Thank you, and very much thank you for the benchmarks on the Muk set! I realized afterwards about the ice type thing, however in my own Trick room my point still stands. I will try to work on my grammar skills some... :-). And I will definitely try out the other Porygon2 spread and probably will use Tri Attack but I will think about it more. The Tapu Koko level thing is a typo, I can't believe I missed one that obvious... and I will probably stay with the Sash on kartana. Thanks again, and I will be sure to PM you if I got any questions! Also, I will wait for blarajan before I post my own threads.
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Thank you, and very much thank you for the benchmarks on the Muk set! I realized afterwards about the ice type thing, however in my own Trick room my point still stands. I will try to work on my grammar skills some... :-). And I will definitely try out the other Porygon2 spread and probably will use Tri Attack but I will think about it more. The Tapu Koko level thing is a typo, I can't believe I missed one that obvious... and I will probably stay with the Sash on kartana. Thanks again, and I will be sure to PM you if I got any questions! Also, I will wait for blarajan before I post my own threads.
Went with Michele Gavelli's team. Overall I saw it as kinda a semi trick-room team, where it'll set up trick room against a faster team, and prevent TR from sticking around against a slower team.
Tapu Lele @ Sitrus Berry
EVs: 116 HP, 252 Spd, 140 Sp.Atk
Ability: Psychic surge
Timid
-Dazzling Gleam
-Psychic
-Taunt
-Protect
Went with a bit more utility/survivability here, namely taunt over Moonblast, and Sitrus over Life Orb (which is on Xurkitree). Added a bit of HP to survive things like Jolly Kartana's Smart Strike with the help of Gyarados intimidate.
Porygon-2 @ Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Def
Modest
Ability: Download
-Tri-Attack
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Trick Room
Here's the trick room component of the team. Pretty bulky, and can hit pretty hard. Didn't go with quiet because it'll want to both set and unset TR, and will want to able to outspeed the other side no matter which side of the room its on. (this might be completely the wrong way of thinking)
Xurkitree @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Timid
EVs: 52 HP, 252 Sp.A, 200 Speed
-Thunderbolt
-Energy Ball
-HP Ice
-Protect
Xurkitree needs a bit of protection, but can do a lot of work if the conditions are right. The idea is to set things up so it's the fastest thing on the field (either by setting or countering TR), then let it sweep. Discharge seemed important with Alolan Marowak, but I could see switching to Thunderbolt.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP, 248 Atk, 76 Def
Adamant
-Crunch
-Waterfall
-Thunder Wave
-Protect
Gyarados intimidate support and decently strong waterfalls. The Thunder wave is to help Xurkitree become the fastest thing on the field in case being on the right side of TR isn't enough.
Araquanid @ Waterium-Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Adamant
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Sp.Df
-Wide Guard
-Lunge
-Liquidation
-Protect
This is used over Gyarados when wide guard is needed. Hydro vortex gives it a nice offensive presence, but it's kinda one-dimensional. Araquanid doesn't really have the attack to make Leech Life a huge deal, so Lunge is used instead to swing races in my favor.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Sp.Df
Ability: Lightning Rod
Adamant
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Bonemerang
-Protect
Pretty straightforward: strong attacks + protect. Iron Head might more useful than Shadow Bone, it'd probably be important to trying them both.
I'm a little bit new to setting up EVs aside from 252 252 4, so there's probably a ton of bad choices floating around, but I suppose that's the whole point of this exercise; to get some good feedback on where I'm thinking the wrong way or missing things completely.
Tapu Lele @ Sitrus Berry
EVs: 116 HP, 252 Spd, 140 Sp.Atk
Ability: Psychic surge
Timid
-Dazzling Gleam
-Psychic
-Taunt
-Protect
Went with a bit more utility/survivability here, namely taunt over Moonblast, and Sitrus over Life Orb (which is on Xurkitree). Added a bit of HP to survive things like Jolly Kartana's Smart Strike with the help of Gyarados intimidate.
Porygon-2 @ Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Def
Modest
Ability: Download
-Tri-Attack
-Ice Beam
-Recover
-Trick Room
Here's the trick room component of the team. Pretty bulky, and can hit pretty hard. Didn't go with quiet because it'll want to both set and unset TR, and will want to able to outspeed the other side no matter which side of the room its on. (this might be completely the wrong way of thinking)
Xurkitree @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Timid
EVs: 52 HP, 252 Sp.A, 200 Speed
-Thunderbolt
-Energy Ball
-HP Ice
-Protect
Xurkitree needs a bit of protection, but can do a lot of work if the conditions are right. The idea is to set things up so it's the fastest thing on the field (either by setting or countering TR), then let it sweep. Discharge seemed important with Alolan Marowak, but I could see switching to Thunderbolt.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 180 HP, 248 Atk, 76 Def
Adamant
-Crunch
-Waterfall
-Thunder Wave
-Protect
Gyarados intimidate support and decently strong waterfalls. The Thunder wave is to help Xurkitree become the fastest thing on the field in case being on the right side of TR isn't enough.
Araquanid @ Waterium-Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Adamant
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Sp.Df
-Wide Guard
-Lunge
-Liquidation
-Protect
This is used over Gyarados when wide guard is needed. Hydro vortex gives it a nice offensive presence, but it's kinda one-dimensional. Araquanid doesn't really have the attack to make Leech Life a huge deal, so Lunge is used instead to swing races in my favor.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Sp.Df
Ability: Lightning Rod
Adamant
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Bonemerang
-Protect
Pretty straightforward: strong attacks + protect. Iron Head might more useful than Shadow Bone, it'd probably be important to trying them both.
I'm a little bit new to setting up EVs aside from 252 252 4, so there's probably a ton of bad choices floating around, but I suppose that's the whole point of this exercise; to get some good feedback on where I'm thinking the wrong way or missing things completely.
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Wow, that must have been a misclick. I would have much preferred to have it say Jolly. Not sure it would bring any advantage to loose that speed. I guess I didn't know that that was the official name of the set. I will be sure to cite any build I use in the future. I did not mean to act that I developed the set. I don't have a great reason to have subed Aerial Ace. If someone has created an optimized build for AV, it would be a wise to listen to someone like Ray Rizzo. Thank you for the thoughts on Aqua ring. It would be counter productive for half my team, and not very useful. The Taunt on Koko was to target other TR's like you said, so changing the move for protect would fit with the team much better and allow TR stall. Reconsidering his item would also be a good idea.
Hopefully as I become better acquainted to the metagame I can further develop the EV spreads of those Pokemon and those I use in the future. Thanks again for your time, it's very helpful to read another's view and knowledge of team building and the vgc meta. I really appreciate it.
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I like Giovanni Costa's team with Eevee and Extreme Evoboost because it can beat most teams using the Eevee and Clefairy combo. Some of the Pokemon that could counter this strategy effectively are probably weak or neutral to Pheromosa, such as Tapu Koko with Taunt and Kartana. Therefore, if I know I have difficulty setting up Extreme Evoboost strategy, I will lead with Clefairy and Pheromosa instead to sweep the opponent's team.
Eevee @ Eevium Z
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Sp. Atk
- Baton Pass
- Return
- Protect
- Last Resort
The main goal of this Pokemon is to Baton Pass the stat boosts received from using Extreme Evoboost. Therefore, the EVs are invested in HP and speed to maximize the chance it can Baton Pass on Turn 2 when coupled with Clefairy with Eviolite to redirect attacks on Turn 1. I chose Return and Quick Attack to get some damage output if I need to win a close game by bringing Eevee back into battle later in the game.
Update: I think using Adamant nature is more beneficial. As for maxing the speed of Eevee, I want to make sure I can Baton Pass Turn 2 before any of my opponent's Pokemon can attack unless they used Trick Room or Tailwind Turn 1, or weather boost. Based on speed tiers, I am only outspeeding Pheromosa at 223 with positive nature, and Choice Scarf Garchomp and Choice Scarf Salamence with neutral nature at 231 and 228 respectively by choosing Jolly nature (117 * 2 = 234). I can outspeed Pheromosa with neutral nature at speed 203, as well as Aerodactyl and Tapu Koko at speed 200 with neutral nature, which is definitely good enough. By choosing Adamant and 216 EVs invested on speed, my Eevee's speed on turn 2 would be 204 (102 * 2). The rest of the EVs go into physical because it is lower of the two to maximize its chance for survival. The common situation I expect to deal with is Clefairy getting KO's on Turn 2, so being able to Baton Pass onto one of my bulkier Pokemon before getting hit with my opponent's 2nd attack on Turn 2 is crucial.
In addition, I replaced Quick Attack with Protect because Protect can sometimes stall out effects like Trick Room and Tailwind.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- After You
- Heal Pulse
- Protect
If I decide to lead with Eevee, then Clefairy will always be its partner to protect Eevee and make sure Eevee can Baton Pass the stat boosts received from Extreme Evoboost. I chose to invest all my EVs onto Physical Defense as well as using Bold nature because I want to avoid OHKO from Physical attacks. Surviving Smart Strike from AV Kartana is #1 priority. Surviving against Muk's Adamant Poison Jab is also very helpful. Not getting OHKO is extremely important because it allows me to minimize damage to my Pokemon I need to Baton Pass to with my Eevee.
Update: I cannot survive against Celesteela's Heavy Slam. Fortunately, this is usually not a Pokemon trainers lead with. I am also giving up OHKO to Pokemon with Sludge Bomb, such as Nihilego, but Nihilego is not that popular in the current metagame. Sludge Bomb is quite rare right now. Another consideration is Magnezone's Flash Cannon with Modest nature that can OHKO. Again, this is not very popular right now so I should be okay. It is worth noting changing my nature to Sassy and maxing out EVs on Special Defense can help survive these attacks so I can adapt my team as the metagame changes.
Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
Generally, I will only use this Pokemon if I choose to lead with Clefairy and Pheromosa. If I use this Pokemon, I typically pair this with Tapu Fini for type coverage. This Pokemon is great for taking down one of my opponent's Pokemon whenever I am in the lead (ahead in Pokemon count because I get KOs with Pheromosa). Typically, one of the faster attackers will hit Gengar for enough damage to activate the Sash and Destiny Bond will take out the slower attacker from my opponent. There are also situations when my opponent's Trick Room run out with slower Pokemon and I can Destiny Bond to take out one of their powerful attackers to finish the game.
Update: I tested some games with Pokemon Showdown and I found that it's a good idea to go with Tapu Fini and Gengar against teams that have Arcanine. I still won't use this Pokemon very often, but it can be valuable in some matchups. Destiny Bond helps take out Pokemon that I don't have a super-effective attack against.
Krookodile @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Power Trip
- Rock Slide
- Protect
This moveset is very straightforward. I usually Baton Pass into Krookodile and then finish the game with Tapu Fini using Psych Up. Since the Extreme Evoboost makes my Krookodile more bulky, Sitrus Berry is a great way to make it survive longer on the field.
Update: After doing damage calculations, I want to maximize the chance for OHKO with Power Trip after it receives Extreme Evoboost. I found that there are bulky Pokemon that could survive a 220 BP Power Trip even with the boost from STAB like Celesteela (depends on nature and EVs on Physical Defense) and Porygon2 with Eviolite (about 37.5% OHKO). However, I took out all of the EVs on Speed and invest on physical and special defense instead because I need my to make my Krookodile even bulkier against potential super-effective attacks.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Psych Up
I will use Tapu Fini in almost every match. I either use this with the Eevee's Extreme Evoboost in combination with Krookodile to Psych Up the stats for sweeping or I will use it after Clefairy faints if I led with Pheromosa to take KOs. I think the only matches I don't bring Tapu Fini is if my opponent has no Pokemon that is weak to its attack types (Water, Fairy, or Ice).
