Yes this is late sorry I know.
This will be a terrible story compared to what you're used to, too bad DM wasn't here.
I really want to say thank you to the people that have helped me since April this year. I remember my first day on the forums asking Expert Evan where the Wifi Battle section was. I remember my very first VGC battle ever against Ditto on these forums, and my second and third being against Sixonesix and Mattj. Of course getting rocked by all three. But I think it was practicing with the best, and learning from mistakes which has helped me the most. So a big thank you goes to everyone on Skarmbliss and Smogon who has tolerated me, and was patient enough to help teach me.
Here is just a summary of my experiences in Kona, Hawaii. Mostly from a battling standpoint.
Previously this year I went to the San Mateo Regional and got 4th place.
Then I did poorly at Nationals, because of lack of effort in the team making it so I had to do the LCQ. This time though I put the most effort in practicing than I did before the regional or nationals.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I can't find many that I took including one with Marriland and I. So I'll just use other peoples photos for now :P So I arrived on the 12th a day before the Last Chance Qualifier. I knew that without getting a bad draw I had a decent chance of getting in. This day I decided to wear all Green Hawaiian clothes just to have some spirit ya-know. That morning before the LCQ I got together with Alaka, Huy, Duy, dtrain, Jeremy, Zog, CRITICO, Evan Falco etc. and we all got in line.
My team for the Last Chance Qualifier:
I have to give a lot of credit to Deagle for helping me decide on using this team through rigorous testing, damage calcs. etc. I had about 3 teams in mind and he helped me make the decision on using this one.
I tried going for an Anti-Metagame type of team at Worlds. (Some of the EV spreads may be slightly off)
Ho-Oh@Passho Berry
Careful
252 HP, 180 Atk, 36 Speed, 42 Special Defense
-Sacred Fire
-Brave Bird
-Protect
-Roost
Passho to survive a Water Spout and Brave Bird Kyogre. Allowing me to use Thunder Wave with Cresselia that turn, or Grass Knot with Abomasnow to finish it off. This set is simple enough yet very effective.
Abomasnow@Focus Sash
Modest
252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 6 Speed
-Ice Shard
-Protect
-Blizzard
-Grass Knot
Main purpose is to set-up hail for breaking Focus Sash, and stopping rain to lower thunder's accuracy. Counters Kyogre completely which is a threat to Ho-Oh.
Cresselia@Chesto Berry
Calm
252 HP, 252 SpD, 6 Speed
-Psychic
-Calm Mind
-Rest
-Thunder Wave
Main goal is to Paralyze, and outputting the necessary damage for Life Orb Groudon Earthquake to finish off which usually isn't much. Also if needed setting up Calm Mind and Walling the opponent's team.
Groudon@Life Orb
252 Atk, 32 Speed, 226 SpD
Adamant
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Protect
-Dragon Claw
My late game sweeper. Life Orb allows it to OHKO max HP Dialga, and Tyranitar. While putting a giant hole through anything else.
Here are my matches which ensued that day:
Round 1 vs Some Nice Guy:
When I first saw this guy I thought it would be an extremely easy match. Only because I didn't recognize him from any websites. He led with Mewtwo, Metagross. I was like "Ok I'll switch in Groudon, and Sacred Fire Metagross to OHKO it." Predicting the explosion. So I switch in Groudon, I see his Mewtwo Protect and everything seems to be going well. Then......Ho-Oh used Sacred Fire! Sacred Fire Missed! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 95% Accuracy my behind. Then I see Metagross explode killing Groudon and Ho-Oh. I knew that now I had no chance but to resort to Calm Mind stalling with Cresselia. So I send out Cress, and Abomasnow. He sends out Palkia. First turn I paralyze Palkia and use Blizzard with Abomasnow. But since Mewtwo was faster Abomasnow lost about 65% of it's HP that turn. So I protect with Aboma, and paralyze Mewtwo. I blizzard killing Palkia, but only does about 40% to Mewtwo. He then sends out Zapdos. So I set-up about 5 Calm Minds, and a crit almost lost me the game. Fortunately I win this match. This match would've been a piece of cake if 95% Sacred Fire hit.
Round 2 vs Chris "Halordain" Tsai:
Since CM stall took so long in the first match we were the second to last group done. So I get seated at the next table, and I look over to see who's still battling. And my blood ran cold when I saw who was playing, Chris Tsai. Chris Tsai won the 2008 California regional, and got top 8 at the San Mateo Regional this year. I knew this match would not be easy. For those that are interested watch the video of the match.
