Weather Is For Scrubs: Oregon Regional Team Analysis
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Hey guys! Hope you had a reasonably successful and fun winter regionals. I’m Tim, better known as moot, and I recently finished 5-2 (placement #20) at the Oregon Regionals. I had a ton of fun, met a lot of cool people, and this actually marked the first time where I was able to come up with a team in time for a VGC event (I did for Nationals, but that was an ’11 team that I didn’t really take seriously — Galvantula was still able to rip holes in everything, though).
Going into Oregon, I first used my Nationals team to get a feel for the metagame in Showdown. I played around with some new Dream World mons I’d never really heard of, experimented a little bit with some of the Pokemon I had used in the PAX Pokemon League, and wrote down some stuff that worked and didn’t work.
One thing I gotta suggest if you’re playing a metagame you’ve never played before, or even if you are getting back into VGC after a break like me, is to take notes on what you see and what breaks it — even if those ideas for screwing up standard teams don’t end up working, you can always incorporate elements of it into your team later, not to mention that reacting to said standard practices will be like second nature regardless of what team you use.
After all this screwing around, I looked back at my notes. I noticed one thing was prominent, apart from Therians (which ended up being nearly nonexistent at Regionals, as I offhandedly predicted) weather in general seemed like the way to go.
And there’s nothing I hate more than weather. So I started from there.
Teambuilding
Yeah, you read that correctly. I personally think that weather-centric teams are some of the laziest choices you can make in regards to teambuilding. That’s not to say you can’t have a team that is well built that revolves around rain or what have you, I just hate it when people have the mindset of “slap a Politoed in there and sweep with Ludicolo GG”.
In my free time, I like screwing around on sites’ analysis of Pokemon I like to use, and either laughing at or adjusting their sets for something that would be much more fun for doubles. Lanturn is one of my favourite mons, and I found a singles anti-weather analysis on Smogon that seemed interesting, so I tweaked it a bit and started from there because it seemed like fun. Plus, top cutting with a Lanturn would be hysterical, so cackling madly, I went to work.
Keep in mind: I talk a lot about possibilities in this because this team is imperfect, and I acknowledge that — I refuse to believe that any player can simply take a team and use it as well as another person. This is just what worked best for me and I was fairly successful with it!
Umbriel (Lanturn) @ Rindo Berry
Volt Absorb
Modest
252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
– Scald
– Thunder
– Blizzard
– Thunder Wave
Basically the strategy with this was to check for weather in Team Preview, then throw out Lanturn and a Steel-type that complimented it well (Scizor was what I was using in Regionals, but that turned out to be a bad decision, and I’ll get into that later). Scald and Thunder both excelled in rain and, coupled with STAB, turned out to be extremely deadly. Blizzard, of course, was for use in Hail. The EV set is pretty boring, but allowed her to be extremely chunky while still dealing a load of damage to unsuspecting teams who thought I would be running Calm / 252 SpD. For speed control and a little bit of utility, I threw on Thunder Wave as well since my main speed control (Togekiss) wouldn’t be showing its face in Hail. This helped out slower partners like Volcarona and Scizor as well.
Next, I was looking for something that would pair well with Lanturn’s moveset and maybe give me a bit more speed considering how slow I was going. Because Lanturn on its own can’t really take care of Hail abusers (Froslass, Abomasnow, et al), Steel seemed like the way to go. I’d never used a Scizor before, and Technician priority moves seemed like the answer, so I went ahead and ran something pretty standard as the second portion of the anti-weather lead.
Deimos (Scizor) @ Occa Berry
Technician
Adamant
252 Atk / 180 HP / 76 SpD
– Bullet Punch
– Bug Bite
– Superpower
– Protect
This, unfortunately, fell under the category of “seemed like a good idea at the time.” Scizor did really well in Showdown, considering what a bane it was to everyone running Cresselia and Tyranitar, and against Hail it performed pretty well, surviving things throwing Fire moves at it, et cetera. However, at regionals itself, I found myself not really wanting to run Scizor at all just because of how gimped I felt with it. Air Balloon Metagross, in hindsight, would have been a much better partner to Lanturn, offering the priority I would have needed and none of the flimsiness that I felt Scizor was giving me.
In the second round I really noticed this when I faced a hail team – I went with the standard Lanturn / Scizor lead I was used to running against Hail, but my opponent led Togekiss / Abomasnow – specifically, scarfed Abomasnow. By the time I realised it was scarfed, it was way too late, and it proceeded to wreck my back (Latios and Terrakion) with a couple of really nice switches. I got outplayed, and Scizor never really got to do anything.
Against Rain teams, though, Scizor really shone, and while it filled its niche adequately well helping out ‘Turn, it wasn’t quite as thought through as it should have been, and I really regret using it.
Obviously, I couldn’t be running this entire team as anti weather (since not everyone would be running weather), so I decided to make a “backup lead” set of mons – something I could throw out that would give me a bit more of an opportunity to wreck. Lanturn and Scizor were just too slow and there were too many things that could take advantage of them if I led them every match. So, I started with one of my favourite mons, Togekiss, and went from there.
