Love's Scenario - A Hail Room Regionals and PC Top Cut Team Report

Creator: Cypher

Results:

7^th Place overall (10W-5L) - VGC 2015 2/15 Virginia Regionals (7-2 7^th seed as the highest 7-2 seed coincidentally)

2^nd place overall (10W-2L) - VGC 2015 3/7 Brooklyn Premier Challenge (6-0 1^st seed after Swiss)

“Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you marvelous illusions that make this blog sparkle at night!”

Hey there everyone, this is Junko Enoshima (Cypher). Welcome to my Magic Kaito themed team report. I chose Magic Kaito as my theme because it is one of my favorite anime series, and it is about the escapades of the phantom thief, Kaitou Kid. Anyways, I’ve been playing VGC for a while, and my only recent achievement was a year ago after winning APEX 2014, with the team here. Well, I top cut’d my first regional, Virginia, and got to the finals of a 45 man premier challenge with a Hail Room team. I wanted to run Hail Room for this regional and premier challenge because it is winter time, which meant I had to run a Hail team, and I felt it would be a great metagame call. Furthermore, I knew I would be comfortable with Hail Room since I had used Hail Room teams in the past, which were the following:

“All Hail Stall” – 5^th place Apex 2013

Abomasnow / Gastrodon / Heatran / Gothitelle / Hitmontop / Landorus-T

A Hail Room team that focused on chip damage, defensive synergy, and trapping.

“Hail TurboRoom, Full of Grace” – 32^nd at VGC 2014 Philly regionals (VGC 2013 format still)

Abomasnow / Jellicent / Heatran / Latios / Hitmontop / Landorus-T

A quite offensive Hail team that utilized Trick Room and Tailwind to its advantage.

Why Hail Room?

I’m serious about the winter thing. I wanted to run Hail because it is winter time. It’s a tradition for me.

I used Hail because I love using Hail. It’s my favorite weather. Also, Hail removes other weather, does chip damage, and breaks sash. Doing chip damage was important because since I was using it alongside Trick Room, I needed to get all the possible damage I can get before Trick Room runs out so I won’t be at a disadvantage in future turns. Plus, breaking sash was important as well since I dislike dealing with the common Gengar and Bisharp, so breaking their Focus Sash made it easier to deal with them. Furthermore, Hail allowed me to use Blizzard as well, allowing me to hit the ever-so-common Landorus-T, Thundurus, Salamence, Amoonguss, etc. for super effective without the fear of redirection. Even though Blizzard was nerfed to 110 BP, people are still using Ice weak Pokemon, so why not take advantage of that? Thus, I felt Hail was a good metagame call.

I used Trick Room because I love using Trick Room. Also, I felt that people were not respecting Trick Room; I felt that people were half-assing their answers to it, only using Taunt and Sleep moves, which can easily be played around. As a result, I believed that using Trick Room would be a strong way to take wins from the unprepared, as well as gain advantage against those who cannot KO my Pokemon before I get Trick Room set up.

I felt that in order to have a good Trick Room team, the team must be able to function outside of Trick Room. There will be situations where one cannot set up Trick Room, e.g. Swagger or Flinch. In situations like these, one must play around it until one can get Trick Room up, or one can just simply win without it. As a result, I see Trick Room more as a win condition that can reliably set up KOes, rather than a move that I have to rely on and set up on the first turn in order to win. Trick Room is just a move that makes the game easier to win for me.

The team building process:

Before I got to my current team, I used many different concepts, but I did not like them nor was I comfortable with them. These concepts were:

• Volcarona Rediretion Hail Room
• Salamence with Redirection Hail Room
• Dark Void Smeargle Hail Room
• Hail Wind
• Gengar Hail Trick Room Switch
• Triple "Dogs" (Landorus-T, Entei, and Cobalion) Hail
• Scarf Milotic Blizzard Spam
• Sylveon Hail Room
• Kangaskhan Hail Room

I decided that I didn’t like having a fast mode on the team. So, instead, I wanted to use a full Trick Room team variant instead. Therefore, I realized that in order to make a good Full Hail Trick Room team, I had to look at previous great Hail and Trick Room teams. I mainly looked at Enosh’s National 2013 Hail Room team, and Babbytron’s Worlds 2013 Full Trick Room team. Using them as my main influences, I began building my team.

I started with Abomasnow, because you know, you can’t have a hail team without it.

 

I added Jellicent and Heatran because they have good defensive synergy forming the nice Flaming Aquatic Garden core, and were able to be used in Trick Room. I also had experience running the three Pokemon before, so the three felt natural together.

