Dragon Pulse isn't good for anything outside of Dragons, i don't think Heatran really needs it for the coverage. Dragon Pulse's main use over HP Ice would be Kingdra, but it can't OHKO Kingdra and it should be accepted Kingdra will murder Heatran before it can do too much. HP Ice is also good for the ever present Zapdos. HP Ice will hit a good deal harder then Dragon Pulse on a non Yache Dragon it is 4x against, even with Yache it isn't too much weaker. So I have to agree with Saboros, HP Ice is a generally better choice
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
Ask a simple question, get a simple answer - VGC edition
- Thread starter makiri
- Start date
- Status
Well, I was using a pretty weird bulky Thundurus for a while, it worked for what it was worth, survived pretty much anything that's not like a Ice Gem Blizzard, lol. I ran it with 98 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / Rest in Def/Sp. Def and a Bold nature. I didn't invest any speed EVs because with a priority Thunder Wave you won't be needing it too much. Charti for survival of Rock Slide every time.
But honestly, you're better off with a bulky Zapdos if you're really looking for a bulky Electric flyer. However, prankster Thunder Wave and Grass Knot are two really good perks for Thundurus.
Bulky Thundurus is Calm Nature, 252 HP / 236 SDef / 8 SAtk / leftover in Def or some speed.
(The EVs are weird because I use HP Flying)
This spreads survives Draco Gem DMeteor and several other attacks. A possibility is to use Chesto Berry + Prankster Rest.
Of course Thunderwave and Thunderbolt are a must on Thundurus, standard Item is Electric gem to ensure the 2HKO on Metagross or Sitrus Berry, Leftovers, Charti Berry for bulk.
(The EVs are weird because I use HP Flying)
This spreads survives Draco Gem DMeteor and several other attacks. A possibility is to use Chesto Berry + Prankster Rest.
Of course Thunderwave and Thunderbolt are a must on Thundurus, standard Item is Electric gem to ensure the 2HKO on Metagross or Sitrus Berry, Leftovers, Charti Berry for bulk.
I have a question for the people who won a travel award at Regionals. I sent the player coordinator the sheet they gave me saying that I will be attending Nats, but I still haven't gotten any reply from him. How long did it take you guys to get any reply about your travel award? Oh and I sent it a while ago too.
So this is probably an obvious question, but I thought I'd ask anyway.
As everyone knows, Cresselia is a huge pain. If I'm only running one counter to Cresselia (such as Tyranitar), will I be fine? Otherwise, if I'm not running a Taunt user, is the best way to handle Cresselia just to target its partners then gang up on it 2v1?
As everyone knows, Cresselia is a huge pain. If I'm only running one counter to Cresselia (such as Tyranitar), will I be fine? Otherwise, if I'm not running a Taunt user, is the best way to handle Cresselia just to target its partners then gang up on it 2v1?
It's not always so simple to just "gang up on Cresselia's partner" since it's very likely that they will use Protect to buy time for cresselia to cripple with Icy Wind or Thunder Wave. Same with saying you'll just "focus everything on Cresselia", because unless you have an attack combination to take it out in one turn, it can still leave you in a bad spot, worse so if you fail to finish the job and it uses Rest. In the end, unless you have something like Bug Gem Escavalier, who can just OHKO Cresselia so you don't have to care about Cresselia, you'll end up throwing attacks at both Cresselia and its partner, whether you'd like to or not, so there's no real easy way to say how to handle Cresselia since it will vary quite a bit with each case.
If I'd have to give an answer, I'd say that you should have at least two good ways to handle any one Pokemon, unless you feel that said Pokemon isn't too much of a threat to any of your team members.
Most Cress I've seen never run Protect so gang attacks work ok at best, but if you fail to KO, Rest really sucks. Specifically, Bisharp completely shits on Cress as Psychic does nothing and Icy Wind boosts its Atk assuming you're running Defiant. I run Night Slash on mine, as to punish anyone thinking that I would use Sucker Punch. Heracross's and Escavalier's Bug Gem Megahorns are cool.
There are a few strong ways to beat Cress. One way is to run you own Cress, which can cripple your opponent's Cress's partner. If that doesn't work for you, another way is to run Safeguard or Substitute Latios, and while it doesn't do that much to Cress, it can avoid Icy Wind and Thunder Wave support, putting large amounts of pressure on common partners such as Hitmontop and Garchomp. The one thing to remember is that if you are playing against Cress, the one thing to remember is simply predict likely moves based on their partner and how they are likely to respond based on your mons.
http://pokedex-br.info/damage.html
It says it is D/P, but as far as I know damage calcs have stayed the same between the games. Pretty simple, I have never encountered an issue where I would need a more hi-tech calculator.
It says it is D/P, but as far as I know damage calcs have stayed the same between the games. Pretty simple, I have never encountered an issue where I would need a more hi-tech calculator.
http://masara.byethost15.com/SilverlightDmgCalcTestPage.html
Just make sure that "multiple targets" is selected under "Shared Options" if you are using a spread move. Oh, and remember to set the Pokemon to level 50. ;)
The best way to handle Cresselia (or any Pokemon in VGC) is to make it dead weight on the field. For a support mon like Cresselia, this is an easier task than most offensive juggernauts.
