So about a week ago, a friend of mine told me that the Pokemon VGC Championship was going to take place. I knew a little bit about VGC, but all I really understood was that it was a double battle format, a way of battling that I have almost no experience with. Then he told me something that really got my attention, "Hey, did you know that Speed Boost Blaziken isn't banned in VGC?" Blaziken is one of favorite Pokemon, but I've mostly done a lot of singles battles on simulators, where Blaziken is banished to the Uber tier. Because of this, I hadn't really gotten a chance to battle someone with my Speed Boost Blaziken after my efforts to get a legal one ended in success. I sorta just forgot that I had one, and rarely played with the real game anymore. This information breathed new life into my Pokemon carrier, and I developed a doubles team that would utilize Blaziken after looking up some key information regarding the VGC and double battles.
Yes I know VGC '13 has ended, but there's always hope for 2014! ;D
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Blaziken (M) @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Evs: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE
Adamant Nature (+ATK, -SPA)
- Flare Blitz
- Sky Uppercut
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Being the inspiration for making this team, I figured I should post him first. While I would have liked to have used a mixed set for Blaziken, the one I have is Adamant, so Physical or bust basically. He is one of my main sweepers, and he packs a punch. He puts a lot of pressure on offensive teams, because once he get a few Speed Boosts, it's almost impossible to revenge him. Life Orb and max Attack are used because I don't have sun support on this team, as I've had my fair share of weather wars in singles (you lose your weather starter, you lose the game), and that kind of game just isn't fun after a while. Luckily, he has enough power on his own with Flare Blitz to leave a chunk of damage into the armor of bulky Pokemon as well. The recoil from Flare Blitz and Life Orb add up however, so it's live fast, die young for the fire chicken. Sky Uppercut is used instead of Hi-Jump Kick due to the popularity of Protect in doubles, and it can still pack a decent amount of power. Rock Slide provides coverage and also gives Blaziken a form of spread damage and helps at warding off Zapdos and Thundurus do a degree. Protect is not only useful for scouting purposes, but it allows me to use earthquake with no ill-effect to Blaziken and gives him a +1 Speed.
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Thundurus-I (M) @ Focus Sash
Prankster
Evs: 4 HP, 252 SPA, 252 SPE
Timid Nature (+SPE, -ATK)
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Ice)
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
My next step from Blaziken was to provide some support in case I find something that walls KFC 2.0. At first, I though about Whimsicott, but 4-slot move syndrome and a lack of offensive bite meant it didn't work out too well as I had intended (don't get me started on that shared flying weakness). I needed a taunter with good speed to avoid a trick room team from stopping Blaziken cold, but I also needed something that benefited my team as a whole, such as a status inflictor. Thundurus sprang to mind, as he is resistant to flying, has a good amount of power behind him, has a +1 Taunt, AND a status move to pass off to the enemy. He has a great speed stat, can threaten walls with Taunt, and more offensive Pokemon with a powerful T-bolt. Some Thundurus run Hidden Power Flying, so several fighting types often switch out against Thundurus (even though I run Ice lol), because I guess they expect to be KO'd by Thundurus. Ice helps me out against enemy dragons and Zapdos, but I can still use the threat (that doesn't exist) of a Hidden Power Flying to push out some fighting types. Focus Sash is great on Thundurus, because he can get a new lease on life, as most people expect him to be OHKO'd due to low defense. As a result, he is rarely teamed up on, and due to his +1 T-Wave/Taunt, I can still cause problems at 1 HP even if the enemy has a priority attacking move. Paired up with Blaziken, they can put a large amount of pressure on the opponent, restricting their offensive options (Blaziken = Protect, Thundurus = Focus Sash), and denying them defensive options (Blaziken gets faster the longer you stall, Thundurus has +1 Taunt). This strategy of damned if you do, damned if you don't will be a recurring theme of my team.
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Scizor (F) @ Occa Berry
Tech
Evs: 180 HP, 252 ATK, 76 SPDef
Adamant Nature (+ATK, -SPA)
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Scizor is a great Pokemon in both singles and doubles, and I saw great value in him, as he has proved VERY worthwhile in my singles carrier. I had a choice between Metagross and Scizor as it turned out, and due to my past experiences with Scizor with the addition of threatening the Psychics that commonly set up Trick room, I ended up choosing him over the supercomputer on legs. He has a resistance to dragon-types, a powerful priority move, and, in my opinion, the best move to use against Cresselia holding Sitris Berry (this move being Bug Bite). I went with the Specially Defensive Scizor because he has a great deal of natural physical bulk, and I wanted to better handle Latios and Hydreigon's Draco Meteors. Occa Berry helps a great amount, and in combination with the Added SPDef Bulk allows me to better take stray fire type moves. U-turn isn't as useful in doubles as it is in singles, so Bug Bite is the option I went with. Not having a choice band also demands every ounce of power that Scizor has, and Bug Bite delivers in that respect. Bullet Punch is standard stuff for Scizor, but it gives me a VERY good option to use against TERRORkion (as I like to call him). Swords Dance is used to power Scizor to incredible levels, but prediction will be critical in this case. Still, that kind of power cannot be denied. I'm not even gonna bother with explaining Protect.
