Hartford Regionals T16(6-2) Report:The RE:Try

-Art made by @Mochachiiino and @SilverThowra

Hello, everyone! I am Brian Youm, a VGC(Video Game Championships) player in the Masters Division and you might mainly know me as Seven_Poke, and I’m here today to share the team I used to go 6-2(13W 4L in battles) at Hartford regional championships. You might be familiar with this team from my NA International Championships Report, but I hope you still give both reports a read until the end and see what kind of changes I made and what kind of players I faced. I am so happy after tilting and doing events, I finally broke my tilt!  And now, let’s get right into the team!

Teams I tested for the Regional:

Team 1:???

Team 2:???

Team 3:???

Hartford Regionals Team:

I really didn’t have a team by the morning of the day of regionals, so I just tried to use something that I was most comfortable with, being my NA International Championships team by suggestion of one of my best friends in the seniors division, James Evans(@TheKingVillager). However, I made slight changes to the team that helped improve matchup VS certain matchups. It ended up firing back sometimes but it helped out majority of the time.

Let’s get right into the team I used at the main event, Hartford Regionals.

カプ・コケコ (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs  

Ability: Electric Surge  

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  

Timid Nature  

IVs: 0 Atk  

- Volt Switch  

- Thunderbolt  

- Dazzling Gleam  

- Discharge

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it’s worth watching.”

Probably the main powerhouse of the team, Tapu Koko. It provides Electric Terrain and cancels out other terrains such as Psychic Terrain and Grassy Terrain and powers down other tapus. Not only that with choice specs it does destructive damage. It has Discharge to hit Celesteela, Tapu Fini, and etc through Marowak or Togedemaru’s lightningrod, and Volt Switch for chipping and getting better board position. It did a spectacular job pressuring opponents to bring out Marowak and Togedemaru to prevent electric moves while I went for an easy discharge next to either Marowak or Garchomp. Rock Slide+Discharge combo was disgustingly amazing at the regional, being able to immobilize opponents either by paralyzing them or flinching them. I also used shiny Tapu Koko to bait my opponents to think that I have Assault Vest on it for a little surprise for them. The spread is pretty standard, and it does what it does the best. Inflicting huge damage. It 1HKOs Tapu Fini with any electric move outside of Discharge, 2HKOs other Tapu Koko, and pretty much chunks anything pretty hard with Dazzling Gleam or Thunderbolt.

Important Calcs:

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Tapu Fini in Electric Terrain: 168-200 (94.9 - 112.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 132 SpD Kartana in Electric Terrain: 123-146 (91.1 - 108.1%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 44 HP / 52 SpD Garchomp: 134-158 (70.8 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Izuru 1.0 (Marowak-Alola) (M) @ Thick Club  

Ability: Lightning Rod  

EVs: 252 HP / 92 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 132 Spe  

Careful Nature  

IVs: 0 SpA  

- Flare Blitz  

- Shadow Bone  

- Perish Song  

- Protect

“People without talents are like ticks. Fattening themselves on the blood of the talented, they are ticks, capable only of reproducing.”

One of the most broken Pokemon of the format, Marowak. With it’s thick club boost and strong stab attacks such as Flare Blitz and Shadow Bone, it is nothing to mess with. With it’s Lightningrod ability it can draw away electric moves to let Gyarados and Celesteela freely stay on the field in front of Tapu Koko and other electric types, and with Wide Guard Celesteela it’s probably the best SNACK(Snorlax, Ninetales, Arcanine, Celesteela, Koko) Chomp killer. It has enough speed to outspeed a Celesteela(82 Speed since most Celesteela have 81 Speed), which speed creeps most Marowak that others use. Although I only got to use it once, it also has Perish Song to basically corner my opponents against the wall when they only have 2 pokemons left, and also it’s good for countering Eevee teams. It is an amazing Tapu Koko switch-in, and an amazing support pokemon. It usually 1HKOs all Celesteela and Marowak, and the spread is guaranteed to 2HKO Garchomp with Shadow Bone 100% of the time.

Important Calcs:

92 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Celesteela: 218-260 (106.8 - 127.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

92 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 164-194 (98.2 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

92 Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 44 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 93-111 (49.2 - 58.7%) -- 98.4% chance to 2HKO

The Imposter (Hariyama) (M) @ Assault Vest  

Ability: Thick Fat  

EVs: 28 HP / 172 Atk / 180 Def / 124 SpD / 4 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

- Fake Out  

- Close Combat  

- Knock Off  

- Feint

“I no longer want to...lie anymore... Not to anyone...not to anything...not even to myself.”

