The Art of (Pokemon) War: Maneuvering

Previous: Weak Points and Strong

G'day guys, sorry for the long break between Art of (Pokemon) War posts, but here we go with another one. We're over halfway through the chapters now, but there's still plenty left in the tank, so I hope you've been enjoying these and continue to enjoy the rest of this series. The title of this chapter immediately makes the idea of switching come to mind, but there is more to it than that, as we will find out as we explore. This chapter is a long one, so I hope it makes up for me missing a week.

VII. Maneuvering

2. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different elements thereof before pitching his camp.

This point would best emphasise the point that teambuilding is not just about having 6 pokemon, but to make sure that they work really well together. This would include making sure that EV spreads and move choices are relevant to the teams composition and weaknesses, and that testing has been thorough on the lineup so flaws can be identified and rectified, and so the trainer knows how to get the best use out of his 6 pokemon.

Only careful practice will give you the skills to blend and harmonize the different elements of your teams when you prepare them, so it is good to practice teambuilding in this manner, as well as perfecting your team in the lead up to a major competition.

3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering, than which there is nothing more difficult. The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.

4. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route, after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation.

5. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, most dangerous.

This point I would consider to regard more the in battle skills of being able to move your pieces around the board, so to speak, to gain or maintain an advantageous position. It is a fine line to walk between having a safe switch in, and having ones switch ins punished - indeed, this is one of the more difficult decisions one can have to make in certain battles.

It is incumbent upon you as the pokemon trainer to understand the risks and rewards of maneuvering when you decide to do so, so that you can make the correct decision for the right moment. This can mean sacrificing a pokemon so that you don't get punished on a switch in, or it could mean sacrificing a switch in so that you can earn a free switch in later on. While every opponent and battle is different, learning how to judge these situations through practice is essential.

Maneuvering with an undisciplined multitude describes what I would consider to be poor switching, or having a team with such poor defensive synergy that your team is unable to maneuver itself effectively. Of course, this is a little matchup dependent, but a well constructed team should still have options even against matchups which give it trouble. Referring back to our earlier point, defensive synergy and safe switching can be helped by better blending and harmonizing during the teambuilding phase.

7. Thus, if you order your men to roll up their buff-coats, and make forced marches without halting day or night, covering double the usual distance at a stretch, doing a hundred LI in order to wrest an advantage, the leaders of all your three divisions will fall into the hands of the enemy.

This relates to switching again. If you're asking too much of your back pokemon, by switching them both in, you are potentially giving away a lot of free damage to your opponent just to attempt to improve your board position. While this passage was intended to discourage such forced marches, or equivalent, I would be hesitant to say never double switch - just be really sure that the improvement you get in board position justifies it, and that the risk of being punished heavily is low. If you fall too far behind on damage output, you can lose many matches as a result, no matter if the double switch improved your position, so keep that in mind when switching.

13. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.

While fortunately IRL pokemon battles are generally held inside, and the terrain moves rarely see use, this passage relates to game and metagame knowledge. To get the best out of yourself as a trainer, you ought to be knowledgeable about what a great many pokemon do, even obscure ones - their typing, general stats (especially speed), movepools, and common items, as well as damage calcs where you can. Not only that but you should be familiar with common team archetypes, what has been recently popular, and what is popular and common local to your competition. When you are familiar with all of that, you can not only design your team to safely navigate the minefields that are major tournaments, but you can also make your decisions in battle with more certainty and less guessing. Knowing how to exploit opponent's weak points, and disguise your own is critical to making it through a tournament successfully, and can help balance out the luck element involved in Best of One play. 

Knowledge and confidence is everything in tournaments, so let your familiarity with the game and the metagame keep your spirits high as you pursue tournament glory.

19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.

Some teams make it immediately obvious what they intend to do right from Team Preview. While it is impossible to entirely disguise this, it can certainly be advantageous to have several strategies up your sleeve that are not immediately obvious in team preview. I feel like teams are more likely to perform well when they force their opponents to be tentative in scouting out what your plans are, as it can buy you more time to execute them.

Battle Spot Special/CHALK teams are great at doing this as there is a large variety of sets their pokemon can run despite the pokemon themselves being very commonly seen. This is somewhat more reliable than using rarely seen niche pokemon to obsfucate your plans, as these rarely seen pokemon usually have more flaws and are weaker in general than more common picks. Though you may still have success with these kinds of Pokemon, if you use them well, skilled players will see through their plans and adjust accordingly.

21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.

This one is pretty straightforward, but I thought it would be good to include it. Always think through the possibilities before you lock in your choices. You may not always be able to consider every possibility before making an action, but by allowing yourself the time to compute things, you give yourself the best chance of making a good decision, after having considered most if not all of the possibilities.

27. A whole army may be robbed of its spirit; a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.

Losing your presence of mind is the big thing to keep in mind here. In Pokemon battles and tournaments, this can happen and affect you in various ways. If you get thrown off in a battle, say by being caught out by a misplay, or RNG, your decision making may become clouded and you may miss opportunities later in the battle to make successful reads and decisions.

If you let this affect your decision making and playstyle over the course of the rest of a tournament, or laddering effort on Battle Spot, you can be said to have gone on tilt. You may still win games while on tilt, but compared to your usual calm, collected and focused self, you will likely be making more errors, such as over ambitious reads, overreaching for a KO, doubting yourself and choosing poor leads and/or backs.

Keep in mind that your team is only as good as the pilot, and be aware of your mental state so that you may maintain your presence of mind while battling to help propel you towards victory.

30. Disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of disorder and hubbub amongst the enemy:--this is the art of retaining self-possession.

By remaining focused, and in a good state of mind, you will be in a better position to capitalise on any opponent of yours that gets flustered. You will also be in a better position to recognise win conditions and how to exploit your opponent's play style. Just as in an earlier chapter we mentioned that the skilled fighter knows which moment to pick to make the winning move, the skilled fighter must also remain calm, focused and disciplined in the lead up, to allow for that moment to occur.

