Roller K
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Smogon Discord Draft League Champion - Victory Post
In June, my friend Waci sent me details about the Draft League Summer Seasonal tournament. I had wanted to play in a draft league for years but did not know of a community to play in. I did not join the Smogon tournament scene until late November of 2022, and I have been watching draft content since Gen 7, but the YouTube draft scene had died down with Gen 8 due to timer constraints. Recently, with pokeaim, Emvee, and others posting draft content, I felt reinvigorated to play in a draft league. Unfortunately, I could not join the summer seasonal due to conflicts with a summer vacation as well as being committed to US West for the World Cup of Pokemon.
Then, I saw a notification about a similar tournament run outside of Smogon called the Smogon Discord Draft League. The timing was still a little rough as the draft process overlapped with my vacation, but I decided to join regardless. This was my first ever draft experience, and I am super happy I joined.
Rules
This is the dry part of my post, but since this draft league is not up on Smogon, I might as well share the rules here. The important thing to note is this is a Swiss-style tournament of 7 rounds with 128 players. You must be 5-2 to make it to playoffs (or 4-3 with high resistance). The top 32 players make it to playoffs, and seeding is determined by players' records of the first 7 rounds, then by resistance. From there, the tournament is single elimination.
- You have up to 90 points with which to draft 8 Pokémon. Costs are listed on your pool’s tab on the drafting spreadsheet.
- If a Pokémon is picked by someone else, you may not pick it.
- For the first round, there is a 12 hour timer. After the first round ends, there will be a continuous 6 hour timer within which you must pick, or you will be skipped, and will be required to make-up your pick when you are next online. All timers are off between 10pm-7am local time (check your pools pinned message for local time).
- Your timer will halve every time you are skipped. It is recommended to leave picks (with backups) with your pool moderator to avoid this.
- Once the draft is over, you must declare one Tera Captain. This is the only Pokémon on your draft that may Terastallize.
- The following complex bans are in place:
- No Pokémon may use the move Last Respects
- No Pokémon may use the move Shed Tail.
- No Pokémon may hold the item Leppa Berry - The following Pokémon may not be Tera-Captains:
- Baxcalibur
- Dragonite
- Iron Bundle
- Iron Valiant
- Palafin
- Regieleki
- Roaring Moon
- Tornadus-Therian
- Urshifu-Single-Strike
- Zamazenta-Crowned - The following Pokémon have access to all of their forms (although you may only bring up to 1 to each battle):
- Pikachu
- Basculin
- Oricorio
- Toxtricity
- Indeedee
- Basculegion
- Oinkologne
- Maushold
- Squawkabilly
- Tatsugiri
- Dudunsparce - If a Pokémon that is available in SV is untiered, please ask a host.
- Smogon’s Species Clause applies to your draft.
- All games must be played in the [Gen 9] Tera Preview Paldea Dex Draft tier.
- General tournament rules and regulations can be found here.
- SV cartridge win conditions are in place; there are no ties.
- Each set is a best-of-one set.
- The following clauses apply:
- Species Clause: A player cannot have two Pokémon with the same National Pokédex number on a team.
- Sleep Clause: If a player has already put a Pokémon on their opponent's side to sleep and it is still sleeping, another one can't be put to sleep.
- Evasion Clause: A Pokémon may not hold an item, use a move or possess an ability that can increase their evasion stat
- OHKO Clause: A Pokémon may not have the moves Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, or Sheer Cold in its moveset.
- Moody Clause: A team cannot have a Pokémon with the ability Moody.
- Endless Battle Clause: Players cannot intentionally prevent an opponent from being able to end the game without forfeiting.
- Baton Pass Clause: A Pokémon may not have Baton Pass in its moveset. - Any items unreleased in SV are banned.
- Replays must be posted to the pool/round thread, please mention the result, your opponent's name and your pool number.
- Rankings within pools may not be 100% accurate as the spreadsheet does not track head-to-head results. Players are ranked based upon: most wins, head-to-head, battle differential.
