Hey everyone, my name is James Eakes and I’m a VGC player from the highly competitive Northern California area. This is the story of a man who played 3 entire sets on stream at this event, won two of them, and didn’t receive a single player interview. I started playing VGC right when the rules were announced for 2014, and while I had a multitude of Top 16 finishes 2014-2015 season, I only managed to get an invite in 2016 finishing 11th in CP from having multiple consistent results. However, I don’t think we want to be reminded about VGC 2016 so let’s move on. It’s an honor to be writing here on Trainer Tower and I hope everyone enjoys reading my article and insight!

Index:

The Squad:

Team building for Anaheim started about a month before the event when I was talking with my good friends Kimo Nishimura (TapuKimo) and Kamran Jahadi (Kamz). We were bouncing ideas off of each other and I had the idea that Salazzle would be really good for more than just Fake Out. Salazzle was an amazing call due to several reasons I will highlight down below. While I was the sole user of Salazzle from our group, we also took a look at what was popular and decided that most teams that people are running do not have solid answers to Gigalith. This tournament went to Gigalith and Salazzle hands down; they both put in massive work and I can safely say they were the keys to my success at Anaheim. Let’s get into the building and analysis!

Salazzle @ Focus Sash

Ability: Oblivious

Level: 50

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

– Sludge Bomb

– Flamethrower

– Fake Out

– Encore

I firmly believe that the combination of Salazzle and Tapu Koko was extremely clever. The offensive pressure the combo exerted was capable of mowing down unprepared teams, so I started building around the two. The main reasons for me wanting to use Salazzle were that Tapu Lele usage was going down in the U.S., meaning there was less Psychic Terrain to prevent Fake Out, and the Arcanine/Tapu Fini/Kartana core was still going strong, which Salazzle dealt with reliably. Fake Out and Encore gave me so many options during the tournament; I could begin aggressively with Fake Out and Tapu Koko/Choice Specs Fini and then punish their safe plays with Encore. The EVs were standard, but I put the remaining 4 EVs into Special Defense instead of Defense to prevent Porygon2 from getting a Special Attack boost from Download. I used Oblivious in the event it ever got taunted. Unfortunately it never happened, but it would’ve been hype. Salazzle’s STAB attacks threatened a large amount of common Pokemon as well! Overall, Salazzle was an amazing Pokemon and I highly recommend players to try her out!

I’m sure most people who watched the stream or are reading this think that Focus Sash on Salazzle with Gigalith sounds very bad, but I never once let it affect me in the tournament. Salazzle would almost always be a lead, and would either die or switch out before Gigalith came in. Then the combination or Porygon2 and Gigalith usually ended the game before Salazzle had to come back in. I was always conscious of sand turns and would save my 1hp Salazzle in the back to close out the game once sand ran out if necessary.

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb

Ability: Electric Surge

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

– Thunderbolt

– Dazzling Gleam

– Protect

– Hidden Power [Ice]

Next up is Tapu Koko. Personally, I believe Tapu Koko to be the best Tapu in the game, and I think results have backed up this belief. The combination of extremely powerful electric attacks, automatic Electric Terrain, and high base speed speaks for itself. Players always need to be scared of Tapu Koko, as it has many options and surprises. I chose a Modest nature for synergy with Salazzle. Having Salazzle attack before Tapu Koko was amazing. Reason being, Salazzle would chip common Pokémon that hold Sitrus Berry or the 50% berries (Figy, Aguav, etc…) into range without activating the berry, then Tapu Koko would finish them off. I opted for HP Ice due to my teams inherent Garchomp weakness. It hit 3 of my Pokémon for super effective damage and nothing on my team besides Fini wanted to square up with it; even Tapu Fini was threatened by Tectonic Rage, so Hidden Power Ice gave me safer option.

Here is an example of my Salazzle-Koko Synergy against a standard bulky Arcanine:

252 SpA Salazzle Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 60+ SpD Arcanine: 70-84 (35.5 – 42.6%)

252+ SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 60+ SpD Arcanine in Electric Terrain: 138-164 (70 – 83.2%)

Salazzle’s attack does less than 50%, avoiding Sitrus Berry activation, while Tapu Koko then finishes off the Arcanine, never activating the berry. I did this to unsuspecting targets several times throughout the competition. Landing double attacks into non-protecting slots is key for hyper aggression.

