<![CDATA[Pokemon Forever - Competitive Pokemon Discussion]]>

<![CDATA[Pokemon Forever - Competitive Pokemon Discussion]]> http://pokemonforever.com/ Mon, 18 May 2026 11:05:26 +0000 MyBB <![CDATA[Kris' Pokemon Champions Weekly Discussion Blog]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-DISCUSSION-Kris-Pokemon-Champions-Weekly-Discussion-Blog Sat, 11 Apr 2026 02:55:15 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-DISCUSSION-Kris-Pokemon-Champions-Weekly-Discussion-Blog Pokemon Champions! The game launched earlier this week and we have already seen some clear meta directions as the player base eases their way towards the Master Ball tier for this season. I haven't had the chance to get therre just yet as I'm still theorycrafting the team I want to run, so I think that's going to be what I'll discuss in this week's inagural blog post, my dream team for Champions! These blogs are kinda just for me to keep a record of progress, but if you're reading as a guest and wanna jump in on the discussion, then feel free to join the forum and say hi!

Meta Snapshot - Week 1

First, let's go over to the ever-trusty Pikalytics website to see what the current top picks seem to be for Champions so far. Numbers are subject to change of course and this might not be a 100% accurate reading due to the default teams, but still let's take a look.

[Image: MastersIcon0727.png]

To absolutely nobody's surprise, Incineroar is the number one threat currently. Incineroar was practically made for VGC, and its moveset of choice remains as the unshaken mountain it has been since day dot; Fake Out, Parting Shot, Flare Blitz, and any needed Dark-type move like Snarl or Darkest Lariat. Incineroar's Ability Intimidate always puts it in a great advantage from the word go about 90% of the time, so you will be expecting to see it. Shuca or Sitrus Berry are great items for it in this format.

[Image: Menu_LA_903.png]

Coming in just behind it is the equally unsurprising Sneasler. When it was first introduced in Legends: Arceus, Sneasler did not seem all that promising to a lot of people, but once it came over to Scarlet & Violet, VGC players quickly learned of it's incredible potential for greatness. With its wicked Dire Claw move and the Ability Unburden, Sneasler is making waves in Champions with a standard all-out physical moveset including Close Combat and Fake Out, while running Coaching for support. In this game's limited selection for items, White Herb or Focus Sash are its preferred choices.

[Image: MastersIcon1013.png]

If we're talking about VGC, we need to mention the support sets keeping Pokemon like Sneasler and Garchomp running, and right now the best supporter appears to be Sinistcha. Effectively, this Pokemon is filling the slot that Amoonguss normally would but with enough tools that make it feel like more than a carbon copy. Sinistcha runs Matcha Gotcha for quick healing, Rage Powder for redirection of attacks, and other support moves depending on the team, mostly Protect and either Trick Room or Taunt. It's item choice safely sits at Leftovers or Sitrus Berry to complement its own healing and its Ability is almost always Hospitality to heal allies on switch in.

[Image: MastersIcon0547.png]

Whimsicott is unsurprisingly a top choice for a support Pokemon, and I honestly think Pikalytics is underselling its usage. With Prankster giving priority to any of its status moves, Whimsicott will be running Tailwind and Encore almost all the time. You might see some variety with Taunt, Protect, Helping Hand, and some Whimsicott might be running Moonblast. AustinJohnPlays and THATSAplusONE recently collaborated on a video showcasing Endeavor Whimsicott which utilizes the held item Focus Sash, so we might see some rise in usage of that move too.

[Image: Menu_HOME_1018.png]

Weather teams built around Rain and Sun are very common as well, the best one of the bunch appears to be cores utilizing Archaludon's Electro Shot move, which is essentially a variant of Solarbeam that is utilized in the Rain. Achaludon's bulk makes it harder to take out than you'd think and it has a decent defensive typing. Commonly you can pair it with Pelipper to help set Rain and to fish for Earthquakes from Garchomp or Excadrill.

First Impressions

It's a game that's very rough around the edges. I don't really care about the smaller roster or the item pool, in fact that's what makes it enticing for me is that we have hard limitations to need to work around, although common competitive items being omitted is really grinding my gears in some cases, like no Life Orb, Assault Vest, BlackSludge, Choice Band and Specs, a lot of these would be a great addition and help a lot of sets out immensely, I do miss AV Tyranitar for example. Like with the items, I just find some of the Pokemon ommissions to be very confusing. No Amoonguss is especially odd, but some key pre-evolutions being missing also feels odd. But then we get Pokemon that feel completely weird to even mention like... Watchog? Who is using Watchog in VGC and for what reason - I'd like to chat.

I think the selection of battle music is awful, and locking Legends: Z-A's tracks behind a paywall is just bad. Adding insult to injury, its not even any of the premiere tracks of that game, so it kind of feels lackluster even with that option. Pokemon has a phenomonal selection of music, and the most we get to choose from is just Trainer Battle themes from the main series games. There is a Randomize option on each game's album which tells me that more music will be added over time, but I really would have just liked a wider selection. At the very least, Vs. Wild Pokemon, Vs. Trainer, and Vs. Gym Leader for each game selection should have been there by default in my opinion. I don't mind the paid choices being a thing, Champions is a free-to-play game after all, but make the free options better. I don't care how good DPPt or BW's Vs. Trainer tracks are, nobody wants to hear it a thousand times.

The default Pokemon movesets are not good 90% of the time and the Auto-Team Build function doesn't really help new players out. Auto-Team Build seems to just randomly assign Pokemon and Items to the team witchout real thought, like I used it once and got Quick Claw on my Sneasler instead of on my Tyranitar who would have prefered an item that counters its low speed tier. I think ATB needs some work because new players will likely see this option and think it has made good sets for them. As for the default sets, the absolute worst one I've spotted is Sylveon with Quick Attack and Yawn but I know more exist. This is Pokemon Stadium levels of bad, like Alakazam running Kinesis and Psywave bad. These need a lot more work especially as more Pokemon eventually get added.

Kris' Team Of Choice

Okay, now let's talk about the team I'm going to run and test out on the ladder. With Weather being everywhere, of course I want in on the action too, but instead of Mega Charizard Y's sun team or the usual Pelipper rain teams, I want to use an archetype I've never run before being Snow. Snow replaced Hail in Legends: Arceus, and instead of dealing chip damage it now provides a defense boost to Ice type Pokemon. This is of particular interest to me for certain Pokemon like Mega Abomasnow who was never quite a good Pokemon historically. I don't think Snow is going to make it into a premiere threat, but that's not going to stop me from trying.

While I figure out the full team of six, the main Pokemon I'm definitely bringing are Sinistcha for its incredible support and the ability to set Trick Room for Mega Abomasnow, Ninetales-Alola for obvious support with Aurora Veil, Primarina as an answer to Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Froslass as an alternative sweeper to Mega Abomasnow. I think the last slot might go to either Milotic or Corviknight.

These Pokemon aren't particularly hard to get, the reason it has taken me a bit to build the team is just because I wanted to have shiny versions of most of them, gotta flex after all.

Abomasnow is my first target, and my game of choice is Legends: Z-A, as I can very easily reset for an Alpha Abomasnow to be shiny. In that same area I can also be lucky enough to get a shiny Snorunt that I might be able to evolve into a Froslass, and those wild spawns each have a chance to become an Alpha variant each reset too. A shiny Machop also spawned in while I was catching Hestia, but I let that one go as I already have a shiny Machamp.

Abomasnow came very quickly for me, literally while I typed that last sentence it showed up! I named her Hestia as I'll be naming all my team after Greek myths. That's one down, and I reckon I will just hang around in that zone until I get a preferred shiny Snorunt too.

For Primarina, I think the only game I can shiny hunt it in is Scarlet & Violet and I will do so via Eggs, only because my eyes do not appreciate the small Popplio models in the overworld! I am very grateful to Legends: Z-A for having the shiny sparkle play in the overworld like its predecessor Legends game.

Scarlet & Violet will have to be the game of choice for Ninetales-Alola as well, I think, which will be another Egg hunt. I really don't like the changes to Eggs in Scarlet & Violet, but I think it is the only way I can get it currently unless I'm missing something.

I'm not going to bother with shiny hunting for a Sinistcha because Poltchageist has a small overworld model and my only other option would be Eggs in Scarlet & Violet, something I do not mind skipping out on, lol.

I'll run with this team and see how it goes on the ladder and see if it can even get me to Master Ball tier, which of course means that next week I will have a status report to analyze the team's performance as well as my own gameplay. Stick around for next week's blog post where I will talk about any changes to the metagame and what updates Champions itself may have underwent since this week. I'm going to try update this consistently each week, saw some eyes on my Starting Guide from earlier this week which tells me at least a few lurkers are particularly interested in the game, well I'll have you covered no problem.

Thanks for reaing my odd little posts, lurkers!]]> Pokemon Champions! The game launched earlier this week and we have already seen some clear meta directions as the player base eases their way towards the Master Ball tier for this season. I haven't had the chance to get therre just yet as I'm still theorycrafting the team I want to run, so I think that's going to be what I'll discuss in this week's inagural blog post, my dream team for Champions! These blogs are kinda just for me to keep a record of progress, but if you're reading as a guest and wanna jump in on the discussion, then feel free to join the forum and say hi!

Meta Snapshot - Week 1

First, let's go over to the ever-trusty Pikalytics website to see what the current top picks seem to be for Champions so far. Numbers are subject to change of course and this might not be a 100% accurate reading due to the default teams, but still let's take a look.

[Image: MastersIcon0727.png]

Weather teams built around Rain and Sun are very common as well, the best one of the bunch appears to be cores utilizing Archaludon's Electro Shot move, which is essentially a variant of Solarbeam that is utilized in the Rain. Achaludon's bulk makes it harder to take out than you'd think and it has a decent defensive typing. Commonly you can pair it with Pelipper to help set Rain and to fish for Earthquakes from Garchomp or Excadrill.

First Impressions

It's a game that's very rough around the edges. I don't really care about the smaller roster or the item pool, in fact that's what makes it enticing for me is that we have hard limitations to need to work around, although common competitive items being omitted is really grinding my gears in some cases, like no Life Orb, Assault Vest, BlackSludge, Choice Band and Specs, a lot of these would be a great addition and help a lot of sets out immensely, I do miss AV Tyranitar for example. Like with the items, I just find some of the Pokemon ommissions to be very confusing. No Amoonguss is especially odd, but some key pre-evolutions being missing also feels odd. But then we get Pokemon that feel completely weird to even mention like... Watchog? Who is using Watchog in VGC and for what reason - I'd like to chat.

I think the selection of battle music is awful, and locking Legends: Z-A's tracks behind a paywall is just bad. Adding insult to injury, its not even any of the premiere tracks of that game, so it kind of feels lackluster even with that option. Pokemon has a phenomonal selection of music, and the most we get to choose from is just Trainer Battle themes from the main series games. There is a Randomize option on each game's album which tells me that more music will be added over time, but I really would have just liked a wider selection. At the very least, Vs. Wild Pokemon, Vs. Trainer, and Vs. Gym Leader for each game selection should have been there by default in my opinion. I don't mind the paid choices being a thing, Champions is a free-to-play game after all, but make the free options better. I don't care how good DPPt or BW's Vs. Trainer tracks are, nobody wants to hear it a thousand times.

The default Pokemon movesets are not good 90% of the time and the Auto-Team Build function doesn't really help new players out. Auto-Team Build seems to just randomly assign Pokemon and Items to the team witchout real thought, like I used it once and got Quick Claw on my Sneasler instead of on my Tyranitar who would have prefered an item that counters its low speed tier. I think ATB needs some work because new players will likely see this option and think it has made good sets for them. As for the default sets, the absolute worst one I've spotted is Sylveon with Quick Attack and Yawn but I know more exist. This is Pokemon Stadium levels of bad, like Alakazam running Kinesis and Psywave bad. These need a lot more work especially as more Pokemon eventually get added.