Always my choice over Buzzwole for the best fighting mon competitive wise, Hariyama. Hariyama did an amazing job taking hits and hitting opponents like a truck when I needed it to, and Fake Out Feint mind game combination was amazing. The thick fat ability came in handy since it was an easy switch-in to Marowak and Arcanine’s Flare Blitz, and it ended up being handier than Bulldoze which I ran on the Hariyama at N.A International Championships. It was able to pull through so many games for me VS a lot of people, and I’m definitely proud of what it did for me at Nationals. The spread is quite weird, but It does the job pretty well of tanking hits and retaliating back with a clean Close Combat or a Knock Off. With Gyarados’ dragon dance set up T1 with Hariyama, it probably is the best set up. The spread lives a Tectonic Rage from Garchomp 100% of the time, and same for Life Orb Tapu Lele’s Moonblast 100% of the time, and despite being -1 it hit Snorlax and Porygon2 pretty hard with a clean Close Combat.

Important Calcs:

252+ SpA Life Orb Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 28 HP / 124 SpD Assault Vest Hariyama: 198-234 (88.7 - 104.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Garchomp Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 28 HP / 180 Def Hariyama: 178-211 (79.8 - 94.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Dazzling Gleam vs. 28 HP / 124 SpD Assault Vest Hariyama: 88-109 (39.4 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

 

Prototype 2B (Celesteela) @ Aguav Berry

Ability: Beast Boost  

EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 180 SpD  

Impish Nature  

- Heavy Slam  

- Wide Guard  

- Leech Seed  

- Protect

"Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped...in a never-ending spiral of life and death."

Sadly didn’t get to shine AGAIN as much as nationals, Celesteela. I wanted to use Wide Guard on Celesteela to protect Tapu Koko from random Scarfed Chomp’s earthquake, Marowak from Muddy Water, and more. I went with the first spread I can find that raises defense since Lightningrod+Def raising celesteela with Wide Guard is actually a pain to break through with many teams. It looked good on paper but didn’t do much for me @ the regionals itself, I’m kinda disappointed in this pokemon since I keep getting the wrong call of movesets. Not having Flamethrower @ Hartford basically lost me the game VS Brady Smith, and not having Wide Guard @ NA Internats basically made me struggle a lot. It’s still a solid pokemon that improves my matchup VS Tapu Lele, Mudsdale, Garchomp, or any pokemon that cannot touch Celesteela at all. Celesteela is still one of probably the most broken pokemon out there due to its immense stats and the accessibility to Leech Seed with leftovers or 50% berry. It was a perfect switch in for Tapu Koko and Marowak when they were afraid of ground moves, and probably the only pokemon that could handle a hit from Tapu Lele without even taking 30%. The spread lets it ohko most Tapu Leles regarding intimidate, aurora veil, and Reflect, live a -1 Blitz from Alolan Marowak and lets it take a specs Discharge from a Tapu Koko in Electric Terrain.

Important Calcs:

0 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 174-206 (119.1 - 141%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-1 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Celesteela: 180-212 (88.2 - 103.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Discharge vs. 252 HP / 180 SpD Celesteela in Electric Terrain: 152-182 (74.5 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

End Of Days (Garchomp) (M) @ Choice Scarf  

Ability: Rough Skin  

EVs: 12 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 220 Spe  

Adamant Nature  

IVs: 0 SpA  

- Earthquake  

- Rock Slide  

- Poison Jab

- Dragon Claw

“I will make your life a LIVING HELL! I will make you cry and feel TRUE DESPAIR!”

Probably the pokemon that lucked me out the most when I was horribly unlucky, Garchomp. The bringer of ROCK SLIDE, the ender of days. The hatred of people against this pokemon is understandable because it’s so silly and good. The reason I love Scarfed Garchomp is that you don’t have to think and click a move and hope it goes well. Just kidding….Scarfed Chomp was amazing since it dealt with threats Tapu Koko and Celesteela couldn’t handle all together, and being faster than Koko and some of +1 speed Pokemons are really amazing since you can surprise and KO them. Compared to NA internationals, I feel like Jolly nature lacked damage, so I switched to Adamant and it was worth it. It pressured my opponents like hell and forced them to switch out a lot, and that was amazingly good since I could easily set up with Gyarados and expect a clean sweep with spamming Earthquake+Supersonic Skytrike and Waterfall. It was pretty amazing that I actually flinched people with Rock Slide, it hasn’t happened before and I’m just glad my side of RNG actually still exists. The spread is to outspeed Pheromosa(+speed nature), yet ohko Tapu Bulu with Poison Jab and etc but live a neutral Sp.A Porygon2 Ice beam.

