Smogon Community

Down with the Suspects! [A UU RMT (peaked at #5)]

Flamewheeler — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:53:24 GMT

Well, I can't say I have been using this team consistently throughout testing, but I can say it has been one of my most successful. I actually retired this team and began to experiment, but today, I decided to comeback to it and see how it faired. I made a few tweaks to it and they seem to have helped, but it's current success rate can be due to me not getting haxed as much. =/ Also, for all of you who were wondering, this is the team that got me to #5 on leaderboard. ^_^ I'd thought I'd share my success with the rest of you UUers out there. In a few days, or less, this team will probably need a major revamp or become completely obsolete, so here it is for your reading pleasure!

Moltres @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 60 HP/196 Spd/252 SAtk
Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Air Slash

Description: Ahhh, the good ol' bird. I have used this lead variant before (created by LonelyNess) and I still love it. When I first started with this team, her nature was Timid, but I really did notice the loss in power, especially on things like milotic, who are, yes, still pretty common. I do however, have to watch out for positive base 80s (speed); things like venusaur with sleep powder because she doesn't outspeed them, and that can hurt sometimes.
Evs: I wanted to keep her semi-bulky, so she could take a few hits and be able to roost off the damage with little worry, hence the HP evs. Max SAtk is a given because I wanted her to hit as hard as possible, and I gave her a few extra speed Evs in order to outspeed other LN lead variants (not too common these days =/). The spped Evs also allow her to outrun neutral base 80s; things like bulky venusaur and (sometimes) arcanine.
Moveset: Air Slash and Fire Blast for obvious reasons. Roost is for that instant recovery, and to keep her alive if stealth rock is on the field. Hp grass is to hit those bulky waters and rock/ground types for heavy damage. Suprisingly, a lot of rhyperior like to stay in on her, only to receive a swift KO.
==============================================

Honchkrow (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
EVs: 252 Atk/252 Spd/4 SDef
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Brave Bird
- Superpower
- Sucker Punch
- Roost

Description: Yet another powerful birdy. Three words: this thing rapes. On the old version of this team, this slot used to be held by spiritomb, but I haven't seen much gallde, and tomb just doesn't do much outside of that. =/ Now, honchy works as my main wall breaker, and a good one at that. She gives me a vital answer to sleep inducing moves, and attacking prowess that spiritomb could never offer. Before the addition of honchy, I had a little trouble with stall, something I never like to have; it was not unbeatable, but was significantly harder to beat. There isn't much more I can say that you don't already know, so why continue?
Evs: Standard evs in order to maximize her damage output and sweeping/wall breaking potential.
Moveset: Sucker punch is a staple on any non-choiced honchy. Superpower rounds out the set annd gives it an answer to pesky rocks and steels, whilst providing near perfect coverage alongside sucker punch. Brave Bird is what makes honchkrow so effective these days, imo. When she had drill peck, she was great, but now she's just plain awesome. Roost got the nod over pursuit or night slash, because I want to keep her a live as long as possible, she forces enough switches to use it effectively, and I lack a spinner. I'd also rather hit something (not steel or rock) hard on the switch in, rather than on the way out, and BB gives me the immidiate damage night slash provides, only with a higher base power.
==============================================

Milotic (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP/194 Def/64 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Recover
- Surf
- Haze/ Ice Beam

Description: I have never really been a fan of milotic, and it's pretty ironic that I would use her over azumarill (my fav) in a metagame where she recieves so much criticism. She is what keeps pesky water rats (azumarill) and various (non-toxic wielding) fire types at bay. She is my main answer to things like blaziken and (sometimes) arcanine, if I know it doesn't carry toxic. She is just one hell of a tank, and is damn hard to take down, even these days.
Evs: I just used Evs that were popular in the past and they've been working fine. The 56 evs in speed outspeed adamant torterra and Heysup's original MixBlaziken,(16 spd ev) IIRC.
Moveset: Obviously all the standard moves milotic typically carries. I have recently been testing Ice beam over haze, since grass types just love to switch in on her, but things like venusaur only take about 20-30% from it, so I'm not gaining too much benefit from it. Haze is what keeps things like SD Feraligatr and CM Slowbro from doing heavy damage, it can also, if needed, wipe away some curses from curse umbreon, especially if I can't phaze it out.
==============================================

Rhyperior (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP/16 Atk/242 Def
Impish nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Roar

Description: Possibly one of the most underused suspects; Rhyperior is just one hell of a tank. This beast can take some hits even with his plethora of weaknesses. She's my phazer, and what keeps me safe from some stat uppers. She scouts through the opponents team with roar and can often help me keep the advantage. She's won me games just by phazing my opponent's remaining pokes out of health. Even with such a defensive spread, it still has the power to 2HKO the likes of Steelix and Registeel.
Evs: She is packed full of Hp so she can take numerous hits while phazing or just killing a key threat. I just added the 16 attack evs to round off her Atk stat to 320 (nothing special xD...that I know of). She can take a +2 CC from a Max attack adamant gallade, with HP to spare! If that's not impressive, idk what is.
Moveset: She was given the obvious QuakeEdge, so her attacks still hit relatively hard. SR was a given, because I needed someone to set it up and she wouldn't be bulky if she wasn't for support. Roar was added for phazing and scouting, although I have used sub, but I didn't recieve anything spectacular by using it, so it was dropped.
==============================================

Venusaur (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 68 HP/160 Atk/188 Spd/94 SAtk
Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Sleep Powder
- Power Whip

Description: Venusaur is just the replacement everyone has been using in order to fill the void Roserade left behind. She may not have as much damage output as rosey, she is bulkier. She is just one part of the infamous Grass/Water/Fire combo that is so popular in the UU metagame. When milotic is down, she is my answer to bulky waters and ground/rock types, although she can't always directly switch in. She also checks things like Mixtile, leafeon, and tangrowth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Flamewheeler (Post 2325485)

All I have to say is wow. I made this set based off of my semi-bulky, yet offensive venusaur and Bluewind's defensive set in his RMT. I honetly didn't expect it to do much, but when played right, this set rapes.

Evs/Moveset: Ok, I know the evs look odd, but I can explain them better atm with this quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Flamewheeler (Post 2325485)

Hp: For a little bulk...duh.
Atk: IIRC, the give a clean 2HKO on chansey and slowbro.
SAtk: Just to give it a little oomph and so I can hit pure grassers expecting to wall me. Oh, and I believe slude bomb finishes Slowbro off after a power whip. (I just don't want to risk a power whip miss)

Spd: Just enough to outrun adamant Honchkrow. Although the LO might give them the hint that I may be faster, I just like the extra insurance. Witht the mild nature, her physical defense is dropped which makes me want to drop the speed because it just makes too many mind games when playing against honchy, but IIRC, honchy kills with sucker punch on neutral defense anyway.

I couldn't have said it better myself. :toast:
==============================================

Arcanine (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 16 HP/252 Atk/242 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Extremespeed
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Toxic

Description: Last but not least, here comes the other legendary fire dog...duh duh duh duh!--it's Arcanine! Arc completes my Grass/water/fire core that just works so well. I guess it could be Grass/water/fire/fire, but that's besides the point. Tbh, I'm not sure why I added an extra fire type, but he just works well, so I kept him. He helps me take out unsuspecting venusaur and other positive base 80s who think I am bulkier and slower. I originally did have a bulkier set that held a lum berry, because I had no safe switch in to sleep inducing moves, so I guess I could actually go bulky again, but this set has been working just fine, and has a little surprise factor. he also helps me with various fire types and strong attackers. I chose intimidate over flash fire, because I have milotic and moltres for fire type attacks arc and the others can't take and he checks things like honchkrow and gallade better with it. I guess he's a 2nd check to them if rhyperior can no longer take them on.

Evs: I gave her max attack because I actually want her to hurt things. I also gave her enough speed to outrun positive base 80s, so I can hopefully gain the upper hand by outspeeding them. The remaining evs went into HP to just give her that little extra bulk; it makes you feel secure, but probably does nothing significant xD.

Moveset: Flare Blitz let's her actually damage things, while Extremespeed helps to finish things off. I used to have thunderfang over toxic, but it does absoulutely nothing, unless arc holds a life orb, but she's obviously not. Toxic allows her to actually do something to the bulky waters that like to switch in eg. slowbro and milotic, so it effectively wears them down so they are substantially easier to take down. Morning sun is the new HG/SS addition that has given her such a large rise in usage, and for good reason; it keeps her alive much longer. In case you haven't noticed by now, 5/6 ok my pokemon carry a recovery move. I like to keep my pokemon as heatlhy as possible for as long as I can. So, while I am doing damge to the opposing team, I am keeping my health high, which makes it that much harder for me to lose or my opponent to win.
==============================================

Well that's the team! Rate/Hate/Steal! Please forgive me for any grammatical or spelling errors I have made beacuse: 1. I don't feel like spell cheacking, and 2. It's pretty late. I actually have a habit of writing these late xD. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! I couldn't find Rhyperior's picture, so if someone could help me with that, that would be nice. Hence, the picture of rhydon.Thanks in advance!

