Indigo League Is Here!

Battle: One Battler brings 3 Pokémon to clash against one other Battler and their 3 Pokémon. The basic unit of PvP. Each Battle won earns 1 point for the team.

Match: 3 battles played between Battlers. 3 points are up for grabs in each Match.

Game: 5 matches, 15 possible points, 5 Battlers from each team. 

The battles can be viewed here.

Match 1: TzSpenx (TL) vs AceLeaderSky04 (PBT)

TzSpenx played the same 3 Pokémon in different configurations for all 3 battles. He brought Skarmory, Mew with Surf and Wild Charge, and Jellicent. AceLeaderSky brought Froslass and Venusaur for all 3 battles but switched out Unovan Stunfisk for an Air Slash Togekiss in the 2nd battle. Beware that Bubble Beam debuff on Jellicent! It made all the difference in the first battle, allowing TzSpence to win with 1HP and a dream.  AceLeaderSky took the 2nd battle with a great pairing of Venu and Froslass, lining up perfectly against their opponents. Unfortunately, AceLeaderSky’s hero Venu just couldn’t hold up to TzSpenz’s Skarmory in the back in the 3rd battle.

Thunderlions pulled ahead 2-1.

Match 2: MasterRed123a (TL) vs DreFlames (PBT)

Dubbed “battle of the glass cannons” by caster DJEntaprize, these battles went quickly. MasterRed depended on his Shadow Zapdos/Gengar core in all 3 battles, swapping out for Scrafty, Dewgong and Shadow Hypno as the 3rd in each successive battle. DreFlames changed the nickname of Galvantula from spooder to work horse, using it effectively in all 3 battles. He paired it with Primeape in the two battles he won (2 and 3), rounding those out with Lapras and Registeel. 

PokeBattle Tower tied up the Game 3-3.

Match 3: Shgmontoya (TL) vs Wankwanyoo (PBT)

We got some classic match-ups in this one. Shgmontoya ran a Hex Awak paired with Whiscash and Obstagoon (Registeel in the first battle). Wankowanyoo played his Altaria/Awak core in all 3 battles along with Jellicent (1) and Charm A-9 (2 &3).  Wankowanyoo won battles 1 and 2 but lost 3 when his opponent’s Obstagoon got the boost to take out his Awak.

PokeBattle Tower pulled ahead 4-5.

Match 4: FireMasterYorch (TL) vs HowardGWong (PBT)

Battle of the Azus. FireMasterYorch never ran the same team twice, though he did show a preference for his shiny Azu running Play Rough/Ice Beam. He took the first two battles. HowardGWong played a Hydro Pump/Ice Beam Azu and Cradily core in all 3 battles, though his Shadow Machamp lived up to its name, playing a big role in winning the last battle.

All tied up at 6-6.

Match 5: Jerry1 (TL) vs Joeybrahhh (PBT)

Wow. This match hurt for Thunderlions. Joey brought his Wiggly in battles 1 and 2 and took Jerry to Charm school. Jerry went down in the first battle with 2 shields still unplayed. Ouch. Good shield management allowed Joey to neutralize Jerry’s Venu threat to win again in battle 2. And just to add insult to injury, Joey’s K-chu, Vigoroth and Shadow Hypno won the third battle as well.

PokeBattle Tower advanced to the Final 6-9.

Watch the battles here.

Match 1: Doonebug97 (MG) vs HouseStark93 (E4)

HouseStark brought his Skarmory/Ufisk core to win 2 out of 3 battles over Doonebug. Doonebug relied on his Whiscash for all 3 battles, also favoring Spark Probopass and Shadow Abomasnow. As a nice change of pace, we saw a Wigglytuff go down when HouseStark’s Ufisk proved immune to its charm.

Elite Four takes the lead 1-2.

Match 2: SpeediestChief2 (MG) vs Jengels21

SpeediestChief demonstrated why he is the reigning Silph World Champion. This match was a clinic on all the strats: undercharging, accurate counting to switch and catch moves, energy management, shield management and probably more that my brain couldn’t process. He lost the 2nd battle due to being hard countered but he lasted longer than most would have against that line-up of Awak v Pelipper, Defense Deoxys v Awak and Altaria v Obstagoon (the only neutral match-up).

