It's been a while, I just wondered if you're concerned that the event page for the upcoming singles tournament only has 11 people saying they'll attend? I wonder if people are less interested in singles, although that would be strange as it's the simplest battle type. Also, if Smogon decides to banish something to Ubers shortly before the tournament, I wonder what time period is considered too late to change the rules regarding that Pokemon.

I'm glad Smogon is finally embracing Doubles with rules less restrictive than VGC and quite similar to AVcon rules. Do you play on the simulator much? I tried using Pokemon Showdown but it didn't work... nothing happened when I pressed the button to find a battle.

I hope they still have the paper where they wrote down my prize to claim later - if not, hopefully Daniel Moraw could convince them since he witnessed my victory and not using the prize.

I prepare my teams when I have holidays; fortunately the main tournaments are generally pretty well-timed in terms of holidays, so I can around my uni schedule. But that was back when my uni-timetable was like other uni students (for the first 3 years of the course). It'll be different from now on though. I hope it doesn't interfere with AVcon and the State tourney (if held) this year.

I tried Ray's team online. It's extremely solid, more so than what you would think just from trying it. I personally found Excadrill better than Garchomp on his team though. From watching Ray, I got the impression that he's brillliant at long-term thinking and prediction. I would guess in your Metagross example that he knew that he didn't need it anymore.

If I had known that I could have taken my prize later, I might have done that. I don't play card games either, which admittedly is pretty uncommon amongst SA Pokemon players. Regardless, taking my prize in booster packs worked to my advantage. I sold one of the cards I got for $80. Plus I have some cards should I ever feel like playing Yugioh with a friend.

That really sucks about your busy schedule, but it will hopefully pay off once you graduate. It's impressive that you win tournaments despite your lack of time to prepare.

I found it boring to use such common Pokemon on that winning team, and I might consider a more innovative one to test before AVcon. That selection by Wolfe definitely ruined his chances, although Ray seems to get through anything. It's weird, I've watched most of his battles that are on YouTube, and his playstyle just seems... normal, without taking many risks from what I've seen. He even leaves in Metagross on Gastrodon which OHKOs it with Gem-boosted Earth Power, and still comes out on top.

By the way, I didn't claim the $25 prize in late December as I don't play any card games... they wrote down my name so I can claim it later, but I might have to do a deal with someone who does play any of the games they sell.

My uni times are horrible now till I graduate. I start the year early, and I get 3 weeks holidays for the entire year. I have no mid-semester breaks. Long hours each day too (though I don't know exactly how long yet). Only good thing is that I get a 3 week SWOTVAC.

My playstyle in singles is different to that of doubles. It does depend on the team I'm using though. You'll find out what it's like when you play me :)

I don't spend much time watching VGC battles; very little actually. I should probably start watching more, though it's hard to find time to do so, particularly now. I do it mainly to learn how the pros play and in analysing the players moves, add to my battle experience and knowledge.

I would have preferred for Wolfe to win too; his team was extremely innovative, and I thought it was the better team. However, Rizzo played better. I think Wolfe might have been affected by stress during the match though; him using Close Combat on Cresselia was very gutsy (I guess Wolfe was predicting a Hydriegon switch, though it would unreasonable for Rizzo to switch Ttar out when it's his only Pokemon that can beat Levitate Heatran and it can take one Close Combat, particularly with his Cress threatening Hitmontop.

That sucks about uni starting so soon for you - also, your attendance will probably be the main factor in whether I get to the finals or not. I'm mainly interested to see how you play in singles.

Do you spend much time watching world championship battles? I actually never did that until after AVcon 2012, but I've learned a lot since then. I particularly enjoy 'gimmick' teams or strategies, especially when they consistently defeat more standard ones. For that reason, I would've preferred for Wolfe to win against Ray Rizzo. Getting to the world final with Exeggutor is impressive in itself.

I will try to make it to the tournament, but I can't guarantee it. Uni will have started for me by next week Monday, and I'm quite busy for the start of it. I also don't normally raise Pokemon for comeptitive single battles, so it would be harder for me to make a team from scratch. I am good at singles though; I've played lots of matches on online stimulators. Apologies for forgetting to answer; it slipped by me as I was writing my response.

