VGC Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer - Mark II

[Blaze123]

Where is the calender for the VGC tutoring? I need tutoring for the next tournament coming up.

[Solace*]

Originally Posted by Fat Blaze123

Where is the calender for the VGC tutoring? I need tutoring for the next tournament coming up.

VGC tutoring will be resuming shortly, everyone's been a little busy but a schedule is in the works.

[Blaze123]

What is a good counter to rain teams? I have a gastrodon but I still can't counter them.

[PsyJ]

Originally Posted by Fat Blaze123

What is a good counter to rain teams? I have a gastrodon but I still can't counter them.

Ferrothorn works well as a good counter to rain teams. He can threaten Politoed with power whip (neutral nature with 180 Attack EVs OHKOs 252/0 Quiet Politoed) And he OHKOs any and all Gastrodons spreads with or without attack investment. And while Rain is up, his fire weakness is neutralized.

[tlyee61]

Originally Posted by Fat Blaze123

What is a good counter to rain teams? I have a gastrodon but I still can't counter them.

there's a nice list of them a few replies up, but it might be on a previous page by now...

[Zog]

Originally Posted by Fat Otto

I updated a Pokémon at pokecheck, but I got something orange at the nickname:
"Found trash bytes but no associated name. Can be the result of a changed nickname or a combination of different kinds of trashbyte (e.g. evolve after transfer or nickname after evolution)."

what does this mean? Does this mean my pkm is illegal? 0.o got it in a trade

This means that your Pokémon's name changed, but it can't remember what its old name was.

If it's an evolved Pokémon, it's completely legal and can happen normally without hacking. The only other legal possibility is if it has the OT Kuro* or Shiro* and no nickname, which would happen if its OT or nickname got censored by the GTS.

So yes you can probably use it. :D :D :D

[Misdreavus]

Does anyone have any info on what kinds of teams (Rain, TR, Goodstuffs, etc.) won or placed in Regionals (Masters division) this past weekend?

[ultimatedra]

So a friend of mine just got White 2 and is willing to sell me the code for the DW Chimchar/Piplup/Turtwig. (Going for the Chimchar)

Iron Fist will increase the damage of Fire Punch/Thunderpunch/Mach Punch, but it will then miss out on Fake out due to being an egg move.

Is Iron Fist viable enough to lose fake out or is fake out so critical to the VGC metagame to reduce the damage output of these attacks?

[Nexus]

Originally Posted by Fat ultimatedra

So a friend of mine just got White 2 and is willing to sell me the code for the DW Chimchar/Piplup/Turtwig. (Going for the Chimchar)

Iron Fist will increase the damage of Fire Punch/Thunderpunch/Mach Punch, but it will then miss out on Fake out due to being an egg move.

Is Iron Fist viable enough to lose fake out or is fake out so critical to the VGC metagame to reduce the damage output of these attacks?

You're in luck, that chimchar comes with its egg move, Fake Out, here's an image for evidence:

[Golden Piloswine]

Tyranitar (M) @ ???
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Low Kick
- Protect

What item can I use for this Pokemon other than Focus Sash, & Chople Berry?

[Lucien Lachance]

Dark Gem Crunch does a lot of damage to Cresselia, possibly can KO. Choice Scarf if you want to run Jolly and 252 Speed is probably the best item for Tyranitar since it gets the jump on threatening Pokemon like the Genies and Latios and can KO Latios with Crunch and 2HKOs the genies with Rock Slide. Of course you would swap Protect with an elemental punch or something.

[Golden Piloswine]

Originally Posted by Fat Lucien Lachance

Dark Gem Crunch does a lot of damage to Cresselia, possibly can KO. Choice Scarf if you want to run Jolly and 252 Speed is probably the best item for Tyranitar since it gets the jump on threatening Pokemon like the Genies and Latios and can KO Latios with Crunch and 2HKOs the genies with Rock Slide. Of course you would swap Protect with an elemental punch or something.

hm... Very interesting. I like the idea of Scarf better, but I'm worried about setting up weather when Abombasnow, Ninetales, and Politoed come out same turn.

[ryancyy]

Hey guys! I have a certain gimmicky idea about vgc'13. I hope u guys can give me some constructive feedback and some teambuilding tips as i may consider using this in vgc'13 if it works!

It centers around OHKO moves. The idea is as follows:

Machamp with No guard pairs with landorus/ Abomasnow with roleplay.

Turn 1 : Machamp used protect and landorus or abomasnow used roleplay to get no guard.
Turn 2: Landorus or abomasnow then spam Fissure or sheer cold respectively.

However, landorus/ abomasnow have to be able survive the turn that they used role play. Also, they need to have certain form of support such as gravity for fissure to be spam or trick room in order for abomasnow to function.