For those of you that stuck by the missed week, thanks for coming back. For those of you clever enough to realise that I skipped ahead a chapter accidentally when posting this, also well done. Next week we will get chapter 6 out, then should be on the right track to finish off this series. Cheers!

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Next: Variations in Tactics

Melbourne Battle Association: Preseason (still) Cup

G'day everyone,

Yes, somehow we stil have another MBA preseason post coming up.

Over this past week, a preseason single elimination tournament was held to prime the coaches up for the season proper, which starts this Sunday. The bracket is viewable here, and would you believe it, I made it to the finals but lost there in a nailbiter. In addition, the fixture for the upcoming season was released over last weekend.

• Click here to jump straight to my fixture
• Click here to jump straight to the match rundowns

I'll give a brief rundown of the preseason cup now. Although I we could change teams as much as we liked throughout the tournament, I decided to just make one and stick with it as long as I was in the tournament, as much out of laziness as hubris and wanting to identify weaknesses in essentially my top 6 (by tier) against particular teams. So, here is the team that I ran with during the preseason cup, all the way to the finals:

Pink Lady (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 SpA / 128 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock

Clop Clop (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Secret Sword

Steak Knives (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off

Grrrrrrrr (Arcanine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge

Fit the Mould (Shuckle) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Rest
- Infestation
- Toxic
- Shell Smash

Spiderman (Galvantula) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Bug Buzz 

Most of the team is pretty standard fare for what I've been testing, with Shuckle going full troll because I felt like against most teams I didn't need to worry overly much about setting up Rocks, or clearing hazards, while Shuckle could put in work against many by being really annoying. Basically this is what I'd describe as one of my best one size fits all lineups for the MBA without worrying about making secret techs for each matchup. Not a lot else to say in my opinion, other than observing that it was highly offensively geared, looking at setting up board position through Sticky Web, removing threats and breaking walls by relentless heavy offense, with the ability to set up sweeps as well in the right circumstances. I guess I could also stall and chip away with Shuckle if I needed to slow the battle down as well.

Being faster than opponents was important to me; as was winning damage trades through coverage, having the right pokemon out at the right time positioning wise, and neutering threats early on to conserve my own win conditions for later in the battle - often I fell behind early in the pokemon count, but made it up in the end because of superior positioning and threat removal.

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Match Rundowns: 

Round 1 vs Epping Eevees:

Replay

I played pretty averagely here. I was especially disapointed with the way I let Bisharp go down (to surprise Specs Vaporeon, no less), and was only bailed out by a lucky burn on my Latias saving it from toxic damage. While I had got in to a decent position prior to that to roll over my opponent from a 3-4 position, I let it slip and choked, having to rely on the charity of my opponent and RNG to save me in a 1-0 win.

MVP: Probably Bisharp for its huge damage output during the match, although Latias gets a special mention for saving my bacon at the end.

Round 2 vs Wildwood Wobbuffets:

Unfortunately, replays were down due to a DDoS attack (apparantly), so none of my last three battles of the tournament were saved - I have the transcripts, but they're a bit lengthy to include in a post, and I don't have a great way to upload documents and link them on here.

I sacked Arcanine early, but it was worth the trade as I got huge damage on two important Pokemon, Blissey and Gliscor, which essentially neutered them for the rest of the match. Keldeo was in a pretty good position then, but Red Card on Donphan did come in handy for it, allowing a free KO on my Galvantula, before Keldeo returned to pick up its second KO of the match. Charizard's Air Slash meant that I couldn't simply stall out the sun, so Shuckle was sacrificed to allow Bisharp to come in and get some damage off. Bisharp picked up a couple of KO's again, before Latias came in to finish off a weakened Gliscor, and beat the lone Wobbuffet at the end through endless calm mind boosts, although it did go down to Destiny Bond as a trade, leaving me with a 2-0 victory. I was happier with this win as it was less sloppy and more controlled than my earlliier match against Epping.

MVP: Lots of pokemon were very useful here. Latias might have picked it up had I been less conservative in my use of it, but I think Arcanine's early work should be rewarded.

Semi Final vs Tottenham Espurr:

Again, no replays, but I'll try to accurately describe the battle.

I led with Shuckle here, confident that it could put in a lot of work against whoever it faced off against from this team. It significantly chunked Magneton and Hippowdon before being roared out, whereby Latias then picked up two KO's, on it and on Hitmontop. With no threat of rapid spin or Stealth Rocks, and Latias heavily damaged, I was happy to let it go down so I could freely set up a sticky web with Galvantula, to neuter Alakazam and a potential scarf Victini. Later, Shuckle was even able to pick up a KO on an opposing Magneton. The battle nearly took a turn for the worst with Substitute Belly Drum Linoone getting free set up turns against Shuckle, but fortunately Bisharp and Arcanine still had a lot of health left and were able to make Linoone not an issue, although perhaps I was a little careless in sacrificing Bisharp rather than Shuckle to it. It turned out Victini was Choice Banded, but Keldeo was stil able to take care of it, and put Alakazam into KO range for Arcanine to pick up the last two KO's, securing a close 2-0 victory and seeing me in to the finals. Another close match, probably more so outcome wise than against Wildwood, but I was very happy with how my team paced itself and set up its win conditions despite that.

MVP: Almost certainly Shuckle for the sheer amount of work it put in setting up the match and frustrating my opponent, although Arcanine was very very useful as well. Pretty much everyone contributed in this battle.

