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Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
I don't get it. Why are people still using Mimikyu in OU? New toy syndrome wore off a long time ago, it should have
left with Muk and Marowak. If Disguise had worked exactly like Substitute, I'd get it.
Disguise provides it room to setup and has great sweeping potential. This is aided by the fact that no Pokémon in OU resist both Ghost and Fairy at the same time.
 

ShinyHunterMaggie9186

Shiny Hunting Pro!
I’m new here but was wondering if you are going to do an article on Articuno next? I have been looking for nature suggestions for Articuno and don’t really know what to go with in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. I trust this site the most so that’s why I was wondering! Thank you for your time!
 

KillerDraco

Well-Known Member
I’m new here but was wondering if you are going to do an article on Articuno next? I have been looking for nature suggestions for Articuno and don’t really know what to go with in Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee. I trust this site the most so that’s why I was wondering! Thank you for your time!

Timid or Modest are better natures for offensive Articuno, while a defensive Articuno can make use of a Calm nature.
 

Son Salo

Member
Hi guys, im new to this. Coukd you please help me with suggestions? I have a cpuple of pokemon ready but dont know if they have good synergy. And im in doubt about the rest. Could you chose one of the ones i selected or suggest a new one. I want a expressive, original team that hasnt been seen too much
Pokemon: Greninja
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 sp. Attack
Nature: Speed up, attack down
- ice beam
- Grass knot
- Extrasensory
- Scald

Pokemon: Tyrantar
Ability: Sand stream
EVs: suggestion?
Nature: Suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion

Pokemon: Scizor
Ability: Technician
EVs: Suggestion? (I want enough power and bulk)
Nature: Sp. Attack down, attack up
- bullet punch
- bug bite
- sword dance
- roost

Pokemon: Garchomp or Mega Salamence (special) (which fits better?
Ability: Protean
EVs:..
Nature:..
- sword dance - Hyper voice
- dragon claw - Draco meteor
- Earthquake? - earthquake?
- ? - flamerhrower/hydro
pump?

Pokemon: With which pokemon can i best fill in the rest of the team:
- Drapion (bulky toxic spike)?
- Gliscor (protect, aerial ace, defog, earth quake,
toxic)?
- houndoom?
- typhlosion?
- blaziken (speed boost)?
- zapdos (relative bulk, heat wave, thunderbolt,
roost, heat wave)?
- ampharos?
- espeon?
- Umbreon?
- Gardevoir?
- Feraligatr?
- Aegislash?
- sylvally?
- furfrou (defensive ability, baby doll eyes)?
- Magmortar?
- Trevenant?
If the directly above listed pokemon arent any good at all, please give me suggestion on others and the moves for it, but consider these first please

I know im asking a lot but i would really appreciate having help building an original yet strong team.
 

ShinyHunterMaggie9186

Shiny Hunting Pro!
You know I am not too great at telling what is the best nature for certain Pokémon either! So don’t feel alone there! As far as Pokémon games which one in particular are you wanting to focus on? Is it X and Y? I would recommend looking at the Pokémon of the Week for suggestions! That’s where I go for that! If you still don’t know or can’t find a certain Pokémon in the list don’t hesitate to just simply get on this forum and ask! It’s all good! Also sorry I am not much help as far as recommending natures! I am really bad at it! As embarrassing as it is! :oops: You know how to find the Pokémon of the Week, correct? I ask this because I don’t want to bother you if you already know where to look!
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Hi guys, im new to this. Coukd you please help me with suggestions? I have a cpuple of pokemon ready but dont know if they have good synergy. And im in doubt about the rest. Could you chose one of the ones i selected or suggest a new one. I want a expressive, original team that hasnt been seen too much

What version are you playing (or are you playing on a simulator like Showdown), and what format are you building this for (Battle Spot Singles, Smogon OU, etc)?
 

Son Salo

Member
You know I am not too great at telling what is the best nature for certain Pokémon either! So don’t feel alone there! As far as Pokémon games which one in particular are you wanting to focus on? Is it X and Y? I would recommend looking at the Pokémon of the Week for suggestions! That’s where I go for that! If you still don’t know or can’t find a certain Pokémon in the list don’t hesitate to just simply get on this forum and ask! It’s all good! Also sorry I am not much help as far as recommending natures! I am really bad at it! As embarrassing as it is! :oops: You know how to find the Pokémon of the Week, correct? I ask this because I don’t want to bother you if you already know where to look!
Thanks for the reply. Yeah i do know where to find pokemon of the week. As for the game and format. I primarly want to focus on oras, but i guess the online community moved on to sun moon and so i have to too

What version are you playing (or are you playing on a simulator like Showdown), and what format are you building this for (Battle Spot Singles, Smogon OU, etc)?
Hi, thanks for the reply. I want to get good at Oras and/or sun and moon. I want to create a strong competitive team to fight a friend, but definitely not with ubers. So i guess im looking for help for battle spot singles.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Hi, thanks for the reply. I want to get good at Oras and/or sun and moon. I want to create a strong competitive team to fight a friend, but definitely not with ubers. So i guess im looking for help for battle spot singles.

