VGC Output - 150 PERCENT(A VGC Team)

[espeonguy]

Hey there guys. I've had a long hiatus from Smogon, as I am preparing myself for the VGC season upcoming. Singles is fun and all, but I've been having fun with the refreshing doubles meta that has been established. (But damn, do I hate seeing Mega Khangaskan every other team). The team I'm gonna show you here was based around my love for Gardevoir in my recent playthrough of Omega Ruby. I wanted to maximize its potential damage output with Helping Hand to lob massive KO's, or at least get them to KO range. So, with that, here's the team:

Gardevoir@ Gardevoirite
Modest(136 HP/252 Sp. Atk/120 Spe)
Trace

• Hyper Voice
• Psyshock
• Shadow Ball/Focus Blast
• Protect

The star of the show. The concept here being that Hyper Voice deals massive spread damage with only a few types to resist it. With Helping Hand, the damage output is 1.5 times the normal spread, leaving almost everything in KO range. Psyshock deals with pesky poison types, as well as hit Neutral on most things Hyper Voice can't cover. Shadow Ball is there for ghosts such as Gengar, the rare Trevenent or any other ghosts. It also helps against certain psychic types who resist Hyper Voice. Protect is there to prevent Fake Out, and let her partners take over when she's being targetted. The EV spread gives her moderate bulk, maximizes attack potential, and gives her enough speed for use with Tailwind. Trace was chosen as the ability to get potential Intimidate use if they lead with one, and also gives me an idea of what sets they might be running with certain abilities.

Lucario@ Sitrus Berry
Impish(152 HP/116 Atk/96 Def/144 Sp.Def)
Inner Focus

• Helping Hand
• Follow Me
• Extreme Speed
• Close Combat/Drain Punch

The second main pokemon on this team, Lucario creates a nice core with Gardevoir, complimenting both of it's types with his own. Follow Me and Helping Hand are the staples here, allowing Lucario to redirect poison and steel types back to himself, resisting one and immune to poison. Helping Hand has a main niche in helping Gardevoir, but it runs so well with the rest of the team, it still excels as support for the rest of the team. Extreme Speed is here to finish off the things that are left in KO range. Close Combat has been running well, and scores KO's on the likes of Heatran and Bisharp, but I am considering Drain Punch for longevity. That's why I opted for Sitrus Berry, along with the bulky spread, in order to use him to his full potential as a support.

Talonflame@ Focus Sash
Adamant(4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe)
Gale Wings

• Taunt
• Tailwind
• Flare Blitz
• Brave Bird

The second main lead to go with Gardevoir. Taunt helps dismantle the likes of Amoongus who would otherwise threaten Gardevoir and make its life difficult. Tailwind is a priority move that I am at least guaranteed to get off once, allowing the team to have a functional speed control, unless opposed by other Tail Wind users or Trick Room. Flare Blitz and Brave Bird are simply powerful STAB moves to use when his main purpose is used. The Focus Sash allows him to set up, and, at the very least, score massive sacrifice damage with Brave Bird.

Hydreigon@ Choice Scarf/Spec
Modest(36 HP/88 Def/252 Sp. Atk/132 Spe)
Levitate

• Draco Meteor
• Dark Pulse
• Earth Power
• Heat Wave

Ahh. Hydreigon. Such a satisfying pokemon to use. I use a scarf due to not always bringing Talonflame for Tailwind, however, I really want to use specs instead. Let me know what you think. The set is pretty standard honestly, Earth Power covers steel and fire types, Heat Wave hits steel,grass and the less common Ice type, Dark Pulse gives good coverage against psychic and ghost, while Draco Meteor is simply STAB damage that hits almost everything at least neutral.

Milotic@ Assault Vest
Modest(96 HP/84 Def/216 SpA/112 Spe)
Competitive

• Scale
• Icy Wind
• Dragon Pulse
• Blizzard

Milotic is my answer to Landorus and Salamence. The set gives her a moderate amount of speed and bulk, letting Icy Wind give my team speed control while tanking hits. The 216 Special Attack gives it moderate hitting power, but if Competitive gets knocked off, that power is increased to scary levels. With enough coverage and the ability to burn with Scald, the main point is to force Landorus to switch or get KO'd. I opted for Blizzard instead of Ice Beam, as even with the loss of accuracy, still manages to hit most of the time. That coupled with Lucario and Helping Hand makes it an extremely good offensive move.

Thundurus@ Life Orb
Timid(4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe)
Prankster

• Sludge Wave
• Thunderbolt
• Taunt
• Grass Knot

Thundurus is surprisingly my least chosen monster at the screen select simply because his role is smaller in the team than others. The spread is meant to maximize speed, and power through Life Orb. Taunt is a good option against Amoongus, Breloom, Cresselia or any pokemon reliant on support moves. Grass Knot covers rock and ground types, which my team needs coverage against. Thunderbolt is obligatory STAB. Sludge Wave is a good move to use against opposing Gardevoir and Sylveon, the two most common fairies in the meta. Pretty standard otherwise.

So that's the team guys. It really works so well together, I'm honestly happy with the end result. The Fairy/Steel/Dragon core on Gardevoir/Lucario/Hydreigon is also complimented by the secondary types of them; Psychic/Fighting/Dark. One change I'm considering is replacing Thundurus with an offensive Life Orb Motor Drive Electivire. This will give my Milotic and Talonflame a free switch out against electric attacks, as well as balance my Special/Physical ratio a bit. Just a thought though. Let me know what you think of the team, any fixes, etc, and what you think of running Electivire!

 

[Serapis]

Okay, I'm just going to make some quick notes here. Lucario isn't terribly viable, and is even less viable without it's Mega Stone. The only successful Follow Me set without the Mega Stone is from 2014 when Bopper used a Focus Sash set to decent success at the LCQ and World Championships. That report can be found here. Should you decide to keep Lucario, it definitely needs the Focus Sash. If you're looking for a good Fighting type, I suggest Lum Terrakion. In terms of support and redirection, standard Rocky Helmet Amoonguss would be better.

Talonflame really appreciates the Life Orb, and failing that it prefers both the Sharp Beak and the Sky Plate (which are pretty much the same item) to the Focus Sash. Non Choice Banded Talonflame needs Protect for it's survivability and to avoid Fake Outs. I suggest running it over Taunt.

Hydreigon is fine, but I would go with the Choice Specs simply for the damage output. Scarf is rather disappointing with all the KOs it misses and it fails to apply pressure that Specs does easily.

AV Milotic is really meh. The best Milo set is Scald/Icy Wind/Recover/Protect with a Maranga Berry to help you last longer and to give you an endgame win condition against special attackers. You'd also probably be better off with a more defensive EV spread like 236 HP/156 Def/100 SpA/12 SpD/4 Spe (spread made by Guru Fernandez, report here).

Finally, although you do have Tailwind support from Talonflame, I feel you'd be better off with a more supportive set focusing around Thunder Wave with a Sitrus Berry for extra durability. The EVs can be pretty much anything you want (Thundurus archive here) but the moveset is probably best off as Thunderbolt/Thunder Wave/Taunt or Swagger/Protect or HP Ice.