After playing VGC and officially switching from OU type battles to VGC four weeks ago, I got help from some of the best players in the country. Who helped me get here, I would like to thank a few people: Ditto for giving me the awesome Kyogre, MattJ for giving me the Palkia, and VashtheStampede for answering all my nooby questions, and everyone from Skarmbliss and Smogon that helped me practice. This is my experience at the 2010 San Mateo VGC. It was a great time, and I got to meet some really cool people. I won't talk about my way there and back since it was really crazy, but just about what happend there.
My Feelings Beforehand
Since this was my first ever VGC tournament. As I was making my way there pressure set in, did I waste all this time and money to get here and am I going to lose Round 1? I knew that I pretty much had to get Top 16, because I REALLY wanted to go to Nationals. I believe this pressure is what made me play to my full potential.
The Team
After running out of time to create I team I pulled something together, and ran some practice matches. To my surprise it worked well, so I decided to use it in the tournament.
Leads:
Kangaskhan@Chesto Berry/Life Orb TookMyBaby
Adamant, Scrappy
158 HP, 252 Atk, 100 Speed
Fake Out
Sucker Punch
Low Kick
Protect
To shut down Scarf lead Giratinas, out speed Hitmontop, and hit Dialga, Abomasnow, Mewtwo, Tyranitar etc. extremely hard.
Palkia@Haban Berry Lavos
Timid, Pressure
6 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Special Rend
Thunder
Blizzard
Protect
Basically to run in the most common weather conditions and hit hard is this guys goal.
Backup
Kyogre@Choice Scarf Zeromus
Modest, Drizzle
6 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Water Spout
Blizzard
Thunder
Hidden Power (Flying)
Late game sweeper. Water spout is obvious and Hidden Power Flying threw many people off, and was used to take out opposing Ludicolo, Abomasnow, fighting types. Blizzard to hit hard in Hail.
Abomasnow@Lum Berry VashTS
Quiet, Snow Warning
252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 6 Atk
Blizzard
Ice Shard
Grass Knot
Protect
Switch in to opposing weather bringers early game, and to stop lead Scarf Water Spout Kyogre in it's tracks. Then pwn with Blizzard.
Sorry for lack of detail on team, but overall my mvps of the day were Kangaskan, and Abomasnow.
The Arrival
I arrived at the convention center roughly around 11:20, and was surrounded by really cool people. The people in front of me had an extra team info sheet which they gave me. I filled it out then I started talking to the people behind me. The people behind me were very familiar with VGC a woman's son had won the Seattle VGC, another person placed in the top 8 in Worlds 2008, and another guy with them was very good at VGC style play. I had a practice match with him, he actually beat me in this match, and I was quite impressed with his team (doesn't want me to give it out).
The guy I played and hung out with the entire time
Since we had to wait another hour before we got in, I decided to go inside to see a junior match. The first thing I see is a Gliscor using Guillotine on a Dragonite, and it hits. Next thing I know he hits with Guillotine again! I walk outside and I see BadIntent, Huy, Duy, some other Duck, and PBB. (Was too intimidated to say hi!) In the line to get to the convention center I saw BadIntent was two people behind me.
The Epic Quest Awaits
As we walked in we went through standard procedures of checking teams, and getting wristbands etc. As we waited in line I took some creepy candid photos of BadIntent.
The people I was with told me how they were going to make sure we got good draws, and spread out. We waited until we though we saw a huge group of noobs, and one of us jumped in. Something funny that happend here was when we saw some Indian guy (who ended up being Siddarth), we decided we should stay far away from him because he looked serious. I was second in our group to hop in the line, which eventually led me to the preliminary area. I was extremely nervous before this match, because I had no idea what to expect. But once I got into the match all that was over.
Round 1:
This guy was so bad I don't even remember it, all I remember is I won 4-0, and just Water Spouted his whole team.
4-0
Round 2:
Oh man minimize to the max. He led with a Metagross, and Drifblim. With the leads I thought he could MAYBE be serious, but he didn't end up being good at all. All he did was Minimize with Drifblim the entire game so I was not scared of anything. I took out Metagross with a double target, in case of explosion. But I ended up only needing one Lowkick since I doubt it was EV trained. He then sent in Swampert which I pwned, then sent in like a Charizard which I thundered.
4-0
Round 3:
At least this guy seemed to EV train and he used ubers. I don't really remember this match but he led with a Cresselia, and Kyogre. After that don't remember much but it was a 3-0.
