I wasn't sure whether to pick Doubles or VGC 2014 for the prefix so it may be incorrect.
+10 if you get the thread title.
Team is designed for the upcoming 2014 May International tourney, following its own ruleset. In a nutshell:
- Level 50.
- Doubles.
- Kalos Dex and Kalos Native only.
- Item Restriction
- Mewtwo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde are banned.
- Species restriction: no two Pokémon of the same National Dex number (ie can't have 2 Rotom formes).
Charizard @ Mega Stone
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed.
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Will-o-Miss / Solarbeam
- Air Slash / Ancientpower
Gungnir. I was at a loss for nicknames for the poor girl.
EV's allow me to outrun +Speed 92's (Krookodile, Mega Garchomp) and neutral 105 Speed Pokémon (Mega Pinsir, Zororark, Mienshao). There's nothing particularly relevant to outrun between 95-100 base Speed, and I'm the guy who loses every Speed tie he's ever met anyway. The HP investment hits an odd number, in the odd case of Stealth Rock I won't be KO'd in two switch-ins. It also allows survival of Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt, as long as I'm at full health. Physically, it isn't taking very much. The remainder is dumped into Special attack, rounding out at a nice 200 Sp. Atk: funny enough, it's just enough to OHKO a 252/4 Mega Aggron in Sun with Heat Wave.
Heat Wave is pretty standard on Megazard-Y, having a staggering 160 power against both opponents at once. Protect is important, allowing him to dodge a probably fatal Rock Slide or scout for what my foe plans to do, among its many other uses. I'm currently running Will-o-Wisp, akin to my old Ninetales in Gen 5. My team notably leans toward Special bulk, so having something to lessen the physical threats helps. It won't allow me to survive strong Stone Edges anytime soon, but it does whittle down bulky foes and physical attackers, particularly Kangaskhan and Mawile, who not only miss a Sucker Punch, but end up crippled by it. I'm also considering Overheat as a more... immediate solution to problematic foes. 292 power right off the bat is a good hammer to have to call upon, but the great Khan can smash all hope with Fake Out + Sucker Punch.
Air Slash is an obvious secondary STAB, hitting Fighting types super effective (And hits Mega Venusaur I guess?) and tapping Fire / Dragon / Water types.
Updates: Putting in Solarbeam and Ancientpower for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Venusaur @ Coba Berry
Modest, 164 HP, 4 Def, 244 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 92 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Solarbeam / Giga Drain
- Protect
- Sunny Day / Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Cybele. That summon on Golden Sun always looked like Venusaur. Female, if the name isn't a hint.
Speed outruns +150's in Sun, which has been more than adequate. Its rather tough as well – with bulk and Coba Berry it can tank a 252+ CB Brave Bird from Talonflame if need be. The remainder was dumped into Sp. Atk for obvious reasons. I could also switch the item around, but as is I'm currently in a state of uncertainty with Venusaur's item.
Solarbeam is a strong, accurate STAB with minimal repercussions attached, smashing Rotom-W and neutral threats pretty well. Protect is for Talonflame- I mean the myriad of uses in Doubles. Sludge Bomb hits Fairy super effective for Garchomp, who tends to surrender rather meekishly to them, and has a useful side chance of Poison to whittle foes down and negate Leftovers. Sunny Day is what happened after I discovered Venusaur has no movepool and is heavily dependant on Sun to function. Its also never a bad idea to have a second Sun inducer, especially since the debuff to auto-weather in Gen 6. I'm open to plenty of ideas here.
Updates: putting in Giga Drain and Sleep Powder for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Greninja @ Focus Sash
Timid, 4 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Protean
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Mat Block / Taunt
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
Edge, because he's the only ninja I like.
EV spread should be painfully obvious. There's not much point in bulk for it, and it's not mixed.
Scald is miserably weak in the Sun, but does threaten Rock and Fire types outside of the sun. Hydro Pump is also quite considerable, though the misses could be costly.
Mat Block isn't as useful as I thought, so I may replace that. It does offer nice cover in a pinch, but its one turn use has left me high and dry a few times. Ice Beam is an absolute necessity to destroy Garchomp before it destroys everything. I suffered a massive 50 point drop in ranking in the Beta Competition almost exclusively due to Garchomp (Who turned out to be the #1 used Pokémon in that tourney, btw) so I was hell bent forleather its destruction. And things like Salamence of course. Dark Pulse is there to hit foes like Aegislash and Alakazam, Aegislash being rather rampant from what I can see on Random Matchup.
