Chandelure

Chandelure

            Hello, my name is Jaehong Min, and I’m also known as “Purity” or “PurityVGC” on the internet. Today, I’m going to do a Pokémon Analysis on Chandelure. Chandelure was a quite popular Pokémon in the VGC ’11 metagame, and was used for many purposes such as to set up Trick Room, Choice variants, and etc. So let’s get into this!

Overview

Chandelure is a Ghost/Fire type Pokémon, with a massive Special Attack base of 145. With the new typing in Gen VI, Game Freak completely buffed the Ghost type, making Ghost attacks only immune on Normal types, and resisted by Dark types. In my opinion, the value of Fire types have gone up greatly in the VGC ’14 metagame, since there are a lot of Steel types here and there, which counters the very common core of Fairy and Dragon types, and a lot of Grass types that counter one of the most common Pokémon ever in the metagame, Rotom-W. In addition to that, Fire-types also have a resistance to fairy-type attacks. Since Chandelure packs both of these types, it will do a lot if you just slap it on a team. Its abilities are Flame Body, which could burn Physical attackers that target Chandelure, Flash Fire, which could be a great ability for any Special Attacker with Mega Charizard Y being so common, and Infiltrator, which can ignore screens, substitutes, and more. I won’t list Life Orb Chandelure since I don’t think Life Orb is viable on Chandelure. So let’s get to the sets, shall we?

The Sets

Chandelure @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Infiltrator

EVs: 92 HP / 244 SAtk / 172 Spd

Timid Nature

- Shadow Ball

- Fire Blast/Overheat

- Heat Wave

- Energy Ball

This is the Choice Scarf Infiltrator Chandelure I run. This Chandelure counters many things like Choice Scarf Gardevoir, Gengar/Mega Gengar, Substitute Leftovers Aegislash, Ferrothorn and more. I wanted to use Chandelure on my team because of its superb typing, but I couldn’t find out how to use it to fit my team. I looked at the previous Chandelure that were used in previous events. Almost everyone used Fire Gem or Life Orb, but I didn’t think either one was viable this year, considering the fragility of Chandelure. Then I discovered some people used Choice Scarf. With the speed boosted from the Scarf and with the 172 speed EVs, it can outspeed Timid max speed Mega Gengar, and the rest is self explanatory.

Chandelure @ Choice Specs

Ability: Infiltrator/Flash Fire

EVs: 188 HP / 60 SAtk / 40 SDef / 220 Spd

Timid Nature

- Shadow Ball

- Fire Blast/Overheat

- Heat Wave

- Energy Ball

Choice Specs Chandelure is also nice. Chandelure’s Special Attack stat is massive, so if you slap on those Choice Specs on Chandelure, you’ll only need any Special Attack investment to around 60. I had a lot of trouble with Substitute Aegislash, so if you have Infiltrator, you can bypass the substitute. If you have Flash Fire, you can switch into something like a Heat Wave from Mega Charizard Y, and get a boost in Special Attack.

Pokémon that Support/Benefit from Chandelure

Meowstic-M @ Sitrus Berry

Ability: Prankster

EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 120 SDef / 12 Spd

Bold Nature

- Safeguard

- Swagger

- Quick Guard/Sunny Day

- Charm

I found this Meowstic to work extremely well with Chandelure, or with any Goodstuffs team. Charm can completely cripple physical attackers that threaten Chandelure, and Swagger can give special attackers a chance to not move, which keeps Chandelure safe.

There are a lot of other item/spread choices for Chandelure, this is just a few. An example is Leftovers Sub/Protect defensive Chandelure, which works really well for me. Feel free to try any of these spreads that I listed. I hope my article helped you, even if you’re not looking to use Chandelure or Meowtsic in the near future. Thank you for reading, and feel free to share opinions in the comments below!

-Jaehong-

Gyarados

Gyarados

Hello guys! My name is Marcel also known as "Massi". Today I would like to introduce a Pokémon to you which has been accessible in all VGC formats except for 2011 - Gyarados. Looking at its history Gyarados had quite the success in previous World Championships namely in 2012. In this particular year none other than Huy Ha (who by the way placed high in previous Championships as you all may know) used a rather unconventional special variant which caught several good players off guard. Now back onto the real topic.

Right in the beginning when the VGC 14 ruleset was announced I realized that Gyarados is in the Kalos Dex and I immediately wanted to try it out as I figured Intimidate would help me to shut down a lot of common threats like Mega Mawile and Mega Kangaskhan. A lot of you may think: "How is he going to use Gyarados in a format in which Rotom is so popular?" This is indeed a question, but nevertheless I think Gyarados is an awesome Pokemon to use.