HyperOffense OU RMT

ehkay47 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:49:28 GMT

Hey everybody, long time RMT lurker (think I may have posted a team years back) and a pretty regular battler in the Wi-Fi forum. This is really my first serious RMT though. I’ve had a few different teams since I started playing competitively again and this is by far the best one. I went from stall, to set-up sweeping teams, back and forth and eventually I came up with this. My team is based on some hyper offense, getting the go right from the start and maintaining it throughout the game with the moves Taunt and U-Turn scattered throughout my team. But before I get too far into that I’ll tell you how they all came together.

I used to lead with a Bronzong almost exclusively and now this is my new exclusive lead. The attention it got from the HG/SS move Super Fang got me to notice it and ever since I tried this guy out I’ve been hooked.

Now I needed some kind of havoc-wreaker. I actually hadn’t used a Latias up until forming this team and just decided to try out a Modest ChoiceSpecs Latias (more on that in the description), so with that idea in mind, the best dragon in OU (imo) took a spot on my team.

Now I had to start thinking about resistances. Scizor resists all of Latias’s, and vice versa, so it’s really a perfect match. I’ve always loved Scizor (and I’m talking about ever since the pokemon was created), and I’m glad he shines so much in the OU metagame. So yeah, he compliments my attacking force well with Latias also because I have a massive special damage dealer in my dragon then a brute physical force with the metal bug.

This next pokemon wasn’t much of a struggle to choose. Heatran is one of Scizor’s best pals and they love to be together. So why ruin a good thing? But seriously, Heatran’s typing and bulk help me gain a lot of resistances and therefore wiggle room as I will naturally be switching quite a bit with this hyper-aggressive team. Latias takes all of Heatran’s SE hits and vice versa as the case is with Scizor. Menage-e-trois, anyone? O.O

…so anyways…now I KNEW I had to have some sort of defense. Some kind of wall. But I didn’t want to ruin the flow of my team and just plop a big fat Snorlax in there or something. Eventually I discovered the wonderful bat-creature thing that is Gliscor. With Latias and Heatran taking the special hits, Gliscor takes everything else with ease and is a huge asset to my team.

The last spot is my favourite. It was a ScarfCross for a while but I already have a poke who can take W-o-W and Scizor was basically doing everything he did already, so I decided to switch him for someone who I think is one of my new favourites. Hitmontop is my only SR resistant poke and set-up sweeper. He sort of goes against the flow of the team, but he works as clean up, coming in after Latias and Scizor (mainly) deal loads of damage to everything in their way.

Here’s a closer look.

In Depth:

Fangz (Crobat) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 104 HP/152 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly (+Spd -SpAtk)
- Taunt
- U-Turn
- Super Fang
- Roost (?)

I run a Sash on this guy just because I want to be able to Taunt and not have to fear anything. I’ve been Exploded on, Stone Edge’d and Psychic’d all for OHKO’s, so the Sash isn’t completely useless even with all Crobat’s bulk. Taunt is obvious, shutting down all rock-setter-uppers bar Scarf users and speed tie losses with Aero. Focus Sash let’s me live anything that’s not T-Tar’s Stone Edge and U-Turn/Super Fang on the 2nd turn. Roost is mainly just filler although it does get some use. I think I'm going to switch Roost for Brave Bird though as I'm not really using Roost much anymore and Brave Bird then gives me a way to hit Fighting types for SE. But yeah just a great lead to shut things down and get a good jumpstart for my team.

I would do a threat list for leads, but literally I always Taunt and then U-Turn, or straight away U-Turn if the opposing lead is something like an Anti-Lead and doesn’t have any set-up moves.

Electric goes to Latias + Gliscor
Ice goes to Scizor + Heatran
Rock goes to Scizor or Hitmontop
Psychic goes to Hetran + Scizor + Latias

Hydra (Lati@s) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpAtk/252 Spd/4 HP
Modest (+SpAtk -Atk)
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- HP [Fire]

Pretty much a huge threat to anything, my Latias is. Able to outspeed and hit with a STAB + Life Orb Draco Meteor is awesome and kills a LOT of stuff in one shot. Thunderbolt and Surf are just standard on Latias, but I switched the standard Life Orb set up and stuck HP Fire in there instead of Recover. It OHKO’s a common switch-in called Scizor and also takes out Lucario in one shot if somehow Gliscor goes down early. Like I said earlier I began using this with Specs due to the raw power of it (575 was the SpAtk stat I believe) but at the time had 2 other Choice users and didn’t like that much restraint -- even with Trick I still felt restricted. I then went with Expert Belt (which is awesome btw) to bluff the Scarf/Specs and added HP Fire over Trick. It was amazing for taking out Scizor who would come in on after I kill something with Surf/T-Bolt thinking I was locked into one of the moves only to be met with a OHKO as it tried a U-Turn/Pursuit. Ever since then I knew I had to have fire on this beast. But I often found myself just barely missing KO’s, so the Life Orb became the obvious choice, along with the fact that Latias is so fast and powerful, nothing really has a chance to hit her so the Orb is all that damages her most matches.

Heatran + Scizor resist everything (and a few 4x resists at that) that Latias is weak to, so they just make excellent partners in crime.

Snip’r (Scizor) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk/240 HP/16 Spd
Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Pursuit
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- U-Turn

Just your standard CB Scizor. Nothing special to say. He helps against Salamence/any other set-upper basically, and just breaks holes into the opposing team with U-Turn. Smart predictions can net kills with Superpower and Pursuit but they’re rarely used in my case.

Incoming fire attacks are actually usually directed over to Latias, but now and then I like to get a little flash fire boost and roast whatever stands in my way. Also CC’s go over to Gliscor since they do quite a number on this guy.

Lava Frog (Heatran) @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpAtk/252 Spd/4 HP
Timid (+Spd -Atk)
- Roar
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Fire Blast

At first I wasn’t going to use Stealth Rock because of the pressure I want to be putting on my opponent. I didn’t want to let up. But Heatran is special like that. I can usually bring her out early thanks to her many resistances and set up rocks and when my opponent doesn’t see Lefties they will probably think they are in for a big, fast hit and will bring something big of their own out to counter while I set up SR for free. Roar has proven invaluable for stuff like Curselax and even Salamence who come in and expect me to switch -- I just stay in while they dance and then roar them out, lol. Shuca would probably let me live an EQ anyways so it works out. Will-O-Wisp has to be used carefully as I don’t want an opposing Heatran hitting any of my team with a Flash Fire boosted STAB Fire Blast, but it has it’s uses and is here to stay. Fire Blast is pretty obvious, and imo is worth 252 SpAtk EVs. The spread is kind of weird for just one attack but the speed helps with burning stuff before I get hit. But if anyone can recommend something better feel free.

Water goes to Latias
Fighting goes to Gliscor usually (or Latias)
Ground goes to one of my 3 immunes

Gleep (Gliscor) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/216 Spd/40 Def
Jolly (+Spd -SpAtk)
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- U-Turn

My second Taunter and third U-Turner and only real physical wall. This guy does it all. I had Roost on here but with only EQ and U-Turn as attacking moves I felt so limited with this guy, like I wasn’t using his potential. Stone Edge is perfect along with EQ for coverage and Leftovers + Gliscor’s Defense pretty much let it live throughout the battle anyways, so Roost got the boot. Taunt is key as it helps keep the battle going in my favor, not letting anything set up. I was trying to think of a better item but I don’t think there is one for my purposes.

Ice goes to Heatran + Scizor
Water goes to Latias

Cyclone (Hitmontop) @ Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant (+Atk -SpAtk)
- Fake Out
- Mach Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Bulk up

The best replacement for ScarfCross that I think anyone could ask for. With only priority moves at it’s disposal, it’s essentially faster than ScarfCross and after a Bulk Up it’s stronger (not to mention quite a bit bulkier) as well. And then there’s the fact that I’m not locked into one move. Yeah, this guy is way better. He’s actually my only poke that resists SR, and also my only poke who has a set-up move. I did have Rapid Spin on here at first but I already have two Taunters to shut SR down and this guy normally comes out late game anyways, so Bulk Up is just better. His job is to clean up anything that Latias and Scizor somehow couldn’t finish off. Fake Out + Mach Punch does a good job of doing that to most anything under half health. Sucker Punch takes out Azelf/Gengar, and also Latias after SR damage + Bulk Up. I love how Bulky this little guy is and he’s quickly climbing the charts of my favourite pokemon. If you haven’t tried him out, I recommend you do so!

Psychic goes to Heatran + Scizor + Latias
Flying goes to Heatran or Scizor/Gliscor

Any suggestions on how I could improve this team would be great. Only things I can think of to change are some EV spreads and a move or two here and there.

