ADMIRAL BOBBERY'S BOB-OMB SQUAD
Hello! Many of you don't know me as Admiral Bobbery! That would be because I am extremely knew to Smogon. Though I have been a lurker for over a year, I have only recently started posting. This is my very first Rate My Team.
In this past year of competitive battling, I have tried many teams. Dozens of poorly thrown together, messy, jumbled teams which just barely managed to get me by, and for a while, I was happy with that. But eventually I decided that instead of making a new team every time the one I was using wasn't working as well, I would create one team and craft it meticulously until it became as close as I could get to a GREAT team.
Then, Black 2 and White 2 came out and I had to put my project on hold. There were many new threats that I had to consider, and until the metagame stabilized, I would have to keep trying new things until I found what worked and until all the other trainers figured out the new things that were worth using and those that were not.
It was a few weeks ago that I decided it was time for me to begin forming my first well crafted team again. The metagame has almost completely stabilized, and I know what to look out for as well as what Pokémon I can use effectively. Though it did take a while to build, with many Pokémon coming and going, I believe this team is ready to be judged by the brilliant minds of the Smogon community (seriously, part of the reason I never made an account here is cause you guys scared me XD).
Without further adieu, here is my Bob-omb Squad!
The Team At A Glance
Team Building Process
This team started with Roserade. I wanted something that could set up spikes, while still having somewhat of an offensive presence on my team. It would also be good for countering some of the more offensive lead Politoed sets I've seen so frequently due to its respectable special bulk. then I tried to see what would create a good defensive core and the first thing that came to mind was
If Amoongbro can work, why wouldn't Rosebro? Right? These two cover each other's weaknesses nicely and cover opposite ends of the defensive spectrum. I figured that Slowbro could also help to spread status with Scald and Thunder-Wave. At this point I thought, if Rosebro is where I'm taking this team, why not take it to the next logical step?
These three seemed to have a good defensive core, but I decided to go with a more offensive Heatran set. I went for an Air Balloon set with Stealth Rock to increase my hazards. I thought the extra offensive coverage for the team would be useful. On that note, I decided to go for another offensive Pokémon with good coverage.
Latios has been one of my favorite Pokémon since I was a kid, and it doesn't hurt that he is fantastic competitively. I chose him to add to the team because I wanted to have more coverage on a fast Pokémon. Uh oh, all physical Pokémon so far...that's not good. I decided to add one of my favorite physical guys too.
I went for a double dance set because, in my experience, it has the ability to wreck teams. I also thought that it would be good to have some Fighting and Rock type moves as they are good against some common Pokémon like Thundurus-T and Tornadus-T and the many Steel types in OU. But one physical attacker wasn't enough. So I added another one!
To be quite honest, I have no idea why I chose Virizion. I guess it was to help defeat Politoed and Tyranitar. Such a stupid move. and THAT is why I switched it out first.
I changed Virizion to Kingdra to help me to beat rain teams. Kingdra has the ability to destroy them once Ferrothorn is out of the way. I chose a Sub DDance set. After a few battles, Kingdra was working wonders. Even on non-rain teams, he had an easy time setting up and sweeping. I also changed my Terrakion set to a Scarf set because in my first battle I was swept by Alakazam because he outsped everything on my team
I really don't know why I make these decisions. I think I valued the offensive potential of Roserade more than Spikes and so I changed it to Celebi. And I didn't want to keep Slowbro after that because I knew Hydreigon would kill both my walls. But when I tried these two, it just didn't work at all. I wanted to change them, but I had actually been reading up on a knew Pokémon- and decided to try it out.
This team worked pretty well. I won a large majority of my battles but there was one problem I had. I had no priority on this team! There was one match where I was swept by an Unburden Sceptile because I had no priority moves! Anyway I decided to go for my favorite priority user.
There was nothing really wrong with Kingdra, but it was the most expendable member of the team. Conkeldurr is great and I decided to go with a Bulk Up set because I believe it is his most effective set and fit my team well, replacing one set-up sweeper with another. However, at this point, I had a severe weakness to fighting. i knew I had to get rid of at least one of my three Pokémon weak to one of the most common types in Black and White, but I wasn't sure who. Until it finally hit me.
And that is how I came up with the team! Now for a more in depth look.
Under the magnifying glass
Vivian/Roserade@Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EV's: 252HP/120 SpA/136 SpD
~Spikes
~Giga Drain
~Hidden Power Fire
~Rest
Vivian/Roserade@Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Calm
EV's: 252HP/120 SpA/136 SpD
~Spikes
~Giga Drain
~Hidden Power Fire
~Rest
Roserade is my lead. That is, she is the Pokémon I send out firs 90% of the time. She is actually pretty efficient at setting up spikes because so few people know how to deal with her because she is seen so infrequently. However, her purpose is not always to set up three layers of spikes because I usually need to keep the Grass STAB for Later in the battle. If she can only get up one or two layers before she is forced out, that is just fine by me. Hidden Power Fire is to hit the common Forretress people send out to rapid spin my spikes, which is a comfortable 2HKO. She might have a hard time against some of her common counters and her special attack isn't quite good enough for her to really threaten any other Pokémon, but she does what she does well.
