Does lunala moongeist beam ignore flower gift boost of the opponent's Cherrim ally? In my last match, lunala did the same damage on Groudon, even with sun and cherrim in the field.
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Resource VGC: Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer
- Thread starter blarajan
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From Bulbapedia: "Moongeist Beam inflicts damage, ignoring all ignorable Abilities (Abilities that could affect the success or damage of a move) during its execution." So yep, it should ignore Flower Gift on both opponents.
Thank you! So accidentally discovered a flower gift groudon potentially counter
I had a match on showdown and I ended up losing due to timer.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1480860471
My understanding for VGC is that timer wins are dictated by % of HP per team left. I clearly had more, but at the timer end, I ended up losing at the end of the 7 minutes.
I was clearly ahead, and it was playing for a crit to happen in order to get the win through wish protect, whereas my opponent would never break through.
The result seems really backwards to what ended up happening, and what I know VGC rules to be, so, is anyone able to explain?
Thanks!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8vgc2021series11-1480860471
My understanding for VGC is that timer wins are dictated by % of HP per team left. I clearly had more, but at the timer end, I ended up losing at the end of the 7 minutes.
I was clearly ahead, and it was playing for a crit to happen in order to get the win through wish protect, whereas my opponent would never break through.
The result seems really backwards to what ended up happening, and what I know VGC rules to be, so, is anyone able to explain?
Thanks!
Hey, how come VGC players seem to be much less likely to play older unsupported formats compared to singles players? From someone who doesn't keep up with the format as much, the farthest back I see people play is Gen 6 formats. I'm biased since I'm a smogon player, but this sounds like a missed opportunity to try not to go explore older gens once they no longer are the current format. The concept of a gen 4 vgc tourney sounds sick, and it's a bit disappointing how you can get these opportunities in singles way more than in doubles afaik.
VGC players are primarily concerned with playing the format supported by the official circuit, which is only and always the current format. On Smogon, lower tiers typically have all of their supported gens playable through events like team tournaments, classic, homefield advantage, etc, and obviously support for all gens of OU exists.
Smogon is basically the only place you'll find high level VGC play from previous gens, but the main reason why we haven't gone past gen 6 is because the amount of people willing to play older metas is super small. The VGC room on PS frequently runs older formats as well, but anything before gen 7 is pretty seldom played.
tl;dr there's no real stakes to play older vgc formats
Sleep Powder (an egg move) is legal on Alolan Exeggutor on the Showdown ladder. Does this mean there's a way to evolve Exeggcute into Alolan Exeggutor in SwSh? If so, how?
I'm not entirely sure but my best guess is from the egg move relearner mechanic.
If you transfer two alolan eggs from gen7, give one the galar stamp, have the alola native one learn know sleep powder, then put the two in the day care, the galar stamp one probably should relearn sleep powder and be gen 8 legal
(this would also apply to the gift alolan egg i just almost forgot that existed)
I don’t know much about VGC but Blastoise being viable is cool. I think I’ve seen Blastoise paired mainly with Zacian and/or Calyrex-Shadow, but I was wondering what else it could work with. I know they probably wouldn’t synergize too well together because of the weather, but can Blastoise and Groudon work together? Similarly, can you build successfully around Blastoise and Palkia or is there too much overlap?
Maybe someone else can give a better answer then me, since I've only been getting back into the loop more recently. But, Issue with Groudon + Blastoise is that sun weakens your Blastoise and Blastoise + Palkia seems redundant, don't really see much point in it. Blastoise is most common on Calyrex-S + Zacian-C compositions with good reason, very good synergy on these compositions, it gives a Dynamax option, and can check Landorus-T, Incineroar, and opposing Zacian-C. Now, I don't think it's impossible to use Blastoise on other compositions, but, it'd probably be harder to justify. You could potentially use it on lets say an Yveltal or Dialga team. Yveltal is typically good into sun which Blastoise can struggle with, and Dialga may appreciate the landorus-T answer. But, shared Electric weakness with Yveltal and contending as a Dynamax option with Dialga may make it had to justify for most. So Calyrex-S + Zacian-C is probably your safest bet, but, I think there's some room for experimentation.
EDIT: Though, whatever you do with Blastoise pair it with Zacian-C, seems too good to give up
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Alright, I figured that it was something along those lines. Thanks for the detailed response! And yeah I’ve heard that passing on Zacian in general can be hard to justify.
Also I appreciate the similarities in our names
I'm very new to VGC; only dabbled in competitive at all back in gen 6. There are tons of resources and sample teams that I've looked through but I can't seem to find a place that spells out how to actually use the sample teams. Maybe I'm just missing something? Would somebody kindly point me in the right direction?
It’s more to do with VGC 2022, but how could Palkia achieve A- despite Zacian’s omnipresence?
I believe being one of the best Kyogre counters and the 100 base Speed have something to do with this, but I feel like it’s more than those.
I believe being one of the best Kyogre counters and the 100 base Speed have something to do with this, but I feel like it’s more than those.
Zacian isn't that big of a problem for palkia, you can send incin to get zacian to neutral and then play rough won't do too much to dynamax palkia, also palkia teams usually have amoon for redirection
but yeah palkia is quite good because it's good into ogre, hits hard and has trick room which you have to respect
but yeah palkia is quite good because it's good into ogre, hits hard and has trick room which you have to respect
Trying to build my first ever VGC team, and I wanted to use Metagross, Whimsicott and Ho-Oh --
I have a few questions about this team, namely can these three work together at all, and if so, what teammates should I consider. If not, who should I remove and replace.