Update: I took out Ice beam for Protect and Muddy Water for Scald because I found from testing with Pokemon Showdown that missing attacks can be the difference between winning and losing. I want to lower the variance as much as possible. Also, I want to maximize the chance I can OHKO Pokemon. Snarl from Arcanine is very common in the metagame right now.
Pheromosa @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Lunge
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- Protect
Pheromosa is usually used against teams with a clear answer to my Eevee + Clefairy combo, such as Tapu Koko, Krookodile, and Politoed with Perish Song. If I see my opponent has a clear answer to my Eevee + Clefairy combo from team preview, then I need to take this calculated risk to lead with Clefairy and Pheromosa instead.
Update: Using Life Orb instead of Z-Crystal gives me the flexibility to lead with Eevee and Clefairy if necessary. Pheromosa's attack with Life Orb is high enough that I can choose an attack that can OHKO my opponent's Pokemon as long as it does not have resistance to it.
Eevee @ Eevium Z
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 Sp. Atk
- Baton Pass
- Return
- Protect
- Last Resort
The main goal of this Pokemon is to Baton Pass the stat boosts received from using Extreme Evoboost. Therefore, the EVs are invested in HP and speed to maximize the chance it can Baton Pass on Turn 2 when coupled with Clefairy with Eviolite to redirect attacks on Turn 1. I chose Return and Quick Attack to get some damage output if I need to win a close game by bringing Eevee back into battle later in the game.
Update: I think using Adamant nature is more beneficial. As for maxing the speed of Eevee, I want to make sure I can Baton Pass Turn 2 before any of my opponent's Pokemon can attack unless they used Trick Room or Tailwind Turn 1, or weather boost. Based on speed tiers, I am only outspeeding Pheromosa at 223 with positive nature, and Choice Scarf Garchomp and Choice Scarf Salamence with neutral nature at 231 and 228 respectively by choosing Jolly nature (117 * 2 = 234). I can outspeed Pheromosa with neutral nature at speed 203, as well as Aerodactyl and Tapu Koko at speed 200 with neutral nature, which is definitely good enough. By choosing Adamant and 216 EVs invested on speed, my Eevee's speed on turn 2 would be 204 (102 * 2). The rest of the EVs go into physical because it is lower of the two to maximize its chance for survival. The common situation I expect to deal with is Clefairy getting KO's on Turn 2, so being able to Baton Pass onto one of my bulkier Pokemon before getting hit with my opponent's 2nd attack on Turn 2 is crucial.
In addition, I replaced Quick Attack with Protect because Protect can sometimes stall out effects like Trick Room and Tailwind.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- After You
- Heal Pulse
- Protect
If I decide to lead with Eevee, then Clefairy will always be its partner to protect Eevee and make sure Eevee can Baton Pass the stat boosts received from Extreme Evoboost. I chose to invest all my EVs onto Physical Defense as well as using Bold nature because I want to avoid OHKO from Physical attacks. Surviving Smart Strike from AV Kartana is #1 priority. Surviving against Muk's Adamant Poison Jab is also very helpful. Not getting OHKO is extremely important because it allows me to minimize damage to my Pokemon I need to Baton Pass to with my Eevee.
Update: I cannot survive against Celesteela's Heavy Slam. Fortunately, this is usually not a Pokemon trainers lead with. I am also giving up OHKO to Pokemon with Sludge Bomb, such as Nihilego, but Nihilego is not that popular in the current metagame. Sludge Bomb is quite rare right now. Another consideration is Magnezone's Flash Cannon with Modest nature that can OHKO. Again, this is not very popular right now so I should be okay. It is worth noting changing my nature to Sassy and maxing out EVs on Special Defense can help survive these attacks so I can adapt my team as the metagame changes.
Gengar @ Focus Sash
Ability: Cursed Body
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Destiny Bond
- Protect
Generally, I will only use this Pokemon if I choose to lead with Clefairy and Pheromosa. If I use this Pokemon, I typically pair this with Tapu Fini for type coverage. This Pokemon is great for taking down one of my opponent's Pokemon whenever I am in the lead (ahead in Pokemon count because I get KOs with Pheromosa). Typically, one of the faster attackers will hit Gengar for enough damage to activate the Sash and Destiny Bond will take out the slower attacker from my opponent. There are also situations when my opponent's Trick Room run out with slower Pokemon and I can Destiny Bond to take out one of their powerful attackers to finish the game.
Update: I tested some games with Pokemon Showdown and I found that it's a good idea to go with Tapu Fini and Gengar against teams that have Arcanine. I still won't use this Pokemon very often, but it can be valuable in some matchups. Destiny Bond helps take out Pokemon that I don't have a super-effective attack against.
Krookodile @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 128 Def / 128 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Power Trip
- Rock Slide
- Protect
This moveset is very straightforward. I usually Baton Pass into Krookodile and then finish the game with Tapu Fini using Psych Up. Since the Extreme Evoboost makes my Krookodile more bulky, Sitrus Berry is a great way to make it survive longer on the field.
Update: After doing damage calculations, I want to maximize the chance for OHKO with Power Trip after it receives Extreme Evoboost. I found that there are bulky Pokemon that could survive a 220 BP Power Trip even with the boost from STAB like Celesteela (depends on nature and EVs on Physical Defense) and Porygon2 with Eviolite (about 37.5% OHKO). However, I took out all of the EVs on Speed and invest on physical and special defense instead because I need my to make my Krookodile even bulkier against potential super-effective attacks.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Psych Up
I will use Tapu Fini in almost every match. I either use this with the Eevee's Extreme Evoboost in combination with Krookodile to Psych Up the stats for sweeping or I will use it after Clefairy faints if I led with Pheromosa to take KOs. I think the only matches I don't bring Tapu Fini is if my opponent has no Pokemon that is weak to its attack types (Water, Fairy, or Ice).
Update: I took out Ice beam for Protect and Muddy Water for Scald because I found from testing with Pokemon Showdown that missing attacks can be the difference between winning and losing. I want to lower the variance as much as possible. Also, I want to maximize the chance I can OHKO Pokemon. Snarl from Arcanine is very common in the metagame right now.
Pheromosa @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Lunge
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- Protect
Pheromosa is usually used against teams with a clear answer to my Eevee + Clefairy combo, such as Tapu Koko, Krookodile, and Politoed with Perish Song. If I see my opponent has a clear answer to my Eevee + Clefairy combo from team preview, then I need to take this calculated risk to lead with Clefairy and Pheromosa instead.
Update: Using Life Orb instead of Z-Crystal gives me the flexibility to lead with Eevee and Clefairy if necessary. Pheromosa's attack with Life Orb is high enough that I can choose an attack that can OHKO my opponent's Pokemon as long as it does not have resistance to it.
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blarajan says that he agrees with me on who should and should not be able to post at this point in time. If I have responded to your assignment and have not explicitly said that you need to redo/update it then you are free to post in the team building help section.
Lhet
As with a lot of these, I have more issues with your descriptions than with your sets. You really haven't included any of your thought processes, like at all. Why Sitrus Berry over the plethora of other viable items on Lele? Why the EV spread?(why did you consider Timid max speed more important than the benefit of running EVs in other places?) Why are you using such an offensive P2, and what defensive benchmarks do you miss out on for using those EVs? You haven't really written about why each member were likely chosen over their alternatives and how the members synergise together. I understand that you may not have that much experience making custom EV spreads but if you're using a complicated EV spread it must be complicated for a reason, and without telling us what the spread does (and knowing for yourself) we can't really offer an alternative. You're going to need to update your post including some of the things I mention. I would recommend looking at some of the other posts in this thread if you're not sure what to write about. As for making EV spreads, here is a really good nugget bridge article on it. It's a bit dated, but the key concepts are still relevant.
http://nuggetbridge.com/articles/achieving-perfection-creating-specialized-ev-spreads-part-one/
William Hung
Again, the team looks fine and is probably close to what Gio brought, but your descriptions are lacking. Many of these sets are the standard for Eevee pass teams, but your descriptions are either vague or say the obvious. What does Jolly max speed Eevee outspeed that it otherwise wouldn't? What do the Clefairy EV's let you live? Instead of saying how destiny bond works (which apparently relies on your opponent double targetting Gengar according to your description), say why you find it more beneficial than the alternatives. What do the EVs on Krook do? What do the Fini EVs do? Why Life Orb Pheromosa over something like Fightininum Z given that you usually only use it when you aren't using Eevee? You're going to need to update your post including some of the things I mention.
There aren't any right or wrong answers guys, it's just important you ask these sorts of questions when teambuilding to make sure you've properly thought through each set.
Lhet
As with a lot of these, I have more issues with your descriptions than with your sets. You really haven't included any of your thought processes, like at all. Why Sitrus Berry over the plethora of other viable items on Lele? Why the EV spread?(why did you consider Timid max speed more important than the benefit of running EVs in other places?) Why are you using such an offensive P2, and what defensive benchmarks do you miss out on for using those EVs? You haven't really written about why each member were likely chosen over their alternatives and how the members synergise together. I understand that you may not have that much experience making custom EV spreads but if you're using a complicated EV spread it must be complicated for a reason, and without telling us what the spread does (and knowing for yourself) we can't really offer an alternative. You're going to need to update your post including some of the things I mention. I would recommend looking at some of the other posts in this thread if you're not sure what to write about. As for making EV spreads, here is a really good nugget bridge article on it. It's a bit dated, but the key concepts are still relevant.
http://nuggetbridge.com/articles/achieving-perfection-creating-specialized-ev-spreads-part-one/
William Hung
Again, the team looks fine and is probably close to what Gio brought, but your descriptions are lacking. Many of these sets are the standard for Eevee pass teams, but your descriptions are either vague or say the obvious. What does Jolly max speed Eevee outspeed that it otherwise wouldn't? What do the Clefairy EV's let you live? Instead of saying how destiny bond works (which apparently relies on your opponent double targetting Gengar according to your description), say why you find it more beneficial than the alternatives. What do the EVs on Krook do? What do the Fini EVs do? Why Life Orb Pheromosa over something like Fightininum Z given that you usually only use it when you aren't using Eevee? You're going to need to update your post including some of the things I mention.
There aren't any right or wrong answers guys, it's just important you ask these sorts of questions when teambuilding to make sure you've properly thought through each set.
RebornFX - Thanks for pushing me to think deeper about the team. I updated my description and analysis. Please let me know if this is okay.
Ok, let's try this again
I chose Ian's team from the Georgia Regionals because I thought the team looked very interesting
First starting off with Tapu Koko.
I decided life orb would be an excellent choice for the item for maximum damage without getting locked into a move. EVs are basic for maximum speed and damage. Hidden Power Fire is specifically there for Celesteelas and more importantly, Kartanas.
Celesteela was very difficult for me to come up with. I saw a huge weakness to AV Kartanas and I didn't know whether to run physical or special celesteela. I did a few calcs (specifically Flamethrower vs. AV 252 HP 252+ Sp.def AV Kartana) and I found special would be best. Flamethrower, when not modest(or SP.ATK boosting nature) has an 18.8% chance to OHKO the specific Kartana I calc'd against.252 HP 4 Sp.Def Calm nature is to survive Tapu Koko Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain IF they dont have an attack boosting item (Ive seen Focus sash Tapu Koko and Twinkle Tackle Tapu Koko so they exsist).
