No Simulator Required – 9th Place Winter Regionals Team Analysis
Hello, my name is Leonard Craft III, aka DaWoblefet, and I am new to Nugget Bridge. Really, I am very brand-new, and that’s why you’re not seeing a team analysis that happened in January until now. After getting creamed as a senior in the 2011 Nationals Last Chance Qualifier and taking a break from the action in 2012, I came back to St. Louis in January to see how well I had improved in my time “off”. Despite having no practice on a simulator or being a member of any competitive Pokémon site, I still thought I had a decent chance of doing well in this tournament. Whenever I practiced and felt like the team needed an adjustment that required an IV or Nature change, I had to RNG them again. It’s a tedious process. Also, the only battling I got in was on Random Matchup — a place where disconnections are extremely common. Battling without a simulator is tough!
I began making this team by looking around at the best players in the world and Wolfey’s World’s team ended up catching my eye. I loved how he took the weaknesses of Heatran and compensated for them, so that’s what I tried to do with a couple of my Pokémon: compensate for their weaknesses, particularly Latios. I’ll admit, this team is far from being on the level Wolfe‘s is, but overall it performed great in the Swiss Rounds (6-2) and really came through for me when I needed it. Placing 9th in my first year of Masters is pretty OK at least! I also got the pleasure of facing two Magmas, though Benji was out of my skill level for sure in round 7.
The Team
Chiken Man (Scrafty) (F) @Chople Berry
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 140 Atk / 252 SDef / 116 Spd
Ability: Intimidate
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
– Drain Punch
– Crunch
– Fake Out
– Bulk up
My first Pokemon I looked for was going to be a better version of Hitmontop. Every time I used Hitmontop before on previous teams, I was always let down by the fact that it was so commonplace. Nobody was unaware of how it worked. The Chiken was a fantastic replacement for Hitmontop, as its Dark-typing granted it immunity to Psychic allowing it to threaten Cresselia as well as give it two STAB attacks with a good amount of coverage. With 252 Special Defense EVs, it survives a Timid Latios’s Dragon Gem Draco Meteor (though it could have been more efficient with HP invested) and with the Chople Berry it survives a Fighting Gem Close Combat from a Terrakion. With this, Scrafty usually sticks around for a couple turns. Drain Punch and Crunch provided a STAB combination resisted only by Heracross and Drain Punch was great for Scrafty’s longevity. I ran enough speed to speed creep Hitmontop by 3 points, and I could immediately tell if I did beat it based on who’s Intimidate came up first. Fake Out helped me to set up by shutting a Pokémon down for a turn, including the Hitmontops I was trying to creep. Bulk Up was a great addition, because Scrafty’s Attack stat is relatively low, and it allowed him to gain a much needed power boost for Drain Punch to inflict more damage or to set up against Cresselia. I could also use it occasionally to bluff a Fake Out and boost instead.
Mt.SoulDew (Latios) (M) @ Dragon Gem
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 28 HP / 76 Def / 252 SAtk / 132 SDef / 20 Spd
Ability: Levitate
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
– Draco Meteor
– Surf
– Tailwind
– Protect
Ah, the refreshing taste of Latios. Did you know that EV spreads specifically tailored to survive Timid Latios’ Dragon Gem Draco Meteors lose 50% of the time to Modest Latios? I didn’t, until I ran some damage calculations. Also, did you know that Latios can actually be defensive? With the investment in Special Defense, it survives a Shadow Ball from Max Sp. Atk Chandelure, and with the defense, a Dark Gem Sucker Punch from max Attack Hitmontop. Also, since Latios is usually paired with Scrafty as a lead, opponents would often be at -1 for Attack. In order to have these great advantages, however, I had to reduce Latios’s Speed considerably. That’s where Tailwind arrives. With Tailwind under its belt, Latios now outspeeds almost everything — including Scarf users that like to speed creep this awesome Dragon-type. Surf also throws opponents for a loop because it allows Latios to hit Heatran or other Steel-types for solid damage. Most of my team is weak to Fire-type moves so Surf assists the team with the spread power and surprise element. You wouldn’t believe how many people have switched Pokemon simply out of fear of Psyshock, when it’s not on my moveset! The 0 Atk IVs serve to minimize confusion damage when the opponent confuses me, which is not uncommon with so many Swagger Cresselia running around. Overall, Latios is the most unique Pokémon on my team and after battles opponents often commented, “Man, that Latios is good.”
