[RATE MY TEAM] VGC'15 Team(fill in clever name here)

[AndyHG]

Hey guys I've gotten back into VGC since 2013 and now in VGC'15 I want to keep improving.


Past mons in my set:
Gardevoir(choice specs/modest)
Garchomp(rockyhelmet/jolly)
Mawile(mawilite/careful)
Charizard(charizardite y/ modest)
Greninja(sitrus berry/ timid)
Rotom-W(leftovers/calm)
Clefairy(rockyhelmet/bold)
Manetric(manetricite/timid)

My current set:


Gastrodon @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 228 HP / 164 Def / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect

After some reading on Nuggetbridge, I decided to test out a Gastrodon set on Showdown
and it seemed to really help out the rest of my setup.
Whether it's hindering physical threats not expecting the rockyhelmet,
or keeping Landorus and Heatran safe from Scalds and HydroPumps.


Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 HP / 252 Atk / 80 SpD / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
- Superpower

While Garchomp is one of my favorite sweepers , I found Landorus to be a better option,
especially with the latter having less weaknesses.It takes out M-Kang,Greninja,and even Hydreigon
with one shot.  At a premiere challenge and other online competions I used choice scarf like most sets,
but I wasn't fond of being restricted to one move only. Then Assault vest came into play for resistance from HydroPump.


Hitmontop (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 4 Def / 180 SDef / 20 Spd
Careful Nature
- Mach Punch
- Fake Out
- Protect
- Wide Guard

WIDEGUARD IS A GODSEND. An old favorite of mine from the GSC days and a couple of
World Championship videos later. I gave an ev spread for Hitmontop that resembled Ray Rizzo's
Specially Defensive Mawile build. Combined with tenhnician Hitmontop has saved me out of a lot
of tight spots in rating battles, and a great Bisharp and M-Kang killer.


Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 92 HP / 116 Def/ 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Moonblast


While I was sad to see Mawile and Gardevoir leave my set, I was happy to gain Sylveon.
THIS THING WRECKS ALL. The spread I used for this comes from Cybertron's analysis on Sylveon
and I got to say it's very solid. Psyshock works wonders against  M-Venusaur and M-Gengar.
Shadow Ball fends off the tricky Aegislash i occasionally come across.


Heatran @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Heat Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Protect
- Earth Power

While Charizard sits in the backseat due to Landorus coming back into the Metagame,
welcome Heatran.  I wanted to have some speed with my fire coverage, I use him mostly
in terms of faking out my opponent when they try to take Sylveon or Gastrodon out and
score in on an opening. I put Flash Cannon on to wipe out any M-Gardevoir and Sylveon
that threatens my team. Why the Earth Power? to take out fellow Heatran of course!


Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 60 HP / 192 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Protect
- Return
- Low Kick

Now I know this isn't completely the typical set for M-Kang. Power-Up Punch is great
but the build up hasn't worked out for me in many battles, while Low Kick handles T-Tar
other M-Kang and Bisharp without breaking a sweat. Jolly nature benefits my Kang in out
Sucker Punching any other mon that would use it. Protect is mostly there for the sake of scouting.
Fake-Out would be more ideal; however it's too risky and ends up wasted.

Looking for any and all feedback.

[Hojunhu]

Only thing I would change is maybe getting a HP-ground Sylveon for dealing with steel types and also putting Overheat instead of Flash Cannon on Heatran since you won't OHKO anything you need to with Flash Cannon.

[beastmoose]

This is just me, but I like intimidate better on Hitmontop. It can really crush opponents with a Hitmontop lead, and in many situations, force a switch. With access to Fake Out too.

[Slec]

I like the evs on these pokemon, you spread them out and make the bulkier. However, I would swap Rocky helmet on Gastrodon for Leftovers. This will add more bulk and make it harder to kill. Make sure the Lando can live a +1 Sucker Punch from Bisharp as well. Also Intimidate would be better on hitmontop. For Kang swap protect for fake out and return for Double edge. This thing can ht hard no matter what.

[Black117]

Great team composition you have there AndyHG. Honestly  I don't have much to say about half your team (Gastrodon, Heatran, and Sylveon), except maybe get HP Ground on Sylveon instead, but Moonblast is great for bypassing Wide Guard.  However I do have some suggestions regarding Lando-T, Hitmontop, and Mega Kang.

If you are going to run Assault Vest Landorus-T, give it a bulkier EV spread especially on the special side. You can try to make it so that Sucker Punch from Life Orb Bisharp doesn't ohko Lando-T all the time as well, though its an option at best. To be honest, you don't necessarily have to run a ton of attack investment on Landorus-T, its not outspeeding any notable threats with that speed investment anyways. Here's a set I would run:

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 140 HP / 132 Atk / 12 Def / 108 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Earthquake
- U-turn

This set outspeeds regular Jolly Tyranitar (without Scarf), and has enough investment to survive most HP Ice and non STAB Ice Beams. AV Landorus-T would want a considerable amount of investment similar to to one I have here so it can spread intimidate drops and take some hits.

