Mar 10, 2017, 10:19 AM
(This post was last modified: Mar 13, 2017, 06:10 AM by AbruptFury.)
Hiya! I'm the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafeons. I've decided to keep in touch by posting the results of my matches, my game plan going into them, and what else in all is happening with my team. My computer isn't good enough to do the Youtubez :[ so I'll try and archive it here.
My Team : M-Pinsir, Clefable, Zygarde-50%, Empoleon, Arcanine, Hitmontop, Vanilluxe, Dhelmise, Heliolisk, Jellicent,
Malamar
Squeab (Po Town Pyukumukus) : Tapu Koko, Dragonite, Araquanid, Donphan, Alola-Muk, Cofagrigus, Probopass, Bewear,
Salazzle, Swellow, Lickilicky
![[Image: vanilluxe.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/vanilluxe.gif)
Soft Serve (Vanilluxe) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 76 SpD / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
Looking at his team, he didn't have the best Ice-Ground coverage, besides Araquanid. Vanilluxe's purpose on the team was quick and heavy offense. For the most part, it could just sit there and spam 100% accurate Blizzards because of the hail. This worked out very well if he led off with Donphan to set up Stealth Rock. I could Blizzard with Vanilluxe and bring him down to his Sturdy, and then hail would finish him off. Another Pokemon I concerned about as a lead was Tapu Koko. As you can see from my team, I don't have a lot that would like to take Electric-Fairy-Ice coverage, which is very much standard on Tapu Koko.
However, Blizzard from my Vanilluxe 2HKOs Tapu Koko and Tapu Koko cannot OHKO this spread with Life Orb. If it were to OHKO with Tbolt, I would know it was Choice Specs. Then I could go out into Zygarde and start setting up Dragon Dances or launch a free attack like Thousand Arrows. Besides that, I had a couple priority moves in the back I will talk about later. Hidden Power Ground was for Salazzle and Probopass, so I could have a great way of hitting them need be. Freeze-Dry, my favourite Ice type move, was so good to have for Araquanid as it was the only thing that resisted both Blizzard and Hidden Power Ground. Taunt was there sort of as a filler move. It was there for setup, but nothing took Vanilluxe's attacks very well, so I didn't expect to use it really. Didn't need anything else on it though, so Taunt was fine.
Oh. I'm also glad that I didn't have to run less IVs thanks to the Hyper Training guy!
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
![[Image: empoleon.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/empoleon.gif)
Neptune (Empoleon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Toxic
This metal penguin was very useful defensively. Something to take attacks from the likes on Araquanid and Salazzle. Scald was to burn the physical threats, other than Araquanid because of Water Bubble. As well as damaging move. And super effective damage for the Donphan, Probopass, and Salazzle. Stealth Rocks would help to wear down his team. Some Pokemon would take it even worse being weak to Rock. That combined with Vanilluxe's Snow Warning was great for chipping things down. I know it looks funny, running both Stealth Rock and Defog on the same Pokemon, but in this case would prove very useful. I did not want Cofagrigus' Toxic Spikes to rack up if he brought defensive Cofagrigus. I have no Poison type to bring in on Toxic Spikes to soak them up, but Empoleon is immune to Poison. So it could come in and Defog them away, then maybe set up Rocks later on. It was a fantastic hazard removal for this match. Toxic was there to help me where down bulkier threats that just wanted to sit around on the field, or setup mons like Dragonite, who would love to sweep my team.
PS: I'm aware now that I should've optimized Empoleon's stats by investing it's nature in it's better stat, special defense. Twas a fail on my part.
Defensive Calcs:
![[Image: dhelmise.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/dhelmise.gif)
Rupert (Dhelmise) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
Very standard set from UU, it still did what I wanted it to. Rapid Spin was there for my intended only option of hazard control until I considered Cofagrigus with Toxic Spikes. Power Whip hits Donphan pretty hard because of Dhelmise's high attack. Could also damage the Araquanid, Tapu Koko, Lickilicky, etc. Shadow Claw was mainly there for a good way to hit Cofagrigus. It was also my best option for hitting Dragonite. I was quite worried about that mon. And Earthquake was there to hit stuff like Alola-Muk, Salazzle, Probopass, and Tapu Koko. In hindsight, I didn't have anything for Swellow, which could've been a problem. Throwing off Scrappy Boombursts with the buff it got to it's Special Attack this generation.
