VGC VGC 2016 Hyper Offense Team.

[mgs4manj]

I've been working on a team for the past week and have had very good success with the team I have finished. I've spent time, dedication, made numerous edits and replacements to my team and have just recently finished. I need some help ironing out any kinks which may be hindering me in the long run.

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Blaziken @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
252 SpA/Spe, 4 Atk. Mild.
- Protect
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- High Jump Kick

I opted for a Mixed Attacking Blaziken which can also Wallbreak many common walls. Protect allows for it to get a speed boost or to take cover against threats which it's partner may be able to take out. Fire Blast lets it Wallbreak through most Aegislash sets regardless of form and all Ferrothorn sets while also getting past the problem of King's Shields' attack decrease and Iron Barbs respectively if I had used Flare Blitz instead. With maximum Special Attack investment, Hidden Power Ice can OHKO Mega Mence and can lure in unsuspecting Lando-Ts. High Jump Kick with 4 Attack is enough to OHKO any Mega Kangaskhan despite the low investment on top of clearing out almost all pokemon weak to Fighting in one hit as well.

Blaziken can knock out many other common threats in VGC as well with it's moveset, including but not limited to: Weavile, Ferrothorn, Terrakion, Smeargle, Gliscor, Mega Maw, Bronzong, along with heavily damaging Mega Rayquaza (provided it does not KO Blaziken first with Extremespeed).

I ended up choosing mostly Special over Physical as well due to the fact that Flare Blitz' recoil tied with Life Orb is nearly unsustainable especially when a fair amount of the meta is physically defensive as well. Mixed Blaziken is even better in that neither Intimidate nor Snarl's Attack/SpA drops, unless combined, can interfere with Blaziken's sweeping abilities.

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Raikou @ Assault Vest
Pressure
252 SpA/Spe, 4 SpD. Timid.
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Snarl

Raikou is the answer to many special attacking pokemon, most notably P-Ogre. Thunderbolt is it's default STAB move for covering Flying/Water-types which may interfere with other pokemon on my team. I generally use Volt Switch along with it as I usually need to pivot out when/if a P-Don appears, and I pivot out to Salamence/Giratina. Extrasensory is for covering Amoonguss or other Poison-type threats to Xerneas on my team. It can be used for covering some Fighting-types as well, but that is not the primary use of Extrasensory on Raikou's moveset. Snarl combined with Assault Vest can let Raikou be a hard-stop to P-Ogre switch-ins which could potentially sweep my whole team if left unchecked, as well as letting it lower the other Pokemon's Special Attack as well.

Raikou is almost always used as a partner with Blaziken, and if a Ground Type mon appears, specifically P-Don, while Raikou is out, I will Volt Switch out and into Salamence/Giratina. Blaziken can cover most Ground types with HP Ice, while Raikou can cover P-Ogre if it switches in to check Blaziken. This explains why Raikou does not have Hidden Power [Ice] in it's loadout.

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Giratina-O @ Griseous Orb
Levitate
252 HP, 236 SpA, 12 Def. Relaxed.
- Hex
- Will-O-Wisp
- Earth Power
- Draco Meteor

This mon has been the one to receive many, many, many changes. I have been deciding between Altered and Origin form almost constantly since the creation of this team but have chose Origin due to better offenses. Hex and Will-O-Wisp synergize well. I would have ran Toxic over Will-O-Wisp, however I wanted the ability to inflict status on Steel types which could threaten Xerneas and cripple the likes of Mega Kangaskhan and other heavy hitting physical types not named P-Don. Earth Power is to give Giratina an offensive advantage against P-Don who cannot be Wisped on top of the defensive advantage it already has. Earth Power 2HKO's most spreads of P-Don. This is where Giratina shines best. With Tailwind Support, Giratina can nail unboosted (no DDance) Mega Mence and Mega Ray with Draco Meteor on top of hitting Mandibuzz and Yveltal (I usually switch or Wisp against the latter, but if need be I can and will Meteor it) who would normally resist and be immune to Hex and Earth Power respectively.

The spread lets it achieve the maximum offensive capability tied with the highest physical Defense. An 8 point difference does not affect Giratina's offenses much, if at all against certain mons like P-Don.

