Sorry in advance, I have no pictures or videos :( But I will try to provide you with an entertaining warstory of my experience in Nintendo's Video Game Showodwn Qualifier tournament.
It's the day before the tourney, and I have yet to breed my Metagross and Snorlax. I am forced to spend my entire day breeding, and I hit gld on an amazing Metagross(Brave: 31/31/31/x/31/9). However, Snorlax is being a pain in the ass. I can not seem to get a good one, so I settle for one that has average stats and terrible Special Defense. Oh well. I trade my team over to my Pearl that is clean from AR use, and remember TheMaskedNitpicker's advice: Don't forget to maximize Snorlax's happiness for Return. I have to spend a good hour trading over 5 of those happy berries at a time, and It's really late, and he still isn't happy :( I decide I'll just finish it tomorrow.
I wake up at 6 am, and finish making Lax happy. My Mom and Sister decide to come along with my Dad and I, because they are interested in checking out New York after the tournament ends. We drive to I think Staton Island(I'm not too sure on the name), and take a free ferry across to New York City. Then we ride what I found to be a lot of fun, the Subway! It was pretty cool, a ton of grafiti, a circular hole in one of the doors that looks like it was caused by a gun shot, good old New York. We get to the site pretty early, 10:00 to be exact, and it looks kind of dissapointing. It doesn't look at all what the La tourney looked like. But I ws yet to go inside, maybe it would surprise me. Of course, it didn't. I had to go in the small crowded room and wait for 2 hours, before they started calling out Senior Division flight 1(I was flight 2, the hardest flight imo). After a good hour of more waiting, they called Flight 2 into the waiting line to wait for a good 15 minutes! I was nervous, and wanted to get this first match over with. The Announcer gets his microphone and is about to announce that it's time for us to play, I was so excited. Unfortunately, he only had to say that he made a mistake and that he wasted our time. He would call us all back in line in another half hour. Oh great, more waiting. I decide to kill some time by talking to CaptKirby for a few minutes, thanks to him posting his picture and being the only one at the tounrament who looked like the guy in the picture. He ended up giving me his inflatable Great Ball that he won later in the tournament, so that was nice :)
When he calls us back out finally, I am waiting in line and hear one of the worker dudes there say that if you get table number 4, your match is displayed on this TV for all of the audience to watch. I didn't know at the time whether I should hope for table 4 or not, but I ended up being paired at none other than table 4. Now, it's time to reveal the team I would use for the entire Showdown:
Bronzong@ Chesto Berry
IV's: 31/31/31/x/31/0(StefyWefy's awesome Bronzong that I got from him when I used to frequent the Wi-Fi forum)
EV's: 252 HP/ 100 Def/ 158 Sp.Def(To survive CB max attack Lickilicky explosion 100% of the time)
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
~Trick Room
~Hypnosis
~Gyro Ball
~Explosion
Smeargle(Lv.1)@ Focus Sash
IV's: uh, all I know is that it had minimum speed for Lv.1
EV's: none
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Brave
~Dark Void
~Fake Out
~Follow Me
~Endeaver
Snorlax@ Sitrus Berry
IV's: 27/31/31/x/12/0
EV's: 248 HP/ 252 Def/ 10 Sp.Def
ability: Thick Fat
nature: Relaxed
~Return
~Belly Drum
~Substitute
~Fire Punch
Metagross@ Lum Berry
IV's: 31/31/31/x/31/9
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 6 Sp.Def
nature: Brave
~Meteor Mash
~Earthquake
~Bullet Punch
~Psych Up
Yes, the Japanes winners team with very few modifications. I decided to play it safe and use a team that was proven to work. So, back to the warstory, my first round:
Round #1:BT Rose- Scyther/Jolteon/Hitmontop/I forget x_x
I am literaly shaking, waiting for the match to start. I ask him like I did all my opponents if he went online for Pokemon information, and he said he doesn't trust pokemon he gets online. Ok, then I tell him that I mean reading about strategy and stuff, and he says he's a youtube battler. The match begins, and right when I send out Bronzong/Smeargle, the whole crowd watching my match starts cheering, and they get their friends to come and watch. Even a few of the judges watch my match. I fake out his Scyther while Jolteon Rain Dances. Begin Hypnosis/Dark Void ownage. He sends out Top, so I switch to Metagross, foiling his Fake Out attempt. I end up winning 3-0 and he seems kind of mad/sad that he lost in round 1.
