Fire Water Grass

FWG Hype!!

If anyone has ever spoken to me for an extended period of time ( Unlucky ) about Mons you'll know how much I adore a good old Fire Water Grass core in my competitive teams. I may even become infatuated by a colourful FWG core one of these days. For those who have no idea what I'm on about, an FWG core is a team that revolves around the synergy created using a Fire type a Water type and a Grass type. Given how VGC15 is an open format, there are way more options to keep in mind if going this route. Another popular core which I happen to despise is FSD also branded as 'Fantasy' for whatever reason. This includes a Steel, Fairy and Dragon to create a core. I'll go through the Typings more in depth and some of my favourite Pokemon to use when building in this manner.  Other cores also exist but for ease of writing i'll stick to the most popular, I will mention other cores or 'Type triangles' at the end however.

Now its a little hard for me to discuss why FWG is so effective when I naturally end up with it in 90% of the teams I make but I'll try my best. FWG is the first core introduced almost subliminally to players through the starter Pokemon. Charmander beats Bulbasaur but loses to Squirtle whereas Bulbasaur can beat Squirtle etc. (Think of it as Rock Paper Scissors.) Naturally you'd attempt to get all 3 of those types into a team, competitive or in-game as soon as possible since the 3 types together can resist and super effect a large amount of the type chart as a whole.

A little bit on Fantasy before I move on, It works in the exact same way as FWG with an example being Hydreigon Metagross and Clefable. All these Pokemon can switch perfectly into each others weaknesses which is a fairly important part of playing VGC. 

When going with one of these cores its important to not just throw 3 pokemon of these types together as some wont work with each other, Heatran Tentacruel and Amoonguss for example will get destroyed by a Landorus. I typically like to stick to a basic formula of: Fire = Offensive, Water = Mixed and Grass = Defensive.  An example of this would be Entei Gyarados and Amoonguss. All can switch into each other with relative ease and Gyarados can support with Thunder wave or even mega evolve and lay on offensive pressure from the get go.  You can mix and match these roles however you see fit but try to have 1 of each role across the 3. 

A FWG core I am using now consists of Heatran(Mixed) Swampert (defensive) and Breloom (offensive)

With this Heatran can use its great staying power to constantly pressure the opponents team with Swampert providing Wide guard support along with Earth power to KO other Heatrans, Breloom backs up the core with spores and high powered attacks. Naturally this core has problems with some Pokemon, but 3 other Pokemon can be used to combat this issue.

A lot of people like to build a team around a Mega Pokemon but personally this is how all my teams are built. An fwg backed up with an appropriate mega. Just a bit of a personal finding, I find most FWG's benefit from a fast electric type and/or a Strong Ground type. This is likely why double 'Genie' is paired with fwg unknowingly. A common bog standard Fwg team could look like this: Kangaskhan, Thundurus, Landorus, Suicune, Amoonguss, Heatran. Not saying that's a particularly good team, ( maximum offence if this happens to be your team ;] ) but its a solid example of what fwg can look like. Other examples can include Charizard Venusaur Washtom and Venusaur Blaziken Suicune. 

PS: if you cant fit in an appropriate grass type, don't be afraid to leave it out since grass is the weakest type of the 3 :]

I wont go into Fantasy much as its options are far less varied than fwg but I'll mention that it is easily possible to merge both Fantasy and fwg into a single team through being crafty. An example includes Charizard X  Azumarill and Ferrothorn.

Just a disclaimer, I'm not saying a team NEEDS fwg or some sort of core to be successful, I just find it much easier to build a team with such a solid starting point. Don't be discouraged if  you lack a Rock Paper Scissors core, you may be able to thrive without needing one at all, infact quite a few teams that can be warranted successful lack a completed RSP core and instead use differing mons natural synergy through abilitys or general nobness ; See Whimsicott Gengar-M or Raichu Azumarill. I promised to leave another RSP core before the end ( didn't look this up at all ) but Fighting Dark Psychic is one with a few options and 3 fast Rock slide users can also be used to much success. 

Flinches in VGC

Flinching in VGC

Flinches. They always seem to happen at the worst, or best of times. In VGC, moves such as the omnipresent Rock Slide are used over their singles counterpart Stone Edge for a variety of reasons, such as the spread damage to hit both targets at once, a much higher accuracy and, of course, the 30% flinch chance. Flinches have become a staple of the VGC metagame, as almost every team will include at least one move which has a chance to flinch the opponent. Within this article, I will be assessing what I think are some of the most threatening moves and users of potential flinches.

Fake Out: A Summary

While playing singles, the use of the move Fake Out is somewhat uncommon, used primarily to break a Focus Sash on frailer Pokemon. However, in VGC, the move becomes a lot more common and a whole lot more versatile. Within this article, the primary uses of the move will be discussed, along with several common strategies and which, in my opinion, are the best current users of the move.

