I don't find we're a greatly tactical forum and so here is a thread to discuss tactics, movesets, items and junk. State your own general styles of battling and training, if you use EVs, what kinds of movesets you use and so on.
I used to be one of those:
'Charizard: Ember, Fire Spin, Flamethrower and Wing Attack'
and thought it was the best moveset ever (well I didn't but I thought it was effective), whereas now I use omre varied moves. I still am very offensive but I use different attacking moves (for a Charizard I'd have Flamethrower, Dragon Claw, Wing Attack, Rock Slide, Earthquake etc or something like that). I also use Pokémon's stats to my advantage more, making sure my Metagross will have all Attack moves and no special attack. Unfortunately I didn't become like this until late on in Emerald and have changred my other game teams since. I really look forward to DP since I can finally test how good (or bad) I may be with moves and strategy. Just because I don't liek using Defensive and more stalling movesets, doesn't mean I don't know they're effective, I'm just not daring enough to put my faith into them.
So discuss general tactics and strategy, stating your own and what you do. As always I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Well since you said Metagross I'll give my strategy for him since I use him sometimes in NetBattle.
I like this set.
Metagross @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 232 Atk / 16 Def / 8 Spd
Admant Nature (+Atk, -Def)
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Rock Slide
- Explosion
This is one of the standard CB Gross. It works well with lots of teams and it's a hard hitter. I prefer Rock Slide so that I can OHKO Zapdos and any other flying threat. If you can predict well, this thing can destroy teams.
Hit 'em where it hurts. Thats my tactic. Lorelei's Jynx is no match for Blastoise, Sydney's entire team is weak to Blaziken (who knows Sky Uppercut, lol), and Drake is weak to Rayquaza. All these Pokemon are in the level 70's.
Blastoise@Mystic Water
Level 78
LonelyNature
Hydro Pump, Surf, Strength, Hydro Cannon.
Bad moveset >.< But I was utilizing STAB, but when that damned Lapras came along... Bye bye Water Pulse.
Blaziken@Leftovers... I think XP
Level 73
Um... Adament... I think...
Blaze Kick
Sky Uppercut
Rock Tomb
Aerial Ace
Froosh, pow, bang, shing.
Rayquaza
Level 76
Can't remember Nature...
Fire Blast
Thunder
Blizzard
Fly
Strong, inaccurate, and low PP. I suck.
I have a mixed team.
Starmie
Blaziken
Steelix
Blissey
Skarmory
Crobat
Blaziken first, does some Endure-Reversal combo, bit of Overheat, and (of course) swords dancing.
After that, a Special Sweeper (from them) swaps in, so I counter with Blissey, a Special Wall.
Let Blissey do it's work. Then a Physical Sweeper destroys Blissey, so in goes Starmie.
It kills some more, then it's time to send out Steelix / Skarmory for some Toxic Shuffling and Spiking respectively.
Lastly, Crobat annoys, but with Poison Fang and Confuse Ray.
Simple.
My team is in Emerald.
Swampert (the best if i may say so)
Blaziken
Metagross
Crobat
Riachu (with bolt tackle)
and finally Sceptile
Usually i kill off my opponent by using Swampert (Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf, Waterfall) then if that doesn't work out I send in Blaziken if type match-ups allow, then so on to Sceptile, Raichu, Metagross, and Crobat.
I use straight forward power moves.
I specialize in Double Battles, and therefore like to utilize both Offensive and Defensive sets in conjunction with each other. One of my favorite combos is a strong Sweeper teamed with a Helping Hand Tank with heal moves (Umbreon being the best, but Miltank being a pretty good substitute in my Normal-type gym team). Helping Hand boosted Earthquake/Body Slam/Rock Slide off a Snorlax or Slaking is quite devastating. And the naturally high Defense of Umbreon and Miltank allow them to safely take the hit from Earthquake along w/ the opponents.
all of mine are on level 100 my swampert, camerupt note hard to train, flygon, grumpig, manetric,and skarmory
For 2-vs-2 battling:
Round 1:
Follow Me (Clefable or Togechic) + Stat-up Monster/Focus Punch-user (Belly Drummers, Sword Dancers, Calm Minders, etc)
Round 2:
Protect, Whatever attack (Follow Me user) + Earthquake/Attack (from the Stat-up Monster)
The thing that messes this up would be Moves that hit 2 or more Targets, if you're Focus Punch'ing (Rockslide, Surf, Earthquake, Self-Destruct, Explosion, etc.) Your "Follow Me" user should have pretty good Defenses and HP to survive long enough for your partner to set-up; usually dying at the End of Round 1 but "Follow Me" users are sacrifices anyway.
