[VGC 2016] Here I Come, Rougher Than Knuckles

[ninijatt]

Hey guys, I said I'd be back once 2016 rolls around so here I am. I can see it's still a ghost town around here. Anyway, I came to terms that singles is very different from doubles so I have to come at it from a different approach than normal. So here's what I came up with. Now destroy it.

The Team

;302;

Sableye @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Hp 72 Def 184 Sp. Def
Nature: Impish
- Will-O-Wisp
- Quash
- Taunt
- Protect

A thought dawned on me, I need speed control. Why, priority quash is the definition of speed control. Let's also have priority Will O Wisp to try to erase physical attackers. Let's pack taunt with us too so only we can be obnoxious. It's VGC so let's throw in protect as well. But wait, I have no attacking moves now. Anything else with prankster can taunt it first and destroy it entirely. So I'm debating on whether or not I want Protect or Foul Play. I'm also debating on whether or not I want the heal from sitrus berry or a mental herb to block taunt. But you know what I don't like about this? It feels like him fighting dirty using an obnoxious set like this.


;065;

Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Inner Focus (Because screw breeding!)/ Trace
EVs: 4 Hp 252 Sp. Attack 252 Speed
Nature: Modest
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Dazzling Gleam

Alakazam does a lot of damage to just about everything. Dazzling Gleam hits both and tends to clean the field a lot. Mega Alakazam is fast enough to outspeed almost everything and has enough special attack to OHKO almost everything and that's just the way I like it


;149;

Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 Hp 252 Attack 252 Speed
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Punch
- Extremespeed

So I didn't change Dragonite at all since last time. I like him as he is too much. He's not as good as he is in singles but he can still outspeed and OHKO without a choice item after a DDance.


;051;

Dugtrio @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 4 HP 252 Attack 252 Speed
Nature: Jolly
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Reversal
- Sucker Punch

I know, I know. Dugtrio is bad and you're probably going to yell at me for using him. But consider this: Dugtrio is the fastest pokemon (off the top of my head) without a scarf that can use both earthquake and rock slide. See, folks like Terrakion, Krookodile and Mamoswine all need a scarf and can't change from earthquake to rock slide at the drop of a hat like Dugtrio can. To me, that makes Dugtrio a better option than anything else. Plus the sash and reversal is great, sucker punch doesn't hurt either.


:637:

Volcarona @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP 204 Def 52 Sp. Attk
Nature: Bold
- Heat Wave
- Bug Buzz
- Rage Powder
- Protect

I like to use hyper offense in singles. It's no-nonsense fisticuffs, good clean fighting for everyone involved. But this is doubles and glass cannons need to be protected. I gotta go out of my comfort zone and seek a shield to protect my fragile friends. I was in need of a hero. I came to Volcorna in it's nasty bug nest that was also on fire and pleaded for it's nightmare inducing help. It complied and also promised to not be disgusting or inhabit my nightmares. Can you tell I'm not a fan of insects? Especially, ones that are bigger than couple of inches. But I like Volcarona. I think it's cool, even if I would be horrified if this thing existed in reality. It's got rage powder which protects my team from anything that's not grass type or with overcoat... or safety goggles. You may notice I chose heat wave over the ever popular overheat, that's because it hits both targets and I'm not a fan of the decrease in special attack. A friend of mine recommended I use follow-me Clefable instead though.


;094;

Gengar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Sp. Attack 4 HP 252 Speed
Nature: Timid
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Icy Wind

Gengar is so good. Dugtrio and Gengar is more often than not, my lead of choice. Rock Slide flinch while Gengar damages with Dazzling Gleam. If you're weak to fairy, you're not gonna be standing after ZamGar Double Gleam and your buddy's not going to be looking so good either. ZamGar Double Shadow Ball? Goodbye Aegislash. Also, Whimsicott become non-existent thanks to Sludge Bomb. That's really what I said about Gengar in my last RMT because it's still true. Now let's look at what's different. I replaced Thunderbolt with Icy Wind for a tad bit more speed control and you know what? I'm not really hitting anything with Thunderbolt except Kyogre, I was going to give up Dazzling Gleam but hitting both targets is just too good to give up.


Previous Members

;143;

Snorlax @ Assualt Vest
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 4 Hp 252 Attack 252 Sp. Def
Nature: Brave
- Return
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch

I like to think swapping out pokemon from my team for doubles is like calling in a friend. It's stupid but it makes me feel less terrible for benching the pokemon that I love. Snorlax is great is singles, he's always my lead but since VGC only lets you use four out of six pokemon, having a normal type lead didn't really make the sense that it did in singles. Still, Snorlax could do quite a bit of damage and special attacks couldn't touch him. Unfortunately, getting punched is far too likely and when I only have four pokemon, I'd prefer not to get punched. Actually you know what? As I type this, I realized that due to his huge special defense, he could work wonderfully with the Sableye above. What do you guys think?

;091;

Cloyster @ King's Rock
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 216 Attack 40 Sp. Attack 252 Speed
Nature: Naive
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Hydro Pump

Cloyster is wonderful in singles. But in doubles? Shell Smash is a death sentence. Still, it could work great with Volcarona. This is why I'm including previous members, so you guys can tell me if I should rearrange my team with any past members I had.

;009;

Blastoise @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 HP 252 Sp. Attack 252 Speed
Nature: Modest
- Water Spout
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere
- Muddy Water

Blastoise was there to originally replace Snorlax, having a water type instead of a normal type made more sense since my main objective for teambuilding was to have as much coverage as humanly possible and Blastoise also happens to be my favorite pokemon but I decided I may need speed control that much more.

;025;

Pikachu-Belle @ Light Ball
Ability: Lightningrod
EVs: 216 Sp. Attack 252 Speed 40 Attk
Nature: Naive
- Protect
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Icicle Crash

Okay, so this was just for the lulz but it turned out to be surprisingly good. Having an ince type move that's not Hidden Power on Pikachu is amazing. But unfortunately, Cosplay Pikachu can't be bred so good luck getting the right nature and IVs. Also, it means no fake out.

Conclusion

So that's it. Have at it, folks!

Problems
- I feel as if I'm at a disadvantage for not using legends now that we have Xerneas and Groudon running around
- Legends cannot be bred so getting IVs and Natures is.... ugh....
-I've also caught all in-game legends and I'm too paranoid of hacks to trade. Can't breed them and I'd hate to get disqualified at a tournament for unwittingly having an illegitimate pokemon. So it looks like I'm out of luck in that department
-Good news? Mega Kanga isn't a problem anymore. Bad news? Mega Kanga isn't THE problem anymore. I have no answer to the likes of Xerneas, or the Primals
-I'm indecisive, lazy and hate breeding with a burning passion

 

[EKZ1505]

Sucks to say, but you really need 2 ubers on the team. You're at a huge disadvantage without them.

