A Story of Redemption - Milwaukee Regionals Top Cut Article

 

Wow

It's been a minute. Especially since I posted here. I started working on an article for my Day 2 Pittsburgh team but never finished it. I'm hoping I can finish this one. Guess we'll find out together, won't we?

Life

What's been going on in the life of Nick Borghi? Well, a lot and nothing at the same time. Depends on your perspective. I have thrown myself into Pokemon this last month, and I guess it was a way of coping, but I'll get into that later. I work as a teacher now! I have been at the High School that I also Coach the Swim Team for all season. It's been so great and such a fun experience.

I also work with a new club Swim Team, WAC (Westerville Aquatics Club). The people on WAC have been some of the best I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Carrie (my partner for the group I lead), Calvin, Jim, Abby, Abigail, Meg and Rob have been some of the best and most passionate coaches I've ever had the pleasure of working with. 

I haven't played since Worlds, where I had a very disappointing finish. I came into Milwaukee trying to have fun, and to prove to myself that if I throw enough time into the game, I could say to myself "I am not washed." I was convinced I was, especially after a disappointing 3-2 finish in NPA this season. This was also super risky for me, because I have infamously never been good at double restricted formats. I qualified for worlds in 2016 & 2019, and went 6-2 at Orlando 2016 and 5-2 at Atlantic City 2019, but otherwise I haven't had any big success in one of the restricted formats.

I also hadn't Top Cut a regional since Memphis Regionals 2017. That's right, it had been about 8.5 years since my last Top Cut. I stayed active and kept working at it, and won an online major during COVID, and I've now Day2'd 4 of the 5 Regionals I've been too in the SV Era. But those always felt like the bare minimum. I wanted to get back to Top Cut.

Mentality

Now for the big thing. And this will get very personal, and a bit dark. Feel free to skip the next paragraph.

Test

My girlfriend and I of almost 4 years broke up just over a month ago. I was in a very dark place, having constant ups and downs, dealing with depression and thoughts of self harm. I also began using weed much more than I ever had in the past. I have enjoyed it since COVID, but I had never used it to the extent I am now. I know it's not healthy, but I needed a coping mechanism. I threw myself into Pokemon, and worked for this Regional harder than I have worked since Memphis 2017.

What did this mean? Well, I had some of the most detailed prep, and played the most amount of Pokemon I have in about 4 years. I played almost one thousand games between multiple alts. I was on Top10 of both the Bo1 and Bo3 ladders on showdown about 10~ times total. I played two online tournaments as well, and did pretty well at both of them. 

I worked very closely with my friends in Smoliv to build the team (myself and a few others) would bring to the Regional. And I have to say, although with flaws obviously, it was some of our finest work.

Building Process

Myself and Lyndon (CrystalNinetales) hopped in call one day after I got out of coaching practice. I was walking Cooper (my dog) and we knocked out the first four by ourselves. There was a bunch of stuff I had enjoyed from a previous team, which were Miraidon, Ogerpon-Fire and Urshifu-Water as the first three. I wanted to take a new approach though, so we added Grimmsnarl to slow down the pace of the game. Ryan (SableyeVGC) joined call at this point and said "So when is the CIR getting added? Are we doing it now or in three hours when we realize everything else is bad here? Incineroar got slotted on to give me a great defensive backbone and boom, the skeleton was done.

Team actually stayed relatively the same throughout building. We considered changes like Pelipper, Iron Valiant and Volcarona over the Ogerpon slot, and maybe they have real merit to them, but they never seemed like the correct answer. Urshifu got considered being switched out multiple times, but after a ton of talks with Yuta, who was on my NPA team with me this year, we came to the conclusion that although Urshifu doesn't do exactly what we want it to, there was no better option for the team.

The big change was when we switched from Assault Vest to Covert Cloak Incineroar. I was struggling a bit with being put in the blender by Fake Out Cycling, and Aapo (AaPokemon) made the suggestion of Cloak. I was intrigued and tried it out then and there. It was night and day into the CSR Zama Matchups and Terapagos games I had been struggling against. This change happened about a week before the regional, so I had to adjust a lot of gameplans very fast, but it was well worth it.

Shoutouts to Liv Parson for the nicknames, they gave me a solid chuckle in the early rounds when I was not feeling good. Helped lighten my mood. Pilates the Grimmsnarl was so absurd I couldn't help but laugh.

