Battles in the City of Brotherly Lovediscs: A Philly Masters Warstory

biffsterPKMN · Apr 20th, 2012, 12:26:17 PM

Since all of the Regional Tournaments were 600+ miles away, I kept my options open to all locations. I chose Philly because...

1. I knew a lot of Smogoners would be there, so it would be good practice for Nats.
2. I have non-Pokemon friends there.
3. The regional location was right next to the airport in a downtown area (Opposed to flying in and having to drive awhile to the location).

I ended up being in the convention center from 9:30 AM until about 8:00 PM due to the late start. A little over 300 trainers showed up for masters, so they split it up into two flights, Pink and Yellow/Green. This is my Yellow/Green story:

My Team:

Round 1 (Win) Vs JJ Mellow (

)

JJ chose some very unusual Pokemon. His team of six included a Breloom, and I'm glad he didn't bring it into battle. I thought he was going to use Trick Room, but it ended up being a Toxic/Seed team. I switched Chandelure into an expected normal attack from Miltank. He used a normal attack, and Body Slam hit due the Scrappy ability, lol. His Ludicolo had huge special defense, so the match lasted almost until the time limit. 3-0 I think.

Round 2 (Win) Vs Damien Laird (

??? ???)

I don't remember much of this battle. I think my Chandelure got a crit Heat Wave on his Metagross.

Round 3 (Win) Vs Chris Retalis (

??? ???)

Chris started Hitmontop and Metagross to my Hitmontop and Jellicent. I knew my Hitmontop was faster due to my Intimidate activating first. His Metagross had Choice Scarf which was a very unfezant surprise. The match ended up being close, but I pulled out the win.

Round 4 (Win) Vs Cassi Argabright (

)

Cassi brought a really cool rain team. I tried to keep control of the weather at a high cost. A Hydro Pump hit my Garchomp in the Sandstorm @____@, but I got a Sand Veil miss that the end of the game which determined the game. It was Politoed/Dragonite vs Thundurus/Garchomp. Garchomp uses Dragon Claw on Dragonite. Dragonite had Multiscale, but it still did over half damage. Politoed protects, and Thundurus uses Thunderbolt on Politoed. Dragon Pulse from Dragonite misses Garchomp! Yay!

Round 5 (Loss) Vs Anthony Kissoon (

??? ??? ???)
My first loss. I forget the details of the match, but I really thought he would have not brought Cressy because I had Chandelure and Tyranitar. Anthony continued on to be a well deserved top seed in the Green flight.

Round 6 (Win) Vs Matthew Ridley (??? ??? ??? ???)

I can remember Matt's face, but his team escapes me. Biff used Amnesia.

Round 7 (Win) Vs Amanda Kent (

??? ???)

Amanda brought an ice, Trick Room team. I stopped the Trick Room on the first turn with a Taunt, and the match went downhill for her beginning at the point.

After this battle, I anxiously await the final rankings. I knew I had a pretty good chance because the person who I lost to did not lose at all. Rankings posted listed me as #4. I made the top cut! ^_____________________^

The top cut was a single elimination bracket style tournament. Since I was 4th seed, that means I would play the 1st seed in the pink flight. I knew a tough battled was ahead.

Round 1 of Top Cut (Loss) Vs Michael Lanzano (

)

Congrats to Michael on this win. He made some pretty clutch predictions. My team lacked synergy for switching. I really wish that my Chandelure had Energy Ball! If I could do it over again, I probably would have brought Jellicent and Thundurus.

The #4 seed in the Pink flight won his match. That places me in 8th overall. 1 win away from the top 4, but I was happy to even make it as far as I did. I'm going to try my best to make it to nationals!

Full Battle with JiveTime:
http://youtu.be/Ca8bK987HAs

This video depicts the overall experience:
http://youtu.be/gxG-ifItjMg

I remember doing Props and Slops on my very first Red/Blue warstory. I'm so glad that people still do it.

