Japanese Nationals - Various Teams
MAJOR EDIT
Barudoru (@barudoru) has posted the full Japanese Nats team, groups, and final standings. It can be found here. It has everything this page...and more!
Check it out: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/barudoru/20150617
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32 of the best Japanese players participated in the Japanese National Championships this Sunday. On this page I hope to post as many of the Japanese teams as possible. (Many thanks to @SoulSurVGC for tweeting placings!)
1st Place - @SHADEviera
2nd Place - @mor1yama
Top 4
@Barudoru 
@BIDcp
Top 8
@penguin2142 
@_NP55
@syaronalex
@0p0t0p0t0p0t (Paranoia) 
(Mega?)
Other Placings
@Scar3020
@Westwookun
@ennui_noon
@Sarapoke0914
@bicho_5296
@Yuuichi_u1
みょん (Myon)
Seniors
1st Place - Hondo Kouki
2nd Place - Haruki Kondo
Other Placings
Top 8 - @teiruzu19_0053
Top 8 - @Shien25001400
@Srt_lullRay (2-1)
(Thanks to @miyukihimeVGC for the top two senior teams. The other three were from stumbling around twitter.)
Obviously the list is very incomplete. I'll try and update it over the next few days!
Bicho's Mega-Gardevoir Japan Cup Team!
Another team from the Japan Cup this time from @bicho_5296
Bicho has a really great blog that I try to check regularly as it is updated constantly and gives a really great insight into what is happening in Japan.
It can be found here: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/bicho5296/
Bicho's team consisted of:
The team consists of a now, somewhat common core including Mega-Gardevoir, Amoonguss and Heatran. Double Genies round out the team to 5 members. Scar ran these 5 Pokemon with Azumarill as the 6th whilst Ray Rizzo used Scrafty. Bicho also opted for a dark type, Tyranitar!
As per usual here is the weakness chart thanks of teammagma.net
The team covers all the bases well though has quite obvious weaknesses to water and ice.
Individual Pokemon
Tyranitar @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Stream
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Low Kick
- Protect
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
- Energy Ball
- Spore
- Rage Powder
- Protect
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Superpower
Heatran @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Flash Fire
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Overheat
- Protect
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Protect
The team is a little more standard this time around with extremely common Thundurus and Landorus spreads. The Trick Room Mega-Gardevoir as discussed earlier is also very common. That leaves 3 Pokemon; Tyranitar, Amoonguss and Heatran. Tyranitar is interesting in itself as it has seen next to no usage this season and then skyrocketing to 2 in just 3 Japan Cup teams. Unlike Paranoia's ScarTar, Bicho used a Life Orb Tyranitar with a standard moveset. The Amoonguss is very standard except its Grass STAB. Bicho opted to use Energy Ball instead of Giga Drain. Perhaps Bicho had some specific calcs that needed to be hit and the extra damage was necessary. The final thing of note on the team is Safety Goggles on Heatran. This has grown in usage considerably in the past weeks and months. Overheat gives Heatran a way to take down Wide Guarding Aegislashs quickly as well as Amoonguss' hoping to spore them.
The team today was a little more standard but proves how important a good meta-call and consistent plays can be instead of trying to catch your opponent out at every twist and turn!
@BIDcp's 6th Place Japan Cup Team
Today the Japan Cup Team coverage is continued with @BIDcp's Japan Cup!
As seen in an earlier post, BIDcp's team was one of the few that contained the popular Thundurus+LandorusT+Kanga combination. As per usual, full credit goes to @BIDcp. Check out their original post over at their blog here: http://blog.livedoor.jp/bidc/archives/54399613.html
The team is:
As one can see, Volcarona, Milotic and Aegislash complete the three existing members.
Thanks to teammagma.net we can take a look at the teambuilder and see the team has a slight weakness to Rock, Water and Dark. 
For you convenience, the team has been put in PS format.