The Team

Here is the link to the SPAMS doc showing leads/backs and matchup plans. I didn't really take notes on what to do unfortunately for y'all. I had everything pretty much memorized

Miraidon

                                                                Tron (Miraidon) @ Choice Specs  

                                                                Ability: Hadron Engine  

                                                                Tera Type: Fairy  

                                                                EVs: 68 HP / 76 Def / 220 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe  

                                                                Timid Nature  

                                                                - Electro Drift  

                                                                - Draco Meteor  

                                                                - Volt Switch  

                                                                - Dazzling Gleam

My take Day 1 of the format was that Miraidon would be the best Pokemon in the format. Not going to explain why Miraidon is great, but man do I feel vindicated after being told over and over again that it was like, solid A tier instead of S. 42% Usage in Day 2 will do that for ya.

Moveset is standard, nothing crazy at all. EV Spread was something I spent a ton of time on. Timid was a choice I made early on, and it was made to speed check other restricteds that hover around this same area. 70% of Miraidon on Showdown were Modest, 57% on the 1760+ weighting were Modest as well. Every Miraidon I played in the tournament were either Timid Max Speed or Scarf, except for my Top25 opponent, who's Miraidon was AV. I was also slower than every Koraidon I played this tournament. I don't regret having this spread, but it didn't pull what it was meant to. It formed a really potent offensive core with Urshifu on the fast end, and had the infamous "BoltBeamSpeedSandwich." 

EVs do some simple stuff. Speed outruns Palkia-O and Sneasler if it gets Paralyzed by Grimmsnarl, although the big thing is that it outruns Robbie's Zacian spread that he made public and most people were running. I managed to dodge Zacian, but my friends didn't. HP/SpD lives a HH CSR LO Astral Barrage with Light Screen up 14/16ths of the time. The HP/Def lives a 92+ Zacian's Play Rough at either Neutral (post-Intim) or with a Reflect up 14/16ths of the time. SpA Investment is the minimum to OHKO 4/4 Zamazenta, which did come up. Between Screens and Intimidate support, I felt fine gimping some of the calcs in order to get more things, so I wasn't bothered by the 12%'s.

Calyrex-Ice

                                                                Secretariat (Calyrex-Ice) @ Never-Melt Ice  

                                                                Ability: As One (Glastrier)  

                                                                Tera Type: Water  

                                                                EVs: 252 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SpD / 116 Spe  

                                                                Adamant Nature  

                                                                - Protect  

                                                                - Glacial Lance  

                                                                - High Horsepower  

                                                                - Trick Room

Ice Rider is the restricted I have by far the most experience with. I've used it at all 3 of my restricted format events this generation, being Indy 2024, Worlds 2024 and now Milwaukee 2025. And boy do I have a hot take. I think Clear Amulet is a bad item on Calyrex Ice Rider. Or atleast, it's bad on most teams. The damage boost you get is such a drastic difference. By changing my item, and changing how I had to play into Incineroar, I was not only stronger, but also faster and bulkier on average than every other CIR in the field. If I rebuilt this team 100 times, it would end up Never-Melt Ice every single time.

Tera Water is standard, great defensive typing into ZacOgre teams and for the Sun matchups. There were a couple of times I wished I was Tera Fire, but I don't regret this decision. I also hate High Horsepower as a move, but nothing was good enough to fill the slot. Tantrum is too weak and CC coverage was unnecessary. Give it Headlong Rush next gen imo.

The EV Spread was a work of art. This is the first 100% Trey approved spread that I made myself, which made me super happy. Attack stat hits the 2nd bump which with NMI puts CIR just above the strength of a Clear Amulet CIR's Glacial Lance; which can drastically change how some matchups play. The Speed stat was to be a part of a congaline with Grimmsnarl and Incineroar. Incineroar ended up dropping off in terms of speed, so it was two Pokemon dancing by themselves. 85 Speed stat outruns paralyzed 169's or slower such as Urshifu, Tera'd Lando-I and Tera'd Chi-Yu. HP dump due to HP being its lowest defensive stat. The HP/SpD lives a Timid Spell Tag Astral Barrage from full HP. 4 into Defense.

