My 2011 VGC Team

[DBK]

INTRO

This is my potential team for the 2011 VGCs. I haven't made a proper team before (I usually patch one together from the teams that I see here and practice with it on PO). Most of the sets here are cut and paste from the Team Building Guide thread (some from the Single Rates thread) with one or two tweaks.

The idea was to be prepped for the more common teams while still being able to withstand the not-so-common ones, for the most part.

I actually put up 9 pokemon here because I have been testing with different combinations of 6 but have yet to be consistently successful. So any advice on which 6 to use would be appreciated.

This is for the VGCs. So 5th gen only, doubles, item clause, species clause, wifi clause, no Sky Drop. and pokemon are reduced to lvl 50 (if over lvl 50).

Alright, long intro over. On to the team.

TEAM

@ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpAtk/252 Spe
Nature: Hasty
- Discharge
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power (Ice)
- Swagger/Nasty Plot​

He is my disabler/special sweeper. Swagger to confuse (and potentially score a self hit) then spam whatever is effective at the moment. His should be able to out-speed most (although PO seems to think otherwise). I thought about Thunder Wave in place of Swagger because of the speed reduction, but I've had more success with Swagger. Life Orb to boost everything. The nature is not the best, but I am stuck with it.

*****NOTE*****
Thundurus is the only one of the 9 that I really want on my team. Advice on which of the remaining 8 should be used will be appreciated.
*****NOTE*****

@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- X-Scissor
- Rock Slide​

He is my physical sweeper. He is there to spam whatever is most effective. His nature (which I am also stuck with) coupled with the scarf makes him as fast as Thundurus, so he should be able to hit hard and fast. He's got decent defenses, so he should be able to take a few regular and non-effective hits (and maybe 1 or 2 effective hits).

@ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 120 HP/252 Atk/136 SpDef
Nature: Adamant
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
- Rock Slide/Poison Jab​

Another physical sweeper. Flame Orb with Guts equals Steroids. Drain punch for healing. Mach punch for priority hit. Payback for revenge hitting. Rock Slide to hit both opponents with possible flinch, or Poison Jab for those annoying grass pokemon (Whimsicott and Amoonguss). His speed sucks but he should be able to take a hit be fore attacking or he can use Mach Punch and get a strong hit in quick.

@ Choice Band
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Outrage
- Dual Chop
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake​

Yet another physical sweeper. Choice Band boosts everything. Outrage and Dual Chop get STAB and pretty much OHKOs almost everything. The other two to hit both opponents. It's speed is decent, but it gets out-sped more often than I would like and for some reason gets OHKOed more often than not (PO doesn't like him apparently).

@ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP/252 SpDef/252 Spe
Nature: Modest
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast/U-Turn
- Surf​

A special sweeper. Since he manages to get out-sped often, Sash keeps him alive to get a really hard hit in. Draco Meteor and Dark Pulse for STAB, the other two for coverage. Didn't put EVs in SpAtk since the nature takes care of it, so put them in speed, since he needs that boost badly.

@ Shell Bell
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/4 SpDef
Nature: Bold
- Ice Beam
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Water Spout
​

A special tank. Leftovers and Water Absorb (when paired with Hydreigon) keep it alive. Water Spout and Shadow Ball gets STAB, the rest for coverage. There to take out the fighters and dragons. Has proven to be useful.

@ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP/252 Def/252 SpDef
Nature: Bold
- Leach Seed
- Substitute
- Shadow Ball/Energy Ball
- Toxic/Encore​

A special wall.I know another pokemon already has Leftovers, but I could use this pokemon in place of the other. Standard Whimsicott. Toxic/Encore, then SubSeed. Shadow/Energy Ball for coverage. Haven't tested it yet, but opponents who use it have been trouble for me.

@ Flying Gem
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Stone Edge
- Acrobatics
- Dragon Claw
- U-Turn​

A speedy physical sweeper. Acrobatics destroys, thanks to STAB and Flight Gem. The other three for coverage. U-Turn to hit and run. He should out-speed most and hurt like hell. Haven't tested it yet.

@ Ground Gem
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 Atk/4 SpAtk/252 Spe
Nature: Naive
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power (Ice)​

Yet another (there's quite a bit, huh?) physical sweeper. Earthquake gets STAB, destroys those that aren't immune. Stone Edge and Hidden Power for coverage. Protect for scouting purposes if I lead with him (and some defense against ice users). A speedy killer.


That's it for the team. As you can see, my basic strategy is to disable, and then hit hard and fast. I seem to have a bit of an ice weakness as well as a Trick Room weakness (although I think the Pranksters should help with that). I also have a hard time with Protect users. Any help is appreciated.

EDIT: Changes in BOLD.

 

[subnormalmeat]

A few things:
1) Watch out for enemy Conkeldurrs. All you have against them is your Archaeops, which can get put to 1/2 health with a mach punch, and your Jellicent, which most likely will not OHKO one.

2) Whimsicott cannot learn Spore. It can only learn Grasswhistle, which has 55% accuracy. I would suggest Stun Spore/Toxic/Taunt/Encore, all of which work really well. Also, you should switch U-turn to Shadow Ball or Energy Ball as if you're taunted you have to switch, ruining your subseed combo.

 

[darkrai's_shadow]

why use discharge on thundurus? why not thunderbolt?

