I'm #2 so better than Zog - 2nd Place at IdM (biggest non-IC WiFi Tournament ever)

This is my report of the Inofficial German Championship (IdM) in which I was able to come in second. This tournament has a lot of tradition, is happening once per year since 2007 and has some prize support by Nintendo. With Pokémon X and Y, a lot of people started to play competitivly and due to some more advertising, as well as adding international competitors for the first time, we were able to get over 300 people playing in this two-day event.
With this number of participants, the IdM 2014 was the biggest WiFi tournament, not hosted by Nintendo, ever!

Registrations included players of world class caliber like the world champion himself, Arash Ommati, Tyvyr and LPROX who both finished Top8 in the Pokémon World Championship 2013, Henrique who got to Top8 in Seniors as well as other players who qualified for worlds multiple times like Michilele, Massi, Toasdt, Sewadle, drug_duck, Flame and many more!

Before presenting my team, I’d like to thank everybody who helped organizing this tournament as it was easily one of the best online tournaments I attended.

Knowing that I would also face a lot of newer players with free-spirited teams, I wanted to have a team that is able to crush newer players with ease, while also providing good synergy and offensive power to beat better players. I started throwing Pokémon together that always gave my past teams trouble and ended with a core of Mega Manectric, Salamence and Scarf Gardevoir. I liked those three a lot as it provided double intimidate and the potential to create pressure on the opponent. While thinking of how to complement those three to a functioning team, I wanted to have some play with Volt Switch and added a Specs Rotom-W. I thought that Discharge in combination with Manectric’s Lightningrod ability would be a clever way to beat stuff like rain. I also liked the chance of paralysis it had and added Garchomp as a ground type to be able to use Discharge more freely. I realized that it would we perfectly fitting to change Gardevoir’s ability to Telepathy and all of a sudden I had a very strong core that was not really affected by intimidate, while providing intimidate support itself. In addition to that, I could dish out field moves like Earthquake, Discharge, Rock Slide and Dazzling Gleam without worrying to much about my partner.

The last Pokémon I added was special Substitute Aegislash, as it provided even more offensive potential.

I went on PS! with this new team and was able to get a pretty decent record of 25-5 in a short amount of time. At this point, I knew that the basic core was working very well and that I just needed to fix some flaws. Having 5 special attackers was nice against teams who relied on intimidate spam, but Light Screen was a problem. Other threats I figured out solely on paper included Abomasnow, Bisharp, MegaMawile, Ferrothorn... I also disliked having only one Pokémon that is able to megaevolve as I liked to be more freely in choosing my Pokémon and felt forced to pick Manectric every game. The ressources a Mega-Pokémon provides are just too good to give up!

To fix these issues, I wanted to use MegaMawile over Aegislash and Rotom-H over Rotom-W. Very shortly before the tournament I decided to stick with Rotom-W, but change it to a more bulky version. I figured that having fire moves on Salamence and Manectric should be enough to deal with the aforementioned threats. However, in the last second I decided to run Snarl and test it in the first rounds as one was able to change his team between rounds. I didn’t feel like changing anything during the tournament, though, and this is the final version I used:

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Telepathy

EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Modest Nature

- Dazzling Gleam

- Moonblast

- Psychic

- Will-O-Wisp

Salamence @ Life Orb

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature

- Flamethrower

- Draco Meteor

- Stone Edge

- Protect

Manectric @ Manectite

Ability: Lightningrod

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature

- Volt Switch

- Hidden Power [Ice]

- Protect

- Snarl

Garchomp @ Lum Berry

Ability: Rough Skin

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature

- Earthquake

- Dragon Claw

- Protect

- Rock Slide

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 116 SAtk / 116 SDef / 20 Spd

Modest Nature

- Will-O-Wisp

- Hydro Pump

- Discharge

- Protect

Mawile @ Mawilite

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 4 Spd

Adamant Nature

- Play Rough

- Iron Head

- Sucker Punch

- Protect

Tournament: IdM 2014

Participants: 306

Finish: 2nd

Statistics: 15-4 in individual games, 11-2 in sets

EVs

As you can see, I had a lot of very easy 252/252/4 spreads. While it might be the correct choice for Garchomp, I think the spreads of Manectric, Salamence and Gardevoir could be improved. The time I had to prepare my team ingame was not that much, so I wanted to spent more time on breeding (yes, it’s hard to get 6x31 :P) and EVing than on calcing spreads.