Final vs Sydney Shuckles:

The match started with a hazard trade - his rocks for my sticky web. Galvantula then went down, job done as it had also got solid chip damage against Mamoswine, which was important since it can otherwise do solid damage against my team. Latias then picked up the KO here, but I foolishly let myself get revenge KO'd by Regice in case of a switch in being heavily punished. Bisharp then finished off Regice to bring it back to 4-4. In hindsight, I could have kept Bisharp in on Thundurus to trade damage with it, but I was happy to sacrifice Shuckle to bring Thundurus in to Extremespeed range from my Arcanine. While Sam wisely conserved his Thundurus, Arcanine was then able to finish off Jellicent and gravely damage Clefable once it was apparant that with rocks up, Arcanine could no longer switch back in. Keldeo finished off Clefable, but was picked off by a max speed Thundurus, which I was kind of hoping it wouldn't be just so I could sneak a win. The game was still in the balance though, with Bisharp around. In hindsight, a Swords Dance when getting Thunder Waved would have put me in a better position, as although Bisharp then KO'd Thundurus, and was at risk of being paralysed, in the Metagross vs Bisharp matchup, my Bisharp only had the slimmest of chances to KO a full health Metagross without a boost. Unfortunately for me, the 6.3% roll didn't happen, and neither did a critical hit, although I wasn't paralysed either. A close 1-0 loss, and lessons learned for the main season, where I will hopefully be able to tailor my team a bit better for this matchup. While I am dissapointed not to have won the preseason cup, I was overall pretty happy with my play here

MVP: Bisharp, even though it wasn't able to get me over the line, did so much heavy lifting in this battle it is without a doubt my MVP for the final. Not quite enough support from its teammates, (Arcanine nonwithstanding) especially since Keldeo had a poor matchup, meant that I just fell short, but I can take solace in the knowledge that I was in with a chance right to the last turn, and a few decisions either way earlier in the battle could have changed the outcome in my favour.

Preseason Team Golden Fist: 

7 KO's, jointly Latias (KO'd 2 times) & Bisharp (KO'd 3 times)

Preseason MVP:

Bisharp, for being able to put in so much work in putting holes in opposing teams, both for picking up KO's and punching holes for teammates to exploit, as well as being so consistent in its contributions this tournament. Arcanine gets a special mention for serving a similar role, but with less KO's for its efforts. Definitely surprise packets in some ways as earlier testing leant towards Keldeo and Latias as important win conditions.

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Fixture (link):

Week 1: vs Wildwood Wobbuffets

Week 2: vs Blackburn Brelooms

Week 3: vs New York Klefkis

Week 4: vs Tullamarine Auras

Week 5: vs Tottenham Espurr

Week 6: vs East Side Excadrill

Week 7: vs Epping Eevees

Week 8: vs Richmond Raikous

Week 9: vs Miami Heatmor

Week 10: vs Sydney Shuckles

Week 11: vs Utah U-Turners

Week 12: vs Burwood Buizels

Week 13: vs Sunshine Squirtles

The season will be a tough one due to the quality of the competition, but the middle weeks especially will be a challenge, and the key to me making playoffs - reigning champions Tottenham kick that stretch off in round 5, followed by two rivalry grudge matches in a row, then four teams in a row that I've also rated very highly in my preseason predictions. Should I make it through that gauntlet fine, I still have to worry about my last two weeks as they won't be pushovers either, and I'll want to get off to a good start early to get more leeway for my mid-season slog.

I hope to get more big wins than the none I had in the preseason cup, as with such a close competitive season ahead, KO differential will be very important, and being at a net +4 after four battles leaves little room for error.

That's all for this edition, stay tuned for the return of the Art of (Pokemon) War, and MBA in-season posts starting from this weekend!

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Quick update post

Hi guys,

There won't be an Art of (Pokemon) War post this week, so my apologies. IRL things have just got in the way a little bit, as I've had a few things come up on top of making content for the MBA, and now doing some writing for Pokemon Australia as well. Stay tuned for the odd article being put up there and quietly announced on that front. Hopefully IRL stuff will have settled down a bit next week and normal transmissions will continue.

As I've been rather busy, I haven't had that much time for Pokemon VGC stuff either lately, though over the last few months I've put together a few other teams which I thought might be cool to share. One is a Mega Gengar+Whimsicott core that focuses on Fake Tears to power through teams, and the other is a Trick Room Gardevoir team that is quite similar to Scar's World Championship top 8 team.

I won't go in to huge detail, but here is the Garde-Room team:

Banshee (Gardevoir) (F) @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpA
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Trick Room

Beltless (Scrafty) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Snarl
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch

Hide or run (Heatran) (F) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flamethrower
- Earth Power
- Flash Cannon
- Protect

#swag (Thundurus) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 132 Def / 20 SpA / 76 SpD / 28 Spe
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt

Bang!ARGH... (Tyranitar) (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Quiet Nature
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Ice Beam
- Crunch

War Machine (Jellicent) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 184 HP / 228 Def / 96 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Scald
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover

Sometimes it misses an Amoonguss, and Weakness Policy Tyranitar sometimes also wants a fighting move, and not to get burned so much, but otherwise it is quite a good team for being a bit bulkier and turning games in to slow grinds that challenge me to be thinking at my best.

And here is the Gengar team:

Spooky Tooth (Gengar) (F) @ Gengarite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Disable
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb

Puff Piece (Whimsicott) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Protect
- Encore
- Tailwind
- Fake Tears

10,000 Volts (Thundurus) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 4 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Pink Floyd (Sylveon) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 196 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 52 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Detect
- Helping Hand

Beltless (Scrafty) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Super Fang

Baker's Delight (Rotom-Heat) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 40 SpA / 4 SpD / 136 Spe
Bold Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Protect

Special things to note include that Sylveon outspeeds Mega Salamence under Tailwind, and as such is quite a fast Sylveon. I've also considered Calm Mind or HP ground over Helping Hand, since I don't seem to use that too often. Encore, Disable, Taunt, Shadow Tag all ease prediction, and many things get annihilated at -2 by the many special attacks. Sylveon as well doesn't mind not running a boosting item or +SpA nature if you can get a Fake Tears off for it. It can still be tricky to use, and I had to put Rotom-H on to deal with the still pretty big Heatran issue this team has.

Also in the MBA, there is a preseason challenge single elimination tournament going on currently. I just barely survived my opening round match against rivals the Epping Eevees. I played a little loose towards the end and was very nearly punished for it by a surprise Specs Vaporeon set. I'll obviously need to pick up my game for the rest of the preseason and regular season to earn more wins if that battle is anything to go by.

That's all for this update, just figured I should still put something together quickly just to keep this regular. Until next time, Cya.

Melbourne Battle Association: Season Predictions & Rivalries

G'day everyone,

As a cool little activity to keep me occupied in the MBA off season, I've decided to join the other coaches in making a season prediction, as well as taking the time to explain a couple rivalries I have with two of the other MBA coaches. Indulge me, if you will.

