This is my team for the June International 2014 online competition, following the same ruleset as the May International and VGC 2014 standard rules. Full rules for this specific tourney are here. In a nutshell:
- Level 50.
- Doubles.
- Kalos Dex and Kalos Native only.
- Item Restriction
- Mewtwo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde are banned.
- Species restriction: no two Pokémon of the same National Dex number (ie can't have 2 Rotom formes).
This team is based on my May International team (ok, its 85% the same); after all, I did rather well and this is the exact same rule set as that tournament. Results of that are in my sig. So, using what I learned there, I saw what I used, what other people used, what worked, and what didn't, and played around with filling gaps. I'll skip the teambuilding process for one simple reason: I've been doing Drought since 2011 and this has gone from Singles to Doubles and across 2 generations. No way in hell am I typing that out in detail. :P
For the sake of credit: all sprites are from http://www.pkparaiso.com/xy/sprites_pokemon.php
On to the team with the side stuff out of the way:
Charizard @ Charizardite-Y
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed.
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Solarbeam
- Ancientpower
Agatio. Finally got a nickname I like. Yes it's obscure.
This was the starting point and originally the very heart of my team. Megazard-Y is, as many have learned by now, an extremely powerful special attacker that leaves little to be desired. The EV spread allows it to always survive Timid Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt, and by extension an impressive slew of Electric moves. Drought cripples Thunder to boot. Speed outruns Jolly Krookodile (+92) and neutral 105's, while the Special Attack hits a painful 200, equivalent to a Max Atk Scizor. The bulk has so far been great and never ceases to save my ass. The Speed is nice, but I could be talked into Modest if it grabs me some KO's with Solar Beam and Ancient Power, but I'd like to keep that 140 HP.
Onto the moves, Heat Wave is a savagely powerful Spread attack that even those who resist it often fear. Great for inflicting heavy damage across the foes team and picking off weak foes. Protect allows scouting, and allows Charizard's partner (read: Garchomp) to take out threatening foes like strong Electric and Rock users, or at least weaken to KO range on the next turn. I very rarely Mega on turn 1, its just so fun to keep the foe on their toes and most people put Megazard's counter right on top anyway. Solarbeam hits Rock types, and importantly, Water types like Rotom-W and Vaporeon that Garchomp doesn't like. Ancient Power is Pinoy Pwnage's idea, and god damn do I love it.
Ancient Power lets Charizard absolutely smash Talonflame, opposing Charizard, and have a decent hit against things like Salamence and Rotom-H if need be. It has so far caught many foes off guard and hasn't disappointed. It also gives me perfect coverage.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Modest, 156 HP, 4 Def, 244 Sp. Atk, 12 Sp. Def, 92 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll / Thick Fat
- Giga Drain
- Protect
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Peenisaur. I totally went there on a nickname.
This thing has driven me absolutely bonkers, and since I can't use my old pride and joy of a Chlororphyll sweeper (Grass Gem mixed Tangrowth. RIP) I had to get creative within the Kalos dex. That started, and ended, with Venusaur. While its almost identical to my May Venusaur, it shifts my entire team around with a very slight EV revamp and a held item, giving me a double Mega core. Suggested to me by a good friend, the idea of throwing a Mega stone on my Venusaur is rather minimal on drawbacks, while the payoffs could be rather massive. This will, unfortunately, be quite a text wall, so bear with me. I consider this to be two completely different sets in one, so we have two sections here. One for non-mega, one for Mega.
Since Venusaur is completely functional in its non-Mega form thanks to Drought, Chlorophyll and the EV spread allows it to outrun Jolly, max Speed Mega Aerodactyl along with several Scarf users such as Gardevoir. 244 Sp. Atk hits as hard as its capable of hitting really, with the remainder in bulk for switching into resisted attacks. Giga Drain is an offensive and defensive weapon that is reliable even if I run out of Drought (Venusaur only ever gets 3 turns max in Sun in most circumstances), Protect allows me to lure and block Talonflame, should Mienshao be unavailable. Among its many other uses of course. Sleep Powder on something this obnoxiously fast and no Sleep Clause is not an honorable strategy but it really does get you out of a bad spot 75% of the time. Sludge Bomb hits some Grass-resistant targets and is a generally reliable atack in terms of power, PP, accuracy, and even has a nice poison effect. I previously used a Coba Berry on this set since even Adamant CB Talonflame cannot OHKO it, but between Protect, Charizard, and the god like troll power of Mienshao I only ever had to tank it once. Once. So I'm really losing nothing here.
