Moveset Help & Other Questions (FAQ in first post)

Zeffy said:

Is this for in-game, or for PvP? I think Phantom Force + Toxic is a lot more damage in the long run, but Hex + any status ailment gives you an offensive tool right off the bat. I'd personally go with Phantom Force since it sounds a lot more fun to use :p

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Just in-game at the moment. I know it's a bit of a non-issue designing competitive sets if I'm not battling a human, but I have fun with it. I was leaning towards Phantom Force originally as well since it would give me another free turn, but I like the idea of a super-powerful Hex as well... That's why I'm undecided and posting here! Thanks for weighing in :)

Hey zeffy I am here

Zeffy here's my team

Charizard with charizard nite ability:tough claws
Flare blitz
Ancient power
Dragon claw
Air slash

Poliwrath with mystical water ability:water absorb
Ice beam
Brick break
Hydro pump
Hypnosis

Ryperior with hard stone ability:rock head I think
Earth power
Drill run
Stone edge
Mega punch

Raikou with magnet ability: pressure
Discharge
Thunderbolt
Extreme speed
Thunder fang

Bisharp with dread plate ability :defiant
Sucker punch
Hone claws
Night slash
Iron head

Alakazam with twisted spoon ability:synchronis
Psychic
Dazzling beam
Psy shock
Psybeam

Ryperior's ability was lightning rod

ViolantCharizard14 said:

Zeffy here's my team

Charizard with charizard nite ability:tough claws
Flare blitz
Ancient power
Dragon claw
Air slash

Poliwrath with mystical water ability:water absorb
Ice beam
Brick break
Hydro pump
Hypnosis

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ViolantCharizard14 said:

Ryperior with hard stone ability:rock head I think
Earth power
Drill run
Stone edge
Mega punch

Raikou with magnet ability: pressure
Discharge
Thunderbolt
Extreme speed
Thunder fang

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ViolantCharizard14 said:

Bisharp with dread plate ability :defiant
Sucker punch
Hone claws
Night slash
Iron head

Alakazam with twisted spoon ability:synchronis
Psychic
Dazzling beam
Psy shock
Psybeam

Ryperior's ability was lightning rod

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There's no need to triple-post; all of these could've been one. Natures and EVs are also highly recommended to include, as they're very important in competitive battling.

Anyway, Charizard X is best as a physical attacker because of its Tough Claws ability:
-Dragon Dance
-Flare Blitz
-Dragon Claw/Outrage
-Roost/Earthquake
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze

Some of your other Pokemon are badly outclassed in the standard environment. Poliwrath and Rhyperior aren't good options because the former doesn't have much to make it stand out from its fellow bulky Water Pokemon like Wash Rotom and the latter has way too many common weaknesses to take advantage of. Starmie is a better fit over Poliwrath because it can use Rapid Spin to clear away entry hazards, as Charizard is weak to Stealth Rock:
-Hydro Pump
-Psyshock/Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam/Hidden Power (Fire)
-Rapid Spin
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure/Analytic

or
-Scald
-Psyshock/Reflect Type
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
Nature: Timid
EVs: 248 HP/8 Def/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure

A better replacement over Rhyperior that doesn't stack too many weaknesses with what you currently have is Garchomp. While it doesn't hit as hard as Rhyperior, Garchomp is noticeably faster, allowing it to make better use of its offensive presence:
-Stealth Rock
-Outrage/Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Swords Dance/Fire Blast
Nature: Naive/Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash/Lum Berry

Bisharp has no use for Hone Claws, as all its good moves are very accurate and Swords Dance boosts its Attack twice as fast. Night Slash is also outclassed by Knock Off, as the latter has utility in removing non-Mega Stone items:
-Swords Dance/Pursuit
-Sucker Punch
-Iron Head
-Knock Off
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Lum Berry/Dread Plate/Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant

Raikou has no use for Extreme Speed, as it's already fast on its own. As the move came from an event a long time ago, it forces Raikou into a Rash nature, which is suboptimal considering that Raikou will now be outsped by Garchomp. Use a Timid nature instead to make use of its good Speed:
-Calm Mind
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power (Ice)
-Volt Switch/Substitute
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Leftovers

or
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Hidden Power (Ice)
-Shadow Ball/Extrasensory
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Choice Specs/Assault Vest

Alakazam is better with Shadow Ball and Focus Blast as its coverage attacks over Dazzling Gleam, as the former two moves have unresisted coverage together:
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Encore/Hidden Power (Ice)
Nature: Timid
EVs: 4 HP/252 SAtk/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard

Dual Chop?