Prediction:

I'm going to be honest here there are a lot of teams that I feel could make the finals and finish strongly this year, so bear with me if the mid section in particular feels a bit arbitrary. I'll have to trash talk those who end up being ranked lower on this list at least a little bit, if only to ge them fired up. It will be fun to revisit this at the end of the season,  just to see how wildly innacurate my predictions were. If you're interested to check out and rate the teams yourself, they're available in this google doc.

1. Glen Waverley Gyarados - Obviously this is an overconfident prediction, but if I didn't back have faith in myself to win the whole thing, I'd be doing myself in through lack of confidence. Aside from that I do really like my team - I expect to take a few losses this season, but I will be disappointed if I don't make finals.

I'll leave the analysis of my team's draft by Tottenham Espurr's coach:

This team is the pinnacle of team balance. A lack of high tier walls is deemed redundant due to typing and composition answers. Sticky Web is a fantastic compliment to his team as it ensures Bisharp and Arcanine, potent threats, to be faster than most mons. Keldeo Mega Latias and Bisharp are hard to build a core around, due to potential set up that can clean up opponents, or wallbreak opponents. Reliable hazard set up and removal, prankster, voltturn usage are all found in the drafting of lower tier mons and can be used to great effect. What a great exponent of team balance. Outlandish sets and careful planning will be required to defeat this team.

As a result of this critique, our season hashtag is to be #teambalance.

Key to victory: Keldeo

2. Tottenham Espurr - They showed their dominance both in lineup and in piloting last season in topping the league and winning the final. With much of the old lineup returning, I expect the Espurr to be a strong threat again, as their coach clearly knows how to get the best out of his pokemon. The team also looks to have great depth from the lower tiers to support their huge offensive threats, although on the whole the lineup could be considered a little on the frail side. Most teams will need to turn to bulk to survive and return KO's, especially since only three have access to Sticky Web to slow the Espurr down,

Key to victory: Hippowdon

3. Richmond Raikous - Have looked absolutely terrifying in preseason because of their bountiful offensive threats. I expect many of Richmond's matches will turn in to quick shootouts, and if they do, expect them to favour Richmond more often than not. Also I'm salty because they drafted Volcarona before I got a chance to. Richmond may be vulnerable to some of the more defensive teams if setup can be prevented or interrupted. While preseason has seen them cop some unfortunate RNG, all it takes is one free turn for any number of their powerhouses to set up a win if they manage their board right. Their few bulky support mons will be very important for keeping their offensive threats alive and in a position to win.

Key to victory: Volcarona

4. Miami Heatmor - I am honestly really scared of the Gardevoir on this team - I passed over it in favour of Latias. There is a lot of bulk in this team, and so it will be hard to break down if you cannot hit water super effectively. There are definitely a few good tricks up this team's sleeve, but it remains to be seen how well its bulky core will be able to set games up for the few attackers on the team that are able to go straight off the bat, and how well tricks will be able to be executed.

Key to victory: Slowbro

5. Sydney Shuckles - Another team with more focus on offense than defense at first glance - to keep with that thought underestimates the power of the OU mons on this team though, particularly a well set up Clefable, who has many options to choose from. The Shuckles scrapped all the way to the Finals last season, and the team seems balanced and versatile enough to be a finals chance again, as they have solid enough options for both offensive and defensive set ups to use as win conditions.

Key to victory: Clefable

6. Blackburn Brelooms - Smeargle really scares me here.This team has quite good survivability and defensive type synergy in it, but may struggle if it allows hazards to get set up, particularly since many things outspeed Smeargle and are more than happy to finish it off if its sash has been broken. Thankfully, Moody and Sleep clauses are a thing as well. Diancie without its mega stone as well is less scary, but still nothing to be sneezed at. Blackburn's coach appears to have a good grasp of the minutae of pokemon battling, so I expect to see some cunning victories conjured up by him, which could be enough for the fellow rookie to make the finals in their debut season.

Key to victory: Smeargle

7. Wildwood Wobuffets - The ability for Wobuffet to selectively destroy opposing threats will mean that every other coach will need to be on guard here. The team feels more focused on defense than offense, so even with the support of Wobuffet, careful teambuilding from opponents should see them safely get past defensive behemoths. Ditto can be a huge pain to opposition and provide another offensive outlet, but might struggle to be used effectively if opponents manage their board position well. A hint: Imposter and Toxic don't go through substitutes.

Key to victory: Wobuffet

8. East Side Excadrill - I am salty because they drafted Gyarados, who was my preferred mega going in to the draft (although I am quite happy with Latias and Keldeo). While nothing especially on the Excadrill's team sheet stands out as alarming, it is a strong lineup with many options and a reasonable depth - the trade off between these two aspects, and that I know the Excadrills coach and his skills.

Key to victory: Gyarados

9. Burwood Buizels - While Burwood has got a number of threats on their team this year, they did have a lackluster season one, so (and probably harshly) I figure they will improve on their previous seasons result, but are not likely to penetrate far in to the top ten. Given the vast options available to the squad though, this prediction is likely to be way out if the Buizels bring their A game to enough battles, which preseason battles have shown is a real possibility, especially if he is allowed a free turn to let certain key pokemon do their thing (Looking at Manaphy, Mega Ampharos here).

Key to victory: Manaphy

10. Utah U-Turners - There is a lot of bulk and utility in this lineup, however most teams will build around that. Without too many high tier offensive threats, the U-Turners might struggle to gain offensive momentum should opponents successfully get some offensive momentum going. Breaking them down will be difficult, but most other teams here have the options to do so, as the U-Turners can only bring 6 pokemon. If last season is anything to go by, the teams that had overwhelming offensive prowess with good support options were the best performing ones, and I just don't see that in this lineup. That said, I now expect to be ground down to zero by impenetrable bulk when I face these guys.

Key to victory: Raikou

11. Sunshine Squirtles - While Mega Glalie exploding will be hilarious, I feel like the Squirtles squad lacks the ability to support its top end mons adequately. It would be a mistake to underestimate the bulk and niggle that it can provide, but I feel like too much will be left to too few here, especially without the ability to mega-evolve Sableye.

