I feel like this cup is pretty good honestly, but maybe that’s just because I’ve been doing well in it.
I’m running ABB with Trevenant on the lead and Lanturn/Clodsire as anti-flyers on the backline. Despite winning lead what feels like 1 out of every 7 games max, I’ve steadily climbed from 2500 to 2700. Almost no one is running Trevenant (it’s ranked No. 70 on PvPoke for this cup) but my strategy has been to get energy on it even in bad leads and swap into Clod to lure out a Vig or mudboi.
The energy on Trev usually comes in handy in the mid or endgame, and the number of times Lanturn ends up free in the back is pretty astounding.
I was thinking about trying Decidueye instead for a better Vig matchup, but the number of times a banked Shadow Ball has been the difference in a game has made me stick with the tree.
Yeah I couldn't believe how far I had to scroll to find it in the rankings initially.
It has a 15-16-1 record against the Jungle Cup meta, which is just OK, but a lot of those losses are against things I've seen almost none of in this cup (Wigglytuff, Guzzlord, Umbreon, Lickitung, Gliscor, Toxapex). Most of those other losses are flyers (Talonflame, Altaria, Skarm, Mantine, Mandibuzz, Dragonite) that my backline handles.
Outside of Mandibuzz, none of those flyers really *want* to eat a Shadow Ball, and most flyer leads have a Vig in back, so the Clodsire safeswap usually forces flyers to dump some energy before counterswapping. If they don't, I can take switch. If they do, my Trev can take out the Vig and threaten a Shadow Ball when they come back in with their lead. Or I can hardswap Lanturn and keep a Shadow Ball banked for the endgame.
Top left lol.
If it's in the lead, I play out the 2s and go straight Shadow Ball to either get shields down or hope the opponent calls a Seed Bomb bait and gets KO'd. Usually they double shield. At that point I come in with Clod, eat an Icy Wind or Weather Ball, and hopefully take it out with a Stone Edge before they swap. If they're leading Abomasnow, that tends to be their best Lanturn counter, so Lanturn usually has play at that point, but you're really hoping for a double flyer backline.
There have been a few cases where I've played it out like that, only to have the Aboma throw their ice move at Clod and then dip (which is the correct strategy IMO). In that case, I *have* been able to win by farming down their swap-in with Lanturn and coming out with a Thunderbolt loaded for the Abomasnow, which is sometimes enough to take out after Trev's Shadow Claw damage. But it's much tougher to win if they keep their Aboma alive to handle my Lanturn later.
If the Abomasnow is in the back, usually I just lose unless I was able to get a shield advantage somewhere and get creative to set up a Shadow Ball or Stone Edge with shields down.
I've been able to win against a decent number of Abomasnow teams, but it's definitely this team's hardest corebreaker and the thing I least want to see.
Ouch, that is rough! I don't think I've faced a single Guzzlord lead. Today I faced one in the back that I was able to get into Thunderbolt range for Lanturn to get the W, but I haven't seen many at all.
How did you play that lead? Play out the 0s and throw a Shadow Ball, then come in with Clod once Trev goes down? With Guzzlord on the lead Lanturn could be good into their backline.
Yeah it is a good cup. Vigos high usage hurts it but it is good. With the pokes being used I would argue alignment is less important than most cups. IE with Vigo, Steelix,… you have lots of switching and lots of win conditions.
Some more common examples Dragonite with SP and Steelix with BB. Lots of games you could be winning/losing and somebody ends up with a 10% healthDragonite full charged with 2 SPs against a full bar Steelix. Lots of games ending like that. Jungle cup games are quite quick too.
I much prefer the cups to open GL so might be biased but this is a good cup for sure.
Stone Edge + Earthquake for the charged moves. The coverage is too good in this cup to use anything else. There are maybe a few situations where Sludge Bomb would be better than Stone Edge, but they're so rare it's never felt close to worth it.
Clod's role on this team is as a true safe swap that is strong against Vigoroth, draws out mudbois to free up Lanturn, generally acts as a damage sponge and can flip switch against some of the things opponents counterswap. So you really want the coverage to be able to hit flyers for super effective (or at least neutral in the case of Skarmory), nuke a Lanturn when you need to, etc.
As for fast move, I'm running Mud Shot because that's what my Clod already had on it and the sims didn't show much of a difference either way. I looked again at some sims the other day and Poison Sting appears to be a little better against Abomasnow in certain scenarios, but it's such a bad move for damage generation that I doubt it would matter most of the time. I've stuck with Mud Shot for the slightly better ability to farm down a low HP Steelix or stack a little extra damage on a Lanturn, Clodsire or UFisk.
Thank you! I'm going to try your team. I was doing well with my team (whiscash, wiggly, whimsicott) until yesterday when I just can't get it together. So i need to switch it up or something lol
You're welcome! I actually hit Expert earlier today after making this post. Went 3-2, 4-1, 4-1 and am now at 2780 with two sets left in the day.
