Gary Ng

Fan of The Legend of Heroes
Pokémon MY VGC Nationals 2022 Finalist
Pokémon MY VGC Nationals 2024 Champion
Pokemon MY VGC MBL ACS 2026 Top 4

[Ste @Ssteccaa]

I'm publishing my Worlds Top8 Report!
You can find it for free on my new Patreon.

I put a lot of effort into covering every aspect of the tournament, also sharing valuable info on my mindset before, during, and after my sets. Hope you enjoy it!

https://t.co/lqPClFgbTT

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

The best worlds I had attended so far, despite doing so poorly at a 2-6 record, I felt like this event had sparked my childhood dreams once again. Was happy able to battle against players all around the globe like @BattleRoom @pokemon_tcg.
Will be ready once again for Singapore

[Chris Brown @4Chris_Brown]

Some info shared about the future direction of Worlds: https://t.co/r5ZpbAhTGv

[Nightwind | Jamie’s Pet @husky_vgc]

WCS2026- A very rough start and luckily managed to crawl back to 5-3 and sneaked into T128.

Reg M-B is awful. I broke down when I was eliminated, and I think I was mentally overstressed but underprepared for my team.

I am still very far from my goal. Wish 2027 will be better.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@wheatscuits @sunnyeong The best caster of all times

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

10 years ago I head to my first Pokemon world championship in San Francisco, to think 10 years later, I'm going back there again for the very same event. A great shout outs to my friends who supported me along the 10 years and came all the way to send me off @sunnyeong and all

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@yoko_clover At least that's what I'd think judging from this statement

[MichaelderBeste @MichaelderBeste]

StarTar Team Report

This is one of the best teams in the metagame right now. It features the combination of Mega-Staraptor & Mega-Tyranitar. I've got some valuable insight cause I reached #1 last season with a similar approach. Lets get started

The Team: https://t.co/BZ8lnAgp4o

Staraptor:
Staraptor has been popping off lately. The reason is that it matches up well into many of the best Pokémon such as Garchomp, Kingambit and Sneasler. It has a nice speed tier for Tailwind and providing speed control and Intimidate support is amazing for the team. I also really like that you can bring both Staraptor & Tyranitar to a game and use the mega depending on your position without worrying about the regular Pokémon being useless. I like the moveset a lot. While Roost is quite a good move, I love the Tailwind set the most and Protect is very much needed as well. Dual Wingbeat and Brave Bird have both pros & cons. DWB is good for Focus Sash Pokémon like Sneasler or Whimsicott. However, because of Sand Stream, I figured it is not as important for these two and the extra damage with Brave Bird can go long ways. Running Max Speed is important for opposing Staraptor and it helps against Metagross as well as some Gengar. The bulk allows you to survive Fairy Aura Moonblast from Whimsicott most of the time. I also thought that Sylveon is now going back to 20+ cause they want to outspeed paralyzed Sneasler (when Paired with Ychu) while still having bulk, so you also get another nice calc (20+ SpA Fairy Feather Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 21 HP / 2 SpD Mega Staraptor: 162-192 (89.5 - 106%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO). I dumped the rest into attack to have a good chance to OHKO Sinistcha (unless 14+) as well as knocking out Kingambit with -1 Attack due to Intimidate pre mega (-1 11 Atk Mega Staraptor Close Combat vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 220-264 (106.2 - 127.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO).

Tyranitar:
While Tyranitar share the Fairy weakness with Staraptor, it still makes a great partner because it enables Excadrill which can then remove the Fairy Types. What's most interesting about this Tyranitar is the Jolly Nature without the move Dragon Dance. Jolly Tyranitar is an amazing pick against the meta right now cause it outspeeds the bulky Charizard, so you don't have to worry about losing the weather war against those because you get a Rock Slide off before they get to Solar Beam you. It is also really good for Modest Venusaur & Adamant Basculegion which would otherwise threaten huge damage on your Tyranitar instead. Movewise, the Tyranitar is quite standard. While the original version had High Horsepower (mainly for Sneasler & Archaludon), I think Low Kick is much better because of Kingambit, opposing Tyranitar & Mamoswine (you outspeed Adamant ones again). The little bulk I gave this Tyranitar is a tech against Basculegion + Tailwind teams. What you can do is that you switch into Staraptor and Mega evolve your Tyranitar to get this important survival (-1 32+ Atk Mystic Water Adaptability Basculegion Wave Crash vs. 2 HP / 3 Def Mega Tyranitar: 152-180 (85.8 - 101.6%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO).