Key to victory: Mew

12. Epping Eevees - While drafting nearly all of the Eeveelutions may seem like a bit of a joke, I would not be surprised to see the Eevees be a surprise packet again this year - after all, our preseason battle was quite close. However, I feel like the team lacks synergy and enough dimensions to get past most other teams in this competition, however close it may get. I look forward to seeing them pull off some upsets, and hopefully none of those are me.

Key to victory: Leafeon

13. Tullamarine Auras - One of the new coaches this season, so it is a bit hard to know what to expect from the Auras - audition battles aren't always the best indicators ones battle capabilities. While there are definitely a number of strong offensive threats here, I'm not sure there is the bulk to back it up, or adequate support to consistently get the Auras in to winning positions against tricky opponents.

Key to victory: Talonflame

14. New York Klefkis - I battled coach Travis in an audition battle, and while he didn't do too badly, I felt like there were some aspects of his play he could improve. I feel harsh, and like a smug bastard in tipping the Klefkis for 14th place, but someone had to be put there - I'm sure Travis will show me the error of my ways, as his team does have quite a number of threats, though I do feel like its offensive and defensive depth is a bit lacking compared to other teams. Also boo for drafting Darmanitan - yes Arcanine is versatile, but Darmanitan hits like a truck when it's allowed to.

Key to victory: Scizor

Season MVP: Rotom-W stands out to me as a bulky and versatile pivot for the Heatmor, and it looks like it will definitely play a central part in its teams potential success. This is tough to predict simply because of the different metrics by which opponents might measure MVP-ness. For me it will be the one that does the most to set up a victory/potential victory, either by damage output, or stopping the opponent from executing their game plan, and so will not always be the Pokemon that picked up the most KO's. Other likely candidates? Sableye, Wobbuffet, Kyurem-B, Thundurus-I

Season Golden Fist: Alakazam - Many teams have 6-0 capable mons, but I think Alakazam's strong form last season in averaging just over 2 KO's per battle will be hard to top. Honestly, for many of these teams it depends how many KO's are stolen by tryhard teammates, and how reliant teams get on one mon for all its KO's. Other likely candidates? Clefable, Keldeo, Gyarados, Dragonite, Manaphy

Rivalries

vs Epping Eevees

Epping's coach, Chris, went to the same school as myself, in the same year level. In fact, Chris was the one that introduced me to Shoddy Battle back in the day, and so was the earliest person who I learned competitive battling from. Many years have passed since then, and a student from our old school has since won a TCG national championships, but the question remains - which of us can claim to be the best Pokemon trainer from Melbourne High?

vs East Side Excadrill

Josh, the coach of the newly renamed Excadrill, is a university and football friend of mine (please read that in an inbetweeners voice) - MVTID. We have had many battles in many different formats over the last few years, and there is always a bit of pride on the line in those battles. I introduced Josh to the VGC format last year shortly after discovering it myself, and we have both drastically improved our play in all formats since then. Now Josh's involvement (and Chris') have drawn me in the the MBA - it will be exciting to see who gets the bragging rights in our next battle.

The Art of (Pokemon) War: Energy

Previous: Tactical Dispositions

G'day, welcome back to another edition of The Art of (Pokemon) War. Ironically, this chapter shares a name with an energy drink. I tend to find tea more relaxing to drink before battles, but if you need something to perk yourself up if you're tired midway through a tournament, be safe in the knowledge that you can drink this ironically and probably be the only one in on the joke.  

 

This chapter is a rather long one to analyse, as I feel there are many good points contained in it, so you may need an energy drink to get through it. Here goes.

V. Energy 

3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken-- this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg--this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

This kind of advice feels to me like it appears frequently, so to reiterate points you may have picked up from previous chapters - This involves EV spreads, and defensive switch-ins. These can be planned ahead in the team building stage, but also then made use of during battles, so do keep it in mind at all the stages.

Regarding defensive switch ins, you should aim to not have any auto-lose matchups in building your team, and when selecting your four to bring in team preview. This gives you more ways to get out of potentially inferior board positions other than just getting KO'd

EV's are also important. Although one should not just make defensive EV spreads for the sake of it, running enough bulk to literally withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack and remain unshaken is important, as keeping your team members on the field a little longer can be the difference between winning a damage trade, and losing it, and as a result, possibly winning or losing the battle.

5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

This passage is in my opinion not just limited to the idea of switching in ones pokemon during a battle, although that is a narrower interpretation one could make.

Indirect tactics refer to the myriad ways one can adjust board position and tactics according to what they are facing, especially given the innumerable possible combinations of pokemon and sets able to be run. Although most teams should have preferred game plans, they should also have secondary plans, as well as tricks for particular scenarios, and most importantly, they and their pilot should be capable of ad-libbing when the game situation calls for it.

This follows up the previous point. When teambuilding, explore the endless possible combinations of team members, combos, natures, movesets, and EV spreads. When you think of all the different teams you will face over your Pokemon journey, there will be countless variations, so having at least explored the variations yourself, you should be able to find many combinations that work for you and can win you games. Exploring the endless variety in Pokemon thoroughly will also help you to understand and recognise the combinations of your opponent and how to break them down with your own.

The artiness of the Heaven and Earth, Sun and Moon statements are not only pretty, but can be used to understand the nature of how metagames develop, shift, and flow, and how they can often go back to where they started later in the season.

12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.

13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

Here we go again with the torrent metaphors. Water Starters clearly influenced Sun Tzu, although he was perhaps not aware of hidden abilities. Although they are saying the same underlying thing, I have included these three points here, rather than just one of them, to help you visualise their meaning. Being promt in your decision does not mean never taking the full timer to input your commands, but instead to be able to instinctively know the right time to go for the jugular, so to speak. Rather than going for KO's when they are not attainable, or it is too risky to do so, falls outside of this, but obviously this is a skill that must be learned through practice, as you cannot simply repeat this phrases ad nauseum and become a prediction god.

