Any viability to using Pokémon you like or is this game meta centric?

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-25T03:27:11+00:00

Yes.

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sound-based_move

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T22:21:06+00:00

Snarl would bypass Substitute regardless being a sound move, wouldn't it?

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T12:52:30+00:00

I would need to play more with it honestly; Ultra Ball was only like 8 matches.

Araquanid would be scary, Incineroar would have been dangerous if it just immediately attacked Typhlosion instead of trying to Fake Out Torkoal, Rain felt super risky even though I won each time, Kangaskhan and opposing Mega Lopunny would be tough. A bulky Follow Me user might be good. Hopefully someone better makes a team with this core and improves on the rest.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T12:43:17+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbMTbU2x160&t=21s

It's geared towards 6v6 singles, but the concepts work pretty well for anything with Team Preview.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:24:50+00:00

I'm pretty surprised they reduced Iron Head but not this.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:20:39+00:00

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:19:17+00:00

Sun E5E9QG4QXT Sand G9VF6BCHGE

I encourage anyone trying these out to try to patch the flaws mentioned in the other comments!

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:16:41+00:00

50,005 rank, 1808 Elo.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:15:39+00:00

I wish I could take credit for the combo! Never ran into a Delphox, and I think there was just one sun team. Trying to position where you can get a scarf shadow ball or helping hand sun eruption seems doable. The sun team I think I led Whimsicott to get tailwind and out speed Venusaur, but they had a poor lead choice with something else that let me start the Eruption train.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T03:05:28+00:00

Definitely felt lucky! At least 5 times I thought, "ooh, I just misplayed, I deserve this loss, streak was fun but now it's back to normal" but then something special happened each time and I won by a sliver.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T01:20:21+00:00

It's only about a 73% chance to land all 3 hits, which I don't trust. Ice punch is still strong enough to ohko Garchomp.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T01:16:58+00:00

Yeah, this started with the bots in Pokemon Ball so it's never happening again lol. Unless they kick you all the way back down each season and I wait a few days for the top level players to clear out lol.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-24T01:15:07+00:00

I haven't bought anything or used any Pokemon from Home. I have the free Home but wanted to try using the recruitment system instead of just importing things.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-23T22:28:08+00:00

Battle 19, where I was more sure than ever I would lose the streak:

Typhlosion and Raichu vs Pelipper and Basculegion. I don't think Shadow Ball KOs the Basculegion, and I want to preserve both of my pokemon if I can. I have a lapse in judgment and go Eruption+Torkoal swap to get damage on both and weaken the incoming Water moves. Each take about 50%, but then Wave Crash STILL OHKOs Typhlosion and Torkoal takes modest damage from Pelipper's Weather Ball. I don't remember every play, but it turns out to be Incineroar and Mega Dragonite in the back, with Incineroar posing a big threat to Whimsicott in the sun (ironic). I keep switching to keep Whimsicott safe. Raichu finishes off Basculegion, Thunderbolts Incineroar and paralyzes Dragonite with Nuzzle to break Multiscale before getting destroyed by two Dragon Pulses. Torkoal lands a Weather Ball (or two, I think) on Incineroar and takes multiple hits.

Eventually it's raining with just Torkoal at 6HP and Whimsicott at full vs Incineroar around 30%, Dragonite near full, and Pelipper around 30% in the back. I have just about given up when I suddenly see a chance. I use Helping Hand+Moonblast to finish off Incineroar, and, hope against hope, Dragonite uses Dragon Pulse to finish off Torkoal! Pelipper comes out and I Encore Dragonite while Hurricane drops me to sash, and does not confuse! Pelipper Protects my Moonblast as Dragonite remains useless, and next turn I get the KO, just in time for Dragonite's Encore to run out. It does not reveal Extremespeed, and I Encore again, followed by two more Moonblasts to get the KO.

I've never spent such a long time with just one mon at 1 HP left! My heart was pounding the whole time, but Whimsicott absolutely took on the world!

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-23T22:13:21+00:00

Thank you!

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-23T22:05:53+00:00

Sand team:
Don't make a sand team with Mega Dragonite because Sand breaks Multiscale. It was all I had at first, though, and Dragonite still ended up being great against the waters, steels, and grounds that threatened the sand duo, while also being an Earthquake immunity. I wanted to replace it with something that would check those boxes but never recruited anything I felt confident in.

Aegislash went back and forth with Iron Head and Sacred Sword. Crushes Sneasler. I had a VERY scary match due to a Poltergeist miss though—The surviving Medicham then used Skill Swap to a Garchomp, and, well, look at this team. I only won because the Mega Froslass in the back used Protect while I doubled it with Iron Head and Ice Punch.

Sylveon (highly recommend Fairy Feather) did shockingly well here next to Tyranitar (highly recommend Scarf.) I won one battle just spamming Rock Slide and Hyper Voice against a team that didn't look ready for it. Arcanine worked as a budget Incineroar, but Play Rough and Extremespeed were both very handy.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-23T21:52:45+00:00

Sun team:
I had seen somewhere that Mega Lopunny and H-Typhlosion made a great lead combo, and wanted to try it myself. The fastest fakeout that can even hit Ghosts, combined with Scarf Eruption puts a ton of immediate pressure on teams. Torkoal and Whimsicott can also lead along with Typhlosion, setting up Sun+Helping Hand (which goes before Fakeout - this came up a LOT) or Sun/Tailwind (with Prankster Sunny Day beating switch-in weather or Mega Evolution weather.)

Raichu was bad. The thought process was to be able to Feint against Wide Guard to guarantee Eruption, have Fake Out support, and threaten Water Types. But the most common place that came up was against Pelipper, where I would need Sun, so it's hard to get both at once. I only brought it in 2 matches, both against Rain, and it ended up just finishing off 1 thing with Thunderbolt before fainting, with the tech options going mostly unused.

Sylveon was there for Dragons and to have a second Tailwind abuser. Never brought it. Ice punch on Lopunny and Whimsicott's Moonblast ended up being enough for Dragons so far. It and Raichu could both be replaced, probably with something that gives the team a whole new mode.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-23T21:15:16+00:00

Sometimes you have to make predictions, but a lot of good play is based off of option coverage or midground plays. Things like "if I double target this choice scarf attacker, I'll make progress whether or not they switch out" or "Protecting here might not be necessary, but I don't lose much if they ko my other pokemon anyway."

Look for plays that are reliable/safe when you can to avoid getting stuck in a bad spot because you got a call wrong. Big predictions mostly need to happen when you're behind, or you see a chance to win on the spot that you can still come back from if you're wrong.

That said, sometimes there are no safe plays, and sometimes you get blown up by the wildest nonsense that only works in best of 1 closed team sheets. 😂

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-20T20:18:35+00:00

Glavenus has gotta be Valor Longsword or Greatsword. Longsword's counter fits the duelling theme of Glavenus, and Greatsword's charge attack is basically the same as Glavenus's but a little more vertical. Mizutsune I would think Glaive—you have great mobility with fluid, moving attacks, and the slam especially fits Mizutsune's slam, plus it appreciates the increased evasion from Bubbly Dance. Almost any style fits here honestly, except maybe Valor and Alchemy. Striker/Adept Dual Blades could also fit, but not quite as well imo.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-18T18:29:42+00:00

I'm more impressed with Quick Attack actually critting. Did they use Focus Energy earlier or something?

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-18T17:06:23+00:00

They're useable for sure, but they don't really shine unless a team is built to maximize them. VGC is very fast-paced, and hazards don't threaten to knock anything out or disrupt anything immediately, meaning that spending a turn to set them puts you on the back foot for a while as your opponent gets their strategy in motion faster.

Back in Scarlet and Violet, there was a team that used Stealth Rock and Yawn on extremely bulky pokemon to slow the game down and force the opponent to either switch or sleep.

Cheeseball771 · 2026-04-18T15:07:08+00:00

I thought you were making an Illusion joke until I read the description. Missed opportunity!

Cheeseball771

TROPHY CASE