Pasiphae (Togekiss) @ Sitrus Berry
Serene Grace
Calm
252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
– Air Slash
– Tailwind
– Thunder Wave
– Protect
The initial iteration of this team was actually running a Scarfed Togekiss that I had used to some success in the PAX Pokemon League; it is absolutely crazy how much stuff a Modest CS ‘Kiss can outspeed and OHKO. However, after some debate with Fishy (who teambuilt with me during the week prior to Regionals and whose input was absolutely invaluable) she convinced me that running something with Tailwind would be much more beneficial to the entire team, as opposed to just Togekiss running in and hoping for the best. So, I did a 180 on the set and ran Tailwind / Thunder Wave (to cripple scarfed sweepers, which this team has a hard time with, as well as setting up some excellent paraflinching).
Most of the time, I paired her with Terrakion, who would either Protect or Taunt turn 1 while Kiss set up Tailwind – this would usually require a bit of prediction on my part if there was a Fake Out incoming (from my experience with the VGC 11 and 12 meta this didn’t take a whole lot of thought), but I was usually able to predict correctly and respond with my own flinch, or double protect, or what have you.
The Kiss / Terrakion lead was my standard non-weather lead, although I sometimes did pair Scizor with Kiss if I thought a Cresselia was incoming; Kiss would attempt to flinch the Cresselia, and Scizor would eat her berry, stopping most of the setups with Cress that I saw. For pretty much everything else though, Terrakion and Togekiss was a dream team.
I *do* kind of wish I had ran Follow Me on Togekiss, and I would recommend it if you were to dump a little more Defense investment into her — she’s ridiculously spongy and will shrug off pretty much any neutral hits that are thrown at her.
Ganymede (Terrakion) @ Focus Sash
Justified
Jolly
248 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def / 4 HP
– Rock Slide
– Close Combat
– Taunt
– Protect
I had been meaning to use Terrakion in my Nationals team, but it never really fit with what I was trying to do, so this time ’round I got a chance to play with some fun stuff.
Given the prevalence of TerraCott, you would think people would have learned by now, but this set surprises the snot out of a lot of people who lead with Cresselia et al to set up on a team that looks like it has no Taunt support. With Togekiss out alongside a Terrakion, though, you expect the Follow Me, causing people who think they can predict to Fake Out your Togekiss instead (yours will either Protect or Tailwind).
Paired with Togekiss, this becomes TerraCott, except much slower and +50 style points. Terrakion either Protects or Taunts turn 1 while Togekiss puts up wind, and then they proceed to wreak havoc on pretty much anything and everything.
The one thing I had to watch out for a lot using this is remembering that Terrakion is not invincible and that it is okay to switch if I think I have a safe one, because most people already know that Terrakion is focus sashed and will kind of take it for granted that it’s staying out. EVs are kind of boring, and it’s pretty standard, but it’s a very solid lead when Lanturn and Scizor didn’t take the forefront.
Caliban (Latios) @ Dragon Gem
Levitate
Timid
248 SpA / 248 Spe / 4 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpD
– Draco Meteor
– Hidden Power [Fire]
– Helping Hand
– Protect
Like I was saying in the introduction, I was toying around with some gimmicky Pokemon that I could throw on and then laugh about later on. At the beginning, this Latios was actually a Magic Bounce Espeon with dual screens. It was a lot of fun to use, don’t get me wrong, but the problem with Magic Bounce is that it requires a heck of a lot more prediction than it does in singles, and half the reason I would ever use it (Stealth Rock / Spikes bouncing) is nonexistent in the VGC metagame. It was fun to bounce back Taunts at Whimsicott and the like, but I ended up having to switch it out.
After bouncing some ideas off of Fishy, I decided I needed something that was more suited as a sweeper but could also function as utility when the time came. I liked the idea of Latias, but I was having a Garchomp issue as well, so I ran this version of Latios instead because the Dragon Gem lets me OHKO Garchomp and other dragons with one Draco Meteor. HP Fire helps out with Steels in case I don’t have Volcarona out, and with Helping Hand it functions well in both utility and sweeping.
I skipped over Psychic for the sake of Helping Hand, which proved infinitely more useful — even Togekiss loved the extra boost she got flinching stuff to death. HP Fire ended up being more useful in the long run than Psychic would have ever been anyway.
Titania (Volcarona) @ Charti Berry
Flame Body
Modest
252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
– Heat Wave
– Bug Buzz
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Protect
Finally, I needed one mon with decent coverage who could mop up after Tailwind was up and the front had taken care of anything that could Rock Slide. Enter Volcarona, who I decided needed more coverage than another opportunity to set up (especially in this metagame, where setup requires dedicated support).
Volc functioned well paired with pretty much anyone and was an awesome addition to the anti-Hail setup that Lanturn punches a hole into. There really isn’t much to say here, unfortunately, but Volcarona did its job incredibly well for exactly what I meant it to.
Honestly, Quiver Dance and Sub could have been a decent choice over HP Ice / Protect as well, but again, I don’t like taking a whole ton of time to set up and Tailwind support was more than enough for Volcarona to overcome its speed issue and start knocking holes in things.