Updates: putting in Hydro Pump and Taunt, for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Garchomp @ Assault Vest / Rocky Helmet
Jolly, 92 HP, 156 Atk, 4 Def, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed -> 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab / Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Smoothskin. Because his skin's so smooth. And tasty. (+10 if you get the reference!)
EV spread is still being tinkered with, so its not too special.
Assault Vest disallows Status category moves, so there's obviously no point in using Protect. The Special Defense boost makes him stupidly hard to kill, so its not a huge worry. Garchomp here is actually used mainly defensively – the Rock, Fire, Electric, and Poison resists are all useful, and the ability to both wall and immediately threaten these types has been very useful, especially against Fire types. STAB moves are obvious, Rock Slide is good coverage and flinch abuse, while Poison Jab is there purely for Fairy types, with a nice chance of Poison, and hits Azumarill harder than Iron Head. Klefki is hit by Earthquake anyway. Often paired with Charizard as the lead duo.
It's rather bad at outright killing things: unless its really frail or quite weak to a certain attack, it isn't going to be OHKO'd. It's centered more around its Speed, bulk, and useful resistances, and acts as a bit of an anti-Sun Pokémon. Rough Skin and the small bulk increase helps against physical foes like Kangaskhan as well, so a Rocky Helmet may work here instead. Choice Band may also put that extra kick where it's needed.
Updates: changing the EV Spread, item, and Protect for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Aegislash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
Pinoy Pwnage suggested placing this over my Aromatisse; and since I agree whole heartedly here it is.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Reckless
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Knock Off / Feint / Quick Guard
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
My insane-as-shit answer to Kangaskhan and Rotom-Heat, two prominent threats to my team. I trust the spread is simple, 4 HP is added to make sure it doesn't KO itself in 2 consecutive HJK misses (yes, I've had that happen without Protect involved at all) and survives 10 turns of Life Orb if that ever happens.
Mienshao's Reckless, Life Orb boosted Hi Jump Kick is among the most absurdly powerful physical attacks in the game, standing at a formidable 234 power backed by a Life Orb and 125 base Attack. With great power comes great risk: a miss wil almost certainly guarantee she loses 50% of her health, and considering the prevalence of Protect in doubles its a very dangerous gamble. I however, am insane, and love to toy with something with more power than a Guts boosted Adamant Hariyama's Close Combat.
Secondly, we have Fake Out, a move Mienshao wouldn't be caught dead without. A free flinch with +2 priority to break Sashes and disrupt a foe, and even on a bad day, forcing them to switch or Protect. Stone Edge offers good power and coverage, though its only really useful if the foe resists HJK and is weak to Stone Edge as HJK weilds more power than a super effective Stone Edge. In the remaining slot, I can run either Knock Off for smacking around items with a decent 97 power, or Feint to torment and befuddle my foes by picking off the weak with +2 priority, or breaking Protect / Wide Guard. Will I use High Jump Kick and break my leg, or will I use Feint and burn your turn? Will I snap your Pokémon like a pencil, or tickle your Pokémon with Feint? Its a fun mind-vice.
All in all, it's a fast, very heavy-hitting glass cannon.
Originally I had a Quiet, Life Orb Aegislash here. It filled a few holes, but Kangaskhan (believe it or not) walks all over it and Heat Rotom was simply unstoppable.
Updates: changed to Rock Slide and Quick Guard, for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
== Problems ==
Mega Kangaskhan is quite a threat: it can literally Sucker Punch my team in half, and smash Aromatisse with Return. Mienshao is faster, blocks its Fake Out with an invariably faster Fake Out, and horrifically maims even the bulkiest Khan with HJK. However, she's very frail and very suicidal, which doesn't rhyme with “dependable”.
Heat Rotom is a bitch. If you comb over my offensive coverage, you'll notice my entire Special attacking force is walled, Garchomp hardly tickles it and is completely boned by WoW. Mienshao psychotically OHKO's with HJK or Stone Edge before being Burned, but Rotom does have those pesky teamates looking to eat my weasel like the lean snack it is. Oh, and Protect, it has that too.
