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VGC 2018 Team

O

omanyte93

Member
This is a revised version of the team I posted a couple of months ago.
(Note: For some reason it wasn't allowing me to post with the at sign, so I replaced them with colons)

Whimsicott : Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 Def/ 252 Spe
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
- Tailwind
- Sunny Day
- Taunt
- Encore

Whimsicott serves several support roles for the team. I definitely felt 4-move syndrome here. Whimsicott is the primary setter for Tailwind thanks to prankster. Taunt allows Whimsicott to shut down other Tailwind or Trick Room setters, as well as prevent foes like Tapu Fini, Snorlax or Chansey from setting up. Sunny Day's primary purpose is to disrupt Rain and Sand teams (my team previously struggled against Rain teams). Encore allows Whimsicott to trap an opponent into a move like Protect or Tailwind, shutting them down completely or forcing them to switch out (unless Mega-Gengar is out). This also gives the team a way to reverse Trick Room by encoring the Trick Room setter. Due to Whimsicott's low offensive power, I chose to give it all support/disrupting moves to make the most out of Prankster.

Volcarona : Buginium-Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP/ 252 SpA/ 4 Spe
Nature: Modest (+SpA, -Atk)
- Rage Powder
- Quiver Dance
- Flamethrower
- Bug Buzz

Volcarona provides some bulky redirection support for the team via Rage Powder. I chose Flamethrower over Heat Wave for a couple of reasons. Heat Wave is usually expected, and with Wide Guard being fairly common, makes it easy to counter. Also with a boost from either Sunny Day from Whimsicott or a Quiver Dance, Flamethrower will OHKO both Celesteela and Aegislash. Savage Spin Out is for immediately eliminating common Trick Room setters like Cresselia, Oranguru, and Gothitelle. It can also get surprise OHKO's on offensive Tyranitar builds.

Kartana : Flyinium-Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk/ 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
- Detect
- Tailwind
- Smart Strike
- Leaf Blade

Kartana provides a counter to the Tapus and water types like Gastrodon and Mega-Swampert. Kartana can set up Z-Tailwind to give Leaf Blade a 100% crit chance and Smart Strike a 50% crit chance. Combined with Beast Boost this can make Kartana very threatening. Kartana also serves as the secondary Tailwind setter for the team. Kartana goes well with Volcarona since Rage Powder can give Kartana a chance to set up Z-Tailwind and Kartana covers Volcarona's weaknesses to rock and water.

Landorus-Therian : Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 188 Atk/ 92 SpD/ 228 Spe
Nature: Jolly (+Spe, -SpA)
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Superpower
- Earthquake

Landorus is the team's answer to Mega-Charizard-Y. 228 Spe EV's allows it to outspeed modest Charizard while 92 SpD EV's and Assault Vest allow Landorus to take an overheat from Timid Charizard. The SpD investment also allow it to survive several ice attacks like Cresselia's Ice Beam or HP Ice from Tapu Koko. I chose Stone Edge over Rock Slide for a couple of reasons. Rock Slide would have about a 75% chance to OHKO a standard Charizard set. The chance of Stone Edge hitting (80%) is greater and is also guaranteed to OHKO the bulkier Charizard sets. Knock Off allows it to remove troublesome items like berries or choice scarves.

Gengar : Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body/Shadow Tag
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
- Protect
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb

Gengar serves as another counter for the Tapus and another means of Taunt besides Whimsicott. Shadow Ball OHKO's the standard Metagross sets. Shadow Tag keeps the opponent from switching out and has great synergy with Whimsicott and Encore.

Tapu Lele : Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SpA/ 252 Spe
Nature: Timid (+Spe, -Atk)
- Hidden Power (ice)
- Thunderbolt
- Moonblast
- Psychic

Tapu Lele's ability gets a lot of use. Tapu Lele can lead or switch in to shut down priority moves like Fake Out (often used when opponent leads with TR setter and FO user, Tapu Lele can switch in and Volcarona OHKO's the TR setter). Choice Scarf lets it outspeed almost all non-scarf users. Psychic combined with the boost from Psychic Terrain lets Tapu Lele hit hard and fast. Moonblast OHKO's Mega-Salamence 2HKO Tyranitar. Lele also serves as a counter for Landorus. Hidden Power will OHKO any non-Assault Vest set or set with considerable SpD investment. With max speed investment, Lele can outspeed scarf Landorus. Thunderbolt does decent damage to Celesteela.
 
Last edited:
EKZ1505

EKZ1505

Well-Known Member
Does Whimsicott need that much speed if it doesn’t have an attack? Prankster users are so uncommon now with Psychic and Misty Terrain dominating the format, so the only time that you would need that much speed is the mirror-match, and even then it’s only relevant if you’re worried about Taunt or Encore coming at you (which I doubt the opponent would do in a best-of-1, since they would assume you speed-tie). I would really consider a Bold or Calm nature with investment in the defenses instead of speed, unless you want to add Moonblast or another attack instead of Encore or Taunt.

I’m not sure what Volcarona is trying to accomplish, though I LOVE the Bug z move and think it’s very underrated. The spread is fine (but I think can be optimized more) if you’re running Rage Powder, but if you want Quiver Dance you absolutely need more speed. I actually ran into a Volcarona set on Battle Spot a couple weeks ago (I forget the rest of the team so idk if it was yours’) that, after a Quiver Dance, still did not outspeed my Mega Gallade and that contributed to my opponent’s loss. It needs more speed if you want to run QD, but from personal experience it’s really tough to have both Quiver Dance and Rage Powder on a set. You can pull it off, but it’s suboptimal and generally should go with one or the other.

Sacred Sword generally has better coverage than Smart Strike, but see how it works for you.

Unfortunately your Landorus-T set is not guaranteed to outrun Modest Mega Charizard Y. Your set has a speed of 147, while max speed Modest Charizard has a speed of 152. Many Modest Charizard will have more bulk, so you should still be fine, but Modest max speed is still a thing so you should be aware of it. I would still go Rock Slide, as the only advantage for Stone Edge is really that it is not spread damage and you will not be affected by Intimidate as much, but it may be fine. The main problem I see here though is that Landorus has nothing to freely Earthquake next to.

What gives the team trouble? It seems like Trick Room can be an issue if not handled well, especially if Incineroar is on the opposing team.
 
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