Hi Smogon! This is Final Doom. I’ve not really been very involved with Smogon but I've been itching to show off this team and prove why Heracross is a horror to face in VGC. It hasn't have gotten the greatest ranking, or even done that well at VGC (I couldn’t go…). The main reason for that is because I'm not the greatest pokemon battler but sometimes the team can rip apart others with the correct combinations. Heracross is the Sledgehammer that pounds enemies to dust while Cresselia is the Duct Tape that holds this team together is a misshapen sort of way. This team has the potential to just win with the right combinations of leads verses certain teams.
Heracross @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 236 HP / 228 Attack / 4 Defense / 36 Special Defense / 4 Speed
Nature: Adamant
[Close Combat] [Megahorn]
[Rock Slide] [Protect]
[Rock Slide] [Protect]
Heracross is the main reason I'm using this team. Not only is he my favorite pokemon, but he hits like a truck filled with bricks. Heracross is unjustly underused in VGC. He can withstand most attacks you could throw at him and he can just KO you back with Close Combat. His Bug / Fighting typing makes him a great Fighting type counter due to being able to survive about any fighting attack in VGC 2012. He can decimate Trick Room teams due to being able to take out some of the most common Trick Room setters like Cresselia. He hits hard but not that fast but with Trick Room up he just annihilates teams.
The status orb I gave him was the flame orb. With his decent bulk, Heracross can withstand lots of attacks. Due to how weak to Acrobatics and Heat Wave Heracross is I wind up using protect a lot on this set. He's usually in longer than four turns even when he’s taken out before that mark, the long-term benefits outweigh the extra damage at the beginning. Anyways, Heracross’s moves are pretty obvious. Close Combat and Megahorn are his mandatory STAB moves that can 1 hit KO most of the VGC 2012 metagame with a Guts boost. Rock Slide is in there to nail flying types like Tornadus or Zapdos once It can safely move before his would-be counters. Protect is a given on a pokemon with a 4x weakness and a status orb. Heracross's EVs are all over the place. To be honest, I ripped off the DP UBER Choice Band Heracross set. I then added 4 speed EVs to be 'outsped' by Cresselia in Trick Room so that she could break sashes before he hit. The bulk is adjusted so that Heracross can barely survive a Life Orb Latios's Draco Meteor from full health and then KO Latios with Megahorn. Heracross hits hard enough to KO 252/0 Cresselia with Megahorn if he has a Guts boost or a Helping Hand Boost. He also KOs 252/0 Metagross about 1/2 the time with both a Guts boost and a Helping Hand boost. Heracross can completely decimate all types of teams. His two partners in crime are Cresselia and Garchomp. Cresselia + Heracross can really hurt Trick Rooms. Cresselia can remove Trick Room while Heracross just kills stuff Teams. Heracross + Garchomp can destroy most Goodstuff teams. Garchomp can destroy most of Heracross's counters before they can move which gives Heracross the ability to take out the other pokemon. Heracross is a fatally underused pokemon and it's about time he got the respect he deserves.
Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
[Dragon Claw] [Earthquake]
[Rock Slide] [Protect]
[Rock Slide] [Protect]
Garchomp is ridiculously powerful. Any pokemon that’s banned from OU has to be good and Garchomp is just that. He is Heracross’s partner in crime and hits really hard. Heracross’s main problems are pokemon that are faster than him that know either Acrobatics or Heat Wave. I originally had Terrakion in this spot but Garchomp’s better overall bulk and not having a weakness to fighting are enough to convince me that Garchomp’s a better choice. Garchomp is great with Cresselia because she can slow down my opponents with Icy Wind. That lets me get the jump on pokemon like Weavile or Latios and KO them before they can move.
Earthquake and Dragon Claw are pretty much mandatory for Garchomp. His Giant attack lets him take out tons of pokemon with just those two moves. I guess you could replace Dragon Claw with Dual Chop but missing feels terrible and can really screw up your game plan. I chose Rock Slide over a move like Substitute or another filler move to deal with the big threat flying types pose to my Heracross. Stone Edge is a viable replacement because of Garchomp not having STAB on Rock Slide. His EVs are pretty much standard for any offensive Garchomp. Max speed and attack with a Jolly nature lets Garchomp hit fast and hard while his great natural bulk lets him take neutral hits surprisingly well. Focus Sash is used over a Yache Berry because of how used Latios is. Focus Sash lets Garchomp survive a Choice Scarf Abomasnow’s Blizzard and Latios’s Draco Meteor and then take them out before going down. If Cresselia’s out you can just outsped them after Icy Wind though. Garchomp is not underestimated and even when you prepare for it, it will still get you.
Cresselia @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Defense / 252 Special Defense
Nature: Calm
[Trick Room] [Helping Hand]
[Icy Wind] [Rest]
[Icy Wind] [Rest]
Fighting Cresselia is a nightmare (ironically). It NEVER dies. Cresselia is my least favorite pokemon to fight against and one of my favorite pokemon to fight with. Due to its insane bulk, Cresselia can take almost any hit and still be alive after that. This Cresselia is more focused on bulk and support than other Cressilias. Having no damaging attack can be a hindrance to her, but being able to reset Trick Room and slow down Garchomp counters really makes up for that. Cresselia pairs up great with all of my pokemon other than Gastrodon and Latios (For the most part…) Cresselia can also set up Trick Room for Heracross and enable a unexpected sweep from a team that doesn’t even look like a Trick Room one. The surprise factor of this Cresselia vastly outweighs its inability to do real damage.
