VGC VGC 2017 Toxic Swamps

[colorfulcrow]

This is my first attempt at creating my team for the 2017 VGC scene, and would like some feedback. My focus was to make a very versatile team to play on unpredictability. Some of my choices may seem a bit odd but hear me out on my decision making in each and let me know what you guys think.

The Team

Toxapex @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252Def/252HP/4spDEF
- Baneful Bunker​

- Toxic Spikes
- Recover
- Scald
​

What is there to say, this thing is a monster. The massive defensive stats combined with the Poison/Water typing make this thing a menace and a huge problem for the opponent to deal with. I chose to run Black Sludge and regenerator to mak it that much moe of problem to teams without a deinite answer. As for the move Baneful Bunker to act as protect and punish phisical attackers that decide to bump heads with this dome of spikes. Toxic Spikes to punish switch ins a and provide some much needed pressure. Recover for getting back into the action faster than switching out and finally scald to counter pesky taunts and provide coverage for fire which my teams seems to lack.

Salazzle @ Air Balloon
Ability: Corrosion
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252Speed/252spATK/4HP
- Toxic
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Taunt​

Salazzle is a bit of a wildcard here. I thought it would complement my toxapex nicely to lead. I chose to run Air Balloon to prevent a first turn earthquake from knocking her out and combat its frail stature. Toxic to apply pressure to the and make the opponoent make a move faster than they normally would. I chose Sludge Bomb over Wave as I felt wave might end up poisoning my Toxapex and that would be very counter productive. Taunt to combat the pesky minimize game and Flamethrower for the nice STAB.​

Komala @ Assault Vest
Ability: Comatose
Nature: Careful
EVs: 252ATK/252spDEF/4HP
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Return
- Sucker Punch
​

Komala is an odd story, I chose him over all the other sweepers because of his utility he offers. the immunity to Poison in this metagame proves to be very beneficial plus he is an amazing spinner and a great choice to switch in against Salazzle and Toxapex teams. Earthquake will make Salazzle cry and do some serious damage to Toxapex, but it will also throw off the playstyle of those to threats forcing them to switch out or try and break through this things bulky defenses. Return was an easy choice and sucker punch is to deal with those pesky ghost types.

Whimsicott @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252Speed/252DEF/4HP
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Moon Blast
- Taunt
​

Although not a conventional choice I thought Whimsicott would do well on the team with its utility and access to prankster. Being able to prankster taunt I feel will be so strong this metagame with the foreseeable abundance of instruct QuiverDance combos going on. Also with access to a reliable subseed build I think will push it even further. Its STAB MoonBlast and speed that rivals most pokemon at 116 will be able to easily 1-2HKO the likes of Jangmm-o and Drampa.

Tapu koko @ Zap Plate
Ability: Electric surge
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 252Speed/252ATK/4spATK
- Wild Charge
- Volt Switch
- Brave Bird
- Roost
​

This was a hard slot to fill, I felt I needed a fast physical sweeper but also something that could deal with water types effciently, As I needed a reliable counter to Tapu Fini. I tried several pokemon to fit thisara but none of them quite fit, until now that is. Tapu Koko I feel will be really important to the meta, and especially in VGC, he is a very stronge physical sweeper that doesnt fall prey to the likes of flying and phychic types. his ability Electric Surge honestly wont be very metadefining as I dont see a vey big problem with Void Smeargle anymore as he can no longer sketch Darkai's signiture move. However the boost to electric moves wil be very helpful along side zap plate, this thing can OHKO A LOT of pokemon, even with neutral hits.

Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252Speed/252spATK/4HP
- Pollen Puff
- Quiver Dance
- Baton Pass
- Moon Blast

This is the spot I am most unsure of, Ribombee is a great pokemon in its speed and access to Pollen Puff. I love having Pollen Puff on the team, a free 50% HP to one of my sweepers is great, but at what cost? this thing is OHKO to most neutrals with its insanely poor defense stats. This is where Sash comes in, with its speed I am guaranteed at least 2 moves to go off, is no priority is used on it that is. It is also very versatile in regards to its move set. I can use it to double heal a teammate to 100%, as a very effective sweeper to problem mons that have a bug weakness or even quiver baton pass. no matter what I do i cant seems to think of anything to put in place of this, as its versatility trumps 1 trick pony pokemon IMO.

Conclusion

If you have any suggestions feel free to drop 'em below I am open to hear your thought and if you think you know a set tha would go better with any mons I would love to hear them. I have done a little bit og testing with this so far and am liking how it feels, I am still not 100% on Ribombee but it can honesty catch the opponent off guard
​

 

[nadando]

Hey there friend.

I'm just going to tackle this head on: your team has a lot of unorthodox choice in terms of sets and Pokemon, and although this is not necessarily always a bad thing, in this case it is. It seems your team lacks overall organization and synergy, and many of your movesets are sub optimal. For example, none of your Pokemon are running Protect, a crucial move for most Pokemon in VGC. Furthermore, entry hazards (i.e. Toxic Spikes) are virtually never used because of VGC's fast paced nature. Along the same lines, Rapid Spin is a poor choice because entry hazards aren't very viable.

My advice to you would be this: scrap the team and start over with a better idea of what Pokemon or strategy you want to build around. Simply put, your team lacks synergy and thus is not likely to be very successful.

Don't get discouraged though! There are many fine resources available to you. Recently, Arron Zheng (aka CybertronProductions) posted a great video on teambuilding for VGC 2017, which I would highly recommend you check out. You can find that video by clicking here. Furthermore, if you ever need some quick advice or have a simple question to ask, I am certain there are plenty of people in Showdown's VGC room who would be more than willing to help you out.

Good luck!