I was able to get most of the ones I have from either the forums here or from Nugget Bridge (VGC-specific forum). The people over at Nugget Bridge especially are willing to help since they all have the same problem in struggling to SR for these legends for the new meta. I understand the concerns about hacks though...if you check out some of the bigger trade shops on Nugget Bridge, those are very reliable. I can't speak for all the legends I have in my collection (since there have been very few opportunities to use some of them on ranked Battle Spot or at PCs/regional tournaments), but all the ones I have used so far (Landorus-T, 2 Thundurus, Heatran, Cresselia, Terrakion, etc.) have passed any and all hack checks, so they are legit to use. If you're stuck getting some, I'm definitely willing to help out (feel free to check out my post in either the shiny or event trading threads for what I have. Even if you don't have what I'm "specifically" looking for, we can work something out).

Now as for your current team members...

Sableye is one of my favorite Pokemon I've tested in VGC16. Your current one is extremely vulnerable to being Taunted though, especially since Sableye is one of the slowest Prankster users. I would recommend Mental Herb, but at the very least give him Foul Play (which does solid damage to pretty much every restricted legend). While most things need Protect in VGC, Sableye might be one of the exceptions that can get by without it (especially since he is immune to most Fake Outs). Is there anything in particular that EV spread does?

Alakazam is way too frail for my liking (especially with so many strong Sucker Punches around), and Psychic just isn't a great offensive typing. He could be a little more useful with a support move though. He gets some moves to change abilities (very helpful if you end up adding one of the weather ubers), but two notable moves I think could be more useful than Shadow Ball or Dazzling Gleam are Disable (very good with his high speed stat) and Magic Coat, which will protect your team from moves like Smeargle's Dark Void (very common right now) and bounce it back to the other team, giving your team a LOT of momentum.

Dragonite just isn't worth it sadly. He just can't do enough damage even after a D-Dance, and there's too many fairies around for him to effectively use his only usable STAB. His scale will easily be broken by the overwhelming number of Fake Outs in the meta, so the lack of Protect is going to really hurt Multiscale's usefulness. Leftovers isn't helping him get the Scale back. I absolutely recommend swapping him out for an uber.

Yes I'm going to yell at you for Dugtrio lol Rock Slide has lost the majority of its usefulness in this meta, especially with Charizard-Y extinct, and he is WAY too frail for this meta. If you want trapping ability, go with Mega Gengar (very good so far) or Gothitelle, both of which can support the weather ubers well.

Volcarona looks good, but he loses to both primals (you'll see mostly spread moves from them) and doesn't threaten Xerneas at all, so be careful where you bring it, even if it does handle Kangaskhan well. Gengar absolutely needs the Focus Sash, and he should have Protect over Dazzling Gleam (especially if you keep DG on Alakazam).

I don't think any of those "alternates" are really worth it, but definitely seriously consider swapping Dragonite and Dugtrio for two ubers that you like. Groudon is king right now, but Kyogre can be just as effective if you can keep the rain up. Rayquaza isn't the threat everyone thinks it is, but still can do soooo much damage and its pre-mega ability can scare off Groudon if you have water attacks. Xerneas is extremely scary setting up, and others like Dialga, Palkia, Yveltal, and Giratina (and to a lesser extent, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-oh, and Kyurem-W) can all perform well in the right situations.

Right now, you have no way to hit Groudon hard (Dugtrio is NOT a counter to it: 252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 62-74 (29.9 - 35.7%) -- 27.9% chance to 3HKO), and really aren't threatening Kyogre at all either. You definitely need your own ubers

 

[Azulart]

A currently commen way for teambuilding in VGC16 is this plan:

- Chose Primal (Kyorge or Groudon)
- Chose Uber (Any that partner up well with the primal, take Groudon and Palkia for example)
- Chose Mega (Common mega's are Scizor, Kangha, Salamence, Gengar, Mawile, Rayqauaza and Swampert here and there )
- Chose 3 support kind of pokemon (Common support pokemon are: Whimiscott, Cresselia, Smeargle, Ditto, Amoongus, Klefki, Clefable, togekiss)

Ofcourse "common" is meant for usage in general and the usage says something how much possible potential the mon has in this meta.

There are some anti-mons for this meta available, take Shedninja, golduck or lickylicky in account but its more difficult to use them properly so there
usage is a bit lower but they can still prove much worth in this metagame.

I support creativity in this metagame so don't be stuck in the common things though, heck I use Lickylicky in VGC16
and I am probably the only one lol. But don't let the creativity in teambuilding or using mons you prefer take full control though, keep in mind
that there are huge threats out there which you need to think about when teambuilding.

Judging by your team, I think you should do more research about the metagame which I have a great article for you:
http://nuggetbridge.com/forums/topic/21125-vgc-16-sample-teams-generation-showdown-posts-1-and-2/

I hope after reading and scanning the sample teams of VGC16
you will realize yourself that your team as of now won't make the cut.

Good luck and have fun !

 

[ninijatt]

Sucks to say, but you really need 2 ubers on the team. You're at a huge disadvantage without them.

I was able to get most of the ones I have from either the forums here or from Nugget Bridge (VGC-specific forum). The people over at Nugget Bridge especially are willing to help since they all have the same problem in struggling to SR for these legends for the new meta. I understand the concerns about hacks though...if you check out some of the bigger trade shops on Nugget Bridge, those are very reliable. I can't speak for all the legends I have in my collection (since there have been very few opportunities to use some of them on ranked Battle Spot or at PCs/regional tournaments), but all the ones I have used so far (Landorus-T, 2 Thundurus, Heatran, Cresselia, Terrakion, etc.) have passed any and all hack checks, so they are legit to use. If you're stuck getting some, I'm definitely willing to help out (feel free to check out my post in either the shiny or event trading threads for what I have. Even if you don't have what I'm "specifically" looking for, we can work something out).

Now as for your current team members...

Sableye is one of my favorite Pokemon I've tested in VGC16. Your current one is extremely vulnerable to being Taunted though, especially since Sableye is one of the slowest Prankster users. I would recommend Mental Herb, but at the very least give him Foul Play (which does solid damage to pretty much every restricted legend). While most things need Protect in VGC, Sableye might be one of the exceptions that can get by without it (especially since he is immune to most Fake Outs). Is there anything in particular that EV spread does?