Nihilego is just a basic set. Maximum Speed. Maximum damage. HP ice for ground types and Sludge Bomb+ Power Gem for STAB. Focus Sash for a gaurenteed 2HKO on you (unless hail).
Garchomp was pretty intresting. I didn't create this set but it really works. A link for where I got it
http://www.trainertower.com/s1-battle-spot-7th-place-2000-team-report/
Incineroar was what really brought me into this team. I immediatly thought assult Vest. I mainly did the EVs around one calc
252 Jolly Garchomp with 0 atk boosting items vs 144 def Impish incineroar Gaurentted 2HKO.
I put 252 EVs in to attack and put the rest in HP. Adamant could probably work with the HP investment.
Gastrodon took me way too much time. I was doing calcs and testing and nothing seemed to work. Then I found Se Jun Park's Gastrodon. It is beautiful.
I understand if me using two sets that I didnt create makes me in eligible to post. I was just getting angry at myself for not accounting for certian things and those two covered everything I struggled with.
That's my variation of Ian's team
EDIT: Tapu Koko has Thunder to abuse rain teams
I chose Ian's team from the Georgia Regionals because I thought the team looked very interesting
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Protect
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Leech Seed
- Flamethrower
- Protect
Nihilego @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Sludge Bomb
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 44 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Fire Fang
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Flare Blitz
- Leech Life
Gastrodon-East @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Protect
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Leech Seed
- Flamethrower
- Protect
Nihilego @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Sludge Bomb
- Power Gem
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 44 SpD / 204 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Fire Fang
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Blaze
Level: 50
EVs: 112 HP / 252 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Flare Blitz
- Leech Life
Gastrodon-East @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 92 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Sludge Bomb
- Protect
I decided life orb would be an excellent choice for the item for maximum damage without getting locked into a move. EVs are basic for maximum speed and damage. Hidden Power Fire is specifically there for Celesteelas and more importantly, Kartanas.
Celesteela was very difficult for me to come up with. I saw a huge weakness to AV Kartanas and I didn't know whether to run physical or special celesteela. I did a few calcs (specifically Flamethrower vs. AV 252 HP 252+ Sp.def AV Kartana) and I found special would be best. Flamethrower, when not modest(or SP.ATK boosting nature) has an 18.8% chance to OHKO the specific Kartana I calc'd against.252 HP 4 Sp.Def Calm nature is to survive Tapu Koko Thunderbolt in Electric Terrain IF they dont have an attack boosting item (Ive seen Focus sash Tapu Koko and Twinkle Tackle Tapu Koko so they exsist).
Nihilego is just a basic set. Maximum Speed. Maximum damage. HP ice for ground types and Sludge Bomb+ Power Gem for STAB. Focus Sash for a gaurenteed 2HKO on you (unless hail).
Garchomp was pretty intresting. I didn't create this set but it really works. A link for where I got it
http://www.trainertower.com/s1-battle-spot-7th-place-2000-team-report/
Incineroar was what really brought me into this team. I immediatly thought assult Vest. I mainly did the EVs around one calc
252 Jolly Garchomp with 0 atk boosting items vs 144 def Impish incineroar Gaurentted 2HKO.
I put 252 EVs in to attack and put the rest in HP. Adamant could probably work with the HP investment.
Gastrodon took me way too much time. I was doing calcs and testing and nothing seemed to work. Then I found Se Jun Park's Gastrodon. It is beautiful.
I understand if me using two sets that I didnt create makes me in eligible to post. I was just getting angry at myself for not accounting for certian things and those two covered everything I struggled with.
That's my variation of Ian's team
EDIT: Tapu Koko has Thunder to abuse rain teams
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Okay, this is the first time for me doing this. Team building has always been an extreme weakness for me, and my playstyle has always been hyper offensive.
I decided to pick Nils Dunlop's 11-3 team from the European Championships, as it doesn't use any of the Tapus. Usually you see Tapu Koko with Raichu, since their abilities mesh with each other, but I had a support Raichu during VGC '15 and '16 that I liked to use and was thinking that it might be useful in VGC '17 as well.
Tapu Lele @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Protect
- Shadow Ball
Used to boost Raichu's attack, as well as stop any priority moves by Pranksters or use of Tailwind. Grass Knot is used against bulky Water, Rock or Ground types (like Gigalith or Mudsdale), Shadow Ball to hit hard against other Psychic types, and Dazzling Gleam to use as a spread move against enemy combos involving Garchomp.
Kartana @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Protect
- Air Slash
A fast sweeper for the team; especially after I set Tailwind, with Life Orb for extra damage. I chose Air Slash to hit fighting types, Leaf Blade for other Pelipper and Sacred Sword's built-in stat change nullification. I honestly think this may have been added to balance things out.
Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 136 HP / 60 Def / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Here's what puzzled me: why Raichu with no Tapu Koko? That's when I remembered about Support Raichu, which is able to nullify an attack on its first turn with Fake Out and hopefully trap an opponent into Protect with Encore. There also needs to be some bulk for HP and Defense, and Speed needs to be at a comfortable level in order for the Raichu to follow up on an attacking Pokemon with Encore. Stoked Sparksurfer would be my main thunder type attack in order to hit any Water or Flying types, and Psychic would be another potential STAB against other Muks.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Iron Head
- Protect
I would send this out as a lead with Pelipper to set rain, in order to draw any thunder attacks from enemy Raichu, Tapu Koko or Magnezone. It would be able to take care of all three of those threats thanks to Bonemarang and Flare Blitz, but if I led with Marowak and Raichu I'd be able to fake out the Magnezone in order to break Sturdy and hopefully get a OHKO with Flare Blitz. Iron Head would be a suitable way to take out any Tapus as well.
Pelipper @ Waterium Z
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Ice Beam
- Tailwind
This would be my lead, either with Marowak or Raichu, if I was up against a Fire or Ground type. Scald would have the added pleasure of a burn chance, and Ice Beam is a very effective Garchomp killer. I use Roost instead of Protect, with the hopes of getting it off faster through Tailwind, to restore HP between turns.
Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Power of Alchemy
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Substitute
- Gunk Shot
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
Finally we have this guy, and since it has a slow speed it seems like it's more suited to Trick Room teams, which I don't think is the case here as we don't have any of the usual setters present. Muk is a bulky attacker, with Substitute to help with its defenses, Rock Slide to use against Flying types like Pelipper and Gunk Shot to take out the Tapus.
I decided to pick Nils Dunlop's 11-3 team from the European Championships, as it doesn't use any of the Tapus. Usually you see Tapu Koko with Raichu, since their abilities mesh with each other, but I had a support Raichu during VGC '15 and '16 that I liked to use and was thinking that it might be useful in VGC '17 as well.
Tapu Lele @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Protect
- Shadow Ball
Used to boost Raichu's attack, as well as stop any priority moves by Pranksters or use of Tailwind. Grass Knot is used against bulky Water, Rock or Ground types (like Gigalith or Mudsdale), Shadow Ball to hit hard against other Psychic types, and Dazzling Gleam to use as a spread move against enemy combos involving Garchomp.
Kartana @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Leaf Blade
- Protect
- Air Slash
A fast sweeper for the team; especially after I set Tailwind, with Life Orb for extra damage. I chose Air Slash to hit fighting types, Leaf Blade for other Pelipper and Sacred Sword's built-in stat change nullification. I honestly think this may have been added to balance things out.
Raichu-Alola @ Aloraichium Z
Ability: Surge Surfer
Level: 50
EVs: 136 HP / 60 Def / 252 SpA / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Here's what puzzled me: why Raichu with no Tapu Koko? That's when I remembered about Support Raichu, which is able to nullify an attack on its first turn with Fake Out and hopefully trap an opponent into Protect with Encore. There also needs to be some bulk for HP and Defense, and Speed needs to be at a comfortable level in order for the Raichu to follow up on an attacking Pokemon with Encore. Stoked Sparksurfer would be my main thunder type attack in order to hit any Water or Flying types, and Psychic would be another potential STAB against other Muks.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Iron Head
- Protect
I would send this out as a lead with Pelipper to set rain, in order to draw any thunder attacks from enemy Raichu, Tapu Koko or Magnezone. It would be able to take care of all three of those threats thanks to Bonemarang and Flare Blitz, but if I led with Marowak and Raichu I'd be able to fake out the Magnezone in order to break Sturdy and hopefully get a OHKO with Flare Blitz. Iron Head would be a suitable way to take out any Tapus as well.
Pelipper @ Waterium Z
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Roost
- Ice Beam
- Tailwind
This would be my lead, either with Marowak or Raichu, if I was up against a Fire or Ground type. Scald would have the added pleasure of a burn chance, and Ice Beam is a very effective Garchomp killer. I use Roost instead of Protect, with the hopes of getting it off faster through Tailwind, to restore HP between turns.
Muk-Alola @ Black Sludge
Ability: Power of Alchemy
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Substitute
- Gunk Shot
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
Finally we have this guy, and since it has a slow speed it seems like it's more suited to Trick Room teams, which I don't think is the case here as we don't have any of the usual setters present. Muk is a bulky attacker, with Substitute to help with its defenses, Rock Slide to use against Flying types like Pelipper and Gunk Shot to take out the Tapus.
I will leave the bigger stuff to more experienced members, but you have some very strange sets, and you don't give us much information about them, you also say that the team doesn't have any of the Tapu, but your first mon is Tapu Lele, it's fine to use weird sets, but you need to explain them further.
Edited...obviously I'm new at this lol
The thing about Air Slash on Kartana for Fighting Coverage is that Neutral Physical hits deal far more damage, so Air Slash is pretty poor at its intended job. Compare:
0- SpA Life Orb Kartana Air Slash vs. 28 HP / 116 SpD Hariyama: 57-68 (25.5 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
And
252+ Atk Life Orb Kartana Leaf Blade vs. 28 HP / 108 Def Hariyama: 179-212 (80.2 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
While Air Slash does pick up the KO on Pheromosa (assuming no sash), so does Smart Strike. Not only that, but Smart Strike can also pick up the KO through Aurora Veil (252+ Atk Life Orb Kartana Smart Strike vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa through Reflect: 153-180 (104.7 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO) while Air Slash can not reliably. (0- SpA Life Orb Kartana Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pheromosa through Light Screen: 124-148 (84.9 - 101.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO) I understand the line of thinking, but there isn't really a justification for Air Slash when Smart Strike would benefit it more for multiple reasons.
0- SpA Life Orb Kartana Air Slash vs. 28 HP / 116 SpD Hariyama: 57-68 (25.5 - 30.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after burn damage
And
252+ Atk Life Orb Kartana Leaf Blade vs. 28 HP / 108 Def Hariyama: 179-212 (80.2 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
While Air Slash does pick up the KO on Pheromosa (assuming no sash), so does Smart Strike. Not only that, but Smart Strike can also pick up the KO through Aurora Veil (252+ Atk Life Orb Kartana Smart Strike vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Pheromosa through Reflect: 153-180 (104.7 - 123.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO) while Air Slash can not reliably. (0- SpA Life Orb Kartana Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pheromosa through Light Screen: 124-148 (84.9 - 101.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO) I understand the line of thinking, but there isn't really a justification for Air Slash when Smart Strike would benefit it more for multiple reasons.
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Sorry for the long delay for this response, it took some time getting back in to the swing of things at uni.
