Introduction:
Hello, my name is Terria and this is my first RMT. I'm otherwisely known under the handle 'Yugi' or 'a slender man' on Pokemon Showdown.
First of, note that I’m going to be informal for fluid reading. This means that opinion and personal evaluation might be scattered throughout the RMT in order to give you the idea of how this team works, as well as the process of making it.
However, for those who want the bare bones, all relevant information about the team is in Bold.
Foreword:
To be honest, I didn’t really have any sort of goal in making this- I was pretty demoralized after failing time and time again with teams which sand stalled, etc, and I just wanted a team that I could be comfortable with.
I am a sucker for pressure teams. I love pressuring people. Teams with great offensive presences which force switches/deal a crippling amount of damage, teams with a heavy amount of hazard and stall damage, Trick room- these appeal to me. I usually start with something that I notice the metagame is generally threatened by. However, in doing so, I’ve always made it a point to try something new along the way- surprise is sometimes half the battle, after all.
At this time, I realized Gravity was pretty cool (re. Gravity Starmie) and decided to try it out. I started with sand. Infuriatingly, it didn’t work. So I moved onto Rain Gravity since 100% Hydro pump and hurricane sounded appealing even in neutral weather. At this point, I knew there were a few abusers, but I simply couldn’t get it right- and then I discovered the synergy of Metagross, Dragonite, and Starmie) in the Creative Cores thread, and I instantly took to it, eventually dropping Gravity altogether.
Therefore, without further ado, I present the team:
Do not underestimate the Power of the Millenium Utensil
I named the team after random key items that some members of the Yugi-tachi have, in homage of the great underestimated kitchenware that just might have things to do with the translation train wreck that is the Hong Kong Yugioh Subs. In hindsight, I probably should have themed it after cutlery but I can’t be bothered. Oh well. But onto the analysis:
The team at a glance:
As you can tell from the lineup, this is a standard rain team. Rain is the weather I’m most comfortable with, along with Trick Room, because I’ve used it the most since DPPT, and even through RSE (although I wasn’t playing competitively at that time). One of the things I like about rain is the versatility it provides because of the sheer amount of pokemon that can be used. I do miss fire sometimes, though.
At a closer look, the team immediately appears to have both defensive and offensive characteristics, so it’s bulky offense. However, unlike any of my other teams, this isn’t a team based on eliminating key counters to open a path for a single sweeper to eat through the opponent. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I realized that I couldn’t play like this because I keep making wrong switches and dying. A lot. Either that, or my team simply couldn’t continue a sweep till all the opponents were dead, especially with the introduction of more scarfers and revengers than ever due to the Therians. The issue, it seemed, was powerful attacks that eventually built up on me due to the sheer amount of pokemon that could now throw them around.
Therefore, I decided to play on that- the focus of this team is on strong, varied attacks that wear down the opponent team, followed by strong priority moves to finish off the remaining pokemon. Thus, the point of this team is beatdown- to deal damage, and also make sure that there are no safe switches for the opponent to take without incurring damage.
Teambuilding Process:
Game Start said:I started with the Metagross-Dragonite-Starmie combo. I knew from the start I needed to deal damage, so CB Metagross and Choice Specs Starmie was opted for.
Politoed further solved the problem of a lack of damage by inducing rain. Both Dragonite and Starmie were converted to Rain Abuse Dragonite (Mixnite) and Rain Abuse Starmie (Thunder).
Ferrothorn was added because I needed something to kill Gastrodon and the like, so it was a reliable pokemon to fall back on.
Tornadus-therian had good synergy with Ferrothorn, and was a suitable secondary rain abuser with Hurricane.
Almost finished, but the team had issues with speed and flexibility when it came to starmie- and if I didn’t run specs, a lack of power (I never want to see that kind of retarded damage come from a Thunder against a water-type ever again.) so at this point Starmie was swapped out for Scarf Rotom-W.
