• Hi all. We have had reports of member's signatures being edited to include malicious content. You can rest assured this wasn't done by staff and we can find no indication that the forums themselves have been compromised.

    However, remember to keep your passwords secure. If you use similar logins on multiple sites, people and even bots may be able to access your account.

    We always recommend using unique passwords and enable two-factor authentication if possible. Make sure you are secure.
  • Be sure to join the discussion on our discord at: Discord.gg/serebii
  • If you're still waiting for the e-mail, be sure to check your junk/spam e-mail folders

Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

varanus_komodoensis

they call me Varanus
Okay, I have a few questions:

1. Which is better, hyper offense, bulky offense or stall?
2. How common is Sticky Web
3. What is a good bulky offense core?
4. What is a good stall core?

Thanks in advance

1. It depends on how you like to play. Although I will say that I think that a hyper-offense set isn't a great idea in today's metagame because setup is so common. Hyper-offense sets also usually don't work very well against stall teams or very bulky Pokemon (at least in my experience), which is why status, like burn and poison, are almost necessary sometimes. My Toxic Spikes/Scald Tentacruel paired with Sand Stream Tyranitar can take down a hyper offense team almost every time by stalling and spamming Protect while Toxic Spikes does all of the work for me. However, there are teams that beat them very easily. But whichever one you choose is up to your personal preference.

2. I don't run into Sticky Web a whole lot, but it can make the difference between winning and losing if your opponent has lots of fast Pokemon, like Scizor or Garchomp. Galvantula is a great Pokemon, and I should consider using it :)

3. I can't answer this very well because I don't use bulky offense much, but I would say Venusaur is probably a good choice here.

4. My stall core is Toxic Spikes/Scald/Protect/Rapid Spin Tentacruel OR Taunt/Will-O-Wisp/Recover/Foul Play Prankster Sableye (depending on what the opponent has) with Sand Stream Tyranitar. I have a SubSeed Harvest Trevenant that I use with them sometimes, but that set is very gimmicky and only works in specific situations. Most of the time I put a sweeper with Tentacruel/Sableye and Tyranitar, and that works well for teams that can only have 3 Pokemon on them. My team needs work though. I REALLY need Ice Beam. I'm sure there are better stall cores out there.

I was breeding eevee's and hatched a shiny 5iv modest, run away, eevee a few weeks ago. It has the moveset yawn, charm, curse, and wish. It's been sitting in my PC box because I don't know what to do with it. I've done some research and this is a summary of what I found: Sylveon, umbreon, and vaporeon seem to work better as defensive pokemon, Jolteon is more reliant on speed, Flareon and leafeon are better suited as physical attackers or you could add some bulk on them, and espeon is useless without its hidden ability. That leaves me with glaceon.

But isn't glaceon also better with its hidden ability snow cloak?

I already have many other 5iv eevees that could fulfill the role of any of the eeveelutions. The point of using this shiny is to use my first competitively bred, shiny pokemon in battle. I don't want it to stay in my box of useless shinies. :(

If you have any suggestions please tell me. Also, if this is the wrong thread for this question, please direct me to the correct one.

Thank you! :)

I ran into a similar problem a few weeks ago, too. I hatched a shiny Hardy Eevee with Yawn/Curse/Wish, and I had to decide what to evolve it into. I chose Umbreon because of its nature, IVs, and moves, but since yours is Modest, I personally think I'd go with Sylveon and teach it Moonblast/Yawn/Wish/something else.
 

RifleAvenger

See you starside
Okay, I have a few questions:

4. What is a good stall core?

Thanks in advance

Mega-Vensaur/Heatran/Cleric(Sylveon, Clefable, Chansey, Blissey are some good choices) is pretty sturdy. Mega-Venusaur is incredibly good on stall, and the only two types it's weak to Heatran resists. Both have high enough base attack stats to take off decent chips of the opponent's health when attacking.

I personally think a cleric is an important thing for a lot of teams to have these days with all the status flying around, and with M-Venu not having lefties (relying on mega drain, synthesis, and maybe leech seed to heal) and heatran only having leftovers for recovery it helps keep the core alive. Stall is a play-style where losing party members can hurt far worse than it usually does.

