Melbourne Battle Association: Week Twelve
Week Twelve vs Burwood Buizels
Hi guys,
Here we go with the penultimate round of the season. A win here would seal me up a top 3 spot, and make a top 2 finish increasingly likely, so I was pretty keen to stay focused on the job at hand. You can find the results both by scrolling through this post, or in the League's Google Doc.
Firstly, here is Burwood's squad.
| Tornadus-T |
| Weavile |
| Manaphy |
| Reuniclus |
| Ampharos |
| Porygon-Z |
| Amoonguss |
| Cofagrigus |
| Dugtrio |
| Skuntank |
| Rhydon |
| Audino |
Here were my notes:
Has several checks to Keldeo. Likely to bring them. - Tornadus, Reuniclus, Amoonguss. Manaphy is also a little bitch with Energy Ball. Amoonguss won't do much to Keldeo under sub, but I can't do much back. Tornadus takes a bunch if I have sub set up, Hurricane can miss. At +1, can do huge damage, live Hurricane's from full HP.+1 scald 2HKO's most Reuniclus, so it can't really switch in on Keldeo at that point. Still, Keldeo will have a hard time. Maybe give it another weeks rest?
Tornadus is annoying. Bisharp and Stealth Rocks will be needed to take care of it.
Weavile, Manaphy are both hampered by Sticky Web, not sure he can remove it.
Dugtrio is a menace, but frail. If brought, be careful with switching or leaving myself open to being switched in on.
Latias is very strong, he may struggle to bring it down if Weavile and Tornadus are gone.
Bisharp is also strong here.
Speed+Malamar good option. He has a lot of slow things and not as many speedy things (Tornadus, Weaville aside). Speed+SD Bisharp is a nice option. Makes for a good way to break through his bulky but relatively passive supporting element. Substitute on things will also be nice, in that case.
If Amoonguss is gone, TR option may be nice on Malamar to beat speedy things.
Ninjask can also be good to speed pass, especially if something like Amoonguss gives it free turns to set up. A bit of offense can also punish him if need be.
Rocks will be really nice to counteract his Regenerator Core. Claydol can also offer ok damage output against some things with STABs, and stops him from setting up anything like Rocks that would hurt Ninjask.
With that in mind, this was my team
Pinky Pie (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 SpA / 128 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- PsychicApple Bloom (Arcanine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild Charge
- Morning SunNightmare Moon (Bisharp) @ Black Glasses
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock OffTwilight Sparkle (Malamar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 220 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Psycho Cut
- SubstituteApplejack (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Earthquake
- Rapid SpinFleetfoot (Ninjask) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- X-Scissor
Team Caps: 12 - Latias; 11 - Arcanine, Bisharp; 9 - Keldeo; 8 - Galvantula; 6 - Shuckle; 5 - Claydol; 3 - Aromatisse, Malamar, Ninjask; 1 - Togetic
Note that I followed through on an early season promise and named all my mons after My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic characters just to annoy Burwood's coach.
I was lazy this week, making Latias just bog standard by my usage. I figured that set would probably be enough to survive things like Weavile, and Manaphy and trade positively with them. I gave Arcanine Morning Sun on an offensive set so it could wallbreak effectively on Burwood's bulky mons, but also stay around against them rather than just KO'ing itself futily with recoil damage.
I went for BlackGlassses on Bisharp because they're very fashionable and suit him. Also I figured it would help Bisharp keep damage output high while staying around much longer. This was kind of important given that I had decided to bring Ninjask again, and needed to break through some bulky mons with repeated hits, so Bisharp needed all the turns on the field it could get.
Malamar came again because I felt like it matched up really well offensively, and with Ninjask support I think Malamar because a lot more useable for me. I put substitute and leftovers on it this time so I could set up on things like Cofagrigus, as well as give myself some insurance against things like Tornadus-T's U-turn.
I felt like Stealth Rocks would help dint Burwood's regenerator core, and in an effort to help out Ninjask I also decided Rapid Spin would be useful, so Claydol came along. I added STAB moves because I felt like they could do ok damage if need be, while Claydol can tank many hits.
Ninjask was brought to help Latias, Bisharp and Malamar set themselves up as win conditions. I decided to forgoe protect in favour of a second offensive move, in case I needed some extra help getting over the line with damage should Ninjask survive the demise of its teammates, and also to be more useful on low health opponents by not giving free turns, and making better use of its own time.
Replay Result: 5-0 WIN
Key Moments:
We originally tried to battle early in the weekend, but a server restart interrupted us after turn one. Two days later, we restarted. my ability to spin away Rhydon's Stealth Rocks meant that Claydol was a solid lead choice, while Burwood could not get rid of my rocks easily - it was nice to get this out of the way quickly. Surprisingly, Burwood did not bring two of its biggest hitters in Manaphy and Weaville, opting for a more defensive team.
Latias was Roared in, and after getting solid damage on to Rhydon, predicted the Skuntank switch in, and was rewarded with a critical hit, following up with another hit to get the first KO of the battle. Audino was nasty and got off a Thunder Wave - a tactic many people seem to be using to counter my own speed control these days. Audino's clerical ability allowed it to survive a while, but Latias' Calm Minds and ability to break through Paralysis KO'd Ampharos on the switch in, causing Tornadus-T to come in. Tornadus then managed to use rng to its favour with Air Slash and Paralysis putting Latias in U-turn range, all the while risking being KO'd if I managed to move - if that would have happened, it would have definitely been game over then and there with Burwood's meagre offensive presence gone.
Claydol did its job to check Rhydon's utility again, and with decent damage taken even after recieving a Wish, Malamar was happy to be Roared in to action to set up a substitute, getting much damage on Amoonguss before finishing off Rhydon with a Superpower after it switched in. Fearing the U-turn from Tornadus again, I switched Arcanine in, and was rewarded for my Flare Blitz by taking out Amoonguss, then taking out Audino. While Audino managed to get one last wish off, and Arcanine KO'd iteself with recoil (Good fearless doggy), it was soon Life Orb Tornadus-T against 4 other guys. I cheekily switched in Claydol in search of a KO for it, but it kept flinching me with Air Slash, the bugger. Burwood seemed to get really good luck with that, I'm not sure if I even got an attack off against Tornadus when it moved first in this battle. Eventually I switched in Bisharp, and I really hoped Tornadus didn't have Roost since its fourth move had not been revealed. Fortunately it didn't, and Bisharp's Sucker Punch was able to win the day for me - I think that Ninjask would have helped me get over the line in any case if he did, mind games aside.
So, many Pokemon shared the KO's in this battle, as a strong team performance led to a 4-0 victory. This win seals me a spot in the top 3, which means I get a qualifying final according to the finals system just announced - if I win that, presumably against the Sydney Shuckles, I get a bye week and a pass straight in to the Semi Finals. I have to keep focused for next week though, I'd love to finish this season with only two losses to my name.
