So after getting 3rd at Phoenix, I had about a month to decide and breed a new team for Nationals. Being the creative oddball I was, I decided to bring back an old strategy as the focus for my team; ParaFusion. After all, I reasoned that with both effects on at the same time, not only are the opponent's Pokemon now slower than mine (a big plus), but they also have about a 30% chance of not even hitting me due to both effects right? To seal the deal, I also decided to add a fun flinch strategy into the ring as well; another 60% chance to do nothing on top of that can only help right?
So anyways, here's what I came up with:
Giratina @ Lum Berry
Hasty, 252 Spe, 62 SpA, 116 HP, 80 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Swagger
-Shadow Force
-Draco Meteor
Rotom-C @ Sitrus Berry
Modest, 252 HP, 252 SpA, 6 Spe
-Thunder Wave
-Confuse Ray
-Leaf Storm
-Protect
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Modest, 252 HP, 252 SpA, 6 Spe
-Substitute
-Air Slash
-Aura Sphere
-Thunder Wave
Dunsparce @ Chesto Berry
Brave, 250 HP, 76 Def, 180 SpD, 4 Atk
-Substitute
-Swagger
-Body Slam
-Rock Slide
Alt 1: Blissey @ Chople Berry
Relaxed, 252 Def, 158 HP, 100 SpD
-Substitute
-Swagger
-Rock Slide
-Soft Boiled
Alt 2: Lugia @ Life Orb (more to just have Life Orb available if I wanted it)
Timid, 252 Spe, 252 HP, 6 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Swagger
-Fly
-Roost
So where to begin...the basic concept would be to initially paralyze both opposing leads with my own, then subsequently next turn slap on confusion. From there, Giratina could Shadow Force and avoid some damage for a turn (or optionally strike out with Draco Meteor for big damage) and Rotom-C could blast away at opposing Water and Ground types. From there, once one of them dies, I bring in a flincher, set up the sub, and proceed to whittle away at them, essentially (at least in theory) locking them down until they eventually were KOed. Both Togekiss and Dunsparce each possess an element of ParaFusion (T-Wave on Kiss and Swagger on Dunsparce respectively) so that when a fresh opposing Pokemon came out, the strategy could continue. Finally, the subs: Blissey was meant as a pure SpD wall alternative to Dunsparce (and though possessing probably the weakest Rock Slide in existence, still had a nice 60% flinch rate on both opposing Pokemon due to Serene Grace) and Lugia was a more sturdier alternative to Rotom-C (who from initial calcs I found to be a bit frail, but not as frail as I imagined it ended up being >.>).
Friday, June 25th:
I opted to come in late-night, as it happened to be the cheapest flight. Unfortunately, that also meant getting in at 1am, so after that and paying a nasty $25 to take a taxi to the hotel, I get myself situated and finish off my team. I end up deciding to forgo the TCG Nats that I originally thought of competing in for fun, which I don't regret; while the VGC had what, some 70? people out there, the TCG in comparison had over 700! people competing in just the Masters division alone...not to mention you need to get top 4 for the free trip to Worlds for it. I still end up going on over to see the mess for myself, meet up with some local AZ people that wish me good luck, picked up my $300 travel voucher (which didn't even cover the flight...) and did a bit of light shopping at the vendors. Fun stuff.
Saturday, June 26th:
I end up arriving about an hour early, so I sorta sat there on the bench half-dozing. Registration opens at 8am, I promptly enter and sign up, grabbing a rather nice t-shirt in the process. Stand on the sidelines, chatted with Xerograde for a bit, and we both wish each other good luck (though he had the odd feeling we'd be facing each other again lol).
So anyways, onto the rounds; note I don't remember 90% of names from 7 rounds, so forgive me if I didn't name you in person. Also didn't remember the teams exactly, but eh, I try my best with my limited memory capacity:
R1: vs Groudon, Tangrowth...something something
So, the first big test, and of course I get the lucky draw of facing something immune to paralysis. Anyways, we trade back and forth blows, myself eventually paralyzing all of his team (Groudon as well due to Dunsparce's Body Slam), and time is called with me up 3-1. It's also here I discover 20 minute fights really REALLY suck for this team; I knew they were running swiss, but I didn't know they'd be imposing a rather restrictive time limit to matches; in comparison, TCG matches run a min of 40 minutes, with a few more for sudden death if tied on prizes. Sigh...
