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Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

desi darling

you already know
Hullo :)

I'm breeding for a competitive Zoroark. I currently have a Zorua with 31 IVs in hp, but 30s for the rest and two 29s. Is it alright to settle for 30/29 in some stats or does it really make a big difference to have all 31?

I do all my own breeding with absolutely no hacks or clones so it takes a lot of work. :0
 

cantab

Well-Known Member
desi: For Zoroark at least, the only IV where having 31, rather than 30 or 29, or even 25, makes a big difference is speed.

kapao:
Smogon's Facebook page said:
Sorry guys. We know the site is down and are working on it. The Voltorb powering the site exploded. Our provider has said they're getting a Revive as fast as possible. We're also looking into turning it into an Electrode which should make browsing the site a smoother experience. We will let you know as soon as the site's back up and running!
 

cantab

Well-Known Member
By Smogon's current tiers, yes. On the grounds that Pokemon are considered as wholes and banned on the basis of their best sets, and in the interests of "simplicity".
 

agray

New Member
Hey, just joined this site a few days ago, so if this is posted wrong, I'm sorry. Anyways, I have a quick question, not sure if it's been asked yet, concerning the move dragon tail. I'm thinking of using a rest-talk dragon tail user, but I'm not sure who to use. I was initially going to use Dragonite, since it's a bit bulkier than salamence, and for the STAB it gets from it. But it seems Milotic and Gyarados both seem like good users as well. Milotic can be pretty bulky, plus with it's ability from the sleep status becomes even bulkier.

For dragonite, the moveset would be along the lines of:
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Dance
Dragon Tail

While for Milotic the moveset would be:
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Tail
Scald

Gyarados would have the same moveset as Dragonite, at most changing Dragon Dance for Waterfall.

What do you think?
 

kaiser soze

Reading ADWD
Hey, just joined this site a few days ago, so if this is posted wrong, I'm sorry. Anyways, I have a quick question, not sure if it's been asked yet, concerning the move dragon tail. I'm thinking of using a rest-talk dragon tail user, but I'm not sure who to use. I was initially going to use Dragonite, since it's a bit bulkier than salamence, and for the STAB it gets from it. But it seems Milotic and Gyarados both seem like good users as well. Milotic can be pretty bulky, plus with it's ability from the sleep status becomes even bulkier.

For dragonite, the moveset would be along the lines of:
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Dance
Dragon Tail

While for Milotic the moveset would be:
Rest
Sleep Talk
Dragon Tail
Scald

Gyarados would have the same moveset as Dragonite, at most changing Dragon Dance for Waterfall.

What do you think?

I would vote milotic, because it has less weaknesses.
 

pokefantravis

The Poke-Pimp
Hey, plan on getting a Sheer Force Nidoking, and I need some suggestions for good natures, movesets, and EV spreads for it, could someone help me out with this?
 

penguinofhonor

Bay Watcher
What's the best way to find out the IVs of your pokemon? Is it still "save, give the newly born pokemon 49 rare candies, put the stats in an IV calculator, then restart"?
 

pokefantravis

The Poke-Pimp
What's the best way to find out the IVs of your pokemon? Is it still "save, give the newly born pokemon 49 rare candies, put the stats in an IV calculator, then restart"?

A pretty good way of finding the IVs of your pokemon is by starting a battle with yourself using IR in the C-Gear, as battles started with the Infrared feature of the C-Gear automatically set the level of your pokemon to LV50, and I have gotten pretty accurate IV checks with this method, and be sure to know the characteristic and nature of the poke you are checking.

BTW, could someone get to my question?
 

AromaFlora

floofy
Hey, plan on getting a Sheer Force Nidoking, and I need some suggestions for good natures, movesets, and EV spreads for it, could someone help me out with this?

The most common Nidoking set is this:

Nidoking @ Life Orb
Sheer Force
Timid
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Earth Power

Pretty simple should I say so myself. Pick the right move and get a profit. Pick the wrong move and either dead nido or loss of momentum.

