Hello friends and fans! This special presentation is sponsored by Air Huy.
Prologue:
Our story takes place in a small suburban town in Northern California. A man who once served the Smogon Army in defending its pride against many competing nations sits in his rocking chair staring into the fire, his mind glazing over his past accomplishments. He looks toward his mantle and sees the awards and accolades that were once given to him for his courage and determination.
He spent the past year on the sidelines watching the newer, younger generation dominate the field of battle, leaving him in the dust behind them. The glory, the success… it was all theirs now. The man could not stand it anymore. He wanted a piece of this. He wanted to take one last shot at greatness before he hung up his DS for good. And so begins his final adventure at a Video Game Championship.
He begins to recruit an army to command, one that fit his unique commanding style that could catch the enemy off guard. Okay I’m bored and just want to get this over with now.
Saturday:
I picked up Ninahaza and OmegaDonut the night before at the airport and took them back to my house to teach them TCG. We did some practice, watched some TV before we eventually went to bed. We woke up on Saturday and picked up Kaphotics and headed to the Fairgrounds to enter the TCG Regional. We met with Duy and Metabou and registered. I ended up winning 3 matches and dropping because the rest of my party got bored of losing and we left. After a quick nap at home, the 5 of us headed out for some LASER TAG where we ended up losing to a bunch of cheaters that blocked the lasers. We went home, got some pizza, finished our teams, and drifted off to bed.
Sunday:
We headed out for the convention center and got there around 9:15 and bypassed the giant line of scrubs that didn’t pre register and were done in about 5 minutes. We hung out for a bit and met up with the rest of the Smogonites. Our group was large and varied, and had a lot of fun just waiting around hanging out while the organisers tried to sort through the people that did not pre register.
After what seemed like an eternity, we got our pairings and headed into our first round.
The team:
This team is a variation of what I had been running for SPL. I got some input from Duy, muffinhead, and Cassie on how to change things and this is what I ended up with. For the sake of secrecy I’ll only movesets of pokemon
Sableye (F) @ Lagging Tail ** Cassie
Trait: Prankster
- Fake Out
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick
Named after the amazing girl who did this whole team for me <3
Heatran (M) @ Shuca Berry ** FloatHedDr
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Dragon Pulse
Floating Head Dr.
Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry *Hooch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Substitute
Hooch is crazy.
Virizion @ Sitrus Berry ** Turner
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
- Light Screen
TURNER AND HOOCH!
Cloyster (M) @ King's Rock ** Dr.JanItor
Icicle Spear
Rock Blast
Protect
Razor Shell
Yan. Itor.
Drifblim (M) @ Flight Gem ** Turkelton
- Sucker Punch
- Acrobatics
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
Turk Turkelton
This team has gone through some changes throughout the entirety of SPL, some good, some bad, but this was the final product that I ended up with. Genereally, I lead with Sableye/Drifblim to neuter Fake Outs and get a free Flying Gem Acrobatics that gives Drifblim the Unburden boost. From there, I use Sableye to force attacks so that Drifblim can DestinyBond some things to death. Sableye is there to change whatever I need and keep them from setting their own pace. I can do that by disrupting setup with Taunt/Fake out, neutering the offense with Lagging Tail and Wow, or helping my team hit for weakness by removing berries. The rest of the team just offers strong support. Virizion can switch into almost anything and get a screen up and was also my man option for rain teams. Heatran helps me by being the only pokemon capable of firing off strong special attacks. Also now I’m bored and don’t want to explain anymore.
PICTURE DUMP FIRST
NixHex's girlfriend was nice enough to pick up pizzas for the 20 of us <3
Don't mess with the Jesus
MY GAME FACE. NixHex's GAME FACE.
HEY ITS ME. HUY.
