[S/M] PFA Week 8 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons

[AbruptFury]

Welcome back! Long time, no see 4Head ...Well, not really. I just did my last report yesterday. For week 8, my opponent was Alec of the Indianapolis Keldeos. He had recently acquired the mascot of the team, Keldeo, for his match. Definitely a formidable Pokemon. Very fast, and strong with a boosting item. From a quick glance at his team, it looks somewhat bulky, but very offensive. What tricks might I have up my sleeve for him? Let's find out!

I don't remember. Let's find out together!

The Team Line-ups

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

Mudkiplegend (Indianapolis Keldeos): M-Beedrill, Latios, Marowak-Alola, Swampert, Metagross, Komala, Raichu, Keldeo, Florges, Pangoro, Glaceon



Ludwig (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Return
- Swords Dance

So immediately I notice that two of his most powerful attackers, which can also outspeed Mega Pinsir, are both weak to Aerialite Quick Attack from it. With a Swords Dance, it would always OHKO Keldeo, but doesn't really need the boost to beat Mega Beedrill since it is so frail physically. Earthquake was mainly for Metagross, which I wouldn't be able to hit for good damage without. And of course I had to run Return because it just destroys teams with a Swords Dance boost.

Due to the speed tiers of Alec's team being very fast or very slow, I decided to only invest in enough speed to outspeed Modest Latias. I couldn't outspeed Timid Latias no matter what. And I just chucked the rest into bulk.

Offensive Calcs:

252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 198-234 (61.1 - 72.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Needs the Swords Dance!
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Florges: 216-255 (116.7 - 137.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Pinsir-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 208-246 (111.2 - 131.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Rupert (Dhelmise) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 60 HP / 212 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Shadow Claw
- Anchor Shot
- Rapid Spin

I wanted something to stop Swampert and it's Stealth Rock. I could also test out it's ability to beat spinblockers (i.e, Alolan-Marowak). Power Whip was my best option in taking Swampert out. Shadow Claw was for Pokemon like Alolan-Marowak and Latios. Anchor Shot was to help trap or damage things like Florges. Trapping a Pokemon would make it hard to pull any double-switches into another Pokemon to counter me. And Rapid Spin was for hazard removal.

I wanted Dhelmise to be able to outspeed some of Alec's fast threats while they were paralyzed and eliminate them with powerful and/or supereffective moves. This Dhelmise set could outspeed non-Scarf Timid Latias while Latias is paralyzed. I invested a good amount of EVs into Attack to have it be able to hit my foes hard. And I put the rest into bulk and slapped on an Assault Vest to help take hits better.

Offensive Calcs:

212+ Atk Dhelmise Shadow Claw vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Latios: 152-182 (98 - 117.4%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
212+ Atk Dhelmise Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 104-126 (55.6 - 67.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
212+ Atk Dhelmise Power Whip vs. 240 HP / 252+ Def Swampert: 340-408 (165.8 - 199%) -- guaranteed OHKO
212+ Atk Steelworker Dhelmise Anchor Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Florges: 135-162 (72.9 - 87.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
212+ Atk Dhelmise Shadow Claw vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 120-144 (88.2 - 105.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Draco Meteor vs. 60 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dhelmise: 107-126 (69.9 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Icy Wind vs. 60 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Dhelmise: 68-82 (44.4 - 53.5%) -- 28.5% chance to 2HKO

Oryx (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Atk / 36 Def / 92 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Glare
- Thousand Arrows
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

This week I decided to use a more defensive Zygarde to sponge hits from Alolan-Marowak and Mega Beedrill. It could also punish things with Glare and Thousand Arrows on the switch. Crippling his fast mons and getting off good damage on anything. Rest and Sleep Talk work to preserve Zygarde so it can continue to beat down Alolan-Marowak, even if it switches around or tries to burn Zygarde with Will-o-Wisp.