In detail:
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M. World Figurine (Politoed) @ Leftovers
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4Def
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power Grass
- Toxic/Perish Song
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 4Def
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power Grass
- Toxic/Perish Song
The first member of the team is Politoed, as with all standard rain teams. Chaos (from the nuzlocke forums) introduced me to the set of Ice beam-Scald-Toxic-Protect, which in conjunction with Ferrothorn, racks up damage fairly quickly. For a while, that was the set I used, because it worked so well I didn’t notice any issues. Lacerta then commented that I played my Politoed ‘too conservatively’, which made me realize I had forsaken a set that would solve a lot of my issues in one- Specs Politoed. Aside from also working with the theme of Beatdown and generally being more effective than stalling, nothing is going to like taking an unresisted Hydro Pump from Politoed if it’s carrying specs (I still can't believe Chansey takes 57%...) - this especially helps with the weather war. Likewise, it tends to force predictable switches once people know that it’s specs, which Tornadus has a lot of fun with.
I am thinking about running Encore or Toxic, but so far Perish Song seems like the best option, since it stops CM sweeps in general.
Politoed is named after Ryou Bakura/Dark Bakura's Monster World game, essentially a more restricted version of D&D with actual physical markers and a gameboard. It kind of reminds me chess pieces, somehow, and Politoed is just like one of the many pieces to a strategy that that you'll see around.
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Capsule Monster (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ice]/Thunder
Rotom-W is the best pivot I have ever used since Genesect and Thundurus-therian in being a general nuisance, hands down. Problem with Physical sweepers? Run Will-O-the-Wisp. Problems with waters? Volt Switch and Thunder. Need a bulky rain abuser? Pain Split. Wall? Trick. It threatens a lot of mons, and when in doubt, Volt Switching is always an option for flexibility. My only complaint is that it lacks bulk and recovery, so I also have to be careful when playing around with it. However, its versatility makes it the best leading option for me most of the time.
Rotom-W is the third member of the damage-dealing trio, replacing Starmie, and beings valuable Electric and Water STABs to the table. Resists generally take around or less than half-damage to Hydro pump if it is played well. It is, however, the weakest member of the trio and still outsped by other scarfers- but good luck switching into it.
I’m thinking about switching Hidden Power Ice for Thunder- in fact, I’m almost sure, since it does nearly the same damage as Hidden Power Ice to Hydreigon and Most grass walls aren't getting significantly dented by it anyway, which is admittedly what I’m using it for. Doing so completely eliminates problems with Rest Vaporeon and the like.
Rotom-W is named after Mokuba, whose item is Capsule Monsters - the game he’s supposed to be the reigning champion of. My mind declared that the name somehow fits Rotom-W in aesthetics and refuses to believe otherwise, but I can’t figure out quite why. Oh well. On another note- it’s a pun. Pokemon is technically alternatively called Pocket monsters, but it can also be interpreted as Capsule Monsters, the initial name for it.
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Nightmare Wheel (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect/Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect/Thunder Wave
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Ferrothorn is a stopgap pokemon that I usually slap onto all my teams, just like Rotom-W. This is for one and only one reason- It’s bloody impossible to kill in rain- at least, in one hit. It also provides valuable resistances for the rest of the team, such as grass and the like. This means that it can cause all sorts of wonky shenanigans specifically but not limited to: Paralyzing vital sweepers with Thunder Wave, sapping health with leech seed, and setting up vital hazards.
In this case, I’m running a Seed-Protect set, which generally causes much rage and residual damage from switches in order to shake off Leech Seed- residual damage that eventually allows the rest of my team to pick off the rest of their pokemon. Gyro Ball does quite a bit to sweepers that intend on setting up that don’t resist it. I don’t have Power Whip, since someone (I think Violatic?) mentioned that Gastrodon is not going to live 1v1 against Leech Seed and Protect anyway, so I don’t need to run Power Whip. Ferrothorn is valuable for sweepers who think they can get away with attacking it, since a lot of residue damage accumulates in between Iron Barbs, Rocky Helmet, Leech Seed and Protect. It’s also hilarious to use on Genesect, who can’t survive more than three encounters when it tries to use U-turn. The great thing about Ferrothorn is that whenever it’s forced to die, it leaves an opening for any other pokemon- Tornadus and Dragonite in particular to wreck havoc.
