Dat Lapras II: Taking Down the Fort and Port with Hornets - Part Two

Taking Down the Fort and Port with Hornets - Part Two

Philadelphia Regionals

With my car in unsure shape after a car accident in Columbus, I decided to take a bus to save my car the trouble of driving all the way there. I brought my wallet with me for the trip, but decided not to take my license, and having no picture ID on-hand ended up making the security of the Ryan Gadea's dorm panic and issue me a temporary ID (yay city-schools lol). It was on the Megabus that I made some of the final decisions for my team and what to run exactly (and almost re-eving my Aegislash to something halfway-acceptable). Actually getting to Ryan's dorm--AKA riding in Philly on a Saturday night in the city in a taxi--was a huge cultural experience for a non-taxi'd West Virginian boy like myself. 

That morning we got there bright and early, and since coming to Philly was a largely last-minute decision for me, I didn’t pre-register. I also wanted to finish re-eving my Gardevoir while in line, so that took some more time. I still managed to have extra time through a combination of getting there early and the organization having some lag starting things up. Playing the newly-released Smash Brothers 4 for 3DS also killed good time, so I was hyped and ready for the day, despite running on fumes of sleep. 

Round 1 - Bryan Tong (Heisenburg) 

His Team: Pachirisu/Mega-Tyranitar/Salamence/Ludicolo/Aegislash/Rotom-Heat 

I brought: Gardevoir/Garchomp, Aegislash/Kangaskhan 

Believe it or not, my round one ended up being suprisiingly tough. Team preview looked tough, too, as I was staring down my first Sejun-inspired Pachirisu team. I led double-gar, with Aegislash and Kangaskhan in the back. From what I can remember, I start out pretty clumbsily getting read right and left. It's only after I snag a double Protect with Kangaskhan when my opponent doubled into it and making a bold play with blade-forme Aegislash that I ended up winning.

Lockable live event battle videos next year gamefreak please. 2-2 win on timer nailbiter 

Round 2 (1-0) Enosh Shachar (Human) 

His Team: Garchomp (mega)/Mega-Manectric/Zapdos/Talonflame/Politoed/Ferrothorn 

I brought: Garchomp/Rotom-Heat/Lapras/Kangaskhan 

As if my Round 1 opponent wasn't tough enough, my R2 was Enosh. My gameplan from his team preview was Rain, so Lapras was a no-brainer. I decided on Garchomp and Rotom-Heat as a lead and he led Manectric/Talonflame. Since Rotom-Heat had nothing to fear from this lead, I just went bold and decided Overheating his Manectric sounded like a good call--didn't want Manectric to OHKO with HP Ice and wanted the 2HKO with my faster Rotom so I protected Garchomp while Overheating with Rotom. He doubled into my Garchomp's Protect with Hidden Power and Brave Bird and I nailed the Overheat which did a 70% chunk to Manectric. From there I felt safe Rock Sliding to KO Talonflame which ends up getting sacked to put up a Tailwind, but he switched Manectric to Politoed to absorb the second Overheat. Match gets a bit fuzzy after that, but I manage to soak up a Politoed Hydro Pump on a switch from Garchomp to Lapras and cruise to victory. 3-0 win. 

Round 3: Colin Schoenwolf from PA 

His team: Rotom-Wash/Mega-Kangaskhan/Aerodactyl/Hydreigon/Machamp/Aegislash 

I brought: Rotom-Heat/Gardevoir, Garchomp?/Kangaskhan 

Fun fact: I had played this guy before, and the last time we met was at Penn State where he used No Guard Shadow Force Golurk and I took it out in true ghost fashion: Shadow Balling a slot that looked like it had nothing there. He had a more consistent No Guarder in Machamp this time, along with the rest of his team looking scarier in general. I led fast mode Rotom-Heat to beat Aerodactyl and paired it with Gardevoir to beat a Machamp lead. I go for the discharge and land a double paralysis on Aerodactyl and Kangaskhan turn one to end up in a great situation early. Turn two I believe he reveals Wide Guard on his Paralyzed Aerodactyl, but I pick up a KO single-targeting Kangaskhan after it Sucker Punches Garchomp and I KO with Dragon Claw. Given my early momentum, I eventually win 2-0. 

