ninijatt
Half, ninja, half cat, all attitude
Hey guys, I'm back again. After taking a break last year, I'm getting back in the ring with VGC. I see it's gotten a little more lievely around here, not like it used to be in 2012-2013 but it seems to be getting better. It's not the ghost town it was in 2016 anymore at least.
Anyway, let's get into the team.
The Team
https://imgur.com/sPrPopV
Xurkitree @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Discharge
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
Last year, I thought Xurkitree would be among the most popular Pokemon, part of the new big 6. "It's so good", I thought it myself. So when that didn't happen, I knew I had to be the one. I have to champion Xurkitree, I gotta rep my boy when no one else will. Yes, I really am that stubborn, I am doing this purely due to my orginal observation at the start of 2017. I can see Xurkitree's potential when no one else can, I can be his hero! Folks over at Pokemon Showdown have mocked me for using Xurkitree but I'll show them, I'll show them all! Anyway, Xurkitree is a bit tricky. As you can see I'm using a slow Xuritree to use in trick room. Before you tell me that's a bad idea, almost everything you want to worry about, is faster than Xurkitree. The only things tha'll outspeed you in trick room, are Pokemon that are specifically slow like Snorlax and Stakataka. In which case, you simply don't set up trick room and outspeed them with your natural speed. Xurkitree's main mission is to nuke everything on the field at once. Rellly just get rid of everyone ASAP but he can't do it alone.....
https://imgur.com/fu4G62S
Oranguru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Telepathy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Instruct
- Trick Room
- Protect
Oranguru is our trick room setter but he does something special that no other trick room master can do. He can use instruct! This ties in to what makes Xurkitree so great. With instruct, you can get 2 tail glows off in a single turn to max Xurkitree's special attack. After that, it's a non-stop assault! Very few things will survive a hit from a +6 Xurkitree, but the ones that can survive a Discharge or a Dazzling Gleam, won't be surviving two! Once this gets going, the entire field is usually cleared per turn and it's extremely hard to stop. Oh, and since he has Telepathy, he won't be getting hurt from Discharge which is very nice.
I went with Sitrus Berry over Pinch Berry and Mental Herb because I find the eariler proc gives more reliable bulk than pinch berry and the extra bulk is defintely work leaving the mental herb at home.
https://imgur.com/qausA3D
Tapu Lele @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
So that's all fine and dandy but what hapens if someone brings a priority move to the party? Gee, that'd really put a damper on things, huh? Well, let's just stop that with Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain. It also helps that Tapu Lele is a good special attacker by itself too! If you're wondering why it has max speed investment, it's because that trick room won't last forever and Oranguru last long enough to put a second one up. If all my pokemon were slow, I'd be screwed. So consider this the fast pokemon backup plan.
https://imgur.com/bjwyJPj
Wishiwashi-School @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Schooling
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 99 Def / 252 SpA / 25 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Ice Beam
- Tearful Look
- Protect
So I need something to handle Landorus. A water type would definitely bring good coverage. Wishiwashi is slow so it works in trick room, it's also bulky enough to stand up to Landorus outside the trick room too. Not noly that, but it's special attack is high enough to guarantee the OHKO on assualt vest Landorus with ice beam. Everyone else needs choice specs to do that. Other pokemon I tested were Tapu Fini, which needed choice specs to OHKO AV Lando, Blastoise which has amazing coverage but as much as I wanted to use it, fell short vs asualt vest unfortunately and Feraligatr which was a physical option but needed dragon dance and Wishiwashi's pure offense and bulk was in the end, too good to pass up. Maybe these options look better to you than they do to me, let me know what you think.