Grimmsnarl

                                                                Pilates (Grimmsnarl) @ Light Clay  

                                                                Ability: Prankster  

                                                                Tera Type: Ghost  

                                                                EVs: 205 HP / 1 Atk / 157 Def / 1 SpA / 117 SpD / 29 Spe  

                                                                Calm Nature  

                                                                IVs: 0 Atk  

                                                                - Foul Play  

                                                                - Reflect  

                                                                - Thunder Wave  

                                                                - Light Screen

Grimmsnarl got a ton of use throughout the tournament. Carried me through some really poor play on my part by increasing bulk and allowing me to misplay. I think this was a unique take on the team not many people were doing at the time, which caused people to have to drastically change their gameplans into CIR/Mirai. 

Foul Play was chosen to help against CIR and Lunala, as well as forcing CSR to Tera. Spirit Break would not have been very useful throughout my run, and Foul Play won me several games that would have been drastically different without it. Thunder Wave got clicked 5 times throughout the whole tournament, and Scary Face would have been better for my run. I also didn't get a single Full Paralysis the whole tournament, which I found funny. I clicked it a ton more in practice than the actual regional. I don't regret Thunder Wave, but it wasn't the best move for my run. Tera Ghost usually gets clicked only when I'm losing the game haha. I clicked it twice to avoid a Fake Out and it didn't work out either time. It was instrumental in my Chien-Pao Dnite/Entei matchup, but I managed to end up skipping the one round I would have fought it.

The spread is great, one of the best we've ever concocted. 29 Speed puts it 1 below my CIR, so under Trick Room I can chip things and then pick up a KO with Lance, outside of TR, Lance can break Lunala Shadow Shield and then get KO'd by Foul Play. 205 HP / 157 Def lives a Jolly Ogrepon crit Ivy Cudgel. It also lives a Tera-Water Scarf Urshifu Surging Strikes. 205 HP / 117+ SpD lives a Modest Miraidon Electro Drift through Light Screen. 

We had 6 EVs left over so 1 into each because it was very funny to Trey and I.

Incineroar

                                                                    Jack Black (Incineroar) @ Covert Cloak  

                                                                    Ability: Intimidate  

                                                                    Tera Type: Fairy  

                                                                    EVs: 244 HP / 188 Def / 76 SpD  

                                                                    Impish Nature  

                                                                    IVs: 29 Spe  

                                                                    - Knock Off  

                                                                    - Fake Out  

                                                                    - Parting Shot  

                                                                    - Will-O-Wisp

Incineroar got added for bulk and pivoting, as well as to add a very potent mode defensive backbone with Grimmsnarl. A big thing you always have to be doing with damage reduction is playing around crits. You cannot ever rely on them. They are the side to the main course of the team. Fake Out was something I was never going to give up, and it made the team feel so much more comfortable to pilot.

I already talked about Covert Cloak earlier. Tera Fairy was a choice that was made because while Bug is better into CSR Zama explicitly, Fairy is a generally better defensive typing. Very happy I made this decision, as I played multiple Matchups where Fairy Incin was useful, and I played a single CSR Zama comp. Wisp got chosen when I switched off AV to help a bit more against the Zamazenta. Wisp was useful, I wish I had Helping Hand in retrospect, but I don't think it would have made /that/ big of a change.

The EV Spread is simple. When I decided on Covert Cloak, it made sense to be the slower Incin. We decided on outrunning most Brute Bonnet's and outrunning Timid Kyogre after a Thunder Wave. I was the slower Incin throughout the entire tournament except for my Top25 match against Andrew, where we speed tied. The HP/Def gives you the best chance to live an Adamant Urshifu raw Surging Strikes (I think it's like 14% chance to KO). The remaining EVs were dumped into SpD, which felt very nice.

Ogerpon-Fire

                                                            Pookie (Ogerpon-Hearthflame) @ Hearthflame Mask  

                                                            Ability: Mold Breaker  

                                                            Tera Type: Fire  

                                                            EVs: 236 HP / 124 Atk / 76 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe  

                                                            Adamant Nature  

                                                            - Spiky Shield  

                                                            - Focus Energy  

                                                            - Ivy Cudgel  

                                                            - Follow Me

Ogerpon and Miraidon were the core I started with because I carried them over from another team. Focus Energy ended up being great in practice, not used whatsoever really in the tournament. The natural synergy these two have allows for a ton of aggressive plays, and was a part of my favorite lead we discovered in the Firepon/CIR lead into Sun & Miraidon teams.