We were the last match to be completed and Marriland said I was in with a buy. I asked him for a picture, and he accepted. But I actually can't find the picture. Here is a picture with what PBB called "The Badass Qualifiers". Of course we let Zog in, because he's Zog.
Credit to Ninahaza for the pic
Afterwards all of us that qualified recieved some goodie bags with lots of cool stuff in them. So later a group of us went to lunch and discussed what types of teams the Japanese will bring. That night I had to add two Pokemon to my team because Worlds was Swiss style best out of three. Meaning we played Six rounds and the Top 8 with the best records would play the next day. Choosing the Pokemon to add was very hard since it hard to work with my other 4 well.
The Pokemon I added:
Tyranitar@Chople Berry
Brave
252 HP, 252 Atk, 6 SpDef
-Rock Slide
-Payback
-Low Kick
-Protect
A good lead for Ho-Oh and Latias. Having Sandstorm in play allows T-Tar to take many hits, lower accuracy on Thunder, Blizzard etc and it counters Giratina and Cresselia extremely well.
Latios@Lum Berry
Timid
6 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Speed
-Psychic
-Grass Knot
-Draco Meteor
-Protect
Faster than Ape to avoid Encore, and very powerful. Grass Knot hurts Kyogre really bad, and Draco Meteor puts a giant chunk into anything including Palkia. Psychic OHKO many of the common fighting leads including Toxicroak, and Infernape.
The next day everyone played six battles. Without describing into detail all of them here was my results.
Round 1 vs. German guy:
I won two battles in a row pretty easily, and gained confidence from this match.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Deagle:
Deagle is known around many forums, and is an extremely skilled battler we had some great battles and went to three games. But in the end he won.
1-1
Round 3 vs. BlueCookies now known as the 2010 VGC World Champion:
I've known BlueCookies on the next for a while, and knew he was a good battler. He got a crit on my cress in the first match not sure if it mattered much. The next game though he beat me fair and square.
1-2
After this battle there was a lunch break, which gave me some time to gain some confidence since I knew I would have to step things up if I wanted to qualify. This is where I started talking to Evan Falco, because he looked lonely. Poor guy.
Round 4 vs. WintersZombie:
I've played him before and he put up a great fight. But I won in two games.
2-2
Round 5 vs. RubeNCB
I got "mucho fuerte" in both of the battles against him. There was so much hax it wasn't even funny, and I wasn't even happy with the win at the end. I think he has a grudge against me now for those battles.
3-2
Round 6 vs. MissBlackBird
Reese was the winner of Birmingham and knew he was a good battler. I managed to win in two games.
4-2
So with a final record of 4-2 I was pretty confident I would get top 8, but that didn't happen and recieved the rank of 12. I'm still happy to know I'm #12 in the world though which is sort of cool.
The next day was definately the most fun. I finally learned how to play the TCG by the person that ranked #13 in the VGC, Evan Falco. No one knows how he made it but he just did. We saw the hosts of Pokemon Sunday walking around, and I knew I HAD to get a picture with them.
Credit to Ninahaza again
I got some cards from some boosters I won from the side events from playing the game. Getting free stuff is awesome!
Then later were the Top 8 matches. Unfortunately Huy, Deagle and Metabou got out first round against the Japs, but BlueCookies gave us hope by winning the first round. In the Semi-Finals he creamed some Japanese guy, and afterwards we helped him prepare for his match to become the world champion. In the last two battles he had some awesome luck, and the battles were really exciting.
You can see him winning the last battle and us storming the stage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-iCZfwW40
Afterwards we all got a group shot with Marriland who is as awesome as you think he is. This picture is my favorite:
Then Marriland's mother wanted us to quack which I found funny, because half of us weren't even Ducks. So all of us quacked anyway for his mom on camera.
For those of you that missed this years VGC check out this video Ninhaza created as a recap of the greatness that occured:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwJ_UGEpcRA
Isn't it amazing how Pokemon brings us together?
If you come this next coming year and recognize me please introduce yourself meeting new people is the most fun part of these events!
Pros:
Meeting lots of people I didn't meet at Nationals
Qualifying for worlds
Getting a picture with Pokemon Sunday
Knowing I'm #12 in the World
Cons:
Not making Top 8
Event was only three days
This will be a terrible story compared to what you're used to, too bad DM wasn't here.
