Circle of Legends [Online Competition]

[ck49]

Pokemon just announced the Circle of Legends competition. Essentially, it's a rotation battle tournament where legendaries are not only allowed, but required. That's right, you can only use "Legendary and Mythical Pokémon." All pokemon are leveled up to 100, and there's a 20 minute time limit per battle, along with standard regulations.

Full info here.

(edit: You can use pokemon transported from gen 5).

I don't play much rotations (I tried once but never took it too seriously) but the fact that it's only legendaries makes me want to try it out. You'd think that Mega-Ray would dominate, and with the ability to swap itself out, it'd be tough to kill. Maybe running a scarfed dragon type to try and sweep? Anyways, let's hear what you guys think about this competition.

cant say edit: check out my guide on how to register!

 

[Jibaku]

Reminder that primal weathers and primal reversion have screwy mechanics in rotations

1) Kyogre/Groudon will not enter primal reversion unless it is sent out in the active slot.
2) Desolate Land, Primordial Sea, and Delta Stream will fade if the respective Pokemon are rotated out.
3) The primal weathers will not re-activate upon being rotated back in.

 

[Psynergy]

I don't have huge experience with Rotations though I imagine setup sweepers like Mega Ray, GeoXern and Ekiller will be so much more horrifying thanks to the rotation mechanics. Thundurus being the only Prankster with status here is tough since Thundurus really struggles against these huge threats, though bulky Thundurus could probably manage to T-wave something (have fun being out-prioritized by Mega Ray and Arceus though). Thundurus might be neat anyway though trying to rely on status for these huge sweepers doesn't seem to be the best plan. Especially since Safeguard seems neat to handle status too. Offensively though, I've heard Screens are huge in this format so I'm thinking Dual Screens + Memento Latios looks awesome. Maybe Dual Screens Lugia though given how crippling a Memento could be in a format where switching is difficult, I like the idea of Latios more. The fact there's no threatening Infiltrator users also kinda screams "USE SCREENS" so that's looking to be a huge factor.

As for Primal Weather, Mega Ray doesn't mind the lack of Strong Winds as much as Groudon/Kyogre mind losing their weather anyway though the Primal Weather mechanics are still kind of annoying. Kinda makes using the two Primals a pain to use them effectively though since you can't rely on Primal Weather but oh well.

 

[ck49]

Good to know about the weather mechanics. That makes Mega-Ray slightly less destructive. It's like the difference between a nuclear bomb and an atomic bomb, I guess.

That does make non-Primal Kyogre/Groundon more viable, however. You can save your mega-evolution for Mewtwo or Ray (or Diancie...). That being said, other than Ho-oh, Heatran, and... Keldeo(?) what really takes advantage of weather? I'm not too familiar with Ubers, but I assume steel types are of utmost importance because of all the dragons around.

Testing this will be a pain because there aren't rotations on PS. I'll try to make a team, but I don't have easy access to RNG'd legendaries, which is probably a problem for most people competing.

 

[cant say]

Damn, I was on the Japanese Global Link last night and saw this competition in the news but the way it was worded seemed like it had already been played, or even if it hadn't been then it would be Japan only (would have made the thread then). If that were the case we could have looked through Japanese blogs to see what they thought was good and CP it into our teams haha. Now we're just gonna have to play against them and see their wacky strategies first-hand!

Psynergy is right though, screens are a huge part of Rotations! Field effects in general are way better here than they are in regular Singles, so you can make use of stuff like Trick Room, Tailwind, Safeguard, and manual weather much better. Screens are so big that Brick Break is actually a common move on stuff like Garchomp, lol. Set up sweepers are massive as well, since unlike in Singles where switching wastes your boosts, you can just rotate and retain them. Switching in general pretty much never happens, so Stealth Rock is worthless, and weird things like Yawn, stat de-buffs etc. (basically anything that you'd want to switch out of in Singles) are really annoying.

PS! may not have a ladder to play on due to no rotations, but remember that you can play free-battles on Battle Spot where legendaries are allowed to practice. I can guarantee that the place will be full of teams for this comp in the lead up (but of course feature some random ones from little kids. It's not perfect, lol). We might even need to have a pre-comp practice tourney on IRC!

