I wasn’t sure if I should take the time to write this up, but with such a vacuum of time and energy created in the wake of the VGC ending for me – well I figured at the very least I would enjoy writing it even if nobody was interested.
Backstory:
So after trick rock received such a skeptical reception, I really wanted to do something even more different. At first, I didn’t care if it did well – just as long as it was a blast to play. I came up with several concepts and tested the crap out of them.
I played with a concept of Wobbuffet/Politoed/Dugtrio/Lapras – which worked well in playtest, but when disrupted it had major difficulty recovering. I started working with Dusknoir/Sableye/Forretress/Bronzong – and decided it would be the team.
At 2 am Friday night, my best friend and I were up playtesting in the hotel. We were joking about a team concept we had built called “wheel of fish” – consisting of Ditto/Wailord/Kyogre/Kingdra … it was a wicked team requiring very detailed planning on every member (natures and IV were critical to the success). After so many successful tests, the trickroom team suddenly couldn’t win a playtest match, so I threatened to pull out wheel of fish. Then the idea for team just came together, with luck that every piece was already built and EV trained as a main or alternate between the three teams.
So here’s the team…
Sassy Kyogre (Leviathan) @ Power Weight (drizzle)
SAT: 252 SDF: 252 HP: 6
Speed IV was 10, so 90 stat was cut to 45 by power weight.
Waterspout
Protect
Surf
Thunder
* Built for wheel of fish, this was a bulky slow Kyogre – concept was to throw off preconceived calculations regarding standard Ogre builds for speed and special defense
Sassy Dusknoir (Warlock) @ Power Band (pressure)
HP: 252 DEF: 100 SDF: 158
Pain Split
Earthquake
Trick Room
Toxic
*built for exploding trickroom – Toxic served a few functions on that team, but for this one (in hindsight) I should have given sucker punch or shadow sneak instead. Power Band was needed to get his speed slower than the Kyogre, which was important for timing. The added benefit is cutting his 45 (tying Ogre) speed in half solidified in TR he would nearly always go first.
Adamant Snorlax (Boom Boom) @ Chople Berry (Thick fat)
ATK: 252 HP: 252 SDF: 6
Self-Destruct
Zen Headbutt
Crunch
Protect
*Was on alt for the xploding trickroom team, but on this team he was a starter and a beast.
Bold Lapras (Loch Ness) @ Wide Lens (water absorb)
HP: 252 DEF: 252 SDF: 6
Sheer Cold
Protect
Hail
Perish Song
*With 33% chance to land sheer cold, his job was just to live and hope it hit with at least 1/3 effectiveness. Perish Song was great on the Wobbuffet team, but after playing six matches, I realized it had no business in this team. If rewind was possible, Perish Song would have been replaced with Ice Shard.
Alts:
Adamant Sableye (Jinx) @ Muscle Band (keen eye)
ATK: 252 DEF: 90 SDF: 168
Feint
Fake Out
Detect
Sucker Punch
*Built as xplod trickroom lead, he was key to alt strategies if I made it to best of 3 rounds.
Calm Walrein (Wendigo) @ Leftovers (Ice Body)
HP: 6 DEF: 252 SDF: 252
Yawn
Surf
Protect
Blizzard
*A holdover alt from Wobbuffet team … was intended as Perish Song support.
Concept: The team idea was simple enough – in fact, I doubt base functionality of any of the pokes on the team was a surprise. The combination, move selection, timing, and build however I was hoping might catch a raised eyebrow or two. First turn was simple and the same no matter what I saw. Protect the Ogre – trickroom Dusknoir. He was bulky enough to live through many combinations of double teams, and the Ogre helped to draw fire to get the TR off. Second turn was more important – Dusk Pain Splits the biggest threat, or the one most resistant to Waterspout to soften it up. Kyogre waterspouts. At 2am the morning of the tournament, this sounded like a great way to setup Perish Song … it is not.
Tournament:
Round 1 (0-0)
vs. Rayquaza Smeargle Lugia and ???
I figured the smeargle would DV, and was very concerned with Ray blocking the effect of rain. Figured there was nothing I could do but follow the strategy and see where it went. Outrage hit the protected Kyogre and DV missed Dusknoir – pure luck won this match. With 0 damage on Dusk, Pain split was out – so I toxic Ray. Waterspout wipes smeargle and I breathe a sigh of relief (If event pokemon are banned – why the heck aren’t event pokemon only moves? Man I hate DV.) I ended up winning the match 4-0 with only Dusknoir and Kyogre seeing action.
