Preparing for the 2013 International Challenge

Attention all Black 2/White 2 competitive players! The International Challenge is coming up on January 25-28, with registration beginning on the 17th. If you are somewhat familiar with the Wi-Fi competitions, then don’t forget to sign up. As for any new competitors, you might want to continue reading. I myself will be entering the challenge and am going to be keeping track of my wins and losses, and intend to give the new players a better chance by providing information on commonly used Pokemon and strategies to watch out for. More on this need-to-know information after the break.

If you are thinking about entering the competition, you first want to research what kind of Pokemon and strategies you will have to compete against. Competitions tend to push a player’s limits both as a trainer and as a thinker, as they are forced to come up with ways to throw their opponents off guard enough to gain a win. What items should your Pokemon hold? What moves should they have? Which Pokemon on my team of four will work best together? Well, I’m here to try to help answer that question.

First, you want Pokemon to have moves, types, or abilities that complement each other. For example, Sand Veil Garchomp works well with Tyranitar, since Tyranitar can set up a Sandstorm on switch-in and Sand Veil makes it a little more difficult for Garchomp to be hit, which can make the difference in having your Dragon/Ground type survive the dreaded Ice Beam. Also, you want to have a team that not only cover a wide variety of types, but also are able to defend against Pokemon that can put you at a disadvantage by type. Say you have a Typhlosion and your opponent has a Water type Pokemon. Typhlosion can catch people off guard if it knows a move like ThunderPunch.

Another thing you want to watch out for are cheaters. Sure, the other trainer may not be able to use a code like Infinite HP, but they can still gain the upper hand pre-battle. Most trainers who are easiest to label as cheaters usually have at least three or four Shiny Pokemon on their team. As the odds for getting a Shiny is incredibly low, it’s highly unlikely that a person can have that many competition-ready Shinies to fight with. Keep in mind, though, that there is the possibility of the trainer being legit, especially considering there is an item that helps people find Shinies more often.

Lastly, there are certain Pokemon you will want to watch out for, as they are notorious for either ripping clean through most teams, or setting up their own to make up for weaknesses. Prime examples of this are Cresselia most notably for the move Trick Room, Scizor for being able to boost weaker moves’ power, Garchomp and Hydreigon for being both powerful and fast and having excellent movepools, and Metagross for being fairly strong as well as hard to damage. There a many others, but researching these Pokemon can make a world of difference for players. For a great example of what competitive play will look like, check out this video of the 2012 World Championship Finals.

Sources: Pokemon.com, GameSpot’s YouTube Channel

Categorized under: Black 2 and White 2, Global Link, Pokeditorials
Tagged: editorial, game tips, pokemon global link

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