Round of 64
Well here is where I played my first good player (really good). Right when I was sent to the station with him I said in my head "damn it's that Indian guy!". But once we got talking I found out he was a really cool guy.
Him: "Do you know how to Ev train, Iv Breed and stuff"
Me: "Yes
Him: "Good no one I have played so far knows how to even EV train"
Me: "Yeah same here, so far the people here haven't been very good"
Him: "Do you go to any competitive sites?"
Me: "Have you ever heard of Skarmbliss?"
Him: "Wait what's your name on there?"
Me: "FMasamune"
Him: "Hey it's Sid!"
Me: "Wow nice to meet you!"
Him: "Happy belated birthday!"
Me: "Thanks! After our match we need to get a picture"
Him: "Alright, good luck"
This match got me scared, I really wished we could've played each other at least after we got to the finalists lounge. He led with Abomasnow, and Mewtwo. I used Fake Out on Mewtwo, and don't remember what else I did first turn. He used Blizzard with Abomasnow, which did some nice damage to both of my pokes. Next turn I used Sucker Punch on his Mewtwo doing some nice damage, and I think I protected with Palkia. I predict him switching out with Mewtwo predicting another Sucker Punch. So I Low Kick Aboma, and Blizzard with Palkia. He takes out Palkia I believe and I Water Spout with Kyogre the rest of the match or something like that don't remember. I don't even remember the score but it was a good match. Afterwards we had a judge lady take a pic of us.
Me and Siddarth
The Final Countdown!
Now I headed into the Finalists Lounge, since they said that the Round of 32 would start at 4:15. I noticed Duy, Huy, and some other Smogon guys made it. I asked "Do you know if BadIntent made it?", and they said "No". Then they ignored me. The guy I hung out with before starting my first match also made it into Round of 32.
Me in Finalists Lounge
My new friend in the Lounge.
After waiting a bit, it seemed that there were not exactly 32 people there. So three people got buys. A judge had a stack of Pokemon cards, and he said those that got the three Water energy cards got the buy. When it was my turn to draw I drew a Psychic Energy card. I headed into the area with the rest of the competitors left. I got some random guy named Eric, who ended up being pretty good if I remember correctly. I looked over to see who my friend had to play and he had to play the legendary Chris Tsai! I knew that was not good for him, and I played my match.
Round of 32:
I seriously don't remember this match at all except that he had a Kyogre somewhere. I know I played quite well here, and ended up winning 3-0.
Round of 16:
Now that I knew I was going to Nats, ALL pressure was taken off my shoulders. I played some guy that Zerowing gave his Seattle team to. He told me his name on Smogon was like Lori or something. He seemed really nervous before this match. Since I knew exactly what his guys were going to do, I used Fake Out on Hitmontop, and Thunder on Kyogre. From then on it's a blur, but I knew exactly what his team was, so that made it much easier.
Round of 8:
Definately my most epic match of the day. Too bad whenever I wanted to save a Battle video on the the DS, it always froze. Anyway again I don't really remember his Pokemon, but I think he had a Weavile, and Giratina lead. After that don't remember much except that he had a Meta, and Gira out at the same time. I thought he was going to explode, but he tricked me and used Substitute. Which gave me lots of trouble. I eventually won off a Thunder by Kyogre making me win 1-0. Though this match was epic, this guy took FOREVER to think. Each turn he took at least 5 minutes to make a move, that even the judges commented on it. After the match, this guy was a really good sport, and gave me a nice hand shake and good luck. The judge then told me I was getting a DSi and $300 dollars towards going to nats (which I had no idea about when playing). This made me really happy, but now I got really nervous thinking I was in the Semis.
Round of 4
I think this guy's name was Ryan. He led with Palkia and Hitmontop. I use Fake Out on the Top and protected with Palkia expecting a Special Rend. To my surprise he was running a TR Palkia, which sort of screwed me up. I knew that I needed to take out Palkia, then outstall the TR. Hitmontop killed Kangaskhan, then I sent in Kyogre for some reason (don't remember why). But that turn he got a crit on Kyogre with his Palkia taking it out. From then on I knew there was no hope. After Kyogre was taken out TR ended. (The turn I send in min. speed Aboma). Then he gets a crit on Aboma and it's over.
0-3/2? Loss. Would've been much different without the two crits.
The guy was really cool and shook my hand.
