Azumarill the Champion: Last Battle Spot Doubles / VGC 2015 Team

Azumarill the Champion: Last Battle Spot Doubles / VGC 2015 Team

(at least for now)

Artist: Sephirona

Prelude

Going to start off with this team report or RMT (whatever you might call it) with an apology for not posting this team earlier before the new VGC 2016 format was announced. As people are now simulating the VGC 2016 format on Showdown (again no In-Game Ladder though unlikely), I'd assume interest would be moved toward figuring out how to beat Xerneas + Primal Groudon or Scarf Smeargle + Quick Guard. I did plan to post this team and the other team centered around Kang + Volc early December, however the lack of time, testing out some VGC 2016 teams, and of course, not planning out for these team report schedules much sooner. Just a brief notice, this team is based on the Battle Spot Doubles / VGC 2015 formats and the Season 12 of Battle Spot Doubles as the record indicates. I just wanted to post these teams and some fun Battle Spot Doubles teams before I talk about the who VGC 15 format in sorta a review from a Battle Spot Doubles in-game ladder perspective. 

Background + Brief Teambuilding

After playing some Battle Spot Doubles Season 12 with some of the no pentagon Pokemon now available, I want to refocus on making another Mega Salamence / Aegislash / Entei core fir laddering given I've already am familiar with these Pokemon. Immediately I dropped the idea of having Rotom-W on the team given its I wasn't comfortable testing out offensive sets with Life Orb, and the low 50 Base HP. Sure this Pokemon has 107 points in both base defenses, however its not going to live as long with stuff like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Gardevoir, Dragon-types, Amoonguss, Cresselia, and others who can sponge Rotom-W's attacks. In the end, I wanted a Pokemon who was somewhat bulky enough to take on Dark-, Dragon-, and Fighting-types while still resisted to Fire/Ice-type hits so Aegislash and Mega Salamence can switch on freely. With these features, Azumarill was a prime Pokemon to use with the rise of the Belly Drum variants in response to CHALK teams usage, though I didn't want to use Amoonguss at the time. Eventually AV Azumarrill, though not the most original set for Azu was the main item chose given with its base 100 HP / 80 Def / 80 Sp. Def can take even a STAB Thunderbolt from Thunderus.

Thundurus was my main go-to Electric-type Pokemon at this point given it's ability Prankster to spread Thunder Wave paralysis, and yes, Swagger certain targets when need be. I did notice somewhat of an Rock-/Ice-type weakness especially against a potential sand or rain team with their fast weather attackers. Breloom was the last Pokemon added here since it has Mach Punch to bypass the speed orders and form a duel priority core with Azumarill. With that here's the team in full: 

Team

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite  
Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe  
Naive Nature  
- Double-Edge  
- Hyper Voice  
- Draco Meteor  / Flamethrower
- Protect  

Milestones
-Standard Mega Salamence (from Cybertron's US Nats Team)
-Outspeeds base 110s and at least speed ties with opposing Mega Mence

Well if anyone had to guess, Mega Salamence is not dead. In fact by the end of the VGC 2015 and Battle Spot Doubles season, Mega Salamence usage did rose likely due it its potential to take on some of the common Pokemon in the formats like Mega Kangaskhan, Heatran, Landorus-T, Amoonguss, (look at that...4/5 of CHALK), and OHKO others like Mega Gardevoir, Charizard Y, or Sylveon with a Aerilate-boosted Double Edge. To be fair, most of these Pokemon can have a coverage option like HP Ice, Pixilate Hyper Voice, fast Dragon STAB, or good old Rock Slide to at least neutralize my Mega. Still regardless of Mence's quad weakness to Ice or Pixlate Hyper Voice, IMO it was the top 2 / 3 Mega Evolution by the end of the season... at least for me. 

Anyways Mega Salamence's EV spread was exactly the same as Cybertron's, however I did test out some other EV's spreads to balance out the damage output of Aerilate Double Edge / Hyper Voice. For some people who don't know, Mega Salamence is arguably among the best mixed attackers in both Battle Spot Doubles and VGC given how hard it hits with either those two attack I've mentioned. Aerliate Double Edge is almost as strong as a Parental Bond Return and deals about 69% to 4 HP Mega Kang. Hyper Voice has been Mega Salamence's cleaning option though not as strong as something like Sylveon or Mega Gardevoir's Hyper Voice due to the lower Sp Atk and lack of a boosting item/status. The main for Hyper Voice is to deal more damage against an Intimidate user like opposing Salamence, Landorus-T, Gyarados, or Scrafty though I have to be careful against Snarl users. Draco Meteor is for opposing Mega Salamence since some of them can breakthrough this team (aka Dragon Dance), however I have to risk the speed tie. Opposing Dragon-types like Hydreigon and Lati@s get hit hard with a Draco Meteor, but usually I scout if these Pokemon have Scarfs outspeed my Mence. Flamethrower was added later on since bar the Entei, my team doesn't fair well against Ferrothorn or even opposing Aegislash. 









Entei @ Shuca Berry  
Ability: Pressure  
Level: 50  
EVs: 132 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 188 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Sacred Fire  
- Snarl  
- Will-O-Wisp  
- Protect  

Milestones:
-Outspeeds both Jolly Lando-T (non-Scarf) and Kang before it Megas.
-Can take a Banded EQ from Adamant Lando-T (and even single target as well).
-Can take one Double Edge from Jolly 252 Atk Mega Kangaskhan.
-Can take three Specs Hyper Voice from Modest 252 SpA Sylveon.

