[PCL] Black Magic, PCL Season 2+Off-Season

Heyo, so this is the thread for the clan Black Magic for the PokeCommunity League's 2nd season.

Clan Members

Nah
-Battle Server Username(s): Zekrom52
-Timezone: UTC -5
-Tiers: OU, Ubers, and (to a lesser degree) UU and Doubles

R.F.
-Battle Server Username(s): Therf
-Timezone: UTC +1
-Tiers: OU

Wicked3DS
-Battle Server Username(s): Wicked3DS
-Timezone: UTC -5
-Tiers: OU

KorpiklaaniVodka
-Battle Server Username(s): KorpiklaaniVodka
-Timezone: UTC +3
-Tiers: OU, Ubers, Anything Goes

Golgari
-Battle Server Username(s): Bidoof FTW
-Timezone: UTC -5
-Tiers: OU, Monotype, UU, and more

Rabinov
-Battle Server Username(s): Rabinov, Rallyknob
-Timezone: UTC
-Tiers: OU, UU, RU, NU, PU, Ubers, LC, Monotype, 1v1

Resources to make use of:
Team-Building Workshop
Replay Critique Thread
Damage Calculator
You can also make [RMT] (team help) threads in the main BTB section. ALSO I AM HERE TO HELP YOU PLEASE NAG ME ABOUT STUFF


Hopefully this'll all go well =)

Usernames: Therf
Tiers: OU
Timezone: UTC+01
Reasons:
I was pretty motivated to get better at the metagame during season one, but after that it kinda died down. With season two I hope to get back into things and improve my battling ability.

Some random questions:
- Wheren't we supposed to be more people?
- Skype?

Username: Wicked3DS
Tier: OU
Timezone: UTC -5 (EST)

I'd like to learn more about competitive battling and this seems like a fun way to do it!

Username: KorpiklaaniVodka
Tier: OU, Ubers, AG
Time zone: GMT +3

I'm here to learn more about competitive battling and improve my teambuilding.

R.F. said:

Some random questions:
- Wheren't we supposed to be more people?
- Skype?

Click to expand...

There was supposed to be one more person originally but he like really hated the idea of being in this clan (something about about not knowing anyone) and so I think wolf just removed him from the clan and hasn't found a replacement yet.

And Skype......that came up briefly last season. And basically my stance on that hasn't really changed: that I don't see why we need one when we have the forum and the battle server to communicate on. and I don't have a Skype account anyway

Hey guys, hope we can have a successful season together! :)

Server Username: Bidoof FTW
What tiers/formats you currently battle in: I have a team for most formats, but I prefer playing and am more knowledgeable in OU, Monotype, and UU.
What timezone you live in: EST (UTC -5:00)

I haven't really been battling competitively since Lando-I was banned, and I'm trying to become more active in the Battle Server again. I'm hoping that joining PCL will allow me to have a good time, meet and get to know people that I did not necessarily know before, improve at competitive battling, improve greatly at teambuilding and learn to understand each step of the teambuilding process, and maybe have a little winning on the side ;)

Server Username: Spartacus
What tiers/formats you currently battle in: OU, Monotype, NU. But this is because my teams got deleted recently and haven't remade my UU and RU teams. But OU is my strongest I'd say, haven't really been able to judge the the others as much because I don't play them as much.
What timezone you live in: GMT

You can see it in the subforum, but they've finally started the off-season launch events. You don't have to participate in any of the events if you don't want to, but it's probably a good idea to, to get some practice and/or have some fun, as well as try to get Exp for the clan.

I also just wanna throw out there that I'd like to do a battle or two with y'all sometime.

edit: There is also one event called the "PCL Hunger Games". It's not explicitly mandatory, but it kinda only works if all four clans participate in it. It's essentially a series of mini-events where one member from each clan in each event, and the key thing is that each clan member can only participate in one event. You also don't really sign-up yourself; I have to PM Chase a list of who's doing what event. The 6 events are:
-standard ORAS OU tourney
-a lower tiers (UU, RU, and NU) tournament
-older gens OU tourney (you do one of each of Gen 3 OU, Gen 4 OU, and Gen 5 OU with your opponent)
-a Little Cup tournament
-a Battle Factory tournament (basically randbats but all the Pokemon for both players are from the same tier)
-a team building competition

So we need to decide who's doing which events. I'll say now that the lower tiers tourney is best left to Doof or Spartacus, since they seem to be the only ones here who actually play RU and NU. Then there's also the matter of the Little Cup thing. I've never played LC, but have any of you? And then the older gens tourney.....I started competitive battling back in Gen 5, so I have some experience with that meta, but so I don't know the first thing about the ADV meta or the DPPt meta. So what're we doin' about that one?

That Hunger Games event sure looks interesting. It's basically a test on how well one knows the basics and how fast one can adapt to new things. There's a good chance that members from the other clans will struggle with some of the tasks as well, unless there's some specialist that has a lot of experience to spare.

Basically, whoever is most capable of adjusting to a new meta should be set to one, with preference to those who already have some experience in playing it.

I also want to point out, that the team building part doesn't have any restriction, which means, that while you still have to make the team yourself, it's not forbidden to let other clan members review said team.

I wouldn't mind going into any of these tournaments, it is a good opportunity for me to get some practice in general battling and get some extra experience in one/some of these tiers. Just throwing that out there if we need to decide as a clan who's doing what.

Imo ORAS OU should be left to someone who isn't familiar with any of the other formats and who doesn't have the time to look into them. I can also see Lower Tiers and Battle Factory as only being moderately hard (and in case of LC only one meta) and the Team-Building competition with a little bit of help relatively accessible (especially since TBing is what we have to do anyway). The OG tournament seems to be quite some work, as it combines learning three different new metas (including all the different mechanics)+building a team for every one of them.

I'd leave ORAS OU to someone else, because I know I have the time. Same with Battle Factory and the Lower Tiers tour. I'm also not sure if I would make it in time for the Old Gen one, just because of all the stuff that comes with it. That pretty much leaves LC and the TB comp. I'd take any one of the two.

Oh yeah, so I went and sent Chase the list of who's doing what for PCL Hunger Games. This is the list so everyone knows what they're doing:


The events probably won't start until Saturday at the earliest, so....

good luck y'all

hey black magic clan, check out my post in the botw thread! y'all are playing in it this week (can win 50 exp woo) so that post contains the relevant info. gl!

battle factory, how appropriate

Does anyone have a specific tier they'd like for the botw? My current thoughts are UU, since anti was thinking lower tier, but I'm sure we could go lower too

just posting a reminder for everyone to do the battles they have to do for PCL Hunger games and the other offseason events, since they all kinda have deadlines coming up in less than a week

Ok, so I want to get some activity and interaction going in the clan here, and so I have a few ideas for things we can all do together. I will be posting one thing every other day for us to do, and I encourage you all to try to participate. If you guys really are serious about improving your battling and team building skills, I'd like to think that you'd all join in, and that this'll help a little bit (and one of PCL's primary objectives is to try and improve people's skills anyway). Keep in mind that when I post the next exercise that doesn't mean that we can't still work on the previous one(s).

1) Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a team:

Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Frustration
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Punch

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Lax Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock

Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Focus Blast

Gengar @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Focus Blast
- Pain Split

Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Azumarill @ Assault Vest
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 96 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

This here is a pretty basic Mega Lopunny hyper offense team. It's a solid team, but certainly not one without flaws. What I want you all to do is figure what is good about this team and what issues it has/what is threatening to it. The idea here is that being able to spot the strengths and weaknesses in a team will allow you to understand what some desirable and undesirable traits are in a team (and so be able to incorporate that into your own team building), as well as be able to figure out what the key parts of a team (both yours and your opponent's) are that you need to be mindful of during battle.


There is also going to be one other activity I'll post now, since it doesn't need its own day or post.

2) Fight Me!

I mentioned before that I wanted to battle all of you sometime, and I was serious about that. I am going to do an OU battle or two with each one of you sometime. It helps me get an idea of your current skill level, and getting more battle experience is never a bad thing. Battling in the PCL doesn't just have to restricted to official major events y'know. So please set up a date and time with me for this. Otherwise if I don't hear from you in a few days I'll just nag you about it and/or just challenge you out of the blue if I see you on the server. You'd probably prefer that I don't do that to you, right?

Well, I'll try. Might be a multipost thingy, though.

In terms of weaknesses, I'd say VoltTurn could be a problem. Sure you have Chomp, who can block Volt Switch, but then there's stuff like Mega Manectric and Raikou that can threaten it out with HP Ice. And while Bisharp can take advantage of Intimidate, it still doesn't like a Flamethrower/Overheat. Since they are also Electric types, they can't be paralyzed by Prankster T-Wave.
Rotom gets quite a few opportunities to go for Will-O-Wisp, considering that your Burn-resist consists of Gengar. Speaking of Gengar: it doesn't appreciate a Knock Off from AV Torn-T.

Then there's also Lando-T which kinda checks half the team.

Also Thundurus doesn't have 0 Atk IVs

That's pretty much all I have right now...

3) Complete the team:

I'ma post a core, and then want you guys to work together to figure out how to best complete the team so that it could stand a chance on the ladder if it was to be used.

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body--->Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Hammer Arm
- Ice Punch

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Scald
- Secret Sword
- Icy Wind

Landorus-Therian @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 240 Def / 12 SpD / 8 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This is a pretty basic core. Keldeo and Mega Metagross do a fairly good job of checking what the other has a difficult time with. Keldeo shreds ground types and wins vs most physical walls (like Skarm, or Mega Sableye), while Mega Metagross eats up Mega Venusaur, Mega Altaria/Fairies, and the Latis, for example. The two of them together make for a fairly good breaker duo. Landorus acts as a way to absorb T-Waves, something the other 2 hate, while also being a Talonflame check and setting up rocks and providing a relatively safe way to bring in some 'mons via a slowish U-turn.

The Latis usually go well with Keldeo, especially since they give you somewhat of a switchin to opposing Keldeo. They also serve as somewhat of a check to fast electric types, especially Mega Manectric which can abuse Intimidate against Mega Metagross, while also beating Keldeo and Lando-T with T-Bolt/HP Ice. They also serve as Defog support.

Healing Wish on Latias could be used to give M-Meta and Keldeo a little bit more life, as well. Then again, this core looks somewhat offensive, so maybe Latios might be a better choice. Offensive teams tend to run Scarf/HW Jirachi, anyway, at least as far as I know.

So, we now have a new teambuilding competition where we as a clan have to build a team.

I suppose, the first thing that we need to decide is which team archetype (HO, BO, Balance, Semistall, Stall, diverse subtypes like weather, etc.) we want to build and which Pokemon to build around.

My suggestions would be a Balance team with Mega Latias.