Round 4: Edward Glover (MinVGG) 

His team: Mega-Mawile/Zapdos/Tyranitar/Gengar/Mamoswine/Gyarados 

I brought: Lapras/Rotom-Heat, Aegislash/Lapras  His name sounded familiar from Showdown at that time, so I held some caution. Enemy No. 1 Mawile was on the team, too. I decided Lapras/Rotom-Heat would fare well as a lead with Aegislash and Kangaskhan taking back-up duties--only going hesitant with Garchomp because of the Mamoswine. He led Gyarados/Tyranitar and most of the game was a blur outside of the notes I wrote. It came down to my Scarfed Rotom-Heat outspeeding and knocking out his Mamoswine (which I would like to think was scarfed since it had Rock Slide and if memory serves me correctly it outsped my Kangaskhan). Won on a tight 1-0. 

Round 5: Wolfe Glick (Wolfey) 

His  team: Ludicolo/Aegislash/Garchomp/Politoed/Mega Mawile/Zapdos 

I brought: Garchomp/Lapras, Rotom-heat/Kangaskhan 

Second of Worlds-competitors-who-also-top-3d-this-tournament, Lapras finally came full circle to meet the creator of the blog The Eggy Emporium that first inspired my Lapras run. After fangirling a bit to him, I turned my attention to the game. I saw more Poli/Ludi in team preview, so it was fated to see the light of that battle. I paired it alongside Garchomp and kept Rotom in the back for extra steel support despite the wet matchup. I ended up having my friend Nathan Powell record it since it ended up being a really good game, although I'm not sure if he still has it around to post up. 

He led Mawile/Zapdos and I decide to not reveal my Lapras set just yet, so I switch it for the Rotom-in-waiting and it soaks up a Play Rough + Thunderbolt while Garchomp gets a bit of Earthquake damage on Mawile. With Rotom and Garchomp establishing their presence on the field, I decide a Discharge/Rock Slide made the most sense from a momentum perspective (and possibly take out his Zapdos), and I get rewarded with significant damage on a Politoed switch with Zapdos doing more damage on Rotom with Thunderbolt. Lapras eventually comes out and does some work and the momentum carries me to a 3-0 victory. 

Not gonna lie: I was a on a bit of a cocky high having survived two worlds players in the first five rounds of Swiss, but I was just trying to stay as humble as I could since this probably meant I was on my way toward finally accomplishing my first Regionals Top Cut. It was extremely nice to share the news with my NPA brothers, the Ohio gang, a few Northeast Magmas, and my close teambuilding Canadian bud Nate among others.  

Round 6: Christian Rivera (SumoNinja) His Team: Garchomp/Hydreigon/Gothitelle/Mega-Mawile/Ludicolo/Rotom-Heat
I brought: Lapras/Rotom-Heat, Aegislash/Kangaskhan 

An Ohio boy at 5-0 with me sounded like a good match. I had first met him at Worlds when we ate together at a DC-Chinatown restaurant. I decided to lead Rotom-heat and Lapras because I liked the match-up with Lapras and Christian leads Hydreigon/Ludicolo. I honestly can't remember this one too well besides turn being something like Fake Out + Dark Pulse into a Lapras Protect while Rotom Volt Switches off Hydra. Also, Lapras and Aegislash put in some work. 3-2 FF win 

6-0. Top cut was a win away. That would change next round, however…  

Round 7: Johnathan Hiller (MrFox) 