Man this Pokemon has come a long way with me ever since I almost one an online tourney with it, though I failed to deliver for Entei in those battles. Eventually I got another Entei set with Jolly and gave it enough investment to outspeed both Jolly Max Speed Landorus-T or Kangaskhan before it gets the full speed after Mega Evolution. If anyone can tell, this Entei was more of a utility set to allow my Pokemon to take either physical or special hits better with the combination of Sacred Fire, Snarl, and Will-O-Wisp. Sacred Fire is without the best Fire-type move in the game given the 45% chance to burn a target, and yes factoring in the 5% chance to miss as well. Likewise, Entei's task is mainly to burn physical Pokemon like Mega Kangaskhan, Tyranitar, Landorus-T, Mega Salamence, and others with either Will-O-Wisp, or from the Sacred Fire via switch ins. Another thing about Sacred Fire is how it can its a solid option against Focus Sash Pokemom like Breloom, Bisharp, Excadrill, or Terrakion given that most of these Pokemon are weak to Fire-type attacks, or are physical attackers themselves. Snarl is Entei's option to mitigate the amount of damage against both targets so special attackers like Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, Suicune, Thundurus, Heatran, etc. The only other time I use Snarl is to get a KO against a Pokemon who is down to 1 HP with their Focus Sash, while reducing the other special attack by one stage.  In the end, Entei would probably go down as my favorite Fire-type Pokemon to use in the formats given how much work it can do for my team from a defensive standpoint. Sure I know the format was leaning somewhat in a hyper offense direction, but with Entei mitigating damage, and burning help close out games. 










Azumarill @ Assault Vest  
Ability: Huge Power  
Level: 50  
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 44 SpD / 12 Spe  
- Waterfall  
- Play Rough  
- Aqua Jet  
- Knock Off  

Milestones:
-Survives a Life Orb Thundurus Thunderbolt bar crit.
-OHKOs Landorus-T and Heatran with Waterfall + Aqua Jet (Intimdiate drop)
-Has a 62.5% chance to OHKO Blade form Aegislash with Knock Off.
-Can live a Solar Beam from Modest Charizard Y.

After some thought about which Pokemon haven't I tried out yet, Azumarill was the only decent Water-type who fits this team somewhat well, specifically with the CHALK matchup. Since Thundurus had Sitrus Berry as its item (I'll discuss this later), Azumarill was given the Assault Vest so it can take most special hits like Pixilate Hyper Voice from Sylveon or a Thunderbolt from Electric-types. Azumarill was my team's primary response to Fighting-type Pokemon bar Breloom/Virizion (both are weak to Mence) given some of these Pokemon tend to carry a coverage option like Ice Punch or Rock Slide. If Salamence/Entei can either Intimidate/burns some key targets while get a couple Snarl drops, then Azumarill can tank most of these mitigated attacks bar crits and can proceed to steamroll against the opposition. Waterfall is one of the best Water-type attacks given the 20%  chance to flinch, though Azumarill doesn't tale advantage of this due to its low speed stat. Then again, Thundurus can Thunder Wave a key target as Azu can paraflinch my opponent with this combo. Regardless if Initimidated,  Waterfall from Azumarill will deal a chunk to most targets, especially against Landorus-T so one Aqua Jet can OHKO the following turn. 

I know in most situations, Landorus-T won't switch unto to an Azumarill, but getting that attack drop is all what my opponent needs to mitigate the damage to his own team. Play Rough is another standard option mostly for Dragons, Fighting, and Dark Pokemon which can potentially OHKO. Knock Off is mostly there for Aegislash and Cresselia, however removing items can help deduce what sets my opponent is running with their team. Finally, Aqua Jet gives the team its first form of priority and often used to take out weaken Pokemon like Excadrill, Tyranitar, Heatran, Landorus-T, or any other Pokemon likely weak to water. Even though I've doubted the power of this Pokemon many times, Azumarill was definitely the MVP for this team in multiple situations where at it has to do is either clean of the game, or at times wrestle out the opposition with its 100 HP / 80 Def /  80 Sp. Def bulk. No matter how many times this Azumarill got hit, it took most attacks and finished off the opposing Pokemon with its STABs or Aqua Jets. 










Breloom @ Focus Sash  
Ability: Technician  
Level: 50  
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Bullet Seed  
- Mach Punch  
- Spore  
- Protect  

Milestones: 
-Standard Bread-and-Butter Focus Sash Breloom.
-Can OHKO Scarf Tyranitar with Mach Punch.
-Needs three Bullet Seeds to OHKO standard AV Azumarill 
-2HKOs most Water-type Pokemon 

Breloom's task for this team largely to put stuff to sleep with Spore, use its Technician STAB Mach Punch to pick off targets, and Bullet Seed anything else that isn't resistant to Grass-type. Not much to say about Breloom other than why I've started using it lately and before the new format rules where announced. While not as strong as say the other Grass-types like Amoonguss or Ferrothorn from a defensive standpoint, Breloom can win battles off of Spore mind games. Essentially, Breloom can allow at least one free turn for my other Pokemon to get off damage, or even spread their own status option. Catching targets off a switch is essential using Breloom since if they aren't either Grass-types, or even holding Safety Goggles/Lum Berry, this allows for another free turn against Pokemon as it hasn't taken the guarantee turn of sleep.  Breloom was honestly the one of the few Grass-type IMO who can handle Trick Room, Rain, and Sand while maintaining offensive pressure for my team. Breloom has been most helpful against opposing Azumarill-Amoonguss cores since I can either for Bullet Seed or Spore the Azu slot. By the end of the Battle Spot Double Season 12, people started using Sap Sipper Azumarill so now I'd pair Breloom with Salamence, or have Thundurus in the back who can deal deal with both Pokemon. 










Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Prankster  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def  / 28 SpD / 68 Spe  
Bold Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def  
- Thunderbolt  
- Thunder Wave  
- Swagger  / HP Ice
- Protect  

Milestones:
-EV Spread is based on Thundurus having 30 in Def. 
-Max speed to outspeed Smeargle 
-Takes a Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan (Jolly)
-Landorus-T's Rock Slide is a 3HKO with Sitrus Berry 

Throughout the year, Thundurus has been a "necessary evil" on most of my teams given how powerful it is with Prankster Thunder Wave, Swagger, Taunt, etc. For this moveset, Thundurus only has Thunderbolt as its main attacking option while I did switch between either HP Ice and Swagger since Landorus-T can be annoying for this team. Again I wanted Thundurus to spread as much paralysis against faster Pokemon given my team is still considerably slow to middling speed. Swagger I'll admit has been my safe-net in case something "goes wrong" and we need to get ourselves out of the negative odds. There is a stigma with Swagger given that its mainly used to either ensure special attackers don't attack as often, or hope to whoever +3 Kangaskhan faints itself. I will say relying on Swagger immediately against physical attackers is risky given you've just powered up a Kangaskhan or Landorus-T to +2 and both have 50/50 odds of OHKOing something, which is still great odds. Personally, Swagger isn't broken as one might think in doubles as the opponent can either switch out or have an item like Lum Berry to take the Swagger. Many battles I have to assume that Swagger won't work and I've only used it as a supplement like pairing it with Thunder Wave. Yes it sound like a dick move to paraconfusion someone, but I'm reducing the chance for them to be immobile (either from paralysis or confusion) for the rest of the at least one turn. In the end, Thundurus has been a great asset in buying almost pseudo free turns while maintaining speed control. 









Aegislash @ Leftovers  
Ability: Stance Change  
Level: 50  
EVs: 236 HP / 12 Def / 92 SpA / 100 SpD / 68 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Shadow Ball  
- Flash Cannon  
- Substitute  
- King's Shield  

Milestones:
-Same set from Kang + Volc team

I'm not going to discuss this Aegslash set for the team since it kinda obvious Aegislash is my Substitute attacker with STAB Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon to hits their intended targets. One thing I'll say is Aegislash has a better chance at stall out matches against opposing Kangaskhan provided I've burnt it with Entei so and about like 4 battles have come down to this scenario.  One thing I'll say is drawing Aegislash on the field will often force them to bring a response to it like their Fire-type/Ground-type Pokemon ( i.e Heatran, Landorus-T, Blaziken, Tyranitar, etc).  Azumarill pairs well in these situations for Aegislash as my opponent usually has to deal with the Azu first but might give Aegislash a free Substitute.  Given Aegislash massive defense stats and a plethora of resistances/immunities, it only becomes harder to take downe when anyone factors in all the potential burns, attack drops (Intimidate), or Snarls for either Mega Salmence or Entei.  Aegislash is honestly been the most consistent member of the team to day and likely will find itself in some of my new VGC 2016 teams. 

Highest Record with this Team 

(With my OR Cartidge) 

Final Thoughts/Conclusion

So there you have it, my last serious VGC 2015 / Battle Spot Doubles team I'll use in awhile. If there was one thing I've purposely disregarded in the article, its the lack or no mentions of any of the "No-Pentagon" exclusive Pokemon Aka Sheer Force Landorus, Defiant Thundurus, or Seismic Toss Kang. If anything, I didn't encounter any of those teams until I reached the 1800 on a couple occasion until I stopped around 1810.Of the all the exclusive No Pentagon Pokemon, Defiant Thundurus and Eruption Heatran are the most concerning, however I've only encountered them as I laddered with my Alpha Sapphire team. Well as stated earlier, I'm probably going to give sorta a review of my time with the VGC 2015 and Battle Spot Doubles formats around January regarding how I felt about the year. This team might be revisited, but only for any somewhat grassroot/unofficial tourney using Battle Spot Doubles rules since I could have made some improvements here and there, but as stated multiple times I'd rather focus on VGC 2016. If there is time, I might even go to the local Anaheim Regionals to see how I fare against other people, though I want to prepare as much as possible. 

Well I guess I'll leave this one last note... have a great 2016 year!