Threat List (The threat list was stolen from connoisseur’s thread, The Offenzors [OU])

Azelf – Crobat or Scizor comes in to U-Turn to break the sash if it has one then Hitmontop Sucker Punches it FTW.
Blissey – Two Taunters + Scizor and Hitmontop make this thing a cakewalk
Breloom – Again, Taunt royally screw this thing and Scizor or Latias can finish it with ease.
Skarmory – Taunt lol. I really love that move. HP Fire + Fire Blast on my team makes sure no gay steels are around for too long.
Bronzong – U-Turn from Scizor takes him to KO range for HP Fire from Latias.
Celebi – Scizor counters this thing nicely and also Hitmontop can Sucker Punch it. Not a huge problem for me.
Cresellia – Three U-Turners on my team and Two Taunters make this thing pretty useless against me. Next.
Crobat – I've only faced one and it ran Hypnosis. Stone Edge from Gliscor is an easy 2HKO (might be a OHKO not sure) and then any other member of my team can finish it if he puts me to sleep.
Donphan – Latias' Surf + Scizor's U-Turn are two efficient ways of getting rid of this. Ice Shard? Psh, Latias don't mind.
Drapion – EQ from Gliscor should spell death.
Dugtrio – Latias can kill one that's locked in on EQ but if it's Orb'd then Scizor does the dirty work with U-Turn/Bullet Punch.
Dusknoir – Scizor pursuits it after I Taunt it, bringing it to KO range for anything on my team basically the next time it switches in.
Electivire – Scizor's U-Turn kills it I think, and obviously Gliscor's EQ. This thing fails hard.
Empoleon – Hitmontop should be able to 2HKO with Mach Punch although I haven't done damage calc's. If not then Scizor beats it with Superpower.
Foretress – Taunt + Fire moves means this thing is done as soon as it gets on the field. Only explosion bothers me.
Gengar – Scizor is my main counter and Hitmontop's Sucker Punch is an effective backup if something goes wrong and my metal bug goes down early.
Gliscor – Latias OHKO's with Surf.
Gyarados – This thing gives me trouble. After a DD it can outspeed my whole team and resist my main priority attacks (Bullet Punch and Mach Punch). If Latias has enough health then she can live an attack hopefully and answer back with T-Bolt. If not then I have to rely on inneffective Bullet Punches and a Fake Out + Mach Punch combo to do the job.
Hariyama – CB U-Turn from Scizor and Life Orb Draco Meteor from Latias are enough to take this thing down.
Heatran – Gliscor EQ's it and Hitmontop Mach Punches it. Oh and Latias Surfs it. Not much of a threat.
Heracross – Latias + Heatran can both OHKO.
Hippowdon – Taunt it first then U-Turn + Surf to KO.
Infernape – Latias handles this thing very well, resisting all it's attacks and OHKOing.
Jirachi – Taunt to prevent a Trick, then proceed to EQ/hit it with Fire attacks.
Kingdra – If it's not already raining I'll Taunt. If I don't have that option then I'll switch in Latias. If they rain dance while I switch, I then switch out to Heatran or Scizor (situational) to take the predicted Outrage and proceed to burn it or U-Turn/Bullet Punch it.
Latias – Scizor and Hitmontop make good counters to this beast of a pokemon.
Lucario – Gliscor is my no.1, but Latias can also take it out with ease. Also unless it's got a SD and Life Orb, Scizor can hurt it pretty bad.
Ludicolo – Taunt if I can to prevent Rain Dance and then repeatedly U-Turn/hit it with a Draco Meteor.
Machamp – Heatran can burn it and then hit with Fire Blast, leaving the Champ in KO range for another member of my team. Kinda sucks I have nothing to hit him for SE.
Magnezone – Gliscor + Scizor + Hitmontop + Latias + Heatran means this thing fails incredibly hard when it tries to come trap my U-Turning Scizor.
Mamoswine – Scizor OHKO's with Superpower, and I'm pretty sure Hitmontop can 2HKO with Mach Punch. I don't like Ice Shard. >.>
Metagross – CB U-Turn hits it really hard and then it's finished off by Latias' HP Fire.
Milotic – Kind of a pain. T-Bolt hurts it but even with the Orb I'm pretty sure it's a 3HKO. It can stall a little bit but eventually I can eliminate it without too much damage on my end from it.
Miltank – Scizor OHKO's.
Ninjask – Two Taunters shut this down before it can do anything and then every member of my team can kill it. Ninjask blows.
Porygon2 – Scizor + Latias + Hitmontop can all kill it.
PorygonZ – Latias OHKO's it with Draco Meteor, if she's not around Scizor/Hitmontop takes it out.
Regirock – Scizor with Superpower and Latias with Surf means this thing doesn't stick around for long.
Registeel – HP Fire is like a 4HKO lol. This thing's a beast. But I just wear it down with Latias. Doesn't usually cause too much of a problem.
Rhyperior – Surf is a OHKO and I guess Superpower hurts it quite significantly as well. Not sure, haven't faced one yet.
Roserade – Taunt shuts it down then it's met by many U-Turns to the face. If I can't Taunt, Gliscor will probably take the sleep (unless I can block it with a status'd poke) and then I kill it with Heatran.
Rotom-A – Absolutely must Taunt this thing or it will be big trouble. My team hates Tricks + Will-o-Wisp's. But after a Taunt I can just Pursuit it to death and also Sucker Punch it with Hitmontop.
Salamence – Scizor is my main check to this, and if it doesn't DD/have a +Spd nature then Latias can handle it. Otherwise I'm forced to use Gliscor and Scizor to try and wear it down.
Scizor – Latias handles it nicely, and so does Heatran, outspeeding the Swords Dance variant and OHKOing with Fire Blast.
Slaking – Just drop bombs on it lol. This things just stupid imo.
Snorlax – Taunt it and then proceed to set up with Hitmontop or go straight for the kill with Scizor.
Spiritomb – Taunt if I can then just start dropping bombs. Draco Meteor should OHKO.
Starmie – Three U-Turners makes life hell for Starmie trying to switch in. I have never had a problem with this poke.
Suicune – Taunt is almost essential to beating this thing. Latias then has no trouble killing it, and if she's gone then a U-Turn from Scizor and a few Mach Punches should be enough to take it out.
Swampert – Draco Meteor is my main form of attack on this guy. It's KO'd him every time I've used it so far. If I miss or Latias is dead though, then hopefully Scizor is still around so I can U-Turn it. Super Fang + U-Turn from Crobat should bring it to KO range for Scizor's U-Turn.
Tentacruel – Gliscor outspeeds and I believe OHKO's with EQ (not certain though). If not then Latias finishes it off with a T-Bolt.
Togekiss – Latias with T-Bolt + Draco Meteor to get the kill. Otherwise Gliscor has to hope Stone Edge doesn't miss.
Tyranitar – Hitmontop with Mach Punch makes sure even DDTar doesn't get anywhere. The only thing I hate about this thing is the Sandstorm he brings with him. Other than that, T-Tar is laughable to this team.
Umbreon – Taunt shuts it down and then U-Turns + Superpower/Mach Punch finishes the job.
Vaporeon – Taunt to prevent Wish stalling, then T-Bolt with Latias or U-Turn with Scizor.
Walrein – Draco Meteor will hopefully OHKO it. Haven't faced one yet and don't really want to. I've seen one in battle and man are they annoying. But it needs hail to really stall and I shouldn't have much problem 2HKOing it.
Weavile – Mach Punch makes short work of this fella.
Zapdos – As long as it doesn't carry HP Ice, Gliscor can beat this thing with Taunt + Stone Edge. If Gliscor's gone then I have to resort to Latias killing with T-Bolt + Draco Meteor.

One for the purists

Smurf. — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:36:13 GMT

Hey guys,

This is the first serious competitive team i have made for the shoddy ladder, and i feel that it has alot of potential. So im posting this in the hope that some of the fantastic battlers out there in the Smogon community can critique it and provide constructive feedback to help me unlock this potential. However, i am a 'purist' having grown up with the original gen of pokemon. As you will see i only use pokemon from this gen, with the exception of scizor, who is almost classified 1st gen anyway. so if you have any suggestions for this team, please try to incorporate the 'originals' wherever possible. I also have no intention to use pokemon such as latias,celebi,heatran,jirachi who in my opinion should be ubers. it really irritates me when people legendarylump all 4 together and call it a 'team'. Anyway.. cheers in advance and hopefully i can battle some of you on shoddy one day! :)

Now onto the team itself: 21 Wins; 2 Losses; %: 91.3%

-{Dragonite}-

Item: Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 232 Atk/24 Spd/252 SAtk
Nature: Mild

- Draco Meteor
- Extremespeed
- Fire Blast
- Earthquake

Dragonite: Dragonite is singularly the best Anti-Lead in OU. Inner focus is imperative due to the amount of people who use jirachi-esque flinch tactics to get the ball rolling. The mixed move set allows her to hit all commonly used leads for substantial damage, while also allowing her to hit hard from both sides of the attacking spectrum.

Why not another Anti-Lead? Dragonite fulfils the role of lead perfectly, allowing me to build momentum early game, which is absolutely vital. It is almost always guaranteed 1-2 kills per match, but its usefulness does not end there. Extremespeed coupled with its great attack stat allows her to revenge kill during the match. She can also enter late game and clean up. So, a poke that negates opposing leads, causes devastating damage to the enemy and can revenge kill... what more do you want?

Item:
- A toss up between Lum Berry and Life Orb. However, Lum only serves a purpose against roserade and breloom, and the 30% extra damage afforded by life orb is more appealing.
Ability:
- Inner Focus is perfect as it prevents Jirachi from bloody flinch hacking me to death and allows me to anally probe it with fire blast.
Moves:
- Draco Meteor is a ridiculously powerful STAB that cripples even the bulkiest leads.
- Extremespeed KO’s frail passers as they BP while also picking off weakened pokes.
- Earthquake deals massive damage to Heatran, Occa-Gross
- Fire Blast puts an abrupt end to Jirachi, Skarmory, Metagross

-{Machamp}-

Item: Leftovers
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 216 HP/40 Spd/252 Atk
Nature: Adamant

- Substitute
- Dynamicpunch
- Payback
- Stone edge

(Taken from “The Same Old Fears” by august)
“Machamp is another mon that is constantly causing switches, as most Pok�mon wouldnt stay in on it in their right minds (hi Blissey). Once behind a substitute, I have a 3 weapon arsenal. Dynamic Punch and it's awesome power / confusion rate help a lot here, and occasionally allow me to stay behind my sub, which means random Gyara / Mence can't Intimidate me. Speaking of them, Stone Edge bashes both extremely hard after Stealth Rock damage has been taken. Payback is a solid 2HKO on Rotom A Restalk variants, and an OHKO on Scarf variants as well, and Substitute blocks Will O Wisp. Another set you would have to try before knocking. Also, this is an absolute monster against stall.”

