"People still post Warstories this late?" - A Masters Philly Regional Warstory

[InfiniteParalysis]

(Me and my necklaces; taken by The Knights of Wario Land)

Introduction

Hey guys, I'm InfiniteParalysis, not Infinity.Paralysis which is some hybrid between my username and Infinity.Cypher's. I've been attending Pokemon VGC since Pokemon HG/SS and I've been entering in Pokemon VGC since '11 Pokemon B/W. I've joined Smogon only recently and have been a lurker for most of my time here. My registering was suggested by my irl friend soul_survivor. He's gotten me back into Pokemon, and introduced me to competetive battling, and the Smogon Community. Before I start, I must also say that this will likely be a lengthy read, especially since I tend to ramble a bit.

Autumn Dissapointment and Spring Determination

My story begins directly after the Autumn season of Pokemon B/W where I ran a Hail/Trick Room team. I attended the year before in Seniors where I had a Round 3 loss running a similar team against Skarmbliss' very own RandomTron. Being that my first attempt at battling competetively, I assumed I would do at least half decent in a Swiss tourney. I was wrong. I went 1-5 at the end of the day, possibly losing to some Smogoners along the way. After doing so terribly then, I frantically practiced team building by myself for the first time ever. I was determined to at least win more games than I lose in the next season.

Fast forward to around January, where I have a team in mind. In practice, it was decent. And by decent, I mean it was absolute shite. But that's mainly because I didn't know what I was doing. I had no sense of prediction, no idea of weaknesses or resistance, no clue of what was standard and what wasn't. Luckily, soul_survivor was able to help me with all of that. He walked me through the basics, and really got me to focus on these things. About two months later, I make a decent enough team. I know how to play well enough to win a few games. I think that I am ready for Philidelphia.

Day Before and Commute to Philly

My team is all set and soul_survivor's parents come pick me up so we can leave for Philidelphia as early as possible, (we live in New York City.) I play (and win) most of my battles on GBU, set the alarm to 5:00am and get to bed.

I wake up and get ready, changing into all my Pokemon gear (mainly my Slowpoke, Magikarp, and Pokeball necklaces.) Driving there, soul_survivor's mom uses Outrage, because she assumes that we are all lost and that we'll be arrested for driving somewhere we're not supposed to and a bunch of other nonsense. Luckily, he and I were able to get the GPS System running before she did any major damage to us, his family, or the car. (NVE...) Anyway, I do a few battles against my him as well, finding a couple of weaknesses in my team, mainly Trick Room and Cresselia. He trades me a few new Pokemon to help better my team against these and more. We practically knock out through the rest of the ride. The team that I end up with is a Goodstuff consisting of:

Registering and Senior Spectating

We get to the Convention Center after a very long ride and get on the line to register for Masters. At this point, we're looking for Smogoners that we recognize to go say hi to them and such. Luckily, they're all in a group so we introduce ourselves, SS only getting recognized since he's actually active on the forums and irc. We talk for a bit then get back on line since the Seniors and Juniors get ready to start playing. We also saw a Diglett cosplayer who used Dig so he was pretty pro. Once we registered, we went to the back part of the line to talk again with the Smogoners, names that comes off the top of my head are TheGr8, Solace, and Birch; SS knows you guys better than I do, sorry.

Throughout the entire event, I was continously noticed and called out by my necklaces. Most of the praise came from right before Seniors until the time I left. I'll take this time now to tell you that I did not go an entire 10 minutes without being stopped by, pointed at, or having gotten a look of amazement because of my necklaces. If you saw me there and stopped me, I just want to say thanks for noticing it and liking what I did.

Anyway, I closely followed the matches of Cybertron, Drifblim, SP, ISS, and RandomTron since they were the only people I was really familiar with. Unfortunately, some didn't do as well as we had expected, but good job to all of them either way. During Round 3, SS and I decided to go exploring outside the Center and get food. We successfully find a McDonald's a few blocks away, but on the way back we had a bit of trouble. We end up getting lost trying to find out the way back to the Convention Center and walk around aimlessly for about 15 minutes. When we finally find our way back, it turns out that Seniors haven't even started their Round 4 matches yet, so it was no waste getting lost either way. Both of us watch the rest of the games, converse with Smogoners and prepare for Masters.

Beginning of Masters

Had this event been more organized, the matches would have started and ended a lot quicker than they did. There was a large clusterfvck of trying to find who our matchups were, especially with Masters being split into 2 different flights. Eventually it got sorted out, but it could have been better. Unfortunately, we both took either half-assed notes during our battles or didn't take notes at all, so forgive me if I write something wrong or in the wrong spot. We'll be sure to do this in Nationals.

Games

Game 1; vs

Standard Rain team. I took special precaution towards weather teams so it was an easy battle for me. He ko'd my Jellicent with his, I rested with Cresselia and it was pretty lopsided from there. I win 3-0.