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Smeargle @ Focus Sash
Moody
252 HP/Def, 4 SpD. Impish.
- Follow Me
- Dark Void
- Spiky Shield
- Wide Guard

Smeargle is the support mon of the team. Follow Me, Dark Void, and Wide Guard all serve a purpose in letting the teammate attack or defending it otherwise. Follow Me lets it take moves which only target a single opponent while Wide Guard protects against moves which can hit both Smeargle and it's partner, most often seen with the Primals. Spiky Shield is a defense against Fake Out as not to lose it's Sash.

Smeargle must be wary of Mega Kangaskhan and Feint users. Generally Smeargle is supported by Blaziken or Giratina if the likes appear. I do not run Quick Guard as priority moves are not particularly dangerous to my team barring E-Speed from Mega Ray and Ice Shard from Weavile. Other than that, my team does not need to worry about it.

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Salamence @ Salamencite
Intimidate -> Aerilate
252 HP/SpA, 4 Spe. Modest
- Tailwind
- Protect
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor

My Mega of the team. I do not ordinarily choose one Mega per VGC team but this year is an exception especially with Blaziken on my team, I can play mindgames with those who think I have Mega Blaze. Tailwind lets Mence be tailored towards bulk on top of allowing it to support other teammates tremendously. If it needs, it can Protect before Mega Evolution and when it needs to to avoid being Faked Out and taking Ice Type moves without having to switch out. Hyper Voice is the primary STAB of Mence and it can shred through most mons who aren't Specially Defensive on top of not having to worry about Intimidation. Draco Meteor is used as a last resort only to get rid of threats which may have Wide Guard or those who will not be easily knocked out with Hyper Voice. With Tailwind, it can gain the speed advantage over many other dragons and overpower them with Meteor.

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Xerneas @ Power Herb
Fairy Aura
252 Def/SpA, 4 HP. Bold.
- Geomancy
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Thunder

The same Xerneas set we have all come to know and love. Geoxern. Geomancy is the main move in this set as it boosts it's Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense to ridiculous levels. Moonblast is the primary STAB allowing it to OHKO almost everything that is neutral to Fairy and even some mons which are resistant to Fairy. Focus Blast helps clear out Steel types which may threaten Xerneas, notably Ferrothorn, Lucario, and Bisharp (albeit rare). Thunder is a hard-check to P-Ogre who is very specially bulky and can take Xern's other moves even when boosted.

As for the spread, I chose max Defense along with Bold to maximize the Physical Defense stat while not sacrificing any Special Attack EV's. Bold amplifies the bonus given by the Defense EV's which further allow it to survive physical attacks. It MUST survive the attacks dealt to it for one turn while it uses Geomancy. The only thing Xern must keep watch for is Knock Off, which, surprisingly, has not been seen very much on my part.

 

[nightwolf]

If you're going for a completely offensive team and very offensive EV spreads, you might as well go with offensive natures, Relaxed on Giratina-O is about as useful as going with quiet on a Thundurus. For mixed blaziken you might as well go hasty and spread out points between attack and sp attack. Xerneas should be running timid with that set with a 4 hp 252 sp attack/speed if you're adamant about using just hyper offensive sets.

 

[mgs4manj]

If you're going for a completely offensive team and very offensive EV spreads, you might as well go with offensive natures, Relaxed on Giratina-O is about as useful as going with quiet on a Thundurus. For mixed blaziken you might as well go hasty and spread out points between attack and sp attack. Xerneas should be running timid with that set with a 4 hp 252 sp attack/speed if you're adamant about using just hyper offensive sets.

Alright. I'll change Giratina's nature. I am also going to run Timid Xerneas. I do think outspeeding other Xern's will be a problem.

As for Blaziken, I'm somewhat confused as to why I'd change his spread. All threats that are checked by High Jump Kick are OHKO'd even without any form of investment into Attack other than the 4 EV's, and he needs 252+ in order to knock out a lot of threats with Fire Blast.

 

[RebornFX]

Just some first thoughts, you really are shooting yourself in the foot by not running one of the Primals/a way to remove opposing weather. I would greatly recommend replacing Giratina with Primal Groudon. It does a much better job at dealing with steels that Xerneas dislikes, can deal with slower Primal Groudon, make the team less weak to Kyogre which as you said 'could potentially sweep my whole team if left unchecked' which for a Pokemon that is so popular in the format it doesn't seem like having only 1 solid answer to it makes much sense. If you need Groudon to deal with Mega Ray and Mence you can use HP Ice as its coverage move.

