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It's actually an extremely strong priority user that has access to a sleep move, a STAB base-120 move, and Swords Dance. In effect, it makes for a pokemon that can carve through a team and punish anyone who predicts incorrectly.
I don't have many replays of it being shut down (the times it happened were usually because I made a needlessly risky play). I do have some really cool sweeps (or semi-sweeps) with it. Even skilled players fall victim to it - once set up, killing it requires a correct prediction or a pokemon gets dented, KO'd, or slept.
Melmetal and Dragonite were the two things that could consistently check it, and power whip would even dent those pretty badly. If you see it in the wild, I'd recommend using Dragonite to check it - he can roost off the sucker punch damage and resists the power whip.
For someone like me who loves using uncommon picks on teams, you are my hero, sir. xD I've been loving the stuff you've been playing around with. I plan to make a few of these myself (possibly the Victreebel soon too, since I recently saw its Shiny and REALLY want one).
That said, I've been finding this game's meta really fun, tbh. Given the very limited selection of Pokemon compared to even just the last couple generations, it's strangely enjoyable.
For someone like me who loves using uncommon picks on teams, you are my hero, sir. xD I've been loving the stuff you've been playing around with. I plan to make a few of these myself (possibly the Victreebel soon too, since I recently saw its Shiny and REALLY want one).
That said, I've been finding this game's meta really fun, tbh. Given the very limited selection of Pokemon compared to even just the last couple generations, it's strangely enjoyable.
Yeah, there's only so much you can do with UU Pokemon before you start reaching the even lower tiered ones that just have trouble functioning in OU, I suppose. I'll still check around for any new ones you post, though! I just find less common Pokemon more fun to use than the super common ones you see everywhere. Though luckily so far in LGPE, I've seen pretty varied teams.
I dunno where it falls in the tiers, but do you (or anyone) have a good set for Venomoth? I assume Timid with Quiver Dance and Sleep Powder, of course, but not sure how to fill the other two slots on mine at the moment. Managed to get a Shiny Venonat, so looking forward to using it.
Yeah, there's only so much you can do with UU Pokemon before you start reaching the even lower tiered ones that just have trouble functioning in OU, I suppose. I'll still check around for any new ones you post, though! I just find less common Pokemon more fun to use than the super common ones you see everywhere. Though luckily so far in LGPE, I've seen pretty varied teams.
I dunno where it falls in the tiers, but do you (or anyone) have a good set for Venomoth? I assume Timid with Quiver Dance and Sleep Powder, of course, but not sure how to fill the other two slots on mine at the moment. Managed to get a Shiny Venonat, so looking forward to using it.
Ok, good to know. Thanks! I was thinking of running something like that anyway. Is a Quiver Dance + 3 Attacks set viable at all? I suppose it probably relies on Sleep Powder to help set up.
Ok, good to know. Thanks! I was thinking of running something like that anyway. Is a Quiver Dance + 3 Attacks set viable at all? I suppose it probably relies on Sleep Powder to help set up.
I've seen it once or twice with mega drain. Being able to sleep a threat to bring in something else semi-safely is useful, though. Mega drain helps a bit with longevity.
Ok, good to know. Thanks! I was thinking of running something like that anyway. Is a Quiver Dance + 3 Attacks set viable at all? I suppose it probably relies on Sleep Powder to help set up.
Sleep Powder is def a must on Venomoth, that's like the only opportunity to set up safely against anything without hard-walling it with Bug/Poison typing
This is literally the only set I could think that would differentiate it from being just a bad version of Venusaur - Venusaur does everything he does, but better, except for switching into EQs and trapping mons. A sleep+trap+seed set allowed it to lock in a stealth rocker for a few turns and drain it.
However, it was too slow to reapply the bind once it faded, so if it broke early, the opponent would swap. That usually works in tangela's favor, as it allows him to re-seed or drop a sleep powder on the incoming pokemon.
Even using a unique surprise strategy that relied on your opponent suiciding their rocker, he rarely got a kill (literally once). The rest of my team was built with an EQ weakness to bait out opportunities to bring him in safely, should I not lead him. On those, he was only there to threaten rock/ground types, seed the swap, and bring in something that could hurt whatever he seeded.