MVP Votes Week 11 - This was easy, I only used three pokemon in this battle
2 - Claydol, Latias; 1 - Arcanine, Malamar
Overall MVP Tally
14 - Bisharp; 12 – Latias; 11 - Keldeo; 10 - Arcanine, 7 – Shuckle; 6 - Claydol; 5 - Galvantula; 3 – Aromatisse, Malamar; 1 - Ninjask
Golden Fist Week 11
2 - Arcanine, Latias; 1 - Bisharp, Malamar
Overall Golden Fist
18 - Bisharp; 15 - Keldeo; 12 - Latias; 10 - Arcanine; 4 - Malamar; 2 - Aromatisse; 1 - Shuckle, Claydol
Art by ice-cream-skies. Check out more of her work at http://ice-cream-skies.deviantart.com/
Season Results: (10-2; +25 Differential, 2nd Place)
Week 12: 4-0 WIN vs Burwood Buizels (Replay)
Week 11: 5-0 WIN vs Utah U-Turners (Replay)
Week 10: 4-0 WIN vs Sydney Shuckles (Replay)
Week 9: 0-3 LOSS vs Miami Heatmor (Replay)
Week 8: 2-0 WIN vs Richmond Raikous (Replay)
Week 7: 2-0 WIN vs Epping Eevees (Replay)
Week 6: 0-3 LOSS vs East Side Excadrill (Replay)
Week 5: 2-0 WIN vs Tottenham Espurr (Replay)
Week 4: 3-0 WIN vs Tullamarine Auras (Replay)
Week 3: 2-0 WIN vs New York Klefkis (Replay)
Week 2: 4-0 WIN vs Blackburn Brelooms (Replay)
Week 1: 3-0 WIN vs Wildwood Wobbuffets (Replay)
Vs Sunshine Squirtles
| Sableye |
| Thundurus-T |
| Mew |
| Infernape |
| Snorlax |
| Azelf |
| Ambipom |
| Glalie |
| Hitmonlee |
| Gourgeist |
| Swellow |
| Floatzel |
Sunshine are sitting in 10th with a 4-8 record, and playing for pride. While I can definitively say that I will be bringing Accelgor next week to make sure it gets a run this season, Sunshine have a bunch of interesting options that could trip me up if I'm not careful, and it would be foolish to underestimate them based on their record. While I will look to have fun in this last round, I'll still be aiming for the win.
Melbourne Battle Association: Week Eleven
Week Eleven vs Utah U-Turners
Hi guys,
Finally I have had the time to make a one week post rather than a double header. This week (although a bit late for family reasons), I faced fellow top 4 side Utah, in a clash which will influence how the finals are shaped, especially as the winner would take a game advantage over the vanquished, with Utah coming off a loss in the previous week. You can find the results both by scrolling through this post, or in the League's Google Doc.
Firstly, here is Utah's squad.
| Raikou |
| Garchomp |
| Venusaur |
| Cresselia |
| Tornadus-I |
| Tentacruel |
| Gastrodon |
| Alomomola |
| Typhlosion |
| Quagsire |
| Sawk |
| Ariados |
Here were my notes:
Utah seems to bring the same 6 with similar sets most weeks. Obviously him changing this up would catch me off guard, but not greatly disadvantage me I think. From what I can tell, his sets are often (Italics represent uncertainty or things which can vary:
Garchomp@ Rocky Helmet; Stealth Rocks, Dragon Tail, Earthquake, ?
Cresselia @ Leftovers, Thunder Wave, Moonblast, Psychic, Moonlight
Tornadus @ Chesto Berry, Bulk Up, Knock Off, Rest, Acrobatics
Tentacruel@ Black Sludge, Toxic Spikes, Rapid Spin, Scald, Sludge Bomb/Ice Beam
Raikou@Specs, Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Ice
Venusaur @ Mega; Sludge Bomb, Giga Drain, Synthesis, Hidden Power ?
Relies on his hazards (esp toxic spikes) to help grind opponents down due to ridiculous bulk of his team, has lots of good (and a bad) recovery options. Lacks strong immediate offense if you can get rid of Raikou & Garchomp early – Garchomp is vulnerable to being chipped down, but punishes physical attackers, which I have a few of. Galvantula, Keldeo can run HP ice to severely dent it
Latias likes this matchup a lot – only Cress resists Psychic. Win con can be passing speed to Latias, and setting up behind a surprise substitute, especially if allowed to by Cresselia, or possibly Venusaur. Raikou too if it is locked in to something weak against Latias. I have a lot of options that can punish Cress – not enough to dissuade him from bringing it I feel, but Latias would go even better with it out of the way.
Lots of flying/levitating/steel/lum can render toxic spikes irrelevant, as can having a spinner - perhaps more useful against rocks depending on use of Arcanine/Bugs. Toxic helps wear down Cress, Garchomp. Also Raikou, and Tornadus, although Torn can use rest.
Malamar can set up on Cress, and maybe Venusaur. With Speed it and Bisharp can beat Raikou. It can also 1v1 Tentacruel. Bisharp also can, but has to be worried about status (unless Lum).
Bisharp's priority can beat Raikou after some chip (say from rocks, etc) – get it down to 50% and it's done if Bisharp is still around. Stealth Rocks help that. Can use Raikou to give Claydol a great switch in chance if thunderbolt/volt switch is useable (i.e. Bisharp, Malamar, Ninjask). If choice locked in to something like Shadow Ball, Bisharp can come in for a free +2. This is a win-condition if Rocks and Web are up.
Sticky Web isn't so useful here per-se, but it can give Latias et al a bit better chance to set up in the absence of Ninjask, which can be blunted by rocks. However, he has a good spinner in Tentacruel, so will be important to preserve things until it is gone – I do have a lot of good ways to hit it for damage though. It does also help things start outspeeding Tentacruel, such as Bisharp and Malamar.
Tornadus is a worry if it gets set up with its bulk up/rest shenanigans, have to be wary of giving it the time to be naughty – Bisharp checks its usual set, Galvantula can outmatch it 1v1 if Sash is in tact. Accelgor can also just beat it out of hand. Shuckle would require skillful use to beat it, but it can be done with encore. Galvantula has decent all around matchup apart from its frailty.
Leads either with Garchomp or Tentacruel in vast majority of battles. Galvantula beats both of them - has a good time against everything except Raikou/Venusaur.
With that in mind, this was my team
Blow your top (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- PsychicCruise Control (Ninjask) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- X-ScissorSailor Moon (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 108 SpA / 148 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- RecoverKnife Party (Bisharp) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Psycho CutSquidward (Malamar) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Psycho Cut
- SubstituteEye Spy (Galvantula) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Thunder
- Bug Buzz
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Team Caps: 11 - Latias; 10 - Arcanine, Bisharp; 9 - Keldeo; 8 - Galvantula; 6 - Shuckle; 4 - Claydol; 3 - Aromatisse; 2 - Malamar, Ninjask; 1 - Togetic
I ran Toxic on Claydol to help me deal with annoying bulky Pokemon like Cresselia and Garchomp by putting them on a timer and helping chip them away for my other mons to finish off. Psychic also hit Tentacruel and Venusaur hard if need be, and a specially bulky set would live their attacks ok to hurt them if I needed. Rapid Spin was useful mainly for protecting Ninjask in case that became my best way to seek a win condition.
I ran a relatively offensive Ninjask because I figured I could get away with that, allowing Ninjask to pick up revenge KO's if needed rather than just relying on Baton Pass.
I decided to opt for a Substitute Stored Power Latias this week as I figured I could surprise Utah with Substitute, and get well and truly set up after perhaps speed passing and with a couple of CM's, making Stored Power immensly strong. I ran enough bulk to make Raikou's Choice Specs Shadow Ball a 3HKO from full health.
Lum Berry on Bisharp was chosen so that I could safely set up a Swords Dance on Cresselia, and proceed to sweep through with a +2 Knock Off. I also ran the SD set because I felt it could be really strong here, despite my inability to make best use of it in previous weeks. Psycho Cut was for Venusaur and Tentacruel (even though Knock Off does more) - I didn't need a steel move this week. Lum meant my damage output was less, but at least I wasn't taking recoil damage.
Malamar was picked because I felt that its coverage was excellent against Utah, better than Keldeo's, and that with some speed control it could outspeed and set up Superpower boosts pretty easily, especially on weakened foes, and from a +1 or +2 position, clean up. Lum Berry was also run here as Malamar was one of my few Pokemon so far in this lineup weak to Toxic Spikes, and I figured it may also help me against stray Paralysis too. I still opted for a bulky spread because I figure Ninjask is probably going to pass it a billion speed anyway, so bulk was going to be more useful.
