Pokemon X and Y

[thadudette]

But congrats! A fitting event indeed for Kyoshi Rabies Man.

[Stove]

The closest thing to a Quagsire sweep you will ever see.

So this guy obviously didn't know about Quagsire's ability and kept trying to set up on me with physical attackers. It was one big stall/trollfest.

I've always loved Quagsire. His stats are terrible but he's just adorable. Plus, since gen 5 he's been good thanks to Unaware. He's just such an amazing physical wall.

EDIT: Also, this battle is very haxy, but it shows off a really cool Chansey/Shuckle doubles combo I thought up. Thanks to guard split and eviolite my Chansey has 704 hp and about 450 in both defenses. good luck breaking THAT wall.

[Metal]

hows its evasion? cause ohko sheer cold with laps and its done XD i havent played my y in months now

[Stove]

Apr 18, 2014 6:48:08 GMT Metal said:

hows its evasion? cause ohko sheer cold with laps and its done XD i havent played my y in months now

Evasion and OHKO moves are banned on smogon for obvious reasons. That aside, you're relying on a 30 accuracy move. Not the best idea.

[Metal]

thought we were talking about wifi play on x and y XD my bad, meh ill take my chances, it hits 3/10 times lol.

[Stove]

Apr 18, 2014 22:23:29 GMT Metal said:

thought we were talking about wifi play on x and y XD my bad, meh ill take my chances, it hits 3/10 times lol.

Thise battles weren't done on wi-fi. Also, my strategy can stop your sheer cold. Shuckle can skill swap sturdy.

[Stove]

Anyone want to do a Wi-Fi battle?
Also, if anyone wants some I have some pokemon with some useful egg moves.

EDIT: Also I found a shiny Foongus while EV training in hordes. That's my sixth shiny in XY now.
Metagross (I actually traded it for a shiny 6IV probably hacked ditto...) Gardevoir, Nidoking, Ditto (the only one from a trade.), Greninja, and Foonguss.

[Rikuseroth]

Can someone put IVs into simple terms for me?

Also, I'm working on a staraptor. Any tips?

[Stove]

Apr 20, 2014 1:11:39 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Can someone put IVs into simple terms for me?

Also, I'm working on a staraptor. Any tips?

I'll try my best.
IVs are a value given to every stat of a pokemon, selected randomly upon catching/birth. The value is between 0-31, and at level 100 your stat will be affected by that many points. However since in general you'll be doing battles at level 50, they affect your stat by 15 points. Doesn't seem like much, but it's important for something like, say, patching up Blissey's terrible defense stat.
Example: A level 100 31IV Bold (+Def, -Atk) 252EV Blissey has a Defense stat of 130. One with 0 IVs would have 99. Big difference.

At first these seem daunting, and, they kinda are. However, there are reliable ways to get 31 IVs.
First off, legendary pokemon you catch in X and Y will ALWAYS have at least three stats with 31 IVs.
Pokemon you catch in the friend safari will always have at least two.
The "power" items directly transfer the IV they correspond to from parent to child.
By default, the child pokemon from breeding will have three random IVs from their parents.
Attatching the destiny knot to either parent in breeding causes the number of passed IVs to become five.
Attatching the everstone item to a parent will always cause the child to have the nature of the pokemon holding it.
There is a man with purple hair in the kiloude city pokemon center. Talk to him and he'll analyze the IVs of your pokemon.
If he says a stat (or stats) "simply can't be beat!" It means their IV for that stat is 31. Also, if he makes an extra bad comment after (ex: "this HP stat will leave you high and dry...") it means that stat's IV is 0.
Unless you're using hidden power (incredibly complicated, I did it with one pokemon who really appreciates having a specific HP type and I'm not doing it again) then those two values are the only ones you care about; 31 and 0.
Why 0? A few reasons.
A 0 speed IV makes you slower, which makes you faster in trick room.
A 0 attack IV on a pokemon that won't use it means they take less damage from foul play and confusion.
A 0 HP IV on say, leech seed whimsicott, would reduce your health. If used with sub, this means your substitutes cost less health, while leech seed's health drained is not based on your health, meaning you're getting a higher % of health.

[Frozazen]

Apr 20, 2014 1:11:39 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Also, I'm working on a staraptor. Any tips?

From what I've seen, Staraptor makes for a pretty solid pokemon in Doubles. His intimidate ability is one of the most popular abilities in the Doubles meta, and instantly shuts down physically offensive pokemon. His base speed is decent at 100, and his attack is strikingly good at 120. However, his low defenses make for a very fast paced battle.

