My First Try in VGC !

[cagt3000]

SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR CHANGELOG

Hello dear world of Smogon :)

So basically, I've never really done any competitive Pokemon battling, just fun battles with friends and my brother. My brother actually went to a Pokemon Red tournament when he was my age (I'm 15, and he's 25), and got second ! So I've always wanted to do something like him. And now that I heard Pokemon VGC Regionals are coming in April, I thought it was the perfect moment to start practicing :)

THE TEAM: FIRST LOOK

Now that you got a team preview, let's go in details :)

Weavile @ Scope Lens
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Protect

I actually cought a shiny Sneasel, and evolved it :)

Weavile is a tough Motherf*****. He's got blinding speed, great attack, and a good variety of moves ! If you're not careful, he'll really **** you up :)

Fake Out was a must on him, seeing as he replaced my Ambipom (RIP Ambi). Since Weavile is the fastest Fake Outer in the game, that'll ensure me to always go first. And even in normal gameplay, I'll probably be the fastest.

Night Slash does STAB damage, but also has a high critical-hit ratio. Pair that up with Scope Lens, and BOOM he's dead ! Ice Punch also serves very useful, as it can take down threatening types, such as Dragon and Ground. Protect... is Protect.

Breloom (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Protect

Yes, a Spore Breloom...

This little guy will go along with my Weavile as a lead. While Weavile focuses on Fake Out, he will focus on Spore. Basically, Weavile Fakes Out one PKMN while Breloom spores the other. Then, I follow according to the pokemons/situation.

Along with Spore, I've given him Mach Punch and Seed Bomb. Mach Punch is here for any PKMN that I need to finish (so that Ambi doesn't waist a turn), and Bullet is his main attack move, and also a nice counter to Rain Team PKMNS + STAB + Technician. As for Protect, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Now since Breloom isn't the fastest PKMN, I expected him to be taken out pretty quickly if the opponent knew how to counter it. Which is why I gave him a Focus Sash in case anything bad happens.

Hydreigon (M) @ White Herb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 60 HP / 252 SAtk / 196 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Metero
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Protect

Oh look, a 3-headed dragon ! That's not so dangerous, right ?...

This guy serves a few purposes. The first is mainly to deal heavy damage. Draco Meteor is for any general PKMN, and with a STAB, it deals really good damage. It also counters other Dragon types, so that's always a good thing to have :)

Flamethrower is there for any PKMN that are weak to only Fire, or that have Fire as one of their few weaknesses (Escavalier, Metagross...). Dark Pulse, on the other hand, is not only a STAB, but also a nice counter to those pesky Psychic types like Cresselia or Reuniclus. Protect is what it is. Protect.

Lastly, I paired him up with Terrakion. Since he's got Levitate, he won't get him by Terrakion's Earthquake, which lets him do all the damage he needs :)

White Herb is there to counter the Sp Atk drop from Draco Meteor, so I don't need a big explanation for that...

Terrakion @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Speaking of Terrakion...

As stated earlier, Terrakion serves as an ally to Hydreigon. Terrakion's bulky, speedy, and extremely powerful. He's got his Earthquake when paired up with Hydreigon (or even Latios), and always has his Rock Slide too. Add in Close Combat for heavy STAB damage and X-Scizor for type coverage, and you've got yourself one baddass bull...

Finally, his Life Orb gives him a nice 30% boost in power. Sure, it's not a Choice Band, but at least he's not locked in into one move...

Heatran (F) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Substitute

Is ma boy, HEATRAN ! YEAH !

Heatran is my team's offensive tank. Sure, I didn't put any EV's in his defenses, but he's still a very good wall, given his high defensive base stats and Steel type. For moves, he's packing a Sub/Protect set (like Chenkovsky suggested). Heat Wave is his main damaging move, and along with STAB and high Sp Atk, does some CRAZY damage.

Following that is Earth Power. Now I know it's not an Earthquake, but Heatran's a special attacker, and this is a GREAT move for him. Also, it doesn't hit your teammate, so you don't have to worry about that anymore :)

His 2nd main is his Sub/Protect. Whenever I get the chance, I can setup a Sub, and use Protect whenever the other person is using a move that could take down my Sub. Put that in with the fact that I'm packing Leftovers, means that I'll be almost invincible in Sub :) HECK YEAH !

Latios (M) @ Dragon Gem
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Oh, Latios...

Contrary to what you might be thinking at this moment while reading this text, Latios is NOT a last-spot fill. It actually plays a bigger role.