Tapu Fini @ Choice Specs

Ability: Misty Surge

EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 228 SpA / 4 SpD / 36 Spe

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

– Muddy Water

– Scald

– Moonblast

– Dazzling Gleam

I wanted a hyper offensive core and Specs Fini was perfect for this. It was still bulky, it could reset terrain in my favor, and maybe even cause some extra mayhem with the volatile Muddy Water. The dual Tapu core was amazing; I led Salazzle-Koko or Salazzle-Fini almost every match this tournament. The Tapu Fini-Salazzle mode was perfect against Tapu Lele, as my terrain would always be set up (barring a minimum speed Lele) and Fake Out would be an active threat. Kartana was also never a threat to Tapu Fini with her buddy Salazzle helping out. Fini felt very safe throughout the tournament due to the support of Salazzle and Porygon2. Tapu Fini would sit for turn after turn shooting off attacks (mostly Muddy Water) wearing down bulky teams slowly. For the EVs I went for a bland balance of bulk and damage while trying to outspeed other specs Fini. This speed stat proved very effective as I was faster than almost every Fini I faced. The moves were pretty standard and I never really needed a different move like Haze, but I think it’s definitely interchangeable and up to player preference. Fini was an excellent balance of offense and defense.

Gigalith @ Rockium Z

Ability: Sand Stream

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 244 HP / 220 Atk / 32 Def / 12 SpD

Brave Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

– Rock Slide

– Stone Edge

– Curse

– Protect

252 Atk Garchomp Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. +1 244 HP / 32 Def Gigalith: 162-192 (84.8 – 100.5%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Water Bubble Araquanid Liquidation vs. 244 HP / 32 Def Gigalith: 168-200 (87.9 – 104.7%) — 31.3% chance to OHKO

While Salazzle was great, Gigalith was 100% the star of this tournament. I believe it was the perfect meta call. In almost every single match I played, team preview would start and I’d think to myself “Gigalith destroys this team under Trick Room”. Only one other person in top cut made the call to bring Gigalith, and that person was a decent player by the name of Aaron Zheng (Cybertron). Great minds think alike (thinking emoji)? Gigalith, along with Curse and Rockium Z, utterly destroyed almost every team under Trick Room. It might stand out that I opted to go for two Rock moves instead of using Earthquake and, while not having Earthquake made a few match ups much more difficult (Muk and Magnezone), I don’t regret it at all. Having the extra base power on Rockium Z from Stone Edge and having the ability to attack around Wide Guard was reason enough. Gigalith at +1 or +2 doesn’t care about type charts, he just crushes everything. Curse was to help with my match-up vs. Snorlax, the biggest weakness to my team. While it didn’t help as much as I would’ve liked against that specific match-up, it was paramount to my success. Being able to punish Protects under Trick Room and hit extremely hard the following turn was great. The EV Spread was for a solid chance to survive Adamant Liquidation from Araquanid, and survive Garchomp Groundium Z at +1 Defense.

Porygon2 @ Eviolite

Ability: Download

Level: 50

Shiny: Yes

EVs: 244 HP / 140 Def / 124 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Spe

– Ice Beam

– Protect

– Recover

– Trick Room

Porygon2 is honestly an amazingly stupid Pokemon in this format. Its bulk is completely insane, and it can reliably set up Trick Room almost every game; a perfect partner for Gigalith. Gigalith struggled to hurt Garchomp under Trick Room, so Porygon2 made it easy with consistent Ice Beam pressure. The moveset was very standard… or was it? I had tested multiple 4th slots for Porygon2 before this tournament, including Return, Tri Attack, Toxic, Shadow Ball, and Thunderbolt. While all are decent choices, the night before the tournament I decided to roll with Protect. Honestly Protect was very nice, it won me many games, and the only time I really wished I had another attack was in Top 4 when Raghav disabled my Ice Beam. As Gavin has proven twice now, most teams don’t have a solid way of stopping Trick Room. Some players’ method of stopping TR was to double into Porygon2 with a Z move and one other attack. That’s where Protect shined. I absorbed many Z moves at Anaheim leaving my opponents permanently tilted. After the Z move was wasted Porygon2 was free to set up TR and recover up. The EV spread is taken from Till Bohmer’s team article from London (which you can read here) that he wrote earlier this season, and I’ve been using it ever since because I enjoy the balance of bulk. My goal for Porygon2 was not to deal damage but to support, so I never missed the lack of Special Attack investment.