Using Fire Blast over Flamethrower and Modest over Timid are options you can pick out. Fire Blast misses though, which isn't great on something as "fragile" as Nidoking (especially with a Life Orb). Modest increases Nidoking's offenses by a good chunk, but then it can't really outrun much except walls (I think Nidoking still gets like 269 Speed or something, which is okay).
 

Ritzii

New Member
I've never been one to do any competitive battling, but now with the Global Link it seems the time has come! I've been getting trashed online and would like to have a team that lets me stand a chance.

Here is my current in-game team, as you can probably tell - it's not best suited for competitive battling. There are two which I'd like to keep, but the rest is fair game really. I'd like suggestions on what Pokémon best fit with the ones I want to keep (Charizard & Lapras), what to cover their weaknesses with and how to counter some overused Pokémon (I've noticed lots of Tyranitars, Metagross and Gliscor online).

I'm pretty new to this, but I do know practise makes perfect when building a competitive team - I just need a step in the right direction, I guess.


CURRENT TEAM


(I don't know the EV's I'm afraid)

Lapras
Ability: Shell Armor
Nature: Modest
- Sing
- Thunder
- Surf
- Ice Beam

I really like this Pokémon, it's not only a favourite of mine - but it has a nice moveset which covers a lot of different types. Ideally, I'd like to keep this.

Charizard
Ability: Blaze
Nature: Mild
- Slash
- Wing Attack
- Flame Thrower
- Dragon Tail

Now, Charizard is my favourite Pokémon - so I do want to keep a Charizard in my team. But not necessarily this one, it doesn't have the best moveset - so any alternatives + item suggestions would be great.

Conkeldurr
Ability: Guts
Nature: Impish
- Brick Break
- Stone Edge
- Retaliate
- Hammer Arm


Krookodile
Ability: Moxie
Nature: Calm
- Strength
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
- Foul Play


Reuniclus
Ability: Overcoat
Nature: Careful
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
- Psychic


Serperior
Ability: Overgrow
Nature: Brave
- Wring Out
- Coil
- Leaf Blade
- Giga Drain
 

Shadowking

Picture me Rollin
whats a good ev spread for a timid 31 ivs in speed, special attack, hp, 28 in defense and 13 in special defense serperior ?cheers :)
 

AromaFlora

floofy
@Ritzii

Definitely keep Reuniclus and Conkeldurr on your team. You just need better movesets/natures/EVs etc. It might be hard for you to obtain these exact movesets, but I'll present them to you anyway:

Lapras @ Leftovers
Hydration
Careful
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
- Waterfall
- Curse
- Rest
- Ice Shard

That is currently the most popular Lapras set (and arguably the best Lapras set available). With Politoed's rain support, Lapras basically has "Full Restores" at its arsenal with Rest. Curse allows it to boost up its Defense and Attack, making it pretty impregnable and strong on the offensive at the same time. By then, Lapras can destroy teams with its STAB attacks: Waterfall and priority Ice Shard.

That doesn't necessarily mean your special attacking set is bad though. Something like this would probably be better:

Lapras @ Leftovers
Hydration / Water Absorb (you have Shell Armor which is cool to prevent hax, but it's just that the other abilities are more preferable)
Modest
40 Def / 252 SpA / 216 SpD
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Thunder / Thunderbolt
- Rest

Sing is pretty unreliable, so it's swapped out for Rest for instant recovery. I'm sure you know what the other moves do.

The problem with the above sets is that you want to use Charizard. That alone will make your Lapras not as great as it can be since rain will lower Charizard's power and sun will lower Lapras's power. Removing Rest from Lapras's sets means that Lapras will not have much staying power and will die a bit too fast. I guess you can try out Thunder Wave on the slot and see how it goes.