About Activity Decisions
Activity Decisions / Coin Flips: In the event that there is an uncompleted match at the deadline, and an extension has not been requested, it will be coin flipped unless one or both of the players involved in the match specifically request an activity win and explain sufficiently why they deserve to win over their opponent. Attempting to schedule a battle is required in order to receive the win by activity. To make it clear that you are requesting an activity win when you post, you must open your post with "Activity Win Request" in bold.
For example, if you believe your opponent is making an unfair request and that they don't deserve the activity win over you, you can either make your own request or quote their post and explain why they don't deserve it. You should try to make your activity win request posts at least 24 hours before the deadline to give your opponent a reasonable opportunity to contest it with their own activity win request.
Please note that all extension requests and activity claims must be posted to the thread, and that all of these will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
[Credit to the Official Smogon Tournament hosting team for the base form of this rule.]
Activity Decisions / Coin Flips: In the event that there is an uncompleted match at the deadline, and an extension has not been requested, it will be coin flipped unless one or both of the players involved in the match specifically request an activity win and explain sufficiently why they deserve to win over their opponent. Attempting to schedule a battle is required in order to receive the win by activity. To make it clear that you are requesting an activity win when you post, you must open your post with "Activity Win Request" in bold.
For example, if you believe your opponent is making an unfair request and that they don't deserve the activity win over you, you can either make your own request or quote their post and explain why they don't deserve it. You should try to make your activity win request posts at least 24 hours before the deadline to give your opponent a reasonable opportunity to contest it with their own activity win request.
Please note that all extension requests and activity claims must be posted to the thread, and that all of these will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
[Credit to the Official Smogon Tournament hosting team for the base form of this rule.]
My Draft
Points | Sprite | Pokemon | Usage (of 12 games) |
18 | | Palafin | 11 |
15 | | Cinderace | 9 |
12 | | Garganacl (T) | 12 |
10 | | Amoonguss | 11 |
12 | | Hisuian Zoroark | 10 |
7 | | Kilowattrel | 9 |
7 | | Bisharp | 3 |
8 | | Florges | 7 |
I will go over why I chose each of these Pokemon in order (I was 7th pick of a pool of 8 players):
I had planned out my entire draft before picking, just in case there was a time conflict with the draft process and I couldn't make my picks right away. The big pick I wanted first but got taken was Single Strike Urshifu. I wanted a mid-speed Pokemon with strong priority that could break a team outright or set up and sweep. Essentially, I wanted something that could put in great work in every matchup. While I liked Urshifu more for this role, Palafin still fulfilled it very well. Between Choice Band and Bulk Up variants, nothing was a safe switch-in to the dolphin. Combine that with Jet Punch, and it is a force to be reckoned with. While activating Palafin can be a pain, it was manageable, and it has the bonus of being a nice defensive typing in Water.
Cinderace would never have been a first pick, and hazard control is so important in draft, so what better way to control hazards than with Cinderace? It provided my team with plenty of value: great speed control, discouraging opponents from bringing hazards, reducing the need for hazard setters on my team, burn passing, pivot move, and a potential offensive threat with Libero and/or setup.
Garganacl was my dedicated Tera Captain. It has always been a top pick for me in OU, and its only weakness is its awful Rock typing. It has insane bulk on both sides, an extremely powerful ability in Purifying Salt, a ridiculous signature move in Salt Cure, reliable recovery, and setup with Curse or Iron Defense. Since I already had Cinderace to deal with hazards, I did not need to run Stealth Rock on Garganacl and could instead lean into its defensive or sweeping capabilities combined with open tera. At worst, it could scout an opponent's moves or items before being sacked. Garg was the only Pokemon in my entire season to not be benched, and this is for good reason.
I needed a grounded Poison, and one of the best value picks for this role for my team was Amoonguss. Grass/Poison is such a nice defensive typing, and Regenerator makes Amoonguss especially difficult to handle. It completed the FWG core with Palafin and Cinderace, served as a strong lead with Spore, and felt reliable in every game it was brought.