Celesteela @ Leftovers

Ability: Beast Boost

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 132 Def / 4 SpA / 116 SpD

Relaxed Nature

– Heavy Slam

– Flamethrower

– Leech Seed

– Protect

252+ Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Celesteela: 158-188 (77.4 – 92.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

The last slot on this team fluctuated quite a bit in testing. I really wanted something that would help with the Garchomp match up, since I had no safe switch into Groundium Z, and could help with Snorlax. I settled with Celesteela and she performed when she needed to. I got the base for the EV spread from Jackson Hambrick’s Georgia team article (which you can read here). I altered it to be a bit more physically bulky and it worked out fine. I enjoyed being slow, as it just helped me under TR, and I didn’t feel the need to be faster than other Celesteela for Leech Seed wars because probably wasn’t bringing her into other Celesteela. While I’m sure there’s a more optimal spread out there, this is what I used. Flamethrower was necessary for a better match up vs. Kartana and opposing Celesteela. I brought Celesteela against the few teams that seemed very weak to it, or teams with Snorlax. Not too much to say here… Celesteela is boring.

Using the Team:

Leads/Modes: The team had two main leads, with the same mode being in play most of the time. Lead hyper offense, picking up available KO’s while prioritizing Trick Room denial options/Gigalith counters from my opponents, then bring in Porygon2 to set up for Gigalith. Each of the two leads had respective purposes, and while these were my common leads, the team is not one dimensional and can roll with many other leads as well.

Lead: Hyper Offense

+

This was my mode to apply immediate pressure to the opponent. Both are fast and threaten KO’s on many Pokemon in the format. Most combinations of Pokemon could not handle the pressure form these two. A double target from this duo spells doom for practically any Pokemon in the format. While the idea seems basic enough, the options were limitless. If they protected, they can get Encored, if they don’t Protect they’ll lose a Pokemon. Most people expect Salazzle to just use Fake Out, so they don’t expect the double target. As I said before, this strategy aided many of my wins. Scarf Garchomp proved to be lethal in practice, but a double in with Fake Out and HP Ice always surprised the opponent and got the knockout. Just be careful about this since Rough Skin will break your sash.

Lead: Anti-Lele

+

I used this lead was when I wanted my terrain active no matter what, most commonly vs. Tapu Lele. While Salazzle does not threaten Tapu Lele for an OHKO, it’s not safe from Fake Out + an attack from Fini. If it doesn’t Protect, it will die to Sludge Bomb the next turn, if it Protects it gets Encored. Starting to see the pattern with Salazzle? I believe this lead is more effective vs. slower teams when Koko/Salazzle would not be able to break through. This mode also had the threat of doubling into slots and picking up immediate KO’s.

In the Back

+

Awaiting behind the hyper offensive speedy lead of Salazzle/Koko was the perfect trick room duo. Having the potential to change modes mid-game leaves many players at a loss, planning against one or the other and not having the fire power to stop both. Plain and simple, Gigalith under trick room swept through many teams this tournament. Setting up for Gigalith was setting up for victory.

Threats:

This team has a few weaknesses that were very hard to get through. Not every team can have a perfect match-up against everything, and these were the Pokémon I knew I would have trouble with.

Muk-Alola

With zero ways to hit Muk super effectively and Muk threatening my whole team besides Gigalith, he really caused issues. He could threaten knock outs or big damage onto both Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini, and could Knock Off Porygon2’s Eviolite. My plan vs. Muk was to just chip it with my leads to put it in range to faint to Rockium Z or +1 Stone Edge. This strategy was not very consistent so I had to play very carefully and conservative vs. Muk.

Gigalith

Yes, my team had issues vs. opposing Gigalith due to it being slower than everything and hitting everything extremely hard. My Gigalith not having Earthquake made this match up even harder as well. Against opposing Gigalith my plan was to wear it down with Tapu Fini or take it out with my own Gigalith. Once again, not an amazing strategy but doable.

Snorlax

Snorlax. Is. Broken. The ONLY way to KO this Pokemon in one turn is with a ridiculously strong Fighting move, because doubling into it activates its berry. It can boost to +6 Attack and Recycle its berry back, or it can lower its speed to be slower than Gigalith with Curse. I had lots of practice playing vs. Snorlax as my testing partner, Kamran Jahadi, was using Snorlax the month before Anaheim. Through this practice I learned that to beat a well-played Snorlax, I had to play perfectly almost every turn. Once again, I was aware of this weakness and had to accept it.

Tapu Lele/Pheromosa +

This lead dropped off a lot before this tournament, which was great for me because it causes a lot of issues. While Koko will get its terrain vs. Choice Scarf Tapu Lele, I was not able to lead Tapu Koko into this because if the Lele was slower, I’d lose the terrain war and would not be able to Fake out, and Pheromosa threatened the KO on Koko. Best of three helped this match-up a lot, but in best of one practice it was not fun to battle.

