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I like my leads, need help with the backup!
First post!
I've been playing Pokemon since Red and Blue, but I've never been into the metagame. PVP in general has been something I've avoided in games because I've never been good. But a few weeks ago I stumbled across the 2014 VGC Nationals and I thought it looked like so much fun. I've been watching strategy videos galore and I've been IV breeding, EV breeding, trading, and training so hard for about two weeks straight. I'm playing doubles in Y, by the way. Today I battled my first online opponent after testing my team in the Battle Maison for two days. And I won! Four times in a row! Then I got wrecked by this dude's Gliscor and realized I need to fix my team. It starts out really nice! But then I feel like it's clanky and aimless after I've switched out of my leads, or after they faint. Lead 1: Thundurus @ Leftovers - Prankster 1) Thunder Wave 2) Agility 3) Volt Switch 4) U-turn Lead 2: Garchomp @ Garchompite - Rough Skin 1) Earthquake 2) Swords Dance (I never use this, recommend a move?) 3) Dragon Claw 4) Iron Head (very handy against Fairy types!) Backup 1: Gardevoir @ Assault Vest - Telepathy 1) Dazzling Gleam 2) Shadow Ball 3) Psychic 4) Thunderbolt (non-mega Gyarados beware) Backup 2: Aeglislash @ Sitrus Berry (better item?) - Stance Change, obviously 1) Shadow Sneak 2) King's Shield 3) Iron Head (has been more useful than Sacred Sword so far for me) 4) Swords Dance Basically the idea is to take advantage of Prankster in combination with Garchomp's speed. Thunder Wave gets priority because of Prankster then I Earthquake or Dragon Claw. The plan is to keep both of my opponent's Pokes paralyzed and sweep them as much as possible. If I don't need to Thunder Wave, I Agility or U-turn/Volt Switch and bring the nuisance back later. However, he absolutely FAILS late game because of his weak attack moves. I think it's worth it though. People honestly haven't been handling it well generally. Where I'm looking for help is after those two. My Gardevoir does really well. He's fully invested into Def and Sp Def but still can dish out some damage. And Aeglislash is downright fun to use. But if someone could make suggestions on replacements for those I would appreciate it! Maybe looking for a great tank that would fit with this strategy. I love switching moves. I'm gonna start playing with mega Mawile soon! Fingers crossed! Thanks for reading, everyone. |
Team preview makes the lead role more difficult to execute, as the opponent can plan accordingly depending on what they see as your lead Pokemon.
Thunder Wave and Agility are redundant on Thundurus. Thunder Wave is more of a support move to help your slower Pokemon out, while Agility is rather useless on something as fast and has a priority-boosting ability like Thundurus. Having both switching moves seems tempting, but Thundurus is one of those Pokemon that would rather stay in battle to do its thing: (singles) -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power (Ice)/Grass Knot -Focus Blast/Grass Knot -Thunder Wave Nature: Timid EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe Item: Life Orb/Leftovers Ability: Prankster or -Nasty Plot -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power (Ice) -Focus Blast/Thunder Wave Nature: Timid EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe Item: Life Orb/Leftovers Ability: Prankster (for doubles): -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power (Ice) -Thunder Wave -Swagger/Taunt Nature: Calm EVs: 252 HP/120 Def/36 SAtk/68 SDef/28 Spe Item: Leftovers/Sitrus Berry Ability: Prankster or -Thunderbolt -Hidden Power (Ice) -Thunder Wave/Psychic/Grass Knot -Protect Nature: Timid EVs: 4 Def/252 SAtk/252 Spe Item: Life Orb Ability: Prankster Mega Garchomp plays best when it's paired with Tyranitar or Hippowdon, neither of which you have on the team. It's best that you use its regular form, as its superior Speed is what edges it out. Mega Garchomp fails to outspeed things like both Charizard formes, as well as Salamence. A 2x supereffective Iron Head only barely outdamages a neutral STAB Earthquake, so it's not a very useful attack on Garchomp in that regard. Besides, Earthquake hits plenty of Fairies hard enough. Here's what Garchomp should be using in doubles: -Dragon Claw -Earthquake -Rock Slide/Stone Edge -Protect Nature: Jolly EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe Item: Life Orb/Lum Berry/Focus Sash Otherwise, just use Mega Salamence, as it's faster and hits roughly as hard: -Dragon Dance -Double-Edge/Return -Earthquake/Dragon Claw/Roost -Protect Nature: Jolly/Adamant EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe Item: Salamencite Ability: Intimidate or -Return/Double-Edge -Hyper Voice -Draco Meteor/Fire Blast -Protect Nature: Naive EVs: 20 Atk/232 SAtk/252 Spe Item: Salamencite Ability: Intimidate Choice sets are the best way to use non-Mega Gardevoir, IMO. Though Assault Vest boosts Gardevoir's good Defense, it's either losing out on power or Speed. Thundurus already can take care of Gyarados, so there's no need for Thunderbolt here: -Psychic/Psyshock -Moonblast -Dazzling Gleam/Healing Wish -Shadow Ball/Destiny Bond Nature: Timid EVs: 12 HP/252 SAtk/244 Spe Item: Choice Scarf Ability: Trace/Telepathy or -Psychic/Psyshock -Moonblast -Dazzling Gleam -Shadow Ball Nature: Modest EVs: 68 HP/4 Def/252 SAtk/4 SDef/180 Spe Item: Choice Specs Ability: Trace/Telepathy Swords Dance + King's Shield seems tempting on Aegislash, but it's not worth using in doubles, as there's the risk of being ganged up on before Aegislash gets running. It's also better off as specially-based, as burns and Intimidate are rather uncommon in doubles formats: -Shadow Ball -Flash Cannon/Sacred Sword -Wide Guard/Substitute -King's Shield Nature: Quiet EVs: 252 HP/100 SAtk/156 SDef Item: Leftovers/Weakness Policy or -Flash Cannon -Shadow Ball -Shadow Sneak/Sacred Sword -King's Shield Nature: Quiet EVs: 252 HP/252 SAtk/4 SDef/ Item: Leftovers/Weakness Policy/Life Orb Since this is a doubles team, you can consider either Milotic or Bisharp to help fend off Intimidators because of their Competitive and Defiant abilities, respectively: Milotic: -Scald -Ice Beam/Icy Wind -Recover/Icy Wind -Protect/Mirror Coat Nature: Modest EVs: 252 HP/140 Def/132 SDef Item: Leftovers/Sitrus Berry/Assault Vest Ability: Competitive Bisharp: -Sucker Punch -Iron Head -Knock Off/Low Kick -Protect Nature: Adamant/Jolly EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe Item: Life Orb/Focus Sash Ability: Defiant |
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