-{Zapdos}-

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP/32 Spd/228 Def
Nature: Calm

- Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Roost
- Toxic

This Zapdos works like a dream, the amount of times it has saved my ass is countless. On many an occasion when I found myself in a precarious position (e.g 3-1), this beast has pulled through. Once behind a sub, its natural bulk allows it to toxic all comers and roost away damage so it can sub, sub, and sub again. The combo of Pressure and toxic will eventually wear down opponents, with a potent Thunderbolt coming off a high Spc. Atk stat. It is a fantastic partner with Machamp, as they counter each others’ weaknesses. This provides a solid offensive/defensive combo that forms the foundation of the team.

Now the offensive Trio...
The core of Gyarados, Jolteon and Scizor has near perfect synergy, and ultimately the path will be cleared for one poke to sweep completely unobstructed. With no shared weaknesses, it is also a potent walling combo, which poses a significant threat if the opponent is unprepared. With the Machamp/Zapdos combo supplementing it, often the counters an opponent needs have already been wiped off the face of the field.

-{Gyarados}-

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 156 HP/72 Atk/96 Def/184 Spd
Nature: Adamant

- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Earthquake

The vintage DD bulky Gyara set, an absolute beast with a couple of DD’s under its belt it becomes nigh on unstoppable. It tears stall teams a new one and even the most hyper offensive teams cannot withstand the fearsome type coverage provided by water ice and ground. EQ hits lucario, Waterfall is a great STAB and Ice fang OHKOs any dragons. Intimidate in my opinion is the ultimate ability, as it cripples physical sweepers from the onset and provides the opportunity to DD up and sweep. In addition, it eliminates Hippowdon, Swampert – pokes that may hinder a jolteon sweep; and fire, or steel pokes that pose a problem to Scizor.

-{Jolteon}-

Item: Life Orb
Ability: Volt absorb
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spc.Atk/252 Spd
Nature: Timid

- Charge Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden power (ice)
- Shadow ball

Jolteon is a severely underrated pokemon in my opinion, with most overlooking the spiky sweeper for the support vaporeon. Takes Electric attacks aimed at Gyarados. Sweeps teams. Enough said. This set has the potential to 6-0 your team in the blink of an eye. Coming in on a weakened pokemon, it uses charge beam to KO, with a 70% chance to boost special attack stat. Uhhh choice specs power without single move restriction... YES PLEASE! After +2 boost it hits at a whopping, mind-boggling 738 spc.atk. With its wide range of Super Effective! coverage, it’s pretty much gg. Rotom - check. Salamence – check. Opposing Gyarados – check. Celebi- check. Latias - check. No, really, have fun trying to beat me with a blissey...

-{Scizor}-

Item: Leftovers
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP/76 Atk/4 Spd/176 Spc. Def
Nature: Adamant

- Bullet Punch
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Bulky Swords Dance Scizor places emphasis on setting up reliably and being harder to take out, before dealing as much damage as pokemon-ly possible. Due to Scizor’s great typing and above average defenses, it is relatively easy for this set to find the time to get a Swords Dance. Scizor is countered easily by Zapdos, the Rotom Appliances, Heatran, and Magnezone. However, should the rest of the team do its job, with no reliable counters it is not difficult to reach +6 ... umm rage quits much? It also functions as a revenge killer, letting fly with bullet punches left, right and centre.

MJ trade Thread

MJ101 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:17:40 GMT

Rules
1.NO Spamming
2.No Hacks
3.No Flameing
4.No pms please only pm if your on pending list thanks you
5.no stupid offers please
6.If i say no then i mean no

Wants
1.Good iv breed pokemon
2.ut good nature Shinys
3.Any Evds what I do not have or different move set or Evs
4.Ut soft Reset legends good natures Desent ivs
5.RNG abuse pokemon
6.Ut pokemon with good ivs
8.Just offer whos knows im might like it

Complete Trade
-
-
-
-
-
----------------------------------------
Pending Trade
-
-
-
-
-

The Codex Tournament Series: Interest & Info

TAY — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:15:49 GMT

As the Late Night Tournament comes to a close, I am planning the beginning of a new tournament series. While the LNT was a casual, gimmicky tournament, this series of tournaments is intended to be highly competitive. I am hoping it will provide a stark contrast to the LNT and - more importantly to some people - a creative outlet for competitive players who feel that standard has become static and monotonous. With a varying and highly limited pool of moves available to their teams, players will be forced to make sacrifices and balance out their Pokemon's sets in order to create the best team possible. This is...

The Codex Tournament Series

Here are the tentative rules:

Several days before each tournament, a list of 36(?) moves will be released (this is in addition to the list of always available moves). These, along with the always available moves, are the only moves which can be used on your team in that tournament.
Some moves may be listed multiple times, but if a move is listed only once, it can only be used once. For example, if [Earthquake, Earthquake, Earthquake, Explosion] is part of the list, your team can use Earthquake up to three times, and Explosion once.
Some moves on the list may only be used as STAB attacks. Some moves may only be used as non-STAB attacks. There may be other restrictions on the use of some moves.
There will be a list of moves which are available in every tournament. The list consists of 16 moves, but you will only choose eight to use. You may choose from these eight moves and any of the other 36(?) moves when creating your team.
You are not required to use 24 moves, i.e. you can use a Pokemon with three or fewer moves.
Any items may be used.
Any OU Pokemon may be used.

This tournament will be held twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. It is likely that the Saturday tournament will be moved to a different day once the Smogon Tour starts. The start time of the tournaments is to be determined based on feedback in this thread.

There are two porpoises to this thread:

This first is to gauge interest. If you would be interested in participating in these tournament, please post here to say so.

The second is to take suggestions. Specifically, I am looking for input on the following issues:

What times would be best on Tuesday and Saturday? Keep in mind that the target audience is North Americans, but if I can make the rest of the world happy then that's great too.
How many moves should be available for use each week? A little over forty seems like a reasonable number to me, but I am willing to listen to reasonable objections.
How would you modify the list of moves which are always allowed? Please provide reasoning with your response, and remember that I have the power to delete and infract your posts.
What else is unclear about this tournament? It all makes perfect sense in my head, but I'm sure I forgot to mention some things. So if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask!

In each Codex Tournament, you may choose eight of these moves to use on your team. You may choose a different eight moves each time. Each move may be used only ONCE on your entire team

Cross Chop
Curse
Discharge
Energy Ball
Heat Wave
Focus Punch
Hidden Power
Hypnosis
Protect
Return
Rest
Roar
Rock Slide
Surf
Sucker Punch
Toxic

Multiples of these moves will never be on the following list.

This is a sample list of moves which would be available for one specific tournament (AKA "The Codex"). Any of these moves may be used, but remember that you may only use them once if they are listed once (and twice if they are listed twice, and so on)

Air Slash
Body Slam
Brave Bird
Bug Bite
Crunch
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Extrasensory
ExtremeSpeed
Fire Punch
Focus Blast
Grass Knot
Gyro Ball
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Low Kick
Low Kick
Rain Dance
Recover
Reflect
Selfdestruct
Shadow Ball
Slack Off
Sludge Bomb
Substitute
Substitute
Swords Dance
Taunt
Taunt
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder Wave
Toxic Spikes
Waterfall
Wish
Zen Headbutt

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are this tournament's policies, taken almost verbatim from the LNT thread:

Signing Up:

Signups will be taken in the Codex Tournament Thread (which will probably wind up being this thread).
Signups will begin 25-30 minutes before the tournament starts.
The Codex will be posted at least two days before the tournament.
Most tournaments will cap at 32 players. Some may go up to 64 if enough players sign up.
Signups are taken on a first come, first served basis. However, it is likely that we will need substitutes. Feel free to sign up as a substitute.
If you need to drop out for whatever reason, that's fine. Just be sure to actually tell the host unless you want to make me very angry. And this should be obvious, but do not sign up if you cannot play.

Playing:

Be ready to play at the start of the tournament. If you do not have a team ready to go at the start, you will be subbed out. This is a live tournament, and it will not be delayed on account of a single person. This applies to substitutes as well - have a team ready to go.
Matches will be posted on the last page and in the second post of this thread. Start your match as soon as you can find your opponent.
Upon the completion of your match, post the results in this thread. It is recommended that you save logs in order to avoid disputes.
Do not scout your opponents. You can watch any match you like, but if a player asks you to leave then you must do so. Failure to comply with this rule will get you banned from future Codex Tournaments.
Be sure to post the results of your match in this thread as soon as it finishes. Post even if I or another host was watching your match. Post even if you PM me on Shoddybattle or irc.