Hisuian Zoroark was definitely the fun pick of the team. It is a pain to prep for in draft since you don't know when it is in (this is how I won one of my games). The triple immunity, nice speed, super versatile movepool, and offensive stats make Hisuian Zoroark really potent to deal with.
Kilowattrel for 7 points was an absolute steal. Insane speed control, amazing defensive typing, the ability to function as my Flying-type and Ground-type thanks to Volt Absorb, and pivoting moves made the bird quite great in some matchups.
Bisharp is AWFUL. I feel like I could have picked any other Steel-type and gotten more mileage. The quad weakness definitely does not help it, but it just felt so underwhelming even in the matchups I brought it in. Bisharp in Gen 9 is just so sad without Knock Off. Do not use it.
My original draft had Quagsire as the last pick to complete the FWG core and be annoying with Unaware, but I already filled that niche. Since I did not have too many points left, I thought of what could run through my team and what would best counteract the threats. My mind immediately went to Dragon-type breakers, namely Baxcalibur. Also, my team had a dedicated physical wall in Amoonguss and an all-around wall in Garganacl, but no special wall. Florges felt like a great last pick, and it exceeded expectations. Access to STAB Moonblast, amazing special bulk, and reliable recovery served well for the team. Being a Fairy-type in general was necessary for Dragons.
Weekly Matchups & My Sets
Since it may be confusing, the listed names are our Discord handles, which the bracket maker used. I am andreww7838 in these photos, as that was my Discord handle at the time.
Qualifiers
Pokepaste || Replay
My biggest worry going into this matchup was Specs Toxtricity. They have to predict correctly with Boomburst and Overdrive since I have Zoroark and Kilowattrel to absorb the attacks, but it's one of the special attackers that Florges cannot check. Enamorus was also scary, so I decided to bring SpD Ghost Garganacl, which would be a 3HKO from Specs Overdrive after Protect and Leftovers recovery. Ghost made me immune to Boomburst, neutral to all of Enamorus' attacks, and able to escape Arena Trap from Dugtrio, who I expected to be Tera Grass.
The gameplay itself was nothing too crazy. I did not expect Leafeon, but it absolutely shut down Palafin. All members played their part and Court Change secured the game.
Pokepaste || Replay
My opponent's team this week was much stronger than the prior week. Obviously, Tera Annihilape is the biggest threat on their team, but I have a lot of answers for it. Red Card Amoonguss can get rid of it if it sets up, it can Spore if Defiant, Kilowattrel can Feather Dance if Vital Spirit, and Zoroark is immune to its stabs, forcing awkward prep.
This was my worst played game of the whole league. I started so strong with Kilowattrel, being able to scout for a bunch of sets and chipping down the walls, but after Iron Treads tanked my Pyro Ball thanks to Occa Berry, I played awfully. If it weren't for my lucky burn, Rapid Spin from Iron Treads into Final Gambit from Annihilape would have knocked out Amoonguss. Luckily, I lived Final Gambit on 2% and managed to gain enough health back thanks to Regenerator. I didn't deserve to win that game.
Pokepaste || Replay
Thanks to Baxcalibur being such a huge threat, I got to take Bisharp and Florges off the bench. Bisharp with Eviolite has a good chance to live a +1 Earthquake from Baxcalibur and deal great damage back with Iron Head as well as pressure the team with Stealth Rock. I thought a lot about how to get Florges to kill Baxcalibur, and I decided a surprise Choice Scarf would do the job best. Palafin outsped Baxcalibur and could Taunt to prevent setup.
Turn 2 was such a good feeling with Baxcalibur dropping in one hit to Scarf Moonblast. It made the game a lot easier, and I was able to slowly work my way to a win.
Pokepaste || Replay
With the opponent's team being so slow, I thought an offensive Cinderace could put in great work. I expected Walking Wake or Rotom Heat to be Scarf, so my gameplan was to Trick with Florges onto Rotom and get rid of its Scarf (or to OHKO Wake with Moonblast). Also, while this did not come into fruition, I want to mention the Kilowattrel set. It was able to sit on Ursaluna while Flame Orb wore it down, sit on Clodsire, and scout sets while outspeeding the whole team.