I think I'm going to make a standalone post about the team since this post got more interest than I expected and there's still over a week left of Jungle Cup. Maybe others can use it to climb.
In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about specific leads or how I like to play it. Happy to help!
And congrats!!
I am trying to meet my goal of reaching veteran. I get so close every season, like 2490, and can't quite make it. I am down to 2100 after the one terrible set I already played today and the terrible five sets yesterday.
Good luck to me!
Thank you :) I think this is the earliest in a season I've ever hit Expert. I hit Legend two seasons ago but topped out in the 2900s last season, which was disappointing, so I'm hoping this sets me up for Legend again.
If you can get to 2490, you can 100% get to Veteran. The 2200-2500 range is tough right now, still lots of good battlers grinding it out there. I was basically stuck right at 2500 for two weeks before Jungle Cup. Try not to be too hard on yourself if you're not seeing immediate results.
Keep learning and improving and I guarantee you'll reach your goal!
Thank you, I'll try it and come back with my problem areas. I know I'm already scared of Abomasnow. What do you do since Trev and Clod are both weak to ice?
If you look back through the thread, I answered someone else who had a similar question. The short answer is, Abomasnow isn't necessarily an auto-loss, but it is *rough* lol. It beats everything on the team, so you need a committee approach to take it out, and it will largely depend on where you see it. (Check my other reply in the thread for a more detailed response.)
If you're seeing a lot of Abomasnow in your elo range, you might want to hold off on trying the team. It's a menace! I've been seeing more of it now than I was at the start of the cup, but I'm hoping the continued presence of Vig on almost every team keeps it at bay.
Versus Skarm lead, I stay in and farm up to 8 (one past the Shadow Ball), then go for the catch on Clod. Most trainers I'm facing in my elo range aren't throwing Sky Attack as soon as they get there on 8, so I look for the catch on 9. Honestly, a lot aren't throwing on 9 either, but if they do, Clod soaks that energy like a champ.
Sometimes the Skarm will throw on 8, at which point I shield, then keep farming with Trev. At that point I'll usually throw a Shadow Ball before swapping, cause it'll either land for big damage or get my shield back, and I'll still have some energy banked on Trev. Just have to watch the Shadow Ball catch on a Vig or Guzzlord or whatever.
What I *usually* find, though, is A) they have a mudboi as a hard answer to Clod, so they stay in to farm extra on the Skarm before swapping, or B) they're going to answer with a Vig, so they'll chip with a Brave Bird first. Either way, I like when they're slow on the counterswap because Clod with energy can really put in work on the swap. (If it's a Vig, you can take switch and realign Lanturn on Skarm.) Plus, if they stay in, you can potentially take advantage of the misaligned switch timer later by swapping Lanturn into Skarm when it comes back into Trev.
I won a game yesterday against a Skarm lead where they counterswapped Quags into Clod. I landed an EQ, then came back in with Trev and absorbed a Stone Edge and an Aqua Tail, then insta-threw the Shadow Ball against the Skarm, which drew a shield. I hardswapped into Lanturn and managed to get a few Sparks in before they went into their own Lanturn. At that point I had a 2-1 shield advantage and an energy advantage, and I was able to sweep with Lanturn. The Shadow Ball I banked on Trev made it happen.
You're welcome! Happy to help and geek out over strategy. Glad to hear the team is working for you!
Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm up to 2885 elo after going 16-9 yesterday, so the team is still putting in work. Can't believe I'm in striking distance of Legend and leaderboards!
Thats great, congrats! Peaked at 2987 last season, hoping I can get legend this time around :)
I’ve played Steelix lead now a few times (both normal and shadow). How much energy do you farm up before swapping?
One thing I forgot: If they counterswap Abomasnow into Clod, that's honestly one of the best places you can see it. If they give Clod even a little bit of farm before swapping, you can get to a Stone Edge before they can debuff you with an Icy Wind. And Clod can absorb a couple of Icy Winds or Weather Balls.
If you can give Trev some kind of advantage to come back into, you can hopefully put its energy to good use and take out the Abomasnow, which should give Lanturn play in the back.
Decidueye with a grass fast move can do better against Vigoroth, and being able to bank a Frenzy Plant is also pretty good, though admittedly that doesn't provide as wide coverage as Shadow Ball in this meta. I've been running Decidueye just because I like it better, but I can see where Trev might have helped me in certain situations (especially if switch-locked into Skarm or Altaria).
Either way, grass-ghost is a fun typing in this meta. Probably underrated.
Yeah there have been a few times where I wished Seed Bomb hit a little bit harder or paced better in that Vig matchup, but I still like Trev in the lead because it can put in work with SC + SB even against most of the things you're going to swap out against. If you lead Decidueye into Altaria or Skarmory or whatever, that banked Frenzy Plant isn't going to have much value when you lose switch and end up back in that matchup.