 

I wanted a Fighting-type so I could have a strong physical presence with the team. I then added Conkeldurr because Conkeldurr was absurdly strong with Iron Fist Hammer Arm. I didn’t like Scrafty since although it was bulky, it didn’t have the offensive presence I desired, and it added an addition Fighting-type weakness.

 

I needed a 2^nd Trick Room user so I can have another way to set up Trick Room. So, I added Cresselia.

I added Mawile because Mawile is another powerhouse, and I didn’t want to run Mega Abomasnow because I think it is bad, nor did I want to run no Mega. So I ran Mawile as my main Mega. It also added another Fairy-type resist, which was nice.

 

I had trouble setting Trick Room, and needed a better way to handle Charizard Y, so with Jio’s advice, I swapped Conkeldurr for Hariyama, which worked up nicely. Hariyama provided Fake Out support, and had offensive pressure still thanks to Close Combat.

 

Now! Step right this way. Watch carefully! Don’t miss the illusion… I present to you…

Love’s Scenario!

 

Jii (Abomasnow) (F) @ Focus Sash

Level: 50

Trait: Snow Warning

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SAtk

IVs: 0 Spd

Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

- Blizzard

- Wood Hammer

- Ice Shard

- Protect

“The world is once again deceived, by justice, unwavering
And as the truth, unravels now
In these hands you, held out”

In order to use a Hail team, one has to have Abomasnow (Snow Warning Aurorus wasn’t released at the time). Abomasnow’s job was to set up Hail, scare away Flying-, Dragon-, Ground-, Grass- and Water-types, break sash, and chunk opposing Pokemon, which would help set up future KOes. I didn’t use it as much as I wanted to, but it still did its job.

I was using the standard Abomasnow spread, but Fatum convinced me that HP EVs would do nothing for Abomasnow since it had Focus Sash. Thus, I switched to 252 Atk / 252 SAtk so I can get the maximum damage output.

Although I love using double mega teams, I didn’t use Mega Abomasnow for this team because I felt Focus Sash Abomasnow was more useful overall. Focus Sash Abomasnow gave me insurance that Abomasnow can use a 2^nd attack after its Sash was broken, which was important in my Game 3 against Alec Rubin in Top 8.

Abomasnow is named after Jii because Jii is old and Abomasnow looks old too.

 

Conan (Jellicent) (F) @ Colbur Berry

Level: 50

Trait: Cursed Body

EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SDef

IVs: 0 Spd

Sassy Nature (+SDef, -Spd)

- Scald

- Will-O-Wisp

- Recover

- Trick Room

“A daring shadow dancing gracefully
Disappeared without a trace
And this little secret that you hid from me
Could you tell me it, someday?”

The first Trick Room setter of the team, Jellicent was useful. It was mainly use to set up Trick Room, being annoying and Recover while fishing for Cursed Body disables, and spread Burns via Will-o-Wisp and Scald. Colbur Berry was useful during testing since I can set up Trick Room in front of opposing Bisharp without fear of Knock Off KOing. It also helped against opposing Dark Pulse and Sucker Punch. Unfortunately, I did not play any Knock Off Pokemon, namely Bisharp, at all. So, if I knew that was the case, I would have swapped Colbur Berry for Sitrus Berry or even Leftovers. But, it luckily worked out in my Round 2 match against Paul at the PC.

Jellicent is named after Conan because Jellicent was designed to be really annoying against my opponent, and Conan is quite annoying to Kaito, making Kaito's heists more difficult.

Akako (Heatran) (F) @ Safety Goggles

Level: 50

Trait: Flash Fire

EVs: 228 HP / 148 Def / 132 SAtk

IVs: 0 Spd

Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)

- Heat Wave

- Earth Power

- Substitute

- Protect

“As your heart begins to waver and obscure
Those eyes, with what they saw, stole it all, leaving nothing more
Even if you cry, or wonder why, still the answer escapes you
And the truth, that I’ve been searching for had vanished too!”

Heatran’s main job was to be annoying, hide behind a Substitute, and deal constant damage with Heat Wave and Earth Power. It was also my switch in on Fairy- and Fire-types, mainly Sylveon, Talonflame, and Charizard. I used Safety Goggles Heatran so it couldn’t be put to Sleep by Spore nor Sleep Powder, which really helped me in my Round 6 battle at VA Regionals, and my game 2 against Alec Rubin in Top 8. It also meant that Heatran doesn’t have to take Hail damage too. If I wasn’t using Safety Goggles, I would have used Life Orb so Heatran could deal even more damage.

