Top Flop Worlds 2015, Pokémon ROSA, VGC

The Tops

The fallen king regains his crown. Despite the omnipresence of Landorus-T in the metagame, Mega Kangaroo proves this year that he is the boss. What a paradox for a Pokémon that we thought was incapable of winning a major competition.

Lynched by all the Mega-Mawile during the previous edition of the World Championships, Mega-Kangourex found a second wind alongside Gaulet, Démétéros-T and Cresselia.

The Sweep attack is partially replaced by Boost Punch, the only real way to recover Attack after an Intimidate. Bluff was not an obvious choice for all players since Shelter took its place in half of the Mega KangarooX movesets, notably in Hideyuki Taida’s (finalist).

No more fast Mega Kangaroos with Damocles, make way for Rigid Nature with Return! Bulky Mega Kangaroos have stood out, often under Distortion, by capitalizing on staying power at the expense of damage inflicted.

Unavailable in 2014, Cresselia took a long time to come back to the forefront this year. It is the reference defensive Pokémon in VGC and it is no surprise that it is represented in 5 teams among the Top 8 of the Masters category.

Its insanely high defensive stats allow it to land Distortion without any problems, making Gaulet the fastest Pokémon on the field.

In addition, his support movepool sometimes allows him to create a surprise, special mention to Mark McQuillan (winner of the Senior category) and his Cresselia Exchange, an attack allowing you to exchange Talents with the targeted Pokémon, which reactivates Mega Charizard Y’s Drought for example.

Démétéros-T could be part of the Tops but his popularity is no longer to be proven. It is therefore Mackogneur who brings up the rear of the Tops since he is the surprise of the competition in the team of the winner of the Seniors category.

Long sidelined by Bétochef and Baggaïd, Mackogneur stands out with a greater striking force with a Dynamopoing that never misses its target thanks to the Talent Cancel Guard.

His access to Large Guard protects him from Sylveon’s Megaphone attack, Mega Drattak and Mega Gardevoir and also protects teammates from Earthquake and Rockslide, ideal for helping Heatran and Mega Charizard Y.

The Flops

The calm after the storm. That sums up Mega-Drattak’s popularity during this 2015 season.

After being the main competitor to Mega-Kangourex during the national championships, Mega-Drattak did not answer the call during these World Championships.

Only one player from the Top 8 Juniors (Aiden McKinney) managed a real performance with Mega-Drattak, once again within a Sandstorm team (with a surprising Motisma-Tondeuse).

Despite being the best counter to the most popular Pokémon in the format this year, Milotic is not featured on any Top 8 Masters teams.

This surprise is explained by the fall of the teams based on the Sandstorm (although Tyranocif is still there) and the presence of Fulguris. The many Gaulet under Distortion certainly have their share of responsibility in this flop.

Already shunned during the United States Championship, this is a new blow for Milobellus.

What a shame that Tarpaud was so little played! Rain Teams had great hopes ahead of them given the trend.

It’s hard to explain this flop, the main reason is probably the fear of the too great predictability of this kind of team. However, some Mega-Evolutions such as Mega-Metalgross and Mega-Mawile could have emerged within a Rain Team.

Tarpaud’s presence in the team of the winner of the last major competition before the Worlds (Toler Webb during the United States Championship) may also explain this reluctance.