5 things I like and don't like, including early-season shuffles

Two weeks in a row now, I've promised to publish non-Klink-related content. Today [editor's note: now tonight] is the day [editor's note: night]! Since week-to-week predictions and power rankings are pretty well covered, I figured I'd do something a bit different.

So, without further ado, welcome to a format that I am blatantly stealing form one of my favorite basketball writers, Zach Lowe, entitled Things I like and don't like.

The premise is simple: I'll be taking notes on "things" in the league, some of which I like, and some of which I don't like. Some "things" might be general trends, whereas others will be singling out individual plays, Pokemon, teams, etc. Once I've found an appropriate number of things, I'll write one of these columns. I can't promise these columns will be weekly—like most of us, the amount of time I can put into Pokemon varies weekly with the general busy-ness of my life. Moreover, I'd prefer not to write a forced column once a week if I don't have much of anything to report.
As a final note, I'll do my best to avoid giving unwanted critiques or kibitzing other coaches. It's not my intent to make anyone feel singled out.

Without any further introduction, let's get into this week's list:

1. Forfeited matches (especially when they were matches I wanted to see!)
I'm adding this one late: forfeited matches fit firmly in the "things I don't like" category. I was hyped to see Galesburg face off against Michigan's new and improved lineup. The Gliscors were one of Week 1's big winners in the power rankings, and getting to see the team in action again would have been a treat.
As such, the Gliscors' matchup with the Chicago Tauros should be on your radar in Week 3. Not only is it a showdown of Mega Latios and Mega Latias, but the match has serious repercussions for the Alola Division. A Galesburg victory would see the Gliscors undefeated in division play, while a win for the Tauros would put the two teams even in the win/loss column. Both teams will be aiming to assert themselves, and Chicago will be looking for a bounce back win after last week.

2. RDL's resident warlock

You're going to have to forgive me immediately, because we're going to take a brief journey that will seem, for a time, completely irrelevant to Pokemon. It'll relate. Loosely. But it'll relate. I promise.

In real life, I am a fairly tall human. It's rare for me to run into anyone taller than myself. Being tall means being legally obligated to enjoy basketball. Hence, besides knowing a fair bit about Pokemon, I also know a fair bit about the National Basketball Association.

In the NBA, there's a guy by the name of Rick Carlisle, head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Carlisle has an incredible reputation within the league for always finding a way to get things to work. Carlisle is both knowledgeable and creative—he looks at the players he has and finds ways to get the best out of each of them whilst covering their weaknesses. Zach Lowe—the ESPN sports journalist from whom I stole this format—refers to Carlisle, deservedly, as a basketball warlock.

In reviewing some of last season's playoff games, alongside watching the matches for this week, one player's drafting and play struck me as particularly Carlisle-esque: Santoro, and his Brooklyn Bulbasaurs. This is the dude who, in last season's playoffs, ran Flame Orb Facade Salamence against Season 1's Coach of the Year. In the playoffs. This season has seen the advent of bulky Recycle Curselax sporting Facade, active in both weeks and seeing substantial use in both games.

Moreover, in acquiring Starmie, Santoro adds a speedy and versatile Pokemon to the lineup. Starmie is a fantastic addition—it can Rapid Spin, heal itself, and run attacking sets that threaten whole rosters (an aside: I almost took Starmie over Gyarados in my preseason swap, but decided to go with Gyarados for the ground immunity and mixed bulk). 

Santoro is 2-0 in his first two games, with only Liam's Atlanta Rowlets standing in the way of a 3-0 victory in the first set of division matchups.

3. Early-season free agent action

Thing 1 and Thing 2 have both touched on this: I've enjoyed seeing teams retool and rework so early in the season. This season's draft saw plenty of enticing Pokemon left on the draft board, and many coaches have taken early advantage, shuffling their rosters to prepare for a multi-month regular season. Let's cover a few of the ones I like:

• The Detroit Lairons capped their team's free agent transaction limit on Friday night, exchanging Scizor for Latios. The team also swapped for Gliscor and Sharpedo after their Week 1 loss to Indianapolis. Before these roster switches, no Pokemon on the Lairons' roster boasted a base speed over 65. For a stall team, this might not seem like a huge deal, but running too many slow Pokemon in a league format that gives opponents ample time to prepare for each battle means opponents can afford to skimp on positive speed natures. The presence of speedier threats like Sharpedo and Latios will keep offensively geared teams running a few more positive speed natures in order to keep up, affording Cossak's walls extra survivability. Hopefully it'll afford the team some breathing room going into a brutal schedule over the next few weeks.
• Kansas City swapped Skarmory and Venomoth (RIP All-Terrain-Venomoth) for Nidoqueen and Manaphy. Dropping Skarmory for Manaphy makes a ton of sense for Clutch, giving him a dangerous special attacker to pair with Terrakion's fantastic wallbreaking abilities. Acquiring Nidoqueen gives the team another option for setting Stealth Rocks, lessening the pain of losing Skarmory. Nidoqueen is also a much better fit for the team than Venomoth, making the swap all the less painful.
• I'm intrigued by the roster flip that the Rochester Roggenrolas made after their loss in week 1. Kudos to Andrew and Nick for not clinging too tightly to their initial team and remaining flexible. As seen this week, Mantine brings fantastic special bulk to the table. Mantine also has switching synergy with many of Rochester's other Pokemon, which could lead to a nasty surprise for anyone that forgot that Manectric can pack Lightning Rod before it mega evolves. Breloom comes with two fantastic abilities and a 100% accurate sleep, and Salazzle packs a fantastic dual-STAB (also, keeping Tentacruel would have been mostly redundant with Mantine).
• Akron picked up Mega Medicham, Gourgeist, and Sneasel in free agency, whilst acquiring Hitmontop for Meloetta in a trade with Indianapolis. Adam's Alakazams were a tough enough team to prepare for before the switches, packing Cresselia as a catch-all wall, heavy-hitters in Volcanion and Zygarde 50%, and a squad of Pokemon capable of supporting the team while still threatening the opponent. Mega Medicham gives the Alakazams another powerful hole-puncher, while Gourgeist and Sneasel fill in as useful supporting cast members from week to week. Sneasel lacks the same oomph that Weavile packs, but at base 115 speed, it'll outrun a few teams' entire rosters.

4. Stubborn, premature setup sweepers

Multiple coaches are guilty of this—a few in week 1, but even more in week 2. If you've played much competitive Pokemon, you've seen it dozens of times: a player goes for an early or mid-game set up with a powerful sweeper, nabbing a boost on a predicted switch, only to lose their sweeper after they realize too late that they hadn't softened up the other team quite enough. Sometimes, it's a desperation move. Other times, it's flat-out greedy. In all cases, misplaying the situation is likely to cost you your sweeper far earlier than you intended.

Mid-game boosts don't always fall under this category. A wallbreaker like Alolan Marowak can almost always afford to go for a Swords Dance on a predicted switch, licking its chops as it prepares to punch a hole in whatever dares come out. The key to doing this successfully, however, is not falling for the sunken cost fallacy that comes with setup. Getting to +2 Attack and Speed with Dragonite or Salamence means little if your opponent is packing a powerful Ice Shard user in the back. Instead, leverage the fact that your opponent can't afford *not* to make the play that would kill your sweeper, then snag switching advantage and keep the momentum going. Moreover, if you think your opponent expects your setup move and is going to switch straight to their counter, consider going straight for an attack or double-switching. Getting too invested in premature setup can swing the balance of games.

5. Metronome Blissey

Thank you, Nadia, for running this set against the Roggenrolas this week. As a kid, using Metronome on Togepi in Pokemon Gold was an endlessly entertaining pastime, because, every so often, Togepi would take a break from spamming useless moves to surprise everyone with Sacred Fire (or, better yet, Explosion). Running Metronome on a Blissey made me smile, and was a solid reminder that, ultimately, league play is still primarily about having fun.

That's all for now. As always, thank you for reading! Expect another edition of Things I like and don't like after Week 4, or whenever I have enough points to write on again!

Week 2: NYK vs. DET

At midnight tonight, week 2 of  the Royal Draft League will draw to a close. This week saw free agent transactions, notable upsets, and the season's first trade (!!). Let's dig into some details of the week from the perspective of the New York Klinks.

Before diving in, I want to step back and talk about my pre-season free agency acquisition: Gyarados. Pac noted in his week 2 preview that Gyarados helps to alleviate the ground weakness of the team. That was, indeed, part of the intention. However, the primary motivation behind the switch was to bring in another bulky, versatile, heavy-hitting Pokemon. Toxapex, which was waived in the Gyarados acquisition, was something of an impulsive pick during the draft. As the dust settled, it was evident that Toxapex wasn't a good fit (not just for the team—Toxapex wasn't a great fit for my playstyle, either). Gyarados has solid synergy playing alongside Tapu Bulu and Heatran, and Intimidate and Moxie are fantastic abilities that benefit the team. As we'll discuss in a moment, this game was an excellent welcome-to-the-team moment for Gyarados.

