I was wondering if my team I plan to bring to VGC this summer is any good or if I would be wasting my time, so I wanted to ask some professionals. Here is my team currently -
Midget (Shiinotic) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Effect Spore
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Moonlight
- Spotlight
- Strength Sap
My goal is to make Shiinotic the heart and soul of my team. I give him Spore to take care of pokemon that can take him out quicker than others. I use Moonlight in situations where both of the opposing enemy pokemon have low attack stats (when strength sap barely heals me at all). Spotlight is a useful signature move of Shiinotic that I will use on pokemon like my Garchomp when I expect a fire type attack to come at Shiinotic, for example. And I give it Strength Sap because of all of the physical attackers in this meta (Mimikyu, Garchomp, Arcanine, etc.) My strategy is usually to try to Spore the most dangerous threat on the field, so that it can be a 2 versus 1 fight for me, and so that I can safely use Shiinotic without the risk of getting one shotted by one of it's many weaknesses. Effect Spore was chosen because it's the best ability to use, since I'm not running a rain team. 252 HP and 252 SPD is to try to make him live attacks from his other weaknesses to common types like Ice, Fire, Steel, and Flying. There isn't really coverage for his poison weakness, so I gave it a Focus Sash so that it can live a poison type attack just in case. It's biggest struggle is definitely the Tapu's, especially Fini or Lele, as Strength Sap does nothing, Spore becomes useless because of the terrains, and they often use Dazzling Gleam, making Spotlight useless.
High Tides (Raichu-Alola) @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Fake Out
- Nasty Plot
Alolan Raichu, in all honesty, hardly ever gets used. I usually only use it if the enemy has a couple water types, since I have 2 weaknesses to it (4 if you consider most water types also have an ice type attack). The biggest pain for my team is definitely a Gastrodon. But since that isn't too common, the next worse one is Golduck. This pokemon is here to cover that. Psychic is for stab and the common poison typing (because of tapu's, i assume). Thunderbolt is there for stab and because water hurts my team quite a bit. Fake Out is there to combo with Shiinotic mostly, as this can decrease the chance that Shiinotic gets defeated by half for at least one turn, and can give Shiinotic a chance to start setting up Strength Sap's and Spore's. And nasty plot is in case I feel like deciding to sweep with Alolan Raichu, or if there is more than 2 water types being used.
Specter (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Detect
Alolan Marowak gets used quite often, but isn't too good a pair with Shiinotic, i don't believe. I gave it a Thick Club for obvious reasons and upped ev's in HP and Attack to make him a Bulky Sweeper. Adamant nature for the same reason as before. Flare Blitz is just a really good stab physical move that can actually one shot the common Kartana and Celesteela. Shadow Bone is good to counter pokemon that take neutral damage from Marowak, as Shadow Bone is a really powerful physical ghost move. Bonemerang is to counter his weakness to Rock and useful for Electric types, like Tapu Koko and Magnezone. And Detect is when I want some of my other pokemon (Salazzle and Garchomp) to use all pokemon hitting moves (Sludge Wave and Earthquake)
Spray (Salazzle) @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Corrosion
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
Salazzle is here to counter the ever so plenty Fairy types and counter types like Steel and Ice. Flamethrower is debatably it's best stab move with no drawbacks and is great for pokemon like Kartana and Celesteela. Sludge Wave is for Tapu's and other fairies. I gave it a poisonium z because the Tapu's (minus Tapu Bulu) can live a Sludge Wave, so it is used to Acid Downpour any Tapu that thought they were safe. Toxic and Will-O-Wisp are there for status conditions as they are both very useful. I hardly ever use Will-O-Wisp though, so I might change it.
Chomp (Garchomp) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
I find this to be one of my best pokemon. It is also arguably the best pair with Shiinotic, as Shiinotic can safely Spotlight this thing, knowing that it can take some hits. I wanted to make this Garchomp faster than other garchomps, so I maxed out it's speed and gave it Jolly. Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet were chosen for obvious reasons. Dragon Claw is for other Garchomps mostly. Earthquake is for Fire, Rock, Poison, and Steel types and is a great move in general. Crunch is for psychic types that want to threaten my Salazzle and Raichu. I might change it though. And Rock Slide is useful because this thing almost always outspeeds, so I often use this when Shiinotic is low on health, so that I can hope to flinch the enemy and get Shiinotic's hp back up.
Lloyd (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Razor Shell
- Shell Smash
Cloyster can be used for 2 things on my team. 1) Support Shiinotic by getting Spotlight'd. Or 2) Sweep. Cloyster has a suprisingly high attack, so I wanted to take advantage of this. Icicle Spear and Rock Blast are used to take out sash users and pokemon like Marowak and Garchomp. Razor Shell is a really good physical water move that has a 50% chance to lower defense, and almost never misses. And Shell Smash is used to get his stats even higher than they already are.
I have won probably 4/5 matches I do, but i'm not sure if my team is really good. Would love to hear what someone thinks. Thanks!
Midget (Shiinotic) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Effect Spore
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Moonlight
- Spotlight
- Strength Sap
My goal is to make Shiinotic the heart and soul of my team. I give him Spore to take care of pokemon that can take him out quicker than others. I use Moonlight in situations where both of the opposing enemy pokemon have low attack stats (when strength sap barely heals me at all). Spotlight is a useful signature move of Shiinotic that I will use on pokemon like my Garchomp when I expect a fire type attack to come at Shiinotic, for example. And I give it Strength Sap because of all of the physical attackers in this meta (Mimikyu, Garchomp, Arcanine, etc.) My strategy is usually to try to Spore the most dangerous threat on the field, so that it can be a 2 versus 1 fight for me, and so that I can safely use Shiinotic without the risk of getting one shotted by one of it's many weaknesses. Effect Spore was chosen because it's the best ability to use, since I'm not running a rain team. 252 HP and 252 SPD is to try to make him live attacks from his other weaknesses to common types like Ice, Fire, Steel, and Flying. There isn't really coverage for his poison weakness, so I gave it a Focus Sash so that it can live a poison type attack just in case. It's biggest struggle is definitely the Tapu's, especially Fini or Lele, as Strength Sap does nothing, Spore becomes useless because of the terrains, and they often use Dazzling Gleam, making Spotlight useless.
High Tides (Raichu-Alola) @ Life Orb
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Fake Out
- Nasty Plot
Alolan Raichu, in all honesty, hardly ever gets used. I usually only use it if the enemy has a couple water types, since I have 2 weaknesses to it (4 if you consider most water types also have an ice type attack). The biggest pain for my team is definitely a Gastrodon. But since that isn't too common, the next worse one is Golduck. This pokemon is here to cover that. Psychic is for stab and the common poison typing (because of tapu's, i assume). Thunderbolt is there for stab and because water hurts my team quite a bit. Fake Out is there to combo with Shiinotic mostly, as this can decrease the chance that Shiinotic gets defeated by half for at least one turn, and can give Shiinotic a chance to start setting up Strength Sap's and Spore's. And nasty plot is in case I feel like deciding to sweep with Alolan Raichu, or if there is more than 2 water types being used.
Specter (Marowak-Alola) @ Thick Club
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Detect
Alolan Marowak gets used quite often, but isn't too good a pair with Shiinotic, i don't believe. I gave it a Thick Club for obvious reasons and upped ev's in HP and Attack to make him a Bulky Sweeper. Adamant nature for the same reason as before. Flare Blitz is just a really good stab physical move that can actually one shot the common Kartana and Celesteela. Shadow Bone is good to counter pokemon that take neutral damage from Marowak, as Shadow Bone is a really powerful physical ghost move. Bonemerang is to counter his weakness to Rock and useful for Electric types, like Tapu Koko and Magnezone. And Detect is when I want some of my other pokemon (Salazzle and Garchomp) to use all pokemon hitting moves (Sludge Wave and Earthquake)
Spray (Salazzle) @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Corrosion
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Sludge Wave
- Toxic
- Will-O-Wisp
Salazzle is here to counter the ever so plenty Fairy types and counter types like Steel and Ice. Flamethrower is debatably it's best stab move with no drawbacks and is great for pokemon like Kartana and Celesteela. Sludge Wave is for Tapu's and other fairies. I gave it a poisonium z because the Tapu's (minus Tapu Bulu) can live a Sludge Wave, so it is used to Acid Downpour any Tapu that thought they were safe. Toxic and Will-O-Wisp are there for status conditions as they are both very useful. I hardly ever use Will-O-Wisp though, so I might change it.
Chomp (Garchomp) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
I find this to be one of my best pokemon. It is also arguably the best pair with Shiinotic, as Shiinotic can safely Spotlight this thing, knowing that it can take some hits. I wanted to make this Garchomp faster than other garchomps, so I maxed out it's speed and gave it Jolly. Rough Skin and Rocky Helmet were chosen for obvious reasons. Dragon Claw is for other Garchomps mostly. Earthquake is for Fire, Rock, Poison, and Steel types and is a great move in general. Crunch is for psychic types that want to threaten my Salazzle and Raichu. I might change it though. And Rock Slide is useful because this thing almost always outspeeds, so I often use this when Shiinotic is low on health, so that I can hope to flinch the enemy and get Shiinotic's hp back up.
Lloyd (Cloyster) @ White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Razor Shell
- Shell Smash
Cloyster can be used for 2 things on my team. 1) Support Shiinotic by getting Spotlight'd. Or 2) Sweep. Cloyster has a suprisingly high attack, so I wanted to take advantage of this. Icicle Spear and Rock Blast are used to take out sash users and pokemon like Marowak and Garchomp. Razor Shell is a really good physical water move that has a 50% chance to lower defense, and almost never misses. And Shell Smash is used to get his stats even higher than they already are.
I have won probably 4/5 matches I do, but i'm not sure if my team is really good. Would love to hear what someone thinks. Thanks!
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