Lasen loses week 2! What a surprise, I can never be happy for too long. Anyway, BW was funny as fuck this week if you weren't in my shoes so let's get to dissecting the gen where shit goes up!
Week 2 round-up
Evuelf vs. Alex Walls
vs.
Evuelf is bringing what should be a pretty standard spike stacking HO with the usual suspects of Rocker Dialga, Choice Scarf Genesect, defensive Giratina-O, and bulky Kyogre with an Arceus which at the moment is unknown and is probably E-killer from the team preview so he has a strong physical breaker. Alex Walls has brought a very unique take on Ho-Oh sun having no removal (Defog is dong this gen) and what, on preview, I assume is Taunt Darkrai as the only hazard prevention. Regardless, it's a team that is extremely hard to stop once it gets going as it's threats upon threats with no point of momentum loss. Arceus can be a few different things which means it's E-killer (lol).
The game itself has a standard lead with Evuelf leading Accelgor in an attempt to
up while AW pulls up with a Choice Scarf Darkrai, putting it to sleep and stopping layer 1 from being set. Palkia is the follow up on an unfortunate turn 1 (2?) wake-up, meaning Spikes are now
up and here to stay. Alex Walls surprises everyone
except Steels Kitty by showing Palkia also being Scarfed and Draco-ing to deny the second layer. Knowing the Palkia is now weakened, Evuelf sticks to the game-plan and goes to Dialga to Rocks
UP with Alex expecting that exact move and going into Groudon. Greed gets the best of him, however, as he tries to get Stealth Rock
up for game 2 with Evuelf OHKOing him with LO Draco Meteor. With 2 different hazards present, AW tries to go Ho-Oh on an anticipated Speedtie to either Roost on it or get the KO and go from there;Dialga is effectively a sack for Evuelf at this point, though, so he Thunders IN SUN and he doesn't just land it- he crits for the OHKO, costing Alex Walls 2 mons at this point. Latios is forced to revenge with Draco Meteor, giving Evuelf a super free Genesect U-turn that he can no longer take. Palkia is brought in to take the hit but is now fodder to both the Giratina-O that is about to Shadow Sneak as well as the hazards it'd have to eat if it wants to ever switch back in. Alex values having a sack so he opts to go into Darkrai now to take the Sneak (crits). He puts Gira to sleep and then does a weird dance around with where he sacks Palkia to hazards then goes Arceus and Swords Dances up, disregarding the sleep turns and going for broke... which does pay out as he gets to Shadow Force KO the Gira-O. Unfortunately, Fightceus turns out to be the legendary goat/lamma of choice, so it looks like it's game over... but wait! Ekiller lives the Judgement and is able to 2HKO! Which unfortunately is not quite good to kill the Genesect that is basically at full in the back which manages to revenge kill. With Darkrai and a dream, Alex Walls tries to flinch down the remaining two foes, the Kyogre that has no bulk and the genesect which dies to a breeze at this point. No flinches means that Evuelf walks away with this game.
I'll be honest: this game was not good. Alex Walls had multiple outs for the unfortunate situation of turn 1 wake and he squandered all of them. Turn 5, Earth Plate Groudon is SUPPOSED TO beat this exact Dialga, but rocks seem more important when he can up against Giratina-O just as well-not like the offensive pressure of rocking there is necessary when the best case scenario is Evu predicts EQ and goes Giratina-O. On turn 8, going Palkia instead of sacking Darkrai is odd at best, as Rai no longer beats anything on the opposing team and the unrevealed Arceus beats you in almost any scenario. Sacking the Ho-Oh to a random Thunder land + crit when Latios can OHKO the Dialga is also odd, but I can give him the benefit of the doubt because it IS a 3.175% chance. Preserving Palkia on turn 9 is also a bit odd but sure! it's a sack for later.
Lasen vs. cy
vs.
I have loaded another Deoxys-S HO because I couldn't get a read on the Bandits manager + retain + player combo, so I left it up to Tape to decide for me and he has given me Offense_Teame.exe Meanwhile, cy is loading a good BO of her own, perhaps not as standard as mine but lead Forretress + Mewtwo is always a good combo and the classico of Ogre + Dialga + Gira-O makes yet another appearance! Ghostceus is a possibility for my team as I do not have another spinblocker, while Ekiller/Fightceus are the possibilities for cy.
