Reach For the Stars
A 2012 Seniors Nationals Warstory
A 2012 Seniors Nationals Warstory
Introduction
So, I was originally not going to write a warstory, due to the fact that I had not taken any pictures(half of the reason that people read warstories) and that I barely remembered most of my battles(the other half of the reason why people read wartories), but I decided to write one, partly due to the lack of warstories now. So, I hope you enjoy reading the journey of my first ever nationals tournament.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm TalkingLion, and I live in Northern Virginia. I got 2nd place at the Doswell Regional in November(which was my first VGC event) using Trick Room. About a week after regionals, I started testing out a team for nationals, despite it being over seven months away. I came up with this weird team of Tornadus / Hitmontop / Typhlosion / Kingdra / Garchomp / Abomasnow, that after months and months of battling, eventually evolved into the team that I used at nats.
Sonic (Garchomp) (F) @ Yache Berry
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 228 HP / 184 Atk / 96 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Rock Slide
It's everyone's favorite hedgehog! This is a pretty standard Garchomp set, except for the EV spread, which I got from Brandon. I don't know what it helps it do, but it worked out.
Shadow (Weavile) (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Low Kick
I don't know why people don't use Weavile that much. It's the fastest Fake Out user, and Ice Punch can KO Latios and hurt other Dragons, and also KO Zapdos after a Fake Out. Night Slash can help against Cresselia and other stuff, and Low Kick is there for Tyranitar and Heatran.
Tails (Zapdos) @ Electric Gem
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 136 HP / 252 SAtk / 120 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Tailwind
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Flying]
The main Tailwind setter on the team, Tails aids the team quite nicely and is also capable of dishing out damage. Thunderbolt can kill some Water and Flying types while Heat Wave is a good spread move. HP Flying is good against fighting types(mainly Hitmontop).
Blaze (Heatran) (F) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Taunt
Yes, I have Taunt on my Heatran. It counters TR so well and no one expects it. Heat Wave is a strong attack and is a lot stronger than a Heat Wave from Zapdos. Earth Power is for other Heatran/Chandelure/whatever Heat Wave cant kill. Shuca Berry can prevent Heatran from dying to Ground attacks which is cool.
Knuckles (Scizor) (M) @ Bug Gem
Trait: Technician
EVs: 84 HP / 252 Atk / 172 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bug Bite
- Tailwind
- Bullet Punch
- Protect
Scizor and Knuckles are both cool guys. With a Bug Gem, Bug Bite can KO a standard Cress most of the time, and with this EV spread Scizor can also outspeed it before it fires off an Icy Wind or Thunder Wave. Scizor also works as another Tailwind setter, in case Tails sucks and cant set it up. Bullet Punch is strong.
Silver (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Protect
The main powerhouse of the team, Silver shows no mercy. Draco Meteor can kill so much stuff its not even funny. HP Fire is there for Scizor and the rare Ferrothorn, and Psychic helps out against Fighting types(again, mainly Hitmontop.)
June 29th
I woke up at around 9, and headed downstairs to eat some breakfast. Today was also my mom's birthday, so we had french toast(yum). After eating that delicious meal, I headed upstairs to finish packing because I didn't do it the night before, and then at around 10 I headed to the airport with my dad. We checked in and stuff, and got to our gate at about 11. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 12:15, so I did random stuff on my kindle to occupy myself until then. However, our flight ended up getting delayed by about an hour, so I bought a doughnut as I was getting hungry. I board the plane, and then wait about half an hour until we take of because getting delayed sucks. The plane ends up taking off a little before 2, which was when we were supposed to arrive in Indy. About 30 minutes or so into the flight, the pilot says that there are mechanical issues, so we have to turn back -.-
So the plane lands back in VA, and everyone has to wait there for another 2 hours so that we can catch a different flight. The next flight fortunately lands in Indy, but I ended up missing preregistration. I check into the Crowne Plaza, where we somehow get the executive room by mistake, and then head to the Convention Center at around 8. There I met up with strong trainers kingofkongs, Maski, and Snake. We go to the food court because we're hungry(The last food I ate was the french toast for breakfast.) There we met up with Cybertron, ate, and then walked to Stake N Shake, talking about our teams and such. I
June 30th
I wake up at about 8, eat some cereal, and then go to the convention center. I meet up with Dimsun again, after first meeting him at VA. Who knew that 12th place at a 28 person regional would end up getting top 4? I watch some of the Master's battles, as more seniors start to arrive. At around one, I head to the food court with kingofkongs, Cybertron, TheCalmSnivy, Jrank, Lucien, V17, AlphaOmega, Snake, and Babbytron. We end up getting rick
Round 3:
Vs. Thomas I. (KeepBayleefing)
Weavile / Zapdos / Garchomp / Latios Vs.Thundurus / Hitmontop / Tyranitar / Gastrodon
I see the pairing, and see that I am facing another person with byes. When I arrive to the table, I find out that my opponent is KeepBayleefing, the Philly winner, and someone who I faced many times on PO that I didn't want to battle here. Most of our battles were pretty close, and it's a shame that this one wasn't the same as the others. I use my standard lead, Zapdos and Weavile, while he leads with Thundurs and Hitmontop(I think). As I said in the beginning, I don't remember much of my battles, but I end up getting a Heat Wave burn on his Tyranitar, which really put me at an advantage. In the end it's his Gastrodon against my Garchomp and Latios. His game ends up freezing though, so the battle never finished, even though it was pretty clear that I would win. I'm still sorry for the burn, both of our days would have been entirely different if that didn't happen.
