Week 9--Golem: Make it Rock

Golem
Pokemon of the week is brought to you by Pokemon Masters - Battle & Trade! Look us up on Facebook for more Pokemon related entertainment and information! And tell your friends!!!

Vulpix says:

Hello there, dedicated readers. Before we get to this edition of Pokemon of the Week, I have an important public service announcement. I'm going to play the "I'm a Real Person" card and go on vacation. As some of you might be aware, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's kind of like writers' awareness month, and it's a month long commitment to write 50,000 words (about 200 pages of a novel). I've been writing fanfiction for six years, and this will be my first legitimate attempt to write an original story with the intention of being able to publish it and make money on my hobby. 

You may never understand the perverse glee I experience when I ruin the lives of my characters, but it's a private kind of paradise and I just need to do this for a while. Thanks for understanding. 

October is also deer season, so I'll be using it for both hunting deer and setting up everything I need to prepare to write my story. For these reasons, we'll be putting Pokemon of the Week on a temporary hold after this edition. I'm not sure when we'll bring it back (my writing may extend past November, and then it's the holidays, too). Fear not! The other admins of Battle & Trade are ready and available to entertain you. Don't forget that the Ruby and Sapphire reboots are about to be released, too! Tell your friends about our page and go nuts!

November 21, 2014
Are you ready for this?!?

OKAY. ONTO GOLEM.

I wonder if senpai will notice me today...

I'm going to be honest with you... Golem isn't that special. Raikou has done a fantastic job of highlighting what can be exploited to make Golem into a heavy hitter, and I have to admit that with Golem's high attack and physical defense, he at least has a use. As for me... the weaknesses make it so not worth it. I have six places on a team and I want them to have multiple uses so I can be ready for any situation. Golem has 6 weaknesses, and two of them are doubled up. The weaknesses he has are fairly commonly used types. Earthquake, Energy Ball, Surf and Scald, Ice Beam and most of the commonly used Hidden Powers (Ice, Water, etc.) all present a major problem for Golem. Sturdy can provide protection from a one hit KO, but sturdy can also be easily broken and is therefore only somewhat reliable. 

Now, Raikou is so awesome that his sets actually make Golem look good. I don't confess to his level of expertise, but if you told me "Rock a Golem on your team," I'd probably come at you with this:

"RockDat" 

Item: Weakness Policy

Ability: Sturdy

EV 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 Def

Nature: Jolly

- Stone Edge

- Sandstorm

- Double Edge

- Earthquake

This set lets you hit anything with at least normal effectiveness. Your only challenge is to survive until you get to that point. Let the gauntlet be dropped!

Oh no not I... I will survive.

Raikou says:

Raikou is HERE!!!! 

Now that that is out of my system, we can now move on to the POTW. This is that lovable gen 1 turtle/lizard/boulder, Golem! Ever since the beginning of Pokémon, this dude has been here. Probably one of my favorite trade evolutions, and when played well, he can wreck so much face. Granted he may not see as much competitive play time as a majority of the other trade eves get, he can still do his own work. 

HP 80, Atk 120, Def 130, SpA 55, SpD 65, Spe 45 = BST 495

Now with these base stats, he is often seen as pretty "solid" (lawlz) defensive wall. With 80 HP, which isn't too horrible, and a defensive stat of 130, he can really take a ton of physical hits. His main problems come about with his typing, Rock/Ground. This typing give him 2 different x4 weaknesses in water and grass, and adds to his lost of other weaknesses. Although, don't let this deter you, because with a well built team around him, and proper set up, this guy can bring home the bacon if you need him too. 

Don't mind me... just looking for bacon. 

He has 2 different basic abilities, and a Hidden Ability as well. Sturdy which prevents him from being OHKO'd as long as he is @ full health, Rock Head which prevents recoil damage, and the HA which is Sand Veil which raises evasion on sand teams. Rock Head has a lot of potential for a lot of pokes to give them heavy damage and stay power due to you not loosing life from recoil, but sadly Golem's only recoil damage move is Heavy Slam, so this ability goes wasted on him. Sturdy is the ability you will see 98% of the time, as Sand Veil is banned from OU tourneys due to evasion clause. BUT, there is a fun troll set to run in doubles with Sand Veil that I will share for funsies.

