[RATE MY TEAM] Mega Absol team

[Croza015]

Hey guys, I've started playing competitive battling on battlespot for double battles. So far, I feel anxious when I begin to go on battle spot because I always tend to panic when seeing my opponents pokemon and comparing it to my own. Since mostly I hadn't played competitive pokemon in my life, I sometimes tend to get nervous facing other people that have more experience than me. So as the new rating season begins to roll along, battlespot has started to help me build confidence to practice.

As the season continues, I've had a bad start with three loses in rating battle doubles. Being a losing streak is bad, but it gave me the chance to build a new team that can be used with Mega Absol. Through many team building experiments, I've found a decent set-up to use with Mega Absol in doubles. Once the team was build, I put it to the test at the battle maison in Super Double battle to see the results. In the aftermath, they were ideas I wanted to add to this team like adding sword dance to mega absol or rock slide to lucario, but I'm not sure. Since my aspect in my team is to slow down my opponents so Mega Absol can out speed many opponents. So that's begin with my team setup:

[VGC] Mega Absol moveset- Mixed attacker(sweeper)



(Absol) @ (Absolite)
Ability: (Justified/Magic Bounce)
EVs: 60 HP /25 ATK/ 4 Def / 100 SpA / 115 SpD / 204 SP
IVs: 0 Def
(Hasty) Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Icy Wind
- Shock Wave or Sword Dance
- Fire Blast

Explaination:
Ever since it was first announced in x and y, Mega Absol is my all time favorite mega evolve pokemon. The reason why I choose absol as my mega in doubles is that when it mega evolves, it gets magic bounce for its ability so it can bounce back various status inflictions such as burn, paralysis, or even stealth rocks. Giving icy wind to mega absol was a decent idea because to slow down faster opponents to out speed them next turn or force a switch out. I was mostly confuse for either sword dance and shock, but shock wave is my better choice because even though it does sixty power it never misses (expect for protect).  Sucker Punch is another good move for absol because it is absol only move that has a stab and has priority over any attack moves (expect for extreme speed, quick attack,etc.).  Finally, I have fire blast on this moveset to put extra fire power for any grass type.

The reason why I have made this ev spread because since absol defenses weren't really strong and can get one shotted by almost everything, I've decided to made this spread to make sure Absol can endure powerful moves such as earthquake and dash out powerful attacks. Also choosing this ev spread is helpful in competetive battling since absol doesn't have good speed so improving speed help out speeding many opponents.

[VGC] Lucario moveset-physical attacker(sweeper)



(Lucario) @ (Life Orb)
Ability: (Justified)
EVs: 0 HP /252ATK/ 4 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 252 SP
IVs: 0 Sp.Def
(Jolly) Nature
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Protect
- Rock Slide

Explaination
Lucario in many cases is rarely used or least common since it gains a steel typing. However my reason of using Lucario in my team is that Lucario takes neutral damage from fairy and physic moves. Also Lucario can be ridiculously speedy and outspeed many opponents regardless of its defenses it helps change the tide of battle in my favor. For this case I have lucario use a life orb to boost all moves because Lucario can't get a sword dance without getting one-shotted by a super-effective attack. For its moveset, I gave lucario rock slide to cover flying types and it will give mega absol a free turn to sword dance if I get an flinch. Close Combat is great move to use in my team because due to Lucario weak defenses, its better to go for a risky move knowing that its attack stat won't drop like super power. Also keeping a proirity move such as extreme speed and protect to move first and get quick damage or predicting my opponent's next move.


Ev spread explaination

As explain due to lucario weak defenses, I invested most evs in speed and attack to make it a force to be wrecked with. Also Lucario can be found a physical or special wall because of its weaknesses with fire, ground, and fighting. Once after investing these ivs in speed and attack can help mega absol setup in double battles because if rock slide manage to get a flinch, it is a free turn for absol to get a sword dance.


