Barry's VGC 2012 Team + History

So this is the first time I have ever attempted documenting the history of a team, but I hope it will be as interesting for you as I hope it will be for me looking back at how I ended up using what I do now. I have posted this on one other website too, but it would be nice for it to get some more eyes on it here too.

v. 0.1


This first version of the team is the one I entered the VGC in Birmingham with. I had been playing this metagame for maybe only a month or so before the event, so this is the team that I had put together hoping it would work well together, without the understanding I have at the moment. Chandelure didn't get any kind of Thunder Wave or Trick Room support, and Amoongus didn't really do anything... ever.

v 0.2


So I took those last two out and decided on just going all-out offensive with Hydreigon and Terrakion. Hydreigon was particularly useful at bluffing its way to knocking out faster dragons, but wasn't particularly reliable. Focus Sashed Terrakion was also very useful, especially with the surprise Quick Attack. This is the team I entered the VGC in Paris with, and also the International wi-fi tournament. Although this team was great at bashing the opponents, it never seemed particularly balanced - and the Adamant Terrakion and Modest Hydreigon desperately seemed to need some kind of speed support.

v 0.3


So I thought I'd get rid of Garchomp. I surprisingly didn't seem to use it much, it was another Ice-weak Pokémon and another easy knock out for Latios. I went through Platinum to find myself a nice Cresselia to add some support to my team. I had never used one before, and being so offensively-minded it never seemed to do anything but sit in a space where something else could be attacking. It didn't quite seem to give any real support as my attackers were usually just taken apart with Paralysis.

v 0.4


So I took Terrakion and Hydreigon out, which was pretty scary considering Hydreigon was usually useful against other Cresselia and Terrakion could usually pull me out of sticky situations. It was at this point though, where the penny was finally starting to drop and I realised that this game is all about being able to move before your opponent. I put both Thunder Wave and Trick Room on the Cresselia, and put Thunder Wave on Zapdos. This team seemed much more solid than the previous one. Garchomp comes back as an important Ground type, immune to Thunder Wave. Chandelure also makes a comeback here now it can finally take advantage of Paralysed opponents/Trick Room.

v 0.5


The latest change is switching Garchomp out again, on the realisation that the main reason I use Garchomp is for its Earthquake, and to get a knock out on other Dragons after they have been Paralysed/not in the rain. Mamoswine I think is very underrated, Ground and Ice are an extremely good offensive duo. Focus Sash works great on it being immune to both Sandstorm and Hail, and it is another Ground type making it immune to Thunder Wave. From being a novelty that I added to the team in an attempt to balance things out, Cresselia has become the key to this team being able to either Paralyse opponents or use Trick Room depending on the circumstances.

So this is the current team in more detail:


Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Sand Stream
252 HP / 252 Attack / 6 Sp. Defence
Brave
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Taunt
- Protect

The main reason I have this on the team is to have some kind of control over the weather. It is Brave and low enough IV in Speed that it underspeeds any other weather-bringer apart from Abomasnow or Pokémon holding an Iron Ball. It works quite nicely in Trick Room and is also good at getting a surprise Taunt off to prevent opponents from getting Trick Room set up.


Metagross @ Life Orb
Clear Body
252 HP / 252 Attack / 6 Sp. Defence
Adamant
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Bullet Punch
- Protect

Extremely solid Pokémon that has always been a part of the team, albeit with different movesets. It would be nice to fit Earthquake on here somewhere, but it doesn't have STAB behind it and always seemed pretty underwhelming when I did use it. Zen Headbutt is probably the most useful move along with Bullet Punch actually. With Life Orb and Helping Hand, Zen Headbutt OHKOs some bulky Pokémon that would otherwise be sure to survive longer. It is also my main way of dealing with Hitmontop/Conkeldurr, getting OHKOs on both.


Zapdos @ Electric Gem
Pressure
Timid
252 Sp. Attack / 252 Speed / 6 HP
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Thunder Wave
- Detect

I used to be pretty unsure about Zapdos because it is pretty easy to wall an Electric and Fire combination. This Zapdos only has a 20 IV in Sp. Attack and an unfortunate 3 in Defence too. Even so, this does always seem to be useful against Rain teams and to spread some Paralysis. It is also my main check to Scizor, which is pretty hard for the rest of the team to deal with.


