Official Pokémon VGC Discussion Thread: Check OP For News And Updates

[PokeMaster366]

All I know is that on rain teams there will be the following:
Politoed
Kingdra
Ludicolo
Kabutops
Toxicroak
Scizor
Wash Rotom
they are seen on every rain team so I'm gong to use an anti-weather team
Ferrothorn (my politoed check)
Latios (to handle toxicroak)
Quagsire (to wear down scizor)
Thunderus (my taunter for any setups)
Whimsicott (to mess up rain with sun and spell trouble)
Machamp (hurt tyranitar, ninetales, abomosnow)
Might think about amoonguss since he rage powders

Might want to fit Wide Guard into that team. Kingdra w/ Muddy Water and Excadrill w/ EQ are common in doubles, and please don't get me started on Blizzard Spams.

[soulsurvivor]

There are many other drizzle pokemon. Those are generic. Theres still tornadus who can set up tailwind mad hurricane away. Not to mention amoonguss gets his fire weakness cut, but this year will be the year of weather, andi agree with mattj sun doesnt get any love.

[mattj]

Can I trade you for a Timid Latios like the one you just posted, or is it not for sale? I was thinking about getting on for the VGCs, and I am so glad they are going to be held in Virginia, but also not glad that I can't get Wi-Fi for my DS at my college and that the Virginia regionals start on November.

Oh, I don't like, trade anymore. I give away pokemon as prizes for participation in the weekly skarmbliss live tourneys. We hold a live Wifi tournament with VGC '12 rules every Saturday morning. More info HERE. That thread's kind of outdated. I'll *hopefully* be posting a new one for the '12 season with all my mons from all gens this coming weekend. It's a lot of work. Long story short, you play to earn points that you can use to "buy" whatever pokemon I have to offer (hundreds of RNGs). If you don't have an amazing team to begin with that's not a problem. Just show up and play in the tourney with whatever you have. You don't have to win first to get points. Everyone gets something. You just get more if you do better.

[Blue Harvest]

That's cool. I might participate at those tournaments (if only for the prizes) if I can find some free time to do so. I would like to play VGC in a way that doesn't involve driving 400 miles.

[Mystica]

That's cool. I might participate at those tournaments (if only for the prizes) if I can find some free time to do so. I would like to play VGC in a way that doesn't involve driving 400 miles.

Same here. Distance is a HUGE factor for me...especially when the closest city that has events is already 250 miles from where I live.

[mattj]

Same here. Distance is a HUGE factor for me...especially when the closest city that has events is already 250 miles from where I live.

lol

I had to drive over 900 miles to get to the nearest qualifiers in '09 and '10, and in '09 I didn't even get picked to play.

250 miles

[PokeMaster366]

My parents were about to give up on the trip since the closest one last year was in Georgia, luckily, they happen to have one in Virginia, so I might be able to make it after all. I'm just glad that these VGCs exist. If they didn't, I would probably have no good reason to be here. I already got enough riot from what I posted on the "Whimsicott Discussion" thread about the viability of a Specs set. You can already tell from that that I am inexperienced with singles or never played a Smogon match before.

[TrollFreak]

awesome, the new tread is up

im thinking of TR for this years VGC, tho im not sure yet

also, wtf happened to the atlanta VGC, now its in some random locatio in florida

[RabidRaticate]

So this year's rules essentially mean that every Doubles Random Matchup battle is practice for the VGC's? That's great news for me. Between the 2010 and 2011 VGC's I had a grand total of 1 practice battle prior to the competitions. This time I have many practice battles under my belt without even realizing.

[PokeMaster366]

awesome, the new tread is up

im thinking of TR for this years VGC, tho im not sure yet

also, wtf happened to the atlanta VGC, now its in some random locatio in florida

They're having one in Roswell, Virginia, which is a little north of Richmond. But either way, check this out:

Okay, so here I was trying to think of a good Flying type to replace my Togekiss since I needed a pokemon in general that could counter Salamence and Garchomp, and after a while, I came up with this guy:


Anyway, here was the set I had in mind.

