Japan's Kalos-Dex Gloria Battle National Convention

Results for the Kalos-Dex Gloria Battle National Convention



The Gloria National Convention is an unofficial Japanese National tournament, which acts as a qualification tournament for the unofficial Asia Cup. They are partnering with other grassroutes tournaments in Japan, such as Arena Off. Shade Off, and others to decide who will go to the Nationals.120 People entered this particular tournament. We have included the top 16 teams
Special thanks to Miikasa for translating
WINNER- VIERA Garchomp/Salamence/Aegislash/Gardevoir/Mawile

Runner Up- Yuichi Garchomp/Salamence/Gardevoir/Kangaskhan/Aegislash/Talonflame

3rd place- slime Garchomp/Salamence/Aegislash/Rotom-W/Venusaur/Tyranitar

4th place-Rusk Politoed/Kingdra/Lucario/Gourgeist/Torkoal/Mawile

Top 8- green tea Tyranitar/Garchomp/Gothithelle/Mawile/Rotom-W/Talonflame
 
Top 8-contact Scrafty/Chandelure/Mawile/Aromatisse/Abomasnow/Rypherior
 
Top 8-Mikoto Garchomp/Salamence/Rotom-Mow/Aegislash/Gyarados/Talonflame

Top 8- R_Justice Charizard/Venusaur/Salamence/Gardevoir/Rhypherior/Mawile
 
Top 16- Conwy Kangaskhan/Talonflame/Rotom-W/Garchomp/Aegislash/Smeargle
 
Top 16- MAS Salamence/Mawile/Rotom-W/Garchomp/Gardevoir/Tyranitar
 
Top 16-Miyako Kangaskhan/Garchomp/Abomasnow/Aegislash/Rotom-W/Talonflame
 
Top 16-Ito Alakazam/Gardevoir/Reuniclus/Medicham/Malamar/Meowstic
 
Top 16- Huuryu Salamence/Tyranitar/Aegislash/Rotom-W/Kangaskhan/Meowstic

 
Top 16- Masashiro Kangaskhan/Rotom-W/Garchomp/Tyranitar/Medicham/Talonflame
 
Top 16- YT Politoed/Kingdra/Gengar/Amoonguss/Gothithelle/Scrafty
 
Top 16- Yasamatsu Gyarados/Aegislash/Rotom-W/Garchomp/Tyranitar/Salamence
    

There are some cool overarching trends here if you look at the types of teams that did well, as well as some of what is seen in the Top 16. Salamence and Gardevoir usage in particular surprised me personally. Additionally, there are a few battle videos that can be found below for anyone wondering how the featured teams worked

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF8P4XEHDyE#t=134

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHwpjBblG0

-Wolfe

Usage Stats (Top16)

(Overall stats)

1. Garchomp 10
2. Salamence 8
3. Aegislash 8
4. Rotom-W 8
5. Tyranitar 6
6. Mawile 6
7. Talonflame 6
8. Gardevoir 5
9. Kangaskhan 5
10. Charizard 2
11. Venusaur 2
12. Politoed 2
13. Kingdra 2
14. Gothitelle 2
15. Scrafty 2
16. Abomasnow 2
17. Rhyperior 2
18. Gyarados 2
19. Medicham 2
20. Meowstic 2
21. Smeargle 1
22. Alakazam 1
23. Reuniclus 1
24. Malamar 1
25. Amoonguss 1
26. Gengar 1
27. Rotom-C 1
28. Chandelure 1
29. Aromatisse 1
30. Lucario 1
31. Gourgeist 1
32. Torkoal 1

Garchomp - The King of VGC2014

It doesn't matter, where you go, in Europe, Asia or the US - Garchomp will be there and waiting for you, so you had better be prepared! 6 out of 10 times, he comes along with his dragon-buddy Salamence, while only 2 out of 8 Salamence leave the house without Garchomp! This high correlation (φ = .54) means that you should anticipate to have those two come together and have at least one fairy or steel type ready to combat them!

Aegislash - Come play with my Beyblade

While Aegislash hasn't managed to claim his spot on top of usages in the western world as of yet, it was the dominating steel-type in this tournament in Japan. I've seen a lot of physical Aegislash in the past and want to encourage all of you to try out the special set. Especially the new Wide Guard gave it some new tools to play with!

Gardevoir - The Story of the Fairy who went forth to learn the Dragons what Fear was

As I also used Gardevoir with decent success in the past, I can only say how this Pokémon, while frail, is a very destructive power house to a lot of teams. Just recently, she also made a splash, winning a Regional for Stempe in Oregon, which could mean that she'll get a little bit more love in the future and that you should be prepared for her tricks! Most of the time, she'll come equiped with a Choice Scarf and spell doom with her STAB moves.

Charizard and Venusaur - Tropical deforestation

While both of them are still pretty dominating in the US (BadIntent and King of Kongs both managed to pilot their respective sun-based teams to 1st and 2nd place finishes in SoCal), this tournament only had two of each, with one Venusaur most likely being a Mega-version rather than the regular Chlorophyll sweeper. However, one Charizard made Top8 and the other one even won the whole event, this time without Venusaur, though, so there has to be something behind it!

Amoonguss - The forgotten Mushroom

I would have expected a lot more usage of the annoying sleep shuffler. I know Arash Ommati has it in his current team, as well as Matteo Gini and Sejun Park, so I think we might see more of it soon and despite the sleep nerf, his hated reign hasn't ended just yet.

Manectric & Ferrothorn - ...oh wait!

Yes, not a single Manectric nor Ferrothorn made the Top16 here. While Ferrothorn has an inexplicable rise at the moment, Japan currently refrains from using it. Manectric is one of my favourite Mega Pokémon, so I can't understand the lack of it here, but I guess Japan isn't the Holy Grail for Pokémon anymore (kidding)! 

All in all we can see, that - due to the lack of International Challenges and possibly due to the simultaneous release of the games, the Metagames of Japan and the US have a lot of things in common, but also their respective trends! Stay tuned for what will happen after the Winter Regionals!

Check out the overall usage stats here!

- Markus