Alright, well let's get into it then. We'll start with the three Pokemon you've made a solid decision on already; Greninja, Tyranitar, and Scizor.

Pokemon: Greninja
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 Speed, 252 sp. Attack
Nature: Speed up, attack down
- ice beam
- Grass knot
- Extrasensory
- Scald

This set actually looks pretty good. The nature you're looking for is Timid, and you should dump the extra 4 EVs into either Defense or Sp. Def. I notice you're missing an item, you probably want to run Life Orb on a set like this. I would also recommend considering Hydro Pump over Scald. The lower accuracy may be undesirable, but equally undesirable is if Scald fails to get a KO that Hydro Pump would have gotten. Greninja doesn't have the highest Sp. Atk stat and appreciates the extra power Hydro Pump can bring it. I'd also consider Dark Pulse over Extrasensory. As this is ORAS, the chief target of Extrasensory (Toxapex) isn't present, meaning it only hits a few niche Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur for particularly high damage. Dark Pulse allows Greninja to threaten some common Pokemon such as Aegislash, Mega Gengar, and Cresselia. You could also consider running it over Grass Knot as Grass Knot's targets aren't amazingly common either, but in my opinion it has more merit in ORAS than Extrasensory does. One last move to consider is Spikes over either of the aforementioned moves, as Greninja can take advantage of switches that it forces to set them and rack up passive damage that way.

Pokemon: Tyrantar
Ability: Sand stream
EVs: suggestion?
Nature: Suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion
- suggestion

Right, so Tyranitar is a very versatile Pokemon that can pull off a number of different roles. For this particular team, I'm leaning towards this set, but there's plenty of room for customization:


tyranitar.gif

Tyranitar @
Bag_Shuca_Berry_Sprite.png
Shuca Berry
Relaxed nature (+Def, -Speed) - Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defence, 4 Attack
--Stone Edge
-Foul Play
-Fire Blast
-Thunder Wave

Max HP and Defense gives him some pretty significant physical bulk, being able to survive powerful physical hits such as Earthquakes from Life Orb Mamoswine and +1 Mega Salamence. The leftovers are dumped into Attack, but can realistically be put anywhere you want them. Shuca Berry gives him an easier time stomaching these hits, as well as more punishing moves such as +2 Mega Kangaskhan's Earthquake. Leftovers, Lum Berry, and Focus Sash are all reasonable alternative items. Stone Edge is your main STAB option, especially useful for destroying the likes of Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y (and X for that matter) as well as generally being your strongest option against most threats. Foul Play is quite important in VGC for punishing the likes of Mega Kangaskhan and Salamence for trying to set up on him, being able to deal devastating damage to both if those choose to boost against him. Fire Blast nails Ferrothorn, Scizor, and Skarmory, who are all fairly common switchins to Tyranitar, and the former two of which Greninja appreciates being weakened or removed. There's a lot of flexibility with what you can do with your last slot. I personally slotted Thunder Wave there as it's useful for crippling switchins and faster Pokemon in general, but Ice Beam, Superpower, Roar, Earthquake, and Rock Tomb are all viable alternatives, each with their own uses.
Pokemon: Scizor
Ability: Technician
EVs: Suggestion? (I want enough power and bulk)
Nature: Sp. Attack down, attack up
- bullet punch
- bug bite
- sword dance
- roost

Judging by how this team is coming along so far and the other Pokemon you wish to consider putting on it, I'm thinking Scizor should be your Mega Evolution. Greninja appreciates a bulky pivot who can switch into Fairy and Grass types, while Tyranitar appreciates a check to common Fairy types such as Sylveon, Clefable, and Mega Gardevoir. This is the set I'd recommend;

scizor-mega.gif

Scizor @
Bag_Scizorite_Sprite.png
Scizorite
Adamant nature (+Attack, -Sp. Atk) - Technician
EVs: 252 HP, 108 Attack, 28 Def, 116 Sp. Def, 4 Speed
-Bullet Punch
-U-Turn
-Swords Dance
-Roost

This Scizor set acts as both a bulky pivot, sponging powerful attacks that your other Pokemon may not be able to handle, as well as a revenge-killer and late game cleaner with Swords Dance and Bullet Punch. The EV spread allows him to avoid 2HKOs from Landorus-Therian's Earthquake and Mega Gengar's Shadow Ball, with the rest being put into Attack to increase his damage output. Bullet Punch and Roost are pretty self-explanatory. Swords Dance lets you clean up a weakened team late game after you've worn down the opposing team. Finally U-Turn lets him pivot out of suspected switches and gives your frailer attackers like Greninja more opportunities to come in and dish out some damage. Bug Bite is an alternative that synergizes better with Swords Dance, but most games you won't be trying to sweep with Scizor until the opposing team is weakened enough for Bullet Punch to finish them anyways, and the pivotting abilities that U-Turn gives you are far more valuable.
Pokemon: Garchomp or Mega Salamence (special) (which fits better?
Ability: Protean
EVs:..
Nature:..
- sword dance - Hyper voice
- dragon claw - Draco meteor
- Earthquake? - earthquake?
- ? - flamerhrower/hydro
pump?

