So sorry I haven’t written a blog in a while.  Specifically, a GAMING related blog.  I started a new job recently, and even MORE recently blew my back out so it’s been tough to find time to write.

Despite my back feeling like crap, last weekend JDubz and I took a trip up to Sturbridge, MA to attend the 2014 Spring Regionals of the Pokemon Video Game Championships (PVGC).  I had been preparing a team for a month so I wasn’t going to skip the competition!

Want to hear about my team/strategy?  If you have any suggestions please comment!

Introducing my team!!

• Blastoise
• Gengar
• Kangashkan
• Dragonite
• Marowak
• Zoroark

You might think… that’s kind of a weird doubles team.  I’m not a big fan of gimmicks or relying on status moves to win battles.  I’m more of a guns blazing, offense-only kind of player.  So my strength is in having Pokemon that either deal out hard hits or Pokemon that can really roll with the punches.  My team is a little misleading.  I only have Zoroark in there to throw people off of their game.  He’s not EV trained or anything, just there to make people wonder “Am I battling Zoroark right now?” during turn 1.  Dragonite, while awesome, is also just there for show.  Dragonite is my fairy-bait.  Since my Gengar is a fairy-killer, I have the popular Dragonite on my team so people will feel compelled to bring out their fairy types into battle in case I’m using a dragon type.

The four Pokemon I always use are Blastoise and Marowak (team A) and Gengar and Kangashkan (team B).  Marowak has Lightning Rod ability, which will keep Blastoise safe.  I keep Gengar and Kang together for fighting ghost types, plus Gengar has Levitate to keep him safe from Kang’s Earthquake.  Both Blastoise and Kang have their Mega Stones as held items so I have options against my opponents.  When fighting a team with ghost types, I keep Kangashkan with his Scrappy ability and Mega-Evolve Blastoise.  Otherwise, I go Mega with Kang for that extra hit that you get with Parental Bond, which really helps Power-Up Punch.

Of course, my team is vulnerable to many types and has plenty of holes.  But in this generation, there’s no real safe type combination, so everyone just goes with their personal style.  My team didn’t hold up well against the tough  competition at PVGC, but I did win my first match because of my team’s synergy.  My opponent didn’t account for Marowak’s Lightning Rod and got locked into a harmless Lightning Bolt attack with his Choice Scarf on Gardevoir.  It’s usually careless errors like that which determine who wins and who loses.  Unfortunately for me, that first win made me cocky and I made some questionable choices in my second two battles.

After 3 matches, they announced there would be a lunch break.  JDubz found out that if you had any losses by this point, you had no chance at Top 8, and since my back was killing me we decided to call it a day.  We still had a lot of fun and I know that while my team struggled a bit in doubles… it will be great for singles battles at PAX!  (Btw if you are interested in learning who won the regionals, check this link out!)

That’s right, this upcoming weekend is PAX East 2014.  My back is still messed up so I probably won’t be able to walk around all weekend at PAX.  However, since Nintendo isn’t showcasing at the convention, I probably won’t be missing too much.  But what I DON’T plan to miss is my panel… the Pokemon X&Y: Competitive Trainer Seminar!  I’m hosting a panel, along with JDubz, Pete from SPNYC, and KC and JV from the Pocket Players on Saturday, April 12 from 1-2pm.  I was really afraid I might miss the panel, but I think my back can survive for an hour.  I put too much work into making this panel happen, I refuse to not attend!  The only other thing I’m going to make sure to try out is the PAX Pokemon League.  It’s a popular singles competition where you can seek out and challenge gym leaders on a few different skill tiers.  If you beat the designated gym leaders, you get a badge.  Collect all of the badges in your tier and you can fight the PAX Elite 4!  How cool is that??  So I’m excited to try out my teams in a singles environment.

Wish me luck!