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Flash Clash [Online Competition] - Now Playable on Showdown!
- Thread starter Anirav
- Start date
Stone edge, Ice punch (Gliscor), poison jab (2HKO some perish azumarills), Earthquake are some candidates. Machamp's power isn't too great when it uses non-stab moves, so I'd probably look for moves that KO/2HKO specific threats.
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I feel like Crustle is really good in this format. I think it should have Tock Wrecker, EQ, X-Scissor, and Counter, but maybe She'll Smash would be good. If it's not Shell Smash, should it be Max Atk and spe with Sturdy and a Choice Band, or Weak Armor and AV? Also, what about Bulldoze over EQ? I'm not quite sure what to run, really only sure of Adamant, Rock Wrecker, and Counter. X-Scissor is tough, but bug coverage is pretty awful, and Rock Wrecker will almost always be doing quite a bit more.
I've been using Sturdy Bastiodon with Taunt lately, and I think he's a fine choice for a Pory and Syl Beam check. He also takes extremely little damage from Togekiss Air Slash. Protect is a big deal, helping you scout choice-locked moves.
After playing a bit I think most of the strategy in this meta (like getting past the "just click a mon and pray the opponent sends out something weak to it" which this meta essentially is) is very much gonna be "what do I want to bring 90% of the matches and what teammates do I put next to it to prevent my opponent from bringing the counters". Having azumarill + jellicent on your team for instance will most likely make your opponent think twice about sending out that blaziken unless the rest of your team is super weak to it, which is very favourable for porygon-z. But I don't think putting a single niche counter on your team will work in the long run, like yeah you can have soundproof electrode against perish song setters in your team but your opponent should know that you probably won't bring it if it gets beaten by the rest of their entire team and might just bring it anyway. So then you wasted a teamslot while not achieving your goal of scaring off the perish song. I think it's definitely different to smogon's 1v1 because it's much less clear which pokemon will be the most favourable to bring.
This has been exactly my approach. Begin with splashable cheese, then built out to get around its most problematic counters.
Riolu pranskter can be a real threat @ Custap berry
252 atk / 252 def / 4 spDef (impish Nature)
- Substitute
- Dig
- Copycat
- Magnet Rise
The strategy is simple, Subs, subs subs, till low HP. Activate Custap and dig, then Copycat to abuse dig. Magnet Rise gives immunity to EQ.
Possible counters: Flying, levitate users, and faster prankster taunters. When u see a Riolu u know u need to bring something with fast priority to counter it.
252 atk / 252 def / 4 spDef (impish Nature)
- Substitute
- Dig
- Copycat
- Magnet Rise
The strategy is simple, Subs, subs subs, till low HP. Activate Custap and dig, then Copycat to abuse dig. Magnet Rise gives immunity to EQ.
Possible counters: Flying, levitate users, and faster prankster taunters. When u see a Riolu u know u need to bring something with fast priority to counter it.
Thats right, its pretty difficult to decide what poke to bring. A strategy that I ve been using is: at preview, what is the poke that most counter my opponents pokes? Or, I use that thinking but in my opponents mind. Its like probability.:)
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I was actually using this, but what I'm scared of is that a smart opponent could just timer stall, since the battle will only last 10-15 turns and dig takes two turns and is very weak, and Riolu will be at very low health after the subs, so there is a good chance it will lose to timer against anything with a fragment of bulk.
Shame Golem misses Sucker Punch in Gen 6.
Dragonite in general would be horrible to face. So many items. So many sets. So much Multiscale.
Also ignores Minimize boosts.
Rocky Helmet, Iron Barbs, Rough Skin, Sand, Hail, Perish Song, sound moves like Bug Buzz and Hyper Voice, multi-hit attacks like Cloyster / Mega Heracross / Cinccino and Dual Chop Garchomp / Haxorus. Or just be a real douchebag and click Rest right before the timer runs out.
Ive faced it a few times on the ladder so far. Its pretty annoying but rather weak. Usually needs to get really lucky to beat most things.
Taunt users in general stop Azumarill, Whimsicott in particular is standing out as a really good one since it can 1v1 so many things it shouldn't be able to with SubSeed in the event that they don't bring Azumarill. Whimsicott is also a good reason to run Uproar Porygon-Z.
How does Whimsicott touch sap sipper Azumarill? They seem to wall each other.
Azumarill is beaten quite handily by Taunt users other than Whimsicott (they will indeed wall each other if it only has Leech Seed for damage output, and Azumarill will win on time), by slower Pokemon who can take its weak-ish hits, by things that can OHKO it (strong Electric or Poison attacks) or things that can 2HKO it around either Sitrus or Custap (and it can't run both).
Aggron speed ties Azumarill and can also be really problematic for it with Metal Burst.
I wound up ditching Whimsicott because too many threats OHKO it or hit through Sub. Azumarill beats you. Porygon-Z beats you. Sylveon beats you. Talonflame beats you. Anything with a reasonably strong Iron Head or Poison Jab beats you.
Aggron speed ties Azumarill and can also be really problematic for it with Metal Burst.
I wound up ditching Whimsicott because too many threats OHKO it or hit through Sub. Azumarill beats you. Porygon-Z beats you. Sylveon beats you. Talonflame beats you. Anything with a reasonably strong Iron Head or Poison Jab beats you.
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Azumarill has been no problem for me actually. I think it can be used to beat low ladder pretty easily but as you go higher up, your opponent's become smarter (Currently sitting at 1380 with a GXE of 69% 8th on the ladder). I recommend you guys to keep certain pokemon just for team preview mind games. For example, I've completely stopped using whimsicott but I've still left it on my team. It forces my opponents to bring pokemon like aggron, bastiodon, crustle etc. Weakness Policy Sturdy Golem has a party with those mons. Just initially go for a rock blast against the sturdy users to break their protection. Then just use EQ to finish them off. Golem is also really good against dragonite since rock blast breaks multiscale on the first hit. Furthermore, it's also good against all the choiced users since most of them foolishly select a super effective move hoping to beat golem. This activates sturdy and WP then golem OHKOes with EQ. Definitely one of the best mons in this format imo.
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