1v1 Resources Thread

[DoW]

★ Aron for C rank ★

How does this little LC thing can be usable in the 1v1 tier ? This is a really good question and actually, Aron is pretty good in this tier. How is it even possible ? Aron has access to the most interesting ability in the 1v1 tier, which is Sturdy. It allows Aron to be played with a really vicious strategy which is the Lvl 1 Pokemon. With this strategy, it can counter many pokemons in the viability ranking however Aron is really predictable. Let's see how to build around Aron.

​

Aron @ Shell Bell
Level 1
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Endeavor
- Sandstorm
- Protect
- Iron Head

Moves

Endeavor is an essential move. It allows Aron to make powerful damages and to keep the opponent pokemon to 1 HP after it get attacked by it. Endeavor is the attack that will always have to be used at start. Even if the opponent isn't making damages, it will have the same HP than Aron, who is lvl 1 so it would lose massive HP anyway.

Sandstorm is usefull against Pokemons that aren't Rock / Ground and Steel Type. Indeed, it allows Aron to finish the job with using residual weather damages after using Endeavor the first turn. It will allow Aron to counter Altaria, Lopunny, Greninja, Charizard Y, Gardevoir, Salamence and Dragonite.

Protect is usefull against Fake Out users such as Medicham Mega and Lopunny Mega. It allows Aron to counter the Fake Out strategy to break its Sturdy. It also allow Aron to stay alive one more turn that is needed to finish the opponent pokemon with residual weather damages.

Iron Head is the offensive STAB move of Aron. It's useful against the Pokemons that are Rock, Ground and Steel type. Indeed, Sandstorm doesn't affect them, it means that they would stay at 1 HP after Aron used Endeavor. Even at lvl 1, Iron Head in Adamant will not make 0%.

Set Details

The EV's aren't really important in this build because its a level 1 Pokemon, which means that it would get OHKOed even if we can boost every stats. Just make sure to play Adamant with 252 in Atk stat because it will allow Aron to make 1% damage with Iron Head on Steel, Ground and Rock type Pokemons, who are not affected by Sandstorm.

Shell Bell item is useful and essential in Aron set. Indeed, the opponent Pokemon will use its attack the first, and Aron's Sturdy will be activated. Aron will use Endeavor the same turn and will force the opponent Pokemon to have the same HP than it. After an attack, Shell Bell's holder gains 1/8 of the damage in HP dealt to other Pokemon which means that Aron will be full HP the next turn, and will have the occasion to stay alive one more time, instead of the opponent Pokemon that will be at 1% hp.

Sturdy Ability is also essential in this set, it would allow Aron to stay alive after an attack that would OHKO it, then using the Endeavor strategy with Shell Bell.

Other Options

It is possible to play with a Berry Juice instead of a Shell Bell, to counter Leech Seed users such as Ferrothorn and Venusaur Mega.

It is also possible to play with Metal Burst instead of Iron Head if you only play against physical teams. It will allow Aron to finish the opponent Pokemon even without Sandstorm and if its a rock, ground or steel type.

It is also possible to play with Endure instead of Protect, to counter Fake Out users such as Medicham and Lopunny. Aron needs to hold Berry Juice tho.

Check and Counters

• Sleep powder, spore: Smeargle, Breloom, Tangrowth and Mega Venusaur totally break the Aron strategy with using sleeping statue. Aron needs at least the first 2 turns to use its strategy.

• Multi-hits attacks & Skill Link: Cinccino, Mega Heracross, Cloyster, Breloom, Golem, Rhyperior and Ambipom totally counter Aron strategy. Multi Hit attacks is actually the worst thing against FEAR and lvl 1 Pokemon strategy.

• Mold Breaker / Teravolt: Aron can't do anything against that. Indeed, Mold Breaker and Teravolt don't look at the opponent Pokemon ability, which means that Sturdy isn't working against a Mold Breaker or Teravolt Pokemon. Aron would be OHKO the first turn against Mega Gyarados, Kyurem-Black, Excadrill and Hawlucha.

• Leftovers / Sitrus Berry: It breaks Aron Endeavor because the opponent Pokemon recovers HP and after the first use of Endeavor, it will not be that effective. Pokemons such as Azumarill Belly Drumer and Hawlucha Sub can counter Aron strategy.

Aron has a really interesting build in 1v1 tier. It actually can counter many Pokemons and stallers isn't a real problem due to its Steel type that immunises it against Toxic. However the huge problem is that Aron strategy is too predictable as every Sturdy Pokemons, and every lvl 1 Pokemons. Some Pokemons in high viability ranking can counter it such as Gyarados Mega and Kyurem-Black and there is a lot of Multi Hit Pokemon users in the 1v1 tier, who are all between B and A rank. That's why Aron could never get more than C rank, because this build is too much predictable by the high viability ranking Pokemons.

