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Circle of Legends [Online Competition]
- Thread starter ck49
- Start date
I've been really going on a catching spree in AS lately to prepare for this tournament... but in all honesty, I think I only have half my team more or less built at the moment. How's everybody else here doing?
Just got my team finished:)
I started making my team the second serebii but up its first post about the competition, I had to re-EV some pokes because I thought it was Lv 50 not 100 but I've been ready for a while now, I've made little tweaks here and there after think of better stuff but I haven't for a while now.
We do not allow hacking in Battle Spot, or all of Smogon for that matter.
That really sucks. He would definitely work well under trick room!! But if you really want that max speed IV, I can help you. I can either edit your Mewtwo or give you a new one.
Err Coolking , I use a flawless mewtwo (not satk since it's mega x), I got it from a my friend. If you need mewtwo x and If you can clone I can lend you mewtwo. Just give back it to me soon, I need it for the tour.
Nice question, I suppose yes, but I "suppose"..
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Lol, I must control my brain, I dunno why recently I'm doing so many fails. Sorry coolking.
Yeah, Ok, I wanted just help "you", but if you are alright (also, i can't help you with mewtwo-y) I can just hope you'll do a good tour. ;)
Yeah, Ok, I wanted just help "you", but if you are alright (also, i can't help you with mewtwo-y) I can just hope you'll do a good tour. ;)
Got my team ready anyone want to battle for preparation? FC: 1032-1435-7600 IGN: Despondant.
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17 in speed means you can't outspeed Darkrai pre-mega, but evolving into the Y mega means you get Insomnia anyway so you just have to tank a Dark Pulse before taking it out with Aura Sphere... Other than that you don't miss out on anything except Mewtwo-Y mirror matches (be careful as they can carry Shadow Ball). If this was regular Ubers with all the non-legends allowed then 17 speed wouldn't cut it, but since the other legendaries speed stats are no where near Mewtwo then you can get away with it
Yup, that's pretty much it. I ev'd my mewtwo to hit 396 speed, outspeeding normal Mewtwo after Megaevolving. Before evolving it outspeeds neutral arceus. It's mainly on the team for Darkrai, but its also got a fast taunt to shut down Xerneas, Ray, Cresselai, and Arceus from setting up turn 1.
Anyone up for practice battles?
To beat many of the popular choice sweepers there is a strategy I have that may work. One possible strategy would be a focus sash darkrai. Switch to darkrai, and use dark void. 4/5 times you will put them to sleep, and chances are it would be their sweeper. It also disables the pokemon which narrows their switches down to 2 instead of 3.
All right! I've theorymon'd and put together the first draft of my team for this competition (with a little help from some very nice people on the Wifi forum). Unfortunately, the servers are down, so I can't test it, but if anyone spots any holes I may have missed, help would be greatly appreciated. Again, this is all theorymon at this point.
Deoxys-Speed @ Light Clay
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Taunt
-Psyshock / Magic Coat
Bread-and-butter lead and anti-lead. I'm not sure how many other people will also be using this, but I'd use Magic Coat if it's popular and Psyshock if it isn't.
Latios @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Dragon Pulse
-Psyshock
-Trick
Here we go, the centerpiece of the team. I was theorymonning TrickScarf Latios earlier in the thread, as a way to lock boosters (namely GeoXern, DD Mega Ray, and EKiller Arceus) into their setup moves. I'm running both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse because switching is difficult in Rotations, and if I don't manage to get rid of the Scarf I won't want Latios to be sitting permanently at -6.
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
-Shadow Force
-Dragon Claw
-Will-o-Wisp
-Defog
My counter to Physical attackers not named Mega Ray (and PDon, but not sure how popular that'll be). I'm running Defog to get rid of enemy screens. Not sure about the two attacking moves, though; any suggestions?
Keldeo @ Lum Berry
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Hydro Pump / Calm Mind
-HP Flying / Calm Mind
-Scald
-Secret Sword
Lum Berry Keldeo because Darkrai is terrible and needs to pay for its sins...
