u/RatPhoenix

Lol wtf, dude just started Broxigar on t1 then would naturally draw the portal off the death rattle draw and then cheat out the next portal with a weapon swing (did this sequence twice in a row). Fucking finished and played the guy on turn 4 and hit me for 12.

In case you're curious, I had some sick generations and started to stabilize, but he had some sicker generations and burned me out. Ah well was dead to Kayn anyway.

Ggs some games you just aren't meant to win

Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/f9b240227ae4276e

Team Idea:

I believe Mega Dragonite is underrated after I played them in my support Zoroark team, so I set about making a more best of three friendly Mega Dragonite Balance team. This is the rough draft, and it has felt strong!

Team Description:

The main idea is a fantasy core; Dragonite, Sylveon, and Gholdengo, with a Tailroom support cast. Tons of spread damage, tons of bulk, pick the speed control that's worse for the opponent.

Right now the main weakness is we lack one shot potential into some key Pokemon, mainly fairies and Charizard. Anytime the opponent gets a strong fairy (typically Sylveon or Floette) + a Pokemon that beats on Gholdengo (Basc, Zard, Chomp, Gambit) it feels tough to win.

My main ideas are to swap Gholdengo out for something else (it's just tough to find a fairy resist as threatening as Gholdengo, and dual megas restrict the utility of the fantasy core, though I'm not opposed to trying it out). There have been a few games Gholdengo wins, and a few they just feel so awkward to position. I could also try Focus Sash Gholdengo I just now realized, might help a little.

Could also swap Meowscarada out for something, I just don't want to sac my rain matchup and don't know what to put in. Incin isn't 100% essential either, just Farigiraf wants to threaten fake out support, and Incin is just really good.

Still been winning lots regardless, any feedback is welcome

https://pokepast.es/d022a3fbcc9576c7

Team Idea: The idea behind this team is to take advantage of Hisuvian Zoroark as a support Pokemon, inspired by the well known S/V Golfe Wick team.

I gave this team a shot in regulation M-A- it did not spend enough time in the oven, but with me focusing on learning team building and regulation M-B adding Gholdengo, I figured it was time to take another shot at it.

For reference, I am currently Masterball 3 playing only this team! Looking for any and all feedback, questions, team building advice.

Team Description:

The star of the show is Zoroark, and the goal of the team is to have a host of options that put your opponent in awful predicaments based on their guess. We need to be able to punish t1 double protect. We need to have leads that can function without Zoroark. And we need to have roles our support moves can play. When you choose a lead, decide whether or not you actually want Zoroark to be there, then pick a pokemon it makes sense you would lead into your opponent's squad. Try to anticipate how your opponent will react to meet that threat. If your opponent expects you to try to setup Gholdengo right away, you could have Zoroark impersonate- but if the opponents answer is probably King Gambit or some other dark type coverage, you're basically sending your fox out to die.

Zoroark has Bitter Malice, your bread and butter surprise ghost damage move that can also be combo'd with Incin to cut an opponent's attack. Icy Wind can get a surprise outspeed for Arcanine or Dragonite, and Taunt is our anti Trick Room tech (can be used to prevent Encore locks from Whimsicott/Sableye too). Protect is important- lets you keep up the reception a turn longer (of course you protect Gholdengo in front of Gengar!), stall out weather, etc etc.

Should the game go long, Zoroark has value in the back as a switch in with 3 relevant immunities.

Whimsicott is your next main support Pokemon. Whimsi's item is still up in the air; it really wants to be another sash, but we work with what we got. This is a weird set. No protect can be rough, and we're very slow, so you'll probably lose an Encore war unless you run Mental Herb. Encore is important to punish t1 double protect, Tailwind is probably obvious (but please, if you want to play this team well, watch Cybertron play a Tailwind team to see how he often delays setting it up. This team doesn't need Tailwind most of the time until the opponent's Tailwind setter is gone). Fake Tears is one of our surprise tools (most often used on Archaulodon). It lets us take something down in one turn with Dragonite, Gholdengo, or Zoroark what would normally take us 2. Often it's how we deal with off meta threats or threats we don't cover for. Energy Ball is for Swampert. We don't rely on Whimsicott for damage most of the time, so the fact more Pokemon resist grass is annoying, but not the end of the world, b/c we have a major ground weakness and an even more major Swampert weakness.

Incineroar is the only mon we can't impersonate, but they're worth it. Intimidate, Fake Out, parting shot, your bread and butter with this mon. Throat Chop is mostly for dark coverage (maybe Flare Blitz is better just for raw damage?), but Close Combat is here because otherwise we are stone cold dead to Tyranitar (and pretty bad into Maushold). Item here could easily be a ground or maybe even fighting resist berry, haven't tested yet.

Gholdengo, the string cheese that brought me back to the team. Perfect partner for Zoroark- can punish caution with Nasty Plot or over extensions with Shadow Balls and Make it Rains. Weak to Ghost for Zoroark shenanigans, and a bit slow too (so opposing ghost types may take the bait). Good as Gold is illegal. Typically feels like the best mon on the team when you can bring them... But lethally hard to position in this meta. Pay close attention during team compisition- games are often fought over you removing their Gholdengo answers to clean up late game. If they have too many answers available, leave the cheese home. Gholdengo typically goes in the back unless the opponent doesn't have much that can punish- the triple immunity + plethora of resists makes your switches hell for your opponent. Metal Coat because sash and life orb were needed elsewhere, maybe a different item is better?

Hisuvian Arcanine, I was digging through my box looking for Pokemon that met three criteria: a(could reliably beat Charizard Y, b( could beat King Gambit, and c(was ideally weak to fighting for Zoroark Disguise shenanigans. Shockingly, Arcanine matches all three bills. Head Smash at 80 accuracy is rough, but on the flip side... Nothing other than ground type one shots you (the stupid thing lives Charizard Y Solar Beam), and you murder everything. Rock + fire is insane coverage, Extreme Speed to finish off sash Whims before their prankster move goes off, Arcanine is the real deal. Makes the ground type vulnerability... noticeable, but we can work with it.

Dragonite: I was struggling with a mega for the team- initially I was on Glimmora, but we were embarrassingly bad into ground types. So now I have Dragonite, an absolute house of defense + offensive type coverage. Multiscale is brutal- they have to break it first before even an Ice move reliably ohkos. Additionally, it's physical non mega is much more popular, so opponents will often play with Extreme Speed/Low Kick in mind instead of Ice Beam/Thunderbolt. The ground resistance is also vital, and it combos well with Fake Tears (frankly, its bulk and damage always shock me). It's typically just fast enough to outspeed lots of threats after an Icy Wind too. Don't forget- if you're just protecting, don't Mega, keep the Zoroark possibility alive :)

All in all, the team does well, though I feel as if its... Non traditional strategy means sometimes the most random things leak through the cracks and I'm left with no good answers. I have been shoring those weaknesses up over time though (though it can feel like if I lose the answer I lose the game), and the team is fun to play. The bulk+defensive switches are much better feeling than teams I have built in the past. The items currently feel imperfect. Any and all advice still appreciated, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy if you give it a shot!