Custap Lead (Golem) @ Custap Berry

Ability: Sturdy

EV 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed

Adamant

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

- Stealth Rocks

- Earthquake

- Explosion

This set is basically what I call suicide Golem. Turn one you use to set up your stealth rocks, then once you have been brought to your sturdy, Custap allows for your next move to be priority, so you can use explosion to wreck whatever is out. (Custap works once you are @1/4 HP or less). Let's say that you get  a couple turns before they actually do attack to get you to your Sturdy, you should basically say thank you because now you get off some extra damage with Stone Edge or EQ to ensure that KO with Explosion.

You can't handle this Stealth Rock.

Your Weakness is my Policy (Golem) @ Weakness Policy

Ability: Sturdy

EV 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed

Adamant/Jolly

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

- Rock Polish

- Earthquake

- Explosion/Power-up Punch

Thanks to Gen 6 adding Weakness Policy, this adds a whole new level of competitive-ness to some Pokés, that previously may have lacked in power. Now granted, Golem as a solid base Attack, but being at +2 is always better than neutral. This set as whole is a lot of fun, especially if you can catch your opponent off guard with it. Turn 1 set up Rock Polish to get the speed boost, if they hit you with a super effective move that turn, you now have a +2 attack and +2 Speed Golem. If they switch out, you can either use this opportunity to use another Rock Polish and add more to your speed(Since he isn't very fast to begin with, he may need that little extra), or you can Use Power-Up Punch to get your attack higher. I personally would use Jolly over Adamant, because he can use every extra speed point he can get. This is fun to use, and if you get set up, I feel bad for the other player.

You Can't See Me (Golem) @ Bright Powder

Ability: Sand Veil

EV 252 HP / 252 Atk 

Adamant

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge/Protect

- Double Team

- Earthquake

- Power-up Punch

This set here is best used on a doubles team. What I like to do is open up with the pair of Golem with either T-tar or Hippowdon, then in turn 1 I Protect with Golem and switch into a poke that can redirect attacks, my Poké of choice is Amoongus. Then from turn 2 till Amoongus dies, I Rage Powder with said Amoongus, and Double Team with Golem. After you have that Evasion up as high as you can get it, you start using Power-up Punch to get your Attack up. Now the stab move you use in the end is up to you. There are less that are immune to Stone Edge/Rock Slide than there are for EQ, but sometimes EQ is all you need. This set is used just to troll away and really aggravate your opponent. If they let you set this up, they should fear for themselves entirely.

Yes, I'm using Bright Powder! Watch me wreck you with it, too!

Now as always, there are a BUNCH of different sets that are viable. If you were wondering if I was going to bring up another Assault Vest possibility, you are quite correct. As you all know I love this item, I try to use it on any Pokémon that can be defensive in some way. Now granted with him have 2 x4 weaknesses, and a Sp Def stat of only 65, it still doesn't always prevent death from a Sp Atk, it does let him live quite a few good hits, and let's you get some damage of on other Pokés.

9 times out of ten, there is always a better option than Golem for your team. In all reality, he is rather crippled in too many ways, BUT THIS SHOULD NOT DETER YOU FROM USING HIM. I have used him several times, and will use him again. I love Golem, and with a good majority of Pokémon, it all boils down to how well you play with them in order to determine how good they really are, or can be. 

As always, Raikou will be here to help you out in any way you need!!!! Peace!

As always, if you want your own admin's choice, battle ready version, just share our FB page on your timeline and comment "Shared" on the POTW post. Only available for a limited time!

See you after NaNoWriMo!

Week 8--Tyranitar: Or the Godzilla of Pokemon

Tyranitar
Pokemon of the Week is brought to you by Pokemon Masters - Battle & Trade! Look us up on Facebook for more Pokemon related entertainment and information!

