New Threats for the VGC 17 Season

[Slec]

Pic by Emiridian

With a new generation comes new battling styles and in VGC 17 there are extreme changes to the meta. If you dont know what VGC is, it is the official battling style of the pokemon company international. In short the rules are Alolan Dex only, Bring 6 Pokemon but choose 4, and in the double battle format. Duplicate items are not allowed as well as pokemon from past generations, only pokemon bred or caught in Sun and Moon are legal. For more in depth information click here.

Many things have changed this season with the introduction of new pokemon, Z moves, Ultra Beasts, and the removal of Mega pokemon from the format. So if you're still reading this you're probably wondering things like "What pokemon should I use" or "Are legends bad?" All these questions and many more will be answered shortly. With videos by Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng one of the most popular competitive battlers and 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glicke I have been able to get good grasp of what is going to work in the future as the meta develops. However, with the meta changing I can't promise this working forever. Now allow me to shut up and explain what works and what doesnt.

Weather Setters

There are 6 Pokemon who now have access to setting weather in this meta game. With one of them being a familiar face, Politoed.



Politoed is one of the most consistent pokemon in the VGC meta game with its bulk, decent special attack, and hidden ability Drizzle. Being pure water makes Politoed only weak to Grass and Electric which have counters of their own, however with the removal of Swift Swim sweepers I dont think Politoed or Rain will be as useful as it has in the past.

Sample Set:
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 132 Def / 48 SpA / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Encore


Another pokemon receiving a buff in terms of access to being a weather setter is Pelipper. While not having the luxury of 2 weaknesses like Politoed, Pelipper serves as probably the better rain setter in this format. The reason for this is Pelipper gets access to the recovery move Roost, as well as Hurricane which is a base 120 Flying attack with a 30% chance of confusion that always hits in rain.

Sample Set:
Pelipper @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 4 SpA / 76 SpD / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Roost
- Protect



Torkoal is one of the best pokemon in this early meta at the moment. Being the only pokemon with the ability Drought it serves as the only sun setter right now. Not only does this make Torkoal strong already, but he also gets the move eruption which hits for an astounding 150 base power at full HP. Now add STAB and the sun boosting fire moves and you got yourself a threat there. Thanks to its measly base 20 speed Torkoal is the best trick room sweeper at the moment.

Sample Set:
Torkoal @ Charcoal
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect



Yet another pokemon that has gained the access to summon weather is Gigalith. Not only does Gigalith serve as one of bulkiest pokemon in the format. With base 130 Defense and a boosted special defense thanks to the sand, it not only becomes a great setter, but also something that can stick around for a little while. Unlike Politoed and Pelipper however, Gigalith has some partners that can take advantage of the sand. Lycanroc midday form has access to the ability Sand Rush which doubles its speed in sand making its already good base 112 speed even better.

Sample Set:
Gigalith @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 64 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD
Impish Nature
- Rock Slide
- Protect
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard



Finally rounding out our weather Warriors are the hail setters first being Alolan Ninetales. Not only does the adden fairy type give Ninetales good offensive typing but also makes it a good dragon counter. Although this makes it 4x weak to steel which has become a very prominent, it makes up for it with a very good move in Blizzard. Also famous for making an annoying Card game and great first person shooter, Blizzard also has 100% accuracy in Hail making it's base 120 Power nothing to mess around with. Not for nothing but its 30% chance to freeze can be very helpful or annoying depending on what side of the field you're on.

Sample Set:
Ninetales-Alola @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Moonblast
- Freeze-Dry
- Extrasensory

Finally the Ice cream pokemon Vanilluxe. Not only having an underrated design being BOTH AN ICE CREAM CONE AND ICICLE COME ON PEOPLE, it also has some decent coverage. While Alolan Ninetales is going to be the better setter (bars) Vanilluxe can still be utilized. With base 79 Speed this puts it in the middle of the speed tier, perfect for trick room teams. Flash Cannon is great for Fairies as well as Taunt for trick room setters because lets face it, thats gonna be the most popular thing this season. 100% Accurate Blizzard and 110 Special Attack prove that Vanilluxe can be pretty cool.

