PKMNph, which was more commonly known as Pokemon Philippines, started as a Yahoo!Group last April 2, 2006. It was born so that Filipino Pokemon fans have a special place in the web to interact and share their thoughts with each other. On May 5, 2006, a few days before Pokemonâs anime comeback here in the Philippines, the first PKMNph website was born. The PKMNph website housed the PKMNph forum, originally hosted by Proboards. The forums had become very successful and was then moved to http://forums.pkmnph.com./ From a small group of about 10 members, the forums has since continued to grow, a proof that PKMNph has become a Filipino Pokemon fan portal. Like any other group, PKMNph had, and continues to have, hard times, and the most challenging of these happened last January 14, 2007 when PKMNphâs server broke down. Also, our time with our old host has expired and we were forced to move to another one due to the refusal of our host in Luxembourg to renew our domain. These were some of the hardest times for PKMNph since almost everything needed to start back from scratch. We had a temporary stay at Forumer, but eventually moved to a new server hosted by HostingPH, a Philippine company, to seek independence on free website offers. It took both a lot of effort to put PKMNph back to how it is today, and it still continues to improve as time goes by. Now known as PKMN-ph, the site has a new domain, new look and is under new management. It is still here despite the great downs because there are Filipino Pokemon fans that are willing to spend their time and effort to keep the Pokemon flame alive here in the Philippines. This is PKMN-ph, continuing our service for the people, uniting Filipino Pokemon fans around the world.
To celebrate the greatest comeback in the history of mankind and our 10th year anniversary, we would like to announce the opening of the annual PKMN-ph Ranger Hunt!
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CHATTING WITH DITTO: ARE POKEMON AVAILABLE IN THE PHILIPPINES REGION?
(photo grabbed from RacieB:Â http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ditto-164562223)
âI think Pokemon is still hot here in the Philippines, just like meâ - Mark Anthony Nasuli
Ok, that was bad but I believe that it is still popular among Filipinos. To prove that I ask a certain âsomeoneâ to share his thoughts on this matter
When did you learn about Pokemon?
I learned about it when GMA7 showed the first series here in the Philippines.
When did you start playing Pokemon?
I played around the time when GSC was released. I was just borrowing my friendâs GameBoy back then since I do not own one. It was funny since I consumed his most treasured Sacred Ash during the Elite Four run
Are you a VGC or TCG player? Competitive or casual? Can you tell a short story of your experience?
I am a competitive VGC player ever since December 2013 when I experienced being beaten by the top brass of community. The experience did not stop me from learning though but rather pushed me to the edge and continue to improve. I got my first top cut finish in the first live tournament that I joined last April 2014. I remember being a zombie since I only got an hour of sleep haha! Although I can still participate in tournaments, I am trying to focus on organizing the events as the previous organizer is busy.
Do you think Pokemon, as a franchise, is as popular as it was back then?
Honestly, no. It can be attributed to many different factors. One factor could be that the show is available only to select audience (those with cable connection) or via online means. Most of the fans are either those who grew up with Pokemon or relatives/friends of the original fans. There are only few (at least here in my neighboorhood) that knows about Pokemon because they have seen it in their TV sets. For me, the best selling point of Pokemon is its âcutenessâ when it comes to design. It was meant and it still is meant for kids⊠and kids at heart
What do you think will help make Pokemon more popular?
I still believe that the best way to convince other people that a certain franchise is good is by sharing your personal experience with it in a very exciting and lively tone which is best achieved by talking about it directly. At least, our local TV station is airing Pokemon again. Facebook pages can also help in promoting the community here by posting regular news about it. Regular events could also pass, something like a large âPokemon Streetpass Eventâ with TCG and VGC tournaments as major events. I can go on but I believe I have said the best methods to keep the fire lit in our country.
Any last thoughts?
Go out with your 3DS/cards/plushies/cosplay gear etc. and spread your love for Pokemon! :)
(PS: The author of this article likes to talk with himself)
IF BONDS WERE REAL, I KNOW IT'S THIS- POKEMON X PHILIPPINES X BONDS
October of 1999, that fated Friday evening was anticipated by children.Since then, the world of children began to change forever here in the Philippines. GMA-7 aired an anime that showed friendship, passion and adventure to children of today. The challenge was to âgotta catch âem allâ, catchy isnât it?
A rich kidâs game or a lame childrenâs game for some. âItâs bigger than thatâ-I tell them. Memories of just like how Pikachu and Ash first met. In the same way having found rivals way better than us. Getting help from unexpected persons and forge unbreakable bonds just like how Ash and Pikachu started.
We already established teams, groups and small communities I never thought of way back 10 years ago or more. We established a solid ground, a foundation not just in Manila or Luzon. This is the beginning of something great, right?
  August 2014 at the Mall of Asia by the Bay area was the first competition I coordinated with Ray Powao. Since there was no formal communication with the MoA management, Ray was summoned to the administration office and we were educated on the process of getting a permit to conduct future events. Ray and I were planning upcoming events and we decided to coordinate with the TCG Leaders. After a few weeks we were accommodated to hold our events at Courtside in Robinsons Galeria thus our Nomadic existence came to an end.
   December 2014, a month after the ORAS na success, organizers of AMEX Fair invited us to have a 2-day competition. Since it was the Christmas season the turnout was not as many as the previous events yet the fun was all the same.
    Last February 2015, with the help of Leandro Carandang, Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Game Lounge located in MetroWalk opened its doors to us. Making it as if Ortigas is Saffron City having 2 Gyms for players to enjoy.
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Popularity rose even more with the advent of the video games which started in the Game Boy console with the Red, Green, and Blue versions followed by a remake with the Yellow version (first generation). Much loved features of the games include battling and trading on top of following the main storyline. Trading Card Game together with its collection is also widespread at this time.
From Generation I to VI, many changes have already been made and seen in the games which includes the graphics, gameplay, storyline, activities to be done, and many more. Anime series also seem to be made for younger children viewing with untoward effects for fans who have grown up and got tired of the slow progressing and repetitive storyline.
I recently decided to take a look at the statistics behind Pokemon as a game and its resilience in the Philippines, primarily outside of but not excluding the VGC community. However, I only had time for a sample size of 151, so I wouldnât call this an accurate survey.
Anyway, after the respondentsâ gender and year of birth, they were asked if they still played Pokemon. A good 65% of males and 35% of females still play Pokemon out of the 151. Meanwhile, 11% of males and 37% of females answered that they only used to play, while 25% of males and 28% of females said they have not played.
That said, the results of the survey did reveal that only 20% of males and 12% of females played competitively (at least in the sample), which isnât too far off. This means that 1) we may have a prospective demographic of competitive female players we have not yet reached, and 2) we may want to reach out to casual players to some extent.
Respondents were also asked which generation(s) of Pokemon games theyâve played. The number of players decreases every succeeding generation (except in Generation VI). Generation I had the most players with 28% of respondents, while Generation V had the lowest number with 9%.
Speaking of games, respondents were also given several choices on what makes them play the games and which qualities make a Pokemon good. You can check out the infographic above.