Experimental Teams: Revisiting 1st VGC Team

Artist: SailorClef

Prelude

So... after a full month battling hiatus on Pokemon Showdown, I've decided to get up, go on my laptop and just ladder (though the first two steps is exactly the same to access my website). The only reason why I went on Showdown FIRST before going on Battle Spot is 1) I don't want to mess with the results of my Gravity team (yet), and 2) the Battle Spot Meta allows non pentagon Pokemon so I've yet to make a VGC 2015 that can handle non pentagon stuff.   Honestly, I really didn't have a team in mind to use on Showdown, despite me having like 150+ complete teams I've made for myself and for other people for VGC lately. Currently this is the post Worlds/NB Invitational  metagame so I expected Chalk teams to rise drastically in usage following its successes in both formats. Last Saturday the 12th, I ladder with my latest Mega Char Y team just for a bit, however it was against lower ladder stuff. Since the old Battle Spot Doubles ladder was gonna be separated with following the changes made in the official ladder, I've decided to wait a bit until the new ladder was running.

Eventually after some thought, I decided Mega Salamence was a great Mega Evolution (not named Mega Kangaskhan) to begin laddering with. Didn't feel like using my 2nd Place Mega Salamence team since it has a poor matchup against Thundurus and Heatran which both have risen in usage. Since I didn't have any ideas, I thought it be better off to revisit rather "successful" teams in the past and just begin from there.

If anyone knows these 6 particular Pokemon formed the basis of my first VGC team made for the earlier 2015 format in December (the ruleset was just announced at the time) and still the most thought-out IMO. Back then, I wanted to try out a team which not only have great synergy with each other, but at the same time can initiate / maintain offense with their bulk. Well I sorta just described "bulky offense" but that's what its is. The highest I got with this team was around the top 30 on Showdown before I tilted back down. Despite some small setbacks, this same team (just replace Mega Salamence with Mega Kangaskhan) has won me my first subscriber tourney in December 27th and a back to back small online forum tourneys in January which motivated me to continuing to battle more. 

Honestly I only stopped using this team back in late April because I felt "bored" of using the same Pokemon and I wanted to expose myself to as many playstyles as possible. Funny enough Mega Salamence was used more for this team during online laddering, yet Mega Kangaskhan was my primary Mega of choice during tourneys since I wasn't sure about running mixed on Mega Salamence before I started seeing it with Tyranitar and Excadrill back in April. For a time, I decided to drop the team and make others since maybe after some metagame shifts / changes I'll have some ideas to improve this team. Right now here's a version of the first team.

The Current Team

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Levitate

Level: 50

EVs: 244 HP / 4 Def / 36 SpA / 60 SpD / 164 Spe

Calm Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Hydro Pump

- Thunderbolt

- Will-O-Wisp

- Electroweb

Very long rant/thoughts about this peculiar Pokemon

OK not gonna lie, but admit it, we all have a weird love-hate relationship with the washing machine just for several reasons. Rotom-W is arguably the best Rotom-form in the game without question with only one type weakness to Grass, except maybe a  host of other stuff like Mold Breaker, Freeze-Dry, Gravity + Ground attack, and....ok I'll stop since you kinda have to hit Wash Rotom as hard as possible. That last part has truth to it since all Rotom-formes have a poor base stat of just about 50 with an overall defenses of 107/107. Though anyone might think it those high defense stats help, it only makes Rotom subpar defensively as it needs either Sitrus Berry, Leftovers, or heck even Pain Split (something normally seen in singles), to makeup its defensive prowess. Inaccurate moves are an absolute pain in the ass since I hate having to rely on Will-O-Wisp and even Hydro Pump to hit certain targets. Mainly I've stopped using Rotom-W in May since I thought it wasn't consistent enough to use, like I don't want to rely on Wide Lens which I have done when I tested Entei once.

So after ranting my frustrations with Rotom-W, why have I result to using it again? Well... when I used a earlier version of the team, I gave Rotom Light Screen to help out against strong spread damage, which helped mitigate the damage against Drought Heat Wave Charizard Y and Specs Hyper Voice from Sylveon. For a time, Light Screen Rotom-W helped support the team which in turn allowed my Calm Mind Cresselia to setup, Mega Kangaskhan to using Power-up Punch, and for my other teammates to respond properly. This time, I'm not using Rotom-W as a defensive pivot mainly, rather as a pivot to get speed control up with Electoweb. popularized by Lajos Woltersdorf, the only Western player who Top Cut Worlds at Masters . With the rise of Milotic as the premier stat drop deter, I needed a Pokemon who can setup Electoweb and still beat Milotic once weaken and Rotom-W was the best answer. If anyone doesn't know what the move itself does, it basically a weak Electic attack (with STAB) that can drop both targets speeds by about 1 stage, or the first hit by two-thirds of its originally speed.

By the makeup of the team, you might expect Cresselia to be the main speed control utility Pokemon by having either Icy Wind, Thunder Wave, or even Trick Room but Rotom-W fulfills that role nicely since few people expect the Electroweb support. The only main downside with Electroweb is I cannot  freely spam it against Defiant/Competitive users (Bisharp/Milotic) and Ground types (Excadrill, Landorus-T) so Rotom-W has to attack or spread Will-O-Wisp. Speaking of Will-O-Miss... its still a great option to have especially against Aegislash since there's been a move to either Life Orb or Leftovers sets. In addition, burning my opponents physical are nice to have to buffer my Pokemon against  Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence, Landorus-T, Bisharp, etc. For what it is, Thunderbolt is the most reliable attack for Rotom-W though I'd watch out for Pokemon like Raichu, Thundurus-T, or Manetric who all have Lightening Rod/Volt Absorb. Hydro Pump is Rotom-W's strongest attack to offer, though I'd prefer it it got maybe Scald (since everyone would love those burns). Even Rotom-W has given my some issues in the past, its surely picking up its weight since the old glory days.

