RBY RMT: Victreebel is Mine

[Zook]

There's going to be a RBY tourney in my area soon, and I just had to join. The rules are pretty simple: sleep clause, no double Pokemon, no legendaries (includes the birds), and *maybe* tradebacks from GSC are allowed. I don't know much about RBY battling, though, so I thought I'd bounce some ideas off of you guys before I start training a team. Right now its based on getting as many Pokemon paralyzed as possible before finishing them off with Rhydon/Victreebel. Here's what I'm thinking of so far:

Gyarados
-Body Slam
-Hyper Beam
-Surf/Blizzard
-Thunderbolt

Hits stuff. Yep. Hopefully catch Alakazam or Starmie or something on a switch in with Body Slam and finish him off with Hyper Beam. I'm not sure whether Surf or Blizzard would be more useful; without the legendary birds flying around, Blizzard seems less useful than Surf, but it would hit Exeggutor and other Grass-type leads harder.

Jolteon
-Thunderbolt
-Thunderwave
-Body Slam
-Double Kick/Agility

Paralyzes things, that's pretty much it. I'm not sure if Double Kick is worth using, as it would barely scratch Rhydon and Golem. Maybe use Agility to prevent him from being useless if he gets paralyzed? And would it raise his crit hit rate?

Clefable
-Thunder/Body Slam
-Blizzard
-Sing
-Thunder Wave

Spreads more status. Maybe put in Body Slam to deal with high-special Pokemon?

Gengar
-Explode
-Thunderbolt
-Confuse Ray/Hypnosis
-Mega Drain/Hypnosis/Ice Punch

Comes out when a lot of their Pokemon are paralyzed, and generally acts annoying until he blows up. Not sure if I should go for Mega Drain for Golem/Rhydon, Hypnosis for more luls, or Ice Punch (if trade backs are allowed) for Exeggutor for the last slot. Maybe slap Hypnosis on there and use it as my lead?

Rhydon
-Earthquake
-Body Slam
-Rock Slide
-Substitute

Hits things. Hopefully spreads more para around. Yep.

Victreebel
-Razor Leaf
-Hyper Beam/Body Slam
-Swords Dance
-Sleep Powder

This guy comes out when most of their team is paralyzed, and when I can set up a Swords Dance. Not sure if I should use Body Slam for extra para insurance, or Hyper Beam for more killing. Does he get anything good in GSC I could trade back?

Any advice is appreciated! I'm considering replacing some Pokemon, too, so make suggestions if you see fit.

 

[kirbyraeg]

Right up my alley since even though I haven't played RBY competitively, IT'S THE ONLY GENERATION OF POKEMON GAMES THAT DIDN'T SUCK AND OMG NOSTALGIA. (no really, even though I've played every other generation, the first ones are the only time where the game itself lets you take things simply and use your favorites instead of giving you the knowledge that you're using imperfect pokemon in an imperfect game)

The team:

There's going to be a RBY tourney in my area soon, and I just had to join. The rules are pretty simple: sleep clause, no double Pokemon, no legendaries (includes the birds), and *maybe* tradebacks from GSC are allowed. I don't know much about RBY battling, though, so I thought I'd bounce some ideas off of you guys before I start training a team. Right now its based on getting as many Pokemon paralyzed as possible before finishing them off with Rhydon/Victreebel. Here's what I'm thinking of so far:

Gyarados
-Body Slam
-Hyper Beam
-Surf/Blizzard
-Thunderbolt

Hits stuff. Yep. Hopefully catch Alakazam or Starmie or something on a switch in with Body Slam and finish him off with Hyper Beam. I'm not sure whether Surf or Blizzard would be more useful; without the legendary birds flying around, Blizzard seems less useful than Surf, but it would hit Exeggutor and other Grass-type leads harder.

I think blizzard is better since you're likely to encounter a grass type with Sleep Powder in the lead slot. Other than that, it's fine, and i LOVE gyarados.

Jolteon
-Thunderbolt
-Thunderwave
-Body Slam
-Double Kick/Agility

Paralyzes things, that's pretty much it. I'm not sure if Double Kick is worth using, as it would barely scratch Rhydon and Golem. Maybe use Agility to prevent him from being useless if he gets paralyzed? And would it raise his crit hit rate?

