The Build-a-Bearsfan Team: Initial Draft.

First off, new video upload!  Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfmS5JkKYVY.  The Pastebin is below.  I’ll write up a post about my thoughts on this sometime over the next two days, but for now, just getting this out there since this is a public community effort.  Of course, anyone is free to use this whether it be for testing or for an actual event, so get out there!

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 60 Def / 44 SpD / 148 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Dragon Dance
– Protect

Amoonguss @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 180 Def / 92 SpD
Relaxed Nature
– Rage Powder
– Spore
– Giga Drain
– Protect

Aegislash @ Life Orb
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
– Sacred Sword
– Wide Guard
– Shadow Ball
– King’s Shield

Gyarados @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Def / 100 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Thunder Wave
– Waterfall
– Taunt
– Protect

Hydreigon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
Serious Nature
– Draco Meteor
– Dark Pulse
– Fire Blast
– U-turn

Sylveon (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Cute Charm
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 196 Def / 44 SpA / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
– Helping Hand
– Protect
– Moonblast
– Skill Swap

 

Build-a-Bearsfan Teambuilding Stream – 7/19/2014 at 1 Eastern

First and foremost, the Build-a-Bearsfan teambuilding project is going to take a major step forward tomorrow (Saturday July 19th) at 1 PM U.S. Eastern Time.  This should work out for both our west coast and European audiences.  Just to give you an idea what’s happening, I’ll be preparing some team templates featuring some of the Mega Pokemon I talked about at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVEhOxm2J5A%5B/embed%5D

The team templates will probably have two to three Pokemon already decided with the rest to be determined during the stream with input from the viewers.  Once the key concepts are determined (Pokemon, items, movesets), I’ll work on EV spreads live.  Those of you that want a lesson in building EV spreads should definitely be tuned in for that part.  Some of our more experienced viewers may find it tedious, which is why I put the EV spreads at the end.

After the stream and before next Wedneday, I’ll put out a Youtube video detailing how the team was made, just in case you miss the stream.  Getting really excited about this project, and I’ll see you all tomorrow!

An Overlooked Mega Pokemon: The Art of Running with Scizors

So VGC 2014 is in a very mature state.  When we talk about Megas, the list basically boils down to:

1. Kanga

2. Charizard X/Y

3. Lucario

4. Mawile

5. Venusaur

6. Gyarados

7. Tyranitar

8. Gengar

9. Blastoise

There may be some other oddballs I neglected to mention, but these cover most of your bases.  However, I’ve stumbled upon something that at least fits into the viable part of the Mega hierarchy, and it’s something we’ve trashed for nearly a whole season.

 

The stapler Mega Scizor!  I was talking to a friend about a week ago who doesn’t really play VGC , and I made the observation that sometimes singles sets translate over to doubles.  I went home and thought about how Mega Scizor is actually pretty solid in Smogon OU, and I wondered if I could translate it to VGC 2014.

The main issue is that Scizor doesn’t really offer very many new tricks over it’s non-Mega countepart.  On top of that, people don’t even really like Scizor in this metagame since it can’t really use its Bug STAB well with no Cresselia to prey on.  Throw in the Will-O-Wisp going around, and it’s a lot for a bug to contend with.

Therefore, the key to making Mega Scizor work is to capitalize on what makes it different from normal Scizor.  Let’s look at the base stats.  In order of HP/Attack/Defense/Special Attack/Special Defense/Speed:

Mega Scizor: 70/150/140/65/100/75

Scizor: 70/130/100/55/80/65

The main difference boils down to a huge increase in bulk and an increase in Attack.  Speed is also increased, but the VGC 2014 speed tiers aren’t very conducive to using this speed.  The increase in Attack isn’t really all that amazing, but the bulk does merit a second look.  Let’s look at Adamant LO Bisharp against both types of Scizor:

252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Scizor: 71-86 (40.1 – 48.5%) — guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Bisharp Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 95-113 (53.6 – 63.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO

So no additional EV investment against the worst-case scenario Bisharp (barring Defiant).  Alright, looks interesting.  Let’s look at one of the more prominent physical attackers in Garchomp.

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Scizor: 49-58 (27.6 – 32.7%) — guaranteed 4HKO

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Scizor: 64-76 (36.1 – 42.9%) — guaranteed 3HKO

You can take another Earthquake compared to regular Scizor.  How about the most deadly physical attacker in the history of VGC 2014?