Vulpix says:

This week’s Pokemon of the Week is Tyranitar! Thank goodness, as it’s one of my favorites!!!

I’ve always loved the Pokemon that basically look like giant tanky dinosaurs. For Gen 1 it was Lapras. Gen 2 it was Tyranitar. I also love Aggron, Haxorus, Tyrantrum, Krookodile, etc… just because of how cool they LOOK. Tyranitar and other tanky dino types often tend to have pretty high defenses and HP, but low speed. That’s usually the kind of Pokemon I’ve enjoyed running the most without being super competitive, though they become even more terrifying when you start tacking on all those extra stats.

Tyranitar is a Gen 2 Pokemon who is Rock and Dark dual typed. It’s signature ability is Sandstream, though it has Unnerve as a hidden ability. As a Mega, however, Sandstream is all that it gets. Its base stats are 100/134/110/95/100/61 for a total of 600, one of the highest non legendary numbers in the game. As a Mega, the base stats rise to 100/164/150/95/120/71 (kind of a waste to give it speed, if you ask me, but there you have it). This one of the beastliest pokemon there is, particularly when you consider its extra high defenses. Properly raised, Tyranitar can pretty much withstand its weaknesses, and is nothing to sneeze at, either.

I'm way too cool for your Close Combat. 

There are a couple of ways to build this one (well, hundreds really, but two really good ones, in my book). You can set up Tyranitar as a Trick Room monster, or you can raise it as a stall/wall/tank. In either case you can take or leave the Mega, depending on the requirements of the team that you are using. Tyranitar has a GOOD Mega, but there are others that might better suit your purposes, and that’s fine too.

Tankitar “Hannibal”

Item: Leftovers

Nature: Impish (Down SpAtk, Up Defense)

Ability: Sandstorm

EVs: 252 Def, 252 HP, 6 SpDef,

Moveset:

Earthquake/Stealth Rock

Stone Edge

Crunch/Roar

Protect

You can run this one of two ways. You can either set it up as an attacker with Earthquake and Crunch, or set up your Stealth Rock entry hazard and use roar to make them walk all over it. Rock Slide is awesome on Tyranitar, but generally speaking, since you lose out on the flinch opportunity due to Tyranitar’s low speed it’s kind of wasted on him. Protect is a must to get the best usage out of your leftovers.

Tyranitar, giving not even one.

Trick Room Tyranitar

Item: Iron Ball

Nature: Brave (Down Speed, Up Attack)

Ability: Sandstorm

EVs: 252 Attack, 252 HP, 4 Def

Moveset:

Earthquake

Rock Slide

Fling

Thunder Fang

Fling was Raikou's idea, but after I looked it up I didn't even mind stealing it. With Dark type STAB and the base power of Iron Ball as a Fling item, the strength of this attack is 195. That's ridiculously overpowered. Earthquake because Earthquake. Thunder Fang for type coverage. Rock Slide instead of Stone Edge now because in a TR situation, you'll get the flinch chance. Tyranitar is BEAST on a Trick Room team. Enjoy!

"IRON BALL! GO!!!"

Raikou says:

Raikou here once again for another POTW. Side note, my promotion is going well, I got transferred to a new store, so that is awesome!

Now let's get to the  Pokémon of the week! This week it's none other than…..TYRANITAR! This Generation 2 Pseudo Legendary-Power House has been known be able to fulfill many necessary spots on teams. Ever since he was introduced in Gold and Silver he has ben my fav poke from that gen. With it's unique Dark-Rock type, it gives it good stab options, as well as a pretty decent move pool for coverage. He is lovable beast that can do so many different things.