Week 2: Battle vs. Cossak11 and the Detroit Lairons (DET)

Preparing for Cossak's Detroit Lairons was an meticulous exercise. I spent hours this week trying to cover as many bases as possible, debating EV spreads, taking notes on calcs and potential movesets, and making sure I had a check and a double check for every possible Lairon win condition I could foresee. Leading up to the battle, I was nervous. Last week's disconnect had me afraid that I'd suffer the same fate, and a few of my sets relied heavily on the element of surprise. Thank the heavens above that, this week, there was no mid-match disconnect (for me, at least—sorry, Emerson & Clutch).

It felt good to get the win, especially given the disappointment of last week's DC, and the must-win nature of this game. Falling to 0-2 in conference matches wouldn't bode well for the Klinks' playoff hopes, especially with a hell of a tough match coming next week. 

Let's talk about a few of my match thoughts:

• Pac's week 2 preview (linked above) stated that the Klinks "need Bulu to prevent a Gliscor sweep, but with grassy terrain out, the stall gets better." I chose not to bring Bulu, because I firmly believed the team could survive without the grassy guardian (also, maaaaaaybe I'm a tiny bit petty). Cloyster, Bewear, and Gyarados all posed threats to Gliscor, especially if it lacked Stone Edge. Also, despite disagreeing with the first half of Pac's statement, I agreed that Grassy Terrain would benefit my opponent more than it would me. The recovery would have been a massive boon for Cossak's team. Plus, combined with Black Sludge and passive terrain recovery, terrain-boosted Giga Drains from Amoongus could have been an unmitigated disaster for the team, even without any SpA investment for Amoongus.
• Amoongus was surprisingly tough to prepare for. Heatran was capable of obliterating it, but couldn't switch in early on for fear of being put to sleep. To that end, I built my Gyarados set specifically to set up on Amoongus, with uninvested Giga Drains failing to break Gyarados' Substitute.
• The low speed tiers of most of Cossak's team freed me up to run plus-attack natures on five of my six team members. The addition of Latios in Cossak's lineup makes this far less safe to abuse. 
• Barring a Choice Scarf or a few Speed Boosts for Sharpedo, Diancie outsped the entire lineup while firing off Diamond Storms off positive-natured, max EV'd, base 160 attack.
  M-Diancie is still, in my opinion, absolutely disgusting.
• Stealth Rock was vital for me with so many bulky Pokemon on the opposite side of the field. I wanted something to help mitigate the effect of Regenerator on Amoongus and Alomomola, plus the lack of Rock resists on Cossak's team meant everything would take at least 12.5% on the switch, helping turn a few 2HKOs to OHKOs. It also helped in scouting Clefable, letting me know on its first switch-in that Clef wasn't running a Magic Guard set.
• I led with Diancie so that I could Mega Evolve ASAP. The threat of a Magic Bounce switch-in is just as important as Magic Bounce itself, especially against a defensive team that's likely to be packing hazards and status moves. It makes opponents think twice about moves that would otherwise be obvious, and making your opponents' decision-making more difficult is always in your best interest.
• I have to give Cossak credit for what I consider to be the best read of the match. After switching to Amoongus and breaking Diancie's substitute at turn 6, I chose to sub again. My thought process was simple: scout to see if he's spamming Giga Drain. If he predicts the switch too soon and goes for a Spore, Diancie will be behind a substitute and he'll have wasted a turn. If he breaks the sub again, he's likely to continue to spam Giga Drain, fearing another Substitute. Instead, he went for one more Giga Drain to break the next sub, then predicted a switch and went for Spore on my incoming Gyarados—a fantastic prediction that put pressure on me early on.
• I was pleasantly surprised when Cossak's team lacked both Turtonator and Lapras. Despite both being Tier 5, they both posed substantial threats to my team. I suspect the reason Cossak didn't bring them was due to the substantial presence of hard-hitting Rock types on my team. I had contingency plans for both, but even, so, the combination of Hydro Pump, Freeze-Dry, and Thunderbolt on Lapras could threaten everything on my team, with only my Bewear successfully tanking hits (and not particularly well, at that).
  Speaking of Bewear...
• Submitted, without comment, is Bewear's Ultra Sun Pokedex entry:
  It waves its hands wildly in intimidation and warning. Life is over for anyone who doesn’t run away as fast as possible.
  Bewear is terrifying. Bewear will show up at your house just to kick your dog. Bewear's favorite rap duo is Run the Jewels (and he never skips Love Again). When Bewear wasn't the 107th caller at the local radio station giveaway, he showed up to the station and ate the security guard.
• I planned big-time for Scizor. It's a fantastic Pokemon with a well-suited moveset. What I knew for certain, coming in, were two things: Rotom-W outspeeds any Scizor set, and Scizor is capable of packing exactly zero commonly-used moves that threaten bulky Gyarados. One of my victory conditions was using Scizor or Amoongus as setup fodder for Gyarados, which is exactly what happened.
• Rather than trying to set up on Gyarados with an already-burned Scizor, a pre-emptive switch to Clefable would have scared off my still-sleeping Gyarados with the threat of a 4x Thunderbolt, giving Clefabe the opportunity to use Heal Bell. Leaving his Scizor in and allowing Gyarados to wake up and Dragon Dance was, in my opinion, Cossak's biggest misplay.
• I'm happy Gyarados got a chance to shine. It's a fantastic mon with bulk and versatility that catches even skilled players off-guard from time to time. Moreover, it fits with my team and playstyle incredibly well. I'm so glad I snagged it.