Team: Mega-Aerodactyl/Bisharp/Chesnaught/Greninja/Pachirisu/Talonflame 

I brought: Rotom/Garchomp, Kangaskhan/Lapras 

Mr. Fox was a brother in Christ from what I could tell from his DS casing. After bonding over our mutual religion, we got right to our battle, and he led Bisharp/Aerodactyl to my Rotom/Garchomp with Lapras in the back in case it had to soak up a Greninja lead. He Mega-Evolves Aerodactyl and Protects both Pokemon turn one to a dead Volt Switch. The Speed boost would give Aerodactyl an advantage over my Rotom now turn two as I'd never thought I'd run into any Jolly Mega Aerodactyl, so he doubles into Rotom with Sucker Punch and Rock Slide and I take out Bisharp with an Earthquake.  My Kangaskhan and his Greninja comes in and he decides to Protect both pokemon again turn 3 to burn any Fake Outs I might use here. I decide to be safe and protect Garchomp from an Ice Beam while he Sky Drops Kangaskhan and Ice Beams. After the drop, he manages to drop and double on Kangaskhan with either Scald or Hydro Pump which ends up in a knock out (there might have been chip damage here) and Garchomp can't finish. 3-0 loss 

Round 8: CT Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng 
Team: Hariyama/Mawile/Gothitelle/Rotom-Heat/Salamence/Ludicolo 
I brought: Rotom-Heat/Aegislash, Garchomp/Gardevoir  

Shaken by my loss but somewhat thankful to be brought back down to earth by a good player, I eventually got the news that I was to play everyone's favorite poketuber and 3rd Worlds-calibur-player-to-top-four-this-event* Aaron Cybertron Zheng. He is a great guy with excellent team presence and was really cool to check in with throughout the day, so it was nice to finally get the chance to play him. Using the hyped bread-and-butter-for-later-meta* Gothitelle/Mawile/ Hariyama core I saw throughout NPA practice, I readied my Rotom/Aegislash lead with Garchomp and Gardevoir in the back. For once, I decided to not bring Kangaskhan here because of the Bulky Fighting type + Mawile instead going for the better matchups with both in the back. Gothitelle and Mawile was his lead here, so I made the play I normally made to stop Trick Room and jammed an Overheat and Shadow Ball into the Gothitelle slot. Aaron surprised me however, by switching in his Hariyama here and just going for a Rock Slide with Mawile instead of Protecting. After this odd T1, my concentration turns so much to the battle I run a bit blank, but I remember Protecting Aegislash to get a drop on his Hariyama. He also timed out at one point and used Fake Out with Ludicolo after its first turn. The time-out was certainly an odd way to make my first top cut, but I think a few lessons can be learned here: 

• Move Position does matter - I usually try to put the most effective (usually the most damaging) move in the first spot. While it may seem tempting to put Fake Out first, it is only used once and usually chosen fairly quickly, so it would probably be better in one of the other spots where the time out won't auto-select it at a crucial point in the match. 
• Pay attention to time - Anyone with experience will admit: it's hard to have discipline in this when the timer for Premier Challenges, Pokemon Showdown, and even Battle Spot aren't exactly the timer used at Regionals which is 90s Team Preview + 45s/turn & 15 minute game-time. While thinking through your turn is quite important, be alert, disciplined, and have a decisive plan when choosing your moves. This is usually acquired with experience when it doesn't (and it usually doesn't) come naturally. I had (and still to an extent have) problems with this myself, but I got over it for the most part and part of that was that I made an active goal to myself to make all my moves within 45 seconds. While I didn't completely achieve my goal (I time out next round), I did well enough to make top cut anyway. 

 *please excuse my long hyphenage 

Round 9: Simon Yip (Simon) "<3MentalOut<3" 

Team: Starraptor/Hydreigon/Mawile/Talonflame/Garchomp/Gardevoir
I brought: Lapras/Rotom, Aegislash/Gardevoir 

Simon Yip--avid Imouto & hard-core soft-resetter, moderator of many things, and infamous yet tragic Worlds-invite-bubbling king--I have a lot of respect for this guy. I was again pumped for this match, while also relieved since I was mostly sure of my Top Cut being official. Decided to hold back the Kangaskhan back again in this game in the chance that we play each other in cut coupled with the fact that he had a good chance of two Intimidators that each can give 'ol Dubs some problems. So I readied Lapras and Rotom with Aegislash for a Staraptor/Gardevoir switch and my Gardevoir to deal with his Hydreigon. He led Starraptor/Gardevoir, and turn one went something like Lapras protecting from a potential Close Combat + Moonblast while Volt-Switching with Rotom to do a good 70% to Starraptor and getting Aegislash on the field. He revealed Ally Switch Gardevoir next turn, which threw me for a bit of a loop. Trick Room went up the turn after with an Aegislash still on the field, confusing me further since most of my team is almost more threatening under Trick Room. After that I only remember two more things: 

