WigglyTough is Tough Enough! – A Massachusetts 1st Place Report
I’m still exhausted from the weekend at Massachusetts Regionals so I’m only going to post a team report this time rather than a “warstory” like I posted after Virginia.
Salamence @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Fire Blast
– Stone Edge
– Sleep Talk
Standard Scarf Salamence. Not much to say about it, though I’ll go over the slight differences from my Virginia Scarf Salamence. With Pokemon Bank out, I was finally able to get one with a 31 Atk IV, so I could switch from Hydro Pump to Stone Edge. Also, with Pokemon Bank released Dark Void Smeargle is seen somewhat frequently, so I added Sleep Talk to help deal with that.
Rotom-Heat @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 244 HP / 36 Def / 140 SAtk / 4 SDef / 84 Spd
Modest Nature
– Overheat
– Thunderbolt
– Will-O-Wisp
– Protect
Another standard set for Rotom-H. I don’t really like Rotom-H much at all, but I wanted a defensive Fire-type. The Special Attack EVs let it OHKO the Mawile I used in Virginia, the Speed EVs let it speed creep neutral-natured 252 Speed Tyranitar and Rotom-Ws aiming to creep Tyranitar. 244 HP gives it an even numbered HP for Sitrus Berry, since a few people use Super Fang Noivern. I just put the leftover EVs in the defenses.
Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
– Shadow Ball
– Flash Cannon
– Substitute
– King’s Shield
I used 0 Speed IV to get the Shadow Ball off on other Aegislash after they attacked, which would let me KO them, as well as to let me stay in Shield Forme longer. I opted for Flash Cannon instead of Sacred Sword because they do the same exact thing except one is better vs some Tyranitar and Bisharp, while the other is better vs Mamoswine, Aromatisse, and when Intimidated or Burned. I prefer the advantages of Flash Cannon. Another aspect of Flash Cannon that I prefer is that it makes it harder to switch in on Aegislash. Many times you’ll be in a situation where both Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon will do the same damage. When Aegislash is in a threatening position in one of those situations (for example, when facing a Gardevoir that may opt to switch out), you choose which move based on potential switch-ins. If the opponent for example has no Pokemon that resist Steel and one that resists Ghost, Flash Cannon becomes the easy move to make. That way you punish the opponent no matter whether they stay in or switch out. This situation is a lot more frequent than it may seem.
Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 Spd
Bold Nature
– Giga Drain
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Protect
This set is probably a little different from most Amoonguss. Many Amoonguss choose to use the minimum speed possible in order to counter Trick Room teams better, but I didn’t feel that was necessary for my team, since I liked my match-up vs Trick Room teams even without a minimum speed Amoonguss. Instead, I opted to use enough Speed EVs to outspeed minimum Speed Aegislash (which has become extremely common in America compared to neutral speed Aegislash) in order to Spore them before they set up a Substitute. Rocky Helmet was to help with Kangaskhan. I chose Regenerator over Effect Spore because I like to switch out a lot and it’s a more reliable ability, since sometimes Effect Spore can backfire when trying to Spore or Will-o-Wisp with Rotom-H. The rest of the set is standard, there are many physical threats in the metagame, so I focused all of the EVs on Defense rather than Special Defense or a mix of both.
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
– Return
– Power-Up Punch
– Sucker Punch
– Fake Out
Standard Kangaskhan. Since a lot of American players are switching to slower, bulky Kangaskhan and Charizard I decided on max Speed to take advantage of that, since I lack any speed control and my team is for the most part really slow. Kangaskhan was the focal point of my team and I based my team and play within each battle to enable it to run through teams. One of the key supporters for it is…..
