SONM Pokémon VGC '16 Thread - Nationals 14th-15th May!

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:38 am

Most likely heading to Yeovil this weekend and rapidly getting my team together, I just want to test out Heatran in place of Smeargle because 1) Smeargle is a pain to get moves on and 2) I think it might be a better fit considering what my team is. Really quickly can someone give me an offensive Heatran set? I'm thinking I'll want to run Sub, Protect, Heat Wave, Flash Cannon.

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 2:39 pm

lol95 wrote:Most likely heading to Yeovil this weekend and rapidly getting my team together, I just want to test out Heatran in place of Smeargle because 1) Smeargle is a pain to get moves on and 2) I think it might be a better fit considering what my team is. Really quickly can someone give me an offensive Heatran set? I'm thinking I'll want to run Sub, Protect, Heat Wave, Flash Cannon.

For Heatran I would recommend:
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 132 Def / 124 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- Protect

Adapted slightly from I0riYagami's report it does the following -
HP is not divisible by 4 meaning a guaranteed four Substitutes even if weather happens
Makes Breloom's Mach Punch a 3HKO
Can survive unboosted non-STAB Earthquake from Pokemon with 130 attack power or less
Jolly Scarf Rock Slide will not break Heatran's Substitutes, about a 50% chance of an unboosted Adamant Rock Slide breaking the Sub

I'm no expert on Heatran as I've not used him in a tournament before so feel free to add some offense to the set if you feel you need to

I'll help you test out your team if you want as well, I have some spare time later today? :)

Same offer goes to everyone here

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 3:03 pm

That'd be awesome, I have to go do some errands right now but send me a PM when you're around later and I'll get online ASAP!

KingoftheSocks · Post by **KingoftheSocks** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:47 pm

How's Mega Beedrill looking the meta right now, I know its super fragile and very weak to priority but Beedrill was my man back in Gen 1 and it'd be nice to make a team based around it if not just for fun

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 7:58 pm

KingoftheSocks wrote:How's Mega Beedrill looking the meta right now, I know its super fragile and very weak to priority but Beedrill was my man back in Gen 1 and it'd be nice to make a team based around it if not just for fun

Sadly things don't look good on that front. He would require very dedicated team support to deal with some very common threats (All common Sucker Punches KO, it cannot OHKO Cresselia but it is OHKO'd back, Bug/Poison typing is mediocre coverage). Like any Pokemon though I expect it can work with forward planning, I just haven't seen anyone have success with it yet

Pineapple · Post by **Pineapple** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:15 pm

Never mind stinky Beedrill how does the almighty Altaria fare.

KingoftheSocks · Post by **KingoftheSocks** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:01 pm

Pineapple wrote:Never mind stinky Beedrill how does the almighty Altaria fare.

Fluffiness>everything else

Sabrofra · Post by **Sabrofra** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 10:06 am

Pineapple wrote:Never mind stinky Beedrill how does the almighty Altaria fare.

Altaria is actually pretty good. With both of it's attacking stats base 110, you can make it either a physical or special attacker. It can also be both if you really feel like it. The ability Pixilate means that normal moves turn to Fairy - which can really help. The only moves you probably need to take advantage of this ability would be return (if it's physical) or hyper voice (if it's special).

Riyuka · Post by **Riyuka** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:37 am

Well. I'm back this year for VGC, which will be my last year in senior division. I'm running a 'breaker' team, which is set up to effectively break all major threats to my team with strong defensive capabilities. You could call it Chelsea FC tactics but in Pokemon. Considering I usually run hyper-offense teams this should be interesting...

Cinaclov · Post by **Cinaclov** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:49 pm

Well, the Yeovil PC was the worst I've ever performed in a Pokémon tournament but it was still a lot of fun, and I won the side GS cup tournament (in a pretty hilarious way tbh, I did decently but not great but got loads of byes and beat everyone XD) winning myself a Mew plush and overall had a really great day out. I did meet Lol95 for the first time, apologies for not getting much of a chance to chat but it was cool to put a face to the name

. Also got some advice on my team which sort of confirmed what I realised when I started battling; it's far, far too defensive for VGC and needs to be more offensive. I realised within the first two battles, but I hadn't actually had any spare time to practice with it before the tournament (despite having made it about two weeks beforehand). Back to the drawing board for next month then