 

[DBK]

Shoot I thought It could learn Spore. Hmmm, I guess I can use either Toxic or Encore.

Shadow Ball or Energy Ball, huh? Guess I'm going to have to test to see which works more consitantly.

Yeah, enemy Conkeldurrs are really annoying. I can usually take them out with outrage and 2HKO them with Draco Meteor, though.

Discharge hits both opponents, has a high chance of paralysis, and many of my pokemon can take the hit.

 

[JASP01]

Forget Hax; he's too predictable.
Hydreigon is good, but I'd consider running U-turn. Forget EV'ing defenses; those don't matter at all for him... As far as 5th gen goes, he either outspeeds or shouldn't worry about defenses.
I really like the idea of running Jellicent and Hydreigon together. Sounds good. Consider putting Shell Bell on Jell though, because I'd use Whims as well.
Whims: I normally wouldn't like the idea of using this guy as a non-lead, but I think he could be good to ease situations... Come in, stun-spore a trouble-maker, then sub-seed. Makes it easier on you, and harder on them.
Landorus>Terakion IMO, but lose Protect. Lead with Hyd and Jell.
The others seem a little slow to sweep, and you need 1 more. Archaeops is good, except anything reducing his HP below 1/2 ruins him.
I would consider running an Ulgamoth. Different typing, and once it sets up (which you should send it out the moment you can), it works as a wall and a sweep. These are very hard to take down... And if a counter comes out, just switch out, and use Whims.

Anyhow, these are just what I suggest.

 

[darkrai's_shadow]

oh yeah, forgot this was vgc, sorry :3 a good team to run at the start could be landorus and thundurus, thundurus can use discharge without hurting landours, and landorus can freely use earthquake

 

[subnormalmeat]

Yeah, a Priority spore would be way overpowered. I was so happy that it also didn't get sleep powder

Btw, Thundurus and Landorus were made for each other. Discharge+Earthquake=Lots of damage to anything (except grass). Also, i would suggest Nasty Plot on Thundurus so you can take advantage of it's ability. Just keep an eye out for ice guys.

And on a side note, all your guys are pretty frail. Jellicent and Conkeldurr can take hits, but as they're slow, it doesn't always work out. Whims is ok, but it gets scraped by Chandelure, which is quite common. Just remember that none of your guys can take a bunch of hits like a Ferrothorn can

 

[darkrai's_shadow]

the purpose for walls and tanks isnt to outspeed pokemon, thats what sweepers are for. walls are used to just flat out block pokemon, no wall is fast. tanks are used to absorb damage while bulking up and healing, and then destroy anything that dares go in front of them, again, not fast (though they usually have a priority move, like conkeldurr with mach punch)

 

[DBK]

And on a side note, all your guys are pretty frail. Jellicent and Conkeldurr can take hits, but as they're slow, it doesn't always work out. Whims is ok, but it gets scraped by Chandelure, which is quite common. Just remember that none of your guys can take a bunch of hits like a Ferrothorn can

That Hydreigon has been able to take hits, as well as Terrakion, minus ice/dragon moves. But with Terrakion's speed, it's really more of an annoyance then a problem.

 

[subnormalmeat]

Terrakion's EV's are usually in Speed and Attack, so it loses a lot, even though it has good base stats. It has better defensive stats than say, an Amoongus, yet Amoongus is a lot tougher because that's where it's ev's are. I rarely see a bulky Terrakion, though it works well.

And don't tell me Hydriegon can take hits. It's weak to Fighting, Bug, Ice, and Dragon, all of which people carry, especially Fighting. It has problems taking a mach punch. I guess if you max out it's sp att IV's and put none in speed, it could take a couple hits, but then it would get destroyed by Hax. Really, speed is necessary for Hydriegon, while defenses are pretty useless. It's why I dislike it and Hax for doubles

 

[DBK]

Terrakion's EV's are usually in Speed and Attack, so it loses a lot, even though it has good base stats. It has better defensive stats than say, an Amoongus, yet Amoongus is a lot tougher because that's where it's ev's are. I rarely see a bulky Terrakion, though it works well.

And don't tell me Hydriegon can take hits. It's weak to Fighting, Bug, Ice, and Dragon, all of which people carry, especially Fighting. It has problems taking a mach punch. I guess if you max out it's sp att IV's and put none in speed, it could take a couple hits, but then it would get destroyed by Hax. Really, speed is necessary for Hydriegon, while defenses are pretty useless. It's why I dislike it and Hax for doubles

Based on my PO testing, it has survived much. It's speed and draco meteor has saved it more often than not. It does get KOed often, but not often enough to not make it viable.

Terrakion has been a beast, especially with that speed. It's nature doesn't hurt it much since it's only a slight rise in levels.

 

[UsernameSayWha?]

I wuld scratch the Legendarys because of their nature. Terrakions Nature to be honest SUCKS for what you want him to do. Try to find a Jolly one over GTS.

 

[DBK]

I wuld scratch the Legendarys because of their nature. Terrakions Nature to be honest SUCKS for what you want him to do. Try to find a Jolly one over GTS.

My Terrakion has been killing actually. It may not be the best nature but it works. Same with the Ramis. I have actually stated to become consistent with a certain combination (thanks to the suggestions). After I have done some more testing, I will update the OP.