The Tournament:

I’ll be keeping my match analyses short and simple, only highlighting standout plays that will help everyone understand how the team functioned and found success. My memory is a bit hazy about the exact games so I apologize to my opponents if I tell the story wrong. I do not have the of everyone I played either, so I am sorry for that as well! I also do not have the information of the Pokémon I brought, it’s something I usually omit from my note taking.

Round 1 Vs. Dina

Opponent’s Team:

Dina was a super nice girl and I hope to see her at more events! We had a good time small talking about the TO’s going crazy trying to set up more tables last minute. Round 1 I was facing a Muk so I wasn’t too thrilled, also if Araquanid dodges my rock moves it can sweep through my team since I need to save Rockium Z for Muk. Gigalith was the key to winning this set.

Game 1:

I was pleasantly surprised to not see Muk in this first game. The lack of Muk and Kartana let Gigalith run free and do his thing.

Game 2:

Dina makes the correct adjustment and brings her Muk. I remember Muk causing a lot of havoc and me playing badly by not conserving my Fini and letting Gigalith get hit with a Life Orb Close Combat from Arcanine.

Game 3:

Dina went with the same 4 and I decided to make an adjustment and brought Celesteela in the back. This proved to be very beneficial as it set up lots of leech seeds and walled Muk. Gigalith was brought to low red at some point in the game, but with smart switching and Leech Seed recovery I actually got Gigalith back to about half HP and he closed out the game. Great games Dina!

Win 2-1 (1-0)

Round 2 Vs. Alan Tuchtenhagen

Opponent’s Team:

Alan is the dad of Brandon Tuchtenhagen, a very strong player from the Norcal area, so we’ve been to a lot of local events together and have been friends for a while. It’s unfortunate when friends must play but it’s going to happen eventually. Once again I saw Muk and thought that my team was gonna face hard match ups all day. Salazzle Fini with Gigalith P2 in the back was definitely the call for this team

Game 1:

I decided to bring Celesteela and she did not work out at all, I also let Gigalith take a Bonemerang from Marowak which cost me the game.

Game 2:

I went with the classic Salazzle/Fini/P2/Gigalith strategy the next game and it worked out very well. Muk was dealt with properly with chip and Rockium Z, and Specs Fini dealt with Marowak.

Game 3:

I believe I went with the same Pokemon and played similarly. The goal was still to preserve Gigalith and let him sweep. Great games to Alan, I’ll see you around buddy!

Win 2-1 (2-0)

Round 3 Vs. Tyler Bennet (AtTehCrossVGC)

Opponent’s Team:

Tyler was someone I hadn’t met before this regional but I’d say we became good pals after it! While we had a bit of small talk before the match, we were both keeping to ourselves trying to get in the zone so we could preserve our undefeated records.

Game 1:

In both of our games I led Salazzle Tapu Koko as I thought this was a perfect team to pound down with aggression. Turn one I doubled into Metagross with Flamethrower + Thunderbolt for the KO, activating Weakness Policy along the way. The game eventually boiled down to just my Porygon2 vs. his Specs Fini locked into Scald. After one Scald (which a critical hit) I was doing the math on my note sheet and saw that even if he burned me I could recover stall him out of Scalds and force Fini to struggle. Tyler saw this as well and forfeited.

Game 2:

This game was a perfect example of landing reads with hyper aggression. Turn one I really surprised Garchomp with Hidden Power Ice while Fini switched to Metagross to take my Sludge Bomb. Arcanine comes in and he Protects Metagross while I double into Arcanine and KO it. Then I double into Fini knowing its Specs and take it out. I was proud of nailing all my reads and ending the game swiftly. Good games to Tyler, after this Tyler ended 8-1 with me being his only loss!

Win 2-0 (3-0)

Round 4 Vs. Domink

Opponent’s Team:

Domink had a pretty unorthodox team but nothing to be underestimated. Tapu Fini and Gigalith would be the keys to winning this match-up, as together they hit his entire team for heavy damage.

Game 1:

I led Salazzle and Tapu Fini and quickly encored Xurkitree into Protect. Next I got Fini in Trick Room under Sand so Gigalith and Fini just swept

Game 2:

I went with the same lead and the same play, but he switched Tapu Lele for Porygon2, after this the game went exactly the same as before almost turn for turn. It was almost like every turn was a mind game of if he would make a different play but he never did. Good games to Dominik.