As you've probably already guessed, the fact that I slotted Scizor as the Mega means I'm leaning more towards Garchomp on this team. Mega Salamence is one of the most commonly used Pokemon in BSS and I think avoiding it would help preserve the unique nature that you want the team to represent. I also think Garchomp can fulfill a very valuable niche on this team, specifically with a TankChomp set.

garchomp.gif

Garchomp @
Bag_Rocky_Helmet_Sprite.png
Rocky Helmet
Nature: Impish (+Def, -Sp. Atk) - Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP, 156 Def, 100 Speed
-Earthquake
-Dragon Tail
-Stealth Rock
-Toxic

Garchomp glues this team together a bit, notably giving you a Stealth Rock user as well as a means of punishing things like Mega Kangaskhan, who loses over half its health for using a contact move on this variant of Garchomp. The EV spread makes him quite bulky physically, while the Speed investment lets him outspeed some notable threats such as max Speed Tyranitar and Jolly Bisharp. If these benchmarks aren't important to you, you could simply move them all into Defense. Earthquake is used as his main STAB move, and even without investment it still does solid amounts of damage. Dragon Tail is mainly used to shuffle opponents around, racking up Stealth Rock damage, phasing opponents who might try to set up on him, and potentially spreading Toxic. Stealth Rock is perhaps the single most valuable move in the game in a 6v6 Singles setting. It racks up a ton of free damage over the course of the match, and discourages Pokemon who are weak to it from even coming in, as well as breaking Focus Sashes/Sturdy/Multiscale, etc. Finally Toxic cripples many common switchins to Garchomp and in general lets you wear down bulky opponents, putting them within range of your teammates.
Pokemon: With which pokemon can i best fill in the rest of the team:
- Drapion (bulky toxic spike)?
- Gliscor (protect, aerial ace, defog, earth quake,
toxic)?
- houndoom?
- typhlosion?
- blaziken (speed boost)?
- zapdos (relative bulk, heat wave, thunderbolt,
roost, heat wave)?
- ampharos?
- espeon?
- Umbreon?
- Gardevoir?
- Feraligatr?
- Aegislash?
- sylvally?
- furfrou (defensive ability, baby doll eyes)?
- Magmortar?
- Trevenant?

Hmm. I think Zapdos can potentially fit onto this team quite nicely. Your team needs a Fighting resist, and extra checks to Mega Salamence never hurt.

zapdos.gif

Zapdos @
Bag_Leftovers_Sprite.png
Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Attack) - Static
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Atk
-Discharge
-Heat Wave
-Roost
-Defog

So this is a pretty simple and standard defensive Zapdos set. Bold with maximum HP and Defence maximize his physical bulk, and most of the Pokemon he checks (Mega Pinsir, Mega Salamence, Excadrill, etc) tend to be physical attackers. Leftovers is the item of choice but Rocky Helmet could also be considered as the extra chip damage to physical attackers is very nice. Discharge is chosen as his STAB move as it still has quite respectable power, but packs a nice 30% chance to induce paralysis. Thunderbolt is a slightly stronger alternative with a lower paralysis chance, it's a matter of preference really. Heat Wave toasts opponents such as Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, and can give Bisharp who switch in expecting to gain a Defiant boost from Defog a nasty surprise. Roost keeps him healthy throughout the match, while Defog resets hazards, which can be useful if you allowed your opponent to set up too many hazards or are in a matchup that requires you to switch often. However, your team isn't particularly weak to hazards, so I think could actually do without a remover if you choose. In that case, Toxic and Hidden Power Ice are both good options to use instead, but getting your hands on a Hidden Power Ice Zapdos on a cart could be tricky.

