Monday, April 24, 2017

Every Rose Has Its Thorns: A 2nd Place Team from the 32 Person Tourney Report



Every Rose Has Its Thorns: A 2nd Place Team from the 32 Person Tourney Report

August 17th 2015




Hello guys!  I'm going to provide in detail the team I used that got 2nd place at this recent tourney. Rather than talk about "how" I played what I've should have "done" (since I know for a fact everyone will make a comment about this), I'll just discuss the team building process here. So let's get to it!

PRE TOURNEY IDEAS & TEAM BUILDING PROCESS


Though we don't feature "best teams" or the "best players" to compete live on twitch, I knew our small community had became increasingly knowledgeable of the VGC 2015 format rules. After hearing  this tourney was gonna be a 32 person tourney just the week before Worlds, I knew I'd wanted to perform better than the last two tourneys despite the bad matchups here and there. Throughout the 2nd week of August, I discussed the possibility of using Mega Gardevoir with numerous players like Rogue, Z2Porygon, MudkipLegend, Tygaa2, GMX and others. The only problem is I wasn't too comfortable using Mega Gardevoir despite laddering in 1600+ a few times on Showdown the past 2 months. Mega Gardevoir might likely dominate the Worlds metagame, but she wasn't the Mega Evolution or Pokemon I wanted for a somewhat serious tourney. In short, I wanted a bulky  synergistic team based on the teammates respective typing and apply immediate offensive/defensive pressure capable of winning any type matchups.

It wasn't long before I looked into GMX's Italian Nationals Report and ultimately decided Dragon Dance Roost Mega Salamence was a great win condition to build around. Since GMX's Mega Salamence used only 1 attacking move in Aerilate Return (I'll explain later), it had to to protected at all cost. Next up I used a moderate speed creep LO Aegislash to avoid losing the Aegislash mirrors and shields the team, most notably Mega Salamence, from Rock Slide and Hyper Voice attacks. IMO Aegislash is the de facto partner to Mega Salamance just for these aftermentioned reasons alone as well as how it can beat threats like Terrakion, Mega Metagross, opposing Mega Salamence, Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, etc. Despite dropping Mega Gardevoir, I chose Sylveon to 1) compensate as the main Fairy special tank of the team providing Helping Hand/Light Screen support and 2) creating offensive pressure with Pixilate Hyper Voice. With my Steel-Dragon-Fairy core finalized, the team still had a moderate weakness in some of the "elemental" typings (Fire/Water/Electric/Dark/Fairy). Since the team revolved around DD Mence, it needed a "scarecrow" against Intimidate users like Landorus-T, Mawile, Gyarados, and others while still being relatively bulky. Milotic was added to deter Intimidate spam, provide speed control in Icy Winds, and practically be the special wall of the team with a particular berry. The team still at this point needed a way to stop weather based teams like Rain/Sand so I'd chose Ferrothorn easily.  Thanks to it being only a quad weak to Fire and  a regular weakness to Fighting, Ferrothorn can be nice Pokemon win out the long battles in case Mega Salamence can't. To top it off, Ferrothorn can handle the common Mega Gardevoir/Azumarill Amoonguss core as it can easily take out with a Gyro Ball or Power Whip as while Mega Salamence beats Amoonguss handily.

For the last Pokemon, I'd kept debating what type of Fire Pokemon I should incorporate for this team and there wasn't a clear answer at first. Rotom-H was honestly the best candidate for the role thanks to its immunity to Ground type attacks, paralysis and burns along with key resistances in Fire, Grass, Fairy, and Electric (useful against Thundurus/Zapdos).  Arcanine can provide the team with either an offensive pressure (Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Close Combat) and/or defensive support (Will-O-Wisp, Snarl, Morning Sun, Helping Hand) and can be used as a primary intimidate user other than Mega Salamence. Heatran beats Amoonguss-Mega Gardevoir by itself (unless Garde has HP Ground/Focus Blast), wall Fire types like Mega Charizard Y, and helps give Mega Salamence a potential switch in against Fairy, Dragon, and Ice moves. After some thought, I looked into Entei and eventually it became clear who I wanted for the team. Entei doesn't give Defiant/Competitive users like Bisharp/Milotic a +1/+2 boost into their respective attack stats, doesn't have a 2x weaknesses to Fighting (or a quad weakness to ground at least), and can potentially beat Focus Sash Pokemon (Bisharp, Breloom, and Excadrill) with arguably the best Fire move in the game in Sacred Fire. Any competitive battling enthusiast knows Entei received a massive buff by receiving Sacred Fire that's 100 BP with a 50% chance to burn any target. Just burning a physical target on a switch in alone adds to my team's overall bulk and gives Mega Salamence opportunities to sweep.