The usual set is:
-Double Edge
-Brave Bird
-Close Combat
-U-turn

According to smogon, he was essentially in the Overused tier, meaning he had a lot of potential in singles, as well. His other ability, Reckless, lets him punch large holes in pretty much anything with Brave Bird and Double Edge. With his relatively low speed, Choice scarf, Adamant and max ATK/SPEED is the way to go, letting you out-speed anything with an unboosted base speed of about 130 or lower, like Greninja, whose Ice Beam would otherwise kill you.

A good partner would be bulky Rotom-W (who I have had the pleasure of learning that he can indeed be bred for perfect IVs), with Hydro Pump, Volt Switch, and Will-O-Wisp, letting you counter Rock and Steel types that would tank your Brave bird (Will-O-Wisp lowering the power of priority moves like Bullet Punch/Extremespeed that like to go after Staraptor), as well as giving you a Volt Switch/U-Turn partner, letting you attack and switch constantly.
Other team support includes a rapid spinner/defogger, which will clear out Stealth Rock, and let you keep your Staraptor alive longer, since you will switch frequently with a choice set.

And if you don't want a Choice Set, you can go Life Orb with the same moves and Reckless, and I suggest switching something out for Roost. This could work if you have Sticky Web support or something to alleviate the speed issue.

[Indigo]

I've always kinda wondered. Not sure if there's a good answer or if it's mostly preference, but as for singles and doubles, which is the more 'balanced' and/or (mind)skill based?

I never really got into doubles outside of single player, but I've been thinking it seems like a much more strategic game on doubles... Less random 'first draw,' covering for each others' weaknesses and possibly building strong points, true synergy and actual 'interaction' between Pokemon, less of switching and checking/hard countering/guessing... More strategy overall, including having two targets and AoE attacks that may hurt your own team.

Not sure why I continue to do only singles really... Guess it's just very different and neefs all-new mivesets. On top of all that, it opens many new possibilities for not just cookie-cutter sets and trying to set up a sweep, as support moves are much more usable.

Only thing is, I'm not sure if there's any broken stuff. Skill swap Protean Slaking is one of the more fearsome things I've heard of, but even that has its drawbacks.

[Rikuseroth]

Awesome.
So, I've almost got a team worked out.
So far, here it is
Staraptor
Ninetales
Spiritomb
Starmie
Alakazam

Would acceptor be go good for this team?
Maybe escavelier?
Or weavile?

[Stove]

Apr 20, 2014 12:39:12 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Awesome.
So, I've almost got a team worked out.
So far, here it is
Staraptor
Ninetales
Spiritomb
Starmie
Alakazam

Would acceptor be go good for this team?
Maybe escavelier?
Or weavile?

You have a glaring vulnerability to ghost and dark types with two weaknesses and no resistances to them. Try a bulky Dark type like Tyranitar (unless Ninetales has drought) or Scrafty. Frankly though I feel Spiritomb is dragging down the rest of your team as it's VERY offense-inclined, and Spiritomb's power is not good.
Staraptor is a suicide bomber, but powerful. Just know he probably won't live as long as you hope.
Unless you're running Alakazam as your mega, I question its use. Gengar outclasses it in every way. As a mega though, Alakazam is faster and has a different useful ability. A good choice since it looks like it's probably your mega.
If you like Ninetales, go for it. I think something like Houndoom is better, but using pokemon you like is never a bad thing. (My dear whimsicott... ;-; )
Starmie is a fantastic choice. I suggest running Rapid Spin/Surf-Ice Beam/T-bolt.

[Rikuseroth]

That's pretty much my plan.
I found a spiritomb and wanted to use it. I know it's slow as all hell though.
That's what I'm goin for on starmie and alakazam

[Frozazen]

Apr 20, 2014 14:56:03 GMT Stove said:

Apr 20, 2014 12:39:12 GMT Rikuseroth said:

Awesome.
So, I've almost got a team worked out.
So far, here it is
Staraptor
Ninetales
Spiritomb
Starmie
Alakazam

Would acceptor be go good for this team?
Maybe escavelier?
Or weavile?