Round 4
Vs. Chris P.
Zapdos / Weavile / Latios / Scizor Vs. ??? / ??? / Latios / Crawdaunt
When I see Crawdaunt in the team preview, I immediately give this guy props for using that thing. It's pretty strong with Tailwind Support and Adaptability, and that is exactly what this guys uses. I don't remember what his leads were, since I took them out quite quickly. His Latios and Crawdaunt gave me trouble, and I had to switch Weavile out multiple times so that I could reuse Fake Out. I win 2-0 thanks to him mispredicting and Protecting the wrong pokemon in the end, so I'm 4-0 at this point.
Round 5
Vs. Caleb R. (BlitznBurst)
Weavile / Zapdos / Latios / Garchomp Vs. Togekiss / Weavile / ??? / ???
I'm now facing a strong Team Magma Trainer, BlitznBurst. I really don't remember much of this battle at all, but he was using a pretty cool team and his Weavile kept on winning the speed tie against mine(not that it mattered, but it made him think I was running Adamant). In the end, I beat him, and he tells me that he was sort of happy that he lost to me because my team is so super awesome and should totally win the whole thing.
Vs. Aaron Zheng (if you don't know who this is then you seriously shouldn't be reading this)
Zapdos / Weavile / Scizor / Latios Vs. Cresselia / Hitmontop / Garchomp /Thundurus
When I see that I have to go up against the defending National Champ, I know that my streak is coming to an end. Dimsun wishes me good luck, and I head to Table 1. When I see his team I'm thinking that his team is pretty standard, but since it's Cybertron I'm pretty sure he's gonna have a few tricks up his sleeve. The battle starts, and I double target his Hitmontop with Fake Out and Hidden Power Flying, the latter ends up getting a crit which could have turned the whole game around :/ Really sorry about that man. From this point on I have control of the match, and I end up winning 2-0.
Round 7
Vs. Gavin M. (kingofkongs)
Zapdos / Weavile / Scizor / Latios Vs. some nob rain room team that kok used
So now I'm against kingofkongs, who helped me with my TR team for Doswell, and won the Smogon tourney. I had battled him on PO a few days before, and was expecting to lose as his team completely countered mine. Just like I expected, the power of Rain and TR(Team Sonic's two main weaknesses) are too much, and I accept my first loss of the day.
Round 8
Vs. Mackenzee
Weavile / Scizor / Heatran / Latios Vs. ??? / ??? / Abomasnow / Chandelure
Not only did I finally use Heatran, but I was also battling a girl :o Since when do they play Pokemon? Since both of us were 6-1 at this point, neither of us really cared about how this battle went. I ended up beating her though with Heatran Heat Waving everything and not missing. The battle next to me was kok vs. lolfailsnail, where kok was using dice to decide his moves, lol. He ends up losing because dice hate him, but he's just happy that he made top cut. The final Standngs go up, and I see that I somehow made it as second seed :o This was partly due to my byes, and also the fact that everyone I played against also made top cut. While a lot of strong trainers got in, there were also a few that didn't (Maski, Jrank, Lucien, V17).
