List of VGC and Battle Spot Doubles Cores (2015-2016): Part 2

List of VGC and Battle Spot Doubles Cores (2015-2016): Part 2

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- Pokémon featured: Mega Gengar and Whimsicott
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Hyper Offensive
- Sets:

Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Disable
- Protect

Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Encore
- Tailwind
- Moonblast / Giga Drain

Introducing the infamous Prankster Encore / Disable core of Mega Gengar and its partner in crime Whimsicott. To begin, once Gengar Mega Evolves into Mega Gengar, it gains the ability Shadow Tag, which prevents all Pokemon aside Ghost-types from escaping via switch. With Mega Gengar's insane base 170 Special Attack stat, the opponent have to choose whether to takeconsiderable damage from one of its STABs, or possible use Protect to scout, or avoid any harm. The problem with using "Protect" comes with Whimsicott as it can lock the opponent into the move with Prankster Encore. Mega Gengar can then use Disable to prevent the target from using move "Protect", or any move that puts the opposing side in an unfavorable advantage. If such a scenario occurs, the opponent will be "forced" to struggle to until the Encore ends, though Whimsicott can easily do it again with its priority Prankster ability. Note that Shadow Tag will prevent the opposing Pokemon from switch, and locking the Pokemon into indefinite struggle unless they are knocked out, or Mega Gengar faints.

Keep in mind, this core can act in a Hyper Offensive fashion with Mega Gengar's massive 170 Special attack, and Whimsicott's Prankster Fake Tears. If both potential targets are slower than either Mega Gengar / Whimsicott (chances are they are), then here's what they can do instead of Encore - Disable. Fakes Tears drops the target's Special Defense by -2, and vunerable to and Special Attacks. Now consider Fake Tears can always "goes" first with Whimsicott, then Mega Gengar can essentially eliminate almost target with its STAB Shadow Ball / Sludge Bomb. Keep in mind this is still a high risk, high reward combo as this requires "predicting" if the opponent will Protect with one of their mons. The only problem with that is the opponent has to consider whether the Encore - Disable threat is possible, making this core more so heavy in predictions and mind games.

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- Pokémon featured:  Blaziken and Bisharp
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Hyper Offense
- Sets:

Blaziken @ Life Orb / Focus Sash / Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 68 Atk / 196 SpA / 244 Spe or 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Naive or Adamant Nature
- Overheat / Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Hidden Power Ice / Rock Slide
- Protect

Bisharp @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Protect

Despite being rather frail on both defensive ends and offensively weak to Ground-, and Water-type attacks, don't overestimate the pair between Blaziken and Bisharp. The gist of this core is essentially to attack whats in front of these two Pokemon, or use Protect to scout out a move while receiving no damage. The offensive typing of Fire / Fighting, and Dark / Steel forms perfect neutral coverage to where Blaziken and Bisharp can deal heavy or super effective damage if possible. For Blaziken, it can use protect to "increase" its speed with the Speed Boost ability one stage per turn until maxed out. Most of the time, Blaziken will run the Life Orb item to ensure OHKOs against Mega Kangaskhan, Amoonguss, Heatran,  and 4 HP Landorus-T Mega Salamence, etc. Mega Blaziken is potential option to use if the Life Orb is on Bisharp, or if the players wants the addtional power and speed. Bisharp can deal with most Psychic-type Pokemon like Cresselia, Lati@s, and Meta Metagross, while deter the opponent from using stat reduction stategies like Icy Wind, Snarl, or most likely Intimidate spam. STAB Sucker Punch allows Bisharp to bypass its slow speed and hit faster targets for decent damage, only if they've attacked themselves. Iron Head is used to hit Fairy-type Pokemon which can threaten this core, though it needs to be careful when dealing with Mega Gardevoir. This core requires a devent amount of prediction as it relies on getting those OHKOs before the opponent can respond.





- Pokémon featured: Abomasnow and Greninja
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Offensive (Hail)
- Sets:

Abomasnow @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Naive Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Blizzard
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire] / Earthquake

Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Blizzard
- Dark Pulse
- Low Kick / Scald
- Protect

This is a rather odd Hail-core that involved getting the upper-hand in the battle via doing what they do best: spam Blizzard. The focus of this core is to pin down Pokemon who are weak to the Ice-type, a offensive coverage even most CHALK teams struggle with (like Double Genie + Amoonguss). To start off, this is an irritation of "fast-Hail" often seen used by Japanese players on Battle Spot Doubles which revolved around Choice Scarf Abomasnow and Protean Greninja. As Abomasnow sets up the Hail with its Snow Warning ability, both it and Greninja can immediately threaten the opponent with STAB Blizzard spam given its strong damage output even as a spread move. A Choice Scarf weather abuser isn't as new given Tyranitar and Politoed have seen use, however what makes Abomasnow "slightly" favorable is its ability to threaten both with STAB Grass-type attacks. One of the biggest problems to Abomasnow are common Wide Guard users such as Aegislash who not only block Blizzard with Wide Guard, but can potentially OHKO with Flash Cannon. Greninja can in return threaten the Aegislash, though not OHKO, but can do massive damage to it . Greninja is fast enough to outspeed the likes of Mega Salamence, Choice Scarf Tyranitar, Thundurus, Terrakion,Heatran and Mega Kangaskhan, all of whom can threaten Abomasnow. For what the hail setter can provide for Greninja is "chip damage" from the combination of Hail's residual damage, or the Blizzard attacks it spam to weaken target to where Greninja can pick them off one by one. In all, Choice Scarf Abomasnow is an unexpected Pokemon to watch out for, especially paired with Greninja given how powerful Ice-type coverage is against CHALK teams.

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- Pokémon featured:  Ferrothorn and Jellicent
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Defensive
- Sets:

Ferrothorn @ Lum Berry / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Atk / 52 SpD
Brave Nature
- Gyro Ball / Iron Head
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed / Thunder Wave
- Protect

Jellicent @ Leftovers
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Hex / Ice Beam / Toxic

The purpose of this core is to effectively wall and take on both Ferrothorn and Jellicent's respective checks, while dealing residual damage per turn. Let's start off with Ferrothorn, the only of the few Pokemon with Grass/Steel-type which is is capablely strong on the defensive end with nine resistences and one immunity. Now take a look at Jellicent's resistences with six resistences, and two of them (Fighting- and Normal-type) once again being immune. The interesting point about Ferrothorn and Jellicent is they effectively check each others weaknesses rather well as Ferrothorn can switch in on Electric-, Grass-, and other types with its high natural bulk, where as Jellicent takes little from Fire-type attacks, while Fighting-type moves do no damage. Notice how Ferrothorn and Jellicent can use their status moves / abilites like Leech Seed, Will-o-Wisp, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Iron Barbs, Rocky Helmet, and Cursed Body to consistently annoy the opponent. Leech Seed + Will-O-Wisp can passively reduce the HP of the opposing Pokemon's HP, halves their Attack stats, and opposing Pokemon will find themselves being unable to break the defensive pressure of Ferrothorn and Jellicent. Keep in mind this core isn't meant to be offensive at all, but to rely on residual damage and rather bothersome, yet effective defensive stall in a way to cover for both these Pokemon well.


[img=74x98]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/gardevoir-mega.gif[/img][img]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/amoonguss.gif[/img]

- [b]Pokémon featured[/b]: Mega Gardevoir and Amoonguss 
- [b]Metagame[/b]: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- [b]Core Type[/b]: Balance 
- Sets:

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe or EVs: 108 HP / 124 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe
Timid Or Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Encore / Trick Room 
- Protect

Amoonguss @ Sitrus Berry / Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb
- Protect

One of the most common balanced cores in the Battle Double Doubles, as well as the former VGC 15 format in Mega Gardevoir and Amoonguss. The premise of the core is rather simple. Amoonguss "protects", or in this case redirects attack away from Mega Gardevoir as the Fairy-type Mega spam Pixilate Hyper Voice to inflict one of the strongest spread damage in the format. The pair themselves is reliant on Mega Gardevoir consistently damaging at the opposing Pokemon with Hyper Voice as is the main offensive damage dealer. Aside from Rage Powder, Amoonguss can use the status ailment Spore to put targets to sleep to allow Mega Gardevoir to get damage the following turn. One strategy seen during the VGC 15 format is to utilize a bulky Mega Gardevoir with the move Trick Room to not only allow itself to outspeed "faster" threats, but let Amoonguss Spore targets at ease as its usually the fastest on the field under Trick Room. Just note Mega Gardevoir needs the redirection support from Amoonguss given how it can't take strong physical attacks with Amoonguss could. 


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[img]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/tyranitar.gif[/img][img]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/xy/excadrill.gif[/img]
- [b]Pokémon featured[/b]:  Tyranitar and Excadrill
- [b]Metagame[/b]: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- [b]Core Type[/b]: Sand Offense 
- Sets:

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf / Lum Berry / Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Ice Punch / Low Kick / Superpower
- Protect

Excadrill @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake / Drill Run
- Rock Slide
- Iron Head
- Protect

Just like in the Singles format, Sand-teams do receive a good amount of usage in Battle Spot Doubles. As per most Sand-teams, the core is centered around using Tyranitar's Sand Stream ability to allow Excadrill to essentially outspeed most of the format and do what it pleases. In turn, Excadrill can threaten opposing Fairy- and Steel-type Pokemon who Tyranitar usually have trouble dealing with the combinations of STAB Earthquake, or STAB Iron Head. One distinctive feature of Sand-types is if Tyranitar is Choice Scarfed, both it and Excadrill can use "fast" Rock Slides against the opponents Pokemon. For those who are unfamiliar with Rock Slide's side effect, if the move hits a target, there's a 30% chance to where the Pokemon won't be able to move. The thing regarding Rock Slide is this effect is still applied to both targeted Pokemon. With both Tyranitar and Excadrill can exert Rock Slide pressure to flinch either one of the targets. Tyranitar can support Excadrill by helping its matchup against Fire-type Pokemon. If in case Excadrill wants another Ground-type move to hit Pokemon without harming Tyranitar with Earthquake, Drill Run can be opted to hit Fire-, Steel-, Poison-, and other Pokemon for Super Effective damage.


From Elly



- Pokémon featured: Raichu and Azumarill
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Hyper Offense
- Sets:

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Protect/Play Rough

Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fake Out
- Encore
- Thunderbolt
- Protect/Hidden Power Ice

This core is a very potent offensive core in this metagame since Raichu offers great support for Azumarill, which hits like a truck, and Raichu still has decent offensive presence. Raichu supports Azumarill in two different ways; it can draw Electric moves that are threatening to Azu with its ability Lightning Rod, which also boosts its Special Attack, and it can use Fake Out to give Azumarill a free turn to use Belly Drum and then either sweep the opposing team or punch major holes in it. Azumarill is also a good partner for Raichu since it beats the Ground types that are threatening to Raichu. It's a very good core that is fairly easy to use and I would recommend using it if you are a beginner in the format.