Cinderace managed to cleanly sweep the team after a bit of positioning. Everything worked according to plan, and the win was very satisfying.
Pokepaste || Replay
Tera Volcarona is easily the most overpowered Pokemon in this draft league. I brought multiple checks in Jet Punch for revenge killing, Trick Scarf Zoroark to outspeed a +1 Volcarona and prevent its sweep, SpD Cinderace with Taunt to pester Volcarona, and SpD Florges to eat hits. The secret tech was Copycat, as it allowed me to Quiver Dance alongside Volcarona and outspeed Sneasler at +2 to avoid getting revenge killed.
Copycat Florges saved me after my opponent played extremely well. It copied Volcarona's Substitute, Fiery Dance for the +1 boost, and Quiver Dance to outspeed Quaquaval. A nice reverse sweep.
Pokepaste || Replay
Tera Ghost Garganacl covered for both Zamazenta and Toxtricity, while Specs Palafin allowed me to hit Garchomp and Zamazenta hard without worrying about Rough Skin / Rocky Helmet chip as well as Iron Defense Zamazenta.
My opponent said he did not prepare much for this matchup, which is likely why I was able to almost immediately set up and sweep with Garg (to be fair, we were both 5-0 and guaranteed to be in playoffs). As you'll see, I got to face him again in the Semifinals, and that game was much more competitive. This one was fairly straightforward.
Pokepaste || Replay
Naclstack for 2 points is a value pick for sure. Tera Volcarona is back, but I knew how to handle it pretty well. Instead of going straight SpD with Florges, I brought a 5 EV'd set with Mirror Herb to get the boost immediately and secure a +2 speed to handle their whole team. Since we were both 6-0 and fighting for #1 seed, I decided to flex and leave Palafin on the bench.
Florges put in beautiful sweep. The crit with Moonblast on Scream Tail secured it, but I think I still won for sure even if Scream Tail had Perish Song and Protect. Another fun win, but it was time to lock in for playoffs.
Playoffs
Pokepaste || Replay
Playoffs time! The combination of Walking Wake in Sun and Tera Espathra could easily get out of control if they were able to wear down and take out Florges, so I had to be very careful. For that reason, I made Palafin max SpD with Haze to check Espathra and Garg max SpD as a backup measure. The only threatening physical attacker on their team is Great Tusk, so Amoonguss could singlehandedly handle that. Florges has both Wish and Synthesis to ensure it stays alive throughout the game and can also stall out Sun a bit (hence why Amoonguss and Garganacl also have Protect).
My opponent made some questionable plays in the beginning, but it was overall a close game. Kilowattrel almost threw the game by missing a 95% accurate Air Slash, but it redeemed itself with a flinch the next turn.
Pokepaste || Replay
From Sun to Rain. I was extremely worried about Overqwil and Hisuian Braviary, as they can both break my team. Especially with Overqwil, an Adamant +2 Life Orb Gunk Shot can OHKO Amoonguss. Tera Steel Garganacl felt necessary to check Overqwil, Braviary, and Tera Hatterene, which could also be scary. Substitute SpD Palafin allowed me to set up in front of Clodsire while being able to eat a special hit in a pinch and heal off with Drain Punch. Utility Umbrella Florges ignores all weather effects, meaning Walking Wake did not get the Rain boost against Florges and Hurricane from Braviary can miss. Light Screen helped a lot to pivot safely against these threats, and it could enable Palafin to set up more easily.
I was shocked they left behind both those threats. I felt a sigh of relief, but Great Tusk and Tinkaton (who I thought would be benched) still proved difficult to face. Luckily, I had Substitute Bulk Up Palafin to set up in front of Clodsire and clean up the endgame. If they decided to bring Curse Clodsire, I could have been in major trouble, but I was spared.
