Beginners

Published on September 12th, 2012 | by NatGeo

0

Spreading the Love: A Guide to Spread Moves in VGC

It’s kind of a no brainer that spread moves (i.e. moves that hit more than one opponent) should be and are common in VGC no matter how much the metagame shifts, what with VGC itself being a doubles format. The ability to hit more than one opponent at once has infinite utilities, and the occasional cost of hitting your own teammate can be nullified or even taken advantage of with different abilities. While spread moves are mostly offensive, there are also a few that are capable of supporting your team through stat drops. However, these benefits all come at a cost: any move hitting more than one target sees its base power reduced to 75% of its original strength. This affects the decisions of many players, and the need for more power has caused some spread moves to decline in popularity over the last two years of VGC. With that disclaimer out of the way, in this article I’ll try and give a quick description of the most common spread moves and what uses them. Now, onward!

Moves that Hit Both Opponents

abomasnowheatranterrakiongastrodon

Below is a list of commonly seen spread moves that hit only the two opponents:

  • Blizzard
  • Eruption
  • Heat Wave
  • Icy Wind
  • Muddy Water

  • Rock Slide
  • Snarl
  • Water Spout
  • Captivate
  • Wide Guard


(Bubble, Glaciate, Hyper Voice, Electroweb,Razor Leaf, Twister, Swift, String Shot, Growl, Leer, Tail Whip, Acid, Struggle Bug, and Sweet Scent are not mentioned for various reasons, the main ones being low power and distribution. Dark Void is banned from VGC play.)

Blizzard is a staple on Abomasnow, itself a staple every year that it’s been allowed. Other Pokémon can use Blizzard in theory, but they are in turn shackled to the hail that Abomasnow must bring about with Snow Warning. However, it can be used, and is seen on many dedicated Hail teams like Huy’s Worlds team or Cassie’s Nationals team.

Eruption doesn’t really see much use compared to other Fire-type moves, but if you see it, watch out; it can really hurt unprepared teams. However, even then the threat is minimal because the only consistent user is Typhlosion, which is nearly nonexistent in VGC ’12. Heat Wave, on the other hand, is seen on quite a few Pokémon, namely prominent Fire-types (think Heatran and Volcarona) and Zapdos.

Compare Eruption with Water Spout which was a major factor in the 2011 metagame. Water Spout is incredibly powerful when used right, but the only major user of it in the VGC ’12 metagame is Jellicent, which has seen much less use this year than in 2011, with versions that do appear in the 2012 metagame being much more focused on bulk and support.

Icy Wind is notable for the fact that it always lowers both opponents’ Speed, and because of that its support potential is enormous. The most notable user is Cresselia, though recently more players have been preferring offensive variants with Ice Beam as opposed to a completely support-oriented Cresselia. Politoed may also use it, but again, most people prefer the power of Ice Beam. Similar to Icy Wind, Snarl is interesting because both of the opponents’ Special Attack stats drop one stage when hit. This gives a bulky Pokémon like Arcanine some serious support potential with the deadly combination of Intimidate + Snarl, effectively neutering any offensive presence the opponent has.

Muddy Water is notable for the potential accuracy drop it can cause and its low 85% accuracy; the only common users are Kingdra and Gastrodon, but both are common threats and worth preparing for.

Rock Slide sees incredibly wide distribution, and quite a few of the 10 most popular Pokémon use it. Most Rock-types use it effectively in the VGC metagame, as well as some Fighting- and Ground-types.

Captivate, alongside Growl and Leer, is the only completely support-oriented spread move listed, lowering the opponent’s Special Attack two stages if they are the opposite gender of the user. Sableye can use this to great effect with Prankster.

Moves that hit all Pokémon on the Field

zapdosludicolosnorlax

Below are the moves that hit every Pokémon on the field besides the user:

  • Discharge
  • Surf
  • Earthquake
  • Bulldoze
  • Lava Plume
  • Explosion
  • Selfdestruct

(Not on this list are Sludge Wave, Teeter Dance, and Magnitude. This is because they either are weaker than other moves or have poor distribution.)

Discharge is notable for being part 1 of the infamous DisQuake combination, but apart from that its use has been rather low even on its trademark user, Zapdos. This is probably either because it’s become harder to consistently pair up with a Pokémon immune to it or because of the power creep also seen in Cresselia and the like. Earthquake, being the second part of the DisQuake combo sees a lot more use than its counterpart, sporting both a higher base power and bigger relevant distribution. Garchomp is arguably the most common user of the move, with Excadrill and other sand-based Pokémon trailing behind in a distant second. Bulldoze also deserves a mention since despite its poor base power in comparison to Earthquake, it always lowers the Speed of affected targets. This means that Bulldoze has a ton of support potential on Pokémon that receive it.