- Pokémon featured: Xerneas and Primal Groudon
- Metagame: VGC 16
- Core Type: Balance
- Sets:

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant / Jolly Nature
- Precipice Blades / Earthquake
- Fire Punch / Overheat
- Eruption / Rock Slide / Substitute / Sword Dance
- Protect

See this NB Page for other P-Groudon sets.

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Meet the premier offensive duo that's defined the VGC 16 metagame: Primal Groudon and Xerneas. Based on the offensive typing alone, Primal Groudon's and Xerneas's STAB Ground-, Fire- and Fairy-type attacks hit almost everything in the format bar Fire/Flying-type Pokemon like Ho-oh. The Ground/Fire-typing as well as an enhanced ability in Desolate Land allows Primal Groudon to beat back most Steel- and Poison-type which check Xerneas, can override both Delta Stream and Primordial Sea if it switches in.  On the other hand, Xerneas can threaten most Pokemon with powerful Fairy-type attacks, particularly Dragon-type Pokemon like Mega Salamence or Mega Rayquaza who resist Fire-type attacks, while immune to Precipice Blades. If Xerneas manages to setup its Power Herb Geomancy, it can effectively sweep or severely threaten entire teams with +2 Fairy Aura boosted Moonblast or Dazzling Gleams. Primal Groudon already garners a high offensive stats of 180 Attack and 150 Special Attack so it can hit STAB Precipice Blades and Eruptions for heavy damage. Even if one of the two restricted Pokemon faints, the other can finish off weaken teams given the excessive damage output Primal Groudon and Xerneas exert. It is important to have multiple ways to deal with Primal Groudon and Xerneas as this is one of, if not the most overused restricted duo of VGC 16.

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- Pokémon featured:  Mega Rayquaza and Kyogre
- Metagame: VGC 16
- Core Type: Offense
- Sets:

Rayquaza @ Life Orb / Focus Sash
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed
- Draco Meteor / Sword Dance
- Protect

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Origin Pulse / Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect

One of the most popular cores used to maintain weather control: Mega Rayquaza (also its base form), and Primal Kyogre. With Primal Groudon being the along the most overused of the "Primal Weather" Pokemon, the ability Desolate Land will likely be up for most matches to "evaporate" Water-type attacks, or not effective. from Primal Kyogre. Though Primordial Sea can "reverse" the weather to Primal Kyogre's advantage, the problem is Primal Groudon and always switch out, and reassert weather dominance to null any of Kyogre's attack. Now pair Primal Kyogre with Rayquaza and Primal Groudon has a problem. Both Rayquaza's forms have two respective abilities in Air Lock and Delta Stream which will remove the "Water-type" immunity Primal Groudon has with its Desolate Land, allowing Primal Kyogre to freely attack with its powerful STAB Water-type moves. In terms of offensive coverage, Mega Rayquaza and Primal Kyogre is an capable core which can sweep through teams with the combination of powerful Water-, Flying-, Ice-, and Dragon-type attacks. For what Primal Kyogre can achieve is Mega Rayquaza is deal with anything it can touch or beat, such as opposing Dragon-types, and bulky Steel-types. Mega Rayquaza is not limited to a "Mega Stone", as the only requirement is knowing the move Dragon Ascent, which aside the defense drops is among the most offensive Flying-type attacks in the game. With the rain up / in effect, Primal Kyogre's Water-type attacks are augment to insane levels, especially with its high base 180 Sp. Atk and strong Water-type attacks in Water Spout or Origin Pulse. Keep in mind both Pokemon are rather frail on the physical end so they need to net fast KOs before the opponent can maintain their speed control, use potential setup, or OHKO the two back.




- Pokémon featured: Primal Groudon + Trick Room Gravity Setter ( Cresselia / Bronzong )
- Metagame: VGC 16 ( Trick Room )
- Core Type: Offense
- Sets:

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Slide / Substitute / Sword Dance
- Protect

See this NB Page for other P-Groudon sets.

Cresselia @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 156 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Trick Room
- Ice Beam / Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Gravity / Skill Swap

or

Bronzong @ Lum Berry / Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Trick Room
- Gyro Ball
- Skill Swap / Hypnosis
- Gravity / Safeguard

The main goal of this core is to support a Primal Groudon sweep via the use of Trick Room, and a capable support Pokemon like Cresselia or Bronzong. Precipice Blades is one of the most powerful spread attack in the format and paired with a Pokemon with base attack is a gargantuan 180 ATK with STAB. With Primal Groudon being an immediate target due to its offensive capabilities, unless it has some of speed control, the Primal won't be able to get some powerful STAB damage off against its targets. One option VGC players have came up with is to utilize Primal Groudon as a "Trick Room" sweeper to outspeed Pokemon with a base speed of 90+ while negate most "positive" speed control options such as Tailwind. The choice between Cresselia and Bronzong depends on team composition and personally preferences, though both Psychic-types perform the same role. Aside having the obvious Trick Room support, Cresselia and Bronzong are able to use the move "Gravity" which effectively removes the Flying-type and Levitate ability. Not only will all Flying-type or Levitate users get hit with a Precipice Blades, but one of the side effects increases the accuracy of all Pokemon by 5/3x making the Ground-type move have over 100% accuracy. Skill Swap allows both Psychic-types to "change" the weather via switching the abilities of the user and Primal Groudon. This can inadvertently give Primal Groudon the Levitate ability, thus making it immune to Ground-type attacks, while Cresselia / Bronzong gets Desolate Land. If using Cresselia, note it has access to Helping Hand, incredibly staying power ( 120 HP / 120 Def / 130 Def ), and can use a variety of other support options for Primal Groudon and its teammates. For Bronzong, its main use is attributed to being a defensive check to Xerneas via threatening it with Gyro Ball and can use Hypnosis to place Pokemon to sleep.

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- Pokémon featured:  Xerneas + Smeargle
- Metagame: VGC 16
- Core Type: Offense
- Sets:

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Ability: Moody
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dark Void
- Spiky Shield
- Follow Me / Craft Shield
- Fake Out / Wide Guard

Xerneas is one of the most deadliest sweepers in the VGC 16 format after it setups Geomancy and proceed to sweep with +2 Fairy Aura Moonblast or Dazzling Gleam. One way to make Xerneas far threatening is to pair with the an variable Pokemon with exclusive access to Dark Void: Smeargle. The idea of this core is to pin the opponent into either dealing with +2 Geomancy-boosted Xerneas, or two opposing Pokemon to sleep. Keep in mind, Smeargle can use other other support moves to prop up the Xerneas setup, even if it means cost the Smeargle's own sake. Fake Out and Follow Me allows Smeargle to effectively disrupt one or both target Pokemon either a guarantee flinch, or redirect any other disruption  move like Taunt / Thunder Wave away from Xerneas. Though not as consistent, Moody boosts can change the direction of the game, especially if Smeargles gets an accuracy, speed, or evasion boosts. If the potential of spread attacks is threatening for this pairing, Wide Guard can be use to prevent damage, and grant a pseudo-free turn for Xerneas to boost. Crafty Shield can be used to prevent incoming Status moves like Taunt, Dark Void, Thunder Wave, etc.

List of VGC and Battle Spot Doubles Cores (2015-2016): Part 1

List of VGC and Battle Spot Doubles Cores (2015-2016): Part 1

 

- Pokémon featured: Mega Salamence and Aegislash

- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles

- Core Type: Bulky Offense

- Sets:

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite  

Ability: Aerilate  

Level: 50  

EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe  

Naive Nature  

- Double-Edge  

- Hyper Voice  

- Draco Meteor  / Fire Blast / Earthquake

- Protect

Aegislash @ Leftovers / Life Orb

Ability: Stance Change

EVs: 252 HP / 100 SpA / 156 SpD

Modest Nature

- King's Shield

- Substitute / Wide Guard

- Shadow Ball

- Flash Cannon

Mega Salamence is one of the top Mega Evolutions in the Battle Spot Doubles format blessed if powerful offensive Flying-type attacks thanks to Aerialte and rather high defensive stats for a Pokemon. One of the issues using Mega Salamence is its often prone to Dragon-, Fairy-, Ice-, and Rock-type attacks, all of which are rather common in the Battle Spot Doubles metagame. Enter Aegislash. What this Steel/Ghost-type offers for Mega Salamence are crucial resistences to these common offensive typings and be able to switch in these moves thanks to its massive 150 defense stats on both sides. Wide Guard allows Aegislash to protect Mega Salamence from spread damage such as Pixilate Hyper Voice from Mega Gardevoir/Sylveon, Rock Slide from Excadrill/Tyranitar/Landorus-T, Icy Wind from Suicune/Milotic, etc. From an offensive perspective, Aegislash can also threaten most of these Fairy- and Ice-types with its STAB Flash Cannon or Iron Head. Thanks to Mega Salamence's excellent "pre-Mega" ability Intimidate, this allows Aegislash to have a better time holding its own against powerful physical attackers like Mega Kangaskhan, and reduce the damage done by a physical SE Earthquake on the haunted Ghost Shield. Mega Salamence can handle most Fire-type Pokemon for Aegislash as it hits them an Aerilate-boosted Double Edge, or go for a Super Effective Earthquake as Aegislash King Shield's, or Wide Guards.

From my Friend Elly

- Pokémon featured: Jirachi and Azumarill
- Metagame: Doubles OU
- Core type: Balanced
- Sets:

Jirachi @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Impish Nature
- Follow Me
- Iron Head
- Icy Wind / Thunder Wave
- Protect / Helping Hand

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off / Play Rough
- Belly Drum
- Protect

This core is based on the combination of Jirachi's good typing/bulk and excellent support movepool in addition to Azumarill's huge (see what I did there) attack stat that can be further boosted by Belly Drum. Basically, the strategy is to have both of these guys at the same time on the field, and then use Follow Me on Jirachi while using Belly Drum on Azumarill. This way, you can use Belly Drum without having to worry about taking damage/status and then proceed to sweep (or try to) weakened or unprepared teams. Jirachi can also use either Icy Wind or Thunder Wave to slow down the opposing team, so Azu doesn't have to rely on Aqua Jet, and even Helping Hand to boost Azumarill's attack to disgusting levels.

