Rough Weather Ahead (A VGC 2013 RMT)

[PokeMaster366]

Now that rules for VGC 2013 have been released, I feel so much more relieved than I did when I thought the Beginning Cup would be the new ruleset. At first, when I heard that that the new format would be similar to the current GBU Format, I felt like I wasted my time, but after a few hours of thinking, I realized that it gave me time to learn about the new abilities and how to battle without the more common ways to deal with threats such as Cresselia and Trick Room teams. The result: a rain team of my own. So, let's begin the RMT.

Cinccino (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 228 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Tail Slap
- Rock Blast
- Bullet Seed
- Protect

And the first member of the team is a Pokemon that went largely unknown in 2012. Used to be that Cincinno's overall usefulness depended entirely on how lucky the user was, but now that she's gotten a new gift in the form of Skill Link, she's become so much more reliable and one of my favorite Pokemon to use. The EVS and Jolly nature give her just enough speed to outrun the genies while still making sure to OHKO Pokemon such as Gastrodon and Terrakion. Even with the LOrb, though, Cincinno's power tends to be underwhelming and make her extremely vulnerable to Intimidate users and overall bulky Pokemon, but that problem was quickly remedied by a Pokemon you all know from 2012, She was on nearly every good team at VGCs.

Cresselia (F) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 140 SAtk / 116 SDef
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Beam
- Helping Hand

Now what we have here is a threat from 2012 that is just as lethal now as it was then. Thanks to the Expert Belt and EV investment in Sp. Atk, she can safely OHKO speedy variants of Landorus-T and Scizor with Ice Beam and HP Fire, respectively. The rest of the EVS are put into HP and Sp. Def to max out her bulk. Helping Hand is there to support the team since no one on the team can really make good use of Trick Room. Well, no one except maybe the next member.

Scrafty (M) @ Chople Berry
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SDef / 4 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch
- Detect
- Bulk Up
- Crunch

Another Unova Pokemon that was blessed by the gifts of BW2 and the Dream World. Thanks to his now legal Hidden Ability, Intimidate, Scrafty now has access to greater levels of bulk and can do more to support the team, especially Cresselia. If it wasn't for the Fighting weakness, Wolfe's defensive Hitmontop would probably be eating his heart out. The EVs in Attack give him just enough power to 2HKO Hydreigon with Drain Punch and OHKO Chandelure with a +1 Crunch. The Careful nature and EVs in Sp. Def also give him enough bulk at full health to keep him from getting OHKOed by a Dragon Gem Draco Meteor from a Hydreigon with full offensive investment.

Salamence (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 8 HP / 248 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Flying]

This is one of those Pokemon that I'm actually unsure about. It's nice to have a Scarfed Dragon that can act as a counter to most other Scarfed Pokemon, but it's been hard to actually find a moment where I can use him effectively for more than just spamming Intimidate. The fact that so many people run around with Cresselias using Ice moves about 90% of the time doesn't really help him either. Hmm...

Politoed (M) @ Water Gem
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Protect
- Helping Hand


Now I bet you're wondering why I've got two fire moves on a team using a DrizzleToad. To be honest, Politoed was just something that came up while I was thinking of a replacement for Garchomp. The set is pretty straightforward. Water Gem Hydro Pump lets him hit with a lot of power in the rain. Icy Wind lets him support the team by lowering the opponent's speed, Helping Hand lets him give more support, and then the obligatory Protect is obligatory.

Ludicolo (M) @ Grass Gem
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SAtk / 12 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Fake Out
- Protect

Well, what else were you expecting with a DrizzleToed in the team? Anyway, the Speed EVs give him just enough speed to outrun other Swift Swimmers after Politoed hits them once with Icy Wind. Fake Out is there in case I need to stall, and Scald and Giga Drain are there for sake of STAB. Protect is just Protect.

Well, I hope this RMT doesn't feel too stiff, and I also hope that everyone reading this enjoyed it. Feel free to leave your opinions.

 

[tlyee61]

nice team overall, and nice EV Spreads! It's good to see a change from the standard 252 / 252 once in awhile. On cress, I would consider changing Helping Hand to Calm Mind because it seems like you want Cress as a somewhat offensive presence. Then, you could possibly move 60 EVs out of Sp. Def to Def. to survive Dark Gem TTar's Crunch. If you really wanted to, you could also move some Sp. Attack EVs out. Also, this might seem slightly gimmicky, but I would recommend a King's Rock on Cinccino. For every hit of RB / BS / TS, the opponent has less chance to move! It is an almost guaranteed flinch every turn!

 

[TheMantyke]

Hi. Here's some quick advice.

Cincinno isn't a very good choice for a rain team. Sure, it's cool and it can do pretty well at times, but you need to think in terms of opportunity cost. In the slot Cincinno is occupying, you could have another Pokemon taking advantage of your weather and patching up your teams overall resistances. At the moment, you only have one Pokemon taking advantage of your weather which is an absolute shame. Additionally, you don't have a single Electric resistance on your entire team. To remedy both of these problems, I would recommend replacing Cincinno with a Choice Specs Thundurus-T

Thundurus-T @ Choice Specs
Volt Absorb
Timid
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Ice
-Thunder
-Volt Switch

Thundurus-T can run a monsterous Choice Specs set. The only problem is that it's move pool is fairly limited, leading to you using a lot of his STAB options for variety (but they're still very useful!) Thunderbolt should be your go to STAB if you see an enemy weather inducer on your opponents team. Thunder should be abused to its fullest if they lack one as 100% accurate Thunders from this thing are nasty. Volt Switch allows you to play a few tricks like allowing Thundurus-T to get off a strong hit before retreating to safety when you see something like an Ice attack immanent.

My next suggestion has to do with Salamence. You keep mentioning that he hasn't proved to be too useful beyond spamming Intimidate. If you're after a replacement Special Attacker that operates mostly the same way, I would recommend a Kingdra.

I'm not so sure how useful that Cresselia set will be for the rest of your team. You claim that HP Fire comfortably OHKOs Scizor, but does that take Rain into account as well? Additionally, since you have a Politoed on your hands and a mere one physical attacker with my suggestions, I highly doubt Landorus will come along for the ride versus your team. As such, I'd recommend switching to a bulkier spread. With a bulkier spread, try focusing on supporting the team with speed control via Thunder Wave or increasing your longevity with ChestoRest.

Finally, I'd recommend to drop Scald and Protect for Hydro Pump and Ice Beam. a 100% accurate STAB is nice, but Ludicolo really appreciates the boost in power from using Hydro Pump. I've always found I can't do enough when I'm attacking with something with Protect and Fake Out. Dumping Protect might sound strange, but you could use some extra fire power versus Thundurus-T and Latios. Additionally, Fake Out does protect Ludicolo to some extent.

Hope my advice helped!