Berry Juice is occasionally more useful than Shell Bell, for example if your opponent doesn't attack first turn and has leftovers to prefent sandstorm from then KOing them on the second turn while shell bell won't recover aron back to full. Shell Bell can be more useful in other circumstances though, so both are usable.

 

[adiass]

Victini B > A

After playing around 50 games with Victini in 1v1, I found that it's rather under rated. It can take out a number of S rank Pokemon and is able to OHKO a lot of things that do not resist V-create.
Choice Band Set

Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 80 Def / 104 Spe (Allows Victini to survive a Sucker Punch from Mega-Mawile)
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Fusion Bolt
- Trick/Bounce/Brick Break
- Zen Headbutt

Set Details:

V-create: This is Victini's signature move, it has a crippling 180BP and a 95% accuracy, although with Victini's ability, Victory Star, it will not be able to miss. This move can OHKO almost anything that doesn't resist it, it can even OHKO Charizard-Mega-Y due to the sun boost.

Fusion Bolt: This move is so Victini can hit a lot of things that resist V-create, such as Azumarill/Gyarados. It's only really for coverage.

Trick: Trick is is to counter Level1 Pokemon and some stall Pokemon, simple as that.

Zen Headbutt: Zen Headbutt is if you're in a bad match up and you may need a little bit of hax to win, it 2hko's Venusaur-Mega if you don't want to get the stat drops from V-create.

Notable Pokemon This Set Beats

Mega-Mawile, Kyurem-B, Aegislash, Mega-Charizard Y, Manectric-Mega, Perish Azumarill (rolls if sitrus), Specs Meloetta (if less than 128speed evs), Perish Meloetta, Scarf Meloetta, Mega-Gardevoir, Gyarados-Mega (Adamant + No DD Boost), Lvl1 Pokes (if trick), Togekiss, Smeargle, Whimsicott, Ferrothorn, Sableye+Sableye-Mega (Haven't tested a lot)

Notable Pokemon That Beats This Set

Greninja, Gyarados-Mega (Jolly or Adamant with DD Boost), Aggron-Mega, HP Azumarill, Salamence-Mega, Porygon-Z, Charizard-Mega X, Garchomp, Rhyperior, Disable Alakazam

Advantages to this set:
Victini is able to take out a large amount of the metagame with V-create.
Able to defeat common mons, such as Mawile-Mega, KyuB and ZardY.

Disadvantages to this set:
Has no way of beating sturdy.
Allows bulky Pokemon a turn to set up.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Scarf

Choice Scarfed Set

Victini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Fusion Bolt
- Trick
- Zen Headbutt


Helps against Gyarados/Greninja, still working on this.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Currently working on Specs Victini.


Sorry if this isn't very good, it is my first analysis.

 

[DEG]

Added Lyse analysis.

Discussing:

Porygon2: B~~~>A

Having access to bulk and offense is key in 1v1, that's why I'm opening discussion of moving P2 to A. It can, in fact, run Toxic stall or a more special offense oriented set in Charge Beam, TriAttack/Hyperbeam.
So, what do you think about P2 in 1v1? Does it deserve A rank? Discuss it's different sets and the impact it does on the opponent while choosing his Pokemon.

If you wish to have your post linked in the thread, you'll have to make a full analysis about P2

​

 

[dusk raimon]

Added Lyse analysis.

Discussing:

Porygon2: B~~~>A

Having access to bulk and offense is key in 1v1, that's why I'm opening discussion of moving P2 to A. It can, in fact, run Toxic stall or a more special offense oriented set in Charge Beam, TriAttack/Hyperbeam.
So, what do you think about P2 in 1v1? Does it deserve A rank? Discuss it's different sets and the impact it does on the opponent while choosing his Pokemon.

If you wish to have your post linked in the thread, you'll have to make a full analysis about P2

​

I don't have time to talk in full, but i think it should go to A because it has great mixed bulk and can stop physical and special attackers in their tracks if running thunder wave, and recover. with ice beam and tri attack it can beat mence and things which resist ice beam. If it's a steel type just hit it with tri attack, recover and repeat. As long as it doesn't have recovery and doesn't crit u should sill win.

 

[Misaka Mikoto]

Porygon2 Rank B ===> Rank A

I don't necessarily know why I even see Porygon2 at Rank B at all. I'll be honest, this Pokemon does deserve Rank A. With Evolite and the 80 / 90 / 95 bulk it has, it can take hits left and right from many physical and special attackers, allowing it to check several threatening Pokemon in the metagame. It has coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psyshock, etc and three great abilities such as Analytic, Trace (my personal favorite out of the three), and Download. Having a weakness to Fighting-types only makes it a great versatile Pokemon. To me, Porygon2 isn't a Pokemon to really downgrade and underestimate because it'll hax your team to the ground.