 

- Pokémon featured: Mega Mawile and Gothitelle
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Bulky Offense (Trick Room)
- Sets:

Mawile-Mega @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head / Rock Slide
- Protect

Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry / Mental Herb
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Psychic
- Trick Room
- Helping Hand / Heal Pule / Tickle
- Protect

The combination of Mega Mawile and Shadow Tag Gothitelle remains one, if not the most threatening Trick Room cores to deal with. To start off, Mega Mawile is of one the most threatening Mega-Evolved Pokemon who can deal massive damage the opposing team thanks to is perfect neutral coverage and with Huge Power bolstering its physical attacks to astronomical levels. The main issue with using Mega Mawile is its rather low base 50 Speed as it relies heavily on the rather unreliable Sucker Punch priority, and most importantly, speed control like Trick Room to allow it to go first. What sets Gothitelle apart from most other Trick Room users is the Shadow Tag ability, which traps the opposing two Pokemon (who aren't Ghost-type) into the battlefield. Paired this Ability with Mawile's pre-Mega ability in Intimdate, now both opposing Pokemon are at minus one attack (-1) to begin the battle, and futher helps Gothitelle be able to successfully setup Trick Room for its partner. Once this scenario happens, Mega Mawile can effective cut down opposing teams with is high offensive stat as Gothitelle can support Mawile with a range of options such as Helping Hand (boost one Mawile's Attacks for one turn), Heal Pulse (recover Mawile's HP by 50%), and Tickle (reduces the attack/defense stats by one stage).

 

- Pokémon featured: Mega Metagross and Hydreigon
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Offense
- Sets:

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute / Ice Punch / Bullet Punch / Hammer Arm
- Protect

Hydreigon @ Life Orb / Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power / Flamethrower / Tailwind  / HP Ice
- Protect / ( See Third Slot Options "if Choiced")

Mega Metagross and Hydreigon is one of the several strong offensive cores who can cover each other's own weaknesses and while initiate immense pressure against opposing teams. With its Steel/Psychic-typing, Meta Metagross is able to threaten many common Fairy-, Fighting-, Dragon-, and Ice-type Pokemon thanks to its STAB Tough Claw boosted coverage most listed above. Some of these Pokemon like Terrakion, Sylveon, Mega Salamence, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Abomasnow, Conkeldurr, etc are able to dispatch Hydreigon with ease, though fear Meta Metagross due to its coverage, natural resistances, and rather high defensive stats. On the other hand, the Dark-/Dragon-type Hydreigon can threaten or deal massive damage to Pokemon Mega Metagross normally can't deal with like opposing Steel-, Fire-, and Ghost-types. Hydreigon can also switch into opposing Ground-types thanks to its Levitate ability and is a decent makeshift response to opposing weather teams that abuse Rain (Water-type)and Sun (Fire-type), which it resists thanks to its part Dragon-typing. In short, Mega Metagross + Hydreigon near perfect defensive synergy allows them to perform above average against some of the most common metagame threats, can use the combination of their bulk, above average speed stats,  offensive output, and again their natural resistances to threaten opposing teams in nearly every turn. For a good Team Report guide featuring this core, I recommend looking into this NB post done early VGC 15, though remembers its not indicative how BS Doubles is at the moment.

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- Pokémon featured: Politoed and Ludicolo / Kingdra
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Offense (Rain)
- Sets:

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry / Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 76 SpA / 100 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind / Ice Beam
- Helping Hand / Encore
- Protect

(Note: Can be run "Choice Scarf", though use a Timid Variant)

Ludicolo @ Assault Vest
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 156 HP / 52 Def / 156 SpA / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Giga Drain
- Ice Beam
- Fake Out

(Note: Can be run with Life Orb, though change EVs to maximize damage output)

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 116 HP / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Muddy Water / Scald
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam / Hydro Pump / Disable
- Protect

Every "Rain" team in VGC / Doubles employs the use of Pokemom "Politoed" not only for its exclusive access to the weather ability, Drizzle but also has a wide range of support options to support common Swift Swim sweepers. Starting with the blantly obvious, as long as the "rain" is up, all Water-type attacks (unless a Pokemon has Air Lock / Cloud Nine), have a 50% boost in attack power, making Politoed's "Scald" hits stronger than before. Ice-type coverage is run on Rain-based teams to hit Dragon-, and Grass-types given how most VGC teams use team as checks. Recall Politoed is not known for offense, just mostly to setup the rain and some of its support options like Scald to fish for burns, Icy Wind to drop the opposing speeds, Encore to lock an opponent into an undesired option, and Helping Hand to boosts its partners offensive power by a further 50% boost. Ludicolo is a common Swift Swim user found on Rain-types given its Grass-/Water-typing deals with opposing Grass-types, and takes neutral damage from the likes of Electric-, Ice-, and Grass-types respectively. Most Ludicolos tend to have Fake Out support to allow Politoed, or another Pokemon to setup, or deal damage against the opposing team. Thanks to the Rain, this Ludicolo has enough speed to outspeed some of the fastest non Scarf Pokemon in the game, while deal heavy damage with its Rain-boosted STAB Scalds, or STAB Giga Drains for opposing Water-types. Though not as strong as it once was due to the prevalance of Fairy-types, Kingdra remains among the premier Swift Swim users thanks to its impressive nautral bulk, weaknesses in two types, and of course its part Dragon-type. What sets Kingdra apart from Ludicolo is potential to hit harder in the rain with moves like Muddy Water, Hydro Pump, Scald, etc. One interesting combination Kingdra and Politoed can use is the Encore Disable combination as Kingdra can "Disable", or prevent the target from using an attack (after scouting via protect), while Politoed can lock the target into the said move so its forced to struggle.

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- Pokémon featured: Mega Charizard Y and Sylveon
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Offense
- Sets:

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest / Timid Nature
- Heat Wave / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Overheat / HP Ground / Tailwind
- Protect

Sylveon @ Pixie Plate / Life Orb
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 188 HP / 68 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Helping Hand / Calm Mind
- Hidden Power Ground
- Protect

The combination of Charizard Y and Sylveon is a deadly pair to face when matched together. From an offensive perspective, only Fire-type and other specially defensive Pokemon are able to take the near perfect coverage of Fire/Fairy. Thanks to the Drought-boosted Fire-types like Heat Wave for Char Y, and the Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voices from Sylveon, both Pokemon can hit targets with strong spread damage to the point where they'd falter the following turn. In terms of offensive synergy, Charizard Y alleviates Sylveon's concern of Steel-types like Aegislash, M-Mawile, Bisharp, and Mega Metagross as it can easily OHKO them with its Drought-boosted STAB Fire-type attacks. Though not weak to Fire-type moves, common Poison-types like Mega Venusaur, Gengar, and Amoonguss have a difficult time switching into these attacks from Char Y to help Sylveon. On the other hand, Sylveon deal with Dragon types who can't switch into a Pixilate Hyper Voice, and can also be useful in "weather" wars against rain teams thanks to its natural high special defense. In terms of support, Charizard Y can setup Tailwind to allow faster Sylveon variants to outspeed the likes of Mega Salamence, while Sylveon can use Helping Hand to further boost the the Drought-boosted attacks from Char Y to ridiculous levels. If Wide Guard users are a concern, Char Y and Sylveon can use single target STABs like Flamethrower, and Moonblast respectively in case something like Conkeldurr or Aegislash carries these options for their spread attack, though they would faint to such moves. HP Ground is opted on either Pokemon in case Heatran becomes an issue as its quad resists Fairy-types attacks and is immune to Fire-types. For a good team report of this core, definitely recommend looking into this article done by Calisweeper as his team integrated the use of both Sylveon and Char Y extremely well and placed high with them.

- Pokémon featured: Arcanine and Milotic
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Bulky Offensive
- Sets:

Arcanine @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge

Milotic @ Leftovers / Sitrus Berry
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 236 HP / 140 Def / 132 SpA
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind / Ice Beam
- Recover
- Protect

This is a rather new core  Fire / Water core which's has seen some considerable usage in the Battle Spot Doubles ladder in offensive Arcanine and defensive Milotic. With the Choice Band item, an Adamant Arcanine can OHKO the following Pokemon with its respective coverage moves or high damage output from STAB Flare Blitz: Mega Kangashan (Close Combat), Heatran (CC), Char Y (Wild Charge), Sylveon (Flare Blitz), Mega Gardevoir (FB), and a ton of others. With its Fire-typing Arcanine can scare off any Grass-types like Breloom, Amoonguss, Virizion, etc who all beat Milotic with its powerful Choice Band Flare Blitz. Thanks to the Intimidate support, this allows Milotic to tank physical hits better and can perform its role as a bulky Water-type. In turn, Milotic is defensive enough to handle some of Arcanine's best counters like Rock-types (Tyranitar, Terrakion, Aerodactyl), and Ground-types (Landorus-T, Garchomp, Excadrill) with the combination of Scald + Ice-type coverage. If opted, Icy Wind can allow Milotic to drop the speed of the opposing two Pokemon by one stage, further allowing Arcanine to outspeed and run rampant against the opposing team. Perhaps the "real" danger of this core is setting off the "Competitive" ability as this allows Milotic to gain +2 in Special Attack. Pair Milotic with a Choice Band user like Arcanine and the opponent is forced to deal with either strong physical hits which can knock them out, or a +2 bulky Water-type with access to recovery.

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- Pokémon featured: Mega Venusaur, Heatran, and Rotom-W
- Metagame: Battle Spot Doubles (VGC 15)
- Core Type: Defensive (Grass / Fire / Water)
- Sets:

Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 76 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb / HP Ground
- Leech Seed / Synethesis / Sleep Powder
- Protect

Heatran @ Leftovers / Shuca Berry / Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 180 HP / 252 SpA / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Substitute / HP Ice
- Protect

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 60 SpA / 148 SpD / 12 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave
- Protect / Electroweb

The idea of this defensive Grass-Fire-Water core centers around Mega Venusaur, which seen its peak during the early VGC 15 / ORAS BS Double metagame popularized by Cybertron. The goal of this core is to use the defensive synergy between Mega Venusaur, Heatran, and Rotom-W to tank / wall most hits while slowly chip away at the opponent. Note both Heatran and Rotom-W are resistant to the ever present Flying-types like Mega Salamence and Talonflame, both of whom can beat Mega Venusaur. In term, Mega Venusaur can prove itself to be a defensive answer against both Water-, Grass-, Rock-, and Ground-types which normally threaten either Heatran and Rotom-W. The third slot on Mega Venusaur is usually up for debate, either Leech Seed for residual damage, Synthesis to replenish 50% HP (though cut in Sand/Rain/Hail), or Sleep Powder to put targets to sleep. As the 2nd member of the core, Fire-/Steel-type Heatran is task to deal with strong Grass-types Pokemon, wall most Fire-type with its Flash Fire ability, and use its high number of resistances to support the team. Substitute Leftovers is the most common Heatran sets with these core, though Shuca Berry is seen to tank Ground-type hits if its partners aren't on the field. Finally the levitating Water-/Electric-type Rotom-W can deal with Ground-, Water-, and Rock-type similar to Mega Venusaur, can provide status support from Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave. As mentioned, Rotom-W is an excellent check to Flying-type as it can use its STAB Thunderbolts, or one of status options to wear them down.

