Here is my Clefairy:
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 212 Def / 60 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Follow Me
- Protect
Pretty standard Clefairy, it survives Aegislash and LO Bisharp, but I'm pretty sure no one has ever used this specific Clefairy. I love all the parts of EV training where you optimise for specific situations, like having an even number for a Sitrus Berry holder so Super Fang will activate it, having 0 IVs in the Attack of Special attackers to reduce Foul Play damage etc. This Clefairy has two such optimisations, one obvious, one completely contradictory on everything expect this specific Clefairy, not even Clefairys in general. It has a nice Sandstorm/Hail number, but you know what that does, I want to talk about the weird part.
You may have spotted it already, having minimum speed with the move Icy Wind. I will say that, if the Clefairy had Moonblast instead, it should be Bold with 12 Speed EVs for min Speed Scraftys, but because it's Icy Wind, I believe it should have as little speed as possible. That surely sounds as Mental as a Herb, having a speed reducing move while being as slow as possible, but that is not the reason why. Clefairy needs no speed, it is purely there for redirection, every other move has priority, so no speed is necessary. Icy Wind is also only helping the partners, not itself. Even if it had more speed, it couldn't make use of the drops, therefore min Speed is the way to go, for one very specific reason: Ferrothorn. This will be the best way to show it:
- 236+ Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (64 BP) vs. 236 HP / 212+ Def / 12 Speed Eviolite Clefairy: 74-90 (42.2 - 51.4%) -- 2.7% chance to 2HKO
- 236+ Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (40 BP) vs. 236 HP / 212+ Def / 0- Speed Eviolite Clefairy: 48-56 (27.4 - 32%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
Need I say more? A unique optimisation, but this tiny detail can turn a possible 2HKO, into a certain 4HKO, so it absolutely makes sense.
Onto the main reason why I wanted to try out Clefairy, and again, the best way to show this is with a calculation:
- 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 84 HP / 84 SpD Mega Salamence: 194-230 (107.1 - 127%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 84 HP / 84 SpD Mega Salamence with Friend Guard: 145-172 (80.1 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I thought this would catch a lot of people off guard, who would expect their Hyper Voice not to KO? Sadly, I've never been in the situation where I have Mence and Clef against a Garde, but I'm sure the look on their face would be worth it.
Back to the matches:
Quarter Final (Any best of 3 games will only have the Game 1 link so that game results will try to remain hidden, any Game 2s or 3s will be on the channel)
Semi Final
vs Max Waterman
Whoops, forgot to get a picture :S
Team: MKangaskhan - RotomW - Dragonite - Ferrothorn - Nidoqueen - Arcanine
I'm glad such a cool team made it to top cut, and it had a few surprises for me. Turn 1, he expected me to Fake Out the Rotom, but I definitely saw the Nidoqueen as the bigger threat, since it could have been scarfed, and therefore a threat to my Pokes in the back, so I was rewarded with a KO for no cost. Max tried to get his Kang in safely, but was never able to, and I was able to keep all of the momentum and take the game pretty comfortably.
Game 2 was a whole different story. It started off great, with me getting a Nasty Plot in return for his Tailwind. The next turn though, everything starts to go wrong. My +2 LO Hidden Power Ice fails to KO Dragonite. I considered Multiscale, but I still thought I would get the KO, which turned out to be a bad calculation on my part, which, along with a bad switch on my part, causes me to lose my Thundurus. Without it, I don't have enough offensive power to break through his team, and he ends up taking it after I put up as much of a fight as possible, but I didn't really have a chance with what I was left with.
For Game 3, I decide to bring my Ferrothorn as he seems reluctant to bring his Arcanine. This turns out to be a fantastic call, as he brings the same 4 Pokes as Game 2. The only way he could break through it is either to Burn it, or have Flamethrower on his Nidoqueen. When his Nidoqueen came out against it, I had to Protect, just in case, as that was the only way he could win, and if he used Ice Beam, then I got a free attack the next turn, so the Protect ended up winning me the match, since it ended up that Nidoqueen did have Flamethrower. Luckily, I had figured out that he wasn't making any predictions, so most turns I could work out what my safest move would be without really having to make any predictions myself. Good game Max.
vs Jamie Miller
Team: MBlaziken - Thundurus - Gastrodon - Ferrothorn - Arcanine - Bisharp
Of course it's a rematch against Jamie, why wouldn't it be? This ended up being one of the best sets I have played in a long, long time, its's just a shame that the other Semi was being shown on the screen, as our set would have definitely been the more interesting to watch. I will go into a lot of detail in this set, as I enjoyed it a lot.