Anything slower than tangela often carries super effective moves or a mixed set (literally any decent special move annihilates him). Many things in the meta can two shot him, so sleep+sub+seed is the only strategy that will keep him alive for more than a few turns. He worked surprisingly well against melmetal. He could come in on an EQ and drop a seed, then a sleep powder, then a sub, then a bind. He'd have just enough to drop a sub after EQ+ice punch, and he was just fast enough to sleep powder him before the second attack (hopefully you don't get a 1 turn sleep).
Final verdict is that tangela has now taken the mantle of "just the worst" from Flareon.
Votorb: Tbolt / Foul Play / Taunt / Reflect
Votorb is lowkey very antimeta and needs to be ranked upper C if not lower B. Taunt is very key is this meta and torb has the fastest one in the game. Outclasses jolt and has a niche over zap because it speedties zam and MAero. Also it can 2hko duggy and has no rocks weekness which is another thing zap cant. Last move slot is really up to the user. I went with reflect but you could go toxic, explode or light screen.
ADuggy needs to go up because it's the best ground type. People may start wanting to use adamant if you dont have rockslide. Otherwise burned zapdos wins.
Mew: Nasty Plot / Ice Beam / Fire blast / Thunderbolt
Mew is so dumb. If there are any suspects in this tier that thing needs to go. Nasty plot is so powerful it should be on every team. Its not only every team needs mew, its every team should have nasty plot mew at this point. Switch ins are muk who has to hope to the lord it's not physical.
Votorb: Tbolt / Foul Play / Taunt / Reflect
Votorb is lowkey very antimeta and needs to be ranked upper C if not lower B. Taunt is very key is this meta and torb has the fastest one in the game. Outclasses jolt and has a niche over zap because it speedties zam and MAero. Also it can 2hko duggy and has no rocks weekness which is another thing zap cant. Last move slot is really up to the user. I went with reflect but you could go toxic, explode or light screen.
ADuggy needs to go up because it's the best ground type. People may start wanting to use adamant if you dont have rockslide. Otherwise burned zapdos wins.
Mew: Nasty Plot / Ice Beam / Fire blast / Thunderbolt
Mew is so dumb. If there are any suspects in this tier that thing needs to go. Nasty plot is so powerful it should be on every team. Its not only every team needs mew, its every team should have nasty plot mew at this point. Switch ins are muk who has to hope to the lord it's not physical.
I agree with just about all of this. Electrode's pretty cool. It also has access to the fastest Thunder Wave in the game as a potential 4th move slot to cripple opposing MZam, MAero, etc.
Adamant A-Duggy is also low-key good. My Zapdos got demolished by one on the ladder as it was trying to Roost up.
Mew is so stupid. It's not invincible by any means, but it's basically the best set up sweeper in the game with Nasty Plot + recovery+ unparalleled coverage + excellent all-around stats. It's also a phenomenal stallbreaker with a relatively-fast Taunt and the aforementioned Roost recovery, while having access to great utility moves like Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Scald, U-turn, Dragon Tail, and of course, Stealth Rock. I even wanna experiment with more niche sets like Bulk Up or Transform, to be honest.
Point is, Mew is the most versatile Pokemon in the meta with absolutely no counters, and while that statement alone isn't usually enough to warrant a "broken" or "unhealthy" label, the counter-play against Mew is limited from my experience and it can get past its usual checks fairly easily depending on what it's running. Toxicing it is probably one of the best ways to wear it down, or paralyzing it with Thunder Wave/Body Slam/etc, and people are running Facade on Pokemon like Snorlax (Mew's best check imo), Melmetal, and Mega Gyarados just to reliably deal with the Will-o-Wisp set.
We're taking submissions for sample teams! If you would like to submit, please make sure you note it is a submission and that you provide an in-depth description of the team along with imports.
LGPE Balanced Offense. Team has two supporters while trying to keep offensive pressure on opponent and checking common threats.
