Emolga is Actually Viable This Format?! - with 0kamii

[0kamii]

(Apr 9, 2017, 10:11 AM)EemsRoro Wrote:

(Mar 21, 2017, 03:44 PM)0kamii Wrote:

(Mar 8, 2017, 09:02 PM)markyice94 Wrote: Any updates on emolga on your emolga?! :D I'm really curious as to what happened.

@markyice94 Hey, markyice94! Glad to know you are still interesting in Kili and the whole of Emolga's viability in VGC 2017. Kili herself has found success at locals. I placed 1st, and on PokémonShowdown my Emolga team is currently at ranking 1427. I've been experimenting with a few new sets, and I'm still trying to perfect the original. I'm toying around with a Tapu Koko/Electric Seed Emolga set, which let's me put more EVs into Sp. Def. I'll keep this post updated if I make it a working set. Thanks!

- 0kamii

So I didn’t get to participate in the February challenge. But planning on using this one for the April challenge. I'm still really interested in your setup especially since you got first place! I changed the pokemon for my team details below.

I've drew a lot of resources from r/stunfisk on Reddit and a few articles from Amino although I feel like your Emolga is the most comprehesive and viable set, still working on how to play it and how to improve it or if I should switch around Pokemon. Would love your input, especially since you got first place at a local tourney!

Using your Emolga, if you don’t mind, I was experimenting with some others like a weakness policy, speed swap, even a king's rock/fling set but yours seems to make the most sense:
Emolga @ Focus Sash
Ability: Motor Drive 
Level: 50
EVs: 88 HP / 164 DEF / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature 
- Protect 
- Volt Switch 
- Nuzzle
- Encore 

Tapu Lele @ Life Orb 
Ability: Psychic Surge 
Level: 50 
EVs: 236 HP / 212 Def / 36 SpA / 4 SpD / 20 Spe 
Modest Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Moonblast 
- Psychic 
- Protect 
- Taunt 

Tapu Koko @ Electrium Z
Ability: Electric Surge 
Level: 50 
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Thunderbolt 
- Dazzling Gleam 
- Discharge 
- Protect 

Milotic @ Maranga Berry 
Ability: Competitive 
Level: 50 
Shiny: Yes 
EVs: 244 HP / 196 Def / 68 SpA 
Bold Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Scald 
- Ice Beam 
- Protect 
- Recover 

Drifblim @ Psychic Seed 
Ability: Unburden 
Level: 50 
Shiny: Yes 
EVs: 4 HP / 132 Def / 204 SpA / 4 SpD / 164 Spe 
Timid Nature 
IVs: 0 Atk 
- Will-O-Wisp 
- Shadow Ball 
- Tailwind 
- Destiny Bond 

Muk-Alola @ Figy Berry 
Ability: Gluttony 
Shiny: Yes 
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD 
Adamant Nature 
- Poison Jab 
- Knock Off 
- Curse 
- Protect 

I don’t know if I should bring in a trick room setter or user since my team is seems to fail miserably against hard trick room teams. Like switching Muk for Snorlax as well as going more physical with a Gyrados instead of Milotic.

Thanks so much!

Hey @EemsRoro. Sorry it took so long to reply, I've been preparing my team for the April International Challenge. But anyway, I got a chance to review your team and I have to admit I'm at a bit of a loss. I recreated your team in Pokemon Showdown and battled with it to see if I could spot any obvious exploits, but I can't seem to find any clear problems. I will be the first to admit that of the 10 battles I played, I used Emolga in 3, and it was knocked out fairly quickly. Even though I love Emolga and continue to strive to use it, I don't think she's a good fit for this team. On this team, especially since you have Tapu Koko, I would recommend using Alolan Raichu instead. Doing that gives you an extra Ground weakness, but that can be covered by replacing Milotic with Araquanid. This also balances out the Physical/Special split on your team, as in its current state that ratio is 1:5. That being said, you get walled by Special Walls quite easily. Clefable was nightmare to battle let me tell you...

Also, I'm confused as to why you're running a Sp. Attack invested Drifblim. The mechanic behind this set is to give Drifblim a speed boost from Unburden, which simultaneously doubles the power of Acrobatics, giving Drifblim a powerful STAB move as well as making it one of the fastest mons on the field. Your Drifblim set is unconventional, but I'm not sure it makes sense for this team. I suggest chaning it to the physical variant, which would balance out your team further to 3:3.

In short, here's the best revision I can come up with for now:

Tapu Koko
Alolan Raichu
Tapu Lele
Arquanid
Drifblim
Alolan Muk

I would suggest fiddling around with the IVs and moves as needed. One thing I will say though is that this line up adds another Ghost weakness, something to consider. Not only that, but adding Raichu also creates a problem in Earthquake. I will try and think of a workaround to this issue. To address your final concern, you have zero speed control. Tailwind is useful, but only if your opponent isn't running Trick Room, which all of my opponents were during testing. Arquanid is an excellent Trick Room mon, but having no way to set it up or reverse Trick Room yourself puts you at a severe disadvantage. As I mentioned, this is very much a ramshackle edit of your team, and I'll strive to go more in-depth at a future point, but for now I would highly encourage you to fiddle around with my suggestions and see if they synergize with your playstyle. If not, and I hate to say it, it may be wise for you to consider building a new team from the ground up.

Here's another suggestion if this is the route you decide to take. I've been experimenting with this core:

Emolga
Metagross
Tapu Fini

They compliment each other well, and depending on the other three teammates, they synergize phenomenally. Something to consider. I apologize if my analysis of your team seemed rushed, but as I said, I've been doing a lot of my own analysis. Anyway, I hope you found something in my psychobabble helpful, and I look forward to hearing back from you on the progress of your team. Thanks!

- 0kamii