VGC 16 Adjustments

[WingedDragon]

I am having success with my team but there are a couple of things Ive noticed that could be improved and would like input. As you see I laid out my team. In Italic I laid out the possible changes I am looking to do but would like opinions. I will be changing EVs soon so I am not looking for input on that. Just the Italic moves I have made. Thanks for any suggestions.

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Protect
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot

Cresselia @Rocky Helmet / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Bold Nature
- Icy Wind / Gravity / Skill swap
- Ice Beam
- Helping Hand
- Thunder Wave

Groudon @ Red Orb
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
- Precipice Blades
- Protect

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Fake Out

Liepard @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out/ Night Slash
- Encore
- Sucker Punch/ Night Slash
- Taunt

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

 

[PlatinumDude]

I get that Grass Knot allows Xerneas to hit the Primals hard, but having both Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam on it is more practical, as you also have a STAB move that isn't blocked by Wide Guard as well.

Primal Groudon would rather have bulk (252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe) over Speed, as Cresselia already provides speed control.

The only pure offensive attack worth considering on Liepard is Foul Play to use the generally large Attack of Ubers against them. 88 Attack is absolutely pitiful in a format like this:
-Fake Out
-Foul Play
-Taunt/Fake Tears/Thunder Wave
-Encore/Swagger
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster

 

[RawrMonkey]

I won't touch on EVs until you're certain.

For for Cresselia's moveslot it all depends on what you need/what are you having trouble with.
Is speed control a problem? Icy Wind. This team could also work under trick room.
Having trouble dealing with Kyogre? Skill swap.
Missing too many key KOs with precipice blades/rock slide/power whip? Gravity.
Item? Whatever works best for you.

Liepard dark stab move of choice is Foul Play, it has higher base power and most legends have a higher base attack than Liepard anyways. Hindering nature, 0 IVs primal Kyogre only has one less attack point than your current Liepard just to give you an example. PlatinumDude's set is what works best for Liepard, and of course you can change around some of the support moves but those are the best listed.

I also agree with running Moonblast+Dazzling Gleam mainly because I used Grass Knot in a couple of PCs I top cutted and found it really disappointing. Failed to kill a couple of Primal Kyogres after Geomancy, costing me a couple of swiss rounds, and was only very useful once in a Bo3 match against P-Groudon, which I could have probably killed with Moonblast. Plus you're running Ferrothorn so you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with Kyogres at least.

Just a tip: Go bulky Xerneas if you're going to run Modest, otherwise run Timid if you're doing 4/252/252.

Isn't Groudon shiny locked?

 

[WingedDragon]

I won't touch on EVs until you're certain.

For for Cresselia's moveslot it all depends on what you need/what are you having trouble with.
Is speed control a problem? Icy Wind. This team could also work under trick room.
Having trouble dealing with Kyogre? Skill swap.
Missing too many key KOs with precipice blades/rock slide/power whip? Gravity.
Item? Whatever works best for you.

Liepard dark stab move of choice is Foul Play, it has higher base power and most legends have a higher base attack than Liepard anyways. Hindering nature, 0 IVs primal Kyogre only has one less attack point than your current Liepard just to give you an example. PlatinumDude's set is what works best for Liepard, and of course you can change around some of the support moves but those are the best listed.

I also agree with running Moonblast+Dazzling Gleam mainly because I used Grass Knot in a couple of PCs I top cutted and found it really disappointing. Failed to kill a couple of Primal Kyogres after Geomancy, costing me a couple of swiss rounds, and was only very useful once in a Bo3 match against P-Groudon, which I could have probably killed with Moonblast. Plus you're running Ferrothorn so you shouldn't have too much trouble dealing with Kyogres at least.

Just a tip: Go bulky Xerneas if you're going to run Modest, otherwise run Timid if you're doing 4/252/252.

Isn't Groudon shiny locked?

I was using showdown never took shiny off of it. The Xerneas i have is Modest. I planned on making it bulkier to take P. Blades better.

Also. Geo Grass Knot doesnt ko Kyorge all the time

 

[WingedDragon]

I get that Grass Knot allows Xerneas to hit the Primals hard, but having both Moonblast and Dazzling Gleam on it is more practical, as you also have a STAB move that isn't blocked by Wide Guard as well.