Cresselia @ Sitrus Berry
Levitate
Calm
252 HP / 252 Sp. Defence / 6 Defence
- Icy Wind
- Thunder Wave
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room

The supporting Pokémon that controls who goes before who. Both Icy Wind and Thunder Wave might be a little strange, but as well as its Speed-reducing side-effect it is a nice spread attack that can take Pokémon down that I suspect will hang on with a Focus Sash. Helping Hand is also a very nice move to make sure its team mate can OHKO most things.


Chandelure @ Air Balloon
Flash Fire
Modest
252 HP / 252 Sp. Attack / 6 Sp. Defence
- Heat Wave
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Protect

Although an item to boost its power might be tempting, the Air Balloon is actually pretty useful. I can switch it into Earthquakes and use my own with it out, and Energy Ball is a nice surprise for most people too against Gastrodon or Rotom-W. Perhaps the Pokémon I am still most unsure about on the team, it seems to have a really niche use - but when it works well, it is game-changing.


Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Oblivious
Adamant
252 Attack / 252 Speed / 6 HP
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Ice Shard
- Protect

The latest addition has the powerful dual-STAB and another very useful priority attack. I have always used Icicle Spear over Icicle Crash for a few reasons. It has 100% accuracy, it can break through Sturdy and Focus Sash's and can break through Substitutes too. It really is surprising how many of the mostly-used Pokémon in this VGC metagame are weak to either Ice or Ground, have a look at the team preview next time you do a game and think of Mamoswine.


So this has been a bit of an epic post. Hopefully it has given you something interesting to read for a while and you can give some comments on how I could perhaps further improve the team. I do still have problems with surprise-Scarfed Pokémon, Rotom-W, and strong Dark-type attackers (like a Scarfed Tyranitar). Scizor can give some problems, and it doesn't have the best control over weather either - meaning Rain teams can often be pretty problematic.

Anyway hopefully this'll have interested you people, and you'll have something to throw my way.

Ttar will still faint from a fighting type attack, even with chople berry. I suggest put focus sash on Ttar. And I don't know what to do with mamoswine's item, I think choice scarf would be good. I don't really like icicle spear, how about trying either ice fang or rock slide. For everything else, it seems pretty good team.

edit: drop thunder wave on cress and try toxic or psychic.

Agreed about dropping the Chople Berry, I've never had one slow me down whenever any of my teams went up against a Tyranitar.

Drop Thunder Wave on Cresselia, you already have it on Zapdos and Icy Wind does basically the same thing. Reflect or Light Screen to boost your team's bulk, Psychic to help protect Tyranitar from Fighting-types, or maybe Magic Coat (a really good move, I have no idea why nobody uses it) to troll would-be Taunters, Spore users, and so on.

Edit: also, if you're going to insist on using that Zapdos rather than getting a better one, you should change it to 248 SpA EVs, because the last four are wasted with an even IV. Same goes for HP and Speed if they're even, and if any of your other Pokémon have suboptimal IVs.

Chople Berry has kept the Tyranitar alive in some instances... It won't survive a Close Combat from a Terrakion for example, but un-STABed Fighting attacks it will. I wouldn't be too keen on it having the Focus Sash because I would much rather Mamoswine had that. Dark Gem could work, and I have thought about using a Scarfed Tyranitar... but then there's no Taunt.

I used to have both Light Screen and Psychic on the Cresselia and they didn't serve any purpose at all (it's Sp. Attack IV is 3 as well...) As soon as I put Thunder Wave on it, things started to work out much much better. I know in theory I should have either that or Icy Wind, but both do have subtly different uses. (Plus Icy Wind and Helping Hand are forth generation move tutor only moves, so I wouldn't be able to get them back if they were forgotten.)

So I have no problem with the Cresselia at all, but the Tyranitar could do with some changing. I do have an Adamant one with Superpower as well, or could train a different one - but maybe for now I will try it out with a Dark Gem...

Thanks for the comments!

cool team. here are my thoughs:

Trick Room on your team seems really unnecessary, especially since you have the set with both Icy Wind and Thunder Wave (which actually is a good combination). I would probably switch Trick Room to Psychic, or, if you want to move your Sitrus Berry around, you can give Cress Chesto Berry + Rest over Trick Room. That will give Cress much more longevity as well as remove any nasty statuses that come your way.

For your Zapdos, I would suggest replacing Thunder Wave with Tailwind. Since you already have one Pokemon designed to lower speed, you might want to test one that can give your guys a boost. If you're weak to Scizor, you can use HP investment over Speed investment.