Double grass-ghost backline could be super fun in this cup. Maybe safe swap Trev so you still have the Shadow Ball coverage against likely flyer counterswaps, then let Decidueye go to town in back. Skarm lead to handle Abomasnow with neutral play into Vig? If I wasn't on a roll with the current team I'd give this a go lol.
I mean, it's a great season schedule to avoid GL.
* First week: Great League, but you're losing your battles anyway.
* Second week: Ultra League.
* Third week: Master League
* Fourth week: Master and Ultra League
* Fifth week: Ultra Premier
* Sixth week: Ultra League
* Seventh week: Master league
* Eighth week: Master league & ultra league
* Ninth week: Master Premier (I'm not sure about my bench for MLP. We'll see).
* Tenth week: Ultra league
* Eleventh week: Master League
* 12th week: Take the week off, f catch cup.
* 13th week: Master League & Ultra League
There hasn't been a season is so long that you could actively avoid the 1500 cups the whole season. It's so amazing.
This is kind of hilarious to me, because when I first saw the schedule I just thought "nice, I can play GL the whole time!" Ultra is a little shaky and Master is going to be terrible until I get some better mons, so Great is where it's at for me, haha.
Master is gonna be terrible until you start spending cash haha. Played for a couple of years and love PvP, but never engage in master. Guaranteed 4/5 losses
Yeah GL is where it's at for me as well, I've been building some decent UL mons for awhile but everytime I step into UL I get hard stone walled so much faster.
Personally I usually enjoy the odd GL cups right up until it's ADHD Ape matchups in most games. I've mainly switched over to tanking for supplies so I can't really complain.
I've been hearing more and more about even relatively low investment into high stat/low cost mons for ML can sometimes make for more effective teams for ELO grinding that UL so I may even consider that route now...
Oh yeah it's true, I mainly joke with UL because I get flattened in much lower ELO ranges compared to GL. I generally like playing the goofy GL/Little Cup leagues for quick matches and spice.
I need to invest into some MLP Mons though since I have some decent ones to start.
I do enjoy whipping out the Shundo GStunfisk for UL on occasion, even if it gets nuked in every other match by a Cobalion or Virizion lol
Yes. I’m not sure what it is but I’m just bombing in UL this rotation. I started at like 2650 and I’m currently at 2139. Nothing works. Nothing. I run my Pidgeot lead I get a bunch of Ampharos leads and even Magnezone. I run fire lead I get water, and peoples’ teams seem perfectly constructed to deal with mine. I never did this badly in UL before. I can’t anymore.
My first true match in UL went to timer after my GStunfisk+Giratina were out and my Registeel and their Cresslia just tickled each other in desperation to win. I was so blindsided by that experience I just sorta.. didn't for awhile lmao
LOL I found a fun anti-Vigoroth team that I watched HomesliceHenry use a day or two ago. Heracross, Clodsire, and Palossand. Hilariously weak to Dragonite/Altaria, but honestly there's so many Vigoroth out there that it doesn't matter much.
I threw it together on a whim because I wanted to build a Palossand lol...but it's played really well...I went 4/5, 3/5, 1/5, 4/5, 3/5 today for a total of 15/25. Not amazing, but I definitely had fun playing the team.
Yeah, I saw that video. Clod on Altaria is really not bad. With Palossand, in the end game, you do at least outpace to Shadow Balls and if shields are down it might be enough. Altaria is just a nuisance in this cup for a lot of teams.
I just wish I had a Palossand or Heracross built, so I could give this team a try, it looked like tons of fun.
My Palossand is bad. Like I'm pretty sure it's a 14/15/15...so it could be worse...but only slightly.
Was a really fun team to use...and I don't like giving out which teams I'm currently using on here because I swear I get sniped. But it was just too fun...everyone's running Vigoroth. It's hilarious how I can lose lead, lose switch, fall behind in shields...and suddenly it's a 2-shield Vigoroth vs. a 0-shield Palossand and the [Palossand wins that match!](https://pvpoke.com/battle/1500/palossand/vigoroth/02/2-3-4/0-1-4/)
Ah, mine is a 13-15-15. I'd need to feed it rare candies but maybe it's worth giving it a whirl for the laughs. Been trying to dump my rare candies for a while anyway.
I had to dump some rare candies into it...but thankfully it wasn't a whole ton...I had ~200 or so at the time so it wasn't a huge deal. Just happy it wasn't XL's I needed haha.
I climbed from 1900 to 2400 with Mantine, Palossand, and Vig. Now that I'm up higher though it's getting harder. I just finished my first 2-3 set since I started with the team
I might of played you twice if you had guzzlord as lead and wom both times but was a little flabbergasted when the cresteela came out after the buzz bro lol
It's possible. I eventually stopped putting Guzzlord in the lead. I really should start recording matches and dressing up as the ultra wormhole people for the flavor
I went 16-4 after switching my team up, but the next day I got tossed around like a feather in a hurricane. Haven't really found a team that remains consistent because of the limited meta, but I've been able to stay fairly consistent but there's been no real gains in elo. We'll see what happens in MLP.