On February 16th, my grandfather passed away after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the road. He was a hard working man who loved the open sea. That is why I named this nautical Pokemon after him.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
![[Image: zygarde.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/zygarde.gif)
Oryx (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Crunch
- Extreme Speed
I knew that Zygarde would do well if given the right conditions in this match. Just Dragon Dance up and sweep through my opponent's team. But the threats I needed low or out of the way were Cofagrigus, Araquanid, and Bewear as they were bulky and could even be hard hitting. Which almost makes me wonder if I should've run a Coil set instead, but I disgress. Besides the aforementioned threats, there wasn't much that wanted to take Thousand Arrows. Especially since there is no immunity to it. Crunch would be used to get damage on things that resisted like Araquanid and Cofagrigus. But heck, even Cofagrigus doesn't get OHKO'd by Zygarde until +4 Attack. Pretty crazy. Extremespeed would be used to pick off weakened threats like Tapu Koko or Swellow, which would outspeed and potentially knock Zygarde out otherwise. The reason for only investing 148 into Speed was so I could outspeed all forms of Tapu Koko (except for Choice Scarf'd) after one Dragon Dance by one point. The rest I slapped into bulk so I could take some hits better.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
![[Image: clefable.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/clefable.gif)
Tatl (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
This is a cross between an Unaware Wall and Unaware + Calm Mind set. I wanted something to deal with those pesky setup mons like Dragonite and Araquanid (the Stockpile set). Calm Mind would be used to bulk up on the special side, while the investment on physical side allowed me to take hits from certain things. Moonblast was my only offensive option since it hits everything I want it to, like Bewear, Cofagrigus, Araquanid, even Salazzle as it is frail. I chose Wish over Moonlight for two reasons. 1) Since I was using Hail, Moonlight's healing ability would be reduced from half of my base HP, to a quarter. and 2) It could provide healing to my sweepers and defensive wall in Empoleon, which otherwise depends on Leftovers. Protect was the reason I didn't run Flamethrower or Heal Bell. I thought it would be more necessary so I didn't have to try and stall out powerful physical attacks or special attacks before I got Calm Minds off.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
![[Image: arcanine.gif]](http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/xyani/arcanine.gif)
IAmLegendary (Arcanine) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz
- Crunch
- Close Combat
Ok. Clefable was pretty underwhelming until it got set up. But you know what isn't? Choice Band Arcanine! This thing is a monster. I noticed that at Adamant, it outpaced Dragonite by two points. That investment made a bit of a difference when multiplied by the Choice Band. You'll wanna see the calcs for this. Out of all this thing's good abilities, I decided to go with Intimidate because I didn't feel like I had the greatest checks to physical threats like Bewear. And Fluffy Bewear gets demolished by this thing with Flare Blitz. Such a powerful STAB option. Just gotta watch out for that recoil. Extremespeed was chosen to pick off the faster threats and other weakened foes. Crunch was there to hit Cofagrigus. Close Combat was mainly for Lickilicky, which I basically ignore in my teambuild til this point. Moltres might be an official gen 1 legendary, but you'll always be in my heart, Arcanine.
To be honest, I wanted to use my S tier pick, Mega Pinsir, in this spot. But with Cofagrigus having the ability Mummy to stop my Aerilate ability, as well as a high Defense stat. And Bewear which requires a Swords Dance boost to OHKO. I knew that Arcanine would be a lot more appreciated on this week's team. Maybe next week! :P
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
Here is the battle code: 2HLG-WWWW-WWW5-T7HW
Week 1: Toronto Maple Leafeons (Tommy) .vs. Po Town Pyukumukus
Team Reed brought: Salazzle, Donphan, Tapu Koko, Araquanid, Cofagrigus, Bewear
*Don't read the next spoiler or below unless you want to know the outcome or what I was thinking during the match.*
I'm using the numbers on the bottem of the screen during the battle's progression. The turn the first two Pokemon enter is more like a Turn 0 if you will. But in the replay's case, it's Turn 1.
Good game to @"Squeab"! I think you have something there with your team and moveset ideas on your team. Defensive Araquanid was a good call in our match. It could've run away with it in the right situation. And considering all of your options in league really helps you get wins. As I stated earlier, Ground-Ice coverage was really good against your team overall (mostly on the special side), so it might be something you want to consider for the future. I think that type combination is really good, but you should always have your answers for it. And I think that's why Vanilluxe did as good as it did.
Peace out, all
I'm so excited about this Pokemon league thus far. Can't wait for Week 2!
EDIT: My face is red. I forgot to include who helped me in my team preparation.
Credit:
- @Marcusube for general team help and suggestions. He thought I should've ran a Trick Room team this week, but I was a scared of Tapu Koko. Because both of my Trick Room setters were weak to it. But if Trick Room did go up, I probably would've had a really good matchup as I could wall/check Reed's Trick Room answers like Araquanid, Bewear, and Alola-Muk.
