[S/M] PFA Week 2 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons

[AbruptFury]

Hello once again! Tommy, coach of the Toronto Maple Leafeons. Here to give you the rundown on my week 2 match. So without further ado, let me jump right into it.

The Team Line-ups

My Team : M-Pinsir, Clefable, Zygarde-50%, Empoleon, Arcanine, Hitmontop, Vanilluxe, Dhelmise, Heliolisk, Jellicent,
Malamar

Gingerxpug (Mesa Magcargos): Nihilego, Sylveon, Breloom, Vaporeon, Galvantula, Mesprit, Electivire, Weavile, Salamence,
Cinccino, Rhydon

The Game Plan

Ludwig (Pinsir-Mega) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack

Actually decided to bring this monster this match. His team doesn't exactly tank it well, especially with a Swords Dance boost (except for Eviolite Rhydon). The spread on it isn't anything special. I wanted to run it very offensive to potentially sweep his team once certain checks/counters were addressed. Return was my best move to hit most things. 102 base power with Flying STAB. Earthquake shares great offensive synergy with Return because there aren't many things that are resistant or immune to Flying/Ground coverage. Ryan didn't have anything like Skarmory or Celesteela, so I didn't have much to fear. Earthquake was a great move to hit the Electivire, Nihilego, and Rhydon (even though it probably wouldn't OHKO). Quick Attack was added as a way to hit faster foes that could stop my sweep. Like Weavile, Cinccino, or Scarf Breloom. I loved the fact that M-Pinsir, upon mega evolution, would outspeed Timid max speed Nihilego by two points. Since Quick Attack wouldn't do much being resisted. And the only way to outspeed my M-Pinsir was by being Choice Scarf'd, and I could take advantage of that. Also, Hyper Cutter is a great ability due to the fact that M-Pinsir's Attack can't be lowered by Intimidate before it mega evolves. Great Pokemon overall. Glad to have it as my mega. And I will show why it is so good.

By the way, an odd HP number on this thing is perfect for Stealth Rocks. You can come in on them a maximum of 3 times.

Offensive Calcs:

252 Atk Pinsir-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Electivire: 178-210 (118.6 - 140%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 222-262 (109.9 - 129.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Vaporeon: 234-276 (101.2 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salamence: 211-249 (124.1 - 146.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Intimidate couldn't save it.

Rupert (Dhelmise) @ Lagging Tail
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 236 Atk / 12 Def / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Power Whip
- Switcheroo
- Rapid Spin

Freaky set, huh? I wanted it to be fairly bulky, but also offensive. Similar to the Assault Vest set. Heavy Slam was there so I could damage or take out Weavile, Sylveon, Nihilego, , Breloom, and Salamence. Power Whip was used to damage the bulky Water type, Vaporeon. As well as Rhydon and anything else that didn't resist. Switcheroo combined with Lagging Tail would be used to cripple Salamence if it tried to setup on my Dhelmise. If you are unfamiliar with Lagging Tail, it is an item that makes the holder move last in it's priority bracket. While holding that, Salamence would be slower than everything on my team, and easily revenge killed since it doesn't have access to any priority moves. Rapid Spin was there for hazard removal. I like this set quite much. Shows that a little creativity in league format can go a long way.

Offensive Calcs:

236+ Atk Steelworker Dhelmise Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sylveon: 213-252 (105.4 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
236+ Atk Dhelmise Power Whip vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Vaporeon: 222-264 (96.1 - 114.2%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
236+ Atk Dhelmise Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Rhydon: 264-312 (124.5 - 147.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
236+ Atk Steelworker Dhelmise Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Galvantula: 82-97 (56.5 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Galvantula Bug Buzz vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Dhelmise: 67-81 (38 - 46%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Vaporeon Ice Beam vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Dhelmise: 78-94 (44.3 - 53.4%) -- 33.2% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Salamence Fly vs. 244 HP / 12 Def Dhelmise: 156-186 (88.6 - 105.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

Neptune (Empoleon) @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Flash Cannon
- Ice Beam
- Toxic

One of my favourite Pokemon on the team, Empoleon, is back at it this week. Here to wall some threats and do some damage. Stealth Rock was my only form of hazard setting. Flash Cannon was used to hit Nihilego, Sylveon, Weavile, and Rhydon. Ice Beam was chosen to hit Salamence mainly. As well as Breloom, Galvantula, and maybe even Electivire need be. And Toxic was there to put a timer on Pokemon like Vaporeon (which I didn't have much else to touch it with), Sylveon, and Mesprit if it wanted to set up Calm Minds. I had a good amount of bulk for taking into consideration things like Life Orb Weavile Low Kick and Specs Nihilego Thunderbolt. Wacan Berry would help with that. Same for if I was facing down Galvantula or Electivire.

Offensive Calcs:

0 SpA Empoleon Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Salamence: 180-212 (105.8 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Empoleon Flash Cannon vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Sylveon: 80-96 (46.7 - 56.1%) -- 64.8% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Empoleon Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nihilego: 80-96 (43.4 - 52.1%) -- 8.6% chance to 2HKO
Hey. Damage is damage. Especially when coming from something that wasn't made to hit hard.