First of all, it's a backup to Hydreigon. Latios ALSO has Levitate, AND has a few moves that distant itself from the others. Dragon Pulse is the classic Dragon move. Psyshock is an alternative to Psychic, and having a STAB on it surprises the enemy even more. Ice Beam is to counter any Ground types, and well, Dragon types too. It's the only PKMN with Ice Beam, so that's why it's so important.

Finally, Dragon Gem is there to give it that extra punch for Dragon Pulse. And since Latios is pretty speedy, I'll probably bee the first one to move...

TEAM PERFORMANCE

02/12
- Me OWNING a Hail Team: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9655738
- Terrible bad play from my part: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9687802

02/14
- Awseome sweep with Garchomp, but failed to finish against Togekiss: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9810057

02/16
- Enemy rage-quit after I double KO'ed him: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9918180

02/17
- AWSEOME sweep with ONLY Ambipom and Breloom: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9955870

02/19
- Close game, but ended up winning by luck: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev10094884
- AWSEOME AND FUN fight I had: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev10156820
- Guy forfeits after having Earthquake'd his own Chandelure: http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev10162394

02/16
- Ace game :): http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-doublesvgc2013dev10627329

ALTERNATE POKEMONS

None for now :P

SUGGESTED POKEMONS

None for now :P

FINAL THOUGHTS
So essentially, my whole technique is too annoy and disrupt the enemy as much as possible w/ Ambi and Breloom (along with some damage), and finish off with my 2 other PKMNS. My main concern with this is Ice, since 4 of my PKMNS are effected by it. But I practice everyday on the Simulator, so I found ways around it :)

Now I do want to stay with a Goodstuff team, mainly because I don't have to worry about a specific thing when battling. For example, when you got a TR team (which I've actually went for at first), you have to worry about setting up the TR, keeping it, using your TR time right, and being able to reput it when it's over. But the thing is, many teams have counters to those, which greatly reduces my chances of being successful. Same goes for a Weather team. If a Rain or Sandstorm doesn't go up, my whole team is ruined. Plus, my PKMNS are designed around it, so if a counter or flaw is found, I'm basically screwed. But with a goodstuff team, that doesn't happen. You don't rely on a specific strategy, but more on a global offensive play that doesn't have any specific setup or counter, therefore MUCH harder to predict.

REMEMBER, this is my first time in competitive PKMN and VGC. So please don't be too harsh. I'm fully open to suggestions for goodstuff, so feel free to drop by and tell me what you think :)

See you guys at VGC ;)

CHANGELOG

EDIT 02/10
Ambipom: - Replaced Silk Scarf with Normal Gem
- Replaced Return with Double Hit
- Changed description to match changes

Breloom: - Replaced Effect Spore with Technician
- Replaced Seed Bomb with Bullet Seed
- Changed description to match changes

Hydreigon: - Changed EV spread
- Replaced Modest Nature with Timid Nature
- Replaced Leftovers with Dragon Gem
- Changed description to match changes

Garchomp: - Changed EV spread
- Replaced Adamant Nature with Jolly Nature

Volcarona: No changes were made

Latios: - Replaced Modest Nature with Timid Nature

EDIT 02/11
Volcarona: - Replaced Psychic with Quiver Dance
- Changed description to match changes

Garchomp: - Replaced Yache Berry with Haban Berry
- Changed description to match changes

EDIT 02/15
Garchomp: - Replaced Fire Fang with Rock Slide
- Changed description to match changes

ALTERNATE POKEMONS: - Added Infernape
- Added chance of addition in main team for each PKMN

OTHER: - Added "SUGGESTED POKEMONS" section

EDIT 02/16
Terrakion: - Increased chance of addition from 30% to 70%

Infernape: - Decreased chance of addition from 70% to 30%

EDIT 02/17
OTHER: - Added "Team Performance" section

EDIT 02/19
TEAM PERFORMANCE: - Added new battle

TEAM STRUCTURE: - Replaced Ambipom with Weavile
- Replaced Garchomp with Terrakion
- Changed descriptions to match changes

Terrakion: - Replaced Choice Band with Life Orb
- Changed description to match changes

Hydreigon: - Replaced Dragon Gem with White Herb
- Changed description to match changes

Latios: - Replaced Life Orb with Dragon Gem
- Changed description to match changes

ALTERNATE POKEMONS: - Took off Infernape
- Changed description to match changes

EDIT 02/10
TEAM STRUCTURE: - Replaced Volcarona with Heatran
- Changed description to match changes​

 

