Official TPCI Pokemon Tournament 2009 | Congrats to all who participated!!

[makiri]

The official website
List of people going to each event

6/20 Paris Tournament links:
The final European tournament took place with Honchkrow taking first and winning a trip to compete at the Worlds in San Diego. Nationals are this weekend, and with Smogon winning 5 of the 6 regionals and a few other prize winners we are primed to do well. If you are competing good luck and make Smogon proud (and try not to face eachother during the swiss rounds)!
Paris Finals

6/13 Nashville and Berlin Tournament links:
The second of the European tournaments took place with drug_duck taking the top prize which includes a trip to the world championships in San Diego. The final Euro tournament is this weekend, with the Nationals the following weekend, good luck to everyone going!
Nashville Finals
Berlin Finals
tad38's Nashville Warstory (Observer)
drug_duck's Berlin Warstory (Winner)
3,14159's Berlin Warstory (Participant)


6/6 Philly Tournament links:
The largest tournament by far of the VGC, 600+ people showed up including a large number of Smogoners, with most of them being turned away, however despite the setback, Pokethan nabbed first place (Smogon's 4th straight victory) and VashTheStampede got second. Congrats to those two and good luck to the Nashville and Berlin participants this weekend.
Philly Finals
TTS' Warstory (Observer)
Pokethan's Warstory (Winner)
Jonathan's Warstory (Participant)
sandman's Warstory (Participant)
Mosquitox216's Warstory (Observer)


5/30 London and Dallas Tournament links:
The first of the European tournaments took place today with UltimateUnknown taking first, and Wichu's brother claiming the top spot in the Junior division. The Dallas tournament also happened today with Alakapimp and NestW both earning trips to St. Louis.
Dallas Finals
London Finals
Kinnea's London Warstory (Participant)
Akira_SquirtleSquad's London Warstory (Participant)
Havak's London Warstory (Participant)
Tyler422's Dallas Warstory (Participant)
Captain K.'s Dallas Warstory (2nd Place)
Alakapimp's Dallas Warstory (Winner)

5/23 Phoenix Tournament links:
Today, just over 200 people showed up at the Phoenix Convention Center to take part in the continuation of the Video Game Championship Series. The battles were intense, but yours truly emerged victorious and earned a trip to the Video Game Nationals in St Louis. Congrats to me, and good luck to everyone participating in London and Dallas this upcoming weekend.
Finals
zerowing's Warstory (Winner)
OmegaDonut's highlights (Participant)


5/16 San Francisco Tournament links:
On May 16 nearly 300 Pokemon trainers showed up in San Francisco ready to battle including our very own Siddarth and batpig, who both placed in the top 4, Siddarth placing 3rd and batpig winning the whole tournament. Congrats to Siddarth and batpig for a great showing, and once again good luck to everyone participating this weekend in Phoenix!
Finals
batpig's Warstory (Winner)
Siddarth's Warstory (3rd Place Tie)


5/9 Seattle Tournament links:
Upwards of 200 people showed up to the Seattle Tournament on May 9, with our very own Diesel placing second and winning a trip to the Nationals in St Louis. Congrats Diesel, and good luck to everyone who plans on playing in San Francisco this weekend!
Finals
Diesel's Warstory (2nd Place)
Ultimadra's Warstory (Participant)



________________________________

Dates:
May 9: Seattle, Washington
May 16: San Francisco, California
May 23: Phoenix, Arizona
May 30: Dallas, Texas
June 6: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 13: Nashville, Tennessee
June 27: St. Louis, Missouri
August 14: San Diego, California (Worlds Invite Only)

Additionally there are several European tournaments:
May 30: London, United Kingdom
June 13: Berlin, Germany
June 20: Paris, France

Show up at a Pokémon Video Game tournament ready to play! Don't forget to bring these important items when you arrive at an official event.

• A North American copy of Pokémon™ Platinum Version for the Nintendo DS™
• A team of legal Pokémon per the Tournament Regulations
• A completed Team Information Sheet
• Proof of age
• Registrants wishing to receive Shiny Milotic are encouraged to bring their own Nintendo DS. Shiny Milotic will only be distributed to tournament registrants, and only one Shiny Milotic will be available per person.

