Our second piece of Pokemon VGC regional coverage comes from Sheffield, UK. Like Collinsville in the US, it was given an official Pokémon stream. The exciting Top Cut came down to a Spanish mirror match between Alex Gomez and Albert Bos who featured identical unique teams. Getting to see this team go against itself made for a great final set. Before we break it down, let’s see the rest of the teams from Sheffield’s Top Cut.
Results & Teams (Top 8 Cut)
1. Albert Bos
2. Alex Gomez
3. Javier Senorena
4. Daniel Nolan
5. Daniel Oztekin
6. Rob Akershoek
7. Alessio Yuri Boschetto
8. Andrea Ciccone
Finals Mirror Match: The Breakdown
Here’s a link to watch the Finals.
Slow Mode
Anyone who watched Game 1 of this set saw how little Nihilego was able to accomplish in the face of the slower and bulkier Pokémon. Games 2 & 3 concentrated mainly on the slow aspect of the team, with both players leaving Nihilego and Tapu Bulu on the bench. Trick Room wasn’t used nearly as much as one would expect, seeing both of these teams; but the theme of this match was positioning, and Trick Room was a clutch aspect for setting up Araquanid.
Positioning: Competing Substitutes, Intimidate, and Trick Room
Arcanine 
Arcanine’s main purpose in this set was to Intimidate the opposing Arcanine so that Magnezone was able to safely set up a Substitute. The Arcanine, assuming they were similar, were built more for support rather than offense. Alex’s used Helping Hand to assist his Magnezone, and both utilized Snarl to weaken each other’s Magnezone.
Magnezone 
Magnezone getting up Substitute was a primary objective for both players in the early game. In Game 1, Alex showed how important this was to the match-up. Albert adjusted and was able to use this strategy to take the next two games. Although Magnezone being behind a Substitute seemed like a huge advantage for either player, Arcanine’s Snarl was a factor in complicating this strategy (as Snarl is able to bypass Substitute).
Araquanid Cleaning Up
In the first two games, Araquanid didn’t really make an impact. However, Game 3 was able to show how much of a threat it was. There was a moment where Alex’s Porygon2 set up Trick Room to which Albert’s Araquanid took complete advantage of. After scoring a huge Hydro Vortex on Alex’s Porygon2 upon switch-in, Albert’s Araquanid was in position to easily clean up the rest of Alex’s team after having the Trick Room set up.
The Niche Picks
Since the meta game has kind of leveled, here’s an abbreviated entry to The Niche Picks.
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Everyone’s least favorite Alolan form made its way into a regional Top Cut again. This time, it’s thanks to Rob Akershoek, who we saw three times on stream. Rob’s team was built to support Snorlax, which Persian is able to do nicely with access to moves like Fake Out, Parting Shot, and Snarl to weaken the opponent’s team and boost Snorlax’s bulk. Persian is also a bit defensive with access to the Fur Coat ability, so players using Persian usually opt for a 50% HP healing berry to increase its time on the field.
Tapu Bulu 
Tapu Bulu finally won a tournament, which could mean a potential comeback for the forgotten deity. It does well against its Tapu brethren, as it can interrupt opposing Terrain while also having a type advantage against Tapu Fini. There’s also a smaller amount of Poison-type moves in the meta game now that Garchomp have forgone Posion Jab. However Tapu Bulu still struggles with the popular Arcanine. Alex and Albert’s Trick Room-based team could be a good fit for Tapu Bulu, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see future Top Cuts consistently have all four Tapus present.
Final Thoughts
It was nice to see another non-US Pokemon VGC regional have an official stream, and Sheffield did not disappoint. The European meta can be rather unique which is evident by the team that managed to make it to the finals twice. We have another action-packed weekend coming up in Melbourne for the 2017 season’s second International Championship. It should be an exciting tournament with a ton of big names to look out for, but make sure to check back here for a full recap of the action! Thanks for reading!
Art of Pokemon courtesy of Pokémon and Ken Sugimori
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