The sets

Gyarados @Gyaradosite

Trait: Intimidate / Mold Breaker

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Waterfall

- Dragon Dance

- Earthquake

- Protect

The EVs are just maxed out for the full offensive potential. With 252 EVs Gyarados reaches a speed stat of 133 which guarantees you will always outspeed Modest Gardevoir, Adamant Mamoswine and Timid Exploud for example. If you feel like those Pokemon are no threat to your team, you may also invest some EVs into the defenses. When Gyarados mega evolves it loses its flying type, but in exchange it gains the dark type. Regarding Rotom, Gyarados benefits a lot from those type changes as it is no longer 4 times weak to electric type attacks. More importantly Mega Gyarados gets access to the ability Mold Breaker which negates the effects of abilities such as Levitate. In most cases you will be faster than Rotom, because of the speed investment. Thanks to Mold Breaker you are now able to hit Rotom with Earthquake and you will most likely not be one hit KOed in return. Before mega evolving you will always get an Intimidate off which is nice too in a physical orientated metagame such as VGC 14. Gyarados is a Pokemon you don't want to mega evolve immediately after you sent it out which puts a lot of pressure on your opponent.

Gyarados @Lum Berry/Leftovers/Sitrus Berry

Trait: Intimidate

EVs: 100 HP / 252 Atk / 84 Def / 4 SDef / 68 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Waterfall

- Ice Fang

- Thunder Wave / Protect

- Taunt / Protect

I chose a Lum Berry on this set, because my Sitrus Berry was already taken, but I guess Leftovers could do the job too if you put Protect over Taunt/Ice Fang, depending on your team. This Gyarados is basically designed to give your team Intimidate support and to give you a little speed control which is less seen these days. After trying Gyarados in the current state of the metagame I decided that Thunder Wave won't work well, because of the high usage of Manectric and Rotom-A. I put Protect over Thunder Wave and this caught many opponents off guard, because some people tend to double target Gyarados. The EVs allow you to survive two -1 max Atk Life Orb Jolly Rock Slides by Garchomp (carrying Sitrus you will survive three Rock Slides). You will also most likely (around 90%) surive -1 Jolly max Atk Return by Kangaskhan and a -1 Jolly max Atk Life Orb Rock Slide by Garchomp. If you are feeling that this is not enough bulk for you, you can easily drop some Atk EVs and put some more into HP and/or Defense. The Lum Berry gives you the opportunity to avoid at least one Dark Void by Smeargle and in return you can Taunt it and take an advantage from it.

If you prefer a more bulky variant, this is probably your better choice:

Gyarados @Leftovers/Sitrus Berry

Trait: Intimidate

EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 120 Def / 56 SDef / 60 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- Taunt

- Ice Fang / Protect

- Thunder Wave / Taunt

- Waterfall

I hope this article gave you a nice overview about Gyarados and that I could encourage some of you to try this awesome Pokemon! Thanks a lot for reading!

- Massi

Offensive Combinations: Mega-Tyranitar + Amoongus [Kalos-Double]

Hey all! We're back again with another article on offensive combinations, this time focusing on a strategy that the Japanese have been loving. If you want to read Markus's analysis on Charizard Venusaur and Garchomp Salamence, click here. 

In double battling, often times Pokemon are used together that have the capacity to complement each others weaknesses and remove threats that their partners fear. However, there is more to a powerful offensive combination than just offensive support. In this duo however, the Pokemon support each other by taking advantage of Status and Boosting Moves.

 A Mushroom and a Tyrant! - Mega Tyranitar + Amoongus

Mega Tyranitar and Amoongus is a combination that has not been receiving as much attention as some of the more straightforward duo's thusfar, yet I believe this makes the combo even more dangerous. Rather than putting fast Offensive Pressure on the opponent, the pair focuses on immobilizing the opponent with Spore while simultaneously making Tyranitar much more dangerous with Dragon Dance.

Amoongus and  Tyranitar compliment each other very well. Amoongus is weak to Flying and Psychic, both of which Tyranitar resists, while its Ice Weakness is covered offensively with Tyranitar's Rock Stab. Tyranitar on the other hand is weak to Fighting, Grass, and Water, all of which Amoongus resists, as well as Bug and Ground. The defensive synergy really comes into play however when you coordinate your attacks with this combo in addition to your typing.

