AusTerrain is Back

Hello everyone! This is our first post in a while (almost 10 months), and we just want to clarify a few things regarding the future of this blog.

As you all know, the format for this VGC season (VGC '16) was very different from previous years, it was akin to VGC '10 in a way besides the fact that Primals and Mega Rayquaza were allowed. Due to the highly volatile nature of the metagame in this format, a lot of us here refrained from playing, and as such we did not have, and were not able to produce the content that we wanted to produce for the readers. Before we move on to talking about VGC '17, we've actually got one of our members here that would like to share some of his experiences during the 2016 season, and maybe it will help some of you understand why we were not able to deliver much content this year.

A VGC 2016 Reminiscent

Hey, what's up guys, I'm Faaiz, but you can call me Feis, and I'd like to talk about how my "2016 season" went. The reason I left this in quotation marks is that my 2016 season didn't actually exist. The last two years have made it difficult for me to compete in the official circuit as I was finishing school and I have asian parents, so there's that. This year took  some time to go to UK Nationals to meet some friends. I finished a very average 4-4, which I didn't really care about though.

The more important thing for me the last two years was getting good grades in the final years of school so I could fulfill my dream of studying medicine -- which I managed to accomplish! Although I didn't play at any events besides Nats and a few PC's in that time, I'll have to admit that I spent a lot more time playing Pokémon than I probably should have, considering school and that I didn't really play in many live tournaments. 

So how did I like this year's format?

Not very much, but I won't go too much into the details, as I'm sure you've all heard similar things being said about it all year. I'll be honest. Although I reckon if some things were different, like Moody not being available on Smeargle, it would've been a tad cooler. I still don't really like the massive power creep between Primals, Megas and Xerneas. But, it's totally possible to have fun playing VGC '16, and I have had fun with it at some points, but other metas offered fun more frequently, for me at least. 

Speaking of fun, as I said earlier, I did play quite a bit at home and online. I played in Nugget Bridge's Circuit and had a lot of fun playing for the Ninjas in the NPA and getting 2nd with them (I think). I also somehow managed to qualify for the Nugget Bridge Invitational even though I lost a deciding match in Top 4 of the Dodrio Cup. Unfortunately I lost in the Top 16 of that tournament, but I think it's a good ending to a weird VGC '16 season, and I'm certainly looking forward to the new format!

Pokemon Sun and Moon : VGC 2017 

So moving on to the VGC '17 season, we've decided to become more active both with this blog and the format itself. We only started posting in late 2015 and unfortunately due to a lack of interest in the 2016 format from many of our contributors, we never really got AusTerrain rolling in the way we'd originally planned. For the coming year however, we want to provide a consistent stream of content that will include:

• Individual pokemon sets/analyses.
• Analysis on team archetypes and how we feel they interact with each other.
• Report-style entries that will focus on our own experiences with teams we use at live and online events.
• Pretty much anything else we feel is relevant or enjoyable for fans of VGC and pokemon in general.

We've also got a few players who are a bit more well-known who will be releasing content with us in the coming season, so keep an eye out!