Alakazam is way too frail for my liking (especially with so many strong Sucker Punches around), and Psychic just isn't a great offensive typing. He could be a little more useful with a support move though. He gets some moves to change abilities (very helpful if you end up adding one of the weather ubers), but two notable moves I think could be more useful than Shadow Ball or Dazzling Gleam are Disable (very good with his high speed stat) and Magic Coat, which will protect your team from moves like Smeargle's Dark Void (very common right now) and bounce it back to the other team, giving your team a LOT of momentum.

Dragonite just isn't worth it sadly. He just can't do enough damage even after a D-Dance, and there's too many fairies around for him to effectively use his only usable STAB. His scale will easily be broken by the overwhelming number of Fake Outs in the meta, so the lack of Protect is going to really hurt Multiscale's usefulness. Leftovers isn't helping him get the Scale back. I absolutely recommend swapping him out for an uber.

Yes I'm going to yell at you for Dugtrio lol Rock Slide has lost the majority of its usefulness in this meta, especially with Charizard-Y extinct, and he is WAY too frail for this meta. If you want trapping ability, go with Mega Gengar (very good so far) or Gothitelle, both of which can support the weather ubers well.

Volcarona looks good, but he loses to both primals (you'll see mostly spread moves from them) and doesn't threaten Xerneas at all, so be careful where you bring it, even if it does handle Kangaskhan well. Gengar absolutely needs the Focus Sash, and he should have Protect over Dazzling Gleam (especially if you keep DG on Alakazam).

I don't think any of those "alternates" are really worth it, but definitely seriously consider swapping Dragonite and Dugtrio for two ubers that you like. Groudon is king right now, but Kyogre can be just as effective if you can keep the rain up. Rayquaza isn't the threat everyone thinks it is, but still can do soooo much damage and its pre-mega ability can scare off Groudon if you have water attacks. Xerneas is extremely scary setting up, and others like Dialga, Palkia, Yveltal, and Giratina (and to a lesser extent, Mewtwo, Lugia, Ho-oh, and Kyurem-W) can all perform well in the right situations.

Right now, you have no way to hit Groudon hard (Dugtrio is NOT a counter to it: 252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Primal Groudon: 62-74 (29.9 - 35.7%) -- 27.9% chance to 3HKO), and really aren't threatening Kyogre at all either. You definitely need your own ubers

I was hoping you'd show up. I see you got a shiny badge for being the awesome dude you are since last time I was here. You deserve it, I don't think anyone on here has ever been as consistently helpful as you. These forums used to have a lot more RMTs and you alone are a fantastic reason to still come here.

You can tell I'm out of my comfort zone here in VGC. I consider my original six team members my signature team so it's a little frustrating that I can't really use them. I like to think 2014's Pachirisu champion is proof that anything is possible but that way of thinking is beginning to thin in my mind unfortunately. If only there was separate divisions for official tournaments for singles, triples and rotation. That would be great, I'd be fine but I digress.

Anyway, it looks like I have to rework my team from the ground up, huh? It's heartbreaking but I suppose it's what must be done. This year is the 20th anniversary of both me and pokemon after all, that's a milestone number and if I'm gonna go all the way, I've got to buck up my ideas.

Is there anyway to work around using ubers? Call it pride but I don't like it. I mean, I'll do it if I have to, I'm already about to bench my old pals and since I can't bring my first pokemon, Blastoise out from gen 2, I shouldn't let emotional attachment get in the way anyway. This is how I convince myself to do things I'm reluctant to do, I'm crazy. Anyway if I have to use them, Xerneas and P-Don are looking pretty good to me. Xerneas for Dazzling Gleam on proverbial steroids and P-Don for the physical equivalent with Precipice Blades and a whopping base 180 attack. Mixed attacker P-Don actually really interests me. But, those actually seem to be the most common ubers and I don't want to use what just about everyone else will be using. You saw Worlds 2015, right? Almost every team was the same. Landorus, Landorus everywhere. That being said, I have a jolly shiny Rayquaza from an event like a few months ago, I'll have to check it's IVs though but if it's good, I might use M-Quaza in place of Dnite.

I'll definitely use Mental Herb on Sableye and Foul Play in place of Protect. Thanks for helping me with that decision. As for it's Evs, I was going for a defensive spread since it won't really be using it's offensive stats even with Foul Play and Prankster kinda eliminates the need for speed (There's no way it can out speed anything else with prankster anyway) but is there anything you would recommend?

Glass cannon like Alakazam seem to have a hard time thanks to sucker punch but that's what Volcarona is for, to eat the sucker punches. Magic Coat sounds really interesting and I think I might want that. I don't know about disable though, only being able to use Psychic really hurts Alakazam as a glass cannon. If I go full support, I don't really need Volcarona, huh?

RIP Dragonite if only you had more spread moves. I've mentioned swapping him for M-Quaza but that's still kinda iffy.

Dugtrio doesn't use Earthquake much often nowadays and Rock Slide is used exclusively for flinch now, I don't see Talonflame anymore and like you said Charizard-Y is extinct. I'm not sure what I'd want to take Trio's place though.

Volcarona is great with all the glass cannon I've got, it eats Mega-Kanga and makes Cloyster usable but there is a problem with spread moves. Specifically Origin Pulse. I was thinking that maybe I'd like to swap it out for a Hitmontop or Mienshao. that can use both Wide Guard and Quick Guard. A friend of mine recommended Clefable but I'm considering Friend Guard Clefairy. I was actually thinking that I might want to keep Volcarona and swap Dugtrio out for Hitmontop. Oh and I have one question that you might hate, what do you think of Parasect?

As for gengar, if I'm taking out Dugtrio, I'll slap a focus sash on him. I'm not too concerned with trapping. It's just that Arena Trap is better than Sand Veil and as a revenge killer, Dugtrio wants you to stay in and die but for trapping in general, I'm not too concerned about it. Right now, I don't have much in the way of physical attackers compared to the amount of special attacker I have. I'm not sure if that's a problem though.

So yeah. Thanks again for stopping by, man. You're always a big help.

