VGC Team

[SaRo|Rapidash]

I've been looking into starting the VGC metagame, and with help from Kay and nugget bridge I learnt a few of the common threats, which I built a team around. It's doing okay, but only has like 50% win rate which isn't very good for tournament play, so I've been looking to try and improve it but have kind of hit a wall at which I can't really think how to improve, so was looking for more experienced people to point out flaws. Anyways, here's the team ^^;

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Telepathy
EVs: 44 Defence / 252 SpA / 208 Speed
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast

This was added because my team had a massive Physical bias (and still does xD) but it does it's job nicely. I generally only bring Gardevoir if I see a will-o-wisp user or two on the opponents team, and even then I often bring Talonflame instead. Movesets fairly standard, except Shadow Ball > Moonblast because Aegislash can be a big problem for Aerodactyl and occasionally Kangaskhan.

Talonflame @ Life Orb
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Will-O-Wisp

Life Orb > Choice Band because I'm using Talonflame as a fast will-o-wisp user. Also being used as a counter to Ludicolo, as the rest of my team can struggle to deal with it. Max attack and speed because it need to outspeed Garchomp to WoW it and after that there's so little EVs left from speed it's not worth putting anywhere else xD This was originally Amoonguss, but it wasn't doing much and I was too weak to Ludicolo so I swapped it.

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

This set is designed to work with Aerodactyl's Sky Drop for an easy set-up and then to spam double rock slide, or if it's a better option then one of the other two moves. The two work well together because Aerodactyl shuts down WoW with taunt and can take dangerous ice types to the sky with Sky Drop for Garchomp to deal with at +2 the next turn. Lum Berry is standard, but incredibly useful on this set as it gives me a buffer for if I predict a WoW user wrong. I have tried Protect > Rock Slide, but Rock Slide was too valuable and so whilst I wish it could run protect it simply doesn't have room.

Aerodactyl (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unnerve
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Sky Drop
- Taunt
- Wide Guard / Protect

Pretty standard Aerodactyl, not much else it can do other than Tailwind, but this set supports my team most. Sky Drop is one of the most fun moves ever, allowing me to do very interesting tactics. Protect and Wide Guard is a choice I'm struggling to decide between, both have been incredibly useful in different ways.

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- Sucker Punch

Kangaskhan is ridiculously good, and I'm running it as fast as I can because it helps at least speed tie with base 100s, and allows me to outspeed any Hydreigon, Inner Focus is chosen before mega-ing because if I predict fake out I don't lose a turn which is very useful. Gengar is this sets worst nightmare, being able to WoW without worry, but the rest of my team is fairly good at handling gengar so it's not too much of a problem.

Rotom-W @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
252 HP / 112 SpA / 140 SpD / 4 Speed
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Will-o-wisp
- Hydro Pump

Rotom-W was originally Mamoswine, and then it was CB Bisharp and then it was Sitrus Berry Bisharp and now it's this, so this is kind of the spot of my team that hasn't quite found what it wants to be. Rotom-W provides a much needed Water Resist, although I've found that to be a little redundant given Ludicolo runs Giga Drain anyway and Kingdra has Draco meteor. Anyway, this EV Spread means I'm only 2HKOd by Charizard Y's Solarbeam, which means I can stay in and volt switch if I wish to deal damage to it. 4 speed outspeeds uninvested Rotom-A, which is always good.

Okay, that's it, I'm open to most suggestions, especially on EVs because I think I'm very singles-minded when it comes to EVs xD

[Dragonpika]

This is looking good so far! I think switching Amoonguss out for Talon was a good call.

I'll comment on your EV spreads another time cause they'll take a little researching, but yeah they're hugely suboptimal at the moment. 252/252 is great and all, but there's almost always a better alternative where you just put the EVs for specific tasks in and use the rest elsewhere. Checking the speed tiers and doing some damage calcs can get you started, but I'll be happy to provide some spreads given a little time ^^

Your singles knowledge is shining through if you're already winning evens with your team, given that you've only just started!

I will say that the first thing that strikes me about your team is that you have no Water resistance. I don't know what the new metagame will be like next season, but Rain is currently a big thing in tournament play. Are you finding you use Bisharp a lot? I find it generally quite lacklustre as it tends to die before it can make good use of an Intimidate boost; I'd possibly consider switching this out for something else. Your team currently only has one Special attacker which, in a metagame full of Wisp, isn't safe. Maybe pack a Rotom-W?

If you're keeping Bisharp, I'd question Low Sweep as a move. Knock Off could be a better alternative if you're wanting support, Night Slash for raw power or of course just Protect. Quick Guard is always a very outside option if you're struggling with priority.

Aerodactyl could run Wide Guard in place of Protect, if desired. I'd give it a try.

Gardevoir's Telepathy is currently only protecting her from Chomp's EQ, so Trace might be a fun thing to try. Tracing Parental Bond is always fun! Admittedly, though, this of course limits her usefulness next to Chomp, so if it's a combination you find yourself using a lot then stick with Telepathy, especially since your team (other than Talon) doesn't really enjoy facing Mega Mawile as it is and EQ is one of your only big hits against it.

Protect and Crunch are always worth considering over the standard Kanga set, I find. Sometimes the threat of Fake Out alone is enough to keep the opponent on their toes. The standard set is standard for a reason, though, so if you like it stick with it!