Garrett (Scizor) (F) @ Occa Berry
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Def / 92 SDef / 52 Spd
Ability: Technician
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
– Bullet Punch
– Bug Bite
– Tailwind
– Protect
My second Tailwind user, revenge killer, and Dragon-resist all rolled up into one. While Tailwind is not as surprising on Scizor as it is on Latios, it still gives the opponent something a little different to work with. Scizor is one point slower than Scrafty, so if the situation comes up that I need Scrafty to move first, I know for sure it’ll work. Bullet Punch is a good priority STAB attack; Bug Bite OHKOs Latios and dents/potentially steals a Sitrus Berry from Cresselia/Amoonguss. The Occa Berry lets it survive some Fire-type moves, with it being EV’d to take a Timid Volcarona’s Heat Wave. This makes it a full check to Latios, as it can always survive HP Fire, set up Tailwind and then OHKO with Bug Bite. 108 Defense EVs survives a Fighting Gem Close Combat from Max Attack Hitmontop and 252 Attack is to give it all the power it desires.
Spark Plug (Zapdos) @Yache Berry
IVs: 31/22/30/31/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Ability: Pressure
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power Ice
– Heat Wave
– Detect
For my next Pokémon, I wanted something that wasn’t relying on Tailwind, had a lot of coverage, but not many weaknesses. Zapdos fit the role very well. Electric + Ice + Fire hits lots of things for super-effective, or at least neutral, damage. The EV spread is very basic, and the IVs are to give Zapdos Hidden Power Ice, but the Attack is not as low as it could be because my trade partner could not get anything better. It is also the only non-shiny Pokémon on my team, but thanks to star entrances (which are way better by the way), all my Pokemon had a nice entrance. In terms of the timer, I believe star entrances are a trifle longer than Shiny entrances are, but the advantage with stars is that it is as easy as beating the Pokemon on “Brycen-Man Strikes Back” in Pokestar Studios on the first turn. “Brycen-Man Strikes Back” is also only the second movie, so it’s very easy to unlock it. Well, back to Zapdos, the Yache Berry lets it take Ice-type moves like a champ. Normally a Cresselia’s Ice Beam would 2HKO Zapdos, but with a Yache, it becomes a 3HKO. And that’s merely one example; there were several points in my battles that I loved having the Yache Berry as a cushion.
Mr. O’Neal (Abomasnow) (F) @Focus Sash
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 220 HP / 252 SAtk / 36 Spd
Ability: Snow Warning
Mild Nature (Up Sp. Atk, down Def)
– Blizzard
– Giga Drain
– Ice Shard
– Protect
Nicknamed after my former math teacher because of his college story about how he and his friends lit the ceiling fan on fire and turned it on to see what would happen (you’d be scared), Abomasnow’s fear of Fire-type moves is just as great. Abomasnow’s main use was to set up Hail and serve as a check to Rain teams with Giga Drain. It’s also quite an accomplished revenge killer, with damage from Ice Shard + Hail taking out most low HP foes. I never found much use in underspeeding Tyranitar, as setting up Hail just meant Tyranitar could KO with Rock Slide far easier. With 36 Speed EVs and Tailwind it gets the jump on 252 Speed Jolly Garchomp, OHKOing it with Blizzard providing there’s no Yache Berry. In fact, Abomasnow is great for blasting Dragons with Blizzard, and Ice Shard usually revenge kills most of them. The Mild Nature is chosen so Abomasnow doesn’t lose any Attack, and losing Defense is not too big a deal when most physical attacks bring Abomasnow to its Focus Sash anyway.