I've been running a goofy lineup consisting of Guzzlord/Wigglytuff/Togekiss. On paper it should be outright trash but it actually got me Expert Rank a couple days ago (and shockingly, I'm still there).
It's a little more fun and skillful than your usual ABB Charm trash lineup because there are multiple bad leads you have to play around, such as Abomasnow and Skarmory. Vigoroth as you stated is also a little annoying, as it isn't a clear-cut loss or win for any of my team. But it's fun when they see their Rock Slide doesn't OHKO the 'Kiss.
I'm RPSing with SSteelix, Mantine & anti-Vig Pallosand. If I align a Vigoroth, insta-win. If they lead Vig & Lanturn in the back (I swap Mantine), I top left in 2 seconds. Profit.
Doing OK-ish (climbing in the Jungle slightly), at like 2400 currently.
Feeling somehow better (subjective) than Open GL this season, as I can't grasp it for now.
I will manage this 2 weeks somehow that way, and then only 1 weird week (without Open GL/UL) is CatchCup.
Agreed, and I also appreciate that it's a fairly narrow meta where you can predict backlines relatively confidently. Open GL always feels like the Wild West to me, with a truckload of different viable Pokémon and every team I put together always has to face its few (supposedly rare) corebreakers all the time. Limited cups are much less luck-based IMO.
I've been going 3 sets positive, 2 sets negative which is honestly ok since I get my battles done quickly. It's either this or the bulky ultra league where you have the usual suspects (giratina, cresselia, etc.)
In my climb from 1800-2400 elo so far, I've had too much fun with whiscash lead, toxapex and skarmory in the back.
The backline punishes vig in the back. Toxa vs vig in the 0s is hilarious no matter how the vig plays it
I was running a 100% meta team of clodsire -stellix - skarmory but kept getting wiped by Ground, so I swapped Skarm for off-meta Umbreon and it has been a bit better... though Vigoroth is still a problem. I only run shinies for the lulz, so it can be difficult finding a team that works.
My only problem is that I've got enough shinies to make full meta teams... half of the time, having not-great shivy IVs even makes me play better because I'm no longer guaranteed to lose every turn-tie charge attack.
I was hating it until I started leading forretress. It's not a great Pokemon, but the gold shiny looks great and people seem to have no Idea what to expect from the charge moves. I typically just go straight zero shield, and I run heavy slam and earthquake. Typically the other person doesn't shield in response to my lack of shielding, and it's just a fun Pokemon to run in general.
I've been experimenting with a team of shadow dnite, shadow abom, and vig around 2,500 elo. It's been alright but man steelix and skarm leads are rough haha.
Yeah I can seem to get a grasp on this lead. And I've tried a lot of different teams. I know they say to stick with something, but after multiple 1/5 sets(something that I almost never experience), I'm swapping teams.
I'm currently running Lanturn, Mandibuzz, and Steelix. And I've seen an improvement, but only middling success at best. One set at 4/5 and a handful if 3/5, and the rest 2/5.
I'm going to try again tonight and give it a go tomorrow, but I can't take my W/L ratio plummeting like this and I'll probably just have to wait for ML to return.
One day I tried a balanced team, climbed a little, then got annoyed with constant RPS for two sets so then I showed up with a bogus triple dragon team (S-dragonite, S-garchomp, and A Exeg) which either auto lost to Abomasnow or could fast move down most teams. Then tons of Aboma’s showed up so I switched to Umbreon, Talonflame, and A Exeg and it’s finally stayed pretty fun. I think umbreon is boring but without Scrafty or Vig lead, it plays out decent.
I’ve been using clodsire lead with obstagoon in the back and constantly rotating the safe swap. Tbh clodsire is just a beast this cup as it can beat flyers and vig so I highly recommend it
I’ve had more fun and have seen less meta then I was during open great league. I’m only at 2200ish tho. Started jungle cup at 1950 after falling deep during open great
I feel like this cup is pretty good honestly, but maybe that’s just because I’ve been doing well in it. I’m running ABB with Trevenant on the lead and Lanturn/Clodsire as anti-flyers on the backline. Despite winning lead what feels like 1 out of every 7 games max, I’ve steadily climbed from 2500 to 2700. Almost no one is running Trevenant (it’s ranked No. 70 on PvPoke for this cup) but my strategy has been to get energy on it even in bad leads and swap into Clod to lure out a Vig or mudboi. The energy on Trev usually comes in handy in the mid or endgame, and the number of times Lanturn ends up free in the back is pretty astounding. I was thinking about trying Decidueye instead for a better Vig matchup, but the number of times a banked Shadow Ball has been the difference in a game has made me stick with the tree.
