ChaoticEspeon @ UK Nationals!

Last weekend I was in Liverpool to compete in the 2016 UK National Championships; unlike last year’s nats, where I was going with the aim of making it into the top cut and feeling confident of making it there, I went into 2016’s with little practice, poor season results and with the sole purpose of playing a few games and enjoying myself.

As a result, I built a team that I felt could be competitive whilst centring around some of my favourite Pokémon and utilising a couple of surprising moves to catch opponents off guard.

The Team!

Espeon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 92 Def / 172 SpA / 4 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Trick
– Psychic
– Skill Swap
– Dazzling Gleam
Total KO’s: 8

You may have by now guessed that Espeon happens to be my favourite Pokémon, so you can imagine my delight when Rinanimate posted a spread to make Espeon usable in VGC 16! The EV’s allowed it to take some of the most common and powerful attacks in the meta, I’ll list a few calcs below:

252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 212 HP / 92 Def Espeon: 141-166 (84.4 – 99.4%) 
4+ SpA Primal Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 212 HP / 4 SpD Espeon in Heavy Rain: 133-157 (79.6 – 94%)
-1 252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 212 HP / 92 Def Espeon: 130-155 (77.8 – 92.8%) 
-1 252 Atk Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 212 HP / 92 Def Espeon: 126-148 (75.4 – 88.6%)
252+ Atk Life Orb Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 212 HP / 92 Def Espeon: 140-165 (83.8 – 98.8%)
+2 252 SpA Xerneas Dazzling Gleam vs. 212 HP / 4 SpD Espeon: 142-168 (85 – 100.5%)

Whilst the assumption would be that it was only here to bounce back Dark Voids and punish Xerneas set ups, Espeon turned out to be one of my strongest offensive threats. With a scarf, Espeon is able to stop Crobat/Mega Gengar leads dead in their tracks by outspeeding and ohkoing either with Psychic. Psychic would also either 2hko 4 hp Groudon or put it well within Precipice Blades KO range from my own. Skill Swap was a little tech to further ensure I could control the weather war, though it was only used once throughout the tournament.

Manectric @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
– Roar
– Protect
– Volt Switch
– Hidden Power [Ice]
Total KO’s: 8

I hadn’t used Manectric since VGC 14, but it was suggested to me by my friend RozayVGC. Though I was sceptical of the Volt Switching set at first, I enjoyed having the option of a Hidden Power Ice which could ohko Mega Salamence before it even moved, whilst doing big damage to non mega Rayquaza. Oh how glad I was this monster was suggested to me! Manectric was amazing and became a huge part of how I played my matches. Being able to recycle my intimidates was invaluable but being able to make plays to get my desired weather back out (Withdrawing either Primal and Volt Switching straight back into it) and its ability to protect my team (in non mega form) from electric attacks really made Manectric an important asset. Roar was a wonderful tech to catch out Xerneas, making them waste their power herb before forcing them off the field. The lack of power output was noticeable, but didn’t hinder me in any way throughout.

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Protect
– Fire Punch
– Rock Tomb
– Precipice Blades
Total KO’s: 30

Yep, unsurprisingly Groudon was the premier powerhouse of my team. Using a standard 252/252/4 spread ensured that I would at least speed tie with opposing primals whilst maximising my damage output. Not much to say other than arguably the best Pokémon in the meta didn’t disappoint.

Kyogre @ Blue Orb
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Protect
– Ice Beam
– Origin Pulse
– Water Spout
Total KO’s: 16

Originally, this slot belonged to Yveltal, however – with my original team suffering from a weakness to Xerneas and Groudon – I went with what turned out to be the more common team composition of running dual primals. This spread belongs to Necrocat’s Big Six Killer team and can be found on Nugget Bridge for more information. Despite being critical hit AND paralyzed all four times opponents used Thunder to whittle it down, Kyogre still turned out to be an excellent choice and amassed a respectable amount of KO’s to assist the team.

Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Disable
– Icy Wind
– Skill Swap
– Sludge Bomb

Despite having a cool concept, Gengar was only really utilised a couple of times in the tournament. The main idea behind it was to skill swap levitate onto Groudon whilst keeping the sun up, or to skill swap levitate onto Kyogre to ensure that opposing Groudon couldn’t touch it in the rain. Icy wind was a helpful option to lower the speed of opposing primals, ensuring an absence of speed ties whilst Sludge Bomb was my STAB attack of choice. Disable was there to disable sucker punch from Yveltal or Kangaskhan but in retrospect taunt would’ve helped much more.

Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 4 SpA / 116 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Tailwind
– Air Slash
– Follow Me
– Dazzling Gleam

Togekiss’ usage in this tournament was limited to only two games I can remember. It set up a tailwind in one and fainted instantly in the other. Sadly, this was hindered by a lack of practice with it and a preference to bring Espeon, Manectric, Groudon and Kyogre to the majority of my games. The EV spread is Jon Hu’s and can be found on Cybertron’s channel so I won’t go into it too much. The purpose of selecting Togekiss was to help with the weakness to Yveltal but I didn’t happen across a single one throughout Nationals. As a result, Togekiss didn’t get any chance to shine and left me wishing I’d instead brought a Ferrothorn to help with my Xerneas/Kyogre matchup.

The Matches!
Sadly, I didn’t take extensive notes on the matches, but here are the teams and players I faced and the results:

R1 VS Max Waterman (Simipour)

Two very close matches against a player who managed a wonderful record of 8-1 in swiss
L 0-2
Overall: 0-1

R2 VS Giovanni Milani (@John_VGC)

An incredibly close and evenly matched first game but demolished by Xerneas in the second game. Another tough matchup against a player who has qualified for worlds and won two regional championships
L 0-2
Overall: 0-2

R3 VS Craig Anderson

A really cool team which I’m interested in tweaking and trying for myself. Two games I was always in control of with a comfortable 2-0 in G1 and an Espeon sweep in G2

W 2-0
Overall: 1-2

R4 VS Anthony Lavery (Juiceball)

Another set of close games, this time against a player who qualified for Nintendo UK’s winter championships in 2013, qualifying as the winner in Derry. I won game 1 1-0 but suffered defeat in the next two all but ending my chances of top cut.

L 1-2
Overall: 1-3

R5 VS ?

Yep, that’s right, a VGC 14 team! I was actually a little concerned about my matchup though if truth be told, until I realised I could just skill swap levitate onto Groudon and win. I played through the first game without that strategy before tearing through him in game 2 with my levitating Groudon.

W 2-0
Overall: 2-3

R6 VS Kevin Weiner (@KrystalCroft)

A close first game followed by a controlled second game in a match up I liked. Caught out in game one by the focus sash on Crobat though!

W 2-0
Overall 3-3

R7 VS Lee Watson (Redemption003)

A tricky three round match VS a seasoned competitive player – unfortunately for my opponent, my team was designed to defeat the Crobat/Gengar/Ray/Ogre core; Raichu caught my Espeon off guard with a powerful knock off to seal game two but we had a fairly straight forward run in the other two games

W 2-1
Overall 4-3

R8 VS Mike Sykes-Blythe (Biscuit)

Probably my favourite set of the tournament came against a fellow UK player who has managed a regional top 32 and a premier challenge win this season. Mike took a close game 1 before two more close matches confirmed me as the winner.

W 2-1
Overall 5-3

R9 VS Ruben Pereira (Puddles)

Another very close best of three set against one of Portugal’s best players. I won the first game but was beaten in the final two, securing Ruben a solid 6-3 finish.

L 1-2
Overall 5-4

So that was it, a 5-4 finish and some championship points in the bag. I was actually very happy to have finished with this record, considering the calibre of player I faced, my lack of practice and the fact I hadn’t even gone positive in a tournament since my 2nd place finish at Liverpool’s battle master qualifier last October. Had a great time and met some more awesome people, till next time guys!