Battle Rules:
Rules can be read here

[B]Banned[/B]

150 – Mewtwo    
151 – Mew    
248 – Tyranitar
249 – Lugia    
250 – Ho-Oh    
251 – Celebi    
382 – Kyogre    
383 – Groudon    
384 – Rayquaza    
385 – Jirachi
386 – Deoxys
479 – Rotom
483 – Dialga
484 – Palkia
487 – Giratina
489 – Phione
490 – Manaphy
491 – Darkrai
492 – Shaymin

[B]Banned Items [/B]

Soul Dew

[B]Banned Moves[/B]

Judgment

______________________Pre-April 8 Things_________________________

/edit: If you want to make a team, post a well thought out thread in the RMT section and just post a link to it in here. This way, you can get your team fully rated and I can make sure people aren't trying to post sub-standard RMTs while trying to bypass the RMT forum rules. - Obi

NEWS UPDATE 2/20 The 2009 Video Game Showdown has been officially announced for the United States and Europe, you can read the announcement here. The rules that have been revealed are what we pretty much knew already, Double Cup, Level 50 limit, and each competitor must use Platinum. Look for new updates in the coming weeks.

PLEASE READ: Do not make this topic a debate about "cheating" or what you think the hack checkers can check, stay on topic and discuss VGS strategies or any info that gets revealed in the future. Basically don't mention Pokesav, Pokesav breeding, AR codes, or how to beat hack checks, or you will be infracted from this point forward. Stay on topic and do not discuss trying to "beat" hack checks here on Smogon.

With the 2008 Pokemon Video Game Showdown in the books and next years tournament looming, I've decided to make a new thread for discussion of the 2009 Showdown and a wrap up of the 2008 Showdown. Original thread here.

First info on the 2009 Showdown:
The tournament is currently going on in Japan, with rules similar to last year. Seems to be a Platinum only affair, but if someone can confirm this please do. There is an updated ban list, with a few things added and a few things removed, most notably Heatran, Dragonite and Rotom.

The rules are still 2vs2 Double Cup and if you would like to check out the Japanese website its here. There is no word on any US, Canadian, etc tournament as of yet. This post will be updated as news comes in.

Japanese Qualifier Results:
Hyogo Finals - Rain Dance Team
Hyogo Champion vs Challenger
Kagoshima Semi-Finals - Trick Room Team
Miyagi Finals - OU Pokemon
Saitama Finals - OU Pokemon
Tokushima/Chiba Winning Teams
Fukuoka Winning Team
Shizuoka/Nigata Winning Teams
Yamaguchi/Nagano Winning Teams
Ishikawa/Wakayama/Iwate/Yamanashi/Shimane/Ehime Winning Teams
Osaka/Toyama/Kochi/Kumamoto Winning Teams
Tochigi/Aichi/Oita/Hiroshima
Mie/Kagawa/Miyazaki Winning Teams
Kanagawa/Tokyo/Gunma/Okayama/Nara Winning Teams
Tokyo/Gifu Winning Teams

Thanks to micuat for all the info related to tournaments in Japan.

 

[makiri]

Last years tournament pit trainers from the US and Japan against each other for the first Pokemon Video Game Showdown, 16 trainers from each country participated. Quite a few trainers from Smogon participated in the two qualifying tournaments in Los Angeles and New York City, and several made it all the way to Orlando, the site of the finals. If I am missing your warstory just shoot me a PM.

Los Angeles Showdown:
zerowing's warstory (includes many pictures from yamipoli and OmegaDonut)
omni's warstory
POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN's warstory
LA Showdown Finals part 1
LA Showdown Finals part 2

New York City Showdown:
Bonta-kun's warstory (champion)
kindnug's warstory
Expert Evan's warstory
XxBlueCookiesXx's warstory
Hikari Meoru's warstory
NYC Showdown Finals part 1
NYC Showdown Finals part 2

Orlando Showdown:
POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN's warstory
Orlando Finals
Bracket of the Orlando Showdown Tournament
Bracket of the Orlando Showdown Tournament with pictures (omits the first round)