(Altered with tlyee61 's suggestions)
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Cresselia (F) @ Sitris Berry
Levitate
Evs: 252 HP, 60 DEF, 28 SPA, 168 SPDef
Calm Nature (+SPDef, -ATK)
- Psychic
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room
Cresselia is such a pro in doubles, but I wanted to take my own spin on things. At first she looks like any other Cresselia, but I run a very specialized Ev spread, as I rely on her bulk quite a lot (she is the only real wall on my team). Her DEF investment allows her to better take physical moves, but she still relies on her Special Bulk to save the day. I also run just enough Evs to 2HKO 252 HP Hitmontop and Hariyama (I haven't seen Hariyama though, so I'm not sure if this investment is needed) with Psychic. Icy Wind is VERY useful for my team, as it allows my non-scarfed Thundurus to outspeed many scarfed threats (Fosuc Sash, we livin'), but most importantly, a hit from Icy Wind allows Blaziken to outspeed Scarfed Latios after only one Speed Boost. Just like the Catch 22 I mentioned in Thundurus' section, if Cresselia is not knocked out in one turn, I can Protect with Blaziken, Icy Wind with Cresselia, and outspeed Latios next turn, while using Helping Hand on Blaziken's Flare Blitz. This is quite scary, and I personally am glad this tactic hasn't been used against me (I've used it on a few people...their loss). Speaking of helping hand, this move is just amazing. It makes up for the lack of Sunny Day for Blaziken, and provides extra power to Thundurus and Scizor (the latter of whom is now hitting like he does in singles with choice band). Trick Room is there ONLY to prevent the opponent's Trick Room from staying up for too long before it becomes a problem.
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Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry
Sand Veil
Evs: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE
Jolly Nature (+SPE, -SPA)
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
As soon as I added Cresselia to my team, I realized that I had a slight problem against T-Tar, who could smash Thundurus and Cresselia. Although I have answers to T-Tar in Scizor and Blaziken, I just couldn't let it (Rock) slide. Puns. Anyway, Garchomp is my secondary sweeper, and due to both paralysis support and Icy Wind, I didn't feel the need for Scarf. Yache berry seemed a reasonable choice, and it has proven its worth, letting Garchomp live some stray Ice Beams and Blizzards. Evs are standard for a sweeper, and Dragon Claw is more reliable than Outrage. Earthquake is an amazing spread move for my team, as every other member of my team has protection or resistance against a friendly's Earthquake between Protect, Type, or Ability. Rock Slide is another spread move than does solid damage to Zapdos, a Pokemon I worry about (maybe more than I should). Protect is Protect. Garchomp has synergy with Cresselia and Scizor, and can freely use Earthquake while Thundurus is out. Ice types will also be a LOT more careful when Blaziken can simply jump into the battle, so Garchomp not only gives more power to the team, but he is benefited by the rest of the team.
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Ludicolo (F) @ Absorb Bulb
Swift Swim
Evs: 116 HP, 252 SPA, 142 SPE
Modest Nature (+SPA, -ATK)
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Fake Out
Finishing up my team, I noticed that I still had a rather large weakness to rain teams, as Drizzle-Swim is legal in VGC. Hail, and Sun are covered fairly well, and Sandstorm teams using T-Tar are still able to be capped by Blaziken and Garchomp's own Sand Veil. Someone, somewhere told me to use Ludicolo, and I ended up using Ludicolo to great success against Trick Room teams, Rain team, and Sandstorm Teams. Hydro Pump is fairly powerful, and Giga Drain destroys Gastrodon. Ice Beam hits Latios and Zapdos for supereffective damage, two Pokemon I gotta look out for. Fake Out is one move that sets Ludicolo even further apart from other Water Pokemon, as with Thundurus and Ludi out, I can shut down the Trick Room setter by targeting it with both Fake Out and Taunt. It works for the first turn/second turn set ups, but Ludi's low speed without rain mean that it can still make limited use of the enemy's Trick Room (at least more so than my other Pokemon). Swift Swim and Absorb Bulb cause problems for rain teams, and Ludi's typing and coverage gets sandstorm teams on a lock. However, outside of countering those particular threats, Ludicolo sees limited use. If there is another Pokemon that might work better 100% of the time, Ludicolo is the first to go. But for what (s)he is meant to do, Ludicolo is quite amazing.