Pokepaste || Replay
ausma is a renowned player, and I knew I needed to prepare well for anything they could bring. Iron Bundle is so potent if it can hit all its Hydro Pumps, Cinderace could prove annoying, Tera Garchomp could be an offensive or defensive menace, and Hisuian Decidueye can OHKO Amoonguss with +2 Brave Bird. Glowking could also be a nuisance to deal with thanks to status, good coverage, and slow pivoting to the faster threats. Tera Ghost Garganacl was neutral to all incoming attacks besides Bombirdier (which I expected to be benched), and Scarf Zoroark provided good speed control while being able to hit everything on the team with Ghost and Normal coverage.
Zoroark was the star of the show. It bluffed well and killed Iron Bundle, and it cleaned up in the end game, being able to tank Garchomp's attacks thanks to the Attack drop from Bitter Malice. ausma played very well, and it was a solid game throughout, but the mind games from Zoroark were too much to recover from.
Pokepaste || Replay
This is a rematch. Since I won really easily the first time and did not reveal my sets besides Garganacl, I decided to bring the same sets. I looked over all sets for around an hour to make sure everything felt right, and I almost made some changes, but I was happy with the original team.
My opponent brought a much stronger version of his team, better suited for this matchup. The game was extremely down to the wire, as was last week, but I barely managed to win. Props to Kilowattrel for dropping Garchomp's attack and allowing me to safely heal Garganacl, Palafin for hitting Focus Blast, Amoonguss for killing Samurott with Rocky Helmet, and Garganacl for cleaning up and sweeping in both games. Very good game from both sides.
Pokepaste || Replay
Finals time. I was already super proud of myself for making it this far, but I knew I needed to be the one to win. I had barely any drive left after building for hours every week for the past 11 weeks, but I forced myself to craft up some heat. I expected hazard stack, but was unsure if I should put Substitute or Court Change on Cinderace. I decided on Substitute to enable a potential sweep with Bulk Up into Weakness Policy once I got to chip Garchomp and get into Blaze range. This was not my first week of bringing Punching Glove Palafin, but it felt very necessary to keep me safe against Garchomp with Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin as well as Talonflame with Flame Body.
The finals was close the entire way through. My opponent prepped very well and brought SD Tinkaton, which I did not prepare for, and it put in great work. They managed to set up full Spikes and chunk away at my team. I was down 3-6 by the time I brought in Palafin. It looked pretty over for me, and I knew my only way to win was by setting up with Palafin, so I went for it. They tech'd Giga Drain on Forretress to handle Palafin, but luckily, I invested a lot of EVs into SpD, so it wasn't enough to knock me out between that and my Drain Punch healing. Because of Punching Glove, I guaranteed OHKOd the Talonflame through Passho and did not have to worry about Flame Body. At +2, I barely managed to 1v1 Forretress. Once Clodsire came in, I was not sure whether they brought SpD Unaware or Def Water Absorb Clodsire, since the rolls looked pretty similar after calc'ing with +1 Garganacl Earthquake into +1 Clodsire. I went with my gut and assumed it was Unaware, and I was right. Jet Punch was a roll for an OHKO, and while I did not get it, Earthquake never does enough damage. From there, +2 Punching Glove Jet Punch guaranteed OHKOd the rest of their team. Awesome prep, awesome game for finals, and props to my opponent for making it this far.
Shoutouts
Lady Salamence - You were an amazing host throughout the entire tournament and easily the best I have had since I joined the tournament scene a little less than a year ago. You updated draft pools frequently, kept the channels clean from random people/replays, updated the brackets as soon as each round was over, interacted with the community, and overall made my first draft experience very pleasant. I see you doing a fantastic job hosting Smogon Masters, and I would argue you are the best TD currently (from my limited knowledge of the TD community). Thank you for running this tournament and investing your time in the Smogon community, I'm sure you don't get enough praise for what you do.Pokepaste || Replay
My biggest worry going into this matchup was Specs Toxtricity. They have to predict correctly with Boomburst and Overdrive since I have Zoroark and Kilowattrel to absorb the attacks, but it's one of the special attackers that Florges cannot check. Enamorus was also scary, so I decided to bring SpD Ghost Garganacl, which would be a 3HKO from Specs Overdrive after Protect and Leftovers recovery. Ghost made me immune to Boomburst, neutral to all of Enamorus' attacks, and able to escape Arena Trap from Dugtrio, who I expected to be Tera Grass.