 

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

I am really excited for this year's tournament. The first of the japanese tournament segments has taken place over the weekend, and the winner was using a rain team. IMO They will have more than just Japan and USA, since it says on that website "World 2009". This could quite possibly include Canada and Europe.



credit to micuat for this winning senior team:

Jolteon @ focus sash
- rain dance
- thunder
- hidden power(ice)
- protect

Ludicolo @ sitrus berry
- fake out
- hydro pump
- grass knot
- protect

Kingdra @ life orb
- hydro pump
- dragon pulse
- protect
- toxic

Metagross @ shuca berry
- meteor mash
- bullet punch
- explosion
- protect




edit = zerowing, here's a link to where it says it's Platinum only, along with the other rules: http://74.125.93.104/translate_c?hl.../game/&usg=ALkJrhhDZz-3AcPDs6XDbdLjj2ZeLzGccQ


edit2 = Here's a link to my Orlando story: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44911

 

[Shinryu]

Lol, looking at the title, I thought they'd already announced the US ones. What a heartbreak :(

Rotom being banned is still rofl, as well as the move Judgment. Not that either would see much play (though, maybe Rotom with its new forms), but it is really funny.

Overall, they better have more qualifiers in better locations (only NY and LA is just horrible for everyone). Holding it in doubles format still sucks to me, but I guess it is a bit more practical than all-out 6vs6 battles, which could take forever in some cases (though of course, that's what timers are for).

 

[the Lexx]

Man I missed the last two of these, I definitely have to make the nyc tourney this time. Of course I'll have to get back into pokemon first!

Hopefully they'll have a better way of getting applicants than the 20-question quiz so we won't get whipped so much by Japan.

 

[Dalevl]

This going to be interesting, like shin said, they need more qualifiers but I really do enjoy the fact that they are promoting doubles over singles since it makes people actually researcher more deeply into a metagame that is still mostly untapped outside of Japan. Hopefully we will see more Wobbufett users this time around lol

 

[makiri]

I recorded the Hyogo Finals from my Platinum, excuse the crappy quality but its the first time I've used this webcam and editing program so I'm still tweaking it.

Enjoy!

 

[Shinryu]

I recorded the Hyogo Finals from my Platinum, excuse the crappy quality but its the first time I've used this webcam and editing program so I'm still tweaking it.

Enjoy!

Er...out of curiosity, for those of us unenlightened about Platinum's capabilities, how did you record their finals? I only thought you could watch videos you've saved or something...do they like upload their videos or something so you can get anyone's with Platinum?

 

[dtrain]

The tournament requires you to use Platinum. So yes someone in the finals uploaded the video online for all to view it.

 

[Arseus]

Hyogo, Japan : Senior Finals

Thanks for the video upload zerowing! For anyone who doesn't want to/can't watch it though, here's a quick "log" I whipped up for the battle:

[B]Turn 1[/B]
Player 1 sends out Jolteon and Ludicolo!
Player 2 sends out Heatran and Zapdos!

Ludicolo uses Fake Out against Heatran (~2% damage)!
Jolteon uses Rain Dance!
Zapdos uses Swagger against Ludicolo, Ludicolo becomes confused!
Heatran flinches.

Bla bla rain bla.

[B]Turn 2[/B]
Ludicolo hurts itself in confusion (~5% damage)!
Jolteon uses Thunder against Zapdos (~75% damage), paralyzing it!
Zapdos' Lum Berry heals its paralysis condition.
Zapdos uses Thunderbolt against Ludicolo (~80% damage)!
Ludicolo's Sitrus Berry restores health (25% recovery).
Heatran uses Earth Power against Jolteon (~80% damage)!

[B]Turn 3[/B]
Zapdos uses Detect!
Ludicolo uses Hydro Pump against Heatran (100% damage)!
Heatran faints!
Jolteon fails to attack Zapdos due to Detect.

[B]Turn 4[/B]
Player 2 sends out Metagross!

Jolteon Protects itself!
Metagross Protects itself!
Ludicolo uses Hydro Pump against Zapdos (~25% damage)!
Zapdos faints.

