CIL Season 5 Review

So we've done 5 laps around the track at this point and I think I'm starting to get the hang of this.  I'm gonna cut back on the fluff since I've got a lot to cover so here I go:

Draft:
Jirachi [[[Chi Chi]]]
Zygarde-50% [[[Jormungandr]]]
Blacephalon [[[Disco Inferno]]]
Azumarill (Z-Captain) [[[Captain Bun Bun]]]
Toxapex [[[Reefer]]]
Tangrowth [[[Spaghett]]]
Cloyster (original Z-Captain) [[[Dat Boi Cloi]]]--> Miltank [[[Shazoo]]]
Jolteon [[[Ion]]]
Dugtrio [[[Thugtrio]]] --> Crobat [[[The Count]]]
Hydregion [[[Yamata]]]
Mega Aerodactyl [[[Pteriyaki]]]

I get haxed a lot so I wanted to turn things my way and pick Jirachi this time.  Originally I was going after Koko or Necrozma but both were picked. Even though I did make a couple transactions, I was really pleased with the draft; it had great synergy throughout, three Stealth Rockers, two T-spikers (later 1), Spikes (later none), two defoggers + a spinner (later 3 defoggers), a fantastic regen core, and a lot of speed without being too weak to trick room. 

I ultimately dropped Cloyster because I felt Miltank helped with several problematic Pokemon going forward and as bad as I wanted to show off how good I think Cloyster could be, I wanted to give myself the best chance at winning so I had to make the swap.  Dugtrio, a Pokemon I wish I could have kept, was fantastic in the season but I noticed in future match-ups I was very weak to substitute as some of my bulky switch ins to wall breakers would have issues breaking the sub.  I also wanted an additional defogger since I was having some frustrations fitting it onto teams.

The most pleasant surprises were Toxapex + Tangrowth, Azu, and Mega Aero.  The regen core was good in just about every match and Pex wasn't as much of a liability as I had initially feared. Having the most reliable T-spiker almost every week was really nice.  Azu, I knew was a good Pokemon but it worked incredibly well on the team because of the Perish Trap set.  I believe I brought that maybe twice as often as Belly Drum as I felt most teams had enough checks to it and trapping a key defensive wall made a lot more sense.  And Mega Aero, which I definitely had low expectations for was fantastic at pressuring teams with great speed and always having the right coverage.  I even brought a defensive set a couple times and it played beautifully.

Perhaps the only underwhelming member of the team was Zygarde.  I know how great that thing is on the ladder, which is why I drafted it so early, but I found the damage output to be very disappointing.  To be completely honest, I don't think I'd draft it again as Hydreigon proved to be far more useful on a regular basis; obviously it's still a top tier dragon and I think on a different team it could do well, but I've been much happier with Kyurem-B, Latias, and even Dragonite in the past. That said, I think if I made Zygarde my Z-Captain, it would have performed significantly better. Access to something like a +1 Adamant Corkscrew Crash probably would have won a couple games on its own.  Bottom line: if you draft Zygarde, I really think you should make it your Z-Captain to get the most out of it.


The Season
Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better regular season.  Going undefeated with a +26 differential narrowly left the Kinglers out of the top spot (+29) but we averaged better than a 4-0 win in all our games.  I really think that's remarkable to achieve that level of consistency and I'm very proud of my prep and play throughout the season.  I really don't have much else to add other than Toxapex was voted Defensive MVP honors, but Tangrowth could have been as well if I nominated it and actually was second in KOs on my team to Jirachi.  I nominated Pex simply because I knew people recognized it as a wall more than Tangrowth and I like taking home these little honors haha.

Playoffs
EVERY time I play Mav, he haxes me LOL. But luckily, this game was fine.  I brought Mega Aero, Crobat, Tangrowth, Toxapex, Hydreigon, and Miltank while he brought a team of Mega Venusaur, Keldeo, Sylveon, Gliscor, Snorlax, and Scolipede, which I mostly predicted him to bring, except for Keldeo and Scolipede.  He left Necrozma and Weavile on the bench, both of which I felt were really strong in the match-up in favor of those two; Scoli makes sense to me, Keldeo doesn't.  The problem with Keldeo is that you can't set up because I have Pex (and Tangrowth to an extent) so your best set is going to be choice-locked.  Scarf loses you momentum because I have TWO counters in Pex and Tangrowth, and depending what move you lock into, Crobat and Hydreigon can also come in on it.  I also have Jolteon, which means you have to be scarf to put any offensive pressure on me with surprise KOs but I suppose a specs set might have gotten a little chip on my regen core.