Move choices

I ran Will-O-Wisp on Gardevoir to have a tool for MegaKangaskhan’s and Bisharp’s Sucker Punch, but never actually used it.

Dazzling Gleam was chosen to be able to hit a Garchomp that is next to an Amoonguss, as well as picking off low HP Pokémon while dealing some chip damage to the partner.

Salamence runs Flamethrower over Fire Blast because I wanted to have at least one 100% accuracy move on it, but more interestingly, I chose to go with Stone Edge over Rock Slide. This was to beat the very strong Charizard + Mienshao lead that is pretty popular in Japan. It also gives me a nice option to deal damage to Rotom-H, Gyarados, Zapdos and other Pokémon who are weak to rock. After some calculations, I realized that the best option would be to go with Timid as nature since Naive or Hasty wasn’t providing any important KOs with Stone Edge. Draco Meteor was my obvious choice for dragon STAB as Dragon Pulse is pretty weak and I wanted to get KOs with Draco Meteor + Rock Slide / Earthquake.

Snarl was chose as fourth move on Manectric to have yet another field move that turned Manectric into a destructive Pokémon that can lower the opponent’s Attack and Special Attack stats by one stage in just a single turn. However, Flamethrower or Overheat are probably the better choices on this slot. I generated the moveset when I thought I would run Rotom-H and dropped the fire move because of that.

Garchomp is just very generic set and spread, so there should be no introduction needed.

I used to be very proud of my Rotom-W spread and set, but now it seems like that is the go-to set. While Protect was able to catch a lot of good opponents off-guard on Battle Spot around Christmas time, I’ve seen a lot more Rotom carry Protect lately. I think I might want to switch to a more defensively orientated spread.

Mawile is pretty standard again and was the third Pokémon on the team with Intimidate. I couldn’t see any possible situation in which I wanted to pick Manectric and Mawile at the same time, so I had never any trouble with having two MegaPokémon on the same team. Manectric was there for faster and frailer teams, while Mawile checks TR and slow stuff, while picking off threats with Sucker Punch.

Tournament Report

On day 1 our challange was to decrease the number of participants in group stages down to 32, so we had 77 groups with 4 players in each. Typically, rounds 1 and 2 are rather easy, but this time I faced some good teams in the early rounds as well.

Round 1, Game 1 versus Vaascabas

Preview: Chandelure, Aromatisse, Abomasnow, Bisharp, Ampharos, Talonflame

Picks: Abomasnow, Chandelure, Aromatisse, Bisharp

One of my obvious weaknesses and downfall of the team is of course the ability Defiant. Just having Salamence on the field turns Bisharp into a killing machine that is capable of breaking huge holes into my team, so I was a little bit nervous facing it so early. In addition to that, there is Abomasnow that can OHKO Garchomp, Salamence and Rotom-W, depending on the moves and spread. However, I also wanted to see this as a test to check whether Rotom-W was a correct choice or if I needed to switch to Rotom-H.

The game went pretty smoothly, I was able to KO Abomasnow with MegaMawile’s Iron Head and catch Bisharp on the switch with a Hydro Pump, so I didn’t have any problems and won this game 4-0.

Round 1, Game 2 versus tozeneto

Preview: Rotom-W, Charizard, Gyarados, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Venusaur

Picks: Charizard, Venusaur, ?, ?

My second opponent would be the first foreign, a battler from Portugal. I was very happy to play another good player so early on and wanted to see, if my designed sun counters Salamence and Garchomp would be able to get me a quick victory. Indeed they were as Venusaur fell down to a sun boosted Flamethrower and Charizard to Rock Slide quickly after that. I don’t remember what he had in the back, but I won pretty convincingly.

After reaching the second groupstage, I went back to organizing, interpreting for the foreigners and other things.

Round 2, Game 1 vs Noxy

Preview: Politoed, Vaporeon, Talonflame, Excadrill, Dragonite, Klefki

Picks: Excadrill, Klefki, Vaporeon, Talonflame

Well, in such a tournament with so many new players and with the complex rules, it is inevitable to face stuff like Excadrill, I guess. Anyway, I just played like it was a regular battle. Scarf Excadrill + Air Balloon Klefki caught me a little bit off-guard, but MegaManectric was able to survive -1 Earthquake. I think I won 3-0.

