Hi guys! I went to Dallas and competed in the Senior Division of VGC, and here's my warstory!
My journey starts in Disney World, believe it or not! On Friday night before we left, I EV'd most of my team and settled on what I would use. However, I had a Sassy Amoonguss instead of a Calm one, so I had to invest more Speed EVs than I wanted. I asked andrea to RNG me a Calm Amoonguss, which she did. Fast-forward to Thursday night. I had messed around and not gotten the Amoonguss (sorry andrea!), so I had to get unreality's, which he got from muffinhead. On Friday my friend came over and we left for Dallas around noon, and I RNG'd the Amoonguss and finished EVing our teams in the car. The night before I was going back and forth on running a bulky Thundurus with a Charti Berry and a fast one with a Life Orb, I wanted a way to counter Terrakion and eventually went fast with Grass Knot instead of Psychic. Before I begin the battles, here is the team I used (no I don't mind people knowing because it didn't even do well and I'll be using something different at nationals):
Chandelure "Unreality" @ Choice Scarf
Flame Body
Timid
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
Heat Wave
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power Ice
Overheat
Krookodile "Huy" @ Chople Berry
Intimidate
Adamant
92 HP/252 Atk/164 Spe
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Crunch
Protect
Amoonguss "CO" @ Coba Berry
Effect Spore
Calm
252 HP/244 SpD/12 Spe
Rage Powder
Spore
Giga Drain
Protect
Tornadus "WhatUWish" @ Flying Gem
Prankster
Jolly
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Tailwind
Acrobatics
Taunt
Protect
Thundurus "snake" @ Life Orb
Prankster
Timid
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
Substitute
Thunderbolt
Grass Knot
Hidden Power Ice
Conkeldurr "moof" @ Flame Orb
Guts
Adamant
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
Drain Punch
Protect
Mach Punch
Rock Slide
Just a goodstuffs team, I often lead Chandelure/Krook.
Oh, yeah, our awesome hotel.
Our trash can
The stairs
So we got in line, chatted with some people, and got registered.
Brandon and I in line (I'm on the right)
Round 1 vs Gregory P. Samurott/Emboar/Hydregion/Serperior/???/???
I was originally going to have to face Brandon but I asked the staff if we could switch and they ok'd it.
He lead Hydregion/Emboar and I lead Chandelure/Krookodile, my regular leads. I HP Ice'd Hydregion and Rock Slided with Krookodile. Hydregion flinched (sorry!), and Emboar used Arm Thrust, bringing Krookodile to around 60%. He then switches Hydregion for Samurott, and I HP Ice for negligible damage and Rock Slide, which (I think) missed Emboar. Emboar did something I can't remember. (It might have Protected which explained the lack of damage, I didn't see) Next turn I switch Chandelure for Thundurus and Earthquake, KOing Emboar and bringing Samurott to around 2%. Samurott Shell something'd (idk what it's signature move is) Thundurus. He brings in Serperior and I Hidden Power Ice Serperior, while he outspeeds and KOes Krookodile with Giga Drain (d'oh! I thought I'd outspeed for some stupid reason), while his Samurott did...something, idr. I brought in Conkeldurr while he brought in Hydregion, and I Mach Punched+Thunderbolted for the win.
3-0
Round 2 vs Andy S.
Zoroark/Braviary/???/???/???/???
I mainly remember asking him if he went on Smogon, to which he replied, "did you just asked me if I SMOKED?!" (yeah it was loud in there) Anyway, Overheat missed "Braviary" turn one, but when I saw "Braviary" use Foul Play I knew it was Zoroark, so I Mach Punched it turn two. I'm a little fuzzy on this battle, I just remember Thunderbolting the real Braviary for the win.
2-0
Round 3 vs Lauren B.
Hydregion/Thundurus/Tornadus/???/???/???
Once again I remember little. I know turn one Rock Slide+HP Ice took out her Tornadus, but Thundurus avoided it. Turn two I Rock Slided and HP Iced Hydregion again for the KO, but once more Thundurus avoided, and Chandelure is down. At this point I'm beginning to panic, because it seems like she knows what she's doing. Then Thundurus used Fly and I went, "oh." Rock Slide eventually finished the team off.
3-0
Round 4 vs Haley E.
Whimsicott/Terrakion/Hydregion/Conkeldurr/Volcarona/???