1-0
R2: vs Bluecookies (not mentioning team yet, as he's in top 16)
Hey, I get to meet someone from online! :D
Anyways, all I can say is that this is where I discover fatal flaw 1 with my team: that the probability of something happening will never happen if I'm battling; he makes it through the parafusion and less than 30% chance of hitting me and pretty much polishes off my team. Maybe I should have stuck with Persian...
1-1
R3: vs Jayque with Kyogre, Dusknoir, Snorlax, Lapras
Scroll on down a few posts to read the log, he remembers it a lot better than I do lol.
1-2
R4: vs ??? with standard Ogre/top/Aboma/something or another
A bit dishearten at being down 1-2 already, I decide to try subbing in Lugia for Rotom to see if it yielded any different results...and of course, the one battle where Rotom would have been at his strongest ends up with him being AWOL >.>. So without my valuable Leaf Storm to ward off Ogre, he pretty much rolls over me with Blizzard.
1-3
R5: vs Xerograde with Dusknoir, Giratina, Blissey, Palkia
So by now I'm fairly pissed at myself, and I decide to ditch Dunsparce for Blissey, as I had a feeling even Blissey couldn't do any worse. I am also saddened to see Xerograde here; I know he got off to a better start than I did, and his team was pretty cool as well. Though it was pretty funny that he somehow forsaw us rematching...just wish it was under happier circumstances. He used a Toxic-stall approach (or at least that's what it seemed like to me), so it was a fun rematch of the Phoenix VGC semi-finals here. Eventually, I wear him down more and end up getting the win as time is called 3-1 and thus avenging my loss a month ago. I also realized fatal flaw 3 with this team; it just wasn't doing enough damage >.>
2-3
R6: vs ??? with Ogre, top...uh, something else in there too
So just to get embarrassed more, our fight gets put on the big screen for spectators to watch (boo). Anyways, this is literally the only battle where parafusion actually works and I end up winning like 2-0 or something. Even then, it almost came down to time...damn timer.
3-3
R7: vs ??? (sorry, forgot your smogon name) with Palkia, Infernape, Ogre, Croak
Well, I knew odds were that neither of us would make it regardless of a win (from my fun experience in TCG swiss rounds, those who end up fighting from the bottom up never make it in due to that wonderful ideology of opponent's win percentage and opponent's opponent's win percentage), and it didn't really matter as she ended up steamrolling over me, though it was amusing to see Rotom spam Protect for 6 rounds while she failed to KO it during them. Didn't hurt that she was pretty cute as well :D
3-4
So yeah, that's pretty much it. Hooked up with Imawario and got some very needed Uxie cards for my Regigigas deck (to which I am now indebted to him forever lol), went over and played a few TCG games at the mini-league going on, then headed on back to the hotel. Definitely had time to look and see what went wrong; mainly, besides parafusion and flinch not working worth a damn (though that wasn't the whole cause), the team itself was physically weak, and not capable of carrying out enough damage to actually KO threats. The time limit didn't help either...but yeah, if I could do things differently, I would firstly beg for Skymin usage, then pretty much revamp the concept from pure lockdown; ditch Lugia and Dunsparce (Blissey ended up being far more solid, and it was pretty damn funny seeing it use Rock Slide) for more sweeper-oriented Pokemon, like Palkia/ScarfOgre and something physical-oriented, like a Metagross or something with Fake Out. Don't plan on coming out tomorrow, events are only running till 3pm and having to drop some $30 a day to get there and back puts a big strain on my wallet. I am disappointed at myself, as I knew I could have done better if I'd ran something more...standard I guess. Oh well...there's always next year right? Another year, another Regional, and hopefully onto another Nationals and maybe even Worlds.
Props:
-Imawario, for being pure awesomeness, despite going 3-4 as well :(
Next year we'll take Nationals and Worlds right?
-Bluecookies, was nice to meet ya! Hope you beat whoever you get in top 16 for that trip to Hawaii
-PBB: Didn't see ya there (though I saw from pics you were somewhere), but you helped quite a bit with the team, for which I am thankful
-PUI, for putting on a great event. It was my first Nationals, and definitely was an enjoyable experience for the most part.
Slops:
-Rotom-C, for being pretty damn useless. So much for being a sturdy tank
>.>
-Lugia, for being almost as worthless; next time, I'm going with sweeper Lugia
-ParaFusion giving about a 30% chance of the opponent to do nothing, my fucking ass
-Flinch, much as the same reasons as above. Seriously, how the hell do they jump through 3 hoops to still attack?