Round 2 (record: 1-0)
vs. Togekiss Palkia? ??? ???
I don’t remember this match well, but what I need to remember is pretty much just the first turn. I lock in my moves, I’m feeling good, and ready to go. Dusknoir takes a Draco Meteor – I think, no biggie Pain Split on the way next round. Air Slash to the Dusknoir and it is down. TR doesn’t get off, and the team just implodes. I fight back, but I’m just flat beaten and outplayed and out predicted.
Round 3 (record: 1-1)
vs. Shinryu - Parafusion
This match was against Shinryu’s Parafusion team. It was a long match and a fun battle. Though flinching three times in a row was not fun at the time. I win the battle and record it on vs recorder because I truly enjoyed the team concept. I posted the full details and round by round events in Shinryu’s warstory.
Round 4 (record: 2-1)
vs. Jgiles
So this was a rematch. Giles beat me in Dallas Top 8 match, ending the day for trick rock in a very close match. He played extremely well and once again we were on the monitor. Also, once again it came down to the our last pokemon each. I have Lapras out – I believe his was Kyogre, but I could be wrong. It came down to three attempts to Sheer Cold (though one was during a protect). I saw the animation go off, and it the match was over. Giles played a heck of a match, and it was one of my favorite battles.
Round 5 (record 3-1)
vs. TTS
I don’t remember the match nearly as much as I remember Dan. It started with the hole in the DS screen at table 12. It was nice to have something to laugh at in the midst of the competition. We get underway and at one point Dan stops and comments “Man that is one defensive Kyogre”, which made me grin because it told me the damage wasn’t what he was hoping for. He guessed it was heavy EV trained on SDF, and I confirmed – but what I didn’t add was that it was also Sassy. Next thing his Abomasnow is out and Kygore goes first. “Kyogre is slower than Aboma???” He guesses Iron Ball – close, Power Weight. The ending was very close, I can’t remember if it was a SD on Snorlax or something else, but I do remember his reaction when he realized that I broke his Sash on Infernape (if I remember correctly with Pain Split). This was a great and fun match, and Dan was by far the most talkative and friendly of all my matches.
Round 6 (record 4-1)
vs. Enfuego
Enfuego opens with a wonderful Taunt on Dusknoir. I start to shift strategies to make up for the loss of TR. I get caught sleeping with an explosion from Metagross. That hurt. Lapras was a beast – and put Enfuego in a very bad mood when it successfully used Sheer Cold on his full life Dialga first try. It was then his Toxicroak, 1HP sashed Abomasnow vs. no offense Lapras. I figure my only shot is to kill the abomsnow and hope I can stall kill toxicroak with hail. I launch another sheer cold and – holy crap – down goes aboma. He did not look happy. Toxicroak was in the red, but finished off Lapras with a low kick. I lose (0-1).
Round 7 (record 4-2)
vs. Duy Ha
Wow. This was a fun match. Duy was real cool, and played flawless. I start things off as normal, with one exception. I got sick of not having attacks on Lapras, so even with Sheer Cold working consistently – I sub out for Walrein. Dusknoir takes a first turn helping hand EQ to the face while waiting to setup TR. Second turn, I get ready to select the Pain Split … I debate the odds. I figure the spout in rain will one shot the Groudon. I figure the Cresselia is bulky as crap and will take more than waterspout to get down. Then I think “well what if the Groudon is sashed” … nah …. PS the Cresselia – Waterspout – double protect … next round I try again and of course, Groudon is sashed, and Creselia lives even with the pre-damage from PS. They are now both in the red. Duy ends up playing smart and stalling his was clear of TR. In the end, he took control and victory.
Final record: 4-3 – Finished at #21
Lessons: In hindsight, Toxic should have been replaced for shadow sneak or sucker punch on Dusknoir and Ice Shard in place of Perish Song on Lapras. Next time I have a last minute concept, I need to make sure it happens sooner so it can be tested for flaws.
The good:
Fun matches and playing a bunch of teams that were not cookie cut
Having a winning record with only 1 uber in the roster (though I almost wish I used Wailord)
Catching up with the Arnold family who I hadn’t seen since worlds last year.
Having the built pokemon that fit the concept at the ready and being able to merge explosion, trickroom, perish song, stall, and increase OHKO threat into one team.
The bad:
Making a team at 2am morning of competition
Not correcting movesets for the new strategy
Not bringing my daughter to the LCQ (was knocked out 4th round in Dallas)
The ugly:
Why is the entire road system of Indianapolis under construction at the same time?
