PFA Season 13 - Pokémon Draft Analysis

Hello! I am AbruptFury - the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafeons. I used to post draft league analyses and reports but ended up losing interest toward the later part of the season. The reason for that may have been that there was too much detail to record that felt unnecessary; like how plays were being made every individual turn. To make that more tolerable, I will only explain how a turn played out when the turn isn't simply straightforward. That should help make my blog post more entertaining for anyone reading it as well. There may be other changes that I will come up with at a later date in the same vein.

Now, it's time to move onto the draft for Pokemon Forever Association's 13th season! Let us hope the number won't be indicative of how my luck will go. I'm really excited about this season! Might be the one where I take home my first championship.

Rules of the Draft

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FkWwYzkuWKZ1DS3xS_k7fT8GzzgPrfApGOWmGVLepPo/edit?usp=sharing

This link will tell you all about the rules of this Pokemon draft league. It goes into great depth. Since I am well-versed with the rules of this league, allow me to introduce you to the most important set for how I picked my team members.

Every team should have the following:

• 1 Mega - A Pokemon that can Mega Evolve from the "M0" tier list to the "M4" one. What this means is that we understood the difference in power between Mega Evolutions and decided to either remove points for the coach's Free picks, keep them the same, or give them points for Free picks based on which Mega they chose.
• 1 S tier - Outside of Mega evolutions, this tier comprises Pokemon bordering on the line of banworthy. Not even all 400  of your Free pick points (give or take your choice of Mega) could buy another one.
• 1 A tier - Powerful but not borderline broken, this tier carries some much-needed power, bulk, speed, utility - you name it! With 180 points, you can get another.
• 1 B tier - Still very strong with similar traits to A tier, but it may be a little easier to exploit their weaknesses. With 120 points, you can get another.
• 2 C tiers - This is the last tier that tends to carry the types of Pokemon that you can consistently find useful in filling roles on your team. With 100 points, you can invest in one or two more pretty comfortably.
• 1 D tier - By this point, you have to fight other coaches for good options before they are gone. These Pokemon can still prove useful in battle - you just have to get the one that suits your team the best. With 60 points, you could land 2 or more extra of these.
• 1 E tier - This is the bottom of the barrel. Since there are no tiers below, you will find literally everything else in this tier. If you have a keen eye or experience with low-tier threats, you will thrive here. With 40 points, you tend to use this as a means of getting a low-budget pick because the rest of your team was so high-budget.
• 4 Free Picks - This is where your points come into play. By default, you have 400. Depending on your Mega, you may lose or gain points - it may not even change with a middling Mega pick. You can average these points between your picks, or use the opportunity to get yourself a massive threat that forces your opponent to respect it in team prep. It's your call.

With that out of the way, let us delve into which Pokemon I chose.

Return of the Fury

Round 1

I will give credit to my assistant coach and friend, Black117 (Kiev). He is an insanely good teambuilder and battler in the draft league format. So of course I wanted his advice going into this season. The first suggestion he made was Mega Gallade. It is a Pokemon that I was always interested in but felt like it was easy to take advantage of. Two things that really help it out this generation are: Inner Focus stops Intimidate from lowering Mega Gallade's massive 165 base Attack stat, and it gets a powerful move in the form of Triple Axel. It isn't 100% consistent but it can possibly take down a Dragon who is holding a Yache Berry (Ice resist berry) with ease and break through Flying types might otherwise burden Mega Gallade.

Since I was the second pick in the draft, I didn't have much to fear. The coach before me might opt for something else. And they did.

Like I mentioned already - Mega Gallade has a powerful Attack stat at base 165. This paired with a solid Speed stat at base 110. This makes it a real terror if you lack the appropriate speed or bulky Pokemon to take it on. Unfortunately, it resides in Mega Tier 0 - meaning that it cost me 60 of my 400 Free pick points right off the bat. But I don't care. This Pokemon is amazing. With one Swords Dance, it can bring many teams to their knees. Even if it doesn't get a clean sweep, the damage that it inflicts might be too much to recover from.

It has a great movepool. There is great utility in Knock Off and Will-o-Wisp. I could even run it as a Trick Room user to throw my opponent off completely. Close Combat and Zen Headbutt are its best STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) moves. Leaf Blade, Poison Jab, Ice Punch/Triple Axel, Rock Slide, Shadow Sneak, and X-Scissor can all help round out the coverage on Mega Gallade's moveset. I have high hopes for this Pokemon.