Galvantula was the last mon added, since I figured it had a good matchup against many of Utah's support Pokemon, especially if running HP Ice for Garchomp, that Sticky Web wasn't the worst move in the world even with a couple of strong levitating/flying pokemon opposite, and despite it nearly always fainting after getting its web up this season, it generally can get its job done, and I thought it had a chance to finally get on the KO board this week. It also meant that I had a couple of speed control options and with opposing Trick Room unlikely, I felt this would help me get over the line despite Utah's only real fast threats being Tornadus and Raikou.
Replay Result: 5-0 WIN
Key Moments:
Having decided that Galvantula would be an optimal lead choice, I was surprised when I saw Utah lead with Tornadus, which U-Turned (a new set! And fitting with the team name) out of harms way only for Venusaur to be paralysed by thunder. Garchomp took the chance to safely switch in as I got my web up, but I called the Stealth Rock and got great damage off with HP Ice, making Garchomp a non-issue for the rest of the battle as far as I was concerned.
Galvantula then struggled to break through Cresselia thanks to a Moonblast SpA drop, but Claydol was then able to safely come in and toxic it and set up Stealth Rocks, putting me in a great board position if I could stop Tentacruel from spinning them away. Raikou came in to threaten me with a Shadow Ball. Even though I could have used Rapid Spin and easily lived even a critical hit Choice Specs Shadow Ball from Raikou (muh bulk), I decided this would be a good time to sack off Galvantula (sorry my sacrificial spider buddy) and bring in Bisharp. The recipe for a win condition was there, and Raikou's damage output if not Specs'd like usual would be low enough that it would be a non-issue for Bisharp to receive a surprise Thunderbolt if Raikou did not switch out.
I successfully set up a Swords Dance, and was able to plough through the Tentacruel switch, then Sucker Punch the apparantly offensive Tornadus. Cresselia was never going to live a +2 Knock Off with the chip damage it had taken, even with a purely physical bulky set (which I doubted would be run - to be sure, it would have nearly had a chance to live from 82% HP given my lum set). I could have safely Swords Danced again, but Bisharp was in a hurry to Knife Party everything, so it did. Raikou was next, but I Sucker Punched in case it was Choice Scarfed for surprise, and Bisharp finished its slaughter with Venusaur and Garchomp. From being 5-6 down, I had taken my biggest win of the season with a 5-0 hammering. This and my last week's play give me confidence leading in to the finals, especially given I have beaten the three other teams in the top four during the season. Also, thanks Bisharp for putting up with me being bad, I hope this week made up for it.
MVP Votes Week 11 - This was easy, I only used three pokemon in this battle
3 - Bisharp, 2 - Galvantula 1 - Claydol
Overall MVP Tally
14 - Bisharp; 11 - Keldeo; 10 – Latias; 9 - Arcanine, 7 – Shuckle; 5 - Galvantula; 4 - Claydol; 3 – Aromatisse; 2 - Malamar; 1 - Ninjask
Golden Fist Week 11
6 - Bisharp
Overall Golden Fist
17 - Bisharp; 15 - Keldeo; 10 - Latias; 8 - Arcanine; 3 - Malamar; 2 - Aromatisse; 1 - Shuckle, Claydol
Art by Lordmacguffin. Find more of his work at http://lordmacguffin.deviantart.com/
Season Results: (9-2; +21 Differential, 2nd)
Week 11: 5-0 WIN vs Utah U-Turners (Replay)
Week 10: 4-0 WIN vs Sydney Shuckles (Replay)
Week 9: 0-3 LOSS vs Miami Heatmor (Replay)
Week 8: 2-0 WIN vs Richmond Raikous (Replay)
Week 7: 2-0 WIN vs Epping Eevees (Replay)
Week 6: 0-3 LOSS vs East Side Excadrill (Replay)
Week 5: 2-0 WIN vs Tottenham Espurr (Replay)
Week 4: 3-0 WIN vs Tullamarine Auras (Replay)
Week 3: 2-0 WIN vs New York Klefkis (Replay)
Week 2: 4-0 WIN vs Blackburn Brelooms (Replay)
Week 1: 3-0 WIN vs Wildwood Wobbuffets (Replay)
Vs Burwood Buizels
| Tornadus-T |
| Weavile |
| Manaphy |
| Reuniclus |
| Ampharos |
| Porygon-Z |
| Amoonguss |
| Cofagrigus |
| Dugtrio |
| Skuntank |
| Rhydon |
| Audino |
Even if he looks like a pirate currently and always has hax happen to him, Burwood's team is solid and has many crafty ways to turn a battle in its favour. I'll need to watch out with my teambuilding; I'd love to get the win needed to all but wrap up second place for the regular season, but Burwood's team is stronger than its middling record suggests.
Melbourne Battle Association: Weeks Nine and Ten
Week Nine vs Miami Heatmor & Week Ten vs Sydney Shuckles
Due to issues with being absent from Wifi for large tracts of the last two weeks, and the Christmas break, we have another double analysis week here today.
Vs Miami Heatmor
Their squad
| Terrakion |
| Gardevoir |
| Rotom-W |
| Milotic |
| Zoroark |
| Entei |
| Trevenant |
| Flygon |
| Braviary |
| Weezing |
| Regirock |
| Hariyama |
These were my notes:
Gardevoir is big threat. Will likely bring lots of water to neuter Keldeo. Keldeo can tear through if set up and Gardevoir is taken care of, as can Latias (Reflect Type can laugh at Gardevoir, but can I fit it in? Have to maintain Bisharp for Gardevoir. If I bring Arcanine, it's weak against 3 water types, can't hit Slowbro hard at all, but gives me another option against Gardevoir. Can also switch in on Entei and Wil-o-Wisp. Milotic will be competitive and bulky. Bisharp + Sticky web is good. Shuckle is also great, especially if it can get a free turn/create free turns. Who to put in 6th slot? Malamar can set up, especially with help with sticky web, but is a bit feeble and worsens my Gardevoir matchup, which Nick will know is key. Can't afford for it to set up with Calm Mind or something.
Gardevoir matchup – Snag with Shuckle, Get with Bisharp, Arcanine, can niggle with Gardevoir.
Bulky Water core – break down with Galvantula, Shuckle, a set up Keldeo. Bisharp and Arcanine can chunk if Gardevoir is neutered.
Weezing, Trevenant, etc – Keldeo can set up, Latias can chip at, Trevenant is vulnerable. Weezing less so – but Galvantula, Latias, Arcanine can put in big chunks. Shuckle is also a stand off on bulky variants, but will likely eventually lose.
No way to really clear hazards, aside Flygon's defog. Although up to three can dodge sticky web. Need to put up web to make sure Bisharp can beat Gard and Terrakion. Rocks can beat focus sash things like Zoroark, punish switches. Likely to run Competitive Milotic to try to make use of Sticky Web. Should try to look after Galvantula if possible, it's good.
Latias is scared of Zoroark a little, and Gardevoir
Bisharp can be really strong late game, in conjunction with sticky web.
Likely to run Rotom-W, Gardevoir, Zoroark, Milotic, Trevenant, Flygon.
Keldeo's best offensive moves are HP ice and Secret Sword then. Need to get rid of Flygon, so Web can stay up and at my advantage. Latias afer a few CM's is really hard to beat for him.
From that, this was the team I ended up going with.
