NBA Season Report #2: Week 4 -thru Week 6

NBA Season Report #2: Week 4 thru Week 6

(Preview: The following is a summarized week-by-week report of the LA Nidokings season during the NBA Draft League. The report will included a brief summation into the transactions made prior to Week 4, and later the matchups of Week 4 to Week 6. Won't repeat the same point too much, though will give detail on my thought regarding how I went about teambuilding, the battles analysis, and of course the outcome. 

Season Thoughts: Readjustments

Initial Team Roster: Manaphy, Zapdos, Entei, Kyurem, Nidoqueen, Metagross, Umbreon, Ribombee, Type:Null, Gourgeist, Cryogonal

New Team Roster: Mega Lopunny, Zapdos, Entei, Kyurem, Nidoqueen, Metagross, Primarina, Ribombee, Miltank, Florges, Tangela

In terms of how the Nidokings have done so far this season, perhaps there's one word to describe our start: sloppy. Given the fact I haven't played singles for several months, the lack of experience playing Draft League and even singles play has shown in the last three week of the NBA. Though I'd did somewhat claw out a 2-1 record, do believe the second matchup was rather sluggish on my end, in part of my own lack of decisiveness. Do believe need to be able to predict my opponents and make risky calls when the game get tight, just like how it happen versus Wenwuk. Getting bailed on that Draco Meteor miss was "eventful", but can't rely on such occurrences happening since such RNG doesn't benefit the player. Just like life, it just happens. Even before my teambuilding was somewhat sloppy given the matchups, especially in this case had I'd ran HP Electric Manaphy, this wouldn't occurred. Do feel like hypocrite in a way since can't regret my choices before mid-battle and such, though it still part of the teambuilding process. Hindsight was 20/20 since for that battle, but the point is can't go in a battle having "second doubts" on a team in particular when you want to 1) win, and 2) have the best chance to win. 

Like a coin flip, can't necessarily blame my teambuild too much as long as I have necessary options to deal with said threats without any worry (and of course put in the time).   Do believe the main goal for any coach in a draft league is to build a team that they not only "know" but feel the most comfortable without overstretching. In all honesty, the best example of this was against my battle versus Gamma who played the endgame extremely well, whereas I'd overreached. There were some plays I could have made such as preserving Zapdos, keeping my defensive core relatively healthy, bringing 'safer' sets, doing some test battles / matchups before going into a matchup, and most of all preparation. Part of my loss was in fact due to my eagerness to get back into draft league in a good note, especially how the recent leagues were terminated abruptly on my end.  Didn't feel like preparing much despite consolidating with a couple people whether my team was at least decent from a matchup perspective.  Factoring in my over-extension of preparing for nearly all of Gamma's threats along with lack of a game plan, and that's how I lost to an eventual Trick Room Reuniclus endgame. 

Guess the point I'm getting across is from Week 2 and onward, have to go into battles with confidence I've built the best possible team. In essence, I'm the one building this team, therefore I'm the one who should seek an end result that benefits whether it be a strong victory, close game, or even one for entertainment (for the memes). Can't necessary blame RNG or what my opponents actually bring when its up to me to decide how I'll win, and in the event of a loss, learn from those battles. This is probably the reason why the Draft League format appeals to many casual and competitive players since its really up to each person on how the respond to each team they play, how they battle themselves, and what they need to do to be successful in league, or basically what's their end-result's worth.  This doesn't have to attempting to win every game, just feel part of the reason for my sluggish performance was in part of my own indecisiveness at times and compounded with the lack of play, this will show in battle. 

