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[S/M] PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - Printable Version

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PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - AbruptFury - Mar 10, 2017

Hiya! I'm the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafeons. I've decided to keep in touch by posting the results of my matches, my game plan going into them, and what else in all is happening with my team. My computer isn't good enough to do the Youtubez :[ so I'll try and archive it here.

The Team Line-ups

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

Squeab (Po Town Pyukumukus) : Tapu Koko, Dragonite, Araquanid, Donphan, Alola-Muk, Cofagrigus, Probopass, Bewear,
Salazzle, Swellow, Lickilicky

The Game Plan

[Image: vanilluxe.gif]

Soft Serve (Vanilluxe) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 76 SpD / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Freeze-Dry
- Taunt

Looking at his team, he didn't have the best Ice-Ground coverage, besides Araquanid. Vanilluxe's purpose on the team was quick and heavy offense. For the most part, it could just sit there and spam 100% accurate Blizzards because of the hail. This worked out very well if he led off with Donphan to set up Stealth Rock. I could Blizzard with Vanilluxe and bring him down to his Sturdy, and then hail would finish him off. Another Pokemon I concerned about as a lead was Tapu Koko. As you can see from my team, I don't have a lot that would like to take Electric-Fairy-Ice coverage, which is very much standard on Tapu Koko.
However, Blizzard from my Vanilluxe 2HKOs Tapu Koko and Tapu Koko cannot OHKO this spread with Life Orb. If it were to OHKO with Tbolt, I would know it was Choice Specs. Then I could go out into Zygarde and start setting up Dragon Dances or launch a free attack like Thousand Arrows. Besides that, I had a couple priority moves in the back I will talk about later. Hidden Power Ground was for Salazzle and Probopass, so I could have a great way of hitting them need be. Freeze-Dry, my favourite Ice type move, was so good to have for Araquanid as it was the only thing that resisted both Blizzard and Hidden Power Ground. Taunt was there sort of as a filler move. It was there for setup, but nothing took Vanilluxe's attacks very well, so I didn't expect to use it really. Didn't need anything else on it though, so Taunt was fine.

Oh. I'm also glad that I didn't have to run less IVs thanks to the Hyper Training guy!

Offensive Calcs:

252 SpA Vanilluxe Blizzard vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tapu Koko: 105-124 (72.4 - 85.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage
252 SpA Vanilluxe Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Araquanid: 84-102 (48.2 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage
252 SpA Vanilluxe Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Donphan: 110-132 (55.8 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage
NICE TRY!
252 SpA Vanilluxe Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cofagrigus: 81-96 (49.3 - 58.5%) -- 98% chance to 2HKO after hail damage and Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 76 SpD Vanilluxe in Electric Terrain: 118-140 (80.8 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 76 SpD Vanilluxe in Electric Terrain: 135-159 (92.4 - 108.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 76 SpD Vanilluxe: 134-158 (91.7 - 108.2%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
It was the best I could do lol. Make it a 50/50.
40 Atk Donphan Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Vanilluxe: 104-124 (71.2 - 84.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Standard defensive Donphan won't kill. If it does more, I know it's more offensively built.

[Image: empoleon.gif]

Neptune (Empoleon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Toxic

This metal penguin was very useful defensively. Something to take attacks from the likes on Araquanid and Salazzle. Scald was to burn the physical threats, other than Araquanid because of Water Bubble. As well as damaging move. And super effective damage for the Donphan, Probopass, and Salazzle. Stealth Rocks would help to wear down his team. Some Pokemon would take it even worse being weak to Rock. That combined with Vanilluxe's Snow Warning was great for chipping things down. I know it looks funny, running both Stealth Rock and Defog on the same Pokemon, but in this case would prove very useful. I did not want Cofagrigus' Toxic Spikes to rack up if he brought defensive Cofagrigus. I have no Poison type to bring in on Toxic Spikes to soak them up, but Empoleon is immune to Poison. So it could come in and Defog them away, then maybe set up Rocks later on. It was a fantastic hazard removal for this match. Toxic was there to help me where down bulkier threats that just wanted to sit around on the field, or setup mons like Dragonite, who would love to sweep my team.

PS: I'm aware now that I should've optimized Empoleon's stats by investing it's nature in it's better stat, special defense. Twas a fail on my part.