Hoenn Airlines (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 SpA / 128 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- PsyshockRide My Pony (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Secret SwordBe Sharp (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock OffSub Woofer (Arcanine) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Atk / 16 Def / 104 SpD
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Morning SunDon't Mind Me (Shuckle) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 32 Def / 224 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Infestation
- Toxic
- RestA Bug's Life (Galvantula) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Thunder
- Thunder Wave
- Energy Ball
Now looking back at it, I feel like my actual teambuilding was uninspired given my note-taking, but I guess it is easy to keep using what one is comfortable with. I had had a busy weekend away from internet (thanks Telstra), and with a few things happening, so maybe my head wasn't in the game. Apart from running a defensive Arcanine, everything here is quite standard and doesn't need very much explanation.
Vs Sydney Shuckles
Their squad:
| Metagross |
| Thundurus-I |
| Clefable |
| Mamoswine |
| Crobat |
| Goodra |
| Jellicent |
| Registeel |
| Drapion |
| Meowstic - M |
| Regice |
| Musharna |
As I only made this team a couple of hours before my battle, unusually late by my standards, this was probably my slackest teambuilding week in terms of note-making, as I didn't actually come up with anything in my big old notebook, but I'll still run through my teambuilding thought-process post facto, as I think it's a good exercise.
Firstly, another team with a Fairy - man, they really give me trouble. Fortunately, Clefable is much slower than Gardevoir and Diancie, so Bisharp and Arcanine can more easily deal with it if they're allowed to. Sydney also seemed to be a little vulnerable to being chipped away at with Stealth Rocks, and Clefable aside, a big Dark weakness, as well as the coverage generally offered by the likes of Bisharp and Malamar. With quite a few bulky mons around, it wouldn't be very easy to make use of this weakness though - the Stealth Rocks would help, especially with only really Crobat to clear them
Metagross, Thundurus and Crobat all posed issues with their speed, and with two of them being off the ground, and the other getting Clear Body pre-Mega evolution, I was going to need something other than Sticky Web to get myself faster than them - something my recent trade Ninjask would be able to do if allowed, and that meant trying to keep opposing Stealth Rocks off the field. This strategy would give me many options depending on the time in the match and what Sydney had left, since I had the potential to run as many as four or five pokemon that could make use of Speed passing.
I felt that Keldeo might have a tough matchup, and with the previous week's experience (see replay and analysis), but without it in the squad I had to look for another option to keep up my ability to hit hard even with depleted resources in a late game - with something like Malamar, it would mean that I had a big Physical bias in my offenses, but I felt that that would be manageable given that the special bulk of Sydney was more of an issue for me.
From that, this was the team I ended up going with:
Merry Christmas (Claydol) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SpD
Bold Nature
- Earth Power
- Psyshock
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid SpinMrs Santa (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- RecoverDelivery Drone (Ninjask) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Baton Pass
- Night SlashPresent Opener (Bisharp) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron HeadMerry Dogmas (Arcanine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Close Combat
- Will-O-WispChristmas Coal (Malamar) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Taunt
- Psycho Cut
Season Team Caps: 10 - Latias, Arcanine; 9 - Keldeo, Bisharp; 7 - Galvantula; 6 - Shuckle; 3 - Aromatisse, Claydol; 1 - Togetic, Ninjask, Malamar
I gave Claydol two attacks that could be largely useful against opposing options and to allow it to do something with its life other than set up Rocks and spin them away. Latias was given Shadow Ball to hit Metagross, Musharna and Jellicent hard if need be, but was otherwise similar to usual.
Ninjask was handed a debut, and given the apparant utility of Dark attacks against Sydney, I went for Night Slash as its only attack, outside of the main plan to pass speed and substitutes to others. Given my previous experience with Thundurus being a nuisance with Thunder Waves, I gave Bisharp a Lum Berry this time, and Swords Dance to allow it to run right over teams if given a free turn. Arcanine was made offensive to help break through the opposing defenses, and it especially needed this to help grind down Clefable, with Wil-o-Wisp to help blunt physical attackers as well as potentially scout Clefable's set.
Malamar was a last minute addition to improve my firepower against non-Clefables, with great coverage outside of that. I gave it Taunt to stop opposing shenanigans from things like Jellicent or Musharna, as well as Lum Berry again to help keep Malamar away from crippling status. Although Malamar has no speed investment (it has a poor speed tier), I feel that getting passed Speed Boosts would allow it to shine after warming my bench all season.
Week 9: 0-3 LOSS (Replay)
Well I felt alright with how I started this battle, setting up my Sticky Web and Galvantula neutralising the opposing Terrakion. Latias was roared out, a neat tech to stop me setting up, so it was up to Keldeo to claim that KO. Rotom-W was then a pest, and it cost me paralysis on Latias to find out its set and item - I switched out being scared of a scarf set, but in hindsight maybe that wasn't such a good idea, since there were many in Miami's lineup that threatened Keldeo, and Latias was far more important to me. Unfortunately, this led to Latias going down to Gardevoir, as I was worried about him predicting a switch out and punishing me for it. Arcanine missed a Wil-o-Wisp on Rotom-W, making it a bit more difficult for me to chip away at the annoying bulky water, especially after being punished with yet another thunder wave. After Arcanine was finished off by Entei, Keldeo came in to threaten it out.
After a short period of stalling between Trevenant and Shuckle, Entei came back to finish off Shuckle thanks to an Iron Head flinch. When Trevenant came back in to scare away my Keldeo, I eventually switched back in to Bisharp to threaten it. Unfortunately, I didn't get up a Swords Dance when I had the chance, and as a result Bisharp lacked the power to rip through the opposing lineup, which it may well have been able to at that point after forcing a switch - I guess I was scared of a Yolo burn from Trevenant from it being sacked.
As it was, I found myself at 1 - 4 down, and out of contention after Bisharp didn't quite manage to KO Rotom-W with Knock Off and was KO'd with Hydro Pump as a result - quite risky from Miami given its accuracy, but it paid off. Keldeo sitll had way too many threats to beat down, and although it finally got rid of Rotom-W, I could do nothing other than lose 0-3. I felt like I was for the most part handily outplayed this battle, and made to pay for unimaginative and lazy teambuilding. Although I can see in the replays that I again had chances to win with Bisharp, but lacked the intestinal fortitude to make the winning play with it. I apologise to Bisharp for letting it down, a +2 sweep would have been stylish, and it was easily within my reach.
Week 10: 4-0 WIN (Replay)
I felt really happy with my teambuilding when Sam, Sydney's coach, expressed surprise at some of my picks. I know my team lineup has been fairly consistent throught the season, even if the sets and plans have varied most weeks.
Clefable came in early to try to set up on my Claydol, and I wasn't having any of that as I needed Clefable out of the way to execute my own gameplan, so Arcanine did a job scaring it away to deal damage to Goodra, and then later again sacrificing itself to keep Clefable at an HP range that meant it was no longer threatening, after identifying it as Unaware to combat my own potential to set up Calm Minds with Latias, or with Keldeo.
Bisharp completed the task, but then retreated against a full health Metagross, whose use of Earthquake allowed Claydol to pivot in freely to get some chip damage happening. Fortunately, Metagross didn't bring its glasses, so Claydol was able to get a cheeky KO by twice dodging Meteor Mash and landing Earth Power. I gave Malamar a run after Crobat evened up the score by revenge KO'ing my Claydol with U-Turn, but Crobat came back in to scare it away.
Ninjask took the incoming U-Turn like a champ, and in the face of a scary Thundurus-I, set up a substitute, and bravely took Hidden Power (flying?) for a few turns, waiting for Thundurus to faint from Life Orb recoil on the turn it Baton Passed x2.5 speed to Malamar, who was now in a position to sweep through the remaining three Pokemon on Sydney's side. Malamar ended up with 3 KO's on debut as I ran out 4-0 victor in this battle, which was a welcome pick up after my flat previous week, and also a nice way to finish up the year coming in to the Christmas break.
