Ok my brother wants to start going into video game championships and wanted to know wat are some good strategies and pokemon that match those strategies i have heard of weather benifits but not any other, can someone please list some strategies and how they are used?
Question about strategies
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A very solid strategy from last year is Beat Up Whimiscott with Terrakion. Terrakion uses a moveset of Protect/Close Combat/Rock Slide/X-Scissor, while Whimsicott uses Tailwind/Beat Up/Helping Hand/Protect.
On the first turn, Terrakion uses Protect while Whimiscott uses Tailwind. This gives Terrakion and Whimiscott enough speed to outspeed everything. Next turn, because Whimiscott outruns Terrakion, it uses Beat Up on Terrakion. Because of Justified, the four attacks from Beat Up give Terrakion four boosts in attack. So with over 1000 attack, double speed and flawless coverage, Terrakion goes to down and kills everything.
On the first turn, Terrakion uses Protect while Whimiscott uses Tailwind. This gives Terrakion and Whimiscott enough speed to outspeed everything. Next turn, because Whimiscott outruns Terrakion, it uses Beat Up on Terrakion. Because of Justified, the four attacks from Beat Up give Terrakion four boosts in attack. So with over 1000 attack, double speed and flawless coverage, Terrakion goes to down and kills everything.
Weather-based strategies:
Rain:
Use the power of Rain to give a bonus to Water-attacks, as well as soften Fire-type weaknesses and make Thunder and Hurricane unavoidable. Pokemon generally used in the rain include Toxicroak, Ferrothorn, Jellicent (comboes with Surf), Kingdra (because of Swift Swim), Ludicolo, Volcarona (due to Hurricane), Tornadus, and Thundurus. Politoed is a must due to Drizzle, which triggers the rain.
Sun:
Use the power of Sun to power up Fire-type attacks, softening any Water-type weaknesses and allowing you astronomical damage output. Not a lot of Pokemon do well in Sun, but notable ones include Darmanitan, Volcarona, and Heatran, although there are others. Ninetales is a must due to Drought, which triggers sunlight.
Sandstorm:
Sandstorm is a fierce condition indeed, damaging non-Rock/Ground/Steel types each turn, giving Rock types a 50% boost to Special Defense, and triggering some exceptionally powerful abilities. Tyranitar and/or Hippowdon is used to activate the weather, and Sandstorm usually uses Garchomp and/or Excadrill as an attacker, due to Sand Veil/Sand Rush respectively. Anything that is Rock/Ground/Steel in any combination will feel right at home. Earthquake and Rock Slide are ludicrously common among Sandstorm teams, and Rock Slide is commonly seen even outside it.
Hail:
Hail isn't as often seen, as there are even less Pokemon that can exploit it than Sun. However, it will damage any non-Ice types (which include most if not all common Pokemon), as well as make Blizzard, which will hit BOTH opponents, unable to miss, making this condition absolutely terrifying. It usually comboes with Trick Room as most Pokemon that use Hail are none too fast. Abomasnow is obviously a must for the team, and things like Walrein make for fantastic additions. Generally, the more Pokemon you can get to run Blizzard, the better. In addition to Walrein, Glaceon and Froslass combo well with Hail, but don't rely on them exclusively as Ice-types have a lot of weaknesses. Try pairing them with things that can switch in to Ice's weaknesses.
Rain:
Use the power of Rain to give a bonus to Water-attacks, as well as soften Fire-type weaknesses and make Thunder and Hurricane unavoidable. Pokemon generally used in the rain include Toxicroak, Ferrothorn, Jellicent (comboes with Surf), Kingdra (because of Swift Swim), Ludicolo, Volcarona (due to Hurricane), Tornadus, and Thundurus. Politoed is a must due to Drizzle, which triggers the rain.
Sun:
Use the power of Sun to power up Fire-type attacks, softening any Water-type weaknesses and allowing you astronomical damage output. Not a lot of Pokemon do well in Sun, but notable ones include Darmanitan, Volcarona, and Heatran, although there are others. Ninetales is a must due to Drought, which triggers sunlight.
Sandstorm:
Sandstorm is a fierce condition indeed, damaging non-Rock/Ground/Steel types each turn, giving Rock types a 50% boost to Special Defense, and triggering some exceptionally powerful abilities. Tyranitar and/or Hippowdon is used to activate the weather, and Sandstorm usually uses Garchomp and/or Excadrill as an attacker, due to Sand Veil/Sand Rush respectively. Anything that is Rock/Ground/Steel in any combination will feel right at home. Earthquake and Rock Slide are ludicrously common among Sandstorm teams, and Rock Slide is commonly seen even outside it.
Hail:
Hail isn't as often seen, as there are even less Pokemon that can exploit it than Sun. However, it will damage any non-Ice types (which include most if not all common Pokemon), as well as make Blizzard, which will hit BOTH opponents, unable to miss, making this condition absolutely terrifying. It usually comboes with Trick Room as most Pokemon that use Hail are none too fast. Abomasnow is obviously a must for the team, and things like Walrein make for fantastic additions. Generally, the more Pokemon you can get to run Blizzard, the better. In addition to Walrein, Glaceon and Froslass combo well with Hail, but don't rely on them exclusively as Ice-types have a lot of weaknesses. Try pairing them with things that can switch in to Ice's weaknesses.
I don't see why you wouldn't run EQ on Terrakion in that combination. Since you only get 4 turns of Tailwind, I think it would make more sense than X-Scissor which you really wouldn't need much.
Trick Room is another strategy I have seen work well while judging VGC at Nationals. Many teams rely on quickness for first strike and hitting hard. Most Pokemon that fit that description have poor defenses. This makes them moving last a big problem since they can't survive the attack. There are a number of Pokemon that can use Trick Room well.
Bronzong is one of the better users of Trick Room because it has immunity to EQ, resistance to Ice and Rock-type moves, and takes neutral damage from Water-type moves. It has the defenses to survive multiple attacks to get it up. It also could cast support moves such as Reflect and Light Screen.
Slowking and Slowbro are also good users of Trick Room because of their above average defenses. They also have reliable recovery in Slack Off. Their move pool is also quite large allowing you to customize them how your team needs.
Trick Room is another strategy I have seen work well while judging VGC at Nationals. Many teams rely on quickness for first strike and hitting hard. Most Pokemon that fit that description have poor defenses. This makes them moving last a big problem since they can't survive the attack. There are a number of Pokemon that can use Trick Room well.
Bronzong is one of the better users of Trick Room because it has immunity to EQ, resistance to Ice and Rock-type moves, and takes neutral damage from Water-type moves. It has the defenses to survive multiple attacks to get it up. It also could cast support moves such as Reflect and Light Screen.
Slowking and Slowbro are also good users of Trick Room because of their above average defenses. They also have reliable recovery in Slack Off. Their move pool is also quite large allowing you to customize them how your team needs.
Thank you everybody we been testing your strategies and they were all very helpful
DNA said:
But in a rain volcarona is very weak for water moves and this not good
I'm aware. It's a bit of a trade-off: Volcarona loses its Fire-type offense and will absolutely die to anything Water-type, but in return, it gets the incredibly potent Hurricane and a bolstered Hidden Power Water.
Volcarona in rain IS a thing, and it works.
Volcarona in rain IS a thing, and it works.
Volcarona doesn't just need Fire-type moves; it has Bug-type moves as well.. Even so, +1 Fire Blast OHKOs Ferrothorn in the rain. And yeah, Hurricane is pretty cool as well. HP Water (hard to make room for) and Hurricane form a solid combo of type coverage.
Not that I want to turn this into a Volcarona thread, but Volcarona's use within a rain team is deeper than just creating a sweeper. Its typing grants it the ability to counter Nasty Plot Celebi and CM Virizion, two major threats to Rain teams. If you want to bring out Volcarona's maximum potential then Drought is obviously the support you want to be giving it, Drizzle Volcarona is more about supporting Rain teams through a niche typing (although yeah, it's still a good sweeper, it's /Volcarona/).
Fire Blast is the superior option though. Fire Blast will still effectively have a 90 Base Power in rain which is enough to plough through most Steel types after a Quiver Dance. HP Water is only really useful for Heatran who, let's face it, is easy enough to pressure in a Drizzle team.
Fire Blast is the superior option though. Fire Blast will still effectively have a 90 Base Power in rain which is enough to plough through most Steel types after a Quiver Dance. HP Water is only really useful for Heatran who, let's face it, is easy enough to pressure in a Drizzle team.