Porygon2 @ Evolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Nature: Bold
- Toxic
- Recover
- Charge Beam
- Hyper Beam / Tri Attack

Overall my most favorite set to use on this cute duck. Toxic allows it to cripple many opposing hard-hitters and Pokemon that'll try to set up on it. Recover is used in conjunction with Toxic to recover back any health that was lost, while Toxic continues to deplete the foe's health. Charge Beam is sort of gimmicky, as it gives Porygon2 a 70% chance to get a one stage boost in its Special Attack. This would also help with Hyper Beam as well. After each continuous boost from Charge Beam, Hyper Beam will be hitting much harder along with Tri Attack. Even though Porygon2 doesn't provide extra coverage outside of Charge Beam in this set, Hyper Beam and Tri Attack will both get STAB as well. Also, I have been using Foul Play recently because there's many Pokemon that tends to try and set up on it as well. Porygon2 should have the ability Trace, allowing it to deal with Intimidate users such as Salamence, Landorus-T, and Gyarados. This makes it even more difficult to take down due to the -1 Attack from them. It also sets up Pokemon that have Refridgerate, Pixilate, and Aerilate Pokemon. (Even though Porygon2 won't be getting the ability due to some of them Mega Evolving.) The given EV spread with a Bold nature maximizes Porygon2's defensive capabilities.

(Do I have to like provide calcs or something now? I know it took me a while to put this analyses on it up, so my apologies.)

 

[DoW]

Porygon2 Rank B ===> Rank A

I don't necessarily know why I even see Porygon2 at Rank B at all. I'll be honest, this Pokemon does deserve Rank A. With Evolite and the 80 / 90 / 95 bulk it has, it can take hits left and right from many physical and special attackers, allowing it to check several threatening Pokemon in the metagame. It has coverage moves such as Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psyshock, etc and three great abilities such as Analytic, Trace (my personal favorite out of the three), and Download. Having a weakness to Fighting-types only makes it a great versatile Pokemon. To me, Porygon2 isn't a Pokemon to really downgrade and underestimate because it'll hax your team to the ground.

Porygon2 @ Evolite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Nature: Bold
- Toxic
- Recover
- Charge Beam
- Hyper Beam / Tri Attack

Overall my most favorite set to use on this cute duck. Toxic allows it to cripple many opposing hard-hitters and Pokemon that'll try to set up on it. Recover is used in conjunction with Toxic to recover back any health that was lost, while Toxic continues to deplete the foe's health. Charge Beam is sort of gimmicky, as it gives Porygon2 a 70% chance to get a one stage boost in its Special Attack. This would also help with Hyper Beam as well. After each continuous boost from Charge Beam, Hyper Beam will be hitting much harder along with Tri Attack. Even though Porygon2 doesn't provide extra coverage outside of Charge Beam in this set, Hyper Beam and Tri Attack will both get STAB as well. Also, I have been using Foul Play recently because there's many Pokemon that tends to try and set up on it as well. Porygon2 should have the ability Trace, allowing it to deal with Intimidate users such as Salamence, Landorus-T, and Gyarados. This makes it even more difficult to take down due to the -1 Attack from them. It also sets up Pokemon that have Refridgerate, Pixilate, and Aerilate Pokemon. (Even though Porygon2 won't be getting the ability due to some of them Mega Evolving.) The given EV spread with a Bold nature maximizes Porygon2's defensive capabilities.

(Do I have to like provide calcs or something now? I know it took me a while to put this analyses on it up, so my apologies.)

I think some calcs would be useful to show off this thing's bulk, here's some big ones:
252 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice vs. 252 HP / 56 SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 151-178 (40.3 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (many don't run focus blast so it can toxic stall)
252+ Atk Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Eviolite Porygon2: 142-168 (37.9 - 44.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Between these it should be pretty obvious that it has strong all-round bulk and will need something like banded kyu-b or a very strong fighting move to KO it. Meanwhile it can toxic and recover, hoping the opponent doesn't crit.
I'd argue that ice beam would be a better option than charge beam, especially for Sub Salamence where ice beam reduces the need for predictions.
It's also worth pointing out that, as a bulky normal type, Porygon2 faces tough competition from Chansey which boasts higher special bulk (taking focus blasts from M-garde with ease), alongside a wider movepool including charm, counter and sing that allow it to beat a multitude of otherwise difficult opponents such as Mega Mawile or FEAR and at the same time makes prediction far harder for the opponent: Sub is a great way to beat chansey if it goes for charm, but doesn't help at all if it uses sing. It should also be noted that Chansey's lower base 50 Speed allows it to speed tie Perish Song azumarill if they forget to use level 99.