Also, the Heatran’s spread is Ryuzaki’s spread, and it makes Heatran more physically bulkier. Though, I was not a fan of the spread. I would have rather used 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk instead so Heatran can deal more damage instead.

 Heatran is named after Akako because Akako is a witch that practices Red Magic, and Heatran is red. Also, Akako is cute ♥

 

Nakamori (Hariyama) (F) @ Assault Vest

Level: 50

Trait: Guts

EVs: 28 HP / 100 Atk / 124 Def / 252 SDef / 4 Spd

IVs: 0 Spd

Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)

- Fake Out

- Close Combat

- Knock Off

- Rock Slide

“The world is once again deceived, by an answer that you see
I'll take again, your outstretched hand, I will hold on!
And I will never run away, I’ll no longer be afraid
Open your eyes, just one more time, all your fears will be gone”

Hariyama’s main job was to support the team. Even though doesn’t have any Status moves, it has Fake Out to help set up Trick Room, Knock Off to removes items, and Close Combat and Rock Slide to chunk down threats for KOes, especially Charizard. The EV spread is a modified version of Aaron’s World’s Hariyama so it can survive Charizard Y’s Overheat in Sun. I would have honestly preferred Thick Fat over Guts because Hariyama hardly ever got burnt, and Thick Fat would help even more against Fire-type Attacks. However, Guts actually helped me in my Round 4 match against Aaron during the PC.

It’s pretty funny when people expect Hariyama to Fake Out first turn, when I CC and KO their Pokemon instead. And btw, 252 HP is remarkably stupid.

Hariyama is named after Inspector Nakamori because Nakamori is in charge of police security, and Hariyama's job is to secure that Trick Room is set up, and that the rest of the team can follow up.

Aoko (Cresselia) (F) @ Rocky Helmet

Level: 50

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 220 HP / 156 Def / 132 SDef

IVs: 0 Spd

Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)

- Ice Beam

- Psyshock

- Trick Room

- Protect

“I’ll protect these, memories that, I hold dear
Fighting against these bonds, I’ll go on, I will be right here!
If you cry out, if you need help, just ask, I’ll be there for you
And the truth, that I’ve been searching for, had vanished, too!”

Cresselia is the 2^nd Trick Room user of the team. It was meant to set up Trick Room, and be annoying by being bulky, chunking stuff with Ice Beam and Psyshock, and pestering physical attackers, most notably Kangaskhan and Bisharp, by having Rocky Helmet. Rocky Helmet helps with weathering down the opponent’s team, especially when combined with Burn and Hail. Rocky Helmet breaks Bisharp’s sash too, and causes Talonflame to do more damage against itself. I would have used Mental Herb, but I felt that getting the Rocky Helmet chip damage was way more important than getting Trick Room up. And as I stated before, I could play around Taunt.

Protect was my filler move of choice for Cresselia. People would commonly double target my Cresselia so it would be unable to set up Trick Room. Too bad for them Cresselia could use Protect and I can put myself in a favorable position as a result. Though, if I were to switch Protect, I would swap it for Helping Hand so it can help boost my team’s attack, or even Lunar Dance to help a weakened ally.

Cresselia is named after Aoko because Aoko is pretty and so is Cresselia. Aoko is cute too ♥

Kaito (Mawile) (F) @ Mawilite

Level: 50

Trait: Intimidate

EVs: 252 HP / 196 Atk / 60 SDef

IVs: 0 Spd

Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)

- Play Rough

- Iron Head

- Sucker Punch

- Protect

“The world has turned on you and me, if they’re all the enemy

This future that, I wanted back, I won’t give up!

And I will never run away, I’ll no longer lose my way

「Love's Scenario」that we know. I will keep fighting on!”

Mawile is the star of the team. Its main job was to rip holes in the opponent’s team and score KOes with its ridiculous high Attack stat, which it did. It also was a temporary source of Intimidate too. I went with the standard moveset on Mawile because I felt there was no reason why I should deviant from the norm.

Mawile’s spread was supposed to allow it to survive a non-boosted max Special Attack Heatran’s spread Heat Wave at full HP 16/16 of the time, but that didn’t happen for some reason at Regionals… If I knew that was going to happen, I would have gone with the 252 Atk instead for the maximum damage output.

Mawile is named after Kaito because Mawile mega-evolving to Mega Mawile is like Kaito putting on his disguise to become Kaitou Kid.

