Hi, as the title says this is my first RMT. I haven't been playing competitively too long but this team seems to be doing quite well on Pokemon Showdown but I think it can be a lot better.
I've tried to incorporate a few themes in here that I've seen used and this team has been tweaked a bit to get where it is now. But without further ado onto the team
Breloom @Leftovers
Technician
EV's: 252HP/252Atk/4Spe
Adamant
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
Techni-loom! I've tried it once before and found it to be very effective and as one of the things I wanted to try to incorporate in the team was a FWG core I decided this would be my grass type pokemon pretty soon. It's great at coming in on a resist and firing off a swords dance before wreaking havoc or it also functions well as a late-game sweeper against weakened pokes with it's technician boosted Mach Punch. With the EV investment in HP it's also bulky enough to take a fair chunk of neutral hits (and very occasionally the odd super-effective one too). Bullet Seed is my other STAB and works great for breaking subs when it's needed but Mach Punch is the primary attack here. I chose Leftovers over a Life Orb as it provides me a bit more longetivity and if I manage to use it as a late game sweeper it should, in theory, allow for more SD set ups or the opponents pokes should be weakened and I don't need to worry about the extra power.
Infernape @Choice Scarf
Blaze
EV's: 252Atk/4Sp.A/252Spe
Naive
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Stone Edge
- Overheat
Infernape is obviously the fire part of the FWG core that I was aiming for. It sometimes serves as a lead because I can outspeed a lot of other pokes with it due to the Choice Scarf and hit hard or U-Turn away if need be. I've found that Infernape with a scarf outspeeds a lot of things that have surprised me, including a lot of Chlorophyll abusers (I believe, if I have calculated correctl my Scarf Infernape with the beneficial speed nature outspeeds a neutral nature max-speed Venusaur by a point), which is nice when I have Overheat in waiting. It functions really as a revenge killer that just wants to get in an get out again. With U-Turn it is 1 part of my Volt-turners. Stone Edge is used for coverage but to be honest it's rarely used.
Jolteon @Expert Belt
Volt Absorb
EV's: 4HP/252Sp.A/252Spe
Timid
Volt Switch
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Ice 70
Shadow Ball
I'd been wanting to try this out for a while and when I decided on using U-Turn with Infernape I decided to try choice banded Jolteon as by Volt Switch user. It's worked pretty well, it hits hard and fast and like Infernape it can be a good revenge killer. I have occasionally used Jolteon as a lead just to either hit hard with one of it's other attacks or I just Volt-Switch out. I have decided to use Shadow Ball to SE hit ghost types and Psychic types. I originally ran Signal Beam and I once had a very tough time against an eviolite Dusclops and Shadow Ball could have helped a lot. The main advantage I see for running Signal Beam is to hit Celebi which gives me problems when I usually see it. HP Ice for BoltBeam coverage. I started with Choice Specs but someone reocmmended that I test using Expert Belt or Life Orb so that's where I'm at. I chose Expert Belt because I can still bluff being choiced, which has worked out on occasion. For example a Gliscor switch in, but overall the drop in power might be an issue.
Gastrodon @Leftovers
Storm Drain
EV's: 92HP/164Def/252Sp.A
Calm
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
This is a replica of a Gastrodon I have in game, which is based off of a Gastrodon I saw in another forum. The EV's are taken from there and they seem to be done to balance the defences, add bulk and then max out the Sp.A. My in-game Gastrodon had a Calm nature but Modest might be preferable. Gastrodon is the original water part of the FWG core and it also acts as a nice counter to rain teams and occasionally sandstorm teams. EP and Scald are the obvious STABS and a burn from Scald helps a lot. Ice Beam is for coverage and to hit dragon's with. I don't get to use Recover too much because I just expect Gastrodon to be too slow to make good use of it so I've considered using Protect to get a free turn of leftovers recovery. Although it doesn't happen to often this Gastrodon can hit very hard if I can predict an incoming water attack. I rarely use Recover so I have wondered abotu throwing an HP in there, Grass for example to hit waters back that I switch in to but as of yet I'm undecided.
Starmie @Leftovers
Natural Cure
EV's: 252Sp.A/4Sp.D/252Spe
Timid
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
A little bit of entry hazards never hurt anyone... but a lot can kill you! This thought kind of sums up why Starmie is here - it's my spinner. Hazards don't pose a major threat to my team but I'd rather not take the damage that they give out and if another poke (i.e. the 6th one!) on my team becomes set-up fodder then I can find myself up against a lot of hazards very quickly. I ended up choosing Starmie due to it's speed. I tried Forretress but I wasn't happy with it's very slow speed and it's poorer special defence. And whilst Tentacruel could be an option I could do without another Ground weakness. The rest of the moves are STAB and coverage. I chose Psychic over Ice Beam because I have nothing else to hit opposing Fighting types with, although occasionally I think Ice Beam would be useful.