Thereâs more to the survey (particularly about hacked and fan-based games), but weâll save them for another post. Letâs get right down to the heart of all these numbers: What do all these mean?
First, it means that Pokemon has grown significantly in the Philippines, much to the point where, if we took a bunch of random people and asked them about Pokemon, chances are, they will know what Pokemon is and will be able to discuss it to an extent.
Second, along with this, like I said, comes the potential to continue growing as a community by bridging gaps between players of varying fields of interests in the Pokemon franchise.
Lastly, despite the number of players decreasing the past few generations, interest in Pokemon has always been sustained in some other way or form, ways that transcend the gamesâand this is what keeps the Pokemon spirit thriving in the Philippines.
It is tempting to divide ourselves into competitive and casual battlers, TCG players, cosplayers, and anime aficionadosâwhen all I see is one big community that shows its love for Pokemon in different ways. We should not only embrace this but also nurture it. Only then can a community like ours fully evolve.
***
What do you think about the survey? What other questions would you like asked?
Do you think interest in Pokemon is still growing or has it reached a plateau? Share your thoughts below.
Being an active VGC player in the Philippine community, I get to see the attendance of players as per our regular monthly tournaments and the VGC players outnumber the TCG players in terms of regular attendance which puts the prior argument to shame. The question still remains however as to why the Philippines is still not recognized in this field. In my own opinion, the main reason behind this is due to location.
The main VGC community in the Philippines regularly gathers monthly in Robinsons Galleria which is located in Quezon City. However, after careful research and interaction with other players it has come to my attention that there are also VGC communities based in areas such Cavite, Cebu, and Iloilo. A question then rises regarding there being a good number of players as well as communities where the question is why all these communities donât gather together? The reason I believe is due to there being no real incentive other than the enjoyment of the game as well as interaction; which in my opinion is already a prize in itself. What would unite these communities and their players would be an actual sanctioned tournament yet the problem with achieving such an event would require a united community in order to prove that our country has players that can compete in an actual recognized tournament such as Nationals.
A Blazing tale of Philippine VGC
Pokemon in the Philippines has been around as ancient as the Spear Pillar in Sinnoh Region. Even though the Pokemon Community in the Philippines has been around for many years now, the fire of the Pokemon Community starts blazing in VGC 2014. The Philippine Pokemon VGC community became a large community with Asia Cup, Monthly Tournaments and Regular Online Tournaments. Even with the release of games like Monster Hunter 3 and likes, the flame of Pokemon community continues to blaze like Moltres fire in the Indigo Plateu Pokemon League. With this growth of community, the trainers start to be aware of the international scene in VGC. A lot of them start to have a dream like Ash Ketchum becoming the strongest trainer in the World, but the biggest dream of the community was to have an official support.Â
Earlier tournaments in VGC 2014 have only 1 problem and that is none other than "LOCATION". The community always loiters around in malls during tournaments. Later part of the year, the VGC Tournaments found a home in Courtside, Robinsons Galleria. September 28, 2014 PGP VGC TOURNAMENT was first biggest tournament that was held in the said location with weeks of Hype and famous trainers promoting the event. The event was a huge success reaching 96 participating trainers in total. The event was followed by another successful event which was Pokemon OR/AS Launch with VGC Tournament as highlight of the event.
The VGC 2015 ruleset was announced late in December which mirrored the rated double battles in OR/AS Battlespot which will be effective January 1, 2015. Also the CP system was announced in the same month with 18 masters, 18 seniors and 10 juniors from SEA can participate in World's 2015. The neighboring Asian countries get's their official support and official TO's which is our communities biggest dream. It's sad to see that even though the other countries community is younger than us, the Philippines is getting left behind.
The first major event of the year was the Asia Cup Qualifier. With the new VGC ruleset and Pokemon OR/AS still as fresh as newly hatched egg, the outcome of the tournament is still great and it shows that the fire is still blazing on each trainerâs heart. After the Asia Cup Qualifier and the release of games like Monster Hunter 4 and Majora's Mask, the fire of the Pokemon Community drastically declined but still there are loyal trainers keeping Moltres fire alive. Sadly, the outcome of succeeding tournaments after the Asia Cup Qualifier did not even exceed the number of Tauros that Ash Ketchum has. For April Monthly VGC Tournament the mission of the organizers was to bring back the brightness of Moltres fire. With Arceus blessing, the event exceeds the number of expected participants.
All in all we need to step up our game keep the fire blazing and someday our dream to have an official support will come true.
(Thanks to Macuarrorro of deviant for letting me use and edit the Moltres Art)
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PKMN-ph Ranger Hunt: 2015
Weâre already down to 5. Now, we need some ânew bloodâ to keep this train runningâŠ
Thatâs right. We are opening the doors of the PKMN-ph Ranger School to our aspiring members again! Do you think you have what it takes to become a leader of the number 1 Pokemon fan community in the country? Read on and make a mental checklist of the following:
What is a PKMN-ph Ranger?
A âRangerâ is basically a label that we use to call our staff members. They do various tasks from writing articles, modding a forum, doing charity works and participating in PKMN-ph events and meetups. Since a Ranger is a level higher than the standard member (and even higher than an appointed moderator of any PKMN-ph Facebook Groups), they also have a say on the teamâs forthcoming plans and can even suggest an activity of their own; granted that each and every member of the staff agrees to it. Â However, there are no currencies or royalties involved in our operations since weâre only doing this for the sake of the whole PKMN-ph community and not for our own personal pursuits. Like a true Ranger, one must be truly committed and enthusiastic about his own growth and also of the teamâs.
Ranger Qualifications
As much as we wanted to say that every Pinoy Pokemon fan is welcome, sadly being an aficionado is not enough. Youâll need that certain quality and skill sets that will give you an edge amongst other applicants. Specifically, you can check if you have at least three (3) of these requirements:
Should be at least 18 years old. Applicants who are already working as employees can also participate in this competition, so long as they can manage their time really well and can vacate their schedules especially when thereâs an event.
Fluency in written English is a must. Although weâre a fan community based from the Philippines, our website is international and our online articles are written in English as well.
Should specialize in at least one metagame (Video Game or TCG). Knowledge of the Pokemon anime is not required but is really, really welcome (nobody in the team is watching the anime series at the moment, sadly). Active cosplayers are also welcome.
Creativity is very much appreciated, especially during activity proposals. Bland and recycled ideas are not welcome, to be perfectly honest.
Should have participated in at least one PKMN-ph, or any official Pokemon-sponsored event here or in another country.
Must not be a member of any competing local fan community. We donât want insiders that will leak our plans to our competitors. Remember, we take pride in setting up our events and stolen ideas are the last thing that we would like to be taken away from us!
Application Process
Aspiring applicants can send an e-mail to [email protected] containing the following details below:
Subject: PKMN-ph Ranger Hunt 2015 Application Form
Message:
Full Name: _______________
Age: ______________
Reason/s why I should be considered for a spot: (Provide at least 5 sentences)
Please follow these instructions. Remember: the way you construct your e-mail is already an indicator on how credible you are as a future Ranger!