For Charizard, yeah, get a new one. Mild is okay in that it raises its SpA, but it's not really that much of a good mixed attacker. The most common set Charizard uses is:

Charizard @ Choice Specs
Solar Power
Modest / Timid
4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Fire Blast / Flamethrower
- Air Slash
- Focus Blast
- SolarBeam

This depends if you're using Drought Ninetales or not. If not, remove Choice Specs and replace with Life Orb while also replacing Focus Blast with Sunny Day. This will drain Charizard's HP by 20% which is terrible, but it's not like it has much good options to use in this metagame. You also want a Rapid Spinner if you're using Charizard AND Lapras as both are Stealth Rock weak Pokemon and are prone to faint quickly if SR is set up. Anyway, moveset, Air Slash is a more powerful form of a Flying move that can flinch with good luck on its side (it's a special attack, which means you don't have to split attacking EVs). Focus Blast is mainly for Tyranitar, which can change the weather upon switching in and fully wall Charizard as a result. It's also for Heatran, which, again, fully walls Charizard. SolarBeam is Charizard's answer to bulky Water-types, which Charizard should be able to beat with sun support on. Moreover, SolarBeam helps against Rock-types that resist both Fire and Flying. Modest or Timid? Depends on you. Power over Speed thing.

My hands are hurting, so lemme type the sets of the others (not Serperior and Krookodile; I recommend you don't use them).

Reuniclus @ Leftovers / Life Orb
Magic Guard
Bold
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Focus Blast

Or if you want to try a fully offensive one:

Reuniclus @ Life Orb
Magic Guard
Quiet
252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
- Trick Room
- Psychic / Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

For Conkeldurr:

Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Guts
Adamant
120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SpD
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge / Payback

For the last two slots, well, considering you have Lapras, Charizard, Conkeldurr, and Reuniclus, you have not only a Stealth Rock weakness, but the fact that Ghost and Dragon go through your team like a hot knife through butter. Get some Pokemon that resist one or two of them will do your team a good favor. Steel-types are ideal. I can recommend you either Scizor or Ferrothorn. Scizor is mostly for offensive stuff and Ferrothorn for defensive measures.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Iron Barbs
Sassy
252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SpD
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Ferrothorn also has a few other viable options you can consider. Thunder Wave is helpful to slow down threats and allow your other teammates to outspeed that Pokemon when switched in. Protect is helpful to regain additional health with Leech Seed and Leftovers (since Ferrothorn has no way to recover HP). It also helps stall the opponent out of HP if it's poisoned or burned.

The last Pokemon is up for grabs. With Ferrothorn, you have a good portion of threats covered. Remember Stealth Rock? Yeah, let's get rid of it with this slot:

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Rain Dish (if you expect rain on your team, otherwise...) / Liquid Ooze
Calm
252 HP / 120 Def / 136 SpD
- Scald
- Sludge Bomb
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes

This gives you a useful Rapid Spinner and a burner/poisoner all in one. A problem you might have is that you'll be using two Water-types. Yeah, well, I'm not sure what other Rapid Spinners fit your team. Excadrill doesn't fit, Starmie repeats your special attacking Lapras, Forretress and Ferrothorn on the same team? maybe, and Donphan/Hitmontop are interesting options but I'm not sure how useful they're be for you.

Also, see Blue Harvest's guide to EVs/IVs/Natures. You'll need it.

Well, good luck on your team!
 

AromaFlora

floofy
Yeah, I just want to be clear that with Charizard and Lapras together, your team will ultimately not be able to compete as well as other standard teams. It's just hard to use them without sun for Charizard and rain for Lapras. Both Pokemon can attempt Dragon Dance sets and stay in "neutral weather", but the sets just aren't that great in this generation anymore.
 

Ritzii

New Member
Well, I'll mostly be playing 3 on 3 random battles, so I'll just try and not use both in the same match. I just want to have fun playing the game really, whilst still having some sort of fighting chance online. You never know, maybe I'll get into the whole comeptitive thing and go for a 100% competitive team in the future.
 
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