[RATE MY TEAM] VGC | Dragon-Fairy-Steel Core

[Bright_Shadow21]

Hey, My name is Bright_Shadow21 but everyone calls me Bright. I am pretty new when it comes to the VGC battle scene but I watch tournaments especially nationals and worlds so I like to think I know a little bit about the meta game. I have X amount of hours on pokemon showdown and mostly play it for casual battles but after watching poke-youtubers such as Alex Ogloza and Aaron Zheng (cybertronproductions) I have been taking things a little more seriously, I wouldnt say I am great but I wouldnt say I am bad either. I will be showing you a team I have been playing around with on showdown.

My team is consisted around a Dragon - Fairy - Steel core. These types all cover each others weakness, well most of them pretty well. The other pokemon were used to compliment the team. I will now go into the first pokemon I wanted on my team!



Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Earth Power
- Flamethrower

So my first pokemon I put on my team was the pseudo-legendary dragon/dark type, Hydreigon. The moves I chose are pretty standard, Earth power was used for heatran and flamethrower was rarely ever used and was just used as a filler move. The EVs are pretty standard too, I wanted this pokemon to hit as hard as it could as well as having a decent speed.

Offensive Calculations

252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 152-182 (91 - 108.9%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 178-210 (98.3 - 116%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 220 HP / 92+ SpD Cresselia: 150-176 (67.2 - 78.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

This pokemon has huge attack power, it reliably gets OHKO's and even 2HKO's on bulkier pokemon. (all spreads used in calculations are the most common used on showdown)

Defensive Calculations

252+ Atk Landorus-T Superpower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hydreigon: 178-210 (105.9 - 125%) -- guaranteed OHKO

There are a couple of things that I dislike about hydreigon is that it can be outsped and OHKO'd from common pokemon such as Landorus-T. I will now feature the second pokemon of the core which is my fairy type.



Sylveon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 68 Def / 116 SpA / 56 SpD / 40 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Helping Hand
- Protect

The next pokemon I put on my team was the Eeveelution, Sylveon. This fairy dog has had its moment in the meta normally with choice specs but my Hydreigon has that item. I looked at a couple of variations of sylveon, a few were running life orb or pixie plate but I went for a completely different type, a more Bulkier/Support Sylveon. The moves are hyper voice for the pixilate and STAB damage as well as spread damage. Shadow ball was used for coverage and was used mainly for Gengar. Helping hand is the support move, this move is an increased priority move that will raise the base power of the target adjacent ally's move by 50%. Protect is always handy on any pokemon but especially on Sylveon as most people presummed it was specs and it caught a majority of people out. The EV's were used to deal with two pokemon I had in mind and they were Mega-Kangaskhan and Aegislash. The EV's were put mainly into bulk and helped survive hard hitting moves such as flash cannon from Aegislash and even the Double-Edge from Mega-Kangaskhan. The 40 Speed EV's were there so I wasnt the slowest pokemon.

Defensive Calculations

252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 228 HP / 68 Def Sylveon: 191-227 (95.9 - 114%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Flash Cannon vs. 228 HP / 56 SpD Sylveon: 128-152 (64.3 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

I put the remainding EV's into special attack so that it could hit fairly well. I found sylveon to be of good use but mainly as a distraction and a nuisance. Helping hand came in handy in certain situations. I will now feature the last pokemon of the core, my steel pokemon.



Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 164 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute
- Protect

The main pokemon and my mega as well as the last pokemon of the core is the steel/psychic, Metagross. This pokemon compliments Hydreigon and Sylveon really well. The moveset is pretty standard with substitute. The EV's were taken from a forum online, I do not remember what they were used specifically for, so you can leave a comment with a suggestion to a new spread, if you want too of course. I was thinking of having bullet punch as one of my moves as it has priority but I wanted a much harder hitting move so I went for iron head instead of meteor mash, I felt that the 90% accuracy move was missing way more than it should be. Substitute was commonly used as I could hide behind the sub and avoid burns and it somewhat doubled up as a protect. I think the 44hp was used so I could set the sub up 4 times and have 1hp remaining. I was going to add some damage calculations but I dont remember what the EV's where used for so I am going to give it a miss, but I will say it hits like a truck. This pokemon finished my core and the other pokemon that I will talk about were used to help compliment the team by adding speed control and some extra fire power.



Suicune @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 100 SpA / 52 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Tailwind/Icy Wind
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect/Snarl

The next pokemon I wanted on my team was the legendary Aurora Pokemon, Suicune. In the meta game I have noticed many of the top rated teams have a bulky water type pokemon commonly Suicune or Milotic and sometimes Gyarados. I decided to follow suit. This pokemon was built rather defensive with 100 Defence EV's and 252 HP to help neuter those physical attacks, I chose rocky helmet to punish those that thought they could attack my Suicune head on. I put 100 EV's into special attack so that it could also dish out reasonable damage and get a specific OHKO on Landorus-T which was a threat to my Hydreigon. Scald was my main STAB move also has a 30% chance to burn which more often than not resulted in my opponent getting burnt 100% of the time. Ice beam was the move used to take out Landorus-T as well as those pesky dragon types. I used protect for my last move but was interested in the move Snarl as it lowers special attack by one stage on the opponents side.

Offensive Calculations

100 SpA Suicune Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 168-200 (101.8 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Calculations

252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Suicune: 112-133 (54.1 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Suicune: 128-152 (61.8 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Landorus-Therian (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 148 Atk / 4 Def / 108 SpD / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge

So one of the most commonly used pokemon this year is the dual-type Ground/Flying Legendary Pokémon, Landorus-T. I thought to myself If I cant beat them, I might as well join them so one went straight onto my team. This pokemon is great as it has intimidate which lowers the opponents attack by -1, this helps as most pokemon are physical. Most Landorus-T are choice scarf and dish out powerful moves before anyone else can move, I loved the idea of that but most builds are now required to survive this variation, so I decided to go with the Assault Vest version. The EV's are just for bulk and werent really used for anything specific. However the 148 Attack EV's gave me vital OHKO's and 2HKO's where needed, the 92 speed EV's were to outspeed a neutral Bisharp. The moveset is pretty standard, I went for stone edge over U-turn.

Offensive Calculations

148+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Gengar: 168-200 (100.5 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
148+ Atk Landorus-T Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 144-170 (102.1 - 120.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
148+ Atk Landorus-T Stone Edge vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 170-200 (109.6 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Defensive Calculations

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 156 HP / 4 Def Landorus-T: 153-183 (83.1 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
52 SpA Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave vs. 156 HP / 108 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T in Sun: 76-90 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 156 HP / 108 SpD Assault Vest Landorus-T: 76-91 (41.3 - 49.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO



Rotom-Heat @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 116 HP / 164 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
- Overheat
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

Last pokemon I added to the team was a Fire/Electric type, the microwave oven, Heat Rotom. This pokemon has so many variations, I went for the Heat one as I already have my water type in Suicune. I felt like I needed another pokemon to avoid the earthquake spam so the levitate ability definetly helps my team out. I wanted an offensive rotom, so I chose life orb, this item helps me get the OHKO's I wanted with this pokemon. The moveset is standard but I chose hidden power ice over will-o-miss as I still wanted that ice move if I decided not to bring Suicune. The EV's in special attack gave me the necessary power to hit the desired pokemon for OHKO's, such as bisharp, amoongus and most Charizard-Y.

Offensive Calculations

164+ SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Overheat vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Bisharp: 338-400 (239.7 - 283.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Overheat vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Amoonguss: 234-276 (105.8 - 124.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 156-187 (101.9 - 122.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 242-283 (157.1 - 183.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
164+ SpA Life Orb Rotom-H Hidden Power Ice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 177-208 (103.5 - 121.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This concludes my team. I apologise in advance for no battle videos or codes.

I had fun making this thread and you dont want to know how long it took me to create. I hope it was formal enough, I hope the calculations helped and I hope that you can give me some feed back and if you really want you could give me a +1 reputation just for the effort I put into this. I intend to write more threads and rate my teams, just need to find the time. Thank you for reading this and I really do appreciate you taking some of your time to read this, Thank you again.