Egg (Amoonguss) (M) @Sitrus Berry
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Def / 196 SDef
Ability: Effect Spore
Sassy (+SDef, -Spd)
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Giga Drain
– Protect
The first thing people would say is, “Why no Regenerator?” My Amoonguss is very bulky, and if I use Amoonguss, chances are he stays out for a long time. Most of my defensive switches are into Amoonguss, because it can sponge the damage and use Rage Powder because it wants more. While it is taking attacks it really never hurts to have a 30% chance of a status condition happening. Spore is very nice putting opposing Pokémon to sleep 100% of the time, crippling them for several turns. Giga Drain recovers its HP from time to time and Protect is just Protect. Amoonguss was chosen as the last Pokémon on my team because it patches up the team’s weaknesses very well. Under Trick Room, Amoonguss is a monster, shutting everything down to give my partners valuable set-up time. I won my round 6 match because my opponent’s Trick Room team had no good answer to Amoonguss, and it cost him the match. Amoonguss also gives the team another Rain check and Rage Powder provides a way outside of Fake Out to set up Tailwind.
After winning six battles in Swiss, I lost to benjitheGREAT in round 7 and then to GreySong in round 8. Both of these matches were extremely difficult, and both trainers deserved to be in top cut over me, because they are both fantastic battlers. I have two Battle Videos from the tournament. 24-20774-81894 was my round 2 match against Team Magma member Multi, and 13-19663-70054 was recorded and posted by GreySong.
Common Leads
+
Scrafty + Latios
This was my most commonly used lead if I wanted to set up Tailwind to have the immediate advantage. Fake Out usually ensured this, but if I could not beat the opposing Fake Out user, I was usually forced to Protect Latios the first turn and go from there. Latios’ Surf did little damage to my specially defensive Scrafty, and Drain Punch could recover the HP loss most of the time. The two also had good offensive synergy, as Fake Out + Draco equals OHKO unless I am facing a Steel-type.
+
Scrafty + Amoonguss
This was my most common anti-Trick Room setup, because Fake Out or Spore could shut down the TR user for a turn. If I felt that I would benefit more from keeping TR up, I would let them set up their strategy. Fake Out + Spore was also used on several occasions, to otherwise hinder a Pokémon’s usefulness for a couple turns. Amoonguss benefited from the Intimidate Attack drop, and Scrafty benefited from Rage Powder absorbing attacks while Scrafty set up Bulk Up boosts or whatnot.
+
Scrafty + Abomasnow
In case you didn’t notice, I love leading with Scrafty. This lead was used against Dragons to cripple them early on. Setting up Hail quickly benefited my whole team greatly, despite only Abomasnow abusing it, because the weather damage at the end of the turn damaging Pokémon like Metagross and Tyranitar was really useful. This was also a common lead against Rain teams, though I never actually faced any Rain teams during the tournament. It was most useful in practice.
+
Scizor + Latios
This lead is for when I need either immediate offensive pressure or a surefire chance of getting Tailwind up. This lead proved to work well against Benji’s team, who said that it was a really great way to counter his Amoonguss / Terrakion lead (after the match of course). The lead also has good defensive synergy, as threats to Latios can be handled by Scizor, while threats to Scizor can be handled by Latios. Usually if I used this lead, I left out Scrafty in the back, a fact that was important when I battled Benji.
Conclusion
All in all, this team is not Worlds material, but I felt that it performed extremely well in St. Louis and I hope I can come up with something even better for Nationals. Now that I am a part of the Nugget Bridge Community, I’m hoping that my skill level will improve even more!
About the Author
DaWoblefet , aka Leonard Craft III, is a diehard Pokémon fan who has been involved with competitive battling since 2011. He enjoys hanging out and practicing with the Anistar Aliens (Oreios, Stats, KermitTheFrog14, and tlyee61), making the best EV spreads possible, and glitching the entirety of Generation I. When he's not playing Pokémon, DaWoblefet enjoys playing Quiz Bowl and ping-pong, hanging out with friends, and helping at his church.
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