As for Mega-Venusar, if I see a matchup that MegaZard-Y would be mostly bad against, I can simply bring MegaSaur. MegaSaur is quite a bitch, with few weaknesses and heavy bulk. Mine has particularly powerful attacks, and still tanks hits well. Once powerful Psychic and Flying moves are out of the way (big nod to Aegislash here), MegaSaur is difficult to tackle, and can be used as my win condition. The Speed investment doesn't do much for the Mega, but it hardly hurts and you must remember I am balancing two very different strategies in one set. This death-bloom is able to take two consecutive ScarfMence Draco Meteors, and 2HKO right back. Things like Garchomp simply fail to do enough damage while being Giga Drain'd to death, and a big bulky Grass/poison type with a Sleep inducing powder is always useful (we do see all the Amoonguss, no?). MegaSaur means Charizard is nearly useless if I need him to KO something like Aegislash or Ferrothorn, however.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Smoothskin. He's back and he's the same as ever. He works, pulls his weight, and doesn't disappoint.
The most standard VGC 2014 Garchomp ever, every single aspect of this Garchomp is guarenteed to be its most common nature, held item, moves, everything. Though I may switch to Lum or Haban Berry, I do get Will-o-Wisp'd a lot and can't afford to use Substitute.
EV spread is painfully obvious on this one, maxing its Speed and damage potential.
Dragon Claw provides accurate, somewhat decent STAB with minimal drawbacks (makes contact), Protect is useful as hell in Doubles and Garchomp is such a high priority target that it simply adores using Protect on that Ice Beam or ScarfMence. Rock Slide is used for dickish kills on 4x weak foes, flinching something on the foes team, and good coverage alongside its STABs. Earthquake is a non-contact move good to hit Aegislash with, and is capable of actually hitting both opponents on the same turn without that embarrassing 50% chance to miss at least one target per use.
Chompy is often paired with MegaZard as the lead, spamming powerful spread moves almost brainlessly and murdering everything while complementing each other well both offensively and defensively. For MegaSaur, it helps against Talonflame, Charizard, Aerial Ace/Sky Drop Aerodactyl, Fire types, and Steel types. All in all, Garchomp fits in perfectly.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Quiet, 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. def
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
Slashfan. Because its female and obviously likes slash(ing).
Another common version of a common version, SubSlash helps against my Ferrothorn weakness (I am so fucked if Charizard dies) by simply laughing at the thorny bastard and abusing its newfound lack of a Ghost resist. Its also just a troll in general. I found myself rarely using Wide Guard (though, the look on Garchomp's face when it realizes it cannot touch me is priceless) for anything other than blocking my own EQ, so I tried Substitute and have been happy with it.
Evs are standard for Aegislash, making a great tank and a powerful Shadow Ball spamming machine. Minimum Speed is for anti Trick Room and because “the slowest Aegislash wins”. May be a total douchebag and run a level 49 Aegislash.
Shadow Ball is stupidly broken this gen, with almost nothing actually resisting it anymore meaning you just need to smash Normal types and spam it like all hell. King's Shield is because Aegislash absolutely requires this move to return to Shield Form and troll Crunches and such.
Substitute blocks bothers like Leech Seed Ferrothorn, and is dreadfully effective against foes it walls completely to allow it to attack more freely in Blade form. Flash Cannon hits Normal and Dark types, and smashes the Fairies that Chompy dislikes. Typing and bulk give me a switchin to Rock and Ice moves aimed at MegaZard and Chompy, Flying/Psychic/Ice aimed at Venusaur, Poison/Steel aimed at Gardevoir, and anything aimed at mienshao will kill it anyway.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Reckless
- High Jump Kick
- Quick Guard
- Fake Out
- Rock Slide
Lady Evil. She's a magical mystical woman. Fear my undying love of Ronnie James Dio.
The most psychotic member of the team, Mienshao is a versatile Pokémon in Doubles that packs a wide range of disruption, cockblocking, and often underestimated power to befuddle, annoy, and destroy foes who often have no idea what this crazy bitch is going to do or what to sacrifice before it.
The EV spread is identical to Garchomp, with the 4 Evs going to HP to allow her to survive 10 turns of LO recoil and far more importantly, survive two consecutive HJK misses. Not much point putting it in Sp. Def since the only Download Pokémon in existence are banned in this tourney.