He says he lurks on Smogon and has flawless IVs and EVs. I thought about saying "hey, I'm JRank from Smogon, wanna friend rule?" but I felt that you should only friend rule with people you'd talked to before, so I didn't say anything. He leads Whimsicott/Terrakion and I immediately assume Beat Up+Rock Slide. Wrong. I didn't want Chandelure dead turn one (I lead Chandelure/Conkeldurr) so I Mach Punch+Heat Wave, when I should've Drain Punched. Anyway, he switches to Conkeldurr (oh no!) and Tailwinds with Whimsicott. Mach Punch+Heat Wave brings Conkeldurr to the point where I knew a Heat Wave would finish it off, and activated Whimsicott's Focus Sash. Next turn I tried to Mach Punch Conkeldurr and Heat Wave with Chandelure, but he Protected with Conk and used Endeavor with Whimsicott, bringing Conk to 1 HP and it dies to burn that turn. Whimsicott is killed by Heat Wave, though. It's 3-3 but he has Tailwind up and I can't do anything to Terrakion, which he brings in. I try to Heat Wave+Thunderbolt (why I didn't Grass Knot Terrakion I don't know), but he outspeeds and OHKOes Chandelure with Rock Slide and Thundurus avoids it I'm pretty sure. Thunderbolt finishes off Conkeldurr. He brings in Hydregion and I bring Tornadus. Rock Slide+Dragon Pulse finishes off both and he wins, 2-0. I played terribly, from team preview on, and he played great. He totally deserved the win, and went on to get Top 4. (more on that later)
So, after that, I go meet up with Brandon (who's already in the lounge, facing noobs the whole way), and werecario.
Brandon in the lounge
JRank/werecario/Brandon
Milan meets up with us and we chat for a bit, discussing my loss and how Brandon will do. Milan goes off to try and find some battles and werecario, Brandon, and I go off to watch some junior battles, and we meet none other than BadIntent and ryuzaki. Eventually it's time to go back to the finalists lounge and Brandon gets a bye into the Top 16!
Brandon and his opponent in the red shirt.
He wins his Top 16 battle by a tiny bit, he said it was a very close 2-0. He advances to the Top 8 to play none other than, THE GUY WHO BEAT ME!!!
His opponent is the one with the fro.
We see his opponent smiling to his parents and giving them a thumbs up close to the end. Brandon's summary of the battle was: Tried to Tailwind turn one and got Taunted, then Haley got 2 crits that sealed the deal. I was kinda ticked he got critted out of $600, but he seemed ok so I didn't get too messed up about it.
So we then left for lunch, but not before we got a few pictures with inflatables!
I have no idea why I'm trying to pose like a genie
Reshiram is enormous and white.
We eat and Wendy's and then go back to the convention center. For the first few rounds I'm occupied by being on IRC updating #skarmbliss about how people are doing. After that I kinda put it on hold and just watched. Highlights were:
-werecario got Top 16, losing to ryuzaki
-ryuzaki winning
-Milan Top 4
-Charistopher Top 16
-Alaka 2nd ("can I get a plane ticket to Atlanta?")
-Smogoners kicking butt
After that we went back to the hotel and swam, then turned in for the night. We got up at around 9 and headed back to Arkansas, and we're about 3 hours away as I write this. Props/slops time!
Props:
-Smogonites/Skarmblissers sweeping
-Brandon T8 Seniors
-having a great time
-meeting BI, ryuzaki, werecario, Milan, and others
Slops:
-me playing terribly in R4
-Dad picked the wrong hotel (literally, he saw pictures of a different one and picked the one we stayed at O__o)
So overall, awesome trip, even though I didn't qualify for Nationals, I'll almost definitely be there for the LCQ and rest of it, since Brandon will be playing. Thanks to the moofians, Milan, and Human for team advice, Tolan for his Thundurus, EE for his even though I decided to use Tolan's (different EV spreads), Huy for his Tornadus (which was Brandon's MVP), unreality for trading me Amoonguss for use as a parent, andrea for RNG'ing the Amoonguss, even though I messed around and didn't get it from her (sorry D:) and my dad for taking us. I hope to see everyone at nationals!
