Competitive Team Questions (and Incomplete Team Help)

Zeffy said:

You totally disregarded the fact that the OP was asking for a 3rd Gen Gengar set. A much more fitting all-out attacker (in 3rd gen, that is) should look like this:

Gengar @Leftovers
Timid/Modest nature
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Punch
~ Giga Drain
~ Fire Punch

This would also work in-game perfectly. Unless you have R/S because Ice and Fire Punch are only available via move tutors in Emerald. You could replace both moves with Shadow Ball and Hypnosis if that is the case.

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Shadow ball is physical in r/s/e I believe Psychic is an option but it gets redundant coverage, you could find out what its hidden power is :L night shade I think it might get explosion I'm not sure Dark is also special but I dont know what dark moves he gets poison is physical so sludge bomb is out of the question options are limited really :/

Requesting IV Help

I'm trying to get a Chancy with perfect (or near-perfect) IVs in Special Defense and HP for my team (and perhaps a decent IV in Speed wouldn't be bad), but I haven't had any luck yet. I'm pretty sure I understand how EV training works, but I just can't get the hang of breeding for IVs. I've been reading online guides and I thought I understood it, but I was obviously wrong.

I'm gonna try to explain what I did earlier tonight (in a spoiler below, for the sake of not having a super long post) and maybe somebody can tell me what I did wrong. I'm not sure what I'm missing here.


Feel free to reply to this thread, or even send me a PM if you'd prefer, to explain where I've gone wrong. I'd love it if somebody could help me out! Thanks for any help you can give! I'm new to any sort of "advanced breeding" and EV training, so I apologize if I'm missing something super obvious.

One last thing, is there any way to legitimately obtain a flawless Ditto? I'm convinced that it isn't possible, but I always like to be completely sure of these things.

Brainstorming over a Competitive Team

~ Heyaa everyone!

I was thinking of joining in on the wifi-battles! But before I can, I DO need a competitive team..
Here's the problem, I don't really know what Pokémons to put in it since there are so many combinations and Pokémon I like! (I am having the hardest time choosing) There are 2 Pokémons that I love being in it: Weavile and Milotic!

I already have my Weavile (Physical sweeper) but I am still brainstorming over a good moveset though!
Weavile @ Choice Scarf/Focus Sash/ ... (Still not sure)
Pressure | Jolly
31/31/x/31/x/31
252 Atk, 252 Spe and 4 Hp
-Night Slash
-Ice Punch
-Brick Break
- ... (Not sure yet)

Here's my question for you guys:
What do you consider being a nice team that includes a Weavile (and maybe even a Milotic), I'd love to hear from you!

Please put the suggestions like this:
Pokemon @ Item
Ability | Nature
IVs
EVs
- Moves

Thank you!
~ Lots of love.

Creame

While Weavile is a good anti-Dragon Pokemon, its low defenses make it priority-bait. Mamoswine is a better alternative because it has enough bulk to compensate for its lesser Speed:
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Ice Shard
-Endeavor
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat

or
-Earthquake
-Icicle Crash
-Ice Shard
-Stone Edge
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
Eva: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat

or
-Icicle Spear/Icicle Crash
-Earthquake
-Superpower
- Stone Edge
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Thick Fat

Ideal teammates are Pokemon that appreciate having Dragons out of the picture.

Thanks!!

Still looking at other people's teams to find out what Pokémons I should use :3

Is my team good? Zoroark?

For pokemon obtainable through Pokemon White 2 and dream radar- My current team is Swablu, Ralts, Spiritomb, Oshawott, Shuckle and Riolu. I want to add in a Zoroark since I just found out how cool they are, should I not? If so, which pokemon do I replace? Well, here was my master plan, can you help me develop it?
Gardevoir
-Calm Mind
-Psychic
-Signal Beam
-Focus Blast
Lucario
-Swords Dance
-Close Combat
-Extremespeed
-Icepunch
Samurott
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Aqua Jet
-Megahorn
Shuckle
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Toxic
-Rest
Spiritomb
-Shadow Sneak
-Sucker Punch
-Pursuit
-Will-o-wisp
Altaria
-Dragon Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Roost
-Fly

is the move sky drop frowned upon in competive play?i just want to play fair lol

kingofbluesteel said:

is the move sky drop frowned upon in competive play?i just want to play fair lol

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It's not frowned upon competitively, but it's banned because it caused a glitch when it was used in Double/Triple Battles when Gravity is in play.