Mega Tyranitar has base 164 Attack Stat. That is so ridiculously powerful it makes regular Tyranitar knocking down buildings seem like a toddler smashing Legos. Now lets take that humongous Attack, and raise it a stage. Oh and lets make Tyranitar outspeed most of its threats as well. Oh and while we're at it, why don't we redirect any Fighting and Water moves into everybody's favorite sponge of a Mushroom. And anything that really threatens Tyranitar can still be put to sleep. Another great advantage of Mega-Evolving Tyranitar is the fact that its defenses go up significantly, meaning with the proper investment it can remain on the field even without Amoongus.

Beginning to see why its dangerous?

Tyranitar @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 132 Def / 180 Spd / 180 HP / 4 SDef / 12 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
- Crunch
- Rock Slide

This is my personal Mega Tyranitar EV Spread, and I think it warrants some explanation. While it might seem strange to not fully capitalize on Tyranitar's enormous Attack or boosted Speed, I find this spread to be more effective. The EV's allotted into HP and Defense make Jolly Garchomp Earthquake Never 2hko after Mega Evolving. Additionally, with 252 EVs invested in Attack and an Adamant Nature, Mega Mawile Iron Head only OHKO's Tyranitar 3/16 Times. Ray's Mawile EV Spread does a maximum of 89 Percent with Play Rough. The move choices are the Standard ones, with both of Tyranitars STAB options, Dragon Dance and Protect. Ice beam or Flamethrower could aid Tyranitars coverage, but it is difficult to give up a moveslot.

Amoonguss @ Coba Berry / Black Sludge / Lum Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 HP / 36 Def / 236 SDef
Calm Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Protect

This Amoongus spread is more Specially bulky than most, but it has its uses. The given EV's allow it to survive Timid Mega Charizard Y Heat Wave in Sun 15/16 times, without Occa Berry. Amoongus still lives Mega Kangaskan Return, which even with defensive investment is going to be a 2HKO regardless. Amoongus is EV'd heavily in Special Defense, whereas Tyranitar focuses more on Physical to ensure that a powerful pair of one side of the spectrum cannot blow through the core. Amoongus's moves are about as standard as you can get, but for good reason. Spore is used to immobilize opponents, while Rage Powder supports Tyranitar while he sets up and sweeps. Giga Drain could be replaced with Sludge Bomb, but I prefer to have a way to hit Rotom-Wash for more damage, and poisoning a Pokemon you wanted to Spore on a Switch in is generally not a good thing. Coba Berry can ensure that Adamant Choice Band Talonflame never OHKO's, whereas Lum can be used to Stop Swagger and Dark Void. Additionally, this core is used with certain types of partner Pokemon in mind, specifically with Intimidate or Will-O-Wisp to cover for Amoongus's lacking physical Defense.

Pokemon that complement the core:

Salamence is an extremely popular Pokemon in VGC 14, and for good reason. He provides fast Intimidate support when holding a Choice Scarf, and his Dragon Stab can be used to counter opposing Dragons such as Garchomp who give Tyranitar trouble. Salamence has good synergy with Tyranitar, resisting Fighting, Bug, Water, and Grass while being immune to Ground, as well as typically carrying a Fire type attack to deal with pesky Scizor.

Rotom-Wash is another popular Pokemon, and can perform a similar role to Salamence for the core. With Will-O-Wisp, Rotom-Wash can cripple opposing Mawile and the Various fighting and ground types who like to beat up on Tyranitar. Will-O-Wisp also allows Rotom to help compensate for Amoongus's low physical Defense as well as adding passive damage, which in addition to Sandstorm can add up quickly. If Rotom-Wash chooses to run Light Screen, it can make sure that Modest Max Special Attack Charizard-Y Overheat in Sun NEVER OHKO's Amoongus. Finally, Rotom's dual STABs of Electric and Water provide coverage dealing with Fire and Flying Types that threaten Amongus, and Water types that Tyranitar fears.

One of the weaknesses to Mega Tyranitar-Amoongus is the fact that Grass Types are able to ignore Amoongus's Rage Powder and Spore or hit Tyranitar for Super Effective Damage. For this reason, Talonflame is a useful addition even if only to make Grass Types more hesitant to show themselves in the battle. 

Another problem that Tyranitar Amoongus faces is the use of repeated Intimidate users such as Manectric, Salamence, or Scrafty who are able to switch in and nullify the boosts received by Tyranitars Dragon Dance. Bisharp makes an excellent addition for this reason, as Bisharp Amoongus is a powerful offensive combination on its own, as well as the fact that Bisharp discourages opponents from bringing Intimidate users to a game at all, and as most Tyranitar currently use the Special Attack stat, an opponent in Team Preview will be unable to identify how large a threat boosted Mega Tyranitar is and might refrain from bringing heavy physical support, especially due to Bisharp.