As to which Cleric to use, all four have pros and cons:

Clefable is immune to status and hazards due to Magic Guard. However, its overall stats are mediocre.
Sylveon boosts a powerful attack option in pixilated Hyper Voice.
Eviolite Chansey has a big wish, and better balanced defenses than Blissey. However, it lacks lefties recovery and with knock off more common now you need to be careful.
Blissey has the biggest wish, restoring a huge percent of most of its teammates' health. However, its physical defense is awful, meaning a smart opponent can use a good physical attack to deny you chances to cleric, and thus wear down your phys. walls until they die.

As for other things on the team, phasing and status and/or hazards are pretty much a must-have. Phasing is stall's equivalent to the pivot, racking up damage from status or hazards, and confounding the foe's attempt to switch an answer to your pokemon in. With defog around now, just using hazards may be difficult; The popularity of clerics on teams of many types right now needs to be taken into account when trying to abuse status. As always, having something that can remove opposing hazards is appreciated too. Pokemon with reliable recovery are also well-liked on stall, but that's a little less necessary with a wish-passing cleric.
 
Last edited:

ZemoUR

Wanderer
Hey everyone, can somebody tell me how many EVs do i have to put on Wobbuffet so it reaches 576 HP at level 100, or 288 HP at level 50? (It has a perfect HP IV)
 

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone, can somebody tell me how many EVs do i have to put on Wobbuffet so it reaches 576 HP at level 100, or 288 HP at level 50? (It has a perfect HP IV)

Assuming a perfect HP IV, you need 220 HP EVs.
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
Could someone recommend me one more move to fill the last spot for my Calm Meganium?
~ Aromatherapy
~ Synthesis / Leech Seed
~ Dragon Tail
~ ????

Not giga drain please since its a transfer only move and I can't get it.
 

ChaosBlizzard

Crit Happens.
Could someone recommend me one more move to fill the last spot for my Calm Meganium?
~ Aromatherapy
~ Synthesis / Leech Seed
~ Dragon Tail
~ ????

Not giga drain please since its a transfer only move and I can't get it.

It's a shame Giga Drain isn't an option; that's really probably the best move for it. If rebreeding or otherwise re-acquiring it is a possibility, I would try and get a Careful one instead and go for Petal Blizzard; it's strong, reliable STAB, and Meganium's attack stat is only one point less than its special attack. Switching to Careful will make Dragon Tail hit harder too, although I realize that's not the point. If you're stuck with Calm, I guess Grass Pledge is the strongest special STAB it gets that isn't Giga Drain or something ridiculous like Solarbeam. I'd really try and re-evaluate how impractical it would be to get Giga Drain though.
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
It's a shame Giga Drain isn't an option; that's really probably the best move for it. If rebreeding or otherwise re-acquiring it is a possibility, I would try and get a Careful one instead and go for Petal Blizzard; it's strong, reliable STAB, and Meganium's attack stat is only one point less than its special attack. Switching to Careful will make Dragon Tail hit harder too, although I realize that's not the point. If you're stuck with Calm, I guess Grass Pledge is the strongest special STAB it gets that isn't Giga Drain or something ridiculous like Solarbeam. I'd really try and re-evaluate how impractical it would be to get Giga Drain though.

yeah I really want it to learn gigadrain but there isn't really a way I can get a chicorita with giga drain without getting one from gen 5 right? I want all my pokemon to have my OT ID.
 

ChaosBlizzard

Crit Happens.
yeah I really want it to learn gigadrain but there isn't really a way I can get a chicorita with giga drain without getting one from gen 5 right? I want all my pokemon to have my OT ID.

According to the Pokedex, yeah, it's a transfer only move. However, if I might offer my opinion, Meganium is a bottom-of-the-barrel NU 'mon to start with; not giving it one of the best moves in its arsenal just because a number completely irrelevant to combat and which is only shown on one screen anyway is different than the corresponding number for the rest of its teammates is not a reasonable thing to do. If you can get a usable one with Giga Drain, you really should. Besides, if it is from a different OT, it will level faster. If that's really out of the question though, then yeah, Careful + Petal Blizzard or Calm + Grass Pledge I guess.
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
According to the Pokedex, yeah, it's a transfer only move. However, if I might offer my opinion, Meganium is a bottom-of-the-barrel NU 'mon to start with; not giving it one of the best moves in its arsenal just because a number completely irrelevant to combat and which is only shown on one screen anyway is different than the corresponding number for the rest of its teammates is not a reasonable thing to do. If you can get a usable one with Giga Drain, you really should. Besides, if it is from a different OT, it will level faster. If that's really out of the question though, then yeah, Careful + Petal Blizzard or Calm + Grass Pledge I guess.

ah, alright then. Ill breed a calm one and teach gigadrain on my white and transfer it :) thanks!
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
Do you think my Hasty/Naive Mega Absol needs Sword dance?
~Sucker punch
~Play Rough
~Fireblast / Flamethrower
~Sworddance?
Also, which nature di you think is better, hasty or naive?
 
