User blog comment:Cfp3157/Pokemon Tournament: Roger Morrison vs. Marshal D. Fitzgerald/@comment-422690-20141109171324

Round 1: Cerberus v Ulysses

Roger: Marshall:

Out of Cerberus’ six moves, three are at a type disadvantage, one of which is ¼x. Ulysses, meanwhile, has one super-effective move and two resisted, with the other three being recovery or stat moves. That single Super Effective attack, coupled with the special attack boost from Quiver Dance, is enough to carry Ulysses to a win. In addition to that, however, is Roost. This is one of the few recovery moves that’s actually worth using, because unless the foe has a 4x type advantage that half health regen won’t be undone in a single turn.

Win: Ulysses

Round 2: Stymphalion v Carnegie

Roger: Marshall:

First off, that description of Screech is misleading. It lowers the targets defense and has no stun component. Second off, Skarmory has a grand total of two active attacks, both of which are resisted by Carnegie. Her passive attack, Sandstorm, isn’t even going to hurt Carnegie thanks to typing. Carnegie isn’t doing so well himself with his typing. Out of his four attack moves, three are resisted and one is completely nullified. The fact remains, however, that he does have three attack moves, and his support move is Reflect. This is going to be a long, drawn-out battle, but Carnegie’s superior defense and passive healing thanks to Leftovers will pull a win.

Win: Carnegie

Round 3: Stripe v Merlin

Roger: Marshall:

First off, there’s two more misleading descriptions here. Flame Orb inflicts the holder with Burn, not the target, and fling doesn’t have the target hold the thrown item. Stripe has three super effective moves, though one is only usable once. Thief’s effectiveness is lessened here because Mega Stones can’t be stolen. Merlin’s Psyshock is nullified by Stripe. Stripe needs to throw that Flame Orb first, or the burn will hurt his attacking capabilities. Other than being hit by Stealth Rock, however, Stripe is going to take little to no damage thanks to typing since he’s so well teched against Merlin.

Win: Stripe.

Round 4: Snug v Gatsby

Roger: Marshall:

Gatsby will likely take this one thanks to the 2x effectiveness of Surf, and that Expert Belt will only increase the damage further. Additionally, Spikes can be stacked three times (!) for a ¼ HP reduction from them alone, and that’s not even counting the already-present Stealth Rock. This means that opposing Pokémon will lose between 9/32 (¼x) to ¾ (4x) their HP when they switch in. Gatsby has the leisure of setting this up, which will greatly affect the next matches.

Winner: Gatsby

Round 5: Heartwood v Kaiser

Roger: Marshall:

Yet another misleading description: Curse will reduce Heartwood’s HP by ½ and then reduce the target’s HP by ¼ every turn. Heartwood is well-teched against Kaiser here, thanks to Forest’s Curse. It makes Will-O-Wisp and X-Scissor 2x effective, setting up a nice one-two punch spam, and Snug’s Stealth Rock’ll do some damage out the gate. X-Scissor is powered up even more thanks to that Insect Plate, letting Heart seed wood slam Kaiser even harder. Heartwood, however, is being hit with Spieks and Stealth Rock right out of the gate, cutting her HP down by 3/8. This makes using Curse a massive gamble, since she will be left with 1/8 HP afterwards, leaving her easy prey for Kaiser. Overall, that Stealth Rock/Spikes combo utterly floors Heartwood, turning what should have been an easyish win for her into a losing battle.

Win: Kaiser

Round 6: Grootslag v Mattilda

Roger: Marshall:

Grootslag’s Ice Punch will devastate Mattilda here, being a 2x effective move, as will Hail, which will do passive damage to her. Grootslag does lose a chunk of health to Spikes and Stealth Rock, but he can pull a win here thanks to his Super Effective moves. Mattilda doesn’t have a whole lot of options to attack, and one of her moves is entirely negated.

Win: Grootslag

Round 7: Stripe v Ulysses

Roger: Marshall:

Stripe’s getting hit to just above half health with that Spikes/Stealth Rock combo. It’s got nothing that can hit Ulysses for super effective damage, and Ulysses can very easily recover the blow he’ll be getting from Stealth Rock with Roost. All in all, Ulysses should take this match without too much trouble.

Winner: Ulysses

Round 8: Grootslag v Carnegie

Roger: Marshall:

Swampert’s being bent over the fence and subjected to Grass Knot in the most painful places imaginable here. 4x weakness, on top of being under half health from getting hit again with the Stealth Rock/Spikes combo, is going to make this a one-hit match.

Win: Carnegie

Final Count

Roger: Marshall:

Marshal D. Fitzgerald wins.