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 9:43 am

Got second place in a Nugget Bridge Live tournament yesterday! Was 4-2 up against my opponent in the finals, who then showed me I was severely weak to Charizard/Terrakion and proceeded to sweep. Just trying to think of how I can adjust my team of Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Milotic, Ferrothorn, Entei and Zapdos to deal with it. Landorus is the obvious switch for it but I'm not keen on Intimidate in the current Defiant/Competitive filled metagame

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:36 am

Yeovil was great fun yesterday! I went 2/3 but the quality of players and diversity of megas being used (my team had ways around Kanga and Salamence, but nothing solid for Metagross) meant that I really can't be unhappy with the result for my first ever PC. Met some really nice people and got to see Lee and Ben play a sort of consolation exhibition match which was good fun (that first turn Hyper Voice tho). Shoutouts to Aidan who became my lunch buddy for the break (and gave me a 6IV Ditto to help with my breeding) and Ethan my first round opponent (who traded me a Hidden Power Ground Sylveon after the match).
Cinaclov sorry about that random introduction I overheard you mention something that made it click in my head who you were, went to say who I was, then realised I was most likely interrupting your concentration for that round and shut up. Great to put a face to the user too all the same though!

Xeno I think Ferro, Zapdos and Kang cover the most common Competitive/ Defiant users I've seen and I think the hype for those abilities is starting to die down a bit. Rotom-W whilst a really common Pokemon might be an idea, the spread 252 HP/ 52 Def/ 52 SpA/ 148 SpDef/ 4 Spe (Calm nature) ensures surviving Adamant max attack life orb Close Combat from Terrakion and survives Modest Max Sp.A Solarbeam from Charizard Y.

Sabrofra · Post by **Sabrofra** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:35 pm

Xenoblade Hero wrote:Just trying to think of how I can adjust my team of Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Milotic, Ferrothorn, Entei and Zapdos to deal with it. Landorus is the obvious switch for it but I'm not keen on Intimidate in the current Defiant/Competitive filled metagame

Entei is an interesting choice. Never really seen it being used in the meta-game. I assume you use Entei as an all out attacker?

The team you have is quite solid. I don't think you really need to change it much as I doubt you'll be seeing another Terrakion again anytime soon. Assuming that they used Charizard Y, half your team would have troubles against it (Being Milotic, Ferrothorn and Sylveon). I'd advise probably changing one of those three if you want your team to have a better chance against Charizard-Y.

Cinaclov · Post by **Cinaclov** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:54 pm

lol95 wrote: Cinaclov sorry about that random introduction I overheard you mention something that made it click in my head who you were, went to say who I was, then realised I was most likely interrupting your concentration for that round and shut up. Great to put a face to the user too all the same though!

No problem, I was also worried that I'd come across a bit rude for not making more of an effort at conversation at the time and not following it up after the battle, so yeah, sorry about that. We'll have to have a chat next month, assuming you're going?

I wouldn't worry too much about throwing my concentration off, by that point I'd already lost 3 games XD. My team was really too slow and defensive for VGC, and I've since been re-thinking it from scratch.

Whilst I'm here, has anyone got any thoughts on these team ideas;

Rotom-W - Probably Specs
Charizard X - Bulky with max offense? (Middling speed to work in/out of Trick room? Same applies to other 'mon)
Venusaur M - Offensive
Landorus T - Considering Imprison as a kind of sticking plaster to Charizard's weaknesses, with the added bonus of anti-protect.
Cresselia - Standard with Trickroom
Bisharp - Covers the teams remaining weaknesses (on paper at least, see below).

I like the idea of a Charizard X/Mega Venusaur dual mega team. Besides the obvious surprise factor for anyone expecting the sun/sleep combo each covers the others problem areas fairly well, Venusaur doing decently against Rock, Ground and Water whilst Charizard X is good with Talonflame and Gardevoirs. Rotom-W and Landorus seem to back them up nicely, whilst Cresselia is standard support. My thinking was I could go for a middling speed range for each of them, then Trickroom if the opponent outspeeds/prevent the opponent using it if it is a TR team.

Bisharp is there as on paper his typing means I have complete type coverage; there's nothing this team doesn't resist or threaten type-wise in some capacity. In reality I think he's going to be too frail to act as any kind of type resistance, and I'm wondering if Azumarill might work better? It'd mean I'd have no resistance to Rock/Ghost/Normal types but Imprison Landorus could patch the Rock weakness and if I was worried about Kangaskhan I could always include Superpower on Azumarill.