MVP Votes (Week 9)
3 - Keldeo, 2 - Bisharp, 1 - Galvantula
MVP Votes (Week 10)
2 – Malamar, Claydol; 1 - Arcanine, Ninjask
Overall MVP Tally
11 - Keldeo, Bisharp; 10 – Latias; 9 - Arcanine, 7 – Shuckle; 3 – Aromatisse, Galvantula, Claydol; 2 - Malamar; 1 - Ninjask
Golden Fist Week 9
2 - Keldeo; 1 - Bisharp
Golden Fist Week 10
3 - Malamar, 1 - Claydol, Bisharp
Overall Golden Fist
15 - Keldeo; 11 - Bisharp; 10 - Latias; 8 - Arcanine; 3 - Malamar; 2 - Aromatisse; 1 - Shuckle, Claydol
Art from Malamar EX Promo card (TCG) - found it on this site, a TCG blog by Kyle Sabelhaus
Season Results: (8-2; +16 Differential, 2nd)
Week 10 4-0 WIN vs Sydney Shuckles (Replay)
Week 9: 0-3 LOSS vs Miami Heatmor (Replay)
Week 8: 2-0 WIN vs Richmond Raikous (Replay)
Week 7: 2-0 WIN vs Epping Eevees (Replay)
Week 6: 0-3 LOSS vs East Side Excadrill (Replay)
Week 5: 2-0 WIN vs Tottenham Espurr (Replay)
Week 4: 3-0 WIN vs Tullamarine Auras (Replay)
Week 3: 2-0 WIN vs New York Klefkis (Replay)
Week 2: 4-0 WIN vs Blackburn (Replay)
Week 1: 3-0 WIN vs Wildwood (Replay)
Next: Week 11 vs Utah U-Turners
Utah are 8-2 this season, and so whoever wins this match is guaranteed to be in second place at the end of the round. It is quite a bulky team, so if I'm not careful it'll brush off my attacks like they're nothing, and Raikou and Tornadus offer quite an offensive threat too. I'll need to pick up my teambuilding game to come up with a good gameplan against Utah in order to beat them.
| Raikou |
| Garchomp |
| Venusaur |
| Cresselia |
| Tornadus-I |
| Tentacruel |
| Gastrodon |
| Alomomola |
| Typhlosion |
| Quagsire |
| Sawk |
| Ariados |
The Art of (Pokemon) War: Variations in Tactics
Previous: Maneuvering
Hi all. This post was ready quite a while ago, but as I was busy with...being distracted, I guess, it kind of fell by the wayside in terms of getting posted for quite a while. I feel this chapter is named pretty well, if you are to look at it in a vacuum and decide if it is relevant to Pokemon battling. However, the subject matter looks at things more than just the straightforward understanding of having a variety of teams to choose from, and options within your teams. As we shall see, the focus seems to be more on understanding, and how to use that understanding. Anyway, enough talking from me here.
VIII. Variation in Tactics
4. The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that accompany variation of tactics knows how to handle his troops
5. The general who does not understand these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.
I would interpret this in terms of understanding the various gameplans and win conditions their own team can play for. Equally as important would be knowing matchups and gameplans between and against a wide variety of opponents and archetypes.
Without knowing all of the possible win and lose conditions that your team has, you may fail to recognise some during battle (and thus lose), even if you are very familiar with the metagame, what is popular, and what many common teams do. Additionally, without practice, or at least theorizing game plans against a great many opposition matchups, you may enter a tournament and find yourself underprepared for a particular matchup, which may be the difference between top-cutting or not if you are not able to spontaneously find a way out of a tricky unexpected matchup. It is only through being familiar with both of these aspects that you will be best placed to navigate the tricky matchups that tournaments can and will throw at you.
7. Hence in the wise leader's plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage will be blended together.
When one only considers the strengths of their team, you become unprepared for the unfavourable positions one can be caught in during a tournament. No one tactic is a one size fits all automatic win against every opponent, so when building and learning how to use a team, one must discover when it is at a disadvantage, and learn to navigate around that successfully.
However, if you only consider how you will try to negate disadvantages, your team may struggle to make use of its advantages, or even have enough favourable matchups to breeze through unprepared opponents, as you can dilute and spread your strategy too thinly if you try to patch too many holes without trusting in your own tactics to pull you through.
8. If our expectation of advantage be tempered in this way, we may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of our schemes.
9. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.
Following on from the previous point, when you know the strengths and weaknesses of your team, and understand how you and others can play around that, you will be more likely to be able to navigate a tournament setting successfully. Also, by remembering what the team aims to accompish, even in adjusting for our opponent's strategies and choices, game plans can still be accomplished, rather than being obliterated due to a failiure to adequtely consider our opponent.
By being aware of how your team can win battles, you also allow yourself to overcome early setbacks, like surprise movesets or items, strange plays, or poor rng rolls - in staying focused, not giving up, and working to an adjusted plan, you may get your team back in to a good position or a winning position through your use of your knowledge of how to use your team and how to manage its advantages and disadvantages.
11. The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
This can be interpreted in a number of ways. Firstly, one should not bet too heavily on your opponent making a particular decision during a battle, whether it is in what they bring, or a move they choose; and secondly not betting too hard on whether you will or will not battle a certain archetype during a competition.
Of course, the former could be a manner of aggressively reading your opponent in a third battle of a Best of Three match, but generally if the risk is too high of you getting punished for banking on a certain decision of your opponent, you may come unstuck more easily than if you made a decision whereby you could put together a win from a less risky position with a more balanced approach.
12. There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction; (2) cowardice, which leads to capture; (3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults; (4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame; (5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
13. These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.
I feel as if these five dangerous faults can still be applied to Pokemon battling, and may be important to keep aware of so that you may not be negatively impacted by them.
- Recklessness - giving away pokemon, and win conditions too easily, going for overly risky plays that aren't justified by the potential reward. Not considering all of the plays that your opponent could make and being caught out by them, even when they are obvious, is another sign of reckless battling.
- Cowardice - not responding to your gut instincts, or making overly safe plays when behind in the battle. Playing too negatively and reactively, keeping you behind in the battle and lacking initiative, and not making the ballsy plays needed to come back from a bad position.
- A hasty temper - getting put into a tilt by bad RNG, or by a poor decision, clouding your future decisions. Also being easily provoked by insults although most in the pokemon community are not so mean spirited as to try to rattle opponents with jibes and taunts.
- Having a delicacy of honour might be best construed as putting artificial limitations on your teambuilding by not using particular options that you find distasteful, even to the extent of forcing yourself to choose inferior moves, items or Pokemon. It could also refer to the habit of referring to strategies you dislike as 'cheap', or 'gimmicky' , such as Dark Void, Perish Trap, or even just using a Battle Spot Special/CHALK team.
- Point 5 can be considered to be always using your favourites, even if they lack synergy or are outclassed at a role - You should care for your pokemon, but you also should be unafraid to use whatever you have to to make sure your team is the strongest it can be. If you want to win in a big tournament, sometimes your favourite Pokemon just won't be up to the task, either because it needs too much support, or it is not strong enough to be effective. Caring too much about your favourite Pokemon to the point of only ever using them can be detrimental to your experience and performance as a trainer, as it means you won't get to understand and appreciate the strengths of other Pokemon, even if you feel like they are overused and overpowered. This isn't supposed to be a debate about that whole Elite Four Karen quote about "Strong Pokemon and Weak Pokemon". This is to highlight that for a successful trainer wanting to build a strong team, the focus should always be on the team and its performance, not the individual 'special pokemon'. Besides, there is plenty of time for fun battles with your favourites outside of major competitions.
Sorry again for the long wait between these posts, hope this one has been useful, and I'll try not to go two months between them next time.