A currently commen way for teambuilding in VGC16 is this plan:

- Chose Primal (Kyorge or Groudon)
- Chose Uber (Any that partner up well with the primal, take Groudon and Palkia for example)
- Chose Mega (Common mega's are Scizor, Kangha, Salamence, Gengar, Mawile, Rayqauaza and Swampert here and there )
- Chose 3 support kind of pokemon (Common support pokemon are: Whimiscott, Cresselia, Smeargle, Ditto, Amoongus, Klefki, Clefable, togekiss)

Ofcourse "common" is meant for usage in general and the usage says something how much possible potential the mon has in this meta.

There are some anti-mons for this meta available, take Shedninja, golduck or lickylicky in account but its more difficult to use them properly so there
usage is a bit lower but they can still prove much worth in this metagame.

I support creativity in this metagame so don't be stuck in the common things though, heck I use Lickylicky in VGC16
and I am probably the only one lol. But don't let the creativity in teambuilding or using mons you prefer take full control though, keep in mind
that there are huge threats out there which you need to think about when teambuilding.

Judging by your team, I think you should do more research about the metagame which I have a great article for you:
http://nuggetbridge.com/forums/topic/21125-vgc-16-sample-teams-generation-showdown-posts-1-and-2/

I hope after reading and scanning the sample teams of VGC16
you will realize yourself that your team as of now won't make the cut.

Good luck and have fun !

I actually knew this coming in here. I more or less came for a wake-up slap and you delivered. I guess I'm just too creative for my own good. The formula you've given is a really nice template to follow and I'll be sure to remember it. I don't want to use the same team as just about everyone else but I'm also aware that my team is more suited toward singles. It's frustrating, but I've come to terms with that fact. I'm still waiting for the day I can walk into a tournament, waving my Team Kanto flag.Thanks, man.

 

[EKZ1505]

I was hoping you'd show up. I see you got a shiny badge for being the awesome dude you are since last time I was here. You deserve it, I don't think anyone on here has ever been as consistently helpful as you. These forums used to have a lot more RMTs and you alone are a fantastic reason to still come here.

You can tell I'm out of my comfort zone here in VGC. I consider my original six team members my signature team so it's a little frustrating that I can't really use them. I like to think 2014's Pachirisu champion is proof that anything is possible but that way of thinking is beginning to thin in my mind unfortunately. If only there was separate divisions for official tournaments for singles, triples and rotation. That would be great, I'd be fine but I digress.

Anyway, it looks like I have to rework my team from the ground up, huh? It's heartbreaking but I suppose it's what must be done. This year is the 20th anniversary of both me and pokemon after all, that's a milestone number and if I'm gonna go all the way, I've got to buck up my ideas.

Is there anyway to work around using ubers? Call it pride but I don't like it. I mean, I'll do it if I have to, I'm already about to bench my old pals and since I can't bring my first pokemon, Blastoise out from gen 2, I shouldn't let emotional attachment get in the way anyway. This is how I convince myself to do things I'm reluctant to do, I'm crazy. Anyway if I have to use them, Xerneas and P-Don are looking pretty good to me. Xerneas for Dazzling Gleam on proverbial steroids and P-Don for the physical equivalent with Precipice Blades and a whopping base 180 attack. Mixed attacker P-Don actually really interests me. But, those actually seem to be the most common ubers and I don't want to use what just about everyone else will be using. You saw Worlds 2015, right? Almost every team was the same. Landorus, Landorus everywhere. That being said, I have a jolly shiny Rayquaza from an event like a few months ago, I'll have to check it's IVs though but if it's good, I might use M-Quaza in place of Dnite.

I'll definitely use Mental Herb on Sableye and Foul Play in place of Protect. Thanks for helping me with that decision. As for it's Evs, I was going for a defensive spread since it won't really be using it's offensive stats even with Foul Play and Prankster kinda eliminates the need for speed (There's no way it can out speed anything else with prankster anyway) but is there anything you would recommend?

Glass cannon like Alakazam seem to have a hard time thanks to sucker punch but that's what Volcarona is for, to eat the sucker punches. Magic Coat sounds really interesting and I think I might want that. I don't know about disable though, only being able to use Psychic really hurts Alakazam as a glass cannon. If I go full support, I don't really need Volcarona, huh?

RIP Dragonite if only you had more spread moves. I've mentioned swapping him for M-Quaza but that's still kinda iffy.

Dugtrio doesn't use Earthquake much often nowadays and Rock Slide is used exclusively for flinch now, I don't see Talonflame anymore and like you said Charizard-Y is extinct. I'm not sure what I'd want to take Trio's place though.

Volcarona is great with all the glass cannon I've got, it eats Mega-Kanga and makes Cloyster usable but there is a problem with spread moves. Specifically Origin Pulse. I was thinking that maybe I'd like to swap it out for a Hitmontop or Mienshao. that can use both Wide Guard and Quick Guard. A friend of mine recommended Clefable but I'm considering Friend Guard Clefairy. I was actually thinking that I might want to keep Volcarona and swap Dugtrio out for Hitmontop. Oh and I have one question that you might hate, what do you think of Parasect?

As for gengar, if I'm taking out Dugtrio, I'll slap a focus sash on him. I'm not too concerned with trapping. It's just that Arena Trap is better than Sand Veil and as a revenge killer, Dugtrio wants you to stay in and die but for trapping in general, I'm not too concerned about it. Right now, I don't have much in the way of physical attackers compared to the amount of special attacker I have. I'm not sure if that's a problem though.

So yeah. Thanks again for stopping by, man. You're always a big help.

Sorry for the late reply.

Anything can be usable depending on the meta, but it can be tougher to use certain things. If you don't use any of the restricted legends, you are already at a disadvantage purely from a total base stats perspective. If you are a skilled battler, you can definitely overcome this against lessor opponents, but it's just so much more difficult given how crazy the Primals and Xerneas are. Just don't expect to be doing well in tournaments without them :/

Groudon is really common, but there's a lot of different moves to choose from and ways to support it, which is what is making this format very interesting so far. Worlds 2015 was a little disappointing in Pokemon diversity (masters at least. Seniors was actually very interesting), but it was very interesting to not see a single Scarfed Lando-T (the most popular item for it online), as well as a number of other surprises on every team (Goggles Thundurus, for example). I give those players a lot of credit for coming up with their strategies, but they also did well because so many opposing teams lacked great M-Kangaskhan counters, because they had been common early in the season. Rayquaza works well to screw up opposing weathers, especially so you can hit opposing Groudon with water moves.

Sableye's EVs might be ok, I was just curious. I've seen some max SpDef ones, but I'm not sure if that helps it live anything like Eruption or Water Spout, so maybe check out some damage calcs for fun.

