hey, I have a new team to try out during my school holidays, it's sort of a special variant of a standard Hyper Offensive team, and it's been doing pretty well for me at the moment, but a few hax losses have come, and I'm heading back down from the top 50 I was in last night. I guess I can't really blame anyone, since using moves like Hydro Pump and Focus Blast is pretty much asking for it, but it still hurts :/
Anyways, it's a special hyper offence team, which means it has a few problems with Blissey, Tyranitar and Scizor but I have a few clever ways to get rid of those guys. Also note that I haven't actually played a team this offensively before, so I'm a bit new to playing teams like this.
I guess I should get started:
This team has actually been pretty amazing for me, and I would say that its main problem is definitely without a doubt Choice Scarfed Ground- type moves. Flygon obviously and Tyranitar late game will destroy me, maybe a good levitating lead to go over Starmie? Since synergy wise, Starmie contributes nothing at all, it's so replaceable really...
Anyways, it's a special hyper offence team, which means it has a few problems with Blissey, Tyranitar and Scizor but I have a few clever ways to get rid of those guys. Also note that I haven't actually played a team this offensively before, so I'm a bit new to playing teams like this.
I guess I should get started:
Azelf is the new lead, taking Starmie's spot, with Eggbert's help, since dual screens, I didn't find, were necessary for any sweep, I was fast and powerful enough already to take the opponent down without having to resort to set up or bulk. It's really such a standard set I'm using, but the combined facts that it is reliable, getting Stealth Rocks up every game, which is really important, mostly for Empoleon, it can prevent the set up of heaps of sweepers with Explosion, and the ones it doesn't hit are brought down by Jolteon or Infernape's Mach Punch, and the final thing which I thought made Azelf stand out was its ground immunity. Even though it probably won't be hanging around until the late game, it can definitely help if it gets there, because Flygon by then has a chance to destroy my team. Contrary to how I play the rest of the team, I tend to have a go at predicting what my opponent will do. If it's a lead which is likely to Uturn I will go for the Flamethrower to catch a Scizor. Just as long as I get rocks up, I don't care what Azelf does tbh. Another plus of having Azelf is that it is a great lead against stall and prevents the early game spikes they might try to set with a Flamethrower, which I already mentioned my team hates. Also if Azelf is around late game it can bait Pursuits which are then easy switchins for Empoleon, Heatran and Infernape.
Azelf @ Focus Sash
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Explosion
Interesting set, interesting set, it's here as a bulky water and Blissey lure and it is oh so good at checking Starmie as well, which is just an all round fuck to my team. I honestly never found myself using Earth Power in the game and I can't take on other Heatran anyway so it was replaced with Taunt, so that I can minimize the prediction that Blissey might Protect on my explosion. Hidden Power and the Magma Storm>taunt>Explosion combo I use against Blissey absolutely dismantles the common special stops to my sweepers, and paves the way for a sweep with just about any pokemon on my team. Magma Storm can be annoying if it misses but that honestly hasn't happened as much as I thought it would, and I don't want to be one of those people who constantly complains that Focus Blast/Magma Storm/Hypnosis constantly misses for them, since those moves only have 70 accuracy after all. The chance of it hitting twice is literally nearly hax :/ I am thinking of running a few less speed evs, since I have no business against other Heatran, and it has an strange base speed stat (77 I am pretty sure?) so I could drop some speed into HP to take on Rotom and Zapdos a little better, as well as still outspeeding the next lowest speed stat.
