Hello guys, I am Soyacan and am presenting my team for the upcoming VGC2015! I'm really hyped for the event so I decided to ask for some feedback on my team. Something to note: I try not to play the meta. Sure playing the mons all over the metagame is effective, but I don't find it too fun. Being able to use my favorite mons is probably my number 1 reason to add someone to my team. When this team was first made, it looked more like an RU lineup rather than a VGC one. Over the course of tweaking this team, I've made some reluctant replacements, but most of them I was cool with. Mons that I have tried to use but weren't really pulling their own were Hitmontop, AV Metagross, Mega Pidgeot, Rotom-Mow, Porygon2, Magnezone, Mega Beedrill, SD Cacturne, Mega Steelix, Liepard, and Chandelure. Below you will find the current version of my team, enjoy and feedback is greatly appreciated.
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber -> Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Ice Punch
- Protect
The Mega Pokemon I chose for my team, one of my favorites this generation, up there with Pidgeot and Beedrill. I tried the other two, but they didn't seem to do as well as Lopunny did, so I came back around to her. One of the most underrated Mega Evolutions in VGC in my opinion (poor Audino), this bunny hits like a truck full of baby elephants speeding down the Autobahn. A 136 attack stat allows it to hit hard, and a 135 speed stat allows Mega Lopunny to outspeed majority of the unscarfed meta (darn trick room). The EV spread provides further support for these two stats for maximum damage output, with the Jolly nature giving Lopunny that extra boost in speed. Return is a great 102 power STAB move that hurts basically anything that doesn't resist it. High Jump Kick provides a 130 power STAB move that laughs at Sableye and Aegislash (yay Scrappy) as well as pretty much anything else that doesn't resist it (sound familiar?). However, try to predict and avoid running into Protect with this move or else it will cost you half of your HP. Ice Punch is now a mandatory coverage move, with pretty much every team running atleast one dragon and/or Landorous. Protect is just protect.
10/10 Would like to keep on the team.
Noivern @ Choice Specs
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
I chose Noivern because IT IS AWAESOME and has a respectable special attack stat at 97. However, it's strength is its great speed stat at 123, beating Mega Salamence's 120 base speed, and just peeping over Greninja's 122, and straight up flying past majority of the unboosted/scarfed metagame except for Weavile and Mega Sceptile. Again, the EV spread is there to maximize these two stats, with Timid nature chosen to further increasing it's speed. Frisk is used to scout out the opponent's items, because I really don't like being surprised by a surprise Choice Scarf. It also helps in predicting what set an opponent may be running, as opposed to blindly guessing and hoping you are correct. Draco Meteor (STAB) will allow me to OHKO any other dragon competition (except for the rare AV Goodra), as well as threaten other mons. It deals a lot of damage to any mon that doesn't resist it (save for Cresselia and AV users), and also has a 75% chance to OHKO the most common Politoed set. Air Slash is there as a good STAB alternative to Hurricane, as that miss chance is too great and I can't count on fighting Rain teams 100% of the time, plus that flinch chance is nice. Heat Wave and Dark Pulse are coverage moves, the fire attack allowing Noivern to hit steel types (usually a last resort), and the dark attack is usually used to hit Cresselia.
However, this mon is kind of inconsistent is open to replacement suggestions. Also, in a meta full of other dragons, ice moves (damn icy wind), fairies, and rock slide, I was wondering if it'd be more beneficial to just not run a dragon type at all on my team rather than replacing Noivern with another dragon.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stun Spore
- Worry Seed
- Encore
- Memento
Definitely one of my favorite mons, I just had to run Whimsicott on this team as the disruptor. I thought of this set myself (although someone else probably already used it, if not then bravo me), and am absolutely loving it. As you can see, this set aims to make full use of Prankster, which is probably one of the best abilities in the game right now (imo). Stun Spore to slow down the opposing mons, and hope that their action gets blocked sometimes. Worry Seed is by far my favorite move right now, allowing me to mess up the opponents ability, effectively rendering many Pokemon useless by taking away their ability. Examples of common victims are Mega Kanghaskan, Mega Mawile, other Prankster users, Shedinja (lol), and to some extent Talonflame, Mega Salamence, and Sylveon. Encore is used to lock opponents into undesirable moves, usually Protect and Trick Room (for a free turn), but it also works on other set up moves. Lastly, I run memento as the cherry on top of the non-attacking cake. When the sash is broken and Whimsicott is pretty much guaranteed to die on the following turn, this move is used to halve the damage output of an opposing mon that seems like a threat, and ALMOST always forces a switch. Whimsicott is probably my most common lead, and can easily cripple the opposing leads within two turns.