Fake Out support can be essential when paired with Amoongus's ability Regenerator and a boosted Tyranitar. Mienshao provides Fake Out Support coupled with Wide Guard, and has more speed and power traditionally than the other too. He can also make use of Reckless High Jump Kick, Feint, and a fast Rock Slide. Mr. Mime also gets Wide Guard, but uses a Psychic STAB instead of a fighting one which can be extremely useful when trying to figure out how to deal with Amoongus, which gives the core big trouble. Mr. Mime also gets Icy Wind to help deal with Salamence/Garchomp/Mega Manectric, all of which give Tyranitar Trouble, as well as a Fairy STAB that can help deal with Fighting Types. Scrafty provides Intimidate Support which is essential, and can be used if a Team has a Trick Room option or feels weak to Trick Room, or simply wants more intimidate Support. All of these Pokemon get Quick Guard.

Garchomp is one of Tyranitars oldest partners, and his high Attack base and great offensive typing can be used to complement the core offensively. Choice Scarf, Choice Band, and Focus Sash are all somewhat unconventional Item choices that I would experiment with, and Sand Veil might even be worth a shot if you feel your team can handle Physical Contact Pokemon such as Kanga. Lum Berry and Rocky Helmet are of course options as well, as is Life Orb.

Countering the Core:

Talonflame struggles with Tyranitar, but if paired with the right partner he can effectively ensure that Amoongus struggles to perform its essential role

Intimidate users, as already mentioned, can be very problematic if not checked correctly, Manectric and Scrafty in particular are difficult for Tyranitar to deal with due to Volt Switch Manectric and Scrafty's typing.

Scarf or Specs Dazzling Gleam can be a big pain for Tyranitar, especially as Amoongus often doesn't want to stay in to take a Psychic or a Psyshock. 

Amoongus can bypass Rage Powder and Spore Tyranitar, as well as Rage Powder away Crunches and heal itself with Regenerator and Giga Drain.

Safety Goggles might not seem super threatening at first glance, but in reality it can give the core an enormous amount of trouble. Safety Goggles allow a Pokemon to ignore Spore, Rage Powder, and Sand Damage. Take Rotom-Wash for example. What would normally be a favorable situation where Amoongus Rage Powders and Tyranitar Dragon Dances can become an awful turn if Rotom-Wash, holding Safety Goggles, launches a Will-O-Wisp that connects with Tyranitar, crippling it for the game.

Mega Tyranitar Amoongus is not a combination without flaws, but it is an extremely interesting option that has lots of potential and is, as of yet, still relatively unexplored. A team that capitalizes on its enormous potential can go very far in my opinion. Thanks for reading if you stuck with me until the end, feel free to leave any thoughts in the comments below!

-Wolfe

Vivillion

First of all, this needs a brief introduction. Contrary to what it may seem, I'm not writing an analysis about a cheesy pokémon just because this year I already have my Worlds invite and I don't care about doing well until then. On the contrary, now I have the occasion to study the metagame more calmly and all the possibilities it gives, and while Vivillion is undoubtedly an eccentric choice, I really think it can do it's job and that it's worth using it!

About Vivillion

Despite being another butterfly pokémon, Vivillion is basically a Butterfree with  more HP, Speed and better movepool.

Unfortunately with 80/50/50 defensive stats, Vivillion is not something the average player is able to employ to make a successful team, however it is by no means bad, it just needs some specific support in order to give it’s best.

Now you may be asking: “why should I waste my time building around this” , I hope to be able to answer you with the next paragraph.

Vivillion Niches:

- Sleep Powder: With the second of its three abilities, Compoundeyes, Vivillion gets, just like Butterfree and many other bug types, a 30% accuracy boost on its moves; and between all of them, the one it probably enjoys the most having this boost on is going to be Sleep Powder, which reaches a nice 97%, becoming almost as reliable as Spore (no secret here, this alone may be a good reason to use the moth, Spore and 89 base speed is not something to laugh at).

- Hurricane: Well, here’s where Vivillion outclasses its Compundeyes colleagues: it can deal actual damage! When in VGC13 players preferred Breloom to Butterfree and Venomoth as a Spore user, it was because the latters couldn’t really do worthy damage. But Vivillion is superior here, with a 91% accuracy STAB Hurricane that, combined with its decent 90 base SAtk  and a nice additional 30% chance to confuse the opponent.   

