Battle Spot - Simple Questions and Answers

Slow M-Kang with Secret Power???
Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 220 HP/ 252 Atk/ 4 Def/ 12 SpD/ 20 Spe
Adamant nature
-Secret Power
-Rock Slide
-Power-up-Punch
-Sucker Punch

Could be more efficient, but I've always used this in the past. Could run no Spe or a lot more-20 is for neutral 70s like Breloom post mega. But even pre mega I wouldn't put it past them to assume they're faster anyways and go for Mach Punch, so no Spe might be best. Instead of putting all the rest in HP, I took out 8 EVs from HP for a point in each defense-that helps bulk on Kang. 8 more SpD so Download P2 gets an Atk boost. Moves are pretty simple, nothing to really explain there.
 
I was just watching VGC 2014 and I realized- why no Landorus (and Thundurus & Heatran)? Though I'm glad at how the teams were quite creative. #Pachirisu
 
They weren't legal. Only Pokemon in the Kalos Pokedex were permitted.
A world without Heatran and Genies was a wonderful world indeed.

For Doubles: is there any reason to run physical bulk beyond 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 Sp. Def on Gothitelle? I don't intend to run TR so things like Speed and Defense might be of actual relevence and the on-site entry doesn't really discuss anything beyond setting TR.
 
Not really. I think it morely depends on if your teammates can reliably pick up the slack for Shadow Tag Goth since it can't punch holes in much for anything. Unless you're hellbent on a certain benchmark of a physical attacker killing off Goth, it should be no problem to have that spread.
 
For Doubles: is there any reason to run physical bulk beyond 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 Sp. Def on Gothitelle? I don't intend to run TR so things like Speed and Defense might be of actual relevence and the on-site entry doesn't really discuss anything beyond setting TR.
I've used that spread on both Perish Trap and more flexible TR teams and never been blindsided by anything. Are you using Sitrus? If so, I wouldn't worry about more Physical bulk, as the thing that has the highest chance to ruin your day is an Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge with a crit. Sitrus drastically reduces the chances of even that pressuring Gothitelle.

For that matter, I think I've also run it with a Chesto-Rest set and been fine.

The only potentially surprising situation you might want to check against is, like, Adamant Landorus U-Turn+a relevant Knock Off in the same turn, since I'm pretty sure that's the spread that was popularized by Aaron Zheng in '14 to avoid being OHKO'd by Hydreigon (a format that lacked Landorus and had fewer Knock Off-users).
 
Not really. I think it morely depends on if your teammates can reliably pick up the slack for Shadow Tag Goth since it can't punch holes in much for anything. Unless you're hellbent on a certain benchmark of a physical attacker killing off Goth, it should be no problem to have that spread.
I've used that spread on both Perish Trap and more flexible TR teams and never been blindsided by anything. Are you using Sitrus? If so, I wouldn't worry about more Physical bulk, as the thing that has the highest chance to ruin your day is an Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge with a crit. Sitrus drastically reduces the chances of even that pressuring Gothitelle.

For that matter, I think I've also run it with a Chesto-Rest set and been fine.

The only potentially surprising situation you might want to check against is, like, Adamant Landorus U-Turn+a relevant Knock Off in the same turn, since I'm pretty sure that's the spread that was popularized by Aaron Zheng in '14 to avoid being OHKO'd by Hydreigon (a format that lacked Landorus and had fewer Knock Off-users).
Why did I not get any notifications of this. Yes, I'm running Sitrus; it was difficult to remove from one of the team mates but Goth has such a fierce need for Sitrus that I can't imagine removing it.
Anyway, I guess it'd be for things like this:

252+ Atk Landorus-T U-turn vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 98-116 (55.3 - 65.5%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
^ That 15.6% is small, I know, and Landog obvious is "forced" out, but considering the Bug weakness and Trapping, imo it's a highly likely mmove choice. I'm trying to look at defensive marks for Landog particularly, and perhaps a few other physical attacks. Offensively I'm running a weird as shit set (or a weird, shit set, depends on opinion) so that I'll have to my own calcs for. Avoiding a full RMT here for multiple, obvious reasons lol.
But so far it's been pretty solid, so I am hesitant to start messing with it too much.
Mostly wondering what physical stuff I should aim at beyond Landog and Khan, without losing too much Specially (Specs Hydra isn't... that important, honestly), or if anyone has seen / heard of an offensive set in a regional or something.
 