[VGC] Garchomp moveset-physical wall (tank)




(Garchomp) @ (Rocky Helmet)
Ability: (Rough Skin)
EVs: 8 HP /244 ATK/ 4 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD / 252 SP
IVs: 0 Sp.Def
(Hardy) Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Stealth rocks


Explaination
Garchomp to my perspective wasn't going to much help to my team, but once after a couple games I've found that garchomp is great asset for my team. I've made garchomp to get stealth rocks out to give people a hard time switching into flying types such as talonflame. Also using Garchomp rough skin ability, I've gave a rocky helmet to give extra damage to any physical attackers. Giving earthquake is tough because it hits your ally, but having protect on my team can minimize the chances to hitting an ally.

EV spread evalution:

Since Garchomp is responsible for getting stealth rocks out, I needed to maximize its speed to make sure I am able to get stealth rocks out first. Also maximizing attack is good idea to me to dish out good damage after setting up stealth rocks. However, I invest little on special defense and normal defense because one good ice beam, ice punch, or blizzard will take Garchomp down since it is quad weakness.


[VGC] Suicune moveset-special wall (support)



(Suicune) @ (Leftovers)
Ability: (Pressure)
EVs: 252 HP /0 ATK/ 0 Def / 4 SpA / 252 SpD / 0 SP
IVs: 0 Def
(Mild) Nature
-Tailwind
- Scald
- Blizzard
- Protect

Explaination

Suicune can be a great support to my mega absol team. Suicune is good assets to my team because Suicune is responsible for setting up tailwind to boost the speed to my team. Also I find using scald as good move to get a burn while giving good damage to my opponents. Also getting a burn from scald can be beneficial to my doubles team because it cut attack damage towards my team. Also giving Suicune protect to stall burn to finish it off.

Ev explaination

Since Suicune's main role in my team is get off tailwind, I maxmize both HP and Special because Suicune is very bulky towards many moves that do normal or super effective damage. As for the rest of the Evs went into SP. ATK in order to do decent damage, even though I am relying on Suicune to get a burn off.


[VGC] Sylveon moveset-tank (support)



(Sylveon) @ (Assualt Vest)
Ability: (Pixilate)
EVs: 252 HP /0 ATK/ 0 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 0 SP
IVs: 0 ATK
(Modest) Nature
-Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Physhock
- Hidden Power

Explanation
Sylveon is the top tier Pokemon in the rating double which made considered to have a sylveon as a great special attacker. Since Sylveon can be very bulky towards many types, I've decided to run an assault vest in increase Sylveon defense by using only attack moves. Also Sylveon hidden ability, pixilate, is a great asset to normal moves such as hyper voice to be turn into powerful fairy move. Sylveon main role in my doubles team is to put pressure in my opponent to force switch outs.


Ev Explaination
As for Ev, I've fully maxed out Sylveon's Sp.ATK in order to deal great damage while having it hold a assault vest to boost Sylveon defenses. Also, I have use the rest of Sylveon's EV into maxing HP to take the hardest of attack such as sludge bomb or flash cannon. Once after it was fully trained, Sylveon can be to my perspective as a very bulky powerhouse.


[VGC] Arcanine moveset (support)-Intimidate



(Arcanine) @ (Focus Sash)
Ability: (Intimidate)
EVs: 220 HP /108 ATK/ 92 Def / 0 SpA /0 SpD / 88 SP
IVs: 0 Sp.Def
(Adamant) Nature
-Close Combat
- Extreme Speed
- Mourning Sun
- Flare Blitz

Explanation:
Though a tough debate between using intimidate Landorus or an Arcanine with the same extract ability, I've decided to use Arcanine instead. The reason why I am using Arcanine (since Landorus is use practically used alot and I wanted to try something different) is that Arcanine can be like Landorus to Intimidate your opponents' pokemon. Arcanine would asset well with Mega Absol in doubles because since my absol is hasty nature, Arcanine's intimidate will cut my opponents' pokemon in half to minimize damage on Absol.