-PUI, why the hell couldn't you do VGCs back before?
So anyways, here's what I came up with:
Giratina @ Lum Berry
Hasty, 252 Spe, 62 SpA, 116 HP, 80 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Swagger
-Shadow Force
-Draco Meteor
Rotom-C @ Sitrus Berry
Modest, 252 HP, 252 SpA, 6 Spe
-Thunder Wave
-Confuse Ray
-Leaf Storm
-Protect
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Modest, 252 HP, 252 SpA, 6 Spe
-Substitute
-Air Slash
-Aura Sphere
-Thunder Wave
Dunsparce @ Chesto Berry
Brave, 250 HP, 76 Def, 180 SpD, 4 Atk
-Substitute
-Swagger
-Body Slam
-Rock Slide
Alt 1: Blissey @ Chople Berry
Relaxed, 252 Def, 158 HP, 100 SpD
-Substitute
-Swagger
-Rock Slide
-Soft Boiled
Alt 2: Lugia @ Life Orb (more to just have Life Orb available if I wanted it)
Timid, 252 Spe, 252 HP, 6 SpD
-Thunder Wave
-Swagger
-Fly
-Roost
So where to begin...the basic concept would be to initially paralyze both opposing leads with my own, then subsequently next turn slap on confusion. From there, Giratina could Shadow Force and avoid some damage for a turn (or optionally strike out with Draco Meteor for big damage) and Rotom-C could blast away at opposing Water and Ground types. From there, once one of them dies, I bring in a flincher, set up the sub, and proceed to whittle away at them, essentially (at least in theory) locking them down until they eventually were KOed. Both Togekiss and Dunsparce each possess an element of ParaFusion (T-Wave on Kiss and Swagger on Dunsparce respectively) so that when a fresh opposing Pokemon came out, the strategy could continue. Finally, the subs: Blissey was meant as a pure SpD wall alternative to Dunsparce (and though possessing probably the weakest Rock Slide in existence, still had a nice 60% flinch rate on both opposing Pokemon due to Serene Grace) and Lugia was a more sturdier alternative to Rotom-C (who from initial calcs I found to be a bit frail, but not as frail as I imagined it ended up being >.>).
Friday, June 25th:
I opted to come in late-night, as it happened to be the cheapest flight. Unfortunately, that also meant getting in at 1am, so after that and paying a nasty $25 to take a taxi to the hotel, I get myself situated and finish off my team. I end up deciding to forgo the TCG Nats that I originally thought of competing in for fun, which I don't regret; while the VGC had what, some 70? people out there, the TCG in comparison had over 700! people competing in just the Masters division alone...not to mention you need to get top 4 for the free trip to Worlds for it. I still end up going on over to see the mess for myself, meet up with some local AZ people that wish me good luck, picked up my $300 travel voucher (which didn't even cover the flight...) and did a bit of light shopping at the vendors. Fun stuff.
Saturday, June 26th:
I end up arriving about an hour early, so I sorta sat there on the bench half-dozing. Registration opens at 8am, I promptly enter and sign up, grabbing a rather nice t-shirt in the process. Stand on the sidelines, chatted with Xerograde for a bit, and we both wish each other good luck (though he had the odd feeling we'd be facing each other again lol).
So anyways, onto the rounds; note I don't remember 90% of names from 7 rounds, so forgive me if I didn't name you in person. Also didn't remember the teams exactly, but eh, I try my best with my limited memory capacity:
R1: vs Groudon, Tangrowth...something something
So, the first big test, and of course I get the lucky draw of facing something immune to paralysis. Anyways, we trade back and forth blows, myself eventually paralyzing all of his team (Groudon as well due to Dunsparce's Body Slam), and time is called with me up 3-1. It's also here I discover 20 minute fights really REALLY suck for this team; I knew they were running swiss, but I didn't know they'd be imposing a rather restrictive time limit to matches; in comparison, TCG matches run a min of 40 minutes, with a few more for sudden death if tied on prizes. Sigh...
1-0
R2: vs Bluecookies (not mentioning team yet, as he's in top 16)
Hey, I get to meet someone from online! :D
Anyways, all I can say is that this is where I discover fatal flaw 1 with my team: that the probability of something happening will never happen if I'm battling; he makes it through the parafusion and less than 30% chance of hitting me and pretty much polishes off my team. Maybe I should have stuck with Persian...
