Pokémon Midwest Regionals 2018: Masters VGC Winner

Paul Chua

The following is an interview with Paul Chua, winner of the Masters Division of the video game competition at the 2018 Midwest Regional in Madison, WI.

Where are you from, and how did you get into Pokémon?

I am from Union, New Jersey. I got into Pokémon after I saw a commercial for Diamond and Pearl-the games looked really cool and I got them on release day. I started doing VGC in 2010, when I read an advertisement about the events and the closest one was less than an hour away. I went there and made it to the third round. From that point on, I decided to keep playing VGC because of how fun it was to play against other people.

What was the team you used for this event?

-Kangaskhan
-Landorus (Therian)
-Tapu Fini
-Cresselia
-Kartana
-Heatran

Was there an overall strategy for the team?

No, it was just meant to take hits and do damage with some of the strongest Pokémon available. It was all about just using the best Pokémon given the opponent’s team and play style.

What worked well for the team in the tournament?

I think Kangaskhan worked really well. Mine was relatively bulky which allowed it to take strong attacks such as Hydro Vortex from Ludicolo (even in the rain) or Overheat from Charizard-Y. Another aspect that worked well was my Cresselia having Hidden Power Fire. I put it on there as a way to handle Kartana more easily, which had given my team a lot of issues in the past.

How did the finals play out?

Game one I felt could have gone either way, however him attacking my Kangaskhan near the end with his Kartana allowed me to make a comeback and barely take it. In game two, I tried to cover all of his switches he could make and brought my Landorus this time as a way to reduce the power of his Kartana.

Any changes might you make to this team if you used it again?

I felt like teams that had Gothitelle and Mawile did really well against, as the ability to have more board control by stopping me from switching made it really hard to take knockouts. Putting Taunt on Heatran or using a ghost-type might help there.

What are your plans for the rest of the season?

I plan on going to North American Internationals and maybe a few Midseason Showdowns before that. I qualified for Worlds too, so I’m definitely going there.