Round 2, Game 2 vs Bissiges Bissbark

Preview: Scrafty, Slowking, Rotom-W, Charizard, Roserade, Tyrantrum

Picks: Scrafty, Rotom-W, Roserade, Tyrantrum

Yeeees!! I could play Bissiges Bissbark! I was very nervous about such a great honour and nearly choked in team preview because of it! His Rotom-W gave me a little bit of trouble as it was very bulky and ran Light Screen as well as Will-O-Wisp, hindering me from dealing great amount of damage. I set up a nice winning plan with Scarf Gardevoir, but then his Roserade had Payapa Berry and KO’d back with Sludge Bomb. I was more than surprised and when he brought out Scarf Tyrantrum it even looked like he would win! But I eventually got my act together and played a couple of nice turns, burned everything and won 2-0, gg!

My third round 2 opponent was wushl, a good friend of mine and since we both were 2-0 and guaranteed to advance, we didn’t play the final game.

Round 3, Game 1 versus Tyvyr

Preview: Amoonguss, Aromatisse, Kangaskhan, Clawitzer, Rotom-H, Salamence

Picks: Aromatisse, Kangaskhan, Rotom-H, Clawitzer

Okay so there we are, finally at the more interesting stages of the tournament! For those of you who do not remember Tyvyr, he got to Top8 at worlds 2013 with Scarf Volcarona and Sableye and is definitely a strong player! I knew that his team should be Trick Room, so I picked MegaMawile this game. The game was very back and forth and I had some good turns in the beginning. However, I didn’t expect ChestoRest Aromatisse and looked kinda foolish when he suddenly was back to 100%. In the end a chain of unlucky events lead to my defeat, as his Clawitzer’s Aqua Wave confused my Garchomp and therefore got rid of my Lum Berry. That helped him burn it in the end game and with Protect he was able to win the 1on1 between his Rotom and my Garchomp, good game!

I really thought I should have come out on top and needed to win three consecutive games to advance to Top32 and the next day.

Round 3, Game 2 versus ekici

Preview: Amoonguss, Escavalier, Manectric, Politoed, Gothitelle, Kingdra

Picks: Politoed, Gothitelle, Amoonguss, Kingdra

Looking at his team, I was wondering if there could be a Perish Trap mode in there, but it was the only thing that made sense to me, so I started off with Manectric to Volt Switch out. Turned out he did not run Perish Song on Politoed, which made things even easier. Snarl helped in this game, but I would have won without it, too.

Round 3, Game 3 versus Kekskrümel

Preview: Nidoking, Scrafty, Azumarill, Rotom-H, Mawile, Chandelure

Picks: Mawile, Nidoking, Rotom-H, Scrafty

Okay, so in my next  game, I look down on a pretty unconventional, yet dangerous team. On turn 1, I scouted for sets and guessed right that her Nidoking was scarfed. A switch to Mawile for intimidate on her own Mawile gave me a lot of momentum. I was able to maintain pressue throughout the whole game and get nice moves off on her switches. In the end I won 3-0, gg!

Round 3, Game 4 versus Yvaine

Preview: Noivern, Drapion, Charizard, Aegislash, Kangaskhan, Greninja

Picks: Kangaskhan, Greninja, Aegislash, Drapion

I don’t remember this game very well as I was pretty tired at that time. The Aegislash was physical and therefore I had no problem dealing with it, between multiple switches for intimidate and WoW, my opponent was never able to get any strong attacks off. After a disconnect, we decided that I would have won easily, gg and thanks for sportsmanship!

So I was able to come back from being down 0-1 in the group and advanced to the next day and to Top32!

The tournament format was now Best of three single Elimination and my bracket looked pretty doable until Top8 where I anticipated to meet either Toasdt or Michilele, both renowned worlds participants.

The Bracket

Next day, Top32 versus xxThunderbirdxx

Preview: Rotom-W, Talonflame, Garchomp, Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Amoonguss

Top32, Game 1

Picks: Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Talonflame, Rotom-W

I am pretty confident going into this matchup as my Manectric + Salamence lead should be able to shut down anything he throws at me. Turn 1 I am a little bit afraid of Power-up-Punch on his Meowstic to counter a potential double protect, so I go for Volt Switch and Draco Meteor. He didn’t go for such an ambitious move and instead Fake Outs Salamence while Swaggering Manectric, which - of course - selfhits. Gosh, this doesn’t start too well. His Rotom gives me a little bit of trouble again and I am happy that I didn’t switch my own Rotom to Heat. The battle was pretty close, but in the end I manage to create a favourable 1-2 position with my Garchomp versus his Kangaskhan and Rotom, after I hit is Talonflame with Discharge on the switch in. Both of his were at low health so I was able to claim victory.