Quick Guard and especially Wide Guard are awesome in this format. Quick Guard is nice against Prankster users and Talonflame, but its main use is against Fake Out (you have to be faster than the Fake Out user though). Hitmontop was very popular the last time that some uber legends were available (2010), and I've seen some Mienshao used well. It gets its own Fake Out (faster than Kang's) and can OHKO M-Kangaskhan, but watch out for ones that don't mega evolve right away that have Inner Focus. I haven't seen Clefairy yet but Friend Guard is awesome and Clefairy gets some nice speed control. Only (minor) problem is that you are locked into Eviolite.

No, I don't hate that question at all I'm actually using Parasect right now lol he is very weak to Taunt, but other than that he is absolutely amazing, especially against Trick Room. He has surprising bulk, and really supports the team well. I would absolutely recommend using him, especially on a rain team.

Let me know if you need help with anything else or obtaining any restricted 'mons

 

[ninijatt]

With the power of your advice, I have constructed this team on showdown. I've pretty much reworked it from the ground up.

Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Quash
- Foul Play

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Protect
- Magic Coat
- Dazzling Gleam

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpA
Naughty Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Solar Beam
- Protect

Hitmontop (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpD
Impish Nature
- Quick Guard
- Wide Guard
- Fake Out
- Close Combat

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Bold Nature
- Follow Me
- Icy Wind
- Heal Pulse
- Protect


It's been working pretty well. I ditched Rayquaza for Xerneus. I thought I was brilliant using waterfall on Rayquaza to handle Groudon but it didn't work out for anything other than Groudon. My shiny Rayquaza ended up having not so great IVs anyway. Pity.
It's actually kinda sad to see Alakazam being the only remnant of my original team left but I guess it had to be done. At least Alakazam destroys Smeargle which basically guarantees a win. I know you said my team would gain a lot of momentum but I didn't think you meant all of it.
I used to have Mach Punch on Hitmontop but I decided to go for Close Combat since I wasn't using Technician.
Clefairy's Friend Guard has been awesome especially with Alakazam. However, it doesn't really do much outside of Friend Guard. I'm wondering if Unaware Clefable might actually be a bigger help.
I guess it's time to swallow my pride but I'm not sold on the ubers I want to use. These two are working out great and all but I feel cheap using arguably the two best ubers in the meta. I feel like I just kinda threw these on the team because you can't go wrong with these guys. Alternatively, I was thinking about using a Palkia with gravity but I haven't gotten around to trying it out yet. I got really excited when I saw my Groudon had really great IVs until I saw that it's Nature was Calm. For the IV spreads and natures I'm using right now for my Ubers, I just went with the PS recommended build which I know isn't the best, I would much rather use a Relaxed Groudon than a Naughty one.
Now that Alakazam is basically a support pokemon, there is a disturbing lack on offense on my team right now. I also have trouble with things like Ho-Oh that resist all my offensive moves.
I've been thinking about taking 12 Ivs out of Hitmontop's HP and putting them incase I would need to outspeed priority. I was thinking about using Mienshao instead due to it being faster albeit less defenses.

I really want to use Parasect but I just can't seem to fit him anywhere, I was thinking about using Kyogre but I don't really think that's worth it for Parasect. I also got a perfect Mawile but I don't think I want to give up Alakazam. Bouncing back Dark Void is just too valuable to give up. I also got a perfect Froakie but this isn't singles so Greninja isn't going to get me anywhere. I also got a perfect shiny Mareep but again, that's not going to do me any good.

I just feel like I have all these options and don't know what to do with them. I haven't had the time to try out all of my options which I guess is why I'm here.

Anyway, thanks again for stopping by. What you do think?

 

[EKZ1505]

Sableye looks good, as does Alakazam. I would probably go Timid to ensure you outspeed Gengar before you mega evolve, but that's very minor as long as you recognize that you might need to Protect to get the speed boost. You reach a speed stat of 202 after mega evolving, but generally only need to be at 201 (to outspeed M-Gengar and Crobat), so you could put 4 EVs in 2 of the 3 defensive stats. Very minor, but you never know when it may help you just barely survive an attack. Have you found Dazzling Gleam useful? Shadow Ball seems like it might be more useful (against Giratina and especially Aegislash), but maybe you've experienced otherwise.

Groudon is wasting EVs (anything divisible by 8 is wasting 4 EVs at lvl 50, assuming a perfect IV of 31). Just go max HP. Since hazards are nonexistent, the only time even or odd HP stats matter is if the Pokemon is holding a Sitrus Berry, in which case you'll want to have an even HP stat. I like mixed Groudon a lot, but what is Solarbeam for? Kyogre? I don't think it's worth it, especially if you ever get locked into it when the opponent changes the weather. Precipice Blades still does so much more damage, and you don't need to rely on the sun staying up:

252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Primal Kyogre: 117-138 (56.5 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Primal Groudon Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Kyogre: 88-104 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

Hitmontop is also wasting EVs. 56 EVs in Def gives the same stat as 52 EVs, as does 200 and 196 EVs in SpDef, so you can take 4 out of either stat and add it to the other. Other than that he looks good.

I think Xerneas should be max Spd (and I prefer Timid on Geomancy sets to outspeed all the legends in the base 90-99 base speed range (and to at least speed tie other Geomancy Xerneas), but Modest is ok too). It's really nice to get to +2 SpDef before you get hit with an Eruption, Origin Pulse, Water Spout, etc. Just 12 EVs in Def also guarantee that an Adamant M-Kang's Double-Edge can't OHKO you, but since you have Intimidate support I don't think it's completely necessary.

Clefairy is also wasting EVs like Hitmontop with that spread, but looks good otherwise. I've always preferred Clefable, but Unaware seems like it would often be useless since the main setup Pokemon in the format (Xerneas) typically runs a spread move in Dazzling Gleam. I haven't seen any Power-Up-Punch M-Kangs, but I know they're around so you may find Clefable useful for that.

There's definitely other options for ubers. I love Kyogre so far, and well-known players have found success so far with Ho-oh, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Yveltal. I've seen a couple of awesome Lugia sets (including one that gets you to +2 SpAtk with guaranteed critical hits), and I think any legend that isn't Kyurem, Kyurem-B, or Zygarde has at least some usefulness or potential.

It does seem like Groudon and Xerneas need to carry your team offensively (with Alakazam helping depending on the matchup), but I think a lot of teams are built like that. 2 restricted legends doing the bulk of the work, supported by at least 2 Pokemon, and then the mega and either another support Pokemon or a Pokemon who can do a little of both (like Crobat or Tailwind Talonflame).