Important Calcs:

244+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko in Electric Terrain: 162-192 (110.9 - 131.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

244+ Atk Garchomp Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 68 Def Tapu Bulu: 168-200 (94.9 - 112.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

28 SpA Porygon2 Ice Beam vs. 12 HP / 28 SpD Garchomp: 160-192 (86.4 - 103.7%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

ギャラドス (Gyarados) (F) @ Flyinium Z   Ability: Intimidate    EVs: 28 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 132 SpD / 164 Spe   Jolly Nature   IVs: 0 SpA   - Waterfall   - Bounce   - Dragon Dance   - Protect “People only see me as what I am now. What they don’t see is what I can become.”          Probably one of the pokemon that reflect strongly VS my playstyle. Set up offensive. This pokemon has performed well at NA internats and even at this regional. Gyarados is indeed a very strong pokemon against a lot of teams ran these days since Flynium Z hits a lot of pokemons such as Tapu Bulu, Buzzwole, Kartana, Tapu Fini, and etc. Paired with Marowak and Scarfed Garchomp, it did SPLENDIDLY again and has never disappointed me. Leading Hariyama Gyarados is probably the best since it’s set up pressure+Fake out pressure, and you can still nuke something with a feint+Skystrike. The core of Gyarados Marowak Hariyama Garchomp was extremely strong on the team and I feel like I’ll probably use this core again in future events due to it being so consistent and extremey strong. Gyarados’ intimidate helped a lot VS a lot of pokemons, such as letting Tapu Koko live a Scarfed Garchomp Earthquake, Letting Marowak live other Marowak’s shadow bone, and making Celesteela an indestructable wall VS physical attackers in the end. At +1 speed it outspeeds Tapu Koko by 1 point, which is needed to fight VS Tapu Koko.  The spread lets it live a Power Gem from life orb Nihilego most of the time, KO Tapu Fini(Specs or frail CM) with feint+ Dragon danced Supersonic Skystrike and more. Important Calcs: 252 SpA Life Orb Nihilego Power Gem vs. 28 HP / 132 SpD Gyarados: 151-182 (86.7 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO 172+ Atk Hariyama Feint vs. 252 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 16-19 (9 - 10.7%) -- possibly the worst move ever +1 180 Atk Gyarados Supersonic Skystrike (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 165-195 (93.2 - 110.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

180 Atk Gyarados Supersonic Skystrike (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 68 Def Tapu Bulu: 212-252 (119.7 - 142.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Now….LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

R1:VS. Elfa Muhshi / Canada’s Future(@Mushi_en)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R1:(1-0)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

I had an upper hand in Matchup wise, and my Tapu Koko having Discharge basically crippled his Tapu Koko matchup even more. Although he had a Scarfed Nihilego, I predicted his Nihilego to be scarfed looking at his team outline which allowed me to eliminate it pretty quickly while I switched Hariyama in to take basically no damage from the combination of Acid Spray+Flash Cannon(Was probably predicting a switch, and Tapu Koko was in Acid Spray range). I didn’t have reveal Discharge until Game 2, since Game 1 I acknowledged my win con=Set up with Gyarados so it can be faster than Marowak so I can stop him from making switch-ins to my Tapu Koko’s thunderbolt, so that happened. Game 2, I basically clicked Rock Slide, which flinched and crit his Marowak and Snorlax and couldn’t move all the time. I basically switched in Tapu Koko and used Discharge+Rock Slide to win the game, it was a pretty bad way to win but after the game we hugged it out and wished each other luck the next round. Good Games to my friend Elfa, amazing set.