Cresselia @ Rocky Helmet  / Safety Goggles

Ability: Levitate

Level: 50

EVs: 220 HP / 76 Def / 132 SpA / 36 SpD / 44 Spe (First Spread)

EVs: 220 HP / 148 Def / 4 SpA / 92 SpD / 44 Spe  (Second Spread)

Modest  / Bold Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Psychic

- Ice Beam

- Toxic

- Moonlight

Anyone who observed this Cresselia on this team, you might ask what's the purpose of Cress now that it has no speed control. The best answer I can explain its purpose in one word: Toxic. With this post-worlds metagame, I've seen a notable rise in bulky Water types as well as the  resurgent Calm Mind Cresselia to combat the establish Chalk teams . Given my team has only a handful of responses for CM Cresselia at a time, I decided to use Toxic mainly to put the opposing Pokemon on a timer while still doing damage every turn. If anyone who doesn't know the mechanic of Toxic, every turn the afflicted Pokemon takes about n+1 / 16, which n is the number of turns the badly poisoned Pokemon has stayed in. Some people have called me out for saying that I use stall tactics to win battles, and yes its true semi-stall is my preferred playstyle in Singles and Doubles.  Toxic makes the rest of my team's job of taking out key targets much easier since they don't have to rely on potential damage rolls, survive investment, or other bulky stuff.

Course Cresselia isn't going to stall out the rest of the match without having Psychic for Fighting and Poison types and Ice Beam for the Double Genies and Dragons types. Moonlight works in tandem with both the Rocky Helmet ( inflicts one-sixth to the target for using physical contact moves) and Toxic since Cresselia can easily recover off the damage as the opponents gets afflicted to residual damage. There are numerous situations as well where Mega Kangaskhan Fake Outs Cresselia and does about a one-third of its health due to Parental Bond hitting twice and the effects of Rocky Helmet. Heck even I had moments where Cresselia takes a Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan or Mega Salamence only to recover to back where Moon Duck was the turn before. Once the opposing Pokemon is weak enough, Cress can finish it off with Psychic, Ice Beam or I can just recover off the damage and get ready for the next switch in.

I've listed 2 EV spreads for Cresselia: one that optimizes its special attacking to allow it to at the very least 4 HP Mega Salamence and most Landorus-T sets with Ice Beam. The second spread is modified to take a Knock Off from Life Orb Bisharp, a Double Edge from Mega Kangaskhan, or most other attack as best as possible to stall the opponents with Toxic.

Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite

Ability: Intimidate --- > Aerialate 

Level: 50

EVs: 44 Atk / 212 SpA / 252 Spe

Naive Nature

- Hyper Voice

- Double-Edge

- Flamethrower  /  Draco Meteor (Might consider Earthquake)

- Protect

Like it or not, Mega Salamence to me is still the de-facto 2nd best Mega Evolution in the VGC format after maybe Gardevoir and Charizard Y because its unpredictability in movepool and sets. Honestly people should not think of Mega Salamence as inferior against the Chalk teams seen on some of the Masters Top Cut teams at Worlds. Seriously like there were 4 teams that featured Mega Salamence and one of them almost Top Cut but unfortunately their resistance wasn't too kind.   Instead of using the recent mono Dragon Dance-Roost set, I've decided for now to return (lol) to the good old Hyper Voice and Double Edge mixed set. Hyper Voice becomes a special Flying type attack  thanks to Aerialate (the only other move that's similar in strength or power are Aeroblast / Hurricane). Some people were skeptical about the use of Hyper Voice since at best it can 2HKO most of things that are not Steel, Rock, or Electric types,  however its now being used for the same reason. Hyper Voice always deals a solid enough damage to the point where another or Double Edge an potentially knock out it opponent. Double Edge is a incredibly powerful Flying move due to Aerialate that allows Mega Salamence to deal heavy damage against the opponent at the cost of its HP.

For the last moveslot, Flamethrower stood out the most given that my team doesn't have a proper response to most Steel types (Ferrothorn, Aegislash, Scizor, Mega Metagross/Mawile ) if in case Heatran or Aegislash goes down. Draco Meteor is a option to consider in the future and one I've used earlier on but again I want more consistence with an attack, especially if it has a chance to miss or drop my special attack by two stages. The EV spread from Cybertron's Nationals Mega Salamence isn't too complicated as it allows Mega Salamence to OHKO max defense Amoonguss 100% of the time, 116 HP / 84 Def Mega Gardevoir 93.5% of the time, 2HKO 4 HP Landorus-T 98.4% of the time, and Mega Kangaskhan with the combination of Hyper Voice + Double Edge. Not much else to say other than Mega Salamence being the main offense of the team.

OK there are a couple things I'd like to point off. First off I tend to not Mega Evolve Mega Salamence if there are physical attackers and it can clearly outspeed in base form. This is so Salamence in base form can spread Intimidate before anything else. The only time where I'd like to Mega Evolve immediately is if I'm facing a something like Terrakion that's faster, or my opponent has a Defiant/ Competitive user in the back and Salamence didn't trigger their ability. The Intimidate drops is to ensure that my team can take physical hit from the likes of Mega Kangaskhan better which helps out Rotom-W, Aegislash, and Cresselia. To end off a really dumb note while I was testing on Showdown, I was wondering  why Double Edge wasn't doing the proper damage until I realized it was still at 0 IV attack which ended up costing me a few games where my opponent's Pokemon lives by a few HP and the only time I notice was I started writing this post.