Then I was sent to go get my new DSi and fill out paperwork. Then I got a bunch of photos with Duy, Deagle, TheLoliverse. That pretty much is my story in a nutshell, for paying nothing I got $300 plus a DSi, and allowed to participate in Nats. (Not too bad)
Also I had a blast and met some really cool people.
My Feelings Beforehand
Since this was my first ever VGC tournament. As I was making my way there pressure set in, did I waste all this time and money to get here and am I going to lose Round 1? I knew that I pretty much had to get Top 16, because I REALLY wanted to go to Nationals. I believe this pressure is what made me play to my full potential.
The Team
After running out of time to create I team I pulled something together, and ran some practice matches. To my surprise it worked well, so I decided to use it in the tournament.
Leads:
Kangaskhan@Chesto Berry/Life Orb TookMyBaby
Adamant, Scrappy
158 HP, 252 Atk, 100 Speed
Fake Out
Sucker Punch
Low Kick
Protect
To shut down Scarf lead Giratinas, out speed Hitmontop, and hit Dialga, Abomasnow, Mewtwo, Tyranitar etc. extremely hard.
Palkia@Haban Berry Lavos
Timid, Pressure
6 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Special Rend
Thunder
Blizzard
Protect
Basically to run in the most common weather conditions and hit hard is this guys goal.
Backup
Kyogre@Choice Scarf Zeromus
Modest, Drizzle
6 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Water Spout
Blizzard
Thunder
Hidden Power (Flying)
Late game sweeper. Water spout is obvious and Hidden Power Flying threw many people off, and was used to take out opposing Ludicolo, Abomasnow, fighting types. Blizzard to hit hard in Hail.
Abomasnow@Lum Berry VashTS
Quiet, Snow Warning
252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 6 Atk
Blizzard
Ice Shard
Grass Knot
Protect
Switch in to opposing weather bringers early game, and to stop lead Scarf Water Spout Kyogre in it's tracks. Then pwn with Blizzard.
Sorry for lack of detail on team, but overall my mvps of the day were Kangaskan, and Abomasnow.
The Arrival
I arrived at the convention center roughly around 11:20, and was surrounded by really cool people. The people in front of me had an extra team info sheet which they gave me. I filled it out then I started talking to the people behind me. The people behind me were very familiar with VGC a woman's son had won the Seattle VGC, another person placed in the top 8 in Worlds 2008, and another guy with them was very good at VGC style play. I had a practice match with him, he actually beat me in this match, and I was quite impressed with his team (doesn't want me to give it out).
The guy I played and hung out with the entire time
Since we had to wait another hour before we got in, I decided to go inside to see a junior match. The first thing I see is a Gliscor using Guillotine on a Dragonite, and it hits. Next thing I know he hits with Guillotine again! I walk outside and I see BadIntent, Huy, Duy, some other Duck, and PBB. (Was too intimidated to say hi!) In the line to get to the convention center I saw BadIntent was two people behind me.
The Epic Quest Awaits
As we walked in we went through standard procedures of checking teams, and getting wristbands etc. As we waited in line I took some creepy candid photos of BadIntent.
The people I was with told me how they were going to make sure we got good draws, and spread out. We waited until we though we saw a huge group of noobs, and one of us jumped in. Something funny that happend here was when we saw some Indian guy (who ended up being Siddarth), we decided we should stay far away from him because he looked serious. I was second in our group to hop in the line, which eventually led me to the preliminary area. I was extremely nervous before this match, because I had no idea what to expect. But once I got into the match all that was over.
Round 1:
This guy was so bad I don't even remember it, all I remember is I won 4-0, and just Water Spouted his whole team.
4-0
Round 2:
Oh man minimize to the max. He led with a Metagross, and Drifblim. With the leads I thought he could MAYBE be serious, but he didn't end up being good at all. All he did was Minimize with Drifblim the entire game so I was not scared of anything. I took out Metagross with a double target, in case of explosion. But I ended up only needing one Lowkick since I doubt it was EV trained. He then sent in Swampert which I pwned, then sent in like a Charizard which I thundered.
4-0
Round 3:
At least this guy seemed to EV train and he used ubers. I don't really remember this match but he led with a Cresselia, and Kyogre. After that don't remember much but it was a 3-0.
Round of 64
Well here is where I played my first good player (really good). Right when I was sent to the station with him I said in my head "damn it's that Indian guy!". But once we got talking I found out he was a really cool guy.