Ev explanation:
Since Arcanine isn't best for outspeeding my opponents, I've put most Evs into HP to endure some attack and being able to do risky moves such as flare blitz and close combat. However none Evs were invested into Special Defense because it can one shot by powerful special move like Earth power or Hydro Pump. Also the rest of Arcanine EVs went into defense to reduce damage from any super effective physical move such as rock slide or Earthquake.



I haven't tried this team yet on battlespot because I got nervous on over predicting my opponent. But in the end, we need to give it our all, regardless if we lose because we can learn from our mistakes.












 

 



   

[bradar485]

100%, people are gonna complain about the format you typed this out in, you should check out the thread for how it's done and do an edit. Here's a useful link: http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-IMPORTA...NG-A-BUILD

You should also type out a bit about what the teams strats are, why you chose items and moves, ect.

Aside from that, I think you could do better on arcanine's item. Why give it a focus sash if it's going to be healing itself and such. Better to go more defensive or something. Or just go full offensive. I don't know. Like rocky helmet or leftovers if he's gonna be defensive or maybe a life orb or summat.

Also on suicune there are better options that blizzard, since you don't have any hail. I like icy wind on him since he's a good support character but ice beam will be a lot more reliable.

[Croza015]

(Dec 22, 2015, 04:48 PM)bradar485 Wrote: 100%, people are gonna complain about the format you typed this out in, you should check out the thread for how it's done and do an edit. Here's a useful link: http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-IMPORTA...NG-A-BUILD

You should also type out a bit about what the teams strats are, why you chose items and moves, ect.

Aside from that, I think you could do better on arcanine's item. Why give it a focus sash if it's going to be healing itself and such. Better to go more defensive or something. Or just go full offensive. I don't know. Like rocky helmet or leftovers if he's gonna be defensive or maybe a life orb or summat.

Also on suicune there are better options that blizzard, since you don't have any hail. I like icy wind on him since he's a good support character but ice beam will be a lot more reliable.

Thank you for your honest opinion, I'm still new at this forum website so it is going to take me a awhile to get use to this. So I am going to refer this website to improve better on this page. So later on, I going to post a same discussion board, and make the necessary changes so I don't annoy people. Thank you

[bradar485]

(Dec 22, 2015, 08:47 PM)Croza015 Wrote:

(Dec 22, 2015, 04:48 PM)bradar485 Wrote: 100%, people are gonna complain about the format you typed this out in, you should check out the thread for how it's done and do an edit. Here's a useful link: http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-IMPORTA...NG-A-BUILD

You should also type out a bit about what the teams strats are, why you chose items and moves, ect.

Aside from that, I think you could do better on arcanine's item. Why give it a focus sash if it's going to be healing itself and such. Better to go more defensive or something. Or just go full offensive. I don't know. Like rocky helmet or leftovers if he's gonna be defensive or maybe a life orb or summat.

Also on suicune there are better options that blizzard, since you don't have any hail. I like icy wind on him since he's a good support character but ice beam will be a lot more reliable.

Thank you for your honest opinion, I'm still new at this forum website so it is going to take me a awhile to get use to this. So I am going to refer this website to improve better on this page. So later on, I going to post a same discussion board, and make the necessary changes so I don't annoy people. Thank you

It's understandable, it's just best to get stuff like that out of the way earlier. And also it's hard to give feedback when there's a lack of information on how you make the team work for you. Or like, if you had a specific strategy that I would overlook due to guys on your team I'm not immediately familiar with. Also if english isn't your first language (which seems to be the case) then take your time to get a handle on things.

[OdysseusHestia]

Hi, I'm not the best competitive battler but I hope to help the best I can. First thing first...what VGC year is this because 2016 is going to be over run with Legends and that could be an issue for your team because you have none. Now i have seen teams on Showdown demolish my team but I just don't see yours working against this new meta thats shaping. If it was last years maybe. Now my advice for what to add and take out.