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Thanks for reading guys. This is the first time I've posted a RMT, so if there is anything wrong in formatting or language, I apologize for my mistakes. Hope you enjoyed!
Yes I know VGC '13 has ended, but there's always hope for 2014! ;D
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Blaziken (M) @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Evs: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE
Adamant Nature (+ATK, -SPA)
- Flare Blitz
- Sky Uppercut
- Rock Slide
- Protect
Being the inspiration for making this team, I figured I should post him first. While I would have liked to have used a mixed set for Blaziken, the one I have is Adamant, so Physical or bust basically. He is one of my main sweepers, and he packs a punch. He puts a lot of pressure on offensive teams, because once he get a few Speed Boosts, it's almost impossible to revenge him. Life Orb and max Attack are used because I don't have sun support on this team, as I've had my fair share of weather wars in singles (you lose your weather starter, you lose the game), and that kind of game just isn't fun after a while. Luckily, he has enough power on his own with Flare Blitz to leave a chunk of damage into the armor of bulky Pokemon as well. The recoil from Flare Blitz and Life Orb add up however, so it's live fast, die young for the fire chicken. Sky Uppercut is used instead of Hi-Jump Kick due to the popularity of Protect in doubles, and it can still pack a decent amount of power. Rock Slide provides coverage and also gives Blaziken a form of spread damage and helps at warding off Zapdos and Thundurus do a degree. Protect is not only useful for scouting purposes, but it allows me to use earthquake with no ill-effect to Blaziken and gives him a +1 Speed.
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Thundurus-I (M) @ Focus Sash
Prankster
Evs: 4 HP, 252 SPA, 252 SPE
Timid Nature (+SPE, -ATK)
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Ice)
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
My next step from Blaziken was to provide some support in case I find something that walls KFC 2.0. At first, I though about Whimsicott, but 4-slot move syndrome and a lack of offensive bite meant it didn't work out too well as I had intended (don't get me started on that shared flying weakness). I needed a taunter with good speed to avoid a trick room team from stopping Blaziken cold, but I also needed something that benefited my team as a whole, such as a status inflictor. Thundurus sprang to mind, as he is resistant to flying, has a good amount of power behind him, has a +1 Taunt, AND a status move to pass off to the enemy. He has a great speed stat, can threaten walls with Taunt, and more offensive Pokemon with a powerful T-bolt. Some Thundurus run Hidden Power Flying, so several fighting types often switch out against Thundurus (even though I run Ice lol), because I guess they expect to be KO'd by Thundurus. Ice helps me out against enemy dragons and Zapdos, but I can still use the threat (that doesn't exist) of a Hidden Power Flying to push out some fighting types. Focus Sash is great on Thundurus, because he can get a new lease on life, as most people expect him to be OHKO'd due to low defense. As a result, he is rarely teamed up on, and due to his +1 T-Wave/Taunt, I can still cause problems at 1 HP even if the enemy has a priority attacking move. Paired up with Blaziken, they can put a large amount of pressure on the opponent, restricting their offensive options (Blaziken = Protect, Thundurus = Focus Sash), and denying them defensive options (Blaziken gets faster the longer you stall, Thundurus has +1 Taunt). This strategy of damned if you do, damned if you don't will be a recurring theme of my team.
---
Scizor (F) @ Occa Berry
Tech
Evs: 180 HP, 252 ATK, 76 SPDef
Adamant Nature (+ATK, -SPA)
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Swords Dance
- Protect
Scizor is a great Pokemon in both singles and doubles, and I saw great value in him, as he has proved VERY worthwhile in my singles carrier. I had a choice between Metagross and Scizor as it turned out, and due to my past experiences with Scizor with the addition of threatening the Psychics that commonly set up Trick room, I ended up choosing him over the supercomputer on legs. He has a resistance to dragon-types, a powerful priority move, and, in my opinion, the best move to use against Cresselia holding Sitris Berry (this move being Bug Bite). I went with the Specially Defensive Scizor because he has a great deal of natural physical bulk, and I wanted to better handle Latios and Hydreigon's Draco Meteors. Occa Berry helps a great amount, and in combination with the Added SPDef Bulk allows me to better take stray fire type moves. U-turn isn't as useful in doubles as it is in singles, so Bug Bite is the option I went with. Not having a choice band also demands every ounce of power that Scizor has, and Bug Bite delivers in that respect. Bullet Punch is standard stuff for Scizor, but it gives me a VERY good option to use against TERRORkion (as I like to call him). Swords Dance is used to power Scizor to incredible levels, but prediction will be critical in this case. Still, that kind of power cannot be denied. I'm not even gonna bother with explaining Protect.