Rules:

Standard Smogon battling rules apply (sleep, freeze, species, soul dew, self ko, OHKO, and evasion clauses on, timer on).
Have good sportsmanship. Things like spamming, scouting, and being obnoxious will earn you an automatic forfeit.
Even if you are playing in the Codex Tournament Series, you must follow the rules of Shoddy Battle. If you are banned during the tournament or kicked during a match, you will lose.

As a final note, I am always looking for more hosts. SevenDeadlySins has said that he will help, and I imagine that RB Golbat and Matty will help when they can, but if any other Shoddybattle mods want to lend a hand, send me a PM to let me know.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Please post comments and questions here.

OU Competitive All Dark Team

Ishamael — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 05:02:56 GMT

Weavile (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Brick Break
- Ice Punch
- Night Slash
- Taunt
---My lead/leader. He counters so many setup-ers and hits a lot of fragile leads first and hard. Simple Moveset, EVs, focus sash lets him often OHKO pokemon with priority. Great overall.

Tyranitar (M) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
---My sweeper/tank. Can wreak entire teams, like any Tyranitar, especially DD-tar. Sets up sandstorm for my Cacturne haxing, and can take a lot of abuse thanks to special defense boost and awesome stats. More creative EVs have been in progress, new item perhaps, any suggestions would be appreciated. =)

Houndoom (M) @ Wise Glasses
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Nasty Plot
---A surprise Sweeper, has pretty good type coverage, can scare out a scizor who cannot OHKO usually,definitely not faster, and can have a chance to Nasty Plot if I switch into the oh-so-annoying bug-steel monster. Fast, strong, great. Immunities help a lot too, one with a boost. A new Item would be awesome, b/c right now its just generic crap.

Sharpedo (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Crunch
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Waterfall
---A fast, surprising physical sweeper who can dish out some major damage and is really good at picking off almost dead physical sweepers by either chasing them out or killing them, with an attack or sometimes rough skin. Adds some more variety to the whole dark thing.

Absol (M) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Night Slash
- Psycho Cut
- Stone Edge
- Thunder Wave
---Crit hit abuse to the max. Pretty much, and obviously, the idea is to paralyze anything faster, then well abuse crit hits. A 33.3% chance is really nice. But looking for any new fourth move (sucker punch/swords dance opinion?) or a new poke of the dark type to replace even. Considering honchkrow, and opinions on that welcome.

Cacturne (M) @ Brightpowder
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Focus Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
---Another haxer, but with evasion. Stack sand veil with brightpowder and you have death for everyone. He subs to avoid status, swords dances to kill stuff, and then predicts. Attack=Sucker, Not attack=Focus, Anything=Death. I love him to death. =D

Any and all opinions are welcome and asked for. Suggestions wanted. Just try to keep all pokemon suggestions of the dark type, and preferably all suggestions be good. =)

Curtain Call: Attempt at an Archive status team.

Curtains — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:34:11 GMT

Hello I am curtains and i want to present a team i created that has got me a few wins and losses. With increased battle experience i feel this team can easily be 1600 on shoddy!But i need your help to correct this team!

-H

The Team

MetaGross@choicescarf
252Attack 252 speed 4 special D
Jolly nature

Meteor Mash
explosion
stealth rocks
trick

This is a beautiful lead! Metagross easily starts the game with me up a tempo.Trick easily foils smeargle and bronzong.I tend to not trick azelf and metagross becasue of fire blast or earthquake respectfully.Meteor mash rips through everything and usually ko's non defensive targets if they are at 50% or less save water types.After i give bronzong with 0 speed iv's a choice scarf i continue aggressive with meteor mash.Then i usually switch to my appropriate counter or use SR.

Common leads
Metagross- switch to rotom
Aerodactyl -trick
azelf-switch to rotom

Infernape @ life orb
252 Attack 252 Speed 4 Hp
Jolly nature

Flare Blitz
Close Combat
Swords Dance
Mach Punch

Infernape has been known for giving walls something to wall about, with swords dance infernape is lucario with 70 more speed and a stab priority move.flare Blitz and close combat are amazing moves that can literally surprize you with a Ko. Like an opponent may be switching a random pokemon in and they get ko'ed.Infernape works well with vaporeon in keeping up the tempo.Rotom H also is my counter for gyarados which completely walls this set.If rotom H is dead then vaporeon is up next to take at least 40% from a one DD stone edge and fire back with HP electric.Scizor is beat quickly with a accurate flare blitz.The best thing about this set is the accuracy of the moves.No stone edge or overheat.Two 120 stab moves at 100% accuracy is needed for any team.

Rotom-H @leftovers
252Hp 168 Defense 88 Speed
Bold Nature

Discharge
Overheat
will o wisp
shadow ball

Rotom is the foundation of this team.No other pokemon can cover the weakness of my team as well.Scizor is stopped dead on the switch giving me a free turn to glorifically guess my opponents next switch in. Discharge over thunderbolt always.Always..........Always. 30% is not in the hax range so i can generally expect to paralyze something if i continually use it.Many physical attacker try to set up on machamp. I can easily thwart there plans by using my two designated walls.

Machamp @ leftovers
252Hp 252 Attack 4 speed
Adamant Nature
No guard Ability

Dynamic punch
payback
rest
sleep talk

Machamp is a pokemon that people see as fragile and unable to take one hit. This is not true.Machamp can take quite a beating even without leftovers recovery.Machamp is my answer to blissey and snorlax.It feels really good to have a dynamic punch waiting for the switch in. Confusion should not be took lightly. 50% is a huge percent and usually earns the opponent a second change at getting punched.Rest and sleep talk allows me to attack while im asleep giveing my opponents confusion while i sleep.

vaporeon @leftovers
188 HP 252 Defense 68 Speed
Bold nature

Surf
Hidden Power Electric
wish
protect

Vaporeon give my team needed wish support. Vaporeon gives scizor another 1-3 chances to u turn those offensive teams to death.Vaporeon kills gyarados with HP. Grass knot does nothing to this pokemon.Even off of a nasty plot infernape. making it a better option than suicune on this team.Since my team is basically a anti blissey team vaporeon has a easier time to do its job.This is also my heatran counter.

Scizor @ choice band
248 Hp 252 attack 8 speed
Adamant

Uturn
pursuit
superpower
bullet punch

Scizor absolutely wins on this team. U-turn hits really hard and allows me the chance to heal with vaporeon or attack with infernape or trick with metagross or burn with rotom. Scizor puts in a tempo for the battle that is very good for this team.The fact of the matter is. I need walls out of the way to sweep.Stall teams die with my set up.Bullet punch is my stab,tech,band,priority move. pursuit is for the instinct of a switch.I only use pursuit if i understand the opponents team.

Thank you for reading. PLEASE try this out for your self and give a firm rate of my team. Don't lurk it rate it!

Hippopotas [4F]

Diesel — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:55:45 GMT

Status: Edit me!

I played with Hippopotas extensively through September and October. I tested several different sets, and found the set below to be the most effective one, and really the only one worth using, hence the lack of other sets. I am completely open to other sets, including non-lead sets (~80% are leads). According to usage statistics, Leftovers and Protect are each used on about 40% of hippos, which kind of baffles me, so either I'm stupid or other people are. Other than that, this is my first analysis, so help me improve my writing, and go easy on me ;)

[SET]
name: UU Lead
move 1: Stealth Rock
move 2: Toxic
move 3: Yawn / Earthquake
move 4: Roar
item: Focus Sash
ability: Sandstream
nature: Impish
evs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD

[SET COMMENTS]

Hippopotas is the only Pokemon in the lower tiers that can set up a permanent sandstorm, upgrading it from NFE to a bona fide player in the UU metagame. Although at first this may appear to be a miserable attempt at a lead, Hippopotas actually functions quite well in the role when taking into account its horrid stats. The goal of this set is to play to Hippopotas's strengths, which are essentially limited to setting up Stealth Rock and scouting. Focus Sash allows you to bypass Hippopotas's weak defenses and, against most leads, do both of these things.

In some cases, Hippopotas will be forced to simply use Stealth Rock, then die on the next turn. Such instances will mostly occur against leads that you cannot switch into for free, or if you feel the need to get Stealth Rock in play immediately. An example of this is against Moltres, who can OHKO with at least two of its special attacks and U-turn out of Yawn. In other cases, however, its usefulness can extend beyond the first few moves of the game. If Hippopotas sets up Stealth Rock without being damaged, you have several options. When facing a bulky lead like Donphan or Uxie, Toxic is a good option to help shorten their longevity. If you wish scout your opponent, Yawn, Roar, or a combination of the two can accomplish this. Yawn will cause most Pokemon to switch (not to be used on potential U-turners), and if they don't they will be put to sleep. Because Yawn's effect activates on the second turn, you can use Roar on the subsequent move, which will allow you to scout not one, but two Pokemon, assuming they decide to switch out the drowsy Pokemon. Simply Roaring is the better option if you suspect your opponent has U-turn, and is the safer option in general. Still another option is to simply switch out after using Stealth Rock, thus preserving Hippopotas's Focus Sash. This can come in handy later in the game, as it allows Hippopotas to switch into something like Mismagius or Feraligatr while they are boosting their stats, take a hit, then phaze them with Yawn or Roar, whichever is appropriate.