Focus Sash Mienshao is really good, and it's nice having a faster Fake Out than M-Kang. I've used Greninja in previous battle competitions that had restricted legends and loved him. Gunk Shot, while it doesn't have perfect accuracy, is great for all the fairies, and he just has so many other great options for a mixed set against so many of the common threats (Ice Beam for M-Mence, Landorus, and Rayquaza, Low Kick for Kang, Grass Knot for Kyogre, Rock Slide for Ho-oh and Talonflame, U-turn to gain momentum in weather wars, and of course water moves for Groudon if you can get rid of the sun). Life Orb really helps its damage output, but I've liked Focus Sash as well. He may be too frail to stick around for long, but in this fast-paced game with so much power, you may only need him to take out 1 or 2 huge threats.

I'll throw up my love for Parasect again, especially if you can avoid fire attacks, but I understand he's not the easiest to use. He's been great on my Kyogre team, and if the sun is gone and he avoids Taunt, he does so much work.

Looking over your team one more time, Ho-oh does seem like a huge problem. You can give Sableye Gravity so P-blades can hit it, or just give Groudon Rock Slide. Not one of my favorite moves on Groudon, but it might be necessary given your current team.

 

[Psynergy]

For reference on that Waterfall Rayquaza comment:

4 SpA Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 175-207 (100 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This also chunks a ton of threats in the format, I'd say Draco Meteor is generally a better move than Waterfall if you decide to try Rayquaza again later.

As for your team right now, I would take note of the fact that Rayquaza + Kyogre makes your team very sad since it has no Kyogre answer other than Groudon, who fails as an answer if Rayquaza is a factor. Rayquaza + Kyogre is arguably just as good of a legendary pair as Xerneas + Groudon so I would definitely be careful when fighting that duo. As mentioned above, Ho-Oh is definitely an issue too so definitely consider Rock Slide. I'm also personally not a fan of any Mega that's not Rayquaza/Kangaskhan/Salamence/Mawile/Gengar but that's just me.

Don't have any more comments than what was just said though, that pretty much covered everything I wanted to mention.

 

[ninijatt]

Sorry to keep you waiting. Final year of college and it's been terrible. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do as much testing on Showdown as I would like, really don't want this to be forgotten in the depths of the fourms for taking too long to reply though. But I've got until May 28th for regionals in my area so let's do this. Let's make this the best team it can be!

Sableye looks good, as does Alakazam. I would probably go Timid to ensure you outspeed Gengar before you mega evolve, but that's very minor as long as you recognize that you might need to Protect to get the speed boost. You reach a speed stat of 202 after mega evolving, but generally only need to be at 201 (to outspeed M-Gengar and Crobat), so you could put 4 EVs in 2 of the 3 defensive stats. Very minor, but you never know when it may help you just barely survive an attack. Have you found Dazzling Gleam useful? Shadow Ball seems like it might be more useful (against Giratina and especially Aegislash), but maybe you've experienced otherwise.

Groudon is wasting EVs (anything divisible by 8 is wasting 4 EVs at lvl 50, assuming a perfect IV of 31). Just go max HP. Since hazards are nonexistent, the only time even or odd HP stats matter is if the Pokemon is holding a Sitrus Berry, in which case you'll want to have an even HP stat. I like mixed Groudon a lot, but what is Solarbeam for? Kyogre? I don't think it's worth it, especially if you ever get locked into it when the opponent changes the weather. Precipice Blades still does so much more damage, and you don't need to rely on the sun staying up:

252+ Atk Primal Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Primal Kyogre: 117-138 (56.5 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Primal Groudon Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primal Kyogre: 88-104 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

Hitmontop is also wasting EVs. 56 EVs in Def gives the same stat as 52 EVs, as does 200 and 196 EVs in SpDef, so you can take 4 out of either stat and add it to the other. Other than that he looks good.

I think Xerneas should be max Spd (and I prefer Timid on Geomancy sets to outspeed all the legends in the base 90-99 base speed range (and to at least speed tie other Geomancy Xerneas), but Modest is ok too). It's really nice to get to +2 SpDef before you get hit with an Eruption, Origin Pulse, Water Spout, etc. Just 12 EVs in Def also guarantee that an Adamant M-Kang's Double-Edge can't OHKO you, but since you have Intimidate support I don't think it's completely necessary.

Clefairy is also wasting EVs like Hitmontop with that spread, but looks good otherwise. I've always preferred Clefable, but Unaware seems like it would often be useless since the main setup Pokemon in the format (Xerneas) typically runs a spread move in Dazzling Gleam. I haven't seen any Power-Up-Punch M-Kangs, but I know they're around so you may find Clefable useful for that.

There's definitely other options for ubers. I love Kyogre so far, and well-known players have found success so far with Ho-oh, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and Yveltal. I've seen a couple of awesome Lugia sets (including one that gets you to +2 SpAtk with guaranteed critical hits), and I think any legend that isn't Kyurem, Kyurem-B, or Zygarde has at least some usefulness or potential.

It does seem like Groudon and Xerneas need to carry your team offensively (with Alakazam helping depending on the matchup), but I think a lot of teams are built like that. 2 restricted legends doing the bulk of the work, supported by at least 2 Pokemon, and then the mega and either another support Pokemon or a Pokemon who can do a little of both (like Crobat or Tailwind Talonflame).

Focus Sash Mienshao is really good, and it's nice having a faster Fake Out than M-Kang. I've used Greninja in previous battle competitions that had restricted legends and loved him. Gunk Shot, while it doesn't have perfect accuracy, is great for all the fairies, and he just has so many other great options for a mixed set against so many of the common threats (Ice Beam for M-Mence, Landorus, and Rayquaza, Low Kick for Kang, Grass Knot for Kyogre, Rock Slide for Ho-oh and Talonflame, U-turn to gain momentum in weather wars, and of course water moves for Groudon if you can get rid of the sun). Life Orb really helps its damage output, but I've liked Focus Sash as well. He may be too frail to stick around for long, but in this fast-paced game with so much power, you may only need him to take out 1 or 2 huge threats.

I'll throw up my love for Parasect again, especially if you can avoid fire attacks, but I understand he's not the easiest to use. He's been great on my Kyogre team, and if the sun is gone and he avoids Taunt, he does so much work.

Looking over your team one more time, Ho-oh does seem like a huge problem. You can give Sableye Gravity so P-blades can hit it, or just give Groudon Rock Slide. Not one of my favorite moves on Groudon, but it might be necessary given your current team.