VGC 2015 RECAP: Why "Battle Spot" Won Worlds

VGC 2015 RECAP: Why "Battle Spot" Won Worlds

August 29th 2015

The recent Pokemon 2015 VGC Worlds Championships saw a dominating performance by the Japanese players over their international counterparts with one finalists in each of the three age divisions. At the Juniors Division,  Kotone Yasue (Japan) was able to beat Ryan Jaehyun Park (South Korea) with a fairly standard team of Mega Gardevoir, Amoonguss, Landorus-T, Thundurus, Heatran, and Tyranitar. From the Seniors division, the Japanese National Champion Koki Honda (Japan) piloted fairly common "Battle Spot" team of Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Thundurus, Heatran, Landorus-T, Cresselia, Aegislash, etc only to lose at the finals against Mark McQuillan who completely dominated his opponent with again a "standard team", but with sets such as Skill Swap/Toxic/Trick Room Cresselia, a Charizard Y who can operate in Trick Room, and Machamp. The Masters Division sported 7 Japanese of the 8 Top Cut players, most of them all using variations of some might call "standard" teams on Battle Spot. Even in the Masters Division finals, both Hideyuki Taida (BIDC) and the current Japanese National Champion, Shoma Honami (SHADEviera) played an heart pounding set until Shoma edged out his opponent with calculative plays to ensure him the victory (and yes, albeit using "hax" to Shoma).

To start off, I'd like to congratulate all World Champions and runner-ups for getting this far in the tournament. Though some people were quick to call these players "cheap" or "lacking creativity" with their teambuilding, they forget these competitors all weekend were trying their best to claim the title as "World Champion" and win out a part of the prize pool. There are multiple reasons why these competitors performed at such a high level at Boston since all year they have been studying, learning, and play testing with various teams against the overall VGC metagames from their local areas, the online ladder (Battle Spot), to the world stage. It shouldn't be a surprise most of the competitors at Worlds use teams they had intimate knowledge throughout the whole year, or something that felt comfortable using with some added adjustments. For those unfamiliar to the "Battle Spot Special", I'll explain the team archetype and why it was the "right meta call" for Worlds 2015.

What is the Battle Spot Special?

LOL Level 17 Kang at Worlds

Here's a list of Pokemon most VGC players and Battle Spot Statistics show what's the most common team cores

Cresselia
Heatran
Amoonguss
Aegislash (or Gengar)
Landorus-T
Thundurus (or Zapdos)
Mega Kangaskhan
Sylveon (or Mega Gardevoir)

For those who don't know the "shocking" truth, most of the Masters teams from top cut based their cores around 2-3 of these Pokemon. Frankly I actually expected a player with Cresselia and Heatran to win worlds, but totally forgot how damn good Double Genie is with Landorus-T's ability to fire off Earthquakes while Thundurus can disrupt the opponent with Prankster Taunt, Swagger, and Thunder Wave (lets not forget both are immune to Thunder Wave paralysis) and Mega Gardevoir and Amoonguss still dominate in the current metagame. By the time Nugget Bridge reveals the top teams from Day 2 other than the Top 8, we'll see that the vast majority of players placed relatively high with teams with most of these Pokemon. Now that we know the culprits, lets ask ourselves this: why did the "Battle Spot special" (I'm gonna refrain from using the term "CHALK" to a minimum) proved to the way to go in the Worlds meta than well some other "innovative" Pokemon or sets like Sejun's Pachurisu in 2014 or Arash's Mamoswine in 2013?

Well just look at the usage stats from the Pokemon Global Link and you'll see why. Literally all the members of  (Cresselia, Heatran, Amoonguss, Aegislash, Landorus-T, Kangaskhan, and Thundurus) have places in the top 12 of the Pokemon Global Link usage stats. In fact, all 7 of these Pokemon have been ranked consistently in the top 12 for the past 3 seasons since season 9 (Mid-March 2015), so technically these Pokemon should have been noticeable, at least some of the top VGC players and enthusiasts. Good part of why we didn't see as much "standout" Pokemon (aside from the Machamp) in this year is just the massive power creep. When TPCi re-introduced the legendaries (Heatran, Cresselia, Thundurus, Landorus-T) that dominated previous years and effectively gave all Pokemon most of their move tutor attacks, single-handedly buffing Pokemon like Mega Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir and many others, expect the format to be skewed in heavily in these Pokemon's favor. Mega Kangaskhan is the biggest winner here as she has better partners now than last year being far more difficult to deal with mainly because it has access to Low Kick (for opposing Kangaskhan, Ferrothorn, Tyranitar, Hydreigon, etc), all the elemental punches especially Ice Punch (for Double Genies and Mega Salamence), and a even its old reliable Power-Up Punch set can still sweep teams with the proper support. Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir are interesting cases since the Normal-turn-Fairy type spread damage attack Hyper Voice (thanks to Pixilate) both received as move tutors turned these two from D- Pokemon to arguably among the top the VGC Pokemon (as well as being the best Fairy types in the game bar Geomancy Xerneas).

Since Mega Kangaskhan "won" worlds (at least in the Masters Division), lets dive a bit more with its well-known partners. Due it is sole weakness to Fighting and the re-introduction to popular legendary Pokemon, about 6 of the 7 Pokemon mention (bar Heatran) are resistant to Fighting, a huge plus for Mega Kangaskhan users. Pokemon like Landorus-T, Thundurus, Sylveon, Cresselia, Zapdos, Cresselia, and Aegislash are better off taking a fighting hit for Mega Kangaskhan to survive in long-term. The most dominate partner for Mega Kangaskhan is no doubt Landorus-T, thanks to its resistance to Fighting, ability to break Rock and Steel types with its STAB Earthquake (something Mega Kangakhan might lack if it doesn't carry Low Kick), and its Intimidate ability to reduces the attack stats by the opposing two Pokemon by one stage. Thundurus serves as an important member of the team as it resist Fighting type attacks, support options from Prankster Taunt, Swagger, Rain Dance, etc and provides speed control with its Prankster Thunder Wave for Mega Kangaskhan to outspeed and plow through teams. Lets not forget how Landorus-T and Thundurus form one of the best pairs in VGC, the "Double Genie" combo, being resistant to paralysis (Electric), and capability of using both STAB Earthquakes and Thunderbolts at will. Heatran serves as a fantastic partner for Mega Kangaskhan as it arguably the best Fire type in the game being able to switch against several types, notably Fire due to its Flash Fire ability and the popular Fairy type (well Pixilate Hyper Voice) for its quad resistance. Thanks to its Fire/Steel typing alone, Heatran has the potential to literally wall the vast majority of the top Mega Evolutions such as Mawile, Charizard Y, Gardevoir, Metagross, Venusaur, and even Salamence if they lack a way to hit Heatran (Fighting/Ground/Water coverage). In fact, both Landorus-T and Heatran were seen on all of the World Champion teams and other top cut finalist proving how strong they are in the current format.

Running Heatran and Mega Kangaskhan means the team definitely needs an answer to Fighting, otherwise something like Terrakion can easily go for Close Combat against any of the two. Cresselia is a great pair for both as she not only take Fighting hits for days with its defensive 120/120/130 bulk, but can potentially set up Calm Minds, retaliate with Psychic and Ice attacks, and most of all, support the team effort with its vast defensive support options in Trick Room, Thunder Wave, Ice Wind, Helping Hand, Sunny Day, Safeguard, and Helping Hand. Amoonguss is usually seen with these teams as the main redirection attacks away from Mega Kangaskhan and other teammates with Rage Powder, while Sporing the opposition to sleep so the others can effectively knock them out. Since Amoonguss is a Grass/Poison type, it will be somewhat difficult to land a Fighting hit on either Mega Kangaskhan or Heatran as the mushroom Pokemon can easily take these hits. Aegislash is another great partner for Mega Kangaskhan as it offers an immunity to Fighting, Poison, and Normal (two of which opposing coverage opposing Mega Kangaskhan have), resist 9 types including Fairy, has Wide Guard to protect the team from spread damage, and a powerful ability to alternate its 150/150 stats allocation from both its offensive and defensive stats when needed. The last notable Pokemon seen with these "standard" Battle Spot teams (since that's what they are) is Sylveon, the best "eeveelution" in the game by a mile. Thanks to its Pixilate ability, Sylveon is capable of firing off powerful Normal-turn-Fairy Hyper Voices, beating most of the Dark, Fighting and Dragon types who threaten this archetype. At the same time, Sylveon is not limited to Hyper Voice spam, as it can support the team well with screens (Reflect/Light Screen), Helping Hand, even priority in Pixilate Quick Attack to knock out heavily weaken foes. However, lets not forget Mega Gardevoir serves as an alternate Mega Evolution (and for Sylveon) and pair with most of these Pokemon as it can hit powerful Pixilate Hyper Voices, Psychic STAB for Fighting and Poison types (Amoonguss, Gengar), and a vast array of support options from Icy Wind, Encore, and even Trick Room support.

In the end, Mega Kangaskhan is somewhat difficult to handle in this 2015 format than any other Mega Evolution like Mega Salamence, Mega Gardevoir or Charizard Y currently and is proved itself in the Masters Division. For sure, some of the players might have underestimated the power of Mega Kangaskhan given she's one of the best no risk-high rewards Pokemon with access to strong move tutor attacks and cohesive partners like the aforementioned Pokemon. Though Mega Charizard Y and Gardevoir did have an impressive showing at Worlds with the proper team support, Mega Kangaskhan just has far more potential partners to basically go ham with its Parental Bond attacks. Later I'll get to why this archetype has been successful late, but first there are some misconceptions to address.

More to VGC than "Winning By Favorites"

"This does not mean running regular Kangaskhan or Mawile"

Now that we've familiarized ourselves with the "Battle Spot Special" or CHALK, lets ask ourselves this: What beats this playstyle entirely? Well there's Perish Trap but Double Genie (Thundurus/Landorus-T) can easily stop most Perish Trap teams, especially if there's only one Shadow Tag user. Mega Gengar itself along with the appropriate Pokemon like maybe Mamoswine can potentially dismantle this strategy, but one false move or momentum switch, whether it be from a crit, paralysis, or something attributing to the losing the Ghost Mega prematurely will result in a quick defeat. Charizard Y can burn out most of these Pokemon with its Drought boosted Heat Waves since most aren't resistent to Fire, however Heatran can wall Charizard Y (lacking HP Ground/Focus Blast) while Double Genies can hit it hard with Thunderbolt or Rock Slide (or Stone Edge). Mega Gardevoir can fire off powerful Hyper Voice spread damage against these teams but it has to be protected well enough due to its low HP and Defense stats. Mega Salamence is another consistent Mega Evolutions this year but the threat of paralysis from Thundurus, more Pokemon opting for Ice coverage and rise of Trick Room teams can make Mega Salamence's performance somewhat lacking. Aside from teams centering around these Mega Evolutions, there isn't really much that beats these "Battle Spot" special teams given how offensive, durable, and most of all, reliable they are. To be completely honest, its somewhat difficult to build an effective VGC team without taking into account most of these eight Pokemon along with the other Mega Evolutions or even focus on teambuilding with those particular Pokemon. I'm not suggesting we should accept the Battle Spot metagame, which is heavily influenced by the top Japanese players, rather we should focus on teambuilding strong cores that have multiple array of options (or modes), which can fair better against the Battle Spot specials and against others as well.

