VGC 2017 Battlespot Rating Battles - Episode 4 - Z destiny Bond!

VGC 2017 Battlespot Rating Battles - Episode 4 - Z destiny Bond!

VGC 2017 Battlespot Rating Battles - Episode 3 - Oranguru OHKOs!

Los Angeles Premier challenge - Winning team report

VGC 2017 Battlespot Rating Battles - Episode 2

VGC 2017 Battlespot Rating Battles - Episode 1 - Alolan Muk OP!

Shiny Rockruff! Reaction video

Battle Tree Doubles - Oranguru & Torkoal team

Pokemon Sun and Moon - Getting Ready for VGC

So Pokemon Sun and Moon have been out for a while now. You are done with the story and you ask yourself, now what? Well, for many people (myself included) this is where the fun really begins. If you are into competitive pokemon battling (VGC) then its time to start strategizing and thinking up teams that you may be wanting to use at future events. There's a couple of important things you need to do.

• Find the everstone/destiny knot
• catch yourself some synchronizers for soft resetting tapus and ultra beasts
• catch ditto for breeding
• find bottlecaps

                            

Soft Resetting Essentials

At this point it can be overwhelming as to where to start. I suggest you start by catching yourself an Abra at Hau 'oli city. What you do from here on is entirely up to you. You can either:

1. Use an alolan Meowth with fake out on abras (the inner focus ones will not flinch and teleport away saving you time from catching an abra you dont need and the synchronize ones will flinch) to scout for the synchronize ability to sync tapus and UB's natures to the likes of modest, timid, quiet, jolly, adamant, calm, bold, etc.
2. You can essentially breed abra with a ditto if you've caught one already. (make sure you use a flame body pokemon such as anyone from the magby line or say talonflame [rip bravest bird] )

PS:Magby and fletchling can be found at Wela Volcano Park. 

Bottle Caps

Bottle caps are tough to come across. There are 2 types of bottle caps. Regular and golden. Regular bottle caps maximize 1 desired stat to 31 IVS, while the golden ones maximize all stats to 31 IVs. The one thing that puts me a bit off from using them is the fact that they are only able to be used on level 100 pokemon. So I guess its mostly used as an alternative in case its not possible for you to breed perfect IVs and pass them down accordingly or for pokemon that cant really breed. 

Breeding Essentials 

You will be needing to find the destiny knot and everstone for passing down IVs and natures. The destiny knot can be found at the Royal Avenue. You will need some Battle Points to purchase it. Please note this item may be optional only if you are looking for certain hidden power types, given the fact that it's easier to grab bottle caps and maximize individual values (IVs) that way. Be wary though, pokemon have to be leveled up to lvl. 100 in order to hyper train via Bottle caps.  

The everstone on the other hand can be found at Ilima's house after defeating him in battle.

Ditto can be found at the outskirts of Mount Hokulani. 





From this point on, you will have everything you need to begin soft resetting for the Tapus/Ultra beasts and breeding. Good luck!

~BattleArenaVGC :)

Understanding big 6 - Episode 2

VGC 2016 - Understanding Big 6 - Episode 1

Shoma vs Sejun - Battle of champions! VGC 2016 Battle

What a battle! 2 of the greatest players clash in a local tournament in Japan. I think it's funny how both players managed to play their niches successfully in this season, with sejun using follow me on togekiss rather than pachirisu, and shoma still using thundurus and managing to still make it effective. 

Magiana! The man made pokemon! Discussion and speculation

The International Challenge January 2016 - BattleArenaVGC's Team Report

  

Hello Everyone! I wanted to talk about the team I used to compete in January's international challenge, Mawthitelle or Mawth for short. This team got me a result of 12 wins 3 losses on day one. Before I go into the details of the team, I want to talk about its strengths and weaknesses. Trapping your opponent and preventing them from switching allowed me to play against my opponents with an advantage. Preventing them from switching and nullifying attacks from my own Groudon or Kyogre allowed for easy wins. This team punishes leading poorly heavily. If my opponent lead with Kangaskhan and Xerneas, it was rather easy for me to win a game, due to mawile intimidating kangaskhan, and threatening to OHKO Xerneas without fear of being KO'd in return. Without being able to switch, you make your opponent rather predictable. However this team did have some glaring weaknesses. Dark void was a problem until I added a certain move onto Gothitelle (which I will discuss later) and amoonguss still posed a threat as it should to any trick room team. Groudon being my only answer to the annoying shroom, it was difficult for me to either attack or setup trick room, since there was always something threatening to OHKO Groudon stopping me from going after Amoonguss, and setting up trick room was a no-go since it would outspeed me in it. That being said, I would like to now get into the specifications of the team, discussing each member.

I knew I wanted to build a team around Mawile ever since I knew what was popular. The ability to single handedly beat Pokemon like Xerneas, Rayquaza, Kangaskhan and possibly Kyogre given the proper support. I used a Careful nature on Mawile solely for winning trades against mega Salamence since non STAB boosted heat wave/flamethrower fire blast cannot OHKO. Intimidate prevents earthquake from Salamence to KO Mawile. Its worthy to note max attack adamant mawile is such a waste of EVs since it doesn't need them thanks to huge power.

Mawile @ Mawilite  

Ability: Intimidate  

EVs: 100 HP / 152 Atk / 252 SpD / 4 Spe  

Careful Nature  

- Protect  

- Iron Head

- Play Rough  

- Sucker Punch  

Ah, shadow tag. What a wonderful ability in a meta game where weather cannot be removed unless you switch in your own weather (cheesy gimmicks don't count). Gothitelle is probably the best Shadow tag user in the game, due to its typing and stats. Gengar loosing levitate and using up your mega slot is a bad since the most common Pokemon is a ground type. Gothitelle was chosen with a sassy nature, given how specially offensive the meta game is. Magic coat is a wonderful move that hard counters Dark Void. Trapping Smeargle and making it useless is great. Originally I was also using skill swap, but then realized its not needed since your opponent cant switch anyway. Heal pulse maintains the option to spam eruption and water spout at max power. It's 0 Speed IV allows it to heal pulse before Kyogre and Groudon get to move in trick room, allowing max power eruptions/water spouts after a sucker punch/brave bird or any other priority move (extremespeed ray I'm looking at you). Sitrus berry worked well enough and allowed Gothitelle to survive Kangaskhan's double edge 100% of the time. Psyshock was to get chip damage on Pokemon, note it was chosen over psychic since it hits Xerneas through the Geomancy boost. See it's set more in detail below:

Gothitelle @ Sitrus Berry  

Ability: Shadow Tag  

EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD  

Sassy Nature  

IVs: 0 Spe  

- Psyshock

- Heal Pulse

- Magic Coat  

- Trick Room  

Restricted Pokemon #1,  Kyogre. Kyogre has great synergy with Mawile and Ferrothorn. Kyogre is pretty straightforward  and carries a modest nature with some added bulk in HP. Water spout was chosen over origin pulse since it's accuracy is quite shaky and water spout can deal consistent damage with heal pulse from Gothitelle. Thunder is there for the Kyogre mirrors.

Kyogre @ Blue Orb  

Ability: Drizzle  

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD  

Modest Nature  

- Protect  

- Thunder

- Ice Beam  

- Water Spout  

Groudon was chosen as my second restricted Pokemon. It was mostly brought in the back as an option to eliminate strong rain. Brave nature was used to hit Xerneas harder on the physical side. Precipice blades over earthquake since none of Groudon's partners are flying or levitate users. Rather shaky accuracy leaves much to be desired and can cause losses by missing crucial attacks. Rock slide for Ho-oh and talonflames, also for flinching things in trick room.

Groudon @ Red Orb  

Ability: Drought

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpA  

BraveNature  

- Protect  

- Eruption

- Rock Slide  

- Precipice Blades  

Ferrothorn, the hardest counter to Kyogre, Xerneas and possibly Kangaskhan. Ferrothorn can single handedly win you games if you eliminate your opponents answer to it. When fake out was suspected, a switch can be employed to break focus sashes from Weavile and Liepard, while dealing some chip damage onto Kangaskhan. It's set is rather standard. 0 speed for max damage gyro balls.

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers  

Ability: Iron Barbs

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD  

Brave Nature  
IVs: 0 Spe  

- Protect  

- Leech seed

- Gyro Ball

- Power Whip  

Kangaskhan. There's actually not much to say about Kangaskhan, except it wasn't used ONCE. It was just there as an option, but it wasn't actually ever needed. It has since been replaced by a different Pokemon and the team is functioning a bit better I should say. 

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite  

Ability: Inner Focus 

EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP

Jolly Nature  

- Fake Out  

- Low Kick

- Double Edge  

- Sucker Punch  

That pretty much sums up the report. My final score in the premier challenge was: 

14 Wins

5 Losses

TOTAL NUMBER OF BATTLES: 19

I wasn't able to finish my games, since I  had work friday and played most of my games saturday and spent time with my wife. I tried to play all 26 of them sunday after noon but forgot that Japan is almost  a full day ahead of us, and it was monday by that time with the IC officially over. 45 matches of Pokemon is A LOT of pokemon over 3 days, lol. 

Have any questions about the team? Feel free to reach out to me! You can find my contact info. in the "about me" section at the top. Thanks for reading!

-BattleArenaVGC(:

Dark Void - " To possibly be banned from competitive play "

It seems like The Pokemon Company international international thinks its rather boring to broadcast games where half of the match Pokemon are sleeping. Understandable since it is the 20th anniversary and they wouldn't want to showcase this to all their new viewers that will be drawn from the super bowl commercial. 

Sounds like great news!

Here's a link: http://esports-runner.com/pokemon-double/147704-2/

More evidence: http://i.imgur.com/tJ50mAe.jpg

It looks like they will be paying close attention to the upcoming regionals. If smeargle and dark void are spammed, we might get it banned, heavily shifting the meta game!

Will you be bringing smeargle these upcoming regionals to boycott it ?

#BoycottSmeargle2016

international challenge replay #1 ! Dark void

Top 12 VGC Pokemon on Battlespot - January 26, 2016

Groudon

Coming in at number 1 is Groudon. Groudon's most common used moves are:

• Protect - 98.8%
• Eruption - 54.9%
• Precipice Blades - 54.1%
• Earth Power - 51.2%

Groudon's natures are: 

• Timid - 22.7%
• Brave - 21.7%
• Adamant - 18.3%
• Modest - 16.1%

Items and abilities for Groudon will not be discussed as they are always carrying a red orb for primal reversion and has drought/desolate land as abilities. Groudon's role seems to be to "wall"opposing Xerneas. Plus its all around defensive stats make it incredibly tanky for those prolonged battles. It's typing is something I would call "hyper offensive" due to the fact that it cant be burned or paralyzed.

Xerneas

Clocking in at number 2 is everyone's favorite deer. Common moves for it are: 

• Dazzling Gleam - 97.0%
• Geomancy - 94.3%
• Protect - 92.5%
• Moonblast - 88.6%

Xerneas' natures don't stray too much from timid and modest:

• Timid - 71.0%
• Modest - 25.0%
• Bold  - 1.8%
• Mild  - 0.6%

Popular items are:

• Power Herb - 93.8%
• Choice Specs - 4.4%

Ever since the introduction of fairy types in 2014, the competitive pokemon scene has always been plagued by these majestic creatures. Xerneas is unique thanks to its signature move Geomancy. With a power herb, it allows it to get an instant +2 boost in special attack, special defense and speed. Once it sets it up, it's really hard to stop. 

Kangaskhan

Everyone's favorite mega evolution coming in at number 3. Do I really have to tell you it's set? Oh well... :

• Fake Out - 98.6%
• Sucker Punch - 88.3%
• Double-Edge - 68.2%
• Low Kick - 59.5%

Popular natures... :

• Jolly  - 69.5%
• Adamant - 26.5%
• Brave - 3.7%
• Naive - 0.2%

Surprise, surprise, Kangaskhan is in the top percentage of competitive Pokemon. Kangaskhan will be relevant in every meta game it is allowed to participate in. It's typing and all around stats make it incredibly versatile and easy to fit on every and any team. Continue to build adequate teams while keeping it in mind. 

Kyogre

Number 4 Groudon's counter part. It's common moves: 

• Ice Beam  - 95.4%
• Protect - 95.2%
• Origin Pulse - 86.7%
• Water Spout - 65.6%

Common natures on Kyogre are: 

• Modest - 48.4%
• Quiet - 25.4%
• Timid - 22.2%
• Bold  - 2.2%

Kyogre is another center piece of this early meta game. Kyogre seems to be used with speed control either in the form of tailwind or trick room. It is used best by switching in to opposing groudon's and help assist partner steel types defensively removing the threat of fire moves. Interestingly enough kyogre seems to be running both origin pulse and water spout. Seems to me origin pulse is to be used when kyogre is not at full hp. However not running thunder causes it to loose mirror matches against opposing Kyogres. Items are not really discussed, but a very very small percentage of Kyogres are running choice scarf.

     

Talonflame

Number 5 is the bravest bird of them all. Common moves: 

• Brave Bird - 99.8%
• Tailwind - 82.9%
• Flare Blitz - 76.3%
• Quick Guard - 70.1%

Popular natures:

• Adamant - 59.5%
• Jolly - 35.2%
• Naughty - 2.3%
• Naive - 1.9%

Most common items: 

• Life Orb - 61.4%
• Choice Band - 10.0%
• Lum Berry - 9.0%

Dont use flame body: 

• Gale Wings - 99.9%
• Flame Body - 0.1%

Talonflame seems to be back for now. Quick guard on talonflame is an interesting choice, since it seems to counter rather well this heavy fake out meta game. Also, seems to assist in protecting its partners from pranksters, who also seem to be running rampant. It's typing could have something to do why its back in the metagame, since it "somewhat" walls Xerneas and hits it hard with brave bird. Just. Click. Brave bird.

Rayquaza

Rayquaza is at number 6, a weird spot. For now, its most used moves are:

• Dragon Ascent - 99.0%
• Extreme Speed - 86.0%
• Protect - 76.6%
• Waterfall - 32.8%

And most common natures:

• Jolly - 52.1%
• Naive - 17.3%
• Hasty - 13.2%
• Adamant - 11.2%

It gets an item too!: 

• Life Orb - 57.5%
• Choice Band - 16.8%
• Focus Sash - 16.8%
• Lum Berry - 4.7%

Rayquaza is seen to be kyogre's partner in crime. With it's ability, coupled with its typing, it can help it defeat opposing groudon's (see waterfall). That seems to be its current role in the meta game. Allowing water type attacks to connect on opposing groudon. It's mega evolution isn't something I would consider using every time, unless it is for defensive purposes. For example, let's say you mega evolve, but your opponent skill swaps his primal groudon under trick room, and all of a sudden your strong winds are gone and the strong sun is back. Proceed with caution when mega evolving. 

Smeargle

One of the most hated pokemon, coming in at number 7. Popular moves:

• Dark Void - 96.8%
• Spiky Shield - 66.3%
• Follow Me - 64.3%
• Fake Out - 55.5%

Popular natures: 

• Timid - 46.7%
• Jolly - 45.5%
• Relaxed - 4.9%
• Sassy - 1.2%

Popular abilities:

• Moody - 54.3%
• Own Tempo - 43.3%
• Technician - 2.5%

Common items:

• Focus Sash - 69.8%
• Choice Scarf - 24.6%
• Mental Herb - 5.1%
• Custap Berry - 0.1%

Smeargle is the pokemon with the most versatile moveset in the game. It can literally learn any  move via sketch. This in return gives it access to signature moves like dark void, geomancy, dragon ascent, etc. Smeargle's strength lies in having the opponent guessing what set it's running. And dark void.

Salamence

Looking strong at number 8 is salamence. Core moves are: 

• Protect - 97.7%
• Draco Meteor - 84.7%
• Hyper Voice - 80.4%
• Double-Edge - 62.1%

Common natures: 

• Naive - 51.7%
• Timid - 33.3%
• Hasty - 7.9%
• Jolly - 2.2%

Popular items: 

• Salamencite - 97.7%
• Lum Berry - 1.1%
• Focus Sash - 0.6%
• Choice Scarf - 0.3%

No reason not to use intimidate:

• Intimidate - 99.9% 

Salamence is a great mega evolution. A couple reasons why it could be so popular is because it simply intimidates Kangaskhan, resists Groudon's fire attacks and is immune to its ground attacks, it also outspeeds and can potentially ohko mega Rayquazas. Goes well on teams with Xerneas and Groudon.  

Cresselia

Number 9! Arguably the best trick room setter, common moves are: 

• Trick Room - 90.6%
• Skill Swap - 78.4%
• Helping Hand - 73.8%
• Ice Beam - 55.5% 

Cress seems to be going back to a specially defensive nature rather than physically defensive:

• Sassy - 52.7%
• Relaxed - 21.5%
• Bold - 15.5%
• Calm - 5.8%

Popular choices in items:

• Mental Herb - 47.5%
• Sitrus Berry - 38.8%
• Lum Berry - 7.3%
• Rocky Helmet - 3.2%

Cresselia is the best trick room setter by far. Skill swap on it allows for groudon to obtain the levitate ability, removing all weaknesses while strong sun is up. It also resets the sun for Groudon in case Kyogre decides to switch in. Cress going sassy just shows how inclined the meta game is towards special attacks. 

Crobat

Crobat is one of the best supports in the format so far, its common moveset:

• Tailwind - 97.0%
• Super Fang - 95.8%
• Quick Guard - 88.8%
• Taunt - 84.5%

Speed boosting natures are a must for speedy supports:

• Jolly  - 57.4%
• Timid - 41.3%
• Naive - 0.8%
• Careful - 0.3%

Popular items for the bat:

• Lum Berry - 60.9%
• Mental Herb - 21.9%
• Sitrus Berry - 11.1%
• Focus Sash - 2.3%

Inner focus is the preferred ability:

• Inner Focus - 98.1%
• Infiltrator - 1.9% 

Crobat is an interesting pokemon that saw a lot of usage in previous competitions that allowed Xerneas. It allows for great speed control, big damage on legendary pokemon with high base stats with super fang. Inner focus against Kangaskhan is just a plus. Lum berry seems to help it deal with smeargle, as it can taunt it as well. 

Ferrothorn

Ferrothorn is a force to be reckoned with, however can be rather tricky to play properly, common moves on it are:

• Gyro Ball - 98.8%
• Protect - 94.1%
• Power Whip - 92.6%
• Leech Seed - 75.0%

Negative nature in speed for the extra damage on Gyro ball seems the way to go:

• Brave - 70.2%
• Sassy - 16.1%
• Relaxed - 9.4%
• Adamant - 2.3%

Items are: 

• Leftovers - 52.1%
• Rocky Helmet - 17.2%
• Lum Berry - 11.2%
• Sitrus Berry - 6.8%

Ability, just go Iron barbs:

• Iron Barbs - 99.9%
• Anticipation - 0.1%

Ferrothorn's usage is tied to Kyogre and Xerneas. It still is played the same way it was before, eliminate your opponent's pokemon that can remove ferrothorn, and you win! simple right? Easier said than done, however kyogre makes it almost impossible to knock out in the rain. It's steel typing helps it against Xerneas, and if it manages to setup a geomancy, simply gyro ball to eliminate it, since the damage will be maxed out with xerneas' speed increased. It's defensive prowess and ability help it against kangaskhan making it a great pokemon in the format.

Liepard

Liepard barely makes it, at number 12, its disruptive moves are:

• Fake Out - 95.0%
• Foul Play - 84.5%
• Encore - 74.9%
• Taunt - 43.9%

Common natures are the following:

• Jolly  - 73.6%
• Timid - 25.5%
• Bold  - 0.5%
• Impish - 0.4%

Popular items:

• Focus Sash - 90.1%
• Wide Lens - 3.8%
• Mental Herb - 1.9%
• Eject Button - 1.7%

Liepard is definitely a great support. With the combination of fake out and encore, it can lead to locking opponents into protect sitting there doing nothing. The foul play is to avoid being taunt bait, since its preferred item is focus sash. 

Closing thoughts

I definitely expect to see landorus therian back in the future as well as thundurus. Landorus therian with a jolly nature and a choice band can potentially become the norm, outspeeding and hitting hard primal groudons, kangaskhans and even kyogres. Thundurus could be a solid answer to all the crobats/liepards and smeargles. I pray to Arceus that Smeargle is just a phase where no one has a clear view on the meta and people are just experimenting. 

-BattlearenaVGC(:

La Puente Premier Challenge Team Report

               

   

This team was built with the popularity of certain Pokemon in mind, Namely 

 
XKG 

Kyogre

Timid Nature

Ability: Drizzle > Primordial Sea

Item: Blue Orb

• 4 HP
• 252 Special Attack
• 252 Speed

1. Protect
2. thunder
3. Ice Beam
4. Water Spout

Kyogre was chosen for its ability to protect steel types from fire type attacks effectively checking Groudon in the rain. Having a faster Kyogre allows for outspeeding Groudons after a switch in. Leading against opposing Kyogres is favorable since it outspeeds and will pick up a knock out with sucker punch + thunder combination. It also speed ties Adamant Kangaskhans and jolly Kangaskhans before mega evolving. Having quick guard for fake out allowed for easy knock outs on kangaskhan with water spout. 

HO-OH

Jolly Nature

Ability: Pressure

Item: Leftovers

• 4 hp
• 252 attack
• 252 speed

1. Protect
2. Tailwind
3. Brave Bird
4. Sacred Fire

Ho-Oh was probably the MVP of my team by far. In some of my games, my win condition became simple, keep Ho-Oh alive, and I win. Rock slide is currently not a common move on Primal Groudons, its base special defense is 154, which is ridiculously high. Modest Xerneas' dazzling gleam after a Geomancy boost does only 28.1-33.7%. If my opponent chose to switch in Groudon, it would boost its sacred fire with the strong sunlight not to mention the 50% chance to burn opposing Kangaskhan's paired with Groudon. 

Mawile

Adamant Nature 

Ability: Intimidate > Huge Power 

Item: Mawilite

• 4 speed
• 252 HP
• 252 Attack

1. Protect
2. Iron Head
3. Play Rough
4. Sucker Punch

Mawile was chosen for it's ability to handle current Pokemon that are popular: 

• 
• 
• 
• 

It's worth mentioning that Mawile has great synergy with Primal Kyogre thanks to the rain. The 4 points in speed are to outspeed any other Mawiles in mirror matchups.

Sceptile

Modest Nature 

Ability: Unburden > Lightning Rod 

Item: Sceptilite

• 4 HP
• 252 Special Attack
• 252 Speed

1. Protect
2. Grass Knot
3. Quick Guard
4. Dragon Pulse

Sceptile was picked to help beat heavy rain teams. Coupled with lightning rod, it allowed for thunder wave to be neutralized. Leading with Kyogre, allowed for immediate use of water spout while blocking fake out. Worthy to note that Sceptile outspeeds and OHKOs Rayquaza due to its base 120 Speed prior to mega evolving. After a special attack boost (can be triggered by Liepard's thunder wave) it can OHKO opposing Primal Kyogres with Grass Knot.

Aegislash

Quiet Nature 

Ability: Stance Change 

Item: Weakness Policy

• 4 Attack
• 252 HP
• 252 Special Attack

1. Shadow Ball
2. King's Shield
3. Flash Cannon
4. Shadow Sneak

Aegislash is a standard set bluffing the wide guard. It carries shadow sneak to pick up KOs on weakened Pokemon. Can KO Xerneas after combination of flash cannon and shadow sneak. 

Liepard

Jolly Nature 

Ability: Prankster 

Item: Focus Sash

• 4 attack
• 252 HP
• 252 Speed

1. Encore
2. Swagger
3. Fake Out 
4. Thunder Wave

Liepard was my support of preference. It allows for great disruption in the combination of forcing protect with fake out and then encoring targets into protect rendering them useless. In that time I could simply setup a tailwind with Ho-Oh and then Proceed to sweep with Water spout in the late game. Shoutout to my friend John for inspiring me to use the Liegod!

Closing Thoughts

This is a team I was really frustrated in practice with, having difficulty understanding the strengths of. I was rather surprised how well it did, given it was put together 1 hour before the event. I ended up with the following record:

• 4 Wins
• 1 Loss

Top cut: Seed 4, almost an undefeated run, losing only to Alicia in swiss and top cut. I will post about the opponents I played against and their teams in the next few days. 

-BattleArenaVGC(: