Worlds 2014

[rotomotorz]

After a long year, the time for Worlds is finally upon us! Tomorrow and Sunday, the best of this year's best are going to battle it out for hopefully some of the clutchest plays, unexpected twists, and hax we have ever seen. For those of you interested, Pokemon.com is going to be streaming Worlds on their own website, along with posting match-ups and information once its underway on their main section. Is there anyone you're rooting for? Anything you're hoping to see? I'll be going there in person both days to watch, as well as today during LCQ, so I'm sure that'll be fun. Anyone else going? Anyone going to be watching the stream?

[Jerichi]

This has been a really interesting format and I'm sure that the finals will be worth watching.

[Talon87]

Yay!

I would like to watch, but I can't commit to watching for the entire days' events. I'll have to pick and choose what I watch live, and will likely prioritize the championship battles over the qualifiers. If anyone we know (yourself included!) will be participating in the qualifiers, and if those games are broadcast live, then sure, I'll make a point of trying to tune into those if I can. So like, you mention LCQ -- which I assume means Little Cup Qualifiers? If so, and if that's broadcast, then sure, give us a head's up as to when it's going to be and I'm sure we'd all love to cheer you on. GO ROTO!

I don't have anyone in particular I am cheering for this year. If either Ray Rizzo or Aaron Zheng will be there, as those are the two names I am most familiar with, then I'd like to see how far they get but there are no strong feelings attached to that, just neutral curiosity. I'll be naturally biased towards rooting against anyone who brings Mega Kangaskhan, Tyranitar, or Garchomp since those three are obnoxiously common in VGC 2014 on Showdown and also because (hence why they're common!) they're so good that it tends to automatically give whoever is using them the upper hand, thus making me want to cheer for the underdog and hope that he manages to defeat them. But even this bias will depend on each individual case. Like, there's a difference between Mega Kangaskhan + five Little Cup creatures and Mega Kangaskhan + Team Tokyo Championships.

I'm hoping to see some strategies that I have not seen on the VGC 2014 ladder. Down where I live (sub-1400s), you tend to only ever see the same strategies again and again. These are:

• brute physical force (Mega Kangaskhan, Garchomp, Talonflame, Aegislash, etc. all on one team)
• a mix of brute force and walls/support (e.g. Mega Kangaskhan and Meowstic-M leads, Salamence and Rotom-W leads, etc.)
• rain teams (frequently leading with Politoed and Ludicolo right off the bat, though not always)

Then, less commonly but still common enough that I can report on them:

• Perish Trap teams (Mega Gengar, Gothitelle, Politoed, etc.)
• sun teams (which I guess I technically run myself, even though I'm only using sun as a rain deterrent and as a means to make Charizard super powerful)
• Tailwind teams (characterized by their Aerodactyl leads)
• Amoongus teams (covering many different playstyles but the one thing they all have in common is an Amoongus lead who will do different things, from Rage Powder to Giga Drain to Spore, depending on the situation)
• Trick Room teams

It gets stale seeing the same teams again and again and again. It especially gets stale seeing the same creatures on these teams again and again and again. I realize that part of that is the restriction to using only Kalos Dex Pokémon, but still. You never see a Jumpluff or a Vivillon in VGC 2014. Or at least I don't. I would love to see more diversity, both in strategies and in creatures utilized, and so that's my greatest hope going into this year's Worlds.

When does the roster of VGC-legal creatures get upgraded? Is it at the end of Worlds, so like, by August 18? Or will it not be until the fall?

[rotomotorz]

LCQ stands for Last Chance Qualifier, Which is a single elimination tournament the day before worlds. This is for people who couldn't make it to regional or nats to have a Chance to get into worlds. I didn't make the requirements for entering LCQ so I won't be participating

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by rotomotorz

LCQ stands for Last Chance Qualifier, Which is a single elimination tournament the day before worlds. This is for people who couldn't make it to regional or nats to have a Chance to get into worlds. I didn't make the requirements for entering LCQ so I won't be participating

You didn't make the requirements? Or you made the requirements but didn't get selected? Because I went to look up what those requirements were and they sound pretty easy for someone like yourself who played during the main season:

Much like US Nationals, registration for the Last Chance Qualifier will be done online. If there are any spots left over — or there are players who don’t show up — players will be able to register at the venue. To register online, you are required to have 1 Play! Point tied to your account on Pokemon.com. If you’ve played in any of the following over the course of this season, you should have the necessary points:

• Video Game National Championship
• Video Game Regional Championship
• Premier Challenge
• International Challenge (May or June)
• Sanctioned Video Game Tournament
• League (must have opted in to receive video game points rather than TCG)

If you’re missing the Play! Point you need due to an error, it may not be too late to submit a support ticket to get it added but no guarantees are made. Remember, you are responsible for keeping your Pokémon account up to date throughout the season.