- Rage Powder: Needless to say what Rage Powder does, just that I think that redirecting attacks, basing on my experience, is one of the best things a pokémon can do in double battles.

Nevertheless, when using this move, you need to keep in mind that the priority is now reduced to +2 and watch out for grass types, whose attacks aren’t going to be redirected!

- This:

- Powder: Last but not least, Vivillion's signature move. A really interesting attack, having +1 priority and blocking an opponent trying to use a fire type move, while dealing damage equal to 25% of opponent’s HP. By the way this is something that works better with the surprise effect.

The Butterfly of this generation can be used as a check to one of the top tier Mega-Pokemon, nice!

- Friend Guard (Trait): I don’t feel like telling much here since I don’t have any experience using that on this pokèmon, and I still think that the best user of the ability right now is Jigglypuff.

Even so, it still needs to be mentioned, because it’s a very rare ability (owned by only three evolutionary lines) and can be an useful support for many teams (always keeping in mind that as you  choose Friend Guard, Sleep Powder and Hurricane both once again become unreliable attacks). 

Inferior options: It needs to be mentioned that Vivillion also gets Safeguard, String Shot (yeah, I know some people that would actually use it!) and Quiver Dance.

A Set Example

Vivillion @ Focus Sash

Trait: Tinted Lens

EVs: 4HP / 252 SAtk /252 Spe

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

-Sleep Powder

-Hurricane

-Bug Buzz

-Protect/Rage Powder/Safeguard

With this EV spread it can get the OHKO on 4/0 Venusaur so, if given the right support, like tailwind Aerodactyl for example, it can be a half of an anti Venu-Zard combo; While Being maintaining a 141 Speed stat. which is right enough to outspeed max speed positive Mega-Heracross, the raising-in-popularity Florges with 252 EVs and a positive nature too, and most notably, maxspeed positive Smeargle.

The focus sash is put there for repair to Vivillion’s awful defences, but if you feel like getting the ko on 4/0 Venusaur isn’t enough (and you’d be probably right) you can swap the Sash with an offensive Item (adjusting the EV spread basing on your team needs).

Good pokèmon to pair Vivillion with are those who can prevent the Sash from Breaking, like Politoed and Charizard Y and, if you’re planning to take on sun with it, good Charizard counters and checks for Venusaur’s Sleep Powder (one of them is just choosing Safeguard as Vivillion’s last move).

Little EV Spread Help 

Defense

70(0) à take a Sucker Punch from max Atk  Adamant Mega Kangaskhan and Bisharp

80(76) à Take a Rock Slide from Jolly max Attack  Garchomp after an Intimidate

99(228) à Take a Gyro Ball from Ray’s Ferrothorn (94% of the times) or a Rock Slide from an Intimidated Jolly max Atk Aerodactyl (82% of the times)

Special Attack

110(0) à OHKO 252/0 Malamar with Bug Buzz

120(76) à 2HKO 252/0 Mega Abomasnow with Bug Buzz

156(252+) à OHKO 4/0 Venusaur with Hurricane

Special Defense

86(128) à Take a Sludge Bomb from timid max special attack Mega Gengar

91(164) à Take a Draco Meteor from max SAtk Scarf Timid Salamence

97(212) à Take a Muddy Water from max SAtk Modest Life Orb Kingdra in the rain

Speed

125(124) à Outspeed Max Speed Tyranitar with a positive nature

141(252) à Outspeed max Speed Smeargle, Mega Heracross and Florges with a positive nature

154(244+) à Outspeed Base max speed 100s with a neutral Nature

- Arash

Offensive Combinations - Charizard + Venusaur and Garchomp + Salamence [Kalos-Double]

Hey everybody! A lot of people who start with VGC have played singles before that. While both types of battle do have a lot in common, there is obviously also great differences, most outstandingly the fact, that you may have more than one Pokémon on the battle field at the same time. This leads to a lot of possibilities to have Pokémon support each other. 

Moves like Wide Guard, Helping Hand or Trick Room are mostly used to tap out the full potential of another Pokémon.

It is generally a good advice to have a team in which the Pokémon can benefit from each other and complement the others in a way were they function as a real team, rather than only independent Pokémon.

However, from time to time, there is two or sometimes even three or more Pokémon, that help each other in a very elaborate way. These groups are often referred to as “cores”. This analysis touches two cores, offensively as well as defensively, and gives basic ideas about how to build a proper team in which the members truly appreciate the presence of the others as well as how to counter two of the most dangerous combinations out there!