Gyarados @ Muscle Band/Charti Berry/Wacan Berry
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk/164 HP/92 Spd(Should've gone for 100)
Ability: Intimidate
Moveset:

• Waterfall
• Dragon Dance
• Ice Fang
• Thunder Wave

I needed someone that can give T-Wave support so they could put Salamence, Garchomp, and maybe Dragonite, in their place. I gave it DD so it can boost its Attack to recover from Intimidate and KO the Dragons w/ Ice Fang. Sure he has the 4x weakness to Electric, but I rarely see that outside of rain, which I wouldn't be using him against anyway with my team (barring Rotom, of course). DD gives him just enough speed to outrun an un-scarfed Salamence. He would've been able to outrun Garchomp under regular conditions, but the I found out that when 113 speed gets a +1 boost from DD, the total rounds down to 169. I'm going to fix this later b/c I have no EV-lowering berries.

[complete legitimacy]

^Garchomp says **** you T-Wave.

[PokeMaster366]

^Garchomp says **** you T-Wave.

Does he say that to Dragon Dance? He probably does since he's often seen with the Yache Berry or Choice Scarf, but his moves don't hurt as much after he gets hit with Intimidate; and if he's running the Scarf, he has to fear the Muscle Band-powered Ice Fang since it will KO him on most occasions. A -1 Stone Edge from the Land Shark won't really kill him.

[mattj]

Respectfully, what does gyarados do to counter dragons that togekiss can't? Togekiss is bulkier, doesn't have that terrible 4X weakness to Electric, is only 1 point slower, has priority to make up for its speed, and has an incredible ability/moveset combo. Give it HP I 70 and it'll kill either dragon more effectively than Gyarados ever could.

I realize that Gyarados is an incredible mon in singles, but it has never been very effective in VGC.

[TerraWolf]

I realize that Gyarados is an incredible mon in singles, but it has never been very effective in VGC.

At least he didn't put Hydro Pump and Fire Blast on it

[PokeMaster366]

Respectfully, what does gyarados do to counter dragons that togekiss can't? Togekiss is bulkier, doesn't have that terrible 4X weakness to Electric, is only 1 point slower, has priority to make up for its speed, and has an incredible ability/moveset combo. Give it HP I 70 and it'll kill either dragon more effectively than Gyarados ever could.

I realize that Gyarados is an incredible mon in singles, but it has never been very effective in VGC.

For starters, he can Intimidate physical sweepers so they don't cause so much damage, which is useful vs. the dreaded Sand Rush Excadrill and his partner-in-crime, Tyranitar. I've also been retraining my Eelektross with a HP Ice 70, so there's really no need for Togekiss on my team; besides, it's uncommon for me to see Electric moves being used outside of rain if you don't count Rotoms, and I have a plan or 2 for him. Really, I needed someone as a counter against Sandstorm teams, and Gyarados was the best thing I could think of w/o sacrificing T-Wave support; also, I don't think a double Rock Slide or Zapdos' never-miss Thunder would be too healthy for Togekiss either. It's not like I'm using either against a rain team with Thunder as a factor.

[Vandslaux]

I thought the VGCs were just Unova pokemon. ???

[PokeMaster366]

I thought the VGCs were just Unova pokemon. ???

That was last year. This year, they're allowing pokemon from all regions.
...No, you can't give Smeargle Dark Void for the tournament.

[mattj]

I needed someone as a counter against Sandstorm teams, and Gyarados was the best thing I could think of w/o sacrificing T-Wave support

Again, I definitely don't mean to be disrespectful, but Gyarados isn't going to do anything to Tyranitar or Excadrill. At least at the moment though sandstorm teams aren't really troubling anyone that I know of. Does the team you're currently testing have a heavy rock weakness?

[PokeMaster366]

Again, I definitely don't mean to be disrespectful, but Gyarados isn't going to do anything to Tyranitar or Excadrill. At least at the moment though sandstorm teams aren't really troubling anyone that I know of. Does the team you're currently testing have a heavy rock weakness?

yes, but it's more of a Dragon problem than a rock problem. Should I send you my team for advice.

[windsong]

Hail is p BADASS this year.

I mainly say this because Moof tried to convince me to [counterteam Huy and Solace] and run Hail. =D