William Hung
I disagree with Adamant Eevee. Damage output is NOT what Eevee is on the team for. I personally think it is worth the investment to outspeed scarfchomp and timid Pheromosa, but if you were to put EVs elsewhere bulk is where it should go. Clefairy does survive Celesteela's Heavy Slam.
180 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 120-144 (67.7 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Nihilego is fairly popular tbh, getting 2nd and 3rd at Georgia and 9th most used by players at 1800+ on the BS ladder. You also do survive a non-boosted Sludge Bomb and non-specs Flash Cannon and you could survive a LO sludge bomb with 108 EVs with a Calm nature (not saying this is a good idea, I haven't ran the calcs on the physical side). I think Krook definitely values some speed investment. I would say the least you want is 36 EVs to outspeed the bulkier Golduck, but max speed Golduck are definitely still a thing which you need 204 EVs to outspeed. I personally prefer Muddy Water for this set but really that's just preference.
Tbh I think the 'mistakes' in this (of which there weren't too many) are things that anybody can make and make you redo this because of them would be a bit ridiculous. Take care with some of your calcs in the future though. Feel free to start posting your teams.
Rayquaza64
So I have quite a few concerns with this. Koko with its only STAB electric attack being Thunder on a non-rain team is just bad. If you have HP Fire specifically for Celesteela you should drop it. Having it for Kartana is okay, but I'm not sure it's worth the loss of not running another option like Volt Switch, Discharge, Taunt (given you have literally nothing to stop TR), HP Ice, Nature's Madness etc, though it does put in a lot of work against your team so it might be a good call. I have no idea what Kartana you calc'd against considering you only need 84 EVs with a Modest Nature to OHKO all Kartanas. If you're worried about living unboosted Koko's Tbolt you might as well make it guaranteed with 140 EVs (not Calm). Your current spread is also unoptimised. You hit the same stats with 252 HP / 140 SpA / 100 SpD and a Modest Nature, with 16 EVs left over. The same is true with Incineroar, 112 HP / 132 Atk / 236 Def and an Adamant nature hits the same stats with 28 EVs leftover. Also why Leech Life? It gets much better options. Nihilego is standard so nothing to say here. Why did you go for a slower Garchomp and the particular Garchomp and Gastrodon sets? What drew you to them over something else? Honestly I'd like you to do this again mostly because I don't think it should take long to sort some of these things out and I'd like to see some justification for the Garchomp and Gastrodon sets. It's a massive improvement from your last attempt though. I would recommend reading this as well for optimising your EV spreads.
http://nuggetbridge.com/articles/achieving-perfection-creating-specialized-ev-spreads-part-one/
Jewelry Jelly
Sorry you're going to need to redo this. Psychic-less terrain extender Tapu Lele? Life Orb Adamant Air Slash Kartana? Sub Gunk Shot Crunch Muk? It just seems like you don't have a great grasp on the metagame. Your EV spreads seem completely random (without an explanation they might as well be) and some of these choices are just bizarre. I would recommend looking at some resources on TrainerTower, they have some very good articles on the metagame, as well as sample sets as a good place to start with this task.
William Hung
I disagree with Adamant Eevee. Damage output is NOT what Eevee is on the team for. I personally think it is worth the investment to outspeed scarfchomp and timid Pheromosa, but if you were to put EVs elsewhere bulk is where it should go. Clefairy does survive Celesteela's Heavy Slam.
180 Atk Celesteela Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Clefairy: 120-144 (67.7 - 81.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Nihilego is fairly popular tbh, getting 2nd and 3rd at Georgia and 9th most used by players at 1800+ on the BS ladder. You also do survive a non-boosted Sludge Bomb and non-specs Flash Cannon and you could survive a LO sludge bomb with 108 EVs with a Calm nature (not saying this is a good idea, I haven't ran the calcs on the physical side). I think Krook definitely values some speed investment. I would say the least you want is 36 EVs to outspeed the bulkier Golduck, but max speed Golduck are definitely still a thing which you need 204 EVs to outspeed. I personally prefer Muddy Water for this set but really that's just preference.
Tbh I think the 'mistakes' in this (of which there weren't too many) are things that anybody can make and make you redo this because of them would be a bit ridiculous. Take care with some of your calcs in the future though. Feel free to start posting your teams.
Rayquaza64
So I have quite a few concerns with this. Koko with its only STAB electric attack being Thunder on a non-rain team is just bad. If you have HP Fire specifically for Celesteela you should drop it. Having it for Kartana is okay, but I'm not sure it's worth the loss of not running another option like Volt Switch, Discharge, Taunt (given you have literally nothing to stop TR), HP Ice, Nature's Madness etc, though it does put in a lot of work against your team so it might be a good call. I have no idea what Kartana you calc'd against considering you only need 84 EVs with a Modest Nature to OHKO all Kartanas. If you're worried about living unboosted Koko's Tbolt you might as well make it guaranteed with 140 EVs (not Calm). Your current spread is also unoptimised. You hit the same stats with 252 HP / 140 SpA / 100 SpD and a Modest Nature, with 16 EVs left over. The same is true with Incineroar, 112 HP / 132 Atk / 236 Def and an Adamant nature hits the same stats with 28 EVs leftover. Also why Leech Life? It gets much better options. Nihilego is standard so nothing to say here. Why did you go for a slower Garchomp and the particular Garchomp and Gastrodon sets? What drew you to them over something else? Honestly I'd like you to do this again mostly because I don't think it should take long to sort some of these things out and I'd like to see some justification for the Garchomp and Gastrodon sets. It's a massive improvement from your last attempt though. I would recommend reading this as well for optimising your EV spreads.
http://nuggetbridge.com/articles/achieving-perfection-creating-specialized-ev-spreads-part-one/
Jewelry Jelly
Sorry you're going to need to redo this. Psychic-less terrain extender Tapu Lele? Life Orb Adamant Air Slash Kartana? Sub Gunk Shot Crunch Muk? It just seems like you don't have a great grasp on the metagame. Your EV spreads seem completely random (without an explanation they might as well be) and some of these choices are just bizarre. I would recommend looking at some resources on TrainerTower, they have some very good articles on the metagame, as well as sample sets as a good place to start with this task.
I wanted to pick something from the most recent regionals, so I ended up picking Rajan Bal's team from Georgia. I ended up deciding on this mostly because I wanted to test out how running multiple terrains on the same team worked and what the interaction between them was like.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
- Discharge/Volt Switch
I decided to go with Modest Koko over Timid, because I didn't see too much in the speed tier between 200 and 182. The most concerning mons to me were +1 Gyarados, which I felt was adequately handled between Fini/Kartana/Pory2, as well as Salazzle. Salazzle probably wasn't relevant for the regionals, but it does have access to Fake Out now. I still think the extra power granted by Modest nature still outweighs the pros of Timid though. The moves are fairly standard in Tbolt/Dazzling Gleam/Protect. I didn't think HP Ice was necessary since there was multiple checks to Garchomp and Salamence already included on the team. Since the team also has a slow attacker in Marowak, the ability to reverse Trick Room with Pory2, as well as several resistances to common TR mons (Hariyama, Araquanid, etc.) I didn't really think Taunt was necessary either. I tested Volt Switch on showdown, and it was cool at times to be able to set up plays like Volt Switching into Marowak while setting up Trick Room, but I don't think it was ever game-changing. Not having the ability to use electric moves whenever a lightningrod pokemon was on the field was definitely frustrating. I think I prefer discharge now, although running another mon with Protect would've been nice for Discharge.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Specs
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 136 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Hydro Pump/Scald
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
I liked Specs Fini over CM Fini because this team doesn't run stuff like Snarl or Parting Shot to help Fini set up real easily. I also think Specs Fini is just more consistent in this meta, being able to put out damage instantly when most teams run stuff like Koko or Kartana to immediately threaten it. The HP/Defense EVs allow it to always survive 4 Atk Jolly Kartana Leaf Blade, and the speed EVs allow it to outrun modest max speed Pelipper. I couldn't really find another speed benchmark to hit with neutral nature and so much being dedicated to HP/Defense. The rest were just put into Special Attack to maximize damage output. I went with Hydro Pump and Muddy Water for the extra power as well as the spread damage. However, I think having a 100% accurate move like Scald might have been nice, since I seem to miss with Muddy Water a lot.
Kartana @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Night Slash
- Smart Strike
I ended up going with AV over Focus Sash to strengthen the matchup against hail teams, although running Focus Sash with Protect would've made it a lot easier to use Discharge on Koko. On the other hand, I didn't want Marowak to be the only answer I had to hail teams either, so I just kind of dealt with it. I ran max speed in order to speed tie other Kartana, although I'm not sure it's 100% necessary. Dropping to 212 (enough to outspeed Nihilego) for extra bulk might have been better. I went for the tie though, just to have an extra out. 84 HP/4 Def is enough to survive Jolly Garchomp Tectonic Rage, as well as Fire Fang. I dumped the rest of the EVs in SpDef to get as much bulk as possible. I opted for Night Slash over protect, which is pretty standard, since it's the only thing you have that can hit Marowak.
Krookodile @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 244 Atk / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Protect
- Taunt
I went with Groundium Z on Krookodile in order to deal effectively with Muk, which otherwise seems to harass a lot of mons on this team. It was also nice to have a single-target ground move, since, as I alluded to with Koko, there's not a lot of protect on this team. I'm not sure Taunt is necessary on Krook, but I wasn't sure there was really a better option. I don't think Stone Edge does a lot for the team, so I just went with Taunt on the off chance I wanted to shut off status moves. It didn't come into play much, though, so I do wonder if there's a better move to use. 244 Speed is enough to always outrun Modest Pory-Z, and 20 HP is enough to survive Timid LO Koko's Dazzling Gleam. I just dumped the rest into attack for damage output.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 84 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Flare Blitz
- Bonemerang
- Protect
Marowak was fairly basic. The EVs allow it to survive Modest Lele's Psychic as well as minimizing the chance of -1 Garchomp's Earthquake 2hkoing. It required a stupid amount of EVs to guarantee the 2HKO, so I didn't think it was worth it. I put 100 in Attack and then 4 more EVs there wouldn't have any effect, so I just put it in speed. I did not opt for 0 Speed on this Marowak because this isn't a hard TR team, and I don't think you end up using TR in most games. Having the max IV allows me to outspeed any slow mons on opposing teams that carry TR modes on them. I also thought about EQ on here, but decided Bonemarang was better due to lack of protect/flying-types, as well as breaking Sash on stuff like Tapu Koko or Raichu, since this team doesn't run any weather or priority moves to get that extra little bit of damage.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover
Porygon2 functioned as a check to a lot of different mons on this team. I went with Thunderbolt and Ice Beam over Tri-Attack in order to check Gyarados and Garchomp more effectively. Trick Room was obviously cool to use alongside Marowak, but it also came in handy in other games, like setting up a win vs Scarf Lele. The EVs make sure you always survive Modest Golduck Hydro Vortex + Modest Pelipper Scald in the rain. The HP EVs also make sure you don't take that extra point of damage from Hail/Sandstorm, since this team doesn't have a way to reverse those weathers. I saw some sample P2 sets that ran 28 SpAtk EVs, but I never really found a damage calc in which those EVs were relevant, so I just dropped them altogether.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
- Discharge/Volt Switch
I decided to go with Modest Koko over Timid, because I didn't see too much in the speed tier between 200 and 182. The most concerning mons to me were +1 Gyarados, which I felt was adequately handled between Fini/Kartana/Pory2, as well as Salazzle. Salazzle probably wasn't relevant for the regionals, but it does have access to Fake Out now. I still think the extra power granted by Modest nature still outweighs the pros of Timid though. The moves are fairly standard in Tbolt/Dazzling Gleam/Protect. I didn't think HP Ice was necessary since there was multiple checks to Garchomp and Salamence already included on the team. Since the team also has a slow attacker in Marowak, the ability to reverse Trick Room with Pory2, as well as several resistances to common TR mons (Hariyama, Araquanid, etc.) I didn't really think Taunt was necessary either. I tested Volt Switch on showdown, and it was cool at times to be able to set up plays like Volt Switching into Marowak while setting up Trick Room, but I don't think it was ever game-changing. Not having the ability to use electric moves whenever a lightningrod pokemon was on the field was definitely frustrating. I think I prefer discharge now, although running another mon with Protect would've been nice for Discharge.
