Recent content by jbtc10

Mandibuzz and Umbreon also counter Gyarados, to name a couple. The counters alone for Gyarados are plentiful, diverse, mostly reliable and are not particularly hard to fit on a team. The DD set, which is its most potent one, doesn't quite seem S rank to me at the moment, with A+ seeming more...

Mandibuzz can generally get away with running a fully defensive 244+ Def spread now, as it does enjoy the added bulk on the side it tends to take most of its hits from. However, the old spread is still valid as it makes Gengars LO Sludge Wave a guaranteed 3HKO, allowing you to practically...

I would have liked to have seen Shadow Tag suspected (and banned) separately first because if there's one thing in this game that the buzzword "uncompetitive" fits, it would have to be Shadow Tag. Removing arguably the most important game mechanic and option a player has at their disposal in a...

Option #8: Status, which is a big problem for Mega Slowbro unless it's CroBro which I've found to be mediocre generally as it's unreliable and you might as well run Suicune at that point. If your CM user is hit with a Toxic or in many cases a Burn also, they can't sustain a sweep if they cant...

I always viewed Vaporeon's niche as being able to compress the roles of a cleric and a bulky water into a single slot, which can be useful for some teams. Meaningfully using a Wish + Baton Pass combo rarely happens in a high-level game, as an opponent can trivially apply pressure to prevent you...

Just put Perish Song on your own set if you don't want to lose to it. Imprison/Transform/Perish Song/Filler @Mental Herb/Lum Berry works wonders. Having P-Song on the set also lets you beat faster Imprison users if you go for the Perish Song on the turn they go for Imprison or waste a turn using...

There's also the sets which are designed to be tough nuts to crack. Eg: Shedinja @ Safety Goggles Ability: Sturdy EVs: 252 Atk Brave Nature IVs: 0 Spe - Spiky Shield - Magic Coat - Rapid Spin - Whirlpool Can't kill it with weather, partial trapping, Spiky Shield, bouncing status with Magic...

Keldeo never runs Taunt. Sub CM is a problem, but it's a problem for any defensive Starmie set that doesn't run Psyshock. Medicham rarely runs Thunderpunch. The aim isn't to be able to counter every set in existence, just the most common ones or things that are most threatening to your team. Sub...

Neither Lanturn or Slowbro have the vital ability to remove hazards, and the former has no reliable recovery either so Zard-X only needs to Dragon Claw it once on the switch for it to no longer be able to counter it next time, so it's not a viable answer whatsoever. Starmie can provide a lot of...

There are a number of rock setters like Heatran and Hippo where you aren't taking any rocks damage, you're switching in as they go up. In any case, I'm saying the physically defensive spread is worth using and has different merits to the standard one. So what if you can't outspeed thunderbro and...

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Starmie: 153-180 (47.2 - 55.5%) -- 19.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery You're not really meant to calc with rocks up with Starmie since it's usually going to be keeping them off your side itself. Also, just a few EV's in SpD...

You just answered yourself. It only needs 3 moves; Scald, Recover and Rapid Spin. Reflect Type is indeed a cute and often useful move, but when you're playing balance and you can't afford to give [insert scary mon that you don't have a counter to here] a free turn, then other moves can be more...

Defensive Starmie is still good; you're probably using a mediocre and imo outdated EV spread. Forget speed, it needs to be physically defensive to be of any proper use as a bulky spinner in the current meta. The spread I use is 252 HP, 216+ Def, 40 Spd. The 40 Spd lets it outspeed Adamant Sand...