Honestly most of the EV spreads and sets (except possibly Aegislash) were taken from numerous sources so I'll link their pages for credit. Now here's the team.



The Team




Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Protect

The main offensive of my team and... unfortunately the Pokemon that's most likely will suffer the same counter play fate as Mega Kangaskhan leading to worlds (though I hope I'm wrong). Mega Salamence is the best ORAS Mega to come with the new 2015 ruleset, no question asked to due it massive defensive capabilities (95/130/90), a damn good pre-Mega ability in Intimidate, access to one of the best abilities in the game with Aerilate, and its vast unpredictability since it can either be a physical, special, mixed or even a setup sweeper. Well I chose the latter mainly because I realized Mega Salamence can easily win games by itself if I manage to get off at least +1 Dragon Dance (attack and speed) on any "free turn". While Double-Edge assured me more "secured kills" on certain Pokemon, Return just fits the team better since the recoil damage forces Mega Salamance to Roost more than often than just attacking. Speaking of Roost, this allows Mega Salamence to recover 50% of its health at a cost of losing its Flying typing, though a singular Dragon typing allows Mega Salamence to take Rock Slides, Electric attacks, and even Ice moves better since it with its already impressive bulk. The combination of Roost and Dragon Dance allows Mega Salamence to avoid any Sucker Punch mind games, and hopefully stall out the opposition as my supporting cast provide cover or defensive enhancements for Mega Mence.

If anyone hasn't realized, the main objective I hoped to achieve with Mega Salamence was to pressure my opponent into making switches as I can easily get a potential free Dragon Dance boosts and start attacking with +1 ( or more) Returns. Due to Mega Salamence being ridiculously difficult to predict because of its wide array of potential sets, I use this fact to my advantage and go for as many Dragon Dances as possible until its finally time to attack. Alternatively I wanted Mega Salamence to be my main win condition as the Mono-Flying attack set with Roost and Dragon Dance can sustain itself potential throughout the whole match, if guarded well.  After +1 attack, Mega Salamence's Aerilate Return is capable of OHKOing numerous targets like most bulky Mega Gardevoir, Landorus-T (assuming it went with 2 DDs), Terrakion, 252 HP Charizard Y, and even 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan 7/8ths of the time. At +1 speed (or basically 1.5x its original speed) Mega Salamence is able to outspeed most 111 Timid Scarfers, as well as any Pokemon with a actual speed of 135 under Tailwind so  "Breloom" speed creep like Zapdos. Thinking  back, I should have came up with my own EV spread but pressed for time, I decided to utilize GMX's Mega Salamence since I couldn't think of a better EV spread without compensating too much attack, bulk, and even speed. The only notable defensive achievement for this Mega Salamence set is it can survive an Ice Beam from neutral 100 SpA Suicune and HP Ice from Thundurus (non boosted of course). Didn't want to add any other defensive achievements since most of my Pokemon can enhance it for Mega Salamence as I explain later.

[spoiler]

Offensive Calculations (some with only a single Dragon Dance boost):
  • 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 212-252 (95.9 - 114%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
  • 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 124+ Def Mega Venusaur: 164-194 (87.7 - 103.7%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
  • +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 178-210 (98.3 - 116%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
  • +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 195-229 (116.7 - 137.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Mega Gardevoir: 213-252 (121.7 - 144%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 216-255 (116.7 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • +1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 195-229 (118.1 - 138.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Calculations:
  • 100 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 152-180 (83 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 SpA Mega Salamence Dragon Pulse vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 150-176 (81.9 - 96.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 144-172 (78.6 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 SpA Aerilate Mega Salamence Hyper Voice vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 76-91 (41.5 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • -1 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 81-97 (44.2 - 53%) -- 11.6% chance to 2HKO (With Intimidate)
  • 252 Atk Tyranitar Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 78-92 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- 30.9% chance to 2HKO after sandstorm damage
  • 252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 78-92 (42.6 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
  • 116 SpA Politoed Ice Beam vs. 100 HP / 12 SpD Mega Salamence: 156-184 (85.2 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
  • 252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 100 HP / 4 Def Mega Salamence: 62-74 (33.8 - 40.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