For Game 1, I figured I would try something a little different, so went with Mence and Clef as Jamie went with Gastro and Arc. The first turn seemed like a free DD for me, so I went for Follow Me and DD. He switched his Thundurus for Gastro and Roars away my Clefairy, which I assume was aimed at Mence, which was a play I didn't consider, even though I knew his Arc had Roar. The next turn is really just me being curious as to how much my neutral GI does to a Thundurus with no bulk (turns out it's 81.9 - 96.7%) and I end up Scalding when I really should have Ice Beamed, as he could have easily switched in Gastro for the boost, but it ends up being Ferrothorn, which isn't too bad, as I get some chip damage off for the turn as Thundurus Protects. We both then try and get a better board position as I switch in Clef for some more Follow Me, as he switches Thundy into Arc and gets a decent amount of damage on Clef with Power Whip. After being curious again if a +0 Frustration can get an Arcanine with no bulk (94.5% - 112%), I go for a HH and a Frustration into the Arc, only to catch the Thundy and halve its hp, which was good information. Since it is a 2HKO, I just make the same play and take a big chunk out of the incoming Arcanine as Ferro gets some good chip on Mence with Gyro Ball. We then switch a Poke each, Clef for Suicune and Arc for Gastro, so a free turn with the Protect. Here I end up giving up on Mence and go for a final GI before it goes down, and thanks to the intimidates, it only does half to Gastro. Suicune takes off what the Sitrus Berry recovers, and Mence goes down to the double target. I bring in Infernape, and purposefully underpredict, as I feel that Jamie will predict me to predict the Protect on Ferro, and I get rewarded with a Gastro Protect and a KO and Ferro. Since Gastro Protected the previous turn, I can safely double into it, since if it switches, Thundy goes down, and if he stays in, which he does, he loses Gastro. The next turn I get the KO and Thundy as thunderbolt fails to KO Suicune, and he is left with an Arc with only two hits left thanks to Life Orb against 3 Pokes, so he can't win and forfeits.
Game 2 I know he will lead with his Bisharp, as I had led with Mence and Clef, so I change it up and lead with Infernape and Suicune as Jamie leads with Bisharp and Thundurus. This is the most horrible lead for both of us. We both know the other's sets, we both know the Thundurus is the fastest, we both know the Infernape has Fake Out, we both know the Bisharp is Banded. This turns the first turn into the most horrible 50/50 straight away: am I going to Fake Out the Thundurus, or Close Combat the Bisharp? Here is what could have happened this turn:
- I Fake Out Thundurus / He goes for Sky Drop = Thundurus doesn't get to move, Bisharp attacks or switches
- I Fake Out Thundurus / He goes for Protect = Thundurus takes no damage, Bisharp gets off an attack or switches
- I Close Combat Bisharp / He goes for Sky Drop = Infernape gets lifted and Bisharp gets of an attack or switches
- I Close Combat Bisharp / He goes for Protect = Bisharp gets KOed or a big chunk gets taken off the switch, no damage taken on my part
There is no way to know for sure which the other person will choose, nothing to base the prediction on, so we both just have to pick and hope. I go for Fake Out and Ice Beam, hoping to stop a Sky Drop and take a big Knock Off. He goes for Sky Drop and switches to Gastrodon expecting a Close Combat and Scald. Therefore, I came out on top with this 50/50, and even end up getting the Freeze on Thundurus. The next turn, I should probably have played the odds and left Thundurus alone, but I was too paranoid of the thaw, and I knew how important Thundurus was for him against me, so I Ice Beamed it for the KO and brought Gastro to 75% with its Sitrus Berry as Infernape is brought to its Sash. Blaziken comes in, and I predict no Protect, so double into it with a Close Combat and Ice Beam, putting it into a 2nd Ice Beam KO range. Blaziken Flare Blitzs Infernape for the KO, and Gastro presumably Ice Beamed the Infernape to punish any switch, but it hits Suicune for negligible damage. Salamence comes in and get the Giga Impact off, KOing Gastro, therefore Suicune just needed to land its Ice Beam, and the game was mine. However......
Blaziken goes for Rock Slide. Suicune flinches....
Because Blaziken sticks around for another turn, it is free to Rock Slide again, and now there is a Banded Bisharp staring me down. Mence can't move, and he is free to KO my Suicune with a Knock Off. This leaves my Thundurus and Mence against his super fast Blaziken and a Bisharp locked into Knock Off. In previous experience, my Thundurus' TBolt has always OHKOed Bisharps, so I feel safest move was using TBolt on the Bish and Frustration on Blaziken. WRONG. He very smartly Protects Blaziken, Bisharp survives the TBolt and responds with a KO on Thundurus. Game Over. Rock Slide sucks.
Game 3 starts off amazingly for me. I lead Infernape and Suicune into his Blaziken and Thundurus, which double Protect as I set up a Tailwind. The next turn I achieve what only Liepard and Whimsicott usually can; I Encore Blaziken into Protect. The better play would probably have been Close Combat, but I went for style, especially since our third match got put on the screen since the other Semi had finished. I also got some chip on the predicted Gastro switch. I then Overheat the Blaziken slot, hoping for the Thundurus to come in, but Arcanine comes in instead and ends up dodging, which really came back to hurt in the long run, and Gastro breaks the sash on Infernape with Ice Beam in case it switches. I then switch Infernape and Ice Beam into the Protect of Gastrodon as he Extremespeeds my Thundurus. Then Jamie gets me. I switch out the Suicune into the Ice Beam of the Gastro, great prediction. My Salamence is built to survive his Ice Beam in Mega form, so it still takes it in regular form, but alas, he gets a revenge Freeze. This just sucks away any potential momentum I could get. I could never switch back into a favourable position, and the game ends up being his. I may have ended up losing, but that was easily the most fun I've had in a set I have had a long time, thanks Jamie.
So I ended up 4th, but since it was an elevated Premier Challenge, I got 24 CP rather than 14, and the difference between 1st and 4th was only 6 CP, so I will settle with this as one of my 6 PCs this season. I plan on improving the 8 I got in Yeovil though. But at the rate I'm going, since I got 8th place on the 13th, 4th place on the 19th, logic dictates that I will end up coming 0th on the 26th ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment