Talonflame

My ramblings:

Out of all of the new Pokémon that have emerged from this latest generation, Talonflame has been the one that I've both been most excited for, and had the least success with. Of course, to look at, one might not think all that much of this majestic creature, thinking no more than 'it's the in-game flier and egg hatcher', but the secret, like many of the current Pokémon that are prevalent in the X/Y metagame, is in it's ability: Gale Wings.

Having this ability has been paramount for the seeming success, and certainly, the popularity in the competitive environment, allowing it to easily attack before attacked, as well as having some interesting options for team support in moves such as Tailwind, Will-O-Wisp, and indeed Roost. What I've found fascinating to see thus far is the way that this Pokémon in particular has been played, with many people opting to use Brave Bird over all other moves simply because it's free damage. Certainly I think the pressure that can be placed on a team by having the ability to use such a powerful priority move, but I think it's not something to be taken lightly.

The problems that I feel Talonflame faces are actually numerous, so for ease of presentation, I'll list them below:

Low attacking stats:

Quite a common theme in this metagame has been the advent of several very potent Physical attackers such as Mega Mawile, Kangaskhan, Garchomp, Azumarill to name a few means not only that it faces stiff competition for a team slot from a purely offensive perspective, but the popularity of intimidate to cope with these threats turns even super effective attacks into 2HKOs, rather than the OHKOs that these other Pokémon can achieve. For example:

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Scrafty: 144-170 (83.7 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

We see here that after Intimidate, Scrafty is never OHKOed by Choice Band Brave Bird from Adamant Talonflame. The main issue with this is that while many Pokémon are threatened by it, it's not unreasonable to EV to survive even the strongest versions of its attacks.

Low Defensive stats:
You might have got to this point, only to start thinking.. 'Sure, I have to play around Intimidate, but as long as I'm getting KOs, why do I care about its bulk???'. And a good question to ask indeed. The example given above of Scrafty really highlights the fact that once somebody has EVed to account for Talonflame, regardless of whether the Brave Bird or Flare Blitz is Super Effective or not, Talonflame becomes open to easily being KOed back, even by the Pokémon that it's targetting. Assisted by the recoil damage associated with it's offensive options, as well as potentially some 'chip damage' from a Life Orb, almost any neutral attack will result in the KO, and sometimes, even a resisted attack. Playing as such can give you an advantage in momentum shift, but does anybody really want to let a Pokémon faint to gain momentum as a consistent tactic? I would hope not!

Lack of consistent damaging moves:
When you look at Talonflames offensive movepool, while it offers moves that some Pokémon would give their left fin for, it leaves Talonflame in a rather sticky situation. It has no moves, other than U-turn, that do damage without recoil that it can use effectively (I know what you're thinking, Acrobatics doesn't count until gems exist!), and even then, to do damage you're forced to switch out. When you look at the early and mid game scenarios that are likely to occur, this isn't so much of an issue, but unlike most Pokémon, Talonflame can fail more than most in the end game due to this lack of consistent damage. A dangerous place to be in any competitive environment, as being able to lock down a win is solely the most important thing in the game.

That all being said, it's typing is fantastic, with its only weaknesses being Water, Rock and Electric, and being resistant to 6 very prominent types, and, of course, immunity to ground, and with that I think it's lack of bulk can easily be offset. It's STAB is incredible, with it's meager offensive capabilities made bearable by the powerful moves it has access to, and the offensive and defensive momentum that it can maintain due to U-turn.

The Sets:

Talonflame @ Choice Band

Gale Wings

Adamant

IVs: 31 / 31 / 31 / 30 / 30 / 31

4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

- Brave Bird

- Flare Blitz

- U-turn

- Tailwind / Me First

Choice Band gives the ability to start dishing out some serious damage. The first three moves are the standard moves that any fully offensive Talonflame should run in my humble opinion. The last option is a little more tricky to call, but these are the reasons for these suggestions. Tailwind in a pinch can offer some solid team support either early game to feign a non-Choice Band set, or to allow you to outspeed and KO your opponents Pokémon either mid or late game to close down a battle. The more interesting move that I have looked into is Me First. This is really a very situational move, and not without it's dangers, but it allows the use of an opponent's move before they use it. This can provide you with the consistent damaging moves that it would like, but take care when using it, a simple prediction could be the end of Talonflame. IVs are set to give Hidden Power Ground in the event of  copying a Mega Manectric Hidden Power.

Talonflame @ Life Orb

Gale Wings

Adamant

4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

- Brave Bird

- Flare Blitz

- U-turn / Tailwind

- Protect / Substitute / Tailwind

Really very similar to the previous set, this set takes advantage of the ability to both change moves and protect itself. Again, due to the offensive nature of this set, I've opted for a 'this is the job, do it the best you can' approach with the EVs. Substitute is something I wouldn't actually recommend on this set due to the large amount of recoil, but as a move it's too good not to consider.

Talonflame @ Life Orb

Gale Wings

Adamant

68 HP / 252 Atk / 188 Spd

- Brave Bird

- Flare Blitz / U-turn

- Will-O-Wisp

- Protect / Tailwind / Quick Guard

This set trades some speed for the ability to switch in and out a little bit more comfortably, as well as being able to outspeed Garchomp and burn it, effectively removing it as a threat for the rest of the battle. Quick Guard is a fantastic support move, allowing the easy dispatch of other Talonflame, as well as a safeguard from the Prankster users that annoy it with Thunder Wave, and Fake Out-ers.

Talonflame @ Charti Berry

Gale Wings

Jolly

252 HP / 92 Atk / 92 Def / 4 Sp.Def / 68 Spd

- Brave Bird (Really!?)

- Will-O-Wisp

- Quick Guard

- Tailwind

A somewhat unconventional set that I believe has some merit in the current metagame. This set takes advantage of not only the opponent thinking that you're likely going to have an offensive focus, but also capitalises on the fantastic support movepool available to it. The main focus is to either allow your team the set up opportunities previously not available due to Fake Out or Prankster priority, but also to be able to quickly neuter physical attackers that could otherwise threaten your team. The EVs allow it to survive a 252 Atk invested Adamant Rhyperior Stone Edge after Intimidate, and outspeed Garchomp.

- Kyriakou

Wolfe's thoughts

Creative Set

Talonflame @ Lum Berry/Persim Berry

Gale Wings

Brave

31/31/31/x/31/22

Ev's Pending

- Brave Bird/Acrobatics

-Flare Blitz

- Protect

-Roost/Tailwind/WoW/Quck Guard

I have not had a lot of experience using Talonflame and I feel Kyriakou did a fantastic job summarizing how it works so I wont add on, but there is one set that I would like to talk about that is not mentioned above. I had the idea of running Talonflame partnered with Meowstic, but with an unconventional set. The trick is that Talonflame is Brave 22 Speed IV holding a Lum Berry to prevent Swagger, while Meowstic outspeeds and is able to Priority Swagger before Priority Brave Bird occurs, activating an unpredictable +2 Brave Bird from Talonflame. 22 Speed IV's are used in order to allow Talonflame to outspeed and OHKO other bulky support Meowstic, provided Talonflame's partner invests in speed. Obviously Brave Bird forms the primary offense with this set, though Acrobatics is another option that can be used if one is confident that the berry can be activated consistently before attacking. Flare Blitz and Protect are standard, and the last slot can be used to support a team or Talonflame best depending on what support is needed.

-Wolfe

Bisharp

Bisharp: Analysis

Bisharp is a Pokemon that has a unique niche in VGC 14. Due to the highly physical nature of the current Metagame, Pokemon with intimidate are widely used, and most teams have some way of lowering opposing physical attacker's stats. This is generally done through Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, Reflect, or some combination of those. However, Bisharp's usual ability, Defiant, changes any -1 Attack drop into an immediate +1 Attack boost, or any other -1 stat drop into a +2 Attack boost. For this reason, teams that have multiple physical attackers are able to utilize Bisharp in order to protect their partner Pokemon from nasty Attack drops stemming from Intimidate. Defiant isn't the only advantage to using Bisharp: XY's boost to Quick Guard, and wider distribution, allows Bisharp to effectively stop Meowstic, and other Pokemon that abuse priority, from affecting your team. Bisharp has great offensive typing, made better by the new Fairy type, and Priority in the form of Sucker Punch. These contribute to an impressive offensive presence. Low defenses, however, cause Bisharp users to be wary when switching it in, or even taking neutral attacks. 
I experimented with Bisharp for about thirty battles on Battle Spot, and though I was generally impressed with what I saw, I eventually ended up replacing it. Bisharp is an enormous help in dealing damage; however, its low defenses and poor defensive typing limit its use when attempting to claim victory through prediction. Because of the fact that Bisharp was often unable to survive two unboosted neutral attacks, or even resisted attacks from a strong Pokemon, I found that it was more of a hindrance trying to ensure Bisharp's survival than a help.
Despite my personal experience with Bisharp feeling rather lackluster, I feel the Pokemon has enormous potential. With the right team support (Bisharp is often paired with Amoongus), Bisharp is capable of tearing holes in opposing defenses, especially when combined with smart offensive playing and pressure. Bisharp could benefit from the use of Wide Guard, Light Screen, and status moves such as Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Swagger, and Spore to ensure it remains on the field longer. Prankster Meowstic with Swagger and Lum Bisharp is also an option, which would allow a +2 Attack Sucker Punch to catch opponents off guard. I am sure that Bisharp will make its way far during the VGC 14 season with the correct support.

The sets:

 

Bisharp (F) @ Focus Sash

Trait: Defiant

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Sucker Punch

- Iron Head

- Night Slash

- Protect

 This is the most standard Bisharp set and should function as a default for anyone looking to experiment with Bisharp. The Ev's are placed in Speed and Attack in order to ensure the most damage as possible, because Focus Sash ensures Bisharp will stick around for more than one attack barring passive damage. Sucker Punch is utlized because of the powerful priority it provides, which forces foes to play defensively around it and can finish off weakened Pokemon as well as take advantage of Choice locked Pokemon who are forced to attack. Iron Head is Bisharp's secondary coverage move and is especially strong given that Fairy type Pokemon are now weak to Steel. Night Slash is the preferred option when facing an opponent who would prefer to play around Sucker Punch with Status category moves, and does not force Bisharp to rely on prediction to use one of its STAB's. Lastly, Protect is essential to this set by making Bisharp a little more resilient and because Protect is a staple in general and especially on frail Pokemon.

Smeargle

Smeargle: Analysis

I have close to 300 battles logged on Battle Spot, and for about 60 of them I experimented with a Lum Berry Smeargle with a set of Dark Void, Quick Guard, Kings Shield, and Transform. I ran Moody because I found that a good Moody boost could win me a game. At first, I was extremely impressed with how Smeargle performed. It was able to immediately disable slower opponents with Dark Void and give me an enormous advantage. Furthermore, its versatility with Kings Shield caught a majority of the physical metagame off guard as, fearing the possibility of scarf or sash, they attempted to remove Smeargle as quickly as possible. I also found Quick Guard to be useful when dealing with the extremely prevalent Prankster Swagger, which my team struggled with. Lastly was Transform, a move I used after my opponents were asleep, when my opponent had a threat to his own team on the field, or I wanted some insurance on one of my Pokemon. Transform was a phenomenal move, and I wish to experiment more with it in the future. As more time passed, however, I found myself struggling the most in the games I brought Smeargle, and after analyzing the problems, I believe I have found the cause. Smeargle is, in a word, inconsistent. The main source of its inconsistency lies within Dark Void. For me, Dark Void was the main draw of using Smeargle, and was the only move I was sure I wanted on the set initially. However, Dark Void’s 80 percent accuracy lent itself to missing the targets I wanted to hit, or both targets entirely, so often that I considered changing to spore. Additionally, Sleep itself as a status condition is extremely unreliable. Even in a best case scenario where Dark Void hit both Pokemon, Smeargle immediately became dead weight as transforming so early was generally impractical for fear of a 1 turn sleep or a switch, and Smeargle's other moves provided no field presence. Because of this, I was essentially limited to one attack a turn, and a single one turn sleep could ruin my plans entirely. I lacked damage output with only one Pokemon capable of attacking per turn, which essentially made me an easy candidate for “bad luck”. Lastly, is the random elements I chose myself to enter into the equation by invoking Moody as my choice of ability. While I found Moody to be useful more often than not, there were games where it interfered in an otherwise certain victory, and for this reason I would not recommend it. Lum Berry was a useful item, though Mental Herb, Choice Scarf, Focus Sash, and Safety Goggles are all other options that should be considered. Assault Vest is not recommended. Smeargle is an extremely versatile Pokemon who has enormous potential; however, my experiences with it lead me to advise against strategies that require more random elements than are necessary.