Finally, for the last slot I'm thinking a Fairy of some kind would glue your team together nicely. There's a couple options for you to consider. On the list of Pokemon you gave, Gardevoir is the only Fairy, and unfortunately it's not really the best choice for this team. One thing I notice your team is currently lacking is a solid wincon. Scizor can sweep if the opposing team is weakened, but outside of that you're relying on chipping your opponent down to beat them, and if they can outlast you, you're in trouble. I think Clefable would fit this team better than Gardevoir, but if you're set on using Gardevoir, however, I think a Scarf set would be your best option. Here are the sets I'd recommend for these Pokemon;​


gardevoir.gif

Gardevoir @
Bag_Choice_Scarf_Sprite.png
Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid (+Speed, -Attack) - Trace
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 4 Sp. Def, 252 Speed
-Psyshock
-Moonblast
-Focus Blast
-Trick

Pretty simple set. Choice Scarf patches up Gardevoir's fairly disappointing Speed stat and allows it to revengekill slower Pokemon and Pokemon who don't boost their Speed. Psyshock and Moonblast are the STABs of choice. Psyshock notably allows Gardevoir to hit special walls a bit harder, but unfortunately it won't do much against the most common special walls such as Chansey. Focus Blast deals the most damage to Steel-types that resist its STABs and allows Gardevoir to act as a very solid check to Flash Cannon-less Heatran, amongst other threats. Finally, Trick is useful for crippling walls that Gardevoir can't really otherwise deal with, such as the aforementioned Chansey. Healing Wish is an alternative to consider that can fully heal a weakened teammate once Gardevoir's usefulness has expired.


clefable.gif

Clefable @
Bag_Leftovers_Sprite.png
Leftovers
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Attack) - Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Defence, 4 Sp. Def
-Moonblast
-Flamethrower
-Calm Mind
-Moonlight

This is one of my favorite Clefable sets, and allows Clefable to act as a very solid wincon once certain opponents have been removed such as Heatran, which the rest of your team can definitely handle. Max HP and Defence maximize its physical bulk and synergize well with the Sp. Def boosts from Calm Mind, making him overall quite hard to take down. Magic Guard lets him absorb status moves such as Toxic and Will-O-Wisp, as well as preventing damage from Sandstorm (valuable as you have Tyranitar on your team) and opposing entry hazards.Moonblast is used as the primary STAB move, while Flamethrower rounds out the coverage and hits Steel-types hard such as Ferrothorn and Scizor. Calm Mind lets Clefable act as a wincon, boosting its otherwise mediocre Sp. Atk to potentially quite scary levels and letting it sweep once checks are weakened or removed. Finally, Moonlight is used for recovery, to help him set up and keep him healthy. Softboiled is arguably better than Moonlight especially since you have a Tyranitar on your team, but getting a Softboiled Clefable could prove difficult, and I believe there's some legality issues with it in ORAS Battle Spot formats.

Here's an overview/importable of the team with Gardevoir;

https://pokepast.es/dd07b99449421510

And here's one with Clefable;

https://pokepast.es/71879777bcbb1e6a

All in all I think this makes for a pretty solid bulky offensive team. You'll need to play carefully around opponents like Mega Kangaskhan, but that's true for most Battle Spot teams. Another opponent to watch out for is Volcarona, but pressuring it with Tyranitar and Greninja as well as keeping Stealth Rocks up will allow you to overcome it without too much difficulty. That being said, if you find Volcarona to be too problematic, you could consider running Tanga Berry on Tyranitar. It's a bit unconventional but it would work.

Hope some of this helped, and good luck with your team and future battles!




 

Son Salo

Member
First of all I want to thank you for your time. This is so cool! So interesting to read what you've come up with.
Type and move synergy and coverage should be good with this team you created, right? Also who would you generally want to put out first? And who would you say is the main threat and most dangerous on this team?

Up until now I gave Greninja lax incense so he would survive longer cause he is fragile. I didnt want life orb because his survivability will drop more. But one hit ko'ing others makes him survive longer. And because he has poor defences he probably wouldn't survive a good hit anyway. And I put grass knot and extrasensory on Greninja for type coverage since I didnt have grass and psychic moves.

Previously I had two Tyranitars. Didnt know which item to give though:
A defensive one (sassy):
- stealth rock
- payback
- power up punch
- earthquake
A offensive one (Adamant)
- rock slide
- earthquake
- ice fang
- crunch
Do they look good? Of course I didnt necessarily make the sets with team synergy in mind like you

With Scizor it makes sense to use mega on him since I won't be using Mega Salamence. But this gets rid of lum berry. Im afraid Scizor is over and done when he's burned. And im thinking I can use the bulk of mega scizor to sword dance, so i dont need the technician ability anyway? Those 2 were the reasons I was avoiding using Mega scizor up until now. Also before, I had bug bite on scizor which profits from technician. Very useful in battle maison, it sometimes heals me with a sitrus or gets rid of a lum berry or something. Dont those appear frequently online? With revenge killer and late game sweeper I assume it means finishing off weakened pokemon easily? Who is the 4 ev speed useful against?

The Garchomp set is unique and unexpected since most people would see him as the main sweeper. Before, I had this Garchomp (jolly + sand veil for combo with sand stream Tyranitar, but I found it hard to switch in the storm because it doesn't last long):
- sword dance
- earth quake
- dragon claw
- fire fang
* ev: 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 hp

Before I had pretty weird moves with gardevoir:
- will o wisp
- protect
- moon blast
- psychic

I think I'll roll with the clefable though. Wauw Magic guard is amazing! Maybe I can switch in Clefable when expecting a status move on Scizor? And why is soft boiled better (especially with Ty?)