Fake Out. A move which, when first looked at, can seem somewhat useless and redundant. A move with an appalling 40 base power, a measly 10 PP and can only be used on the first full turn the user is on the field. So, why would anyone use this move? For starters, this is the only move in the game with a guaranteed 100% flinch chance, and with a +3 priority you can get the jump on many usually faster Pokemon.

Kangaskhan

Kangaskhan (Always seen as Mega Kangaskhan) is the most common user of Fake Out in the VGC’15 metagame, as it is actually the most used Pokemon overall. With well rounded stats, a base 100 speed after Mega Evolving, and, with access to Parental Bond, a base 60 STAB Fake Out, it’s not hard to see why this monolithic giant is used so often.
Whilst Kangaskhan is almost always Mega Evolved the turn it is sent out, it is worth noting that most have the ability Scrappy when Non-Mega, so can actually Fake Out Ghost Type Pokemon.

Sample Set:

Kangaskhan (F) @ Kangaskhanite

Ability: Scrappy

EVs: 212 HP / 108 Atk / 60 Def / 20 SpD / 108 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Double-Edge

- Low Kick

- Sucker Punch

- Fake Out

Whilst most people choose to opt for the more VGC’14 style 252/252 Jolly sets, many players have developed more complex, bulky Kangaskhan spreads. Seen here is Level 51’s Kangaskhan spread which he used to win the Singapore Asia Cup Qualifier. This spread survives Modest Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor 100% of the time, Adamant Mega Kangaskhan’s Low Kick 100% of the time, and can outspeed neutral natured max speed base 80s by 2 points, so it can also outspeed things like Milotic and Mega Gyarados by 1 point.

The debate between Return and Double-Edge has gone on for some time now, and frankly, in my opinion, Double-Edge is by far the superior option. Kangaskhan should usually be preserved for the late game, where you want to be dishing out at much damage as humanly possible, and Double-Edge provides that. Sucker Punch gives priority, which is needed in a slower, bulkier set and Low Kick is chosen over Power Up Punch, because it gives Kangaskhan the power to hit targets like Hydreigon and other Kangaskhans right off the bat.

Liepard / Raichu

These two I have grouped together because they perform an extremely similar role on most teams, when regarding Fake Out pressure. Both have high speeds (Base 110 for Raichu and Base 106 for Liepard) which means they can fire off their Fake Outs before that of Mega Kangaskhan. A popular tactic for making a safe play in front of an incoming Fake Out is to Protect both of your Pokemon, thus easing prediction and making sure you don’t take excessive damage. However, using Protect in front of either of these two is an extremely bad idea. Both will almost certainly be carrying the move Encore, and with Raichu’s very high speed stat and Liepard’s access to the Prankster ability, this can cause a Pokemon to be locked into Protect, which is an extremely unfavourable position to be in.

Sample Set(s):

Raichu @ Focus Sash

Ability: Lightning Rod

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Fake Out

- Encore

- Volt Switch

- Protect

Liepard @ Focus Sash

Ability: Prankster

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Fake Out

- Encore

- Swagger

- Foul Play

Both of these sets are very similar, and are there to disrupt the opponent, rather than deal any real damage. Raichu has Volt Switch to take it out of an unfavourable position and allow it to fire off another Fake Out, which can be crucial later in the game. Liepard, however, can have access to Thunder Wave, Swagger, Snarl and Taunt as usable moves in the last two slots, and can be used to further disrupt any opposing Pokemon.
Take note, however, that Liepard paired alongside a Mega Gengar can form an extremely troublesome duo, as Encore/Disable paired with Shadow Tag from Mega Gengar can effectively nullify a lot of teams from the start.

Hitmontop

Ah Hitmontop. This is where my personal opinions, I am afraid, must come through. This little spinning top has been on many of my teams right from the start of VGC’15, and for good reason. With a respectable base 70 speed, Intimidate as an ability and access to moves such as Fake Out, Wide Guard, Quick Guard, Helping Hand and Feint, it’s hard to see why many teams don’t run him more often. The main problems for him, however, are many faster Fake Out users to stop Hitmontop from even firing off from the start, his appalling base 50 HP, and the ever present Burn status. However, when used correctly, Hitmontop can be a real asset to the team, providing decent offensive capabilities while maintaining the ability to protect the team from many different positions.

Sample Set:

Hitmontop (M) @ Sitrus Berry Ability: Intimidate EVs: 252 HP / 28 Atk / 84 Def / 140 SpD / 4 Spe Careful Nature - Close Combat - Fake Out - Feint - Wide Guard

This is the set that I currently run on my own Hitmontop, and have done since the start of VGC'15. Close Combat and Fake Out are essential to allow Hitmontop to support from turn 1, while also maintaining a decent offensive presence on the field. For the last two moveslots, I chose Feint and Wide Guard. Wide Guard can protect the team from spread move spam which is unbelievably common in VGC, while Feint is an unorthodox choice (and one which I have been questioned about constantly). I use Feint to punish players who Protect turn 1 to avoid a possible Fake Out. It allows me to gain momentum which would otherwise have been lost. A note on Feint, it has a +2 priority, which allows me to avoid potential sucker punches coming my way, and allows me to safely pick up the KO on sash users. It does, however, require a fair amount of prediction, and so Quick Guard is quite possibly the safer choice, due to the presence of Thundurus-I.

Rock Slide: A Summary

Ah, Rock Slide. A move so annoyingly useful it can warrant a spot on nearly anything that can learn it. Sometimes. A move that hits both Pokemon, 90% accuracy rate, and a 30% flinch chance on each individual Pokemon. This move alone is the reason for many disconnects on the Battle Spot, or people simply shouting at you on Showdown. When factoring in the accuracy of Rock Slide, going onto a double target, there is a high chance that at least one of the Pokemon will flinch. This can cause some serious annoyance in battles, which leads to nearly every team having a way to counter the most common Rock Slide users out there.

Landorus-T

This Pokemon is currently sitting at #2 usage on the Battle Spot, and it’s really not hard to see why. With decent overall bulk of 89/90/90, a wonderful typing in Ground/Flying, and access to the ability Intimidate, Landorus-T seems like a decent bulky attacker. But then someone decided it would be a great (see: Horrendous) idea to give it a Choice Scarf. With a base 91 speed, and 145 attack, this absolute monster can rip through underprepared teams like there’s no tomorrow. With access to Earthquake, Rock Slide, Superpower, U-Turn and Knock Off, there isn't much this flying tiger of death can’t do. Especially with the Hidden Power nerf going into Gen VI, it can even survive HP Ice from certain threats. It does, however, have one fairly large weakness. Milotic. Given Milotic’s ability, Competitive, and Landorus-T’s popularity, it’s only natural that Milotic’s usage has skyrocketed recently, and can deal huge chunks of damage to even the more defensive, Assault Vest Variants.

Sample Set:

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 68 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- Superpower

- U-turn

This is the Landorus-T set I have used in the past, and it’s fairly decent. It has a little more bulk than the standard 252/252 spread, and with the Choice Scarf it outspeeds base 130s by 1 point, hitting a speed stat of 201. This allows it to fire off powerful Earthquakes before other Pokemon can have the chance to attack, or simply fish for flinches with Rock Slide. This isn't an extremely complex spread, and Landorus-T itself doesn't perform a complex role, but that isn't to say it’s not good at what it does. It’s by far and away one of the best Pokemon in VGC’15 and is something all teams need to prepare for.

Terrakion

Terrakion is one of the biggest threats of VGC’15, being able to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan and Charizard-Y, two of the biggest Mega Evolutions of VGC’15. With a base 108 speed, good overall bulk in 91/90/90, an incredible base 129 attack and the ability to fire off STAB boosted Rock Slides, Terrakion is a threat every team needs to prepare for. While 3 of its moves are an easy pick: Rock Slide, Close Combat and Protect, the 4th is always contested. The most common option at the moment is Double Kick but many of us here disagree with that choice, and feel Substitute is the superior pick, as it gives Terrakion that extra survivability as the pressure he evokes can force switches. Stone edge can also be used to remove bulky Thundurus from the field and also evade wide guarders.

Sample Set:

Terrakion @ Lum Berry

Ability: Justified

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Rock Slide

- Close Combat

- Substitute

- Protect

Nothing fancy here, it’s not needed. Hit hard, hit fast, net the KOs you need to, and play for some flinches along the way. A Terrakion behind a sub is scary, as it turns anything that OHKOs it into a 2HKO, and it can usually OHKO back, while simultaneously stopping status and intimidate drops. Some attack can be moved into HP to survive certain attacks and seems to be picking up steam as it did in VGC2013.

Inner Focus and Steadfast

There are two abilities where drawing in a potential Fake Out can be incredibly useful, potentially game changing. Inner Focus purely nullifies the flinch chance, meaning anything targeted onto that Pokemon will not flinch it. The best two examples of this are Crobat, and Mega Gallade, each having merits in their own right. Crobat is a wonderful example of a fast, somewhat frail support Pokemon, and with Inner Focus its job is made infinitely easier. It means that, with a base 130 speed, it's almost guaranteed to get Tailwind up, allowing the rest of a team to clean up. It can also decimate bulky Pokemon with Super Fang, halving their effective lifespan.

Mega Gallade, on the other hand, is much more offensively geared. Inner Focus means it doesn't have to worry about Mega Kangaskhan's Fake Outs, and can just go straight for a Close Combat to pick up the KO. Before Gallade Mega Evolves, it can also have the ability Steadfast. This means that even if it does bait a Fake Out onto the Non-Mega variant, as soon as it does in fact flinch, it gets a +1 boost to its speed stat, potentially allowing it to outspeed and KO whatever made it flinch.

Honourable Mentions

Firstly, Togekiss. With access to Serene Grace and Air Slash, it has a combined percentage to flinch a single Pokemon of 57%. Furthermore, with paralysis spread, that can be further increased, so the opposing Pokemon only has a 32% chance of actually making its attack. This can become extremely infuriating if you are on the receiving end of it. However, with its new Fairy typing and the ever present Rock Slide, Togekiss has a harder role than before, however, this can still be achieved nevertheless with the correct support.

Iron Head / Icicle Crash also have a 30% chance to flinch a target, but since they only target single Pokemon, the effect does not happen as often as Rock Slide. As such, there aren't many Pokemon who can abuse these. Mamoswine is perhaps the greatest at abusing Icicle Crash, since most variants are scarfed. Mega Metagross can abuse Iron Head due to its base 110 speed, and it can also flinch through Zen Headbutt, though that is lower at 20%. A cheeky thing to abuse is a supporting Gyarados with Thunder wave and Waterfall which can lead to frustration on the opposing side.

Conclusion

Flinching is a part of the game, and minimizing your risk to flinches can actually help your team achieve more in the long run. It can even make seemingly impossible games winnable, but can also cause you to get so annoyed you feel like quitting the game altogether. At the end of the day you can have 6 rock resists. but Rock slide will still flinch you... What a lovely move :]

Redirection in VGC

Redirection in VGC

For those making the transition from singles into the VGC format, one of the main differences you will find in a huge percentage of teams, is the inclusion of a pokemon whose primary function is to redirect attacks, either through Rage Powder or Follow Me. Throughout this article, I'll discuss which move is the better option, followed by examples of the most common pokemon used in the redirector role.

Usually when mentioning redirection, the first player that will immediately come to mind is Sejun Park. Renounded for making Top 8 in Worlds 2013 with a Follow Me Magmar, he even managed to top that in 2014, becoming World Champion using a Follow Me Pachirisu + Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados. This player alone represents an advert for how strong redirection is in the VGC format.

Rage Powder Vs Follow Me:

Let's start off by looking at the differences between the two options. Both moves have +2 priority and 20PP, so the only difference between the two, is that the effects of Rage Powder can be nullified through grass types, a Pokemon holding Safety Goggles, or a Pokemon with the "Overcoat" ability, whilst Follow Me bypasses all 3 of these options.
Therefore, Follow Me is clearly the superior option, however, this doesn't mean that Rage Powder should be ignored, as it is still a fantastic move in its own right.

So without further ado, let's look at the most common users of both moves, with a couple of niche choices thrown in too.

Follow Me:

Togekiss

Togekiss is probably the most common user of Follow Me. This can be attributed to it's superior bulk in comparison to other options, sporting base stats of 85/50/95/120/115/80, it has a fantastic mixture of bulk, whilst still posing as an offensive threat, a rare mix in redirectors.

Sample Set-

Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Bold Nature - 236hp/196def/4SpAtk/12SpDef/60spd
-Protect
-Follow Me
- Air Slash
-Moonblast/Thunder Wave/Tailwind

The following spread was used by Fatum in the earlier half of the season to success in a number of Premier Challenges across Germany, and R Inanimate during the 2013 season. EV's provide optimal recovery from Sitrus Berry after dealing with Super Fang, whilst outspeeding Choice Scarf Landorus in Tailwind.
Togekiss has a few tricks up it's sleeve that separates it from its rival. Noticeably, the first is Tailwind. This gives it a further supporting role outside of redirection, adding even more defensive value to a team as a supporting mon. Secondly, the combination of Serene Grace and Air Slash is a rare combination, similar to Swagger, which can provide a player with a win condition, in what would otherwise seem to be an unwinnable position, with a 60% chance to flinch the opponent. More support options include extra variety in speed control, with Thunder Wave, and some interesting niche sets, such as a Choice Scarf set, briefly popularised by Baz Anderson, with the moves After You, Follow Me, Air Slash and Dazzling Gleam. The setbacks however, are glaring weaknesses to some of the most common offensive types in the current metagame.

Clefable

For the players that can't afford to add an extra Ice or Rock weakness into their team, but want a somewhat similar role to Togekiss, the next port of call has to be Clefable. With base stats of 95/70/73/85/90/60, this Pokemon certainly isn't bad. Couple this with a typing that only makes it weak to 2 somewhat uncommon attacking types and you have the perfect fit for a Follow Me User.

Sample Set -

Clefable @ Sitrus Berry/Safety Goggles
Bold  - 252hp/156def/28SpAtk/68SpDef/4spd
-Protect
-Follow Me
-Ice Beam
-Helping Hand/Icy Wind/Moonblast/Moonlight

The above spread is the spread recommended by the Nugget Bridge Damage Calculator, and through investigating it's use against some of the stalwarts of VGC, it's clear to see why this is a popular choice, surviving some of the strongest common hits in the game, whilst still leaving enough special attack in reserve to maintain some sort of offensive presence. The pick of the calculations are shown below.

252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Clefable: 160-190 (79.2 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

252+ SpA Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 68 SpD Clefable: 152-182 (75.2 - 90%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

252 SpA Gengar Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 68 SpD Clefable: 156-186 (77.2 - 92%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

28 SpA Clefable Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Landorus: 160-192 (96.9 - 116.3%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

Clefable's biggest weakness is to the most common Steel and Poison types. There isn't a lot it can do in return to pokemon such as Heatran and Venusaur, both will have an easy time despatching of it. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as a lot of the time, redirecting one steel or poison move away from your partner allowing Clefable to faint can be enough to win the match.

Clefairy:

Lets briefly touch on Clefairy. On the surface, it looks ridiculous to consider Clefairy when Clefable is a perfectly good option, but there is one significant difference which means Clefairy is almost an equally legitimate decision as Clefable is... Friend Guard. This ability reduces the damage done to allies by 25%, which could prove significant through the course of a battle, particularly for instances such as allowing your Mega Kangaskhan to survive an opposition's Low Kick with ease, whilst often being able to OHKO in return. Here, there is no real reason to run any different moves to the standard Clefable set, except perhaps Icy Wind over Ice Beam, due to a lack of power, however, the main sacrifice is that clefairy is basically forced to hold an eviolite in order to make it somewhat bulky. There are downsides to using Clefairy, however, the fact that this Pokemon has already had a respectable number of high placements in Regionals is enough to prove that this option should not be overlooked.

Honourable Mentions:

A couple of honourable mentions for Follow Me users include Pachirisu, who has the unique niche of being the only legal electric type to carry Follow Me, giving it only one weakness, also making it the only Pokemon capable of redirecting Thunder Waves from the ever-present Thundurus with ease. One final mention goes to Lucario, occasionally seen in VGC 2014 when fewer options were available, who has the niche of being the only Steel type which can legally use Follow Me, providing it with a number of resistances which could be just what some specific teams require.  Both very usable mons in their own right, but often more suited to restricted formats.

Rage Powder:

Amoonguss


Amoonguss holds the title of being the most used pokemon for redirection as it stands. At the time of writing, Amoonguss stands at #10 in the overall usage rankings, proving that it doesn't necessarily matter that Follow Me is technically is a stronger move, as long as the Pokemon itself is still good enough to hold its own in the format. Amoonguss was lucky enough to be blessed with 2 of the greatest moves in the history of Pokemon, Rage Powder and Spore, the only move with a 100% chance to guarantee a Pokemon will asleep. Pair this with incredible bulk, solid typing, and one of the best abilities in the game (Regenerator), and it's no surprise that you end up with a simply excellent pokemon, which has remained around the top 10 in usage since it was let loose to wreak havoc in VGC in 2011.

Sample Set - 

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Sassy/Calm - 252hp/172def/84SpDef
-Protect
-Rage Powder
-Spore
-Giga Drain

A very standard set here, but it simply doesn't matter, Amoonguss is so good that it still has an impact despite the fact that virtually every VGC player will be aware of this set. This set can survive unboosted Heat Waves and Zen Headbutts from the likes of Heatran and Metagross, whilst also having a chance to survive even stronger attacks  such as Talonflame's Brave Bird. Further advantages to using Amoonguss are its ability to dominate in and out of Trick Room, and it can also have versatility in item choice. Rocky Helmet will be the main item of choice, but is equally useful holding a Sitrus or Coba Berry, or a more interesting choice, the Custap Berry, which at the right moent, can devastate teams with a  priority Spore in a Best of 1 match setting.
Volcarona

Tangela

Tangela is a very similar choice to Amoonguss, similar to the way that Clefairy can be chosen over Clefable. It is forced to run an eviolite, but this makes it bulkier than Amoonguss at the expense of an item slot, while keeping the regenerator ability, and a slightly less reliable status move in Sleep Powder. It's difficult to overlook Amoonguss for Rage Powder usage, but Tangela is definitely an option.

Honourable Mentions:

There are some honourable mentions that are extremely uncommon in VGC, but deserve a mention due to niche options or unexpected Nationals performances.

Firstly, there's Vivillon, which exploded onto the scene from almost nowhere when Nemanja Sandic (Porengan) shocked everyone by not only Top cutting 2014 Germany Nationals with it, but further progressing in the tournament, finishing in 4th place, where Rage Powder was again used to support a Mega Gyarados. Vivillon also has access to Compundeyes and Sleep Powder which can give a similar function to Amoonguss. All in all, Vivillon has it's shortcomings, but should never be overlooked on team preview.

Jumpluff is very similar to Vivillon, in that it is less bulky than it's counterparts, but makes up for it with speed, being able to put threats to sleep before they can move. Also like Vivillon, almost always requires a focus sash to be effective.