The Top 10 candidates will be selected on April 24, 2015. By then, several challenges will be issued by the core Ranger team and the 5 best Ranger Students will be selected as winners on May 2, 2015 (the siteâs 9th year anniversary).
So what are you waiting for? Shoot us an e-mail now, and who knows, youâll be the next PKMN-ph Ranger!
Well, another year has ended for PKMN-ph. Another milestone has been made. Weâve even conducted a bunch of special events and giveaways for this year, but most importantly, who will forget the historical #ORASNA!? 2014 was indeed one of our best years so far. So whatâs next?
In this article, weâre going to do a recap of all the PKMN-ph events this year. I might not give you the most accurate figures but this will help you and help us, The Ranger Team, in reviewing what has transpired in 2014.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Ranger Team and of the entire PKMN-ph community.
But first of all, let me tell you about myself. Iâm Jonathan, or also known as âThanâ to my team mates. I am currently living in Southern California and I have been a member of PKMN-ph since 2006. Iâm just a plain Pokemon Fan, and 3DS was my very first handheld console since the DS Phat era. I never tried competitive battling, and donât even know how to breed. LOL.
Hey! What the hell happened!? âThe Timelineâ
The Numbers Game
Throughout the year, the video game community grew the fastest and increased its population to a roughly 4,000 active 3DS Battlers. The Trading Card Game community was already solid and set and made only little adjustments to its numbers. Additionally, we have gained another 2,000 Page Likes from our Official PKMN-ph Facebook Page, while the Official Facebook Group finished this year with 1,800 members.
And now that thatâs out of the way, letâs do the recap.
JANUARY
PKMN-ph hosted a VGC qualifying tournament for the 2014 Asia Cup Spring, which was participated in by a total of 68 players. The Top 8 Players were selected to represent the Philippines on the following month. By MARCH, only one player made it to the Finals.
APRIL
8 Years and Still Catching âEm All. After 3 months of hiatus, the PKMN-ph website went online once again with a new logo and a new platform. Trivia: The PKMN-ph Logo has undergone several changes and the Pikanoy and Wabanoy Mascots were even there, way back in 2007-2008. We also had our annual PKMN-ph Meetup, which already became our tradition and was being celebrated during the Ozine Fest.
MAY
PKMN-ph: TCG held a Pokemon TCG National Championships at Courtside, Robinsons Galleria.
AUGUST
Two Filipino TCG players, Joshua Miles Lim (Seniors Division) and Adrian Velasco (Masters Division), were invited to the 2014 World Championships at Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC.
SEPTEMBER
PKMN-ph: PGP held their first Local VGC Tournament at Courtside, Robinsons Galleria, and was participated in by a record-breaking 98 players. Migz Garcia was crowned as this tournamentâs Champion.
NOVEMBER
PKMN-ph participated once again in an international video game tournament, a friendly match against PKMN-id (Pokemon Indonesia). After the qualifiers, Philippines sent out its 5 best players to battle against Indonesiaâs best. Unfortunately, Indonesia won the match over the Philippines with a score of 5-0.
This month also saw the biggest event ever hosted by PKMN-ph . After months of preparations by the Ranger Team, ORAS NA! A Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Launch Day Meetup was held at the SM Megatrade Conference Center, which was backed by Click Licensing Asia and Datablitz.
DECEMBER
PKMN-ph: PGP hosted another Local VGC Tournament at the AMEFairX, World Trade Center, Pasay City. To cap off their 2014 season, a Year-Ender Tournament was held once again at Courtside, Robinsons Galleria.
This 2014, I can say that this year was really our best year so far; compared to the previous years. This is the first time that we had our âproperâ venue for VGC events. No more sitting on the floor, or making diskarte at the food court, and oh, those Security Guards. Bleh.
Divided, We Stand.
Unfortunately, there were still issues that need to be addressed; things that a normal PKMN-ph member wonât see on the outside.
The team still lacks the manpower and without any funding, our willpower to host bigger and better events will be affected as well. We were also cut down from 10 Rangers to 5. Right now, the team is composed of (1) Paul, (2) Melvin, (3) Powao, (4) Kyle, and (5) me watching from here â a country which hosted the recent Pokemon Worlds. I may not have any specialty at all but my loyalty and dedication to stick with our slogan âPinagkakaisa ang mga Pilipinong Panatiko ng Pokemonâ is my primary assets. Â
SerPol: This year, we are going to announce two (2) new additions to the Ranger team. One of them has already been welcomed to the team but is yet to be announced publicly, and the other one has yet to be informed. To alleviate the ongoing problems of the lacking manpower, we are also going to conduct another Ranger Hunt! If you are a dedicated Pokemon fan and an individual with a leaderâs attitude, it could be you! Watch out for our future announcements regarding this exciting competition.
What will happen next? I already have a couple of proposals posted [on our private board] which I think would benefit both the Team and the community. Hopefully, these would improve the upcoming events this 2015. Stay tuned.
 DISCLAIMER: Ang inyong mababasa dito ay ang opinyon, kuru-kuro, haka-haka, hasa-hasa, lapu-lapu, at maya-maya lang ng may-akda at hindi ng PKMN-ph sa kabuuan.Â
Kumusta? Sabi ko na nga baât isang siglo ang bibilangin bago masundan ang unang episode ko. Para sa mga tamad mag-scroll down (at busy pa rin sa paglalaro ng Pokemon Omega Ruby at Alpha Sapphire, makikita ninyo ang unang part ng diary ko sa link na ito.Â
NOVEMBER 21, 2014 â Big Time na si SerPol (pero nanlumo pa rin pagkatapos)
Maaga akong sumibat galing sa trabaho para makipagkita sa pamunuan ng Click Licensing Asia. 4:30 PM ako lumabas pero kahit 6:30 PM na, naghihintay pa rin ako ng bus sa BGC. Anak ng Poochyena talaga, oo.
Tinext ko si Powao para mauna na sa opisina at nang makuha na ang mga âepektosâ dahil baka abutan na ako ng remake ng Diamond and Pearl sa terminal. Ginagamitan ko na ng Scary Face at Leer ang mga kundoktor dito pero mukhang naligo sila ng Safeguard kaya walang epekto ang ginagawa ko.
Hindi na ako dumerecho sa Click; bagkus, nag-text na lang ako kay Powao na magkita kami sa Megamall para makipag-usap sa pamunuan ng SM MegaTrade Conference Center. Hindi ko akalain na dun na magaganap ang contract signing (limang kopya, na tig-sampung page na hindi ko na binasa dahil English)âŠat dun na rin pala ako maglalabas ng pambayad.
Hindi ko na muna sasabihin kung magkano ang kabuuan ng ibinayad namin. Pero sa sobrang laki ng kinuha ko sa ATM e bina-block na ako ng machine dahil na-exceed ko na raw ang allowable amount na pwedeng i-withdraw sa isang araw. Akala yata siguro nito e kriminal ako na gumagamit ng skimmer para makapang-nakaw.