The gameplay itself was nothing too crazy. I did not expect Leafeon, but it absolutely shut down Palafin. All members played their part and Court Change secured the game.
Pokepaste || Replay
My opponent's team this week was much stronger than the prior week. Obviously, Tera Annihilape is the biggest threat on their team, but I have a lot of answers for it. Red Card Amoonguss can get rid of it if it sets up, it can Spore if Defiant, Kilowattrel can Feather Dance if Vital Spirit, and Zoroark is immune to its stabs, forcing awkward prep.
This was my worst played game of the whole league. I started so strong with Kilowattrel, being able to scout for a bunch of sets and chipping down the walls, but after Iron Treads tanked my Pyro Ball thanks to Occa Berry, I played awfully. If it weren't for my lucky burn, Rapid Spin from Iron Treads into Final Gambit from Annihilape would have knocked out Amoonguss. Luckily, I lived Final Gambit on 2% and managed to gain enough health back thanks to Regenerator. I didn't deserve to win that game.
Pokepaste || Replay
Thanks to Baxcalibur being such a huge threat, I got to take Bisharp and Florges off the bench. Bisharp with Eviolite has a good chance to live a +1 Earthquake from Baxcalibur and deal great damage back with Iron Head as well as pressure the team with Stealth Rock. I thought a lot about how to get Florges to kill Baxcalibur, and I decided a surprise Choice Scarf would do the job best. Palafin outsped Baxcalibur and could Taunt to prevent setup.
Turn 2 was such a good feeling with Baxcalibur dropping in one hit to Scarf Moonblast. It made the game a lot easier, and I was able to slowly work my way to a win.
Pokepaste || Replay
With the opponent's team being so slow, I thought an offensive Cinderace could put in great work. I expected Walking Wake or Rotom Heat to be Scarf, so my gameplan was to Trick with Florges onto Rotom and get rid of its Scarf (or to OHKO Wake with Moonblast). Also, while this did not come into fruition, I want to mention the Kilowattrel set. It was able to sit on Ursaluna while Flame Orb wore it down, sit on Clodsire, and scout sets while outspeeding the whole team.
Cinderace managed to cleanly sweep the team after a bit of positioning. Everything worked according to plan, and the win was very satisfying.
Pokepaste || Replay
Tera Volcarona is easily the most overpowered Pokemon in this draft league. I brought multiple checks in Jet Punch for revenge killing, Trick Scarf Zoroark to outspeed a +1 Volcarona and prevent its sweep, SpD Cinderace with Taunt to pester Volcarona, and SpD Florges to eat hits. The secret tech was Copycat, as it allowed me to Quiver Dance alongside Volcarona and outspeed Sneasler at +2 to avoid getting revenge killed.
Copycat Florges saved me after my opponent played extremely well. It copied Volcarona's Substitute, Fiery Dance for the +1 boost, and Quiver Dance to outspeed Quaquaval. A nice reverse sweep.
Pokepaste || Replay
Tera Ghost Garganacl covered for both Zamazenta and Toxtricity, while Specs Palafin allowed me to hit Garchomp and Zamazenta hard without worrying about Rough Skin / Rocky Helmet chip as well as Iron Defense Zamazenta.
My opponent said he did not prepare much for this matchup, which is likely why I was able to almost immediately set up and sweep with Garg (to be fair, we were both 5-0 and guaranteed to be in playoffs). As you'll see, I got to face him again in the Semifinals, and that game was much more competitive. This one was fairly straightforward.
Pokepaste || Replay
Naclstack for 2 points is a value pick for sure. Tera Volcarona is back, but I knew how to handle it pretty well. Instead of going straight SpD with Florges, I brought a 5 EV'd set with Mirror Herb to get the boost immediately and secure a +2 speed to handle their whole team. Since we were both 6-0 and fighting for #1 seed, I decided to flex and leave Palafin on the bench.
Florges put in beautiful sweep. The crit with Moonblast on Scream Tail secured it, but I think I still won for sure even if Scream Tail had Perish Song and Protect. Another fun win, but it was time to lock in for playoffs.
Playoffs
Pokepaste || Replay
Playoffs time! The combination of Walking Wake in Sun and Tera Espathra could easily get out of control if they were able to wear down and take out Florges, so I had to be very careful. For that reason, I made Palafin max SpD with Haze to check Espathra and Garg max SpD as a backup measure. The only threatening physical attacker on their team is Great Tusk, so Amoonguss could singlehandedly handle that. Florges has both Wish and Synthesis to ensure it stays alive throughout the game and can also stall out Sun a bit (hence why Amoonguss and Garganacl also have Protect).
My opponent made some questionable plays in the beginning, but it was overall a close game. Kilowattrel almost threw the game by missing a 95% accurate Air Slash, but it redeemed itself with a flinch the next turn.
Pokepaste || Replay
From Sun to Rain. I was extremely worried about Overqwil and Hisuian Braviary, as they can both break my team. Especially with Overqwil, an Adamant +2 Life Orb Gunk Shot can OHKO Amoonguss. Tera Steel Garganacl felt necessary to check Overqwil, Braviary, and Tera Hatterene, which could also be scary. Substitute SpD Palafin allowed me to set up in front of Clodsire while being able to eat a special hit in a pinch and heal off with Drain Punch. Utility Umbrella Florges ignores all weather effects, meaning Walking Wake did not get the Rain boost against Florges and Hurricane from Braviary can miss. Light Screen helped a lot to pivot safely against these threats, and it could enable Palafin to set up more easily.
I was shocked they left behind both those threats. I felt a sigh of relief, but Great Tusk and Tinkaton (who I thought would be benched) still proved difficult to face. Luckily, I had Substitute Bulk Up Palafin to set up in front of Clodsire and clean up the endgame. If they decided to bring Curse Clodsire, I could have been in major trouble, but I was spared.
Pokepaste || Replay
ausma is a renowned player, and I knew I needed to prepare well for anything they could bring. Iron Bundle is so potent if it can hit all its Hydro Pumps, Cinderace could prove annoying, Tera Garchomp could be an offensive or defensive menace, and Hisuian Decidueye can OHKO Amoonguss with +2 Brave Bird. Glowking could also be a nuisance to deal with thanks to status, good coverage, and slow pivoting to the faster threats. Tera Ghost Garganacl was neutral to all incoming attacks besides Bombirdier (which I expected to be benched), and Scarf Zoroark provided good speed control while being able to hit everything on the team with Ghost and Normal coverage.
Zoroark was the star of the show. It bluffed well and killed Iron Bundle, and it cleaned up in the end game, being able to tank Garchomp's attacks thanks to the Attack drop from Bitter Malice. ausma played very well, and it was a solid game throughout, but the mind games from Zoroark were too much to recover from.
Pokepaste || Replay
This is a rematch. Since I won really easily the first time and did not reveal my sets besides Garganacl, I decided to bring the same sets. I looked over all sets for around an hour to make sure everything felt right, and I almost made some changes, but I was happy with the original team.
My opponent brought a much stronger version of his team, better suited for this matchup. The game was extremely down to the wire, as was last week, but I barely managed to win. Props to Kilowattrel for dropping Garchomp's attack and allowing me to safely heal Garganacl, Palafin for hitting Focus Blast, Amoonguss for killing Samurott with Rocky Helmet, and Garganacl for cleaning up and sweeping in both games. Very good game from both sides.