Electrode
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Reflect / Explosion / Toxic
Electrode is one of the best leads in the tier. It stops mew from rocking, weakens gyarados and sets up reflect, 2hkos Aduggy. Lives eq from MAero 25% of the time (who has a 50/50 of being out-sped). Has trouble with Venu, Nidos, Rhydon but will still be able to taunt a set up reflect. Foul play gives it better coverage than Zapdos and stops grounds from switching in for free. Refect is preferred to live any eathquake and ease switch ins but toxic helps with mew and zapdos. Why do I call this thing voltorb.
Eevee-S
Careful / Jolly
- Sizzly Slide
- Buzzy Buzz / Protect / Baddy Bad
- Sappy Seed
- Sparkly Swirl
Eevee is surprisingly difficult to switch into. Careful helps it live 2 thunderbolts from zapdos. Bold lets you live melmetal DBash before rocks. I choose Careful because after chip it can help your match up with mew, Zam, and Gengar. Buzzy buzz lets you para the aforementioned mons basically ruining them for the game. MAero is also worse off para'd than burned. Sappy seed is much needed recovery that can be useful against burned mons (especially zapdos). Baddy Bad is an option to destroy mew who otherwise walls you and supports the team better. Reflect is underrated in the meta. Sparkly is the main reason for using EV and has good synergy with Buzz. You paralyze then outspeed and heal. Jolly helps with Adamant Gyara
GyaradosM
Adamant/Jolly
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Facade
Gyarados is the hardest thing to switch into in the tier. With one set you cover everything but poliwrath. Zapdos will often switch in but can be 2hkoed with adamant while you live thunderbolt easily. Venu likes to come in but can be 2hkoed by crunch. Earthquake is for melmetal and 3hkos. Gyarados vs Metal is mostly a good matchup for Dos unless tpunch or thunderwave (adamant gets out-sped when para). Facade is for Mew and EvS. Bold mew has a better matchup but has to fear crunch defense drops or wilo miss. When burned, Metal becomes a problem. Gyara is the best check for Cloyster but has to be carful with Boom. Gyara is a great lead as well killing everything that Electrode has trouble with (MAero, Rhydon, ADuggy, Nidos).
Melmetal
Adamant
- Double Iron Bash
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch / Rest
- Thunder Punch / Rest / thunderwave / Superpower
Melmetal is just as good for its defensive capabilities as its offensive ones. Beats almost any physical attacker. Gets notable 1hkos on EvS, MAero, Rhydon, DNite, Egg, and Muk. Zapdos is sometimes a problem which is why ice punch in nice but either way its a guessing game of will it roost or attack. TPunch lets it 1v1 Gyara and Poliwrath as well as help vs blastoise and Bro. EQ is mandatory. Superpower is nice to 1hko Mgyara after rocks and do more to other Metal. Rest is also a possibility for a EV sacrifice late game.
Mew
Timid
- Nasty Plot
- Ice Beam / Psychic
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Thunderbolt
Mew is cheep. This set has two checks in Muk and Snorlax. Snorlax is 2hkoed by +2 psychic. The amount of coverage is ridiculous. Fire blast is for damage output to things that cant be hit super effectively like Zam, Mew, Snorlax, EV, Muk. Timid is mainly for Zapdos and other mew but modest can be used if you want to break things. Toxic is the only thing it fears. Roost is an option but it is not really needed because it cant safely roost up on anything. Anything bulky will status you anything offense will break though. Watch out for MGar but even then you can live shadow ball at full health.
Dugtrio-Alola
Jolly / Adamant
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Toxic / Rockslide
- Stealth Rock
Probably my favorite mon in LGPE. Ground is amazing stab. Anything that doesn't mind ground is weak to rocks and hates toxic (except venu). Sucker Punch give it a niche over Nidos. SP lets you check MGar and Zam. Also better checks Zapdos than nidos because it can outspeed and rockslide/toxic. If not using rockslide, adamant is an option to 1v1 burned zapdos and can 2hko Metal. Has trouble setting up rocks without dying but overall hard to switch into
Team Play:
-Main Gyarados Check is Metal or Gyara if MEvod
-Mew is the only switch in to EV. Your own EV can switch in but will lose unless jolly / running baddy bad / running protect.