Round #2:Some guy wearing a Blue Jaa shirt- Aerodactyl/Hippowdon/Shuckle/Empoleon
I am a lot less nervous about this match. When I asked him how he did in Jaa, I could tell he would be an easy opponent. He said his Toxic Umbreon and some other bad pokemon to use in Jaa was so close to getting him in the top 8 for the regional one near him.
I see Hippowdon, and I don't like Sandstorm at all. I Fake Out Aero predicting a taunt, but he double protects. Zong sets up TR. Smeargle Dark Voids them but misses one of them and Zong's Hypnosis also misses the one who is awake. He surprisingly switches Shuckle in, and I endeaver Shuckle that turn and Hypnosis his other guy who was awake. Gyro Ball doesn't kill Shuckle that turn, but I switch in Lax to set up a Belly Drum. Next turn I do, activating Sitrus berry and kill Shuckle. Then I return Hippo but it survives and Gyro Ball Aero. Both survive, but Hippo must have like 1 HP left. He swaps Aero for Empoleon, and I Hippo wakes up and protects. I swap in Meta for Zong and Psych up Lax. The I am just slaughtering him and win 4-0. He did annoy me because it was clear he would lose, since it was 4-1 me, but he kept using Protect with Aero, and managed to get a triple Protect x_x
Round #3:Some guy who has heard of Smogon, but didn't say where he goes to on the internet when I asked him- Smeargle/Hariyama/Heracross/Bronzong
This looks like it will be my toughest match. I figure his Hariyame is a Fake Outer and that his Smeargle will try to Dark Void. I Fake Out Hariyame succesfully and his Dark Void misses both of my guys x_x I Dark Void both of his guys, and Hypnosis Hariyama. DV misses Hariyama, but Hypnosis hits. He has Lum Berry though, and Belly Drums in my face. Next turn I decide to switch to Metagross in fear of Bullet Punch, but he doesn't do that and Hypnosis Hits Hariyama before it could move. Smeargle Sleep talks Destiny Bond though O.o, so I can't Bullet Punch it. I decide to Meteor Mash Hariyama for the ko and Gyro Ball Smeargle. Then I end up exploding, and Lax gets off a Belly Drum, where I promtly sweep him 3-0.
This was actually my favorite round, because I met some more Smogoners. The two players who were at the table next to me, happened to be Tacho and kindnugs! I overheard kindnugs say blah blah blah "Smgon" blah blah. My ears heard that word, so I promptly asked him who he was, and it turns out that we made a trade on Wi-Fi just a few days ago, and his opponent identified himself as Tacho, who I would have played in the CaP tournament if it wasn't for me not being able to get on Dougs server at the time. Both were really cool guys, and I ended up hanging out with them and this really cool dude from gamefaqs who ended up making top 8, for the remainder of the tournament. kindnugs ended up beating Tacho in an epic match, that will be in one of their warstories, because I was never told how it went down. Kindnugs and I end up being in the top 16 and we get our games checked. They were clean, and when we looked at the brackets, it said we would be playing each other to decide who gets to go to Florida. Aw man, that sucks. We wait around talking for a while waiting for the next round. I see Expert Evan and his Son, and both of them made Top 16 too. So Smogon has 4 members in Top 16(If you count EE's son, which I did). That's pretty darn good. When they finally call us out, I was as nervous for this match as I was for the first. I didn't want to lose after coming so far. They announce the pairings and surprisingly, they mixed all of us together and made new pairings, meaning I'm not paired up with kindnugs! Unfortunately, they match me with EE's son :( I get ready to play, and the 4th round starts:
Round #4:EE's Son- Hippowdon/Gyarados/Garchomp/Gliscor
I see another Hippowdon, and know that I have to sac Smeargle. It will be my fist match of the day where he doesn't live past turn 1. I Fake out Gyara, fearing taunt, while Hippo Roars Smeargle, meaning he is alive and still has his Sash, excellent. Trick Room is set off and I think Lax is sent in, I forget. I just remembering abusing Sleep Clause, and Sleeping all his guys, while Metagross sweeps with Meteor Mash. He is down to 1 Pokemon, while I still have all 4. It's a Gliscor with a lot of health. I MM him, but he survives with about 1 HP, and is fast asleep. I Bullet punch to seal my trip to Florida , but it misses. He wakes up and Roosts. I hypnosis, and it hits, while Metagross uses MM, and it misses. I use Gyro Ball, and it hits while MM misses again. Finaly, MM hits and KO's, sealing my trip to Florida! It was a good game, but it turns out all of the Smogoners in the top 16 lost, so I will be the only one from Smogon representing the East Coast. I get my game checked, get handed my envelope of travel info, and just killed som time, I forget what I did. Finally, round 5 starts:
Round #5:Kid from Serebii-I honestly forget his entire team, but he did have Rhyperior and Smeargle!