I set Zygarde's speed to be 1 point faster than Choice Specs Glaceon, which I felt could be a real threat. Zygarde could eliminate it if it were low on health. Then it would no longer trouble my team. The defensive bulk investment takes Shadow Bone and makes it a 3HKO (assuming no Defense drops). Then it could just rest off the damage and Glare or Thousand Arrows Alolan-Marowak while sleeping. The great thing about Glare is that the only Pokemon that isn't affected by it gets destroyed by Thousand Arrows. Alolan-Raichu. I made Zygarde strong enough to be able to 2HKO 252 HP Metagross most of the time with Thousand Arrows. The rest of the EVs went into special defense to take an Icy Wind from Choice Specs Keldeo if it came down to it. Zygarde is amazingly bulky and I'm glad I found an opportunity to use this set.

Offensive Calcs:

108 Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 61-73 (36.7 - 43.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
108 Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 104-126 (77 - 93.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
108 Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 92-110 (49.1 - 58.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after
Stealth Rock

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Icy Wind vs. 252 HP / 92 SpD Zygarde: 180-212 (83.7 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 252 HP / 36+ Def Zygarde: 87-103 (40.4 - 47.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Adaptability Beedrill-Mega U-turn vs. 252 HP / 36+ Def Zygarde: 68-80 (31.6 - 37.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Tatl (Clefable) @ Kebia Berry
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock

The purpose of this set was to stop Pangoro and a Calm Mind Florges sweep. Moonblast would allow me to easily OHKO non-Roseli Berry/Assault Vest Pangoro, but that was perfectly fine. The main set I feared was PANDA. Choice Band Pangoro. Something I was also afraid of was it carrying Gunk Shot. Thus the Kebia Berry. Encore could help me lock a sweeper like CM Keldeo, Florges, or Latios, Nasty Plot Raichu, and Swords Dance Alolan-Marowak or Pangoro. Moonlight was a fine recovery option. Besides, you can't run Softboiled on an Unaware set. Stealth Rock was used to chip Pokemon down.

The massive special bulk was to take some powerful hits from the likes of Latios and Keldeo. The rest was put into defense to help Clefable survive Gunk Shot from Pangoro or Poison Jab from Mega Beedrill better.

Offensive Calcs:

0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Pangoro: 268-324 (156.7 - 189.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 96-114 (62.3 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 114-134 (68.2 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 244+ SpD Clefable: 90-106 (44.5 - 52.4%) -- 20.7% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Clefable: 113-134 (55.9 - 66.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Kebia Berry Clefable: 137-162 (67.8 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

IAmLegendary (Arcanine) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 12 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Wild Charge
- Crunch
- Close Combat

I wanted something that could outspeed and kill Mega Beedrill. Choice Scarf Arcanine also has a possibility of taking out non-Scarf Keldeo. It's coverage is wonderful for the matchup. Flare Blitz for Mega Beedrill, Metagross, and Glaceon. Wild Charge for Keldeo. Crunch for Alolan-Marowak and Latios. Close Combat for Pangoro and Komala. Deals with my biggest worries pretty well. Has Intimidate to slow down the hard-hitting physical attackers. The only thing I couldn't hit so well would be defensive Swampert.

I didn't see that much of a reason to run it as fast as possible. Just enough to outspeed Mega Beedrill. That also let me invest more in Attack with Adamant. And I invested in HP and the defenses to be able to come in more times on hazards such as Stealth Rock.

Offensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Beedrill-Mega: 396-468 (282.8 - 334.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Arcanine Wild Charge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Keldeo: 110-130 (66.2 - 78.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Arcanine Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Latios: 108-128 (69.6 - 82.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Arcanine Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 82-98 (60.7 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Solid 2HKOs.
252+ Atk Arcanine Close Combat vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Pangoro: 164-194 (95.9 - 113.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

Defensive Calcs:

-1 252 Atk Adaptability Beedrill-Mega Poison Jab vs. 12 HP / 4 Def Arcanine: 80-96 (47.9 - 57.4%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO
Not taking that all that well...
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Superpower vs. 12 HP / 4 Def Arcanine: 129-153 (77.2 - 91.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Bonemerang (2 hits) vs. 12 HP / 4 Def Arcanine: 144-172 (86.2 - 102.9%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO

Squishy (Jellicent) @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 152 SpA / 44 SpD / 76 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Recover

Jellicent's main job was to act as a defensive pivot. Bring it in on mons that it's other teammates don't like so much. Like Keldeo. With the combination of Colbur Berry and Dazzling Gleam, it could even deal with Pangoro. Get b8'd m8. Dazzling Gleam could also hit Latios and Keldeo nicely. Shadow Ball helps beat Alolan-Marowak as long Jellicent is faster, which it could be. Either with Trick Room or without. Trick Room could help me get an edge on faster threats. Especially if Alec didn't count for it and decided to go with a faster Alolan-Marowak rather than a Trick Room attacker set. Recover is practically a staple on Jellicent. This thing doesn't go away. It's like a virus. A very squishy, yet tough virus.