Bright_Shadow21

[Marcusube]

This team looks pretty standard and functional. Nothing much to say about this team other than it being solid

[Luisito]

(Aug 25, 2015, 03:39 PM)Bright_Shadow21 Wrote:

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 164 Atk / 44 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute
- Protect

The main pokemon and my mega as well as the last pokemon of the core is the steel/psychic, Metagross.

Shiny Metagross. Best Pkmn ever! This should give you a guaranteed win. At least in my book.  :P

About the rest.. no idea. I am only a breeder, I don't play VGC.  :D

Perhaps I can make a tiny contribution, what do you say if we add Adamant Nature to that Metagross? That should improve things in the battlefield? Hehe. (You will get my meaning if you look closely).

[Black117]

I've been using Metagross-Hydreigon-Sylveon core for a long time now and I'll say this: its practically needs a complete new battle approach/plan (whatever you call it) at this point given most of these three are somewhat handled by some of the most common Pokemon in the game like Mega Kangaskhan, Aegislash, Gardevoir, etc. Don't get me wrong, your team is solid from a synergy standpoint (especially if you're using Mega Metagross+Hydreigon), however there are some there are some nickpicks I'm just gonna take about so you can decide for yourself whether or not this is the right direction.

As mentioned earlier, your team has a good typing synergy on paper so I'll just talk about matchups. At the start of the battle, your team is rather "slow" with the fastest member being Hydreigon (btw I don't know its that suppose to be Modest or Timid based on the set and damage calcs), before Metagross Mega Evolves and gains its full 110 speed. This is something your opponents will play to their advantage as Metagross and Hygreigon can potentially get harassed by faster threats. Your team definite needs more speed control options since all your opponent has to do is either knock out Suicune and/or spread paralysis or setup Trick Room to sweep. Hydreigon CAN learn Tailwind so it can forgo Choice Specs which is a good trade off for Mega Metagross as I tested this out before to great success. The reason I find Tailwind Hydreigon to be so effective is because its able to setup Tailwind at times when your opponent is going to protect. To be honest Hydreigon has a really great matchup against most of the Tailwind Setters in the game (Zapdos, Suicune, Talonflame), resist the elemental attacks (Fire, Grass, Water, Electric), and can still threaten everything on the field with its stab options.  If you check the 8th place German Top Cut team from Pokemon.com, the player utilized a Timid Tailwind Hydreigon to give his Mega Gardevoir additional turns to sweep with Hyper Voice. To top it off, you can now outspeed Mega Salamence and effectively knock it out with a Draco Meteor or even an HP Ice (if you happen to got that route). If you don't have time to get an HP Ice Hydreigon, then just go with Earth Power to improve the matchup with Heatran, Terrakion, Mega Mawile, Excadrill, etc. If you feel like neither of those two options are viable, then protect is just as good (with Expert Belt) to fool opponents that you are Choice Specs or Scarf. Well here's a sample set right here if you like:

Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 16 HP / 32 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Tailwind
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Earth Power / Protect


Sylveon is probably the best Fairy type in Doubles with Mega Gardevoir a close second just because she can provide Hyper Voice support without costing Mega Slot and Fairy by itself is a good type. My issue with this set is Sylveon will not be able to pick up the KO on Terrakion.

116+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 144-170 (86.2 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Terrakion is a huge problem to your team as it can Close Combat Hydreigon and Rock Slide your entire team with the potential flinch chance and the fact that Sylveon cannot OHKO 100% of the time (unless they carry Focus Sash) is problematic. Definitely try using Pixie Plate with about 76 SpA (or 80 SpA if you happen to run HP Ground) and it allows you to invest more into some of your other stats. I did mention using HP Ground since your team is somewhat weak to Aegislash, Heatran, Mega Mawile, and other Fire/Steel/Rock type Pokemon. Shadow Ball only hits Aegislash and Gengar super effectively anyways and Hyper Voice will still be doing a greater damage output especially if it targets both targets for some damage. Helping Hand is a great move for Sylveon to know so I'd keep it for now just to give Sylveon one last support option in case it cannot outspeed either target and is going to get knocked out. This set is slightly less specially defensive but I geuss th

Sample Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 116 Def / 80 SpA / 8 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Outspeeds Timid max speed thundurus under tailwind
KOs standard Terrakion without Sash