As far as attacking options go, Hippopotas's outlook is pretty bleak. Earthquake is essentially its only viable option, as it desperately need the STAB. It can easily 2HKO Alakazam, provided that it decides to Taunt, as opposed to attack. It is also worth mentioning that with a significant investment in Attack EVs, Hippopotas has the ability 2HKO Froslass, who may Taunt you under the assumption you will use Stealth Rock. For the most part, however, Hippopotas is too easily 2HKOed to spare any turns firing off relatively weak attacks, and you are much better off using Toxic to damage most opponents. Yawn drastically improves Hippopotas's scouting ability, which is one of its strong suits, so this move should only be sacrificed if Earthquake truly serves a worthwhile purpose.

Hippopotas's greatest fear is Taunt leads, which completely immobilize sets without attacking moves, forcing it to switch. Even though they do nothing to prevent Stealth Rock, Trick leads are also troublesome because they steal Hippopotas's Focus Sash, which they can then return to another one of your Pokemon, who will inevitably find it worthless. In addition, Hippopotas will likely be forced to switch and be used as death fodder later on.

Opposing weather teams will give your entire team trouble, because although Hippopotas can switch in and negate their weather effect immediately, its terrible defenses only allow it to do this so many times throughout the course of a match. If the opposing lead uses Sunny Day or Rain Dance, Hippopotas should flee the scene before taking any damage so that its Focus Sash is preserved. Good prediction will then be required to sneak Hippopotas in as many times as possible to negate repeated uses of weather-inducing moves. On a related note, Snover leads have the ability to be slower than Hippopotas, and therefore override sandstorm with Hail on the first turn. To avoid this, Hippopotas can run a Relaxed nature with a Speed IV of 13 to ensure it is slower. The only downfall of this is that you will be slower than base 30s and other Hippopotas, but this should not be much cause for concern.

[Team Options]

In general, the standard principles for a sandstorm team apply to Hippopotas's teammates. You will want to take advantage of the passive damage provided by sandstorm and Stealth Rock, which can be supplemented by either form of Spikes. A Ghost-type is a necessity to keep your entry hazards in play as long as possible. Spiritomb is a great option, as it is the bulkiest of UU Ghosts, meaning it will be able to switch into repeated Rapid Spin attempts.

Attackers like Rhyperior and Aggron bring awesome offensive power to the table, and will certainly enjoy the boost to their miserable Special Defense stats. The latter can also be said for the Kanto fossils, Kabutops and Omastar, who can provide Rapid Spin and Spikes support, respectively, in addition to respectable offensive power.

Cradily, Registeel, and Regirock can all serve as walls or Curse users, and will probably have a representative on every sandstorm team between the three of them. Regirock's defenses reach ridiculous levels in a sandstorm, although it lacks the resistances of its metallic sibling. Cradily arguably makes the best special wall out of the bunch, with slightly higher Special Defense than the other two (in sandstorm), better typing than Regirock, and access to Recover. Clefable is also a great option, as it ignores sandstorm damage, and has amazing versatility. Wish + Protect might be its best option, as it can provide valuable healing support to your team, and rack up extra residual damage on opponents with Protect. It can also serve as a status platform with Thunder Wave and/or Toxic, or even a surprise sweeper.

[Other Options]

Hippopotas's list of viable moves makes Wobbuffet's look diverse and unpredictable. Put bluntly, this is because its Base Stats are severely lacking in every category. Its offensive movepool isn't terrible, sporting Earthquake, Crunch, Double-Edge, and Superpower, although Stone Edge's absence is somewhat unfortunate. The bad news is that Hippopotas will probably only get one or two chances to strike, and its base 72 Attack really doesn't go a long way. Toxic is almost always the better method of damaging foes over the long run. Curse and Slack Off are welcome additions to many movepools, but again, Hippopotas's defenses make them nearly worthless. Protect can be used to scout your opponent's moves and block Ambipom's Fake Out.

Chesto Berry can be used over Focus Sash, but with the departures of Roserade and Yanmega from UU, sleep-inducing moves are neither common nor worth relinquishing Focus Sash to prevent. Chesto Berry gets the edge over Lum Berry because Hippopotas typically won't live long enough to see Will-O-Wisp or Toxic do significant damage, so negating them with Lum Berry is useless. Leftovers is another option, but again, Focus Sash will typically do a much better job of prolonging Hippopotas's life.

[EVs]

The only special attacks Hippopotas will be taking are Electric-type, so its EVs are much better dumped into its less pathetic HP and Defense stats. An Impish nature with 252 HP and Defense will allow Hippopotas to always survive two Earthquakes from Donphan, and 90% of the time against Choice Band Dugtrio. As mentioned, with this EV spread, Ambipom can only do a maximum of 84% with Fake Out + Return, which is crucial to Hippopotas's success.

[Opinion]

One thing Hippopotas has going for it is that expectations of it are low, as it is mostly just a means to set up both Stealth Rock and a permanent sandstorm. If it sets up Stealth Rock then dies, then its purpose has been served. If it sets up Stealth Rock, poisons something, and manages to scout a couple members of the opposing team, then a standing ovation may be in order.

[Counters]

Taunt and Trick leads are probably the last thing Hippopotas wants to see, as it is horribly one-dimensional when either of these moves are used on it, assuming it is passed a Choice item. Essentially any anti-lead should be able to 2HKO it with a powerful attack, and sadly the same goes for almost any special attacking Pokemon, as well. As expected, it is not a difficult Pokemon to counter by any stretch of the imagination, but so long as it gets Stealth Rock in play it has done its job.

RMT anyone?

SubSmokeX — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:39:04 GMT

Yo just wanna know what you think of my team.

Attacks: Psychic, Recover, Thunder Wave, Reflect

Victreebel was my lead, but I found that there were too many people starting out with Jynx, Gengar or Alakazam and it was either getting put to sleep or losing most of its health from ice or psychic moves. Gengar hits with his sleep move more than half the time and even then Victreebel can miss. Alakazam can paralyze Gengar so Hypnosis is even less likely to work, or use Psychic to do big damage or if it gets a critical it can take it out in one hit. It's still based on luck but not as much as lead Victreebel.

Attacks: Razor Leaf, Swords Dance, Body Slam, Sleep Powder

I use Victreebel because I don't wanna just use a 'standard' team and not put my own spin on it. Sleep Powder to sleep something then try to Swords Dance up and use either Body Slam or Razor Leaf as needed. It can handle Slowbro with its Amnesia move too.

I'm thinking about whether I should get rid of Swords Dance for Stun Spore so he can sleep and paralyze and since he doesn't seem to get to set up too often, or get rid of Sleep Powder for Hyper Beam and make him an all out attacker. But I like the set as is.

Attacks: Psychic, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Recover

Pretty standard except for Psychic instead of Thunder Wave. I have 5 others that can paralyze and without Psychic he gets no attack bonus on anything so I'd rather give him that. He could have Surf instead but Psychic lowers special and Blizzard handles most of what Surf can.

Attacks: Thunderbolt, Drill Peck, Thunder Wave, Light Screen

Thunderbolt and Drill Peck hurt almost anything, Thunder Wave for paralysis and I use Light Screen instead of the other suggested moves because I like higher defenses over having higher speed from Agility.

Attacks: Body Slam, Earthquake, Rock Slide, Explosion

Golem over Rhydon because of Explosion and it can beat Rhydon since its speed is a little higher. It's the standard set for it but I've been using it a long time before I heard about Smogon because it's pretty much the best moves it has. Earthquake is its main move, Body Slam for when you guess a switch to a faster monster and hopefully paralyze it. Rock Slide for flyers and Explosion to blow up high value targets like Starmie.

Attacks: Body Slam, Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Blizzard

Tauros is a recent add to the team and I haven't been able to try him as much since it's kinda hard to find RBY matches on Netbattle these days. Before Tauros I was using Snorlax and it didn't seem to suit the team too great I think because of its slow speed. But Tauros with its great speed and good power seems like a solid monster to round out the team.

Colossoil Analysis Workshop

Gen. Empoleon — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:29 GMT

Colossoil has been playtested enough that we can officially get his analysis started, it would be great if this could be a team effort of approving and writing sets. Let's make sure this guy gets done fast unlike some of our other analysis.

Start out by posting 'Soil's best sets and we'll work our way from there

NO GIMMICKS

I cannot emphasize this enough. We don't care what set you used for Colossoil playtesting unless it is an efficient set and has gained popularity from many users.

If you have questions, ask me, Plus, or Umbreon Dan

Air Mail Blissey!

Epic Cherubi — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:22:23 GMT

I recently learned that when a pokemon holding Air Mail is Tricked, it automatically fails. Had this actually been implemented into Shoddy, it would be a revolutionary item.

@ Leftovers
Impish
252 HP / 176 Defense / 80 Special Defense

Earthquake
Ice Fang
Slack Off
Stealth Rock

Lead Hippowdon sets off a sandstorm and attempts to lay rocks. Against Aerodactyl and Gliscor leads I often just Ice Fang for a 2HKO as they Taunt me. EVs make lead ape Fire Blast a 3HKO on average, 2HKOing only 10% of the time factoring in accuracy and burn rate. I also survive Mixape Grass Knot all of the time and +2 Lucario Close Combat 97% of the time with Stealth Rocks. Swampert Ice Beam 3HKOs as does Boah Ice Beam if does not run a boosting nature. Gyarados needs Life Orb to guarentee a 2HKO with Waterfall and to even have a chance of OHKO has to have used Dragon Dance once and be holding Life Orb.

@ Shed Shell
Impish
252 HP / 80 Defense / 176 Special Defense

Brave Bird
Spikes
Whirlwind
Roost

Set is obvious and standard, but the EVs can be explained. Relaxed 56 Special Attack Swampert Hydro Pump and Roosting Earthquake are both 3HKOs. Blissey Flamethrower / Thunderbolt do even less damage, barely doing 40% max. Scizor Choice Band Superpower may 3HKO but this means I can either Roost it off on the second hit, or Brave Bird Scizor to death. Specsmence Draco Meteor always 3HKOs, as does +1 Adamant Salamence LO Outrage.

@ Air Mail
Calm
80 HP / 252 Defense / 176 Special Defense

Wish
Protect
Toxic
Flamethrower

Same EVs I've always used, I just never saw any reason to change them. Wish / Protect doesn't work THAT well in the sand with Air Mail, so I might replace them for Softboiled and Aromatherapy / Thunderbolt / HP Ground / Seismic Toss. Protect is nice for stalling out Poison and Sandstorm though and thanks to Air Mail making Blissey immune to Trick she is practically immortal to most special attackers. Air Mail lets Blissey switch in for free against Latias, Rotom, Starmie, Celebi and Gengar and easily eliminate most sets, barring a few the rest of the team covers.

@ Leftovers
Relaxed
252 HP / 48 Defense / 208 Special Defense

Gyro Ball
Payback
Toxic Spikes
Rapid Spin

EVs allow Forretress to shrug off anything Swampert has, while guarenteeing lead Mamoswine always 4HKOs with Earthquake. Stops "Cro" Latias and wipes out non-HP Fire Gengar. Weavile, Metagross, Scizor and many choiced pokemon are setup bait for Forretress. Toxic Spikes helps wipe out Blissey, Tyranitar, Celebi, Starmie and Infernape, who otherwise I would have a lot of trouble breaking. Gyro Ball has been useless, so I may replace it for Earthquake to hit Infernape, Lucario, Metagross, Tyranitar and Heatran with. As opposed to what Gyro Ball hits, which is what.. Weavile? Aerodactyl? lol.

@ Leftovers
Timid
252 HP / 252 Speed / 4 Defense

Calm Mind
Roar
Dragon Pulse
Recover

Anti-Calm Minder, and good Heatran wall. Easily Calm Minds alongside Suicune, Celebi, Jirachi and Cresselia then Roars the poke away and sweeps. Scizor is a HUGE threat here, but keeping Latias hidden normally lets me outlast common Pursuiters. With Toxic Spikes down Latias can run through most stall teams, assuming it can avoid Blissey's poison. Stops Infernape too. I might replace Dragon Pulse with Surf due to the ability to better hit Tyranitar and Scizor, but then Suicune could do terrible damage to me.

@ Leftovers
Timid
252 HP / 68 Defense / 188 Speed

Discharge
Will-O-Wisp
Rest
Sleep Talk

So much has trouble switching in on Rotom, even Tyranitar often eats a burn. My best answer to Lucario if Hippowdon is hurt but also stops Scizor is his tracks. EVs outrun Adamant Lucario, although I wish I had other ways around him. Not running Bold with max Defense causes me to lose a huge amount of durability. The speed I run outruns Lucario, Timid Heatran and nothing more so it might just be worth it to run max defense and rely on Hippowdon to take Lucario. On the other hand, Lucario can run rampant through the team without speed EVs..

New Kids on the Block (An Afrokid OU RMT)

Afrokid — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:55:04 GMT

Hey everyone, besides the three people that read my last RMT, this'll be my first RMT.

Now this team may be fairly new, in a way because I've only used it for around two weeks, I keep having problems with stall teams and status teams.:pirate:.

Anyway that's it for the intro onto the team:

Starmie Natural Cure @Life Orb Timid {The Lead}
~ Hydro Pump 6 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Rapid Spin

Ah, Starmie. In my opinion, it's kind of an unorthodox lead. I mean it really doesn't stop SR from setting up unless I want to waste a turn Rapid Spinning and that rarely happens. Anyway the way I use this set is, I determine which move is the best. If the lead only gets neutral damage from any of Starmie's moves, like Azelf for example, I use Hydro Pump because of STAB. If it's something like Infernape or Aerodactyl then I use Hydro Pump, and Ice Beam respectively.

Swampert Torrent @Leftovers Relaxed {Stealth Rock User}
~ Ice Beam 6 Atk/ 252 Def / 252 HP
~ Earthquake
~ Stealth Rock
~ Roar

Swampert, or the KoolAidMan(that's his nickname), is my SR user and my mixed wall guy thing. It can absorb hits at times when I need it to. Also when my opponent tries to set up or boost it stats when they think I'm gonna switch out, I use Roar to make their efforts meaningless.

Scizor Technician @Choice Band Adamant {The Glue that holds my team together..) 56 Atk / 200 HP/ 252 Spd
~ Bullet Punch
~ U - Turn
~ Superpower
~ Pursuit

I personally have found this specially defensive spread much more useful for taking on Latias and Starmie. It still packs plenty of power without that much EV's in Atk. That's pretty much how I use it, in a nutshell.

Latias Levitate @Leftovers Timid {Recovery Special Sweeper}
~ Surf 6 HP / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
~ Thunderbolt
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Recover

This is a decent Sweeper but I mostly use it to attract Scizor prey.
That's pretty much it.

Salamence Intimidate @Life Orb Naive {Physical Sweeper}
~ Outrage 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
~ Dragon Dance
~ Earthquake
~ Fire Blast

This is really good for letting my next pokemon set up. But I love throwing people off when using this set. I like to DD up when they switch to Physical walls like skarmory and surprising them with a decent powered Fire Blast.

Magnezone Magnet Pull @Choice Scarf Naive/Modest {Special Sweeper}
~ Thunderbolt 6 Atk / 252 Spa / 252 Spe
~ Flash Cannon
~ Hidden Power {Fire}
~ Explosion

I love this pokemon. When my opponent sends out a dragon type move or Ice type I love switching to this to suck up the blows then, if it's a Steel type, using either Thunderbolt(For pokemon like Jirachi), or HP Fire for pokemon like other Magnezone and Scizors.

Well, this is my team. Please constructive criticism only. Thanks for reading.

Oh and sorry for not using sprites. I don't know how to link.:nerd:

Barriers of Reminscence: Long forgotten Lore

MetaGross66 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:44:20 GMT

Terrifying, is it not? Yes, these moves have been banished to the realms of the forgotten moves, yet they can serve a tremendous use through their effects; need I remind you, they double the defenses of the pokemon under it when active, and this can easily be abused by sweepers making it quite a potent strategy if you ask me. Today, people are focused on semi-stall and bulky offense from what I see in pokemon like Gyarados, Scizor, Latias, and Tyranitar. Screens effectively neutralize these would-be threats and allows for the disposal of such pokemon quite easily under certain conditions.

Firstly, you must have set up sweepers or sweepers that can hit hard from the start. Generally, set up sweepers will serve you more good as they really hit hard after a few turns, but have a common enemy which is pseudo hazing. This is where the off the bat hard hitters become handy, but with these pokemon being on only like 20 percent of teams seen today it isn't too much to worry about. Furthermore, you are forcing your opponent to attack you as you set up in his face if utilizing the move substitute which serves handily in the face of teams that rely on paralysis and trick. With good synergy, a team utilizing this tactic can easily run right through teams when set up. There are some enemies to this tactic, though, and they shouldn't go without mention.

Taunt- This move prevents any set up, but the most common users in mid-game are pretty slow or are KO'ed easily after one turn of set up (Tauntdos and Gliscor). Early-game is where this move hurts especially since the most common users are pretty fast, faster than Alakazam, the fastest user of both screens. Corbat and Aerodactyl are both mentioned, but neither are common enough to be considered threats as only five percent of all teams carry Aerodactyl and even less carry Crobat.

Pseudo Hazers- These are only a threat if your team doesn't utilize an off the bat sweeper. If so, the most common users are Swampert and Skarmory so HP grass Heatran should suffice, though I personally have found another set up sweeper better.

Enemy Set up Sweepers- These pokemon can give you some trouble if you lack balance in typing and choice of moves. Otherwise, a fast taunter from the beginning should keep early-game sweepers away. Besides, most are late-game sweepers and your sweepers should be ready to sweep by then.

Brick break- The bane of all DS teams. Thankfully, this move is extremely weak and so many disregard it when making a team. Besides, most of the users of this move are choiced (Scizor) so a bulky ghost can easily help here.

Besides those four things, little should give you trouble. Synergy and the pokemon you choose play a major part in the success of teams of this kind so don't immediately dismiss that just because you have screens to back you up. A balance between defense and offense can easily be achieved by these moves. They can be used in so many ways it's just amazing. I have been seeing more teams like this. GoldDraconian thought of this as a totally new style of play when using bulky sweepers and DS users. So, how game changing do you think these two moves can possibly be when paired with bulky hard hitting sweepers like Suicune and Jirachi? Discuss, please.

Example team:

Rogue ZZ (Azelf) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/6 Def/252 Spd
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
---
Pegasus Magic (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/216 Spd/40 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Surf
- Ice Beam
---
Leo Kingdom (Lucario) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 86 HP/240 Atk/184 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Close Combat
- Extremespeed
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
---
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP/176 Spd/80 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
---
Dragon Sky (Salamence) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 236 HP/64 Atk/92 Spd/116 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
---
Megaman (Rotom-w) @ Light Clay
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP/100 Def/56 Spd/100 SDef
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Discharge
- Reflect
- Light Screen
---

Unique Abilities, what's yours?

FriDanny — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:04:13 GMT

So this will be my first giveaway here on smogon :) I have yet to learn RNG abuse yet so I apologize if this pokemon isn't the best. In my time here at smogon, I don't think I've seen any of this particular pokemon that is redistributable so I decided to do a giveaway for mine.

Anyway, please read the rules if you would like one. I know this is the giveaway section but it doesn't give you the right to mindlessly spam "can I get one?" If you break the rules, you don't get one. Let's see how many people still end up breaking it x_x

Here is the pokemon that I will be giving away :)

Mew - From HGSS 10 ANI Event going on right now.
Comes in a Cherish Ball
IVs: 20/7/24/23/23/23
Nature: Modest
Ability: Synchronize
Comes as Level 5 UT

Rules:
1. Must have a trade thread here. Sorry this giveaway isn't for people who are just randomly lurking around. And please don't go and make a thread right now just to get one. (This is more of a trust issue. If you've been here for a while then feel free to participate)
2. Do one of the two activites listed below. This was an idea taken from AromaFlora :heart:
3. The mew is fully redistributable!
4. If you want to redistribute this mew, you have to give me credit somehow.
5. Only post once. You may edit your post but if you post more than once, you are disqualified.
6. Post a picture of mew somewhere in your post if you have read and understood all of the rules. Please keep the picture sizes down to a minimum. I don't have a maximum size limit but just use common sense. If your picture is too large, you are disqualified.

Important Info:
This giveaway will end on Sunday, November 22 at 10 pm PST. If you don't know what time that is check google or something.

Activity:
Well Mew is most known for being able to learn every TM out there and I'd like to do an activity related to that ability.

1. Mew is a pokemon of many talents. So tell me a special talent that you have. It can be very difficult or very simple but I don't want a simple sentence. Please go into detail about your talent and explain why you consider it a talent. What makes it unique to you? How did you discover it? You can even go into a short story if you would like to.

If somehow you don't have anything that you consider to be special to yourself then feel free to do the second option. Mew's other talent is the ability to transform into another pokemon, a trait only shared by Smergle and Ditto (I think).

2. If you were to consider yourself to be a pokemon, what pokemon would you be and why? Don't give a simple sentence about just the looks. Go into depth with it. You can bring up it's movepool, it's ability, and it's weight and height if you'd like. Try to consider many different aspects and be creative :)

Enjoy everyone and try to have a little fun with this giveaway!

TGIF! An OU RMT

Kabuto Mushi — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:55:26 GMT

Hiya. Here�s a team I�ve been working on for about a week that I�d like a few opinions on. Please forgive the slightly skimpy descriptions compared to other RMT threads� As I�m sure many of you here can understand, a busy student usually has time to either read/write about games OR play them, not both, even on glorious Friday afternoons like this one. That being said, let me dive right into the team. The goal of this one is to sweep with a bulky Heracross. I tried to give it teammates that could lure in and dispose of its most dangerous counters early in the match, taking out as many members of their team as possible. Thanks for any suggestions!

Gyarados @ Lum Berry/Leftovers
EVs: 212 HP/118 Atk/180 Def
Impish (+Def, -Sp.Atk)
Intimidate
-Taunt
-Thunder Wave
-Waterfall
-Stone Edge

This is an old lead I used to use back in the day� a modification on the tried and true Bulky-Gyara. As I mentioned before, the goal of this team is to set up for Heracross, who isn't breaking any land speed records. Therefore, it is good to have a user of T-wave, and even better to have a user of T-wave they don�t expect. Paralysis works fairly well in combo with Waterfall�s flinch rate (although it�s far from gyrahax, lol) and no one is switching grounds into Gyarados to avoid T-wave for fear of Water STAB. Other than paralyzing certain things that would cause trouble for Hera down the road, this guy acts like a normal Gyra lead. Notice the Impish nature and defensive EVs� Man, is it nice to have a solid counter to Bandzor and SDLuke for once. This is also a very important player in fighting opposing Gyarados. The best way to give you a picture might be to take the common approach and list what he would do against a few of the most popular leads�

Azelf: Increasingly, I�ll just Waterfall it. Hopefully, they will go down like Aero by Taunt>SR.
Metagross: I�ll try a taunt, even though some may outspeed me� Most of the time they just explode right away without even setting up rocks, for some reason.
Heatran: Same thing as Meta, Taunt, T-wave, or Waterfall become options.
Gliscor: They usually try to Taunt me, so I go straight for Waterfall
Roserade: Assuming I have the Lum, I taunt and switch or T-wave
Mamoswine: Direct to Waterfall, or perhaps a switch.
Swampert: Taunt it, and Waterfall or switch.
Infernape: Waterfall or T-wave.
Jirachi: Switch directly to Flygon. I�ve been T-bolt�d way too many times�
Hippowdon: Same with Swampert. Sometimes I go for T-wave after Taunt, because they usually switch out fearing Waterfall.

Bronzong @ Choice band
EVs: 252 HP/84 Atk/80 Def/92 Sp. Def
Sassy (+Sp. Def, -Spe) 0 Spe IV
Levitate
-Stealth Rock
-Gyro Ball
-Earthquake
-Trick

Standard Trickzong. This is here to aid Hera by setting Stealth Rock and hopefully open up a chance to set up by tricking his item onto a wall or special attacker. It�s easy to see how SR helps out any team, limiting the number of times threats like Gyarados and Zapdos can switch in facing my pokemon�s attacks. It is particularly helpful to Heracross, wearing down dangerous fire and flying attackers. In my experience so far, Trick has been a mixed bag� in one hand you could give a huge power boost to a physical attacker on accident, but on the other hand tricking a Band onto something like Skarmory (which walls the heck out of most of this team otherwise) could be invaluable.

Tentacruel @ Lefties
EVs: 252 HP/120 Def/ 136 Sp. Def
Calm (+Sp. Def, -Atk)
Liquid Ooze
-Rapid Spin
-Surf
-Toxic Spikes
-Knock Off

Pure supporting Tentacruel. Tentacruel is one of the most important players on the team merely for the Rapid Spin utility. While literally no one on my team cares about Toxic Spikes, SR is my absolute weakness with Gyara and Yanmega. Also supports the team by laying out my own T-spikes, and Knocking off items that give my opponent more control over the battle. Surf is just here for STAB as another answer to Heatran and Infernape. I have to say that this is the member I�m the most unsure about�

Yanmega @ Expert Belt
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 152 Spe., 104 Def.
Modest(+Sp. Atk, -Atk.)
Speed Boost
-Bug Buzz
-Air Slash
-Hidden Power Ground
-Protect

I�m sure this will be the most controversial member of the team. However, Yanmega is here for very specific reasons. The first and most important role it plays is as a tool to remove several very painful thorns from the side of Heracross. Scarfzone, Scarftran, and Jolteon are both very effectively lured in and KO�d by HP Ground, and pokemon like Rotom and Salamence are drawn in and tempted to use their electric/fire attacks (at which point I can switch in Flygon) Overall I�ve found the guy much more useful than its UU (BL?) status leads one to believe, but I am always open to suggestions.

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
EVs: 252 Atk, 252 Spe, 6 HP
Na�ve(+Spe, -Sp. Def)
Levitate
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-U-turn
-Fire Blast

So I guess this qualifies as an 8x Ice weakness? =P So far the shared weakness between Yanmega and Flygon somehow hasn�t been a big problem for me, with both Gyara and Tentacruel present. Flygon makes a very important member of the team, as a switch in to electric attacks and as a counter to other speedy Dragon Types. Fire Blast gives me an extra option to deal with Forry and Skarm, which might not know to switch out. U-turn rounds out the set, and is excellent for hitting incoming Celebi and Starmie for super effective damage.

Heracross @ Leftovers
EVs: 252 HP/40 Atk/216 Sp. Def
Careful (+Sp. Def, -Sp. Atk)
Guts
-Megahorn
-Bulk Up
-Rest
-Sleep Talk

The final boss. Here�s a pokemon you don�t see on threat lists anymore, using a moveset that wasn�t even popular to begin with. This Heracross�s nature and EVs allow it to set up on a broad spectrum of pokemon. Megahorn is my only attacking option, but with +2 or +3 attack even resisted types begin to feel the pressure. Guts activates when Hera is asleep, so if the Sleep Talk goddess is feeling particularly kind it becomes easy to overcome threats. Truly a frightening sweeper if the opponent's team is ill-prepared.

Biggest threats:
Gyarados � Especially ones with Stone Edge and DD� which is most of them. xD This hasn�t managed to sweep my entire team yet, but it can do quite a number while I wear it down. I might replace Knock Off on Tenta with HP electic to help�
Rotom-H � Dangerous� the worst thing that may happen is if Heracross gets tricked a scarf or specs. Kinda tough to take down, but might also be funny to have Bronzong trick a Band on it.
Suicune � Ugh, I hate this thing. I can trick it if it isn�t behind a sub, but otherwise it's free to set up. Really I�m in trouble in it carries HP Elec OR Ice Beam�
�
I�m sure there are more� might update later. Please post your thoughts guys! =)