Aegislash @ Life Orb

Ability: Stance Change

Level: 50

EVs: 236 HP / 204 SpA / 68 Spe

Modest Nature

- Shadow Ball

- Flash Cannon

- King's Shield

- Shadow Sneak  / Wide Guard

I've have been using  two Aegislash sets for the past several days, however this is the set I've use the most so it will get shown first. If anyone is ever using Mega Salamence, there's no reason to not consider Aegislash as its premier partner before maybe other Steel types. Anyone who's read my recent tourney team can tell my "issues"  with Life Orb Aegislash, however this was when I had Landorus-T and Bisharp at the time. Back then the team had a poor matchup against CM Cresselia since she can get all the boost have have her partner protect against any attack like Toxic or Assurance from Bisharp. However since most of Cresselia's partners were Kangaskhan and Landorus-T, Bisharp would have a difficult time getting an attack off against the crescent Pokemon. Life Orb Aegislash gave me an out against Calm Mind Cresselia given the massive damage output it deals with a LO Shadow Ball. In fact, Life Orb Aegislash is capable of OHKOing Mega Gardevoir, Sylveon, Togekiss, Clefable, and even Evolite Clefairy with a powerful Flash Cannon. If they do happen to survive, Mega Salamence can easily pick them off with a Hyper Voice of its own.

For awhile Life Orb Aegislash was the main staple of my teams featuring Mega Salamence since it gave me extra firepower to OHKO specific targets or leave them within range of another Pokemon to knock out. Since the team revolves around dealing residual damage, Life Orb Aegislash can pick off any weaken targets without much difficulty. My only concern with Aegislash is technically it has a limited timer to use since the possibly damage taken, Life Orb recoil, and passive hits can render it obsolete a times. Usually I don't bring LO Aegislash unless my opponent doesn't have a response for it or not prepared for the damage output (like OHKOing Clefable / Evolite Clefary). The last moveslot was a toss up between Shadow Sneak or Wide Guard but since my team lacked priority, Shadow Sneak was opted. Yes I'm using STAB Shadow Sneak with a negative attack nature in most, yet the Life Orb mitigates it. Aegislash doesn't have something like Quiet since it needs the speed to hopefully creep against Sylveon and knock it out with a LO Flash Cannon. Going back to Shadow Sneak, its an great coverage move to secure KOs against targets under around 20% or below (40% if they are weak to Ghost). This actually improves my matchups against opposing Ghost types, especially Gengar. 

Tyranitar @ Lum Berry

Ability: Sand Stream

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Rock Slide

- Assurance

- Superpower

- Protect

This slot use to be rather two Pokemon: Bisharp and AV Landorus-T to be exact. First off, I need a Pokemon who can take a special Dark / Ghost hits from opposing Aegislash / Hydreigons and inflict strong Dark type STAB. At the same time, this Pokemon has to be somewhat bulky and be my main check to most bulky support Thundurus. So who can that Pokemon be that is? THE O FUCKING G BEST DARK TYPE SINCE GEN 2....TYRANITAR.

Literally c'mon who could it been anyways. There's no question Tyranitar is the best Rock AND Dark type in the game with 2 great offensive types....and that's not even the best part. Tyranitar has access to the one of the best abilities in the game being Sand Stream. With Tyranitar's ability Sand Stream, it receives a 50% boost to its special defense for 5 turns, or as long as the sand is up on the field. Before I talk about what Tynanitar's moveset is, I'd really want how important its ability can be to the team. Basically Sand Stream is my main method to disrupt any form of weather (Sun, Hail, Sand) bar opposing sand teams since my team has somewhat of a poor matchup against all three archetypes if my opponent maintain their respective weather.  The sandstorm weather effect pairs well with residual damage done with Toxic and Will-O-Wisp as I can wear down my opponents team if it needs to be.

Tyranitar's EV spread isn't complicated as its able to outspeed Bisharp and maybe those who speed creep Bisharp and isn't faster than T-Tar. However this speed placement is important since this allows for Mega Salamence (like obviously), Heatran and Rotom-W to outspeed Tyranitar so it can deal massive amount of damage with spread move + Assurance. What the move Assurance does is if a an opposing Pokemon has already taken damage from anything (from recoil, Life Orb, muli spread damage, or a single target hit), Assurance base power of 60 is doubled  to 120 before factor STAB. Think of it this way, a full power Assurance is essentially a Dark type STAB without any drawbacks except setting up the attack itself with Salamence's Hyper Voice, Rotom-W's Electroweb, Heatran's Heat Wave, or any double target in which T-tar is last to move before its opponent. STAB Rock Slide is nothing to laugh at either coming from a Tyranitar considering it will do heavy damage to opposing side factoring in the 30% chance to flinch on either target.

Superpower is Tyranitar's last attacking option as its offers vital coverage against Dark, Steel, and Normal types like Hydreigon, Heatran, Mega Kangaskhan, opposing Tyranitar, and many more. Protect is a great move to have so that my opponent can double target thinking this T-tar is the rather common Scarf variant. I've have consider using a couple of "support" options like Taunt or even Thunder Wave, but only time will tell. 

