[RATE MY TEAM] A Boy and His Whatever Silvally is

[McGurnVGC]

Happy New Year!

This is going to probably be a little long, as I like to be as thorough as possible. I have been messing with this team for a while, and want all of your opinions and feedback on how I can improve it. It started out with me wanting to use two of my favorite Pokemon; Gengar and Silvally. After that I needed a good core I can fall back on so I went with a standard FWG core, something that will probably always be a strong option to use. So far the highest I have peaked was at 1711 on the BS doubles ladder using this team (or variants of while changing things around).

I have been pretty competitive in Pokemon for a long time, so I am no stranger to building teams; this one is a little different from my usual playstyle though. I normally go extremely hyper offensive, but I really wanted to try a different route and throw in some bulky Pokemon (while still having some fast hitters).

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Gengar @ Life Orb  
Ability: Cursed Body  
Level: 50  
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Protect  
- Substitute  
- Sludge Bomb  
- Shadow Ball

Even with the nerf Gengar took to losing Levitate, I still have a love for this Pokemon. Having extremely strong Poison STAB is invaluable in this meta with the Tapu's running around, and my Gengar is able to OHKO all but the bulkiest of Tapu Fini (which is becoming more popular) and Lele (but people generally have been running Choice Specs lately). 

I like to use Substitute on Gengar because if I am able to get it up, Gengar instantly becomes a massive threat to almost any team. I use Life Orb on Gengar because it appreciates the extra damage. It turns what would be a 77.9-92.6% damage Sludge Bomb on 252HP/252 Sp.Atk Modest Tapu Lele into a guaranteed 101.9-120% attack.

There are two possible changes I am considering for Gengar. If I give it a Focus Sash, I have to change Substitute (which makes the Sash useless). I would probably switch it for something like Energy Ball (to take advantage of Grassy Terrain), Taunt, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, or Destiny Bond. Alternatively, Ghostium-Z Gengar is a Pokemon I see a lot of potential in having an extremely strong nuke in Never-Ending Nightmare or Z-Destiny Bond, allowing me to set up another Pokemon while taking something with me.
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Silvally @ Choice Scarf  
Ability: RKS System  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Explosion  
- Double-Edge  
- Ice Fang  
- Iron Head

Silvally is my favorite Pokemon from this generation, so I definitely wanted to make a team that used it. It is a standard scarf set. Unfortunately I can't use Parting Shot online otherwise I would replace something with that in a heartbeat. One of my favorite leads with this team is Gengar/Silvally. Getting an Explosion off will do massive damage, OHKOing Tapu Koko, Lele, practically anything that doesn't resist it or is excessively bulky.

Silvally is something that not a lot of people are used to going against, and being able to basically nearly eliminate any two Pokemon from an unsuspecting opponent is always hilarious to pull off.

Ice Fang is used against Garchomp and Salamence. Even at -1, it is still a guaranteed two hit KO on Salamence. Assault Vest has been popular lately on Garchomp, so a physical 4x attack is great to have. Standard Garchomp takes 76.5 - 91.8% from an Ice Fang and is only able to do 39.1%-46.1% damage back (50.8% minimum with Life Orb), which turns into 19.2 - 23.3% in Grassy Terrain (25.1%-30.4% damage with Life Orb, a 2.9% chance to 4HKO in Grassy Terrain).

Iron Head is another way to deal with Fairy and Ice types.

Double Edge is used if I want a strong STAB attack that does not make me lose Silvally. 

I definitely want to run this Pokemon, but I might want to run an alternative set on it, or just switch the Choice Scarf for a Choice Band. I generally use it as a suicide lead whenever I bring it if my opponent doesn't have that many bulky Pokemon.
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Arcanine @ Firium Z  
Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 204 HP / 68 Def / 36 SpA / 36 SpD / 164 Spe  
Modest Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Protect  
- Overheat  
- Snarl  
- Will-O-Wisp

The start of my FWG core; Arcanine is pretty bulky but still provides insane offensive pressure. Intimidate, Snarl, and Will-o-Wisp help with the longevity of my team and to survive a lot of attacks I otherwise wouldn't. The Speed EVs allow me to outspeed Adamant Krookadile, Jolly unboosted Gyarados, and Timid Xurkitree.