Unless Play! Points are like soccer goals, I would imagine that getting 1 Play! Point would be pretty easy for anyone who placed in the Top 16 at any Regionals event. And didn't you do that at one of them earlier in the year? I could've sworn that you did ... I mean, heck: the Nugget Bridge article's wording doesn't even make it sound like you needed to place that high to get the one point, just that you needed to be in attendance. ("If you’ve played in any of the following over the course of this season, you should have the necessary points.")

I have several more unrelated questions but I don't want them to get lost in this post or the reply to it, so I'll hold off until this one gets answered.

[rotomotorz]

I didn't actually know about the Play Point requirement until very late, so when I actually got one it was already too late I did go to regionals but I think not being there the whole time prevented me from getting one

[Talon87]

Hmm, well that sucks. I can understand why they'd do it -- it keeps the crowd of hopefuls at least somewhat smaller than it might otherwise be, since otherwise you could have literally tens of thousands of D.C. children showing up unannounced wanting to compete in the LCQ -- but it sounds like it's something that caught you by surprise. Is this your first year even attempting to attend Worlds? Or have you done it before and the Play! Point requirement is a brand-new thing? If it's the latter, blegh-meh, they should've done a better job of notifying players. If it's the former, oh :o, well then, I guess "live and learn." ^_^;

Okay, question time!

Are you there at the convention hall right now?

Does the LCQ begin at 1:00pm Eastern? (In about twenty minutes.)

Have any of your friends made it in this year? (LCQ? Reserved seat?)

Who are the players/teams to watch out for this year? Is there someone the community has given the mantle of hero? Is there someone the community has given the mantle of villain?

Did you bring your camera? Will you be taking pictures for us? ;o

Are there any special guests in attendance this year? (Voice actors from the anime, Game Freak staff members, Satoru Iwata, Reginald Fils-Aime, retired champions, other?)

How many people are in attendance this year?

So far, what is your favorite thing about Worlds 2014? Least favorite?

What is the most notable thing you've seen so far?

[rotomotorz]

Now for the better answers and what not and thoughts

Originally Posted by Talon87

Hmm, well that sucks. I can understand why they'd do it -- it keeps the crowd of hopefuls at least somewhat smaller than it might otherwise be, since otherwise you could have literally tens of thousands of D.C. children showing up unannounced wanting to compete in the LCQ -- but it sounds like it's something that caught you by surprise. Is this your first year even attempting to attend Worlds? Or have you done it before and the Play! Point requirement is a brand-new thing? If it's the latter, blegh-meh, they should've done a better job of notifying players. If it's the former, oh :o, well then, I guess "live and learn." ^_^;

It's my first time at Worlds but I don't remember any Play!Point requirements in previous years

Originally Posted by Talon87

Are you there at the convention hall right now?

Was. Will be in a few hours and tomorrow as well.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Does the LCQ begin at 1:00pm Eastern? (In about twenty minutes.)

It started at 2

Originally Posted by Talon87

Have any of your friends made it in this year? (LCQ? Reserved seat?)

Actually two of my friends showed up, I just hadn't noticed them. They both participated in LCQ, though one lost in Round 2 and the other in Round 4, neither of them getting far enough to get into Worlds

Originally Posted by Talon87

Who are the players/teams to watch out for this year? Is there someone the community has given the mantle of hero? Is there someone the community has given the mantle of villain?

Nugget Bridge is probably where you should be going for details on how thee community is going. I have heard that there has been recent controversy over Ray Rizzo and his Aegislash being hacked, but I don't know what's been done about it.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Did you bring your camera? Will you be taking pictures for us? ;o

I did. I'll probably post some of thee better ones here. Pokemon.com also has a lot of nice pictures on their Worlds section on their Twitter and Instagram, under #PlayPokemon, so check those out too.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Are there any special guests in attendance this year? (Voice actors from the anime, Game Freak staff members, Satoru Iwata, Reginald Fils-Aime, retired champions, other?)