Heatran @ Shuca Berry

Ability: Flash Fire

Level: 50

EVs: 52 HP / 212 SpA / 244 Spe

Timid Nature

- Heat Wave

- Hidden Power [Ice]

- Earth Power

- Protect

The last member of the team and honestly its no surprise seeing Heatran paired with some old timers partners like Cresselia or Rotom-W.  I chose this old Heatran set to be my main special attacker aside from Life Orb Aegislash since it has enough coverage to hit majority of the game. Heat Wave and Earth Power are staples in most Heatran sets as it hits a strong spread Fire damage against my opponent and deal with opposing Fire types, notably enemy Heatrans with Earth Power (bar Shuca Berry / Assault Vest). I guess the last moveslot to explain here is Hidden Power Ice as with the Shuca Berry allows Heatran to lure in Mega Salamence or Landorus-T and smack them down with a strong Ice coverage. The Shuca Berry allows Heatran to take a Ground hit, allowing to function somewhat well as a lure assuming my opponent's Landorus-T or Mega Salamence goes for an Earthquake.

This Heatran has a Timid nature so it can outspeed most opposing Heatrans and at most, Adamant max speed Excadrill with either Earth Power or Heat Wave. Granted with the Electroweb support from Rotom-W, Heatran can outspeed many other threats and deal with them appropriately with the right coverage. Since half of the team doesn't like getting hit with Pixilate Hyper Voice, Heatran is just a buffer against those attacks. Unfortunately I've notice Heatran is somewhat the "weakest" link compared to the rest of my team given it doesn't hit hard enough against the opposing targets. If the Sylveon / Mega Gardevoir user finds out I don't have Flash Cannon, they could just easily stay in to take any of Heatrans attacks while repeatedly fire Hyper Voice against the rest of the team. I've consider replacing Heatran for another Pokemon I'll get to later.

Former Members:

Bisharp @ Life Orb  /  Focus Sash

Ability: Defiant

Level: 50

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Sucker Punch

- Assurance

- Iron Head

- Protect

Bisharp is a very 2 offensive dimensional Pokemon depending on how well you can make predictions. During the early VGC 2015 meta, around December / January,  Bisharp was my team's main response for slow Fairy types not named Mega Gardevoir. What makes this chess-piece inspired Pokemon work is funny enough its own concept design: to set itself up for "checkmate" positions. Basically all the users needs to do is position Bisharp where it can get a Defiant boost from Intimidate Pokemon like Landorus-T, Icy Wind, Electroweb, or just any random stat drop. I wanted to try out Assurance after seeing Cypher, or Jio from the Imouto Island used one to get 2th I believe at the NY/NJ Invitational. If anyone of you are are familiar with Assurance, well basically I've explain in the Tyranitar section, but basically to sum it up the power of the attack gets doubled if the opposing Pokemon has taken damage from a single target or recoil. Life Orb Assurance allows Bisharp to pick up more kills than its Knock Off variant since its total power factoring STAB is like 180 compared to 146 so there is a direct difference there. Sucker Punch and Iron Head are designated for STAB coverage and priority purposes so not much to say.

Anyways the reason I'd dropped Bisharp was mainly the fact experienced  people can play around Intimidate better now compared to maybe early 2015. Course Bisharp is very fail for a Steel type given it won't take a special or a strong coverage weakness too well like from Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Gardevoir, heck even Mega Salamence can KO Bisharp if given the chance. The item choice was somewhat annoying to consider as Bisharp needs the Life Orb to do respectable damage though Focus Sash allows it to take one attack and retaliate with one of its STAB options. After a couple battles in with my first team featuring Bisharp, it really didn't fulfilled its job to handle Fairy types like Sylveon or Gardevoir so it was eventually replaced with Aegislash.

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest

Ability: Intimidate

Level: 50

EVs: 140 HP / 84 Atk / 4 Def / 84 SpD / 196 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- Superpower

- Rock Tomb

This is the same AV Landorus-T set I've been using since August and the one I used to win a small tournament hosted at Pokemon Forever. I guess you can call it a water down version of my original AV Landorus-T since it opts for bulk and speed, rather than nearly full attack investment before. If anyone hasn't seen it what this spread does, I definitely recommend looking at it on the recent team report posted here. since much of the smaller details are there, but will only focus on what matters. The idea of using AV Landorus-T again for this team is to provide support by spreading Intimidate drops and being a pivot against Pokemon that Cresselia or Rotom-W don't want to take hits from if weaken. Since this isn't "choice" locked Landorus-T, I'm free to do whatever I can to benefit the team's overall efforts in the battle from using STAB Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower, or even Rock Tomb. The last moveslot might sound like an odd choice but Rock Tomb allows Landorus-T to give the team some unexpected speed control plus a bypass against Charizard Y with Wide Guard.

Landorus-T was the second Pokemon I've consider replacing following facing many Milotics and Bisharps on the ladder. Though Landorus-T and Mega Salamence can outspeed and and hit Milotic first, it can easily survive if my opponent brings in their own Intimidate user. This severally limits my choice of Pokemon as my opponent can easily go for Milotic and have a response for Cresselia or Rotom-W (obviously Bisharp and Heatran aren't going to take a Scald hit well). Having Landorus-T on the field made it much more easier for my opponent to just go for any Ice type coverage on the team.