Kris' Team Of Choice

Okay, now let's talk about the team I'm going to run and test out on the ladder. With Weather being everywhere, of course I want in on the action too, but instead of Mega Charizard Y's sun team or the usual Pelipper rain teams, I want to use an archetype I've never run before being Snow. Snow replaced Hail in Legends: Arceus, and instead of dealing chip damage it now provides a defense boost to Ice type Pokemon. This is of particular interest to me for certain Pokemon like Mega Abomasnow who was never quite a good Pokemon historically. I don't think Snow is going to make it into a premiere threat, but that's not going to stop me from trying.

While I figure out the full team of six, the main Pokemon I'm definitely bringing are Sinistcha for its incredible support and the ability to set Trick Room for Mega Abomasnow, Ninetales-Alola for obvious support with Aurora Veil, Primarina as an answer to Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Froslass as an alternative sweeper to Mega Abomasnow. I think the last slot might go to either Milotic or Corviknight.

These Pokemon aren't particularly hard to get, the reason it has taken me a bit to build the team is just because I wanted to have shiny versions of most of them, gotta flex after all.

Abomasnow is my first target, and my game of choice is Legends: Z-A, as I can very easily reset for an Alpha Abomasnow to be shiny. In that same area I can also be lucky enough to get a shiny Snorunt that I might be able to evolve into a Froslass, and those wild spawns each have a chance to become an Alpha variant each reset too. A shiny Machop also spawned in while I was catching Hestia, but I let that one go as I already have a shiny Machamp.

Abomasnow came very quickly for me, literally while I typed that last sentence it showed up! I named her Hestia as I'll be naming all my team after Greek myths. That's one down, and I reckon I will just hang around in that zone until I get a preferred shiny Snorunt too.

For Primarina, I think the only game I can shiny hunt it in is Scarlet & Violet and I will do so via Eggs, only because my eyes do not appreciate the small Popplio models in the overworld! I am very grateful to Legends: Z-A for having the shiny sparkle play in the overworld like its predecessor Legends game.

Scarlet & Violet will have to be the game of choice for Ninetales-Alola as well, I think, which will be another Egg hunt. I really don't like the changes to Eggs in Scarlet & Violet, but I think it is the only way I can get it currently unless I'm missing something.

I'm not going to bother with shiny hunting for a Sinistcha because Poltchageist has a small overworld model and my only other option would be Eggs in Scarlet & Violet, something I do not mind skipping out on, lol.

I'll run with this team and see how it goes on the ladder and see if it can even get me to Master Ball tier, which of course means that next week I will have a status report to analyze the team's performance as well as my own gameplay. Stick around for next week's blog post where I will talk about any changes to the metagame and what updates Champions itself may have underwent since this week. I'm going to try update this consistently each week, saw some eyes on my Starting Guide from earlier this week which tells me at least a few lurkers are particularly interested in the game, well I'll have you covered no problem.

Thanks for reaing my odd little posts, lurkers!]]> <![CDATA[Pokemon Champions Starting Builds Guide]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-FUN-Pokemon-Champions-Starting-Builds-Guide Wed, 08 Apr 2026 22:05:15 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-FUN-Pokemon-Champions-Starting-Builds-Guide Pokemon Champions! I LOVE Pokemon battling, both singles and VGC, and since a lot of newer players will be trying this out for the first time, I figured why not write up this guide on all the starting Pokemon available to you when you boot up the game for the first time! To clarify, this will not be covering every available Pokemon, this will be covering the set of Pokemon given to you after completing the tutorial. We'll cover their base game builds, what works and what doesn't, what the Pokemon is best used for, and the best and cheapest builds for you to try for both singles and doubles while spending your precious VP in the most cost effective way!

Credit!
Pokedex and Moveset information curtesy of both my own gameplay and Serebii.net

Starter Pokemon

Champions is not like your standard Pokemon journey, you don't get to pick a starter in the traditional sese, no Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle here. Instead, all Pokemon are fully evolved and mooooostly battle ready. As such, the list of "starters" is much different. On top of the starters, you will get a team to go with the Pokemon you first choose. Let's go over all the starter Pokemon and their teams.

Charizard

Pikachu

Snorlax

Tyranitar

Altaria

Gardevoir

Absol

Lucario

Armarouge

Palafin

Off the bat, you will notice some overlap in what the teams offer you, and maybe some Pokemon instantly jump out to you if you're a little familiar with Competitive battling already. So I will go over what is considered to objectively be "the best" for these teams, but I want to stress that you should not feel pressured to just try and learn the best strategies right away. Pick what you like and work with it, that's how a lot of us started and it's a great way to familiarize yourself.

Still, if you want to perform well, there will come a time when you need to consider better Pokemon not just for yourself but to answer whatever becomes common and dominates the meta. Let's help you prepare for that by going over what these Pokemon actually offer and why you might want to consider using or skipping them.

Battles are determined by a number of factors, but generally you will have a team working towards what is called a "win condition", which is essentially the goal of your team to try and exploit or set up the, well, conditions necessary to secure a win. For example, the goal of a team with Tyranitar, who has the ability Sand Stream, is to get Sandstorm active to chip and weaken opponents while powering up your strongest Pokemon to finish them off, all thanks to the early steps set up by Tyranitar.

There are numerous strategies to try and they too vary depending on your format, either Singles or Doubles in Champions. There's a lot of Pokemon to choose from here too, so I want to narrow it down to four, two starting Pokemon teams that work in each format, depending on what you'll be focusing on the most.

Singles Team Recommendation
A Single battle team is mostly focused on raw damage and minimal setup unless there are very specific conditions to allow you to do so. The team off the bat in Champions are very basic, so we won't see any advanced strategies and mostly be suggesting two teams based on this. The goal is minimal work needed for a good result on one team, and another that requires some extra steps but is brutally efficient.

Team 1
Cloud Nine (Pick Gardevoir as your Starter)
Whimicott
Gardevoir
Drampa
Heracross
Azumarill
Corviknight

We're not actually picking this team for Gardevoir itself, but instead for one of the surprising breakout stars of the game who has seen a jump in use thanks to it recieving a Mega Evolution in Legends: Z-A, Drampa! Weather, as always with the start of a new meta, is incredibly common in this game, comparable to its use during Black & White's VGC Weather Wars from back in the day. Having a way to deal with weather, either clearing, changing, or ignoring it entirely, may be crucial for your playstyle, and right now I believe that Drampa is one of the best to do so, but let's actually get into the why.

Drampa

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Grass

Immunity:

Ability: Beserk (Raises the Pokemon's Sp. Atk stat by one stage when its HP falls below 50%)
Sap Sipper (Raises the Pokemon's Attack stat by one stage when struck by a Grass type move, and also grants immunity to Grass type moves.)
Cloud Nine (When the Pokemon enters the battle, all effects of Weather are negated until it switches out or faints.)

Drampa is a special attacking Dragon type Pokemon who has the kind of movepool you would expect to see on the likes of a classic Dragon type like Dragonite. Drampa is relevant in this game in particular because of its Ability, Cloud Nine. With many Pokemon currently in cycle who have the ability to alter Weather like Tyranitar with Sand Stream, and Pelipper with Drizzle, a Pokemon who can counter it is essential. You could use your own weather setter, but you must keep the following in mind;

Weather, along with Item use and other Ability activations, is set based on the Speed stat of each Pokemon on the field. Let's have a look at this example.

Pelipper and Torkoal have Drizzle and Drought respectively. Pelipper, with its base Speed stat of 65, will outspeed Torkoal who has 20 in the same stat. Because it outspeeds Torkoal, Drizzle will trigger first, and then Torkoal's Drought will trigger afterwards due to it going second. Speed tiers are an important part of the Weather metagame and is often a part of the decision making when building a Weather based team. It's also part of why Torkoal is so good in that particular meta.

So Cloud Nine is a type of Ability whose effect is active so long as the user remains on field. This means that Drampa doesn't need to worry about being slower than any Weather setting Pokemon, Cloud Nine will remain active until Drampa is knocked out, switched out, or has its Ability altered by Neutralizing Gas, Gastro Acid, or other such moves or Abiities.

When Drampa Mega Evolves, its type remains the same but its Ability changes to Berserk, so you can effectively use the Pokemon either as a Weather disruptor in its base form or as a sweeper in its Mega Evolved state, provided Mega Drampa can survive a hit to trigger the Ability safely. Luckily, the rest of the team can help with this, but let's cover the movesets. Assuming you choose Gardevoir as your starting Pokemon, I'll recommend the three I think are most useful Pokemon of that team for you to use to get started.

Whimsicott
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Tailwind
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Memento

Drampa
Drampa @ Drampanite
Ability: Cloud Nine (Becomes Berserk upon Mega Evolution)
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
- Thunder/Heat Wave/Ice Beam/Grass Knot

Corviknight
Corviknight @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 SpD
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

On any team that has Whimsicott, you will usually run the aforementioned cotton spore first, it has the Ability of Prankster which increases priority for Status moves, in other words you will be able to use those attacks first almost all the time. The only exceptions are in Psychic Terrain, if an opposing Pokemon has a higher priority move, or if the target of your attack is a Dark type. You will lead with Whimsicott to use Tailwind, doubling the speed of your team for 3-5 turns, then you will use Light Screen to help give Drampa some bulk if it needs to come in. Taunt is to shut down the use of hazards like Stealth Rock, Spikes, or Toxic Spikes, as well as other status moves, and then Memento is your trump card attack, use it to disrupt an attacker to give Drampa the room to set up.

If hazards end up on your side because of misplay or you just weren't expect it, Corviknight's job is to come in to clear it. Of the Pokemon available on the Gardevoir starting team, Corviknight is the best suited to this with its move Defog, which will clear all hazards on the field. Pressure, its Ability, will double the PP used by opposing Pokemon when it is on the field, and in this game especially that is a bigger deal than ever as several key moves have had adjustments, notably nerfs, to the amount of Max PP they have. U-Turn is for pivoting into Drampa, and Roost is to recover some HP if you need it.

Now with your setup done, you can switch into Drampa. If your opponent is attempting to use Weather to their advantage, you can stay as regular Drampa to let Cloud Nine keep up its affect. You won't be chipped by Hail or Sand, the bonus properties of Snow, Rain, and Sun will not bother you, and if you're lucky the use of Cloud Nine may even force them to switch. In any case, Drampa has enough bulk to get away with a turn of setup by use of Calm Mind, and then you Mega Evolve and start to sweep with your strong coverage moves. If Drampa has sustained enough damage to drop to 50% or lower, Berserk will give you another boost to your Special Attack stat, and with Tailwind active you can expect to be outspeeding plenty of relevant threats.

Speaking of, here's the relevant threats that a Drampa will need to deal with, in the form of damage calculations.

Opponents hitting Drampa
- 252+ Atk Dragonite Ice Spinner vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa-Mega: 180-214 (50.1 - 59.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Garchomp Scale Shot (4 hits) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa-Mega: 312-368 (86.9 - 102.5%) -- approx. 0.8% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Froslass Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Drampa-Mega: 366-432 (101.9 - 120.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Froslass Blizzard vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Drampa-Mega through Light Screen: 183-216 (50.9 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Dragonite Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Drampa-Mega: 440-522 (122.5 - 145.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Dragonite Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Drampa-Mega through Light Screen: 220-261 (61.2 - 72.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Hitting Opponents with Drampa (absolute extreme stat spreads)
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Dragonite: 432-510 (111.9 - 132.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Dragonite can run bulk safely, but even at the best HP and Sp. Def, it will still go down)
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Draco Meteor vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 624-734 (148.5 - 174.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO (You will probably never see Garchomp run its tanky set in this game)
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 240+ SpD Tyranitar: 224-264 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 240+ SpD Tyranitar: 488-576 (120.7 - 142.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Thunder vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Palafin: 296-350 (73.4 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Froslass-Mega with an ally's Aurora Veil: 154-182 (44.7 - 52.9%) -- 25.8% chance to 2HKO
- +2 252+ SpA Drampa-Mega Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Froslass-Mega with an ally's Aurora Veil: 307-362 (89.2 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (With one Calm Mind + Berserk)

Misc.
The other Pokemon on this team are still good to use, but the pressure of what is already shaping up to be Weather Wars V3, Drampa's unique use of Cloud Nine makes it a great pick for a beginner. Heracross is a strong sweeping Pokemon who you will pump to max Attack and Speed to fire off super-effective Megahorns on threats like Tyranitar and Raichu-Alola, and counter other Drampas with Close Combat, while also using its coverage of Rock Slide to hit Dragonite super-effectively.