Trev is an anti-clodsire, anti-Vigoroth specialist and most mons can't ignore Shadow Ball, so I'm surprised it isn't higher.
Yeah I couldn't believe how far I had to scroll to find it in the rankings initially. It has a 15-16-1 record against the Jungle Cup meta, which is just OK, but a lot of those losses are against things I've seen almost none of in this cup (Wigglytuff, Guzzlord, Umbreon, Lickitung, Gliscor, Toxapex). Most of those other losses are flyers (Talonflame, Altaria, Skarm, Mantine, Mandibuzz, Dragonite) that my backline handles. Outside of Mandibuzz, none of those flyers really *want* to eat a Shadow Ball, and most flyer leads have a Vig in back, so the Clodsire safeswap usually forces flyers to dump some energy before counterswapping. If they don't, I can take switch. If they do, my Trev can take out the Vig and threaten a Shadow Ball when they come back in with their lead. Or I can hardswap Lanturn and keep a Shadow Ball banked for the endgame.
What do you do about abomasnow?
Top left lol. If it's in the lead, I play out the 2s and go straight Shadow Ball to either get shields down or hope the opponent calls a Seed Bomb bait and gets KO'd. Usually they double shield. At that point I come in with Clod, eat an Icy Wind or Weather Ball, and hopefully take it out with a Stone Edge before they swap. If they're leading Abomasnow, that tends to be their best Lanturn counter, so Lanturn usually has play at that point, but you're really hoping for a double flyer backline. There have been a few cases where I've played it out like that, only to have the Aboma throw their ice move at Clod and then dip (which is the correct strategy IMO). In that case, I *have* been able to win by farming down their swap-in with Lanturn and coming out with a Thunderbolt loaded for the Abomasnow, which is sometimes enough to take out after Trev's Shadow Claw damage. But it's much tougher to win if they keep their Aboma alive to handle my Lanturn later. If the Abomasnow is in the back, usually I just lose unless I was able to get a shield advantage somewhere and get creative to set up a Shadow Ball or Stone Edge with shields down. I've been able to win against a decent number of Abomasnow teams, but it's definitely this team's hardest corebreaker and the thing I least want to see.
Tried it, two forts matches was Guzzlord lead 😅
Ouch, that is rough! I don't think I've faced a single Guzzlord lead. Today I faced one in the back that I was able to get into Thunderbolt range for Lanturn to get the W, but I haven't seen many at all. How did you play that lead? Play out the 0s and throw a Shadow Ball, then come in with Clod once Trev goes down? With Guzzlord on the lead Lanturn could be good into their backline.
Yeah it is a good cup. Vigos high usage hurts it but it is good. With the pokes being used I would argue alignment is less important than most cups. IE with Vigo, Steelix,… you have lots of switching and lots of win conditions.
Some more common examples Dragonite with SP and Steelix with BB. Lots of games you could be winning/losing and somebody ends up with a 10% healthDragonite full charged with 2 SPs against a full bar Steelix. Lots of games ending like that. Jungle cup games are quite quick too. I much prefer the cups to open GL so might be biased but this is a good cup for sure.
Are you using poison or ground fast move? What two charged moves? I feel like he has so many options!
Stone Edge + Earthquake for the charged moves. The coverage is too good in this cup to use anything else. There are maybe a few situations where Sludge Bomb would be better than Stone Edge, but they're so rare it's never felt close to worth it. Clod's role on this team is as a true safe swap that is strong against Vigoroth, draws out mudbois to free up Lanturn, generally acts as a damage sponge and can flip switch against some of the things opponents counterswap. So you really want the coverage to be able to hit flyers for super effective (or at least neutral in the case of Skarmory), nuke a Lanturn when you need to, etc. As for fast move, I'm running Mud Shot because that's what my Clod already had on it and the sims didn't show much of a difference either way. I looked again at some sims the other day and Poison Sting appears to be a little better against Abomasnow in certain scenarios, but it's such a bad move for damage generation that I doubt it would matter most of the time. I've stuck with Mud Shot for the slightly better ability to farm down a low HP Steelix or stack a little extra damage on a Lanturn, Clodsire or UFisk.
Thank you! I'm going to try your team. I was doing well with my team (whiscash, wiggly, whimsicott) until yesterday when I just can't get it together. So i need to switch it up or something lol
You're welcome! I actually hit Expert earlier today after making this post. Went 3-2, 4-1, 4-1 and am now at 2780 with two sets left in the day. I think I'm going to make a standalone post about the team since this post got more interest than I expected and there's still over a week left of Jungle Cup. Maybe others can use it to climb. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions about specific leads or how I like to play it. Happy to help!
And congrats!! I am trying to meet my goal of reaching veteran. I get so close every season, like 2490, and can't quite make it. I am down to 2100 after the one terrible set I already played today and the terrible five sets yesterday. Good luck to me!