Jolteon is cool, but I think that since you're focusing more on victreebel to sweep, that you should use a pokemon that has better utility that can also paralyze more stuff, like Starmie (surf/recover/thunder wave/thunderbolt(psychic?)). Psychic would help vs. all the grass/poisons who could potentially stall out victreebel or paralyze it with body slam, leaving it able to be picked off by a teammate, while jolteon is also unable to damage them much. Alakazam (psychic/thunder wave/recover/psybeam(seismic toss)) would be a similar pokemon that can abuse Thunder Wave and has good special bulk and Recover, but it leaves a lot to be desired as far as coverage options.

Clefable
-Thunder/Body Slam
-Blizzard
-Sing
-Thunder Wave

Spreads more status. Maybe put in Body Slam to deal with high-special Pokemon?

I don't think you need more than one dedicated thunder wave pokemon, especially since Starmie is so useful. Since your team is very offensive, I think a better way to take advantage of it is to have a stronger user of Body Slam, such as Tauros (body slam/hyper beam/earthquake/???), who can threaten to sweep on his own if you can't paralyze the opponent with its good crit chance and attack. If you wanted a bulky supporter rather than a backup sweeper, Snorlax would fit the slot better than Clefable (body slam/earthquake/selfdestruct/hyper beam), as it could weaken or kill a lot of things while paralyzing with the strongest Body Slam in the game.


Gengar
-Explode
-Thunderbolt
-Confuse Ray/Hypnosis
-Mega Drain/Hypnosis/Ice Punch

Comes out when a lot of their Pokemon are paralyzed, and generally acts annoying until he blows up. Not sure if I should go for Mega Drain for Golem/Rhydon, Hypnosis for more luls, or Ice Punch (if trade backs are allowed) for Exeggutor for the last slot. Maybe slap Hypnosis on there and use it as my lead?

Explosion/thunderbolt/Hypnosis/Confuse Ray is a good idea, if only because you're focusing so much on paralyzing the opponent that you will want the opportunity to switch Victreebel in for free, which parafusion might help with. Mega drain is still good, but I think with victreebel you could benefit more from confuse ray. Hypnosis is notoriously inaccurate, so idk if using it is a good idea at all, but it's one of the best options it has...

Rhydon
-Earthquake
-Body Slam
-Rock Slide
-Substitute

Hits things. Hopefully spreads more para around. Yep.

Solid. And necessary. Maybe try Golem with Explosion over substitute, but either way you neeeeeeeeeeed one of those.

Victreebel
-Razor Leaf
-Hyper Beam/Body Slam
-Swords Dance
-Sleep Powder

This guy comes out when most of their team is paralyzed, and when I can set up a Swords Dance. Not sure if I should use Body Slam for extra para insurance, or Hyper Beam for more killing. Does he get anything good in GSC I could trade back?

The choice depends on how effective you think Tauros/Snorlax and Starmie/Zam will be in paralyzing the opponent. I honestly think they can cover most stuff, so Hyper Beam is the best choice for a sweeping set.

Any advice is appreciated! I'm considering replacing some Pokemon, too, so make suggestions if you see fit.

Comments in color. Good luck with the tournament!

 

[Riddle]

Just as a sidenote to kirbyraeg, the Rhydon/Golem requirement of RBY OU is much less important here because Zapdos is banned.

 

[mood4food77]

i'm pretty sure you have to run Rhydon/Golem because of how good they are and the fact they check any physical threat out there

mostly snorlax, tauros, and persian (but only real BAMFs use persian)

use starmie over jolteon, starmie's movepool is like 29420432 times better than jolteon's while checking everything jolteon does and then some, all while providing the same role

can't chansey run the same exact set as clefable but better? but use tauros, he's the best user of body slam and has good bulk

and lastly, as a lead, gyara wants blizzard, exeggutor is too common

 

[Riddle]

The reason Rhydon/Golem are absolutely REQUIRED is Zapdos, but they have other benefits obviously.

 

[mood4food77]

zapdos was that good first gen?

i knew it was good, but i didn't think he was THAT good

 

[Riddle]

Basically nothing else beat him lol.

 

[kalvar]

teach that jolteon pin missile so it can take out psychic types easy

 

[UltiMario]

What a terrible bump

 

[0RLY]

Hopefully catch Alakazam or Starmie or something on a switch in with Body Slam and finish him off with Hyper Beam.

Early game, your opponent could easily bring in their Rhydon or Golem and Rock Slide you. That's one disappointed Gyarados. I also agree with Kalvar's and Kirbyraeg's suggestions.