High Jump Kick, backed by Reckless and Life Orb, stands at an absolutely jaw dropping 304 power and 125 base Atk. To put it bluntly, anything that does not resist it has its head kicked clean off its shoulders, and even the bulkiest of physical walls such as Hippowdon are 2HKO'd. I'll add some calc in a bit. Disadvantages include Protect, Ghost types and missing. I usually have Aegislash cowering with all the super effective moves flying everywhere, and Protect is usually pretty easy to predict. I've had much more success than failure.
Quick Guard downright humiliates Talonflame and Kangaskhan, and is absolutely priceless against Prankster mons who simply shit themselves and switch as opposed to crippling with Thunder Wave. Mienshao is an uncommon Pokémon, and a fast, frail, strong fighting type never fails to lure in Talonflame especially when you fire off Fake Out before it comes in.
Fake Out is great to disrupt your foe, and break Sturdy/Sash annoyances. Mienshao is among its faster users (only Sneasel/Weavile outspeed it) so Khan is not a worry. Plus... I have Quick Guard, so fuck you Weavile. :P
Rock Slide is, you guessed it, used for spread, coverage, and flinching, just like Garchomp. I would use Acrobatics but Game Freak says no to Flying Gem Acrobatics.
Damage Calcs:
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 175-208 (95.1 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 153-183 (99.3 - 118.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 97-114 (56.3 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-H: 160-188 (101.9 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 335-398 (158 - 187.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 109-129 (50.6 - 60%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Gardevoir @ Assault Vest
Modest, 252 HP, 116 Def, 140 Sp. Atk
Ability: Telepathy
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Nickname is Alex. Inside joke. Male Gardevoir ftw.
Last tourney, I found myself with 3 issues: one, Greninja is doing almost nothing (though he DID have use as a surprising Taunt user), two, I'm not using Wide Guard very much, and three... I was horrifically maimed by every Scarf Salamence I saw – and every Mence was Scarfed. I fixed #2 already, and here's the answer to numbers 1 and 3.
Using Aegislash as my primary Dragon counter wasn't going smoothly: Salamence had a Sun-boosted Fire Blast to blow it apart, and Chompy has Earthquake to beat it down and I can't win by just spamming Wide Guard. Hydreigon obviously gives no fucks about Aegislash, and MegaZard-X hated its Atk being dropped but otherwise had nothing to fear. Dragonite and Goodra also have Fire Blast but are less common. I needed the newly created bane of every bad-ass type in the game: Fairy.
A Fairy type gives me something to handle Dark types for Aegislash, a perfect switchin to Dragons, and just in case I needed to laugh at Fighting types any harder (seriously, over half my team resists Fighting). After considering my options, and staying up waaay too late for a few days, this is what my half-dead brain spat out.
Gardevoir is a magnificent Dragon killer, thanks to having the best Special attack among all of them, and a usable combination of good stats and movepool. Salamence has no hope in all of hell, Garchomp simply cannot stop this drag queen from hell, and things like Intimidate and WoW aren't stopping him (Guess what happened to my Granbull idea?). Evs are rather specific: Nature and Sp. Atk investment always OHKO's Garchomp with Moonblast and 252/0 Gyarados with Thunderbolt (Gyarados shits on my existence so far), then maximizes overall bulk. Assault Vest handles Sun boosted Fire Blasts from Mence, and acts as an extra check to Rotom-H and W. Psychic bombs Poison types while Shadow Ball offers stupidly good coverage and hits Ghosts like Gourgeist hard. AssVest also lets him take a hit from gengar and Psychic its face off.
Telepathy is a huge selling point, offering me something to switch in on my Garchomp's EQ and more freely spam it. My team absolutely maims Steel types (Megazard-Y, Garchomp, Mienshao) so the lack of coverage there is fine. Fire types exist in the form of Charizard, Talonflame, and Rotom-H, and are all crushed by boulders or crazy ass ninja weasels of doom. Meaning, I just spam Moonblast. I could Scarf this as well, maybe Specs.