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 244 HP / 252 SpD Empoleon: 71-86 (37.3 - 45.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ SpA Cofagrigus Shadow Ball vs. 244 HP / 252 SpD Empoleon: 96-114 (50.5 - 60%) -- 85.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Water Bubble Araquanid Liquidation vs. 244 HP / 12+ Def Empoleon: 80-96 (42.1 - 50.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

[Image: dhelmise.gif]

Rupert (Dhelmise) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Power Whip
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake

Very standard set from UU, it still did what I wanted it to. Rapid Spin was there for my intended only option of hazard control until I considered Cofagrigus with Toxic Spikes. Power Whip hits Donphan pretty hard because of Dhelmise's high attack. Could also damage the Araquanid, Tapu Koko, Lickilicky, etc. Shadow Claw was mainly there for a good way to hit Cofagrigus. It was also my best option for hitting Dragonite. I was quite worried about that mon. And Earthquake was there to hit stuff like Alola-Muk, Salazzle, Probopass, and Tapu Koko. In hindsight, I didn't have anything for Swellow, which could've been a problem. Throwing off Scrappy Boombursts with the buff it got to it's Special Attack this generation.

On February 16th, my grandfather passed away after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the road. He was a hard working man who loved the open sea. That is why I named this nautical Pokemon after him.

Offensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Dhelmise Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tapu Koko in Electric Terrain: 146-172 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Dhelmise Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Donphan: 146-174 (74.1 - 88.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Dhelmise Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Araquanid: 121-144 (69.5 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Dhelmise Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Cofagrigus: 98-116 (59.3 - 70.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Assault Vest Dhelmise: 55-65 (31.2 - 36.9%) -- 63.4% chance to 3HKO
4 Atk Life Orb Tapu Koko Brave Bird vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Dhelmise: 133-159 (75.5 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Life Orb Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 244 HP / 12 SpD Assault Vest Dhelmise: 156-187 (88.6 - 106.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

[Image: zygarde.gif]

Oryx (Zygarde) @ Leftovers
Ability: Aura Break
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Thousand Arrows
- Crunch
- Extreme Speed

I knew that Zygarde would do well if given the right conditions in this match. Just Dragon Dance up and sweep through my opponent's team. But the threats I needed low or out of the way were Cofagrigus, Araquanid, and Bewear as they were bulky and could even be hard hitting. Which almost makes me wonder if I should've run a Coil set instead, but I disgress. Besides the aforementioned threats, there wasn't much that wanted to take Thousand Arrows. Especially since there is no immunity to it. Crunch would be used to get damage on things that resisted like Araquanid and Cofagrigus. But heck, even Cofagrigus doesn't get OHKO'd by Zygarde until +4 Attack. Pretty crazy. Extremespeed would be used to pick off weakened threats like Tapu Koko or Swellow, which would outspeed and potentially knock Zygarde out otherwise. The reason for only investing 148 into Speed was so I could outspeed all forms of Tapu Koko (except for Choice Scarf'd) after one Dragon Dance by one point. The rest I slapped into bulk so I could take some hits better.

Offensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Muk-Alola: 180-212 (84.9 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Zygarde Thousand Arrows vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dragonite: 109-130 (65.6 - 78.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+4 252+ Atk Zygarde Crunch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 140-166 (85.3 - 101.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO :[

Defensive Calcs:

252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Hidden Power Ice vs. 108 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 151-182 (76.6 - 92.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Salazzle Hidden Power Ice vs. 108 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 172-203 (87.3 - 103%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

[Image: clefable.gif]

Tatl (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect

This is a cross between an Unaware Wall and Unaware + Calm Mind set. I wanted something to deal with those pesky setup mons like Dragonite and Araquanid (the Stockpile set). Calm Mind would be used to bulk up on the special side, while the investment on physical side allowed me to take hits from certain things. Moonblast was my only offensive option since it hits everything I want it to, like Bewear, Cofagrigus, Araquanid, even Salazzle as it is frail. I chose Wish over Moonlight for two reasons. 1) Since I was using Hail, Moonlight's healing ability would be reduced from half of my base HP, to a quarter. and 2) It could provide healing to my sweepers and defensive wall in Empoleon, which otherwise depends on Leftovers. Protect was the reason I didn't run Flamethrower or Heal Bell. I thought it would be more necessary so I didn't have to try and stall out powerful physical attacks or special attacks before I got Calm Minds off.

