It's Not My Fault I Can't Cut Regionals: 2nd place Worlds Team

 Hello I am Jeudy Azzarelli and as many of you may know I got second place at the 2014 VG world tournament. I feel most concepts/spreads reasoning are pretty self explanatory, so I’ll post the team with explanations on the spread and a little bit of thought on them.

The Team

Charizard @ Charizardite Y

Ability: Blaze

EVs: 92 HP / 108 Def / 52 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

- Heat Wave

- Overheat

- Solar Beam

- Protect

• Out speed Modest 252 Hydreigon
• Survive Jolly Garchomp Rock Slide
• Survive Jolly Kanga Return

The team originally started with Kangaskhan/Zardy and I felt there would be a lot of Kangaskhan hate at worlds. I felt the world's call to check Kangaskhan would be Mawile, Lucario, and Aegislash and it just so happen that Charizard-Y countered all 3 of these Pokemon. I also had a strong emphasis on spread damage when I made this team so you may be confused as to why I would want to outspeed Hydreigon since Chary really does nothing to it, however a combo of a Rock Slide + Overheat was enough to take out Hydreigon and Rotom-h formes who generally stayed in on chary. Chip damage like this is what made me beat the two florges I played at worlds where overheat alone would not ohko without the help of chip damage. Chary was definitely the MVP at worlds.

Garchomp @ Life Orb

Ability: Rough Skin

EVs: 12 HP / 204 Atk / 4 Def / 36 SpD / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Dragon Claw

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- Protect

• Survives Timid Mega-Manetric HPice
• OHKO 4 HP Garchomp 

After having Charizard and being set on using spread moves Garchomp quickly became a mainstay. CharChomp was the first team I used when battlespot doubles first came out to play around players who would sit behind follow me users like Togekiss. While the concept is similar here I felt spread moves helped ease predictions in high pressure situations and chip damage is incredibly good when setting up opposing Pokemon in KO range. I used Life orb because I wanted to actually hit hard while being able to change moves which CB did not allow. Overall Chomp performed really well and its ability to put things in range for me to finish off with other Pokemon was on par with my next Pokemon

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Sand Stream

EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 228 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Crunch

- Rock Slide

- Ice Punch

- Stone Edge 

• Under speed Scarf Politoed

I wanted another Pokemon that supported Charizard while keeping the idea of spread moves. Fast Rock Slide is really stupid allowing me to potentially score a flinch which can make a close game a lopsided game. Combined with Garchomp being able to potentially stop an opponent's Pokemon from attacking can be crucial. Flinch chance aside Ttar still has a monstrous base attack allowing a spread move like rockslide to hit relatively hard. Stone edge was when I really wanted to ohko a rock weak mon or just hit hard, and ice punch was for a dragon that could give me the most trouble: Garchomp. For the Ice Punch versus Ice Beam I preferred Ice Punch since I do not waste EVs in special attack. I was really lucky to get my hands on an event Tyranitar, and this Pokemon surpassed my expectations surprising foes and overall hitting hard. 

Salamence @ Haban Berry

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 52 HP / 4 Def / 84 SpA / 116 SpD / 252 Spe

Modest Nature

- Draco Meteor

- Fire Blast

- Rock Tomb

- Protect

• Out speed Modest 252 Speed Hydreigon
• Survives Timid Mega Mane HP Ice
• Survives Timid Lorb Hydreigon Draco Meteor
• 15/16 chance to Ohko 4hp Mega Lucario

Haban Mence was something I was playing around with a lot but I could never find the right speed tier. I went from 126 to 133 to 141 and eventually Simon recommended to just go faster than modest Hydreigon and not worry about surviving Specs Meteor. Rock tomb was a solid tech that allowed me to have some form of speed control while staying on the offensive. Draco and Fire Blast is self explanatory and I chose protect since I felt it was more needed than Roost. Overall I am happy I made the switch back to Salamence a few days before Worlds as it really helped in a lot of match ups and intimidate recycling was really great to increase my Pokemon longevity.