I really want to say thank you to the people that have helped me since April this year. I remember my first day on the forums asking Expert Evan where the Wifi Battle section was. I remember my very first VGC battle ever against Ditto on these forums, and my second and third being against Sixonesix and Mattj. Of course getting rocked by all three. But I think it was practicing with the best, and learning from mistakes which has helped me the most. So a big thank you goes to everyone on Skarmbliss and Smogon who has tolerated me, and was patient enough to help teach me.
Here is just a summary of my experiences in Kona, Hawaii. Mostly from a battling standpoint.
Previously this year I went to the San Mateo Regional and got 4th place.
Then I did poorly at Nationals, because of lack of effort in the team making it so I had to do the LCQ. This time though I put the most effort in practicing than I did before the regional or nationals.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I can't find many that I took including one with Marriland and I. So I'll just use other peoples photos for now :P So I arrived on the 12th a day before the Last Chance Qualifier. I knew that without getting a bad draw I had a decent chance of getting in. This day I decided to wear all Green Hawaiian clothes just to have some spirit ya-know. That morning before the LCQ I got together with Alaka, Huy, Duy, dtrain, Jeremy, Zog, CRITICO, Evan Falco etc. and we all got in line.
My team for the Last Chance Qualifier:
I have to give a lot of credit to Deagle for helping me decide on using this team through rigorous testing, damage calcs. etc. I had about 3 teams in mind and he helped me make the decision on using this one.
I tried going for an Anti-Metagame type of team at Worlds. (Some of the EV spreads may be slightly off)
Ho-Oh@Passho Berry
Careful
252 HP, 180 Atk, 36 Speed, 42 Special Defense
-Sacred Fire
-Brave Bird
-Protect
-Roost
Passho to survive a Water Spout and Brave Bird Kyogre. Allowing me to use Thunder Wave with Cresselia that turn, or Grass Knot with Abomasnow to finish it off. This set is simple enough yet very effective.
Abomasnow@Focus Sash
Modest
252 HP, 252 SpAtk, 6 Speed
-Ice Shard
-Protect
-Blizzard
-Grass Knot
Main purpose is to set-up hail for breaking Focus Sash, and stopping rain to lower thunder's accuracy. Counters Kyogre completely which is a threat to Ho-Oh.
Cresselia@Chesto Berry
Calm
252 HP, 252 SpD, 6 Speed
-Psychic
-Calm Mind
-Rest
-Thunder Wave
Main goal is to Paralyze, and outputting the necessary damage for Life Orb Groudon Earthquake to finish off which usually isn't much. Also if needed setting up Calm Mind and Walling the opponent's team.
Groudon@Life Orb
252 Atk, 32 Speed, 226 SpD
Adamant
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Protect
-Dragon Claw
My late game sweeper. Life Orb allows it to OHKO max HP Dialga, and Tyranitar. While putting a giant hole through anything else.
Here are my matches which ensued that day:
Round 1 vs Some Nice Guy:
When I first saw this guy I thought it would be an extremely easy match. Only because I didn't recognize him from any websites. He led with Mewtwo, Metagross. I was like "Ok I'll switch in Groudon, and Sacred Fire Metagross to OHKO it." Predicting the explosion. So I switch in Groudon, I see his Mewtwo Protect and everything seems to be going well. Then......Ho-Oh used Sacred Fire! Sacred Fire Missed! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! 95% Accuracy my behind. Then I see Metagross explode killing Groudon and Ho-Oh. I knew that now I had no chance but to resort to Calm Mind stalling with Cresselia. So I send out Cress, and Abomasnow. He sends out Palkia. First turn I paralyze Palkia and use Blizzard with Abomasnow. But since Mewtwo was faster Abomasnow lost about 65% of it's HP that turn. So I protect with Aboma, and paralyze Mewtwo. I blizzard killing Palkia, but only does about 40% to Mewtwo. He then sends out Zapdos. So I set-up about 5 Calm Minds, and a crit almost lost me the game. Fortunately I win this match. This match would've been a piece of cake if 95% Sacred Fire hit.
Round 2 vs Chris "Halordain" Tsai:
Since CM stall took so long in the first match we were the second to last group done. So I get seated at the next table, and I look over to see who's still battling. And my blood ran cold when I saw who was playing, Chris Tsai. Chris Tsai won the 2008 California regional, and got top 8 at the San Mateo Regional this year. I knew this match would not be easy. For those that are interested watch the video of the match.