Focus Energy was there for the Terapagos matchup and to help sometimes against Lunala or CSR/Zama teams. I clicked it twice throughout the tournament and it wasn't helpful either time. Wood Hammer or Encore would have been much more useful, but Focus Energy was useful in practice and it could have come up if I had pulled different opponents.

The EV spread had a lot of work put into it. The attack always allowed me to OHKO 28 HP / 52 Def Ogerpon Rock with a Crit Ivy Cudgel. It also usually 2HKOs Bold Terapagos with crit Ivy Cudgel. +1 CIR Glacial Lance has a 6.3% chance to OHKO on the physical end, and 196+ Specs Miraidon Draco has a 6.3% chance to KO with Light Screen up. There was no EVs left for Speed, so it got 4. Funilly enough, I speed tied with two opposing Ogerpon this tournament, although I moved first both times so they never knew ;D

Urshifu-Water

                                                            Paddington 2 (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Scarf  

                                                            Ability: Unseen Fist  

                                                            Tera Type: Water  

                                                            EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe  

                                                            Adamant Nature  

                                                            - Surging Strikes  

                                                            - Close Combat  

                                                            - U-turn  

                                                            - Aqua Jet

Urshifu was..... okay at best. It was super helpful and came a ton in prep, especially into a ton of matchups I didn't pull in the tournament. It didn't come to a single game after Round 6, and even then it only came to Game 1 in Round 6. I don't have much to say. I really wanted to replace it but there wasn't much else that filled its role better than it did. Even now, I don't know what I would have put over it to have helped me. It was instrumental in the early rounds but super fell off. Set and EVs are standard, Water was chosen for burst damage that the team otherwise only had in Miraidon. Aqua Jet was mediocre and not clicked once. I tried out Rock Tomb, clicked it once vs a CSR, missed, immediately was removed. Honestly, not super stoked on Scarf Urshi anymore after this weekend. Everything is calc'd to live its exact damage output, and you have no freedom whatsoever in terms of EV spread.

Team Paste

Rental: S8Q9SC

The Run Up to The Regional

I left from work on Friday ready to drive up. I had to go pick up Justin Frys from his house, which was about an hour and a half. It was an awesome drive, he is by far one of the best road-trip buddies I've ever had over the years.

Justin and I met up with Jeremy Parson, Olivia Moledzki and Liv Parson (Jeremy's sister) for dinner that night. We had some awesome ramen for dinner and everyone made fun of me for not knowing how to eat Edamame.

Dropped off Justin after dinner and got to my hotel. This is where I realize I have made a grave mistake....... I left my luggage at home, sitting on my coffee table. I have no clothes for the weekend besides what I had worn to work that day. Shoutouts to Charlie for letting my borrow his shirt for Saturday. I go in and drop my stuff and Ryan Loseto (Sableye) and Charlie Pollock (SoulChuck) barge in after their Baseball game they went watch. We DoorDashed some pancakes from IHOP and filled out my teamsheet. We accidently submitted a B instead of an 8 on my rental code, which caused a bit of trouble Round 8 the next day. We passed out and I had an amazing nights sleep.

Morning Of

We woke up very early, around 6am. I'm completely used to this, I'm up at 6am for work every single day, including Saturdays. Charlie showers first then I'm up. Ryan said I was giving them a concert because I love to sing in the shower. 

I don't eat today, which is new to tournaments. Since I started my new job, I've had a different schedule when it comes to eating. I usually don't eat until I get home from work every day around 3pm, and I just eat two bigger meals each day and skip breakfast. I also have this insane theory that I play Pokemon significantly better while I'm drinking a Cola of some sort, Diet Coke or Coke Zero preferable, Diet Dr.Pepper is doable, Diet Pepsi is a last resort.

Stefan Mott and I spend a bunch of time looking for a hidden bathroom that won't get bombarded by people. We kinda found one, but it wasn't as hidden as Stefan would've liked, and they ended up shutting down the hallway we were in about halfway through the day. Enough stalling, on to Round 1.