I also noticed that Ferrothorn and Venusaur M don't share weaknesses so could conceivably be on the same team with Florges benefiting both of them with its ability. There's a part of me that'd love to get Breloom in on that act but he shares too many weaknesses with Venusaur, so it'd probably be better to go for a more standard core; a water type (Rotom-W again? Suicune? Milotic?), a Fire type, Cresselia and someone else. That's much less formed as an idea, but I like the idea of a Pokémon acting as a permanent boosted-safeguard for two of the others.

Thoughts from anyone would be appreciated.

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 12:32 pm

Sabrofra wrote:
Entei is an interesting choice. Never really seen it being used in the meta-game. I assume you use Entei as an all out attacker?

Funnily enough it's very much the opposite, it's a fast support Pokemon with access to Will O Wisp and the god-like Sacred Fire which makes few physical switch in's safe. Also it helps out my Charizard matchup with Stone Edge, but it can be defeated with a combination.

As Milotic is glue and has speed control which helps with combinations and as lol said I'm probably more worried about competitive/defiant than I should be. Also Ferrothorn really aids my mirror and Kang matchup. For this reason I'm switching out Entei (my current "check") for bulky Landorus-T, reason being Infernape and other Fighting types have been giving me trouble, and Landy-T can easily switch into these types whilst being an answer for both Terrakion and Charizard. Additionally I'm not going to use Scarf as I can't EQ into a lot of my team. I'll probably go for a boosting item like Expert Belt

Gazooki · Post by **Gazooki** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 8:29 pm

Xenoblade Hero wrote:
Sabrofra wrote:
Entei is an interesting choice. Never really seen it being used in the meta-game. I assume you use Entei as an all out attacker?
Funnily enough it's very much the opposite, it's a fast support Pokemon with access to Will O Wisp and the god-like Sacred Fire which makes few physical switch in's safe. Also it helps out my Charizard matchup with Stone Edge, but it can be defeated with a combination.

Wasn't expecting to actually find anyone else who's been using Entei. Been kinda thinking of using it myself as my oddball choice this year. I'll have to keep all this stuff in mind when coming up with ideas for it.

I can attest that Ferro and a bulky Water 'mon is a deadly stall combo, although I've had Suicune over Milotic. Not really done that much practice but from the few matches I've done, that's stood out to me as something that can literally win you games. With some of the other European Nats being announced, I should probably start spitballing some proper team ideas so I'm ready for when UK Nats is announced at last.

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:25 pm

Yeah if Charizard Y falls further from grace I might adopt Ferro full time or just slap it in a rain team. Having used both Suicune and Milotic I really do prefer Milotic because of the occasional boosts it gets, the lack of defense is a bit worrying but physical Electric and Grass moves are fairly uncommon and predictable whilst spread moves don't give it too much trouble.

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 4:49 pm

Did anyone attend the Crawley Premier Challenge today? My friend in Seniors ended up coming first in his bracket and netting 40CP :)

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:51 pm

Back at the grind testing out different 'mons. Would anyone be able to help me evolve my Gurdurr (trade then trade it back)?

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:04 pm

lol if my internet works when I get back home, sure! Been having problems for the last two days.

Nugget Bridge Major sign ups are up now, you can play for both circuit points and cash prizes with a good enough finish! I've signed up; can't link the URL right now but if anyone wants VGC practise against some of the best players in the world I recommend signing up

EDIT - http://nuggetbridge.com/news/registrati ... dge-major/

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:28 pm

Cheers Xeno! Just signed up for the tournament, not expecting grand results just the chance to gain some experience.

Xenoblade Hero · Post by **Xenoblade Hero** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 1:24 pm

European National Dates

UK Nationals Event Page
Germany Nationals Nugget Bridge Thread

All of the European Nationals dates have been announced! Is anyone looking into attending multiple? Thinking I may travel to Germany if I can afford it as I want to take this year seriously in terms of competitive

Sabrofra · Post by **Sabrofra** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 2:44 pm

Pretty happy it's in Manchester again. Still thinking of a new team. I should probably get around to that.

OP updated.

lol95 · Post by **lol95** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 5:34 pm

That's disappointing but what I was expecting to be honest. Time to start researching train and hotel deals, thank goodness I renewed my railcard.

KingoftheSocks · Post by **KingoftheSocks** » Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:25 pm

The two times I actually want to try and attend VGC they put it in the furthest city away from me, meaning I can't go. And I really felt like with all the non practise I put in I'd win it this year

SONM Pokémon VGC '16 Thread - Nationals 14th-15th May!

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