Round 2

Mega evolutions bring great power to any team. Most of the time, the team supports a Mega Evolution. With my next pick, I plan to do just that. Since the S tier is so small, the best strategy was to get something that paired well with Mega Gallade before all the good options were gone. At that point, I might have type overlap and role redundances. I could choose to go offensive or bulky but instead picked both.

Our second pick of the draft is a sturdy wall with great offensive possibilities. Celesteela's stats are all balanced outside of its Speed stat - which can actually be fixed with Autotomize. Steel/Flying is a wonderful defensive typing. It can stave off attacks from Fairies and Psychics that like to pester Mega Gallade. Ground and Spike immunities are always welcome. It also provides immunity to Poison attacks and status moves like Sludge Bomb and Toxic/Toxic Spikes respectively.

It can wall out Ground, Dragon, Flying, Fairy, Psychic, Normal, Grass, Poison, and other Steel types that lack good coverage moves to deal with it. Leech Seed gives it a recovery option against most Pokemon while simultaneously weakening them. Grass types are not affected by Leech Seed, but Celesteela gets access to moves like Flamethrower and Air Slash which threaten to KO them. Heavy Slam is possibly Celesteela's most terrifying move. It is so ungodly heavy, that it pretty much gets the attack off at max damage (120 base damage) against everything. There are exceptions, but they really are few and far between. It has great options in physical attacks and special attacks - making it tough to prepare for using designated walls.

Autotomize fixes Celesteela's biggest problem in its Speed stat. In conjunction with Beast Boost (an ability that increases Celesteela's best default stat with every Pokemon it faints), Celesteela can definitely sweep through an opponent with either a physical or special attacking set. Paired with Weakness Policy, nothing survives. Its natural bulk allows you to survive one supereffective move, and then you just win unless your opponent has a strong priority attacker left. This Pokemon is a nightmare to deal with.

Round 3

Working my way down through the tiers seemed like a good decision, so I chose my A-tier pick next. Something I had neglected in former drafts was strong bulk. A resilient Pokemon with great defenses and offensive potential would be ideal. A hazard removal option would also be greatly appreciated.

Gliscor is an amazing Pokemon with so many options in offense, defense, and support/utility. It is made even better by the fact that Hidden Power was banned as it is a legacy move. So no one can run tech Hidden Power Ice against me. This makes it much easier to understand what I am up against when facing down my opponent's Pokemon. Pairing Toxic Orb with Poison Heal as its ability, it gets a great chunk of healing with every turn that passes. If Gliscor is poisoned, that means it can't be burned, paralyzed, or put to sleep by status moves. That can be extremely useful against status spam. This also means that Gliscor can get its item knocked off and not care as long as it is already poisoned. If it does get knocked off before I can get poisoned, Gliscor could pivot out and strategically switch in on anything that might want to go for Toxic.

This Pokemon's stats are well-rounded with Special Attack being the one thing it doesn't do well. This is fine though; it serves plenty of roles perfectly. It can go on the offensive by using Swords Dance and Agility to boost its already good Attack and Speed to dangerous levels for my opponent. It can pivot using U-turn. It has access to Toxic, Taunt, and Defog. Knock Off can be spammed mercilessly to remove items and hinder threats.

Gliscor's typing, ability in Poison Heal, and Roost allow it to play an impressive defensive pivot. It comes in to resist hits and dance around threats with a U-turn. This Pokemon also provides me with another Ground immunity - as well as an Electric-type one too. This is great for Celesteela who hates strong Electric type attackers. And despite having two Flying-types on my team, they both have completely different weaknesses. Therefore, they can function as partners perfectly fine.

Round 4

Unfortunately, I was grocery shopping with my girlfriend during my next 3 picks and got skipped. I needed to quickly pick up where I left off without falling too far behind.

Kiev (my assistant coach) helped me figure out how to get the most value possible for those picks. He suggested something versatile that he had experience with from past drafts. It gave me another Defog user as well which removes the burden on Gliscor of having to wield Defog every game. It can also be used to pivot around my opponent similar to Gliscor. This will be my first C tier of the draft.

Silvally is a Pokemon that can utilize its many Formes to accomplish whatever it sets out to do. Like I mentioned, it gets Defog - which is always useful for hazard removal purposes. Its base stats are base 95 across the board which is pretty decent. It has a 120 base power physical attacking move in the form of Multi-Attack. This move will always have STAB since it uses a Memory that Silvally holds to determine the type of the attack. By default, the attack is Normal-type - which is perfect for default Silvally.

