This has been far and away the most effective team I’d ever created. Boasting a strong combination of offense and defense, I’ve climbed the smogon dream world ladder peaking at the #7 slot with a CRE of 1350. The idea of the team started when I was browsing over the new abilities of pokemon and came across Politoed, with the brand new (and awesome) Drizzle ability. I’d never really like stall or hyper offense so they were both out, however I still wanted to capitalise on the rain, so balance it is! Now seeing as I don’t like writing lengthy team introductions let’s get onto the team members themselves.......
(kudos to google for sprites)
Politoed@ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature (+Spe -Att)
Ability: Drizzle
252 Sp. Att., 252 Speed 4 Def.
~Surf
~Hydro Pump
~Ice Beam
~Focus Blast
This is the first and by far most important member of my team. Scarf Politoed is an amazing revenge killer and damn near sweeper of it’s own. It obviously is needed to get the rain up but I found that bulky versions of politoed is just dead weight as a bulky water, it lacks stats and recovery (which if it had one or the other might make it more worthwhile). So instead I needed it to make it’s mark offensively. Which was a ridiculous idea at first given it’s lack of setup moves and again, rather “meh” stats. I also had the conundrum that I needed it to be able to come back when needed to replenish the rain. I was left with two options, specs or scarf. I know from experience that specs water attacks from Politoad hit obnoxiously hard, but it takes either speed or bulk to make a good specs user, and given the importance of politoed on the team, I don’t want it to sacrifice itself to fire off one attack (however powerful it may be). So I had to go with scarf, and I’ll tell you, this is by far his best set. It can revenge kill so many things it’ll make you cry, any weather abusers (non rain mind you) are easily revenged with him, and what’s better is that nobody seems to expects him to be scarfed, so they love to leave in Landlos, Doryuuzu, Tyranitar, Gliscor etc. It also retains utility against dozens of other things such as skymin and darkrai (provided no sub), his Hydro pump even does 40% to Latios, for a resisted attack that’s pretty beast if you ask me. Now the moves themselves, I run Surf because it’s a reliable stab attack with perfect accuracy and good power in rain. It’s my go to attack for revenging when I don’t need to power of Hydro pump (and it’s shaky accuracy). I run Hydro Pump as well because there are plenty of situations where I need it’s power to overcome the opposition, it’s accuracy is a turn off at times, but it merits it’s own use. I run ice beam for the coverage it provides against dragons and skymin, nothing to say here, probably the least used attack. Finally we have Focus Blast, the infamous attack that so many things need for coverage (my condolances to gengar, rankurusu, darkrai and alakazam). I use this for only two things, Nattorei, and tyranitar switch ins. outside of that I avoid this dreadful attack like the plague.
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Nattorei@Leftovers
Careful Nature (+ Sp. Def. - Sp. Att)
Ability: Iron Barbs
252 HP, 80 Def, 176 SP. Def
~Power Whip
~Spikes/Stealth Rock
~Leech seed
~Thunder Wave/Gyro Ball
The first of two hazard layers, Nattorei lives up to the hype that people have given him since the advent of B/W. It’s typing grants many awesome resistances that are complimented by rain awesomely. In that his fire weakness is lessened and the overall grass and electric weaknesses of the team are eased by his presence. I went for a more mixed defensive capability to capitalise on it’s slew of resists from many sweepers on both sides. The Ev’s and nature produce 352 HP (leftovers number) 318 defense (to capitalise on resists and iron barbs) and 343 special defense (again, awesome resists). Being that it’s the only steel type on the team its role is an important one, to sponge powerful dragon attacks, I’ll admit the resists to electric and grass have saved my butt a few times too. Now even in the rain, his biggest problem remains shandera, who can drop him with overheat in the rain. I used to run shed shell to mitigate this but the lack of leftovers recovery hurt me more often than the shed shell helped. when shandera is on the opponents team (thank you team preview) I try to play