Canadian elimination count:1

R2:VS. Mike Suleski(@Pokemon_PHD)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R2:(2-0)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

The Games were...quite terrifying, if I should say. Mike didn’t miss a single hydro pump- at least until G2. I personally didn’t consider the rain matchups other than leading Hariyama Gyarados and hoping I nuke the Golduck with Supersonic Skystrike. My main problem was, that he had Tapu Lele. If I could Fake Out+Skystrike or Fake out+Dragon Dance mind games, and he was also choice scarfed so it gave me a hard time. His Tapu koko and Golduck kept using Substitute which I took advantage of and started fainting his pokemons 1 by 1, and I barely won Game 1 by 2 HP on Marowak’s survival from a Critical hit Dazzling Gleam from his Tapu Koko. Game 2 went similarly other than him revealing Thunder with Tapu lele and I predicted that and switched in Marowak. Game 2 also went by really fast and was quite stressful, I barely cliched out a win after his Golduck missed 2 hydro pumps on my Gyarados after his Pelipper critical hit my Gyarados with Hurricane. Good games to him, it was a really scary battle.

R3:VS. Joshua Lorcy(@LorcyLovesYou)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R3:(3-0)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

Again, against this I feel like I had the upper hand, matchup wise. G1 was really close, but I choked T1 by not Rock Slide Dazzling Gleaming and going for the Poison Jab+Dazzling Gleam, but he went for the Tectonic Rage on Garchomp instead of Tapu Koko which kind of confused me. I thought I was going to lose in the end but him having Icy Wind as his only offensive move with ninetales and his Krookodile’s hp being extremely low let my Gyarados and Tapu Koko clean up in the end. G2, he unfortunately missed a Nature’s Madness against my Marowak which let my Marowak live and obliterate his Celesteela in the end. His team was quite scary to face but I feel like it was an easy matchup in my part, since his Tapu Koko was assault vested and couldn’t do much to my Gyarados. Surprisingly, outside of electric terrain my Gyarados lived a discharge from his Tapu Koko, but I was originally planning to sack off Gyarados so I got a dragon dance up and proceeded to clean up in the end with Gyarados and Marowak G2. Good games to him, congrats on him Top cutting and going X-1 though!

R4:VS. Brady Smith / Diamond Jim Brady(@Brady1225_)

Games:(OXX)

Swiss Record after R4:(3-1)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:L

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G3:L

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

Undoubtedly probably the most annoying thing so far in the format is probably the core of Tapu Fini/Mandibuzz/Lightning rod user. It’s really hard to break down and Mandibuzz being an ugly bulky vulture makes it so hard to break through with my team. I feel like I autolost by not having Flamethrower on Celesteela, which really upset me and tilted me just a little bit. It was really annoying to take an L so early in the round, but I couldn’t afford to lose anymore. I really wanted to top cut another regional without a doubt and I want to make a name for myself as I did before, at Athens. Brady played extremely well and Gyarados was being stupid and got stupid low rolls with Supersonic Skystrike on his Mandibuzz but oh well, what can I do. Good games to Brady, and long live the GAZPACHO.

R5:VS. Giovanni Neita(theO_Gio)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R5:(4-1)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

This was….quite a confusing round, really. I still had no clue what even happened. Metagross kept blowing itself up, and it was just confusing 50/50s when there shouldn’t even be 50/50s like man...I really couldn’t think at all after losing to Brady. I was on a tilt fest but I managed to pull through, thanks to Hariyama and Marowak pulling clutch and always returning a 2-4 situation to 2-0 or 1-0. Him having Will-O-Wisp on Mimikyu was really annoying, but I played around that so I can safely bring in Marowak to eliminate Mimikyu and Hariyama to eliminate Snorlax. In the end of G2, he locked himself into HP Ground with his Tapu koko which let my Hariyama 1 v 1 his Tapu Koko, both from 100% of health. Hariyama has been absolutely clutch the whole tournament so far and I literally have been so proud of it so far. Good games to Giovanni, it was quite a confusing set we had, at least to me, haha.

R6:VS. Ingrid Karmazinas(@IngridientsVGC)

Games:(XX)

Swiss Record after R6:(4-2)

Opponent’s Team:

G1:L

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:L

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

The matchup, at least to me was pretty tough. I was still tilting from losing to Brady, and worst of all when I felt like I could bring it back, I misclicked and that made my chance of winning an automatic 0%. My dreams were shattered here(Yeah yeah, nice pun because her Lele had Psychium Z and destroyed my Tapu Koko) however I feel like I could have played better. Ingrid played exceptionally well especially compared to me and got her win condition all the time that won her the game. Xurkitree + Aurora Veil with Intimidate was extremely hard to break, and the worst part was that her Arcanine had Will-O-Wisp and it caught me when I switched Celesteela into my Garchomp, so she played amazingly. I lost, and my hope of top cutting was gone. Special shoutouts to her for being the only person to absolutely body bag me without having to make plays. My run was over, at least I thought. However….

