My VGC 2013 gravity team

[TurboMechaElgyem]

VGCs are coming up fast, and by now many of you entering have probably built your teams and are in the process of testing them. I've been testing my team for a while now on random matchup and I would really like some input on it for the sake of improvement. As you can guess from the title, this team incorporates gravity, which I've discovered functions incredibly well in the VGC environment.

Starmie@focus sash
-scald
-blizzard
-gravity
-protect
252 sp atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Natural cure
Timid

Starmie is my primary lead on this team and aims to set up gravity as fast as possible. From there, it lets loose with blizzards and scalds to get rid of troublesome pokemon. The reason I chose scald is because the burn chance helps with physical sweepers that would otherwise ruin my team, though I am strongly considering switching to surf.

Crobat@flying gem
-taunt
-acrobatics
-hypnosis
-protect
4 hp 252 atk 252 speed
Inner focus
Jolly

Where starmie is my lead, crobat is my anti-lead, specializing in disruption of other team's leads. Taunt stops trick room, acrobatics eliminates frail pokemon like infernape, and hypnosis gets 100% accuracy under gravity (same with blizzard). I considered using whimsicott here, but crobat ultimately won me over with inner focus (good-bye, fake out abusers) and hypnosis.

Infernape@fire gem
-fake out
-heat wave
-earthquake
-protect
108 atk 144 sp atk 252 speed
Blaze
Hasty

Infernape's purpose is to annoy the opponent and quickly take out annoyances such as scizor. Fake out is great for disruption, buying my teammate a free turn. fire-gem boosted heat wave puts a serious dent in most pokemon, and earthquake takes advantage of gravity while damaging those who resist heat wave.

Garchomp@yache berry
-earthquake
-dragon rush
-crunch
-protect
252 atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Sand veil
Jolly

With stats in just the right places, STAB earthquake, and a low-accuracy STAB in the form of dragon rush, garcomp seems to be tailor-made for gravity abuse. Those two moves have near-perfect coverage under gravity, with crunch taking down the one thing that resists those two moves: Shedinja
Yache berry allows me to take an ice beam from a kingdra and strike back for an OHKO.

Metagross@ occa berry
-gravity
-meteor mash
-bullet punch
-Earthquake
252 hp 252 atk 4 speed
Clear body
Adamant

Metagross is the heart of my team, setting up gravity if it wears off and abusing it like crazy with it's three attacks, which, like garchomp's STABs, are resisted by almost nothing. Sadly, these four moves leave no room for protect or explosion, but this thing is strong enough to take an earthquake with this spread of EVs.

Sceptile@life orb
-giga drain
-focus blast
-dragon pulse
-detect
252 sp atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Overgrow
Timid

Finally, we have one of the most underestimated pokemon in VGCs. Sceptile is an offensive beast, 2HKOing all but the bulkiest pokemon and getting back health with giga drain. Focus blast always hits under gravity, while dragon pulse gets rid of things like salamence and garchomp.

How is it? Tell me what you think I could improve on.

 

[TurboMechaElgyem]

Bump.

Seriously. I really want some input.

 

[chrisv.987]

Let's see... You'll probably want to switch to Surf on Starmie, seeing as most things don't survive long enough in doubles to warrant burns anyways. Crobat is fine, give Garchomp Stone Edge over Crunch because it works well under Gravity, still hits Shedinja, and Skarmory won't wall you as bad. Infernape and Sceptile just seem off to me but I don't really know what to suggest so just leave them for now. Metagross is fine.

 

[jstinftw!]

Let's see... You'll probably want to switch to Surf on Starmie, seeing as most things don't survive long enough in doubles to warrant burns anyways. Crobat is fine, give Garchomp Stone Edge over Crunch because it works well under Gravity, still hits Shedinja, and Skarmory won't wall you as bad. Infernape and Sceptile just seem off to me but I don't really know what to suggest so just leave them for now. Metagross is fine.

I'm a bit iffy about these suggestions. No offense or anything, but it seems to me that these suggestions are more fitted for Singles, whereas VGC plays by Doubles Standards.

