VGC The G.O.A.T- The Greatest of all Teams (VGC 2015)

[The-CSchnepf]

Hey guys, I'm back with another kickass VGC RMT post and before I get any replies saying this isn't the Greatest of all Teams... I know. This team actually has a difficult time switching and dealing with Thundurus, but I'll to get that later. While I haven't gotten any accolades with the team yet, it currently has about an 80% winrate out of the 10 games I tested the team with on pokemonshowdown.com and I feel this team has potential to be the G.O.A.T, so without further ado I will explain the team below!

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Def / 12 SpD / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Protect

Believe it or not, but I actually haven't used Kangaskhan at all this season, and after a strong showing at World's this year I thought I'd test it out. Holy shit this thing is a monster, I decided to go with a bulky spread (which I feel to be superior) that survives a 252+ Attack Landorus-T Superpower, with maximum Attack investment for insane power while having enough Speed to out run Heatran. The moveset is pretty standard after that, Return as a STAB move, Sucker Punch for priority and Low Kick for added coverage.

Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Trick Room

This Gothitelle really is what makes the team threatening, as I can trap my opponent's Pokemon and get a free KO if I predict right. The spread survives a 252 Attack Mega Kangaskhan Return, with the rest essentially dumped into Special Defense. Psychic offers a solid STAB move, Helping Hand boosts the already powerful attacks of my team, Protect is for scouting and momentum and Trick Room allows me to counter my opponent's Speed control, as if they go for a Thunder Wave or Tailwind they'll make my team faster, and it can nullify my opponent's Trick Room.

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 52 Atk / 204 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

Blaziken is the next Pokemon in line, and is ran to improve the Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, Mega Kangaskhan and Aegislash matchup. The spread guarantees a KO on Mega Kangaskhan with Superpower, max Speed investment allows Blaziken to be faster than Choice Scarf Adamant Landorus-T after a Speed boost, with the rest of the investment put into Special Attack. Overheat is ran for it's Sheer Power and STAB, Superpower as said OHKO's Kangaskhan, Hidden Power Ice is coverage for Landorus-T and Salamence, while Protect can guarantee Speed Boosts and gain momentum.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Milotic is ran as so far this team can be beat very easily by Intimidate, and I needed a bulky Water type. The spread allows Milotic to survive a Return from 252+ Mega Kangaskhan, with enough Special Attack to OHKO Mega Salamence and Landorus-T 100% of the time, with the rest of the investment essentially put into Special Defense. Scald is ran as a solid STAB move and can provide Burns, Recover gives Milotic more longevity in battle, Ice Beam as said is to beat Landorus-T and Salamence, and Protect offers scouting and momentum.

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- Stone Edge

Assault Vest Landorus-T is definitely the way to go in my opinion, as AV lets Landorus-T survive any nonSTAB boosted Ice Special Attack in the metagame, and it takes Ground and Fighting attacks this team is weak to. The investment offers max Attack for maximum damage output, with enough Speed investment to out pace Smeargle and the rest is put into HP. Earthquake offers a good STAB attack, Rock Slide offers spread damage and flinches, Superpower offers coverage against Kangaskhan, and Stone Edge offers a more powerful Rock type coverage move if needed.

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Shadow Sneak
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield

Finally we have Aegislash, with helps with the Fairy problem this team would have otherwise. The spread isn't too special, just max HP and Special Attack with minimum Speed to underspeed other Aegislash and get a free KO hopefully, and if the opponent activates Weakness Policy that instantly turns Aegislash into the most threatening Pokemon on board. Shadow Sneak is great for finishing off foes, and is hardly expected. Flash Cannon and Shadow Ball offer good STAB attacks, and King's Sheild acts similarly to Protect, and allows Aegislash to turn back into Sheild forme if necessary.

Hope you guys enjoy the team, I definitely have high hopes for it! Let me know what you guys think, and I'll leave an imported version of the team below! :]

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 68 Def / 12 SpD / 172 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Protect
Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Protect
- Trick Room
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 52 Atk / 204 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- Stone Edge
Aegislash @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Shadow Sneak
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield

 

[Serapis]

First suggestion, replace that section at the end with this pastebin. First reason, the pastebin is much cleaner, and secondly because of your lack of correct spacing that importable team isn't actually importable. As for the actual team. . .

