Adrian Marin said:



That said, allow me to digress and showcase one of my favorite leads:





View attachment 114262

Accelgor @ Black Sludge

Ability: Sticky Hold

EVs: 252 Spe

Naive Nature

IVs: 1 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD

- Substitute

- Encore

- Baton Pass

- Protect / Gastro Acid



I notice a lot of new players have been using very unsafe leads. As you all know, Trick + Pecha Berry is a very dangerous combination that can turn the tides of battle in an instant. That's what makes strategies like Sub-Pass so important. Accelgor is most definitely one of the best Sub-Passers in the meta. It has a few flaws, such as its lack of Taunt and inability to counter Prankster Taunt Pokemon. However, it will never lose its item, making it possibly the best Smeargle counter in the meta, as well as one of the safest leads. Its nature strengthens Smeargle's Mind Blown, allowing Accelgor to counter Smeargle with ease. Its moves are quite self-explanatory. I like Protect more than Gastro Acid because Gastro Acid hasn't been very helpful in my experience. This could be an issue in the future. I would post it in the bug reports thread, but I can't, as you battled in dragonheaven. If we can emulate that battle in the main server via Custom Game, then we can get to the bottom of this bug.That said, allow me to digress and showcase one of my favorite leads:Accelgor @ Black SludgeAbility: Sticky HoldEVs: 252 SpeNaive NatureIVs: 1 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpA / 0 SpD- Substitute- Encore- Baton Pass- Protect / Gastro AcidI notice a lot of new players have been using very unsafe leads. As you all know, Trick + Pecha Berry is a very dangerous combination that can turn the tides of battle in an instant. That's what makes strategies like Sub-Pass so important. Accelgor is most definitely one of the best Sub-Passers in the meta. It has a few flaws, such as its lack of Taunt and inability to counter Prankster Taunt Pokemon. However, it will never lose its item, making it possibly the best Smeargle counter in the meta, as well as one of the safest leads. Its nature strengthens Smeargle's Mind Blown, allowing Accelgor to counter Smeargle with ease. Its moves are quite self-explanatory. I like Protect more than Gastro Acid because Gastro Acid hasn't been very helpful in my experience. Click to expand...

Aerodactyl Fun Time Gastly @ Sticky Barb

Ability: Levitate

EVs: 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SpD

- Pain Split

- Knock Off

- Taunt

- Curse



Aerodactyl @ Black Sludge

Ability: Rock Head

EVs: 252 Spe

Hasty Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 6 SpA / 0 SpD

- Whirlwind

- Substitute

- Taunt

- Defog



Gothita @ Toxic Orb

Ability: Shadow Tag

EVs: 252 Spe

Hasty Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 17 SpA / 0 SpD

- Taunt

- Substitute

- Heal Pulse

- Magic Coat



Smeargle @ Mental Herb

Ability: Own Tempo

EVs: 252 Spe

Hasty Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD

- Mind Blown

- Baton Pass

- Whirlwind

- Perish Song



Mewtwo @ Toxic Orb

Ability: Unnerve

EVs: 252 Spe

Timid Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD

- Heal Pulse

- Taunt

- Magic Coat

- Substitute



Pichu @ Toxic Orb

Ability: Static

EVs: 252 Spe

Hasty Nature

IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD

- Encore

- Thunder Wave

- Substitute

- Protect

Yeah, Accelgor is pretty good, it has possibly the best speed stats in the game....unless the Deoxys' are included. Those fuckers are too damn fast, and Taunt everything not running Prankster (which are getting pretty popular now). My main issue is its lack of Taunt; it just seems like SubPass is its only niche. I know SubPass is insane, but I don't know...When Pranksters are getting popular, it just doesn't seem as reliable. Not saying its bad, just saying the metagame isn't kind to it right now.I do think I have enough replays to post my most consistent team. It's pretty good, but not perfect, so it seems like a good starting point for new players, making it a good starter team *cough*Adrian*cough* or even a sample team.Depending on whether or not you see a Prankster, you lead with either Mewtwo or Aerodactyl; If there's a Prankster, use Mewtwo and lead with either Taunt or Magic Coat, depending on whether you predict a Taunt or a Substitute. If they lack one, save Mewtwo for midgame, and lead with Aerodactyl, and use Taunt or Substitute, depending on what the opponent leads with (if it can't run Magic Coat, just click Taunt). You want to get a Substitute of ASAP. This team is pretty much "get an opponent Taunted, then take advantage of them being Taunted." When a Pokemon faints against a Taunted Pokemon, bring in Gothita, then switch to either Pichu or Gastly; either one works. Anyway, Smeargle is a no-brainer, and is simply just the Perish Pass set to provide an alternate way to kill your Pokemon besides Substitute and items, meaning you have a way to win if Trick+Pecha happens. Of course, it's not consistent, but it's better than nothing. Generally, you'll want to keep Smeargle alive until the end, but this doesn't always happen. Gastly dies to anything slower by using Taunt that tries to prevent it from doing damage; Knock Off kills, and Trick get's Taunted.The main flaws with the team is Prankster Taunt spam; it get's really annoying for most teams, but this team has no Dark types, so the only way it stops it is Magic Coat and proper prediction. A good example is Sableye; it's a Ghost type, so it ignore Shadow Tag, and has a nasty Imprison set to prevent Taunt. Another big threat is Trick+Pecha, simply because if the wrong target loses its item, it can get tough to win, especially if the opponent has Gothitelle. If the opponent has 2 Trick+Pecha....It's time to click the x button. In all seriousness, it's not unwinnable, just very irritating, and very tricky to win.The last thing I want to say is I'm surprised with the lack of Trick Room so far. It seems pretty anti-meta, considering the insane focus on speed in this metagame.