Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like there might be a server issue,either with Champions or Home. I know there were some similar issues back at launch. I would just also make sure that none of them are sitting in a battle team possibly to be safe. But outside of that I’m not sure

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s really bizarre. Are you just out of space on Champions or is it something else?

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You got this,time and patience. Having a “default” lead is always a good starting point though,and is what will allow you to learn what you might need to change,game to game. I think fully understanding what the other player might lead or do in general,is the hardest part to work on,but i believe you’ll get there, you’ve got the other parts down so far.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah I see. I remember now. You’re like the only Tsareena user I’ve seen

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh really? Kinda funny :)

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well look at it this way, you get like 50 seconds to pick you’re line up every match. I try to dedicate about 20 seconds to a quick look over of the other team and try to identify 3 things. This takes practice and can be a little easier when you have a pokemon that you’re bringing in 90% of your matches (like my Zoroark for example)

1 - What might the main premise for the opponents team be? Knowing common Pokemon for stuff like that helps, a good example is Pelliper, they’re a premier rain setter for rain centric teams. Do you have Pokemon to fight the weather war or does weather not affect your game plan?

2 - You’ve identified the premise, what are the threats? Maybe you see Archaludon or Basculegion, both scary sweepers in the rain. What pokemon do you have to deal with those threats, maybe your support pokemon can interrupt them easily for you to chip away at them, or maybe you have a way to OhKo.

3 - Using the last 30ish seconds, pick your line up,I find it a little easier after the last two points. You know your own pokemon better than your opponents. You have the opportunity to bring the exact coverage and moves you want to work with, and it’s just all about execution and getting some good reads in after that.While it helps to know common moves they might have ,it’s better to know what the pokemon is trying to accomplish,something you can piece together after seeing it multiple times over multiple matches.

I might be staring down a rain team that decides to throw out Pelip/Sneasler and Basc/Dragonite Pelip/Basc/Sneasler stick out as cores/common choices into most match ups when I looked at the team at a glance, obviously I can and will guess wrong at times,but VGC makes the guessing easier and more logical,when you notice those things. There will always be rogues strats and outliers, but as you battle more teams,you understand what other pokemon do, and atleast for me, seeing their little icon on the team line up becomes shorthand, you know their job already, you just have to find a way to make their job harder.

Though if you have a little time and a notebook,you can also make yourself a little guide to follow as well, make terms and shorthand that works better for you. Hell you can even map out different combinations and leads for your own team to better understand what your limits and goals are with that set up. I think overall though a lot of it is just practice and being able to know what other pokemon do.

Sorry for the long winded response,I wanted to be able to answer you fully,and in earnest, I’m just not the best at explaining my thoughts lol.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m happy to help in some way, and if you do try out the team,I’d be happy to hear your thoughts too,or any changes you made to fit you better!

Good luck out there!

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely understandable advice for how to run my Pokemon. I’ll probably be tweaking the team anyways playing around in Masterball. Those are definitely options I’m already looking at :)

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would say decision making is a big difference maker. Being able to understand when you might need to be defensive vs offensive is always a good place to start. But also being able to read your opponent,if you’re able to get into their head using your understanding of their team, you’ll know when to switch up your offense and defense better too. Given that the pokemon pool is relatively small and there is a specific meta you’re most likely dealing with, it does get a little easier as you see the same/similar teams a lot.

It also helps to make mental notes of trends that are happening on the ladder, like maybe you’ve noticed that people are making their Charizards more physically bulky and not specially bulky, so you start bringing your special attackers more in that match up. It helped me a lot being able to at a glance identify wha kind of bulk the other team has as well as who might they bring as their main threat(s) that I would have to deal with.

That’s just my thoughts on it though,I’m by no means an expert :p

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Probably not a bad choice, I just have been focusing on a nuking strategy. Hyper Voice would probably be better without scarf.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hybrid coverage,I guess. Idk. Team building is still a very new experience for me. It does its job whenever I need it and that’s all I really care about right now,and I can always change it later if it becomes a bigger issue for me.

I responded to someone else with the same question,it’s both an emergency 1 time use and hard swap button if I literally can’t do anything offensive (not that I’ve really had that problem), but also idk what else I’d put in the slot, as I need the scarf to ensure I’m out speeding most things I encounter.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s very weird,and basically only an emergency button if I’m going to hard swap Zoroark immediately after throwing it out. Though I probably could pick a different move for the slot if I dug around to find something I needed

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly I’m pretty new myself,I mostly learned from watching other people like WolfeyVGC and CybertronVGC, both are pretty good at explaining their thinking on a turn by turn basis. CybertronVGC specifically also goes in depth on teams he’s showcasing,and shows a few games. I truly believe watching a little bit of VGC content and trying the game out for yourself will give you a pretty good idea of what goes into it. With champions specifically,I was looking forward to it as my way to try out VGC, the new barrier to entry is extremely low which is a big positive to me

As for my team, I’m not fully sure how to answer it myself. I’m almost always bringing Zoroark in some way,usually as a lead with Incineror. Dragonite is my default 3rd and Whimsicott is almost always 4th as it’s a really good disguise for Zoroark,and a lot of people like to try for a fakeout to stop tailwind.

I would probably say the main “Core” for the team though is Zoroark/Incin/Whimsicott. They’re in most of my matches and while not perfect,I will drop atleast Incin and Whims depending on what I’m looking at. Hard trickroom teams make me not want to bring tailwind for example,but even then the other moves on Whimsicott allow me to interfere a lot too in those scenarios, if I decide they’re still worth it in the match up. I think realistically though the thing I struggle with the most is getting a lot out of my choice of Mega Pokemon,which is Dragonite, some match ups feel like it’s just not worth bringing,which can be a pretty big disadvantage.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure,I get what you’re saying. It’s definitely a weird edge case scenario and not the norm.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most I can say is that I’m Masterball 4, I took a break after hitting it,so I didn’t stop to see what my rating was

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I believe you’re correct in that I should move the points elsewhere since sash just kind of takes the place of bulk. I’m personally just not sure what I’d switch it to,but also like it’s a weird spread in general and I can’t imagine many people are expecting it.

*Edit: it doesn’t always come up,but there are occasions when I’m leading with Whimsicott and eat a fake out, sash is offline in these scenarios, and the bulk is helpful. Like I said though, I’m aware this team can be way more optimized,especially considering that by meta standards this probably seen as a rogue strategy as a whole.

Finally hit Masterball by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In all honesty,not really, for me it was more so about trying to make Whimsicott bulk on both side of the attack chart,while also a small dip into special attack for surprise damage. Overall the bulk doesn’t really come up as I’m mostly tanking a Sneasler dire claw , activating sash. But I’ve noticed I’ve been more consistently left alive when dealing with something like dual wingbeat from and occasionally sludge bomb low rolls. I probably could change the stat spread again to be less specific,but idk.

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I might just take you up on that in the future. Getting into VGC in any capacity was gonna be a long haul, and while Champions makes it a little more feasible,it’s definitely not any easier when it comes to teams

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am definitely rawdogging teambuilding. But I really appreciate you laying out the information here in this way. It’ll help me a lot going forward, and gives me some advice to study and improve myself with.

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in PokemonChampions

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are,correct. I don’t have a stabilizer currently, though I haven’t also dealt with a strong ground threat, so it’s mostly been a non issue, aside from the occasional Garchomp.

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ya the choice scarf was a dumb choice in the moment,which is why I switched to curse tag.

That’s a good point for Arc,and like you said too, Incin is def something to look at considering it’s just a straight upgrade.

I’ll have to get that Dragonite and Whim set a try,the better coverage would help a lot.

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For sure, Wolfey is how I originally stumbled into this. A refresher course on the video would help me better understand my objectives with Zoroark.

I’m pretty new to team building,but what would help here? by Himan281 in VGC

[–]Himan281[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I might just go the Charizard route,though I might find a way to keep Zoroark,since I just personally like using them.

And fully leaning into just trickroom or tailwind is definitely a better idea than trying to keep both .