Sorry for my Lack of memory on this match, but I honestly didn't care too much about this match now that I'm in top 8. It was surprisingly close, and I pull out a win 1-0. My BellyLax dominated the match though.
Round #6:Lurker on Smogon! I think his name is Jay(His ingame name was Jay, so maybe his name irl is)-Zapdos/Garchomp/Gengar/Metagross
I'm the one on the right, thanks EE!
When I asked him if he went to Smogon, he said he lurked there, and he actually recognized my name. He said "now I'll end up being in a warstory, right?" and he's right! I hope you start posting here, you were a cool dude to talk to. Turn 1 I fake out Zapdos, and Chomp EQ's I think. Zong sets up TR. Turn 2, I Dark Void and Hypnosis Zapdos, but he double protects. I repeat my last turns moves. Dark Void misses Chomp, and Zapdos has a sleep cure berry I think. I hypnosis, but that misses too. He brings out Meta eventually, while Chompy kills Smeargle. I hypnosis metagross for what would have won me the game, but it missed and his Explosion damaged both my guys too much, and he slowly finished me off. 1-0, the Lurker on Smogon won. He ended up being the eventual winner btw, and his opponent in the finals, imo, had a very bad TR team. His Smeargle lacked Dark Void, his Bronzong's moveset was TR/Explosion/Gyro Ball/Safeguard I think, and He made some bad moves. Congrats to Jay, the winner of the NY Showdown! I hope you decide to post here!
I also met MysteryMan, who was judging, and he seemed like a cool guy, but we didn't get to talk much. I was wondering though why all the judges chose to watch my matches. Every round after my first, I literaly had 4 judges looking over my shoulder watching the matches, lol. Was my team that interesting? One of the judges I asked if he went to Smogon, but he said he lurked there, maybe he'll start to post here too.
Well, I wasn't able to film the final match like I promised, but I was being interviewed during almost the entire match, so I couldn't. Oh well, it was a really fun day, and I met some really cool Smogoners and made it to Orlando. That concludes my Warstory, I hope you enjoyed it!
It's the day before the tourney, and I have yet to breed my Metagross and Snorlax. I am forced to spend my entire day breeding, and I hit gld on an amazing Metagross(Brave: 31/31/31/x/31/9). However, Snorlax is being a pain in the ass. I can not seem to get a good one, so I settle for one that has average stats and terrible Special Defense. Oh well. I trade my team over to my Pearl that is clean from AR use, and remember TheMaskedNitpicker's advice: Don't forget to maximize Snorlax's happiness for Return. I have to spend a good hour trading over 5 of those happy berries at a time, and It's really late, and he still isn't happy :( I decide I'll just finish it tomorrow.
I wake up at 6 am, and finish making Lax happy. My Mom and Sister decide to come along with my Dad and I, because they are interested in checking out New York after the tournament ends. We drive to I think Staton Island(I'm not too sure on the name), and take a free ferry across to New York City. Then we ride what I found to be a lot of fun, the Subway! It was pretty cool, a ton of grafiti, a circular hole in one of the doors that looks like it was caused by a gun shot, good old New York. We get to the site pretty early, 10:00 to be exact, and it looks kind of dissapointing. It doesn't look at all what the La tourney looked like. But I ws yet to go inside, maybe it would surprise me. Of course, it didn't. I had to go in the small crowded room and wait for 2 hours, before they started calling out Senior Division flight 1(I was flight 2, the hardest flight imo). After a good hour of more waiting, they called Flight 2 into the waiting line to wait for a good 15 minutes! I was nervous, and wanted to get this first match over with. The Announcer gets his microphone and is about to announce that it's time for us to play, I was so excited. Unfortunately, he only had to say that he made a mistake and that he wasted our time. He would call us all back in line in another half hour. Oh great, more waiting. I decide to kill some time by talking to CaptKirby for a few minutes, thanks to him posting his picture and being the only one at the tounrament who looked like the guy in the picture. He ended up giving me his inflatable Great Ball that he won later in the tournament, so that was nice :)