I'm not 100% sure I see your big Intimidate weakness. At most, half of your team doesn't like it. Even then though, your remaining Pokemon have a pretty good matchup against it. I believe that using Rotom-W over Milotic would make the team a little better overall. The combination of an Electric STAB and a Thunder Wave immunity seems like it should help you. As for your Intimidate matchup, the most common Intimidate user is Landorus-T, followed by Salamence, followed by Arcanine. Rotom-W, with a moveset of Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, HP Ice and Protect beats them all. Of course, something like Scrafty still gives you massive issues. For that, using Will-O-Wisp on Rotom-W should work pretty well and would give you a nice form of power control (over HP Ice, that moveslot is a preference choice). The item can be Sitrus Berry or Sitrus Berry. Seriously though, Sitrus Berry, Leftovers and Life Orb are all pretty good options, however LO sets rather like HP Ice for OHKOing Mence and the 100% accurate way to hit opposing Landorus-T.

Now, here's where things get interesting. I feel that simply from a team composition standpoint, using Sylveon over Gothittle would aid you. On the other hand, knowing the power of Goth first hand I understand how good it can be for a team. My issue with it on your team is that it doesn't support the team nearly as well as it could. For a concrete example, Goth has TR but your team doesn't normally like TR conditions too much. Sure, it might be okay for you, but the support there is meh at best. Tickle Goth was used to win 2014 VGC worlds, and the ability to trap opponents and lower their stats made it a monster. I'm not saying that Tickle Goth is for you, all I'm saying is that you should either match Goth to your team a little better or use a different Pokemon. As for suggestions here, I think that running a slower Kangaskhan and building up an actual Trick Room mode could benefit you. In that case, you should probably keep Milotic and use Icy Wind as alternate speed control when setting up Trick Room isn't really an option. Ofc, if you like the Rotom-W suggestion, Thunder Wave is an option over W-o-W/HP Ice.

Fake Out is a pretty good option on Kang instead of Protect, especially if you decide to go with a more Trick Room dedicated team. This one is entierly personal preference, but with that said using Fake Out on Prankster Taunt users like Thundurus-I can allow you to set up TR whereas you usually wouldn't be able to. It all depends on how much you want to invest yourself into the TR mode. For a serious TR mode, I'd also drop a decent chunk of the speed you have on Landorus-T. Speaking of Landorus-T, U-Turn is generally better than Stone Edge because it allows you to spread Intimidate more easily, though if you struggle with Char Y then I'd just keep Stone Edge (I'd keep Stone Edge tbh, but you should be aware of U-Turn as an option).

Finally, Aegislash. Everything's pretty good here, but I suggest running a spread of 252 HP/100 SpA/156 SpD with a Quiet Nature and Weakness Policy. The SpD allows you take Choice Specs Hydriegon's Dark Pulse and to live Shadow Ball from opposing Life Orb Aegislash 100% of the time.

That's about it. If you have any questions about suggested spreads just ask me. Tell me what you think of what I've said and I can offer more advise on any specific aspect of it as needed.

 

[The-CSchnepf]

First suggestion, replace that section at the end with this pastebin. First reason, the pastebin is much cleaner, and secondly because of your lack of correct spacing that importable team isn't actually importable. As for the actual team. . .

I'm not 100% sure I see your big Intimidate weakness. At most, half of your team doesn't like it. Even then though, your remaining Pokemon have a pretty good matchup against it. I believe that using Rotom-W over Milotic would make the team a little better overall. The combination of an Electric STAB and a Thunder Wave immunity seems like it should help you. As for your Intimidate matchup, the most common Intimidate user is Landorus-T, followed by Salamence, followed by Arcanine. Rotom-W, with a moveset of Hydro Pump, Thunderbolt, HP Ice and Protect beats them all. Of course, something like Scrafty still gives you massive issues. For that, using Will-O-Wisp on Rotom-W should work pretty well and would give you a nice form of power control (over HP Ice, that moveslot is a preference choice). The item can be Sitrus Berry or Sitrus Berry. Seriously though, Sitrus Berry, Leftovers and Life Orb are all pretty good options, however LO sets rather like HP Ice for OHKOing Mence and the 100% accurate way to hit opposing Landorus-T.

