Introduction
Salutations, Smogon! I am Gamerzo, a passionate, yet not super amazing competitive Pokemon battler. I started playing competitively early 2016, and my journey through the intricacies of the world of competitive Pokemon has been wonderful. I decided I would make the jump from Smogon singles to VGC for two reasons. Firstly, it is the official Pokemon format. Secondly, after trying doubles out, I found I prefer it to singles.
With that said and done, I decided that after watching some VGC matches and team building guides over the course of a few days, I thought I would have a go at making the best VGC team I could to be used next year, as this season is almost over. As such, I used Pokemon outside the Alola 'dex, since the national Pokedex will be allowed next year.
Anyway, I will now go over the Pokemon in the team, discuss their EV spreads and what they bring to the table.
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- High Jump Kick
- Iron Tail
- Bullet Punch
The star of the show, Mega Lucario is what I built the team around. Boasting a formidable base 145 in attack, further augmented with adaptability, Mega Lucario is a terrifying presence on the battlefield. Maximum Attack EVs are there to deal as much damage as possible, with maximum speed EVs and a Jolly nature to allow me to outspeed whatever it can. Hone Claws gives a nice +1 to attack, as well as making both High Jump Kick and Iron Tail perfectly accurate. Bullet Punch is for priority.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SpD
Calm Nature
- Follow Me
- Moonlight
- Knock Off
- Protect
An unconventional pick, yet very effective at its role, Clefairy is mainly a partner for Lucario, and allows him to set up with Follow Me, and Friend Guard turns many OHKOs on Lucario into 2HKOs, which could be the difference between victory and defeat. Moonlight is a nice form of recovery, Protect allows it to stay on the field an extra turn or two, and Knock Off, apart from generally being a great move, prevents Clefairy from being Taunt bait. Max HP is to make Clefairy as bulky as possible, with the remaining EVs spread among both defenses to make them both equal when adding the Calm nature into the mix.
Gyarados @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Crunch
Gyarados is useful for his intimidate ability, and covers Lucario's ground weakness quite well. Dragon Tail is very useful, able to switch out whatever may threaten it or its partner at the time, as well as do some decent damage. Earthquake and Crunch are for coverage. Max HP for staying Power, and max Attack to deal as much damage as possible, which is quite a bit when paired with the Adamant nature.
Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Brick Break
Tapu Bulu is used for his Grassy Surge ability primarily, minimizing the damage Earthquake will do to Lucario. Aside from that, he is also a formidable wallbreaker once he sets up with swords dance. Horn Leech is his main STAB move, dealing decent damage while also providing recovery. Leech Seed to whittle down at an opponents HP while adding to Tapu Bulu's. Brick Break is mainly to get rid of Aurora Veil, Reflect and Light Screen, as well as to hit steel types that otherwise wall it. I am using the same EV spread and nature as Gyarados for the same reason.
Dugtrio @ Groundium Z
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Bulldoze
Dugtrio is on the team for his Arena Trap ability, and to cover for Gyarados's electric weakness, as well as ground being a generally useful offensive typing. He pairs well with Rotom, Dugtrio can use Bulldoze and Rotom will be fine due to levitate, and Rotom can use Discharge and Dugtrio will be ok due to his ground typing. I picked Bulldoze over Earthquake for Speed control, toxic to chip away at an enemy, Sucker Punch for a nice form of priority over enemy sweepers, and Stone Edge to hit flying types immune to bulldoze.
Rotom-Heat @ White Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Hex
Rotom was picked to patch up holes in the teams type weaknesses, and for the fact the he synergised well with Dugtrio. Discharge hits both Pokemon and has a decent chance to paralyze, Volt Switch is for momentum, Hex is to hit a paralyzed target, and Overheat is a nice fire STAB move, that can be used once for free due to the white herb. Rotom also hits well on the special side. I used a bulky special attacker spread.
Well, there's my team. I've spent a few days testing this team, and it's worked out quite well so far. I hope that it isn't too bad for a first team, and thank you so much in advance if you rate my team!