Shuckle with EQ isn't really a good idea since it doesn't have Power Trick.
You should go for Bind/Constrict/Gyro Ball

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How about Iron tail or Dig for Samurott? I don't have any steel moves in my whole party plan. As for the shucke, I think I will replace the Earthquake with Gyro Ball- I hadn't thought of that, Shuckle's low Speed is now a great attribute! ...but then I won't be able to hit the overpowered electric group for supereffective... Is that incredibly crippling, or might it work out? If it is very dangerous to my team, I think I'll have Samurott learn dig after all. As for the others, I don't like to micromanage natures, I just use my pokemon as they are :)

Also, I forgot to list abilities!
Shuckle:Contrary (Makes stat changes have the opposite effect, once used him as a wall while launching 50 X-attacks at him, then looked a little closer :P)
Riolu(Lucario eventually): Prankster(Gives priority to a status move)
Ralts (eventually Gardevoir): Telepathy(Anticipates an ally's attack and dodges it)
Oshawott(eventually Samurott): Torrent(Powers up water-type moves in a pinch)
Swablu(soon Altaria):Cloud Nine (Eliminate the effects of the weather, take THAT castform!)
Spiritomb:Infiltrator(Passes through the foe's barrier ans strikes, Infiltrator>Wall of China)

Mudinjakarp said:

How about Iron tail or Dig for Samurott? I don't have any steel moves in my whole party plan. As for the shucke, I think I will replace the Earthquake with Gyro Ball- I hadn't thought of that, Shuckle's low Speed is now a great attribute! ...but then I won't be able to hit the overpowered electric group for supereffective... Is that incredibly crippling, or might it work out? If it is very dangerous to my team, I think I'll have Samurott learn dig after all. As for the others, I don't like to micromanage natures, I just use my pokemon as they are :)

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Steel moves aren't useful in general because of their rather poor coverage, unless they're STABed, like Metagross' Meteor Mash and Scizor's Bullet Punch.

Samurott is better off utilizing:
-Swords Dance
-Waterfall
-Aqua Jet
-Megahorn
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Mystic Water

or
-Hydro Pump/Surf
-Ice Beam
-Grass Knot/Hidden Power (Grass)
-Megahorn/Superpower
Nature: Naive
EVs: 4 Atk/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb

Shuckle is terrible because of its lack of HP, useful resists and offensive presence. Ferrothorn is better as a wall than Shuckle is and ever will be:
-Stealth Rock/Spikes
-Leech Seed
-Power Whip/Protect
-Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave/Protect
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP/88 Def/168 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Shed Shell

Let's Talk Ghosties For a Second...

'Ello 'Ello,

So I'm in a challenge with my friends, a Mono-Type Tournament. We each choose one type of Pokemon, train up 6 of them, and compete in a tournament. Now I chose The Ghost-Type obviously, and after a heavy consideration I'm wondering if anyone else has a second opinion on movesets if you've used these spectres before.

Number one? Golurk.

This guy is cool. Seriously, giant possessed suit of armor/robot thing? However his stats are a bit lacking. Where he looks intimidating his Base Atk is 124. Still, not bad, he could wrestle with a Gyarados and be just as strong (you know, without that whole Water/Flying thing.) However Most people I've talked to, and Smogon of course say that Subpunch is the way to go. He DOES have decent Bulk at 80 Base Defenses. It's speed really is crippling, but I'm still determined to use him.

Ability:Iron Fist
Nature:Adamant
Held Item:Leftovers

-Substitute
-Shadow Punch
-Earthquake
-Focus Punch

Basically the only set people say he CAN use. So far out of a few test battles, Substitute usually breaks in one hit and I can rarely make use of much Focus Punch, of course when I do nothing has ever survived it. Iron Fist definitely helps with Shadow Punch's weak damage, and Earthquake is an obvious choice.

However my main questions are, does anyone know of another move that might work better on him? Also I want to use my allotted 1 Leftovers on something a little more significant. Does anyone else know of a Held Item that would benefit this moveset?

Next on the list is, Chandelure.

Now, most people say there is only 1 real moveset that you SHOULD run on Chandelure that abuses it's 145 Sp. Atk, (Fire Blast, Shadow Ball, ect.) And I don't particularly disagree with that. Chandelure has decent Speed, and can usually get a hit in before it's frailty finally takes it out.

Ability:Flash Fire
Nature:Modest
Held Item:Leftovers/Life Orb

-Fire Blast
-Shadow Ball
-Energy Ball
-Substitute

Once again, pretty much right out of the Smogon page. However I've really tried to add something or change up the moveset, but nothing is as effective as this. The substitute usually doesn't hold (as I would expect on a fairly frail Pokemon) but as with Golurk, when it does hold it just makes it that much easier to deal some heavy damage.

But not too much I want to change, unless someone knows a movset that's be more fun? (Or don't fix it if it isn't broken right?) But I, once again, don't want to use my 1 Leftovers on Chandelure, but then again I really don't like the health drop from Life Orb when paired with Substitute. Any ideas?

