First Team (need help)

[Mora]

I want to get into competitive VGC, but I'm not sure how. I have a basic knowledge of, well, basics, but I haven't really been exposed to anything any more competitive than the Battle Tower on Platinum. I'd like to build a team with the Pokemon I've already trained. Currently, I have a Yanmega that can outspeed everything and can deal out OHKO's like a casino, a Lapras with Perish Song and a Dugtrio with Sand Arena, a Drapion that knows Toxic Spikes and Roar as well as Night Slash for doing actual damage, and a Steelix. Since they probably won't have much synergy together, I want to use Yanmega the most. I'll include details below:

Yanmega: Bug Buzz/Airslash/Hypnosis/Protect (Can I effectively alternate between Protect and Detect?)
EV's: 252 SpAt, 156 SpDf, 100 Speed
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Modest
Hold Item: Life Orb
The idea is to use Protect so that Speed Boost cab kick in. After that, You can sweep with Bug Buzz or Airslash

Dugtrio: Dig/ Earthquake/Fissure/Slash (all that's really important is Dig)
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Df, 252 SpDf
Ability: Sand Arena
Nature: Sassy
His ability keeps Pokemon from retreating. This paired with Perish Song ensures a KO if you can prevent Lapras from being knocked out. That is why Lapras knows Dive and Dugtrio knows Dig.

Lapras: Icebeam/DIVE/Whirlpool/Perish Song
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Df, 252 SpDf
Ability: Water Absorb
Nature: Calm
Hold Item: Grip Claw

Drapion: Nightslash/Cross Poison/Toxic Spikes/Roar
EV's: 252 At, 252 in either Df or SpDf, 4 in either Df or SpDf
Ability: Sniper
Nature: Impish
Hold Item: Razor Fang
Spikes is underrated among noobs; my favorite is the poison spikes because if you use it twice, it triggers Severe Poison. Plus, if I don't like the Pokemon my opponent has active, instead of switching, I can just roar them away and deal with them later. It also disrupts stat changing moves and things like Rollout.

Steelix: 252 At, 4 Df, 252 SpDf
Nothing good (lol; was thinking of Gyro Ball)
Ability: Rock Head
Nature: Careful
Hold Item: Full Incense
Not sure what I had had planned for him, but he's shiny, so I automatically want to use him

Any help would be great! Also, please only recomend 4th Generation and back; I only have Platinum, but I intend to get Black and White 2 when they come out.

 

[Equinox]

That's great that you want to get into VGC! I'd recommend getting a battle simulator so you can test your teams and see which Pokemon you like to use. Download Pokemon Online, as there is a Beach server, as well as try using the larger servers (not trying to advertise). If you need help with this pm me.

 

[Mora]

Thanks. I downloaded the battle simulator, and it wouldn't let me use six. Only five. The first time, I figured it was illegal (Staraptor, which is not), so I tried using Infernape. I remember seeing something about Infernape on a thread, so I assumed it was legal. He didn't show up when I got into a battle, either. Do you have any idea what's wrong, or where I can find an answer?

 

[King Arceus]

Post an export of your team and send it to me and I can try and find out why.

 

[Mora]

I got it working (not sure what I did), but thanks!!

 

[Dork Void]

Is it possible that you forgot to put any moves on your Pokemon? If the Pokemon doesn't have any moves it won't show up when you try to battle with it on Pokemon Online.

 

[The Yoshi]

I guess I'll do this Pokemon by Pokemon. Any changes I suggest will be in bold. I'm going to make all changes assuming this is a VGC '12 Team.

Yanmega: Bug Buzz/Air Slash/Hidden Power Ground/Detect (Can I effectively alternate between Protect and Detect? No)
EV's: 4 HP, 4 Def, 248 SpA, 252 Speed
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Modest
Hold Item: Life Orb

The idea is to use Protect so that Speed Boost can kick in. After that, You can sweep with Bug Buzz or Air Slash

I replaced Hypnosis for Hidden Power Ground because Hidden Power Ground allows you to hit Heatran, which otherwise walls Yanmega. You want Yanmega to be as fast as possible, and you want its Special Attack to be large enough to dish out hits effectively, so you need to heavily invest in those stats. Detect is better than Protect because it will not be locked out by Imprison (blocks any moves that both Pokemon share). Everything else looks good.

Dugtrio: Substitute/Earthquake/Sucker Punch/Stone Edge
EV's: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Spe
Ability: Arena Trap
Nature: Jolly
Item: Choice Band

His ability keeps Pokemon from retreating. This paired with Perish Song ensures a KO if you can prevent Lapras from being knocked out. That is why Lapras knows Dive and Dugtrio knows Dig.

I'm sorry, but Dig is a move that should never be used competitively (neither is Dive). Murkrow is a much better Perish Trapper than Lapras + Dugtrio, but that's beside the point. This Dugtrio works well with Yanmega because it acts as a revenge killer and kills off anything that took down Yanmega or another attacker. I'm really sorry I had to change the majority of this set, but Dig is just a terrible move because of how easily your opponent can get around it (with Earthquake being the popular move it is, Dugtrio just can't handle the extra boost when it is underground). If you disagree with this, let me know.

Lapras: Surf/Ice Beam/Rest/Protect
EV's: 252 HP, 4 Def, 252 SpD
Ability: Hydration (this is a DW ability; get this when you get B2/W2)
Nature: Calm
Hold Item: Absorb Bulb

Yeah this Lapras needs some work. Like I said, Perish Song is ridiculously easy to get around in VGC. This set checks Rain teams and boosts Lapras' power with Absorb Bulb. Dugtrio will appreciate Lapras being able to sponge water attacks aimed at it, and once it gets a boost, Lapras can be pretty difficult to stop. Hydration + Rest makes for an excellent combo, and its Special Defense stat will reach 161 in VGC. That's pretty darn good.

Drapion: Crunch/Taunt/Toxic Spikes/Whirlwind
EV's: 252 HP, 252 SpD, 4 Spe
Ability: Battle Armor (also a Gen 5 Ability)
Nature: Careful
Hold Item: Leftovers

Spikes is underrated among noobs; my favorite is the poison spikes because if you use it twice, it triggers Severe Poison. Plus, if I don't like the Pokemon my opponent has active, instead of switching, I can just roar them away and deal with them later. It also disrupts stat changing moves and things like Rollout.

This Drapion set actually works as a lead to disrupt the opponent and send Toxic Spikes everywhere. Even though they aren't used a lot in VGC because you only use 4 Pokemon, this set focuses on shutting down the opponent with Taunt, setting up Toxic Spikes, and shuffling with Whirlwind. This Drapion is specially defensive, which is why I changed the Nature to Careful.

Steelix: 252 HP, 96 Def, 160 SpD
(if you want to, you can go for 0 IVs in Spe)
-Earthquake
-Gyro Ball
-Toxic
-Roar
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: Relaxed
Hold Item: Occa Berry (b/c of stupid Item Clause)

Not sure what I had had planned for him, but he's shiny, so I automatically want to use him

I actually use Steelix in VGC, and it is pretty decent. However, this set needs some work, and I'm sad to say you probably won't be able to use your shiny competitively. The set works as a physically defensive wall that takes Rock type attacks aimed at Yanmega, and uses a powerful Gyro Ball to take out Ice types like Weavile and Abomasnow. It's pretty simple, but it works.

I'm sorry; I probably made you much less interested in competitive VGC by doing this (it could have been worse, I considered screwing your whole team over and just starting from scratch with 'Mega), but hopefully this does the opposite and makes you interested in trying out the new team. Hope this helped, and contact me if you need any more support. I know about as little as VGC as you do, but I did my best to help you.

P.S. As a tip, try to organize your RMT a little bit better and add some formatting and some art/sprites. That will make more readers interested in reading one. Check out this RMT and utilize some of the formatting tips. Personally, I think this person did a very good job at formatting, so it would be a good idea to use this as a model.

 

[Mora]

No, I'm actually glad you criticized my team; only playing my friend from time to time, I have no idea what to look out for. I'm glad you suggested a move to replace Hypnosis because I had no idea what to what to put there. (For a while, it was left blank.) Still out of curiosity, could you alternate between Protect and Detect without it failing? I had wanted to get away with a minimal investment in Speed, but I guess that would just take too long anyway. And I remember seeing that Earthquake for double anything that was using dig at the same time I saw Dugtrio could learn Substitute, so I'm pleased I was able to make that call Thanks for the overall advice! Just one question, you said that Steelix could take Rock attacks for Yanmega and that Lapras could take Water attacks for Dugtrio. How exactly would that work as your opponent chooses which Pokemon to attack? There's probably something I am not seeing, but couldn't they jsut attack Yanmega with Stone Edge as opposed to Steelix?

---

Is it possible that you forgot to put any moves on your Pokemon? If the Pokemon doesn't have any moves it won't show up when you try to battle with it on Pokemon Online.

And yeah, I checked. I know in fact I did with Infernape cause I didn't have anything planned with him and had to put some thought in at the time. Strange, though...

 

[The Yoshi]

No, you cannot alternate between Protect and Detect, iirc.

Just one question, you said that Steelix could take Rock attacks for Yanmega and that Lapras could take Water attacks for Dugtrio. How exactly would that work as your opponent chooses which Pokemon to attack? There's probably something I am not seeing, but couldn't they jsut attack Yanmega with Stone Edge as opposed to Steelix?

What usually happens is that Yanmega is on the field with another Pokemon (possibly Steelix). In order to get the Speed Boost, Yanmega uses Protect while the opponent either Rock Slides or Stone Edges Yanmega. Steelix sponges any Rock attacks and then proceeds to dish out heavy damage to the foe that threatens Yanmega. At this point, Yanmega gets a Speed Boost which lets it out speed the foe and KO it during the next turn. Then Yanmega is free to continue fighting. This is the same case w/ Lapras, which is why they work nicely together.

 

[Mora]

Ok, thanks. Just one more question (sorry ), when your opponent sends out a Pokemon, do you personally or do professionals in general calculate the stat values for your opponent's Pokemon assuming they have that EV maxed out?

 

[The Yoshi]

I only find it necessary when I'm unsure about a particular stat. Sure, I know that an Infernape will always out speed a Reuniclus, but sometimes I do some damage calcs before I start battling. In VGC it isn't as necessary because it is a Double Battle, but if you want to test against me sometime, I can let you know if I'm doing calcs on your Pokemon. I don't know about professionals because I'm no VGC expert, but personally, I only use it for Speed, to make sure that I don't need to use a priority move like Bullet Punch in order to out speed.

 

[King Arceus]

Ok, thanks. Just one more question (sorry ), when your opponent sends out a Pokemon, do you personally or do professionals in general calculate the stat values for your opponent's Pokemon assuming they have that EV maxed out?

It depends on what Pokemon it is and what tier. Normally that alone will let you know about what the Pokemon's stats are. Right now I've been working on getting more VGC sets implemented into my analyzer. It shows the stats, moves, and how much damage each of your Pokemon would take from them.

 

[Mora]

Thanks for the help!