[TOURNAMENT] Amethyst 0mega Presents: Little Hail Cup 2017!

[Umbreon9004]

(Dec 18, 2017, 10:43 PM)0kamii Wrote: EST

i live in manitoba, does that apply to EST? and if not, then what time is it that i should check in

[stephenWITNESS]

Looking forward to it! good luck everyone

[stephenWITNESS]

@Umbreon9004 Manitoba is 1 hour behind est. For you check in will start at 12:00 and the tournament will start at 13:00

[PerchPond]

Gonna be fun to see what everyone chose for their team

[PerchPond]

@Umbreon9004 We face each other in the first round, head on over to the Discord Channel cause we starting now

[stephenWITNESS]

@Umbreon9004 make sure to join our discord so you can keep in touch during the tournament. Here's a link https://discord.gg/VfBGBU

[PerchPond]

Ping @Umbreon9004

[Umbreon9004]

(Dec 19, 2017, 12:33 PM)PerchPond Wrote: Ping @Umbreon9004

whats ping mean? like contact? im not really sure how this battling thing is going to work so id need that explained for the tournament. you know since ive never done this before

[0kamii]

Thank you to everyone that made the first ever PokémonForever Little Hail Cup as fun a tournament as it was. Though we had fewer participants than expected, matches were intense, and everyone involved was thoroughly entertained. Congratulations to our winner, @PerchPond! I will send you the details on your 1st place prize in a few days time.

In the meantime, I'd like to showcase my team. Just for anyone that cares to join us in the excitement next year!

 

   

 

Building a team in such a limited format was as challenging as it was fun. It really relied on the litte details of the team. I tried to impliment a fast mode and a Trick Room mode, but I found myself mostly relying on the fast mode for the majority of battles. My Sandshrew was definitely team leader, but Spheal was probably MVP. Also, I absolutely adore Spheal's Z-move animation. She just looks so DETERMINED! It's adorable. Overall, I would probably switch out Solosis for someone else, as it turned out to be too frail, especially with Vullaby running around. I would also change Spheal for Seel, which our champ showed could be used to great effect.

 

Sandshew-Alola @ Chople Berry
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
- Rock Slide

 

Pretty self explanatory, I think. Chople Berry to weaken opposing Alolan Sandshrews' Brick Break, Rock Slide for super-effective spread damage plus flinch chance, Iron Head for super-effective STAB, and Jolly nature to outspeed opposing Sandshrew which I anticipated to be running an Adamant nature.

 

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp. Def
IVs: 0 Atk
Calm Nature
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Tailwind
- Taunt

 

The main utility mon of the team, Vullaby's job was to sponge hits from opposing Solosis and to provide Taunt and Tailwind support as needed. Eviolite was basically the only item to give it, and the maxed Def EVs were for any rouge physical Ice-Type attacks like Icicle Crash and Ice Shard. Taunt also prevent Trick Room, which came in handy.

 

Vulpix-Alola @ Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spd
IVs: 30 Sp. Atk, 30 Spd
Timid Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power - Fire

 

I chose Alolan Vulpix as my one and only Hail setter mainly because it was the only one with access to Aurora Veil. While it didn't come into play as much as I had hoped, the few times I used it, it was quite useful. Moonblast was a secret weapon for opposing Vullaby, but the damage output wasn't nearly as much as I'd hoped. Hidden Power - Fire I think is pretty self explanatory. It basically hits the entire format for super-effective damage, especially Alolan Sandshrew, the premier attacker. Focus Sash was for longevity, since Vulpix is lacking natural bulk.

 

Spheal @ Waterium Z
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp. Atk
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Brine
- Super Fang
- Surf

 

Spheal was MVP, that's for sure. She snagged a lot of OHKOs with her Z-Surf. Her Thick Fat ability was also meant to take hits from opposing mons running HP - Fire. Super Fang was there for utility purposes, though I only had the opportunity to use it once. Brine was good for dealing massive damage once below half health, which paired nicely with Super Fang. Obviously, Surf was virtually useless outside of using my Z-move, but frankly that one turn of big damage was all I really needed.

 

Bergmite @ Iapapa
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def
IVs: 0 Spd
Brave Nature
- Recover
- Stone Edge
- Curse
- Gyro Ball

 

My Spheal may have been MVP, but Bergmite was probably my favorite team member. I really like Avalugg, and getting the chance to use its pre-evolution was a lot of fun. Gyro Ball hit like a truck against most of the format thanks to its Steel typing. Bergmite is also one of the slowest mons in the format, so it works really well under Trick Room with super-effective Stone Edge. In hindsight, I'd probably replace Curse, as I never used it. But I'm not sure with what I'd replace it. Sturdy was to survive rouge critical hits and HP - Fire, Fighting, Steel, anything of the sort.