The Run

Round 1 (0-0) vs Britain Stibora (0-0) (Ended: 5-3)

I sit down across from my Round 1. I take a long time setting up my switch because I'm trying to listen to music while I'm playing for the first time ever in my VGC career. Britain and I didn't talk much before the set but we kept in touch with each other for the rest of the day

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had: /Lose 0-2
                     I Had:/ 

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

Game 3: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

    I had to have missed the memo on Scarf Miraidon. It was everywhere this tournament, even ended up getting 2nd place. Needless to say, Zama is hard for me to bring CIR into; and Scarf Miraidon was able to nuke a bunch of my team. I lose game 1 and start to panic, I can't start my day off like this. I pull back game 2 by making some lead adjustments. I realize, if I want a chance at winning Game 3, I have to bring CIR and I have to remove Zama immediately. Turn 1 they Tera Electric Mirai and Drift into my Ogerpon, while they allow Zama to go down to my own Electro Drift. Then it was just a matter of getting CIR in and supported. The game ends with my Scarf Urshifu KOing their Scarf Miraidon with Trick Room up.

I'm very unhappy with my play, and the matchup I pulled round 1 was very hard. If we replay that, I don't think I win.

Set: 2-1

Games: 2-1

Record: 1-0

Round 2 (1-0) vs Scott Meyer (1-0) (Ended: 3-5)

My Round 2 opponent was super nice. He had Sun & PsySpam, which for my team requires two different modes to beat each one. I knew this would be very hard.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/Lose 4-1

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

Game 3: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

   

     I get smashed game 1. I was up 4-1 at the end of the game, but everything was far too passive on my end. Everything on my team got outsped and KO'd by the Timid Lunala at the very end. I start to panic because I know I can't let this happen again. I bring Miraidon games 2 and 3 and they go much smoother. My opponent played well enough, but man am I so disappointed that it was so hard. I am not playing to my expected level. I should be 0-2 right now based on how I am performing.

Set: 2-1

Games: 4-2

Record: 2-0

Round 3 (2-0) vs Josh Robinson (2-0) (Ended: 5-3)

I walked around the hall for about 20 minutes waiting for the next round. I need to lock in. I don't feel bad perse, but I know I'm not at my best level. I sit down and Josh is a nice young man, I believe it is his first year in masters, made me feel a little nostalgic.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/ Won 1-0

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Lose 1-2

                     I Had:/

Game 3: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

    

    Undeserved win. I should have lost game 1, but my opponent tried to avoid a potential speed tie between my Miraidon and their Chien-Pao, so they clicked Sucker Punch, I lived and won because of it. I got smoked game 2 and was super disappointed because I know I should have lost the set. Game 3 I also got the lead wrong, but I dropped a few Draco's and got the Tera turns right to win. The Team is carrying me. 

Set: 2-1

Games: 6-3

Record: 3-0

Round 4 (3-0) vs Jonathan Routsaw (3-0) (Ended: 3-4D)

I got a call after Round 3 that Cooper had gotten into a little scuffle at the Kennel, which made me feel horrible. I sit by myself and listen to music. I know I need a reset and I don't know how to do it. Turns out, an easy round after 3 very hard rounds is all you need. He showed up with a giant Substitute Plush with a nametag on it that said "Ursaluna." I could tell in retrospect how funny that was, although I was confused when he sat down.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/  Won 3-0

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 4-0

                     I Had:/

Well that was a fun set. This matchup was pretty easy. My opponent was awesome and super funny though. I got to prank him Game 1 by doing the TWave + Knock Off play into the Lunala turn 1 as it Meteor Beamed, so I got to KO it the next turn. Game 2 I knocked off the Ursaluna Turn 1 as it clicked Sub. Neither game was I really worried about and I just had fun, which seems to be exactly what I needed.

Set: 2-0

Games: 8-3

Record: 4-0

Round 5 (4-0) vs Rich Cuddy (4-0) (Ended: 7-4)

We were both in the process of getting scammed for drinks at the vending machine when pairings went up. I only found out it was my opponent when we both sat down though.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/ Won 2-0