[B]Turn 5[/B]
Player 2 sends out Blumbottle (level 50 Latios)!
Player 1 switches out Jolteon for Metagross.

Latios Protects itself!
Ludicolo uses Hydro Pump against (P2)Metagross (~98% damage)!
(P2)Metagross uses Earthquake (~20% damage to Ludicolo)!
(P1)Metagross' Shuca Berry reduces the damage (~15% damage)!

/Rain.

[B]Turn 6 [/B]
(P2)Metagross Protects itself!
Ludicolo Protects itself!
(P1)Metagross uses Explosion against Latios (100% damage)!
(P1)Metagross faints.

[B]Turn 7[/B]
Player 1 sends out Kingdra!

Kingdra uses Dragon Pulse against Metagross (~2% damage)!
Metagross faints!

[B]Player 1 wins![/B]

Damage percentages are just eyeballed, but anyone who wants to have a text version of the battle now can. On that note, if anyone else wants to watch this battle on their Platinum Battle Recorder, the Battle ID given in the last thread by micuat is 16-21089-83965.

 

[Havak]

Begging for a UK Tournament, please.

 

[makiri]

Er...out of curiosity, for those of us unenlightened about Platinum's capabilities, how did you record their finals? I only thought you could watch videos you've saved or something...do they like upload their videos or something so you can get anyone's with Platinum?

They uploaded the battle to the server where anyone with the number can watch, I downloaded it and watched it on my Platinum and recorded it for everyone else to see.

 

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

Platinum is amazing with the Battle Recorder. I can't wait for it's US release.

 

[Legacy Raider]

Begging for a UK Tournament, please.

QFT. But in all reality, what are the chances? The fanbase is next to non-existent.... =(

 

[Arseus]

Well, this is supposedly a "World" tournament, and Europe would likely to have some representation there. The one problem is that you may be pressed for time; as I'm sure you'll remember, Europe got Diamond/Pearl in July. This means it is likely that Platinum will arrive around this time. Now, if the finals are in August, that means Europeans would have less than two months to get Platinum and prepare for the tournament finals (yes, you can import, but Nintendo can't expect the majority to do this). However, it's admittedly rather useless to speculate on this at the moment.

On another note, on an update on PokéBeach, there is something rather interesting. The update I am referring to concerns the Level 50 Toys "R" Us Dragonite, but this is the part that catches my eye :

This seems like a good opportunity to say that at Worlds, I heard from POP officials that America would be having several Pokemon Video Game Showdowns during this current tournament season. I don't remember for sure how many they were planning to hold, but I think they said seven to nine throughout the United States (in different states, obviously). It was also said that the Video Game Showdowns would take place internationally this time too. I'm not sure when this will be revealed to the public, but it looks like Dragonite might be a precursor to an official announcement.

Take this with a grain of salt of course, but I thought it was worth pointing out, as PokéBeach is arguably one of the more trustworthy sites out there.

 

[POKEMONBATTLEBRAIN]

It is probably true, but we will just have to wait and see what happens when they announce it. It would make sense to have it in different states, which means that I might end up traveling to different states for different tournaments! :P I am now so stoked for this. I'm going to be on my DS a lot more now.

Having the international part during the US part doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, though it does allow for Platinum to be released in the UK, etc. Since Platinum is in Japan, I'm assuming that is why it is happening now over there.

 

[Chirnobyl]

Though, with the addition of more countries into this, would the number of people picked be reduced? or would they just increase the tournament size, as a world tournament probably should.

 

[I am Gengar]

I guess Judgment is banned so it cannot be chosen by Metronome, since as far as they're concerned it doesn't exist legitimately in-game yet. Doesn't make much sense, especially since they would be admitting its existence to those who are unknowing by banning it, but whatever.

 

[Chou Toshio]

I guess Judgment is banned so it cannot be chosen by Metronome, since as far as they're concerned it doesn't exist legitimately in-game yet. Doesn't make much sense, especially since they would be admitting its existence to those who are unknowing by banning it, but whatever.

Well, I don't know where the list in the OP came from, but the link (in Japanese) does not explicitly mention Arceus or Judgement. More specifically, it lists general limitations that would prevent their use.