Wigglytuff @ Assault Vest
Ability: Competitive
EVs: 4 HP / 188 Def / 236 SAtk / 12 SDef / 68 Spd
Modest Nature
– Dazzling Gleam
– Fire Blast
– Thunderbolt
– Hyper Beam
I was originally testing Bisharp in this role instead, but found it extremely underwhelming if the opponent didn’t bring Intimidate, and even if they did it had quite a few flaws. I knew some of the Korean players were in love with Wigglytuff and Scott told me he was being terrorized by it and losing against it every time, so I thought why not, I’ll test it instead of Bisharp. It’ll be equally useless if they don’t have Intimidate but at least it can take hits. It gets amazing coverage and a STAB spread move as well. Assault Vest was to increase its Special bulk, which helped a lot, and the Defense EVs were there so it could take neutral physical attacks better (like when the opponent leads Salamence/Garchomp). The Speed EVs let it outspeed my Virginia Mawile, and the Special Attack EVs let it OHKO my Virginia Ferrothorn with Fire Blast at +0, my Virginia Mawile with Fire Blast at +2, and Salamence/Garchomp with Dazzling Gleam at +2. Since I had Assault Vest, I couldn’t use Protect as the 4th move and needed to find a solid filler move. There were pretty much no good choices. I considered Psychic for Gengar, but not many people use that in the US. I decided on Hyper Beam since at +2 it OHKOs almost everything, and gives me something to hit Rotoms hard with, since Kangaskhan doesn’t like getting burned. I really only used it when Wigglytuff was about to faint so I wouldn’t care about the recharge turn, but it was a pretty useful move to have the option of using.
—
As of now, the only video I have of my team from the tournament is Game 2 of my Top 4 match vs Trista “The Machine” Medine (also known as ryuzaki)
My Top 8 match was recorded and should be up within the next few days. I think the finals were recorded as well, but I’m not totally sure. If they were recorded, those games should also be up within the next few days. The videos will be edited in here, posted my blog, and on Twitter (Follow me @RayRizzoPKMN ) when they get uploaded, so keep an eye out for them as well!
Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed it. Now that I’m most likely qualified for Worlds without having to play Nationals, I may try and make some strategy posts/guides on my blog and maybe get into the whole YouTube thing like my man Aaron Zheng is doing, so keep an eye out for that as well.
About the Author
Ray is the three-time Pokemon Video Game World Champion, having won the most prestigious title in competitive Pokemon three straight years: 2010, 2011, and 2012.
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29 Responses to WigglyTough is Tough Enough! – A Massachusetts 1st Place Report
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Jigglypuff winning Massachussets, Raichu winning Washington. What next, Moltres winning Indianapolis?
Amusingly. Ray is the only person who can’t beat me with Wigglytuff
While it is a constant source of irritation for me that you can do so on a few days effort before every event, I’m glad you won again, buddy. Gotta catch ’em all though, you need that Nats trophy next.
I fooled around with Charizard and Specs Moltres once on Showdown. I remember a couple of my opponents didn’t have Rock Slide, so I just clicked Heat Wave over and over again. I’m sure someone will make Moltres work… eventually, haha.
Congrats Ray, I’d like to take credit for yet another Rizzo victory with my motivational speech before top cut and my text to Simon YOP about how I wanted Chuppa to win.
Always a pleasure hanging out with you! Time for you to get a job and a hunny now that you’ve gotten the Worlds invite.
PS Liepard called it wants its Regional back
Man I still can’t believe you used Wiggly, I thought you would go as far to to breed and train a Wiggly just to troll us all.
I must say, I much prefer it when you need to earn your worlds invite during the season, because we are getting way more opportunities to learn from your approach. Maybe just a few more regionals before the rest of us start to catch on and catch up? (or maybe not)
Congrats again!
despite what people said i KNEW wigglytuff was good and also used it to support kanga on my NB major team. although i used babiri berry over AV. solid team nonetheless and look forward to whatever content you put out next.
lol, and I thought I was the only one running 68 speed EVs on amoonguss.
Salisbury won an event this weekend using Weakness Policy Articuno and Choice Scarf Moltres among other things
IS THIS MAN EVEN STOPPABLE
Congrats, Ray! Winning the Regionals with Wigglytuff like a boss. Once again, you’ve brought creative innovations to the metagame and put the spotlight on the best Aegislash set, which will see usage from now through Nationals. How did Sleep Talk perform at the Regionals?
When I looked at Wigglytuff’s new typing and trait some months ago I just discarded it because I tought it was too frail to function.