I'm unsure about what Mamoswine is doing for your team. I would suggest dropping it for Hitmontop, since an Intimidate Pokemon of your own would be nice. It also gives you priority (Fake Out + Mach Punch + Sucker Punch is nice).

tl:dr
Trick Room --> Psychic or ChestoRest
Thunder Wave (Zapdos) --> Tailwind
Mamoswine --> Hitmontop

Cool team, hope I helped

Nice team you have here fellow. Here are some of my contributions I shall add:
Tyranitar- Agreed that it should be Sashed, it's more reliable in these kind of situations where nearly everything will hit SE and any Close Combat or Superpower will OHKO it anyways. Also, Tyranitar is waaay too slow Taunt, maybe give it another attacking move like Earthquake, Ice Punch, or Fire Punch. I'd also change its nature to Adamant, for reasons I will get to.
Cresselia- I don't see the point of TR on Cress, seeing as it'll be a detriment to half your team. Psychic is definitely your best option instead of it, and maybe run Protect over Thunder Wave or Icy Wind, depending on what you want to keep.
Chandelure- Air Baloon is an interesting option, however, since Chandelure is all about attack, maybe running a Fire Gem would be a good option. I've seen that work really well in the past.
Mamoswine- I've never really seen a Mamoswine get OHKOd before, so I think the Sash can go and be put on Tyranitar. You could try an Ice Gem or a Resist Berry. I'd also put Rock Slide over Icicle Spear, seeing as it's one of the most effective spread moves in the metagame.

It seems Cresselia is confusing people the most... but that is all part of how it works really. From my experience of playing many games with this team, having Trick Room is can be a very nice surprise for the opponent and has given me some really nice comebacks. I'm really not a fan of Psychic on it at all... it was the last move I replaced on it, but I did because there was never a situation where it should be used - I have Zen Headbutt on the Metagross to deal Psychic-type damage.

I probably would prefer Tailwind on the Zapdos, but unfortunately that's a forth generation move tutor move. (All my Pokémon are bred and have three or four 31s, or soft reset for in the case of legends.) Perhaps I'll try and get another some day.

Hitmontop is super overrated in my opinion, I'm going to give Mamoswine some time to settle in and see what it can do. It is OHKOed by many Water attacks, so that's the reason for the Focus Sash... I have been tempted with the Ice Gem though.

Air Balloon on the Chandelure has had some very good uses, but I think I am going to try either the Fire Gem or an Expert Belt on it.

What were the reasons for an Adamant Tyranitar? Taunt is slow, but it is mainly for Trick Room - which has negative priority.

Yep, I agree TTar should be sashed, all that, max speed etc. (Adamant nature though)

Anyway, I'm pretty unsure about how you deal with Rotom-W. It is a solid check to 4 members of your team, Hydro Pump 2HKOing them. It will have no trouble outspeeding Chandelure, and without a Focus Sash, you could be in trouble. I may suggest Gastrodon somewhere on your team, as it can really help your members with Storm Drain, and walls Rotom-W lacking HP Grass. It also provides some extra insurance against rain.

Gastrodon @ Earth Gem
Trait: Storm Drain
Modest: 252 HP/244 SpA/12 Spe
-Earth Power
-Muddy Water
-Ice Beam
-Protect/Recover
Not too sure where you put it, but I would really recommend it.

Other than that, good team, just change Mamoswine's ability, Oblivious is almost useless, whereas Thick Fat (if it's been released) or even Snow Cloak may be useful at times.

Why max Speed on Tyranitar?

Yes, like I mentioned in the opening post Rotom-W is a bit of a problem for me. I usually try and get the Electric Gem-boosted Thunderbolt on it, or Zen Headbutt or Energy Ball if I've managed to slow it down.

Yeh, I wouldn't really know what to replace for Gastrodon, but I have always been interested in trying one out.

I can't change Mamosine's ability either... I'm using it because I bred it with five 31s... Thick Fat isn't legal with Ice Shard and Icicle Spear (and Icicle Crash) either, else I'd be breeding one with that.

Okay, that's fair enough. Max speed on TTar is simply because you don't need any defense investment due to Focus Sash. It also helps with the jump on Cresselia and Tyranitar, among others, although beating other TTar is kinda dependant on Low Kick anyway.