I have several builds that I like to run. Hopefully you enjoy these sets, and as always, if you ever want help building one, or want certain egg moves, I can give you an egg that'll have the egg moves you need! :)

Speedy-Power House (T-tar) @ Choice Scarf

Ability: Sandstream-Unnerve

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed

Jolly/Adamant

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

- Crunch

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang/Ice Punch

This set is a fun one to use, and is decently common. The ability is depending on preference, as well as how it will sync in with the rest of your team. Nature wise, it again depends on what you think you need. I opt for Jolly most of the time because his attack is already pretty awesome, but it needs as much speed as possible to make sure it outspends a good majority of the threats on other teams. Rockslide or Stone Edge can be your own personal choice, lack of power for accuracy, or vise versa. Its all up to you. As for Ice punch or Ice Fang, Ice Punch is strictly a previous gen move tutor, so if you can obtain that as well as good IVs, then more power to you. You have another option you can do here, which is opt in for Choice Band for more damage.

Special-Power House (T-tar) @ Life Orb

Ability: Sandstream-Unnerve

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp Atk / 252 Speed

Timid/Modest

- Dark Pulse

- Flamethrower

- Ice Beam

- Thunderbolt

This set here is always fun! Most of the time this set will catch your opponent of guard because they will mostly expect T-tar to either be a scarf or d-dance/mega set. And this is one huge advantage for you. Upon Team preview, you ail be able to see which their Physical wall is, and make predictions accordingly. This set here can be used as a specs set if you want, but LO does its work on its own, and it gives you options, which is always nice. If you want a slower set you can run it 252 HP, 252 Sp Atk rest in one of the defenses. If you do this I recommend running Sandstream over unnerve just because it boosts your Sp Def, and gives you a little more staying power, and although it doesn't need to be said, this second option for Special T-tar is good for TR.

They'll never see me coming. 

D-Dance (T-tar) @ Life Orb/Tyranitarite

Ability: Sandstream-Unnerve

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed

Jolly/Adamant

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

- Crunch

- Dragon Dance

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang/Ice Punch

Now yes, I do realize I put 5 moves up. The reason for that it is your choice what move you sacrifice in order to have Dragon Dance on here. This set can be used for either a regular D-dance sweeper, or for set-up for mega t-tar, which is also fun. On this set for a sweeper, I prefer Unnerve so that the opponent can't catch you off guard and living your next attack after living a sitrus berry, or if you run into a harvest rest-o chesto set poke. Rest is self explanatory

Oooo... somebody's in trouble!

Special Wall (T-tar) @ Assault Vest

Ability: Sandstream

EVs: 156 HP / 200 Atk / 200 Sp Def

Careful

- Rock Slide/Stone Edge

- Crunch

- Earthquake

- Ice Fang/Ice Punch

This set here is one of my favorites, and it is the one I am currently running. Between the Assault Vest, and the Sand being up, this set can make it so T-tar can take pretty much any special hit, while still hitting everything really hard. Now if you prefer to be more of a wall with less power behind it, you can take some out of its attack and put them in HP and Sp def to add to the bulk. I like to Baton Pass Aqua ring onto this T-tar to give it some healing power as well. :)

Hit me. I dare ya. I'll even let you.

Some closing comments. T-tar can also be used as a Stealth Rocks set up support, and it even has TR options, which our Admin Vulpix will be going into, so I didn't want to cover that set at fear of making things a little to redundant. You guys can always ask any of us for help. And if you like these let us know, we will do our best to keep these things coming your way.

Remember, for a limited time, if you share our Facbeook page on your timeline and comment on our POTW post, you can receive a free Pokemon all perfectly bred and ready to be added to your team. Don't miss out!
See you next week!

Week 7--Feraligatr: Bite Off and Chew Just the Right Amount

Feraligatr
Pokemon of the Week is brought to you by Pokemon Masters - Battle & Trade. Look us up on Facebook for more Pokemon related entertainment and information!

Vulpix says:

Hello again all! As you might (or might not!) have noticed, we didn’t post last week. This was due to some busy things happening on the admin side. For my part, I’ve been busy furiously writing away at a fun side project, and the weeks keep flying by without me noticing. Dialga seems to have been consumed by Real Life, Giratina is busy with school, Raikou’s working too hard, and Spritzee is like ohmgosh what is this Pokemon of the Week Thing?!?

