VGC Bulky/Hyper Offensive Team

[DeVINE]

I started the making of this team when I started playing around with Aaron "Cybertron" Zheng's team that he took 6th place with at San Jose Regionals. His team consisted of Golduck, Pelipper, Tapu Lele, Metagross, Gyarados, and Xurkitree... (Aaron has changed Gyarados and Xurkitree to Tapu Koko and Kartana)... I liked how his team was made/set up so i eventually began to use it more often... I eventually started thinking "I don't want to just copy his entire team, i wanna make my own"...and so i did. My teams play style is generally the same as Aarons' but it's slightly different...



The Team​

Vaporeon @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
​

Because Vaporeon has a huge base HP stat and good SpD and SpA stats, I chose to use Vaporeon. When people see Vaporeon, they think it's carrying things like Toxic, Wish, Acid Armor, Baton Pass, ECT... I decided to take Vaporeon on as a Bulky Special Sweeper. The EVs in its Def stat is to improve its defenses so that it can stay in the battle longer. Vaporeons base SpD stat is already good so I saw no need to invest in it. I went with 252 SpA EVs and a Modest nature to maximize it's SpA power. The moves i gave to Vaporeon is pretty simple. Protect to protect, Scald for burn and it gets STAB, Hydro Pump is used mainly for the Z-Move but I do tend to use it in battle as well, and Ice Beam for coverage. So now with Vaporeons bulk and amazing power, I now have my star player on the team.

Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Surf
​

Pelipper really doesn't have much explanation but this Pelipper plays as a Rain Starter (gives Pelipper and Vaporeon Water Attack Boost), Tailwind support, Special Sweeper, and also serves as a healer for Vaporeon. Pelipper with Hurricane under Rain puts pressure on my opponent and Scald is for STAB and burn. Surf is used only when Pelipper has Vaporeon on the field with it.

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Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt
​

Tapu Lele has been seen used by a lot of people. And for good reason~ Tapu Lele has a good SpA stat and to maximize it, I went with a Modest nature with 252 EVs into SpA. This Tapu Lele is almost the exact copy of Aaron "Cybertron" Zhengs' except for 1 attack. Aaron did not use Thunderbolt on his Tapu Lele but I saw use in it. With Celesteela, Milotic, Starmie, ect running around, Thunderbolt has been used quite often from me. Tapu Lele is an amazing Pokémon and is a really good partner for psychic Pokémon in my opinion.

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
​

Metagross is the pokemon i chose to partner up with Tapu Lele. With Tapu Leles' Psychic Terrain up, a Zen Headbutt from Choice Band Metagross has a high chance of pulling off OHKO's. Metagross is also what i switch into to take in Grass or Electric attacks.

Togedemaru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Reflect
- Nuzzle
- Poison Jab
​

Togedemaru is a Pokemon that has surprised me a lot. And because of Sejun Park's Pachirisu, i decided to take a look at Togedemaru. After looking at it, I really liked that it had access to Nuzzle. Another thing i really liked was that it had Lightning Rod. Because Vaporeon has a really bad time against Tapu Koko and many other electric types, Togedemaru is my pokemon of choice to deal with opposing electric types. While Togedemaru is protecting Vaporeon from opposing electric attacks, Vaporeon is doing massive damage against the other pokemon. With access to Reflect, Togedemaru can also decrease damage from physical attacks (Which really helps Vaporeon). Poison Jab is used to help deal some damage and has chance to poison. It also helps deal with the Tapus.

Aerodactyl @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Sky Drop
- Rock Slide
- Taunt
​

Most Aerodactyl users, that I've seen, usually go for a fast physical sweeper kind of Aerodactyl. Mine is not made to sweep. I wanted to take advantage of its high Speed and make it into a supportive pokemon. Protect is to protect and to scout for moves. Sky Drop acts as a flinch in a way since the targeted pokemon cannot move once Aerodactyl brings it into the air. If one of my starting pokemon is Aerodactyl and my opponent starts out with Kartana, i would go for the Sky Drop onto that Kartana while my other pokemon does what it needs to that turn. Rock Slide for flinches and Taunt because my team is weak to Trick Room teams. As for the Lum Berry, I didn't know what to give Aerodactyl so i just gave it a Lum Berry.

Conclusion​

The team has been doing very well but, because I'm not too great on competitive battling, i feel like there may be some adjustments that could be made to make the team better. Please let me know what adjustments I should make if there are any :) thanks!