(Altered with tlyee61 's suggestions)
---
Cresselia (F) @ Sitris Berry
Levitate
Evs: 252 HP, 60 DEF, 28 SPA, 168 SPDef
Calm Nature (+SPDef, -ATK)
- Psychic
- Icy Wind
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room
Cresselia is such a pro in doubles, but I wanted to take my own spin on things. At first she looks like any other Cresselia, but I run a very specialized Ev spread, as I rely on her bulk quite a lot (she is the only real wall on my team). Her DEF investment allows her to better take physical moves, but she still relies on her Special Bulk to save the day. I also run just enough Evs to 2HKO 252 HP Hitmontop and Hariyama (I haven't seen Hariyama though, so I'm not sure if this investment is needed) with Psychic. Icy Wind is VERY useful for my team, as it allows my non-scarfed Thundurus to outspeed many scarfed threats (Fosuc Sash, we livin'), but most importantly, a hit from Icy Wind allows Blaziken to outspeed Scarfed Latios after only one Speed Boost. Just like the Catch 22 I mentioned in Thundurus' section, if Cresselia is not knocked out in one turn, I can Protect with Blaziken, Icy Wind with Cresselia, and outspeed Latios next turn, while using Helping Hand on Blaziken's Flare Blitz. This is quite scary, and I personally am glad this tactic hasn't been used against me (I've used it on a few people...their loss). Speaking of helping hand, this move is just amazing. It makes up for the lack of Sunny Day for Blaziken, and provides extra power to Thundurus and Scizor (the latter of whom is now hitting like he does in singles with choice band). Trick Room is there ONLY to prevent the opponent's Trick Room from staying up for too long before it becomes a problem.
---
Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry
Sand Veil
Evs: 4 HP, 252 ATK, 252 SPE
Jolly Nature (+SPE, -SPA)
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
As soon as I added Cresselia to my team, I realized that I had a slight problem against T-Tar, who could smash Thundurus and Cresselia. Although I have answers to T-Tar in Scizor and Blaziken, I just couldn't let it (Rock) slide. Puns. Anyway, Garchomp is my secondary sweeper, and due to both paralysis support and Icy Wind, I didn't feel the need for Scarf. Yache berry seemed a reasonable choice, and it has proven its worth, letting Garchomp live some stray Ice Beams and Blizzards. Evs are standard for a sweeper, and Dragon Claw is more reliable than Outrage. Earthquake is an amazing spread move for my team, as every other member of my team has protection or resistance against a friendly's Earthquake between Protect, Type, or Ability. Rock Slide is another spread move than does solid damage to Zapdos, a Pokemon I worry about (maybe more than I should). Protect is Protect. Garchomp has synergy with Cresselia and Scizor, and can freely use Earthquake while Thundurus is out. Ice types will also be a LOT more careful when Blaziken can simply jump into the battle, so Garchomp not only gives more power to the team, but he is benefited by the rest of the team.
---
Ludicolo (F) @ Absorb Bulb
Swift Swim
Evs: 116 HP, 252 SPA, 142 SPE
Modest Nature (+SPA, -ATK)
- Hydro Pump
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Fake Out
Finishing up my team, I noticed that I still had a rather large weakness to rain teams, as Drizzle-Swim is legal in VGC. Hail, and Sun are covered fairly well, and Sandstorm teams using T-Tar are still able to be capped by Blaziken and Garchomp's own Sand Veil. Someone, somewhere told me to use Ludicolo, and I ended up using Ludicolo to great success against Trick Room teams, Rain team, and Sandstorm Teams. Hydro Pump is fairly powerful, and Giga Drain destroys Gastrodon. Ice Beam hits Latios and Zapdos for supereffective damage, two Pokemon I gotta look out for. Fake Out is one move that sets Ludicolo even further apart from other Water Pokemon, as with Thundurus and Ludi out, I can shut down the Trick Room setter by targeting it with both Fake Out and Taunt. It works for the first turn/second turn set ups, but Ludi's low speed without rain mean that it can still make limited use of the enemy's Trick Room (at least more so than my other Pokemon). Swift Swim and Absorb Bulb cause problems for rain teams, and Ludi's typing and coverage gets sandstorm teams on a lock. However, outside of countering those particular threats, Ludicolo sees limited use. If there is another Pokemon that might work better 100% of the time, Ludicolo is the first to go. But for what (s)he is meant to do, Ludicolo is quite amazing.
---
Thanks for reading guys. This is the first time I've posted a RMT, so if there is anything wrong in formatting or language, I apologize for my mistakes. Hope you enjoyed!
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