With access to Swords Dance, Silvally can become a major threat with Multi-Attack and whatever coverage option I decide to pair in its moveset. Other physical attacking options Explosion, Crunch, the elemental fangs (Thunder Fang/Fire Fang/Ice Fang), Iron Head, Outrage, Psychic Fangs, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, and Zen Headbutt. On the special side, there's Hyper Voice, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Shadow Ball - to name a few. In terms of utility, U-turn and Parting Shot work to pivot around the opponent. Parting Shot doesn't cause damage but allows Silvally to lower both of the opposing Pokemon's attacking stats by one stage.

Round 5

For my fifth pick, I wanted to get something that is explicitly meant to take Water-type attacks. A cleric and/or Wish support would also assist in keeping my offensive threats healthy - as well as my walls that lack a proper means of quick recovery (i.e. Celesteela). There is an option that I am particularly familiar with. Here is my second C-tier pick of the draft.

Vaporeon is a fantastic defensive Pokemon that has a respectable base 110 Special Attack stat. Water is such an easily spammable type. Between Scald and Ice Beam, few Pokemon can afford to set up on Vaporeon without being significantly weakened, knocked out, or statused by burn or freeze respectively. The bulk of this Pokemon can be tailored effectively to your specific needs. Water Absorb allows Vaporeon to heal when hit by a Water-type attack. The opponent must always keep this in the back of their mind when attacking something like my Gliscor. Otherwise, they will simply heal my Pokemon with no downside on my part.

There are other special attacks in Vaporeon's arsenal that can support it, like Hyper Voice and Shadow Ball. Despite shallow coverage in its movepool, this Pokemon is still resisted by very little. Anything that resists, may have trouble with Toxic. Heal Bell makes Vaporeon hard to break by using status moves. Wish coming off of Vaporeon's base 130 HP stat is convenient in healing not only itself - but its teammates as well. Roar can be used to phase out setup sweepers. Flip Turn allows for slow pivoting against threats so that I may also bring in with heavy hitters safely.

Round 6

The sixth pick for the draft helped finally catch me back up with my fellow coaches. Outside of Mega Gallade, nothing outpaces base 100-speed threats. I need a good Dark type to support my team as well. Mega Gallade doesn't like spooky Ghosts. Psychic teams can take both of Mega Gallade's STABs without being broken down. Kiev had experience with this Pokemon and swore by its ability to smash through threats and dance around teams simultaneously.

Zarude is one of the new Mythical Pokemon in Pokemon Sword and Shield. It is a Grass/Dark-type. Its stats make it perform best as a strong physical attacker who is also speedy. However, Zarude is no glass cannon. It has great defenses as well. Just make sure to avoid Bug-type attacks. Unfortunately, its only ability is Leaf Guard, which only has use on sun teams or against them. The raw power and speed were what made it ideal to me though.

Base 105 Attack works perfectly on my team. Unlike Mega Gallade, Zarude can hold a Choice Scarf and become even faster than in its base form - getting the jump on things that would otherwise presume themselves faster. It also allows me to speed creep opposing Choice Scarf users like Victini. U-turn gets Zarude out of sticky situations against that it has an unfavorable matchup. Even though it is a Dark-type, it lacks Knock Off. It's a strong move with great utility. Darkest Lariat can be useful against Pokemon and since it ignores boosts to the opponent's defensive stats. Moves like Cosmic Power, Cotton Guard, and Acid Armor. Power Whip is a strong STAB Grass-type option for pounding Pokemon into the ground. Acrobatics can help out against Bug and Fighting types that like to trouble Zarude. Close Combat can take care of Ice, Steel, and Dark types. Iron Tail can be used against Fairies to beat them - another type that hits this Pokemon for supereffective damage. Rock Slide beats Flying, Ice, Bug, and Fire types.

Round 7

There were two strong options going into the next round. Infernape and Dragonite. I did need a Fire-type but was hesitant to double up on Fighting-types so soon. Dragonite has a nasty physical Attack stat with options using its Special Attack too. I knew I needed a Dragon-type too and the options were running thin since most people scoop those up quickly. Not to mention, you don't find many good Dragons in the lower tiers. Here is my second A tier.