Darkrai @ Focus Sash
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Dark Void
-Nasty Plot
-Dark Pulse
-Thunderbolt / Ice Beam
...which is why I'm using it myself. I know that Sleep + Setup doesn't work in Rotations; think of this as Sleep OR Setup. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't.
Heatran @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Flash Cannon
-Roar
This was going to be DD Mega Rayquaza... until I realized it would make 5/6 of my team weak to Fairy, practically guaranteeing that I would be swept by GeoXern. And that's generally not a good thing. So instead, Heatran! Heatran can either Flash Cannon it to KO with a bit of prior damage, or just Roar it out to reset Geomancy. The 12 SDef EVs are to survive an unboosted Focus Blast (or a +2 Focus Blast through Light Screen).
Other options
Rayquaza @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Ascent
-Earthquake
-Extreme Speed
What I don't like about this team is that it has a lot of counters but no real wincon beyond Darkrai, so a possible option is DD Mega Rayquaza. Creativity? What's that? :P
Lugia @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: Defensive
-Whirlwind
-Toxic
-Roost
-Aeroblast
Lugia could work... if I could just figure out how to RNG Dream Radar.
Mewtwo could also potentially work as a Mega.
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Reflect
-Light Screen
-Taunt
-Psyshock / Magic Coat
Bread-and-butter lead and anti-lead. I'm not sure how many other people will also be using this, but I'd use Magic Coat if it's popular and Psyshock if it isn't.
Latios @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
-Draco Meteor
-Dragon Pulse
-Psyshock
-Trick
Here we go, the centerpiece of the team. I was theorymonning TrickScarf Latios earlier in the thread, as a way to lock boosters (namely GeoXern, DD Mega Ray, and EKiller Arceus) into their setup moves. I'm running both Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse because switching is difficult in Rotations, and if I don't manage to get rid of the Scarf I won't want Latios to be sitting permanently at -6.
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
-Shadow Force
-Dragon Claw
-Will-o-Wisp
-Defog
My counter to Physical attackers not named Mega Ray (and PDon, but not sure how popular that'll be). I'm running Defog to get rid of enemy screens. Not sure about the two attacking moves, though; any suggestions?
Keldeo @ Lum Berry
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Hydro Pump / Calm Mind
-HP Flying / Calm Mind
-Scald
-Secret Sword
Lum Berry Keldeo because Darkrai is terrible and needs to pay for its sins...
Darkrai @ Focus Sash
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
-Dark Void
-Nasty Plot
-Dark Pulse
-Thunderbolt / Ice Beam
...which is why I'm using it myself. I know that Sleep + Setup doesn't work in Rotations; think of this as Sleep OR Setup. Maybe it'll work, maybe it won't.
Heatran @ Life Orb
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk / 12 SDef / 248 Spe
-Fire Blast
-Earth Power
-Flash Cannon
-Roar
This was going to be DD Mega Rayquaza... until I realized it would make 5/6 of my team weak to Fairy, practically guaranteeing that I would be swept by GeoXern. And that's generally not a good thing. So instead, Heatran! Heatran can either Flash Cannon it to KO with a bit of prior damage, or just Roar it out to reset Geomancy. The 12 SDef EVs are to survive an unboosted Focus Blast (or a +2 Focus Blast through Light Screen).
Other options
Rayquaza @ Life Orb / Lum Berry
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Ascent
-Earthquake
-Extreme Speed
What I don't like about this team is that it has a lot of counters but no real wincon beyond Darkrai, so a possible option is DD Mega Rayquaza. Creativity? What's that? :P
Lugia @ Leftovers
Nature: Bold
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: Defensive
-Whirlwind
-Toxic
-Roost
-Aeroblast
Lugia could work... if I could just figure out how to RNG Dream Radar.
Mewtwo could also potentially work as a Mega.
You realize this is rotation right? Whirlwind/Roar, Defog are not that useful and Keldeo with HP flying, what is that for? Finally, there is no reason I can see not to use a Mega Ray or Mewtwo on every team
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Whirlwind/Roar is an extra measure against setup sweepers, and Defog removes enemy screens as well as hazards (Screens are very powerful in Rotations). You're probably right about HP Flying though; I'll likely replace that with Calm Mind.