Now everyone is hungry so I go to Steak N Shake with kok, TheCalmSnivy, V17, Drifblim, Lucien, Jrank, and Maski. I wanted to be a part of the Multi Battle while we waited for food but there was too many of us so I couldn't participate. Our food finally arrives after what seems like forever but I eat my delicious burger and Maski eats about half of my fries. We head out, but then find out that we left Lucien in the bathroom :/ whoops... We go back to get Lucien and then go to the Crowne Plaza, where most of us get our stuff for swimming, but the pool is too crowded. Maski decides to go to her hotel, but first we go to her hotel room to do some team scouting, which we don't do much of. We go to the pool but after like 10 minutes they kick us out because it's late. I head back to the Crowne Plaza with Drifblim, who isn't wearing shoes so we have to go slowly. We also nearly get lost but eventually find our way. Once again, I crash on the couch to get some well needed rest for top cut the next day.
June 31st
So I get up at around 7:45, since top cut starts at 8:30 I eat some cereal and then head out to the convention center. I am ready for some battles against other strong trainers, and it turns out that my battles are going to be on the screen cause they know how awesome my team is.
Top 32
Vs. Ryan
Game 1
Zapdos / Weavile / Latios / Garchomp Vs. Tyranitar / Garchomp / Zapdos /Scizor
I'm pretty nervous going into this battle, as I see that his team is pretty similar to mine. I set up Tailwind quickly, and then Low Kick his Tyranitar, which doesn't KO because it has Chople. He then SuperPowers me, and Weavile goes down. Zapdos KO's Garchomp in the meantime. He brings in Zapdos and I bring in Scizor. I act stupid and Bullet Punch the Tyranitar, which Protects. While his Zapdos misses the Heat Wave. Phew! For some reason I think he's going to keep Ttar in, so I Bullet Punch again, but he switches in to Scizor, and his Zapdos hits with Heat Wave this time. I then KO his Zapdos with my Zapdos, but then I die to Sandstorm damage. Now its my Latios against his Tyranitar and Scizor. Knowing that both of them can KO me, I say good game. I HP fire the Scizor, and for some weird reason he Superpowers me instead of Crunch. um wut? I then Draco Meteor him, KO, and win the first game.
Game 2
Weavile / Scizor / Latios / Garchomp Vs. Tyranitar / Latios / Scizor / Garchomp
I'm a bit less nervous after winning the first match, but I know that he can win the next two matches to advance. I use my alternate lead for this match, and I see him with a different lead as well. I Ice Punch the Latios as opposed to Fake Out, since I know that Ttar will KO me this turn. Scizor sets up Tailwind, allowing me to outspeed and stuff. I bring in Latios, and from here it's easy sweeping to let me go into the Top 16.
Top 16
Vs. Zach
Game 1
Zapdos / Weavile / Garchomp / Latios Vs. Politoed / Ludicolo / Kingdra / Toxicroak
This guy beat Drifblim last round, and he's using Rain, so I'm expecting to lose this battle. Some stuff happens that ends with me misclicking Thunderbolt so I lose.
Game 2
Weavile / Scizor / Latios / Zapdos Vs. Politoed / Ludicolo /Kingdra / Toxicroak
Since he's using a rain team he uses the same stuff. I Protect with Scizor predicting him to Fake Out it to prevent my Tailwind, but he doesn't even know that Scizor can Tailwind so he Fakes Out Weavile instead and surfs with Politoed. Then Ludicolo Hydro Pumps Scizor and it dies while Weavile Ice Punches it and freezes, which doesn't really matter that much. Politoed then KOes Weavile with Surf, and I bring in Zapdos and Weavile who KO Ludicolo and Politoed but Latios gets frozen in the process so I lose.
Final Ranking: 10th Place
All in all I think I did really well for my first time at Nationals and my second event. I met a lot of cool people and had a really great time. Hopefully I can attend nats next year!(as a master though so I'm gonna get smashed).
Pros:
Going 7-1
Making Top 16
Meeting a lot of cool people
Having a great time
Beating the champion
Eating at Steak N Shake
Cons:
Losing to such a standard rain team
Not getting to meet as many people as I hoped
Being a QuietLion for most of the weekend
Haxing Cybertron and KeepBayleefing
Good luck to everyone at Worlds, I hope you all do well, and see you next season!
ok
#seniors, I'm on the right rocking my Sonic Shirt
will probably add more stuff later on but I've been working on this since 3 AM so i'm tired now