When he calls us back out finally, I am waiting in line and hear one of the worker dudes there say that if you get table number 4, your match is displayed on this TV for all of the audience to watch. I didn't know at the time whether I should hope for table 4 or not, but I ended up being paired at none other than table 4. Now, it's time to reveal the team I would use for the entire Showdown:
IV's: 31/31/31/x/31/0(StefyWefy's awesome Bronzong that I got from him when I used to frequent the Wi-Fi forum)
EV's: 252 HP/ 100 Def/ 158 Sp.Def(To survive CB max attack Lickilicky explosion 100% of the time)
ability: Levitate
nature: Relaxed
~Trick Room
~Hypnosis
~Gyro Ball
~Explosion
IV's: uh, all I know is that it had minimum speed for Lv.1
EV's: none
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Brave
~Dark Void
~Fake Out
~Follow Me
~Endeaver
IV's: 27/31/31/x/12/0
EV's: 248 HP/ 252 Def/ 10 Sp.Def
ability: Thick Fat
nature: Relaxed
~Return
~Belly Drum
~Substitute
~Fire Punch
IV's: 31/31/31/x/31/9
EV's: 252 HP/ 252 Atk/ 6 Sp.Def
nature: Brave
~Meteor Mash
~Earthquake
~Bullet Punch
~Psych Up
Yes, the Japanes winners team with very few modifications. I decided to play it safe and use a team that was proven to work. So, back to the warstory, my first round:
Round #1:BT Rose- Scyther/Jolteon/Hitmontop/I forget x_x
I am literaly shaking, waiting for the match to start. I ask him like I did all my opponents if he went online for Pokemon information, and he said he doesn't trust pokemon he gets online. Ok, then I tell him that I mean reading about strategy and stuff, and he says he's a youtube battler. The match begins, and right when I send out Bronzong/Smeargle, the whole crowd watching my match starts cheering, and they get their friends to come and watch. Even a few of the judges watch my match. I fake out his Scyther while Jolteon Rain Dances. Begin Hypnosis/Dark Void ownage. He sends out Top, so I switch to Metagross, foiling his Fake Out attempt. I end up winning 3-0 and he seems kind of mad/sad that he lost in round 1.
Round #2:Some guy wearing a Blue Jaa shirt- Aerodactyl/Hippowdon/Shuckle/Empoleon
I am a lot less nervous about this match. When I asked him how he did in Jaa, I could tell he would be an easy opponent. He said his Toxic Umbreon and some other bad pokemon to use in Jaa was so close to getting him in the top 8 for the regional one near him.
I see Hippowdon, and I don't like Sandstorm at all. I Fake Out Aero predicting a taunt, but he double protects. Zong sets up TR. Smeargle Dark Voids them but misses one of them and Zong's Hypnosis also misses the one who is awake. He surprisingly switches Shuckle in, and I endeaver Shuckle that turn and Hypnosis his other guy who was awake. Gyro Ball doesn't kill Shuckle that turn, but I switch in Lax to set up a Belly Drum. Next turn I do, activating Sitrus berry and kill Shuckle. Then I return Hippo but it survives and Gyro Ball Aero. Both survive, but Hippo must have like 1 HP left. He swaps Aero for Empoleon, and I Hippo wakes up and protects. I swap in Meta for Zong and Psych up Lax. The I am just slaughtering him and win 4-0. He did annoy me because it was clear he would lose, since it was 4-1 me, but he kept using Protect with Aero, and managed to get a triple Protect x_x
Round #3:Some guy who has heard of Smogon, but didn't say where he goes to on the internet when I asked him- Smeargle/Hariyama/Heracross/Bronzong
This looks like it will be my toughest match. I figure his Hariyame is a Fake Outer and that his Smeargle will try to Dark Void. I Fake Out Hariyame succesfully and his Dark Void misses both of my guys x_x I Dark Void both of his guys, and Hypnosis Hariyama. DV misses Hariyama, but Hypnosis hits. He has Lum Berry though, and Belly Drums in my face. Next turn I decide to switch to Metagross in fear of Bullet Punch, but he doesn't do that and Hypnosis Hits Hariyama before it could move. Smeargle Sleep talks Destiny Bond though O.o, so I can't Bullet Punch it. I decide to Meteor Mash Hariyama for the ko and Gyro Ball Smeargle. Then I end up exploding, and Lax gets off a Belly Drum, where I promtly sweep him 3-0.