apparently i'm supposed to mention Lucien Lachance winning seniors or something
My journey starts in Disney World, believe it or not! On Friday night before we left, I EV'd most of my team and settled on what I would use. However, I had a Sassy Amoonguss instead of a Calm one, so I had to invest more Speed EVs than I wanted. I asked andrea to RNG me a Calm Amoonguss, which she did. Fast-forward to Thursday night. I had messed around and not gotten the Amoonguss (sorry andrea!), so I had to get unreality's, which he got from muffinhead. On Friday my friend came over and we left for Dallas around noon, and I RNG'd the Amoonguss and finished EVing our teams in the car. The night before I was going back and forth on running a bulky Thundurus with a Charti Berry and a fast one with a Life Orb, I wanted a way to counter Terrakion and eventually went fast with Grass Knot instead of Psychic. Before I begin the battles, here is the team I used (no I don't mind people knowing because it didn't even do well and I'll be using something different at nationals):
Chandelure "Unreality" @ Choice Scarf
Flame Body
Timid
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
Heat Wave
Shadow Ball
Hidden Power Ice
Overheat
Krookodile "Huy" @ Chople Berry
Intimidate
Adamant
92 HP/252 Atk/164 Spe
Earthquake
Rock Slide
Crunch
Protect
Amoonguss "CO" @ Coba Berry
Effect Spore
Calm
252 HP/244 SpD/12 Spe
Rage Powder
Spore
Giga Drain
Protect
Tornadus "WhatUWish" @ Flying Gem
Prankster
Jolly
252 Atk/252 Spe/4 HP
Tailwind
Acrobatics
Taunt
Protect
Thundurus "snake" @ Life Orb
Prankster
Timid
252 SpA/252 Spe/4 HP
Substitute
Thunderbolt
Grass Knot
Hidden Power Ice
Conkeldurr "moof" @ Flame Orb
Guts
Adamant
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
Drain Punch
Protect
Mach Punch
Rock Slide
Just a goodstuffs team, I often lead Chandelure/Krook.
Oh, yeah, our awesome hotel.
Our trash can
The stairs
So we got in line, chatted with some people, and got registered.
Brandon and I in line (I'm on the right)
Round 1 vs Gregory P. Samurott/Emboar/Hydregion/Serperior/???/???
I was originally going to have to face Brandon but I asked the staff if we could switch and they ok'd it.
He lead Hydregion/Emboar and I lead Chandelure/Krookodile, my regular leads. I HP Ice'd Hydregion and Rock Slided with Krookodile. Hydregion flinched (sorry!), and Emboar used Arm Thrust, bringing Krookodile to around 60%. He then switches Hydregion for Samurott, and I HP Ice for negligible damage and Rock Slide, which (I think) missed Emboar. Emboar did something I can't remember. (It might have Protected which explained the lack of damage, I didn't see) Next turn I switch Chandelure for Thundurus and Earthquake, KOing Emboar and bringing Samurott to around 2%. Samurott Shell something'd (idk what it's signature move is) Thundurus. He brings in Serperior and I Hidden Power Ice Serperior, while he outspeeds and KOes Krookodile with Giga Drain (d'oh! I thought I'd outspeed for some stupid reason), while his Samurott did...something, idr. I brought in Conkeldurr while he brought in Hydregion, and I Mach Punched+Thunderbolted for the win.
3-0
Round 2 vs Andy S.
Zoroark/Braviary/???/???/???/???
I mainly remember asking him if he went on Smogon, to which he replied, "did you just asked me if I SMOKED?!" (yeah it was loud in there) Anyway, Overheat missed "Braviary" turn one, but when I saw "Braviary" use Foul Play I knew it was Zoroark, so I Mach Punched it turn two. I'm a little fuzzy on this battle, I just remember Thunderbolting the real Braviary for the win.
2-0
Round 3 vs Lauren B.
Hydregion/Thundurus/Tornadus/???/???/???
Once again I remember little. I know turn one Rock Slide+HP Ice took out her Tornadus, but Thundurus avoided it. Turn two I Rock Slided and HP Iced Hydregion again for the KO, but once more Thundurus avoided, and Chandelure is down. At this point I'm beginning to panic, because it seems like she knows what she's doing. Then Thundurus used Fly and I went, "oh." Rock Slide eventually finished the team off.
3-0
Round 4 vs Haley E.