I think GameFreak members are going to show up in the closing ceremony and maybe during the main event as well. As for non-Nintendo/GameFreak people, I saw popular Youtubers Marriland and TheJwittz, although I forgot to get autographs =3

Originally Posted by Talon87

How many people are in attendance this year?

A lot

Originally Posted by Talon87

So far, what is your favorite thing about Worlds 2014?

Probably the sheer amount of people going to celebrate Pokemon and Worlds and battling. Along the walkway in front of the main room and in the main room itself there are tons of people sitting down or walking around talking about Pokemon, many of the trading cards, battling with cards, or battling in-game.

Originally Posted by Talon87

Least favorite?

With many people comes a lot of noise, and I personally prefer quiet places. It doesn't bother me much though.

Originally Posted by Talon87

What is the most notable thing you've seen so far?

Other than the cosplayers and notable people, not much. That kid in the Kyogre costume was great, and he met a Magikarp cosplayer later which was pretty funny(I got pictures of that too). There was also this Leavanny cosplayer which you might see a lot of pictures on Twitter and Instagram under #PlayPokemon. There was also Ash Misty and Brock cosplayers, a Red cosplayer, and even N.

I also encountered(and by encountered I mean they approached me) a crew of Japanese TV show crew who were recording...something. The main guy was dressed up as Calem from X and Y, which the crew was around him recording. He came up to me, asked me where I'm from, then exclaimed something in Japanese and moved on. I saw them again and again roaming around the area. Later that day I was battling some kid my age in the main room, as there cameramen(Americans this time xD) came and took a panning shot from under our 3DSes. We were both standing up, and we were already battling, so we didn't really mind. Hey, maybe you'll see me in one of their Worlds videos!

That all said, Worlds is a great place to just hang around and talk to random strangers about Pokemon. Despite not participating, I got some nine or ten serious VGC battlers with total strangers, including the Kyogre cosplayer. It was a great experience, although for people who don't play Pokemon and don't have Pokemon cards or games, I suppose it might get a little stale. But there were peple from all over, playing multiple different games, so chance are no matter what game from whatever generation you were playing, there was somebody else playing with you. Although the vast majority were playing X and Y, so without X or Y you were part of the minority of players.

As for the place itself, I rather enjoyed it. The area was a large oval with a giant Pikachu balloon floating over the center, from which you could look down to see the lower floors. The outside oval was very large, big enough so you could walk despite the large amount of people sitting or walking around. on one of the larger side of the oval there were doors to the main room, which was decked with the usual tables for contestants to sit at, and the large stage where the important matches would be played on supposedly. There was a large area where spectators could stand and watch, along with many tables in the center where people could sit down. The place where people battled was closed off, so you couldn't get too close to see what was going on in DS battles, though card games were a bit easier to spectate. The outside was littered with support pillars with outlets on them, so there were always somewhere to charge my DS when it got low

There are supposed to be a lot more people today and tomorrow since it is the main event, so I'm looking forward to it!

[Talon87]

There isn't any excuse for hacking anymore at this point -- not when it's so easy to get 5Vs legitimately and not when 6Vs aren't too too hard to get -- and so I have to wonder about the allegations. VGC sadly has a history of hacking. There is no way you can convince me that all of those tournament players had legitimate shiny legendaries with HP Ice and good IVs. So since Rizzo is part of that old guard, it's conceivable that he still uses hacked Pokémon even today. But it also seems possible (even probable) that someone started a malicious rumor about Rizzo, meant to discredit him, and that because it's so juicy the fans have been circulating it without questioning it.

I'll say this much: if his Aegislash is shiny and has one or more egg moves, it still wouldn't be impossible for it to be a legit 6V but I too would have my suspicions. If it's just a normal-colored Aegislash, though, then I'd be more inclined to suspect the malicious rumor.