[/spoiler]



Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 204 SpA / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Wide Guard

Let me just say this:  LO Aegislash will be the new standard given how powerful it hits initially against most of its target. Over the course of 3 months, I realize how good Aegislash is with the eventual rise of Mega Evolutions like Gardevoir and opposing Salamences so I started using it more often in my teams featuring Mega Salamence. Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon are Aegislash's main special STAB attacks that's unresisted by only 15 Pokemon (Greninja, Mega Houndoom, Mega Gyarados, Bisharp being great examples). Wide Guard is a great utility move to prevent any spread damage done to my entire team. Threats like Mega Gardevoir, Terrakion, Sylveon, Landorus-T, Excadrill, and other spread damage dealers can't spam their main attacks without thinking twice. A well timed Wide Guard is good enough to get a Dragon Dance boost for Mega Salamence or setup screens from either Sylveon or Entei. Life Orb was chosen over Weakness Policy since I feel as though people can play around the item by just dealing strong hits against Aegislash before hitting it with a super effective attack. Though at the cost of 10% of its health, Aegislash can effectively start wallbreaking to to point where the others can clean up.

The Aegislash set is the only Pokemon that wasn't shamelessly ripped off, though I could be wrong since someone might have have came up with the exact EV spread. Eventually I realized Aegislash was losing the speed creep wars in most of my matches couldn't understand why. Around the week during US Nationals, it became clear to me that most VGC players have started opting for Modest variants with a small speed creeps to try and win Aegislash mirrors and at best outspeed and knock out opposing Sylveons with Flash Cannons. Since most Sylveon standards were around the 48 Spe EVs, I settled with a speed creep of about 68 speed EVs so my Aegislash can outspeed and snipe out Sylveon and Aegislash (well with prior damage of course).

[spoiler]

Offensive Calculations
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 107-126 (59.1 - 69.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 114-136 (66.6 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 108 SpD Ferrothorn: 86-101 (47.5 - 55.8%) -- 17.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 244+ SpD Gothitelle: 143-172 (80.7 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 220 HP / 92+ SpD Cresselia: 143-172 (64.1 - 77.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Eviolite Dusclops: 86-104 (58.9 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 204+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 101-121 (60.4 - 72.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

No Defensive Calculations since Life Orb recoil kinda defeats the purpose

[/spoiler]


Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 148 Def / 80 SpA / 16 SpD / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Light Screen (Tourney) / Helping Hand (Showdown)
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect

After throwing out the possibility of using Mega Gardevoir, I turned to the next best thing  (or Pixilate user) in Sylveon. From what I heard during early VGC 14.5 and early VGC 2015  (with Move Tutors from ORAS), Sylveon was one of the most frightening Pokemon to face but eventually she became manageable with the rise of Steel types and Wide Guard users. Sylveon is just so powerful with Pixilate Hyper Voice and can theoretically hit harder than Mega Gardevoir with access to Life Orb, Choice Specs and the item I settled with, Pixie Plate. The pressure of Pixilate Hyper Voice alone allows me to take advantage of luring Steel and Fire types (aka Heatran) into Hidden Power Ground attacks. Fairy/Ground is a great offensive coverage only to be shut down by Mega Charizard Y and Skarmory (well there was a guy I faced on Battle Spot who used Skarmory). The final moveslot for Sylveon was a toss up between Helping Hand and Light Screen. Helping Hand in tandem with Aegislash is able to faint a vast majority of Trick Room setters bar full specially defensive Cresselia and Kasib Berry holders. Helping Hand has a priority speed of +5 and Fake Out has +3, so I can always power up my Life Orb Aegislash (who can't be Fake Out bar Scrappy users) to do heavy damage. In the end, I felt as though the team needed additional special bulk so Light Screen added the last second and I don't regret that decision. With Light Screen setup I have 4-5 turns to abuse the the team's new found special bulk and even allow Sylveon to take a LO Flash Cannon from Aegislash.

