VGCs 2010 RMT

[Coaster]

Hey guys, I'm Coaster and this is actually my first post on the Smogon forums. I have had my account for awhile now but never really found the time to make a post, until today.
I participated in the VGCs last year, in Nashville, where I ran a unique Hail Team and made it through three rounds, all the way to the Sweet Sixteen where I lost to the eventual winner, Imperfectluck. Now I have come again, this time in Atlanta, to get further than I have last year, but I going to need more help this time. My team was focused on beating lead Kyorge, but after doing some test runs on PBR, it hasn't turned out so well. I'm willing to change any Pokémon on the team on suggestions, so go ahead and suggest anything. Even though I run screens, it's alright ig you recommend something that is no a screener. Anyways, here I go. Changes made in bold.

Coaster's VGCs Team 2010:
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Weavile @ King's Rock

EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Def
Jolly Nature ( + Speed, - Special Attack )
Ability: Pressure
~ Fake Out
~ Protect
~ Fling
~ Low Kick

Lead Weavile. Fake Out to get decent damage on anything and flinch them for a turn. Taunt is to stop set up, which can screw me over in the long run. Night Slash for STAB and hitting Ghost and Psychic types and the such. Ice Punch to put a dent into Lead Groudons.
Weavle does what it's suppose to do, stop set up. It is a bit defensively weak, but I really needed someone who could Taunt and stop some set up while still get a free damage with Fake Out. Any changes are appreciated.
4/24/10 - Removed Ice Punch, Taunt and Night Slash for Protect, Fling, and Low Kick. Protect since it's a great move in Doubles and can help with scouting, Fling with King's Rock for a second flinch after Fake Out, and Low Kick for hitting Dialga hard.

Lugia @ Lum Berry

EVs: 252 HP / 64 Defense / 192 Speed
Timid Nature ( + Speed, - Attack )
Ability: Pressure
~ Toxic
~ Light Screen
~ Roost
~ Icy Wind

This is the main attraction that got my eye to beat Kyorge leads. With Screens, no variant of Kyorge can OHKO Lugia, then it'll take damage and end up losing the power it would get from Water Spout. Just to demonstrate, here are some calcs:

Scarf Kyorge Water Spout vs. Lugia: 45% - 53.4%
Scarf Kyorge Water Spout vs. Lugia (After Light Screen): 22.6% - 26.9%

In this case, as Kyorge goes for Water Spout, I can use Light Screen on the same turn, then proceed to Roost of the damage easily. What about Specs Kyorge you may ask? Well, with Timid nature and 192 Speed EVs invested, Lugia outspeeds Timid Specs Kyorge and is able to set up Light Screen first. Damage calcs as proceeded:

Specs Kyorge Water Spout vs. Lugia (After Light Screen): 33.9% - 39.9%

So yeah, Lugia was mainly in here to stop Kyorge. Of course, any suggestions here will always be appreciated. Where I need help is on the next Pokémons.
4/24/10 - Reflect and Ice Beam exchanged for Toxic and Icy Wind. Toxic to hurt some Pokémon and hit Ninjask and Icy Wind to lower opponent's speed. Lum Berry replaces Light Clay since screens won't be needed as long in since VGCs battles are relativity short.

Rayquaza @ Yache Berry

EVs: 252 Attack / 252 Speed / 4 Defense
Lonely Nature ( + Attack, - Defense )
Ability: Air Lock
~ Swords Dance
~ Extremespeed
~ Dragon Claw
~ Overheat

I thought Rayquaza would be too good to pass up on. Swords Dance plus priority is godly. Dragon Claw over Outrage so that I can actually choose who I want to attack lol. Overheat to hit steel types, which my team seems to be a bit weak to. I could do Earthquake since two of my members don't get hit by it, but I don't want to risk it if there's ever a chance that Weavile and Rayquaza are out together. I went for Lonely nature over Adamant, Jolly, or Hasty mainly because I felt that the Attack power would be more beneficial than a + Speed nature, and I didn't want to lose any Special Attack power so I can have a nice Overheat to hit with. Suggestions are welcomed.
4/24/10 - SUGGESTIONS TO NEW POKEMON HERE ARE NEEDED.

Azelf @ Life Orb

EVs: 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Timid Nature ( + Speed, - Attack )
Ability: Levitate
~ Nasty Plot
~ Psychic
~ Flamethrower
~ Grass Knot

Well, I noticed that with Rayquaza Swords Dancing, I was running a semi-Hyper Offensive team, so I thought, why not get another booster? I desperately needed a Special Attacker, so I used the best user of Nasty Plot ( Other than Darkrai ), Azelf. Moveset is rather self-explanatory; Psychic for STAB, Flamethrower to hit Steels, and Grass Knot really is just a filler, since Soft Resetting for a certain Hidden Power is gonna be a bitch. Timid to run the fastest I can.
4/24/10 - SUGGESTIONS TO NEW POKEMON HERE ARE NEEDED.