You have a glaring vulnerability to ghost and dark types with two weaknesses and no resistances to them. Try a bulky Dark type like Tyranitar (unless Ninetales has drought) or Scrafty. Frankly though I feel Spiritomb is dragging down the rest of your team as it's VERY offense-inclined, and Spiritomb's power is not good.
Staraptor is a suicide bomber, but powerful. Just know he probably won't live as long as you hope.
Unless you're running Alakazam as your mega, I question its use. Gengar outclasses it in every way. As a mega though, Alakazam is faster and has a different useful ability. A good choice since it looks like it's probably your mega.
If you like Ninetales, go for it. I think something like Houndoom is better, but using pokemon you like is never a bad thing. (My dear whimsicott... ;-; )
Starmie is a fantastic choice. I suggest running Rapid Spin/Surf-Ice Beam/T-bolt.

www.pokemon-tools.com/xy/en/type_analyzer/398/121/442/065/038/

I suggest you get yourself a Ground type if you like the pokemon on your team so far, because of the electric type weakness. I would say use a dragon or flying, but unfortunately your team has defense against neither.
Also I agree with Steve's proposed Starmie set, since you already have an alakazam for Psychic type moves, and Staraptor can take out Fighting types, as well.
Also on the topic of flying type weaknesses, if there's anything that you should prepare your team for, it's Talonflame. That thing is the scariest physical attacker i've ever seen, with priority Brave Bird, priority Roost, and immunity to burn. Currently all of your pokes will fall to Talonflame, so maybe a Ground/Rock type would be best for you (the fact that you get another physical attacker on your team is also a good thing)

edit: Tyranitar would also work, especially if you give it Assault vest to tank the electric type moves.


Also Claxus, I got into doubles after watching the previous VGC championships, and I've never regretted it. It's pretty much as you say, and gives you a deeper understanding of the moves that pokemon use. Also there are far less gimmicks in doubles than in singles, and anyone who tries to pull one off usually gets punished terribly by the opponent (though against a noob anything works...). Nintendo encourages the doubles metagame, as well, having moves like wide guard/quick guard for protection, and field-affecting moves like tailwind and trick room become much more viable with the introduction of a second pokemon to attack while you set up. Also pokemon that aren't fast enough or strong enough in singles can be really good in doubles (coughgastrodoncough), and pokemon that are good in singles also have their uses in doubles, as well. If you want more reason to pick up doubles, smogon actually has very few bans in their Doubles metagame (even less than nintendo), banning only the major legendaries like Groudon/Kyogre, mewtwo, ho-oh/lugia, arceus, etc, and the move Dark Void (so you see Darkrai with hypnosis running around on Showdown pretty often.

But be prepared to run Protect on most, if not all, of your pokemon, and be wary of Fake Out

[Stove]

Yeah, that's something else actually, your team has a glaring vulnerability to priority. Strong priority users like Scizor (alleviated a bit since you have steel resistances), Conkeldurr (same), Breloom (same), Talonflame (You're screwed), Azumarill (you're dead) and Mega-Pinsir (oh you are so dead.) will rip through most or all of your team. Using Conkeldurr and Talonflame on my team, I know how scary priority can be. I don't want to completely blank-slate your team, but...you have a lot of unaccounted weaknesses. If you want to keep Ninetales and Staraptor, you have a notable weakness to stealth rocks. (And unless you're playing VGC, Stealth rocks are incredibly dangerous.) Starmie is an excellent pokemon, but you may want to replace it with Excadrill. Look at how much it helps you:

www.pokemon-tools.com/xy/en/type_analyzer/398/530/442/065/038/

Excadrill covers a lot of your team's former problems, has a x4 resist to rock, and can rapid spin them away. I'd get a mold breaker one that runs something like Earthquake, Rapid Spin, Rock Slide and X-Scissor and strap an Assault Vest on it.

From there your sixth pokemon should be something that covers your remaining weaknesses well. The best option I see is Huge Power Azumarill. Incredibly dangerous, bulky, has strong priority, and covers the remaining weaknesses.

www.pokemon-tools.com/xy/en/type_analyzer/398/530/442/065/038/184/

You have four types you have to watch out for, but every single one is covered by allies. More balanced and doesn't require much change. Just be careful, something like Rotom-Wash will hurt this team pretty badly. It's the biggest threat I see to this team. For Excadrill, run an Impish nature with 252HP and 252 Defense. It's as close to a Talonflame/Mega Pinsir counter as you'll get. With max investment, non-choiced Talonflames can't get the KO, and bulky swords dance variants can't KO with a Brave bird+Flare Blitz, whereas Excadrill's Rock Slide is a guaranteed OHKO.

Also, as a second opinion Clax, Doubles is more interesting in a lot of cases. It lets you run some cool sets you can't in singles (Guard Split Shuckle + Chansey, Trick Room. Tailwind, etc.) and as Frozn said, Fake out and protect are VERY common moves.

