Also just heard from mrtz that sherotcg has dropped out of the tournament.
@mrtz advances to fight @dylan for a Top 8 winners spot! No rush on this match since we have some other games that need to happen.
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Thanks @mrbubbles for the games!
I love @silversnorlax204 's idea of team reports. Short of a full on war story, I figured it could be fun to do a write-up. I also don’t plan on using this team again, but would welcome any discussion.
You can see the team at this link: I don't like eggs
Celebi: This was the starting point of the team. I knew Calm Mind with Baton Pass could be really strong, but also that Celebi is strong enough to take advantage of boosts itself; Giga Drain/Leech Seed recovery is very scary when you’re looking at a +4 Celebi. I think the first set I tried was CM, Psychic, Giga Drain, and either Baton Pass or Leech Seed. I liked it a lot. Leech Seed + Baton Pass is really strong: your opponent wants to swap out when seeded, and Baton Pass lets you gain momentum on the switch. On the occasion your opponent doesn’t switch, +1 Sp. Def with Leech Seed (and usually Leftovers) recovery is typically enough to switch in without taking too much damage from an attack.
Then it became a case of finding good complements to Celebi/Pokemon that could take advantage of receiving boosts. Namely these were Metagross, Moltres, and Kingdra.
Metagross: One of the strongest Pokemon. It’s shortcoming is that its low Sp. Atk means it can’t take advantage of its Psychic typing in this gen. As well, it’s Sp. Def is underwhelming… but if you’re able to get a couple of Calm Mind boosts off then it becomes an absolute menace. I think the final iteration of this team didn’t make the most of this concept; an earlier version the moveset was Thunderpunch, Meteor Mash, Psychic, and either Earthquake/Agility. I gave it enough EVs to outspeed Aerodactyl after an Agility, which was definitely the correct move.
Moltres: I wanted to use Will-o-Wisp in the Gen 2 tournament because most attackers were physical, but it was banned. This gen shows just how crippling Burn can be for physical attackers. Will-o-Wisp is only 75% accurate, but Moltres doesn’t have phenomenal coverage, and being able to catch a burn on a switch in can be almost game-winning. Moltres is strong enough that, if you get rid of your opponent’s threats to it, it can easily sweep after even a +1 boost.
Kingdra: This was the last addition to the team but it honestly felt like the strongest part. I for sure didn’t make the most of it, maybe through lack of familiarity or understanding the meta. Blissey walls it super hard, but other than that there’s really not much that can stop it. I probably could have optimised the EVs. but if you have STAB surf, in the rain, with the mystic water boost, with a calm mind boost… the multipliers start to stack up very quickly. In future gens I might revisit Kingdra.
Zapdos: I really didn’t know much about Gen 3 coming in, but Zapdos is just a great Pokemon. I knew I needed a ton of speed control on my team, as I dumped most of my EVs into bulk; between T-wave on Zapdos, Agility on Metagross, and Swift Swim Kingdra I felt like I had enough, but Zapdos was definitely important. T-bolt and HP Ice are great coverage, and Toxic helped with my Blissey matchup.
Heracross: Honestly this moveset was poorly thought out. But if you’re able to position it well enough that it can get a Swords Dance off with the Salac Berry proc, then it can be very threatening. Really it was a half-baked counter to Blissey (Guts helps here too), but it definitely needed refining.
EVs: I mentioned I put a ton into bulk; this was to help take advantage of Calm Mind boosts/Leech Seed recovery, but also with a pretty small pool of viable Pokemon it felt like relying on winning the speed tie/being unsure who would move first meant I’d have little to no control.
Offensively I typically put enough in to get a nature bump; but would also try and have relevant Sp. Atk/Def stats be multiples of 2 for optimal Calm Mind benefit :galaxy_brain:
Team Shortcomings:
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Weak to Blissey. I added Heracross to help, but I made the mistake of dropping Brick Break for Earthquake, which wasn’t necessary. This definitely cost me. With hindsight having a physical attacker that can threaten big damage immediately would help, This probably would be Metagross but mine was very much designed to do a different job.