Why did I not get any notifications of this. Yes, I'm running Sitrus; it was difficult to remove from one of the team mates but Goth has such a fierce need for Sitrus that I can't imagine removing it.
Anyway, I guess it'd be for things like this:

252+ Atk Landorus-T U-turn vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 98-116 (55.3 - 65.5%) -- 15.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
^ That 15.6% is small, I know, and Landog obvious is "forced" out, but considering the Bug weakness and Trapping, imo it's a highly likely mmove choice. I'm trying to look at defensive marks for Landog particularly, and perhaps a few other physical attacks. Offensively I'm running a weird as shit set (or a weird, shit set, depends on opinion) so that I'll have to my own calcs for. Avoiding a full RMT here for multiple, obvious reasons lol.
But so far it's been pretty solid, so I am hesitant to start messing with it too much.
Mostly wondering what physical stuff I should aim at beyond Landog and Khan, without losing too much Specially (Specs Hydra isn't... that important, honestly), or if anyone has seen / heard of an offensive set in a regional or something.
Beyond those two, maybe worrying about a MegaMence Double Edge or Return from either Mixed or 252 Atk Jolly, maybe non-LO Bisharp, and maybe making Terrakion's Rock Slide a 3HKO if possible after Sitrus. Other than that, most attackers of BSD seem to be special.

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

Has anyone used or seen a good Jap Sand team? It's basically a T-tar, Excadrill, and MegaMence Sand core.

I'm currently using D.Dance Lum tar, Sash Drill, and Mixed Mence. I've been using bulky Sitrus Milotic, and LO Blaziken as 2 of my other solid pieces of the team. I can't decide on the last teammate, because I've switched between Amoonguss, Sylveon, and Ferrothorn, and can't seem to make anything stick. Also thinking about swapping D.Dance for Scarf tar.

Any suggestions?
 
Beyond those two, maybe worrying about a MegaMence Double Edge or Return from either Mixed or 252 Atk Jolly, maybe non-LO Bisharp, and maybe making Terrakion's Rock Slide a 3HKO if possible after Sitrus. Other than that, most attackers of BSD seem to be special.

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

Has anyone used or seen a good Jap Sand team? It's basically a T-tar, Excadrill, and MegaMence Sand core.

I'm currently using D.Dance Lum tar, Sash Drill, and Mixed Mence. I've been using bulky Sitrus Milotic, and LO Blaziken as 2 of my other solid pieces of the team. I can't decide on the last teammate, because I've switched between Amoonguss, Sylveon, and Ferrothorn, and can't seem to make anything stick. Also thinking about swapping D.Dance for Scarf tar.

Any suggestions?
252 Atk Terrakion Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 51-60 (28.8 - 33.8%) -- 39% chance to 4HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 148-175 (83.6 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252+ Atk Bisharp Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 182-216 (102.8 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 152-180 (85.8 - 101.6%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Tyranitar Crunch vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 158-188 (89.2 - 106.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO.
252+ Atk Scrafty Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 146-174 (82.4 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle: 178-210 (100.5 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mega Swampert Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 12 Def Gothitelle in Rain: 129-153 (72.8 - 86.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
That's everything relevent. So basically, do I want to survive TTar's Crunch or nuh. And thanks for the reminder, gimme ~15 mins.

 
Hey battle spot,

I'll be short and sweet: do you guys know of anything that can safely switch-in and deal with Mega-Kangaskhan? And by anything, I really mean anything, no matter how obscure it is. I've looked this up in other websites as well to no avail, but maybe one of you guys here will know something. And if there isn't, how do you guys usually deal with it, then? A couple of days ago I got comebacked from a 3 - 1 situation simply because I had no idea how to deal with it and choked at every move I made.

This is meant for Battle Spot Singles, by the way. Thanks!
 
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Hey battle spot,

I'll be short and sweet: do you guys know of anything that can safely switch-in and deal with Mega-Kangaskhan? And by anything, I really mean anything, no matter how obscure it is. I've looked up this up in other websites as well to no avail, but maybe one of you guys here will know something. And if there isn't, how do you guys usually deal with it, then? A couple of days ago I got comebacked from a 3 - 1 situation simply because I had no idea how to deal with it and choked at every move I made.

This is meant for Battle Spot Singles, by the way. Thanks!
Well it depends what you'd be switching in on. Cofagrigus is a weird one which can do pretty good, 252/ 0 is 3hkod by Adamant EQ. It'll be Wowing anyways, so don't worry about Sucker. Mainly it just has to watch out for Crunch and Rock Slide, but neither are that common, especially the latter(not sure why, but nvm.) Crunch hurts, but Kang loses its broken ability.

Sableye is pretty good against Kang, really doesn't fear much at all if it invests some in phys. bulk. Ferrothorn is good, actually takes Adamant Fire Punch more than half the time from full, and Fire Blast is rare and still misses some.

Cress is an odd match up. Definitely in her favor if it's the standard set for mixed Kang, but Adammant DE is likely to 2hko. Ofc that gives much recoil and Cress can para and then Moonlight cause fastr. So for the most part she's a check, and a great switch in on Fake Out since that gives two hits of Helmet for very little damage to Cress.

Anything faster that can revenge it and live Sucker Punch with w/e it'd be switching in on works, but there are limits. Like Blaziken could ohko with HJK, but if they have a ghost...

I've used it and don't recommend it, but Drifblim uses most Kang as set up fodder and can take even Crunch well enough to pass something good with proper investment. Gengar is generally great against Kang, but be sure to run WoW for that. But even Hypnosis is pretty good, just need more luck.

Skarmory is good, but fears mixed Kang, and PuP with Rock Slide(for the flinch, if Skarm has Iron Defense it can match PuP, but easy enough for Kang to take it down with RS.)

Intimidate mons do fairly well, Lando-T is one. But they all kinda fear paralysis from Secret Power, and in most cases mixed sets.

The most common move on Kang is Sucker Punch, so try to predict that. Facade is a rarity and special attacks lack power on neutral hits, so burns are your friends here. Destiny Bond on a non mega is good, favorable trade for you.
 
Oh, so Ice Punch and Crunch aren't that common? Well, my luck be damned, then; all Kangas I've encountered so far had either one, if not both moves.
>Intimidate it and proceed to set up on it with Defensive Mega Mence: bopped by an Ice Punch to the face.
I guess I'll give Cofagrigus go after all since removing Parental Bond sounds incredible, even if it means taking massive damage from, given my luck, an incoming Crunch. I just had wished for something else since I've already gotten ghost and flying types on my team and I really don't want to stack up any weaknesses that could be exploited. But anyhow, thanks!
 
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Psynergy

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Battle Spot Singles has a lot of insanely strong Pokemon that don't really have many Pokemon that can safely switch in and win 1v1. Mega Kangaskhan is one of those Pokemon, typically teams have a physically bulky mon with Rocky Helmet to at least wear down the crazy physical attackers like Kang/Blaziken/Mence. Stuff like Static Zapdos, Cresselia, Suicune, Ferrothorn, Hippowdon all fit that role well to varying degrees but switching directly into them can be death, especially for stuff like Zapdos that relies more on resistances than raw bulk. Secret Power and special Kang exist to some extent though, so you can't always rely on that unless you can hit it with status moves.

Pokemon like Mega Mawile, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Lopunny typically all win 1v1 but really can't afford to switch in unless you can read your opponent's move very safely (i.e. Sucker Punch), but Mega Kangaskhan is one of those threats that you can't really have a 100% counter to. Though with the nature of 3v3 it's also usually less detrimental to just let your Pokemon go down just so that you can get another Pokemon in safely, unless you know for sure you need it to beat one of your opponent's Pokemon. Sableye and Cofagrigus are generally not great picks and while Rocky Helmet Skarmory does mess with Kangaskhan, it's best suited to stall teams and usually won't be ideal otherwise.
 

cant say

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Hey battle spot,

I'll be short and sweet: do you guys know of anything that can safely switch-in and deal with Mega-Kangaskhan? And by anything, I really mean anything, no matter how obscure it is. I've looked up this up in other websites as well to no avail, but maybe one of you guys here will know something. And if there isn't, how do you guys usually deal with it, then? A couple of days ago I got comebacked from a 3 - 1 situation simply because I had no idea how to deal with it and choked at every move I made.