-MGengar is a threat. Keep Gyara/Ev/Duggy healthy. Without at least two of those alive or one at full health you get swept. Metal can 1v1 but is needed for other things
-No ADuggy switch-ins. Gyara can come in once as well as mew but if weakened they get outsped and 2hkoed. Admant Duggy can 2hko Metal
-Eggy and Venu can be annoying but Mew and Metal take care of them comfortably
I've been having a lot of fun with this team. MBee is a huge threat, especially after MAero, MZam and Electrode are dealt with. Kingler and Starmie are both easily able to deal with MAero, a-Muk deals with MZam as well as having a-Dug to check it, and both of these can also deal with Electrode.
As I mentioned previously, people often scramble to set up rocks against MBee, so both Kingler and Starmie are there to ensure you get the KO in return. The only rocker these two can't handle immediately is Mew, though MBee chunks Mew hard with U-turn.
MVenu and Dragonite give this team a fair bit of trouble, hence the slashed rock slide on duggy and ice beam on starmie. a-Muk is also a good switch in assuming no EQ and you've dealt with MZam previously. Zapdos drill peck is also on there to help deal with MVenu.
I've also been thinking about rock slide over superpower on kingler to deal with dragonite and gyara, though one of the big advantages of superpower is hitting melmetal for 50% as well as having a better matchup against MGyara. After an agility, kingler outspeeds everything, and gets a KO on MZam with X-Scissor after rocks. Kingler is also a really solid snorlax answer, and generally feels like a great anti-meta mon right now.
This team is built around Mega Gengar, which right now is a really underrated threat. Mega Gengar is an awesome revenge killer with hard hitting STAB moves and coverage, high Speed and Special Attack and even has utility with Will-O-Wisp. Mega Gengar scares away all Psychic-types (minus Mega Alakazam). Mega Gengar achieves lots of valuable 2HKOes such as Zapdos with Sludge Bomb, Melmetal with Shadow Ball, Mega Gyarados with Thunderbolt, thus you should mainly use Mega Gengar as a revenge killer and potentially a wincon. With Will-O-Wisp, you can attempt to burn common switch-ins such as Alolan Muk and Mega Gyarados, which also prevents them from OHKOing it, though just be sure to not miss.
Mew is the Stealth Rocker of this team. I like it a lot, because it is the 2nd fastest Stealth Rock setter (and I already have the Mega Slot taken so I cannot use Mega Aerodactyl), can Taunt stuff and can spread burns with Will-O-Wisp while healing itself, allowing it to win 1v1 vs physical attackers with no status backed. The choice of attacking move is Flamethrower, as it allows Mew to always deal damage and gives me a better matchup against Melmetal.
Melmetal is my Mega Alakazam check. Unboosted Shadow Ball is only a 3HKO on it, and a boosted one is only an 2HKO so Melmetal can easily defeat Mega Alakazam. Double Iron Bash is pretty obvious, just be careful to not run out of PP for it, Ice Punch is chosen to hit Zapdos, though if needed it can be changed for Earthquake, Thunder Wave allows for Melmetal to outrun some threats and potentially flinch them with Double Iron Bash and paralyzing threats in general is really useful to the team later on. Rest is used as recovery.
Eevee-Starter is a must for many teams in this metagame, for obvious reasons; this is a metagame where status is a dominant force, so having ways to heal it off is nice. Furthermore, Eevee-Starter offers my team great support; it can Leech Seed threats for other teammates to potentially stall out or force out, can burn threats with Sizzly Slide (which should be used on slow physical Pokemon like Alolan Muk and Rhydon), can paralyze with Buzzy Buzz (use it on stuff like Mega Alakazam and Mega Aerodactyl that are going to outspeed the entire team), and heals teammates (especially Melmetal with Rest) from their status conditions. If you are at full HP, you survive attacks from Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Alakazam so you can paralyze them. However, be careful, as both Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Alakazam 2HKO it (dealing around 76-80%).