While my team may look like it can get walled by Celesteela, my Arcanine is pretty deceptive at handling it. Taking advantage of Firium-Z and Overheat, Arcanine gets an Inferno Overdrive that will OHKO Careful Celesteela up to 252HP/116Sp.Def outside of rain (100%-118.1%), which is a pretty impressive feat for only having 36Sp.Atk EVs put into it. It will also allow me to still launch a full-powered Overheat afterwards which is still deadly. Overheat at 36Sp.Atk EVs is also capable of OHKOing 252HP/4Sp.Def Tapu Bulu 93.8% of the time (dealing between 99.4% and 118.6%).
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Gastrodon @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Storm Drain  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD  
Sassy Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  
- Protect  
- Scald  
- Toxic  
- Earthquake

This slot was originally filled with Tapu Fini, but I found that I struggled with Rain and Trick Room teams. I also didn't really ever use Tapu Fini, so I felt like Gastrodon would be a better fit. The EVs are pretty standard; they allow me to always live a Garchomp Tectonic Rage, A-Marowak Shadow Bone is a 3HKO after Sitrus Berry, while living many special attacking threats. 

Providing me with both an Electric and Water immunity is extremely valuable. Toxic is there to deal with Porygon2 and other bulky Pokemon.
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Tapu Bulu @ Miracle Seed  
Ability: Grassy Surge  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 116 Def / 4 SpD / 60 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Protect  
- Wood Hammer  
- Horn Leech  
- Rock Slide

Rounding out my FWG core is a pretty standard Bulu set. It outspeeds uninvested base-speed 80 Pokemon. Can't really think of much to change here. I love having Grassy Terrain out, it definitely helps my Gengar and Arcanine. 

Wood Hammer with 76 Atk EVs in Grassy Terrain with a Miracle Seed is guaranteed to OHKO Tapu Koko, Lele, and Fini, while also being able to take out 252HP/4Def Garchomp (while the HP and Defense EVs allow me to always survive a Jolly Garchomp Poison Jab).

I might switch this for my AV Kartana, but the Grassy Terrain is extremely valuable to my team. If I switch Gengar to Z-Destiny Bond I will probably switch out Rock Slide for Swords Dance.
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Garchomp @ Groundium Z  
Ability: Rough Skin  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Protect  
- Dragon Claw  
- Rock Slide  
- Earthquake

Another standard Garchomp set. I love using Groundium-Z on Garchomp as it allows me to have a powerful Ground attack, even with Grassy Terrain out. It also lets me use a ground attack when I have Gengar or Arcanine out without having to target them or waste a turn on Protect either. 
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General leads/strategies

* Gengar/Silvally - If I can get a Substitute up while taking one or both of my opponents lead with Silvally, that is an ideal lead for me if the opponent does not have that many bulky/resistant Pokemon. Even if they are, Explosion will still do amazing damage to the opponent.
* Arcanine/Gastrodon - These two are able to wear down a lot of unprepared teams slowly but surely thanks to Intimidate/Toxic/Will-o-Wisp/Scald/Snarl. Thanks to Gastrodon being out, no one is going to use Water attacks against Arcanine, and Gastrodon is able to Scald any ground types that threaten Arcanine, while Arcanine is able to Overheat any Grass types that can be a problem for Gastrodon.
* Arcanine/Tapu Bulu - Again, Arcanine is able to weaken anything that would potentially threaten Bulu, while Bulu is able to take care of any threat to Arcanine. Any Steel type that tries to wall Bulu can get Overheat/Inferno Overdrive'd. Grassy Terrain also helps to deal with Earthquakes that would target down Arcanine.
* Tapu Bulu/Gastrodon - My general answer to rain teams. With Gastrodon out, I do not need to worry about a Hydro Vortex or anything, but Hurricane from Pelliper onto Bulu can be problematic. Sometimes I lead Silvally/Gastrodon against more frail rain teams as Explosion can take care of both Pelliper and Golduck unless Pelliper is max bulk (which isn't that common nowadays).

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Closing Thoughts

I have been having a lot of fun and success with this team lately, but I feel like it could be better. If you have any suggestions, criticisms or comments, feel free (and please do) to let me know your thoughts. Thank you for reading!

[Marcusube]

The effort you took into writing this detailed RMT is appreciated @McGurnVGC. This team seems to have a huge problem functioning offensively but the main issue here is the lack of speed control. You need a means of stopping Trick Room set up - since it is the most common form of speed control, as well as an effective way of lowering the opponent's speed or raising yours.

This Silvally set really doesn't achieve much and gets countered by a lot in the metagame. Honestly Silvally looks like a Pokemon that would function better doing a support role or maybe running the Fire Memory with Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt to hit a good amount of the meta for super effective while resisting the common typings

Gengar's damage output against the common threats in the metagame aren't really big as in most cases the opponent will survive and proceed to OHKO it with their respective coverage option. Not to mention that it only increases the burden this team has when dealing with Trick Room

Not much else I can say because this team is pretty decent but I'm just stating the flaws I saw

[Black117]

Definitely can dig the makeup of most of this team, though do have this issue with one mon which I know the team is suppose to be based around. Get that Scarf Explosion from Silvally can be a cool surprise, though my issue there is people will expect something of that nature given the lack of damage output from the mon itself. Like everything else on Silvally's movepool is rather mediocre and even the damage calcs are unimpressive for a scarf mon. If anything, definitely recommend switching out Silvally for another strong Scarf user. Will elaborate a suggestion later.