There is no way that I'm going to VGC without this cotton-puffball.
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 140 SpA / 12 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Alright, everyone's favorite washing machine. Personally, I've never been a big fan of Rotom-Wash, but have recently begun to feel positive about it, as it counters both of Talonflame's STABs, can cripple physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp, and Hydro Pump seems pretty strong against anything that doesn't resist it. As for the EV spread and Modest nature, it is the one that I built for my Rotom-Heat back in the X&Y era, so I'm just using it for this year's VGC on Rotom-Wash (mostly out of laziness). I remember that it is made to survive a max attack Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return, and leaves Double Edge at under 20% of OHKOing (go Sitrus Berry!), and to minimize damage taken from weather. As for the other EVs, I honestly have no idea what they were meant for, probably to OHKO some threat and outspeed something important. As for the other two moves, Thunderbolt is a nice STAB move with reliable accuracy that may be used over Hydro Pump when I don't want to risk a miss. Lastly (and once again), Protect is here to be protect.
I feel that Rotom-Wash remains to be very strong and I would like to keep it on the team, am open to different EV spreads though.
Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Protect
With Salamance (mega or not) everywhere now, something that takes advantage of the opposing intimidation seems staple on most teams. I tried to use Milotic at first, but found Bisharp to be more consistent and reliable (plus he looks more badass). Knock Off + Sucker Punch can take out most threats that don't resist dark (damn fighting types) and does not hold a mega stone. In the case of Fairy types that do resist both of those moves (namely Sylveon), a STAB Iron Head will usually do the trick (I haven't done any calcs on this, but I have not seen a full HP Sylveon to survive an Iron Head from Bisharp before), assuming you don't miss. I'm not even going to mention Protect anymore :) Ummmm, I definitely would have slapped on Focus Sash on this guy, but I believe Whimsicott needs it more, so I went with the Life Orb for more offensive pressure.
I like having this guy on my team, the typing covers things that the rest of my team doesn't, and the Defiant boost is always cool. Still open to suggestions though.
Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Heat Wave
- Quiver Dance
- Rage Powder
Lastly, we have the moth. I was looking for a good balanced mon that can fair well against some threats, as well as deal good amounts of damage, as well as a nice fire type. My friend recommended me this set (which is totally cool cause I've always been a fan of Volcarona), and it's been doing decently. Getting up one or two Quiver Dances allows for a lot of KOs made easy, while Bug Buzz is a great and reliable STAB move that also hits the opposing mon that is camping behind a plushie. Heat Wave is also a nice STAB that hits both opposing mons at the cost of a bit of accuracy, that may be a bit frustrating at times. Lastly, Rage Powder is used in conjunction with my EV spread, Bold Nature, Flame Body, and Rocky Helmet to tank some physical damage (despite Volcarona's crappy defense stat), deal some damage back to them, and provide a chance to burn them (I hate Mega Kanghaskan so this is cool).
I'm not too sure about Volcarona right now, she does her job decently, but I usually feel like something could be done better, or she is lacking in some aspect. I was thinking about using Arcanine, but didn't want another physical attacker, as most mons seem to have higher natural defense than special defense nowadays.