Just in case I dont want any legendary, who would you put in place of zapdos? I'm assuming Volcarona/skarmory cant take his place and push the team forward (looking at type coverage/synergy?
You helped me so much forward. Could you please comment on the thoughts I had before on Greninja's, Tyranitar's moves, Scizor's item and the other questions I have? I'm not questioning you, I just want to understand the online and this team better. You are awesome!





[/QUOTE]
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
First of all I want to thank you for your time. This is so cool! So interesting to read what you've come up with.
Type and move synergy and coverage should be good with this team you created, right? Also who would you generally want to put out first? And who would you say is the main threat and most dangerous on this team?

Mhm, the one slight concern I'd have with type synergy is that your only Water resist is Greninja, who is rather frail, so you do need to be somewhat careful if you encounter a Rain team, but it's nowhere near an unwinnable matchup for you (and Rain teams are fairly uncommon in BSS anyways). Smart play with Tyranitar, Zapdos, and Greninja would let you overcome a Rain team pretty easily.

Generally I'd want to lead with Garchomp to get Stealth Rocks up as early as possible, but learning to examine your opponent's team on team preview and try to figure out which Pokemon they're going to lead with, and how to appropriately counter that Pokemon is a skill you should definitely try to develop. If, for example, your opponent has a Landorus-Therian, and nothing else on their team can learn Stealth Rock, there's a very good chance their Landorus-Therian is carrying it, and that they will lead with it. In that case, you might want to lead with Greninja as Greninja can threaten Landorus-Therian with Ice Beam or Hydro Pump.

The main threat in most matchups is probably going to be Clefable or Scizor, but it's important to remember that each Pokemon has a role to play on this team.
Up until now I gave Greninja lax incense so he would survive longer cause he is fragile. I didnt want life orb because his survivability will drop more. But one hit ko'ing others makes him survive longer. And because he has poor defences he probably wouldn't survive a good hit anyway. And I put grass knot and extrasensory on Greninja for type coverage since I didnt have grass and psychic moves.

Yeah, generally this is a trap a lot of players fall into, but if you miss out on a KO that you would have gotten with a Life Orb, chances are you're going to take a lot more damage than just the 10% Life Orb takes. Either way I wouldn't really recommend an RNG-based item like Lax Incense, even if you really wanted to avoid the recoil from Life Orb, you'd probably be better off with a different damage-boosting item like an Expert Belt or Mystic Water. Greninja is a Pokemon that really wants to avoid being hit as much as possible, and the best way for him to do it is to KO the opponent before they have an opportunity to hit him. Life Orb is the best item for this while retaining the ability to switch moves. I don't really think Extrasensory is going to offer you any particularly valuable coverage. Perhaps against Mega Venusaur but you already have so many ways to wear down Mega Venusaur that it shouldn't be a problem, and Mega Venusaur isn't very common in BSS where Mega Salamence runs rampant. Grass Knot on the other hand would help you a bit in the Rain matchup, but like I said before Rain really isn't a very common playstyle in ORAS and it's already not exactly autowinning against you.

Previously I had two Tyranitars. Didnt know which item to give though:
A defensive one (sassy):
- stealth rock
- payback
- power up punch
- earthquake
A offensive one (Adamant)
- rock slide
- earthquake
- ice fang
- crunch
Do they look good? Of course I didnt necessarily make the sets with team synergy in mind like you

They're not bad, but I don't really think either of these is quite optimal for the format you're building for. If you really want to use one of these, I'd lean towards the second one, but with Ice Punch over Ice Fang and Stone Edge over Rock Slide. Ice Punch is almost a strict upgrade to Ice Fang, especially for Tyranitar. It doesn't have Ice Fang's Flinch chance, but Tyranitar is slow enough that it's not usually going to have a chance to Flinch most things anyways. Stone Edge's accuracy might be frustrating, but it has a higher average base power than Rock Slide even factoring in accuracy, so in general it's the better choice. You could put a Choice Band on this particular Tyranitar set and put in work with it, I think that would actually be a pretty good alternative to the set I posted.


With Scizor it makes sense to use mega on him since I won't be using Mega Salamence. But this gets rid of lum berry. Im afraid Scizor is over and done when he's burned. And im thinking I can use the bulk of mega scizor to sword dance, so i dont need the technician ability anyway? Those 2 were the reasons I was avoiding using Mega scizor up until now. Also before, I had bug bite on scizor which profits from technician. Very useful in battle maison, it sometimes heals me with a sitrus or gets rid of a lum berry or something. Dont those appear frequently online? With revenge killer and late game sweeper I assume it means finishing off weakened pokemon easily? Who is the 4 ev speed useful against?