I’m contemplating on changing Protect to Thunder Wave, Toxic, and in particular Power Whip, since I don’t need to Toxicstall anymore because Politoed doesn’t have Toxic anymore. Rocky Helmet is also still in testing, so if Ferrothorn really can’t seem to survive, because it’s now pretty much the only bulky staller left since Politoed was converted, I’ll drop it in favour of Leftovers.
Nightmare Wheel is based off one of Malik (Actually Yami Marik’s) cards, supposedly. I know Malik’s not one of Yugi-tachi, but eh. Basically Nightmare Wheel is a torture wheel that traps the opponent’s monster. Once a turn, it revolves once, torturing and violating the opponent’s lifepoints directly for every turn his monster remains on the field. Which is kind of exactly what Ferrothorn does.
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BEWD Jet (Tornadus-Therian) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
… Do I even need to explain this pokemon? This is Tornadus-Therian, otherwisely known as almost Rain Team Staple Number Two aside from Politoed. The reason for that is simple: a great STAB, decent offenses, amazing speed, and Regenerator. Tornadus’ primary role is to function as a speedy sweeper. I’m using acrobatics because everyone expects the incoming Tornadus in rain to be Hurricane, and usually bring in a special wall that then gets pummeled by Acrobatics instead. Another bonus is that I don’t have to resort to Focus blast misses. Tornadus is the pair pokemon to Ferrothorn that resists fighting attacks. I’m currently using Bulk Up Tornadus, which helps against anything not named Skarmory, Forretress or roarmons who think it’s a great idea to set up hazards on it. In addition, Bulk up+ Sub+ Acrobatics Tornadus usually allows me to bluff sun teams with Hurricane Tornadus- when that happens, I can usually take out their Heatran almost straightaway and call the game, unless I’m being stupid for some awkward reason. (Misplay against Stallion’s Claydol, I’m looking at you. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for that one.) Otherwise, Substitute generally ensures that I will at least be able to get off one attack onto the opponent.
Tornadus-T is named after the Blue-Eyes White Dragon Jet that Kaiba uses because he has enough money to make one. Despite the ridiculous part about it being a jet shaped like a FREAKIN’ DRAGON, it’s pretty distinctive, extrudes power and is associated with wind, which is pretty much sums up Tornadus-T.
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Friendship Train (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Earthquake/Zen Headbutt
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Earthquake/Zen Headbutt
Metagross has always been a favourite of mine since Dppt, in which I used the agiligross set- but I never found a chance to fit it in. It’s frail defenses, lack of recovery and ability to OHKO or at least cripple always put it at the back of my mind for an optimal sweeper. Lucario could do it better. Mew could do it better. Jirachi. All three usually offered better synergy.
Ah yeah. Of course, Choice Band Metagross. Myself, remember the time Fireburn scrapped your entire rain team with nothing but hammer arm and ridiculous wrecking balls- ahem, I mean, meteors. That could definitely do damage. In fact, good damage to a lot of things.
Damage Calculations (CB Adamant 252 Metagross): said:
… Snarking aside, Metagross’s role in the team is designated heavy hitter- It’s one of the three that cut open enough holes for the opponent team to get overwhelmed. I have to play carefully with it since it can’t take all that much, but it gets a lot of opportunities to come in and deal a world of hurt. Earthquake is for problems that I noticed I had with Jirachi. Despite that, it’s not an OHKO, but it’s usually enough to cripple it. It is a priority user along with Dragonite, and thus also helps with cleanup if required. A cool bonus is that Metagross’s Clear Body doesn’t allow it to get affected by intimidate- which means that any attack boosts gotten from Meteor Mash can’t be reduced by anything short of a burn.
I’m contemplating Zen Headbutt as it is now better than Earthquake because Politoed can handle Jirachi, but Thunderpunch helps with the only bulky waters that can stop it- Vaporeon and Gyarados. If Rotom-W gets Thunder, the need for Thunderpunch is eliminated.
The nickname is themed after Anzu/Tea, which has the chosen item of none other than FRIENDSHIP. Yes, I know that’s not really an item. In any other case I would have used Happy Lover, but it would be ridiculously inappropriate. It’s a train because FRIENDSHIP is serious business as YGO proclaims and because it hits like one.