Win 2-0 (4-0)

Round 5 Vs. Alex

Opponent’s Team:

Alex was a really cool guy who was running a relatively standard Mandibuzz team. Luckily I had practice against Mandibuzz teams because Kamran was testing it against me before he switched to Snorlax. I knew that once Trick Room was up the game would be pretty much over, but Mandibuzz usually does a good job of not letting that happen.

Game 1:

I led Salazzle Tapu Fini and just fired off Dazzling Gleams every turn. I remember Encoring Mandibuzz into Foul Play after it set up Tailwind which left Porygon2 to safely set up TR letting Gigalith sweep.

Game 2:

I don’t remember the specifics of this game except for Protect on Porygon2 making its first dank appearance of the day. My Porygon2 wanted to Trick Room but Mandibuzz was ready to taunt it. Mandbuzz was under Tailwind but also in range of dying to Dazzling Gleam from Fini. I protected and see visible frustration from Alex as he goes for taunt. After Mandibuzz fainted, there was nothing to stop Gigalith. Good games Alex!

Win 2-0 (5-0)

Round 6 Vs Kamran Jahadi (Kamz)

Opponent’s Team:

Not many people have the misfortune of having to play their significant other in a live tournament, but this is what happened round 6. As you all know by now, Kamz is a very close friend of mine and he was my testing partner for this tournament. We were upset to have to play each other but I was confident that we were both strong enough to make top cut.

Game 1:

Every single game in the set, we brought the same four Pokemon. I led Tapu Fini Salazzle with Gigalith Celesteela in the back. I went for the safe play using Fake Out onto his scarf Kartana and Muddy Watering, knocking out Arcanine and doing a large amount of damage to Kartana. After the turn one advantage we fought valiantly by endlessly Muddy Watering to get accuracy drops. I eventually wore him out with Celesteela Leech seeding his Snorlax.

Game 2:

Kamz went for a really ballsy turn one play but nailed the prediction by Night Slash Extreme Speeding my Salazzle as I switched Tapu Fini and tried to catch Kartana with a flamethrower. The game was pretty much over after that.

Game 3:

I went with the same play as game 1 and had the same result. The game came down to a similar situation of Celesteela vs. Snorlax after an armada of accuracy drops on both sides from Muddy Water spam. After hitting a low accuracy Leech Seed, Kamz hit a -2 accuracy High Horsepower and without it the game would’ve been over. Snorlax was in the low red but at +6 attack, while My Celesteela was at about 70% and just protected. I go for Heavy Slam knowing if it doesn’t KO, Leech Seed will finish him off after, but I get a crit. Kamz likes to call this hax because my crit made it so he didn’t have a chance to crit my Celesteela for the win. Great games to Kamz, and like I predicted, he went on to end 8-1 in Swiss and made top cut!

Win 2-1 (6-0)

Round 7 Vs. Aaron Zheng (Cybertron)

Opponent’s Team:

The man who need no introduction. My fellow Gigalith believer. Aaron and I have been to a lot of events together so after some friendly banter we got into the games. After seeing Aaron’s team I was not feeling very confident. He had his own Gigalith and Muk which were two things my team struggled with a lot.

Game 1:

I led Koko Salazzle. I thought I could surprise Aaron’s Garchomp with an HP Ice from KO but he double protected making my surprise tech a waste. Although I did get to encore his Muk the next turn which put me in a decent position. After a grueling back and forth and missing a crucial Stone Edge, Aaron eventually got the best of me with Gigalith and good Muk preservation. The Stone Edge miss was not game defining, so I knew I had room to play a lot better.

Game 2: (I forgot to write them down, but I think he brought the same 4)

Game 1 was really close and with a few better turns I could’ve won it, so I was ready to come back in game 2. In the middle of the game Aaron makes a great read of doubling into my Porygon2 with Muk and Rockium Z Gigalith even after seeing I have Protect in game 1. That put me in a very poor position but I wasn’t out yet. It came down to just his Garchomp and Muk vs. my Salazzle and Gigalith. Aaron Garchomp had used Earthquake, then Groundium Z. My understanding of the Encore mechanics was that it would lock him into his last used non Z move which would’ve been Earthquake, forcing him to Earthquake his own Muk and giving me an opening to win. As I go for Encore, it fails… Unfortunately I have no one to blame but myself for messing up the in-game mechanics but I learned a valuable lesson. Aaron played exceptionally well and went on to top cut with a record of 8-1!

Loss 0-2 (6-1)

Round 8 Vs. Brandon Huang

Opponent’s Team:

I was happy to see my match up against Brandon because Salazzle and Fini put in a lot of work, as does my own Gigalith. The thing had to watch out for his own Gigalith.