The simplest option is Taunt, as most won't have Mental Herb except for Trick Room. Cresselia isn't particularly fast, so you generally won't even need Prankster to get it off first. However, most Pokemon don't have the room for Taunt, so you'll generally look towards other options.
Because Cresselia often uses Thunder Wave or Icy Wind for speed control, Substitute is a great way of penalizing a Cresselia user. If you can get a Substitute user who can stay safe from Cresselia's partner, or else get a sub up on a Protect, you'll be ahead of the game. Someone mentioned Sub Latios above, which works if Cresselia is weakened somewhat, but Sub Latios on its own will be forced to switch if it tries to take down Cresselia with no help.
Finally, as others mentioned, there are a handful of attacks that can OHKO Cresselia, but while they are simple, using the mons involved may not be the easiest for a beginner. Use these if you really need to, although keep in mind that attacks that hit this hard don't limit their usefulness to Cresselia.
Hey guys, I got a question between three moves:
Hydro Pump, Surf, or Scald?
I'm running a rain team and I'm feeling very iffy on a pick. I was running 3 guys with surf but the problem is that the residual damage on teammates can occasionally be a hastle especially since no member of my team gets any benefit from getting hit by a water move. I recently switched over to Hydro Pump and I'm LOVING the KO's it racks up but 80% accuracy REALLY scares me. I hate using moves that aren't 90 or higher. I'd use Scald but I feel like with only hitting one person and not even that hard, it won't be worthwhile.
Hydro Pump, Surf, or Scald?
I'm running a rain team and I'm feeling very iffy on a pick. I was running 3 guys with surf but the problem is that the residual damage on teammates can occasionally be a hastle especially since no member of my team gets any benefit from getting hit by a water move. I recently switched over to Hydro Pump and I'm LOVING the KO's it racks up but 80% accuracy REALLY scares me. I hate using moves that aren't 90 or higher. I'd use Scald but I feel like with only hitting one person and not even that hard, it won't be worthwhile.
I'm personally a fan of scald since it actually hits harder than Surf, has a nice possible side effect, and in the rain should do plenty of damage with perfect accuracy. Remember in VGC, anything that can go wrong in terms of hax, WILL go wrong. It's all, of course, dependent on the team- in a rain team, if most of your guys are water types Surf isn't a bad option, or if you want the spread move then Muddy Water isn't awful (many water types learn it).
Well I have 2 members that quad resist surf but they are both currently running HP. My Politoed is choiced and typically uses surf. I have 2 members that resist it as well but one that's SE to water =P. However Politoed can barely handle surfs in the rain still and if it's a crit sometimes I just kill him off. I'd like Muddy Water but the accuracy is nearly the same as HP. Like I said Hydro Pump does get some sick OHKO's and at the end of the day I guess if I used Scald twice in a row it'd get a kill whereas if HP hits it'd get just one turn to OHKO.
I may have convinced myself to stick with HP haha we'll see I guess, I've got time to decide. =P Thnx!
I may have convinced myself to stick with HP haha we'll see I guess, I've got time to decide. =P Thnx!
Something that is always important in VGC is synergy, a team that maximizes on synergy will usually do better. If your team doesn't like taking surfs from your own teammate you should use Scald or maybe just change the team, because typically in a rain team you shouldn't be having these problems.
I mean it's not a drastic problem except for Politoed in the off (but ironically slightly common) chance he gets crited. My two abusers of rain are Ludi and Kingdra but still the residual damage can mean dying all the easier from another move.
Gah, when I tried Rain it was based around spamming Surf. The Politoed was always getting too hurt. If you have two quad resists, I think you should have Surf on Politoed. Stuff like Ludi and Kingdra is more iffy, depends how much damage it will do to the teammates. Hydro Pump's accuracy is a nuisance, but the power is great, I think ti should be used over Scald in most cases, unless you have HP EVs and want to stay around longer and hope for a Burn.
As a person that's big on using Rain teams, I've always just used Surf as my go to Water attack. It does takes some getting used, and strong knowledge of damage calcualtions to in order to manage the residual damage efficiently, but if you play your cards right, the damage you take from your own Surfs should rarely be an issue.
IMO, Surf > Hydro Pump > Scald when in the rain. The sheer amount of damage that Hydro Pump deals is a lot more useful for the team than a chance to burn, when you're all about hitting as hard and fast as possible.
IMO, Surf > Hydro Pump > Scald when in the rain. The sheer amount of damage that Hydro Pump deals is a lot more useful for the team than a chance to burn, when you're all about hitting as hard and fast as possible.
Hello, I´m sorry if this is the wrong part for this thread but I´m new here. Now my question. If the VGC 13 Metagame is Uber Doubles, will Scarf-Kyogre be prefferded modest or timid? When it´s timid it will have to less power to KO some threads, but if it is modest it will be killed by timid Scarf-Kyogre. I´ve borrowed me Heartgold for one week and kann only RNG Kyogre in this week, so you would help me a lot if you can say whitch nature is better.
We have no idea how the metagame will develop, Scarf Kyogre might not even be as dominating this time. However, I would still always suggest Modest as that opens you up to more options than just the Scarf set in case you change your mind. The extra power is more often than not the best option.
My thoughts are that since it is now officially called Modified (not VGC20xx) that this will be the standard from here on.
- Status