admiral_mason that is indeed a very threatening opening, as I have faced some similar to that. I am wondering from your perspective, what opens/teams give you problems? I usually start Sableye/Rotom-W or Sableye/Bisharp, so Safeguard usually hurts me quite a bit.
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VGC 2014 Combinations Thread
- Thread starter Tobes
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Really the Pokemon I hate going against the most is probably a Chandelure, since it does quite a bit of damage to both of my leads. But normally if they have threatening Pokemon against my leads I just swap in other Pokemon. I can swap in a Taunt / Quick Guard Talonflame if I need to or if they have a Mega Kanga I can bring in a Conkeldurr. When I get my Conkeldurr via Pokebank I will teach TR to Meow and give that a whirl.
One opening that's gimmicky but effective if timed right is an opening with Weavile and Lucario.
Lucario has the Mega-Stone, but doesn't evolve on the first turn. It instead takes advantage of Justified, its hidden ability to get up to a +3 attack boost from Weavile's Beat Up, and then Mega Evolves on the next turn and murders everything with Earthquake or Rock Slide. It's probably best to also have a priority move on it. An example could be:
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Extremespeed
-Close Combat
Weavile @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
-Beat Up
-Ice Punch
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick
I find that if you can get the timing right (it takes practice) you can destroy with ease. Obviously this is based on the original Terrakkion Beat Up set so credit to whoever made that. I just think that this shows the versatility of mega Evolution and how you can use the two abilities and boost in stats to maximum potential.
Lucario has the Mega-Stone, but doesn't evolve on the first turn. It instead takes advantage of Justified, its hidden ability to get up to a +3 attack boost from Weavile's Beat Up, and then Mega Evolves on the next turn and murders everything with Earthquake or Rock Slide. It's probably best to also have a priority move on it. An example could be:
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Trait: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Extremespeed
-Close Combat
Weavile @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
-Beat Up
-Ice Punch
-Ice Shard
-Low Kick
I find that if you can get the timing right (it takes practice) you can destroy with ease. Obviously this is based on the original Terrakkion Beat Up set so credit to whoever made that. I just think that this shows the versatility of mega Evolution and how you can use the two abilities and boost in stats to maximum potential.
Follow me/Rage powder completey wrecks setup and you could be doing more with your pokes on field. This is great for Battle Spot but because the origional strategy was discovered most veteran VGC players will spot this a mile away if you lead with them both.
One somewhat gimmicky combo uses Aggron and a fake out user.
Aggron @ Aggronite
Trait: Sturdy
Evs: 252Hp 252Atk 4Spd
-Metal Burst
-Iron Head
-Head Smash
-Protect
Ambipom @ Life orb
Trait: Technician
Evs: 252Spe 252Atk 4Hp
-Fake Out
-U-turn
-Double Hit
-Low Kick/Protect
Try to get the opponent to attack Aggron with one pokemon that is afterwards ohkoed by Aggrons Metal Burst. Its an easy way to remove a threat to Aggron. Sturdy is to ensure that Aggron is not KOed by the foe and fake ensures that he cannot be double targeted.
Aggron @ Aggronite
Trait: Sturdy
Evs: 252Hp 252Atk 4Spd
-Metal Burst
-Iron Head
-Head Smash
-Protect
Ambipom @ Life orb
Trait: Technician
Evs: 252Spe 252Atk 4Hp
-Fake Out
-U-turn
-Double Hit
-Low Kick/Protect
Try to get the opponent to attack Aggron with one pokemon that is afterwards ohkoed by Aggrons Metal Burst. Its an easy way to remove a threat to Aggron. Sturdy is to ensure that Aggron is not KOed by the foe and fake ensures that he cannot be double targeted.
Not really the best but this is what I did when testing out my Houndoom.
Klefki @ Heat Rock
Bold
252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpDef
-Sunny Day
-Imprison
-Protect
-Draining Kiss
Then I would go into either one of these:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Naive
4 Atk / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd
-Protect
-Sucker Punch
-Dark Pulse
-Flamethrower
Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Timid
252 HP / 196 SpAtk / 60 Spd
-Protect
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Synthesis
Probably not the best set for Venusaur but I found it to work relatively well.
Klefki @ Heat Rock
Bold
252 HP / 196 Def / 60 SpDef
-Sunny Day
-Imprison
-Protect
-Draining Kiss
Then I would go into either one of these:
Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Naive
4 Atk / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spd
-Protect
-Sucker Punch
-Dark Pulse
-Flamethrower
Venusaur @ Black Sludge
Timid
252 HP / 196 SpAtk / 60 Spd
-Protect
-Giga Drain
-Sludge Bomb
-Synthesis
Probably not the best set for Venusaur but I found it to work relatively well.
The most popular Sun pair right now is Charizard-Y/Venusaur. Venu Protects first turn to nab the Chlorophyll boost, then wrecks with Giga Drain/Sleep Powder/ Sludge Bomb. Meanwhile Charizard fires off Heat Waves/Solar Beams/anything else.
I love going against these sorts of teams. I love spamming Wide Guard against the Heat Wave while I switch in a Talonflame to OHKO the Venusaur.
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