The Metagross set is solid so I'm not gonna say anything else about Sub Metagross. If you do decide to run Mega Metagross without Sub, try using Hammer Arm and/or Ice Punch. Hammer Arm Mega Metagross basically give it perfect coverage with Zen Headbutt though the 90% chance to miss and speed drop can be annoying. Here's a list of targets Mega Metagross literally hits super effectively now with Hammer Arm before using its STAB options: Mega Kangaskhan, Bisharp, Tyranitar, Heatran, Mega Gyarados, Excadrill, Hydreigon, Ferrothorn and plenty of other targets (recommend you to do some damage calcs for HA). Best part is you can mitigate the speed drop with the Tailwind from Suicune or Hydreigon, though Mega Metagross's speed will be at 234 (the actual speed factoring -1 + Tailwind) so take note of that. Ice Punch is for the usual Double Genie and Mega Salamence since it basically gets the OHKOs or close to it.

I guess the only thing to do with the Suicune set is give it a Sitrus Berry so it has plenty of time to setup Tailwind. Snarl Suicune is a great choice to reduce the damage output of special attackers though be weary of spamming it against teams who have Milotic, Bisharp, or Terrakion. Honestly, I could see Milotic here just to prevent the opponent from spamming Intimidate drops against Mega Metagross and Landorus-T but that's up to you to decide. To be honest, AV Landorus-T is a great set since it can take repeated special attacks and tank strong Water and Ice hits (except from Greninja). For now I don't recommend any changes on either of these two but ask if there's an issue like the speed creep or something.

Finally Rotom-H is turning out to be the best Rotom form in the current meta since it can wall some Pokemon like Thundurus, Zapdos, Heatran, Char Y, Amoonguss, etc. My only recommendation is to try out some other sets for Rotom-H such as the defensive variations so it can take on some his while maybe spreading burns (will-o-wisp) or paralysis (thunder wave)

Well that's all I have for your team so good luck testing.

[Bright_Shadow21]

(Aug 26, 2015, 01:03 AM)Black117 Wrote: I've been using Metagross-Hydreigon-Sylveon core for a long time now and I'll say this: its practically needs a complete new battle approach/plan (whatever you call it) at this point given most of these three are somewhat handled by some of the most common Pokemon in the game like Mega Kangaskhan, Aegislash, Gardevoir, etc. Don't get me wrong, your team is solid from a synergy standpoint (especially if you're using Mega Metagross+Hydreigon), however there are some there are some nickpicks I'm just gonna take about so you can decide for yourself whether or not this is the right direction.

As mentioned earlier, your team has a good typing synergy on paper so I'll just talk about matchups. At the start of the battle, your team is rather "slow" with the fastest member being Hydreigon (btw I don't know its that suppose to be Modest or Timid based on the set and damage calcs), before Metagross Mega Evolves and gains its full 110 speed. This is something your opponents will play to their advantage as Metagross and Hygreigon can potentially get harassed by faster threats. Your team definite needs more speed control options since all your opponent has to do is either knock out Suicune and/or spread paralysis or setup Trick Room to sweep. Hydreigon CAN learn Tailwind so it can forgo Choice Specs which is a good trade off for Mega Metagross as I tested this out before to great success. The reason I find Tailwind Hydreigon to be so effective is because its able to setup Tailwind at times when your opponent is going to protect. To be honest Hydreigon has a really great matchup against most of the Tailwind Setters in the game (Zapdos, Suicune, Talonflame), resist the elemental attacks (Fire, Grass, Water, Electric), and can still threaten everything on the field with its stab options.  If you check the 8th place German Top Cut team from Pokemon.com, the player utilized a Timid Tailwind Hydreigon to give his Mega Gardevoir additional turns to sweep with Hyper Voice. To top it off, you can now outspeed Mega Salamence and effectively knock it out with a Draco Meteor or even an HP Ice (if you happen to got that route). If you don't have time to get an HP Ice Hydreigon, then just go with Earth Power to improve the matchup with Heatran, Terrakion, Mega Mawile, Excadrill, etc. If you feel like neither of those two options are viable, then protect is just as good (with Expert Belt) to fool opponents that you are Choice Specs or Scarf. Well here's a sample set right here if you like:

Hydreigon @ Expert Belt
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 16 HP / 32 Def / 244 SpA / 4 SpD / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Tailwind
- Hidden Power [Ice] / Earth Power / Protect


Sylveon is probably the best Fairy type in Doubles with Mega Gardevoir a close second just because she can provide Hyper Voice support without costing Mega Slot and Fairy by itself is a good type. My issue with this set is Sylveon will not be able to pick up the KO on Terrakion.

