April - VGC 2011 in a Nutshell

Usable Pokemon List (A-Z Order)

1. Amoonguss
2. Bouffalant
3. Chandelure
4. Conkeldurr
5. Druddigon
6. Eelektross
7. Escavalier
8. Gigalith
9. Haxorus
10. Hydreigon
11. Jellicent
12. Krookodile
13. Landorus
14. Mandibuzz
15. Musharna
16. Reuniclus
17. Samurott
18. Scrafty
19. Terrakion
20. Thundurus
21. Tornadus
22. Volcarona

Here is the list of counters for each highly used pokemon. They are grouped A-Z order.

          Amoonguss

1. Bouffalant
2. Chandelure
3. Musharna
4. Reuniclus
5. Scrafty (Shed Skin only)
6. Tornadus
7. Volcarona
8. Chesto Berry
9. Lum Berry
10. Faster Safeguard
11. Faster Substitute

          Bouffalant

      1. Conkeldurr
      2. Escavalier
      3. Krookodile Check
      4. Gigalith
      5. Terrakion

          Chandelure

1. Druddigon
2. Gigalith
3. Haxorus
4. Hydreigon
5. Krookodile
6. Mandibuzz
7. Samurott
8. Scrafty
9. Terrakion

          Conkeldurr

1. Amoonguss
2. Chandelure
3. Jellicent
4. Landorus
5. Musharna
6. Reuniclus
7. Thundurus w/HP Flying
8. Tornadus (not a switch-in counter but if out at same time then it counters)

          Druddigon

1. Amoonguss
2. Krookodile
3. Escavalier
4. Terrakion @ Fight Jewel
5. Samurott
6. Eelektross w/HP Ice

          Eelektross 

1. Amoonguss
2. Druddigon
3. Haxorus
4. Hydreigon
5. Musharna
6. Reuniclus

          Escavalier

1. Amoonguss
2. Chandelure
3. Conkeldurr
4. Eelektross w/Flamethrower
5. Jellicent
6. Thundurus
7. Volcarona

          Gigalith

1. Amoonguss
2. Conkeldurr
3. Eelektross
4. Escavalier
5. Jellicent
6. Krookodile
7. Landorus
8. Samurott
9. Scrafty
10. Terrakion

          Haxorus

1. Amoonguss
2. Bouffalant
3. Conkeldurr
4. Escavalier
5. Musharna
6. Reuniclus
7. Samurrott
8. Terrakion

          Hydreigon

1. Bouffalant
2. Conkeldurr
3. Escavalier
4. Scrafty
5. Terrakion
6. Volcarona

          Jellicent

1. Amoonguss
2. Boufallant
3. Druddigon
4. Eelektross
5. Hydreigon
6. Reuniclus
7. Samurott
8. Scrafty
9. Thundurus

          Krookodile

1. Amoonguss
2. Conkeldurr
3. Eelektross
4. Escavalier
5. Hydreigon 
6. Samurott

          Landorus

1. Amoonguss
2. Eelektross
3. Hydreigon
4. Jellicent
5. Musharna
6. Reuniclus
7. Samurott
8. Thundurus with HP ice
9. Tornadus with Max Atk Adamant

          Musharna

1. Boufallant
2. Chandelure
3. Druddigon
4. Escavalier
5. Hydreigon
6. Jellicent
7. Krookodile
8. Musharna w/Imprison
9. Reuniclus w/Imprison
10. Scrafty
11. Volcarana
12. Anything that resists Psychic basically.         

          Reuniclus

1. Boufallant
2. Chandelure
3. Druddigon
4. Escavalier
5. Hydreigon
6. Jellicent
   
7. Krookodile
8. Musharna w/Imprison
   
9. Reuniclus w/Imprison
   
10. Scrafty
11. Volcarana
12. Anything that resists Psychic basically.    

          Samurott

1. Amoonguss
2. Conkeldurr
3. Escavalier
4. Hydreigon (Bulky)
5. Musharna
6. Reuniclus

          Scrafty

1. Amoonguss
2. Conkeldurr
3. Eelektross (If Acrobat or Specs)
4. Escavalier
5. Krookodile@Chople Berry
6. Landorus (Unless Ice Punch)
7. Mandibuzz
8. Tornadus
9. Volcarona

          Terrakion

1. Amoonguss
2. Conkeldurr
3. Eelektross@Choice Specs Grass Knot
4. Escavalier
5. Jellicent with Water Gem/Life Orb Scald
6. Krookodile@Chople Berry
7. Landorus
8. Musharna
9. Reuniclus
10. Samurott

         Thundurus

1. Bouffalant
2. Druddigon
3. Eelektross
4. Gigalith
5. Haxorus
6. Hydreigon
7. Musharna
8. Reuniclus 
9. Samurott
10. Terrakion with scarf or high bulk

         Tornadus

1. Gigalith
2. Eelektross
3. Haxorus
4. Musharna
5. Samurott
6. Reuniclus
7. Terrakion (Rock Jewel)
8. Thundurus
9. Anything that walls Acrobat and OHKO's, this includes Band/Specs on a pokemon.

          Volcarona

1. Chandelure
2. Gigalith
3. Haxorus
4. Jellicent
5. Terrakion
6. Samurott

Moves Not to Use in VGC 2011

Accupressure
Aqua Ring
Assist
Assurance
Attract
Beat Up - Gets beat by Rage Powder so Terracot is not something you want to rely on.
Blizzard
Bulldoze
Captivate
Confuse Ray
Dig
Disable
Dive
Electric Net
Encore - Borderline Usable
Explosion - Borderline Usable
Final Gambit
Fire Pledge
Flatter
Fling
Fly
Grass Pledge
Hail
Heal Block
Heal Pulse
Hurricane
Icy Wind
Ingrain
Kinesis
Last Resort
Metronome
Mist
Mud Sport
Outrage - Only if you know how to use it right
Petal Dance - Only if you know how to use it right
Psycho Shock
Psych Up
Razor Wind
Retribution
Snatch
Sonicboom
Splash
Swagger
Sweet Kiss
Sweet Scent
Taunt. (The foe may carry Mental Herb so do not rely on Taunt to phaze anything.)
Telekinesis
Teleport
Thrash - Only if you know how to use it right
Thunder
Uturn
Volt Change
Water Pledge

And these statements in bold describe things in general to avoid:

1. Two Substitute users in the back of a team. Exception: You have Protect AND Substitute on at least one of the pokemon used in the back. 
2. Anything that lowers the offensive stats of foe(s) by one stage at a time (within 1 turn)   
3. Any move that targets an ally (Single attacking, for example swagger lum combo)
4. Any move where high accuracy is dependent on weather 
5. Any move that hits a random target 
6. Any move that raises a defensive stat, or accuracy (Exception is a move that may raise say a defensive stat, but also raises an offensive stat within the same turn. One example of an exception may be Quiver Dance. ) Gravity is not a usable move, because it only raises accuracy; unless you are primarily using it to make the foes vulnerable to a ground move, you should not use it.
7. Any move under 85 accuracy 
8. Any move that could have perfect accuracy but you chose to use say Fire Blast over Flamethrower because it has more power; unless the power is extremely larger, do not go for more power if you can get more accuracy with less power 
9. Any move that recharges (Exception is Eject Button or Whirlwinding your ally so they don't need to recharge.) 
10. Entry Hazards
 11. Any pokemon who relies on a speed tie against other common pokemon of the same speed. Exceptions include: 1. Foe is a pokemon that you can easily wall any of its attacks, For example, you use max speed timid Thundurus against a Tornadus that might have the same speed, knowing you can wall Acrobat and then kill it if Tornadus happens to outspeed. Also in Bring6Pick4 you do not have to use say a Thundurus, so if you see the foe has a pokemon with the same speed as Thundurus, you might want to avoid picking it.
 12. Any pokemon that has a 4x weakness unless Focus Sash or damage reducing berry reduces that 4x weakness 
13. Any pokemon with a more than one 4x weakness without Focus Sash
14. Any move that only works one time, and cannot use the move even after the foe protected the first one. For example, Fling gets your item thrown off even if the foe protects. Then it is gone forever.
15. Any move that is a multi-turn attack that doesn't break protect. Future Sight in Gen V breaks protect, so it is usable. However, Fly is not.
16. Two weaknesses as a lead combo to the same move. For example, Tornadus Chandelure lead is both weak to Rock Slide. Or it doesn't even need to be a spread move. It could be something like Terrakion Conkeldurr lead,(yes I know doesn't make much sense but just an example) that is both weak to Psychic. You don't want to get into a prediction war of who they will Psychic, and if your lead is weak against spread moves that is even worse. If you know in bring6pick4 that they are guaranteed not to have a move that your lead would both share a weakness for, then you can lead like that, but generally speaking avoid using a common weakness as a lead combo.
17. Try to avoid weight-based moves such as grass knot unless the only alternative is a hidden power. For example Grass knot is better on Samurott than HP grass, however Low Kick is not better on Conkeldurr than Hammer Arm or Drain Punch, because you need to do consistently high damage.
18. Try not to use choice items such as Choice Scarf, Choice Band, or Choice Specs. These severely limit your move variety, which is crucial to success. Plus it does not allow for other items to greatly counter your weaknesses.  It makes your wins inconsistent, and the speed increase or power increase is not worth it overall. Choice items are especially bad with moves that hit allies, whether STAB or not. This is because there are many times when it could hit an ally and you are locked in and can't do anything about it. Just avoid a move like Earthquake in general with a choice item. Choiced mons often get revenge killed easily and get picked off with priority with no way to defend itself. 
19. Two pokemon with the same exact typing. For example, Tornadus and Braviary on the same team. 

Counter-Phazing Ideas

1. After You
2. Ally Switch (The Move)
3. Chesto Berry
4. Disable
5. Encore
6. Faster Fake Out than the foe.
7. Lum Berry
8. Magic Coat
9. Mental Herb
10. Prankster
11. Rage Powder
12. Safeguard
13. Snatch
14. Two Fake Out immunities
15. Shed Skin
16. Spore
17. Worry Seed

Phazing Tier

Fake Out > Spore > ImprisonTR > Roar/Whirlwind >Dragon Tail > Fast Guard

Tail Room Criteria

1. Tailwind Lead
2. Trick Room Lead
3. Tailwinder can also be the Trick Roomer, but not required
4. Trick Room or Tailwind is not relied upon in the back to win the speed war

Basically the idea is to get up Tailwind and if the foes happen to have faster pokemon, you would Trick Room instead of Tailwind; or wait until they set up Tailwind sometimes if you don't outspeed them, before you Trick Room. That way they will be twice as slow after Trick Room is up, since they put up a Tailwind. Another use of the theme is to reverse Trick Room that the foe set up in order to maintain the speed advantage against a Trick Room team. Jellicent seems to work really well for Tail Room, as well as Whimiscott, since Whimiscott learns Trick Room, and Tailwind.

Problems with Turbo Room

1. Speed ties
2. Faster opposing pokemon
3. Scarfed foes
4. Opposing pokemon with unexpected speeds (i.e you expect Modest Hydreigon in Tailwind but turns out to be Timid.)
5. The foe has a mixture of speeds, like one super fast one like say Thundurus, and a slower one as well like Amoonguss. This is a problem because you can't simply Trick Room to solve the problem of being outsped by the foes.