-Wolfe

EV Spread and Moves:

  Smeargle (M) @ Lum Berry

Trait: Moody

EVs: 196 HP / 84 Def / 228 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Dark Void

- Quick Guard

- Transform

- Kings Shield

Other Options: Any Move that benefits a specific team.

The given EV spread was chosen in order to allow Smeargle to survive a -1 Adamant, maximum invested, Talonflame Brave Bird, with Life Orb. I found that because of Smeargle's mediocre defenses it was more beneficial to commit to a single defensive stat rather than spread investment across both sides of the spectrum. With Kings Shield it made more sense to invest in the physical side because of the likelihood of opponents attacks being weakened. 

The Other Side of Competitive Pokémon - Darkrai/Garbodor List

After having spent several years on the video game, I wanted to have some offline Pokemon competition after Worlds too. In Europe, we are still lacking a system with Regionals in the video game; the TCG, however, implemented those years ago. As we saw a lot of people playing the trading card game at worlds, Massi, Toasdt, and myself decided that we wanted to give it at least a try, and bought some cards in Vancouver, played with lent decks, and enjoyed it a lot.

Back in Germany, we modified our decks, and attended some tournaments. The deck list I want to share with you is a very basic Darkrai/Garbodor deck, and probably not very interesting to those of you who are already very familiar with the trading card game. I still wanted to post it, since I had a lot of fun playing with it, and because it is probably one of my better lists.

Pokémon – 10

3 Darkrai EX

3 Sableye DEX

2 Trubbish LTR

2 Garbodor LTR

Trainers – 41

4 Professor Juniper

4 N

2 Skyla

2 Random Receiver

3 Dark Patch

3 Ultra Ball

3 Hypnotoxic Laser

3 Float Stone

3 Crushing Hammer

2 Dark Claw

2 Pokémon Catcher

2 Enhanced Hammer

1 Tool Scrapper

1 Super Rod

1 Switch

1 Max Potion

1 Energy Search

1 Computer Search

2 Virbank City Gym

Energy – 9

9 Darkness Energy

My general approach to this deck was to focus a lot on Sableye. The format played in the City Championship I used this deck in, was best of one Swiss with 30 minutes + 3 extra turns. I felt like I could afford to play a pretty slow version because of this format. I spent a lot of my time Junk Hunting for Hammers and other Item cards, while draining out the opponent. It is key to limit their resources while keep track of that, as you need to know when to stop Junk Hunting and to bring out your powered Darkrai from the bench.

I ran 3 Darkrai EX and 3 Sableye for consistency. 3 is the perfect number for both of them in my opionion, as you won’t have all three of one card prized, and therefore have decent chances to start with either of them. Sableye is of course the preferred starter, but with the turn 1 attacking rule change, it is not as necessary to get it out immediately when starting. Darkrai is, of course, a very strong attacker, while Sableye provides a lot of support.

A 2-2 line of Garbodor is standard, and also going for consistency as it is the thinnest line you can afford.

3 Crushing Hammer, 2 Enhanced Hammer

I decided to go with Hammertime because I haven’t tried it before, and contrary to the video game in which I detest the 50/50 flips Swagger gives, I liked how, as a weaker TCG player, I could use my luck to create good positions against stronger players. 2 Enhanced Hammer plus Sableye gives a very decent Plasma matchup, while the 3 Crushing Hammer help a ton against basically everything, if you are lucky with the flips.

