Hello Internet. Earlier in the year, Europe had its first ever Regional level tournament in Arnhem, The Netherlands. As the new VGC ’15 format was both so new and open, I thought it would be fun to re-introduce my successful VGC ’13 Worlds team to the metagame.
Perhaps a somewhat lucky run through the Swiss rounds placed me in the top 8 cut. From here, I did not drop a game putting me at 12-1 for the entire tournament and becoming the first ever European Regional Champion.
You can watch my entire tournament run in this playlist:
As for the team, I continued to plough through Premier Challenges with it, with four Premier Challenge 1st place finishes and one 9th placing. I also made minor changes and felt pretty confident entering the German Nationals a few weeks ago. Unfortunately that did not go so well, although mainly due to bad plays on my behalf. This team, with some luck, did top cut the UK National last weekend, but could not go any further through it, thus resulting in my first top cut loss this season.
Perhaps this is an appropriate time to finally reveal my sets, spreads and changes I have made to adapt the team to the current VGC ’15 format. Therefore, I included below videos introducing the team, and detailing the moves, spreads and roles of each member.
The Team
Liepard
Liepard @ Black Glasses
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 156 HP / 100 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Foul Play
– Fake Out
– Swagger
– Encore
Good old Liepard. This set is very similar to my Worlds 2013 version with Swagger instead of Trick (as used in late 2013) or Taunt (as used in 2014). The Black Glasses replaced Dark Gem to pick up some useful 2HKOs and OHKOs at +2.
Scizor
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 92 Atk / 4 Def / 156 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Knock Off
– Bullet Punch
– Swords Dance
– Protect
Scizor kept its place on the team and gained the place as the Mega evolution. Bullet Punch is essential for neutralising Fairies, and the inclusion of Knock Off gives me another option against Aegislash and provides item scouting utility.
Breloom
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Bullet Seed
– Mach Punch
– Spore
– Protect
No surprises here, no changes here. Breloom is still a great Pokémon, but the new Spore and Sleep mechanics as well as the introduction of Safety Goggles means Breloom has to be played much more carefully.
Cresselia
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 28 Def / 200 SpA / 8 SpD / 172 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 28 SpD
– Psychic
– Hidden Power [Ground]
– Icy Wind
– Calm Mind
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 100 HP / 4 Def / 200 SpA / 8 SpD / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 28 SpD
– Psychic
– Hidden Power [Ground]
– Icy Wind
– Calm Mind
I went back to the Calm Mind set, since Cresselia at +1 is a monster. Moreover, in order to provide me with another option against the vastly popular and greatly threatening Heatran, Hidden Power Ground was included on this set. The newer version of Cresselia on the right outspeeds Modest 252 Heatran and base 125 at -1.
Terrakion
Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 148 Atk / 36 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Substitute
– Protect
Terrakion @ Lum Berry
Ability: Justified
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 148 Atk / 36 Def / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Close Combat
– Rock Slide
– Rock Tomb
– Protect
Because Substitute sees less viability with Hyper Voice, Rock Tomb was included on the newer version as a means of avoiding Wide Guard. It also provided my team with more Speed control and it was a slightly more accurate alternative to Rock Slide.
Thundurus
Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 32 Def / 52 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Taunt
– Thunder Wave
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 36 HP / 220 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
– Thunderbolt
– Hidden Power [Ice]
– Taunt
– Thunder Wave
Thundurus was the team member that changed the most after Arnhem. It went from a defensive version with Sitrus Berry to an offensive Life Orb version that threatened OHKOs on most Charizards and could do a substantial amount of damage to everything else. The most unconvincing member of the team split half way between offensive sweeper and support.
Thank you for watching/reading! Feel free to try the team out yourself; it is harder to use than it looks! What is next for Liepard? …who knows!
The post Liepard Returns: Arnhem Champion and Beyond Team Analysis appeared first on Nugget Bridge.