So yeah, that's it. I want to have great success this year in Atlanta, and I have a little over a month to prepare, so I'm hoping that with the help of Smogonites, I can go further than I did last year. Again, I would like to mention that you can recommend anything, from a certain spread to a moveset to even a different Pokémon, I'm willing to change anything. Thanks for your time,
~ Coaster

Final Glance:

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[Showsni]

Well, I'm entirely new to the format myself, so these are just a few random thoughts; take them as you will!

I guess the other main options for Weavile are Low Kick (for dealing heavy damage to things like Dialga) and Ice Shard (the question of Ice Punches sheer power over Ice Shard's priority). I don't know if any of them are worth replacing the moves he has, though. You do want to be careful of something Follow Meing your Taunt away from its intended target.

You did take into account the fact that screens are weaker in doubles, right? (I assume so, since you've played doubles before, which is more than me!)

Nothing on your team has Protect or immunity to Explosion, which is a little worrying. A scarfed Dark Void could also be a problem, as you don't have any real way of stopping it (bar Taunt, but the Scarf will outspeed, I think...)

 

[Coaster]

Well, I'm entirely new to the format myself, so these are just a few random thoughts; take them as you will!

I guess the other main options for Weavile are Low Kick (for dealing heavy damage to things like Dialga) and Ice Shard (the question of Ice Punches sheer power over Ice Shard's priority). I don't know if any of them are worth replacing the moves he has, though. You do want to be careful of something Follow Meing your Taunt away from its intended target.

You did take into account the fact that screens are weaker in doubles, right? (I assume so, since you've played doubles before, which is more than me!)

Nothing on your team has Protect or immunity to Explosion, which is a little worrying. A scarfed Dark Void could also be a problem, as you don't have any real way of stopping it (bar Taunt, but the Scarf will outspeed, I think...)

Yeah, I do see Follow-Me as a problem, although once my Taunt hits it, it won't be able to do it again, so I don't see much of a problem there, other than one turn of set up from the other Pokémon, where I'll play my screens accordingly.

Weird, I read the description of Light Screen, and I must have read it too fast, since I though in doubles it was increased from 1/2 to 2/3, but it is rather decreased. Though I think I did my calcs right, by mistake or not lol.

Yeah, No Protect or immunity to Explosion does worry me, thus I usually have problem with things like Metagross. And ScarfSmeragle at max Speed reaches 373, while max Speed Weavile reaches 383, so I will be able to Taunt any Smeragles before they get the chance to DarkVoid. Thanks for the comments though! Let's keep them rolling!

 

[Showsni]

Really? I get max speed Weavile as 194 and max speed Scarf Smeargle as 208, according to Shoddy's Team Builder...

 

[Coaster]

Really? I get max speed Weavile as 194 and max speed Scarf Smeargle as 208, according to Shoddy's Team Builder...

Wow... I just failed... I did my speed calcs at level 100 lol. Yeah, I got the same thing. Not good, maybe getting a Electrode lead instead? Then I lose free Fake Out damage...
This is exactly why I need help. :/

 

[Showsni]

If it's really a problem, you could use Safeguard on Lugia; Weavile Fakes Out Smeargle whilst Lugia gets Safeguard up. That does mean losing an attack on Lugia, though.

Oh, one more thing; being Level 50, the EVs might need tweaking. I'm hoping that Shoddy Battle calculates stats accurately; if so, then, for instance, whilst level 100 Lugia outspeeds Garchomp with the stated 192 speed EVs, a level 50 one needs 196 speed EVs instead.

 

[~Golden Emp]

You could use some help here...

First, Lugia is an awesome support, but screening is weakened in doubles, so maybe you could drop reflect for T-Wave (or Ice Beam for Icy Wind for also decreasing opponent's speed) or Toxic (which is the only way of hitting the now so common shedinja, because Weavile and Rayquaza are gone very early, I tell you by experience). You could also add Safeguard if you care about Smeargle too much. I haven't seen that much Scarfmeargles these days anyway...

On Weavile, you could seriously choose to run Low Kick, as Dialga rapes your team badly (it's my normal assumption that TR WILL be up when Dialga is in).

Rayquaza is one of the Frailest Pokemon in VGC, and without Protect it will be down very soon. He gets no time to do SD, he would if only you were running a follow me-er.