Defensive Calcs:

252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 68+ SpD Empoleon: 57-67 (29.8 - 35%) -- 17.6% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 252 HP / 188 Def Empoleon: 101-122 (52.8 - 63.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Nihilego Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 68+ SpD Wacan Berry Empoleon: 64-76 (33.5 - 39.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Oryx (Zygarde) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Aura Break
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 252 Atk / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Extreme Speed
- Rock Slide

I actually had more faith in Dragon Dance Zygarde this week than last week. If you look at his team, he doesn't really have much that can take this coverage. After a couple things got weakened by Stealth Rock or Toxic or prior damage, I could set up a Dragon Dance and beat everything. After one Dragon Dance, this Zygarde set outspeeds Jolly max speed Weavile by one point. After two, it would outspeed everything. No Choice Scarf Nihilego sabotage (as that is a popular set). Focus Sash is no option if I get my rocks up. There is only one Pokemon that resists Thousand Arrows on Ryan's team, and that's Breloom. Which is a very frail Pokemon. Extremespeed could pick off weakened Pokemon and faster Pokemon like Weavile or Cinccino. Rock Slide can hit Salamence for more damage than Thousand Arrows. Good for getting it out of the way better it hits me with a Dragon type move. Yache Berry was my item choice to stop Weavile's Ice Shard from stopping my sweep. And Hidden Power Ice from the likes of Nihilego or Galvantula.

Offensive Calcs:

+1 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Weavile: 148-175 (102 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Zygarde Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salamence: 188-222 (110.5 - 130.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Sylveon: 196-232 (97 - 114.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Defensive Calcs:

252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Ice Shard vs. 140 HP / 0 Def Yache Berry Zygarde: 84-102 (41.7 - 50.7%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 140 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 140-168 (69.6 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 140 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 168-200 (83.5 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Beyblade (Hitmontop) @ Coba Berry
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 172 HP / 244 Atk / 84 Def / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat
- Bulk Up

Another intreresting set. Bulk Up Hitmontop with some offensive investment. I noticed how weak his fast Pokemon were to Fighting. Mach Punch was used to beat Weavile, Cinccino, Nihilego, and Breloom. Stone Edge was specifically for Salamence. I was very much afraid of it setting up Dragon Dances this week. It would also be used to hit Sylveon and Galvantula, which resist Hitmontop's Fighting type attacks. Close Combat was there so I could get big damage on the bulkier Pokemon, like Vaporeon or Electivire. Close Combat into Mach Punch could work as a way to eliminate certain foes since Hitmontop is slow, without them being able to take advantage of the defense drops from Close Combat. Bulk Up was used to set up and become bulkier on the physically defensive side. Try and wall a couple of Pokemon while being able to damage them. Mach Punch as a last ditch effort to get damage off would always be appreciated. Coba Berry was used in case he wanted to run Fly Salamence. I could take a hit from it and Stone Edge in retaliation.

Offensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Technician Hitmontop Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Cinccino: 134-162 (89.3 - 108%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Hitmontop Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Salamence: 180-212 (105.8 - 124.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Hitmontop Close Combat vs. 204 HP / 248+ Def Vaporeon: 135-159 (58.4 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calcs:

+1 252 Atk Salamence Fly vs. 172 HP / 84 Def Coba Berry Hitmontop: 114-135 (77.5 - 91.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 172 HP / 4 SpD Hitmontop: 122-146 (82.9 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Mesprit Psyshock vs. 172 HP / 84 Def Hitmontop: 114-134 (77.5 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Tatl (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Heal Bell

Another Calm Mind Clefable set, with a couple of modifications. This week, I wanted to invest heavily into physical bulk to tank hits from Salamence and Weavile. Then, I could Calm Mind and recover up and beat the special attacking threats. Moonblast was again my only form of attacking move. There was only one thing to resist it. Nihilego. Which I would either not stay in on in the first place, or attempt to take it out while boosted. Moonlight was for my recovery, which would work better than Wish this week because no weather. Hurray! Heal Bell was there in case I decided to set up on Vaporeon. Those things tend to carry Toxic. I would not allow myself to be stalled out by that mermaid.

I actually was planning on using Vanilluxe again after it's previous success, but ultimately decided on Clefable for a better matchup with DDance Salamence. I had so many ways to counter it and I was still scared. A real testament to these pseudo legendaries.