Excadrill:
As mentioned before, Excadrill is one of your main Pokémon to deal with Floette & Sylveon. This team does not have many Earthquake partners other than Staraptor and High Horsepower is also sweet for extra damage (Earthquake is 75 Power if spread). The other moves are pretty straightforward and the only question often is whether to run an Adamant or a Jolly Nature. Jolly lets you speedtie Modest Floette and outspeed stuff such as Timid Gholdengo & Blastoise, Jolly Basculegion or opposing Adamant Excadrill. I like the extra damage output slightly more but in this case, it is just preference. I would not say that one is better than the other, you should go with the one you like more.

Milotic:
Milotic is an amazing Pokémon here. It benefits from Excadrill removing the Electric Types (only Raichu lol) while Staraptor deals with Venusaur and Sinistcha. This team is more offensive paced, so it makes sense to not play Coil here. Instead, having the option of clicking strong moves like Scald & Ice Beam is better. Icy Wind provides another form of speed control. You can run Recover if you really want to but with Sitrus Berry & Hospitality healing, I don't think it's necessary. Having both Ice moves is good cause Ice Beam threatens an immediate knockout on Garchomp which would otherwise be an even bigger threat to the team (0+ SpA Milotic Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 172-204 (93.9 - 111.4%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO). That is also the one of the reasons for a Modest Nature. I also really liked the idea of OHKOing Impish Incineroar (+2 0+ SpA Milotic Scald vs. 32 HP / 12 SpD Incineroar: 198-234 (98 - 115.8%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO) as well as getting a clean 2HKO on Delphox (0+ SpA Milotic Scald vs. 15 HP / 0 SpD Mega Delphox: 84-102 (50.9 - 61.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). 2 Special Defense increase the chance to survive Moonblast (Fairy Aura boosted) + Moonblast from Whimsicott & Modest Floette which is nice and the rest is dumped into Defense to take hits better from Garchomp, Basculegion & Kingambit.

Gholdengo:
Gholdengo is a nasty Pokémon on a sand team. Your opponent really wants to bring Sneasler to deal with Tyranitar but Gholdengo hard walls it (unless Throat Chop) which is sick. It also matches up well into the Fairy Types again and abuses passive boards (such as Toxapex or Sinistcha) very well. While some players play a Timid Nature (it makes sense for Zard & Basculegion again), I rather wanted to run a very bulky Gholdengo which can also be used in Trick Room. Enough speed still to outspeed M-Aerodactyl in Tailwind as well as getting the jump on many Archaludon. The latter is also the reason for the Special Attack stat cause I wanted to get the knockout with +2 Shadow Ball since Gholdengo is quite important in the rain matchup I feel like (+2 7+ SpA Life Orb Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 32 HP / 25 SpD Archaludon: 187-222 (94.9 - 112.6%) -- 68.75% chance to OHKO). The bulk is next level though. Being able to take Life Orb Earthquake from Garchomp + Life Orb is amazing (32 Atk Life Orb Garchomp Earthquake vs. 27 HP / 23 Def Gholdengo: 148-174 (78.3 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). Not being endangered by Kingambit every single time is also much appreciated (32+ Atk Black Glasses Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 27 HP / 23 Def Gholdengo: 140-168 (74 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO) cause it allows you to still attack and get a potential knockout on the other slot.

Sinistcha:
Sinistcha is good here cause the team is still kinda weak to Water & Ground moves. Hospitality helps out the entire team and Trick Room is a nice tool for opposing Tailwind teams or to get Gholdengo in position. Protect on supportive Pokémon is always good to have cause it makes it hard for your opponent to go for a safe play. Without Protect, they can often double tap the Sinistcha slot without much drawback, so I'm a big fan of that. Colbur Berry is a good tool for Kingambit cause many boards to not like to face it down such as Gholdengo or Milotic + Sinistcha. You survive Life Kowtow Cleave after Intimidating it (+1 32+ Atk Life Orb Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 32 HP / 4 Def Colbur Berry Sinistcha: 148-175 (83.1 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO) but I wanted to rather focus on Special bulk to take a move from Gengar which is very important (32 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 32 HP / 30+ SpD Sinistcha: 140-168 (78.6 - 94.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). That also allows you to survive the Nuke buttons from Sylveon (32+ SpA Fairy Feather Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. 32 HP / 30+ SpD Sinistcha: 153-180 (85.9 - 101.1%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO) and Floette (32 SpA Fairy Aura Mega Floette Light of Ruin vs. 32 HP / 30+ SpD Sinistcha: 153-180 (85.9 - 101.1%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO). Colbur Berry is also a great item against Blastoise to survive +2 Dark Pulse.