Iniabot ko na ang âpartialâ na bayad sa magandang staff na nakausap namin, at pumayag naman siya na ihabol ko bukas ang natitirang balanse (at ang puso ko. Joke lang). Kung hindi lang sana kasing mahal ng dalawang bala ng 3DS yung renta sa LCD projector nila, e di sana nabayaran ko na lahat ng balanse nung araw na yun. Pfft.
Umuwi na kami pagkatapos. Binabantaan na si Powao ng girlfriend niya (dahil nagseselos na sa Pokemon) at ako naman ay nanlalata na dahil sa stress at dahil hindi na ako makakabili ng Wii U.Â
NOVEMBER 22, 2014 â Ang araw ng Paghuhukom
10:00 AM, sa tapat ng MegaTrade Conference Center
 Hindi naman ako masyadong excited. Ako lang naman ang nauna.
Pero ayos lang din dahil isa-isa nang dumarating ang mga volunteers. Kailangan kong kapalan ang mukha ko para makapag-initiate ng conversation dahil kung hindi, aabutin sila ng tanghali kaka-tingin sa kisame ng MegaMall.
Ipinakita sa amin ng isang babaeng empleyado ang venue, pero parang nainis yata sa amin dahil ilang beses kaming naglabas-pasok sa loob dahil ala-una pa ang ingress. Fully-paid na ang venue sa mga puntong ito. Burol ko na lang ang kulang.
Maya-maya ay nag-text na ang Marketing Officer ng DataBlitz. Naghihintay na lang sila ng go signal mula sa amin para ipasok ang mga gamit nila sa venue. Isa ito sa mga highlights ng araw na ito, dahil bigla akong napatingala at napabulong sa sarili ng âSy**, Pol. Totoo na ito.â
*****
1:00 PM, Ingress sa loob ng Function Room B
Simula na ng setup. Takbo rito, takbo doon. Utos dito, utos doon.
Dumadami na ang mga tao sa labas. Kailangan naming makapag-simula on time dahil may ultimatum kami na hanggang 7:00 PM lang. Dumating na rin sila DataBlitz at tuwang-tuwa ang crew sa dala nilang Pokemon OR/AS standees at posters.
*****
2:30 PM, Simula ng program
Opening remarks ako, badtrip. Hindi ako nakapag-handa. Kung napaghandaan ko lang sana ito, e malamang binasa ko na ang buong blog entry na ito.
Hindi ko na pinatagal ang spiel at mag-mula dito e naging variety show na ni Powao ang buong event. Nag-ikot ikot pa rin ako sa venue para kumustahin ang DataBlitz (na mukhang hindi masyadong bumenta dahil nakabili na ang mga players natin ng game bago pa ang event) at ang mga ticket boys namin sa labas na hindi na na-experience ang kasiyahan dahil naka-pako sila sa puwesto nila doon.
Mga technical glitches na malamang e hindi napansin ng mga tao:
Nasira ang audio ng laptop ni Jeff. Ayaw niyang tumunog kaya yung background music ay pinatakbo na lang sa iPhone ni John.
Tinoyo ang pocket wi-fi ni Powao. Nataranta kami dahil online yung tournament software na ginagamit niya. To the rescue naman ang Data Plan ni Gelo at naisalba naman ang biglaang krisis sa pamamagitan ng mahiwagang tethering.
Trial version lang ang camera application na ginamit para i-broadcast ang championship match sa big screen. LOL
Muntik na kaming mag-bayad ng additional na POR TAWSAND PAYB HANDRED PESOS (para lang sa 30 minutes na extension) dahil 6:30 PM na at hindi pa rin tapos ang championship.
Speaking of extension, dito kami sobrang nataranta dahil kulang na kami sa budget at hindi rin napunan ng ticket at merchandise sales yung kabuuan ng inilabas namin para sa venue. Gusto kong sisihin dito ang move na Protect dahil humaba nang humaba yung laban. Nung kapanahunan namin, tirahan na lang ng Hyper Beam sa mukha, ayos na! Ngayon, may mga ek-ek pang nalalaman na Follow Me at Belly Drum. Suskopo! Umabot pa tuloy ng Round 3 *reklamo pa more*
Pero walang katumbas ang kasiyahan na naidulot nito, lalo na kapag sumisigaw ng âWHOA!â ang mga tao sa tuwing sasampalin ni Gothitelle ang sarili niyang mukha dahil sa confusion. Wala kaming capture card or mala-sine sa laking screen, pero na-replicate naman namin kahit papaano yung experience na parang nasa VGC Regionals ka.
Kahit ang mga staff ng DataBlitz at SM mismo ay napatayo sa mga upuan nila para kuhanan ng video ang championship match.
Sa kasamaang palad, itinuloy na lang sa lobby ang ikatlong laban (ng best of 3). Kapos na sa oras at kailangan na naming mag-egress. Â Â
Para makita kung ano pang naganap sa event na ito, pakibisita ang album na ito.
*****
Natapos na rin ang pinaka-malaking event sa kasaysayan ng PKMN-ph. Sobrang laki ng effort na itinuon namin para matupad ito -- mula sa pagpapadala ng proposal letter sa mga potential na sponsors (na walang nangyari hanggang sa mailagay sa pwesto ang kapwa-fan natin na si Mr. Jungie Gumiran ng Click), hanggang sa pagsasagawa ng kaliwaât kanang meetups at tournaments para mas lalo tayong mapansin. Hindi biro itong nagawa natin, at wala pang independent na Pokemon group dito sa bansa ang naka-gawa ng ganitong kalaking accomplishment!
Gusto kong pasalamatan, sampu ng mga adik sa Pokemon, ang buong pamunuan ng Click Licensing Asia at DataBlitz sa pagbibigay nila ng suporta sa atin. Halos tatlong taon ang binilang bago tuluyang matupad ang plano ng PKMN-ph. Nawaây hindi kayo magsawang tumulong para mas lalong mapalaki ang community ng Pokemon dito sa bansa.
Sa mga volunteers na ang tanging natanggap lang ay isang pirasong Chickenjoy -- maraming salamat sa tulong ninyo. Sobrang kulang ang Ranger Team, at malaking bagay para sa amin ang pag-v-volunteer ninyo para sa kapakanan ng event. Mabuhay kayong lahat!
Salamat din sa mga cosplayers na pumunta. Sana makita pa natin sa susunod na event si Gym Leader Roxanne at ang kanyang mga sidekick (biro lang). Kung pwede lang sana akong mag-cosplay bilang GeodudeâŠ
At higit sa lahat, ang buong PKMN-ph community! Napuno natin ang Function Room ng MegaTrade, at kapos pa sa pwesto. Ipagdasal natin na sa susunod na event, nasa MegaTrade Hall na talaga tayo at 2-day event ang mangyari! Para naman sa mga members natin na nasa malayong lugar, ipag-paumanhin ninyo at hindi namin maidala sa inyo ang experience. Pero malay natin, isang araw e makapunta ang PKMN-ph sa Davao, Cebu, Iloilo o kung saan mang lupalop yan! Tiwala lang. Hindi naman masamang mangarap.
Dahil sa pangarap nabuo ang PKMN-ph. Sa pangarap din tayo magtatapos.
Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat. Nagiging ma-drama na naman ako. Pakiramdam ko, pwede na akong mag-resignâŠ
Showcase your talents in every aspect of competitive Pokemon battling - breeding, trading, predicting and calculating. Everything in  between should be given with enough focus to have your potential shine!
Battles are held weekly and match ups are decided by your Captains. Be sure to give the best and climb to the top!
Match up for PPA's season 1
Please submit your lineup to your respective organizer so we can input them in our spreadsheet.
Remember to save your battle videos and submit it to the organizers so we can compile and have our commentators do an analysis.
Best of three under VGC rules:
Team Rey Allyson v Team Keith (Francis)
Team Ever Grande Emperors v Team Adrian (Hajime)
Blackthorn Bullies v Blackthorn Butterfrees (Keith)
Team Mark Anthony v Team Vincent (Rei)
So, what are you guys waiting for? Let's start this and have fun battling!
âNotice us, Senpai!â -- The Philippine VGC Communityâs Plea to the Big Bosses
According to a popular saying, âTwo heads are better than oneâ. But when you put in 96 others, then it will be a whole new different story. This is what happened during the last VGC 2014 tournament held at Courtside, Robinsons Galleria last September 28, 2014, wherein we witnessed the biggest VGC tournament of the country so far. It was a jam-packed main event which saw the best battlers in Manila compete against each other in a grueling test of wits and strategy. Â But then, thereâs nothing new, right?
Itâs just the same old âtourneyâ -- just BIGGER.
Fortunately, Masuda-san of GameFreak has already noticed our existence -- thanks to one of our members who is persistently tagging the director in his Tweets.
And this could probably be the reason why TPCi is still not bringing in VGC support to our country (TCG is already OFFICIAL, by the way). The video gaming community still has to get the backing of the higher ups and the big bosses, and without them, we will just have to rely on crowd-funded tournaments until the eventual help comes.
When all the chairs are already in use -- COMPROMISE!
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When I first saw Mega Blaziken earlier this year, there is something familiar with it that I canât put my finger on. Until lately, when I realized that its color palette represents that of Jin Kazamaâs gi! Just look at the pants. Did Blaziken attend the same Karate dojo with Jin? Â Oh, well. Similarly, both can also transform to their âmegaâ forms (see Devil Jin). Cool.
While some may argue that Hitmonlee resembles Bruce more (some websites are pointing out that âlee is a kickboxer), I believe that it resembles the Korean Taekwondo pretty boy, Hwoarang more. Why? Itâs simple. They focus more on kicking attacks. Moreover, when I look at Hitmonleeâs animated Crystal sprite, I canât help but think of Hwoarangâs Machine Gun Kicks. Nerd Alert.
 4.)   Hariyama and Ganryu
Every fighting game has to have a flabby fighter (a tradition started by Street Fighterâs E. Honda). And what better way to continue this tradition than to introduce another Sumo fighter in the form of Hariyama! Although it doesnât sport the Hundred Hand Slap-like moves of its predecessors, Hariyama can unleash palm-based attacks like Fake Out, Force Palm, Arm Thrust and even Smelling Salts (a move based on the Sumo tradition). Dosukoi!
Only the nerdest of nerds would be able to spot the similarity between these two. Ever heard of Sun Wukong? The main character from the Chinese novel called Journey to the West (wherein the ever-popular Son Goku of the Dragon Ball franchise is also based on)? Well, Feng Wei has a costume mod wherein you can dress him as the legendary Monkey King and even has an item move wherein he can ride a cloud to attack the opponent! As for Infernape, well, it IS designed after the legendary hero. See the connection there?
This is where it gets really creepy. At first glance, there is just a small similarity between these two; just take a look at that weird beard. But in Tekken 5, when Jinpachi turns into that burning fiend, youâll get the gist. While Emboar looks really tame compared to Jinpachi, both are solid (albeit, a bit slow) attackers who can also shoot flames from their body. However, Emboar can be easily dealt with in todayâs main series metagame.
Pokken Tournament will hit the arcades in Japan next year. This is something fresh and new for the franchise, and we're sure that a lot of main series players' interest will be piqued. How about you? Which Pokemon would you like to enter the fighting tournament's arena? Post your comments below!Â
More information about the tournamentâs rules can be found at this link.
I am writing this post with the intent of spreading my thoughts on how this has been one of the most insightful battle formats I have played in. People that know me personally would know that I joined this tournament because Iâm an Eevee fan; theyâre not far off the mark, really. But soon after I started preparing for it, all the way until the tournament finished, I canât help but express how much my battling side has been really pumped with this competition.
A bit of a battling background of myself: Iâve played in various 6v6 Singles formats for around 9 years, and started recently focusing on the VGC formats last November 2013. I know how specialized Effort Value spreads work, how threats and matchups work, using unconventional setsâŠÂ in short, I know my competitive battling, so please donât be so dismissive of this post just because of its different rules.
THE TEAM
PRE-TOURNAMENT THOUGHTS
 The Flora of Visceral Strength, Fayi
LeafeonÂ
Gender: Female
Ability: Leaf Guard
Item: Life Orb
EVs: 170 HP / 224 Atk / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- X-Scissor
- Return
- Swords Dance
The first thing that someone will probably ask me is âWhy Leaf Guard over Chlorophyll?â Well⊠itâs because I wanted to bring as much shinies as I could do the tourney, ahaha! I didnât think Sun was going to be a popular support move in this tourney anyway.
In a format littered with Special Defenders, having good physical attack, usable Speed, and Swords Dance with the best STAB move for its type is something one should immediately consider. As such, Fayi immediately takes the first spot.
Her HP EVs are wrong though: this puts her smack dab at 100 HP, which is a Life Orb number. Shouldâve put the extra 12 in Speed or something.
Adamant was chosen and Attack was EVâd so that, after one Swords Dance boost, she will be able to OHKO 0HP/0Def Flareon with a Leaf Blade, easing prediction a bit.
The rest were put into HP.
 The Sun Prophet, Knight of the Order of the Sun, Solareon
Flareon
Gender: Male
Ability: Guts
Item: Choice Band
EVs: 234 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Giga Impact
The knight of the Order of the Sun is here to show what heâs got, branding a new golden mane!
As said earlier, having good physical attackers in this format is great, so Flareon is automatically my second pick.
After running some calculations, unless heâs hitting Vaporeon or the opponent is heavily invested, they WILL take major damage from Flare Blitz. Choice Band over Toxic Orb for IMMEDIATE power, and the fact that I donât want to lose too much HP from Flare Blitz and poison damage. I can also pass Wishes more consistently to him with this.
24 Speed was given to outspeed 12 Speed base 65âs. Iâm expecting a lot of base 65âs to go for 12 Speed, so Iâll one-up them. Maxed out attack for as much damage as possible, and then poured the rest into general bulk.
 Operation Love; Lightbringer Burrito, AAAS RJ-I
Espeon
Gender: Male
Ability: Magic Bounce
Item: Light Clay
EVs: 252 HP / 6 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Psyshock
- Dazzling Gleam
Lightbringer Burrito lends me his power! I had to remove Attract though. Shame.