Really? Azelf?
He has very bad defenses, and with Sandstorm/Hail (very common climates in VGC) he will be losing around 18.XX hp every turn, plus all the damage he gets.

----------

I would recommend taking out Rayquaza and Azelf for 2 more bulky pokemon, like Palkia/Groudon/Kyogre/Abomasnow/pretty much everything.
OHH, and be SURE to run Protect on BOTH. t is one of the BEST (hands down) moves in doubles, as it can save you from predicted Protects, stall, or simply scout for the opponent's set.


I wish you very good luck and please do well in the VGC (at least you have the opportunity to go :'( not like me trapped in Mexico City =_=)

C-ya

 

[Werecario]

Your team looks pretty good for the most part. There are a couple of things that I would personally do differently, but in the end its your decision. Here is what I would do:

@ weaville- you really need a priority attack. Once the focus sash keeps you there, your opponent will priority on you to keep your weaville from wrecking on them. If you have a priority then it isn't a problem. Another thing I love about weaville is the move fling. Yeah I know, fling. If he holds either a kings rock or a razor fang then the opponent will flinch every time. Its almost like like having two fake outs. This of course means no focus sash, but personally I love to do this to people. Especially using fake out then fling. If you do it on one of their sweepers then they are usually in priority attack killing range the next turn depending on who it is. This is just what I like though. I would also switch taunt on weaville to protect, this allows for rayquaza to use earthquake and for protection from explosion. Honestly I don't see taunt as useful in vgc as protect, there aren't many people who only have set up moves. I also like the idea Showsni mentioned of low kick on weaville, but there are so many good moves and he cant have all of them lol
@ Lugia- I would give lugia a lum or chesto berry to cure sleep. The light clay wont come into effect that much since vgc battles are so short. And Lugia definately cant outrun a sashed dark void smeargle.
@Rayquaza- if you do end up giving weaville protect I would definitely throw earthquake in there, it is one of the most valuable moves to have. Also I know swords dance is such a great move but what if you send him out there and your opponent does an ice attack. I know the yache berry will help and he will probably survive 1 round to be able to extreme speed someone but he's dead right after. I think you should give him protect to use right when he gets sent out. That way you can take the hit while your other pokemon attack weakening or killing the one who did it then attack that one with rayquaza (and the other one if need be, you have a lot of fast pokes). There isn't much time for set up when he is so weak to ice and ice moves are so common.
@Azelf- not much to say on azelf, moves look pretty good. I will say this though, giving him a life orb is risky. He is one of your last out. what if someone knocks him down to below 10% health and then he dies cuz of the orb. Once again I would go with a sleep healer. Its just too risky, in my opinion. to give someone who comes out at the end a life reducing item. I have seen matches lost like this.

Like I said before this is just my opinion. You don't have to do what I think, this is your team. Good Luck =)

 

[Coaster]

You could use some help here...

First, Lugia is an awesome support, but screening is weakened in doubles, so maybe you could drop reflect for T-Wave (or Ice Beam for Icy Wind for also decreasing opponent's speed) or Toxic (which is the only way of hitting the now so common shedinja, because Weavile and Rayquaza are gone very early, I tell you by experience). You could also add Safeguard if you care about Smeargle too much. I haven't seen that much Scarfmeargles these days anyway...

On Weavile, you could seriously choose to run Low Kick, as Dialga rapes your team badly (it's my normal assumption that TR WILL be up when Dialga is in).

Rayquaza is one of the Frailest Pokemon in VGC, and without Protect it will be down very soon. He gets no time to do SD, he would if only you were running a follow me-er.

Really? Azelf?
He has very bad defenses, and with Sandstorm/Hail (very common climates in VGC) he will be losing around 18.XX hp every turn, plus all the damage he gets.

----------

I would recommend taking out Rayquaza and Azelf for 2 more bulky pokemon, like Palkia/Groudon/Kyogre/Abomasnow/pretty much everything.
OHH, and be SURE to run Protect on BOTH. t is one of the BEST (hands down) moves in doubles, as it can save you from predicted Protects, stall, or simply scout for the opponent's set.


I wish you very good luck and please do well in the VGC (at least you have the opportunity to go :'( not like me trapped in Mexico City =_=)

C-ya

Your team looks pretty good for the most part. There are a couple of things that I would personally do differently, but in the end its your decision. Here is what I would do:

@ weaville- you really need a priority attack. Once the focus sash keeps you there, your opponent will priority on you to keep your weaville from wrecking on them. If you have a priority then it isn't a problem. Another thing I love about weaville is the move fling. Yeah I know, fling. If he holds either a kings rock or a razor fang then the opponent will flinch every time. Its almost like like having two fake outs. This of course means no focus sash, but personally I love to do this to people. Especially using fake out then fling. If you do it on one of their sweepers then they are usually in priority attack killing range the next turn depending on who it is. This is just what I like though. I would also switch taunt on weaville to protect, this allows for rayquaza to use earthquake and for protection from explosion. Honestly I don't see taunt as useful in vgc as protect, there aren't many people who only have set up moves. I also like the idea Showsni mentioned of low kick on weaville, but there are so many good moves and he cant have all of them lol
@ Lugia- I would give lugia a lum or chesto berry to cure sleep. The light clay wont come into effect that much since vgc battles are so short. And Lugia definately cant outrun a sashed dark void smeargle.
@Rayquaza- if you do end up giving weaville protect I would definitely throw earthquake in there, it is one of the most valuable moves to have. Also I know swords dance is such a great move but what if you send him out there and your opponent does an ice attack. I know the yache berry will help and he will probably survive 1 round to be able to extreme speed someone but he's dead right after. I think you should give him protect to use right when he gets sent out. That way you can take the hit while your other pokemon attack weakening or killing the one who did it then attack that one with rayquaza (and the other one if need be, you have a lot of fast pokes). There isn't much time for set up when he is so weak to ice and ice moves are so common.
@Azelf- not much to say on azelf, moves look pretty good. I will say this though, giving him a life orb is risky. He is one of your last out. what if someone knocks him down to below 10% health and then he dies cuz of the orb. Once again I would go with a sleep healer. Its just too risky, in my opinion. to give someone who comes out at the end a life reducing item. I have seen matches lost like this.

Like I said before this is just my opinion. You don't have to do what I think, this is your team. Good Luck =)

Alright, I went for Toxic > Reflect on Lugia since I haven't found Reflect too useful anyways and I do need a reliable way to hit Ninjask. I also went for Icy Wind to lower their speed.

I also ran Low Kick, Protect and Fling on Weavile. Reasons in the OP. I may change Protect later back to Taunt since I have found Taunt to be useful.

And any recommendations for Rayquaza and Azelf ARE WANTED. Please suggest anything you have to replace the two, they are extremely weak and haven't proved to be the sweepers that I wanted them to be.

 

[Werecario]

Please suggest anything you have to replace the two, they are extremely weak and haven't proved to be the sweepers that I wanted them to be.

Mewtwo is a good sweeper to have and now that he is availible this year, why not take that opportunity. He has crazy good s atk and speed and has a great moveset. A psychic, blizzard, aura shpere, recover/ protect mewtwo would rip shreads in the lines of your defenders. Also he can learn me first. This move is constantly overlooked because there is a high chance to screw up unless you know how to use it. If youre going against a ghost you can use me first and your attack is their ghost attack times 1.5 because it is boosted times 2 because its super effective. Not to mention the use of Giratina being big this year. when he uses shadow force, use me first. He wont hit you, you wont be there, but you hit him super effectively (ive done it). This is solely on you and whether you think you can determine when to use it (best on ghosts or dragons). Another good sweeper to look at is a special attacking infernape. He is fast and has a good move set. You could try out focus blast, heat wave, vacuum wave, and protect. He could be a very valuable asset especially with fire moves being boosted when his health is low and heat wave hitting both foes. It will hurt abomasnow, metagross, lucario, heracross, and even those pesky shininjas. As I have said its up to you. Good luck

 

[Gottabeperfect]

Mewtwo Sweeper

Mewtwo is a good sweeper to have and now that he is availible this year, why not take that opportunity. He has crazy good s atk and speed and has a great moveset. A psychic, blizzard, aura shpere, recover/ protect mewtwo would rip shreads in the lines of your defenders. Also he can learn me first. This move is constantly overlooked because there is a high chance to screw up unless you know how to use it. If youre going against a ghost you can use me first and your attack is their ghost attack times 1.5 because it is boosted times 2 because its super effective. Not to mention the use of Giratina being big this year. when he uses shadow force, use me first. He wont hit you, you wont be there, but you hit him super effectively (ive done it). This is solely on you and whether you think you can determine when to use it (best on ghosts or dragons). Another good sweeper to look at is a special attacking infernape. He is fast and has a good move set. You could try out focus blast, heat wave, vacuum wave, and protect. He could be a very valuable asset especially with fire moves being boosted when his health is low and heat wave hitting both foes. It will hurt abomasnow, metagross, lucario, heracross, and even those pesky shininjas. As I have said its up to you. Good luck

Your right, I'm using a
Mewtwo @Leftovers Serious nature:
-Recover
-Ice Beam
-Aura Sphere
-Psychic


Oh, and Coaster, this is my first year at VGCs (I'm hitting the one in Seattle) and so I'm having to get tons of advice from online and Smogon.