I don't have access to RNGs of my own so I'm limited to my own gen VI soft resets and anything I can trade for, but brb I'm off to find a Multiscale Lugia for screens setting

edit: the lag in this comp will be extreme. triples / rotations is already pretty laggy from all the Pokemon on the field, but the big legendary models don't help that at all. Wonder if that will affect the battle timer at all with stally strategies

 

[Pyritie]

Are pentagons required? Tournaments featuring legendaries usually have a special rule about whether the pentagon is required or not.

 

[cant say]

Are pentagons required? Tournaments featuring legendaries usually have a special rule about whether the pentagon is required or not.

It says on the site that "Pokemon brought to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire through Poketransporter are eligible" or some variation. So nah pentagons are not needed

edit: found the actual quote:

Pokémon brought over from Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2, or Pokémon White 2 via Poké Transporter may participate in this competition.

 

[Melon Vodka]

I saw it on Japanese Global Link a week ago.
I have already the team to use in this competition. I have no experience with the Rotation, but recently I find some opponents in Free Battle with a competitive legendary team.

Be careful with Darkrai, guys. In this metagame there's not the Sleep Clause.

 

[Karyu]

any suggestions of Teams and moveset?

 

[Kong Harald]

This seems to be a somewhat luckbased competition :/ Every team should have some sort of answer to autowin strategies like GeoXern, Darkrai and DD Rayquaza. Besides that, teambuilding for this should be hard (And the summer vacation makes finding time for BS practice harder). I will probably just put together what I have in my boxes for this, and see how it goes.

I think Rayquaza and Xerneas will run rampant...

 

[PumpedAaron]

Since I decided to start off with X this year rather than Alpha Sapphire, I'm a bit behind in collecting legendaries. I really need to pinch myself and hustle if I want to be ready for this tournament.

Currently in the process of soft resetting for Rayquaza, I usually got high IVs, but my Synchronize fails, and I get a neutral nature. It WOULD be silly to just go with a neutral nature, right?

 

[Kong Harald]

Since I decided to start off with X this year rather than Alpha Sapphire, I'm a bit behind in collecting legendaries. I really need to pinch myself and hustle if I want to be ready for this tournament.

Currently in the process of soft resetting for Rayquaza, I usually got high IVs, but my Synchronize fails, and I get a neutral nature. It WOULD be silly to just go with a neutral nature, right?

Yes. This competition looks hard enough as it is. Playing with sub-optimal pokemon just makes it harder.And btw, remember that you can also trade for RNG'd legends from last gen, so you don't have to soft reset everything you use :)

I can provide you with either a flawless Jolly (SR'd by "Pokeguy") or a flawless adamant Rayquaza (RNG'd). PM me if interested!

 

[PumpedAaron]

This isn't a popular opinion, but would anyone care to offer a modest analysis on Articuno? I have few competitive legendaries to begin with, and I need to at least gather Pokemon Eligible for the tournament! Articuno has plenty of great support, like screens and Tailwind, too, so it puts a lot less strain on his teammates.

 

[yoshirrrr]

So is Soul Dew Lati@s aloud?

 

[cant say]

So is Soul Dew Lati@s aloud?

Soul Dew has never need allowed in any Nintendo format so no

 

[PumpedAaron]

I'm deliberating between whether I want Jolly or Adamant Mega Mewtwo X. With Tailwind support, it'd be better to go Adamant huh? Maybe even with extra bulk, I'm thinking....

 

[Jibaku]

130 is such a strong Speed tier it'd be a crime to not run Jolly.

 

[lucariomaster2]

I'm picking my brains trying to find a way to counter "The big three" (GeoXern, DD Mega Ray, and EKiller Arceus). I'm thinking of bringing Thundurus for TWave, which will slow down Xerneas and Rayquaza, but for Arceus I may need to bring Giratina-O. I'm going to run Primal Kyogre as my main for sure; Rain-boosted Water Spouts and Origin Pulses coming off base 180 SAtk hurt. A lot.

Also bringing Lum Berry Keldeo solely to deal with Darkrai.

Related: If a Primal mon rotates to the back, does the weather stay?

Soul Dew has never need allowed in any Nintendo format so no

I don't know whether this is because it's an event item, or because it's OP. Either way, though, in a format with Darkrai and Arceus, you really have to wonder what GF's thinking.

 

[Psynergy]

Related: If a Primal mon rotates to the back, does the weather stay?

As Jibaku posted earlier:

1) Kyogre/Groudon will not enter primal reversion unless it is sent out in the active slot.
2) Desolate Land, Primordial Sea, and Delta Stream will fade if the respective Pokemon are rotated out.
3) The primal weathers will not re-activate upon being rotated back in.

