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Metagame BW VGC 2011-2013

oopsgtg

is a Pre-Contributor
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This thread is dedicated to the Generation 5 VGC formats, namely VGC 2011, VGC 2012 and VGC 2013.

Battle Rules
  • Double Battles
  • Level 50 (or under)
  • Species Clause, Item Clause
  • Soul Dew item is banned
  • Moves Dark Void and Sky Drop are banned
  • Bring 6 Choose 4, Best of 3
Official Rules from 2011, 2012, 2013

Pokemon Restrictions
  • 2011: Unova Pokedex only (Pokedex #494-#649): Victini, Tornadus-Therian, Thundurus-Therian, Reshiram, Zekrom, Landorus-Therian, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta and Genesect are not eligible
  • 2012: Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Chatot, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Tornadus-Therian, Thundurus-Therian, Reshiram, Zekrom, Landorus-Therian, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta and Genesect are not eligible
  • 2013: Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Chatot, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta and Genesect are not eligible
Notable Generation V Mechanics
  • Steel resists Ghost and Dark
  • Grass types are affected by powders, Electric types can be paralyzed
  • Turn order is static, does not change with speed changes (ie not Dynamic speed)
  • Protect has a ½ then ¼, ⅛ etc chance of working in succession
  • Wide Guard and Quick Guard fail when used in succession (like Protect/Detect)
  • Critical Hits do 2x Damage and occur 1/16 times
  • Sleep turns reset on switch out
  • Paralysis reduces speed by 3/4
  • Sound moves do not bypass substitute
  • Fake Out has equal priority (+3) to Follow Me
  • Weather summoned by Abilities is permanent
  • Oblivious, Own Tempo and Scrappy do not grant immunity to Intimidate
  • Shadow Tag traps Ghost types
  • Various moves have different BP
    • Hydro Pump, Blizzard, Fire Blast, Thunder and Hurricane have 120, not 110, BP
    • Draco Meteor, Overheat and Leaf Storm, have 140, not 130, BP
    • Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt and Muddy Water have 95, not 90, BP
    • Dark Void has 80%, not 50%, Accuracy and can be sketched by Smeargle
    • Hidden Power has a maximum of 70, not 60, BP
    • Knock Off has 20, not 65, BP
    • Heat Wave has 100, not 95, BP
    • Dragon Pulse has 90, not 85, BP
    • Aura Sphere has 90, not 80 BP
    • Energy Ball has 80, not 90, BP
    • Meteor Mash has 100 BP and 85% Accuracy, not 90 BP and 90% Accuracy
    • Will-O-Wisp has 75%, not 85%, Accuracy
Differences between VGC 2012 and VGC 2013

