Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Looking for a little help with the VGC...

C

chrataxe

New Member
Ok guys (and gals), be gentle...I know NOTHING of the VGC and I don't actually play myself. But, my son wants to go to regionals. Honestly, he is probably better at the VGC than the TCG, but in the TCG, I have a firm grasp of the meta, so I can guide him. When it comes to playing competitively in the VGC, I don't think he has a clue what he is in for and I have NO CLUE what to tell him...but, if you guys could throw a little jargon out there that I have no idea what it means, I'm sure he would...

So, somethings I'm hoping you guys can help with:

What are some good pokemon?

What are some good combos?

What are some good moves?

What are some good strategies?

Yeah, I know, VERY vague...but, like I said, I don't know the first thing about the game and my son doesn't have a clue about what the competitive environment is going to be like.
 
First, what age is your son? I kind of need to know what level of understanding of the game he has.
Second, ( not trying to sound rude)- a rough idea of what Pokies he plans on using or likes. I do not build teams for people, I assist in bettering a team when I have an idea of the stratagy with what Pokemon he wants to use.

As far as the "competative environment" goes, there is a lot of different skill levels and game mechanics that need to be taken into consideration based on his experiance in the game.
 
From what I understand Trick Room teams are extremely common. There are many Pokemon with great stats except for poor Speed, so Trick Room is very helpful. Popular Pokemon are ghost-type Trick Roomers (such as Cofagrigus and Chandelure), pokemon with the Prankster ability (mostly Thundurus and Tornadus), Mienshao (good stats + Fake Out and U-Turn, can be immune to Fake Out as well)...

That's just what I know though.
 
First, look up good Pokemon and see if your son can use them. Second, Breed them to perfection. That is because the wrong nature or ability can really mess you up. Third, this may not sound important but it is. EV Train. I would tell you myself but that would take up the whole post so look it up. Forth, test the team. Your team might work in singles like Wobbuffet + Shadow Tag for the win but he might play in doubles or triples so make sure he tests his team there. Finally, I should have mentioned this first but check the tier list and rules. If one registration mistake happens the you are messed up. I sure hope these will help your son. This may take a lot of time but time is key to this game.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for everything. I know I was VERY vague and it was somewhat intentional.

I can say that he has NO CLUE about breeding, but I hope getting his butt whooped at Regionals will teach him something. I only know he doesn't because he only catches males...he's nine...

So, I'm not expecting him to do well really, but I would like for him to have an idea of something me might should do. As for his team, I'll ask him when he gets home. I'm not too familiar with the B&W Pokes yet, so I have no clue.
 
chrataxe said:
Ok guys (and gals), be gentle...I know NOTHING of the VGC and I don't actually play myself. But, my son wants to go to regionals. Honestly, he is probably better at the VGC than the TCG, but in the TCG, I have a firm grasp of the meta, so I can guide him. When it comes to playing competitively in the VGC, I don't think he has a clue what he is in for and I have NO CLUE what to tell him...but, if you guys could throw a little jargon out there that I have no idea what it means, I'm sure he would...

So, somethings I'm hoping you guys can help with:

What are some good pokemon? Common threats to look out for are Chandelure, Whimsicott, All legendaries in this gen, Conkeldurr, Amoonguss, Jellicent, and possibly Zoroark.

What are some good combos? Whimsicott+Terrakion is one of the top strategies right now. Using Whimsicott and the move beat up to increase Terrakion's attack by four stages. Also trick room will be very common.

What are some good moves? Encore, Spore, Thunder wave, Rage powder, Trick room, protect etc. the list goes on.

What are some good strategies? Trick room, Tailwind, Rain dance, Sunny day, Sandstorm, Whimsicott+Terrakion.

Yeah, I know, VERY vague...but, like I said, I don't know the first thing about the game and my son doesn't have a clue about what the competitive environment is going to be like.
Click to expand...

Answers in bold.
Hope I helped and good luck to your son!
 
The best way to get a feel for the competitive environment is through the Pokemon Online simulator. It's a great way to test teams you or your son are curious about trying without the hassle of EV training/IV breeding beforehand. Then once he's satisfied with his team (or at least a couple of Pokemon) he can start raising them in the game. Keep in mind there are many different tiers in the video games, and he'll want to make sure his team is set up to only accept VGC challenges. Also, as a side note, my experiences have taught me some of the hardcore video game players can be a little nasty/rude (there's a chat feature when battling other people), so be aware of that before using it.

Pokemon Online also publishes tons of nifty stats, such as the most popular Pokemon in a particular tier along with common movesets. Currently the most popular VGC Pokemon (in order) are Chandelure, Conkeldurr, Hydreigon, Amoongus, and Jellicent. There's at least a 20% chance each of those five will be on a given VGC team. Full list here.

Hope this helps!
 
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Hey, thanks for the help everyone. So, these are his pokes he has been training. He isn't set on them or the moves, but these are basically his higher levels that he likes. Not sure what else you need to know:

Zweilous
Haxorous
Emboar
Samurott
Serperior

He has a few more he is working on and he said that he may drop Serperior.

As for his understanding of the game: he is nine and very intelligent for his age, though he does stuff for fun more than for the "challenge" or whatever, so the concepts of strategy aren't fully upon him yet. But, he has been playing the game basically since he could understand it (AT LEAST 4 years, maybe more). So, he does have a firm understanding of the game as a whole.
 
I wouldn't drop Serperior but I might drop Emboar.
When Zweilous gets to Hydreigon it should look like this:

Hydreigon @Life Orb
Levatate

-Draco meteor
-Crunch
-Protect
-Surf (or something else I can't remember)

Also if he does drop something he should add Chandelure as a counter to trick room teams:

Chandelure @Focus Sash
Quiet nature
Flame Body

-Imprison
-Trick room
-Shadow ball
-Heat wave

This may look confusing but for Chandelure, focus sash will keep him from being OHKO'd by most things as he has terrible defenses. Imprison's effect means that the opponent may not use moves that it knows that Chandelure also knows. If you don't feel like breeding to get heat wave you can replace it with flamethrower.