Him: "Do you know how to Ev train, Iv Breed and stuff"
Me: "Yes
Him: "Good no one I have played so far knows how to even EV train"
Me: "Yeah same here, so far the people here haven't been very good"
Him: "Do you go to any competitive sites?"
Me: "Have you ever heard of Skarmbliss?"
Him: "Wait what's your name on there?"
Me: "FMasamune"
Him: "Hey it's Sid!"
Me: "Wow nice to meet you!"
Him: "Happy belated birthday!"
Me: "Thanks! After our match we need to get a picture"
Him: "Alright, good luck"
This match got me scared, I really wished we could've played each other at least after we got to the finalists lounge. He led with Abomasnow, and Mewtwo. I used Fake Out on Mewtwo, and don't remember what else I did first turn. He used Blizzard with Abomasnow, which did some nice damage to both of my pokes. Next turn I used Sucker Punch on his Mewtwo doing some nice damage, and I think I protected with Palkia. I predict him switching out with Mewtwo predicting another Sucker Punch. So I Low Kick Aboma, and Blizzard with Palkia. He takes out Palkia I believe and I Water Spout with Kyogre the rest of the match or something like that don't remember. I don't even remember the score but it was a good match. Afterwards we had a judge lady take a pic of us.
Me and Siddarth
The Final Countdown!
Now I headed into the Finalists Lounge, since they said that the Round of 32 would start at 4:15. I noticed Duy, Huy, and some other Smogon guys made it. I asked "Do you know if BadIntent made it?", and they said "No". Then they ignored me. The guy I hung out with before starting my first match also made it into Round of 32.
Me in Finalists Lounge
My new friend in the Lounge.
After waiting a bit, it seemed that there were not exactly 32 people there. So three people got buys. A judge had a stack of Pokemon cards, and he said those that got the three Water energy cards got the buy. When it was my turn to draw I drew a Psychic Energy card. I headed into the area with the rest of the competitors left. I got some random guy named Eric, who ended up being pretty good if I remember correctly. I looked over to see who my friend had to play and he had to play the legendary Chris Tsai! I knew that was not good for him, and I played my match.
Round of 32:
I seriously don't remember this match at all except that he had a Kyogre somewhere. I know I played quite well here, and ended up winning 3-0.
Round of 16:
Now that I knew I was going to Nats, ALL pressure was taken off my shoulders. I played some guy that Zerowing gave his Seattle team to. He told me his name on Smogon was like Lori or something. He seemed really nervous before this match. Since I knew exactly what his guys were going to do, I used Fake Out on Hitmontop, and Thunder on Kyogre. From then on it's a blur, but I knew exactly what his team was, so that made it much easier.
Round of 8:
Definately my most epic match of the day. Too bad whenever I wanted to save a Battle video on the the DS, it always froze. Anyway again I don't really remember his Pokemon, but I think he had a Weavile, and Giratina lead. After that don't remember much except that he had a Meta, and Gira out at the same time. I thought he was going to explode, but he tricked me and used Substitute. Which gave me lots of trouble. I eventually won off a Thunder by Kyogre making me win 1-0. Though this match was epic, this guy took FOREVER to think. Each turn he took at least 5 minutes to make a move, that even the judges commented on it. After the match, this guy was a really good sport, and gave me a nice hand shake and good luck. The judge then told me I was getting a DSi and $300 dollars towards going to nats (which I had no idea about when playing). This made me really happy, but now I got really nervous thinking I was in the Semis.
Round of 4
I think this guy's name was Ryan. He led with Palkia and Hitmontop. I use Fake Out on the Top and protected with Palkia expecting a Special Rend. To my surprise he was running a TR Palkia, which sort of screwed me up. I knew that I needed to take out Palkia, then outstall the TR. Hitmontop killed Kangaskhan, then I sent in Kyogre for some reason (don't remember why). But that turn he got a crit on Kyogre with his Palkia taking it out. From then on I knew there was no hope. After Kyogre was taken out TR ended. (The turn I send in min. speed Aboma). Then he gets a crit on Aboma and it's over.
0-3/2? Loss. Would've been much different without the two crits.
The guy was really cool and shook my hand.
Then I was sent to go get my new DSi and fill out paperwork. Then I got a bunch of photos with Duy, Deagle, TheLoliverse. That pretty much is my story in a nutshell, for paying nothing I got $300 plus a DSi, and allowed to participate in Nats. (Not too bad)
Also I had a blast and met some really cool people.