Whimsicott/Terrakion/Hydregion/Conkeldurr/Volcarona/???
He says he lurks on Smogon and has flawless IVs and EVs. I thought about saying "hey, I'm JRank from Smogon, wanna friend rule?" but I felt that you should only friend rule with people you'd talked to before, so I didn't say anything. He leads Whimsicott/Terrakion and I immediately assume Beat Up+Rock Slide. Wrong. I didn't want Chandelure dead turn one (I lead Chandelure/Conkeldurr) so I Mach Punch+Heat Wave, when I should've Drain Punched. Anyway, he switches to Conkeldurr (oh no!) and Tailwinds with Whimsicott. Mach Punch+Heat Wave brings Conkeldurr to the point where I knew a Heat Wave would finish it off, and activated Whimsicott's Focus Sash. Next turn I tried to Mach Punch Conkeldurr and Heat Wave with Chandelure, but he Protected with Conk and used Endeavor with Whimsicott, bringing Conk to 1 HP and it dies to burn that turn. Whimsicott is killed by Heat Wave, though. It's 3-3 but he has Tailwind up and I can't do anything to Terrakion, which he brings in. I try to Heat Wave+Thunderbolt (why I didn't Grass Knot Terrakion I don't know), but he outspeeds and OHKOes Chandelure with Rock Slide and Thundurus avoids it I'm pretty sure. Thunderbolt finishes off Conkeldurr. He brings in Hydregion and I bring Tornadus. Rock Slide+Dragon Pulse finishes off both and he wins, 2-0. I played terribly, from team preview on, and he played great. He totally deserved the win, and went on to get Top 4. (more on that later)
So, after that, I go meet up with Brandon (who's already in the lounge, facing noobs the whole way), and werecario.
Brandon in the lounge
JRank/werecario/Brandon
Milan meets up with us and we chat for a bit, discussing my loss and how Brandon will do. Milan goes off to try and find some battles and werecario, Brandon, and I go off to watch some junior battles, and we meet none other than BadIntent and ryuzaki. Eventually it's time to go back to the finalists lounge and Brandon gets a bye into the Top 16!
Brandon and his opponent in the red shirt.
He wins his Top 16 battle by a tiny bit, he said it was a very close 2-0. He advances to the Top 8 to play none other than, THE GUY WHO BEAT ME!!!
His opponent is the one with the fro.
We see his opponent smiling to his parents and giving them a thumbs up close to the end. Brandon's summary of the battle was: Tried to Tailwind turn one and got Taunted, then Haley got 2 crits that sealed the deal. I was kinda ticked he got critted out of $600, but he seemed ok so I didn't get too messed up about it.
So we then left for lunch, but not before we got a few pictures with inflatables!
I have no idea why I'm trying to pose like a genie
Reshiram is enormous and white.
We eat and Wendy's and then go back to the convention center. For the first few rounds I'm occupied by being on IRC updating #skarmbliss about how people are doing. After that I kinda put it on hold and just watched. Highlights were:
-werecario got Top 16, losing to ryuzaki
-ryuzaki winning
-Milan Top 4
-Charistopher Top 16
-Alaka 2nd ("can I get a plane ticket to Atlanta?")
-Smogoners kicking butt
After that we went back to the hotel and swam, then turned in for the night. We got up at around 9 and headed back to Arkansas, and we're about 3 hours away as I write this. Props/slops time!
Props:
-Smogonites/Skarmblissers sweeping
-Brandon T8 Seniors
-having a great time
-meeting BI, ryuzaki, werecario, Milan, and others
Slops:
-me playing terribly in R4
-Dad picked the wrong hotel (literally, he saw pictures of a different one and picked the one we stayed at O__o)
So overall, awesome trip, even though I didn't qualify for Nationals, I'll almost definitely be there for the LCQ and rest of it, since Brandon will be playing. Thanks to the moofians, Milan, and Human for team advice, Tolan for his Thundurus, EE for his even though I decided to use Tolan's (different EV spreads), Huy for his Tornadus (which was Brandon's MVP), unreality for trading me Amoonguss for use as a parent, andrea for RNG'ing the Amoonguss, even though I messed around and didn't get it from her (sorry D:) and my dad for taking us. I hope to see everyone at nationals!
apparently i'm supposed to mention Lucien Lachance winning seniors or something
