Featured Tournament: The Walkthrough Tournament

By Deinosaur and Jellicent. Art by Quentin.

Hoenn starters in front of a Pokemon Center

Introduction

The Tournaments subforum isn't all about Smogon Premier League and the Official Smogon Tournament. Sometimes, we like to take a step down from our elitist pedestal and remember where we came from. The Walkthrough Tournament gives us this opportunity to relive our childhood dreams of training our Pokémon to beat our rival. This tournament provides a refreshing mix of competitive Pokémon and the casual play that gave us a warm feeling growing up.

The tournament is similar in makeup to an old game played over Google Hangouts in Orange Islands. It was known as the rival challenge, in which two players would play through the game for a set amount of time and then place their teams into Pokémon Online (yes, it was a while ago) to battle. Teams at the beginning of the challenge looked vaguely similar, and games usually came down to the levels of each team's Pokémon; later on, innovation and counterteaming snuck their way into the teambuilding effort. In a metagame with only a select few viable Pokémon, a team that stops those threats is even harder to deal with.

Here is a quick rundown of the rules:

Each round will be placed at a different part of Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire Version. There will be restrictions in level, Pokémon availability, TM availability, and item availability. These will be dependent on where you are in the game. As the rounds go on, more things will obviously open up.

This is going to be the biggest limiting factor to teambuilding, and the main idea of the tournament. The idea is that you are building a team that you could actually have at a certain point in the game.

Only one starter Pokémon may be used on any team.

Just like in the actual game. Your starters are also not allowed to have their Hidden Ability.

About DexNav: It allows almost any Pokémon with its Hidden Ability, except when I specify "no HA" next to the Pokémon's name. Egg moves are banned from the tournament (even if they are available with DexNav).

This just keeps certain Pokémon from becoming overpowered and keeps the tournament plausible in terms of what you could potentially use in the game.

Every level limit applies to the level of the Pokémon in the teambuilder and to the list of level-up moves available.

This keeps Pokémon from using overpowered level-up moves in the beginning rounds of the tournament. You're going to see a lot of Water Gun, Confusion, and Wing Attack.

Coverage From Round 1

Round 1 saw the use of the overpowered Flying-types at the beginning of the game. Taillow, Wingull, and Beautifly all get access to a STAB Flying-type move, to which there are few resistances. Taillow was the top contender, with fantastic Speed, the strongest Wing Attack, and priority in STAB Quick Attack. Wingull's STAB attacks had pretty strong neutral coverage, and it Speed tied with Taillow, making it one of the best Pokémon available. Beautifly also stacked up fairly well against a lot of Pokémon in the early game, including Makuhita and Lombre.

Starter match ups played a role, but were not excessively important. Oran Berry was the most used item, since this metagame reflected a portion of the Little Cup metagame. The ability to restore health was very important, and early on, Oran Berry was the best way to do that.

Overall, resistances were not as important as all-out attacking power. Much like in the game, offense was the best defense in this metagame.

Round 1 Replays:
hard vs jacob
Jaiho vs Tricking
Yogiras vs DeathxShinigami
Bull of Heaven vs potato14798
Ruppy vs Shrug
srk1214 vs Frizy
blinkie vs NotAGymLdr
shartruce2 vs panamaxis
Lord Ninjask vs s_aman
Alf' vs MadBull

Coverage From Round 2

Round 2 saw the introduction of entry hazards, thanks to Golem, Skarmory, and Roserade. Berry Juice replaced Oran Berry as the item of choice. Items did become more varied, however, with a singular Expert Belt now available. Furthermore, there were several type-boosting items such as Silk Scarf and Sea Incense to choose from.

Bulkier teams were now more viable, thanks to entry hazards, Intimidate users (Gyarados and Mawile), and sturdier Pokémon such as Skarmory and Hariyama becoming available. Despite this, offense was still going strong. Swellow, Azumarill, Golem, Breloom, Machamp, and Crobat, to name a few, allowed for constant pressure to be applied to the opponent. Resistances played a much larger role this time around, and the increased bulk of the metagame allowed for more clever plays and switches.

Round 2 Replays:
Lord Alphose vs Jellicent
Kiyo vs blinkie
hard vs VarajVora

Coverage From Round 3

Items hadn't changed much from Round 2, but the Pokémon and move availability had greatly improved. Golem continued to be extremely popular thanks to its good Defense, access to Stealth Rock, and fantastic STAB moves. Tentacruel was also quite common, as it was the best user of Rapid Spin available and could set up Toxic Spikes.

Offense gained quite a few new notable Pokémon, including Gardevoir, Magnezone, Sceptile, and Rain Dance Ludicolo. Those Poké combined with earlier threats such as Gyarados, Hariyama, Breloom, Swellow, and Azumarill, solidified bulky offense as the playstyle of choice for the round.

Round 3 Replays:
hard vs Jellicent
Bull of Heaven vs Jaiho
Alf' vs Killua kun
blinkie vs Frizy

Coverage From Round 4

The biggest change this round definitely came from the addition of a dozen Megas. Other than the Mega Stones, several good competitive items were added to the players' arsenal. Eviolite and Rocky Helmet made their debut, along with some useful TMs. On the defensive side, there was Rest, Roost, and Will-o-Wisp; offensively, Shadow Ball, Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam, and Hidden Power all became available, heavily boosting the movepools of special sweepers.

As far as Pokemon go, the Lati twins had hit the scene with Megas in tow. Alakazamite proved to be the most popular choice for Mega Stones, however. Golem continued its reign as the go-to Stealth Rock setter for almost every team. Ninetails was now available, and, along with the addition of weather stones, meant weather would be an addition playstyle to watch out for.

Round 4 Replays:
panamaxis vs zdrup15
Frizy vs Heysup

Conclusion

Innovation has proven to be a necessity for this tournament thus far, as teams are forced to change each round, and the restricted availability leads to unconventional movesets. We look forward to seeing how the metagame will evolve as we make our way to the semi-finals and which competitor will prove themselves to be most adept at adapting.

« Previous Article

Home