• I time out turn 5. Gardevoir decides to Moonblast with a Mawile/Hydreigon on the field. Hits… Mawile. 
• A last-ditch Freeze Dry manages to Freeze Mawile. It instantly thaws. 

Oh well. Simon beats me to earn his top cut. 0-2 loss. 

Swiss finish: 7-2. 8th seed in a Top 16 Cut 

Top 16 - Trista Medine (Ryuzaki) 

Her team: Aerodactyl/Gengar/LAPRAS/Mega-Kangaskhan/Rotom-cut/Nidoking 

I'm not going to go into huge detail for these ones since quite frankly I can't remember too much. I will make a few notes about each game, however. 

• Game one: I lead Rotom-Heat and Garchomp mostly to pressure Kangaskhan + Aerodactyl the most, which she ended up leading. I go for a Discharge + switch to Aegislash because a) damage, b) 60% chance to paralyze something, and c) stop any incoming Rock Slides afterward with Aegislash (if I didn't get parad myself). I end up getting a lucky full-paralysis on Aerodactyl on the first turn as it was trying to use Tailwind, and I end up with a large amount of momentum. So large, that she ends up timing out turn two and Kangaskhan tried to Fake Out again since it was in the first moveslot and I win with a decisive 3-0. 
• Game two: Same leads, same pokemon on both sides, different gameplans. This one comes down to an Aerodactyl versus weakened 30ish HP Aegislash stuck in Sword forme because of an apt Taunt and a Rock Slide manages to take me down. 0-1 loss. 
• Game three: I actually run out of notebook paper and write on the notebook inside cover. Same leads, but I decide  to put in Lapras for Aegislash since it failed me the last game and if I went down, I wanted it to be with Lapras (surprise factor was also part of the reason too). I squeak this one out 2-0, but only because she decided to Taunt instead of getting a late-game Tailwind up (although my memories were pretty fuzzy here). Good set, Trista. 

Top 8 - David Mancuso (Mancuso) 

My Ohio-bourne brotha and CP rival for the Fall season was just coming off beating top seed of Swiss and "Worlds-Second-Place-doesn't-mean-you-stop-practicing" Jeudy Azzarelli AKA SoulSurvivor, so I knew this match-up was going to be tough. After intense hand-shaking and "good-lucking" (and borrowing his notebook paper) we got right into our intense battle! So intense I can't remember most of it! (lol I blame the long-of-end-tournament-lack-of-energy-to-write-notes syndrome). I believe the matchup against David's team (which was also Collin Heyer's team)had three Dark attacks to wail against a team that had no resists to it among Mawile + a bulky Fighting type which stops my fallback Kangaskhan mode from happening. In short, I lost in a pretty match-up-heavy 2-0 set. Good set, David (and gj this season too!) 

After my loss I took the time to savor the pizza that I had endured 11 rounds/14 games/half the day to eventually get (thanks AP Frank!) I played a few rounds of Smash Brothers to de-stress, but I had a Greyhound to catch that was leaving at 6:45 that wanted people to board an hour in advance. So I took a prideful selfie with a binary shirt afterward, mostly out of happiness that I finally cut a tournament, but I had a deeper, slightly ironic reason for doing so that I might talk about in a post later, but I'll leave that out for now.

Oh, and the binary on my shirt means "I love you". <3

Ft Wayne 

Two weeks later, I was feeling confident taking my car again on a five-hour trip since I had it inspected by a professional and it seemed sturdy enough driving around (went for 3 hours after my accident in Columbus). I arranged for the time off and made plans to stay with my team-building brother Nathan Powell who went to Philly/Wayne too, but because of the weirdness that was the Saturday Night Pre-Regional Premier Challenge, I played some Smash with Andrew Burley (Andykins) and Jake Mueller (MajorBowman) and just crashed on the floor of their room. Speaking of that Premier Challenge, I tried out a team of Mawile/Wigglytuff/Gothitelle over Gardevoir/Kangaskhan/Aegislash and had a meh record, and the hustle of TCG happening made registering interesting as I had to come up clutch with the bunch of team sheets I collected from my various Premier Challenge ventures and supplied my friends with them since the sheets were away from the actual registration table.  

But I was in a conundrum in deciding what to use at Ft. Wayne: do I try to make changes to the team that might have better meta calls and a better type chart than the team I had in Philly, or do I stick with the team I knew how to use and use well. Well the advice of Nate and a coin landing heads told me to use what I know. I was rewarded with another Top Cut. 

Round 1: Austin Benthimer 

Team: Gothitelle/Tyranitar/Charizard/Azumarill/Amoonguss/Aegislash 

I brought: Rotom/Garchomp, Gardevoir/Kangaskhan 

My first opponent had Azu/Amoo and Gothitelle, but given the lack of Mawile I was slightly less worried. Decided to go fast-mode for the first match of the day since my opponent seemed to have redirection-reliant setups and Rotom can tackle WG Aegislash if it happened, so I went with it. He led Gothitelle/Tyranitar and I decide to keep it simple and fire off a Disquake. Gothitelle inexplicably Protects and Tyranitar inexplicably fires off a Dark Pulse after being Paralyzed to the Discharge. I list it as scarfed in my notes (I think it outsped Garchomp, but not Rotom), but it would get KO'd the next turn anyway with a critical hit Earthquake (I went Lum Berry on Garchomp in this tournament, if you remember from earlier). Charizard comes out and I think I go for Discharge + Rock Slide while Gothitelle gets a Tickle off on something. I get a Discharge double Paralysis next turn and take out the Charizard the turn afterward. I ride the momentum train to victory 3-0. 

Round 2: Daniel Thorpe 

Team: Charizard/Mamoswine/Garchomp/Pinsir/Amoonguss/Hariyama 

I brought: Rotom/Gardevoir, Lapras/Kangaskhan 

Oh hi Pinsir lovely to see you. Rotom-Heat looked like it dealt well with his team and I could smell the Hariyama lead to give momma Dubs the pressure, so Gardevoir tagged along, and Lapras took the rear to give support against Garchomp, Pinsir, and Amoonguss. Turn One he Fakes Out my Rotom going for a Discharge while Gardevoir Moonblasted Hariyama out of the battle and Pinsir used… Swords Dance. Now seeing the Pinsir as a bit of a nuisance at +2 with no Intimidate on my team, my best strategy is to go for it with my Scarfed Rotom-Heat hoping I can knock it out. His Garchomp comes out, and I score two more KOs with an Overheat on Pinsir and another Moonblast at his Garchomp who fishes for flinches/Rotom-chunking with Rock Slide. After Garchomp is gone, all he had was a Sludge Bomb Amoonguss in the back. Win 3-0 

Round 3: Thomas Felts 

Team: Ferrothorn/Mega-Kangaskhan/Rotom-Wash/Hawlucha/Mr.Mime/Chandelure 

I brought: Garchomp/Rotom-H, Aegislash/Kangaskhan 

We bonded a little beforehand, and small talk led to Smash Brothers because of my 3DS (which had the Red Smash theme). He gushed a bit about Ness and how he used Manectric on previous teams. Anyway, the Kangaskhan in his team preview made me choose my default mode of Rotom/Garchomp as leads with Aegislash to help out against some of the unusual choices on his team. He led Mr. Mime and Kangaskhan and already the lead match-up made me slightly uneasy. I decided to switch Garchomp out Turn One for Aegislash while trying to snag some chip damage on Kangaskhan from Rotom's Overheat, but im pretty sure he Fakes Out Rotom and uses Icy Wind here. I take out his Mr. Mime with a Shadow Ball the next turn and his Rotom Wash comes in. He decides to throw a Will-o-Wisp toward Aegislash, which stay in Sword Forme to land a critical Sacred Sword to his Kangakshan, taking it to low health. I believe Garchomp comes in after my slowed Rotom is swatted away, and Garchomp finishes off Kangakshan with Rough Skin Damage the next turn and Chandelure comes in. At some point, there becomes a situation where Chandelure uses Imprision to catch my Aegislash through a loop, but I end up taking it out with Kangaskhan Sucker Punches somewhere. At the end it came down to Rotom v Garchomp (and a very weak Burned Aegislash) and Lum-chomp clutched the game for me. 2-0 win 

Round 4: Gene Gorochev (gene) 

Team: Salamence/Tyranitar/Talonflame/Smeargle/LAPRAS/Mega-Kangaskhan 

I Brought: Garchomp/Rotom-Heat, Aegislash/Kangaskhan 

Someone who I was at least somewhat familiar with at least through association on Nugget Bridge, although I never played him nor knew very much of his playstyle. But I readied my Khan-artist lead in Lum Garchomp and Scarfed Rotom-heat and lo he indeed leads the Khan-artist (Kangaskhan/Smeargle). He Fakes Out Rotom and his Scarf Smeargle gets a Dark Void off hitting both my targets while my Lum Garchomp gets an Earthquake to get significant damage done. T2, Rotom gets an early wake-up and finishes off Smeargle and his Kangaskhan starts to Set-up with Power-up Punch. Talonflame comes in and although my Garchomp stays asleep for a turn longer than Rotom, it wakes up just in time to deliver a Rock Slide and KO his Talonflame and Kangaskhan. I beat the darkness 2-0. 

Round 5: Seth Wood 

Team: Mamoswine/Mega-Gengar/Talonflame/Tyranitar/Salamence/Venusaur 

I brought: Lapras/Aegislash, Garchomp/Kangaskhan 

My poor Round Five opponent made it very apparent that he didn't feel confident about being undefeated, so I felt bad for him but kept my guard up just in case. He led Talonflame and Gengar and played Turn One very carefully. The Gengar, which he gave a pet name of something like Nancy and said it was clutch for him today, mega-evolves and Protects and I Protect my Aegislash to bait Talonflame Fire moves and try and avoid Disable Gengar shenanigans. Honestly, after I Shadow Ball his Nancy and take the wind out of him, I can't remember much.  I eventually win 3-0. 

Round 6: Maurice Easterly (Reeseesee) 

Team: Aegislash/Mega-Tyranitar/Blastoise/Rotom-Heat/Salamence/Amoonguss 

I Brought: Lapras/Aegislash, Garchomp/Kangaskhan 

Another familiar name: Reeseesee. I had seen Maurice in some online tournaments, but I never actually met him until today. I learned that he actually took like a year off in either 2013 or 14 and was back into the fray recently. After meeting this new friend, we got into our match. I decided I wanted Aegislash to deal with his two potential megas along with Lapras for Salamence and decided to use Garchomp as a pivot for Rotom-Heat Overheats with Kangaskhan in the back. He leads Rotom-Heat and Salamence and I find out immediately that Salamence isn't Choiced as it Protects as his Rotom Volt Switches into my Garchomp switch for Lapras. He ends up bringing the Mega Tyranitar and revealing the Wide Guard Aegislash at some point--all of which would be excellent info since we would eventually play in top cut. I win 3-0. 

Round 7: David Mancuso (Mancuso) 

His Team: Rotom-Wash/Mawile/Tyranitar/Ludicolo/Garchomp/Charizard 

I Brought: Garchomp/Rotom-Heat, Kangaskhan/Lapras 

David found out about our battle and was already eagerly calling me over, but as I was unready coming off one of my many Regionals' bathroom breaks. Being that this tournament had a largely frustrating Top Cut size of only 8 instead of the much desired 16, a single loss was likely the only allowance for anyone wanting to make it. Luckily for me, I was on another Swiss hot-streak with this team, but since Mancuso was my end in Philly, I knew I was in for a hard match. 