very safe with him, making no blind double switches and not staying in to see if he’ll appear. My best luck so far has been to lure that candle out with roobushin and crush him with payback. At which point Nattorei is free to be a thorn in my opponents side again (word-play high five!). One of the things I like so much is how well he pairs with Zapdos and Tentacruel, the three of them can tank so much it’s ridiculous, and they support eachother so well on top of that. Now the moveset has changed once or twice, and each time I wish to have all the moves on one set. I have come to no true conclusions (and seeing as this is a team retirement it’ll have to reamain a mystery), but I’ll share what I’ve found anyway. Power Whip is an awesome move, 120 BP and stab is what all the cool kids are doing this year, to top it off it gets good PP. My main problem with it is Nattorei loses the oppurtunity to beat on grass types, which is a shame when it’s (sometimes) my only attacking option. Spikes and stealth rock have gone back and forth, Stealth rock is nice because consistent damage and one turn setup often proves greater benefits than spikes, however when I do get to stack multiple layers of spikes, The damage differences really add up. If I run SR I run GB with it so that way I never have nattorei just sitting around on his butt. Leech Seed is next on the line for just being a great move in general, besides lefties it’s his only means of recovery (and passive damage is perty cool too). A move I cannot do without. The final slot has had both Thunder Wave and Gyro Ball in it. Thunder Wave has proven itself due to the fact that most of my team has relatively medium speeds, however it sometimes clashes with toxic. Gyro Ball allows me a second STAB with high power (I decrease speed IV’s to 0 and change nature to sassy when I do) that allows me to combat grass types such as Jaroda and Skymin, nothing else to say there. Overall Nattorei is an often times essential team member and is irreplacable.
Tentacruel@Leftovers
Calm Nature (+Sp. Def -Att)
Ability: Rain Dish
204 HP, 252 Def., 52 Sp. Def.
~Boil Over
~Toxic Spikes
~Rapid Spin
~Protect
Ohhh Tentacruel, you’re so awesome, I wouldn’t dare change you. This thing in the rain is friggin awesome. It isnt weak to grass which is great, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, lays my own out, rapid spins away hazards, puts the hurtin on with double stab boil over and stalls poison/burn damage with protect. I use rain dish because it’s a rain team, why not? Seriously though 12.5% recovery is pretty awesome given it’s great resists and bulk, coupled with protect it actually allows him to stall a long time. All this is made better with the emphasis on toxic damage. For this slot it was a toss up between Tentacruel and Starmie, starmie boasted higher offense and speed (Thunder too) with similar resists, recover, and natural cure. What Starmie lacks however is an automatic TS absorbtion, overall bulk, and the ability to lay out toxic spikes of it’s own. The loss of recover hurts a bit I’ll admit though. The main job of tenta is toxic spikes, RS is secondary. I’ve heard people tell me that this pokemon is horribly walled by burungeru and set up on by Nattorei, however contrary to that statement, those two are so horribly beaten by this set it’s not even funny, burungeru is toxic spikes fodder while nattorei is just waiting for a burn to happen, at which point it’s setup fodder for the rest of the team. All I have to do is outstall burungeru with my awesome toxic spikes then I get the spin off. Now the moves themselves. As previously stated Toxic Spikes were the reason I chose Tentacruel over starmie. They allow me to stall so many things in this metagame, especially combined with my next move. Protect comes second in usefullness, the Leftovers + Rain Dish recovery combo is all the more awesome with protect, and having so many things poisoned, the free turns are a huge boon. Rapid Spin is great support to a Balance team that loves switching so much. The best part is every spin blocker is pwn’d by this set and my team, so I almost always get to spin. Boil Over is the STAB of choice, boasting great power in rain as well as the burn rate (which is one way to beat nattorei, the bane of rain teams). As said in the Nattorei section, tentacruel is amazing to the stalling core of the team and an invaluable member.