This Sylveon set was heavily based on Calisweeper's Sylveon though with a slight increase in speed stat to creep against opposing Sylveons and possibly Modest 20 Spe Aegislash. As you can see from his post on Nugget Bridge, Calisweeper's Pixie Plate Sylveon is able to either OHKO or 2HKO key targets like 4 HP Naive Mega Mence, Terrakion, and 252 HP Assault Vest Scrafty while 2HKOing 4 HP Landorus-T and Tyranitar.

[spoiler]
Offensive Calculations:

  • 80+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 168-198 (100.5 - 118.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 80+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 168-198 (98.2 - 115.7%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
  • 80+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence: 186-218 (108.7 - 127.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 80+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Scrafty: 180-216 (105.2 - 126.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 80+ SpA Pixie Plate Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 44 HP / 16 SpD Landorus-T: 90-106 (52.9 - 62.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 80+ SpA Sylveon Hidden Power Ground vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 100-118 (59.8 - 70.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 80+ SpA Sylveon Hidden Power Ground vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Heatran: 112-136 (67 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calculations:

  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 228 HP / 16 SpD Sylveon: 156-187 (78.3 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 228 HP / 16 SpD Sylveon: 174-205 (87.4 - 103%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
  • 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 228 HP / 16 SpD Sylveon: 76-91 (38.1 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • 252+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Overheat vs. 228 HP / 16 SpD Sylveon in Sun: 169-199 (84.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
  • 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 148 Def Sylveon: 173-205 (86.9 - 103%) -- 9.8% chance to OHKO
  • 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 148 Def Sylveon: 168-198 (84.4 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Bisharp Iron Head vs. 228 HP / 148 Def Sylveon: 168-200 (84.4 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

[/spoiler]


Milotic @ Maranga Berry
Ability: Competitive
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind
- Recover
- Protect

The premier bulky Water type Pokemon in the current meta (thanks Alex Ogolza) and the main Intimidate deter of the team: Maranga Berry Milotic. This particular set was based on Alex's Milotic (F4F on Youtube) and Wolfey's use of Maranga Berry for his own Milotic set during US Nationals). After taking a single special hit, Milotic can easily sponge most of the strongest special hits in the game, even strong super-effective attacks from the likes of Thundurus, Zapdos, Amoonguss, etc. Of Course, Milotic has to Recover any time I feel it can easily be knocked out the next couple of turns. The moveset is pretty basic since all Milotic must do is scare off Fire, Ground, and Rock types as well as common Intimdators like Salamence, Mawile, Landorus-T and others with +2 Competitive boosted Scalds and Icy Winds. Speaking of of its ability, this allows Milotic to help out Mega Salamence, Entei and Ferrothorn by frightening away Intimidate users. This is especially important for Mega Salamence as it needs to setup a couple of Dragon Dances as possible. If my opponent leads or use their Intimdate user as I counter with Miotic, she can easily get to +2 and start causing havoc with with its boosted Scalds. Icy Wind was placed since it is the team's only form of speed control and it punishes opposing switch ins.

This Milotic set is derived from Alex's own which he featured numerous times on the Battle Spot ladder and even on his Youtube channel so check him out for VGC advice and sets.


[spoiler]

Offensive Calculations

  • +2 4+ SpA Milotic Icy Wind vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 164-196 (99.3 - 118.7%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
  • 4+ SpA Milotic Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Camerupt: 196-232 (110.7 - 131%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • +2 4+ SpA Milotic Icy Wind vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 152-180 (88.8 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
  • +2 4+ SpA Milotic Scald vs. 252 HP / 60+ SpD Arcanine: 204-242 (103.5 - 122.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Calculations

  • 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 252 Def Milotic: 153-181 (76.8 - 90.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 252 Def Milotic: 133-157 (66.8 - 78.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 228 HP / 252 Def Milotic: 93-111 (46.7 - 55.7%) -- 75% chance to 2HKO after Life Orb Virizion Leaf Blade vs. 228 HP / 252 Def Milotic: 143-172 (71.8 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 159-190 (79.8 - 95.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 87-105 (43.7 - 52.7%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO

Maranga Berry (+1 SpD):