Mazer Gaming ties it up 3-3.

Match 3: Gucc1G4ng69 (MG) vs ValorAsh (E4)

ValorAsh took 2 of the 3 battles with his Galvantula/Defense Deoxys core. Again, we saw the spooder put in work, debuffing opponents as was the case with Gucci’s 3 times debuffed Drifblim in the first battle. Gucci came back in the 3rd battle, taking out ValorAsh’s team with his Mew and Drifblim while never even having to deploy his Vigoroth.

Elite Four pulls ahead 4-5.

Match 4: Reis2Occasion (MG) vs Toshi9227 (E4)

Reis stuck with a Mandibuzz, Primeape, A-9 team for all 3 battles, changing up the lead each time to keep Toshi guessing. Toshi responded mostly with Quagsire, Shadow Politoed and Registeel but only won the first battle. The only surprise from these battles was that Reis switched out his Primeape after it got an attack boost but before throwing another charged move. That strat didn’t hurt him in the long-run.

We’re all tied up 6-6.

Match 5: Panick (MG) vs Arrohh_ (E4)

This was an interesting match. Arrohh brought shinies. Would we get a definitive answer to whether or not they do more damage? This really came down to the final battle. After the first switch when Panick’s Diggerby was up against Arrohh’s Mandibuzz, the viewers got up to make a sandwich and came back to find them still slugging it out. Mandibuzz outlasted Diggersby. And just when we thought we’d seen it all, the battlers ended up in a Cresselia mirror. The battle TIMED OUT. In a brilliant switch, just before the clock expired, Arrohh swapped out his less healthy Cress for his Haunter that had more HP and was granted the win.

Elite Four advanced to the Final 7-8.

Ha! Made you click to see who got to the Final! You can view the battles here. The finals were shoutcasted by special guests KiengIV and PvPSteve.

Elite Four vs PokeBattle Tower

Match 1: Arrohh (E4) vs Joeybrahhh (PBT)

Arrohh switched up his team with each battle, winning 2 out of the 3 battles. No big surprises here, each battler played well. No single Pokémon dominated any other, though maybe Registeel made the difference to Arrohh since he won the battles when he brought it.

Elite Four takes the lead 2-1.

Match 2: HouseStark (E4) vs AceLeaderSky (PBT)

HouseStark’s Skarmory proved to be the MVP of this match, taking out a Melmetal. Both battlers brought an XL Lickitung, though one was in the 1490s CP while the other was in the 1430s. HouseStark won battles 2 and 3 with his Froslass/Skarmory core. 

Elite Four widened their lead to 4-2.

Match 3: ValorAsh (E4) vs HowardGWong (PBT)

ValorAsh favored his Talonflame, possibly because it was a new toy acquired from a recent Community Day, but also because Incinerate is a challenging and rewarding move to play. He took the first 2 battles, losing the third when Howard brought 2 Talonflame counters in Ufisk and Pelipper.

Elite Four maintains their lead 6-3.

Match 4: Toshi (E4) vs DreFlames (PBT)

DreFlames fought back, gaining 2 points to keep his team alive. Toshi took them right up to the game point after his win in the second battle. But Dre’s Primeape/Lapras core with a surprise appearance from Charizard in battle 3 were enough to take the match. 

Elite Four maintains their lead, but hasn’t sealed it yet 7-5.

Match 5: Jengels (E4) vs Wankowanyoo (PBT)

OK, so you know it’s a rough match when 2 quality shoutcasters like Kieng and Steve spend the whole time groaning over the bad leads and hard counters one battler faces over and over. In the final battle, Kieng was shielding his eyes from the thrashing that Wankowanyoo was dishing out to Jengels. This is just how it goes down sometimes. Sometimes you get swept in the final match of the final round of a tournament by a kid who was the first person in the world to hit GBL Legend this season. How did he do it? Charm A-9, Jellicent, and Altaria.

PokeBattle Tower came from behind to win 7-8. Match. Game. Tournament.