Zapdos is put here to check Melmetal that lacks Ice Punch and Zapdos is overall really good. Its Electric typing allows me to better deal with Gyarados and Starmie and can act as a nice pivot, especially on expected switch-ins into Ground-types. Thunderbolt hits many Pokemon for neutral damage and can also potentially paralyze. U-turn is used against Mega Alakazam (who can try to use it as set up fodder) and Ground-types. Roost + Sub is a nice way to heal yourself, while avoiding status and potentially stalling out opponents. SubRoost is really effective against burned targets, most notably Alolan Muk, who cannot instantly break Substitute by any means while burned. Zapdos can survive from full a Rock Slide from Mega Aerodactyl, but it is OHKOed after Stealth Rock damage so be careful.
The final member is Cloyster, an alternative wincon. Cloyster is pretty dangerous once it sets up. It should try to set up against physical burned targets (minus Alolan Muk due to Mega Drain), cause they aren't doing much to it anyways with that Defense even with a drop. Cloyster should try to finish games after Water-types are gone or weakened to the point Ice Beam can finish them off, when bulky walls like Alolan Muk have also been weakened a little bit and the rare Pikachu-Starter is gone to not outspeed it with Zippy Zap. Timid Nature is ran to outspeed Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Alakazam, and Electrode after a Shell Smash Boost. Hydro Pump is ran over Surf for extra power, at the cost of accuracy (it OHKOes more easily Melmetal, which is pretty important). Last move is Substitute for potential avoiding of status and giving yourself opportunities to set up, though it can be pretty much anything, as Cloyster doesn't have much alternatives; it can run Tri Attack to try and spread some status, notably Freeze, but it doesn't do much, not even deal with Water-types.
This team lacks an Electric resist, so Zapdos can potentially be dangerous, but it can easily be played around until Mega Gengar can revenge kill it. Furthermore, Zapdos is like a little puppy against +2 Cloyster. If Melmetal falls or is too weakened, Mega Alakazam can run rampant, especially boosted, unless it is unboosted and you have Eevee-Starter at full. Thus it is important for this team to see which are the biggest threats so you can keep the appropriate members as healthy as possible.
So my friend and I plan on doing link battles with our Switches soon, and I'm working on building my team to battle him with. We did set a few ground rules however: no legendaries (mew, zapdos, melmetal etc.) and no starters (Pikachu or Eevee). I know these are specific rule sets but we decided this would be more fun for us! Also have no idea what his team is, so I'm trying to build an all around successful team. I've got a sneaking suspicion he's bringing Mega Zam/Mega Aero though, so I'll be using different Megas than either of those two.
Having this information, what would you guys suggest? I'm thinking of using Mega Gengar/Mega Beedrill so far in tandem with Alolan Muk to help shutdown Mega Zam. After lurking this topic heavily, I'm really loving the idea of an Agility Kingler set too, as he's one of my old school favorite Pokemon. Or would Poliwrath perform better with a Bulk Up style set?
I know this post is kind of all over the place, as you can see I definitely need some help, any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Help me whoop up on my friend pls.
So my friend and I plan on doing link battles with our Switches soon, and I'm working on building my team to battle him with. We did set a few ground rules however: no legendaries (mew, zapdos, melmetal etc.) and no starters (Pikachu or Eevee). I know these are specific rule sets but we decided this would be more fun for us! Also have no idea what his team is, so I'm trying to build an all around successful team. I've got a sneaking suspicion he's bringing Mega Zam/Mega Aero though, so I'll be using different Megas than either of those two.
Having this information, what would you guys suggest? I'm thinking of using Mega Gengar/Mega Beedrill so far in tandem with Alolan Muk to help shutdown Mega Zam. After lurking this topic heavily, I'm really loving the idea of an Agility Kingler set too, as he's one of my old school favorite Pokemon. Or would Poliwrath perform better with a Bulk Up style set?
I know this post is kind of all over the place, as you can see I definitely need some help, any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Help me whoop up on my friend pls.
You are gonna have problems with Mega Aero if you are gonna limit yourself from Legendaries and starters. While the standard set includes SlideQuake, which is unresisted in this meta, this looks a lot more casual so it is possible he will run Wing Attack, so Poliwrath might not be the best answer either. You can opt for Mega Gyarados to act as a check to both Mega Zam (without DGleam) and Mega Aero, as it is bulky enough to survive multiple hits and OHKO them back. Unless you are too paranoid for DGleam Mega Zam, you can remove Muk-A from your team and free a slot., as you now have a check for Mega Zam as well. Since you have no idea what is gonna be his team, you can try building around the Mega Gyarados I suggested. Here is a sample set for it that I have used.:
Waterfall and Crunch are your STABs needed to check them and Sub + Rest gives you immunity to status, opportunities to deal some damage and potential recovery. You can also change the set a bit if you want to.
Hi all, want some advice - what is the best nature for starmie if i'm using it as a utility pokemon with scald - ice beam/psychic - thunderbolt - recover/twave? i see no need for timid as it doesn't really gain anything from it (e.g. still outspeeds zapdos without timid), so wondering if modest or bold is best in this format? thank you!!
Hi all, want some advice - what is the best nature for starmie if i'm using it as a utility pokemon with scald - ice beam/psychic - thunderbolt - recover/twave? i see no need for timid as it doesn't really gain anything from it (e.g. still outspeeds zapdos without timid), so wondering if modest or bold is best in this format? thank you!!
You are gonna have problems with Mega Aero if you are gonna limit yourself from Legendaries and starters. While the standard set includes SlideQuake, which is unresisted in this meta, this looks a lot more casual so it is possible he will run Wing Attack, so Poliwrath might not be the best answer either. You can opt for Mega Gyarados to act as a check to both Mega Zam (without DGleam) and Mega Aero, as it is bulky enough to survive multiple hits and OHKO them back. Unless you are too paranoid for DGleam Mega Zam, you can remove Muk-A from your team and free a slot., as you now have a check for Mega Zam as well. Since you have no idea what is gonna be his team, you can try building around the Mega Gyarados I suggested. Here is a sample set for it that I have used.:
Waterfall and Crunch are your STABs needed to check them and Sub + Rest gives you immunity to status, opportunities to deal some damage and potential recovery. You can also change the set a bit if you want to.
It's definitely more casual for sure, appreciate the response though! Forgot about Mega Gyarados, definitely one I'll have to consider too. Thanks again!
Well, my activity has been cut quite significantly here, so I think it's as good a time as any to take a step back and let this metagame continue to grow. I'm naming ABR and Ezaphs co-TLs of LGPE OU. They're both active and invested in the metagame, and I have no doubts they'll do a great job. Over the next couple days I'll be transferring ownership of various resources to them. Thank you all, and congrats to ABR and Eza!
Can there be a "fun" sample team category? If so, this is my submission. This is one of the most fun teams I've run, but it peaked somewhere in the 1300s before I started testing new mons. It has issues with melmetal, which isn't as common on the catridge. It wins a lot more matches on the catridge than showdown, even against Mewtwo teams - many of the Pokemon are much more dangerous than they appear, which baits out really poor plays.
This team relies on the first 5 pokemon chipping most of the team and allowing M-Aero to clean. M-Aero should be held back most of the game and kept healthy and status-free.
Raichu is here to work in tandem with Mega-Aerodactyl - he's basically a bard. Raichu comes in on something it can threaten (or Zapdos). It sets up sub on the switch and toxics the mon coming in - it will almost always be something carrying EQ. Depending on where you are in the game, the next play is either to swap, or to lock them into the EQ with encore and bring in Aero go clean up - since you know it's safe.
Other plays include: swapping him in on damaged Zapdos and dropping toxic, then encoring the roost if they go for it. They may take the "free" heal, but they'll take damage from the two turns of toxic plus any Thunderbolts after you set up the sub - or you can bring in another mon if you don't want to reveal sub yet.