As for the rest of the team, its rather strong from a synergistic perspective, though don't see how "offensive" it is given the Support Arcanine and Defensive Gastrodon slowing it down. Arcanine and Gastrodon make sense on this team since they hold it together against some of the common threats in the format such as rain and steel types, though not sure how well they can face off against the mirror matches. Life Orb Gengar is an interesting choice will admit, and the damage output from both STABs do justify the item choice so no issues there. Personally, Substitute is ok, though Taunt can help this team deal with opposing TR setters like Porygon2, Oranguru, or Mimikyu, though they all have a great matchup against Gengar. Groundium Z Chomp makes sense atm since few things are able to take a hit from such a strong Z-Move, however give Chomp Poison Jab in place of Dragon Claw to hit the Fairy-types. 

So if you want a good run down of the team, here's what it looks like. 

Gengar @ Life Orb  
Ability: Cursed Body  
Level: 50  
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Protect  
- Taunt  / Hidden Power Ice
- Sludge Bomb  
- Shadow Ball  

No changes on this Gengar except for the Taunt to prevent Setup or an incoming TR / Tailwind. Could try HP Ice with Gengar for Salamence and Garchomp to pickup some quick OHKOs against non Yache variants. 


Arcanine @ Firium Z  
Ability: Intimidate  
Level: 50  
EVs: 204 HP / 44 Atk / 20 Def / 60 SpD / 180 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Protect  
- Flare Blitz  
- Snarl  
- Will-O-Wisp  

Changed Arcanine to be somewhat Physical to ensure it can deal more consistent damage as opposed to either Overheat / Burn Up. Did change up the the EVs to make Arcanine slightly specially defensive to make opposing P2 get the attack raise. 

Gastrodon @ Sitrus Berry  
Ability: Storm Drain  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD  
Calm Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Protect  
- Scald  
- Toxic  
- Recover  

Only difference here is Recover is to allow Gastrodon to stall out opposing mons with Toxic. If you want to move the Sitrus Berry to the Arcanine, try out Maranga Berry Gastrodon to give it more special defense. Again not much to say here. 

Garchomp @ Groundium Z  
Ability: Rough Skin  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Protect  
- Substitute  
- Poison Jab / Dragon Claw
- Earthquake  

Do like Sub Z-Move Garchomp since it can apply so much pressure against opposing teams with its signature attack. The reasoning for Sub on the Garchomp is basically simple enough: punish passive play. If you are facing off against say an Arcanine or a mon which will likely protect, then go for the Sub. Not only does this allow Garchomp to get one hit safetly most of the times, but ensures pressure against the opposing team. Sub Chomp is also an excellent way to block Status conditions as well so consider that. The last move is a toss-up between Poison Jab or Dragon Claw since one gives you coverage against Fairy-types while the other helps against the opposing Dragon-type mirror match. 


Kartana @ Assault Vest  
Ability: Beast Boost  
Level: 50  
EVs: 116 HP / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 132 SpD / 252 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Leaf Blade  
- Smart Strike  
- Night Slash  
- Sacred Sword  

So this is Ray Rizzo's Kartana set, but honestly its the one of the best AV variants at the moment. With this Kartana, you pretty much live either Hydro Vortex from Golduck in the Rain or Techonic Rage from Garchomp as neither OHKO it without a crit or prior damage. Yes the damage output is somewhat "low", but its a mon with base 181 Attack, and has essentially Moxie. Though its moveset is rather limiting, just one KO and Kartana will be able to OHKO the vast majority of the threats in the VGC 17 format, though keep in mind you are using some low power attacks like Smart Strike or Night Slash. 


Tapu Koko @ Focus Sash  
Ability: Electric Surge  
Level: 50  
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
IVs: 0 Atk  
- Thunderbolt  
- Dazzling Gleam  
- Taunt  
- Protect  

Finally we have Tapu Koko instead of Tapu Bulu since felt the team needed an answer for some weather-based offense. The set is pretty standard with Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam for STAB and Taunt to once again prevent status. It might be weird to have two Taunt users on this team but it can certainly suprise your opponent especially if they are attempting any form of setup strategies. The Focus Sash should let Tapu Koko live one threatening hit, and potentially retaliate back with on one its STAB options. Try to use Tapu Koko mid-to-late game to get pick off weaken targets. Not much to say. 


So that's the team. Feel free to say your concerns about the mons, or ask why I changed some mons / moves for those listed. Again I hope this helps you out!