VGC Pokemon Team

[KitsuneNikki]

This is going to be the first time that I am actually going to participate in an official Pokemon tournament! Information is here. Henceforth, why I am seeking advice/help from the wise ;w;

So, a little backstory. I got into Pokemon ~a year ago and competed in only one unofficial tournament last year at a convention. It was a Single Battle format, with no items and legendaries. There were probably only 12 people there, and we all played 3 rounds and I managed to get 3rd. But I'm pretty sure that the upcoming official tournament will strictly only be Double Battles, which is very different to the Single Battles. I've never had a Double Battle apart from the ones in-game from ORAS.

From what I've read up on (please, please, please pardon my noobiness QwQ), Double Battles have 4 Pokemon competing from each team (but 6 to choose from in the Battle Box). I haven't made up my mind as to which Pokemon I should pick but here is my brainstorm as of now.

Togekiss
Nature: Bold
Ability: Super Luck
Item: Rocky Helmet
IVs: 31 / X / 31 / 31 / 31 / 31
EVs: Undecided

Moves
Follow Me
Dazzling Gleam
Thunder Wave
Roost

What I'm hoping to do with Togekiss is to make it incredibly bulky so that it can use Follow Me to direct all attacks towards it. It has a nice Def/Sp. Def to put up with as well. Plus, it's immune to Ground moves and with Roost I could heal it up and make it more difficult to defeat.

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Talonflame
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Gale Wings (Hidden Ability)
Item: Life Orb
IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / X / 31 / 31
EVs: Undecided

Moves
Tailwind
Roost
Flare Blitz
Brave Bird

I may or may not include Tailwind, depending on my Pokemon team's Speed. Might switch it with Protect? But other than that, I think that this moveset is pretty self-explanatory, but is it a bit too predictable/vulnerable?

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Tyranitar OR Metagross
Tyranitar
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Sand Stream
Item: Tyranitarite???
IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / X / 31 / 31
EVs: Undecided

Moves
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Protect
Crunch
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Metagross
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Clear Body // Tough Claws
Item: Metagrossite???
IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / X / 31 / 31
EVs: Undecided

Moves
Ice Punch
Hammer Arm
Meteor Mash
Earthquake

A bit tricky to decide which one to use. I put Earthquake for both of them, and if I paired one of them with Talonflame/Togekiss, they're immune to it, while both of the foes will be affected by it (if they are not Flying types, that is).
Tyranitar because it has pretty nice stats.
But Metagross because it's a beast when it Mega Evolves. And since this tournament is using ORAS, then I'm guessing that I'll be seeing a lot of people use this Pokemon? Plus Earthquake, if it needs to face off against another Metagross (Ground > Steel) and Metagross vs Metagross is pretty fair in stats, isn't it?

-------------
Now here's a list of potential Pokemon that I could use, but I haven't decided on which
- Garchomp
- Milotic
- Goodra
- Gardevoir
- Rotom W/H
- Alakazam

Could I get your feedback and opinion? Feel free to suggest any new Pokemon, any changes to the ones that I'm currently thinking of (need some help with the EV spread on the ones marked 'Undecided'), or any strategies/combos I could use.
And which should I choose? Tyranitar or Metagross? (Or just a whole different Pokemon altogether)
Anything will be appreciated!

 

[skyburial]

Another VGC Player! Woot. Where will you be debuting this team? I'm headed to SLC Regionals in a month.

I'd say that as a Follow Me! user, your Togekiss is more suited to Mega Tyranitar, as it can patch up its middling speed with Tailwind and Thunder Wave, and sponge Mach Punches and Low Kicks that get sent his way. Might I recommend running Serene Grace as an Ability though? You've picked 2 flinching moves and a Paraflinch set will be very disruptive should you go with Togekiss.

In terms of raw power and presence, Metagross is definitely the more viable Mega, however. I recommend this set:

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
Ability: Clear Body
252 Atk/4 HP/252 Spd
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect
- Substitute

Because of its high speed and myriad resistances, Mega Meta is terrifying behind a sub. Iron Head nets more damage statistically than Meteor Mash, so it's currently the Steel STAB of choice. Life Orb Hydreigon is usually the offensive partner best suited to Metagross, with Protect, Earth Power, Draco Meteor, and Dark Pulse. I'll run calcs a little later for an EV spread if someone doesn't fill it in.