You can also bring him in fresh to Venusaur and sub the leech seed, toxic, or sleep powder, then encore. Because of the mechanics of encore, once you're in it, there's no getting out unless you swap - it ends at the end of your turn, and Raichu is fast enough to simply reapply it. Raichu happens to be the second-fastest Mon in this game with access to Encore (the other being Alakazam, who should run different moves), and is therefore the best encore user.
He's great for fake-out users, too, as it fails if used after the first turn. Encore them to force a swap.
Mega-Aerodactyl is easily the most misused pokemon in this meta - suicide leading him is such a waste. It is tied for the fastest thing in the meta (I carry jolly to beat modest zam, jolly Beedrill and timid electrode) and hits like a truck. It only needs moderate chip on most things to guarantee kills - in many cases, rock damage alone will guarantee the kill. Roost can help beat things 1v1 or top it off on non-threatening mons. Slide, Quake and crunch will hit all the common endgame threats (Starmie, melmetal, zam, Zapdos) for super effective damage.
Set it up with Raichu to guarantee a free entry, even on common rock slide threats - if they're locked into earthquake, they must swap. Pick a move that hits the pokemon in front of you and anything they'd bring in.
Victreebel is a truly dangerous setup mon - probably the most dangerous setup mon in the meta.
At +2, sucker punch will kill many frail pokemon in one shot. Power whip will hurt anything, even if resisted. Sleep powder will put anything slower than victreebel to sleep and might allow it to hit +4. Two +2 power whips against a melmetal puts it into range of M-Aero's EQ after rocks, and nothing melmetal commonly carries will OHKO victreebel.
In effect, victreebel has almost no guaranteed checks after it has been set up - it's also immune to toxic and sleep powder, so your opponent doesn't have that option. An incorrect prediction means a Pokemon get dented, slept or killed.
Rhydon is a powerhouse, and a great stealth rock setter. It lives most physical attacks and can dent or kill whatever sent them, so it's useful even after rocks are set. If Raichu encored a Tbolt or drill peck from Zapdos, enjoy your free swap without U-turn chip or risk of roost/toxic.
Arcanine is here as a fast wisper and a check to Venusaur and Melmetal. He has access to good coverage moves, but his strength is forcing out those two threats - he's not actually needed for killing them, though. He's just there to chip/dent them, and he does a damn good job at that. He's also hard for any EQ check to come in on - wisp is not fun to eat and will cripple them for the rest of the match. This is good, as many EQ users also have rock slide, which threatens M-Aero.
Jolteon is an excellent t-waver and screen setter with a decent SpD stat and an excellent speed and SpA. He also gets a great coverage move in shadow ball, as it allows him to still do super-effective damage to Starmie (if it tries to stay in) without risking giving a ground-type a free switch-in.
Overall, the team is extremely fun to use and can compete in the current meta without feeling cookie-cutter. There are some truly hilarious replays of my Raichu locking people into encore purgatory and chipping away at serious threats while being completely safe.
Can anybody give me a hand real quick? I'm completely new to the competitive Pokemon scene and wanted to try to build a decent team for WiFi battles on the Switch. The thing is, I was wanting to build around some of the shinies that I've been able to find in-game (with my end goal being a full shiny team) but I'm struggling with deciding on a decent core and what additional 'mons I'd need to round out the team.
Right now, all I've got are the following: Timid Gengar (really wanting to use as a Mega), Timid Starmie, Timid Electrode, and an Adamant Arcanine.
Looking at those four, if I were to use them all, I'd have a huge weakness to Ground, and I'm pretty sure I'm lacking on walls to boot.
Do you guys have any suggestions on which of those four would be ideal to build around? And any suggestions on which 'mons would be best to round out the team? Like I said, I'm completely new to competitive Pokemon, so I really struggle with team building and balancing/covering, etc. But I'm looking to learn as much as possible!
Other potential options I was looking at include Venusaur, Zapdos, and Rhydon - but from what I've read Venusaur isn't really viable unless it's Mega, and Rhydon doesn't really help with the Ground weakness (does it?).