When coming in to a new format, my universal mindset when going in is to always bring a screener so that I can afford to make a few mistakes, instead of going full YOLO mode like I usually do (people who play me in VGC or Singles would know how much I LOVE one-turn nukes). I was pretty fortunate that my favorite screener happened to be legal in this format, so here!
The EVs are pretty much just from my normal Espeon, so I became too lazy to change it. Max speed to ensure that you can get a minimum 50/50 against other Espeons without a speed boost (from Choice Scarf or a very rare Agility pass, which I would bet would never even happen anyway)
Dazzling Gleam chosen as the 4th move so that I donât lose to attacking Umbreon.
 Immeasurable power behind a pink veil, Myuna Namyu
Sylveon
Gender: Female
Ability: Cute Charm
Item: Chesto Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpA
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
I so, SO wanted the shiny for this! Game, please! T_T
Among the rest of the Eeveelutions, I expected Sylveon to be one of the most powerful of them all; sporting high special defenses, with nothing holding STAB on its weaknesses and only 1 resisting its STAB, Sylveon would have a great time in this format.
EVs werenât thought of as much, really. This set is directly inspired from a Generation 3 Suicune set. It has enough bulk to boost a few times, Rest up, then start putting on some damage. Speed isnât even important if you can live through everything!
Of course, Flareon always ends up countering Sylveon, so what I mainly need is to take care of opposing Flareons first before trying her out.
The gender choice was important: as Eevee has a 7/8 chance of being male, I wanted the best chances of activating Cute Charm.
Psyshock was chosen as the last move so that I have a secondary attack to try and hit Flareon, in the case that it happens that I do need to confront it.
 Wishing upon the waves, Rurinrin
Vaporeon
Gender: Female
Ability: Water Absorb
Item: Leftovers
EVs: 52 HP / 234 Def / 224 SpA
Modest Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Wish
- Protect
She was THE FIRST EGG THAT HATCHED when I started breeding for  this tourney, so I took it as a sign of good luck. She has perfect 31s across the board, shiny, and female. I received the good end of the RNG stick!
WishPassing would probably be a thing here, as it is a very reliable form of recovery that doesnât need direct switching to make the most out of. So I decided to use one myself!
The EVs were made so that I would survive an unboosted 252 Adamant Leaf Blade from Leafeon, and then OHKO a 0/0 Leafeon back with Ice Beam.Â
 Just canât get enough competition, Lighty
Jolteon
Gender: Male
Ability: Volt Absorb
Item: Choice Specs
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Other IVs: 0 Atk, 30 Def
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power
- Volt Switch
At this point, I had problems choosing a sixth member; the remaining choices for an all Eevee team seemed to all be mediocre choices. So I went ahead with someone that has given me a lot of mileage throughout my entire battling life, Jolteon.
Unmodified from a Singles set, this Jolteon is able to outspeed Choice Scarf max Speed base 65âs. In particular, this means that Choice Scarf Glaceon and Choice Scarf Flareon will have no chances of outspeeding it, ensuring that it fires off a move before they can.
Choice Specs was chosen because only one âmon resists Thunderbolt, and said âmon takes a huge chunk of damage from Special Attacks in general anyway.
I probably wonât be bringing him much, given how thereâs a lot of Special Defenders in this format.
With the team bred and PP Maxâd all around, itâs time to start the actual competition.
DURING TOURNAMENT THOUGHTS + Battle Videos
Day 1:
Final Score (W-L)Â : 9 - 1
Day 1 was filled with a lot of people that didnât exactly know competitive battling. Around 4 out of the 10 did, actually; one of those is where my first loss came from.
Hilariously, I had one match today where it became a timer stall: Myuna Namyu (Sylveon) was the one who helped me get through that. And thatâs one of the strengths of the set that I had in mind when thinking of that set. Looks like it worked!
By the end of this day, I told myself âDay 2 would be when the real competition begins.â Itâs usaully like that in the International Challenges too. This is due to people getting their Day 1 Ratings and so the matching becomes more fair during the next day.
vs. HI6 -Â HGWW - WWWW - WWW8 - KUL8
Feat: Fake Tears Vaporeon, Substitute Jolteon
This match was my first warning that any stat-downs would be a pretty serious loss of power for my team. Fortunately, I was able to pull through. Myuna Namyu (my Sylveon) eventually had -4 Sp.D during this match.
Substitute Jolteon was something that I was a bit scared of. It created quite some offensive pressure on me and made me scared a bit. Fortunately, itâs not as powerful here as it is in Singles, but it still kinda scared me. Ironic how I didnât think of this myself, as I have used Substitute Jolteon for my Singles teams during Generation 5 and even until now, ahaha!
I still pulled out the win though; even with all the setups that he did, he wasnât able to capitalize on them properly.
Day 2:
Final Score (W-L)Â : 5 - 5
I was right: this day was when things start to get challenging.
By this day, I was paying very close attention to the opponent party, and started to try predicting their sets. Even if Day 1 wasnât that helpful for this, it still gave me some insights about possible team setups.
However, I immediately incurred losses during my first few matches. It was at this point where I made my first meta shift in my head:Â Espeon is a threat; you give it two turns of setup and you can potentially get wrecked.Â
At the same time, this is when I began to realize how Vaporeon wasnât really a wise choice in this format. There just wasnât enough time to pull off Wishes; its attacks werenât powerful enough either. It is also during this day when I stopped bringing Rurinrin to matches altogether.
vs.ă±ăĄă·Â - EQMW-WWWW-WWW8-KULV
Feat: Curse Last Resort Sylveon, Focus Sash Espeon
The first match where I felt I was absolutely destroyed. And it all happened in two turns: 1 Curse, then 1 Trick Room. I will never forget this match, as it is where I experienced the wrath of Espeon setups in full force. I realized by then that there is NO stopping Espeon from setting up Trick Room barring an OHKO⊠which Focus Sash completely stops. Iâve always had a bad record against Trick Room teams when stepping into new formats, and this is my version for this format.
Look at Solareonâs life go down⊠ouchâŠ
vs.Zitrone - RXTW-WWWW-WWW8-KUM7
Feat: Natural Gift Leafeon
Natural Gift Leafeon sacrificing itself to take out Solareon (my Flareon) in turn 1 was the whole point of this match. It had me sacrifice my Flareon and lose it too early, which allowed her Sylveon to come in with its main counter gone. I convincingly lost as a result, despite my efforts to try and fight back.
vs.Yvonne - WQSQ-WWWW-WWW8-KUTS
Feat: Last Resort Eevee, Hyper Beam Sylveon
Immediately after the losses to Espeon, I began to take action and started to bring Lighty to pressure opposing Espeons. This match perfectly describes how significant it was that I could damage Espeon like that starting from the first turn.