I searched online and i didnt really find any ideas about how to go about crafting this team. I really hope u guys could give me some ideas and your opinions on whether this will work in the current metagame.

Thank you!!

[Golden Piloswine]

Originally Posted by Fat ryancyy

Hey guys! I have a certain gimmicky idea about vgc'13. I hope u guys can give me some constructive feedback and some teambuilding tips as i may consider using this in vgc'13 if it works!

It centers around OHKO moves. The idea is as follows:

Machamp with No guard pairs with landorus/ Abomasnow with roleplay.

Turn 1 : Machamp used protect and landorus or abomasnow used roleplay to get no guard.
Turn 2: Landorus or abomasnow then spam Fissure or sheer cold respectively.

However, landorus/ abomasnow have to be able survive the turn that they used role play. Also, they need to have certain form of support such as gravity for fissure to be spam or trick room in order for abomasnow to function.

I searched online and i didnt really find any ideas about how to go about crafting this team. I really hope u guys could give me some ideas and your opinions on whether this will work in the current metagame.

Thank you!!

Well from what I can see, setting up No Guard can be an issue. If your Landorus/Abombasnow is affected by fake out/Ko'd by a faster Pokemon it will fall apart, and even if it isn't Ko'd. It can still be Ko'd next turn.

I can't really see this working. You can't have TR support with No Guard, it would take to many turns, and chances are it will be shut down, and your left without a strategy. Landorus just isn't fast enough to out speed some of the big threats to it.

When I build a VGC team, I use really standard goodstuff. Then I alter it to my play style with a few surprises. So if you want to try a gimmick try building a team first, and then see what fits. Good luck with building a team :)

[Pokelol]

I have a humble request for you guys.

I'm in dire need of someone to help me get the 6 pokemon I have on my VGC on Showdown that I find good enough to use in a tournament.

Thing is, I'm not that much into the whole RNG thing and seeing as the thread with the members willing to help out with pokemon for one's team is a bit old and with the people in the thread being inactive, I'm seeking help here.

There's a tournament going on at the 5th of February with sign-ups closing the 3rd. If someone could get me the pokemon I need for my team, I would be thankful. We're talking about "just" getting the Ability, Nature and IVs. I'll EV train them myself and get them the moves they need.

The pokemon we are talking about are:

Shellos (Gastrodon) - Bold - Storm Drain - Move Tutor (If possible) = Icy Wind
Larvitar (Tyranitar) - Brave - Sandstream - Move Tutor (If possible) = Low Kick
Litwick (Chandelure) - Modest - Flash Fire - Move Tutor (If possible) = Heat Wave
Foonguss (Amoonguss) - Calm - Effect Spore
Thundurus - Modest - Prankster
Tornadus - Jolly - Prankster

Thank you in advance.

[Scalrag]

Hello! I'm very much a noob when it comes to competitive battling and VGC in particular, and am just starting to try and improve myself. I took part in the very latest global link tournament, and I need some advice for fixing my team.

First of all, I know it's probably not a great choice, but I really want to be able to make a team with Scolipede, because it's my favorite Pokemon. I saw it had a VGC '11 recommendation from the Strategy Pokedex - is that outdated? Is there any way to fit a Scolipede into a Goodstuffs team? Otherwise, what sort of team does he fit into and in what roles? Is he a good lead? Sometimes I would have him lead in tandem with Zoroark (or a Zoroark disguised as him) just because I could sometimes trick people into trying to hit him with psychic moves or give him time to set up with swords dance while his partner gets attacked, but I know it's probably not the best strategy...

Also, what are good partners for him? I know the Strategy Pokedex says that Jellicent is one of his best partners, but from my experience with that, Jellicent really needs tailwind support to be any good. So I went with a Tailwind team... and got completely walled by pretty much every single Trick Room team I ran into. Also, it probably doesn't help my case that I chose Aerodactyl as my Tailwind-setup mon. I thought Unnerve would be worth it, but he's really just way too frail. I guess what I mean to ask is this: Is Jellicent still a good partner? Are there good Tailwind Pokemon that would have good synergy with Scolipede? Or, should I just forget about Tailwind considering all the Trick Room teams out there... or forget about Scolipede? If he is just no good in real competitive battles, then who should I be using instead? Scizor?

One last thing (sorry, I know I'm kinda ranting on here). I noticed people are saying that the 252/252/6 EV spread is not really that great. How come it's still everywhere in the strategy Pokedex? How do you decide exactly how many EVs are enough, or how much you should be spreading out?

[Sidfrid]

Originally Posted by Fat Scalrag

Hello! I'm very much a noob when it comes to competitive battling and VGC in particular, and am just starting to try and improve myself. I took part in the very latest global link tournament, and I need some advice for fixing my team.