Rotom-Mow @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 76 SpA / 92 SpD / 4 Spe

Bold Nature

- Thunderbolt

- Leaf Storm

- Will-O-Wisp

- Protect

• Survive -1 CB Talonflame
• Survive Timid Mega Manectric Overheat
• Many physical attackers like Garchomp become 5-6hkos after W-O-W 
• Ohko 4hp Talonflame
• Leafstorm hits Azumarill for enough not allow Sitrus+Belly Drum

The standout Pokemon on team preview and the only Pokemon on my team to not out speed Modest Hydreigon; Rotom-C provided a strong pivot. Originally a Zapdos but after the NuggetBridge Invitational I realized the team was really weak to the Baz core of M-Tar/Amoonguss/Raichu/Azumarill. I used Safety Goggles Rotom-W, but it was not able to fill the bulky pivot role Zapdos left behind and I eventually turned to this overlooked younger brother of the Rotom formes. Capable of basically having a Safety Goggles and a Sitrus berry was a really good asset and I felt it made my team tighter overall. I also made it physically bulky since I was not afraid of the biggest special threat, Hydreigon. If the NuggetBridge Invitational did not happen before Worlds, and Angel and Simon both did not lose to Baz showing a big weakness in these types of teams, I would not be writing this second place report. I am very happy with Rotom-C and I feel players should look at it more.

Lucario @ Lucarionite

Ability: Inner Focus

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Close Combat

- Bullet Punch

- Follow Me

- Protect

• 15/16 chance to Ohko 4hp Gardevoir in mega form
• Max speed to not get out run by something dumb like Jolly Talonflame speed creeping Adamant Talonflame
• Boring

While Charizard definitely influenced my decision to use Garchomp and Tyranitar, I also stressed chip damage to put things in KO range so Lucario can come in late game and rack up easy KOs. When something like rock slide/Heat Wave chip + CC can KO even bulky Pokemon like Garchomp, Mega Luke had to be on the team. Originally Hammer arm Kanghaskan (with enough speed to out speed Modest Hydreigon!) occupied this slot but I really disliked Kangaskhan going into Worlds as it was too slow to quickly clear up the board. I also did not like bringing Kangaskhan to a Kangaskhan mirror so Lucario ended up filling the same role as Kangaskhan while being faster. I felt my team was also really weak to scarf Gardevoir so being able to KO it before it moved was a great asset (too bad it failed to do that when I needed it the most). Follow me provided great support in mega and non mega form and in my opinion is Lucario's best filler move allowing me to sack Lucario if needed for the team. In the actual event Lucario performed the weakest, but it could also be because of the match ups and the fact that I did not run into a single Kangaskhan.

Conclusion

I really liked this team and it was a big departure from Kangaskhan and friends but it got me top cut, and eventually second place. I am sorry Sejun; I did not put up a better fight in the finals, and hopefully I can redeem myself next year. I had a lot of fun in D.C and cannot wait to see everyone again. Even though I have my worlds invite I am also looking forward to giving each tournament I go to my all and hopefully I will be able to prove I am worthy of runner up at Worlds.

I would like the give a special shout out to:

• Simon (@yopyoptds or whatever it is now) for helping me with these EV spreads. Without him I would be running very awful spreads. Also 4chan hated the Inori nendo. Get better taste!
•  Jun Tumaneng (@Cyphervgc) for being someone I can talk to and a total bro at Worlds. You went out of your way to get me water/food in between rounds at worlds. I really appreciate what you have done
• Chris Danzo (Shitty user named Lunarr on PS!)  who helped on a lot of major decisions I made for worlds, and someone I can always bounce ideas off of. Also for keeping me hyped throughout Worlds. If SAO is still your avatar we aren't talking on Skype anymore.
• Angel Miranda (@CT_MitokoMikasa) for being an elitist. Though I really looked up to your opinion and they helped with some decisions on my team.
• Alexander Kuhn (@hibikivgc) for being a gullible foreigner, but you were one of the high points of worlds. It was great being able to see you in real life and finding out you weren’t a fat neckbeard.
•   Zach (@Braverius) for passing some ideas that pretty much made me make Worlds in the first place. Retarded Bulky Talonflame got me to top 8 of U.S nats so thank you!
•   Everyone in Imoutos and Bulls Skype call. All of you guys helped me immensely this year, and I wouldn’t be here without you.
• @TonyKuso69 @ShadeViera @UzuMackey @Marvicafii @Jimon_Togekiss for being really cool in real life, and it was nice to meet some of the Japanese playerbase!