(VGC) Amoonguss and friends.

[Alan]

Hello everyone! Today I'm bringing you all my latest VGC team.It's still a work in process, but I think it will be successful. Anyways,I wanted to make a team that can utilize Amoonguss's new ability, Regenerator. While the VGC format for 2013 is yet to be announced, this team will do for now, since I can still play VGC on random matchup .

anyways, onto the team.

At a Glance..

Team Building Process

I started with the Pokémon I wanted to use. Amoonguss has some great moves to make use of in VGC, so I chose a pretty basic set.

I next when with with Garchomp. Garchomp has great power and speed and some fantastic STAB. It's also really cool .

I realized I have a lot of Ice weakness. I needed some powerful and reliably bulky Ice-resists. Scizor was my man(Actually, woman) for the job.

I soon added Cresselia and Rotom-H in replacement of Latios and Chandelure. I realized I had lots of Weaknesses and some slow Pokemon, Rotom-H provides good bulk and resistances and Cresselia can set up Trick Room.

Lastly, I added Suicune as recommended by Red Striker. It also makes a good partner with Garchomp.
In Depth Look...

info setup:

Image
Name @ Item
Nature/Ability
EVs
Moves

RAGE(Amoonguss♂) @ Black Sludge
Sassy Nature/Regenerator
252 HP,4 Def, 252 SpD
Moves:
-Protect
-Rage Powder
-Spore
-Giga Drain
This is a pretty basic Amoonguss. He can take hits very well. Protect is a filler move and lets me scout out to know if I need to switch or not. this comes in handy both for healing and for switching in to someone who resists Amoonguss's weaknesses. Thanks to Regenerator, I'll heal on the switch as well. Rage Powder is a good move that can be used to guarantee one of my Pokémon to do their job for the turn. Spore is another useful move that can be used to shut down a partner's threat that can't hurt Amoonguss much. Giga Drain keeps Amoonguss from being Taunt bait and allows me to deal heavy damage to the popular Rotom-W and Gastrodon.

Megaweapon(Garchomp♂) @ Yache Berry
Adamant Nature/Sand Veil
8 HP, 252 Atk, 248 Spe
Moves:
-Substitute
-Swords Dance
-Dragon Claw
-Earthquake
This is a fantastic set for Garchomp. Garchomp can normally take a Dragon attack, but a Yache Berry is needed to reduce Ice move damage. Substitute works great on this team since Amoongus can Rage Powder the same turn and Garchomp can get up his sub worry free. Swords Dance allows my Garchomp to become a deadly sweeper in a matter of turns thanks to Amoonguss's Rage Powder. also. Dragon Claw and Earthquake are pretty standard on Garchomp. I have 2 levitaters so theres not much of an issue with Earthquake.

Oathkeeper(Cresselia♀) @ Leftovers
Quiet Nature/Levitate
252 HP, 252 SpA, 4 Def
Moves:
-Protect
-Trick Room
-Ice Beam
-Psyshock
Cresselia is one of the best Pokémon in VGC. Protect is just to scout like usual. Trick Room can help against other Trick Roomers and can benefit against hyperspeed teams. Ice Beam can almost always OHKO Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ice. Psyshock is a better choice over Psychic since Hitmontop's Defense is lower than it's Special defense. Not much else to add.

Leda(Scizor♀) @ Lum Berry
Adamant Nature/Technician
252 HP,252 Atk, 4 Spe
Moves:
-Protect
-Bug Bite
-Bullet Punch
-Superpower
Scizor's main purpose on this team is to take on Ice move users. Protect is good to scout out HP Fire attacks and other unexpected moves as a lot of random stuff can carry fire attacks.Bullet Punch is Scizor's greatest move next to Bug Bite. 90 Base power thanks to Techician is pretty nifty, too. Bug Bite is Scizor's second best STAB move. It comes in handy against Pokémon with Sitrus Berry and can help against Pokémon with damage-reducing berries. Bullet Punch gives Scizor a fast attack that can dent things that don't resist it.Superpower is another powerful move that is good against the likes of Tyranitar and other Pokémon. Lum Berry is here since all too often i end up with some status that ruins Scizor's evil ways.