Heatran (M) @ Passho Berry
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Magma Storm
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Explosion
- Taunt
This used to have Hidden Power Electric to surprise kill Gyarados on a stall team, but now Heatran has it, and he is more likely to make an appearance before Infernape. Now I have it replaced with Grass Knot to get rid of Swampert to help out Heatran and also Empoleon to an extent, since I have no super effective moves on his moveset. Also it can handle DDTar with its Mach Punch after a +1 and honestly DDTar can be the most troublesome sweeper since it can set up all day on Heatran or Jolteon. Infernape is basically my stop to the things that stop the team pretty much, and a great combatant against stall teams. I am seriously thinking about Lum Berry on this set, which might be funny to ge a guaranteed switch in on Blissey and scout its set. If it's Toxic than Heatran can just come in and keep bluffing Explosion, until they are convinced I don't have it then I boom. If it's Thunder Wave I have no idea what to do lol, cause a Jolteon switch is just retarded. it would also mean I don't have to take Life Orb damage anymore, but I don't know if the power loss would be substantial. Eh, it's only a thought, since I would only get the first switch in for free, after that it's fair game. Has pretty good offensive synergy with Heatran acting as a lure for Swampert and other bulky waters, so it can usually take a coupe of pokemon down with it.
Infernape (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Blaze
EVs: 64 Atk / 252 SAtk / 192 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Fire Blast
- Close Combat
- Grass Knot
- Mach Punch
And now we come to Gengar. I don't really know what my opinions on Gengar are tbh, sometimes it's great, others it really just lacks the ability to do anything. One thing I am sure of though is that Gengar definitely belongs on my team, being the only ground immunity as well comes with great responsibility for gengar to stay alive late game, I really hate Flygon late game, outspeeds my +2 Empoleon, so Gengar is really imo the only pokemon I have to save until the end. Other than that, yeah, amazing with Protect, scouts choice moves, it's really an amazing move to be able to know exactly what Flygon's gonna do and Scizor especially, the main reason Protect is here is to scout the move, Bullet Punch/Pursuit and then act accordingly, very useful, because its CB Bullet Punches late game are gonna hurt Jolteon and Infernape, even resisted. Unfortunately if you Protect they know your set nowadays and will just switch instead of using the same moves again, oh well. Also knowing what Tyranitars will do, and if they pursuit, free Empoleon set up is amazing.
Gengar (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 12 HP / 252 SAtk / 244 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Protect
This, I assumed would not be the best on the team, but god, have I been proven wrong. For starters I want everyone to give this a try, it's really amazing , especially if you can bait choiced pursuits like Starmie, Gengar, and Jolteon to an extent can. It will just set up the Agility, and then away it goes. The only things really stopping this after an Agility are Mach Punch Infernape, Gyarados which still has heaps of hp as well a EQ, Scarfed Rotom and Scarf Flygon, and honestly, except for Scarfgon, they are fairly easily handled by the rest of the team. Empoleon is amazingly powerful as well, and once it's Life Orb brings it down to Torrent mode, Hydro Pump shreds everything. I had a go with Surf and it just was not powerful enough at all, even neutral hits with Hydro Pump are beastly. While I don't think I will replace this, I am in actual fact open for replacements on everything on this team, although imo Empoleon has earned a permanent spot on the team. Shuca Berry mean I am no longer revenged by Flygon, a constant annoyance to the team.
Empoleon (M) @ Shuca Berry
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 12 HP / 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Agility
- Hydro Pump
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
Jolteon is an amazing pokemon once TTar and Blissey have gone down, and I am convinced it's definitely capable of sweeps. The main problem I've had with it is the fourth slot, which I was just about to give away to Charge Beam but in the battle before I posted this, it came in really handy, so I have no idea what to do :'( I honestly think I am powerful enough to not need to boost with Charge Beam, but the occassional Jirachi has stopped my sweep, which is pretty sad, since it couldn't even really be called a check. Still, it might have its merits. I honestly haven't seen Gliscor at all, and Flygon can only be hit on the switch, so maybe Hidden Power [Fighting] is an option to help with Gengar's chances of a sweep? This has great synergy with the last three members of my team, what with Ground-type attacks going to Gengar, Dark- and Ghost- types from Gengar going to Empoleon, and Electric- type attacks giving Jolteon a free switch.
Jolteon (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Volt Absorb
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
This team has actually been pretty amazing for me, and I would say that its main problem is definitely without a doubt Choice Scarfed Ground- type moves. Flygon obviously and Tyranitar late game will destroy me, maybe a good levitating lead to go over Starmie? Since synergy wise, Starmie contributes nothing at all, it's so replaceable really...