Tapu Fini @ Choice Specs
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 136 SpA / 100 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Hydro Pump/Scald
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
I liked Specs Fini over CM Fini because this team doesn't run stuff like Snarl or Parting Shot to help Fini set up real easily. I also think Specs Fini is just more consistent in this meta, being able to put out damage instantly when most teams run stuff like Koko or Kartana to immediately threaten it. The HP/Defense EVs allow it to always survive 4 Atk Jolly Kartana Leaf Blade, and the speed EVs allow it to outrun modest max speed Pelipper. I couldn't really find another speed benchmark to hit with neutral nature and so much being dedicated to HP/Defense. The rest were just put into Special Attack to maximize damage output. I went with Hydro Pump and Muddy Water for the extra power as well as the spread damage. However, I think having a 100% accurate move like Scald might have been nice, since I seem to miss with Muddy Water a lot.
Kartana @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 84 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Night Slash
- Smart Strike
I ended up going with AV over Focus Sash to strengthen the matchup against hail teams, although running Focus Sash with Protect would've made it a lot easier to use Discharge on Koko. On the other hand, I didn't want Marowak to be the only answer I had to hail teams either, so I just kind of dealt with it. I ran max speed in order to speed tie other Kartana, although I'm not sure it's 100% necessary. Dropping to 212 (enough to outspeed Nihilego) for extra bulk might have been better. I went for the tie though, just to have an extra out. 84 HP/4 Def is enough to survive Jolly Garchomp Tectonic Rage, as well as Fire Fang. I dumped the rest of the EVs in SpDef to get as much bulk as possible. I opted for Night Slash over protect, which is pretty standard, since it's the only thing you have that can hit Marowak.
Krookodile @ Groundium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 20 HP / 244 Atk / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Protect
- Taunt
I went with Groundium Z on Krookodile in order to deal effectively with Muk, which otherwise seems to harass a lot of mons on this team. It was also nice to have a single-target ground move, since, as I alluded to with Koko, there's not a lot of protect on this team. I'm not sure Taunt is necessary on Krook, but I wasn't sure there was really a better option. I don't think Stone Edge does a lot for the team, so I just went with Taunt on the off chance I wanted to shut off status moves. It didn't come into play much, though, so I do wonder if there's a better move to use. 244 Speed is enough to always outrun Modest Pory-Z, and 20 HP is enough to survive Timid LO Koko's Dazzling Gleam. I just dumped the rest into attack for damage output.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 84 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Flare Blitz
- Bonemerang
- Protect
Marowak was fairly basic. The EVs allow it to survive Modest Lele's Psychic as well as minimizing the chance of -1 Garchomp's Earthquake 2hkoing. It required a stupid amount of EVs to guarantee the 2HKO, so I didn't think it was worth it. I put 100 in Attack and then 4 more EVs there wouldn't have any effect, so I just put it in speed. I did not opt for 0 Speed on this Marowak because this isn't a hard TR team, and I don't think you end up using TR in most games. Having the max IV allows me to outspeed any slow mons on opposing teams that carry TR modes on them. I also thought about EQ on here, but decided Bonemarang was better due to lack of protect/flying-types, as well as breaking Sash on stuff like Tapu Koko or Raichu, since this team doesn't run any weather or priority moves to get that extra little bit of damage.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 76 Def / 188 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Trick Room
- Recover
Porygon2 functioned as a check to a lot of different mons on this team. I went with Thunderbolt and Ice Beam over Tri-Attack in order to check Gyarados and Garchomp more effectively. Trick Room was obviously cool to use alongside Marowak, but it also came in handy in other games, like setting up a win vs Scarf Lele. The EVs make sure you always survive Modest Golduck Hydro Vortex + Modest Pelipper Scald in the rain. The HP EVs also make sure you don't take that extra point of damage from Hail/Sandstorm, since this team doesn't have a way to reverse those weathers. I saw some sample P2 sets that ran 28 SpAtk EVs, but I never really found a damage calc in which those EVs were relevant, so I just dropped them altogether.
I have decided to go with David Battell's European Internationals team.
(Was also unsure if we were allowed to pick teams from more recent events that were not linked in the OP)
There's a few pokemon on the team I have been keen to try out and I like the hyper offensive style of the team.
Tried to tackle this keeping in mind how the pokemon synergize and why they were picked for the team.
Pheromosa @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Lunge
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- U-turn
Figured Pheromosa would be a good starting point. Tried to think what kind of set it would be running taking into account Davids team choices. I figured the physical set makes alot of sense, with a Lele + Phero lead they can hit both defensive spectrum's. Milotic is also around to scare off intimidate users, the opponent has to be careful not to give milotic free competitive boosts. I was tossing up sash or z item here. Ultimately went with fightium-z as it can ohko p2, to prevent trick room from being set up. Lunge is the bug stab of choice here, after an attack drop from lunge garchomp is unable to OHKO pheromosa. HJK is chosen as the fighting stab of choice. While it has slightly unreliable accuracy, the power it provides with the z move is too important to choose another move. Poison jab is primarily for tapus that would otherwise threaten knock outs onto pheromosa. 4 evs are put into HP to make it an odd number so that phero may take 2 hits of recoil from HJK. I decided to go with U-turn over protect, as an offensive pivot will force a switch by threatening KO on the opponent, thus obtaining momentum. Even if they don’t switch, you can guess what move they were going to use and switch to something that will resist the hit. Additionally it forms a volt-turn (volt switch and u-turn) core with tapu koko.
Tapu Lele @ choice scarf
Ability: Psychic surge
Level: 50
EVs: 36 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
Tapu lele's coverage pairs very well with pheromosa, they complement each other offensively. Types that resist Lele are all weak to one of peromosa STAB attacks. Additionally the psychic terrain stops any priority moves that may be aimed at pheromosa.
To keep consistent with this aggressive duo choice scarf seemed like an obvious choice, as any mon that may have threatened lele is now out sped and can be ohko'd or double targeted. Whilst browsing the speed tier list I noticed the extra 32 speed evs were redundant. 220+ timid nature places lele at 235 speed. Outspeeding mons like scarf chomp and able to ohko non sash variants;
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 186-218 (101.6 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
I placed the remaining evs into the lacking defense. Moonblast and psychic were STABs of choice. Dazzling gleam is a strong double target move whilst thunderbolt is there to help with the gyarados, rain and celesteela matchup.
Milotic @ Adrenaline Orb
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Protect
So my thought process was Milotic was on the team obviously to cover for the physical attackers being pheromosa and marowak. The potential competitive boosts scare potential intimidate users and the typing pairs well switching in to fire and water type moves aimed at maro/phero. I decided on adrenaline orb and an offensive set because this team focuses on fast damage which allows quick knock outs. Running a slower more defensive milotic I believe hinders this fast paced style of play.
Scald is the stab move of choice as you can fish for burns, which is handy since the team lacks the ability intimidate. Ice beam is there for coverage notably garchomp, gyarados and rogue pelippers. Decided on foregoing recover for grass coverage as the team has difficulties with gastrodon, plus I felt recover slows down the match too much and would be a better option on more defensive sets. The speed evs mean after an adrenaline orb boost milo out speeds non scarfed/boosted base 110's and some important pokemon with base 109 speed (ninetales/kartana). I maxed out SpA, placed the remainder into defenses (108 hp evs gave the same hp stat as 100 so the 8 i divided into def and Spd). After a boost, Milo can really sweep through teams.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
So at this point the team can really struggle against steel and grass types, such as kartana. A fire type seems an obvious addition but why marowak over arcanine? Most likely thanks to lightning rod. The ability pairs really well with tapu koko as it allows koko to freely fire off discharges. Additionally it can redirect any single target electric attacks aimed at his teammates, which is nice for milotic. Due to Marowaks incredibly low speed stat it can also run under Trick Room if it does happen to go up. Move set is pretty standard, two stab moves as well as bonemerang for the ground type coverage. 176 Attack EVs allows Marowak to OHKO both tapu lele and celesteela even with max hp and def investment. whilst the HP and SpD evs ensure marowak survive lele psychics in psychic terrain. Some evs have been put into speed to try and out speed opposing marowaks.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Opposing tailwind and rain teams can also be an issue right now which is why I think tapu koko was added here. It also allows another option for resetting terrain, shutting down opposing sleep powder strategies as well. With a high base speed, tapu koko can be a big threat and covers holes in what the team can not beat so far. Decided on the choice specs option, specs boosted discharges in electric terrain grant massive damage. Volt switch allows koko to apply pressure even in unfavourable situations and switch to something else that can better handle the matchup (as mentioned before this offensive pivot option also forms the vbolt-turn combo with pheromosa). Dazling gleam is the fairy stab of choice here as the double target is extremely handy. Discharge is pretty safe with marowak on the team, however as few of the mons run protect need to be careful about my field position when using this. Went with HP fire so koko is not completely walled by steel and grass types. Evs here are standard choice specs, as defensive evs are much less beneficial here imo.
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Tailwind
- taunt
- Protect
Onto the final pokemon. So aerodactyl is a nice addition to the team. Tailwind gives the team a speed control option if required whilst the flying type provides a ground immunity, both which the team lack. Focus sash is the item of choice as aerodactyl's defenses are paper thin. With the release of pokebank aerodacty now has access to unnerve which is massive with all the berry users going around like Muk and Arcanine. Rock slide is my attacking move of choice as it provides nice damage and the occasional flinch. Tailwind helps in scenarios where we may be out sped due to scarf/swift swim and opposing tailwinds. Taunt allows aerodactyl to stop porygon 2 from setting up TR as well as any setup mons/follow me users. Protect in the last slot is in general a good move and stops me from koing aero with discharges.
(Was also unsure if we were allowed to pick teams from more recent events that were not linked in the OP)
There's a few pokemon on the team I have been keen to try out and I like the hyper offensive style of the team.
Tried to tackle this keeping in mind how the pokemon synergize and why they were picked for the team.
Pheromosa @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Lunge
- High Jump Kick
- Poison Jab
- U-turn
Figured Pheromosa would be a good starting point. Tried to think what kind of set it would be running taking into account Davids team choices. I figured the physical set makes alot of sense, with a Lele + Phero lead they can hit both defensive spectrum's. Milotic is also around to scare off intimidate users, the opponent has to be careful not to give milotic free competitive boosts. I was tossing up sash or z item here. Ultimately went with fightium-z as it can ohko p2, to prevent trick room from being set up. Lunge is the bug stab of choice here, after an attack drop from lunge garchomp is unable to OHKO pheromosa. HJK is chosen as the fighting stab of choice. While it has slightly unreliable accuracy, the power it provides with the z move is too important to choose another move. Poison jab is primarily for tapus that would otherwise threaten knock outs onto pheromosa. 4 evs are put into HP to make it an odd number so that phero may take 2 hits of recoil from HJK. I decided to go with U-turn over protect, as an offensive pivot will force a switch by threatening KO on the opponent, thus obtaining momentum. Even if they don’t switch, you can guess what move they were going to use and switch to something that will resist the hit. Additionally it forms a volt-turn (volt switch and u-turn) core with tapu koko.
