I went to Nationals this summer and placed 34th in the seniors division. I went 5-3 and misclicked in my 5th game which cost me the day as I continued the rest of my matches on tilt. I also won 2 premier challenges with this team in prep for nationals. So without further ado, here's the team.
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 244 Atk / 20 Def
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Fake Out
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Double-Edge
Kangaskhan was a mega that gained popularity this year because its versatility and was one of the more standard Pokémon from the 14-15 season, being on 7/8 teams in the worlds cut. I decided to use Kangaskhan but wanted to be more original than the other people who were using it at nationals and realized that I would face a lot of them and would have to be able to counter them. At first, scald-burning them or taking them out on the first turn would be the way I could take it out. However, I realized I could just counter with a bulkier Kangaskhan set.
252 Atk Kangaskhan Low Kick (80 BP) vs. 244 HP / 20 Def Kangaskhan: 88-104 (41.7 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
This set guaranteed a 3HKO bar a crit, from a timid non-intimidated Kangaskhan with low kick. The defense and HP investment allowed to use double-edge even if it meant taking recoil damage. I could usually do a minimum of 50% damage to any Pokémon that was sent out which was the goal of my Kangaskhan. Weakening them allowed me to take it out with other Pokémon that posed a bigger threat such as my Blaziken did. Kangaskhan also allowed me to safely scout out moves that my opponent's threats had and in some battles, was able to prock sitrus berries as well. There was no speed investment because I had tailwind support which I will explain when I get to Suicune.
Blaziken (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 20 Atk / 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Overheat
- Superpower
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Blaziken was the sweeper and most frail Pokémon out of the team, considering that I built this one pretty heavily on bulk. The moveset is pretty standard for a mixed Blaziken with overheat being the most powerful and viable fire move that he can learn, superpower for kangaskhan coverage, protect in order to get the speed boost, and HP Ice for Landorus coverage. The 20 attack EVs are there in order for a guaranteed OHKO on Kangaskhan. 252 speed EVs are for max speed and the rest was dumped into special attack. Naïve nature boosts speed but decreases defense and I was willing to trade for that since it's already frail as it is.
Stuff that I had to watch out for however, was Talonflame, Landorus-T, and rain teams. I had to make sure I had KO'ed talonflame before sending out Blaziken because with access to gale wings, it could strike blaziken regardless of how fast my Blaziken was. Landorus-T with choice scarf or assault vest also gave me a lot of trouble. I would usually have to get two turns of speed boost before I could outspeed a scarfed Lando. AV Landorus could also survive my HP Ice even with the life orb boost which was a little unfortunate considering its 4x weakness. Rain teams that had the standard core of Politoed and Ludicolo was hard to beat with a Blaziken since it could only superpower one Pokémon and I would have to knock out Ludicolo or stall out rain before being able to use Blaziken to its fullest potential.
Zapdos @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 44 Def / 172 SpA / 20 SpD / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Flying]
This set is pretty bulky but its primary goal was to be able to knock out ludicolo and stuff that was weak to flying.
252+ Atk Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 132 HP / 44 Def Zapdos: 112-132 (61.5 - 72.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
It allowed me to live a rock slide from a standard scarfed Landorus as well assuming that I didn't flinch, which would be extremely unfortunate. Thunderbolt was a good STAB move that could hit a lot of things and especially thundurus, which would attempt to thunder wave my team. Zapdos allowed me to hit rain teams pretty heavily since ice beam would not knock me out bar a helping handed ice beam.
252+ SpA Life Orb Ludicolo Ice Beam vs. 132 HP / 20 SpD Zapdos: 122-146 (67 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I opted for roost over tailwind because I needed something that could take advantage of turns where I would not be able to do anything, such as a team that was stalling out turns of tailwind. I equipped a lum berry instead of a rocky helmet or even expert belt because of the amount of hacks that would happen to me. Every now and then, I would be freeze hacked and I did not want to lose the game because of that. There would also be times where I faced against dark void Smeargle and needed a counter to it. And of course, Swagger from Thundurus was such a pain and I didn't want to deal with confusion RNG either.
Suicune @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Def / 100 SpA / 116 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Protect
- Tailwind
- Ice Beam
- Scald
Suicune was a good water coverage that I needed in case a strong fire type was on the field or if I just needed a realiable and safe switch in. I could count on Suicune to take hits because of the EV spread which is fairly unique in that, it does not activate sitrus berry after a hit from certain Pokémon.
64 SpA Thundurus Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 116 SpD Suicune: 104-126 (50.2 - 60.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I need it to survive a hit from a bulky thundurus which I assumed, ran 64 special attack EV investment. Tailwind was the move that needed to go up whenever it was possible, which is why I made it more specially defensive. I could take hits and it would ensure that my tailwind would go up safely. I was able to pair Suicune with Zapdos fairly well since they had good synergy and while one goes for tailwind, the other could roost or deal a good chunk of damage to the opposing Pokémon. Ice beam and scald are just moves that have good coverage, especially for Landorus.
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 164 HP / 60 Atk / 4 Def / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
Many people were using Landorus at the time because of its intimidate ability and good pairing with thundurus. However, I liked to pair it with Blaziken since it would be able to cover any threats that Blaziken had (most of the time). It was one of the less frequent Pokémon that I brought to games because I feared that I would activate a defiant or competitive boost. The choice is a little bit random and I don't remember what I built it to survive but it does live a bulky thundurus' HP ice which is always helpful.
64 SpA Thundurus Hidden Power Ice vs. 164 HP / 28 SpD Landorus-T: 136-160 (73.5 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I could also hit the same thundurus with rock slide and deal nearly enough damage to knock it out.
60+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-T Rock Slide vs. 244 HP / 108 Def Thundurus: 156-184 (84.3 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As for moves, earthquake, rock slide, and knock off were standard moves that offered good coverage to threats such as cresselia, heatran, and charizard. I opted for superpower to catch unsuspecting Kangaskhans off guard since most Landorus don't run superpower as much as they used to.
Aegislash (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def / 30 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute / Swagger
- King's Shield
The moveset is actually quite standard and I opted for a slower Aegislash since it would catch all of the other Aegislash that moved faster than me to be in blade form. My Aegislash actually ran swagger instead of substitute since I did not check the moves. It previously had iron head in place of swagger and I decided that swagger would be a better move some time before tournament. When entering and locking in my Pokémon, I realized that I never switched it to substitute, which is how I spent the day using swagger from Aegislash. The set is pretty standard living most earthquakes and fire type attacks bar sun boosted ones in shield form. I didn't use Aegislash as often and it was usually there as a counter for other Aegislash and trick room teams since I could take advantage of it.
Good leads that I could rely on:
Blaziken + Kangaskhan
Suicune + Zapdos
Kangaskhan + Suicune
Aegislash + Suicune
Landorus + Blaziken
I used the core of Blaziken, Kangaskhan, Suicune, and Zapdos most of the time and it was solid in most circumstances. I could've played around more with Aegislash and Landorus' spreads and sets but decided it would be better to stick to a more standard route. Looking back on this, I feel I should've made it a little more offensive since the only Pokémon that really posed a threat was Aegislash and Blaziken.
~Jimbo
No comments:
Post a Comment