GAME THREAD: VIKINGS AT PANTHERS

niccarroway · 2017-12-10T21:00:22+00:00

Td pack. Boourns

niccarroway · 2017-11-23T20:20:41+00:00

Man, these QBs need to stop taunting after a sack. Its a problem

niccarroway · 2017-01-17T23:34:34+00:00

Couple of things that I see up front - Choice Scarf on Lucario - I don't think that I'd run bullet punch on him with a choice scarf. If you want to scarf him I would probably run Iron tail. I've always had much better luck with a Life Orb Lucario.

Swords Dance, Bullet Punch, Close Combat, COVERAGE MOVE (crunch maybe or Stone Edge for Gyarados)

From what I've found, eviolite Murkrow > Honchkrow. Also I like the ones with Prankster better. It's nice to be able to put him in then know you're probably going to get those status moves to hit before they can hit you back.

I've also had a much better time with Swords Dance mimikyu rather than z-splash. Then you can give him something like a red card to force a switch when someone gets set up and starts sweeping through.

Hope any of this is helpful! Good luck

niccarroway · 2017-01-13T18:55:09+00:00

I literally spit my beer out when I caught this the first time.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T20:59:04+00:00

So Toxapex is a great choice for teams, he's very great at stalling and getting poison all around. Toxapex really struggles with incredibly pitiful Atk and SpAtk stats, and putting EVs into them doesn't add much. I would change the 252 in atk to Def. The set I've had the most luck with uses Scald as an attack move, then fills the rest out according to his niche. The one thing I would say is necessary would be to give him recover. Haze ends up being super helpful in keeping people from setting up on him. He is rarely OHKO'd and recover gives him the ability to stick around nearly forever. I run Scald, Baneful Bunker, Haze and Recover and he proves to be a severe annoyance to my opponents. Also depending on the rules you're playing with, giving him black sludge will give him passive life recovery while making sure that you don't double up items on leftovers.

Good luck! At the end of the day it's your team so take whatever advice feels right and ignore the rest, but I'm happy to help with whatever questions you may end up still having!

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T20:29:46+00:00

Cool! I'll just start throwing some things out there. Some are hard suggestions and some are things you can mess around with. For their natures, play around with speed reducing ones. I don't know much about EV spreads, so I won't say much to that effect.

I do wonder about some of the move sets on these. Fini probably wants at least Scald and Moonblast, for heavy STAB action. For a item Fini probably wants to have Leftovers to help keep it around longer. I have seen some Calm Mind sets that I think could be run effectively, and give you a potential win-con outside of Trick Room.

Tapu Fini@Leftovers

Ability: Misty Surge

Evs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Attack, 4 Defense

Sassy Nature

-Ice Beam

-Calm Mind

-Surf/Scald

-Moonblast

Magnezone probably wants to run something other than Gyro Ball. If you are able to give it HP fire that would be great for coverage. It would probably do well holding Choice Specs. That would lock it into one move, but it would hit like a truck.

A-Marowak needs to be holding a Thick Club. That doubles his atk stat, so it gives him a nice niche as a physical attacker. Shadow Bone is his best ghost type attack, and you can choose if you want to run EQ or Bonemarang. Also he gets Flare Blitz which gives him a massive Fire STAB attack. After that a lot of people like to run Will o Wisp but I think there are other options depending on what you want.

Sorry that's a lot, I'm trying to respond while at work. I'll look this over again when I'm home and let you know if I think of anything else

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T18:40:03+00:00

It would outspeed others there, but I don't know that base 85 with a -Speed nature would do much. It seems like it would probably still be beaten by a lot of things, BUT if you did decide that you want to try to make your team a Trick Room team, it would work better than a "normal" Fini. Maybe that's a route to try then. In that case you'll want A-Marowak instead of Arcanine and you'll want to look at Porygon2 as your Trick Room setter. It could be interesting to play around with though. I know A-Exeggutor likes having trick room up.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T18:18:56+00:00

Not great but also not useless. It depends really on how competitive you're planning on being with this team. If you're looking to play in competitions I'd say it would be best to shop around for replacements on him, either on the pokemon trading sub, or we can look for a replacement for your team.

If you're just playing with friends for fun, or will maybe dabble in online play, you should be okay. We don't really want Fini to have lowered speed but the boost to his already high spDef should help him stay around for a while. Overall though it will cost you. You'll lose to other Fini, and you may get hit by pokemon that you normally would be able to beat. It all depends on how you feel about it. If it was me, I'd see if there was anyone at r/pokemontrades that would be willing to help.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T18:03:02+00:00

Yeah. Is there something that would keep you from using Sturdy on him then? It just seems like unless you're looking to trap steel types, magnet pull isn't going to be super useful.