Zapdos@Leftovers
Bold Nature (+ Def -Att)
Ability: Lightning Rod
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
~Roar/Hidden Power (Water)
~Thunder
~Toxic
~Roost
Well what can I say about defensive Zapdos that hasn’t been said before? Nothing really, most people here will already know how awesome he is, but for the sake of the thunderbird, I’ll share my thoughts anyway. Firstly, Zapdos has gotten only a few new buffs this gen, but the ones it gained only serve to make him much more powerful. First, I chose Lightning Rod because it’s a rain team, therefore I’m gauranteed (spelling?) to have a problem with electric attacks, totalling in at three electric weaknesses on the team, something to absorb these attacks is more than necessary, and not only does zapdos absorb these attacks but they give him a huge boost in power. Speaking of power boosts, thanks to the magical frog, I get to run thunder instead of thunderbolt, this combined with a lightningrod boost allows him to hit harder than an offensive LO Zappy, that’s pretty awesome for a wall. The last advantage Is an added Fire resist, the added damage from water attacks isn’t so bad considering his bulk and ability to crush water types with thunder. The original reason Zapdos was chosen was because he could combat the Grass and Electric attacks that plagued my team, (which helps take some heat off of Nattorei) He also helped counter Roobushin, Breloom, Manaphy, Skymin, and countless other things. Zapdos was clearly a shoe in for the team given all these advantages. To top it all off, I have found nothing that could do it’s specific job better. Alright, now the moveset, it’s not really that original I know, but it gets the job done. Thunder for POWAAHHHH and STAB, it just does SOOOOO much damage it makes it hard for most things to really set up on it, especially after a lightningrod boost. The next move was chosen, and then changed back and forth a few times. I like roar because it racks up entry hazard damage and scares out a potential threat, I change this because there’s times when all I can do is scare them out, and still have no surefire way to deal with them later. I’ve used HP Water to decent success, it gives no coverage to grass types, but hits ground typed hard in the rain, gaining pseudo STAB from the weather. I’ve also used HP ICE to good success, granting better coverage but less power, I like all three options, it just depends on my mood. Toxic comes next, I’ve been told how redundant it is with toxic spikes and all the other statuses I’ve thrown around, but let me tell you, this has saved me lot’s of grief, it lets me hit something (like a levitator) then know I can stall them out throughout the course of the match, letting me breathe a sigh of relief. That and it’s not wise to always completely rely on the fact that toxic spikes might not always be on the field. Roost finally is just Roost, recovery on a wall is just the bees knees, it is a mixed bag however, I lose some resistances (weaknesses too). I’d honestly prefer recover, but that’s just not happening so I’ll deal with it.
Roopushin@Leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Att -Sp. Att.)
Ability: Guts
196 HP, 88 Att., 224 Sp. Def.
~Bulk Up
~Mach Punch
~Drain Punch
~Payback
Alright, now onto the wildcard member of the team, Roopushin’s only benefit from the rain is a sweet fire resistance, which he uses very well to take anything that jerk Shandera can muster. Now there is a heavy load of Special Defense here (yeah but he can lift it(u c wut i did thar) but it serves a special purpose, it may take away from his overall physical stature but it allows him to survive so many things its not even funny, he takes shanderas overheat in the rain with about 2/3 health to spare and crushes him with payback (and it obviously survives outside of rain as well) in fact this beast is such a tank it can survive LO air slash and psychic (from skymin and latias respectively) and retaliate with yet another payback. After a few bulk ups not puch will take this beast down. Now I’ve talked about what the rain brings him, but what does he do for the team? Well he’s jacked and tan, that’s always a plus, but the real reason he was thrown in was the motherless bastard known at nattorei (I still love mine). whom he counters to hell and back again, he provides some nice bulk as well as useful resists. He also packs fighting priority in Mach Punch which has proven itself worthy this gen. The Icing on the cake is that he can set up on Tyranitar, whom this team also hates (but respects due to mutual pwnageness). The benefits just keep rolling in with that he has (almost) perfect two move coverage and his STAB also doubles as recovery. Status absorbing (and benefit) is the final piece of the puzzle that makes hIm just terrific. The moves are very much standard, Bulk Up is the point of this beast, allowing him to set up and pulverise many many opponents whilst bolstering his defense. Drain Punch provides solid power, reliable recovery, and an interesting mental image for how that would really work. Mach Punch is a secondary satb move with priority, it allows him to finish off weakened opponents before they can recover/get that one last hit in. Payback is the final move, providing the great Dark/Fighting coverage, and allowing me to kill off many things such as Shandera, Burungeru, Latias etc. Roopushin synergises well with Manaphy being that they’re both terrific bulky set up sweepers and the core of my offense.