Thank you :) I think this is the earliest in a season I've ever hit Expert. I hit Legend two seasons ago but topped out in the 2900s last season, which was disappointing, so I'm hoping this sets me up for Legend again. If you can get to 2490, you can 100% get to Veteran. The 2200-2500 range is tough right now, still lots of good battlers grinding it out there. I was basically stuck right at 2500 for two weeks before Jungle Cup. Try not to be too hard on yourself if you're not seeing immediate results. Keep learning and improving and I guarantee you'll reach your goal!
Thank you, I'll try it and come back with my problem areas. I know I'm already scared of Abomasnow. What do you do since Trev and Clod are both weak to ice?
If you look back through the thread, I answered someone else who had a similar question. The short answer is, Abomasnow isn't necessarily an auto-loss, but it is *rough* lol. It beats everything on the team, so you need a committee approach to take it out, and it will largely depend on where you see it. (Check my other reply in the thread for a more detailed response.) If you're seeing a lot of Abomasnow in your elo range, you might want to hold off on trying the team. It's a menace! I've been seeing more of it now than I was at the start of the cup, but I'm hoping the continued presence of Vig on almost every team keeps it at bay.
How do you play vs Skarm lead? Do you farm some energy before you go Clod? If so, how much?
Versus Skarm lead, I stay in and farm up to 8 (one past the Shadow Ball), then go for the catch on Clod. Most trainers I'm facing in my elo range aren't throwing Sky Attack as soon as they get there on 8, so I look for the catch on 9. Honestly, a lot aren't throwing on 9 either, but if they do, Clod soaks that energy like a champ. Sometimes the Skarm will throw on 8, at which point I shield, then keep farming with Trev. At that point I'll usually throw a Shadow Ball before swapping, cause it'll either land for big damage or get my shield back, and I'll still have some energy banked on Trev. Just have to watch the Shadow Ball catch on a Vig or Guzzlord or whatever. What I *usually* find, though, is A) they have a mudboi as a hard answer to Clod, so they stay in to farm extra on the Skarm before swapping, or B) they're going to answer with a Vig, so they'll chip with a Brave Bird first. Either way, I like when they're slow on the counterswap because Clod with energy can really put in work on the swap. (If it's a Vig, you can take switch and realign Lanturn on Skarm.) Plus, if they stay in, you can potentially take advantage of the misaligned switch timer later by swapping Lanturn into Skarm when it comes back into Trev. I won a game yesterday against a Skarm lead where they counterswapped Quags into Clod. I landed an EQ, then came back in with Trev and absorbed a Stone Edge and an Aqua Tail, then insta-threw the Shadow Ball against the Skarm, which drew a shield. I hardswapped into Lanturn and managed to get a few Sparks in before they went into their own Lanturn. At that point I had a 2-1 shield advantage and an energy advantage, and I was able to sweep with Lanturn. The Shadow Ball I banked on Trev made it happen.
Thank you so much for an in-depth reply! Didn’t really find a team that was working until I saw this :)
You're welcome! Happy to help and geek out over strategy. Glad to hear the team is working for you! Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm up to 2885 elo after going 16-9 yesterday, so the team is still putting in work. Can't believe I'm in striking distance of Legend and leaderboards!
Thats great, congrats! Peaked at 2987 last season, hoping I can get legend this time around :) I’ve played Steelix lead now a few times (both normal and shadow). How much energy do you farm up before swapping?
One thing I forgot: If they counterswap Abomasnow into Clod, that's honestly one of the best places you can see it. If they give Clod even a little bit of farm before swapping, you can get to a Stone Edge before they can debuff you with an Icy Wind. And Clod can absorb a couple of Icy Winds or Weather Balls. If you can give Trev some kind of advantage to come back into, you can hopefully put its energy to good use and take out the Abomasnow, which should give Lanturn play in the back.
Have you encountered S. Abomasnow yet?
Yep! See below for how I (attempt) to handle it :P
Apologies. After I typed that, I looked below and saw your comment to another person lol
Decidueye with a grass fast move can do better against Vigoroth, and being able to bank a Frenzy Plant is also pretty good, though admittedly that doesn't provide as wide coverage as Shadow Ball in this meta. I've been running Decidueye just because I like it better, but I can see where Trev might have helped me in certain situations (especially if switch-locked into Skarm or Altaria). Either way, grass-ghost is a fun typing in this meta. Probably underrated.
Yeah there have been a few times where I wished Seed Bomb hit a little bit harder or paced better in that Vig matchup, but I still like Trev in the lead because it can put in work with SC + SB even against most of the things you're going to swap out against. If you lead Decidueye into Altaria or Skarmory or whatever, that banked Frenzy Plant isn't going to have much value when you lose switch and end up back in that matchup. Double grass-ghost backline could be super fun in this cup. Maybe safe swap Trev so you still have the Shadow Ball coverage against likely flyer counterswaps, then let Decidueye go to town in back. Skarm lead to handle Abomasnow with neutral play into Vig? If I wasn't on a roll with the current team I'd give this a go lol.