Mega Gardevoir simply cannot be OHKO'd by anyone and since I lack a Steel type, it has the full ability to bulldoze my team. Venusaur is easily destroyed by Psychic, and fails to KO with Sludge Bomb. Mienshao is terribly walled, and its high Sp. Def and typing really sponges the rest.
Talonflame is troublesome, as I lack Quick Guard and any Flying resistance at all. Don't even have Extremespeed. Garchomp helps respectably as long as he doesn't get Will-o-Wisp'd.
Bulky Psychic types such as Reuniclus and Gothitelle have only Greninja to hit them super effective - and Greninja is rather easy to kill. Beyond that, they don't have much in the way of heavy hits to worry about.
Venusaur is... in terms of stats, a very strong Chlorophyll Pokémon. In terms of a movepool, it leans towards stalling, and offensively consists of Grass, Poison, and Hidden Power Dark. Meaning, despite its good bulk, power, and absurd Speed, is laughably easy to wall, compounded by a heavy Sun dependance. Its going to need work, or I need a replacement, as much as it saddens me to admit.
Exeggutor and Victreebel are the main canidates here.
Mienshao is the filler really. I believe a bulky Fighting type with Guts is exactly what I need, but tanking a Kangaskhan's Return is not easy without a resistance. Guts is vital because of the prevalence of Will-o-Wisp (Across about 10 straight battles, guess what happened to Garchomp every time? Rotom with WoW nine times, and Sableye with Prankster WoW). Conkeldurr and Hariyama are my top contenders, but Throh is considerable to me as well.
I've compiled a few of my ideas here:
Yes I know I can actually run the Pledge trio – I did in fact try and was amused by the results. Fire Pledge in Sun is even more devastating than Overheat, but the Pledges weren't helping Greninja / Venusaur much.
I have no fear of constructive criticism, so even if you think the whole thing is idiotic front to back, don't be afraid to say so :P
+10 if you get the thread title.
Team is designed for the upcoming 2014 May International tourney, following its own ruleset. In a nutshell:
- Level 50.
- Doubles.
- Kalos Dex and Kalos Native only.
- Item Restriction
- Mewtwo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde are banned.
- Species restriction: no two Pokémon of the same National Dex number (ie can't have 2 Rotom formes).
Charizard @ Mega Stone
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed.
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Will-o-Miss / Solarbeam
- Air Slash / Ancientpower
Gungnir. I was at a loss for nicknames for the poor girl.
EV's allow me to outrun +Speed 92's (Krookodile, Mega Garchomp) and neutral 105 Speed Pokémon (Mega Pinsir, Zororark, Mienshao). There's nothing particularly relevant to outrun between 95-100 base Speed, and I'm the guy who loses every Speed tie he's ever met anyway. The HP investment hits an odd number, in the odd case of Stealth Rock I won't be KO'd in two switch-ins. It also allows survival of Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt, as long as I'm at full health. Physically, it isn't taking very much. The remainder is dumped into Special attack, rounding out at a nice 200 Sp. Atk: funny enough, it's just enough to OHKO a 252/4 Mega Aggron in Sun with Heat Wave.
Heat Wave is pretty standard on Megazard-Y, having a staggering 160 power against both opponents at once. Protect is important, allowing him to dodge a probably fatal Rock Slide or scout for what my foe plans to do, among its many other uses. I'm currently running Will-o-Wisp, akin to my old Ninetales in Gen 5. My team notably leans toward Special bulk, so having something to lessen the physical threats helps. It won't allow me to survive strong Stone Edges anytime soon, but it does whittle down bulky foes and physical attackers, particularly Kangaskhan and Mawile, who not only miss a Sucker Punch, but end up crippled by it. I'm also considering Overheat as a more... immediate solution to problematic foes. 292 power right off the bat is a good hammer to have to call upon, but the great Khan can smash all hope with Fake Out + Sucker Punch.
Air Slash is an obvious secondary STAB, hitting Fighting types super effective (And hits Mega Venusaur I guess?) and tapping Fire / Dragon / Water types.