We were the last match to be completed and Marriland said I was in with a buy. I asked him for a picture, and he accepted. But I actually can't find the picture. Here is a picture with what PBB called "The Badass Qualifiers". Of course we let Zog in, because he's Zog.
Credit to Ninahaza for the pic
Afterwards all of us that qualified recieved some goodie bags with lots of cool stuff in them. So later a group of us went to lunch and discussed what types of teams the Japanese will bring. That night I had to add two Pokemon to my team because Worlds was Swiss style best out of three. Meaning we played Six rounds and the Top 8 with the best records would play the next day. Choosing the Pokemon to add was very hard since it hard to work with my other 4 well.
The Pokemon I added:
Tyranitar@Chople Berry
Brave
252 HP, 252 Atk, 6 SpDef
-Rock Slide
-Payback
-Low Kick
-Protect
A good lead for Ho-Oh and Latias. Having Sandstorm in play allows T-Tar to take many hits, lower accuracy on Thunder, Blizzard etc and it counters Giratina and Cresselia extremely well.
Latios@Lum Berry
Timid
6 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252 Speed
-Psychic
-Grass Knot
-Draco Meteor
-Protect
Faster than Ape to avoid Encore, and very powerful. Grass Knot hurts Kyogre really bad, and Draco Meteor puts a giant chunk into anything including Palkia. Psychic OHKO many of the common fighting leads including Toxicroak, and Infernape.
The next day everyone played six battles. Without describing into detail all of them here was my results.
Round 1 vs. German guy:
I won two battles in a row pretty easily, and gained confidence from this match.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Deagle:
Deagle is known around many forums, and is an extremely skilled battler we had some great battles and went to three games. But in the end he won.
1-1
Round 3 vs. BlueCookies now known as the 2010 VGC World Champion:
I've known BlueCookies on the next for a while, and knew he was a good battler. He got a crit on my cress in the first match not sure if it mattered much. The next game though he beat me fair and square.
1-2
After this battle there was a lunch break, which gave me some time to gain some confidence since I knew I would have to step things up if I wanted to qualify. This is where I started talking to Evan Falco, because he looked lonely. Poor guy.
Round 4 vs. WintersZombie:
I've played him before and he put up a great fight. But I won in two games.
2-2
Round 5 vs. RubeNCB
I got "mucho fuerte" in both of the battles against him. There was so much hax it wasn't even funny, and I wasn't even happy with the win at the end. I think he has a grudge against me now for those battles.
3-2
Round 6 vs. MissBlackBird
Reese was the winner of Birmingham and knew he was a good battler. I managed to win in two games.
4-2
So with a final record of 4-2 I was pretty confident I would get top 8, but that didn't happen and recieved the rank of 12. I'm still happy to know I'm #12 in the world though which is sort of cool.
The next day was definately the most fun. I finally learned how to play the TCG by the person that ranked #13 in the VGC, Evan Falco. No one knows how he made it but he just did. We saw the hosts of Pokemon Sunday walking around, and I knew I HAD to get a picture with them.
Credit to Ninahaza again
I got some cards from some boosters I won from the side events from playing the game. Getting free stuff is awesome!
Then later were the Top 8 matches. Unfortunately Huy, Deagle and Metabou got out first round against the Japs, but BlueCookies gave us hope by winning the first round. In the Semi-Finals he creamed some Japanese guy, and afterwards we helped him prepare for his match to become the world champion. In the last two battles he had some awesome luck, and the battles were really exciting.
You can see him winning the last battle and us storming the stage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-iCZfwW40
Afterwards we all got a group shot with Marriland who is as awesome as you think he is. This picture is my favorite:
Then Marriland's mother wanted us to quack which I found funny, because half of us weren't even Ducks. So all of us quacked anyway for his mom on camera.
For those of you that missed this years VGC check out this video Ninhaza created as a recap of the greatness that occured:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwJ_UGEpcRA
Isn't it amazing how Pokemon brings us together?
If you come this next coming year and recognize me please introduce yourself meeting new people is the most fun part of these events!
Pros:
Meeting lots of people I didn't meet at Nationals
Qualifying for worlds
Getting a picture with Pokemon Sunday
Knowing I'm #12 in the World
Cons:
Not making Top 8
Event was only three days