I use Tearful Look which LOOKS weird and I don't use it too often but Wishiwashi has a rock bottom movepool and it was either that or Earthquake which would hurt me more than help. Despite it all, when I use Tearful Look, it comes through and it's actually pretty handy in certain situations.
https://imgur.com/aIQtEWX
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def / 28 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Brick Break
- Protect
Not a lot to say about Marowak. It's a good physical attacker that is immune to electric thanks to Lightning Rod so it won't get hurt by Discharge. I was torn between Brick Break and Bonemerang but in the end I decided Brick Break gives better coverage. I dunno, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/7fJ5qtZ
Snorlax @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Belly Drum
- Recycle
- Return
- High Horsepower
Finally, we have Snorlax. I thought, I should have at least ONE "meta" pokemon on my team and it was a hard choice between Snorlax or Tapu Koko . I literally flipped a coin on it and ended up with Snorlax. This is a pretty standard set so you probably already know what it does. I think it's good to have another physical attacker on the team and High Horsepower gives me back the coverage I might have felt I lost with not using Bonemerang on Marowak. Also, I've been waiting for the day Snorlax would become meta again. 2018 is a great year, man. What do you guys think? I made a good decision going with Snorlax or would Tapu Koko be a better fit on my team.
The Bench
I always like to show pokemon that didn't quite make the cut so you can get a vague idea for my teambuilding process and that last spot with Snorlax was had a lot of good contenders. I mentioed other contenders for Wishiwashi's spot but I won't be posting those just for the sake of keeeping this section brief. Also, if there's something here that you think should be on the team, you can tell me "Hey, I think you were on to something with that, you should use your old idea"
https://imgur.com/4Uk9wVx
Ditto @ Lum Berry
Ability: Imposter
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
First is Ditto who I felt like you could just slap him onto any team. The EV spread is weird because I used used Showdown's auto EV function. Why not when all I need is HP anyway? Other than that, I think Ditto is self expanatory, he's Ditto.
https://imgur.com/1J8kYWc
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 124 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stomping Tantrum
- Meteor Mash
- Protect
- Zen Headbutt
Next we have Metagross who I wanted to try because everyone has been raving about him. He's good but I felt he didn't really give me what I needed for my team. I dunno, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/bUU58EL
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Protect
Alakazam is actually amazing. He's really great in this year's format. There's so many good abilities floating around like Intimidate to trace, he's faster than literally everything so he's good backup when trick room ends and he packs a huge wallop with good coverage. What was the problem? It felt redundant to have him on the same team as Tapu Lele and while he's a better pokemon for pure offense, I still needed Lele for Psychic Surge. Although, Alakazam does benefit a lot from the boosted STAB from Psychic Terrain, when I can only bring 4 pokemon, I'm not sure I'd want both of them when I could bring another pokemon for better type coverage. I don't know, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/Dtk3d4G
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Sky Drop
- Nature's Madness
And our final bench warmer is Tapu Koko. I think in my heart, I really want to use Tapu Koko as I gave him more second chances than anyone else but I feel he runs into a similar problem as Alakazam. Although unlike Alakazam, he comes with extra ultility with Electric Surge which Xurkitree LOVES and also Spore has become something of an annoyance for me so sleep immunity is also nice. I went with Hasty so he could do a little extra damage with Sky Drop which just miiight be enough to close the gap for a KO considering even with max investment in Special Attack, Tapu Koko has such high physical attack, it's only a 9 point difference with Hasty nature. I also ran Nature's Madness because its utility is nice and it also ruins the day of Belly Drummers like Snorlax and Azumarill. But yeah, that's my Tapu Koko.
That's the last of my bench warmers. Let me know if I made the right choice with Snorlax or not if one of these guys would be better.
Conclusion
Yeah, so that's the team. Type coverage, I think is the main theme as almost every memeber of the team aside from Oranguru is an offensive threat of different types. Also trick room. That's another theme. Anyway, that's all folks. I'm actually pretty dang tired while I write this so please xcuse any sloppyness and also I aplogize if the images seem unecessary (or if they don't work, I can only use one attachment per post so I had to try a different approach). I usually just use the Pokesmiles built into the fourms when buidling teams since you're supposed to have a visual aid for each member of your team but those only go up to gen 5 as far as I can tell and other than Snorlax, my entire team is gen 7 pokemon. But anyway, that's all for now. See ya.
