VGC The road to gittin' gud

[Simperheve]

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of trying to prepare a team in case of VGC related play at Eurogamer, but find myself still getting pasted in most of my games. I've recently played 10 games, where I have lost 8 of them and i'm beginning to get frustrated at where i'm going wrong.

Currently i'm using a Hyper Offense team with some speed control.

The team i'm using is:

Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Fire Blast
- Flash Cannon
- Dark Pulse

Hydreigon's job is to hit things as hard and fast as possible. I chose Expert Belt over a Choice item simply because I was thinking of having Specs Sylveon, so I didn't want two choice locked pokemon. I chose Flash Cannon over other moves because I thought it would provide Hydreigon at least some chance of taking out weakened fairies and rock types. Fire Blast for coverage, and the two others were for STAB.

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

Sylveon is there to switch in on Hydreigon's weaknesses and respond with a demonically powerful Hyper Voice. Moonblast is for when focusing on a single target is a better option (like when Wide Guard is up). Psyshock and Shadow Ball provide coverage against pokemon that normall resist Fairy (such as that pesky Gengar)

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Tailwind

Zapdos' job is to provide offensive momentum, in the form of Tailwind support and significant weakening. A Life Orb boosted Heat Wave puts many opponents into KO range for other team members, due to its surprising level of power. I chose Thunderbolt over Thunder simply because I don't want to rely too much on accuracy Hax. Protect is there to keep Zapdos safe from Ice Beams/ Rock Slides

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch
- Protect

Metagross makes up the rest of a fantasy core, allowing it to take the steel and poison moves aimed at Sylveon with ease. Clear body stops intimidate pre-mega evolution and allows me to mega evolve safely into a Bullet Punch. Zen Headbutt gets the Tough Claws boost, and has a nifty flinch chance which can help turn the tide a bit. Ice Punch is there for some extra coverage (though this move is subject to change, as I hear Grass Knot is just as good).

Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect

Terrakion gives me some physical coverage which this team is lacking. I have been told many times that Terrakion is a great pokemon to have on any team, but so far i'm quite underwhelmed. I slapped a Lum berry on it for some status defense to help save it from burns and Dark Void. Close Combat is a high power STAB move for punching holes and scoring KOs, and Rock Slide allows it to hit those pesky Flying types. Earthquake was there because I have some Birds and Levitators which mean I can pull them off safely.

Talonflame @ Sky Plate
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Protect
- Flare Blitz
- Taunt

I was kinda stuck on the last pokemon to have on my team, so I decided to go for my ol' reliable. It's a pretty standard Talonflame, but it provides me some decent priority KOs with Brave Bird. Sky Plate was chosen because Life Orb was already being used by Zapdos, and this thing is frail enough as it is. Protect helps disrupt rock slides and targeted attacks, and Flare Blits provides STAB and gets past quick guard. Taunt helps to stop supports, but I could forego this and put Tailwind in its place (so I don't have to bring Zapdos every time for Tailwind support).

Anyways, i'm very keen to step up my game, but I feel the constant losing (despite using some offensive staples of the metagame) are starting to make me lose confidence. If anybody's able to help me with some much needed team/ playing surgery, I desperately need it.

For reference, I have provided replays of matches (both wins and losses):

First match I played, where I just scraped a win with the Smogon Bird:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battlespotdoublesvgc2015-223417800

Next, a match where I got completely steam-rolled by a Dark Void Smeragle (which I have absolutely no idea how to counter):
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battlespotdoublesvgc2015-223453641

Another complete steamroll which I'm not sure what to gain from:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/battlespotdoublesvgc2015-223454779

And finally a win which I feel doesn't count because I only won from crits and flinches:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/battlespotdoublesvgc2015-223456677

Thanks all!

 

[TheRioluWhisperer]

This thread is probably going to locked soon because you didn't follow the Rate My Team rules and guidelines. But i can still help you with some pointers before that happens.