And lastly, Jellicent.

I love this pokemon. He's nice and bulky and makes for great late game turn arounds. I've pretty much got him figured out, but I have one last nagging thing,

Ability:Cursed Body
Nature:Bold
Held Item:Leftovers

-Scald
-Will-O-Wisp
-Recover
-Hex

Now, most people say that Taunt is too good to not have but I honestly don't find much use in it. I know it's supposed to stop defensive stallers from setting up but I just find better plays with Will-O-Wisp, and Scald.

The nagging thing is about the status ailment move. Will-O-Wisp, or Toxic? Hex will benefit from both (and I love hex because it's like a Ghost-Type Earthquake with STAB) but they both have ups and downs. Will-O-Wisp (Along with fitting the Ghost theme) will Burn, which helps out massively with it's lower defense stat, and I believe that overall Burn is a more pressuring Status Ailment then being Poisoned. However it does have a 50% accuracy, which could spell trouble if I can't set up right. Also it might be a bit redundant of a move when paired with Scald. Toxic on the other hand is 100% accuracy, and it can help dent Pokemon that already wall it, like other water types. But then again trying to use two different Status Ailments on 1 Pokemon's moveset (Toxic and Scald) just seems silly. I'd be glad to use my Leftovers on Jellicent but is there a better Held Item for what it's trying to do?

I know I have a lot of repeat questions, but thanks for considering them and hopefully giving me your thoughts.

Eh, Ferrothorn is so cliched that people will be ready for it, and it has a glaringly prominant fire weakness, so no problems there, 1 hit KO. Rock and Steel moves aren't so common, and although water is quite common, its only a 200% hit, so Shuckle might live. Plus, I like its ability Contrary since it gets a stat boost every time someone uses a move meant to lower its defenses, or something, since it is a defense based wall. Although Ferrothorn does fit into my team quite nicely, I like to avoid cliches whenever possible, therefore turning my opponent into a mumbling pinnacle of "but I thought he would" and "but why didn't it work"s. My Oshawott is relaxed, so.... I guess I'll go for the second moveset you listed- I don't have any grass moves, and most people think by pulling me into a water vs. water battle they're basically starting a "metapod-off" (speaking about that my friend does shuckle vs. shuckle battles with me all the time :P so annoying when I finally use rollout and he switches to his Dewott) Also, it just occured to me I could replace Samurott with Starmie, since Starmie has such an incredible moveset and I have a Staryu and water stone... probably a bad idea though, right?

Mudinjakarp said:

Eh, Ferrothorn is so cliched that people will be ready for it, and it has a glaringly prominant fire weakness, so no problems there, 1 hit KO. Rock and Steel moves aren't so common, and although water is quite common, its only a 200% hit, so Shuckle might live. Plus, I like its ability Contrary since it gets a stat boost every time someone uses a move meant to lower its defenses, or something, since it is a defense based wall. Although Ferrothorn does fit into my team quite nicely, I like to avoid cliches whenever possible, therefore turning my opponent into a mumbling pinnacle of "but I thought he would" and "but why didn't it work"s. My Oshawott is relaxed, so.... I guess I'll go for the second moveset you listed- I don't have any grass moves, and most people think by pulling me into a water vs. water battle they're basically starting a "metapod-off" (speaking about that my friend does shuckle vs. shuckle battles with me all the time :P so annoying when I finally use rollout and he switches to his Dewott) Also, it just occured to me I could replace Samurott with Starmie, since Starmie has such an incredible moveset and I have a Staryu and water stone... probably a bad idea though, right?

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While it's true that Shuckle's defenses are huge, its low HP and bad typing hold it back from being a defensive behemoth. Ferrothorn, on the other hand, is much better. Its Fire and Fighting weaknesses can be easily covered by Jellicent, Starmie, Tentacruel, Salamence, Dragonite, Lati@s or Gyarados.

Contrary Shuckle isn't worth using either. Other than Shell Smash for trolling purposes, it lacks other moves to take advantage of Contrary.

Meh, you're probably right- I know nothing about the new generation. A FEAR rattata would literally be better than a lvl. 100 Shuckle :P Bye-bye, Shuckle! (I'll still use 3 Shuckles on a 3 vs. 3 battle to troll my friend on occasion, he hates shuckle :P) I, Mudinjakarp, hereby surrender to the cliches!

...Also, based on your not addressing my electric question, I'm just going to assume that I don't need a ground type move

I just started looking into IV breeding and EV training, so I'm still new to any competitive team building in Pokémon games. I've been thinking about this for a while and I planned the perfect Blissey for me, as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love some opinions while I'm still catching the Ditto I'll need to get her IVs. This'll be my first "EV-trained" Pokémon and I wanna make sure she sounds good before I put in all the training.

