. Garchomp used Earthquake to bring Meowstic to half and his Kangaskhan to half HP. Rotom uses Thunderbolt on Kangaskhan to get the knock out. Next turn, he switches out to Smeargle and uses Dark Void. My Rotom avoids it while my Garchomp was put to sleep. I get a Thunderbolt on his Meowstic to KO it. He sends out some pokemon (I forgot) that KOed my Garchomp next turn. His Smeargle used Dark Void again putting my Rotom to sleep. I send out Kangaskhan and use Fake Out on his Smeargle bringing it down to half HP. After being to sleep last turn, my Rotom woke up on this turn, which surprised me because I thought the pokemon had to sleep for at least one turn. Rotom then proceeded to use Thunderbolt on his Smeargle to KO it. My opponent was so mad he began cursing and stomping on the floor….. He had one pokemon left and I had three. Next turn I switch out Kangaskhan for Talonflame and Rotom used Thunderbolt which made it close to KOing. Gale Wings gave me priority Brave Bird next turn to win the game.

After, I knew I made top 16 with a 7-2 record because my losses were in the later rounds, so my resistance was high.

Top 16 Cut:

I was happy I made 7^th seed after going 4-4-1 in TCG the day before.

My opponent for Top 16 was Joshua Edwards, who was 10^th seed.

Game 1 of Top 16: Joshua Edwards vs. Westin Lee

His Team: Manectric, Ludicolo, Machamp, Talonflame

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I start with Rotom and Garchomp and he sends out Ludicolo and Manectric.  I double Protect thinking his Ludicolo was going to use Fake Out. Instead he uses Ice Beam towards my Garchomp and Volt Switch and Rotom. Next turn, my Garchomp uses Rock Slide and my Rotom uses Will-O-Wisp on Ludicolo, while he used Protect on Manectric and Ludicolo used Ice Beam which brought Garchomp down to 3 HP. Next turn, he Garchomp uses Earthquake to bring Manectric down to over half HP and his Ludicolo used Giga Drain on my Rotom to heal. Then Manectric used Snarl for the KO on Garchomp and brought Rotom down to half HP. After that I don’t remember much except for at the end his Talonflame was faster than my Talonflame, which his Brave Bird KOed my Talonflame and his Machamp used Dynamic Punch to bring my Kangaskhan down to 16 HP and confuse it. I get a Return off on his Talonflame KOing it. Last turn, he Dynamic Punches for game.

I learn that his Talonflame is holding Choice Band because it did not take much recoil damage and that his Machamp out sped my Kangaskhan because of Choice Scarf.

Game 2 of Top 16: Joshua Edwards (1-0) vs Westin Lee (0-1)

His Team: Manectric, Ludicolo, Machamp, Talonflame

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I don’t remember much from this game but I do remember at the end it came close with my Kangaskhan knocking out his Ludicolo and my Talonflame getting the knock out on his Machamp for the win.

Game 3 of Top 16: Joshua Edwards (1-1) vs Westin Lee (1-1)

His Team: Manectric, Ludicolo, Machamp, Talonflame

My Team: Rotom, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Talonflame

I start with Rotom and Garchomp again to his Talonflame and Manectric. He switches out Talonflame to Ludicolo while my Garchomp used Rock Slide. Ludicolo avoided the attack and Rock Slide hits Manectric for little damage. My Rotom uses Will-O-Wisp on Ludicolo. Next turn, Manectric mega evolves and Ludicolo uses Ice Beam on to Garchomp putting it down to 3 HP. Rotom uses Hydro Pump on to Manectric down to little HP of 15.  Next turn, my Garchomp is taken out by Manectric’s Snarl attack.  Then my Rotom takes Manectric out with Thunderbolt. Next turn I end up send out Talonflame and he sends out his Talonflame. I use Protect on my Talonflame and his Talonflame used Brave Bird on my bird but failed. Then Rotom uses Thunderbolt to take out his Ludicolo to take it out.  He had Talonflame and Machamp and I had two left Kangaskhan and Talonflame. I knew his Talonflame was faster than my Talonflame so I protect Talonflame. Also I knew my Kangaskhan was bulky enough to survive Machamp's Dynamic Punch by 3 hp from last game. So I decide to use Return with Kangaskhan on to his Talonflame so next turn I could Brave Bird his Machamp for the win. So the turn starts, he used brave bird and my Talonflame used Protect so it did no damage. Then he dynamic punched my Kangaskhan and that's when luck came in for confusion. Kangaskhan ended up hurting itself in confusion leaving me with Talonflame and that was game because his Talonflame was faster.

Conclusion:

I had lots of fun for my second VGC tournament and got 9 packs and 50 Championship Points for Top 16. It was fun hanging out with old and new friends at the tournament and I hope to continue play in future Pokemon VGC tournaments.

Thanks for reading/scanning through my long Team Report! :D

-Westin L.