Props:
-Seeing/Meeting strong trainers! (dtrain, solace, TrainerTheGr8, Human, ISS, EnFuego, SapphireBirch, ExpertEvan and ExpertSon ;), drose, Cybertron, Babbytron, Anthony K, thewolfe, JiveTime, Ben, and Sevrah) My bad if I missed anyone!
-Staying at the Hampton Inn which was 0.1 miles away from the convention center
-Hella cool diglett costume
-I liked that I could compete in both TCG and VGC
-Well deserved masters top 4 (Jive, Wolfe, Human, Ben)
-ExpertEvan's warstory format that I borrowed some elements (thanks ^_^;)

Flops:
-Almost missed my flight connection on the way there
-The late start caused me not to eat much all day long! I thought I would miss the start.
-Awkward interview before the tournament. I really hope it doesn't surface, but if it does, there better be some editing, lol. dtrain, am I right? haha.

TL;DR: : Just watch the overall video as linked above - http://youtu.be/gxG-ifItjMg

**Ninahaza** · Apr 20th, 2012, 1:09:33 PM

Robbie you are such a PRO, God, how do you do it? is the camera strapped to your forehead or something? are you wearing camera glasses? footage is so clear and NOT SHAKY unlike mine. is it the editing software? you must go through hours of footage (confirm/deny).

anyways i enjoyed the thread and the video, especially the video :). I'll hopefully be able to attend nationals and you'll be there as well

dtrain · Apr 20th, 2012, 1:41:20 PM

Congrats on topping Robbie! Yea idk about that interview haha. I wasn't sure what was going on the entire time.

The Knights of Wario Land · Apr 20th, 2012, 1:51:30 PM

Congrats on getting in the Top 8 bro! It was hard, nice pulling it all off though :)

TheGr8 · Apr 20th, 2012, 2:07:00 PM

Biff! It was great to finally meet you after talking to you via twitter and youtube! :D I loved your experience video, and the day was awesome. grats on top 8!

Maestrol55 · Apr 20th, 2012, 3:57:44 PM

Heeeeeeeey Biff! I have amnesia as well, but I think in Round 6 I used Amoonguss / Tornadus / Terrakion / Jellicent on you. The only clear part I remember was when it was my low health Jellicent against your paralyzed Garchomp and low health Tyranitar. Anyway, it was awesome to meet you and congrats again on topping! Great video as well. :D

Cybertron · Apr 20th, 2012, 4:49:08 PM

Awesome video Biff! I was so surprised when you came up to me on Saturday morning haha. It was awesome seeing you, and congrats on the Top 8 finish!

**Expert Evan** · Apr 20th, 2012, 5:42:09 PM

Good to see you again Biff and congratulations on making top 8.

Rukario · Apr 20th, 2012, 6:52:18 PM

Good job Biff! I was the guy with Anthony the whole time. We talked a bit but not much. Hopefully you can come back to NE qualifiers next year and we'll talk more. Good luck at Nationals man!

PungentFruit · Apr 20th, 2012, 6:52:45 PM

Oh wow I completely missed you while I was there...

Nice job making top cut! We will meet next time

Firestorm · Apr 20th, 2012, 6:58:13 PM

"It said don't stop!"
hahahaha

biffsterPKMN · Apr 20th, 2012, 9:34:15 PM

@Ninahaza - I use a Cannon G12 and iMovie to produce the videos. It came with a strap that allows it to hang from my neck. For some shots, I let the camera hang from my neck. For the rest of the shots, I just used my hands. I think it helps if you move very slowly and try not to use zoom. I only used around 4 seconds of each shot that I took. With YouTube videos, you need to constantly change focus to make it interesting.

@dtrain, TKoWL, TheGr8, Cybertron, EE, Rukario, PungentFruit - Great seeing you guys, too, and Thanks!!!

@Maestrol55 - Heh, I really should have taken some notes! Maybe Garchomp was sleeping? I'm not sure what could have paralyzed him. Regardless, Nice to meet you and GG. Much respect!

@Firestorm - The mom got really mad at the kid... it was insane. I didn't even want to walk into that thing cause it looked like it was going to chop me, lol.