In terms of what the Nidokings did to improve our goals to win another title, basically went full Cavs and traded away about half the Pokemon draft to in essence reconstruct the team for the better. Won't go too much in depth, but do think part of the reason for this "indecisiveness" on my end is the lack of notable "role Pokemon" who fill in the needs of a team and of course having them all synergize together. The main flaw of the original draft for the LA Nidokings was mainly the lack of faster Pokemon to counterbalance the use of strong revenge killers as well as ensure nearly the entire squad is usable for certain matchups while supporting each other. With the addition of Mega Lopunny, Florges, and Primarina this squad was given somewhat fresh life into the team with great offensive and defensive foundations. Do admit while Mega Lopunny is considered among the best Mega Evolution when it comes to Draft League, at least do have a variety of offensive and defensive Pokemon such as Zapdos, Florges, Metagross, etc who pair exceptionally well together and vice versa. 

Won't go too much further than that since I'd already cover my issues in my Draft Analysis and previous quarterly report, but do feel confident we made great changes for the better of the team. Regarding the latest three battles, these matchups took place around late January to early February. Given our opponent's calibers in the following weeks, these are people who know competitive Pokemon and have played in multiple draft leagues before, so if I a chance at playoffs and a title, then this is where the Nidoking kick it up high-gear.  With that said, here are my opponents for Weeks 4 against BigEz, Week 5 against Marc, and Week 6 against Ralker. 

Week 4: Mobile Marowaks (BigEZ66) - Replay

My Team: Mega Lopunny, Zapdos, Entei (Z), Kyurem (Z), Nidoqueen, Metagross (Z), Primarina, Ribombee, Miltank, Florges, Tangela

BigEZ66: Hydreigon, Staraptor (Z), Tangrowth, Jolteon (Z), Bronzong, Avalugg, Mega Diancie, Swampert, Feraligatr (Z), Weezing, Chandelure

Starting off this review is one of the most interesting battles I've had in the NBA (former PFA) as do face off against one of the new coaches who won PFA last season in BigEZ66. Getting to talk to EZ from last year, he's definitely one the most capable and adaptive players I've seen play in a Draft League, especially how he managed to win the league with a Koffing. Well maybe that's all I have to say, though his draft then and now is balanced, though with major offensive threats like Hydreigon, Mega Diancie, or Gator. Funny enough, this was the week where we both finally had access to our new Megas Evolutions and array of different free agent Pokemon, including Swmpert and Chandelure to add to the other three threats. Great FWG core in Tangrowth, his Water Starters, and Chandelure with a balance Steel - Dragon - Fairy Core in Mega Diancie, Hydreigon, and Bronzong. Honestly, reasoned he'd bring Mega Diancie and Bronzong for sure given how well they paired together in terms of type synergy and can pressure parts of my own offensive core. Given the more offensive-based team, EZ might consider running a more offensive team based with those two, a fast revenge killer in Starapor / Hydreigon, at least one more defensive threat like Swampert or Weezing, and possible another wallbreaker such as Chandelure or Feraligator. 

In terms of I'd be bringing to the matchup, felt it be reasonable to bring a team can can counterbalance his offense, though at the same time can respond appropriately instead reacting to my opponent's moves. Despite the so-so matchup, Mega Lopunnny was strong enough to still OHKO or 2HKO most of his team as well as pick them off with some priority such as Fake Out. Both Florges and Primarina made sense since both pressure most of his team with strong Fairy-type moves while have good enough bulk to withstand most hits. Despite having negative inclination of bringing it against Mega Diancie, Zapdos can still work as a pivot switch for either Bronzong, Swampert, Tangrowth, and even Weezing thanks to its typing and bulk. Zapdos does have a good matchup against most of his team bar Mega Diancie, Hydreigon, or Avalugg, which rather I'd rather pivot out using Volt Switch to get some momentum for my team. Lastly Nidoqueen and Metagross were added with some interesting set ideas: Nidoqueen with Super Fang + 50% pinch berry, and Metagross as a defensive tank almost similar to how Bronzong is ran. 