Similarly to Dhelmise, I decided to make Jellicent outspeed a paralyzed Latios as well. This Jellicent can take 3 Hidden Power Electrics from Keldeo, meaning that I can stall it out of it's best way of damaging Jellicent. It can also take a Specs Draco Meteor from Latios pretty well. The special attack investment is to help it have better odds of killing Pangoro and Alolan-Marowak. As well as damaging anything else really.

Offensive Calcs:

152 SpA Jellicent Dazzling Gleam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Pangoro: 164-196 (95.9 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
152 SpA Jellicent Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Marowak-Alola: 114-134 (84.4 - 99.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
152 SpA Jellicent Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Latios: 86-104 (55.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Defensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Choice Band Pangoro Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Jellicent: 177-208 (86.3 - 101.4%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Beedrill-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Colbur Berry Jellicent: 82-97 (40 - 47.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hidden Power Electric vs. 236 HP / 44+ SpD Jellicent: 86-102 (41.9 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Latios Draco Meteor vs. 236 HP / 44+ SpD Jellicent: 139-165 (67.8 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

The Aftermath

Here is the battle code: R79W-WWWW-WWW6-THPZ
Week 8: Toronto Maple Leafeons (AbruptFury) .vs. Indianapolis Keldeos (Alec)
Team Alec brought: Raichu, Florges, Keldeo, Swampert, Mega Beedrill, Marowak-Alola
*Don't read the next spoiler or below unless you want to know the outcome or what I was thinking during the match.*

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If you get the reference, you are a Team Replay Flynner in my book Kreygasm

Turn by Turn Analysis

I'm using the numbers on the bottem of the screen during the battle's progression. The turn the first two Pokemon enter is more like a Turn 0 if you will. But in the replay's case, it's Turn 1.