Her Last Resort Eevee still dealt quite some damage, but not enough to break my team apart. Oh and I donât get why people donât realize yet how Hyper Beam Sylveon is EXTREMELY situational, and how this isnât the situation youâd want to use the move in. There are people that can make it work, sure, but itâs because they know the timing. Hyper Beam Sylveon is NOT meant to OHKO things! I learned that the hard way during a VGC practice sessionâŠ
vs.ăăăĄă - MELW-WWWW-WWW8-KUMQ
Feat: Lansat Berry Leafeon
I uploaded this vid because Lansat Berry Leafeon surprised me. Once Lansat Berry activates, Leafeon receives 100% critical chance on Leaf Blade. He paired it with Substitute. What a horrible timing for me to not bring Jolteon!
Oh, and more matches showcasing how Rurinrin (my Vaporeon) still isnât doing much.
Day 3:
Final Score (W-L)Â : 7 - 3
Going into this day, I took what I saw from Day 2 and started adapting. I completely stopped bringing Vaporeon, and had Jolteon in almost every match. By this time, I was getting very confident and tried to do some high-level risks.
vs.ăă¶Â - B6VW-WWWW-WWW8-KUNG
Feat: Echoed Voice
Echoed Voice was something I considered using for my team at one point. But after realizing how Flareon can potentially break that chain anyway, I decided against it. But I already know what it entails: it ends with Sylveon and Espeon powering through. So I know for a fact that my first step was to snipe Sylveon and/or Espeon before it can keep the Echoed Voice chain up, which I did convincingly here.
vs. ăłăŠăă€Â - PUHW-WWWW-WWW8-HN5Y
Feat: Sunny Day Jolteon, Moonblast stat-downs
The other guy uploaded this, so I was able to upload an extra vid. Thanks, Kouhei dude!
Double Flare Blitz opening is pretty funny; we both go YOLO and injure our Flareons starting from the first turn.
Dude sets up Sunny Day using Jolteon, which is the first Iâve seen during this tourney, I think. Fortunately, my remaining team had enough bulk to survive the onslaught that sun brings. While it ends up being 1-3 later, sun just finishes in time as Lighty is ready to perform clean up duty; he ends up eliminating all 3 with a single Shadow Ball each, sealing me the victory. Good job, Lighty!
Aside from that, I liked the experimentation of using Charm on Leafeon. It did caught me off guard after bringing both physical attackers on to the field. Still though, it was amazing seeing Sylveon survive that +1 Psyshock. I really, REALLY despise that Paralyze stun though, it was pretty much the thing that made me loseâŠ
vs.Fatalitat- TEWG-WWWW-WWW8-KUZX
Feat: Double Setup Espeon
THIS GUY EVENTUALLY FINISHES AS #10 IN THIS TOURNEY.
And all he did was to pretty much use Espeon for more than one kind of setup! His arranagement makes it so that he can play either the speed game or the slow game, which was very creative of her.
I tried sniping her Espeon, which was why my Jolteon was out so early. I took out her Jolteon in the process, but ended up letting her set up a Curse on Flareon and Trick Room. I was able to stall out Trick Room⊠then she pulls out the Sunny Day on me. It pretty much sealed the deal. It was also this moment where I wished I had Chlorophyll on FayiâŠ
vs.ă»ăŹă - SRPW-WWWW-WWW8-KUR7
Feat: Standard Sets
This is a match where I actually see the expected sets I had since before the tourney. Both of us were rocking some pretty standard sets on all of our Eevees here. I also didnât bring Sylveon, surprisingly enough. Itâs almost like a mirror match, lol!
This vid is also a testament on how Flare Blitz absolutely destroys things: her Jolteon still fainted while behind a Reflect from Solareonâs Flare Blitz. Itâs insane.
Flare Blitz in general wins this game for me.
vs.ăă - 6LNW-WWWW-WWW8-KUSP
Feat: Echoed Voice
My last match for the tourney was against an Echoed Voice team. As expected, heâll have both Espeon and Sylveon in there.
Focus Sash Jolteon helps to start the chain. I begin to take out his team one-by-one first, before he can dominate the chain.
I needed to batter his Umbreon and keep my Flareon safe in the case that the chain does get completed, so I pit Espeon against Umbreon. I did end up successfully breaking his chain by forcing him to use Quick Attack at least, but Solareon wasnât able to finish cleaning up as he falls to opposing Espeonâs Psychic after getting all the residual damage. Ouch! So close! I loved this match, though.
There were a LOT more matches I saved, but unfortunately Iâm only allowed to upload 10!
Fayi - Really wish I settled for a Chlorophyll Leafeon instead. Also thinking if I should have used max Speed instead. The additional bulk did help me a few times, but there were also times I wish I could outspeed other Leafeons. Also, considering Quick Attack somewhere but I donât have a moveslot anymoreâŠ
Solareon - not much has changed, except the fact that I wish I had Flash Fire instead of Guts instead. I would have won the Flareon mirrors if I did!
AAAS RJ-I - I shouldâve explored more support options other than screens. Day 2 and 3 made it evident that Espeon is possibly the most important Pokemon in this format. Also, Dazzling Gleam was useless apart from that one instance where I needed to damage Umbreon.
Myuna Namyu - I wish I couldâve used a Curse Set myself, imitating Gen 3 Snorlax instead of Gen 3 Suicune. Curse seems like a better choice anyway: it performs essentially the same⊠only with more firepowerâŠ
Rurinrin -Â I overestimated the capabilities of Vaporeon here. There was little time to even pull off a Wish, and she had very little offensive presence. Iâm thinking if I shouldâve just used Toxic on it over Ice Beam instead.
Lighty - complete turn around: I wouldnât survive the rest of Day 2 and 3 without him. I underestimated the power of Choice Specs ThunderboltâŠ
My personal visualization of the power rankings
Here, I create my own take at my usability rankings for the 9 Pokemon in this format. Thanks to mmcafe for the layout!
Eevee and Glaceon being the two lowest arenât a surprise.
Eevee in particular has almost no viability, as Umbreon and Vaporeon are still bulkier with Eviolite, and Sylveon is more powerful with Pixilate compared to his Adaptability. Even under Trick Room, Eevee never deals enough damage.
Glaceon just doesnât have the stats to perform well in this format. Ice isnât really a great offensive typing here.
Umbreon and Vaporeon are almost tied. But after considering how Vaporeon directly counters Flareon, I decided to put it a bit higher. I initially thought Umbreonâs Taunt was going to be a good tool in this format, but it didnât happen.
Jolteon is in the middle of support and individuality because, depending on how you use him, he can either be your team player who racks up the damage for the rest of your team, or that individual âmon who can rack up damage for general purpose. It also gets fast support options like Yawn, Thunder Wave, and weather.
I was thinking whether Leafeon or Flareon would end up higher, but after considering how Flareon outputs raw power faster than Leafeon does, I put Flareon higher. Flareon also has nice Special Defense, and has much less counters than Leafeon does. Flareon is put with more support because it can act as a teamâs status sponge if needed, thanks to Guts.
Sylveon convincingly takes the top threat spot, as it has a wide variety of threatening sets it can use that helps the team win the game. Curse Sylveon was already one scary thing, but Calm Mind Sylveon was also viable. Apart from that, it was also generally bulky enough to survive things almost all the time. Kind of like the Rotom-appliances in the normal formats.