By all means, test it out, but Stone Edge on Garchomp may sound better, but it would really only allow Garchomp to take on Zapdos and Thundurus with less fear. Your team would then have very little to work against Cresselia, who is rampant in the Metagame (although Garchomp to counter Cress? When most Cress carry Ice Beam? I'd beware, but don't let that stop you.) I agree with the bit on Starmie, Scald is lackluster compared to Starmie's bulk. You'll most likely faint before burning anything. Surf, however, is probably not the answer, as your partners will not likely appreciate the hit, especially since your team is made up of frailer Pokemon.

That being said, let's move on to my own review, so I can get a little more in-depth with my reviews.

VGCs are coming up fast, and by now many of you entering have probably built your teams and are in the process of testing them. I've been testing my team for a while now on random matchup and I would really like some input on it for the sake of improvement. As you can guess from the title, this team incorporates gravity, which I've discovered functions incredibly well in the VGC environment.

I agree with the Gravity bit. A friend of mine is a huge Gravity nut, and now has two teams built around the strategy. I've faced one of the teams, and let me tell you, they were scary situations.

Starmie@focus sash
-scald
-blizzard
-gravity
-protect
252 sp atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Natural cure
Timid

Starmie is my primary lead on this team and aims to set up gravity as fast as possible. From there, it lets loose with blizzards and scalds to get rid of troublesome pokemon. The reason I chose scald is because the burn chance helps with physical sweepers that would otherwise ruin my team, though I am strongly considering switching to surf.

I used to run Starmie as well, on my only non-Trick Room team. I wasn't very pleased, but let's keep talking about yours.

I would probably play around with the EVs. Don't put everything into speed, as Starmie's base Speed outspeeds pretty everything worth outspeeding in the metagame. With Timid, Starmie's natural Speed (115) goes up to 126, if my memory serves me right, and thus outspeeds pretty much everything without a Choice Scarf. I would put those EVs into HP>Speed, since Gravity would require a turn of set-up, and Starmie will be pretty much useless if it gets hit.

Also, instead of Scald (or Surf as suggested), I would go with Hydro Pump. You're putting up Gravity anyways, why not hit as hard as possible?

Otherwise, sure thing. I wouldn't lead with it though, since you probably want your Gravity lead to be bulky, so as to survive more than one turn, but it's up to you. If playtesting proves it works, don't change it.

Crobat@flying gem
-taunt
-acrobatics
-hypnosis
-protect
4 hp 252 atk 252 speed
Inner focus
Jolly

Where starmie is my lead, crobat is my anti-lead, specializing in disruption of other team's leads. Taunt stops trick room, acrobatics eliminates frail pokemon like infernape, and hypnosis gets 100% accuracy under gravity (same with blizzard). I considered using whimsicott here, but crobat ultimately won me over with inner focus (good-bye, fake out abusers) and hypnosis.

Personally, I would reconsider the EVs and nature on this one. Crobat's base 130 speed already outspeeds everything. I don't think it even needs Jolly, since it's so fast. Maybe put that in HP again, and run Adamant>Jolly.

Move-wise, he's pretty good.

Infernape@fire gem
-fake out
-heat wave
-earthquake
-protect
108 atk 144 sp atk 252 speed
Blaze
Hasty

Infernape's purpose is to annoy the opponent and quickly take out annoyances such as scizor. Fake out is great for disruption, buying my teammate a free turn. fire-gem boosted heat wave puts a serious dent in most pokemon, and earthquake takes advantage of gravity while damaging those who resist heat wave.

I would probably focus on either Physical or Special Attack with Infernape. I know mixed is really good for this monkey, but 101 base Attack/Special Attack doesn't really do wonders in a metagame full of bulkier Pokemon. Focusing on one rather than both makes you hit significantly harder as opposed to just dipping your toes into all fronts.

Garchomp@yache berry
-earthquake
-dragon rush
-crunch
-protect
252 atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Sand veil
Jolly

With stats in just the right places, STAB earthquake, and a low-accuracy STAB in the form of dragon rush, garcomp seems to be tailor-made for gravity abuse. Those two moves have near-perfect coverage under gravity, with crunch taking down the one thing that resists those two moves: Shedinja
Yache berry allows me to take an ice beam from a kingdra and strike back for an OHKO.