Manaphy@Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Def. -Att.)
Ability: Hydration
236 HP.,124 Def., 56 Sp. Def., 108 Spe.
~Surf
~Calm Mind
~Toxic
~Rest
Alright, Now onto the final pokemon of the team, and easily the most threatening, this thing has a scary level of power and it’ll quickly and easily crush ALL OPPONENTS! There is not one pokemon in OU right now who can so easily defeat so many things by itself in my opinion (I’ll be sad it’s gone but this thing is so UBER). Manaphy has but a very select few counters in OU, and they are all grass type (or a select group of electrics), everything else loses to this set by virtue of it’s bulk. With the given Ev’s it Has 400 HP (leftovers number) 290 Def. (more physical bulk than Vaporeon) 249 Sp. Def. (bolstered by Calm Mind) and 263 Speed ( to outspeed max base 70’s) The beauties of this pokemon are just neverending. It’s typing allows it to easily run one move coverage in Surf, which gets double stab in rain. It’s ability (hydration) allows it to not only be virtually immune to status and get free rest for as long as there is rain present. Even outside of rain it can set up Calm Minds and threaten with it’s powerful surf. It’s bulk allows it to outstall even a Choice Band Ononokusu Outrage with rest and let it die to poison damage. This combines the stalling power of vaporeon in rain with a powerful setup sweeper. I love switching him in on Burungeru and laughing whilst it’s used as mere set up fodder for me. The grass types are a problem I’ll admit, and if it wasn’t for them this thing would never lose except to very smart players (in which case, more power to you). The moveset Is simple enough, My Stab of Choice is Surf, reliable PP and power make it a welcome addition, however I have dabbled into Boil Over here and there to make use of it’s burn rate to help defeat Nattorei in a 1vs1 engagement. Calm Mind is the point of this set allowing me to build my bulk and power to unstoppable levels before crushing opponents. Toxic is the real beauty of this set, it lets me set up on Burungeru (as I never tire of saying), as well as any other water absorbers or pokemon that are resistant/immune to surf. It also allows me to have a one turn move that does my damage for me, allowing me to alternate between Calm Mind and Rest to be in the most favorable position I can for when their next pokemon comes in. Overall this is probably the most powerful pokemon I’ve used on the team and takes that “jack of all trades” mentality and applies it to “master of all”.
THREAT LIST!!!!!!!!
Jaroda - This thing bends my team over and spanks it, (not even in the good way) if toxic spikes are down, I can stall it out, failing that, I have to drain it’s leaf storm PP and hope I have enough strength left to combat it and the rest of their team. Threat Rating 9/10
Breloom - Ahh Breloom, this thing is such a beast, I improved manaphy’s speed just to get that last hit in with Surf to kill it. I usually pivot to Manaphy to take spore, then to Zapdos to beat him down with Thunder or Toxic Stall, if, toxic spikes are down I can stall it, I can revenge with Toed, Mach punch with Roob, and finish him off with surf from manaphy. Threat Rating 8/10
Sky Form Shaymin - This is probably the most threatening pokemon for me to face bar none. Nattorei and Zapdos resist his stab but the SP. Def. drops from seed flare make it much too hard to sponge his moves, I’ve managed to PP stall seed flare twice out of the four matches I’ve actually encountered him in (which I actually won) I can revenge with Politoed, PP stall with Cruel, Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave with Nattorei and thunder/HP Ice with Zapdos. Worst case, Roobushin can survive Life Orb Air slash from very High health and KO with Payback (flinchhax bites though) Threat Rating 10/10
I have dealt with other threats that kicked my ass (BD venomoth BP to LO Encourage Nidoking) but these threats are more obscure than I could name here, and just have to deal with them as I see them. Any other threats that people can think of would be appreciated. Really though B/W has just soooooooo many threats It’s near Impossible to count them all.
So there’s the team, I like the styles and I feel no member is a weak link. They all contribute equally well and I love every set. Seeing as this is a team retirement (I’m getting a little bored of it tbh), I probably won’t be implementing the changes, but I would really appreciate feedback and changes I can make anyway. I really could use the experience and good advice of the smogon members to help me improve my team building and playing in the future. Thanks for reading and happy rating!
