Please rate this VGC team!

Question

Please respond. I am open to any criticism.
I have lots of experience with competitive battling, but VGC is relatively new to me.

VGC team 2015

This team is very unconventional in many aspects but works well together and in my opinion has very good synergy.

The team:

Mega Charizard Y @ Charizardite-Y
Ability: Drought
EV(s): 252 Spa, 252 Spe, 4 Def
Timid nature
Heat Wave
Solar Beam
Air Slash/Overheat
Protect

The Mega of the team partners well with most of the others, with of further information in the overview. Can’t decide between Air Slash which offers coverage, STAB, and a nice flinch chance or Overheat which acts a nuke when Charizard is about to faint. With Charizard’s insane high Special Attack Stat + Drought + STAB + Overheats base 140 power =death to some Pokémon. The draw back is the limited coverage, being walled by almost any Fire or Dragon Pokémon. Very basic EV spread, allows it to out speed almost every Pokémon.

Lucario @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 32 HP, 224 Attack, 100 Defense, 76 Special Defense, 76 Speed
Jolly Nature
High Jump Kick
Bullet Punch
Rock Slide
Ice Punch

Charizard’s preferred partner. A Heavy hitter in all aspects and an overall great Pokémon. I personally think the move set is very well suited for most scenarios. I have a EV set for this one, it is applicable to defend against the common threats in VGC such as Mega-Kang and his Kronies, but also has the physical power to back up Charizard. This set also has the speed to out speed Adamant Talonflame and Max Speed Jolly Garchomp. He also has Bullet Punch to take care Sylveon.

Hydreigon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs:
Modest Nature
Earth Power
Dark Pulse
Draco Meteor
Flash Cannon

Hydreigon, a shining light in a rather disappointing generation. Hydreigon has been a personal favorite for years and will be for years to come. However I am definitely considering adding a different dragon, most likely Salamance or Garchomp. What I noticed while training numerous Hydreigon is that walls hits very nicely, while also being quite offensive. Then I took note of how nicely the assault vest fitted it. I need an EV spread to tank physical and Special hits from the most common players in VGC, while still dealing out significant damage. I also might consider replacing Flash Cannon, but it covers his Fairy Weakness. Also Fire Blast/Flamethrower are fit due to Drought.

Feraligatr @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Attack,
Adamant Nature
Waterfall
Ice Punch
Rock Slide
Protect

Never seen in VGC or the Metagame. Truly a great Pokémon in my opinion and it catches the opponent off guard, as they do not know what to expect. Feraligatr is far from frail with his good defenses, but hits like a truck with Adamant + Sheer Force + Life Orb and his pretty high attack base stat. Also because of Sheer Force he will not take Life Orb recoil. Pretty standard move set, all of which get the sheer force boost. A good EV spread is needed for Feraligatr but I would try to put 252 in Attack, as that is his purpose.

Rotom-Mow @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EV:
Calm Nature
Leaf Storm
Volt Switch
Hidden Power {Rock}
Protect

Kind of a gimmicky set, but truly works wonders. Leaf Storm is used which is STAB and then Volt Switch is used to remove Rotom-Mow so the stat drop does affect him too much. Then is repeated. Hidden Power Rock is used for coverage and neutral damage to many types. Protect because this is VGC, which basically makes Protect mandatory. Rotoms in professional VGC always have the wackiest EV sets, and this is because of Rotoms many functions. This is the one thing that I need the most help with, building the EV set to withstand blows but again dish out pain.

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EV(s): 252 Special Attack, 128 Special Defense, 64 HP, 64 Defense
Adamant Nature
Item: Leftovers
Kings Shield
Shadow Ball
Flash Cannon
Wide Guard

One of the most common Pokémon in VGC, and for good reason. A hard Pokémon to use but is truly incredible when used right, with the amazing defensive and offensive stats. Furthermore with King’s Shield it is hard to take down Aegislash. Wide is for support and has turned out to be very useful. With this EV spread he can take down many Fairies, and Psychics, most notably Metagross, in an OHKO.

Overview:

I usually lead with Mega-Charizard and Lucario. They form a core due to Charizard resisting all of Lucario’s weaknesses. Together they pack quite a punch when Charizard uses Heat Wave and Lucario uses Rock slide which strikes both opponents twice with two very strong moves. Also Lucario has High Jump Kick and Charizard has Solar Beam, which allows much type coverage, and both have very high base power. Also note that Solar Beam activates in one turn, Heat Wave and Blaze Kick receive bonuses because of drought, which is Charizard’s ability.
Rotom-Mow is usually up next as he is switched out quickly in most cases. Followed up with Aegislash or Hydreigon, depending on the flow of the battle. Feraligatr usually takes up the rear to ensure that drought has dispersed so that his Waterfall is not weakened. Hydreigon and Aegislash form a beautiful core together that includes numerous immunities, that works together quite nicely. So that’s the team, I think it has pretty nice synergy and has an 11-0 record so far but many of those battles have been lame.

Overall I am open to suggestions about anything, but really need the help on the EV spreads and some of the items. Even the move sets and Pokémon could be changed. Thank for taking the time to look at my team and please answer.

Answer 1

Well! Great team. I just got to say that a team is based usually off of preference, opinion, and logical strategy combined into one. So, I just usually tell people that if it's working it's good :)
The Charizard seems to be your key player here. Charizard is also one of my favorites, so I agree with having him on the team.
If you look at my profile, you'll notice that I absolutely LOVE Arceus and all Dragon Pokémon (except for like one or two). So, the Hydreigon, which is very similar to mine, is something that I might put on my team as well. The Lucario is definitely okay, but I would replace High Jump Kick with another powerful fighting move, or protect. (Lucario is my bud, so I get pretty stingy about him...)
Anyways, I do not know how you want me to rate this exactly, so if you let me know if it's just like a scale of 1-10 thing or if it is something different.

