Hello I am Jeudy
Azzarelli and as many of you may know I got second place at the 2014 VG world
tournament. I feel most concepts/spreads reasoning are pretty self explanatory,
so I’ll post the team with explanations on the spread and a little bit of
thought on them.
The Team
Charizard @ Charizardite
Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 92 HP / 108 Def /
52 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
- Protect
- Out speed Modest 252 Hydreigon
- Survive Jolly Garchomp Rock Slide
- Survive Jolly Kanga Return
The team originally
started with Kangaskhan/Zardy and I felt there would be a lot of Kangaskhan
hate at worlds. I felt the world's call to check Kangaskhan would be Mawile,
Lucario, and Aegislash and it just so happen that Charizard-Y countered all 3 of
these Pokemon. I also had a strong emphasis on spread damage when I made this
team so you may be confused as to why I would want to outspeed Hydreigon since
Chary really does nothing to it, however a combo of a Rock Slide + Overheat
was enough to take out Hydreigon and Rotom-h formes who generally stayed in on
chary. Chip damage like this is what made me beat the two florges I played at
worlds where overheat alone would not ohko without the help of chip damage.
Chary was definitely the MVP at worlds.
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 12 HP / 204 Atk / 4
Def / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
- Survives Timid Mega-Manetric HPice
- OHKO 4 HP Garchomp
After having Charizard
and being set on using spread moves Garchomp quickly became a mainstay.
CharChomp was the first team I used when battlespot doubles first came out to
play around players who would sit behind follow me users like Togekiss. While
the concept is similar here I felt spread moves helped ease predictions in high
pressure situations and chip damage is incredibly good when setting up opposing
Pokemon in KO range. I used Life orb because I wanted to actually hit hard
while being able to change moves which CB did not allow. Overall Chomp
performed really well and its ability to put things in range for me to finish
off with other Pokemon was on par with my next Pokemon
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 4
Def / 4 SpD / 228 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Ice Punch
- Stone Edge
- Under speed Scarf Politoed
I wanted another Pokemon
that supported Charizard while keeping the idea of spread moves. Fast Rock
Slide is really stupid allowing me to potentially score a flinch which can make
a close game a lopsided game. Combined with Garchomp being able to potentially
stop an opponent's Pokemon from attacking can be crucial. Flinch chance aside
Ttar still has a monstrous base attack allowing a spread move like rockslide to
hit relatively hard. Stone edge was when I really wanted to ohko a rock weak
mon or just hit hard, and ice punch was for a dragon that could give me the
most trouble: Garchomp. For the Ice Punch versus Ice Beam I preferred Ice Punch
since I do not waste EVs in special attack. I was really lucky to get my
hands on an event Tyranitar, and this Pokemon surpassed my expectations
surprising foes and overall hitting hard.
Salamence @ Haban Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 52 HP / 4 Def / 84
SpA / 116 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Rock Tomb
- Protect
- Out speed Modest 252 Speed Hydreigon
- Survives Timid Mega Mane HP Ice
- Survives Timid Lorb Hydreigon Draco Meteor
- 15/16 chance to Ohko 4hp Mega Lucario
Haban Mence was
something I was playing around with a lot but I could never find the right
speed tier. I went from 126 to 133 to 141 and eventually Simon recommended to
just go faster than modest Hydreigon and not worry about surviving Specs Meteor.
Rock tomb was a solid tech that allowed me to have some form of speed control
while staying on the offensive. Draco and Fire Blast is self explanatory and I
chose protect since I felt it was more needed than Roost. Overall I am happy I
made the switch back to Salamence a few days before Worlds as it really helped
in a lot of match ups and intimidate recycling was really great to increase my
Pokemon longevity.