For Hitmontop, I advise you change its EV spread since as you mention its using a bulky Mega Mawile EV spread instead which isn't optimal. If you plan on using support Hitmontop, it should run Intimidate to take physical hits better and drop Protect for either Quick Guard/Feint/Close Combat. Otherwise, Wide Guard Conkeldurr serves as a great replacement for this spot easily since it does the same thing, but has recovery in Drain Punch, viable coverage in Knock Off/Ice Punch/Poison Jab, and solid abilities to chose from like Guts, Sheer Force, and Iron Fist. The problem with I have with Pokemon like Hitmontop is it usually fits a great supportive role, but can't do much on the offensive end. Your only attacking move can only OHKO Bisharp, but Mega Kangakhan can take about 2 Mach Punches. A combination of Close Combat and Mach Punch from the Intimidate Hitmontop can knock out Mega Kangaskhan as well. Yes you do lose out the ability to OHKO Bisharp with Technician Mach Punch, but at least Hitmontop has a better matchup against Mega Kangaskhan, not to mention Close Combat hits harder. Hitmontop can still run Mach Punch but I think Feint should be used just to predict the protect plays so your own Kangaskhan (it can easily handle Bisharp anyways) can knock out that target. Black Belt can be used to help Hitmontop secure and OHKOs on Mega Kangaskhan, but the trade off is you'll miss out the Sitrus Berry. Here's a set I have in mine.

Hitmontop @ Sitrus Berry / Black Belt
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 132 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Wide Guard
- Mach Punch / Feint
Here's some defensive damage calcs.

For Mega Kangaskhan, I think the only two things it should have is an optimized EV spread and Double Edge for more offense. For the latter, since Double Edge is secures you a more KOs, especially against opposing Sylveons. If you like, an Adamant spread can help secure more kills though since team doesn't have a ton of speed control anyways. I have some sets here so you can look at.

http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-VGC...l-Attacker

To be honest, the only thing your team lacks is speed control since most of your Pokemon are around middling speed at best. You might want to consider having Icy Wind on Gastrodon to alleviate this, but Bisharp becomes more of an issue. Maybe a Pokemon like Zapdos, Cresselia, Thundurus, or Suicune can give you some form of speed control. Other then that, you have a great team to get back into VGC.

[AndyHG]

(Jun 3, 2015, 02:13 PM)Black117 Wrote: Great team composition you have there AndyHG. Honestly  I don't have much to say about half your team (Gastrodon, Heatran, and Sylveon), except maybe get HP Ground on Sylveon instead, but Moonblast is great for bypassing Wide Guard.  However I do have some suggestions regarding Lando-T, Hitmontop, and Mega Kang.

If you are going to run Assault Vest Landorus-T, give it a bulkier EV spread especially on the special side. You can try to make it so that Sucker Punch from Life Orb Bisharp doesn't ohko Lando-T all the time as well, though its an option at best. To be honest, you don't necessarily have to run a ton of attack investment on Landorus-T, its not outspeeding any notable threats with that speed investment anyways. Here's a set I would run:

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 140 HP / 132 Atk / 12 Def / 108 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Earthquake
- U-turn

This set outspeeds regular Jolly Tyranitar (without Scarf), and has enough investment to survive most HP Ice and non STAB Ice Beams. AV Landorus-T would want a considerable amount of investment similar to to one I have here so it can spread intimidate drops and take some hits.

For Hitmontop, I advise you change its EV spread since as you mention its using a bulky Mega Mawile EV spread instead which isn't optimal. If you plan on using support Hitmontop, it should run Intimidate to take physical hits better and drop Protect for either Quick Guard/Feint/Close Combat. Otherwise, Wide Guard Conkeldurr serves as a great replacement for this spot easily since it does the same thing, but has recovery in Drain Punch, viable coverage in Knock Off/Ice Punch/Poison Jab, and solid abilities to chose from like Guts, Sheer Force, and Iron Fist. The problem with I have with Pokemon like Hitmontop is it usually fits a great supportive role, but can't do much on the offensive end. Your only attacking move can only OHKO Bisharp, but Mega Kangakhan can take about 2 Mach Punches. A combination of Close Combat and Mach Punch from the Intimidate Hitmontop can knock out Mega Kangaskhan as well. Yes you do lose out the ability to OHKO Bisharp with Technician Mach Punch, but at least Hitmontop has a better matchup against Mega Kangaskhan, not to mention Close Combat hits harder. Hitmontop can still run Mach Punch but I think Feint should be used just to predict the protect plays so your own Kangaskhan (it can easily handle Bisharp anyways) can knock out that target. Black Belt can be used to help Hitmontop secure and OHKOs on Mega Kangaskhan, but the trade off is you'll miss out the Sitrus Berry. Here's a set I have in mine.

Hitmontop @ Sitrus Berry / Black Belt
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 132 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Wide Guard
- Mach Punch / Feint
Here's some defensive damage calcs.  

For Mega Kangaskhan, I think the only two things it should have is an optimized EV spread and Double Edge for more offense. For the latter, since Double Edge is secures you a more KOs, especially against opposing Sylveons. If you like, an Adamant spread can help secure more kills though since team doesn't have a ton of speed control anyways. I have some sets here so you can look at.

http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-VGC...l-Attacker

To be honest, the only thing your team lacks is speed control since most of your Pokemon are around middling speed at best. You might want to consider having Icy Wind on Gastrodon to alleviate this, but Bisharp becomes more of an issue. Maybe a Pokemon like Zapdos, Cresselia, Thundurus, or Suicune can give you some form of speed control. Other then that, you have a great team to get back into VGC.

Sorry for the late response, in the past I ran an adamant intimidate Hitmontop, and the problem was I ran into a lot of defiant bisharps which is why I decided to go for technician instead, which has done heavy damage even KOs to Mega Kang and Bisharp.

Bisharp was the bane of my existence at a premiere challenge earlier this year.

I switched out Ice Beam for Icy Wind for that speed control.

I have tested the Landorus-T set and it holds up better thanks very much.

As for the Double-Edge...I'm somewhat less confident is using it, it's like Talonflame while Double-Edge can potentially score OHKO's but there's plenty of bulky Pokemon with rocky helmet that I've encountered. I'll consider it though