First of all, I know it's probably not a great choice, but I really want to be able to make a team with Scolipede, because it's my favorite Pokemon. I saw it had a VGC '11 recommendation from the Strategy Pokedex - is that outdated? Is there any way to fit a Scolipede into a Goodstuffs team? Otherwise, what sort of team does he fit into and in what roles? Is he a good lead? Sometimes I would have him lead in tandem with Zoroark (or a Zoroark disguised as him) just because I could sometimes trick people into trying to hit him with psychic moves or give him time to set up with swords dance while his partner gets attacked, but I know it's probably not the best strategy...

Also, what are good partners for him? I know the Strategy Pokedex says that Jellicent is one of his best partners, but from my experience with that, Jellicent really needs tailwind support to be any good. So I went with a Tailwind team... and got completely walled by pretty much every single Trick Room team I ran into. Also, it probably doesn't help my case that I chose Aerodactyl as my Tailwind-setup mon. I thought Unnerve would be worth it, but he's really just way too frail. I guess what I mean to ask is this: Is Jellicent still a good partner? Are there good Tailwind Pokemon that would have good synergy with Scolipede? Or, should I just forget about Tailwind considering all the Trick Room teams out there... or forget about Scolipede? If he is just no good in real competitive battles, then who should I be using instead? Scizor?

One last thing (sorry, I know I'm kinda ranting on here). I noticed people are saying that the 252/252/6 EV spread is not really that great. How come it's still everywhere in the strategy Pokedex? How do you decide exactly how many EVs are enough, or how much you should be spreading out?

Hi Scalrag!
First of all, yes the VGC 2011 analysis are outdated, there a lot more pokemon to pick and the introduction of move tutors in BW2 may it a lot more easier to make new movesets.

About Scolipede, is great that you try to use your favorite pokemon, but poison types have poor offensive options, and bug the bug type give you two common weakness. But as you said a Sword Dance set may be usefull considering that Scolipede get Megahorn along with others physical moves. Your Scolipede/Zoroark trick is a gimmic at best, because you are forced to use two frail pokemon to cover each other. You need to think about what role do you want Scolipede to perform and make a core around it (could be a good idea to keep it in the rear and then when the enemy pokemon are weak bring him to sweep the remains).

With Aerodactyl on your team, you have 3 frail pokemons, if you really like Aerodactyl stick a focus sash to it, so you can get Tailwind up for sure. Unnerve is useful sometimes with all the resistance berries out there, you can catch Chople Tyranitar, Rindo Gastrodon, Occa Metagross and Haban Kingdra for suprise. If you want another Tailwind options, Suicune, Scizor even Hydreigon are good candidates and can fill a lot of roles in your team and they have solid defensive stats and great typing synergy.

Now with Trick Room, this may be the second most used playstyles just behind "GoodStuff" and like other playstyles you need to get cover, I will recomend you to read this article, it have good hints and ideas about Teambuilding, is a long read but really help a lot.

The Ev's need to be tailored to buff specific hits, the more common calcs are to survive Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from Timid Latios and Fighting Gem Close Combat from Adamant Hitmontop, but you can make all kind of speads like on your Jellicent to survive a Thunderbolt from Choice Specs Thundurus-T (she may need a Wacan berry to acomplish this) the more user friendly and the one that have a VGC damage calcs (remember that in VGC the pokemons levels are 50) is Honko's that you will find here

Just like your History teacher said you, don't get attached to just one information spot, around internet there a lot of usuful tools, articles and VGC specialized comunities that come very handy:

Marriland Team Builder Tool
NuggetBridge website

I hope this will really help you, and again, Welcome to our Comunity

[Scalrag]

Thank you so much! I appreciate all the feedback and the articles on Nugget Bridge are already looking to be super helpful.

I've been wondering one thing, though. I know most people use Tyranitar for Sandstream, but is Unnerve Tyranitar a valid option as well? I'm thinking of possibly using a different Tailwind Pokemon and then maybe TTar for Unnerve support and power, but I'm worried about him being more frail without the special defense boost of sand...

[Golden Piloswine]

Originally Posted by Fat Pokelol

I have a humble request for you guys.

I'm in dire need of someone to help me get the 6 pokemon I have on my VGC on Showdown that I find good enough to use in a tournament.

Thing is, I'm not that much into the whole RNG thing and seeing as the thread with the members willing to help out with pokemon for one's team is a bit old and with the people in the thread being inactive, I'm seeking help here.

There's a tournament going on at the 5th of February with sign-ups closing the 3rd. If someone could get me the pokemon I need for my team, I would be thankful. We're talking about "just" getting the Ability, Nature and IVs. I'll EV train them myself and get them the moves they need.