Knowing the right time to make decisive actions to win a battle is the key message, and the better the battler, the more one will get this right. Falcons might be great birds of prey to use in a metaphor, but even they have a period where they have to learn the optimal time to strike. Practice this, learn the time to do with with your team against other types of team, and come tournament day, you could be the Falcon with the well timed swoop. Bird Up.

16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.

This point seems a little confusing at first, so it took me a little while to think it through and make sense of it - hopefully that comes out in this explanation, and it isn't just a series of words. Battles can get chaotic with damage and KO's flying around, and with RNG's ability to intervene at opportune/inopportune moments. Through all of that, you should look to keep in mind your end goal for each battle, and what needs to happen to achieve it. Staying focused on your plan for the end game can help you come out on top even if the mid-battle period is a messy bunch of damage trading, particularly if you are able to look after your win conditions sufficiently. Hence, it may appear to an outsider that the battle is disordered and hard to make sense of who is at an advantage, when there is actually a lot more control and thought being placed in to decisions and outcomes.

19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.

20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.

If the enemy keeps trying to improve their field position, without being able to get damage (or only insignificant damage) on your pokemon, while you are able to keep reasonable field position and get damage off, you have been skillful at keeping your opponent on the move. This does not necessarily mean you have maintained a deceitful appearance - that seems something more like (for example) baiting a fake out on to a switched in Rocky Helmet pokemon, or other such moves where you have your opponent chasing at shadows by launching attacks in to switches that render them less effective. Defensive synergy better allows for you to do this, particularly if you have a pokemon that you know your opponent wants to hurry up and get rid of, since that makes those sorts of reads easier to execute correctly.

Knowing that a particular pokemon is a threat, and that your opponent cannot afford to ignore it can also allow you to hold out a bait for your opponent simply by teasing them with timely protects, so that your other pokemon may be given free reign to get necessary KO's or chip damage, playing the role of a body of picked men waiting to ambush their opponent.

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.

Time for everyone's favourite buzzword: Synergy! Unless you're looking to make a fun gimmick team where winning isn't the end goal, it is generally problematic to have one or two pokemon in a team required to do the hard work of picking up KO's - more often than not, there will be too much work for them to do, and they will fall short, even with the support of their allies.

Many of the better performed VGC teams make use of the effect of combined energy, whereby the team is able to work together well in many configurations to achieve victory, without being overly reliant on one Pokemon to pick up multiple knockouts (although picking one Pokemon to deal with a specific problem Pokemon on the opponent's side can be ok, provided it is not utterly shut down by the rest of your opponent's team). 

A great example of this is the CHALK core that dominated the Masters division at the 2015 World Championships. People may have been able run counters to one or most of the pokemon in the core, but their combined synergy and the difficulty in countering all of them at the same time, especially given the variance they could still run, meant when piloted expertly, as they were, these teams were able to not be overly reliant on individuals, instead working together as the sum of their parts to great success. While this is not the only example of a team working together well without being reliant on individuals, I feel like it is a high profile one - the results of the World Championship can be learned from without simply dismissing the Top 8 makeup as boring.

Thanks for tuning in again!

Next: Weak Points and Strong 

Melbourne Battle Association: Draft & Preseason

G'day, and welcome to my MBA draft rundown post, where I reveal the team I drafted, and spruik their good points. 

This season's draft rules work like the Pokemon-Youtube UCL (That's their twitter in the link) - With a snake draft, where you get three picks from each of the Smogon singles tiers - OU, UU, RU and NU. Anything in a BL tier was treated as if it belonged in the higher tier, since they are banned in tiers below anyway. Mega Pokemon needed to be selected in their megas tier.

The draft was conducted over a skype conversation.

My picks for this season are as follows.

OU: Latias (Mega), Keldeo, Bisharp

UU: Galvantula, Arcanine, Shuckle

RU: Accelgor, Aromatisse, Togetic

NU: Claydol, Malamar, Murkrow

The full draft results are available in this google doc.

Now to give them each a rundown!

Ah, this little ninja bug. I fell in love with it during my time running a Monotype Bug team last year, and so had to pick it for my first RU pick. It is really fast, and although frail, has enough options to not be a one trick pony. On my monotype team, I liked to run Final Gambit as a good way to get damage off, potentially wall break, and give myself switching momentum, while also trolling with Me First. Aside from that, it has decent Special Attack and an interesting offensive movepool, while also giving me options for oddly specific support sets to help get my team rolling.

Where would I be without a loyal dog by my side? When Volcarona was taken before I had a chance to pick in OU, and with Darmanitan gone in the same fashion in UU, I still felt like I wanted a strong fire type Pokemon. Although Entei is nice, especially now that it gets Sacred Fire, I feel it lacked Arcanine's versatility. Wanting versatile but not outclassed options will be a strong theme in this report. As I learned when experimenting with it during VGC 2015, Arcanine can run both Bulky Support and Physical Offense really well, meaning my opponent won't be 100% sure what it's doing until it joins the field, and it will help me have options on a week to week basis. Physically Offensive sets have the ability to wall-break special walls for me, finish off battles, or at least just generally put enough of a dent in problem mons for me to make them no longer a problem, while Wil-o-Wisp, Morning Sun and Snarl can neuter offenses on both sides of the spectrum and get residual damage up for me while staying alive. Intimidate and Flash Fire are both great abilities, so it won't be easy to choose between them each battle.

Having got most of the way through the draft without a cleric, I decided Aromatisse would be a good pick from RU to fill that role. That said, it is a little underwhelming, although the ability to not be taunted when Wishing, or Aromatherapy'ing may come in handy, and its Special Attack is not complete garbage - Fighting and Dragon types in particular, watch out.

Given that I had picked Keldeo and Latias, I knew that having a way to deal with Fairies, and Psychic types would be essential. With Weavile already gone, the next best Dark type available in my eyes was Bisharp. Although it is a bit of a one trick pony, it does threaten against opposing Defog use, as well as if my own Sticky Web gets bounced back, or if an opponent. If anything on my team is a one trick pony, it's Bisharp, but what it does, it does very very well. Pursuit Trap, Iron Head vs Fairies, Sucker Punch for priority, and a very strong Knock Off, with access to Stealth Rocks and a bunch of other coverage moves. I needed a strong Physical attacker, and Bisharp really is one. Testing has shown that even when Bisharp isn't picking up KO's it is putting large enough dents in opposing teams to help get the rest of the team over the line, and even then Bisharp is generally good enough to trade at least one for one.