  • 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 54-64 (27.1 - 32.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
  • 252+ SpA Ludicolo Giga Drain vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 62-74 (31.1 - 37.1%) -- 75.1% chance to 3HKO
  • 252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 58-70 (29.1 - 35.1%) -- 18.7% chance to 3HKO
  • 252 SpA Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 109-127 (54.7 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 60-71 (30.1 - 35.6%) -- 34.8% chance to 3HKO
  • 0 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 66-80 (33.1 - 40.2%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO
  • 144+ SpA Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. +1 228 HP / 20 SpD Milotic: 84-98 (42.2 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

[/spoiler]


Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect

The true MVP of my tourney run. Well if there's a Pokemon that has made many people rage at me for utilizing damn well, its definitely Ferrothorn.  Without question, Ferrothorn is the best and overall bulky monster to come from BW considering it can wall teams but itself if my opponent doesn't have a Fire move or a strong Fighting attack. Whoever wrote the Smogon Dex analysis of Ferrothorn's VGC entry clearly summed this Grass/Steel type Pokemon correctly: "Ferrothorn is a Pokemon of extremes; you either can't touch it or it can't touch you". This Grass/Steel type Pokemon completes my duel Steel core with Aegislash and is the team's main weather (Rain/Sand), Fairy/Water check, and the secondary win condition if I notice my opponents' team has a poor matchup against it. Thinking about it now, Ferrothorn was the reason why I was able to pressure both Pdonz and Flynn in several battle situation to my defensive play style as they were forced to make switches or take unnecessary damage with Iron Barbs damage, or simply stalling out their health from the Life Orb. I went standard on Ferrothorn and simply went with Power Whip, Gyro Ball, Leech Seed, and Protect simply because it is just so damn good. Ferrothorn has a respectively base 94 attack so it can already start hitting Water, Ground, and Rock types with high powered Power Whips and Gyro Ball easily becomes a high base 150 before STAB for anyone Pokemon with an exact speed stat of 132 or above. Leech Seed + Leftovers/Protect stalling is what Ferrothorn does best and it can get potentially 2 Leech Seed hits (3 including its ally) so I can wear down the opposing team while the Pokemon can knock them out. Leech Seed stall imo is a great win conditon for Ferrothorn as most teams have a Pokemon or coverage move designated for Ferrothorn so if I can take out those threats, Ferrothorn can easily clean up late game provided it doesn't get heavily damaged.

This set and EV spread is directly a product of Calisweeper's own Ferrothorn set as it bulky enough to take even a Close Combat from standard Terrakion, and  Low Kick from Mega Kangaskhan. There wasn't any changes to the spread as I wanted Ferrothorn to be as bulky and physically defensive as possible.

[spoiler]

Offensive Calculations:

  1. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (93 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Gardevoir: 140-168 (80 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  2. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (115 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 63-75 (34.8 - 41.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  3. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (59 BP) vs. 92 HP / 116 Def Sylveon: 78-92 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 2.7% chance to 2HKO
  4. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (131 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Salamence: 57-67 (33.3 - 39.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  5. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Politoed: 164-194 (98.7 - 116.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
  6. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (129 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 128-152 (72.7 - 86.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  7. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Rotom-W: 116-140 (73.8 - 89.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
  8. 0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Suicune: 98-116 (47.3 - 56%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

Defensive Calculations:

  • 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 112-134 (61.8 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 96-114 (53 - 62.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Ferrothorn: 66-78 (36.4 - 43%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • 252 Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 134-162 (74 - 89.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Life Orb Virizion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 140-166 (77.3 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Tyranitar Superpower vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 92-110 (50.8 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Excadrill Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 62-74 (34.2 - 40.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  • 252 SpA Adaptability Mega Lucario Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 140 SpD Ferrothorn: 152-180 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Landorus-T Superpower vs. 252 HP / 116+ Def Ferrothorn: 108-128 (59.6 - 70.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[/spoiler]


Entei @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50EVs: 116 HP / 132 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Fire
- Snarl
- Reflect
- Protect