Calcs:
252 SpA Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Gardevoir: 114-134 (65.1 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gengar: 158-188 (116.1 - 138.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Gardevoir: 76-91 (43.4 - 52%) -- 14.1% chance to 2HKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 186-218 (101 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Gardevoir in Sun: 51-60 (29.1 - 34.2%) -- 2.9% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Gardevoir: 148-175 (84.5 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 136-162 (88.3 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Weaknesses and issues
Numero freaking uno, I am Ghost Weak. Mienshao cannot harm them, Aegislash is weak to Ghosts but can tank and destroy most of them if absolutely needed. Gardevoir is weak to Ghost. And I simply do not see any salvation to this. Luckily, the main two ghosts (Aegislash and Gengar) really dislike Charizard Heat Waving them to death.
Wide Guard Aegislash is something I used, never actually saw, and completely cockblocks my entire team. I suppose my Aegislash just as threatening to it as it is to mine? Bad as it sound sits not a huge concern.
I suppose Trick Room and Tailwind get a mention, but if its bad I can just put Trick Room on Gardevoir and use a Sitrus on it.
Gyarados resists HeatQuake, and Intimidate means Rock Slide isn't taking it out. Drought and Gardevoir patch it nicely, both normal and Mega, but it could be bad if Gardevoir is out of the match.
Summary
Its been a fun team, but like any team, is not perfect. I'm betting I'll do good in June, but I'm still iffy on what to do with Gardevoir mainly. I feel it can do a lot from Scarf to Specs to a supportive set using WoW and such, or simply retaining my Assault Vest tank set. The team is overall fairly bulky, aside from Mienshao of course. The entire team has something to hit hard with, Venusaur being the “weakest” member in sun (+122 Sp. Atk is... pretty painful in Mega) and Charizard if I use MegaSaur is nearly useless but the whole point is not bringing it. Gardevoir and Aegislash are a bit slow, but everyone else is pretty speedy. MegaSaur is also a tad slow but not much of a detriment.
I have not used Double Mega on a human yet, but its something I know how to use when the time comes. MegaSaur has surprise value to it since “Charizard is obviously the mega”.
Funny enough, I use 4 Pokémon that could go Mega so that could throw people off as well – nice, but not intended.
Constructive criticism and advice are, of course, welcome.
And thanks for reading this monster, its 6 pages in OpenOffice with no images @_@
- Level 50.
- Doubles.
- Kalos Dex and Kalos Native only.
- Item Restriction
- Mewtwo, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde are banned.
- Species restriction: no two Pokémon of the same National Dex number (ie can't have 2 Rotom formes).
This team is based on my May International team (ok, its 85% the same); after all, I did rather well and this is the exact same rule set as that tournament. Results of that are in my sig. So, using what I learned there, I saw what I used, what other people used, what worked, and what didn't, and played around with filling gaps. I'll skip the teambuilding process for one simple reason: I've been doing Drought since 2011 and this has gone from Singles to Doubles and across 2 generations. No way in hell am I typing that out in detail. :P
For the sake of credit: all sprites are from http://www.pkparaiso.com/xy/sprites_pokemon.php
On to the team with the side stuff out of the way:
Charizard @ Charizardite-Y
Timid, 140 HP, 4 Def, 164 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 196 Speed.
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
- Heat Wave
- Protect
- Solarbeam
- Ancientpower
Agatio. Finally got a nickname I like. Yes it's obscure.
This was the starting point and originally the very heart of my team. Megazard-Y is, as many have learned by now, an extremely powerful special attacker that leaves little to be desired. The EV spread allows it to always survive Timid Mega Manectric's Thunderbolt, and by extension an impressive slew of Electric moves. Drought cripples Thunder to boot. Speed outruns Jolly Krookodile (+92) and neutral 105's, while the Special Attack hits a painful 200, equivalent to a Max Atk Scizor. The bulk has so far been great and never ceases to save my ass. The Speed is nice, but I could be talked into Modest if it grabs me some KO's with Solar Beam and Ancient Power, but I'd like to keep that 140 HP.
Onto the moves, Heat Wave is a savagely powerful Spread attack that even those who resist it often fear. Great for inflicting heavy damage across the foes team and picking off weak foes. Protect allows scouting, and allows Charizard's partner (read: Garchomp) to take out threatening foes like strong Electric and Rock users, or at least weaken to KO range on the next turn. I very rarely Mega on turn 1, its just so fun to keep the foe on their toes and most people put Megazard's counter right on top anyway. Solarbeam hits Rock types, and importantly, Water types like Rotom-W and Vaporeon that Garchomp doesn't like. Ancient Power is Pinoy Pwnage's idea, and god damn do I love it.