So abusing Primal Weather will often be short-lived since the weather will almost never last long. Unless you choose not to rotate though that's probably not always in your best interests to do. You're probably better of using regular Kyogre if you want to abuse rain though I'm not sure how effective that will be (or if it even works). Especially with Rayquaza being around to ruin that parade, Mega or not. Personally I'm not even sure if I'll use either of the Primals, though if I do it won't be to trying to abuse the weather. Rock Polish might still be really neat though I don't want to overload my team with too many setup sweepers. Already want to use Mega Ray and Xerneas and/or Ekiller as is.

 

[Adestria]

I'm picking my brains trying to find a way to counter "The big three" (GeoXern, DD Mega Ray, and EKiller Arceus). I'm thinking of bringing Thundurus for TWave, which will slow down Xerneas and Rayquaza, but for Arceus I may need to bring Giratina-O. I'm going to run Primal Kyogre as my main for sure; Rain-boosted Water Spouts and Origin Pulses coming off base 180 SAtk hurt. A lot.

Also bringing Lum Berry Keldeo solely to deal with Darkrai.

Related: If a Primal mon rotates to the back, does the weather stay?


I don't know whether this is because it's an event item, or because it's OP. Either way, though, in a format with Darkrai and Arceus, you really have to wonder what GF's thinking.

Actually Ekiller usually carries shadow claw...

 

[lucariomaster2]

Actually Ekiller usually carries shadow claw...

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 0 HP / 0+ Def Giratina-O: 341-403 (77.3 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And that's with no defensive investment. Since it's Rotations, Giratina won't have to take a hit switching in and can go straight for the Will-o-Wisp.

 

[PumpedAaron]

130 is such a strong Speed tier it'd be a crime to not run Jolly.

Hrm, well I'll certainly consider that, then. I suppose Mega Two X's attack is high enough, and I can increase with Bulk Up if I want.

 

[Demantoid]

Hrm, well I'll certainly consider that, then. I suppose Mega Two X's attack is high enough, and I can increase with Bulk Up if I want.

I would run jolly just so you outspeed Darkrai.

 

[ethan06]

I really want to use Diancie again, and this comp seems like a decent place to do this. The sheer amount of broken in this comp suggests that it won't be the most fun to play competitively so I might just have some fun... that said, Diancie does well against Rayquaza, Darkrai, Giratina and Ho-oh, and Magic Bounce can screw with some stat debuff strats. What are people thinking for dealing with Xerneas? Groudon seems like the obvious choice but we also have access to some cool things like Jirachi, Victini and Genesect that can check it (and some other things I guess) quite hard.

edit: Just came up with this:

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 8 SpD / 248 Spe
Timid Nature
- Earth Power
- Grass Knot
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast

Most of this thing's utility can be found in these calcs:

Hide

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 351-416 (86.8 - 102.9%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Wave vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 328-387 (83.2 - 98.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Landorus Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Kyogre-Primal: 208-247 (51.4 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Arceus: 348-411 (91 - 107.5%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 270-318 (84.6 - 99.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (with an item you lose but w/e)
252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 8 SpD Landorus: 273-322 (85.5 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (20 EVs guarantee a survival - this won't help against a boosted one)
252 Atk Primal Groudon Fire Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus in Harsh Sunshine: 256-303 (80.2 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (not particularly worried about this - Earth Power KOs all but the most specially defensive Groudon and they can't do this to it)

This thing will be really good for outspeeding and severely weakening some of the titans of the format and making them easier for your Giratina-O or E-Killer Arceus to pick off with their priority. Most of the time it'll just be spamming Earth Power, but the coverage moves hit very specific things - Sludge Wave catching unboosted Xerneas, Focus Blast hitting E-Killer and Grass Knot 2HKOing Primal Kyogre. It probably won't go as well as I think it will but it's worth a shot hey

 

[Kong Harald]

I think a wellplayed choice scarfer can be very vulable in this meta, with lots of somewhat frailer pokemon sitting in the 90-130 speed tier (especially darkrai). A choice-locked pokemon must have a stronghitting stab move with great coverage though, as being locked into the wrong move will be plain suicide. Kyurem-W and Xerneas (Although losing GeoXern will be a big price to pay) seems like the best candidates to me. Any thoughts?