Overall it's certainly a pokemon with a niche: With ice beam it beats mega mence far more easily that Chansey (which needs about four correct predictions in a row). However I remain unconvinced that it holds enough of a niche over Chansey to deserve A rank: Unless I had a particular need to, I'd go straight for Chansey rather than Porygon2.

 

[Reisen]

★ Porygon 2 for A rank ★

Porygon 2 is definitely a bulky Pokemon in the 1v1 tier. With decent defensive stats, Eviolite allows Pyrogon 2 to have its defenses increased. It can stall many offensive pokemons in this tier with its access to Recover. Moreover, Porygon 2 has access to a very large offensive and defensive movepool, let's have a look on how it can be played.​

Porygon 2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Recover
- Tri Attack
- Thunderbolt

Moves

Recover is essential to Porygon 2 which allows it to stall the opponent Pokemon. Its huge defenses stats allows Pyrogon 2 to be 2OHKOed by some special or physical hyper offense Pokemons such as Mega Gardevoir Hyper Voice and Kyurem-Black Outrage. Recover permits to Pyrogon to stay alive against Outrage Kyurem-Black and play on the confusion to stall with its other moves.

Toxic is another stall move that is a great combinaison with Recover. It allows Pyrogon 2 to deal with other stall pokemons such as Chansey or Deoxys-Defense. It also allows Pyrogon 2 to deal with a lot of offensive Pokemons such as Mega Salamence who 2HKO P2 with Giga Impact, Mega Gyarados, Kyurem-Black, Charizard, Greninja and Dragonite.

Tri Attack is the offensive STAB move of P2 who has a decent SpA stat. It permits P2 to finish the opponent mostly. The most interesting part of this move is that it can burn the opponent Pokemon, which is really nice against Steel types who aren't affected by Toxic.

Thunderbolt is a coverage move that complete Tri Attack. Indeed, it allows P2 to make a lot of damages on Steel type and to be offensive against them if they are burned by the Tri Attack. Thunderbolt is also really useful against Azumarill Perish Song, Mega Gyarados, Cloyster, Blastoise Mega. Jirachi physical offense will have hard times against Thunderbolt if P2 has Download Ability. Physical Aegislash is also really weak to Thunderbolt if it is in offensive stance. Indeed, Tri Attack can't affect it because of its Ghost type, same as Toxic because of its Steel type.

Set Details

Maximizing defensive stats increases P2 bulk and allows it to stall how it wants against physical or special offensive Pokemons. Eviolite item is essential to these stats because it also increases P2 defensive stats. Indeed, P2 is a NFE Pokémon and due to its natural bulk and stall powers, Eviolite is really important on that Pokémon. Playing with Calm nature instead of Bold is to prevent Special Hyper offense such as Mega Gardevoir. Indeed, Mega Gardevoir Focus Blast will 2HKO P2 and it could have time to use Recover.

Download ability is better than Trace ability because it allows Porygon 2 to have, most of the time, its SpA stat increased. Indeed, the 1v1 tier is mainly composed by physical offense Pokemons. We meet Kyurem-Black, Dragonite, Mega Salamence, Mega Gyarados and Mega Mawile many times. It allows P2 to be naturally more offensive with STAB Tri Attack and its coverage move if it is against Steel Type or physical offensive Pokemons.

Other Options

Ice Beam can be an option against Thunderbolt as Coverage attack. Indeed, Ice Beam allows Pyrogon 2 to deal against Mega Salamence with DD. It will OHKO Mega Salamence with Dowload. It is also really effective against Dragonite but most of the Dragonite are using Band / Lum or WP and due to Multiscale, P2 couldn't OHKO Dragonite.

Analytic ability could also be a great option as another ability because it increases the damages of the Pokemon attacks if it attacks the last in the turn. Porygon 2 is really slow, its offensive attacks would be often increased because of the presence of faster Pokemons in the high viability ranking. However, Perish Song Azumarill will be impossible to beat if P2 runs Analytic.

Checks and Counters

• Hyper Offense: Even if P2 has decent defensive stats, it can't deal against Band or Specs hyper offense such as V Create Victini, Outrage Dragonite, Hyper Beam Porygon Z, Hyper Voice Sylveon, Charizard Y Blast Burn / Fire Blast and Hydro Cannon Greninja.