Honestly, it kind of snuck up on us!

We at Pokemon Masters Battle & Trade would like to humbly apologize for the masses of you out there who held their breath for a week waiting for the newest installment. Guess what? It’s HERE.

This week’s Pokemon of the week is Feraligatr, the final evolution of a Gen 2 starter. Feraligatr is this neat looking crocodile/alligator thing, which incidentally is another overdone animal shape. (How many lizards/gators do we have?). Despite that, it’s built fairly solidly with the overall base stat distribution comparable to the dragon classes. This gives Feraligatr a nice range of versatility to breed and train it in whichever direction you please, with really the only viable complaint that it’s a little too slow to outmaneuver much.

Feraligatr is an old school Pokemon, so if it were me, I’d give it an old school build. It is built moderately and balanced, so I’m going to treat it moderately and balanced. If I had a Feraligatr, he’d be all lookin’ like:

Knock me down, I dare you.

Tankigator

Item: Life Orb

Ability: Sheer Force

EVs: 182 HP, 140 SpDef, 100 Atk, 86 Def,

Nature: Adamant

-       Earthquake

-       Waterfall

-       Crunch

-       Ice Fang

Nothing too mysterious here. Just going for best coverage and best usage of the ability Sheer Force, which ups damage at the sacrifice of a secondary effect. This is the kind of Pokemon I just want to brutalize others with. ^_^

Raikou says:

Good day all you wonderful Pokémon lovers. Raikou here for another POTW. Sorry its been a while, life has been getting a little crazy! Between me getting promoted at my job and having a tooth extraction I have had my hands full. That being said, there is no real excuse. So my apologies.

Now let's get to out Pokémon of the week! This week its Feraligatr! This Generation 2 starter has been known to fill a couple niche spots on teams, from late gam sweeper, to rain team power house, and even a TR set despite its mid level speed stat. I'll go over a few of these sets with you.

Sweeper (Feraligatr) @ Life Orb

Ability: Torrent/Sheer Force

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed

Jolly/Adamant

- Dragon Dance

- Waterfall

- Ice Punch/Crunch

- Aqua Jet/Earthquake/Poison Jab

This set here is probably the most common of them all. It is used to be a sweeper, as most Dragon Dance users are, After 2 D-Dances, you outspend most anything that isn't scarfed. Waterfall for power and flinch chance, the last two moves are all depending on what you want for coverage. I almost always choose to have Aqua Jet for the sake of priority, Ice Punch is great for dragons, and Poison Jab is wonderful against the new Fairy threats out there.

All around badass.

Choice Band TR (Feraligatr) @ Choice Band

Ability: Torrent/Sheer Force

EVs: 1252HP / 252 Atk/ 4 Speed

IVs: 0 in Speed, rest 31

Adamant/Brave

- Waterfall

- Ice Punch

- Earthquake

- Crunch

Now this one here is always fun if you like TR. He is kind of fast for a TR poké, with a base 78 Speed Stat, but it still isn't that fast. The reason why he could be used is because You use him to Speed Creep other TR teams out of Trick Room, but definitely under speed most threats on other teams, so he performs well in TR. This IV Spread gives him a little extra staying power, and the little in Speed gives him Speed Creep, as I already mentioned.

I'm a natural born lurker.

He can be a very strong member of any team, but his drawbacks are that he needs help setting himself up to ensure staying power. On a rain team he does well, obviously he fits a rain team due to his typing and good Attack. As most can tell, one of my favorite newer items is Assault Vest, and I have a set for him for it, but it isn't very viable at all, because, sadly, he almost needs setting up to do work and damage.

He can definitely be great on any team you just need to know when id a smart time to send him out so you can start setting up, once you do, all beware, because he will start doing some real damage.

We're done here.

Be sure to share our page on your timeline for a chance at an exceptionally bred Totodile, handpicked by your admins. It's easy! Just share our Facebook page and comment "Shared" on our POTW Facebook post!