Backstory:
So after trick rock received such a skeptical reception, I really wanted to do something even more different. At first, I didn’t care if it did well – just as long as it was a blast to play. I came up with several concepts and tested the crap out of them.
I played with a concept of Wobbuffet/Politoed/Dugtrio/Lapras – which worked well in playtest, but when disrupted it had major difficulty recovering. I started working with Dusknoir/Sableye/Forretress/Bronzong – and decided it would be the team.
At 2 am Friday night, my best friend and I were up playtesting in the hotel. We were joking about a team concept we had built called “wheel of fish” – consisting of Ditto/Wailord/Kyogre/Kingdra … it was a wicked team requiring very detailed planning on every member (natures and IV were critical to the success). After so many successful tests, the trickroom team suddenly couldn’t win a playtest match, so I threatened to pull out wheel of fish. Then the idea for team just came together, with luck that every piece was already built and EV trained as a main or alternate between the three teams.
So here’s the team…
Sassy Kyogre (Leviathan) @ Power Weight (drizzle)
SAT: 252 SDF: 252 HP: 6
Speed IV was 10, so 90 stat was cut to 45 by power weight.
Waterspout
Protect
Surf
Thunder
* Built for wheel of fish, this was a bulky slow Kyogre – concept was to throw off preconceived calculations regarding standard Ogre builds for speed and special defense
Sassy Dusknoir (Warlock) @ Power Band (pressure)
HP: 252 DEF: 100 SDF: 158
Pain Split
Earthquake
Trick Room
Toxic
*built for exploding trickroom – Toxic served a few functions on that team, but for this one (in hindsight) I should have given sucker punch or shadow sneak instead. Power Band was needed to get his speed slower than the Kyogre, which was important for timing. The added benefit is cutting his 45 (tying Ogre) speed in half solidified in TR he would nearly always go first.
Adamant Snorlax (Boom Boom) @ Chople Berry (Thick fat)
ATK: 252 HP: 252 SDF: 6
Self-Destruct
Zen Headbutt
Crunch
Protect
*Was on alt for the xploding trickroom team, but on this team he was a starter and a beast.
Bold Lapras (Loch Ness) @ Wide Lens (water absorb)
HP: 252 DEF: 252 SDF: 6
Sheer Cold
Protect
Hail
Perish Song
*With 33% chance to land sheer cold, his job was just to live and hope it hit with at least 1/3 effectiveness. Perish Song was great on the Wobbuffet team, but after playing six matches, I realized it had no business in this team. If rewind was possible, Perish Song would have been replaced with Ice Shard.
Alts:
Adamant Sableye (Jinx) @ Muscle Band (keen eye)
ATK: 252 DEF: 90 SDF: 168
Feint
Fake Out
Detect
Sucker Punch
*Built as xplod trickroom lead, he was key to alt strategies if I made it to best of 3 rounds.
Calm Walrein (Wendigo) @ Leftovers (Ice Body)
HP: 6 DEF: 252 SDF: 252
Yawn
Surf
Protect
Blizzard
*A holdover alt from Wobbuffet team … was intended as Perish Song support.
Concept: The team idea was simple enough – in fact, I doubt base functionality of any of the pokes on the team was a surprise. The combination, move selection, timing, and build however I was hoping might catch a raised eyebrow or two. First turn was simple and the same no matter what I saw. Protect the Ogre – trickroom Dusknoir. He was bulky enough to live through many combinations of double teams, and the Ogre helped to draw fire to get the TR off. Second turn was more important – Dusk Pain Splits the biggest threat, or the one most resistant to Waterspout to soften it up. Kyogre waterspouts. At 2am the morning of the tournament, this sounded like a great way to setup Perish Song … it is not.
Tournament:
Round 1 (0-0)
vs. Rayquaza Smeargle Lugia and ???
I figured the smeargle would DV, and was very concerned with Ray blocking the effect of rain. Figured there was nothing I could do but follow the strategy and see where it went. Outrage hit the protected Kyogre and DV missed Dusknoir – pure luck won this match. With 0 damage on Dusk, Pain split was out – so I toxic Ray. Waterspout wipes smeargle and I breathe a sigh of relief (If event pokemon are banned – why the heck aren’t event pokemon only moves? Man I hate DV.) I ended up winning the match 4-0 with only Dusknoir and Kyogre seeing action.
Round 2 (record: 1-0)
vs. Togekiss Palkia? ??? ???
I don’t remember this match well, but what I need to remember is pretty much just the first turn. I lock in my moves, I’m feeling good, and ready to go. Dusknoir takes a Draco Meteor – I think, no biggie Pain Split on the way next round. Air Slash to the Dusknoir and it is down. TR doesn’t get off, and the team just implodes. I fight back, but I’m just flat beaten and outplayed and out predicted.
Round 3 (record: 1-1)
vs. Shinryu - Parafusion
This match was against Shinryu’s Parafusion team. It was a long match and a fun battle. Though flinching three times in a row was not fun at the time. I win the battle and record it on vs recorder because I truly enjoyed the team concept. I posted the full details and round by round events in Shinryu’s warstory.
Round 4 (record: 2-1)
vs. Jgiles
So this was a rematch. Giles beat me in Dallas Top 8 match, ending the day for trick rock in a very close match. He played extremely well and once again we were on the monitor. Also, once again it came down to the our last pokemon each. I have Lapras out – I believe his was Kyogre, but I could be wrong. It came down to three attempts to Sheer Cold (though one was during a protect). I saw the animation go off, and it the match was over. Giles played a heck of a match, and it was one of my favorite battles.
Round 5 (record 3-1)
vs. TTS
I don’t remember the match nearly as much as I remember Dan. It started with the hole in the DS screen at table 12. It was nice to have something to laugh at in the midst of the competition. We get underway and at one point Dan stops and comments “Man that is one defensive Kyogre”, which made me grin because it told me the damage wasn’t what he was hoping for. He guessed it was heavy EV trained on SDF, and I confirmed – but what I didn’t add was that it was also Sassy. Next thing his Abomasnow is out and Kygore goes first. “Kyogre is slower than Aboma???” He guesses Iron Ball – close, Power Weight. The ending was very close, I can’t remember if it was a SD on Snorlax or something else, but I do remember his reaction when he realized that I broke his Sash on Infernape (if I remember correctly with Pain Split). This was a great and fun match, and Dan was by far the most talkative and friendly of all my matches.
Round 6 (record 4-1)
vs. Enfuego
Enfuego opens with a wonderful Taunt on Dusknoir. I start to shift strategies to make up for the loss of TR. I get caught sleeping with an explosion from Metagross. That hurt. Lapras was a beast – and put Enfuego in a very bad mood when it successfully used Sheer Cold on his full life Dialga first try. It was then his Toxicroak, 1HP sashed Abomasnow vs. no offense Lapras. I figure my only shot is to kill the abomsnow and hope I can stall kill toxicroak with hail. I launch another sheer cold and – holy crap – down goes aboma. He did not look happy. Toxicroak was in the red, but finished off Lapras with a low kick. I lose (0-1).
Round 7 (record 4-2)
vs. Duy Ha
Wow. This was a fun match. Duy was real cool, and played flawless. I start things off as normal, with one exception. I got sick of not having attacks on Lapras, so even with Sheer Cold working consistently – I sub out for Walrein. Dusknoir takes a first turn helping hand EQ to the face while waiting to setup TR. Second turn, I get ready to select the Pain Split … I debate the odds. I figure the spout in rain will one shot the Groudon. I figure the Cresselia is bulky as crap and will take more than waterspout to get down. Then I think “well what if the Groudon is sashed” … nah …. PS the Cresselia – Waterspout – double protect … next round I try again and of course, Groudon is sashed, and Creselia lives even with the pre-damage from PS. They are now both in the red. Duy ends up playing smart and stalling his was clear of TR. In the end, he took control and victory.
Final record: 4-3 – Finished at #21
Lessons: In hindsight, Toxic should have been replaced for shadow sneak or sucker punch on Dusknoir and Ice Shard in place of Perish Song on Lapras. Next time I have a last minute concept, I need to make sure it happens sooner so it can be tested for flaws.
The good:
Fun matches and playing a bunch of teams that were not cookie cut
Having a winning record with only 1 uber in the roster (though I almost wish I used Wailord)
Catching up with the Arnold family who I hadn’t seen since worlds last year.
Having the built pokemon that fit the concept at the ready and being able to merge explosion, trickroom, perish song, stall, and increase OHKO threat into one team.
The bad:
Making a team at 2am morning of competition
Not correcting movesets for the new strategy
Not bringing my daughter to the LCQ (was knocked out 4th round in Dallas)
The ugly:
Why is the entire road system of Indianapolis under construction at the same time?