1. Add legends. Legends are good for sweeping because if you want your team to out speed others and sweep. Legends can really pack a punch plus most of them are Dragons and because yours a faster you can assume one shots.

2. Add Galvantula or add a Sticky Web slinger kappa on your team. Sticky web is a field condition(or whatever you call it) that lowers opponents speed. Just something to consider. Galvantula is really fast and has alot of out speeds and should be given a focus sash. And with the ability compound eyes it should be able to get off a powerful Thunder before it faints.

3. Absol is a physical attacker exploit it. You have one physical attack with Stab. Definitely keep sucker punch I feel you should invest all in Atk and speed because lets face it in this years VGC Mega-Absol wont be able to tank anything. Add some physical attacks like Night Slash that has a high crit rate and with Stab and high attack. Psyco Cut for fighting types or Poison types you might come across. Gengars and Crobats are making a lot of appearances. And maybe add protect.

I also agree with the guy that replied before me. Arcanine could be rather bulky at times especially with the amount of HP you gave it. I understand the thought behind focus sash. The close combat makes it less bulky and causes a OHKO but there would be no reason for morning sun. This is just some of my advice.

[bradar485]

So Garchomp. Since you're using this team for doubles it's worth mentioning that stealth rocks have very little impact most of the time. There's an element of surprise issue I suppose but the speed of the battles doesn't do Ann favours and they're just less effective than in singles. Also since you are putting offensive ev's in it you could make it s pretty effective choice scarf attacker by replacing protect and stealth rocks with rock slide and fire fang.

I agree with Odysseus that you should capitalize on absol's attack stat, it learns play rough in addition to the moves he mentioned.

And my opinion on Lucario is that he's super fun to run as a special attacker. I've had luck with a life orb set that runs flash cannon and vacuum wave.

Finally, Odysseus is right about the legends. Worth the 2016 rules allowing them, they're gonna get super common

[Marcusube]

First of all, the previous comments did not address the issue correctly here. He is playing Battle Spot Doubles NOT VGC 16. Battle Spot Doubles still uses the VGC 15 ruleset and will continue to do so until January which is why you haven't seen any YouTubers making VGC 16 videos on Battle Spot.

Now talking from a VGC 15 standpoint, this team is pretty much what it is, an upstart team. In a metagame plagued with CHALK, Japan Sand, Mega Salamence and Trick Room Gardevoir teams, Mega Absol really has no place here as all the popular teams demolish Mega Absol.

Icy Wind on Absol isn't logical. The move itself is to be used on bulky support Pokemon. The idea is to shield your main attacker then use your supporter to slow down the opponent so your attacker outspeeds the following turn. You'd be better off using Ice Beam to hit M-Salamence, Landorus-T, Thundurus, Amoonguss etc. Shock Wave isn't a viable competitive move. Evasion is rarely used plus most Pokemon who use Evasion moves have recovery options and Shock Wave does so little it doesn't even make a difference. Fire Blast has negligible accuracy plus it doesn't hit much outside of Ferrothorn and Scizor; the latter threatens M-Absol with a priority Bullet Punch which deals enough damage to KO at a certain range.

Absol-Mega @ Absolite
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty / Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Beam / Play Rough
- Protect

Here is a sample set of how VGC Absol should be ran. Sucker Punch for priority, Knock Off is it's strongest STAB move plus it removes items, Ice Beam for what I mentioned earlier or you can run Play Rough for Hydreigon, Terrakion, Virizion, and all the other mons weak to this attack. 12 SpA EVs allows you to OHKO Mega Salamence 100% of the time with Ice Beam. Obviously if you're not running Ice Beam, go 252 Attack and Speed with a Jolly Nature.