How's this for a good team on Ruby? It's not my BEST team, but it's a strong one, i think:
1) Charizard(Rizard) @ Lucky Egg
Nature: Careful
Level: 57 (Still training, hence Lucky Egg)
Attacks: Aerial Ace, Fly, Flamethrower, Overheat.
2) Typhlosion(Typhoon) @ Nothing
Nature: Hasty
Level: 86
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fire Blast.
3) Sceptile @ Miracle Seed
Nature: Docile
Level: 83
Attacks: False Swipe, Leaf Blade, Dragon Claw, Solarbeam
4) Meganium @ Miracle Seed
Nature: Docile
Level: 63
Attacks: Razor Leaf, Body Slam, Solarbeam, Frenzy Plant [XD]
5) Feraligatr @ Nothing
Nature: Adamant
Level: 57
Attacks: Slash, Crunch, Surf, Hydro Cannon [XD]
6) Swampert @ Nothing
Nature: Lonely
Level: 76
Attacks: Mud Shot, Ice Beam, Surf, Earthquake.
LadyCharizard
For the most part, follow these general rules:
1- Keep a Pokemon either a Physical Attacker (Attack)-or- a Special Attacker (Sp. Attack)
2- Movesets should only have ONE type of attack (example - Pikachu with Thunder AND Thunderbolt is a bad idea)
3- Two-turn moves are generally a bad idea
I'm not sure if you you're planning on battling competitively/Battle Tower-Frontier or if it's strictly in-game, but you'll want to breed for some egg moves if it's competitive.
Let me know what changes you're gonna make or not and we'll go from there.
1) Charizard(Rizard) @ Lucky Egg
Nature: Careful
Level: 57 (Still training, hence Lucky Egg)
Attacks: Aerial Ace, Fly, Flamethrower, Overheat.
I would get rid of Fly and Flamethrower. Charizard has higher Attack than Special Attack, so I would put more physical move on. Earthquake is a popular choice and Rockslide/Substitute/Double-Edge/Dragon Dance (if it can survive)
2) Typhlosion(Typhoon) @ Nothing
Nature: Hasty
Level: 86
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Fire Blast.
Try not to have ALL fire moves - you'll want to cover more ground. It can learn Thunder Punch and Earthquake - or you might to try the Endure/Reversal combo
3) Sceptile @ Miracle Seed
Nature: Docile
Level: 83
Attacks: False Swipe, Leaf Blade, Dragon Claw, Solarbeam
You'll definitely want to lose False Swipe and Solarbeam - replace them them with Thunder Punch and Crunch - you'll have a fast Sweeper
4) Meganium @ Miracle Seed
Nature: Docile
Level: 63
Attacks: Razor Leaf, Body Slam, Solarbeam, Frenzy Plant [XD]\
Meganium isn't my cup of tea, but it can work like a sturdy, hard to kill Pokemon. It can learn Synthesis (for healing), Leech Seed+Substitute combo, Sunny Day+Solarbeam, and LightScreen/Reflect to help out your team -- Frenzy Plant can act as a semi-SelfDestruct/Explosion (when you're about to die)
5) Feraligatr @ Nothing
Nature: Adamant
Level: 57
Attacks: Slash, Crunch, Surf, Hydro Cannon [XD]
Feraligatr can learn Earthquake and Rockslide, to go with his high Attack - Sword Dance to boost it up higher, and Ice Beam for some type coverage
6) Swampert @ Nothing
Nature: Lonely
Level: 76
Attacks: Mud Shot, Ice Beam, Surf, Earthquake.
Looks good - you'll probably want to replace Mud Shot with another move - since you'll probably use Earthquake more than Mud Shot, possibly with Curse (it's slow anyway) or perhaps Rockslide, Substitute