Game starts and I confidently Taunt, knowing I can shut this mon down, especially so since Red Card makes it impossible for it to stay in vs me... but Mental Herb switches the game on its head as I am now forced to contest with a lot of passive damage every single turn. Fire Punch on turn 2 breaks Sturdy and the Card forces cy's Forre out and her E-killer in... I at least know for a fact it's an E-killer so I can plan accordingly as I taunt on its SD and set rocks to die to Shadow Claw + E-speed. I can't play around so I immediately try to threaten with potential Specs on Kyogre, as Hydro OHKOs from full. A good pivot into Dialga lets her know I am NOT Choice Specs, but my item remains unknown so she has to play around it carefully. Ice Gem Ice Beam does... damage (read: not enough) as Dialga sets Rocks and then switches out as I pussy out of clicking Thunder and opt to Ice Beam the incoming SpD whale. The following turn I click Thunder as Latios is forced in via Roar, allowing me to get a kill with Psyshock: Dialga is chosen as fodder. Mewtwo threatens at this point so I switch out and go back into Kyogre as she CMs and promptly OHKOs the following turn with Psystrike. Scarf Genesect of course forces it out as I U-turn on the incoming Giratina-O and go to my Life Orb Groudon trying to put it in range of some dumb move from the rest of my team; unfortunately, this cannot pan out as Dragon Tail crits and puts Groudon in range of ANYTHING-roll isn't in my favor and now Fightceus is forced to Recover as it lacks Ice Beam and can't kill Giratina-O. Genesect is of course brought in which means I have to either Ice Beam (lose to E-killer) or click U-turn (lose to E-killer). I am able to kill off the Giratina at this point with Fightceus' Stone Edge, but it's too little too late. Mewtwo gets a kill and the best I can do is hope I giga crit the Arceus with Iron Head
The Mental Herb Forretress quite literally won the game on turn 1, but the no Ice Beam on a hard Ho-Oh read didn't help either. I can't sugarcoat my play as amazing, since I could have tried to make some insane read on Mewtwo and gone Genesect but hindsight is always 20-20, isn't it? Cool innovation from Blim's builder as steelskitty later confirmed and def. not my worst loss!
Monai vs. crucify
vs.
Return of Deoxys leads! Monai is rocking a Deoxys-S with Red Card and a Dialga that can be Choice Scarf as well as Rocks LO, with a set-up Arceus of one forme or another and some good ol' Dragons that support him. Dragon resist? Never heard of her. Crucify has loaded what I thought was a sun version of zf Grassceus so I thought it'd be, like, support Arceus + RP Groudon.
Deoxys mirror kinda sort to start the game. Speed outspeeds, obviously, and gets a Spike
up whereas crucify tries to win the 1v1 by Icy Wind into Dark Pulse, but Red Card pulls Groudon in. No item so good chance that Rocks aren't on it. Taunt prevents SR and set-up both at once and it's revealed to be Life Orb as it KOs Deo-S. Monai reveals his Ghostceus early, possibly to Stealth Rock, which crucify tries to answer with Darkrai, which instead eats a Judgment. Dark Void is rather free and crucify decides that Dialga is the one to take it as crucify answers it with his own Ghostceus which should be able to answer any play Monai goes for. Dialga turns out to be Choice Scarf with Sleep Talk, doing some decent damage to Ghostceus with Flamethrower and KOing it with a well timed crit which costs crucify a TON of momentum and of course a strong offensive option at best and his Stealth Rock being set at worst. With two turns of sleep burned already, crucify goes into Groudon which can threaten the OHKO and immediately doubles into Darkrai to catch the bulky Ghostceus coming in. Focus Blasts are exchanged, with neither hitting a target. Crucify wises up and Dark Pulses the Ghostceus, but his Darkrai has to finally go down as it eats a Focus Blast. Deoxys-A is big danger now, with Dark Pulse being seen from a mile away which Monai answers with his asleep Darkrai. He then switches it out of the incoming Superpower, signalling that it's Modest and can't outspeed. Groudon eats the Superpower and an Icy Wind the next turn as it tries to set up, to fall to the Dark Pulse afterwards. Giratina-O answers it with Shadow Sneak after the KO, which crucify goes into his Groudon to answer. With Dragon Claw being telegraphed, Ghosty is switched in and tries to recover, only for Monai to realize that he gets takes more than he heals so he has to Judgment the Don for the kill. Crucify revenges with Scarf IB from Genesect, but it's not invested so Latios can actually switch in after Ghosty drops and threaten it. Monai reveals his wincon at this point: Thunder Wave Latios. He paralyzes the opposing Latios and then takes it out with Draco Meteor. With only Deoxys-A and Genesect left, crucify is forced to try to go for the flinch as win con with Dark Pulse, but he gets paralyzed on Deoxys and then taken out by HP Fire. Choice Scarf Genesect tries to do the BW classic and flinch 3 foes down from effectively full, but Dialga is way too well trained and 2HKOs with Stalk moves. Even if it hadn't, Gira-O can always Shadow Sneak and pray.
I think the early game crit swung the game's pendulum in Monai's favor to a point where crucify couldn't come back, but such is the nature of offense match-ups. Crucify actually played this almost perfectly and if he was a bit luckier he definitely could have walked away with this one.
Trade vs. Thor
vs.