Turn 1: I send out Arcanine since it has an alright matchup vs. most things, especially Mega Beedrill. He leads Raichu though.
Turn 2: Raichu reveals itself to be Scarf'd by outspeeding my Arcanine and getting off a Volt Switch. Must say, I didn't expect that set at all for some reason. Maybe because it's damage output that way it kind of meh. He switches into Swampert to take the incoming Flare Blitz.
Turn 3: I switch Arcanine out, fearing Swampert's STAB moves, into Jellicent. He tries to make the Dhelmise prediction and doesn't do much to Jellicent.
Turn 4: He switches out into Florges and it tanks the Shadow Ball I throw off for damage.
Turn 5: I make an aggressive play trying to come in with Dhelmise to attack Florges and eat a Moonblast.
Turn 6: Florges switches into Alolan-Marowak. Alec predicted the Steel type attack from me, which was Anchor Shot. I don't think Ghosts can be trapped though. No matter what. So he could double out if he wanted.
Turn 7: He decides to go for Shadow Bone and my Zygarde switch-in eats it up like it's a snack.
Turn 8: I know Alolan-Marowak isn't staying in so I go for a Glare and paralyze Swampert.
Turn 9: I switch in Clefable as a mid-ground play to take anything from Swampert. He goes for Ice Punch.
Turn 10: Alolan-Marowak comes back in. Alec knows I don't have anything to hit it with. I set up Stealth Rock to discourage all this switching.
Turn 11: I switch Zygarde in and Alolan-Marowak goes for Stealth Rock pretty freely.
Turn 12: Alec brings in Florges to take on Zygarde and Florges tanks the Thousand Arrows pretty well.
Turn 13: Realizing he can just stall out Zygarde, I bring in Clefable as it is my main Florges answer. Florges goes for Wish.
Turn 14: I have Clefable use Moonlight to get back some health and scout as Florges uses Moonblast and claims it's Wish.
Turn 15: Florges Wishes again while I just decide to Moonblast and go for stat drops to scare it out.
Turn 16: I predict Alolan-Marowak to come back in and go into Jellicent.
Turn 17: I have Jellicent Shadow Ball Alolan-Marowak and it Shadow Bones Jellicent into oblivion. RIP Jellicent. I send in Zygarde next.
Turn 18: Alec uses Alolan-Marowak out for Florges and I hit it up with a Thousand Arrows.
Turn 19: Tired of this fat Florges, I try to go for para hax on it with Glare. Feeling safe, he Wishes in Zygarde's face.
Turn 20: I throw off another Thousand Arrows on the Marowak switch-in. Bye bye, Alolan-Marowak. One kill for Zygarde. Keldeo comes in.
Turn 21: To take on Keldeo, I send out Clefable. It takes the Scald from Keldeo well.
Turn 22: I go for Moonlight with Clefable as Alec brings in his Beedrill.
Turn 23: I know Clefable can't take it on too well, so I send out Arcanine for the Intimidate sack. Beedrill mega evolves and takes out Arcanine. I send in Dhelmise.
Turn 24: The reason for the sacrifice was mainly to get Dhelmise in to Rapid Spin, but it could've survive a Knock Off at the range it was at. I send in Pinsir next.
Turn 25: Trying to get rid of this 'pesky bee', I have Pinsir mega evolve and go for Swords Dance expecting it to switch out, but Alec makes a good move by going into Raichu.
Turn 26: I switch into Zygarde expecting Thunderbolt, but Alec reveals HP Ice. My biggest fear.
Turn 27: I let Zygarde fall to the HP Ice and send in Mega Pinsir afterwards.
Turn 28: Hoping HP Ice will do a low amount of damage to Mega Pinsir, my plan was to set up a Swords Dance on Raichu and try and crit it with Quick Attack,
but I forgot about Stealth Rock and lose Mega Pinsir to Raichu. I bring in Clefable. My last hope.
Turn 29: Alec switches out Raichu for Florges on my Clefable's Moonblast. I knew I had to get some kind of damage off like a crit to Mega Beedrill and couldn't allow it to come in for free.
Turn 30: Florges goes for Wish on another Moonblast from Clefable.
Turn 31: Rather than let Florges go down to another Moonblast, Alec switches into Mega Beedrill. AND I CRIT IT! I'M SO HAPPY is what I would've said I could have been so lucky :p Alas, Mega Beedrill stays alive and goes back up to full health.
Turn 32: Mega Beedrill goes for a Poison Jab and doesn't take out Clefable due to it's berry, but Clefable does get poisoned. Putting it on a timer.
Turn 33: Mega Beedrill finishes Clefable off with Fell Stinger for lulz. And I lost the match.

In Conclusion

Good game to @Slec ! You beat me down and beat me down and made me cry, just like ya boi Guzma. I liked the Scarf Raichu and physically defensive support Florges. I totally underestimated them. You made the right plays to give you the win. Maybe I should have invested more into Attack to break Florges better. And I definitely made some questionable plays. I could've made the mid-ground play like I did previous times on Raichu by going out into Clefable. I probably should've found a better opportunity to remove Stealth Rock. Maybe by going into Zygarde to force Mega Beedrill to switch and doubling into Dhelmise on Florges coming in. With Assault Vest, I'm pretty sure I would've survived. That would've taken some pressure off of Mega Pinsir. It had limited switch-ins with Stealth Rock up.

I was really hoping to bring the differential a little more in my favour, but ended up with a goose egg at the end of our battle. How ironic is it that my differential was 13-13? Nice and unlucky. I certainly could've played the match a lot better, but didn't. I need to step up game for these last couple of weeks. And for the playoffs, which I very much hope to cut. Maybe I can get past the first round of the playoffs. But I definitely need to start thinking through my plays before I do them. Being vewy vewy caweful.

So with that, my ratio is now 5-3. Still in contention, but barely. 8th place. That puts me in Wild Card contention. The Blue Division has been dominating for most of the season, so I have some stern competition to fight with. Trying to stay in it. But I think I can make it through. Stay tuned for week 9. Coming soon to a forum near you!

See ya later and hope you enjoyed! ^_^