• Ferrothorn & Venusaur: Ferrothorn completely breaks P2 strategy. Indeed, Ferrothorn isn't affected by Toxic and it has a really decent Bulk. It also has access to Leech Seed, Toxic and great offensive STAB moves such as Gyroball, Iron Head or even Power Whip. Mega Venusaur could be a problem to Porygon 2 because its stall strategy wouldn't work on Venusaur due to its poison type. Venusaur has also access to sleep powder that could handle P2.

• Smeargle: Transform strategy breaks Porygon 2, it isn't faster than Smeargle and Spore could affect it really easily. Smeargle is a real counter.

• Steel Types: Steel Type Pokemon is the main problem of Porygon 2. Indeed, Toxic doesn't affect steel type and most of its offensive moves aren't really effective on them. Steel Type Pokemons such as Aegislash or Mega Aggron could be a real problem to Porygon 2.

• Stall & Boost: Stall Pokemons such as Chansey Toxic Seismic Toss could be a problem against Porygon 2 who will not make many damages against it. Dragon Dance and Sword Dance Users are countering P2 strategy. Indeed, P2 hasn't an offensive build, which means that it couldn't OHKO opponent pokemons except Mega Salamence. Mega Mawile, Mega Gyarados, Dragonite and Aegislash can definitely beat Porygon 2.

• Taunt: Not used that often, Taunt is a major problem to Porygon 2 strategy that could break its stall combinaison (Toxic + Recover). Pokémons such as Talonflame, Mega Gardevoir or even Whimsicott could easily stop P2.

In conclusion, we can actually see why Porygon 2 was B rank, it has many different weaknesses in the 1v1 tier and most of them are really present in the high viability ranking. However, its bulk is really impressive in that tier, it can deal with a lot of offensive Pokemons such as Kyurem-Black and Mega Salamence Giga Impact and it counters many pokemons from B rank and under. Moreover, Porygon 2 is one of the few Pokemons in the 1v1 that could deal with an entire team, which is really interesting actually and that explains why it should move to A rank.

 

[DoW]

I still haven't seen any discussion of Chansey. I honestly think that Porygon2 should be B rank simply because Chansey outclasses it 95% of the time, and its analysis definitely needs some discussion of a pokemon that outclasses it a whole load. As I wrote earlier, Ice Beam (which isn't even on the set you wrote) gives it an advantage over Chansey when it comes to sub mence, otherwise it is extremely difficult to come up with a time where Porygon2 is actually able to beat something that Chansey can't.

 

[Reisen]

I still haven't seen any discussion of Chansey. I honestly think that Porygon2 should be B rank simply because Chansey outclasses it 95% of the time, and its analysis definitely needs some discussion of a pokemon that outclasses it a whole load. As I wrote earlier, Ice Beam (which isn't even on the set you wrote) gives it an advantage over Chansey when it comes to sub mence, otherwise it is extremely difficult to come up with a time where Porygon2 is actually able to beat something that Chansey can't.

Hello Articuno I you are absolutely right, I've mentioned the Ice Beam move as an other option, P2 can't deal with Chansey as staller and it actually can't deal with Deoxys Defense aswell but I don't think it has to stay B rank because P2 can easily handle all the B rank Pokemons and below. The two real problems to P2 stall is stall and Steel Types.

I think if we need to make a precision about its place in A rank, it would be A - .

 

[DoW]

Hello Articuno I you are absolutely right, I've mentioned the Ice Beam move as an other option, P2 can't deal with Chansey as staller and it actually can't deal with Deoxys Defense aswell but I don't think it has to stay B rank because P2 can easily handle all the B rank Pokemons and below. The two real problems to P2 stall is stall and Steel Types.

I think if we need to make a precision about its place in A rank, it would be A - .

I'm not saying the problem is that Porygon2 can't deal with chansey (although with toxic it can stand a chance if the opposing chansey doesn't run this). I'm saying there are very few reasons to run Porygon2 given that Chansey can beat pretty much all the things that Porygon2 beats.

Due to the fact that Chansey generally outclasses it, I see very little reason for them to share the same rank.

 

[Reisen]

The main difference between Chansey and P2 is that Chansey can't deal with S rank Pokemons. Even if it has Counter, Mega Mawile has Sword Dance, Mega Salamence has Dragon Dance, same for Gyarados I mean, all the high viability ranked physical Pokemons have boosts moves. They can easily counter Chansey counter strategy.

P2 with download can deal with these Pokémons with a decent defensive stat, at least it would maybe have difficulties against Mega Mawile Sword Dancer, but Ice Beam P2 can deal with Salamence / Dragonite and Thunderbolt for Gyarados / Azu.

P2 is totally hybrid unlike Chansey who is pure staller.