Now that I’ve seen you doing this well and that I’ve played some games using Wigglytuff myself I realize how wrong I was…
…Congrats Ray, amazing job, I’m already looking forward to (hopefully) play with you at wcs
I had the pleasure of playing this team the last round before cut. Thanks for the games and congrats on winning yet another regional!
Ray, do you think that there is any merit in running a more SpD heavy Aegislash or is the 252/252/4 spread just fine?
Congrats on the win buddy. If I’m going to lose it might as well be to the winner and runner up. Is it true that your round 7 opponent was absolutely handsome? I heard such rumors.
Inb4 lot of people copy Ray’s factors.
really innovative team..Gratx
Thanks guys!
I didn’t face anyone with Smeargle so I never used it.
I was originally using an Aegislash with more SpDef, but I found I was randomly leaving Pokemon with 1-2% left while I never really noticed myself surviving with low HP. It might have just been unlucky damage rolls but I just changed it to max SpAtk anyway.
hahah those rumors are indeed true!
I hope we see Wiggly break top 10 most used now. Well done, Ray.
Congratulations, Ray! Two regionals in one season is pretty crazy. Good job, bro. Keep it up!
Assault Vest is an interesting choice for Wigglytuff. I keep trying to work in Wish on Wigglytuff, so I end up running an item like Sitrus Berry. While it is situational, it does help keep Wigglytuff useful when no one brings an Intimidate user.
Word on the streets is he actually didn’t use Wiggly much. I’m (not) sorry to crush all your pink and fluffy dreams of hairy fairies!
Congrats Ray. Business as usual? #rizzo2014stopatnothing
Apparently the only thing that can stop Ray is Zach whenever he’s trying to win a bet.
Congrats on becoming the Massachusetts champ, Ray. It’s incredible how ridiculously consistent you are as a player. 3 time world champ, 2+ time regional champ, multiple top cut finishes and probably others that I’m leaving out since I only started mid-2012 and don’t know much of what happened before that haha.
I really like this team: it’s simple, effective and creative. It’s interesting to see a slower team with no speed control work so well in such an offensive meta, but you had stuff like Fake Out and Rage Powder to make up for that. Honestly though, I’d be too scared to run that Salamence since it has no 100% accurate moves–especially after screwing up last weekend with Hammer Miss Kangaskhan
Fire Blast always OHKOs the Ferrothorn I used in Virginia (if it hits) while Flamethrower OHKOs 6% of the time. I don’t know what EVs other people are using on their regular form sun Venusaurs but Fire Blast will either always KO or have a decent chance to, while Flamethrower either has a small chance to or never will. The extra damage on Mawiles and Aegislashs was useful in testing too. I am perfectly OK with using Fire Blast>Flamethrower in most cases because the average damage of Fire Blast is higher than the average damage of Flamethrower, but I could understand a decision to use Flamethrower based on preference since they are very close in avg. damage. I’m a math kind of guy and the math tells me Fire Blast is the better move (albeit not by much) and I’m not all that risk averse, especially with this team which has a lot of high accuracy moves.
Favourite part of my team is hands down the Amoonguss. Broke down one the most clinical and standard used pokemon in VGC’s history since its entry from BW and transformed it into something more suiting for the meta, that’s the real innovation I love to see in your teams Ray.
It also makes me happy I run neutral Aegislash.
Rei why are you so obis i want a warstory NOW
Congrats Ray! I don’t really play the game much anymore, but man do I love reading your team reports – something to always look forward to 🙂 maybe see you at Worlds again 😀
Greetings from Portugal, Ray!
Gratz on your finish, man! It’s always good to see someone who’s able to change completely the meta in action. I really hope to meet someone as special and clever as you sometime. Keep up the good work!
Btw, have you tried to join Mega TTar with THE Tuff. The outcome should be pleasant, knowing that one of it’s worst “enemies” is Mawile.
Excellent work Ray! I just got into this format towards the end of winter and your strategies are impressive. I’m curious if a calm wigglytuff is viable, it gives it some more sp def bulk so I’m considering it