VGC The bulk is real!

[Simperheve]

Greetings to the world of Smogon!

I recently participated in the international challenge, scoring myself an even record of 12-11. This team is the one I entered with, and while I was quite pleased with it, I felt like there was something missing during many of my games, causing me to just scrape/ miss out on wins. If anybody is able to help me, I could do with some advice regarding increasing the offensive prescence of this team.

The team is based around a FWG core comprised of Milotic, M-Venusaur and Arcanine. There was some suggestions on Smogon that Milotic and Arcanine may compliment each other, so I decided to give it a go.

Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Icy Wind
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Protect

This is Guru Fernandez's Winter Regional Milotic. The spread allows it to survive Zapdos' Thunderbolt, Hydreigon's Draco Meteor and Kanga's Double Edge. The Special attack compliments competitive and allows it to pack some punch, while the 4 Speed Evs allow it to speed creep uninvested Milotic. Milotic's Icy Wind support is vital to getting the jump on faster enemies, as the core of this team relies heavily on bulk.

Arcanine @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 148 Def / 4 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect
- Close Combat

This EV spread was taken from a bulky special offense Arcanine someone suggested on Smogon. Since I needed something Physical based, I took the special attack EVs and dumped them into attack instead, but left the rest of the EVs as they were to preserve the defensive/speed benchmarks. It survives pretty much any physical attack easily after an Intimidate, and can hit back with Will-O-Wisp or an attack move. Unfortunately I didn't leave myself enough prep time to get Extremespeed onto Arcanine, or I would have run that over Close Combat. Close Combat did prove to be a useful tool during some matches though, so i'll give it credit where its due.

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 104 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Leech Seed
- Protect

This is my own Mega Venusaur spread, which essentially just balances out Defense and Special Defense to give Venusaur some even bulk. Venusaur basically pushes opponents into KO range and keeps pressure on them using Leech Seed. Sludge Bomb gives it some KOing power itself, and Giga Drain helps keep Venusaur on the field longer to keep pressure on the opponents.

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: Unsure of EV spread as I received it as a gift
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power Ice
- Taunt
- Thunderbolt

Thundurus was originally meant to be a Zapdos, but due to some unfortunate happenings, I couldn't use the Zapdos I had sourced. Luckily, a very kind Nugget Bridge member gave me this Thundurus to use in its place, and it was a great help. Thunder Wave helps me give some valuable speed control to the team, while Taunt shuts down Pranksters and TR setters. Thunderbolt and HP Ice are for coverage and to prevent Thundurus from Taunt shenanigans.

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Protect
- Quick Guard

Terrakion provides the team with some muscle, as well some valuable protection in the form of Rock Slide flinches and Quick Guard. There was one key play I remember where Terrakion shut down a Fake Out + Whimsicott lead, enabling me to KO Whimsicott with a well aimed Sludge Bomb. Lum berry enables Terrakion to shake off burns and status, and then KO back with Close Combat or Rock Slide.

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Moonblast
- Psychic

I chose Gardevoir because I was aware I needed some speedy special attack. I also needed something for taking care of those pesky dragons, so it felt like a great fit. Timid allows me to maximise speed with the scarf, though I think it would have been better as a Modest Gardevoir. Moves selected are for coverage and spread.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the way this team performed, but I feel that there isn't much room to play this team aggressively, which would often leave me in a tight spot.

TL;DR - This is a bulky team. I need some ideas to give it some more damage ouput.

Thanks!

 

[Ksh13]

Hey hey, cool looking team. I see that you might struggle with providing enough offensive pressure.

I would suggest possibly swapping Gardevoir for a Sylveon. Although you don't get the speed a scarf Gardevoir gives you, it deals massive damage. I feel like a timid regular Gardevoir with scarf does not have a high enough damage output, similarly to what I think of scarfed Hydreigon. I don't know about you, but I really like using Pixie Plate Sylveon as you can Protect turn one, while you use some kind of speed control like Icy Wind, to let Sylveon outspeed the foe the following turn.

A Zapdos instead of Thundurus seems like a better idea, as Venusaur and a potential Sylveon really enjoy Tailwind. Although you loose the prankster Taunt, it is possible to run Taunt on Terrakion instead of Quick Guard. But that is compmetely up to you as it seems like you really enjoy having Quick Guard.

These are some of my suggestions for the team, feel free to try them out.

 

[nympheon]

On Milotic, I suggest replace Ice Beam or Icy Wind with Recover to have a little more coverage, and a Modest nature to make it more offensive. I would also take Ksh13's suggestion and add Tailwind support because your team is bulky and the Speed boost would help be more offensive.

Changed Sets

Milotic @ Leftovers | Competitive
Modest | 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
- Icy Wind/Ice Beam
- Recover
- Scald
- Protect

Otherwise, this looks like a great team and good luck with it in the future!

 

[Simperheve]

Hey hey, cool looking team. I see that you might struggle with providing enough offensive pressure.

I would suggest possibly swapping Gardevoir for a Sylveon. Although you don't get the speed a scarf Gardevoir gives you, it deals massive damage. I feel like a timid regular Gardevoir with scarf does not have a high enough damage output, similarly to what I think of scarfed Hydreigon. I don't know about you, but I really like using Pixie Plate Sylveon as you can Protect turn one, while you use some kind of speed control like Icy Wind, to let Sylveon outspeed the foe the following turn.

A Zapdos instead of Thundurus seems like a better idea, as Venusaur and a potential Sylveon really enjoy Tailwind. Although you loose the prankster Taunt, it is possible to run Taunt on Terrakion instead of Quick Guard. But that is compmetely up to you as it seems like you really enjoy having Quick Guard.

These are some of my suggestions for the team, feel free to try them out.

I was having a bit of a toss up between Taunt and Quick Guard, as the latter was really helpful during the International Challenge. There was one key starting turn where I managed to shut down a Mega Kangaskhan/ Whimsicott lead and KO'd Whimsicott with Sludge Bomb. The next turn I switched in Arcanine and completely neutered the Kangaskhan, winning me the match.

Sylveon seems like a good idea. I used to run a Pixie Plate Sylveon in another team. I'll see if I can dig it out again and give it another run. If not I was planning on switching that Gardevoir to Modest anyways.

On Milotic, I suggest replace Ice Beam or Icy Wind with Recover to have a little more coverage, and a Modest nature to make it more offensive. I would also take Ksh13's suggestion and add Tailwind support because your team is bulky and the Speed boost would help be more offensive.

Changed Sets

Milotic @ Leftovers | Competitive
Modest | 236 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
- Icy Wind/Ice Beam
- Recover
- Scald
- Protect

Otherwise, this looks like a great team and good luck with it in the future!

I'll take another look at Milotic's EV spread if I use a Modest Nature, there may be some better places to put the EVs because of the Nature stat changes.

Thanks for the rates friends! I'll get to work implementing some of these and i'll post some replays with my results.

 

[Ray Majore]

Hey there! Although I am not really much of a VGC player, I would have to share this little good recommendation. Why not try Snarl Suicune over Miltoic? It helps make up for Venusaur's relatively weak Special Defenses and to cripple special attackers with it. It also gives you a neat form of speed control with Tailwind.

Just a neat advice. Have a nice day! :]