Crushing Hammer is especially good in the Virizion/Genesect matchup as it might help to delay the first Emerald Slash, which will give a huge advantage.

Computer Search

I decided to go with Comp. Search as my ACE-Spec card as it provides the most consistency over cards like Gold Potion. Dowsing Machine is also a consistency card, but in testing I found myself in situations in which I needed to get the first Enhanced Hammer to stop my opponent from setting up, while also playing another supporter instead of Skyla. Being able to Junk Hunt for Comp. Search multiple times is just such a good way to always get the cards you need. Gold Potion is key in the matchup versus straight Darkrai, but I added in a single copy of Max Potion to regain health. It is of course not nearly as strong versus straight Darkrai as Gold Potion is, but I just liked Computer Search so much that I stuck with it.

3 Float Stone

In the post Catcher change era, it is no longer necessary to run 4 copies of this card. Since Garbodor blocks the effect of Dark Cloak, it is still a good card in this deck, though, as it helps getting off a T2 Night Spear, as well as adding the feature of being able to promote the Pokémon Float Stone is attached to. This gives more time to wait for another Dark Patch, or stuff like that. I had a lot of times when I attached Dark Claw to my Garbodor though, as that is not nearly as bad of a play due to the Catcher nerf as it would have been some months ago.

2 Pokémon Catcher

Due to its nerf, people say that this card should no longer be in this deck, and some of my opponents looked at me quite strangely after I played it. However, in testing I found that Catcher was still a very strong card to get the match going, and it helped me get a crucial turn when I took 4 prizes against a Genesect/Virizion deck. Solely for the look of my opponent when I played catcher and flipped heads, it was definitely worth to give this card a showing. People have stopped even thinking of the possibility of Catcher, so they did not care about the damage on their bench Pokémon at all, as long as a Night Spear snipe couldn’t KO them. With Lasers, Dark Claw, and the ability to play a destroying Catcher at the right time, I had the math on my side, and could plan my games with more information than my opponent.

All in all, I had a lot of fun at my TCG tournaments, and was able to get a Top16 and a Top8 finish! Since there is no good league close to me, my TCG adventure will come to a break for the moment. I had good conversations with some of Germany’s top players and encouraged some of them to test the video game too, which they promised me they would.

In case you haven't, you should definitely try the Pokémon TCG too, as it is very easy to learn and has some nice possible strategies. Creating a deck list and testing is a lot of fun, and was a great alternation to the video game for me!

- Markus

On the Subject of Luck

Today, we had a discussion on a German Pokemon board about how strongly luck affects the outcome of a game, generally. One guy said how he got haxxed on the WiFi ladder multiple times, and he basically just raged about the game and the great impact of luck.

Of course this topic has been dealt with multiple times in the past,  and people will have to deal with it lots of times in the future, but I wanted to share my basic thoughts and what I told him.

First of all, everybody has accepted that luck plays a factor in this game as early as he or she has started playing pokemon competitively, so there shouldn’t be any huge rage about this topic in the first place. However, the best players have learned to minimize the impacts of luck or to get the effects of luck in their favor, as can be easily seen by having a three-time world-champion in Ray Rizzo, something that couldn’t be achieved if Pokemon was just a luck-based game. This example has been overused though, and I really wanted to add some new content to it, so I thought about how to put it in simple words. I came up with one single goal that is of extreme importance: You need to outdamage your opponent.

This can be achieved by several ideas: Having attacks hit for super effective damage is generally a good way to ensure that your opponent’s Pokemon will take a lot from your attacks. While this seems to be trivial, it is always a good thing to keep in mind to have good coverage, as even the highest attack stat does not help when the base power of a move is very low.

Another concept is to outspeed your opponent. This helps to achieve the main goal- outdamaging them. Going first will have several advantages. For example, you cannot get flinched by Rock Slide or Waterfall, nor can a critical hit nullify your move for that turn. Even if you end up getting critted, you got your move off.

Being faster also puts pressure on the opponent if you are threatening with super effective attacks, as one wants to keep the opponent's damage to as little as possible. This will result in safety moves, like switching or protecting, that one can punish with the right prediction.