Well, I needed a reliable and dedicated Stealth Rock setter and Rapid Spinner coming in to NU, so when faced with the choice between this and Sandslash, I picked this because it gives me an Earthquake immunity and even more anti-fighting options. It also has an interesting support movepool to dig in to, which I will likely use more than its offensive movepool because of its underwhelming offenses, and lack of meaningful ways to recover outside of rest. That said, Grass/Poison types should be wary of Psychic, and Fire types of Earth Power, because they still hurt.

I'm honestly not sure if Galvantula is the right fit for this team, but this is another one that I fell in love with while running Mono-Bug. Sticky Web is an underrated entry hazard in my opinion, and coupled with the ability to run a less innacurate Thunder, Volt Switch, as well as potentially useful Bug/Grass and Hidden Power coverage. Nobody ever expects Hidden Power (Partly because it is poor coming off of unboosted Base 97 offenses).

Ah, my little pony with a big sword horn thing. I got it in part because I hear it is pretty awesome, and because it can hunt down dark types that can annoy Latias. It also gives me a strong water option, and the potential to run set up, or wall breaker sets depending on what I'm facing. With Sticky Web support, its already good speed tier becomes even better for disregarding Scarfed grounded pokemon, and water/fighting is great STAB coverage, especially when there are options to hit hard both specially and physically because of the mechanics of Secret Sword. I have been more than please with the sets I have tested on Keldeo so far

Latias, my first pick and this team's mega. I preferred it to Latios because of the bulk and potential support options it could provide, and the overall versatility it had in terms of its mega not being a complete waste. I could have gone with Gardevoir in this slot, but I felt like I could do more with Latias, and that its superior bulk would help me out in most theoretical matchups, even if the immediate offense is not there. Certainly testing has made me very appreciative of Latias' bulk, even with Soul Dew being banned. Although it is a bit weak to Fairies and Dark types, Latias' speed tier does allow it to make use of a secret sauce move or two to make this hilariously not a problem, so don't be surprised to see me bring them out against certain matchups. You can probably figure out the moves, but I'll keep them a surprise for now anyway.

Although it didn't help my team's matchup against Fairies at all, I liked Malamar as an NU pick because of its ability to get really scary really quickly if left unchecked, thanks to Contrary, especially if left to set up against a defensive mon. It also means that should my Sticky Web get bounced back, I've suddenly got a very fast Malamar on the field

With my last pick, I decided that Prankster was a pretty good option to go with, since it gives me access to Haze, Defog, and othe support options that are nearly guaranteed to be used, while with eviolite Murkrow doesn't always faint in one turn. It's no Sableye, but Murkrow can also neuter opposing offense to buy turns for my own team to get set up, and its offenses aren't terrible, although STAB Foul Play will probably the most attacking you'll see.

This guy was brought in for sheer troll value. While I can assure you that I won't bring Shell Smash Contrary Shuckle every weak, I'm certain it'll happen at some point during the season. Aside from that, it can also tank many hits while setting up Stealth Rocks and possibly also Sticky Web. Yes I sort of have monopolised Sticky Web support this season, although Smeargle, which I don't have can also set it up I guess. Shuckle also can Encore attempted set ups, and Power Split to neuter offensive threats, so don't be surprised if it nabs more KO's than it should, or surprisingly stops opponents in their tracks for a while to buy time for me to launch a counter attack.

And now we reach the last mon to be reported on. Togetic was selected as the last pick of RU after my preferences were one by one taken by others. I liked its bulk with Eviolite, and its ability to also act as a cleric, annoying supporter, or, if I'm feeling lucky, a bulky set up sweeper - anyone for thunder wave+nasty plot+...oh wait, it doesn't get air slash. Still has fantastic coverage options though, and can certainly be run with a variety of movesets. The Fairy typing brought by it and Aromatisse is useful in and of itself for its defensive and offensive qualities, but we shall see how that pans out.

Overall Team Structure

I feel like this team collectively fits under the bulky offense title. I wish I had an additional rapid spinner, in hindsight, but having the two best Sticky Web users, as well as two of the better discouragers of defog really does help this team out, and I do have a few other options for entry hazards, both clearing and setting. In testing, Keldeo, Latias and Bisharp have all worked really well together as an offensive core, and I'd forsee them being the mainstays of this team for most of the season. Arcanine has also proven itself as great for massively denting many mons. I guess they're high tier for a reason. I will endeavour to test out various iterations of the team to give every mon in the lineup a trial, since I feel like there should be a place for each of them depending on how I want to run the team, and I should be comfortable with various team lineups prior to the season beginning. Overall I think the lineup is a bit weak to fairies, although this is manageable, and it has some vulnerabilities to being set up on if I'm caught in a bad position or don't conserve switch ins enough. The style seems to be one of playing from behind then coming through with overwhelming momentum, so additionally I have to be sure not to leave my offensive threats too much work to do in the late game either.

Here are some pre-season replays:

vs East Side Excadrill (W) 2-0 Keldeo goes down early to a wild prediction/poor switch in, and the rest of the battle is an arm wrestle, especially after a Hoopa critical hit on my Latias (which mattered). Fortunately, board position allowed my Physically Offensive Arcanine to finish off the battle from 2-2.

vs Burwood Buizels (W) 4-0 Latias just refuses to get knocked out, and cleans up from a 4-6 position after my hazards are successfully brought in thanks to its amazing bulk and decent power after some Calm Minds.

vs Epping Eevees (W) 1-0 Keldeo cleans up after I get myself into a 1-3 position by losing other mons a little too easily in the process of setting up the board for Keldeo. Keldeo had a good matchup, but needed to pick the right time to come in to avoid a repeat of the East Side Excadrill match.

vs Tottenham Espurr (L) 0-4 Missed opportunities leave Keldeo and Arcanine with too much to do in the late game. A Pursuit on the Alakazam would have significantly changed the outcome, and other choices late game could have brought a closer scoreline.

vs Sydney Shuckles (W) 6-0 Keldeo gets out the broom against a B-side team with a strong water weakness. Without Slowbro, Gardevoir, Trevenant, Rotom-W featuring, this battle is not a true reflection of my opponent's team, which I expect to be one of my more difficult matchups come the season proper.