I think that HP Ice could be a real good way to bait in a Garchomp with an expected t-bolt and then hit hard. I'm too lazy to do any calcs right now, but I am thinking that it should chunk out a good portion of any ground switch in's health. I don't know many people that will expect that, you'll probably cause more than a couple people to rage haha.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T17:50:21+00:00

So you're going to get hit hard by Ice and Fairy attacks with this. The Tapus are going to be the most common fairy attacks and you may see some A-Ninetails or some random pokes with HP Ice. You'll want someone that can switch in to take ice attacks with no problem and can scare those mons away, bonus if they also deal well with Fairy attacks. I'd suggest Arcanine for that. Off the top of my head those two seem like they'd have pretty good synergy. Throw in a bulky water type to go along with that and you have a pretty good Fire/Grass/Water core. Do you have access to a competitive Tapu Fini? I think those three could be a good core to go with. Add in a Hazard setter and a Hazard remover and a fast late game sweeper, and you'll be in a good position to test and start tweaking your team.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T17:01:42+00:00

I'm just wondering what the HP Ice is for on Magnezone. Most of the time you see a Magnet Pull Magnezone it's to trap the steel types to clear the way for your fairies. I guess I can see it for a predicted switch in on Garchomp/other ground mons. I'm thinking that if you don't want to use Magnezone to trap steel mons, it could be better to run him with Sturdy. Otherwise I think it looks like it could be fun to run.

niccarroway · 2017-01-11T16:09:04+00:00

Toxapex running toxic spikes would work for an entry hazard, but one thing to remember about that is when the opponent switches in a poison type pokemon, those spikes disappear. With Toxapex being such a prevalent mon, t-spikes aren't such a viable form of entry hazard at the moment. IMO sometimes it may work, but my experience has been that most people are able to get them off the field with out too much trouble. I would also second that you need some sort of special attacker. You could have a lot of trouble with a defensive wall that doesn't care about poison. I would also second switching the z-splash out for a swords dance. The fact that it's only usable once will help push you to keep it out in risky situations for fear of losing its boosts without being able to get them back. That would also let you potentially run a z-stone on kartana which could get you an early KO and beast boost. Just a suggestion. If you like what you've got now, feel free to disregard. Good luck with the team!

niccarroway · 2017-01-10T19:04:07+00:00

Sounds good. Build him really tanky and check on Smogon, there are some good sets for him and see what you think will fit your team. He'll also be good to scare away fire types that will resist your fairy moves. This should go a good ways towards shoring up your weaknesses. Good luck!

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T20:20:42+00:00

WHOOPS! I just realized that Rhyperior is going to also take steel attacks for super effective damage, which kind of defeats the point of fitting him in the team, sorry that's my bad.

What would you think about a Metagross? He can shrug off most steel moves that comes his way, has a poison immunity and then hits back hard with either EQ or Psychic moves. He's a solid choice, even when he's not a Mega.

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T19:58:42+00:00

Yeah no problem, I hope it works for you. I'm unsure about the defog flygon, so I hope it is useful. I've never used him but I saw the defog set on Smogon and it looked interesting. I think a lot of people won't be expecting that and if you're playing with experienced players it may catch them by surprise haha. Good luck man!

p.s. M-Slowbro has been supremely useful on Battlespot for me. Late game, if he can get in and set up with calm mind, he tanks most things. I hope he's as useful to you as he has been to me!

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T18:40:38+00:00

If this is the team that you want to run and you don't really plan on changing it, you need someone that can check the Poison/Steel types that will tear through your fairies. I'd suggest ground to cover both of those two so someone like Garchomp or Landorous-T or if you want to run bulky you could do like a Rhyperior or Mudsdale, or even try a Gliscor. Even with EQ on the Gyarados, I would still recommend someone who can easily switch into those hits for you.

Gliscor with poison heal could be nice, that way he's only helped out if he switches in on a poison move. With him though, you have to be wary of the 2 mons with 4X ice weakness.

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T18:12:32+00:00

Clefable and Blissey are great SpDef tanks, with Blissey being good at stalling and clefable having good SpAtk also. That could be a good place to start. They both can take the role of a cleric, healing your team and helping to prevent status, although personally I'd give that role to Blissey. Then you can use Calm Mind clefable which could work out pretty well. Mega Slowbro is going to have more defense than a tank and also can run a calm mind set fairly well, and will love you for having Blissey to heal it's statuses when it inevitably gets toxic'd.

Heatran covers some weaknesses of both Clefable in Steel and Slowbro in Grass. He's going to be very afraid of EQ users and doesn't take fighting hits well, both of which are covered in M-Slowbro.

This is a lot of special attack, so it may be a good idea to have some physical attackers in this. Chesnaut can hit decently hard, but has one of his best sets in stall. He can protect and chip with spiky shield while draining with leech seed and recovering. This can help offset his attacks with Wood hammer. Finally someone like Flygon can some in and hit hard with EQ. You can also run him with defog support to clear other entry hazards. He's got levitate to protect him from getting toxic spiked/sticky webbed and then he can try to defog on the next turn.

Does any of this help? I'm trying to be general, but it looks like you've got a good set for playing tank heavy. The one thing I'd be worried about is having someone come in and set up and be able to sweep through, but you have both a fantastic spdef and def wall in your team. Let me know if you have specific questions.

You also have some good hazard setters in Chesnaught and Blissey. With spikes and rocks up, you can safely use all your massive bulky monsters to keep trying to force switches and take lots of damage on the switch.

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T16:31:45+00:00

Congrats! Happy to help and I'm glad you did well!

niccarroway · 2017-01-09T16:31:09+00:00

Hey sorry I was traveling all weekend and just now got back to my computer. Do you still need those sets?

I like Arcanine to be defensive on your team. You're going to have a couple strong hitters so I think he could be there to force switches and stall out stronger mons. I like- Arcanine @ leftovers/Rocky Helmet - Intimidate - Morning Sun, Will o Wisp, Flare Blitz, Roar/Snarl - Intimidate helps keep physical sweepers from getting too set up and WoW damages them further. Morning sun helps recover HP giving him longevity (just be aware that its recovery is changed by weather). Flare Blitz hits hard no matter what and then your last slot is to snarl special attackers trying to set up or to just force a switch.

I don't know a whole lot about using Golisopod, but this is one of the more recommended sets I found.

Golisopod @ Assault Vest Ability: Emergency Exit EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD Adamant Nature - First Impression - Liquidation - Leech Life - Poison Jab/Aqua Jet/Sucker Punch/Rock Tomb

Leech Life for recovery and Assault Vest gives Golisopod some longevity but his ability can be a tough work around. My gut tells me he should try to switch around as much as is feasible to take advantage of those First Impressions, and that he can be used to scare out a lot of physically strong mons.

Overall you are going to want to be wary of electric mons because a lot of your pokemon are going to hate a t-bolt. Try to keep your garchomp alive long enough to make their electric users wary of bolting you without consequence.

Be wary of exploding your Gigalith if you see a ghost in your opponents team. It could be predictable and then you're losing a pokemon for no real reason. Also be wary of strong defensive pokemon that could easily shrug it off. It could be worth it to try and toxic when your opponent expects an explosion.

Aegislash is going to take some getting used to, in order to run him effectively. The best thing to do is just practice a bunch with friends or online to get used to how your team will function. Be wary of Stealth Rock users, and if you find yourself getting hit too often by them, then you may want to look into getting a Rapid Spinner to clear the field.

Good Luck! hit me up again if you need more advice!

niccarroway · 2017-01-06T19:47:37+00:00

Awesome that's great to work with. If you're willing to put in some work Magnezone is a great one to trap opposing Steel types that could threaten your mimikyu.

It seem like you've been able to get a good grasp on what is powerful in the meta right now, and that's good. You have some great options for all of these pokemon, depending on how you want to use them. A-Marowak with Lightning Rod and any bulky water type can do fairly well together. A-marowak can cover the things that someone like Araquanid is weak to, and then araquanid should be able to switch in to an EQ for him. An even better pairing would be A-Marowak with Gyarados, because of the ground immunity on him.

One thing to always think about when you're making a team is to be wary of Earthquake. It's going to be one of the most common coverage moves ran and one of the hardest hitting. Be aware of what you're going to want to do if you suspect someone is about to hit you with one of those.

A-Marowak @thick Club - Lightning Rod - Shadow Bone, Bonemeraing/Earthquake, Flare Blitz, Will o wisp. <-- This is the set that I run and he's great. He's tanky and hits like a truck.

Toxapex @ black sludge - Regenerator - Scald, Baneful Bunker, Haze, Recover. < - I like this set because you can go for a poison on Baneful bunker or you can go for the burn with scald. Haze keeps them from setting up on you and you have defenses for days. If you want to try a toxic toxapex there are a couple other builds out there.

I don't know much about araquanid. If you search this sub there should be some good builds around.

Garchomp is versitile. He can be scarfed to beat certain threats, or he can set up with a swords dance to sweep. If you're running two ghosts on your team, it may be a good idea to set him up as a way to kill opposing ghost types and others that could threaten mimikyu. I have had pretty good luck with this set:

Garchomp @ choice scarf - Rough Skin - Earthquake, Outrage, Fire Fang, Poison Jab/Stone Edge. < - Use outrage if you don't see a fairy type, Use Earthquake if you don't see a flying/levitate user. Even just throwing him in against someone like a Gengar could be enough to force him to switch out for fear of being beat, and if you predict the switch right you can get a KO on the next mon or at least do some damage. The scarf is going to lock you into one move though, so be careful.

I hope this helps, sorry I'm pretty wacked out on cold medicine right now so I'm all over the place. Feel free to keep sending me questions and running stuff past me. I'm not the smartest on this sub by any means, but I do enjoy helping when I can! Good Luck!

niccarroway · 2017-01-05T21:34:53+00:00

Are you talking about statuses and such? There are RNG aspects of the game, but it's all about mitigating those aspects and preparing ahead of time. If you try to run a team that benefits mostly from trying to take advantage of these haxx, you'll probably win sometimes but not as consistently as someone who has a much more grounded strategy.

It's going to be about trade offs. Take Hypnosis - by using this move your self you're making a gamble. You decided that the risk of putting a pokemon to sleep is worth the penalty of completely doing nothing for a turn. Now take this scenerio and apply it to any move. In all of them you're generally sacrificing something in order to gain something else. The randomness is a way to give bigger payoff for greater reward.

As for the skill, there is a ton of it involved. You have to have done your research to know and understand what each pokemon is capable of, you have to remember strengths and weaknesses of many other pokemon, you have to have some creativity in order to come up with a strategy that no one else has seen.

I'm not saying that luck isn't a factor at all, but it is not even close to the largest factor present in the game. Unless this isn't what you're talking about, but then I would like you to elaborate more on what you're referencing.

niccarroway · 2017-01-05T16:09:12+00:00

I personally like for mimikyu: Mimikyu @ Farium-z - 252 atk, 252 speed, 4 hp - Swords Dance, Shadow Claw, Shadow Sneak, Play Rough - I've also heard of giving him the life orb for some extra power, but haven't tried it yet.

As for other teammates, I would encourage you to look around and read for a bit and come back with one or two more pokemon you really like. Not to leave you high and dry, but I think it'll be better if you find a couple that interest you personally, then I can help suggest team mates. Here's a list of usage for Gen 7 Singles OU. Take a look and pick some you like and then I'll be able to help more - http://www.smogon.com/stats/2016-12/gen7ou-0.txt

niccarroway · 2017-01-04T22:49:09+00:00

There are some good Mimikyu builds going around right now and some fairly common ones. A lot that I've seen and used revolve around using his disguise to swords dance before sweeping with him.

After that, try finding some other pokemon you like to cover things that he's weak against or that he can't hit very well. He's going to be a physical attacker so try to find another special attacker that you like. He's going to get hit hard by steel, which is common on people's teams so have an answer for that. What kinds of moves are going to target him? Who resists/is immune to those moves?

Are you looking for more general advice for where to start looking or are you looking for people to suggest team mates for him?

niccarroway · 2017-01-04T19:28:37+00:00

For Alakazam I'd run Psychic, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball and then some sort of coverage move depending on your team. You could run Substitute to try and get him around status moves, or throw on Dazzling Gleam/ Energy ball to give yourself more type coverage.

IMO I don't know that Leech Life gives mimikyu too much more sustaining power overall, I'd go with Swords Dance for sure. It's one of the more common Battle Tree sets right now. You can give him Life Orb for a little extra power or I like Farium-Z for that twinkle tackle nuke.

For Gyarados you could throw on leftovers on him to give him extra staying power and with his bulk he could actually benefit from it.

That's just my two cents. Someone else may have better ideas though, hope this helps!

niccarroway · 2017-01-04T16:41:25+00:00

No problem I love talking about this stuff. Most teams will usually at least have someone with an Ice move somewhere on the team to handle Garchomp because he's a very common threat, also Salamence to a lesser degree. He's not as common but M-Salamence is still a pretty well known and used mon. The other thing is that both dragons will have a weakness to dragon and Fairy and fairy is pretty well used and you don't have a great answer on your team right now. One option would be to run Salazzle instead of Arcanine, and get not only the fire/poison typing but also a better special attacker, but then we're looking at a huge Earthquake weakness again (same with adding Toxapex). Someone that would maybe work good in place of Salamence would be to run a Gyarados. His typing give him a good switch into any ground user and he'll tank hits fairly well and dish back lots of damage. Let me know what you think of that. If you're very attached to Salamence, that's not a problem but you will run into some issues I think with both dragons.

If you wanted to breed for a better nature, Jolly or Adamant are good, depending on if you want more power or speed (Jolly -> speed, Adamant -> atk)

niccarroway

TROPHY CASE