To come back to the initial topic, which was about the great number of crits the guy faced, it has to be noted that there might have been a different amount of attacking moves coming off. For example, if you switch a lot, this might also mean that your opponent will get off more attacking moves than you. However, a not very effective critical hit is generally inferior to a super effective hit.

Therefore, keep in mind that solely “outplaying” is not enough in Pokemon, as you need to “outdamage” your opponent in the first place. 10 turns in which you read what your opponent will do and switch cleverly may be inferior to one single turn in which heavy damage is dealt!

- Markus

On this subject in particular I also want to give my thoughts. Luck has always been extremely difficult to understand in Pokemon. Despite being extremely present, there is consistency among players in winning, as well as in losing. Certain players I have encountered simply build teams that always seem to lose to unprecedented amounts of “bad luck”, while other players never encounter nearly the same quantity or quality. As Markus already mentioned, I would like to elaborate on outspeeding and outdamaging opponents.

I have extensive practice playing with a team style known as “Perish Trap”, in which a Pokemon uses Perish Song while a partner with Shadow Tag is on the field, preventing the opposing team from subbing out of Perish Song until the counter hits 0. In theory, Perish Trap seems like the perfect strategy: it never has to worry about offensive pressure, it can kill any and every Pokemon or team with good playing, and it has multiple tricks up its sleeve that can catch opponents off guard. However, Perish Trap suffers from a fatal flaw. While extremely successful in theory, and mostly in practice, Perish Trap is an example of a team that is extremely weak to bad luck. Perish Trap never uses any moves offensively, and relies on clever prediction, switching, and team synergy to beat opponents. However, because a Perish Trap team rarely attacks, it is guaranteed to receive more attacks than it dishes out. It makes no sense for an opponent facing a Perish Trap team to do anything other than attack with their strongest Pokemon twice a turn, because if they do not they are guaranteed to lose. Because a Perish Trap team ensures that it will take much more hits than it deals out, it finds itself weakest to Critical Hits, crucial freezes, flinches, long sleeps, etc, all because in forming a team that has a rock solid defensive base, cracks appear in the areas that cannot be accounted for with playing.

Another experience I feel would be beneficial to the discussion is my result with the 2013 Worlds team I used last year. The team, consisting of Registeel/Magmar/Gliscor/Latios/Rotom-Wash/Hippowdon, was extremely defensive in every regard, and had a total of 12 EVs in Attack and Special Attack across the entire team. In theory, it was a team with no bad matchups. Extreme defensive stats and status accounted for every bulky offensive team’s threats, and with recovery and passive damage, it was a force to be reckoned with. However, I encountered the same issue that Perish Trap suffers from, though I was too stubborn to admit it at the time. Without any offensive presence on my team, my opponents were free to attack much more often than I would have liked because there was no serious threat of retaliation. In receiving many more attacks than I returned, my team found itself receiving more “bad luck” than my opponents, yet it was not really luck in the traditional sense as my own poor decision making in choosing to have a team that did not exert offensive pressure was not a random occurrence.

Lastly, I would like to touch upon the aspects of luck that I feel can be controlled regardless of your team. If a player always assumes that he will end up on the receiving end of bad luck, that player can adjust accordingly and generally will come out on top. For example, if your opponent has been asleep for one turn at the hands of your Amoongus and you have the choice between Rage Powdering to be safe or Sporing the partner to gain an even greater advantage (assuming that is what would happen), it is extremely tempting to simply go for the spore and assume that the sleeping Pokemon will remain at rest and not disrupt your plans. The safer move, however, is to assume your opponent will wake up, and by planning accordingly one can minimize the effects of luck further. Taking unnecessary risks is unhelpful in claiming victory, which is the reason we do not see Swagger used more often on Physical Pokemon, except in last resort options.

I have nowhere near a complete understanding of how luck and skill interact within this game, but I feel that we are beginning to at least partially understand more than we did before. As more ideas occur to me, I will of course share them.