Gardevoir can be a good alternate Special Attack based sweeper if you find yourself fighting a team that can give Drampa some trouble, like Incineroar, Primarina, Decidueye-Hisui, and any other Pokemon that doesn't need to worry about Weather to work. Gardevoir also has phenomonal coverage making it a solid pick in plenty of situations. You will use your Mega slot for Gardevoir if you need it to replace Drampa.

Azumarill is a niche Belly Drum sweeper who plays high risk high reward, cutting its HP in half to maximize its Attack stat. Use this if you find yourself needing to fight Pokemon who Drampa can't cover.

All in all, the Gardevoir starter choice is perfect if you want to grab Drampa right away and start fighting through Weather with relative ease. Your win condition with the team I suggested is simple, use Whimsicott to disrupt the opening Pokemon and get Drampa into the best position possible as soon as the opportunity arises. You typically don't want to wait for a "late-game" scenario, you will want to force it yourself.

Team 2
Revenge Killer (Pick Pikachu as your Starter)
Gengar
Pikachu
Kingambit
Garchomp
Gyarados
Azumarill

If you know anything about the Scarlet & Violet meta, it may be the introduction of a particularly dangerous Pokemon who had the potential to be one of the meta's best... if it weren't for literally every other Pokemon in that same meta. In a more limited format, in this case one which has 185 Pokemon to choose between, that one in particular gets it time in the spotlight and in a pretty simple way. Of course, I don't mean Pikachu, we're picking that one for the unique combination that also gets us the star of the show, Kingambit.

Kingambit

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Normal

Immunity:

Ability: Defiant (When the user has any of its stats lowered by an opponet, its Attack stat raises by two.)
Supreme Overlord (The user's moves base power are increased by 10% for each ally in the party that has fainted.)
Pressure (The opponent uses 2 PP for each move used against the user instead of 1.)

Kingambit boasts an incredible defensive typing that gives it an enormous pool of resistances and only a couple of weaknesses. The downside to that is that its weaknesses are not particularly uncommon. But by the time Kingambit comes in, it should be primed enough that it won't even need to worry about those weaknesses anyway. Kingambit is explicitly designed to be a late game sweeper. In other words, its job is to clean up after your other Pokemon have done all the work.

Kingambit's Abiity of choice will be Supreme Overlord, and the game plan is extaordinarily simple. Come in after two of your allies are down and get a free 20% boost to any attack you click. Unfortunately, in Champions we cannot pair this with the move Retaliate like we could in Scarlet & Violet, but we can still throw out some impressive numbers, an extra 20% is nothing to sneeze at after all, and luckily the team you get with Pikachu as your starter allows us to make Kingambit's job even easier. Here's the three I'll recommend using to get started.

Garchomp
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Sandstorm/Earth Power
- Draco Meteor

Gengar
Gengar @ Gengarite
Ability: Cursed Body (Becomes Shadow Tag upon Mega Evolution)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Destiny Bond
- Will-O-Wisp/Trick Room
- Toxic Spikes
- Dazzling Gleam

Kingambit
Kingambit @ Chople Berry/Focus Sash
Ability: Supreme Overlord
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Kowtow Cleave
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
- Zen Headbutt

Kind of a weird looking team, right? Well I'd argue not. Sure, maybe it's weird to see Garchomp being used for utility only, but Pseudo-Legendary Pokemon are named as such for a good reason. They can do a lot of work other than just hitting hard, no better example exists than the jack of all trades that is Tyranitar. Garchomp's goal is of course to get hazards down for Kingambit. Just because Supreme Overlord will give you a lot of extra damage, you shouldn't expect that to just give you free wins, there's plenty of instances where that will not happen. A Yache Berry will allow you to take an Ice type move with no issue, but you might find the use of a Focus Sash to be more beneficial to you. Get Stealth Rock up first, then at least one layer of Spikes, then Sandstorm if you can afford to before being knocked out. You want to power up Kingambit, but you don't want to just let your team go down willy nilly.

With Garchomp's job done, we go to the next oddball of the team, Mega Gengar. You WILL Mega Evolve it right away because Gengar's Mega has the more favorable Ability, Shadow Tag prevents the oppoent from switching out without the use of a move like U-Turn or Volt Switch. Paired with Destiny Bond, you might think that Gengar's role is to be a sacrifice for the king. Not quite, you also have access to Toxic Spikes which will Poison any opponent who switches in that isn't a Steel or Posion type, and Badly Poisons them if two layers of Toxic Spikes are set. After setting that, THEN you can Destiny Bond if you feel it appropriate. Dazzling Gleam is there to threaten or even take out any Fighting types who can threaten Kingambit. I recommend Trick Room before Gengar is knocked out as Kingambit sits at 50 base speed, making it very slow compared to a lot of its relevant threats, thus faster than them inside of Trick Room.

Kingambit's job is, as I said earlier, extraordinarily simple. All you need to do is come in and get your free 20% move boost and start swinging. I recommend a Chople Berry in case a straggler Machamp is still active with a No Guard DynamicPunch, or Decidueye-Hisui with Triple Arrows --- although in that situation, Kingambit will NOT live, sorry to say XD. Its moves are self-explanatory, they are the strongest of its coverage moves that will cover most relevant threats. A Brave Nature will drop your Speed stat as low as possible to assist with being faster in Trick Room if you get the chance to set it beforehand.

Kingambit's biggest downside is its Special Defense stat. It sits at a lackluster 85, which isn't horrible on the surface but I can assure most meta relevant threats are going to take out Kingambit if you let them. Let's dive into that a bit further and move onto Kingambit's damage calculations.

Opponents hitting Kingambit
- 252+ SpA Dragonite Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Kingambit: 326-384 (80.6 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 SpA Garchomp-Mega Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Kingambit: 260-306 (64.3 - 75.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Arcanine-Hisui Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Kingambit: 308-366 (76.2 - 90.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Kingambit in Sun: 650-768 (160.8 - 190%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Use Focus Sash to survive.)
- 0 SpA Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Kingambit in Sun: 482-570 (119.3 - 141%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Use Focus Sash to survive.)
- 252+ Atk Black Belt Machamp Dynamic Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Chople Berry Kingambit: 368-434 (91 - 107.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

Hitting Opponents with Kingambit
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Machamp: 284-336 (88.4 - 104.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 153-181 (47.3 - 56%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Reuniclus: 476-564 (112.2 - 133%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 476-564 (150.1 - 177.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Kowtow Cleave vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gengar: 566-668 (216.8 - 255.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 312-368 (79.1 - 93.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252+ Atk Supreme Overlord 2 allies fainted Kingambit Iron Head vs. 156 HP / 0 Def Froslass: 474-560 (148.1 - 175%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Misc.
Kingambit is really good, but sometimes it might need an extra boost to do a little better. The above damage calculations do not account for the possibility of you having successfully laid layers of traps before the king has had the chance to come out, there may be plenty of times where this doesn't happen. For a situation like this, you might need to have Swords Dance over Zen Headbutt, which is already only there for coverage anyway. If you're trying to bank Iron Head potentially flinching, don't. Iron Head's chance to inflict Flinch has been nerfed from 30% to 20%.

Incineroar, Decidueye-Hisui, fellow Supreme Overlord Kingambits, Mega Kangaskhan, and Mega Charizard Y are the largest threats to Kingambit unless it is under Trick Room. If you see these Pokemon on the opposing team, your win condition is to make sure Trick Room goes up in time for Kingambit. As for alternate Pokemon, the only other good Pokemon on this team is Gyarados. Incredibly versatile and bulky, it comes with Intimidate to lower the opponent's Attack stat making it useful for Kingambit in utility and may be preferabe to Mega Gengar in some situations, it can also deal with the likes of Arcanine-Hisui and Mega Charizard Y.

Doubles Team Recommendation
Double battles have a lot more to think about at any given time, both on your side and the opponents. In my opinion, it is where competitive Pokemon shines its absolute brightest as it showcases an incredible amount of on the spot decision making and player expression that goes beyond what the Singles format can offer. But, it can be daunting to think about such a large step in skill progression as a new or less experienced player. Luckily for you, Champions' default starter teams have some great options for you to learn with, let's take a look at the two I recommend trying out.

Team 1
Sun Team (Pick Charizard as your Starter)
Whimsicott
Charizard
Steelix
Gengar
Azumarill
Drampa

Don't worry, I see him too. Drampa's not the spotlight for this team though, we are shaking it up a bit thankfully lol. So. We've been talking about Weather being the dominant meta currently, and as far as I can see, that's not stopping anytime soon. Between half of a full Sandstorm core with Tyranitar as well as some new discoveries with Snow using Mega Froslass, Weather is going to be an important part of the game to learn to navigate, and an easy one to adapt with is Sun, thanks to Mega Charizard Y.

Mega Charizard Y
[Image: 006-my.png]

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Grass

Immunity:

Ability: Blaze (The user's Fire type moves become stronger when its HP is at 25% or less)
Drought (Upon the user being switched in, the Weather change to Sunny) (Mega Charizard Y retains Drought when it Mega Evolves)

Mega Charizard Y has always been a great Pokemon, it has a good enough defensive typing though its weaknesses leave much to be desired, but where it shines is its offensive capabilities. Mega Charizard Y doesn't need to rely on another Pokemon to set up the Sun via Sunny Day, it can do so itself without a move slot being wasted. In a meta game revolving around controlling Weather, it's a massive boon to have the abilty to do that without sacrificng an attack for your desired Weather change. On top of this, Drought being an Ability that Mega Charizard Y has by default means if another Weather setter gets to change the Weather before you, you have a way to change it in a way that is mostly irrelevant to Speed.

Charizard's movepool isn't the absolute best of the best, but under Sun and once Mega Evolved, even matchups you think might be disadvantageous for you can often turn out in your favor just because of the raw strength of this Pokemon under the right conditions. You'll be using Mega Charizard Y as a glass cannon special attacker only who will motly be a late game sweeper, but you may find yourself wanting to lead with it instead in some cases. Double Battles require a minimum of four elligible Pokemon, so let's go ahead and suggest the best team for Mega Charizard Y.

Whimsicott
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Tailwind
- Protect
- Follow Me
- Taunt

Steelix
Steelix @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Body Press
- Explosion
- Roar

Azumarill
Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Helping Hand
- Aqua Jet
- Protect
- Ice Spinner

Mega Charizard Y
Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Ability: Solar Power
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Weather Ball/Overheat/Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast

You already know how useful Whimsicott is in a Singles format, and the same is true for Doubles. You will probably see Whimsicott on most serious Doubles teams because of its utility as one of the best Pokemon with access to Prankster. For Doubles, while Tailwiind is still a go-to for most teams, you will also see Whimsicott running Taunt. This will shut down trap setters and opposing Whimsicott, On top of this, it has one of the most important mechanics available to it which is attack redirection via the move Follow Me. Use this move to keep your trap setter or sweeper safe, on the turn it is used, all attacks from the opposing side will hit the user regardless of who they originally targeted. Protect is just a good utility move to have, but you can swap that for Helping Hand or Memento.