Finally there's Parasect, the only real reason to use this over Amoonguss is that outside of Smeargle, it is the only pokemon that has access to redirection and wide guard in the same moveset. With the abundance of Landorus and Sylveon, who often rely on Earthquake and Hyper Voice, redirection and wide guard on the same pokemon seems appealing, but there would have to be a really good reason to require both of these moves when Amoonguss remains an option.

Conclusion

Hopefully this demonstrates just how crucial it can be to have one of these pokemon on your team. While they are not essential, they definitely provide a great way to start your team building, supported by the fact that Amoonguss and Pachirisu were crucial members of the World Championship winning teams of 2013 and 2014 respectively. Thanks for reading!

Mega Evolution Tiers ORAS

Mega evolution Tiers

Now don't kill me for this as this is gonna be 100% opinion based and I know how heated some people can be when their precious Mega Absol isn't S+ rank, but note that this is just for fun and reflects what I think of the Mega Evolutions in the VGC 15 format.  

S Rank
  

These in my opinion are the best mega's to use in terms of stats ability's and general effectiveness. All 3 have their weaknesses and can be built around rather easily. I won't get into them an awful much as I'll likely have articles on all 3 at some point.

A Rank
   

Quite a populated tier as this is filled with Mega evolutions I think have just as much presence on the field as the big S rank ones. They just require a lot more support and have more exploitable weaknesses to be used as consistently. Definitely still massive threats in their own way and shouldn't be ignored. Note: That is Mega Latias in case of confusion. 

B Rank

Big tier of Mega's here that have less freedom than those in higher ranks but still have a strong niche or presence that sets them apart from C and below mega's. All of these Pokemon I could see being used at some point in the format very successfully.

 

 C Rank

This is where the majority of Mega evolutions sit at. All very strong Pokemon in their own right. But when compared in a competitive setting these Pokemon fall short ever so slightly, Now don't get me wrong, all these Pokemon are perfectly usable and may have a strong niche but just aren't strong enough in my opinion to be used without heavy support or in some sort of gimmick. Could be worse, they could be in D rank...     ( Pidgeot is god I <3 u rlly)

D Rank

Mega Rayquaza is in here as it's about as usable as Absol. That is not at all. Just avoid this mon If you can help yourself. I guess you could out speed and Ice beam some things with it or do some magic bounce cheese but honestly, its paper thin bulk puts it in the lowest of the low of tiers... Or is it?

Steelix Tier

Home of everyone's favourite Mega Pokemon Steelix who I can ( as to no surprise) not find the Sprite   for. My least favourite and the least viable Mega Pokemon available. IN MY OPINION ( Don't kill me)

To finish off this horridly biased post I would like to say that I don't think that many Pokemon are truly 'Bad'. It's just some are better than others. That's literally it, don't feel discouraged to try out any of the mega's on the tiering list  and If I missed some then I either forgot about them or slapped them in the D tier which is kinda the same thing is it not :]

Final reminder that this is 100% OPINION BASED. Thanks for reading and not spamming my twitter with hate in advance. 

Blaziken

Blaziken

Right, so I've a lot to talk about with Blaziken as a Pokemon both as itself and as a mega evolution so lets start where we always do and talk about the bare basics of the Pokemon itself.

Blaziken was introduced way back in Generation 3 as the evolved form of Torchic and is the first of many Fire/Fighting types. Fire/Fighting as a typing is a two pronged sword, on one hand its terrible defensively resisting little to nothing but offensively its fantastic completely slaughtering steel types. Upon release this Pokemon only had the ability Blaze which is standard for starter Pokemon. In generation 5 with the introduction of dream ability's Blaziken was gifted with Speed Boost which raises it's speed by 1 stage at the end of each turn. Obviously this is much much better than Blaze and was abused immediately sending it flying to the Ubers tier in the Smogon ruleset. But no one cares about that do they? Lets look at its impact in doubles and the VGC15 metagame specifically.

Hp 80- Att 120- Def 70- Spa 110 -Spdf 70- Spe 80  

Blaziken didn't gain very much from the Gen V to VI transistion except the nerfing of its special attacks. But Matt! Its special attack is far inferior to its actual attack! Yep but it's attack is incredibly liable to be dropped by intimidate and it doesn't have a third move outside of Brave bird if you wanna roll that way. It's defences are way too low! I can't use it because it can't take a hit! Yep, It's defences are pretty poor but who cares? This thing moves way to quickly after a turn or 2 and can deal serious damage to the Pokemon threatening it. Blaziken is the definition of a  'Gotta go fast' glass cannon, almost akin to Greninja. The best way to run Blaziken in my opinion would be a mixed set with a Naive/Hasty with the moves:

Superpower Overheat Hidden Power Ice and Protect and with Life orb as the item.

For convenience sake I'll be a babe and leave a handy importable for PS complete with Ev's and move set for you all to try out and I'll talk about what the Ev's do as well so don't stress.