Updates: Putting in Solarbeam and Ancientpower for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Venusaur @ Coba Berry
Modest, 164 HP, 4 Def, 244 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 92 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll
- Solarbeam / Giga Drain
- Protect
- Sunny Day / Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Cybele. That summon on Golden Sun always looked like Venusaur. Female, if the name isn't a hint.
Speed outruns +150's in Sun, which has been more than adequate. Its rather tough as well – with bulk and Coba Berry it can tank a 252+ CB Brave Bird from Talonflame if need be. The remainder was dumped into Sp. Atk for obvious reasons. I could also switch the item around, but as is I'm currently in a state of uncertainty with Venusaur's item.
Solarbeam is a strong, accurate STAB with minimal repercussions attached, smashing Rotom-W and neutral threats pretty well. Protect is for Talonflame- I mean the myriad of uses in Doubles. Sludge Bomb hits Fairy super effective for Garchomp, who tends to surrender rather meekishly to them, and has a useful side chance of Poison to whittle foes down and negate Leftovers. Sunny Day is what happened after I discovered Venusaur has no movepool and is heavily dependant on Sun to function. Its also never a bad idea to have a second Sun inducer, especially since the debuff to auto-weather in Gen 6. I'm open to plenty of ideas here.
Updates: putting in Giga Drain and Sleep Powder for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Greninja @ Focus Sash
Timid, 4 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Protean
- Scald / Hydro Pump
- Mat Block / Taunt
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
Edge, because he's the only ninja I like.
EV spread should be painfully obvious. There's not much point in bulk for it, and it's not mixed.
Scald is miserably weak in the Sun, but does threaten Rock and Fire types outside of the sun. Hydro Pump is also quite considerable, though the misses could be costly.
Mat Block isn't as useful as I thought, so I may replace that. It does offer nice cover in a pinch, but its one turn use has left me high and dry a few times. Ice Beam is an absolute necessity to destroy Garchomp before it destroys everything. I suffered a massive 50 point drop in ranking in the Beta Competition almost exclusively due to Garchomp (Who turned out to be the #1 used Pokémon in that tourney, btw) so I was hell bent for
Updates: putting in Hydro Pump and Taunt, for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Garchomp @ Assault Vest / Rocky Helmet
Jolly, 92 HP, 156 Atk, 4 Def, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed -> 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab / Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Smoothskin. Because his skin's so smooth. And tasty. (+10 if you get the reference!)
EV spread is still being tinkered with, so its not too special.
Assault Vest disallows Status category moves, so there's obviously no point in using Protect. The Special Defense boost makes him stupidly hard to kill, so its not a huge worry. Garchomp here is actually used mainly defensively – the Rock, Fire, Electric, and Poison resists are all useful, and the ability to both wall and immediately threaten these types has been very useful, especially against Fire types. STAB moves are obvious, Rock Slide is good coverage and flinch abuse, while Poison Jab is there purely for Fairy types, with a nice chance of Poison, and hits Azumarill harder than Iron Head. Klefki is hit by Earthquake anyway. Often paired with Charizard as the lead duo.
It's rather bad at outright killing things: unless its really frail or quite weak to a certain attack, it isn't going to be OHKO'd. It's centered more around its Speed, bulk, and useful resistances, and acts as a bit of an anti-Sun Pokémon. Rough Skin and the small bulk increase helps against physical foes like Kangaskhan as well, so a Rocky Helmet may work here instead. Choice Band may also put that extra kick where it's needed.
Updates: changing the EV Spread, item, and Protect for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
Aegislash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Speed
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield
Pinoy Pwnage suggested placing this over my Aromatisse; and since I agree whole heartedly here it is.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Reckless
- High Jump Kick
- Fake Out
- Knock Off / Feint / Quick Guard
- Stone Edge / Rock Slide
My insane-as-shit answer to Kangaskhan and Rotom-Heat, two prominent threats to my team. I trust the spread is simple, 4 HP is added to make sure it doesn't KO itself in 2 consecutive HJK misses (yes, I've had that happen without Protect involved at all) and survives 10 turns of Life Orb if that ever happens.