Surf, on the other hand, is always a big presence, in part because of the dominance of Rain. It may also be because of its wide distribution to every Water-type in the game, as well as several other Pokémon.  Lava Plume may seem cool at first because of its high burn rate, but it sees minimal use because all the Pokémon that receive it have better moves to use, like Heat Wave and Fire Blast. Explosion and Selfdestruct both see little use, in part because of the inherent risk of a suicidal move. However, Metagross and Snorlax (respectively) can be seen using it, so watch out and pack a Ghost-type!

Combos that Utilize Spread Moves

  • DisQuake

zapdosgarchompmamoswinerotom-wash

As the name implies, this particular combo uses Discharge and Earthquake, taking advantage of each user’s immunity to its partner’s move. For example, the classic example of DisQuake is the lead pair of Zapdos and Garchomp; Zapdos is immune to Earthquake, while Garchomp is immune to Discharge. However, the opposing pair of Pokémon usually isn’t immune to both either, meaning they receive a beating. While this works well in theory, this particular combo hasn’t seen much use since its glory days of VGC ’10. In particular, Zapdos often needs the higher base power of Thunderbolt over Discharge. However, it’s never been a bad strategy, so if you want to use it nothing is stopping you!

  • Storm Drain / Water Absorb + Surf

gastrodonjellicent

This combination is one of the few that actually takes advantage of spread moves hitting the user’s partner. Once hit with a Water-type attack, Pokémon with Storm Drain become much more powerful because of the Special Attack boost, while those with Water Absorb gain 25% of their HP back, which is helpful in almost every situation. This combo sees the most use on Rain teams, since you may as well power up Surf too while powering up your teammates. Gastrodon and Jellicent are the most common abusers of Storm Drain and Water Absorb (respectively). There are other Pokémon that can use these abilities, but these two are probably the most famous for it. For example, Vaporeon has a massive base HP with which to abuse Water Absorb. On a related note, Pokémon that resist Water-type moves can use Absorb Bulb to achieve the effect of Storm Drain once.

[For more on abusing Storm Drain and Absorb Bulb, check out Huy’s Surfing in a Winter Wonderland team analysis and Randy’s Canada Day team analysis, respectively. – Ed.] 

  • Earthquake + Levitate

garchompcresselialatias

In the same vein as DisQuake, using Earthquake with a Flying-type or partner with Levitate takes advantage of the fact that your partner is immune to Ground-type attacks. For example, if you’re leading with Garchomp and Cresselia, Garchomp is free to use Earthquake while Cresselia either attacks the opponent or supports Garchomp with Helping Hand. However, this is just one scenario; you can usually mix and match Pokémon that fit these criteria to the needs of your team.

  • Spread Move Combinations

This section’s title is vague for a reason as this is no more than a concept. You can mix and match Pokémon and even individual moves at will. The main idea of this is to use two different spread moves at once, effectively hitting both Pokémon with two moves, which is especially helpful with Pokémon who carry Substitute. As an example, Rock Slide from both Garchomp and Tyranitar effectively KOes any Zapdos, first getting rid of Substitute and then hitting Zapdos for heavy damage. Water-type moves like Muddy Water and Surf are also good options, especially if running Rain. The two moves you use don’t have to be of the same type either; it’s literally just a case of pick the moves that work best and is controlled by what Pokémon you have on the field that turn.

Protecting Against Spread Moves

When discussing defensive measures against spread moves, the obvious ones like resistances and Protect don’t really need much discussion, so instead I’ll be focusing on two options specifically catered to be used either with or against spread moves: Wide Guard and Telepathy. Wide Guard sees some use, but its potential is enormous in a metagame filled with Rock Slides and Surfs. For example, one of the more famous instances of Wide Guard is in the deadly TopMoth combo; Hitmontop can use Wide Guard to prevent any incoming Rock Slides, allowing Volcorona to use Quiver Dance at least once. There’s a moderately large list of Pokémon who can use it besides the common Hitmontop, so if you feel like you need extra protection against spread moves, don’t be afraid to get a Pokémon with Wide Guard.

[For more on “TopMoth” check out Alison’s If I Could Redirect Your Attention Please team analysis. – Ed.]

Telepathy, on the other hand, is not meant to protect the user from opposing spread moves, but rather from your partner’s spread moves. This is helpful in situations where the use of Earthquake or Surf is almost a necessity, as well as the occasional Explosion. Sadly, despite its incredible utility, the only Pokémon that can really afford to use it is Musharna; that said Musharna is a good Pokémon for Trick Room teams, so there is something good to come out of Telepathy’s poor distribution!

Conclusion

Hopefully I’ve gone into enough detail for you to get a good understanding of how spread moves work in VGC, since they’re seen on most of the biggest threats in the metagame. This means inevitably you’ll face a lot of Pokémon using these on your way to become the World Champion! With all that said, get out there and have fun!


About the Author

is a purveyor of all types of jazz. His first event was the massive Philadelphia regional in the spring of 2012, placing 17th out of a huge crowd in the Seniors Division. The only event he has attended so far in the Masters Division was the Ft. Wayne regional in the fall of last year, where he placed 34th. He is entering his second year in the Masters division.



Comments are closed.

Back to Top ↑