One huge misconception shared by novice players is that we should chose VGC teams based on variation and uniqueness, rather than focusing on using the standard Battle Spot teams, Some beginning players fall in the stigma of using favorites, or having "style variations" during their first time teambuilding for VGC. During Worlds 2015, people on social media have expressed their opinions regarding the lack of variety in the Masters Top Cut, notably against the top 7 Japanese competitors. Instead of focusing on why these teams worked, some asked why wasn't there something like "Pachurisu in 2015" or similar to win out Worlds. To start off, lets ask this: Why weren't there Pachurisu's running around on Battle Spot?  Despite being a great niche choice by Se Jun Park in a 2014 Worlds metagame, Pachurisu cannot protect itself and its ally from spread damage from Landorus-T, Sylveon, Heatran, gets shut down easily with Taunt from Thundurus, and doesn't fulfill the niche of being a redirection user as well as Amoonguss, Togekiss, Clefable, Clefairy, or Volcarona. Though Mamoswine can beat the Double Genie combo just by typing alone, it cannot beat the rest of the "Battle Spot Special" since it has to target one thing at a time, or risk being fainted the following turn by a Low Kick, Hyper Voice, Flash Cannon, or being put to sleep with Spore. Practically most of the Japanese players at Worlds felt "safe" to run these teams with some moderate variations, especially during a competitive competition with prize money on the line. 

An old saying goes, "you can't see the forest for the trees" and it definitely applies here in the VGC format. Again I'd like everyone to study the Worlds teams, especially from the Seniors Division so we can see the select niche roles certain Pokemon had along with some tech moves such as the Seniors World Champion, Mark McQuillan. Though McQuillan's team did feature a "non-standard" Pokemon in Machamp, the rest of his team was rather consistent of partners seen with Mega Charizard Y. McQuillan was able to win the Seniors Division since he understood the VGC 2015 metagame and knew his win conditions and tech moves to power against opponents like Koki Honda. The well-timed Skill Swaps from Cresselia allowed Charizard Y to beat the would-be Heatran "counter" and just roasted Honda's entire team as Machamp cleaned up in that set. Of course, Machamp offered McQuillan both an offensive and support role with the No Guard Dynamic Punch, afflicting the opponent with a confusion status, and protecting the team from spread damage, fairly important to shield Charizard Y from Rock Slides. Again I'm not taking anything away McQuillan's World Championship victory at all, he deserves total praise as the the other World Champions and the runner ups for making it this far in the season. Its just the notion that using "favorites" in a highly competitive tournaments somewhat takes away from the actual level of play. There's so much in the competitive VGC Doubles metagame to consider from the items choices, movesets, team synergy, Mega Evolutions, damage calculations, EV spreads, speed tiers, tech moves, speed control, and several other options to consider before "choosing favorites".

Had McQuillan used a regular Cresselia set without Skill Swap, Toxic, or even the Trick Room option, then he'd wouldn't have made it this far in the competition to begin with. Its important for beginners and full-pledge VGC players to consider the full movepool of a particular Pokemon or search for a niche Pokemon whether those options are potentially viable or not. Again that's VGC competitors play test with "weird" stuff like Tailwind Hydreigon, Imprison Mega Gardevoir, Energy Ball Amoonguss, and other sets to see if these sets are potentially viable. In fact, most if not all of the top 8 teams in each division featured a Pokemon with some sort of tech option. Koki Honda opted to use Zapdos over the popular Thundurus since it one of the best Tailwind setters in the game capable of beating the other two (Suicune, Talonflame), has slightly better defenses, and access to recovery in Roost to setup multiple Tailwinds. Either way, its important for most VGC enthusiasts to consider all options to find a playstyle or team they feel comfortable with that can win games on a consistent basis.

An Evolving Metagame

Here's the thing, most of these Pokemon mentioned here were consistent on Battle Spot for the past 5 months now, if we are counting from the start of season 9. In fact, the Japanese players were well aware what was working on Battle Spot prior to the release of the VGC 2015 ruleset and possibly way beyond ORAS's worldwide release date around November. Consider this: the XY Battle Spot Doubles allowed Pokemon from previous generations to participate, meaning all the legendary Pokemon (bar those that were banned) could participate, Hyper Voice (Gen 5 exclusive) Sylveon/Mega Gardevoir was a thing on Battle Spot, Mega Kangaskhan had all its potential move tutors like the Gen 3 exclusive Seismic Toss, exclusive event Pokemon like Follow Me Blastiose/Magmar/Electrabuzz, Eruption Heatran, Extreme-Speed Entei, Dream World Genies (Sheer Force Landorus and Defiant Tornadus/Thundurus), and etc. If we include the release of Pokemon Bank since January 2014 for Japan, their native Battle Spot players had an effective nearly 11 months of potential playtesting a format almost similar to the current ruleset. Even some of the more notable VGC players such as Angel Miranda, Jeudy Azzareli (both of them post teams here), and others who felt it was best to prepare for a format similar to the XY Battle Spot. Of course, there are other variables that shouldn't be dismissed, like exclusive generation moves/abilities, introduction of ORAS Megas (especially Mega Salamence, Mega Camerupt Mega Metagross), trends, and most of all the rise and fall of a certain Pokemon's viability over time.

When the format switched from the Kalos Dex to National Dex with a pentagon rule, this eliminated all of the generational exclusive and hampered their viability. At the same time, the move tutors were re-introduced as well as access to all subpar legendary Pokemon like Suicune, Latias, Thundurus, etc in ORAS meaning some of the. Finally, the announcement the ORAS Battle Spot being the new VGC format for 2015 practically ensured virtually all players with a ORAS game had the chance to participate in the open Battle Spot compared with XY when the VGC rules were somewhat exclusive to Kalos and didn't correspond with the XY Battle Spot Double format.  This is probably another factor why certain VGC players might have had a slight advantage since they knew from the XY Doubles Battle Spot what was to come, especially with the VGC 14.5 with ORAS move tutors practically buffing Kangaskhan, Sylveon, Gardevoir, Bisharp, etc. Though the early ORAS Battle Spot Doubles format was skewed from the previous formats (XY Battle Spot and VGC 2014), the metagame saw the rise of many team archetypes such as Charizard+Venusaur with Trick Room, "Japan" Sand, Mega Gardevoir Trick Room-Tailwind, and probably the most consistent of all based on Battle Spot usage, the standard "Special" teams or CHALK.

I want to stress the point using the combination of Mega Kangaskhan (or other Megas), Amoonguss, Sylveon, Landorus-T, Thundurus, Cresselia, Aegislash, Zapdos, Gengar, etc will not guarantee anyone a high win/loss ratio, despite what we might have saw from the Masters Divison's Top Cut this year. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort considering team cores, teambuilding, factoring trends/matchups, and looking at individual Pokemon overall and play testing to see what works well. Most of the VGC teams seen during World resonates these thoughts since the competitors are looking to win it all. The Battle Spot special teams from the Masters top cut honestly were the most adaptive compared with some of the other World teams or archetypes since they had the some of best possible core matchups, and basically all the competitors did was add certain  "variations" (niche Pokemon, items choice, movesets) and "tech options" to improve their chances against other World teams. For instance, lets take a brief look at new World Champion Team and see how it fairs with the team synergy chart, courtesy of Team Magma.

http://www.teammagma.net/teambuilder/#?115m|591|488|485|642|645

On paper, we notice some fairly obvious weaknesses to the team, such as the lack of Dark, Rock, Ice and Water (bar Amoonguss) resist, so how did Shoma Honami counter act this? Lets start with Ice and Water since its the "main" weakness to Honami's team anyways. Heatran can effectively deal with majority of Ice type Pokemon and can tank any Ice move in the game thanks to its quad resistance thanks to the Fire/Steel typing. Now what about the "faster" Ice type Pokemon such as Mamoswine, Weavile, and even Greninja (Since Greninja typically carries Ice Beam and changes to an Ice type thanks to Protean), who can all heavily damage Heatran with a coverage move, such as Fighting, Water, or Ground. Fortunately, Shoma's team had a Trick Room option with Cresselia, meaning that if his opponent were to have any of these Pokemon, well Cresselia can just Trick Room to gain momentum and allow the rest of his team such as his Low Kick Mega Kangaskhan, Heatran, and even Amoonguss to deal with these aforementioned threats.

What about Water? Shoma Honami's team looks as though it has a fair weakness to Water especially against strong rain teams. Well this quite ingenious of Shoma since Amoonguss has access to both Sunny Day to switch the weather as well as power up Heatran's Heat Wave attack and Energy Ball for a higher damage output against Water, Ground, and Rock types Pokemon. Sunny Day was something that hasn't been seen much in competitive use since Arash Ommati to counteract the powerful rain playstyle (remember that weather setting abilities like Drizzle, Drought were permanent). Of course Sunny Day Cresselia has seen some usage, but the surprise or tech comes from using an Amoonguss out of most Pokemon with standardized moveset: Rage Powder, Spore, Giga Drain, and Protect. Sunny Day can ruin the momentum of rain teams not only reducing the damage of Water moves but forces Politoed to switch out. However note that Amoonguss can easily "win" the weather war as while Politoed (or any weather setter comes in), Amoonguss changes it back to sun.

As far as Rock, Ice, and Dark weakness is concern, Mega Kangaskhan easily OHKOs the vast majority of all Dark and Rock type Pokemon in the game with a Parental Bond Low Kick. That's really it. Some interesting things to note about the team is both Cresselia and Thundurus, arguably two of best support Pokemon carried "Protect", which they usually tend not to based on Battle Spot statistics. My only guess is it punishes the opposing team from attempting to double target either support Pokemon, forces Aegislash out of Blade form (important for Cresselia), and allows the partner to handle one of the attackers. Instead of the common Choice Scarf set on Landorus-T, this one opted for an Assault Vest to take special hits, notably most Water and Ice attacks so it can increase Landorus-T's longevity and spread Intimidate drops when needed. Thundurus did opt for Safety Googles so not only can it take powder based moves (Spore/Rage Powder) from Amoonguss, but spread paralysis and confusion to support the team effort. As shown throughout the past months, these "Battle Spot" special teams were the most consistent and adaptive throughout the format. While Shoma's team was somewhat "standard" to some, his team did what they had to do based on their movesets, support moves, synergy and ingenious tech moves which allowed Shoma Honami to win Worlds 2015.

