Hey guys! I know V-Create Assist is considered a silly gimmick, and I apologise profusely, but it sure is fun throwing around V-Creates like spare change. I'd love your insight on how I can make this more competitive (read: less terrible) in the UU environment!
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Victini @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Sleep Talk
- V-create
- Trick
- [Empty]
Ninetales is locked away in a higher tier, but Victini is at home in UU. I need this little guy for his signature attack, V-Create, which boasts awesome power and a tolerable side effect. Trick is a convenient move to choice lock walls, and it doesn't get in the way of the other pokémon's Assists. The same can be said for Sleep Talk, which cannot be called by Assist either. When asleep, Sleep Talk grabs both Trick and V-Create, but the utility of Trick is worth that inconsistency.
Optional moves in the fourth slot could be Protect and Endure, Endure to shave some health off Life Orb users, but neither option is stellar, and I've opted to keep the slot empty to give Sleep Talk better odds. There's little sense in choice locking myself in protect / endure in the first place.
Weavile @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Sleep Talk
- Thief
- Focus Punch
The first of the Assist attackers - his typing and bulk leave much to be desired, but his attack and speed stats are worth it. Assist will always call V-Create and tear a hole into most things. Since Victini has a scarf and Liepard has outright priority with Prankster Assist, Weavile received a Choice Band for sheer power. It's fast enough by itself, and will outspeed a sizable fraction of the tier even at -1. Thief is there as a weak STAB that might annoy Chandelure a little, and while Focus Punch won't do much against that particular Flash Fire user, it might hit another, Arcanine, on the switch. Neither Thief or Focus punch can be called by Assist, while Focus Punch is also excluded from Sleep Talk.
Non-Assist options for Weavile aside from the aforementioned Protect and Endure are; Counter, Feint, and Snatch. I did not see much use for the former two, as Waevile won't be taking any appreciable hits without a Focus Sash.
Which brings me to the second option for Weavile, arguably a lot less solid.
Weavile @ Focus sash
Trait: Pickpocket
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
Some Stealth Rock setters can be OHKOd by V-Create, (Bronzong comes to mind), which might leave Weavile's Focus Sash intact longer. Since Waevile gets the Pickpocket ability, ideally, the Sash saves him while stealing the opponent's item, all the while KOing back with Counter or V-Create. Not being choice-locked also means more freedom with Snatch to aim for Gorebyss' Shell Smash, Milotic's Recover, Kingdra's Dragon Dance or Substitutes. I don't claim to be good at mindgames, but I'd like to think this set can at least attempt to do them.
Liepard @ Fire Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Thief
- Snatch
- Protect
Prankster Liepard is a pain, and it is a pity that its iconic moves have to stay out of the way of Assist. I gave this pokemon Thief & Snatch with a Fire Gem for the freedom of Snatching stat boosts, and depriving opponents of their items in a suicide act. Its Special Attack IVs, as with the other Assist users, are set to 0 to weaken opposing Ditto as much as possible, should Assist give them a Special attacks.
I played with a choice scarf variant and Trick for a while, but I liked having the immediate power to OHKO opposing Prankster Sableye preparing to Will-o-Wisp me.
Most of Liepard's movepool gets in the way of Assist, but for completion's sake I'll mention Covet, which is really just a Thief that doesn't hit Chandelure. Exactly what I needed but not really.
Delcatty @ Choice Band
Trait: Normalize
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Copycat
- Sleep Talk
- [Empty]
Yes, I realize, Delcatty is bad and I should feel bad. Give her some credit though - starved for differently-typed attacks as this team is, Delcatty's Normal-type V-Creates are godsend. With this setup, I believe Delcatty 2HKOs all Blastoise, while being able to take a surf or scald at -1, all the while hoping the latter doesn't inflict a burn. Normal V-Create also hits Arcanine, Kingdra, and Swampert for neutral damage, which is neat, although Chandelure remains a problem. Despite Delcatty's lousy base stats, the normal-type STAB preserves much of V-Create's raw power.
I rarely use Copycat, but it doesn't get in the way of Assist or Sleep Talk, and having options is great.
Typhlosion @ Ground Gem
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 216 Spe / 40 HP
Jolly Nature
- Covet
- Nature Power
- Sleep Talk
- Focus Punch
The obvious odd one out - I solely use him to threaten opposing Flash Fire Arcanine, Houndoom and Chandelure. Nature Power changes into Earthquake, and once the Ground Gem is spent, Typhlosion can contribute a little by robbing an item, do some modest damage, or pray the opponent is partial to getting punched through the face. Counter is another option here, but I judged Typhlosion too frail for it. Enough speed EVs to outspeed any 95 base speed pokemon (Arcanine, Houndoom, Darmanitan) not carrying a Scarf.
I'm not saying it's a good pokémon, but he covers something that murders me - if there's any possible replacements, please.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk
- Transform
- [Empty]
- [Empty]
- [Empty]
It's a Ditto! Transform doesn't get in the way of anything, and it can switch into Chandelure's fire attacks and attack back with their Shadow Ball. Kingdra will eat its own Dragon attacks, and Ditto can also form a temporary wall against water-types attacking with water attacks, like Azumarill. Blastoise and Milotic get toxic thrown back in their faces, and Ditto is a nice equalizer for the occasional Shell Smasher that slips through.
I'm not entirely sure if IVs work in this fashion for Ditto, but Hidden Power, should the blob acquire it, is set to grass. Though mostly a countermeasure for Gorebyss, HP Grass also hits Swampert and Quagsire hard, if they carry Hidden Power.
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Other viable attacks that Assist ignores are Circle Throw, Dragon Tail, Me First and Destiny Bond. However, I have not been able to work these into a contributing team member.
A Poliwrath with Counter/CircleThrow/FocusPunch/SleepTalk and Water Absorb walled Arcanine and Water-types well, but it had little offensive capability, lacking a water attack and doing nothing to Chandelure.
Meganium gets the fortuitous combination of Dragon Tail and Nature Power, having two serviceable attacks, alongside Sleep Talk and Counter. Unfortunately, Meganium is not an attacker, and Nature Power from her won't dent fire-types nearly as hard as they dent her.
Mew's movepool also allows her to function here - she has Dragon Tail, Counter, Focus Punch, Transform, Snatch and perhaps most interestingly, Me First. The latter won't do much to Arcanine, but it might hit that blasted Chandelure with its own Shadow Ball. Me First might also be used alongside Protect and Counter to react appropriately to any situation. Besides all that, Mew's typing helps defend against this team's blatant Fighting weakness.
(However, I'm not entirely sure how to make these pokémon work.)
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It's quite a pain in the hindside to navigate around Assist and still make a team that doesn't instantly have to give up against a water-type or Flash Fire. Delcatty helps a lot, and Nature Power to Earthquake is a neat trick, but the users of it are often weak to Fire themselves, and usually not fast.
Typhlosion, Shiftry, Sawsbuck, Meganium and Tangrowth are arguably the best users of Nature Power, but four of those make my fire weakness even worse, besides having no utility other than the occasional Counter or Thief, unless I missed something. Corsola has a notable 4x resistance against Fire and access to Nature Power and Mirror Coat, but unfortunately, it's Corsola.
To summarize what I struggle with;
- Flash Fire Chandelure
- Fire Pokémon in general, although Delcatty can catch them
- High-defense (rock-type) Pokémon
My primary answer to these, right now, is Ditto, who can only last so long. Halp?
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Victini @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Sleep Talk
- V-create
- Trick
- [Empty]
Ninetales is locked away in a higher tier, but Victini is at home in UU. I need this little guy for his signature attack, V-Create, which boasts awesome power and a tolerable side effect. Trick is a convenient move to choice lock walls, and it doesn't get in the way of the other pokémon's Assists. The same can be said for Sleep Talk, which cannot be called by Assist either. When asleep, Sleep Talk grabs both Trick and V-Create, but the utility of Trick is worth that inconsistency.
Optional moves in the fourth slot could be Protect and Endure, Endure to shave some health off Life Orb users, but neither option is stellar, and I've opted to keep the slot empty to give Sleep Talk better odds. There's little sense in choice locking myself in protect / endure in the first place.
Weavile @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Sleep Talk
- Thief
- Focus Punch
The first of the Assist attackers - his typing and bulk leave much to be desired, but his attack and speed stats are worth it. Assist will always call V-Create and tear a hole into most things. Since Victini has a scarf and Liepard has outright priority with Prankster Assist, Weavile received a Choice Band for sheer power. It's fast enough by itself, and will outspeed a sizable fraction of the tier even at -1. Thief is there as a weak STAB that might annoy Chandelure a little, and while Focus Punch won't do much against that particular Flash Fire user, it might hit another, Arcanine, on the switch. Neither Thief or Focus punch can be called by Assist, while Focus Punch is also excluded from Sleep Talk.
Non-Assist options for Weavile aside from the aforementioned Protect and Endure are; Counter, Feint, and Snatch. I did not see much use for the former two, as Waevile won't be taking any appreciable hits without a Focus Sash.
Which brings me to the second option for Weavile, arguably a lot less solid.
Weavile @ Focus sash
Trait: Pickpocket
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
- Counter / Thief / Snatch / Focus Punch
Some Stealth Rock setters can be OHKOd by V-Create, (Bronzong comes to mind), which might leave Weavile's Focus Sash intact longer. Since Waevile gets the Pickpocket ability, ideally, the Sash saves him while stealing the opponent's item, all the while KOing back with Counter or V-Create. Not being choice-locked also means more freedom with Snatch to aim for Gorebyss' Shell Smash, Milotic's Recover, Kingdra's Dragon Dance or Substitutes. I don't claim to be good at mindgames, but I'd like to think this set can at least attempt to do them.