Next: On the March, Terrain, and Situations
Melbourne Battle Association: Trade Week
Melbourne Battle Association Trade Week
Trade week actually happened a number of weeks ago, but I've had a bunch of things happening irl that have made me pretty bad at updating this blog of late, so my analysis of the MBA trade week is coming out very very late (better late than never though, right?). Here I'll analyse how trades have affected each team's lineup, whether I think it was a good trade and how I think the team might perform for the rest of the season as a result.
Miami Heatmor:
IN: Terrakion
OUT: Slowbro
Traded a third bulky water type for the offenses of Terrakion. Should add another dimension to the team's capabilities, combining with Gardevoir for nice Fairy/Fighting coverage. Quite a good trade, as arguably Slowbro was the least useful of Miami's large supply of bulky waters given the makeup of the rest of the squad, and injects some much needed speed in to the lineup. This doesn't drastically change how Miami functions, but it should be helpful overall.
Epping Eevees
IN: Dragalge, Kabutops
OUT: Vaporeon, Glaceon
The Eevee centric team lost two of its eeveelutions, but Dragalge does give it some great offensive power, as the team looks to now have a multitude of feasible modes in Trick Room, as well as Rain and Sun. Rain mode, and hazard clearing, got a bit better with the addition of Kabutops. These modes are quite crowded, so Epping may still be a jack of all trades, and master of none, but the Kabutops trade at least really does make teambuilding against Epping a bit more of a headache, given how you could be punished for building too hard against the wrong mode. Pretty good changes I'd say, and they improve the offensive threat and utility posed by Epping in my opinion.
Tottenham Espurr
IN: Granbull, Ditto
OUT: Miltank, Lilligant
Granbul gives Tottenham an intimidate option, but they lose the cleric ability of Miltank. A minor change at best, in my opinion. However, Tottenham really won out in picking up Ditto off of Wildwood (Jake why), as even though it is in RU, Ditto gives yet another late game option for Tottenham, and gives an ability to counter setup. It may be a bit of a squeeze fitting in every option at once now though with Tottenham's lineup fairly settled prior to trade week, but with Tottenham likely to win the league, this will be a nightmare for finals opponents to factor in when the team without Ditto has only lost once all season anyway. Good, but small change.
Sunshine Squirtles
IN: Snorlax, Thundurus-T
OUT: Hoopa-Unbound, Goodra
In dropping Hoopa-U, and Goodra, Sunshine have dropped a total nuke for a vaunted 'fast electric type' that hits hard, and shifted their special wall to a new Pokemon. Hoopa didn't see any use this season, which is a pity because it can be quite a menace. While Thundurus-T gives volt-turn opportunities, Sunshine's squad is fairly flimsy defensively, so I'm not sure if this is an improvement or not. Snorlax does give a physical offensive option instead of a predominatly special one in Goodra, and combined these trades lessen a weakness to Fairy type attacks; but on the balance I think these changes are relatively cosmetic, and don't fix the flaws that have kept Sunshine to just two wins so far this season.
Sydney Shuckles
IN: Crobat, Goodra
OUT: Salamence, Snorlax
Salamence hadn't been seeing much use for Sydney, and Snorlax was also relatively under used. Crobat I think is a more useful utility Pokemon for Sydney, which has a good balance between offense and defense, and the speed tier Crobat sits in is definitely useful for finishing off weak targets as well. Goodra, combined with Metagross and Clefable makes for a nice fantasy defensive core that probably works slightly better than with Salamence in it. The changes aren't major, but for Sydney to make the jump from finals contender to title favourite, these small adjustments may come in handy, and I think they are on balance improvements to the team.
East Side Excadrill
IN: Diancie (Mega), Heliolisk
OUT: Gyaradosite, Excadrill, Hoopa
In picking up Diancie and its mega stone, East Side may have had the best trade of the trade period. This greatly changes the threat offered by East Side, and their ability to hit hard early and often, as well as vastly improving their coverage options. Before trade week, East Side was rather slow and a bit underwhelming offensively, so this greatly changes things. Heliolisk is also a great pickup as its speed allows it to be more useful than Hoopa, and its ability to Volt-Switch will be very useful for momentum gaining, particularly as East Side has got comfortable with Kyurem-B's wallbreaking as well as adding Diancie to their lineup.
Burwood Buizels
IN: Porygon Z, Skuntank
OUT: Cobalion, Magmortar
Interesting type shifts for Burwood, with the Poison/Dark of Skuntank being potentially quite useful for this finals contender, while Porygon-Z offers wild offense at the loss of Cobalion's utility and interesting typing. I'm not sure these changes will make a giant difference to Burwood's performance, especially given the tiers these trades came in, but I think Burwood have added some new dimensions to their lineup which will make teambuilding against them a little more difficult, so all in all that probably makes these a good set of trades.
Wildwood Wobbuffets
In: Liepard, Lilligant
OUT: Dusknoir, Ditto
Wildwood picks up some prankster niggle and a pretty flower in return for losing Ditto and a bulky attacker in Dusknoir. I don't think these trades do much for Wildwood, but they weren't using Ditto or Dusknoir much, so maybe they'll turn out ok. Cosmetic changes at best.
Utah U-Turners
IN: Nil
OUT: Nil
No changes here, and as they are currently 8-2 with practically the same team each week. While they are still to face the top 2 this season of Glen Waverley and Tottenham, this raises the question of did they really need any trades? We shall see whether their strong defensive core is able to be picked apart in the last three weeks of the season.
Blackburn Brelooms
IN: Aron, Excadrill
OUT: Diancie, Klinklang
Blackburn has doubled down on sand here, and I'm not sure that relying so heavily on it is a good thing. Aron is cool, but I feel if it is brought it won't pull its weight as most of the league should be capable of working around it without comprimising the rest of their team too much against sand. Then again, Klinklang was not doing much. Excadrill is an excellent offensive addition, but I feel like giving Mega Diancie to East Side is such a colossal waste for Blackburn. Sand is cool, but without infinite weather this generation, I don't see it being enough to drastically improve Blackburn's lineup. These trades still likely improve what they have, but I just look at Blackburn this year and wonder a little about what could have been for the mid-table side.
Glen Waverley Gyarados
IN: Ninjask
OUT: Murkrow
A minor RU tier change, but given Murkrow wasn't seeing any use, it will be interesting to see how Glen Waverley use Ninjask. Its ability to speed pass and be pro-active for Glen Waverley may come in handy more than Murkrow's re-active niggle or defensive use though. Glen Waverley couldn't solve their Fairy weakness, unable to pick up a Steel or Poison type in the trade week, but aside from their losses against East Side and Miami, they seem to have done ok despite that. Probably a good trade, but it doesn't drastically alter Glen Waverley's Plan A
Richmond Raikous
IN: Scolipede, Rotom-Mow
OUT: Azumarill, Jolteon
Azumarill for Scolipede is a fantastic trade which further sharpens Richmond's offensive pressure, although it along with the Rotom-Mow trade create a huge fire weakness, and Jolteon seemed to be useful momentum wise. These trades are probably good for Richmond given their offensive focus, particularly in bringing pokemon like Heracross and Suicune in to play more, but do nothing to solve the defensive issues that are the reason Richmond is at the foot of the table. This, in conjunction with readily available phazing and Richmond's propensity for reckless offense may limit the improvements that RIchmond can make as a result of these trades.
Tullamarine Auras
IN: Florges, Magmortar
OUT: Lucario, Skuntank
The Florges trade in particular I think helps Tullamarine's defensive capabilities, something that has been a glaring issue for them this season. They have managed to pick up a couple of surprise wins recently to make up for a dismal start, one of which came solely because of Florges. Magmortar may be more useful than Skuntank, but I think that trade is more cosmetic, although it does give Tullamarine a second fire type for the loss of Poison/Dark Utility. Decent trades, may help Tullamarine have a strong finish to an overall weak debut season which has seen almost as many steps back as steps forward.