Before the match began, BigEZ commented how he didn't knew I'd changed as much as he did for this matchup, though guess it was confusing since most of the league spreadsheet wasn't updated. Ez did bring some of his new Pokemon like the Mega Diancie, Hydreigon (which was from a trade from Wenwuk), and Staraptor wereas I did bring all my three transactions for this battle. Regardless, we decide to play the battle given how we both made transactions during the same period around the start of week 3. For the start, both Nidoqueen and Metagross are immediately able to setup Toxic Spikes and Stealth Rocks for this matchup early, as Ez probably didn't want to risk his best offensive threat in Mega Diancie. Without the Magic Bounce,  the hazards are here to stay unless Ez can remove said hazards. Do believe in response, Ez manages to make several offensive predictions, particularly getting Toxic on Zapdos from a Metagross switch out, and hitting Nidoqueen with a specs HP Ice. Do attempt to figure out his plan, though do give Ez opportunities with the initial to constantly attack my team. 

Despite the minor setbacks, the hazards damage against Ez's team is starting to rack up and is wearing down most of his Pokemon bar the Bronzong. With Jolteon down, Staraptor comes in to attempt to wall break my team, which  honestly almost does. Make a fatal assumption that Staraptor was Scarf, but in fact it was a Z variant as I basically let Primarina get 80% damage for no reason, and Metagross has to take another powerful hit. Honestly if it wasn't for the 50% berry on Metagross, this battle might have changed differently, though the survival and the additional health allowed Metagross to knock out the bird. Here Hydreigon is sent out to respond, though decide to sack Primarina if in case EZ tries to make another prediction against a possible Florges switch out. In perhaps the turning point of this battle, Nidoqueen is sent out against Weezing to attempt to wear it down with Super Fang, but instead of Weezing, Brongzong is sent, which is even better target. After two Super Fangs and some Leftover recovery, Brozong is now at 32% against a Zapdos who can easily revenge back with Heat Wave. 

With only Mega Diancie, Hydreigon, and Weezing left against a healthy squad with Stealth Rock and T-spikes pressure, knew it would only be a matter of time before I can start to clean the rest of his team with Mega Lopunny. However the true star of this show was Florges as it was able to completely wall out the rest of EZ's team. What was extremely surprising was Weezing didn't have a poison-type coverage to beat Florges, as I later find out upon scouting his set. Factoring in the Wish-Protect plays, and the massive natural Special Defense from Florges and it was extremely difficult to break. Metagross does get burnt here against Weezing, though Ez sees the Psychic tech I have and switches to Hydreigon, however at this point it was too late. Most of his team was below 50%. For the remainder of the game, Florges get three kills against Hyreigon, Weezing, and the Mega Diancie, though the help of hazard damage and passive recovery. 

Overall this was a solid victory on my end, and a good game from the current champion in BigEZ who managed to play every aggressive early on. EZ did admit he didn't have much for both Florges and Mega Lopunny towards the endgame, and had he prepared the game might have been much closer, though conceded. Do believe the reasoning for the lack of awareness of these transaction was how it was treated early on since all coaches to made FAs or trades had to wait about a week to use the new Pokemon. Did notice some tech options meant for my other mons such as the Haze Weezing for Manaphy, Scarf Hydreigon since that did pressure me heavily last time, and Jolteon to volt turn around with Hydreigon. Do believe the major factor in this game were the Toxic Spikes and the Stealth Rocks as Ez wasn't able to remove them throughout the entirety of the battle, which made it easier for Pokemon like Florges or Metagross to pick off his team. In all, do think this was about even until Brozong was removed, which by then I knew the game was in my favor. Again good game to Ez as we move on to a 3-1 record. 