In Arceus' case, there is an explicit rule that only pokemon 1-492 can be involved (minus the special bannings). Since Arceus would be #493, it does not need to be listed for there to be an implied ban.

In Judgement's case, there is a list of how pokemon can have learned their moves (1 level up moves, 2 machine moves, 3 egg moves, 4 tutor moves and 5 event moves), and again in Do-buru's (smeargle's) case, it says he can only use moves that were sketched from pokemon who learned their moves through methods 1-5.

Ie. There is no mention of Arceus/Judgement, but they are effectively banned.


edit: That being said, Nintendo's kidding themselves if they think that there's a Japanese 7-year-old who doesn't know what Arceus is. >>

 

[ultimatedra]

Just thought that i should metion this right now.

Nintendo is not running this torunament. as a matter of fact, nintendo has not ran anything pokemon sence 2003.

This is all run by Pokemon USA Inc. (aka PUI).
PUI started running these things starting with Pokemon Rocks America back in 2004 and has run everything pokemon sence.

EDIT: And yes - Mike Lisek said he PUI knows that everybody knows about Arceus.

 

[Sudo]

Just thought that i should metion this right now.

Nintendo is not running this torunament. as a matter of fact, nintendo has not ran anything pokemon sence 2003.

This is all run by Pokemon USA Inc. (aka PUI).
PUI started running these things starting with Pokemon Rocks America back in 2004 and has run everything pokemon sence.

EDIT: And yes - Mike Lisek said he PUI knows that everybody knows about Arceus.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense that Pokemon USA is running tournaments in Japan, home of Nintendo's headquarters. Do you have a source for this?

 

[Pablo]

Yeah, it makes perfect sense that Pokemon USA is running tournaments in Japan, home of Nintendo's headquarters. Do you have a source for this?

The Videogame Showdown organizers spawn from the Pokemon TCG organizers. They're the same people. Japan has its independent organized play, run by whoever it is, but the Videogame Showdown AND the Pokemon TCG World Championships (the events that took place in Orlando and next year in San Diego) are both run by PUI.

ultimatedra is a long time TCG player, and so am I. We know the organizers personally.

There is no doubt that there will be a Videogame Showdown this year, so don't you guys wait for the official announcement to be made to start breeding/thinking up teams. It's a fast, and the only issue here is when and where the qualifiers will be held.

 

[Shinryu]

The Videogame Showdown organizers spawn from the Pokemon TCG organizers. They're the same people. Japan has its independent organized play, run by whoever it is, but the Videogame Showdown AND the Pokemon TCG World Championships (the events that took place in Orlando and next year in San Diego) are both run by PUI.

ultimatedra is a long time TCG player, and so am I. We know the organizers personally.

There is no doubt that there will be a Videogame Showdown this year, so don't you guys wait for the official announcement to be made to start breeding/thinking up teams. It's a fast, and the only issue here is when and where the qualifiers will be held.

What they both said, I can also confirm what they've said since I'm also a pretty long-time TCG player.

 

[c l e a r]

if they allow TRU Dragonite...

Shouldn't they allow Saikyo Dragonite as well?

anyways, I should build 2 teams now, a normal 6 on 6, based on tier list. And a Doubles, based on Nintendo's lol list.

is it still Doubles?

 

[micuat]

I got some battle video codes of Hyogo tournament,

85-99789-99337 48-51073-12403
76-46244-77349 14-81672-13110
35-31886-39934 69-42830-37362
94-17639-78103 70-86331-84414
16-21089-83965

I haven't watched them so there may be some videos not related with the tournament. And I'm sorry that I can't record and upload them.

I also have some videos that the battle is held in ni-channel(2ch.net) when the Hyogo champion appeared there.
All of them are Hyogo champion vs chalengers.

34-16068-41211
71-58349-80880
83-49091-31068

Interestingly, at the second video, champion lost the game against goodstuff. Chalenger's team is ambipom/zapdos/cresselia/salamance(champion used the team which won the tournament).
It is believed that raindance team can deal with goodstuff so his team is not a good model. Though the popularity of raindance team is remarkable.