Blaziken @ Life Orb

Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 32 Atk / 24 Def / 196 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Superpower
- Overheat
- Protect

252 speed is used to maximise speed at all times, 196 spa is used to OHKO Aegislash and non AV Landorus-T with HP ice, 32 att is required to always KO Mega Kangaskhan with superpower and the rest of the Ev's are dumped into Hp and Def to reduce sucker punch damage ever so slightly.  Superpower is used over Low kick for consistent damage on neutral targets and also because Low kick falls short on the KO on Kangaskhan which isn't acceptable.
36 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 213-252 (100.4 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

High Jump kick can also be used but the risk of missing is something that I'd rather avoid and hopefully everyone reading this will agree. I personally find Blaziken to go very nicely with Kangakshan as it removes bulky steel types from the picture and aids the Kanga mirror immensely, it can also be used to remove Terrakion and other fast fighting types. Although I found the best use of it is being paired with Mega Venusaur as part of a Fire/Water/Grass core as it removes a bunch of Venusaur's main threats. Just be careful around Talonflame and paralysis as it will ruin Blaziken and have fun with this incredibly underrated Pokemon.



BUT!

Blaziken also has another option available to it and that happens to be the coveted Mega Stone, ( Mega Blaziken also referred to as Balziken by myself and friends ) 
has quite the BST increase but keeps Speed boost which is rather disappointing. 

It's stats are as follows: HP 80 - Att 160 - Def -80 - Spa 130 - Spdf 80 - Spe 100 

On paper its just a slightly better regular Blaziken and that holds true in practice. It does have a rather strong niche in being able to outspeed common scarfers like Landorus after 1 turn compared to regular needed 2 turns and destroying them with strong super effective attacks. The problem I have with it is that it isn't enough of an improvement over regular with the regular out damaging with a Life orb even after the boosts. Not to say I haven't personally been run into the ground by one of these monsters as with the correct support it can easily carry the trainer using it to easy wins. One massive plus point to using the Mega to me is actually freeing up the LO as an item for something else to abuse, as I myself find myself wanting the LO on loads of Pokemon.  It also looks really damn cool. While I wouldn't rate the mega as highly as regular, I 100% feel that this might be a Pokemon to watch out for later on in the metagame and could even be a strong call as Nationals rolls around. We'll have to wait and see won't we? I'll leave you with the rating and a funny 420 Blaziken since I'm immature and find it funny :p  

Rating ( Regular ) 8/10

Rating ( Mega ) 7.5/10 

Steelix Mega

Mega Steelix
So here we are with the second mega I'm going to take a look at and honestly it's one of my least favourites. Design wise I dislike it but its not the worst looking Pokemon out there and more importantly it's stat layout and ability as a mega evolution leave quite a bit to be desired. I'm going to try and look at it in a bright light since it's only fair. Lets 'attempt' to look at this massive metal snake thing.

Guess I should start by comparing it to its base form as a lot of mega's are. Regular old Steelix was introduced back in Generation 2 as an evolution to Onix. It's ability's are pretty standard for a Steel/Rock/Ground type in Sturdy and Rock head. It also gets Sheer force as its HA which is probably the best ability Steelix can abuse. Naturally it's defence is sky high resting at an impressive 200 but that's about it for our friend Steelix. Its full stats are as follows: 75/85/200/55/65/30. It's attack is incredibly low for something that looks like it could rip right through buildings and it's disappointing HP and Spdf leave it Petrified of anything remotely specially based. This doesn't mean Steelix is a bad Pokemon however, in fact far from it. Back in the olden days of VGC13 a Steelix was used to grab 10th place at US nationals. I'll leave a link to the report since it probably details regular Steelix a lot better than I am haha. http://nuggetbridge.com/reports/fullmetal-steelix-10th-place-us-nationals-report/

Now onto the main event, Mega Steelix himself.  He rides into the action with new and improved base stats, He now rocks the following: 75/125/230/55/95/30. It's defence is now almost Shuckle level and its spdf is much more usable, It's attack is far from awful as well, although for a mega evolution it's a bit low. Honestly looking at it's base stats in this form it looks like what Steelix should of been when it was introduced. What really kills this mega evolution for me is the removal of Sheer Force for Sand force, which gives a damage increase in sand. The problem with this? You're forced to run a sand stream Pokemon to take full effect of the ability, this means Hippowdon or Tyranitar, both of which share weaknesses, with Hippo having less overall but lower stats than Ttar. It's also slow as balls which means Trick room is likely on the cards and if you've played VGC15 at all you'll know T-room is much harder to set up than previous years although still doable. There's also a calculation I'd like to share: 

-1 252+ Atk Mega Steelix Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 116-140 (70.7 - 85.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Steelix Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 156-187 (95.1 - 114%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