-Wolfe

Liepard Gengar

 Analysis

I began experimenting with Liepard Gengar almost immediately after XY came out. My idea was to use Fake Tears, Fake Out, and Encore support from Liepard coupled with Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb from Mega Gengar’s huge Special Attack stat. As I continued testing on Showdown and eventually wifi, it occurred to me that if I used Disable on Mega Gengar, I would be able to Prankster Encore any move and then immediately disable it with Gengar. With this revelation, I expected I would be unbeatable. I got the Pokemon in game and proceeded to battle spot to claim my place at the top. However, in practice I noticed a fundamental error. The combo was extraordinarily weak to offensive Pokemon. And the state of the current Metagame is extremely offensive. I was often forced to rely on my prediction rather than my team, which was the reverse of what I expected to happen. Random scarf Pokemon caught me off guard and lost me games immediately with no chance of recovery. Smart players saw through my tricks and did major damage without me being able to respond. Even struggle from Mega Kangaskhan does a lot of damage. Despite being able to play around sucker punch with Gengar, I grew less and less enthralled in Liepard Gengar and eventually dropped them from my team. I think a large flaw in the theory is that because Liepard is so well known in what it does, specifically in Encore, it forces opponents to not protect or use defensive moves in order to not be rendered useless by Encore. This is precisely the opposite of what Liepard was intended to do, forcing them to play more offensively because it works so well when facing defensive strategies. Furthermore, Shadow Tag actually lessens skill because opponents lose the possibility of switching, whereas without shadow tag an opponent could choose to protect one turn and switch the other, which good playing could punish by not using Encore on the switch turn. The worst part about Liepard Gengar is the fact that usage has become widespread and is no longer an interesting, unpopular strategy. I ran into 3 opponents on Battle Spot in a row with Liepard Gengar and decided it was likely time to retire it. It is absolutely an interesting theory, and I am sure with the right support it could work far better than I was able to utilize, but in terms of combos that are able to break apart a majority of the Metagame, it is just a little too slow and a little too frail.

-Wolfe

EV Spreads and Moves

  Liepard @ Focus Sash/Safety Goggles

 Trait: Prankster

EVs: 132 Def / 124 SDef / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Fake Tears/Charm

- Encore

- Taunt/Snarl

- Fake Out

Other options include but are not limited to: Captivate, Foul Play, Growl, Knock Off, Pursuit, Rain Dance, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Yawn

The given EV's maximize overall bulk and should be a decent starting point for anyone who wishes to experiment with Liepard. Depending on the team Liepard is used on, and the support of the team as a whole, more EV's can be dedicated to surviving one end of the spectrum. More details in the individual analysis.

 

Gengar (F) @ Gengarite

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 60 HP / 20 Def / 220 SAtk / 4 SDef / 204 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Shadow Ball

- Sludge Bomb/Perish Song

- Disable/WoW

- Protect

 Other Options include: Dazzling Gleam, Destiny Bond, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Substitute, Trick Room

The EV's in this scenario provide enough speed to outpace timid Greninja 100 percent of the time after mega-evolving. The spread also outpaces scarf Tyranitar and Abomasnow, which is essential. The defensive EV's are given to survive adamant Talonflame's Life Orb boosted Brave Bird 13/16 times before an intimidate drop. The Spread was also designed to take Adamant Tyranitar Crunch 15/16 times after an intimidate. The remaining EV's were placed into Special Attack. Additional Special Attack can be removed if Talonflame is a primary concern.

An Introduction

Markus and I have decided to begin logging our thoughts on the VGC14 metagame, and as such found that creating an online medium would be most effective; it followed that this blog was born. Eggy Emporium is not intended as another option to Nugget Bridge or any sort of competitive website. We merely found the structure that the Japanese use when sharing their thoughts to be especially interesting, and the idea of having a log of our thoughts as the season developed seemed beneficial. Any information shared here is intended to benefit those who wish to read it; however, please bear in mind that the content posted is only our opinions, and therefore subjective to our individual judgement. We hope to have other contributors who are well known eventually, and we hope to publish content regularly. With that aside, I hope you enjoy your stay at the Eggy Emporium!

-Wolfe and Markus