He leads Garchomp/Charizard to my own Garchomp/Rotom with Lapras taking the pivot spot. I was expecting Mawile in this match-up, but David was likely trying to scout this round so he went with Charizard. Now from what I have in the notes, I believe I try Volt Switching on the Charizard which Protects while his Garchomp Dragon Claws into mine, which also protects. After that T1, I believe I try to OHKO or take out the Charizard quickly because all I have in my notes is Protect (he may have also not Mega-Evolved to hold more information). Ludicolo and Tyranitar come in the back and eventually I win 2-0. 

Round 8: Andrew Burley (Andykins) 

His Team: Tyranitar/Aegislash/Mega-Mawile/Rotom-Heat/Ludicolo/Staraptor 

I Brought: Rotom-Heat/Gardevoir, Kangaskhan/Aegislash 

And there I was. One win away from being Swiss king and the only thing in my way would be none other than Ft. Wayne's Swiss king of last year. That in mind, I tried making my goal to give as little away here as I could since my cut was assured at this point. Instead I give him a bunch of information and end up losing terribly to Wide Guard Weakness Policy Aegislash and Mega-Mawile in an 0-4 sweep. GG Andy. Swiss king two years in a row! 

Final Swiss Record: 7-1. 3rd seed in a Top 8 Cut 

Yep. I was the third seed, despite my only loss being to the first seed, but Andy Himes would eventually prove why that wasn't a fluke. 

(also taken pokemon are in bold formatting for my opponent in each match)

Ft. Wayne Top 8: Maurice Easterly (Reeseesee) 

His Team (G1): Aegislash/Mega-Tyranitar/Mega-Blastoise/Rotom-Heat/Salamence/Amoonguss 

(G2): Aegislash/Mega-Tyranitar/Mega Blastoise/Rotom-Heat/Salamence/Amoonguss 

I Brought (G1): Gardevoir/Rotom-Heat, Garchomp/Kangaskhan 

(G2): Aegislash/Rotom-Heat, Lapras/Kangaskhan 

At the beginning of cut, Maurice's DS seemed in need of some power. We made our way to the charging station and out of good spirits, I decided to let him use my charger since he was borrowing the charger of a friend who was trying to leave. It was a very casual top cut , with many engaging in light conversations during their battles, and ours was no different. Maurice and I would even bond over our use over Wide Guard Aegislash. 

Game One, he leads Salamence/Blastoise to my Gardevoir/Rotom-Heat. Pretty sure this game started out with Rotom Volt Switching off Mega Blastoise while Gardevoir finished it with Dazzling Gleam for the KO while Salamence protects. Aegislash comes out, reveals Wide Guard, to which I responded by not Earthquaking into but Dragon Clawing the Salamence slot (which may have switched). After that, he reveals Lum Berry on his Aegislash and Thunder Wave on his Rotom-Heat. I pull this one off fairly well and win 3-0 in the end. 

Game Two, I decide Aegislash is suitable to stop both his Megas well enough and pair it with Rotom to scare off the  Amoonguss he had and I'm met with a Blastoise/Amoonguss lead now. I try to go for a Discharge + Wide Guard opening but then his Blastoise reveals Fake Out and hits my Rotom and Spores me down with Amoonguss. As we talk here about how we both know Wide Guard can be spammed, I manage to demonstrate that and effectively jam his Blastoise (and for whatever reason Amoonguss didn't decide to Spore my Aegislash too) so it becomes a bit of a struggle waiting for Rotom to wake up and Blastoise revealing his other coverage Dragon Pulse to try and cause damage. Then later on from what I remember, Lapras did work here by tanking a Rotom Volt switch toward the end and nearly KOing with a +2 Brine (Ice Shard finished it off). I take Game Two with a score I didn't write down (3-0 I think?) 

Top 4 means I'm earning my first brick. I take a brick pic with it later for the goal achieved. 