This is meant for Battle Spot Singles, by the way. Thanks!
If you want a Pokemon that beats literally every form M-Kang then Mega Sableye is the only one. However Sab just doesn't fit on many teams very well. It's mostly limited to defensive / stall archetypes, but since it's absolutely destroyed by Banded Azumarill / Specs Sylveon (the bane of stall most stall teams) it makes it hard to use effectively. Mega Heracross is another threat to stall that also doesn't mind a scrap with Sableye. Sableye also relies on Will-O-Wisp to check physical attackers, which means Fire-types like Swords Dance Blaziken, Talonflame and Charizard X - three very popular sweepers - can all use Sableye as set up fodder. Even Entei can bust through it with Sacred Fire (and can stall Recover with Pressure). You also can't sleep on Facade M-Mence.. You also need to dedicate a mega slot to it, which means you're using that in a defensive role that almost only checks one threat, instead of one of the "catch-all" offensive threats, the good thing is that running dual megas on a team is completely viable. You can use regular Sableye but it's slightly too frail

All that aside, Mega Sableye is only true counter to Mega Kangaskhan, the rest are just checks. Landorus is great but gets bopped by the increasingly popular Ice Beam. Ferrothorn catches the ones that use Fake Out but hates Fire coverage. Gengar is way up there, but the random Crunch users stop that. Defensive Serperior is a great check, it doesn't like Fire Blast or Ice Beam from the mixed sets, but gets a Glare off and Reflect up which makes it WAY easier to handle Kang if Serp goes down.

Serperior @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 116 HP / 220 Def / 172 Spe
Timid Nature
- Glare
- Reflect / Taunt
- Synthesis / Hidden Power Fire
- Leaf Storm
 
...(and can stall Recover with Pressure).
Recover is not affected by Pressure. Only moves that actually would hit the Entei / Pressure Pokémon are. :P


If it's Scrappy Power-Up Punch / Facade Kangaskhan, your opponent might still win against Mega Sableye. A smart opponent might very well choose to not MEvo his Kangaskhan if he sees a Sableye during team preview. I've seen this happen once.

+1 252+ Atk Kangaskhan Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Sableye: 99-117 (63 - 74.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Burn it and risk a boosted Facade or don't burn it and watch it Scrappy Power-Up Punch you into the pavement.
 
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Battle-spot Etiquette question- I've noticed a number of monotype builds today. Is there any unofficial protocol on picking against them? I ask because I kind of felt like a jerk after a mono-grass team forfieted to my Talonflame lead, but on the other hand, what am I supposed to do? Not pick my best grass counter?
 
Battle-spot Etiquette question- I've noticed a number of monotype builds today. Is there any unofficial protocol on picking against them? I ask because I kind of felt like a jerk after a mono-grass team forfieted to my Talonflame lead, but on the other hand, what am I supposed to do? Not pick my best grass counter?
Always go for the easy win imo.
 
Battle-spot Etiquette question- I've noticed a number of monotype builds today. Is there any unofficial protocol on picking against them? I ask because I kind of felt like a jerk after a mono-grass team forfieted to my Talonflame lead, but on the other hand, what am I supposed to do? Not pick my best grass counter?
You're expected to do whatever's necessary to win the match. If another player wants to auto-lose to Talonflame because they're running mono-Grass, then that's their prerogative.
 
Battle-spot Etiquette question- I've noticed a number of monotype builds today. Is there any unofficial protocol on picking against them? I ask because I kind of felt like a jerk after a mono-grass team forfieted to my Talonflame lead, but on the other hand, what am I supposed to do? Not pick my best grass counter?
You do what you gotta do in order to win. Besides, "Battle-spot Etiquette" isn't even a thing afaik. Just don't DC on people you're gonna lose to and you're good. Fair play and sportsmanship, first and foremost.
 
That's what I figured, but I just felt sorry for the guy. I mean, Mono GRass vs. Talonflame-Garchomp-Geninja (with Ice Beam) is not a matchup anyone wants to have.
 

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