Do you think my Hasty/Naive Mega Absol needs Sword dance?
~Sucker punch
~Play Rough
~Fireblast / Flamethrower
~Sworddance?
Also, which nature di you think is better, hasty or naive?

I'd say Night Slash in that last slot to give you a reliable STAB when the opponent isn't actually attacking.

For Absol, it really can go either way, but Naive is best to reduce damage taken from stray priority hits.
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
I'd say Night Slash in that last slot to give you a reliable STAB when the opponent isn't actually attacking.

For Absol, it really can go either way, but Naive is best to reduce damage taken from stray priority hits.

Okay, but how to deal with Fairies?
 
Okay, but how to deal with Fairies?

Absol is going to die to the weakest Fairy Wind anyway, so naive nature doesn't really matter. To deal with them, you need team support. Things like Scizor and Excadrill are best to tank their STAB and hit them on their weaker Defense.
 

Ryohei

Shiny Hunter
Absol is going to die to the weakest Fairy Wind anyway, so naive nature doesn't really matter. To deal with them, you need team support. Things like Scizor and Excadrill are best to tank their STAB and hit them on their weaker Defense.

Alright thank you!

What do you think about my Mega Gengar:
Timid
~Focus Blast
~Shadowball
~Sludge Bomb
~Substitute/Dazzling Gleam/Disable?
 
Alright thank you!

What do you think about my Mega Gengar:
Timid
~Focus Blast
~Shadowball
~Sludge Bomb
~Substitute/Dazzling Gleam/Disable?

Mega Gengar is an Uber by Smogon's rules, so you would have to be using this exclusively on Wifi.

As for the set, it's relatively standard. Consider Destiny Bond in the last slot to get a guaranteed kill when you're on your last legs.
 

Psynergy

Strong Winds
Staff member
Super Mod
So I figure I'd ask for some advice here. I'm trying to recreate a PS team I've been using so that I can use it in Y. For this team, I'm running Modest (252 HP /252 SpA) Rotom-H, and I didn't want to breed for Hidden Power (which is Dark). The question is, what could I run in place of Hidden Power, with the other moves being Volt Switch, Overheat and Will-o-Wisp? My team utilizes a lot of VoltTurning and Sticky Web, if that helps.
 
So I figure I'd ask for some advice here. I'm trying to recreate a PS team I've been using so that I can use it in Y. For this team, I'm running Modest (252 HP /252 SpA) Rotom-H, and I didn't want to breed for Hidden Power (which is Dark). The question is, what could I run in place of Hidden Power, with the other moves being Volt Switch, Overheat and Will-o-Wisp? My team utilizes a lot of VoltTurning and Sticky Web, if that helps.

Pain Split is the best option; it's even better than Hidden Power IMO. Since you run comparatively little bulk investment when compared to other Rotom sets, and you're weak to Stealth Rock, you'll be taking a lot of damage over the course of the match. As such, Pain Split has great merit on that set.
 

Psynergy

Strong Winds
Staff member
Super Mod
Pain Split is the best option; it's even better than Hidden Power IMO. Since you run comparatively little bulk investment when compared to other Rotom sets, and you're weak to Stealth Rock, you'll be taking a lot of damage over the course of the match. As such, Pain Split has great merit on that set.

Pain Split is transfer-only, so I can't do that one, unfortunately. I'd be running it over Hidden Power otherwise. My team doesn't particularly like Rocks, so I have support for that when I need it.
 
Pain Split is transfer-only, so I can't do that one, unfortunately. I'd be running it over Hidden Power otherwise. My team doesn't particularly like Rocks, so I have support for that when I need it.

Alright then, you can either use Thunderbolt or Rest in that last slot.

Thunderbolt gives you a consistent STAB for when you don't want to switch out.

Meanwhile, Rest with a Chesto Berry gives you one free instant heal for when you are running low.

It's your choice.
 
Top