Well the only legendary (or mystic Pokemon... I guess that's what the TPCi are referring side legends as) on the team and the underrated Legends in competitive Pokemon: Entei. Though Entei wasn't my first choice of Fire type for this 32 person tourney, I thought it alongside with Ferrothorn were my best Pokemon on Saturday. Sacred Fire is IMO the best Fire moves in the game and it has transformed Entei into a sub-par defensive Fire type (if only Flash Fire and Extreme Speed were legal on the same set). By hitting Sacred Fire's 95% accuracy, Entei has a 50% chance to burn any target so its a perfect move to spam fishing for burns. Snarl is a base 55 Dark type spread damage that helps deal with influx of special attackers currently and effectively cut their special attacking potential by a considerable amount after consecutive usage. Snarl in tandem with Sacred Fire is enough for Entei to be a viable Fire type user in the current VGC meta as it forces switches and more opportunities to burn physical attackers on the switch. The last move I debated whether or not Entei should run a select number of moves like Toxic, Stone Edge, Substitute, Bulldoze, Will-O-Wisp, Swagger and even Quash (at this point Game Freak just release E-Speed Entei). Eventually I settled with a safe option of Reflect since it only adds to Entei and the team's overall physical bulk. Just the combination of Sacred Fire burns, Snarl attacks, and Reflect makes Entei incredibly difficult to handle and can provide the switches and free turns needed for a Mega Salemence sweep.

The set and EV spread (as well as the the core FWG +Sylveon) was taken from Xenoblade Hero's Entei so a huge credits to him and his teambuilding. The speed investment allows Entei to not only outspeed Smearlge but Adamant 252 Speed Excadrill (no boost from Sand Rush) by one point so Entei can take out the mole.

[spoiler]

Sacred Fire Calculations (Well its basically Entei's only attacking move)

  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Amoonguss: 140-168 (63.3 - 76%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 114-134 (68.2 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 236-278 (126.8 - 149.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 108 HP / 0 Def Ludicolo: 105-124 (62.1 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 79-94 (43.6 - 51.9%) -- 13.3% chance to 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 100-118 (60.6 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 116 HP / 84 Def Mega Gardevoir: 99-117 (62.6 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 132+ Atk Entei Sacred Fire vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 118-139 (86.7 - 102.2%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

Defensive Calculations

  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 116 HP / 92 SpD Entei: 173-204 (84.3 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 116 HP / 4 Def Entei: 170-204 (82.9 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 100 SpA Suicune Scald vs. 116 HP / 92 SpD Entei: 104-126 (50.7 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 116 HP / 92 SpD Entei: 54-65 (26.3 - 31.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
  • 252+ SpA Life Orb Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 116 HP / 92 SpD Entei: 122-146 (59.5 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 116 HP / 4 Def Entei: 163-193 (79.5 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  • 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 116 HP / 4 Def Entei: 187-222 (91.2 - 108.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

[/spoiler]

Thoughts Regarding Finals Match Against Flynn

If you don't like to read my take on the finals ....aka "long rants" and/or don't want to be "spoiled" well just don't click this button... (Basically "real talk")

[spoiler]

Game 1 was all about winning with Ferrothorn.

I f***ed up hard in both Games 2 and especially Game 3. Simple as that.

I really, really want to use that one particular word but there are minors in this site (even though they say it in everyday language at least in the US and other English-speaking counties... so yeah). That's really how it feels to lose a huge tourney all because of a dumb misclick on my end. For starters, I do want to apologize for ruining a good battle all because of that damn misclick on my end to the people who watched the battle or are reading this report. To be honest, it's probably by far, the most tense battles/set anyone has ever seen in a VGC tourney hosted here. To be completely fair, Justin Flynn was forced into positions were he had to go for hard reads and rely on Rock Slide (game 3) to force a flinch on Entei and get a free kill against my Sylveon. Then again, that turn 1 lead could have went anywhere honestly. Best case scenario for me was that Terrakion protects or Entei hits Sacred Fire (assuming it doesn't get flinch or misses), burns Bisharp as it goes for Entei, while Sylveon picks up two kills on both of them (again no flinch), followed by setting up either Reflect and/or Light Screen for Ferrothorn and Mega Salamence to clean up.  Honestly there could have been many ways that battle went on that turn alone so if anything, the game was decided there.