The pokemon we are talking about are:

Shellos (Gastrodon) - Bold - Storm Drain - Move Tutor (If possible) = Icy Wind
Larvitar (Tyranitar) - Brave - Sandstream - Move Tutor (If possible) = Low Kick
Litwick (Chandelure) - Modest - Flash Fire - Move Tutor (If possible) = Heat Wave
Foonguss (Amoonguss) - Calm - Effect Spore
Thundurus - Modest - Prankster
Tornadus - Jolly - Prankster

Thank you in advance.

While some users listed in the "Where to get your VGC'12 Pokemon" thread may not be as active, there are plenty of people willing to give out freebie's in the Wi-fi Section. A lot of them do require something in return, but you can find some that give em' out for free to VGC users, or free in general. Good luck with finding these Pokemon!!

[Sidfrid]

Originally Posted by Fat Scalrag

Thank you so much! I appreciate all the feedback and the articles on Nugget Bridge are already looking to be super helpful.

I've been wondering one thing, though. I know most people use Tyranitar for Sandstream, but is Unnerve Tyranitar a valid option as well? I'm thinking of possibly using a different Tailwind Pokemon and then maybe TTar for Unnerve support and power, but I'm worried about him being more frail without the special defense boost of sand...

Tyranitar selling point is Sand Stream, but it really depend on the team. T-tar have good resistance and before the buff to Sand (give 50% Spc. Def to rock types) there was some sets around with max invesment in Special Defense. If your team don't like the residual damage from infinite Sand, you can consider Unnerve T-tar. But remember that wheather teams need special consideration and preparation and the first and more useful tactics is to change your opponent wheather to one that is favored for you.

(btw, I've been using a Sand Force Hippowdon in a Rain Team, so your idea is not crazy at all)

[Blaze123]

Does anyone know any good EV trainers?

[hotcoldyay]

Is a trick room rain team viable in vgc? Ive been thinking of using it.

Who are the most popular pokemon to pick and look out for?

And what, specifically, are the most effective types of teams to use in vgc? Ive only recently started getting interested in vgc, and all i know so far is weather, goodstuffs and support are the most common types out there.

[Scalrag]

I can only speak for the last wifi-VGC tournament I took part in, but from my own (admittedly limited!) experience, Trick Room teams and Rain Dance teams were the most common. I ran into two sun teams, and a few sandstorm based teams, but rain seemed to be the most prevalent weather condition. I also ran into some Tailwind teams, but again, they were not nearly as common as Trick Room. I'm pretty sure I ran into at least a few teams that used both rain and TR, although from what I've heard so far, it may be risky to run a team that hinges around two specific conditions to succeed.

[Golden Piloswine]

Originally Posted by Fat hotcoldyay

Is a trick room rain team viable in vgc? Ive been thinking of using it.

Who are the most popular pokemon to pick and look out for?

And what, specifically, are the most effective types of teams to use in vgc? Ive only recently started getting interested in vgc, and all i know so far is weather, goodstuffs and support are the most common types out there.

Trick Room teams are very viable in VGC. I'm assuming that your second question applies to all of VGC'13 not just Trick Room. Hitmontop is very popular, as well as Garchomp, Cresselia, Scizor, Thundurus, Metagross, Volcarona, Heatran, Politoed, Ludicolo, Ninetales, just to name a few. Machamp seems to be getting more use as well lately. Terrakion, Weavile, Gastrodon, Salamence, and Hydreigon are common as well. This should give you a feel of what's useful in the current VGC metagame. The teams I see succeed mostly are goodstuff with a few surprises that are hard to forsee. Weather is also good, but standard weather teams just don't cut it lately, since everyone knows what's coming and how to counter them. Tailwind I find isn't as successful because it can be disrupted by Taunt, Trick Room, and doesn't last as long. Basically you have a higher chance of running into good stuff than anything else really.

Does anyone know any good EV trainers?

All I can do is direct you to the Wi-fi section and look for an Ev service. Don't really know anyone specifically, sorry.

I can only speak for the last wifi-VGC tournament I took part in, but from my own (admittedly limited!) experience, Trick Room teams and Rain Dance teams were the most common. I ran into two sun teams, and a few sandstorm based teams, but rain seemed to be the most prevalent weather condition. I also ran into some Tailwind teams, but again, they were not nearly as common as Trick Room. I'm pretty sure I ran into at least a few teams that used both rain and TR, although from what I've heard so far, it may be risky to run a team that hinges around two specific conditions to succeed.

I agree. Trick Room & Rain teams are more common than sand because there more versatile.

[hotcoldyay]

Thanks for the last answer :)

In helping to set up trick room, who is more reliable/effective: amoonguss or smeargle? Or better yet, is there anyone who also uses follow me/rage powder who fills the role better? I plan on using one of them alongside cresselia or reuniclus.

Also, who are some good, bulky, attackers who can reliably set up trick room? Im not sure if there are any more options besides these two... Please excuse my noobiness about vgc. XP

Thanks to anyone who answers :)