Resource VGC: Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer

[Raahxen]

I've been having a lot of trouble vs Porygon2s lately, what are good checks/counters to it?

Pheromosa 252 attack with the Z-Fighting move is a guarantee OHKO on 252hp/252 defense Porygon2.
There are certain combinations that let you get a lot of damage on Porygon2, like Pelipper + Waterium Z Golduck.
Muk-A knocks off eviolite, which is huge.
Taunt users stop Porygon2 from setting up Trick room, which is usually the main concern about letting Porygon2 live for a turn.

How is everyone breeding for their teams? Especially trick room ones where you basically need 0 ivs?

If we are talking about breeding regular Pokemons, you'll need a 0 Speed IV ditto, which may be a bit hard to get. You just have to breed and be patient.

Getting a 0 IV legendary with a certain nature is more difficult. You'll have to rely on a 50/50 to get the nature with an Abra with the synchronize ability, on top of that you'll have to cross your fingers to get a 0 speed IV. It may take a little of time, but it isn't impossible by any means. Patience is key.

Edit: woops, loos like someone replied while I was writing my message. Sorry about that!

 

[coolmodean]

How are people running Whimsicott?

I assume its either Timid max speed + max Spa /HP OR Bold Max HP / Max def (maybe some split).

 

[Nighty]

How are people running Whimsicott?

I assume its either Timid max speed + max Spa /HP OR Bold Max HP / Max def (maybe some split).

To be honest, I feel the answer to this is "they aren't running it". Most people in general are favoring bulky trick room teams or using Pelipper for their Tailwind support, so Whimsicott is a rare sight (inb4 it's no good).

Past formats show that Whimsi will typically indeed run Timid or Bold with the respective stats maxed (HP/Spe and HP/Def), with people favoring the Timid build paired with a Focus Sash, while the Bold set makes more sense if another Pokemon on your team really needs the sash. In either case the set can be customized to hit specific benchmarks, of course.

 

[TheMinimizer]

Are there any notable new moves available for when Bank comes out other than FO Salazzle?

 

[Katsuko]

How is everyone breeding for their teams? Especially trick room ones where you basically need 0 ivs?

One of the easiest ways, and the one I used, was to just look through all the Pokemon you have caught and take the ones with 0 Speed IVs. It isn't that unlikely to have one in one of the Egg Groups you need. Ofc. that only works if you have caught many Pokemon. (e.g. when you tried to get your Shiny Charm)

 

[Vinc2612]

Are there any notable new moves available for when Bank comes out other than FO Salazzle?

http://pastebin.com/Dy5a5JYC

Here's the full list.

 

[MDK]

Are there any notable new moves available for when Bank comes out other than FO Salazzle?

Biggest one is Seismic Toss Chansey/Blissey, Nasty Plot Mismagius, Knock Off Mandibuzz, Memento Whimsicott, Ice Punch Machamp, Rapid Spin Tentacruel, Defog Lurantis, Wide Guard/Stealth Rock Bastiodon, Stealth Rock Skarmory, Ice Punch Electivire, Defog Scizor, and Extreme Speed Dragonite

 

[Krusiv]

Thinking about getting into VGC2017 and after looking into teams/tourney reports what are the top ways to beat Trick Room? (with my limited knowledge ofc) but it seems like VGC2017 is Trick Room or Bust at the moment.

 

[Halcyon.]

Thinking about getting into VGC2017 and after looking into teams/tourney reports what are the top ways to beat Trick Room? (with my limited knowledge ofc) but it seems like VGC2017 is Trick Room or Bust at the moment.

Gengar is pretty good at beating Trick Room as it is immune to Fake Out and has access to Taunt, though it can't beat Oranguru with Mental Herb. Tapu Lele + hard hitter can beat TR too by doubling up into the setter, but some run Mimikyu specifically for Tapu Lele. Honestly though, any team should probably be able to at least somewhat function in Trick Room because you're not going to be able to stop it every time.

 

[Katsuko]

Thinking about getting into VGC2017 and after looking into teams/tourney reports what are the top ways to beat Trick Room? (with my limited knowledge ofc) but it seems like VGC2017 is Trick Room or Bust at the moment.

Just like Halcyon said. But it's not just hard hitter in general, but specifically Z-Moves. Especially Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele with their respective Terrain+Z-Move can probably one shot most bulky Trick Room users (mainly Porygon2) and also Pelipper + Z-Move Golduck. If you're running Porygon2 outside of Trick Room or a mixed Trick Room team, using Trick Room to reverse their Trick Room is also possible. Otherwise you need Fast Taunt users (especially against Mimikyu, I have even seen people run Focus Sash, so it's almost impossible to kill).

 

[TPhoneVGC]

Welcome to the VGC 17 edition of VGC SQSA! If you are looking for the VGC 17 rules you can find them here. READ THEM
If you are looking to have a question answered that can be done in a single post, please put it here instead of starting a new thread. This should be for VGC 17 questions only / in-game questions relevant to VGC / VGC IRL / etc.

Rules

1. DO NOT ASK ABOUT HACK CHECKS OR ROMS or any other forms of cheating
2. Your question should include at least a brief explanation
3. Please quote the question you are answering, otherwise it can get confusing
4. Please do a Google search before asking the question
5. This goes without saying, but please follow all Smogon rules and be respectful to others

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is VGC?
A: VGC stands for the Video Game Championships, and is Nintendo's official Pokemon video game tournament series. The matches are all double battles with Pokemon autoleveled to 50. It is played on the 3DS at events ranging from local Premier challenges, larger Regional tournaments, National tournaments, and culminating in the World Championship..

Q: Where can I get free VGC Pokemon?
A: People will occasionally post giveaways here.