Battles:
Round 1:
Me: Drifblim/Sableye/Heatran/Virizion
Opp: Mienshao/Chandelure/Cresselia/Metagross
This was fairly routine for me. I ended up stealing a Ghost Gem and KO’s both of his leads fairly quickly. I took the Cresselia down with Destiny Bond and Heatran finished off his Metagross. (1-0)
Round 2:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: Weavile/ScarfTtar/Rotom-W/Metagross
I burned Ttar first turn and knocked out Weavile with Rock Blast. His Rotom came in and tried to Tbolt Cloyster but I went to Virizion and took a pittance. He took his Ttar out and brought Metagross into a WoW and from there Virizion and Heatran just worked thorugh the rest of his team (2-0)
Round 3
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Cloyster/Garchomp
Opp: Politoed/Ludicolo/Kingdra/Scizor
I have no idea what was going through my head during team preview. I knew I needed Virizion for Rain but for some reason I felt the need to pick Cloyster. That was a BIG mistake. Turn 1 was routine, Fake out the Ludi, Acrobatics, take the surf, and then yeah. Kingdra comes in and I’m hoping the he doesn’t protect Kingdra so I can stick a Lagging Tail on it. Nope. He protects and from there I have nothing to stop his Kingdra and I suffer my first loss. (2-1)
Round 4:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: T-Tar/Bronzong/Infernape/Rotom-W
Oof. This guy had beaten me a few weeks ago at TCG states and I was hoping for a second chance at him. This time, it was my game though. I burned the Tar and switched to Virizion. The ttar went down fast and he went to Infernape. I switched Heatran in for Virizion and he switched Nape out for Rotom. He started to do all sorts of stuff with Twave and Confuse Ray and eventually… after a few razor shell misses…. Time runs out and I barely win. (3-1)
Round 5:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Heatran/Virizion
Opp: Thundurus/Garchomp/Cresselia/Rhyperior
This match against BI was one of the worst matches I’ve ever played. Despite being good friends now, we’ve had a history of getting in each others heads. I felt like both of us played sloppy and made mistakes, but I made so many more than him that I just couldn’t overcome it. (3-2)
Round 6:
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: Reuni/Conkeldurr/Ferrothorn/Scizor
I started by taunting the TR and Acrobatics ing the Conk for a good lead. He crits my Drifblim with Psychic but gets taken down by D-Bond. In comes Heatran for me and Ferrothorn Scizor for him. I WoW my own Heatran for Flash Fire and Heat Wave. I get the double crit. Yay. -_- (4-2)
Round 7:
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Cloyster/Virizion
Him: Politoed/Ludicolo/Kingdra/Dragonite.
I started off with the usual Fake Out/Acrobatics on Ludi and eat the surfs. In comes his Dnite and I switch Sableye out for Virizion to save it in case of Kingdra. Dnite hits it with a Dragon Tail after Toed goes down to Dbond after Ice Beaming Drifblim. I bring in Cloyster and Virizion. He protects Kingdra and I get the Light Screen up and KO DNite with Icicle Spear. The rest of the team just overpowers Kingdra. (5-2)
Round 8:
Me: Sableye/Heatran/Virizion/Cloyster
Opp: Ttar/Scizor/Latios/Gastrodon
I don’t remember much of this match other than switching ALL of his items around and molesting him with Heatran and Virizion behind Light Screen. (6-2)
Overall it wasn’t the best finish, but I knew the losses were at least my fault and not luck based. I can take those losses. I loved this team and I wish I could have won so that more people would give it a look. It served my very well for my final tournament and I don’t think I could have had more fun with any other team. But yeah…with real life creeping on me, and feeling like I am completely washed up, I am officially retiring from travelling for events. I’ve been with VGC longer than most people and I am proud of how big the community has grown and how much Smogon support it has now. It’s like watching your child grow up. But as any good parent knows, you can’t hold onto your baby forever. Sometimes you just have to let it go. I’d like to thank everyone for making my experiences all so memorable. These past 3 years have been the greatest of my life and every single one of you have contributed. Thank you for everyone that has given me Pokemon, a place to sleep, or even just a warm hug and a hello. I love you all.
-Huy
Not Smogon, not Skarmbliss. Not DPL, not Pokecheck. Just VGC.