Closing Thoughts

To be honest, expect the overall VGC metagames from the local to the online Battle Spot ladder to shift towards ways to beat these teams and /or an strong emphasis in strengthening team cores that might have worked, or fallen out as of late. We might see a resurgence of team archetypes from like Mega Metagross+Hydreigon, FWG core with Mega Venusaur, stronger sand/rain teams with either Mega Salamence or any particular Mega Evolutions, Charizard Y sun with Cresselia and Sylveon, or heck even enhanced versions of the World teams we all seen in detail. The only two possible thing that could throw off the format is if the next Pokemon games releases soon with new Megas, forms, additional move tutor options, more event exclusive Pokemon (Jirachi, Keldeo, Shaymin, not any "ubers") or even releasing unobtainable Hidden Abilities for legends can make the format interesting the least. If TPCi want to go that far, they could do a restriction of some of the top Pokemon and moves from the current format, though that's highly unlikely. For now, VGC competitors and enthusiast alike should focus on the current format and consider play testing, teambuilding, but most of all, practicing to see if they can maybe win the upcoming tournaments coming up, heck if they might have a shot the World title. Maybe we'll see something from Battle Spot that will make waves that will eventually win Worlds in 2016.

A Comprehensive Guide to Weather (VGC) [Mostly Gen 6]

A Comprehensive Guide to Weather (VGC)

October 6 2016

One of the most common strategies seen in the VGC scene is the use and manipulation of field effects, notable "weather conditions" in order to gain the upper-hand in battle. Some VGC teams use the mechanics of certain weather conditions to change the battlefield, power up / nerf attacks, activate abilities, give certain boost in stats, potentially damage certain Pokemon in battle, and several other effects. Aside "Primal Weathers", most of the four major weather conditions in Rain, Sun, Sand, and Hail are able to override each other through the use of a move, or an ability. All four of these weather conditions have seen usage in the VGC formats over the years and changes in strategies and playstyles whether its hyper offense or defensive play. As of Gen 6, all weather conditions will only last for about 5 turns, with the obvious exception to the "Primal Weathers". Keep in mind, no weather effect is too strong over the other, how a couple do have immediate type advantages if their own weather effect is up.

Given how "fast-pace" VGC format is, most weather-based teams compose of auto-"setters" who are able to initial their field conditions at the start per turn. Select groups of team might have specific moves like Sunny Day, or Rain Dance which allows the user to "manually" change the weather, usually the main basis is to "disrupt" opposing weathers. Just note the opportunity cost of running a specific moveslot is great as it cost a turn, but again it depend on the battle situation. Most VGC teams will use automatic weather summoners to initiate their weather-based strategies, however note not all of them rely entire on this strategy. Just because a certain team with, say Drizzle Politoed along with Swift Swim Pokemon seems appealing, note there are still other factors to consider like team synergy, type coverage, specific partners/cores, and of course, potential counter measures for opposing weather, aside the weather summoner.

Note the "best" weather based teams aren't too specific on their own weather, rather a supplement to their own team composition. Some teams might only use weather for their "defensive" qualities specific key members of the team who "indirectly" take advantage. An example of this are "Sand & Sun" teams featuring Tyranitar and Charizard Y who use their own respective weather-abilities to "cancel" out Rain-based teams, with some defensive switching. Rain itself can be used to help cover for Pokemon who are weak to "Fire-types" to reduce the damage output. All weathers have their respective advantages, but its important to consider "how" and "why" it should be used for the benefit of the team, instead of the sake of using its with certain Pokemon.

For this guide, it will list down all the weather effects and dive into the common weather setters in the VGC metagame. For these Weather-based Pokemon, it will feature some of the most common moves/items seen on them, a brief overview, and a list of "checks/counters" to them. The following 5 Pokemon will be covered are Politoed, Tyranitar, Abomasnow, and Mega Charizard Y / Ninetales. Before anyone thinks of a "bias", note the VGC 17 circuit has "banned" Mega Evolutions, meaning Charizard Y cannot be allowed, however to many its the "best" Drought, or Sun user in the game. For the time being, Ninetales will be covered as well. Hippodown and Aurorus won't be covered as they are outclassed by their weather counterparts in the VGC format, and both Tyranitar / Abomasnow receive major usage. At the very end will list some other "weather"-based strategies, and some articles for people to give a good read. Alright lets get started.

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Rain

• All Pokemon with the Ability Drizzle, or use the move Rain Dance will cause "rain" which lasts for about 5 turns (8 turns with the Damp Rock).
• The following Pokemon have either the ability Drizzle or Primordial Sea: Politoed (Hidden Ability), Kyogre (Drizzle), and Primal Kyogre (Primordial Sea). 
• Power of all Water-type moves increase 50%.
• Power of all Fire-type moves decrease about 50%
• Power of Solar Beam is reduced by half. 
• Thunder and Hurricane's accuracy is now 100%.
• Swift Swim activates and doubles the Speed stat of the user. 
• Pokemon with the ability Dry Skin and Rain Dish will activate and recover HP by 1/8th (Dry Skin) and 1/16th (Rain Dish) each turn respectively.
• Hydration will cure the user of any Status Condition.
• Weather Ball changes to Water-type and doubles in base power. 
• Following recovery moves are reduced to a 1/4th of the user's HP: Synthesis, Morning Sun, and Moonlight.
• Primordial Sea ( Primal Kyogre ): Summons "heavy rainfall"; "Primal Weather" ; emits the same effects as rain, though some minor changes.
  • Fire-type moves will have no effect under heavy rain.
  • All weather-changing abilities and moves won't override heavy rain.
    • Exception being Desolate Land, Delta Stream, and Air Lock / Cloud Nine (cancels all weather effects).

 Summary: Rain is arguably one of the most common weather-based field conditions seen on VGC, most notable for its use to boost the power of Water-type attacks. To ask, why are Rain teams slightly used far greater than the other weather conditions in the game like Sun, or Sand? Out of all the weather conditions found in competitive play, Rain offers the most "benefits" from activating specific abilities such as Swift Swim, both Electric-type  and Flying-types can abuse their STAB Thunder / Hurricanes, and perhaps the most under-looked, Water-type is the most "common" Pokemon in the game. Remember based on the type chart, Water-types attacks are super effective against Fire-, Rock-, and Ground-type Pokemon, so even if Rain teams don't have the weather advantage, they can still hit these targets for super effective damage. Rain is one of the "two" weather conditions which boost the power Water-type attacks by 50%, however since most rain-based teams utilize Water-types, their power is further multiple thanks to the STAB. Swift Swim users are one of the major sources of "Rain" offense as their now doubled speed stats can allows them to hit most targets neutrally with neutral Rain-boosted Water-type attacks. Consider the "counters" to most Water-type Pokemon such as Grass-, and Dragon-type Pokemon are weak to Ice-type coverage. As a result, most Swift Swim users have some form of Ice-type move to hit most things aside Water-types themselves as their resisted to both coverage moves. Pokemon normally weak to Fire-type moves like bulky Steel-types benefit in the rain as they can tank most Grass-/Electric-type attacks, while take less damage Fire-type damage in the rain. Aside both Kyogre's forms, the only other rain summoner is Politoed, but its often used as a supportive role more so than offensive. As a result, most "rain-based" teams are based around not only covering for Politoed's main weakness in Grass-type (Talonflame, Mega Salamence), and Electric-type (Mega Swampert, Mega Manetric, Ferrothorn), it can still provide the team with an array of support options as shown.

Primary Setter: Politoed


Politoed
BS Season 16 Stats

Politoed @ Sitrus Berry / Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Def / 76 SpA / 100 SpD / 4 Spe or 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Calm / Bold / Modest Nature
- Scald
- Icy Wind / Ice Beam
- Helping Hand / Encore / Perish Song / Toxic
- Protect

or

Politoed @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Scald
- Hidden Power Grass / Surf / Rain Dance

Since its release back in Gen 5, Drizzle Politoed has been one of the most defining Pokemon in the VGC metagame as it allowed previously manual weather teams to finally have access to the the Drizzle, once exclusive to Kyogre. Though Politoed lacks in "offensive" power, it can support most rain-based teams with its vast support options. Some of these support options include Helping Hand to further augment the power of Rain-boosted Water-type hits further, Encore to lock the opponent into an unfavorable move, Icy Wind for sub-optimal speed control, and of course, Scald to inflict potential Burn status. Most Politoed sets are built on the defensive end to be able to maintain themselves for the late game for their partners, or win out the weather wars. A good fraction of Politoed about 30% in BS Doubles Season 16 were Choice Scarf, mostly to get the upper-hand against the Pokemon weak to both Water-, or Ice-type hits. In terms of partners, the obvious Pokemon to pair with Politoed are Water-types, or specifically Swift Swim users like Ludicolo, Kingdra, and Mega Swampert. While most Water-types don't have "high" offensive stats compared to others, the potential boosts in Rain along with the STAB makes these weather sweepers dangerous when uses properly. Keep in mind though Rain may boost the power of Politoed's Water-type attack, however the base 90 Special Attack holds it back considerable and relies on its partners for the main heavy rain offense. Politoed still has to worry about opposing Grass-, and Electric-type Pokemon who have the type advantage over it and its partners. Unless there's a new Drizzle user for the regular Pokemon, Politoed will remain as the premier Rain-setter in the game, so be sure to prepare for.


Teammates: Swift Swim users (Ludicolo, Kingdra, Mega Swampert), Flying-type Pokemon (Talonflame, Mega Salamence), Electric-types (Mega Manetric, Zapdos, Thundurus-Incarnate / -Therian), Bulky Steel-types (Aegislash, Mega Mawile, Ferrothorn, Mega Metagross), Shadow Tag for Weather Control (Gothitelle, Mega Gengar), etc.

