Pokemon VGC 2016 Metagame Megathread

[Black117]

Yveltal

Typing: Dark / Flying
Ability: Dark Aura - Powers all Dark-type moves used on the field by 1.33x.
Base Stat Total: 126 HP / 131 Atk /  95 Def / 131 Sp. Atk /  98 Sp. Def / 99 Spe
Weaknesses: Fairy (2x), Ice (2x) , Electric (2x) , Rock (2x)
Resistances: Ghost (0.5x) , Dark (0.5x), Grass (0.5x)
Immunity: Ground, Psychic
Battle Spot Stats: Yveltal

In many way (well maybe a couple distinguishing factors), Yveltal lives in the shadows of fame compared to its counterpart Xerneas, who with the right support sweep opposing teams with ease with Geomancy Fairy attacks. Though Yveltal fears the dreaded Xerneas matchup, it can compete against  almost everything else from the restricted Pokemon to the regular support and Mega Pokemon alike it due to its powerful Dark-type coverage alone. Like Fairy Aura, Dark Aura increases the power of all Dark-type moves used by all sides by 1.33x meaning Yveltal and its Dark-type partners can utilize their boosted attacks to great effects. Another interesting note regarding Yveltal is with Dark Aura and STAB, it is effectively "strongest" Dark-type attacker in the game with the strongest Foul Play, Knock Off, and Sucker Punch- even the honor of being the strongest priority attacker in the game. Like Xerneas, Yveltal shares the same base stat total with 131 offensive stats and a respectable 126 HP / 95 Def / 98 Sp.Def to at least take on a powerful hit like Dragon Ascent Mega Rayquaza, Double Edge from Mega Kangakhan/Mega Salamence, Water Spout/Eruption from the Primals, etc with some investment. Yveltal is one of the very few Pokemon who can OHKO defensive Trick Room setters like Cresselia, Gothitelle, and Bronzong with a max attack Dark Aura Knock Off to deny them of any potential setup or Trick Room. Dark Aura Foul Play from Yveltal is powerful enough to 2HKO anything that doesn't resist Dark-types or have low attack stats to abuse. Finally its base 99 speed tier is fast enough to outspeed the base 90-98 Pokemon especially the Primals and other restricted Legends though falls short of the base 100 speed threshold.

Given Yveltal is a part Flying-type Pokemon, it can switch-in against most Ground-type attacks from Primal Groudon and takes no damage from opposing Psychic-type Pokemon like Cresselia, Mewtwo, Lugia, etc. To top this off, Yveltal has many viable sets to abuse its Dark Aura attacks as well as its signature STAB move Oblivion Wing- which restores about 75% HP taken from the damage taken by the target. Things aren't clear skies for Yveltal as mentioned earlier Xerneas is its Yveltal's number one counter as it can't stop Xerneas from firing boosted Fairy-type attacks or setting up with Geomancy. Common weaknesses to coverage moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Rock Slide make Yveltal slightly difficult. Finally some of Yvetal's standard sets might be too passive to deal massive damage compared to something like Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza, Eruptions/Water Spouts from the Primals, etc. Despite these flaws, Yveltal can best be described as a utility disturber capable of dealing powerful Dark-type attacks against the opposition.

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Adamant Life Orb

Yveltal @ Life Orb  
Ability: Dark Aura  
Level: 50  
EVs: 60 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 164 Spe  
Adamant Nature  
- Sucker Punch  
- Knock Off  
- Tailwind
- Protect  

Milestones:
-Has a chance to OHKO positive defensive nature (max defense) Cresselia with LO Knock Off and/or heavily damage it (bar Colbur Berry/Non-Item).
-Otherwise, non-positive nature Cresselia with 252 HP / 252 Def has a 6.3% chance to take a LO Knock Off.
-Can OHKO 252 HP / 148 Def Aegislash with either LO Sucker Punch or Knock Off.
-Can OHKO Max Defense Gothitelle with LO Knock Off.
-Inflicts minimum 60% damage to 4 HP Mega Kangaskhan with Knock Off.
-Takes a LO Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza (not Adamant since its a roll).
-Outspeeds Smeargle by one point.
-Takes less recoil from Life Orb.

One of the main appeals of this Yveltal set is the potential to straight out OHKO common Trick Room setters like Cresselia, Bronzong, and Gothitelle with a Life Orb / Dark Aura-boosted Knock Off- the strongest in the game. Though this might not sound as appealing but OHKOing  defensive powerhouse like Cresselia (or heavily damage it) can ensure the opponent won't get off Trick Room or any other support options. Even if Cresselia manages to survive an attack from Yveltal, it will be severely weaken to the point (and without its item) where any powerful neutral attack can follow up an OHKO such as spread damage Eruption, Water Spout, or Dazzeling Gleam. Aside from fainting an almost unbreakable support like Cresselia, Yveltal can inflict heavy damage to against other restricted Pokemon not named Primal Groudon/Xerneas while removing items here and there. Sucker Punch from Yveltal is incredibly powerful for priority move given the Dark Aura, Life Orb, and max attack. In fact, Sucker Punch from this set is so powerful that the most common Aegislash sets will likely faint if it attacks and deals respectable damage to anything else. Once the opposing team is weaken enough, Yveltal's Sucker Punches can potentially clean up the opposition. Finally, Tailwind is Yveltal's speed control option to double the speed of its allies for the next 3 turns after initial use. Tailwind speed control helps Yveltal and its teammates outspeed the opposing team and setup for powerful spread damage dealers like Eruption/P-Blades Primal Groudon or Water Spout/Origin Pulse Primal Kyogre. 




Special Life Orb

Yveltal @ Life Orb  
Ability: Dark Aura  
Level: 50  
EVs: 60 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 188 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Dark Pulse  
- Oblivion Wing / Hurricane
- Heat Wave / Foul Play
- Protect  

Milestones:
-Takes a LO Dragon Ascent from Mega Rayquaza.
-Outspeeds base 90 speed such as the Primals.
-Takes less recoil from Life Orb

Yveltal has a usable base 131 Special Attack with reliable STAB options to abuse such as Dark Pulse, Oblivion Wing, Hurricane, etc. Oblivion Wing is the main move f choice for special Yveltal as it can 2HKO Primal Groudon/Mega Kangaskhan/Mega Rayquaza, while recover about 75% of its HP to mitigate the Life Orb recoil. Thanks to the recovery and mechanics from Oblivion Wing, Yveltal can stick around longer than its physical variants over time. STAB Dark Pulse with the Dark Aura boosts is powerful enough to 2HKO Cresselia, Gothitelle, Bronzong, etc while threaten out Aegislash and Mega Gengar for a potential knock out. Generally speaking, if Yveltal is low in HP, don't attempt to recover off the damage taken with Oblivion Wing unless of course Yveltal is up against something it can beat out, or is its best possible play. Even though Yveltal's Oblivion Wing can recover off lost HP based on 75% of the damage dealt, this won't be as strong as say using Roost on Yveltal though its better off dealing damage back to the opponent. Consider Oblivion Wing more as a supplemental and reliable Flying-STAB option to abuse over its more power Hurricane option. Heat Wave is coverage option to handle Mega Mawile or Ferrothorn better which both can give Yveltal issues. Foul Play can be used to hit Primal Kyogre harder than it special moves and alternative for Heat Wave. Hurricane is another option for Yveltal to run paired with Primal Kyogre to allow for 100% accuracy, a strong Flying-STAB, and the 30% chance to confuse the opponent. However the issue with using Hurricane is with Mega Rayquaza and Primal Groudon being so common, Hurricane may miss every so often. Lastly Protect is there to scout out the opponent's move or stall out Trick Room/Tailwind, or any other speed control.




Foul Play Spam

Yveltal @ Black Glasses / Life Orb
Ability: Dark Aura  
Level: 50  
EVs: 220 HP / 4 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 228 Spe  
Jolly Nature  
- Foul Play  
- Sucker Punch  
- Tailwind  / Taunt / Knock Off / Disable
- Protect  

Milestones:
-Outspeeds base 95s and 90s
-Dark Aura Black Glasses / Life Orb Foul Play can 2HKO many threats with high attack stats without investing into Yveltal's own attack at all.

Foul Play is a base 95 Dark-type move which doesn't factor in Yveltal's base 131 Attack stat, but rather from the Pokemon it is targeting so why should Yveltal use this over something like Knock Off or the special set. First off, Yveltal doesn't need to optimize ANY attack EVs for Foul Play but must rely on its opponent's own attack stat to be used against them which most of these Pokemon in the format have high base-attack stats. Factor in Foul Play receiving all these boost from Dark Aura, STAB, Black Glasses / Life Orb and no negative effects from opposing Intimidate drops means it has a powerful Dark-type coverage to abuse. The only negatives of using this Yveltal set is if it get burned or the opposing Pokemon get attack drops to decrease the damaging power of Foul Play. Sucker Punch is slashed to give Yveltal priority and pick off weaken foes if they comment to an attack. The last options is basically a toss-up between Tailwind for speed control, Taunt to stop setup and other status moves, Knock Off to remove items, and Disable to prevent the opponent from using the a previously used move. All four are viable in their own way, however the choice is up to the player to decide.

An interesting strategy to abuse with Foul Play is pair Yveltal with a Prankster user like Thundurus, Whimsicott, Klefki, Liepard, etc and Swagger the opponent's own Pokemon to net a KO. This is extremely risky as 1) Swagger can miss, 2) the opponent can protect to prevent the double target, and 3) the attack raise to the opposing Pokemon can be easily turned against the user if they don't faint the Swaggered Pokemon immediately.




Assault Vest Tank

Yveltal @ Assault Vest  
Ability: Dark Aura  
Level: 50  
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 44 SpA / 60 SpD / 164 Spe  
Modest Nature  
- Snarl  
- Foul Play  
- Oblivion Wing  
- Sucker Punch  

Milestones:
-This set is from Kyle Cole's Yveltal Spreads from YT.
-Takes a LO Dragon Ascent from Jolly/Naive Mega Rayquaza.
-Outspeeds base 75 notablely Smeargle.
-Dazzling Gleam from 252 SpA Xerneas is a 3HKO (not from a boosted Geomancy)

The goal of this set is to mitigate the damage from the opposing special attackers from Primal Groudon/Kyogre, Xerneas, Mega Salamence, Mega Rayquza, etc with repeated Dark Aura-boosted Snarls. Assault Vest augments Yveltal's base 98 special defense stat with its high 126 HP to enable this Dark-/Flying-type to take even the most powerful special hits like Eruption, Water Spout, Draco Meteor, etc. Though Snarl is still weak compared to Dark Pulse, this drops the special attack stats of both opposing Pokemon by one stage and further assist Yveltal in letting it tank special hits while disrupting the damage output of the opponent's team. Foul Play as stated the other section is already strong enough to 2HKO most targets bar opposing Dark-types and Fairy-types like Xerneas, Mega Mawile, Tyranitar, and opposing Yveltals. Oblivion Wing can be used to recover off damage against -1 or -2 SpA targets and receive back 75% HP. Remember this Yveltals' only recovery option given the Assault Vest won't let it use something like Roost. Finally Sucker Punch rounds up this set for Yveltal so it can finish off any weakened targets and a mode of priority. For this set, pair Yveltal with something as powerful like Mega Kangaskhan, Primals, Mega Rayquaza, Mega Salmence, Mega Mawile given its rather too passive to initiate any offensive pressure aside from maybe disrupting the opponent.  Most of the time Yveltal will be using Snarl or Foul Play to soften up targets for its own teammate to knock out subsequently afterward.




3rd Place WP Yveltal

Yveltal @ Weakness Policy  
Ability: Dark Aura  
Level: 50  
EVs: 44 HP / 76 Def / 4 SpA / 132 SpD / 252 Spe  
Timid Nature  
- Dark Pulse  
- Oblivion Wing  
- Snarl / Tailwind
- Protect

Milestones:
-This Yveltal set was originally crafted by Gonbe238 and ranked 3rd place in the Generation Showdown a year ago (same format as VGC 2016).
-Takes a Life Orb Thunderbolt from Timid 252 SpA Thundurus.
-Takes a Stone Edge from Scarf Tyranitar.

This Yveltal set relies heavily on receiving its Weakness Policy boost from either an incoming  Fairy-, Electric-, Ice-, and Rock-type attack to get any offense going which the opponent may likely use. Once the WP item is triggered, Yveltal will receive a +2 Special Attack boost to make it an immediate offensive threat with boosted Dark Pulses, Oblivion Wings, and Snarl. At +2 special attack, Dark Aura-boosted Dark Pulse 2HKO most targets not resisted to Dark though keep this in mind since Yveltal won't achieve many notable OHKOs. Oblivion Wing at +2 can both deal massive damage while recovering off lost HP from taking a Super-Effective hit earlier from the battle at a 75% rate. Chances are a boosted Oblivion Wing with Weakness Policy will recuperate much of Yveltal's lost HP while dealing considerable damage to the opposing side.  Snarl can help Yveltal take an incoming special hit like Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, or Ice Beam better so it can activate the Weakness Policy without losing too much health. Even at +2 special attack, Dark Aura-boosted Snarl can deal about 40% spread  damage to Mega Kangaskhan/Mega Rayquaza while reducing the damage output for special attackers. If Snarl doesn't appeal to anyone, Tailwind is an alternative so Yveltal can get a pseudo +2 boost in speed and outspeed its most of the format

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Partners

Primal Groudon: Primal Groudon is Yveltal's best partner currently since it beats three of its biggest checks in Xerneas, Mega Mawile, Thundurus (Electric Immunity), and Ferrothorn if it doesn't have a Fire coverage like Heat Wave. Its understandable Yveltal doesn't want to deal with powerful Fairy-type Pokemon like Mega Mawile or Xerneas so having a buffer like Primal Groudon can certainly help. In exchange, Yveltal can deal a good amounts of damage against Primal Kyogre/Mega Rayquaza with its Dark Aura-boosted Dark attacks to ease this matchup.

Dark-type Pokemon and Sucker Punch users: Thanks to its Dark Aura ability, Yveltal can power up Dark-type attacks by about 1.33x not only to itself but for everyone on the field including its partners. A common partner seen on Battle Spot Special and Showdown is Liepard with support moves like Fake Out, Encore, Taunt, Fake Tears, Swagger, and finally Dark Aura boosted Foul Plays. Both Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Mawile deserve a special mention as both among the strongest Sucker Punch users with Yveltal and further powering up their main priority attacks.

Mega Mawile: Continuing on Mega Mawile, it resist three of Yveltal's main weaknesses to Ice-, Rock-, and Fairy-types and can stand toe-to-toe against opposing Xerneas matches. Yveltal can switch in for Mega Mawile in place of strong Ground-type attacks from Primal Groudon and can power up other Dark-type moves Mega Mawile can carry like Sucker Punch or Foul Play.

Primal Kyogre: If Yveltal is mostly physical, it might find itself having a difficult time against Primal Groudon due to its massive 160 defense stat and likely needs another partner to beat it. Primal Kyogre comes to mine since it can block out Primal Groudon's Fire-type attacks like Eruption and OHKO it with any Water-type attack. Thanks to Primal Kyogre's offensive spread attacks like Water Spout and Origin Pulse, this allows both to clean up opposing teams and soften up Pokemon for the physical Yveltal sets to OHKO with Knock Off or Foul Play.

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Fears

One word: Xerneas. Essentially Xerneas can almost setup against most Yveltal sets unless they want to risk taking a Fairy Aura-boosted Moonblast/Dazzling Gleam while attempting at worst a 50/50 chance to knock off the Power Herb. If Xerneas isn't neutralized, chances are it will take advantage of Yveltal, setup with Geomancy, and proceed to sweep  the opposing team with ease. Other Fairy-types like Mega Mawile, Klefki, Togekiss, Clefable and other uncommons (Sylveon/Mega Gardevoir) can threaten Yveltal with either Fairy-type coverage or proceed to setup and assist its allies given Yveltal can't do much to Fairies. Powerful threats like Thundurus, Kyurem-W/B, Zapdos, etc can threaten it out with STAB Thunderbolts/Ice Beams however Yveltal can potentially OHKO these offensive variants ifs its the Adamant Life Orb set. Remember Yveltal is weak against Ice-, Rock-, and Electric-type which are still common coverage options moves like Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Rock Slide/Stone Edge can deal good chunks of damage. Though really uncommon, Tyranitar can wall Yveltal thanks to its Dark-/Rock-typing, can OHKO it with either STAB Rock Slide/Stone Edge, and can abuse Dark Aura for itself since its rare for Yveltal to carry Focus Blast. Finally the best way to beat Yveltal if none of these are options is to overwhelm it with powerful attacks like from Double Edges from Mega Kang/Mence, Water Spouts/Eruptions from the Primals, and even status moves like Spore, Will-O-Wisp, or Thunder Wave to impede Yveltal's main objective.

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Well... its been 2 months so here's are the Yveltal set. Now I'm going to work on the following Pokemon by order: Ho-oh, Palkia, Xerneas, Dialga, and Mewtwo so these individual analysis should be done in due time. January was stressful for me and didn't have much time to work on these sets, though I wanted to wait enough so I at least know what to discuss in these segments. My goal is to get like 2 Pokemon Analysis minimum by the end of the week as well as post a VGC 2016 team I'm using.