VGC 2012 and 2013 are both National dex formats. However, many hidden abilities and move tutor exclusive moves are not legal in VGC 2012, as well as the Therian formes of Tornadus, Thundurus and Landorus.
Accelgor, Aipom, Alomomola, Ambipom, Amoonguss, Arbok, Audino, Axew, Basculin, Beartic, Beautifly, Beedrill, Beheeyem, Bisharp, Blitzle, Boldore, Bouffalant, Braviary, Breloom, Budew, Carracosta, Chimchar, Cinccino, Combee, Conkeldurr, Cottonee, Crustle, Cubchoo, Deerling, Dialga, Ditto, Drilbur, Druddigon, Ducklett, Duosion, Durant, Dustox, Dwebble, Ekans, Elgyem, Emolga, Empoleon, Escavalier, Excadrill, Foongus, Forretress, Fraxure, Frillish, Galvantula, Garbodor, Gigalith, Giratina, Golett, Golurk, Gothitelle, Gothorita, Grimer, Grotle, Gulpin, Gurdurr, Haxorus, Heatmor, Heracross, Herdier, Hooh, Infernape, Jellicent, Joltik, Karrablast, Klang, Klinklang, Kricketot, Kricketune, Krokorok, Krookodile, Landorus, Leavanny, Liepard, Lilligant, Lillipup, Lugia, Mandibuzz, Maractus, Mienfoo, Mienshao, Minccino, Monferno, Muk, Nincada, Ninjask, Nuzleaf, Palkia, Palpitoad, Panpour, Pansage, Pansear, Paras, Parasect, Patrat, Pawniard, Petilil, Pidove, Pineco, Pinsir, Piplup, Prinplup, Purrloin, Reuniclus, Roggenrola, Roselia, Roserade, Sandile, Sawk, Sawsbuck, Scolipede, Scrafty, Scraggy, Seedot, Seismitoad, Seviper, Sewaddle, Shelmet, Shiftry, Shroomish, Sigilyph, Simipour, Simisage, Simisear, Snorlax, Solosis, Stoutland, Stunfisk, Swadloon, Swalot, Swanna, Swoobat, Throh, Thundurus, Timburr, Tirtouga, Tornadus, Torterra, Tranquill, Trubbish, Turtwig, Tympole, Unfezant, Vanillish, Vanillite, Vanilluxe, Venipede, Venomoth, Venonat, Vespiquen, Vullaby, Watchog, Weedle, Whimsicott, Whirlipede, Woobat, Wurmple, Zangoose and Zebstrika.
Additionally Hidden Ability; Articuno, Bayleef, Chandelure, Chikorita, Croconaw, Cyndaquil, Dewott, Emboar, Entei, Feraligatr, Gothita, Heatran, Klink, Lampent, Larvesta, Litwick, Meganium, Moltres, Oshawott, Pignite, Quilava, Raikou, Regice, Regirock, Registeel, Rufflet, Samurott, Serperior, Servine, Snivy, Suicune, Tepig, Totodile, Typhlosion, Volcarona and Zapdos are unavailable in both 2012 and 2013.

Resources
 
Sample Teams

VGC 2011

:thundurus: :gothitelle: :terrakion: :escavalier: :conkeldurr: :hydreigon: Ray Rizzo’s 2011 World Championship Winning Team
:thundurus: :tornadus: :scrafty: :eelektross: :krookodile: :haxorus: Matteo Gini’s 2011 World Championship Finalist Team
:thundurus: :tornadus: :scrafty: :terrakion: :amoonguss: :jellicent: Ruben Puig Lecegui’s World Championship Semi-finalist Team [REPORT]

VGC 2012

:cresselia: :metagross: :hydreigon: :garchomp: :tyranitar: :rotom-wash: Ray Rizzo’s 2012 World Championship Winning Team [REPORT]
:cresselia: :scizor: :hitmontop: :garchomp: :tyranitar: :thundurus: Aaron Zheng’s 2012 US Nationals (Senior) Winning Team [REPORT]

VGC 2013

Offense
:mamoswine: :tornadus: :latios: :amoonguss: :heatran: :conkeldurr: Arash Omatti's 2013 World Championship Winning Team [REPORT]
:liepard: :scizor: :breloom: :cresselia: :terrakion: :thundurus: Baz Anderson's World Championships 9th Place Team [REPORT]
Balance
:cresselia: :rotom-wash: :metagross: :landorus-therian: :tornadus: :volcarona: ILOVEMYWIFE9 and Radio Free C-Side's 1st Place Ladder Team [REPORT]
:cresselia: :metagross: :tyranitar: :suicune: :landorus-therian: :thundurus-therian: Kiwamu Endo's 13th Arena Off Top 16 Team [REPORT]
Trick Room
:cresselia: :rotom-wash: :landorus-therian: :tyranitar: :conkeldurr: :heatran: Aaron Zheng’s World Championship Semi-finalist Team [REPORT]
:magmar: :tornadus: :jellicent: :marowak: :scrafty: :abomasnow: Sejun Park's World Championship Quarter-finalist Team [REPORT]
Rain
:politoed: :kingdra: :hydreigon: :scizor: :thundurus: :breloom: Matteo and Alberto Gini's Italy and Germany Nationals Winning Team
:tornadus: :volcarona: :kingdra: :politoed: :rhydon: :breloom: Yuya Tada's 4th Shade Off Winning Team [REPORT]
:metagross: :landorus-therian: :thundurus: :kingdra: :politoed: :gothitelle: Basic Perish Trap Rain
 