Metagross is most threatened by spread moves like Earthquake and Heatwave, so I'd actually recommend a Wide Guard user over the Togekiss should you take that route. This is the one I use and fits the bill, checking threats to Meta as well:

Swampert @ Expert Belt
Nature: Modest
Ability: Torrent
252 HP/4 Def/228 SpA/4 SpD/20 Speed
- Wide Guard
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power


More in a bit, I am working right now.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

@skyburial

Thanks for your reply!
I'll be heading out to the Aotea Centre in Auckland on May 9th c:
For now, I think Metagross will be my Pokemon to mega evolve, and that Swampert seems to cover up Metagross perfectly

 

[skyburial]

Sweet, I think you're making an awesome decision. As I mentioned in the VM, I think you can have your cake and eat it too with that Togekiss, because it wraps up a Fantasy core on this time and fills a niche that the other Fairies don't have. As an added benefit, it resists Swampert's one weakness in Grass-types and has a 4X super effective attack against Swampert's natural enemy, Breloom. Strongly recommending Serene Grace as an ability though.

So here are some other things you might consider on your team:
- A Fighting-type/coverage move to handle Mega Kangaskhan.
- Fake Out support
- Secondary speed control should Togekiss fall
- A slow mon with good coverage for Trick Room
- Terrakion. We can extrapolate on this later but there is always room for Terrakion.
- A Grass-Type. Chesnaught might actually be a good choice because its ability Bulletproof makes it immune to Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb, allows it to cover some of your team on the switch.
- A Fire-Type. Heatran might actually be a weak choice considering that Metagross is the center of your team and they share a weakness to EQ. Rotom-H and Talonflame would both be good choices, I think.
- Possibly making this a Rain team. You've got a decent foundation for it, you'd just need to tack on a Politoed and Thundurus for the finishing touch. Thundurus-T actually works pretty well in rain as well.

The above are all options, things to try. Let me know which way you're leaning and we can plan accordingly :]

 

[KitsuneNikki]

For a Fighting Pokemon, I was thinking of Blaziken. Do you think it's a good idea? Or I could use Chesnaught just as you suggested since it's Grass/Fighting.
And I think I'm going to stick with my Talonflame but I guess I could swap it with a Rotom H. I'm not too familiar with Trick Room either.

 

[skyburial]

For a Fighting Pokemon, I was thinking of Blaziken. Do you think it's a good idea? Or I could use Chesnaught just as you suggested since it's Grass/Fighting.
And I think I'm going to stick with my Talonflame but I guess I could swap it with a Rotom H. I'm not too familiar with Trick Room either.

Alright so we might have the last 2 members of your first draft then (awesome). I would consider breeding Quick Guard onto your Talonflame to handle Fake Out, the most common disruption move that will usually steal your important first turn if you don't plan around it. It gets really annoying really fast when you're on the other end of it.

Trick Room works like this: The slowest Pokemon are now the fastest, and vice versa, with the exception of Priority moves like Talonflame's Brave Bird, all protecting moves, Quick Attack, etc. So it's good to have either a "slow mode" in a bulky, slow Pokemon, Pokemon that function well both in and out of Trick Room (like TF) and Pokemon with middling Speed stats. Like that Swampert we're talking about. He's good people.

Chesnaught is also pretty slow. I think we may have found a match for you!

 

[KitsuneNikki]

Trick Room feels like a bit of a risk though. I feel like it could backfire pretty easily, but that's just an assumption from a noob :/
Okay, so if we were to go with that team, then I'm guessing that I should start with Talonflame and use Quick Guard, and the other Pokemon to use Protect?

 

[skyburial]

Trick Room feels like a bit of a risk though. I feel like it could backfire pretty easily, but that's just an assumption from a noob :/
Okay, so if we were to go with that team, then I'm guessing that I should start with Talonflame and use Quick Guard, and the other Pokemon to use Protect?

The best part of this team is that it caters to a lot of different, common things. There won't be one tried-and-true lead pair that works universally against all opponents, but rather many pairs that work well on the field together. In regard to knowing when to lead Talon, perhaps knowing who the common Fake Out users are is in your interest:

- Kangaskhan
- Lopunny
- Infernape
- Weavile
- Ludicolo
- Mienshao
- Meowstic

All of these come to mind quickly but there is a whole list of others:

https://www.serebii.net/attackdex-xy/fakeout.shtml

Blastoise caught me off guard with it once.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

Depending on the opponent's Pokemon that get sent out (and with a rough guess too) I guess I will see the circumstances then. So how about any recommended moves and items for the Pokemon?

