Pokemon VGC '10!

[Rosencrantz]

I won't go to hawaii even if by some miracle I get into the top 16

I'm just in it to have some fun with my group~

[Rhyme]

Smeargle 'Artist' @ Leftovers / Iron Ball
-Dark Void
-Baton Pass
-Nasty Plot
-Fake Out


Palkia 'DarkRoom' @ Iron Ball
-Trick Room
-Spacial Rend
-Flamethrower
-Thunder


just a quick lead set i decided id mess with; it's given good results so far

ps. the strategy, if you want to try this, is dark void, then nasty plot the fuck out of it while you can, then baton pass while you have the chance, to a sp attacker.

[Cshad]

So what happens when someone runs Fake Out and kills smeargle :E? Or other Priority? He's too frail to not use Focus Sash, Iron Ball is also useless because Smeargle is slow as all hell and wont be outrun by much.

Why not use this~

Smeargle (Lv.1)@Focus Sash
Ability: Own Tempo
Nature: Brave
EVs: none
- Fake Out
- Follow Me
- Dark Void/ Super Fang
- Endeavor

Super Fang is an interesting idea
Don't try and use a singles mindset when making these teams, you have to deal with a plethora of threats in a short amount of time, with very few members, generalized sets meant to deal with many different situations is the way to go, its not worth it to try and Baton Pass, the game will be too fast.

Also VGC has item clause on.

EDIT:
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35969
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70240

These are worth checking out; people were using discussing lead combinations and some are pretty cool.

[water dog]

my manectric/rayquaza lead didnt do half bad

anyone wanna play just for funsies??

[Gwen]

I wish I could be able to even place, I'm awful at online. :F I was pretty good at the card game though.

[Rhyme]

\Pokemon Online\logs\VS Chad.txt

should i post y/n

[Rosencrantz]

hrm

okay, so I'm *fairly* certain I'm going to run a Kingdra/Kyogre lead
my friend's trying to tell me that it'll get shut down by a rogue Rayquaza, but even IF Rayquaza will get a ton of usage here, I'll Blizzard and Ice Beam the fuck out of it

but now I'm trying to consider who else would go excellently as backups
I mean, two pokemon that will not only run awesomely with each other, but will also run well with my Kingdra and Kyogre

Kingdra @ Modest and Swift Swim with Choice Specs
Ice Beam
Dragon Pulse
Surf
Substitute (maybe??? idk; I might give it Brine or Signal Beam instead)

Kyogre @ Modest and Drizzle with Leftovers
Calm Mind
Thunder
Surf (or Water Spout; probably Water Spout)
Ice Beam (or Blizzard; still deciding)

initial strategy: let Kingdra run like hell with Drizzle; I *might* set up with Substitute here or let it get a quick hit on the opponent provided they have a pokemon *begging* for a one-hit. If I have Signal Beam, I can do triple damage to Mewtwo (Bug destroys Psychic), and then hopefully Mewtwo will become weak enough for Kyogre to slam it with Thunder. If I'm dealing with Rayquaza, then again: it'll eat Ice Beams.

Kingdra's got its defenses going with its types; Kyogre has insane special defense



Now, I'm predicting that Kingdra will be the weakest link here, since it doesn't snuff up to what Kyogre's packing. So I'll assume it'll go down first.

So I'll bring in Ludicolo
Ludicolo @ Calm and Rain Dish with Life Orb (maybe??)
Leech Seed
Grass Knot
Hydro Pump (or Protect)
Toxic
Ludicolo pretty much BEGS to team with Kyogre. Rain Dish + Leech Seed = oh god. I could use this to promote Life Orb, or if I'm feeling like dicking everyone over, I could give Ludicolo Leftovers and give Kyogre something else (like Expert Belt or something). In the event that Ludicolo gets stuck with Kingdra, then oh well. Ludicolo will still work well as a supporter, and I can Toxic and Protect as I see fit.

and probably Toxicroak
Toxicroak @ Adamant and Dry Skin with Damp Rock (or Black Sludge)
Rain Dance
Poison Jab
Sucker Punch
Cross Chop (or Taunt)
The trick here is to make Toxicroak a Rain Dancer, to go along with Ludicolo and Kingdra. Namely, I'll bring it in in the event that Kyogre gets KO'd, so then Kingdra can still get some rain effects going. Oh, and then Dry Skin helps out a lot with a Kingdra (or hell, even a Kyogre) setup since not only will it get health regained after every turn due to rain, but I can even turn a water-type move on it and get it some extra health. Surf will come in handy here, since it hits everything in the field. Poison Jab gives it a STAB and I could potentially get a status affliction on the opponent, and Sucker Punch will give it first priority. Now the variation comes in with Taunt/Cross Chop and Damp Rock/Black Sludge. I'm leaning more towards Cross Chop and Damp Rock (CC's a STAB move, and as a Rain Dancer it will benefit from Damp Rock), but Taunt and Black Sludge might work just as well.