[tlyee61]

hi, looks like a good team. on ambipom, I might use normal gem because after using fake out, you'll have a powerful acrobatics. I would try technician breloom with bullet seed > seed bomb. sometimes, effect spore can give an unwanted status to another pokemon, messing up your own spore. also, maybe change the item so that volcarona can use sash. for hydreigon and garchomp, I would recommned stealing some ideas from here: http://nuggetbridge.com/reports/third-times-the-charm-masters-world-champion-team-analysis/ I might try Terrakion over Hydreigon or Breloom because it synergizes nicely with the rest of your team. on latios, timid > modest to outspeed other latios and hit them with a dragon pulse. also, if you plan to use weavile and terrakion, it might be worth it to do a beat-up combo with these two. (use beat up on terrakion so it gets +4 because of Justified, just make sure not to use sash on him xD)

 

[Mymble]

Any hail team can walk straight over your entire team, with over half of your team weak to it. Try ninetails (protect, will-o-wisp, heat wave, solarbeam. with an iron ball to slow it down, the slowest auto weather gets it weather up.) instead of hydregion. Possibly chlorophyll sawsbuck instead of brelloom it's speed doubles in sun and gets nature power (it becomes earthquake) jump kick and stab horn leach. Timid on latios, with sunny day instead ice beam so you don't have to lead with ninetails. One final thought if you want your ambipom to annoy then you should work Taunt into that set, also definitely carry normal gem. Otherwise hope I helped and good luck ;).

 

[cagt3000]

Alright, thanks for the response ! I've added a changelog so you guys can see how the team, well, changed ! :)

As for some of your suggestions, here is what I think:

@tlyee61 -> The Weavile Beat-Up + Terrakion Justified combo isn't really good. Most of the time I end up just either attacking directly, or get pummeled by the enemy PKNNS. Plus, it requires a turn of setup that can be easily messed with, leaving the other player time to setup THEIR thing (i.e. like a TR or Tailwind)

@Chenkovsky -> A sun team doesn't really interest me. Given the fact that it only really affects 2 PKMNS (3 technically if you count Volcarona), it doesn't really help me. And if the other team either takes advantage of it or has a counter to it, I'm screwed. I rather would stay with my semi-goodstuff team, thank you very much :)

 

[Golden Piloswine]

Any hail team can walk straight over your entire team, with over half of your team weak to it. Try ninetails (protect, will-o-wisp, heat wave, solarbeam. with an iron ball to slow it down, the slowest auto weather gets it weather up.) instead of hydregion. Possibly chlorophyll sawsbuck instead of brelloom it's speed doubles in sun and gets nature power (it becomes earthquake) jump kick and stab horn leach. Timid on latios, with sunny day instead ice beam so you don't have to lead with ninetails. One final thought if you want your ambipom to annoy then you should work Taunt into that set, also definitely carry normal gem. Otherwise hope I helped and good luck ;).

Isn't changing the team to partial sun kind of changing the purpose. We're supposed to help him achieve his goal of, apparently goodstuff, so I don't think we should be suggesting sun/sweep combo. :/

 

[cagt3000]

@Golden Piloswine -> Yeah I probably should have precised that in my original post. But yeah, I want to go more towards a goodstuff team, as I don't have to focus on a specific technique. Plus, I can hit a much wider range of PKMNS, and I won't be totally lost if one PKMN gets knocked out, unlike in a TR or Weather team for example, since every Pokemon used is crucial...

EDIT: Added a paragraph in the "FINAL THOUGHTS" section !

 

[Mymble]

I respect your decision but technically garchomps' fire fang gets to useable power in sun, as well as there was no sign of a dedicated strategy. You know very well that teams with a strategy play better than those without. Anywho, I would make a recommendation timid on Latios the change log said jolly, and one last thing replace psychic with quiver dance on volcarona. Again hope I helped and good luck.

Chenkovsky.

 

[Golden Piloswine]

Quiver Dance is like Swords Dance on Scizor, excellent when it works bad if you get encored. :/ but encore is not to rare so I'd recommend it also. You can try to run scarf volcarona and do Overheat Hidden Power Ice Bug Buzz Psychic. Just a small suggestion. Play test it to see if your comfterable. Your set is good though.

 

[Mymble]

encore is only problem if it's used by whimsicott, but if you run taunt on ambipom like I recommended that shouldn't be too much of a problem and you should get a few easy sweeps out of it.

 

[tlyee61]

hi, in the OP Latios is still Modest and idk why you would want Jolly on it, Timid is much better in that it doesn't lower your special attack. I second QD on Volcarona because you can form a TopMoth combo with Ambipom (or Weavile). If you're going to use Ray's spread on Chop, you have to use Haban. Without it, the SpDef EVs are pointless.