Top32, Game 2

Picks: Kangaskhan, Amoonguss, Rotom-W, Garchomp

He switched things up a little bit for the second game and adapted to the team I had picked. His Amoonguss is pretty tough to deal with for me, but I manage to take it down eventually and creating yet another 1-2 situation that favours me, as my Garchomp is this time able to take out his Garchomp and Kangaskhan.

Both games were pretty close and very entertaining, thanks a lot for the set!

Top16 versus Necro&dt

Preview: Scrafty, Scizor, Rotom-W, Garchomp, Meowstic, Kangaskhan

Game 1

Picks: Meowstic, Kangaskhan, Scizor, Rotom-W

The second guy from Portugal I have to face in this tournament! To be honest, I played horribly in the first game. I forgot to relock Megaevolution after I cancelled moves and was stuck with a regular Manectric in the back that I couldn’t switch into anything! The game eventually came down to my -2 Atk Garchomp versus his Rotom-H. Trough burn and Protecting, he was able to get my Garchomp down slowly, but steadily. However, I managed to get a critical hit with Rock Slide when I was about 40% health left. I don’t know whether I would’ve won without the crit, as he had only about 15% left before it, but with some double Protecting, he could’ve beaten me.

Game 2

Picks: Rotom-W, Kangaskhan, Scrafty, Garchomp

Seeing how his Scizor didn’t do a lot in the first game, he decided to bring Garchomp over it. This time I was not being stupid and didn’t do any silly mistakes like in game 1. I played it down safely and got to Rotom-W versus Scrafty 1on1 that I won because -2 burned Scrafty only did around 13 HP to my Rotom. GGs!

Top8 versus Coxalsin

I was very surprised to see his name on the bracket instead of Toasdt or Michilele, but both of them fell down to Coxalsin! My idea was to set up a stream for some of the Top8 matches, but unfortunately nobody besides me could stream, so I just streamed my own matches while Massi, Toasdt and DaFlo provided some top-notch commentary, thanks for that again, guys!

Preview: Scizor, Manectric, Aerodactyl, Nidoking, Ludicolo, Conkeldurr

Game 1

Picks: Aerodactyl, Nidoking, Manectric, Scizor

I led off with my Manectric + Salamence and after Draco Meteor KO’d his Nidoking, I secured a nice advantage that I did not lose until the end.

Game 2

Picks: Ludicolo, Aerodactyl, Scizor, Manectric

Game 2 was much more exciting as he managed to one-shot my Rotom-W with Ludicolo’s Energy Ball, something nobody expected. It turned out that it had Expert Belt and 252 SpAtk. I was still in a winning position until his Scizor Feints my Protecting Garchomp to allow -1 Mega Aerodactyl to hit it with Ice Fang! I didn’t believe what I was seeing, but all of a sudden I was looking down to being defeated. However, I predicted well in the following turns and managed to get a good damage roll with Volt Switch on Aerodactyl which sealed the deal in this game. Still a very strong showing from him, looking forward to seeing you at the VGC!

I had reached the semifinals and would play the world champion Arash Ommati, also known as Mean, who hadn't dropped a single game in the entire tournament, yet.

Semifinals versus MEAN.

Preview: Kangaskhan, Amoonguss, Garchomp, Talonflame, Bisharp, Gyarados

Those games were just way too exciting to put them into words and I will upload the battle videos to Youtube very soon, stay tuned for that!

Finals

Preview: Greninja, Noivern, Rotom-W, Kangaskhan, Meowstic, Scizor

Unfortunately, the finals went very bad for me. Despite me making good moves and getting off a lot of damage, I was unable to get a clear winning plan and lost to a mistake in Game 1 when I did not double Protect to stall out his Tailwind. My weakned team was not ready to meet the sheer power of Adamant MegaKangaskhan and suddenly I lost the game from being up 4-2.

Game 2 went similar to the first one, I was pressuring all the time, but at a certain point he was just outspeeding me and able to KO stuff. A crit hurt me and I made yet another mistake in prediction, when I KOd his -2 Choice Band Scizor, instead of leaving it on the field and KO his Kangaskhan first.

All in all, I was very satisfied with how my games went, except for the finals.

Thanks once again for everyone that helped organizing this beautiful tournament and all I can do is invite all of you to play in the next one! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed my team and my battle reports. As I said, I will add the Videos as soon as I uploaded them.