All in all, fantastic team!

Comments

Also! Try to go on to YouTube and find MandJTV Pokevids. The guy's name is Michael. He posts awesome vids on things ranging from WFC Battles to Conspiracy Theories. Check it out!

---

yeah just want some help on EV sets and move sets, and just improvements overall.

---

yeah do a full answer please and i will give you Best Answer

---

Okay! Give me just a few minutes to study your team a little closer :)

Answer 2

Okay!

So, the Charizard Mega is definitely a Pokémon to keep. With Air Slash, because of STAB, the power would become 112. So, there is that plus it's Special Attack would be a huge amount of damage for something like Air Slash. As for Overheat, I would replace that with Flamethrower, which would also have STAB, making this move increase to 142 from 95. That, and it wouldn't harshly decrease Charizard's Special Attack.

Now for Lucario. Lucario is usually seen as a well rounded Special and Physical attacker with high speed. First, get rid of that choice scarf. It's too risky. Pick something like Quick Claw, where you have a chance to take priority. Second, the combination of Calm Mind and Aura Sphere is always fantastic. Calm Mind increasing Special Attack for Aura Sphere and increasing Special Defense for lowering power of fire-types. Calm Mind is just an option, but for this Pokémon, you want only one stat increasing move or Protect. Double Team is also a great one as your opponent will have a harder and harder time hitting you. High Jump Kick is a fairly risky move, as it has a lower accuracy, and if it misses there is massive recoil. Replace it with something like Brick Break or Low Sweep to either eliminate light screen and reflect or lower your opponents' speed, respectively. Blaze Kick is fine. I would replace it with Earthquake to counter any rock types so you can keep your Charizard Mega going. Or you can keep Blaze Kick and get rid of Rock Slide for Earthquake. Actually, that's probably better. Replace Ice Punch with Ice Beam.

Whew!

Your Hydreigon is perfect. Except for Flash Cannon. Replace it with Outrage and give Hydreigon a Persim Berry. Outrage will still give you a good amount of power after Draco Meteor is used.

For Feraligatr, I would replace Stone Edge or Earthquake as you Electric counter (if that is what Rock Slide is for). You don't really need a Flying counter, or anything of that sort. Your team doesn't have any weaknesses to it. The rest of this Pokemon's stuff is fine.

Rotom-Mow is just about perfect. Perfect water counter. Gastrodon I feel is becoming more and more popular, so this Pokémon is a fantastic counter with Leaf Storm, with the fantastic STAB bonus equating to 210, plus Rotom's Special Attack, multiplied by 4. This would take out any Gastrodon to get in your way.

Now, I have never actually used Aegislash before, because I haven't played any games beyond Black 2 and White 2........ :( However, based off of the typing, this could be an awesome Pokémon. I think that's a great move set :)

There's my suggestions. Hope I helped!

Comments

- You call Choice Scarf risky and go for Quick Claw instead >.> it doesn't work that way man, Choice Scarf is always less risky

- You should justify why you're turning Lucario into a special/mixed attacker, because his version looks just fine to me

- Set-up like Calm Mind is not very good in VGC (games last an approx 8 turns, immediate power is preferred), and much less on Lucario which is not only frail, but also weak to more physical types.

- Outrage hits random opponents (even teammates) in doubles, so it's a bad idea on Hydreigon. Flash Cannon on the other hand covers Sylveon and other fairies

- Rock Slide takes on the multitude of Flying and Fire types in VGC, most importantly Thundurus, Zapdos and Charizard-Y. Earthquake gives relatively less coverage against the threats (although not a bad option, just inferior)

I'm not criticizing you as of such, but this rate seems too shaky and unexplained to me :C

---

thank you Arceus4ever and Qwerty_Zoom both of your feedbacks is immensely appreciated. However just as note to you arceus some of the points querty made are very prominent in VGC, which is a very specific game mode that Pokemon have to be tailored for. Thanks

---

I will revise the team and post it in about a week, if you can review that one also it would be great! There will be major changes as my record just went from 11-0 to 13-3

---

I was just trying to help, man. If you think that Lucario is frail, then remove him from your team. As I said, I have not played games past White 2. I am still trying to figure out some of the terms  that are used, so maybe if you wouldn't mind teaching me some stuff? I really am serious. I've been trying to find someone to teach me some stuff, but there's nothing. Would you be up for it? Cuz, I mean, it takes a little while longer for questions to be approved...
I would greatly appreciate the help.

---

And I've seen VGC games last way longer than 8 turns before. I don't know if it's just luck, coincidence, or what, but I keep consistently seeing long battles.

---

Um no. On an average VGC battles rarely last more than 8 turns. At the very max 15 or something, which is still not big. Also, you could try asking around for help if you don't know much about the game, people aren't that horrible here c;

But until then, try keeping opinions to the comment section rather than the answer, if they don't add well. People don't recieve it well if your answer has more opinions than experienced advice.

---

I know you don't have too much VGC '15 experience, but most Charizards don't run Air Slash at all, usually opting for a secondary Fire STAB. Overheat is used to nuke things like Landorus and Mega Venusaur. Oh, and the less Earthquake the better in VGC. The only Pokémon that use it are Landorus and the occasional Mega Salamence.