While I'm heartened by these results so far, and the 13-4 testing differential, I do have to keep in mind that others were in various states of testing, so the battles are not entirely reflective of how the season will pan out. It is also quite obvious that I'll need to find new and inventive ways during the season to find damage output outside of my OU mons, and new and inventive ways to conserve my big powerhouses to be unleashed at the right moment. I look forward to searching for them and unleashing them

This should be all until the season begins in mid-October, so I look forward to seeing all of you then (unless there is a suprise MBA post between now and then)!

The Art of (Pokemon) War: Tactical Dispositions

Previous: Attack by Stratagem 

G'day, and welcome back to another installment in my Pokemon related analysis of the Art of War. Today, in looking at the Tactical Dispositions chapter, we will cover a lot on defensive/offensive outlooks, team builds, and passive/proactive playing. That's right, I've now started to give brief overviews in the introductory paragraph, how quaint.

IV. Tactical Dispositions

1. Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

I feel that there are two aspects to consider from these points

Firstly, in teambuilding, one should make sure that their team has no auto-lose matchups (or at least no common ones, outside of being totally counter-teamed). That way, you have secured yourself against defeat, and then have the chance to wait and see your opponents team, and how you can defeat it.

Secondly, in battling, bringing safe leads, or at least giving yourself safe switch in options to adjust to your opponent's leads if they have an advantage in lead matchup, means that you ensure you should not fall catastrophically behind from turn 1. 

Every team has a weakness, and you will have time to identify a win condition against your opponent if your team allows you the time to find it. This may be a few turns in, as it won't always be obvious in team preview, but one can only make use of finding this win condition if you keep your team intact by first securing yourself against defeat. Once you have found your win condition, if you can, you should maneuver yourself to a winning position, by exploiting your opponents choices.

3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

4. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

Defensive play means you can be hard to wear down, but you need to get some kind of offensive pressure off at some point to be able to win - critical hits are a thing, after all, and one cannot guarantee being able to outstall all teams just by sheer defensive bulk. 

However, to just warn against being overly defensive is too narrow an interpretation of these points. To go further, it one thing to theory Pokemon, to build a solid team that is hard to break down, and know how to win against particular matchups with your team, but it is another thing to go and win battles, and to actually execute your knowledge successfully in tournaments. Additionally, there will be many close matchups between yours and opponents teams, which require more than just being being difficult to break down to win - you will need to outplay your opponent, and out-maneuver them, and to do that you must both know how to conquer, and be able to execute that knowledge.

5. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

When commentators mention that they feel a particular player has been playing too passively, this can indicate a defensive mindset - they're not making the plays to win the game, they're playing just to survive, or not fall behind too far. When you are already behind in the game, sometimes you need to do something drastic to re-take the lead, and in those times, passive play simply will not suffice to win you a battle - you must find a way to recognise the situation, and begin playing pro-actively, whatever that may mean in the match situation.

If you are always playing defensive games, or having to play overly cautiously, it may indicate that you lack offensive firepower in your team, which could be an issue, particularly in tournaments. It is one thing to have a team with good defences, and another thing to have a team that can take wins through offensive play when it needs to as well. If you feel like you're always being read by your opponent, or not being able to take advantage of your opponent's actions through playing too conservatively, this may also mean that you are not playing confidently enough, and should look to free yourself from the shackles of a risk averse mindset.

11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

Watching streamed matches, you will see that some players, particularly the ones winning tournaments, seem to have already written what will happen, and even if battles are close in terms of pokemon count, always seem to be ahead, in control, and happy with how the game unfolds. There are no guarantees that this will happen for them in every battle, but by having a clear understanding of the necessary mindset to take in to that battle, and that tournament, and being clear of purpose, these players give themselves a much better chance of having that sort of 'Midas Touch' tournament.

It is not always clear what a mistake is, when some decisions come down to reads, predictions, and outcomes are also affected by damage rolls. However, there are some plays that are clear mistakes, or overly risky, and successful players, at least during good tournament runs, seem to be able to get through their battles without making any mistakes that allow their opponent back in to the match, or to gain the ascendency. This can also apply to team building, wherein there are more calculated choices in how the team is created, including reducing the chances for rng to impact, and effectively make a mistake for you.

14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

A key point to focus on here is that the skillful fighter does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy. In Pokemon, this is as simple as being able to make a play that guarantees you victory against your opponent, whether victory it is that turn, or several turns down the track. This can done be by removing an obstacle to your win condition, removing your opponent's win condition, or picking up a vital knockout that enables you to assert dominance on the board. While against things like Swagger, you can never truly be in a position where defeat is impossible, there are many other times when you can lock out a game with the right decisions, and make even RNG a non-issue, even if sometimes RNG gives you a little bit of a push to find that 'moment'.

20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

I like this metaphor, and so wanted to include it in this chapters analysis, but it did take me a while of thinking about it to figure out how to comprehend and explain it in relation to Pokemon.

I feel that this point refers to being able to pick up KO's as opposed to letting your opponents hang on with a sliver of HP - You set yourself up to do this by putting yourself in positions where the EV spreads and items of your opponentare rendered ineffective - through stat boosting, by chip damage, or by board position forcing opponents to take extra hits to switch new pokemon in. You can also do this by EV training your pokemon to pick up KO's that might otherwise be survived, such that your offensive force appears irrepressible, like this metaphorical bursting of pent up waters.

That's all for this chapter. Remember, this is advice, and not prescriptive, so it is up to you if and how you interpret and apply the lessons from this and other chapters, but I hope that at least reading and thinking about battling in this manner is helpful. Until next time, cya.

Next: Energy