Ft Wayne Top 4: Andy Himes 

His Team (G1): Scrafty/Smeargle/Rotom-Heat/Garchomp/Mega-Kangaskhan/Zapdos 

(G2): Scrafty/Smeargle/Rotom-Heat/Garchomp/Mega-Kangaskhan/Zapdos 

(G3): Scrafty/Smeargle/Rotom-Heat/Garchomp/Mega-Kangaskhan/Zapdos ?? 

I brought (G1): Garhomp/Rotom-Heat, Gardevoir/Kangaskhan 

(G2): Garhomp/Rotom-Heat, Gardevoir/Kangaskhan 

(G3): Gardevoir/Rotom-Heat, Garhomp/Kangaskhan 

Smeargle time! My beloved friend Andy Himes whose Smeargle I would lose to despite heeding his word and bringing a Lum Berry on Garchomp (in hindsight I could've tried it on Gardevoir, but Lum Garchomp DID come in handy throughout Swiss). 

Game One was okay. I try anti-Smeargle/Kangaskhan against a guy who never leads Smeargle. So the leads were Garchomp/Rotom and Scrafty/Rotom and turn one went something like Fake Out + Hidden Power into Garchomp's Protect while I got Gardevoir in. Next turn I would Rock Slide + either Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast and take out his Scrafty but only at the expense of his Rotom, which takes out Garchomp sucessfully. Kangaskhan and Smeargle do their thing without my Garchomp to stop his Kangaskhan, I crumble away game one 0-3. 

Game two had a really interesting finish that I wish could be recorded. The end-game was something like his Scrafty and Life Orb Rotom versus my Kangaskhan and Scarf Rotom, and I end up narrowly winning from getting all of a)Double Protect on my Kangaskhan, b) Drain Punch not giving Scrafty enough recovery from my Kangaskhan  after his Rotom hit me with a Critical hit Overheat and my Rotom spamming Discharge and c) the Discharge spam slowly chipped things away and I didn't have Life Orb recoil to deal with on top of it. He would forfeit 1-1 

Game three however, was a pretty substantial sweep on his end. I get cheeky and decide that Gardevoir would be a nice lead to stop his Scrafty from doing much harm and I'm met with a Kangaskhan/Rotom lead. I'm not sure if I went for the Discharge or Overheat, but I switched in Garchomp for Gardevoir to preserve it and Kangaskhan Criticaled my Rotom and the Hidden Power Ice he jammed in Rotom's slot now redirected at my Garchomp. It was too much to come back and I lost. 

What I learned: 

• Try to have a reason for your spreads. Preferably not stupid ones. Reasons with testing behind them. Don't fret if they're not perfect though. Go with what you got. 
• For most people, use what you’re comfortable using when playing in a regional (that’s also hopefully standard enough too). Don't try to make cutesy metagame calls the week before an event unless you've been to the World Championships before. 
• Never put Fake Out as your first move. I said this before but it should really be stressed again. If people put effort into coming up with fancy EV spreads, then they should at least put some thought into situations like this where timer will auto-select in crucial situations. Maybe you don't have this problem, but I always feel like its best to prepare regardless to put less pressure on yourself and reward the light thinking ahead of time. 
• On Note-taking--A little trick for anyone who takes notes: picking your 4 pokemon and not pressing the confirm button will auto-confirm your selection after 45 seconds, so you can pick your four and finish writing notes in the full length of time. I usually write their team down, pick my four, and then write a timeline of events for things with a turn counter like Weather, Tailwind, Trick Room, etc. At least before I developed my current method. 
• Don't use Brine. It sucks. (I originally used it because I thought damage doubled when the user and not the target was under 50% HP) 

Thanks for sticking it out with me! I know it was a long read, but I had quite a bit to write! Here's to hoping maybe in the next generation of pokemon games we can have battle videos back at events so we can comfortably record and make sense of everything that actually happened during matches and you won't be bored with long walls of text! 

   

(also Tom Hull--thinks for the babby Lapras figure at worlds~)