I also question your decision of using Raikou. It seems like other electrics fair much better in the format such as Raichu and Thundurus, the former providing Encore and Fake Out support increasing the likelihood of a sweep (as well as being able to OHKO 252 HP Kyogre with a Zap Plate boosted Volt Tackle) and the latter providing the team with speed control as well as a harder hitting Tbolt and another ground immunity.

As for set changes, currently your Xerneas gets outsped by a large majority of the tier and as you've stated above, running max speed Xerneas is important to outspeed opposing Xerneas as well as max speed base 90s like the Primals. I also disagree with your decision to forgo Protect in order to have coverage moves which really aren't necessary. Focus Blast is a very unreliable option for dealing with Ferrothorn (which would be less of an issue with P Don, and I mention only Ferrothorn since both Lucario and Bisharp are both irrelevant in the tier and get OHKO'd by a +0 Moonblast), since relying on a 70% chance to KO it and not get KO'd yourself isn't something you want to bank on. Thunder really doesn't help up your Kyogre matchup since after a Geomancy Moonblast 2HKOs any Kyogre and can take any attack in return. You also lack Dazzling Gleam which makes Protect mind games much more of an issue for you. So in short I would recommend changing this for the standard 252/252 Timid max speed Xerneas with Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Geomancy and Protect.

The next change is making Mence max speed with a Timid/Naive (depending on a later option) nature. Every opposing mega mence that you see will be max speed for the simple reason that it outspeed Mega Ray and the cost of not running max speed (being guaranteed to be outsped when you could have potentially won a speed tie) is not worth the added bulk/damage. Another great option for mence is Double-edge and most mence nowadays are running it. In practice draco is rarely used and Double-edge simply provides more utility and hits many of the threats that Draco could be used against. If you choose this then you should runa Naive nature over Timid.

You should definitely run max speed Smeargle for a team like this in order to be able to speed tie with opposing Smeargle without needing to rely on a Moody speed boost. The bulk really isn't necessary due to its Sash.

And just some replies to some of your descriptions. First off there isn't going to be any mindgames as to whether or not you are running Mega Blaziken. Regular Blaziken hits harder with a life orb and does not take up your mega slot, so there is no reason to run Mega Blaziken unless you value another mon having a LO over a mega slot, which is rare. You also list Pokemon which are basically never used in the format in your list of common threats, such as Gliscor, Terrakion, Mandibuzz, Bisharp and Lucario.

 

[mgs4manj]

Just some first thoughts, you really are shooting yourself in the foot by not running one of the Primals/a way to remove opposing weather. I would greatly recommend replacing Giratina with Primal Groudon. It does a much better job at dealing with steels that Xerneas dislikes, can deal with slower Primal Groudon, make the team less weak to Kyogre which as you said 'could potentially sweep my whole team if left unchecked' which for a Pokemon that is so popular in the format it doesn't seem like having only 1 solid answer to it makes much sense. If you need Groudon to deal with Mega Ray and Mence you can use HP Ice as its coverage move.

Well, the whole reason I had Giratina on my team in the first place was because it was one of the few counters to P-Don around. Resists or is neutral to almost every move in it's set other than Dragon Pulse, which is not used any how. I could perhaps use Yveltal over Giratina, but I don't see any particular need to remove weather at all. Yes, strong fire type moves are a problem but Smeargle has and does help with them. Wide Guard is a godsend when fighting against P-Don. The only fire-type move not covered is Fire Punch, which usually targets Smeargle anyhow and it's not a problem. I see almost no one base their team entirely around weather and the only mons which utilize it are Groudon and Kyogre themselves. The latter not being a problem because of Thunder. I almost always use Xerneas when I see Ogre.

However, if I am to use a primal, it would be Ogre. I am not concerned with stopping P-Ogre as it is easy enough to counter with Xerneas knowing Thunder and a strong Electric-Type like Raikou. P-Don is the one that I am worried about.

I also question your decision of using Raikou. It seems like other electrics fair much better in the format such as Raichu and Thundurus, the former providing Encore and Fake Out support increasing the likelihood of a sweep (as well as being able to OHKO 252 HP Kyogre with a Zap Plate boosted Volt Tackle) and the latter providing the team with speed control as well as a harder hitting Tbolt and another ground immunity.

