Silph Arena Factions continues after the week-long break, and my team, SWEEP JR, has to continue our struggle in the APAC Open Tier. Perhaps, as a way to lessen the struggle, for Bout 5, we were paired up with another Australian team called Ferrothorns. This is yet another veteran team that has "fallen by the wayside"; it has once ranked as high as the Platinum tier, but since then, its performance has been dismal and it has been bottom-feeding, relegated to Open. But at any rate, we haven't been doing that well either, and thus we aligned to meet up in this Cycle.
Due to last weekend being more or less equal to another "break" (which could have been complemented by the SA Factions break had it lasted for another week or been scheduled for that week instead), two of my regular teammates requested to be off for that break. Coupled with the current situation of my Faction, that meant there were exactly seven people that can and had to play, one of them being me - but that's to be explained shortly. For this, I opted to have my teammates in a position that would minimize change from the previous Bout, which does seem like it would sound. Yet reality can and had the power to speak differently.
Partly because of that "break", most matches took place throughout Friday my team time (plus three hours for the Australians). The run of matches started in the afternoon with the Catacomb Field Specialists, bakalikur vs. Digitor1 and Wina1403 vs. Maddog250189. In order, they both resulted in 0-3 and 1-2 losses, putting my team behind by four points and making me slightly nervous about what's to come, especially my match, which came in the evening and shortly after theirs.
And so it did come, the Arcana Field Specialist match of PokeMasterBP348 (that's me) vs. Shad0wXo. Remarkably, this also became the "captains' derby", as my opponent is the opposing team captain. I had practiced for the match earlier with a couple of my teammates but always lost, so I wasn't sure what results I would get. Amazingly, in my first time out, I pulled off a 3-0 win (a sweep), allowing my team to catch up; there were moments where I thought I would lose, but I managed to turn them around. A piece of advice from my teammates also did the trick and immensely helped out, slightly changing the way I battled - but that was definitely for the better.
With that sweep, things may have been turned around. Aside from YukiXCyz vs. Fantendo in the Arcana Field an hour after mine, which turned out as a 1-2 loss and slightly increased the difference, the rest of the matches turned out as wins. RaymondHrtwn vs. Sygmassacre (Justicar Field for Ultra League) on Friday night, riman12 vs. Crystalzero (Open Great League) on Saturday afternoon, and Orioo16 vs. JaySliceOO4 (Open Master League) on Sunday evening had results of 2-1, 3-0, and 3-0 respectively. After all was said and done, my Faction turned out as the winner with a final score of 13-8, the first win since Bout 2 and the first result that didn't have a margin of one point since the Cycle began. It is a win that we desperately needed for us to show we have the chops.
From this Bout, something that I gained is that the most obvious strategy may not always be the most effective strategy. This applies to me as I practiced for my battle and when it took place, as well as how I set up the player lineup for this Bout. For the latter, I might have been able to set things up in a more intended manner, and the score difference could have been greater, although this seems to be just as fine. For the former, it seems that I can arm myself with all the tools I need to battle, but I also need to make considerations that go beyond that, and in doing so, something like this Bout might just result.
The opposing team adopts as its slogan "every rose [Roserade?] has its Ferrothorn", and so it seems to be true for this Bout as well, as my team encountered theirs in a rather symbolic manner. It was a truly appropriate Bout after the break, and our victory (plus my debut, and a sweet one at that) makes things all the more sweeter. While the next remaining Bouts may not as be sweet-smelling as roses, we ought to be able to find and avoid the thorns.
One year ago: The Flame of Cyndaquil
Two years ago: Days of Friendships Persisting
Three years ago: The Signature Electric Type Species
Four years ago: Partners in Crime, Partners in Time
Five years ago: Pokémon Craft Figures - Mewtwo
Six years ago: Crossovers!
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