Week 5: Miami Heatmors (Marcusube) - Replay 

My Team: Mega Lopunny, Zapdos, Entei (Z), Kyurem (Z), Nidoqueen, Metagross (Z), Primarina, Ribombee, Miltank, Florges, Tangela

BigEZ66: Tyranitar, Klefki, Flygon (Z), Politoed, Noivern (Z), Wigglytuff, Mega Ampharos, Mamoswine, Keldeo Lycanroc-Day (Z), Ambipom

For Week 5, we face an old rival in Marcusube who I haven't had the chance to battle in a long time since maybe our 1st Round matchup in PFA Season 3. Regarding the team Marcusube has, his squad is relatively strong with a semi Rain-Sand team combinations. For starters Marc has both Politoed and Tyranitar, which both can easily summon their respective weather conditions to help certain Pokemon like the Noivern, Keldeo, or Lycanroc-Day. Perhaps the biggest offensive threats on Marc's team was the Keldeo, Mamoswine, and his Mega Ampharos as I can easily see all three of these Pokemon appearing in a matchup against me. Another rather annoying Pokemon Marc was going to bring was the Prankster Klefki, which now has priority Defog to remove hazards, as well as use its large variety of support options such as Spikes, Screens, Thunder Wave, Fairy Lock, etc. Both Flygon and Noivern were strong Dragon-types with access to their own Z-moves which can help given them that firepower to hit even my Fairy-types for heavy damage. Lycanroc-Day is an interesting option which can abuse the sand from Tyranitar, though figured he might not bring it due to the presence of Metagross and Nidoqueen which walled it. Finally Ampibom and Wigglytuff were niche Normal-types who can hit my team relatively hard in the right conditions, but can be neutralized by my defensive walls. 

For this battle, immediately picked out Mega Lopunny, Metagross, and Nidoqueen as my initial team as they can easily pressure Marc's team with their strong STAB and coverage options. Mega Lopunny in particular is able to outspeed most of Marc's entire team bar Scarfers or his Sand Rush Lycanroc-Day, and retaliate with powerful Normal- and Fighting-type moves. Metagross and Nidoqueen was my response for some of his physically inclined Pokemon like the Tyranitar, Ambipom, Lycanroc-Day, etc since they had coverage moves and items such as the Shuca and Aguva Berries to essentially act as a defensive lure. Did gave the Shuca Berry to Metagross since it acted as a better lure to Mamoswine while Nidoqueen might need the 50% pinch berry to recover from a fatal attack should I slip up. Decided again to bring both my Fairy-types since Primarina can easily deal with both Tyranitar and the Politoed thanks to its STAB Water- and Fairy-type moves alone, and Florges with a defensive Wish set to replenish my team. Originally did have Zapdos on this squad, but felt Miltank was better since it actually doesn't auto lose to Mamo, Tyranitar, Lycanroc-Day, or Mega Ampharos and allowed my team to have some of their moveslots open. Did allowed Nidoqueen to run Toxic Spikes again, and Metagross with Iron Head to smack Tyranitar / Mamoswine, and Miltank with Heal Bell to give Primarina's Rest Talk set value though Florges was on Defog duty now. 

 Regarding how the game commences, do lead Nidoqueen but Marc has Politoed as a lead with the rain immediately setup to power Keldeo. Am forced to go into Primarina, but Marc makes an excellent play and puts the incoming siren to sleep, though unknown to him this set is Rest Talk. With the reveal of the Whirlpool, suspect this Politoed is a Perish Trap set with the Whirpool and the Hypnosis to put my mons to sleep, which in this case is Primarina. Despite catching me off, Primarina's Sleep Talk managed to pick up a Scald and burn the Politoed. Couple plays later, am able to further weaken the Politoed with Moonblast hits from a wake up turn and from a Hypnosis miss which help long-term. Do go for a Scald as a last ditch attempt to burn something like the incoming Klefki as Politoed has to switch out or else it will fall to the Perish Song. With both Klefki and Politoed weaken, Nidoqueen is able to pressure the Klefki out, while setting up Toxic Spikes to weaken his team. One STAB Earthquake is able to knock out Politoed, which means no more Perish Trapping, but now I have to deal with Keldeo in Rain. 