Additionally, are the sets below viable:
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP, 4 Atk, 4 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Stomping Tantrum
- Zen Headbutt
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunny Day
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Dazzling Gleam
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Dual Wingbeat
- Recover
- Protect
I have a few questions about this team, namely can these three work together at all, and if so, what teammates should I consider. If not, who should I remove and replace.
Additionally, are the sets below viable:
Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP, 4 Atk, 4 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Protect
- Stomping Tantrum
- Zen Headbutt
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP, 252 SpA, 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sunny Day
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Dazzling Gleam
Ho-Oh @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 Atk, 4 Def, 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Dual Wingbeat
- Recover
- Protect
is this team solid??
Solgaleo @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Full Metal Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 84 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Wild Charge
- Protect
Calyrex-Shadow @ Focus Sash
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Astral Barrage
- Bulldoze
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Blastoise-Gmax @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Cannon
- Blizzard
- Helping Hand
- Yawn
Thundurus @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 116 HP / 148 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 164 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Brutal Swing
- Scary Face
- Eerie Impulse
Incineroar @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Throat Chop
- Fake Out
Rillaboom-Gmax @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- Fake Out
- Protect
feedback appreciated thanks
Solgaleo @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Full Metal Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 84 SpD / 28 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sunsteel Strike
- Earthquake
- Wild Charge
- Protect
Calyrex-Shadow @ Focus Sash
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Astral Barrage
- Bulldoze
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Blastoise-Gmax @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 212 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Cannon
- Blizzard
- Helping Hand
- Yawn
Thundurus @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 116 HP / 148 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 164 Spe
Calm Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Brutal Swing
- Scary Face
- Eerie Impulse
Incineroar @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 244 HP / 4 Atk / 76 Def / 156 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Parting Shot
- Throat Chop
- Fake Out
Rillaboom-Gmax @ Miracle Seed
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Wood Hammer
- Fake Out
- Protect
feedback appreciated thanks
VGC is a game where players are playing for titles, money, and most importantly, to win. This top cut for Milwaukee regionals has some really interesting teams at a high level like Zacian Reshiram, multiple Lunala + Groudon teams, Bronzong, etc. Some nice games from the stream today. Restricted formats are naturally going to centralize around the best Pokemon and they always will. The last regional featured the Caly-S and Solgaleo core go all the way to the finals. But these cool team choices don't seem to satisfy the casual crowd, even if top players find them interesting. No one is using mediocre Pokemon because Karen from Elite 4 said so. We play to win, and winning requires use of good Pokemon.
It's been a month since this was posted, but I'm gonna reply anyway!
If you'd want to use a Conkeldurr in S12, you would definitely need a lot of support. Wide Guard is one thing that should be on the team, along with Follow Me (an Indeedee would be perfect for this, since it also sets up Psychic Terrain, which stops Fake Outs). Other than that, I would probably go for a Trick Room mode with Amoonguss. Sporing your opponents so you can easily get in Conk to Focus Punch would help a lot, and you have even more redirection with Rage Powder. Maybe Lunala with Wide Guard and Trick Room? Which would mean you could go for a Lunala Groudon core and go hard TR. Just make sure you get the TR up and create a situation (using spore and/or redirection/protection) in which you can safely position your Conk and Focus Punch. It's gonna be a challenge, but good luck if you're still gonna try it!
Just don't use one in S13, I can't see that succeeding lol. Mostly because of all the mons I just mentioned, only Groudon is probably gonna be used in that format (and maybe Amoonguss).
Cheers
Not necessarily true. Showdown ladder is very solid, however you generally play different opponents on the Showdown ladder than on cartridge.
Both Showdown and cartridge ladder have their own benefits.
Showdown is great for testing teams and finding out what you're comfortable with before obtaining it in game. It's much easier to make changes to your team on showdown, and you can play more games in a given amount of time allowing for you to get more experience. The UI displays a lot more information making it easier to understand what's going on, and there are replays so you can watch back your matches and learn from them - something which on cartridge requires a capture card and significantly more time.
Once you have your team mostly finished and want to test it to see if you need any final touch ups, cartridge is likely better. There's a wider variety of players in terms of region on cartridge. In particular, you will find many more Japanese players on cartridge compared to Showdown. Since the Japanese metagame has noticeable differences from the western/"Showdown" metagame, it's essential that you get cartridge experience against a wide variety of players. Not to mention cartridge is what you'll be playing on for official tournaments, so getting used to it and learning the nuances of the UI and what you need to remember yourself is essential to maximize your performance.
As far as quality of the games goes, it really depends. Everyone on showdown is here to play competitively. Because it's easier to switch teams, you'll see more gimmicky teams, but that's typically at lower ladder and they at least have an idea of what they're trying to do. Since the cartridge is also in the hands of people who know little-to-nothing about competitive Pokemon, you will often in the early tiers get opponents who don't even have their Pokemon EVed or are using their first playthrough teams. Once again there's pros and cons to both.
I think most top players (at least western ones, showdown isn't as popular in Japan) utilize both Showdown and cartridge. Typically, when people dislike Showdown it is a moral disagreement or they are not used to the platform. Ex. something I see commonly is people saying that there is more hax on Showdown, failing to account for the higher volume of games which means there will be more hax naturally. I think this is a perfect case of someone who isn't used to the platform. As for morals, some people don't like supporting unofficial parties. To each their own.