 

[skyburial]

Alright well I think Chesnaught's the only thing I haven't covered in one of the posts above. Rocky Helmet as an item with its signature move Spiky Shield will pair for continual punishment for contact moves.

Chesnaught @ Rocky Helmet/Sitrus Berry
Nature: Sassy
Ability: Bulletproof
224 HP/60 Atk/44 Def/144 SpD
- Wood Hammer
- Drain Punch/Low Kick
- Spiky Shield/Feint
- Leech Seed/Synthesis

Pairing all things on the right with each other and all things on the left with each other.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

Thanks! However I'm saving the Rocky Helmet for Togekiss when it uses Follow Me so they will deal some damage as well. I'll get to breedin them soon :)

 

[Polar Spectrum]

Thanks! However I'm saving the Rocky Helmet for Togekiss when it uses Follow Me so they will deal some damage as well. I'll get to breedin them soon :)

Rocky Helmet Togekiss is extremely viable in doubles; and I can personally vouch for this. With replays even. With proper bulk investment, it bothers Talonflame and Mega Kanga attacks, Friggin' EATS Close Combats from Terrakion and the like, and any mach punch / aqua jet user is not going to enjoy what happens. Its natural base Sp Atk also lets it be moderately threatening without a large sp atk investment with its stabs.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

Rocky Helmet Togekiss is extremely viable in doubles; and I can personally vouch for this. With replays even. With proper bulk investment, it bothers Talonflame and Mega Kanga attacks, Friggin' EATS Close Combats from Terrakion and the like, and any mach punch / aqua jet user is not going to enjoy what happens. Its natural base Sp Atk also lets it be moderately threatening without a large sp atk investment with its stabs.

Togekiss be cray XD
Just for safety measures, how much damage would an effective move do to Togekiss? Such as a Terrakion's Close Combat?
And do you have any suggestions as to Togekiss' EV spread? >_<"

 

[Polar Spectrum]

I don't run calcs; but I do know how to simply look at stat, move, and type matchups to gauge damage. A standard Terrakion's close combat, I'd imagine, would do less than 1/4 Togekiss' HP. Less than 25%. It's 4 x resisted; and assuming you've got defense and / or HP EV's in too; it's gonna scoff at even that strong a fighting move.

You said effective though, whiiiiich Close Combat is not. A fighting move is alongside bug, dragon or ground, the worst choice you could make to attack a Togekiss with. Assuming you were asking for super effective moves, ummm - An Excadrill's Iron Head would do around 50% I'd imagine, if it's not banded or anything. Any Rock Slide would probably do around 40%, can't imagine again unless it's banded - and stab - a spread rock slide would manage to 2HKO Togekiss. Wash Rotom though; I'd bet a defensive one's T-bolt would do around 1/3 - 2/5 (33-40% maybe) and an offensive one would probably do closer to 50-60 with T Bolt. Either one I wouldn't guess could nab a 2hko with volt switch. Tyranitar Rock slide would probably do a bit under half I'd imagine. Garchomp Stone Edge, maybeeee at or under half. Obviously over half if it crits. Mamoswine Ice shards I'd wager wouldn't top 33%. Thundorus / Thundorus T with thunderbolt might be an issue for it.

As for non super effective stuff though, I'd bet Brave Bird off talonflame without a band needs at least 3 hits to ko, Gardevoir's and Sylveon's hyper voices probably do around half, those could be dangerous if you don't specially invest. Mega Kangaskhan's Return I'm almost positive won't OHKO but may 2hko. Azumarill and its waterfall or play rough should nnnnnot be an issue.

 

[skyburial]

Re: VM's and posts in this thread.

Were I standing up to this team it would be obvious how much it relies on Togekiss to survive. If you put yet another mon on your team that vulnerable to Earthquake and Brave Bird, my win condition is now to take out Togekiss and prepare for a Landorus-T/Talonflame sweep.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

@Polar Spectrum
Very, very helpful, thank you!

@skyburial
That is true...But I've already bred both the Talonflame and Blaziken too, so I'll see if I can have a clear mind as to who I'll be using

 

[skyburial]

Sweet! Can't wait to practice with you, Kit.

I'm thinking of starting a thread soon so that those of us that play VGC/Doubles can meet up and make things happen in a more concerted manner.

 

[KitsuneNikki]

Me too! I'm just currently training my Pokemon right now, and that thread seems like a good idea ^^

 

[ScraggyTrainer]

Let me know when you make the team! I'd love to test against it

 

[skyburial]

Metagross v. Metagross in the battle of the century!