Q: How do I find events to participate in?
A: You can use the Pokemon.com event finder to local tournaments in your area.

 

[TPhoneVGC]

Is there some sort of resource out there that contains a list of illegal egg moves pre-bank?

 

[TheMinimizer]

Is there some sort of resource out there that contains a list of illegal egg moves pre-bank?

http://pastebin.com/Dy5a5JYC

There's the list that Vince posted.
Most notable ones are Fake Out Salazzle, Memento Whimsicott, Ice Punch Machamp, Extremespeed Dragonite and Knock Off Mandibuzz.

 

[elnimio]

My Hariyama was able to use Fake Out against a Celesteela under psychic terrain. I accidentally clicked it yet it still worked. WTF?

 

[Psynergy]

My Hariyama was able to use Fake Out against a Celesteela under psychic terrain. I accidentally clicked it yet it still worked. WTF?

Terrains have no effect on Pokemon that are Flying-type or have Levitate. So a Flying-type would not be able to hit a grounded mon with priority, but the opposite (as in this case) will work just fine.

 

[blubobebabi]

What is this "resistance" that players speak of at tournaments?

 

[RebornFX]

What is this "resistance" that players speak of at tournaments?

To my knowledge it's essentially a measure of how well the players that you lost to fared in the tournament. Basically because so many players finished 11-3 in the London Internationals the players who Top Cut were chosen by resistance. Players dislike that as they feel how well their opponents play against their other opponents. Basically why should Player A be punished because Player B went on tilt and played awfully in later matches after beating Player A in an earlier match?
That's pretty much where my understanding of it starts and finishes.

 

[blubobebabi]

To my knowledge it's essentially a measure of how well the players that you lost to fared in the tournament. Basically because so many players finished 11-3 in the London Internationals the players who Top Cut were chosen by resistance. Players dislike that as they feel how well their opponents play against their other opponents. Basically why should Player A be punished because Player B went on tilt and played awfully in later matches after beating Player A in an earlier match?
That's pretty much where my understanding of it starts and finishes.

Still quite confused but thanks for your explanation XD

 

[Vinc2612]

What is this "resistance" that players speak of at tournaments?

I'm gonna try to explain more simply:

It is a way to break the tie when two or more people end with the same record.

For example if you have 8 spots in playoffs, and the players end with those scores:

Player A: 5-0, 1st
B: 4-1, 2nd
C: 4-1, also 2nd
D, E, F: 4-1, also 2nd
G: 3-2, 7th
H, I, J, K, L: 3-2, also 7th

For your top 8, you have A qualified with the first seed, B C D E F qualified but you can't seed them, and the two last spots for two people between G H I J K L.

In those events, the tiebreaker is the resistance, aka how good were your opponents during the same tournament. Basically, it says that "making 3-2 while being paired vs the people who were great is more impressive/desserving than making 3-2 vs people who failed".

It often fells unfair when you miss the playoffs that way, because you didn't pick your opponent, so why would your wins count less than the wins of other players? But that's how it works and it still makes sense, I mean, at some point we need to break the tie.

 

[Sharpman]

Going to my first premier challenge in two weeks. Don't actually have my team yet, but outside of that any tips for somebody's first?

 

[Vinc2612]

Bring food, you might not have time to get some between games.
Bring drinks, you might not have time to get some between games.
Bring paper, even if in gen 7 the game gives you a lot of infos, it's still an amazing time saver.

Also playing many battles in a row IS exhausting. You can't realize how much before your first event. I thought I were special at my first attempt, but I really wished I slept more and brought me some snacks/drinks.

 

[blubobebabi]

I'm gonna try to explain more simply:

It is a way to break the tie when two or more people end with the same record.

For example if you have 8 spots in playoffs, and the players end with those scores:

Player A: 5-0, 1st
B: 4-1, 2nd
C: 4-1, also 2nd
D, E, F: 4-1, also 2nd
G: 3-2, 7th
H, I, J, K, L: 3-2, also 7th

For your top 8, you have A qualified with the first seed, B C D E F qualified but you can't seed them, and the two last spots for two people between G H I J K L.

In those events, the tiebreaker is the resistance, aka how good were your opponents during the same tournament. Basically, it says that "making 3-2 while being paired vs the people who were great is more impressive/desserving than making 3-2 vs people who failed".

It often fells unfair when you miss the playoffs that way, because you didn't pick your opponent, so why would your wins count less than the wins of other players? But that's how it works and it still makes sense, I mean, at some point we need to break the tie.

Thank you so much for your explanation!! I now see why so many players were frustrated but it's both fair and unfair in my opinion. If I ever got that far in a tournament, I would rage internally had that happened to me...but I would still accept my fate and watch on

 

[itsalexhunty]

I'm looking to breed a Weavile for VGC. What should its two main STABs be? Ice Punch or Icicle Crash / Throat Chop or Night Slash?

Also will Knock Off be accesible post-bank or only with future release move tutors?

Thank you :)

 

[Vinc2612]

Throat Chop is definitely better than night slash. Even if sound moves aren't relevant anymore, the boost in power is worth the 12.5 => 6.25 crit percentage.

Icicle Crash only drawback is the miss probability, otherwise it's better than Ice Punch. 30% flinch is way better than 10% freeze, especially on a Pokémon as fast as Weavile. That can easily be a life-saver. Like, even if you are supposed to lose, you can still rely on a 30% to win.

Knock Off will be accessible for everything except VGC, unfortunately. The imported Sneasel won't be able to play since it won't be Alola-born, and it will have no way to pass the move down. We'll need to wait for Pokémon Star or HardDiamond/HarderPearl (please not those names) for the tutors.

 

[itsalexhunty]

Awesome, will go for Throat Chop and Icicle Crash then, thanks a lot!