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Viability Rankings

:thundurus: VGC 2011 :tornadus:
S
:thundurus: Thundurus
:amoonguss: Amoonguss
A
:tornadus: Tornadus
:terrakion: Terrakion
:conkeldurr: Conkeldurr
:hydreigon: Hydreigon
:scrafty: Scrafty
:krookodile: Krookodile
:gothitelle: Gothitelle
:jellicent: Jellicent
:escavalier: Escavalier
B
:landorus: Landorus
:volcarona: Volcarona
:haxorus: Haxorus
:whimsicott: Whimsicott
:cofagrigus: Cofagrigus
:zebstrika: Zebstrika
C
:eelektross: Eelektross
:reuniclus: Reuniclus
:emboar: Emboar
:samurott: Samurott
:virizion: Virizion
:chandelure: Chandelure
:darmanitan: Darmanitan
:stoutland: Stoutland

:cresselia: VGC 2012 :metagross:

WIP

:landorus-therian: VGC 2013 :thundurus:
S
:thundurus: Thundurus
:landorus-therian: Landorus-Therian
:cresselia: Cresselia
:amoonguss: Amoonguss
:metagross: Metagross
:latios: Latios
:tyranitar: Tyranitar
A
:heatran: Heatran
:politoed: Politoed
:conkeldurr: Conkeldurr
:tornadus: Tornadus
:rotom-wash: Rotom-Wash
:jellicent: Jellicent
:volcarona: Volcarona
B
:thundurus-therian: Thundurus-Therian
:kingdra: Kingdra
:scizor: Scizor
:hydreigon: Hydreigon
:breloom: Breloom
:scrafty: Scrafty
:suicune: Suicune
:hitmontop: Hitmontop
:abomasnow: Abomasnow
:gothitelle: Gothitelle
:terrakion: Terrakion
:mamoswine: Mamoswine
:ferrothorn: Ferrothorn
:excadrill: Excadrill
:gastrodon: Gastrodon
:garchomp: Garchomp
C
:zapdos: Zapdos
:togekiss: Togekiss
:bisharp: Bisharp
:latias: Latias
:landorus: Landorus
:liepard: Liepard
:magmar: Magmar
:rhyperior: Rhyperior
:ludicolo: Ludicolo
:rotom-heat: Rotom-Heat
:rhydon: Rhydon
:infernape: Infernape
:gyarados: Gyarados
:salamence: Salamence
:escavalier: Escavalier
:raikou: Raikou
:bronzong: Bronzong
:machamp: Machamp
:marowak: Marowak
:chandelure: Chandelure
:ninetales: Ninetales
D
:whimsicott: Whimsicott
:rotom-mow: Rotom-Mow
:weavile: Weavile
:heracross: Heracross
:arcanine: Arcanine
:sableye: Sableye
:snorlax: Snorlax
:milotic: Milotic
:dragonite: Dragonite
:raichu: Raichu
:chansey: Chansey
:accelgor: Accelgor
 
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Radio Free C-Side asked me to do a teamdump, so here it is:

Week 1 Smudge:
:Thundurus: :Landorus-Therian: :Scrafty: :Cresselia: :Amoonguss: :Heatran:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2432612199-ulhdf7biidieqanpwen3ewdc3ckmb8fpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2432615975-3xmcvtot48csx10kms3nanp111l22ixpw

I felt pretty confident that Amoonguss and Cresselia were probably the strongest Pokemon in the format, so what better start to the tournament than basically CHALK? Relatively standard spreads across the board with an offensive ThundyI. I focused the build pretty heavily around what Fire Gem Heatran could do when supported by Cress and Amoonguss, and I thought it delivered in a relatively clean set.