On a slightly unrelated note, I'd be happy to help test his team over wifi.
 
Thanks Allen, I appreciate it. Might take you up on some wifi testing here in a few weeks once we have his team set up a bit more.

I'm trying to get him to take some advice, but he isn't listening very well, so I've decided to start playing a bit myself. For some reason, mindless leveling up has always been fun for me. And, breeding has always intrigued me, so I might start getting into it a bit...maybe not, who knows.
 
I've been out of the VGC for a little bit. In all this discussion, everyone has only mentioned pokemon from Gen V. Are previous generation pokemon allowed or is this Gen V only for the VGC? Seems like a stupid question, but I'd appreciate an answer regardless.

AAM
 
Ok, thanks to many people, I almost have a clue as to what I'm doing.

But, one thing I can't seem to find anywhere is how to breed. Yes, I know there are a million things out there on that, but none of them cover the stupid basics. Anyone no of a step-by-step for dummies type of breeding guide?

Stupid stuff plagues me, like:

What is the first thing I should breed? (good IV's or nature)

How long should I breed? (for example, I'm working on an Axew for my son, I have Att, SP Att, and Defense all +28 right now, should I continue to breed?)

I know its random, but, about how many rounds of breeding do you usually go through before you get you ideal IV's?

How do you keep track of your Pokes that you are breeding?

....you know, the stupid little things...basically, if anyone is willing to share a bit of their method to their madness, I would be forever grateful.
 
chrataxe said:
Ok, thanks to many people, I almost have a clue as to what I'm doing.

But, one thing I can't seem to find anywhere is how to breed. Yes, I know there are a million things out there on that, but none of them cover the stupid basics. Anyone no of a step-by-step for dummies type of breeding guide?

Stupid stuff plagues me, like:

What is the first thing I should breed? (good IV's or nature)

How long should I breed? (for example, I'm working on an Axew for my son, I have Att, SP Att, and Defense all +28 right now, should I continue to breed?)

I know its random, but, about how many rounds of breeding do you usually go through before you get you ideal IV's?

How do you keep track of your Pokes that you are breeding?

....you know, the stupid little things...basically, if anyone is willing to share a bit of their method to their madness, I would be forever grateful.
Click to expand...

I don't personally have much experience in this, but for competitive VG, we use the RNG, the Random Number Generator that decides everything in the game to control everything you get. The RNG for Black and White isn't exactly cracked at the moment but you might find some people who can do it for you.
 
This is all aside from cracking the RNG, which - sorry E4A, you are wrong ^ ^" - HAS been done already by a certain site we cannot name, and with some patience and practice you can get some ridiculously good breeds very easy; ask Garch for details, Garch and his absurd 31/30/30/31/31/31 Timid Zorua...

chrataxe said:
What is the first thing I should breed? (good IV's or nature)
Click to expand...

You do both at the same time. They can both be passed on to offspring with certain techniques (Everstone on a female with the correct nature, power items for IVs, etc). Just keep going until you get what you want.

How long should I breed? (for example, I'm working on an Axew for my son, I have Att, SP Att, and Defense all +28 right now, should I continue to breed?)
Click to expand...

As I said above, keep going until you get what you want. If you're not very serious you might be very happy with 3 >28s. For me, since I can RNG, I wouldn't even consider it until I got 31s in at least two stats that were relevant for my set.

I know its random, but, about how many rounds of breeding do you usually go through before you get you ideal IV's?
Click to expand...

A lot. I think 3-4 generations is common? I don't remember.

How do you keep track of your Pokes that you are breeding?
Click to expand...

My biologist/punnett-square girlfriend tracks them by nicknaming them with 3-letter code names, which tell her their generation, their relation to the originals, and which of that generation they are. I just mark them by their generation using the computer's "Mark" symbols as a binary code. Etc. It's just whatever makes sense to you.
 
Depending on the movesets the Pokémon will know you'll want specific natures.
As for what to get first, I normally go for the nature. When breeding for IVs and Natures you must plan ahead. I've been through LOADS of brainstormsfinding out what I need, if it needs a certain nature, if it needs Egg Moves, if it needs the IVs, if it should be male or female. If you do have Pokés that you can breed to get your final result, make notes of what do breed and what you'll need to hatch. I just use notepad and type up what I'll need to breed to get my final result then work my way back from there and breed for those.
 
Hey, couple more quick questions:

First, can anyone recommend a good mobile IV calc for Android? Didn't think there would be many, turned out to be a ton....

Also, I need a "good" way of checking my IV's. It seems rare candy/soft reset seems to be the best way. My question is, what is my best way to get enough rare candies for this? Currently, I have zero and no desire to rack up that many BP as I'm having trouble getting more than 6 at a time with my son's current team...never fails I can get to about 19-20 and just get beat down....so, I'm really saving my 3-6 BP at a time for my power items....speaking of which, I can only pass down one stat with a power item, correct?

Thanks for all of the help guys. We are still working on his team, but I have managed to breed a Deino with 31's in HP, Sp Attack, and Defense and a Modest nature. Working to get my speed up, thus the reason I need a good way of checking Stats....is throwing them in the day care then soft reset reasonable? I would still prefer Rare Candies so I could check them right away...

Thanks for all of the help.
 
If you play an infared battle or challenge the battle subway they are auto leveled to Lv.50 for the battle. At that level most IV calcs will give you two possible IVs for each stat.
 
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