Ancient Power lets Charizard absolutely smash Talonflame, opposing Charizard, and have a decent hit against things like Salamence and Rotom-H if need be. It has so far caught many foes off guard and hasn't disappointed. It also gives me perfect coverage.
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Modest, 156 HP, 4 Def, 244 Sp. Atk, 12 Sp. Def, 92 Speed
Ability: Chlorophyll / Thick Fat
- Giga Drain
- Protect
- Sleep Powder
- Sludge Bomb
Peenisaur. I totally went there on a nickname.
This thing has driven me absolutely bonkers, and since I can't use my old pride and joy of a Chlororphyll sweeper (Grass Gem mixed Tangrowth. RIP) I had to get creative within the Kalos dex. That started, and ended, with Venusaur. While its almost identical to my May Venusaur, it shifts my entire team around with a very slight EV revamp and a held item, giving me a double Mega core. Suggested to me by a good friend, the idea of throwing a Mega stone on my Venusaur is rather minimal on drawbacks, while the payoffs could be rather massive. This will, unfortunately, be quite a text wall, so bear with me. I consider this to be two completely different sets in one, so we have two sections here. One for non-mega, one for Mega.
Since Venusaur is completely functional in its non-Mega form thanks to Drought, Chlorophyll and the EV spread allows it to outrun Jolly, max Speed Mega Aerodactyl along with several Scarf users such as Gardevoir. 244 Sp. Atk hits as hard as its capable of hitting really, with the remainder in bulk for switching into resisted attacks. Giga Drain is an offensive and defensive weapon that is reliable even if I run out of Drought (Venusaur only ever gets 3 turns max in Sun in most circumstances), Protect allows me to lure and block Talonflame, should Mienshao be unavailable. Among its many other uses of course. Sleep Powder on something this obnoxiously fast and no Sleep Clause is not an honorable strategy but it really does get you out of a bad spot 75% of the time. Sludge Bomb hits some Grass-resistant targets and is a generally reliable atack in terms of power, PP, accuracy, and even has a nice poison effect. I previously used a Coba Berry on this set since even Adamant CB Talonflame cannot OHKO it, but between Protect, Charizard, and the god like troll power of Mienshao I only ever had to tank it once. Once. So I'm really losing nothing here.
As for Mega-Venusar, if I see a matchup that MegaZard-Y would be mostly bad against, I can simply bring MegaSaur. MegaSaur is quite a bitch, with few weaknesses and heavy bulk. Mine has particularly powerful attacks, and still tanks hits well. Once powerful Psychic and Flying moves are out of the way (big nod to Aegislash here), MegaSaur is difficult to tackle, and can be used as my win condition. The Speed investment doesn't do much for the Mega, but it hardly hurts and you must remember I am balancing two very different strategies in one set. This death-bloom is able to take two consecutive ScarfMence Draco Meteors, and 2HKO right back. Things like Garchomp simply fail to do enough damage while being Giga Drain'd to death, and a big bulky Grass/poison type with a Sleep inducing powder is always useful (we do see all the Amoonguss, no?). MegaSaur means Charizard is nearly useless if I need him to KO something like Aegislash or Ferrothorn, however.
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Rough Skin
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Smoothskin. He's back and he's the same as ever. He works, pulls his weight, and doesn't disappoint.
The most standard VGC 2014 Garchomp ever, every single aspect of this Garchomp is guarenteed to be its most common nature, held item, moves, everything. Though I may switch to Lum or Haban Berry, I do get Will-o-Wisp'd a lot and can't afford to use Substitute.
EV spread is painfully obvious on this one, maxing its Speed and damage potential.
Dragon Claw provides accurate, somewhat decent STAB with minimal drawbacks (makes contact), Protect is useful as hell in Doubles and Garchomp is such a high priority target that it simply adores using Protect on that Ice Beam or ScarfMence. Rock Slide is used for dickish kills on 4x weak foes, flinching something on the foes team, and good coverage alongside its STABs. Earthquake is a non-contact move good to hit Aegislash with, and is capable of actually hitting both opponents on the same turn without that embarrassing 50% chance to miss at least one target per use.
Chompy is often paired with MegaZard as the lead, spamming powerful spread moves almost brainlessly and murdering everything while complementing each other well both offensively and defensively. For MegaSaur, it helps against Talonflame, Charizard, Aerial Ace/Sky Drop Aerodactyl, Fire types, and Steel types. All in all, Garchomp fits in perfectly.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Quiet, 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. def
- Shadow Ball
- King's Shield
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
Slashfan. Because its female and obviously likes slash(ing).