I've fixed my current team with your advice for the EVs and moves. It works nice, Ho-Oh and Talonflame aren't problems anymore. Though, I've been having some difficulty with Giratina. There's just no stopping Shadow Force which usually makes short work of my Xerneas and I need Xerneas to take it out.

The ubers you mentioned are all really interesting but I never got the chance to try them all out so I'm unsure what I actually want to use. Main reason why I'm not posting my updated team because I've been wanting to try out a bunch of other things.
I like how you gave good advice for even my passing thoughts. That's really nice and I've been wanting to try Greninja with Kyogre. I'm sure your sick of me saying this, but you've probably seen the top 12 most used pokemon in the International Challenge. I feel ashamed for using two of them but I also feel pretty damn proud of myself for ONLY using two of them. No harm, no foul I guess. I'll probably be back with my results once I get in more testing this coming week.

For reference on that Waterfall Rayquaza comment:

4 SpA Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Primal Groudon: 175-207 (100 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This also chunks a ton of threats in the format, I'd say Draco Meteor is generally a better move than Waterfall if you decide to try Rayquaza again later.

As for your team right now, I would take note of the fact that Rayquaza + Kyogre makes your team very sad since it has no Kyogre answer other than Groudon, who fails as an answer if Rayquaza is a factor. Rayquaza + Kyogre is arguably just as good of a legendary pair as Xerneas + Groudon so I would definitely be careful when fighting that duo. As mentioned above, Ho-Oh is definitely an issue too so definitely consider Rock Slide. I'm also personally not a fan of any Mega that's not Rayquaza/Kangaskhan/Salamence/Mawile/Gengar but that's just me.

Don't have any more comments than what was just said though, that pretty much covered everything I wanted to mention.

Yeah, I've noticed Draco Meteor is pretty scary. I can't block it with wide guard and it one-shots my Groudon. Waterfall is totally obsolete and I understand why I was the only one using it. You're very right, I've got a problem with Kyogre + Rayquaza. I can block Origin Pulse with wide guard when sun is gone and try to take it out with P-blades but Rayquaza threatens that, I can't have Hitmontop, Xerneas and Groudon out all at once after all. But you never suggested anything to deal with it. Is there anything you recommend?

 

[EKZ1505]

For what it's worth, using 2 of the top 12 Pokemon is not a bad thing. That's actually really good in my opinion, and you shouldn't feel bad at all. Typically most teams are going to use at least that many, because those top 12 or so can fill so many holes on a team. It's when you see ONLY a team of the top 8 or 12 that it can get annoying (CHALK-T in 2015, and something like M-Kang, M-Mence, Groudon, Xerneas, Talonflame, and Smeargle in 2016).

For example, on the first team I used with a lot of success in VGC15 had 2 REALLY common things in bulky Sitrus Thundurus and Scarf Lando-T. I wasn't thrilled about using them, but Thundurus's Taunt and speed control greatly helped my team, and Lando-T's Intimidate, power, and speed filled in so many things I needed to succeed. The other 4 I used though were uncommon or extremely rare (M-Gallade, Bisharp, Rotom-H, and Lapras), so I felt my team was really unique still and a lot of fun to use. While you may be using 2 pretty common things, the rest of your team, especially your mega, are all uncommon and really make your team unique and interesting!

 

[ninijatt]

Alright, I'm back. Thanks for your kind words, by the way. It actually did help me come to terms with using those guys.
But with that, let's get right into it...
I've done some testing and here's what I've come up with:

Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Quash
- Foul Play

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Magic Coat
- Protect

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Hitmontop @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Impish Nature
- Quick Guard
- Wide Guard
- Fake Out
- Close Combat

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
- Follow Me
- Icy Wind
- Heal Pulse
- Protect

Here's my team from before with the fixed EVs. I've been swapping between Clefairy and this Greninja down here back and forth. Without Clefairy, I'm really missing out on Friend Guard, Icy Wind and Heal Pulse but like Psynergy said, I don't really have much in the way of dealing with Kyogre so that's where Greninja comes in but the problem is, when I swap between the two, my team loses something. So I guess that's where you come in. I've also been swapping between Mienshao and Hitmontop. Speed vs Defense is really an equal trade-off so I'll probably flip a coin on it. I'm leaning more toward Hitmontop since I can't use focus sash on both Greninja and Mienshao. Even if I stick with Clefairy, I might just keep Hitmontop for simplicity's sake.

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Scald
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Gunk Shot


But I've also put together a Kyogre team

Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Quash
- Foul Play

Absol @ Absolite
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Megahorn
- Protect
- Play Rough

Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Calm Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Thunder
- Protect

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Scald

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Parasect @ Leftovers
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Wide Guard
- X-Scissor

I switch Alakazam for Absol since I thought Magic Bounce might be better than Magic Coat but it's really just been working out the same. Plus, M-zam has more offense and speed so I might stick with Zam. Greninja's been doing better on this team thanks to Kyogre. Switching in Kyogre and getting a OHKO on Groudon with Scald on the same turn is so very satisfying. The problem with this team is that I find that four pokemon don't always cut it and I always have to go into a battle without something that I might need. Overall, this team is just as effective as the one above it and your input on which one is better would be appreciated. I could always flip a coin if they're both fine.

 

[EKZ1505]

As for your Groudon team, I'll repeat the speed EVs thing again on Alakazam (about only needing to outspeed M-Gengar), but that is a very minor thing since he's kinda frail anyway. Why Relaxed nature on Groudon? If you are running an offensive spread, you should just go Adamant. Do you find Heal Pulse useful on Clefairy? One fun option is After You to counter Trick Room, but you'll want Clefairy as slow as possible then (so Relaxed instead of Bold, and preferably a 0spd IV). Probably not as needed since you have both Taunt and Quash on Sableye, but it does give you another option if it seems like Sableye would be in a bad matchup.

You can give Life Orb to Greninja to free up the Sash for Mienshao. Your current spread isn't as threatening to opposing Xerneas right now anyway:
4 Atk Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 138-164 (68.3 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Protean Greninja Gunk Shot vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 179-213 (88.6 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

Life Orb helps, but you may still need more investment.
Scald gets the OHKO almost all the time on Groudon even with zero investment (0 SpA Greninja Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Primal Groudon: 204-244 (98.5 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO), but it seems like you may not even get to use it on Groudon due to the fact that you can't change the weather at all, except with your own Groudon, who blocks Scald anyway.