Change Extreme Speed for Bullet Punch on Lucario so you can hit Fairies like Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon before they can even attack. Take off Rock Slide and run either Crunch, Ice Punch or Stone Edge. NEVER rely on flinches for strategy. It is an idiotic mindset for playing Pokemon. Crunch hits Aegislash, however, if you have Absol alive you may see this as redundant, Ice Punch hits Flying types for super effective outside of Gyarados, Talonflame and Charizard-Y and Stone Edge hits all Flying types but does significantly more damage than Rock Slide.

Stealth Rocks ain't for Doubles friend. Keep that move for the singles metagame. You can run Rock Slide on Garchomp instead or Iron Head if Fairies are giving you issues.

Scrap Blizzard for either Ice Beam or Snarl on Suicune. Blizzard's accuracy is horrid. Also, use a different spread. 252/252 defensive mons don't work as well as if you were to spread the EVs out a bit more. To make good EV spreads, you need to research the meta and find what threatens Suicune so you can EV it to survive attacks. And why do you have 0 IVs in Defense?

AV Sylveon is just bad. Never leave this thing out in the open for Pokemon such as Bisharp, Scizor, Escavalier, Kangaskhan, Salamence, Terrakion, Garchomp (this list goes on) that pressure it with an OHKOing move. Make Sylveon's EV spread more diverse and change the item to either Pixie Plate, Choice Specs, Life Orb or Babiri Berry. You don't need Psyshock or Shadow Ball either. Hyper Voice and Hidden Power Ground gives you neutral hits against every Pokemon barring Skarmory and Bronzong who are never used in Doubles.

Change Arcanine's moveset. Flare Blitz breaks your Focus Sash, Close Combat isn't necessary because the other mons on your team hit what it needs to hit, Extreme Speed can stay, so can Morning Sun. Special Arcanine with Flamethrower/Fire Blast (if you're okay with missing a lot) and Snarl can put a lot of pressure on the opponent. I pick Snarl because it allows Arcanine to survive hits like Rotom-W Hydro Pump, Heatran's Earth Power etc. and its a good spread move. Safety Goggles, Rocky Helmet, Sitrus Berry or Leftovers works great on Arcanine. Helping Hand is also an option to boost Absol's damage output as well as Sylveon's, Lucario's and Garchomp's.

Just know from now that Garchomp isn't going to be able to freely Earthquake without damaging an ally, not having Pokemon with Levitate or Flying type makes it easy for the opponent to Earthquake the crap out of your team, not having any form of coverage against water types is bad as they can cripple your team and eat up hits for days, Thunder Wave murders your team and so does Thundurus-Incarnate, yeah. This team has a good amount of flaws.

My advice is to test the team on Battle Spot, get a feel of the competitive metagame (unless you fall to below 1500 where the bad players are) and by your own judgement, make adjustments the way you see fit to your battle style if the advice here doesn't help you

Good luck man!

[Croza015]

(Dec 24, 2015, 04:46 PM)Marcusube Wrote: First of all, the previous comments did not address the issue correctly here. He is playing Battle Spot Doubles NOT VGC 16. Battle Spot Doubles still uses the VGC 15 ruleset and will continue to do so until January which is why you haven't seen any YouTubers making VGC 16 videos on Battle Spot.

Now talking from a VGC 15 standpoint, this team is pretty much what it is, an upstart team. In a metagame plagued with CHALK, Japan Sand, Mega Salamence and Trick Room Gardevoir teams, Mega Absol really has no place here as all the popular teams demolish Mega Absol.

Icy Wind on Absol isn't logical. The move itself is to be used on bulky support Pokemon. The idea is to shield your main attacker then use your supporter to slow down the opponent so your attacker outspeeds the following turn. You'd be better off using Ice Beam to hit M-Salamence, Landorus-T, Thundurus, Amoonguss etc. Shock Wave isn't a viable competitive move. Evasion is rarely used plus most Pokemon who use Evasion moves have recovery options and Shock Wave does so little it doesn't even make a difference. Fire Blast has negligible accuracy plus it doesn't hit much outside of Ferrothorn and Scizor; the latter threatens M-Absol with a priority Bullet Punch which deals enough damage to KO at a certain range.

