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The Team Magma has held weekly VGC practice tournaments in this format since the end of Nationals, and already I’m noticing other trends that don’t come up as often in other metagames. Knowing exactly what opposing Pokémon can do from first-hand experience creates a mental checklist; a player knows what has to die to guarantee one’s own survival. Let’s say you’re playing a match, and you know your opponent has Whimsicott and Terrakion in the back, with two other weakened Pokémon currently on the field. The dreaded “Terra-cott” combination, a threat made famous in VGC ’11 using Whimsicott’s Beat Up in conjunction with Terrakion’s Justified ability to give Terrakion a +4 boost to its attack, is obviously something you don’t want to risk allowing a chance to set up — especially if you just had your clock cleaned by it in the previous match, confirming without a doubt that Beat Up/Rock Slide can happen in this game. Normally, a double KO with a move like Heat Wave on the weakened front would be advantageous: it’s a quicker road to victory and would possibly lead to less damage taken that turn. In this case, however, killing the opponent’s Pokémon one at a time would stagger the entrance of Whimsicott and Terrakion onto the field, keeping them from immediately setting up and allowing you to deal some damage before they can even attempt a sweep. In the best case scenario, a super effective move and a priority move could kill Terrakion or Whimsicott before the Beat Up turn, paving the way to a smooth victory.