R7:Abe Brath(@SeacoVGC)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R7:(5-2)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

I was actually really scared that I was facing Abe, I didn’t know what his team did and I didn’t know what to do against him other than hope Marowak does some work over here, since his team was EXTREMELY weak to Marowak and the only way to actually hit it was Murkrow, Pelipper, and Metagross after +2. I started to notice that he made plays that...kind of made no sense, and he kept using Bulldoze while his own Tapu Bulu was on the field without switching it out, which resulted in my Marowak being faster than his Tapu Bulu and ending up finishing up one of his only offensive pokemon. He kept bringing that core of Dragonite Bulu Xurkitree Filler, but Marowak did too much work on him. I also flinched him with Gyarados waterfall which lost him G2, his team was definitely scary, and his dragonite’s bulk was immense and even my Specs Tapu Koko couldn’t do much to his Dragonite. However, I feel like his team being too passive against Marowak pretty much lost him the game. We talked to each other for a bit and we wished each other good luck for next round.

Canadian elimination count:2

R8:Alex Williams(Weeblewobs)

Games:(OO)

Swiss Record after R8:(6-2)

Opposing Team:

G1:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

G2:W

Lead:

Back:

VS

Lead:

Back:

It was quite an...interesting team that Alex had. Double Porygons, and I expected him to be Scarfed PZ. His team looked like a pretty offensive team, and the Volt Switch doing over 70% pretty much confirmed that his Arcanine was choice banded. P2 was quite frail and Close Combat did a crap ton to his Porygon2 despite the fact my Hariyama was -1 attack, and his PZ was the most threatening team I had to deal with. Other than that, I felt like I assured my win. G1 my Tapu koko paralyzed his Porygon2 which didn’t let him get Trick Room up and let me win automatically, G2, my Garchomp Earthquaked and pretty much KO’d 3 of my own mons, but I somehow ended up winning...I was so confused on what’s going on since I was so exhausted and was tilting from my misclick from earlier and against my loss VS Brady.

I finished 6-2, and I hoped for the best. Brady was 8-0, Lorcy was 7-1, Abe was 5-3, Alex was 5-3, Ingrid was 6-2, so I hoped for the best, in the end. I ended up getting 12th place, which got me $250. I’m quite upset that we were 5 people short off Top 16, but I’m just glad I was able to swing back my momentum because I was really tilting and doing bad at events due to personal reasons(School, depression, and etc). After the regionals I went to dinner with my Canadians friends, but I think the best time I ever had in my whole life is getting to hang out with the Peanut Gallery squad, aka the Seniors and ex-Seniors. They made my stay in VGC community a lot better, they helped me get over my depression(at least most of it) and they are the reason I decided to not quit VGC after 2016. I thank you all for showering me with love when I needed you. Peanut Gallery, you will forever be in my heart. I love you all.

I really enjoyed the experience and I’d like to give out my shoutouts to my friends. I’d like to thank:

• Kylie Chua(@Thebetterchua) for her sole existence(She asked me to do this don’t blame me fml)

• Joseph Selmber(@MG_ModernGamer) for helping me build this team

• Elfa Muhshi(@Mushi_en), Ben Goff(@EnigmaVGC), James Evans(@TheKingVillager), Sam Mourey(@_sn0ba11_), and Eli North(@catVGC) for supporting me, hanging out with me all the time at regionals,  talking to me and hyping me up at Regionals.

• My friend @mochachiiino for drawing this amazing cover art!

• Ruby(@Wireysteal), Grassfur(@Grassfur), and Kale(@7_bubloo) for rooting me all the way and spamming me on Skype and helping me edit this report

• The people of the Peanut Gallery and everyone that was rooting for me at home

• and my opponents of every round of regionals, I enjoyed battling you a lot. I hope I get to face you guys again, and I hope to show you guys the stronger “me”.

• Also, I’d like to thank the Canadian squad for letting me room and hang out with them, I had a blast there (There are too many people to @ all of them)

• At least, I want to thank my mother for making this happen. No matter how untalkative I am with you, I just hope I love you for letting this happen and working your butt off every day just for things like this to happen when I want it to. Thank you.

• Thanks, I’m sorry if I forgot to give you shoutouts but I hope you know that I appreciate you all and I love you all as a community.

This marks the end of my report. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!