Checks / Counters (Rain): Bulky Grass-types (Amoonguss, Ferrothorn, Ludicolo), Electric-types, Speed Control against Swift Swim users (I.E. Paralysis / Trick Room), Drought and Sunny Day ("momentum killer"), Sand/Hail (Override Weather), Storm Drain (Cradily, Gastrodon), etc

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Sun

• All Pokemon with the ability Drought, or use the move Sunny Day will bring "sunlight" which last up to 5 turns (8 turns with the Heat Rock). 
• The following Pokemon have the ability Drought or Desolate Land: Mega Charizard Y ( Mega Evolution ), Ninetales ( Hidden Ability ), Groudon ( Drought ), and Primal Groudon ( Desolate Land )
• Power of all Fire-type attacks increase by 50%.
• Power of all Water-type attacks decrease by 50%. 
• Solar Beam becomes a single-turn move and hits the target automatically without waiting two turns. 
• Accuracy of Thunder and Hurricane are cut to 50%.
• The following Abilities activate or are affected under Sunlight: Chlorophyll, Dry Skin, Harvest, Flower Gift, Leaf Guard, Solar Power, and Forecast.
• Chlorophyll activates and doubles the speed of the user.
• Pokemon with the ability....
  • Dry Skin will lose 1/8th of their HP.
  • Harvest will always restore a Berry if consumed.
  • Flower Gift increases the Attack and Special Defensive of its allies by 50%.
  • Leaf Guard prevents the user from "non-volatile" status such as Poison, Burn, Sleep, Freeze, Paralysis.
  • Solar Power increases the Special Attack by 50%, but loses 1/8th of its HP per turn
• Weather Ball changes to Fire-type and doubles in base power.
• Growth will sharply raise both Attack and Special Attack stats by +2 boosts. 
• Prevent all Pokemon from being afflicted with "freeze status". Despite popular belief, "frozen" Pokemon CANNOT automatically defrost, or thaw out.
• The following recovery moves replenish 2/3th of their original HP: Synthesis, Moonlight, and Morning Sun.
• Desolate Land (Primal Groudon): Causes "extreme harsh sunlight" ; "Primal Weather" ; Emits the same effects as sunlight, except the following:
  • Causes all Water-type moves to "evaporate" and fail.
  • All Weather-based abilities and moves won't override "extreme harsh sunlight"
    • Exception being Primordial Sea, Delta Stream, and Air Lock / Cloud Nine (cancels all weather effects).

Summary: In terms of the other weather conditions, Sun has seen usage only in this generation due to the "buff" it received from a specific Pokemon, or summoner in Mega Charizard Y we'll go into detail later. Generally speaking, Sun-based teams are use in a hyper offensive setting similarly to Rain as it boosts the power of all Fire-type moves by about 50%, as well other abilities it activates. Keep in mind, Sun-teams aren't just focus on Fire-type Pokemon to abuse the ability Drought, rather Grass-types with a plethora of abilities like Chlorophyll, or Solar Power to augment their offense. Though Sun teams might seem like "counters" to the popular Rain teams due to its effect to reduce Water-type moves in half, keep it mind this goes both ways in weather wars. A Politoed can easily switch in to reverse the weather against either Charizard Y / Ninetales to "reverse" the weather effects of Sun in favor of the Rain team. One advantage Sun-teams have is the automatic use of Solar Beam to hit most Water-, Rock-, and Ground-type Pokemon, who generally are at a type disadvantage. Going back to why Sun-teams received a "massive" buff in Charizard Y, essentially its one of the most dominate Mega Evolutions and for its ability to setup its weather whenever it wants. Given the "switch"/ Mega Evolution mechanics, opposing players can't just switch in that easily against a Charizard Y as it will always have the weather advantage as it Megas, (exception is if weather is changed mid battle). Now with Charizard Y leading Sun teams, why isn't is as dominate as "Rain" or "Sand". Problem is there aren't as many "direct" abusers of Sun like how say a Swift Swim user has access to the Rain-boost, and its ability activating. Most of the main beneficiaries are Fire- and Grass-type Pokemon, however note there aren't Fire-types who have a potential "speed boost" in the sun and can use their boosted attacks. On a final note, Grass-types are weak to Fire-type attack moves themselves, at risk of being hit with a stronger Super Effective attack. That's why most "sun" teams aren't reliant or a select group of Fire-, or Grass-types, rather will use the "defensive support" of the sun itself to weaken the power of Water-type moves to other types weak to it like Rock- and Ground-type. In all, Sun-teams are used more or less in a hyper offensive setting to net OHKOs.

Primary Setter #1: Mega Charizard Y 



Mega Charizard Y

BS Season 16 Stats

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
- Heat Wave / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Overheat / HP Ground / Tailwind
- Protect
 

Summary: Mega Charizard Y is the premier Sun setter in for most sun-teams given with is high base 159 Special Attack and augmented boosted of it STAB Fire-type moves. Essentially with its massive firepower with the Drought ability, Charizard Y can effectively wall break, or sweep through unprepared teams with ease, and have its partners cleanup as well. Most of Charizard Y's moveset is rather simple to use with the standard Fire-type move, Solar Beam for Water-, Rock-, and Ground-type Pokemon, and a coverage move. Thing about Charizard Y is its with its high base 159 Sp Atk, strong STAB Fire-type options, and the boost with the Sun, this Mega will be hitting even the most resisted Pokemon for massive amounts of damage. Usually most Sun-teams are based to "support" Charizard Y like having Intimidate support to take physical hits better, Wide Guard support to protect it from Rock Slide, and other ways to deal with Electric- and Water-type Pokemon. Other "Sun-based" strategies like the use of Chlorophyll user like Venusaur, Shiftry, and others are able to double their speed stats and handle both Water- and Electric-types fairly well. Keep in mind Charizard Y still needs a decent amount of support options in order to be successful.

Primary Setter #2: Ninetales



Ninetales
BS Season 16 Stats

Ninetales @ Heat Rock / Life Orb / Choice Scarf
Ability: Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid / Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave / Flamethrower
- Solar Beam
- Will-O-Wisp / [Hidden Power Ice / Ground] / Disable / Skill Swap
- Protect / Overheat
 

Summary: Normally Ninetales won't be listed here, had it not been for the recent news that Mega Stones are banned in the VGC 17 format, so we'll discuss Ninetales as well. The problem with Ninetales unlike Charizard Y is its weakness to both Rock-, and Ground-type attacks, which the latter was an immunity for Char Y. The damage output from Ninetales with the Drought boost is somewhat sub optimal with its base 80 Special Attack compare to the 159 Sp. Atk. Despite these notable flaws, Ninetales has the advantage of holding a Held Item, along with being able to setup the sun potentially at the start of the battle. Based on the usage stats, the most common Ninetales sets are built offensive in line with the nature of most Sun teams. With Ninetales, the player has their general Fire-type move of choice (Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Heat Wave), Solar Beam for those Water-, Rock-, and Ground-types,  and another move for coverage list above. With the Held Item choice, Ninetales can hit harder with the Life Orb, outspeed faster targets with a Choice Scarf, or maintain more Sun turns with the Heat Rock.

Teammates: Chlorophyll users ( Venusaur, Shiftry, Liligant ), Lighting Rod Support for Char Y ( Rhyperior, Raichu ), Fire-types ( Heatran, Talonflame), Wide Guard ( Conkeldurr, Aegislash, Swampert, Machamp ), Spread Damage users ( Sylveon, Heatran, Landorus-T, Rhyperior), Ground- / Rock-types ( Terrakion, Landorus-T, Rhyperior), Electric-types ( Raichu, Rotom-A, Thundurus, Zapdos).
Checks and Counters (Sun): Rain ( Politoed, Swift Swim Users ), Dragon-types ( Garchomp, Hydreigon, Mega Salamence ), Rock-types or Fast Rock Slide Users ( Scarf Tyranitar,Terrakion, Excadrill ), Opposing Fire-types for Grass-types in Sun-teams ( Rotom-H, Heatran, Arcanine), etc.

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Sand

• All Pokemon with the ability Sand Stream, or uses the move "Sandstorm", hence the name cause the weather condition. Sandstorm will last up to 5 turns (8 turns with the Smooth Rock).
• All non Rock-, Steel-, and Ground-type Pokemon will be inflicted with 1/16th damage every turn.
• The following Pokemon have the ability Sand Stream: Tyranitar and Hippowdon.
• Pokemon with the following Abilities / Items will avoid Sandstorm residual damage: Sand Force, Sand Rush, Sand Veil, Overcoat, Magic Coat, and the Safety Goggles item.
• As if Gen 4+, raises the Special Defense of all Rock-type Pokemon by 50%. 
• Pokemon with the ability...
  • Sand Force will increase the power of all Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type moves by 30% for the user.
  • Sand Rush will double the user's speed current speed stat.
  • Sand Veil will increase evasion by 20%.
• Weather Ball changes to Rock-type and doubles in base power.
• The power of Solar Beam is cut to 50%.
• The following recovery moves will receive only 25%, or one-quarter of their original HP total: Morning Sun, Synthesis, and Moonlight.

Summary: Probably one of the more "linear" weather conditions in the VGC format are Sand-based teams given only a "select" group of Pokemon can really take use of the sandstorm. Note unlike both Rain and Sun, sand doesn't boost any specific offensive or STAB itself, without having one of the three Sand-based abilities as listed above. In terms of the setters, Tyranitar and Hippowdon are the two main Sand Stream users current available in the games, however there's one huge difference viabilty. Recall sand boost the Special Defense stats of all Rock-type Pokemon to about 50%, and with Tyranitar's naturally high base stats in HP, Defense, and even Special Defense, it can make a a good setter to combat the opposing weathers (will get to Tyranitar's usage later). Hippowdon has high physical defensive stats (useful in singles), but with the prevalence of Special Attackers, notably all weather summoners being special makes it almost outclassed. In terms of common users, Excadrill is the most used partner to pair in Sand-based teams, notably for its Sand Rush ability which doubles its middle speed stat and turns it into a strong sweeper. Perhaps the closest abuser of sand is Mega Garchomp, though not as fast as its regular form, has a massive base 170 Attack stat, access to strong Ground-, Rock-, and Steel-type moves, and with Sand Force, bolsters their offensive base power by about 30%. Some people have "doubted" the effectiveness of full Sand-based teams given the lack of "strong" users like Tyranitar and Excadrill, who both were extremely common back in VGC 15. However as a "supplement" to the team, Sand-based teams can be quite strong with the right kind of support, like Grass-type who can take on Water-types, bulky Steel-types who can deal with Grass-types, Flying-types who threaten Grass- and Bug-types (for Tyranitar), etc.