New York Klefkis
IN: Vaporeon, Jolteon
OUT: Rotom-Mow, Dragalge
New York picked up two eeveelutions for the cost of a Rotom and a Dragalge. I think the Jolteon is a good pickup, as it's probably more useful than Rotom-Mow at offering a chance for Volt Switching (at the expense of some bulk and niggle value). Vaporeon is a reasonable pick up too, as Dragalge didn't seem to be doing much for New York, while Vaporeon plugs some holes defensively and gives more utility. Good trades for New York - they've exceeded my expectations quite a bit this season (cue humble pie), and I think these trades will help keep them in the hunt for a spot in the finals.
That's all for this analysis, hope it was enlightening, and once again apologies for cranking it out so late. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
VGC 2016 Ruleset announced
VGC 2016 Ruleset
This morning, Pokemon announced the rules for the upcoming VGC 2016 Season. Essentially, it expands on the 2015 format by allowing all Legendary Pokemon (but not Mythical/Event Only Pokemon), in a throwback to VGC 2010.
We saw this format early in 2015 with the Generation Showdown tournament, and that is where I'd get my information from for ideas about the early metagame's shape.
I also made a team report from the Generation Showdown on Nugget Bridge, which is what forms my limited experience with the format being that I wasn't around for VGC 2010 - a lot has changed in 6 years at any rate.
While at first announcement I'm not particularly happy about the format, especially given that it's not practicable on Battle Spot currently, and it has high barriers to entry, it will be fun seeing everyone dropped in the deep end when it comes to teambuilding and archetype creating. While the format will be warped around the high powered legendaries, there's lots of room for invention here I feel.
In brief, my initial thoughts:
I expect Double Genies won't be going away any time soon, and that we will see a lot of Groudon and Mega Rayquaza, at least initially. Dialga is pretty strong thanks to its typing and stats, but I think it will take some time for it to really take off as initially I feel the lure of Mega Rayquaza and the Primals will be rather large. Unfortunately for Zygarde, I don't think a game where its 100% form will be available will be out while this format is still live.
Many other Legends will be squeezed out by the Hoenn trio I think - From Kalos, Xerneas is threatening but needs support thanks to its abysmal coverage, Yveltal is good without being outstanding. I'm not convinced on Mewtwo, but it has amazing stats, same with Ho-oh and Lugia - the latter of which is amazingly bulky, but I'm not sure how useful its support moves are in competition with Cresselia and taking up a Legend slot. Palkia is an unknown quantity for me, but certainly strong and resistant to both Primals. Reshiram and Zekrom are again strong, but I think they're squeezed out a bit for the legend slots, and Kyurem, particularly Black Kyurem, has a place as being able to take on all three from Hoenn, but I'm not sure what that place is exactly at the moment.
To repeat my first paragraph, Double Genies are certainly not going anywhere, weather will be dominant, but not with Charizard Y, Abomasnow, Politoed and Tyranitar, and moves like Skill Swap, Worry Seed and Gastro Acid will all have big uses. I also expect to see a bit more use of Shadow Tag around. Kangaskhan is still strong, but also faces a lot of competition power wise now, and there are many more bulky things able to take its attacks too.
We'll see a bit more as the metagame develops.
Stay tuned as I will try to make cool teams and show them off here if I think they're good.
Melbourne Battle Association: Weeks Seven and Eight
Week Seven vs Epping Eevees & Week Eight vs Richmond Raikous
Due to issues with being absent from Wifi for large tracts of the last two week, combined with a late battle in week 7 and an early week 8 battle, I'm combining the two reports in to one article here. Not chucking a hissy fit because of my week 6 loss though.
vs Epping Eevee's:
Chris certainly has had a number of surprising tricks up his sleeve so far this season, and I expected to have to deal with some ones I hadn't seen before in this battle. I certainly wanted to bring my own tricks to make this a fun battle though. Here was their squad, and my thought process:
| Sylveon |
| Ninetales |
| Politoed |
| Espeon |
| Dragalge |
| Umbreon |
| Scrafty |
| Banette |
| Bronzong |
| Kabutops |
| Lanturn |
| Leafeon |
Be careful of Trick Room Mode!
Don't underestimate the Eevee's
Be careful not to Hazard in to Magic Bounce
Sub-CM Keldeo is great if Sylveon is out of the way, and Mega Banette isn't there to niggle. Look after it for the end game
Watch out for Priority Destiny Bond – Shuckle it?
Bisharp is really strong.
Arcanine is handy as much because Sylveon exists.
Stealth Rocks are ok but not that needed imo.
Latias is OK for a 2HKO on Sylveon if at +1, Specs only does max of 87.9% at that level.
Shuckle if full health can make 2HKO unlikely, so can switch in and chip away.
Shuckle and Latias need to focus on special bulk
Following that, this is the team I picked
Leon Powalski (Galvantula) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Thunder
- Giga Drain
- Bug BuzzViper (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 28 Def / 152 SpA / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
- Reflect Type
- Recover
- Dragon Pulse
- PsyshockAndrew Oikonny (Arcanine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Wild Charge
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Close CombatAndross (Togetic) @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 12 SpA / 96 SpD
Bold Nature
- Roost
- Nasty Plot
- Dazzling Gleam
- Baton PassPigma Dengar (Bisharp) @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock OffWolf O'Donnell (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Secret Sword
I took a StarFox bad guys name theme so Chris could be StarFox good guys and we could have a bit of name synergy.
Keldeo, Galvantula were pretty plain, with Galvantula running three attacks to match its sticky web in case it got further chance to be useful during the battle.
I ran Reflect Type on Latias for the chance to completely wall some people who thought they might be able to otherwise hit me hard, like Kabutops, Politoed, Sylveon, as well as others that might switch in afterwards like Bannette, Scrafty and Dragalge.
As Latias had no means to boost attack after dropping Calm Mind, I ran a Baton Pass Togetic to attempt a set up pass should the opportunity arise, with Dazzling Gleam on there are offense which could also stop things like Scrafty, and Umbreon, and Roost to stall out damage if need be. I also knew that Galvantula and Keldeo could benefit from being Baton Passed +2 SpA.
Arcanine was a fully offensive Wallbreaker as it hit a lot of opposing mons really hard and could switch in to attacks if need be.
I ran Bisharp with Swords Dance in case it got the opportunity to set up, as at +2 with the right field conditions, Bisharp could easily run through the entire Eevees lineup.
I guess there weren't too many tricks but I hoped there were enough to keep the game entertaining without me jeapordising my overall team structure.
vs Richmond Raikous:
| Volcarona |
| Heracross |
| Scolipede |
| Porygon-2 |
| Suicune |
| Cloyster |
| Rotom-Mow |
| Durant |
| Camerupt |
| Dusclops |
| Cradily |
| Zangoose |
Richmond has always been scary as a hyper offensive team, and they were fresh off of a 6-0 victory with their Volcarona, and picked up Scolipede in trade week, adding a crucial speed control dimension to their attacking threat. I had to be very careful about stopping Scolipede and Volcarona, as those two bugs (I love bugs) had great potential to rip through my team, or set up a rip in Scolipede's case if I gave them even half a chance. However, being rather one dimensional like that, as well as really fire weak and Bug-heavy did seem to make Richmond rather one dimensional, so I knew what I had to teambuild against with a lot of certainty.
Here were my notes:
Has solid set up threats. Scolipede has worrying ability to pass speed boosts though
CM Keldeo does a good job here.
Such bugs.