- @Black117 for without him, I probably wouldn't have brought Defog on Empoleon. And that was definitely useful for keeping my team healthy.
The Team Line-ups
My Team : M-Pinsir, Clefable, Zygarde-50%, Empoleon, Arcanine, Hitmontop, Vanilluxe, Dhelmise, Heliolisk, Jellicent,
Malamar
Squeab (Po Town Pyukumukus) : Tapu Koko, Dragonite, Araquanid, Donphan, Alola-Muk, Cofagrigus, Probopass, Bewear,
Salazzle, Swellow, Lickilicky
The Game Plan
Soft Serve (Vanilluxe) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 76 SpD / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt
Looking at his team, he didn't have the best Ice-Ground coverage, besides Araquanid. Vanilluxe's purpose on the team was quick and heavy offense. For the most part, it could just sit there and spam 100% accurate Blizzards because of the hail. This worked out very well if he led off with Donphan to set up Stealth Rock. I could Blizzard with Vanilluxe and bring him down to his Sturdy, and then hail would finish him off. Another Pokemon I concerned about as a lead was Tapu Koko. As you can see from my team, I don't have a lot that would like to take Electric-Fairy-Ice coverage, which is very much standard on Tapu Koko.
However, Blizzard from my Vanilluxe 2HKOs Tapu Koko and Tapu Koko cannot OHKO this spread with Life Orb. If it were to OHKO with Tbolt, I would know it was Choice Specs. Then I could go out into Zygarde and start setting up Dragon Dances or launch a free attack like Thousand Arrows. Besides that, I had a couple priority moves in the back I will talk about later. Hidden Power Ground was for Salazzle and Probopass, so I could have a great way of hitting them need be. Freeze-Dry, my favourite Ice type move, was so good to have for Araquanid as it was the only thing that resisted both Blizzard and Hidden Power Ground. Taunt was there sort of as a filler move. It was there for setup, but nothing took Vanilluxe's attacks very well, so I didn't expect to use it really. Didn't need anything else on it though, so Taunt was fine.
Oh. I'm also glad that I didn't have to run less IVs thanks to the Hyper Training guy!
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
Neptune (Empoleon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Toxic
This metal penguin was very useful defensively. Something to take attacks from the likes on Araquanid and Salazzle. Scald was to burn the physical threats, other than Araquanid because of Water Bubble. As well as damaging move. And super effective damage for the Donphan, Probopass, and Salazzle. Stealth Rocks would help to wear down his team. Some Pokemon would take it even worse being weak to Rock. That combined with Vanilluxe's Snow Warning was great for chipping things down. I know it looks funny, running both Stealth Rock and Defog on the same Pokemon, but in this case would prove very useful. I did not want Cofagrigus' Toxic Spikes to rack up if he brought defensive Cofagrigus. I have no Poison type to bring in on Toxic Spikes to soak them up, but Empoleon is immune to Poison. So it could come in and Defog them away, then maybe set up Rocks later on. It was a fantastic hazard removal for this match. Toxic was there to help me where down bulkier threats that just wanted to sit around on the field, or setup mons like Dragonite, who would love to sweep my team.
PS: I'm aware now that I should've optimized Empoleon's stats by investing it's nature in it's better stat, special defense. Twas a fail on my part.
Defensive Calcs:
Rupert (Dhelmise) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
Very standard set from UU, it still did what I wanted it to. Rapid Spin was there for my intended only option of hazard control until I considered Cofagrigus with Toxic Spikes. Power Whip hits Donphan pretty hard because of Dhelmise's high attack. Could also damage the Araquanid, Tapu Koko, Lickilicky, etc. Shadow Claw was mainly there for a good way to hit Cofagrigus. It was also my best option for hitting Dragonite. I was quite worried about that mon. And Earthquake was there to hit stuff like Alola-Muk, Salazzle, Probopass, and Tapu Koko. In hindsight, I didn't have anything for Swellow, which could've been a problem. Throwing off Scrappy Boombursts with the buff it got to it's Special Attack this generation.