Like earlier in the thread Roar and Whirlwind was discussed and was decided against for good reason, it is very unreliable and once one poke dies useless move slot, I also don't think Keldeo is very good considering Mega Ray will be on every team almost
Lots of cool pokes there :) However, I think the team has one major problem. The time is 03:00 here, so this is gonna be messy, but whatever.
You have several cool tricks to stop some of the biggest threats. Lum Keldeo, Heatran, Giratina. Cool. Now, my question is: how are you gonna win battles?
Let me give an example: a lot of good players used Aegislash in Enter the dragon type earlier this year. The best players didn't. It certainly had potential to check some strong pokemon like Xerneas and Groudon (Wide guard), but was slow, relatively weak and very reliant on predictions and matchups. Thus, even though it could be a nightmare to face, it wouldn't be consistently good to use yourself over 30 battles.
Especially Keldeo and heatran simply seems too weak, and in heatran's case, too slow as well. I don't think they'll contribute much outside their specific role, and this is rotations format... so your opponent can rotate out their pokemon at will. I'd recommend using pokemon with more general purpose. After all, any other pokemon can hold a lum berry to check darkrai. Mewtwo is faster and can taunt it, as well as having an offensive presence. These are just examples. And especially if you're planning on leading with deoxys, you should utilise those screens to set up with a strong pokemon like Xerneas or Arceus. You really need a win condition... Darkrai s a fantastic one in singles, but not in rotations, since it can't utilise the sleep turns to set up because of the rotation format (As you stated in your description). And it simply doesn't have the power nor the bulk (even with sash) to muscle through all the 600+ BST pokemon. However, if you for example can put the opponent's GeoXern check too sleep and proceed to set up Geomancy with Xerneas, it's GG rigth there.
Suggestions:
- I'd consider replacing Keldeo with something else (Maybe Lum Rayquaza is you already have it at hand)
- Implement a deadly wincondition over Heatran , maybe GeoXern?
- Have you considered scarf jirachi over Latios? It can still trickScarf, and (sort of) checks Xerneas between its typing and Iron Head, maybe even outspeeds some variants after geomancy. Just a random thought.
- I don't think Nasty plot darkrai will get you far, especially with priority to finish it off after the set-up turn. Maybe sludge bomb, focus blast, Ice beam etc, thunder wave, etc?
Good luck, mate!
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Thanks for all the advice! I will admit that I don't have any experience at all with Rotations, so I did fully expect to make mistakes. I think I will replace Keldeo with Mewtwo since it checks Darkrai just as well, but can also do more outside of that.
The main thing stopping me from using GeoXern, Jirachi, and Arceus is, well, I actually don't have access to competitive ones. I caught Xerneas in X before I knew about SRing, and my Dream World Arceus from Gen V is Quiet with garbage IVs. But I totally get what you're saying, and I was actually thinking the same thing: I have ways to stop common win conditions, but no real ones of my own.
So maybe...
-Replace Nasty Plot with another coverage move on Darkrai
-Replace Keldeo and Heatran with Mewtwo and Rayquaza (The problem with this, of course, is that only one of them can Mega Evolve, so maybe non-Mega Mewtwo?)
I'd probably pick Mega-ray of those two, as it provides you with several thing your team lack - a strong hitter, priority, a set-up sweeper, physical damage, etc. Mewtwo and Deoxys are also somewhat overlapping synergy-wise. Do note that Mewtwo can learn both screens and taunt itself, though. I played around with it earlier today, and it has a huge surprise element as well as offensive pressure (at least the opponent is forced to play as if it is offensive). Deoxys' speed is always good to have, though.
As for GeoXern, I'll help you out with a flawless battle-ready one if you want - PM me about it if interested! :) I also have an adamant Arceus, I think.
