Wolfe's experience with Virginia's Winter Regional Championship's Metagame

I'll be posting a team analysis after the Winter Regional cycle is over, but for anyone attending a Regional before then or just curious, I thought I'd give some brief general overarching thoughts from my experience finishing 5th in Virginia.

Talonflame and Charizard: I played both Talonflame and Charizard on all of my first three opponents teams. I would expect Charizard to be especially popular in the early rounds due to its simplicity in use due to high Special Attack, and in the late rounds due to experienced players using Charizard to its full potential. I lump Talonflame in here because of the identical typing, but I played Talonflame throughout the tournament in nearly every round. If you plan on entering a tournament, make sure you have major counters to these guys as they will be high in attendance.

Kanghaskhan: I don't actually know how to spell this Pokemon but you should know who I'm talking about. I actually played two Facade Kanghaskhan which really caught me off guard when I burnt them with my Scald Vaporeon. I would recommend having a better counter than Will-O-Wisp in case this trend continues.

Mawile: I can spell this Pokemon thankfully. Mawile wasn't as big a presence as I expected it to be, though that may have been simply because of the people I played. I would expect after Ray's success with Careful Mawile that usage might rise with that particular set, so make sure your Mawile counters KO even a bulky set.

Speed Control: I saw a ridiculous amount of Tailwind Talonflame, as well as some Thunder Wave Gyarados which really could have caused me trouble, and two really well built Trick Room teams used by previous Worlds competitors in the later rounds. I expect functional Trick Room teams to pop up with the strong players despite the fact that Trick Room has been largely written off so far this year. Also make sure you can survive Tailwind (Mega Kangha/Talonflame is a lead I faced a lot) as well as Thunder Wave/Swagger

Who's that Pokemon?: The variety in my opponents Pokemon was really surprising, and even some of the strange choices weren't altogether bad persay. I faced a Focus Sash Aerodactyl, a Nidoking, a Leafeon, a Chesnaught, a Goodra, and several other uncommon Pokemon, eventually losing to a Machamp combined with a very well built sub-standard team. I know Ray didn't know a lot of the Pokemon he was facing, but I recommend playing  through the main story of XY if you have a long car ride or flight somewhere, as you never know what will come up in tournament play.

Overall, I think the VGC 14 Metagame is very diverse and I enjoy playing in it a lot. Whether you will be attending Apex, a Regional, or just playing Battle Spot, I hope these basic tips are helpful in your quest to be the very best.

-Wolfe