Rocks does really well here, hasn't got a great way to clear them.
Boosting Latias does decent here.
Shuckle can set up both hazards and threaten encore, has decent defences I guess.
Arcanine stronk for wallbreaking.
Togetic is not good. Aromatisse can tank some hits I guess, Trick Room to neuter speed boosts.
Bisharp is capable of hitting hard but only neutrally – wallbreaking?.
Aim to slow up Volcarona somehow.
From that, here is what I came up with:
Eat the Stiffness (Keldeo-Resolute) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Secret SwordMegashinka (Latias) @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 104 Def / 76 SpA / 4 SpD / 72 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Dragon PulseTama Life (Arcanine) @ Life Orb
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Extreme Speed
- Wild ChargeRam Only (Shuckle) @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
- Encore
- Sticky Web
- Stealth Rock
- Shell SmashLumpy Met (Aromatisse) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Toxic
- Wish
- Protect
- Trick RoomGood Headband (Bisharp) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Taunt
Although I could have tried to match and beat speed boosting tactics with my own newly traded in Ninjask, I decided to opt for Trick Room Aromatisse as my main method of speed control to stop the Speed Pass shenanigans, with Sticky Web Shuckle also featuring in order to keep a lid on opposing speed passing efforts.
Shuckle also ran Encore so that I could buy some free turns against things like Scolipede, or perhap Volcarona, or anything else wishing to set up, in order to put up my own hazards, or earn a favourable switch. Shell Smash was mostly filler just to add bulk if I needed to stall out pokemon that Aromatisse had used Toxic on.
Bisharp also ran Taunt so that it could stop potential set up shenanigans. If any mon would have been dropped for Ninjask, it would have been Bisharp, but with the benefit of hinsight I think Bisharp did its job just fine. I gave it a Focus Sash for more survivability anyway
Arcanine had Wild Charge to help me hit Suicune hard, and Will-O-Wisp to stop some of the many physical attackers my opponent had if given the time, or to punish switches.
Latias and Keldeo were run basically as standard for me, although this Latias was a bit faster than usual to outspeed 252 Adamant Heracross, should the need arise.
This has probably been my favourite team build of the season because of the methods I had to employ to keep from being run over by speed, especially given all the options I had at my disposal as well as what I didn't use.
Team Caps: 8 - Latias, Keldeo, Arcanine; 7 - Bisharp; 6 - Galvantula; 5 - Shuckle; 3 - Aromatisse; 2 - Claydol, 1 - Togetic
Week 7: 2-0 WIN (Replay)
Well, not long in to this battle, the server wanted to shutdown, so as we were both kicked when the score was 3-3, we finished off the battle with two Smeargles recreating the battle conditions. I saved the transcript of the first half of the battle, but this replay only shows the end stages.
The battle started with Chris leading his Bronzong, setting up Rocks and Trick Room, then Exploding. I sacrificed my Galvantula at that point, then used my Arcanine to (on a crit) take out Sylveon to quickly bring the game to 4-4.
Epping's Politoed was frustrating to my Latias with Perish Song, a neat tech to stop me setting up, and after some switching around, it took out my Togetic on a critical hit, stopping me from getting any use out of it after a planned Roost and Nasty Plot set up.
Following that, my Keldeo finished off his Politoed after a couple of Secret Swords and tanking a Psychic, before the server gave out on us after I switched out Keldeo to Latias on a Kabutops Rapid Spin.
In trying to recreate the end game, my Latias and Keldeo gained some HP, as did Epping's Banette, which also had to re-mega evolve. This may have altered outcomes a little, though I don't think it mattered terribly much.
From there, my attempt to Reflect Type backfired as Kabutops Brick Breaked my Latias, after doing big Knock Off damage. However, Keldeo was able to take the battle from there, using Calm Mind to set up big damage against Banette, tank a Scarf Energy Ball from Ninetales and KO back, then finish off Kabutops, with Bisharp sitting unused in the back ready to finish things off if need be
Week 8: 2-0 WIN (Replay)
I loved my own turn one play as I encored Scolipede's substitute here, allowing me to set up Stealth Rocks, Trick Room, and put in Bisharp to do work. Focus Sash immediately came in handy as I KO'd Volcarona thanks to it. I was a little wasteful with Bisharp in not Sucker Punching Scolipede or switching out after showing Taunt, but alas, this allowed me to send in Aromatisse again, set up a Trick Room, and then use Arcanine as intended to get big damage on a Calm Mind Suicune, which wasn't Crocune because it lacked Rest and Toxic, instead running Roar and Ice Beam. While Suicune got my Arcanine, and Aromatisse, it went down to Toxic damage from Aromatisse, which set up Latias to come in for free.
Richmond then sent in their Rotom to duel with my Latias, but this allowed my Shuckle to come in and set up Sticky Web, a crucial part of my plan now that my Trick Roomer had departed. Somehow, my Latias at neutral outspeed Richmond's neutral Scolipede, picking up a KO that locked up the match. While Durant picked up a hustling KO Shuckle for its troubles, it was set to be OHKO'd by Keldeo after Rocks damage. Heracross went down in two hits after switching in trying to shield Durant, and risked Scald burns anyway, but it only delayed the inevitable as I won 2-0. This battle could still have gone the other way late on despite my best efforts, showing the threat Richmond can pose, but it is pretty well stopped by a number of methods, given that I ran no Phasing moves and no Speed Pass of my own, which might have made the result a bit more one-sided now that I think about it. That said, a win is a win, and I'll take consistent 2-0 wins if that is what it takes to keep winning and be near the top
I was really happy with how I played most of this, but feel I could have saved myself some scary moments by using Ninjask, in hindsight. However, I couldn't have done it without Shuckle and Aromatisse, two crucial pins in a team where the offensive mons are more used to taking the credit. I felt like every Pokemon in my team pulled its weight in this battle.
MVP Votes (Week 7)
3 - Keldeo, 2 - Arcanine, 1 - Galvantula
MVP Votes (Week 8)
3 – Shuckle; 2 – Aromatisse; 1 - Latias
Overall MVP Tally
10 – Latias; 9 – Bisharp; 8 - Arcanine, Keldeo; 7 – Shuckle; 3 – Aromatisse; 2 – Galvantula; 1 - Claydol
Golden Fist Week 7
4 - Keldeo; 1 - Arcanine
Golden Fist Week 8
2 - Keldeo, Latias; 1 - Aromatisse, Bisharp
Overall Golden Fist
13 - Keldeo; 10 - Latias; 9 - Bisharp; 8 - Arcanine; 2 - Aromatisse; 1 - Shuckle
Art from Smogon.com
Season Results: (7-1; +15 Differential, 2nd)
Week 8: 2-0 WIN vs Richmond Raikous (Replay)
Week 7: 2-0 WIN vs Epping Eevees (Replay)
Week 6: 0-3 LOSS vs East Side Excadrill (Replay)
Week 5: 2-0 WIN vs Tottenham Espurr (Replay)
Week 4: 3-0 WIN vs Tullamarine Auras (Replay)
Week 3: 2-0 WIN vs New York Klefkis (Replay)
Week 2: 4-0 WIN vs Blackburn (Replay)
Week 1: 3-0 WIN vs Wildwood (Replay)
This team will certainly be tough to beat. While I 6-0'd them in a preseason battle, that was with Miami not bringing Gardevoir, Rotom-W, or Trevenant. They've had an indifferent season, but the matchup here is pretty even, and will be dependent on whether early leads can be hammered home, or how well each of us manages our resources and overall board position.
| Terrakion |
| Gardevoir |
| Rotom-W |
| Milotic |
| Zoroark |
| Entei |
| Trevenant |
| Flygon |
| Braviary |
| Weezing |
| Regirock |
| Hariyama |