They always make games for sales. I'm guessing there wasn't another Battle Revolution because it didn't sell as well as the other Pokemon games, so they worked on XY instead. A new Pokemon Stadium would be better; I'm not sure whh they didn't make another one. Hoping for one for WiiU. XY will have battle animations being able to turned off. It's been present since RBY, and they'll know that there are people who will want to turn them off. I'll admit, not many big things were introduced in BW; it was many small changes. Probably the biggest was Triples and Rotation battles, which aren't that big. It was quite fun to play though

Even if he'd set up TR, with his weird team it probably wouldn't have been too problematic. I usually have no trouble controlling whether TR goes up or not (you're the only one who has made it too hard, partly because of the wide-ranging speed tiers of that team you used).

You didn't say whether you'll be at the singles tournament on the 10th of Feb (they changed the date), is there any chance you will be?

I suppose they made the 5th-gen for DS to get the most sales out of it, although it now makes sense to move on from that outdated technology. I agree that the story was better, but overall the games didn't feel like a real generation leap.
I wonder if X/Y will still allow battle animations to be turned off - would seem weird in 3D without them. It now seems clear why there hasn't been a successor to Battle Revolution, as they might release one after 6th-gen for WiiU. It would make for very spectacular HD finals at AVcon, although the improved graphics on 3DS might make such a game seem redundant.

He should have still attempted to set up TR. He had plenty of chances to set up TR. It would have made his Pokemon 'faster,' which he could have used to at least gain an advantage and damage your Pokes before you could reverse it, possibly fainting your TR user in the process. It would have been better than trying to fight the whole match being slower than you. It does kinda dependent what's on the field atm though. It's a tricky situation if one team has the fastest Pokemon on the field and the slowest on the field, like I did against you (Breloom and Hariyama respectively).

I've never seen contrary used in VGC, but I'm guessing that's because only Spinda can have it legally.

I still thought Gen 5 was a good step forward. The graphics did improve and they let the camera move view from time to time, both when running around the map and during battle. The gameplay was better, with a better in-game and enjoyable story compared to 4th gen. I was not expecting it to become outdated so soon though; it seems to have flown by pretty quickly. Nevertheless, Pokemon X & Y excites me. I've also wanted to see 3D animations on a hand-held console when the Pokemon attack and are attacked. The graphics and animations outside of battle are also a huge step forward.

It certainly was a TR team, and he should've used it since my Pokemon were clearly faster. Perhaps he was put off for the same reason I didn't use it against you - the possibility of it being reversed.

Contrary is an interesting ability that one of my VGCS opponents tried to use in a complex way, but it required too many turns of setup, by which time my Scrafty had done its job. By the way, will you attend the next tournament on the 3rd of Feb? I'd like to see if you're as good at singles - I have barely any singles experience aside from the Battle Tower (record streak 646 in Platinum). I've practically forgotten how it's played.

Pokemon X/Y was the first game announcement in years to make me excited. However, it makes 5th-gen seem like an awkward "4.5" - the graphics didn't improve much, it was on the same system, etc. The surprisingly close release date makes sense from a business perspective, of course.

There were some weird things about his team. I agree with your points; seems strange to even use EQ and hit his ally when he could have used Gyro Ball, or even better set up TR (I'm hoping that team was a TR team; it looks like one). He even tried to Crunch Scrafty! Though FB is understandable; it's the only way Reuniclus can take on Steel- and Dark-types. He had some smart play though, like switching in Gastrodon to absorb Water Spout.

Skill Swap is a greatly underrated move, though I've only seen it used well on Cress excluding gimmick teams. But as you said, it has multiple uses, especially with good teammates. I have fantasied of a Pokemon with Skill Swap and Contrary to pair with Overheat Chandelure, Draco Meteor Latios and Intimidate Close Combat Hitmontop. Complaints about unconventional tactics being stupid are not warranted if the tactics are good and are shown to work, especially if one loses to said tactics. That's how the metagame develops, with new tactics being used and shown to be viable. Often it's the unconventional tactics that win tournaments at the highest level of play.

Also http://www.pokemon.com/pokemonxy/en-us/