Rotom-Mow @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def /
76 SpA / 92 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Leaf Storm
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- Survive -1 CB Talonflame
- Survive Timid Mega Manectric Overheat
- Many physical attackers like Garchomp become 5-6hkos
after W-O-W
- Ohko 4hp Talonflame
- Leafstorm hits Azumarill for enough not allow
Sitrus+Belly Drum
The
standout Pokemon on team preview and the only Pokemon on my team to not out
speed Modest Hydreigon; Rotom-C provided a strong pivot. Originally a Zapdos
but after the NuggetBridge Invitational I realized the team was really weak to
the Baz core of M-Tar/Amoonguss/Raichu/Azumarill. I used Safety Goggles Rotom-W,
but it was not able to fill the bulky pivot role Zapdos left behind and I
eventually turned to this overlooked younger brother of the Rotom formes. Capable
of basically having a Safety Goggles and a Sitrus berry was a really good asset
and I felt it made my team tighter overall. I also made it physically bulky
since I was not afraid of the biggest special threat, Hydreigon. If the
NuggetBridge Invitational did not happen before Worlds, and Angel and Simon
both did not lose to Baz showing a big weakness in these types of teams, I
would not be writing this second place report. I am very happy with Rotom-C and
I feel players should look at it more.
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk /
252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Follow Me
- Protect
- 15/16 chance to Ohko 4hp Gardevoir in mega form
- Max speed to not get out run by something dumb like Jolly Talonflame speed creeping Adamant Talonflame
- Boring
While
Charizard definitely influenced my decision to use Garchomp and Tyranitar, I
also stressed chip damage to put things in KO range so Lucario can come in late
game and rack up easy KOs. When something like rock slide/Heat Wave chip + CC
can KO even bulky Pokemon like Garchomp, Mega Luke had to be on the team.
Originally Hammer arm Kanghaskan (with enough speed to out speed Modest
Hydreigon!) occupied this slot but I really disliked Kangaskhan going into
Worlds as it was too slow to quickly clear up the board. I also did not like
bringing Kangaskhan to a Kangaskhan mirror so Lucario
ended up filling the same role as Kangaskhan while being faster. I felt my team
was also really weak to scarf Gardevoir so being able to KO it before
it moved was a great asset (too bad it failed to do that when I needed it the
most). Follow me provided great support in mega and non mega form and in my
opinion is Lucario's best filler move allowing me to sack Lucario if needed for
the team. In the actual event Lucario performed the weakest, but it could also
be because of the match ups and the fact that I did not run into a single
Kangaskhan.
Conclusion
I really liked this team
and it was a big departure from Kangaskhan and friends but it got me top cut,
and eventually second place. I am sorry Sejun; I did not put up a better fight
in the finals, and hopefully I can redeem myself next year. I had a lot of fun
in D.C and cannot wait to see everyone again. Even though I have my worlds
invite I am also looking forward to giving each tournament I go to my all and
hopefully I will be able to prove I am worthy of runner up at Worlds.
I would like the give
a special shout out to:
- Simon (@yopyoptds or whatever it is now) for helping me with these EV spreads. Without him I would be running very awful spreads. Also 4chan hated the Inori nendo. Get better taste!
- Jun Tumaneng (@Cyphervgc) for being someone I can talk to and a total bro at Worlds. You went out of your way to get me water/food in between rounds at worlds. I really appreciate what you have done
- Chris Danzo (Shitty user named Lunarr on PS!) who helped on a lot of major decisions I made for worlds, and someone I can always bounce ideas off of. Also for keeping me hyped throughout Worlds. If SAO is still your avatar we aren't talking on Skype anymore.
- Angel Miranda (@CT_MitokoMikasa) for being an elitist. Though I really looked up to your opinion and they helped with some decisions on my team.
- Alexander Kuhn (@hibikivgc) for being a gullible foreigner, but you were one of the high points of worlds. It was great being able to see you in real life and finding out you weren’t a fat neckbeard.
- Zach (@Braverius) for passing some ideas that pretty much made me make Worlds in the first place. Retarded Bulky Talonflame got me to top 8 of U.S nats so thank you!
- Everyone in Imoutos and Bulls Skype call. All of you guys helped me immensely this year, and I wouldn’t be here without you.
- @TonyKuso69 @ShadeViera @UzuMackey @Marvicafii @Jimon_Togekiss for being really cool in real life, and it was nice to meet some of the Japanese playerbase!