Anyway, let's get into the team.
The Team
https://imgur.com/sPrPopV
Xurkitree @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tail Glow
- Discharge
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect
Last year, I thought Xurkitree would be among the most popular Pokemon, part of the new big 6. "It's so good", I thought it myself. So when that didn't happen, I knew I had to be the one. I have to champion Xurkitree, I gotta rep my boy when no one else will. Yes, I really am that stubborn, I am doing this purely due to my orginal observation at the start of 2017. I can see Xurkitree's potential when no one else can, I can be his hero! Folks over at Pokemon Showdown have mocked me for using Xurkitree but I'll show them, I'll show them all! Anyway, Xurkitree is a bit tricky. As you can see I'm using a slow Xuritree to use in trick room. Before you tell me that's a bad idea, almost everything you want to worry about, is faster than Xurkitree. The only things tha'll outspeed you in trick room, are Pokemon that are specifically slow like Snorlax and Stakataka. In which case, you simply don't set up trick room and outspeed them with your natural speed. Xurkitree's main mission is to nuke everything on the field at once. Rellly just get rid of everyone ASAP but he can't do it alone.....
https://imgur.com/fu4G62S
Oranguru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Telepathy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 172 Def / 84 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Instruct
- Trick Room
- Protect
Oranguru is our trick room setter but he does something special that no other trick room master can do. He can use instruct! This ties in to what makes Xurkitree so great. With instruct, you can get 2 tail glows off in a single turn to max Xurkitree's special attack. After that, it's a non-stop assault! Very few things will survive a hit from a +6 Xurkitree, but the ones that can survive a Discharge or a Dazzling Gleam, won't be surviving two! Once this gets going, the entire field is usually cleared per turn and it's extremely hard to stop. Oh, and since he has Telepathy, he won't be getting hurt from Discharge which is very nice.
I went with Sitrus Berry over Pinch Berry and Mental Herb because I find the eariler proc gives more reliable bulk than pinch berry and the extra bulk is defintely work leaving the mental herb at home.
https://imgur.com/qausA3D
Tapu Lele @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Protect
So that's all fine and dandy but what hapens if someone brings a priority move to the party? Gee, that'd really put a damper on things, huh? Well, let's just stop that with Tapu Lele's Psychic Terrain. It also helps that Tapu Lele is a good special attacker by itself too! If you're wondering why it has max speed investment, it's because that trick room won't last forever and Oranguru last long enough to put a second one up. If all my pokemon were slow, I'd be screwed. So consider this the fast pokemon backup plan.
https://imgur.com/bjwyJPj
Wishiwashi-School @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Schooling
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 99 Def / 252 SpA / 25 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Ice Beam
- Tearful Look
- Protect
So I need something to handle Landorus. A water type would definitely bring good coverage. Wishiwashi is slow so it works in trick room, it's also bulky enough to stand up to Landorus outside the trick room too. Not noly that, but it's special attack is high enough to guarantee the OHKO on assualt vest Landorus with ice beam. Everyone else needs choice specs to do that. Other pokemon I tested were Tapu Fini, which needed choice specs to OHKO AV Lando, Blastoise which has amazing coverage but as much as I wanted to use it, fell short vs asualt vest unfortunately and Feraligatr which was a physical option but needed dragon dance and Wishiwashi's pure offense and bulk was in the end, too good to pass up. Maybe these options look better to you than they do to me, let me know what you think.