Importable

Vaporeon @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tailwind
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Surf

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Thunderbolt

Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake

Togedemaru @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Spiky Shield
- Reflect
- Nuzzle
- Poison Jab

Aerodactyl @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Sky Drop
- Rock Slide
- Taunt

 

[Thanat0sNihil]

Something that stands out to me initially is that, in terms of bulky, specially-offensive water types, you may want to consider swapping Vaporeon for a Tapu Fini.

Tapu Fini can run a couple of different sets that fill similar roles to the Vaporeon set your currently running, while offering greater power, bulk, and versatility.

First: some calcs that we'll use to compare your Vaporeon set to the Tapu Fini sets that we'll be looking at later on. I'm using Sylvally just as a baseline to show raw differences in offense and bulk between the sets.

252+ SpA Vaporeon Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Silvally: 76-90 (44.7 - 52.9%) -- 21.9% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Silvally Multi-Attack vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Vaporeon: 52-63 (25.2 - 30.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
0 SpA Silvally Hyper Voice vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Vaporeon: 39-46 (18.9 - 22.3%) -- possible 5HKO
these are kind of meaningless right now, but give us a baseline to compare the other sets to.

The first, and most common, Tapu Fini set we'll look at is a Choice Specs set. This set is taken from SamVGC over at Trainer Tower, and it's EV's are spread to hit certain benchmarks in the VGC metagame that I am not nearly good enough to know. This set can also be run with a simple 252 HP/ 252 Spa/ 4 Spe Spread.

Tapu Fini @ Choice Specs
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 10 Def / 124 SpA / 28 SpD / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Muddy Water
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hydro Pump
- Moonblast

This Tapu Fini set provides very high, very consistant damage, with impressive bulk, with both Dazzling Gleam and Muddy Water being very spammable spread moves, hitting large many pokemon in the VGC metagame for neutral or better. Hydro Pump and Moonblast provide powerful single-target options for when you need to take out bulkier targets. Misty Surge protects Fini from status conditions that would otherwise cripple her and the addition of her fairy typing makes her extremely threatening to powerful dragontypes in the format such as Garchomp and Salamence.

Calcs:
124+ SpA Choice Specs Tapu Fini Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Silvally: 117-138 (68.8 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Silvally Multi-Attack vs. 252 HP / 10 Def Tapu Fini: 43-52 (24.2 - 29.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO
0 SpA Silvally Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Tapu Fini: 39-46 (22 - 25.9%) -- 3.7% chance to 4HKO

Compared to the same calcs for your vaporeon set, these calcs show much greater damage output, with no real loss defensively.

In exchange for the added complexity of playing with Choice Items and the loss of Protect, This set provides great improvements in offensive pressure and versatility.

This next set is less common, but versions of it have still seen success at high levels of competitive play and it fills a similar role to your vaporeon while also setting up for difficult to prevent sweeps

Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Substitute

This set uses a Calm nature and EVs to maximize bulk, making up for the lack of immediate offensive presence with the ability to set up multiple Calm Mind's either behind a Substitute or in the face of ill-equipped attackers.
Again, Misty Surge provides protection from the status moves that could otherwise cripple your assault, and her fantastic typing is always an asset. Scald can spread burns outside of Misty Terrain and is the preferred choice for this set for it's high accuracy. Moonblast function's as the set's most powerful STAB option, with a useful stat drop chance. Spread moves such as Dazzling Gleam and Muddy Water can also be swapped in if you find yourself wanting them more than needing the greater damage of the single target attacks. On the other hand, Scald can be swapped for Hydro Pump at the lost of consistancy.

+1 4 SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Silvally: 82-97 (48.2 - 57%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO
0 Atk Silvally Multi-Attack vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Tapu Fini: 36-43 (20.3 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Silvally Hyper Voice vs. +1 252 HP / 0+ SpD Tapu Fini: 25-30 (14.1 - 16.9%) -- possible 9HKO after Leftovers recovery

After a single CM boost, Fini's Moonblasts deal sizeable damage, even with no investment. On the defensive side of things, this set really shines, being able to tank hits very well.

This is not the most exhaustive post, but I hope it gives you some ideas to think about regarding your set.

 

[DeVINE]

I really appreciate your input :) I'll definitely give Tapi Fini a try. But what about the others on the team? Are they fine or do they need to be switched as well?