Pokemon of the Week #2 9/19/11 Togekiss

Along with Banette, this week special "Hidden Ability" Togekiss becomes available. Unlike Banette, where it's a direct download for a certain period of time; you'll be able to raise a set similar to the one below, on your birthday! When you register your "Dream World" account online, be sure to insert your birthday for a big Wi-Fi surprise. I reiterate this Wi-Fi gift is only available for Black & White and cannot be transferred to a previous generation games. Super Luck is this Modest Master's altered ability, granting higher Critical Hit-Ratios.

Ability:Super Luck (Dream World Ability)
Nature:Modest
Base Stats:
Hp-85
Atk-50
Def-95
Sp.Atk-120
Sp.Def-115
Spd-80

Ev Spread: (510)
Hp-82
Atk-0
Def-82
Sp.Atk-248
Sp.Def-82
Spd-16

Moveset Suggestion:
-Air Slash
-Aura Sphere
-Psychic
-Heat Wave
Additional Valuable Moves: Shadow Ball/ AncientPower/ Roost/ Water Pulse/ Magical Leaf

Moveset Sidenotes:
In complete antithesis to the other Ev Trained Pokemon of the Week, Togekiss packs a wallop with a large move pool. This kiss of death as I like to call him, is one of my favorite Meta game team members. Amazing Special Attack that can One Hit-Ko most, so long as it's Super Effective. Additionally it packs extra bulk for sustaining any feeble attempts at retaliation from your opponent. When looking at Togekiss' movesets consider what your team is lacking in powerful sweeping type advantage. To play it safe and get a feel for the power of this poke, try creating an Elemental set comprised of Heat Wave, Magical Leaf, Water Pulse, and Roost. While these aren't Togekiss' main power moves (except for Heat Wave), they will give you ample coverage against any type you come across. Roost works especially well in this Poke because of its optional bulky stats letting it stay in the match for the long run, rather than a quick slash.
If pure power is your prowess than consider re-organizing its Evs towards only Speed, Special Attack, and the remaining on Hp. Truly the reason this Poke is so fun to train and use in Meta game, is you don't know what to expect. All you can count on, is that the move will be quite caustic to any members ill-prepared to pwn a flying type. The set suggested above gives you great coverage against types like Fighting, Grass, Ice, Poison, Steel, Rock, Bug, ect the list carries on! To avoid having a move "brick" on you, switch Psychic for Shadow Ball. It still gives you the chance of lowering foe's Sp.Def, but it won't be negated with a Dark Type or stalled with a Psychic on your opponent's team. Have fun safe in the knowledge that additionally with this particular kiss, critical hits are increased in ratio due to Super Luck. Thankfully Tms are now reusable in fifth generation, which makes experimenting with your Moveset a lot less painful.

Conclusion:
Hands down, this Pokemon is close to my heart! I've swept many with my personal "DreadBlimp," and such a sweeper can be yours, as soon as your Birthday roles around! Expect to see many more of these scary sweepers in today's Meta Game. Keep on testing and very little will go array. Always know that Togekiss is designed for Special Attack, so you may be wasting your time trying alternate physical sets. Even so, I always encourage testing of any type, whether it seems logical or not. You never know what kind of loop you could send your opponents on when you shock them with an alternate unexpected set. If you come up with your own Ev set for this sweeper, feel free to comment within the Blog itself and spread the insight. That does it for your double does of Ev Training Trials, until next week, I'm DeoGenZ; peace=D

Pokemon of the Week #1 9/19/11 Banette

Starting this Week and ending on March of 2012, you'll be able to download through Wi-Fi Mystery Gift a special Banette. What makes this free event special, is the Dream World ability "Cursed Body." Being a Dream World download means unfortunately this is exclusively for Black & White, excluding the other Ds generation Pokemon Games (D,P,Dpt,Hg,Ss). Inspired by those factors I devised an Ev Set specifically towards this Hidden Ability.

Ability: Cursed Body
Nature: Adamant
Base Stats:
Hp-64
Atk-115
Def-65
Sp.Atk-83
Sp.Def-63
Spd-65

Ev Spread: (510)
Hp-14
Atk-248
Def-0
Sp.Atk-0
Sp.Def-0
Spd-248

Moveset Suggestion:
-Shadow Sneak
-Destiny Bond
-Gunk Shot (Egg Move)
-Wilo-Wisp
Additional Valuable Moves: Sucker Punch/ Giga Impact/ Toxic/ Thunder Wave