On February 16th, my grandfather passed away after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the road. He was a hard working man who loved the open sea. That is why I named this nautical Pokemon after him.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
Oryx (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Crunch
- Extreme Speed
I knew that Zygarde would do well if given the right conditions in this match. Just Dragon Dance up and sweep through my opponent's team. But the threats I needed low or out of the way were Cofagrigus, Araquanid, and Bewear as they were bulky and could even be hard hitting. Which almost makes me wonder if I should've run a Coil set instead, but I disgress. Besides the aforementioned threats, there wasn't much that wanted to take Thousand Arrows. Especially since there is no immunity to it. Crunch would be used to get damage on things that resisted like Araquanid and Cofagrigus. But heck, even Cofagrigus doesn't get OHKO'd by Zygarde until +4 Attack. Pretty crazy. Extremespeed would be used to pick off weakened threats like Tapu Koko or Swellow, which would outspeed and potentially knock Zygarde out otherwise. The reason for only investing 148 into Speed was so I could outspeed all forms of Tapu Koko (except for Choice Scarf'd) after one Dragon Dance by one point. The rest I slapped into bulk so I could take some hits better.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
Tatl (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
This is a cross between an Unaware Wall and Unaware + Calm Mind set. I wanted something to deal with those pesky setup mons like Dragonite and Araquanid (the Stockpile set). Calm Mind would be used to bulk up on the special side, while the investment on physical side allowed me to take hits from certain things. Moonblast was my only offensive option since it hits everything I want it to, like Bewear, Cofagrigus, Araquanid, even Salazzle as it is frail. I chose Wish over Moonlight for two reasons. 1) Since I was using Hail, Moonlight's healing ability would be reduced from half of my base HP, to a quarter. and 2) It could provide healing to my sweepers and defensive wall in Empoleon, which otherwise depends on Leftovers. Protect was the reason I didn't run Flamethrower or Heal Bell. I thought it would be more necessary so I didn't have to try and stall out powerful physical attacks or special attacks before I got Calm Minds off.
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
IAmLegendary (Arcanine) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz
- Crunch
- Close Combat
Ok. Clefable was pretty underwhelming until it got set up. But you know what isn't? Choice Band Arcanine! This thing is a monster. I noticed that at Adamant, it outpaced Dragonite by two points. That investment made a bit of a difference when multiplied by the Choice Band. You'll wanna see the calcs for this. Out of all this thing's good abilities, I decided to go with Intimidate because I didn't feel like I had the greatest checks to physical threats like Bewear. And Fluffy Bewear gets demolished by this thing with Flare Blitz. Such a powerful STAB option. Just gotta watch out for that recoil. Extremespeed was chosen to pick off the faster threats and other weakened foes. Crunch was there to hit Cofagrigus. Close Combat was mainly for Lickilicky, which I basically ignore in my teambuild til this point. Moltres might be an official gen 1 legendary, but you'll always be in my heart, Arcanine.
To be honest, I wanted to use my S tier pick, Mega Pinsir, in this spot. But with Cofagrigus having the ability Mummy to stop my Aerilate ability, as well as a high Defense stat. And Bewear which requires a Swords Dance boost to OHKO. I knew that Arcanine would be a lot more appreciated on this week's team. Maybe next week! :P
Offensive Calcs:
Defensive Calcs:
The Aftermath
Here is the battle code: 2HLG-WWWW-WWW5-T7HW
Week 1: Toronto Maple Leafeons (Tommy) .vs. Po Town Pyukumukus
Team Reed brought: Salazzle, Donphan, Tapu Koko, Araquanid, Cofagrigus, Bewear
*Don't read the next spoiler or below unless you want to know the outcome or what I was thinking during the match.*
Turn by Turn Analysis
I'm using the numbers on the bottem of the screen during the battle's progression. The turn the first two Pokemon enter is more like a Turn 0 if you will. But in the replay's case, it's Turn 1.
In Conclusion
Good game to @"Squeab"! I think you have something there with your team and moveset ideas on your team. Defensive Araquanid was a good call in our match. It could've run away with it in the right situation. And considering all of your options in league really helps you get wins. As I stated earlier, Ground-Ice coverage was really good against your team overall (mostly on the special side), so it might be something you want to consider for the future. I think that type combination is really good, but you should always have your answers for it. And I think that's why Vanilluxe did as good as it did.
Peace out, all
I'm so excited about this Pokemon league thus far. Can't wait for Week 2!EDIT: My face is red. I forgot to include who helped me in my team preparation.
Credit:
- @Marcusube for general team help and suggestions. He thought I should've ran a Trick Room team this week, but I was a scared of Tapu Koko. Because both of my Trick Room setters were weak to it. But if Trick Room did go up, I probably would've had a really good matchup as I could wall/check Reed's Trick Room answers like Araquanid, Bewear, and Alola-Muk.
- @Black117 for without him, I probably wouldn't have brought Defog on Empoleon. And that was definitely useful for keeping my team healthy.