So there we have it. My somewhat (but not very) unorthodox VGC team, a something that I like to call it to make me good about winning (which happens decently). I'm pretty cool with four out of six of the members on my team right now (the ones that end in green text in case you didn't figure that out. I almost always use lead with Whimsicott and bring in Lopunny (sometimes lead, sometimes not), depending on if they can easily mess up both of them. Anyways, it's late and I'm tired (jetlag :3) so I'm going to wrap this up here. Feel free to leave an suggestions below, I will take a look at all criticism (constructive please)! Thank you all for reading and for suggestions for improvement in advance. Lastly, I wish all of you good luck at this year's VGC.
Peace out.
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber -> Scrappy
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Return
- Ice Punch
- Protect
The Mega Pokemon I chose for my team, one of my favorites this generation, up there with Pidgeot and Beedrill. I tried the other two, but they didn't seem to do as well as Lopunny did, so I came back around to her. One of the most underrated Mega Evolutions in VGC in my opinion (poor Audino), this bunny hits like a truck full of baby elephants speeding down the Autobahn. A 136 attack stat allows it to hit hard, and a 135 speed stat allows Mega Lopunny to outspeed majority of the unscarfed meta (darn trick room). The EV spread provides further support for these two stats for maximum damage output, with the Jolly nature giving Lopunny that extra boost in speed. Return is a great 102 power STAB move that hurts basically anything that doesn't resist it. High Jump Kick provides a 130 power STAB move that laughs at Sableye and Aegislash (yay Scrappy) as well as pretty much anything else that doesn't resist it (sound familiar?). However, try to predict and avoid running into Protect with this move or else it will cost you half of your HP. Ice Punch is now a mandatory coverage move, with pretty much every team running atleast one dragon and/or Landorous. Protect is just protect.
10/10 Would like to keep on the team.
Noivern @ Choice Specs
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Dark Pulse
I chose Noivern because IT IS AWAESOME and has a respectable special attack stat at 97. However, it's strength is its great speed stat at 123, beating Mega Salamence's 120 base speed, and just peeping over Greninja's 122, and straight up flying past majority of the unboosted/scarfed metagame except for Weavile and Mega Sceptile. Again, the EV spread is there to maximize these two stats, with Timid nature chosen to further increasing it's speed. Frisk is used to scout out the opponent's items, because I really don't like being surprised by a surprise Choice Scarf. It also helps in predicting what set an opponent may be running, as opposed to blindly guessing and hoping you are correct. Draco Meteor (STAB) will allow me to OHKO any other dragon competition (except for the rare AV Goodra), as well as threaten other mons. It deals a lot of damage to any mon that doesn't resist it (save for Cresselia and AV users), and also has a 75% chance to OHKO the most common Politoed set. Air Slash is there as a good STAB alternative to Hurricane, as that miss chance is too great and I can't count on fighting Rain teams 100% of the time, plus that flinch chance is nice. Heat Wave and Dark Pulse are coverage moves, the fire attack allowing Noivern to hit steel types (usually a last resort), and the dark attack is usually used to hit Cresselia.
However, this mon is kind of inconsistent is open to replacement suggestions. Also, in a meta full of other dragons, ice moves (damn icy wind), fairies, and rock slide, I was wondering if it'd be more beneficial to just not run a dragon type at all on my team rather than replacing Noivern with another dragon.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stun Spore
- Worry Seed
- Encore
- Memento
Definitely one of my favorite mons, I just had to run Whimsicott on this team as the disruptor. I thought of this set myself (although someone else probably already used it, if not then bravo me), and am absolutely loving it. As you can see, this set aims to make full use of Prankster, which is probably one of the best abilities in the game right now (imo). Stun Spore to slow down the opposing mons, and hope that their action gets blocked sometimes. Worry Seed is by far my favorite move right now, allowing me to mess up the opponents ability, effectively rendering many Pokemon useless by taking away their ability. Examples of common victims are Mega Kanghaskan, Mega Mawile, other Prankster users, Shedinja (lol), and to some extent Talonflame, Mega Salamence, and Sylveon. Encore is used to lock opponents into undesirable moves, usually Protect and Trick Room (for a free turn), but it also works on other set up moves. Lastly, I run memento as the cherry on top of the non-attacking cake. When the sash is broken and Whimsicott is pretty much guaranteed to die on the following turn, this move is used to halve the damage output of an opposing mon that seems like a threat, and ALMOST always forces a switch. Whimsicott is probably my most common lead, and can easily cripple the opposing leads within two turns.