[rotomotorz]

The controversy was supposedly about his Aegislash being in a Dream Ball when he used in in Nats(link). And shiny good IV Legends can be RNGed I think

[Talon87]

I read through some of the pre-event articles on Nugget Bridge yesterday. Some thoughts:

Indiana Representing: I was amazed to discover that a 22-year old Purdue University student named Adib Alam is among those on the North American team. I have always dreamed of representing our state, so learning that my very city already has a representative at Worlds brought with it a mix of envy and joy. I found myself wanting to meet this young man and become PokéBuddies, and then had to laugh at myself as I took one look in the mirror and realized how horrifying it would be for this guy to be approached by a total stranger who wants to become friends because of the Pokemanz. ^^; Anyway, I've definitely found one guy I'll be cheering for in Adib. GO, LAFAYETTE! REPRESENT!

Then imagine how much more surprised I was to discover that our state has a second representative in Jon Hu of Fishers, Indiana. So out of the twenty North Americans who received invites to Worlds, two of them are Hoosiers. (Or, in Adib's case, at least live here during the school year.) That's 10%! We're only 2% of the country yet we have 10% representation at Worlds this year! That's awesome! If Indiana manages to bring home the trophy this year, that would be so very cool. So good luck, Jon! Good luck, Adib!

Small Teams, Big Dreams: I noticed that America, the United Kingdom, and Germany have much larger teams than every other nation. (Even Japan only has five as of the night before the Last Chance Qualifier.) And a number of countries' teams are quite young. This is Australia's second year in attendance and everyone not an Aussie is writing them off as an early exit. This of course activates Root for the Underdog Mode , so I'll probably be cheering for Team Australia a bit. Then there's Ireland, with exactly one representative. I'd like to see her (?, name's Kelly, but this is Ireland so ...) go far. Would be quite the upset if she can defeat someone like Enosh! We'll have to see! South Korea's team is surprisingly small for a nation that is at the center of e-sports, only two people representing them this year. And apparently that's twice what they had last year.

Rain, Rain, Go Away: Apparently it was a rain team that won Nationals in the US, UK, and Japan this year. Nugget Bridge writes that we should expect to see a lot of rain counters or rain counter counters at this year's Worlds. Guess we'll see!

[Talon87]

Just watched Gavin Michaels vs. Arash Omatti in the first round of the tournament. That was pretty intense!

Spoiler: show

Last year's world champion loses, 1-2, to young Gavin Michaels! Yuki was especially happy to see a Rotom-Heat user win. My focus was more on Sableye, as I could not help but to imagine how ecstatic many in the audience must have been to witness the Swagger user losing to the non-Swagger user. Swagger is one of those moves that so many love to hate, so it was pretty significant that the final turn of the match came down to whether Gavin's Salamence would hit itself in the face again or not. The fact that it did not, and that it managed to KO Sableye instead, makes this a match for every Swagger hater out there.

[rotomotorz]

Just walked in to see last years Masters World Champion getting defeated in Round 1. Definitely not something I saw coming. Looking around I see an unnatural high number of Sableye around, as well as some Ligation and a Nidoking . Clearly different Loneliness are still in the race, maybe we'll see a weird Loneliness winning Worlds like last year's Machamp

[Talon87]

Originally Posted by rotomotorz

Just walked in to see last years Masters World Champion getting defeated in Round 1. Definitely not something I saw coming. Looking around I see an unnatural high number of Sableye around, as well as some Ligation and a Nidoking . Clearly different Loneliness are still in the race, maybe we'll see a weird Loneliness winning Worlds like last year's Machamp

Ligation? Loneliness? Oh, cell phone autocorrect ...

[rotomotorz]

Pokemon translates to loneliness? What has this world come to xD

[Jerichi]

I'm glad that there are a few lesser-used VGC 'mon finding their way into higher levels of play. Sableye is a pretty effective VCG 'mon, but like the commentators said, it can be a bit of a deadweight. Rotom-Heat, too, since it's typing is way inferior to Rotom-Wash, though the ability to Overheat is endlessly valuable with some top-tier Fire Weak threats running around.

[Talon87]

Just watched Ray Rizzo vs. Alex Ogloza.

Spoiler: show

Rizzo loses 0-2. The games both involved freeze hax, the first game's Turn 1 freeze being especially disastrous, but Rizzo was up against the wall even without the freezes: he brought a sun team to a water fight, and that's never an ideal match-up. Rizzo's Amoongus seemed to especially be dead weight since Ogloza seemed to understand Rizzo's fanaticism for Spore spam and so he'd just leave his Safety Goggles Zapdos out to absorb so, so many Spores intended for predicted switch-ins.

With Rizzo's Round 1 2 loss, I guess players will not care as much about the Aegislash situation.

Oh, wait. This is Swiss? I thought we were already to single elimination. Well never mind then. :o That changes a lot.

Originally Posted by Jerichi

I'm glad that there are a few lesser-used VGC 'mon finding their way into higher levels of play.

Why? I'm the opposite. I hate seeing the same ten creatures over and over again. "Oh, look: Tyranitar. Oh, look: Mega Kangaskhan. Oh, look: Zapdos." Again and again and again. I don't blame the players but the game itself, and I would be happier if Game Freak could engineer a game which rewarded players for exploring greater diversity.

[rotomotorz]

Yet Alex got some crazy has with two freezes and his sleeping Kanghaskhan dodging two Heat Wves . As for run vs sun, Ray brought a Char y ttar team which I've seen on ladder before. in fact, Russo should've had the advantage by having so muchweather on one team.

[Talon87]

This announcer keeps pronouncing Ferrothorn "fuh-RAW-thorn" and it is driving me crazy. >_< It's FERRA-thorn, dude. Who the fuck says fuh-RAW-thorn? Do you not know the words ferrous or ferric?

[rotomotorz]

Well if you like underused Pokemon Ben Kyriakou brought a Moltres. and Florges and is facing Michael W who brought Rotom-Fan and Nidoqueen

EDIT: Rotom fan just got a double KO lololol

EDIT2: Oh gosh now everybody is cheering on Rotom Fan this is the funniest thing ever.

EDIT3: Forget Floges and Rotom Fan, Pachirishu just wrecked with Follow Me and Super Fang.

[Talon87]

Are these the only five matches which have been held on center stage? Because they're the only five we've gotten to see in the stream so far. (Or at least, the only five I've caught. I had the stream on mute for a half hour there but I don't think I missed any games.)

Battle 1: Gavin Michaels (USA) vs. Arash Omatti (ITA)
Battle 2: Alex Ogloza (USA) vs. Ray Rizzo (USA)
Battle 3: Lee Provost (UK) vs. I forget his name (GER)
Battle 4: Ben Kyriakou (UK) vs. Michael W. (AUS)
Battle 5: Se Jun Park (KOR) vs. Omari Travis (USA)

I'm guessing that we'll get one more match on the big stage and then that will be it, seeing as 1) it looks like it's one center stage match per round of the Swiss tournament and 2) Nugget Bridge was reporting that the Swiss tournament is likely to only feature six rounds. That means we're pretty close to knowing who makes top cut this year! Can you share with us some of the confirmed results, Roto? For example, do we know if Rizzo or Omatti will be making top cut yet? Also, I haven't heard anything about Aaron Zheng yet. How did he do? How about the duo representing Indiana, Adib Alam and Jon Hu?

[rotomotorz]

Nothing is truely confirmed until the last round, and you're eight about only one match per round being shown on the center stage. Obviously people with 5:0 records are more likely to get into top cut. I can't find the matchup for masters so I can't check the win records. The main Round 6 battle to be shown on the center stage is starting so hopefully you'll soon.

[rotomotorz]

Actually just found said matchups, so here are some details

Adib Alam has a 1:5 record where his only win wa this rounds bye
Jon Hu has a 2:3 record so I doubt he'll. get into Top Cut
Ray Russo is 1:4 record so he probably won't be making it in either.
Aaron Zheng. is currenty 3:2 so if he wins this round he might make it.
Currently Ryosuke Kosuge, last year's runner up for world champion, is in the lead with the only 6:0 record. Pretty sure he is guaranteed into Top Cut


EDIT : Just checked Junior Top Cut players, which is five from Japan and three from the US. The best record belongs to a kid named London Swan(lol) from the US, so I plan to cheer him on for Juniors. With a name like that, its like he's representing. the UK as well xD

[rotomotorz]

Spoiler: show

The great satisfaction of taking a good picture on this phone .

[Talon87]

So many people who scored 4-2 and didn't make the cut. It was expected. But it doesn't remove the sting for those who thought they might have made it and didn't.

I love how internationally diverse this year's is. Happy to see so many nations in the top eight slots.

That's a shame for Japan though that after a 6-0 Swiss run Ryousuke lost in the first round of the single elimination bracket. Oh well~. That's the way it goes sometimes.