Being burned is quite a problem for Scizor, but as it so happens a lot of the most common Pokemon who use moves like Scald and Will-O-Wisp are Pokemon who Scizor can't really deal with anyways, such as Rotom-W and Heatran. If you predict a Will-O-Wisp coming, Clefable is the perfect sponge for it as Magic Guard negates the passive damage, and Clefable doesn't care about the Attack drop as it's not using any physical attacks. In a pinch, Zapdos and Greninja can also take it. Neither of them like the passive damage but both are unaffected by the Attack drop. Either way, Lum Berry is only a temporary solution in most cases anyways, as Scizor lacks the capability of taking out most burn-inducing Pokemon before they simply burn him again.

Technician is the only ability Mega Scizor has, but it's still good on him as it boosts the power of Bullet Punch by 50%, which means you need less damage to be able to clean up with him. Bug Bite isn't a bad option by any means, but U-Turn is usually better. Mega Scizor is one of the best pivots in the game, and U-Turn gives your other Pokemon tons of free opportunities to come in.

Revengekilling means that if an opponent KOs one of your Pokemon but is weakened in the process, Scizor can often come in and finish it off with Bullet Punch, as Bullet Punch's priority negates any Speed advantage they might have. The 4 Speed EVs are aren't actually all that useful for anything, but thanks to the way EVs are calculated at level 50 (and BSS drops your level to 50 during the battle), it's the only stat you can put them in that will actually give you a point in. If you're playing at level 100, you can put them in Attack instead.

The Garchomp set is unique and unexpected since most people would see him as the main sweeper. Before, I had this Garchomp (jolly + sand veil for combo with sand stream Tyranitar, but I found it hard to switch in the storm because it doesn't last long):
- sword dance
- earth quake
- dragon claw
- fire fang
* ev: 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 hp


I've actually used pretty much that same Garchomp set before myself. It's a good set in its own right, but on this team I think Garchomp is better off fulfilling other roles by carrying the ever-important Stealth Rock and punishing Mega Kangaskhan with Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin. Your team appreciates the chip damage that Helmet + Rough Skin can induce in general, even against opponents other than Mega Kangaskhan, as well as the passive damage that Stealth Rock incurs.

Before I had pretty weird moves with gardevoir:
- will o wisp
- protect
- moon blast
- psychic

I think I'll roll with the clefable though. Wauw Magic guard is amazing! Maybe I can switch in Clefable when expecting a status move on Scizor? And why is soft boiled better (especially with Ty?)


Mmm, I'm inclined towards Clefable on this team. Softboiled is better because it has more PP (10/16 compared to Moonlight's 5/8), and because Moonlight only heals 33% of the users HP if the weather is rain, hail, or sandstorm (but heals 75% if the weather is bright sunlight). This means you have to be somewhat careful with it while Tyranitar's sandstorms are active as it'll only be healing 1/3rd its HP with Moonlight instead of 1/2.

Just in case I dont want any legendary, who would you put in place of zapdos? I'm assuming Volcarona/skarmory cant take his place and push the team forward (looking at type coverage/synergy?
You helped me so much forward. Could you please comment on the thoughts I had before on Greninja's, Tyranitar's moves, Scizor's item and the other questions I have? I'm not questioning you, I just want to understand the online and this team better. You are awesome!

I actually think Skarmory would be your next best bet. He doesn't have the same kind of type synergy that Zapdos has with the rest of the team but he does check a lot of the same threats, like Mega Pinsir and physical Mega Salamence. He also doesn't have anywhere near the offensive presence that Zapdos has though, and with Skarmory I think Rain would be more of a concern than it is now. I definitely don't think Volcarona would be the right choice. Running Volcarona without a way to remove Stealth Rock is generally not a good idea as Stealth Rock strips half of its HP simply for switching in, which is obviously a problem.


And it's no problem, I'm happy to help. I'm going to bed soon, but if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them tomorrow. Don't worry about questioning me, that's good. Everything should be questioned, that's how you understand it.

 

Son Salo

Member
Mhm, the one slight concern I'd have with type synergy is that your only Water resist is Greninja, who is rather frail, so you do need to be somewhat careful if you encounter a Rain team, but it's nowhere near an unwinnable matchup for you (and Rain teams are fairly uncommon in BSS anyways). Smart play with Tyranitar, Zapdos, and Greninja would let you overcome a Rain team pretty easily.

Generally I'd want to lead with Garchomp to get Stealth Rocks up as early as possible, but learning to examine your opponent's team on team preview and try to figure out which Pokemon they're going to lead with, and how to appropriately counter that Pokemon is a skill you should definitely try to develop. If, for example, your opponent has a Landorus-Therian, and nothing else on their team can learn Stealth Rock, there's a very good chance their Landorus-Therian is carrying it, and that they will lead with it. In that case, you might want to lead with Greninja as Greninja can threaten Landorus-Therian with Ice Beam or Hydro Pump.