+1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Scizor: 87-103 (49.1 – 58.1%) — 98.4% chance to 2HKO

+1 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 132 Def Mega Scizor: 75-88 (42.3 – 49.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO

So if you can Intimidate it just once after a Power up Punch, you can actually take another Sucker Punch with quite a bit less bulk investment.  Also note that these are ADAMANT Kanga calculations.  The Jolly ones are even more favorable to Scizor.  Let’s check out the special end against Rotom-W.

4 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Mega Scizor: 66-78 (37.2 – 44%) — guaranteed 3HKO

4 SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Scizor: 78-93 (44 – 52.5%) — 18% chance to 2HKO

252+ SpA Rotom-W Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 132 SpD Mega Scizor: 78-93 (44 – 52.5%) — 18% chance to 2HKO

You can really see the special bulk making a difference on neutral hits.  I’ve spent so much time talking about defense that I haven’t covered the offense yet!

+2 156+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Thief vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 168-198 (100.5 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO

HOW GODLY IS THAT.  Aegislash usually walls Scizor to hell and back, but Mega Scizor can actually KO Aegislash in one shot!  Even if they know you pack Thief, you still have the Swords Dance mindgame to fall back on.  Plus there’s even another trick I’ll talk about later.  Oh yeah, in case you were wondering:

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 116 SpD Mega Scizor: 75-88 (42.3 – 49.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO

Lol, go screw yourself Aegislash.  You’ll see where the trick comes in handy later.

Let’s return to Kangaskhan.  Mega Scizor is one of the Pokemon that actually is prepared for a long, drawn-out brawl with Kanga.

+1 188+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 91-108 (50.2 – 59.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO

I could include +2 calculations, but they aren’t particularly  enlightening.  +1 is a realistic situation since Intimidate is a thing though.  If you factor in the defensive calculations from before, you can see that Mega Scizor can actually hang with Mega Kangaskhan, and even beats Kangaskhan with “the trick”.  Moving onto Rotom-W:

+2 0+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Thief vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 100-118 (63.6 – 75.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO

So you should be able to take Rotom-W out in 2 hits even with Sitrus Berry.  Just avoid the burn and Scizor beats Rotom-W handily.  How about the new number 2 Mega in Venusaur?

+2 156+ Atk Technician Mega Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Venusaur: 100-118 (53.4 – 63.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO

And you wall it to hell anyway.

The Set

Scizor@Scizorite

Nature: Adamant

Explanation: Scizor has enough bulk in an Adamant state to do what it needs, and it needs Adamant or else some 2HKOs risk becoming 3HKOs

Ability: Light Metal (becomes Technician after Mega Evolving)

Explanation: If you’re running dual Mega with Scizor, use Technician so you have the option of fighting with a non-Mega Scizor.  If single Mega, there is no reason not to Mega Evolve, so Light Metal is used to switch in on the admittedly rare Low Kick and Grass Knot.  It really doesn’t matter what ability you have though.

EVs: 252 HP, 116 SpDef, 92 Attack, 44 Def, 4 Speed

Explanation:

252 HP since low base HP Pokemon benefit a ton from it.  116 SpDef makes it so max SpAtk Aegislash Shadow Ball is a 3HKO.  92 Attack so that Thief at +2 OHKOs Aegislash 75 percent of the time.  Remainder dumped in Defense and Speed.  Spread could use potential refinement, but it’s worked so far in practice.

Moveset:

~Sword Dance

~Thief

~Bullet Punch

~ROOST

Explanation: Swords Dance and Bullet Punch need no introduction.  Thief is used over X-Scissor in 2014 because there’s not a lot that Scizor’s Bug STAB can really prey on.  Therefore Thief is used because of Aegislash.  Bullet Punch is the main form of offense if available though.

Which brings us to “the trick”, and this is what makes Mega Scizor special.  Instead of Protect, we use Roost to beat a lot of stuff that can brawl with regular Scizor over the course of several turns.  Kangaskhan and Aegislash usually take Scizor out over the course of 2-3 turns.  With the bulk and Roost, they actually lose now.  In those particular matchups, you can Roost or SD on predicted King’s Shields or Sucker Punches.

What to Watch Out For

Mainly the things that stop this Mega Scizor set are Fire attacks and Will-O-Wisp (wow surprising I know).  You don’t really have much business fighting against Rotom-H unless you have some sort of redirection, so knock him out first before attempting to start the Mega Scizor Bus.  Dragon types are the next common source of Fire type attacks, but redirection is a safer bet since they often don’t run Safety Goggles.  Stopping WoW is a matter of redirection, Fake Out, Taunt, or perhaps even Safeguard.