 

Solosis @ Expert Belt
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Sp. Atk
IVs: 30 HP, 30 Sp. Atk, 30 Sp. Def, 0 Spd
Sassy Nature
- Recover
- Psychic
- Hidden Power - Fighting
- Trick Room

 

Admittedly, Solosis is probably where my team flopped the hardest. Boasting a huge 105 base Sp. Atk for a first form evolution, plus getting Trick Room, it seemed like the natural choice. Well, everyone else seemed to realize it too and came packing Vullaby with Knock Off. Solosis's defenses are unbearably frail, and it rarely survived a Knock Off. Solosis was also my original Eviolite user, but I opted against it at the last minute when I EV trained Vullaby and noticed how much it could tank with and Eviolite. Hidden Power - Fighting was Solosis best coverage move against the format, and Psychic was its strongest STAB attack. I should've opted for Protect over Recover, and probably a 50% berry over the Expert Belt. Next time, I'm not sure I'll even opt to bring a Trick Room user at all. I honestly never got the chance to use it effectively.

Well, that was my team for the Little Hail Cup. I look forward to seeing the thought processes of my opponents, especially @stephenWITNESS. Hope you guys are seeing this!

Thanks so much for reading, everyone! Battle onwards, friends!

- 0kamii

[PerchPond]

It turned out I had a somewhat different read on the format than my opponents, ending up bringing mostly different sets and some unique Pokémon to the tournament. Here's my winning team:



Vullaby @ Eviolite
Overcoat
Modest nature
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
- Tailwind
- Protect

I started out by looking through all available Pokémon and their move sets, primarily looking for if anyone gets a Fire-move, since this Cup was packed with Ice-, Grass- and Bug-types. I found that Vullaby was the only one with a Fire-move - Heat Wave - so I built a team around that. It worked well and chunked most of the format with just two attacking moves. Eviolite allows it to live pretty much any Ice- move from faster threats like Sandshrew and Vulpix even without additional investment, and hit back with Heat Wave.



Seel @ Mago Berry
Ice Body
Adamant nature
- Fake Out
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Drill Run

Seel covers Vullaby's Ice-weakness and can switch in to most attacks. Fake Out + Aqua Jet was really really strong and I brought Seel to all my matches. Fake Out was gold against Aurora Veil, Tailwind and Trick Room and the overall access to priority helped against Focus Sash, Sturdy and Speed disadvantages.



Alolan Sandshrew @ Focus Sash
Slush Rush
Jolly nature
- Ice Punch
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
- Protect

I knew right away that Sandshrew was gonna be the best Pokémon in the format due to its Steel-typing, speed under Hail and good coverage. I built the set to win mirror match-ups aswell as answer Aurora Veil and Ice-types with Hidden Power Fire.



Alolan Vulpix @ Light Clay
Snow Warning
Timid nature
- Freeze Dry
- Icy Wind
- Moon Blast
- Aurora Veil

I chose Vulpix as my Hail-setter beacause it seemed more consistent than the other two: Amaura and Snover are too slow in general but too fast for Trick Room and the number of weaknesses they have are too hard to build around, while also lacking the massive utility Vulpix brings. Freeze Dry hits hard with STAB aswell as answering Seel and Shellder primarily. Icy Wind is speed control and Aurora Veil is Vulpix main charm.



Solosis @ Psychium-Z
Overcoat
Relaxed nature
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Solosis has the highest base special attack in the format and it gets Trick Room. I built my team to have both a Tailwind and a Trick Room option for flexibility. Psychium-Z coming off of Solosis STAB Psychic deals insane damage even through Aurora Veil, while negating Knock Offs Item-damage and giving Solosis a strong presence even when Taunted.



Pineco @ Assault Vest
Overcoat
Brave nature
- Bug Bite
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide
- Double Edge

Pineco was the last Pokémon to get on the team. It gets good coverage, okay bulk and hits rather hard under Trick Room. Bug Bite hits Smoochum and Solosis for good damage, Gyro Ball hits Ice-types in general while Rock Slide hits hard, is spread damage and has a high flinch chance under Trick Room.

What I ended up facing was somewhat surprizing, mostly the Vullaby sets going super bulky without Heat Wave, which I didn't even consider, bringing my own full special attacking Vullaby. Some things I prepared for like Shell Smash Shellder and Belly Drum Spheal didnt make an appearence, while other stuff I hadn't considered did. It was fun overall even though we were quite few participants.

Cheers