[Stove]

Now, I'd like a second opinion on my team as well. It's a balanced sort of team with two physical attackers, two special and two walls (one a dedicated physical wall, the other special.)
All of these pokemon have 31 IVs in every stat that matters (for example, Conkeldurr does not have 31IVs in SAtk, but everything else.)

Talonflame @ Lum Berry
Adamant Nature
Gale Wings
252 EVs HP, 252 EVs Atk
-Swords Dance
-Flare Blitz
-Brave Bird
-Roost

I originally didn't care for Talonflame, with how average it seemed. However, I've taken a liking to it. Brave Bird hurts HARD, especially after a swords dance. While both of its attacking moves are resisted by rock types, they are nearly nonexistant in standard play aside from TTar, and Talonflame will get owned by it anyway. From experience I find Roost more useful than a third move, as Talonflame appreciates the extra longevity it provides. Speed is less of a necessity due to it being one of the fastest priority users out there anyway and having acceptable speed even without investment. The Lum Berry is there for two reasons:
1. I only have one leftovers, and another pokemon wants it more.
2. It provides more oportunities to set up. Cripplers like to think they can tank a brave bird and cripple Talonflame before they go down. They try, Lum berry heals the status, I proceed to OHKO with a +2 Brave Bird.
This set has developed over many battles and serves me well, along with the next one, which have been part of my team the entire time. They are my star players and are very helpful.

Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest
Adamant Nature
Guts
252 HP/252 Atk
Mach Punch
Drain Punch
Payback
Poison Jab

Conkeldurr is amazing. It's been one of my favorites since I used it in Black (and later Black 2) and it has always served me well, and It's one of my favorites after including it on my XY team, and Assault Vest fixes everything that Conkeldurr struggled with before. Drain and Mach Punch are Conkeldurr's core and anything that doesn't resist them can and probably will get crushed by Conkeldurr, as it's attack stat is HUGE. Add in that it absorbs stats not named freeze and sleep and turns them against the opponent by striking back with unbelievable strength. This thing almost OHKO's Max defense eviolite Chansey under status with Drain Punch, a 75 base power attack. That is impressive. Payback I chose as a coverage move over Knock Off for one reason; it OHKOs Mega Gengar, a huge threat in Wi-Fi play. That thing terrorized my Conkeldurr before it started running Payback. Now it is a solid defense to it and is actually a solid counter. It's not as slow as it could be to get the boost on payback; bulky ghosts laugh at it. However, mega gengar is a much more real threat. I thought about running a status orb, but Assault Vest is usually more useful. Poison Jab rounds out the set for neutral coverage on everything except for Toxicroak.

Nidoking @life Orb
Modest Nature
252 SAtk, 252Speed (this thing actually doesn't have perfect IVs, but I'm not complaining as its offense is maxed and it's shiny.)
Sheer Force
Sludge Wave
Earth Power
Ice Beam
Flamethrower

This thing is so edgy. It can either be a force of pure destruction, or complete dead weight. It's not as consistent as the former two, but it can be far more powerful than them.
As sheer force cancels life orb recoil on any move affected by it, all these moves basically get about a 60% power boost for no drawbacks. The first two moves are STAB, the final two are coverage. I used to run choice scarf, but it simply lacked the power it needed. It's like a Chandelure in that aspect.

Starmie@Sitrus Berry
Modest Nature
252 SAtk, 252 Speed
Natural Cure
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Rapid Spin

It's the exact set I recommended to Riku earlier.

Aggron @ Aggronite
Sassy Nature
252 HP, 252 SDef
Sturdy (Filter as Mega)
Stealth Rock
Iron Head
Thunder Wave
Dragon Tail

Say hello to part one of the pokemon to patch up my team's weaknesses. It's usually my lead, setting stealth rocks, spreading paralysis and hitting hard. It's very self-explanatory.

Blissey @ Leftovers (told you something else needed it more)
Bold Nature
252 HP, 252 Def
Natural Cure
Softboiled
Protect/Aromatherapy
Flamethrower
Toxic

Part two, Blissey is the gold(or...pink) standard of special Walls. Softboiled is standard recovery. I'm undecided on slot two. Even though 4/6 of my pokemon can shrug off status, and one is immune to the two effects that would hurt it most, I'm not sure. Flamethrower hits almost everything that is immune to toxic pretty hard.


And that's my team.

[Metal]

i intended to pick my copy up again this summer, as ill have more free time, and time to work on my teams, and making them work together, or better together lol, anywho, i tend to enjoy team doubles better than doubles, just the idea of having to rely on someone else to fight half your battle, yet not knowing what they are gonna do is thrilling in a way.