Now, here's where things get interesting. I feel that simply from a team composition standpoint, using Sylveon over Gothittle would aid you. On the other hand, knowing the power of Goth first hand I understand how good it can be for a team. My issue with it on your team is that it doesn't support the team nearly as well as it could. For a concrete example, Goth has TR but your team doesn't normally like TR conditions too much. Sure, it might be okay for you, but the support there is meh at best. Tickle Goth was used to win 2014 VGC worlds, and the ability to trap opponents and lower their stats made it a monster. I'm not saying that Tickle Goth is for you, all I'm saying is that you should either match Goth to your team a little better or use a different Pokemon. As for suggestions here, I think that running a slower Kangaskhan and building up an actual Trick Room mode could benefit you. In that case, you should probably keep Milotic and use Icy Wind as alternate speed control when setting up Trick Room isn't really an option. Ofc, if you like the Rotom-W suggestion, Thunder Wave is an option over W-o-W/HP Ice.

Fake Out is a pretty good option on Kang instead of Protect, especially if you decide to go with a more Trick Room dedicated team. This one is entierly personal preference, but with that said using Fake Out on Prankster Taunt users like Thundurus-I can allow you to set up TR whereas you usually wouldn't be able to. It all depends on how much you want to invest yourself into the TR mode. For a serious TR mode, I'd also drop a decent chunk of the speed you have on Landorus-T. Speaking of Landorus-T, U-Turn is generally better than Stone Edge because it allows you to spread Intimidate more easily, though if you struggle with Char Y then I'd just keep Stone Edge (I'd keep Stone Edge tbh, but you should be aware of U-Turn as an option).

Finally, Aegislash. Everything's pretty good here, but I suggest running a spread of 252 HP/100 SpA/156 SpD with a Quiet Nature and Weakness Policy. The SpD allows you take Choice Specs Hydriegon's Dark Pulse and to live Shadow Ball from opposing Life Orb Aegislash 100% of the time.

That's about it. If you have any questions about suggested spreads just ask me. Tell me what you think of what I've said and I can offer more advise on any specific aspect of it as needed.

Haha a lot to cover here, but I will certainly do my best to hit all of the main points!

The only thing I see Rotom-W doing better than Milotic on this team is improving the Thundurus matchup. Even with HP Ice, Rotom-W will fail to pick up the knock outs on Assault Vest Landorus-T and bulky Mega Salamence. Thunder Wave or Will-O-Wisp would be a cool option, but I feel outside of that Rotom-W doesn't deal with those threats as well as Milotic can.

Gothitelle or Sylveon is another issue I've thought about for a while, and Sylveon was on this team for a while. The main reason Gothitelle is here is because of it's ability to trap opponent's in battle and allow me to pick up knock outs more reliably. If my opponent has say, a Virizion to beat my Kang I can lead Blaziken+Gothitelle to take it out quickly and there's nothing my opponent can do about it. As for Trick Room I get to my second reason for switching Sylveon with Gothitelle, Tailwind and Thunder Wave can present a huge problem. This team is not a Trick Room team, but Trick Room is present as a way to counter Speed control. I can use my opponent's Tailwind and Thunder Waves to buff my Speed, and if my opponent has Trick Room I can straight up counter it by using Trick Room again, returning the dimensions back to normal. It's very similar to Aaron Zheng's 2015 World's Gothitelle, which had a similar use of Trick Room on his team.

I'm really sorry, but in my opinion Fake Out is not very good currently on Kangaskhan. Kangaskhan is such a high priority target that not having Protect can cause Kang to go down early, and since it's a common target to get double targeted Protect can not only save Kangaskhan, but waste your opponent's turn entirely. I do like U-Turn on Landorus-T though, and feel every choice locked version of Landorus-T should use U-Turn, but since I have fun range of my moveset with Assault Vest, Stone Edge is probably better. Maybe Knock Off too, but who knows?

Finally I think that Aegislash spread is pretty much perfect for my needs, I just haven't faced Hydreigon in forever so I must of forgot about that set! Thanks for the help!