Topic: 6th Gen Pokemon of the Week

[Hahex and Oshawott]

So reading this article has inspired me to go and EV train myself a Garchomp. The thing is, my one is Adamant natured, meaning it's too slow for a Choice Scarf set and not viable for a mixed Mega-Garchomp set, since it has -Sp.Atk. Do you reccomend a Swords Dance set or a Choice Band set? And do I keep the EVs at 252Atk/252Spd/4HP?

[Delicious_Scout]

So reading this article has inspired me to go and EV train myself a Garchomp. The thing is, my one is Adamant natured, meaning it's too slow for a Choice Scarf set and not viable for a mixed Mega-Garchomp set, since it has -Sp.Atk. Do you reccomend a Swords Dance set or a Choice Band set? And do I keep the EVs at 252Atk/252Spd/4HP?

No, no! Garchomp is still viable with Adamant nature! What you might mean is "outclassed"! It can still hit quickly, but not quick enough against many other threats, but MUCH harder. And for Mega-Chomp, it gets a non-redundant STAB compared to Kyurem-B. It needs much more support, but it is good. The Spread for Choice items is ideal, but I would go bulkier with Mega (I haven't found THE spread yet). Paired with Tyranitar, they can do serious damage.

Just remember; support it via paralysis, sticky web and Tyranitar and you'll have a very nice Pokémon in your hands.

[Richard and Blaziken]

I'd actually recommend Choice Band or Scarf if you're going with Adamant, but that's just me. Choice Band with Adamant nature is pretty terrifying, and Adamant Scarf hits much harder as a revenge-killer than Jolly does. Jolly is still preferred in competitive, but Adamant does give you a significant boost in power in both of these roles. MegaChomp requires so much support, it's just not worth it imo.

[Inferna]

Just dropping in to say, I really enjoy reading these, even though I don't do much battling these days! It's always nice to hear other people's take on certain pokemon.
I liked the bit you had ages ago where Kay/Tim (iirc) talked about the pokemon's name or design.

I'd love it if you did Noivern at some point, or maybe some 3rd gen Pokemon to celebrate or/as release :3

[Richard and Blaziken]

Just dropping in to say, I really enjoy reading these, even though I don't do much battling these days! It's always nice to hear other people's take on certain pokemon.
I liked the bit you had ages ago where Kay/Tim (iirc) talked about the pokemon's name or design.

I'd love it if you did Noivern at some point, or maybe some 3rd gen Pokemon to celebrate or/as release :3

Aww, thank you! These kind of comments really do mean a lot to me! The Unearthed section probably won't make a return unless someone else is willing to write it. Both Kay and Tim are far too busy these days, and I can't do that section justice (plus it usually takes me the full week for research and writing), but I wouldn't mind having others try to write that, or even submit their own idea for a new section in PotW. Seriously, I'm very open to having co-writers and new sections in the article if it's an appealing idea and fits with the article!

As for 3rd gen Pokemon, I've actually been trying to stay away from them until the OR/AS release because I have a feeling more megas are on the way. Once OR/AS hits, though, expect to see a bunch of our Hoenn friends being discussed!

[kindtocrows]

Aww, thank you! These kind of comments really do mean a lot to me! The Unearthed section probably won't make a return unless someone else is willing to write it. Both Kay and Tim are far too busy these days, and I can't do that section justice (plus it usually takes me the full week for research and writing), but I wouldn't mind having others try to write that, or even submit their own idea for a new section in PotW. Seriously, I'm very open to having co-writers and new sections in the article if it's an appealing idea and fits with the article!

As for 3rd gen Pokemon, I've actually been trying to stay away from them until the OR/AS release because I have a feeling more megas are on the way. Once OR/AS hits, though, expect to see a bunch of our Hoenn friends being discussed!

Okay, I'm still pretty new here so I had no idea there ever was a section like that in PotW, and I'm not really sure where to find it, but if you could link it to me so I can see how they did it and if I'd be able to do something similar, I'd love to do it.

[Richard and Blaziken]

It was back in the 5th generation articles, and only a few of them were done. This is the first one that was done.

[kindtocrows]

That looks pretty interesting, I'd love to try it. My writing style would probably be a little different, of course, but that's to be expected. It looks like it'd be a lot of fun to write.

[Richard and Blaziken]

I'll PM you for a sort of trial run thing.

Likewise, if anyone else wants to contribute to PotW, any ideas are always welcome!

[Captain Jigglypuff]

How about a PotW on Mewtwo and its Mega Evolutions?

[Richard and Blaziken]

I'll get to those at some point, sure.

PotW's main focus is the OU metagame, but I've been known to dip into Ubers every now and then too, so it wouldn't be a problem. One thing I will say is that hopefully OR/AS will give Mewtwo Superpower as a tutor, because Mega Mewtwo X sucks pretty badly, with only Low Kick as a means of Fighting STAB. It's not a bad move, but Superpower would be more reliable overall.

[Richard and Blaziken]

This week we're going to be discussing the second of six Pokemon that I myself use in current OU, Venusaur!

How do you feel about Venusaur? Is Chlorophyll sweeping still an option? Is Mega Venusaur worth your Mega slot with things like Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, and Latios around? Is the butt flower too embarrassing to overcome?!

[Spriter]

There should be little doubt that Venusaur is very well worth the Mega slot. Having something that can take on even Fire types (not Talonflame though) or Ice types like Mamoswine and come out on top is neat, but when it takes on Azumarill and such so well...it's hard to not justify the slot on your team.

[Hahex and Oshawott]

Honestly, I have a lot more trouble with a very tanky, stall based venasaur. He takes little damage, and what damage you can dish out is neutralised by his leech seed and giga drain.

[Richard and Blaziken]

Honestly, I have a lot more trouble with a very tanky, stall based venasaur. He takes little damage, and what damage you can dish out is neutralised by his leech seed and giga drain.

It's not very good with such offensive behemoths around, such as Mega Pinsir, Latios, etc. I prefer having the ability to actually deal with threats, rather than mildly pester them while immediately being forced out. Defensive M-Venu isn't bad, but it's not threatening whatsoever. It just sits there.

Anyway, it's a new week, and to round out the coverage of Kanto starters, we'll be discussing Blastoise this week! Since my articles are about OU (unless the Pokemon in question is Uber), we'll be talking about how well Blastoise does in the OU metagame. What do you think of Blastoise? Is the lack of recovery too much of a problem? Is Mega Launcher backed by 135 Sp. Attack enough to carve a niche for it as an offensive Pokemon in OU, or is it too outclassed by Keldeo and Rotom-W in terms of overall usefulness? Discuss!