Mienshao's Reckless, Life Orb boosted Hi Jump Kick is among the most absurdly powerful physical attacks in the game, standing at a formidable 234 power backed by a Life Orb and 125 base Attack. With great power comes great risk: a miss wil almost certainly guarantee she loses 50% of her health, and considering the prevalence of Protect in doubles its a very dangerous gamble. I however, am insane, and love to toy with something with more power than a Guts boosted Adamant Hariyama's Close Combat.
Secondly, we have Fake Out, a move Mienshao wouldn't be caught dead without. A free flinch with +2 priority to break Sashes and disrupt a foe, and even on a bad day, forcing them to switch or Protect. Stone Edge offers good power and coverage, though its only really useful if the foe resists HJK and is weak to Stone Edge as HJK weilds more power than a super effective Stone Edge. In the remaining slot, I can run either Knock Off for smacking around items with a decent 97 power, or Feint to torment and befuddle my foes by picking off the weak with +2 priority, or breaking Protect / Wide Guard. Will I use High Jump Kick and break my leg, or will I use Feint and burn your turn? Will I snap your Pokémon like a pencil, or tickle your Pokémon with Feint? Its a fun mind-vice.
All in all, it's a fast, very heavy-hitting glass cannon.
Originally I had a Quiet, Life Orb Aegislash here. It filled a few holes, but Kangaskhan (believe it or not) walks all over it and Heat Rotom was simply unstoppable.
Updates: changed to Rock Slide and Quick Guard, for the reasons explained in Pinoy's post.
== Problems ==
Mega Kangaskhan is quite a threat: it can literally Sucker Punch my team in half, and smash Aromatisse with Return. Mienshao is faster, blocks its Fake Out with an invariably faster Fake Out, and horrifically maims even the bulkiest Khan with HJK. However, she's very frail and very suicidal, which doesn't rhyme with “dependable”.
Heat Rotom is a bitch. If you comb over my offensive coverage, you'll notice my entire Special attacking force is walled, Garchomp hardly tickles it and is completely boned by WoW. Mienshao psychotically OHKO's with HJK or Stone Edge before being Burned, but Rotom does have those pesky teamates looking to eat my weasel like the lean snack it is. Oh, and Protect, it has that too.
Mega Gardevoir simply cannot be OHKO'd by anyone and since I lack a Steel type, it has the full ability to bulldoze my team. Venusaur is easily destroyed by Psychic, and fails to KO with Sludge Bomb. Mienshao is terribly walled, and its high Sp. Def and typing really sponges the rest.
Talonflame is troublesome, as I lack Quick Guard and any Flying resistance at all. Don't even have Extremespeed. Garchomp helps respectably as long as he doesn't get Will-o-Wisp'd.
Bulky Psychic types such as Reuniclus and Gothitelle have only Greninja to hit them super effective - and Greninja is rather easy to kill. Beyond that, they don't have much in the way of heavy hits to worry about.
Venusaur is... in terms of stats, a very strong Chlorophyll Pokémon. In terms of a movepool, it leans towards stalling, and offensively consists of Grass, Poison, and Hidden Power Dark. Meaning, despite its good bulk, power, and absurd Speed, is laughably easy to wall, compounded by a heavy Sun dependance. Its going to need work, or I need a replacement, as much as it saddens me to admit.
Exeggutor and Victreebel are the main canidates here.
Mienshao is the filler really. I believe a bulky Fighting type with Guts is exactly what I need, but tanking a Kangaskhan's Return is not easy without a resistance. Guts is vital because of the prevalence of Will-o-Wisp (Across about 10 straight battles, guess what happened to Garchomp every time? Rotom with WoW nine times, and Sableye with Prankster WoW). Conkeldurr and Hariyama are my top contenders, but Throh is considerable to me as well.
I've compiled a few of my ideas here:
Lucario @ Choice Scarf
Adamant, 36 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Inner Focus
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Extremespeed / Bullet Punch
- Crunch
The EVs allow it to outpace Mega Manectric, with max Atk for obvious reasons with the remainder in HP for taking resisted hits. In terms of typing, Lucario is magnificent for me: weaknesses are covered by Charizard, and almost every resistance is useful.
Close Combat weilds about a 75% chance to OHKO a 252/0 Mega Khan, while Inner Focus makes it immune to Fake Out flinching it. Rotom-H cannot be OHKO'd, taking a maximum of 80% from Stone Edge if it even hits. Extremespeed outruns pretty much everything I'll ever see, while Crunch simply rounds off coverage. I could however run Bullet Punch to hit Fairy types; Lucario sadly lacks Iron Head.
This is a faster, less insane alternative to Mienshao. In exchange for its vastly superior typing, greater Speed, and more reliable moves, it loses a ton of power, Fake Out, and the freedom of switching moves. I'm also very, very nervous about two Choice items on one team: I've seriously never used them outside of the Pokemon League.
However, it is my best solution to the "Problems" section overall. Bulky Psychics / Gardevoir are still fairly safe, but at least lose enough HP to be dealt with.
=============================================
Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Adamant, 172 Atk, 180 Def, 156 Sp. Def
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge
- Payback
The EVs are rather special: the Atk allows Conkeldurr to nearly kill MegaKhan with Drain Punch and Rotom-H with Stone Edge, and then pick them off with Mach Punch. Defensively, this is a pretty tough variant that survives both Psychic and Psyshock from Mega Alakazam, 252+ Talonflame's Brave Bird (however, any boosting item bumps it to an assured OHKO) and Sun boosted Life Orb Flare Blitz, 252 Sp. Atk Life Orb + Sun Rotom-H's Overheat, 252+ Mega Kangaskhan's Return, and probably a few other things.
In terms of damage, he has as much Atk as a Max Atk Scizor, so he isn't slacking in the damage department either. If the foe is foolish/unlucky enough to status it (want to WoW my Chompy? I have an angry clown with concrete pillars that adores Burns. T-Wave my Charizard? Conk may be rather dissuasive about this), they're met with a staggering 300 Atk combined with 180/138/157 defenses, STAB priority, and the ability to heal while it smashes. Stone Edge is for Rotom-H and general coverage, with Payback being the only other coverage it has beyond... Power-up Punch, Poison Jab, and Return.
This is the bulky, slow, safer alternative to Mienshao. The benefits are numerous, largely in being able to be switched in safely into a resisted move, and being much safer against status like WoW and Thunder Wave (fuck Prankster). In terms of negatives, we lose Fake Out, Speed, and a significant power drop: even with Guts active, Mienshao's HJK is roughly 58% stronger than Conkeldurr's Drain Punch.
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao Hi Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 169-200 (81.64 - 96.61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
176+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 106-126 (51.2 - 60.86%) -- 92.19% chance to 2HKO
But odds are, Conkeldurr will live long enough to get more than 2-3 hits in.
As for the item conflict: I can just Choice Band my Garchomp.
=============================================
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Adamant, 252 Atk, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Feint / Knock Off
- Stone Edge
Near max Def is required to survive MegaKhan's Return from Hell. Near max Atk is required to OHKO the damn thing with a STAB Close Combat. And with the nearly insignificant remainder, we dump it into Sp. Def with an Assault Vest to better handle Special hits.
Moveset is simple: Close Combat for powerful STAB, Fake Out for chipping Sash/Sturdy, disrupting the foe, and pissing off Talonflame. Feint is good to shatter the foe's Protect, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Crafty Shield, and Mat Block while also picking off the near dead survivors. Stone Edge adds actual coverage, and smashes Rotom-H in two hits while Hariyama dickishly survives any two Electric attacks, and a Overheat from most variants (Is Life Orb Rotom-H common?). Knock Off adds coverage, decent power, and removes those pesky items.
This is sort of a middle ground between Mienshao and Conkeldurr: I get to keep Fake Out and Feint/Knock Off, have a powerful STAB attack right in the middle ground between them, and a middling amount of bulk. In exchange, Hariyama cannot heal (We do have Heal Pulse on Aromatisse at the least) and it's sort of a "jack of trades" role that doesn't overwhelm with power and Speed, or shrug off beatings with bulk and Drain Punch.
Adamant, 36 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Inner Focus
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Extremespeed / Bullet Punch
- Crunch
The EVs allow it to outpace Mega Manectric, with max Atk for obvious reasons with the remainder in HP for taking resisted hits. In terms of typing, Lucario is magnificent for me: weaknesses are covered by Charizard, and almost every resistance is useful.
Close Combat weilds about a 75% chance to OHKO a 252/0 Mega Khan, while Inner Focus makes it immune to Fake Out flinching it. Rotom-H cannot be OHKO'd, taking a maximum of 80% from Stone Edge if it even hits. Extremespeed outruns pretty much everything I'll ever see, while Crunch simply rounds off coverage. I could however run Bullet Punch to hit Fairy types; Lucario sadly lacks Iron Head.
This is a faster, less insane alternative to Mienshao. In exchange for its vastly superior typing, greater Speed, and more reliable moves, it loses a ton of power, Fake Out, and the freedom of switching moves. I'm also very, very nervous about two Choice items on one team: I've seriously never used them outside of the Pokemon League.
However, it is my best solution to the "Problems" section overall. Bulky Psychics / Gardevoir are still fairly safe, but at least lose enough HP to be dealt with.
=============================================
Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Adamant, 172 Atk, 180 Def, 156 Sp. Def
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge
- Payback
The EVs are rather special: the Atk allows Conkeldurr to nearly kill MegaKhan with Drain Punch and Rotom-H with Stone Edge, and then pick them off with Mach Punch. Defensively, this is a pretty tough variant that survives both Psychic and Psyshock from Mega Alakazam, 252+ Talonflame's Brave Bird (however, any boosting item bumps it to an assured OHKO) and Sun boosted Life Orb Flare Blitz, 252 Sp. Atk Life Orb + Sun Rotom-H's Overheat, 252+ Mega Kangaskhan's Return, and probably a few other things.
In terms of damage, he has as much Atk as a Max Atk Scizor, so he isn't slacking in the damage department either. If the foe is foolish/unlucky enough to status it (want to WoW my Chompy? I have an angry clown with concrete pillars that adores Burns. T-Wave my Charizard? Conk may be rather dissuasive about this), they're met with a staggering 300 Atk combined with 180/138/157 defenses, STAB priority, and the ability to heal while it smashes. Stone Edge is for Rotom-H and general coverage, with Payback being the only other coverage it has beyond... Power-up Punch, Poison Jab, and Return.
This is the bulky, slow, safer alternative to Mienshao. The benefits are numerous, largely in being able to be switched in safely into a resisted move, and being much safer against status like WoW and Thunder Wave (fuck Prankster). In terms of negatives, we lose Fake Out, Speed, and a significant power drop: even with Guts active, Mienshao's HJK is roughly 58% stronger than Conkeldurr's Drain Punch.
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao Hi Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 169-200 (81.64 - 96.61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
176+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 106-126 (51.2 - 60.86%) -- 92.19% chance to 2HKO
But odds are, Conkeldurr will live long enough to get more than 2-3 hits in.
As for the item conflict: I can just Choice Band my Garchomp.
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Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Adamant, 252 Atk, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
- Close Combat
- Fake Out
- Feint / Knock Off
- Stone Edge
Near max Def is required to survive MegaKhan's Return from Hell. Near max Atk is required to OHKO the damn thing with a STAB Close Combat. And with the nearly insignificant remainder, we dump it into Sp. Def with an Assault Vest to better handle Special hits.
Moveset is simple: Close Combat for powerful STAB, Fake Out for chipping Sash/Sturdy, disrupting the foe, and pissing off Talonflame. Feint is good to shatter the foe's Protect, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Crafty Shield, and Mat Block while also picking off the near dead survivors. Stone Edge adds actual coverage, and smashes Rotom-H in two hits while Hariyama dickishly survives any two Electric attacks, and a Overheat from most variants (Is Life Orb Rotom-H common?). Knock Off adds coverage, decent power, and removes those pesky items.
This is sort of a middle ground between Mienshao and Conkeldurr: I get to keep Fake Out and Feint/Knock Off, have a powerful STAB attack right in the middle ground between them, and a middling amount of bulk. In exchange, Hariyama cannot heal (We do have Heal Pulse on Aromatisse at the least) and it's sort of a "jack of trades" role that doesn't overwhelm with power and Speed, or shrug off beatings with bulk and Drain Punch.
Yes I know I can actually run the Pledge trio – I did in fact try and was amused by the results. Fire Pledge in Sun is even more devastating than Overheat, but the Pledges weren't helping Greninja / Venusaur much.
I have no fear of constructive criticism, so even if you think the whole thing is idiotic front to back, don't be afraid to say so :P
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