Besides, no other name quite inspires the image of speedy steel behemoths, copious amounts of pain, and love and delightful happiness like THE FRIENDSHIP TRAIN does.
Also, trucks are overrated; Trains are where it is at.
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Baby Dragon (Dragonite) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Rash Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Aqua Tail
- Hurricane
- Roost
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Rash Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Aqua Tail
- Hurricane
- Roost
And finally, Dragonite. It was pretty much in the same situation for me as non-CB Metagross when I started using it, except for the fact it actually had the offensive powess to crack holes in the other team. It did well as a DDnite most of the time on other rain teams, but I realized after a while that it didn’t cut it either- everyone knew and were carrying counters to it, and eventually the risk overcame the reward because its sweep was going to get cut off all the time. I’d also used Mixnite before, and felt it didn’t have enough power, somehow. In this case, however, I had good offensive teammates, so I placed it on the team. The set is a standard Rain Abuse Dragonite, which makes it one of the trio of heavy-hitters, and weakens the opponent enough for the It works pretty well, since it at least does 30% damage to anything that comes in, and if the opposing pokemon doesn’t have recovery, that’s 30% gone off that particular pokemon for the rest of the game. And that’s for the somewhat bulky pokemon- if something like Genesect comes in thinking of banking on an ice beam to get rid of the dragon, it’s taking at least half damage and is now threatened by extremespeed. The opponent also still needs to get through the multiscale. Another notable counter is against Slowbro, who walls Metagross but is fairly worried about Hurricane.
Leftovers is because I can’t stand LO recoil, stops other weather teams who think they can break my multiscale, and it’s not 2HKOing Skarmory anyway.
Dragonite is named after Joey/Jounouchi’s Baby Dragon because of the similarity and because juvenile dragons can only do so much. I usually name Dragonite Yugi on other teams because they have the same eyes, bar the white pupil.
Threatlist:
Because most of my team works on gradual damage over time, I can’t give you a full rundown on how I tackle every pokemon. However, there ARE a few pokemon which I don’t have a good strategy for.
Prominent Threats- complete analysis later maybe: said:Deoxys-D (Bulky Spiker)- Is a problem. If Politoed is up, it’s 2HKO’d. Otherwise, it can’t stand pressure from the rest of my team- but it will always get SR up, which breaks multiscale. Setup fodder for Metagross and Tornadus-T. Neutralizes Dragonite because I don’t have a spinner. If I know it’s using SR and the other team doesn’t like Dragonite, I’ll usually be forced to switch it in immediately.
Thundurus-T (Scarf)- None of the members of my team really enjoy taking a thunderbolt, save Ferrothorn, and it can easily pivot out. It gets worn down by hazard damage and extremespeed quickly, though, and cannot switch in safely to anything but Tornadus-T (Metagross does a fair bit of damage, even resisted).
Jirachi (CM Rain)- Metagross is carrying Earthquake for this reason, but it takes a lot from Thunder and god forbid Water Pulse. I am terrified of CM Subrachi, although the threat is a little diminished because of Choice Specs Politoed.
Rotom-Wash (Any)- Rotom-W is a problem because you can't tell what set it's running until it's too late. Ferrothorn is Relatively Not Threatened by any of Rotom's moves except Pain Split/Will-o-Wisp Rotom, but the rest of my team will get whittled down quickly by Volt Switches. Ferrothorn also dislikes Volt switches because it is usually set up fodder for the pokemon coming in.
Genesect (Choice Scarf) – Terrifying to deal with because it can hit really hard. Can’t win 1v1 with Rotom-W unless it has thunder, in which then I’m not sure. Ferrothorn is usually the only safe switch unless it uses flamethrower. It doesn’t have many options to switch in, though. It usually ends up as the only pokemon left on the opposing team, in which it’s locked into one move and is forced to die by either Dragonite or Metagross from which attack it picks. LO Genesect is not a problem at all, ironically.
Lucario (Life Orb) – Can’t take a hit from any of my members save Ferrothorn. If it gets SD up with SR, it’s taking out my entire team.
Hippowdon (Any) – Worrisome because it sets weather immediately and I dislike losing any sort of health to sandstorm. Can’t beat Politoed anymore since it was changed from bulky to specs.
Stall teams- (In particular, Sand Stall) are generally a bit of a problem, requiring a little bit of prediction to be defeated. If they do not have Deoxys-D, however, they’re not going to get many hazards up. FWG + Sand Stall, if played well, is a nightmare. Dragonite usually dispatches of the FWG Amoonguss, Slowbro, and Heatran, though, hitting all of them super effectively and knocking off 50%+ from Slowbro.
Afterword:
… And that sums up the team. To be honest, I’ve had a lot of fun using this team, and am pretty sure that the only thing that needs improving right now before I can make any more judgments are my skill. Other than that, I know that you guys have a lot more wisdom than I do, so I hope that you’ll be able to pick up flaws that I don’t notice.
As a note, I can’t stress the amount this team has helped me to grow as a battler. I’ve lurked on Smogon a lot, and played quite a bit, but my teams always seemed to lack something or lack synergy, somehow. It’d either be played too stall-like, or too recklessly, and I couldn’t ever figure out why. I realized after a while that there was a problem with my risk and prediction assessment skills. Playing conservatively and always being forced into reacting to the opponent after a while, I could never figure out how to get in offensive pokemon and regain momentum.
The core of Dragonite, Metagross and Starmie solved this, because it taught me how to play with a playstyle focused on a steady offense rather than a focus on sweeping- If I wanted to keep pressure on the opponent, I had to play well not just once, but enough times for the opposing team to crack, which helps in my decision-making in the long term, since the team allows me to actually survive long enough for me to start learning how to read the opponent’s playstyle rather than just getting swept, or sweeping them. That means that I learn how to perceive small, but efficient openings in other teams that I wouldn’t notice otherwise, (eg. An inability/ability for certain opponent teams to roar rather than learning how to simply REACT to roaring by rebuilding my team) and from consistently challenging mods and uh… losing horribly to them, I learn how these gaps can be taken advantage of. (I’m sorry to all of you by the way, especially Lacerta and everyone who had to put up with my failing ;-;) This helps, a LOT in learning how to synergize my team enough for a sweeper or crucial game-ending move, as well as learning how to teambuild to defend against certain styles of attack rather than just the threat pokemon themselves- a lesson that I wouldn’t have learned otherwise from just reading the articles and analysis.
… That doesn’t mean that I’m still not an absolute greenhorn sucker, though. I’m still applying for the battling 101 program when it next opens.
I have one last thing to ask: What specific pokemon(s)/sets do you notice the metagame are weak to? Don’t be afraid to comment about interesting stuff that happens as well- every bit of information helps. I’ll try to figure out something general from that.
I’m betting on a Rain Jirachi team for my next team, but I can’t quite figure out a playstyle and teammates yet. This is due to the prevalence of u-turners like Genesect running around. Issue? They’re nearly all wrecked by paralysis, and if not, Water Pulse. I can already tell that it’s probably going to be hit- and- run (so pokemon selected might have to be somewhat bulky… Latias, Mamoswine, Metagross, Conkeldurr maybe?), and more of a focus of gradually bogging the enemy down with paralysis and taking advantage of that, but I can’t tell much more than that. Slowbro also looks pretty good and Gravity is also still a bonus. I’ll make it work, one day…
Importable:
M. World Figurine (Politoed) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Perish Song
Nightmare Wheel (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Baby Dragon (Dragonite) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Rash Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Aqua Tail
- Hurricane
- Roost
Friendship Train (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Zen Headbutt
Capsule Monster (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
BEWD Jet (Tornadus-Therian) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
Trait: Drizzle
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Modest Nature
- Ice Beam
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Perish Song
Nightmare Wheel (Ferrothorn) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SDef
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
Baby Dragon (Dragonite) @ Leftovers
Trait: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SAtk / 4 Spd
Rash Nature
- ExtremeSpeed
- Aqua Tail
- Hurricane
- Roost
Friendship Train (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Hammer Arm
- Zen Headbutt
Capsule Monster (Rotom-Wash) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Trick
- Hydro Pump
- Thunder
BEWD Jet (Tornadus-Therian) @ Flying Gem
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Superpower
- Substitute
- Bulk Up