The Fox is gone, but not the Sun! - Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur 

The first core I want to take a look at is Mega Charizard-Y plus Venusaur. This core is a basic start whenever you want to put a lot of pressure to the opponent and overwhelm them with the pure power of Charizard-Y. While its stats and ability are pretty good, its typing, which has been its major flaw in the past years, ensures that Charizard is very likely to be OHKO’d by any Rock Slide or Stone edge and takes a lot of damage of the very common Electric and Water moves. The mega evolution raises the SpDef, but the Defence and HP stats are pretty low compared to other common Pokémon.

When the power of Charizard-Y was discovered, the first thing to do was to run 252 EVs on Special Attack and Speed, along with a Timid nature. It often came together with Venusaur, which of course benefits from Drought, as it receives a speed boost. Even though Charizard has access to Solar Beam on its own, the addition of STAB Giga Drain from Venusaur means, that Water-types will think twice before switching into Charizard, or being picked to begin with. 

However, this combination had one very big flaw, which is the weakness to Talonflame plus Garchomp. Galewings STAB Brave Bird shuts down Venusaur pretty hard, while Garchomp can OHKO Charizard with a single Rock Slide! It seemed like Charizard could only be a niche Pokémon at most. However, the SoCal Regional proved the critics wrong, as BadIntent and kingofkongs both managed to advance to the finals with their respective Charizard + Venusaur team! 

So, judging from the results, it is probably a good thing to give this core another look! 

Venusaur @ Coba Berry

Trait: Chlorophyll

EVs: 228 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 20 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Giga Drain/Grass Pledge/Leaf Storm

- Protect

- Sludge Bomb

- Sleep Powder /Hidden Power Ice

20 Speed EVs ensure to outspeed even Timid max speed Mega Manectric by one point. Max SAtk is recommended, as Venusaur wants to function as a bulky sweeper that can provide support with Sleep Powder, but also be able to hit Pokémon like Rotom-W, Ludicolo, Abomasnow, Gardevoir, Azumarill, Tyranitar, Politoed, Rhyperior and many more that its STABs are super effective on, for decent damage. HP Ice could be chosen over Sleep Powder to deal with Lum Berry Garchomp as well as Salamence.

252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 228 HP / 4 Def Venusaur: 192-228 (104.3 - 123.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

However, even non-boosted adamant Talonflame’s Brave Bird easily One-Hit-KO’s Venusaur, so Coba Berry is used in order to reduce the effectiveness of this threat. 

Adamant Life-Orb Brave Bird only does 67.9 - 80.4% to Coba Venusaur and even adamant Choice Band fails to KO as it does 78.5 - 91.8 %! Sludge Bomb does 62.3 to 74% in return, so after all the recoil Talonflame gets when attacking it with Brave Bird, Venusaur can KO it. While Coba Berry is a very situational Item, I would still recommend trying it out as other items such as Sitrus Berry, Life Orb or Lum Berry are usually better off on other Pokémon. The alternative is to use Black Sludge or Leftovers to regain health, but being able to beat Talonflame is superior in my opinion. 

Charizard (F) @ Charizardite Y

Trait: Solar Power

EVs: 92 HP / 4 Def / 212 SAtk / 44 SDef / 156 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Heat Wave/Flamethrower

- Protect

- Solar Beam

- Overheat/Fire Pledge/Roost/Air Slash

As I said earlier, 4/252/252 Timid was the way to run Charizard in the past, but things have changed!

252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 150-177 (90.9 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO 

252 Atk Garchomp Rock Slide vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 156-184 (94.5 - 111.5%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO 

4 Atk Salamence Rock Slide vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 136-160 (82.4 - 96.9%)
4- Atk Life Orb Salamence Rock Slide vs. 92 HP / 4 Def Mega Charizard Y: 156-187 (94.5 - 113.3%) -- 75% chance to OHKO 

252 SpA Life Orb Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 92 HP / 44 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 109-130 (66 - 78.7%) 

116+ SpA Rotom-W Thunderbolt vs. 92 HP / 44 SpD Mega Charizard Y: 114-134 (69 - 81.2%)

It can be seen, that investing some EVs into bulk means that Charizard is not OHKO’d as easily, while a modest nature means that it will still hit even harder than the Timid set.

212+ SpA Mega Charizard Y Solar Beam vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Rotom-W: 146-174 (92.9 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

With the given EV spread, Charizard hits harder and is more bulky, only at the cost of speed. 156 EVs allow to outpace all Modest Rotom-Applications as well as stuff like Smeargle or Kingdra outside of rain.