Useful Partners

Amoonguss and Scrafty deserve special mention since they can cover Scizor for a turn or two so Scizor can muscle through a bad matchup that I described earlier.  Amoonguss compounds the Fire type weakness, and both are weak to Talonflame.  However, Talonflame is pretty suicidal, and if it’s Choice-locked into Brave Bird, Scizor actually can beat it.  Aerodactyl is also an option for Sky Drop support.

Garchomp, Rotom-W, and the usual firefighters are good for eliminating Rotom-H and his arsonist friends.  Hydreigon and Salamence are also good for spamming Draco Meteor against them, as well as softening targets up for Bullet Punch.

Taunt partners are amazing.  If you can taunt a Rotom-W, all of a sudden the matchup is heavily in your favor.  Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Talonflame, Gardevoir, all decent Taunt users.

Closing Words

I don’t really believe in using Pokemon for the sake of being creative.  If I see a legitimate use for a Pokemon, that’s when I investigate.  Mega Scizor does not stand on equal footing with Mega Kangaskhan in terms of overall usefulness, but I do believe it can sit in the Mega Gyara/Ttar tier.  Hopefully I’ve convinced you that Mega Scizor isn’t just a useless sack of shit, so go out and try it!

 

 

ANOTHER BLOG.. and the big community LCQ video project

Wow bearsfan is joining the blog bandwagon.  Now there’s another useless blogspot URL that nobody is ever gonna check out.

I think a good question is “why are you doing this?”  The main reason is I always have a lot of stuff to write about.  The problem is I have a lot of crap that doesn’t really belong at Nugget Bridge or Eggy Emporium due to disorganization or general controversy.  The stuff that is up to quality will stay at Nugget Bridge, but that means I get to stick the hidden gems here.

Moving forward, I got a few not-so-secret plans to execute.  Worlds is in a month, and as you probably know, I don’t have a Worlds invite.  This means I have the unenviable task of doing the LCQ.

COOL VIDEO PROJECT FOLLOWS

Unfortunately, I kinda think 2014 is a crappy metagame (another post for another day), so I’m gonna have some fun with this and do something that I think no one has done before.  I’m gonna create a new weekly video series for the next month called the “Build-a-Bearsfan Team Workshop” where I’m going to collaborate with viewers on Youtube, blog readers, and my Twitter followers to create a (serious) team for Worlds LCQ.  I’ll document the process along the way and make a video each week discussing my journey.  It’s a weekly vlog that pretty much documents a team being built and taken to competition.  I will make EVERY aspect of the team public on a weekly basis.  You will know what Pokemon I have, their movesets, even their EVs.

As you can probably guess, secrecy isn’t exactly emphasized in this project.  There are two reasons for this.  I really don’t enjoy the 2014 metagame after tolerating it for almost 9 months now.  Secondly, I want to see how big of a role secrecy plays in Pokemon.  This is partially in response to honchkro13’s article on Nugget Bridge, but I emphasize that this is not an attack on his article (EDIT: Honchkro has since updated his article to have EV spreads.  Thank you!).  This is a way to see if the old paradigm of hiding teams is really the way to go.

So it’s July 14th, and I have about a month to get this rolling.  I will release a video every Wednesday (starting July 16th) detailing different stages.  Video schedule should look roughly like:

July 16 – Intro
July 23 – Documenting the teambuilding aspect, with the help of the community
July 30 – Documenting the team testing, plus any team tweaks
August 6 – Continued tweaking
August 13 – A send off video before Worlds
August 20 – Damage assessment post-Worlds, complete with Worlds footage

If you want to take part in the action, there are a few ways you can keep up with the project:
1. Follow this blog (bearsfan092.wordpress.com).  I’ll be checking the comments for project participation
2. Follow me on Twitter.  Great way of communicating with me in the project.
3. Sub to me on Youtube at bearsfan092.  I don’t check my messages there, but I will be checking the comments.
4. PM me on Nugget Bridge.
5.  Catch me on IRC.  I’m always on #nuggetbridge at the irc.synirc.net server.

Super excited for this project, since it marks me stepping up my Youtube game.  I’ve been sitting on the equipment and software to make this happen, and it’s finally time.