Yikes, Regular outpowers with a Life Orb which is not an appealing trait for a mega.Now before you wonder, Yes I have indeed tried out Steelix-M and my experience was that the Hippowdon I paired it with ended up doing much more damage to the other team which was a shame. I had hoped to completely destroy everything to prove myself wrong but it just wasn't happening. The move set I ran was: Heavy slam Earthquake, Ice fang and Protect. Pretty standard but I really didn't know how to improve from there. I used heavy slam over Gyro ball simply because it had more PP and with Pressure being everywhere I felt it necessary. Steelix will still struggle against special attackers even with the boost in stats, so don't believe it's gonna take any rain boosted hydro pumps, at most it can take a scald from a Suicune and hit something back. It lacks good partners since the instant you add a sand setter you'll share weaknesses and struggle to suppress them although it could definitely be done by someone with more time on their hands than myself since I just threw a boring FWG core in with it and a Crobat haha.With all the obvious downsides to this Pokemon  it's hard to say go out and give it a try yourself, Unless your a master of getting up Trick room and want to flinch everything with Rock Slide when under it I'd say avoid this thing.
 PS: When Steelix-M wins worlds I'll take back everything I said like the hypocrite I am :]

Rating: 2/10

Psyshock vs Psychic

Psyshock vs Psychic

Since Psyshock was introduced back in Generation 5, the move Psychic has fallen in usage drastically. But is Psyshock the better move? Lets have a look at both moves a bit more closely. 

Lets start with the original move Psychic shall we? 

Psychic was introduced in Generation 1 as the strongest Psychic type move available, which was a big deal at the time given psychics dominance over the other types as steel and dark were not yet implemented. Psychic has a base power of 95 (90 as of Gen 6) and has a 10% chance to lower the targets special defence by one stage. Pretty standard fare compared to Psyshocks interesting mechanics.

Psyshock was introduced in Generation 5 and was favoured over Psychic for its unique ability (not counting Secret sword) to hit targets on their defence stat and not their special defense. This would allow, say, Latios to break through Pokemon like Blissey and nowadays Assault Vest wearing Pokemon. Sounds like a sweet deal, although the drawback is a base power of 80 instead of 90.

Looking at the VGC15 metagame, and more specifically the top 12 most used Pokemon according to the PGL  doubles ladder, we can run calculations to see which is the better choice if you choose to use a psychic type Pokemon such as latios/latias/cresselia. 

I'll start by showing calcs on all 12 of the Pokemon listed as the most used so brace yourself. I'll be using a Life Orb Latios as the attacking Pokemon in these calcs.

Mega Kangaskhan:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 101-121 (55.8 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 90-107 (49.7 - 59.1%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO

Landorus-T:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 44 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-T: 121-144 (71.1 - 84.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 99-117 (58.2 - 68.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Sylveon:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Sylveon: 79-95 (39.1 - 47%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 126-149 (62.3 - 73.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Talonflame:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Talonflame: 134-160 (87 - 103.8%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 118-140 (76.6 - 90.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Bisharp: Yeah I'm not calcing this.

Gengar: This neither.

Charizard-Y: 

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 12 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 87-105 (47 - 56.7%) -- 85.9% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 109-130 (58.9 - 70.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Thundurus-I:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Thundurus: 113-134 (60.7 - 72%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 156+ Def Thundurus: 87-105 (46.7 - 56.4%) -- 81.3% chance to 2HKO

Terrakion:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 218-260 (130.5 - 155.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 198-234 (118.5 - 140.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I'll do this one without a LO as well since its pretty important.

252 SpA Latios Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Terrakion: 152-180 (91 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Latios Psychic vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 168-200 (100.5 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Amoonguss:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 236+ Def Amoonguss: 164-195 (74.2 - 88.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Amoonguss: 242-283 (109.5 - 128%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Rotom-W:

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 148+ SpD Rotom-W: 75-91 (47.7 - 57.9%) -- 94.9% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Rotom-W: 82-97 (52.2 - 61.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Heatran: Not really relevant so I'll do a common AV user instead.

Conkeldurr: 

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 252 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Conkeldurr: 187-221 (88.2 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Conkeldurr: 187-221 (88.2 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

So the majority of the most used Pokemon are hit harder, most notably Amoonguss, Terrakion, Landorus and Kangaskhan. A few of these Pokemon have equal defensive stats and that's where the base power of Psychic triumphs over Psyshocks. The AV Conkeldurr calc is interesting as both attacks do the same damage, so the 'I hit AV users harder' argument kinda flies out the window on this particular occasion. 

Honestly I prefer Psychic since hitting a bunch of Pokemon just a little bit harder can make all the difference. Sure Pokemon like Sylveon will become much harder to deal with using Psychic, but I'll happily make that trade off if it means I can 2hko/Ohko seven Pokemon instead of 2hko'ing one. Another point I'd like to make is that in a format infested with powerful Physical attackers, Pokemon are more likely to invest in the defense stat, making psychic a much more viable option in my opinion.

Long story short. USE PSYCHIC