With a 134 base Attack stat, Dragonite can be a brutal breaker with Choice Band or Weakness Policy or a strong sweeper using Dragon Dance. It gets plenty of powerful moves like the new Dual Wingbeat, Earthquake, Outrage, Iron Head, the elemental punches (Thunderpunch/Fire Punch/Ice Punch), Aqua Tail, and Superpower. Hurricane, Draco Meteor, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, and Hydro Pump make Dragonite a formidable threat on the special side too. It even gets utility in Heal Bell, Roost, Defog, and Haze.

Admittedly, it wasn't until after the draft that I noticed just how bad Dragonite is supported on my team. I forgot that it couldn't hold Heavy-Duty Boots to remove Stealth Rock as a threat of breaking Dragonite's Multiscale. Multiscale reduces any attack to 50% damage if the Pokemon with the ability is at full health. The reason it can't hold HDB is that A tiers and above are have been disallowed in this league. This is almost certainly going to cause me to make a change to this slot later down the line. I haven't used Dragonite in a draft league before, but this really isn't the team for it.

Round 8

A good Electric type would certainly be a great asset (especially since I have a Fighting-type Mega evolution). My options are limited to the D and E tier, however. All that is affordable to me now are three D-tier picks and two E-tier ones. I have two Knock Off users, but could certainly use more. On one of my past teams, I had 5 of them. And it was such a great team. Perhaps an analysis of that team will be in the works. At a later date. 

Anyway, enough rambling. Here is my 8th pick. My first D-tier.

Eelektross is an interesting low-tier Electric that I have always wanted to draft. So many times have I gone with Jolteon, Zapdos, or a Rotom forme. Those Electrics are indeed solid Pokemon. For a budget pick, Eelektross has lots to offer as well.

First off, its most noticeable feature is its lack of a Ground-type weakness due to it having the Levitate ability. The only Pokemon that can hit it for supereffective damage are ones that can change its typing or add another to it, and Pokemon that have the Mold Breaker ability and a Ground-type move in their movepool. Eelektross's base 115 Attack and base 105 Special Attack make it an effective mixed attacker. It has plenty of options for physical and special attacks too. Wild Charge, Knock Off, Thunderbolt/Discharge, elemental punches, Acid Spray, Crunch, Giga Drain, Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, and Superpower are all great options. Knock Off helps remove pesky items. Super Fang chunks the opponent for 50% of its health at the moment of impact. 

Base 50 Speed means that this Pokemon is not outpacing many things. However, this means that Eelektross can get off a slow pivot using Volt Switch or U-turn. This can be ideal for getting another Pokemon in to threaten my opponent's team. Assault Vest can work to buff Eeletross's decent bulk to where it can sponge one or more attacks and retaliate.

Round 9

I still need a Fire-type; one that can function as a wall breaker. In the D tier, there weren't a whole lot of options. Considering the fact that I already had 3 Flying types, Charizard did seem like the right candidate. It might be hard for it to break when it is forced to run HDB every game. Either that or I support it extremely effectively with Defog. In that spot, it might be hard to ever hazard stack since I did not draft a Rapid Spinner.

There was another Pokemon. A physical hard-hitting Pokemon. It does have the Fighting-type as its secondary typing, but I justified it by the fact that this Pokemon could take a Fairy-type attack a bit better than Infernape would. Infernape is kind of frail. Here is my 9th pick and second D-tier choice.

Emboar has a really good 123 base Attack stat. In tandem with its Hidden Ability Reckless, it hits even harder with moves like Flare Blitz and Head Smash - which it has access to both. Fire/Fighting as a type combo has been done to death, but it is really quite effective. There are some bulky Waters and Psychics that might be fine with switching in on it. With moves like Head Smash, Wild Charge, and Outrage in its movepool, they may want to be wary.

A Flame Charge set can fix Emboar's problem of being slow while giving it the option to switch up moves. Choice Scarf is another speed-increasing capability but will result in it being locked into one move. Sometimes this is fine though. Emboar hits so hard with Flare Blitz and Superpower. Curse can assist in making Emboar more physically imposing by boosting Attack and Defense, at the cost of its already mediocre speed. Leftovers or Rest can help keep it healthy so that it can actually make use of these boosted stats. Taunt is an option that can stop moves like Stealth Rock, Recover, or Trick Room from occurring.