I dunno what to think about this move for my Haxorus - it's as powerful as Dragon Claw, except the damage is split between two hits, so it hits through stuff like Multiscale, Shadow Shield and Focus Sash, and it's awesome with a Life Orb. The only tradeoff is 90% accuracy. I'm pretty sure it's a better move than Dragon Claw...?

Haxorus @Life Orb
Jolly
Mold Breaker (Yes, I know with this ability, Dragon Claw can hit through Sturdy anyway. Don't start.)
252 Attack/252 Speed/4 Special Defense
-Dual Chop
-Dragon Dance
-Earthquake
-Poison Jab

Multiscale/Shadow Shield/Focus Sash are all uncommon things, and are broken by Stealth Rock anyway. And the 90% accuracy will come and bite you in the ass eventually, and probably more than you want. So the usefulness is not quite as much as one would like/might think.

What it may possibly be good for though is vs Substitute, which is a much more common thing that isn't negated by SR.

Nah said:

Multiscale/Shadow Shield/Focus Sash are all uncommon things, and are broken by Stealth Rock anyway. And the 90% accuracy will come and bite you in the ass eventually, and probably more than you want. So the usefulness is not quite as much as one would like/might think.

What it may possibly be good for though is vs Substitute, which is a much more common thing that isn't negated by SR.

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To add to the above, Mold Breaker ignores Sturdy and Multiscale during attacks, making Dual Chop even more unnecessary, except to bypass Sub users. I'd rather have Outrage for the extra power or Dragon Claw for a 100% accurate STAB.

Minior Movset

i have a shiny mkinior 6 iv could you plis help me figure out a Double VGC2017 moveset for him?

Metal_Matty said:

i have a shiny mkinior 6 iv could you plis help me figure out a Double VGC2017 moveset for him?

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Minior is rather one dimensional, but it's rather good at what it does (Shell Smash). But you're going to need Rage Powder/Follow Me/Wide Guard support for this, as Minior has rather exploitable weaknesses:
-Shell Smash
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Acrobatics
-Protect
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 92 HP/252 Atk/164 Spe (this outspeeds Tapu Koko after a Shell Smash in meteor form)
Item: White Herb

PlatinumDude said:

Minior is rather one dimensional, but it's rather good at what it does (Shell Smash). But you're going to need Rage Powder/Follow Me/Wide Guard support for this, as Minior has rather exploitable weaknesses:
-Shell Smash
-Stone Edge/Rock Slide
-Acrobatics
-Protect
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 92 HP/252 Atk/164 Spe (this outspeeds Tapu Koko after a Shell Smash in meteor form)
Item: White Herb

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really ty man

Calm shiny Eevee evolution?

So I just caught a shiny Eevee and planned to evolve it into Flareon, until I changed my mind and decided that it looks pretty lame. It's calm nature, 4IVs (missing attack and special defense) but that can be Hyper Trained, so I'm just wondering what is best to evolve it into - I'm guessing Umbreon but I'd probably rather not.

Umbreon is the best evolved form of a Calm Eevee. Vaporeon comes in close. Flareon doesn't benefit from a Calm nature at all.

PlatinumDude said:

Umbreon is the best evolved form of a Calm Eevee. Vaporeon comes in close. Flareon doesn't benefit from a Calm nature at all.

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I know Flareon doesn't benefit, and also looks kinda lame which is why I asked the question. I'm thinking maybe Vaporeon though, it looks pretty cool and could probably be competitive?

I chained a shiny eevee yesterday and it's got some great IVs. It's lonely nature with guts so I presumed if I was going to get any use out of it then a flareon was the way to go.

Any suggestions?

I'm thinking toxic orb, flare blitz and overheat.
No idea on EVs and the other moves, any suggestions on other moves and EVs to get the most out of this mon?

Thanks

Garlana said:

I chained a shiny eevee yesterday and it's got some great IVs. It's lonely nature with guts so I presumed if I was going to get any use out of it then a flareon was the way to go.

Any suggestions?

I'm thinking toxic orb, flare blitz and overheat.
No idea on EVs and the other moves, any suggestions on other moves and EVs to get the most out of this mon?