Garchomp @ Haban Berry
Jolly
36 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 196 SpDef / 156 Speed
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
-Substitute
-Protect

Garchomp, in comparison with Hydreigon, has a slightly more unique set. Just like Hydreigon, Garchomp’s EVs allow it to outspeed neutral base 100 and 102 Pokémon. The 36 HP / 196 SpDef EVs, along with Haban Berry, maximize the chances of surviving Dragon Gem Draco Meteors from Latios, while the 116 Attack EVs ensure that Garchomp can OHKO Latios back with Dragon Claw. Substitute is a great move for Garchomp as it allows me to outpredict versus opposing Dragons and Ground weak Pokémon. It can also abuse Swagger and Sand Veil to increase the chances of getting a Substitute up if it comes down to it, and a Garchomp behind a Substitute is something no one wants to be facing down.

That is the set Ray Rizzo, three time World Champion of VGC, used with Garchomp. Barring Dragon Claw, I think it would be something to look into.

Metagross@ occa berry
-gravity
-meteor mash
-bullet punch
-Earthquake
252 hp 252 atk 4 speed
Clear body
Adamant

Metagross is the heart of my team, setting up gravity if it wears off and abusing it like crazy with it's three attacks, which, like garchomp's STABs, are resisted by almost nothing. Sadly, these four moves leave no room for protect or explosion, but this thing is strong enough to take an earthquake with this spread of EVs.

Metagross @ Lum Berry
Adamant (14 Speed IV)
252 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 136 SpDef
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Headbutt
-Earthquake
-Protect

Steel-types are a must in this metagame with all the Dragons firing off Gem-boosted Draco Meteors. Whether you chose Metagross, Scizor, or Heatran was up to what team you were using, but you couldn’t really get away without a Steel-type. I like Metagross the best, and he fit into my team seamlessly. Metagross’ 14 Speed IV puts Metagross at 82 Speed, just one point above my Cresselia. This means if Trick Room is up, Cresselia can Swagger my own Metagross, giving it +2 Attack after the Lum Berry, and then Metagross can attack in the same turn. This ensures that I am making the most of my turns under Trick Room to deal the most damage to my opponents. Having Metagross and Cresselia in the back for a late game clean up sweep in Trick Room can change the momentum of a game completely. The moves themselves are standard. I used Earthquake over Bullet Punch because I expect to be going first in Trick Room, and I need to hit other Metagross hard. 252 HP and 4 Def allow it t always survive +2 Metagross Earthquakes, and the Attack EVs let it OHKO 252 HP / 4 Def Rotoms at +2 with Zen Headbutt.

That one is also Ray's set for Metagross. I think Gravity could replace Earthquake, as you have a lot of Pokemon using EQ already, and not enough Pokemon resisting/immune to Earthquake.

Sceptile@life orb
-giga drain
-focus blast
-dragon pulse
-detect
252 sp atk 4 sp def 252 speed
Overgrow
Timid

Finally, we have one of the most underestimated pokemon in VGCs. Sceptile is an offensive beast, 2HKOing all but the bulkiest pokemon and getting back health with giga drain. Focus blast always hits under gravity, while dragon pulse gets rid of things like salamence and garchomp.

It's ok. I don't really know when you'd use Sceptile other than against Rain teams, maybe overly reliant Sand teams, but you're right when you say it's underrated.

Are you capable of breeding in Hidden Power? HP Ice would be vastly more useful than Dragon Pulse, as non-STAB Dragon Pulse really is an extremely situational move. Not bad though. I particularly fear Haban Berry Dragons, as it will prevent the important OHKO and Sceptile won't likely be able to stand up to taking more than one or two hits in retaliation.

Again though, I'd move the EV's over to HP. Sceptile will always appreciate the bulk, and is already faster than most Pokemon. Modest is also probably better, seeing as 105 Special Attack vs. 120 Speed in a metagame where the fastest a Pokemon gets is at Base 110, but is significantly more bulky? More power is likely to be more helpful.

How is it? Tell me what you think I could improve on.

FWG Core, Steel type as Dragon resist, counter to Fake Out and Gravity leads to set up? I'm ok so far. Your coverage is pretty solid, hitting most of the Pokemon that need to be hit. You will probably want to make sure you have a way of dealing with Trick Room outside of Taunt, just to be sure. Also, Intimidate could ruin some of the effectiveness your Pokemon may have against Intimitop. A big problem in your team is bulk; most of your Pokemon aren't. VGC, being a Doubles metagame, rely on your Pokemon being able to take hits. If your Pokemon takes out one, but your opponent takes out the 2 in the same turn, you are playing a 2v3 game, and it's possible they'll do the same thing the following turn, ending it 0-2.