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Published on January 22nd, 2013 | by Eiganjo

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Flying Dutchman: Nugget Bridge Major Team Analysis

Hey everyone! For the people that do not know me I’m Eiganjo, or Bjorn. I do most of the video recordings you will see on the Nugget Bridge YouTube. Being Dutch, I am one of the few competitive Dutch VGC players, but I’m still learning every day about Pokémon. Recently I placed in the top 16 of the Nugget Bridge major with one of my more familiar teams. It is basically the same as my former LCQ team but with slight adjustments in movesets. They were nothing too much for me to handle, but I was very comfortable in playing my team throughout the tournament. I apologise in advance if the EV spreads aren’t as cleverly thought out as one would expect; I’m still learning to make proper EV spreads. But enough talk, on with the show!

The Team


Abomasnow (M) @ Focus Sash
Snow Warning
252 HP/6 Def/252 Sp.Atk
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, – Spe)
–    Blizzard
–    Giga Drain
–    Hidden Power [Fire]
–    Protect

Abomasnow is by far one of my favourite Pokémon ever created.  Due to it being Quiet, Snow Warning was almost always the leading weather, bar Hippowdon who isn’t used that often and the rare occasion of Iron Ball Politoed or Tyranitar. I chose Focus Sash to give it at least one attack before going down the drain, with Blizzard being its primary form of attack and Giga Drain to heal itself back up if there was an opportunity for it. I did not pick Ice Shard as it would allow Abomasnow to be walled by Steel-types, instead opting for Hidden Power Fire to put some dents in Scizor, Ferrothorn, Metagross and opposing Abomasnow. I mainly used Abomasnow to set up the weather of my choice instead of having Sand and Rain teams have their way and getting the advantage. Other then that I wanted to maximize damage that Abomasnow could do and be a threat to as many Pokémon as possible. I felt that having an ice type would be a  benefit against all the Dragon- and Ground-types that would likely be showing up, since half of my team is susceptible to Ground-type attacks and most do not like to eat Dragon-type attacks either.  Protect is there to give some leeway and, if possible, retain the Focus Sash while its teammate takes out whatever would be a direct threat to Abomasnow. All in all I think Abomasnow is still the best weather inducer for me and I will likely be picking it up in more teams.


Mienshao (F) @ Flying Gem
Inner Focus
6HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Satk)
– Acrobatics
– Fake Out
– Drain Punch
– Wide Guard

Mienshao was my preferred Fighting-type over Hitmontop. I wanted something that could be fast and take out other fighting types, as well as provide support with Fake out and Wide Guard. Sure, Mienshao is frail, but that’s  why I did not bother to give it anything defensive, just full blown attack and speed. Mienshao was commonly used on this team as a lead because of the fact it could Fake Out and help its teammates do some serious damage. Acrobatics was something I had been looking for in a Fighting-type, as well as being able to prevent spread moves from occurring, since most my Pokemon were weak to one spread move or another. Acrobatics tagged with Flying Gem will take out most other Fighting-types, as long as no Intimidate or other attack drops were on Mienshao. Mienshao basically paired well with everyone just because of Wide Guard and Fake out alone but was also able to threaten opposing Tyranitar and Steel-types a bit by just outpacing them and putting the hurt on them with Drain Punch. Mienshao is also one of those Pokémon that are often shoved aside for Hitmontop or other Fighting-types, but I still like it.


Chandelure (M) @ Fire Gem
Flash Fire
252 HP/252 Sp.Atk/6 Sp.Def
Modest (+Satk, -Atk)
– Heat Wave
– Shadow Ball
– Energy Ball
– Protect

Chandelure was one of my Special Attacking powerhouses with good coverage. Energy Ball was something I definitely wanted as Gastrodon is still pesky and with Abomasnow as the only other Pokémon I had to deal with Gastrodon, Energy Ball would definitely dent or OHKO most Gastrodon before they could even do anything. I had been thinking to replace Heat Wave with Overheat or Flamethrower after the rotten luck I had with Heat Wave missing, but I decided that I wanted too have a way to hit both Pokémon should I need it even though Heat Wave’s Accuracy isn’t optimal.  Shadow Ball is there to deal the most damage I could with this team to Cresselia, and in hindsight I should’ve had another way of dealing with opposing Cresselia other then Chandelure, but 6 slot syndrome got to me and I had to make choices. Furthermore Chandelure did great, netting a good amount of KO’s and getting some cleaning up done and defending its buddy Abomasnow should it get targeted by Fire-type attacks.