Prologue:
Our story takes place in a small suburban town in Northern California. A man who once served the Smogon Army in defending its pride against many competing nations sits in his rocking chair staring into the fire, his mind glazing over his past accomplishments. He looks toward his mantle and sees the awards and accolades that were once given to him for his courage and determination.
He spent the past year on the sidelines watching the newer, younger generation dominate the field of battle, leaving him in the dust behind them. The glory, the success… it was all theirs now. The man could not stand it anymore. He wanted a piece of this. He wanted to take one last shot at greatness before he hung up his DS for good. And so begins his final adventure at a Video Game Championship.
He begins to recruit an army to command, one that fit his unique commanding style that could catch the enemy off guard. Okay I’m bored and just want to get this over with now.
Saturday:
I picked up Ninahaza and OmegaDonut the night before at the airport and took them back to my house to teach them TCG. We did some practice, watched some TV before we eventually went to bed. We woke up on Saturday and picked up Kaphotics and headed to the Fairgrounds to enter the TCG Regional. We met with Duy and Metabou and registered. I ended up winning 3 matches and dropping because the rest of my party got bored of losing and we left. After a quick nap at home, the 5 of us headed out for some LASER TAG where we ended up losing to a bunch of cheaters that blocked the lasers. We went home, got some pizza, finished our teams, and drifted off to bed.
Sunday:
We headed out for the convention center and got there around 9:15 and bypassed the giant line of scrubs that didn’t pre register and were done in about 5 minutes. We hung out for a bit and met up with the rest of the Smogonites. Our group was large and varied, and had a lot of fun just waiting around hanging out while the organisers tried to sort through the people that did not pre register.
After what seemed like an eternity, we got our pairings and headed into our first round.
The team:
This team is a variation of what I had been running for SPL. I got some input from Duy, muffinhead, and Cassie on how to change things and this is what I ended up with. For the sake of secrecy I’ll only movesets of pokemon
Sableye (F) @ Lagging Tail ** Cassie
Trait: Prankster
- Fake Out
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Trick
Named after the amazing girl who did this whole team for me <3
Heatran (M) @ Shuca Berry ** FloatHedDr
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Dragon Pulse
Floating Head Dr.
Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry *Hooch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Substitute
Hooch is crazy.
Virizion @ Sitrus Berry ** Turner
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
- Light Screen
TURNER AND HOOCH!
Cloyster (M) @ King's Rock ** Dr.JanItor
Icicle Spear
Rock Blast
Protect
Razor Shell
Yan. Itor.
Drifblim (M) @ Flight Gem ** Turkelton
- Sucker Punch
- Acrobatics
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
Turk Turkelton
This team has gone through some changes throughout the entirety of SPL, some good, some bad, but this was the final product that I ended up with. Genereally, I lead with Sableye/Drifblim to neuter Fake Outs and get a free Flying Gem Acrobatics that gives Drifblim the Unburden boost. From there, I use Sableye to force attacks so that Drifblim can DestinyBond some things to death. Sableye is there to change whatever I need and keep them from setting their own pace. I can do that by disrupting setup with Taunt/Fake out, neutering the offense with Lagging Tail and Wow, or helping my team hit for weakness by removing berries. The rest of the team just offers strong support. Virizion can switch into almost anything and get a screen up and was also my man option for rain teams. Heatran helps me by being the only pokemon capable of firing off strong special attacks. Also now I’m bored and don’t want to explain anymore.
PICTURE DUMP FIRST
NixHex's girlfriend was nice enough to pick up pizzas for the 20 of us <3
Don't mess with the Jesus
MY GAME FACE. NixHex's GAME FACE.
HEY ITS ME. HUY.