Koops/Cloyster@White Herb
Ability: Skill Link
Nature: Jolly
EV's 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Def
~Shell Smash
~Icicle Spear
~Rock Blast
~Razor Shell
I know what most people think when they see this set, "WHY USE RAZOR SHELL OVER HYDRO PUMP?!?!" Well I actually have a good reason. Razor Shell is a more effective move because it takes out specially defensive Heatran more easily. Anyway, Cloyster is amazing. I had never used one before this, but he goes to WORK on teams that are unprepared for him. If he can switch in and set up before there are any hazards set, he can poke some very important holes in teams so that Landorus, Latios, and Conkeldurr can clean up. He can sometimes work as a late game sweeper, but because I have no spinner, he might not be able to get his boosts up in time. Jolly nature is so he can outspeed common Timid Scarfers like Latios after a boost.
Bowser/Heatran@Air Balloon
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
EV's 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Fire Blast
~Earth Power
~Hidden Power Ice
~Stealth Rock
Heatran does what it needs to do. It sets up Stealth Rocks, gets the occasional KO on Dragon types, but mostly he's there to absorb Fire type moves. Don't get me wrong, Heatran is great on this team, but outside of those things, he doesn't do much. He certainly isn't sweeping anytime soon, but there's a reason this was the most used OU Pokémon last generation, and he suits his purpose in my team well.
Hooktail/Latios@Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EV's 4 HP/252 SpA/252 Spe
~Draco Meteor
~Recover
~Hidden Power Fire
~Psyshock
Part of what I love about this game is surprise factor. If you can fool your opponent into thinking you have one set, but really you have another, it can net you a key KO and win yo the match. This Latios SCREAMS surprise factor! With Expert Belt equipped, most people expect the Specs set, only to switch their would be counter into a non-choiced Dragon of death who then proceeds to KO them with a super effective move. His above average coverage allows me to land a KO on many common switch ins to Latios such as Scizor. Latios also does well alongside Landorus and Conkeldurr at cleaning up late game.
Lakilester/Landorus@Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Force
Nature: Naive
EV's 252 Atk/4 SpA/252 Spe
~Earthquake
~Stone Edge
~Hidden Power Ice
~U-Turn
As his analysis says on site, Landorus just has everything he needs to succeed. Landorus was a great replacement for Terrakion. He is a good counter to sandstorm teams due to his ability Sand Force, and he allows me to keep momentum in my favor with U-Turn, something I had never had on this team previously. STAB Earthquake is great for cleaning up one all the Flying types/Levitate Pokémon are KO'd, and Hidden Power Ice allows me to kill Gliscor as well as get a x4 effective move on Dragonite and Salamence.
Grubba/Conkeldurr@Leftovers
Ability: Guts
Nature: Adamant
EV's 120 HP/252 Atk/136 SpD
~Drain Punch
~Mach Punch
~Payback
~Bulk Up
Ever since Black and White 2 came out, I have wanted to use Ice Punch on Conkeldurr simply because I love watching Gliscor fall after witching in on a Bulk Up and expecting me to switch out. there is no feeling like beating a Gliscor with a Conkeldurr. None. Scratch that, maybe KOing Thundurus-Therian is as good. Anyway, this set is pretty standard, he sets up, he heals, he absorbs statuses, he's Conkeldurr! His Mach Punch brings much needed priority to this team, and the fighting type STAB works wonders.
Threat List
Life Orb Starmie can hit 5/6 of my team super effectively and is a major problem, because, outside of Landorus, who isn't going to be switching into a Starmie anytime soon, no one on my team outspeeds it. Jirachi's suggested scizor does help with this problem as it gives me a way to KO it and takes away one Pokémon weak to it.
Like Starmie, it has great coverage, is immune to hazards, and can outspeed everything but Landorus on my team and KO. Also, Scizor helps KO this too.
If this can get more than one Quiver Dance, even my Landorus can't outspeed, and he is my only check to it outside of Heatran, who cant do anything back to Volcarona.
Calm Mind sets with physical bulk investment kind of wreck my team if they aren't taken care of quickly. Not really sure what can be done about that other than hop using repeated U-Turns from Landorus will be enough.
Outside of Roserade, I have nothing to do to Jellicent. Even then, the only chance I have of KOing it is to pray to God that it doesn't freeze me with Ice Beam or get a SpD drop with Shadowball.
Sun Teams in general cause trouble for me, but this bugger gets me good. It's not AS hard to counter ever since I got Ice Punch Conkeldurr, but that's only if I've sacrificed someone to sleep clause. Latios can also handle it pretty well, but only as a revenge killer.
Funny how these things happen. I use Conkeldurr, yet have nothing to beat it. I don't have much to do to Bulk Up sets with good Special Defense. Latios can try to Psyshock if they haven't set up any Bulk Ups yet but that's about it.
Again, I'll post a better threat list tomorrow, but these are the major ones I've seen.
In Conclusion
I gotta say, I really am very happy with this team. One of the reasons I've been so hesitant to post to RMT before is that I didn't want my teams to be ripped apart, but I really do think this one is good. it works well, I rarely lose, and when I do it's usually because of hax or if my opponent is using Smash Pass Toxicroak (damn that was a sad tournament...). If anyone sees anything that can be improved in the team, I would love to test out any suggestions you guys have for me. Thank you in advance for making my first RMT experience a good one!
Importable
Roserade @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SAtk / 136 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Rest
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Razor Shell
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Latios @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up
- Ice Punch
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 120 SAtk / 136 SDef
Calm Nature
- Giga Drain
- Rest
- Spikes
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Trait: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Razor Shell
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
Heatran @ Air Balloon
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Stealth Rock
Latios @ Expert Belt
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Landorus @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sand Force
EVs: 4 SAtk / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Conkeldurr @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 120 HP / 252 Atk / 136 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Bulk Up
- Ice Punch