Tapu Lele @ choice scarf
Ability: Psychic surge
Level: 50
EVs: 36 Def / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
Tapu lele's coverage pairs very well with pheromosa, they complement each other offensively. Types that resist Lele are all weak to one of peromosa STAB attacks. Additionally the psychic terrain stops any priority moves that may be aimed at pheromosa.
To keep consistent with this aggressive duo choice scarf seemed like an obvious choice, as any mon that may have threatened lele is now out sped and can be ohko'd or double targeted. Whilst browsing the speed tier list I noticed the extra 32 speed evs were redundant. 220+ timid nature places lele at 235 speed. Outspeeding mons like scarf chomp and able to ohko non sash variants;
252 SpA Tapu Lele Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 186-218 (101.6 - 119.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
I placed the remaining evs into the lacking defense. Moonblast and psychic were STABs of choice. Dazzling gleam is a strong double target move whilst thunderbolt is there to help with the gyarados, rain and celesteela matchup.
Milotic @ Adrenaline Orb
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Protect
So my thought process was Milotic was on the team obviously to cover for the physical attackers being pheromosa and marowak. The potential competitive boosts scare potential intimidate users and the typing pairs well switching in to fire and water type moves aimed at maro/phero. I decided on adrenaline orb and an offensive set because this team focuses on fast damage which allows quick knock outs. Running a slower more defensive milotic I believe hinders this fast paced style of play.
Scald is the stab move of choice as you can fish for burns, which is handy since the team lacks the ability intimidate. Ice beam is there for coverage notably garchomp, gyarados and rogue pelippers. Decided on foregoing recover for grass coverage as the team has difficulties with gastrodon, plus I felt recover slows down the match too much and would be a better option on more defensive sets. The speed evs mean after an adrenaline orb boost milo out speeds non scarfed/boosted base 110's and some important pokemon with base 109 speed (ninetales/kartana). I maxed out SpA, placed the remainder into defenses (108 hp evs gave the same hp stat as 100 so the 8 i divided into def and Spd). After a boost, Milo can really sweep through teams.
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 176 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
So at this point the team can really struggle against steel and grass types, such as kartana. A fire type seems an obvious addition but why marowak over arcanine? Most likely thanks to lightning rod. The ability pairs really well with tapu koko as it allows koko to freely fire off discharges. Additionally it can redirect any single target electric attacks aimed at his teammates, which is nice for milotic. Due to Marowaks incredibly low speed stat it can also run under Trick Room if it does happen to go up. Move set is pretty standard, two stab moves as well as bonemerang for the ground type coverage. 176 Attack EVs allows Marowak to OHKO both tapu lele and celesteela even with max hp and def investment. whilst the HP and SpD evs ensure marowak survive lele psychics in psychic terrain. Some evs have been put into speed to try and out speed opposing marowaks.
Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Discharge
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Opposing tailwind and rain teams can also be an issue right now which is why I think tapu koko was added here. It also allows another option for resetting terrain, shutting down opposing sleep powder strategies as well. With a high base speed, tapu koko can be a big threat and covers holes in what the team can not beat so far. Decided on the choice specs option, specs boosted discharges in electric terrain grant massive damage. Volt switch allows koko to apply pressure even in unfavourable situations and switch to something else that can better handle the matchup (as mentioned before this offensive pivot option also forms the vbolt-turn combo with pheromosa). Dazling gleam is the fairy stab of choice here as the double target is extremely handy. Discharge is pretty safe with marowak on the team, however as few of the mons run protect need to be careful about my field position when using this. Went with HP fire so koko is not completely walled by steel and grass types. Evs here are standard choice specs, as defensive evs are much less beneficial here imo.
Aerodactyl @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Tailwind
- taunt
- Protect
Onto the final pokemon. So aerodactyl is a nice addition to the team. Tailwind gives the team a speed control option if required whilst the flying type provides a ground immunity, both which the team lack. Focus sash is the item of choice as aerodactyl's defenses are paper thin. With the release of pokebank aerodacty now has access to unnerve which is massive with all the berry users going around like Muk and Arcanine. Rock slide is my attacking move of choice as it provides nice damage and the occasional flinch. Tailwind helps in scenarios where we may be out sped due to scarf/swift swim and opposing tailwinds. Taunt allows aerodactyl to stop porygon 2 from setting up TR as well as any setup mons/follow me users. Protect in the last slot is in general a good move and stops me from koing aero with discharges.
I decided to go with Gavin Michaels since he's one of the few people who didn't use Tapu's and Ultra's.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Analytic
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magnet Rise
- Discharge
- Protect
- Flash Cannon
Air Balloon to avoid the turn 1 earthquake that could devastate this poor guy (seems to be common in current meta). This gives him time to setup Magnet Rise. Using Analytic ability since we're not investing into speed, which puts him on the lower side of things. This could get messed up by Trick Room setups, I'm well aware. Discharge for when they pull out that Celesteela and Tapu Lele combo (happens often in sims at least). Lots of other combos this works well against. The magnet rise is also GREAT when paired with Hiryama's earthquake. Protect is in there as an alternate to magnet rise if you need to rush an earthquake and magnet rise wears off.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Recover
- Foul Play
- Ice Beam
Eviolite to boost his already fairly high defense. Combined with toxic and recover, this setup pairs well with mimikyu. "But why? They can't be burned and poisoned" I know, but steel and poison are immune to poison (unless using salazzle with it's corrosion ability) so you can use Mimikyu's W-o-W to whittle down those steel and poison types. Ice beam make an appearance to deal with the ever popular dragon types (looking at you Kommo-o). Went with Thunderbolt for STAB bonus in the event I find Porygon not getting hit too hard.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
Assault vest because we're running an all out fighter. Close combat gives us our heavy hitting STAB move (we are NOT spamming this). Earthquake is very situational. It hit's allies (unless certain scenarios are in place) so you need to be alert using this. Knock off helps rid us of the enemy items while doing extra damage (goal is to use this on each enemy mon at least once). All of the abilities (minus earthquake) have secondary effects, which are lost due to his ability, so they all gain decent bonus damage. This is what I like to call a "glass cannon".
Mimikyu @ Leftovers
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Play Rough
The goal here is another staller for those steel/poison types. The goal here is to use protect and substitute hopefully long enough that they forget about disguise (unless you bust the disguise for a swap-in bait). Play Rough means you don't need to invest into Atk and gives you the ability to focus on pure defense. Burn em, use your protect/substitute rotation to stall, and nail them with a play rough as often as you can afford to do so.
Araquanid @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Wide Guard
- Protect
This mon is a protector sweeper. He works great with the Drampa setup below. Liquidiation is the STAB spam we need (chance to lower defense, STAB, and passive make this a great tool(, and leech life is purely for using against those weak against it (it's not in the build for sustain). We are using the Waterium Z when we find a threat that needs to go down fast.
Drampa @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Berserk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Hyper Voice
This setup is...a gamble, to say the least. The goal here is to proc his ability as much as we can, without killing him. Roost to heal back up, calm mind to boost his SDef and SAtk, and then hit them hard with Dragon Pulse or Hyper Voice. The weakness policy adds to our boosting. The best part about this setup, is that when paired with Araquanid, we can use wide guard to protect Drampa so he can roost safely. This leaves araquanid open though and if you repeat the same pattern, your opponent can easily predict it. So be sure to change things up on Araquanid and use protect to throw your opponent off-guard.
A lot of these setups are from research on competitive movesets, combined with how I chose to pair them, and may not be optimal in any way/shape/form.
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Analytic
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Magnet Rise
- Discharge
- Protect
- Flash Cannon
Air Balloon to avoid the turn 1 earthquake that could devastate this poor guy (seems to be common in current meta). This gives him time to setup Magnet Rise. Using Analytic ability since we're not investing into speed, which puts him on the lower side of things. This could get messed up by Trick Room setups, I'm well aware. Discharge for when they pull out that Celesteela and Tapu Lele combo (happens often in sims at least). Lots of other combos this works well against. The magnet rise is also GREAT when paired with Hiryama's earthquake. Protect is in there as an alternate to magnet rise if you need to rush an earthquake and magnet rise wears off.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Recover
- Foul Play
- Ice Beam
Eviolite to boost his already fairly high defense. Combined with toxic and recover, this setup pairs well with mimikyu. "But why? They can't be burned and poisoned" I know, but steel and poison are immune to poison (unless using salazzle with it's corrosion ability) so you can use Mimikyu's W-o-W to whittle down those steel and poison types. Ice beam make an appearance to deal with the ever popular dragon types (looking at you Kommo-o). Went with Thunderbolt for STAB bonus in the event I find Porygon not getting hit too hard.
Hariyama @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
Assault vest because we're running an all out fighter. Close combat gives us our heavy hitting STAB move (we are NOT spamming this). Earthquake is very situational. It hit's allies (unless certain scenarios are in place) so you need to be alert using this. Knock off helps rid us of the enemy items while doing extra damage (goal is to use this on each enemy mon at least once). All of the abilities (minus earthquake) have secondary effects, which are lost due to his ability, so they all gain decent bonus damage. This is what I like to call a "glass cannon".
Mimikyu @ Leftovers
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Will-O-Wisp
- Play Rough
The goal here is another staller for those steel/poison types. The goal here is to use protect and substitute hopefully long enough that they forget about disguise (unless you bust the disguise for a swap-in bait). Play Rough means you don't need to invest into Atk and gives you the ability to focus on pure defense. Burn em, use your protect/substitute rotation to stall, and nail them with a play rough as often as you can afford to do so.
Araquanid @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Leech Life
- Wide Guard
- Protect
This mon is a protector sweeper. He works great with the Drampa setup below. Liquidiation is the STAB spam we need (chance to lower defense, STAB, and passive make this a great tool(, and leech life is purely for using against those weak against it (it's not in the build for sustain). We are using the Waterium Z when we find a threat that needs to go down fast.
Drampa @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Berserk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dragon Pulse
- Roost
- Calm Mind
- Hyper Voice
This setup is...a gamble, to say the least. The goal here is to proc his ability as much as we can, without killing him. Roost to heal back up, calm mind to boost his SDef and SAtk, and then hit them hard with Dragon Pulse or Hyper Voice. The weakness policy adds to our boosting. The best part about this setup, is that when paired with Araquanid, we can use wide guard to protect Drampa so he can roost safely. This leaves araquanid open though and if you repeat the same pattern, your opponent can easily predict it. So be sure to change things up on Araquanid and use protect to throw your opponent off-guard.
A lot of these setups are from research on competitive movesets, combined with how I chose to pair them, and may not be optimal in any way/shape/form.
EDITED ON 14/02/17: Quoted the original spreads and such, added the new ones
Hey all, here's my homework. I just started playing on Doubles, and I'd really like to start participating in the Teambuilding Forum to improve my (newbie) skills.
I'm just going with Josse Calzado's team from Georgia Regionals (http://www.trainertower.com/vgc-17-georgia-regionals/), as it looks like a team I would like to use.
First of all, the team looks very offensively oriented with a TR plan-B. Tapu Koko looks like a solid lead, being superfast and having access to both setup-denying moves such as Taunt and very strong single and AoE attacks (Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam).
The other lead could be Muk (against Tapu teams), Gyarados (against hyper-physical teams), or Kartana (to scout some moves with Protect/Detect).
Marowak-A helps a lot with Lightning Rod to give Gyarados a chance to setup or attack some pokemons, and Gyarados in return is Flying-Type to let Marowak EQ with ease.
Porygon2, depending on the Team setup, could use TR to let Marowak sweep a non-TR-weakened team, or even be an anti-TR itself, as most of the team should easily outspeed many TR-oriented teams.
That said, I decided to go for a more aggressive route, mostly because I prefer this style of play.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Dazzling Gleam
-Thunderbolt
-Taunt
-Protect
As said before, Taunt gives Koko a chance to stop early TR-setters or any different setups (calm mind on Tapu Fini, for example).
Protect is a staple-move in Doubles (as far as I know), and gives eventual Marowak-A a chance to EQ freely with Koko (but then Koko can't TBolt things down).
Probably Timid nature is an "overkill" in terms of speed, but it is a speed-tie with Jolly Aerodactyl (which could be annoying with Rock Slide / Tailwind / Wide Guard). If I'm not expeting any of those rocky flyers, I'd probably go with Modest nature, for more AoE power.
Even a lead with Koko and switch to Muk can pose a threat for Cloyster leads, as Koko can break sash with a single TBolt and then Muk can go with Shadow Sneak to get a priority kill on Cloyster after Shell Smash.
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Ultraboost
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SpD/252 Spe
-Sacred Sword
-Leaf Blade
-Smart Strike
-Detect
Here I'm going for Detect, as I read on the Smogon Dex that it plays around eventual Imprison-Muks that run Protect. So why not use it?
This is played as a late-game sweeper or an early-game dreamcrusher if the opponent has few checks to it. This kills Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini, while Muk gets Koko and Bulu.
I think that having Jolly here is more important than having Timid on Koko, as hitting first for Kartana is huge (mostly because of Focus Sash that gives her an extra turn).
Gyarados @ Waterium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Protect
As it has been said, a more aggressive-oriented Gyarados is better than Subdance Gyarados. As I've been testing Sejun's Team extensively in the last days, I saw how Arcanine (having a similar role to Gyarados here) is much better as an offensive intimidate attacker than a defensive one: as I say in other cardgames, the best plan is "to win", rather than "to not lose".
The EV spread is taken from TrainerTower (thanks Kyrk for the useful links), and I chose Ice Fang over EQ/Taunt because it hits very hard Garchomp, Tapu Bulu (which doesn't OHKO Gyarados after Intimidate with Wooden Hammer), and has a chance to both flinch or freeze the opposing pokemons, in desperate situations.
Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
I took EVs again from TrainerTower, as the ones I used last time were a bit off the chart. 252 Atk is unnecessary, as 244 is able to OHKO three Tapus anyway, and Fini doesn't die even with a 252 spread.
Without AV, going for Protect is far more versatile than Brick Break. I took out that move because it's very dependant on A-Ninetales being on the other team, and even Reflect+Screen pokemons are very rare. Brick Break is an out to all these moves and strategies, but it has no other uses out of that.
I kept Shadow Sneak because it usually helps to kill weakened pokemons or gets in some damage before dying (if it gets outsped from the opposing pokemons).
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Brave Nature
EVs: 252 HP/180 Atk/8 Def/68 SpD
-Earthquake
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Detect
This is the TR Sweeper. I prefer EQ over Bonemerang as it does AoE damage, but it needs Tapu Koko (Protect), Gyarados (Flying), Kartana (Detect) as partners if it doesn't want to give free extra damage to the opponent's attacks.
Flare Blitz and Shadow Bone are fairly standard, as Detect for the same reasoning of it on Kartana.
As I said earlier, with Lightning Rod it is a free switch to Gyarados' side if the opponent is going for an electric move on him.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover
- Trick Room
This time I went with a more bulky P2 for some speed control against both TR teams and non-TR teams. As I wrote last time, the team could have some problems with opposing P2s, so I went with Toxic here to have some inevitability against bulky/walls that can't be easily killed.
I preferred Ice Beam instead of TBolt because it has more coverage, and has the chance to freeze (paralysis is slightly better imo, but Ice hits more types than Electric).
Many things changed from the first draft. Now P2 is more bulky and has Toxic to check opposing P2s and bulkier teams, I gave Gyarados a more aggressive set and Waterium-Z for some serious damage, and lastly the "which pokemons play as lead" has changed a bit, focusing a bit more on aggressiveness in the early turns with Gyarados/Koko/Marowak (depending on the opposing team), and then being able to change the pace of the game with some bulkier pokemons such as Muk and P2 that can take some damage and chip away some more health from enemies.
What do you guys think?
Hey all, here's my homework. I just started playing on Doubles, and I'd really like to start participating in the Teambuilding Forum to improve my (newbie) skills.
I'm just going with Josse Calzado's team from Georgia Regionals (http://www.trainertower.com/vgc-17-georgia-regionals/), as it looks like a team I would like to use.
First of all, the team looks very offensively oriented with a TR plan-B. Tapu Koko looks like a solid lead, being superfast and having access to both setup-denying moves such as Taunt and very strong single and AoE attacks (Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam).
The other lead could be Muk (against Tapu teams), Gyarados (against hyper-physical teams), or Kartana (to scout some moves with Protect/Detect).
Marowak-A helps a lot with Lightning Rod to give Gyarados a chance to setup or attack some pokemons, and Gyarados in return is Flying-Type to let Marowak EQ with ease.
Porygon2, depending on the Team setup, could use TR to let Marowak sweep a non-TR-weakened team, or even be an anti-TR itself, as most of the team should easily outspeed many TR-oriented teams.
That said, I decided to go for a more aggressive route, mostly because I prefer this style of play.
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
-Dazzling Gleam
-Thunderbolt
-Taunt
-Protect
As said before, Taunt gives Koko a chance to stop early TR-setters or any different setups (calm mind on Tapu Fini, for example).
Protect is a staple-move in Doubles (as far as I know), and gives eventual Marowak-A a chance to EQ freely with Koko (but then Koko can't TBolt things down).
Probably Timid nature is an "overkill" in terms of speed, but it is a speed-tie with Jolly Aerodactyl (which could be annoying with Rock Slide / Tailwind / Wide Guard). If I'm not expeting any of those rocky flyers, I'd probably go with Modest nature, for more AoE power.
Even a lead with Koko and switch to Muk can pose a threat for Cloyster leads, as Koko can break sash with a single TBolt and then Muk can go with Shadow Sneak to get a priority kill on Cloyster after Shell Smash.
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Ultraboost
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SpD/252 Spe
-Sacred Sword
-Leaf Blade
-Smart Strike
-Detect
Here I'm going for Detect, as I read on the Smogon Dex that it plays around eventual Imprison-Muks that run Protect. So why not use it?
This is played as a late-game sweeper or an early-game dreamcrusher if the opponent has few checks to it. This kills Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini, while Muk gets Koko and Bulu.
I think that having Jolly here is more important than having Timid on Koko, as hitting first for Kartana is huge (mostly because of Focus Sash that gives her an extra turn).
Gyarados @ Waterium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Protect
As it has been said, a more aggressive-oriented Gyarados is better than Subdance Gyarados. As I've been testing Sejun's Team extensively in the last days, I saw how Arcanine (having a similar role to Gyarados here) is much better as an offensive intimidate attacker than a defensive one: as I say in other cardgames, the best plan is "to win", rather than "to not lose".
The EV spread is taken from TrainerTower (thanks Kyrk for the useful links), and I chose Ice Fang over EQ/Taunt because it hits very hard Garchomp, Tapu Bulu (which doesn't OHKO Gyarados after Intimidate with Wooden Hammer), and has a chance to both flinch or freeze the opposing pokemons, in desperate situations.
Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
I took EVs again from TrainerTower, as the ones I used last time were a bit off the chart. 252 Atk is unnecessary, as 244 is able to OHKO three Tapus anyway, and Fini doesn't die even with a 252 spread.
Without AV, going for Protect is far more versatile than Brick Break. I took out that move because it's very dependant on A-Ninetales being on the other team, and even Reflect+Screen pokemons are very rare. Brick Break is an out to all these moves and strategies, but it has no other uses out of that.
I kept Shadow Sneak because it usually helps to kill weakened pokemons or gets in some damage before dying (if it gets outsped from the opposing pokemons).
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Brave Nature
EVs: 252 HP/180 Atk/8 Def/68 SpD
-Earthquake
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Detect
This is the TR Sweeper. I prefer EQ over Bonemerang as it does AoE damage, but it needs Tapu Koko (Protect), Gyarados (Flying), Kartana (Detect) as partners if it doesn't want to give free extra damage to the opponent's attacks.
Flare Blitz and Shadow Bone are fairly standard, as Detect for the same reasoning of it on Kartana.
As I said earlier, with Lightning Rod it is a free switch to Gyarados' side if the opponent is going for an electric move on him.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover
- Trick Room
This time I went with a more bulky P2 for some speed control against both TR teams and non-TR teams. As I wrote last time, the team could have some problems with opposing P2s, so I went with Toxic here to have some inevitability against bulky/walls that can't be easily killed.
I preferred Ice Beam instead of TBolt because it has more coverage, and has the chance to freeze (paralysis is slightly better imo, but Ice hits more types than Electric).
Many things changed from the first draft. Now P2 is more bulky and has Toxic to check opposing P2s and bulkier teams, I gave Gyarados a more aggressive set and Waterium-Z for some serious damage, and lastly the "which pokemons play as lead" has changed a bit, focusing a bit more on aggressiveness in the early turns with Gyarados/Koko/Marowak (depending on the opposing team), and then being able to change the pace of the game with some bulkier pokemons such as Muk and P2 that can take some damage and chip away some more health from enemies.
What do you guys think?
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Okay, so first of all, welcome to VGC!
Now, although my account is fairly new, I do know a fair bit, so I will give you my piece.
You address leads as if you are playing singles, and never mention anything about cores or pairs of Pokémon, which obviously is what you will be using.
Although some singles sets transfer over to doubles, many do not, (as I learned last gen...) for example, Muk in doubles is meant to (usually) be fairly bulky, with a 50% berry and Gluttony, and enough attack to still pack a punch.
In my opinion, bulky P2 is more important than power, as I feel the bulk is needed for setting up Trick Room, however several people have had success lately with mixed P2, using Return for when P2 gets an attack Boost, so many innovations are proving successful with this Pokémon.
As for the Z Move, I would recommend putting it on Gyarados and changing the set to something more offensive.
Marowak is not as common as it used to be, (although it still exists) and especially with Earthquake, so it is not as large of a problem. (and Waterium Z on Gyarados would help with it)
Anyway, you show potential as a player, (in that you understand doubles) and I hope you listen to my suggestions and the suggestions of other users and edit/try again.
:-) - Jedirb
Well, I got shot down anyway, guess I'll have to pick a new team and start over. Remember, this isn't something I'm actually running, this is something I'm trying to do so I can actually post RMTs.
That may be part of your issue, the way I had to do it to be successful was to put myself in the mind of the person who made the team, and make it into something I would want to run. Just a second opinion. :-)
So I saw Seven_poke in Showdown after utterly failing with a team that I had spent 2 days on.