Rotom-W @ Sitrus Berry
Levitate
252 HP/ 252 Sp.Atk/6Def
Modest Nature (+Satk, -Atk)
– Thunderbolt
– Hydro Pump
– Hidden Power Fire
– Protect

Many people have Rotom-W in their team and for good reason. Water/Electric is a great typing, and Levitate helps immensely as well. I had a choice of multiple Hidden Power types, like Ice or Grass, and perhaps in hindsight Grass or Ice would have been better choices for me, but HP Fire was there for the same reason that I put it on Abomasnow and to provide a more accurate more than Hydro Pump against Steel-types, even though it would do less damage. I also believe Sitrus and Lum Berries are musts on a team, and with Lum going to Metagross I wanted to have Rotom carry Sitrus due to its great defenses. I chose Thunderbolt over Thunder because 2 inaccurate moves unless enemy Rain is up was too much so I stuck with the less powerful but more reliable Thunderbolt. It could also take any Fire attack aimed at Abomasnow with ease.


Gliscor (M) @ Toxic Orb
Poison Heal
208 HP/ 20 Atk/ 136 Def/ 4 Sp.Def/140 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -Satk)
– Protect
– Tailwind
– Earthquake
– Rock Slide

Gliscor was the last Pokémon I added after testing several Pokémon for this spot. I also needed some form of Speed control as most of my Pokémon were dangling in the mediocre Speed zone. While it does not do as much damage as the other Pokémon, it makes up for it for being very sturdy on the physical side while also healing with Poison Heal every single turn. Both Spread moves are there for coverage only as I severely lacked any damaging Rock- or Ground=type moves. All in all Gliscor did well enough in the few matches I brought it in, although it fainted relatively quickly if hit by any form of Ice attack, so it was quite risky to use but high reward if I did manage to get Tailwind up as well as keeping it alive to be able to get some Rock Slides or Earthquakes in when needed. Gliscor has enough Speed EVs to outrun base neutral 80’s and the HP EVs make the most out of the Poison Heal recovery.


Metagross @ Lum Berry
Clear Body
252 HP/252 Atk/6 Spe
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -Satk)
– Earthquake
– Zen Headbutt
– Meteor Mash
– Protect

Metagross was the least used Pokémon on the team, as most teams I dealt with could easily get rid of Metagross.  I chose Lum Berry over things like Occa as Metagross does not like being afflicted with any status and this would also take incoming Swaggers should the need arise. I originally also had Bullet Punch on Metagross, but I wasn’t satisfied with how much damage it did so it got replaced with Earthquake which provides more coverage at the expense of a priority move. The moveset in itself is also self explanatory with Zen Headbutt and Meteor Mash there for STAB and sheer attack power, even though both of these moves are rather inaccurate. In hindsight, Pokémon like Hydreigon or Cresselia would’ve been better instead of Metagross, but overall I still liked him for some of the resistances he brought to the table.

Team Synergies

Here are some of the leads/combinations I used during my battles and I thought worked best during both practice and actual matches

 + ,,,,

Mienshao was mostly used in a lead position, helping to set up Gliscor or using Wide Guard so other Pokémon like Chandelure, Abomasnow and Gliscor could attack without having to worry about enemy Rock Slides, Earthquakes and Heat Waves, to name a few. Being Immune to Fake Out itself helped when paired with Chandelure, making sure not one of my Pokémon could be Faked Out, making decision making a bit easier.

+

Fire and Ice: an amazing combination if you ask me. Chandelure with Flash Fire would make enemies think twice about firing off opposing Heat Waves. They do, however, share a common Rock weakness, but they can usually take out whatever is thrown at it.

+

Firing off Earthquakes without regard of your teammate is what this was all about. Could even have gone for the infamous DisQuake combo but the other teammates wouldn’t like Rotom for it. Good amount of useful resistances and a good amount of attacking coverage across the board.

 Conclusion

So this concludes my team analysis. I did find my team to be very fun to play with, and I am pleased to do as well as I did. Getting Top 16 in a field of great players is no small feat and this only motivates me more to do better in future tournaments, as well as get to better myself in EV’s and teambuilding.


About the Author

is one of the few dutch Pokémon players playing some VGC via wifi since 2009. Originally starting out as a collector instead of battling, he likes his quirky Pokémon, and poised to get better with VGC battling and hopefully win something.


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