Thanks

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I don't think Overheat is worth it. Flash Fire is also preferred over Guts since Flareon has piss poor HP, but I guess Guts is ok? It's just that Flash Fire just gives you an immunity against Fire-type moves, and immunities are always a good thing. You definitely don't want to abuse Guts by self-inflicting a status effect though, Flare Blitz recoil + toxic damage will make you lose like half your HP on turn 1. Most Flareons I've seen runs Flare Blitz, Superpower, and Quick Attack. I think they look like this:

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Attack / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Of course in your case, Flash Fire -> Guts and Adamant -> Lonely, but everything else should still hold.

Zeffy said:

I don't think Overheat is worth it. Flash Fire is also preferred over Guts since Flareon has piss poor HP, but I guess Guts is ok? It's just that Flash Fire just gives you an immunity against Fire-type moves, and immunities are always a good thing. You definitely don't want to abuse Guts by self-inflicting a status effect though, Flare Blitz recoil + toxic damage will make you lose like half your HP on turn 1. Most Flareons I've seen runs Flare Blitz, Superpower, and Quick Attack. I think they look like this:

Flareon @ Choice Band
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Attack / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Quick Attack
- Baton Pass

Of course in your case, Flash Fire -> Guts and Adamant -> Lonely, but everything else should still hold.

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I appreciate the detailed response, however as it's a shiny, my plan was to get the most out of the cards this eevee had already been dealt.

Looking for moveset suggestions that will use the guts and lonely nature to full effect, unfortunately I won't be able to use the optimal Mon you have posted.

Garlana said:

Looking for moveset suggestions that will use the guts and lonely nature to full effect, unfortunately I won't be able to use the optimal Mon you have posted.

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What's stopping you from using the set above? Like I said, Flareon is too frail to abuse Guts by self-inflicting a status condition, added with the fact that it has a -def nature. You can always switch Flareon into a predictable Toxic, and abuse Guts from there.

I'm working on my Battle Tree team and am currently encountering a slight coverage problem.

My team
Kommo-o @ Muscle Band (doing what I can with what I have)
Sky Uppercut
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Sword Dance
EV: a little on attack and Sp Def, most on defence
Kommo-o serves as a bulky main fighter. I gave him some attack EVs so he can 1HKO more consistently.

Pheromosa @Focus Sash
Jump Kick
U-Turn
Poison Jab (to deal with Fairies)
Ice beam or Bug Buzz
EV: Most in Speed some in attack so Attack is Beast Boosted
My revenge killer. The goal is to 1HKO pretty much everything it can.

Tapu Fini @Leftovers
Nature's Madness
Surf
Moonblast
Hydro Pump (thinking of swapping it for Shadow Ball)

Now I'm facing a bit of a pickle against Fairies, as Tapu Fini's offensive power is rather lackluster and I'd rather not depend on Phero's poison jab. I could teach Tapu Fini Smart Strike (which would also help against Double Team spammers), but the damage is gonna suck pretty bad.
My other option is to swap Tapu for an offensive Toxapex (@Merciless. Surf, Baneful Bunker, Recover, Toxic/ Venoshock) or Pheromosa for a Kartana (if I can get him speedy enough to outspeed pretty much everything)

JoecoolsinceJohto said:

I'm working on my Battle Tree team and am currently encountering a slight coverage problem.

My team
Kommo-o @ Muscle Band (doing what I can with what I have)
Sky Uppercut
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Sword Dance
EV: a little on attack and Sp Def, most on defence
Kommo-o serves as a bulky main fighter. I gave him some attack EVs so he can 1HKO more consistently.

Pheromosa @Focus Sash
Jump Kick
U-Turn
Poison Jab (to deal with Fairies)
Ice beam or Bug Buzz
EV: Most in Speed some in attack so Attack is Beast Boosted
My revenge killer. The goal is to 1HKO pretty much everything it can.

Tapu Fini @Leftovers
Nature's Madness
Surf
Moonblast
Hydro Pump (thinking of swapping it for Shadow Ball)

Now I'm facing a bit of a pickle against Fairies, as Tapu Fini's offensive power is rather lackluster and I'd rather not depend on Phero's poison jab. I could teach Tapu Fini Smart Strike (which would also help against Double Team spammers), but the damage is gonna suck pretty bad.
My other option is to swap Tapu for an offensive Toxapex (@Merciless. Surf, Baneful Bunker, Recover, Toxic/ Venoshock) or Pheromosa for a Kartana (if I can get him speedy enough to outspeed pretty much everything)

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While I agree with swapping Tapu Fini out, Toxapex doesn't have what it takes to be an offensive mon. It's excellent as a defensive one tho. You could make use of one of the other Tapus, or if you want something more anti-Fairy, use Celesteela/Kartana.