The main threat in most matchups is probably going to be Clefable or Scizor, but it's important to remember that each Pokemon has a role to play on this team.


Yeah, generally this is a trap a lot of players fall into, but if you miss out on a KO that you would have gotten with a Life Orb, chances are you're going to take a lot more damage than just the 10% Life Orb takes. Either way I wouldn't really recommend an RNG-based item like Lax Incense, even if you really wanted to avoid the recoil from Life Orb, you'd probably be better off with a different damage-boosting item like an Expert Belt or Mystic Water. Greninja is a Pokemon that really wants to avoid being hit as much as possible, and the best way for him to do it is to KO the opponent before they have an opportunity to hit him. Life Orb is the best item for this while retaining the ability to switch moves. I don't really think Extrasensory is going to offer you any particularly valuable coverage. Perhaps against Mega Venusaur but you already have so many ways to wear down Mega Venusaur that it shouldn't be a problem, and Mega Venusaur isn't very common in BSS where Mega Salamence runs rampant. Grass Knot on the other hand would help you a bit in the Rain matchup, but like I said before Rain really isn't a very common playstyle in ORAS and it's already not exactly autowinning against you.



They're not bad, but I don't really think either of these is quite optimal for the format you're building for. If you really want to use one of these, I'd lean towards the second one, but with Ice Punch over Ice Fang and Stone Edge over Rock Slide. Ice Punch is almost a strict upgrade to Ice Fang, especially for Tyranitar. It doesn't have Ice Fang's Flinch chance, but Tyranitar is slow enough that it's not usually going to have a chance to Flinch most things anyways. Stone Edge's accuracy might be frustrating, but it has a higher average base power than Rock Slide even factoring in accuracy, so in general it's the better choice. You could put a Choice Band on this particular Tyranitar set and put in work with it, I think that would actually be a pretty good alternative to the set I posted.




Being burned is quite a problem for Scizor, but as it so happens a lot of the most common Pokemon who use moves like Scald and Will-O-Wisp are Pokemon who Scizor can't really deal with anyways, such as Rotom-W and Heatran. If you predict a Will-O-Wisp coming, Clefable is the perfect sponge for it as Magic Guard negates the passive damage, and Clefable doesn't care about the Attack drop as it's not using any physical attacks. In a pinch, Zapdos and Greninja can also take it. Neither of them like the passive damage but both are unaffected by the Attack drop. Either way, Lum Berry is only a temporary solution in most cases anyways, as Scizor lacks the capability of taking out most burn-inducing Pokemon before they simply burn him again.

Technician is the only ability Mega Scizor has, but it's still good on him as it boosts the power of Bullet Punch by 50%, which means you need less damage to be able to clean up with him. Bug Bite isn't a bad option by any means, but U-Turn is usually better. Mega Scizor is one of the best pivots in the game, and U-Turn gives your other Pokemon tons of free opportunities to come in.

Revengekilling means that if an opponent KOs one of your Pokemon but is weakened in the process, Scizor can often come in and finish it off with Bullet Punch, as Bullet Punch's priority negates any Speed advantage they might have. The 4 Speed EVs are aren't actually all that useful for anything, but thanks to the way EVs are calculated at level 50 (and BSS drops your level to 50 during the battle), it's the only stat you can put them in that will actually give you a point in. If you're playing at level 100, you can put them in Attack instead.



I've actually used pretty much that same Garchomp set before myself. It's a good set in its own right, but on this team I think Garchomp is better off fulfilling other roles by carrying the ever-important Stealth Rock and punishing Mega Kangaskhan with Rocky Helmet + Rough Skin. Your team appreciates the chip damage that Helmet + Rough Skin can induce in general, even against opponents other than Mega Kangaskhan, as well as the passive damage that Stealth Rock incurs.




Mmm, I'm inclined towards Clefable on this team. Softboiled is better because it has more PP (10/16 compared to Moonlight's 5/8), and because Moonlight only heals 33% of the users HP if the weather is rain, hail, or sandstorm (but heals 75% if the weather is bright sunlight). This means you have to be somewhat careful with it while Tyranitar's sandstorms are active as it'll only be healing 1/3rd its HP with Moonlight instead of 1/2.



I actually think Skarmory would be your next best bet. He doesn't have the same kind of type synergy that Zapdos has with the rest of the team but he does check a lot of the same threats, like Mega Pinsir and physical Mega Salamence. He also doesn't have anywhere near the offensive presence that Zapdos has though, and with Skarmory I think Rain would be more of a concern than it is now. I definitely don't think Volcarona would be the right choice. Running Volcarona without a way to remove Stealth Rock is generally not a good idea as Stealth Rock strips half of its HP simply for switching in, which is obviously a problem.