However, taking Cybertron's advice to heart to "never give up despite the bad matchup",  I continued and used whatever free turn I can and make it work. Setting up Reflect on a double protecting play on Flynn's part was a good start as it meant that Entei can survive another Rock Slide and hopefully beat Bisharp with a Sacred Fire burn which I got. Ferrothorn now got a massive defense boost with Reflect setup so I attacked with Gyro Ball on the Terrakion spot until I got hit the Kangaskhan which wasn't Mega Evolved still. When I got Mega Salamence in, my only hope was to get a Dragon Dance boost, faint Mega Kangaskhan with Ferrothorn (with Reflect it shouldn't beat me with Low Kick). As I see both Thundurus-T and Mega Kangaskhan protect, I get a free Dragon Dance and suddenly the game isn't over. I click protect and he double targets my Mega Salamence as I finish off Mega  Kangaskhan with a Gyro Ball. At this point with both healthy +1 Attack/Speed Salamence and Ferrothorn against a Terrakion and Thundurus-T, I thought I won the battle since I can easily beat Terrakion with a +1 Return... or so what could have happen... as I inadvertently misclicked and protected again instead of attacking Terrakion.  btw For those saying it didn't matter......

+1 196 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 195-229 (116.7 - 137.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

*sigh* I'm not gonna cover this up but I was incredibly stressed out throughout the whole day on my end to the point I was just drain out and flat out tired (not from battling, rather some real life stuff). All I'm saying is I can't "play well" without having to sit down by myself undisturbed and focus while having a clear mind. I don't believe I had that luxury on that night. Its kinda ironic losing like this since if you ask me especially how defensive this team considering bulky offense and semi stall tend to make the least amount of predictions and play as safe as possible. This team incorporates some of these elements as its my preferred play-style in any Pokemon format (VGC or Smogon).  I'm just gonna leave it at that.... Probably wasn't the best idea to join this tourney now I think about it but the fact I went to the finals with a rag tag team was kind uplifting....

...but from a battling perspective I acknowledge I failed to capitalize on my gains especially in games 2 and 3. This was most notable in turn 5 in game 2 when I should have let both Ferrothorn and Aegislash attack at the same time instead of losing Mega Salamence. I would have literally "won" the battle at that turn but I chose to be passive. Even so... I still consider myself the real victor of that set since I outplayed Justin and corned him until that unfaithful misclick. Even after the tourney ended, I'm still rather upset and dumbfounded how that misclick happen. Same time its really pissed me off seeing the some of the reaction from the chat... though I comment about the misclicked the second I saw Mega Salamence protect.  I just had to leave because of what just happen and what was occurring where I lived.

I'm gonna move on from this experience and learn from it, however anyone who keeps referencing my mistakes from this set only for the sole purpose of getting some kind of reaction from me (trying to demeanor me in any fashion)...they are absolutely pathetic. Misclicks happen. Just recently on Sunday, I battled someone on the replay who accidentally misclicked and locked themselves into Earthquake with their Landorus-T and caused their Bisharp to faint subsequently. Yes it sucks to make those mistakes but we have to learn from them, not shame someone who just clicked the wrong button. I know people will say its a joke but after they continuously push it then yeah I'm just gonna ignore that person or anyone who pushes this to far.

In short, Justin's win was valid and I concede that I "lost" by the game's terms regardless of what happen from my end as well. Yes it sucks losing "that" way instead of your opponent actually beating you, but that's how it is.  To those who still argue or say that misclick was on my end,  yes it was but put yourself in my shoes and anyone feel like crap in that situation if that were to happen to you as well. I think people need to understand that Pokemon still has its load of RNG and other factors to make the game "fun" though I don't get why we need more randomness and say that the best player was the one who flinched the crap out of the opponent?  Yes it was my error to lead with a slow Entei and Sylveon to deal against two pokemon with high flinching rates but to say that I deserved that flinch or any randomness against me shows they aren't competitive players at all in my eyes.

[/spoiler]

Battle Videos


Here are all the battle videos from the tournament

[spoiler]
  • Round 1: GGGG - WWWW - WW2J - 6LU2
  • Round 2: GTYG - WWWW - WW2J - 6ZMQ
  • Round 3: SM6W - WWWW - WW2J - 75KB
  • Semi Finals Match 1: XP2G - WWWW - WW2J - 7Y5E
  • Semi Finals Match 2: H57W - WWWW - WW2J - 7LP9
  • Finals Match 1: JRWG - WWWW - WW2J - MB7S
  • Finals Match 2: XUZG - WWWW - WW2J - MBBL
  • Finals Match 3: CPVG - WWWW - WW2J - MBBA


[/spoiler]

Closing Thought

So that's my team and I quite like it since it fits my playstyle. If anyone if you guys have a suggestion, let me hear it. Thanks for reading my rather long Team Report!
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