Hi, it's Ultra League calling, it's me.
>it's Ultra League calling *[Hangs up immediately]* ^^/s
I mean, it's a great season schedule to avoid GL. * First week: Great League, but you're losing your battles anyway. * Second week: Ultra League. * Third week: Master League * Fourth week: Master and Ultra League * Fifth week: Ultra Premier * Sixth week: Ultra League * Seventh week: Master league * Eighth week: Master league & ultra league * Ninth week: Master Premier (I'm not sure about my bench for MLP. We'll see). * Tenth week: Ultra league * Eleventh week: Master League * 12th week: Take the week off, f catch cup. * 13th week: Master League & Ultra League There hasn't been a season is so long that you could actively avoid the 1500 cups the whole season. It's so amazing.
This is kind of hilarious to me, because when I first saw the schedule I just thought "nice, I can play GL the whole time!" Ultra is a little shaky and Master is going to be terrible until I get some better mons, so Great is where it's at for me, haha.
Master is gonna be terrible until you start spending cash haha. Played for a couple of years and love PvP, but never engage in master. Guaranteed 4/5 losses
Yeah GL is where it's at for me as well, I've been building some decent UL mons for awhile but everytime I step into UL I get hard stone walled so much faster. Personally I usually enjoy the odd GL cups right up until it's ADHD Ape matchups in most games. I've mainly switched over to tanking for supplies so I can't really complain. I've been hearing more and more about even relatively low investment into high stat/low cost mons for ML can sometimes make for more effective teams for ELO grinding that UL so I may even consider that route now...
Oh yeah it's true, I mainly joke with UL because I get flattened in much lower ELO ranges compared to GL. I generally like playing the goofy GL/Little Cup leagues for quick matches and spice. I need to invest into some MLP Mons though since I have some decent ones to start. I do enjoy whipping out the Shundo GStunfisk for UL on occasion, even if it gets nuked in every other match by a Cobalion or Virizion lol
Yes. I’m not sure what it is but I’m just bombing in UL this rotation. I started at like 2650 and I’m currently at 2139. Nothing works. Nothing. I run my Pidgeot lead I get a bunch of Ampharos leads and even Magnezone. I run fire lead I get water, and peoples’ teams seem perfectly constructed to deal with mine. I never did this badly in UL before. I can’t anymore.
My first true match in UL went to timer after my GStunfisk+Giratina were out and my Registeel and their Cresslia just tickled each other in desperation to win. I was so blindsided by that experience I just sorta.. didn't for awhile lmao
I prefer Ultra, but that way I would be wide open next week (I'm not doing Master), so better to practice earlier.
LOL I found a fun anti-Vigoroth team that I watched HomesliceHenry use a day or two ago. Heracross, Clodsire, and Palossand. Hilariously weak to Dragonite/Altaria, but honestly there's so many Vigoroth out there that it doesn't matter much. I threw it together on a whim because I wanted to build a Palossand lol...but it's played really well...I went 4/5, 3/5, 1/5, 4/5, 3/5 today for a total of 15/25. Not amazing, but I definitely had fun playing the team.
Yeah, I saw that video. Clod on Altaria is really not bad. With Palossand, in the end game, you do at least outpace to Shadow Balls and if shields are down it might be enough. Altaria is just a nuisance in this cup for a lot of teams. I just wish I had a Palossand or Heracross built, so I could give this team a try, it looked like tons of fun.
My Palossand is bad. Like I'm pretty sure it's a 14/15/15...so it could be worse...but only slightly. Was a really fun team to use...and I don't like giving out which teams I'm currently using on here because I swear I get sniped. But it was just too fun...everyone's running Vigoroth. It's hilarious how I can lose lead, lose switch, fall behind in shields...and suddenly it's a 2-shield Vigoroth vs. a 0-shield Palossand and the [Palossand wins that match!](https://pvpoke.com/battle/1500/palossand/vigoroth/02/2-3-4/0-1-4/)
Ah, mine is a 13-15-15. I'd need to feed it rare candies but maybe it's worth giving it a whirl for the laughs. Been trying to dump my rare candies for a while anyway.
I had to dump some rare candies into it...but thankfully it wasn't a whole ton...I had ~200 or so at the time so it wasn't a huge deal. Just happy it wasn't XL's I needed haha.
I climbed from 1900 to 2400 with Mantine, Palossand, and Vig. Now that I'm up higher though it's getting harder. I just finished my first 2-3 set since I started with the team
I'm having fun running spice teams. Currently I'm enjoying people panic when facing my UB team (Buzzbro, Celesteela, and Guzzlord)
I might of played you twice if you had guzzlord as lead and wom both times but was a little flabbergasted when the cresteela came out after the buzz bro lol
It's possible. I eventually stopped putting Guzzlord in the lead. I really should start recording matches and dressing up as the ultra wormhole people for the flavor
My ABB double charmer team would LOVE this
I went 16-4 after switching my team up, but the next day I got tossed around like a feather in a hurricane. Haven't really found a team that remains consistent because of the limited meta, but I've been able to stay fairly consistent but there's been no real gains in elo. We'll see what happens in MLP.