On the new team, M-Absol is interesting, though he's probably in a similar category to M-Alakazam. Definitely helps counter Smeargle, and without the use of a moveslot too which is nice! Has Megahorn been of any use? Knock Off (though not as good this year since so many items can't be dislodged) or Superpower are potential alternatives. I like Play Rough on him next to Xerneas's ability, and it could be fun to test Absol next to Yveltal for the dark boost too.

Same thing with Kyogre as Groudon - why Calm nature?
What does Parasect's spread do, and has Leftovers been of any use?

 

[ninijatt]

I didn't change the EVs on Alakazam because he's from my original team so I have a BR Alakazam with that spread standing by. Although, I did get a magic guard Abra recently, so I might return to the breeding chamber. I went with Relaxed and Calm on Groudon and Kyogre to be a tad bt bulkier. Would it be better to just go full offense? I find heal pulse to be pretty useful, actually. Xerneas usually loses 50% of it's health to strong hits such as Sludge Bomb, Precipice Blades and other threats and Heal Pulse allows Xerneas to stay in that much longer, since it usually heals about 50% HP. Same goes for Groudon.

Do you think Mienshao would be better than Hitmontop and Greninja would be better than Clefairy?

The problem with M-Absol is that everyone expects it to Mega evolve, so Smeargles usually avoid hitting it and cripple Absol's partner instead. With Alakazam, I've at least got the element of surprise and can still bounce back Dark Void. But which do you think is better?

In the rain, leftovers is great for double healing, it's pretty lackluster otherwise but I wouldn't use Parasect without Kyogre anyway.

As you know, I'm rather indecisive so I was hoping you could tell me which team you thought was batter and of course, if it can be improved.

 

[EKZ1505]

Unless it's to survive a specific move, I don't think those natures on your Primals do a lot since they boost the defensive stat that is already higher for each. With your EV spreads, you absolutely should just go Adamant and Modest.

As for Mienshao/Greninja vs Hitmontop/Clefairy...do you like having the faster Fake Out and overall more speed, or are Intimidate and Friend Guard really important to help your team take an extra hit or two? Like I said before, I don't think your current Greninja is that good, since you don't get the OHKO on Xerneas and can't really Scald opposing Groudons, so I would say use Clefairy unless you rework Greninja. Clefairy is also one of your two forms of speed control, so that is important too. On the Kyogre team, at least you have a way to control the weather to hit Groudon with Scald, so I do like Greninja a little more in general there, but Gunk Shot still doesn't get rid of Xerneas without more investment.

I haven't tested or seen either of your megas in action for this format, so it's honestly tough to tell which is "better." It seems like it would mostly come down to your personal preference since they are somewhat similar (counter Smeargle's DV spam, fast and fairly strong, but frail, etc).

With your current spread on Parasect, I would recommend Sitrus Berry over Lefties since he's still not a huge defensive wall even with defensive investment (mostly due to his typing). Without Sitrus, the most common Kangaskhan spread can OHKO you: 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 72 Def Parasect: 164-196 (98.2 - 117.3%) -- 97.7% chance to OHKO. VGC16 can be a very fast paced format, so I think Sitrus is more beneficial for what you want over Leftovers, especially without Protect.

This will probably sound like a stupid cop-out answer, but you are probably the best person to answer which team is "better." Team-building is only part of the process. Ultimately you have to learn how to "use" the team(s) and how to respond to any opponent's team. Going back to my M-Gallade team for VGC15, honestly it was probably mediocre "on paper." Anyone who rated my team seriously strongly recommended against using him for my sole mega, but because I became so comfortable with the team and knew how to counter any team arch-type my opponent had, I ended up getting the team well over 1800 on Battle Spot during the time I used it. Consider any changes I and anyone else here suggest, and then test the team(s) a LOT. If the teams are doing well, that's great! But always learn from every battle, especially your losses. Those will tell you the most about your team, like whether you just misplayed and need to correct that for the future, or whether your team has a massive weakness against a certain strategy or Pokemon.

 

[ninijatt]

I don't think that's stupid or a cop out. In fact, it's what pushed me to do some hardcore testing. I tested 32 teams each with one minor difference. I used some oddball things too. I really ended up liking Pikachu, Raichu, Lapras, Blastoise and even Fearow in place of my Clefairy. Mawile, Kanga and Absol were also great in place of Alakazam. I also found Alakazam + Kyogre to be an effective combination during testing. I also made a very effective Groudon + Rayquaza team.

But in the end, this is the team that had the highest win ratio during testing. I think I've finally reached a final team. What do you think?

Sableye @ Mental Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 72 Def / 184 SpD
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Quash
- Foul Play

Alakazam-Mega @ Alakazite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Magic Coat
- Protect

Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Fire Punch
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Hitmontop @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Def / 204 SpD
Impish Nature
- Quick Guard
- Wide Guard
- Fake Out
- Close Combat

Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Geomancy
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Protect

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpD
Bold Nature
- Follow Me
- Icy Wind
- Heal Pulse
- Protect

And hey, thanks for sticking with me for so long. We've been doing this for what? Three months now? Thanks, man.

 

[EKZ1505]

Hm it's mostly just nitpicking for scenarios that don't pop up that often at this point lol Like you'll ideally want a Calm nature over Careful on Sableye to minimize Swagger/confusion damage and opposing Foul Play damage from your opponent's Sableyes, Liepards, Yveltals, etc. (and ideally 0 Atk IVs on Sableye and any pure special attackers for the same reasons, but those are tougher to get, especially on any legends). I'm still not sure what some of the more specific EV spreads do, but they seem like they would be ok to get the general job done, as long as it doesn't hurt you not knowing specific calcs on things you could have survived.

You seem to have a plan for a lot of common arch-types, so I think the team looks pretty good overall. I especially love how you can shut down the annoying Xerneas+Smeargle combo perfectly!

No problem though, I'm glad to help even a little bit if it helps VGC continue to grow Let me know if you need help testing for Bo3 or for any new teams in the future, I'm always glad to get the practice in and get better myself too!

 

[ninijatt]

Sweet. I was going for an all-aroundbulky spread for my specific evs in order to cover the three defensive stats. So I guess that's why they look weird. I don't really know the nitty-gritty damage calcs of moves I could potentially survive. I just kind of tried winging it there.

Looks like I'm all set then. It's back to the breeding chamber for me now. I've got about a month to get ready for regionals in my area.

Thanks again for rolling with me for so long. I really appreciate it. Maybe with luck, I'll get to run into you at a tournament or something some day.