Merry Christmas Smogon!!!! (I know it’s not Christmas Day but still)
(kudos to google for sprites)
Politoed@ Choice Scarf
Timid Nature (+Spe -Att)
Ability: Drizzle
252 Sp. Att., 252 Speed 4 Def.
~Surf
~Hydro Pump
~Ice Beam
~Focus Blast
This is the first and by far most important member of my team. Scarf Politoed is an amazing revenge killer and damn near sweeper of it’s own. It obviously is needed to get the rain up but I found that bulky versions of politoed is just dead weight as a bulky water, it lacks stats and recovery (which if it had one or the other might make it more worthwhile). So instead I needed it to make it’s mark offensively. Which was a ridiculous idea at first given it’s lack of setup moves and again, rather “meh” stats. I also had the conundrum that I needed it to be able to come back when needed to replenish the rain. I was left with two options, specs or scarf. I know from experience that specs water attacks from Politoad hit obnoxiously hard, but it takes either speed or bulk to make a good specs user, and given the importance of politoed on the team, I don’t want it to sacrifice itself to fire off one attack (however powerful it may be). So I had to go with scarf, and I’ll tell you, this is by far his best set. It can revenge kill so many things it’ll make you cry, any weather abusers (non rain mind you) are easily revenged with him, and what’s better is that nobody seems to expects him to be scarfed, so they love to leave in Landlos, Doryuuzu, Tyranitar, Gliscor etc. It also retains utility against dozens of other things such as skymin and darkrai (provided no sub), his Hydro pump even does 40% to Latios, for a resisted attack that’s pretty beast if you ask me. Now the moves themselves, I run Surf because it’s a reliable stab attack with perfect accuracy and good power in rain. It’s my go to attack for revenging when I don’t need to power of Hydro pump (and it’s shaky accuracy). I run Hydro Pump as well because there are plenty of situations where I need it’s power to overcome the opposition, it’s accuracy is a turn off at times, but it merits it’s own use. I run ice beam for the coverage it provides against dragons and skymin, nothing to say here, probably the least used attack. Finally we have Focus Blast, the infamous attack that so many things need for coverage (my condolances to gengar, rankurusu, darkrai and alakazam). I use this for only two things, Nattorei, and tyranitar switch ins. outside of that I avoid this dreadful attack like the plague.
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Nattorei@Leftovers
Careful Nature (+ Sp. Def. - Sp. Att)
Ability: Iron Barbs
252 HP, 80 Def, 176 SP. Def
~Power Whip
~Spikes/Stealth Rock
~Leech seed
~Thunder Wave/Gyro Ball
The first of two hazard layers, Nattorei lives up to the hype that people have given him since the advent of B/W. It’s typing grants many awesome resistances that are complimented by rain awesomely. In that his fire weakness is lessened and the overall grass and electric weaknesses of the team are eased by his presence. I went for a more mixed defensive capability to capitalise on it’s slew of resists from many sweepers on both sides. The Ev’s and nature produce 352 HP (leftovers number) 318 defense (to capitalise on resists and iron barbs) and 343 special defense (again, awesome resists). Being that it’s the only steel type on the team its role is an important one, to sponge powerful dragon attacks, I’ll admit the resists to electric and grass have saved my butt a few times too. Now even in the rain, his biggest problem remains shandera, who can drop him with overheat in the rain. I used to run shed shell to mitigate this but the lack of leftovers recovery hurt me more often than the shed shell helped. when shandera is on the opponents team (thank you team preview) I try to play very safe with him, making no blind double switches and not staying in to see if he’ll appear. My best luck so far has been to lure that candle out with roobushin and crush him with payback. At which point Nattorei is free to be a thorn in my opponents side again (word-play high five!). One of the things I like so much is how well he pairs with Zapdos and Tentacruel, the three of them can tank so much it’s ridiculous, and they support eachother so well on top of that. Now the moveset has changed once or twice, and each time I wish to have all the moves on one set. I have come to no true conclusions (and seeing as this is a team retirement it’ll have to reamain a mystery), but I’ll share what I’ve found anyway. Power Whip is an awesome move, 120 BP and stab is what all the cool kids are doing this year, to top it off it gets good PP. My main problem with it is Nattorei loses the oppurtunity to beat on grass types, which is a shame when it’s (sometimes) my only attacking option. Spikes and stealth rock have gone back and forth, Stealth rock is nice because consistent damage and one turn setup often proves greater benefits than spikes, however when I do get to stack multiple layers of spikes, The damage differences really add up. If I run SR I run GB with it so that way I never have nattorei just sitting around on his butt. Leech Seed is next on the line for just being a great move in general, besides lefties it’s his only means of recovery (and passive damage is perty cool too). A move I cannot do without. The final slot has had both Thunder Wave and Gyro Ball in it. Thunder Wave has proven itself due to the fact that most of my team has relatively medium speeds, however it sometimes clashes with toxic. Gyro Ball allows me a second STAB with high power (I decrease speed IV’s to 0 and change nature to sassy when I do) that allows me to combat grass types such as Jaroda and Skymin, nothing else to say there. Overall Nattorei is an often times essential team member and is irreplacable.