1-1
R3: vs Jayque with Kyogre, Dusknoir, Snorlax, Lapras
Scroll on down a few posts to read the log, he remembers it a lot better than I do lol.
1-2
R4: vs ??? with standard Ogre/top/Aboma/something or another
A bit dishearten at being down 1-2 already, I decide to try subbing in Lugia for Rotom to see if it yielded any different results...and of course, the one battle where Rotom would have been at his strongest ends up with him being AWOL >.>. So without my valuable Leaf Storm to ward off Ogre, he pretty much rolls over me with Blizzard.
1-3
R5: vs Xerograde with Dusknoir, Giratina, Blissey, Palkia
So by now I'm fairly pissed at myself, and I decide to ditch Dunsparce for Blissey, as I had a feeling even Blissey couldn't do any worse. I am also saddened to see Xerograde here; I know he got off to a better start than I did, and his team was pretty cool as well. Though it was pretty funny that he somehow forsaw us rematching...just wish it was under happier circumstances. He used a Toxic-stall approach (or at least that's what it seemed like to me), so it was a fun rematch of the Phoenix VGC semi-finals here. Eventually, I wear him down more and end up getting the win as time is called 3-1 and thus avenging my loss a month ago. I also realized fatal flaw 3 with this team; it just wasn't doing enough damage >.>
2-3
R6: vs ??? with Ogre, top...uh, something else in there too
So just to get embarrassed more, our fight gets put on the big screen for spectators to watch (boo). Anyways, this is literally the only battle where parafusion actually works and I end up winning like 2-0 or something. Even then, it almost came down to time...damn timer.
3-3
R7: vs ??? (sorry, forgot your smogon name) with Palkia, Infernape, Ogre, Croak
Well, I knew odds were that neither of us would make it regardless of a win (from my fun experience in TCG swiss rounds, those who end up fighting from the bottom up never make it in due to that wonderful ideology of opponent's win percentage and opponent's opponent's win percentage), and it didn't really matter as she ended up steamrolling over me, though it was amusing to see Rotom spam Protect for 6 rounds while she failed to KO it during them. Didn't hurt that she was pretty cute as well :D
3-4
So yeah, that's pretty much it. Hooked up with Imawario and got some very needed Uxie cards for my Regigigas deck (to which I am now indebted to him forever lol), went over and played a few TCG games at the mini-league going on, then headed on back to the hotel. Definitely had time to look and see what went wrong; mainly, besides parafusion and flinch not working worth a damn (though that wasn't the whole cause), the team itself was physically weak, and not capable of carrying out enough damage to actually KO threats. The time limit didn't help either...but yeah, if I could do things differently, I would firstly beg for Skymin usage, then pretty much revamp the concept from pure lockdown; ditch Lugia and Dunsparce (Blissey ended up being far more solid, and it was pretty damn funny seeing it use Rock Slide) for more sweeper-oriented Pokemon, like Palkia/ScarfOgre and something physical-oriented, like a Metagross or something with Fake Out. Don't plan on coming out tomorrow, events are only running till 3pm and having to drop some $30 a day to get there and back puts a big strain on my wallet. I am disappointed at myself, as I knew I could have done better if I'd ran something more...standard I guess. Oh well...there's always next year right? Another year, another Regional, and hopefully onto another Nationals and maybe even Worlds.
Props:
-Imawario, for being pure awesomeness, despite going 3-4 as well :(
Next year we'll take Nationals and Worlds right?
-Bluecookies, was nice to meet ya! Hope you beat whoever you get in top 16 for that trip to Hawaii
-PBB: Didn't see ya there (though I saw from pics you were somewhere), but you helped quite a bit with the team, for which I am thankful
-PUI, for putting on a great event. It was my first Nationals, and definitely was an enjoyable experience for the most part.
Slops:
-Rotom-C, for being pretty damn useless. So much for being a sturdy tank
>.>
-Lugia, for being almost as worthless; next time, I'm going with sweeper Lugia
-ParaFusion giving about a 30% chance of the opponent to do nothing, my fucking ass
-Flinch, much as the same reasons as above. Seriously, how the hell do they jump through 3 hoops to still attack?
-PUI, why the hell couldn't you do VGCs back before?