Another common version of a common version, SubSlash helps against my Ferrothorn weakness (I am so fucked if Charizard dies) by simply laughing at the thorny bastard and abusing its newfound lack of a Ghost resist. Its also just a troll in general. I found myself rarely using Wide Guard (though, the look on Garchomp's face when it realizes it cannot touch me is priceless) for anything other than blocking my own EQ, so I tried Substitute and have been happy with it.
Evs are standard for Aegislash, making a great tank and a powerful Shadow Ball spamming machine. Minimum Speed is for anti Trick Room and because “the slowest Aegislash wins”. May be a total douchebag and run a level 49 Aegislash.
Shadow Ball is stupidly broken this gen, with almost nothing actually resisting it anymore meaning you just need to smash Normal types and spam it like all hell. King's Shield is because Aegislash absolutely requires this move to return to Shield Form and troll Crunches and such.
Substitute blocks bothers like Leech Seed Ferrothorn, and is dreadfully effective against foes it walls completely to allow it to attack more freely in Blade form. Flash Cannon hits Normal and Dark types, and smashes the Fairies that Chompy dislikes. Typing and bulk give me a switchin to Rock and Ice moves aimed at MegaZard and Chompy, Flying/Psychic/Ice aimed at Venusaur, Poison/Steel aimed at Gardevoir, and anything aimed at mienshao will kill it anyway.
Mienshao @ Life Orb
Jolly, 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
Ability: Reckless
- High Jump Kick
- Quick Guard
- Fake Out
- Rock Slide
Lady Evil. She's a magical mystical woman. Fear my undying love of Ronnie James Dio.
The most psychotic member of the team, Mienshao is a versatile Pokémon in Doubles that packs a wide range of disruption, cockblocking, and often underestimated power to befuddle, annoy, and destroy foes who often have no idea what this crazy bitch is going to do or what to sacrifice before it.
The EV spread is identical to Garchomp, with the 4 Evs going to HP to allow her to survive 10 turns of LO recoil and far more importantly, survive two consecutive HJK misses. Not much point putting it in Sp. Def since the only Download Pokémon in existence are banned in this tourney.
High Jump Kick, backed by Reckless and Life Orb, stands at an absolutely jaw dropping 304 power and 125 base Atk. To put it bluntly, anything that does not resist it has its head kicked clean off its shoulders, and even the bulkiest of physical walls such as Hippowdon are 2HKO'd. I'll add some calc in a bit. Disadvantages include Protect, Ghost types and missing. I usually have Aegislash cowering with all the super effective moves flying everywhere, and Protect is usually pretty easy to predict. I've had much more success than failure.
Quick Guard downright humiliates Talonflame and Kangaskhan, and is absolutely priceless against Prankster mons who simply shit themselves and switch as opposed to crippling with Thunder Wave. Mienshao is an uncommon Pokémon, and a fast, frail, strong fighting type never fails to lure in Talonflame especially when you fire off Fake Out before it comes in.
Fake Out is great to disrupt your foe, and break Sturdy/Sash annoyances. Mienshao is among its faster users (only Sneasel/Weavile outspeed it) so Khan is not a worry. Plus... I have Quick Guard, so fuck you Weavile. :P
Rock Slide is, you guessed it, used for spread, coverage, and flinching, just like Garchomp. I would use Acrobatics but Game Freak says no to Flying Gem Acrobatics.
Damage Calcs:
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 175-208 (95.1 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard X: 153-183 (99.3 - 118.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 97-114 (56.3 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-H: 160-188 (101.9 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 335-398 (158 - 187.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Life Orb Reckless Mienshao High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 109-129 (50.6 - 60%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Gardevoir @ Assault Vest
Modest, 252 HP, 116 Def, 140 Sp. Atk
Ability: Telepathy
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
Nickname is Alex. Inside joke. Male Gardevoir ftw.
Last tourney, I found myself with 3 issues: one, Greninja is doing almost nothing (though he DID have use as a surprising Taunt user), two, I'm not using Wide Guard very much, and three... I was horrifically maimed by every Scarf Salamence I saw – and every Mence was Scarfed. I fixed #2 already, and here's the answer to numbers 1 and 3.