On my end, Toxapex was mostly spdef for that rogue Keldeo (and Sylveon & Mega Venu) but I did have some phys def to better take on Scolipede and potentially Weavile. Tangrowth completed the regen core, Miltank was there for Rocks and my Weavile counter, Mega Aero was just a standard attacker, Crobat had Super Fang and was the defogger (Mav only really had one defogger so I figured he'd be more inclined to hazard stack than me).  Hydreigon was the most heat set, being physical and sporting Throat Chop. I liked this because I needed my dark type for Necrozma (I was still weak to it but if he was Iron Defense AND CM, he probably couldn't touch Hydreigon and if no Iron Defense, then Physical attacking would be superior for taking on a more likely CM set) but also his most likely switch in to this was Sylveon and if I Throat Chop, it can't use Hyper Voice, giving me a couple turns to gain momentum back.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-748011161

In review, the Snorlax set was surprising because I can easily Haze CurseLax so I do feel Mav could have definitely beat me with a few adjustments to his prep.  Also not knowing Infiltrator would work behind his Reflect was kind of critical because Scolipede could have done some damage once it got going.  Throat Chop kind of worked and we got the W so I was pretty pleased with this game.

Finals
I hate to be a debbie-downer but I knew I couldn't win this one.  I knew for certain 4/6 mons Black would bring and there was literally nothing I could do about it: Unaware Clef, P2, Amoonguss, and Zapdos.  I was fairly confident Greninja would come, that there would be some kind of substitute mon, and possibly his sand mode, but the first four I mentioned form a defensive core that my team is truly incapable of breaking--he doesn't even have to predict because he has the perfect counters to all the options I had at my disposal so the plan was to hax him haha.  I didn't even like Jirachi that much in this match-up but I honestly felt I needed to flinch stuff to even have a chance.  Besides the 4 I knew were coming, he brought Zard X and Excadrill while I had Blacephalon, Normalium Z BD Azu, Hone Claws Mega Aero, Pex, Jirachi, and Infiltrator Crobat.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-760179753

I do feel I played very well in these finals but as you can see, there was just no way I could muscle through his defense.  I think my plays towards the end (going hard Aero on a mon that has been spamming Discharge) might seem reckless but I really had no choice.  I had to try and set up for a last-ditch Azu sweep and hope I was wrong about the Clef set (of course I wasn't lol).  As much as I hate taking L's, I really don't feel bad about this one because a) I truly feel there was nothing I could do in the matchup b) I lost to my good friend who works incredibly hard at this and is easily one of the best draft players to ever do it.  So if you're reading this Black, congrats again to you, my friend and well-played all season long :]

Side note: His team shares a lot in common with my team that won season 3 so there might be something worth examining here.  We both had Hippo + Drill sand, a Kyurem (black for me, regular for him), Clefable, an electric flying type (Thundy-I for me, Zapdos for him), and a fast dual spiker (Scoli for me, Gren for him). He even had Manaphy earlier in the season, which I also had in S3 and both teams were exceedingly dominant in their respective seasons so if you've stumbled upon this and are new to draft leagues, I suggest examining those drafts :]

Final Thoughts
To be honest, I don't feel I learned a ton this season so it's hard to reflect on lessons learned, but rather just built on stuff I've learned in past seasons.  Picking a Z-Captain was difficult because I had so many Pokemon that could use it well (Blacephalon, Zygarde, Azu, Cloyster, Hydreigon) and frankly, I think I chose wrong both times lol. Z-Zygarde might have actually helped me in the finals because if I could have used it to draw in Clefable and weaken it, Azu might have pulled off the sweep.  But that example almost feels too specific/ situational so I'm going to apply that wisdom cautiously going forward.

If you read this book, thanks for sticking with me and if you haven't for some reason, check me out on Twitter @KevinVGC since I'm the guy you need to talk to if you were thinking about joining the CIL yourself in Season 6 :]  See you there!