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 4-3

                     I Had:/**

    Game 1 I lead pretty poorly, but I see the out. I Twave their Urshifu and CC their Kyogre, doing about ~80% and lose my Urshifu to a Water Spout + CC. I get in Miraidon for free and Tera Fairy Dazzle does 90% to the switching in Ursaluna and Reflect goes up. At this point, the game is pretty much locked. I click Dazzle a few more times and lock it up. Game 2 was a bit funny. I know exactly what he's doing, and I'm willing to trade both my Tera and my Urshifu to prevent Trick Room and to claim a double KO on Turn 1. Tera Water Surging in Rain KOs the Indeedee as it tries to Trick Room, and Electro Drift does 90% to the Kyogre due to Psychic Terrain being up, as he clicks Water Spout. Lunala comes in for a turn 2 forfeit and suddenly I'm up playing a Day 2 win-and-in

Set: 2-0

Games: 10-3

Record: 5-0

Round 6 (5-0) vs Lorenzo Arce (5-0) (Ended: 3-3D)

I didn't even get to play Lorenzo, he never came to the table. I sat there for 20 or so minutes waiting for the judges to say something. Eventually I get told that I have been given a set win, and they won't give me any details as to why. 

Round 7 (6-0) vs Philip Miller (6-0) (Ended: 6-5)

After a really weird Round 6, I know I have to lock in. I sat next to Philip all of last round and got to watch a bit of his games. I knew he had CSR Zama but that was about it. He was super nice and I think both of us were just stoked to be 6-0 and locked for Day2. Obviously every win counts towards cut and a Bye, so I can't get lazy now.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/ Won 2-1

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 3-0

                     I Had:/

    Game 1 I see that this is a unique take on CSR Zama. It's also the first and only CSR I pulled all tournament. I go my usual CSR Zama gameplan and they led completely differently. I slow the game down by getting my screens up and Tera'ing my Incin in order to get a Wisp onto the Zama and eventually the Urshi on a switch in. I was able to KO the CSR with a Knock Off while it was Tera'd as well. Game 2 I got a bit more aggressive, expecting an Urshifu lead from them. We trade screens and I get about 90% onto their Zamazenta, which eventually put it in range to die to a +1 Glacial Lance even with Reflect up. Trick Room goes up in the late game and Miraidon is able to clean up and OHKO the CSR with a Drift.

Set: 2-0

Games: 12-3

Record: 7-0

Round 8 (7-0) vs Paul Chua (7-0) (Ended: Top 8)

I'm 7-0?

I've never been 7-0. I've never been undefeated into the last round of Swiss on a given day.

What is going on? Why does everything feel so, fluid? Is it experience or is the matchups or players I've pulled? No time to question it. I'm playing vs a good friend of mine, Paul, on the 7-0 win and in on stream.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Had:/ Lose 1-2

                     I Had:/

Game 2: They Had:/ Won 1-0

                     I Had:/

Game 3: They Had:/ Lose 0-2

                     I Had:/

Yes, the turn 2 crit on Ogerpon mattered in game 1. I managed to pull it to a 50/50 in the endgame as to which mon Paul targets with an Electro Drift, but get it wrong. Game 2 I got lucky getting the double Protect. If I had clicked Reflect, instead of locking Foul Play so fast, I wouldn't have needed the double protect, as I could have locked into Draco to KO his Miraidon, lived the Low Kick + Dazzle on my Miraidon, and then KO'd Hands with a Draco as well. I'm getting sloppy. Game 3 I get the reads right both with my Ogerpon and my Grimmsnarl on the given turns, but both go down to crits. I didn't even set Screens and I'm getting crit!

Set: 2-1

Games: 13-5

Record: 7-1

Day 1 Aftermath

I'm ecstatic. This is my best Day 1 Swiss performance in 8.5 years.

I go out with my friends to get some dinner at a German restaurant that Jeremy picked out. It was insanely expensive, but so damn good. We snagged a quick picture and then went our separate ways for the night. Justin Wan, Lyndon and I went to go watch Thunderbolts* at the theatre, which was so damn good.

    I get back to my hotel at about 11:30 after the movie, Charlie and Ryan are both already asleep, and they ate their goddamn pancakes without me. I considered putting bleach in Charlie's shampoo come the morning as revenge, but held back because I knew I needed to be up early.

I get a second night of great sleep at an event. This almost never happens.

Day 2 Begins

Woke up early with Ryan because we needed to be there around 7:30am. Ryan and I both skipped breakfast. It was like a 20 minute walk to the venue so Ryan and I were just chilling and looking through a couple of teams.

Time to lock in. No mistakes now. I came with a goal of making Top Cut to prove I'm not washed. I need to win two. Doesn't matter who.