Salutations, Smogon! I am Gamerzo, a passionate, yet not super amazing competitive Pokemon battler. I started playing competitively early 2016, and my journey through the intricacies of the world of competitive Pokemon has been wonderful. I decided I would make the jump from Smogon singles to VGC for two reasons. Firstly, it is the official Pokemon format. Secondly, after trying doubles out, I found I prefer it to singles.
With that said and done, I decided that after watching some VGC matches and team building guides over the course of a few days, I thought I would have a go at making the best VGC team I could to be used next year, as this season is almost over. As such, I used Pokemon outside the Alola 'dex, since the national Pokedex will be allowed next year.
Anyway, I will now go over the Pokemon in the team, discuss their EV spreads and what they bring to the table.
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hone Claws
- High Jump Kick
- Iron Tail
- Bullet Punch
The star of the show, Mega Lucario is what I built the team around. Boasting a formidable base 145 in attack, further augmented with adaptability, Mega Lucario is a terrifying presence on the battlefield. Maximum Attack EVs are there to deal as much damage as possible, with maximum speed EVs and a Jolly nature to allow me to outspeed whatever it can. Hone Claws gives a nice +1 to attack, as well as making both High Jump Kick and Iron Tail perfectly accurate. Bullet Punch is for priority.
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 228 Def / 28 SpD
Calm Nature
- Follow Me
- Moonlight
- Knock Off
- Protect
An unconventional pick, yet very effective at its role, Clefairy is mainly a partner for Lucario, and allows him to set up with Follow Me, and Friend Guard turns many OHKOs on Lucario into 2HKOs, which could be the difference between victory and defeat. Moonlight is a nice form of recovery, Protect allows it to stay on the field an extra turn or two, and Knock Off, apart from generally being a great move, prevents Clefairy from being Taunt bait. Max HP is to make Clefairy as bulky as possible, with the remaining EVs spread among both defenses to make them both equal when adding the Calm nature into the mix.
Gyarados @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Crunch
Gyarados is useful for his intimidate ability, and covers Lucario's ground weakness quite well. Dragon Tail is very useful, able to switch out whatever may threaten it or its partner at the time, as well as do some decent damage. Earthquake and Crunch are for coverage. Max HP for staying Power, and max Attack to deal as much damage as possible, which is quite a bit when paired with the Adamant nature.
Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Brick Break
Tapu Bulu is used for his Grassy Surge ability primarily, minimizing the damage Earthquake will do to Lucario. Aside from that, he is also a formidable wallbreaker once he sets up with swords dance. Horn Leech is his main STAB move, dealing decent damage while also providing recovery. Leech Seed to whittle down at an opponents HP while adding to Tapu Bulu's. Brick Break is mainly to get rid of Aurora Veil, Reflect and Light Screen, as well as to hit steel types that otherwise wall it. I am using the same EV spread and nature as Gyarados for the same reason.
Dugtrio @ Groundium Z
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Toxic
- Stone Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Bulldoze
Dugtrio is on the team for his Arena Trap ability, and to cover for Gyarados's electric weakness, as well as ground being a generally useful offensive typing. He pairs well with Rotom, Dugtrio can use Bulldoze and Rotom will be fine due to levitate, and Rotom can use Discharge and Dugtrio will be ok due to his ground typing. I picked Bulldoze over Earthquake for Speed control, toxic to chip away at an enemy, Sucker Punch for a nice form of priority over enemy sweepers, and Stone Edge to hit flying types immune to bulldoze.
Rotom-Heat @ White Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Overheat
- Volt Switch
- Hex
Rotom was picked to patch up holes in the teams type weaknesses, and for the fact the he synergised well with Dugtrio. Discharge hits both Pokemon and has a decent chance to paralyze, Volt Switch is for momentum, Hex is to hit a paralyzed target, and Overheat is a nice fire STAB move, that can be used once for free due to the white herb. Rotom also hits well on the special side. I used a bulky special attacker spread.
Well, there's my team. I've spent a few days testing this team, and it's worked out quite well so far. I hope that it isn't too bad for a first team, and thank you so much in advance if you rate my team!