Of all types of Cresselia, the ChestoRest is probably the most infuriating. Right before you kill her, she heals up and lets you try to break her yet again. Having Rest is well worth replacing Protect most of the attacks that would pose her a problem can be switched into by Metagross. Trick Room allows this team to work as a Trick Room team. With exactly 4 slower than average pokemon, the team can pose a real threat to teams that don’t expect Heracross moving first. Trick Room also helps counter Trick Room teams. Cresselia + Heracross can dismantle an entire Trick Room team easily. Heracross resists most common Trick Room user’s attacks and is immune to Spore. Cresselia can take out Trick Room by using it herself allowing Heracross to always have the speed advantage. Icy Wind may seem counterintuitive with Trick Room but they’re rarely used against the same team. Icy Wind allows Garchomp to outsped threatening pokemon that could KO him like Latios and let him KO them instead. Helping Hand pairs really well with all of my hard-hitting pokemon. It allows them to take out the pokemon of their choice with their powerful STAB moves. Cresselia can really support the team and let it maneuver around strategies that seem to be great against it.
Metagross @ Occa Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Attack / 20 Speed
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Attack / 20 Speed
Nature: Adamant
[Zen Headbutt] [Bullet Punch]
[Earthquake] [Protect]
[Earthquake] [Protect]
My main qualm about VGC is that some of the cool quirky pokemon that are available are just outclassed by another more popular pokemon. Metagross is a perfect example of that. He is tailor made for VGC. Massive attack and defense and a great typing make sure that he is a common sight that can really screw you up. Being immune to Intimidate is a big boon for Metagross and it allows him to beat Hitmontop easily with Zen Headbutt. Having a Dragon resist really helps my team due to it having two dragon types. Metagross is the perfect combination of bulk and power. He hits like a tank and takes hits like one as well.
Zen Headbutt may seem a little strange on Metagross. After all it prevents Metagross from beating Cresselia 1 on 1. Even so, Zen Headbutt is needed on Metagross instead of Meteor Mash due to being able to hit Water types neutrally. The power drop isn’t that noticeable and being cold to water types like Ludicolo or Rotom-w is not where you want to be. Bullet Punch gives Metagross his much needed priority and allows him to pick off threats like Weavile or Infernape after Focus Sash. Finally, Earthquake allows to take out Tyranitar and opposing Metagrosses and it gives you Metagross’s most powerful spread move (not including Explosion…). As always, Protect is a given for Metagross. Due to being weak to Ground, he needs to use Protect if Garchomp’s going to use Earthquake. Having such a devastating physical attacker that’s immune to Intimidate allows me to attack right through most teams set up to take physical attacks.
Gastrodon @ Rindo Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Special Attack / 4 Special Defense
Nature: Modest
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Special Attack / 4 Special Defense
Nature: Modest
[Scald] [Earth Power]
[Ice Beam] [Protect]
[Ice Beam] [Protect]
Gastrodon is my Rain and Sun team counter. He is my least tested and I can’t really decide a spread other than the one that’s there right now. Any help on that would be greatly appreciated! Anyways, Gastrodon is not as good on a team without a Water weakness (one of the reasons I like Terrakion) but he’s still great against Water and Sun teams. Against water teams, their surfs power up Gastrodon and targeted Water attacks like Gastrodon do nothing with Gastrodon on the field. Gastrodon’s typing gives it resistances to fire types helping me against Sun teams. Earth Power is super effective against the Fire types in the Sun team due to Scald’s reduced power. Ice beam is for the occasional Grass or Flying pokemon. Ice beam makes it great against Garchomp.
Scald is Gastrodon’s mandatory STAB. It grants him the ability to check most fire types outside of the sun as well as being a good neutral coverage move. Earth Power also takes out Fire types but works at full power in the sun. Earth Power also lets Gastrodon take on threats like Metagross and live to tell the tale. Ice beam takes care of Grass types and lots of the quicker pokemon like Thundurus or Garchomp. Gastrodon naturally has Protect. With a 4x weakness to grass, Gastrodon is sometimes needs to dodge an attack and that’s what Protect does. A Rindo Berry lets Gastrodon survive Grass attacks to retaliate with Ice Beam. The EV spread I’m using works but I don’t like it too much. As I said before, I’d really appreciate you helping me out on that.
Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Defense / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Nature: Modest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Defense / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
Nature: Modest
[Draco Meteor] [Thunderbolt]
[Hidden Power Ground] [Protect]
[Hidden Power Ground] [Protect]
My final pokemon is also extremely overused and forms a brutal duo with Metagross. Latios’s insanely fast and Powerful Draco Meteors allow him to take out dangerous pokemon like Garchomp and Hydreigon before they can move. Being able to hit fast and hard is a great boon for this team, but due to his bad defense and high speed he is left on the bench when I’m utilizing Trick Room instead of Icy Wind with Cresselia. Even so, Latios can run through teams with his gigantic special attack and high speed. Even if he’s not always the best for my team, he certainly can pull his weight.
Latios really only has one VGC set. That’s an all out attacker. With Life Orb Latios’s Special Attack gets a great boost and allows him to hit like a atom bomb. Draco Meteor vaporizes every Dragon other than Multiscale Dragonite. Draco Meteor makes Latios have to switch out a lot. His typing and immunity to Earthquake make Latios pretty easy to bring in again and wreak havoc with his Draco Meteor. Thunderbolt hits Water types and Tornadus Super Effectively. Hidden Power Ground is chosen above Hidden Power Fire because Ground lets Latios hit Heatran and Tyranitar harder while letting Latios run at max speed and outsped other Latios. Latios’s mere presence may for an opponent to use a Latios counter and allow my physical behemoths to run unchecked or visa versa.
That's my team. Heracross is a brutal pokemon and can let this team do impossible things. Please comment and tell me your opinions about the team.
Thanks for your time!
Thanks for your time!