I was deciding between Raikou, Thundurus, or Zapdos. I have used Thundurus since it's debut for VGC battles constantly. Prankster Thunder Wave can cripple so many pokemon and it only got better with Mega Pokemon being introduced. I eventually decided Raikou over Thundurus because of it's good speed and better offensive presence which was what I needed with Primal Kyogre. Raichu actually looks like a very good mon to use in VGC with the same utility as Raikou but a better moveset and a good ability. It could even be used as a partner with Kyogre effectively which now makes me reconsider my Yveltal choice for Primal Ogre instead.

As for set changes, currently your Xerneas gets outsped by a large majority of the tier and as you've stated above, running max speed Xerneas is important to outspeed opposing Xerneas as well as max speed base 90s like the Primals. I also disagree with your decision to forgo Protect in order to have coverage moves which really aren't necessary. Focus Blast is a very unreliable option for dealing with Ferrothorn (which would be less of an issue with P Don, and I mention only Ferrothorn since both Lucario and Bisharp are both irrelevant in the tier and get OHKO'd by a +0 Moonblast), since relying on a 70% chance to KO it and not get KO'd yourself isn't something you want to bank on. Thunder really doesn't help up your Kyogre matchup since after a Geomancy Moonblast 2HKOs any Kyogre and can take any attack in return. You also lack Dazzling Gleam which makes Protect mind games much more of an issue for you. So in short I would recommend changing this for the standard 252/252 Timid max speed Xerneas with Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Geomancy and Protect.

I agree with all the above. I should run max Speed Xerneas, as the more I test with bulk, the more I realize it's not needed. I thought the bulk helped Xern survive a lot more things such as Double-Edge from MegaKhan or Mence but even without it it does... decently. I'm more worried about Xern taking a strong attack and being knocked out with Priority. I believe I will run Max Speed Xerneas with some SpA invested into HP instead. I also agree that Focus Blast should be removed, I've had very little versatility with it when I had assumed it would check a fair amount of mons who would otherwise threaten Xerneas. I will remove Focus Blast from my moveset.

The reason I had ran Thunder was so that Xern OHKO'd Kyogre and wasn't completely and utterly helpless against Ho-Oh (yes, it is used, albeit rarely, and it does a fantastic job at countering Xern). I am not seeing it any more especially that I'm rising in the ladder, so I'll assume the ladder does not appear in VGC regularly.

The next change is making Mence max speed with a Timid/Naive (depending on a later option) nature. Every opposing mega mence that you see will be max speed for the simple reason that it outspeed Mega Ray and the cost of not running max speed (being guaranteed to be outsped when you could have potentially won a speed tie) is not worth the added bulk/damage. Another great option for mence is Double-edge and most mence nowadays are running it. In practice draco is rarely used and Double-edge simply provides more utility and hits many of the threats that Draco could be used against. If you choose this then you should runa Naive nature over Timid.

Okay. I agree. I was running Draco Meteor so that I wasn't crippled against other Mences who would switch in on mine. If I had only Flying Type moves, then there's a very good chance I will not win a Mence VS Mence engagement. This is annoying as I am unsure what to do or run other than my moveset that I already have. I feel as though Dragon STAB is needed on Mega Mence, especially as you say that Mega Ray is a primary target for Mence. As for movesets, the only one I can think of is Protect, Tailwind, Draco Meteor, and Double-Edge, which doesn't sound all that great in practive.

You should definitely run max speed Smeargle for a team like this in order to be able to speed tie with opposing Smeargle without needing to rely on a Moody speed boost. The bulk really isn't necessary due to its Sash.

I agree. I will change his spread.

And just some replies to some of your descriptions. First off there isn't going to be any mindgames as to whether or not you are running Mega Blaziken. Regular Blaziken hits harder with a life orb and does not take up your mega slot, so there is no reason to run Mega Blaziken unless you value another mon having a LO over a mega slot, which is rare. You also list Pokemon which are basically never used in the format in your list of common threats, such as Gliscor, Terrakion, Mandibuzz, Bisharp and Lucario.

Alright. I have seen them often in the mid-ladder but they are not appearing any more. Bisharp was a very good Defiant mon until P-Don came around, but people still intend on using him for some reason.

I've listed everything I needed to say in red. I will be making some more changes to my team, so thanks.