How to complement the core

Pokémon that can provide even more support to this and take out the counters of Charizard-Y and Venusaur are Mienshao, Scrafty, Garchomp, Gyarados, Mamoswine, Rotom-W.

Mienshao and Scrafty can provide Fake Out support, as well as Wide Guard and Quick Guard respectively. This allows them to protect the team from either Rock Slide or moves like Galewings Brave Bird. Scrafty and Gyarados come with Intimidate, that turns most Rock Slides into 2HKOs. Mamoswine and Rotom-W are generally good tools to stop Garchomp from wrecking the combo. Both, Mamoswine and Garchomp enjoy using Earthquake when Charizard is on the field, in order to prevent damage to the ally. They are also pretty good answers to Chandelure and Tyranitar, two Pokémon that give ChariVenu a lot of trouble.

Dragon Buddies - Garchomp + Salamence

The next combination I want to touch is the very popular DoubleDragon Garchomp plus Salamence that has had a lot of success recently.

While it might seem redundant to have two dragon-types that both share weaknesses to Ice, Dragon and Fairy, Garchomp Salamence is a very good example for an offensive combination. While neither of them is super fast, both are sitting at a comfortable 100 and 102 base speed respectively. Despite the addition of the fairy type, dragon is still a primary attacking choice and allows these two Pokémon that might seem to be very similar at first, to perform that well together. 

The last time when these two made quite a splash was when Jumpei Yamamoto used them side by side in 2012 to claim second place at the Japanese National Championship.

The obvious parts in which Garchomp and Salamence complement one another is the fact that Salamence is a flying type and Garchomp may therefore use Earthquake freely. But there is a lot more than that! Despite its sky-high attack stat, most Salamence go either special or mixed these days. One of the main Pokémon that gives pure special Salamence trouble is Tyranitar with its super high special defence in sand. Garchomp, of course, loves to take on Tyranitar. Similarly, Rotom-W is able to shut down most Garchomp pretty handily, as Sitrus Berry ensures it is not 2HKOd, while Will-O-Wisp cripples Garchomp. Salamence on the other hand, doesn’t mind to be burned and loves to fire off Draco Meteor on Rotom to get it down to less than 50% after Sitrus Berry kicked in. While Rotom-W might not be the best example, as it can also damage Salamence and is never OHKOd, it shows that Garchomp and Salamence are especially strong when they combine their attacks, since Rotom-W falls to Draco Meteor after it was hit with a Dragon Claw first. With Garchomp covering the physical, Salamence taking on the special spectrum and phenomenal coverage, they have very little bad matchups. Even the steel fairy Mega Mawile does not beat them at all, because of Earthquake and Fire Blast/Flamethrower. Since Dragon is super effective on Dragon vice versa and the fact that there is only very little ice types and even fewer that can take Fire Blast or Draco Meteor, the only really hard counter to the Dragon duo is fairy-types like Gardevoir or Azumarill, that can easily take on the non-STAB attacks. It is therefore recommended to add a steel-type to this combo, such as Mega Mawile, Scizor or Aegislash. 

Salamence @ Life Orb

Ability: Intimidate

EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature

- Flamethrower

- Draco Meteor

- Stone Edge / Rock Slide / Hydro Pump

- Protect

Salamence (M) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Intimidate

EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 244 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Draco Meteor

- Dragon Pulse

- Fire Blast/Flamethrower

- Hydro Pump/Rock Slide

Salamence can go either with Life Orb or Choice Scarf. It is rarely seen with Choice Specs, too, so keep that in mind when playing against it! 

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet/Lum Berry/Focus Sash

Ability: Rough Skin

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd

Jolly Nature

- Earthquake

- Dragon Claw

- Rock Slide/Substitute/Stone Edge

- Protect

As you can see, the sets are very simple at the moment and it is not that difficult to use either of them, too. Yet, it is so difficult to shut these down without limiting your resources! In the Japanese metagame, Gardevoir has kind of established as a very good counter to them. I also used Scarf Gardevoir in the past and I can confirm that it helps a ton! However, I think that the dominating Gardevoir set will be a bulky Sitrus Berry version that is capable of taking several hits. I recommend to try that out! 

Again, the beauty of this duo is not that they cover each other’s weaknesses, instead, they even add up! The good thing about Salamence + Garchomp is that they have superior type coverage offensive-wise and can beat a lot of threats by double targeting them. Another option this duo is capable off, is to double Rock Slide, which has a pretty nice chance of flinching either of the opponnet’s Pokémon. Therefore, you should try to outspeed them!