Primary Setter: Tyranitar


Tyranitar
BS Season 16 Stats

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf / Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch / Assurance
- Ice Punch / Ice Beam / Dragon Dance
- Low Kick  / Superpower / Protect

or

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry / Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Atk / 12 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Low Kick / Superpower / Ice Punch
- Protect

Summary: Without question, Tyanitar (and Mega Tyanitar) is the best Sandstorm setter in the game, mostly for its high overall base stats, with the further increase in Special Defense with the Sand up. What makes Tyranitar standout is its been one of the most "custom" VGC Pokemon that can be tailored to almost any team and can fit its role well. Keep in mind, Tyranitar is no offensive slouch either with both offensive stats at 134 Attack and 95 Special Attack, which are respectably high for VGC.  A good portion of Tyranitar sets run Choice Scarf to allow them to outspeed the base 115s and hit powerful STAB Rock Slide (with a chance to flinch on both targets), and Crunch to threaten common Trick Room setters like Cresselia. Slow Tyranitar variants tend to maximize its bulk, while the same time focus on its naturally high Attack stat to target down opponents. Heck there are even "setup" variants who use "Dragon Dance" to bolster both Attack and Speed for a sweep. Note these are not just the way to run Tyranitar as it has a huge movepool to abuse, along with Sp. Atk moves like Ice Beam, Fire Blast, Dark Pulse, etc. Mega Tyranitar has the same "secondary" weather effect as Char Y and Mega Abomasnow who can setup the sand on a delayed turn (likely during protection) to maintain the weather as it Mega Evolves. While Tyranitar is seen as a strong bulky offensive Pokemon, the whooping seven-type weaknesses and slow speed is what sets it back. Without the proper team support, Tyranitar cannot face most weather teams head on as these Pokemon will hits its likely on the special defensive end, when the sand has been removed. Nevertheless, Tyranitar has been the most resilient weather user for generations and can still hit relatively hard if used well.


Teammates: Sand Rush users (Excadrill), Sand Force users (Mega Garchomp, Landorus-I without Sheer Force), Storm Drain (Gastrodon, Cradily), Bulky Water-types (Rotom-W, Milotic, Azumarill), Flying-types (Mega Salamence, Talonflame) Grass-types (Amoonguss, Breloom, Ferrothorn), Steel-types (Aegislash, Metagross, Ferrothorn, Mega Mawile, Scizor)
Checks and Counters (Sand): Bulky Water-types (Rotom-W, Milotic, Suicune, etc), Grass-type (Amoonguss, Ferrothorn, Ludicolo), Fighting-types (Conkeldurr, Breloom, Terrakion), Rain (Politoed, Kingdra, Mega Swampert),

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Hail

• All Pokemon with the ability Snow Warning, or uses the move Hail will cause a "hailstorm". Hail will last up to 5 turns (8 turns in with the Icy Rock). 
• All Pokemon who aren't Ice-type will be inflicted 1/16th of their HP each turn.
• The following Pokemon have the ability Snow Warning: Abomasnow and Aurorus (Hidden Ability)
• Pokemon with the following abilities / items avoid residual damage from Hail: Ice Body, Snow Cloak, Magic Guard, Overcoat, or the held item Safety Goggles. 
• Blizzard becomes 100% accurate in the Hail.
• Pokemon with the Ability...
  • Ice Body will recover 1/16th of their HP every turn during Hail
  • Snow Cloak will raise evasion by 20%.
• The power of Solar Beam is decreased by 50%.
• Weather Ball changes to Ice-type and doubles the base power. 
• The following recovery moves will receive only 25%, or one-quarter of their original HP total: Morning Sun, Synthesis, and Moonlight.

Summary: The final field weather condition to discuss is the rather uncommonly used "Hail"-based teams. Compared to the other weather conditions, Hail benefits solely Ice-type Pokemon as they aren't pelted by the Hail damage, and rely heavily on spamming the move Blizzard. Note that Ice-type is one of the strongest "offensive" attacks in the game given it hits four-types for Super Effective damage against other "common" types like Dragon-, Grass-, Ground-, and notably Flying-type. Blizzard is one of the strongest spread attacks in VGC, though the main drawback with using Blizzard is the 70% accuracy, but this can be remedies as now Hail allows the move to receive 100% accuracy counter. One other aspect Hail-based teams might go is with a Trick Room option given how both setters in Abomasnow (also its Mega), and Aurorus are both slower than most of the average Pokemon. Most Hail teams might utilize bulky Water-types to counteract against opposing Sand- and Sun-based teams. For Sun-based teams with Fire-type attackers, ally Fire-types with the Flash Fire ability can make for good partners as they can absorb most Fire-type attacks, and retaliate with a boosted hit. Despite covering for potential type weaknesses, note how one of the Hail setters in Abomasnow has a plethora of weaknesses for the opponent to abuse, the Grass/Ice-type Pokemon can do work it support well.

Primary Setter: Abomasnow



Abomasnow
BS Doubles Season 16

Abomasnow @ Focus Sash / Life Orb / Abomasite / Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA  or EVs: 4 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
Quiet or Timid Nature
- Blizzard
- Giga Drain / Wood Hammer / Energy Ball
- Ice Shard / Ice Beam
- Protect / Hidden Power Fire 

Summary: One of the important factors to consider Abomasnow over its counterpart Aurorus is its part Grass-type to complement to its secondary Ice-type. Notice both weather setters in Politoed and Tyranitar are both weak to Grass-type, and Politoed itself being immediate threaten give Abomasnow some great value. In a way, Abomasnow can be seen as a hard rain counter given both its part Grass-typing, the ability to reset the weather to Hail, and resists Water- and Electric-type moves. As depicted, Abomasnow has a number of option set options to consider, though the two leading sets tend to orient themselves into to ways: Trick Room, and a Choice Scarf fast mode. Though both sets do have their main difference in investing either negative / positive speed values, the main goal is to "hit" the opponent with as many STAB Blizzards as possible. Most of these Abomasnow sets are mostly offensive in order to get as much damage output alongside its other Blizzard, or spread-attack ally. Like Charizard Y and Mega Tyranitar, Mega Abomasnow has the potential to wait out for a couple turns, until its time to reset, or bring back Hail once more.  Despite these traits, its important to note both Abomasnow and Mega Abomasnow are weak to a plethora of types such as Bug-, Fighting-, Poison-, Rock-, Flying-, Steel-, and of course its quad weakness to the Fire-type. Usually its "easier" to spot whether the Abomasnow is going to be a Trick Room variant, or will be "fast" just by looking to see if there are anything that give it away like Cresselia, Jellicent (Trick Room), or Protean Greninja / Glaceon. Finally, Fire- and Steel-type Pokemon are generally the go-to counters for most Hail-based teams, though watch out for potential Water- or Ground-type Pokemon.


Teammates: Fast Blizzard users [Protean Greninja, Rotom-F, Glaceon (Scarf)], Trick Room setters (Cresselia, Chandelure, Jellicent, Gothitelle), Fire-types (Talonflame, Chandelure, Heatran, Infernape), Spread Attackers (Heatran, Jellicent, Rhyperior), Intimdate Support (Landorus-T, Scrafty), Bulky Water-types (Gastrodon, Swampert, Rotom-W, Milotic), etc.

Checks / Counters (Hail): Fire-type Pokemon (Heatran, Mega Char Y, Talonflame, Arcanine, Rotom-H), Steel-types (Aegislash, Heatran, Mega Mawile, Scizor, Mega Metagross), Wide Guard (Aegislash, Conkeldurr), offensive type advantage, etc

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Other Weather Abilities and Potential Usages

• Delta Stream: The main primary user of this ability is Mega Rayquaza seen on the VGC 16 format. Note Rayquaza has the ability Air Lock which tandems well with its Delta Stream to "cancel" out the opposing Primal Weathers, though keep the last point in mind.
  • Summons a "mysterious air current" and allows all part-Flying-type Pokemon to receive "half", or neutral damage from Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type moves.
    • Essentially speaking Flying-types will be dealt normal damage against Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-types
    • Other "secondary" typing will not be factored in. Ex Mega Rayquaza takes only x2 Super Effective damage now instead of neutral due to its part Dragon-type being calculated as "weak" to Ice-type.
  • Cancels out all regular "weather conditions" (Rain, Sand, Sun, and Hail), and all weather abilities and moves won't work.
  • Doubles the power of Weather Ball, but the type will remain Normal.
  • If a move was originally super effective to the Pokemon ( Rock-, Ice-, and Electric-type ), but not isn't due to Delta Stream, it will no longer count as a Super Effective hit.
    • This means Held Items such as Weakness Policy, damage-holding berries (Wacan, Yache, and Charti Berry), etc won't have an effect.
• Primal Weathers: Keep in mind Primordial Sea, Desolate Land, and Delta Stream all override each other in some fashion. Delta Stream is NOT the "ultimate" weather option as the other two "Primal Weathers" will override it if Primal Groudon / Kyogre switch in. 
• Air Lock / Cloud Nine: Though not seen as much in the VGC format due to the lack of strong user (aside Rayquaza), here's what it does:
  • "Suppresses all weather effects". Meaning all weather conditions, boosts, potential residual damage, accuracy changes, etc are ignored
    • Pretty much no a neutral battlefield as long as the Air Lock / Cloud Nine user is on the field. 
• Manual Weather Setters: The use of a Pokemon who has the following moves to summon a certain weather: Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Hail, and Sandstorm. Usually these fall under two types:
  • Pranksters Abusers: Pokemon with the ability "Prankster" can use their priority-effect on all status moves such as individual weathers moves to summon either Rain, Sun, Sand, or Hail. Keep in mind Weather-abilities associated with speed won't allow the Pokemon to go first, until the following turn as speed bracket are determine before a respective weather condition is set.
    • Common Prankster users are Thundurus, Klefki, Tornadus, Whimsicott, Sableye, etc
  • "Slow" / Switch Manual Users: Either Pokemon with the intent of setting up a respective weather condition for their allies with the potential of being outspeed. Can be use to describe a Weather user for the sole purpose of using an opposing "opposite" weather to "ruin" the opposing team's momentum.
    • Examples of these are Sunny Day Cresselia, Tyranitar, Latios, and Amoonguss (from Wolfey 2012, Gebebo 2013, Arash 2013, and Honami 2015).
    • Notice most of these teams had few responses to rain aside relying on Sunny Day support to essentially break the Rain-teams momentum and go from there.

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Other Online Guides and Analysis

Here's a list of "online" guides I've used while "researching" for weather though most of the Pokemon fan site such as Smogon, Nugget Bridge, and blogs throughout the years. Most of the "weather mechanics" were found via Serebii, Pokemondb, Bulbapedia, etc to compile all relevant weather mechanics. The example sets are from the Smogon Dex, however not these are typical 4 / 252 / 252 spreads and can always be altered to your liking.

[spoiler]

• Biosci's, The Wolf's, and Jio's VGC Field Effects from Smogon.
• Enigne's Dependency Management and the Weather Wars
• Sublimic's "Make it Rain" - Guide
• TheMantyke's "Stay Afloat: Simple VGC Anti-Rain Tips"
• FloristheBudew's "Beginner's Guide to Sun in VGC 15"
• Serapis's "Guide to Sand in VGC 15"
• Cassie's "Guide to HailRoom"

[/spoiler]

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So there you have it, a complete comprehensive and general overview of all weather used in VGC formats. This guide is suppose to be a generic overview of all weathers, not how to use them. Will see what I'll work on next. Later.