This was actually my favorite round, because I met some more Smogoners. The two players who were at the table next to me, happened to be Tacho and kindnugs! I overheard kindnugs say blah blah blah "Smgon" blah blah. My ears heard that word, so I promptly asked him who he was, and it turns out that we made a trade on Wi-Fi just a few days ago, and his opponent identified himself as Tacho, who I would have played in the CaP tournament if it wasn't for me not being able to get on Dougs server at the time. Both were really cool guys, and I ended up hanging out with them and this really cool dude from gamefaqs who ended up making top 8, for the remainder of the tournament. kindnugs ended up beating Tacho in an epic match, that will be in one of their warstories, because I was never told how it went down. Kindnugs and I end up being in the top 16 and we get our games checked. They were clean, and when we looked at the brackets, it said we would be playing each other to decide who gets to go to Florida. Aw man, that sucks. We wait around talking for a while waiting for the next round. I see Expert Evan and his Son, and both of them made Top 16 too. So Smogon has 4 members in Top 16(If you count EE's son, which I did). That's pretty darn good. When they finally call us out, I was as nervous for this match as I was for the first. I didn't want to lose after coming so far. They announce the pairings and surprisingly, they mixed all of us together and made new pairings, meaning I'm not paired up with kindnugs! Unfortunately, they match me with EE's son :( I get ready to play, and the 4th round starts:
Round #4:EE's Son- Hippowdon/Gyarados/Garchomp/Gliscor
I see another Hippowdon, and know that I have to sac Smeargle. It will be my fist match of the day where he doesn't live past turn 1. I Fake out Gyara, fearing taunt, while Hippo Roars Smeargle, meaning he is alive and still has his Sash, excellent. Trick Room is set off and I think Lax is sent in, I forget. I just remembering abusing Sleep Clause, and Sleeping all his guys, while Metagross sweeps with Meteor Mash. He is down to 1 Pokemon, while I still have all 4. It's a Gliscor with a lot of health. I MM him, but he survives with about 1 HP, and is fast asleep. I Bullet punch to seal my trip to Florida , but it misses. He wakes up and Roosts. I hypnosis, and it hits, while Metagross uses MM, and it misses. I use Gyro Ball, and it hits while MM misses again. Finaly, MM hits and KO's, sealing my trip to Florida! It was a good game, but it turns out all of the Smogoners in the top 16 lost, so I will be the only one from Smogon representing the East Coast. I get my game checked, get handed my envelope of travel info, and just killed som time, I forget what I did. Finally, round 5 starts:
Round #5:Kid from Serebii-I honestly forget his entire team, but he did have Rhyperior and Smeargle!
Sorry for my Lack of memory on this match, but I honestly didn't care too much about this match now that I'm in top 8. It was surprisingly close, and I pull out a win 1-0. My BellyLax dominated the match though.
Round #6:Lurker on Smogon! I think his name is Jay(His ingame name was Jay, so maybe his name irl is)-Zapdos/Garchomp/Gengar/Metagross
I'm the one on the right, thanks EE!
When I asked him if he went to Smogon, he said he lurked there, and he actually recognized my name. He said "now I'll end up being in a warstory, right?" and he's right! I hope you start posting here, you were a cool dude to talk to. Turn 1 I fake out Zapdos, and Chomp EQ's I think. Zong sets up TR. Turn 2, I Dark Void and Hypnosis Zapdos, but he double protects. I repeat my last turns moves. Dark Void misses Chomp, and Zapdos has a sleep cure berry I think. I hypnosis, but that misses too. He brings out Meta eventually, while Chompy kills Smeargle. I hypnosis metagross for what would have won me the game, but it missed and his Explosion damaged both my guys too much, and he slowly finished me off. 1-0, the Lurker on Smogon won. He ended up being the eventual winner btw, and his opponent in the finals, imo, had a very bad TR team. His Smeargle lacked Dark Void, his Bronzong's moveset was TR/Explosion/Gyro Ball/Safeguard I think, and He made some bad moves. Congrats to Jay, the winner of the NY Showdown! I hope you decide to post here!
I also met MysteryMan, who was judging, and he seemed like a cool guy, but we didn't get to talk much. I was wondering though why all the judges chose to watch my matches. Every round after my first, I literaly had 4 judges looking over my shoulder watching the matches, lol. Was my team that interesting? One of the judges I asked if he went to Smogon, but he said he lurked there, maybe he'll start to post here too.
Well, I wasn't able to film the final match like I promised, but I was being interviewed during almost the entire match, so I couldn't. Oh well, it was a really fun day, and I met some really cool Smogoners and made it to Orlando. That concludes my Warstory, I hope you enjoyed it!