And it's no problem, I'm happy to help. I'm going to bed soon, but if you have any more questions I'd be happy to answer them tomorrow. Don't worry about questioning me, that's good. Everything should be questioned, that's how you understand it.

Thank you very much. This has certaintly been helpful. Im going to put the Clefable-team together!
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Thank you very much. This has certaintly been helpful. Im going to put the Clefable-team together!

Sorry for tagging you, but I just remembered there's a legality issue with HA Zapdos having Defog in ORAS. Since Defog is only available to Zapdos in Gens 4 and 7, and hidden abilities weren't released until gen 5, Zapdos can't have both its hidden ability and Defog until Sun/Moon. You could opt to run Pressure instead, or you could opt to drop Defog and run Toxic or something, as your team isn't particularly weak to entry hazards.
 

Son Salo

Member
Sorry for tagging you, but I just remembered there's a legality issue with HA Zapdos having Defog in ORAS. Since Defog is only available to Zapdos in Gens 4 and 7, and hidden abilities weren't released until gen 5, Zapdos can't have both its hidden ability and Defog until Sun/Moon. You could opt to run Pressure instead, or you could opt to drop Defog and run Toxic or something, as your team isn't particularly weak to entry hazards.
Ow wauw thank you.
Last questions for now: How would you deal with Mega Lucario and Bulky Serperior (contrary) (leaf storm, astro acid)?
Who of these 6 should be paired to get together in 3vs3 (so which pokemon absolutely need each other)? I know a lot depends on the opponent and circumstances, but van you give me a general answer?
 

Divine Retribution

Conquistador de pan
Ow wauw thank you.
Last questions for now: How would you deal with Mega Lucario and Bulky Serperior (contrary) (leaf storm, astro acid)?
Who of these 6 should be paired to get together in 3vs3 (so which pokemon absolutely need each other)? I know a lot depends on the opponent and circumstances, but van you give me a general answer?

Mega Lucario could be a threat depending on the set but Zapdos checks most sets and I believe Greninja can revengekill with Hydro Pump. Garchomp also soft checks it in a pinch. Serperior is also handled by Zapdos, and revengekilled by Greninja with Ice Beam. Variants that lack Hidden Power Fire are hard countered by Scizor.

In 3v3 formats, generally you're going to want to make sure Scizor has a switchin to Fire moves, namely Garchomp or Tyranitar. Greninja also resists Fire but its frailty and weakness to secondary types of common Fire types (Volcarona, Blaziken, etc.) means that it isn't a great switchin. Tyranitar wants Clefable or Zapdos on its team to check Fighting types, and in the face of Mega Lucario or Terrakion probably isn't worth bringing at all as giving up momentum versus them would be bad.

Greninja, on the other hand, can do work in nearly any matchup, so he should usually be one of your picks, unless your opponent has multiple answers to it. Garchomp too is useful in many matchups but might not carry its weight versus opponents like Latios or opposing Clefable.
 

Son Salo

Member
Mega Lucario could be a threat depending on the set but Zapdos checks most sets and I believe Greninja can revengekill with Hydro Pump. Garchomp also soft checks it in a pinch. Serperior is also handled by Zapdos, and revengekilled by Greninja with Ice Beam. Variants that lack Hidden Power Fire are hard countered by Scizor.

In 3v3 formats, generally you're going to want to make sure Scizor has a switchin to Fire moves, namely Garchomp or Tyranitar. Greninja also resists Fire but its frailty and weakness to secondary types of common Fire types (Volcarona, Blaziken, etc.) means that it isn't a great switchin. Tyranitar wants Clefable or Zapdos on its team to check Fighting types, and in the face of Mega Lucario or Terrakion probably isn't worth bringing at all as giving up momentum versus them would be bad.

Greninja, on the other hand, can do work in nearly any matchup, so he should usually be one of your picks, unless your opponent has multiple answers to it. Garchomp too is useful in many matchups but might not carry its weight versus opponents like Latios or opposing Clefable.
Thanks so much!
 

Son Salo

Member
Hi, I can't seem to find an opportunity to really use Tyranitar in a 3 vs 3 battle since his typing is too fragile when i see the opponents pokemon. So who would you put in his place if i were to remove him?
 

Sceptile Leaf Blade

Nighttime Guardian
Hi, I can't seem to find an opportunity to really use Tyranitar in a 3 vs 3 battle since his typing is too fragile when i see the opponents pokemon. So who would you put in his place if i were to remove him?
Tyranitar is more than just its typing. It has immense bulk, especially on the special side thanks to Sandstream, despite having quite a bunch of weaknesses. It's why Weakness Policy is such a popular item on it, Tyranitar has the bulk to take most super effective hits that aren't Fighting with confidence. Taking a super effective hit and retaliating with a +2 Stone Edge or Crunch can take out quite a lot of opponents in a single hit.
 
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