Individual Pokemon
Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 228 HP / 204 Def / 36 SpA / 4 SpD / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Giga Drain
- Quiver Dance
- Protect
Milotic @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Recover
- Protect
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Grass Knot
- Protect
Landorus-Therian @ Focus Sash
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Protect
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 156 Def / 92 SpA / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Early Bird
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Power-Up Punch
- Protect
Again, I have tried to highlight some interesting points in the team that set it apart from other, potentially similar builds. The first thing of note is the use of Giga Drain on Quiver Dancing Volcarona. This obviously lets Volcarona do a lot of damage to Pokemon that resist its STAB Heatwave. The use of Rocky Helmet is really cool to see as well. Flame Body + Rocky Helmet puts in a lot of work against opposing Kanga and gives Volcarona chances to QD as it opponents will be hesitant to risk, for a example, a fake out. The Milotic set is relatively standard but makes great use of recovery through the move recover and sitrus berry. Scald can burn opponents whilst Icy Wind slows them down. Milotic provides important speed control and the ability to wear opponents down. The next interesting point is the use of offensive Thundurus, or rather the use of Grass Knot. The full set, with grass knot, has been used previously in Japan but hasn’t had as much impact in NA or EU regional’s. Johnson (Zantar) and I both used Life Orb Thundurus in the final of Sydney Regionals though neither with Grass Knot. The LandorusT is Focus Sash'd, a less popular choice this year than earlier seasons. The ability to have LandorusT protect is very valuable in the Bo1 format Japan plays. The final point of interest is the whole Aegislash set. It looks quite regular until Shadow Sneak...sneaks up! This is the second WP Aegislash from the Japan Cup opting for Shadow Sneak over Wide Guard. It will be interesting to see where this goes. The Aegislash also opted for a Relaxed nature to take moves like EQ better and return KO with a boosted Shadow Ball. A final note can be made on the bulk of the Kanga. Icy wind support from Milotic accommodates for the lack of speed.
Feel free to share your opinion in the comments as well as leave/feedback and point out any mistakes made!
3rd Place Japan Cup - Team Summary
Carrying on from the partial Japan cup coverage, tonight we look at the moves and sets used by 3rd Place @0p0t0p0t0p0t / Paranoia's sand team. Featured on @Cybertron's YouTube channel this team is already familiar to many players.
Full credit goes to the Paranoia! Check out their blog here: http://d.hatena.ne.jp/hrdrk/
The team as seen above, is 
Thanks to Team Magma's Teambuilder, it is clear that the team has no overwhelming weaknesses. A partial weakness to ground is apparent though.
Individual Pokemon
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Protect
Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Protect
Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
- Rock Slide
- Assurance
- Ice Punch
- Low Kick
Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
- Dragon Pulse
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Protect
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Sneak
- King's Shield
Some moves have been highlighted to draw your attention too. The first two Pokemon, Amoonguss and Excadrill are quite standard sets. Choice Scarf Tyranitar is used with Assurance as it will be outsped by both spread uses Salamence and Excadrill. Using Assurance is a really nice way to get some extra power from Tyranitar over the more commonly used Crunch. The next thing of note is the choice of Azumarill. Assault Vest Azumarill has always seen more usage in Japan than in the US and EU Metagames and it is proven here yet again. The next key point is the use of Special Mega-Salamence! SpecialMence has seen next to no success this year so it is interesting it is used here. This can also play on the fact people will expect the more common Dragon Dance /EQ/Double-Edge or Return variants. Opponents may believe switching in Landorus or RotomW is a good play, only to take a Hyper Voice or Dragon Pulse. The final point of note is the use of Shadow Sneak in the 3rd slot for Weakness Policy Aegislash. I would be really interested to see if Paranoia found this useful or if another move, namely Wide Guard, would have been better.
Hopefully we can see a more detailed report of the team one day and learn the teambuilding. Standard sets work relatively well for playing around with this team on PS though building more detailed spreads especially for Pokemon like WP Aegislash would be a good idea for using the team more seriously.
Various Teams from Japan Cup 2015 - Incomplete
Japan held their online qualifier for the 2015 Japanese Nationals recently. The top 31 competitors guaranteed their place for Nationals with the last place yet to be announced. Naturally, many great teams were show cased over the weekend. Many still remain secrets (understandably) though some competitors have opted to release anything from the 6 Pokemon they used right up to the movesets and EVs!
21 of the top 31 competitors can be seen below.
I have no idea who orignally tweeted this image so I apologise for more or less stealing it!
Various Teams. The below is an assortment of teams used as per the blogs of the individual players. Their blogs will be linked even if they have no teams.