Chilebowl · Apr 21st, 2012, 1:00:31 AM

It was great meeting you Biff! I felt like I lucked out bringing Cress with me in our match because it made a huge difference, I have our battle saved actually so I'll upload it sooner or later. You did great last weekend and I'm so glad I got to meet such a strong battler! I loved the video btw, can't wait to see the Nats one! I wish you all of the best at Nats :)

Cassi · Apr 21st, 2012, 7:55:06 PM

Thanks bra, you had a pretty cool team too. I was so sure that a water absorb Jelli was coming my way but you had brought Thunderous instead... which I equally didn't like. Heh.

Grats man!

biffsterPKMN · Apr 22nd, 2012, 12:04:50 PM

@Chilebowl - Good to meet you as well. I'd love to see that battle video again. Let me know when you put it up.

@Cassi - Good to see you on Smogon! I tried to Facebook stalk you, but no results came up. Mine is facebook.com/robbiemiles. You scared Jelly away with the Rotom-W and Ludicolo!

Cassi · Apr 22nd, 2012, 8:55:48 PM

No results because I don't have a FB account! *laughs* I appreciate the stalk-worthy thought though!

I'm sure we won't have problems connecting again in the future. I want a rematch!

Apr 20th, 2012, 12:26:17 PM	#1
biffsterPKMN Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 24	Battles in the City of Brotherly Lovediscs: A Philly Masters Warstory Since all of the Regional Tournaments were 600+ miles away, I kept my options open to all locations. I chose Philly because... 1. I knew a lot of Smogoners would be there, so it would be good practice for Nats. 2. I have non-Pokemon friends there. 3. The regional location was right next to the airport in a downtown area (Opposed to flying in and having to drive awhile to the location). I ended up being in the convention center from 9:30 AM until about 8:00 PM due to the late start. A little over 300 trainers showed up for masters, so they split it up into two flights, Pink and Yellow/Green. This is my Yellow/Green story: My Team: Round 1 (Win) Vs JJ Mellow () JJ chose some very unusual Pokemon. His team of six included a Breloom, and I'm glad he didn't bring it into battle. I thought he was going to use Trick Room, but it ended up being a Toxic/Seed team. I switched Chandelure into an expected normal attack from Miltank. He used a normal attack, and Body Slam hit due the Scrappy ability, lol. His Ludicolo had huge special defense, so the match lasted almost until the time limit. 3-0 I think. Round 2 (Win) Vs Damien Laird ( ??? ???) I don't remember much of this battle. I think my Chandelure got a crit Heat Wave on his Metagross. Round 3 (Win) Vs Chris Retalis ( ??? ???) Chris started Hitmontop and Metagross to my Hitmontop and Jellicent. I knew my Hitmontop was faster due to my Intimidate activating first. His Metagross had Choice Scarf which was a very unfezant surprise. The match ended up being close, but I pulled out the win. Round 4 (Win) Vs Cassi Argabright () Cassi brought a really cool rain team. I tried to keep control of the weather at a high cost. A Hydro Pump hit my Garchomp in the Sandstorm @____@, but I got a Sand Veil miss that the end of the game which determined the game. It was Politoed/Dragonite vs Thundurus/Garchomp. Garchomp uses Dragon Claw on Dragonite. Dragonite had Multiscale, but it still did over half damage. Politoed protects, and Thundurus uses Thunderbolt on Politoed. Dragon Pulse from Dragonite misses Garchomp! Yay! Round 5 (Loss) Vs Anthony Kissoon ( ??? ??? ???) My first loss. I forget the details of the match, but I really thought he would have not brought Cressy because I had Chandelure and Tyranitar. Anthony continued on to be a well deserved top seed in the Green flight. Round 6 (Win) Vs Matthew Ridley (??? ??? ??? ???) I can remember Matt's face, but his team escapes me. Biff used Amnesia. Round 7 (Win) Vs Amanda Kent ( ??? ???) Amanda brought an ice, Trick Room team. I stopped the Trick Room on the first turn with a Taunt, and the match went downhill for her beginning at the point. After this battle, I anxiously await the final rankings. I knew I had a pretty good chance because the person who I lost to did not lose at all. Rankings posted listed me as #4. I made the top cut! ^_____________________^ The top cut was a single elimination bracket style tournament. Since I was 4th seed, that means I would play the 1st seed in the pink flight. I knew a tough battled was ahead. Round 1 of Top Cut (Loss) Vs Michael Lanzano () Congrats to Michael on this win. He made some pretty clutch predictions. My team lacked synergy for switching. I really wish that my Chandelure had Energy Ball! If I could do it over again, I probably would have brought Jellicent and Thundurus. The #4 seed in the Pink flight won his match. That places me in 8th overall. 1 win away from the top 4, but I was happy to even make it as far as I did. I'm going to try my best to make it to nationals! Full Battle with JiveTime: http://youtu.be/Ca8bK987HAs This video depicts the overall experience: http://youtu.be/gxG-ifItjMg I remember doing Props and Slops on my very first Red/Blue warstory. I'm so glad that people still do it. Props: -Seeing/Meeting strong trainers! (dtrain, solace, TrainerTheGr8, Human, ISS, EnFuego, SapphireBirch, ExpertEvan and ExpertSon ;), drose, Cybertron, Babbytron, Anthony K, thewolfe, JiveTime, Ben, and Sevrah) My bad if I missed anyone! -Staying at the Hampton Inn which was 0.1 miles away from the convention center -Hella cool diglett costume -I liked that I could compete in both TCG and VGC -Well deserved masters top 4 (Jive, Wolfe, Human, Ben) -ExpertEvan's warstory format that I borrowed some elements (thanks ^_^;) Flops: -Almost missed my flight connection on the way there -The late start caused me not to eat much all day long! I thought I would miss the start. -Awkward interview before the tournament. I really hope it doesn't surface, but if it does, there better be some editing, lol. dtrain, am I right? haha. TL;DR: : Just watch the overall video as linked above - http://youtu.be/gxG-ifItjMg __________________ 2011: 1st Place NW Regionals VGC --- 24th Place Nationals VGC 2012: 9th Place Mississippi Valley Fall Regionals VGC --- 8th Place Philadelphia Spring Regionals VGC Twitter: @biffsterPKMN Youtube: biffsterPKMN I post quirky videos after every PokéEvent! Last edited by biffsterPKMN; Apr 22nd, 2012 at 11:57:31 AM.