Week 2 Braverius:
:Politoed: :Kingdra: :amoonguss: :cresselia: :Escavalier: :Landorus-Therian:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2436998317?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2437001698?p2

Going against Zach/Braverius, we felt that we would want a slightly offbeat approach considering how much more experienced he would be in the format. I settled on a rain trick room hybrid with Jellicent initally, but went with Escavalier thanks to its ability to block Spore with Overcoat. Unbeknownst to myself testing and my opponent in the game, it was actually bugged to have the gen 6 effect rather than it functioning that way intentionally, which certainly contributed to my win. Knowing that now, I'd possibly layer on more Amoonguss hate, but I still thought this was a cool team with different modes of play.

Week 3 EmbCPT:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2460515637-4voo69aqtbtvxij2o9vrvdre1buvqytpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2460520754-oc08rvh7gkfgxnexmbm5hc3jh5otso5pw

:Tyranitar: :Latios: :Tornadus: :Amoonguss: :excadrill: :Hitmontop:

Week 3 I was matched into a world champion for some reason which was at least a cool experience. My friend Peng suggested that Excadrill could have been underrated in its day, so I went with a Sand build focused around supporting it. Tornadus is a strong partner alongside it thanks to being a flying intimidate deterrent, and I appreciated having Latios as a fellow levitating attacker to make clicking EQ even more feasible. However, I got gapped.

Week 4 Human:
:Thundurus: :Landorus-Therian: :Scrafty: :Cresselia: :Amoonguss: :Heatran:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2446426009
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2446429543
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2446432403

My idea going into this week was trying to make a more dedicated OTR work, but it simply wasn't good, so I just scrapped it and went with a team I knew was solid. Swagger and Twave did their things to me, which is always frustrating, but WP to him regardless. We discussed the meta afterwards, and he was super helpful tossing some ideas and feedback for the following weeks, so big thanks to him.

Week 5 Infinity Cypher:
:Rhyperior: :Cresselia: :latios: :Tornadus: :Scrafty: :Jellicent:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451052727-d4p45pg4scr30ge7ky7j4dw6q2j172xpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451055593-5qp0j5tymnbd3ecfjhqkjw96miajh6hpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451057571-1bb8na94m5t50cy7rw3r4xx4oia7c30pw

Following Thunder Wave shenanigans, I wanted to realize my previous week's idea of OTR, and Rhyperior would be a way better Trick Room abuser with spread EQ and a really potent pairing with Tornadus when I wanted to drop Trick Room in situations such as Amoong ThundyI. I was given advice that I should seek out a nuclear bomb of a trick room abuser alongside Rhyp, which Water Gem Jelli would fulfill well enough. It could be Lum Cress or Scrafty to help the Amoonguss mu, and I even considered Psychic Gem Psyshock Cress (Foreshadowing), but decided it was probably fine. In the end, I managed to get the win when i realized Ambipom was highkey a threat that required TR to handle.

Semis EmbCPT:
:Landorus: :Amoonguss: :Thundurus: :cresselia: :Scrafty: :Magnezone:
:Landorus: :Amoonguss: :Thundurus: :cresselia: :Scrafty: :Metagross:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2455846898
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2455849841

Once again playing EmbCPT, I wanted to make use of Metagross and the Cresselia idea from last week more. I found LandoI to be an interesting partner that I maintain was pretty cool alongside it, with a fully offensive Cress which could be a threat in its own right and set up the midspeed Scrafty/Meta/Mag. I think the original incarnation of the team was pretty good, but I didn't think through a suggestion and changed it to Mag before the game for a somewhat decent rain matchup. This was a mistake though, as Meta was very important in order to hold off Ttar and provide a physical presence. Regardless, I don't think my play was up to snuff either, and I got cleaned out in 2, but I stand by the team as being at least pretty decent.