Sample Set:
Vanilluxe @ Never-Melt Ice
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 108 Def / 60 SpA / 96 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Flash Cannon
- Taunt
- Protect

Terrains

Terrains are going to be problem for some because of the popularity of the Tapus. With Koko summoning electric terrain, Bulu summoning Grassy terrain, Fini summoning Misty terrain, and Lele summoning the new move psychic terrain, this is a complete game changer. All terrains have different effects and uses.

Electric Terrain: The user electrifies the ground under everyone's feet for five turns. Pokémon on the ground no longer fall asleep.

Grassy Terrain: The user turns the ground under everyone's feet to grass for five turns. This restores the HP of Pokémon on the ground a little every turn.

Misty Terrain: The user covers the ground under everyone's feet with mist for five turns. This protects Pokémon on the ground from status conditions.

Psychic Terrain: This protects Pokémon on the ground from priority moves and powers up Psychic-type moves for five turns.

Ultra Beasts

Probably the biggest thing to hit the pokemon Universe are the introduction of Ultra Beasts. Not only do they all have a base stat total of 570, their distribution is nothing like we have ever seen before. With the Ability Beast Boost, when they knock out a pokemon their highest stat (besides HP) gets a +1 boost. Right now the only ones you have to worry about are Nihilego, Kartana, Xurkitree, and Ceesteela. Celesteela will be a staple on every VGC team, I will bet anything on it. Since these things are so new and honestly no one has any idea of how to use them, I cant really supply any sample sets. However, Kartana and Xurkitree are running around with scarves on, Nihilego likes to eat Sitrus berries, and Celesteela, ive seen with Leftovers, Sitrus berry, and even grassy seeds.


Finally, probably the most useful and popular pokemon to come out of Sun and Moon is one we've seen before just with a twist. Alolan Marowak got it's type changed to Fire/Ghost finally making his ability Lightningrod useful. Marowak now walls Tapu Koko and is a great counter to Celesteela which, like I said before, is going to be a staple as the meta game developes.

Sample Set: (courtesy of Wolfe Glicke)
Marowak-Alola @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Flare Blitz
- Protect

With all that being said, here are a couple of common cores found in the early meta.

Sun:
Torkoal/Lilligant
Torkoal/Oranguru (Trick Room)

Rain:
Pelipper/Tapu Koko/Raichu-Alolan
Pelipper/Kartana
Pelipper/Golduck

Sand:
Gigalith/Lycanroc-Midday

Hail:
Ninetails-Alolan/Sandslash-Alolan

Electric terrain:
Tapu-Koko/Raichu-Alolan/Xurkitree
Tapu-Koko/Xurkitree/Garchomp
Tapu-Koko/Pelipper/Raichu-Alolan

Trick Room Setters:
Oranguru
Mimikyu
Porygon 2
Gengar
Alakazam
Whimsicott
Slowbro
Hypno
Exeggutor-Alolan
Starmie
Espeon
Slowking
Misdreavus
Mismagius
Carbink
Trevanant
Bruxish
Comfey
Nihilego

[croissant]

nice

[Slec]

(Nov 29, 2016, 02:58 PM)Elly Wrote: nice

thanks son

[Justin]

wow @"MudkipLegend" great guide. see you in the stadium dawg!

[Slec]

(Nov 30, 2016, 08:35 AM)Justin Wrote: wow @"MudkipLegend" great guide. see you in the stadium dawg!

we out here, get better so I can rekt you nerd

[Black117]

Thanks for sharing this Mudkip. I agree weather will still be rather dominate in this format especially now we have more setters like Torkoal, Pelipper, Gigalith, and others. With the new terrain field effects, there's a ton of unexplored territory with using weather + terrain which could lead to variations of team cores. Just by my first impression, Torkoal / Oranguru / Liligant is a strong weather core with a fast mode in After You Eruption + Chlorophyll Liligant, and the obvious Trick Room mode.

[Wolfy2478]

Thanks dude for making this. I'm going to start preparing for VGC now  :D

[Rogue]

This is a great write up, Mudkip! Thanks!

[StrawberryQueeny]

Honestly I'm so excited for the new Hail teams. Alolan Ninetails changed the game so much. 

[WolfScythe]

Great guide! :O
Thanks a lot!