Zaio's VGC 2016 Team Showcase (HoF)

[Zaio Volnutt]

Good day everyone, Zaio here bringing you a showcase of one of my pokemon teams for the VGC 2016 format. Now the reason why I felt doing this is because I personally felt that I’ve learnt a lot from the game and trying to make something unique but at the same time fitting to play is something that this team has accomplished for me. Viewers discretion is advised)

 Key Points
.Weather Control
.Physical Counter
.Hax disruption



Raijin (Thundurus) M  @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
EV Investment: Max Sp Atk, Max Speed Invest
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Thunder, Roleplay, Taunt, Protect

Thundurus is a really interesting legendary, having the prankster ability and with 125 base sp attack makes it a force to be reckon with not only can it check majority of other prankster pokemons with its max Speed but it also has powerful offensive moves which is where thunder comes in since Thunder never misses under Rain weather it can counter Primal Kyogre if at best take out 3/4 of its total HP which completely kills off water spout. The item can be switched from Focus Sash to Mental Herb however I find Focus Sash much more useful to counter Xerneas as Thundurus can still chip in a bit of damage to it before being taken down. Another thing to note is that unlike the common Thundurus around instead of using Thunder wave I opted for Roleplay for the sole purpose of controlling the weather or copy a unique ability like Mega Kangaskhan’s parental bond which rarely happens but has a high potential OHKO to a Kyogre with Thunder



Waterbender (Primal Kyogre) @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primorial Sea
Ev Investment: Max Sp. Atk, Max Speed
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Water Spout, Origin Pulse, Ice Beam, Protect

This one is pretty straightforward, Water Spout for maximum Stab move with sure hit accuracy, Origin pulse in case its HP is lowered to making Water spout useless, and Ice beam to counter pokemons like Salamence , Landorus, Thundurus, Amoongus or Whimsicott. So yeah pretty straightforward Sp. Atk Sweeper.



Sara (Mega-Mawile) F @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate/Huge Power (Upon Mega)
Ev Investment: Max Physical Attack, Speed 180, HP 78
Nature: Jolly
Moveset: Play Rough, Fire Fang, Return, Protect

For Mawile I had her meant as a counter to Physical pokemons like Mega Kangaskhan or Mega Salamence, Even with no investment on the Defence she can pretty much tolerate damage given and return it with her own physical attack which can OHKO most Dragons with Play Rough and can OHKO Ferrothorn with Fire Fang which can be least expected. Although I am in a mix between using either Sucker Punch or Return but either way both can do fine although Sucker punch is a much better option.



Grace (Lugia) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
Ev Investment: Max Sp Def, Max Speed
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Tailwind, Recover, Thunder, Aeroblast

When I had the idea for using Mega Mawile the issue for me is the fact that most pokemons can easily outspeed it due to her 50 base speed, however thanks to Lugia I can assure that it can support the team with tailwind and can be tanky enough to take hits from special attacks even without investing on its physical defence it is high enough to tank the hits pretty well.  Since it has access to Thunder it can match up perfectly with Primal Kyogre as a check. The reason I chose Sitrus berry over leftovers is for the fact that it is best to have a greater recovery so that Lugia can apply more pressure through its attacks even though it doesn’t deal that much damage overall than be more defensive.



Shiggy Diggy (Ludicolo) M @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
Ev Investment: Max Hp, Sp Def 128, Speed 124
Nature: Timid
Moveset: Teeter Dance, Icy Wind, Giga Drain, Protect

This is an interesting gimmick for Ludicolo since Swift Swim doubles its speed and with the speed investment placed on Ludicolo it can outspeed a lot of pokemons so it usually teams up with Kyogre for its Rain control. So with that in mind I use Teeter Dance because it is a confuse ray that affects every pokemon on the field which even bypasses wide guard so it’s even more effective. Since Teeter dance even affects my own its usually recommended to either get a pokemon which has the Ability Own Tempo orrrrr Use the move Protect . On a side not I included icy wind to slow down faster pokemons for Mawile to potentially outspeed them and giga drain for easy sustain and STAB from its Grass Typing. So yeah that’s basically it Ludicolo tanky enough to take hit and recover really slowly which can be annoying to take out since even if it gets Taunt there is still Icy Wind and Giga Drain to worry about .




Yosuke (Riolu) M @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Ev Investment: Max both Def
Nature: Calm
Moveset: Swagger, Screech, Follow Me, Protect

Like Sejun Parks Pachirisu, My Riolu is Champion!

The fact that he takes advantage of Eviolite, Riolu can take hits from strong attacks which is leads to at least 50% damage with full defensive investment. With the access of Prankster I opted to use a complete non attacking move which simply put the main strategy is using Swagger in case Ludicolo is inefficient and increase the confusion damage via Screech (Note: Confusion Stat damage dependant on the pokemon’s Physical attack and defence) So this can usually disrupt Xerneas one of the biggest threats for my team and can take damage from pokemons that targets my other pokemons like Kyogre for instance with its Follow me move. So yeah just like Pachirisu when you think about it except instead of Super Fang and Nuzzle Riolu has Swagger Screech .

So yeah that’s about it the team mainly follows the three main points, Kyogre and Thundurus on Weather Control, Physical Counter with Lugia and Mega Mawile and Disruption goes to Ludicolo and Riolu. However since this relies on confusion disruption it can cause a disadvantage since it requires luck and your opponent not switching out at the appropriate moments. I enjoyed building and using this team even tho im aware there are a few things that i can adjust to make it even better but i had fun using it which is what i like about this team.

[ResonatingOctave]

The team itself isn't bad, but to be completely honest, I still don't truly see any value in the Riolu. It's a rather lack luster poke that gets walled by a bunch of answers to things already established in the meta, such as taunt, or safeguard, or lum berries being seen. Yes, it is a support pokemon, but it has 0 answer to any of that, and even with eviolite and max defense, as you have, it still gets one shot by so many prime targets in the meta, such as Salamence, Kyogre's Origin Pulse, Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent/Draco Meteor, Xerneas (with 0 boost), and the list goes on and on. Besides that, like I have stated numerous times, I feel as if your team is very luck based and is hard to really actually emulate due to your immense luck, which most competitive people deem as a dangerous route to take because you are relying on outside factors. Aside from that, another thing your team is lacking heavily on is speed control, which is extremely important in this meta. This can lead to many problems in matchups with tailwind/trick room, as you won't be able to answer anything they bring aside from with luck, which again I caution because of the use of outside forces. Also, there is a major hole in your team, where threats such as Amoonguss, and Ferrothorn can easily wall anything that your team throws at them. This can easily be fixed by replacing either your mega (but that would open a hole against Xerneas and other fairies), or replacing your other restricted mon to something such as Rayquaza, Groudon, or less commonly seen Ho-Oh, or even swapping out the Riolu (which I covered beforehand). Just as a heads up, I am not posting this as a way to deem your team bad, because it produced the results you wanted, but rather to help you and your team improve.

[Zaio Volnutt]

I appreciate the feedback as always ^^

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