On top of that, Garchomp and Salamence can easily fit in any type of team, may it be a sun based team or a sand team, a team with Tailwind or just a very general goodstuff team. 

As these two are dominating the metagame right now, it is very important to keep them in mind during the team building process. I’d like to show you some Pokémon I have used in the past, that are able to beat or at least put a lot of pressure on the Dragons!

How to become a Dragonslayer

Manectric (M) @ Manectite

Trait: Lightningrod

EVs: 60 HP / 244 SAtk / 204 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

-Volt Switch / Thunderbolt

-Overheat / Flamethrower / Snarl

-Protect

-Hidden Power Ice

Mega Manectric outspeeds non-scarfed variants and is able to one-shot non-bulky Garchomp and Salamence with Hidden Power Ice. It also has Intimidate as ability, which helps a ton in dealing with Garchomp. 204 Speed EVs allow to outspeed Choice Scarfed Chandelure, Gardevoir and Mamoswine. Overheat one-shots non-bulky Mega Mawile, while Volt Switch resets the special attack drop and Intimidate. Snarl is another option to cripple special sweepers and could be used to deal with Salamence more easily. 

Gardevoir @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Telepathy / Trace

EVs: 52 HP / 28 Def / 196 SAtk / 4 SDef / 228 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Dazzling Gleam

- Moonblast

- Psychic

- Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball

Choice Scarf Gardevoir is a pretty good check to ChompMence, as it outspeeds and OHKO’s both of them with Moonblast. The speed EVs ensure to outspeed max speed timid Noivern, while the Special Attack EVs guarantee to KO Garchomp that has a little bit invested into bulk. The rest is put into HP and Def because the SDef is naturally high.

Recently, we have also seen things like Ice Punch Scrafty, Hidden Power Ice Choice Scarf Rotom-H or Ice Fang Gyarados to be viable checks to Garchomp and Salamence. However, all of them do not like to take a boosted Draco Meteor. 

Another Pokémon that has been overshadowed by Garchomp and Salamence in the past, but might be a good call at the moment, is Noivern.

Noivern @ Life Orb / Focus Sash

Ability: Infiltrator / Frisk

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Draco Meteor

- Flamethrower

- Protect

- Tailwind / Air Slash

Noivern is a pretty interesting Pokémon, that outspeeds and OHKO’s the other Dragons with Draco Meteor. It is especially interesting, because it doesn’t need a Choice Scarf to outpace the majority of the metagame and, when equipped with a Life Orb, it hits 8,4% harder than Modest Scarf Salamence, while having free move choice! I think Noivern is pretty underrated at the moment and should get more usage in the future. Infiltrator is very cool against Substitute and Screens, while Frisk allows you to gain information over the opponent’s items and might help against unorthodox Item choices, such as random Choice Scarf or Focus Sash.

Greninja @ Life Orb / Focus Sash

Ability: Protean

EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Hydro Pump

- Ice Beam

- Dark Pulse

- Mat Block / Protect

Greninja is one of those Pokémon that is just able to outspeed and OHKO a lot of stuff, while being very frail. Therefore, it can be useless in some games, but a deadly weapon in the right hands! Protean gave it one of the best offensive abilities, while Mat Block is a unique way to support the team. Ice Beam is of course the Dragon-killer on this set, while the other moves provide good neutral coverage. Dark Pulse comes with a handy chance to flinch. I think this Pokémon’s full potential hasn’t been exploited just yet and I am very interested in seeing whether it is able to claim a place in the most commonly used Pokémon in VGC14 or not.

Tyranitar @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Sand Stream

EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd 

Timid Nature

- Rock Slide / Ancient Power

- Dark Pulse

- Ice Beam

- Fire Blast

The last set I would like to share with you is special Choice Scarf Tyranitar. While most Tyranitar tend to go special these days, I think Choice Scarf is a pretty nice surprise item on it, as it allows the rather slow sand-setter to reach a respectable speed stat of 186, which is enough to outpace Mega Lucario, Adamant Talonflame and Aerodactyl and of course Garchomp and Salamence, too! Rock Slide is generally used over Ancient Power due to multiple targets and the chance to flinch, but it is no fun to face a +1/+1/+1/+1/+1 Tyranitar! Ice Beam one-shots Garchomp and Salamence. I am sure this Tyranitar will catch a lot of players off-guard and it has helped me to gain some good victories in the past!

I hope this list encourages some of you to try unorthodox counters to the dominating double dragon. Of course, there is a lot more out there, as Wolfe Glick has proven at the Virginia Regional with Mr.Mime!

- Markus