Again, this Rain Dance thing supports both Kingdra and Ludicolo. If it gets stuck with Kyogre, then it'll still benefit from Drizzle and it can go ahead being a physical attacker.



There's probably a ton of strategies that can knock me out, but I'm only seeing a glaring weakness towards Electric types. But then again, I could just pound them out until they get KO'd (or I could give Kyogre Earthquake instead of Calm Mind) since electrics don't have too many defenses against my attacks as it is.

[Rhyme]

A mewtwo with Thunder / Signal Beam will shut you down bad

[Rosencrantz]

A mewtwo with Thunder / Signal Beam will shut you down bad

as a lead?

I thought I already mentioned it with my Kingdra and Signal Beam + Choice Specs :C

[Cshad]

Don't run a mono rain dance team. It's really just a bad idea. Anyone with Weather will screw you up just by switching in, and to be able to use weather by just being there as opposed to having to waste a whole most slot is just such a huge deal. If you lose Kyogre you lose the momentum and all the speed bonuses your Pokemon get as well as Toxicroak's free healing. I suggest running an anti weather pair in the back (Rayquaza/Shedinja work rather well) if you plan on using Kyogre as a lead. Give Kyogre iron ball. You want him to go last. Really, you do. The slowest weather activate-er = the weather used. Ie, the battle begins. Abamosnow starts off against your Kyogre. Hail will be used because Obama over there is slower than you. This will put you at a big disadvantage from the get go. A really big disadvantage, especially since your team is 100 percent reliant on the effects of Drizzle. Switching will cost you dearly and you will probably lose very quickly, which would really really suck. You could also run Metagross/Giritina in the front for some free exploding,and you wont have to be reliant on iron ball if you don't run him as a lead, freeing you up for another item. Be it Scarf/Leftovers/Life Orb/Wacan Berry (Thunder is common~) or whatever. You could also run Palkia (same typing as Kingdra only better in every way except for Swift Swim) in conjunction with Kyogre for a trick room rain dance team (assuming Kyogre still has iron ball). That might be cool. But it's really up to you. Only trying to help~

Also Choice Specs will lock you into whatever attack you use. The extra Power and Double Speed from the rain is worth it though;

http://www.smogon.com/calc/

Use the Damage Calc and figure out what move will hit the opponent the hardest if you're worried about not doing enough damage, since you seem to be worried about Mewtwo still. I think Draco Meteor or a rain boosted STAB Surf will hit him harder than Signal Beam, though.

Also, if you think you're sets are doing well from just playing a few times, well, play longer. The way the laddering works is that you get a special score called CRE as you beat people. Depending on how high your CRE is will also determine who you play against. You will meet competent people at around 1200~ or so CRE. This will give you a good idea on what you need to fix against what you have problems with.

Here are some videos of the battles that have already gone off in Japan and other places;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvHoA-Q22Tk
It's only one video but will lead you to a whole bunch of other matches off to the side. This should give you a good idea of what to expect~

Again; I suggest looking at these, you don't have to use the exact sets, but its a good starting place and you can figure out a good strategy to use as well as what most people will be running, making it easier to know what to expect and how to deal with it.

http://skarmbliss.com/pokemonanalyses.html

[Rosencrantz]

damn, I thought I was on to something :C

I figured that running a Ludicolo would be good since it has decent defenses and Rain Dish, but
yeah
I'd be stuck when it comes to a second legendary :C
and I figured that I'd be abusing the fuck out of weather with Toxicroak and Ludicolo (since they'd get health from the rain and all :C)
but I honestly don't know how this competitive scene works at all.

And I don't want to run the Mewtwo/Abomasnow thing. While it could work, I'd rather be
you know
more original than that

although I'm interested in this Rayquaza/Shedinja combo. Care to elaborate?



And on that note:
So Iron Ball on Kyogre to guarantee that I'll get the rain, then? Okay, I'll do that.
I'll *potentially* run a Palkia too, but then again I don't have Pearl :C
I could always make one with Arceus in HG, though~

[GrooveMan.exe]

There's nothing wrong with second guessing. Fuck the system, I'm going to assume someon'es gonna roll in with a weather effect, and make use of it myself.

Also who records tourney videos of turn-based combat? Boring.

[Rosencrantz]

actually, I'm probably going to run my combo anyway
provided I don't come up with something better

I'm not really in it to win, but
meh
if I get far, I got far, and I might have gotten a few shocks here and there from the whole "HEY WAIT HE USED A LUDICOLO WTFFFFF"

but then again, Toxicroak might end up being my "fifth pokemon" and be a complete backup when I just stop caring, and I'll probably replace it with Palkia and go ahead with that

I'd rather let the fat guy with no sense of hygiene get first place, if you ask me

[GrooveMan.exe]

I'd rather let the fat guy with no sense of hygiene get first place, if you ask me

This, so so hard. I don't really want to share a winners podium with jailbait.

[Rhyme]

VS [VGC] toshiba -- Swept by a... clamperl? what the fu-

Gabe, tell me what the fuck happened here. I'm srsly confused.