Pokemon-Online Youtube Tournament Round 3

[Bob Backspin]

Hi all,

I'm participating in the PO Youtube Tourney (link below). I've made it to the third round through two defaults. My opponent is active this round, so this is where the tourney starts to get serious. If you guys have anything helpful, I'd really appreciate it. I got two teams here, one is relatively balanced, the other is centered around Cobalion.

Essentially, you are given a certain number of points to work with. Each pokemon is assigned a number of points, and you build a team with the points you have. If you beat your opponent, you add half of his points to your total for the next round. The selection of Pokemon also gets larger each round. I currently have 26 points.

Main thread (rules and stuff)

http://pokemon-online.eu/forums/showthread.php?17276-The-Second-Official-Pokemon-Online-YouTube-Tournament

Round 3 (You can also find a list of the allowed Pokes here)

http://pokemon-online.eu/forums/showthread.php?18128-The-Second-Official-Pokemon-Online-YouTube-Tournament-Round-3

Team 1 - Synergy

Centering my team around one 8-pointer didn't work so well for me, so I decided to build a well-balanced team with good synergy. This team consists of four 5-pointers and two 3-pointers. F/W/G core is covered, and a little Normal/Ghost thing is there too.

Hitmonchan (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Iron Fist

EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Drain Punch

- Foresight

- Rapid Spin

- Ice Punch

Hitmonchan is really my only rock resist. It hits Aggron hard and Ice Punch with Iron Fist does quite a number as well. Rapid Spin and Foresight allow for the most reliable spinning, along with his decent speed and good Sp. Def.

Entei @ Flame Plate

Trait: Pressure

EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Flare Blitz

- ExtremeSpeed

- Stone Edge

- Hidden Power [Grass]

Entei is the big hitter. I chose Flame Plate over CB for the ability to switch moves, especially with Extremespeed to pick off weakened guys. Needs Rapid Spin support, so that's why I have Foresight on Hitmonchan. Flare Blitz damage racks up quickly and Stone Edge is iffy, but they're both strong moves. HP Grass is dead weight, would Will-o-Wisp/Toxic be better?

Kabutops (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Battle Armor

EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Waterfall

- Stone Edge

- Stealth Rock

- Knock Off

My homemade Kabutops is a good mix between support and offense. EVs to outspeed modest Nidoqueen, SR, and Knock Off for switch-ins make it a pretty good Poke in general. SD could go over Knock Off but I've never had much chance to set up with this guy.

Rotom-C @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Volt Switch

- Leaf Storm

- Hidden Power [ice]

- Trick

Good pivot for my team. Key resistances coupled with a good Sp. Atk means he hits hard and finds many chances to do so. I'm not outspeeding anything particular with Timid, (especially since Clefable takes Rotom-H pretty well) so I opted for Modest for a bit more power. Rotom-C can also revenge Charizard after a bit of prior damage from Solar Power. Finally, Trick is my only option against bulky set-up sweepers, such as Sigilyph.

Clefable (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Magic Guard

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Seismic Toss

- Wish

- Protect

- Heal Bell

A pretty awesome wall and support Poke. Deals with Special Ludicolo, Nidoqueen, and other special threats. Not much to say about her, I kinda just play her like a Blissey.

Spiritomb (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Pressure

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef

Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)

- Dark Pulse

- Calm Mind

- Rest

- Sleep Talk

I needed a Ghost type to keep SR up, and Mono-attacking Spiritomb is really good against teams that lack Taunt. Good bulk makes him a niche (?) counter to Gallade, Machoke, Throh, and other Fighting types.

Weaknesses

I'm mainly weak to extremely strong physical attacks, such as Aggron's Head Smash. It easily 2HKOs Hitmonchan and all of my other Pokes.

Hitmonchan(3) + Entei(5) + Kabutops(5) + Rotom-C(5) + Clefable(5) + Spiritomb(3) = 26

Team 2 - The 8-pointer

This one's been getting better results so far in the Wifi UU tier, which is cool since half of the pokes there aren't allowed in the tourney yet. I've had some haxy losses too, but I'm not gonna count those, lol. Chances are I'm probably gonna lead off with this team.

Cobalion @ Leftovers

Trait: Justified

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Close Combat

- Taunt

- Stone Edge

- Swords Dance

Taunt lets me set up on a lot of defensive Pokes, then Steel + Rock are good attacking types. I was really suprised at the damage output of this guy after a SD or two, and he has tons of opportunities to set up as well.

Moltres @ Life Orb

Trait: Pressure

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Fire Blast

- Hurricane

- Hidden Power [Grass]

- Roost

Hits hard and has pretty good coverage. Unfortunately the accuracy on his STABs is iffy, but he usually gets the job done. The main problem is that he really needs spin support, something Armaldo is only gonna give once or twice (because of his subpar bulk and lack of recovery).

Slowking (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Regenerator

EVs: 248 HP / 144 Def / 116 SDef

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Scald

- Slack Off

- Toxic

- Psychic

Great special wall, a good defensive pivot. Not much to say about him, but I'm wondering if I should put TWave over Toxic (because I lack Speed on this team). The EVs are from Smogon.

Meganium (F) @ Leftovers

Trait: Overgrow

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef

Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)

- Giga Drain

- Dragon Tail

- Aromatherapy

- Synthesis

If I take Toxic off Slowking, it's gotta go somewhere on Meganium. Otherwise, you know this guy; he's been on every single one of my teams. The 1 point status is too good to drop. Synthesis is kinda iffy here, haven't had much of a chance to use it so far.

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb

Trait: Sheer Force

EVs: 84 HP / 252 SAtk / 172 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Earth Power

- Ice Beam

- Thunderbolt

- Flamethrower

Hits ridiculously hard. I've always wanted to try one of the Nidos to see their damage output. I'm not disappointed. Nidoqueen's a bit slow, but has the bulk to get it done. Speed EVs beat 229's with a bit of speed creep (base 55's IIRC) since Nidoqueen's rather slow anyway.

Armaldo (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Battle Armor

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Rock Blast

- Stealth Rock

- Knock Off

- Rapid Spin

Defensive Armaldo, to take hits. I've never had any success with Offensive Armaldo, and it dies almost right away anyway. I usually don't find enough time to use all three of his support moves, but usually he gets the main job done - either set up SR or Rapid Spin. I needed a spinner worth 2 points, so here he is.

Cobalion(8) + Moltres(5) + Slowking(5) + Meganium(1) + Nidoqueen(5) + Armaldo(2) = 26

Thanks for reading this obnoxiously long post.

[wraith89]

I'm not sure what all that point system is, but to help around your strong physical hit weakness, try to put Will-o-Wisp on one of your Pokemon in the first team. Spiritomb may be ideal because it is tanky enough to take hits, and MonoAttack Spiritomb is not exactly easy to set up. Either that guy or Rotom works, it is your choice. Since Entei is not running a bulky set, it hardly has room for that and should just be attacking as much as possible. That Entei would love Life Orb, but if the Recoil turns you down, run Expert Belt instead, as super-effective hits take down things much quicker. HP Grass is only for specific uses, such as to 2HKO Swampert and the likes that have 4x weakness to Grass. It's only for surprise value and to add coverage, but if you don't like that, run a status move instead or even Overheat or maybe Howl. Why doesn't this guy learn Earthquake already????

For your other team, yes, Thunder Wave is very nice to have on Slowking, because not only is your team quite slow (save Moltres, but 90 speed isn't always reliable), but Ground Pokemon do not normally switch in on Slowking, while it generally will not live long enough to Toxic stall hard physical attackers unfortunately (which Slowbro does slightly better on). Don't stick it on Cobalion because Cobalion's #1 switch-ins tend to be Ground types. If you do run Thunder Wave, maybe you can also try Iron Head on Cobalion just to be annoying. Taunt is also learned by Nidoqueen. As much as I like Nidoqueen, Nidoking is generally better for the offensive type of set you are running. Yes, some slight bulk helps, but generally it will not combat her weakness to common Water/Ice/Ground moves she hates. You can stick Toxic or Toxic Spikes on one of her moves (maybe Flamethrower) if you feel Toxic is needed. That + Dragon Tail combo is quite annoying, though you can use Meganium for that.

EDIT: Never mind. I see the point system and Nidoking is 20 points. What a huge jump from Nidoqueen. I didn't expect them to be THAT far apart.

[Bob Backspin]

Thanks for the advice Wraith! I know it's a long read especially with the rules and stuff, so I appreciate the response.

Whoops, didn't realize you edited your post. Just reserving space here for a reply.

HP Grass so far only hits Seismitoad, I think it does like 20% to Slowking and Eviolite Wartortle (Flare Blitz does more IIRC)

I was also wondering - do you think Toxic should replace Synthesis on Meganium? The current round is where Heat and Damp rocks are now allowed, and I'm not sure if I'll have too many chances to use Synthesis with Charizards and Rain running around everywhere.

Btw, do you remember a guy called Alan from Quantum?

[wraith89]

While it is true Mono Spiritomb does have the proper support, and it does work really well late game, it's a little risky to go that way if your whole team has a problem with physical attacks, particularly if Dark Pulse is resisted by the very Fighters and Steels it wants to take down. That is, unless that whole team is based off having Spiritomb sweep, then that would be okay. I was just suggesting WoW on it is all, though if you still want that Spiritomb, just stick WoW on Entei.

Yeah I just found out what the whole point system was as I edited a bit above. As for bulky waters, Meganium should be suitable enough to take them for the most part (save Freeze hax, it has Aromatherapy and Synthesis and quite hard to take down by bulky waters, electrics and grounds).

Hm it said they weren't allowed, but now it is? If you have Wish support of some kind, it would be helpful, but otherwise, I wouldn't remove Synthesis. You can stick Leech Seed in its place then just to be annoying (or Toxic, whichever one works).

Yeah I remember Alan. Tell the guy I said hi. It is past 11 AM here, so I have to leave now.

*stares at "Lax Bro" and your biography and I am somewhat getting a hint of who thou art...*

Edited January 27, 2013 by wraith89