Pokepaste || Replay
Finals time. I was already super proud of myself for making it this far, but I knew I needed to be the one to win. I had barely any drive left after building for hours every week for the past 11 weeks, but I forced myself to craft up some heat. I expected hazard stack, but was unsure if I should put Substitute or Court Change on Cinderace. I decided on Substitute to enable a potential sweep with Bulk Up into Weakness Policy once I got to chip Garchomp and get into Blaze range. This was not my first week of bringing Punching Glove Palafin, but it felt very necessary to keep me safe against Garchomp with Rocky Helmet and Rough Skin as well as Talonflame with Flame Body.
The finals was close the entire way through. My opponent prepped very well and brought SD Tinkaton, which I did not prepare for, and it put in great work. They managed to set up full Spikes and chunk away at my team. I was down 3-6 by the time I brought in Palafin. It looked pretty over for me, and I knew my only way to win was by setting up with Palafin, so I went for it. They tech'd Giga Drain on Forretress to handle Palafin, but luckily, I invested a lot of EVs into SpD, so it wasn't enough to knock me out between that and my Drain Punch healing. Because of Punching Glove, I guaranteed OHKOd the Talonflame through Passho and did not have to worry about Flame Body. At +2, I barely managed to 1v1 Forretress. Once Clodsire came in, I was not sure whether they brought SpD Unaware or Def Water Absorb Clodsire, since the rolls looked pretty similar after calc'ing with +1 Garganacl Earthquake into +1 Clodsire. I went with my gut and assumed it was Unaware, and I was right. Jet Punch was a roll for an OHKO, and while I did not get it, Earthquake never does enough damage. From there, +2 Punching Glove Jet Punch guaranteed OHKOd the rest of their team. Awesome prep, awesome game for finals, and props to my opponent for making it this far.
Shoutouts
Waci - Helping you with picking your draft team as well as helping build for a few weeks primed my mind for draft as a whole and made the transition to my team more manageable. Even though I built all my teams, in case I was unsure of a set or wanted a second opinion, you were there to check over it and made sure I had optimal sets, especially in finals when I adjusted the Kilowattrel set after talking it through with you. In general, you are my closest friend in the Smogon community, and it's been amazing watching each other strive to be better players this past year. We are both far away from being top players, but with your earning the Tiering Contributor badge and me winning this tournament, I know we are both on the right track.
lax - This is more related to WCOP, but you scouted me out for US West and took a risk by bringing me on the team despite my lack of experience. You put me on the map and got me invested in the tournament scene. I really thought my performance in my first ever tournament was a fluke and I just beat Empo and mind gaming with beginner's
Opponents (SpoiledBerries, Jadinobambino, UselessUmbreon, pokevin03dragonite, Eve, silver grace, MachJacob, ausma, Kinetic1000) - You all were about as much as I could ask for from an opponent. Scheduling felt really easy, everyone showed up on time, everyone prepped well, and the competitive games allowed me to gain a lot of experience in draft. I hope I could do the same for you all! Special shoutout to ausma for killing it on OU council and Kinetic for putting on an intense finals game for everyone to watch.
Other Players - I know I'm not the only person whose first draft experience was this tournament. Many of us are new to playing draft, and I hope others enjoyed the tournament enough to continue playing draft, no matter how well you did. The draft community is continually expanding, and it takes newcomers like us to really build up the community and increase the size of the player base so that draft can thrive. Thank you for participating and making this tournament a great experience!
Final Thoughts
I can't end this post without flexing a little. I have been playing in Smogon tournaments for less than a year and can count the amount of tournaments I've participated in on my hands. I have never played in a draft tournament before, built all my teams by myself, and never played any mock games. Even then, I managed to not only win the entire tournament but go undefeated for 12 weeks straight. And I had the best nicknames on my Pokemon. Who do you think you are? I AM!
It feels good to have a tournament victory under my belt, but the job's not finished. US West could have won WCOP after an insane comeback in Round 1. I'm playing in Smogon Masters right now. I don't have a trophy yet, but I'm determined to earn one during my Pokemon career. I'm in the infancy of my competitive career, but I'm determined to get the job done. This is the first big step of many.
Again, thank you to everyone who was involved in this tournament as well as those I've played against and alongside throughout the past year. I look forward to everything the future has to offer!