Offensive Calcs:

+4 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Cofagrigus: 147-174 (89.6 - 106%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
May not look that good, but what's it going to do back in return?
+2 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 130-154 (89.6 - 106.2%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
+1 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Swellow: 132-156 (97.7 - 115.5%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

Defensive Calcs:

0 SpA Cofagrigus Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 192+ SpD Clefable: 36-43 (17.8 - 21.2%) -- possible 7HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. +2 252 HP / 192+ SpD Clefable in Electric Terrain: 51-60 (25.2 - 29.7%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. +1 252 HP / 192+ SpD Clefable: 69-82 (34.1 - 40.5%) -- 53.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Dragonite Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 64 Def Clefable: 124-146 (61.3 - 72.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Life Orb Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. +3 252 HP / 192+ SpD Clefable: 65-78 (32.1 - 38.6%) -- 0.8% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
It could kill itself with Life Orb before taking down Clefable (barring a crit)

[Image: arcanine.gif]

IAmLegendary (Arcanine) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Flare Blitz
- Crunch
- Close Combat

Ok. Clefable was pretty underwhelming until it got set up. But you know what isn't? Choice Band Arcanine! This thing is a monster. I noticed that at Adamant, it outpaced Dragonite by two points. That investment made a bit of a difference when multiplied by the Choice Band. You'll wanna see the calcs for this. Out of all this thing's good abilities, I decided to go with Intimidate because I didn't feel like I had the greatest checks to physical threats like Bewear. And Fluffy Bewear gets demolished by this thing with Flare Blitz. Such a powerful STAB option. Just gotta watch out for that recoil. Extremespeed was chosen to pick off the faster threats and other weakened foes. Crunch was there to hit Cofagrigus. Close Combat was mainly for Lickilicky, which I basically ignore in my teambuild til this point. Moltres might be an official gen 1 legendary, but you'll always be in my heart, Arcanine.

To be honest, I wanted to use my S tier pick, Mega Pinsir, in this spot. But with Cofagrigus having the ability Mummy to stop my Aerilate ability, as well as a high Defense stat. And Bewear which requires a Swords Dance boost to OHKO. I knew that Arcanine would be a lot more appreciated on this week's team. Maybe next week! :P

Offensive Calcs:

252+ Atk Choice Band Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Fluffy Bewear: 249-294 (109.6 - 129.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Arcanine Close Combat vs. 168 HP / 4 Def Lickilicky: 208-246 (100.9 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Arcanine Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Cofagrigus: 84-100 (51.2 - 60.9%) -- 93.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Defensive Calcs:

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Bewear Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arcanine: 111-132 (67.2 - 80%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Dragonite Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Arcanine: 102-122 (61.8 - 73.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 240+ Atk Muk-Alola Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Arcanine: 61-73 (36.9 - 44.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

The Aftermath

Here is the battle code: 2HLG-WWWW-WWW5-T7HW
Week 1: Toronto Maple Leafeons (Tommy) .vs. Po Town Pyukumukus
Team Reed brought: Salazzle, Donphan, Tapu Koko, Araquanid, Cofagrigus, Bewear
*Don't read the next spoiler or below unless you want to know the outcome or what I was thinking during the match.*


WE WON! :D A wonderful 3-0 victory to start the season! I had my worries with the threats on Reed's team I've mentioned several times. I had to make sure I had the proper answers. I will now explain what happened below. Just wanted this as a way to not ruin things for the people who don't want it. I can understand the pain. I felt it before Sun and Moon came out. How am I gonna get hyped for a new game when I haven't properly been informed of it's release yet? I don't like to set myself up for disappointment if it isn't true :p