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Modest [+ Special Attack / - Attack]
31/-/-/-/31/31
252 HP / 172 Sp. Defense / 84 Speed
Serene Grace
~ Psychic
~ Toxic
~ Attract
~ Softboiled

I plan for this Blissey to become a Special Tank with some annoyance aspects, maybe using Softboiled to heal and stall time as Toxic withers at an opponent's health. Attract is there for the annoyance factor, hoping they occasionally become immobilized by love when fighting male Pokémon. I'm EV training her for HP and Special Defense mostly, and decided to give her a bit of Speed so I might be able to get an Attract or Toxic out right away.

I could do without Psychic, but I don't know what else I should teach her. Let me know what you think of this setup!

MrTripStack said:

I just started looking into IV breeding and EV training, so I'm still new to any competitive team building in Pokémon games. I've been thinking about this for a while and I planned the perfect Blissey for me, as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love some opinions while I'm still catching the Ditto I'll need to get her IVs. This'll be my first "EV-trained" Pokémon and I wanna make sure she sounds good before I put in all the training.

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Modest [+ Special Attack / - Attack]
31/-/-/-/31/31
252 HP / 172 Sp. Defense / 84 Speed
Serene Grace
~ Psychic
~ Toxic
~ Attract
~ Softboiled

I plan for this Blissey to become a Special Tank with some annoyance aspects, maybe using Softboiled to heal and stall time as Toxic withers at an opponent's health. Attract is there for the annoyance factor, hoping they occasionally become immobilized by love when fighting male Pokémon. I'm EV training her for HP and Special Defense mostly, and decided to give her a bit of Speed so I might be able to get an Attract or Toxic out right away.

I could do without Psychic, but I don't know what else I should teach her. Let me know what you think of this setup!

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Flamethrower or Seismic Toss > Psychic. Flamethrower is more important because it lets Blissey hit Steel Pokemon not named Heatran hard. Seismic Toss inflicts consistent damage on non-Ghost Pokemon.

Infatuation isn't seen often because:
1. It can easily be cured by switching out
2. It only affects the opposite gender, and given the fact that people use random genders when they play over on Wi-Fi or the Battle Frontier, it's not reliable.

You're better off using Thunder Wave (to slow down faster opponents who aren't Ground Pokemon or have Volt Absorb as their ability) or Toxic (to cripple non-Steel/Poison walls) as Blissey's status move rather than Attract.

Also, Bold > Modest. Blissey isn't likely to attack back, so it really needs the defensive EVs it can get (252 HP/252 Def/4 Spe).

So you think it'd be better to EV train her for Defense, rather than Special Defense? I guess that does make sense, because her Sp. Defense is already pretty high while her Defense is fairly low. I was thinking about getting Special Defense really high and trying to avoid physical conflicts with her, but it does make sense to make her more well-rounded.

I was trying to think of something instead of Psychic and Flamethrower seems like the best bet! Also, I'll definitely teach her Thunder Wave instead; my mind just automatically thought of Attract when I found out that Chansey is always female. I also completely forgot that being Paralyzed can cripple a Pokémon's speed.

Thanks for the advice!

For the Golurk, you may want to try the Life Orb on it. I know that he loses a lot of life from Substitute already, but as you said yourself, his defenses are laughable. He looks intimidating, but he can die to a Surf, easily. So, try to hit as hard as you can, while you can, he will never last very long unless you set him up with Baton Pass, but since you're using mono-Ghosts, I don't think you are.

Chandelure, I had an incredibly successful Choice Scarf abuser, with a Modest nature to make up for the lack of Specs. Only downside to this guy is, when he's locked in, he usually has to switch, meaning entry hazards murder him before anything else can. But, still is fun to work with. And a tip? Flamethrower, while weaker, is a lot more accurate, and Heat Wave forces a switchout, which it would have to get anyway, each of those moves are a lot more accurate than Fire Blast.

Jellicent, he's your Leftovers holder. He can use Recover, and Scald is a powerful, mostly-neutral STAB move, especially the possible burn. Mine was Calm, focusing on HP and Sp. Def, with the rest going to Sp. Atk. I was lucky to get a Hidden Power Fire one on my first go, but that allows you to hit the annoying Grass and Steel types that would laugh at Jellicent otherwise. I made his last move Shadow Ball, purely for another STAB move with neutral coverage, but I understand if you take that off.

Those are my suggestions for your teams, based off of my experiences and what has worked with me. Good luck in your tournament!

Thanks alot for your suggestions, and I have already changed that Flamethrower in. Do you really think that Golurk is fast enough to make use of the Life Orb? And for Jellicent I threw on Hex for Ghost STAB, since he has Scald and Toxic on him as well.