I use Tearful Look which LOOKS weird and I don't use it too often but Wishiwashi has a rock bottom movepool and it was either that or Earthquake which would hurt me more than help. Despite it all, when I use Tearful Look, it comes through and it's actually pretty handy in certain situations.
https://imgur.com/aIQtEWX
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Def / 28 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Brick Break
- Protect
Not a lot to say about Marowak. It's a good physical attacker that is immune to electric thanks to Lightning Rod so it won't get hurt by Discharge. I was torn between Brick Break and Bonemerang but in the end I decided Brick Break gives better coverage. I dunno, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/7fJ5qtZ
Snorlax @ Figy Berry
Ability: Gluttony
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Belly Drum
- Recycle
- Return
- High Horsepower
Finally, we have Snorlax. I thought, I should have at least ONE "meta" pokemon on my team and it was a hard choice between Snorlax or Tapu Koko . I literally flipped a coin on it and ended up with Snorlax. This is a pretty standard set so you probably already know what it does. I think it's good to have another physical attacker on the team and High Horsepower gives me back the coverage I might have felt I lost with not using Bonemerang on Marowak. Also, I've been waiting for the day Snorlax would become meta again. 2018 is a great year, man. What do you guys think? I made a good decision going with Snorlax or would Tapu Koko be a better fit on my team.
The Bench
I always like to show pokemon that didn't quite make the cut so you can get a vague idea for my teambuilding process and that last spot with Snorlax was had a lot of good contenders. I mentioed other contenders for Wishiwashi's spot but I won't be posting those just for the sake of keeeping this section brief. Also, if there's something here that you think should be on the team, you can tell me "Hey, I think you were on to something with that, you should use your old idea"
https://imgur.com/4Uk9wVx
Ditto @ Lum Berry
Ability: Imposter
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Transform
First is Ditto who I felt like you could just slap him onto any team. The EV spread is weird because I used used Showdown's auto EV function. Why not when all I need is HP anyway? Other than that, I think Ditto is self expanatory, he's Ditto.
https://imgur.com/1J8kYWc
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 124 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stomping Tantrum
- Meteor Mash
- Protect
- Zen Headbutt
Next we have Metagross who I wanted to try because everyone has been raving about him. He's good but I felt he didn't really give me what I needed for my team. I dunno, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/bUU58EL
Alakazam @ Alakazite
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Protect
Alakazam is actually amazing. He's really great in this year's format. There's so many good abilities floating around like Intimidate to trace, he's faster than literally everything so he's good backup when trick room ends and he packs a huge wallop with good coverage. What was the problem? It felt redundant to have him on the same team as Tapu Lele and while he's a better pokemon for pure offense, I still needed Lele for Psychic Surge. Although, Alakazam does benefit a lot from the boosted STAB from Psychic Terrain, when I can only bring 4 pokemon, I'm not sure I'd want both of them when I could bring another pokemon for better type coverage. I don't know, what do you think?
https://imgur.com/Dtk3d4G
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- Sky Drop
- Nature's Madness
And our final bench warmer is Tapu Koko. I think in my heart, I really want to use Tapu Koko as I gave him more second chances than anyone else but I feel he runs into a similar problem as Alakazam. Although unlike Alakazam, he comes with extra ultility with Electric Surge which Xurkitree LOVES and also Spore has become something of an annoyance for me so sleep immunity is also nice. I went with Hasty so he could do a little extra damage with Sky Drop which just miiight be enough to close the gap for a KO considering even with max investment in Special Attack, Tapu Koko has such high physical attack, it's only a 9 point difference with Hasty nature. I also ran Nature's Madness because its utility is nice and it also ruins the day of Belly Drummers like Snorlax and Azumarill. But yeah, that's my Tapu Koko.
That's the last of my bench warmers. Let me know if I made the right choice with Snorlax or not if one of these guys would be better.
Conclusion
Yeah, so that's the team. Type coverage, I think is the main theme as almost every memeber of the team aside from Oranguru is an offensive threat of different types. Also trick room. That's another theme. Anyway, that's all folks. I'm actually pretty dang tired while I write this so please xcuse any sloppyness and also I aplogize if the images seem unecessary (or if they don't work, I can only use one attachment per post so I had to try a different approach). I usually just use the Pokesmiles built into the fourms when buidling teams since you're supposed to have a visual aid for each member of your team but those only go up to gen 5 as far as I can tell and other than Snorlax, my entire team is gen 7 pokemon. But anyway, that's all for now. See ya.