---

Game 2; vs ???

Game against a TCG player. I wasn't completely sure if I was going to win this because I know some TCG players that know what to do in VGC, and some TCG Players that know nothing. However, it was evident that I won when he admit that he didn't know EQ couldn't hit Togekiss.

---

Game 3; vs ??? ???

The guy I played, before the game, took off his glasses and put on sunglasses. It pretty much meant something was goin' down. In team preview, I thought I had this game won. What caught me off guard was a Taunt Gyarados which ended my Cresselia stall. He sweeped me after that for a 3-0 win. Good game, man.

---

Game 4; vs ???

Another Taunt user on their team stopped my Cresselia again. He sweeped after he was able to 2hko Cresselia with Scizor. He won 2-0.

---

Game 5; vs ??? ???

Only thing I remember from this game was a Life Orb Ambipom with FO and Latios. I didn't FO with my Infernape, (probably a stupid move) because I knew he was faster than Ambipom. Assuming my opponent knew that too, I thought he wouldn't even attempt the FO. Going for the Overheat on Latios, I got FO'd by Ambipom. Luckily, that was the only time I made a stupid mistake in that game again. 2-0 for the win.

---

Game 6; vs

Running Tyranitar, I suspected Discharge Zapdos and SandVeil Garchomp. Luckily, he kept doing the same thing every move. Attack with one Protect with other. Protect with one next turn, Attack with other. Idk if that can even be called prediction. 4-0'd this guy.

---

Game 7; vs ???

I battled this guy in the Union Room a few hours earlier, I lost. Hoping he would do the same exact thing this game, Helping Hand + Thunderbolt, I switched up my team. He didn't do the same thing this game... I lost 2-0.

End Record: 4-3

Half and Half

Pros:

• Going 4-3, better than last Regionals
• Meeting Smogoners again
• Getting placed in the easier flight
• Constantly being called out for my necklaces, haha
• Actually getting a ride to Philly

Cons:

• Not meeting many Smogoners
• Having to leave early and not staying for Top Cut
• No Smogoner lunch because of timing
• Not taking photos of or at the Convention Center
• Soul_Survivor tying for 2nd for the second time in a row
• Not getting a Philly Cheesesteak in Philly......

Conclusion

Overall, I finished 4-3 in Masters. Regardless of it being in the easier flight, I was happy with my record, doing much better than I did in Providence, RI. Unfortunately, I did not recognize a lot of Smogoners there so I didn't get to meet as many as I really should have, but the ones that I did meet were really great people. Socializing is what makes the VGC what it is, and I hope I can continue attending the events and meeting you all. Hopefully I will be attending Nationals in Indianapolis, IN and can see all the people I met and more once again! (oh, and i also won't do shoutouts because i feel like i'm not exactly familiar with enough people to actually do them)

[TheGr8]

great story IP! I'm glad to see you did better than RI as well. Even though SS told you that you were playing me to be funny lololol. It was great to see you again and hopefully you go to Nats :)

[BlaqJstr]

So you had the shiny Slowpoke sprite necklace.
Great Warstory from somebody who just got into competitive battling not that long ago and to go
4-3.Great job man and go strive for more

[Drifblim]

I remember seeing you there between most rounds at Philly, and at the very beginning in Providence! Your sprite necklaces are the equivalent of my hat, both great ways to represent love of the game. Make one of Drifloon, and the world will be yours! :D Look forward to seeing you at Indy

[InfiniteParalysis]

Originally Posted by Fat TheGr8

great story IP! I'm glad to see you did better than RI as well. Even though SS told you that you were playing me to be funny lololol. It was great to see you again and hopefully you go to Nats :)

Thanks, Gr8. Great to see you again, too. Let's just hope I get that necklace to you in IN. haha

Originally Posted by Fat BlaqJstr

So you had the shiny Slowpoke sprite necklace.
Great Warstory from somebody who just got into competitive battling not that long ago and to go
4-3.Great job man and go strive for more

Yeah, that was me. Thanks, I'll be sure to keep tryingz!

Originally Posted by Fat Drifblim

I remember seeing you there between most rounds at Philly, and at the very beginning in Providence! Your sprite necklaces are the equivalent of my hat, both great ways to represent love of the game. Make one of Drifloon, and the world will be yours! :D Look forward to seeing you at Indy

Both items are very iconic and noticable! Maybe Drifloon will be my next necklace for Nats, who knows?

[MavsObbession]

I rike duh sexy necklace! Good job by duh way!

[Infinity.Cypher]

Originally Posted by Fat InfiniteParalysis

I'm InfiniteParalysis, not Infinity.Paralysis which is some hybrid between my username and Infinity.Cypher's.