Using Aegislash as my primary Dragon counter wasn't going smoothly: Salamence had a Sun-boosted Fire Blast to blow it apart, and Chompy has Earthquake to beat it down and I can't win by just spamming Wide Guard. Hydreigon obviously gives no fucks about Aegislash, and MegaZard-X hated its Atk being dropped but otherwise had nothing to fear. Dragonite and Goodra also have Fire Blast but are less common. I needed the newly created bane of every bad-ass type in the game: Fairy.
A Fairy type gives me something to handle Dark types for Aegislash, a perfect switchin to Dragons, and just in case I needed to laugh at Fighting types any harder (seriously, over half my team resists Fighting). After considering my options, and staying up waaay too late for a few days, this is what my half-dead brain spat out.
Gardevoir is a magnificent Dragon killer, thanks to having the best Special attack among all of them, and a usable combination of good stats and movepool. Salamence has no hope in all of hell, Garchomp simply cannot stop this drag queen from hell, and things like Intimidate and WoW aren't stopping him (Guess what happened to my Granbull idea?). Evs are rather specific: Nature and Sp. Atk investment always OHKO's Garchomp with Moonblast and 252/0 Gyarados with Thunderbolt (Gyarados shits on my existence so far), then maximizes overall bulk. Assault Vest handles Sun boosted Fire Blasts from Mence, and acts as an extra check to Rotom-H and W. Psychic bombs Poison types while Shadow Ball offers stupidly good coverage and hits Ghosts like Gourgeist hard. AssVest also lets him take a hit from gengar and Psychic its face off.
Telepathy is a huge selling point, offering me something to switch in on my Garchomp's EQ and more freely spam it. My team absolutely maims Steel types (Megazard-Y, Garchomp, Mienshao) so the lack of coverage there is fine. Fire types exist in the form of Charizard, Talonflame, and Rotom-H, and are all crushed by boulders or crazy ass ninja weasels of doom. Meaning, I just spam Moonblast. I could Scarf this as well, maybe Specs.
Calcs:
252 SpA Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Gardevoir: 114-134 (65.1 - 76.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Gengar: 158-188 (116.1 - 138.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Gardevoir: 76-91 (43.4 - 52%) -- 14.1% chance to 2HKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 186-218 (101 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Salamence Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Gardevoir in Sun: 51-60 (29.1 - 34.2%) -- 2.9% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Gardevoir: 148-175 (84.5 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
140+ SpA Gardevoir Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 136-162 (88.3 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Weaknesses and issues
Numero freaking uno, I am Ghost Weak. Mienshao cannot harm them, Aegislash is weak to Ghosts but can tank and destroy most of them if absolutely needed. Gardevoir is weak to Ghost. And I simply do not see any salvation to this. Luckily, the main two ghosts (Aegislash and Gengar) really dislike Charizard Heat Waving them to death.
Wide Guard Aegislash is something I used, never actually saw, and completely cockblocks my entire team. I suppose my Aegislash just as threatening to it as it is to mine? Bad as it sound sits not a huge concern.
I suppose Trick Room and Tailwind get a mention, but if its bad I can just put Trick Room on Gardevoir and use a Sitrus on it.
Gyarados resists HeatQuake, and Intimidate means Rock Slide isn't taking it out. Drought and Gardevoir patch it nicely, both normal and Mega, but it could be bad if Gardevoir is out of the match.
Summary
Its been a fun team, but like any team, is not perfect. I'm betting I'll do good in June, but I'm still iffy on what to do with Gardevoir mainly. I feel it can do a lot from Scarf to Specs to a supportive set using WoW and such, or simply retaining my Assault Vest tank set. The team is overall fairly bulky, aside from Mienshao of course. The entire team has something to hit hard with, Venusaur being the “weakest” member in sun (+122 Sp. Atk is... pretty painful in Mega) and Charizard if I use MegaSaur is nearly useless but the whole point is not bringing it. Gardevoir and Aegislash are a bit slow, but everyone else is pretty speedy. MegaSaur is also a tad slow but not much of a detriment.
I have not used Double Mega on a human yet, but its something I know how to use when the time comes. MegaSaur has surprise value to it since “Charizard is obviously the mega”.
Funny enough, I use 4 Pokémon that could go Mega so that could throw people off as well – nice, but not intended.
Constructive criticism and advice are, of course, welcome.
And thanks for reading this monster, its 6 pages in OpenOffice with no images @_@
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