Tested in Place of (Have Seen Rotation):

Aegislash @ Leftovers

Ability: Stance Change

Level: 50

EVs: 236 HP / 12 Def / 92 SpA / 100 SpD / 68 Spe

Modest Nature

- Shadow Ball

- Flash Cannon

- King's Shield

- Substitute

After testing out Life Orb Aegislash,  I came across the same issues during high ladder matches as Aegislash didn't stick around too often as it should. The final nail to the coffin for the Life Orb set was the fact I added Tyranitar to the team as it deals with CM Cress better than anyone else.  Basically just with Tyranitar's presence it forces my opponents to not consider using Cresselia or bringing the CM version at least since sand stream cuts its recover down to 33% and won't enjoy taking full-powered Assurance too well. So what's the next best set for Aegislash to run one might ask? Substitute Leftovers is one of the more annoying Aegislash set to face as it can gradually recover off its lost HP from direct damage or the decoy its creates and fire strong STAB Shadow Balls and Flash Cannons. While I've used this exact set from the my recent Mega Charizard Y team, what really makes Sub-Leftovers Aegislash far more annoying to deal with is it doesn't necessary have to keep offensive momentum all the time. Granted this is all thanks to Aegislash's Ghost / Steel typing with 9 resistances and 3 immunities which effectly allows it to take most attacks. At times, Substitute  Aegislash can even take some neutral hits and still  have its sub intact for another turn. From here, Aegislash can do progressive damage against my opponents, while stance changing with King's Shield to maintain the Substitute for the following turn. Another tactic in which Substitute Aegislash does extremely well is stalling out my opponent with the residual damage from either Wash Rotom's Will-o-Wisp, Cresselia's Toxic, or the passive sandstorm damage from Tyranitar. 

The EV spread is somewhat complicated, but it lets Aegislash survive a Heat Wave from Mega Charizard Y in the Sun, Specs Dark Pulse from Hydreigon most of the time (7/8), and can take a hit from non-Life Orb Aegislash and knock its counterpart out with a Shadow Ball. The only notable kill that Substitute Aegislash gets with the 92 SpA is 4 HP Terrakion with Flash Cannon 100% of the time (of course non-Focus Sash / Babiri Berry / Assault Vest / invested ).

Entei @ Shuca Berry

Ability: Pressure

Level: 50

EVs: 132 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 84 SpD / 172 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Sacred Fire

- Snarl

- Stone Edge

- Protect

Alright everyone might be wondering why I've been using Entei over Mega Salamence for the past... 20+ battles, its not just of Sacred Fire. By adding Tyranitar onto this team, I've notice it people running Virizion on the higher ladder far many times than even Terrakion. At the same time, Wash Rotom might not be able to get a Will-O-Wisp off a certain target so Entei is my secondary backup option to to burn something. Due to its limited  movepool, Entei doesn't have much options left to chose from (unless they allows for Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz event Entei). This set almost mirrors the one I used to get 2nd place at a 32 Person Tourney with the only modification being its speed investment is 1 point higher to outspeed Timid Heatran. Shuca Berry is opted for Sitrus Berry so Entei can take an Earth Power or Earthquake and get off a Sacred Fire / Snarl. Again Scared Fire allows Entei to burn the target about ~45% of the time (factoring the chance to miss). Snarl is extremely helpful against specially based teams by dropping their special attack stats by 1 stage each use. The last moveset Stone Edge is just coverage for any Fire type (named Charizard Y) who thinks they are safe against Entei.

The reason why Entei has seen more usage than Heatran lately is it can literally disrupt specially based teams with one or two physical attackers (which in turn Entei can burn). Of course  I'm talking about Mega Gardevoir teams specifically since they already have answers for Heatran (Landorus-T/Scrafty), but the combination of Snarl / Sacred Fire from Entei can deal enough so the rest of my team can handle this archetype.  Probably the only few Pokemon who can take on Entei are bulky Water types and strong physical attackers with type advantages, however either have to be careful switching in on either Snarl or Sacred Fire. This tactic actually benefits Sub-Leftovers Aegislash the most as it can take repeated hits in Shield form while still getting up a decoy without losing much. This pretty much give Rotom-W and Cresselia an easier time to wall and break down teams thanks to their defensive capabilities.

Final Thoughts

For this addition of "Experimental Teams", I'm not giving too much damage calculations as before, since this team isn't 100% finalized. Most of the EVs spreads might have changed here and there, but they've been utilized by some of the top VGC players so those are practically standard by now. Some of the attack / special attack investment should do similar damage as those found in the Nugget Bridge calculator as before so I'd go there to find out any damage calculations. There's wasn't much to mention since there wasn't any exemplary KOs some of these Pokemon can achieve and have to rely on  progressive chip damage to maintain offensive momentum.

I'd like to credit again Dreykopff from Nugget Bridge for the idea of Quick Sand as well as Lajos for making me reconsider Rotom-W with Electroweb. For sure I'm definitely going to look over some other stuff people have used on their teams, and maybe integrate in future teams of mines. I'll give an update on how this team is doing on the Showdown ladder since I temporary gonna take break from Battle Spot Doubles on the actual cartridge for now.