 

[DoW]

The main difference between Chansey and P2 is that Chansey can't deal with S rank Pokemons. Even if it has Counter, Mega Mawile has Sword Dance, Mega Salamence has Dragon Dance, same for Gyarados I mean, all the high viability ranked physical Pokemons have boosts moves. They can easily counter Chansey counter strategy.

P2 with download can deal with these Pokémons with a decent defensive stat, at least it would maybe have difficulties against Mega Mawile Sword Dancer, but Ice Beam P2 can deal with Salamence / Dragonite and Thunderbolt for Gyarados / Azu.

P2 is totally hybrid unlike Chansey who is pure staller.

Charm/Counter Chansey beats Maw if it predicts correctly. Mega Mence loses to charm unless it has sub, in which case it still loses to a well-played seismic toss/charm chansey. Same for gyara. All the high viability physical mons lose to Chansey, boosting moves or no. Hence why it's the one that outclasses p2: it beats more mons than p2.
Take specs meloetta, for example. After a trick, P2 goes down to two hits + hyper beam, and can't KO back in time. Chansey lives those hits, and assuming no drops it's capable of KOing with seismic toss first. I've beaten DEG a hundred times using this strategy, where P2 would have lost me the match.

 

[Reisen]

I just think Chansey Eviolite is the best staller in 1v1 tier, it should maybe not get a A rank.

EDIT: As Dream Eater Gengar said above.

 

[Breaking Mew]

Avalugg for D rank

Avalugg @ Kee Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Barrier
- Recover
- Toxic
- Earthquake


The Ultimate Physical Wall, Avalugg!

This is something I have had a lot of success with in 1v1. It will wall almost every single physical attacker in the tier, regardless of whether or not they can boost their attack stat.

The strategy is simple; first use Barrier to increase your defense boosts, then spam Recover until you have enough HP to use Toxic or Earthquake. The Kee Berry means that Avalugg will be at +3 defense after the first turn, if the enemy goes for physical attacks.

If the opponent tries to set up with Swords Dance or Dragon Dance, Avalugg should still win by setting up at the same time. If after the opponent boosts up a non-critical hit does <50%, and a critical hit will KO Avalugg, Sturdy will save you unless they get multiple crits in a row.

It beats DD Mega Salamence, DD Mega Charizard X, SD Mega Mawile (if it never flinches).

Let me show you some of the things it can take on;

252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 183-216 (46.4 - 54.8%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt Kyurem-B Outrage vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 73-87 (18.5 - 22%)

Avalugg easily tanks and starts recovering after a single barrier, and toxic stalls to death. So no neutrally-effective physical attacker without boosting moves is going to win.

What about super effective attacks?

252+ Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 222-264 (56.3 - 67%)
252+ Atk Mega Lopunny High Jump Kick vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 90-108 (22.8 - 27.4%)

Even if it doesn't go for a Fake Out, Avalugg walls Mega Lopunny quite easily.


252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 266-314 (67.5 - 79.6%)
252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. +3 252 HP / 252+ Def Avalugg: 108-128 (27.4 - 32.4%)

Fully attack invested Mega Charizard X can just about take down Avalugg on the second turn, if it gets lucky. Avalugg has a >50% chance of tanking the hits (assuming no burn), recovering and toxic stalling.

This Avalugg will even win against Mega Mawile, as long as it never gets flinched. However, Mega Mawile is probably going to get a flinch in with Iron Head at some point.

Of course, there are a few physical attackers that can take this thing down; Mega Medicham, if it uses fully attack invested HJK without a Fake Out beforehand; Band Victini, and Band Darmanitan.

Weaknesses:
Every special attacker
Every taunter
Almost everything that can substitute
Anything immune to both Toxic and Earthquake


So against most pokemon in this meta, Avalugg isn't going to do a whole lot. But it is really, really good against physical attackers.

 

[Breaking Mew]

Assault Vest Blissey for D rank

Blissey @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Double Slap
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Seismic Toss: Best move for dealing damage
Double Slap: Take down those F.E.A.R. Aron
Ice Beam: For anything x4 weak to Ice, and those lucky freezes
Flamethrower: For anything x4 weak to fire, and those lucky burns


Pros:
Beats every special attacker with no recovery

Cons:
Is beaten by every pokemon that is not a special attacker with no recovery

 

[Reisen]

Blissey has to be played as staller and not offensive attacker, in the 1v1 tier in which there are many physical HO builds, Blissey couldn't stand a chance against that. Moreover, Chansey totally outclasses Blissey.

About your Avalugg build, you should add the Weakness Policy set like DEG said, it is actually its best set with Sturdy ability.

 

[Breaking Mew]

I honestly think the physical super-wall Avalugg set is better than the Weakness Policy set, it is really good at luring in physical fighting and fire types, it's very useful given how many physical attackers there are in 1v1.