Notable people that I faced:

VA Regionals 2/15/15

Round 4: Collin Heier (TheBattleRoom) W 4-0

Latios / Conkeldurr / Heatran / Thundurus | Suicune / Metagross

|

Round 5: Dorian Nousias (CrazyBlissey) W 5-0

Cresselia / Kangaskhan / Heatran / Gastrodon | Thundurus / Sylveon

|

Round 7: Ben Hickey (DarkPenguin67) W 7-0

Rotom-W / Sylveon / Garchomp / Volcarona | Gengar / Kangaskhan

|

Round 8: Chris Danzo (Lunar) L 7-1

Hydreigon / Rotom-Wash / Aegislash / Talonflame | Venusaur / Terrakion

|

Round 9: Michael Lanzano (JiveTime) L 7-2

Kangaskhan / Breloom / Heatran | Cresselia / Landorus-T / Zapdos

|

Top 16: Dorian Nousias (CrazyBlissey)

G1: Kangaskhan / Thundurus / Cresselia / Heatran | Sylveon / Gastrodon – W 8-2

|

G2: Kangaskhan / Thundurus/ Heatran / Gastrodon | Sylveon / Cresselia – L 8-3

|

G3: Kangaskhan / Sylveon / Thundurus / Gastrodon | Cresselia / Heatran – W 9-3

|

Top 8: Alec Rubin (amr97)

G1: Kangaskhan / Azumarill / Amoonguss | Rotom-Heat / Landorus-T / Bisharp - L 9-4

 |

G2: Kangaskhan / Rotom-Heat / Amoonguss / Azumarill | Bisharp / Landorus-T – W 10-4

 |

G3: Kangaskhan / Bisharp / Amoonguss / Azumarill | Rotom-Heat / Landorus-T – L 10-5

 |

Brooklyn PC 3/7/15

Round 2: Paul Chua (Pwny Person) W 2-0

Hydreigon / Ludicolo / Mawile / Politoed | Zapdos / Terrakion

|

Round 4: Aaron Zheng (CT_Cybertron) W 4-0

Heatran / Aegislash / Venusaur / Suicune | Gengar / Terrakion

 |

Round 5: Sohaib Mufti (Sohaib) W 5-0

Hydreigon / Conkeldurr / Charizard / Aegislash | Landorus-T / Suicune

 |

Round 6: Chuppa “AyyLmao” Cross the 4^th, W 6-0

Aegislash / Landorus-T / Kangaskhan / Rotom-Heat | Clefairy / Suicune

 |

Top 8: Sohaib Mufti (Sohaib)

G1: Charizard / Hydreigon / Conkeldurr / Aegislash | Landorus-T / Suicune – W 7-0

 |

G2: Hydreigon / Aegislash / Landorus-T / Conkeldurr | Charizard / Suicune - W 8-0

 |

Top 4: Dorian Nousias (CrazyBlissey)

G1: Kangaskhan / Gastrodon / Heatran / Talonflame | Cresselia / Thundurus – W 9-0

|

G2: Kangsakhan / Talonflame / Gastrodon / Thundurus | Cresselia / Heatran – W 10-0

|

Finals: Joe Pulkowski (Sandman)

G1: Landorus-T / Heatran / Lopunny / Rotom-W | Gothitelle / Virizion – L 10-1

 |

G2: Rotom-W / Landorus-T / Heatran / Lopunny | Gothitelle / Virizion – L 10-2

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Videos (May Update)

Brooklyn PC:
Round 2: Paul Chua (Pwny Person) - 4ABG-WWWW-WWXL-BVX3
Round 4: Aaron Zheng (CT_Cybertron) - VT2W-WWWW-WWXL-BV8B

Round 5: Sohaib Mufti (Sohaib) - ZQNW-WWWW-WWXL-BVZ2

Round 6: Chuppa “AyyLmao” Cross the 4^th - WY2G-WWWW-WWXL-BVVG
Top 8: Sohaib Mufti (Sohaib)
G1 - G8MG-WWWW-WWXL-CW2D
G2 -  DK5W-WWWW-WWXL-CW4Y

Top 4 and Finals - http://www.twitch.tv/pd0nz/b/634014397

People I would like to really thank:

Jio – Helping out with the team a lot | Main partner in teambuilding for this team

Zach – Helping out with a certain annoying matchup

Jeudy and Chris – Providing emotional support :]
Daniel - Getting me to watch Magic Kaito
Ryan - Because we are the same person, we used Jellicent/Mawile/Heatran, and we both got 7th place
Chris - Thanks to him, I was able to get to these events!

GoonSquad and imoutos - Always and forever ♥

Etc.

Well, see you next illusion.