You should use Aaron Zheng's Sylveon EV spread as opposed to the one that you have currently:

He goes in depth of both spreads, here's the importable sets for both sylveon's:

First Set:

Sylveon (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 68 Def / 116 SpA / 56 SpD / 40 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Second Set:

Sylveon (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 92 HP / 116 Def / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Hyper Beam

And if you plan on using the specs set on Sylveon, then i would run a bulky sitrus set on the Zapdos.
Also In my opinion, Quick Guard is better than EQ on Terrakion.

 

[Simperheve]

Thanks for the sets! I'll be updating the thread to make it complient with the guidelines.

I'm thinking of moving Metagross' EV spread around a bit to take some speed off for bulk, since it'll be running behind Bullet Punch and Tailwind. Also if I move Sylveon onto the Sitrus set, I could probably move Hydreigon onto Choice Specs/Scarf, depedant on whether the specs will help me land any significant KOs.

 

[Terraquaza]

Hydreigon definetly needs Earth power more than Fire Blast, which helps against your Heatran weakness. also Life Orb / Choice Specs are much better as already mentioned. Consider using a modest nature unless you really want to outspeed Mega Kanga without Tailwind. Mega Metagross doesn't need Bullet Punch because its already pretty fast and Iron Head is much stronger.

Lando-T is pretty good against your team, so i suggest using Lando-t yourself (in the Terrakion slot)

I'm not really sure if Hydreigon is the best choice for this team. One thing that comes to my mind is Mega Mence + using regular Metagross, (with Assault Vest / Lum Berry and Bullet Punch maybe) Aegislash, or Bisharp. Another option could be replacing Talonflame with Mega Kanga / Infernape to get Tailwind. There are many options, but you need to find it out for yourself what you like the most.


tldr:
Lando-T > Terrakion + Earth Power > Fire Blast on Hydreigon + Ihead > Bullet Punch on Metagross, see how it goes and then think about the other slots if you're not satisfied.

 

[Simperheve]

Hydreigon definetly needs Earth power more than Fire Blast, which helps against your Heatran weakness. also Life Orb / Choice Specs are much better as already mentioned. Consider using a modest nature unless you really want to outspeed Mega Kanga without Tailwind. Mega Metagross doesn't need Bullet Punch because its already pretty fast and Iron Head is much stronger.

Lando-T is pretty good against your team, so i suggest using Lando-t yourself (in the Terrakion slot)

I'm not really sure if Hydreigon is the best choice for this team. One thing that comes to my mind is Mega Mence + using regular Metagross, (with Assault Vest / Lum Berry and Bullet Punch maybe) Aegislash, or Bisharp. Another option could be replacing Talonflame with Mega Kanga / Infernape to get Tailwind. There are many options, but you need to find it out for yourself what you like the most.


tldr:
Lando-T > Terrakion + Earth Power > Fire Blast on Hydreigon + Ihead > Bullet Punch on Metagross, see how it goes and then think about the other slots if you're not satisfied.

Thanks for the ideas. These will definately require some experimentation, so i'll give them go over the next couple of days. The thing i'm worried about with including Lando-T and Salamence would be the glaring weakness my team would have to Rock and Ice type moves. Though if that were the case i'd probably take out my other two birds and replace them with something else.

I think one possible course could be a Special based M-mence (to ward off burns + intimidate) and consider moving out Talonflame for a different Fire Type. Perhaps Arcanine or something similar could fill this slot?

 

[Simperheve]

So after a couple of days of trying out these suggestions, i've had some rather mixed results. Unfortunately most have been on the negative side.

• I replaced Bullet Punch with Iron Head on my Metagross. Unfortunately this lead to a large number of Sucker Punch KOs, mostly from the likes of Mega Khan.
• I replace Syveon's set with the first set mentioned. It's worked fairly well so far. Hyper voice is a bit underwhelming, but the support and versatility
• I gave Talonflame Tailwind as well, so I don't have to rely on bringing Zapdos to a game every single time. Priority Tailwind is good, especially when someone thinks a Brave Birds coming, even though it isn't.
• Hydreigon's struggling to land some important KOs even with Choice Specs on. Not sure whether that's because i'm expecting too much or that Draco Meteor shouldn't really be the go-to option in most cirumstances.