Trade has loaded a very typical rain balance with a lead Tyranitar. He has the Kabu, the SpD Ogre, the Ferrothorn to put pressure with hazards, Latios for a ground immunity and an Arceus that I would bet is Ghostceus on preview to keep hazards up. Thor instead has an odd looking fat balance with Kyogre which could be` Lum/SpD/Choice Scarf all and still work, Tenta to not only beat HOs through T-Spikes but also spin, Skarm + Ferro with one being Rocks and the other Spikes, double phaze Gira-O and... E-killer? Or something unexpected.
Tyranitar lead from Trade while Thor leads Kyogre. From the weather we know that Tyranitar is slower, which doesn't reveal too much. Trade opts to switch out, showing that he's probably not Focus Sash or he's deathly afraid of Scald burn. Scald does fly out into Latios, but no burn and now we know that Thor has loaded SpD Kyogre. A Draco Meteor miss from Trade makes Latios eat a second Scald but no burn means it remains relatively healthy. It also means Thor can pivot into Ferrothorn rather safely, since HP Fire with a Kyogre on the team is unlikely. Ferro answer is Ferro and 2-2 layers go up and ends up Ferrothorn Leech Seeding a Giratina-O which burns it. Thor goes Skarm, Trade gets the third layer
up. Thor sets Stealth Rock with Skarmory so now we're schmoving into real
UP territory while Trade's Ferrothorn Leech Seeds ironphoenix as well. A seemingly weird switch is made from Trade as he goes into Ghostceus, which takes hazards and gets Roared out with Kyogre being forced in. No lefties means Trade is running a more offensive Kyogre set, scaring the Skarm out. Spout is met with Tentacruel which can Rapid Spin as it takes another Water Spout. In order to keep Tentacruel's health low, Tyranitar sets sand on its Protect. Unfortunately, Thor is not dissuaded in the slightest as he sets a layer of TSpikes
UP as Trade doubles into Ferrothorn. A second Toxic Spikes layer is now
UP and the gamestate is looking dire for Trade. Rapid Spin keeps Trade to just 1 layer as he tries to set up again, Thor knowing that the burn will win him the encounter eventually. Tenta protects in front of the 2nd layer, as Ghostceus comes in on the Rapid Spin on the following turn, taking a toxic poison, 2 Spikes, Rocks, Sand damage and a subscription to blimax's YT channel. It sets up the infamous "Rocks for game 2" as Tentacruel kills it off with Scald. Latios revenges with Psyshock, but Giratina-O can come in and threaten to revenge. As an aside, I lose Latios here personally here because I expect it to be DoublePhaze but Trade knows Thor better than I do, apparently, so Tyranitar catches the Shadow Sneak... but also an Aqua Tail which takes it down. Trade goes back into Scarf Ogre, which is met with Thor's SpD Ogre. Scald from Thor kills Trade's Ferrothorn, and now Kabutops is finally out to try and Stone Edge 5 foes, but it misses immediately so it dies to Scald. Trade now tries to save some HP on Latios by Roosting but the Roars that Kyogre pulling Trade's Kyogre means Latios will have to break past 2 Steel-types with Double STAB. Thor eventually reveals Darkceus which does just enough so that Giratina-O can Shadow Sneak for the kill.
Honestly, this game showcases why Thor is always positive in tours: no need to make a hard 50-50 if you can dodge Draco Meteor from Latios in
DPP BW! In all seriousness, Thor brought an interesting team but if he hadn't gotten as lucky, Trade could have had more options to play to his outs, but what can one do. Trade definitely saw an out with Kabutops but it didn't pan out, albeit the TTar set still perplexes me...
Metagame Observations
We finally get to see Ghostceus! E-killer was given way more respect in the builder this week, with balances that have multiple outs being brought and Toxic Spikes having decent presence. Teams looked kind of same-y at times, but I am glad that we're still seeing odd choices such as Double Steel in Ferro+Skarm which I'd never think of building with. Every viable Kyogre has now been brought: random CM, SpD, Scarf AND Choice Specs! 3/8 teams had Genesect on them, showing just how strong this mon is and how close it is to Arceus and Kyogre in splashability. Dedicated Sand still hasn't shown up, unfortunately but it's in the back of every seasoned veteran's mind.
Week 3 predictions
Evuelf
vs. Lasen: I insist on building with Lugia.
crucify vs. Alex Walls (60-40): crucify has shown some promise while Alex hasn't found his footing. I almost want to say crucify loses because I want Dialgas to go 0-10 at least once, but not this week. One of them is gonna win in builder, I can tell you that with certainty.
Thor vs. cy (70-30): I want to apologise to cy in advance who just beat me, but Thor is legit running around like a circque du soleil performer and if there is one dude who knows how to out-weird his foes, it's Thor. If cy loads 0 gimmicks she wins as long as Thor doesn't channel his inner
keys and click Yellow Magic.
Trade vs.
Monai (35-65): Monai good, Trade is a step away from greatness. idk I am really tired at this point of the write-up and I got no smart quips to say, one is 2-0 the other is 0-2.
NEW!
HOT TEAM OF THE WEEK
Adding another segment cause I want to reward out beautiful community. This week's hot team is...
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