I'll have a ponder on the EV spreads, but there's my thoughts so far - take from them what you will, I haven't seen how the team plays really and I could happily be wrong ^_^

[SaRo|Rapidash]

This is looking good so far! I think switching Amoonguss out for Talon was a good call.

Yeah, it's been doing a lot better, I think Amoonguss was too defensive when the rest of my team is quite focused on offense.

I'll comment on your EV spreads another time cause they'll take a little researching, but yeah they're hugely suboptimal at the moment. 252/252 is great and all, but there's almost always a better alternative where you just put the EVs for specific tasks in and use the rest elsewhere. Checking the speed tiers and doing some damage calcs can get you started, but I'll be happy to provide some spreads given a little time ^^

I think my problem when I look at speed tiers is I always think 'yeah, but 8 more EVs and I outspeed that. And just 4 more and I outspeed that' and then I end up with 252 Speed EVs xD I'll go over and check the speed tiers in the morning, because I'm sure things like Talonflame can drop a few EVs in favour of bulk, even if I have to drop attack

Your singles knowledge is shining through if you're already winning evens with your team, given that you've only just started!

Aww, thanks ^^ Tbf, I think it's because I'll be at the lower end of the ladder because I haven't been on the VGC ladder before, so it might not be an entirely fair representation

I will say that the first thing that strikes me about your team is that you have no Water resistance. I don't know what the new metagame will be like next season, but Rain is currently a big thing in tournament play. Are you finding you use Bisharp a lot? I find it generally quite lacklustre as it tends to die before it can make good use of an Intimidate boost; I'd possibly consider switching this out for something else. Your team currently only has one Special attacker which, in a metagame full of Wisp, isn't safe. Maybe pack a Rotom-W?

Water resist is something I've been needing, actually, as well as a meaningful Ice resist. Bisharp has only been used in like 20% of my battles! and then it has tended to be a bit frail so I'll test it out with Rotom-W in the morning. I assume he runs a fairly specific EV spread given his weird stats?

If you're keeping Bisharp, I'd question Low Sweep as a move. Knock Off could be a better alternative if you're wanting support, Night Slash for raw power or of course just Protect. Quick Guard is always a very outside option if you're struggling with priority.

If Rotom-W proves not as good as Bisharp and I decide to go back, I'll try out protect or something, could be useful with Garchomp having EQ

Aerodactyl could run Wide Guard in place of Protect, if desired. I'd give it a try.

I've been using Protect a lot for help against Scizor, but I suppose it won't hurt to swap it to wide guard for a couple of matches and see if it fares any better

Gardevoir's Telepathy is currently only protecting her from Chomp's EQ, so Trace might be a fun thing to try. Tracing Parental Bond is always fun! Admittedly, though, this of course limits her usefulness next to Chomp, so if it's a combination you find yourself using a lot then stick with Telepathy, especially since your team (other than Talon) doesn't really enjoy facing Mega Mawile as it is and EQ is one of your only big hits against it.

My biggest problem with Trace is that it's random, so whilst you could trace Parental Bond you could equally trace something garbage. I'll give it a shot though, it's something I'd largely disregarded as inferior to Telepathy, but it could help against Kangaskhan (especially as I believe Focus Blast only KOs with Parental Bond? Not sure, I'll have to double check)

Protect and Crunch are always worth considering over the standard Kanga set, I find. Sometimes the threat of Fake Out alone is enough to keep the opponent on their toes. The standard set is standard for a reason, though, so if you like it stick with it!

I've noticed a lot of opponents try double protecting on kanga, actually, so I was look at some outside options to take advantage of that (one I looked at was Bite for the 51% Flinch rate, but I feel it's largely inferior to Crunch). Also debated Retaliate to have a 210 BP attack when something faints, but that doesn't circumvent their double protect so it's largely useless xD I'll give protect a whirl though, all too often Garchomps critted Kanga and lost me the game >_>

I'll have a ponder on the EV spreads, but there's my thoughts so far - take from them what you will, I haven't seen how the team plays really and I could happily be wrong ^_^

Thank you so much for all your time,you've been a great help ^^ I'll make the changes one at a time in the morning (so that if one goes wrong I know which one) and I'll let you know how they went.

Emboldened comments just to make it easier to see what I'm referring to, and thanks again for all your help ^^

Edit: okay, implemented most of these changes, I'll edit the OP with the new sets after posting this, but a quick changelog:

-> Gardevoirs EV spread is now 44 Defence / 252 SpA / 208 Speed, allowing it to outspeed Mega Manectric and scarf Heracross. The 44 in defence gives it a buffer against Talonflame and Kangaskhan.

-> Bisharp swapped for a Rotom-W running a spread of 252 HP / 112 SpA / 140 SpD / 4 Speed, allowing it to survive megazard Y's Solarbeam. 4 speed to outspeed other no-investment Rotom-A

-> Protect > Fake Out on Kangaskhan has been working much better

-> Wide Guard on Aerodactyl has been helpful for stopping Rock Slide, giving Talonflame a chance to WoW TTar. Not yet sure if I like it more than protect.

-> Tried Trace on Gardevoir, but reverted back to Telepathy as it missed the EQ immunity a bit too much, and I kept tracing useless things like Drizzle xD

I think that's it ^^ going to look at the others EV spreads now, but I don't think Garchomp / Aerodactyl have much room to change tbh.