Synergy
The team functioned extremely well regardless of lead/back combination, although I found myself coming to the same few patterns of Pokemon depending on what I was seeing in team preview.
///
This was my standard weather setup. I wasn’t anticipating a whole lot of Sun, and from my experiences at Regionals and from other peoples’ reports, it was a non issue. I honestly doubt that this team would have had much issue with Sun anyway, between Volcarona and the lack of Sunny Day abuse weaknesses on this team.
In Rain, Lanturn and Scizor would immediately begin doubling up on the sweeper of choice (Politoed really becomes a non issue so I could afford to let it hang out; it can’t do jack to either Lanturn or Scizor and if it switches I get pretty much a guaranteed KO turn one), then Lanturn would begin setting up Thunder Wave on the rest of the team or continue to Thunder things until it died. Rindo allows it to take a couple of Giga Drains from Ludicolo, and Scizor is able to take it out no problem. Again, really regretted not running a different Steel here, but in Rain, Scizor had the rest beat out. The back would then be flexible depending on what I saw in team preview; Latios would generally stay in for Helping Hand support, and either Togekiss or Volcarona for cleanup.
In Hail, Lanturn and Scizor would remain out again – Hail becomes a little bit more difficult as Abomasnow is a bit more versatile than Politoed (note: I freaking hate Scarf Abomasnow with a mighty passion) so this required a tad more prediction. With luck, though, Lanturn can start tossing out Blizzards while Scizor takes care of any ice-types that Lanturn can’t hurt. In the back, Volcarona / Terrakion were the most useful. Mamoswine would be the only real problem, but with some smart prediction it wouldn’t be too difficult to handle.
In Sand, I would use the standard non-weather setup, since the team operated just fine in Sand and was a general non-issue.
/ / /
Non weather was a lot more flexible, but I usually ran the same lead unless I saw something that I really didn’t like and wanted to dispose of early. Terrakion and Togekiss took care of Trick Room, other setups, and set up Tailwind for the rest of the match. The only thing left to decide, really, was what would fit well in the back.
Latios usually reared its head as Helping Hand was invaluable and it kicked other Dragons to the curb with Gem-boosted Draco Meteor. Volcarona was most used for cleanup (or for destroying mono-fighting teams with clutch double protects as seen in this epic double battle) and has enough power to punch holes in anything it hits neutrally, thanks to Togekiss’ Tailwind support.
The only time I would really consider deviating from either of these is if I suspected a strange Hail team in which case I would probably run Kiss and the best counter to the offender.
Issues, Results
I performed far beyond my expectations with this team. I spent a lot of time with this on paper, only playtesting it a few days before popping it up for RNG, so I definitely did my homework and it performed better than I could ever hope for. My finish of 5-2 and #20 was the best I’ve ever done in VGC, and with some tweaks I think this team has a very, very good shot of top cutting at Nationals.
A few issues I came up with (that are easily correctable) pertain mostly to Fake Out. I was able to get around it in a few matches with reading body language and some smart prediction, but there is no set workaround to getting Togekiss/Terrakion flinched round 1 and screwing up Tailwind/Taunt. In the future I will most likely be putting Follow Me over T-Wave to fix this and allow Terrakion a bit more leeway.
A smaller niche problem I also have involves Scarf Abomasnow – while extremely rare, it still rips holes in the team when you aren’t prepared for it. Swapping out Scizor for something a little less predictable will ultimately help in the long run – I’m thinking Metagross will be a lot more beneficial to the team instead.
Final Comments
Again, this team is, ultimately, incomplete. I jumped at the opportunity to write an article about it for a few reasons, though.
For starters, never assume that your team is finished. When you think you’ve playtested enough, especially in a metagame like this, playtest some more for the hell of it. You can always find something that’ll work better, or you’ll be able to predict better against things that you might be worried about and unwittingly find a decent strategy against. Practice can never, never hurt you, and as Cybertron and others have said in past articles, the more comfortable with a team you are, the better you’ll do with it.
Prediction was a core focus of this team and it ultimately comes to that point about practice. Predicting is inherently based in knowing the limits of your team – it’s useless to know a flat out counter to something if you don’t have it or know what’ll hit the hardest against something you’re having trouble with.
I use the term “have fun” a lot in this article. Friends, you’re playing Pokemon. If you’re using a Pokemon that you think is boring, or too straightforward, or too common, don’t use it, please. Promoting team complexity among players is what keeps the metagame alive and what makes new “standards”. Two years ago, Specs Gyarados would have been laughed off as the most idiotic thing alive. Now, we just get mad because we’re not Huy enough to use it.
Again, I wanna thank everyone who made this team what it is: Shii, for RNGing my beauties exactly the way I needed (and providing my awesome nicknames), Fishy for letting me bounce ideas off her and 4-0ing both of her teams to get my confidence up, Firestorm + feathers for being the best travel buddies a girl could ask for, and all my awesome competitors I met last weekend.
Stay beautiful, guys! Good luck in your continuing adventure!
About the Author
Timothy B. played Pokemon trivia in a pool with Ian Garvey once, and that may have been the highlight of their career in this infernal game. Apart from that, they are a part time tea shop manager, a part time microbiology student, and a part time blogger.
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