Despite dealing Keldeo in rain, it wasn't as momentous as I'd though since Florges mannages to take a Rain-boosted Surf and the water horse being poisoned by the Toxic Spikes. Klefki is sent as the response against Florges, however Marc makes an over prediction as expect any other mons, Florges stays in to fire a Moonblast against the Keldeo for the OHKO. This was a huge momentum swing as Marc lost his best answer to my own defensive wall core and give Nidoqueen near free reign against his team. Do admit missing Super Fang on the incoming Ambipon was annoying, but made the play since thought either Flygon would come in, or Klefki stays in to "wall" me with the Magnet Rise. Miltank is sent out in response to the Ambipon as its revealed to be the Tail Slap set, which does a number to my own defensive Normal-type.  Do call the switch out to his Mega Ampharos where I decided to setup Stealth Rocks to wear his team down. With Florges out, Klefki is sent back in to respond against my other Fairy-type to setup Spikes. However little does Marc knows I reveal the Defog which makes Klefki's job much harder, but Marc decided to Thunder Wave to play the paralysis game against me. 

Despite the minor setback, it was here where I felt Nidoqueen can be sent out to defeat the Klefki's annoyance and possible get another kill. To my surprise, Nidoqueen manages to tank a STAB Earthquake from Marc's Flygon and retaliate back with Ice Punch to leave only Mega Ampharos and Ambipon standing. Ambipon is sent out and despite the 50% pinch berry activation for some recovery, knew Nidoqueen was too important to save for the Mega Ampharos. At this point, Miltank is able to semi stall out the Ambipom, but do want Marc to knock me out in order to get a free switch in for my Mega Lopunny to get the OHKO. with Ambipon gone, only the Mega Ampharos was left, which doesn't fall as fast given the paralysis on my own mega. With Lopunny falling, Mega Ampharos is to weaken where either Metagross, Florges, and Nidoqueen can easily revenge the Electric/Dragon-type and thus win the game. 

Overall do feel had I had the matchup advantage for this game since most of my Pokemon were able to deal with at least 6 or 7 of Marc's own mons, provided I can keep them healthy against his offensive threats. The lack of both Tyranitar and Mamoswine was somewhat surprising on his end given they strong STAB options and even a bit of defensive utility to pick off or wear down my team with consistent damage. Despite losing one of my best Pokemon in Primarina for the matchup, it was able to inflict heavy damage against the Politoed and Klefki which later helped Nidoqueen defeated both of them with STAB Earthquake, so can't say my siren didn't do work, which still did.  Honestly, the major turning point for this battle came in that overprediction, as Florges seemingly OHKOed the Keldeo with ease on the switch and removed the biggest threat. Nidoqueen not only managed to nail both the Politoed and Klefki, but survive against the Flygon for another major OHKO which probably won me the game there. In all, good game to Marc and do give credit for the Whirlpool Politoed set designed to trap my best walls in Florges, and Primarina. With this win, we manage to get a 4-1 start to our record and bounce back into the leaderboard. 

Week 6: Orlando Magikarp (Ralker) - Replay 

My Team: Mega Lopunny, Zapdos, Entei (Z), Kyurem (Z), Nidoqueen, Metagross (Z), Primarina, Ribombee, Miltank, Florges, Tangela

Ralker: Dragonite, Hawlucha, Amoonguss, Alomomola, Garbodor, Sneasel (Z), Tapu Koko, Alakazam (Z), Darmanitan (Z), Snorlax, Registeel