Can anyone recommend a moveset for this Sandslash-A?

Sandslash-A @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
Nature: Adamant
Effort: 252 Atk / 36 Def / 220 Spd (Lv. 100: 291/328/285/77/166/221)

Currently it has:
Icicle Spear
Iron Head
Rapid Spin
Swords Dance

I was going to add Stone Edge and/or Earthquake. Is Aerial Ace worth considering? And is Iron Head worth keeping? Both this move and Rapid Spin cannot be relearned by Sandslash, so I want to be sure before removing them.

HalcyonXIII said:

Can anyone recommend a moveset for this Sandslash-A?

Sandslash-A @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
Nature: Adamant
Effort: 252 Atk / 36 Def / 220 Spd (Lv. 100: 291/328/285/77/166/221)

Currently it has:
Icicle Spear
Iron Head
Rapid Spin
Swords Dance

I was going to add Stone Edge and/or Earthquake. Is Aerial Ace worth considering? And is Iron Head worth keeping? Both this move and Rapid Spin cannot be relearned by Sandslash, so I want to be sure before removing them.

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You might as well go max Attack/max Speed Jolly, as Sandslash needs all the Speed it can get under hail. Iron Head is worth keeping as it's one of Sandslash's STABs. I don't think Sandslash has room for Rapid Spin, as it really needs Earthquake to hit opposing Steel Pokemon. Stone Edge is redundant with Sandslash's Ice STAB. Speaking of Ice STAB, Icicle Crash > Icicle Spear because it has a consistent damage output. Tl;dr:
-Swords Dance
-Icicle Crash
-Iron Head
-Earthquake
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush

JoecoolsinceJohto said:

I'm working on my Battle Tree team and am currently encountering a slight coverage problem.

My team
Kommo-o @ Muscle Band (doing what I can with what I have)
Sky Uppercut
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Sword Dance
EV: a little on attack and Sp Def, most on defence
Kommo-o serves as a bulky main fighter. I gave him some attack EVs so he can 1HKO more consistently.

Pheromosa @Focus Sash
Jump Kick
U-Turn
Poison Jab (to deal with Fairies)
Ice beam or Bug Buzz
EV: Most in Speed some in attack so Attack is Beast Boosted
My revenge killer. The goal is to 1HKO pretty much everything it can.

Tapu Fini @Leftovers
Nature's Madness
Surf
Moonblast
Hydro Pump (thinking of swapping it for Shadow Ball)

Now I'm facing a bit of a pickle against Fairies, as Tapu Fini's offensive power is rather lackluster and I'd rather not depend on Phero's poison jab. I could teach Tapu Fini Smart Strike (which would also help against Double Team spammers), but the damage is gonna suck pretty bad.
My other option is to swap Tapu for an offensive Toxapex (@Merciless. Surf, Baneful Bunker, Recover, Toxic/ Venoshock) or Pheromosa for a Kartana (if I can get him speedy enough to outspeed pretty much everything)

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Nah said:

While I agree with swapping Tapu Fini out, Toxapex doesn't have what it takes to be an offensive mon. It's excellent as a defensive one tho. You could make use of one of the other Tapus, or if you want something more anti-Fairy, use Celesteela/Kartana.

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I don't think Earthquake is that useful on Kommo-o, as it's redundant with its Fighting STAB. Switch it for Poison Jab. Replace Dragon Claw with Outrage, as Kommo-o already has Sky Uppercut as a consistent STAB and change its item to Lum Berry, if you can get it.

Tapu Fini's Attack is just too weak for it to use Smart Strike. As Nah mentioned, you're better off using Celesteela or Kartana as Fairy killers, as they have STAB on their anti-Fairy attacks:

Celesteela:
-Heavy Slam
-Flamethrower/Earthquake
-Leech Seed
-Protect
Nature: Sassy/Careful
EVs: 252 HP/4 Def/252 SDef
Item: Leftovers/Sitrus Berry

or
-Autotomize
-Flash Cannon
-Air Slash
-Flamethrower/Fire Blast
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 SAtk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy

or
-Autotomize
-Heavy Slam
-Earthquake
-Fire Blast/Flamethrower
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Weakness Policy

Kartana:
-Leaf Blade
-Smart Strike
-Sacred Sword
-Swords Dance/Night Slash
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Life Orb/Steelium Z/Fightinium Z/Focus Sash/Choice Scarf