Informational

3 Reasons Why Mixed Blaziken Is Better Than Physical Blaziken

Hello Hat Lovers!

BlazikenLast time Mark looked at why Milotic isn’t a very good Pokemon despite looking good on paper. Today I’m going to talk about why physical Blaziken is a bad set and why mixed Blaziken is superior. Think of this as a public service announcement to help educate those using non-mixed Blaziken.

Physical Blaziken is something I see players use at the lower ranks on Battle Spot and Showdown. These teams make for easy wins because they’re easy to counter. You can use physical Blaziken and have a decent win ratio as you stomp on the scrubs while dropping matches against more experienced players. The problem is that when you get to higher levels of play your opponents will be able to handle Blaziken and put the chicken down.

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Metagame Trends – Speed Tiers

Hey there Hat Lovers,

After writing my article “On Developing Speed Tiers Throughout a Metagame,” I figured I would re-visit the concept with a bit of an application article on how VGC 2015 Speed Tiers are shaping up. Today I’ll look at some defining Pokemon for VGC 2015, what speed control is in the format, and how to plan around those two in combination. The group at Nuggetbridge has once again provided an invaluable Speed Tier list courtesy of “Level 51,” so be sure to thank him for this discussion!

Defining Pokemon of VGC 2015

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Thought Experiment: Hydreigon vs. Latios

Hey there Hat Lovers,

Today’s article is going to be a bit of commentary on metagame trends and reference to past formats. The history behind the comparison of these two Pokemon is rich. In both the 2012 and 2013 formats, Latios was the default choice for a strong, Specs-boosted Draco Meteor. However, in both seasons Hydreigon showed up later in the metagame, and by the World Championships seemed to be the favourite of the two. Why was that, and why is it that Hydreigon has started out so strong this year while Latios is so irrelevant? Does Latios have anything to offer to this metagame in place of Hydreigon? That will be the topic of the article today!

Thinking about Hydreigon

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T12 Pokemon on Battle Spot Doubles

Hello Hat Lovers!

Since VGC 2015 is essentially ORAS Battle Spot doubles we can start practising for the format so we’ll be ready for those early January Premiere Challenges. I’m going to give a rundown of the 12 most common Pokemon on the Battle Spot Doubles ladder including their moves, items and abilities.

The data for Battlespot usage comes from here: http://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/battle/oras/#double

Keep in mind that the top 12 is based off of what gets used the most and not what is the most successful. Data is subject to change as time goes on.

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VGC 2015 Rules Announced!

Hello Hat Lovers!

The rules for VGC 2015 have finally been announced. These rules will be put into place January 1st 2015. Here the rules regarding team construction:

  • VGC 2015 will be played on Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire versions. Players cannot use two Pokemon with the same Pokedex number. Players cannot have two of the same item on their team.
  • The following Pokemon are banned: Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Manaphy, Phione, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie. Hoopa and Donut-Steam-Monster will be banned once Game Freak officially reveals them.
  • Soul Dew is banned.
  • Pokemon must have a blue pentagon on their status screen. This blue pentagon will indicate that the Pokemon was obtained in generation 6.

This is the same format I was expecting, and I’m glad we finally got it confirmed. Now we know exactly what we’re dealing with next year and people can stop making ridiculous claims about the format being Hoenn-Dex only or Primal Legendaries being legal. These rules are the same as the battle spot doubles ladder on ORAS, which means we will have an in-game ladder to play on throughout the whole year.

As you may have noticed, we’ve started Brigette’s PC 2015. This will contain sets for VGC 2015 Pokemon and we’ll be adding sets that we’ve used as well as those from tournament reports on Nugget Bridge.

Cheers,

~Umbreon out