Skarmory @Leftovers
Sturdy
EV's: 252HP/232Sp.D/24Spe
Careful
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
I originally ran a Gliscor in this slot to be a defensive rock but it really wasn't working out so I started using Skarmory and haven't really looked back. Skarmory acts as my rock setter and mixed wall it seems to work pretty great. Sometimes I use Skarm as a lead to get rocks down early or bring it in on following a VoltTurn. Whirlwind is also proving useful against set-up pokes and those relatively rare but annoying Smash-Pass teams which I originally had issues with. With the nature and EV spread Skarmory is functioning great as a mixed wall too and doesn't have an awful 4x weakness like my last 6th poke, Gliscor. This is really useful because I believe my team is a little on the frail side (although Gastrodon and Breloom both take hits a lot better than I thought they might have done). It's also a ncie dragon resist too, which I didn't previously have. Gastrodon pretty much has it's weaknesses covered too which is nice.
Threats I've noticed:
- Celebi: Can be a real pain. I have pokes that can hit it but (although I haven't actually run calcs) I think it's pretty difficult to OHKO it. Depending on what it runs it can feasibly hit all of my team for SE, but I *think* that would require it to run a 4 attack set. Anyway it's versatility means that I usually don't know what to switch in to counter it.
- Lati@s: They're really quite bothersome too. A CM Roost Latias is my worst nightmare. If it starts boosting and Skarmory is down and therefore can't get in to whirlwind it I am in real trouble.
- Gyarados: Can be an issue but I'd like to think that I can handle it between Jolteon, Starmie, Gastrodon and Skarmory.
- Ghost types: In general bulky ghosts, Dusclops, Spiritomb, although not common can be a pain to take down.
- Reuniclus: Has a lot of potential to be an issue but when I cam across one before I managed to spore it, SD boost on it and then Bullet Seed it for the KO.
- Blissey/Chansey: Could be a problem if Infernape and Breloom were down. Never had that be the case though.
- I expect there's more but that's the top ones for now
That's it. I hope the descriptions are good enough to meet the rule requirements and I look forward to the feedback :)
I've tried to incorporate a few themes in here that I've seen used and this team has been tweaked a bit to get where it is now. But without further ado onto the team
Breloom @Leftovers
Technician
EV's: 252HP/252Atk/4Spe
Adamant
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Swords Dance
- Spore
Techni-loom! I've tried it once before and found it to be very effective and as one of the things I wanted to try to incorporate in the team was a FWG core I decided this would be my grass type pokemon pretty soon. It's great at coming in on a resist and firing off a swords dance before wreaking havoc or it also functions well as a late-game sweeper against weakened pokes with it's technician boosted Mach Punch. With the EV investment in HP it's also bulky enough to take a fair chunk of neutral hits (and very occasionally the odd super-effective one too). Bullet Seed is my other STAB and works great for breaking subs when it's needed but Mach Punch is the primary attack here. I chose Leftovers over a Life Orb as it provides me a bit more longetivity and if I manage to use it as a late game sweeper it should, in theory, allow for more SD set ups or the opponents pokes should be weakened and I don't need to worry about the extra power.
Infernape @Choice Scarf
Blaze
EV's: 252Atk/4Sp.A/252Spe
Naive
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Stone Edge
- Overheat
Infernape is obviously the fire part of the FWG core that I was aiming for. It sometimes serves as a lead because I can outspeed a lot of other pokes with it due to the Choice Scarf and hit hard or U-Turn away if need be. I've found that Infernape with a scarf outspeeds a lot of things that have surprised me, including a lot of Chlorophyll abusers (I believe, if I have calculated correctl my Scarf Infernape with the beneficial speed nature outspeeds a neutral nature max-speed Venusaur by a point), which is nice when I have Overheat in waiting. It functions really as a revenge killer that just wants to get in an get out again. With U-Turn it is 1 part of my Volt-turners. Stone Edge is used for coverage but to be honest it's rarely used.