Rotom-H(NEPTR) @ Light Clay
Modest Nature/Levitate
252 HP, 252 SpA, 4 Def
Moves:
-Protect
-Light Screen
-Shadow Ball(Soon to be Dark Pulse)
-Psychic
Rotom Heat is one of my favorite Pokémon. Protect is a pretty standard move even when the use of Rock Slide has dropped a lot since the early days of 2012. Light Screen is useful move since special attackers are far more popular thanks to a little guy named Hitmontop. Shadow Ball is a good attack that hits a lot of stuff super-effectively, but i will probably switch it to Dark Pulse since it Hits Cresselia for SE Damage, has a nifty flinch chance, and higher base power. Thunderbolt is Rotom's tickets to the gun show. No Pokémon enjoys taking a Thunderbolt.

SUICUNE @ Sitrus Berry
Relaxed Nature/ Pressure
252 HP, 252 SpA, 4 Spd
Moves:
-Extremespeed
-Tailwind
-Ice Beam
-Scald
This is a decent addition to my team. It has no weaknesses that is a real issue since so many Pokémon on my team resist it's weaknesses. Extremespeed is a good priority move that catches people by surprise. Tailwind speeds up the slower members of my team (Scizor and Rotom) and makes Garchomp an absolute monster. Ice Beam is a coverage move while Scald is a STAB move that works well alongside a Light Screen(if it is up.) I might change it's moveset, I haven't decided yet.


THREATLIST
Threat Level key:
Low Level Threat
Somewhat Threat
SERIOUS THREAT!
Coming Soon!

Closing Words

I appreciate any help on this team! It is far from perfect, and needs some help.
​

 

[Alan]

I update this on my 3DS and the OP messed up @_@!! Gotta fix it later. Can't atm.

 

[Alan]

The OP is fixed. also, a bump sorta.

 

[Pokeplayer44]

Dragon Gem Draco Meteor Latios is a threat to almost everything regardless. I see how Hydreigon could threaten this team, but unless it's Sashed/Habaned it won't live a Dragon Claw from Garchomp. I'd recommend a Jolly instead of Adamant Nature on Haxorus to outspeed Hydreigon and Haxorus. I know that you have Latios that outspeed them anyways, but Haxorus can really land a haymaker if it's Focus Sashed. With a Jolly nature, no Hydreigon can outspeed it without a Choice Scarf or a Tailwind. Lots of times people choose to attack Amoonguss instead of your other Pokemon anyways because it can be so annoying. Last year at Nationals I led with Amoonguss and Haxorus against Hydreigon and something that's not important. He went for the Fire Blast on Amoonguss, who was using Protect and I got a free KO on Hydreigon with Dragon Claw. Interesting sets on your Latios and Chandelure (well, mostly the item/EVs on that one). Nothing wrong with them that I see.

 

[Alan]

Do you mean Garchomp when you say Haxorus or are you suggesting Haxorus over Garchomp? Anyways, i'll try Jolly Garchomp when I have a chance to breed. I have a shiny Haxorus but its Brave. Now I have more of a reason to "see em all" in my Black 2.

 

[Pokeplayer44]

Do you mean Garchomp when you say Haxorus or are you suggesting Haxorus over Garchomp? Anyways, i'll try Jolly Garchomp when I have a chance to breed. I have a shiny Haxorus but its Brave. Now I have more of a reason to "see em all" in my Black 2.

Yes, I meant Garchomp. Sorry about that. I've used them both so much I get them mixed up all the time.

 

[PG24]

Just want to point out that there's no point to running Crunch on Garchomp. Dragon Claw and Crunch both have the same base power if you factor in STAB and SE damage. Moreover both fail to 2HKO Cress.

Dragon Pulse > Psychic on Latios. Psychic's only pro is the abilty to OHKO Hitmontop, and Sucker Punch will never OHKO. You can easily live the first Sucker Punch (provided you blocked the Fake Out with Protect), dish out 60%+ damage with Dragon Pulse, and then get switch advantage if they go for the second Sucker Punch.

 

[Alan]

Just want to point out that there's no point to running Crunch on Garchomp. Dragon Claw and Crunch both have the same base power if you factor in STAB and SE damage. Moreover both fail to 2HKO Cress.

Dragon Pulse > Psychic on Latios. Psychic's only pro is the abilty to OHKO Hitmontop, and Sucker Punch will never OHKO. You can easily live the first Sucker Punch (provided you blocked the Fake Out with Protect), dish out 60%+ damage with Dragon Pulse, and then get switch advantage if they go for the second Sucker Punch.

Actually, Crunch has 160 BP with SE damage, while Dragon Claw has 120 BP when neutral. STAB is x1.5, not x2.

Also, I've already changed Psychic to Dragon Pulse. Just haven't updated the OP.

 

[PG24]

I was only referring to the calcs, I didn't bother actually seeing their base power to determine the power difference:

Crunch vs 252 HP/ 252 Def+ Cresselia: 27.9% - 32.9%
Dragon Claw vs 252 HP/ 252 Def+ Cresselia: 20.9% - 24.5%

7% more damage is really not worth a moveslot, especially when you can free up a move slot for Swords Dance or even Fire Blast.

 

[Alan]

I was only referring to the calcs, I didn't bother actually seeing their base power to determine the power difference:

Crunch vs 252 HP/ 252 Def+ Cresselia: 27.9% - 32.9%
Dragon Claw vs 252 HP/ 252 Def+ Cresselia: 20.9% - 24.5%

7% more damage is really not worth a moveslot, especially when you can free up a move slot for Swords Dance or even Fire Blast.

Oh ok. Judging by that, I might add Swords Dance as it seems like it'd be great with this team. Thanks a ton!

 

[Red Striker]

Sub.+NP Azelf simply isn't viable in a fast paced format such as VGC. It relies on Amoonguss' Rage Powder to set up, meaning if Amoonguss is Taunted, though you can get a Sub. up, Azelf really can't do much else. Besides, say Amoonguss isn't out on the field with Azelf (which is highly possible)? If that be the case, Azelf is in real trouble. Though I almost suggested replacing Nasty Plot with Protect, I couldn't help but notice the fact that you have Scizor and Amoonguss on the same team - some of VGC's slowest - without any sort of Trick Room set up. So, rather than continue the use of Azelf, I'd replace it with Cresselia, since not only is it high in bulk for TR use, but Garchomp enjoys having Cresselia as an ally, having Helping Hand-boosted Earthquakes and the ability to outspeed things that usually OHKO like Latios etc. via Icy Wind support. Further more, have Chandelure's Psychic be replaced with Trick Room for an extra set up. Just Chandelure alone for set up won't be enough. Besides, the team's versatility would raise significantly, as at TR 4-team option (when in Team Preview) for TR, say, could look like this: Cresselia / Scizor / Amoonguss / (You decide from there. It all depends on the opponent's team). With the current members, you could play in or out of TR (with Cresselia, that is).

Two Dragons on one team is playing with a highly sharpened double-edged blade, even in Bring6Pick4. For starters, three Pokemon with an Ice intolerance means that up against a Hail team, you're bound to have one member of the party of four to have an Ice weakness. This is like saying "here, have the free KO," and must be resolved. Rain will go right through you as well. Ice Beam is extremely common on the weather variation, not to mention that Chandelure is shredded in every way possible. Scizor, despise being neutral to Water, is 1-2HKO'd by most Scalds and Surfs etc. to where it really doesn't matter. Solution to this mess? Simple: for one, though it sounds insane at first, replacing Latios with a bulky Suicune would help a lot, particularly one in which invests more in SDef. A Calm Nature is suggested, and the EVs can be set around to how you like (Suicune is generally versatile in this area. Some testing on PO will help determine what you want to set it to), but I do recommend at least 140 SDef EVs and 252 HP EVs. Suicune resists no less than one of each weakness that everyone else possesses (even more for some). Abomasnow and Ludicolo are still minor threats, but Ludicolo can be handled by Scizor, whereas Abomasnow with Scizor and Chandelure (Chandelure still has to watch out for an opposing Suicune and/or Jellicent).

So, Rain still seem like a problem? Kinda because it's only been hindered, not countered. I'm aware it seems like I'm attempting to turn your entire team to the bulky side of things, but I feel it may help to replace Scizor with Ferrothorn. Most things that Fero could possibally hate - Chandelure, Heatran, Hitmontop, Terrakion etc. - are already countered by at least one teammate. About the only things that give it any problems are things that carry STAB Close Combat and a Fire move of some sort (even Hidden Power, but sometimes the move requires a 2HKO, depending on what's using it). Against Rain, Ferrothorn is a solid counter, walling Politoed, Ludicolo, Kingdra, Gastrodon, any Thunder spammer, Latios (since HP Fire on a Rain team is crazy), Scizor (even, at times, the Superpower variation), and so forth. Like Suicune, the sheer bulk needs to have some playing around with on PO in order to determin how you want to set the EVs, but this time around, I recommend at least 252 HP EVs and a Sassy Nature.

Oh and on a small side note, the Black Sludge on Amoonguss really isn't worth it in such a faced-paced environment. A type-resist Berry like Occa or (the one that reduces the damage from SE Psychic moves) can replace the Item, but the Sitrus Berry could work just fine. Also, I sometimes find that going with Subsitute over Rage Powder can be useful (but doesn't allow for everything to be aimed away from the TR setter) to spam the opponent with an onslaught of Spore all day long. Say you do do this. If it be true, keep the Black Sludge.

Now, what to do for sets....

Suicune@Chesto Berry
Nature: Calm
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / (You decide from there, but high SDef is suggested)
Moveset:
Rest
Scald
Icy Wind
Protect

Cresselia@Mental Herb
Nature: Bold
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 152 Def. / 104 SDef
Moveset:
Light Screen
Trick Room
Psychic / Icy Wind
Helping Hand

Ferrothorn@Leftovers
Nature: Sassy
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP ( you decide from there)
IVs: 0 Spe.
Moveset:
Leech Seed
Protect
Power Whip
Gyro Ball

 

[Alan]

I actually have considered Trick Room as an option but I wanted to do something different since I used a Trick Room team last time. I think I will replace Chandelure anyways and Latios might get replaced, too. I'm considering Suicune over Chandelure since it lowers my Dark weaknesses and resists Ice. I hardly ever use Chandelure, anyways.

Also, who do you think should be replaced for Cresselia?

I've already removed Nasty Plot from Azelf's moveset since I hardly get to use it, He'd also appreciate the extra coverage. I haven't updated the OP yet.

Amoonguss is really the backbone of this team. I rely on it for most of my matches, so Azelf could often be beside amoonguss. and Scizor is mostly there to get abomasnow out. People tend to pack only Abomasow to counter other weather, not necessarily rely on it.

Also, Tornadus-T is a problem. But only because I can't tell its Therian on White -_-. Really shouldn't be backwards compatible on Random Matchup.

 

[Red Striker]

So, the team will look like this if I read right:

- Latios
- Amoonguss
- Chomp
- Azelf
- Scizor
- Suicune

Hmm... It looks as if you heavily rely on Scizor a lot for resistances. I still say replace Azelf with Cress. Yes, we still have two Psychics on the team, but with one being highly offensive and the other with great bulk and support, it's worth it. If you DO keep Azelf, I might also replace the Modest Nature with Timid. The Base 115 Speed is nothing to scoff at.

And about the heavy reliance on Scizor. To me, it looks like if it's KO'd, the team crumbles. At this point, I'd get rid of either Latios or Garchomp. Yes, I'm aware of what you said to do for Abomasnow, but on a Hail team, it isn't the only one with Blizzard. Suicune and Jellicent are also common sight with it, and both of them do splendid jobs dealing with the red bug. Suicune can burn it via Scald, and Jellicent can completely wall it. Wait a sec... Now that I think of it, Jellicent can do an excellent job against your team, especially the WoW variant to annoy Scizor and Garchomp. Amoonguss can Giga Drain (or attempt to), but it won't really be sufficient damage. What to do.... I'm going to need to think about this problem.

 

[Alan]

So, the team will look like this if I read right:

- Latios
- Amoonguss
- Chomp
- Azelf
- Scizor
- Suicune

Hmm... It looks as if you heavily rely on Scizor a lot for resistances. I still say replace Azelf with Cress. Yes, we still have two Psychics on the team, but with one being highly offensive and the other with great bulk and support, it's worth it. If you DO keep Azelf, I might also replace the Modest Nature with Timid. The Base 115 Speed is nothing to scoff at.

And about the heavy reliance on Scizor. To me, it looks like if it's KO'd, the team crumbles. At this point, I'd get rid of either Latios or Garchomp. Yes, I'm aware of what you said to do for Abomasnow, but on a Hail team, it isn't the only one with Blizzard. Suicune and Jellicent are also common sight with it, and both of them do splendid jobs dealing with the red bug. Suicune can burn it via Scald, and Jellicent can completely wall it. Wait a sec... Now that I think of it, Jellicent can do and excellent job against your team, especially the WoW variant to annoy Scizor and Garchomp. Amoonguss can Giga Drain (or attempt to), but it won't really be sufficient damage. What to do.... I'm going to need to thing about this problem.

I carry thunderbolt on 2 of my Pokémon atm. I've been testing out some stuff for my team, I'll update when I make up my mind on who leaves etc.

 

[Alan]

Keep a lookout for this thread. Updating between now and Monday! This team took a lot of modifications!

 

[Red Striker]

/me makes note of this.

 

[Alan]

Updated the OP! rate away!

 

[superpokemon67]

Ok, I'll give this a shot.

Amoongus: I'm just not seeing Black Sludge doing enough in a VGC format to warrant using. I would replace it with Mental Herb so Amoongus isn't completely useless if someone Taunts it.

Garchomp: I like Sub Chomp, but you may want to consider replacing Swords Dance. If you can find yourself consistently pulling of both a sub AND and Swords Dance, that's great, but I think most of the time it's not really viable to set them both up and something like Protect or Rock Slide would be more useful. Also, at level 50, 8/252/248 just wastes 4 EVs as it drops your speed a point and doesn't increase your HP any more than 4/252/252, which is what you should be running.

Cresselia: Sitrus Berry, Sitrus Berry, Sitrus Berry. It is so much more useful in 4 V.S. 4 doubles than Leftovers will ever be. Personally I am not a fan of Protect on Cress, and I think you could use the extra moveslot. I would use Swagger personally. Although Swagger is not my thing, I have seen it used with Lum Berry Scizor to great success, and atm Lum on Scizor really doesn't seem to be doing much. If you don't like Swagger, or if you replace Lum (more on that later), then I would use Helping Hand, Safeguard, or Thunder Wave in the last slot. Probably Helping Hand.

Scizor: Like I said on Cress, Lum isn't doing anything without Swagger. If you opt for some swag on Cress, by all means keep it, but if not Steel Gem or Occa Berry would be the better choice. I also don't like Superpower on Sciz. Ttar is already hit hard by both of it's STABs, most of them hold Chople Berry anyway, and it drops your attack and Defense, which is never a good thing. I would opt for Swords Dance or Arial Ace in the last slot. If you use Swagger on Cress, go for Arial Ace, if not, use Swords Dance.

Rotom-H: Just get rid of Light Screen and Dark Pulse. Cress, Amoongus, and Suicune all already have good special defense, and it's not like it'll help Scizor/Garchomp take fire/ice moves any better. Dark Pulse just isn't even worth considering due to the fact it has no STAB, only really hits cress, and doesn't even 2HKO it besides. Just switch them to something like Overheat and Hidden Power Grass, so you can at least have more STAB and a way to hit Gastrodon. Ferrothorn wrecks all over your team without a fire move anyway, and Overheat does more to Cress than dark pulse anyway. As far as the item goes, I would use Fire Gem. Overheat KOes so many mons with Fire Gem it's not even funny. Also, I'm going to assume Psychic over Thunderbolt is a typo.

Suicune: I don't think you really need Extremespeed with Tailwind, and Suicune is naturally bulky, so I would use Calm Mind. It'll give you respectable attack, as well as more bulk.

Overall: On Amoongus, Cresselia, and Suicune, I would use more mixed EV spreads. 252/252 are ok, but they're bulky enough that they can take attacks from both ends of the spectrum if you let them. Just get out a damage calculator (like the one here) and calc some stuff that you think you might see at events, or think you might be able to survive. You would be surprised what something like Amoongus can do with just a few EV changes.

 

[Alan]

Thanks man. Swagger is way too expensive for me to use it, so I might switch some things. I'll try out Overheat on Rotom since I have no control on the Hidden Power. I'll be catching a different Suicune soon so I can test out Calm Mind, I don't want to delete all my event moves . Lum Berry is there since Burning and T-waves are the bane of my Scizor's existence. I don't want to worry to much about this team for now, as VGC 2013 might be BW2 Unova dex only.