 

[cagt3000]

@Chevovsky -> Woops. Don't know why I put Jolly there. My bad ! Let me change it back to Timid. For Volcarona, I think you're right. I'll put Quiver Dance. And for Encores: the Ambi + Breloom combo's there to counter that... And I actually don't see that many Encores...

@Golden Piloswine -> Scarfed Volcarona seems kinda risky IMO, but I'll give it a try.

@tlyee61 -> What do you mean by Haban ? As in the Haban Berry ? I prefer the Yache Berry, since Garchomp has a x4 weakness to Ice. Plus, the SpDef EVs help. So no it's not pointless...

ALSO, I don't seem to receive any emails when there's a new post, even though I subscribed to it, and set the options to "Instant Email Notification". Any thoughts ? And no, it's not in my Spam.

EDIT: Actually, nevermind tlyee61. Now I see why I should use the Haban Berry if I have SpDef EVs. Thanks, I'll edit that !

 

[tlyee61]

I wouldn't recommend Scarf Volcarona. QD is a much safer alternate and it still gives you a speed boost. Also, it lets Volcarona hit much harder.

 

[Mymble]

Very few pokemon can run a offensive scarf set without the intention of gettin rid of it. Hydreigon, garchomp, and mamoswine do it best in my opinion, so if you want to try scarfing something I'd recommend Hydreigon with surf instead of protect.

 

[Golden Piloswine]

Scarf Volcanrona is for surprise factor, and should only be used to test things, unless you feel very good about it. Doesn't Liepard have Enocre also, so how is Whimsicott the only threat?

 

[cagt3000]

@tlyee61 -> Yeah that's why I thought it was kinda risky too...

@Chenkovsky -> Wut Surf on Hydreigon ? Why ?

@Golden Piloswine -> I'll just test it out a little, see how it is. And yes, Liepard does have Encore !

And can anyone tell me why I don't receive email notifications for new posts, even though I'm subscribed and chose the "Instant Notification" option ?

 

[Mymble]

surf allows you another coverage and spread option although you may not like it so draco meteor would be an alternative, but I'm not as keen on it. genuinely right now I wouldn't think about scarfing it too much. anyway playtest report problems.

Yeah, I don't know I don't subscribe to threads.

 

[cagt3000]

Alright, I'll give it a try ! And for Draco Meteor : I have Dragon Pulse for that :)

 

[Mymble]

it's common to run both. draco meteor is to hit bulkier pokemon harder, say latias.

@golden piloswine The chance that you will see a liepard are low and brelloom deals with it with ease where as whimsicott is harder to deal with directly and is far more common. this team has many threats including hail team, I might add. What i meant was it is the only real threat to setting up other than other than every physical attacker faster than it. Of course liepard could just use thunder-wave or so could thundurus. Volcarona is far from untouchable, but with a fair amount of luck and prediction can be deadly.

 

[cagt3000]

That's actually pretty smart... The only thing that kinda urks me is that it heavily lowers your SpAtk... Plus, it has a 90% accuracy which is good enough, but I'm always scared for those moments where you ABSOLUTELY need it, and it misses...

 

[Mymble]

The SpA drop is annoying, but if you think you may need to use the draco meteor then you have two options lead with it so you can switch it out to reset and come back in and fire off some other move or save it for late game to ruin someones' day once you weakened it down a little. of course if you choose against the scarf there is the white herb to negate the stat drop and allow you to fire off another one. The accuracy is unavoidable (see what I did there) I guess it's better than focus blast missing always, I missed 8 consecutive focus blasts that's all its' pp and a 0.006561% chance of happening.What I'm trying to say is what you give is what you get.

 

[cagt3000]

I guess you're right. Thanks for the suggestion ! Anything else you can say for my team apart from practicing ?

And yes, I saw what you did there ;)

 

[Mymble]

Right now all you can do is practice and see what problems emerge.

 

[cagt3000]

Well that's what I had planned anyways.

Well, bed awaits me. I'll practice more and report problems when I get home from school tomorrow. Thanks again for the suggestions !

 

[cagt3000]

Hey Chenkovsky... Remember how you said any hail team walks over my team ?

Well... I think not :P

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/doublesvgc2013dev9655738

 

[tlyee61]

If you're still looking for improvements vs hail, terrakion is pretty good at hitting most common hail users. He might've just seen the abundance of dragons and breloom and aw they were all weak to ice. Volcarona can easily roast them with heat wave too. Also, why protect on CB terrakion??? Use another attacking move like stone edge. Even the fire moves in hydreigon and chomp can do somewhat well against ice types.