Apr 20th, 2012, 1:09:33 PM	#2
Ninahaza You'll always be a part of me Moderator Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 1,248 And I'm part of you indefinitely	Robbie you are such a PRO, God, how do you do it? is the camera strapped to your forehead or something? are you wearing camera glasses? footage is so clear and NOT SHAKY unlike mine. is it the editing software? you must go through hours of footage (confirm/deny). anyways i enjoyed the thread and the video, especially the video :). I'll hopefully be able to attend nationals and you'll be there as well __________________ ~ Always Be My Baby ~

Apr 20th, 2012, 2:07:00 PM	#5
TheGr8 Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 243 Connecticut	Biff! It was great to finally meet you after talking to you via twitter and youtube! :D I loved your experience video, and the day was awesome. grats on top 8! __________________ VGC Philly 2012 Masters: 7th in Pink Flight, 15th Overall Youtube: VGC and Wifi Battles Twitter: Follow me! Spring Friendly Records: Here

Apr 20th, 2012, 5:42:09 PM	#8
Expert Evan every battle has a smell! Moderator Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,789 Southwestern Connecticut	Good to see you again Biff and congratulations on making top 8. __________________ EE's Official trade thread: G.O.A.T. EE - Mark 2 4th gen trade = 4383-6929-7278 \| 5th gen trade = 2493-9641-2031 \| 5th gen battle = 4126-7225-2545 Also be sure to join #smogonwifi on IRC for faster communication If you want to be cool, read and obey the rules especially the ones for WiFi.

Apr 20th, 2012, 6:52:45 PM	#10
PungentFruit Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 348 #swaggg	Oh wow I completely missed you while I was there... Nice job making top cut! We will meet next time __________________ ♪(┌・。・)┌

Apr 20th, 2012, 1:41:20 PM	#3
dtrain Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 591 That was fun! I hope we can CRITICAL HIT again sometime.	Congrats on topping Robbie! Yea idk about that interview haha. I wasn't sure what was going on the entire time.