 

[InfernapeTropius11]

Assault Vest Blissey for D rank

Blissey @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 SpA
Calm Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Double Slap
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Seismic Toss: Best move for dealing damage
Double Slap: Take down those F.E.A.R. Aron
Ice Beam: For anything x4 weak to Ice, and those lucky freezes
Flamethrower: For anything x4 weak to fire, and those lucky burns


Pros:
Beats every special attacker with no recovery

Cons:
Is beaten by every pokemon that is not a special attacker with no recovery

In my opinion, Assault Vest Blissey is TERRIBLE. Why would you use it over Chansey, who has better physical bulk? It only has 75 SpA as well, so unboosted that is not killing much:

4 SpA Blissey Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence: 248-296 (74.9 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That is a 4x SE hit, can't even OHKO

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Giga Impact vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Blissey: 1452-1708 (203.3 - 239.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It OHKOs back or sets up for the guaranteed OHKO

It does not have enough power to be viable AT ALL over a stall set with LEftovers, which is the ONLY viable Blissey set. This set basically loses to almost the entire 1v1 metagame due to its lack of recovery, it is set up bait and can't OHKO anything, even if it is 4x weak to its moves. Beating some special attackers that lack recovery is not a good enough reason to use it imo, as the main special attackers have ways to get by it (Lati@s has Psyshock, Kyu-B can go either may or mixed, Zard Y has Roost or WoW, Meloetta and Gardevoir have Psyshock, Porygon-Z has Trick and can tehn 2HKO with Hyper Beam). In fact, I'm not seeing ANYTHING this set beats o_o

TL; DR: Assault Vest Blissey is terribad please do not use it

 

[Breaking Mew]

In my opinion, Assault Vest Blissey is TERRIBLE. Why would you use it over Chansey, who has better physical bulk? It only has 75 SpA as well, so unboosted that is not killing much:

4 SpA Blissey Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Mega Salamence: 248-296 (74.9 - 89.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
That is a 4x SE hit, can't even OHKO

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Giga Impact vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Blissey: 1452-1708 (203.3 - 239.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
It OHKOs back or sets up for the guaranteed OHKO

It does not have enough power to be viable AT ALL over a stall set with LEftovers, which is the ONLY viable Blissey set. This set basically loses to almost the entire 1v1 metagame due to its lack of recovery, it is set up bait and can't OHKO anything, even if it is 4x weak to its moves. Beating some special attackers that lack recovery is not a good enough reason to use it imo, as the main special attackers have ways to get by it (Lati@s has Psyshock, Kyu-B can go either may or mixed, Zard Y has Roost or WoW, Meloetta and Gardevoir have Psyshock, Porygon-Z has Trick and can tehn 2HKO with Hyper Beam). In fact, I'm not seeing ANYTHING this set beats o_o

TL; DR: Assault Vest Blissey is terribad please do not use it

I use Blissey over Chansey because Blissey has higher special bulk.
I use assault vest over leftovers to maximise special bulk.
And it manages to beat, um... Mega Blastoise?

Alright, super-special wall Blissey isn't too great in this tier.
The Avalugg set is solid though.

 

[Reisen]

To be honest, Avalugg can't deal with Salamence which is played mixed Fire Blast to counter Mawile, Mawile SD, Aegislash mixed, Kyurem and Charizard Y and other special HO.

It needs some help to be enough offensive, WP is a good option. At the moment your build is stall, but in the 1v1 tier all the stall pokémons such as Chansey, Deoxys Defense or even Porygon 2 can deal with Special and Physical Pokemons.

Avalugg is really weak to special moves, it would be better to play it with the WP Sturdy strategy just like Golem in my opinion.

 

[DoW]

I have occasionally run chople berry blissey due to being able to beat Mega Lopunny, Conkeldurr, Mega Lucario etc., however this is its only niche over Chansey and is almost never worth using.

 

[DEG]

Suspending the debate and keeping Porygon2 B rank until someone else proves me wrong, it is outclassed by chansey as walling and can get crippled with Trick.

Discussing Chansey A~~>S
Does that little blob deserve S rank? What is it job? And what kind of sets can it run?

 

[The Immortal]

I take credit for inventing this set in the beginning of XY 1v1, which was then stolen by others:

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Charm
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

I'd say S rank is worthy because it beats 9 out of the top 10 Pokemon. Not sure what other sets it runs tho.

 

[Reisen]

★ Chansey for S rank ★

Chansey is definitely the best staller in the 1v1 tier. I used to play it a lot, and I've realized how amazing this Pokémon was. It has access to a lot of stall moves such as Soft Boiled, Toxic and Seismic Toss + it also has massive Special Defense and HP stat, which allow Chansey to not be annoyed by Special Hyper Offense. Chansey can also be played in different ways in the 1v1 tier, because of its large movepool. How can we play Chansey in the 1v1 tier ? Let's have a look to its set.