Absol-Mega @ Absolite  
Ability: Pressure  
Level: 50  
EVs: 244 Atk / 12 SpA / 252 Spe  
Hasty / Jolly Nature  
- Sucker Punch  
- Knock Off  
- Ice Beam / Play Rough
- Protect  

Here is a sample set of how VGC Absol should be ran. Sucker Punch for priority, Knock Off is it's strongest STAB move plus it removes items, Ice Beam for what I mentioned earlier or you can run Play Rough for Hydreigon, Terrakion, Virizion, and all the other mons weak to this attack. 12 SpA EVs allows you to OHKO Mega Salamence 100% of the time with Ice Beam. Obviously if you're not running Ice Beam, go 252 Attack and Speed with a Jolly Nature.

Change Extreme Speed for Bullet Punch on Lucario so you can hit Fairies like Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon before they can even attack. Take off Rock Slide and run either Crunch, Ice Punch or Stone Edge. NEVER rely on flinches for strategy. It is an idiotic mindset for playing Pokemon. Crunch hits Aegislash, however, if you have Absol alive you may see this as redundant, Ice Punch hits Flying types for super effective outside of Gyarados, Talonflame and Charizard-Y and Stone Edge hits all Flying types but does significantly more damage than Rock Slide.

Stealth Rocks ain't for Doubles friend. Keep that move for the singles metagame. You can run Rock Slide on Garchomp instead or Iron Head if Fairies are giving you issues.

Scrap Blizzard for either Ice Beam or Snarl on Suicune. Blizzard's accuracy is horrid. Also, use a different spread. 252/252 defensive mons don't work as well as if you were to spread the EVs out a bit more. To make good EV spreads, you need to research the meta and find what threatens Suicune so you can EV it to survive attacks. And why do you have 0 IVs in Defense?

AV Sylveon is just bad. Never leave this thing out in the open for Pokemon such as Bisharp, Scizor, Escavalier, Kangaskhan, Salamence, Terrakion, Garchomp (this list goes on) that pressure it with an OHKOing move. Make Sylveon's EV spread more diverse and change the item to either Pixie Plate, Choice Specs, Life Orb or Babiri Berry. You don't need Psyshock or Shadow Ball either. Hyper Voice and Hidden Power Ground gives you neutral hits against every Pokemon barring Skarmory and Bronzong who are never used in Doubles.

Change Arcanine's moveset. Flare Blitz breaks your Focus Sash, Close Combat isn't necessary because the other mons on your team hit what it needs to hit, Extreme Speed can stay, so can Morning Sun. Special Arcanine with Flamethrower/Fire Blast (if you're okay with missing a lot) and Snarl can put a lot of pressure on the opponent. I pick Snarl because it allows Arcanine to survive hits like Rotom-W Hydro Pump, Heatran's Earth Power etc. and its a good spread move. Safety Goggles, Rocky Helmet, Sitrus Berry or Leftovers works great on Arcanine. Helping Hand is also an option to boost Absol's damage output as well as Sylveon's, Lucario's and Garchomp's.

Just know from now that Garchomp isn't going to be able to freely Earthquake without damaging an ally, not having Pokemon with Levitate or Flying type makes it easy for the opponent to Earthquake the crap out of your team, not having any form of coverage against water types is bad as they can cripple your team and eat up hits for days, Thunder Wave murders your team and so does Thundurus-Incarnate, yeah. This team has a good amount of flaws.

My advice is to test the team on Battle Spot, get a feel of the competitive metagame (unless you fall to below 1500 where the bad players are) and by your own judgement, make adjustments the way you see fit to your battle style if the advice here doesn't help you

Good luck man!

Thank you, Marcusube. So far with this team I've got two wins and two loses so far. I'm feeling more confident with the team I've created.

[Marcusube]

Good to hear, Croza