TL;DR I had a team I thought was a great meta call but I played poorly and went 4-3 drop. Team is here and my insignificant thoughts will be below it.
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 72 Def / 172 SpD / 100 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Rain Dance
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 172 HP / 52 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
- Superpower
Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 52 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 236 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Protect
Arcanine @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 28 Def / 4 SpA / 28 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 12 HP / 108 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Protect
Miscellaneous thoughts:
Yes, RAIN DANCE Thundurus. Paired with Ludicolo and Metagross it provides the option of the much-hyped "Steel-type with rain" without having to have Politoed (which is funny because Toler used Politoed with a Steel-type to win the whole thing). It gave me a pretty terrific matchup against both Sand and Sun provided I played it right - in practice I was able to lose games to them because of my poor play - while seemingly being strong even when other weather wasn't present.
Ludicolo is a pretty bad Pokemon. It basically has to be hitting something on the field for very super effective damage or else it loses damage trades. Even in rain Hydro Pump doesn't hit all that hard and I got talked out of running Energy Ball by Aaron Traylor so my Grass-type STAB wasn't doing enough. Energy Ball honestly might have won me Game 1 of my set with Mancuso, has Giga Drain wasn't able to pick up the KO from around 75%.
Arcanine is a pretty good Pokemon but moreso in a vacuum than on this team. I teched it in over CM Cress (swapping Mawile for Metagross in the process) to deal with Ferrothorn and Heatran better. Of course this meant I lost 0-2 to the only Ferrothorn I played. If I could do it again I would go to Aegislash, which solidified itself as "best Steel-type in the format" over the weekend, and probably would've wound up with a better record because of it. The Sub/Leftovers variant I played Arcanine was too slow for this type of team, which even without being as fast as the Talonflame/Mawile stuff I ran for most of the season was still faster than the bulky, slow rate at which Arcanine plays. I have ideas for it in the future, though.
The Metagross set was kind of funky but I really enjoyed it. Bullet Punch was a great asset when running a non-max Speed nature and EV spread, although not being able to OHKO Clefairy turned into a liability against Mancuso. Hammer Arm was excellent for doing around 90% to Heatran and Kangaskhan because apparently I could only play bulky variants, but my opponent knowing I had it was great for later games in sets.
Landorus was kind of hit-or-miss for me, as it didn't feel quite right on the team but it wound up putting in work when I did bring it. It is really just the best Pokemon in the format, I think. Explosion was neat and I didn't really miss U-Turn, but my one chance to make it count was wasted when I forgot about Friend Guard and didn't double into Azumarill when I Exploded alongside Metagross, The reaction from Mancuso was great but the damage was not, as it allowed Azumarill to eat its Sitrus and still Belly Drum. Doing a little bit of damage to my own Metagross in return for a KO on Azumarill was my play, but I got scared of looking foolish if he double Protected. I will reiterate that I was not playing anywhere near my highest level.
Now that my season is over:
I haven't played at an elite level in a very long time (perhaps never?). I kind of lucked my way through Swiss in most of the 2015 events I participated in; Michael Fladung (Primitive) accidentally used Fake Out after Kangaskhan's first turn on the field and I got really lucky against Traylor in Round 8 in St. Louis, then managed to beat 3 consecutive rain teams through a combination of waking up at perfect times and my opponents making some really silly plays in Kansas City. The one time I did make it to Top Cut I showed off my prowess with a play that was actually stupid against Aaron Traylor in Top 8, and then paid for blowing what could've been a one-game lead when a Heat Wave crit ended my run there. Because of my luck I wound up in a pretty decent spot going into Nationals, needing a Top 32 (which became Top 16) for Worlds, and I hadn't failed to cut/make Day 2 of Nationals in the Masters Division. I sort of started to recognize my play wasn't good and didn't have much time to correct it, as I had a school trip directly prior to Nationals, so I wound up knowing I would bow out early and played like it.
I think part of my problem had to do with the style of teams I was playing. The fast Mawile team I played from the end of 2014 to the last Regional of 2015 was fun but not really me. I wound up with some fluky-decent placings and convinced myself that playing fast without much switching and heavy reliance on predicting opponent switches was how I was going to become elite. This wasn't the case and I was ready to quit Pokemon going into Nationals, but watching Wolfe's streamed matches reminded me how much I loved his style. The bulky choke out way of winning games was what netted me my best finish at Nationals (10th) and while my ideal personal style isn't quite as defensive as Wolfe's, it's pretty close. I actually really liked his team and the way he was playing it despite Wolfe himself and pretty much everyone else saying how much they hated it. The consistent and safe way of playing enthralled me and inspired me to get back on the grind.
It's very possible my rejuvenation won't last that long, as I was entirely ready to quit playing Pokemon competitively going into the event and dropped as soon as I was eliminated and didn't touch my 3DS the rest of the weekend. For now though I think I'm going to follow my good friend Aaron "Aaron CT Cybertron Zheng" Zheng and do what I think remade him into the extremely solid player he is now: two matches a day while explaining what he's doing. This probably won't involve streaming or YouTube but is more akin to the "rubber duck" method that I've heard some programmers use. Just by telling myself why I'm making a play and reasoning it out should be helpful and I'm of the opinion that doing so has helped Aaron find his mojo again. That plus consistent but not exhausting practice should be extremely beneficial to me as a player, and maybe I can get to a point where I feel like I am good enough to make Worlds.
This might be the start of a new era for me or the end of one, as I still really don't know if I want to keep playing this game. Whatever the case is, I hope you enjoyed this post.
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