Finals Infinite Cypher:
:hydreigon: :metagross: :landorus-therian: :Cresselia: :Amoonguss: :Abomasnow:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2460515637-4voo69aqtbtvxij2o9vrvdre1buvqytpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2460520754-oc08rvh7gkfgxnexmbm5hc3jh5otso5pw

My final match would be vs Infinity Cypher again. Hydreigon was a Pokemon I thought was really good, but hadn't found an opportunity to use yet, so I sought out to use it this week. Kunal relayed the idea of Scarf Meta alongside Cress with the Hydreigon which formed a pretty strong core, and I rounded it out with the innovative Amoonguss and Landot. I wanted the last slot to resist Water but also really nail ThundyI, so Aboma formed a pretty cool Trick Room mode alongside a min speed Amoong. I definitely let the squad and my team down with my abysmal performance though.

I found VGC 2013 a really cool meta overall. There are definitely some occasionally frustrating mechanics such as the prevalence of Swagger and the absurdity of Amoonguss, but I didn't find it unreasonably uncompetitive and found ways to work around it in the builder. I always appreciate trying new metagames, especially for BW, so I was glad I had the opportunity to play it here, as well as BW DOU in DPL. Despite that though, I felt like my singles skill really didn't translate to BW doubles like I hoped, and it led to some really disappointing matches for my captains, which I apologize for. I will continue to play doubles, as I really enjoyed a lot of the metas I've played so far, but in a more individual role, as I was not satisfied with my performance and how it affected the Cratermakers and Charjabugs in the most important weeks. Despite that, thank you for drafting me Zee, Tyo, Val, and Epimetheus, was fun being on the teams and I hope to get good enough at doubles to feel confident enough to sign up again.
 
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Unc might not still have it??? Only played twice but had a lot of fun against two good friends. Thanks again zee for drafting me.

https://pokepast.es/c62ae76198e2b5c1

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2434124799
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2434128697
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2434132865

My wife (have I told you I have a wife and I love her?) went in to labor at the beginning of the week. Jun and I originally were going to play a set with only Pokemon with a BST >500 with a few bans, but I scraped the fun idea and pushed for us to just play a boring normal game of 2013 so that we could at least play one another. I've been piloting this style of rain team since 2012 (Terrakion/Lando-t are interchangeable, as is Metagross/Scizor) and am very comfortable with it.

Unfortunately, Jun sent the most fucked up counterteam imaginable, with Gastrodon, Lum Berry Ferrothorn, and Sunny Day Cress, which rendered the rain mode entirely unusable and forced me to bring Lando-T into Ice Beam Gastrodon & Cress and Tornadus. Despite that, I was able to take it to a game 3 where luck was not on my side. GGs as always my friend.

https://pokepast.es/601a790adfe12b23

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451430096
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451431896
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen5vgc2013-2451434328

Both our teams had clutched playoffs by this point and our match didn't matter, so I elected to run a bad team that I think has a legitimately workable foundation. Because I was playing on the Smeargles, I wanted to try and make our mascot work, and I thought it could be an interesting setup Pokemon on a hyper offense team. Smeargle is 5 speed points faster than Breloom, letting it get the jump on things like Kingdra under Tailwind and max speed sub Heatran. I made a combination TR + TW team which enabled an Eruption Heatran under both types of speed control. The team is all in on getting team preview and the t1 right, and if you get even a little bit of offensive momentum, it can steamroll players. Fun team, really low floor, just a high enough ceiling to be dangerous.

I was able to get the team preview and t1 call right in both games 1 and 2, but a 1-turn sleep helped Enosh win g1. His Ttar and my Lanturn were speedtied which let to a hilarious final turn in g2 sending us to a game 3 where Enosh had at that point figured out the right t1 and led to an uncompetitive conclusion to an otherwise nailbitingly close and fun set. I've been friends with Enosh since 2011 and if I'm not mistaken this is the first time we've played each other in a competitive setting.