Apr 20th, 2012, 1:51:30 PM	#4
The Knights of Wario Land Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 815 Philadelphia	Congrats on getting in the Top 8 bro! It was hard, nice pulling it all off though :) __________________ Newark VGC 2011: First round loss Philadelphia VGC 2012: 3-4 74th place Philadelphia VGC 2013: 5-3 29th place Art Thread

Apr 20th, 2012, 3:57:44 PM	#6
Maestrol55 Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 212 HP: 307/367	Heeeeeeeey Biff! I have amnesia as well, but I think in Round 6 I used Amoonguss / Tornadus / Terrakion / Jellicent on you. The only clear part I remember was when it was my low health Jellicent against your paralyzed Garchomp and low health Tyranitar. Anyway, it was awesome to meet you and congrats again on topping! Great video as well. :D

Apr 20th, 2012, 4:49:08 PM	#7
Cybertron Stay classy. Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2,922	Awesome video Biff! I was so surprised when you came up to me on Saturday morning haha. It was awesome seeing you, and congrats on the Top 8 finish!

Apr 20th, 2012, 6:52:18 PM	#9
Rukario Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 545 New York City	Good job Biff! I was the guy with Anthony the whole time. We talked a bit but not much. Hopefully you can come back to NE qualifiers next year and we'll talk more. Good luck at Nationals man!

Apr 20th, 2012, 6:58:13 PM	#11
Firestorm I did my best, I have no regrets! Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7,261 Vancouver, BC	"It said don't stop!" hahahaha __________________

Apr 20th, 2012, 9:34:15 PM	#12
biffsterPKMN Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 24	Thanks, Guys! @Ninahaza - I use a Cannon G12 and iMovie to produce the videos. It came with a strap that allows it to hang from my neck. For some shots, I let the camera hang from my neck. For the rest of the shots, I just used my hands. I think it helps if you move very slowly and try not to use zoom. I only used around 4 seconds of each shot that I took. With YouTube videos, you need to constantly change focus to make it interesting. @dtrain, TKoWL, TheGr8, Cybertron, EE, Rukario, PungentFruit - Great seeing you guys, too, and Thanks!!! @Maestrol55 - Heh, I really should have taken some notes! Maybe Garchomp was sleeping? I'm not sure what could have paralyzed him. Regardless, Nice to meet you and GG. Much respect! @Firestorm - The mom got really mad at the kid... it was insane. I didn't even want to walk into that thing cause it looked like it was going to chop me, lol.

Apr 21st, 2012, 1:00:31 AM	#13
Chilebowl Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 127 New York City	It was great meeting you Biff! I felt like I lucked out bringing Cress with me in our match because it made a huge difference, I have our battle saved actually so I'll upload it sooner or later. You did great last weekend and I'm so glad I got to meet such a strong battler! I loved the video btw, can't wait to see the Nats one! I wish you all of the best at Nats :) __________________ Philly VGC Spring 2012 5th place Newark VGC 2011 Participant Newark VGC 2010 Top 32 Philly VGC 2009 Participant NYC VGS 2008 Participant

Apr 21st, 2012, 7:55:06 PM	#14
Cassi Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 Massachusetts	Thanks bra, you had a pretty cool team too. I was so sure that a water absorb Jelli was coming my way but you had brought Thunderous instead... which I equally didn't like. Heh. Grats man!

Apr 22nd, 2012, 12:04:50 PM	#15
biffsterPKMN Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 24	@Chilebowl - Good to meet you as well. I'd love to see that battle video again. Let me know when you put it up. @Cassi - Good to see you on Smogon! I tried to Facebook stalk you, but no results came up. Mine is facebook.com/robbiemiles. You scared Jelly away with the Rotom-W and Ludicolo!

Apr 22nd, 2012, 8:55:48 PM	#16
Cassi Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 3 Massachusetts	No results because I don't have a FB account! laughs I appreciate the stalk-worthy thought though! I'm sure we won't have problems connecting again in the future. I want a rematch!