Round 10

For this pick, I chose something that I thought would compliment some of my teammates nicely. Against certain Pokemon like Blacephalon, I struggle on paper. This Pokemon, however, is one of the best switch-ins you could ask for against Ghost/Fire coverage. It has access to Stealth Rock too while also being reliable at setting it. It gets self-recovery and all three of its abilities are potentially useful. The matchup will decide which one I use (assuming that I bring this Pokemon in the first place). This is my third and final D-tier pick.

Miltank is something that I am familiar with. This Pokemon has performed effectively on my former teams. It is another example of being able to tank hits and do enough damage to threaten the opponent. Setting up Substitute is pretty much a no-go for the opponent. It will likely be broken the same turn it goes up thanks to Miltank's decent Attack stat of base 80.

For its abilities, Scrappy allows it to hit Ghosts with Normal and Fighting-type attacks. This can be incredibly useful when paired with Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance. No Pokemon really want to take it on except for maybe Magnezone/Magneton (who hate Miltank's Earthquake) and Zapdos - or maybe a bulky Rotom forme. Milk Drink gives it 50% of its overall health back. Heal Bell makes it another cleric option for my team outside of Vaporeon - being able to heal status afflictions on its teammates and itself. Moves like Body Slam, Earthquake, Seismic Toss, Toxic, Play Rough, and the elemental punches make it tough to completely shut down.

Despite being a D-tier, this Pokemon tends to put in great work and I am so glad to have it again.

Round 11

At this point, I was only allowed an E-tier pick and had 40 points left - which meant another E-tier pick. As I stated before, that tier is rather unimpressive. It's best just to take the opportunity to get whatever you can to patch up outstanding weaknesses. In my case, there was no Fairy-type on the team - unless you count Silvally-Fairy. However, that pressures Silvally into playing that role every single game. To take that burden off of its shoulders, I decided to look for a low-budget, half-decent Fairy-type.

Wigglytuff has a massive HP stat and decent defensive potential. The utility options were what really caught my eye. Yet another Stealth Rock and user and Wish support option. Frisk as an ability means that this Pokemon can scout the opponent's items upon entering the field. Competitive takes stat drops that might occur from Intimidate or Defog and turns them into a Special Attack boost which serves to make Wigglytuff offensive power into an actual threat. Cute Charm isn't quite as useful but could be abused against a Pokemon that can only be a certain gender.

Similar to its counterpart Clefable, it has similar movepool options. Where it fails to be better is in its abilities, stat distribution, and a few coverage options. The secondary Normal-type can be a blessing or a curse. On my team, I do have some options against Fighting-types, so it doesn't hurt me too much to have them hitting Wigglytuff for neutral damage. A Fairy-type helps me out against the many powerful Dragons out there.

Round 12

Finally, we are at the end. It has been a great journey through the draft, but I am eager to start fighting some of the other coaches' teams. My team is not only missing a Ghost - but a Poison-type too. A Ghost can keep my opponent from using Rapid Spin to remove my hazards and keep theirs. A grounded Poison-type (one that doesn't fly or Levitate) can come in and immediately soak up Toxic Spikes with its mere presence. Unfortunately, I couldn't get anything like that this far into the draft - but I was able to get a nice low-tier Special Attacker that tends to get picked up all the time as a low-budget pick.

Haunter is no Gengar, but he has a really good Special Attacking stat at base 115 and Speed at base 95. As a Life Orb attacker and a Choice Scarf user, this Pokemon can put in some decent work against fully-evolved Pokemon in higher tiers. Sludge Bomb and Shadow are great moves in conjunction with Haunter's typing. Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Dark Pulse, and Psychic are all good coverage options to fill out its moveset. Will-o-Wisp, Nasty Plot, Trick, and Destiny Bond could be useful in certain matchups. This was honestly a perfect option to fill my team out at this point.

Conclusion

I feel pretty good about this team, but there are certain optimizations that I intend to make. This was also discussed with my assistant coach, Kiev. Shoutout to him for being such a huge help in that draft and in considering Free Agency/trade transactions. Those changes won't happen until after week 2 concludes because that's how our league is. We decided to implement that rule in order for people to actually get accustomed to using their team before they choose to drastically change things around and regret it later. It also sucks to have someone just outright counter-teaming people every single week because they didn't optimize their team properly.

This team should be fine for the time being. I will look to identify problems in teambuilding (and in battle) and fix them accordingly.

Wish me luck and thank you for reading!