Offensive Calcs:

+1 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 174-206 (120 - 142%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Salamence: 186-218 (109.4 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 204 HP / 56 SpD Vaporeon: 127-150 (54.9 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calcs:

252 Atk Salamence Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 52-62 (25.7 - 30.6%) -- 4.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 78-94 (38.6 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Vaporeon Scald vs. +3 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 22-27 (10.8 - 13.3%) -- possibly the worst move ever

The Aftermath

Here is the battle code: J3MG-WWWW-WWW6-3T6D
Week 2: Toronto Maple Leafeons (Tommy) .vs. Mesa Magcargos (Ryan)
Team Ryan brought: Galvantula, Breloom, Mesprit, Sylveon, Nihilego, Weavile
*Don't read the next spoiler or below unless you want to know the outcome or what I was thinking during the match.*

Hey how's it going? smiley face

Turn by Turn Analysis

I'm using the numbers on the bottem of the screen during the battle's progression.

Turn 0: I lead out with Dhelmise predicting Galvantula or Mesprit to try and set up hazards on me. Sure enough, he leads Galvantula.
Turn 1: I go for Heavy Slam to try and get rid of Galvantula. Galvantula sets up Sticky Webs.
Turn 2: I decided to just take out the Galvantula, rather than have it be a problem later. Galvantula weakens Dhelmise with Bug Buzz, but Dhelmise gets it first kill of the season! Weavile enters.
Turn 3: I figured he would try and Pursuit my Dhelmise so I would lose it if I tried to switch out and come back in later to spin away the Sticky Webs, but he goes for Icicle Crash and I lose my Dhelmise. Hitmontop enters.
Turn 4: He told me later that he expected Hitmontop to Rapid Spin, so he went with Icicle Crash because he was Banded Weavile. Instead, I take Weavile out with Mach Punch and Hitmontop gets it's first kill of the season. Good b8 m8? Sylveon enters.
Turn 5: I switch into Empoleon to take the incoming Hyper Voice. It takes it quite well.
Turn 6: He goes for another Hyper Voice while I Flash Cannon for some nice chip.
Turn 7: Empoleon lives on 3 HP and I set up Stealth Rock.
Turn 8: Empoleon goes down, but helped me out a good deal. The Sylveon was Choice Specs. Pinsir enters.
Turn 9: Sylveon switches into Mesprit and Mesprit takes a Return from Mega Pinsir. It takes it surprisingly well.
Turn 10: I switch into Hitmontop as a sacrifice so that I may come back in with Mega Pinsir later and not be affected by the Sticky Webs, while Mesprit sets up Stealth Rock. This scared me a lot since I had no more ways of removing hazards. Webs + rocks is pressuring my team.
Turn 11: I try to get damage off on Mesprit with Stone Edge from Hitmontop, but Mesprit goes for Healing Wish. In comes Sylveon to benefit from it. Bye bye chip damage
Turn 12: I try to get damage off on Sylveon now with Stone Edge, but it just kills Hitmontop. M-Pinsir comes back in.
Turn 13: M-Pinsir kills Sylveon with Return. I heard it was a roll not in my favour, so I'm very fortunate. M-Pinsir gets it's first kill of the season. Nihilego enters.
Turn 14: Nihilego goes for Dazzling Gleam. Ryan took into account that I could just take advantage of his Scarf Nihilego being locked into something like Power Gem or Tbolt, but he missed out on the KO and M-Pinsir gets a second kill. Breloom enters.
Turn 15: M-Pinsir uses Quick Attack kills the Breloom and ends the battle with three kills!

In Conclusion

Good game to @GingerxPug! You prepared and played very well. I very much like the idea of Choice Specs Sylveon + Sticky Webs. I didn't think Mesprit could take M-Pinsir's attacks that well either. Our match certainly could've gone either way. I think Zygarde's coverage was very good in our match if it could've gotten set up. Too bad it never showed up. Fun fact: Clefable has won two games and has done nothing. I think you stand a very good chance this season. I hope I face you again. EDIT: My biggest regrets during our match were not having more than one mon with hazard removal. And not Mach Punching the Sylveon to put it in better range of M-Pinsir's Return. I'll have to try and not make mistakes like those again : P

And I hope you, the reader, enjoyed my analysis Stay tuned for week 3!

Credit
- BigEZ66 for telling me how good Clefable looked in my matchup against Ryan. I was really stuck between Vanilluxe and Clefable, but felt so much better running Clefable.

Here is a link to the doc for those who want to keep track of how our league is playing out :D PFA Season 5 Doc

[croissant]

Good stuff :]

[Black117]

It seems like you managed to handle Ginger's hyper offensive team rather well and earn yourself a win. Though I understand why you should have went for Mach Punch with Hitmonstop, still think you had enough Pokemon to where it forced Ginger at a corner and lost. While a few of your mons didn't see light of battle, at least they were useful enough for the matchup. GG

[AbruptFury]

(Mar 17, 2017, 02:36 AM)Black117 Wrote: It seems like you managed to handle Ginger's hyper offensive team rather well and earn yourself a win. Though I understand why you should have went for Mach Punch with Hitmonstop, still think you had enough Pokemon to where it forced Ginger at a corner and lost. While a few of your mons didn't see light of battle, at least they were useful enough for the matchup. GG

Ironic how I kinda ran a pretty offensive team myself. So much setup @_@ But I guess bulky offense > hyper offense