Round 9 (7-1) vs Xavier Mendez (7-1) (Ended: 8-3, 32nd)

I see I'm playing Xavier and I see that it's a pretty basic Miraidon team. Nothing I haven't faced before, although the Scarf Miraidon was new. One of us would have to go 7-0 to 7-2, and I knew it would not be me.

Their Team:

Game 1: They Brought:/ Won 1-0

                     I Brought:/

Game 2: They Brought:/ Won 1-0

                     I Brought:/

   

     I stayed the course. I knew exactly what I had to do in this matchup and forced myself onto the field with a ton of pressure. I have played this matchup probably more times than my opponent has prepped in total. I ran back the gameplan I used vs Paul yesterday on stream, and without getting crit constantly, I closed it out. I even got a little greedy in Game 2 because I had so much room to play aggressive in this matchup if I wanted to. I trusted my prep and myself, and it showed off.

Set: 2-0

Games: 15-5

Record: 8-1

Round 10 (8-1) vs Josh Jones (8-1) (Ended: 8-3, 34th)

8-1, wow. I had never rated myself as an 8-1 player. Back before these new swiss formats, being 8-1 had always seemed impossible to me. But now here I was. I was on my first Win and In since Atlantic City regionals back in 2019. I pulled 5-0 to 5-2 at that regional and missed Top Cut. I won't repeat. I won't let this slip through my fingers again.

Their Team: 

Game 1: They Brought:/ Won 2-0

                     I Brought:/

Game 2: They Brought:/ Won 4-2

                     I Brought:/**

We DC'd multiple times. 3 if I recall correctly. We finally got moved to a new station. We were the last match to finish that round, multiple other people had already finished 3 game sets before we even got to play Game 1. The set was scuffed unfortunately, but we played a really competitive Game "1". It came down to a read in the endgame to if Josh would protect his Koraidon on my Incin's Fake Out. I decide I was putting the game in my own hands. I make the level 1 play, force my opponent to slip up. I think I may still win even if I get it wrong, but I didn't. Game 2 was not as close. I double protect turn 1 to scout a Tera. Flutter swapped out to CIR and Koraidon went for Tera Fire. I saw my opportunity to close the game immediately. I went for the Tera Water HHP into Koraidon and Ivy Cudgel'd the CIR. I have the resources in the back to where I think I can win even if he removes my Ogerpon. CC goes into my CIR and Ivy Cudgel in Sun removes CIR. My opponent starts packing his things and saying good game as I lock in. This is the second High Horsepower I have clicked all tournament, and I missed it yesterday. I start to cry as I see it connect. Flutter and Chi Yu come in as Josh locks in the forfeit.

I did it. After 8.5 years, I did it. I have Top Cut my 5th Regional. Everything falls away for me. I get to quickly hug my friends, and I forget about everything. The stress of work. The anguish I've felt for the last month over the break up. The urge to get high 24/7 to numb the pain and the sad thoughts. It all fell away. I was back.

Set: 2-0

Games: 17-5

Record: 9-1

Round 11 (9-1) vs Riley Factura (9-1) (Ended: Top 16)

I was so happy. I didn't care anymore. Maybe that was to my downfall. I pulled Riley and I was excited. Riley and I have played at my last 3 Regionals, and its been a competitive set every time going to 3 games every time. This was our tiebreaker of being 1-1 in sets

Their Team: 

Game 1: They Brought:/ Lose 1-2

                     I Brought:/

Game 2: They Brought:/ Won 3-2

                     I Brought:/

Game 3: They Brought:/ Lose 3-3

                     I Brought:/

I got complacent, but also it was a fun set to play nonetheless. Riley and I opted into playing a Turn 1 50/50 all 3 games. Game 1 I didn't quite realize it was a 50/50 though. I assumed my Miraidon could live a FO + Specs Dragon Pulse with Light Screen up and I just did not lol. Game 2 I went for the Tera Fairy and he Dragon Pulse'd and I won pretty much instantly. Game 3 I did the same play and he clicked Electro Drift, with his adjustment of bringing Urshifu, Riley closed up the game pretty much on Turn 1. I couldn't think of a way to opt out of the 50/50, so we did it 3 times and the dice fell the way they did. 