As we approach the middle of the regular season, the LA Nidokings face their toughest opponents yet in the Orlando Magikarp, coached by the newest coach from last season Ralker. In his one season, Ralker managed to be not only the team with the best record, but make it as far into finals which is rather impressive. Battling both BigEz and Ralker who both were in finals of last season is quite interest, especially how from the last five games until Week 5 Ralker has a 4-1 record of his own, with his only loss being to Belly Drum Gluttony Linoone, In terms of Ralker's team composition, his squad is extremely hyper offensive with a few good walls here and there, not to mention having strong cores on both spectrum. For his offense, Tapu Koko takes the charge as his fastest and most reliable pivot and revenge killer followed by his go-to wall breaker Darmanitan and the Unburden sweeper in the Hawlucha bird. This only half of Ralker's offense has he has the Magic Guard Alakazam who another fast threat with potential Focus Sash potential, another setup sweeper in Dragonite an amazing array of physical attacks notably its Dragon Dance set, and the underrated Sneasel who's main role to pursuit trap key roles. For his defensive Pokemon, Alomomola and Amoonguss make his regeneration core to switch between each other and replenish third of  their HP over time. Finally Registeel and Snorlax make up the rest of his team, though will note Registeel is his only Stealth Rocker. 

Preparing for a potential playoff opponent was an interesting prospect since I had to consider what Pokemon sets to bring. To start off, felt Nidoqueen and Zapdos played an immeasurable role in helping to neutralize the threat of Tapu Koko and Hawlucha with their natural bulk and resistance to Fighting / Flying-type moves. Despite the major offensive powerhouses of his Koko-Lucha core as well as Alakazam, Sneasel, Darmanitan, and Dragonite, Mega Lopunny has the edge in priority attacks, damage output, speed and even some nice trick to spare. Speaking of tricks, Choice Band Metagross with Trick was one of the best responsive I'd came up for his regen core as Meta easily hits most of his team with its strong Psychic-type Zen Headbutt and priority BP. Hammer Arm was coverage to smack Snorlax and Registeel for Super Effective while Trick was there to cripple one of his walls or setup option with an unwanted Choice Band. Decided the last two Pokemon for this matchup were going to be Miltank and Florges for hazard and Cleric support given the assigned roles of my other four Pokemon. Miltank's role was to setup hazards, land a couple Toxic, and chip away at his physical attacker, namely Darmanitan due to its Thick Fat and Rocky Helmet item. Florges was relegated to Wish support to heal up Nidoqueen, Metagross, or even Lopunny and can even take on some of Ralker's offensive core should the need come. 

In terms of how the battle went, it almost went perfectly in my favor, amid some faithful RNG and calls here and there. Seeing Garbodor immediately as well as the lack of Amoonguss hinted towards an offensively oriented game which Mega Lopunny can win should I'm able to preserve it and weaken his team. Neutralizing Snorlax within the first turns of the battle with a Toxic and Trick was huge as it prevented any setup while seeing his set as a Chople Berry lure for Metagross or Lopunny to his credit. Did make a bad call to Toxic the Alomomola on an incoming Garbador which prompted more Toxic damage against Miltank. Ralker might have been able to setup all three layers of hazards and effectively kill both Miltank and Zapdos, yet the momentum shifted drastically in my favor all thanks to a Heat Wave burn. This burn practically meant 1) Zapdos was alive for another turn, 2) Ralker can only get 1 layer of Spikes, and 3) Miltank has just enough HP to survive to setup Rocks and chip down Darmanitan to where Lopunny can threaten with a Quick Attack. 

Florges does go down to Tapu Koko with two suspiciously Thunderbolts which prompted me to think its Modest with Magnet or something similar. In response, Mega Lopunny is sent against the weaken Koko as Ralker tries to heal his mons with Alomomola. At least do reveal Encore to trap Alomomola into protect and effectively force Snorlax to be sacked. Alomomola does go for repeated Scalds, though none of them burn Lopunny and worse STAB Return OHKOs the giant fish. At this point all Ralker has left is his Koko Lucha Core and a weaken Darm with Rocks up against a Mega Lopunny, Zapdos, Nidoqueen, and Metagross which the latter three are healthy. Anticipating a last ditch Sword Dance from the Hawlucha, do decide to Encore to give myself three turns to kill the bird with Returns + Quick Attack (on the turn encore ends) and thus win the game. 

Well those are my battles from PFA/NBA so will talk about the rest of the season battles once I got time to write again lol