Phew. Lots of thoughts. I'll be back tomorrow with some non-Klink commentary, in a format that I think will prove both fun and intriguing.

Introduction and Week 1 Thoughts

Before I get into any Week 1 commentary, I feel a bit of introduction and justification is in order. My name is Sam, though my most common screen name is Istanbuldayim (a callback to what I consider to be my hometown). I'm playing in my first Pokemon draft league—the Royal Draft League (RDL, for the uninitiated). I'm inexperienced when it comes to the draft league format, but I'm fairly experienced in Pokemon battling. From 2010 to 2013, competitive Pokemon was my secret nerdy hobby. and in 2012 and 2013, I laddered in the top 100 for Smogon OU in Showdown (Some ancient Youtube evidence still exists). I took a break from competitive play for the entirety of the sixth generation, in part because life got busy, but also in part due to my dissatisfaction with the sixth generation metagame. I started playing again in October of 2017, after watching a few battles by some of my favorite players and getting hit by a wave of nostalgia. Not long after I began playing again, I responded to a post on Reddit looking for players to join a draft league. So, here I am.

I intend to post weekly thoughts and analysis here. I'm at a point in life where I'm trying to get back to the things that make me enjoy my existence. Writing is one of those things. Some posts will dig into my weekly match and preparation, whereas other posts will focus on other teams and coaches in the league. I'll try and keep content varied and interesting. For now, I'm setting a goal of writing once a week, though the amount may vary with my weekly workload.

Sorry about the standard Blogspot layout and design. Ideally, I'd change it someday. Realistically, I'm lazy, and it probably won't change too much.

If you're in RDL with me, please call me Sam. Istanbuldayim is cumbersome to say and type. Plus, if we're in RDL together, I wanna be friends.

Introduction fin.

Week 1

I have a notebook devoted to the draft league. I take notes on the week's matches, scribble down ideas for sets and counters, and write out my personal thoughts about everything league-related. Today's notes were supposed to be observations and remember-this notes to self. That was the intention, at least. Instead, the first half of the first page is taken up by a four letter, all caps expletive—a fairly excellent summary of my feelings after my first match.

My team, the New York Klinks, had the honor of being the week 1 matchup of the Ohio Ninetales, property of Michael (Thenatural91). As Pac put it, this match was "The champion versus the newbie." To me, that was a lot of pressure to perform. I felt the need to make an impression, and a good, competitive game versus the defending champ would earn me some credibility.

To that end, I wish, regardless of outcome, that the first match between Michael and I wouldn't have ended with a random disconnect right around turn 20, requiring that the match be replayed.

The first 15 turns of our first battle were some of the most fun I've had in any battle ever. It was an exchange of blows and switches during which neither Michael or I lost a single Pokemon. I managed to get Stealth Rocks set up while keeping offensive pressure on Michael's Rhyperior, in order to prevent him getting rocks on my side. Somewhere in the mid-teens, we both double-switched, leaving my Choiced Rotom-W face to face with his Blastoise. Feeling lucky, I clicked Hydro Pump—Michael knew I was Choiced at this point, and the Volt Switch was obvious. Sure enough, Blastoise returned to its Pokeball, and out came Rhyperior. I was giddy with excitement, leaning forward in my chair as the words "Please hit. Please hit!" chanted themselves in my mind. A good read had left me in a position with an 80% chance to OHKO the newly switched-in Rhyperior.

But this is Pokemon. You can guess what happened.

I tried to shake it off. A few turns later, Michael's Metagross, weakened after a switch-in on Tapu Bulu, fell to an on-target Hydro Pump. "Good." I thought. "It's 6-5, and one of his scariest team members is down. I can manage this position."