Tentacruel@Leftovers
Calm Nature (+Sp. Def -Att)
Ability: Rain Dish
204 HP, 252 Def., 52 Sp. Def.
~Boil Over
~Toxic Spikes
~Rapid Spin
~Protect
Ohhh Tentacruel, you’re so awesome, I wouldn’t dare change you. This thing in the rain is friggin awesome. It isnt weak to grass which is great, it absorbs Toxic Spikes, lays my own out, rapid spins away hazards, puts the hurtin on with double stab boil over and stalls poison/burn damage with protect. I use rain dish because it’s a rain team, why not? Seriously though 12.5% recovery is pretty awesome given it’s great resists and bulk, coupled with protect it actually allows him to stall a long time. All this is made better with the emphasis on toxic damage. For this slot it was a toss up between Tentacruel and Starmie, starmie boasted higher offense and speed (Thunder too) with similar resists, recover, and natural cure. What Starmie lacks however is an automatic TS absorbtion, overall bulk, and the ability to lay out toxic spikes of it’s own. The loss of recover hurts a bit I’ll admit though. The main job of tenta is toxic spikes, RS is secondary. I’ve heard people tell me that this pokemon is horribly walled by burungeru and set up on by Nattorei, however contrary to that statement, those two are so horribly beaten by this set it’s not even funny, burungeru is toxic spikes fodder while nattorei is just waiting for a burn to happen, at which point it’s setup fodder for the rest of the team. All I have to do is outstall burungeru with my awesome toxic spikes then I get the spin off. Now the moves themselves. As previously stated Toxic Spikes were the reason I chose Tentacruel over starmie. They allow me to stall so many things in this metagame, especially combined with my next move. Protect comes second in usefullness, the Leftovers + Rain Dish recovery combo is all the more awesome with protect, and having so many things poisoned, the free turns are a huge boon. Rapid Spin is great support to a Balance team that loves switching so much. The best part is every spin blocker is pwn’d by this set and my team, so I almost always get to spin. Boil Over is the STAB of choice, boasting great power in rain as well as the burn rate (which is one way to beat nattorei, the bane of rain teams). As said in the Nattorei section, tentacruel is amazing to the stalling core of the team and an invaluable member.
Zapdos@Leftovers
Bold Nature (+ Def -Att)
Ability: Lightning Rod
252 HP, 252 Def, 4 Sp. Def
~Roar/Hidden Power (Water)
~Thunder
~Toxic
~Roost
Well what can I say about defensive Zapdos that hasn’t been said before? Nothing really, most people here will already know how awesome he is, but for the sake of the thunderbird, I’ll share my thoughts anyway. Firstly, Zapdos has gotten only a few new buffs this gen, but the ones it gained only serve to make him much more powerful. First, I chose Lightning Rod because it’s a rain team, therefore I’m gauranteed (spelling?) to have a problem with electric attacks, totalling in at three electric weaknesses on the team, something to absorb these attacks is more than necessary, and not only does zapdos absorb these attacks but they give him a huge boost in power. Speaking of power boosts, thanks to the magical frog, I get to run thunder instead of thunderbolt, this combined with a lightningrod boost allows him to hit harder than an offensive LO Zappy, that’s pretty awesome for a wall. The last advantage Is an added Fire resist, the added damage from water attacks isn’t so bad considering his bulk and ability to crush water types with thunder. The original reason Zapdos was chosen was because he could combat the Grass and Electric attacks that plagued my team, (which helps take some heat off of Nattorei) He also helped counter Roobushin, Breloom, Manaphy, Skymin, and countless other things. Zapdos was clearly a shoe in for the team given all these advantages. To top it all off, I have found nothing that could do it’s specific job better. Alright, now the moveset, it’s not really that original I know, but it gets the job done. Thunder for POWAAHHHH and STAB, it just does SOOOOO much damage it makes it hard for most things to really set up on it, especially after a lightningrod boost. The next move was chosen, and then changed back and forth a few times. I like roar because it racks up entry hazard damage and scares out a potential threat, I change this because there’s times when all I can do is scare them out, and still have no surefire way to deal with them later. I’ve used HP Water to decent success, it gives no coverage to grass types, but hits ground typed hard in the rain, gaining pseudo STAB from the weather. I’ve also used HP ICE to good success, granting better coverage but less power, I like all three options, it just depends on my mood. Toxic comes next, I’ve been told how redundant it is with toxic spikes and all the other statuses I’ve thrown around, but let me tell you, this has saved me lot’s of grief, it lets me hit something (like a levitator) then know I can stall them out throughout the course of the match, letting me breathe a sigh of relief. That and it’s not wise to always completely rely on the fact that toxic spikes might not always be on the field. Roost finally is just Roost, recovery on a wall is just the bees knees, it is a mixed bag however, I lose some resistances (weaknesses too). I’d honestly prefer recover, but that’s just not happening so I’ll deal with it.
Roopushin@Leftovers
Adamant Nature (+Att -Sp. Att.)
Ability: Guts
196 HP, 88 Att., 224 Sp. Def.
~Bulk Up
~Mach Punch
~Drain Punch
~Payback
Alright, now onto the wildcard member of the team, Roopushin’s only benefit from the rain is a sweet fire resistance, which he uses very well to take anything that jerk Shandera can muster. Now there is a heavy load of Special Defense here (yeah but he can lift it(u c wut i did thar) but it serves a special purpose, it may take away from his overall physical stature but it allows him to survive so many things its not even funny, he takes shanderas overheat in the rain with about 2/3 health to spare and crushes him with payback (and it obviously survives outside of rain as well) in fact this beast is such a tank it can survive LO air slash and psychic (from skymin and latias respectively) and retaliate with yet another payback. After a few bulk ups not puch will take this beast down. Now I’ve talked about what the rain brings him, but what does he do for the team? Well he’s jacked and tan, that’s always a plus, but the real reason he was thrown in was the motherless bastard known at nattorei (I still love mine). whom he counters to hell and back again, he provides some nice bulk as well as useful resists. He also packs fighting priority in Mach Punch which has proven itself worthy this gen. The Icing on the cake is that he can set up on Tyranitar, whom this team also hates (but respects due to mutual pwnageness). The benefits just keep rolling in with that he has (almost) perfect two move coverage and his STAB also doubles as recovery. Status absorbing (and benefit) is the final piece of the puzzle that makes hIm just terrific. The moves are very much standard, Bulk Up is the point of this beast, allowing him to set up and pulverise many many opponents whilst bolstering his defense. Drain Punch provides solid power, reliable recovery, and an interesting mental image for how that would really work. Mach Punch is a secondary satb move with priority, it allows him to finish off weakened opponents before they can recover/get that one last hit in. Payback is the final move, providing the great Dark/Fighting coverage, and allowing me to kill off many things such as Shandera, Burungeru, Latias etc. Roopushin synergises well with Manaphy being that they’re both terrific bulky set up sweepers and the core of my offense.
Manaphy@Leftovers
Bold Nature (+Def. -Att.)
Ability: Hydration
236 HP.,124 Def., 56 Sp. Def., 108 Spe.
~Surf
~Calm Mind
~Toxic
~Rest
Alright, Now onto the final pokemon of the team, and easily the most threatening, this thing has a scary level of power and it’ll quickly and easily crush ALL OPPONENTS! There is not one pokemon in OU right now who can so easily defeat so many things by itself in my opinion (I’ll be sad it’s gone but this thing is so UBER). Manaphy has but a very select few counters in OU, and they are all grass type (or a select group of electrics), everything else loses to this set by virtue of it’s bulk. With the given Ev’s it Has 400 HP (leftovers number) 290 Def. (more physical bulk than Vaporeon) 249 Sp. Def. (bolstered by Calm Mind) and 263 Speed ( to outspeed max base 70’s) The beauties of this pokemon are just neverending. It’s typing allows it to easily run one move coverage in Surf, which gets double stab in rain. It’s ability (hydration) allows it to not only be virtually immune to status and get free rest for as long as there is rain present. Even outside of rain it can set up Calm Minds and threaten with it’s powerful surf. It’s bulk allows it to outstall even a Choice Band Ononokusu Outrage with rest and let it die to poison damage. This combines the stalling power of vaporeon in rain with a powerful setup sweeper. I love switching him in on Burungeru and laughing whilst it’s used as mere set up fodder for me. The grass types are a problem I’ll admit, and if it wasn’t for them this thing would never lose except to very smart players (in which case, more power to you). The moveset Is simple enough, My Stab of Choice is Surf, reliable PP and power make it a welcome addition, however I have dabbled into Boil Over here and there to make use of it’s burn rate to help defeat Nattorei in a 1vs1 engagement. Calm Mind is the point of this set allowing me to build my bulk and power to unstoppable levels before crushing opponents. Toxic is the real beauty of this set, it lets me set up on Burungeru (as I never tire of saying), as well as any other water absorbers or pokemon that are resistant/immune to surf. It also allows me to have a one turn move that does my damage for me, allowing me to alternate between Calm Mind and Rest to be in the most favorable position I can for when their next pokemon comes in. Overall this is probably the most powerful pokemon I’ve used on the team and takes that “jack of all trades” mentality and applies it to “master of all”.
THREAT LIST!!!!!!!!
Jaroda - This thing bends my team over and spanks it, (not even in the good way) if toxic spikes are down, I can stall it out, failing that, I have to drain it’s leaf storm PP and hope I have enough strength left to combat it and the rest of their team. Threat Rating 9/10
Breloom - Ahh Breloom, this thing is such a beast, I improved manaphy’s speed just to get that last hit in with Surf to kill it. I usually pivot to Manaphy to take spore, then to Zapdos to beat him down with Thunder or Toxic Stall, if, toxic spikes are down I can stall it, I can revenge with Toed, Mach punch with Roob, and finish him off with surf from manaphy. Threat Rating 8/10
Sky Form Shaymin - This is probably the most threatening pokemon for me to face bar none. Nattorei and Zapdos resist his stab but the SP. Def. drops from seed flare make it much too hard to sponge his moves, I’ve managed to PP stall seed flare twice out of the four matches I’ve actually encountered him in (which I actually won) I can revenge with Politoed, PP stall with Cruel, Gyro Ball/Thunder Wave with Nattorei and thunder/HP Ice with Zapdos. Worst case, Roobushin can survive Life Orb Air slash from very High health and KO with Payback (flinchhax bites though) Threat Rating 10/10
I have dealt with other threats that kicked my ass (BD venomoth BP to LO Encourage Nidoking) but these threats are more obscure than I could name here, and just have to deal with them as I see them. Any other threats that people can think of would be appreciated. Really though B/W has just soooooooo many threats It’s near Impossible to count them all.
So there’s the team, I like the styles and I feel no member is a weak link. They all contribute equally well and I love every set. Seeing as this is a team retirement (I’m getting a little bored of it tbh), I probably won’t be implementing the changes, but I would really appreciate feedback and changes I can make anyway. I really could use the experience and good advice of the smogon members to help me improve my team building and playing in the future. Thanks for reading and happy rating!
Merry Christmas Smogon!!!! (I know it’s not Christmas Day but still)