116+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 144-170 (86.2 - 101.7%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

Terrakion is a huge problem to your team as it can Close Combat Hydreigon and Rock Slide your entire team with the potential flinch chance and the fact that Sylveon cannot OHKO 100% of the time (unless they carry Focus Sash) is problematic. Definitely try using Pixie Plate with about 76 SpA (or 80 SpA if you happen to run HP Ground) and it allows you to invest more into some of your other stats. I did mention using HP Ground since your team is somewhat weak to Aegislash, Heatran, Mega Mawile, and other Fire/Steel/Rock type Pokemon. Shadow Ball only hits Aegislash and Gengar super effectively anyways and Hyper Voice will still be doing a greater damage output especially if it targets both targets for some damage. Helping Hand is a great move for Sylveon to know so I'd keep it for now just to give Sylveon one last support option in case it cannot outspeed either target and is going to get knocked out. This set is slightly less specially defensive but I geuss th

Sample Sylveon @ Pixie Plate
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 116 Def / 80 SpA / 8 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Helping Hand
- Protect

Outspeeds Timid max speed thundurus under tailwind
KOs standard Terrakion without Sash

The Metagross set is solid so I'm not gonna say anything else about Sub Metagross. If you do decide to run Mega Metagross without Sub, try using Hammer Arm and/or Ice Punch. Hammer Arm Mega Metagross basically give it perfect coverage with Zen Headbutt though the 90% chance to miss and speed drop can be annoying. Here's a list of targets Mega Metagross literally hits super effectively now with Hammer Arm before using its STAB options: Mega Kangaskhan, Bisharp, Tyranitar, Heatran, Mega Gyarados, Excadrill, Hydreigon, Ferrothorn and plenty of other targets (recommend you to do some damage calcs for HA). Best part is you can mitigate the speed drop with the Tailwind from Suicune or Hydreigon, though Mega Metagross's speed will be at 234 (the actual speed factoring -1 + Tailwind) so take note of that. Ice Punch is for the usual Double Genie and Mega Salamence since it basically gets the OHKOs or close to it.

I guess the only thing to do with the Suicune set is give it a Sitrus Berry so it has plenty of time to setup Tailwind. Snarl Suicune is a great choice to reduce the damage output of special attackers though be weary of spamming it against teams who have Milotic, Bisharp, or Terrakion. Honestly, I could see Milotic here just to prevent the opponent from spamming Intimidate drops against Mega Metagross and Landorus-T but that's up to you to decide. To be honest, AV Landorus-T is a great set since it can take repeated special attacks and tank strong Water and Ice hits (except from Greninja). For now I don't recommend any changes on either of these two but ask if there's an issue like the speed creep or something.

Finally Rotom-H is turning out to be the best Rotom form in the current meta since it can wall some Pokemon like Thundurus, Zapdos, Heatran, Char Y, Amoonguss, etc. My only recommendation is to try out some other sets for Rotom-H such as the defensive variations so it can take on some his while maybe spreading burns (will-o-wisp) or paralysis (thunder wave)
Well that's all I have for your team so good luck testing.

Thank you so much for a detailed reply. I really do appreciate it. I definetely think I will change up my Sylveon to be a little more powerful but I do like the idea of it being more around support and unpredictability and annoyance.
I will have a play around with the ideas you have suggested. Thank you again.
Bright_Shadow21

[AbruptFury]

That core looks really solid I know that the duo of Mega Metagross and Hydreigon can be powerful!

[Royal]

Standart pokemon kappa standart=working kappa

[Bright_Shadow21]

Thanks for all your comments!
Bright_Shadow21