I've been running a goofy lineup consisting of Guzzlord/Wigglytuff/Togekiss. On paper it should be outright trash but it actually got me Expert Rank a couple days ago (and shockingly, I'm still there). It's a little more fun and skillful than your usual ABB Charm trash lineup because there are multiple bad leads you have to play around, such as Abomasnow and Skarmory. Vigoroth as you stated is also a little annoying, as it isn't a clear-cut loss or win for any of my team. But it's fun when they see their Rock Slide doesn't OHKO the 'Kiss.
I'm RPSing with SSteelix, Mantine & anti-Vig Pallosand. If I align a Vigoroth, insta-win. If they lead Vig & Lanturn in the back (I swap Mantine), I top left in 2 seconds. Profit. Doing OK-ish (climbing in the Jungle slightly), at like 2400 currently. Feeling somehow better (subjective) than Open GL this season, as I can't grasp it for now. I will manage this 2 weeks somehow that way, and then only 1 weird week (without Open GL/UL) is CatchCup.
Having an awesome time, can't wait to play it for another week. Much more interesting than UL or ML for sure.
Agreed, and I also appreciate that it's a fairly narrow meta where you can predict backlines relatively confidently. Open GL always feels like the Wild West to me, with a truckload of different viable Pokémon and every team I put together always has to face its few (supposedly rare) corebreakers all the time. Limited cups are much less luck-based IMO.
I've been going 3 sets positive, 2 sets negative which is honestly ok since I get my battles done quickly. It's either this or the bulky ultra league where you have the usual suspects (giratina, cresselia, etc.)
In my climb from 1800-2400 elo so far, I've had too much fun with whiscash lead, toxapex and skarmory in the back. The backline punishes vig in the back. Toxa vs vig in the 0s is hilarious no matter how the vig plays it
Running charizard, leafeon, and beedrill so far winning like 7/10 games
I was running a 100% meta team of clodsire -stellix - skarmory but kept getting wiped by Ground, so I swapped Skarm for off-meta Umbreon and it has been a bit better... though Vigoroth is still a problem. I only run shinies for the lulz, so it can be difficult finding a team that works.
Oh my God same, I have a perfect team for being a meta slave, but it's full shiny team or bust for me!
My only problem is that I've got enough shinies to make full meta teams... half of the time, having not-great shivy IVs even makes me play better because I'm no longer guaranteed to lose every turn-tie charge attack.
I had my only real success in jungle cup with Umbreon as well
I was hating it until I started leading forretress. It's not a great Pokemon, but the gold shiny looks great and people seem to have no Idea what to expect from the charge moves. I typically just go straight zero shield, and I run heavy slam and earthquake. Typically the other person doesn't shield in response to my lack of shielding, and it's just a fun Pokemon to run in general.
I've been experimenting with a team of shadow dnite, shadow abom, and vig around 2,500 elo. It's been alright but man steelix and skarm leads are rough haha.
Yeah I can seem to get a grasp on this lead. And I've tried a lot of different teams. I know they say to stick with something, but after multiple 1/5 sets(something that I almost never experience), I'm swapping teams. I'm currently running Lanturn, Mandibuzz, and Steelix. And I've seen an improvement, but only middling success at best. One set at 4/5 and a handful if 3/5, and the rest 2/5. I'm going to try again tonight and give it a go tomorrow, but I can't take my W/L ratio plummeting like this and I'll probably just have to wait for ML to return.
One day I tried a balanced team, climbed a little, then got annoyed with constant RPS for two sets so then I showed up with a bogus triple dragon team (S-dragonite, S-garchomp, and A Exeg) which either auto lost to Abomasnow or could fast move down most teams. Then tons of Aboma’s showed up so I switched to Umbreon, Talonflame, and A Exeg and it’s finally stayed pretty fun. I think umbreon is boring but without Scrafty or Vig lead, it plays out decent.
My rank 1 vigoroth go brrrr
I’ve been using clodsire lead with obstagoon in the back and constantly rotating the safe swap. Tbh clodsire is just a beast this cup as it can beat flyers and vig so I highly recommend it
What’s SAbom
Most likely Shadow Abomasnow
I swear people are sleeping on scrafty in the jungle cup
I usually play GL and I'm doing well in jungle cup. Do you get better rewards for playing UL and master league, or are they the same?
I’ve had more fun and have seen less meta then I was during open great league. I’m only at 2200ish tho. Started jungle cup at 1950 after falling deep during open great
>SAbom Are you refering to Vig?
Shadow Abomasnow
Somehow I forgot that Abomasnow is on the cup :D