Finally, Espeon skyrockets into top threat status to the extreme support status. While itâs definitely viable with a Calm Mind set to push it into Individuality, Espeonâs threat of unstoppable Trick Room, Screens, Weather, and other support options, force opponents to try and work around it instead of directly countering it. It can change games if the opponent isnât prepared for it, and even if they were, theyâd have to make insane reads to try and survive.
What really surprised me is the fact that Leafeon was used much less than Vaporeon. The fact that Leafeon didnât even get a Top 4 spot is still baffling me, seeing as how itâs been really useful in general to many people Iâve played against, and for me as well! Especially when you consider that Vaporeon isnât that much of a threat⊠I wonder whatâs up with these usage rankings? Popularity in general?Â
Aside from that little bit, the rest of the usages seem normal to me. Flareon being at the top is pretty much expected. The importance of Flareonâs nuking in this format cannot be emphasized enough.
My Rank
This info can be found in this link.
(Thane)
I only finished at Rank 329⊠I definitely feel that I could have gotten better rankings if I had better Sylveon and Vaporeon sets.
The Top 50 though consists of 48 Japanese⊠and 2 Germans. Germans. AGAIN. How do they keep stealing top rankings? At least it wasnât the French this time, ahaha!
After finding out about the high performance of Japanese in this format, I started lurking around and found yet again another advantage of having such a big community there: they have practice sessions for these side tourneys. Aside from them already having leverage in the knowledge department, itâs even boosted further by the fact that they get to practice diligently before the entire thing starts, while most of us come in with little-to-no knowledge on the format, like me.
I wish I couldâve learned of their practice sessions sooner, I wouldâve asked to join themâŠ
AFTER TOURNAMENT
Insights of a Battler
Now hereâs the part that I really want to emphasize in this article. I might miss some stuff I want to say, so to start it off, Iâll post here some testimonials all coming from the Eevee Friendly discussion at nuggetbridge, found in this link.
I really like how much depth there is in this meta even though thereâs only 8 things with awful movepools in it!
You have to find a balance of pushing your own gameplan, while also being careful of the opponentâs.
A perfect example of this is Sylveon; while most Sylveon showed dominance by being Physical attackers, special Sylveon still lurks in some teams (like mine) and itâs still a pretty good addition to the team. A simple thing like Flash Fire over Guts on Flareon could also be a game changer; normally, Flareons would not appreciate getting hit by boosted Flash Fires from opposing Flareon, but having Flash Fire not only negates the damage, it also boosts that Flareonâs own Flare Blitz, which can be very, VERY dangerous. Espeon also has a myriad of support options to choose from; screens being most prominent, it also gets all the weathers and Trick Room.
Just faced someone with 1600 rank and using Curse/Protect/Last Resort Sylveon o.o Was annihilated in style and caught completely off guard with trying to deal with Flareon, Iâm impressed!
Many of us who participated experienced something similar. Having to shuffle through multiple threats at a time is really intense. Usually in the first few turns, none of the players are safe: both of them will keep changing their moves each time, and whoever reads the best will come out on top later.
Different playstyles allow for different momentum shifts. My team, in particular, relies on versatility and constant offensive pressure to force the opponent to commit mistakes one by one. Some teams, like most Trick Room ones, rely on their setup to immediately shift momentum on their side, but sacrifices versatility. Some teams choose to go defensively, waiting for the opponent to make a mistake while keeping their team healthy and then capitalizing on that mistake.
Even though most people would say a tournament like this is a waste of time, I wouldnÂŽt say so: Teambuilding in other formats only helps you improve as a player since you practice adapting to completly different rules and pools of Pokemon which makes you a more diverse player in general. Another thing I learned from this tournament comes form the nature of Rotation battles: You and the opposition have so many different possibilites for plays in Rotation that, depending on the Pokemon on the field, you often have no really safe option and thus have to rely on your gut, something I generally have trouble with. A couple of what could be called âballsy callsâ saved me in a lot of matches and taught me that if you feel like you start falling behind in a match, one âbig playâ can pull you out of this spot immediately. Something that a person like me who generally tries to play as safe as possible can only benefit from since being able to switch it up depending on opposing players and field situations that you often canÂŽt recover from otherwise is what seperates good from great players in my opinion and Iâve really been lacking in that regard.^^
This is one of my favorite posts in the discussion. This is coming from a guy who finished with a score of 26-4, placing #41 in the rankings.
I agree on the crazy diversity this metagame has. I vastly underestimated the variety and possible sets Iâd see. I was hoping Iâd lurk around the internet and scoop up what people are thinking and build my team against theirs, practice online before battles start, and gain the upper hand in the real thing. But that didnât end so well lol.
Pretty much just reiterating one of the things said above.
Iâm curious to see if we see more of the eeveelutions in metas outside of this friendly now that people went way in-depth with them.
Much as Iâd love to see this, Iâd have to disagree with this for now. The top teams used in this tourney were built perfectly to deal with only the 9 allowed species. VGCâ14 metagame, in particular, has been defined for a good ~8 months now and I donât see that changing anymore, especially with World Cup quickly approaching.Â
This does tickle my interest in trying to study lesser cookie-cutter teams in that format though. I know a certain someone who keeps showing his stuff in Nationals just recently used an Espeon that meshed with the entire team. You know who you are ;) Iâve also kept Espeon for quite a while on my VGCâ14 team until I bit the bullet and ended up using the more complex Psychic-types; I believe Iâm not skilled enough yet to be that creative.
Be as it may, though, I WILL find a way to utilize Absol in a VGC format. Sometime. SOMETIME!
CONCLUSION
Iâm not saying that all of us should play different formats such as this; I respect how other people wonât necessarily find this fun. What I do wanna say is that formats like these definitely arenât a waste of time, as participating in things like these and taking it to a next level is a good chance to broaden your mindset about how to play differing formats.
Overall, this was a really fun tourney, and I hope to see similar stuff happen in the future! Maybe next year again? Tickle my Eevee fan side more, TPCI! Thank you so much for this tournament!
Will I be participating in other official tourneys and formats after this? Actually, some of them have really interested me;
Battle of Legends, which is coming up soon, is a tournament which will test the trainerâs control of the powerhouses. Unfortunately, my hectic schedule makes it so that I donât really have enough time to pull up things Iâll need from the previous generation of games.
The new Rating Battle Season format is also making me interested; I know for a fact that my Singles teams wonât cut it as easily there due to the lack of an item. Maybe in the future Iâll try my hand at getting some battles in there to experience the change.
With VGCâ14 quickly coming to a close, Iâm looking forward to the next globally-sanctioned ruleset that will be in place for VGCâ15. My opinion? Maybe theyâll use something similar to the International Beta Competition held late last year. In which case⊠Togekiss everywhere, calling it!
This tourney in general is also kinda pumping me up in exploring options for Eeveelutions in the other formats, despite how most of them have inferior movesets. My goal to find my perfect balance of competitive-favorites will continue on.
Man, this has been a really long post, ahaha! Thanks for reading all the way guys. This is Zekira G. Drake, and maybe Iâll see you guys in other formats sometime.