There is no way that I'm going to VGC without this cotton-puffball.
Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 140 SpA / 12 SpD / 60 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
Alright, everyone's favorite washing machine. Personally, I've never been a big fan of Rotom-Wash, but have recently begun to feel positive about it, as it counters both of Talonflame's STABs, can cripple physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp, and Hydro Pump seems pretty strong against anything that doesn't resist it. As for the EV spread and Modest nature, it is the one that I built for my Rotom-Heat back in the X&Y era, so I'm just using it for this year's VGC on Rotom-Wash (mostly out of laziness). I remember that it is made to survive a max attack Jolly Mega Kangaskhan's Return, and leaves Double Edge at under 20% of OHKOing (go Sitrus Berry!), and to minimize damage taken from weather. As for the other EVs, I honestly have no idea what they were meant for, probably to OHKO some threat and outspeed something important. As for the other two moves, Thunderbolt is a nice STAB move with reliable accuracy that may be used over Hydro Pump when I don't want to risk a miss. Lastly (and once again), Protect is here to be protect.
I feel that Rotom-Wash remains to be very strong and I would like to keep it on the team, am open to different EV spreads though.
Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Protect
With Salamance (mega or not) everywhere now, something that takes advantage of the opposing intimidation seems staple on most teams. I tried to use Milotic at first, but found Bisharp to be more consistent and reliable (plus he looks more badass). Knock Off + Sucker Punch can take out most threats that don't resist dark (damn fighting types) and does not hold a mega stone. In the case of Fairy types that do resist both of those moves (namely Sylveon), a STAB Iron Head will usually do the trick (I haven't done any calcs on this, but I have not seen a full HP Sylveon to survive an Iron Head from Bisharp before), assuming you don't miss. I'm not even going to mention Protect anymore :) Ummmm, I definitely would have slapped on Focus Sash on this guy, but I believe Whimsicott needs it more, so I went with the Life Orb for more offensive pressure.
I like having this guy on my team, the typing covers things that the rest of my team doesn't, and the Defiant boost is always cool. Still open to suggestions though.
Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Bug Buzz
- Heat Wave
- Quiver Dance
- Rage Powder
Lastly, we have the moth. I was looking for a good balanced mon that can fair well against some threats, as well as deal good amounts of damage, as well as a nice fire type. My friend recommended me this set (which is totally cool cause I've always been a fan of Volcarona), and it's been doing decently. Getting up one or two Quiver Dances allows for a lot of KOs made easy, while Bug Buzz is a great and reliable STAB move that also hits the opposing mon that is camping behind a plushie. Heat Wave is also a nice STAB that hits both opposing mons at the cost of a bit of accuracy, that may be a bit frustrating at times. Lastly, Rage Powder is used in conjunction with my EV spread, Bold Nature, Flame Body, and Rocky Helmet to tank some physical damage (despite Volcarona's crappy defense stat), deal some damage back to them, and provide a chance to burn them (I hate Mega Kanghaskan so this is cool).
I'm not too sure about Volcarona right now, she does her job decently, but I usually feel like something could be done better, or she is lacking in some aspect. I was thinking about using Arcanine, but didn't want another physical attacker, as most mons seem to have higher natural defense than special defense nowadays.
So there we have it. My somewhat (but not very) unorthodox VGC team, a something that I like to call it to make me good about winning (which happens decently). I'm pretty cool with four out of six of the members on my team right now (the ones that end in green text in case you didn't figure that out. I almost always use lead with Whimsicott and bring in Lopunny (sometimes lead, sometimes not), depending on if they can easily mess up both of them. Anyways, it's late and I'm tired (jetlag :3) so I'm going to wrap this up here. Feel free to leave an suggestions below, I will take a look at all criticism (constructive please)! Thank you all for reading and for suggestions for improvement in advance. Lastly, I wish all of you good luck at this year's VGC.
Peace out.