1. @see_miruo - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/see_miru214/
2. @westwoodkun - http://suraimub.hatenablog.com/entry/2015/05/08/195506
3. @0p0t0p0t0p0t -
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/hrdrk/
4. @masaVAmpharos -
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/masaVampharos/
5. @inospeed - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/inoseno/
6. @BIDcp -
http://blog.livedoor.jp/bidc/
7. @bicho_5296 -
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/bicho5296/
8. @Scar3020 - http://clysis.blog35.fc2.com/
9. @mazuibou1 - 
http://delicious-stick.hatenablog.jp/
10. @barudoru - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/barudoru/
11.ennui_noon - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/ennui_noon/
12. @syaronalex - 
http://syaron467.blog69.fc2.com/
13. @haruchin_kawaii -
14. @yande_rem - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/rem_espeon/
15. @nandeglay - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/nande_glay/
16. @SHADEviera - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/honasho5/
17.SyadoWCS -
18.@Yuuichi_u1 - http://yuuichi-u1.hatenablog.com/
As you can see there are many blank spaces. There are possibly mistakes as well as I cannot, nor attempt to, speak/read Japanese. If you see any mistakes. or have any more info to fill in please feel free to DM over at twitter. Cheers
Teambuilding for Sydney Regionals 2015
Sydney Regionals was on the 18th April, the last weekend of my school holidays. I knew I had plenty of time and wanted to have a really good core I was happy within a week of the tournament. I started thinking about teams I had liked this season and came up with a fairly blank mental whiteboard. I went onto thinking about Megas that I liked playing, or that could do well in Sydney. Kanga, ChariY and MegaMence were the three that stood out to me most. I also spent a lot of time trying to get a good idea what was happening world wide and what was successfull. I ended up finding some teams like
@Knight_VGC's:
A very standard, tailwind Kanga team that has seen success in Japan and other regions.
CharizardY - Weavile teams also caught my eye. Sejun, Gebebo and AngDe had all used different varients to varying success. CharizardY was my most used Mega for 2014 so naturally I grativated towards teams built around it.
After some PS testing and discussion with Luke (@DawgVGC)I ended up ditching both of these team concepts. I knew Breloom was going to be very popular in Sydney and didnt feel like playing mirrors all day. I'm also not a huge fan of Suicune. Despite favouring ChariY, I didnt want to have to avoid rock sliders like Terrakion and LandorusT which I believed would also be very popular.
I also tested Cluster/Sejuns Mega-Blaziken team. I thought this was quite strong but again, something about it felt off.
I was left with another blank sheet.
Around this time Scott Glaza (@NBNostrom) tweeted a few words about the strongest non-mega Pokemon. As I was having troubles deciding on a mega to use, I opted to start with the rest of the team. This lead to a simple core of
I was convinced at this point Kanga was the only way to go. All the other Megas had very tough matchups with certain, common, Pokemon. I also believed Kanga + the core would be very tough to break if I could outplay my opponent.
From here the team could go a lot of different directions. The last 2 slots proved to be difficult to fill as many Pokemon and combinations could work. I tried Breloom and Safety Goggles Aegislash ( A huge check to things like KangaLoom and ClefKang which I thought I would see a lot off).
In the end Luke suggest I try Cresselia - Sylveon. I quickly decided I was going to use TR rather than Icy Wind as the instantous flip of speeds could turn games in my favour quickly. It proved to work wonders in testing.
The final change to the team came again from Luke. Thundurus replaced RotomW as it had a better matchup against threaten CharizardY wide Wide Guard support as well as taunt other Pokemon. Some items were moved around after a lot of testing even to the point where Cresselia and Sylveon had changes made the night before. EV Spreads also changed constantly and, in all honesty, many were stolen. They worked wonders having some really clutch survivals such as in Swiss G8 against Johnson when Kanga took double mach punch from Breloom and Conkeldurr! I was happy with almost all of the EVs though I would've liked to have had a different LandorusT spread. In the end it didn't matter thankfully.
The team was finally complete!
The final stage was of course getting the team in-game. Luke helped out and got me almost all of my Pokemon late Wednesday night and I EV'd them into the early hours of Thursday morning. I played some BattleSpot games on Friday to double check everything and I was ready for Saturday!
Teams played during Sydney Regionals
As stated below the team I brought to Sydney Regionals consisted of:
The team was simple, easy to play and had a lot of high BST Pokemon.
Below are the teams I battled throughout the day as well as a count of the Pokemon I used. Enjoy.
Swiss
Round 1 - Kevin
Round 2 - Jacky
Round 3 - Phil Nguyen (Boomguy)
Round 4 - Stuart
Round 5 - Jericho (Echomor)
Round 6 - Patrick
Round 7 - Jackson
Round 8 - Johnson Ng (Zantar)
Top Cut!
Top 8 - Jackson
Top 4 - Sam Pandelis (Zelda[VGC])
Finals - Johnson Ng (Zantar)
Pokemon I used.
I battled a total of 16 times.
Kangaskhan 16
Cresselia 13
Sylveon 14
Heatran 15
Thundurus 4
Landorus-T 2