Matchups:
vs Big 6 - I approach the matchup differently every time. Staraptor + Milotic lead is quite good if they don't lead Floette (Excadrill + Tyranitar back). Otherwise you could also start with Tyranitar and bring Staraptor in the back to go for the surprise play I talked about in the teambuilding section. Excadrill & Tyranitar should always be brought, Gholdengo is very good into no Zard but I'm not the biggest fan of it nonetheless.

vs SunRain - Tyranitar is a key piece here. Breaking through Archaludon can be tough, so I recommend bringing Gholdengo. Use Tyranitar & Excadrill to threaten Charizard, the biggest problem for your Gholdengo. Staraptor + Tyranitar with Excadrill & Gholdengo should work quite well.

vs Hard Trick Room - Many Hard Trick Room variants really struggle against Milotic. Tyranitar in the lead also threatens Farigiraf which is why I recommend leading these two. Sash Excadrill is another excellent pick to have in the back and Sinistcha is solely here to heal Tyranitar / Milotic and also stall turns with Protect or redirect strong attacks from Mawile for example.

vs Setup Balance - You got many options here. Staraptor is nice to OHKO Sinistcha but I always feel like Excadrill is needed to outspeed Blastoise after a Shell Smash which forces you to also bring Tyranitar. Colbur Berry Sinistcha can also be super good here. Milotic is decent too but can feel passive at times. Similar to Big 6, you could pair many Pokémon with each other in this matchup

vs SylveonAero - Tyranitar + Milotic Lead covers basically all options. Your opponent cannot really lead Aerodactyl cause it's very disadvantageous if you start off with Excadrill. You need something in the back to deal with well positioned Sylveon, so either Excadrill or Gholdengo are a must have. You can also bring both. Not a big fan of Staraptor here while Sinistcha can be brought just for the healing on Milotic again. The lead is not great into Kingambit + Aerodactyl but they should never lead it as I said. Otherwise Excadrill + Milotic is an alternative option that covers a lot with Tyranitar + a mon of your liking in the back.

Conclusion:
Having Sand Rush, Tailwind, Trick Room & Icy Wind makes it very hard for your opponent to move first which makes this team so dangerous. Even though I would consider none of the Pokémon Top 10, the team is still quite dangerous cause it matches up well into the meta trends right now. You should try it out yourself.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@PHSFeitosa Do you find rain matchup difficult to deal with? especially those with pelipper swampert duo

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@lovejapanfrombr Awesome team, in fact there are many rooms for adjustment based on player preference.

[Pokémon Masters EX @PokemonMasters]

📢 Arc Suit Diantha and Arc Suit Geeta Celebration Sweepstakes!

To join:
1. Follow @PokemonMasters.
2. Repost this post.
Reply with #PokemonMasters and tell us your thoughts on Chapter 10 of the Arceus arc to increase your chance of winning!

Enter by July 24 at 10:59 p.m. PDT.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@husky_vgc @YuWeiVGC old team sometimes can still work as the meta shift here and there

[Pokémon Masters EX @PokemonMasters]

📢 Champion Ethan and Champion Lyra Celebration Daily Sweepstakes: Day 2! 📢

To join:
1. Follow @PokemonMasters.
2. Repost this post.

Enter by June 6 at 10:59 p.m. PDT! ⏰

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#PokemonMasters

[justin tang @unironicpanda]

I found my naic team

[👁️‍🗨️ Absol-utely 🔍 @absolutelypm]

#PMEXSpoiler

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

@husky_vgc This is what I called the true GOAT

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

I had to go through at least 5 rounds of the mirror matches (and it was really tiring dealing with speed ties and rock paper scissors lead). However I had made some adjustment from the standard Champion's Festival winning team to suit to my playstyle and got me this far.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

I finally able to get into the Malaysia Master Ball League, and made it to Top 4 on my birthday too 🎂🎂, losing to the winner of the evnt. This marks my 6th Worlds Invite. Shoutouts to @sunnyeong2 for practicing and flowcharting with me for the past 2 weeks like a madman.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

All the practice and yearly wait I had is probably going all in vain, all because of a lottery system?

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

As a former National Champion and Finalist, it kinda saddens me that I maybe unable to participate the VG MasterBall League.

[Gary Ng @GaryNgYJ]

I did not get any email from the organizers long past the deadline, so I am not sure if is I am not selected from the lottery or not, or there is any issue with the organiser's side, no news about it and organizer havent revert back to me.