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Too many inaccurate moves. I think in game 1 of my match against cosrob I went 6 or 7 consecutive turns without landing a move, when connecting on even a single read would have gained me key momentum. I think the tendency in such a casual tournament is to yolo it, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the payoff for inaccurate moves needs to be worth the risk of missing. A hint for my next team idea is that I will try and turn the RNG in my favour
Looking forward to getting back in the kitchen.
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Awesome write-up! I like that peeps are sharing their thoughts behind the teambuilding process.
This was my exact line of thinking during the last tournament. I saw Thunder suggested as a common move option but always opted for Thunderbolt because I didn’t want to risk a crucial miss. I think unless an inaccurate move single-handedly wins a specific matchup (Hydro Pump OHKO vs Surf 2HKO) or the risk outweighs the reward (Sleep Powder/Lovely Kiss), more accurate moves are gonna be the better choice in a tournament format.
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@vic destroyed me 2-1 on random battles! Here are the matches.
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GG.
Also, I will have OU teams for next round, whoever I play next.
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These were fun to watch! Random battles are my favorite format 
Spoiler
It was very cool to see Porygon2 use Trace to take Persian’s Limber, and cure its own paralysis! One of those things that I would have never thought of.
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You will be facing @SeasidePokemon!
@Dyl will be facing @mossdeep next (winner of this set gets to go directly to Will due to sherotcg’s DQ)
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G1 [Gen 3] OU: mrtonyz vs. NEC90hp6cyl2stroke - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
G2 [Gen 3] OU: mrtonyz vs. NEC90hp6cyl2stroke - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Dylan 2-0 GGs !
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Clean games! Congrats on qualifying for Top 8!
@mrtz you fight @caughtatpoint next.
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Somehow I don’t doubt you on all of the claims! 
Cheers!
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Don’t believe everything you read on the internet 
Good morning everyone! Two weeks in and we’re well into the tournament with even a couple people qualifying for Top 8. Thanks to everyone for scheduling their games in a timely manner so the tournament can progress!
A few matches we’ve got slated.
Winners Side:
@SeasidePokemon vs @vic
@yamahap45 vs @ddk (wait, that’s me) < Top 8 Qualifier
Losers Side:
@amcgl58 vs @lyleberr
@mossdeep vs @Dyl
@mrtz vs @caughtatpoint < Top 8 Qualifier
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Vic and I are working on scheduling our games for this coming weekend. Will post the results as soon as we finish 
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Random game i played. My opponent missed 7 thunders in a row. The odds of that were .002% or something
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Vic and I just finished playing our games. Game one was a nail biter, got swept brutally in game two, and game three was back down to the wire. Ended up 2-1 in my favor.
Game 1: [Gen 3] OU: vice4 vs. SeasidePkmn - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Game 2: [Gen 3] OU: vice4 vs. SeasidePkmn - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Game 3: [Gen 3] OU: vice4 vs. SeasidePkmn - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
I’d like to give a shoutout to my Tyranitar for not missing the final Rock Slide 
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@amcgl58 and I just finished. I won 2-1. I think this might be the correct way to link the matches?
Game 1: [Gen 3] OU: lyleberr vs. amcgl58 - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Game 2:[Gen 3] OU: lyleberr vs. amcgl58 - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Game 3: [Gen 3] OU: lyleberr vs. amcgl58 - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Thank you @amcgl58, they were great games to enjoy!
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Good games, you face @silversnorlax204 next in a top 8 qualifier!
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@vic please note that you aren’t allowed to swap teams between games. The only thing you are allowed to change is your lead Pokemon, everything else remains the same (EVs, IVs, Moves, Held items).
The outcome was a loss so I won’t do anything about it here (besides not counting game 2 as a win), but for all future instances of people swapping teams, I will be counting those games as losses for the player that swapped teams.
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@yamahap45 and I played. I won 2-0. Really fun games!
Game 1: [Gen 3] OU: dondonkun vs. IcePlusFire - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
Game 2: [Gen 3] OU: IcePlusFire vs. dondonkun - Replays - Pokémon Showdown!
I guess since I’ve been congratulating everyone for qualifying for Top 8, I gotta do it for myself too…
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