Game 1:

I honestly don’t remember too much about this set. Kartana ended up being neither Focus Sash or Assault Vest, so it was easy pickings for my Salazzle. I remember that with the absence Kartana, my Tapu Fini and Gigalith wiped out the rest of his squad.

Game 2:

I decided to leave Arcanine alive for one turn and got hit with Snarl, which actually causes a lot of trouble to a team like mine that relies a lot on Special Attack. After re-positioning myself after that hiccup, I eventually swept with Gigalith. Good games to Brandon, he was a really cool guy, and I wish him the best of luck in the future.

Win 2-0 (7-1)

Round 9 Vs Riley Factura (GENGARboi)

Opponent’s Team:

This was a somewhat upsetting final round of swiss because Riley and I have been good friends for quite some time. While up to this point I’ve gone X-2 at numerous regionals and never top cut, I wasn’t feeling too much pressure this round. I was almost positive even if I lost I would still make cut. Also, Riley’s resistance wasn’t looking too hot and part of me wanted to help him make cut. In the end that didn’t stop me from trying my best though. I wasn’t going to let my dreams of top cut ride on a chance, I wanted to guarantee it.

Game 1:

This game ended quite fast. On turn one I got a knock out on his Koko with Salazzle indicating he was running Modest Koko. Then I played smart around scarf Garchomp and let Porygon2 and Salazzle deal with Celesteela.

Game 2:

Riley made a good adjustment in game 2 bringing Arcanine instead of Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz just feels too much heat from Koko and Salazzle and usually can’t set up properly. Arcanine proved to be an issue as it started Snarling me down. While I still felt like I was in a good position, Riley made a pretty dank read of Will-o-Wisping my Salazzle as I switched it into Gigalith. Coupled with Arcanine Snarling me and scarf Garchomp hitting me I had no fire power left.

Game 3:

I led Salazzle Koko into his Garchomp Arcanine, I had not yet revealed HP Ice yet and was not scared of Arcanine, I also knew he wouldn’t want to Earthquake his own Arcanine so I was fairly confident I was going to catch him with a Fake Out HP Ice double into Garchomp. I see Arcanine switch and I’m thinking “Oh he must be switching in Celesteela to Earthquake, this is going to be perfect,” and in comes Tapu Lele… Fake Out is blocked, Earthquake kills Koko and Brings Salazzle to sash. After that the game was pretty much over. It was really good adjustment by Riley, I just didn’t think he would make a play like that vs. a Koko he doesn’t think has HP Ice. Great games to Riley, ily bb.

Loss 1-2

Final Record: 7-2

Day 1 Aftermath: I ended up making cut as the highest 7-2 player at 7th seed. 4 of my opponents throughout the day ended X-1, giving me monstrous resistance. While it did feel pretty good to make Top Cut, I have gotten top 16 at countless regionals and to me this was just another top 16. I really wanted to at least win my top 16 match to be able to say I was in the top 8. After a delicious meal at Portillio’s with the gang, prepping for my match up tomorrow, playing Cards Against Humanity until midnight, and then listening to Sam Johnson tell the most legendary high school story of all time, I slept.

Top 16 Vs. Alicia Martinez

Opponent’s Team:

Alicia is really cool and we’ve talked at a good amount of events prior to this, but when that brick and money are on the line I’m going to try my best. Looking at Alicia’s team I thought that the offensive presence of Tapu Koko and Salazzle, and then Gigalith under TR would be way too much for her team to handle. I went with the tried and true Koko Salazzle, Gigalith Porygon2 every game.

Game 1:

This game was going very well. I was putting on a lot of pressure and set up the perfect win condition for Gigalith. All I had to do was get up Trick Room with Porygon2 and the game was over. Alicia’s Tapu Koko goes for Thunderbolt on my Porygon2, paralyzes, and then fully paralyzes Porygon2. I was very upset with this as the game was completely over as long as that ~3% chance didn’t happen. I came this far, and knew my team had the favorable match up, so I wasn’t going to tilt.

Game 2:

Alicia decided to bring Garchomp this game, with my Koko Salazzle lead, I Fake Out HP Ice Garchomp as she protects Tapu Koko. Garchomp actually survives in the yellow, revealing an Assault Vest. After that I just had to Dazzling Gleam Sludge Bomb Koko. The game went pretty smoothly from the amazing turn one.

Game 3:

Things panned out similarly to game 1 but Alicia didn’t let her Garchomp go down easily. It was up to Gigalith this game and all I had to do was not miss a few rock slides, and luckily Gigalith pulled through.

