VGC 2015 Team (HailRoom)

[Firebreathing Ice Cube]

Hi guys! With the VGC 2015 rules being released the other day, I was thinking what the trending meta would be. I kept thinking of the new Megas as well as the legendaries that weren't available back in VGC 2014 and are now obtainable in OR/AS, and I'm most worried about 3 Pokemon in general: Salamence (Mega), Garchomp, and Landorus. I predict these guys are the ones I will see the most, and with that I thought of using Ice Pokemon. With the ridiculous speed creep in the gen as well, I also though some form of speed control would be great, so I guess Trick Room would work with all the speedy Pokemon running around with their Base 110 Speed.

With that said, here's the team I was thinking of:

Abomasnow @ Abomasite
Quiet, 0 Spd IV
Snow Warning
252 HP/4 Atk/252 SpA
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain
- Ice Shard
- Protect

Basically the main player in this team. This guy hits hard with perfect accuracy Blizzards under his own weather, as well as slow enough to take advantage of Trick Room. Outside of it, it can pick off Pokemon in the red with Ice Shard. Pretty much the mandatory Pokemon when running HailRoom.

Kecleon @ Leftovers
Relaxed, 0 Spd IV
Protean
252 HP/4 Atk/252 Def
- Feint
- Trick Room
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch

Now this one I'm pretty unsure of. It's a Trick Roomer that isn't weak to Dark or Ghost attacks, and it hits pretty hard for a support Pokemon with Protean. Feint is there for the cheeky guys that try to stall out Trick Room with Protect, and allows Abomasnow to punch through. Drain Punch is for longevity and Sucker Punch is for priority outside Trick Room.

Bisharp @ Black Glasses/Dread Plate
Brave, 0 Spd IV
Defiant
252 HP/252 Atk/4 SpD
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

The standard Bisharp which laughs in the face of Intimidate users like Salamence and Landorus (well, not really, since they can hit back pretty hard as well.) I really love Knock Off's buff this gen, giving Bisharp a powerhouse move that is reliable and useful. Sucker Punch is there for priority outside Trick Room (again), and Iron Head for STAB.

Sableye @ Safety Goggles (??? Dunno what to put here)
Calm
Prankster
252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD (might have to change this)
- Will o' Wisp
- Quash
- Fake Out
- Protect

The main support guy. What is awesome about Prankster under Trick Room is that it allows your Pokemon to perform its support duties inside and outside Trick Room without much difference. Will o' Wisp weakens physical attackers, Fake Out for setting up Trick Room, and Quash (Sableye gets Quash as a Level Up Move this gen) for making the quicker Pokemon move before the slow threats even outside Trick Room.

Gardevoir @ Sitrus Berry
Quiet, 0 Spd IV
Trace
(really not sure how Trick Room Gardevoir's IVs work for this meta)
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Protect

Another Trick Room user, and I guess one that can hit hard with reliable STABs. Not really sure how this one would work, but Psychic/Fairy's a pretty nice typing, and it sponges random Draco Meteors from Salamence and Latios (I guess)

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Naive
Gale Wings
252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spd
- Brave Bird
- Overheat
- Quick Guard
- Taunt

Practically Se Jun Park's Talonflame from VGC 2014 Worlds. I needed another guy that can work outside Trick Room, and with Gale Wings, Talonflame looks like it can work out with priority Brave Birds. Again, as with some of the guys in this team, not sure how this would work, but the idea is that it can work inside and outside Trick Room while being a hybrid support/threat.

Now, I can see myself having a problem with Megazard-Y, as well as Mega-Kangaskhan. I think I need primarily an Intimidate support with this one. I'm open to any suggestions :D

PS: Completely unrelated, but what does the Pentagon Rule mean? Does it mean we can use Pokemon that aren't seen in the Kalos/Hoenn Dex, as long as it's caught/hatched in the Gen VI games?

 

[Nah]

Using regular Abomasnow with an Icy Rock might be better than using Mega Abomasnow. You get longer-lasting Hail and it frees up your mega slot for something else. The hail is mainly what you're using it for, right? It should also still be slow enough to make use of Trick Room, and MegaMence/Garchomp/Lando-T still get annihilated by Blizzards anyway.

IDK how well they would work out, but Whimiscott and (Mega) Audino are 2 other Trick Room setters that aren't weak to Dark or Ghost. Also, Psyshock > Psychic on Gardevoir so it's not walled by specially bulky pokes.

Quash kinda sounds useless on a Trick Room Team to me. You're going to be going first most of the time anyway, so having a move that makes Pokemon go last when they're already going last is kinda.....

PS: Completely unrelated, but what does the Pentagon Rule mean? Does it mean we can use Pokemon that aren't seen in the Kalos/Hoenn Dex, as long as it's caught/hatched in the Gen VI games?

Yeah, anything caught or bred in Gen 6 can be used in VGC, except for the usual banned legendaries. They call it the Pentagon rule because all Pokemon caught or born on a Gen VI game have a little blue pentagon on their status screen.

 

[Firebreathing Ice Cube]

Using regular Abomasnow with an Icy Rock might be better than using Mega Abomasnow. You get longer-lasting Hail and it frees up your mega slot for something else. The hail is mainly what you're using it for, right? It should also still be slow enough to make use of Trick Room, and MegaMence/Garchomp/Lando-T still get annihilated by Blizzards anyway.

IDK how well they would work out, but Whimiscott and (Mega) Audino are 2 other Trick Room setters that aren't weak to Dark or Ghost. Also, Psyshock > Psychic on Gardevoir so it's not walled by specially bulky pokes.

Quash kinda sounds useless on a Trick Room Team to me. You're going to be going first most of the time anyway, so having a move that makes Pokemon go last when they're already going last is kinda.....


Yeah, anything caught or bred in Gen 6 can be used in VGC, except for the usual banned legendaries. They call it the Pentagon rule because all Pokemon caught or born on a Gen VI game have a little blue pentagon on their status screen.

Oh thank you about that Pentagon Rule answer! :D Now I really have to think of more possible threats.

I can understand the thing you said about Quash. I put it there just to make sure there's an option for me to go first outside of Trick Room. The Psyshock/Psychic thing though, I chose Psychic to punch through physically defensive threats, which I think would be more common than specially defensive ones (I could be wrong about this though), but with that said, I'll take Psyshock now.

As for the Mega Abomasnow, I'm really partial about using the Mega, since it can set-up weather twice without any switch-outs, threatens Dragons and the Genie Trio well, and the sheer power of its Blizzards compared to an Icy Rock Abomasnow. Whimsicott and Mega Audino seem sketchy to me, since Whimsicott would be sharing various weaknesses with Abomasnow, and Mega Audino is underwhelming for an offensive strategy like Trick Room to say the least (as far as I know).

Thank you for the suggestions, I'll think about them! :D