Set: 1-2

Games: 18-7

Record: 9-2

I legitimately did not care anymore. I was so happy. I gave up. Mentally I was checked out as sad as it is to say. I lost my hunger that I had earlier in the day and yesterday. I was in pure bliss, which was to my detriment. But I no longer cared. I was happy. For the first time in a month, I was able to truly be happy and forget about the world. 

Top Cut (18th Seed) vs Andrew Ding (15th Seed) (Ended: 1st Place)

Andrew was the person who knocked me out of my last chance at Top Cut all the way back in 2019. We also were having a very similar story, 7-1 in Day 1. Our last event was Worlds, both trying to win the Regional as its realistically our only way to qualify this season. He was the main character this weekend and I was trying to steal his storyline it turned out!

Frankly, I was checked out by this point. I tried but Ding said it best "It was easy. Not a challenge." Bro blew me up both games. Although we did find out our Incin's speed tied which was awkward and made it very hard to plan out the games. 

Recap

Prep

I think I had awesome prep for this event. I locked in a team about 3 weeks in advance, and I spammed ladder games to learn every piece of the team. I had multiple friends hop on the team at the last second, and the best they did was 5-3 because they didn't fully understand how to pilot through some of the harder matchups.

I peaked at #2 on Bo3 ladder at one point with a rating of 1760 before tanking the alt

I had alts get into t10 on Bo3 about 5 times before the regional, and I had 3 alts get t10 on Bo1 ladder

I also Top Cut a SpearPillar tournament and another smaller grassroots tour on Limitless

What I think this helped with for me was one, getting back into the game after a 9 month break. It also set me up to beat players I was better than consistently. And even though I got unlucky vs Paul; and Riley and I played 3 competitive games that came down to a call each time, I did go 0-3 against the only players I would rate better than myself. 

Going forward I need to look into playing more against Top Players. I can pull tons on ladder but its not always accurate practice. This was the most I have ever worked for a Regional since Memphis, and at my level it culminated at a Top25 finish. While that is a bit disappointing that that is what the most detailed prep I have ever done culminated to, I think it obviously shows just how much I have left to grow.

Mental

I still can't tell if I'm doing well. Monday night I had a full on pre-scheduled break down. I delayed worrying about the breakup and how I was doing myself in order to continue loving my job as a Coach and to focus on performing at the Regional.

Lyndon told me straight to my face on the Monday night before the Regional that I was addicted to getting high. I don't think I am? Its fun for sure and it mellows me out, because otherwise I'm a very high-stress person. Its weird where I can very easily go days or weeks without it. But this month span I was getting high constantly, whether it be to numb my mind or to have fun, I was using much more consistently than ever before.

I am not fully recovered from the breakup. I can go hours or days without thinking about it, but then something small happens and it all comes flooding back to me. If I had performed poorly at this event, I think I would have crashed. Drugs numb the pain but they can't forever. 

I don't think I'm going to stop using going forward, but I am going to relax on the frequency. Its fun for me! But I can't use it to ignore the world. 

The Future

I can't go to Portland because it's the weekend of my Cousin Thomas' wedding. I can't go to NAIC because it's the same weekend as the Flag City invitational meet for Club over the summer. 

Last year I was so burnt out after Worlds that I skipped the only Regional I could have attended in Baltimore. This year I think I'll try to go to a Fall Regional. Once October comes, I'll be locked in on High School and Winter Club Swim Seasons. 

I will be prepping the same way I did for Milwaukee, but I know what I need to do better to do even better going forward. It just is going to take some time.

Thank Yous

Thank you to Smoliv for being a healthy environment. We're all Pokemon players, but most of us use it for a circle of friends who happen to play Pokemon, rather than the other way around. I wouldn't have a healthy approach to Pokemon without them.

Ryan, Lyndon and Trey. These 3 helped more than anyone else. Even though none of them were interested in my team, they all helped with prep, team design and being someone to talk to consistently, even if they didn't care.

Taran, llefface, Thacrow, Jwanie, Chuppa, Jeremy and Yuta for being people to bounce quick ideas off of, play sets and to tell me when things seem straight up bad. 

Thank you to Carrie, for being a great Coaching Partner. I started going over to her house for Dinner once a week on Wednesday nights and it's become my favorite weekly activity. Her and the awesome people at WAC have become my lifeline here in Ohio. Without them, I would just be some dude who shows up every day and doesn't talk to anyone.