Top 8 Vs. Tyler Bennet (AtTehCrossVGC)

Opponent’s Team:

I played Tyler in Swiss and 2-0’d him so it’s only natural to feel a bit positive about the match-up, but I knew Tyler was good, so I wasn’t sleeping on him. This set and the entire rest of my run was streamed on twitch and also uploaded to YouTube! I’ll be leaving the links to videos for you to watch them yourselves, but will provide a bit of analysis for what I thought were the game breaking moments.

@6:41 Game one was similar to what happened with Alicia, the critical hit from Groundium Z on my Porygon2 definitely mattered and I would’ve gotten Trick Room up and just swept after that, but I didn’t let it get to me and knew I would still be fine if I played my best throughout the set.

Game two had a lot of Trick Room resetting mind games but I happened to get the better of Tyler in this one.

@35:18 This turn showed how good Protect really is, I caught Tyler doubling into Porygon2 on the last turn of Trick Room, which without Protect, Porygon2 would have to take a total of 4 attacks before getting up Trick Room, the double in from this turn, then a second double in next turn preventing trick room for the rest of the game. Again, not possible to do without Protect so showing its worth.

Great games Tyler, you’re a super cool guy and glad we became friends at this event. I wish you luck in the rest of the season and hope to see you at another event soon!

DISCLAIMER: Of course the hindsight VGC twitter overlords are going to trying to downgrade Tyler’s play because he didn’t bring a Celesteela answer game 3. Please keep in mind, Tyler and I had played FOUR games vs. each other up to this point, with me bringing the exact same 4 every single game winning 3 of those 4, without Celesteela. Also, in our Swiss match when Tyler decided to bring Arcanine it was completely dead weight vs. the 4 of Tapu Fini, Salazzle, Porygon2, and Gigalith. Even more to add to that, Vikavolt and Arcanine both provide next to nothing vs. the rest of my team excluding Celesteela. I believe I made a very good adaptation bringing Celesteela knowing all these facts, and believing he wouldn’t prepare for it, but Tyler is a strong player and I will not be surprised to see him in Top Cut again!

Top 4 Vs. Raghav Malaviya (Mudhiman)

Raghav and I are good friends from the NorCal area, he was also one of the guys in our carpool to drive to Anaheim so many jokes of having an awkward car ride home ensued. We weren’t going to let this get to us; one player has to win and that’s that. We were both going to be happy for each other no matter what unfolded. Despite being good friends and driving together, our teams were complete secrets from each other for the most part. I did see Raghav’s top 8 match and he saw mine as well, but that was about all of our knowledge.

@ 2:36 This first turn really set the tone for the game, nailing the double attack making an immediate 4 on 3 really put me in the driver’s seat for this game.

@ 10:55 Protecting with Gigalith might look weird at first but it was a perfect play for what my team needs to function. There were two turns of sand left at this point, if I were to miss Stone Edge and Celesteela knock out Gigalith, Salazzle would attack into a Protect and die to sand, leaving Porygon2 to lose the 1v1. As I mentioned above, managing sand turns with Salazzle’s sash was part of the team operation and I’m glad I didn’t mess it up in the tournament.

While I believe I played too safe after this and made a poor turn 2 play, I ended winning with the advantage I made for myself.

@ 11:57 This turn one was really dank, I locked Drifblim into Tailwind forcing it to switch out next turn, but also predicted Raghav’s Fini to Switch to Garchomp making my switch to Porygon2 a guaranteed Trick Room set up next turn.

@ 22:15 Raghav knew my Porygon2 had Protect, but I managed to win the mind game and Protect my Gigalith from Groundium Z. Raghav made the best play and Swaggered my Porygon2 and I hit myself 3 out of 4 times (confusion nerfs coming in CLUTCH) and this almost lost me the set. Luckily Porygon2 is way too good and managed to get the job done on the one turn it didn’t hit itself.

@ 29:29 Here it is, the HP Ice heard round the world. Like I said before, we didn’t discuss our teams and the HP Ice was a complete surprise reveal. I never had to use it on stream prior to this. Great games to Raghav, Ii’m proud of you making top 4 in your first year in the Masters division, showing you’re no slouch.