Thus, in his honor, for my second attempt I will use his 9th place georgia regionals team. This, again, took 2 days and more than a little bit of feedback along the way.
Tapu Koko @ Tapunium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 4 Def / 204 SpA / 28 SpD / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Nature's Madness
- Volt Switch
- Protect
Copied from Trainer Tower, who copied from Shinon's blog. Got a lot of damage calcs on the source, plus on paper I like the volt switch. Always been a fan of the unrelenting offensive pressure approach. Guardian of Alola is for when I'm not going hail mode and P2 shows up to wall the shit out of me. Calling the Megazord on your virtual ass.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 196 SpA / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
A bulky spread to take advantage of its great defensive typing. 12 Speed is from trainer tower and used to creep other fini. Muddy Water is a spread stab that can come with accuracy drop hax, so that's nice
Buzzwole @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 SpDef / 88 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Lunge
-Superpower
-Rock Tomb
-Fire Punch
Overall the team has issues with steel types. Buzzwole and his massive pecs are here to save the day, smashing through Kartana, Celesteela and even his evil twin. Lunge is chosen over Leech Life for the dependable attack drop over the uncertain health gain. SpDef investment is used to gain more out of the Assault Vest hold item, but can be played with depending on what you want to outspeed/underspeed. Adamant is chosen over Jolly to get the most out of Beast Boost and to make sure that one Superpower is felt.
Ninetales-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Modest nature
-Blizzard
-Dazzling Gleam
-Freeze Dry
-Aurora Veil
The play is to set up Aurora Veil t1 while Sandslash takes out a threat with Tectonic Rage, then spam the appropriate moves. Freeze Dry is great against rain teams.
Sandslash-Alola @ Groundium Z
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Ability: Slush Rush
Adamant nature
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Icicle Crash
-Protect
When going hail mode, this comes out alongside Ninetales. Groundium Z is used to have a one-off ground move without the fallout of EQ. Meet the new Excadrill.
Muk @ Black Sludge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Ability: Poison Touch
Brave nature
-Poison Jab
-Curse
-Shadow Sneak
-Knock Off
Muk is here to shore up the team's weakness to Trick Room between its natural slow speed and Curse. Knock Off is powerful and useful, Poison Jab for anti-tapu, and Shadow Sneak for needed priority. Power of Alchemy seems it's open to all sorts of wacky plays, but I don't want to get cute.
Edit: Replaced LO on Koko with Tapunium to make the team legal. Also replaced Dazzling Gleam with Nature's Madness to be able to use the Tapunium.
Thus, in his honor, for my second attempt I will use his 9th place georgia regionals team. This, again, took 2 days and more than a little bit of feedback along the way.
Tapu Koko @ Tapunium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 4 Def / 204 SpA / 28 SpD / 244 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Nature's Madness
- Volt Switch
- Protect
Copied from Trainer Tower, who copied from Shinon's blog. Got a lot of damage calcs on the source, plus on paper I like the volt switch. Always been a fan of the unrelenting offensive pressure approach. Guardian of Alola is for when I'm not going hail mode and P2 shows up to wall the shit out of me. Calling the Megazord on your virtual ass.
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 196 SpA / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
A bulky spread to take advantage of its great defensive typing. 12 Speed is from trainer tower and used to creep other fini. Muddy Water is a spread stab that can come with accuracy drop hax, so that's nice
Buzzwole @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 176 SpDef / 88 Speed
Adamant Nature
-Lunge
-Superpower
-Rock Tomb
-Fire Punch
Overall the team has issues with steel types. Buzzwole and his massive pecs are here to save the day, smashing through Kartana, Celesteela and even his evil twin. Lunge is chosen over Leech Life for the dependable attack drop over the uncertain health gain. SpDef investment is used to gain more out of the Assault Vest hold item, but can be played with depending on what you want to outspeed/underspeed. Adamant is chosen over Jolly to get the most out of Beast Boost and to make sure that one Superpower is felt.
Ninetales-Alola @ Life Orb
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Speed
Modest nature
-Blizzard
-Dazzling Gleam
-Freeze Dry
-Aurora Veil
The play is to set up Aurora Veil t1 while Sandslash takes out a threat with Tectonic Rage, then spam the appropriate moves. Freeze Dry is great against rain teams.
Sandslash-Alola @ Groundium Z
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
Ability: Slush Rush
Adamant nature
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Icicle Crash
-Protect
When going hail mode, this comes out alongside Ninetales. Groundium Z is used to have a one-off ground move without the fallout of EQ. Meet the new Excadrill.
Muk @ Black Sludge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Ability: Poison Touch
Brave nature
-Poison Jab
-Curse
-Shadow Sneak
-Knock Off
Muk is here to shore up the team's weakness to Trick Room between its natural slow speed and Curse. Knock Off is powerful and useful, Poison Jab for anti-tapu, and Shadow Sneak for needed priority. Power of Alchemy seems it's open to all sorts of wacky plays, but I don't want to get cute.
Edit: Replaced LO on Koko with Tapunium to make the team legal. Also replaced Dazzling Gleam with Nature's Madness to be able to use the Tapunium.
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Okay, so your descriptions are very short, and don't explain your odd choices, why such an offensive Muk? Why Tapunium over Fairium? Why Dazzling Gleam and Life Orb over Protect and Focus Sash? Why AV on Buzzwole? Why a Calm Fini?
Because terrain boosted tbolt doesn't even 3hko P2, and Guardian of Alola is useful for just about any wall to put it into KO range for anything else. As for the general offensive nature of the team, well, I like a 2016 style of suffocating hyper offense to keep the game plan simple for me and force my opponent to make good plays. I didn't even think of sash for ninetales...I guess the lesson I should learn from reading a few other people's entries is to playtest a team before submission to make sure it's valid and viable.
Okay, so I get what you are saying about guardian of alola, but Twinkle Tackle can KO several Pokémon that may give you trouble, Garchomp, other Kokos, etc. you still have not explained your Muk set at all, and frankly I am not satisfied with your analysis. Hopefully after you play test you will change stuff that maybe do not work as well in the format.
PS: The bulky defensive Muk set by PokeAlex still runs 244 attack, you can find those sets and more on TrainerTower.
Wanted to add some input on my friend's attempt, hopefully without being too in-depth:
Here are a few resources/tips I'd like you to check out more if you can:
I respect how hard you're trying to improve in this game, so I think you can do very well if you can apply these criticisms to your practice.
Here are a few resources/tips I'd like you to check out more if you can:
- http://www.trainertower.com/vgc-17-ev-spread-compendium/
- Don't feel ashamed for borrowing other player's sets, as even top players tend to do that; however, make sure you understand how those sets work best with your team, then make changes if you think it would benefit your team more.
- http://www.trainertower.com/damagecalc/
- This is your best bet for determining your own offensive/defensive calculations.
- The calculator also includes spreads for common sets from popular Pokémon for more accurate calculations (as well as potential spreads to use for your team)
- https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/battle/#wcs
- While it doesn't display EV spreads, it does show the most popular moves, abilities, natures, and held items for you to consider when building teams that are more fitting with the current meta.
- http://www.trainertower.com/vgc-2017-speed-tiers/
- For calculating more specific spreads for Speed.
- If you haven't been doing this already, when on Pokémon Showdown, I'd like you to watch more high-rated battles on the ladder to see what sets of common Pokémon they use, as well as how they use them.
I respect how hard you're trying to improve in this game, so I think you can do very well if you can apply these criticisms to your practice.
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Thanks for the kind words and for the suggestions!
I've been waiting for more suggestions, but it seems like the initial draft didn't pick others' interest.
So I'm going to modify the team, hoping to improve it from the last time:
The Pokemons I'll be modifying will be: Gyarados, Alolan-Muk and Porygon2.
Gyarados @ Waterium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Protect
As it has been said, a more aggressive-oriented Gyarados is better than Subdance Gyarados. As I've been testing Sejun's Team extensively in the last days, I saw how Arcanine (having a similar role to Gyarados here) is much better as an offensive intimidate attacker than a defensive one: as I say in other cardgames, the best plan is "to win", rather than "to not lose".
The EV spread is taken from TrainerTower (thanks Kyrk for the useful links), and I chose Ice Fang over EQ/Taunt because it hits very hard Garchomp, Tapu Bulu (which doesn't OHKO Gyarados after Intimidate with Wooden Hammer), and has a chance to both flinch or freeze the opposing pokemons, in desperate situations.
Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 188 HP / 244 Atk / 44 Def / 20 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Shadow Sneak
- Protect
I took EVs again from TrainerTower, as the ones I used last time were a bit off the chart. 252 Atk is unnecessary, as 244 is able to OHKO three Tapus anyway, and Fini doesn't die even with a 252 spread.
Without AV, going for Protect is far more versatile than Brick Break. I took out that move because it's very dependant on A-Ninetales being on the other team, and even Reflect+Screen pokemons are very rare. Brick Break is an out to all these moves and strategies, but it has no other uses out of that.
I kept Shadow Sneak because it usually helps to kill weakened pokemons or gets in some damage before dying (if it gets outsped from the opposing pokemons).
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 152 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
- Recover
- Trick Room
This time I went with a more bulky P2 for some speed control against both TR teams and non-TR teams. As I wrote last time, the team could have some problems with opposing P2s, so I went with Toxic here to have some inevitability against bulky/walls that can't be easily killed.
I preferred Ice Beam instead of TBolt because it has more coverage, and has the chance to freeze (paralysis is slightly better imo, but Ice hits more types than Electric).
About the "leads", I probably misspoke: the leads I was looking for were Tapu Koko + one of the other pokemons listed in my last post (so Muk against Tapus, Kartana against non-bulky teams, and Gyarados if it's easy to setup in the first turns or if Intimidate is needed, without losing "tempo"). So Koko+Muk, Koko+Kartana, Koko+Gyarados or Koko+P2 are the leads I'm looking for when playing this team.
The necessity of having Koko as lead is because he got Taunt, so it can stop status moves from the start: no TR/TW. Other than that, he got very strong attacks (thanks to Life Orb).
Usually TR/TW teams tend to lead with a Fake Out user + TR/TW setter, so a a Taunt Gyarados to help Koko stop the setup could be an option, thus Gyarados loses Ice Fang or Protect. Another option is to play our Porygon2 and wait to use TR until the other has setted it up (this way they won't be able to mindtrick you: not using TR because the opponent does it for me is awesome, if I'm the TR team).
Other than that, having more Pokemons with Protect help Marowak sweep with EQ if we couldn't stop the opponent from setupping Trick Room (so Marowak gets a lot stronger under TR), and having Gyarados with Waterium-Z gives much more offensive pressure.
Against non-TR/TW teams I don't think this team has many weaknesses: the pokemons I'm looking to bring in mostly are Tapu Koko, A-Muk, and Gyarados.
These three offer much pressure and longevity (Intimidate+Berry), while the fourth Pokemon could be P2 against bulkier teams (Toxic+Recovery spam), Kartana against aggressive-oriented teams with no Hail/
I know this team has the Grass-Fire-Water core, but I don't think it's needed in every match. That's why I'm trying to go always with Koko-Dos-Muk. If the opponent has many pokemons that can OHKO one of these three, I'm benching it, but I think they offer pretty much what I need in every game: an Intimidater, a Taunt user, a physical attacker, a special attacker, and a bulky support that can do some serious damage (Knock Off is so great). The last pokemon will patch the weaknesses of these three.
What do you guys think of the modifications?
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