Two turns later, as I land Toxic on Michael's Rhyperior as it switches in, I get the message. The "You have been disconnected..." message.

Saying my heart sank is cliche, but that's exactly what happened. For about twenty turns worth of Pokemon, I had been having the time of my life, feeling like I was trading blows with an experienced Draft League player, feeling like I was about to prove myself. And then it all vanished. Back to square one.

I used to play Showdown matches for hours on end almost every night. In general, when you're laddering, it's incredibly unlikely that you run into the same opponent twice. Everyone you play is a fresh face—they may know your Pokemon and be able to figure out your sets, but you, as the player, add in an element of uncertainty. Add in a rematch, and each player knows a bit better what to expect. That might be the toughest thing for me in playing in a Draft League: learning to battle people who've come to know what to expect from me.

Michael was also surprised and disappointed by the disconnect (for clarity's sake, whatever may have caused the disconnect, I firmly believe it was not intentional. I don't know Michael very well, but he seems like a very honest guy). When we resumed, he came out and played his game, landing hard hits on many of my key Pokemon early on, putting me in difficult position after difficult position. That he was able to get his Rocks up early while I went the entire game without getting up mine is a quintessential pointer to the extent to which I was on my back foot the entirety of the match. I felt like almost every play I made was either impulsive or remedial. Losing Rotom-W early on one such impulsive move was the beginning of the end. Predicting that his Rhyperior wouldn't go for another Earthquake, and going for a Substitute instead of another attack, was another such blunder. The game ended 4-0.

I think Michael can attest to the fact that I was disappointed. I'd spent the week thinking about the matchup, preparing sets, and running calcs, only to get shaken after a disconnect and unceremoniously dispatched. This wasn't exactly the statement match I'd hoped to have.

Much credit to Michael. He prepped well and played well. I just wish our first match had been the one to get posted in the replays.

Okay, enough feelings and storytelling. A few post-match thoughts.

• A lot of analysis of my team has discussed the extent to which my team relies defensively on Tapu Bulu. I'm new to using Bulu in balanced cores. The defensive synergy with Heatran makes them a common pair in Smogon Standard. I'll probably spend more time playing with these two in OU to get a better sense for how they play together.
• I spent a whole lot of the match fearing Bullet Punches that never came. Bullet Punch on Metagross would have been a substantial threat to Diancie and Lycanroc. That said, it warmed my heart to see Metagross packing a mixed set—something I haven't seen since the Gen 4 DPPt meta. I'm guessing Psychic was a potential check to physically defensive Toxapex and Bewear.
• I'm fairly comfortable using Rotom-W. In my planning, I identified it as a key Pokemon in this match-up, capable of threatening multiple Pokemon on Michael's side of the field and, in the absence of Rhyperior, spamming Volt Switch to gain momentum. The plan was to look for an obvious Volt Switch opportunity (On M-Blastoise or Togekiss, both of which Rotom-W outspeeds), then hit Rhyperior on the switch with Hydro Pump. Good plan, right? Right?
• Early prediction for RDL S2: Hydro Pump misses will give me an aneurysm this season.
• My favorite OU teams have always utilized Heatran in some capacity. It's an incredibly versatile 'mon, and I'm hoping to play it in more creative fashions in the future. Without discussing my process too much (I'll probably keep most of my planning close to my chest until the offseason), I overplanned for Kommo-O and Goodra when building my Heatran for this match.
• When I realized that Togekiss wasn't max speed, I was afraid Michael would be running Para-Flinch. If I had realized earlier that his moveset didn't include Thunder Wave, I'd have been more aggressive switching in Lycanroc.
• Venusaur gave me fits this match. All I brought to beat it one on one was Heatran, but I was afraid to switch Heatran in, fearing Sleep Powder or a stray Earthquake. Chipping off half of its health with Nature's Madness and then hitting it with powerful moves from Diancie and Lycanroc was the best I could do in the absence of Heatran.
• Scarfed Flygon was an answer to some of Michael's speedier threats, such as Infernape or Xurkitree with a speed boost. It didn't end up shining in this match. Togekiss could switch in on either of its STABs, and after a few key misses, I was afraid to click Stone Edge on any switch for fear of a miss or a clumsy overprediction.
  Flygon will have its day. Synergy-wise, it fills important gaps, and while base 100 attack is underwhelming, it's still workable.

Michael and I have a rematch at week 12. Until then, I'll be doing my best to stay competitive in the playoff race.

Godspeed, everyone!