Finals Vs. Gavin Michaels (kingofmars)

Here we are all the way in the finals! Of course the talk of the day was how Gavin has been demolishing all of his opponents throughout the day so I didn’t feel super confident going into this set. I knew I had the tools to win but like I said before, my Snorlax match-up was terrible, I had to play perfectly almost every turn to win. Unfortunately the information game is a big part of Top Cut at events so I was at a pretty severe disadvantage. Gavin had seen both my Top 8 and Top 4 sets in their entirety while he hadn’t been on stream yet. I had ten minutes after finishing my set with Raghav, which consisted of being congratulated and celebrating with my friends, going to the bathroom and calming myself down a bit and then heading back over to play. While I could have spent all my time planning, Gavin was in the vicinity of my friends and I didn’t want to look scummy.

Do not get me wrong, Gavin played better than I did. If I had more information it wasn’t like I would have won because of it, I probably just would have put up a better fight. Once again, congrats to Gavin, he played like a Regional Champ and left a Regional Champ.

@ 23:50. I received a lot of flak for this turn because it ultimately lost me the set, but to this day I stand by my play. The reason I did not Ice Beam Snorlax was because I was confident with my mental damage calcs that Flamethrower after Fake Out would have a slim to none chance of KO’ing Magnezone, and this was correct.

252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Magnezone: 152-180 (85.8 – 101.6%) — 25% chance to OHKO

Keep in mind that this is calculated after Fake Out damage, assuming the highest roll (only difference from lowest roll to highest was 1 hp). The percent chance of OHKO was only 25%. I predicted Snorlax to Protect as I had Fake Out pressure and he knew I would need to invest an attack into his +6 Snorlax the following turn. The Ice Beam would ensure that Flamethrower KO’s Magnezone, and next turn and I would be able to potentially get a double KO. This was a read. In the event that I did Ice Beam Magnezone, next turn I would double into Magnezone if the Flamethrower did not KO, the game would come down to Porygon2 vs. Porygon2, whoever stays frozen longer loses. If it did KO, Salazzle would potentially be able to Encore Porygon2 if it attacks, letting my Porygon2 eventually win.

I decided to go for a read over a 25% chance. Of course it did not work out, but I don’t believe my thought process was wrong, and believe it was a justified play.

Going Forward:

I believe this team helped put a few things on the map:

Modest Koko is a viable option, sometimes the speed tier in itself helps your team as it did in mine. Koko shouldn’t be immediately labeled as Timid; it’s more flexible than that. Gigalith is extremely good putting on immense pressure in and out of Trick Room, denying your opponent weather, going toe to toe with Snorlax, and the list goes on. It actually popped up a good amount in the St Louis regional as I was writing this article, definitely try him out! Salazzle pressures a huge amount of the meta and should not be overlooked. It provides teams with offensive and defensive options while threatening KO’s itself. I believe Salazzle won’t be a one hit wonder, but that’s just my slightly biased opinion.

Acknowledgments:

NorCal crew. I would like to give shoutouts to the whole NorCal crew for making this weekend extremely fun and one to remember! Brandt Willems (WonderGinger), Mitchell Davies (MissingNoL), Patrick Smith (SalaMenace) Raghav Malaviya (Mudhiman), Michael Groshans, Anthony Stefani (Ando), Justin Wan (Jwanie), Sam Johnson (RastaCharmander) and Jordan Jue (BasedSnorlax).

NorCal TO’s. Thanks Cassie Fordyce (CMF95) and Huy Ha (Huynasaur) for always being super friendly and keeping our NorCal scene alive. I appreciate you guys more than you know!

Yung Money. Thanks everyone for not just helping me build and test my team, but for being some of my best friends in and out of Pokemon. Kamran Jahadi (Kamz), Kimo Nishimura (TapuKimo), Tommy Yi (Tlyee), Ansel Blume.

SoCal. You guys are amazing, hanging with you guys in and out of events is always such a good time and I’m really glad I met all of you. Finally glad to prove I can somewhat hang with you guys on a competitive level too! Riley Factura (GENGARboi), Alberto Lara (Alberto310), Giovanni Costa (Giovanni Costa), Alejandro Jimenez (Legacy), Anthony Jimenez.

Inspirations. Thanks for sending me a message of encouragement and cheering me on, it meant a lot! Chase Lybbert (IAmARookie), Andrew Nowak (AceNowak), Andrew Burley (IsAndrewElite).

Thanks so much Crystal Chon for drawing the Salazzle picture for the article, you’re the best!

Thanks Trainer Tower for inviting me to write for you, I really appreciate what you do for the community, til next time!

Unfortunately, with my career training being very expensive, time consuming, and extremely difficult, I probably won’t be able to go to anymore events this year excluding smaller local events and Worlds as a spectator, so this probably ends my season. Real life is important too. Next year I’ll be coming in with a passion to win!

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