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 stuck to the game plan and led with Vanilluxe, and sure enough, look who he sends out.
Turn 2: I throw off a Freeze-Dry trying to predict the Araquanid. It didn't work, but I still feel it was worth a shot. He goes into his Cofagrigus.
Turn 3: I decide I just want this thing out of the way, so I stay in and hit it again. It sets up a layer of Toxic Spikes.
Turn 4: BE GONE, FOUL DEMON! Vanilluxe gets it's first kill! Salazzle enters.
Turn 5: I switch to Empoleon, looking to get rid of the Toxic Spikes. I take the Flamethrower well.
Turn 6: He switches Salazzle, probably thinking it's fishy that I came in with it. And I Defog.
Turn 7: I Toxic while he uses Substitute afterwards. Looks like it's probably bulky Araquanid.
Turn 8: I set up Stealth Rock to damage things on the switch. Araquanid does minor damage with Liquidation.
Turn 9: I decide to try chipping away at the Substitute, but Tapu Koko comes in. Free damage on Koko :D
Turn 10: I go into AV Dhelmise to tank a hit, he reveals Hidden Power on Koko. Not sure which type it was. It did neutral damage.
Turn 11: Brave Bird onto Dhelmise! D: But Dhelmise lives on 1 HP! You are a champion, Dhelmise!
Turn 12: Dhelmise is finished off by Salazzle. Vanilluxe returns to battle.
Turn 13: Reed leaves Salazzle in and I go for Hidden Power Ground. Down goes Salazzle. 2 kills for Vanilluxe. Bewear enters.
Turn 14: I switch into Arcanine to Intimidate this monster. Take the Earthquake, which I did not see coming. Thought it'd be Return or Hammer Arm.
Turn 15: Bewear switches out, fearing the Fire STAB. I launch Flare Blitz off into Donphan doing loads of damage. Arcanine falls to my own hail lol. Vanilluxe returns for more!
Turn 16: Donphan goes down to Blizzard from Vanilluxe. 3 kills for the Vanilluxe! #Vanilluxe4MVP Bewear returns.
Turn 17: I throw out another Blizzard. My best solution Bewear was down. I had to get damage off. Bewear doesn't take it great, and uses Return. Vanilluxe survives the hit.
Turn 18: Blizzard misses out on the kill. And Bewear takes Vanilluxe down. :[ I send in Zygarde.
Turn 19: Extremespeed finishes off Bewear. If he had switched, Stealth Rock would've taken Bewear out when it came back in. A kill for Zygarde and Araquanid enters.
Turn 20: Because I know Araquanid is bulky, I feel safe going for Dragon Dance. Araquanid throws off a Liquidation.
Turn 21: I go for Extremespeed with Zygarde to get rid of the Araquanid. And it goes for Aqua Ring @_@ Weird move choice.
Turn 22: Araquanid falls to another Extremespeed. Zygarde gets another kill and secures the win!

In Conclusion

Good game to @"Squeab"! I think you have something there with your team and moveset ideas on your team. Defensive Araquanid was a good call in our match. It could've run away with it in the right situation. And considering all of your options in league really helps you get wins. As I stated earlier, Ground-Ice coverage was really good against your team overall (mostly on the special side), so it might be something you want to consider for the future. I think that type combination is really good, but you should always have your answers for it. And I think that's why Vanilluxe did as good as it did.

Peace out, all Smile I'm so excited about this Pokemon league thus far. Can't wait for Week 2!

EDIT: My face is red. I forgot to include who helped me in my team preparation.

Credit:
- @Marcusube for general team help and suggestions. He thought I should've ran a Trick Room team this week, but I was a scared of Tapu Koko. Because both of my Trick Room setters were weak to it. But if Trick Room did go up, I probably would've had a really good matchup as I could wall/check Reed's Trick Room answers like Araquanid, Bewear, and Alola-Muk.
- @Black117 for without him, I probably wouldn't have brought Defog on Empoleon. And that was definitely useful for keeping my team healthy.

RE: PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - croissant - Mar 10, 2017

Vanilluxe being the MVP? What a time to be alive. Very interesting @AbruptFury, hopefully you'll do one each week.

RE: PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - Black117 - Mar 13, 2017

Watch the battle and I was surprised to see Vanilluxe do so much work and the hail damage chipping away at the opposing team. Blizzard, HP Ground, and Freeze Dry was able to hit most off Squeab's team quite effectively and the fact it almost got a 4th kill was funny enough. Still great thought process and amazing preparation on your end their Abrupt.

RE: PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - Marcusube - Mar 13, 2017

It's a good thing you told me I was stupid when I said scarf Vanilluxe wouldn't have worked. Great first week @AbruptFury !

RE: PFA Week 1 Results: Toronto Maple Leafeons - AbruptFury - Mar 14, 2017

(Mar 13, 2017, 09:43 AM)Marcusube Wrote: It's a good thing you told me I was stupid when I said scarf Vanilluxe wouldn't have worked. Great first week @AbruptFury !

It certainly think your suggestion of Specs could've been solid too. So much damage output o: