Winner: Yoda2798 (G1 G2 G3)
Congratulations on being one of the winners of the Best Games of the Week poll. If you have a moment, I’d like to ask you a few questions.
Why ADV?
With all the SV tours (particularly OSDT) going on I was looking to play something else in Derby. I don't have much experience or interest in the other tiers so wanted to do more of either of ADV or DPP, both of which I've dabbled in previously for the OldGens Circuit but haven't really dived deep into either yet.
Were there any key moments in your match that stood out to you?
Game 1 there were a few key moments early on where I got crit (my Zapdos turn 1 where even if it was slower SMB had went for Thunder Wave so it definitely could have gotten an attack off but was KOed instead, and my Swampert turn 2 where it was put pretty low when it otherwise would have been healthy) which set me back a lot. Turns 6 and 7 I could have maybe made different plays but I don't think there was a clear best choice at that point with the number of options SMB had left available compared to my limited resources.
Game 2 I think the first couple of turns were pretty important again (though this time not due to RNG), SMB's lead was scary as I knew Raikou would be able to get up a Calm Mind and subsequently threaten a likely KO on my Tauros, while Zapdos couldn't do too much either, so I made the bold decision to actually double switch both my leads to Tyranitar and Celebi. This let me knock out the Raikou with Earthquake, while also finding room for Celebi to set up a Calm Mind of its own to put pressure on SMB. This momentum swing put me in the driver's seat, and with Celebi's pressure I was able to take an early KO on Aerodactyl, leaving my still completely healthy Zapdos and Arcanine to clean up.
Game 3 went back to an early key (RNG) moment, with my Zapdos being the faster of the two and getting a crit on what would otherwise maybe be a roll on SMB's Zapdos, giving me an early lead. Turn 3 seen another critical hit in my favour, with SMB's Metagross going down on again what may have been a roll depending on spreads, putting me at a 6-4 advantage. Turn 4 I knew with a second Intimidate my Zapdos should live a hit from Aerodactyl, which it did and picked up a big KO in return, giving me a now 6-3 lead but with SMB's Calm Mind Suicune beginning to look scary. I begin looking to set up my Calm Mind Celebi to beat Suicune, though in the time it takes to get going Suicune goes through most of my team in the other slot, with a couple of Hydro Pump misses along the way balanced out with an important Fire Blast miss on SMB's Celebi. Turn 10 I think was a pivotal turn, as I was fearing that SMB would either switch Celebi out (or attempt a double Protect) to avoid taking a Double Edge that should ensure my Celebi comfortably wins the mirror, but instead he keeps it out to preserve Tauros for a hit on my own Celebi. After KOing SMB's Celebi on the following turn, I had hoped the Tauros would go down to a turn of sandstorm damage but unfortunately that was not the case, however my healthy Celebi could still tank a hit to then beat SMB's Suicune 1v1. If instead SMB had switched out his +1 Celebi on turn 10 then its possible it could come back in and setup then crit my Celebi to win, or especially if he had successfully gotten a double Protect then he would have a strong chance to win with both a healthy +1 Celebi on the field and Tauros alive in the back, but he decided not go for that, perhaps due to the possibility of me targeting into Suicune instead of Celebi. Despite the large lead I accumulated early on the game turned into a messy endgame, so while I'm not sure exactly what I should have done differently, there definitely must have been some alternate routes I could have taken for a cleaner conversion.
How do you feel about your upcoming matches?
I'm most excited to play
Grandmas Cookin this week who is probably the strongest player in the pool, but I feel confident I can beat anyone.
Anything you'd like to add—perhaps a shoutout?
Shoutouts to
fespy 's alt Kegged for being the GOAT, also shoutouts to
NinjaSnapple for helping teach me ADV.
Bonus Question: What question would you like me to ask future winners?
How do you pronounce GIF?
Thank you, Yoda2798 , for your response! I should've let you known that I was expecting 1 or 2 sentences for each question. Anyways, good luck!
won vs great sport & fantastic human flying beagle 