Liepard @ Fire Gem
Trait: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Thief
- Snatch
- Protect
Prankster Liepard is a pain, and it is a pity that its iconic moves have to stay out of the way of Assist. I gave this pokemon Thief & Snatch with a Fire Gem for the freedom of Snatching stat boosts, and depriving opponents of their items in a suicide act. Its Special Attack IVs, as with the other Assist users, are set to 0 to weaken opposing Ditto as much as possible, should Assist give them a Special attacks.
I played with a choice scarf variant and Trick for a while, but I liked having the immediate power to OHKO opposing Prankster Sableye preparing to Will-o-Wisp me.
Most of Liepard's movepool gets in the way of Assist, but for completion's sake I'll mention Covet, which is really just a Thief that doesn't hit Chandelure. Exactly what I needed but not really.
Delcatty @ Choice Band
Trait: Normalize
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 SAtk
- Assist
- Copycat
- Sleep Talk
- [Empty]
Yes, I realize, Delcatty is bad and I should feel bad. Give her some credit though - starved for differently-typed attacks as this team is, Delcatty's Normal-type V-Creates are godsend. With this setup, I believe Delcatty 2HKOs all Blastoise, while being able to take a surf or scald at -1, all the while hoping the latter doesn't inflict a burn. Normal V-Create also hits Arcanine, Kingdra, and Swampert for neutral damage, which is neat, although Chandelure remains a problem. Despite Delcatty's lousy base stats, the normal-type STAB preserves much of V-Create's raw power.
I rarely use Copycat, but it doesn't get in the way of Assist or Sleep Talk, and having options is great.
Typhlosion @ Ground Gem
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 216 Spe / 40 HP
Jolly Nature
- Covet
- Nature Power
- Sleep Talk
- Focus Punch
The obvious odd one out - I solely use him to threaten opposing Flash Fire Arcanine, Houndoom and Chandelure. Nature Power changes into Earthquake, and once the Ground Gem is spent, Typhlosion can contribute a little by robbing an item, do some modest damage, or pray the opponent is partial to getting punched through the face. Counter is another option here, but I judged Typhlosion too frail for it. Enough speed EVs to outspeed any 95 base speed pokemon (Arcanine, Houndoom, Darmanitan) not carrying a Scarf.
I'm not saying it's a good pokémon, but he covers something that murders me - if there's any possible replacements, please.
Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk
- Transform
- [Empty]
- [Empty]
- [Empty]
It's a Ditto! Transform doesn't get in the way of anything, and it can switch into Chandelure's fire attacks and attack back with their Shadow Ball. Kingdra will eat its own Dragon attacks, and Ditto can also form a temporary wall against water-types attacking with water attacks, like Azumarill. Blastoise and Milotic get toxic thrown back in their faces, and Ditto is a nice equalizer for the occasional Shell Smasher that slips through.
I'm not entirely sure if IVs work in this fashion for Ditto, but Hidden Power, should the blob acquire it, is set to grass. Though mostly a countermeasure for Gorebyss, HP Grass also hits Swampert and Quagsire hard, if they carry Hidden Power.
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Other viable attacks that Assist ignores are Circle Throw, Dragon Tail, Me First and Destiny Bond. However, I have not been able to work these into a contributing team member.
A Poliwrath with Counter/CircleThrow/FocusPunch/SleepTalk and Water Absorb walled Arcanine and Water-types well, but it had little offensive capability, lacking a water attack and doing nothing to Chandelure.
Meganium gets the fortuitous combination of Dragon Tail and Nature Power, having two serviceable attacks, alongside Sleep Talk and Counter. Unfortunately, Meganium is not an attacker, and Nature Power from her won't dent fire-types nearly as hard as they dent her.
Mew's movepool also allows her to function here - she has Dragon Tail, Counter, Focus Punch, Transform, Snatch and perhaps most interestingly, Me First. The latter won't do much to Arcanine, but it might hit that blasted Chandelure with its own Shadow Ball. Me First might also be used alongside Protect and Counter to react appropriately to any situation. Besides all that, Mew's typing helps defend against this team's blatant Fighting weakness.
(However, I'm not entirely sure how to make these pokémon work.)
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It's quite a pain in the hindside to navigate around Assist and still make a team that doesn't instantly have to give up against a water-type or Flash Fire. Delcatty helps a lot, and Nature Power to Earthquake is a neat trick, but the users of it are often weak to Fire themselves, and usually not fast.
Typhlosion, Shiftry, Sawsbuck, Meganium and Tangrowth are arguably the best users of Nature Power, but four of those make my fire weakness even worse, besides having no utility other than the occasional Counter or Thief, unless I missed something. Corsola has a notable 4x resistance against Fire and access to Nature Power and Mirror Coat, but unfortunately, it's Corsola.
To summarize what I struggle with;
- Flash Fire Chandelure
- Fire Pokémon in general, although Delcatty can catch them
- High-defense (rock-type) Pokémon
My primary answer to these, right now, is Ditto, who can only last so long. Halp?