Jolteon @Expert Belt
Volt Absorb
EV's: 4HP/252Sp.A/252Spe
Timid
Volt Switch
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power Ice 70
Shadow Ball
I'd been wanting to try this out for a while and when I decided on using U-Turn with Infernape I decided to try choice banded Jolteon as by Volt Switch user. It's worked pretty well, it hits hard and fast and like Infernape it can be a good revenge killer. I have occasionally used Jolteon as a lead just to either hit hard with one of it's other attacks or I just Volt-Switch out. I have decided to use Shadow Ball to SE hit ghost types and Psychic types. I originally ran Signal Beam and I once had a very tough time against an eviolite Dusclops and Shadow Ball could have helped a lot. The main advantage I see for running Signal Beam is to hit Celebi which gives me problems when I usually see it. HP Ice for BoltBeam coverage. I started with Choice Specs but someone reocmmended that I test using Expert Belt or Life Orb so that's where I'm at. I chose Expert Belt because I can still bluff being choiced, which has worked out on occasion. For example a Gliscor switch in, but overall the drop in power might be an issue.
Gastrodon @Leftovers
Storm Drain
EV's: 92HP/164Def/252Sp.A
Calm
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Recover
This is a replica of a Gastrodon I have in game, which is based off of a Gastrodon I saw in another forum. The EV's are taken from there and they seem to be done to balance the defences, add bulk and then max out the Sp.A. My in-game Gastrodon had a Calm nature but Modest might be preferable. Gastrodon is the original water part of the FWG core and it also acts as a nice counter to rain teams and occasionally sandstorm teams. EP and Scald are the obvious STABS and a burn from Scald helps a lot. Ice Beam is for coverage and to hit dragon's with. I don't get to use Recover too much because I just expect Gastrodon to be too slow to make good use of it so I've considered using Protect to get a free turn of leftovers recovery. Although it doesn't happen to often this Gastrodon can hit very hard if I can predict an incoming water attack. I rarely use Recover so I have wondered abotu throwing an HP in there, Grass for example to hit waters back that I switch in to but as of yet I'm undecided.
Starmie @Leftovers
Natural Cure
EV's: 252Sp.A/4Sp.D/252Spe
Timid
- Rapid Spin
- Surf
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
A little bit of entry hazards never hurt anyone... but a lot can kill you! This thought kind of sums up why Starmie is here - it's my spinner. Hazards don't pose a major threat to my team but I'd rather not take the damage that they give out and if another poke (i.e. the 6th one!) on my team becomes set-up fodder then I can find myself up against a lot of hazards very quickly. I ended up choosing Starmie due to it's speed. I tried Forretress but I wasn't happy with it's very slow speed and it's poorer special defence. And whilst Tentacruel could be an option I could do without another Ground weakness. The rest of the moves are STAB and coverage. I chose Psychic over Ice Beam because I have nothing else to hit opposing Fighting types with, although occasionally I think Ice Beam would be useful.
Skarmory @Leftovers
Sturdy
EV's: 252HP/232Sp.D/24Spe
Careful
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Roost
- Brave Bird
I originally ran a Gliscor in this slot to be a defensive rock but it really wasn't working out so I started using Skarmory and haven't really looked back. Skarmory acts as my rock setter and mixed wall it seems to work pretty great. Sometimes I use Skarm as a lead to get rocks down early or bring it in on following a VoltTurn. Whirlwind is also proving useful against set-up pokes and those relatively rare but annoying Smash-Pass teams which I originally had issues with. With the nature and EV spread Skarmory is functioning great as a mixed wall too and doesn't have an awful 4x weakness like my last 6th poke, Gliscor. This is really useful because I believe my team is a little on the frail side (although Gastrodon and Breloom both take hits a lot better than I thought they might have done). It's also a ncie dragon resist too, which I didn't previously have. Gastrodon pretty much has it's weaknesses covered too which is nice.
Threats I've noticed:
- Celebi: Can be a real pain. I have pokes that can hit it but (although I haven't actually run calcs) I think it's pretty difficult to OHKO it. Depending on what it runs it can feasibly hit all of my team for SE, but I *think* that would require it to run a 4 attack set. Anyway it's versatility means that I usually don't know what to switch in to counter it.
- Lati@s: They're really quite bothersome too. A CM Roost Latias is my worst nightmare. If it starts boosting and Skarmory is down and therefore can't get in to whirlwind it I am in real trouble.
- Gyarados: Can be an issue but I'd like to think that I can handle it between Jolteon, Starmie, Gastrodon and Skarmory.
- Ghost types: In general bulky ghosts, Dusclops, Spiritomb, although not common can be a pain to take down.
- Reuniclus: Has a lot of potential to be an issue but when I cam across one before I managed to spore it, SD boost on it and then Bullet Seed it for the KO.
- Blissey/Chansey: Could be a problem if Infernape and Breloom were down. Never had that be the case though.
- I expect there's more but that's the top ones for now
That's it. I hope the descriptions are good enough to meet the rule requirements and I look forward to the feedback :)