 

[Coaster]

Mewtwo is a good sweeper to have and now that he is availible this year, why not take that opportunity. He has crazy good s atk and speed and has a great moveset. A psychic, blizzard, aura shpere, recover/ protect mewtwo would rip shreads in the lines of your defenders. Also he can learn me first. This move is constantly overlooked because there is a high chance to screw up unless you know how to use it. If youre going against a ghost you can use me first and your attack is their ghost attack times 1.5 because it is boosted times 2 because its super effective. Not to mention the use of Giratina being big this year. when he uses shadow force, use me first. He wont hit you, you wont be there, but you hit him super effectively (ive done it). This is solely on you and whether you think you can determine when to use it (best on ghosts or dragons). Another good sweeper to look at is a special attacking infernape. He is fast and has a good move set. You could try out focus blast, heat wave, vacuum wave, and protect. He could be a very valuable asset especially with fire moves being boosted when his health is low and heat wave hitting both foes. It will hurt abomasnow, metagross, lucario, heracross, and even those pesky shininjas. As I have said its up to you. Good luck

Yeah, I took your advice on Mewtwo and going to test it. I thought about Infernape, but to me I see it a bit defensively weak, so I went to look for another Heat Wave user, and I went with Zapdos. Here's the two Pokémon I plan to test:

Mewtwo@Life Orb
EVs: 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Timid Nature ( + Speed, - Attack )
Ability: Pressure
~ Psychic
~ Blizzard
~ Aura Sphere
~ Recover / Protect

Zapdos@Leftovers
EVs: 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Timid Nature ( + Speed, - Attack )
Ability: Pressure
~ Thunderbolt / Discharge
~ Heat Wave
~ Roost
~ Protect

The EVs just went straight to maxing out, since I'm not particularly sure what I want to accomplish with the EV spread other than hitting hard and being fast. Discharge is definitely something I want to use, but I would have to run Protect on Mewtwo, which isn't much of a problem, but finding a slot for Lugia to have Protect would be hard, so I'm still iffy on it. Suggestions are welcomed as usual.

Your right, I'm using a
Mewtwo @Leftovers Serious nature:
-Recover
-Ice Beam
-Aura Sphere
-Psychic


Oh, and Coaster, this is my first year at VGCs (I'm hitting the one in Seattle) and so I'm having to get tons of advice from online and Smogon.

Nice, but why are you running Serious nature? Couldn't SR for a better one?

 

[Gottabeperfect]

Seriously

[QUOTE/]Nice, but why are you running Serious nature? Couldn't SR for a better one?[/QUOTE]


Honestly, I want to test it out. It is equal to all, so I want to see if I can be successful with it.

 

[Werecario]

@ Gottabeperfect. If you're in vgc you should have blizzard instead. Its acuracy may be lower but it hits both enemies. And mewtwo needs to have a timid nature to outspeed oponents.

@ Coaster- Zapados is a good choice the only problem with him on your team is the importance of protect with him. Discharge is deffently the move to give him but it will hurt your teammate. You will definately need protect on lugia now. Icy wind isnt that important. Look at you team and see how fast they are. Hardly anyone can outspeed mewtwo or weaville. And zapdos's speed is nothing to scoff at. Another thing about zapdos is give him detect instead. Anyone with imprison will block your protect but hardly anyone will block detect. Also how do you expect to hit the many ground types like hippodown or groudon? I would give him something else instead of roost, try air cutter. It has low power but with a high crit ratio and STAB bonus who knows? On this decision I really don't know what you should do for him, unless you want to dry a different pokemon. The only other thing I have to say is the fact life orb will take off health and what if it kills your pokemon. I do think that it might be ok, im just saying this because I lost a match because of a life orb just yesterday (after I told you about not using it even lol). Leftovers might actually be better suited on mewtwo, with his good defense, leftovers will make him even harder to kill, not to mention he is already a very strong sp attacker the life orb might not even be needed. You might want to look at a charti berry for zapdos because of the high use of rock slide. I would give mewtwo protect instead of protect when I stop and think about it. Its really good for scouting to see if someone has dark or ghost moves and because any fake out pokemon will definately target mewtwo becasue lets face it, he's scary. Thats all I got this time. Sorry if it seem like I am over-criticizing your team lol