[Frozazen]

Apr 21, 2014 0:26:09 GMT Stove said:

Now, I'd like a second opinion on my team as well. It's a balanced sort of team with two physical attackers, two special and two walls (one a dedicated physical wall, the other special.)
All of these pokemon have 31 IVs in every stat that matters (for example, Conkeldurr does not have 31IVs in SAtk, but everything else.)

Talonflame and other pokemon

And that's my team.

replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-112059986
Only had time for one battle, but it looks to be a pretty solid team, Steve ^_^
I did make a few mistakes, but oh well.

My suggestion to you would be to give Blissey Wish and Protect, as they work very well with Toxic. The flamethrower, as you can see in the match, saved my life, so I don't think that should be changed. Ice beam is the other option if you're scared of Gliscor.

My personal preference is to run max speed Starmie with focus sash, but that's for a revenge killer. Life Orb would be my suggestion if you want more power.

Aggron is useful for pokes that want to set up on him, but the thing I don't like about Mega Aggron is his lack of recovery. This is the other reason to use Wish on Blissey, as a wall should be able to take at least 2 hits before going down.

For Conkeldurr I use Knock Off, but that's mainly because I would rather use Blissey or Talonflame to finish Mega Gengar after Knock Off, because Knock Off is an insanely good move on the switch, as knocking off a leftovers or an assault vest is extremely useful.

Don't really have much to say about Talonflame, as he does his job pretty well. Nidoking will get wrecked by a Greninja or rotom-w, but Blissey has that covered. Excadrill is a problem for your team, though, as he can come in on everything except Stamie's Hydro Pump and deal massive damage, and I wouldn't switch Starmie in to take a hit from Excadrill.

[Stove]

Apr 21, 2014 3:02:26 GMT Frozazen said:

Apr 21, 2014 0:26:09 GMT Stove said:

Now, I'd like a second opinion on my team as well. It's a balanced sort of team with two physical attackers, two special and two walls (one a dedicated physical wall, the other special.)
All of these pokemon have 31 IVs in every stat that matters (for example, Conkeldurr does not have 31IVs in SAtk, but everything else.)

Talonflame and other pokemon

And that's my team.

replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-112059986
Only had time for one battle, but it looks to be a pretty solid team, Steve ^_^
I did make a few mistakes, but oh well.

My suggestion to you would be to give Blissey Wish and Protect, as they work very well with Toxic. The flamethrower, as you can see in the match, saved my life, so I don't think that should be changed. Ice beam is the other option if you're scared of Gliscor.

My personal preference is to run max speed Starmie with focus sash, but that's for a revenge killer. Life Orb would be my suggestion if you want more power.

Aggron is useful for pokes that want to set up on him, but the thing I don't like about Mega Aggron is his lack of recovery. This is the other reason to use Wish on Blissey, as a wall should be able to take at least 2 hits before going down.

For Conkeldurr I use Knock Off, but that's mainly because I would rather use Blissey or Talonflame to finish Mega Gengar after Knock Off, because Knock Off is an insanely good move on the switch, as knocking off a leftovers or an assault vest is extremely useful.

Don't really have much to say about Talonflame, as he does his job pretty well. Nidoking will get wrecked by a Greninja or rotom-w, but Blissey has that covered. Excadrill is a problem for your team, though, as he can come in on everything except Stamie's Hydro Pump and deal massive damage, and I wouldn't switch Starmie in to take a hit from Excadrill.

For smogon I do run different sets, but this is also my battle spot team. You can't have duplicate items.
In smogon I do run wish on blissey, but wish chansey/blissey is a rare 3rd gen event pokemon, and I don't think I could get ahold of one without cheating. This is why I don't use it. Also, I don't want to spend 2 turns recovering, and I don't want to give up aromatherapy. Flamethrower is there so I can sting the common pokemon that resist toxic. (Like Scizor.) The many outweigh the few and Gliscor alone is not a big enough threat for me to switch flamethrower for ice beam.
In smogon, yes, knock off is better in general, but mega gengar is such a huge threat (since it isn't banned in wi-fi).
As for starmie, I don't run LO because I want to keep Starmie alive longer. I don't like LO on a pokemon that can't alleviate the damage. Also that means I take 10% damage for spinning. I may try the sash though since it's not a duplicate item.
Lastly, Excadrill gets 2HKO'd by Talonflame's Flare Blitz. It won't like switching into that, Conkeldurr's fighting moves, Nidoking's Flamethrower/Earth Power, or Starmie's Hydro pump. I'm pretty sure all of them except Talonflame OHKO with their main STAB move. Thanks for the tips, I'll probably put a sash on starmie.