Primal Groudon would rather have bulk (252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spe) over Speed, as Cresselia already provides speed control.

The only pure offensive attack worth considering on Liepard is Foul Play to use the generally large Attack of Ubers against them. 88 Attack is absolutely pitiful in a format like this:
-Fake Out
-Foul Play
-Taunt/Fake Tears/Thunder Wave
-Encore/Swagger
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP/4 SDef/252 Spe
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster

So P. Groudon will take another P Groudons Blades better with more HP?

Will investing Hp into Liepard let it take hits better or is it soo frail it almost doesnt matter?

 

[RawrMonkey]

Well I'm not going to argue with the KO chance but Modest should pick it up on 4 HP P-Kyogre and Timid has a very high chance. But since the trend then was max speed Groudon, it seemed more logical to run slower and bulky Kyogres for weather wars.

As for Liepard, there's not much you can invest into besides speed when it's so frail and running a full support set and an attack that doesn't even use it's own attack stat. The focus sash is just to assure that you'll live a hit, except from Kangaskhan.

 

[WingedDragon]

Well I'm not going to argue with the KO chance but Modest should pick it up on 4 HP P-Kyogre and Timid has a very high chance. But since the trend then was max speed Groudon, it seemed more logical to run slower and bulky Kyogres for weather wars.

As for Liepard, there's not much you can invest into besides speed when it's so frail and running a full support set and an attack that doesn't even use it's own attack stat. The focus sash is just to assure that you'll live a hit, except from Kangaskhan.

Would a prankster whisicott be a more worthy choice to invest in?

 

[Sayuri]

On Cresselia, I personally would go with Mental Herb as an item, unless you want to run Magic Coat over Icy Wind/Gravity/Skill Swap, which is a pretty viable option that I used for a while. Otherwise, whichever item works best for you, as they're both good options.
As for the 4th move, I'd use Skill Swap as it allows the sun to be reset and gives Groudon Levitate, so you don't have to worry about other PBlades or Earth Power.

This would be a more practical, standard set for Liepard:

Liepard @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly / Timid Nature
- Encore
- Foul Play
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave / Swagger

Liepard is already so frail that it's really not worth doing anything but a 252/4/252 spread IMO. As said before, the only offensive move worth having on Liepard is Foul Play, which could work nicely with Swagger (although it's a bit gimmicky and unreliable).

What do the EVs and Nature on Ferrothorn accomplish? If nothing in particular, a spread of 252 / 220/ 36 with a Relaxed or Sassy Nature is probably better, as it allows it to always KO 4 HP Kyogre with Power Whip.

The team as a whole looks pretty solid. I think putting Trick Room on Cress over TWave might be worth looking at; all you'd need to do is change the EVs on Groudon and Xerneas.

 

[RawrMonkey]

Would a prankster whisicott be a more worthy choice to invest in?

Your Liepard slot really just depends on your play style and what your team needs as it's just a support Pokemon. It wouldn't hurt to test out Whimsicott since it's a support/disrupting Pokemon, the same as Liepard, so you may feel comfortable using it but it has zero offensive pressure, unlike Liepard with Foul Play.

With Whimsicott you get:
Faster prankster, tailwind, taunt, fake tears, charm, swagger, encore, helping hand

Compared to Liepard:
Fake out, thunder wave, taunt, fake tears, charm, swagger, encore, foul play

As you can see, they're similar supporters but with a couple of differences that set them apart from each other while still being a viable choice.

Your team looks good overall and you have some flexibility going for you, just do some testing while adjusting EVs and move sets as needed.

 

[WingedDragon]

Your Liepard slot really just depends on your play style and what your team needs as it's just a support Pokemon. It wouldn't hurt to test out Whimsicott since it's a support/disrupting Pokemon, the same as Liepard, so you may feel comfortable using it but it has zero offensive pressure, unlike Liepard with Foul Play.

With Whimsicott you get:
Faster prankster, tailwind, taunt, fake tears, charm, swagger, encore, helping hand

Compared to Liepard:
Fake out, thunder wave, taunt, fake tears, charm, swagger, encore, foul play

As you can see, they're similar supporters but with a couple of differences that set them apart from each other while still being a viable choice.

Your team looks good overall and you have some flexibility going for you, just do some testing while adjusting EVs and move sets as needed.

Thank you for your input