Battles:
Round 1:
Me: Drifblim/Sableye/Heatran/Virizion
Opp: Mienshao/Chandelure/Cresselia/Metagross
This was fairly routine for me. I ended up stealing a Ghost Gem and KO’s both of his leads fairly quickly. I took the Cresselia down with Destiny Bond and Heatran finished off his Metagross. (1-0)
Round 2:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: Weavile/ScarfTtar/Rotom-W/Metagross
I burned Ttar first turn and knocked out Weavile with Rock Blast. His Rotom came in and tried to Tbolt Cloyster but I went to Virizion and took a pittance. He took his Ttar out and brought Metagross into a WoW and from there Virizion and Heatran just worked thorugh the rest of his team (2-0)
Round 3
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Cloyster/Garchomp
Opp: Politoed/Ludicolo/Kingdra/Scizor
I have no idea what was going through my head during team preview. I knew I needed Virizion for Rain but for some reason I felt the need to pick Cloyster. That was a BIG mistake. Turn 1 was routine, Fake out the Ludi, Acrobatics, take the surf, and then yeah. Kingdra comes in and I’m hoping the he doesn’t protect Kingdra so I can stick a Lagging Tail on it. Nope. He protects and from there I have nothing to stop his Kingdra and I suffer my first loss. (2-1)
Round 4:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: T-Tar/Bronzong/Infernape/Rotom-W
Oof. This guy had beaten me a few weeks ago at TCG states and I was hoping for a second chance at him. This time, it was my game though. I burned the Tar and switched to Virizion. The ttar went down fast and he went to Infernape. I switched Heatran in for Virizion and he switched Nape out for Rotom. He started to do all sorts of stuff with Twave and Confuse Ray and eventually… after a few razor shell misses…. Time runs out and I barely win. (3-1)
Round 5:
Me: Sableye/Cloyster/Heatran/Virizion
Opp: Thundurus/Garchomp/Cresselia/Rhyperior
This match against BI was one of the worst matches I’ve ever played. Despite being good friends now, we’ve had a history of getting in each others heads. I felt like both of us played sloppy and made mistakes, but I made so many more than him that I just couldn’t overcome it. (3-2)
Round 6:
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Virizion/Heatran
Opp: Reuni/Conkeldurr/Ferrothorn/Scizor
I started by taunting the TR and Acrobatics ing the Conk for a good lead. He crits my Drifblim with Psychic but gets taken down by D-Bond. In comes Heatran for me and Ferrothorn Scizor for him. I WoW my own Heatran for Flash Fire and Heat Wave. I get the double crit. Yay. -_- (4-2)
Round 7:
Me: Sableye/Drifblim/Cloyster/Virizion
Him: Politoed/Ludicolo/Kingdra/Dragonite.
I started off with the usual Fake Out/Acrobatics on Ludi and eat the surfs. In comes his Dnite and I switch Sableye out for Virizion to save it in case of Kingdra. Dnite hits it with a Dragon Tail after Toed goes down to Dbond after Ice Beaming Drifblim. I bring in Cloyster and Virizion. He protects Kingdra and I get the Light Screen up and KO DNite with Icicle Spear. The rest of the team just overpowers Kingdra. (5-2)
Round 8:
Me: Sableye/Heatran/Virizion/Cloyster
Opp: Ttar/Scizor/Latios/Gastrodon
I don’t remember much of this match other than switching ALL of his items around and molesting him with Heatran and Virizion behind Light Screen. (6-2)
Overall it wasn’t the best finish, but I knew the losses were at least my fault and not luck based. I can take those losses. I loved this team and I wish I could have won so that more people would give it a look. It served my very well for my final tournament and I don’t think I could have had more fun with any other team. But yeah…with real life creeping on me, and feeling like I am completely washed up, I am officially retiring from travelling for events. I’ve been with VGC longer than most people and I am proud of how big the community has grown and how much Smogon support it has now. It’s like watching your child grow up. But as any good parent knows, you can’t hold onto your baby forever. Sometimes you just have to let it go. I’d like to thank everyone for making my experiences all so memorable. These past 3 years have been the greatest of my life and every single one of you have contributed. Thank you for everyone that has given me Pokemon, a place to sleep, or even just a warm hug and a hello. I love you all.
-Huy
Not Smogon, not Skarmbliss. Not DPL, not Pokecheck. Just VGC.