It's some sort of conspiracy! :p Filipino, went 4-3, look somewhat similar!

Anyways, nice warstory, it was great to see you, Soul Survivor, and your awesome necklaces! We should of talked more though :p

[InfiniteParalysis]

Originally Posted by Fat MavsObbession

I rike duh sexy necklace! Good job by duh way!

Thanks, man!

Originally Posted by Fat Infinity.Cypher

It's some sort of conspiracy! :p Filipino, went 4-3, look somewhat similar!

Anyways, nice warstory, it was great to see you, Soul Survivor, and your awesome necklaces! We should of talked more though :p

VGC Philly Regionals was set up or something! It was nice meeting you too, IC. Thanks, and I'll be sure to spark up more of a conversation if I attend Nats!

[Cybertron]

Fun read, it was nice meeting you!

[NatGeo]

oh so it was YOU with those kickass necklaces... didn't recognize who you were but it's nice to know people from smogon have style!

[JiveTime]

Nice read, I personally like the late warstories, it allows us to continue to relive the VGCs weeks after the fact :P. I remember seeing those beads necklaces last year too and was wondering who you where haha, their so dope though. Looking forward to seeing what other necklaces will be hanging around your neck at Nationals lol.

[Superpokemon67]

Nice Warstory! It was great meeting you, and I'm really glad you're coming to nats.

I
Love
Your
Necklaces.

[InfiniteParalysis]

Originally Posted by Fat Cybertron

Fun read, it was nice meeting you!

You too, Aaron! Wish to see you at Nats and talk some more.

Originally Posted by Fat NatGeo

oh so it was YOU with those kickass necklaces... didn't recognize who you were but it's nice to know people from smogon have style!

As always, gotta keep style running in VGC. Makes up for the declining decoration in the centers throughout the years.

Originally Posted by Fat JiveTime

Nice read, I personally like the late warstories, it allows us to continue to relive the VGCs weeks after the fact :P. I remember seeing those beads necklaces last year too and was wondering who you where haha, their so dope though. Looking forward to seeing what other necklaces will be hanging around your neck at Nationals lol.

I guess so. Maybe I'll always post up my warstories late then! And yeah, still deciding what to make for Nats.

Originally Posted by Fat Superpokemon67

Nice Warstory! It was great meeting you, and I'm really glad you're coming to nats.

I
Love
Your
Necklaces.

Thanks, SP. Great meeting you in Philly, too! Hope you bring a better, or just as good as team as your siblings next time, though.

[pokemaster649]

nice warstory, hope to see you at nats.

[Superpokemon67]

Originally Posted by Fat InfiniteParalysis

You too, Aaron! Wish to see you at Nats and talk some more.



As always, gotta keep style running in VGC. Makes up for the declining decoration in the centers throughout the years.



I guess so. Maybe I'll always post up my warstories late then! And yeah, still deciding what to make for Nats.



Thanks, SP. Great meeting you in Philly, too! Hope you bring a better, or just as good as team as your siblings next time, though.

Lol, yes, I'll make sure my team is as good as my siblings team for nats XD.

[The Knights of Wario Land]

Ah, nice warstory, your necklaces were indeed awesome :)

Nice job getting 4-3, hope to see you again next year :D

[Stormfront]

Nice read.

I remember seeing you with those Necklaces.

(I think I was standing next to thegr8 when I did).

Congrats on doing better then Fall Regionals.

Unfortunately for me I did worse, going from 5-1 to 5-2, and from 3rd to 30th(which actually isn't too bad considering the amount of people.)

[InfiniteParalysis]

Originally Posted by Fat pokemaster649

nice warstory, hope to see you at nats.

Thanks, you too!

Originally Posted by Fat The Knights of Wario Land

Ah, nice warstory, your necklaces were indeed awesome :)

Nice job getting 4-3, hope to see you again next year :D

Thanks, KoWL. Hope to see you next year if you don't go to Nats in June.

Originally Posted by Fat Stormfront

Nice read.

I remember seeing you with those Necklaces.

(I think I was standing next to thegr8 when I did).

Congrats on doing better then Fall Regionals.

Unfortunately for me I did worse, going from 5-1 to 5-2, and from 3rd to 30th(which actually isn't too bad considering the amount of people.)

I'm sure I'd remember you if I saw your face. Thanks, Stormfront. And that sucks. At least you were able to get 3rd in the other Regionals though! See you at Nats.

[Brandon13569]

Originally Posted by Fat InfiniteParalysis

I battled this guy in the Union Room a few hours earlier, I lost. Hoping he would do the same exact thing this game.

Oh boy, I would hate for that to happen. :o Nice warstory, finally got around to posting, hope to see you at Nats.

[LPFan]

Great warstory!
4-3 good job! I hope to see you and SS at nationals!