​

Stall Thunder Wave
The Immortal set is one of the most famous Chansey set; in which we could make some other options.

Chansey (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Charm
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

Moves

Thunder Wave allows Chansey to take the advantage of the opponent pokemon with the Paralysis Turns, which means that Chansey is able to use Soft Boiled or Charm if the opponent Pokemon is physically hyper offense or not. Thunder Wave is a great statue move against Steel Pokemons such as Mawile and Metagross, who aren't affected by Toxic.

Charm is an essential move in Chansey's set. Indeed, it allows Chansey to deal with a lot of Pokémons from the High viability ranking such as Mega Mawile, Gyarados, Kyurem-Black, Charizard X. Charm allows Chansey to deal against them if they have boosts Attack stats such as Sword Dance, Dragon Dance and Meteor Mash on Mega Metagross. It definitely can counter a lot of physical Pokemons with this move.

Seismic Toss is also useful in Chansey's set because it allows Chansey to make damages. Indeed, seismic toss damages are only based on the Pokemon level, which means that it guarantees a constant damages on the opponent Pokémon, regardless its type and if Chansey stats were lowered.

Soft Boiled is essential in this set. That's its HP recovering move that allows Chansey to stall and always have an HP advantage against the opponent Pokémon. It is also useful when Soft Boiled is combinated with Toxic.

Set Details

Maximizing Defense and HP stat with a Bold Nature will always be the main EV's spread for Chansey in 1v1 tier. Its SpD stat is already decent, it just need to increase its Defense stat because a lot of Pokémons in the 1v1 tier are played physical.

Eviolite is also essential for Chansey and this item makes it unique and powerful. Indeed, Chansey has an evolution, which is Blissey. It means that Chansey has access to the Eviolite item, which increases Defense and Special Defense stats of a NFE (non fully evolved) Pokémon. It will allow Chansey to have a better bulk and to mostly handle physical Pokémons.

Other Options

Toxic is the statue move that could substitute Thunder Wave. Indeed, Chansey has access to Soft Boiled, and Toxic will allow it to make a pressure which will be more important on the opponent Pokémon.

Counter is also a great move which can substitute Seismic Toss. It allows Chansey to OHKO a lot of physical Pokémons. Combinated with Toxic, the pressure will be heavy on the opponent Pokémon.

Check and Counters

• Chansey: It unfortunately counters itself. It depends on which set you are playing but Chansey Toxic - Seismic Toss is a combinaison that Chansey itself can't even handle because it hasn't Natural Cure and Heal Bell / Aromatherapi

• Magnezone: Magnezone Charged Beam is played in the 1v1 tier and can totally counter Chansey that uses Counter instead of Seismic Toss. Indeed, Counter only works on physical attacks, which means that it will not affect Magnezone. Thunder Wave & Toxic aren't affected it aswell, who makes a dangerous counter to Chansey.

• Gengar: Gengar isn't played really often in 1v1 high ladder, but that's the real Chansey counter. Even if Gengar will not make a lot of damages against Chansey, Chansey couldn't even touch it with Seismic Toss. Toxic is not affecting Gengar because of its Poison Type and it has a strong offensive special movepool, with access to Focus Blast for example.

• Substitute Users: Sub Pokémons such as Mega Salamence could be a counter to Chansey, at least if they are well played with Substitute they could be very dangerous because statue move and Charm aren't affecting a substitute Pokémon. Chansey will have to break the sub with Seismic Toss or Counter (which is worst) to handle the Pokémon. Salamence has access to boost attack move: Dragon Dance, which makes it really dangerous if it is not affected by Charm.

• Perish Song Meloetta: Trick Room Meloetta is a counter to Chansey. Indeed, placing Trick Room at the last turn of the Perish Song will allow Meloetta to be the last to die on the field. Chansey couldn't make enough pressure to defeat Meloetta in 3 turns.

• FEAR and lvl 1: Chansey has a recover move, but it needs to use it on its own turn, which allows lvl 1 and FEAR pokemons to handle Chansey.

In conclusion, Chansey is a real stall monster in the 1v1 tier. It definitely deserves the S rank because it can counter at least more than the half of the actual Pokémons in S rank viability ranking. There are different ways to play it even if the build stays the same. It is a decent special wall and it has some counters who aren't that often present on the high ladder.

 

[DoW]

Chansey was one of the first rankings to be done http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/1v1-viability-ranking.3536109/#post-6173944
However, all the rankings here pretty much agree outside of a few other options such as sing.