I'm trying to put together a team at the last minute so these are some ideas still fresh in my head
- Thunder Wave spam to stop the inevitable Arceus+Xern+Ray teams. Roar/Haze are very shaky in rotations so this is the best I could come up with to stop the big sweepers. It should be good in general here since everything is quite fast, barely anything is immune to it and lots of very bulky things learn it
- Screens should be common for setting up so it's worth throwing Brick Break on something. Might even combine it with Thunder Wave on P-Groudon as a catch-all stop to any set up attempts
- Scarf Xerneas or a fast Fairy Arceus. I wouldn't sleep on these, as stupid as GeoXern is once you set it up, fairy has amazing coverage in this meta so it may be better to just get damage off quickly. Arceus can also use Surf to OHKO P-Groudon if it has rotated out whereas Xerneas gets walled by it
- SubCM Lugia, seriously how do you kill this lol, sounds very frustrating to beat in rotations where getting a sub up is easier
- support Arceus? Perish Song to my knowledge is great in rotations for endgame and it's the only thing apart from Celebi that can use it, plus it gets other useful moves
- Is it worth using non-primals to keep weather up for team support? Probably not but I imagine people won't be prepared for weather wars
No idea if they are as good as they sound, I'm going to test what I can on free battle at least to get some knowledge on what Japan's using
- Thunder Wave spam to stop the inevitable Arceus+Xern+Ray teams. Roar/Haze are very shaky in rotations so this is the best I could come up with to stop the big sweepers. It should be good in general here since everything is quite fast, barely anything is immune to it and lots of very bulky things learn it
- Screens should be common for setting up so it's worth throwing Brick Break on something. Might even combine it with Thunder Wave on P-Groudon as a catch-all stop to any set up attempts
- Scarf Xerneas or a fast Fairy Arceus. I wouldn't sleep on these, as stupid as GeoXern is once you set it up, fairy has amazing coverage in this meta so it may be better to just get damage off quickly. Arceus can also use Surf to OHKO P-Groudon if it has rotated out whereas Xerneas gets walled by it
- SubCM Lugia, seriously how do you kill this lol, sounds very frustrating to beat in rotations where getting a sub up is easier
- support Arceus? Perish Song to my knowledge is great in rotations for endgame and it's the only thing apart from Celebi that can use it, plus it gets other useful moves
- Is it worth using non-primals to keep weather up for team support? Probably not but I imagine people won't be prepared for weather wars
No idea if they are as good as they sound, I'm going to test what I can on free battle at least to get some knowledge on what Japan's using
Here's a copy of my planned team. My biggest focus was counters because if I can counter my opponents planned attacks I can send one back at them harder (with correct predictions of course). A lot of what rotations is, is predictions, and even more so when using all legendaries, as you don't know for sure what's going to be popular.
Circle of legends
Darkrai @ Focus sash
Dark void
Dark pulse
Quick attack
Sludge bomb
Jirachi @ assualt vest
Zen headbutt
Iron head
Drain punch
Ice punch
Xernaes @ power herb sp. Attack/speed
Geomancy
Moonblast
Ice beam
Flash canon
Diancie @ diancite speed/HP
Thunder wave
Diamond storm
Moonblast
Heal bell
Circle of legends
Darkrai @ Focus sash
Dark void
Dark pulse
Quick attack
Sludge bomb
Jirachi @ assualt vest
Zen headbutt
Iron head
Drain punch
Ice punch
Xernaes @ power herb sp. Attack/speed
Geomancy
Moonblast
Ice beam
Flash canon
Diancie @ diancite speed/HP
Thunder wave
Diamond storm
Moonblast
Heal bell
So I know you never asked for help regarding your team, but I'd like to point out that
1) Xerneas can't learn Ice Beam
2) Moonblast hits harder than a super effective flash cannon, so it is more or less useless
Possible replacements could be focus blast, grass knot (weather titans), Thunder(-bolt) for Ho-oh, sleep talk - there are many possibilities :) Good luck!
Btw, are anyone interested in a few practice battles? I'm not ready yet, but will be in a few hours! :)
I'm not ready yet or I would, I will be ready tomorrow evening, thanks for the advice I will look at what to replace those moves with