Steelix is a weird Pokemon to use, but it is here on the team you get so let's make the most of it. Steelix is going to be your trap setter and wallbreaker, you will always lead with this Pokemon and Whimsicott, the idea being that Whimsicott can disrupt opponents while Steelix lays down Stealth Rock. Body Press is entirely optional, and you could run Protect in its place or even Toxic if the oppoing team is susceptible to being Poisoned. Roar is a great alternative way to pressure the opponents leads, but the main draw is of course Explosion. Use this move after your setup turns are down to deal a good chunk of damage to the opponents and maybe even knock them out. Make sure to Protect with Whimsicott on that turn if you put the move on it, it can still be useful to Mega Charizard Y.

Azumarill is your backup support to Mega Charizard Y if and when Whimsicott falls. It has a standard moveset overall, but the important part is Helping Hand. It usually always goes first and will give your ally a 1.5x damage multiplier to any atttack it uses that turn. Not that Mega Charizard Y really needs it most of the time, but the extra damage is always appreciated and you should never be too sure about what you hit your opponent with. Ice Spinner is a fantastic piece of utility for Azumarill that will clear away hazards that threaten Mega Charizard Y, in particular Stealth Rock which will deal Rock type based damage, a 4x damage multiplier against Charizard.

Mega Charizard Y's job is to click buttons and win. It's a glass cannon build that prioritizes raw Special Attack damage over anything else. If Whimsicott is on field with you, draw attention away with Follow Me. If its Azumarill, boost Mega Charizard Y with Helping Hand. Under the Sun, Mega Charizard Y's Weather Ball becomes a 100 Base Power Fire type move, but outside of it you're left with it being a 50 Base Power Normal type move, so why pick it over a traditional Fire type move so you always have access to STAB? Well the simple factor is consistency. Mega Charizard Y's only comparable moves are Fire Blast, Overheat, and Inferno. Two of those moves do not have 100% Accuracy and Overheat will drop Mega Charizard Y's Special Attack by two stages. In a game like this, you want clean consistent results. If the Weather gets changed on you, still have a strong set of other attacks to back you up.

Mega Charizard Y will likely outspeed a lot of revelant threats, especially under Tailwind, but its a glass cannon for a reason. Just because you can hit hard doesn't mean you're invincible. You boast good Special Defense, but your not as good Physical Defense which is where you will have to be careful. Here's some relevant damage calculations.

Opponents hitting Mega Charizard Y
- 80 Atk Tyranitar Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 544-648 (183.1 - 218.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 Atk Arcanine-Hisui Head Smash vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 1104-1300 (371.7 - 437.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 Atk Huge Power Starmie-Mega Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y in Sun: 266-314 (89.5 - 105.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y in Sun: 170-204 (57.2 - 68.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +1 252+ Atk Gyarados Waterfall vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y in Sun: 254-302 (85.5 - 101.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 4 Atk Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 156-186 (52.5 - 62.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 192-228 (64.6 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Hitting Opponents with Mega Charizard Y
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gyarados: 152-179 (45.9 - 54%) -- 3.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Dragonite: 216-256 (66.8 - 79.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Helping Hand Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Dragonite: 322-380 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Meganium-Mega in Sun: 374-444 (102.7 - 121.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Filter Aggron-Mega: 190-225 (55.2 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Milotic: 250-296 (63.4 - 75.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Helping Hand Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Milotic: 376-444 (95.4 - 112.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Helping Hand Dragon Pulse vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 366-432 (102.5 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Weather Ball (100 BP Fire) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Sneasler in Sun: 343-405 (113.5 - 134.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Misc.
It is imperative that Mega Charizard Y has access to Tailwind on its side with Whimsicott. An important matchup for Mega Charizard Y is Starmie. In both its base and Mega Evolved form, Starmie's 120 base Speed stat translates to 371 with maximum EVs and a beneficial Nature for speed. Mega Charizard Y falls short at 328 and needs Tailwind to ensure it will outspeed almost anything that threatens it. If you do outspeed, you will find that Mega Charizard Y is nigh unstoppable and a great first step into abusing the Weather system.

The other major thing to keep in mind is that Charizard struggles with hitting multiple targets with this moveset, Heat Wave can help circumvent that but that's it. You could put Protect or Hurricane over Dragon Pulse, but for a glass cannon build, this about covers most of what you will be fighting. You might consider Gengar for Mean Look, Toxic Spikes, Destiny Bond, or even Perish Song to pressure opponents, and while I boasted Drampa's impressive niche usage earlier, on this team it will not provide a lot of utility. There's not a lot to say here that isn't going to be obvious as you're playing, this team is meant to be very very simple.

Team 2
Zero to Hero (Pick Palafin as your Starter)
Beedrill
Palafin
Gengar
Aggron
Sylveon
Hydreigon

These teams honestly kind of tested my patience, I'm going to be honst with you. Some of these default sets give Pokemon Stadium a run for their money with how BAD they are, but luckily we also need to keep in mind that most opposing new players will also be dealing with the default sets too right away. Thankfully, Pokemon is a very flexible game and we can make things work even in dire situations. Case in point is the core of our final team, Palafin.

Palafin

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Fire

Ability: Zero to Hero (When switched out by either manual input or from attacks, the next time Palafin enters the battle, it will be in Hero Form)

Palafin was a long-awaited addition the franchise as it was the first ever dolphin Pokemon, and in my opinion it did not disappoint. It has a cool design and a really interest mechanic that revolves around smart gameplay as it gets access to its stronger form only when you switch it out of battle. And how much stronger is its Hero Form, you might ask? Well take a look for yourself;

Palafin essentially undegoes a Mega Evolution by switching out, but due to how that transformation happens, you need to play it much smarter. Palafin has a Speed stat of 100, so it is not the fastest thing on the field usually. It's up to you to decide how you go about switching Palafin out, will you try get chip damage with Flip Turn or do you just manually switch? Palafin can be phenomonal but you need to know what you're doing. Unfortunately, the team that comes with it is not going to make that easy.

Beedrill
Beedrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Baton Pass
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Tailwind

Palafin
Palafin-Hero @ Mystic Water
Ability: Zero to Hero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flip Turn
- Jet Punch
- Close Combat
- Ice Punch

Aggron
Aggron @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Thunder Wave
- Rock Slide

Sylveon
Sylveon @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Cute Charm
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Magic Coat

Unfortunately, we don't get the luxury of a free Whimsicott on this team unlike most of the other starting teams, but we can make do. Beedrill is a terrible offensive Pokemon without its Mega Evolution, but it can still provide some utility. The risk is that Beedrill is very frail, and in Doubles you will likely go down rather quickly, but that mostly is not an issue as your goal is to get Tailwind up for Palafin. However, if you don't faint and you successfully get Palafin back to party, you can try to throw out a Swords Dance to boost Beedrill's Attack stat by two stages, and then Baton Pass on your next turn to safely switch in Palafin while giving it the boost from Swords Dance. Do NOT expect this to work all the time and do not rely on this, but if you see an opportunity to, then use it.

Aggron is your trap setter, if you can even call it that. It's honestly a kind of worse Steelix, but it's still usable. Taunt and Thunder Wave are great utility to have, and Rock Slide will provide spread coverage to both targets in situations where Palafin might not have quite enough damage to finish off the opponent. Aggron could be your Mega Evolution slot for this team, it boasts phenonomal defenses and there's really no upside to using Mega Beedrill over letting it run Focus Sash. This frees up the Leftovers item for Sylveon instead, and you could give Sitrus Berry to Palafin over Mystic Water.

Sylveon is your Screen setter, it will use Reflect and Light Screen to boost your side's Defense and Special Defense stats, and use its utility healing of Wish to keep itself or an ally alive. Sylveon also has Magic Coat, which will counter non damaging moves and send them back to the oppoent. This is particularly useful to block Spikes and Stealth Rock. But, you might find yourself wanting to give Sylveon Helping Hand instead for the same reason Azumarill runs it on the Mega Charizard Y team.

Palafin's job is to get out turn one and get back in right away. An ideal turn would have you lead Beedrill and Palafin, and while you swap Palafin out for Aggron or Sylveon, you Tailwind with Beedrill. You then either Swords Dance with Beedrill if its safe and then Baton Pass the next turn while setting up Screen, or just switch out manually. Either way, you want to get Hero Form Palafin out into the batle as soon as you can, ideally turn three or four if you're not trying to use Baton Pass to enhance Palafin further.

Let's take a look at Palafin's most relevant threats in its damage calculations.

Opponents hitting Palafin
- 252 SpA Manectric-Mega Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero: 338-402 (99.1 - 117.8%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
- 252 SpA Magnet Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero: 320-378 (93.8 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
- 252 SpA Magnet Raichu-Alola Rising Voltage (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero in Electric Terrain: 642-756 (188.2 - 221.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Meganium-Mega Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero: 518-612 (151.9 - 179.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ SpA Meganium-Mega Solar Beam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero through Light Screen: 259-306 (75.9 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 SpA Dragonite-Mega Thunder vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero: 292-344 (85.6 - 100.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- 252+ SpA Glaceon Freeze-Dry vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Palafin-Hero: 282-332 (82.6 - 97.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Hitting Opponents with Palafin
- 252+ Atk Palafin-Hero Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Dragonite-Mega: 372-440 (96.3 - 113.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
- 252+ Atk Palafin-Hero Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 620-732 (153.4 - 181.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
- 252+ Atk Mystic Water Palafin-Hero Jet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y in Sun: 186-218 (62.6 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Palafin-Hero Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Decidueye-Hisui: 252-298 (79.4 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Mystic Water Palafin-Hero Jet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mimikyu: 181-214 (72.1 - 85.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Misc.
Palafin's offensive damage calculations do not account for Helping Hand, so keep this in mind and do not be underwhelmed. You will also likely be dealing with opponents already worn down by Stealth Rock if you had Aggron replace Palafin turn one, so you actually have no need to worry about what appears to be lackluster damage to the bigger threats.

Defog is an option for Beedrill over Substitute if your opponents get a sneaky Stealth Rock up while you're switching Palafin. As mentioned on the Mega Charizard Y team, Gengar can be a good disruptor with Taunt and Toxic Spikes, but you might also be able to use its Mega Evolution and replace Aggron entirely if your opponents have specific weaknesses that Gengar can exploit.

The biggest threat to Palafin is Mega Chesnaught, who has a staggering 172 Base Defense stat. With a Base stat that high, Chesnaught won't need much investment, if any at all, to shrug off moves from Palafin while also hitting hard with Seed Bomb backed by a 137 Base Attack stat. You will want Gengar with Sludge Bomb in your team to handle Chesnaught... is what I WOULD say if Mega Chesnaught did not retain the Ability Bulletproof which makes it immune to ball or bomb moves. Your other option on this team to handle it is Hydreigon with Fire Blast. Keep an eye out for Mega Chesnaught if you want to run Palafin.

Conclusion

It's been a while since my last Competitive Pokemon guide, and I know some people still drop by the forum. If anyone is checking out Pokemon Champions and doesn't know where to start, you can use this starter guide to help ease you into the game. I plan to make more guides for whoever is dropping in, Competitive Pokemon is about to change forever and I for one cannot wait to see how this meta evolves. Feel free to say hi, offer your own tips in the replies, and enjoy Pokemon as always! Until next time, Kris out.]]> Pokemon Champions! I LOVE Pokemon battling, both singles and VGC, and since a lot of newer players will be trying this out for the first time, I figured why not write up this guide on all the starting Pokemon available to you when you boot up the game for the first time! To clarify, this will not be covering every available Pokemon, this will be covering the set of Pokemon given to you after completing the tutorial. We'll cover their base game builds, what works and what doesn't, what the Pokemon is best used for, and the best and cheapest builds for you to try for both singles and doubles while spending your precious VP in the most cost effective way!

Credit!
Pokedex and Moveset information curtesy of both my own gameplay and Serebii.net

Charizard

Pikachu

Snorlax

Tyranitar

Altaria

Gardevoir

Absol

Lucario

Armarouge

Palafin

Team 1
Cloud Nine (Pick Gardevoir as your Starter)
Whimicott
Gardevoir
Drampa
Heracross
Azumarill
Corviknight

Drampa

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Grass

Immunity:

Team 2
Revenge Killer (Pick Pikachu as your Starter)
Gengar
Pikachu
Kingambit
Garchomp
Gyarados
Azumarill

Kingambit

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Normal

Immunity:

Team 1
Sun Team (Pick Charizard as your Starter)
Whimsicott
Charizard
Steelix
Gengar
Azumarill
Drampa

Mega Charizard Y
[Image: 006-my.png]

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Grass

Immunity:

Team 2
Zero to Hero (Pick Palafin as your Starter)
Beedrill
Palafin
Gengar
Aggron
Sylveon
Hydreigon

Palafin

Type:

Weakness:

Resistance: Fire

Ability: Zero to Hero (When switched out by either manual input or from attacks, the next time Palafin enters the battle, it will be in Hero Form)

Calyrex

Ok let's start off with the new King Pokemon himself, Calyrex. As the star of the Crown Tundra first and foremost, Calyrex has a lot to live up to if it wants to be as good as some previous Legendary Pokemon, so let's first look at his stats.

Quote:
Type: Psychic + Grass
Ability: Unnerve [Prevents the use of Berries whenever this Pokemon is active]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 80 Everything Else

Notable Moves:
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Leech Seed
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Pollen Puff
- Giga Drain
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Encore
- Substitute
- Trick

Well, it's not exactly the best Legendary, with a BST that's even lower than most Mythicals, Calyrex, stats wise, fails to live up to the hype. It most ways, it is a worse version of Celebi. It's Ability is a common one so it's not even a good niche pick of the Unnerve strat. That said, it could potentially make for an alternative stall mon to Clefable. Substitute, Calm Mind and Giga Drain is a bread and butter combo so on certain Pokemon you might have a decent chance of getting Calyrex set up to... "sweep"... I guess? It's a bit of weird one, it's kind of... average.

Competitively, I don't think Calyrex on it's own will be anything special, but we will have to see how the meta progresses. But with Pokemon like Kyurem-Black and Naganadel returning, Calyrex does not compare.

Spectrier

Oh baby, if Calyrex was disappointing, don't worry, it only gets better from here! Spectrier is one of two Legendary Horses found in the Crown Tundra, it, (and it's counterpart Glastrier), are incredibly strong, and I'm already getting good vibes from these two. Let's take a look at stats and see what we've got here.

Quote:
Type: Ghost
Ability: Grim Neigh [Boosts Spectrier's Special Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 65 ATK / 60 DEF / 145 SPA / 80 SPD / 130 SPE

Notable Moves:
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Hex
- Mud Shot (yes)

Immediately, Spectrier is absolutely bonkers with that 145 base SpA stat, and what is essentially Moxie but for Special Attack, it can steamroll teams with the right setup. It's 130 Speed places it in the same speed tier as Jolteon, Aerodactyl, Mewtwo, Crobat, Eternatus and most importantly, Tapu Koko. Choice Scarfed Spectrier will be able to outspeed Tapu Koko very easily. It doesn't have the best type coverage, but with Shadow Ball being one of it's hardest hitting moves, if you get even one Grim Neigh off, Spectrier is set up to be a powerhouse in OU. It has it's notable weakness in being defensively poor, but it has enough Special bulk to carry it for at least one Nasty Plot if the opponent isn't expecting it.

One other notable move I want to mention is Dark Pulse. When we knew that the Tapus would be returning, many speculated that Tapu Lele would rise in usage and leave Indeedee-F to the wayside, but that just isn't the case. Pikalytics currently lists Tapu Lele at a 5% usage while Indeedee-F sits at almost 3 times that with 13% usage. Indeedee fills a better role than Lele in this current meta as Lele only works for hyper offense and not so much support, and the fact that Indeedee-F is slower than Lele allows it's Psychic Surge to have a lot more utility against certain terrain setters like Rillaboom (with whom it speed ties), so Dark Pulse would be something good to consider when heading into VGC with Spectrier. Mud Shot is Spectrier's only, yes only, check to Heatran. If Heatran (even with Shuca Berry, switches in, a Mud Shot can take out a lot of it's health (especially if you have a +1) and then you outspeed the next turn. It's a niche move, but it works.

Glastrier

On the exact opposite of the spectrum, we have Glastrier. Much like Spectrier, Glastrier is an absolute monster, but let's see exactly what makes it so formidable.

Quote:
Type: Ice
Ability: Chilling Neigh [Boosts Glastrier's Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 145 ATK / 135 DEF / 65 SPA / 110 SPD / 30 SPE

Notable Moves:
- Icicle Crash
- Body Press
- Avalanche
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- High Horsepower
- Superpower

An impressive base Attack stat of 145 paired with powerful STAB in Icicle Crash is a great start for this royal steed, but with a Defense stat that rivals even Mew, Glastrier is able to tank some hits really well. It's only major drawback is a big one though, and it's that it's a pure Ice type, and Fire and Fighting are fairly common types in SS meta. Ice has never been a great defensive type, so this was to be expected. It's movepool, although really good, is really standard, so this will lead most Glastrier sets to be predictable.

It's Speed stat is also a slight drawback as it will have to take hits first. As a Trick Room sweeper though, Glastrier shines, a turn one Swords Dance can set it up nicely while a partner sets up Trick Room, and then Glastrier becomes an absolute powerhouse with decent coverage in High Horsepower, Megahorn and Body Press. A Life Orb set can work extremely well when paired with Swords Dance, allowing it two shot Pokemon like Kyurem-Black, one shot Landorus-T and Heatran, and check most Pokemon that try to switch in on it with insane amounts of damage. Of the two horses, I currently think Glastrier will be the better one, but we will see.

There are two more parts to this set of Legendary Pokemon, but I want to actually save them for their own thread, they absolutely need it for what they can do. In the meantime, I hope this short analysis can help you to build awesome sets for these guys (and Calyrex), and I can't wait to see how the meta changes (or doesn't) with this new set of Pokemon. Give me your thoughts and ides below! See you in the next post.]]>

Quote:
Type: Psychic + Grass
Ability: Unnerve [Prevents the use of Berries whenever this Pokemon is active]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 80 Everything Else

Notable Moves:
- Leaf Storm
- Psychic
- Psyshock
- Leech Seed
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Pollen Puff
- Giga Drain
- Seed Bomb
- Zen Headbutt
- Encore
- Substitute
- Trick

Quote:
Type: Ghost
Ability: Grim Neigh [Boosts Spectrier's Special Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 65 ATK / 60 DEF / 145 SPA / 80 SPD / 130 SPE

Notable Moves:
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Calm Mind
- Hex
- Mud Shot (yes)

Glastrier

On the exact opposite of the spectrum, we have Glastrier. Much like Spectrier, Glastrier is an absolute monster, but let's see exactly what makes it so formidable.

Quote:
Type: Ice
Ability: Chilling Neigh [Boosts Glastrier's Attack stat by 1 when it KOs a Pokemon]
Base Stats: 100 HP / 145 ATK / 135 DEF / 65 SPA / 110 SPD / 30 SPE

Notable Moves:
- Icicle Crash
- Body Press
- Avalanche
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Megahorn
- High Horsepower
- Superpower

]]>
Any ideas? I'd love to hear them.
[Image: 376-00-shiny.png]

]]> <![CDATA[Mega Banette Team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-ORAS-Mega-Banette-Team Mon, 16 Mar 2020 18:04:22 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-ORAS-Mega-Banette-Team <![CDATA[Need Black Sludge for trade]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-Need-Black-Sludge-for-trade Wed, 12 Feb 2020 10:32:59 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-Need-Black-Sludge-for-trade
If a merciless soul could help me i'll be gratefull

Many tks]]>
If a merciless soul could help me i'll be gratefull

Many tks]]> <![CDATA[Need help with my team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Need-help-with-my-team Wed, 01 Jan 2020 08:33:55 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Need-help-with-my-team Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Scrappy
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Close Combat, Leaf Blade, Knock Off, Brave Bird

#2. Rotom-Wash
Item: Sitrus Berry
Nature: Calm
Ability: Levitate
EV: 252 HP, 112 Def, 76 SpA, 68 SpD
Moveset: Protect, Will-O-Wisp, Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump

#3. Cinderace
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Blaze
Item: Weakness Policy
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Protect, Sucker Punch, Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick

#4. Ferrothorn
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Iron Barbs
Item: Leftovers
EV: 252 HP, 88 Atk, 88 Def, 80 SpD
Moveset: Protect, Leech Seed, Iron Head, Power Whip

#5. Dragapult
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Clear Body
Item: Life Orb
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Protect, Psychic Fangs, Draco Meteor, Phantom Force

#6. Gardevoir
Nature: Timid
Ability: Trace
Item: Focus Sash
EV: 252 Sp. Att, 252 Speed, 6 HP
Moveset: Protect, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam

Most common opening: Sirfetch'd and Rotom
Most used dynamax pokemons: Ferrothorn and Cinderace]]> Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Scrappy
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Close Combat, Leaf Blade, Knock Off, Brave Bird

#2. Rotom-Wash
Item: Sitrus Berry
Nature: Calm
Ability: Levitate
EV: 252 HP, 112 Def, 76 SpA, 68 SpD
Moveset: Protect, Will-O-Wisp, Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump

#3. Cinderace
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Blaze
Item: Weakness Policy
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Protect, Sucker Punch, Pyro Ball, High Jump Kick

#4. Ferrothorn
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Iron Barbs
Item: Leftovers
EV: 252 HP, 88 Atk, 88 Def, 80 SpD
Moveset: Protect, Leech Seed, Iron Head, Power Whip

#5. Dragapult
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Clear Body
Item: Life Orb
EV: 252 Att, 252 Speed, 6HP
Moveset: Protect, Psychic Fangs, Draco Meteor, Phantom Force

#6. Gardevoir
Nature: Timid
Ability: Trace
Item: Focus Sash
EV: 252 Sp. Att, 252 Speed, 6 HP
Moveset: Protect, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam

Most common opening: Sirfetch'd and Rotom
Most used dynamax pokemons: Ferrothorn and Cinderace]]> <![CDATA[For a Battle spot double team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-For-a-Battle-spot-double-team Mon, 16 Dec 2019 20:11:20 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-For-a-Battle-spot-double-team Ability: Justified
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Close Combat
- Protect

Whimsicott (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Beat Up
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Tailwind

Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Protect
- Sludge Bomb

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Dragon Dance
- U-turn
- Phantom Force]]> Ability: Justified
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Close Combat
- Protect

Whimsicott (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Happiness: 160
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Beat Up
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Tailwind

Toxtricity @ Throat Spray
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Protect
- Sludge Bomb

Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

Dragapult @ Life Orb
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Darts
- Dragon Dance
- U-turn
- Phantom Force]]> <![CDATA[Gen 8 Noob Attempts A UU Team!]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-Gen-8-Noob-Attempts-A-UU-Team Sun, 08 Dec 2019 05:30:36 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-Gen-8-Noob-Attempts-A-UU-Team
I decided since I did a team building thread for OU, which had more views than I was expecting tbh (this was always a VGC community primarily from what I remember), I’m going to do one for each tier after they open up. So let’s get into this UU team!

The Core

Every team has a starting point. That’s what the core is and it’s normally as simple as picking a Pokemon you like. That’s what I did with this team. I scrolled through the list of available Pokemon until I found one the peaked my interest. That Pokemon was Galarian Weezing!

Weezing-Galar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Strange Steam
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse

What drew me into Weezing was it’s unique typing of Poison/Fairy. It’s an all around good type combination. Defensively it only has 3 weaknesses and offensively it’s only resisted by Steel and Poison. I decided to run an offensive variant simply because in Gen 7 NU, offensive Z move Weezing was one of my favorite Pokémon to use lol.

EV spread is straight forward. Max SpA with a Modest nature for as much power as possible. The rest went into Speed to be as fast as possible. Sludge Wave and Strange Steam are the main moves of choice to be using as they are both STAB. Fire Blast is a must to hit Steel types. Dark Pulse is mainly to hit Gengar. The 4th move is interchangeable, really. This team struggles a bit with Gengar so I use Dark Pulse.

Levitate was the ability of choice to remove Weezing’s Ground weakness. Misty Surge could be used to buff Strange Steam and also makes the team immune to status while Misty Terrain is up.

Just like that I have my starting point of the team. Now let the actual building process begin!

Core Synergy

I wanted to find teammates that pair well with Weezing. Now, that could be offensively or defensively. Doesn’t matter. Even though I am running an offensive set on my Weezing, I did end up deciding to go with teammates with good defensive synergy with Weezing.

Rounding Out The Team

At this point once I had the core in place I originally just threw 3 Pokémon onto the team just to see what the UU meta was all about. Those 3 were:

-Choice Scarfed Obstagoon because I was afraid of Genger
-Bulk Up + Rapid Spin Hitmontop because the Rapid Spin buff can turn anything into a sweeper
-Utility Mew because I wanted entry hazards even though Heavy-duty boots has kind of nerfed hazards

After running a few battles, there were some threats in the tier that if you didn’t have an answer for then you were gonna have a bad time. The biggest one I saw that was the worst to deal with was G-max Charizard. So I started to fill out the rest of the team with a check to that.

With an answer to Charizard on the team, I was already feeling safe. However, there was still one Pokémon I was worried about... G-max Gengar. Gengar is a bit trickier for me to add an answer for on this team. It’s speed of 110 is tough to deal with, unless you use a Choice Scarf Pokémon. And I tried that with Obstagoon and, well, Obstagoon is awful. In fact, most Dark-types in the tier that are fast enough to put a Scarf on aren’t very good. I thought about putting a Scarf on a Psychic-type like Espeon or Gardevoir, but I didn’t want to add another Pokémon weak to Ghost-types when trying to counter Gengar... What I decided to do was add 2 Pokémon that can deal with Gengar in certain situations, while still helping the rest of the team.

Crawdaunt @ Choice Band
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
- Crabhammer
- Close Combat

Crawdaunt was the first Pokémon I chose. It’s an incredibly strong wallbreaker for the team and it can also revenge kill faster Pokémon, like Gengar. This is a standard set. Nothing crazy. Although Crawdaunt having access to a better Fighting-type coverage move than Superpower is amazing. Not much to say about Crawdaunt, it’s a very very good UU Pokemon.

Mr. Rime @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Rapid Spin
- Freeze-Dry
- Shadow Ball

There wasn’t much to say about Crawdaunt. Mr. Rime on the other hand, there is. As I mentioned in the opening to this segment about Hitmontop, the Rapid Spin buff (50 BP and gives +1 Speed) can turn any Pokémon into a sweeper, including Mr. Rime. +1 Speed with max Speed makes Mr. Rime faster than Gengar.

The set might have some people asking questions, specifically the 4th move. Weakness Policy is a fun item to use on Mr. Rime for a quick boost to SpA to turn him into a potent wallbreaker as well. That plus the speed boost from using Rapid Spin and it could be game over. Calm Mind is on the set as a more reliable way to boost Mr. Rime instead of relying on Weakness Policy.

The 2 offensive moves are worth talking about separately. Most people when making an offensive Pokémon might just put on the strongest attacks a Pokémon has to use. In this case it would be Ice Beam and Psychic. The reason why I’m running Freeze-Dry and Shadow Ball are to give Mr. Rime less checks. Ice Beam and Psychic are immediately walled by Steel-types, namely Bronzong (Bronzong is bad this Gen in singles so idk how common it will be). That move combo is also checked by bulky Water-types in the tier, like Milotic. Freeze-Dry is a little weaker than Ice Beam, but the added effect of being Super Effective against Water-types makes up for the power difference. Running Shadow Ball over Psychic gives Mr. Rime a way to hit Steel-type Pokémon neutrally, so it’s not completely shutdown by them. Plus with this team specifically, I have ways to deal with Fighting and Poison-types with the rest of the team, so Psychic coverage isn’t as needed.

There is the team. Feel free to try it out for yourselves and see what you think. UU has been a fun tier in the early stages since the meta isn't completely developed yet. If you do try this team out, please comment below and let me know what you think and any changes that you made or think should be made Big Grin

]]>
I decided since I did a team building thread for OU, which had more views than I was expecting tbh (this was always a VGC community primarily from what I remember), I’m going to do one for each tier after they open up. So let’s get into this UU team!

The Core

Weezing-Galar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Strange Steam
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse

Core Synergy

Rounding Out The Team

]]> <![CDATA[Gen 8 Noob Attempts An OU Team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-Gen-8-Noob-Attempts-An-OU-Team Wed, 27 Nov 2019 02:58:02 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-Gen-8-Noob-Attempts-An-OU-Team
1) I don’t own a Nintendo Switch, so I have not played Gen 8 yet.
2) I usually don’t play OU in competitive Pokemon. I’m an NU guy
3) My research on the current meta is from a few YouTube videos
4) I did do enough research to build a legal team lol.

This is just me basically spitballing a team idea and seeing what I can come up with. It might be good. It might be bad. Feel free to let me know lol. So let’s get started!

The Core

Toxtricity-Low-Key @ Choice Specs
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Sludge Wave
- Volt Switch

Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz

Thought Process

Filling Out The Squad

One thing a core like this appreciates greatly is hazard control. Being able to get up hazards to chip away at your opponent and make KOs easier is big. So I looked to fill those roles next.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

[Image: 858.png]

Hatterene (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpA / 88 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish
- Mystical Fire

Thought Process

The Missing Pieces

At this point I feel alright about how this team is looking. Good offensive and defensive synergy between them. I just need to use the last couple spots on the team to add to it. I still need a reliable way to pressure steel types offensively. I could also use a setup Pokemon.

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower

[Image: 537.png]

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Thought Process

So that’s the team. I haven’t tested it yet but I will get around to doing that over the holiday and come back here to post replays. Feel free to let me know in the comments what u all think Smile

]]>
1) I don’t own a Nintendo Switch, so I have not played Gen 8 yet.
2) I usually don’t play OU in competitive Pokemon. I’m an NU guy
3) My research on the current meta is from a few YouTube videos
4) I did do enough research to build a legal team lol.

This is just me basically spitballing a team idea and seeing what I can come up with. It might be good. It might be bad. Feel free to let me know lol. So let’s get started!

The Core

Toxtricity-Low-Key @ Choice Specs
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overdrive
- Boomburst
- Sludge Wave
- Volt Switch

Darmanitan-Galar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Gorilla Tactics
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Crash
- U-turn
- Earthquake
- Flare Blitz

Thought Process

Filling Out The Squad

One thing a core like this appreciates greatly is hazard control. Being able to get up hazards to chip away at your opponent and make KOs easier is big. So I looked to fill those roles next.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball
- Knock Off
- Power Whip

[Image: 858.png]

Hatterene (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 HP / 168 SpA / 88 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish
- Mystical Fire

Thought Process

The Missing Pieces

Hydreigon @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Flash Cannon
- Nasty Plot
- Flamethrower

[Image: 537.png]

Seismitoad @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Scald
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

Thought Process

]]> <![CDATA[Rules Released for 2020 VGC]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Rules-Released-for-2020-VGC Mon, 25 Nov 2019 13:58:16 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VGC-Rules-Released-for-2020-VGC
Rules have recently been released for the 2020 VGC season in the Generation 8 games. They have been confirmed via a tweet, which you can read here: https://twitter.com/pokemon_tcg/status/1...29824?s=21 (its in Korean, I'll put it through Google Translate in the future).

For a more watered-down version, the rules will be the same as the Ranked Battles Series 1. I'll post those here in the future as well.

I'm excited for this, and I can't wait to see what 2020 will bring!

-RetroTyphlosion]]>
Rules have recently been released for the 2020 VGC season in the Generation 8 games. They have been confirmed via a tweet, which you can read here: https://twitter.com/pokemon_tcg/status/1...29824?s=21 (its in Korean, I'll put it through Google Translate in the future).

For a more watered-down version, the rules will be the same as the Ranked Battles Series 1. I'll post those here in the future as well.

I'm excited for this, and I can't wait to see what 2020 will bring!

-RetroTyphlosion]]> <![CDATA[Need help building my first competitive pokemon]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Need-help-building-my-first-competitive-pokemon Sun, 01 Sep 2019 12:26:18 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Need-help-building-my-first-competitive-pokemon <![CDATA[NU Team - Comfey Sweeps]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-NU-Team-Comfey-Sweeps Sat, 20 Apr 2019 06:07:23 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-NU-Team-Comfey-Sweeps
Full team is here:

The Start

The way I would recommend building a team is to start with Identifying a Pokemon that you want to use, come up with a role for it, then build a core around it to help it succeed at that role. That Pokemon for me was Comfey. I wanted to use Comfey and the role I wanted was for it to be a set-up sweeper for mid-late games. So here is my set:

Comfey @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

So if you haven't read the Comfey moveset thread, I will give a quick explanation. Comfey's ability, Triage, gives all health stealing moves +3 priority. So Draining Kiss and Giga Drain will always attack first. Because those moves will always attack first, Speed EVs aren't as important. The 20 Speed EVs allow Comfey to outspeed Max Speed base 60 Pokemon, mainly Incineroar. 252 SpA EVs with a Modest Nature and Life Orb let Comfey hit as hard as possible with it's priority moves. The rest of the EVs went in HP to give Comfey added bulk. Calm Mind is to set-up to help aid the sweep. Hidden Power Ground is coverage against Pokemon that resist Fairy/Grass type attacks. Mainly Steelix and Delphox.

I identified the Pokemon I wanted to use. I have an intended role for it. Now its time to build around it. There are 3 types that really prevent Comfey from sweeping. Fire, Poison, and Steel. Those 3 types resist Comfey's priority moves. So, I needed to add some Pokemon who can eliminate those 3 types. And, well, I went a somewhat unique route with it by not only choosing 2 Pokemon that aren't seen much on the NU ladder, but I gave 1 of them a pretty crazy set.

The Breakers

Before I talk about the 2 Pokemon I chose, I'm just gonna run through some of the options for these roles I thought of originally. Remember, the goal of these 2 Pokemon are to break through Fire, Poison, and Steel types. Delphox was the 1st Pokemon that came to mind as it's STAB attacks are Super Effective against 2 of those types, but tbh I just made a post about another NU team last week and that team included Delphox so I didn't want to use it again. Slowking crossed my mind because, again, its STAB attacks were strong against 2 of those types, but a lot of the Pokemon I needed to break through were SpD walls so i didn't want a Special Attacker as my main breaker. So that kind of narrowed it down to 2 Pokemon for me, Medicham and Gallade. Both are Fighting/Psychic types so their STAB attacks also hit 2 types Super Effectively. I ended up choosing Gallade for the job over Medicham for 3 specific reasons. So lets look at the set and I will explain:

Gallade @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off

Like I said, there are 3 reasons why I chose Gallade over Medicham. And they are:

1) Gallade has a way to beat Psychic types like Delphox and Slowking because of Knock Off
2) Gallade has a better set-up move than Medicham in Swords Dance
3) Close Combat is a more reliable STAB Fighting attack than Medicham's High Jump Kick.

Gallade's dual STAB Fighting/Psychic type attacks hit Steel and Poison types for Super Effective damage. On top of that, the 2 fire types I was worried about the most, Delphox and Incineroar, are also weak to Gallade's coverage moves. I'm running a standard Max Attack and Speed EV spread with a Jolly nature. Life Orb is for added power so Gallade can break walls more efficiently. Knock Off is to hit Psychic types like the aforementioned Delphox and Slowking who would otherwise check Gallade. Justified is the ability of choice to punish Knock Off spam.

So now that Gallade is on the team, I went back to looking at the 3 types I needed to beat because I didn't want to only have 1 Pokemon responsible for that role. One thing I noticed was that Water/Ground type Pokemon resisted all 3 types and hit them all Super Effectively. Now there is only 1 Water/Ground type Pokemon in NU, but if you go into the ranks of PU, there are actually 4 Water/Ground types I had to choose from. They are Seismitoad, Gastrodon, Quagsire, and Whiscash. Quagsire is not an offensive Pokemon so it was eliminated from the debate quickly. Whiscash was also eliminated quickly because I didnt want a 3rd set-up Pokemon. So it was between Seismitoad and Gastrodon. I chose Gastrodon over Seismitoad for 1 very big reason, and I made a fun set out of it.

Gastrodon @ Icium Z
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover

Yes, you are reading this correctly. This is an offensive Gastrodon with Subzero Slammer. That is the main reason I picked Gastrodon over Seismitoad. Seismitoad doesnt have a reliable way to deal with some of the Poison types that aren't weak to Ground like Golbat and Vileplume. Gastrodon does. Plus Gastrodon has a way to boost its own SpA with Storm Drain. The EV spread is interesting. Obviously Modest with max SpA for max power, but the 172 Speed EVs allow Gastrodon to outspeed uninvested base 60 Pokemon and lower. Defensive Incineroar and Vileplume are the 2 I care about the most. The rest of the EVs just went into HP for bulk. Scald and Earth Power are the 2 STAB moves of choice. The 30% burn Scald has still has value which is why I'm running it over the stronger Surf. Ice Beam is to hit Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer being a nuke with OHKO potential depending on the set. I will put calcs below. Recover is to keep Gastrodon alive for longer. Gastrodon is also 1 of my 3 Heliolisk checks.

Subzero Slammer Calcs:

So I have my offensive core in place. Now I felt like I needed Hazard Support to add extra chip damage to make the roles of these 3 Pokemon I already talked about easier.

Hazard Support

There wasn't as much thought process here. I had a good idea of the 2 Pokemon I wanted to use for these roles on the team already. So lets just get into it.

Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Synthesis

Dhelmise was the Pokemon I wanted to use as my Rapid Spinner. The Colbur berry kind of turns Dhelmise into a Choice Scarf Passimian check as it can live it's Knock Offs and helps it to not be Pursuit trapped by Sneasel. The 100 Speed EVs allows it to hit the same Speed as my Gastrodon set, so it outspeeds the same things. Adamant max Attack for power. The rest in HP for bulk. Power Whip is Dhelmise's strongest Attack and allows Dhelmise to defeat most hazard setters in the tier such as Rhydon and Steelix. Anchor Shot is another "STAB" attack thanks to the Steelworker ability and it is nice for trapping Pokemon in with Dhelmise that can't beat it 1 on 1 or allows me to bring in another Pokemon safely in certain situations. Synthesis is to keep Dhelmise healthy. Thanks to its Grass/Ghost typing, Dhelmise also acts as a spin blocker because it is immune to Rapid Spin and Dhelimise is also my 2nd Heliolisk check as long as it isn't running Dark Pulse as it's coverage move.

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Dehlmise is my way to remove Hazards, Rhydon is my way to set them. First let me explain the EV spread. Max HP to increase Rhydon's overall bulk. 16 Atk is interesting. So the way EVs work is for every 4 EVs you put in a stat, that stat goes up by 1 point. For whatever reason, going from 12 EVs in Rhydon's Attack to 16 makes it's Attack stat go up by 2. So that's why the 16 EVs are there. The rest went into SpD to help with Rhydon's weak special bulk as much as possible. Stealth Rock is almost a must have on any competitive team. Rock Blast and Earthquake are Rhydon's STAB moves of choice. I run Rock Blast over Stone Edge because Rock Blast is better for Substitute users like Braviary and it beats Focus Sash leads. Toxic is to cripple walls that like to switch in to Rhydon to make things easier for Comfey late game.

For the last spot on the team, I wanted a Pokemon that could be a Pivot for the team. A Pokemon that I could switch in on weaker Attacks and then U-Turn or Volt Switch out to gain momentum and get my Offensive Pokemon in safely. So I decided to use the best Pivot in the tier.

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
- Earthquake

Incineroar is a very threatening Pokemon in NU right now. Its utility with Knock Off and U-Turn make it an incredible Pivot in the tier. Plus Intimidate is nice to weaken the attacks of Opposing Pokemon. The EV Spread is to just improve Incineroar's all around bulk. Sassy nature with 30 Speed IVs is so that I am always slower than Opposing Incineroar so I get momentum off of U-Turn, but still faster than uninvested base 50 Speed Pokemon like Rhydon and Vileplume. Fire Blast is run over Flare Blitz to hit Steelix harder and so Incineroar doesn't take recoil damage. Earthquake is to hit opposing Fire Types like opposing Incineroar as well as common Fire checks like Rhydon. The Iapapa berry gives Incineroar a form of recovery as long as it doesn't get knocked off.

Team Summary

The goal of this team is to just weaken Comfey's checks to the point where Comfey is able to sweep at the end of the game. Once your opponent has no answer to Comfey, Comfey becomes difficult to defeat because nothing outspeeds it. Focus on eliminating Fire, Poison, and Steel types early game. Gallade can do that with an SD boost or Gastrodon can surprise pokemon like Vileplume and Golbat with Subzero Slammer. It's a fun team to use and kind of a unique one because of Gallade and Gastrodon.

1 way to improve the team, as sad as it is for me to type this, is by removing Gastrodon. Its fun, but its a bit too much of a Gimmick for this team to be viable competitively. Plus, Rhydon is capable at doing most of what Gastrodon is supposed to do anyway. Outside of Comfey, the team is lacking Speed. I haven't tested any replacements, but Scarf Braviary would probably be the 1st one I try.

Pokemon Showdown Replays

So here are a few battles that demonstrate how strong Comfey is. Its sweeping ability is insane. The 1st battle on the list is a perfect example.

I really enjoy doing these write ups so I'm going to keep finding new and fun sets to use and build around so I can keep making them. Hope you all enjoyed this write up and I hope you all have a wonderful day Big Grin

]]>
Full team is here:

The Start

Comfey @ Life Orb
Ability: Triage
EVs: 236 HP / 252 SpA / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Draining Kiss
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Ground]

The Breakers

Gallade @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Psycho Cut
- Knock Off

Gastrodon @ Icium Z
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 84 HP / 252 SpA / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Recover

So I have my offensive core in place. Now I felt like I needed Hazard Support to add extra chip damage to make the roles of these 3 Pokemon I already talked about easier.

Hazard Support

There wasn't as much thought process here. I had a good idea of the 2 Pokemon I wanted to use for these roles on the team already. So lets just get into it.

Dhelmise @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Steelworker
EVs: 156 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- Anchor Shot
- Rapid Spin
- Synthesis

Rhydon @ Eviolite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 240 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Toxic

Incineroar @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 240 HP / 136 Def / 132 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 30 Spe
- Knock Off
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
- Earthquake

Team Summary

Pokemon Showdown Replays

So here are a few battles that demonstrate how strong Comfey is. Its sweeping ability is insane. The 1st battle on the list is a perfect example.

]]> <![CDATA[My 1st Competitive Team in YEARS!]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-My-1st-Competitive-Team-in-YEARS Sun, 14 Apr 2019 08:37:36 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-SMOGON-My-1st-Competitive-Team-in-YEARS NU Hazard Stacking Team that I've been using recently and that I've had some success with. So, without further ado, lets get into the team building process.

The Core

So when I was first getting back into things, the first thing I noticed was there were multiple Mega Pokemon in NU now. Last time I played it was only Mega Audino in the tier. So I immediately wanted to use a Mega on the team and build around that. And the Mega I chose? Mega Glalie! I knew I wanted to use Mega Glalie right away, but at this time in the process I didn't know the type of team I wanted to build around it. So I kind of pieced it together as I went along and added more members to the squad.

Glalie @ Glalitite
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Explosion

So this is just a standard Mega Glalie set in NU. Mega Glalie is one of the best wallbreakers in the tier and the pressure it puts on opponents to switch out makes it a reliable Spikes user as well. The ability to pressure and eliminate opposing Xatu, which is a common staple to a lot of NU teams, is very important since Xatu's Magic Bounce ability prevents hazards from being placed on your opponents side of the field. Plus Glalie's Ice + Ground coverage is amazing for dealing with a lot of the tier. The most noticeable thing that Glalie cant deal with in NU is bulky Water types... And there are a lot of them in the tier. That is where the 2nd member comes in...

The amount of pressure these 2 pokemon put on opponents force a lot of switches, which is where the wheels started spinning in my head to try to turn this into a hazard stacking team. So for that, I needed more of them.

The Hazard Support

The main hazard I needed to add was, of course, Stealth Rock. There are a lot of Rockers I thought about using in this spot. Steelix was the first pokemon that came to mind, but my core is already really weak to Fighting. Because of the fighting weakness I thought about Palossand instead, which could have worked well for many reasons. However I ended up settling for the most unique Rocker in the tier...

Now on the other end of the spectrum of Hazard Support, I needed to add a pokemon that could keep Hazards off of my side of the field with all the switching that I would be doing. And for that, I added another unique pokemon in the tier...

So, at this point I have 2 of the strongest wall breakers in the tier on the team. Hazards that can be stacked freely. And 2 walls that can wear down opposing pokemon by inflicting status, Rocky Helmet chip damage, and phasing out opponents into unfavorable match-ups which forces more switches and extra damage from hazards... But I had nothing to take advantage of that at this point. So the last 2 spots on my team went to pokemon who could take advantage.

The Cleanup Crew

I knew what i wanted at this point, but I wasn't sure exactly what to add. One thing I always do, or did, when team building was I always tried to have a 2nd core of types that synergized well together. Either Fire-Water-Grass, Dragon-Fairy-Steel, or Dark-Fighting-Psychic. So I wanted to complete 1 of those typing cores with the last 2 spots. I also needed a pokemon that can set up and sweep late game or punch holes through a team early/mid game. I also wanted priority as well to pick off pokemon weakened by the rest of the team. I also needed a Z move user as well because why not, right? And I eventually found a teammate that fit even better with this team than I even realized when I first added it...

So, 5 of the 6 members are on the team. I also have 2/3 of the Fire-Water-Grass core I am aiming to add at this point. I still needed an offensive pokemon. I have wall breakers, I have set up, I have priority. One thing I felt I was missing was a Choice Scarf user. A scarfed Fire type was what I needed and I knew right away which pokemon it would be...

Another thing about adding these 2 Pokemon to the team is they both resist the main weakness of the Core of this team, Fighting types.

Team Summary

I love this team. The synergy that each Pokemon has with each other works really well. Whether its the Hazards set by Druddigon and Glalie weakening Pokemon for Decidueye and Delphox to sweep easier late game, Delphox and Glalie eliminating Grass types that check Decidueye and Heliolisk while the ladder 2 return the favor by eliminating Water types that check Glalie and Delphox, Druddigon and Decidueye manipulating match-ups by phasing/trapping Pokemon. It all gels very well together... but it isn't perfect. There are a few things that stood out to me as problems for this team to deal with.

Incineroar - Arguably the most used Pokemon in NU, Assault Vest Incineroar is a problem for this team. None of my offensive Pokemon deal with it very well. The way I have beaten Incineroar with this team is weakening it with Rocky Helmet chip and Hazards to the point where its in range of the other Pokemon to clean it up.

Defog - I have a way to stop Rapid Spinners from removing my hazards, but nothing to stop Defog. No Defiant users like Passimian or Braviary to punish a team for Defogging away my hazards.

Toxic Spikes - Toxic Spikes are the one hazard this team doesn't appreciate. Blastoise can spin them away, but having one of my main walls crippled with Toxic is annoying. A Poison type to absorb Toxic Spikes when entering the field would be beneficial.

Knock Off - This is a problem for 2 reasons. First reason is I simply don't have it on the team. Second reason is I have no Dark type resist on the team so there is nothing to stop my opponents from spamming it.

Fairy Types - I Don't have any way to hit Fairy types Super Effectively. Just relying on chip damage and wall breaking to deal with them. Luckily, there aren't many Fairy types in the tier. Mega Audino, Whimsicott, and Comfey are the only 3 you will see regularly on the ladder and Delphox walls 2 of them.

Pokemon Showdown Replays

Below I will put some battles for everyone to watch of me using this team. Joeypoppems is my Username.

I hope anyone who read all of this enjoyed it. I know competitively speaking this is mostly a VGC community, but if anybody like this I will keep making them with various different teams Smile

]]> NU Hazard Stacking Team that I've been using recently and that I've had some success with. So, without further ado, lets get into the team building process.

The Core

Glalie @ Glalitite
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Spikes
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Explosion

The Hazard Support

The Cleanup Crew

Another thing about adding these 2 Pokemon to the team is they both resist the main weakness of the Core of this team, Fighting types.

Team Summary

Pokemon Showdown Replays

Below I will put some battles for everyone to watch of me using this team. Joeypoppems is my Username.

I hope anyone who read all of this enjoyed it. I know competitively speaking this is mostly a VGC community, but if anybody like this I will keep making them with various different teams Smile

]]> <![CDATA[Help building a good team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Help-building-a-good-team Mon, 01 Apr 2019 21:16:00 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Help-building-a-good-team
I want to hear other people's opinions on my team. I'm trying to play more defensively. Please tell me your thoughts.

1) Venusaur - Mega
a) item= Venusaurite
b) nature= modest
c) ability= chlorophyll/thick fat
d) giga drain
e) sludge bomb
f) leech seed
g) synthesis

2) Vaporeon
a) item= leftovers
b) nature= bold
c) ability= water absorb
d) scald
e) aqua ring
f) ice beam
g) toxic

3) Arcanine
a) item= ?
b) nature= careful
c) ability= intimidate
d) flare blitz
e) wild charge
f) roar
g) extreme speed

4) Garchomp
a) item = groundinium z
b) nature = jolly
c) ability= rough skin
d) dragon claw
e) rock slide
f) earthquake
g) iron tail

5) Aegislash
a) item = expert belt
b) nature= adamant
c) ability = stance change
d) shadow claw
e) iron head
f) sacred sword
g) king's shield

6) Togekiss
a) item= ?
b) nature= timid
c) ability = serene grace
d) dazzling gleam
e) psychic
f) wish
g) baton pass]]>
I want to hear other people's opinions on my team. I'm trying to play more defensively. Please tell me your thoughts.

1) Venusaur - Mega
a) item= Venusaurite
b) nature= modest
c) ability= chlorophyll/thick fat
d) giga drain
e) sludge bomb
f) leech seed
g) synthesis

2) Vaporeon
a) item= leftovers
b) nature= bold
c) ability= water absorb
d) scald
e) aqua ring
f) ice beam
g) toxic

3) Arcanine
a) item= ?
b) nature= careful
c) ability= intimidate
d) flare blitz
e) wild charge
f) roar
g) extreme speed

4) Garchomp
a) item = groundinium z
b) nature = jolly
c) ability= rough skin
d) dragon claw
e) rock slide
f) earthquake
g) iron tail

5) Aegislash
a) item = expert belt
b) nature= adamant
c) ability = stance change
d) shadow claw
e) iron head
f) sacred sword
g) king's shield

6) Togekiss
a) item= ?
b) nature= timid
c) ability = serene grace
d) dazzling gleam
e) psychic
f) wish
g) baton pass]]> <![CDATA[hi i need help with my team this is my team for garchomp not the best]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-hi-i-need-help-with-my-team-this-is-my-team-for-garchomp-not-the-best Fri, 08 Mar 2019 18:10:34 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-hi-i-need-help-with-my-team-this-is-my-team-for-garchomp-not-the-best Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake [/font][font]Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled [/font][font]Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire] [/font][font]Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic [/font][font]Mimikyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch [/font][font]Kartana @ Grassium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- X-Scissor [/font]]]> Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake [/font][font]Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled [/font][font]Magearna @ Assault Vest
Ability: Soul-Heart
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Fleur Cannon
- Iron Head
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power [Fire] [/font][font]Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 216 HP / 252 Atk / 40 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Toxic [/font][font]Mimikyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch [/font][font]Kartana @ Grassium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- X-Scissor [/font]]]> <![CDATA[hi i need help with my team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-hi-i-need-help-with-my-team Sun, 03 Mar 2019 02:19:39 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-hi-i-need-help-with-my-team Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot Mimikyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Rock Slide

thank you,
champninjastar]]> Venusaur-Mega @ Venusaurite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Synthesis Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 88 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Protect
- Leech Seed
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Soft-Boiled Greninja @ Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot Mimikyu @ Mimikium Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 8 HP / 252 Atk / 248 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough Excadrill @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Rock Slide

thank you,
champninjastar]]> <![CDATA[Help with my new team]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Help-with-my-new-team Mon, 21 Jan 2019 10:09:50 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-RATE-MY-TEAM-Help-with-my-new-team
I want to make a new competitive team and I would like to hear any opinions or advice people have on it so I can make the team the best possible. Here it is:

1) Mega Venusaur
Modest nature, holding venusaurite
Ability= chlorophyll
Giga drain
Sludge bomb
Leech seed
Synthesis

2) Vaporeon
Bold nature, holding leftovers
Ability= water absorb
Scald
Aqua ring
Ice beam
Toxic

3) Garchomp
Jolly nature, holding rocky helmet
Ability= rough skin
Dragon claw
Earthquake
Rock slide
Iron tail

4) Manectric
Timid nature, holding electrium z
Ability= lightning rod
Thunderbolt
Volt switch
Protect
Roar

5) Togekiss
Timid nature, holding leftovers
Ability= serence grace
Dazzling Gleam
Psychic
Baton pass
Wish

6) Arcanine
Adamant nature, holding quick claw
Ability= Intimidate
Flare blitz
Roar
Extreme speed
Close combat]]>
I want to make a new competitive team and I would like to hear any opinions or advice people have on it so I can make the team the best possible. Here it is:

1) Mega Venusaur
Modest nature, holding venusaurite
Ability= chlorophyll
Giga drain
Sludge bomb
Leech seed
Synthesis

2) Vaporeon
Bold nature, holding leftovers
Ability= water absorb
Scald
Aqua ring
Ice beam
Toxic

3) Garchomp
Jolly nature, holding rocky helmet
Ability= rough skin
Dragon claw
Earthquake
Rock slide
Iron tail

4) Manectric
Timid nature, holding electrium z
Ability= lightning rod
Thunderbolt
Volt switch
Protect
Roar

5) Togekiss
Timid nature, holding leftovers
Ability= serence grace
Dazzling Gleam
Psychic
Baton pass
Wish

6) Arcanine
Adamant nature, holding quick claw
Ability= Intimidate
Flare blitz
Roar
Extreme speed
Close combat]]> <![CDATA[Pokemon Forever]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VIDEO-Pokemon-Forever Mon, 26 Nov 2018 08:40:56 -0800 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-VIDEO-Pokemon-Forever
I had played a few games before with him using my Eeveelution team (I only spent 10 minutes on the build) and he kept wanting to battle.. so I ended up using my old build from May!

Greninja_Gamer23 vs. Kayne Noodles]]>
I had played a few games before with him using my Eeveelution team (I only spent 10 minutes on the build) and he kept wanting to battle.. so I ended up using my old build from May!

Greninja_Gamer23 vs. Kayne Noodles]]> <![CDATA[Let's Flip the Meta!]]> http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-FUN-Let-s-Flip-the-Meta Mon, 01 Oct 2018 05:28:12 -0700 http://pokemonforever.com/Thread-FUN-Let-s-Flip-the-Meta
History of Mechanic Additions

Since about Generation 5, it's become a tradition in Pokemon to add new mechanics and features in battle. All starting (technically) with Double Battles in Generation 3, Generation 5 introduced Triple and Rotation Battles, Generation 6 introduced Multi Battles and Mega Pokemon, and lastly Generation 7 introduced Royale Battles and Z Moves. Mega Pokemon and Z Moves changed the competitive Pokemon meta in which Pokemon had never seen. Z Moves allowed many new moveset opportunities, and Mega Pokemon allowed for various team combinations. With this in mind, we can safely assume Generation 8 will do the same.

Ally Channelling

The new mechanic I propose is something called Ally Channelling. Ally Channelling is exactly what it sounds like, a Pokemon can channel the power of a Pokemon you have in the party. In battle the effects would include the following;

The Base Stats of the Pokemon you're Channelling get passed on to the Pokemon in use, removing the current Base Stats to replace them
The type of the Pokemon you're Channelling gets added to the Pokemon in use
The Pokemon you're Channelling will pass it's Ability onto the Pokemon in use, replacing the current Ability
If the Pokemon in use will receive the held item of the Channelled Pokemon
Ally Channelling can only be used once per battle, and will wear off over time, thus balancing the mechanic
Once Ally Channelling wears of, either forced (fainting) or natural, the Channelled Pokemon cannot be used

Let's get into the technical side for a bit. Ally Channelling would be activated by an item, the item must be held by the Pokemon you want to receive the boost. Channelling would then pop up as an option like Mega Evolution and Z Moves. Every Pokemon can Channel, but certain Pokemon like fused Kyurem and Necrozma, Dragon Ascent Rayquaza and Shedinja cannot, and you also cannot make a Pokemon Channel the same species as what you're using.

So with this in mind, just about every Pokemon can become viable, allowing for the most varied Pokemon meta ever seen. I'm curious how you'd use this so feel free to share your thoughts. I'd love to use a Mimikyu with a Channelled Spiritomb.]]>
History of Mechanic Additions

Since about Generation 5, it's become a tradition in Pokemon to add new mechanics and features in battle. All starting (technically) with Double Battles in Generation 3, Generation 5 introduced Triple and Rotation Battles, Generation 6 introduced Multi Battles and Mega Pokemon, and lastly Generation 7 introduced Royale Battles and Z Moves. Mega Pokemon and Z Moves changed the competitive Pokemon meta in which Pokemon had never seen. Z Moves allowed many new moveset opportunities, and Mega Pokemon allowed for various team combinations. With this in mind, we can safely assume Generation 8 will do the same.

Ally Channelling

The new mechanic I propose is something called Ally Channelling. Ally Channelling is exactly what it sounds like, a Pokemon can channel the power of a Pokemon you have in the party. In battle the effects would include the following;

The Base Stats of the Pokemon you're Channelling get passed on to the Pokemon in use, removing the current Base Stats to replace them
The type of the Pokemon you're Channelling gets added to the Pokemon in use
The Pokemon you're Channelling will pass it's Ability onto the Pokemon in use, replacing the current Ability
If the Pokemon in use will receive the held item of the Channelled Pokemon
Ally Channelling can only be used once per battle, and will wear off over time, thus balancing the mechanic
Once Ally Channelling wears of, either forced (fainting) or natural, the Channelled Pokemon cannot be used