2013 rules. Y'all should try it sometime, like the ongoing RoA ladder perhaps. There's several viable solutions to the "problematic" mechanics and Pokemon. The meta remains rather diverse with a lot of room for unique Pokemon and playstyles.
 
With the 2nd Ruins of Alph VGC 2013 ladder finished, let's look at the results:

January 2025 Ladder Results (VGC 2013)
April 2025 Ladder Results (VGC 2011)

October 2025 Ladder Results (VGC 2013)
https://pokemonshowdown.com/ladder/gen5vgc2013

Note that ladder ratings carried over from January. Most players created new accounts for this month. A few accounts were reused from January. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell how many games were played for this month only for an old account. Let's be greatful not many people played a small number of games "just" to keep their old accounts "active".
The official ranking is listed without parentheses, with the October-only ranking in (parentheses)

image lolol

Active
(1) EmbCPT
:landorus-therian::tornadus::cresselia::tyranitar::heatran::gastrodon: 1 (1)
(2) WhatARandomName
:terrakion::thundurus::kingdra::scizor::politoed::amoonguss: 6 (2)
(3, 7, 14) MosquitoVGC
:Landorus-Therian::Thundurus::Cresselia::Tyranitar::Heatran::Conkeldurr: 14 (3)
:Landorus-Therian::Thundurus::Cresselia::Metagross::Tyranitar::Amoonguss: 20 (7)
:Landorus-Therian::Rotom-Wash::Cresselia::Metagross::Volcarona::Smeargle: 30 (14)
(4, 5, 20) Jaden_Copeland
:Salamence::Thundurus::Suicune::Metagross::Tyranitar::Amoonguss: 16 (4)
:Landorus-Therian::Tornadus::Suicune::Metagross::Tyranitar::Amoonguss: 17 (5)
:Thundurus-Therian::Scrafty::Gothitelle::Kingdra::Politoed::Amoonguss: 40 (20)
(6, 9, 12) oopsgtg
:Landorus-Therian::Thundurus-Therian::Cresselia::Metagross::Tyranitar::Suicune: 19 (6)
:Landorus-Therian::Thundurus-Therian::Cresselia::Metagross::Tyranitar::Suicune: 23 (9)
:Rhydon::Tornadus::Kingdra::Breloom::Politoed::Volcarona: 28 (12)
(8, 11, 17) mtdtt / egrwg / fguhk / haegw / maegw
:Landorus-Therian::kingdra::cresselia::conkeldurr::politoed::bisharp: 22 (8)
:landorus-therian::thundurus::cresselia::scizor::tyranitar::suicune: 25 (11)
:unown-question:
:unown-question:
:unown-question:
:unown-question:
:unown-question:
:unown-question:
34 (17)
(10) Zubola
:Landorus-Therian::Latios::Kingdra::Metagross::Politoed::Amoonguss: 24 (10)
(13, 15, 16) UsaUsaBallonVGC
:Hitmontop::Thundurus::Latias::Sableye::Chansey::Espeon: 29 (13)
:Gliscor::Raichu::Altaria::Heracross::Jellicent::Cloyster: 31 (15)
:Hitmontop::Thundurus::Latias::Sableye::Chansey::Espeon: 33 (16)
(18) Radio Free C-Side
:Rhydon::Liepard::Charizard::Conkeldurr::Ninetales::Venusaur: 35 (18)
(19) averageatbest
:landorus-therian::togekiss::latios::metagross::terrakion::suicune: 39 (19)


Inactive
2: Radio Free C-Side
3, 5, 7, 8: contra92
4, 9: Jaden_Copeland
10, 18: Mosquito
11: Prismatic Evo
12, 21: Lucien Lachance
13: zubola
15: nerd of now
26: eewww
27: I Am Rookie
32: thomas iron train
37: gengargoons1
38: bidoofutopia
39: gnezze
 
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