Moveset Sidenotes:
Banette seems to me to be in a "Never Use" or NU category when it comes to Meta Game. When looking at its base stats, we see the most favorable trait is once again physical attack. However the move pool suggests it to be better suited for Special Attack. It makes for a rather frustrating set no matter how you train. While yes you could attempt a Calm Mind strategy to boost the low Sp.Atk stat, I wouldn't recommend it based on Banette's low Speed, Defense, Sp.Defense, and Hp... Still, if you're looking to use that freshly downloaded Banette from the Wi-Fi Mystery Gift, then this set should be ship in firm (Gorillaz Reference). To gain Banette's strongest Attack, power wise, you'll need to breed this Banette in order to obtain the Egg Move "Gunk Shot" (Base 120) and transfer your downloaded Poke's ability. In this case you'll be breeding to keep the "Dream World" ability Cursed Body, which gives you a 30% chance of disabling your opponent's move when Banette is struck. If you don't feel it's worth your time, and I understand why, then perhaps try some of the additional suggested moves for greater power.
Shadow Sneak always hits first, but only does a base 40 damage. Sucker Punch could be more beneficial in pure power (Base 80), but Shadow Sneak gives you security of assuredly hitting first despite the opponent's choice of move. Sucker Punch is only effective in striking first when the opponent attempts to launch an offensive move at Banette. If you want to re-allocate the Speed Evs placed on this particular set to make Banette more balanced, try giving it Thunder Wave to gain the first strike advantage, plus para-hax. From this and a couple of other annoyance options such as Wilo-Wisp we conclude Banette's sad shallow physical move pool. Again it baffles my mind that a ghost would have strong physical Attacking stats with little to no effective physical moves. Best of luck in raising this one, I'd love to see it in action if anyone happens to post a video.

Conclusion:
I've overlooked this Pokemon before and now returning to the numbers, I see why. It's a curious NU level Pokemon in my book that fails to use it's natural ability properly. What I'd love to see in future iterations of the Meta Game, is having this little puppet ghost be re-worked for better Special Attack rather than physical. Very unlikely, but a man can dream. Banette acts as good status scramblers and revenge killers with Shadow Sneak. The bait and switch tactic would work nicely here, and below I'll textual illustrate a probable battle scene.
Starting the battle it's your Infernape Vs. an opponent's Crawdaunt. In the first move Infernape has greater speed to pull of a Super Effective Grass Knot, however it fails to kill this rather bulky crab. Your opponent successfully One Hit Kos your poke with a Hydro Pump, now what to do? Banette comes in to the field. With one Shadow Sneak, you'll most likely succeed in taking it out. The next Poke your opponent chooses will most likely try for a Ghost or Dark type move seeing that's what works best against your Banette. I recommend at that point go for the switch to throw your opponent off guard. If you're lucky, you may be almost struck with a ghost type move in which you could fully resist with a flying type on your team.
Banette is not a sweeper by any stand point. But with a little help from its friends and the rest of your team, victory will be assured! All great trainers have masterfully made teams, so consider the balances and weaknesses of any group you're training before sending them all to the fray. Stay tuned today for an addditional Ev Trained Pokemon of the Week, once more inspired by a Wi-Fi download available today!

Pokemon of the Week 9/12/11 Abomasnow

The Power house ice yeti is here, and I've got an Ev set to freeze over hell! I'm choosing this grass/ ice type today due to a request I received a while back from a past PokeChat. Although that series is complete for now, I still wish to honor that person's request, so I do apologize if my set seems simple, but I normally don't work with Abomasnow. Let's learn together shall we???


Ability: Snow Warning
Nature: Adamant
Base Stats:

Hp-90

Atk-92

Def-75

Sp.Atk-92

Sp.Def-85

Spd-60

Ev Spread: (510)

Hp-124

Atk-248

Def-69

Sp.Atk-0

Sp.Def-69

Spd-0

Moveset Suggestion:
-Ice Shard
-Earthquake
-Iron Tail
-Swords Dance
Additional Valuable Moves: Seed Bomb/ Synthesis/ Rest/ Outrage/ Ice Punch

Set 1 Side Notes:
Abomasnow has many disadvantages in type, seven to be precise. Thankfully it's an icy grass tank with a versatile move pool capable of taking a few hits. Looking towards the Evs first; we see it's a naturally bulky Ice type. It truly reminds me of a frozen version of Snorlax, but unlike the sleeping beast, it lacks sufficient stat boosting moves for Defense and Special Defense. As such, we'll want to save our tank for last to blast the opponents remaining Pokes with bitter cold force that they cannot fight. When the time is right to spring an Abomasnow on your opponent, Ice Shard will make for the perfect vengeance move. It's a physical ice move that's normally weak, but when used at the right time it could potentially have a base power of 80, plus the effect of the Same Type Attack Bonus (S.T.A.B). If able, use this move on pesky powerful flying types. You're opponent will most likely see your slow snow and laugh, thinking he/ she can easily take you down in one fell swoop. Ice Shard always strikes first ergo you'll be the last one laughing stating your opponent should have focused more on Defense Evs. Earthquake tends to be essential for any physical attacker who can wield the move due to it's great base power of 100 and range of super effectiveness. Iron Tail intrigued me because this allows you to be just as effective when facing the same type of opponent (Ice), without having to waste a switch. There's a good chance your opponent would soon switch to their Ice type if they posses one, because of Snow Warning, creating hail as soon as Abomasnow sets foot on the field. The last move is up to your play style whether you're more offensive or defensive. If you're looking to stall your opponent while still being an effective attacker, you may want to consider synthesis or rest. With some Evs invested in Defense and Special Defense, even its many weaknesses can be overcome. Beware wasting a turn to synthesis while your opponent powers up his/ her attack. If your strategy is found, this could leave the opponent guessing and waiting to super charge as you re-heal. Moves like Dragon Dance are especially dangerous boosting both Attack and Speed. Other moves suggested are great for more power if you're an offensive player. I don't enjoy powerful moves that damage my Poke, so Seed Bomb rather than Wood Hammer would be the way to go instituting the second S.T.A.B move. Outrage was a brilliant surprise to me and can be to your opponents as well, while they waste time Dragon Dancing, you'll get right to business with outrage.

Conclusion:
Admittedly Abomasnow was not my favorite Meta game Poke. But after going through an Ev Set for one, I can find the enjoyment and thrill in evading those super effective hits to yield massive damage later in the match. Be wary of the seven deadly types: Steel, Rock, Bug, Flying, Poison, Fighting, and especially Fire which is four times as effective against Abomasnow. While being duel typed seems like a hindrance, I suggest using it to your advantage for two S.T.A.B moves rather than one. With the proper probing of your opponent, Abomasnow can freeze your opponents in their tracks. I highly recommend this Poke for taking out all those pesky Gliscor people seem to be main lining in the Meta Game today. Remember though, I'm not without flaws, so if you find a better Ev spread or Moveset feel free to comment within this Blog post and I'll see you next week for a new installment of Ev Trained Pokemon of the Week.

Pokemon of the Week 9/5/11 Serperior

This week we take a look at the Royal Grass starter. Serperior has been discussed in past LiveCasts, but for the sake of archives, I am jotting it down in the blog. Next week I'll cover Abomasnow; (sorry for the delay). Although a final evolution of a starter in the fifth gen; it can wield wild grass power if abilities are altered. This set looks at a dream world perspective creating a self generating Sp. Attack machine. If you have alternate sets, feel free to comment them on this post.

Ability: Contrary (Dream World Ability)

Nature: Timid +Spd -Atk

Base Stats:

Hp-75

Atk-75

Def-95

Sp.Atk-75

Sp.Def-95

Spd-113

Ev Spread: (510)

Hp-14

Atk-

Def-

Sp.Atk-248

Sp.Def-

Spd-248

Moveset Suggestions:

Set 1 Item:

-Leaf Storm

-Giga Drain

-Wring Out

-Hidden Power (Ground)

Set 1 Side Notes:

The beauty of this set is Leaf Storm having its effect reversed with the ability Contrary. Moves that lower stats reverse their effect and instead boost Sp. Atk when Serperior launches a Leaf Storm. Leading with this Poke could work if you're looking to carry crazy stats. Before your opponent has time to react, unloading a few Leaf Storms could place your Serperior at the top. Thanks to the high speed stat, you'll most likely out speed any opponent to get the early stat boost. Giga Drain covers Serperior for any health lost while upgrading your Sp.Atk. Wring Out works for the next Pokemon your opponent sends out, due to the fact it is more effective depending on the more hit points your opponent has. Lastly Hidden Power ground gives you good coverage and protection from fire Pokemon with the advantage with being pumped from Leaf Storm Contrary. Flying Pokemon could pose a threat if they have better Speed Stats, however a powerful Wring Out at the start of the match should level the playing field. Asses the opponent' strategy to know if it's safe to continue leading with Serperior in this circumstance or wiser to switch. Thanks to the Dream World ability this starter evolution has some knew tactics to throw major monkey wrenches into your rivals plans!

Conclusion: There you have it folks, a super Serperior that is fighting fit for the Sp. Atk sweeper position. Raising stats is key in any hardcore Meta Game battle, so be sure to bring Serperior out when it is appropriate. For a more reserved and better controlled strategy with this Poke, leave it waiting in the wing of your team. Bring Serperior out against a slow, preferably weak to grass type Pokemon, then use the opportunity to raise your Sp.Atk. Even if the Pokemon is switched, you'll still have one stat boost under your wing for Sp.Atk making your next move far more deadly than the last. I hope you enjoyed this Ev spread, be sure to let me know in the comments if you have edits or moveset changes that you also found to be ideal. See you next week!